Thursday, November 10, 2005
What a trip...
Thu Nov. 3, 2005
Well, unfortunately baseball season is coming to a close, and with its ending comes my last baseball column of the year (or at least until Spring Training).
It's been a fun season, filled with celebration, despair and steroid scandals. Baseball fans were treated to a barrage of big hits, including Derrek Lee's breakout season (finally). So take a trip with me as I recount my favorite moments of the 2005 Major League Baseball Season.
Spring training was as fun as usual, as bad teams tried to make a name for themselves on the Grapefruit League circuit, which gave Giants fans a reason to cheer (until April 4). Teams like the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Mets and Baltimore Orioles were atop the standings, and although this is another case for Spring Training being meaningless, the home run leader entering April was Andruw Jones.
The beginning of the season was a nightmare for Yankees and Braves fans, but at least I got a day off of school to go to opening day at Pac Bell Park and, even better, Marble Slab ice cream after the game (Courtesy of Joanne Vaars' season tickets). Derrek Lee was still hitting somewhere around .993 after the first month of the season, and there was no slowing down for the Cubbies' slugger — Cubs fans, you should be praising Jim Hendry. Lee's statistics subsided a bit, but talk of the triple crown award didn't even fade for this guy until early September.
The Dodgers' fiery start was extinguished early in the season, but the Expos' — err, I mean Nationals' were able to stay on top of the leaderboard until the NL East playoff race got hot. The Chicago White Sox (omg) were the best team in baseball for a long time, making the Minnesota Twins sink faster in the standings than Fred Smoot's party boat (It must be a Minnesota thing). The Oakland A's debuted starting pitcher Joe Blanton, who edged out the Los Angeles Angels' Bartolo Colon as the fattest pitcher in the AL West (Bob Wickman took the cake in the Central). Blanton was shaken up early, but established himself as another reliable Oakland pitcher.
The home run derby was one for the ages, as fans were treated to Chris Berman's indecipherable screaming, as well as first ever nationally based derby. We saw David Ortiz and Pedro Martinez draping themselves in Dominican flags but, alas, their buddy Miguel Tejada was ousted as home run king by Venezuela's finest, Bobby Abreu. Abreu smacked a record number of home runs in a round, and according to Phillies' manager Charlie Manuel, was never the same afterward. Manuel's comments, along with Abreu's incredible drop in statistics might deter sluggers from entering the competition next year, or as the Philedelphia Inquirer put it, "Find some other swing to mess up."
The all-star game was a bore as usual, because unfortunately, MLB once again invited the National League (you'd think they'd fix the glitch).
The Second half the season was unforgettable, as there was one of the tightest AL races to ever hit baseball. With three weeks left in the season, the Yankees, Angels, Red Sox, A's and Indians were all within one game of each other, fighting for three playoff spots. The Giants had been out of contention all year, but somehow Campanile Giants' fans were convinced that they still had a prayer. Luckily, an overworked Armando Benitez blew a 3-run lead and handed over the division title to the San Diego Padres, who, if I may mention, were at risk of being the first ever division-winning team to be sub .500.
Mariano Rivera should win the Cy-Young; Alex Rodriguez and Derrek Lee should win the MVP's, and the Giant's have no chance (again) in '06. Enjoy David Stern's "No bling left behind" act.
Source: http://voice.paly.net/
Well, unfortunately baseball season is coming to a close, and with its ending comes my last baseball column of the year (or at least until Spring Training).
It's been a fun season, filled with celebration, despair and steroid scandals. Baseball fans were treated to a barrage of big hits, including Derrek Lee's breakout season (finally). So take a trip with me as I recount my favorite moments of the 2005 Major League Baseball Season.
Spring training was as fun as usual, as bad teams tried to make a name for themselves on the Grapefruit League circuit, which gave Giants fans a reason to cheer (until April 4). Teams like the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Mets and Baltimore Orioles were atop the standings, and although this is another case for Spring Training being meaningless, the home run leader entering April was Andruw Jones.
The beginning of the season was a nightmare for Yankees and Braves fans, but at least I got a day off of school to go to opening day at Pac Bell Park and, even better, Marble Slab ice cream after the game (Courtesy of Joanne Vaars' season tickets). Derrek Lee was still hitting somewhere around .993 after the first month of the season, and there was no slowing down for the Cubbies' slugger — Cubs fans, you should be praising Jim Hendry. Lee's statistics subsided a bit, but talk of the triple crown award didn't even fade for this guy until early September.
The Dodgers' fiery start was extinguished early in the season, but the Expos' — err, I mean Nationals' were able to stay on top of the leaderboard until the NL East playoff race got hot. The Chicago White Sox (omg) were the best team in baseball for a long time, making the Minnesota Twins sink faster in the standings than Fred Smoot's party boat (It must be a Minnesota thing). The Oakland A's debuted starting pitcher Joe Blanton, who edged out the Los Angeles Angels' Bartolo Colon as the fattest pitcher in the AL West (Bob Wickman took the cake in the Central). Blanton was shaken up early, but established himself as another reliable Oakland pitcher.
The home run derby was one for the ages, as fans were treated to Chris Berman's indecipherable screaming, as well as first ever nationally based derby. We saw David Ortiz and Pedro Martinez draping themselves in Dominican flags but, alas, their buddy Miguel Tejada was ousted as home run king by Venezuela's finest, Bobby Abreu. Abreu smacked a record number of home runs in a round, and according to Phillies' manager Charlie Manuel, was never the same afterward. Manuel's comments, along with Abreu's incredible drop in statistics might deter sluggers from entering the competition next year, or as the Philedelphia Inquirer put it, "Find some other swing to mess up."
The all-star game was a bore as usual, because unfortunately, MLB once again invited the National League (you'd think they'd fix the glitch).
The Second half the season was unforgettable, as there was one of the tightest AL races to ever hit baseball. With three weeks left in the season, the Yankees, Angels, Red Sox, A's and Indians were all within one game of each other, fighting for three playoff spots. The Giants had been out of contention all year, but somehow Campanile Giants' fans were convinced that they still had a prayer. Luckily, an overworked Armando Benitez blew a 3-run lead and handed over the division title to the San Diego Padres, who, if I may mention, were at risk of being the first ever division-winning team to be sub .500.
Mariano Rivera should win the Cy-Young; Alex Rodriguez and Derrek Lee should win the MVP's, and the Giant's have no chance (again) in '06. Enjoy David Stern's "No bling left behind" act.
Source: http://voice.paly.net/
