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Archive for the 'Derek Jeter' Tag

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Angels’ Hunter wins ninth Gold Glove award

November 10th, 2009, 12:50 pm by Earl Bloom, staff writer

Angels center fielder Torii Hunter has won his ninth consecutive 01hunterblog1American League Gold Glove, matching Seattle Mariners right fielder Ichiro Suzuki on the team announced Tuesday.

They were joined in the outfield by one of the three newcomers on the AL team, Baltimore’s Adam Jones. The other first-timers were Tampa Bay third baseman Evan Longoria and Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle.

The rest of the squad has a more familiar look: Minnesota catcher Joe Mauer; New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira and shortstop Derek Jeter; and Detroit second baseman Placido Polanco.

The Gold Glove is Hunter’s second in as many seasons in Anaheim, continuing a long tradition of Gold-Glove Angels center fielders.

The other Angels center fielders honored were: Ken Berry (1972), Rick Miller (1978), Gary Pettis (1985-86), Devon White (1988-89), Jim Edmonds (1997-98) and Darin Erstad (2000, 2002).

Posted in: Angels • Torii Hunter • • • • • • • • • • • • • • | 13 Comments »

Phillies play the waiting game, and they’re fine with that

October 24th, 2009, 12:01 pm by Earl Bloom, staff writer

ALCS Yankees Baseball

While the Angels and New York Yankees try to decide the ALCS in the next two games in the Frigidaire refrigerator known as Yankee Stadium, the World Champion Philadelphia Phillies are having a good time.

Yes, while Derek Jeter, Joe Girardi and Alex Rodriguez (above, Friday at a workout in sunny NYC) are dressing in layers, and wondering if they left the door too far open for the Angels in Game 5, the Phillies are mulling pitching plans.

Jayson Werth (AP)

Jayson Werth (AP)

Manager Charlie Manuel says Pedro Martinez will get a start in the World Series, but he hasn’t made any definite selections beyond Cliff Lee in Game 1.

The early thought here is Manuel is in really good shape if Philadelphia draws New York, since the Phillies could start three left-handers in Yankee Stadium.

While Mark Teixeira and Rodriguez might enjoy this (especially the slumping Cole Hamels), it might impact much of the Yankees lineup.

And neither the Angels or Yankees appear particularly equipped to cool off Ryan Howard or Jayson Werth.

Werth is the former Dodger who is also the nephew of longtime Angels shortstop Dick Schofield.

Werth has five home runs and 10 RBIs in nine playoff games. While he might resemble Scooby-Doo’s buddy Shaggy at first glance, no pitcher should want to face him right now.

Posted in: Angels • Former Angels • Mark Teixeira • New York Yankees • • • • • • • • • • • • | 1 Comment »

See who is playing well: It’s as easy as WBC

September 10th, 2009, 6:00 am by Earl Bloom, staff writer

The much-maligned World Baseball Classic has been blamed for every injury suffered since by any of its participants.US Venezuela World Baseball Classic

Yes, the Mets had the most players in the WBC, and their roster has been decimated by injuries. But am I supposed to believe getting hit in the head by a Matt Cain fastball in August has anything to do with David Wright playing for Team USA in March?

Despite the handicap of playing in the WBC, Miguel Cabrera (Venezuela) and Derek Jeter (Team USA) will finish in the top three for American League Most Valuable Player — if one of them doesn’t win it over Joe Mauer (who wasn’t on the U.S. roster).

That’s Cabrera on the right, before he put on his Detroit Tigers uniform.

Those two aren’t the only two WBC players to have survived the injury bug and thrive. It’s nearly impossible to even cut it to a 25-man roster, even excluding Wright, who is back from his concusssion and doing well except for not hitting home runs.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Bobby Abreu • Francisco Rodriguez • World Baseball Classic • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • | Post a Comment »

Baseball’s what-if nightmare: The ‘wrong’ names on ‘the list’

August 13th, 2009, 10:25 am by Earl Bloom, staff writer

I don’t agree with the premise that baseball would endHome Run Derby Baseball as we know it if a name like Derek Jeter’s was on the list of 104 alleged positive drug tests.

