Sosa considering comeback

Sammy Sosa is considering coming back to baseball to try and reach 600 home runs. Personally, I would hope that no major league team offers Sosa a contract. This is a man who cheated and then lied about it. It is obvious that Sosa was a steroid user and he deserves to sit at home, wondering if he could still go out and get to 600 home runs. When Sosa is eligible for the hall of fame, I would hope that the voters will stand up and not put him in, same for Mark McGwire. While McGwire and Sosa did a lot to resurrect baseball in the late 90s, they still cheated and still deserve to be locked out of the game. Pete Rose was a player who did a lot for the game, but he bet on baseball, so he is now locked out.

Sosa expects that baseball will welcome him back with open arms. Last season the Washington Nationals tried to sign him, offering 500,000, which should be a good deal to a washed up cheater, but Sosa turned it down. By turning down that deal, he effectively ended his career. Sosa should not be welcomed back into the MLB, not only because he is a cheater, but because he can no longer play up to the quality that he once could.

Sosa is off of steroids and old. He is probably much older than his age says. In the past two years his decline has been very evident. Why would a team want a player like Sosa on their team? He is a cheater and a complainer. He was thrown out of the Cubs organization because he didn't support his teammates. He only cares about himself and only wants to come back to reach 600 home runs. Baseball should not support Sosa in his greedy quest for 600.

Ankiel hopes to make Cardinals' return

After Rick Ankiel's collapse during the 2000 playoffs for the St. Louis Cardinals and his struggles that followed it seemed improbable that he would return to the major leagues. However, Ankiel feels that he is ready to fight his way back, not as a pitcher but as an outfielder. Ankiel had never played outfield as a professional until 2005 when he decided to make the switch, but he was a good hitter in high school.

Ankiel seemed to be on the way back to pitching in the majors in 2004, when he pitched in ten innings for the Cards. While he did have a 5.40 ERA, he showed no control issues, but after pitching in the Puerto Rican league that off-season and showing wildness during a practice that winter, he decided to give up on pitching and make the switch to the outfield. Ankiel was able to hit 21 home runs in the low-level minor leagues for the Cardinals, but bad luck struck Ankiel once again, as an elbow injury ended his comeback in 2006.

Still only 27, Ankiel hopes to make it back to the game he loves to play. Ankiel wished he could have been at the World Series, saying, "Just knowing that I could have been there," Ankiel said. "That's pretty much what's going through your mind the whole time you're watching. Other than that, you're excited for them. I know a lot of those guys. I played with a lot of them."

Ankiel will be working all off-season to make his way back to the major leagues and in many ways it would be good for baseball to see the return of one its once prized young talents.

Luis Tiant Sr.: One of many overlooked Negro League stars

When most Red Sox fans here the name Luis Tiant, they think of the man known affectionetly as "El Tiante". The pitcher who led the Red Sox to three wins in the 1975 World Series, when the team was regarded as a major underdog. Despite the fact that the Red Sox lost that series, Tiant became a Red Sox legend. However, before Tiant became a star pitcher in the MLB, his father, Luis Tiant Sr. was a dominant pitcher in the Negro Leagues. Tiant Sr. was one of many major league quality players who were blocked out of the major leagues because of the color barrier. His son would win 229 career games, only to be told that his father was better.

Tiant Sr. was forced to pitch in Cuba for 50 cents a game, because he was not allowed to play professionally in America. Tiant proved that he could pitch well against major league talent, defeating the Babe Ruth All-Stars in two games during 1935 and allowing Ruth to get just one single.

Tiant is like many Negro League stars. He could have been an all-time great and a Hall of Famer, but instead is known only as the father of Luis Tiant, the Red Sox great. It is time for players like Tiant to be recognized.

Star Japanese Pitcher Ready for America

In an off-season with few quality free agents a Japanese pitcher who burst into the consciousness of American baseball fans during this winter's World Baseball Classic could benefit more than anyone else. With only Barry Zito, Alfonso Soriano, and Carlos Lee available as legitamate stars, Daisuke Matsuzaka could be one of the highest paid free agents. With many teams looking for starting pitchers and few to be found, the 26 year old from Tokyo, Japan has become a prized commodity. Matsuzaka will have many teams willing to pay a lot of money for his services, because of his talent and the lack of quality free agents.

