Baseball 2011

[smc]

Originally Posted by shadows

A-Roid is already in the cheaters hall of shame(at least in my book). He has already been discovered as having used steroids(HGH, actually) before, and I think that he used it for many years. Plus, he has been a douchebag numerous times on the field.

The simplest explanation I can give for what I think of A-Rod is that when people ask me what "bush league" means, I describe two things A-Rod has done. Case closed.

[Tsweet]

Boston Red Sox congratulate classy Derek Jeter on 3000 hits accomlishment:

It wasn't surprising that the Red Sox were watching television in the home clubhouse at Fenway Park as Derek Jeter made history Saturday afternoon, collecting his 3,000th hit against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium.

Jeter no doubt is a first-ballot Hall of Famer and he has earned the respect of players across baseball, especially Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia.

"It's not just me, it's the whole league," Pedroia said. "This guy has played the game right for a long time. He's a first-ballot Hall of Famer and when he's done, I don't think there will be a bad thing said about him. He's a first-class guy. He's a winner. The highest praises you could say about a guy is what you would say about Jeter."


During the 2008 All-Star Game at the old Yankee Stadium, Pedroia was a first-time All-Star when he received an on-field visit from Jeter. In fact, the Yankees shortstop went out of his way to talk to the AL Rookie of the Year from 2007.

"It was great and that's the type of guy he is," Pedroia said. "He helps out young guys. He helps out older guys. He helps out everybody. The game needs more guys like Derek Jeter. It's unbelievable what he's been able to do throughout his career, and to get a chance to play against him the last five years is pretty cool, man, it's pretty cool."

Of the 3,003 hits Jeter has amassed in his career, he has recorded the most off Red Sox veteran knuckleballer Tim Wakefield. In 122 at-bats, Jeter has 34 hits off Wakefield.

"It's a fitting tribute to a guy that has spent his whole career with one organization and has been a true professional his whole career there," Wakefield said. "For him to get 3,000 hits in the amount of time that he's done it is pretty amazing. It shows how great of an athlete he is and I have the utmost respect for him the way he goes about his business. He's as professional as anyone. It's pretty cool that I've faced him the most times of anybody."

Red Sox manager Terry Francona broke into a big smile Saturday afternoon when asked to discuss Jeter's career and accomplishments.

"If you like baseball, he's a lot of what's good in baseball. He respects the game. He plays the game right. He makes me proud for the way he goes about his business."

[smc]

^ As I was saying ...

Thanks for posting that, Tsweet. It reflects my views precisely.

[smc]

Contrast Kevin Gregg of the Oriole's remarks about the altercation between Boston and Baltimore the other night (see above) with what David Ortiz of the Red Sox had to say:

Ortiz regrets altercation
Incident against slugger?s nature


By Michael Vega
The Boston Globe, July 10, 2011

Once the dust had settled from his altercation with reliever Kevin Gregg in Friday night?s 10-3 victory over the Orioles at Fenway Park, David Ortiz found himself at Jerry Remy?s Sports Bar & Grill with his Red Sox teammates for a surprise birthday party for Daniel Bard.

All around him, on the high-definition televisions that rimmed the restaurant, replays of the eighth-inning, bench-clearing brawl - sparked by Ortiz?s toe-to-toe swingfest with Gregg - kept playing on an incessant loop.

?At one point, I was like, ?I got to go,? ?? Ortiz said. ?Everybody was all over me, going like, ?Hey, man, it?s Mike Tyson,? and this and that. I was like, ?C?mon man, I haven?t had a fight since I was in kindergarten; don?t be calling me no Mike Tyson.? ??

Asked if he won his kindergarten bout, Ortiz smiled and said, sheepishly, ?I don?t think so.??

Although his teammates gave him a good-natured ribbing over the incident, which got him ejected and will likely draw further sanctions, including a suspension from Major League Baseball, Ortiz knew his actions went against his nature.

