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Giants Keep Their Ace
Now that football season and the Winter Olympics are officially over, sports fans across the country are revving up for the MLB season. Admittedly, there is a marked lack of parity in professional baseball, and even the casual fan can fairly accurately handicap the various division champions. When spring rolls around, however, baseball will inevitably be at the fore of sporting news.
During the offseason, there have been the typical free agent signings and trades that occur every year, but none were bigger than the Giants retention of Tim Lincecum. The 25-year-old two-time Cy Young award winner signed a $23 million deal that will keep him in San Francisco for two years and successfully avoided arbitration. This may sound like an exorbitant amount of money, but SF will more than likely recoup the costs through increased sales of Giants jerseys, tickets and other merchandise.
The Audacity of Hope in the Capital
The last few seasons there has been little to nothing to cheer about as far as sports are concerned in the nation’s capital. Sure the Washington Capitals have seen a resurgence thanks to superstar Alexander Ovechkin, but who really cares about hockey in the US anymore? The Wizards have been plagued by the injuries of Gilbert Arenas, and the Redskins haven’t been a serious threat in the NFL since Daniel Snyder bought the team.
Although the Nationals have been the worst team in MLB the last few years, there is now hope and a reason for fans to buy Nationals jerseys again. Their horrendous record has finally paid dividends by landing the Nationals acclaimed pitcher Stephen Strasburg. He is touted as being the best pitching prospect in decades and hailed as the savior for the Washington sports community.
Pride of the Yankees
Fans know them as one of the winningest sports franchises in history. Detractors refer to them as the Evil Empire. They are both admired and criticized for using their buying power to land high-demand free agents year in and year out.
The New York Yankees are a sports dynasty unlike any other – a national institution known as much for their success on the field as they are for their unique uniforms.
When new players put on their Yankees jerseys, the sports media will talk at length about the Bronx bombers who came before. Such legendary hitters as Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio and Roger Maris have donned the pinstripes during the pinnacles of their illustrious careers.
The same is true of pitching greats Whitey Ford, Catfish Hunter, and Mariano Rivera.
Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez Makes Second Debut with Rangers
Amid a flurry of trades veteran catcher Pudge Rodriguez has returned to his once mighty home, the Texas Rangers. In a brutal mistake, the Astros traded him for… huh. Well who cares anyway? Pudge’s return marks a great day for the Rangers franchise as he rejoins a clubhouse with 34 other Golden Gloves. Despite his time with the Detroit Tigers, Pudge has been welcomed home with open arms by fans and fellow teammates alike. The crowd seems to have made a habit of standing ovations whenever his name is so much as mentioned. And when he stood at the plate for his first at-bat the crowd simply couldn’t contain themselves.
Although he returns as a mentor and catcher emeritus, he remains a powerful force not only in the dugout but also behind the plate. Still blessed with a rocket of an arm, at age 37 this talented MLB ball player commands enormous respect with the ability to throw runners out from his knees. Shutting down nearly every stealer in the game, base runners will now have to think twice before trying to steal on the Rangers. Coupled with his experience and new found ability to mentor, Pudge is now the Rangers’ best hope for the future of the franchise.
Tribune to Sell Cubs and Wrigley
A long-time Chicago landmark is set for sale by media conglomerate Tribune Co. along with its highly under-rated team, the one-and-only Chicago Cubs. Transferring ownership from a huge corporation to the Ricketts family marks an enormous depature from the trend-setting sales of the past two decades. We’ve mostly seen major sports teams being sold to huge corporations by private owners so they can plaster their corporate logo all over everything in eyeshot.
The landmark sale is the most ever paid for a major league baseball team. However, previous deals have not included the ballpark as well. The two and a half year struggle to acquire the Cubs has finally ended in a victory for both the Ricketts family and the financially tortured Tribune Co. whose bankruptcy filing undoubtedly expedited the finalization of complex negotiations.
Initially offered $900 million by the Rickets family, the Tribune finally settled on a total vale of $845 million while still reataining a small stake in the team and the field. Citing vague “legal reasons”, the Tribune Co. has elected to include the ball club in its bankruptcy hoping it will speed the transfer process. The MLB still must approve the sale, but no one expects an objection. It’s good to see a memorable ball club like the Cubs and its historic ball park back in the hands of a private party rather than a nebulous and obnoxiously large corporation.
Only in Canada…
“It’s pretty obvious I wasn’t even thinking about timeout being called or anything,” Brett Cecil of the Toronto Blue Jays said. “I saw a scuff mark or some dirt on the ball and I wanted to throw it in; I wanted a new ball. I turned around and chucked it and that was that. The fact didn’t even come to my mind that time hadn’t been called or anything like that.
“I pretty much just got out of rhythm when I threw the ball into the dugout.”
Now I’m no expert on pitching, but I do know a thing or two about baseball. I’m pretty sure you don’t just willy-nilly hurl the ball into your own dugout “just because.” “Not thinking” is an understatement in this case as rookie pitcher Brett Cecil just made one of the most mindless errors in the history of the MLB.
