Results tagged ‘ A-Rod ’
To 10 of 2010: The Year of the Pitcher…and yes the Giants win!
Now that the countdown to the new year is literally several hours away, the baseball world will likely remember 2010 as the year of the Pitcher in Major League Baseball. Unlike the the 1968 season, 2010 did see high offensive production, but the performances of pitchers throughout during the season had signal the end of the steroid era (we hope) and the beginning of another pitcher era in the game.
2010 had at least 30 games in which pitchers took a no-hitter into the six inning or later and in which 6 actual no hitters were thrown (two of them were perfect games), and that was just in the regular season. In the post season, Doc Halladay threw a no hitter in game one of the NLDS, three months after he threw a perfect gem in Florida. The culmination of the Year of the Pitcher was the San Francisco Giants pitching staff, led by Tim Lincecum, carrying the team to its first World Series championship since 1954, and the first one as the San Francisco Giants.
Top 10 moments of 2010…at least for me:
10. As the title says, the Year of the Pitcher. Besides the two perfect games and three no hitters, 15 pitchers in the Majors struckout 200 batters or more, tying a record in 2010. 2010 also saw the debut of young pitchers that helped their teams win.
9. A-Rod 600th Home run was a pretty big deal. He is one of the youngest players in Baseball history to accomplish the feat, besting Babe Ruth by one year. Although he is no Babe Ruth, A-Rod is one of the greatest players of the last 15 years. Whatever people may think of him personally, no one can deny his ability to play the game.
8. Stephen Strasburg’s debut on June 8 created such a buzz that Nationals Park was actually sold out, probably for the second time during the year (I say that guessing that opening day was also sold out). Strasburg, who was drafted in 2009 was a much hyped draft pick and that night against the Pirates, he lived up to the hype by striking out 14 batters. In his first four games, Strasburg went on to strike out 41 batters.
7. Retirement of Lou Pinella, which didn’t come as a surprise too many. What was probably more surprising was when he decided to retire. Pinella decided to call it a career at the end of August. After a promising start as manager of the Cubs, his last two years with the club were incredibly difficult given the expectations that he and his club failed to meet.
6. Retirement of Ken Griffey Jr. came as a surprise. The Kid decided to call it a career after getting off to such a poor start, that one unnamed teammate accused the former superstar of sleeping in the clubhouse while the game was still being played on the field. Moreover, the Mariners poor start after an aggressive off-season, had that clubhouse reeling. Griffey jumped ship before Don Wakamatsu lost the clubhouse for good in the middle of the season.
5. Retirement of Bobby Cox and Cito Gaston for me marked the end of an era. Both managers led powerhouses in the early 1990′s and both managers led their teams to the World Series in 1992, in which the Blue Jays were victorious. Bobby Cox led the Braves to 15 consecutive playoff appearences and a World Series championship in 1995. Gaston on the other hand led the Blue Jays to back to back World Series Championships in the early 1990′s.
4. Jim Joyce blown call that cost Armando Gallaraga a moment in baseball history. That call will ultimately go down in history as the one that will force the game to adopt instant replay.
3. Texas Rangers magical season has to be at number 3 for me. The franchise entered the 2010 season in bankruptcy protection, only to emerge from bankruptcy with a new ownership group, new television contract and its first trip to the World Series after pounding the then defending World Series Champion Yankees. 2010 is the season that possibly saved the Texas Rangers franchise..
2. As mentioned above, the San Francisco Giants won their first World Series title since 1954. They accomplish that feat by their strong pitching rotation led by Tim Lincecum who out pitched Cliff Lee in both his World Series starts. Giants beat the Braves, beat the heavily favored Philadelphia Phillies, and quieted the bats of the slugging Rangers in the Series.
1. George Steinbrenner dies. As the title of Bill Madden’s book says, Steinbrenner was the last lion of baseball. He is responsible for resurrecting the Yankee franchise from last place and making it the juggernaut it is today.
Dominant-Lee
What is it about Cliff Lee in the post season? For a pitcher who struggles in the regular season there seems to be something about the October air that makes Lee into a dominant beast that controls not only the tempo of the game, but both sides of the plate. As I have written before, Lee is not a dominant pitcher as he doesn’t throw in the high 90′s, but he is a finess pitcher and his control makes it difficult for any lineup to work the count. The Yankees have such a lineup, which depends on hitters like Teixeira, Swisher, Jeter and A-Rod to work the count. So it wasn’t surprising that last night, Lee just moawed down Yankee after Yankee, even as he fell behind in the count.
