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Damnit! :thumbdwn:
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Damnit! :thumbdwn:
Your dad looked pissed, Check.
Red Sox bout to give up the Wild Card to Tampa
602 for the God
LOS ANGELES – Don Newcombe, 85, hoisted himself from a seat behind home plate, bowed his head and asked his wife, Karen, if she would excuse him.
She grinned and nodded, then watched him saunter toward the rear of the batting cage, where several players had gathered on a late afternoon at Dodger Stadium.
Bent slightly from his sternum, Don stepped from the warning track dirt onto the green grass, at which point he became “Newk,” the iconic right-hander from a generation of Brooklyn Dodgers, and a real-life traveler from the summer of ’55.
His suit falls gracefully over his thick, towering frame. His tie is done in a perfect Windsor. His fedora, which he tips respectfully to the ladies, is old-school cool.
At a time when the local ballclub has exhausted the patience of even its most forgiving followers, Newk is a dignified symbol of its past. He arrived in the big leagues two years and a month after Jackie Robinson. Six decades later he bears the same composure, wears the same Dodger colors and elicits the same deep respect.
That afternoon, like most afternoons, Newk was looking for one man in particular. He likes them all, of course, the young men who toil at a game in which he’s so familiar. But, one, he’s special.
“Almost like a son to me, to us,” he said, motioning toward Karen in the stands.
Matt Kemp(notes) greeted Newk with his arms wide.
Newk took two more shuffling steps and wrapped Kemp in a hug. With his left hand, Newk stealthily reached down and reinserted Kemp’s inside out and flapping back pocket.
There’s a way to wear the uniform, the gesture said, a way to present yourself, a way to be a pro’s pro.
Just like Newk.
Fifty-five years ago, he was the National League’s MVP, along with its Cy Young Award winner. It was the year he won 27 games, the year after he won 20.
Now, the man in his arms was having the kind of season that could result in an MVP award, and that could end in the NL’s first Triple Crown since 1937. With three games to play, all of them in the hitters’ park that is Arizona’s Chase Field (where he has batted .292 in 2011 and .304 in his career), Kemp is batting .324 with 37 home runs and 120 RBI. He is .009 points behind Ryan Braun(notes) (and .007 behind Jose Reyes(notes)) in the batting race, tied with Albert Pujols(notes) in home runs and leading the league in RBI by five.
Newk nodded at such statistical excess, at the transformation of Matt Kemp from drowning talent to relentless gamer.
“He is a wonderful young man,” Newk said. “He has his idiosyncrasies. But who doesn’t have idiosyncrasies? Those who don’t know him, they ought to change their minds.”
True enough, over six months now, from the reliable effort to the steady eye contact, he is a different player and a different man. He looks especially good standing beside the gentlemanly Newk, nodding through intimate conversations, laughing at inside jokes, promising to keep an eye on that stray pocket.
“He respects me and I respect him,” Newk said. “It doesn’t hurt to take some of your wisdom and try to pass it along. He’s going to learn this game. When he does, he’s a Hall of Famer.
“Matt Kemp can do whatever he decides to do.”
Sometimes, Kemp and Newk communicate without a word. Their eyes meet and Newk cocks an eyebrow, asking what the game will bring, and Kemp nods, answering that he’s going to hit four balls hard tonight.
The sun fell behind the stadium late that afternoon, turning the air cool. Kemp returned to the batting cage, touching Newk’s shoulder as he did. Newk gripped Kemp’s elbow, gave it a shake, and turned to go. He’d take Karen to dinner, then get back in time to watch those four at-bats.
Kemp watched Newk leave.
“Yeah, yeah,” Kemp said warmly. “He’s my dawg.”
Mr. Psychotic keeps up the good work
--Milton Bradley arrested at a home in Los Angeles
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_yl...-miltonbradley
Speaking of deranged people, The Marlins hired Guillen as head coach?
What a meltdown by the Red Sox, pathetic.
Hahahahahaha, ahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahhahaha
ahahahahahaha
lol @ this scrub
Perfect: Dodgers’ Eugenio Velez sets record with 0-for-37 season
-http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Perfect-Dodgers-8217-Eugenio-Velez-sets-recor?urn=mlb-wp21402
such an epic failure requires a sacrifice. who will it be?
^^"breaking bad" got fired.
How bout that Ivan Nova?
Jeter strikes out again in the 9th.
Go tigers!!!
Wade coming outta the fuckin woodwork lol
AJ is going to have the game of his life tomorrow.
