SubscribeNomar Garciaparra retires
Nomar Garciaparra, a one-time Hall of Fame lock, has called it a career after 14 seasons in Major League Baseball. He has officially retired and will now begin working as a baseball annalist for ESPN.
I wont miss him. I’ve never been a Nomar Garciaparra fan. To watch him at bat was a baseball at it’s worse. After every pitch, he would step out of the batter’s box and adjust his batting gloves. It was so, so annoying. If his gloves really needed to be adjusted after each and every pitch, maybe he was wearing the wrong gloves.
Goodbye Nomar Garciaparra. You will not be missed. At least not by me.
Stephen Strasburg to make his professional baseball debut in the minor leagues
Stephen Strasburg, the highly touted top pick of the 2009 MLB spring draft, will likely start the 2010 season in the minor leagues and not for the Washington Nationals in the big league. Not that anyone usually thinks of the Washington Nationals has being part of the big league.
Stephen Strasburg will likely start playing professional baseball in either the double-A or triple-A level. That means he wont be playing for the Hagerstown Suns, one of the single-A level teams for the Washington Nationals. That is, unless he begins pitching at the double-A level and turns out to totally suck. That would be a bad thing since he is already being described as one of the greatest pitchers in the history of baseball.
Mark McGwire admits to using steroids
Mark McGwire has finally come out and admitted what everyone always thought – that he used steroids when he broke baseball’s home run record in 1998. What’s he going to admit next, that he has red hair and a goatee?
I don’t really understand all the hoopla when it comes to steroids in baseball. Contrary to what you might have heard on sports talk radio, steroids do not help you hit home runs. What they do is allow your muscles to heal faster and recover quicker when subjected to trauma or damage. This means that when someone is engaging in strenuous weight lifting and they are taking steroids, they will be able to recover quicker in between workouts then someone who is not taking steroids. This allows them to lift more and work harder than someone who is not taking them.
So in other words, a person taking steroids is able to work harder than a person not taking them.
The notion that they are some kind of home run hitting magical elixir is absurd.
I guess one might make the argument that steroids help a person gain more muscles and more muscles help a person hit home runs, so it’s cheating. The problem with that argument is that simply lifting weights help to gain muscles too.
Is lifting weights cheating too? How about eating egg white omelets and broiled skinless chicken breasts?
I’m not even convinced that big muscles help a person hit home runs. Hank Aaron held the life time home run record for the longest time and he wasn’t a big muscle type of guy.
It’s probably a good thing that Mark McGwire came out and told everyone what we all thought to begin with. It’s not like he was the first baseball player to use steroids before they were banned by Major League Baseball. I’m sure that as time goes on, more players will come out and make similar “confessions”. If they were smart, they would come out now while all the attention is being focused on McGwire.
Nobody said ball players were smart.
Andre Dawson elected to the Hall of Fame
Andre Dawson has been elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. He will be enshrined into Cooperstown on July 25, 2010.
This is the ninth time Dawson has appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot. The other eight times Dawson was on the ballot, he was not yet good enough for Cooperstown. Even though he has not played professional baseball in 14 years, he evidently has somehow improved as a player. Even though his stats and accomplishment have not changed since his retirement, he’s now good enough for the Hall of Fame, even though he evidently wasn’t good enough the prior eight times his name appeared on the ballot.
I just don’t get that.
Either a player is a Hall of Fame player or he’s not. I don’t get how the voters can reject someone for enshrinement for years and then suddenly reverse their prior votes.
Lifelong New York Yankees fan jumps ship after only one game
Former executive producer of the Ron and Fez Show and lifelong, die-hard New York Yankees fan Earl Douglas has stopped supporting the New York Yankees and has evidently decided to instead support the Philadelphia Phillies. As this photo shows, he has even gone to the extent for replacing his Yankees hat with a Phillies hat.
Seeing Earl Douglas wear something other than a Yankees cap is a lot like seeing Rush Limbaugh wearing an Obama t-shirt.
The Phillies beat the Yankees last night in game one of the World Series, 6-1. If the Yankees win tonight, will Earl Douglas go back to being a Yankees fan? Will he only go back to supporting the Yankees if they win the World Series?
It should be noted that even though the Yankees have the highest payroll in baseball ($208 million), they haven’t won a World Series since 2000.
Hopefully, it’s a trend that will continue. Like Earl Douglas, I hate the New York Yankees.
Let the Major League Baseball Divisional Series games begin!