But ESPN’s Gene Wojciechowski covers the topic well in his column.

My take is, if Jeter was on that list, the whole thing would lose steam and it suddenly would not be an issue any longer.

I think the one thing Wojciechowski really gets wrong is his worry about Busch Stadium suicides if Albert Pujols was on that list.

Cardinals fans still love and revere Mark McGwire. They would get over it.

I am not implying Jeter or Pujols is on any list. Nor would I care if they are. Since the drug crazes that hit the sport in the 70s and 80s get a free pass, I never understood all the furor about this.

The Angels won the World Series in 2002. If any of those players were on the 2003 list, they would quickly be forgiven. In Southern California, at least.

Posted in: Steroids • • • | 5 Comments »

Yankees’ Jeter simply calls it like he sees it

March 27th, 2009, 6:15 am by Earl Bloom, staff writer

Derek Jeter is my new hero.

No, not because I’ve become a Yankees fan late in life.

And no, not because he’s on my Fantasy team (he isn’t), nor because newsday.com’s Kat O’Brien is reporting Jeter will bat No. 1 in New York’s lineup the rest of spring training with Johnny Damon No. 2, and Manager Joe Girardi likely will carry that order into the regular season.

It’s simply because the Yankees shortstop knows where the Angels play, and who they really are. This was revealed in a post-World Baseball Classic column by the New York Daily News’ Filip Bondy:

“I don’t know how you emulate swinging and hitting while you’re already halfway down to first,” said Derek Jeter, properly impressed by the Japanese speed and tactics. “It’s like facing Anaheim. They don’t strike out.”

So, not only does Jeter endorse the two-time WBC champions’ up-tempo, smallball style, and compare it favorably with Sciosciaball, he hasn’t been fooled by Arte Moreno’s hard-fought, venue name change.

If there was a little thumb here as on Facebook, you can bet I “like” this.

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    • Posted in: Uncategorized • • • | 3 Comments »

    Japan vs. South Korea in Game 5 for all the WBC marbles

    March 23rd, 2009, 12:30 pm by Earl Bloom, staff writer

    The 2009 World Baseball Classic has evolved into the decider of a best-of-5 series featuring South Korea and Shin-Soo Choo (above) against defending champion Japan and Ichiro Suzuki (right).

    The two Asian baseball powers meet Monday night at 6 p.m. in Dodger Stadium for the fifth time in this tournament, having split the first four meetings.

    Japan manager Tatsunori Hara said he thinks it might be the game of the century.

    Hara gets to manage in this game, in large part, because unlike Team USA’s Davey  Johnson, he is allowed to play his players where they fit the team concept.

    That’s why the speedy Munenori Kawasaki (below), a lefty-hitting Fukuouka SoftBank Hawks shortstop, played third base for Japan and caused all kinds of problems for Roy Oswalt, David Wright  and Team USA on Sunday night.

    And why Yusuyuki Kataoka, a righty-hitting Suitama Seibu Lions second baseman, will likely play third Monday against Korean ace Jung Keun Bong.

    Imagine the reaction from Major League Baseball or its teams if Johnson tried playing Derek Jeter or Brian Roberts out of postion in an attempt to field a better lineup.

    It’s one of the reasons Japan and Korea are playing Monday at Dodger Stadium, and Team USA is not.

    Japan’s starting pitcher will be Hisashi Iwakuma, regarded as the Greg Maddux of Japan, who is also Japan baseball’s reigning MVP. Yu Darvish will be available in relief.

    Korea’s strength is its surprising power, well-represented by Tae Kyun Kim (left), who should be the tourament’s Most Valuable Player. He already has a tournament-record 11 RBIs, and he and Bum Ho Lee each have three home runs.

