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.
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.
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.
In an era of baseball that has been so heavily tainted with the use of performance enhancing drugs, it is an unfortunate truth that we need to be skeptical of everyone and not only the superstars.
Many people have said that although Bonds' record is more than likely tarnished it does not matter because A-Rod will break that record soon enough. Although I believe that he is clean and I hope he is because I want him to hold the record, how do we know that Alex isn't juicing?
Jose Canseco recently said that in his upcoming book he has information regarding Alex Rodriguez. Although we do not know the extent of this information we have to be weary of our opinions on A-Rod. Many people are dismissing this statement because they don't trust Canseco. However, in his first book "Juiced" Canseco was right about the steroids that were used by Giambi, Palmeiro, Juan Gonzalez and others. He has been right before and it is possible to believe he will be right again.
It has been said that possibly as many as 85 percent of players are using or have used steroids. Although this may be an exaggeration it shows that many players are cheating the game. It saddens me to say that we must question all records, milestones, and breakout seasons that occur during this era.
Baseball's steroid testing policy is easily beaten and baseball records will continue to lose credibility until this is solved. Baseball needs to begin testing for human growth hormone (HGH) or else it will continue to be shadowed by steroids.
In an era where pitching has become and continues to become unappreciated as it is shadowed by everyone's desire to see the long ball, we often fail to give recognition to the great pitchers of today. As impressive as it is as a result of the steroids era home runs have become diminished and 500 home runs is not as impressive as it used to be. However, 300 wins is more impressive than ever. Despite the fact that there are more members of the 300 win club than there are the 500 home run club. (22 & 23) Of those 22 members 8 have reached 500 home runs since 1990. Home runs have become easier to hit now as a result of steroids among other factors. Bats are lighter and balls are wound tighter also contributing to the spike in home runs. New ball parks are built smaller than they used to be and they are no longer able to keep the ball in the yard. All the warning track shots and deep fly balls of the '70s and '80s are now home runs. 300 wins is harder to get because of all the reasons listed above and then some. Pitching has become increasingly difficult because of the home runs. Each pitch requires more effort from the pitcher and managers are quick to pull the pitcher. This means the pitchers fate is up to the bullpen and his win is no longer his control. The 2006 season was the first ever non strike shortened season in which a pitcher did not win 20 games, proving that wins are harder to come by. Only 4 of the 23 members have had their 300th win since 1990. It is also important to remember that in the early 1970's baseball switched to a 5 man pitching rotation instead of the accustomed 4 man. On average this takes away about 6 starts per year. Pitchers today do not get enough credit and Glavine's milestone is a lot more impressive than we are giving it credit for. and other point that I forgot to add is that is does not matter what team you play for in order to get a home run (ex. Barry Bonds homers even though Giants are horrible) Pitchers on sub par teams are often deprived of wins because of lack of offense or bad bullpens.
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.
