Mariano Rivera is arguably the greatest closer of all time. He has developed his legacy and reputation as a member of the New York Yankees, while playing in legendary Yankee Stadium. In the final year of Yankee Stadium, why should anyone else start?
Rivera is having an amazing year this year with an era of 1.06 and 23 saves. He is yet to blow a save and is probably the best pitcher on the American League staff. He is only a closer, but in four of the last ten years the All-Star starting pitcher has only gone 1 inning anyways. It would be a great opportunity to showcase Rivera in front of his hometown fans. If you save him until the ninth inning, there is no guarantee that there will be a save situation or that his innings will be meaningful. The first inning is the only inning that can be scripted and what a great script it would be to see Rivera take the field. He would et a standing ovation and the crowd would be in total uproar throughout the entire inning. It would be special to see all the cameras flashing and hear all the people cheering as that first cut-fastball is released from his hand.
Yes, Rivera would get a standing ovation in the 9th inning, but that atmosphere would not be nearly the same if the game is a blowout either way. The Yankees are not going anywhere this year, this will be the last time that Yankee Stadium is nationally showcased and it is only fitting that a Yankee Legend is on the mound to start.
Why is Jason Varitek on the American League All-Star team? The All-Star game is about the players who are having a great first half. Nobody is supposed to pay any attention to what these players have done in the past.
This year Varitek is hitting .218 with 7 home runs and 27 runs batted in. A player that is hitting .218 does not deserve to be on the All-Star team. Jason was voted on by the players because of his intangibles and all of the other things that he brings to the game of baseball. I don’t care about all of the other things!!!!!
Fans are often scrutinized for turning the All-Star voting into a popularity contest. Will someone please get mad at the players for doing the same thing? Some disagree with fan voting because they say that the fans lack the knowledge necessary to put the best players in the game. It is argued that fans vote for players on their favorite teams. Maybe I am just one of these “unintelligent biased fans” but I do know that Jason Varitek is hitting .218 and that is not worthy of an All-Star nod. He is not in the top 50 in any of the major offensive categories (avg. hr, and rbi’s). There are 20 position players on the American League Roster and a player that is not in the top 50 in any of the major offensive categories is suddenly one of the top 20? How does this work?
Apparently, Varitek was voted in based on his other intangibles. What other intangibles are we talking about? We can’t possibly be talking about the way he handles a pitching staff that has a 4.06 era and ranks 21st in baseball. There are only 3 American League teams with worse ERA’s!!!!!
Get Jason Varitek off of the All-Star team and replace him with A.J Pierzynski. Pierzynski has led the White Sox to the best ERA in the majors. He has a higher batting average that Varitek as well as more home runs and more runs batted it.
Alex Rodriguez says that he will not participate in the Home Run Derby despite being the leading vote getter in the American League. The Derby is also in Yankee Stadium, Alex’s home park. He would have the opportunity to put on a show for his home fans, but he doesn’t want to because he feels that it would mess up his swing. Alex was quoted as saying, "My responsibility is to the New York Yankees. I need my swing to be at its best." While that excuse may sound logical to some, I don’t buy it.
Alex has participated in the Derby three times before and finished in 6th place each time. He has never made it out of the opening round and hit 5 home runs in his first attempt and only hit two in each of the other tries. Alex participated in the Home Run Derby in 1998, 2001, and 2002. In 1998 he finished the year with 42 home runs. In 2001 he finished with 52. In 2002 he finished with 57. A-Rod is in his 13th year and has averaged 44 home runs per season throughout his career. In two of the three years that he participated in the derby, Alex went above his average. These numbers suggest that the Home Run Derby has not affected Alex’s swing because he put up great numbers in each year he participated. In 2002, the season of Alex’s most recent derby, he hit .305 with 27 home runs prior to the break. Following the Home Run Derby, Alex hit .294 with 30 home runs. Those numbers are very similar and it does not appear that he messed up his swing.
The Derby does not appear to have messed up Alex in the past and I do not think that saying that Derby will mess up my swing is a valuable excuse. Alex Rodriguez is a professional athlete, he knows his swing and he would know how to fix it if anything went wrong. I’m confident that he could go study some film, spot a hitch in his swing, and go to the cage to fix it. I don’t thing messing up his swing is the real problem, I think Alex fears another poor showing in front of his home fans.
Tampa Bay Rays: This year Tampa Bay decided to drop the “Devil” from their name and it appears to be doing wonders. Tampa Bay used to be the laughing stock of baseball, they were almost a lock to lose 100 games and finish last in the American League East. That has all changed. Tampa is currently 17 games above .500, first place in the American League East and holds the best record in the Majors.
Josh Hamilton: With the first overall pick in the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays selected high school phenom Josh Hamilton. Hamilton had amazing potential and was seen as a great prospect and a future star. The only thing holding him back was a drug and alcohol addiction that resulted in many fines and suspensions from the league. Josh’s problems with drugs and alcohol have been very well documented. Hamilton entered rehab and has been clean since October 6, 2005. Josh now speaks to groups and fans at different functions and is very open about his story so that others do not fall into the same troubles. Josh is an outfielder with the Texas Rangers who is currently hitting .309 with 19 home runs and 78 RBI’s.
