Category: MLB (Page 68 of 448)

      Giants prove that even a postseason god can bleed

      October 28, 2010 /

      With Cliff Lee on the hill, Game 1 of the World Series was almost a foregone conclusion: Rangers would win the opener and the Giants would have to try and even things up in Game 2.

      Too bad the Giants had other plans.

      In what had to be the most impressive feat of any team this postseason, the Giants crushed the Rangers 11-7 on Wednesday night to take a 1-0 lead in the Fall Classic. The previously unbeaten Lee went just 4.2 innings while yielding seven runs (six earned) on eight hits.

      Freddy Sanchez did the most damage, going 4-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored. He set a postseason record by hitting three doubles in his first three at bats, which all came off Lee. After Texas took a 2-0 lead after two innings of play, Sanchez’s first double scored Edgar Renteria to put the Giants on the board in the third inning. His second double to deep left-center scored Andres Torres in the fifth to give the Giants a 3-2 lead and they never looked back from there.

      San Fran scored six runs in that fifth inning to break the game open. Aubrey Huff and Cody Ross had RBI singles, while Juan Uribe hit a towering three-run shot off reliever Darren O’Day to give the Giants an 8-2 lead. The expression on Lee’s face as he watched that inning from the dugout said it all: “How could this have happened?”

      Texas Rangers starting pitcher Cliff Lee sits in the dugout after being pulled from the game in the fifth inning against the San Francisco Giants during Game 1 of Major League Baseball's World Series in San Francisco October 27, 2010. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

      What’s interesting is that Lee wasn’t necessarily off his game. He struck out seven batters and showed some of the same mastery that he had in previous postseason starts, but the Giants just hit him – and hit him hard. The fact that Lee is a strike-thrower actually played right into the Giants’ free-swinging approach and they didn’t let up the entire night. It didn’t matter if it was Lee on the mound or Nolan Ryan in his prime – they were going to get hit.

      Try as they did, the Rangers did score two runs in the top of the sixth and three runs in the top of the ninth to make it somewhat interesting, but the damage had already been done. The Giants’ offense, which everyone has written off several times this postseason (and for good reason given their shoddy performance at times), had once again came through in the clutch.

      Lost in the offensive clinic the Giants put on was their ace Tim Lincecum, who picked up his second postseason win of his career. He certainly wasn’t dominant (5.2 innings, 8 hits, 4 runs, 3 strikeouts), but the Rangers’ offense has a way of humbling even the best pitchers. Simply put, he was good enough on a night where his offense did the talking for him. It was a rare role-switch for a pitcher that usually has to limit his opponent to only two or three runs because he knows his offense will struggle.

      The Giants have been a streaky offensive team all year. Given their pitching, if their offense can stay hot then they’re going to be tough to beat. The series is far from over, but this is a picture-perfect start for the G-Men.

      Top photo courtesy of AllPosters.com.

      External Sports, MLB

      Nuns to auction off Honus Wagner baseball card

      October 27, 2010 /

      Two Roman Catholic nuns will auction off a Honus Wagner baseball card that could be worth up to $200,000. The brother of a nun who died in 1999 left all of his possessions to the order, which included the Wagner baseball card.

      From SI.com:

      NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 23: A 1909-1911 Honus Wagner baseball card valued at $375,000- $500,000 is seen at a Sotheby's preview of a baseball memorabilia sale titled 'The Babe Comes Home' November 23, 2004 in New York City. The sale will feature important historical baseball relics with items including the bat which Babe Ruth used to hit the first home run in Yankee Stadium. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

      The card is part of the T206 series, produced between 1909 and 1911. About 60 Wagner cards are known to exist.

      A near-mint-condition T206 Wagner card sold in 2007 for $2.8 million, the highest price ever for a baseball card. Muller remains aghast that the 1 1/4-inch-by-2 1/2-inch piece of cardboard could sell for even a fraction of that.

      “It just boggles your mind,” Muller told The Associated Press. “I can’t remember a time when we have received anything like this.”

      The brother of a nun who died in 1999 left all his possessions to the order when he died earlier this year. The man’s lawyer told Muller he had a Honus Wagner card in a safe-deposit box.

      When they opened the box, they found the card, with a typewritten note: “Although damaged, the value of this baseball card should increase exponentially throughout the 21st century!”

      The card was unknown to the sports-memorabilia marketplace because the nuns’ benefactor had owned it since 1936.

      I grew up in a time when baseball cards still held value. My dad used to buy me a Topps baseball set every year for Christmas and now they’re all in storage because nobody buys/trades the damn things anymore.

      It’s good to hear that there are still collectors out there and good for these nuns. This is why you say your prayers at night. (I kid, I kid…)

      External Sports, MLB

      2010 World Series Prediction Thread: Rangers vs. Giants

      October 27, 2010 /
      The Rawlings Sporting Goods Company has released the official baseball in St. Louis on October 25, 2010 that will be used for the 2010 World Series between the Texas Rangers and the San Francisco Giants when that series begins on October 27, 2010 in San Francisco. UPI/Bill Greenblatt Photo via Newscom

      Full disclosure: I’m a massive San Francisco Giants fan. The first time I sat down to watch a baseball game from start to finish was in 1989 when the Giants played my hometown Cubs in the NLCS. Will “The Thrill” Clark put on a clinic in that series and I was hooked ever since.

      Of course, the A’s went on to sweep the Giants in the Fall Classic that year and I was introduced to the torture that is San Francisco baseball. From “The last pure pennant race” in ‘93, to Edgar Renteria’s base hit in ‘97, to Mark Gardner’s dud in a one-game playoff against the Cubs in ’98, to Bobby Jones’ one-hitter in ’00, to…well, to 2002. I don’t like to mention 2002 outside of how I wish Scott Spiezio grew up playing ping-pong instead of baseball.

