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2010 World Series: Getting To Know The San Francisco Giants

Posted by on 27 October 2010, 2:51 pm

As a New York Yankees fan it is easy to get to know the players in the American League.

Due to geographical circumstances and interleague play, I have learned more about some of the teams in the National League, like the New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Over the past few seasons, the San Francisco Giants have not come to the Bronx and have not factored in the postseason.

The Giants actually resided in New York City from 1930-57, in which the franchise won five World Championships and 17 pennants. Since making the move to San Francisco, the city still awaits for their Giants to bring a World Series title to the Bay.

Mainly known as the home to starting ace Tim Lincecum (“The Freak”), who has won the Cy Young Award the past two seasons, the Giants are another team residing in the NL West along with the Dodgers and San Diego Padres.

The organization’s biggest star, Barry Bonds disgraced the team’s mainstay. It seemed that the last special baseball moment for the Giants was Bonds hitting for his home-run record. It is his record because MLB can’t count it as baseball history when it was unauthentic.

Other than a cheat and a freak, there wasn’t much reason to get to the Giants over the last five seasons, until now.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

After watching a few Giants games I understand their team’s appeal. The Giants players are scrappy, good, fundamental baseball players who are darn fun to watch because they never seem to give up.

STRENGTHS:

The team’s biggest asset is pitching. Three aces: Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and Madison Bumgarner, follow Lincecome.

The Giants starters finished the regular season with a 3.36 ERA, which was the lowest in baseball. The Giants rotation also tossed a total of 1461 innings, gave up the least hits with 1279, 546 earned runs, and struck out the most batters.

All stats led the majors for 2010. They tied for third place with the Dodgers and Marlins for the least home-runs allowed with 134 in total. Continue reading ‘2010 World Series: Getting To Know The San Francisco Giants’ »

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New York Yankees: Sorry Joe Torre You Deserved To Lose

Posted by on 29 June 2010, 11:59 am

Once again, the New York Yankees utilized inter-league play by crushing the NL teams, winning 10 of 15 games.

The stressful, yet successful trip out west was exhausting. The Yankees played with so much heart making sure to win both series against the Diamondbacks and the Dodgers.

Sunday night’s game against Joe Torre and his Dodgers felt like deja vu from last season, as the Yankees were up for a fight again.

It was the ninth inning with one out and the Yankees were down 6-2.

Initially, my heart went out to A-Rod. I wanted the Yankees to win for him and I guess his teammates did too, as the Yankees came back to win in the tenth inning, 8-6.

The win came largely thanks to Robinson Cano’s two-run homer to take the lead, but getting to extra innings was a complete team effort. Torre also helped by over-using his closer Jonathan Broxton. I guess some things never change.

Before this series, never once did A-Rod mention anything about his feelings towards Torre. A-Rod respectfully took the high road, which was completely understandable.

Well, I am not A-Rod. I am a Yankees fan, and an A-Rod fan, so here is what I have to say…

I have three words on Torre’s The Yankee Years — low-class, unprofessional, and desperate. It was awful to read and it must have hurt A-Rod more than he will ever admit.

Torre deserved to lose. Torre was someone who I thought realized that players were human beings like everyone else. When he lead the Yankees for 12 years, Torre gave off the people first, baseball players second vibe.

Torre betrayed the organization that made him famous, the fans who were heart-broken to see him leave, and the players who trusted him.

This whole time, the real fraud was actually Joe Torre.

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Do You Remember 2007 When Joe Torre Was Our Hero

Posted by on 24 June 2010, 9:08 pm

It felt like a heat wave in New York City on that October 8th night, back in 2007.

Fans were funneling into Yankee Stadium extra early for Game 4 of the ALDS.

The prior evening, I had watched my Yankees pull out a win to avoid getting swept.

Which, was all thanks to a home run hit by Johnny Damon in the seventh inning. I remember how I jumped on my stadium seat as my Yankees dreams of the post-season were not over yet.

Now, the Cleveland Indians were up 2-1 over the New York Yankees. Losing meant the season would end, but there was a lot more on the line that year for the Yankees.

Fans were just as aware as the players, but no one wanted to believe it. It broke my heart to think of being in the Bronx without Joe Torre, as he had become such an figure and was a father to an entire city.

