It’s been a big weekend for sport. We’ve seen wins for England in the football, cricket and rugby, and the NFL season really kicks-off in earnest this evening. Alongside all of this, baseball continues to produce great stories, memorable moments and controversy.
What goes up must come down? – The St Louis-Pittsburgh clash on Thursday night may not have seemed like a particularly momentous game to those in attendance, but it proved significant for two people. Rick Ankiel continued his astonishing story by blasting two home runs against the Pirates, driving in seven runs in the game. However, his tale took a bitter turn the following day when it was reported that Ankiel had received a year’s supply of human growth hormone (HGH) back in 2004 while recuperating from Tommy John surgery. While the drugs were apparently obtained legally through a licensed physician, and Ankiel has not broken any laws or rules, the news has cast a shadow over his remarkable comeback and reminded everyone that the issue of performance-enhancing drugs is far from straight forward. Where do we draw the line between genuine use of medicine and cheating? The revelations about Ankiel are the product of a much-wider investigation that has also pointed the finger at Troy Glaus and players/trainers from other sports.
Littlefield sacked – The Cardinals’ 16-4 demolition of the Pirates also spelled the end for Pittsburgh GM Dave Littlefield. During his six-year tenure with the club, Littlefield has failed to halt the organisation’s dismal displays. The Pirates currently sit at 62-80 on the year and are destined for their fifteenth consecutive losing season. There’s no doubt that PNC Park is something to be proud of and they do have a promising core of players in Tom Gorzelanny, Ian Snell, Paul Maholm, Zach Duke, Jason Bay, Adam La Roche and Freddy Sanchez to name a few. The Pirates are reportedly set to announce the appointment of a new CEO in the coming days and hopefully he will be able to work with the new GM to build on these foundations. Ownership will have to play their part as well though. ESPN lists the Buccos’ payroll for 2007 at $38.6 million, fourth lowest in the Majors, and even the wisest Front Office would struggle to put a consistent winner on the field with such relatively little investment where it counts. Of course, when you start with such a small pot of money it’s even more important to spend what you have wisely. Littlefield’s parting “gift” of Matt Morris’ salary in 2008 should be a painful reminder of this fact for the incoming CEO and GM.
One more win for the Royals – The Pirates aren’t the only team with a disturbing fondness for losing. The Kansas City Royals have hit three figures in the losing column in each of the last three seasons, but one more win will guarantee that the sequence is brought to a halt (i.e. one more win and they can “only” lose 99 games). As befits the Royals’ way, they haven’t embraced the challenge with much urgency: they’ve been stuck on 62 wins since last Monday. Still, if there is hope in Pittsburgh then we can find hope in K.C. Rookies such as Alex Gordon, Billy Butler and Brian Bannister have provided bright spots this season (even if Gordon hasn’t quite lived up to his pre-season hype – this year at least) and their GM Dayton Moore continues to earn favourable comments from within the game.
Frustrated Rays and O’s – Sticking to the “victory-challenged” theme, tempers boiled over in Tampa Bay and Baltimore this week. Carl Crawford was finally tipped over the edge on Monday when he was called out at first after seemingly beating out a throw. Crawford jumped up in the air and spiked his batting helmet on to the floor before turning his attention to the umpire. First-base coach George Hendrick tried to keep between Crawford and the umpire, resulting in the strange sight of the enraged outfielder trying to climb over Hendrick to get at the ump. Meanwhile Daniel Cabrera was less than impressed by Coco Crisp’s base running antics at third base which caused the O’s pitcher to commit a balk, allowing Crisp to score a run. Dustin Pedroia was standing at the plate at the time and was the unfortunate victim of Cabrera’s rage in the form of a fastball directed squarely at his head. Cue a bench-clearing spat and a suspension for Cabrera.
51 and counting – Alex Rodriguez continued his MVP-calibre season by going deep twice against the Mariners on Wednesday (both in the same inning) and then hitting two more last night against the Royals. A-Rod now has a Major League leading 51 homers on the season and is only the fourth Yankee ever to pass the fifty mark. The Yankees have been insistent that they will not re-sign A-Rod if/when he opts out of his contract at the end of the season, but he will be incredibly difficult to replace. While the thought of a player getting a multi-year deal worth $30 million a year seems crazy, Rodriguez is doing his best to show that if anyone deserves that sort of money, he does.
Pedro’s back … – It was the moment that many Mets fans had been waiting for all season. Pedro Martinez finally made his 2007 debut on Monday against the Reds and it was undoubtedly a success. He pitched six strong innings, mixing his speeds and location well, and gave his team a chance to win the game (which they duly did). Few expected him to take the mound and pitch like the Pedro of old first time out; it’s more than possible that he will never recapture that form again. But there’s every reason to suggest that he can be an effective starter for the duration of his current contract at least (health permitting) and, of more immediate concern, every reason to suggest that he can help the Mets take the NL East this year and to get to the World Series.
… and picking up where he left off – While simply returning to the mound was an achievement for Pedro, he entered the game needing just two more strikeouts to reach 3,000 in his career. Martinez struck out opposing pitcher Aaron Harang to reach the milestone, becoming only the fifteenth pitcher in MLB history to do so. Not that everybody was aware of it, mind you. The Mets’ catcher Paul Lo Duco casually lobbed the historic ball in Pedro’s direction, completely oblivious to its importance. Something tells me he might be the butt of many a clubhouse joke at the moment. Pedro finished the game on 3002 strikeouts an will be looking to add to the total tonight against the Astros.