The Tampa Bay Rays have proved nothing
Posted by Adrien Griffin Categories: Editorial, MLB,
Yesterday, the Tampa Bay Rays dropped their 11th straight game, one of the longest losing streaks for any team in 2009. These are the same Tampa Bay Rays whose bandwagon everybody jumped on after a successful run to the World Series last year. The Rays took those fans for a ride this year, and many thought that the team would be a force to be reckoned with; that their minuscule payroll would be able to match the Boston Red Sox or the New York Yankees. Boy, were those people wrong.
The Rays of ’09 are just another name in the bunch. Sure, the Rays aren’t going to lose 90 games this year like they had every season prior to 2008, but they’re certainly not the same team that they were a year ago. With neighbors like the Red Sox and Yankees in their division, 90 wins will never be good enough, and the Rays certainly aren’t going to win 90 games this year. If they continue at the pace they’ve had for the past month or so, they’ll be lucky to finish with a second .500 season.
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September Struggles for the Baltimore Orioles
Posted by Adrien Griffin Categories: Editorial, MLB,
The Baltimore Orioles suck at playing baseball in September. The last time they had a winning record during the last month of the season was 2004, when they went an impressive 18-10. Unfortunately for the O’s of yesteryear, not even .643 baseball could get them to a winning season record – or even bring them inside of 20 games of a wild card spot this season. Since 2004, they’ve gone 10-18, 10-18, 10-19, and 5-20 down the final stretch of each year. So far in 2009, they’ve gone 0-2, dropping a pair to the New York Yankees.
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What’s Bothering Josh Beckett?
Posted by Adrien Griffin Categories: Athletes, Editorial, MLB,
Josh Beckett is the ace of the Boston Red Sox’ pitching staff. He is a former World Series MVP and American League All-Star; and this season had been posting numbers worth of Cy Young consideration. However, just a few weeks ago, all that began to change for the 29-year old right handed hurler.
Since August 12, Beckett has been the exact opposite of what he is expected to be. His ace pitcher status is definitely in question. Over his last five starts, he’s gone 1-1 in 31.1 innings, giving up 33 hits and 7 walks. What has been among the most un-Beckett-like is the fact that he has given up 26 earned runs over that stretch, but the most shocking number is the home runs he has given up. In those give games, he’s allowed 14 home runs. He’d only given up 10 home runs throughout the season prior to then.
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The So-Called Pennant Races
Posted by Adrien Griffin Categories: MLB, News, Playoffs,
September is here, and so the home stretch for the 2009 MLB season is upon us. The playoff races will take center stage in sports media, but for the first time in years, the races look as if they might be over before they really get started. Going into Wednesday night’s action, the closest pennant race was the American League Central, where the Detroit Tigers hold a 3.5 game lead over the Minnesota Twins, who, when it comes to playoff races, are a pathetic two games above .500. In the Central’s National League counterpart, the St. Louis Cardinals have already all-but-clinched the division as they hold a 10.5 game lead over the Chicago Cubs. It would take a colossal turn of events for the Cards to miss the playoffs in 2009.
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A Breath of Fresh Air for the AL Wild Card
Posted by Adrien Griffin Categories: MLB,
Thank goodness. It’s about time somebody from outside the American League East was holding the AL Wild Card spot. And with a 4-3 win, the Texas Rangers took two out of three from the Boston Red Sox, who went into this weekend with the elusive fourth playoff position, just ahead of Texas and the Tampa Bay Rays. Since 2003, only one team outside of the AL East has won the Wild Card slot, the 2006 Detroit Tigers. The Red Sox themselves have won four of the last six, while the Yankees won one in 2007.
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Gabe Kapler’s Pair of Storied Careers
Posted by Adrien Griffin Categories: Athletes, MLB,
In late September, 2005, Gabe Kapler’s major league career took a turn common to many others, but in a very uncommon way. While standing on first base, with teammate Tony Graffanino at the plate, Kapler watched as Graffanino launched a fly ball to left-center field. As the ball came down over the wall to give the Boston Red Sox a 3-2 lead over the Toronto Blue Jays, Kapler came down on the other side of second base.
Having thought the ball might land for a double, Kapler was hustling around the bases and ended up rupturing his left Achilles tendon and wound up being pinch…jogged for to complete the home run. Kapler went on the disabled list and his season was over. He returned in June 2006 and went on to have another successful season, but on December 12, 2006, his career took yet another road common to all players, but again in an uncommon way. At the age of 31, right in the prime of his career, Gabe Kapler retired from playing in the majors. Gabe quit playing and was offered a managerial position with the Red Sox’s Single-A affiliate club, the Greenville Drive, where he would coach the team to a 58-81 record and finish seventh in the South Atlantic League’s Southern Division.
