Baseball 180!

Yesterday’s mid-summer classic was certainly a classic, but when is the MLB going to realize that it’s too much for what’s supposed to be an exhibition game?

The thing that upset me the most was this, how can this game judge the World Series? Michael Young won’t even see the playoffs, yet his RBI will decide the World Series. It makes no sense at all. The MLB needs to go back to this being an exhibition game as soon as next season.

Scott Kazmir was not supposed to pitch last night. What happens? He ends up pitching at the most intregal point in the game past midnight. He just pitched on Sunday and was only to be used in an emergency scenario. Several field players played 6 innings of baseball or more when they should have only played 3. Now instead of players enjoying a week’s worth of rest in which they played little baseball they won’t recover in time as games restart on Friday.

How did this even start? Just because of a tie, a meaningless tie the MLB thought that the integrity of the MLB All-Star game was tarnished. No, it wasn’t. The game meant nothing in the first place so why would a tie matter. And, yes I can understand putting something at stake for an All-Star game, but not the most important thing, home field advantage in the deciding series in baseball.

So, instead of home-field advantage in the World Series, what then? More cash for the All-Stars? No, that won’t make them play harder. See that’s the key, make sure that they play for real and play their heart out which despite the negatives all players did last night. You need something that will benefit all teams involved in the All-Star game like Michael Young’s Texas Rangers. So, I think that the All-Star game should affect the draft in some way. The MLB has tried for years to garner public interest in the MLB Draft but have failed to do so. I don’t know how exactly they could do it, but if you put the geniuses who came up with this idea together maybe they can figure out how the All-Star game can play in the MLB Draft.

Technorati Tags: 08 All Star Game, 15 Inning All-Star Game, All-Star break, All-Star Game, All-Star Game Discussion, All-Star Game World Series Home Advantage, Home Field Advantage World Series, Michael Young, Michael Young All-Star Game 08, Mid-Summer Classic, MLB, MLB All Star Game 2008, MLB All Star Game Tie, MLB All-Star Game, MLB All-Star Game Rumors, MLB Draft 08, MLB Draft All-Star Game, Scott Kazmir, Scott Kazmir All-Star Game 08, Texas Rangers, Tired Players 08 All-Star Game, Worl Series Home Advantage Discussion, World Series, World Series Home Advantage Discussion

By Sean Connolly

21 months ago Jon Lester had no idea whether or not he would live. In a time where steroids and HGH drown out great baseball stories, one for the ages emerged as cancer survivor Jon Lester struck out his last batter of the night. With that strikeout he accomplished what every pitcher dreams of, a no hitter. But, throwing a no-hitter was no where on his mind in 2006 where after being in a car accident doctors came to realize that the Red Sox Pitcher had Lymphoma. This feat last night should go down in history as one of the most inspirational moments in sports.

In the ninth, I go out there and walk the leadoff guy on five pitches and had to step back and tell myself, ‘I don’t have to be too fine, let them hit the ball, let them put it in play, let the guys behind me do their job. They did throughout the night. Mikey made some great plays. Jacoby made a great catch out in center field. It sounds like a cliche, but it was a great team win

Jon Lester

Jon Lester absolutely owned the Royals last night giving up no hits while only walking two batters and striking out nine. This performance is uncanny for several reasons. For the first time since the Angels in 1974 and 1975 a team has thrown no-hitters in consecutive seasons(Nolan Ryan threw both for the Angels, Clay Buckholz for the Red Sox last year). Also, Lester’s catcher, Jason Varitek, is the first catcher to catch four no hitters from four different pitchers(Hideo Nomo 2001, Derek Lowe 2002, Clay Buckholz 2007, and Jon Lester 2008).

I’m very fortunate, It’s exciting to be part of one as a catcher. Each one is so different. Each one has been totally different, but Jonny [Lester] keeps working to become more complete.

Jason Varitek

The performance should also catapult the Red Sox into yet another dominating year just like Buckholz’s did last year. But the no-hitter serves more sentiment outside of baseball.

After overcoming undoubtedly the biggest battle of his life in cancer, Jon Lester had no idea whether or not he could get back into the major leagues. After intense treatments of Chemotherapy which drains a person’s energy, Lester overcame the odds and fought his way back to the majors.

Even when he rejoined the Red Sox, Lester’s future with the team was unsure. Boston was looking to trade the left hander to the Minnesota Twins for ace Johan Santana, but luckily for the Red Sox and Lester the trade never went through. The amount of stress and struggle this kid has endured has been so inspirational. To come back from a debilitating disease like that and come back to the highest ranks in professional baseball and do what only a select amount of pitchers have done is astonishing.

