Looking at the Game of Baseball from all ends of the Spectrum
Alex Rodriguez couldn’t help but gush about cross-towner shortstop Jose Reyes, according to ESPN NY.
"They have the world’s greatest player playing shortstop over there, and the most exciting. I turn on the TV every time I get a chance to watch him."
Well, I guess he can get away with saying that now that Jeter’s on the DL.
ESPN has an interesting article that breaks down the best paid athletes by country. All 182 of them.
Baseball can claim twelve of those, third most represented sport after soccer and basketball. The highest of those is Alex Rodriguez of course. ARod must share the title of highest paid athlete with Manny Pacquiao, a boxer from the Philippines.
| Country | Best-Paid Athlete | League, Team (or Competition) | Annual Salary | Per Capita GDP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | Jason Bay | MLB, New York Mets | $18,125,000 | $39,795 |
| Cuba | Yuniesky Betancourt | MLB, Milwaukee Brewers | $4,300,000 | $5,437 |
| Curaçao | Jair Jurrjens | MLB, Atlanta Braves | $3,250,000 | $20,295 |
| Dominican Republic | Alfonso Soriano | MLB, Chicago Cubs | $19,000,000 | $4,618 |
| Japan | Ichiro Suzuki | MLB, Seattle Mariners | $18,000,000 | $39,864 |
| Mexico | Jorge De La Rosa | MLB, Colorado Rockies | $10,000,000 | $7,956 |
| Nicaragua | Vicente Padilla | MLB, Los Angeles Dodgers | $2,000,000 | $1,114 |
| Panama | Carlos Lee | MLB, Houston Astros | $19,000,000 | $7,155 |
| Puerto Rico | Carlos Beltran | MLB, New York Mets | $19,325,436 | $24,744 |
| Taiwan | Hong-Chih Kuo | MLB, Los Angeles Dodgers | $2,725,000 | $18,500 |
| USA | Alex Rodriguez | MLB, New York Yankees | $32,000,000 | $44,872 |
| Venezuela | Johan Santana | MLB, New York Mets | $21,644,707 | $11,404 |
Go figure, Malaysia’s highest paid athlete is in the sport of badminton.
C.C. Sabathia was matched up against fellow Cleveland Indians starter Cliff Lee in the opener of the Series. Lee outpitched C.C. in that game, but only Sabathia was ready to go on three days rest, Cliff would need one more day before he could go. So on Sunday night Joe Blanton would answer the bell for the Phillies versus big C.C.
Derek Jeter got the Yankees going in the 1st with a leadoff single, went to 3rd on a Johnny Damon double, and Derek would score on a Mark Teixeira groundout, and then Damon would be plated on a Jorge Posada sacrifice fly, after Alex Rodriguez was drilled by a pitch, Yanks up 2-0 with the Phils coming to bat. Back to back first inning doubles by Shane Victorino & Chase Utley would cut it to a one run game, 2-1 after one.
BIG Ryan Howard got a leadoff single in the bottom of the 4th, stole 2nd, and scored on a Pedro Feliz base knock to knot the game at two. It was time for New York to get to work in the top of the fifth, Nick Swisher started it with a base on balls, went to 2nd on a Melky Cabrera single, and then C.C. Sabathia struckout trying to bunt the runners up. With one out Derek Jeter plated Swisher with a single, then Cabrera scored on a base hit off the bat of Damon, and the Yanks again had a two run lead, 4-2.
The Phillies got their first two guys on in the bottom of the 5th as Jimmy Rollins singled & Shane Victorino walked, bringing up Chase Utley (who had homered twice in game one off C.C.), BIG Ryan Howard, and Jayson Werth, the meat of the order. Two popouts & a strikeout later, and the threat was over. Neither starting pitcher allowed a run in the 6th, Ben Francisco batted for Blanton, ending his night.
Chan Ho Park pitched a scoreless 7th. When Sabathia delivered his 98th pitch of the night in the 7th it struck me, while thinking about this superhuman’s accomplishments, pitchers routinely went the distance in the olden days, often times throwing 200 pitches in a game, sometimes working on two days rest. Still it was great to see this workhorse, C.C., going about his job, mowing down the top of the Phillies order, one, two… But then Utley chased Sabathia from the game with his third home run of the Series off C.C. (so much for platooning), once again it was a one run ballgame, all six Philadelphia home runs being solo shots. Damaso Marte was brought on to get BIG Ryan Howard to popup to end the inning, 4-3 NY.