?It was good that nothing really bad happened,?? said Ortiz, who narrowly missed landing a huge left on Gregg?s chin after dodging a right cross from Gregg. ?At the end of the day, we?re not here to do that stuff; we?re here to play the game the right way, the way it?s supposed to be. To tell you the truth, me personally, I don?t feel good when things like that go down. That ain?t really me.??

That point hit home when Ortiz returned home and faced questions from his children.

?My kids had tons of questions for me last night: ?Daddy, why were you fighting?? ?? Ortiz said before last night?s game. ?I don?t want to be having that conversation with my kids, because I?m not an aggressive person. But, like I said, it?s in the past and it?s behind us and it?s another day today.??

Asked if he expected to be suspended, Ortiz said, ?I know MLB will take some action and everybody?s aware of it. It all depends on what they want to do with it. But I wasn?t the one who started it. I don?t think I was, you know???

Gregg offered no apologies Friday night, defiantly standing behind his actions, calling the Red Sox whiners who ?think they?re better than everybody else.?? Saying he had every right to pitch inside to Ortiz, Gregg fired three straight inside pitches, the third nearly hitting the Sox slugger on the hip, which cleared the benches when Ortiz stomped toward the mound.

?It?s my first time here doing something like that and I don?t feel proud of a situation like that,?? Ortiz said. ?But I?m the kind of person that doesn?t like being pushed and I felt like I was pushed to do something like that.

?He?s a guy who I?ve always faced and he?s never pitched [me] in,?? Ortiz said. ?He threw a whole bunch of pitches inside and I?m sure he was trying to hit me. No question about that.??

After Ortiz hit a lazy fly ball to center and slowly began trotting to first, Gregg came off the mound and yelled at him to get down the line.

?I?m not going to take that like a little [expletive], you know what I?m saying,?? Ortiz said. ?You saw the argument before and afterward you?re going to act like you?re my daddy or something like that? I ain?t going to take that. If you want to have respect, you got to respect [others].??

The bad blood between both teams seemed to percolate before the start of the season when, during spring training, Orioles manager Buck Showalter made disparaging remarks about Theo Epstein and the Sox? payroll in a magazine article. When the Red Sox erupted for eight runs in the first inning Friday night, it only seemed to make matters worse.

?I?m just a guy who likes to play the game the way it?s supposed to be, and that?s about it . . . I?m not saying that we are better than what they are; I respect everybody around the league,?? Ortiz said. ?I don?t disrespect nobody. I don?t care who you play for, who you are, how long you been around. I respect everybody the same way.

?You can?t be acting stupid out there just because you?re getting beat up. There?s a reason you?re getting beat up and it?s because you?re not playing the game the way it?s supposed to be. Play the game the way it?s supposed to be and you?re not going to get beat up.

?So don?t go blaming it on, ?You guys think you?re better than us,? and this and that. I have a lot of friends on that ballclub and I don?t like them to be going through a situation like that. This is horrible. But it?s not like we?re trying to show up anybody. We just play the game.??

[shadows]

Originally Posted by smc

The simplest explanation I can give for what I think of A-Rod is that when people ask me what "bush league" means, I describe two things A-Rod has done. Case closed.

The dictionary has A-Roid's picture beside the description for "bush league".

It's amazing the contrasting feelings for two players on the same team, even from many of the opposing players. Everyone says great things about Derek Jeter, yet you will be hard pressed to find people that will talk glowingly(unless they have something to gain by it, of course) about A-Roid.

[smc]

If you call yourself a true baseball fan, and unless you are a bona fide fan of the Cardinals, Brewers, Reds, Cubs, or Astros, you have to be rooting for the Pittsburgh Pirates to win the National League Central Division. Just sayin' ...

[shadows]

Originally Posted by smc

If you call yourself a true baseball fan, and unless you are a bona fide fan of the Cardinals, Brewers, Reds, Cubs, or Astros, you have to be rooting for the Pittsburgh Pirates to win the National League Central Division. Just sayin' ...

But Lyle Overpaid is a Pirate!

