I think it finally sunk in for me right around the time Josh Hamilton was explaining to a live television audience how God allows him to hit baseballs far.The Yankees were done. Dead. Finito. Their quest to repeat as world champions had come to an abrupt end in, of all places, the land of Friday Night Lights.How did we get here?No sport approaches baseball in the personal connection fostered between fan and team. For three hours a day, six to seven months a year, you're along for a ride with ...
Let me start by saying congratulations to the Texas Rangers. The Rangers are the ALCS Champions and well deserve to be just that after winning Game 6 against the New York Yankees, 6-1. It is a first World Series appearance for the Texas Rangers organization. Texas will face either the Philadelphia Phillies or the San Francisco Giants, who are still battling it out in the NLCS. After dominating the Minnesota Twins in the ALDS, the Yankees had eight days off till the ALCS started down in Texas. The Yankees could ...
Four days ago, I would have said Joe Girardi. Actually, I would have shouted it. I thought he had made one of the biggest blunders in managing history.
It was Game 4 and A.J. Burnett was on the mound and he actually had a lead. The Yanks were up 3-2 in the top of the sixth inning and Nelson Cruz was standing on second base. He had wisely tagged on a deep fly ball out by Ian Kinsler.
Burnett only needed one more out to escape a mildly stressful inning and he ...
What do the years 2001, 2003 and 2010 all have in common? They all involve deep playoff runs and subsequent disappointing playoff exits for the New York Yankees.
Following the 2001 and 2003 seasons, the Yankees acquired a dynamic hitter and veteran pitcher in each offseason, Jason Giambi and Mike Mussina after '01 and Alex Rodriguez and Kevin Brown following '03, and now it is very possible 2010 will also share that distinct similarity.
Don't get me wrong, every postseason that doesn't end with a World Series title is a disappointment to the Yankees and Yankees fans, but ...
“In this fall, this is very tough, in this fall I'm going to take my talents to South Beach and join the Miami Heat.”
With that one sentence, a city that once loved NBA superstar LeBron James began to burn his jerseys, t-shirts and anything else with the number 23 on it.
He had become the second most hated man in the city, second only to Art Modell of course, the former owner of the Cleveland Browns that oversaw the move of the beloved franchise to Baltimore.
Meanwhile, 1,241 miles south of Cleveland, ...
It is hard to fathom a better ending.
Former Texas Ranger Alex Rodriguez, who once signed for a quarter of a billion dollars and juiced with the team, was at the plate. Closer Neftali Feliz was on the mound, ready to get the one out that the franchise has always been waiting for.
An adrenaline-filled fastball missed for ball one, but then three strikes were fired from Feliz’s electric right arm. Rodriguez’s bat just rested on his shoulders as the third whizzed by.
Catcher Bengie Molina jumped out of his crouch. Feliz jumped ...
It almost seemed that it was over before it started. The Texas Rangers' homecoming to an Arlington stadium full of their rowdy fans and a Colby Lewis gem finally put an end to the Yankees' hopes of defending their World Series title. Unlike Game 5 back in New York, the Yankees didn't have their ace CC Sabathia on the mound. Instead, they were relying on a young and relatively inexperience Phil Hughes who had already taken the Game 2 loss when he gave up seven earned runs in only four ...
The Rangers' ballpark is quiet, at least for now.
Workers have slowly started to trickle in, the local radio station is doing their broadcast from the home plate entrance, the ALCS banners have been hung for fans to see as they start to file in, and the anticipation has begun.
This Friday night is far different from any other Friday night in Rangers' history, because it's on this Friday night that the Texas Rangers, and their fans, will be able to celebrate a franchise first.
An American League Championship.
For the first time, well, ...
After a day off, the ALCS resumes at Rangers Stadium where Texas will host New York in a pivotal Game 6 matchup. Phil Hughes (1-1, 5.73 ERA) will take the mound for the Yankees against the Rangers Colby Lewis (1-0, 1.69 ERA).
Hughes and Lewis pitched against each other in Game 2. In that game, Hughes was hit hard, giving up 10 hits and seven earned runs in four innings in a historically poor performance. Lewis, on the other hand, gave up just six hits and two earned runs through 5.2 ...
Shaking his head and flashing a deprecatory grin, Joe DiMaggio started talking about it again. "There has to be an element of luck to it," he modestly told a group of baseball writers, "but the one thing that sticks in my mind is that whenever I kept the streak alive with a scratch hit, I always came through in that same game with an honest hit that could not be questioned. That's what made it so satisfying."DiMaggio recalled one game in which ...