Category Archives: MLB

A Rod Trying to Fly Under the Radar

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By Ellen Chlumecky

April 3, 2015

The day has come back where Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees returns to the grand stage during spring training to debut what he’s been doing during his suspension. Many Yankees fans and baseball fans recall the trial regarding Alex Rodriguez. For almost two whole years, Alex Rodriguez denied he ever used banned substances from a Coral Gables anti-aging clinic. In 2013, he finally admitted getting testosterone creams, lozenges laced with testosterone and human growth hormone injections from the fake doctor Anthony Bosch. Anthony Bosch not only lied to him about what the drugs would do, but he also gave him tips on how to beat the MLB’s drug testing.

In 2013, Alex Rodriguez was reduced from a 211 game suspension to a 162 game suspension. He received the longest suspension of all the MLB players. Rodriguez’s statement fortified the criminal steroid case against Bosch and indicated his cousin as the middleman. He also admitted that he had used performance-enhancing substances as a member of the Texas Rangers in 2001-03. Recently he wrote a handwritten apology letter to his fans. He’s trying to cover all his basics before coming back this season. I am not sure that he has everyone convinced though.

Media constantly question Yankee manager Joe Girardi about Rodriguez’s return to spring training. Their main question is if Alex Rodriguez has been a distraction during spring training. Girardi is of the opinion that no one is bothered by the media. He said none of the players are bothered or distracted either. Girardi thinks things will be fine and will return back to normal quickly. Sounds plausible, right?

As far as we know, Girardi’s intuition was correct. Rodriguez has settled comfortably back onto the Yankees. While the media has been hounding them, it’s nothing that they’re not accustomed to already. Girardi believes that the media doesn’t believe Rodriguez is high up on their radar right now.

However, it almost seems scripted on how Rodriguez has been responding to the media. He has recited general thankfulness and obedience to the Yankee staff every day he’s been interviewed. He expressed a want to just play baseball and to perform well for the team. He said, “I’ll tell you that I’m a lot more happy, fortunate, and grateful than I was twelve months ago.” He is acting in a professional manner as I’m sure his superiors told him to act.

It’s odd to see his transition. He went from suing the league to sticking the “mistakes were made” defense now to the loyal, devoted player. So far so good for A Rod, but we have the whole season to see what unfolds.

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Let Pete In

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By Kaleb Page

March 19, 2015

The year was 1989 and Major League Baseball brought down the lifetime ban on one of its greatest players. A player that is the all-time hits leader for the highest level of baseball and known for his remarkable hustle on the field.

That player is none other than Pete Rose. The legendary Cincinnati Red (and Philadelphia Philly) was found guilty of breaking one of baseballs biggest rules: There shall be no betting on the game of baseball.

A simple rule that was more or less brought into effect after the Black Sox scandal that rocked the baseball world back in the 1920’s. However, Pete broke that rule and bet on the game while managing for the Reds. It wasn’t just the betting that found ‘charlie hustle’ in the MLB doghouse, it was also is insistence that he was innocent.

Ultimately Rose was found to be lying and banished from the game of baseball for life; an unfitting end for one of the most iconic players in the history of baseball.

A three-time World Series champion, 17 time All-Star and three-time national league batting champion (with 4,256 hits) should have a more prestigious ending than being shunned by the sport he gave so much to.

The debate over this topic has raged on especially with the likes of past commissioner Bud Selig. Selig was a major proponent of the ban and kept a firm stance all the way to his retirement this past year to keep Rose out of baseball.

The video above is from a past ESPN First Take episode where they debated the issue of Rose’s ban along with what might happen. It is interesting to see this story play itself out and develop even more as there was a new development in the case.

This week Rose sent a formal request to new commissioner Rob Manfred. This formal request asking for the removal of his lifetime ban. This new commissioner said he will consider the request, but wants to get all the facts in place (along with talking to Pete) before making a decision.

The video above is a more recent video from First Take where they talked a bit more extensively on the possibility of Rose’s reinstatement. The debate on the show is an interesting one and one that I have heard many times before.

As a Cincinnati Reds fan I know it is hard to contain the resentment towards the league about this ban on Rose, especially when players that do performance enhancers merely get a slap on the wrist in comparison to Rose’s punishment. It has been 26 years of time spent banished from the game of baseball.

That time should be up now.

