600

The day I was sincerely hoping wouldn't happen has happened. A-Rod finally snapped his 12 game homer-less streak and hit the big 6-0-0.

This comes exactly three years after he hit #500, and makes him the 7th person to ever enter this exclusive club. He is also the youngest member to join "the list," which includes Barry Bonds (762)*, Hank Aaron (755), Babe Ruth (714), Willie Mays (660), Ken Griffey, Jr. (630) and Sammy Sosa (609)*.

As a die hard Yankees fan, you might wonder why this is not happy news to me. Well, the answer is simple: I don't praise cheaters. And I believe that A-Rod has used (and will use again) performance-enhancing drugs. (Thus the asterisks on Bonds' and Sosa's names... they are also cheaters.) So while my compatriots rejoice, I will think of baseball during simpler times, and hope that this doesn't further inflate A-Rod's already bloated ego. (Dare to dream...)

BY THE WAY... how about those National leaguers winning their first All-Star game since 1996? I'll admit, I was a little stunned. But hey, they need all the help they can get in the post-season. Am I right or am I really right? ;)

R.I.P. Steinbrenner

George Steinbrenner, owner of the New York Yankees, passed away this morning. Love him or hate him, his role in the development of the Yankees and of baseball in general is undeniable.

All Star Game 2010

The time is fast approaching for the 2010 All Star game. The starting lineup has been announced, and I'm pleased to say that many of my key picks made the cut.

Presenting the starting lineup for the American League...

Pos	Player
C	Joe Mauer, MIN
1B	Justin Morneau, MIN
2B	Robinson Cano, NYY
SS	Derek Jeter, NYY
3B	Evan Longoria, TB
OF	Josh Hamilton, TEX
OF	Ichiro Suzuki, SEA
OF	Carl Crawford, TB
DH	Vladimir Guerrero, TEX

There's not a lot of surprises here, though I personally think that both Mauer and Morneau are overrated. I mean, if you can't perform in the post season, are you really All Star material? Seriously? I'll let y'all ruminate about that for awhile.

Here's the starting lineup for the National League...

Pos	Player
C	Yadier Molina, STL
1B	Albert Pujols, STL
2B	Chase Utley, PHI
SS	Hanley Ramirez, FLA
3B	David Wright, NYM
OF	Ryan Braun, MIL
OF	Andre Ethier, LAD
OF	Jason Heyward, ATL

Again, not a lot of surprises here... though let it be known that I CAN. NOT. STAND. Chase Utley. (Yup, I said it. And I'm not ashamed.) I just hope he showers before the game. And limits his chewing to wads of tobacco smaller than a child's head. I'm just sayin...

Insofar as pitching is concerned, I think the American league has an edge. They boast a pitching staff that contains the best closer in the history of the game, and some other great talent. It'll be interesting to see who pitches when, and what effect it'll have on the outcome of the game.

Are there any players you would have liked to see make the team that didn't? Do you think that some players on the team don't deserve to be there?

Sound off in the comments below.

So this is what happens when you retire amid an officiating scandal

The statement came and went with little fanfare. Which, if you knew the player, seemed a bit out of character. Once thought to be the most formidable player in baseball, his chances at eclipsing Hank Aaron's home run record were hampered by injuries that would follow him throughout his career.

And yet his sheer and inimitable talent cannot be denied.

Hate him or love him, true baseball fans have stared in reverent wonderment at his flawless, effortless swing... have witnessed the speed, the agility, the glove of one of the MLB's finest. And it was a glorious sight to behold.

With 630 career home runs (to you lay-people this is a lot, like "the-fifth-highest-of-all-time" lot), 13 All Star appearances, 10 Gold Gloves and one AL MVP award, Ken Griffey Junior's talent is irrefutable. His announcement of retirement may have been timely... but is there ever a good time to say goodbye to such a great player? Part of me wishes he would have just stuck out the season, but I think he just knew it was time. Knew that it was time to put away his glove and his bat, to retire the "swing of all swings."

And I, for one, am going to miss that swing.

Utahn picked in second round of MLB draft

As the official MLB correspondent of the Sports Cave, I'd like to congratulate Utahn Marcus Littlewood for getting drafted in the second round by the Seattle Mariners (pick #67 to be exact).