Matsuzaka has pitched for the Seibu Lions in Japan's Pacific League since 1999 and has won 108 games over those 8 seasons. As a 19 year old rookie in 1999, he won 16 games with a 2.60 ERA to win the Rookie of the Year award. Last season, in what will be his final year with the Lions, he went 17-5 with a career low 2.13 ERA. Matsuzaka is in the prime of his career and although he has had a heavy workload in his career, including a 240 inning season in 2001, he is ready to make the move to American baseball. Matsuzaka is the most prized Japanese player since Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui moved to America.

He is so popular in Japan that people born in the 1980-1981 period are said to be born in the "Matsuzaka Era." One mysterious part about Matsuzaka is his strange pitch, called the "gyroball" which supposedly moves through the air and seems to come to a dead stop at times.

The pitch can be seen here:



This season there is a major lack of free agents, especially free agent pitchers. The Cardinals' Jeff Weaver and Jeff Suppan moved into the vision of many teams with their success in the playoffs and Zito is the most accomplished of the free agents. Zito, however, has struggled in the past few seasons, but is still young and should still be signed for a lot of money. Zito was solid for the A's this season, finishing with a 16-10 record and a 3.83 ERA, but after a 1.67 ERA in the ALDS, he had a 12.27 ERA in the ALCS. Jason Schmidt is also a free agent, and while at times he has been one of the game's best pitchers he, like Zito, has struggled in recent times. Schmidt went 11-9 last season. Matsuzaka is being pursued by many teams, including the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Baltimore Orioles, all of whom are desperatly looking for pitching help.

All-Time All-Star Team

A 22 man panel of experts selected a "All Time All-Star Team" for Sports Illustrated a few weeks ago. The team was solid, with good players from top to bottom and all the choices could be justified. However, in many ways the lineup was wrong.

SI's lineup and the article that explains it can be read here

My 25-man roster would be different. It is impossible to really judge who is the best of all-time, because of all the differances in eras. During the early days, contact hitting was valued more than power, during certain eras the pitchers weren't as good and during others the hitters weren't as good. Through looking through stats and the impact players had on their own generation and the game as a whole, a team can be made.

Before getting into the roster I would have, I looked at an article by ESPN's Scoop Jackson, which is linked too in the title of this blog. Jackson does not give his own team, but shows that two of baseball's top players of all-time have been left off, Satchel Paige and Roberto Clemente. Jackson also discusses Barry Bonds and many Negro League stars being left off, insuiating that racism played a role in the selection of the team. While I feel that racism did not play a role, I think it is a disgrace that Paige was left off. Bonds can be justified by the steroid use, because in my opinion, his "post-steroid career" could not have been worthy of this list, and if he had continued at that level of production, would have come close but would have been just left off.

Here is my roster:

Catchers (2)

Johnny Bench and Yogi Berra - I agree with SI on both catchers. While I had to consider whether Mike Piazza belonged on the list, I decided he did not. Bench and Berra dominated their eras, were solid defensively, were good leaders, and also hit well.

First Base (2)

SI cheated when the put Stan Musial in this category, he was an outfielder first, a first baseman second, so I take him off of the list. He played nearly 900 more games in the outfield than at first base. He can and will be considered for the outfield, but Musial is not a All-Star at first base.

Lou Gehrig: I agree with SI again here, Gehrig is deserving of this spot. Gehrig would have reached 3000 hits, at least 500 home runs, and over 2000 RBI if his career was not cut short by disease. Gehrig is the best first baseman of all-time.

Jimmie Foxx: I think the fact that Foxx was not on this team is embarrassing. Foxx was not as good of an all-around hitter as Gehrig, he did not get close to 3000 hits and never had as many doubles or triples or RBI. But Foxx is the best power hitting first baseman that was not influenced by steroids (Mark McGwire). Foxx had 534 career home runs and a .325 career batting average.

Second Base (1):

Jackie Robinson can be considered for this position, but I think he deserves special acknowledgement for breaking the color barrier, but is not the greatest second baseman of all-time. I decided to only put one second baseman on the team.

Rogers Hornsby: Hornsby is one of the greatest hitters ever to play. He hit .400 an amazing three times and had a .356 career average. He won the triple crown two times in is career. While Joe Morgan, Nap Lajoie, Eddie Collins, and Robinson deserve recognition, Hornsby is better than all four of them. Hornsby's best season, 1924, represents how good he was, Hornsby went hitless in just 24 games as he batted .424 to win the batting title. Hornsby won seven batting titles and retired with the second highest batting average in baseball history.

