Major League Baseball

August 14, 2009

A Connecticut Yankee in New Hampshire 

From the seacoast area of Portsmouth, NH I am a Connecticut Yankee Living In New Hampshire! 

Why this name? I began my love for the Yankees as a child in New Haven, Connecticut – during the glory years of the 1950s. How did my love begin? I started as a Dodger fan until a very cool friend of mine set me straight. He kept talking about Yogi Berra and how he always hit the first pitch for a home run. Okay. I turned the dial and brought in WPIX thanks to one of those ancient cylindrical tv antennas that sat on the set. Now I kid all of you not. Yogi Berra was at the plate when I tuned in---and he DID hit the first pitch out of the yard! That was good enough for me! 

Continue reading "Debut Post"

It's starting to look like Joe Torre is running away with a 14th consecutive trip to the playoffs as a manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They've been straight up dominating the opposition in the NL West. Some might say, "Oh, the NL West has the worst teams in baseball. It's the easiest division." Regardless, the Dodgers are where they're at 79 games into the season. All this and they're doing it without Manny Ramirez. They're hasn't been a superstar in the lineup. Everybody on the team is pitching in. Over the past 14 years, Torres had a knack of making things happen with the players given to him yet still make the playoffs.This team is starting to remind me of Torre’s 1998 Yankees. How’s does this Dodger team compare? Let’s take a look.

Continue reading "Are Joe Torre's Dodgers looking like ..."

You'll notice that at every mention of someone in Major League Baseball passing away, there will be a mention of prayers and condolences. I believe it was because of prayer that the Angels were able to press on and continue the season. Longtime Yankee fans will remember the death of Thurman Munson. He died in a plane crash in the late '70s. The day it was announced at the old Yankee Stadium, everybody was crying. The fans were crying. The players were crying. If you watch Yankeeography, you've probably seen clips of Reggie Jackson crying in the outfield. I believe it was the prayers of the fans that gave Lou Piniella the strength to spark up the team by getting the game-winning hit the next day.

Continue reading "Yankee fans for Jesus, arise! Pray for your team!"

While some will say the Yanks' lack of hits with runners in scoring position was their downfall this year, and they're right, there was also some bad decisions on the part of Brian Cashman and others

Continue reading "What went wrong with the Yankees in 2008"

Willie Randolph is better off to be rid of the Mets. This is an organziation that has been a joke for all 46 years of their existence, through different owners and management. From trading Tom Seaver

Continue reading "The Mets have been a joke for 46 years"

I couldnt disagree more. Major League Baseball is first and foremost a business. Its # 1 goal is to make money and it seems that interleague play is a huge money maker. What National League team doesnt want the Yankees or Red Sox coming to town? I know Pittsburgh sold out three mid-week games versus the Yankees this week. This adds juice to the stadium and it also gets the team pumped up. They can finally play in a sold out stadium that is their own. Watching these games you can see teams like the Pirates or the Rockies last year play in a different gear to try and impress the fans and see how they do versus the best teams.  From a business stand point I belive that Interleague play will be here for a long time.

Continue reading "Interleague Play"

Much like the Designated Hitter, the announced introduction of instant replay to Major League Baseball will likely have calcified supporters and detractors forevermore, and it seems just as inevitable that it will remain. MLB may begin reviewing home run calls this season, possibly as soon as August 1, according to a report in USA Today.

Continue reading "On The Merits of Instant Replay"

I have to laugh when I hear that Brian Cashman will be in demand as a general manager if the Yankees don't sign him to a new contract beyond this season. Here's a guy who landed an job with the Yankees solely because his father was friends with George Steinbrenner; the two met while involved in the horse racing industry. So young Brian was able to land an internship that other just as, if not more, qualified college students can only dream about. Lots of people can make something of an opportunity; not everyone has it handed it to them like Cashman did. Many people could learn the ins and outs of how major league baseball operates, given the chance. I could have learned all about the waiver rules, too.

Continue reading "Brian Cashman, the most over-rated ..."

Nick Blackburn of the Twins was felled on Sunday by a line drive off the bat of Yankee Bobby Abreu, who's enough of a nice guy to show obvious distress as he ran to first. It's one of the greatest fears of any pitcher, as few have the instincts to get out of the way of a ball traveling 100+ MPH from fifty-five feet away (recall that the pitcher typically lands much closer to the plate than the sixty feet, six inches from the rubber to the plate).

Continue reading "Dangerous Projectiles"

Over the past month or so I have taken the time to do some research on every team and break them down.  I pointed out their strengths and weaknesses, discussed which player or part of a team needs to have a big season to push that team to the next level and I made predictions on how every team in baseball would finish.  I talked about how each division would be won and why.  I took the time to look not just as each teams stars but the back end of their bullpen and their bench.  I know we are technically two games into the MLB season but with Opening Day being tomorrow (sorry Braves and Nationals) it is now time for me to tell you which teams will make the playoffs, who will win the awards, how the playoffs will shake up and which team, come October will be on top of the world.

Continue reading "My Baseball Predictions (My brother and dad's too)"

The American League East has been a two horse race for as long as I can remember but I think this year it becomes three-team battle.  The Toronto Blue Jays are as talented as most teams in the league and if they can stay healthy they can definitely contend.  The Rays and Orioles will again bring up the rear of this division but the top should be a fun and wild ride all year long, beginning with the Yankees-Blue Jays to open the season next week.

Continue reading "Part VI: AL East"

The AL Central is my favorite race in the league this year.  The Tigers and Indians are both stacked this season and I think it will very close all year.  I don’t expect either of these teams to have anymore than a 4 or 5 game lead.  The rest of this division is pretty weak which will help these two powerhouses build up the wins.  Let’s get to the breakdowns.

Continue reading "Part V: AL Central"

Moving away from the National League we will turn our attention to the much better American League.  We will start out west which a division that should be a great two horse race.  The Rangers are still struggling; the A’s are now re-building which leaves us with the Mariners and the Angels.  Let’s get to it.

Continue reading "Preview IV: AL West"

Over the next several weeks I will preview the upcoming Major League Baseball season on division at a time by addressing the key issue each team faces this summer. I’ll wrap it up with my post season picks and predictions for award winners. First up is the National League West.

Continue reading "MLB 2008 Preview Part One: National League West"

Time to move on from the rough and tough NL East and we head into the middle of the country and into the weakest (and saddest) division in baseball.  It should be fun though, however bad the baseball might be.  This race is wide open with four or five teams that could honestly win this division.  The NL Central has many newcomers to the division and has some very important people spread throughout the six teams.  But I will discuss that later on.  First, the team-by-team breakdowns.

Continue reading "Part II: NL Central"

We are four and a half weeks away from first pitch of the new Major League Baseball and I have a lot to cover until Josh Beckett faces Joe Blanton in Japan.  This is the first of a seven part series of my MLB 2008 preview.  In the first six parts of the series I will discuss each division, break them down by team and give my predictions for the upcoming season.  The first division I will take a close look at in the NL East.  I see a tight three-team race here between the Mets, Phillies and Marlins.  Just kidding, of course the third team is the Braves.

Continue reading "First of a Seven Part Series-NL East Preview"