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. 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 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.
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.
