MySports Today

The Yankees were flying high after Hideki Matsui’s walk-off home run on Monday night gave the Yankees a big 2-1 win over the Orioles.  It was the Yankees 4th win in a row after the All-Star Break and at 55-37, the Yankees were in a 1st place tie with the Red Sox in the AL East.  The Red Sox had lost 3 of their 4 games after the break, and the Yankees took advantage of the opening.

It should be an interesting stretch run the last 2+ months of the season.  Kate Hudson seems to like the performance of her beau Alex Rodriguez – she’s been taking in Yankees games of late and seems to be bringing the team a lot of good luck…

We all kind of suspected it, but our suspicions were confirmed when the NY Times reported that Sammy Sosa was one of the players that tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs back in 2003.  The Yankees Alex Rodriguez is the only other player that has been linked to the 2003 positive PED test results.

Sosa went from a skinny outfielder to a muscular hunk of a ballplayer during the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.  Sosa is the only player in major league baseball history to hit 60 or more home runs in 3 different seasons.  While the release of Rodriguez’s name and Sosa’s name has raised other issues – the test results were to remain anonymous under an agreement between MLB and the players union – it is a shame to finally have confirmation that Sosa used PED’s to enhance his play on the field.  Sosa played for the Cubs from 1992-2004 and was the main draw for Cubs fans during that time.  He is the Cubs all-time home run leader with 545 home runs.

During the Cubs-White Sox cross-town classic this week at Wrigley Field, Cubs Manager Lou Pinella and White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen both commented on the Sosa outing and the test results.

Pinella had this to say:  “It’s a shame that baseball keeps going back to the past.  Baseball is doing a good job today of cleaning up all these issues.  That’s what we should be focusing on.  I don’t know how this news gets out.  In my case, I wasn;’t here, and I wish that we would just focus on today and what the sport is doing as opposed to what happened in the past.”

Guillen had this to say:  “It’s very, very sad how names start to come out.  And every week baseball has to deal with these names.  And whoever is leaking the information, whoever got the rights to the information, they should right away say something and get it over with, because it’s put everyone in baseball, not just Chicago people, everyone in baseball, dealing with this situation they shouldn’t be dealing with any more.  We got enough time to clean this thing.”

Only 2 of the 103 players that tested positive during the 2003 testing have been identified.  At this point, if names are going to be leaked out 1 by 1, we should really just get it over with it and have all the names disclosed.  It’s ridiculous that all of the focus is on Sosa and Rodriguez because someone broke the law and violated the terms of the confidentiality of the testing.  The person leaking these names should be forced to disclose the source, so that the source can be properly punished for violating the terms of the testing.  We doubt this will ever happen, but until someone makes a fuss over this, we’ll continue to get information piecemeal over time.  Not good for baseball, for the players or for us, the fans.

The Yankees defeated the Rangers 11-1, pounding out 19 hits along the way.  Alex Rodriguez went 5 for 5 for the Yankees, with 4 RBI’s and 2 runs scored.  Overall, the Yankees pounded out 19 hits and 3 walks against 3 Rangers pitchers – Matt Harrison, Kris Benson & Warner Madrigal.

Phil Hughes pitched a gem for the Yankees – 8 scoreless innings of 3 hit, 1 walk ball.  He also had 6 K’s and Manager Joe Girardi pulled him after 8 innings because he had racked up 101 pitches.

With the win, the Yankees moved into sole possession of 2nd place in the AL East, just 1 game behind the Red Sox.

The Yankees are glad to have A-Rod back.  A-Rod delivered a game-ending walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning on Saturday afternoon to give the Yankees a 6-4 win over the Twins.  It was the 2nd game in a row in which the Yankees had a walk-off hit to end the game – Melky Cabrera’s single in the bottom of the 9th inning on Friday night off closer Joe Nathan gave the Yankees the come-from-behind 5-4 win.

