The Baseball Thread 2007

[ghost of miles]

Ironically enough, Dan, I was just about to post on that very subject--not looking good, eh? I don't hold out high hopes for this season, primarily for that very reason. At least A-Rod's off to a good start--though I seem to recall he had a very good April last year as well:

Turnaround artist

By Tim Brown, Yahoo! Sports

April 14, 2007

OAKLAND, Calif. – Game-day runs in jagged lines, paths that eventually lead to the box just left of home plate.

In road-gray pants and matching T-shirt, Alex Rodriguez angles his forehead downward, as though to begin the momentum of eight hours.

From the old dingy clubhouse here, along the dingier corridor, through the dank passage beneath the stands, into the sunlight. Then, 20 minutes later, back again into the gloom.

"Borz!" he shouts at his friend, longtime New York Yankees bullpen catcher Mike Borzello, and jerks his head toward a heavy steel door.

From the opposite side of the clubhouse, Borzello lifts himself from his chair.

"Guy never quits," he says, wearily, admiringly.

Rodriguez, destined perhaps to become the game's greatest right-handed hitter, or there with Aaron and Mays and Robinson and Foxx, has torn through the first two weeks of 2007.

He has hit career home runs 465 through 471. He has batted .371. He has driven in 17 runners, nearly a third of the Yankees who have scored over nine games.

He has lived these two weeks on the barrel of his bat, turning around high, hard fastballs with deliberate, rejoining ferocity. Ask Joe Nathan. Ask Chris Ray.

For the moment, in the coolness of early April, with the Yankees otherwise taking volunteers for their starting rotation and chasing steadiness in the field, Rodriguez has veered from the broader thoroughfares of autumnal stress and pinstriped birthrights.

He's just a guy with a bat.

Or trying to be.

Even that is open to deliberation, and in his own clubhouse.

"He already works harder than everybody else," center fielder Johnny Damon said. "He's already stronger than everybody else. … Now I don't think he's afraid to fail. What went on last year, he wanted to do so well for everybody. This year, he's not afraid to make a mistake. He's going after it."

Borzello, Rodriguez's confidante, shook his head slowly.

"I don't think that's caused the turnaround," he said. "I think he's confident, honestly, in his swing right now. Last year, I don't think he had any confidence in the mechanics of his swing at all. It forced him to become the type of hitter he isn't, which is a straight guess hitter. He's a reaction hitter. He's got the quickest hands in baseball but wasn't using them.

"I don't think fear of failure is a problem. Fear-of-failure people are guys who go on the DL when they're struggling. He played 160 games."

It's complicated if you let it be.

Rodriguez sits on a staircase inside McAfee Coliseum, 30 minutes to kill before the batting cages come free. He had two hits Friday night, both singles, both hit hard. He's eager to hit again, kneading the bat handle as stadium personnel passes, stepping lightly over his outstretched leg.

"I don't know," he says. "I think last year was the best thing that could ever have happened to me. It was so difficult. Now, it's like, what else can be said? I've thought, 'Let's just play and enjoy it.' I'm just comfortable. I'm comfortable with whatever happens."

He says again, for emphasis, "It was one hell of a challenge. It's the proudest I've been for not breaking down. But it took every inch of fight. … And as tough as it got, I was out there every day."

Baseball sees two weeks of familiar A-Rod. Rodriguez sees two months, beginning the day he arrived in Tampa for spring training. Longer even, when he counts the work this winter, killing the body drift in his swing, recommitting his hands, shortening the bat's arc. He's back on the high fastball, the one that skipped over the top of the strike zone last season, the one he couldn't get, the one he began guarding against. Now, Yankees manager Joe Torre said, "He's not giving you any part of the plate he can't get to."

Maybe it's just a game. But it's his game, and it has been almost since the moment the Seattle Mariners took him first in the 1993 draft. He arrived in the big leagues 10 months after he signed out of high school, was a regular two years later, and the next 11 years were like little the game had seen.

"I maintain there is no such thing as bad A-Rod," an American League scout said. "He's still one of the greatest players to ever play the game. I'll take his bad because there's so much good. … I know he has his issues, but his issues aren't problems for me."

He became a regular All-Star, agreed to the largest contract anybody had ever heard of, was an MVP and took it all to New York, where he again was an MVP. The Yankees had stopped winning championships before he moved in, but it was Rodriguez who bore the responsibility, even as the offense continued to be dynamic and the pitching staff became mediocre.

He has hit .241 in four playoff series for the Yankees, a slump that began with the rest of the lineup in Game 4 of the 2004 American League championship series against the Boston Red Sox, the sort of thing that brings public derision and seems to have found mainly him.