At this time at least, a managerial career was not in Kapler’s list of duties. In December of 2007, Kapler signed with the Milwaukee Brewers as a fourth outfielder. However, he played as if he were never injured, and his superior defense gave him a leg up over teammates Tony Gwynn Jr. and Gabe Gross. As the season went on, Gwynn was sent to the minors and Gross went to Tampa Bay, and Kapler became the fill-in outfielder for all positions when needed. After 2008, Kapler went to Tampa, signing a one-year contract with the team. He is currently splitting time in a platoon role with Gross, playing against lefties.
With six teams and parts of eleven seasons on his resume, Gabe Kapler has established himself as one of the best bench players in the game. While not one of the fastest guys on the base paths, his power and his defense more than makeup for his speed and his patience. Even at the age of 34, if Kapler can learn to hit righties better and show some plate discipline, he could find himself an everyday job to ride out the second leg of his already successful career.
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The Toughest League in Baseball
Posted by Adrien Griffin Categories: Editorial, MLB,
Baseball has been widely criticized in recent years for its “unbalanced” schedule. Thanks to 18 interleague games per season, teams in each league face teams in other divisions an unequal amount of times, which seems unfair since every team not in first place competes for the same Wild Card playoff berth. This makes it extremely hard for some teams to compete, especially in a division such as the American League East, which is arguably not just the toughest division in baseball, but also the toughest division in professional sports.
If you’re a fan of the Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, or Baltimore Orioles, you need to face a grim reality. There are 27 other teams in the majors who have a better chance at making the playoffs than your team. With money-spending powerhouses like the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, teams with smaller payrolls need a lot more to go “right” for them in order to compete. A lot of people argue this with the fact that the Rays made it all the way to the World Series in 2008, but face it – that was the only AL East team in the last 11 seasons who were not the Yanks or Sox to make it into the playoffs, and it was also the first time in franchise history that the Rays had a winning record.
The Toronto Blue Jays have had six winning records in the last 11 years, but have only finished better than third once. With an 86-76 record last year, they actually finished in fourth place in the AL East. It took the Los Angeles Dodgers 84 victories to win the NL West by two full games. The Orioles haven’t been as fortunate. Ever since Cal Ripken Jr. left town, the O’s haven’t finished with more than 78 wins and have only reached as high as third place once.
It’s very likely that the AL East has three or four of the best teams in the league, but only two can get into the playoffs. The only way to make it fair – to give the four best teams a chance to be in the playoffs – is to eliminate divisional play. But we all know that isn’t going to happen. At the very least, balancing the schedule and eliminating interleague play would give every team a chance to face every other team an equal amount of times, giving value and fairness to the always important Wild Card team. But while baseball stands to make money by sending the Yankees and the Red Sox to any city in the majors, don’t hold your breath.
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Red Sox Down Tribe, Clinch Playoff Spot
Posted by Milo Taibi Categories: Athletes, MLB, Scoreboard,
The Boston Red Sox clinched a playoff spot on Tuesday, defeating the Cleveland Indians by a score of 5-4. Kevin Youkilis homered and Dustin Pedroia hit a 2 RBI double to help out the winning cause.
“We still have a chance to win the division and win it all,” center fielder Coco Crisp said. “I think we have a better shot this year than we did last year.”
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Jason Bay Headed To Red Sox, Manny Ramirez Shipped To Dodgers
Posted by Milo Taibi Categories: Athletes, Editorial, MLB, Trades,
In a blockbuster trade, Manny Ramirez has been dealt to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Jason Bay has been traded to the Boston Red Sox and the Pittsburgh Pirates received four top prospects. Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti explained his reasoning.
“We figured we had to do it,” Colletti said. “There was obviously a point in time that you have to make a major decision. We did and we were glad we did it. Hopefully it pays dividends. We’re confident we’ve got one of the best hitters in baseball coming in here—one of the best hitters of his generation from the right side.
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Halos Down Bo-Sox 5-3
Posted by Milo Taibi Categories: Athletes, MLB, Scoreboard,
Thanks in part to home runs from Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim were able to defeat the Boston Red Sox by a score of 5-3 on Sunday. Long reliever Darren Oliver notched the victory, while Tim Wakefield took the loss.
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