So after another incredible performance by Lee, his post season record now stands at 7-0 with a ridiculous 1.26 ERA. In less than a year, Cliff Lee, has made a name for himself in post-season play by joining the greats of yesteryears who were also great pitchers in the post season. You know Lee is doing a great job when his name is mentioned with Sandy Koufax and Christy Mathewson. As I said before…I heart Cliff Lee!
What does Lee’s victory mean for the rest of the series however? It makes things simple for the Rangers, who do not have to win the next two games in New York. A win tonight, or tomorrow night would give the Rangers control of this series. If they lose game 6 in Texas, Cliff Lee will be ready to take the mound in the decisive game seven.
For the Yankees, last night’s defeat means that they will have to wake up now and take advantage of the next two Ranger pitchers in the Bronx and try to take a series lead. If the Yankees head back to Texas with a 3-2 lead in this series, they could very well wrap things up Friday night with Phil Hughes on regular rest. So lets go Yankees, wake up and take control, starting tonight!
600 Finally!!
Congratulations to Alex Rodriguez, who finally was able to hit a homerun and reach the milestone number of 600. Three years to the day in which he hit his 500th homerun, A-Rod finally gets it done and is now in the 600 homerun club.
Yankees bust out
It took the Yankees until the third inning, but they finally bust out against the Blue Jays and scored 11 runs during the frame. With the offense that has been struggling this week, it was nice to finally see them put a pitcher on the ropes and knock him out of the game. This time, suprisingly, Ricky Romero was the victim of a rare Yankee offensive onslaught.
Romero has been pitching well all season long, giving the Blue Jays quality start after quality start; and against the Yankees this year, Romero only allowed two earned runs in 7 innings of work. So I guess something had to give today right? Well, it did. Brett Gardner (more on him in a moment) started the inning innocently enough with a single to right, and from there the roof caved in on Romero as the Yankees batted around and scored eleven runs. Jeter walked; Swisher hits a bloop single; Teixeira drives a double down the left field line; A-Rod hits into a ground out RBI; Cano hits a screaming line drive single, and then later with the bases loaded, Gardner hits a grand slam. For the yankees this inning couldn’t have gone any better than it did as they knocked Romero out of the game and gave Andy Pettitte a nice 8 run cushing to work with.
So where has the offense been lately? I guess it was hiding after being rattled by the great arms of Lee and Hernandez. But today the offense came out and decided to put the game away early and give Pettitte a chance to earn his 10th victory of the season.
As for Brett Gardner…
During the off-season I had my doubts that Gardner could be an everyday player, let alone be a factor in the Yankees lineup. But after 70+ games, Gardner has not only proven he can be an everyday player, but has effectively proved me wrong. Gardner not only finds ways to get on base, but once he is on base, the Yankees have a strong chance of manufacturing a run. Success in baseball depends on how a lineup manufacture runs. Over the past five years, the Yankee way of manufacturing runs came via the long ball. However this season, the club is now rellying on stealing bases, timely hits, hit and run to manufacture runs, instead of just waiting for a big blast. The reason for this has been Gardner’s play all year.
Gardner’s at bats are complete and discipline because he makes the pitcher worker harder than necessary. One of the things Gardner does very well is that he fouls off very tough pitches. By doing that, the pitcher strike zone gets smaller, which allows Gardner to take close pitches and draw a lot of bases on balls. And when he is on base, he is a threat to take off and get into scoring position. A player like Gardner, that consistently gets on base becomes a consistent run manufacturer. And today against the Blue Jays, Gardner began, or should I say, manufactured the foundations of an 11 run inning. Not bad for a guy I said wasn’t even a good hitter.
Escape from Arizona.
The Yankees were lucky to win last night’s game, let’s be serious. They had every opportunity to put the game away early, and blew all of them by making boneheaded baserunning mistakes that would drive any manager, or any fan, insane. Dontrelle Willis, who clearly has lost his ability to be a MLB pitcher, was no where near the plate last night, walked 7 batters, and all the Yankees could do is just score 2 runs off him. The much maligned D-Backs bullpen, actually pitched well for most part, while the Yankee bullpen, in this instance, Mr. Marte, gave up a run after the Yankees tided the score at 4 in the top of the 6th.
