MLB announced today that Robinson Cano will participate in the 2010 version of the Home Run Derby.
The other five players who have already committed are: Miguel Cabrera, David Ortiz, Vernon Wells, Corey Hart and Matt Holliday.
Now I guess it's cool to have Cano in the Derby but I don't really like it. A lot of guys screw their swing up trying to hit homers and there stats suffer in the second half of the season. Cano's on pace for an MVP season, and I don't think he should screw it up for the HR Derby. Cano isn't a Ken Griffey, Jr. type player who has a natural home run swing. He's more of a line drive hitter who lifts homers out. If he tries to uppercut homers during the Derby, it could affect him during the regular season.
Player of the Game: Jake Arrieta. The kid's making his Major League debut, and holds the Yankees to 4 hits and 3 runs and struck out 6. Not exactly Stephen Strasburg, but Arrieta wasn't facing a AA team like Strasburg was with the Pirates.
Play of the Game: Scott Moore's 404 homer in the 5th inning to tie the game.
Turning Point of the Game: Luke Scott's triple in the 6th inning. It looked like a pop-up off the bat, but it just kept carrying to the wall. Next thing you know, Miguel Tejada doubles him home to give the Orioles a lead.
Notes:
Alex Rodriguez was pulled from the game with stiffness in his groin. He's going to see a doctor tomorrow, and hopefully he won't miss more than a couple of days.
Jorge Posada is close to going behind the plate to catch, as he started doing drills a few days ago. There is no official word on when his first start in the field will be.
We're back from our road trip to Toronto. We saw the games on Friday and Saturday in person, and of course the Yankees lost both games. So we started to getting a little annoyed at all the Canadians talking to us as we walked around the city with our Yankee hats on.
We've got some pictures from our trip, which included the SkyDome, CN Tower, and the Hockey Hall of Fame. You can take a look at the album on our Facebook page, and while you're there you should "Like" it, if you haven't already.
Tonight, the MLB First Year Player Draft starts. Only the first round and compensation round air tonight, so we get to see everyone else who gets picked behind Bryce Harper. The Yankees, as World Series Champions, have the 32nd pick in the first round. It's an exciting two days for the Washington Nationals organization, as they'll almost certainly select Harper tonight, and last year's number one overall pick, Stephen Strasburg, will make his Major League debut tomorrow night. Nationals Park is already sold out, and they are issuing over 200 media credentials.
So, as John told you earlier, Cowboy Joe West called the Yankees and Red Sox games a "disgrace to baseball" because of how long they take. I just wanted to give you my take.
So games between baseball's biggest rivals is a disgrace to the game? Well there's a couple million people who disagree with you, since that's how many people watched the game on Sunday night. So the Commissioner wants to speed up the games? Okay, I buy that. But, to go so far as call it a disgrace to baseball is ridiculous. A four-hour game between the Nationals and Pirates is a disgrace to baseball. (Actually, any game between the Nationals and Pirates could be considered a disgrace to baseball.)
Yesterday, the Yankees and Sawks play 10 innings, with the Yanks pulling out a 3-1 win. The game lasted an unmanageable (as Michael Kay used to say) three hours and 21 minutes. You know what I call that? A GREAT BASEBALL GAME!
Now, I am a huge baseball fan, so I could sit there and watch a five-hour game and be satisfied, so I'm not your average fan. Even if you agree with what he said, it was extremely hypocritical. How do you think Joe West would react if say Derek Jeter called the umpires embarrassing and pathetic? First of all, Jeter wouldn't do that, because he has class. But West, and the rest of the umpires, would go ballistic. The umpires would probably hold it against Jeter for the rest of his career. But West gets a free pass because he has all the power during a game. But he should be fined by Major League Baseball or who ever is in charge of fining umpires for saying stupid things.
Sorry I ranted a little bit. You can tell I don't like umpires too much, right? You're talking to a kid who almost got thrown out of a Little League game for arguing with an umpire.
