The holidays came early for us baseball fans this weekend. Two way Japanese phenom Shohei Ohtani signed with the Los Angeles Angels, significantly strengthening their pitching and offense. Ohtani’s new teammate, Mike Trout, is getting married to fiancé Jessica Cox. Also, the New York Yankees have been reported as the winners of the Giancarlo Stanton sweepstakes, making the Yankees lineup look a lot like the 1927 Murders Row.
Category: Teams
Here you will find articles and other things about our beloved teams!
What Joe Girardi Did Wrong in Game 2 of the ALDS
In second game of the 2017 American League Division series, Yankees manager Joe Girardi made some questionable mistakes. It looked like it was supposed to be a pitching duel with Cy Young front runner Corey Kluber against postseason veteran CC Sabathia. Kluber fell apart giving up six earned runs. By the sixth inning, the Yankees were up 8-3. With two runners on and one out, Girardi brings in Chad Green to face Lonnie Chisenhall. CC was over 70 pitches, but clearly still had gas in the tank and wanted to stay in the game. Green, with a two strike count, supposedly hit Chisenhall. The ball clearly hit the bat and went into catcher Gary Sanchez’s glove. Sanchez and Chase Headley were yelling at their skipper to challenge the play, but he did not. If he did, the pitch would be void and redone. Because of Girardi’s hesitance, Chisenhall was awarded first base. Now, Lindor comes up, hits a grand slam, and now it’s a one run game.David Robertson comes in, who pitched 3.1 innings in the Wild Card game, a career most. He gives up the game tying home run to Jay Bruce. Girardi later brings in Chapman, who pitchers 2+ innings, and Dellin Betances, who blows the game, with 2+ innings of work. Such use of relievers in the playoffs has been proved not good as shown in Aroldis Chapman’s arm discomfort in the 2016 World Series. If Girardi keeps on messing up these crucial games, his career as Yankees manager is in danger.
News Around the League
Since the All-Star break, many things have happened. Rangers’ third baseman Adrian Beltre collected his 3,000th hit, Yankees OF Brett Gardner hit a walk off home run and a walk off single in three games, Rays’ Evan Longoria hit for the cycle becoming the second player in franchise history to complete this feat, and Edinson Volquez went down for the year with Tommy John surgery. Also, the Yankees made a lot of moves in their race to the postseason. They acquired pitcher Sonny Gray from the Athletics, Todd Frazier, Tommy Kahnle, and David Robertson from the White Sox. Yu Darvish went from the Rangers to the Dodgers, and the Rockies got Jonathon Lucroy.
Did You Know?: New York Sports Teams
- The New York Yankees had a mascot called Dandy from 1979 to 1981. It was shaped like a bowling pin and had a Thurman Munson mustache. George Steinbrenner did not like the look so Dandy was archived and never seen again.
- The New York Mets is actually a shortened version of the full team’s name. Mets is short for Metropolitans, a tribute to New York. So, technically, the Mets full name is the New York Metropolitans.
- The Yankees were originally called the Highlanders.
- It was rumored that there was a jail cell beneath the original Yankee Stadium. There is no proving evidence, letting us to believe this rumor is false.
- The Mets have a large apple underneath the batters eye that shoots through the tunnel into sight whenever a Met goes deep.
- The Yankees removed the retired numbers circle on the concourse near the Monument Park Store before the 2017 season.
- The Manchester City Football Club plays some games at Yankee Stadium.
- The Mets’ current stadium is Citi Field, but the original Mets’ stomping grounds was Shea Stadium.
Top Ten Baseball Hats
All players are required to wear headgear that clearly exhibits which team you are on, whether it is a batting helmet or regular baseball cap. The headgear must remain the same for each player on one team except for slight variations like sweat marks or folding the brim. These teams demonstrate the best hats in my opinion: (Based on style. In other words, would people wear this as a fashion accessory?)
10. Cleveland Indians “C” hat
9. Miami Marlins home black “M” hat
8. Boston Red Sox home “B” hat
7. MLB Umpire Hat
6. Pirates home “P” hat
5. Diamondbacks blue alternate hat
4. Washington Nationals red home hat
3. New York Mets classic home hat
2. New York Yankees traditional hat
1. Los Angeles Dodgers’ traditional hat
Secret Minnesota Twins Meaning
The Minnesota Twins have not be known for winning in the past few years, but their home jersey continues to suggest why the fans show up. On this jersey, Twins is displayed in blue letters across the blank front. Underneath the franchise name is a line. The line is under the “win” portion of Twins, putting emphasis on their (hopefully) winning nature.
AL East Rivalry News and Notes
The Yankees and Red Sox have a storied rivalry involving players. Bucky Dent, Aaron Boone, Babe Ruth. These are some of the names that make these games tense. But before the 2017 mid season series, both teams suffered setbacks. Yankees starting pitcher Michael Pineda is most likely out for the season with a partially torn UCL. There have been rumors that the Yankees would deal Pineda at the Trade Deadline, for he is in his last year of his contract. Now, the Yankees are stuck with an injured arm. Pineda is seeking a second opinion, but it looks grim for the tall righty. On the Boston side of the things, the Sox management parted with possibly the worst contract in team history, Pablo Sandoval. The former San Francisco hero signed a five year, $95 million dollar deal with the Red Sox after winning a World Series with the Giants in 2016. Sandoval played just 161 games over his first three years of the contract. The Red Sox owe him more than $50 million dollards over the last two years of his deal.
Explaining the Retro Brewers Logo
The Milwaukee Brewers retro logo from the 80s and is being reused during present times is normal in plain sight. But, it indeed has a secret meaning.
The logo, at first glance, looks like a baseball mitt. If you look closer, you will see a baseball in the mitt with only one visible seam. The cool part is that the fingers of the mitt is actually the scripted “M” from the Milwaukee on the jerseys. The thumb and the palm are connected to make a “B.” The “B” is for Brewers.The letters are blue and the outline is yellow, the team’s primary colors. Overall, pretty hard work from the team’s graphic design team proved to be great in creating a logo with a double meaning.
Yankees YES TV Station
Like every team, the Yankees needed a network where they could put their games on. They Yankees bought a TV station called Yes. When they are not showing their games, they could be found showing the Yankees Classics or Yankeeography. Michael Kay, the most seen person on the channel, won a EMMY for his hit interviewing show, Centerstage. Overall, YES Network is a great sporting network for Yankee Fans.
Braves Might Have Most Consistent Pitching Staff for 2017
The Braves were one of the first teams to strike this postseason. They recently signed Bartolo Colon and R.A. Dickey, both older than 40. These two pitchers have really upped their starting pitching. In 2016, the Braves’ only consistent starter was All Star Julio Teheran. Now, with Colon and Dickey, they will be more solid. Colon has pitched 30 or more games each of the last four seasons. He also provided the A’s and Mets 14 or more wins each of those seasons. Dickey has actually pitched in 30 or more games each of the last six seasons. With this added consistency, the Braves have the potential to lift their club to a new level.