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?
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.
It’s scary to think that with the way the Tampa Bay Rays are playing this year that they have yet another first pick. This season they are playing like a playoff team and are beating up on teams in the powerful American League East. The Rays’ first pick of the draft was Beckham. Not the pretty boy soccer player but Tim Beckham from Griffin High in Georgia. The shortstop may complete an already impressive team in a few years and give American League teams more to worry about. Beckham wasn’t the only solid pick in the draft as I’ll break down the first ten picks of the MLB draft for you.
1.Tampa Bay Rays-Tim Beckham SS: Griffin High School, Georgia-Exactly what the Rays needed to complete their team. If they can hold on to him and not trade him the Rays will be set for the next ten years as they build around Rocco Baldelli, Evan Longoria, and Crawford.
2.Pittsburgh Pirates-Pedro Alvarez 3B: Vanderbilt University- Arguably the most talented player in the draft Alvarez could become a perennial all star in the MLB. The question is who will he be an all star for? Alvarez’s contract demands may be too much for the Pirates to handle and could end up somewhere else.
3. Kansas City Royals- Eric Hosmer 1B: American Heritage High School, Florida- An all-around player who is a solid player in the field, and the lefty has one of the strongest bats High School. If the Royals can keep him he can be a great power hitter with solid defense. I would compare him to a Tino Martinez, a great player who can make a tremendous impact.
4. Baltimore Orioles- Brian Matusz LHP: San Diego University- The Orioles desperately need starting pitching and nothing like a 6′4, 200lb lefty to do the job. Matusz has four pitches and can be very dominating with his size. One worry is the slow start he had to last season and that could impede his road to the Majors.
5.San Francisco Giants- Gerald Posey C: Florida State University- With the Giants losing their only hitter in Bonds(probably to prison), they need to find an answer. Posey might just be that answer. He has all the tools as a catcher except for power. I don’t think this was the right choice for the lowly Giants as they should be rebuilding with pitching.
6. Florida Marlins- Kyle Skipworth C- Patriot High School, California- Just like the Rays, the Marlins look awfully good this year and have both a young team and a small payroll. The Marlins got a steal with Skipworth because he is better than Giants’ 5th Pick, Posey, who is also a catcher. The Marlins have to be happy with the luck they’re getting and all they need is some luck in holding on to their players.
7. Cincinnati Reds- Yonder Alonso 1B- University of Miami- Not the best defensive player but sports a great bat that may get him into the majors. I don’t see him staying in the National League, but I can see him as a DH in the American. The Reds should trade him to get some good value for their team.
8. Chicago White Sox- Gordon Beckham SS- University of Georgia- Another Beckham!?! Again not the soccer player, but a middle infielder that the White Sox wanted and needed. They lack middle infield depth and Beckham could be a great utility guy who can start every night for the White Sox.
9. Washington Nationals- Aaron Crow RHP- University of Missouri Columbia- With only the second pitcher chosen in the first ten, Crow is a very smart choice for the Nationals. Crow has the best arm in the draft and will be a great piece to build around.
10.Houston Astros- Jason Castro C- Stanford University- The Astros would have been better off choosing Fidel Castro. Not really but Castro is not top ten talent to say the least and is not the right choice for the Astros. The future of Castro staying at catcher is bleak and may move to second base. I think Castro reminds the Astros of Craig Biggio who also went from catcher to second base for the Astros.
So in a Beckham filled draft, who are the winners? The two Florida teams stole the show, with the Rays picking up Tim Beckham first, and the Florida Marlins stealing Kyle Skipworth with the sixth pick. The Astros, Royals, and Giants are sadly the losers making all dumb moves. After this draft I think the Rays have a tremendous future ahead of them.
According to the New York Times, the federal government will look to question 104 MLB players who tested positive for steroids in 2003. Finally the government is doing something more than just naming names like what happened with the Mitchell Report. I guess they finally realized that they all used them illegally and there may be more than one law broken in using them.
The feds got the test results from a BALCO investigation in which they seized several reports of players using performance enhancing drugs. Now, all those names mentioned in the Mitchell Report who said, “oh George Mitchell didn’t do the investigation properly” or “I never used performance enhancing drugs, he has no proof, just speculations,” will finally have own up to their use.
They will also have to own up to destroying the game that you and I love. Sure a bunch of juiced up fools crushing a ball 400 feet is entertaining, but the integrity of the game was ruined during the 90’s thanks to idiots like Bonds, McGwire, and Canseco. These subpoenas will now force players to tell the truth and reveal what they did to America’s game.
The government will ask these steroid abusers where they got their stuff from and we will find out just how much MLB players will go through to get big and make a couple bucks. The 104 names will be asked to give testimony to either federal agents or grand juries in order to find their suppliers and help clean up sports as a whole. If these players had any brains they would tell the truth. Just look at Bonds, Tim Montgomery, and Marion Jones.
So far the only way these players who have been caught for steroid use have gotten in major trouble is when they lie about it and Bonds with the news he received this week(Indicted on 14 charges) is the biggest juice filled example of that. Just tell the truth so that we can clean the game up, realize your a fraud, and move on from this steroid era.
It’s begun. Baseball’s greatest rivalry. First came the buried jersey. One construction worker/fan’s attempt to reverse the Babe’s curse by burying a David Ortiz jersey beneath the new Yankee Stadium.
The excavated David Ortiz jersey
Then came the ballgames.
And if you watched the series between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park this past weekend, you’d have a heck of a time remembering it’s only April.
As far as the fans and the media were concerned, it could have been late September with the pennant at stack. Things are so hyped between the two teams that FOX broadcast the game on Saturday and ESPN took Sunday.