In my life, I have never been to a baseball game with such tense and ardent fans, which made it difficult to imagine how the players were handling it.

By the end of the seventh inning, the Yankees chances were bleak. The Yankees were playing as hard as they could, but the Indians were the better team and the fans knew it.

As the eighth inning began, low chants of “JOE TORRE, JOE TORRE, JOE TORRE, JOE….” were becoming louder every moment, as fans started to rise and join in like a slow, chaotic wave that took over Yankee Stadium.

It continued well after the last pitch because the team’s loss was incomparable to losing our skipper. For 12 years, Joe Torre leads the Yankees to four World Series titles, six AL Pennants, and a record of 1173-767 in games. More than all the baseball accomplishments, Torre was admired by Yankees fans for his everyday demeanor and were so proud to call him our leader.

As I dried my tears and exited the Stadium, it was hard to let go of never seeing Mr. Torre in pinstripes again. That is why I bought a photo from a stadium vendor of Torre with Mariano Rivera. Early the next morning I had my ticket and the image professionally framed, so I would never have to forget it.

No one knew this would be the last post-season ever played in the Old Yankees Stadium that night, as well. Crazy.The days right after October 8th were filled with Yankees fans fighting for Torre. To describe it as an uproar would be an understatement, as protests, newspaper ads and innumerable letters sent to the Boss all pleading to keep Torre here forever.

Now it is 2010, and numerous adverse events have come between my feelings about Joe Torre. Sadly, it eventually led me to taking down my Joe Torre collage from my wall. Continue reading ‘Do You Remember 2007 When Joe Torre Was Our Hero’ »

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National League: Team Rankings Everybody Ought To Know

Posted by on 28 April 2010, 3:17 pm

With baseball season in full swing, teams are starting to define their reputations.

As the season progresses, teams will start to trip themselves up or find their footing again. Some teams will get that hail mary to get back up, and some might collapse like the Mets in 2007.

Speaking of the Mets, lets rank* the National League in part one, and the American League in part two.

NATIONAL LEAGUE:

  1. San Francisco Giants -The Freak, Tim Lincecum is the best pitcher in MLB and Giants rotation is one of the top, depending if Barry Zito is really back to life. Ahead of Cards because Giants took the series, killed them with pitching.
  2. St. Louis Cardinals – starting rotation up their with the Giants lead by Chris Carpenter; best player MLB is still Pujols with 7 home-runs, 5 doubles, 11 walks and 18 RBIs as of April 28. Pujols is insane, but the rest of the line-up better start to help him out, consistently.
  3. San Diego Padres – most improved team and now at top of the NL. It would be a miracle for this to last even until the All-Star break. Continue reading ‘National League: Team Rankings Everybody Ought To Know’ »

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The Depressed West VS. The Eager East

Posted by on 19 October 2009, 5:28 pm

Game three of the NLCS wrapped up tonight, with Philadelphia Phillies beating the L.A. Dodgers and taking the 2-1 lead in games.


Watching what resembled more of a batting practice, the Phillies scored 11 runs. Phillies Cliff Lee and his divine arm struck out 10 of Torre’s Dodgers. Lee’s performance was outstanding, tying a NLCS and franchise record for most KO’s in a playoff game since 1980.

On Saturday, back in the Bronx the Bombers had a nail biter again. Luck might seem to be abundant with the Yanks taking game two from the Angels in the bottom of the 13th inning.

Both teams made errors, but the Yankees took advantage of it and just fought harder.

The Angels have the expression of a team in shock since arriving in freezing, raining New York for the weekend. Maybe the sequence of events was already determined by for Los Angeles? Abreau could be homesick as it looks like he is going to cry at the plate cause it is certainly not hitting.

In the Angeles defense, everything Yankee is everything scared of the Angels.

The Yankees could have an Oscar nod if this cycle continues in the direction of games one and two. Win or lose the Angels downright suck the life out of the Yankees. Whether it is home or away, for years this was the pattern up until precisely these last two games.

Maybe it is a new trend on the west coast as the Dodgers looked just as shell shocked in Citizen Bank Park.

The east coast teams disagree entirely. Players eyes fill-up with fierce determination, along with never-quitting attitudes consumed with the desire to win.

