The Forgotten Face of Baseball

You can count off nearly a dozen off the top of your head. Baseball stars, if not baseball heroes, who have fallen like dominoes to the accusations, and in most cases, confirmation of performance enhancing drug use. Mark McGwire. Roger Clemens. Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Jason Giambi, Rafael Palmeiro, Andy Pettitte, and Alex Rodriguez. As much as people don't want it to be true, there are even whispers about Albert Pujols. So I'm going to focus on a player who has done it the right way. A player who, had injuries not plagued him later in his career, would have had a case as the best player to ever take the field. In the 1990's, this player had a Jordan-esque presence in the sport. The forgotten face of baseball, Ken Griffey Junior. Griffey broke into the league in 1989 as a 19 year old son of a former major leaguer. Griffey excelled at every facet of the game, and it did not take long to deliver on the expectations. In his first full season, he hit 16 homeruns and drove in 61. He and his father also became the first father-son to play on the same team, and on September 14th, 1990, Ken Jr. and Ken Sr. hit back-to-back homeruns. And that was just the beginning. For the rest of the decade, Ken Griffey Jr. was synonymous with baseball. Video games, cereal boxes, shoes, you name it, and Griffey's face was on it. In the mid-90's, The Kid had his best seasons, hitting fewer than 40 homeruns just once between 1993 and 2000. In addition to his hitting, he displayed prowess in the field, winning the Gold Glove award every year from 1990 to 1999. Before the 2000 season, Griffey was traded to his hometown team, the Cincinnati Reds. Unfortunately, this was where he ran into bad luck. He hit 40 homers and had 118 RBI in his first season with Cincy, but it would be downhill from there. He would battle injuries the rest of his time in Cincinatti, only playing 2 more full seasons until being traded to the Chicago White Sox in 2008. He did have great moments though, including hitting his 400th, 500th, and 600th career homerun. Even with all his injury trouble, Griffey's 613 homeruns are 5th all-time, and his 1775 RBI are 18th. His 10 Gold Gloves are second all-time among outfielders. Griffey was one of, if not the best all-around player of this generation. His swing has been described as one of the purest ever. And in an era where the best players count the days until they can test free agency and cash in, Griffey never opted to, instead signing long-term contracts with his current team. It was not until this past offseason, at age 39, that he hit the open market. And he returned to Seattle, where he began his career. Griffey has always played hard, never been outspoken, and has kept his nose clean of steroids. At a point in the game where top-dollar has meant everything, and many high-profile players sought to gain a chemical advantage, Griffey played the game the right way, and been loyal to his teams. It's a shame more players did not follow his lead, and we can only speculate where Junior would sit in the record books if not for injury. 

Prediction Time!!!

So it's the first week of April. That means the snow should (hopefully) be gone, and warmer weather is on the way. But more importantly, it means Opening Day for Major League Baseball and the start of the new season. And with a new season comes new hope, in a time where most teams (Sorry Pittsburgh) have a shot at the playoffs. So, here are my prediction for the 2009 season. 

In the National League: 

East: Phillies Central: Cubs West: Diamondbacks Wild Card: Marlins

Division Series: Phillies over D'Backs, Cubs over Marlins

NLCS: Cubs over Phillies

American League:

East: Yankees Central: Tigers West: A's Wild Card: Red Sox

Division Series: Yankees over A's, Red Sox over Tigers

ALCS: Yankees over Red Sox

World Series: Cubs over Yankees

Awards:

NL MVP: Hanley Ramirez, FLA AL MVP: Mark Teixeira, NYY

NL Cy Young: Cole Hamels, PHI AL Cy Young: Jon Lester, BOS

NL ROY: Tommy Hanson, ATL AL ROY: Elvis Andrus, TEX

NL Manager: Lou Piniella, CHI AL Manager: Bob Geren, OAK

A-Roid:Disaster, or blessing in disguise for Yankees?

The sad thing is, you could almost

call it a typical spring for the New York Yankees. Year in and year out, there always seems to be a controversy surrounding this team. And without dissapointment, another media bonanza came out in Yankee camp, with the discovery and later personal confermation, that Alex Rodriguez used performance enhancing drugs. Now, negative press for A-Rod has been the norm ever since he came to New York. After the ensuing media circus, Rodriguez underwent surgery on his hip to repair a torn labrum. Alot of people say that this is an unnecessary distraction for the Yankees. But I think it may actually be a blessing. With all this attention being paid to A-Rod, it has actually let New York's newest high-paid arrivals to blend in in spring training with relative peace. CC Sabathia, the mammoth lefty that signed a mammoth contract to be the new ace of the Yanks, has settled into pinstriped life without the constant scrutiny that was originally expected. A.J. Burnett, who many thought would do better with Sabathia taking most of the attention away, has received even less press, and has quietly dominated in Spring play. And it seems almost forgotten that Mark Teixiera is now manning first base in the Bronx. The media entourage that usually follows any new New York acquisition has been deflected elsewhere, and has allowed these three players to blend in nicely in the clubhouse, without the hoopla. This is far from the norm, and the Yanks might actually benefit from A-Rod dominating the press, which is nothing new. But, it is no secret that the New York tabloids have the attention span of a 5 year-old on a sugar high. So as soon as Sabathia loses his first game, Tex makes an error and Burnett has his first bout with pain, the quiet will end quicker than President Bush's popularity. But hey, that's New York for you, right?

