"My dad was a really good athlete (Kenny Ross, who played safety at New Mexico in the late 1960s)," said Ross, the Marlins' right fielder. "My dad was all right[-handed]. My mom's a lefty, so maybe I got that gene from her."
Ross and St. Louis' Ryan Ludwick are the only two active position players who throw left and bat right. Just 14 such players in baseball history have gotten as many as 1,000 at-bats -- and that list now includes a Hall of Famer, Rickey Henderson.
Poppin' out of the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
While the majority of the American workforce got a day off on Labor Day, some major league hitters were getting their power stroke on in a big way. With only 11 games on the docket, four players left the yard twice in one game: Derrek Lee, Billy Butler, Mark Teixeira and Juan Uribe. The fantasy fallout isn't huge, save for one; Lee's having a resurgence, Butler a breakout campaign and Teixeira an MVP-caliber season. Uribe, though ... that's news.
As Andrew Johnson discussed in Starting Five earlier Monday, the Tampa Bay Rays' season has slipped through their fingers after being swept by the Tigers at home this weekend. There won't be an encore to their magical 2008. Though they're not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs just yet, overcoming a seven-game deficit for the AL wild card would be pretty tough, and now, it just got a bit harder.
Poppin' out of the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
Before we get our heaping of box score browsing, let's look at a related subject: The fantasy baseball stretch run. With the annual ushering in of September baseball, we see roster changes galore. Not only are there call-ups with the legal expansion of rosters, but players with seemingly minor injuries are shut down on teams who have fallen out of the race. You also have younger players being given an audition for 2010, or being shut down so the team doesn't overwork them in their first season of increased workload. If you are in the thick of things in your fantasy baseball race, now is not the time to use a laissez-faire approach.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
When you select Carlos Pena in fantasy baseball, you know you aren't getting batting average help. Still, his career-low .223 mark this year was well below expectations, and up until August 5, the power numbers weren't nearly high enough to console disappointed Pena owners.
Well, that has all changed. Since that date, Pena has slugged 11 home runs and driven home 22. His average has been respectable (.286) and his OPS is ridiculous (1.307). On the season, Pena now has a six home run lead on the rest of the AL with 37. He's also third in RBI (91).
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... That Carlos Pena's day started badly, but ended well. The Rays' first baseman learned early Saturday that a former college teammate, Greg Montalbano, had died after a 10-year battle with cancer. Later, Pena hit two homers and drove in the winning run in the 10th inning, leading the Rays over the Rangers' in a battle of wild-card contenders.
"I was crushed," Pena said of learning of Montalbano's death. "He was my right hand in college. He's been battling cancer for 10 years. He was always smiling. The only thing that comforts me is I know he's in a better place, but we're going to miss him greatly."
Pena, who has a league-leading 34 homers, helped the Rays pull within one game of Texas and three of the Red Sox in the wild-card race.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
By now you've seen the highlights. An eighth-inning rocket by Pat Burrell that pulled an inch foul while nearly taking out the third-base umpire. An unbelievable catch, juggle and save by DeWayne Wise in the ninth inning. Alexei Ramirez fielding a Jason Bartlett grounder and firing across the diamond for the final out. Mark Buehrle with his hands on the top of his head, all smiles as he completed the 18th perfect game in major league history.
Buehrle, who already had a 2007 no-hitter to his credit, threw 76 of his 116 pitches for strikes. The biggest called strike of those 76 came on the outside corner in the eighth inning with Carlos Pena at the plate, causing Pena to turn and argue with home plate umpire Eric Cooper (incidentally, also the umpire in Buehrle's no-hitter). The biggest swinging strike came on a 3-2 punchout of Michael Hernandez with one out in the ninth.
The Midsummer Classic is just a day away, which meant only one thing. It was time time for baseball's annual all-or-nothing display of power -- the 2009 Home Run Derby -- an event that can often provide the most memorable moment of the All-Star Game festivities.
If one theme has emerged during the first half of the 2009 season in the National League, it's that it's Albert Pujols' world and we're all just living in it. After nine superb seasons in which he's only finished out of the top four in MVP voting once, he's somehow on pace for his best season yet.
With this year's Home Run Derby in St. Louis and Pujols making a point to perform in front of the home crowd, it's essentially him against the field Monday night. Do Adrian Gonzalez, Carlos Pena, Prince Fielder, Ryan Howard, Joe Mauer, Nelson Cruz, or Brandon Inge stand any sort of chance of spoiling Pujols' parade?
With the Home Run Derby taking place on Monday night in St. Louis as part of MLB's festivities for the All-Star Game, we've been left wondering exactly who would be representing the American League. The National League announced its participants last week, and now, finally, we know who will be swinging for the fences for the AL.
Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.
Poppin' out of the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
As 
Poppin' out of the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
The Midsummer Classic is just a day away, which meant only one thing. It was time time for baseball's annual all-or-nothing display of power -- the 2009 
If one theme has emerged during the first half of the 2009 season in the National League, it's that it's 
