2009 Baseball Season

[Hoosier PH]

TRIVIA TIME!!!!!!

WHo can name the only 4 Switch-Hitters to win the MVP Award?

Pete Rose and Ken Caminitti (sp)??

[LIPH]

I googled it to see who I missed. They listed more than 4

[Hoosier PH]

I googled it to see who I missed. They listed more than 4

I looked also. I can't believe I missed Chipper Jones and Jimmy Rollins

[Dr.Corona]

Tigers win!!! A win today & we're in against everybodies favorite team.........The Evil Empire.........

[CheeseHead in Paradise!]

Tigers win!!! A win today & we're in against everybodies favorite team.........The Evil Empire.........

It's in the bank, Ken! I'm happy for the Tigers and would have hated to see the Twinkies make the playoffs.

[jonesbeach10]

Better then some shlub named Bruney.

I'm not a Yankees fan but I think their 8th inning guy is Phil Hughes, not Bruney.

Bruney may not even make the postseason roster. Hughes is their setup man.

But to go back a few posts, I agree Boston has just as good a chance as any in October. Beckett and Lester are just as good as any 1-2 punch in baseball. That being said, as a Yankees fan, I'm cautiously optimistic about October. The team has played great for the better part of the year. But they played like crap in the last 3 ALDS's they were in, so I'm not getting my hopes up.

In all seriousness, if the Yankees don't win the World Series this year then we have just witnessed perhaps the worst decade ever for front office moves in the four major American team sports. I mean, somewhere between 1 and 2 billion dollars spent and counting . . .

I don't know about this year has to be THE year (though it might be their best chance for a while), but by the time Burnett, CC, Texeira, and A-Rod's contracts finish there needs to be title #27. Remember, Cashman has only had full control of player personnel for 2 or 3 seasons (I think starting with the winter of the Johan Santana sweepstakes). I'm not saying he's blameless, but a lot of moves that either overpaid for guys like Jaret Wright, Carl Pavano, Giambi, Randy Johnson, etc. or traded away high value prospects for rent-a-players had George Steinbrenner's stamp on it. Also remember when Steinbrenner was temporarily banned from baseball, Gene Michael took over baseball operations, and held onto the prospects that ultimately formed the nucleus of the late-90s Yankees teams that won 4 World Series. It was when Steinbrenner started demanding the guys I mentioned above that the team started flopping in October.

By the way, it was laughable to think Carl Pavano could have come through in a big start and help the Yankees avoid facing Verlander twice in a 5 game series.

[drunkpirate66]

Better then some shlub named Bruney.

I'm not a Yankees fan but I think their 8th inning guy is Phil Hughes, not Bruney.

Bruney may not even make the postseason roster. Hughes is their setup man.

But to go back a few posts, I agree Boston has just as good a chance as any in October. Beckett and Lester are just as good as any 1-2 punch in baseball. That being said, as a Yankees fan, I'm cautiously optimistic about October. The team has played great for the better part of the year. But they played like crap in the last 3 ALDS's they were in, so I'm not getting my hopes up.

In all seriousness, if the Yankees don't win the World Series this year then we have just witnessed perhaps the worst decade ever for front office moves in the four major American team sports. I mean, somewhere between 1 and 2 billion dollars spent and counting . . .

I don't know about this year has to be THE year (though it might be their best chance for a while), but by the time Burnett, CC, Texeira, and A-Rod's contracts finish there needs to be title #27. Remember, Cashman has only had full control of player personnel for 2 or 3 seasons (I think starting with the winter of the Johan Santana sweepstakes). I'm not saying he's blameless, but a lot of moves that either overpaid for guys like Jaret Wright, Carl Pavano, Giambi, Randy Johnson, etc. or traded away high value prospects for rent-a-players had George Steinbrenner's stamp on it. Also remember when Steinbrenner was temporarily banned from baseball, Gene Michael took over baseball operations, and held onto the prospects that ultimately formed the nucleus of the late-90s Yankees teams that won 4 World Series. It was when Steinbrenner started demanding the guys I mentioned above that the team started flopping in October.