And because the Sox took two out of three, the media in New York has already raised the volume, worrying about the Yankee’s young star Phil Hughes, and criticizing Joe Girardi’s managing.
When it comes to the Yanks and Sox, it’s amazing how quickly things can turn.
After Friday night’s masterful showing by Yankee ace Chien-Ming Wang, Red Sox fans were worried. They were freaked out by David “Big Papi” Ortiz suddenly inability to hit the ball; they were worried that wunkerkind Clay Bucholz might have lost something one year after his magical no-hitter.
Chien-Ming Wang - Photo: Barry Chiu/Boston Globe
One night later – after rain – and Jonathan Papelbon’s blazing fastball and sinking split – it was New York’s turn to despair. It didn’t take long for New York to pile on Joe Girardi for his decision to let Mike Mussina pitch to Manny Ramirez. Manny – a one-man Yankee wrecking machine – did what he loves to do, he smacked the ball.
Manny running to first - Photo: Matthew Lee/Boston Globe
This is the way NY Newsday described it:
Up one run in the sixth inning, with Red Sox on second and third base and two outs, what would compel Girardi to go after Manny Ramirez? Before anyone could even voice such a thought, the decision backfired, with Ramirez’s two-run double on Mike Mussina’s first pitch putting the Red Sox ahead.
It’s important to put Girardi’s decision in context. If Mussina had walked Manny, he would have had to face Kevin Youklis. We’re not talking Julio Lugo here, we talking Kevin Youklis. And as great as Manny does against the Yanks, Mussina does well against him: even though he previously hit a solo home run earlier, Manny was 25-for-97, batting .258 lifetime vs Mussina. But this time, Manny got ahold of a fastball that made its way back over the plate and sent it to right centerfield. Ellsbury and Pedroia scored and a Yankee lead of 2-1 was transformed to a 3-2 deficit.
Girardi was direct: “You have to live by your decisions. There’s a lot of decisions that you’re going to make during the course of the year. Hopefully, 95 percent of them work out. But that’s not the case during this game.”
And Mussina took the blame: “Whatever the strategy was, I didn’t make a good pitch. Manny’s too good a player to make mistakes like that. He was up there ready to go, and he hit it.”
Newsweek blogger Ken Davidoff wasn’t so understanding:
That’s exactly why you take the bat out of Manny’s hands and take your chances having to be precise with Youkilis.
That’s why Girardi’s first high-profile tactical decision since he took over the Yankees manager’s office - with the understanding that he would exhibit more in-game savvy than Joe Torre - made surprisingly little sense.
Sunday night brought more pain to the Bronx Bombers. Already a bit shaky with Jorge Posada absence behind the plate, backup catcher Jose Molina’s hamstring injury revealed how easily things fall apart. The Sox, on the other hand, have managed to beautifully overcome World Series’ MVP Mike Lowell’s injury by shifting Youklis from first to third and bringing Sean Casey in to first.
Manny continued to be Manny on Sunday night, going 2-for-3 with a walk, one RBI and two runs scored.
So Round One goes to the Red Sox. But Red Soxers still have reason to worry – Big Papi’s silent bat and Matsuzaka’s propensity to walk batters.
A frustrated David Ortiz - Photo: Barry Chiu/Boston Globe
Round Two resumes at Yankee Stadium.
And just a reminder. Save some energy for the season to come. It’s still April.
Several commentators to our last post made the point that Duncan’s spikes-up play at 2nd base brought the Yankees together.
Well who would have suspected that just days later, the Red Sox would find a way to create unity without the possibility of a career-ending injury to Aki Iwamura.
Now anybody, everybody who breathes baseball knows of the lifelong hatred between the Pinstripers and Red Sox Nation. And without walking into a crossfire here, I do want to hand it to the Sox for their classy display of team camaraderie.
Some bloggers at espn and cbssportsline lost it for a bit there with the usual rants about overpaid players. But that completely missed the point. Because this was about overpaid players looking out for the support staff – the folks almost everybody overlooks. That’s right. It was all about the coaches and Red Sox staff who do the day-to-day baseball stuff behind the scenes.
Red Sox Bench Coach Brad Mills - Photo: AP
They don’t make the big bucks. Fact is the $40,000 they thought they were getting for the long trip to Japan - the same stipend the players were to get - is a sizeable chunk of their annual salary.
The Red Sox willingness to boycott their last exhibition game and the threat to forego the Japan trip was, in the words of ESPN “an extraordinary move.” Add to that the willingness of the Oakland A’s to do the same, and you’ve got some deep team loyalty and unity at work. The players of the two teams standing up for the folks of their team who don’t get the face-time or the press or the accolades. The folks no one asks for autographs.
Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon - Photo: J. Meric/Getty
It all came to a peaceful conclusion when Major League Baseball agreed to pay the managers, coaches and trainers on the trip $20,000 each from management’s proceeds. And The Red Sox agreed to chip in the rest and give the other team personnel the stipend to make the trip.
Here’s what some of the players and staff had to say:
“The players just stepped up and they did what I think was right,” Boston bench coach Brad Mills said.
Terry Francona declared: “We’re so united. And I don’t mean just the players. I mean the staff, the trainers and our players showed that and that’s what this was about. It wasn’t about being greedy. It was about trying to be unified.”
Oakland player rep Huston Street put it this way: “They’re just as much a part of this team as anybody. Playoff shares, coaches get an equal share. You look at previous Japan trips, coaches have gotten an equal share.”
Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell stated that giving $20,000 payments for the coaches would not have been acceptable when the players were making $40,000.
“We didn’t think that was correct,” he said. “Giving them half of that is not equal.”
