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The Visible Spectrum
… Another year, another championship featuring a team from New York or Boston. Some years, if we’re lucky though, us spectators get the special benefit of watching two of America’s largest sport markets duke it out in the same championship game. When the right side of this coin flips, this media Supernova can leave us sport’s fans outside the market left behind in the massive glare of the oncoming media onslaught. Outside of the happenings of Upper East Side of the United States, time begins to crawl, in a unobservable manner where our attention slowly, but forcibly, approaches the day of the game. Minor news regarding team’s organizations, player’s injuries, fan reaction and strategic speculation may seem to stretch on for days. From their perspective, everything outside of their market’s big game comes to a stand-still, no passing news surrounding buzzer beaters, college upsets and player trades and signings can penetrate through the realms of their metropolitan pride. When these media Supernovas happen, we’re all subject to a cosmic censorship of the sport. Read More >>
Slow Start? What Slow Start?
OK, time to stop the MLB nonsense about whether the Indians are for real.
They’re as real as Justin Masterson’s sinker, Shin-Soo Choo’s right arm, Carlos Santana’s batting eye, Orlando Cabrera’s experience and Asdrubal Cabrera’s talent.
Try this for real: The Indians own a majors-best 66 run differential and an MLB best 18-4 home record. They’ve scored the second-most runs in the A.L. and have the fourth-best ERA. They’re 7-2 against the A.L. East with the revived Red Sox returning to Cleveland looking for revenge after that three-game sweep they absorbed in the season’s first week.
Ron Washington knows they’re for real. Asked if he knew the Indians would be in first place when in spring training he asked Manny Acta to be an MLB All-Star coach, the Rangers managed replied, “I knew the Indians would be tough. They have some talent.”
Washington might have been one of the few to believe that two months ago. But he’s no longer alone. The Indians sit atop the MLB Power Poll for the fourth consecutive week. The Poll is convinced.
1. Indians (1). You can ask the Reds if the Tribe is for real. The Indians’ weekend sweep was first over Reds since 2004.
2. Cardinals (14). When talking about N.L. MVP candidates, Matt Holliday would be the place to start. Unless you started with Lance Berkman.
3. Red Sox (13). About that 2-10 start, perhaps the Red Sox just wanted to play fair and give the rest of the league a head start.
Adrian Gonzalez has provided the offensive punch the Red Sox were hoping for when they traded for him this offseason. (AP Photo)
4. Giants (6). Latest wrist injury to Mark DeRosa could be the end, making his the saddest in a season that has seen more than its share of injuries.
5. Phillies (4). Chase Utley is back in time for rematch of last year’s divisional series against the Reds. Time for the rest of the Phillies’ offense to return, too.
6. Yankees (15). What a debut: Right-hander Hector Noesi gives Yankees four scoreless innings to win 15-inning marathon in Baltimore, providing the difference between a so-so and a good week for the club.
Boston Invades Washington D.C.
A couple years ago the Boston Red Sox played a preseason series against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park in Southeast D.C. My family moved from Connecticut to Washington D.C. in the early 2000s, so we were excited to see our favorite baseball team play so close to home. Buying tickets to see the Red Sox play at Fenway is ridiculously difficult because every home game since May 2003 has been sold out- an MLB record. Red Sox fans are diehard and travel like no other team’s fan base, so my family was expecting a big crowd of local expatriates from New England, as well as a significant crowd from Boston.
What we were met with made our jaws drop. The entire park was filled with Red Sox fans decked out in replica MLB jerseys, Boston caps, and championship t-shirts and jackets. It was hard to find a Nats fan in the sea of Boston fans (although there was one Yankees fan present, who was promptly booed and eventually thrown out for purposefully trying to provoke a fight). Each night of the series broke a new attendance record at Nationals Park. I’m sure having so many Boston fans annoyed the heck out of the home team fans, but my family loved the instant camaraderie with our fellow current and former New Englanders.
San Diego Always Feeds Boston
Where would the Boston Red Sox be without San Diego to prop them up every few decades or so?
First we gave them Ted Williams.
Now we’re giving them Adrian Gonzalez, another sweet-swinging ballplayer, San Diego born-and-bred.
Between sending the MLB Sox those gifts, San Diego also gave to Boston baseball executives Larry Lucchino and Theo Epstein.
