ALCS Beat: Yankees back on track

I’m so rope they call me Mr. Roper
When the troubles arise I’m the cool coper
On the mic I score just like the Yankees

“3-Minute Rule” by the Beastie Boys

Yeah, the Yankees score alright.  Yet, like any team should, the Angels remain hopelessly positive. 

"We’ve got a mountain to climb," said Angels center fielder Torii Hunter. "We’ve just got to know we have to go out there [Thursday] and try to get that win. It’s a must-win. It’s not like we’ve got games left. We can’t go out there and let these guys win. If they do, it’s over with. We’re going to come with a different mindset and try to have some fun and get the job done."

But it ain’t going to be easy.  With the Yankees now 3 games to 1, it’s simply going to be an uphill battle that will take a miracle to overcome. 

Up until Monday night’s win for the Angels, the playoff series for them has been characterized as ugly and full of mistakes.  Not Tuesday night.  They were simply out-pitched and out-hit and the Yanks won 10-1.  C.C Sabathia is doing his best to outdo ARod in his bid to strip him of MVP of the Series.

On just three days rest, Sabathia almost repeated Game One’s numbers, allowing just one run in eight innings with just five his and two walks.    In Game One, he allowed one run in eight innings as well with four hits.  For the postseason, C.C. is 3-0.

Alex Rodriguez led the hitting attack, going 3 for 4 with his fifth homer of the fall and 2 rbis and 3 runs scored.  Melky Cabrera chipped in with a 3 for 4 performance and four rbis of his own.

The Angels have to be disappointed with their offense till this point.  Up until Tuesday night, the starting pitching has held up pretty well.  No Halo starter has given up more than three ER until last night (and if you want to pick nits, Kazmir only gave up four but we won’t go there).  Had the offense been a little more productive even a little more timely, it would be a different series now.

Tonight’s scheduled pitchers are John Lackey and A.J Burnett.  Don’t look for Torii Hunter to have a great night.  He’s 2 for 23 lifetime against Burnett.  However, those two hits?  Homeruns.

ARod is in pretty much in the same boat with Lackey.  He’s 9 for 51 (.176) lifetime against Big John.  Most of those hits have gone for extras though.  One double, one triple and FOUR homeruns. 

This is first time I’ve said this publically but…

Go Angels!

2009 National League All Stars

mark-reynoldsThe Sporting News announced its National League All Stars as determined by 31 major league general managers and assistant GMs.  St. Louis Cardinals Albert Pujols (also named Player of the Year), Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Chase Utley and Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun were on the ballots of all 14 NL team executives who voted.

C Yadier Molina has shown that catching is much more than just offensive numbers, he is regarded as the best defensive catcher in the game.  Besides his work behind the plate, Yadier seems to have found his stroke, batting .293 for the Redbirds.

1B Albert Pujols is simply the best, as reaffirmed by him being named Player of the Year.  This year, once again, he posted Albert Pujols type numbers, leading the league with 47 homers & 122 runs, while batting .327 with a .443 OBP (best), while hitting 45 doubles, and driving in 135, leading St. Louis into the postseason.

2B Chase Utley is the quiet Phillie who just goes about his job in the field & at the plate.  Chase hit 31 home runs, and was seven (93) RBIs shy of driving in at least 100 runs for the 5th straight season, he scored 112 times (over 100 four straight campaigns), and stole 23 bases without getting caught, while batting .282.

3B Mark Reynolds is synonymous with strikeouts, but there’s alot more to his game than just whiffs.  Sure Mark broke his strikeout record he set last year (204) with this year’s mark of 223, but he also hit 44 homers, drove in 102, while stealing 24 bases for Arizona.

SS Hanley Ramirez had the highest batting average in the league, hitting .342, with 24 longballs, to go along with 42 doubles, driving in 106, 101 runs scored, and stealing 27 bases for the Fish.

OF Ryan Braun surprisingly this slugger had more hits than anybody in the NL, with 203, he also had 114 RBIs & 113 runs scored, amassing 32 homers, 39 doubles, & 6 triples, he also stole 20 bags.

OF Matt Kemp is a pure athlete and a true five tool player.  The Dodgers centerfielder batted .297 with 34 steals, 26 home runs, knocking in 101.

OF Jayson Werth This gentle giant seems to have found a home in RF for Philadelphia, and he certainly can turn a baseball & a ballgame around in a hurry.  36 longballs, 99 RBIs, & 98 runs scored, all while playing excellent defense in the field.

