Manny Being Stupid

May 7, 2009May 23, 2010Danny Vinik 4 Comments

Major League Baseball announced today that Los Angeles Dodgers left-fielder Manny Ramirez has tested positive for steroids and will begin serving a 50-game suspension tonight.

Wow. Wow. Wow.

This actually surprises me more than Alex Rodriguez’s admission of steroid use. Manny. He has such a fluid swing and perfect balance. You watch him swing a bat and I honestly never considered him as a steroid-user since his swing was so perfect. I never suspected his power, because his swing was so powerful that I assumed it could generate it.

Well, I was wrong and this leads me to ask a whole new series of questions. Before this, the league, fans, and media abided by the policy, “innocent until proven guilty”. If you weren’t connected to steroids, you were assumed to have been clean. I don’t think that’s the case anymore. How can anyone be above suspicion when the two greatest hitters in baseball have been caught in the last two months? Now, it is “guilty until proven innocent”. Continue reading “Manny Being Stupid” →

Eerily Quiet In The Bronx

April 28, 2009May 23, 2010Danny Vinik Leave a comment

The Yankees are in the midst of a 4-game losing, including a sweep at the hands of the rival Boston Red Sox, and are in third place in the AL East, a game under .500. Their biggest free agent acquisitions, C.C. Sabathia and Mark Teixeira, have both been awful. Yet, all is quiet in Yankee-land.

Where is George Steinbrenner? Where is his voice resounding through the media and plastered all over ESPN? Where are the threats that heads will roll and the attacks on Yankees’ manager Joe Girardi?

I want an explosion. I want the Yankees’ players to be trembling in every at bat, worried that if they strikeout, they will walk back to the dugout and find out that they have been demoted to AAA.

Those were the good old days. Now the Yankees fall apart in silence. The glorified New York Yankees, the Evil Empire and 26-time World Series Champions, are no longer the king of baseball. Steinbrenner no longer owns the sport. Continue reading “Eerily Quiet In The Bronx” →

Wakefield Steps Up

April 15, 2009May 23, 2010Danny Vinik Leave a comment

The Boston Red Sox are off to one of their worst starts in years at 3-6. Coming in to today, that record was 2-6 and they were at risk of being swept by the Oakland Athletics. Last night, Daisuke Matsuzaka gave up five runs in his one inning of work before leaving the game with arm fatigue (he’s now on the DL), forcing the bullpen to enter the game very early. On top of that, the game went twelve innings so the Boston bullpen had to pitch 11 innings. Oh, and they lost.

Now, more than ever, the Red Sox needed a strong, deep start from Tim Wakefield. They got more than they could possibly imagine.

Wake pitched a complete game, four-hitter giving up two earned runs, but he also took a no-hitter into the 8th inning. The Sox led the game 2-0 most of the way, before opening up the score in the top of the 8th and eventually winning 8-2. So desperately in need of a win, anything to boost the team’s confidence, that Wake’s performance could be a turning point in the year.

Reporters, coaches, and players all reiterate that a poor start to the season doesn’t mean the team will struggle all season. Yes, it is only seven games, but those seven games are what set your team up, present it with confidence to win or the doubt causing teams to lose. Continue reading “Wakefield Steps Up” →