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?

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.

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?

Could the Mets handle this situation any worse? Throughout the last month or two, there has been heightened speculation about Willie Randolph’s coaching future. They have left Willie out to dry with dumb meetings and threats leaked to the media to make the job of coaching the Mets worse than it already is. So it only makes since that at 3:30 in the morning yesterday, they end this tabocle the worst way possible.

A report stated this weekend that if Willie doesn’t turn things around he is out as manager. The Mets were in the midst of a road trip in Texas playing against the Rangers when these rumors began. I never understand these threats in sports. Upper management threatens a coach to get the team together in a matter of days. If the thought of firing Willie was in the mind of Omar Minaya, what is winning a couple games against the Rangers, who don’t even play in your league, going to change things. And why would you do it in the middle of a road trip? Why not before or after a road trip? And why at 3:30 IN THE MORNING!?!?

I’ve heard a lot(maybe too much) about why Willie was fired at 3:30 in the morning. Maybe they were up talking about the job or maybe Omar had a bad dream about Willie and decided then, I don’t know. But, I do know this, do it when people are awake, do it when everyone else does it, sometime during the next day. The worst thing I heard was that maybe Omar gave Willie the choice of firing his coaches or its him. Why would Omar want Willie Randolph to fire his bench coaches and if he didn’t hire one? That would be the worst comeback ever to Randolph refusing to fire his coaches. I could hear it now, ‘you’re not gonna fire your coaches…well, I’ll uh, make one of them the manager, uh yeah, how do you like that Willie?’ Ridiculous.

Now, Jerry Manuel is the new coach of the New York Mets. This is the same Jerry Manuel who was not experienced enough a month ago when Willie firing rumors began. It was said that if there was a coach on the team that could do any better than Willie that coach would be upped to manager. But, at the time it was said there was no one there. Did Manuel prove himself over the past month or something? This was handled as poorly as possible and the Mets should be ashamed.

Willie Randolph should have been fired. But, fire him after his team makes the biggest collapse in regular season history. Fire him when you first bring it up. Don’t distract the team for an entire month, making them wonder who will be their manager each day. Show some respect and let Met fans wake up before they hear their season is over with Jerry Manuel at manager. Because it’s going to be a long season for them, and they’re going to need their sleep.

After joining the elite 600 home run club last week, it looks as if Ken Griffey Jr. may be headed to the Tampa Bay Rays. A report says that Griffey Jr. will consider waiving his no trade clause to join the surprising Rays. The Reds are 12.5 games back in the central division in last place and Griffey is still searching for a ring. Whether he’ll find it with the Rays is another question.

Why would Griffey join the Rays? I’m not too sure. If he’s looking for a ring I don’t understand why he would go to a franchise who hasn’t even made it to the playoffs yet. The only thing I can take from this is that he either see something more in the Rays or that he’s just looking to end his career in beautiful Tampa Bay.

Hearing this news both confused me and excited me. Watching Ken Griffey Jr. on the Seattle Mariners was so exciting and this could mean that he could actually end up on a team who actually have some sort of up side. Since his arrival in 2000 to Cincinnati, he has found nothing but injuries and no playoff appearances. Seeing him play on a team with something to play for will definetely ignite his play and garner more interest in one of the best home run hitters of all time. But again, why Tampa Bay? Maybe, just maybe, the Rays are actually going to take advantage of a solid core of players, hold on to them, and continue to build around them to establish a winning franchise. We may finally see a playoff team in Tampa Bay.

So, will the Rays trade for Griffey? I don’t see it happening. Knowing that Griffey is now on the market you will now start seeing the bigger teams begin to get into the Griffey sweepstakes. You know Steinbrenner and the Yankees are salivating at the thought of Ken Griffey Jr. on the open market, and don’t be surprised to see a team like the Chicago Cubs try and snag Griffey. The Cubs acquisition of Jim Edmonds has not been going as planned and Griffey could easily step into his role. Overall I just fear the weaker Rays will be eaten up by the bigger sharks in the water and buy out Griffey. But who knows maybe Griffey will end up a Tampa Bay Ray for the rest of his career.

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.