The post-season officially starts today for Major League Baseball (MLB) and according the Awful Announcing, this is the TV schedule for all the divisional series games:
Wednesday, October 7th
- Colorado Rockies @ Philadelphia Phillies, Game #1 (TBS, 2:30pm)- Brian Anderson, Joe Simpson and David Aldridge
- Minnesota Twins @ New York Yankees, Game #1 (TBS, 6pm)- Chip Caray, Ron Darling and Craig Sager
- St. Louis Cardinals @ Los Angeles Dodgers, Game #1 (TBS, 9:30pm)- Dick Stockton, Bob Brenly and Tom Verducci
Thursday, October 8th
- Colorado Rockies @ Philadelphia Phillies, Game #2 (TBS, 2:30pm)- Brian Anderson, Joe Simpson and David Aldridge
- St. Louis Cardinals @ Los Angeles Dodgers, Game #2 (TBS, 6pm)- Dick Stockton, Bob Brenly and Tom Verducci
- Boston Red Sox @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Game #1 (TBS, 9:30pm)- Don Orsillo, Buck Martinez and Mark Fein
Friday, October 9th
- Minnesota Twins @ New York Yankees, Game #2 (TBS, 6pm)- Chip Caray, Ron Darling and Craig Sager
- Boston Red Sox @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Game #2 (TBS, 9:30pm)- Don Orsillo, Buck Martinez and Mark Fein
Saturday, October 10th
- Los Angeles Dodgers @ St. Louis Cardinals, Game #3 (TBS, 6:30pm)- Dick Stockton, Bob Brenly and Tom Verducci
- Philadelphia Phillies @ Colorado Rockies, Game #3 (TBS, 10pm)- Brian Anderson, Joe Simpson and David Aldridge
Sunday, October 11th
- Los Angeles Dodgers @ St. Louis Cardinals, Game #4* (TBS, TBD)- Dick Stockton, Bob Brenly and Tom Verducci
- Philadelphia Phillies @ Colorado Rockies, Game #4* (TBS, TBD)- Brian Anderson, Joe Simpson and David Aldridge
- New York Yankees @ Minnesota Twins, Game #3 (TBS, TBD)- Chip Caray, Ron Darling and Craig Sager
- Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim @ Boston Red Sox, Game #3 (TBS, TBD)- Don Orsillo, Buck Martinez and Mark Fein
Monday, October 12th
- New York Yankees @ Minnesota Twins , Game #4* (TBS, TBD)- Chip Caray, Ron Darling and Craig Sager
- Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim @ Boston Red Sox, Game #4* (TBS, TBD)- Don Orsillo, Buck Martinez and Mark Fein
Tuesday, October 13th
- St. Louis Cardinals @ Los Angeles Dodgers, Game #5* (TBS, TBD)- Dick Stockton, Bob Brenly and Tom Verducci
- Colorado Rockies @ Philadelphia Phillies, Game #5* (TBS, TBD)- Brian Anderson, Joe Simpson and David Aldridge
Wednesday, October 14th
- Minnesota Twins @ New York Yankees, Game #5* (TBS, TBD)- Chip Caray, Ron Darling and Craig Sager
- Boston Red Sox @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Game #5 (TBS, TBD) Don Orsillo, Buck Martinez and Mark Fein
David Wright’s gigantic helmet
A lot of people are making fun of New York Mets third basemen David Wright’s gigantic helmet, and rightfully so. The helmet makes him look completely stupid. I don’t know if it’s because his helmet is just too big, or that his body is incredibly small.
He’s wearing this contraption because he was hit in the head with a pitch a few weeks ago by Matt Cain of the San Fransisco Giants. Wright went down hard and stayed down for a couple of minutes. He was eventually able to leave the field under his own power and the Mets put him on the 15-day disabled list. He suffered a concussion and the fear is that if he’s hit in the head again, the concussion will be worse. That’s the way concussions are, each one is progressively worse.
This new helmet is supposed to give his head more protection than the standard MLB batting helmet.
I think the problem with this helmet is that the designers tried to make it look sort of like a baseball cap. Back in the olden times, batters went to bat without a helmet, they simply wore the same wool cap that they wore when they played defense. When helmets first appeared in MLB, they looked just like wool caps, only they were hard plastic. Over the years, they slowly evolved into safer helmets, yet they have retained the look of a baseball cap.
I think that’s a mistake.
