Blog Posts For Tag: Red Sox

Let us pretend for a second that up to this point your summer had been filled with weddings, home improvement projects, and countless hours of overtime. You have not had time to pay attention to America’s pastime and took a gander over at the MLB page on ESPN to catch up quickly. Would anything shock you?

This weekend four major sports stories dominated: Butler beat Michigan State to reach the NCAA Men’s finals, the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees opened the MLB season, Tiger began taking practice swings at Augusta in preparation for the Masters, and Donovan McNabb was traded to the Washington Redskins. That is actually quite a bit to handle, but this begs the question, how do these stories rank?

To dissolve or not to dissolve, that is the question. Commission Bud Selig has been presented with a few ideas to improve the game as MLB tries to offer something new to divert our attention from the steroid saga that simply will not die. The latest ideas include realigning the leagues to do away with the divisions.

The world seemed off its axis to most of New York for the first decade of the new century. Nothing seemed right as the Yankees failed to win year after year following their annihilation of the Mets in 2000. The Yanks lost two World Series and the Red Sox came back from a 4-0 deficit to go on to win their first one since 1918. It was a dreadful eight years marked by the bastardization of the homerun by steroids and the inability of George Steinbrenner to sign a big-name starting pitcher. Then came 2009 and the baseball world was jolted back to its natural axis as the Yankees finally won another championship. Now that things appear to be right again in the world and here are five reasons to believe that they will stay right as the Yankees will defend their 27th World Series.

Baseball has passed the 100-game mark, the trade deadline has come and gone, and the All Star game has once again ended in the American League’s favor. Now its time to deconstruct the American League and decide which teams have a chance and which teams are destined to fall apart

The All Star game has passed, the pennant race has officially begun, and the trade deadline (July 31) is fast approaching. Any team with a chance to win their division or compete for the wild card is looking for ways to improve their chances, while any team that is more than 10 games out is looking to deal the soon-to-be free agents for some young arms and position players with potential.

As of the MLB standings right now, five American League teams are facing double digit deficits in the standings and truly have no hope of qualifying for even a Little League regional final and one AL team has already called it quits despite being just 9.5 games back (the most exciting thing for Blue Jays fans the rest of the season will be waiting to see who they get for Roy Halladay). The rest of the teams have some chance for the division crown or a wild card spot. These teams could all use something to shore up their chances and what follows is a quick grocery list of wants and needs for those remaining nine American League teams.

The first half of the baseball season is over and after Tuesday night’s All Star game the pennant race really begins. Well, as the pennant race begins, so must the quest for the MVP award and like the first place teams in each division, certain players already have a huge advantage.

One of the most exciting things about the beginning of the baseball season is the first few weeks. I think they are kind of like he first few rounds of the NCAA Tournament. You get some real surprises at first before reality sets in and brings those hopeful teams and players crashing down to Earth. Here are some of my favorite trends that will come burning through the stratosphere over the next couple of weeks.

After a few months of wondering what was going to happen in this new season of MLB, opening day finally commenced yesterday. Of course this was simply game one for many teams (apart from the Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves who officially opened the season on Sunday night) in a long schedule that will give the winners 161 more chances to end their perfect season and losers 161 more games to find redemption. Still, to say that a few things did not surprise me would be a liar.

I have been one of the many baseball fans outraged by the Alex Rodriguez saga this summer, but sometimes it helps to back up and take a look at the allegations I have simply accepted as fact in the last few months. I have to really look at facts, our at least first hand encounters, and decide does A-Rod really deserve all the flak he has been getting.

Normally I would be appalled by the rampant East Coast bias that has an undeniable imprint on ESPN and many other major publications and media outlets. However, with three number teams in March Madness, the return of the NFC East to the forefront of competitive football ball this last fall, and after a  quick look at the divisions throughout Major League Baseball I simply cannot blame the networks. Even though the MLB season has yet to begin I can already rank the divisions pretty confidently and found that the East is king this year.

First the pitchers and catchers reported. Then the rest of the position players came to camp. Now, on this fine Wednesday, the first exciting, but meaningless games begin.

New York Yankees fans will get the chance to heckle A-Rod in the Grapefruit opener, Chicago Cubs fans will reset the doomsday clock, and everyone else will practice making pitchers cry on the mound. Tomorrow morning baseball “enthusiasts” will read there first box scores since October 28, 2008, back when Bush was president and Philadelphia was rewarded with a team that did not let them down.

The Chicago spring tease is on and the snow that was frozen into impenetrable blocks of polar ice blocks is finally begin to melt and all I can think about is baseball, baseball, and baseball. I feel like ignoring the return of the steroid scandal (I thought that tumor was benign) and daydreaming about the bleacher seats and the box scores.

Pitchers and catchers have about a week to report for spring training. This means that the season will soon be starting. That also means that anybody waiting to make predictions until the free agent pool whittled down is really out of time. I am sure a few more of these guys will be signed before the season starts (I am assuming Manny Ramirez will end up accepting a short-term deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers) and I am sure after the first round of pennant crippling injuries a few more will find a home, but it has come time to bit the bullet and make a few regular season predictions.

There is something about the fall of an institution or a person that is bigger than life that elicits such strong emotions. There is never any middle ground. It is always a reveling in an almost tyrannical vindictive showcase of fire and brimstone or an intense lament complete with blind nostalgic prose. If the documents released in the Barry Bonds perjury case are even slightly damning then I would be prepared to grab a pitchfork and join the other villagers in a mad riot on the way down to the steroid laced steel gate of his mansion.

The American League East just got a little more interesting. The Tampa Bay Rays are well on their way to completing a deal that will bring Pat Burrell to Florida for just $16 million over two seasons.

So I am writing the 2009 MLB Season Previews. I know it might be a little early, but apart from the always entertaining Manny Ramirez sweepstakes that apparently nobody is buying into, many of the major pieces are already in place. Yes a few worthy pitchers are left and a few good bats are there, so maybe we can call this an early, early season preview.

I firmly believe that the world of Major League Baseball revolves around Scott Boras. The agent has plundered the salaries of every team. In fact I do not consider you to be a professional baseball team until Mr. Boras of the Scott Boras Corporation has reamed you in the offseason.

Now I thought the Yankees got the memo about the recession. The memo read that everybody is supposed to be trying to save a little money and hold back on the spending spree.

So I actually thought that New York baseball was dead. Ok, maybe not dead, but definitely in decline. The New York Yankees were letting go of most of their high priced free agents walk. They were loading up on younger talent like Xavier Nady and veterans like Nick Swisher. These players were going to help with a few wins, but the big spending days with star-studded lineups were over.

Major League Baseball has two leagues and those two leagues have two different teams that first come to mind. The American League, the dominant league so far this century, has long identified with the New York Yankees. But, as the times have changed, so has the Yankees fate.