    Other baseball posts:

  • Schilling: More time to talk
  • Blame game hits convenient target; How about fielding a real team?
  • Angels vs. Dodgers: Vlad vs. Manny
  • Japan takes advantage of Oswalt, errors to gain WBC title game
  • Angels win HR Derby, 8-7
  • WBC warmup Sunday: Oswalt vs. Matsuzaka
  • Surprise: The new Windy City
  • Surprise — Angels vs. Royals
  • Vlad ready to burst again in 2009
  • South Korea routs bumbling Venezuela at Dodger Stadium

    • Posted in: World Baseball Classic • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • | Post a Comment »

    Blame game hits convenient target; How about fielding a real team?

    March 23rd, 2009, 7:32 am by Earl Bloom, staff writer

    The blame game started more than a week ago, when Team USA was on the verge of World Baseball Classic elimination after Jake Peavy was pummeled by Puerto Rico.

    The Americans survived by trouncing the Dutch, and then rallying against Puerto Rico. But Sunday night’s eliminating loss at Dodger Stadium to Japan, 9-4, sent (right) Mark DeRosa, Brian McCann and teammates back to their major-league spring trainng camps.

    It also rekindled the accusations, most of which are leveled at Manager Davey Johnson (above).

    He was the target for ESPN’s Lloyd Neel, Jim Caple, and to a more subtle extent, Yahoo Sports!’ Tim Brown.

    But the problem is far beyond Johnson, or any other managerial decisions. No real team’s manager has their hands tied like the Team USA skipper. And Team USA in the WBC is not  a real baseball team.

    A real baseball team wouldn’t alternate Jimmy Rollins and Derek Jeter at shortstop, and use the other at designated hitter. Not if it means playing Adam Dunn anywhere in the field, right field, first base, anywhere. The DH spot was made for this guy.

    Think Jeter or Rollins (left) would’ve looked like the helpless Dunn in right field, especially in the eighth inning? But oh no, no American star can play out of position, they might get hurt playing a game they’ve played since they were kids.

    Apparently I am supposed to believe that, by making the major leagues, players forget how to catch a flyball.

    In the next WBC, the U.S. needs its own, two- or three-week training camp, before MLB camps open.

    It needs more role players like DeRosa with positional versatility, so it can stop making apologies for playing catcher McCann in left field in an emergency, or putting a defensive nightmare like Dunn at first base, just because he’s played more games there than any “specialist” on the roster.

    It also needs a full-fledged commitment by the MLB teams, and the players invited. Not just lip service, and binding playing instructions that restrict whatever poor manager they select for the next Classic.

    Otherwise, we’re gonna keep watching  Japan play South Korea for the title, as I will tonight at 6 p.m. PT.

    Other baseball posts:

  • Angels vs. Dodgers: Vlad vs. Manny
  • Japan takes advantage of Oswalt, errors to gain WBC title game
  • Angels win HR Derby, 8-7
  • WBC warmup Sunday: Oswalt vs. Matsuzaka
  • Surprise: The new Windy City
  • Surprise — Angels vs. Royals
  • Vlad ready to burst again in 2009
  • South Korea routs bumbling Venezuela at Dodger Stadium
  • Angels’ notes from Saturday
  • Two thumbs up for Oswalt starting choice by Team USA

    • Posted in: World Baseball Classic • • • • • • • | Post a Comment »

    Japan takes advantage of Oswalt, errors to gain WBC title game

    March 22nd, 2009, 8:27 pm by Earl Bloom, staff writer

    Team USA ran out of defense, and left-handed relievers, Sunday in the World Baseball Classic semifinal at Dodger Stadium.

    Atsunori Inaba (above) and defending champion Japan chased USA starter Roy Oswalt with a five-run fourth inning, and the Americans made three errors that led to four unearned runs — almost the difference in a 9-4 setback that sets up a South Korea vs. Japan showdown tonight.

    Brian Roberts opened the game with a leadoff homer off Daisuke Matsuzaka. But Roberts, Derek Jeter and David Wright, three-fourths of the USA infield made errors. The only one who didn’t commit an error in the infield was the one playing out of position, first baseman Mark DeRosa.

    Seattle Mariners catcher Kenji Johjima, above right, drove in a pair of runs with sacrifice flies, and Hiroyuki Nakajima also had two RBIs to power Japan’s attack.