The icing on the cake is the southpaw rookie throwing his arms up afterwards as if to say “What’s wrong??!” Not only making this disgracefully foolish but endlessly hilarious. I’m not sure if the readers remember the days of William Hung’s “She Bang” American Idol debut but I think we could easily nickname this rookie Brett “She Bang” Cecil. Let’s hope next time he doesn’t do such a bang-up job of screwing up. In his own words:
“I was definitely upset about it,” Cecil said. “It’s nobody’s fault but my own, but it shouldn’t be tough to regain focus from it. I made a mistake. Whatever. Forget about it.”
Ha! Never!
Mariners to Surprise in ’09?
The Seattle Mariners, a team that struggled during the 2008 MLB season, started 2009 strong and led the division for the first few weeks. Much attributed the success to the return of Ken Griffey Jr., who began his career in Seattle, and has since risen to Hall of Fame status. Griffey also began the season strong, but was soon struggling to hit like he used to. Ichiro Suzuki has remained the best leadoff man in baseball, and reclaimed his elite status from a bit of a slump last year. Those who know Ichiro often say he’s a player that feeds off the energies of those around him, meaning, if others are performing, he will step up his game. This was all the more apparent as Ichiro began 2009 hitting around .400, his average has since declined to a still impressive .364.
While the Mariners have Ichiro, it’s been quite apparent that they don’t have much else. The Mariner bullpen is solid, but their bats have been silent. Without the threat of a big man in the middle of the order, the Mariners can’t outscore other teams, and find it difficult to win unless utilizing Hernandez or Washburn. Still, fans are hopeful, and Mariners jerseys are plentiful in Seattle.
Pete Rose Lobbying Falls on Deaf Ears
It is an unavoidable topic every so often perhaps that Pete Rose be brought up and the debate as to whether or not he should be considered in Cooperstown after a prolonged banishment from the MLB. He has not been expunged or forgotten as he remains among many other records the all-time MLB hit leader but it is up to baseball and specifically Bud Selig to draw a line in the sand.
Selig whom continues to look to solidify himself as the no-tolerance, hard-lining commissioner looks to set baseball straight and move past the days of looking the other way as baseball’s drug policy is being ignored. Yet the New York Daily news reported that, “Bud Selig is said to be seriously considering lifting Pete Rose’s lifetime suspension from baseball.” Having been banished from baseball some 20 years ago recent lobbying from influential Hall of Famers may have caught Bud’s attention.
“I would like to see Pete in. He belongs there,” said Hank Aaron.
Ultimately it is far more complex then simply reconsidering Pete Rose as a part of baseballs history and recognition into the MLB Hall of Fame would have to be determined by the Baseball Writers of America. With his past still in the back of everyone’s mind, it would be hard to find sound reason for forgiveness when considering whether Pete Rose should be reinstated as his black eye on baseball just adds to a laundry list of horrible decisions related to the sport.
MLB All-Star Game Unlikely Accomplishments
Generating over $7 million in donations for charitable organizations it seems an unlikely time for MLB All-Star Week to mark the most extensive charity fund raising and community service in Major League Baseball All-Star history.
The slew of accomplishments include all as a part of what the MLB called “Going Beyond”:
- $5 Million Donation to Local and National Charities
- MLB All-Star Charity Concert Presented by Pepsi
- State Farm® Home Run Derby Boys & Girls Clubs of America Donation
- Anheuser-Busch Local Field Renovation
- Bank of America “Hits for Hunger” Program
- First All-Star Charity 5K and Fun Run Presented by Sports Authority and Nike
- Holiday Inn Hit Tracker Donation to Boys and Girls Club and RBI Program
- MasterCard Hit It Here Program
- PEOPLE “All-Stars Among Us”
- “United We Serve”
- Environmental Efforts
- Volunteer Efforts
- Jr. RBI Classic Presented by KPMG
- Boys & Girls Clubs of America Activities
The All-Star game alone marked a record-setting day for the MLB with record results in viewership with 33.6 million viewers, FanFest attendence totalling 150,804 and sponsorship.
The All-Star Game even went international with a 230 country broadcast in 17 different languages.
Is the Jim Parque HGH case different?
Admitting that he used human-growth hormone going into the 2003 season, but for a different reason then one initailly asumes when hearing about baseball and performance enhancing drugs. Jim Parque admitted to taking HGH but said he used it to overcome a shoulder injury.
The former pitcher for the White Sox and Tampa Bay admitted, “I’m Jim Parque, former major-league pitcher, and I took human growth hormone.”
“With my career in jeopardy, I turned to performance-enhancing drugs, like some other players did,” Parque wrote for the Sun-Times. “I never had needed them before, but with a shoulder that wouldn’t heal, it was realistically the only thing I could turn to.”
But certainly in the case of Jim Parque, it is being looked at as if he came forward, and admitted something that he had felt guilty about. As if it is more noble.
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