      It goes without saying that it’s been a while since the Giants were this good and it’s been even longer since they won a title. People like to talk about the Cubs’ championship drought, but the Indians and Giants are right behind them.

      With that in mind, I won’t play coy: I’m rooting for the Giants. I won’t be objective and damn it, I don’t have to be either. Giants in 7. No, wait – Giants in 4.

      Actually, I see the Rangers taking Game 1 because, well, Cliff Lee doesn’t lose in the postseason. Ever. I see the Giants taking Game 2 with Matt Cain (the most underrated pitcher in baseball) on the hill and then the rest of the series could go either way. If the NLDS/NLCS Game 2 Jonathan Sanchez takes the hill in Game 3, then San Fran could steal the first game in Texas on Saturday night. But if NLCS Game 6 Jonathan Sanchez rears his ugly head, then the Rangers could easily win, 27-1. (That lone run coming on a Cody Ross home run, of course.)

      The Rangers are favored for a reason. They have the better lineup from top to bottom, their pitching staff isn’t as good as the Giants’ but they can certainly hold their own and Lee is unbeatable. They also have that “destiny” thing about covered with this being the first time they’ve ever reached the World Series.

      But the Giants, my Giants, are somewhat playing with house money. Nobody expected them to win the NL West this year and even fewer people thought they’d beat the Phillies in the NLCS. Yet here they are, plugging along without a care in the world and no idea that they’re not supposed to win. Their pitching staff is great, players like Ross are having unprecedented success this postseason and their bullpen (thanks to Brian Wilson, Javier Lopez and Jeremy Affedlt) is nearly unhittable in the later innings. If they can continue to get timely hitting from Buster Posey, Aubrey Huff and Juan Uribe, they’ll have a shot.

      They can win this thing.

      Giants in 7.

      Who are you taking?

      External Sports, MLB

      Giants decide on Lincecum for Game 1, Cain for Game 2

      October 26, 2010 /
      July 30, 2010 - San Francisco, CA, United States of America - 30 July 2010; San Francisco, CA: San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Tim Lincecum.

      It’s official: the Giants will send Tim Lincecum to the mound in Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday night.

      After “The Freak” threw 16 pitches in Game 6 against the Phillies last Saturday, there had been some debate as to whether or not he should start Game 1 against the Rangers. But in the end, there wasn’t really any debate at all – at least not to Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy.

      Teams want to throw their ace Game 1 so that if they need them in Game 4 or Game 7 to stave off elimination or to win the series, they’re available to throw again. If the Giants had pushed Lincecum’s start back (even just one game), then he probably wouldn’t have been available to throw on short rest later in the series when San Fran truly needed him. Besides, he only threw 16 pitches on Saturday night and this is for the whole shebang. Players have all winter to rest.

      While the Rangers have yet to officially announce their starting rotation, it’s presumed that Cliff Lee will face Lincecum in Game 1. Again, teams want to throw their ace first so that they’ll be available later on and there’s no doubt that the Rangers want Lee available as much as possible. For the Giants, Matt Cain will start Game 2 and then I would imagine Jonathan Sanchez would pitch Game 3.

      Much like Lincecum vs. Roy Halladay in the NLCS, the Lincecum-Lee matchup will be one for the ages. Lee has proven to be one of the best postseason pitchers the game has ever seen and with another dominating performance or two, we’ll be able to drop the “one of the best” from that sentence. Lincecum, on the other hand, already has two Cy Young awards and won in each of his first two postseason outings (once against the Braves in the NLDS and then once more against the Phillies in Game 1 of the NLCS).

      External Sports, MLB

      Did Yankee fans cost their club Cliff Lee?

      October 26, 2010 /
      Texas Rangers' Cliff Lee (R) celebrates with fans after defeating the New York Yankees in Major League Baseball's ALCS playoff series in Arlington, Texas, October 22, 2010. REUTERS/Hans Deryk (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

      When Rangers’ ace Cliff Lee becomes a free agent this winter, several teams will be bidding on his services.

      One of those teams will be the New York Yankees, although if Lee’s wife Kristen has anything to say on the matter, her husband won’t be heading to the Bronx in 2011.

      From the USA Today:

      Perhaps the Rangers’ greatest sales pitch simply was having Kristen sit in the visiting family section at Yankee Stadium during the playoffs. She says there were ugly taunts. Obscenities. Cups of beer thrown. Even fans spitting from the section above.

      “The fans did not do good things in my heart,” Kristen says.

      “When people are staring at you, and saying horrible things, it’s hard not to take it personal.”

      It won’t be long before someone in the comments section mentions money when it comes to Lee’s decision about the Yankees. “We’ll see if his wife cares about the cups of beer and obscenities when there’s $200 million on the table,” they’ll say. But these types of things stay with people and money isn’t everything to everyone. (It’s not as if the Lee’s don’t have money either.)

      As I’ve written before on this site, there are idiot fans everywhere. There are idiots in New York, idiots in Boston, idiots in Chicago and idiots in Philadelphia. Some people toss dignity, respect and humility out the window as soon as they enter a ballpark, which is rather sad.

      With that in mind, it would be rather humorous if Lee decided to stay with the Rangers or spurn the Yankees’ advances because of the way his wife was treated in New York. One would have thought that the fans in the Bronx would have rolled out the red carpet for Lee and his family, but an idiot is an idiot. People don’t think how their actions will affect their lives at a future date. (Maybe those fans didn’t know it was Lee’s wife, although to that I say: Why not act like a human being regardless?)

      First things first though – Lee and his Rangers have to worry about the task at hand, which is the San Francisco Giants. Free agency can wait – it’s certainly not going anywhere. People’s minds change, too.

      External Sports, MLB

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