Baseball 180!

The Red Sox broke theirs. The White Sox broke theirs. Is this the year the Chicago Cubs finally win one? I think so. With old curses now old news, it’s only fair to let the Cubs get rid of their jinx.

It’s been 100 years since the Cubs won it all, 100 years exactly. 100 long season for the Cubs faithful and they’ve seen their Cubbies put together a team with speed, power, and great pitching. Essential tools for a championship. Going into this postseason, one has to consider the Cubs the favorite. They come into October with the best record and the most talented team. Alfonso Soriano, Geovany Soto, Derek Lee, Kosuke Fukudome…the list goes on.

All these guys can hit the ball, get on base and move around. This team is very remniscent of the 1996 New York Yankees, a team that had talent, speed, solid pitching, and hadn’t won a title in a while (not that the Yanks’ 18 year drought is even close to the Cubs’ 100, but play along).

The main strength of the Cubs has to be their pitching. I consider Ted Lily the most underrated starter in the bigs and they also have a Sabathia-like performer in Carlos Zambrano. Kerry Wood has actually finished a season and is becoming one of the game’s most elite closers.

With that said, it’s time for a championship for God’s sake. Poor Cubs fans have waited lifetimes, no body should live without seeing their team win a championship. So, if you’re up there baseball Gods, you’ve had your fun with the Cubs, now give ‘em a ring.

Technorati Tags: 100 year curse cubs, 1996 Yankees, Baseball Gods Cubs, Chicago Cubs Curse, Cubs Fans, Cubs world series hopes, Kosuke Fukudome playoffs, MLB Playoffs, Ted Lily Underrated, Zambrano Sabathia comparisons

By Sean Connolly

In memory of Yankee Stadium I’d like to share my first experience of the house that Ruth built. It was on September 4th of 1993. I was pretty young, about 6 years old, and we didn’t have the greatest seats in the stadium so the field looked miles away from me. The Yankees were playing the Cleveland Indians that day and I remember being excited because my two favorite pitchers in the league were facing off against each other, Charles Nagy of the Indians against Jim Abbott of the Yanks.

I remember being in shock over the enormity of the stadium and how small the players looked on the field. I was in the upper deck about 10 rows in front of the very last seat in the very center behind home plate. I’ve been in the field boxes, suites, bleachers, and behind left and right field, but I have to say that is the best seat in the house.

I got a program for the game and tried my hardest to score the game…I think I got to the third inning before I gave up. The Indians had a talented team back then so the stadium was full of stars. Albert Belle, Kenny Lofton, and a young Manny Ramirez were the hitters that Abbott had to get through. I remember having difficulty spelling Manny’s name in the box score, I don’t think anybody has that trouble any more with the 500+ HR hitter. Bernie Williams, Don Mattingly, Paul O’Neil, and Wade Boggs were some of the players I had sketched into the program that day in September, but I was especially exited to write in Abbott’s in the pitching section.

It was early September, and it looked as if the Yankees would miss the playoffs once again. But I didn’t care, it was my first game, you could have put anybody on that field, as long as they had pinstripes on. I had always admired Abbott because he only had one arm. He would throw the ball to the plate and then use the hand he threw with to grab the glove off the other arm and then play defense with it. A task that seemed so complicated and I marveled at every pitch he threw.

This day Abbott was pitching great. He walked a bunch but he wouldn’t let them go anywhere. There was a buzz in the stadium, a buzz that I thought was normal, something that you don’t feel when you’re watching it on t.v. But, after being to about 40 games since, this buzz wasn’t normal.

I don’t remember the middle innings too much but I do remember the bottom of the 8th and the top of the 9th. The Yankees batted in the bottom of the 8th and I was confused as to why people were so eager for the Yankees to get out. The top of the 9th came and Abbott was still in.

Everybody was on their feet, no one sat, not one pitch. Now, that sounds great but when you’re 6 years old and barely up to people’s hips it becomes kind of aggravating. I climbed up on to the seat and stood on it. On any other day my dad would tell me to get down, but not here, and that’s when I knew something was happening.

There were 2 outs in the inning and I was excited because the Yanks had a 4-0 lead and they were going to win. But I was still interested in why every one else was going crazy. Maybe it’s their first game too? Maybe this is how all the games are, even if it is September and the Yankees aren’t going to make it to the post season?

Abbott threw his final pitch. A ground ball to short. Velarde throws to Mattingly. Game over. Everybody was jumping around and my dad says ‘I guess you’re the Yankees’ good luck charm’. I smiled and then heard the words no hitter. Now I had always pretended to throw a no hitter in my back yard, going through batter after batter in my head, so I could only imagine what one is like. But, after I heard the words no hitter, I looked up to the score board, scanned down the zeros to the right of ‘INDIANS’ and looked under ‘H’. Nothing, Jim Abbott a one armed pitcher had done something only a select few had done, and I just witnessed it.