The sloppiness and the ugliness of this game could have cost the Yankees a golden opportunity to increase their lead in the American League East, as both the Red Sox and Rays lost their respective games. But after the fifth inning, after Robinson Cano’s lineout that resulted in a double play, it was possible to think about the Yankees losing a series to the struggling D-Backs. Even worse, Javier Vazquez looked bad last night. Just like Willis, Mr. Vazquez couldn’t find the plate if his life depended on it. It could be that he just had one bad game, but Vazquez reverted back to his early season form, and that isn’t good news for the Yankees. Of course, it could be just one bad game, but I’m not encouraged by Vazquez’s performance last night.
But despite the sloppiness, and bad pitching, the Yankees rallied and took the lead, and in the process showed why they are the favorite to win the East. Not only did their big guns managed to get on base, but produced runs in the clutch. After both Jeter and Swisher got on base, Teixeira moved them to scoring position, and A-Rod drove in Jeter with a sac-fly. In the top of the 10th, Curtis Granderson gives the Yankees the lead with a solo homerun, and Mo comes in, manages to make the game interesting, but finishes off the D-Backs to earn the win.
Mo reasons why the Yankees will win the East:
It is rather simple really. The Yankees will in the AL East because of Mo. Let us compare and contrast Mo with another closer in the division. In Colorado last night, the Red Sox had a one run lead heading to the bottom of the 9th at Coors Field against the Rockies. Their closer Jonathan Papelbon comes into the game to try and nail down a win for the Red Sox. Win for the Sox right? ah no. Papelbon surrenders a leadoff homerun, allows a single, gets a quick out, then allows the game winning homerun to Jason Giambi, ball game over..Red Sox lose. On the other hand, Mo comes into the game, gets out of the 9th inning, the Yankees take the lead in the 10th, and in the bottom of the frame Mo allows: a single, double, and intentional walk. Yankees are in trouble right? no. Rivera proceeds to get a foul out, pop out and strike out, Yankees win…nuff said!
What a game last night.
After the first inning of last night’s Red Sox/Yankees game, I thought the Yankees were heading towards an easy victory over Daisuke Matsuzaka after they scored 5 runs. With the way Phil Hughes had pitched until last night’s game, there is no way the Yankees were going to blow the lead and potentially blow the game to the Red Sox. So I thought. Little did I know that the Red Sox had fight in them and by the 8th inning of last night’s game, the Red Sox would take the lead thanks to a 2 run homerun by Kevin Youkilis and a solo blast by Victor Martinez.
What happened? Obviously we all knew that the Red Sox would never go out quietly into the night after falling behind 5 runs in the first inning. That ballclub has fight in it and the veterans who have won with that organization know (as Yankee fans do) that anything in this game is possible. So the early deficit didn’t affect the way the Red Sox approached the game after the first inning and they sure made Phil Hughes work. By taking pitches, getting timely hits and hitting long fly balls (Red Sox recorded 2 homeruns against Hughes), Boston gave Hughes his first tough outing of the season. By the end of the 5th inning, Hughes had already reached 100 thrown pitches, obviously not a good thing for the Yankee right hander that on his first four starts, lasted into the 7th inning.
As the Red Sox played homerun derby, the Yankees kept focus, even when they fell behind. And as they did last year, last night, the Yankees were able to get those big clutch hits that propels a team to victory. Say whatever you want about Alex Rodriguez, the guy is clutch and has been clutch–during the regular season at least–throughout his Yankee career. How many big hits, like the one we saw last night, will it take for people to finally appreciate the importance Alex Rodriguez in a Yankee uniform? As we saw on Friday night, all it takes is a mistake by a pitcher and with one swing, A-Rod can turn the game around fast. His two run homerun in the bottom of the 9th tied the game at 9.
That key at-bat rattled Jonathan Papelbon, who did recover somewhat to retire Robinson Cano, yet somehow he lost control of his stuff and wound up hitting Francisco Cervelli which put the winning run on base. After that walk, Papelbon threw a fastball down Thames’s wheelhouse and the game was over.
Keeping up with the Rays..
Last night’s improbable win against Boston keeps the Yankees two games behind the Tampa Bay Rays, clearly a team with a chip on its shoulders, whom also happened to win in walk-off fashion. The Yankees therefore, remain just 2 games behind the very talented Rays, who will come to town for a two game series on Wednesday before the boring and overrated Subway Series begins.