I think those in the media that say time has been served are absolutely right. It has been long enough, for a man who played the game hard night in and night out, to get the honor he so rightfully deserves. He deserves much more than a cheesy commercial about being in the hall when he shouldn’t, and instead a formal enshrinement in Cooperstown next to the other legends of the game.

For Pete’s Sake!…Lift the ban.

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Should You Get Rewarded After Any Steroid Use

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By Kia Tyus

February 26, 2015

The New York Yankees have decided to retire three more jerseys. One of those jerseys being number 46, Andy Pettitte.

Pettitte was a stellar athlete for the Yankees. With the team he won 5 championships and spent his whole career 16-season career in a Yankee uniform.

My question for you is does Pettitte deserve to have his jersey retired? Think about it as you read.

Professional sports teams have been known to cover their star players for their poor actions off the field.

In 2007, Pettitte admitted to using the drug HGH in 2002 to speed up a recovery from an elbow injury.

Recently, the Yankees have absolutely ripped apart superstar Alex Rodriguez for his steroid scandal. They acted like they were an organization who held their players to high standards.

Now, in the middle of this Rodriguez scandal, the Yankees make a controversial choice to retire Pettitte’s number even after Pettitte admitted to using a banned substance.

Even a former teammate of Pettitte’s Chuck Knoblauch made reference to the fact that Pettitte’s jersey is getting retired but it’s like the Yankees are ignoring the fact that he did in fact use HGH. Knoblauch tweet read, “Congrats to 46. Yankees retiring his number. Hopefully they don’t retire it like his HGH testimony.”

To me, it is an honor if you get your jersey retired. It means that you made history, paved the way for younger players, was an outstanding citizen, and did so by still following the rules of the game. Pettitte simply did not do this.

Sports Center brought up a great debate, on if Pettitte is really worthy of this honor. Now granted it is not the Hall of Fame, but your jersey being retired on any team especially the legendary Yankees, your respect for the game is not there.

Now I ask you, should Pettitte’s jersey be retired, and should the Yankees one day retire Alex Rodriguez jersey? Is there a different between what they both did?

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The Walls of Rodriguez are Crumbling

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By Kaleb Page

February 20, 2015

Years ago as a young kid looking to get my hands on sports books to read, I came across a book about an athlete that intrigued me. I had this feeling that he was going to be a special player even more so than he already was. This player was a young budding star in the MLB playing shortstop for the Texas Rangers.

His name was Alex Rodriguez.

As the years passed, I guess my feeling did come true with how Rodriguez turned into a larger than life athlete in the MLB. Eventually he inked a deal in 2007 with the marquee team in the league, the New York Yankees, a deal so astronomical it still can blow your mind (10 years for $275 million).

Now as I mentioned earlier Rodriguez grew into this larger than life figure on the field, and it wasn’t just figuratively speaking either; it was definitely literal too. As soon as he switched from the Rangers to the Yankees he began to grow from a decent sized player to a rather hulking man who eventually moved over to third base.

With the eventual steroids scandal that rocked the MLB and prominent player being popped for it, one player had a big mark on his back. That player just so happened to be Rodriguez and rightfully so was he questioned and looked to since he had such a quick body transformation. In fact, back in 2009 Rodriguez sat down on ESPN admitting his usage of steroids from 2001-03.

However, this story was just merely a scratch on the surface with how Rodriguez was involved in the world of steroids.

Then in 2013 Rodriguez found himself back in another ring of steroid use when trying to rehab from hip surgery. As it came to light, his involvement with Anthony Bosch and Bosch’s Biogenesis corporation dropped Rodriguez in even bigger trouble.

His involvement resulted in him missing a substantial amount of time in 2014 (162 games) and with Bosch’s conviction Tuesday (four years in prison); Rodriguez is toeing the line of being banned from baseball for good.

I find it interesting that Rodriguez has been laying this low for this long. It has been far different from guys like Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa or even Mark McGuire in how the media handled their steroid convictions. It seemed as if the storm around their convictions raged on for months and never ended (maybe in part to the time the convictions came out).

It will be interesting to see where this whole thing goes, especially with baseball season approaching. It also will be interesting to see the dissection of a statement issued by Rodriguez on Tuesday trying to distance himself from not only Bosch but his past involving steroids. As spring training approaches and more is made of his statement, I wonder if it will grow to the level we saw with Bonds.

