By DjackMets fans are certainly used to this Mets team by now, and if you're not, you should be because nothing is going to change. A team built completely on starting pitching and hitting homeruns, not exactly the go to championship formula, although it could work if the timing is right. The Mets have lost 7 of 8, the worst part being all those losses came within the division. The starting pitching is clearly not the problem, even though they haven't been great over this stretch either. That's no excuse, Mets pitchers not being great is letting up 3 runs in 6 innings, which most teams would take from their starting rotation every night. The real problem this team has is that they can't hit the broad side of a barn and the bullpen is hot garbage.
The lineup is a mess, injuries are already plaguing the roster per usual, and the older players are showing signs of age. Curtis Granderson and Jose Reyes have basically been counter productive for the Mets this season. Granderson hasn't been a true center fielder in 4 years, yet the Mets keep trying to run him out there. Reyes has made enough errors at third base for an entire season already, costing the Mets one if not two games with how bad he's been in the field. At the plate Reyes has been worse than in the field if that's even possible. He's batting around .100, the discouraging part being he's not making solid contact. Granderson is hitting like shit also, he's batting around .200, and his power numbers aren't quite where they normally are. Mets need these guys to produce in order for their offense to be successful. Cespedes is hurt with the hamstring once again, he'll be back soon, then he can continue to crush baseballs like we've all seen a million times before. Bruce is streaky, sometimes he'll carry the offense, sometimes he'll be irrelevant, can't rely on him to provide for the team every night. Cabrera, Walker, Duda if he's healthy, need to start doing more offensively for this team. Can't rely on Cespedes, Bruce, and a young Michael Conforto who can't even get consistent at-bats to carry this offense night in and night out. Everyone needs to produce every once in awhile for the team to be successful, the Yankees are the perfect example of that right now. Terry Collins needs to start playing Conforto everyday, whenever he plays he usually produces. With more at bats he'll get more comfortable and will produce at a higher clip. This is a guy that can bat above .300 and be a sparkplug at the top of your lineup, something the Mets don't have right now. I don't know what's wrong with Reyes, but you can't keep running him out their if he's hurting the team. Give him 50-100 more AB's, if he doesn't figure it out by then replace him with Flores, or a prospect, no one can do worse than he is right now. Hopefully that and some guys just playing better will fix the lineup problems, you can't expect them to be great, but they do have to get a lot better because the way they've performed recently is completely unacceptable. The bullpen is the other problem. So far this season the Mets bullpen has thrown the most innings in baseball, not necessarily a good thing whatsoever, especially in April. At this rate all the guys in the bullpen arms will be dead by July. The starters need to go 7 innings more often. The offense also needs to score so the Mets can stop playing extra inning games that take their toll on the bullpen. Ultimately, Sandy Alderson needs to equip that bullpen with another arm or two because right now they don't look like a quality bullpen whatsoever. Seems like a lot but it's really not, the Mets still have a long promising season ahead, so don't give up on them now. Just working out a few kinks and they'll be right back to playing great baseball in no time. By DjackWhat was an already bad start to the season just got a little bit worse. Madison Bumgarner, the San Francisco Giants ace, went dirt biking, crashed, and is now headed to the 10-day DL. Apparently he hurt his ribs and shoulder, it's unknown the severity of the injury, or how long he'll be out for. All I know is that anytime a pitcher injures themselves it's not good especially when the shoulder is involved. Not sure
By DjackTalk about a renaissance, Eric Thames career has done a complete 180. The Brewers may have just hit the jackpot, a former prospect with the Blue Jays turned bust, has revamped his career with an unbelievably hot start to the 2017 season. Before this season I had no idea the MLB even had a player named Eric Thames, now every night I'm seeing that he hit another home run. Meaning one of two things, either this guy is juicing, or this guy just finally put it all together.