The Yankees led for most of the game until the Twins took a 4-3 lead in the 8th on a Justin Morneau HR and a Brian Brescher RBI double.  But the Yankees came right back in the bottom of the inning on Mark Teixeira’s RBI single.  Teixeira was 4 for 4 on the day with a HR, 4 RBI’s and 2 runs scored.  In the 11th inning, Teixeira struck again – this time with a lead off walk from Craig Breslow.  A-Rod then finished Breslow off with his cruching 2-run HR to deep left field.  Mariano worked 2 scoreless innings in the 9th and 10th, and Alfredo Aceves picked up his 1st win of the 2009 campaign with a scoreless top of the 11th inning.

The Yankees have won 4 straight games and are now 19-17 on the season.  The Yankees trail the 1st place Toronto Blue Jays by 4.5 games in the AL East and go for the sweep of the Twins on Sunday with A.J. Burnett on the bump.

A-Rod was all the Yankees needed to end a 5-game skid.  A-Rod crushed the 1st pitch he saw on his 2009 season for a 3-run home run that put the Yankees up 3-0 in the 1st inning.  That would be all that CC Sabathia needed as he cruised through a complete game 4-hitter.  Sabathia needed only 112 pitches to earn his 2nd victory of the season.  Sabathia walked 1 and had 8 K’s.  But the big story was A-Rod who had been rehabbing his hip injury for the last week in the minors.  A-Rod had this to say about his 1st game of 20009 – “It was awesome.  It was just nice to get to the ballpark, give the guys a hug and do what I do best.”

Let’s see if this is the catalyst the Yankees needed to get their season back on track…

Alex Rodriguez played 3rd base for 7 innings on Tuesday for the 2nd straight day.  It is unclear if he will play a 3rd straight day on Wednesday.  A-Rod went 3 for 6 with 2 home runs to center field.  I wonder if his hot new girlfriend – model Melissa Britos – was in Tampa to check out her man…

The Alex Rodriguez saga continues.  A-Rod met with Major League Baseball executives on Sunday to discuss his use of steroids from 2001 through 2003 while a member of the Texas Rangers.  A-Rod said that he was glad that the meeting was behind him, and now he can simply focus on spring training and getting ready for the upcoming 2009 MLB season.

A-Rod also joined the Dominican Republic team on Monday in preparation for the 2009 World Baseball Classic.  The Dominican Republic team is stocked with major league talent – Pedro Martinez, David Ortiz, Miguel Tejada, Hanley Ramirez and Jose Reyes.

As for the meeting with MLB brass, the commissioner’s office released a statement saying that A-Rod was cooperative.  A-Rod attended the meeting with his 2 lawyers.  Union general counsel Michael Weiner was also present.  Dan Mullin (executive vice president of MLB investigations), Rob Manfred (executive vice president for MLB labor relations) and Dan Halem (general counsel for labor) were present on behalf of MLB.   From all accounts, the meeting went well.

A-Rod had this to say on his attempt to un-tarnish his public image – “I’ve put myself behind the eight ball, that’s for sure.  I’ve made mistakes.  I feel bad about them.  But I’m also looking forward to doing good things – not only playing good baseball, but perhaps being a messenger of the right message for kids in the future to not make the same mistake I made.”

Alex Rodriguez allegedly told one taunting fan to “Kiss My Hot Ass” during the Yankees first spring training game against the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday…

Just kidding – although that would have been pretty funny.

Taunting and boos aside, Alex Rodriguez had a comfortable 1st spring game against the Blue Jays.  A-Rod hit a 2-run home run and walked twice in the Yankees 6-1 victory. He left the game after his walk in the 5th inning and he signed autographs for fans for about 5 minutes before departing the facilities.

In pre-game introductions and during his 1st few at-bats, the fans showered A-Rod with a mix of boos and cheers.  Some fans taunted A-Rod, asking him where his cousin was and where Madonna was.  This was A-Rod’s first public appearance since his admission that he took performing enhancing drugs while a member of the Texas Rangers from 2001 through 2003.

We’ll keep you posted with more A-Rod updates as the 2009 MLB season progresses.