Yankees look to fill Pettitte’s shoes in rotation posted by David

Following Andy Pettitte’s retirement announcement last week, the New York Yankees are left with a big hole in their starting rotation.  CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes, and A.J. Burnett are the team’s top three starters, while the last two spots are up for grabs.  Ivan Nova and Sergio Mitre are options for Joe Girardi, but their limited experience in The Show may hurt their chances, as the Bronx Bombers tend to go with more established pitchers.  That leaves Freddy García (35) and Bartolo Colón (37), both of whom will try to prove they are not washed-up.

García won 12 games last season for the White Sox, but his 4.64 ERA is more indicative of the type of year he had.  I went to Chicago one weekend and actually saw him give up seven earned runs in just 2.1 innings of work against the Marlins.  The ChiSox eventually lost the game 13-0 in front of their home fans.  García surrendered three home runs in that game and 23 overall in only 157 innings pitched, numbers that are unlikely to improve if he makes half his starts at New Yankee Stadium.

Once a great pitcher, Colón has battled injuries over the last several years and didn’t pitch in the big leagues last season.  Since winning the Cy Young Award in 2005, Colón has accumulated just 14 wins, topping out at six in 2007.

The starting pitching challenges for Girardi don’t end there, as it’s anyone’s guess what kind of season Burnett will have.  In 2009 – his first year in pinstripes – Burnett posted a respectable 4.04 ERA to go with a 13-9 won-loss record.  In 2010, his ERA jumped to 5.26 while his record fell to 10-15.  He also led the majors in hit-batsmen, with 19 – the most batters a Yankee pitcher has hit in the last 100 years.

Trevor Time calls it a day posted by David

Trevor Hoffman, Major League Baseball’s all-time saves leader, announced his retirement this week after an illustrious 18-year big league career.  The seven-time All-Star finishes his career with 601 saves, a 61-75 record, a 2.87 ERA, and 1,133 strikeouts.  In 1089.1 innings pitched – spanning 1035 games – he surrendered exactly 100 home runs.  Hoffman spent the bulk of his career with the Padres, with whom he won four division titles and one National League pennant.

Hoffman was drafted as a position player, but after hitting .249 and .212 in his first two seasons in the low levels of the minors, the Reds turned him into a pitcher.  Hoffman found immediate success on the mound, going on to become a dominant closer for nearly two decades, but Cincinnati lost him to the Marlins in the 1992 Expansion Draft.  After half a season in the majors, he was traded to San Diego in a deal that sent Gary Sheffield to Florida.  Hoffman would spend the next 15 and a half seasons in a Padres uniform.

Hoffman’s best season came in 1998, when he recorded 53 saves (at the time, tied for second in a season), boasted an ERA of just 1.48 and a WHIP of 0.85, and allowed only two home runs.  In 73 innings, Hoffman struck out 86 batters while walking 21.  That same year, he came in second in Cy Young Award voting despite receiving more first-place votes (13) than the winner, Tom Glavine (11).  In an MVP race that saw sluggers Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire finish first and second, Hoffman came in

Edgar Martínez’s case for Cooperstown posted by David

One of the most talented hitters of the nineties did not receive enough votes for induction to the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, but I’m hoping Edgar Martínez does not have to wait too much longer.  I don’t expect him to be elected in 2011 because too many voters don’t think a Designated Hitter is a full-time player.  (Martínez came up as a third baseman, but injuries forced him to become Seattle’s regular DH in 1995.)  In my opinion, if a poor defensive player can make it to Cooperstown based on his offensive contributions, then someone who does not play a defensive position should be able to do the same.

Martínez’s career stats include a .312 batting average, .418 on-base percentage, .515 slugging percentage, 2,247 hits, 309 home runs, and 1,261 RBIs.  His best season came in 1995, when he slugged .628 while leading the AL in batting average (.356), OBP (.479), OPS (1.107), doubles (52), and runs (121).  Despite his monster year, Martínez still finished third in the MVP race.  Fifteen years later, he remains the only designated hitter ever to win a batting title.

Martínez was a seven-time All-Star, won five Silver Slugger Awards, and had one of the biggest clutch hits in postseason history – a two-run double in the bottom of the 11th inning of Game 5 of the 1995 ALDS that sent the Mariners to their first-ever Championship Series.  Seattle had been trailing the Yankees 5-4 and were three outs away from being eliminated from the playoffs; the turn of events sent the Yanks home instead after having blown a 2-0 series lead.  For the series, Martínez had a Ruthian line of .571/.667/1.000 and 10 RBIs – nine of them coming in the last two games.