Thames like I said before was a Blue Jay prospect, wasn't supposed to be the next great thing, nonetheless he was still a valuable prospect. He was never quite able to put it together at the big league level, in 2011 he saw 362 at bats resulting in 12 home runs and a .263 BA, not terrible, definitely not great though. The thing that killed him at the big league level in his first tour was the fact he struck out almost as many times as he got a hit. After the 2012 season Thames decided to leave the MLB for Korea to find himself as a player by getting more consistent playing time against all different types of pitching. This move helped his ability to hit breaking balls a whole lot better since that's what they mostly throw in these Korean leagues. Thames dominated in Korea earning the nickname God, yes, they viewed him as a God that's how much pain he inflicted upon baseballs when he was over there. Finally, after 3 seasons overseas Thames was able to make his way back onto a major league roster with the Brewers. In his second tour of the league he has seized the opportunity, grabbing the job by the balls. Thames has a batting average of .415, he's put 8 balls over the fence, and he's driven in 14 runs. Still seems to strike out a little more than you'd like to see, but nothing a ridiculous stat line can't cover up. With a hot start like this it's hard to imagine he can keep this pace up. If he does you're looking at a potential MVP and superstar in this league. It has happened before with the likes of Cecil Fielder, Luis Gonzalez, and Jose Bautista. All guys that ended up being nice surprises for their franchises leading to a big part of the team's success. Brewers won't be competitive whether or not he continues on his superstar pace, but it could help bridge the gap to the future. Don't question it, just enjoy it, because it probably won't last very long. By DjackAbout a week ago I wrote a blog pertaining to Derek Jeter potentially buying the Miami Marlins(Read Here). Well, turns out those rumors were true, the Miami Herald reported that sources close to the deal said Derek Jeter and Jeb Bush have joined forces in an attempt to buy the team. Originally, they were competitors in the bidding, ultimately they decided it'd be better if they just partnered up instead for reasons unknown. The bids for the team were due a week ago, so pretty soon we'll find out if they were the winners of the auction.
If Jeb Bush and Derek Jeter are able to pull this off and land the Marlins, it's going to be a huge deal for Miami. This will forever change that organization, not only is Jeffrey Loria one of the worst and most hated owners ever, Jeb Bush is a Florida legend, and Derek Jeter is a baseball legend. Instantly, the Marlins will gain so much attention and fans just by switching owners, which usually doesn't happen in sports. Most of the time switching owners isn't all that big of a deal for the casual fan, however when it's two iconic names like Jeter and Bush it's a totally different situation. Jeb Bush was the governor of Florida for awhile, so obviously he's a pretty smart dude that knows how to run a business and lead an organization. His older brother, President George W. Bush, actually owned the Texas Rangers before he became president. Baseball is just something that runs through the Bush blood. Jeter is just one of those people that's good and successful at everything they do in life, even if you hate him you know it's true, so he has my vote of confidence. I'm excited to see if they land the team, they should get it because if anyone can turn around that pitiful organization it's those two. 4/18/2017 Starling Marte Suspended 80 Games for Violating MLB Performance-Enhancing Drug PolicyRead NowBy DjackOh boy, haven't seen a big name player get suspended for PED use in awhile. Last big time player to get suspended for PED's was Dee Gordon almost exactly a year ago, it just happened to be following his best season where he won the NL batting title, fishy to say the least. Marte isn't coming off a batting title type season, although he is coming off his first and only all star season. Not saying he was juicing last season, buy ya never know.
This is a huge blow to the Pirates and any playoff hopes they had. I don't think they were good enough anyway to make the playoffs even if Marte didn't get suspended. Now that he is, the Pirates chances are slim to none. Even if they were to make it by some minor miracle, Marte wouldn't be able to participate due to his suspension, which doesn't allow him to participate in the postseason. This suspension doesn't just hurt the Pirates, it's also going to hurt Marte's wallet. Since he's suspended he won't get paid, obviously, so that'll deduct about $2.2 million from his earnings this year. That's what you get for cheating, plenty of players work their asses off to be in the same position he is and they aren't using drugs to help them. I got zero respect for players that try to cheat the game. Well, Marte is paying the price, he let his team down, he's going to lose a bunch of money, and now who knows if he'll even be good. I don't know if he's being doing this for longer than reported, who knows, without the PED's he might be an average player. If that's the case the Pirates are pretty fucked since he signed a pretty big deal with them, although they do have a team opt-out clause in 2020. He'll return after the all star break, we'll just have to wait until then to see what he's really made of. For now, the Pirates are a man down with a roster that couldn't afford any losses. By DjackBaltimore Orioles backbone is the power of their offense. Chris Davis, Mark Trumbo, and Manny Machado make up one of the scariest set of batters in a lineup in the MLB. What if the Orioles were to add another player to that already unbelievable set of hitters, well they just might've.
