Does he deserve it? Sure, his words were a little harsh and definitely shouldn’t have been said, but c’mon he’s the reason the Phillies are even in the playoff race in the NL East. He shouldn’t have been booed, right?Here’s where it all started, with these comments made by Jimmy Rollins…
There are times, like, it’s one of those cities … I might catch some flack for saying this, but, you know, they’re front-runners. When you’re doing good, they’re on your side. When you’re doing bad, they’re completely against you.
Jimmy Rollins on Philadelphia Phillies Fans on Best Damn Sports Show Period
Well, he ended up catching a lot of flack for saying that. And, in his first game since those comments he was booed immediately, starting from the announcing of the starting lineups. Every at bat by Rollins was seranaded with boos. Now, Jimmy Rollins was the Phillie Faithful’s favorite player last year, as his MVP season led them storming into the playoffs in the last month passing the stumbling Mets. So, they’re booing him now, doesn’t that mean he’s right, that they are in fact front-runners?
The answer is yes. Of course fans are front-runners in the sense that Rollins meant. Fans love you when you play well and hate you when you don’t, deal with it. And Jimmy Rollins isn’t playing well at all this year. After his .296, 30 HR, 94 RBI season last year, he’s hitting .263 with only 8 HR’s and 42 RBI’s. When you drop off that much after a season in which Phillie fans thought they were set for the next couple of years, of course they’re going to be mad.
I don’t think that Phillies fans should have booed him like they did but they do have a point. Rollins knew he was wrong when he was saying it, and even though he stuck his neck out for his teammates (statements were more about his teammates than himself), keep it in the clubhouse. If you don’t know how fans act by now you should seriously understand quickly because fans booing you every day can destroy one’s confidence and ruin a season.
We’ve all witnessed the tabacle that was the Manny Ramirez trade in which the Red Sox traded away a first ballot hall of famer to the Dodgers in a three way deal for Jason Bay. That along with Favregate became the two stories of interest and absorbed sports television. Well, with those two situations settling down(somewhat) who’s to say the Manny situation won’t heat up again. And, the Yankees might be involved…how juicy.
Manny’s love affair with the Boston Red Sox which rewarded both with two championship rings and ended the horrid curse of the Bambino, came to an abrupt end in the middle of this season. The love was gone. And soon enough Manny was gone. The Manny saga became as soap operish(that’s right soap operish) as Favre’s retirement. The two sides bickered back and forth, dissing eachother through the media. I did not agree with the Red Sox getting rid of Manny, because he’s such a great hitter that you can deal with his drama. But, the Red Sox could not. So now he’s a Dodger.
Does Manny want to be a Dodger? Of course not. He doesn’t want to be in the National League where the best pitchers in the world are. He doesn’t want to be in the least talented division in major league baseball in the NL West. He wants to be in the American League where the balls fly out of ballparks. He wants to be in the American League where he can get back at the Red Sox. And, maybe, just maybe, he wants to be the face of a new stadium. A new Yankee Stadium.
If you don’t believe me look at this coming from the New York Post…
According to people who have spoken to the eccentric outfielder since he was dealt to L.A. on July 31, Ramirez wants to sign a free-agent deal with the Yankees this offseason and get 19 chances a year to punish Boston.
George A. King III, New York Post
Ramirez becomes a free agent at the end of this year’s World Series. Brian Cashman may be in risk of losing his job by then because with the way the Yankees are playing right now, the Yankees won’t be the ones in this year’s World Series. Now, what’s the one desparate move that could save both he and the Yankees which will bring enormous crowds to the new Yankee Stadium? Putting one of the Yankees arch rivals in pinstripes and pitting him against his former team. You can’t make this stuff up…well I just did so I guess you can, but it would be awesome, right?
As a Ranger, Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez torched the Yankees, now he has become one. With the news that Jorge Posada will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery, the Yankees didn’t hesitate to make one of the biggest trades of the season and landing Rodriguez.
Ivan Pudge Rodriguez will be behind the plate for the New York Yankees coming down the stretch
In the deal the Yankees gave away the the uncontrollable talent of Kyle Farnsworth who drives fans and coaches of the Yankees awol whenever he pitches. The loss of Farnsworth means that the Yankees bullpen, which has been surprisingly good this season, will have a bit of a hole. But, that hole pales in comparison to the hole that Posada has left this season.
