The New York Yankees are typically the best road draw in baseball. This year, there’s an added bonus: the Mariano Rivera farewell tour.
And so far it hasn’t been just a “here’s a gift and thanks” type of ceremonial thing, either. He’s taking …
Archive | Baseball
Rivera putting new spin on ballpark farewells
Posted on 19 June 2013.
Posted in BaseballComments Off
Blockbusters Revisited: Mat Latos to Reds
Posted on 19 June 2013.
A very impressive streak ended on Tuesday in Cincinnati when the Pittsburgh Pirates shut out the Reds.
It was the first loss for the Reds in a Mat Latos start since last August, a run of 21 consecutive regular-season starts by the 25-year-old…
Posted in BaseballComments Off
Giants should get out of the way, let A’s move
Posted on 19 June 2013.
The whole notion of territorial rights in Major League Baseball is standing in the way of a much-needed new home for the Oakland Athletics.
The A’s have the worst ballpark in the big leagues, and it isn’t even close. They play in a football s…
Posted in BaseballComments Off
Yankees holding it together with duct tape
Posted on 18 June 2013.
Joe Girardi deserves a ton of credit for what he’s done so far this season. The Yankees haven’t had anything close to their projected everyday lineup all season — and probably won’t — yet the Yankees would be just a half-game out of the play…
Posted in BaseballComments Off
Monday Morning Manager: Pitchers feeling vulnerable
Posted on 17 June 2013.
Some innovative people are trying to develop some headwear for pitchers that provides more protection. They needed to get this done yesterday.
Alex Cobb of the Tampa Bay Rays became the latest pitcher to get drilled in the head by a line drive. He’s doing OK and was put on the concussion list (out for at least seven days) on Sunday. J.A. Happ of the Blue Jays was a victim last month, and suffered a fractured skull. Doug Fister was drilled during the World Series. Brandon McCarthy had to have brain surgery and had a seizure last week as he tries to recover from one of the scariest line drive injuries in years.
While football has its own problems with concussions, it seems like it would be in baseball’s best interest to come up with its own solutions for pitchers. Yeah, they’d look pretty goofy with batting helmets, but some kind of lightweight, reinforced cap would provide some protection for a player who is typically just 50 feet from the plate after finishing his windup. Perhaps they’d look like this.
“Whoever comes up with the solution for this, they’re never going to have to work again in their lives,” Rays pitcher David Price said Sunday. “It’s scary. We know about that. You think about it, and then you don’t think about it when you’re on the mound. But when you see it happen, and you see line drives and hard groundballs up the middle, it definitely crosses your mind.”
On to this week’s Monday Morning Manager:
WHO’S HOT
Evan Longoria and Matt Joyce, Rays: They’ve combined for eight home runs and 21 hits in the last seven games.
Cory Kluber, Indians: Who? The Indians starter beat Stephen Strasburg and the Washington Nationals on Sunday and the Texas Rangers last Tuesday. He gave up one run in 16 innings.
Yovani Gallardo, Brewers: Didn’t give up a run in consecutive starts, both wins, over the Marlins and Reds.
WHO’S NOT
Mark Reynolds, Indians: After a hot start, he’s slumping — 6 for 44 in June with one homer and 21 strikeouts.
Travis Hafner, Yankees: The Indians’ former DH was 0 for 19 last week and is hitting .111 in June (4 for 36).
Matt Moore, Rays: After starting 8-0, he’s lost his last three starts and his ERA has ballooned from 2.18 to 4.12 in just three appearances.
TOP 5
1. St. Louis Cardinals (44-25, last week No. 1)
2. Boston Red Sox (42-29, last week No. 3)
3. Oakland A’s (42-29, last week unranked)
4. Atlanta Braves (41-28, last week No. 2)
T5. Cincinnati Reds (42-28, last week No. 5)
T5. Detroit Tigers (38-29, last week unranked)
BOTTOM 5
26. Milwaukee Brewers (28-40, last week No. 27)
27. Chicago White Sox (28-38, last week unranked)
28. New York Mets (25-39, last week No. 28)
29. Houston Astros (26-44, last week No. 29)
30. Miami Marlins (21-47, last week No. 30)
Source: About.com
Posted in BaseballComments Off
Blockbusters Revisited: Chris Davis to Baltimore
Posted on 12 June 2013.
We’re bending the rules just a bit in this week’s Blockbusters Revisited to examine a trade that certainly wasn’t considered a blockbuster at the time, but it’s one from two seasons ago that the Texas Rangers almost certainly wish they had bac…
Posted in BaseballComments Off
College World Series field set
Posted on 11 June 2013.
It was a great first round for the seeded teams, but the path was precarious in the super regionals.
No. 1 North Carolina, No. 3 Oregon State and No. 4 LSU survived. Four other national seeds were knocked out. However, all eight teams in Omah…
Posted in BaseballComments Off
Monday Morning Manager: Puig could end an L.A. drought
Posted on 10 June 2013.
Starting with Jackie Robinson 66 years ago, the Dodgers organization has had a stranglehold on the National League Rookie of the Year award.
They have 16 in team history, which is twice the number of any other team in either league. The Dodge…
Posted in BaseballComments Off
Biogenesis scandal is bound to become really ugly
Posted on 05 June 2013.
The explosive news about possible 100-game suspensions for 20 big-league players in the ever-growing Biogenesis scandal is dominating the headlines today, but this isn’t all cut and dried.
This isn’t a bunch of players testing positive for dr…
Posted in BaseballComments Off
Blockbusters revisited: All of the Cliff Lee deals
Posted on 05 June 2013.
For a pitcher of his pedigree, Cliff Lee has been traded a lot.
He was first dealt in a famously one-sided deal from Montreal to Cleveland in 2002 in which the Indians gave up Bartolo Colon and got back three minor-leaguers who became future …
Posted in BaseballComments Off