So far in this young season a few things of mention have happened. So here are a few impressions from yours truly
Milton Bradley
Bradley has shown that most of baseball was accurate about his effect on the Mariners. Now the reason that they are in last can not be attributed to Bradley. Cliff Lee missed the first month of the season to an abdominal injury and the offense has been abysmal. As I said in an earlier post, Bradley would be a distraction to the team. Which he has by not being in the lineup.
I'm not the kind of person to kick someone when he's down. I give Bradley credit for being able to ask for help in trying to solve his stress related issues. To be honest, I have no clue as to what these stress issues are and what causes them, but I wish him well in trying to resolve them and returning to help his team.
The Mariners on the other hand might be regretting trading Carlos Silva (who is having a decent season with the Cubs) to get Bradley. To their credit, the Mariners are sticking with Bradley with their support. Hopefully things can work out for both sides.
Dallas Braden
After saying this past week that he wanted to go mano-a-mano bare knuckles with A-Rod, he goes out and becomes the 19th player to throw a perfect game. Congratulations to him. Maybe more players should get pissed off at A-Rod. Its done wonders for Braden's career. LOL.
All kidding aside, if Braden still has a beef with A-Rod don't say you want to knuckle up, especially if A-Rod hasn't continued talking trash back through the media. All that does is makes Braden look foolish and thuggish. As I'm going to allude in the next section, do as pitchers throughout the decades have done when they had a beef with a particular player and/or team. A-Rod or any other Yankees batter for that matter might not like the form of retaliation it but it would be something they'd expect.
Back to the perfect game. Not to take anything away from Braden's performance and achievement; a little humility goes a long way. I had the opportunity to watch the last inning on MLB.com (Thanks Pete, LOL) and in the post game, the announcers ask Braden if there's anything that he wants to say about the game and Braden answers "There's nothing to say, its perfect". Now its not what he said but how he said it. With this tone of arrogance and hubris that seems to be seen more and more within young athletes across the major sports. Sure he was the 19th pitcher to do it but damn, be humble about it.
Maybe I'm just getting old and crotchety and not very understanding these younger players, who they are and what motivates them. I'll address how one person is trying to instill good old fashioned sportsmanship with his son's little league team next week.
Josh Beckett and the decline of the Bosox
Leading in perfectly into this commentary, what is wrong with Josh Beckett and the Red Sox. Beckett is currently 1-1 with a 7.46 ERA and after his 10-3 loss to the Yankees on Friday, it seems that his control is lost.
Having plunked a number of Yankees (especially Jeter with the bases loaded) fans and some Yankees players alike felt as if he was doing it purposely. I think that's ridiculous. Why would a pitcher of Beckett's caliber give up earned runs in that manner (In total he have up 9 earned runs). The Yankees took issue with it, and CC Sabathia hit one of the Red Sox hitters the next day (as would be expected within baseball's etiquette for retaliation as Braden should do if he pitches for the A's from July 5-7 against the Yankees) and the situation was squashed.
I think there might be something wrong with Beckett. Maybe he's hiding an injury. If that's the case, say something, take care of it and stop hurting your team. And talking about the team, I know I picked the Red Sox to struggle and end up in 3rd place but they are struggling due to lack of pitching and irratic offense. As of Saturday, the Red Sox were leading the Major Leagues in hits (289) and ranking second in total bases (485) and extra-base hits (114). This shows they are hitting the ball but it is either at the wrong time, when the game is already lost or when the bases are empty. Regardless of when the hits come, the Red Sox are off to their worst start since 1997.
What can solve their ills? Consistent production throughout the lineup and rotation. Granted, they've lost a few pivotal players such as Jacoby Ellsbury to injury but players like David Ortiz, Victor Martinez and Daisuke Matzusaka need to step up before they fall too far behind the Yankees and the Rays.
Any questions and/or comments? Let me hear them. Later.
FH
Showing posts with label Dallas Braden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dallas Braden. Show all posts
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
A Few Thing I Want to Touch On
I have a few Baseball related things on my mind that I want to share. Here goes.
1. A-Rod breaking the unwritten rule
So Dallas Braden of the Oakland A's takes offense to A-Rod walking across the pitchers mound after running from first to third on a Robinson Cano foul ball during the 6th inning of Wednesday's game. After he yelled at A-Rod while on the field and taking his anger out on his glove and gatorade cups, here is what he said after the game:
"He should probably take a note from his captain over there and realize you don't cross the pitcher's mound in between an inning or during the game. I was just dumbfounded that he would let that slip his mind — being someone of such status."
"I don't care if I'm Cy Young or the 25th man on the roster, if I've got the ball in my hand and I'm on that mound, that's my mound ... He ran across the pitcher's mound foot on my rubber. No, not happening. We're not the door mat anymore."
Now, I'll be the first to admit that I have never heard about this unwritten rule about non-pitchers walking on the mound. I'll make sure to watch closer to see if anyone else does it. A-Rod has done questionable things on the field such as the glove slap in the 2004 ALCS against the Red Sox and the "HA!" incident in Toronto a few years back, but do I think it was intentional. No, not really and its not because I'm a Yankees fan but in reality, I didn't know that you couldn't walk on the mound. I've read online how A-Rod is this and that but a choice few say that Braden was out of line for his childlike rant on and off the field. A-Rod's retort was condescending, which I believe was the tone he wanted to use. Here it is:
He just told me to get off his mound. I was a little surprised. I'd never quite heard that. Especially from a guy that has a handful of wins in his career ... I thought it was pretty funny actually."