And yes Valverde, we will be goin' back to the boogie down
http://rootzoo.com/article_photo_upl...15945_8932.jpg
http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__...ergenocide.gif
tiger uppercut!!!
A Rod blows it
Yanks and Sox out?
success
28 will have to wait.
Good luck on......5, Detroit.
Indians will never sniff the World Series again, don't hate Dooch.
Granderson hitting 40 homeruns this year? LOL.
build a real ballpark...the legacy is tainted even moreso now.....Mr. Florida
so the final 4 teams are:
tigers
rangers
brewers
cardinals
"and the crowd goes....to sleep".
i'll enjoy watching the tigers play in this homer's playoff.
Why would they go to sleep.
The Tigers are a fun team to watch, Pujols is a megastar, the Brewers are entertaining and the Rangers....well, they can hit right?
I find it hard to watch baseball anyway if its not the Tribe playing or I have no money on it.
The yankees/red sox thing is beyond played out. It was cool back when they came back from 0-3, but thats it.
the tigers are fun to watch if you're from detroit and the brewers are entertaining if you're from milwaukee. none of these clubs have a following outside of home.
people love the yankees/redsox and people hate them but regardless, they watch them either to see them win or to see them lose. the yankees and redsox's following extends beyond new york and boston.
regular season football game >>>> world series
but im gonna watch the playoffs because my team is still in it.
Who cares?
Those people are frontrunners anyway.
I'm no Detroit fan, but I'd rather watch them play over anyone this year. I would have preferred to see them play the Phillies though.
Part of this is all the no names you have as we exit the steroid era and get introduced to the new "clean" players.
I'm glad the Phillies and Yankees are out already. I don't need to see the same teams year after year. ESPN plays the Yankees and Red Sox all the time and it's boring. They should shorten the amount of games per season, it's way too many. And then add some more playoff teams, like they have been wanting to do. Are the Yankees going to get rid of some of their grandpa's now?
Baseball was great, so I've been told, when there was an AL and NL winner for the year and those two teams played in the World Series. The Wild Card is moronic for some many different reasons, but mainly because of it only being a 5 Game Series. Adding more teams to the baseball playoffs is just for the fans of loser teams to let their teams get in even when they don't deserve it. Keep the current system, and stop bitching.
We're going to get a fucking Rangers/Brewers World Series possibly and faggits will still cry about baseball because their teams just never get the job done.
If you don't like baseball just keep it moving.
The old NL AL thing worked when there were less teams. than they split them up into divisions and that was fine.
But with all this expansion, you need to have more playoff spots.
But I agree. 5 game series are moronic. Its baseball, wtf, just play the extra two games.
Even the NBA saw that shit was pretty stupid and changed the 1st round best of 5's.. C'mon now..when the NBA is making better choices than the MLB...
Nelson Cruz and Albert Pujols NEED to face off in the Ws.
staying alive..
Nelson Cruz......Albert Pujols...........
http://mkw.mortalkombatonline.com/um...enshots/13.png
Texas has a lineup full of underrated players.
Kinsler, Young, Hamilton, Cruz.
This is going to be a high scoring WS....can't wait, haven't been this excited for one in a while.
They really need to do away with the Home Field being decided by the All Star game though. It's ridiculous that the Cardinals are opening this thing up at home....
before they it used to be alternated. I remember the 95 Indians getting screwed becuase of that.
I dont understand the problem...just give the better team homefield, why is that so difficult.
--Rhodes gets a World Series ring, win or lose
ST. LOUIS – Arthur Rhodes shakes his head and allows a wry smile. Nearly 20 years of deprivation and all of a sudden he’s showered in blessings. Less than a week shy of his 42nd birthday, the left-handed relief pitcher is in his first World Series, and he is guaranteed of getting a championship ring because he’s played for both teams this season, becoming the seventh player in baseball history to do so.
Rhodes was with the Texas Rangers until they released him Aug. 8. It appeared his career might be over. It certainly seemed his best chance to reach a World Series had slipped away. But three days later the St. Louis Cardinals signed him. Lo and behold, the Cardinals were all but gifted the wild-card berth, got hot, stormed past the Phillies and Brewers, and here they are hosting Game 1 on Wednesday at Busch Stadium.
Another player might be reluctant to accept a championship ring from a team that unceremoniously cut him. But if the Rangers happen to beat the Cardinals, Rhodes has no doubt what he’d do.
“Yeah, you gotta take the ring, man,” he said with a soft chuckle.