"He's got to deal with that every day," Torre said. "Do I think it's fair? No. It's reality. He's called attention to himself by having the ability he has and making the money he makes. Now he's playing for the Yankees."

He paused for a smile and added, "It's piling on."

Torre continued, "It's just something you have to deal with. It's created by our society's need to win. And winning is the only answer to all the questions."

Indeed, it appears Rodriguez has become the symbol for a period of Yankee heartache, in which the organization stalled on 26 championships after beating the New York Mets in 2000. He is rich, the Yankees are rich. He is talented, the Yankees are talented. He plays in October, the Yankees play in October.

And then, together, they fail.

Along the way, Rodriguez suffered the daily analyses of his relationship with Derek Jeter and now the daily speculation regarding the contract clause that allows him to leave the Yankees at the end of the season.

Nine games into his fourth season in New York, Rodriguez says he is calm, comfortable. He says it's not about the numbers, though the production may afford him more room for calm and comfortable.

"It has everything to do with the inner struggle of the game," he says. "Last year was the first time I'd been on a baseball field and had lost control of the game. When it ended, I started preparing again. I don't know where it ends. I'm taking it one game at a time and trying to have as much fun as I can right now. I'm having a good time, and I'm removing myself from the results."

He picks himself up from the top step and heads off along those jagged lines again, back along the path to another baseball game, to whatever else is out there.

"The labor of baseball," he says, smiling. "The labor of baseball."

Tim Brown is a national baseball writer for Yahoo! Sports. Send Tim a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.

[donald byrd 4 EVA]

I find that hard to believe. As most things Red Sox go, there was a collective panic when Bard let Wakefield's knuckle balls pass a few times. That is an undeniable fact. (go back and check the message boards if you like) Thus Epstein quickly and incorrectly traded two quality prospects for an aging back-up catcher who hits near the mendoza line. Any rational person can see that the Red Sox overpaid to reacquire Mirabelli's services at the time, the future records of both Bard and Meredith notwithstanding. There are plenty of articles written on this at the time from various reputable sources that share this viewpoint.

[Dan Gould]

You are sadly mistaken if you think that Theo reacted to "collective panic" on "message boards".

Theo reacted to panic by his number three pitcher who had made 5 starts, gone 1-4 and watched his catcher chase no fewer than TEN passed balls.

Bard may be a fine catcher, particularly in the batting department, but he was a freaking DISASTER as Wakefield's catcher - and that is what he was brought on board to do. Someone has to be able to catch Wakefield.

A change had to be made, and at that point, nothing whatsoever was expected from Meredith.

I hate the way Mirabelli has hit but as long as Wakefield is in the rotation, someone has to be able to catch him. It will be Mirabelli for one more year, and then I expect Kotteras to take over.

You can bet that Theo will give Kotteras more time than he gave Bard - but that doesn't mean that it was any sort of "panic" let alone an "emotional" move to bring Mirabelli back.

Furthermore, no one said that they "overpaid" for Mirabelli's services until Meredith got his act together, and Bard, being away from that dastardly knuckleball, got a chance to just be an average catcher. But not a damn thing was said about overpaying until well afterwards.

[Matthew]

Now I know why there's not too many Texas Rangers fans around here. Jose freaking Vidro hits two home runs!?!? And he needed oxygen at second base before he could continue with his home run trot.

[zen archer]

here is a pizza throwing incident from the Red Sox game yesterday

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOZm8gUdr-Y&NR=1

[Big Al]

Now I know why there's not too many Texas Rangers fans around here. Jose freaking Vidro hits two home runs!?!? And he needed oxygen at second base before he could continue with his home run trot.

What is there to say? You've seen one Rangers season, you've seen 'em all. Same story, different actors. I know; I've been a fan for the last 30+ years.

[Soulstation1]

tribe vs yanks on espn today

[Soulstation1]

gotta give it up

yanks have no pitching but a strong hitting line-up

giambi can crush the ball

[jazzypaul]

Now I've seen everything. Buerlhe throws a no hitter, and out of all of these supposed baseball fans, nobody mentions anything?

Interesting.

Anyway, 27 up, 27 down. The closest anybody comes to getting on base is Sammy Sosa (walked), and he gets picked off at first.

Beautiful.

[BERIGAN]

Now I've seen everything. Buerlhe throws a no hitter, and out of all of these supposed baseball fans, nobody mentions anything?

Interesting.

Anyway, 27 up, 27 down. The closest anybody comes to getting on base is Sammy Sosa (walked), and he gets picked off at first.

Beautiful.

