The long-lasting Vizquel has some words of wisdom on how to play in the majors for 22 seasons. Also, Game of Threes, Stat-O-Matic, and The List.
View full sizeOmar Vizquel credits his dedication to staying fit and stretching for his long career in baseball.HOT CORNER
He keeps on ticking: Chicago's Omar Vizquel, 43, is in his 22nd big-league season. How has he played so well for so long?
"When players come to the big leagues, they start taking things for granted," Vizquel said. "They forget to work out. They forget to do the basic stuff to stay in the game. To play shortstop, I needed to stay fit. I needed to be agile. I needed to be fast and quick in order to stay here.
"Ever since I was 20 years old, I very rarely missed a pregame stretch. I stretch with a lot of intensity. . . . You can see people stretch nowadays and they lack a little bit. They don't have the energy. They don't put any effort into it. Your body doesn't respond the same when you don't do it.
"This is what you're supposed to do. You stretch the right way. You lift weights the right way. You take batting the right way."
Made in the shade: To help with the shadows at Miller Field during day games, Brewers manager Ken Macha last week suggested that two panels of the retractable roof be left hanging over right field so the batter and pitcher would be in the shadows from the start of the game.
Hitters have complained since the park opened about the shadows at Miller Park during day games.
"It made a big difference," Milwaukee's Casey McGehee told the Associated Press.
McGehee described hitting without the panels as, "almost like hitting in the middle of a high school prom with a strobe light on."
The book on Manny: Dodgers third base coach Larry Bowa had this to say to the Boston Globe about recently departed Manny Ramirez: "He can still hit and he'll get his walks, but the one thing he doesn't have that he used to have is his power. He's not going to be the Manny that Boston had or that we had when we first got him.
"Don't get me wrong -- he's a .300 hitter and he can hurt you in a big situation. But it became evident over time with us that playing the outfield was taking its toll. So I wasn't surprised when he agreed to go back to the American League, because at this stage of his career, he needs to be a DH."
After joining the White Sox in Cleveland last week, Chicago was scheduled to play a three-game series in Boston, where Ramirez helped the Red Sox win two World Series.
GAME OF THREES
Baseball is a game of threes. Three strikes and you're out. Three outs in a half-inning. Here are two more sets of threes to consider from last week in baseball.
THREE UP
1. CC Sabathia, MLB's first 19-game winner of the season, beat the A's on Thursday to win his 15th game in his past 18 starts.
2. Seattle's Felix Hernandez finished August with an AL-leading 0.83 ERA and 51 strikeouts.
3. Cincinnati lefty Aroldis Chapman hit 102 mph Tuesday in his big-league debut and 103 mph Wednesday in earning his first big-league victory.
THREE DOWN
1. The Cubs have lost seven games in which they've allowed 14 or more runs (through Friday).
2. St. Louis, trying to catch the Reds in the NL Central, was swept in a three-game series by Houston and has lost 13 of its past 18 games (through Friday).
3. Charlie Morton became the fifth Pirates pitcher to lose 10 or more games this season in a loss to Milwaukee last Sunday.
STAT-O-MATIC
Opportunistic Yankee: In a seven-game stretch from Aug. 24 through Aug. 30, Yankees outfielder Marcus Thames hit six homers in 21 at-bats.
Feels like the first time: Randy Wolf's steal of second base Monday was the first ever by a Brewers pitcher.
Rolling: The Reds went 19-8 in August, the best record in the big leagues.
TRIBE TALK
"The last week, we've been playing better baseball as a team and I've been pitching terrible. . . . It's all because I've been walking people. It hurts more because everyone else is playing good baseball and you're struggling." Joe Smith, Indians reliever, who has walked seven batters in his past 3 innings.
THE LIST
Shin-Soo Choo is entering the final month of the 2010 season. Here's how he ranks among the American League's right fielders. (Statistics through Friday, 500 minimum plate appearances.)
Average .294 ( 3)
At-bats 456 (7)
Hits 134 (3)
2B 27 (3)
3B 2 (9t)
Home runs 16 (7t)
RBI 68 (6)
Runs scored 65 (6)
Base on balls 65 (4)
Strikeouts 92 (6)
Stolen bases 16 (4)
On base pct. .391 (1)
Slugging pct. .467 (4)
OPS .858 (3)
OF assists 12 (1)
SOURCE: ESPN