Shortstop (2):

Honus Wagner and Alex Rodriguez: I agree with SI on this one. Wagner represents the old school shortstop, with his 3,420 hits and 723 steals. A-Rod represents the new age of shortstops, with his 464 home runs.

Third Base (1):

Mike Schmidt: SI made a good choice here. Schmidt is the perfect third baseman. He was an amazing defensive player, winning ten Gold Gloves, while also winning three MVPs and hitting 548 career home runs.

Outfielders (8):

Outfield is by far the hardest position to pick, as many of the greatest players in baseball have come from the outfield. SI had 7 outfielders, I decided to take away the extra second baseman and add an outfielder because of that reason. Really I decided to move Musial to the outfield as he remains on the team. I decided to take Joe DiMaggio off the team and replace him with Tris Speaker, because Speaker was the better player. Speaker was the second best player of the first 20 years of recorded baseball and he deserves to be on this list.

Babe Ruth
Hank Aaron
Ty Cobb
Tris Speaker
Mickey Mantle
Ted Williams
Stan Musial
Willie Mays

Other than Satchel Paige, the pitchers that SI chose are the ones I would choose as well, they did a good job. I would take Spahn off the team and move Paige on.

Greg Maddux and Pedro Martinez both have strong cases to be on the list, but there is no one for them to replace.

Its always a difficult thing for the best players to be picked and SI did a good job trying.

Trot Nixon: The end of an era

For eight seasons Trot Nixon was one of the faces of the Red Sox franchise. With his hard nosed, "Dirt Dog" style of play, he quickly became a popular player with the passionate Boston baseball fans. He never complained about lack of playing time, never sulked when injured, and was always doing something to help the community. Nixon was never a superstar for the Red Sox, but he had a few very good seasons and was always a consistent player, when not injured. Nixon has been dealt a lot of bad luck, especially in the past few seasons, and has missed a lot of time due to injuries.

While one of the memorable moments of Nixon's career, especially for non-Red Sox fans, is the time he threw a ball into the stands against the Angels, when there were only two outs, Nixon is known in Red Sox nation as a gritty player who has come through in the clutch many times. His 133 career home runs does not seem great, but that number would be higher if not for the injuries.

Nixon is expected to file for free agency after the World Series, when players are allowed to. The Red Sox could pursue Nixon, but most likely will not, as the team has a two young outfielders, David Murphy and Wily Mo Pena, ready to step in and play in right field and also could pursue a free agent outfielder. With Nixon in the decline of his career and because of his injury history, it appears that the era of Trot in right field at Fenway is now over.

Back on October 2nd, Nixon played what could be his final game as a Red Sox player at Fenway park. While he is a man who does not often wear his emotions on his sleeve, Nixon stopped at home plate and tipped his helmet to the fans, showing appreciation for their years of cheers.

"I love this city, I love the people who have made this organization what it is right now. The front office, they understand that, they know that and if it doesn’t work out maybe there’s an opportunity later in my career where I can still come back and be a part of this organization. I would love to play my entire career with one team. I would love to end my career here," Nixon said after the game.

Nixon is a player who is loved by both the fans and his teammates. Manager Terry Francona also feels that Trot will be missed, " It’s hard not to be close to players like Trot. He’d run through a wall for you."

Whether Nixon returns to the Red Sox or not, he will be a player that will always have a special place in the hearts of Red Sox fans.

Ken Macha Fired: Was It Fair?

Following the Oakland Athletics loss to the Detroit Tigers, general manager Billy Beane fired the team's manager, Ken Macha. Macha had been criticized openly by more than one starter in the past few weeks and was fired despite bringing the A's to the ALCS. Macha had two years and just over 2 million dollars left on his contract.

The complaints against Macha were major. Some players even went as far as to tell Beane that they did not want to return to the team if Macha remained as manager. Because of the complaints and the fact that Macha was unable to take the A's beyond the ALCS, in what was probably the team's greatest opportunity to go far since Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson were traded, and good be the last season that any of the "Big Three" pitches for Oakland, as Barry Zito will probably leave after this season.

Macha has been regarded by many as a poor ingame manager, as well as being cold to his players. Macha has made some decisions over the years that are questionable, especially u pinch hitting Adam Melhuse for Jermaine Dye against the Red Sox in 2003, when the Sox beat the A's in Game 5 of the ALDS, later claiming he pinch hit for Dye because he figured Dye would be walked. Also during the ALCS Macha burned out Kiko Calero and misused Huston Street, pitching him for three innings, bringing him in during the seventh, which may have made sense, but then leaving him in to face Magglio Ordonez, who hit a home run off of him, even though he appeared to be tired. Grady Little was fired because one publicly poor decision revealed a lot of bad decisions throughout the season, Macha was fired for the same thing.