I can remember watching TV and all you would see is every stadium Bonds attended full of signs against everything he did. Will it be the same this season for Rodriguez if he plays? I can’t imagine it being any easier than it was with Bonds. This mainly being due to how adamant he was way back when about being clean and then turning around admitting his guilt. I also see the media scrutiny and pressure from questions before or after games ramping up as well.

I’m sure as Rodriguez wrote that letter today, he thought back to a time when things were much better, a time where a young kid like me was picking up a book about him being the next big thing to look up to.

Now kids see him as nothing more than another baseball cheat.

As the walls come tumbling down it makes you think ‘oh how the mighty have fallen.’

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Redefining the “Time” in Our Nation’s Pastime

By Savannah Malnar

Baseball has a reputation as a relatively relaxing sport, the kind of sport that one enjoys on a summer day with a cold drink. Unfortunately, many people now feel that relaxed pace is boring. Games stretch to three hours long, compared to the classic days when games were roughly two and a half hours long. To counter this growing trend of long games, the owners of MLB teams have one bright idea: make the pitches come faster.

Pitch clocks were first introduced in the Arizona Fall League (an offseason league owned by the MLB where high level prospects play) in 2014 and the average game time dropped almost a full half an hour. These clocks gave the pitcher 20 seconds to get set to get the pitch off after they receive the ball from the catcher, and if they don’t, a ball is added to the batter’s count. With fast-paced culture we live in now, even that reduced game length is a good amount of time for escapism. In fact, a poll of 1,500 people conducted by a blogger for SB Nation showed that more than half of them thought the perfect length of a baseball game would be between 2:30 and 2:45 which aligns perfectly to the average produced by these pitch clocks.

So, perfect, right? Not quite. Unfortunately, MLB pitchers are not used to being rushed at the mound. While this is the case, many sport media outlets highlighted the fact that the MLB actually already has a rule in place for how quickly a pitch should be thrown. Rule 8.04 gives the umpire the right to add a ball to the batter’s count if the pitcher doesn’t pitch within 12 seconds. That’s not even accomplished by even the fastest pitcher (according to Baseball Prospectus), Mark Buehrle of Toronto, who on average gets his pitches flying within 15-16 seconds. Even farther from this official rule are many closers (which makes the end of games drag even longer) and pitchers like Cy Young winner David Price who’s pace is an average 24 seconds, longer than the proposed pitch clock allows.

A concern among the media is that this pitch clock will throw off pitchers like Price. Baseball is an extremely mental game, and these highly trained athletes all have their own routines; some just take longer than others. But it may be time to phase out the waiting game some pitchers play.

The pitch clock will be implemented in Double-A and Single-A minor league games this coming season as a trial run. If the MLB observes a reduce in game time without much sacrifice in game quality, I think we can expect to see the 20 second rule implemented in the Major leagues as soon as 2016.

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Cubs and Sox: Busy, Busy Bees

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By Ellen Chlumecky

Chicago baseball fans have been buzzing this week because of the amount of trading going around with the North Side Cubs and the South Side White Sox. With trading some beloved Chicago players to acquiring some big names in the baseball world, fans’ heads are spinning with the amount of tumultuous deals going on. However, not everything is running smoothly right off the bat and not everyone is enthusiastic about the players that have been acquired by each team. As the age-old story goes with fans, you don’t get to pick who’s on your team but it doesn’t mean they won’t get complain about it.

On the South Side, the Chicago White Sox have snatched up several new players for next season. The lineup of new players includes: Jeff Samardzija, David Robertson, Melky Cabrera, Zach Duke, Dan Jennings, and Adam LaRoche. Micah Johnson and Rob Brantly are currently under debate right now. While the lineup is clearly stacked, the adjustment to so many players at once currently stands to be a problem. Namely a problem with Melky Cabrera. Cabrera had been suspended for 50 games and missed the end of the 2012 season because of elevated levels of testosterone. There has been quite a bit of controversy because of his mistake. While the biggest draw for the White Sox was Cabrera’s .351 on-base percentage in 2014 and his .339 OPB over his 10-year career. General Manager stated that “he respected the fact that Cabrera accepted and served his penalty and lived with the consequences, and he’s done his best to put it behind him.” They have a great amount of opportunity, if they can use these opportunities correctly.