The Yankees Organization is worth $1.6 billion, according to Forbes. $1.6 BILLION! That's twice as much as the second-highest team, the Red Sox, and about the same as the Mets and the Red Sox combined. Those guys in the Front Office obviously know what they're doing.
That might be it for today, but the Yanks head to Tampa to take on David Price and the Rays tomorrow night.
We are now less than two weeks away from the first pitch of the Major League Baseball season. 12 days to be exact. 12 more days until Derek Jeter walks to the plate taps the plate with his bat while he holds his arm held up to the umpire. 12 more days until we can just watch baseball everyday instead of the normal crap that is on TV.
Before we get to that point, however, the Yankees have some decisions to make. The most pressing issue, is the decision for the Yanks fifth starter. This despite the fact that the Yankees only need to use CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Javy Vazquez, and Andy Pettitte until April 24th because of the schedule.
But Joe Girardi will announce his decision Thursday about who will win the job, so I thought it would be a good idea to take a look at the competitors
Sergio Mitre- (14 IP, 3.21 ERA, 14 K) Mitre has pitched very well this spring, as he now seems to be completely healed from Tommy John surgery. He is throwing harder and has better command. It will be interesting if the Yankees, as an organization, are willing to give Mitre the spot over two of their most higly-touted prospects in Hughes and Chamberlain.
Phil Hughes- (13 IP, 4.15 ERA, 10 K) After being extremely effective out of the bullpen last year, Hughes is vying for a spot as a starter, which he has been throughout his entire career. He gave up 3 homeruns to the Phillies yesterday, but both Girardi and Hughes said that he was throwing his best stuff yesterday. He hasn't proven himself as a starter yet in the majors, but this may be his shot. Joba Chamberlain-(6.2 IP, 16.20 ERA, 5 K) He hasn't had very good stats this spring, but spring training stats aren't worth the paper they're printed on. He pitched well as a starter last season, until the Yankees started limiting his innings, but there are no inning restrictions this year, so they may finally just hand him the ball and say "go get 'em."
Chad Gaudin- ( 9.1 IP, 8.68 ERA, 5K) This name on the list has a little bit of an asterisk next to it, because, according to some reports, Gaudin was placed on waivers, but Chad Jennings reports he's still in camp and there's nothing official on the Yankees website, so I'll at least mention him. He pitched very well last season, but he is out of options and due almost $3 million this season.
Alfredo Aceves-(14.1 IP, 3.77 ERA, 7K) Aceves was impressive out of the Yankees bullpen last year, winning 10 games as a reliever. I think it is unlikely that he gets the nod as a starter, but he is in the mix. he's had one of the best springs of any of the candidates, which I'm sure is making Girardi's decision much tougher.
We're all waiting to hear Giradi's decision, as well as waiting for the roster to be finalized as we move closer to the season, so make sure you stay tuned for all that news.
As most of us have heard, yesterday Mark McGwire finally admitted to using steroids. Now he finally closes the book on "not talking about the past."
He's just another name in the so-called Steroid Era, which has tested the faith of many baseball fans and cast a shadow of a doubt over all Major League Baseball Players.
A few players over the past 20 years have been "above suspicion" for one reason or another. There are four players, in my mind, that may cause Major League Baseball to lose any credibility it has left if it is discovered that they used steroids or any type of performance enhancing drug.
Ken Griffey, Jr.- He was one of the best players of the 1990's, and currently has 630 career home runs. He may have had a chance at the All-Time Home Run record, but injuries derailed his career in the early 2000's. Those injuries actually helped his credibility as being steroid-free, and he is one of the few home run hitters people don't think did steroids.
Cal Ripken, Jr.- The Iron Man. His stretch of 2,632 consecutive games played is truly a record that will never be broken. After the player's strike cost MLB the 1994 World Series, baseball was in trouble, and his breaking of Lou Gehrig's record of 2,130 was one of the first steps on the sport's long road to recovery. If it was revealed that he did steroids to stay on the field during that streak, it would be a blow from which the sport may never recover.