Littlewood came into the draft straight out of high school, where he played shortstop for Pine View High School in Saint George. He comes from a long line of talented baseball players, and his dad coaches the baseball team at Dixie State College. A switch-hitter with a great glove and arm, we wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

Photo courtesy of the Deseret News

The perfect game that wasn't

Perfect Game (noun)
1 : one of the most culminating, yet ephemeral, milestones in a pitcher's life
2 : in technical terms, a game in which a pitcher earns a victory by pitching at least nine innings without any opposing players reaching base [aka, no walks, hits, steals, etc.]

(definition provided by yours truly)

The night of June 2 should have been a celebration. Instead, it is a night that has sparked the age-old instant reply debate and robbed a young pitcher of an inimitable achievement.

Armando Galarraga should have had a perfect game. As he stood on first base and caught Miguel Cabrera's throw, he started to celebrate. Because the throw had obviously beaten the runner. Thus Galarraga, his teammates and the crowd stared in disbelief as umpire Jim Joyce called Cleveland's Jason Donald safe.

You can view the whole debacle below...


Though Joyce later spoke to Galarraga, and tearfully apologized, the damage was done. And to make matters worse, Bud Selig decided to let the call stand post-game, in spite of calls for him to overturn it. In the classiest move I've seen in awhile, Galarraga shook Joyce's hand after the game and even comforted the guy a little bit.

I think DBs like Kobe Bryant should take note... this is how an athlete should behave. Galarraga will most likely never have another opportunity to pitch a perfect game, yet he handled his understandable disappointment with a grace and class that we can all learn from.

My hope is that he gets another chance someday.

[P to the S: Do you think the MLB should implement instant replay beyond questionable homeruns? Sound off in the comments.]

MLB Draft Last Night

Last night was the MLB draft, although it is not as exciting as the NBA draft or as interesting as the NFL draft it is still interesting. Here is how the 1st round of the draft went:

First Round
No. Team Player
1 WAS Bryce Harper, OF
2 PIT Jameson Taillon, RHP
3 BAL Manny Machado, SS
4 KC Christian Colon, SS
5 CLE Drew Pomeranz, LHP
6 ARI Barret Loux, RHP
7 NYM Matt Harvey, RHP
8 HOU Delino DeShields, 2B
9 SD Karsten Whitson, RHP
10 OAK Michael Choice, OF
11 TOR Deck McGuire, RHP
12 CIN Yasmani Grandal, C
13 CWS Chris Sale, LHP
14 MIL Dylan Covey, RHP
15 TEX Jake Skole, OF
16 CHC Haden Simpson, RHP
17 TB Josh Sale, OF
18 LAA Kaleb Cowart, 3B
19 HOU Mike Foltynewicz, RHP
20 BOS Kolbrin Vitek, 2B
21 MIN Alex Wimmers, RHP
22 TEX Kellin Deglan, C
23 FLA Christian Yelich, OF
24 SF Gary Brown, OF
25 STL Zack Cox, 3B
26 COL Kyle Parker, OF
27 PHI Jesse Biddle, LHP
28 LAD Zach Lee, RHP
29 LAA Cam Bedrosian, RHP
30 LAA Chevy Clarke, OF
31 TB Justin O'Conner, C
32 NYY Cito Culver, SS
35 ATL* Matthew Lipka, SS
43 SEA* Taijuan Walker, RHP
44 DET* Nick Castellanos, 3B


The one player that is generating enough buzz to catch the attention of the media is Bryce Harper. Harper is 17 years old and is projected to get a signing bonus in the neighborhood of $12 million! He dropped out of high school to focus on baseball. He obtained his GED and then attended a local Junior College. At Junior College he killed it posting .442 with 29 home runs and 89 RBIs during the 2010 season.Sports Illustrated referred to him as the "Chosen One" and baseball's version of LeBron James.

Jim Joyce... blown call... nothing but respect.

Sports would be better if more refs/umps would take after him.

Nothing but respect for this man.

And that, my friends, is why pitching wins ball games

This weekend was a good weekend to be a New Yorker. Why, you ask? The Subway Series for one. Before 1997 (the year that interleague play was implemented in the MLB) the only time the Yankees and the Mets would play each other was in sporadic spring training games, in an exhibition game at the beginning of the season or in the World Series. So interleague play allows these cross-town rivals to meet each year regardless of whether or not either team makes it to the postseason. This weekend the Mets hosted the series, and in spite of their pitiful record this year, won the series 2-1. Game three of the series appeared to be a blowout, with Johan Santana only allowing one run. It appeared the Yankees were finished, until the top of the ninth, where they generated a three run rally and cut the Mets' lead to two runs.