Shin-Soo Choo: one of a kind posted by David

Shin-Soo Choo likely earned an exemption from South Korea’s two-year military service requirement, as his country won this year’s just-completed Asian Games.  Led by none other than Choo, who hit .571 (8-for-14) with three home runs, six walks, eight runs scored and 11 RBIs during the tournament, South Korea defeated Taiwan, 9-3, in the final game earlier today.

In addition to becoming the first Asian to join the 20-20 club in 2009, Choo is the first player in Indians franchise history (bear in mind the Tribe is more than a century old) to hit .300 with 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in consecutive seasons.  Joe Carter, who played in Cleveland for six years, accomplished the feat in 1986 and even went 30-30 the next season, but saw his average fall from .302 to .264.  Roberto Alomar almost did it three years in a row (1999-2001 – coincidentally his only seasons with the Indians), but fell one home run short in 2000 – the middle year of the would-be-streak.

Besides his offensive production, Choo also led all American League rightfielders with 14 assists this past season.  Shin-Soo Choo not having to miss two years in the prime of his career is Good for Ball.

And then there were 10

The last 16 postseasons have featured eight teams with a chance to be crowned World Series champions, but 2012 could be the first year with four rounds of playoff ball.  (Game 163 – sometimes called a one-game playoff – counts as part of the regular season, so there have never been more than three rounds of postseason play in the Big Leagues.)  How could this be?  Bud Selig announced this week a proposal to expand the playoffs to 10 teams – three division winners and TWO Wild Card teams in each league.  It is rumored that the extra round – played between the two Wild Card teams – would be either a best-of-three series or a one-game winner-take-all.

Longer series are good for ball posted by David

Postseason sweeps are great if your team comes out victorious, but for the fan who just wants to see a good series because his team is already done for the year, sweeps make October less exciting.  The Phillies and Yankees outplayed their first-round opponents so it was no surprise that the Reds and Twins failed to win a single game, but the other two division series were more fun to watch.  Additionally, the League Championship Series in both the AL and NL will last a minimum of six games, which is how it should be.  A postseason series that features one team in complete control over the other is like a boxing match in which one fighter KO’s the other in the first round, but then fights him again the next night and does it all over again.  A series that goes the distance (or a game shy of it), on the other hand, is good for ball.

How ‘bout that?

How about Cody Ross?  The Giants outfielder hit two home runs against Roy Halladay in Game 1 of the NLCS and added one off Roy Oswalt in Game 2 to provide San Francisco with its only run of the game.  This feat of power against two of the league’s best pitchers comes after Ross hit only three long balls in 33 games after coming over in a trade from the Marlins.  Though closer Brian Wilson has struck out six in 3.1 scoreless innings of work, Ross’s .375/.474/1.063 line as an everyday player makes him the favorite for the series MVP should his team eliminate the two-time defending NL Champs and play in the Fall Classic for the first time since 2002.

Will Chipper hang 'em up? posted by David

Chipper Jones is out for the year with a torn ACL, but let’s hope this isn’t it for the man who has played his entire major league career for manager Bobby Cox.  Chipper has made it known since last season that retirement could be around the corner, but like Baseball Tonight’s Eduardo Perez, I don’t see Chipper calling it quits now that his season has ended unexpectedly.  He wants to go out on his own terms, and these aren’t them.  At 38, his career is nearing the end, but I find it hard to believe that he will be able to say good-bye after watching from the bench as his team battles for the National League crown.

If he’s truly done, Chipper’s numbers speak for themselves: a .306 career batting average and .405 On-Base Percentage, 436 home runs, 147 stolen bases, 2,490 hits, two Silver Sluggers and an MVP award.  The six-time All-Star won a batting title at the age of 36, hitting a staggering .364 to edge Albert Pujols, who hit .357.  He is also tied for the most home runs in a season by a switch-hitter (45 in 1999; Lance Berkman accomplished the feat in 2006).  A little known fact about Chipper is that he and Paul Waner hold the Major League record for most consecutive games with an extra-base hit (14).  Chipper will join Waner in Cooperstown as soon as he is eligible.

How ‘bout that?

