Harmon’s Blog 7.15: Baseball, Sharks & Hitchhiking Musicians
Freddie Freeman won the “Last Man Standing” or whatever the final roster voting process is called for the National League. He’ll miss the game because of a thumb injury. Teammate Brian McCann replaced Freeman on the All-Star roster. Meanwhile, Yasiel Puig rolled out to a nightclub to celebrate the break. I hope Puig doesn’t reinjure […]
PTC: Harmon’s Blog 531 W/ Fantasy Baseball, Dark Knight & The Expendables
We are in that portion of the season where pitching rotations have been ravaged by injuries. No team has been hit as hard by injuries as the St. Louis Cardinals, who promoted 21-year-old Michael Wacha to pitch Thursday’s game against the Royals. He allowed one earned run on two hits in seven innings while striking […]
PTC: Harmon’s Blog 530 W/ Fantasy Baseball, Football & A Human Centipede
We’re hitting up the blogosphere with multiple posts and dominating the earholes of America with a podcast DAILY. Here’s the “Painting The Corner” blog for 530. Matt Kemp’s struggles at the plate in 2013 have been well-chronicled. The Dodgers are awaiting word on Kemp’s hamstring after the center fielder left Wednesday’s game. LeBron James was […]
PTC: Harmon’s Blog With MLB & Life-Saving Technology 523
As longtime readers know, I grew up on the South Side. Yes, it needs to be capitalized. The White Sox have long turned to trainer Herm Schneider to monitor player health, and his ability to rehab players is the stuff of baseball legend (Bo Jackson, anyone?). Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports wrote a piece chronicling […]
PTC: Harmon’s Blog on Fantasy Baseball, Pop Culture & More 521
I do regular radio spots in Baltimore, and we’ve long talked about Jim Johnson’s ability to close out games for the Orioles without possessing a dominant strikeout punch. Johnson’s strikeout rate has improved markedly in 2013, but his hit rate has also soared. In his past three appearances (all blown saves), the Baltimore closer has […]
PTC: Harmon’s Blog With Fantasy Baseball, Bryce Harper, Pop Culture & More
Washington outfielder Bryce Harper crashed into the right field wall while chasing down a flyball off the bat of A.J. Ellis. Harper lay on the field for several minutes receiving attention from the trainers before exiting the game. David Vassegh (@thereal_dv) of FOX Sports Radio advised on Twitter that he’d spoken to agent Scott Boras. […]
FMC: Matt Kemp Delivers A Major League Moment
Don’t worry. I’ll celebrate Matt Harvey’s heroics in grand fashion on the Dome come Wednesday. I wanted to acknowledge and celebrate a great off-field act from Dodgers star Matt Kemp. The video of Matt Kemp’s gracious and heartwarming act in San Francisco has dominated social media for the better part of the past 24 hours. […]
PTC: Harmon’s Blog With Fantasy Notes, Matt Kemp & More
The Red Sox have been one of the great surprises early this MLB season. Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz (you can talk about “cheating” at your leisure) are dealing at the top of the rotation and David Ortiz possesses a 26-game hitting streak dating back to last season. The potential problem that has arisen for […]
PTC: Harmon’s Baseball Blog 5.3 With Fantasy Notes, Pop Culture & More
The Cubs have a minor league prospect named Rock Shoulders. That’s right. He’s now a member of the All-Name Team without rising to the major league roster. Shoulders enters Friday’s play with a dominant .365 batting average (31-for-85) with 13 extra-base hits (five home runs) and 17 RBI. He’s struck out 23 times in 85 […]
Harmon’s “ITSD” Podcast 5.2: Funeral, Sanchez, Money & Tattoos
Harmon returns to the microphone, free and clear to roam the worlds of sports, entertainment and pop culture. In this episode, Harmon slams the Knicks’ funeral plans and talks about the big topics affecting the NBA Playoffs. Mark Jackson, anyone? The Thunder employed the intentional foul strategy against the Rockets … and failed miserably. Harmon […]
Painting The Corner: Harmon’s Baseball Blog With Fantasy Notes & More 5.2
Let’s kick things off with a great accessory for grilling season. That’s right. It’s May, so even those still thawing out from mutant snowstorms will be firing up their grills in no time flat. What else needs to be said? You can
Painting The Corner: Harmon’s Baseball Blog With Fantasy Notes & More 4.30
Welcome to an abbreviated version of “Painting The Corner” coming out of Monday’s action. The name of the game is health. It’s late-April, and that means that the injuries are starting to pile up. Several big stars left their respective games on Monday, and fantasy owners welcomed a new hero to the fold in Los […]
