Posts Tagged ‘Mariano Rivera’
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Angels Pitching Gets Some CreditJuly 7th, 2008
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Aside from the fact that seven Red Sox will be driving across a couple states for their popular-vote trip to the All-Star game, three Angels pitchers got the vote of confidence to join in the midsummer classic at Yankee Stadium, cross-country.
Though not a single position player has made the popularity contest, which is both understandable, and not at the same time. The Angels lead the West by a good six games, and are the second best team record-wise under an extremely surprising Tampa Bay surge. If you base this contest on ability and talent, players like Casey Kotchman should have had no problem making the All-Star roster. However, I will concede to understanding the absence of Vlad Guerrero who, though a historically amazing player, has had a rough start. But I have to argue, Alex Rodriguez is in no way the best third basemen in the league, despite his incredible hitting. Nor is Derek Jeter anywhere near the best short stop, either. But I’ll refrain from speaking my mind on this issue any further than this.
It is very nice to see the Angels getting recognized as having obviously the best pitching staff in baseball. Two starters have made the roster, including Joe Saunders who has the best win record at 12 in the AL (tied for first with NL’s Brandon Webb at 12-4 as well) as well as a healthy 3.04 ERA, and Ervin Santana who has been an incredibly welcomed surprise to Angels fans who remember his 2007 woes, who has a record of 9-3 with an ERA of 3.28 and 106 strikeouts. The Angels closer, Frankie Rodriguez has also made the roster again, after saving the game last year after Mariano Rivera nearly lost it for the AL (maybe this time they’ll actually start him as the closer). We won’t know until later who will actually get the nod as starting pitcher. I’d put my money on Saunders, but the Angels are so poorly recognized as a credible force that I doubt it really will. I’m sure it’ll be Roy Halladay or Cliff Lee.
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Halfway Point: BoSox Sit Atop The East … BarelyJune 30th, 2008
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Eighty-one games down, eighty-one more to go. Only the Red Sox can say they have played half their regular season schedule as of June 26—just one of the several perks of starting a season a week earlier than the rest of major league baseball.
So faux halfway points be damned. There’s no need to wait until July 15 when the Midsummer Classic bids adieu to the hallowed grounds of Yankee Stadium. The Sox have reached the epicenter of the Marathon, and the battle for American League East supremacy hangs in the balance, with a familiar rival Empire stealthily drawing nearer from the flank, while a new and unforeseen usurper continues to flex their muscle as they seek to dethrone last year’s victor.
Overdramatic much? Hell, yeah! But it’s our natural right, as both writers and baseball enthusiasts, to allegorize and sensationalize this glorified little game of stickball.
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Daniel Cabrera: A Superhero in Disguise?April 16th, 2008
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Forty-seven years ago, a Dodgers pitcher started a spring training game by walking the bases loaded on twelve pitches. His catcher, Norm Sherry, walked to the mound and told the hurler to let the batters make contact.
Although the words were cliché to him, for some reason, the light in his head went off as bright as the Bat-Signal. Like for the citizens of Gotham, the illumination meant that the Dodgers savior would finally arrive. Over the next six seasons, Sandy Koufax would dominate the competition and pull down some serious hardware– three Cy Young Awards to accompany his MVP trophy.
Daniel Cabrera, a twenty-seven-year-old hurler for the Orioles, has similarly frustrated Orioles fans and their front office. Standing 6’7” tall with a right arm that throws a baseball at startling speeds, Baltimore has seen nothing but inconsistency from the Dominican.