Category: MLB (Page 95 of 448)

All-Star Break Rewind: Taking a look back at preseason MLB predictions

May 23, 2010 Philadelphia Phillies' pitcher Roy Halladay leaves the game against the Philadelphia Phillies' at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, PA. The Red Sox beat the Phillies' 8-3.

It’s always fun to take a look back and see how many faulty predictions members of the media got wrong in the preseason. It’s even more fun when you look back at your own faulty predictions and provide people the opportunity to all you a moron by laying out how wrong you were.

Now that we’ve reached the halfway point in the 2010 MLB season, let’s see how my preseason predictions are holding up. (Click on the links provided to read the entire preseason prediction for that division.)

AL East

My Predictions: Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, Orioles, Blue Jays.
Current Standings: Yankees, Rays, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Orioles.

Not too bad, although I thought that the O’s would be more competitive and without Roy Halladay, I thought the Jays would sink to the bottom of the division. I also underestimated the Rays a tad, but there’s still a lot of baseball to be played. It’ll be interesting to see if Tampa can stay ahead of the Red Sox, Tigers, Twins and Angels in the AL Wild Card race.

AL Central

My Predictions: White Sox, Twins, Tigers, Royals, Indians.
Current Standings: White Sox, Tigers, Twins, Royals, Indians.

Up until a couple of weeks ago, the White Sox were making me look like a bigger clown then I already am. But they’ve been on fire recently, winning eight in a row and nine of their last 10. The problem of course, is that Jake Peavy appears to be done for the season with a nasty back injury, so who knows how the Sox’s rotation will hold up in the second half. The rest of my predictions look good, although as I wrote in my preview of this division, the Central is a crapshoot.

AL West

My Predictions: Angels, Mariners, Rangers, A’s.
Current Standings: Rangers, Angels, A’s, Mariners.

Yeee-ikes. I missed badly on the Rangers, who have been the biggest surprise in the AL so far, and I also drank the Kool Aid on the Mariners before the season. I thought that Felix Hernandez and Cliff Lee would make up for their shit-show of an offense, but I was wrong – way wrong. The Angels are only 4.5 games back of Texas and therefore could still win the division, but the Rangers are far and away the better team and I don’t think they’ve relinquish the lead. I need a mulligan for this division.

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Looking back on George Steinbrenner’s legacy

2 May 1997: New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner watches pensively at the 123rd Kentucky Derky at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.

You may have hated his brash attitude, the way he ran his team or the way he conducted his business. You may even feel that he ruined baseball.

But regardless of how you may have felt about him, there’s little denying that George Steinbrenner will forever be one of Major League Baseball’s icons.

Steinbrenner passed away this morning at the age of 80 after suffering a massive heart attack. He died just two days after longtime Yankee Stadium public address announcer Bob Sheppard passed away at the age of 99.

From 1973 to his death this morning, Steinbrenner oversaw 11 American League Pennants and seven World Series championships. His tenure as owner was the longest in club history.

But it wasn’t only what Steinbrenner was able to accomplish on the field that made his legacy so profound. He also helped revolutionize the business side of baseball by being the first owner to sell TV cable rights to the MSG Network. When things eventually went south with MSG, he created the YES Network, which is currently the Yankees’ very own TV station that generates millions in revenue.

During his tenure, he took the Yankees from a $10 million franchise to a $1.2 billion juggernaut. In 2005, the Yankees became the first professional sports franchise to be worth an estimated one billion dollars.

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Report: Orioles to hire Showalter as manager

SURPRISE, AZ - MARCH 6:  Manager Buck Showalter talks with catcher Gerald Laird #51 of the Texas Rangers against the Kansas City Royals in a spring training game on March 6, 2003 at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona.   The Rangers defeated the Royals 11-8. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse reports that Buck Showalter will take over as the next manager of the Orioles by this weekend.

Showalter is 882-833 in his career as a manager, a winning percentage of .514. But he inherits a monumental challenge in Baltimore.

The Orioles haven’t had a winning season since 1997, and despite a strong core of young talent that features Adam Jones, Matt Wieters, Brian Matusz and others, they must deal with life in baseball’s toughest division, the AL East.

Eric Wedge, Rick Dempsey and Bobby Valentine are among the other candidates reportedly to have interviewed for Baltimore’s managing vacancy.

Assuming he is hired, Showalter has his work cut out for him in Baltimore, which went into the All-Star break with baseball’s worst record at 29-59.

As the article indicates, the O’s have a solid young core in Jones, Wieters, Matusz and Nick Markakis. But they’ve under performed (even for the Orioles) the entire year and it appears as though the younger players need a fire lit under their asses.

We’ll see if Showalter can bring the strong, reputable presence that the club has desperately needed for years.

Update: The Baltimore Sun is now reporting that while Showalter is still the leading candidate to take over as the next manager of the Orioles, the club is not set to hire him by this weekend as Price suggests.

Ortiz outlasts Ramirez in Home Run Derby

American League All-Star David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox hits a home run in the final round during Major League Baseball's Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game in Anaheim, California July 12, 2010. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

David Ortiz belted 32 dingers over three rounds on Monday night to best Hanley Ramirez in the Home Run Derby.

From MLB.com:

“It means a lot to me,” Ortiz said. “Thanks to the fans for the support. Thanks to everyone for showing up. We do this for you guys. We want to make sure you guys enjoy the show.”

Though both Ortiz and Ramirez went deep a combined 21 times in the first and second rounds, the slate was wiped clean heading into the head-to-head finals competition.

Ortiz was the first of the two to take his swings, and he set the bar high. Though Ortiz’s production trailed off toward the end of his turn, his eight early blasts were enough to give him an insurmountable lead.

“Hanley is like a son to me. He grew up with us in Boston,” Ortiz said of the Marlins’ shortstop who began his career in the Red Sox’s organization.

The Brewers’ Corey Hart put on a clinic in the first round by sending 13 over the outfield wall, but tanked in the second round by not hitting any. Miguel Cabrera advanced to the semi-finals after hitting seven in the first round, while Matt Holliday hit five and Nick Swisher hit four.

Vernon Wells only hit two, while Chris Young went deep only once.

Reggie Jackson defends LeBron James

While appearing on the Dan Patrick Show on Monday, former Yankee Reggie Jackson stuck up for LeBron James for signing with the Heat.

From SI.com:

Reggie thinks people are unfairly criticizing LeBron James. “I’m not offended at all that he did that,” Jackson said. Reggie said that he would have done that if he thought it would save time and effort.

Reggie said if he was in the same position, he would have loved to join his friends. Reggie would have loved to play with his good friend Jim Rice in Boston. “I would have loved to join those guys,” Jackson said.

Jackson also pointed out LeBron could have made more money in another sport. “If LeBron James was in baseball, he’d probably be playing for the Yankees,” Jackson said.

I think more people are upset with the way LeBron went about this process than they are that he signed with the Heat. Are we really surprised that a 25-year-old picked South Beach over Cleveland? Are we really surprised that he chose the path of least resistance in order to win a championship? Are we really surprised that he wanted to play with D-Wade and Bosh?

We shouldn’t be. So in some instances, I agree with Jackson that the criticism of LeBron is unfair. What he should be criticized for is giving up on the Cavs in the playoffs last year when he knew he was heading out of town. He should be criticized for not being more sympathetic to the city that treated him like a “king” for eight years. It’s nice that a lot of money from the ESPN special went to charity, but he probably could have just given the Boys and Girls club a check and just held a press conference, too.

The bottom line for me is that LeBron could have handled the situation better, but I’m not going to rip the man for the decision to sign with the Heat.

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