Trey Mancini has only played 12 games in the MLB and he has already hit seven home runs. Yes, that ties the MLB record for most home runs in 12 games, and now the Orioles seem to have a player that could potentially make the Orioles lineup the best in baseball. Mancini doesn't just hit for power like fellow first baseman Chris Davis, he hits for a high average posting a .364 BA in seven games this season. Obviously it's a small sample size and there's no possible way he can keep that pace up for an entire season. However, even if his average comes down to .290 and his home run pace slows down he'll still be a huge addition to an already feared lineup. Now, pitchers have a whole other batter to worry about, which is a nightmare for pitchers in the AL East. Mancini is a huge right handed batter, he can either play first base or a corner outfield position, and he's only 25 years old, so yeah it's safe to say I'm a little nervous about this young stud. The Orioles add another big bat through their farm system, who knows, maybe Mancini just got off to an extremely hot start and he's really not all that. For some reason, I really doubt that, this guy looks like a monster and if his hot start is any implication to the player he's going to be, then he makes Chris Davis look like an easy at-bat. Orioles will need Mancini to be a huge addition to their lineup since they have a terrible starting rotation and Zach Britton is now out with injury. They'll need to score runs in bunches often or you'll see the Orioles in a lot of trouble. Mancini arrived right on time to save the Orioles, and boy does he have me worried. By DjackA comeback victory over the Orioles, a sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays, and then a sweep of the Cardinals, boy life is good for Yankee fans right now. The best part of this whole win streak is that we aren't even at full strength and we're kicking ass, imagine how good we'll be once Gary Sanchez and Didi Gregorious come back. Bright things are ahead this season and the first couple weeks of have showed us that.
The starting pitching for the Yankees has been the difference in getting off to a hot start. When the Yankees opened up the season 1-4 and fans were ready to fire Girardi, the only reason we were losing was because our starting pitchers couldn't give us quality innings, let alone starts. The one game they did the bullpen decided to blow the game, so the pitching in the beginning was awful and so were the Yankees. Over the course of the win streak Tanaka has finally returned to form, his second start wasn't great, but wasn't horrible like his first. The third start is where he finally returned to his ace form. He allowed a two run homerun early, however after that his command came back to him and he was lights out. Tanaka being the ace we need him to be is essential to our success, so for him to be back pitching studly is huge for us. CC Sabathia has completely reinvented himself, going from power pitcher to finesse pitcher over the course of this offseason. CC hasn't had the stuff to be a power pitcher for years, although he still continued with that same approach despite not having the stuff, well this year that's all changed, and he's pitching 1000x better. If we can keep getting quality starts from CC we'll be in great shape going forward. To add to the top of the rotation dominance Michael Pineda has also finally reached the potential we all knew he was capable of. Many gave up on him after watching him implode early in a game at some point in the past, yet I always believed this day would come when he turns into an ace. Pineda has some of the filthiest stuff for a starting pitching in this league, he just could never throw strikes and keep his head straight. Now, he's doing both those things and absolutely wrecking lineups. He had a perfect game through 7 innings against the Rays and mowed through the Cardinals lineup for 7 innings last night as well. This has got to be the first time Pineda has given the Yankees back to back outstanding starts. As if 3 solid starters isn't enough Luis Severino looks like he's finally becoming the starting pitching phenom he was expect to be when he came up last year. We saw how great he was out of the bullpen, it just never translated to his starts. Now, Severino is finally putting together quality starts and is on his way to becoming an ace in this league. Jordan Montgomery was officially named the 5th starter, he doesn't have a huge sample size, yet I still really liked what I saw out of him. If he can just be solid adding another decent lefty arm to this rotation is a nice addition. It's not like he can be any worse than our 5th starter last season