Results tagged ‘ Alex Rodriguez ’
Snow Day
To all my fellow east coast dwellers, don’t you just love wintertime. Who wants to live on the West Coast with the beautiful weather and sunny days, when you have the magical mystery tour that we have. Just 5 days ago, we were calling it t-shirt weather. Not today. NYC and Philly 12 inches, Boston up to 15 inches, possibly, even down south got hit with 6 inches. Anyway it’s a perfect day to curl up with a book or watch exhibition baseball. I plan to do both.
Fortunately the news on Mr. Santana’s elbow seems to have improved after a bullpen session yesterday. Johan threw about 35 pitches described at about 85% of his usual effort. He reported no pain, and will see the Met doctors in Fla.,instead of the originally planned MRI in NYC. The inclement weather did play a role in that decision. It’s too early for any sigh of relief until he’s issued a clean bill of health and until we see him in a game, but it’s better than it was this time yesterday.
The spring rosters of all 30 teams have undergone a drastic change due to the WBC. The Mets, for example, have a large contigent going including their core of Reyes, Wright, Beltran and Delgado. For the next couple of weeks we’ll all be looking at the guys in camp who are fighting for jobs and praying for no injuries at the WBC. Interesting little twist in that for the Dominican team you could have Reyes at short and A-Ro(i)d at third and for the US Jeter at short and Mr. Wright at third. Go figure. Some sort of Met/Yankee fan dream/nightmare universe.
Usually the pitchers are a little ahead of the hitters the early part of the spring. Not this year. Some of the scores yesterday: Mets 13, ‘Stros 1; Reds 13, Yanks 11; Cards 14, Marlins 10; D-Backs 9, A’s 7;Sea 13,Tex 6. A couple of blowouts and some football scores mixed in for good measure. The ability for players to stay in good shape all winter where their counterparts from 30 & 40 yrs ago had to get winter jobs helps these guys be almost game ready from the first day of camp.
Random Thoughts
Mets beat the Marlins today 9-0. Oliver Perez pitched two scoreless with three K’s. Jose Reyes went yard twice including a grand slam and had 6 rbi. Carlos Beltran hit a two-run shot in the 6th and Jose Castillo continues showing promising signs with a hit,2 walks,a stolen base, and 2 runs scored. Couple that with the two hits and 4 rbi he got yesterday in the spring opener(9-3 Mets over Baltimore) Mr. Castillo is hitting a tidy .750 in the spring. I know, I know it’s only spring and just two games at that, but you look for promising signs, especially if the Mets are serious about the proposed lineup change of Luis batting 1st and Jose batting 3rd.
Had a good first baseball day. I’m on vaca from work so I was able to watch Cleveland-SF at Cleveland’s lovely new spring home in Goodyear,Az and I got to watch the Sox play Minnesota. MLB Network carried both contests yesterday. No RemDog yesterday on NESN(What’s up with that, Julia?) I wonder who’s got the lead in the shortstop battle in Boston. I like the look of Jed Lowrie and I wonder what happened to Julio Lugo. I was hoping the Mets could have acquired him a couple of winters ago when he was a free agent. His speed and pop would have looked good at the top of the lineup paired with Reyes.
Nice day yesterday for Mr. Rodriguez. This was bound to be a crucial year for him even before the steroid troubles. If the Yanks after spending what they did to improve the team, fail again a lot of the blame will fall on A-Ro(i)d, fair or unfair. He will most certainly have to have one of those special playoff years like Clemente had in ’71, or Reggie had in ’77 to get the wolves off of him. Now with the steroid issue and Selena Roberts book coming out, it will be a zoo for him just about all year. The way he can answer is having days similar to yesterday, 2 walks, and a homer.
A negative by-product of all the steroid talk is when someone you respect gets caught up. Joel Sherman writes in today’s NY Post about a conversation he had with one of my all time faves, Michael Piazza. The point is how we will all view the players who had great years in the late 90′s with a jaundiced eye. Mike has had whispers about him because he was a 62nd round draft pick who was signed by the Dodgers as a favor to Tommy Lasorda, who transformed into,arguably, the greatest offensive catcher in history. Until we know who did what we’ll always suspect that some things we witnessed just did not ring true. It’s a shame if Mike has to wait a year or two before he gets into Cooperstown, because of an unconfirmed rumor or suspicious thoughts. At the same time, I don’t think anyone would be surprised if something came out that showed that Mike’s career had chemical help. If only because nothing would surprise us anymore. That’s the shame of the steroid era.
