MLB players left out on "Dancing With the Stars" - again

What is it going to take for ABC to finally pick a baseball player for "Dancing With the Stars"? As I noted in an article for The Faster Times, baseball was snubbed yet again from the competition.

I also came up with a list of players who should be on the show - Jonathan Papelbon, Alex Rodriguez, etc. I was wondering if our readers had any thoughts on who should be cast one day on "Dancing With the Stars."

Please let us know what you think! Leave us a comment!

On David Ortiz, missed opportunites, and the trading deadline

A-Rod looks like the truth-teller for the ages compared to his buddy David Ortiz. For all his goofiness, Alex never pretended that he had no idea how he tested positive on a steroids test!

I found David Ortiz' postgame statement ridiculous - here's my piece on it for the The Faster Times site.

At any rate, I should be more upset over all the missed opportunites in last night's Yankees-White Sox game, from the errors to the lack of timely hitting to DeWayne Wise being the late-inning hero for the second time in a week. But hey, I'm still basking in the afterglow of the big Red Sox news.

I did enjoy the heck out of Nick Swisher's ninth-inning, game-tying homer against his own team, though. Hopefully, he'll get even more revenge against the Sox tonight.

Let's hope Brian Cashman has some good surprises in score today, as we wait for the trading deadline.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!

Which team is more guilty of brushback pitches - the Yankees or the Red Sox?

The other day, Joe Girardi told the media he thought Brad Penny deliberately hit Alex Rodriguez in Thursday's Yankees-Red Sox game:

"Penny's control was pretty good," Girardi said. "I thought it was on purpose. That is all part of baseball."

Now Penny, who's been on the Red Sox for about five minutes, has fired back a response:

"I don't give two [expletives] what Joe Girardi says," Penny said yesterday. "I'm coming inside. I don't care.

"Anybody can say that. We can say that about the time they hit our guys."

Um, Brad, you guys do. Constantly. Your team's co-owner, John Henry even tweeted about it on June 10:

Q: What's the consecutive game streak for a team hitting another team's hitters? So far they lead us 9-2 this year in hit batters.

What's the consecutive streak of Yankee players being sent to the hospital by Red Sox pitchers? Two, Alfonso Soriano and Derek Jeter, by Pedro Martinez. I must have missed Henry's outrage over that.

Penny continued:

"I'm just trying to pitch inside. Maybe he should worry about managing and not trying to be the commissioner.

"Why wouldn't he say that the night before? Don't wait a day, then say it. He should worry about managing and let the umpire crew do their job."

Guess Penny missed how the umpires "did their job" and issued a warning to both teams after Penny hit A-Rod, which hamstrung the Yankees from responding.

And if waiting a day to respond is so horrible, maybe Penny ought to complain about Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell whining on WEEI the day after Joba Chamberlain hit Jason Bay last month, and threatening retribution:

"Those things aren’t forgotten. We know there is a history there between the pitcher in New York and our guys here and not to say that he was specifically out to do that but I think history speaks for itself and we’ve got a number of games left with these guys.”

At any rate, Penny has nothing to worry about. Only Yankees get suspended for brushbacks against the Red Sox, and not vice versa. Joba Chamberlain has already gotten more punishment from MLB than Pedro Martinez ever did.

Heck, Bob Watson even punishes Yankees when they don't hit anybody! The Red Sox could put up a billboard next to the Citgo sign saying "We're gonna hit A-Rod tonight" and Red Sox Bob wouldn't do anything about it. (Come to think of it, Penny basically did broadcast it, given that he had missed with his first brushback pitch!)

I'm sure I will hear Boston fans accuse me of whining, but I'm just tired of hearing their own whining about this issue. For all the complaints in Red Sox Nation about Jason Bay being hit by Yankee pitches three times this year, and for the now 9-3 plunking differential, there are other numbers to be considered. From 2003-2008 the Sox hit more Yankees than vice versa every single year, for a total of 69 vs. 52 plunkings. I wish reporters would cite those numbers instead of only talking about this year's HBP stats.

And while it is true that Kevin Youkilis has been hit by Yankee pitchers seven times over the last three years, let's look at the numbers of the Yankees' two top players vs. the Red Sox' two top players since 2003:

Player Times HBP
Jeter 12
Rodriguez 11
Ramirez 6
Ortiz 0

Yes, that's right. Despite feasting on Yankee pitching for the past seven years, Ortiz has never been hit once by a Bomber pitch. Not even by accident.

Tell you what - when the HBP totals on Bay, Youkilis, and Ortiz rival the A-Rod-Jeter HBP totals, then the Sox will have a point. Until then, please spare me the sanctimony.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!

Reversal of fortune: Yankees get gift-wrapped win from the Mets

Ever hear boos interrupted by screams, cheers, claps, and laughter? That's exactly what happened in last night's game. And yes, I was laughing up a storm. Sorry, Squawker Jon. It's nothing personal!

I told Jon after the eighth inning that the game would come down to Alex Rodriguez, as it usually does. But who could have guessed that it would have ended like that?

The A-Rod haters in the Stadium crowd, who had already booed him earlier in the night for failing with runners in scoring position, were exercising their lungs booing him again last night after it looked like he hit a popup. I figured we'd hear the usual stuff about how he never gets the big hit, even thought he got the go-ahead double literally the night before. And I also thought that we'd hear about how the Yanks' season was on the rails, especially after the Boston debacle.

Then Luis Castillo dropped the popup, we saw Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira circling the bases and, in the blink of and eye, the Yankees were celebrating at home plate.

After I screamed "Holy Bleep" a whole bunch of times, I literally couldn't stop laughing, especially when the Yanks kept on showing the play over and over again on that gigantic video screen. I also clapped my hands so hard I thought I broke a blood vessel in my finger!

How the heck did that muff-up play happen? Did A-Rod yell "Ha" or something? It figures that if something weird would happen at a game, Alex Rodriguez would somehow be involved with it! From the David Letterman/Sarah Palin tasteless joke controversy to this, A-Rod always seems to be in the middle of the mayhem!

It's also funny that somebody whose worst part of the game is his struggle with catching popups would be a recipient of such a gift. And that Mark Teixeira, who isn't exactly fleet of foot, would be able to go from first to home on that play because he motored around the bases.

I wasn't taunting Jon - I was cackling while looking towards home plate, which was in the opposite direction of Jon. He was very quiet right after the play. It took him a few minutes to speak. When he did finally speak, he was about as devastated as I've ever heard him after a loss.

I also noticed in watching the clip of the Mets' coverage of the game that the TV broadcasters were equally as speechless for a minute or two after acknowledging the play.

It's funny - Jon has been to three Yankee games with me this year - all wins - and two of them had these instant classic walkoff wins. Last month, in A-Rod's first game back at the Stadium, Joe Nathan blew the save and gave up that hit to Melky Cabrera.

This game, Francisco Rodriguez (I refuse to call him K-Rod), got the blown save, but it wasn't his fault (although I will fault him for starting his celebration "pointing to the sky" move even before the ball landed!) Incidentally, I did enjoy seeing him with his head in his hands!

Two other things I noticed about this game. Even thought A-Rod really had nothing to do with the victory other than being lucky, he was mobbed like a conquering hero after the win. While the Yanks may not be able to beat the Red Sox, they have been terrific this year as pulling together as a team.

On the other hand, the Yankee broadcast showed how Luis Castillo was literally all alone when he walked back to the dugout, and not a single teammate or coach was there to try to console him. How sad is that? Not a good sign for the Mets' leadership.


What do you think? Leave us a comment!