    After Oswalt was driven for cover, Manager Davey Johnson’s three left-handed relievers, John Grabow, J.P. Howell and Matt Thornton, stymied the Japanese lineup for 3 1/3 innings. But USA’s right-handers had no such luck.

    A clear difference between the approach of the two squads came in the top of the ninth. Yu Darvish, the expected Japan starter for Monday, came on to get the final three outs. He struck out Adam Dunn to end it.

    Other baseball posts:

  • Japan takes advantage of Oswalt, errors to gain WBC title game
  • Angels win HR Derby, 8-7
  • WBC warmup Sunday: Oswalt vs. Matsuzaka
  • Surprise: The new Windy City
  • Surprise — Angels vs. Royals
  • Vlad ready to burst again in 2009
  • South Korea routs bumbling Venezuela at Dodger Stadium
  • Angels’ notes from Saturday
  • Two thumbs up for Oswalt starting choice by Team USA
  • Pizza party at Peter Piper’s?

    • Posted in: World Baseball Classic • • • • • • • • • • • • • | Post a Comment »

    WBC warmup Sunday: Oswalt vs. Matsuzaka

    March 22nd, 2009, 2:51 pm by Earl Bloom, staff writer

    Whatever transpires in the next few hours at Dodger Stadium, Team USA manager Davey Johnson shouldn’t be second-guessed for his pitching choice.

    Picking a sharp Roy Oswalt (top, with Derek Jeter) over a struggling Jake Peavy to pitch against Japan and Daisuke Matsuzaka (above) is a no-brainer, despite Peavy’s history against Japan.

    Venezuela manager Luis Sojo, the former Angels infielder, had a tougher choice Saturday but made the wrong one — if only because you don’t save your best pitcher for something that might not happen.

    Sojo went with Carlos Silva (below) over Felix Hernandez, something the Seattle Mariners would never do, and Silva was pounded by South Korea in a 10-2 victory.

    Colleague Mark Whicker covered the topic totally in his fine column.

    Former Angels left-hander Andrew Lorraine, my expert on all things Venezuelan because he has pitched in that country’s major league the past 10 winters, including winning the 2009 Caribbean World Series with Tigres de Aragua.

    Lorraine knows Sojo’s personnel quite well — he has pitched against or with them, often.

    Lorraine sent me this e-mail shortly after South Korea clobbered Venezuela: “It’s hard when your best pitcher is on the bench. … they nailed it (on TV) before the game, saying Silva had only faced Italy and the Dutch … I’m really not surprised by the outing”

    Other baseball posts:

  • Surprise: The new Windy City
  • Surprise — Angels vs. Royals
  • Vlad ready to burst again in 2009
  • South Korea routs bumbling Venezuela at Dodger Stadium
  • Angels’ notes from Saturday
  • Two thumbs up for Oswalt starting choice by Team USA
  • Pizza party at Peter Piper’s?
  • Scioscia getting his work in
  • Back-to-back days for Vlad
  • Decision at Dodger Stadium: 2009 World Baseball Classic

    • Posted in: Andrew Lorraine • Former Angels • World Baseball Classic • • • • • • • • • • • | Post a Comment »

    Would you pay Bud Selig $18 million a year?

    February 2nd, 2009, 11:05 am by Earl Bloom, staff writer

    According to the Sports Business Journal, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig was the fourth-highest paid individual in baseball in 2007, trailing only Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and Jason Giambi with a salary of $17.5 million.

    Roger Clemens ($17.4 million) was fifth.

    An earlier version of the story on ESPN’s site said Clemens was ahead of Selig.

    The report, based on tax filings, says Selig (pictured, with Sheryl Crow and Sarah Jessica Parker at the 2008 All-Star Game) earned $18.35 million in 2007, including benefits and expenses.

    He signed an extension that began in January 2008 that runs through 2012. According to the Journal, that deal called for a pay increase. No wonder he is excited (right)
    Other baseball posts:

    Posted in: Uncategorized • • • • • • | 1 Comment »

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