Hard to blame him. Go 20 years without a sniff at a World Series, and you’d take the ring, too.
Rhodes is regarded as a marvel and an oddity, and his current situation is bizarre. The Rangers are paying all but $100,000 of his $1.2 million salary for him to pitch against them. He’s been a teammate of every player in the World Series. Rangers manager Ron Washington summoned him from the bullpen 32 times and Cardinals manager Tony La Russa has called on him 24 times, including five postseason appearances.
Everybody seems to be rooting for him, even Darren Oliver(notes), one of two left-handed relievers on the Rangers’ roster after Rhodes was cut.
“This is sweet revenge for him,” Oliver said. “We’re going to try to beat him, but we’ll stay friends off the field.”
Rhodes says he isn’t upset with the Rangers for releasing him. He knows all about the business of baseball. He’s played for nine teams since breaking into the big leagues in 1991, the Rhodes most traveled. Only Mariano Rivera(notes) has made more appearances among active pitchers. One former teammate calls him Benjamin Button.
“I was disappointed when the Rangers released me because I was happy with my role there and they are a good team,” he said. “But you’ve got to keep your head up. I was really happy to sign with the Cardinals, and now, here we are.”
The Cardinals’ clubhouse and bullpen have benefited from Rhodes’ age and experience, just not in the way one might imagine. He plays loud music, plays practical jokes and invites younger teammates out for dinner and drinks.
“We’ve livened up the bullpen,” he said. “We just have fun. I was the same way with the Rangers and every team I’ve been on.”
Rhodes, like so many ballplayers, is a perpetual adolescent. It’s kept him productive. His most significant career accomplishments have come after his 40th birthday. In 2010, he tied a single-season record with 33 consecutive scoreless appearances and made his first All-Star team. Rhodes stays in top physical condition and still throws in the low 90s.
“It’s very inspiring to see what he’s been able to do for so long,” Cardinals pitcher Kyle Lohse(notes) said. “He’s been a big boost. He gets big outs for us and he’s ramped up the energy in the clubhouse.”
For all his mirth, Rhodes has also known heartache. The scoreless appearance record and his All-Star and World Series trips came after the biggest tragedy in his life, the death of his 5-year-old son, Jordan, in 2008 after an undisclosed illness. Rhodes writes “J.R.” on the side of the mound every time he enters a game.
“I wish my little boy was here to see this, but he’ll be right behind me on the mound,” Rhodes said. “He loved baseball.”
His wife and daughter will be at the World Series. They know what a long journey it’s been. Rhodes was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in 1988 and made his big league debut three years later as a starter. Not until he moved to the bullpen in 1996 did he begin to have success, and he settled in as a top reliever for the Orioles, then Mariners, then Athletics, then Indians, then Phillies, then back to the Mariners, then Marlins, than Reds.
He was on four teams that lost in the ALCS and one that lost in the NLDS. Now he’s been on both teams that will face each other in the World Series. Catcher Bengie Molina had a similar situation last season, playing for the San Francisco Giants until being traded to the Rangers at midseason.
The Giants won the World Series, and Molina got his ring, even though he’d been on the losing side. Molina’s brother, Yadier, is the Cardinals catcher. He said the ring is meaningful to Bengie because of all the time he put in with the Giants. Furthermore, Molina and Lonnie Smith are the only players who appeared in the World Series after playing for both teams during the regular season. Jim Bruske, Sid Monge, Johnny Schmitz and Jack Kramer played for both teams during the season but didn’t appear in the World Series.
So the first time Rhodes is called upon – to face Josh Hamilton(notes) in the late innings, perhaps? – he’d join an exclusive club with Molina and Smith.
Rhodes would like to exact that revenge, he’ll do everything he can to ensure the Cardinals are the ones doing the celebrating, but he knows he’s covered either way. After 20 years, he’ll have a World Series ring.
“It’s special, man,” he said. “I worked my tail off for 20 years. Gotta love it.”
I'm Not Gonna Front I Thought Without Cliff Lee This Year The Rangers Would Be Pretenders But Getting To The World Series Back To Back Years Is Legit. I Hope They Win Tonight Cant Stand Cardinals And The Fact The Media Pushes The St. Louis Cardinal Fans Down Our Throats About How Classy And Respectful They Are.
http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images...jpg?1316393184
What happened to the picture I posted lol
Dope ass Game 6 I predicted David Freese's come up
one of the best baseball games every played.
who was that idiot who said this world series would suck?
its been one of the better ones in recent memory.