By the way, it was laughable to think Carl Pavano could have come through in a big start and help the Yankees avoid facing Verlander twice in a 5 game series.

Agree. And not just Cashman . . . I meant front office in general when it comes to player's salaries and what they have got in return in terms of Pennants, World Series, etc. Sure, one could argue that the close to 2 billion dollars in player's salaries filled the seats and generated great TV ratings so there is something positive to be said from the Clemens, Pavano's, ARods, Jeters, Damons, Tex's, etc. contracts . . . I, however, look at this past decade as something that a 5th grader could do . . . "here is a bunch of money, Kid . . . go get the best free agents and pay they whatever they want . . ." and then there is nothing to show for it when it comes to Winning.

NYY Pitching for the playoffs has CC (close to an 8.00 Post Season ERA), AJ (who has never pitched in the post season), Pettite (who is pretty darn good in October) and Joba (servicable post season numbers at best.) And hey have to deal ARod's traditional post season exploits. I just don't see what all this money has bought except TV ratings . . .

[docandjeanie]

Phillies clinch the East, as a nice tribute to long time sportcaster Harry Kalas, they went out to the field and celebrated in front of his memorial

[chippewa]

By the way, it was laughable to think Carl Pavano could have come through in a big start and help the Yankees avoid facing Verlander twice in a 5 game series.

Pavano was 4-0 vs. the Tigers this year with a 1.something ERA. They've looked pretty bad against him, till yesterday.

Now wrap it up today, Tigers, so the postseason pitchers can have the weekend off.

[SMLCHNG]

WILDCARD!!!!!

[CheeseHead in Paradise!]

WILDCARD!!!!!

I'm happy for the Rockies, just wish it hadn't happened against my team. Good luck in the playoffs!

[SeattleParrotHead]

Not too much to laugh about again this year for the Mariners, but something pretty amazing happened Sunday vs Toronto.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd ... p&c_id=mlb
It even made Rachel Maddow's show . . . http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#33081035

[SMLCHNG]

WILDCARD!!!!!

I'm happy for the Rockies, just wish it hadn't happened against my team. Good luck in the playoffs!

Thanks. The Brewers were totally classy today at the end of the game.

[jonesbeach10]

Better then some shlub named Bruney.

I'm not a Yankees fan but I think their 8th inning guy is Phil Hughes, not Bruney.

Bruney may not even make the postseason roster. Hughes is their setup man.

But to go back a few posts, I agree Boston has just as good a chance as any in October. Beckett and Lester are just as good as any 1-2 punch in baseball. That being said, as a Yankees fan, I'm cautiously optimistic about October. The team has played great for the better part of the year. But they played like crap in the last 3 ALDS's they were in, so I'm not getting my hopes up.

In all seriousness, if the Yankees don't win the World Series this year then we have just witnessed perhaps the worst decade ever for front office moves in the four major American team sports. I mean, somewhere between 1 and 2 billion dollars spent and counting . . .

I don't know about this year has to be THE year (though it might be their best chance for a while), but by the time Burnett, CC, Texeira, and A-Rod's contracts finish there needs to be title #27. Remember, Cashman has only had full control of player personnel for 2 or 3 seasons (I think starting with the winter of the Johan Santana sweepstakes). I'm not saying he's blameless, but a lot of moves that either overpaid for guys like Jaret Wright, Carl Pavano, Giambi, Randy Johnson, etc. or traded away high value prospects for rent-a-players had George Steinbrenner's stamp on it. Also remember when Steinbrenner was temporarily banned from baseball, Gene Michael took over baseball operations, and held onto the prospects that ultimately formed the nucleus of the late-90s Yankees teams that won 4 World Series. It was when Steinbrenner started demanding the guys I mentioned above that the team started flopping in October.