and who knows maybe he'll develop into something great like an Andy Petite. Probably getting way too far ahead of myself, oh well, that's what April baseball is for. The fact that the Yankees could potentially have 4 starters that I can trust when they take the mound is astonishing because we haven't had that luxury in ages. Sure Pineda and CC need to prove they can be consistent and continue to get batters out at the amazing clip they're currently doing. Tanaka is a sure thing as an ace, we know that, he just got into a funk early, but he seems to have broken out of it. Severino and Montgomery are the first sighting of our pitching future. Letting them gain experience and knowledge on how to get big league batters out is a great learning experience for them, which will only make them better for the future. If they bloom earlier than expected and really contribute that's only a bonus, and it's a bonus that could make us a whole lot better. As for the bullpen aspect of the pitching staff, lights out, dominant, shut the door on em. Our bullpen is the best in baseball. Clippard, Betances, Chapman, for the 7th, 8th, and 9th I'll take that every time. They shorten the game so much for our starting pitching it's the best luxury to have in baseball. Also, Tommy Layne the lefty specialist is a solid arm and Adam Warren is another guy that can be trusted on a consistent basis. A bullpen like this is championship caliber and if we're going to do anything this season it's because of them being our anchor. The lineup has been phenomenal too, the best part being the players that are supposed to be contributing most of the offense, aren't. Gary Sanchez has been out with injury the entire winning streak, Didi Gregorious has been out the entire season, and those are two of our best bats. Greg Bird who was supposed to mash for us has had an awful start to the season. He was 1 for 26 entering last night and then he finally broke out. Bird hit a moon shot 440 feet to the right field bleachers last night to break out of his slump. He then finished the night going 3 for 3 looking like a whole new ball player. Aaron Judge has cut down on the strike outs and the swing and misses, beginning to look like a true everyday player that can be a big contributor to this lineup for a long time. When he hits the ball it just makes a different sound and I absolutely love it. The veterans in the lineup have been the most important, though. Chase Headley, probably the most hated Yankee by fans entering this season, is playing like an MVP. Defensively he's making all the plays and then some. Offensively he's batting over .400 and seems like he starts every rally, who would've thought Chase Headley would be the motor for our offense at any point in his stay in New York. Torreyes has done a fabulous job filling in for Didi at shortstop, he's actually doing too well, and now I don't want him to stop playing every day. Ellsbury is getting on base and stealing bases pretty frequently, maybe finally beginning to live up to that monster deal that we gave him 3 years ago. Never too late to start paying your dues, right. Aaron Hicks is also coming around quite nicely. He leads the team in homeruns and has a .500 OBP, pretty fucking good. I never questioned Hicks for a minute, I trusted the process, I trusted Cashman when he compared him to JBJ, and now I'm loving the rewards we are getting for being patient with him. Damn this lineup is good. Seven straight and I'm hoping we make it 10 once this upcoming series with the White Sox is over. If we continue to get quality starts all season long we're winning this division without a doubt in my mind. Our lineup and bullpen are way too good to not be competing. Everyone thought this would be a down year for the Yankees, but they didn't truly realize the talent of these young kids and they doubted our veterans, shame on them for that. I want first place, I want it badly, and so does this team. Yankees are here to shock the world in our new found underdog role and I'm here to embrace every second of it. Start spreading the news, the Bronx Bombers are fucking back. By DjackThe Mets began their road trip in Philadelphia, it was a three game set, and they needed wins since they came into it at .500. The first game Jacob deGrom pitched for the Mets, he was lights out after letting up two in the first, but had to come out after 6 innings due to a high pitch count. Jay Bruce hit a homer in the 4th to cut the lead in half, it was his 3rd of the year. Later in the 7th, Bruce would score from third on a sacrifice fly from Walker to tie up the game. In the 8th, Asdrubal Cabrera came to face the same pitcher that he hit the homerun off last year, and