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      Manny apologizes to Dodgers, Torre calls it “uncomfortable”

      May 16, 2009 /

      Manny Ramirez officially apologized to his Dodger teammates for the first time since being suspended 50 games for testing positive for a performance enhancing-drug.

      “It was uncomfortable. He was a little anxious,” Torre said of Ramirez, who according to players and coaches went around the room greeting teammates with a handshake or a hug. “I sensed an uneasiness that I hadn’t seen before from Manny.”

      Although Torre refused to discuss specifics of what took place behind closed doors in a fourth-floor conference room at the Trump International Beach Resort in Sunny Isles Beach, he said Ramirez — who has a house in South Florida — was contrite and apologetic about his suspension, which will keep him on the sidelines until at least July 3.

      “He’s remorseful. And embarrassed,” Torre said. “He just wanted to let the team know how sorry he is for that and for the fact that he’s not there for them.”

      And while his teammates accepted the apology, many said it wasn’t necessary.

      “Nobody needed it or expected it,” said third baseman Casey Blake, who considered Ramirez’s apology “heartfelt.”

      “He made a mistake and stood up to it and we all understand that. We just greeted him, shook his hand and said ‘what’s up?’ “

      Although some of his teammates said the apology was unnecessary (and maybe it was), it probably didn’t hurt. Manny is human and he made a mistake. That doesn’t mean all should be forgiven, but I think it would have been worse had he crawled in a hole until the suspension was over and then acted as if nothing happened when he returned. I don’t see a downside to Manny doing this.

      MLB

      Rachel Alexandra wins 134th Preakness

      May 16, 2009 /

      Rachel Alexandra became the first filly to win the Preakness Stakes in 85 years, beating out Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, who made a late charge from last place but finished second.

      Calvin Borel became the first jockey to win the first two legs of the Triple Crown on different horses. He rode Mine That Bird to victory in the Kentucky Derby, but switched horses so he could ride Rachael Alexandra, who was an 8/5 favorite coming into the Preakness.

      Borel said after the race that the 3-year old filly struggled with the surface, but was quick to note that Rachael Alexandra was the greatest horse he’s ever been on in his life.

      Owners from different horses knew the threat Rachael Alexandra was coming into the Preakness, because some contemplated entering more horses in order to keep her out from the 13-horse field. One of those owners was Mine That Bird’s Mark Allen, who thought about entering colt Indy Express to take up a spot in effort to keep Rachael Alexandra out, but eventually said that he wouldn’t.

      Rachael Alexandra has now eight of her last 10 races and it’ll be interesting to see if she runs in the Belmont Stakes on June 6, which is third and final leg of the Triple Crown.

      A $2 bet on Rachael Alexandra paid $5.60 and her final margin of victory over Mine That Bird was a length. Musket Man, who had 10/1 odds to win, finished third. (Musket Man finished third at the Kentucky Derby, too.)

      General Sports

      Top 10 MLB active free passes

      May 16, 2009 /

      There are some batters that no pitcher wants to face, especially in a crucial situation with runners on base, or with first base open. But some guys are intentionally walked with regularity, and in some cases, even with the bases loaded to give up one run instead of four. Here is the current Top 10 among active players in intentional walks. Pitchers, proceed at your own risk…..

      1. Ken Griffey, Seattle Mariners (244)—Of course this guy has always been a feared slugger, but he had a career high 25 intentionals in 1993, and the year he slugged 56 homers with 147 RBI on his way to winning the AL MVP (1997), Griffey was intentionally walked 23 times. Yikes. But before we get all excited about that, consider that Barry Bonds was given the free pass 120 times in 2004, a league record that surely will never be broken.

      2. Vladimir Guerrero, Los Angeles Angels (240)—He’s topped 20 seven times and 30 once. Is he that feared or are pitchers tired of looking at that crap on Vlad’s helmet?

      3. Manny Ramirez, Los Angeles Dodgers (199)—‘Roids, no ‘roids, hormones, no hormones, whatever. This is the one guy in baseball I am never pitching to if I don’t have to.

      4. Carlos Delgado, New York Mets (186)—As a Mets fan, I’m just glad my team doesn’t have to face this guy. There is always the potential to hit one 600 feet the opposite way.

      5. Todd Helton, Colorado Rockies (172)—You don’t give a guy like Helton anything to hit, not with a .329 lifetime batting average, as well as an average of 30 homers and 109 RBI per season.

      6. Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals (160)—Oh yeah, screw what I said about Manny. I forgot about Albert. He’s only 29 years old and should easily hit 700 homers or more. THIS is the guy I don’t ever pitch to if it’s not necessary.