Lucchino and Epstein would hire several able scouts formerly of the Padres. They also would hire Bill James, a fellow brainiac, and together with owner John Henry would build The Matrix on Yawkey Way. Two World Series championships followed, giving all those self-important Sox fans actual reason to be self-important.
So if the baseball gods are fair, the four Sox prospects who went to the Padres for Gonzalez will become stars on the West Coast.
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Cameron’s Hangin in the Red Sox Lineup
After a 5-game hiatus due to an abdominal tear, Cameron didn’t seem affected. Whether or not Cameron will be in the line up on Monday in Cleveland is still undecided. “We lost,” he said. “It was good to get out there and play. [My performance] helped us in a sense, but at the same time we lost the game.”
“Sexiness and color,” Cameron stated with big smile.
Manager Terry Francona responds to reporters how his reactions to Cameron making it through 11 long MLB innings “That was a great catch. He looked really healthy. I know he’s feeling it a bit and we kept checking with him as the game went on, but he went and got that ball pretty well.” Read More >>
Ramirez hCG Prescription Scapegoat denies
Dr. Pedro P. Bosch had been linked to the Manny Ramirez investigation, and was being looked into the DEA. How did he fit into the picture exactly? It was said that he was the source of the prescribed drug Manny Ramirez was caught taking to hide his use of steroids.
Manny Ramirez had stated after the accidental uncovering, “Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was OK to give me. Unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under the policy that mistake is now my responsibility. I have been advised not to say anything more for now. I do want to say one other thing; I’ve taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons. I want to apologize to Mr. McCourt, Mrs. McCourt, Mr. Torre, my teammates, the Dodger organization, and to the Dodger fans. LA is a special place to me and I know everybody is disappointed. So am I. I’m sorry about this whole situation.”
The investigation has become complex, yet it only looks to get harder for both the MLB and the DEA as they seek the truth in this matter, despite Bosch breaking his silence the facts remain to be uncovered. Ramirez whom is looking to focus on the future in completion of his 50 game suspension may not be able to shake the fact that he is now part of a bigger investigation that will only continue to carry his name.
“ESPN even ran a clip showing me as I was leaving my office and getting into my car,” Bosch said in a statement issued through a Miami publicist. “I consider the allegations of ESPN outrageous and slanderous, and issue this statement to correct the misrepresentations made by ESPN.”
Magical Day for Wakefield Red Sox
Tim Wakefield the Red Sox knuckleballer came five outs away from a no hitter in his 402nd major league start. Pitching the Boston Red Sox 8-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics. Wakefield has been with the Red Sox since 1995, longer than any other member of the team.
The first 15 batters were retired and after six innings, the righty had thrown 54 pitches, 42 for strikes. Wakefield has given the Red Sox no-hitters in three successive seasons.
The Red Sox were coming off a 12-inning loss that had the bullpen in the blues. The Red Sox were 2-6, which was the worst start since 1996.
Will this magic continue for Wakefield’s MLB career and the Red Sox?
Boston Red Sox, Dustin Pedroia named MVP
Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox Second Baseman, named Most Valuable Player of the American League. Dustin became the ninth Red Sox player to be named the American League’s Most Valuable Player giving him a burst into the nations spotlight with 16 of 28 first-place votes for 317 points. “I really didn’t know what to expect,”said Pedroia. “I was just excited to be named with all those players. There’s a ton of great players. When you hear your name come up in that category, you definitely get excited and nervous. I wasn’t nervous or overly excited. For me, just to be in that category is an extreme honor.”
Pedroia joins Cal Ripken Jr. and Ryan Howard as the only players to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in consecutive years. He is the first second baseman to win the AL MVP since Nellie Fox of the White Sox in 1959.
“The Boston Red Sox congratulate Dustin Pedroia on winning the American League Most Valuable Player Award in just his sophomore season in the Major Leagues,” the statement read. “It is a well-deserved honor, and we are delighted that his outstanding season has been recognized in this way. The .326 batting average, 213 hits, 118 runs, 54 doubles, 17 home runs, 20 stolen bases do not tell the whole story of how valuable Dustin was to the team in 2008. He also played gritty Gold Glove defense, and served as the igniting spark plug in our clubhouse all year.
His bat spoke the loudest with 213 hits, Pedroia tied Ichiro Suzuki for the Major League lead. His 54 doubles led the Majors. He led the AL in runs (118) and multi-hit games (61).
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