And it all came down to pitching.

The Yankees found themselves down to their last out... two men on, with Alex "A-Rod" Rodriguez representing the go-ahead run at bat (arguably their best hitter, though I'd take Jeter over him any day of the week and twice on Sundays). And facing A-Rod was Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez on the mound. The at-bat was intense, a real pitcher-batter duel. Though I would have liked to say that the Yankees emerged victorious, A-Rod struck out swinging on a wicked breaking ball from K-Rod. Sorry dude, it doesn't matter how well you hit, pitching wins ball games.

And that's all I've got to say about that.

A continuation by Dignan...

     Thank you L-train! I loved the imagery of this story, and couldn't but help to think of the great baseball poem, "Casey at the Bat".

I hope you don't mind, but I thought I would throw it on here. It's lengthy but great!... for the cerebral types!

Casey at the Bat

by Ernest Lawrence Thayer ©

The Outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day:

The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play.

And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,

A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game.

A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest

Clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast;

They thought, if only Casey could get but a whack at that -

We'd put up even money, now, with Casey at the bat.

But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake,

And the former was a lulu and the latter was a cake;

So upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat,

For there seemed but little chance of Casey's getting to the bat.

But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all,

And Blake, the much despis-ed, tore the cover off the ball;

And when the dust had lifted, and the men saw what had occurred,

There was Jimmy safe at second and Flynn a-hugging third.

Then from 5,000 throats and more there rose a lusty yell;

It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;

It knocked upon the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,

For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.

There was ease in Casey's manner as he stepped into his place;

There was pride in Casey's bearing and a smile on Casey's face.

And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat,

No stranger in the crowd could doubt 'twas Casey at the bat.

Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt;

Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt.

Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip,

Defiance gleamed in Casey's eye, a sneer curled Casey's lip.

And now the leather-covered sphere came hurtling through the air,

And Casey stood a-watching it in haughty grandeur there.

Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped-

"That ain't my style," said Casey. "Strike one," the umpire said.

From the benches, black with people, there went up a muffled roar,

Like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore.

"Kill him! Kill the umpire!" shouted someone on the stand;

And its likely they'd a-killed him had not Casey raised his hand.

With a smile of Christian charity great Casey's visage shone;

He stilled the rising tumult; he bade the game go on;

He signaled to the pitcher, and once more the spheroid flew;

But Casey still ignored it, and the umpire said, "Strike two."

"Fraud!" cried the maddened thousands, and echo answered fraud;

But one scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed.

They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain,

And they knew that Casey wouldn't let that ball go by again.

The sneer is gone from Casey's lip, his teeth are clenched in hate;

He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate.

And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,

And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey's blow.

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;

The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,

And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;

But there is no joy in Mudville - mighty Casey has struck out.

The Oldest Rivalry in Sports

[Preface: For those of you who think the Holy War is intense, I'm about to knock your socks off.]

It began in 1901. Two teams from two rivaling cities. First, the Boston Americans, a team that, from the very beginning, displayed dominance in the arena of baseball. And then, the New York Yankees (or Highlanders, as they were frequently called back-in-the-day). The Americans won the inaugural World Series in 1903, and would go on to win four more times as the Boston Red Sox between 1912 and 1918. The Yankees, on the other hand, oft times found themselves toward the bottom of the standings.

And then came the curse. The year was 1919, the player, George Herman "Babe" Ruth.

To pay off some loans, Red Sox owner, Harry Frazee, sold Ruth to the Yankees for a paltry $125,000 and a loan of $300,000 (which was secured for Fenway Park). This sparked the era of Yankee dominance and began the superstition of the "Curse of the Bambino." Indeed, the Yankees would go on to win 26 World Series titles, while the Red Sox wallowed in mediocrity, misfortune and ignominy. There were multiple times throughout the years where it seemed like the Red Sox would break the curse, only to be foiled by "Bill Buckner"-type events. In 2003, it appeared that the Bo Sox would finally defeat their enemy, in game 7 of the American League Championship Series (ALCS), and return to the World Series.