      7. Jim Thome, Chicago White Sox (159)—It’s interesting to note that in the ‘90’s Thome and Ramirez typically had single digits in free passes. That’s because if you put them on, you still had to face Albert Belle or Eddie Murray.

      8. Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves (143)—It’s kind of funny that Chipper’s intentional walks are declining as he’s becoming a better and better hitter.

      9. Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners (129)—This one baffles me. Why put a guy on who averages 40 steals per season?

      10. Gary Sheffield, New York Mets (128)—A nice, long career, and sheer intimidation at the plate, even today at age 40.

      Source: Baseball Reference

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      The current (sad) state of card collecting

      May 16, 2009 /

      Thanks to Big League Stew, I stumbled upon this little eight-minute documentary about modern-day card collecting. Anthony Stalter watched it as well, so we’re going to discuss how card collecting has changed throughout the years.

      John Paulsen: For me, card collecting started with basketball. I was never really into baseball as a kid (mostly because my dad preferred basketball and football, which he played in college), so my focus was on other sports. I had some old Topps football and basketball cards from the late ‘60s and ’70s, but I don’t really remember how I acquired them. Basketball cards were defunct for a while — Michael Jordan’s “real” rookie card could only be found in a regional set produced by Star — and once the mid-90’s hit, the NBA’s popularity blew up, so did the prices of those Star sets from the ’80s. I got into collecting for two reasons: 1) because I liked basketball (and to a lesser extent, football) and 2) I thought it was an investment that I could someday pass onto my son to teach him about the history of the sport (and about investing). Unfortunately, by the time I had some real money to spend on cards (when I was in college), the basketball card industry was so saturated with all the different brands and sets. Instead of going out and buying one or two rookie cards of your favorite player, now there’s 10 or 15 or more amongst all these different brands. The old rookie cards are iconic. I can still picture the first cards for Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, as well as Jordan’s Star rookie and his Fleer rookie, which came a few years later. With so many different brands/lines floating around, rookie cards have lost their appeal. The whole industry has lost its appeal for me, which is depressing because I probably have a few thousand cards stored under my bed that are worth a fraction of what they were 15-20 years ago. I was more of an individual card buyer than a pack or a box buyer. I bought a few packs and boxes in my day, but all those “commons” seemed like a waste. Anthony — how did you get into collecting and what do you think of the industry today?

      Continue reading »

      MLB, NBA, NFL

      Garcia believes he gives Raiders best chance of winning

      May 15, 2009 /

      Jeff Garcia recently told Chris Myers in a radio interview that he believes he gives the Raiders the best chance of winning.

      Garcia remained diplomatic, but there was a subtle shift in his stance during the radio interview with Chris Myers, particularly in this passage:

      “Well, I’m not going to say that things can’t change and I understand that the role I have basically assumes going into Oakland knowing that JaMarcus was drafted to be the starting quarterback there. But I think there has to be some realization at some point as to putting the best players on the field that are you going to give you the best chance to win.

      “Now, if JaMarcus is that guy, then he definitely deserves to be on the field and should be on the field. But if for some reason with what I bring as a player, from a competitive nature, and just the intensity and emotion that I bring to the field, and the knowledge of the game that I have – if that gives us a better chance to win football games, then that decision is going to have to be left up to the coach and hopefully he can make the right decision for the team.

      “Because that’s really what it’s all about – it’s about the team, it’s not about protecting egos, or protecting investment dollars, it’s about what’s going to give this team a chance to win football games. And honestly, if JaMarcus can be that guy, then more power to him, because that’s what he was drafted to do for the team. But it doesn’t always seem to work out that way.”

      Even though he’s limited as a passer, I don’t necessarily disagree with Garcia saying he gives the Raiders a better chance to win than Russell. Garcia does have more experience and even though he only has one full season under his belt, Russell has only shown vague flashes of potential so far.

      Then again, it’s not like Russell has had Fort Knox protecting him and he’s also had to endure the changing of a couple offensive coordinators and one head coach. Those aren’t favorable conditions for any quarterback, nevertheless one that has only played in 19 games.

      Garcia needs to relax. I know he’s a competitive guy and he did get the Eagles and Bucs to the playoffs two of the last three seasons, but it’s not like he set the world on fire when he was given the opportunity to be a starter in Cleveland and Detroit before then. If he’s better than Russell, then I’m sure he’ll get the opportunity to play at some point. But the Raiders didn’t invest a number one overall pick and $61 million dollars to not give Russell every chance to prove he can succeed.

      NFL

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