No news is good news?
Met fans usually chafe when we feel our team is being slighted. No attention unless something apocalyptic is happening like the last two Septembers or the Willie Randolph saga. All eyes on big brother in the Bronx. This spring, however, I actually think that’s a good thing. While the Yanks have a myriad of story lines that could distract them,i.e. A-Ro(i)d, Torre’s book, Girardi’s relationship with the media and his job status, the new players trying to fit in, all of the media focus will be and should be in Tampa. In Port St. Lucie all should be relatively quiet which will allow the guys to get ready for the season without an unusual amount of media hype.
It only took about a half hour for J.J. Putz to become one of my favorite Mets. On last night’s Mets Hot Stove he seemed funny, relaxed, and comfortable. He compared PR man Jay Horwitz to Peter Griffin
and gave Kevin Burkhardt a face full of whipped cream- what’s not to like? Understand, none of this will mean a thing if he blows a couple of games in July, but it seems like neither he or Sean Green, who also seemed very cool, will be very disturbed about playing in New York or dealing with the media.
I was reading David Lennon’s article in Newsday on how most of the rotation, except Freddy Garcia, has already reported for camp. The WBC probably has a lot to do with that, but the extra time can also help with building camaraderie. It also doesn’t surprise me that David Wright is there. He’s probably been in Port St. Lucie since New Year’s Day(Just Kidding)
As much as I would love Bobby Abreu in the lineup with professional approach to hitting and his high on base percentage, the lineup would have skewed too left handed. I reaaly believe as we get closer to the season that the Tatis, Daniel Murphy platoon will work out. Tatis will be tough on lefties and Daniel Murphy has the look of a gamer even at a young age. I can see him being a really good 2-hole hitter(as long he isn’t asked to bunt)
Random Thoughts Day
So Mr. Selig comes out and says on the heels of the A-Ro(i)d confession that he is still considering a suspension or punishment of some sort for Mr. Rodriguez. Good thinking, Bud. Let’s suspend a guy who comes clean(somewhat) over a 6 yr old test that was supposed to be confidential and illegally leaked to investigative reporters. By the way this would also violate an agreement that was collectively bargained with the Players Union. But, I’m sure you know all this. Please, Mr. Selig do not add fuel to the fire by trying to placate the sanctimonious and often hypocritical writers and fans. A-Ro(i)d is far from a saint and as I have said is too much of a distraction with an almost Spearsian appetite for self destruction in public, he should NOT however, be made this years face of the Steroid Era. especially when there are 103 other positives. In short if you suspend A-Ro(i)d, what about the Giambino, or Pettitte, for that matter should we posthumously suspend Ken Caminiti?
As much as I love the concept of the World Baseball Classic, it has the feel for me of starting a car in 10 degree weather and just driving off. High level competition when these guys, especially pitchers, aren’t fully ready yet. So when I heard that the Mets “suggested” to Mr. Santana that he skip the WBC, I was happy. I’d much rather see him go full blast against the Pirates in May(or the Phillies in September) than Japan in March.
A-Roid
Part of the burden of being a Met fan is that you share your city name and city, if you haven’t relocated, with Yankee fans. I know I’m supposed to genuflect in front of the 26 championships and say Derek Jeter’s name in reverent tones, but it gets to be a little much sometimes. However, as a baseball fan I respect what the Yankees have meant to the sport. Which brings me to our favorite New Yorker, A-Ro(i)D. My BFF Marie and I we’re discussing the news of his failed drug test and all the other scandals, mini scandals, and distractions this guy has been involved in since 2004. Mets fans, admit it, the 50 homers a year would have been cool, but all the other crap would have been too much. We Met fans get jealous sometimes but Yankee fans can have A-Ro(i)D. In fact, I couldn’t wish for a nicer place for him to be.
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