Sports Then and Now

The New York Yankees hope that Andruw Jones can return to the form that saw him finish second in the 2005 NL MVP Award.

With the recent signings by the New York Yankees of Bartolo Colon and Andruw Jones, the Tampa Bay Rays of Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez and the Baltimore Orioles of Derrek Lee and Vladimir Guerrero you have to wonder if these teams realize that it is 2011 and not 2005.

If it were 2005, the impact of these signings would without question make these three contenders the top teams in the division and favorites for the World Series.

In 2005, Bartolo Colon won 21 games for the Anaheim Angels and was named the American League Cy Young Award winner.

In the 2005 American League MVP race, Vladimir Guerrero finished third, Manny Ramirez was fourth and Johnny Damon placed 13th.

On the National League side, Andruw Jones placed second while Derrek Lee was third.

Unfortunately as the Yankees, Rays and Orioles look toward 2011, most of these former superstars are years removed from performing at that high level. Read the rest of this entry →

Before officially breaking Lou Gehrig's consecutive game streak on September 6, 1995, Cal Ripken Jr. blasted a home run in the contest against the Angels.

It is probably a bit of an overstatement to say that Cal Ripken Jr. saved major league baseball 15-years ago this week when he passed Lou Gehrig to become baseball’s all-time “Iron Man”. However, there is no question that Ripken played a huge role in the healing process following the most contentious labor strike in baseball history.

Baseball had been riding high in 1994 when a desire by the owners to institute a salary cap and the insistence by the players never to accept one halted the sport in its tracks. The World Series was not held for the first time in 90 years, leaving many fans bitter and vowing never to return to “America’s Pastime.”

The strike carried into the offseason and wasn’t resolved until a federal injunction against the owners leading to the resumption of baseball in late April 1995. Overall, the strike lasted 234 days and cancelled more than 900 games while in essence changing very little.

As could be expected, when baseball did return the fans were not rushing back to greet the players as long-lost heroes.

Instead, fans displayed their disillusion with both sides by staying away in droves as stadiums that were typically full were suddenly seeing large swaths of empty seats. Those who did come to the ballparks often brought with them signs reflecting their frustration with sayings such as “$hame on You” or shouted comments like “You ruined the game!”

For most of the 1995 season teams across the league saw attendance figures plummet as baseball struggled to regain the interest of fans who had realized there were other things to occupy time and interest. Read the rest of this entry →

Buck Showalter will become the new manager of the Baltimore Orioles on August 3rd.

After two months under the guidance of interim manager Juan Samuel, the Baltimore Orioles finally have a permanent captain for their floundering ship with the hiring of Buck Showalter to take over the team beginning on August 3rd.

After hiring the interim manager to eventually be the permanent manager after each of the last two managerial firings, the former manager of the Yankees, Diamondbacks and Rangers becomes the first Baltimore manager to be hired from outside the organization since Lee Mazzilli in 2004.

Showalter began his coaching career in the New York Yankees organization and became manager in 1992. He led the Yankees to the best record in the American League in the strike shortened 1994 season and in 1995 led them to the first wild card playoff berth.

Despite the success, a deteriorating relationship with Joe Torre led to his dismissal following the 1995 season. The Yankees went on to win the World Series in 1996 and again from 1998-2000. Read the rest of this entry →

It was snowing in Foxboro in October. How will the weather be for baseball in November?

Let It Snow!!!

For the first time, the World Series is actually scheduled to finish up in November. The Series did go into November in 2001, but that was because of 9/11, but this year for some reason the baseball powers think November baseball is a good thing.

Now I love baseball and will miss it when the season is over, but that doesn’t mean I think they need to be playing past Halloween.

Sports seasons used to be pretty clean. Baseball started in early April and ended in mid-October. Football started in early-September and ended in mid-January. Basketball started in early November and ended in mid-June. Hockey started in early October and ended in mid-May.

For some reason, in recent years each of the seasons seems to be gradually getting bigger, much like my waistline. They just keep extending further out little by little until eventually you don’t even remember when it wasn’t at its current (enlarged) size.

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David Price has gained a lot of experience during his short major league career.

When David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays and Jason Berken of the Baltimore Orioles faced off Tuesday night in St. Petersburg, it was technically a matchup of two Major League rookies. However, while he may still be listed as a rookie on the roster, it is clear that Price has graduated from that distinction.

After key playoff appearances a year ago and now filling a valuable starting role for the Rays, Price seems to be viewed by his manager, the media and himself as just another talented major league pitcher trying to help his team make a playoff run.

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