Youth Movement

I am going to do my best to not be biased tonight for game 4 and to just enjoy it for what it is. Tonight's game is sure to be a great time because it is bound to be a wild one. Neither of the starting pitchers have much experience both in the playoffs, and in the Major Leagues in general.
Giants starter Madison Bumgarner is a 21 year old rookie who was very impressive this season going 7-6 with a 3.00 ERA and 86 K's in 111 innings, but what he lacks in experience he makes up for with determination. He was left off the Giants' roster after spring training due to mechanical problems that left his velocity startling low. Teammate Jeremy Affeldt said Bumgarner s fearless and that is true. Bumgarner is taking a 1-0 record in the playoffs into tonight's start, but what many don't now is that he is historical. He became the second youngest pitcher to win a series clincher in the playoffs after he helped finish off the Atlanta Braves in the division series. He hasn't gotten down on himself for his early season woes, but instead trained hard with coaches and trainers in order to find his errors and improve upon them.
The Texas Rangers' hurler Tommy Hunter is another young pitcher who wasn't on his team's Major League roster to start the year, but was outstanding this season when the Rangers called him up. He went 13-4 with a 3.73 ERA, but has been disastrous so far in the playoffs. He is 0-1 with a 6.14 ERA in 7 1/3 innings across two starts.
I'm a rooting for the Rangers to pull even in the series and I'm looking forward to a high powered game full of lots of scoring(advantage Rangers), but I wouldn't be surprised if both starters buckle down and get their jobs

-Joey DeClercq

World Series Transition: Wilson's Show

The Texas Rangers are putting converted reliever C.J Wilson out on the mound for game two of the world series tonight in San Francisco. His opponent, Giants backup ace Matt Cain. Both sported similar numbers over the course of 162 games, Cain's line read 13-11, 3.14, 177, and wilson's was 15-8, 3.35, 170. What makes Wilson different than Cain is that he has never before pitched so much in one season. Last season Wilson pitched his career high in innings with 73.2, but jumped that number up 204 when he made the move to the starting rotation from the bullpen this year.
This kind of an adjustment can only lead to good things for the Rangers lefty, I believe. It is hard for most relievers to jump to the starting five and have so much success so soon. The increase in work usually means a tired arm by the end of the year, but the Rangers have so much confidence in Wilson's abilities that they made him their number two starter for this postseason.
Wilson should have no problem pitching under "must win" pressure following Cliff Lee's disastrous loss. According to ESPN.com, 20 of Wilson's 33 starts in the regular season came after a loss. He went 11-5 with a 3.27 ERA in those games. On Wednesday he told ESPN.com's Jeff Caplan, "Obviously tonight things didn’t go well for Cliff. But that was tonight, and tomorrow is tomorrow, I can’t 'unlose' tonight’s game. I can only win tomorrow’s game. That’s the only goal.”
Expect the pitchers kingdom that is AT&T Park in San Francisco to be an advantage to Wilson who is used to pitching in the warm dimensions of The Ballpark in Arlington in Texas. Jeff Caplan put it best when he wrote, "The big difference is Lee has lost for the first time. So now it is Wilson’s show."

World Series living on the West Coast

I should start out by apologizing to my friends who are avid Giants fans because of my complete doubt about San Francisco's chances in the World Series. Sorry. Now having said that, don't expect many more. I will be more careful where I place my faith next time around. The Giants proved a lot to me tonight. Not only did they shell one of the game's best playoff performers in Cliff Lee, but they also shattered any hope I had that this series would a low scoring affair. Neither bullpen held up in the late innings of the game and that is where one of the Giants' greatest strengths was.
It was supposed to be a game of epic proportions. Cliff Lee vs. Tim Lincecum, but after jumping out to a quick 2-0 lead I was certain that Texas had a hold on this one and that perhaps Cliff Lee was already building his W.S. MVP resume, but alas, the Giants fought back and fought hard. The game quickly turned into a romping as Lee wasn't even able to make it out of the 5th inning after giving up 6 earned runs. 2 of those runs came on a three run homer by Juan Uribe off Darren O' Day, but things didn't stop there. The Rangers then got to San Francisco ace Tim Lincecum making it an 8-4 game. After Texas reliever Mark Lowe gave up 3 more runs later in the game, the Giants' bullpen began unraveling as Ramon Ramirez gave up 2 runs n only 1/3 on an inning.
It was clearly a wild one, but when the dust settled, the Giants walked away with an 11-7 victory over the much favored Texas Rangers. I now have learned my lesson to bet so boldly against the Giants, but don't expect things to go swimmingly San Francisco, Texas isn't going to go away and if they somehow figure out a way to pitch more safely then then Giants could have a problem on their hands when the series goes to Arlington.

by Joey DeClercq

Who's on first? Pt. 1

As the 2010 season is coming to close(well, at least for the green and gold) there are several questions for next year. However, before I get into that(this is part 1 of a 2 part season wind down) I just want to recap what has been an absolutely phenomenal season for me and my hatred of all things New York and Boston related.