How about Jered Weaver?  The 27-year-old righty leads the majors with 182 strikeouts and is having his best season (11-7, 2.87 Earned Run Average) since his rookie year (2006), when he went 11-2 with a 2.56 ERA.  Since the All-Star break, Weaver has been even better, posting a 1.93 ERA, limiting opponents to a .204 batting average, and averaging seven innings per outing over six starts.  With the Rangers playing so well in the AL West, the Angels are unlikely to win the division for the fourth straight year and may even finish under .500 for the first time since 2003, but they have to be pleased with how their ace has pitched this season.

10 more runs than Clay needed. posted by Joe Franciosa, Jr.

I just finished watching Buckholz shut out the Orioles for the third time. Gotta love the "Sox in 2" games when they win.

 So, before we talk about Buckholz, let's begin with Beltre. I'm not really sure if that Home run on one knee is his new signature move or not, but it is aweing to watch. Is he really turning on the ball that hard? Is he just off-balance and ending on one knee is a bad thing? What happens when the one knee swing ends up scraping the wall? Is he going to get himself thrown out at second? We'll have to wait until that happens to know. But, for now, it's the best home-run swing in baseball. Now Beltre, you really need to stop running into the left fielder. Did you learn nothing from Ellsbury? Hurting Hermida isn't as big a deal as Ellsbury, but you're going to hurt yourself on one of these crazy collisions. That would be horrible for this team.

 Now then, on to the real star of the game. Buckholz threw 101 pitches in his complete game 5 hit shut out of the Orioles. After a rough start to the year, he's now 8-3, and leading the Sox rotation in wins. I'm sorry Tim Wakefield, maybe moving you to the bull pen screwed up your rhythm, but ever since you've returned to the rotation in Beckett's place, it's become obvious that Buckholz deserved that spot in the rotation, and if it again becomes a question of Wake or you going to the Bull Pen, it's definitely got to be Wake.

 Now, it was the Orioles, so there's little else to say about this game. The Orioles only have 19 wins, being last in all the Major Leagues. They just fired their manager, and it's going to be a long time until the Orioles are relevant in baseball again.

Jamie Moyer: baseball's new Ageless Wonder posted by David

Julio Franco may be the oldest player in Major League history to hit a home run (he also holds a number of other oldest player records), but Jamie Moyer has established himself as the game’s new Ageless Wonder.  In throwing a two-hitter against the Braves on May 7th, the 47-year-old became the oldest player to throw a complete game shutout.

A perfect Mother’s Day

In case you missed it, Dallas Braden guaranteed his place in the record books earlier this month by throwing the 19th perfect game in Major League history.  A perfect game is always difficult to achieve, but throwing one against the Rays – the best team in baseball – is that much more impressive.  What’s also worth noting is that this was the first Complete Game of Braden’s career.  That said, the most perfect aspect about the achievement was that it occurred on Mother’s Day, with Braden’s grandmother, who raised him after his mother died of skin cancer, in the stands.

How ‘bout that?

How about Andre Ethier?  Leading all three Triple Crown categories (.392 AVG, 11 HR, 38 RBI’s) in the National League as of a week ago, Ethier is the most feared hitter in the Dodger lineup (even more than Manny Ramirez), but will spend at least the next couple weeks on the Disabled List with a broken bone in his pinky finger.  His injury is bad news for the Dodgers.

How about Ty Wigginton?  After hitting 11 home runs all of last season, Wigginton is tied for second in the majors with 12 homers and still has a week and a half left to play in the month of May!  The Oriole infielder slugged just .400 in 2009 but boasts a .617 slugging percentage through the first eight weeks of 2010.

Oh, what a night! posted by David

As if Ubaldo Jimenez’s no-hitter was not enough excitement for one day, the Mets and Cardinals took part in a marathon contest, playing a 20-inning game Saturday in St. Louis.  If that does not…, the most remarkable part of the monumental occasion was that the two teams went scoreless through the first 18 frames!  That’s like back-to-back shutouts being thrown by both teams!  In a game that took nearly seven hours and featured an astounding 18 pitchers (two of whom were actually position players that Cardinals manager Tony La Russa sent to the hill), three Met hitters – Jose Reyes, Jason Bay, and Jeff Francoeur – went a combined 0 for 21.  That is an ugly line in the box score for three of the team’s four best offensive players.

How ‘bout that?