Farnsworth is Detroit's Problem Now
Posada who we won’t see until next season was having his worst year yet behind the plate and at the plate where he struggled to throw out runners and failed to drive in runners. He tried to overcome the injury by playing DH and first but season ending surgery was imminent. The Yankees’ Brian Cashman and company quickly made a deal that may solve the Yankees biggest problem. Pudge is hitting .295 and has 5 home runs to go with the gun he sports behind the plate. Posada couldn’t throw out runners if they walked to second base this season and Pudge is sure to slow down runners on the base pads. Pudge has a career average of .302 and has always shown a great deal of power for a catcher. He is an all-around athlete doing it with the bat, glove, and actually has some speed for a catcher. He has earned 13 Gold Glove awards and was named AL MVP in 1999.
Pudge brings a fire the Yankees need
The Yankees so far have made all the right moves in the past two weeks filling in the holes in their team. They acquired a powerful bat in Richie Sexson, added the versatile Xavier Nady, and now add one of the greatest catchers of all time in Ivan Rodriguez. With rumors that the first place Rays may make a deal for Jason Bay, the Yankees have already kept pace by landing Rodriguez’s bat. Overall, an intelligent couple of weeks for the Yankees, something we haven’t seen for a while.
I tried. I tried my hardest to watch this year’s Hall of Fame inductions but I just couldn’t do it. Honestly I’d rather watch paint dry than listen to Dick Williams drone on about old baseball stories.
The thing is, there aren’t any inductees that I watched growing up, so it means nothing to me. I appreciate all that Goose Gossage and his mustache has done for the sport of baseball, but it just isn’t enough for me. The thing is, you can’t respect someone who gets into the hall on default. Just because there wasn’t any body better available.
And another thing, there are 6 inductees this year…and 4 of them aren’t alive. Why weren’t these guys inducted earlier. The best part is hearing these guys speak so why do we have to wait until they’re dead to commemorate what they’ve done. The voters need to be aware of these things and be able to put these guys in before it’s too late.
The only good thing about this weak class being inducted this year, is that it’s the last for a while. Now, we get to see recent heroes get put in. Next year I’ll watch it, but for God’s sake, can it be on a channel better than ESPN Classic?
Every athlete has their own routine on game day to get themselves both mentally and physically ready to play. Some guys are very superstitious and go through the exact same routine for every game. They may wear the same clothes, or put on the right shoe first every time, whatever it takes to make an athlete feel confident and that he is prepared.
Travis Blackley is one such athlete who has his own unique game day ritual. Travis is a pitcher in the Philadelphia Phillies organization and is currently pitching for their AAA affiliate the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. Travis is from Australia and was originally drafted by the Mariners and had stints in the big leagues with both the mariners and the San Francisco Giants before making his way east to the Phillies organization. He has high hopes of returning to the big leagues one day and until that happens he is doing everything he can to have success at the minor league level. Listen to the following clip of an interview that we did with Travis about what he does on game day to get himself ready to hit the mound every night.
Sportsgist.com recently spent five days with Tampa Bay Ray pitcher Chris Mason down in Durham, North Carolina. Chris is in Durham pitching for the Durham Bulls who are the AAA affiliate of the Rays. This is day 5 in his pitching cycle. One in which he mentally prepares for his upcoming start, but most importantly he gets to relax a little bit from his daily baseball activities.
BOYS WILL BE BOYS:
In this video, Chris is on his last day before his next start. This is a day to recover and get ready to take the mound tomorrow. His work routine…the conditioning, workouts, and bullpen…have allowed him to keep his body in shape and adjust some of the flaws he had with his delivery.
Now we get to talk with Chris’ roommate, Nick DeBarr, and find out some inside information about Chris. Nick talks about Chris sleeping all day long and eating lots of hot pockets each day. As with many minor league baseball players, Chris loves to play video games. He is the man with the new Nintendo Wii. Nick offers Chris some words of advice, telling him to keep working hard and “maybe” get some more sleep. As all baseball players now, the journey is very long and difficult at times. There are many highs and lows throughout the season, but ultimately the ones who succeed are the ones who keep their emotions on a straight line. Never let your highs get to high or your lows get to low. As Nicks says, “Stay the course.”