They should just design a safe helmet and not worry about making it look sort of like a baseball cap. No matter what they do, it’s not going to look like a baseball cap so they should just stop.
The unassisted triple play
It was the 15th unassisted triple play in major league baseball history and only the second time it’s happened to end a game. There were runners on first and second and both runners were attempting to steal when Jeff Francoeur of the New York Mets hit the ball directly to Philadelphia Phillies utility infielder Eric Bruntlett. Out #1 was when Bruntlett caught the line drive. Out #2 was when Bruntlett stepped on the bag for the force out of Luis Castillo who was on second base, but legally could not advance to third base because the hit ball had never touched the ground. Out #3 was when Bruntlett tagged Daniel Murphy before he could get back to first base.
One. Two. Three. An unassisted triple play by a utility infielder.
David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez reportedly on the 2003 list of steroid users
The New York Times is reporting that David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez are among the players that tested positive for steroids in the confidential “anonymous” performance enhancing drugs (PED) test in 2003. Both players were with the Boston Red Sox and contributed greatly to Boston’s championship seasons of 2004 and 2007.
As it turns out, these tests weren’t very confidential or anonymous. From the article:
Baseball first tested for steroids in 2003, and the results from that season were supposed to remain anonymous. But for reasons that have never been made clear, the results were not destroyed and the first batch of positives has come to be known among fans and people in baseball as “the list.” The information was later seized by federal agents investigating the distribution of performance-enhancing drugs to professional athletes, and the test results remain the subject of litigation between the baseball players union and the government.
Ortiz is now acting as though this is the first time he is learning that he tested positive in 2003, though it was reported earlier that the players that tested positive were informed by their union when federal agents seized the results.
So what does this actually mean? In my opinion, absolutely nothing. Major League Baseball didn’t ban anabolic steroids until 2004. These test results were from 2003.
The ironic thing is that David Ortiz is one of the few players have come out and been critical of those using PEDs, even calling for a one year ban on the first failed test. Of course, this was before it came out that he himself failed a test in 2003.
Pot, meet kettle.
Orioles reliever accuses umpire of being a degenerate gambler
Orioles reliever Jamie Walker got called for a balk in last night’s game against the Anaheim Angels by home plate umpire Angel Hernandez. I get the impression that Walker did not agree with the call. From the Baltimore Sun:
“No way in hell did I balk on that pitch,” Walker said. “I don’t know if the guy has something against me or what, but no way in hell did I balk. It changed the whole damn game. I may get screwed in the long run, but that’s just unacceptable at this level. I don’t know if he had money betting on the game or what, but that’s a horseshit call. I don’t even have a damn pickoff move. I think that might be my first career balk.”
I doubt the ump was betting on the game. Even if he was a degenerate gambler, who in their right might would take action on an Orioles game? With that said, why on earth is a man named “Angel” allowed to work a game involving a team with the same name?
I see a direct conflict of interest here.
The guy that would rather pee than stand for ‘God Bless America’ is suing the New York Yankees
Last year Bradford Campeau-Laurion was ejected from a baseball game at Yankees stadium because he tried to leave his seat during the start of the seventh-inning stretch to use the restroom. The problem is that this is when the Yankees play God Bless America over the PA system. Fans are supposed to stand and show respect.
They are not supposed to go and relieve themselves.
A police officer stopped Campeau-Laurion and instructed him to return to his seat. Campeau-Laurion refused saying that he really had to go pee. When Campeau-Laurion tried to step around the officer, the officer grabbed Campeau-Laurion’s right arm and twisted it behind his back. A second officer grabbed Campeau-Laurion’s other arm and twisted it behind his back. They then marched Campeau-Laurion out of the stadium where one of the officers told him that if he didn’t like it, he should leave the country.
Bradford Campeau-Laurion is now suing the New York Yankees.
The police of course are disagreeing with Campeau-Laurion’s account of what happened. According to them, Campeau-Laurion was a drunk that was standing on his seat and loudly cursing, “reeking of alcohol”.
If that were true, why didn’t the police arrest Campeau-Laurion?
Even if I didn’t hate the New York Yankees, I would side with Campeau-Laurion on this. The seventh-inning stretch is intended to be a time for fans to get up and, well, stretch. It’s not supposed to be a time for faux patriotism.