Albert Pujols- While he may not have played throughout the entire Steroid Era, Pujols is seen by many to be the face of clean, steroid-free baseball in the future, especially since Alex Rodriguez admitted to doping.
Derek Jeter- Jeter has always been the epitome of what a professional athlete is supposed to be. He's generous, smart, says all the right things without sounding scripted, and plays the game the way it's supposed to be played. While he may never be considered the greatest player of his generation, he is a member of 5 World Series Championships (and hopefully with still more to come), and one of the sport's all-around "good guys" that actually lives up to being a role model for kids.
I'm sure there are players that would rock each individual fan's faith based on their allegiances, but I feel that these players would affect the majority of baseball fans.
Well, obviously there was a lot of news coming out of Major League Baseball today. Enough even to prevent SportsCenter to not mention Monday Night Football in the first 15 minutes of the show, which is almost unfathomable. Let's take a look at the deals:
First, the deal that most directly affects the Yankees. John Lackey signs a five year contract worth more than the $82.5 million A.J. Burnett got from the Yanks last year. This doesn't really scare me that much. Yes, Lackey is a workhorse who has had success in the playoffs, but besides that what is he? He went 11-8 in 2009 and 12-5 in 2008 while missing time with injury. Boston's rotation, as of right now, is Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Lackey, Daisuke Matsuzaka, and Clay Buchholz. I think the Yankees rotation matches up favorably to that, but I do have a biased opinion.
Now the big news: the Roy Halladay trade. The three team deal between the Phillies, Blue Jays and Mariners is still pending, and it is still unclear what prospects are headed where but the basics: the Phillies get Halladay, the Mariners get Cliff Lee, and the Blue Jays get prospects from both teams.
Now for the Phillies, they get the guy they've wanted for months now, but they have to give up Lee, who was their ace from this postseason. I literally just got off the phone with a friend of mine who is a Phillies fan who had just heard of the trade. He had only heard that the Phillies got Halladay and I was the one to break the news that they had to give up Lee in the deal. After assuring him that I was not trying to get back at him for the Giants-Eagles game last night by joking around, he was considerably less excited about the trade. Now, Halladay is an upgrade over Lee, but they Phillies would have been a lock for a World Series appearance next season if they had both.
But I think that the attention should be going to the Mariners. They added a front-line starter in an off-season where they already signed Chone Figgins and have been linked to players such as Matt Holliday and Jayson Bay to add to their lineup. They have taken advantage of the Angels losing some big names over the past few years (like Teixeira and Lackey) and have made an aggressive push to make themselves competitive. I think this deal affects the AL West more than the NL East or the AL East.
Well it's finals week, so there may not be too many posts, especially if no big news comes out of Yankee-land because, you know, priorities.
Q: How has Scott Boras affected the game with his trend of pitting teams against each other to drive player salaries up?
TK: I’ll let Jayson answer this because Boras hates Jayson.
JS: Well, I’m not Scott Boras’s favorite person. I once wrote that one of Boras’s clients was less likely to get a job than another player because Boras was his agent and some teams did not want to deal with him. He sought me out in the press box the next day and demanded I print a retraction because he said there was no evidence that the agent will prevent a player from signing with a team. But the fact is that there are some General Manager’s and teams that won’t deal with him. Now, he tries to work around the people that won’t deal with him. He’ll try to find someone else in the front office or deal directly with the owner to try and get a deal for his player. The major issue with him I think is what is more important; making the player happy or getting him the most money? I know guys who go for the big contracts and are just miserable with where they end up and cannot wait to get out of there. The perfect example this year is Matt Holliday. Holliday loved it St. Louis, the fans embraced him, he did well, but they probably aren’t going to be able to give him the best deal. Now shouldn’t Holliday be able to go to Boras and say, “I don’t need to have the most money, I just want to stay here where I’m comfortable.”
Q: What do you think about the trend of General Managers and other top executives moving from being former players to being college-educated businessmen?