Alas, it was not meant to be.

The game went into extra innings, and it appeared that Boston might outlast the Yankees. The bottom of the 11th inning found Aaron Boone, a sometime 3rd baseman who was brought into the game earlier as a pinch runner, hitting a walk-off home run and sending the Yankees to their sixth World Series in eight years. It also marked the 86th year of the curse.

Perhaps it was only inevitable that the curse would be broken. In 2004, the Red Sox returned to face the Yankees in the ALCS, and found themselves down three games to zero... a seemingly insurmountable figure. And yet, to the shock of the Yankees and the shock of sports fans everywhere, the Sox came back and won the next four games, defeating the Yankees and going to the World Series for the first time since 1986. They are, to this day, the only sports team to come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a series.

Their subsequent World Series victory was icing on the cake, for they had already defeated their most formidable foe, and did so in a way that the history books will remember. It was as if all of the years of the curse melted away in this one inimitable series. For the next few years, the Yankees floundered while the Red Sox flourished. It seemed as if the curse, and the era of Yankee dominance were things of the past.

Until last year, that is...

The Yankees are back and better than ever. And with 27 World Series titles under its belt, this team is the winning-est team in the history of American sports. (And this year, they're up 4 games to 2 against the Red Sox. I'm just saying...)

Author's Note: Having been at the heart of both the Utah/BYU rivalry and the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry, I have to say that there are quite a few similarities.

First, if you are a true fan, it is utterly impossible to like both teams. You will, nay you must, love one and loathe the other. It's a pretty natural reaction, really, dependent on which side you're coming from. As an Italian American, I'll give you three guesses as to the baseball team I favor. My allegiance to a specific Utah team is not as obvious and my devotion is a little less fervent, but it comes out during the rivalry games. Believe that.

Second, true fans get intense. And I mean in-tense. In my youth, I had the unfortunate experience of coming between an indignant Red Sox fan and a Yankees fan post-game in the Bronx. My mother actually plugged my ears so that they would not be tainted by the language employed in this exchange. I'm pretty sure it could have peeled paint off the walls. And maybe most of the foul language was coming from the man in red. Maybe. I also have been that person on the second row of a certain school's student section clad entirely in the rival school's attire, all whilst dealing with the subsequent verbal barbs. Not paint peeling language, but laden with a sense of sanctimony that almost made me beg for profanity.

Third, to be a true fan you must own multiple pieces of memorabilia/branded clothing. [I happen to own three hats, a beanie (you know, when they were cool), six shirts, a license plate cover, key chain... you get the idea.] How can you support your team if you don't show it?

Last, true fans know their stuff. They know the stats, they know the players. They know the history. They follow the games even if they don't attend. They have no patience for "posers" and have a genuine respect for the true fans of their opposing team. In fact, that is perhaps the only thing that rivals have in common... their intense devotion to their respective team.

Who do you cheer for?

Don't miss the L-train!

You may of noticed that this little cave of ours is pretty affluent in the wide world of sports. What you may not of noticed (yet) is that we are lacking in one area. One great game was about to go unnoticed because the current Cave knowledge in said sport was desperately bleak... I can't speak for Shake or Ice, but my baseball knowledge comes from the nostalgia of "Field of Dreams"; the humor of "The Sandlot"; and the awesomeness of "For the love of the Game".

I have a love for the Dodgers because that is "my family's" team (never go against the family, Fredo.), and a like for the A's because the sluggers in the early 90's were so exciting!

But that's it. I just shared all my Baseball resources in a few lines... pathetic I know. I'll work on it.

But for now I would like to introduce the SportsCave's newest specialty writer... L-Train (or as I like to think of it, El Train!)

L comes to us with a passionate interest in Baseball and an encyclopedia of baseball facts that has taken up valuable real estate in her little Italian head!

I just finished reading her first draft of a different kind of Holy War, and let me tell you...

it was wicked smart!

So please put your interweb hands together for L-Train!

Jim Brockmire! Must see TV!

Found this on funnyordie.com and had to share.... Once you watch you will understand!

Gamechangers Ep 3: A Legend in the Booth with Hank Azaria from Hank Azaria

UP AND OVER BABY!

You have to watch this highlight!!! One of the best baseball highlights in recent memory! In the words of Josh Elliot -
"Get up young fella!!"

ps his name is Brian Kownacki