MLB
The outfield is often overlooked when evaluating a team. Although many outfielders are well known for their offensive prowess most do not get credit for their defensive game with the exception of the gold glover’s. Although the Mets have a single gold glover out there in Carlos Beltran, Cliff Floyd did lead National League left fielders in assists last year, and neither Xavier Nady nor Victor Diaz are poor defensively.
Remember that spoiled kid who lived down the street who owned the most expensive bike and the newest video game? How you had to go by whatever rules he made up if you wanted to use all his cool stuff? And how you always wanted to punch that kid in the face whenever he pulled the “it’s my ball and I’m taking it home” shtick? Well, after Sunday’s controversial 4-3 win over Japan in the World Baseball Classic, I’m starting to feel a bit like that kid.
To some, including myself, baseball is the greatest sport that has ever been played. It is a game played by two opposing teams made of multiple players, but only nine players per team play at the same time. To be part of one of the thirty teams that get to play professional baseball, a player has to play the game extremely well.
There’s a ten-year-old boy out there right now, hitting ball after ball after ball off a tee in his backyard. As the sun goes down, he imagines himself at Yankees Stadium on a brisk October night, stepping up to the plate, a full count, bottom of the ninth, two outs, bases loaded, the Yanks down by one. He launches the game winning homerun and as he runs around the imaginary bases, with the imaginary crowd screaming in his ear, he wishes that one day his dream of playing in the major league, along side his heroes will come true.
With so many questions regarding position players this off season, many have overlooked just how strong the Red Sox pitching staff has become.
It seems only fitting to start with the starting rotation. The Red Sox begin the 2006 season with seven eligible candidates to fill a five man rotation. With an ideal mix of veteran leadership and strong young arms this group seems poised to cause match up problems for opposing teams.
Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance William’s new book Game of Shadows has seemingly put to rest any debate of whether baseball superstar Barry Bonds ever knowingly took steroids. If only half of the details in the book are absolute fact, it is still some very damning stuff. Even the late, great attorney Johnnie Cochran would have a futile time building a defense for Bonds; no failed test, he’s naturally the best! The truth is now out, no matter how many denials we hear from Barry, and the aftermath remains. Does Barry Bonds belong in the baseball Hall of Fame? I’m here to tell you why he does.
by Matt Wells
Stealing homeruns. Fighting. Changing the outcomes of games. No, this isn’t the future of sports as we know it. Well, it shouldn’t be, anyway.
This is sports in the past decade. This is fans, paying money to enter a stadium to see a professional sporting event, acting like idiots. These are the fans that ruin the game, whether they change the outcome of a contest or they make a professional athlete fear for his life.
These outrageous behaviors are part of sports history….a very negative part of sports history.
Imagine if a team in the NFL had won their division every single year since 1990. Everybody would be talking about this team heading into the year, they would be one of the most popular teams in all of sports, and it wouldn’t even be a question if they were going to repeat once again as division champions. Why is it any different with the Braves current situation in baseball?
Today is the third breakdown of the Met roster, the infield. With our corner infielder’s hitting for power and our shortstop with blazing speed offensively we should be fine. The one major question mark is still second base. Minaya constantly attempted to move the incumbent Kaz Matsui throughout the offseason but he could not find any suitors for the $8.5 million he was due. Manager Willie Randolph has made it clear that Spring Training results will ultimately determine the second basemen. As of now it’s between, Matsui, Brett Boone, Jeff Keppinger, and Anderson Hernandez.
The date is February 27, and that means baseball season is indeed upon us. For lovers of the national pastime the long winter is finally over, and we can take solace in the fact that our teams are now engaging in full workouts. It is shaping up to be a very entertaining 2006 season, but it may be hard to match the last few. MLB’s parody has been incredible in recent years, with two ancient curses being broken with the last two World Series champions.
However, all this parody has had George Steinbrenner bumming for the last few seasons. Not since 2000 has his team won a title. Even with his payroll reaching record amounts; it was approximately 205 million dollars in 2005, more than 80 million dollars higher than any other team. Yet George’s Yankees couldn’t even get to the World Series. They didn’t even get out of the first round! With such a travesty at the end of the season, it was an oddly quiet offseason for Steinbrenner. The only big-name change was the signing of Johnny Damon from the hated Red Sox. People need to remember though that the Yanks won 95 games in 2005 and won the division for the 8th straight year, so one could argue that not many changes needed to be made.