Both LA clubs have attitude. Nothing new in Angel-land but for the Dodgers the moment that pen hit the ink of Manny signing his contract.

Both California teams need to make a 180′ directly to go back into this two series. Losing games due to error, instead of the opponent winning, is a road no team wants to go down. It is a downward spiral, especially when you arrive as one of the best.

Maybe if they has a mascot like the Phanatic it would lift spirits up? The Phillies mascot can be quite the spectacle and Manny might be jealous?

The Phillies and the Yankees are not going anywhere, and nor are their attitudes.

Anything can change in this environment The west coast that needs a wake-up call or else the dreams of Freeway World Series will become just that.

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A Fan’s Guide To The Eight Playoff Teams – Part 2

Posted by on 7 October 2009, 3:34 pm
Now onto the National League teams. The NL has four teams that will be playing to go to the World Series to face the winning AL team.
Here are the National League teams from a Yankee fan’s point of view. Once again listed in no particular order.
PART 2 – THE NATIONAL LEAGUE

1.Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies are the defending World Champs and would love to repeat. The team works very well as a unit because players pick each other up in games when someone is struggling.The Phillies closer Brad Lidge has been far from the dominant closer he was in 2008. Skipper Charlie Manuel has shown confidence in Lidge but by keep ing him in his job but it has not paid off. Lidge blew 10 saves as of September. This will be a position likely to be filled by Brett Meyers. Meyers did well in the post before the season’s end. Lidge’s services will be utilized in less-pressuring situations, at least to open the playoffs. The closer component is vital to any baseball team’s success. Skipper Charlies Manuel has been around long enough to know what it takes to win. I am not to worried how the Phillies will handle this.Picking up Cliff Lee at the trade deadline (for scarcely anything considering what Lee’s arm is worth) to join Cole Hamels in the rotation. They are as reliable as a team one and two starters can get.The tandem with Joe Blanton most likely as the third will be a solid rotation.Phillies line-up is still very good with Rollins, Utley, Ibanez, Howard.
Are the defending champs good enough to repeat? That is a different story; guess we will find out soon.
2. St. Louis CardinalsThe Cardinals are could be the best team in the National League. Albert Puljos is the NL MVP and perhaps the best in the entire majors. He is what Jeter is to New York but in St. Louis. The Cardinals have two Cy Young Award possibilities in Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. This is the only team to have a one and two be Cy Young contenders. The mid season snatch of Matt Holliday to hit clean-up behind Puljos have both guys slugging over .600. Gold Glove catcher Yadier Molina is the brother of Yankees catcher Jose and is one of the best catchers. Yadier is the best-defensive catcher in the game. Runners do not attempt to steal as often and to score off a single from second base is out of the question when Yadier is controlling the game.
The Cards support it all on paper. Whether it gets used properly and effectively is another story. Continue reading ‘A Fan’s Guide To The Eight Playoff Teams – Part 2’ »

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Twenty-Two Teams’ Endings, Are Eight Teams Just Beginnings

Posted by on 4 October 2009, 12:15 am

Twenty-Two Teams’ Endings, Are Eight Teams Beginning

Two games away from the ending of the regular baseball season; eight teams are about to battle it out on the road to the World Series.

The remaining 22 teams start playing the blame game, which many have already been playing. Heads will roll with the visions of the next season’s hopes that can only become goals with change.

Listening, reading anything about predictions of who will be the champs from experts and fans, most are thinking the Yankees are the team.

As any sports fan knows the accuracy of predictions are based on the regular season.

And what is the one thing that has not impact on the playoffs?

It’s regular season.

Here is how it looks as of today:

National League: St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Colorado Rockies

American League: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and TBD (Detroit Tigers or Minnesota Twins)

The playoffs are a fresh start for all eight teams, no matter how each clinched a spot it is a new beginning. Just because the Yankees are the most winning team surely does not mean that they cannot lose.

Just remember the road to the Super Bowl in 2007, where team David (NYG) beat team Goliath (NEP). It is the heart of a team that wins championships. Entitlement can bee the death of teams who start to presume something is there’s before it is earned.

Once all eight teams are locked completely, the talk based on opinions and possibilities will begin. The fans that follow their teams to the playoffs have the dream of a World Series right in their reach.

Hearts will be broken and other will be filled but for everyone it will surely be memorable.

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