SP Tim Lincecum The Freak was it at again, repeating as NL Pitcher of the Year, where does that little guy get all that power?  He was 15-7 with an ERA of just 2.48, striking out a league best 261 batters in 225′ innings, allowing only 168 hits.

RP Ryan Franklin The 36 year old journeyman relief pitcher came out of nowhere to takeover as the closer for the St. Louis Cardinals, saving 38 games, with a 1.92 ERA.  His 17 saves the year before was his career high.

2009 American League All Stars

derek-jeterThe Sporting News has announced the American League All Stars as selected by a panel of 31 major league general managers and GMs.  Joe Mauer received votes from all 17 AL executives who participated.

C Joe Mauer appeared in 138 games for the Twins, 109 behind the plate, leading the league with a .365 batting average (he also topped the league in average the year before with a .328 mark), while getting beat up at catcher.  Joe hit 28 homers, 30 doubles, and drove in 96, leading Minnesota to the postseason as Central Division champs.

1B Mark Teixeira powered the Yankees offense leading the league in homers (39) & RBIs 122, while batting .292, with 43 doubles, scoring 103 times, he also topped the Junior Circuit in total bases with 344.

2B Aaron Hill came back after suffering a concussion, which allowed him to only play 55 games the previous season, to have his best year ever.  Aaron batted .286 with 36 home runs & 37 doubles, driving in 108 & scoring 103 times.

3B Evan Longoria was the Rookie of the Year who was one of the leaders of the Rays who made it to the World Series last year, now he’s the best player at the hot corner.  He batted .281, with 33 longballs, 44 two base hits, drove in 113 & scored 100 times.

SS Derek Jeter is the captain & leader of the New York Yankees.  Jeter batted .334 with an OBP of .406, it was his job to get on for the big bats, steling 30 bases at the ripe old age of 35, he ripped 18 homers to go along with 27 doubles.

OF Ichiro Suzuki is known simply as Ichiro.  Since coming to the States all he’s done is hit, a lifetime batting average of .333, over 200 hits every season (9 years), and leading the league in hits the last four years.  This year Ichiro batted .352 with 225 hits, 31 doubles, 11 homers, and 26 steals.

OF Torii Hunter just missed batting .300, finishing the season with a .299 batting average, 22 homers, 90 RBIs, despite missing significant time due to injury.

OF Jason Bay has quickly found his Fenway Park stroke since coming over to the Red Sox, socking 36 homers, driving in 119, while scoring 103 runs.

DH Hideki Matsui joins three other Yankees on this year’s all star squad.  Due to injuries Matsui took over the team’s fulltime DH duties to keep him healthy and to keep his potent bat in the lineup.  It worked as Hideki hit 28 home runs & drove in 90 for the Bronx Bombers.

SP Zack Greinke seems to have it altogether for the Royals, being named Pitcher of the Year.  16-8 with a league best 2.16 ERA and 242 strikeouts in 229′ innings, doesn’t begin to tell the story of this youngster’s dominance, with any kind of run support at all he certainly would’ve been a twenty game winner.

RP Mariano Rivera There are closers, then there is Mariano Rivera.  He is that good, he is a step above every other closer in the game, and like a fine wine, he just keeps getting better with age.  He has this cutter, a gift from God, the hitters know it’s coming, but can’t do anything to hit it.  He has taught his famous cutter to a few pitchers throughout the league, to the chagrin of many hitters.  This year Mo, at the age of 39, had 44 saves to go along with a 1.76 ERA, ho-hum.

2009 Player of the Year: Albert Pujols

pujolsThe Sporting News announced St. Louis Cardinals Albert Pujols as the winner of the Player of the Year award for the 2nd consecutive year as determined by a vote of a panel of 338 major league players, he was a unanimous selection.

For the 9th straight year, since arriving in the big leagues, Albert has batted over .300, with more than 30 home runs, and over 100 RBIs.  He also won the award in 2003.  This year Pujols hit 47 homers and scored 122 times, both tops in the NL, in addition to batting .327 and driving in 135, all this with an elbow which required postseason surgery.  He joins these other Cardinals who have won the award, 1944 Marty Marion, 1946 & 1951 Stan Musial, 1964 Ken Boyer, 1971 Joe Torre, and 1974 Lou Brock.