By the way, it was laughable to think Carl Pavano could have come through in a big start and help the Yankees avoid facing Verlander twice in a 5 game series.

Agree. And not just Cashman . . . I meant front office in general when it comes to player's salaries and what they have got in return in terms of Pennants, World Series, etc. Sure, one could argue that the close to 2 billion dollars in player's salaries filled the seats and generated great TV ratings so there is something positive to be said from the Clemens, Pavano's, ARods, Jeters, Damons, Tex's, etc. contracts . . . I, however, look at this past decade as something that a 5th grader could do . . . "here is a bunch of money, Kid . . . go get the best free agents and pay they whatever they want . . ." and then there is nothing to show for it when it comes to Winning.

NYY Pitching for the playoffs has CC (close to an 8.00 Post Season ERA), AJ (who has never pitched in the post season), Pettite (who is pretty darn good in October) and Joba (servicable post season numbers at best.) And hey have to deal ARod's traditional post season exploits. I just don't see what all this money has bought except TV ratings . . .

Well, I don't think anything positive came from Pavano's stay in NYY. It's best summed up is that for the better part of the decade, the front office threw money at holes in the squad, didn't trust the farm system to develop, and threw prospects away for rent-a-players that more often than not didn't help. I think there was a turning point when they were forced to bring up Chien-Ming Wang and Robbie Cano one year and realized they had better prospects than many realized. The past couple of years have shown that while they're stilll willing to spend godless amounts of money for free agents, they're willing to let young players develop. For example, the non-deal that would have brought Santana to the Yankees for some combination of Hughes, Ian Kennedy, Joba, and Melky Cabrera, plus a new contract for Johan on top of that looks better every day. That being said, they need to win a World Series with CC, AJ, A-Rod, Tex, etc. Simple as that.

As for the pitching. CC has pitched poorly when he's thrown a lot of innings. In 2007, he pitched well against the Yankees in the ALDS, then by the time he faced the Sox in the ALCS, he was somewhere up near 250 IP. And last year, he was pitching on 3 days rest for something like the last 5 starts of the year and by the time he got to the NLDS he hit the wall. This year, he's thrown a lot of innings, but not as many as the last two years, and he's gotten extra days of rest in September, so hopefully, he's better rested. Pettitte's a gamer and a grinder, I like that he's pitching Game 2. AJ's a wild card, but he's pitched better as of late. Joba, well, he won't start until Game 4 of the ALCS, if at all. He might not even make the post-season roster at this point.

Overall, I like the Yankees' chances as much as anyone else's, but I don't think there's a big difference between LA, NY, and Boston, and even the Tigers could beat the Yankees in the ALDS. Whoever comes out of the AL will be a very deserving representative.

[drunkpirate66]

Agree, again. Anaheim might not be the best representitive but I agree with you on Boston, NYY, and DET. Anaheim is in last place for ERA in the AL West which proves that A. Pitching doesn't win, ultimately, like people think and B. The AL West is pretty darn bad.

[drunkpirate66]

How great would a STL v. PHI series be? Pitching . . . great hitters . . . defense . . . management . . . if your a baseball fan, those two teams would be as great a series as you could hope to get this year.

NYY v. Boston . . . again? That would be a snore. And you all know I love my Red Sox.

[SharkOnLand]

If the Rockies can sweep the Dodgers, they'll win the NL West and possibly end up with the best record in the NL.

I can't believe they came from 12 games under .500 to this point. Unbelievable.

[Hockey Mon]

The Nationals, marching towards 106. Come on Baltimore and Pittsburgh, I know you want to join us with 100 losses!

[fabduo]

The Nationals, marching towards 106. Come on Baltimore and Pittsburgh, I know you want to join us with 100 losses!

Thank goodness at least the Mets won't end up there -There's always next year -If they would just bring Bobby Valentine back -I would be a happy Met fan!!!!

[Lightning Bolt]

Local sports radio XX 1090 reporting that Padres GM Kevin Towers will be "released from his current contract" come Monday.