Zimmerman-Longoria face off in Tampa. Outside of the game-by-game interest of the Washington Nationals-Tampa Bay Rays upcoming tussle, the three-day tilt features an unusual head-to-head match-up between two of the major league’s premier young third-sackers — Tampa Bay’s Evan Longoria and Washington’s Ryan Zimmerman. The match-up is of more than passing interest, as the two have a lot in common: Longoria is hitting .307 with 14 home runs and 56 RBIs. Zimmerman has similar numbers: a .316 batting average with 11 home runs and 40 RBIs. You would have to say that Longoria has the edge in the batter’s box — his RBI totals are exceptional for 58 games — though their OBP numbers are nearly dead-even (Zimmerman’s is .393, Longoria’s is .390). But those who give the edge to “Longo” (citing his extra-base RBI binge) will have to give way to those who argue that Zim’s prodigious multi-game hitting streak is likely to remain unmatched for the rest of the year. 

The two are much alike in many other ways: both were taken in the first five picks of the first year draft (Zimmerman in 2005, Longoria in 2006), both received large bonuses with their initial teams (Longoria’s contract is for six years with options that total out to $44 million; Zimmerman’s is for five years at $45 milli0n), and both play in leagues in which more established New York-based third basemen (Alex Rodriguez in the AL and David Wright in the NL) who garner greater public attention. Finally, both are the face of their respective franchises, though Longoria’s Tampa Bay Rays have (quite obviously) met with far greater success. At least so far. Which, come to think of it, might give the edge to Zim. It’s hard to know how Longoria would react on a team that is “playing for pride” instead of first place, but we know how Zimmerman reacts — he plays hard every day.

Down On Half Street: That we here at CFG would cover Longoria is hardly a coincidence. We received this letter from a constant reader (“Bill” — in Annandale), who took issue with our top ten list of best MLB players. “Dear CFG: putting Zimmerman at number 10 is the most ‘homer’ thing I have ever seen. Evan Longoria has him beat by a mile. That said, the list is about as good as these lists get — it’s lousy. How can you have a list like this and not include Ryan Howard?” . . . And our response? “Who’s Ryan Howard? Oh yeah, the wiff master of Philadelphia.” I think, yes, it’s coming back now; yes, definitely, we remember him . . . ugh . . . For you readers who have similar comments, please note that on our site we have a contact button at the top of the page. We welcome criticism, but not too much of it . . . or put a comment on the comments page. Some readers have actually started to do that. It’s amazing. You write things where it says comments, hit “submit” and then in a little while, if it’s reasonable and not filled with vulgarities (or even if it is, in some cases) it appears;  

The results are in and CFG has finally reached an international audience. Really! We have readers in Hungary (no kidding), Taiwan, Greece, the U.K., Canada (okay, that’s not really a foreign country), Texas and India. We’d have an audience in Lebanon, but no one there really cares. I’m really curious about the India (!) thing, but there it is . . . There was a comment in the Weekly Reader this morning about how MASN had left viewers high and dry (well, not dry) with a continuation of the rain-delayed game against Cincinnati. I have no idea what you people are talking about. After the game was delayed I got a perfect image  . . . and while we’re at it. It’s time to vote for him. It’s time to put him where he belongs: in the starting line-up of the All-Star Game.