Baseball Beauties MLB Highlights – Week of September 14th

Another great week in baseball has passed us and we are getting closer and closer to the playoffs. This week was once again a memorable one! Ichiro never disappoints, Giants fall further behind in the Wild Card race, Yankees put on an entertaining brawl and the Rays finally ended their 11-game losing streak. I also wanted to mention that I was at the A’s game on Thursday night and noticed 2 umpires sitting in the front row in the Diamond Level. At first everyone thought that they were real umpires working for MLB but then I saw them heavily drinking beer and we figured out that they were the duo who dress up as umpires and go to different stadiums to watch games. They were entertaining so I asked for a picture!

Close, but no Cigar for the Giants against the Rockies

For the past few weeks, it’s been a rally between the Giants and the Rockies in the Wild Card Race. While the Rockies were in the lead, the persistent Giants were just barely trailing behind in second place. After falling behind 5 games, and just when I was beginning to lose hope in the Giants, they made a great comeback by winning 3 straight games in a row! Monday night’s victory had a lot to do with Tim Lincecum being back on the mound after missing his start for having a bad back. Tuesday night’s 10-2 victory was due to several momentous events. One was Barry Zito striking out the side in the first inning. Another was the Giants scoring in bunches, 3 in the first inning, 4 in the third, and 3 in sixth.

Ouch....

Wednesday night’s game, however, was a painful one. In the 9th inning, the score was 4-3 with a man on second and man on third. The batter just needed one solid hit and the Giants could have scored 1, or possibly even the 2 points that they needed in order to win. But he didn’t, and the Rockies’ confidence remains about where they stand in the race. On the other hand, the good news is that the race is still going on and it’s only heating up. The Giants are 3 ½ games behind, but they have their eye one first place and with Lencecum back, I’d say that’s an achievable goal.

Ichiro Suzuki has broken yet another Major league record!

Hitting 200+ for his ninth season in a row, and breaking one of the
oldest batting records in MLB history, Ichiro is one of the cleanest
hitters in the league and is even being compared to Hercules,
receiving mass media coverage in Japan and praise from homerun King
Sadaharu Oh (even if he did just fly out in the 5th inning against the
Sox on Tuesday). Having broken the most hits in a single season (262)
and becoming the second fastest player to reach 2000 hits in 1,402
games, Suzuki is no stranger when it comes to achieving greatness. On
the other hand, he doesn’t always get to enjoy the fruits of his
labor. “When I break a record, I never feel greatness. I strongly feel
expectation from Japan” who believes his records are things they must
have. Ichiro is a great ball player and has proven this over and over
again since his arrival in 2001. Good luck Ichiro, you my ninja!

Tensions were high between the Yankees and the Blue Jays

The tension began after two Blue Jays, Aaron Hill and Edwin Encarnacion, were both hit by pitches thrown by the Yankees. When Yankees Jorge Posada was up to bat, Blue Jays Jesse Carlson taunted Posada by throwing a pitch behind him, and Posada warned Carlson, “You don’t want to do that.” After scoring on Brett Gardner’s double to right field, Posada purposefully brushed against Carlson as he ran across home base. Carlson said something to Posada instigating him to come after him with punches. Within seconds the benches cleared and the Yanks and Jays broke out in frenzy, pushing and shoving and throwing punches left and right! As a hockey fan, a good fight is something that I can appreciate. It may be against the rules, but it sure does make for an exciting game!

You're OUT!

Needless to say Carlson and Posada were removed from the game and are now suspended for 3 games. Yankees manager, Joe Girardi, was accidentally hit by Blue Jays John McDonald who was trying to pull players away from the scuffle. After about 10 minutes, things settled down and the game resumed ending in a 10-4 victory by the Blue Jays! (Yay Canada!)

Rays End their Loosing Streak

The Rays finally ended their 11-game losing streak when they beat the Orioles 8-4 Monday night! David Price delivered an outstanding performance following the first inning, preventing the Orioles from getting a single run in the rest of the game! The Orioles probably had high hopes after David Hernandez earned them 4 runs in the first inning. I could only imagine what was going through the minds of the Orioles, "take that suckas!!!"

Go BJ!

And the Rays, "please, let’s not go down in history as the first World Series team to have a 12-game losing streak!" It was uplifting watching B.J. Upton giving high fives to rookie, Reid Brignac, as a way of congratulating him for his awesome game by hitting his first major league home run, two doubles, and a single! Upton has been playing in the major leagues since 2007 and he also reached his career high in the same game by hitting his 10th home run! What a glorious night for the Rays.

Grady is all better now =)

I wanted to follow us on Grady’s hernia surgery. A little reminder that Grady had arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow last week; 2 surgeries in 2 weeks is A LOT to handle (Unless you’re a plastic surgery addict) The team said Sizemore’s lower abdomen was repaired in a 20-minute procedure in Philadelphia by Dr. Bill Meyers. A also can’t believe that he played with pain in his elbow all season before the Indians finally shut him down earlier this month; and injured his abdomen during a drill all the way back in spring training. What a trooper for hanging in there! I’m looking forward to seeing Grady back in his Indians uniform at Spring Training in February.