The acquisition of John Lackey, extension of Josh Beckett, progress of Clay Buchholz, and retaining of Jon lester and Daisuke Matsuzaka had many people in anticipation of this season's potentially historic Boston Red Sox starting rotation and a Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz led dominant Red Sox lineup. It was thought that the Sox had enough firepower and strong arms to topple the stronger Yankee lineup now with Curtis Granderson. The Tampa Bay Rays didn't have enough pitching to win but were sure to be a strong plus .500 third place.

Well, with just over a month to go till the layoffs, the Rays and Yanks are tied in an awesome first place battle and Tampa has the top Cy Young contender as well as two AL MVP candidates.

The Yankees have perennial MVP type sluggers Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira but, neither is having the season anyone thought. Javier Vazquez has been up, but mostly down and certainly not the fifth starter/ace that anyone thought he'd be and Andy Pettite has been out since mid july. Phil Hughes has been rocky for the last two months and AJ Burnett has been, well, I'm not sure what he's been but he's been it since game one. CC Sabathia has been truly been the workhorse that he always is but better. But why is this all-star cast headlining year two of the new Yankee Stadium not as good as advertised, but still winning?

How come Tampa Bay, though overcoming injuries to two rising young pitchers and without the power production of Zorilla(Ben Zobrist) still in a great spot to win the division?

The answer is simple really, but before I go any further I need a promise from the Boston Nation not to over react. The Red Sox as "stacked" as they seemed in spring have never really been that good this year. Jon Lester overcame is yearly early season struggles to emerge the best pitcher in the AL, but he hasn't been enough. As a matter of fact, Lester and the steady Clay Buchholz are two of the AL pitchers I would want on my staff if I were starting a franchise today. David Ortiz has quickly been labeled a late spring/early summer bloomer and Youk has been broken all year long. John Lackey has been the New England version of AJ Burnett, just not as bad. Not to mention the injury and inconsistency of Josh Beckett. The one early bright spot was Boston keystone man Dustin Pedroia. He was having a start amazingly rivaling that of the other MVP caliber second baseman Robinson Cano of the Yankees, but like every other Red Sox, he succumbed to injury as is currently on his second DL stint this year. Jacoby Ellsbury sings the same song. He is on his second DL stint and is possibly out for the rest of the year.

I hate to say I saw it coming, but come on! The Red Sox just haven't been any good and I never thought they would be this year. Ortiz just started too slow like he did in '09 and Youkilis has been like every other year, hurt too often to be a consistent threat. Yeah, he's got great numbers when he plays, but he's in and out of the lineup too much to produce to full capacity.

Basically, the East and Wild Card races will be either the Rays and then Yankees, or the other way around because of the Red Sox shortcomings.

-J. DeClercq

Up in Smoak?

On Friday, July 9th, the Texas rangers traded first base super prospect Justin Smoak to the division rival Seattle Mariners for ace left handed pitcher Cliff Lee. Lee was the subject of similar trade talks around this time last season and was eventually traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for prospects. He helped lead the Phillies to their division title, and the World Series. Lee has been a winner and has been a solid veteran starter when the game is on the line and is the owner of one A.L Cy Young Award.

Smoak made his major league debut for texas in late april and has been less than spectacular since then. He has hit .206 but has a solid 8 home runs and 34 RBI. He was supposed to be a huge building block after Texas Traded Mark Teixeira two seasons ago, but was all that Seattle wanted for Cliff Lee.

Most analysts and team representatives are saying how this will be a great change for both teams. Seattle's future and Texas' present playoff chances, but I don't agree. I think that for the future Smoak will be a solid middle of the order hitter whith a lot of power and a good glove, but Lee is a free agent after this season and is a worse pitcher in the second half of the season than the first. Not only that but the stadium the Rangers play in, The Ballpark in Arlington, is a proven hitters park. Lee will have his struggles adapting to a new team, new stadium, and new pressure since he is the most significant player acquisition the Rangers have made since the 90's.

