About.com Baseball

Ominous start to free agent season

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:25:07 +0000

In the first two days after the season, the storm clouds are already forming. And Bobby Abreu saw them.

The Angels outfielder, who waited all offseason for offers that never came before the 2009 season, agreed to a one-year, $5 million bargain deal just before spring training. After a good season (.293, 15 HR, 103 RBI, 30 SB) in Anaheim, and seeing that it likely will be no better this year, Abreu stayed with the Angels for two years and $19 million. Sure, it's a raise, but he wasn't going to re-live last offseason. He made $16 million with the Yankees in 2008.

Manny Ramirez did the same, agreeing to his one-year, $20 million option. That's a no-brainer - no player will sign a deal for a bigger one-year salary this offseason, and Ramirez did not have a great season in 2009 (.290, 19 HR, 63 RBI).

"Money is tight all over the world and certainly on the South Side," Chicago general manager Ken Williams told the AP after trading for the Royals' Mark Teahen and declining the $12 million option on outfielder Jermaine Dye. "We're going to spend whatever we have available, but it's not much."

Who else is on the market? Check out the updated free agent scorecard.

Ominous start to free agent season originally appeared on About.com Baseball on Saturday, November 7th, 2009 at 15:25:07.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Go, go Godzilla: Yankees win World Series

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:07:00 +0000

Led by designated hitter Hideki Matsui's 6 RBI night - perhaps in his last game in pinstripes - the New York Yankees won their 27th championship and their first since 2000, beating the Philadelphia Phillies 7-3 in Game 6 and winning the 2009 World Series, four games to two.

Matsui, the Japanese star whose nickname is "Godzilla," trampled on the Phillies. He was 8 for 13 in the World Series. On Wednesday at Yankee Stadium, he hit a two-run homer into the second deck in right field in the second inning and a bases-loaded single in the third against Phillies starter Pedro Martinez, who only lasted four innings. He had a two-run double against J.A. Happ in the fifth. Matsui was named MVP of the series despite not starting in any of the three games in Philadelphia. His six RBI tied a World Series game record set in 1960 by the Yankees' Bobby Richardson.

The Yankees' Andy Pettitte pitched well on three days' rest and is 6-2 in games that the Yankees can clinch a postseason series in his career. It was the 18th win of his postseason career, extending his own record, and it was his fifth World Series win, his second in this World Series. He's also a free agent after the season, but it's very unlikely he'll end up in another uniform at age 37. He could opt to retire, however - going out on top.

Mariano Rivera came on in the eighth and finished off the game in the ninth, retiring the Phillies' Shane Victorino for the final out on a ground ball to second baseman Robinson Cano as the Yankees won a championship in their first year in the new Yankee Stadium. The Yankees also won a title in the first year of the old Yankee Stadium, way back in 1923. They also won that World Series in six games, over the New York Giants.

It was the fifth championship for Pettitte, Rivera, shortstop Derek Jeter and catcher Jorge Posada, all with the Yankees, and the first title for many of their high-priced free agents, such as Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, A.J. Burnett and Matsui. And Johnny Damon became the first player to win championships with the Red Sox and Yankees since Babe Ruth.

Also: List of World Series champions.

Go, go Godzilla: Yankees win World Series originally appeared on About.com Baseball on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 01:07:00.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Game 5 didn't turn much momentum

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:18:19 +0000

After the Philadelphia Phillies won 8-6 on Monday and sent the World Series back to New York for a Game 6 on Wednesday, their body language of the Phillies said it all:

Glad that's over.

As Ryan Madson recorded the last out, the Phillies congratulated each other like they just had knocked off the Nationals in May. Perhaps that's what it's like when a six-run lead almost evaporates in two innings, turning what could have been a momentum-turning event in the World Series into another white-knuckle evening at Citizens Bank Park.

There were a lot of interesting moments in Game 5. Cliff Lee was great in the middle innings, but shaky at the beginning and end this time out. (But he's still 4-0 this postseason.) The Yankees' A.J. Burnett, so good in Game 2, was positively awful on three days' rest. He was so bad that he'll be available in long relief if Andy Pettitte pulls a similar act on Wednesday in Game 6.

And the Phillies never went to Brad Lidge, opting for Madson in the ninth inning, who was every bit as shaky as Lidge was on Sunday night until he struck out Mark Teixeira with Johnny Damon on base and Alex Rodriguez looming on deck.

With Chase Utley swinging one of the hottest bats in postseason history - he tied Reggie Jackson for the most home runs in one World Series with two more long balls on Monday - the Phillies should have a lot more momentum heading back to Yankee Stadium. The Yankees might have to throw two more pitchers on three days' rest - a point that really could hurt in a day or two. But this series still feels like the Yankees are in total control, because their hitters are always pesky and aren't conceding a thing. They're putting all the pressure on the Phillies, and they came very close to cracking like the Liberty Bell again.