Well, it didn't happen in New York, or Boston, so who cares! Seriously, it was a hell of a pitching job, Tim, well, lets call him Tim K., on Baseball tonight mentioned that not one pitch was thrown above 90 MPH! And to do that against the Ranger's lineup is very impressive!

It was a hell of a night all around in baseball, Josh Hamilton hit another home run, King Felix hurt his arm, both Pujols and Bonds homered in the same game, A-Rod hit his 9th...and does anyone know which team is the first to 10 wins?????

[Dan Gould]

Now I've seen everything. Buerlhe throws a no hitter, and out of all of these supposed baseball fans, nobody mentions anything?

Interesting.

Anyway, 27 up, 27 down. The closest anybody comes to getting on base is Sammy Sosa (walked), and he gets picked off at first.

Beautiful.

Well, it didn't happen in New York, or Boston, so who cares! Seriously, it was a hell of a pitching job, Tim, well, lets call him Tim K., on Baseball tonight mentioned that not one pitch was thrown above 90 MPH! And to do that against the Ranger's lineup is very impressive!

It was a hell of a night all around in baseball, Josh Hamilton hit another home run, King Felix hurt his arm, both Pujols and Bonds homered in the same game, A-Rod hit his 9th...and does anyone know which team is the first to 10 wins?????

Hey, I came upstairs to listen to the end on Game Day audio to see if he could pull it off, so believe me I was excited by the prospect that he had a shot, pleased when he completed it, and even more impressed when I saw the highlights. Just didn't come here to post about it.

But since I'm here, how 'bout those Sox? Julian Tavarez vs Doc Holloday today and they're about to pull off the upset. Trailing 3-1 in the eighth, Manny homered to tie (just like last year, he had a slow start and didn't hit his first homer til the first visit to Toronto), and they scored two in the ninth off the replacement closer. Paps just closed the door. Sox win!!!!

[Dan Gould]

I cannot FUCKING believe what A-Rod has done so far this season.

With their defense and pitching, the Yanks are in last place without him. Unbelievable.

[zen archer]

Tavarez pitched a great game and the pitching in general has been great this weekend

will be the true test . The yanks bats are hot, they say good pitching beats well you know what they say.

GO SOX !!!!

[Dan Gould]

Tavarez pitched a great game and the pitching in general has been great this weekend

will be the true test . The yanks bats are hot, they say good pitching beats well you know what they say.

GO SOX !!!!

I say they do great as long as they keep A-Rod in the park. Can you freakin believe what he just did?

But like you say, good pitching ... and there's no doubt that Schilling, Beckett and Dice-K, plus most of the bullpen, is ten times better than the collection of stiffs Cleveland sent up there.

Thanks for NOTHING, SS1.

[zen archer]

Tavarez pitched a great game and the pitching in general has been great this weekend

will be the true test . The yanks bats are hot, they say good pitching beats well you know what they say.

GO SOX !!!!

I say they do great as long as they keep A-Rod in the park. Can you freakin believe what he just did?

But like you say, good pitching ... and there's no doubt that Schilling, Beckett and Dice-K, plus most of the bullpen, is ten times better than the collection of stiffs Cleveland sent up there.

Thanks for NOTHING, SS1.

A-Rod = Mr. April

[Big Al]

Now I've seen everything. Buerlhe throws a no hitter, and out of all of these supposed baseball fans, nobody mentions anything?

Interesting.

Anyway, 27 up, 27 down. The closest anybody comes to getting on base is Sammy Sosa (walked), and he gets picked off at first.

Beautiful.

Well, it didn't happen in New York, or Boston, so who cares! Seriously, it was a hell of a pitching job, Tim, well, lets call him Tim K., on Baseball tonight mentioned that not one pitch was thrown above 90 MPH! And to do that against the Ranger's lineup is very impressive!

No it ain't; this is the RANGERS were talking about here.

Seriously, that was freakin' cool, even if it was against my team.

[MartyJazz]

I cannot FUCKING believe what A-Rod has done so far this season.

With their defense and pitching, the Yanks are in last place without him. Unbelievable.

And you wrote this before what he did last night! Yeah, absolutely incredible April. And that's the point for this Yankee fan. Assuming we do make the playoffs at the end of this season - Yankee pitching is really questionable - I want to see if A-Rod can perform when the money is really on the line. But no question, he's really on an unbelievable tear right now. Should get a real warm greeting from Red Sox fans tonight.

Edited April 20, 2007 by MartyJazz

[jazzypaul]

Now I've seen everything. Buerlhe throws a no hitter, and out of all of these supposed baseball fans, nobody mentions anything?

Interesting.

Anyway, 27 up, 27 down. The closest anybody comes to getting on base is Sammy Sosa (walked), and he gets picked off at first.

