On the same day that one Kansas City athlete found out that he won’t be playing for a month or so, another Kansas City athlete found out that his return from the brink of career disaster has officially come full circle.
Royals hurler Zack Greinke was named the AL Cy Young Award winner today, beating out Felix Hernandez, Justin Verlander, C.C. Sabathia, and Roy Halladay.
Curiously, Jose Contreras did not receive any votes.
Via The Big Lead, Sammy Sosa has addressed the swirling speculation over why his skin appeared so drastically different than we remember at a recent event he attended with his wife.
Incredibly, Sosa actually specifically addresses the notion that he may have somehow wanted to look like Michael Jackson. For the record, I don’t think anyone thought Sosa wanted to look like Jackson specifically, just that he might have been dealing with a similar skin pigmentation disorder or appearance issues.
The Yankees won the title this past Wednesday night, so the media has been less inclined to criticize or ignore baseball than usual of late. They’re also more likely to wrap the season up for 48 or 72 hours (instead of 24 or fewer) before moving 100% into football, instead of the 95% coverage the NFL has enjoyed since September.
But during the MLB playoffs, I did hear, nationally and locally, on TV, radio, and the blogs, that the postseason “lacked.” While it’s true no series went the distance, close to half of the 30 total games played went down the last inning or even the final batter. The media’s consensus could not be more incorrect; this was a GREAT postseason overall.
Let’s take a look at the best games, in no particular order:
Sammy Sosa’s stunning new skin color is a story that continues to surprise, and this time the surprise has nothing to do with Sammy’s appearance. Rather, it has to do with the reaction that Sosa’s new look is getting from those in the city of the Chicago.
According to NBCChicago.com, there is a plurality of Chicagoans whose primary reaction to seeing the startling new Sosa picks is laughter. As of 1:33 am CT on November 8th, 41% of responding readers voted “laughing” as their response to seeing the new Sammy. This overwhelmingly topped “sad,” “bored,” and “intrigued,” which were the only other options to receive 10% or more of the vote.
Ironically enough, people from Philadelphia apparently have a little more compassion — or at least curiosity — regarding the new Sammy. Despite have a sports fan base that is renowned for its nastiness (ex. booing Michael Irvin while he lay motionless with a neck injury), the reaction with the plurality of the votes was “intrigued” at 41%.
A post that we made here on Friday afternoon regarding Sammy Sosa’s shockingly white appearance (hat tip again to Jimmy Traina) kicked off a flurry of activity around the web (for example: here, here, and here) and rightfully so.
The pictures are jarring.
It’s been a while since Sammy Sosa has been in the public eye, and we all remember a much darker version of him than what we are seeing in this current pictures. (Not to mention, as Big League Stew pointed out earlier this evening, when did Sammy start wearing green contacts?)
The obvious question in the immediate aftermath of these pictures making their way around the web is, what might be the root cause of Sammy’s paleness?
I decided to do a little digging — admittedly with a hypothesis that steroid use might have something to do with it — and found some interesting information.
After reading this tweet and following the link supplied by Jimmy Traina, I had to quickly post this.
Does anyone know what is going on with Sammy Sosa?
As Traina’s tweet wonders, did Sosa get a facelift? Botox? Is he possibly dealing with vitiligo (the disease Michael Jackson suffered from that causes splotches of pigment-less skin)?
After what must have felt like an eternity, it finally happened.
After years and years of disappointment and despair, happiness and joy finally reigned down on a forlorn franchise and its fans.
Yes, ladies and gentleman, after nearly a full decade without a World Series championship, New York Yankees fans finally awoke from their unbearable nightmare to fulfill their dreams of World Series euphoria.
I mean, look at the picture of this little boy. He is perhaps seven or eight or nine years old. Do you realize that until last night, this deprived young soul had never experienced a World Series championship?
I need not recap the past five games too much, since TV ratings, as expected, have been extraordinary.
I think any baseball fan (not of the Yankees, I suppose) is happy we’ll see a World Series Game Six for the first time since 2003, due primarily to AJ Burnett’s ineffectiveness on three days rest, and of course, the magical bat of one Chase Utley.
I picked the Phillies in five, especially after they split in New York, and was wrong.
The 2009 World Series embodies everything that a Midwest baseball fan hates.
1) No representation from either of the Central Divisions. That’s right, no White Sox, Cubs, Cardinals, Tigers, Twins, Brewers, Astros, Indians, etc. In fact, none of these teams even really came close.
2) Two straight weeks of complete immersion in the East Coast bias/obsession that can become so annoying and grating during the regular season.
3) A battle of two teams with enormous payrolls who, on a yearly basis, pluck the best players off of teams in smaller markets who cannot afford them. (And yes, I know the Cubs, and to a certain extent the White Sox, have a high payroll…but Chicago gets Milton Bradley and Alex Rios, New York and Philly get C.C. and Cliff Lee.)
With all of that being said, I’ve decided that we have done enough actual analysis of this year’s World Series. AJ wrote a great preview piece earlier this week, and that will have to suffice.