How about Roy Halladay?  In his first four starts, Halladay is 4-0 with a 0.82 ERA and a 0.879 WHIP.  He has thrown two complete games – including one shutout – and in 33 innings pitched, has struck out 28 while walking three.  The ace of the Philadelphia pitching staff has more wins than walks, and has collected as many hits (three) in the batter’s box as he has allowed earned runs.  With a strong team playing behind him, Halladay has a real chance to become baseball’s first 25-game winner since Bob Welch, who in 1990 won 27 of his 35 starts.

How about Jorge Cantu?  The Marlins infielder had a hit and an RBI in the first 10 games of 2010 to set a new record to begin a season.  It is worth noting that Cantu also collected a hit and RBI in the last four games he played in 2009 and dating back to last year, he has a 20-game hitting streak.  Cantu’s consistency has helped Florida to a 9-7 record thus far – just a game and a half behind the division-leading Phillies.  To put into perspective how impressive Cantu’s hit-and-RBI streak is, consider this: during Joe Dimaggio’s 56-game hitting streak in 1941, the longest RBI streak he put together was seven consecutive games; in fact, The Yankee Clipper even went seven games straight

Two more great careers reach the end of the line posted by David

Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas officially announced their retirements this week, ending speculation that either one would attempt a comeback in 2010 after not appearing in a big league game last season.  Glavine was a great finesse pitcher of his generation, and Thomas was a premiere slugger of the nineties.

The southpaw won 305 games, two Cy Young Awards, and four Silver Sluggers.  He was a 10-time All-Star, had five 20-win seasons, and was named the 1995 World Series MVP for leading the Braves to victory.  Glavine’s Fall Classic performance included eight innings of one-hit, shutout ball in a decisive Game 6 against the Cleveland Indians.  In addition to cleanup man Albert Belle, the Cleveland lineup featured the likes of Kenny Lofton, Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez, and then-future Hall of Famer Eddie Murray.  Meanwhile, Braves hitters were only able to put a single run on the board in the bottom of the sixth, leaving Glavine with no margin for error.  Among his lesser-known achievements, Glavine allowed just one grand slam in 682 games – all starts – over his 22-year major league career.  Finally, at the time of his retirement, he was second only to Omar Vizquel in sacrifice bunts among active players, with 216.  (The next-closest – pitcher or position player – is longtime teammate John Smoltz, with 136.)

Thomas hit 521 home runs, collected 2,468 hits, and finishes with an impressive line of .301/.419/.555.  He won back-to-back MVP awards, four Silver Sluggers, and one batting title.  Additionally, he had 11 seasons with 100+ RBI’s and was named to five consecutive All-Star teams (1993-1997) at a very competitive time for American League first basemen.  (Mark McGwire, John Olerud, Mo Vaughn, Tino Martinez, Cecil Fielder, Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro were perennial contenders.)  The Big Hurt’s best year came in 1994, when he set career highs in batting average (.353), on-base-percentage (.487), and slugging percentage (.729), and despite being limited to 113 games by the players’ strike, hit 38 home runs and drove in 101 runs.  Thomas’s monstrous slugging percentage that season puts him in a club with guys named Ruth, Gehrig, Williams, Hornsby, and Foxx.

Former MLB pitcher Kevin Hickey dies

Kevin Hickey, who pitched in six major league seasons with theChicago White Sox and the Baltimore Orioles, has died. He was56. [read full article]

From FOXSports.com News for MLB

Orioles 5, Yankees 2 (The SportsXchange)

BALTIMORE -- Adam Jones homered and J.J. Hardy drove in two runs to support another strong start from Wei-Yin Chin as the Baltimore Orioles scored a 5-2 victory over the New York Yankees on Tuesday night. [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Yankees 8, Orioles 5 (The SportsXchange)

BALTIMORE -- Mark Teixeira hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the seventh inning, and the New York Yankees rallied for an 8-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Monday night. [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Teixeira leads banged-up Yankees to win at Baltimore (The SportsXchange)

BALTIMORE -- Mark Teixeira has been bothered by a nagging cough for about a month. He's still not feeling great, but the New York Yankees first baseman made the Baltimore Orioles feel a bit sick Monday night. [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Teixeira blasts Yankees past Orioles (Reuters)

(Reuters) - Mark Teixeira blasted a decisive two-run homer to help the New York Yankees beat the division-leading Baltimore Orioles 8-5 on Monday and close the gap in the standings. Teixeira delivered the winning swing in the seventh inning as the Yankees (20-15) seized on a costly sixth inning error by Baltimore first baseman Chris Davis to move one-and-a-half games back of the Orioles (22-14) and the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East. ... [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports