Category: MLB General

By: Rob LaBrie

Now that the Patriots aren’t in the Super Bowl, I seem to be having trouble really getting as into it as usual.  So when all else fails here in New England, we look to baseball.  While the rosters aren’t finalized yet, there’s no harm in taking a peek at what’s going on in the Show.

Recent history shows that the AL East has been dominated mainly by the two powerhouses, New York and Boston.  However, it could be different this year.  The Red Sox have seen many roster changes including first base, second base, shortstop, third base, and center field.  The rotation will see two new starters and the bullpen has also changed around a little bit.  Meanwhile, the Yankees are another year older and will have only one guy under thirty in the starting lineup.  Then there is Toronto.  The Jays have added plenty of fresh faces and are being considered the dark horse in the East.  The Orioles have also changed it up a little, despite what Miggy seems to think.  Of course, there are always those pesky Devil Rays to watch out for…but don’t get your hopes up.

Hey all you MLB fans out there, what’s going on? Ready for spring training? Ready for the big games?

Okay, now let’s cut to the chase. Look at, oh say, the New York Mets. How have they progressed over the years, or should I say unprogressed? The Mets dealt with obtaining star players that were terrible in New York, and now they sit atop the big apple, making some of the biggest moves in the last two off seasons, most notably Billy Wagner and Pedro Martinez. So the overall message I am trying to send to you is, less is really more when it comes to baseball.

by Matt Wells

Since I’m just a 21-year old college student, my memories of baseball take me back to only the early to mid-1990’s.  Back then, I got the notion stuck in my head that I would see some of the greatest players in the game retire wearing a certain uniform.  After all, Mark McGwire retired wearing a Cardinals uniform.  Nolan Ryan retired wearing a Rangers uniform.  I could go on and on with this.

Furthermore, some players retired wearing a certain uniform because they played their whole careers with one team.  Tony Gwynn was forever a Padre.  Cal Ripken, Jr. was forever an Oriole.  Barry Larkin was forever a Red.  I could never picture those guys wearing any other uniform, just like I could never picture any of the players listed below wearing a different uniform.

To begin with I have a confession to make. I am a baseball Geek. Yes, that’s with a capital “G.” I have no problem admitting my geekiness because everyone is “that way” about something. Even the coolest cat in Hollywood is a geek in some respect.

Now that I’ve had my “Oprah moment” I will move on to the topic at hand, the World Baseball Classic. I plan on breaking the tournament down, with predictions of course, at a later date. I’m going to use this space today to offer up some suggestions to Team USA manager Buck Martinez.

It was a beautiful summer day in early July, July 8th, 2000 to be exact. The Yankees and Mets were in the midst of baseball history playing the first ever day/night doubleheader in two different stadiums on the same day. It turned out to only be a tease of what was to come in October of that season but there was more to the game than just Yankees vs. Mets. I’m sure fans on both sides of the game remember Chuck Knoblauch’s lead-off single that turned into two bases after Todd Zeile was called for obstruction and Mets’ manager Bobby Valentine was then tossed for arguing the call. It wasn’t more than an inning later where Knoblauch created obstruction himself and the call was missed, this time Zeile being called for interference. The Yankees, yes those Damn Yankees, swept the Mets first in Queens and then in the Bronx later that night on a day when New York area fans were treated to a bit of nostalgia, Mets fans were stung by a flashback from Dwight Gooden.

Everyone can now breathe a sigh of relief. Alex Rodriguez has finally succumbed to intense pressure from Major League Baseball, and, as a generous good will act to fans across the world, has decided that he will play in the World Baseball Classic this March. I think I speak for everyone when I say “Alex, nobody cares.”

More than two months removed from the World Series, it is safe to say that the power may be shifting quietly in the American League West.  With big names like Alfonzo Soriano, Kenny Rogers, and Octavio Dotel (is he really still a star?) all heading to other teams outside the division, the changing of the guard indeed has begun.  

    On September 4, 1968, Michael Joseph Piazza came into this world via Norristown, Pa.  Ronnie Belliard was born on April 7, 1975 in the Bronx, N.Y.  And, in the great year of 1975, in the even more fantastic month of July, Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez was born in New York City.  All three ballplayers were born in the United States of America.

    As of January 1, 2006, however, Belliard was registered as a player for the Dominican Republic in the upcoming World Baseball Classic.  Piazza?  Italy.  Alex Rodriguez, one of the world’s finest baseball players?  No team.  Is anyone else upset by this trend?

The World Baseball Classic this coming March is an event that many of us baseball fans have penciled into our 2006 calendars.  Slowly the event is creeping into the Sports Media forefront and it should gain even more momentum as the college and NFL seasons wrap up.  With the winter meetings and the majority of the baseball off-season behind us, for baseball fans the WBC is the next thing to look forward to.  Small controversies have already begun with the debates ranging from Mike Piazza’s country of birth to the Yankees ability to withhold catcher Jorge Posada from the event.  While these issues are important to fans of the countries that these players seek to represent, the more pressing problem is the exclusion of Cuba from participating in the WBC.  This is something that has not been discussed with necessary urgency up to this point.   Cuba has a long tradition of baseball greatness and whatever your politics might be the exclusion of a country that has made such a significant impact on baseball throughout the world should be problematic to any baseball fan.  The shortsightedness of George Bush, himself the former owner of the Texas Rangers, to allow a political vendetta to exclude Cuba from participating in a World Baseball Classic is something that fans around the world should be challenging.  If the World Baseball Classic is to be set up as a yearly event, the exclusion of one country, by another for political reasons sets a dangerous precedent.  With many Latin American countries, notably Venezuela, Bolivia and Argentina democratically electing presidents with strong anti-United States reputations, it seems likely that by 2009 the pool of eligible countries will have shrunk again, eliminating other countries with long reputations within the sport.  

In a perfect world, the end of a fifteen year stretch as the face of the Chicago White Sox would also mark the end of a remarkable career.

Unfortunately, Frank Thomas is probably going to hook on somewhere as a DH and chase the elusive 500 homerun plateau, making him an over the top sure in for the Hall of Fame.

In my opinion, he already is.