2009 Managers of the Year: Mike Scioscia & Jim Tracy

scosciaThe Sporting News has announced the winners of the Manager of the Year award as Mike Scioscia of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Colorado Rockies Jim Tracy.

This was the 10th year Mike Scioscia has been the Angels skipper, averaging exactly 90 wins per year.  He is a two time Manager of the Year award winner, winning the award in 2002, when his ballclub won the World Series.  Although LAA won three less games (97) than the previous year (100, his only 100 win season), Scioscia had one of his best seasons at the helm.  Early in the year an up & coming rookie pitcher Nick Adenhart was tragically killed in an automobile accident, Scioscia’s steadying influence kept the Angels focused.  But the biggest thing Mike brings to the table as manager is “Angels baseball”, it starts in the minors, and everybody in the organization knows what’s expected of them.  If somebody doesn’t do their job, they’re are pulled out of the ballgame, and reminded of what’s expected.  It’s a throwback brand of ball, where the little things are expected, little things produce big results.

Jim Tracy took over from Clint Hurdle as the Rockies manager on May 29th.  In only 116 games at the helm, he turned Colorado around, with a 74-42 record, winning a wild card playoff berth.  Under Tracy the team lost their first three games in Houston, and he came in that next day and said, “Guys, I want to just let you guys play the game.  But if you all force me to come out here, I’m going to come out here”.  Jim Tracy has experienced success before as a big league skipper, in 2004 he guided the Los Angeles Dodgers to a first place finish with 93 victories.

Both Scioscia & Tracy are the one and only winners of the Manager of the Year award in their ballclubs history.

2009 Pitchers of the Year: Zack Greinke & Tim Lincecum

greinke_fThe Sporting News has named their 2009 Pitcher of the Year award winners, as selected by a panel of 31 major league general managers and assistant GMs.  This years winners are Zack Greinke of the Kansas City Royals and the San Francisco Giants Tim Lincecum.

Greinke was the AL ERA leader with a sparkling 2.16 ERA, a 16-8 record, he struckout 242 & walked only 51 batters (nearly 200 more strikeouts than bases on balls), surrendering only 11 longballs, on just 195 hits in 229′ innings.  In this era of the relief pitcher, Zack completed six of his 33 starts, including three shutouts.  He joins Bret Saberhagen as the only other Royals hurler to win the award, Bret won it in 1985 & 1989.

Tim Lincecum won the Pitcher of the Year award for the 2nd straight year, finishing with a 15-7 record, 261 strikeouts, only 68 walks (again, nearly 200 more strikeouts than bases on balls).  Tim only allowed 168 hits, including only 10 longballs, in 225′ innings.  Lincecum posted 2 shutouts, completing four of 32 starts.  The Freak joins these other Giants who have won the award, 1944 Bill Voiselle, 1959 Sam Jones, 1967 Mike McCormick, 1973 Ron Bryant, 1978 Vida Blue, and 2004 Jason Schmidt.

Phor What it’s Werth, Phillies Return to World Series

werthAfter Andre Ethier hit a first inning home run off Cole Hamels in the 1st inning, the Phillies were given notice, LA was here to play.  But just like a heavyweight fighter, going toe to toe Jayson Werth blasted a three run opposite field monster blast in the first inning off Vicente Padilla, replying to the challenge, by saying, we’re ready, bring it on.

In the 2nd James Loney leading off knocked one over the rightfield wall to bring it to a one run ballgame.  Before Philadelphia batted in the bottom of the frame, Craig Sager commented how pitching coach Rick Honeycutt instructed Padilla to stay on top of his pitches, the first batter for the Phighting Phils Pedro Feliz hit one out to right, extending it back to a 2 run lead.

The Phillies pushed their lead to 6-3 in the bottom of the 4th scoring two runs.  A leadoff single to left by Werth, followed by a run scoring double to right by Raul Ibanez, and that was all for Padilla.  Ramon Troncoso was brought in to pitch for the Dodgers, getting Feliz to ground to 3rd, Ibanez stays at 2nd, Carlos Ruiz walks, and Hamels sacrifices both runners up on a 3-2 bunt.  Troncoso then hits JRoll & Shane Victorino with pitches, the 2nd one with the bases loaded, driving in a run.