It will be a throwback night in the first World Series Game 6 in six years - Pettitte vs. Pedro. Think the New York fans will be on their game for this one?

Game 5 didn't turn much momentum originally appeared on About.com Baseball on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 03:18:19.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Rodriguez delivers a knockout blow in the season's key moment

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:40:25 +0000

Alex Rodriguez and Brad Lidge were essentially having the same postseason - surprisingly good ones - until they met in the ninth inning of Game 4 of the World Series, in the moment that will likely define the 2009 season.

It was a riveting sequence. Tie game, two on, two out, closer vs. clean-up hitter. And it was Rodriguez who erased all the doubts.

His line-shot double off the wall in left scored Johnny Damon with the go-ahead run, and Jorge Posada's two-run single gave Mariano Rivera two more insurance runs as the Yankees stand on the doorstep of their 27th title after beating the Phillies 7-4, taking a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven World Series.

Sunday's Game 4 was the kind of game that defines a series and a season. The Phillies needed to win more, and when Pedro Feliz hit a solo homer in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game against Joba Chamberlain, they had life. (That straight-as-an-arrow fastball is the reason Chamberlain would not be a good closer long-term. It just took three Phillies batters to time it.)

And then Lidge comes on in the ninth and blows away Hideki Matsui and Derek Jeter, the same way he did the Rockies and the Dodgers in the first two rounds, bringing Johnny Damon to the plate.

Damon strokes a clean single to left in a nine-pitch battle with Lidge, then steals second with an infield shift on. When Damon realizes that nobody is covering third, he just keeps running - Lidge's first breakdown - and an alert Damon ratchets the pressure on Lidge even higher. Lidge then hits Mark Teixeira with a pitch, and A-Rod comes through with the game on the line again, just as he didn't do in so many past postseasons that Yankees fans had lost count.

If Damon or Teixeira or Rodriguez is retired, the Phillies have the top of the order at the plate against a Yankees middle reliever in a tie game. Trailing, they have to face Mariano Rivera. Game over.

Rivera got his lead, and the two runs that Posada provided with his gap shot made it academic. Rivera threw a few cutters - everybody in the ballpark knows it's coming, but can't do a thing about it - and the Phillies succumbed to the inevitable.

The Phillies' fatal flaw against the Yankees is that their lineup is too left-handed to be consistently effective. Aside from Chase Utley, they don't hit Sabathia well. Andy Pettitte is left-handed. Lefty Damaso Marte has been effective out of the bullpen. And then there's Rivera, who is death to lefties with the cut fastball that rides in on the bat's handle. He now throws it every single pitch to lefties. Every single pitch. Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Shane Victorino, Raul Ibanez - they all bat left-handed. Feliz, Carlos Ruiz and Jayson Werth are all hitting better in the clutch than those lefties.

Game 5 is tonight, and Cliff Lee must come through again just to send the series back to New York. As Joe Girardi noted after Game 1, Lee can't pitch every day. And that's why they should be planning for a parade in New York.

Rodriguez delivers a knockout blow in the season's key moment originally appeared on About.com Baseball on Monday, November 2nd, 2009 at 02:40:25.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

A lesson for Hamels in Game 3

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 13:02:33 +0000

If you watched the first couple of innings of Game 3 of the World Series and turned the channel (or drifted off to sleep) Saturday night, you'd undoubtedly be surprised at the outcome.

Two innings in, and the Phillies' Cole Hamels looked like he'd found his old self. He was spotting his pitches, had good life on his fastball and was mowing down the Yankees. Andy Pettitte, on the other hand, couldn't find the plate, had already walked in a run and looked lost.

But Hamels fell apart after giving up a questionable home run to Alex Rodriguez - was the camera inadvertently in the field of play? -� and Pettitte battled back as the Yankees took a 2-1 series lead with an 8-5 victory.

"It was tough," Pettitte said to the New York Times. "I'm not going to lie to you, I couldn't put the ball where I wanted to. I wasn't getting it down and away consistently like I wanted to, and I wasn't able to throw my curveball for strikes. It was an absolute grind tonight."

Should Hamels start again this season? Probably not. He's had enough chances, but his next turn would be a possible Game 7. No way he should be out there. It would certainly appear to be Cliff Lee on short rest, for sure. It's a sad fall for Hamels, who was the World Series MVP last season.

In Game 4, it's Joe Blanton of the Phillies against CC Sabathia of the Yankees (on short rest). In fact, it appears that the Yankees' starters will all be on short rest for the rest of the series. It seems a gamble to go with Sabathia with a 2-1 lead, but they want him on the mound for a Game 7. Sabathia has performed very well on short rest in his career (3-1, 1.01 ERA). A.J. Burnett has also done well on short rest (4-0, 2.33 ERA), with three of those starts coming in 2008 for Toronto. He seems likely to be the starter in Game 5 on Monday night.

