Congratulations to the New York Yankees, the first team to qualify for the Playoffs. It was a total team effort. Sure, many people call them "The Best Team That Money Can Buy." But-they still had to pitch, hit and play defense regardless of how much they're being paid. And the team did just that. A tip of my old straw hat to Derek Jeter, Robbie Cano, Hideki Matsui, Johnny Damon and all the guys that came to play day in and day out. Sure, Mark Teixeira had a fabulous year, possibly the MVP or if not, the MVY. C. C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett had fabulous years on the mound. For me, however, the true MVY is Mariano Rivera. He just never seems to get the credit he's due. He's on my short list for MVP. Under tremendous pressure from their home offices in Tampa and from the front and back newspaper pages in Manhattan, Joe Girardi answered the challenge! There may be more celebrating to come. I'll write about it in upcoming blogs regarding the Playoffs.
I got to see Madison Bumgarner pitch this week. He sat at the mid 90-s and used a wicked change-up to keep hitters off balance. While I don't think he's an "elite" pitcher yet, I liked what I saw. I had seen him before and the velocity seems a bit down.
Randy Johnson came out of the bullpen to start an inning against the DBacks. He pitched entirely from the stretch and it really looked weird. K, home run, K, K. Not bad. Not bad at all. That slider to lefties still plays.
Line up Pablo Sandoval, Juan Uribe and Bengie Molina side by side and they look like the Defensive Line of the Cleveland Browns. Only they'd probably play better. Man, can that Sandoval hit. And he can run. I love to watch him play the game.
Looks like the Rockies like the home cooking. Clint Barmes and Brad Hawpe began to hit a little bit more once they got back to Coors. The team is so much better at home. They better win every game now because the teams are lining up behind them to get to the Playoffs. Get in the Playoffs and you can become World Champions.
The Indians have started to play Matt LaPorta more at first base. Duh! That's a great move to make with what?..11 games to go. What were they thinking waiting so long? And even at that, Andy Marte gets some games at first. I don't get it.
How could the Dodgers and Rays have given up on an arm like Edwin Jackson's? The Dodgers nurtured him along, got impatient and traded him. The Rays didn't wait very long and traded him for?... Matt Joyce. Hello. Jackson is now hitting 98 on the radar gun and throws his change at 85. Talk about getting hitters off balance.
It's down to Zack Greinke and Mario Rivera for me in the American League Cy Young race. And I'll award Andy Pettitte my annual Sigh Old award. That'll go to Pedro Martinez in the NL.
I know I've said it before, but Vicente Padilla and Jon Garland have really helped the Dodgers. They used Kershaw and Billingsley out of the pen in an effort to ease them both back in to the rotation. Billingsley had a very good start until he coughed up a 3 run bomb to Ryan Zimmerman.
Here's the question we threw around with scouts yesterday at Chase Field-"Do you think Garrett Atkins can come back?" Consensus-"No." I admit I was surprised at the conviction in the voices. Take it for what it's worth.
Jose Lopez has 25 home runs! Wow! There are some very good hitting second basemen out there. The problem is that some of them also have to play the field.
I don't know where the Giants would be without Juan Uribe filling in for the injured Edgar Renteria. He and Pablo are the glue holding that club from dropping off the edge of the cliff.
Freddy Sanchez was standing at his 2nd base position Tuesday evening. He wasn't running. He wasn't moving. Suddenly, he crumpled up and had to be helped off the field. Why? Torn meniscus in his left knee.
That's beginning to be a rather loud .234 for Big Pappy. Most hitters would take 25 big flys in a season. Granted, he isn't the same hitter, but he can not be dismissed. Especially in a short series with a Championship on the line. Throw away the batting average during the Playoffs.
Give the Tigers some credit for sticking with Maglio Ordonez. Especially when a big contract was on the line and it depended upon plate appearances. The Tigers could have saved a ton by keeping Magliio on the bench. They didn't and he hit. No, the homers aren't there, but the gap power still is. He's getting some big hits down the stretch along with Cabrera and Guillen. Just the way it used to be.
Joe Nathan is amazing. Very quietly all he does is get guys out. Any consideration for the Cy? Just asking.
Bobby Cox signed on for one more year. He's one very good manager. Glad he'll still be around.
Brad Lidge has blown 11 saves. Yikes!
Cecil Cooper got fired. How fair is that? Nobody said the game was fair. He had absolutely no pitching depth at all, whatsoever. Beyond Roy Oswalt (who has a bad back) and Wandy Rodriquez he had nothing to work with. And he got fired. Was he the best manager out there? Maybe not. But did he have the horses in the race? You tell me. It's like asking a painter to paint without a brush. Pitching means everything!
Chris Snyder had successful back surgery. He'll have to come out in spring training and prove his mobility so he can get traded. He's lost his job to Miguel Montero.
Ken Williams, the White Soz GM thinks he has a club of "underachievers." Hello!
You can admit it. It's alright. You never thought Ichiro would hit the way he did this year. You said that to yourself last year, too. Lots of people did. You're forgiven. You weren't alone. You thought it all had to come to an end sometime and this would be the year. He's an amazing player.
I'll be writing about the Playoffs soon and I hope you'll chime in with your thoughts then as well as now. As always, I'd like to hear what you think and learn your opinions. Feel free to comment below.