Cole Hamels was getting cold, not pitching for 27 minutes, although two runs were added to the lead.  Pinch hitter Orlando Hudson ripped a one out homer off Hamels inside the leftfield foul pole to cut it to a 6-4 game in the top of the 5th, and when Rafael Furcal doubled to left, that was all for Cole, no win for him tonite in the clinching game.  Ronnie Belliard worked reliever J.A. Happ for a walk, then retired Ethier, and that was all for Happ, as Chad Durbin was called on to face Manny Ramirez.  Durbin jammed Manny, Ramirez hit a soft comebacker, and the Phillies were out of the jam, three pitchers worked the 5th, Charlie Manuel threw the book out the window, and took control of the ballgame.  I’ve given the West Virginian stuff, but he showed his stuff.

In the bottom of the 6th off Clayton Kershaw, Jimmy Rollins was hit by a pitch for the second consecutive at bat, and Victorino took the youngster deep for a two run blast, 8-3 after six.  Hong-Chih Kuo was brought on to pitch the 7th, Werth caught up with a low fastball and drove it over the wall for his 2nd homer of the ballgame, 9-3 Phils.

LA had some fight left, Belliard & Ethier opened with 8th inning base knocks, off Chan Ho Park.  Into the mix came Ryan Madson to face Manny, Ramirez walked, Matt Kemp played peggy move up, moving everybody up one with a single.  Pitching coach Rich Dubee came out to settle down Madson, as Loney stepped in.  Whatever Dubee said seemed to work as Ryan got Loney on a popout, struckout Russell Martin, and got Casey Blake to ground into a force play short to second, with Jim Thome waiting to bat in the ondeck circle.  Question, Joe Torre, why not pinch hit Thome for Martin?  If Thome gets one, it’s a 9-8 game, pressure on, anything can happen.  Instead 9-4 into the bottom of the eighth.

Ronald Belisario works the bottom of the 8th, getting the 1st two hitters before JRoll singles & Victorino doubles off a Phan’s hand, reaching over the rail in right, the umpires didn’t allow Rollins to score, although they could have, Charlie Manuel thought Jimmy should’ve been allowed to score, came out to discuss it, Chip Caray & the Chipettes thought Charlie was arguing the non-homer call, they need to get their heads into the game.  Phillies up 10-4, three outs to go, and then no more TBS, I’m sure that’s what fans across the country were thinking.

Closer Brad Lidge works a perfect 9th, looks sharp, Ryan Howard is the NLCS MVP, the Phillies are going back to the World Series, trying to repeat, this Philadelphia Phillies team looks like a tight group, out there having fun, playing a little baseball.

2009 Rookies of the Year: Gordon Beckham & J.A. Happ

Dodgers Sox Spring BaseballThe Sporting News has announced the winners of the 2009 Rookie of the Year Gordon Beckham of the White Sox and J.A. Happ of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Beckham was called to Chicago on June 4th, playing thirdbase everyday, he ended up batting .270 with 28 doubles, 14 home runs, and 63 RBIs, in 103 games.  The most remarkable thing was that Gordon  was a SS at the University of Georgia last year when he hit more homers than anyone in NCAA Division I.  So he was learning a new position in the big leagues, and learn it he did, I predict several Gold Gloves in his future.  Other White Sox Rookies of the Year are 1951 Minnie Minoso, 1956 Luis Aparicio, 1963 Pete Ward & Gary Peters, 1966 Tommie Agee, 1969 Carlos May, 1983 Ron Kittle, and 1985 Ozzie Guillen.

Happ was 12-4 with a 2.93 ERA for Philadelphia, appearing out of the bullpen until late May when the young lefthander moved into the rotation.  I remember seeing his changeup in spring training in Clearwater, FL, and thinking how much he reminded me of Phillies ace Cole Hamels.  He pitched two shutouts, while striking out 119 batters in 166 innings.  Other Phillies Rookies of the Year are 1946 Del Ennis, 1948 Richie Ashburn, 1957 Jack Sanford, 1964 Dick Allen, 1980 Lonnie Smith, 1984 Juan Samuel, 1997 Scott Rolen, and 2005 Ryan Howard.

Phillies Let the Good Times JRoll

JimmyRollins.hit-751600First inning of game #4 BIG Ryan Howard boomed a two run blast over the wall in right, catching up to a fastball & turning it around in a hurry, so much for the lefty lefty matchup, and I thought, “here we go again”.