John Lester: Lester survived a rare form of blood cancer (lymphoma) last year. He then came back to help the Red Sox win the World Series and was the winning pitcher in the decisive game. Lester continues his remarkable recovery from cancer as he no-hit the Kansas City Royals on May 19th of this year and is currently 6-3 with an era of 3.48
Ken Griffey Junior: It was a special moment to see the kid finally hit home run number 600. Griffey was one of everyone’s favorite players as he was the face of major league baseball for much of the 90’s despite not playing in a big market. Everyone enjoyed watching the young prodigy as we were all mesmerized by his natural talent and his passion for the game. It was sad to see him spend so much time on the disabled list because we all know how much potential he had and everyone wonders how many home runs he could have hit. Forgetting about the injuries for a moment, it was great to see him hit 600 and join the elite group.
Doug Davis: On March 28, 2008 Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Doug Davis was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. He had surgery to remove his thyroid on April 10th and underwent weeks of therapy to remove any remaining cancer. On May 9th it was announced that he was no cancer free. With his father in the stands, Doug returned to the Diamondbacks rotation on May 23, 2008 against the Atlanta Braves. He pitched seven innings, allowing only one run and striking out five in an 11-1 win for Arizona.
Troy Percival: Percival is a closer who spent the majority of his career with the Angels. He retired in 2005 and was signed as a special assistant pitching instructor for their farm system. He requested to be released from this contract as he wanted to attempt to make a comeback to the majors. Last year, he signed with the Cardinals and struck out the first batter he faced. He also recorded the win in that appearance. In 2008 he signed with the Rays and is currently the closer. In his first appearance he recorded a save for the first time in two years. He currently has 19 saves in 21 opportunities.
A sports rivalry is defined as “intense competition between athletic teams or athletes.” This is a very broad definition and it does not appear to cover the true meaning of a rivalry. Rivalry games are always more intense than other games, they mean more to both the players on the field and the fans in the stands. Beating a hated rival provides fans with bragging rights that are comparable to nothing else while losing to a rival gives the fans an unbearable pain as well as a fear of going to school or work on Monday.
We all have our favorite teams and along with cheering for these teams, we learn to hate their rivals. However, what makes these hated teams “rivals?” Is a rival a team that shares the same geographic region? Or, is a rival a team that may be in the same division as your favorite team and is always competing for the division title? Are rivals two teams that may not play often, but have rich histories and possibly only meet in championships? Can teams truly have multiple rivals?
Local rivalries are always fun for territorial bragging rights, but sometimes both local teams are not equal as competitors. If one team is clearly better than the other and always seems to win, I do not feel that it is a true rival. If both teams are on a level playing field, but are both bad it may be a good game and provide the fans with bragging right, but what is the point if nobody cares and the results of the game do not matter? Territorial rivals are only as good as the teams that participate. If a region has two teams that tend to be towards the top of the standings and both are able to beat each other then the area has a true rivalry that is able to be enjoyed by both sets of fans. Yes, we all want our team to win all the time, but rivalry games are not nearly as fun if we know our team will win or if we have to pray for the upset.
Divisional foes are sometimes the best types of rivals because of the importance of the game. Watching a game where a postseason berth is on the line makes a rivalry game all the more dramatic. This is what gives so much appeal to rivalries such as the Red-Sox and the Yankees as well as Ohio State and Michigan. Both of these sets of rivals always compete with something on the line. There have been plenty of postseason series involving the Red-Sox and Yankees that add to the rivalry. The Ohio-State and Michigan football game usually decides the winner of the Big-10 Conference. The bigger the magnitude of the game, the more intense the rivalry.
What about teams in opposite conferences, but are each rich in tradition? Rivals such as the Celtics and the Lakers or Notre Dame and USC have plenty of appeal to historians and true fans of the teams, but lack the appeal to the casual fan. Although these games may be fun to watch, the true significance of the rivalry may be lost to the casual fans as well as the younger fans.
Commisioner Bud Selig decided not to punish Jason Giambi for his use of steroids. He said that Giambi cooperated with baseball's investigation into steroids and is doing community service and will not recieve further punishment. While some think that this sets a bad precendent for baseball because they think people will just admit to steroids and do community serivce to get off the hook. I on the other hand think that this is a great move for MLB and here's why.
What Giambi did prior to steroid testing in baseball is somewhat irrelevant at this point in time. Going back and suspending him for what happened will not get baseball any closer to unraveling this mystery. By not punishing Giambi it encourages others to come forward and talk about what went on and what goes on. If Giambi had been punished noone would want to say anything for fear of suspension. Seeing that this precendent has been set others may want to talk to baseball officials and help the situation.
Although it is highly unlikely that players will be flocking to the commisioner to talk about thier use of steroids and what they may have seen, Giambi's actions along with Bud Selig's can only help the game.
I am currently in high school. I will try to post reguarly, but at the very least I will comment your blogs daily. I am aspiring to become a sports writer or broadcaster and plan to attend collge and major in journalism or broadcast journalism.