Showing Their Grit

So there've been so many arguements about the World Baseball Classic...No one cares, more people care this year, it's not set up right...But I can honestly say now I think this thing belongs. Team USA has been criticized for 3 years, ever since their quiet bow-out in the 2006 edition, and still caught flak this year. But no more for me. I think it's great. This year's team if consisted of much grittier players like Kevin Youkilis, David Wright, Derek Jeter, Roy Oswalt, Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Braun et al, as opposed to 2006's collaboration of glorified All-Stars. Some say that's all this is for the U.S. But last night disproves that. After getting mercy-ruled by Puerto Rico 11-1 in the first game of Round 2, USA found themselves down 5-3 in the bottom of the ninth. And that's when it happened. The U.S. grinded out a comeback, capped by David Wright's 2 run double. As a die-hard Yankees fan, I had openly rooted for Youk to rip a base hit. On the night of St. Patrick's Day, I witnessed a room full of drunk Boston fans cheering on Derek Jeter. In ten years of watching the World Series, I've never, ever seen a team pile out on the field in celebration like I did last night. It's very rare as sports fans we get to cheer for our country, especially in baseball, and this is giving us the chance. And only that. It's giving us a chance to be proud. Makes you want to start cheering "U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!

'I don't want to hear the commissioner turned a blind eye to this or he didn't care about it. That annoys the you-know-what out of me. You bet I'm sensitive to the criticism. The reason I'm so frustrated is, if you look at our whole body of work, I think we've come farther than anyone ever dreamed possible.'-Major League Commissioner Bud Selig, before Alex Rodriquez's press conference today.

Bud, one of the fundamentals of growing up is learning to accept blame. You can't sit on your high horse, and expect us to believe, that as the commssioner, you had no idea or no control over the issue....and you sure as hell didn't have a problem with Big Mac and Sosa catching the national media, bringing fans back, and turning baseball into a $6 billion industry...Because if you were ignorant of it, you should step down as commissioner, right now. It's time for you to finally lead by example Bud...start sharing the blame.

And while I'm on that note....

I am sick and tired of Red Sox fans giving me hell for all the Yankees who've been linked to steroids...So if you New Englandah's would take a break from your clam chowdah and knock the icicles from your ears for a moment, let me educate you on a few things:

1. When the entire freakin Mitchell Report was based on the testimony of 2 individuals, who both worked almost exclusively for New York teams, Kirk Radomski, for the Mets, and Brian McNamee, with the Yankees, who do you think most of the names are going to come from? The Devil Rays?

2. Former Senator George Mitchell, who was in charge of and the namesake of the entire investigation, is on the Red Sox payroll. HEELLLOOOOO!!!!!

So, my point is Red Sox Nation, the next time you go to rip the Yankees about steroids, check your facts, educate yourself, find out you're wrong, shut up, and continue enjoying your Green Mountain coffee...

On a seperate note, Curt Schilling is calling for all 104 players on the list from 2003 to be released. Curt, I know you like the sound of your own voice, but no one made you spokesman on freakin everything, so SHUT UP!!!

And to close, if you really want to learn who's clubhouse is/was juicing, check out Gerry Fraley's article on the Texas Rangers

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/9194902/Rangers-lead-the-way-...-in-steroids

I Don't Care Anymore!!!

Okay, so just in case you live under a rock and haven't heard, this weekend Sports Illustrated reported that Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in the experimental round of testing conducted in 2003...A report that A-Rod would later confirm...How this plays out remains to be seen...But you know what? I'm not that upset with A-Rod. Or Clemens. Or Pettitte, or Bonds, or any of the other players who took steroids in the 90's-00's. I want to stop hearing about it. As a member of the media, I understand it's what's news and has to be reported accordingly, but I could really, honestly could care less. I'm tired of players being villified for taking them. I'm not going to make excuses for them, they made their beds and now they have to lie in them, but we all have skeletons in the closet. And it still astounds me how biases steroids reports are toward baseball. No one cares if a football player or hockey player tests positive. Case in point? Rodney Harrison, one of the most well known and most talented safeties in the NFL and an icon in New England, tested positive and was suspended at the start of the 2007 season, and barely anyone remembers that, he wasn't interrogated by Congress, and he hasn't been villified by any means, at least not around here. But if any player with name value in MLB tests positive, they might as well have a seat with their name on it in Washington, and they are permanently tarnished in the game. It's hypocritical, it's biased, it's wrong, and I'm tired of it...