This no hitter reminds me of Jim Abbott’s no hitter in 1994. Abbott, who had only one full functioning arm, no hit the Cleveland Indians and showed the world that anything can be done. For a one armed man to pitch a no hitter is simply amazing, just like a cancer survivor pitching a no hitter. The stories will parralell in that both will inspire those with the same bad fortune to overcome their disease and achieve their dreams.

Last night’s no hitter will now inspire Boston to yet another great season and possibly another championship. He has set the table for the Red Sox to run the American League Table and win back to back titles.

Credit also needs to be given to Boston Red Sox upper management in Theo Epstein for sticking with the young gun and not taking the business approach to the star and releasing him. Epstein’s commitment to developing young pitching and creating a team based on heart and true desire to win has earned the Red Sox two rings in the past three years and should lead to many. This is what the New York Yankees did in the late 90’s to create a dynasty by using the money they had and putting it towards players who show heart and play strictly for the love of the game. Players like Paul O’Neil, Bernie Williams, Scott Brossius, and Tino Martinez created a spirit in the team that the Red Sox remind me of. In those years, the Yankees threw 2 perfect games(David Cone in 1999, and David Wells in 1998) and had a no hitter by Doc Gooden in 1996( which at the time was as inspirational as Lester’s no hitter because of Gooden’s ups and downs). In each of those years in which a no hitter or a perfect game was thrown, the Yankees won a championship. Expect the same from the Boston Red Sox.

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By Sean Connolly

I know it’s only May, but maybe it is time to start panicking if you’re a Yankee fan. Everyone says they’re right where they were last year, but look where they ended up last year. They exited early in the playoffs to a Cleveland team they owned throughout the year. If the Yankees are at the same point that they were last year, surely they will end up and the same point, without a championship.

With one of the most potent lineups in recent history, the Yankees are only 16th in hitting in the entire major leagues and 22nd in runs batted in. Both Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada are on the disabled list which takes two huge bats out of the lineup. In Rodriguez’s place has been a platoon of Morgan Ensberg and Alberto Gonzalez who haven’t produced half as much as the M.V.P. in A-Road has. Recently, the Yankees hitting has been non-existent. In the past three games against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Yankees have produced a measly four runs. If they can’t produce more than four runs against the Rays how do they expect to win against the Red Sox?

With the New York Mets coming up this weekend in the Subway Series, the Yankees have a chance to sort out their pitching rotation. Rasner who has gotten off to a great start this season( 2-0 3.00 ERA), will start the first game of the series. Petite and Wang will follow Rasner which should give the Yankees a fair chance to take at least two out of three in the series against their crosstown rivals. This is a series that can turn around a season and Joe Girardi needs to understand that this can set the tone for the rest of the season. Girardi hasn’t proven to be a great coach so far and has a lot of improvement ahead of him if he wants to be on any level with Joe Torre. Torre’s successes are Girardi’s benchmarks and Girardi needs to keep this in mind. Throughout the Torre years the Yankees used the series against the Mets as a catalyst to several successful seasons. Girardi needs to do the same.

Pitching wins championships and the Yankees pitching this season has been anything but title-worthy. Like their hitting, they are 16th in the Major Leagues in pitching with a 4.23 earned run average. They have only produce one complete game this season and two shutouts. Their young guns in Ian Kennedy, Phil Hughes, and even the untouchable Joba Chamberlain have been roughed up the entire season, leaving holes in the pitching rotation. Ian Kennedy is 0-2 with an 8.37 ERA, Phil Hughes is 0-4 with a 9.00 ERA, and Joba who gave up a heart-breaking game winning home run to the Indians has two losses already this year after having none all of last year. Now, they are still developing and should be good pitchers but do Yankee fans have time to wait on these guys? Chamberlain has the least to worry about, but Hughes and Kennedy have shown nothing positive this season. This translates to the hitting in that players know they’re going to have to put up 6,7 runs when either Hughes or Kennedy is on the mound.

May is not the time to panic but it certainly is the time to worry. The Yankees have yet to have a big winning streak and fans are tired of waiting for them to break out. Robinson Cano and Jason Giambi are still below the Mendoza line and are effecting the entire lineup. The pitching has too many holes and it is becoming too difficult to get the ball into Mariano Rivera’s hands. This weekend series against the Mets will define the entire series and a sweep could catapult Girardi and the Yanks to a championship.

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