The top of the AL crop
Posted by Rob Boudreau Categories: Athletes, Editorial, MLB, Rumors
With the recent announcement that Tim Lincecum was the National League Cy Young Award winner, it leaves only two more 2009 Major League Baseball award winners to be announced, which will be done this coming Monday. One of those is the American League Most Valuable Player, and, like the NL Cy Young, the AL MVP race couldn’t be closer. With Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, Miguel Cabrera, and Joe Mauer in the hunt, the award could go to anybody.
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AL Silver Sluggers announced with few surprises
Posted by Rob Boudreau Categories: Athletes, Editorial, Kudos, MLB
The American League Silver Slugger Award winners were announced recently, and six of the nine selections came out of the East, which further goes to show just how powerful – literally – this division is. The New York Yankees had repeat winners in Mark Teixeira at first-base and Derek Jeter at short. The Boston Red Sox’s Jason Bay was honored with his first, the Tampa Bay Rays’ Evan Longoria at third, and the Toronto Blue Jays each had first-timers with Aaron Hill at second and Adam Lind as the designated hitter. The rest of the league squeaked in Joe Mauer, catcher for the Minnesota Twins with his third, and Ichiro Suzuki from the Seattle Mariners and Torii Hunter from the Los Angeles Angels in outfield, with their third and first, respectively.
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The Yankees’ Homegrown Solutions to Expensive Problems
Posted by Rob Boudreau Categories: Athletes, Editorial, MLB
There is a perception that the New York Yankees’ success is the direct result of a $200+ million payroll year after year. It seems that each offseason, the Yankees will just go out and fill their holes with cash, which was highlighted this past offseason with the acquisitions of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Mark Teixeira. However, if you look a little deeper, you’ll see that the Yankees also have a healthy mix of homegrown talent on the field day after day.
There’s the obvious “face of the franchise” in Derek Jeter, whose Hall of Fame bat and classy off-the-field demeanor is famous nationwide; and there’s the scariest closer in baseball in Mariano Rivera, who can make even the most dangerous batters look like A-ball rookies in the box. But the Yankee scouts have been hard at work for the last few years, trying to find cheaper solutions to the on-field problems. Let’s face it, while the Yankee ownership doesn’t have trouble with the stratospheric payroll, why wouldn’t they want to cut back some costs if there are cheaper options available?
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Alex Rodriguez Is Tired
Posted by Dennis Velasco Categories: Editorial, Injuries, MLB, News
The much maligned New York Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez is “fatigued,” so he will be taking tonight and tomorrow off when the Yankees go down to play the Florida Marlins. Rodriguez, who played high school ball in South Florida and almost attended the University of Miami before the Seattle Mariners signed the then 18-year-old, is quite a celebrity in the Miami area and his playing against the Marlins is considered somewhat of a homecoming… only, unless he pinch-hits, won’t happen until Sunday.
However, let’s call this rest period what it really is, a benching. For the month of June, A-Rod is only batting .145 in 55 at-bats and is mired in an 0-for-15 slump, mostly coming at the hands of the powerful pitching arms of the Washington Nationals… and, yes, that was sarcasm if you missed it. It could be argued in this day and age and considering Rodriguez’s admission of not knowing he used steroids for however long, that without the PEDs, Rodriguez won’t perform up to par. Well, it certainly seems so, doesn’t it?
However, in 38 games thus far, he does have nine dingers and 26 RBIs, which in a full season would put him at about 37 HRs and 105 RBIs, which aren’t too shabby numbers. Personally, I don’t like A-Rod and I’m a Yankees fan. Yes, I’m one of those that doesn’t feel like he’s earned his stripes yet and unfairly or not, I’m going to juxtapose him to the greatness of Derek Jeter, whom I’ve followed since day one when he played with the big club. Do I think that A-Rod is still juicing? No. Do I think he’s going to be as great as he was? No. But, I also don’t think he’s this bad. Remember, there was a period where we can assume he wasn’t on steroids or used PEDs and was still a pretty good hitter. I think right now, he’s in a slump as every hitter goes through and he is just coming back from hip surgery.
But enough with the double-talk. Haven’t we learned from Alex Rodriguez’s preseason press conference that the double-talk doesn’t work when it comes to A-Rod? He’s being bench because he stinks right now. If anyone is fatigued is those of us that know about semantics and reading between the lines.
Yanks Take Home Opener 3-2
Posted by Milo Taibi Categories: Athletes, MLB, Scoreboard
Chien-Ming Wang proved his place as the New York Yankees’ ace of 2008. Tonight, on the night of the last ever (old) Yankee Stadium home opener, Wang went 7 innings strong striking out only 2 but giving up just 6 hits and 2 earned runs. Toronto Blue Jays’ starting pitcher Roy Halladay was just barely outdueled; Halladay went 7 innings as well giving up 7 hits and 3 runs, all of which earned. Mariano Rivera notched his first save of the 2008 season, striking out one.
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Mets Take First Game of Subway Series
Posted by Milo Taibi Categories: Athletes, MLB, News
Thanks to a terrific pitching performance from Oliver Perez and a clutch two run jack from Endy Chavez the New York Mets took the first of three games from the New York Yankees. Despite pitching well, the tough luck loser is Andy Petitte and the winner is Oliver Perez. Petitte is now 2-3, and Perez is now 5-3. Also with a single in the third inning Perez now has seven hits for the season, tying him for the Major League lead hits for a pitcher with Livan Hernandez.
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