There were two on & one out in the top of the 8th, Nick Swisher could’ve iced it, but he took strike three down the middle, shaking his head, rather than lighting up reliever Ryan Madson. Joe Girardi didn’t want to have Mariano Rivera pitch more than one inning, thus Joba Chamberlain was called on to face the hot hitting Jayson Werth (down on strikes), Raul Ibanez (K’s him on heat), & Pedro Feliz took the kid over the wall for a game tying homer. Oh brother, wasn’t supposed to happen that way if you’re a Yankees fan, what a ballgame, what a Series! A wicked breaking ball to Carlos Ruiz, and Joba’s struckout the side, but now it’s all tied at four, going into the 9th.
I know this from experience, sometimes you try to save your closer for tomorrow, and then there is no tomorrow. Chamberlain looked overpowering, but Rivera is overpowering. Charlie Manuel called on his closer Brad Lidge to work a tie ballgame in the top of the 9th, getting the first two before Damon singled to left, stole 2nd & went around Feliz, and went all the way to 3rd (the Phillies had a shift on for Teixeira), he’s credited with 2 SBs on that one play. Lidge hits Teixeira, bringing up ARod (1 for 13 in the Series). Alex hits a double off the leftfield wall, big moments for big players. With the Yankees up, Mo starts seriously loosening up to try to close it out with the lead. A couple of insurance runs score when Posada delivers a single into leftcenter, continuing on to 2nd, where he is tagged out easily, 7-4 Yanks.
Not that it matters, but Rivera faces pinch hitter Matt Stairs and then the top of the order. A groundout, a popout, & a groundout, all three to firstbase, and it’s over. The Bronx Bombers now have a three games to one Series lead, with one ballgame in Philadelphia before heading back to New York (if necessary). Philadelphia needs to win three straight, if not impossible, close to it. Game five features Cliff Lee versus nasty A.J. Burnett on three days rest. Joba Chamberlain was credited with the win in this one, but we all know it was C.C. Sabathia on three days, getting the job done.
There was a one hour twenty minute rain delay before game three finally was set into motion. Southpaw Andy Pettitte was on the bump for the Pinstripers, while lefty Cole Hamels (I see that commercial with those kids dad, every time he pitches) was matched up against the cagey vet.
It looked like Pettitte was the kid with the jitters in the 2nd inning, when he allowed a leadoff homer to Jayson Werth to give Philly a 1-0 lead. Before the second inning dust had settled, Andy walked Jimmy Rollins with the bases loaded, and then Shane Victorino’s sac fly made it 3-0.
In the top of the 4th with a runner on 1st Alex Rodriguez’ flyball hit off a camera in rightfield, it appeared as though the camera was out over the field of play, but it was reviewed and ruled a two run home run, making it a 3-2 game. With one out in the 5th Andy Pettitte took matters into his own hands when he singled home Nick Swisher from 2nd base with the tying run, Swisher had doubled to open the inning. Derek Jeter kept the line moving with a base knock. The big blow came moments later when Johnny Damon’s double plated both Pettitte & Jeter, giving NY a two run lead.
In the sixth inning the teams exchanged runs with Nick Swisher hitting a home run in the top of the frame and Jayson Werth matching it with a big fly of his own in the bottom for Philadelphia, still a two run Yankee advantage. New York took control in the 7th & 8th, with one run in each inning, Jorge Posada’s RBI single in the 7th and pinch hitter Hideki Matsui’s solo shot in the eighth.
Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz hit a solo blast in the 9th off reliever Phil Hughes to cut it to three, but then Mariano Rivera was called upon to close it out. Andy Pettitte was the winning pitcher, his 17th postseason victory.