Detroit Tigers: America's New Team?

The Detroit Tigers have become the biggest story of the 2006 playoff in the same way that the Chicago White Sox became the team of last season. The Tigers are a team that most fans can love, unless they are a Yankees or Athletics fan. The Tigers have an older manager, who represents everything good about the game of baseball. He is a hard worker, he motivates the team, he loves the game and is players, and most importantly, he wears cleats in the dugout, something no managers seem to do anymore. The Tigers are a team that were the biggest losers in baseball just three seasons ago. Now this year they are on the way to the World Series. After nearly becoming the team to lose the most games in baseball history, the Tigers are the top team in the game.

The Tigers are a team not made up of high paid stars, like the Yankees, but a group of players who compliment each other and are a true team. The fans in Detroit love this team and so do many fans across the country. Seeing the team celebrate with the fans in Detroit after winning in the ALCS was something that I will never forget. Players who were on the losing team, like Jeremy Bonderman and Brandon Inge are now stars. Young players, like Justin Verlander and Joel Zumaya have emerged onto the baseball scene, becoming stars themselves. Magglio Ordonez and Ivan Rodriguez are the biggest stars on the team and have played great this postseason.

The team is very similar to the 2003 Florida Marlins, who also were led by an older manager, Jack McKeon. The team was young, with good veterans, that won the World Series. The Tigers are on their way to become like the Marlins, by also winning the World Series.

Putting Baseball in Perspective

82-72 career record.

4.57 career ERA.

Looking at the stats you have to say that the pitcher has had a relatively good career. His record is about .500 and his ERA is average. An average pitcher, which is good, considering how many below average pitchers there are in this country.

1 wife.

1 six year old son.

2 parents.

1 twin brother.

Those stats however are what stick out and mean more when it comes to the story of Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle. On a day when four baseball teams were gearing up for "important" games. On a day where Sportscenter was sure to be devoted to baseball coverage, leading up to the night's "big" games. On that day, everything was about Cory Lidle and rightfully so. Lidle, who was just 34 years old, died in a plane crash on Wedensday, October 10.

Lidle, whose son Chris turned six just three weeks ago, was flying his small plane, along with a flight instructor, along the East River in Manhattan. Something went wrong and Lidle ended up trying to avoid skyscraper apartment buildings and while trying to dodge one building, he ended up flying into the living room of a 4oth floor apartment.

CNN began their coverage of a plane crashing into a building as just another "Could it be terrorism?" story. I happened to flip by and seeing that a plane had hit a building, I decided to stop and watch. I kept the story on in the background as I did other things and after awhile began to get bored with it, it wasn't terrorism, it was just an accident. I didn't know the person, so why should I really care? I felt bad of course when I heard the pilot had died, but it didn't affect me much.

But right before heading out to class I heard something that shocked me. The CNN commentator said that the plane was owned by New York Yankees' pitcher Cory Lidle, and that it is believed he was in the plane when it crashed into the building. Now the story had a face. I could not believe what I had just heard. This was a guy that I cheered against just a few days before, rooted on the Tigers to put on some more runs, off of Lidle. This was a guy who I have watched pitch many times, against the Red Sox and other teams. While I still don't know him personally, somehow a name you know makes the story more real.

I feel so bad for Cory's son Chris, who now will grow up without his dad. On Sportscenter last night, a report about the family said that Chris' first words after he heard about the crash were, "I know it had to be a malfunction. My dad is a good pilot." Its awful that this kid will have to grow up without the man he idolizes. Chris' mother, Melanie, now has to go on without her husband and I feel terrible about that.

We watch baseball with a passion. We love it, we idolize the players. But sometimes we have to realize that baseball really is just a game. Cory Lidle was a guy who saw that. He took time to raise money for charities, playing in and organizing poker tournaments for the Make-A-Wish foundation. He was just a normal guy who happened to be a good pitcher and that was his attitude.

Alan Schwartz, a baseball writer who had become friendly with Lidle over the years, talked to people at Amsterdam Billiards, a place Schwartz had recommended Lidle should go to play pool. Lidle did go often and the manager said that Cory was just like one of the guys. He was willing to talk about his job as a pitcher and he never ignored anyone who wanted to talk to him or asked for an autograph.

Lidle was truly a great guy. He will be missed by many.