This season has been strange to say the least. After Memorial day the two teams with the highest payrolls, Yankees and Tigers were in last place in their division. Coincidentally, the two teams with the lowest payrolls, Marlins and the Rays, were in first place in their division. So, it only makes sense that someone makes this season even stranger and ends up at the end of the season with a .400 batting average. That someone could be Chipper Jones.

This is simply great for the game. In recent years we have been watching juiced up fools bash home runs over the fence over taking some of the games greats. Finally we don’t have a home run watch this season. We have a .400 watch. This is so refreshing because Chipper seems legit, (but, you never know) and could bring integrity back to this game. So, when does Chipper’s .400 watch begin to scroll below the screen when you’re watching ESPN? How about now. We hype up home run chases from the first swing that Barry Bonds, or Alex Rodriguez take. So why not hype up a pure hitter’s approach to one of the hardest things to do in baseball?

Chipper Jones is hitting .418 right now. 418!!!! Are you kidding me!! All this in the national league, a.k.a. a pitcher’s league. In the past 50 years there have only been three other players to be hitting as well as Chipper is past May 29th. Hank Aaron in 1959, Rod Carew in 1983, and Rico Carty in 1974. People, a .400 watch is extremely rare and we need to be paying attention. It comes about just as often as Haley’s Comet and we need to marvel at it.

I hate the Atlanta Braves just as much as the next guy. I don’t even like Chipper Jones that much to be honest with you. But, if with one amazing, hit filled, unique season this Brave that I hate can bring back respect to the game I love. I’m routing for you Chipper.

With this being the second hit not correctly called a home run in the past week at Yankee Stadium, the instant replay topic in baseball heats up. On Sunday, Carlos Delgado’s home run was called foul by the umpires on the field, but after second look through instant replay it was clear that it hit the foul poll and was a home run. After seeing the replay of Carlos Delgado’s disputed foul ball, home plate umpire, Bob Davidson admitted that it really was a home run.

I ****ed it up. I’m the one who thought it was a **** foul ball. I saw it on the replay. I’m the one who ****ed it up so you can put that in your paper, bolts and nuts, I ****ed up. You’ve just got to move on. No one feels worse about it than I do.

Bob Davidson

With umpires admitting they were wrong after seeing instant replay, MLB officials have gotten the ball rolling on instant replay. They said they will begin using instant replay in the Arizona Fall League. If successful and deemed useful, instant replay will then be used in the World Baseball Classic. If all goes well we could be seeing instant replay used on homerun calls and foul balls as soon as the 2009 season.

This move by the MLB to start using instant replay brings a lot of debate between whether it will be good or bad for the game. The positives of instant replay in the MLB are numerous. There have been so many mistakes by umpires in MLB history that easily could have been corrected if instant replay was there. Look at the 1996 divisional series between the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees. A young boy, Jeffrey Maier, reached over and brought Derek Jeter’s flair over the wall for a home run. One simple look at a video tape would show that the call should be fan interference, not a home run.

People who say that instant replay would ruin the game, and slow it down are simply wrong. Football, Hockey, and Basketball all have forms of instant replay and neither sport has been ruined due to instant replay. If anything it has made each sport better and more accurate. Why wouldn’t you want instant replay in baseball? I don’t understand why one wouldn’t. It makes no sense. Some people say instant replay would slow down baseball. Listen, it’s slow enough, another five minutes isn’t going to hurt. Plus, if you’re going to sit and watch a game for three hours, wouldn’t you be fine with watching a correctly called game for three hours and five minutes. I know I would.

Listen, we have the technology now to make sure that every call is correct on the field. Why not use it? Every other sport is using it and it has proven to make each sport better. For a majority of these calls you can see the right call after one look at an instant replay. Please Major League Baseball, bring instant replay to the game I love.

]]> http://weblogbaseball.com/go-to-the-video-tape-mlb-on-their-way-to-using-instant-replay/feed/ 0 http://weblogbaseball.com/feds-to-supoena-over-100-mlb-players-who-tested-positive-for-steroids/ http://weblogbaseball.com/feds-to-supoena-over-100-mlb-players-who-tested-positive-for-steroids/#comments Sun, 18 May 2008 19:53:54 +0000 admin http://weblogbaseball.com/?p=21

By Sean Connolly 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... Read more

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.