I want to say something about the talking heads, they are crazy, and for the most part they talk about stuff which makes no sense. They talk about pressure & clutch, they talk about slumps, and meaningless statistics of what batters are doing off certain pitchers in certain situations. The problem here arises in the fact that there isn’t a whole lot of data, the statistics are very limited, and they are skewed as a result. What I’m talking about in particular is Alex Rodriguez 0-8 with six strikeouts after the first two games, Chase Utley with two long balls in one game off a lefthanded pitcher, Nick Swisher & his woeful slump, and then there’s Ryan Howard 0-8 with seven K’s in his last eight at bats. This isn’t about pressure and coming through or not coming through in the clutch. This is the World Series, featuring the best of the best, don’t over analyze everything, just sit back & enjoy.
A.J. Burnett is one of baseball’s nastiest pitchers and he brought his nasty stuff to the mound for game two versus the Phils, against Pedro Martinez. Philadelphia jumped out to an early 2nd inning lead when Matt Stairs’ single(?) under the glove of Alex Rodriguez plated Raul Ibanez, who’d doubled to left with 2 outs. It seemed more like an aberration, rather than a sign of things to come. A.J. is either on or off and he looked on from the start in this one.
Mark Teixeira took a Pedro pitch over the centerfield fence leading off the top of the 4th and the game was knotted at one. Godzilla, or Shemp if you prefer, Hideki Matsui drove one out to right in the 6th, giving New York the 2-1 advantage. Down by a run, Charlie Manuel allowed Martinez to pitch to Jerry Hairston, Jr., and the second guessing began when JH2 hit a soft single to right. Joe Girardi jumped on this opportunity by inserting pinch runner Brett Gardner at first. Gardner went to 3rd on a Melky Cabrera hit to right (for sure Pedro shouldn’t have been allowed to pitch to Melky, but perhaps Manuel was thinking a bunt was in order). That was it for Pedro, when Jorge Posada was announced as the pinch hitter for Jose Molina. Jorge’s single to center off Chan Ho Park gave the Yankees a little insurance now up 3-1.
It seemed insurmountable with A.J. dealing on the mound for the Yanks, and it was. Burnett allowed only 4 hits over 7 innings, striking out 9, before giving way to Mariano Rivera for the two inning save. This game was a pivotal one for the Series, if Philly had won the first two in New York, it would’ve been very tough for the Yankees to comeback. But now with the series at one win apiece, the home field advantage was gone, but the Phillies would need to win three straight in the city of brotherly love in order to maintain that advantage.
The New York Yankees will hope to continue their 2009 playoff dominance today against the LA Angels. They have yet to lose this year in the postseason. It was close on Saturday… real close.
Yankee fans can thank Alex Rodriguez for keeping the Bombers in Game 2. In the bottom of the eleventh inning, he hit his third homerun of the postseason to keep the Yankees tied with the Angels. Before 2009, ARod had one homer in his last 13 postseason games.
Yanks fans can probably also extend a little gratitude towards Macier Izturis. Thanks to his errant throw in the bottom of the 13th inning, ex-Cub Jerry Hairston Jr scored to break the 3-3 tie and brought the Yanks their second win of the ALCS.
That’s five errors in two games for the Angels for those counting and a lot out there are. LAA has come into the postseason with one of the best defensive teams in the majors yet it’s one of their facets that has let them down.
They wasted a great outing by Joe Saunders who allowed just 2 earned runs in seven innings and pretty decent work from the pen by Kevin Jepsen and Darren Oliver.
One more interesting key stat from the boxscore:
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Guerrero 7
Yikes!
So right now, the Yankees are up by two (and already up 2-0 in the 4th inning of the 3rd game as of this writing). It’s nice to say that anything can happen in baseball but not every team can pull off what the Red Sox did in 2004. Is the writing on the wall for LAA? It is unless they can pull away with a comeback today.
Alex Rodriguez had the Linescore of the Day, or rather of the Inning, against the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday, as he drove in seven runs in the 6th inning (an inning RBI mark for the AL). His seven runs batted in helped propel the Yankees to a 10-2 (all ten NY runs coming in the 6th) victory in their final game of the year, the team’s 103 win of the season. ARod ripped a three run homer in his 1st at bat of the inning and he came to the plate with the bases loaded in his 2nd time up, after the Rays intentionally walked Mark Teixeira, and Rodriguez cleared off the bases with his 30th dong, giving him 100 RBIs for the season, in only 124 games, due in part to hip surgery, AMAZING!
Alex Rodriguez 3 for 4, 2 HRs, 7 RBIs (in the 6th, including a GS), 2 runs