Tagged: Sabathia

For them, it’s a Fall Crisis

Multiple-choice quiz time:
Who is most tortured by a Phillies-Yankees World Series?
(a) Mets fans, who have their crosstown rivals on one side and their braggadocio NL East rivals on the other.
(b) The Cleveland Indians, who must watch Cliff Lee and CC Sabathia light it up, no Chief Wahoo in sight.
(c)  The Pittsburgh Pirates, who are watching their cross-state rivals in their third World Series since they last had a winning season.
(d) Bobby Abreu, whose Angels lost to the Yankees and who now must watch his two former teams play on.
Tough choice. Don’t think any of the above will be the life of any World Series-viewing party. … 
So we’ve had a couple of 583-homer men making news lately. Alex Rodriguez, getting into his first World Series. And Mark McGwire, getting back into the game as the Cardinals’ new hitting coach. … 
This postseason has been anything but a yawner — unless we go by some of its principals. The cameras repeatedly caught Sabathia yawning on the Yankees’ bench and Mariano Rivera doing the same in New York’s bullpen. And then Ryan Howard admitted not having seen all of the riveting Game 5 of the ALCS — won by the Angels 7-6 — because  “I fell asleep at the end.” … 
In case you were wondering, the World Series will end during Week 11 of the college football season. … 

Seventh-inning stretcher

That seventh inning last night? Baseball’s version of bungee jumping off the Empire State Building. . .. 
After last night’s Game 5 of the ALCS, I am convinced it IS easier to play in these games than it is to watch them.
I mean, these were nine innings of torture that put fans’ nerves in a vise. The emotional investment was way beyond even a federal bailout. Especially during a brutal ninth when Brian Fuentes repeatedly poked the fork into the outlet.
We’re dying out here. And what is the guy in the middle of it all thinking?
“It’s not like my life flashes before my eyes,” Fuentes said after the game, “and I’m thinking, ‘This is the ultimate moment.'”
You mean, there’s more? Oh, God. … 
Not saying this baseball postseason is too long — can’t have too much baseball — but talk about clash of the seasons: A World Series Game 7 would come during Week 11 of the college football season. … 
How’s this for potential bookends for Baseball 2009? Say the Yankees keep their World Series date with the Phillies. Say that Series goes the distance. Say both teams adjust their rotations so lefty aces CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee face off in such a Game 7 in Yankee Stadium.
The point? Lee, then with the Indians, and Sabathia faced each other in the very first New Yankee Stadium opener on April 16 (Lee and Cleveland were 10-2 winners). …

Alas, a Carlos redux

The CC Sabathia pitch which yesterday ended Carlos Pena’s season is unfortunate for many reasons.
There goes the Rays’ big gun at about the time they’ve lost all hope. There goes Pena’s shot at leading the AL in homers.
And there goes one of the funkiest offensive seasons on record. You knew Nickel would have its own perspective.
Too bad Carlos didn’t get to stick around to hit a 40th homer. He would have become the first in MLB history to have 40 with as few total hits and as low a batting average.
As it is, Pena’s 39 homers (among 102 hits) has been rivaled only once, and that came with an asterisk. In 1995, Mark McGwire had 39 homers and only 48 other hits. But that came in one of his final injury-plagued  seasons in Oakland, and McGwire played only 104 games and did hit .274.
Pena winds up with a .227 average — and 100 RBIs. Could be the lowest average ever for a 100 RBI guy. Dave Kingman batted .204 in 1982, but he stopped at 99 RBIs along with 37 homers.
By the way, lightning apparently can strike the AL homer leader twice, as long as his name is Carlos.
A year ago, Carlos Quentin led the league with 36 homers when a fractured wrist ended his season and allowed Miguel Cabrera to barely edge him for the home-run crown.

K-Rod: A lap dog

Off the top of my head … 
Francisco Rodriguez may be on his way to lapping the historical closers’ field. By the time K-Rod is done, Trevor Hoffman, who right now has 69 more save than anyone else, might need a Hubble telescope to see the new career leader.
It’s all about consistency (not a staple in the closers’ community) and age. K-Rod was precocious when he ambushed the field in the 2002 postseason, and he has used that youth to pave his record track.
The basics:
Rodriguez, who turned 27 in January, entered this season with 208 saves. The current career Top Ten, from Hoffman (554 saves) to Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers (341), began their age-27 season with an average of 32.5 saves.
The breakdown of saves entering the season in which they were/turned 27:
  1. Hoffman (554): 25
  2. Mariano Rivera (485): 5
  3. Lee Smith (478): 80
  4. John Franco (424): 77
  5. Dennis Eckersley (390): 3
  6. Billy Wagner (385): 32
  7. Jeff Reardon (367): 16
  8. Troy Percival (354): 3
  9. Randy Myers (347): 32
  10. Fingers (341): 52. …

New Yankee Stadium: So what’s keeping the ladies? When are Destiny and Aura moving in, or are the Bombers on their own now? …

CC Sabathia / A.J. Burnett: Money is money, I know, but do you suppose these guys at least might’ve thought a little harder about signing with the Yankees had they known they’d now be playing home games in the moon’s atmosphere? … 
Sabathia: Hey, CC, pinstripes are supposed to make you look slimmer, not make your pitches look fatter. …
Carlos Quentin: Seven homers by April 19? Spin it all you want, he could have made the postseason difference for the White Sox, had he not snapped in early September and broken his wrist slapping his own bat. … 
Top 3, Carlos Edition: Santana, Delgado, Pena. … 
Jason Giambi: There is something symmetrical about his career. He began this season having split his career between the A’s and Yankees, seven seasons with each. And he is No. 10 on the homer lists of both teams (though his 187 places him closer to Mark McGwire’s 363 than does the 209 to Babe Ruth’s 659). … 
Randy Johnson: Guess the one-time fireballer wasn’t kidding about re-learning to pitch in an age-relevant style. The 45-year-old consistently topped out at 87-88 MPH while carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning Sunday against the D-backs. …
Sorry, I’ve reached the bottom of my head. Later …