My first baseball game, my first time seeing the Yankees, in the best seat in the house.

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By Sean Connolly

Why on Earth would you fire a manager in September, when your team is in first in the Wild Card and close to finally reaching the playoffs after 26 years? Because you’re the Milwaukee Brewers, that’s why.

In a season in which the Brewers were making all the right moves, they made a wrong and a possible costly one today. They fired Ned Yost, who has regenerated the pathetic Brewers in one of the toughest divisions in baseball and has put them in a position to do something they haven’t done since 1982. I just don’t get this move by the Brewers, why not just wait ’till the end of the season if you’re gonna make a move like this.

Yost and the Brewers have lost 11 of their last 14 in September, but surely that can’t discount all the games they’ve won prior to September. There are only two weeks left in Milwaukee’s season and it’s hard to believe that they won’t have Yost to finish those two weeks.

One rationalization behind this move is because of the Brewer’s collapse last season. With an 8 1/2 game lead in June last season, the Brewers fell to 83-79 and again failed to make the playoffs. But, you want to know why this rationalization is wrong? Two letters and one last name…CC Sabathia.

Sabathia gives the Brewers a stopper role they’ve never had before, someone who can stop a losing streak like this and revitilize this club, much like he did since becoming a Brewer. Now, you can expect things to go completely out of wack. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sabathia loses his first game as a Brewer soon, and you can basically count the Brewers out with the way the Phillies are playing now. So, put another playoff-less season on the board Brewer fans, and blame it on upper management.

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By Sean Connolly

It’s hard to believe that the last time the Yankees were out of the playoffs was in 1993, but with the horrible season they’ve been having it looks like this year’s Yankees will be sitting at home in October. With speculations on Girardi’s job security, Hank Steinbrenner confirmed that Girardi will be back next year. After last night’s 12-1 loss to the new A.L. powerhouse Angels it looks that the Yankees’ season is done instead of Girardi’s managerial career in the Bronx.

They Did It To The Last Joe, Why Not This One?

After a sub-par season last year which resulted in another missed chance at returning to the World Series, Joe Torre saw his career end with the Yankees. Although they didn’t fire him, they might have well have after the offer they gave him. So, the question is, with Torre having a much better year than Girardi last season, shouldn’t the result be the same?

The answer is yes. Girardi should be gone if you’re going to be fair, but unfortunately the Yankees are never fair. Girardi hasn’t shown much this season that Steinbrenner and crew can look forward to so I don’t see the point of keeping him. He hasn’t made a decision that was looked back on as a great move that helped the season, only moves that should have been second-guessed that hampered the season. I’m just saying, if Torre brings the Yanks to the playoffs last year and after 4 World Series titles and still gets fired, the ringless (as a coach) Girardi should be gone too.

Shave The Mustache, It’s Over

Let’s face it, with the Yanks being 10 games back in the AL East and now behind the Blue Jays the 2008 season has come to an end for them. Riddled by injuries, controversy, and mental errors, the Yankees are a long shot to make the postseason after 13 straight seasons of October baseball. So, who are the Yankee fans supposed to blame?

Well like I said earlier, Girardi should be fired so obviously he should take a hit here, and young talent such as Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera, Phil Hughes, and Ian Kennedy not turning into what they were supposed to. I’m most disappointed in Cano. He’s flailed at pitches all season long and has yet to show any discipline at the plate. His fielding has only gotten worse and it makes me wonder why the Yanks didn’t trade him when they had a chance. Melky isn’t even in the majors any more after having a dreadful season in which all I saw him do was joke around in the dugout with the aforementioned Cano. Hughes and Kennedy are, well, Hughes and Kennedy, playing poorly and getting injured that seems to be their mantra.

Another reason for the horrible season the Yankees have had was the performance of Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez. It was expected that Pudge would give a boost to the Yanks season when the surprising trade went through. They dumped Kyle Farnsworth on the Tigers and it seemed as if the loss of Posada wouldn’t hurt the Yanks as much as they thought. Instead, Pudge played like a below average catcher instead of the MVP catcher we were expecting of him. The trade did nothing really, other than getting rid of another useless talent in Farnsworth.

But, mainly you have to blame the injuries. I know you should overcome them but it’s kind of hard when you’re opening day pitcher and catcher are out for the season. After a moderate start to the season Posada was out along with Chien-Ming Wang for the season. Wang’s injury was a result of poor coaching after he was told to round home while running the bases in an interleague game against the Astros. Both injuries were huge but the little injuries throughout the year really hurt. Alex Rodriguez was out for a portion of the year with a hamstring injury and Hideki Matsui missed a huge portion of the season as well. The injuries surmounted and at one point it seemed like every Yankee was in the trainer’s room.