In place of the article that I was going to write about the 2009 World Series (currently tied at 1-1 if you live in The Shire and don’t get Fox or have an Internet connection) before I thought more about it and just got pissed off, I decided that we could all benefit from a couple of gratuitous photo galleries of two of the most attractive WAGs on either team.
So while there are many legit questions out there as the series heads to Philly (What’s up with ARod and Ryan Howard? Does either manager have faith in its bullpen?), we are going to tackle one that is perhaps a little less exigent as part of our usual Friday Morning Would series.
Would you rather have your favorite baseball hero date Minka Kelly or Kate Hudson?
I want you to play the song below while reading this post. Try, as best you can, to not be distracted by the vicious, piercing irony of the chorus as it relates to the sports teams of Cleveland.
I know, it’s not going to be easy…especially after the events of last night rubbed even more salt into the (eternally?) tragically open wounds of an entire city’s fan base.
On the same that night that the last two Cy Young Award winners — both of whom were Indians when they won it — faced off in Game 1 of the 2009 World Series, the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James dropped to 0-2.
You might think, well hey, at least Cleveland fans have the Browns game to look forward to this Sunday!
And this sentiment, of course, would be met either with hearty laughter or plaintive cries, all depending on one’s perspective, mood, and current level of sanity.
No, ladies and gentleman, sports in the city of Cleveland most certainly do not rock. Last night was simply further confirmation of this ever deepening and depressing truism.
But don’t take it from me. Scan the Cleveland sports blogosphere. It’s hard to wait for next year when you can barely make it from day to day this year.
Earlier this afternoon Myles and I had the great pleasure to host SI.com’s Jimmy Traina on the latest edition of the MSF Podcast.
We are grateful that he was able to take 30+ minutes out of his afternoon to talk with us, and impressed that he was able to be so composed…what with his beloved Yankees (especially Derek and Minka) preparing for Game 1 of the 2009 World Series tonight.
But I guess when you’ve already won 27 of them and can buy your way into the playoffs every year, it’s easy to stay even keel. (Actually, more on this topic later.)
If you are not familiar with his work, Jimmy Traina runs the Hot Clicks blog on SI.com and is an editor of the always entertaining Extra Mustard section of the site, which fuses sports, pop culture, and humor. Hot Clicks is one of the most visited sports pages on a daily basis, as any publisher knows who has ever received a link from Traina.
Let’s just say it can put a strain on your server.
There will not be a freeway series this year in baseball, nor will there be a cross-country coastal series. There will be an “Amtrak” Series, however.
And hopefully the Phils and Yanks will travel like The Babe did in the old days when they commute back and forth over the next week or so in the Fall Classic.
By virtue of a clutch game 4 win that gave them series control and an eventual second consecutive NL pennant, the Philadelphia Phillies will take on the New York Yankees, fresh off another close victory and series win over the gutsy Anaheim Angels.
If you are a Yankees fan, today is a bittersweet Friday for you as the ALCS will go back to the Bronx. And if you didn’t watch the game, this tweet from MSF’s second-favorite Yankee fan (Dad is #1) sums it up quite perfectly:
I’d like to see a “Yankees 3, Girard 2″ backpage tomrorow, with “Clueless Joe” as a runnerup. Don’t let me down, News & Post. Good night.
I personally couldn’t care less. I’m actually glad Joe Girardi keeps making baffling moves (and that the Yankees jinx themselves) because, in the absence of NLCS drama, the ALCS is at least giving us a 6th game.
So for all of you Yankees fans out there, don’t be too down in the dumps today. Your team is still up 3-2, you still have the best lineup, you still have Mariano Rivera, you still have C.C. Sabathia ready to dominate a Game 7, and…
…Derek Jeter is still daring Minka Kelly.
So continue reading as Minka and I show you What You Need To Read this Friday morning.
Have you been paying attention to the Major League Baseball Playoffs? If so, and you’re a present or former Cleveland Indians Fan, you have noticed the ridiculous amount of former Indians playing outstanding baseball.
Meanwhile, Cleveland Indians owner Larry Dolan can’t figure out why the Indians’ attendance has plummeted since the Dick Jacobs days.
Here is a hint Larry: you have only paid Grady Sizemore, and that is it.
The Indians produce a mediocre team year in and year out, and the fans day by day miss Dick Jacobs more and more.
The title, “If You Pay Them, They Will Come” means that if you pay the players you let go, your fans would appear in groves to Progressive Field. With the talent you let go and that is currently stretched across the eight teams that made this year’s playoffs, you too would be contending for a World Series title.
Earlier this afternoon, Myles and I had the pleasure of doing our first Midwest Sports Talk podcast with our guest AJ Kaufman.
AJ, who wrote two excellent previews of the ALCS and NLCS, provided great insight on some of the key matchups and components that will ultimately determine who ends up playing for the World Series.
And Myles and I discussed the question I posed earlier today: does “guy code” dictate that we should all forgive Mike Sim-Walker?
So enjoy the latest edition of the MSF Podcast, and look for more general sports discussion in a similar format each Thursday moving forward.
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