Lee was rocked by offensively challenged Baltimore in his first start for his new team in his new park and I think this won't be the only time. The ballpark in Arlington is a place where pitchers struggle. The temperature is hot and makes it easier for the ball to travel thus creating Lee more prone to home runs. He has a great K/BB ratio, in fact he is on a record setting pace, but all that means is he lets people hit the ball. He throws strikes and I think that style of pitching could come back to bite him and perhaps prevent the Rangers from playoff greatness

-J.DeClercq

The right way

Ken Griffey Jr. Doubled in his first Major League at bat, he then Homered in his first at bat in his home ball park in Seattle. Since then, he never looked back. Griffey Jr. retired on thursday from the game of Baseball and left an impressive legacy behind. He spent the first 11 years of his career playing for the Seattle mariners and during that time was considered the player of the decade. From 1989-1999. In the

nineties he won 10 straight Gold Glove awards from 90-99, he won 7 Silver Slugger awards, 1 MVP award, and was voted to the All-star team 10 times! He also won the Home Run Derby 3 times during that span. He moved on to play for 2 more teams before reuniting with Seattle for a second and last time in 2009. He played for the Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox, but he never had any year as good as the ones he had in Seattle the first time. One of his biggest accomplishments was hitting his 630th and final Home Run. He became the sixth member of the very elite 600 home run club and is considered as one of baseball's greatespower hitters ever.

What people don't know about Ken Griffey Jr. is not what he did when he played, it is how he did it. Not many people excel at something and be so humble about it. He played the game the right way. Griffey Jr. played hard and he played to win. He hustled and tried his best to make himself and his teammates better at the game they loved. During the steroid boom of the 80's and 90's, Griffey Jr. escaped allegations that he juiced because he was such a natural athlete and had a smooth and gifted swing, he didn't need to take performance enhancing drugs to hit the ball. Although Griffey Jr. never won a World Series title, he helped spark an incredible 1995 playoff run in Seattle.

Not many people know too much about his non-baseball life. Griffey Jr. had a troubled young life because of his relationship with his father. He felt that he got enough yelling form his coaches and teammates on the baseball field, and that he didn't need to receive the treatment he got at home. He suffered from depression, and even attempted suicide when he was 18 because of it.

Griffey Jr. didn't just change the way the game was played but he changed the way people saw it. He didn't play for money or fame, he played because he loved the game. He was a fun and energetic player who was often referred to as "the Kid" because of his light-hearted spirit. He is responsible for the Players wearing number 42 to honor Jackie Robinson on Jackie Robinson day and he was a fan favorite in Seattle. His time spent there these last two seasons were to pay tribute to the fans that supported him and his career.

Ken Griffey Jr. is my favorite baseball player of all-time and is one of the reasons baseball is such a huge part of my life. He is one of the greatest players of all-time and will truly leave his mark on the game because not only was he the best at it, but when he played, he played the game right and for the right reasons.

- by Joey D

Hurt so good

Longtime Oakland Athletic Eric Chavez has finally come to the realization that his career could be over. Saturday, Eric went on the 15-day disabled list and acknowledged that it could his final trip to the list and that his whole career may be done for. Chavez was hitting .234 with 1 home run and 10 RBI this year as the team's part time DH and first baseman. He is suffering from bulging discs in his neck and has had spasms in his back because of them.

The 32 year old is no stranger to the DL and spent most of the past three seasons going on and coming off of it due to back and forearm related injuries and has had five surgeries since 2007.

I am not one of Chavez's biggest fans regardless of his success or failure. He was one of the least clutch players I have ever seen and never came up with the big hit. Instead he quietly averaged 28 home runs and 94 runs batted in between 2000 and 2006 while earning 6 gold gloves during that span. Chavez was awarded a six-year 66 million dollar contract extension in 2004 despite his failures as a clutch player. Granted, he never had to be the prime producer or superstar on teams that featured stars such as Jason Giambi, Miguel Tejada, Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson, and Barry Zito, but Chavez accumulated horrid postseason stats. His .222 batting average, 3 home runs and 12 RBI in 27 career playoff games are nothing to get excited about considering the team he played on has never advanced past the AL championship series before.

It is safe to say that Chavez's glory days in Oakland are over. I'm not happy that a once great power hitter is having to end his career due to health issues, but I am happy that because of his injury he will stop taking roster space and manager Bob Geren no longer has to use the unproductive broken down slugger.

The A's have two huge prospects and superstars in the making waiting down in AAA Sacramento to get a chance to hit in the big leagues. First base prospect Chris Carter has shown major power in the minor leagues by slugging 39 home runs in single A in 2008 and 29 in AA and AAA combined last season.

The A's traded 1B/3B super-prospect Brett Wallace for another top hitting prospect this off-season. Michael Taylor is a big, powerful, and fast outfielder who has potential to hit for a very high average, good power, and steal some bases as well.

both have the opportunity soon to enter the A's starting lineup and provide some much needed pop into the heart of their batting order.

Another bright spot about Chavez's possible retirement is the fact that the A's will no longer have to pay him 11 million dollars after the season ends. They can instead use that money to sign both Carter and Taylor to long-term contracts and bring some star power to Oakland or Fremont or San Jose or Sacramento or Las Vegas depending on where the A's end up....

-by J.DeClercq