While on the North Side, the Chicago Cubs have not been slouching on the trades either. In addition to the hiring of new coach, Joe Maddon, the Chicago Cubs have also acquired minor league pitcher Matt Brazis. The Cubs traded Justin Ruggiano to the Seattle Mariners for Brazis. In addition to acquiring pitcher Jason Motte. Their biggest catch though is the deal of snagging all-stars Jon Lester and Miguel Montero. However fans are not too happy about the Ruggiano trade, the Cubs management are looking into acquiring impact players who will provide leadership for the team, such as: Justin Upton and Jonny Gomes. While gaining Upton is unlikely, Gomes has connections with Maddon and might be a likely option for another trade. The Cubs management is very excited about the new steps for the next season.

While the buzz among Chicago baseball fans is growing louder and louder, there is nothing they can but just watch the trades come through the door. No matter what happens at the end of the day Cubs fans will continue to say, “this is our year.”

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Hunter Returns Home

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By Kate Roth

Throughout his 16 years in Major League Baseball, Torii Hunter has become a household name not only for his play, but for his character. Hunter has always been a fan favorite no matter where he goes and even makes it hard on the opposing teams’ fans to cheer against him. He’s just a likable guy, period.

One of the things that made Hunter such a popular player with the fans and the media is his loyalty to his first true baseball home, Minnesota. Minnesota is where Hunter and his baseball career took off back in 1999 before leaving the franchise in 2007 to play for Los Angeles Angels and then the Detroit Tigers in 2012. Even when Hunter was playing for these two teams he would still speak very highly of the Twins organization and the great fans as the media would gather around him on every trip back to Minnesota.

The love between Hunter and the Twins organization and fans was not a one way street either. Often while watching Torii play back in Minnesota you would see fans holding up signs saying “Come Home Torii” or “We love Hunter” to show that they still had love and respect for their former player.

Well now Twin fans do not have to wish for Hunter to come any longer because he is back. After a disappointing end to the season with the Tigers last season Hunter turned to free agency and settled on a one year deal with the Twins to return back home.

As we all know, baseball is not one of the most heavily covered sports in the media especially at this time of the year with the NFL, NBA, and college football and basketball seasons in full go so it was great to see this story grab some of the headlines.

Last year during the MLB season we saw the media grab a hold of the Derek Jeter retiring story and take off with it. I think Torii Hunter returning home could end up to be another great story like that. People are tired of seeing all of the negativity in sports media especially over this past year, so a story like this could boost everyone’s spirits and give recognition to a player that I believe truly deserves it.

The road will not be easy for Hunter as he returns home to a team that has struggled greatly throughout the past four seasons, but there is no doubt in my mind that he is up for the challenge.

Hunter will join veteran Joe Mauer as the faces of the franchise and together help to guide the young players that make up the Minnesota Twins roster.

This team will be quite a bit different from the teams that Hunter has been playing on for the past seven years, but truly I believe that this is where he belongs. When I hear the name Torii Hunter I instantly picture him in his Minnesota Twins uniform playing in front of crowd that has grown up loving him and saw him grow into the all-star he has become today.

The first game that he takes the field in Minnesota in the 2015 season is building up to be something quite special not only for the Twins organization, but for the world of baseball as a whole.

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Number of Cuban Defectors in MLB Continues to Grow

By Matt Rogers

Throughout the history of Major League Baseball, Latino players have played a large role in the success and popularity of the league. The number of Latino players has risen greatly in recent years because of the level of talent of the players. Usually, scouts for MLB teams can go into Latino countries, like the  Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Puerto Rico. The one Latino country that American scouts have not had much luck with is the island of Cuba.

Players that come from Cuba to play in Major League Baseball have to illegally defect from their country in order to do so. Ways that some of these players have reportedly defected are to stray away from the team during international team play in foreign countries and by boat to the port of Miami, Florida. If these people are caught by the Cuban Coast Guard, they are usually jailed for large numbers of years. This makes it difficult for these players to come to the United States to play because they are forbidden by the Cuban government to play in the United States, unless they are traveling with the Cuban national team.

Defection has become more prevalent for Cuban players in recent years because of the money that they can make in the Major Leagues as opposed to the amount they are paid to play in Cuba. The players often leave behind their families to come to the United States because they live and play in such poor conditions in Cuba. This was portrayed in a recent ESPN 30 for 30 film, Brothers in Exile, which told the story about brothers Livan and Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez. Both of the brothers played pivotal roles on two championship MLB teams in the late 1990’s.