TK: There was a time 20 years ago where 70% of the GMs played in the Majors. Now, 3 of the 30 played. That is where the sport is going. Guys like Theo Epstein is extremely smart figuring out all the statistics and information like that, but his biggest strength is surrounding himself with baseball people. Too many GMs like that think they can evaluate talent the way someone who played can. There was one story about how a GM came to a manager and said, “All of our charts and say that this player can play centerfield, so we want you to put him there.” The manager told him that the player could not play centerfield. The GM trusted his research and told him to try him out there. So the player went out there for a week and was horrible. So after a week, the GM went to the manager and told him he was right and asked, “How did you know that?” It’s because managers like that have played and understand what it takes to play. I don’t have a problem with the trend as long as the new GMs understand that they can’t evaluate talent like a baseball person can.
Q: How has technology like Twitter helped or hurt the way you cover baseball games?
At this point, Tim’s daughter Kelly, a freshman at Syracuse who was sitting in the audience raised her hand and said:
Let me just say that my dad knows absolutely nothing about technology.
TK: Well, I guess this isn’t a question for me to answer, go ahead Jayson.
JS: I love Twitter. At one point it was a little bit of an issue at ESPN because they were concerned about what were putting on there because they wanted to make sure it drove people to ESPN.com and not Twitter. I backed off until they decided what to do, and now there’s a Twitter module on our ESPN MLB page for all the Tweets we do. But it’s an amazing interactive media. I’m sitting in the press box and all the sports writers are tweeting about the game, and we’re all sitting right next to each other providing information. It’s a great place to put tidbits and information that may not fit anywhere else, too. And when I’m not physically there, using it helps me feel like I am there.
Q: With a lot of glaring mistakes by the umpires in the postseason this year, do you think instant replay will be expanded?
JS: I wish they would. I was the guy, who a week after they instituted replay, called for them to expand it. At the General Manager’s meetings, they made no formal recommendation about instant replay. And Bud Selig is dead set against the further expansion of it, so as long as he is in charge, I don’t see it happening, whether it is a challenge system or a fifth umpire. Read more...
The Sport Management Club at Syracuse University hosted two of ESPN's Senior Baseball writers, Tim Kurkjian and Jayson Stark, for a discussion on Major League Baseball. There were a lot of people in the auditorium, but I was able to get one question in. Most of the questions were about the league in general, but people obviously asked some questions about the teams they follow. Being Syracuse, NY, there were plenty of Yankees fans, and there was some very good information on them, including the Joba and Hughes bullpen/starter debate. But I'm not going to tell you here, I'm going to make you read the post. Devious of me, I know. There's a lot of material here, and as I commented to a few people at the meeting, I think I took more notes in that hour and a half than I did in class all last week, so I won't get into every single question that was asked. The easiest way to do this is in Q&A format. I'll put the question, and then TK for Tim Kurkjian and JS for Jayson Stark.
Q: How will history look back on the steroid era in baseball?
TK: Right now there's an imaginary asterisk next to this era. And that should be it. Taking away records would ruin the credibility of the record book and the actual asterisk did not work in 1961 with Roger Maris. We need to take this era and give it to the best baseball fans and say, this is what the stats were, take what it what you will. Instead of attaching asterisks, we should attach stories to these statistics.
JS: The thing about this topic, is that when we talk about it, we talk almost exclusively about 10-15 players. We talk about Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and now Roger Clemens has gotten dragged into this, but the fact is hundreds of players took performance enhancers. Yes, there were people who were taking them to break records and to make more money, but there were also guys taking them to just hang on, or to make it to the big leagues. Then some guys thought that HGH had magical healing powers, and that's why they took them. And when it comes to the Hall of Fame, there is no way to keep everyone who did steroids out. We may have already elected a player into the Hall that used steroids. When there was no testing, it's impossible to think that you can just stop those people from getting in. I agree with Bob Costas when he says that when we get to that era of player, we should just put a sign that denotes these players as part of the steroid era. We know that the statistics in this era were different, and you can look at them any way you want to.
Follow up comment: Despite the dark cloud, it seems that, at least attendance-wise, the game has not been affected.