Harmon’s “Inside The Swollen Dome” Podcast for 4.23 MLB, NBA, Fantasy & More
Harmon returned to blogtalkradio.com to discuss Monday night’s action in the NBA Playoffs, MLB milestones and struggles, fantasy heroes and duds, a busy night in Chicago, NFL mock drafts and have a chuckle with Peyton Manning and Shane Battier. Have a listen. Have a chuckle. Mock my brain freeze as I struggle to say “hallucinogenics.” […]
Painting The Corner: Harmon’s Baseball Blog (And More) 4.23
Congratulations to Felix Hernandez, who earned the 100th win of his career against the Astros on Monday night. Hernandez pitched six shutout innings with nine strikeouts, allowing five hits and a walk. Despite velocity concerns (see below), Hernandez has recorded 37 strikeouts in 34 2/3 innings pitched this season. Many sniping 140-character comments have been […]
Harmon’s “Inside The Swollen Dome” Podcast Returns: 4.22
Monday was a beautiful day here “Inside The Swollen Dome.” The podcast returned after a hiatus – call it a renewal with Vol. 1, Episode 1. I recapped the weekend’s events, got a little bit into the NBA Playoffs, Derrick Rose, early baseball returns, news of the weird and a wee bit of NFL schedule […]
Painting The Corner: Harmon’s Hardball Notes 4.17
Bill Shaikin of The Los Angeles Times reports that Hanley Ramirez expects to rejoin the team earlier than the proposed mid-May timetable. The struggling Dodgers lineup could use Ramirez right now. Only the Marlins have scored fewer runs this season. Miami batters have combined to hit three home runs this season. Perhaps that will change […]
Painting The Corner: Harmon’s Hardball Notes For 4.16
Last night, I sat quietly to review the day’s activities, catch up on the latest news from Boston and to find some peace. I found several reasons to go upstairs to my office (the forgotten notepad, Sharpie, headphones, etc.), a path that forced me past my sleeping children. Both were sound asleep with, maybe just […]
Marmol Loses Closer Job: Wikipedia Vandals Take It To The Extreme
According to The Chicago Tribune , Carlos Marmol has lost his closer role to Kyuji Fujikawa following another terrible performance on Saturday. We’ve been watching this situation and sounded the alarm before the season started, so go check your waiver wire now. On Sunday morning, CBSSports.com noted that vandals had taken to Marmol’s Wikipedia page […]
Painting The Corner: Harmon’s Hardball Notes 4.4
As I wrote in yesterday’s PTC, Carlos Marmol’s hold on the Chicago closer job is tenuous. His effort against the Pirates on Thursday afternoon didn’t do anything to help solidify things. Marmol inherited a 3-0 lead, but then surrendered two earned runs on three hits and a walk. The fact that he was able to […]
Painting The Corner: Harmon’s Hardball Notes 4.3
Don’t you just love day baseball? As you ponder TPS Reports and reasons (some legit) to blow off a meeting, you can monitor the diamond and bemoan the early-season exploits of your lineup. Or, you can celebrate “Senior Prom” like the Rays. Let’s get into the notes from Wednesday’s action. I prefer the term “quick […]
FMC: Yu Darvish, SP, Texas Rangers
At some point, I’ll circle off to the world of hitters and celebrate the mammoth home runs launched by slugging outfielders and first basemen. I’ll applaud Mike Morse, Troy Tulowitzki, Carlos Gonzalez and try to estimate the distance traveled by Chris Davis’ moon shot. Perhaps we can bust out the stopwatches and time Elvis Andrus […]
Harmon’s Early-Spring Cheatsheets: Fantasy Baseball 2013
The first run of spreadsheets has been completed and entered into the Dome. I already have a number of players italicized and highlighted for further review as we roll through the second half of spring training. Announcements regarding position battles, rotation slots and closer competitions will necessitate adjustments, of course, and I won’t toss out […]
Harmon’s 2013 Fantasy Baseball Early Rankings: Relief Pitchers 1-25
On Thursday, it was announced that Mariano Rivera would officially call the 2013 season his last. The opening strains of “Opening Sandman” should be retired when it comes to announcing the arrival of a closer. I suspect somebody tries to accomplish the theft, but it would be foolhardy to go up against Rivera’s legacy. Rivera’s […]
Harmon’s 2013 Fantasy Baseball Early Rankings: Outfield 26-60
We love to debate where the big names at the top of the draft board should stack up. After all, everybody knows about the on-field exploits of names like Trout, Braun and CarGo. But, as you drift through the pack, things get interesting, contentious and less certain. The term “Sleeper” (“Ninjas” in my world here […]