The Yankees didn’t make it and neither did the Red Sox. At least there was some good news for the Yanks this postseason. The Rays finally overcame Boston in a 3-1 victory tonight.
No Comments »Last night’s home run derby was certainly one for the ages as it was the first and last at Yankee Stadium and Josh Hamilton continued his inspirational comeback with an amazing night. He ended up coming in second since the last round resets the home run count, but I think in the minds of most he was the true winner. Even Justin Mourneu, who officially won, admitted that Hamilton was the big show of the night.
The 27-year-old Ranger hit home run after home run in the first round, breaking Bobby Abreu’s record of 24 by 4. Not only that, but most of those blasts were far and high, going to the back of the stands on a regular basis. The crowd was going crazy and chanting “Ha-mil-ton, Ha-mil-ton, Ha-mil-ton.” The star of the night later said that the sights and sounds of the fans at Yankee Stadium chanting his name like that sent chills through his body. Who would have seen this coming just one year ago?
It was a truly spectacular event and for those who haven’t seen footage from it, you really must. It was a great derby, one that will be remembered for years and one that is certainly very fitting for the last year at Yankee.
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Four more years of Bud are up ahead. The owners voted unanimously today, giving Selig a 3 year extension to his current contract, which would have ended in 2009. So, with this latest extension he is expected to be around until 2012, 20 years after he took the place of Fey Vincent as commissioner. Selig had previously said that he would be retiring after 2009, but apparently he changed his mind; saying today that he will be retiring after 2012. The owners love this guy, so there really shouldn’t be a surprise here since they are the ones who vote.
I on the other hand, like many fans (and the players association), am not so fond of the man. I think we need someone who is more capable and fair when it comes to the steroids problem in baseball. If Mitchell madness does end up tainting the sport, the first man to blame is certainly Selig because he should have dealt with this matter before Congress felt the necessity to jump in. I also believe that selecting George Mitchell was a very bad choice due to Mitchell’s bias. I could go on with that forever, but I won’t.
Bottom line is: Selig is here to stay, whether or not we like it.
By now most of you have probably heard of the recent blockbuster deal between the Detroit Tigers and the Florida Marlins which has sent superstars Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera to Detroit. A few weeks after trading for Edgar Renteria from the Braves, the Tigers are looking like a killer team. These acquisitions should be more than enough to put them ahead of the Indians in the central, which puts the Indians competing for wildcard. As we saw this past the season, the Indians are definetely a good team and that just makes it harder for the other wildcard competitors, most probably either the Yanks or the Red Sox. The AL playoff battle was tough last year with the Tigers the ones who ended up fighting for the wild card, which they eventually lost to the Yanks. It is clear that the owners are serious about winning and they don’t want a repeat, which is why all this talent has been brought over. Now that leaves Cleveland and the second place team in the AL East to fight for wildcard (sorry to the AL West, but the wildcard isn’t coming out of there) and the other one who will no doubt still be a great team, goes home with nothing.
Now on the other side of the ball, is the NL, where there are only a couple of teams that even look like they have a chance to challenge one of the top 5 from the AL. The AL has been dominant for years and this off season has showed us that it isn’t the end. Look at last year: do you seriously think that any of the AL playoff teams would have lost in the World Series to any of the NL playoff teams? Exactly. And this year the AL is better, thats just scary.
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