Things remain the same until the top of the 4th when LA ties the score off Joe Blanton, a walk to Matt Kemp sandwiched between two outs started things off, Manny Ramirez lined a single to left sending Kemp to 3rd, James Loney then singled to right scoring Kemp, Ronnie Belliard draws a base on balls, Russell Martin gets a sharp single to left scoring Manny, then out number three on a Casey Blake groundout to end the scoring, but it’s a brand new ballgame.

The Dodgers take the lead when Kemp rips a two out solo homer off Blanton in the 5th.  LA adds to their lead in the 6th when Pedro Feliz commits a throwing error allowing Manny to reach base, after Loney pops out, Belliard pops one up just out of the reach of Jimmy Rollins & Raul Ibanez for a single, Martin strikes out looking, Blake serves a soft single to right scoring Ramirez & Belliard to 3rd, Wolf flies out after Blake steals second, Los Angeles leads by two into the bottom of six.

With one out in the bottom of the 6th Shane Victorino pulls a hard grounder down into the leftfield corner, when Manny airmails the relay throw over the cutoff man’s head Shane flies into 3B with a triple, Chase Utley rips a single to right scoring Victorino, coaches visit, Howard walks, wonder what the coach told Wolf?, pitching change as Ronald Belisario is called on to replace Randy Wolf, facing Jayson Werth.  A graphic shows Phillies 1st batters are 0-8 with 3 walks versus LA’s bullpen, here is the crazy talk from Chip Caray, “0 for 8 are the Philadelphia hitters against the first batter faced by these Dodger pensmen”, swear to God, that’s what he said.  Now 0 for 10, as Belisario retires Werth on a FC & Hong-Chih Kuo gets Ibanez on a fly to left, Phillies narrow the gap to one after 6.

That’s the way things remained heading into the bottom of the 8th, with two on & 2 out, Jonathan Broxton was called on to replace George Sherrill to get Werth to fly to right to end the threat.  With one out in the top of the 9th Rafael Furcal rips a line drive base knock, knocking Scott Eyre out of the game, closer Brad Lidge was brought into the game, Charlie Manuel was thinking (gotta stop ’em here), Furcal steals 2nd & Kemp strikes out, Lidge wild pitches Furcal to thirdbase, but lefthanded batter Andre Ethier (luckily Charlie Manuel must’ve fallen asleep, not replacing his righthanded pitcher with a southpaw to get the lefthanded hitting Ethier, he K’d to send the game to the bottom of the 9th.

Broxton was sitting in the Dodger dugout while LA batted in the top of the 9th, the adrenalin draining from his system as today’s closers are used to going one inning.  With one out Matt Stairs was sent up to pinch hit for Pedro Feliz, Stairs homered off Jonathan in the regular season, the relief pitcher was scared shitless & walked Matt, Eric Bruntlett was put in as a pinch runner, Carlos Ruiz was nailed on the elbow with a pitch, tying run on 2nd & winning run on 1st, pinch hitter Greg Dobbs popped out, leaving it all up to JRoll who lined a 1-1 fastball into the right-centerfield gap, driving home the tying & winning runs, Phillies win the game 5-4, and take a 3-1 series lead.  In order for the Dodgers to advance they will need to win three straight, highly unlikely.

MLB testing DNA of Latin American prospects

Bill Clark of the Columbia Daily Tribune writes about how Major League Baseball is entering the realm of DNA testing especially in Latin America.

In an attempt to eliminate cheating on age and identities in Latin America, particularly in the Dominican Republic, MLB has admitted to genetic testing to determine the true identity of players being signed, particularly those receiving big bonuses.

In addition to establishing the identity of players, it is possible to also provide clues to their age.

Federal legislation that was passed last year, will prohibit companies from testing employees (or a family member) on the basis of their DNA.  This law will take effect on November 21 of this year.  It is unclear how this U.S. law will affect American companies implementing these procedures in other countries.

Here is the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 in its entirety.

According to the New York Times, MLB has declined how many players have been tested and whether or not the test results were kept or destroyed.  Given the situation with the recent controversy with the 2003 steroid list that was under law supposed to be kept under wraps, you can see where that can lead us.

The whole thing stinks to me.  Major League Baseball has no business doing this.  If they can find out what they need to know the old fashioned way by forging relationships and establishing communications, then they need to do their homework.  DNA testing and the like is one more thing that will set their work down there backwards.