then did that crazy bat flip. Well, the pitcher clearly was trying to send a message when he threw the ball about 3 feet over Cabrera's head. This didn't sit too well with Cabrera as he had to be held back by the catcher. Cabrera would end up drawing a walk and then Jay Bruce came to the plate. Bruce backed up his teammate by taking Edrubay Ramos deep for a 2 run blast. Talk about embarrassing for Ramos, if you throw at a guy and then let up a homerun to the next batter, you played yourself, congrats. Phillies would get a run back in the bottom of the 9th when Brock Stassi took Addison Reed deep. Mets held on to win the game 4-3 to take the series opener. The second game of this series was one that happens every so often with the Mets. Everyone hit, the long ball was running rampant for the Mets, and the runs were coming in bunches. Yoenis Cespedes had three homeruns in the game that totaled for 5 RBI's. Duda added two solo homeruns to the party. Cabrera and d'Arnaud both got in on the action with homeruns of their own. Mets would put up 14 runs in the game, sometimes living by the long ball leaves you with this kind of result. Matt Harvey also pitched very well for the Mets as he went 5 2/3 innings allowing just 2 runs, walking one, and striking out 6. Mets win 14-4 as they take the second game of the series as well. The last game of the series rolled around, the Mets were looking for the sweep, and they were looking for a good start out of Zack Wheeler. Wheeler struggled in his first start of the year, that usually happens when you don't pitch in a MLB game for 2 seasons. He looked much better in his second outing, through 5 innings he was basically perfect. In the sixth he was able to get two outs, he also loaded the bases, and Terry Collins would yank him for Hansel Robles. Robles on the first pitch of the at-bat leaves a meatball for Maikel Franco to demolish for a grand slam. Just like that Phillies had turned this into a game. The Mets were up 5-4 at this point since they jumped out to a 5-0 lead prior to the Franco homerun. Conforto hit a homerun earlier in the game, proving once again he should be an everyday starter. Mets bullpen stepped up big time shutting the Phillies down for the final three innings to seal the Mets 5-4 victory and the series sweep. Mets were now 6-3 heading to Miami for a 4 game set. The first game of this series was an absolute classic, the Mets and Marlins would battle it out in a game that many thought would never end. In the first inning Robert Gsellman dug the Mets into an early hole when he let up a grand slam to Marcel Ozuna. Immediately the Mets are down 4-0 against the Marlins. Right away they'd look to back their pitcher up by getting some runs back for him. With the bases loaded for Travis d'Arnaud in the second inning, he rips a ball down the right field line for a bases clearing triple. Granderson followed him up with a base hit to drive in d'Arnaud and tie up the game. The Mets then started going on a homerun tear, in the 3rd inning Cespedes would hit his 5th homerun of the season and boy did he send it on a ride, a 440 foot ride to be exact. Mets led 5-4. Flores would follow Cespedes's lead and hit a homerun of his own, the second of his season. Cespedes would come up again in the 5th and hit another long ball putting the Mets up 7-4 on track to their 4th straight win. Gsellman seemed to settle in after his awful first inning, but come the 5th it all fell apart again. Gsellman would load the bases, walk in a run, allow a sac fly to score a run, and then he'd be pulled for James Edgin. The score was now 7-6 with runners on first and second. Justin Bour would rope one opposite field off the bottom of the left field wall to drive in two runs putting the Marlins up 8-7. Edgin would then proceed to get out of the inning, although it was too little too late. Mets odds were beginning to look bleak as they couldn't get anything going in the 6th or 7th offensively. 8th inning rolled around, first two batters of the inning got out, and then Travis d'Arnaud would get on base to keep the inning alive. Up to pinch hit was Michael Conforto. Conforto would drill a double into the gap scoring d'Arnaud from first to tie up the game. The game then went into an excruciating long extra inning fiasco that would finally come to an end in the 16th inning. Travis d'Arnaud who was the MVP of the game, hit a homerun to put the Mets up 9-8, and give them the win. Hansel Robles who had pitched in four straight games gave a gutsy performance going two innings, really holding it down for the Mets after giving a grand slam the night before in Philly. Mets extend their win streak to 4 and improve to 7-3 on the season.
