Baseball

With Major League Baseball down to the final four teams of the Yankees, Angels, Dodgers, and Phillies it seems the Vegas bookmakers have the most faith in the manager with the least experience. The VegasInsider.com has the New York Yankees as an even money bet to win the 2009 World Series despite the Yankees having a skipper who has never managed in the World Series. The odds for the final four teams are the following: Yankees (Even), Angels (3/1), Dodgers (3/1), and the defending champs Phillies are (5/1).

Some place. Carlos Beltran if he is watching the postseason games the least he would like to listen is anything about his New York Mets.

What if this. What if that. What if they had made it to the postseason? Probably nowadays instead of a possible LA Freeway Series most fans would be talking about a Subway Series.

Now that the first round of the Major League Baseball playoffs are behind us, I thought I’d check back in and see how well my prognostic skills were doing.  When I made my predictions for the 2009 post season I was clearly hopped up on cough syrup or some sort of delusional medication.

And so it begins!

The immovable object meets the unstoppable force, setting up a seven game series that epitomizes baseball, especially playoff baseball.

Joe Torre and The Los Angeles Dodgers will host Charlie Manuel and The Philadelphia Phillies in not only a National League showdown, not only a rematch of last year’s NLCS, but meeting number five all-time between these storied clubs.

The temperature was a little chilly as I stepped out of my front door that day. Earlier, it had reached a high of around 54, but it felt as if it had dropped nearly ten degrees since then.

Billy Martin picked up where he had left off the year before.

In the seventh inning of the seventh game of the 1952 World Series, Martin had made a spectacular catch of a wind-blown Jackie Robinson pop-up with the bases loaded and two outs to save the game and World Series.

The Yankees and Dodgers repeated as pennant winners in 1953, and Billy Martin again was instrumental in the Yankees winning the World Series.

I understand that it’s time for changes in the Houston Astros clubhouse.

But that doesn’t mean removing an icon and legend like Jose Cruz from the mix.

This latest move by the higher ups in Houston baffles me; do they really think it’s Cruz’s fault that players aren’t hustling down the first base line?

Why, exactly, are the Astros taking Cruz out of the coaching puzzle and offering him a position else where in the organization?

Am I missing something here?

Article originally posted on www.stadiumjourney.com

Miller Park is such an improvement over County Stadium that it’s hard to know where to begin.  First of all, having a retractable roof was a great idea and something that Minnesota fans will be envious of in the years to come.

Additionally, the Brewers organization has made an effort to make the experience at Miller Park as fan-friendly as possible, whether you are a kid, a casual baseball fan, or an ardent baseball fan.  All fans will have fun at Miller Park.

Rumors are swirling around Chicago that the Cubs, who fired two hitting coaches during the 2009 season, have strong interest in former Texas Rangers coach Rudy Jaramillo.

Jaramillo's resume stands on its own merits. During his 10-year tenure in Texas, 17 Rangers won Silver Slugger Awards. He gets a lot of the credit for the Rangers being an offensive powerhouse over the last decade.

But my interest in this rumor is deeper than a great hitting coach being available...

Article originally posted at www.stadiumjourney.com

Fenway Park

Fenway. The name alone is imbued with an incredible mix of history, heartache and, at long last, success.