Could have A-Rod taken the high road, probably. But you know what, he is who he is and if he didn't think he should have apologized if he didn't feel that he had to. If Braden had an issue, he should have addressed it face-to-face like a man as K-Rod did when Bruney gave his two-cents on K-Rod's post-save ritual. Plus, imagine a young pitcher mouthing off to a veteran player like Reggie Jackson or Pete Rose in that manner back in the days. What happened to that unwritten rule?
2. David Ortiz and his future in Boston
I asked my friends Harper and Barry on how long David Ortiz has in Boston if he is still struggling. Ortiz is in his last contract year with the Red Sox and it seems to me that if he is playing next year. It won't be in Boston. Would Boston GM Theo Epstein trade one of the Bosox's favorite players? He did it in 2004 by trading Nomar Garciaparra to the Chicago Cubs. If a team that is in contention needs a DH and the Red Sox are far enough out of it, maybe Theo will trade Big Papi for a couple of minor leaguers. The most he'll get for Ortiz is a draft pick (if the Red Sox offer him a new deal and he signs with someone else). Ortiz is not the same player he once was before the wrist injury. We'll see how this plays out.
3. Cliff who?
While Cliff Lee is on the DL for the Seattle Mariners until May, Roy Halladay is helping the Phillies faithful forget him. Halladay is 4-0 with a 0.82 ERA, 28 strikeouts with only 3 walks and a WHIP of 0.88 in 33 innings pitched. Halladay's current dominiance of National League hitting is further cementing his status as the best power pitcher in the game today. I have two words for the Philly Faithful: CLIFF WHO????
Any issues, queries, questions or comments? Let me know.
FH
1. A-Rod breaking the unwritten rule
So Dallas Braden of the Oakland A's takes offense to A-Rod walking across the pitchers mound after running from first to third on a Robinson Cano foul ball during the 6th inning of Wednesday's game. After he yelled at A-Rod while on the field and taking his anger out on his glove and gatorade cups, here is what he said after the game:
"He should probably take a note from his captain over there and realize you don't cross the pitcher's mound in between an inning or during the game. I was just dumbfounded that he would let that slip his mind — being someone of such status."
"I don't care if I'm Cy Young or the 25th man on the roster, if I've got the ball in my hand and I'm on that mound, that's my mound ... He ran across the pitcher's mound foot on my rubber. No, not happening. We're not the door mat anymore."
Now, I'll be the first to admit that I have never heard about this unwritten rule about non-pitchers walking on the mound. I'll make sure to watch closer to see if anyone else does it. A-Rod has done questionable things on the field such as the glove slap in the 2004 ALCS against the Red Sox and the "HA!" incident in Toronto a few years back, but do I think it was intentional. No, not really and its not because I'm a Yankees fan but in reality, I didn't know that you couldn't walk on the mound. I've read online how A-Rod is this and that but a choice few say that Braden was out of line for his childlike rant on and off the field. A-Rod's retort was condescending, which I believe was the tone he wanted to use. Here it is:
He just told me to get off his mound. I was a little surprised. I'd never quite heard that. Especially from a guy that has a handful of wins in his career ... I thought it was pretty funny actually."
Could have A-Rod taken the high road, probably. But you know what, he is who he is and if he didn't think he should have apologized if he didn't feel that he had to. If Braden had an issue, he should have addressed it face-to-face like a man as K-Rod did when Bruney gave his two-cents on K-Rod's post-save ritual. Plus, imagine a young pitcher mouthing off to a veteran player like Reggie Jackson or Pete Rose in that manner back in the days. What happened to that unwritten rule?
2. David Ortiz and his future in Boston
I asked my friends Harper and Barry on how long David Ortiz has in Boston if he is still struggling. Ortiz is in his last contract year with the Red Sox and it seems to me that if he is playing next year. It won't be in Boston. Would Boston GM Theo Epstein trade one of the Bosox's favorite players? He did it in 2004 by trading Nomar Garciaparra to the Chicago Cubs. If a team that is in contention needs a DH and the Red Sox are far enough out of it, maybe Theo will trade Big Papi for a couple of minor leaguers. The most he'll get for Ortiz is a draft pick (if the Red Sox offer him a new deal and he signs with someone else). Ortiz is not the same player he once was before the wrist injury. We'll see how this plays out.
3. Cliff who?
While Cliff Lee is on the DL for the Seattle Mariners until May, Roy Halladay is helping the Phillies faithful forget him. Halladay is 4-0 with a 0.82 ERA, 28 strikeouts with only 3 walks and a WHIP of 0.88 in 33 innings pitched. Halladay's current dominiance of National League hitting is further cementing his status as the best power pitcher in the game today. I have two words for the Philly Faithful: CLIFF WHO????
Any issues, queries, questions or comments? Let me know.
FH
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