A lesson for Hamels in Game 3 originally appeared on About.com Baseball on Sunday, November 1st, 2009 at 13:02:33.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Even Pedro cracks a smile in defeat; we've got ourselves a series

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:52:32 +0000

When it comes to crucial moments, the postseason has been somewhat lacking, with none of the six series going the distance. But if the first two games are indicative of what's to come in this World Series, we could have a lot of fun next week.

The Yankees bounced back, thanks to A.J. Burnett, and the World Series is tied 1-1 heading to Philadelphia on Saturday night.

All four pitchers who have started in this series have pitched reasonably well. Both CC Sabathia in Game 1 and Pedro Martinez in Game 2 had good enough stuff to win, but the other guy was just a touch better. And to both, left-handed hitters took them deep into the jet stream in right field at the new Yankee Stadium: the Phils' Chase Utley in Game 1 and the Yankees' Mark Teixeira and Hideki Matsui in Game 2.

Aside from those two pitches, Pedro Martinez turned back the clock on Thursday. He doesn't have the fastball to go with that changeup, but he's as smart as they come on the mound. He's still a vicious competitor, too, and perhaps the best moment of Game 4 came when he was pulled in the seventh inning by Charlie Manuel. He walked off the mound with the scowl he had perfected throughout the first six innings, heard the taunts from the fans and allowed himself to crack a grin.

"I saw a man in the front row with his daughter in one arm and a cup of beer in the other hand and saying all kinds of nasty stuff," Martinez said, according to Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post. "I just told him, 'Your daughter is right beside you.' God, how can you be so dumb?"

Yankees fans were Yankees fans, even in the relatively quiet new Yankee Stadium, and their heroes came through, although it said volumes about the club's middle relief that manager Joe Girardi skipped them altogether in Game 2, going directly to Mariano Rivera in the eighth inning for a six-out save.

The 39-pitch outing was the most Rivera had ever thrown in a World Series game. But with an off-day on Friday, it seemed like the right move.

"You know what you have and what you can do," Rivera said, according to USA Today.� "It's always difficult to pitch in those situations, but you have to do your job."

It was Rivera's 10th career World Series save, extending his own record.

Even Pedro cracks a smile in defeat; we've got ourselves a series originally appeared on About.com Baseball on Friday, October 30th, 2009 at 01:52:32.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Those "Frillies" darn good in Game 1

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:23:28 +0000

It was good-natured fun for the New York Post to antagonize a nemesis this week, but Philadelphia came out fighting in Game 1 of the World Series.

Chase Utley hit homers in his first two at-bats against Yankees ace CC Sabathia - the first lefty to hit two homers off a lefty in a World Series since Babe Ruth, and the first homers Sabathia has given up to a lefty at Yankee Stadium all season - and Cliff Lee was absolutely dominant again in the Phillies' 6-1 victory on Wednesday night in a steady drizzle in the Bronx.

Lee is having a postseason that's approaching legendary status - he's now 3-0 with an 0.54 earned run average in four postseason starts. He threw 122 pitches, 80 for strikes. He had 10 strikeouts and no walks against the best lineup in baseball. That run in the ninth? Unearned. Only Derek Jeter (three hits) was able to do anything against Lee.

Lee's Cy Young season in 2008 came out of nowhere, and after a slow start in Cleveland in April, he looked like he was in danger of becoming a sort of one-hit wonder.

But he's a rock star now. Lee is breaking through to a whole new level in his career, entering the stratosphere among big-league pitchers with this postseason, certainly the best since Josh Beckett's fabulous run two years ago and rivaling some of the best playoff performances in history, such as Curt Schilling in 2001 and Orel Hershiser in 1988 - and even approaching the postseason icons such as Bob Gibson and Sandy Koufax in the 1960s.

Gibson was ferocious; Hershiser was a bulldog. Lee? He's Mr. Cool.

"It's the same game I've been playing my whole life," Lee said after the game to the Philadelphia Daily News. "This is the stage I've wanted to be on since I was a kid. I've already put all the work in. There's no sense in being nervous."

Now it's Pedro Martinez's turn to take the ball and really put the Yankees on their heels in Game 2. Expect Yankees fans, knowing that this is a game the Yankees really need to win, to come out more boisterous on Thursday against an old buddy from the Red Sox and Mets rivalries. It's a certainty that a chant of "who's your daddy" will come raining down from the upper deck rather quickly if anything goes awry. Martinez is 11-11 with a 3.2o ERA lifetime against the Yankees, and 1-1 in the postseason.

A.J. Burnett pitches for the Yankees. The Phillies hit him well in an interleague game on May 22 (five earned runs in six innings), and the Phillies have a history of doing well against Burnett (5-8, 4.75 ERA in 17 starts vs. Phils).

