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It’s still “early” in baseball terms, but Josh Hamilton and Matt Kemp have done nothing but put on shows. Their superb play has gotten more attention than Philip Humber’s perfect game. Hamilton and Kemp are going for the Triple Crown in their respective leagues. The Triple Crown is revered, by many, to be the greatest single-season accomplishment in all of baseball.
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It is amazing that as the NFL and NBA recently concluded labor disputes their popularity isn’t suffering as much as Major League Baseball; who are losing the youth demographic. The decision for L.A. Angels owner Artie Moreno to pay Albert Pujols two hundred fifty four million dollars over ten years is ludicrous and absurd. Say that again $254 million over 10 years.
There is speculation of what Pujols’ age really is.
In 2011, I am skeptical of this notion because data around the world are fairly transparent. If that were the case, the truth likely would have come to light by now. Even so, men of a certain age (shout out to Ray Ramano) will not produce more than in their prime without assistance from performance enhancing drugs.
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Normally Saturday nights are placid when it comes to off-field news in the sports world, but the regularly scheduled calm was interrupted in a big way when ESPN, among several other outlets, reported that Milwaukee Brewers OF Ryan Braun had tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. The slugger is coming off a season that saw him hit 33 HR’s and drive in 111 RBI en route to an NL MVP Award, as well as leading Milwaukee to their first division title since 1982. The positive test, if upheld, would mean that Braun would be suspended for the first 50 games of the 2012 season.
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On Tuesday, Ryan Braun became the 3rd Milwaukee Brewers player and first since 1989 to win an MVP Award. Braun received 20 of 32 first-place votes to edge out the Dodgers’ Matt Kemp and teammate Prince Fielder for one of baseball’s most prestigious awards.
I’m not always on par with what the MLB or corresponding baseball media does (e.g. All-Star Selections, Silver Slugger Winners and Gold Glove Awards), but this time around the Baseball Writers’ Association of America got it right. [Read more…]
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There is nothing I despise more than election speculation about results that are impossible to predict this far out in the presidential race. I, however, will make some bold predictions on some key postseason honors that have yet to come to fruition. My picks have a much better chance of occurring than those made on the roundtables of Sunday morning political talk shows.
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New York isn’t for everyone. Lance Berkman can certainly attest to that. He was shipped off to the Bronx last season and began his tenure as a reserve player. This simply didn’t suit the man who had been the face of the Houston Astros since the the days of the killer bees in Texas. Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell had a long run of success at Minute Maid Park, but Bagwell shouldered the load upon their departure.
It is no surprise that a Saint Louis Cardinal arguably has the best offensive statistics in the National League at the break. Fans would have thought that the name associated with those numbers would be Matt Holliday or Albert Pujols though. The latter has returned from his broken wrist extremely quickly and has the faithful with high hopes for the post break portion of the schedule.
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The divorce of Frank and Jamie McCourt has decimated the Dodgers organization. The ownership situation in the country’s two biggest markets has to have Bud Selig very concerned. The New York Mets’ Fred Wilpon should take a look down the right field line at Citi Field and notice the advertisement for the Fox Business Network. Watching that once in a while might rid him of some of his financial woes.
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