Some of the more prominent players that have defected from the island of Cuba to play in the Major Leagues are Yasiel Puig, Jose Fernandez (who topped Puig in the 2013 National League Rookie of the Year voting), Jose Abreu, and most recently, Yasmany Tomas. All of these players, with the exception of Fernandez, signed contracts north of $40 million, before ever playing in a Major League or Minor League game.

In the future, given the popularity of baseball on the island of Cuba, the number of Cuban defectors coming to the MLB should continue to rise. The talent of Cuban defectors that sign contracts with Major League team is spectacular. So, too, are the stories of triumph that each of them offers.

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First Umpire Comes Out As Being Gay

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By Alex O’Connor

This Monday, umpire Dale Scott became the first MLB umpire to come out as gay. He is not only the first in his sport to come out while active, but within all four major sports (MLB, NHL, NBA, NFL). Scott has been an umpire at the Major League level for 29 seasons. He has also been with his partner for 28 years. The news was released through a photo of Scott with partner Michael Rausch in Reference magazine. The photo submitted was of the two on a plane attending the opening MLB series in Japan this past year. In addition, this magazine only has roughly 45,000 subscribers and might be a hint that he was letting the outside world know in a very reserved manner that he was gay.

The news was first reported by Outsports, which is a California-based media company that focuses on sport figures who decide to come out as gay. Outsports also tracks the influence of gay sport figures in all sports across the world. With an interview with Outsports regarding his reasons for coming out, Scott noted that “I didn’t want to be making some coming out story, some banner headline, because that’s not how I operate.” What I am taking from this quote is that Scott knew the recent process of athletes coming out as pioneers for the sport (Michael Sam, Jason Collins) and the flurry of media attention that has been focused on them. Most notably with Michael Sam, he had not even played a regular season snap and was getting as much focus within the media as someone like Johnny Manziel. Even though Scott is not a player, the argument can be made that he would receiving as much media attention as the players above due to him being the first of his profession. Scott is the first umpire in all four major sports, Sam was the first NFL player and Collins was the first NBA player.

The significance of Scott coming out is that his actions may be the motivation that other non-athletes in the sport industry need to come out. Though this may not be the case, it is something that the media needs to adjust to. However, Scott gave very little room for sport media exploitation in his circumstance. Due to Scott’s limited media involvement, he has respectfully kept his story from expanding into a larger role in the sport media spectrum.

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World Series TV Ratings Boom in Game 7

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By Nick Muhl

On October 29th, the San Francisco Giants took home their third World Series title in five years. The Giants defeated the Kansas City Royals 3-2, in a back and forth Game 7, behind their ace Madison Bumgarner. The pitcher threw a scoreless five-inning save on only two days rest.

Game 7 of the World Series drew huge ratings on Fox, averaging 23.5 million viewers and a 13.7 TV rating for the entire series. The viewership was over five million more than last years World Series final game between the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals.

The ratings for the final game came as a relief for Fox, Game 1 of this years World Series drew a 7.1 TV rating, the lowest ever for a Game 1 of the World Series. The rating came as a shock considering the highly covered run to the world series by the Kansas City Royals.

Despite Kansas City not being a major market team, many members of the media and fans believed the great story behind the team, including this being the first time since 1985 that the Royals have reached the World Series, would help to boost the TV ratings. Jacob Shafer, a writer for the Bleacher Report, tagged the Royals with the “Cinderella” term attributing the name to their small market-status and playoff drought.

After Game 1 of the series, it was looking grim despite the optimism by the media and Fox. However, both teams would prove to downplay the Game 1 series ratings as each game gained more viewers. The largest factor in swinging the tide in Fox’s favor? This year’s world series came down to a deciding Game 7, and nothing screams drama more than a Game 7 pitching duel between Bumgarner and the Royals.

The game 7 provided Kansas City with a 58.3 TV rating, the highest rating for any one city for one MLB game. The Giants hometown, San Francisco logged a rating of 38.8. Despite the beginning of the NHL and NBA seasons and mid-season of the NFL and college football, the MLB remains as one of the “Big 3” alongside the NFL and NBA.

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