Hideki Matsui | The Baseball Zealot

Monty Hall: Let’s Make a Deal

michael-taylor There is another three way deal on the horizon, this one involving the Phillies, the Blue Jays, & the Mariners. Philadelphia would get righthanded ace Roy Halladay from the Blue Jays & pitching prospect Phillippe Aumont (plus another Seattle youngster, yet to be named) from the Mariners, Seattle gets Cliff Lee from the City of Brotherly Love, and Toronto picks up superstar phenom outfielder Michael Taylor, sky’s the limit starter Kyle Drabek (Son of Doug), and minor league catcher Travis d’Arnaud from the Phils. In a deal involving two former Cy Young Award winners switching uniforms, the third party player might end up being the big winner, that’s how good Michael Taylor might end up, he’s that good! Trader Billy Beane jumped into the frey to make it a four-way deal, sending 1B-3B Brett Wallace, a 2008 1st round pick out of ASU by the Cardinals who was traded to Oakland in the Matt Holliday trade, to Toronto for Michael Taylor. While Wallace has some serious power 20 or more homers in each of the last two seasons, he also swung & missed 106 times in the minors this past year. To me, the A’s look to be the big winner getting the highly skilled outfielder Taylor.

This three way deal was probably made possible when the Red Sox inked John Lackey away from the Angels. Once the Bronx Bombers knew Boston was no longer in the hunt to pickup either Halladay or Lee, the Pinstripers could relax and let the trade proceed without outside interference from NY.

In another move, not made by the Yankees, World Series MVP Hideki (Godzilla, but you can call me Shemp) Matsui headed west to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Orange County team needed to bring somebody on board after losing leadoff man Chone Figgins (now with the Mariners) & ace starter Lackey (over in Bean Town) already this offseason. Still I don’t know if it’s much of a consolation prize, seeing the Mariners added Figgins & Lee, while on this day the Halos, in effect, swapped Lackey for Matsui.

New York Yankees capture 2009 title

I’m no Yankee fan but I give credit where credit is due. The Yankees played like the Champions they are. Indeed, with 40 league championships and 27 World Championships, it seems their franchise has been one long dynasty with short interruptions here and there.

As I alluded to yesterday, the World Series MVP would probably be decided in last night’s game. And Hideki Matsui left no room for error in judgment. ‘Shemp’ drove in six runs in Game Six’ 7-3 clincher. For the series, he hit .615 with three dingers and 8 rbis.

The Yankees seem to be the team of New York and New York only. They’re the Evil Empire. But, let’s face it. Without them, baseball wouldn’t be the same and probably wouldn’t be in as good as shape.

In 2010, I’ll probably root for any team playing the Yankees as I do every year. But for now, congrats to the to all the Yankee fans out there. A job well done by the Bronx Bombers.

Baseball Reference’s stat summary of the World Series

Yankees Make the Wait Werthwhile

arod There was a one hour twenty minute rain delay before game three finally was set into motion. Southpaw Andy Pettitte was on the bump for the Pinstripers, while lefty Cole Hamels (I see that commercial with those kids dad, every time he pitches) was matched up against the cagey vet.

It looked like Pettitte was the kid with the jitters in the 2nd inning, when he allowed a leadoff homer to Jayson Werth to give Philly a 1-0 lead. Before the second inning dust had settled, Andy walked Jimmy Rollins with the bases loaded, and then Shane Victorino’s sac fly made it 3-0.

In the top of the 4th with a runner on 1st Alex Rodriguez’ flyball hit off a camera in rightfield, it appeared as though the camera was out over the field of play, but it was reviewed and ruled a two run home run, making it a 3-2 game. With one out in the 5th Andy Pettitte took matters into his own hands when he singled home Nick Swisher from 2nd base with the tying run, Swisher had doubled to open the inning. Derek Jeter kept the line moving with a base knock. The big blow came moments later when Johnny Damon’s double plated both Pettitte & Jeter, giving NY a two run lead.

In the sixth inning the teams exchanged runs with Nick Swisher hitting a home run in the top of the frame and Jayson Werth matching it with a big fly of his own in the bottom for Philadelphia, still a two run Yankee advantage. New York took control in the 7th & 8th, with one run in each inning, Jorge Posada’s RBI single in the 7th and pinch hitter Hideki Matsui’s solo shot in the eighth.

Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz hit a solo blast in the 9th off reliever Phil Hughes to cut it to three, but then Mariano Rivera was called upon to close it out. Andy Pettitte was the winning pitcher, his 17th postseason victory.

I want to say something about the talking heads, they are crazy, and for the most part they talk about stuff which makes no sense. They talk about pressure & clutch, they talk about slumps, and meaningless statistics of what batters are doing off certain pitchers in certain situations. The problem here arises in the fact that there isn’t a whole lot of data, the statistics are very limited, and they are skewed as a result. What I’m talking about in particular is Alex Rodriguez 0-8 with six strikeouts after the first two games, Chase Utley with two long balls in one game off a lefthanded pitcher, Nick Swisher & his woeful slump, and then there’s Ryan Howard 0-8 with seven K’s in his last eight at bats. This isn’t about pressure and coming through or not coming through in the clutch. This is the World Series, featuring the best of the best, don’t over analyze everything, just sit back & enjoy.

Nasty A.J. Dominates Phils, Series Even at One

aj-burnett A.J. Burnett is one of baseball’s nastiest pitchers and he brought his nasty stuff to the mound for game two versus the Phils, against Pedro Martinez. Philadelphia jumped out to an early 2nd inning lead when Matt Stairs’ single(?) under the glove of Alex Rodriguez plated Raul Ibanez, who’d doubled to left with 2 outs. It seemed more like an aberration, rather than a sign of things to come. A.J. is either on or off and he looked on from the start in this one.