[transjen]

Originally Posted by smc

If you call yourself a true baseball fan, and unless you are a bona fide fan of the Cardinals, Brewers, Reds, Cubs, or Astros, you have to be rooting for the Pittsburgh Pirates to win the National League Central Division. Just sayin' ...

Ummnnn NO


Philliefan Jen

[smc]

I know my friend shadows, who I do not believe to generally be guilty of schadenfreude, will take some pleasure in this story from yesterday's Los Angeles Times.

MLB investigates Alex Rodriguez for alleged high-stakes gambling

Alex Rodriguez is the subject of a Major League Baseball investigation for his alleged participation in high-stakes underground poker games, the league said Wednesday.

The New York Yankees third baseman is said to have played at least twice -- including in one game that involved several high-profile actors, cocaine and hundreds of thousands of dollars at the Beverly Hills mansion of a record executive -- according to reports published by multiple sources.

A story published on RadarOnline.com said that Rodriguez “tried to distance himself from the game” when a fight almost broke out.

“We're talking to people involved in the investigation and we're taking this very seriously,” an MLB executive told ESPN New York. “Because he had been warned about this before, I would say a possible suspension would be very much in play.”

In 2005 the Yankees and Commissioner Bud Selig warned Rodriguez about gambling in underground poker clubs, saying dealings with people who might also bet on baseball games could result in a lifetime ban from baseball.

“We take this very seriously and have been investigating this matter since the initial allegation,” the league said in a statement. “As part of the investigation, the Commissioner's Office will interview Mr. Rodriguez.”

Rodriguez is currently recovering from knee surgery last month and had been expected to be able to rejoin the team in a couple of weeks.

[transjen]

^^^ If true he's outta baseball for good
Philliesfan Jen

[shadows]

Originally Posted by smc

I know my friend shadows, who I do not believe to generally be guilty of schadenfreude, will take some pleasure in this story from yesterday's Los Angeles Times.

MLB investigates Alex Rodriguez for alleged high-stakes gambling

Alex Rodriguez is the subject of a Major League Baseball investigation for his alleged participation in high-stakes underground poker games, the league said Wednesday.

The New York Yankees third baseman is said to have played at least twice -- including in one game that involved several high-profile actors, cocaine and hundreds of thousands of dollars at the Beverly Hills mansion of a record executive -- according to reports published by multiple sources.

A story published on RadarOnline.com said that Rodriguez ?tried to distance himself from the game? when a fight almost broke out.

?We're talking to people involved in the investigation and we're taking this very seriously,? an MLB executive told ESPN New York. ?Because he had been warned about this before, I would say a possible suspension would be very much in play.?

In 2005 the Yankees and Commissioner Bud Selig warned Rodriguez about gambling in underground poker clubs, saying dealings with people who might also bet on baseball games could result in a lifetime ban from baseball.

?We take this very seriously and have been investigating this matter since the initial allegation,? the league said in a statement. ?As part of the investigation, the Commissioner's Office will interview Mr. Rodriguez.?

Rodriguez is currently recovering from knee surgery last month and had been expected to be able to rejoin the team in a couple of weeks.

I read a couple of articles about this at the TSN and ESPN sites. If it is true(and knowing what a jerkoff he is, I have no doubt it is), then he should be suspended for it. There is a difference between playing poker in Las Vegas(or in one of the sanctioned poker tournaments such as the WPT or EPT) and the underground ones of which A-Roid is accused of being in.

People are commenting that it's "not a big deal" that he was playing poker. Like I mentioned above, it's not the fact that he was playing poker, it's just the venue in which he played it. Say he had lost a lot of money, or ended up being blackmailed for playing in illicit games, he could cause the game of baseball a lot of trouble. Not to mention the fact that he was told previously by Bud Selig to NOT do it, and he did it anyhow.

I don't think he will be banned for life, but I do think he will face a lengthy suspension if he is found to have been there. It might also allow the Yankees to dump his horrible contract(conduct detrimental to the team?), which is unfortunate. I want them to be saddled with it until it's completion.

And you were quite correct, smc. I do take some pleasure in hearing that A-Roid is in trouble again.