Ken Griffey Jr. returns to Seattle
Future Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr returns to the team where he started his career, the Seattle Mariners. Griffey began his MLB career as 19-year-old in 1989. He played for the Mariners for 11 seasons and went to 10 All-Star games in those 11 years. He then asked the team to trade him to Cincinnati, the city he considers to be his home. The Mariners honored the request and Griffey became a Cincinnati Red before the 2000 season.
His career with the Reds was never quite at the All-Star level that it was in Seattle. Mostly that was due to injuries. I guess that’s what happens when you don’t have a secret cousin who is able to smuggle in mysterious over-the-counter substances from the Dominican Republic. Your body breaks down and takes longer to heal. Imagine that.
Poor A-Rod
I listened to the Alex Rodriguez press conference yesterday and I found the whole thing to be wildly entertaining. The problem, at least for Alex Rodriguez, is that I don’t think that was the intended purpose of the press conference.
To entertain me.
Why doesn’t he just come out and say exactly what he did? The only thing people hate more than a cheater is an idiot. The more A-Rod talks, the more he sounds like a total idiot. For example, his explanation on how he got the steroids; He says that a cousin smuggled them in from the Dominican Republic. He claims that he doesn’t really know what they were or what exactly they did.
There are just some things you don’t allow even a cousin to do. Injecting your buttocks with a mysterious substance from the Dominican Republic is one of those things.
Steroids weren’t even banned in Major League Baseball until 2005. He should just come out and be completely honest. Don’t hold anything back. In today’s press conference, he refused to identify his cousin. Does he honestly think he can keep the name of his cousin a secret?
I wish him the best of luck with that.
Shocker of all shockers, Yankees sign CC Sabathia
The Yankees, a team that hasn’t won a World Series in eight years, has signed CC Sabathia to a 7-year, $161 million dollar contract. As if he wouldn’t have taken the job if they only offered him $160 million. As if they had to kick in another million bucks just to make the deal work.
How do they come up with these contracts? $161 million is such a weird number to settle on.
The funny thing about this is that New York taxpayers are forking over $200 million to the Yankees organization so that they can build the new $1 billion Yankees Stadium. If they have $161 to spend on a fat pitcher, why can’t they build their own statium without getting a handout from the taxpayer?
Game 5 of the World Series suspended for puddles and wetness
The fifth game of the World Series was suspended last night in the 6th inning. The game is rescheduled for today at 8:00 p.m., but that seems unlikely since they are calling for even worse weather.
The Phillies and Rays are tied 2-2 with the Phillies leading the series 3-1.
Phillies take Game 1 of the World Series
I didn’t get to watch much of the game last night between the American League champs the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the National League champs the Philadelphia Phillies. Even though both teams are here on the east coast, the game didn’t start till nearly 8:40 p.m. The game was scheduled to start at 8:00 p.m., but Fox being Fox had to waste the first 40 minutes with redundant filler. The highlight was former Phillies great Mike Schmidt announcing the Philadelphia starting lineup.
I’m pretty sure he was drunk.
I got up this morning and the Internets told me that the Phillies won, 3-2.
Looking for a team to root against in the World Series?
This year’s World Series will be played between the Philadelphia Phillies and the former expansion team the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Unless you live in either city, you might not know who to root for. If that is where you find yourself, allow me to make a suggestion.
Root against the team Dick Vitale roots for.
When not running his mouth as a college basketball commentator (and cheerleader for Duke basketball) on ESPN, Dicky V lives in the Tampa area. Evidently he is a huge, ragging Rays fan.
I hate Dick Vitale. His ridiculous catch phrases and never ending blabber make watching college basketball games on ESPN almost unwatchable. It doesn’t matter what game he is calling. It doesn’t matter what teams are involved. On an excitement scale of 1 to 10, his level of enthusiasm is at constant eleven. It’s annoying. He acts like he has never watched a college basketball game before.
He refers to freshmen players he likes as “diaper dandies“. As if they are so young and inexperienced, they have not yet mastered the skill of not pooing or peeing in their basketball shorts. He likes to refer to players he likes as “PTPers“. I think it stands for “prime time performers”. The absurdity of that phrase is that many big college basketball games on the weekend are played in the early afternoon. The early afternoon is not prime time. Prime time is at night and usually at 8:00 p.m. Most college basketball games start at 7:00 p.m. which means that if someone plays in prime time, they must be coming off the bench long after the game started.
To call Dick Vitale a douche bag is an insult to other douche bags. Just look at this photo of Vitale wearing his Rays jersey. Who wears a collared golf shirt underneath a jersey? Enough said.
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