It's been seven games, 34 plate appearances and 136 pitches since Alex Rodriguez last went yard for home run number 599.
Crowds form, specially branded baseballs are put in play and major sports networks digress from regularly scheduled programming in hopes that A-Rod will create tainted history.
Love or despise A-Rod, one cannot help but mention that his next home run will simply be adding to baseball's heap of contaminated numbers. No, Alex is not the only one to admit to taking performance enhancing drugs, but that has never been a valid excuse -- from grade school on up.
When A-Rod does launch number 600, he'll be the seventh member to join what was once a prestigious and exclusive club. However, A-Rod will also be the third known PED user, along with Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa, in the group.
To give A-Rod credit, he's been saying all the right things in the pursuit of the milestone dinger. But he's been one to say, especially lately, that he does his talking on the field.
Granted Alex hasn't struggled at the plate, he has nine hits in 30 official at-bats, but there's been a suspicious lull in home runs. A-Rod can claim all he wants that it's not affecting him, but his "talking on field" leads to a very different conclusion.
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"Where would the Mets be without knuckle-balling sensation R.A. Dickey?" Is not a query GM Omar Minaya wants to ponder.
Although the Mets are merely 7-7 in Dickey's 14 starts, several of the defeats have been of the hard-luck variety. The 35-year-old is 7-4 with a 2.32 ERA after his most impressive performance of the season yesterday against the Cardinals -- 8.1 innings of shutout ball allowing just four hits and two walks.
Beginning the season at Triple-A Buffalo, Dickey made his first major league start on May 19. With two-fifths of the rotation, Oliver Perez and John Maine, no longer viable options, Jerry Manuel faced a dearth of starters.
Dickey has plugged the Queens version of the leaky BP oil well with a dancing knuckler. Surprisingly, he's kept free passes to a minimum -- no small feat for a knuckleballer.
Another legitimate dilemma Minaya wouldn't like to consider: Where the club would be without rookie Ike Davis?
The first baseman's batting average has plunged of late, but his 15 homers have filled a significant power void in the lineup. Of the 15 long balls, there hasn't been a cheapy among them. When Ike gets a hold of pitch, the ball oughta have a stewardess on it, to paraphrase Kevin Costner as Crash Davis in Bull Durham.
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One stiff shoulder, ultimately resulting in a trip to the DL, and already the Kerry Wood and Mark Prior comparisons have begun for Stephen Strasburg.
In an interview with MLB Network Radio, and reported by the New York Post's Joel Sherman, White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper said, "I am not wishing this guy bad, but for him to be having problems right now when they are really, really watching him what are they going to see when they are trying to get 220 innings from him?"
Referring to Strasburg's odd "arm action," Cooper drops the two names that frighten organizations that employ young hard-throwing hurlers. "It reminds me a little bit of Kerry Wood, a little bit of Mark Prior."
The Nationals likely only agree with this one statement from Cooper: "I hope I’m wrong about this."
Friday, July 30, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Positives In A Negative
"No such thing as a good loss," claims an old adage. But last night's Mets 13 inning, 8-7, lose certainly had some positives.
For one, look at the final score. The Mets scored seven, count 'em, SEVEN runs. That was about three games worth of runs in on the West Coast trip that opened the second half.
And, to make the outburst all the more impressive, all the offense came after the Mets were down six runs.
Johan Santana had an awful opening frame allowing six runs and eight hits, but Jerry Manuel's club didn't quit. As a matter of fact, the Mets were one big hit away from putting Cardinals rookie sensation Jaime Garcia through the same misery in the first as Santana, denting the plate twice and bringing the tying run to the plate with the bases loaded.
Still, the Mets were down four going into the eighth. That's when Cards skipper Tony La Russa led a parade of bearded Red Bird relievers to the hill.
An Angel Pagan two-run homer and a big two-out two-run pinch-hit single by Ike Davis and Mets has tied up a game that seemed squandered before a turn at bat.
No, the Mets didn't win the game, but they demonstrated that quitting is not their modus operandi. This team won't quit on a game, and it won't give up on a season.
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A.J. Burnett and Joba Chamberlain, the two hurlers that concern Yankees fans most, combined for seven scoreless innings. Yes, it was against the woeful Indians, but it was a good showing nonetheless.
Alex Rodriguez is still sitting on home run number 599. While there's no question that A-Rod has behaved differently over the past couple of years, he's still having trouble with milestone homers.
The Yankees starting pitcher tonight will be Dustin Moseley. That's the same Dustin Moseley that... never mind, he hasn't done anything in his career to this point that's worth mentioning. But, that may change tonight, he is starting against the woeful Indians.
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According to numerous reports, it's now up to Roy Oswalt to decide whether he wants to feel the brotherly love in Philadelphia.
If Oswalt chooses to wave his no-trade instead of waiving it, he deserves to finish out the rest of his career in the obscurity of Houston.
For one, look at the final score. The Mets scored seven, count 'em, SEVEN runs. That was about three games worth of runs in on the West Coast trip that opened the second half.
And, to make the outburst all the more impressive, all the offense came after the Mets were down six runs.
Johan Santana had an awful opening frame allowing six runs and eight hits, but Jerry Manuel's club didn't quit. As a matter of fact, the Mets were one big hit away from putting Cardinals rookie sensation Jaime Garcia through the same misery in the first as Santana, denting the plate twice and bringing the tying run to the plate with the bases loaded.
Still, the Mets were down four going into the eighth. That's when Cards skipper Tony La Russa led a parade of bearded Red Bird relievers to the hill.
An Angel Pagan two-run homer and a big two-out two-run pinch-hit single by Ike Davis and Mets has tied up a game that seemed squandered before a turn at bat.
No, the Mets didn't win the game, but they demonstrated that quitting is not their modus operandi. This team won't quit on a game, and it won't give up on a season.
*****************************************************
A.J. Burnett and Joba Chamberlain, the two hurlers that concern Yankees fans most, combined for seven scoreless innings. Yes, it was against the woeful Indians, but it was a good showing nonetheless.
Alex Rodriguez is still sitting on home run number 599. While there's no question that A-Rod has behaved differently over the past couple of years, he's still having trouble with milestone homers.
The Yankees starting pitcher tonight will be Dustin Moseley. That's the same Dustin Moseley that... never mind, he hasn't done anything in his career to this point that's worth mentioning. But, that may change tonight, he is starting against the woeful Indians.
************************************************
According to numerous reports, it's now up to Roy Oswalt to decide whether he wants to feel the brotherly love in Philadelphia.
If Oswalt chooses to wave his no-trade instead of waiving it, he deserves to finish out the rest of his career in the obscurity of Houston.
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