Author Danny Vinik

RIP: 2008 New York Yankees

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The unfathomable seems to have happened. A Steinbrenner has admitted defeat. Two days ago, Hank Steinbrenner commented that injuries have cost the 2008 Yankees and it may be time to look forward to the 2009 Season. Wow. I didn’t think I’d ever hear a Steinbrenner utter those words and yet, they make sense. The team has been ridden with injuries and poor performance by young pitchers. Jorge Posada, Hideki Matsui, and Chien Ming Wang have all suffered serious injuries this year and are not expected back for the rest of the season. Combine that with Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy’s shockingly bad performances this year and you have a team ready to break. The Yanks have held around as Mike Mussina and Andy Pettitte have had strong seasons thus far, but both are old pitchers and they will almost definitely not be able to keep pitching well.

Johnny Damon and Derek Jeter have both have had sub-par season and Robinson Cano has not lived up to expectations. Alex Rodriguez has had an excellent year and recently acquired Xavier Nady has played out-of-this-world, but it isn’t going to be enough. Hitting wins games, pitching wins championships. The Yankees have excellent hitting, but their starting pitching isn’t going to hold up. It has barely held up so far. The Yankees are nine games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East and six games behind the Boston Red Sox for the Wild Card. The Twins also lie between the Yankees and the Sox in the Wild Card. The Red Sox and Rays both look strong, even though they have both suffered their own injuries in recent days. For the Rays, Evan Longoria and Carl Crawford were placed on the DL. a big setback to an already weak lineup. The Red Sox meanwhile lost Tim Wakefield and Mike Lowell to injuries. Continue reading “RIP: 2008 New York Yankees” →

Phelps Dream Still Alive

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Photo: ESPN

It one of the most improbable, amazing, and utterly incomprehensible comebacks in not just the history of swimming, but the history of swimming, US swimmer Jason Lezak kept Michael Phelps’ dream of eight gold medals in one Olympics alive Monday morning. It was the final of the 4 x 100 meter and Phelps was going for his second gold medal of the Olympics. Many forecasted that this would be the race that would stand between Phelps and history. The US team consisted of four world-class swimmers in Phelps, Lezak, Garret Weber-Gale, and Cullen Jones. Phelps led off for the US team, but when he finished his 100 meters, the United States sat in second behind a strong showing by Australia. As Weber-Gale finished off his 100 meters, the US had taken the lead by a slim margin, with the French coming on fast. Then came Jones, who lost significant time in his swim and left the US with almost no chance at gold.

Lezak entered the pool six-tenths of a second behind French swimmer Alain Bernard, who had stated earlier that the French were going to “smash” the Americans. The fast swimmer in the world at the 100m freestyle and with a big lead, Bernard was all but certainly going to make that promise come true. Bernard even began gaining ground on Lezak until he was a full body-length ahead of him, an insurmountable distance in swimming. Then, like a switch was turned on, Lezak started to fly. Bernard tightened up and the arena grew louder with people muttering “could he actually do this”. Ten meters to go and Bernard still held a significant lead on Lezak, but Lezak was not about to give up. He continued gaining ground and reached his hand out to the wall as far as possible, touching it just eight-hundredths of a second before the Frenchman, giving the US the victory. Lezak and his teammates erupted, screaming at the top of their lungs and pumping their fists into the air. Phelps was ecstatic, realizing that he had just won gold in his toughest event and the path was now clear for him to make history. Continue reading “Phelps Dream Still Alive” →

The Olympics Begin

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Photo: Boston.com

With an unprecidented, magnificent opening ceremonies, China has officially opened its doors and let the world enter into Beijing for the Summer Olympics. The show that the China put on will forever live as the greatest opening ceremonies in the history of the Olympics. I just don’t see how any city, any country, anyone could possibly top last night’s performance. It was truly magical. And I would expect nothing less from the Chinese, who are determined to prove that they are not a corrupted, evil empire, but a just, skillful country. Though everyone who saw the lighting of the Olympic Torch was no doubt left in awe, it won’t be as easy to convince the world that China is just. My question is: Are the Olympics the place to share political opinions and uproot years of planning with protesting?

The Olympics are designed to bring the world together for two-plus weeks of incredible events to showcase the greatest athletes in the world and the incredible sportsmanship and respect that exists between those athletes. It is for the four athletes from Malawi to show that their country has pride and passion. It is for Michael Phelps to win nine gold medals and the United States Basketball team to reclaim gold. But most of all, it is for the Chinese to take the world by storm. China has spent four years and millions of dollars developing a strategy and training athletes so that when all is said and done at this year’s Summer Olympics, they will be left holding the most medals. Continue reading “The Olympics Begin” →