Those "Frillies" darn good in Game 1 originally appeared on About.com Baseball on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 01:23:28.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

The importance of Game 1

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:48:31 +0000

A great nugget from Buster Olney of ESPN.com today:

"The winner of Game 1 of the World Series has won six consecutive World Series, and 11 of the last 12. The winner of Game 1 has also won every series this postseason."

You can make an argument that Game 1 is the actually the least important game - after all, a team has to win three more times, and that increases the desperation factor of the other team, becoming the cliched "must win." Game 5 always stands out as very important, because teams are often tied 2-2, making it the first game of a best-of-3 series. And any Game 7 matchups shoot to the top of the list, obviously.

But Game 1 sets the tone. We get to see which team is more relaxed and prepared, ace pitchers on the mound, all well-rested. There is little to hold back. The better team likely wins. And, in 11 of the last 12 series, goes on to win.

And the big advantage in the game - the home field, and with it last-ups - was decided by star players from other teams way back in July in the All-Star Game, which still seems odd. Yet that's still better than the previous rule, which alternated years between leagues. When I was involved in the coverage of the Indians in 1995 and 1997, they had to start in the NL park both times, and, not so coincidentally, lost those World Series to the Braves and Marlins.

So, aside from tonight's pitching matchup between two of their best pitchers of the past two years, you see why Cleveland fans are a little on the frustrated side.

The weather forecast tonight is for rain - but probably not enough to cancel - and temperatures in the mid-40s.

Preview: Yankees vs. Phillies, with prediction and storylines.

The importance of Game 1 originally appeared on About.com Baseball on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 10:48:31.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

World Series Game 1: By the numbers

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:40:49 +0000

Some minutia gathered from various sources:

.672: Winning percentage of the Yankees since Alex Rodriguez returned to the lineup after hip surgery. He missed the first 28 games.

0.74: Career postseason ERA for Phillies ace Cliff Lee. Of course, that's just the three games this year.

0.77: Career postseason ERA for Yankees closer Mariano Rivera. 84 games, 66 finished, 37 saves.

1: Number of times that two Cy Young Award-winning pitchers have faced off in Game 1, before Wednesday (Lee vs. CC Sabathia). Instead of two ex-Indians, it was one Indian and one Brave. Greg Maddux (Atlanta) vs. Orel Hershiser (Cleveland), 1995. Maddux won it in a 3-2 game at Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta. (From Rob Neyer, ESPN.com)

2: National League teams that have won back-to-back World Series (1921-22 Giants, 1975-76 Reds). The Phillies can make it three.

18: Postseason wins for the Phillies the last two years, against just five defeats.

21: The most total homers ever hit in a World Series, set in 2002 (Angels over Giants). With these lineups in hitter-friendly ballparks, that total is in jeopardy if this series is a close one. (Dave Shenin, Washington Post).

32: Number of World Series games the Phillies have played in.

40: Number of World Series the Yankees have played in.

468: Total homers hit by the Phillies and Yankees this season, a record for World Series teams. (Shenin)

$400,000: Cost of an average 30-second TV spot on Fox for the World Series. (Reuters)

$1.5 billion: The cost of building the site of Game 1, the new Yankee Stadium. That, of course, is also a record.

World Series Game 1: By the numbers originally appeared on About.com Baseball on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 23:40:49.

Permalink | Comment | Email this

Sorry, Cleveland: Those pitchers will look familiar in Game 1

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 02:08:24 +0000

It's going to be a weird, full-circle moment for the new Yankee Stadium in Game 1 of the World Series.

First game back in April: Cliff Lee vs. CC Sabathia. First game of World Series six months later: Cliff Lee vs. CC Sabathia.

Lee won that game way back on April 16 (a 10-2 victory by the Cleveland Indians, when they scored nine runs in the seventh inning). Much has changed in six months, especially for Lee. The Indians traded Lee for prospects - just as they did Sabathia in 2008, and now the lefties are the best two pitchers standing in the postseason.

(The Indians themselves made a move Sunday, hiring former Nationals manager Manny Acta as their new skipper. I smell a retread, although it certainly looks like he was also the top choice of the Houston Astros.)

Wednesday's matchup has to be the first-ever World Series game in which two pitchers who won the last two AL Cy Young Awards faced off, with neither pitching for the team for which they won the award. (Way to go, Cleveland.)

Sabathia, who was selected MVP of the ALCS, did have something to share with those long-suffering Indians fans.

"It's not our fault," he said to the Associated Press, laughing.

Sorry, Cleveland: Those pitchers will look familiar in Game 1 originally appeared on About.com Baseball on Monday, October 26th, 2009 at 02:08:24.

Permalink | Comment | Email this