Beautiful.

Well, it didn't happen in New York, or Boston, so who cares! Seriously, it was a hell of a pitching job, Tim, well, lets call him Tim K., on Baseball tonight mentioned that not one pitch was thrown above 90 MPH! And to do that against the Ranger's lineup is very impressive!

No it ain't; this is the RANGERS were talking about here.

Seriously, that was freakin' cool, even if it was against my team.

I know! The sad part was, we're packing to move on Saturday, so I didn't even see it! I just started getting phone calls after the game was over, and I went over to the computer to look it up, and sure enough, Buerlhe pitches a no-hitter! Sweet!

[Dan Gould]

I cannot FUCKING believe what A-Rod has done so far this season.

With their defense and pitching, the Yanks are in last place without him. Unbelievable.

And you wrote this before what he did last night!

No, I wrote it immediately following, which is why my post reflected how annoyed I was.

[zen archer]

I'm sure Beckett and Schill will pitch him on the inside , can't believe with the game on the line

the indians pitchers were throwing hanging curves . The guy is hot you have to jam him and get him off the plate .

Beckett did that with Vlad Guerrero of course he got a little too close.

[BERIGAN]

You know...the Mets and the Braves are playing this weekend as well....of course, most here don't know much about the senior league....just that it's the AAAA league, and where the WS champs will come from!

[Patrick]

boy that Captain Curt sure knows how to handle ARod... so much better than those guys in Cleveland...

[GA Russell]

Forbes released its annual valuation of MLB teams today. Pittsburgh had the third highest operating income, but were ranked the third least valuable franchise. The Yankees were rated the most valuable team, but were the only team to lose money.

http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsBaseball/home

Yankees valued at $1.2-billion (U.S.) by Forbes

Associated Press

NEW YORK — There's money in those pinstripes.

The New York Yankees' value increased 17 per cent in the past year to US$1.2 billion, Forbes magazine said Thursday in its annual estimates of franchise worth.

The Florida Marlins, given the lowest value at $244 million, had the highest operating income at $43.3 million, according to the magazine.

"As usual, the franchise valuations and operating income numbers are pure fantasy and based on no correct information," Marlins president David Samson said. "To comment on such irresponsible journalism would only give it more credit than it deserves."

The magazine defended its story.

"Forbes compiles its annual valuations of Major League Baseball franchises based on information obtained from team executives, sports bankers, public documents, and other sources believed to be reliable," spokeswoman Elizabeth Wasden said. "We stand by our figures, and the content published."

Despite the record evaluation for the Yankees, Forbes said they were the only ones to post an operating loss after revenue sharing last year. The magazine estimated the Yankees were $25.2 million in the red on operating revenue of $302 million, after revenue-sharing payments to the commissioner's office. The Yankees estimate their revenue-sharing bill for 2006 will be about $70 million.

"I am gratified at the Forbes valuation of the Yankees," New York owner George Steinbrenner said in a statement. "We are continuing to build a worldwide brand for the people of New York and Yankee fans everywhere."

The New York Mets were given the second-highest value ($736 million), followed by the Boston Red Sox ($724 million), the Los Angeles Dodgers ($632 million), the Chicago Cubs ($592 million), World Series-champion St. Louis ($460 million), San Francisco ($459 million), Atlanta ($458 million) and Philadelphia ($457 million).

At the other end were Florida ($244 million), Tampa Bay ($267 million), Pittsburgh ($274 million), Kansas City ($282 million), Milwaukee ($287 million), Minnesota ($288 million) and Oakland ($292 million).

The Toronto Blue Jays were ranked 20th, valued at $344 million.

Franchise values did not include provisions for television networks owned in whole or part by teams, such as the YES Network (Yankees), NESN (Red Sox) and Comcast SportsNetChicago (Cubs), Forbes associate editor Kurt Badenhausen said.

The Dodgers had the second-highest operating income at $27.5 million, followed by Pittsburgh ($25.3 million), Cleveland ($24.9 million), the Mets ($24.4 million), Colorado ($23.9 million), Cincinnati ($22.4 million), the Cubs ($22.2 million), Seattle ($21.5 million), Milwaukee ($20.8 million) and Tampa ($20.2 million).

Rob Manfred, baseball's executive vice-president of labour relations, criticized Forbes' figures last year but declined comment Thursday.

[donald byrd 4 EVA]

i have no idea why they are pitching to arod right now. give him the bonds treatmnet

[MartyJazz]

If Mariano keeps pitching like this in save situations, it's gonna be a long year for the Yanks. Damn, I love beating Schilling and he should definitely have had an "L" for that effort.