The month of April in the 2009 baseball season is finally behind us! It was chock full of cycles, homeruns, near no-hitters, near perfect games, a ton of web gems, two tragic deaths and an incredible amount of surprises from individual players and teams in general. The media frenzy surrounding the injured Alex Rodriguez carried over into April from March and continues grow into May as Selena Roberts’ book has since been released. The book accuses A-Rod of being an incredibly needy personality as well as someone that might have still been using PEDs while with the Yankees, contrary to his own statements, as well as possibly using them in high school.
We begin this article with two incredibly tragic stories that affected the entire world of baseball; the death of Angels rookie pitcher Nick Adenhart and the death of long-time Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas. Adenhart had just completed pitching six shutout innings for the Angels, his fourth Major League start, when he the car he was riding in was struck at an intersection in Los Angeles only hours after the game. Adenhart died in surgery while two others in the car died at the scene. The fourth member of the car is still recovering from the accident. The car was struck by a drunk driver who was driving with a suspended license. Adenhart was only 22 years old.
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The other tragic news that struck the world of baseball in the month of April involved the 2008 World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies. Harry Kalas, who joined the Phillies in 1971, passed away prior to a Phillies-Nationals game on April 13th as a result of cardiovascular disease. He was found in the broadcast both by Phillies Director of Broadcasting Rob Brooks. Kalas was doing prep work for the game when he passed out and was rushed to GWU Hospital in Washington. He originally began his career with the Houston Astros as a member of their original broadcast team. Bill Giles brought him to Philadelphia in 1971 as part of the opening ceremonies of the brand new Veterans Stadium and Kalas became a fan favorite within five years after replacing the beloved Bill Campbell.
On a lighter, less depressing note, baseball’s opening month was one of the most interesting and exciting opening months in quite some time. Two stadiums debuted in New York, rookies across the league made their long awaited debuts, the defending champs began their title defense and hitting for the cycle became a common occurrence within the first two weeks of the season.
The New York Yankees showed off their newest version of Yankee Stadium along with their new weapons C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Nick Swisher and Mark Teixeira while the Mets debuted their new digs, Citi Field, along with their revamped bullpen that includes J.J. Putz and Francisco Rodriguez. All of this paled in comparison to the thud that is the start of the Yankees 2009 season. The Bronx Bombers finished the month of April with a 12-10 record, which was good for two games out of first place.
Let’s be honest, 12-10 isn’t that bad of a record considering some teams finished April with only five wins (Washington) or eight wins (Cleveland, Colorado, and Oakland). But after the Yankees spent hundreds of millions of dollars in the off-season to bring in C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Mark Teixeira, many thought they would be running away with the division by the time the month of May rolled around. Sabathia finished April with a 1-2 record to go along with a 4.73 ERA.
The Yankees aren’t the only team to be filled with surprises in the Majors during the month of April. The Dodgers went 7-0 at home during the month of April, the AL Central is a four team race with the top four teams being separated by a half a game or a game at the end of April, the Royals finished the month of April in first place in the AL Central, the Mariners led the AL West at the end of the month after finishing the 2008 season 39 games out of first, the Cubs finished April five games out of first in the NL Central and the Pirates finished the month of April with an 11-10 record compared to their 11-16 start in 2008.
The surprises across the league have been numerous and they have included the impressive debuts of quite a few rookies. We begin in Pittsburgh with backup catcher Jason Jaramillo, who took over the starting job when Ryan Doumit went on the DL. Jaramillo hit .345 in the month of April while filling in for the injured Doumit. Other debuts included Mark Melancon of the Yankees and Jordan Zimmermann of the Nationals. Melancon made his ML debut in April, pitching in two games, throwing three scoreless innings. Zimmermann made his ML debut in April and went 2-0 with a 2.38 ERA in two starts.
Possibly the most surprising story of the month of April is the hot start by Royals pitcher Zack Greinke. Greinke finished the month of April with a 5-0 record, a 0.50 ERA, two complete games, one shutout, 44 strikeouts in 36 innings and allowed only two earned runs. Greinke has helped the Royals to a 16-11 start (including the month of May). He is now 6-0 with a 0.40 ERA, three complete games, and two shutouts for 2009.
Rounding out our month in review for April is the topic of players hitting for the cycle. Three cycles were completed in the month of April. Orlando Hudson of the Dodgers, Jason Kubel of the Twins, and Ian Kinsler of the Rangers all hit for the cycle in the month of April. Hudson became the first Dodger to hit for the cycle at Dodger Stadium and the first Dodger to do so since Wes Parker did it in 1970 against the Mets at Shea Stadium. Hudson hit for the cycle in the Dodgers first home game of the season. Kubel hit a grand slam to complete his cycle and a seven run rally for the Twins to grab the victory, 11-9, over the Angels. Kubel became the ninth Twin to hit for the cycle. Kinsler’s cycle also included a 6-6 night against the Orioles in a 19-6 win.
The month of April in the 2009 baseball season sure was something to watch and May should only get better. Will there be a perfect game thrown this year? How about a no hitter? April was void of both of those pitching feats but once the weather warms up, pitchers will be able to dominate just a bit more.
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Jim is the creator and editor of At the Dish, Cinn City Sports, Life with Tony and Enzo and owner of JAVFreelancing. He coached baseball for five years, three at his former high school (Holy Cross in Delran, NJ) and two at prominent Division III program Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. He has worked for the Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, NJ; Metro Networks in Bala Cynwyd, PA; and was the play-by-play announcer for the Camden Riversharks of the Independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball for two seasons (2007-2008) on Rowan Radio 89.7 WGLS-FM, the student-run radio station at Rowan University. Jim earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications and minor in Journalism from Rowan University in 2008. While in school he was the Assistant Sports Director at WGLS for two years and the Sports Director for one year. He also covered the football, baseball, softball and both basketball teams for the school newspaper 'The Whit.' Jim lives in New Jersey with his wife Nicole, sons Tony and Enzo and dog Phoebe. He can be reached at jimvassallo@mlbdrafts.com.
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