JS: I am amazed at baseball's success as a business. More people are watching baseball on TV or live in person than ever before. It seems that people compartmentalize, and they have this filing cabinet in their head, and they put the information on the steroid era in there and enjoy the game. To say that you aren't going to watch baseball or go to a game because of something that happened in the steroid era, if you like baseball, you are denying yourself pleasure.
TK: I think it is because baseball is bigger and better than any of the issues it faces. There are people who care more about baseball than almost anything else. We have a researcher at ESPN who can tell you who made the last out in every World Series since 1948 and how they did it. There is another guy who can tell you what every Topps Baseball card over a seven year period looks like. You'll say a player's name and he'll tell you, "There were two. One was him standing at the plate looking down at the third base coach, and the other one was him running out of the batters box." We also work with a huge Phillies fan who we once asked about a game on May 4th, 2004, which, at the time, was over 4 years prior. He was able to tell us they lost to the Cardinals 6-5, the Cardinals scored 2 in the first inning, and Kerwin Daley was the home plate umpire. It was just amazing.
Q: With the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) set to expire in 2011, how will MLB avoid the 9th work stoppage in its history?
TK: When they prevented a work stoppage during the last negotiations, the players stood up to their representatives and told them that they couldn't have another strike because last time they almost lost the game. Now, they know that, in the middle of an economic recession, they won't be able to walk out and say they aren't getting paid enough and they don't have good enough benefits when the average salary is close to $3 million. This is good for us because covering labor negotiations is horrible.
JS: Well, who just won the World Series? The Yankees, and when the Yankees win, people clamber that the system is broken. That's a bunch of garbage, because the system has never been better. Do you know how much revenue the Kansas City Royals take in before they sell a single ticket? $100 million. Some small market teams just aren't spending the money they are getting from luxury taxes and revenue sharing. It's been proven by the Rays, the Twins, and the A's that a small market team can win if you evaluate players correctly and spend money wisely. In the end, there won't be any major changes to the CBA and no work stoppage.
Q: What about a salary cap? Is that in the cards?
TK: Well, the Yankees provide the perfect foil for Major League Baseball. Every good story needs a hero and a villain, and they are, depending whether you love or hate the Yankees. But the fact is, when the Yankees and these other big market teams are good, it's good for the baseball. They make money for the entire league through merchandise sales, TV ratings, and luxury tax. There is no way the Player's Association (PA) will allow a salary cap within at least the next 10 years because there are obviously team's out there willing to pay.
JS: Also, it doesn't appear that there will be a salary floor either because the PA is opposed to that as well. The argument against a floor is that the only way a small market team like the Rays can compete is if, every few years, they blow the team up and start over. I think the way to do it is to set a floor of say $65 million for the payroll. And if a team, like the Rays decides to go under that number, just as the Yankees decide to go over the luxury tax threshold, they should be taxed. It would start out as a small tax at first and increase the longer the team stays under. The biggest flaw in the Basic Agreement right now is that there is no accountability on how teams spend the luxury tax money. They could be spending it on the Christmas party for all we know.
Q: What do you see the Yankees doing when it comes to free agents and other off-season moves?
TK: Of their big three free agents, Pettitte, Damon, and Matsui, I think Pettitte will come back and the other two will be gone. They are trying to get younger and more athletic. They saw how much Mark Teixeira helped them not only on offense, but with their infield defense, and want to do that in the outfield. In regards to the rotation, from talking with people in the know, my guess would be that Phil Hughes returns to the rotation and Joba Chamberlain stays in the rotation.
JS: I agree with most of what Tim said, but I can see Damon returning to the Yankees if the deal is right for the team. If there is a small one year deal with an option, they will probably jump on that. There are three words that are probably going to prevent that from happening, however, "Scott Boras client."
(My question) Q: With Derek Jeter's contract up after next year, and despite him still performing, he is an aging superstar. How do see the Yankees handling their iconic figure?