Mark Teixeira took a Pedro pitch over the centerfield fence leading off the top of the 4th and the game was knotted at one. Godzilla, or Shemp if you prefer, Hideki Matsui drove one out to right in the 6th, giving New York the 2-1 advantage. Down by a run, Charlie Manuel allowed Martinez to pitch to Jerry Hairston, Jr., and the second guessing began when JH2 hit a soft single to right. Joe Girardi jumped on this opportunity by inserting pinch runner Brett Gardner at first. Gardner went to 3rd on a Melky Cabrera hit to right (for sure Pedro shouldn’t have been allowed to pitch to Melky, but perhaps Manuel was thinking a bunt was in order). That was it for Pedro, when Jorge Posada was announced as the pinch hitter for Jose Molina. Jorge’s single to center off Chan Ho Park gave the Yankees a little insurance now up 3-1.

It seemed insurmountable with A.J. dealing on the mound for the Yanks, and it was. Burnett allowed only 4 hits over 7 innings, striking out 9, before giving way to Mariano Rivera for the two inning save. This game was a pivotal one for the Series, if Philly had won the first two in New York, it would’ve been very tough for the Yankees to comeback. But now with the series at one win apiece, the home field advantage was gone, but the Phillies would need to win three straight in the city of brotherly love in order to maintain that advantage.

Where Have All the Nicknames Gone?

mudcat grant Recently Hideki Matsui, known as Godzilla in Japan, appeared on the cover of a national magazine with the caption, Shemp, along with a picture of his counterpart from The Three Stooges. The funny thing is that his manager DonS in the Illowa APBA League has been calling him that for years. It got me thinking about nicknames and I found myself wondering, where have all the nicknames gone?

Of course a few players today are known by their nicknames, like ARod & JRoll, but those are more abbreviations than true nicknames. Then there’s B.J. Upton, an abbreviation again, but this time it’s for Bossman Junior, his dad was known as Bossman, that’s a little better, but still not quite there.

Back in the day, players were known as Ernie “The Schnoz” Lombardi and Ken “Hawk” Harrelson for the size of their beaks. Then there were players with nicknames Jim “Mudcat” Grant, John “Blue Moon” Odom, and Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd. One of the best nicknames was Jim “Catfish” Hunter, made up by the colorful Oakland A’s owner Charlie Finley. Hawk Harrelson dubbed Frank “The Big Hurt” Thomas and Carlos Lee as El Caballo. Dennis Martinez was a Nicaraguan, known as El Presidente. Of course Roger Clemens was often times referred to as The Rocket. The Freak seems to have stuck with NL Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum.

But it seems today, for the most part, good nicknames are a thing of the past. I’d like to hear from you, with your favorite nicknames of yesterday and today, and maybe even some nicknames for current players that might be appropriate.

2009 American League All Stars

derek-jeter The Sporting News has announced the American League All Stars as selected by a panel of 31 major league general managers and GMs. Joe Mauer received votes from all 17 AL executives who participated.

C Joe Mauer appeared in 138 games for the Twins, 109 behind the plate, leading the league with a .365 batting average (he also topped the league in average the year before with a .328 mark), while getting beat up at catcher. Joe hit 28 homers, 30 doubles, and drove in 96, leading Minnesota to the postseason as Central Division champs.

1B Mark Teixeira powered the Yankees offense leading the league in homers (39) & RBIs 122, while batting .292, with 43 doubles, scoring 103 times, he also topped the Junior Circuit in total bases with 344.

2B Aaron Hill came back after suffering a concussion, which allowed him to only play 55 games the previous season, to have his best year ever. Aaron batted .286 with 36 home runs & 37 doubles, driving in 108 & scoring 103 times.

3B Evan Longoria was the Rookie of the Year who was one of the leaders of the Rays who made it to the World Series last year, now he’s the best player at the hot corner. He batted .281, with 33 longballs, 44 two base hits, drove in 113 & scored 100 times.

SS Derek Jeter is the captain & leader of the New York Yankees. Jeter batted .334 with an OBP of .406, it was his job to get on for the big bats, steling 30 bases at the ripe old age of 35, he ripped 18 homers to go along with 27 doubles.

OF Ichiro Suzuki is known simply as Ichiro. Since coming to the States all he’s done is hit, a lifetime batting average of .333, over 200 hits every season (9 years), and leading the league in hits the last four years. This year Ichiro batted .352 with 225 hits, 31 doubles, 11 homers, and 26 steals.

OF Torii Hunter just missed batting .300, finishing the season with a .299 batting average, 22 homers, 90 RBIs, despite missing significant time due to injury.

OF Jason Bay has quickly found his Fenway Park stroke since coming over to the Red Sox, socking 36 homers, driving in 119, while scoring 103 runs.

DH Hideki Matsui joins three other Yankees on this year’s all star squad. Due to injuries Matsui took over the team’s fulltime DH duties to keep him healthy and to keep his potent bat in the lineup. It worked as Hideki hit 28 home runs & drove in 90 for the Bronx Bombers.

SP Zack Greinke seems to have it altogether for the Royals, being named Pitcher of the Year. 16-8 with a league best 2.16 ERA and 242 strikeouts in 229′ innings, doesn’t begin to tell the story of this youngster’s dominance, with any kind of run support at all he certainly would’ve been a twenty game winner.

RP Mariano Rivera There are closers, then there is Mariano Rivera. He is that good, he is a step above every other closer in the game, and like a fine wine, he just keeps getting better with age. He has this cutter, a gift from God, the hitters know it’s coming, but can’t do anything to hit it. He has taught his famous cutter to a few pitchers throughout the league, to the chagrin of many hitters. This year Mo, at the age of 39, had 44 saves to go along with a 1.76 ERA, ho-hum.