The rest of the series with the Marlins was a nightmare for the Mets. You'd think with Thor, deGrom, and Harvey set to pitch the final three games you'd get at least 2 wins, somehow the Mets ended up with none. The second game of the series Syndergaard pitched phenomenal, but once again had to leave with a blister on his hand. The game was tied 2-2 and looked like it was about to go to extra innings once again. Realmuto would hit a double with two strike and two outs to score the winning run from first, putting a dagger into the Mets win streak. This was more of a win for the Mets since their bullpen needed rest and most definitley couldn't afford another extra inning game. The third game of the series was the most devastating for the Mets. Jacob deGrom let up a homerun to Justin Bour and Marcel Ozuna in the second inning. Besides for that he was absolutely lights out pitching 7 innings striking out 13, tied for his career high, and somehow he still wouldn't wind up with the win. The Mets scored a run in the first off a Neil Walker double and then they added two more in the 7th with a big time triple from Granderson that scored Neil Walker, followed by a Conforto sac fly to score Granderson. The next inning Asdrubal Cabrera hit a bomb to add an insurance run for the Mets and make Terry Collins decision to not send deGrom out for the 8th that much easier. Fernando Salas came in to pitch the 8th, unfortunately this would be the fatal move for the Mets. He walked Rojas and then let up a two run homerun to Christian Yelich to tie the game. As if that wasn't bad enough, Terry Collins left him in to throw to Stanton, and Stanton took him deep to give the Marlins a 5-4 lead. Terry Collins awful managing cost the Mets this one. Should've never taken out deGrom and then just put in Addison Reed in the 9th. If they beat deGrom, oh well he was dealing, no one can complain about that. Salas on the other hand had a dead arm from throwing in so many games this year already, and that's why he got wrecked. Terry being Terry, though. Finally, the last game of the road trip rolled around and the Mets could make or break the road trip with a win on Easter. Matt Harvey continued his great start to the season giving the Mets six strong inning allowing two runs, although only one was an earned run. Too bad the Mets offense decided to take the day off, through 7 innings the Mets were getting no hit by the Marlins. The starter for the Marlins, Dan Straily, was pulled early into the 6th after walking two straight batters. His pitch count was high, his command wasn't there, and it was the right move by Mattingly topull him from the game. Mets finally broke through on a Walker single in the 8th, but it amounted to nothing in the inning. The 9th inning was where all the action took place. With one out Travis d'Arnaud once again starts the rally with a single to right field. That was followed up by a Jose Reyes strikeout, no surprise there. Now, with two out, Wilmer Flores strike the ball to right field deep into the gap, but the outfielders are playing for no doubles. Stanton misplays the ball, Flores is able to leg it out to second on the error, and now with two outs the Mets having the tying run on second base. Up comes Asdrubal Cabrera to pinch hit. Cabrera drives the ball right back up the middle scores both base runners, and after getting no hit for 7 innings the game was tied 2-2 in the 9th. Mets couldn't score again, giving the Marlins a chance to either walk off in the 9th or go to extra innings. With a man on first Rojas came to the plate, he smokes a double, and Ozuna tries to score the game winning run. Too bad Cespedes throws a dart to home plate to just get Ozuna out by a hair. Two outs, man on second, the Mets were getting a second chance at life, and Addison Reed gets taken deep by JT Riddle for a walk off homerun. The first homerun of the kids MLB career and it's a walkoff, what a way to christen himself into the MLB. Mets start the road trip hot winning 4 straight and then finish cold losing the last 3. The biggest problem in my opinion was the Mets bullpen being gassed the rest of the way after the 16 inning game. Another thing I took away from the losing streak of the series was in the games they lost, Bruce and Cespedes didn't really contribute offensively. Seems like when those two go the Mets go and when they don't the Mets offense is pretty pathetic. Mets are now 7-6 after the road trip heading into a divisional homestand where they'll play the Phillies, Nationals, and Braves. Look for the Mets bullpen to improve once Familia comes back, which is very soon, 3 games if I'm not mistaken. The starting rotation you can't ask more from really except maybe for Syndergaard, deGrom, and Harvey to start going 7 innings instead of 6 more consistently. The lineup and how