JS: Well the simple fact is: he's Derek Jeter. He is the heart of the Yankees. The Yankees know they need to take care of him. They have already gone to Jeter and his agent and said, "You're going to be a Yankee forever." The traditional rules don't apply to him. I thought the most interesting thing about them winning this World Serieswas the "Core Four," and how they all played in the clinching game. They have all been there through the minor leagues and from that first playoff appearance in 1995 and it isn't like they are there hanging on trading stories about the past. They are still four of the most important players on the team. The Yankees know this is a special situation with all of them and are going to deal with it accordingly.
TK: A quick story, last week I'm in the Yankees clubhouse after the game, soaked in champagne, and I need to interview Jeter. I see him and I'm following him through all these people. He dodges what seems like 100 people and over in the corner, he meets his Mom and Dad and gives them a big hug. It's just the type of person he is, and why he's been so successful. I asked Tino Martinez once to tell me something about Derek Jeter that I wouldn't know. Tino told me that if Derek had even just one beer, he will not get behind the wheel of a car and drive. It's why he remains so successful on and off the field, because he is smart enough to not get in trouble by getting arrested for a DUI.
Q: Do you think that Jeter will make a run at Pete Rose's hits record?
TK: I don't think he will, but he'll end up with around 3,500 hits. If he gets to that, he will have 800 more hits than any shortstop in history and anyone in Yankee history. He always plays hard. In 12 years, I have never, ever seen him not run hard to first base. And people still tell me he is an overrated player.
That basically covers it in regards to Yankee-specific material, and since this post is already over 1,800 words, I'm going to wrap it up...for now. I still have plenty of material on what they think of the off-season trade and free agent markets, as well as some stories on the nature of covering Major League Baseball, so I'll save that for a rainy day later this month (except that I live in Syracuse, so make that a snowy day).
Tomorrow night, Jayson Stark and Tim Kirkjian will be holding a baseball discussion with members of the Sport Management Club, of which I am a member, at Syracuse. I will obviously be armed with several questions regarding the Yankees and Major League Baseball in general. Feel free to post any questions you want me to ask in the comments, tweet @jgeant, or send an email to michaelkayssuccessors@yahoo.com. I'll have a post up about the experience sometime later this week.
Also, as you may have noticed, the blog layout has changed. That was merely a technical difficulty, and it will most likely go back to the way it was, or a better template, depending on what we find. Much like the Yankees, we will have organizational meetings (or more like IM sessions) to decide on what we can do better and how to position ourselves this offseason.
UPDATE: The layout is back to the way it was, for now. Stay tuned over the next couple of days for info from the GM Meetings in Chicago and the story about Baseball Tonight's visit to Syracuse.
YANKEES (91-50) Jeter SS Swisher RF Teixeira 1B Rodriguez 3B Matsui DH Posada C Cano 2B Cabrera LF Gardner CF
Pitching: LHP Andy Pettitte (13-6, 4.10).
ORIOLES (56-83) Roberts 2B Izturis SS Markakis RF Reimold LF Mora 3B Scott 1B Wieters DH Pie CF Moeller C
Pitching: RHP Chris Tillman (1-3, 4.66)
TIME/TV: FIRST PITCH SCHEDULED FOR 8:20, YES
As I'm sure you all already know, Derek Jeter needs just one hit to pass Lou Gehrig for 1st on the All-time list.
Right now, I'm waiting to watch Michael Jordan's Hall of Fame induction speech. The ceremony is on ESPN. I lived just outside of Chicago at the end of the Jordan-era, so I enjoyed watching the '97 and '98 championship teams.
UPDATE 12:35 AM: Jeter finally did it, congratulations. The rain put a damper on things, that's for sure. I cannot believe they are going to restart this game. I think the MLB needs to review its rain-delay policies. This is ridiculous, and it's not the first time its happened this season. Enjoy the game if you're staying up to watch.
UPDATE 12:37: ALL THE STARTERS ARE OUT OF THE GAME? And they're going home? This is more ridiculous than the pine tar game where Billy Martin put Ron Guidry in centerfield and Don Mattingly at second. This is by far the weirdest thing I've ever seen.