Sportsgist.com gets to talk with Tampa Bay Ray pitcher Chris Mason and his pitching coach down in Durham, North Carolina during and after his Bullpen. Just in case you forgot, Chris is in Durham pitching for the Durham Bulls, the AAA affiliate of the Rays. Our objective was to hang out with Chris and learn exactly what a pitcher does both on the days he pitches and on the days that he does not pitch. Working in the pen is where a pitcher fine tunes his mechanics before stepping out onto the mound for his next start.
BULLPEN SESSION:
In this video, Chris is going through the one of the most important, yet underrated, aspects of pitcher: the Bullpen. Pitching greats such as Greg Maddox and Roger Clemons worked out the kinks in their bullpen sessions. Chris works on keeping his mechanics in order. As his coach states, Chris has an unorthodox delivery which makes his timing all the more important. If he loses his release point or his shoulder flies open, Chris will have a hard time getting out of trouble. With that being said, Chris has decent stuff. His fastball is consistently at 87-88 mph and tops out at 91 mph. He has a good breaking ball and a decent change up. His deceptive delivery makes it difficult for hitters to pick up the ball…one of the reason why Chris has been successful throughout his career.
Sportsgist.com gets to talk with Tampa Bay Ray pitcher Chris Mason down in Durham, North Carolina the day after his start. Just in case you forgot, Chris is in Durham pitching for the Durham Bulls, the AAA affiliate of the Rays. Our objective was to hang out with Chris and learn exactly what a pitcher does both on the days he pitches and on the days that he does not pitch.
PITCHER’S FIELDING PRACTICE:
In this video, Chris is going through the monotonous routine of pitcher’s fielding practice.All pitcher’s hate PFP (the baseball term for pitcher’s fielding practice), but they understand that repetition will only help them when they need to make a play.Making the play could be the difference in winning the game or losing the game.After PFPs, Chris gets to run around the outfield and shag some BP.All pitchers’ think they’re Andrew Jones, but running down fly balls actually helps them in their recovery.After BP, Chris runs a bit to get the blood circulating through the body and then it’s off to the showers.He watches the game from the stands where he charts every pitch for his time and one inning from the opposing team.He charts what pitch was thrown, the location, and speed of the pitches.The life of a pitcher…gotta love it!!!
Sportsgist.com recently spent five days with Tampa Bay Ray pitcher Chris Mason down in Durham, North Carolina. Chris is in Durham pitching for the Durham Bulls who are the AAA affiliate of the Rays. Our objective was to hang out with Chris and learn exactly what a pitcher does both on the days he pitches and on the days that he does not pitch. These videos are valuable to any pitchers out there that want to know what it takes to have success out on the mound. Chris takes us through each day of his routine and explains what it is that he is doing and why he is doing it. We also get to hear from Chris’ pitching coach as well as his strength and conditioning coach and his roommate.
STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING:
In this video, Chris is going through his off day workout routine. He will do his leg work out on the field with the strength coach and then will go inside to do his upper body lifts. His leg workout is a continuous circuit which will help Chris to develop strength in his legs and at the same time to work on his endurance, both key elements for a pitcher to be effective throughout a long season. Unfortunately we were not able to go inside with Chris, but you do hear his strength coach talk about the importance for a pitcher to focus more on his back and pulling exercise then his chest and pushing exercises.
Chris Mason is one of the top pitching prospects in the Tampa Bay Rays farm system.It has been quite some journey for him as he gets closer to reaching his ultimate dream: making it to the big leagues!He has coasted through the minors…dominating at every level he pitched at.Chris began his first full season of minor league baseball in Visalia, CA.He finished the season with a 12-10 record, which was very good considering it was his first full season of professional baseball.The next year was Chris’ coming out party.He pitched at the Double A level in Montgomery, AL and was voted the Southern League pitcher of the year and Co-MVP of the league.He was 15-4 with a 2.57 ERA and 136 strikeouts.
Chris is currently pitching in Triple A for the Durham Bulls.Chris takes us through his gameday routine…from start to finish.He tells us about when he wakes up, why he shaves his arms, and what happened during the game.The video gives you a good idea about who Chris Mason is and how he prepares for his starts.The video also shows what a great minor league baseball town Durham is.
