December 23, 2009
Melky Cabrera is a solid guy to have on a professional baseball team. On one of the top teams in the league, he should be a fourth outfielder. He’s a very average hitter who runs slightly above-average, plays above-average defense and has an above-average arm.
But if you would listen to Yankees fans in the wake of trading away Cabrera and two prospects to the Atlanta Braves for Javier Vazquez – a pitcher who finished fourth in last month’s National League Cy Young voting – you would think the Yankees have traded away the second-coming of Reggie Jackson.
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Posted by tbontemps1
November 5, 2009
From Derek Jeter to Mariano Rivera to Alex Rodriguez to CC Sabathia, the Yankees’ Universe is filled with one bright star after another. That makes it easier for players that, while they could be the best player on other teams, who are complimentary parts in the Yankee machine to fade into the background.
Throughout his time with the Yankees, Hideki Matsui has been one of those players. Nicknamed “Godzilla”, Matsui was the king of Japanese baseball when he chose to come to the United States in to play for the Yankees in December 2002. Such was his fame in Japan, and the level of their excitement for their greatest power hitter going to play for the world’s most famous baseball team, a parade was held in downtown Tokyo to celebrate the occasion.
Imagine the pressure that would be hanging over someone’s head in that situation. Is there anything remotely like it in America? It seems very unlikely. Yet that was the situation Matsui found himself in when he arrived in spring training with the Yankees in 2003.
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October 15, 2009
We’re set up with two entertaining matchups in baseball’s league championship series, with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies facing off in the National League and the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Angels in the American League.
But even before the two series begin, with the Dodgers and Phillies set to begin play tonight and the Yankees and Angels tomorrow, there is only one outcome anyone’s really hoping for. No offense to fans of the Phillies and Angels, but how could any neutral observer not be pulling for what would be one of the greatest storylines in the history of the World Series: Joe Torre making his first appearance in the new Yankee Stadium, the place he helped to create with his incredible 12-year tenure as manager, on the sport’s grandest stage?
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Leave a Comment » | MLB | Tagged: A.J. Burnett, Andre Ethier, Andy Pettitte, CC Sabathia, Clayton Kershaw, Derek Jeter, Joe Girardi, Joe Torre, Jorge Posada, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Mariano Rivera, Mark Teixiera, Matt Kemp, MLB Playoffs, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies | Permalink
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October 7, 2009
Baseball is a sport of endurance. For 162 games over six months, the 30 teams in the major leagues struggle to survive the grueling campaign, leaving only eight teams standing when the postseason begins.
But every once in awhile, the baseball season for two of those teams will come down to the final weekend, with either a division or the wild card spot up for grabs. Sometimes, if we’re lucky, it will go down to the final day of the season.
And then there’s what happened with this year’s race for the American League Central title. The Detroit Tigers led by seven games at one point in September over the Minnesota Twins, and later led them by three games with four games to play. But the Twins managed to beat the Tigers last Thursday, and then swept their final three games with the Kansas City Royals. Meanwhile, the Tigers could only get one of their final three games, beating the Chicago White Sox Sunday afternoon, setting up the rarest of pleasures for a baseball fan: a one-game, winners-takes-all playoff game.
Does it get any better than that?
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July 6, 2009
Given the start to the Mets season, it’s hysterical, at first glance, that the team has the most All-Stars (four), of any team in the National League. They have more All-Stars than the Yankees (three), despite the Yankees playing in baseball’s toughest division and the Mets one of the weakest – and the Yankees have a significantly better record.
But when you look at the names on the team – David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Francisco Rodriguez and Johan Santana – only Beltran is a questionable selection to the team, and that’s because of injury. If he had been healthy, all four would be deserving selections. That doesn’t even take into account the injury to Jose Reyes, who also would have been in contention.
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2 Comments | MLB | Tagged: Adam Dunn, Carlos Beltran, David Wright, Francisco Rodriguez, Jermaine Dye, Johan Santana, Jose Reyes, Luis Castillo, New York Mets, Omar Minaya, Ryan Church | Permalink
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June 25, 2009
Like many people, I’m on an e-mail list with some old friends from college, where we discuss what’s going on in the world of sports. Because (unfortunately) many of them are Yankees fans, we spend a fair amount of time talking about what’s going on with the Bronx Bombers.
Lately, all I’ve been hearing is complaining from them, specifically from my friend Jason, who, in recent e-mail, declared he wanted 16-year-old Bryce Harper to replace Jorge Posada RIGHT NOW and that he wanted to, essentially, get rid of the entire team.
And while many Yankee fans are quite frustrated with their team, the reason for their problems are two-fold: they went from one of the best managers in baseball to a decent one, and their team is too old. Swapping Joe’s – Torre for Girardi – is the biggest point, at least so far. With Torre they make the playoffs last season, and they likely do this season, too.
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May 20, 2009
I made my first two trips to the new Yankee Stadium the last two days, seeing the place from as different a perspective each time as I possibly could. I didn’t intend for it to happen that way – that’s just how things happened to work out.
That being said, as I traveled home last night, I couldn’t help but think of how true all of the criticisms I had heard about the place seemed after getting a chance to experience it for myself.
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May 12, 2009
Here is Clemens during his period of suspected PED use with the Yankees.
Roger Clemens is hilarious.
Does anything more need to be said than that? It’s gotten pretty embarrassing for the now 47-year-old Clemens, who went on ESPN Radio’s “Mike & Mike in the Morning” today to again attempt to refute claims that he did not use performance enhancing drugs. After largely keeping a low profile since his, by most accounts, disastrous performance in front of Congress last spring, the Rocket was back to slamming his former trainer, Brian McNamee – the same trainer that gave Andy Pettitte HGH, and who both McNamee and Pettitte say gave them to Clemens.
“It’s impossible because (McNamee’s) never given me any,” he said. “It’s as simple as that. He’s never given me any HGH or performance-enhancing drugs of any kind, so it’s impossible.”
Again, Roger Clemens is hilarious. If Clemens expects people to believe this nonsense, he’s out of his mind. A look at both his numbers and his body tell a far different tale than the one he continues to perpetuate.
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1 Comment | MLB | Tagged: Andy Pettitte, Boston Red Sox, Brian McNamee, Dan Duquette, Mike Golic, Mike Greenberg, New York Yankees, Roger Clemens, Steroids, Toronto Blue Jays | Permalink
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May 7, 2009
Right off the bat, I have to admit that I’ve always been an enormous fan of Manny Ramirez. I never can change the channel when he’s at the plate, in case he does something special. I think he’s the best pure hitter that I’ve seen in my life – better than Barry Bonds, better than Albert Pujols, better than Alex Rodriguez, better than Tony Gwynn. Without Manny Ramirez, the Red Sox don’t break The Curse.
I’ve defended him through his foibles in the past, and I defended him last year for the way the Red Sox handled the entire situation with him and his contract last year, leading up to his trade to the Dodgers.
That’s why I’m praying that Manny isn’t being Manny for a change, that he isn’t lying when he says he tested positive for PEDs because of he was taking a drug prescribed from a doctor, and didn’t bother to make sure it didn’t contain a banned substance. Otherwise, it’s goodbye Hall of Fame, goodbye accolades, goodbye being considered one of the top right-handed hitters, and overall hitters, the game of baseball has ever seen.
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3 Comments | MLB | Tagged: Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Dodgers, Manny Ramirez, Steroids | Permalink
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