UPDATE 12:42: After years of listening to Kay, he finally made me laugh. He used his "If you're keeping score..." line before telling people to just stop. He's by no means a standup comedian, but he actually told a somewhat joke.
After tonight's game, the Yankees announced that Chien-Mien Wang will need season-ending shoulder surgery. It will be tomorrow morning, and presumably performed by Dr. James Andrews, because he seems to be the only guy who does surgeries in Major League Baseball.
A few things to note about this:
The surgery is on his shoulder, so maybe Wang can use the time off to get the strength back in his legs, since that was the main problem at the beginning of a forgettable year.
You've got to be interested in what happens with Wang's future now. After the season, the Yankees could non-tender him, basically refusing him a contract, and he would become a free agent. He could sign with any team in the League, including the Yankees.
Now that he knows Wang isn't coming back this season, look for Brian Cashman to go hard for a starting pitcher. Jarrod Washburn is a name that has come up, and the Yankees almost pried him away from the Mariner's before, so maybe this will be what makes it happen.
Well, the Yankees did not have it today. We've sent them a Tom Emanski video of drills that helped win back-to-back-to-back AAU National Championships, because their defense was pretty bad all-around tonight. Don't worry, MLB Superstar Fred McGriff gave this product his full endorsement. The Yankees play Tampa tomorrow in the rubber game with Joba on the mound versus Matt Garza.
Well, another baseball player will be appearing before the Senate, but this time, it is not about steroids.
As you may or may not know (and if you don't know, you shouldn't have slept through US History), Supreme Court Justices must be confirmed by the Senate and are interviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee prior to confirmation. President Barack Obama's nominee, Sonia Sotmayor, will have her hearing next week.
Apparently, Sotmayor will have former Major League pitcher David Cone on the stand to testify. Cone was heavily involved in the Players Union during the 1994 Strike (aka The Lost Year). This from the New York Times:
David Cone, the former pitcher, presumably will echo President Obama’s claim that Judge Sotomayor saved baseball when she ended the 1995 strike.
I really hope he doesn't speak in those short choppy sentences like he does on air, that will be kind of embarrassing. And you know Michael Kay will mention it on air a thousand times when it happens so you'll hear about it again.
This is unrelated, but I am watching SportsCenter. The Yankees highlight comes on. Some guy at the Metrodome had a #4 Brett Favre Minnesota Vikings jersey, so the anchor goes on some rant about the Viking trainer going down to Mississippi to check on Favre's arm. In the middle of the highlight! I know they love to beat the Favre thing to death, and then beat it to death some more, but do they really need to do it in the middle of a baseball highlight?
Fan Voting for the All-Star Game ends tonight at midnight. Mark Teixeira is a mere 40,000 votes behind Kevin Youkilis for the starting first base spot. If Youkilis wins the vote, the Red Sox will have had the starting first baseman in the AL Lineup for four straight years. We cannot take four years of more of the same, so Vote for Teixeira as many times as possible. There is a loophole: You don't have to put in a valid e-mail address to vote, so you can just make one up. This allows you to vote more than the maximum 25 times. ESPN said who they thought should be voted in for the AL and NL lineups. Derek Jeter is there starting shortstop. Considering this is ESPN, I am honestly surprised they deemed a Yankee worthy of the All-Star Game.
Aroldis Chapman, considered the best Cuban pitching prospect, has defected. Chapman is considered the "best player to defect since Jose Contreras." Yeah, we all know how that turned out. He pitched for Cuba in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. He was 0-1 in 2 starts with a 5.68 ERA. He struck out 8 in the 6.1 innings and showed off a 100-mph fastball. According to the article, there are some questions about his other pitches. 8th inning reliever anyone?
I'm watching the ShaquilleO'Nealintroductory press conference, and it is nothing like a Yankees press conference. It's set up more like a talk-show. And Shaq is rocking a pink tie and a pink shirt, only he could actually pull that off.
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Also, anything written about broadcaster/on-air personalities is all in good fun and meant to be taken as a joke.
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