Get off his mound!
I made harsh statements about Dallas Braden, the lefty for the A’s the other day, after he revived what I thought was a dead controversy, by commenting on Alex Rodriguez’s transgression of an unwritten rule. Whether or not A-Rod’s walk over the mound was a violation of a rule or not is debateable, but for Braden to revive this issue the way he did was a bit bush and uncalled for and I still feel that way. At another time I also felt that Braden should earn ”his” mound before he could bark at another player, especially an established superstar like Alex Rodriguez, as to what is proper baseball etiquette.
Well, I think it is safe to say that Braden has certainly earned his mound and has definately extended his 15-minutes of fame by pitching the 19th perfect game in Major League history. This time, Braden let his ability do the talking instead of his mouth and showed the baseball world what he could be if he just focused on his pitching and not the little things that have little or no impact on the game. Now that he has pitched a perfect game, no one, not even Alex Rodriguez, can’t take that accomplishment away. Congratulations Dallas Braden, the the mound now truly does belong to you.
A Let Down.
After an improbable win last night, the Yankees had a let down today losing to the Mets 6-2. There isn’t much to say about today’s game except that the Mets redeemed themselves after a terrible loss Friday night. As for the Yankees, today, they had a let down. They were shut down for much of the game today thanks to a dominant performance by Fernando Nieve, who was making just his first start since 2006. The only mistake Nieve made was to A-Rod (if you call that homerun a mistake) who hit a solo homerun in the bottom of the 2nd.
The Bad Pitching Continues
Pettitte followed his decent start from Monday with a sub par performance. Pettitte had already thrown 50 pitches before the second out was made in the 2nd inning. Like the rest of his mates in the rotation, Pettitte continue the theme started by Burnett on Tuesday night, that of throwing too many pitches, getting behind the hitters and walking them. This has got to stop. The starters for this team are better than what they have shown us this year. Outside of Sabathia, who seems to be the only pitcher the Yankees can count on for a quality start, Pettitte, Burnett, Wang and Chamberlain have been inconsistent at best. These four have a habit of getting into trouble early and throwing too many pitches. If they are not walking batters, they are giving up the big hits that are killing the Yankees this season. What is left there for the management to do? Make a trade?
Help is on the way.
Giradi told Fox crew today that Brian Bruney should be back from the DL next week. Frankly, the timing couldn’t be perfect. There is no doubt that this team has missed Bruney in the late inning of games in which the Yankees needed a big out. Imagine how different this week would have been had Bruney been available to pitch on Thursday night.. Yet, Bruney alone is not enough to address the overall problem of Yankee pitching. Hopefully tomorrow, Burnett will reverse the trend and give this team a quality start because they will need it against Johan Santana.
Louis Castillo is not to blame.
With 2 outs and a 3-1 count on A-Rod, K-Rod threw a 94mph inside fastball which A-Rod popped up…K-Rod raises his arms in victory; Met fans are going wild, and I’m ready to bash my TV screen when all of the sudden….HE DROPS THE BALL! Louis Castillo’s error in the bottom of the 9th cost the Mets a victory and gave the Yankees a much needed win. The ever unpopular Louis Castillo will now be part of baseball lore; his error embodies the old adage that “it’s not over till it’s over.” However costly Castillo’s error was I think it is unfair to place the blame on Castillo. Yes I know that his error was the direct cause of the Mets loss, however, why did Jerry Manuel decide to walk Teixeira intentionally? K-Rod was behind in the count, and Teixeira is a patient hitter, but coming into the game tonight, Teixeira was 1-20 in 21 lifetime at bats against Rodriguez. The numbers favored K-Rod against Teixeira; and even if he was behind in the count, Manuel should have let his top notch closer go after Teixeira. This loss is the result of overmanaging. K-Rod gets paid to go after hitters, not walk them, especially if those hitters struggle against him. The good thing about baseball is that a player can redeem himself. So tomorrow, I will root for Castillo to have a good game, hopefully it won’t be a performance that will cost the Yankees the game.
What the doctor ordered!
In baseball, you have to take advantage of little and big mistakes, and the Yankees were certainly helped tonight. After a brutal three days in Boston, another disappointing loss would have been tough on this Yankee team that came into the week having won 7 of their last 3 games. Great win tonight and I will be celebrating until the game tomorrow!
David Veloz
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