they perform will dictate how far the Mets will go this season. And for Christ sake, start Michael Conforto everyday god dammit. Appreciate Terry Collins and all the humorous joy he brings to my life, but boy is he an idiot sometimes. By DjackBad bad timing for the Orioles as they sit atop the AL East, their most dominant pitcher is now headed to the DL. Yeah, it's only the 10-day DL, no big deal, right? Wrong, ask every Yankee fan that watched Gary Sanchez go from the 10-day DL to being ruled out for at least a month. Any time a pitcher feels soreness or discomfort in their arm, it's usually the beginning of the end. If Zach Britton has to miss an extended period of time for the Orioles they're screwed. In just 11 games, Britton has had to come in to save 5 of them for the Orioles, so clearly he's needed late in games quite often. Missing your lockdown 9th inning closer that basically never allows a run is a huge blow to an Orioles pitching staff that doesn't have much certainty elsewhere. This leaves the Orioles vulnerable late in games, which could begin to cost them wins if Britton has to miss extra time. If it's just the 10 games it's no big deal, but if it's more than that the Orioles will be in some serious trouble.
On the other hand... Perfect timing for the Yankees to take advantage of the wounded Orioles and take the division lead early in the season. Right now the Yankees are a half game back of the Orioles, after tonight they may be sitting atop the AL East. I'm hoping the Yankees do the opposite of what they do last year and get off to a nice start giving us some games over the competition early. With the Blue Jays tanking quickly, the Red Sox struggling to meet their expectations as a dominant force, and now this huge blow to the Orioles bullpen, there's no better time to take advantage and take a commanding division lead. I know I'm getting way ahead of myself, but these are the things you have to think about in April, every game matters, and come late September these are the times you look back on when you're on the brink of elimination. Let's avoid that by setting the pace for the division the rest of the way. By Djack20 years ago today something that has never happened before and that will probably never happen again occurred. Bill Clinton, president of the USA at the time, Bud Selig, commissioner of the MLB at the time, and Rachel Robinson, Jackie Robinson's wife, strutted out from behind the wall in centerfield all the way to home plate. It was then announced that the #42 was going to be forever retired across major league baseball, an honor only Jackie Robinson deserves. The great #42 was still worn for years after by Mariano Rivera until his retirement, he and whoever else had the number at time, which was only about a dozen players was grandfathered in, so they were allowed to wear it until retirement or when they switched teams. Mariano was handed the number two year prior as a rookie having no idea the importance behind #42. He then carried the number with dignity and pride for the next 15 years, and I'm sure Jackie would've been proud that Rivera was the last one to wear #42.
No one will argue how important Jackie Robinson is to the game of baseball, every player that is Black, Hispanic, Asian, has Jackie Robinson to thank for breaking down the color barrier. Yeah, eventually someone else would've came along and done the same thing down the road at some point, but he was the first to do it, and he did it at a time where racism and hate were at it's peak in this country. Black and Whites had separate bathrooms, separate schools, and a black baseball player is going to get to play in the MLB, when there's already a negro league, you would've been out of your mind to believe that 70 years ago, just ask your grandparents. Robinson displayed unmatched courage and the fact he was also a helluva a baseball player just cemented his legacy that much more. I can't even imagine the struggles Robinson went through on a daily basis, he did it for the greater good, he was an outstanding man with vision, and if he saw the game today he'd be so proud of what he was able to create. 70 years ago today Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball, the greatest achievement in the history of the sport and 50 years later his number was retired in every baseball stadium across America. It was an iconic moment for an iconic figure, so as you watch baseball games today remember Jackie Robinson and all he did for the greatest game on the planet. Thank you Mr.Robinson, you've inspired so many regardless of race to be leaders, to chase dreams that seem unobtainable, and to break down whatever barriers may be in our way. A true role model and a true legend, Jackie Robinson #42. |
Details
AuthorDjack- Chief editor Archives
April 2018
Categories |