Overall, you have to look at Girardi’s season as a disappointment…duh. With so much invested into every year, it’s hard to believe that the Yankees don’t win the World Series every season and for them to not even make the playoffs…well that’s just unacceptable.

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By Sean Connolly

Well, you can’t say baseball’s drug problem is under control. In just the past month 41 minor leaguers have tested positive for performance enhancing drugs, 33 from the Dominican summer league. And today two minor leaguers in the Yankee organization were suspended leaving a lot of speculation into the Yankee organization.

With the Yankees nearly out of the playoff race and dealing with a copious amount of problems, this may be the last thing the club needed. Justo Arias and Rafael Martinez were the pitchers suspended today as they tested positive for metabolites of stanozolol.

The suspension will be for 50 games beginning next season, which seems to make no sense at all. The drugs they took were meant to help them this season, so how can you allow them to continue to play? That makes an unfair playing field as players who are clean will be up against cheaters.

I don’t see why Major League Baseball has to wait until next season. Just suspend them for the rest of this season and carry over whatever’s left into next season. I don’t get why MLB keeps messing this drug problem up and continue to make it worse.

As for the Yankee organization, they have to be upset. I know there was some talk about Justo Arias and how he may develop into a major league pitcher one day. With this whole steroid era it seems to always be the Yankees in the middle of it. Maybe the league office should do a substantial investigation into just the Yankees. It seems that scouring the entire league is too broad and can’t get specific enough. Hey, it’s just an idea and plus the Yankees aren’t going anywhere this season any way.

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By Sean Connolly

15 years ago. That’s when the idea of instant replay was introduced to the fools running major league baseball. When it was introduced teams voted 27-1 against the idea of instant replay. It continued to be shut down by teams like that until 1998 when the Diamondbacks and Rays were brought to the league in which the vote went from 27 to 29-1.Now, half way through the 2008 season, MLB has decided to implement instant replay despite not having it completely figured out. Seems to me that if we’ve waited all this time, we can wait another half season until everything is sorted out.

The talk of bringing instant replay began this season in May when, in a two week span, several home run calls were missed by umpires. Unfortunately for these umpires and the MLB, a few of these games were nationally televised bringing more light to the situation. Not only that but one of the more controversial non-homeruns was hit by a man who may someday break Barry Bonds’ record of all-time homeruns, Alex Rodriguez. All of these missed calls were seen nation wide on ESPN’s instant replay showing the umpire’s blunders. Fans, writers, and anyone in the sports community were at Bud Selig’s door with pitchforks and torches asking for instant replay. Like the coward he is, Selig gave in.

Granted instant replay is the correct choice, believe me I’ve wanted it for years now, but in the middle of the season? C’mon. The best part about it is that everyone is so divided on the whole thing in baseball. The umpires don’t want it, all of a sudden half the MLB teams want it, half don’t (a vote recently said it was 15 in favor, 15 against), and players are begging for it. So, what does Selig do. Without mulling it over with the umpires, players, and owners after the season had completed, he decided that instant replay would be a part of Major League Baseball today. Out of nowhere!!

How can half the season be played under different rules? That’s so insane to me. A hit that was a homerun in May wasn’t, but a hit that’s a homerun in say September or October all of a sudden is. That’s not how professional sports work. When the NFL realized that they needed instant replay, they didn’t implement it in the middle of the season. They tested it out in Europe, discussed their plans thouroughly making sure refs, players, and owners agreed on what was happening and then brought forth the plan at the start of the season.

I want instant replay so badly it’s not even funny. But I refuse to give up my sport ethics for a rule that doesn’t even seem like it’s been figured out. The MLB is saying that instant replay will only be used for homerun calls. There is going to be so much confusion as to whether or not they can use instant replay or not on several types of calls, such as a trapped ball scenario. This will only open up a door of problems for the umpires that they didn’t have to deal with earlier in this season.

The solution is simple people. Use instant replay on a majority of calls, but next year. Train the umpires properly and make sure that all rules are sorted out, and that both managers and umpires know what can or cannot be challenged by instant replay. We’ve waited 15 years for this, don’t you want that wait to be worth something?

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By Sean Connolly

I’m not too sure this was a smart idea. Manny Ramirez is the hottest hitter in baseball right now and now he has to do it with a little less hair. As part of a team rule under Joe Torre, Ramirez was requested to cut his infamous dreads. Hopefully for the Manny and the Dodgers those dreads aren’t the key to his fantastic hitting because when he cut his hair yesterday, he went hitless. Uh oh.

Now he didn’t cut as much off as you’d think. Let’s just say