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