Greg “Mad Dog” Maddux, a legend of pitching, is no longer active, but his legacy remains. Fittingly, the Braves will be retiring his number.
The Braves announced Sunday morning that they will retire Maddux’s number and induct him into their Hall of Fame during a July 17 ceremony at Turner Field.
“His fingerprints are all over the success this club enjoyed from 1991-2005,” Braves president John Schuerholz said. “Those kinds of guys who make that kind of impact deserve to be honored in the manner that we are going to honor Greg.”
For the best article on Maddux that I’ve read, see this amazing piece on ESPN.com. Or this one. While he’s not the type to open up, the man’s a legend. If only for “Chicks Dig The Long Ball.”
What's important is spending time with your loved ones.
As much as we dislike encouraging the Post, they do sometimes know what’s going on in New York. And there’s good news for Yankees fans, as A-Rod is doing well and could be back by late April.
Hitting coach Kevin Long, who speaks daily with A-Rod, told The Post that Rodriguez has begun to hit and reported that he “feels 70 percent.”
A Yankee official told The Post that he thought the rehab was going so well, in fact, that if the organization wanted to it could have Rodriguez back on a major league field by late April.
Pity the ace pitcher stuck on the terrible team. Ask Nolan Ryan how much fun it is to be gifted with a thunderbolt for an arm, only to play for a team that struggles to get above .500. So take a moment to feel sorry for Jake Peavy, an amazing pitcher stuck on a terrible team and quite possibly on the cusp of a tremendously dubious record, at least according to one blogger.
Unless he’s traded to a contender by the deadline, Jake ‘n’ Bake will lead the league in ERA and losses.
It would be quite a distinction, because such a statistical perfect storm has happened only once in the history of Major League Baseball since the American League established in 1901.
It really is a pity, too. Having seen the kid pitch, he’s just electrifying, and he gets tremendously frustrated when he’s throwing his heart out and his terrible team is sucking it up anyway.
Though Sheffield, 40, is now in the twilight of his career, the Mets signed him Friday, hopeful that his fearsome power can balance his diminished defensive skills and outspoken and sometimes combative personality. The one-year deal, worth the major league minimum of $400,000, is contingent on his passing a physical examination. If all goes well, Sheffield is expected to be introduced at Citi Field on Saturday.
As much as I want to make fun of the Mets for being, you know, the Mets, this really is a can’t-miss proposition for them. Either he goes down due to an injury and they’re only out the veteran minimum, or he Hulks out at being dissed, gets mad, and hits a ton of runs, and they’re still only out the veteran minimum.
Fire Joe Morgan acolytes like yours truly often use “scrappy” as short-hand for mocking the sportswriting/announcing establishment, who seem content to defend players who, quite frankly, aren’t very good, but are “scrappy.” You may recognize David Eckstein as god’s own prototype for this breed, at least until another one of their number, Dustin Pedroia, won the MVP last year.
However, there’s no denying despite classical scrappy attributes like getting his uniform dirty, Pedroia is a really good player (and his commercial for The Show is hilarious), which is why I perused with interest this long Boston.com article on Pedroia and the etymology of “scrappy.”
“Scrappy” approached the new century, then, as “the consolation prize of baseball adjectives—like saying a girl has a nice sense of humor,” Thorn says. The model was established by the relentlessly overpraised 5-foot-7 shortstop David Eckstein, who had the good fortune of being a slow, limp-armed, dink-and-dunking mediocrity who was not so bad at the plate as to prevent two of his teams from winning the World Series, and who not incidentally is as white as the fresh-fallen snow. Eckstein remains the sort of guy who makes Fox announcers sound like the front row of a Jonas Brothers show. He even won a World Series MVP with the Cardinals in 2006, mostly on the strength of a few doubles, of which at least one would’ve been caught had the Tigers not penciled in the>moaiof Easter Island in left field. (Poor Craig Monroe is probably still trying to get a read on that line drive.)
And now, in the twilight of Eckstein’s career and at the dawn of the Post-Steroid Era, the mantle has been passed to Pedroia.
The Royals 2009 Season Starring Bill Paxton As Any Royals Fan
As a close follower of the Yankees, I know all about Sir Sidney Ponson, which is why I was delighted when they got rid of him. Unfortunately, Royals fans, you picked him up and, for whatever reason, you put him in the rotation. As if that wasn’t bad enough, it came out today…
Manager Trey Hillman said Sidney Ponson would be the fourth starter and work the home opener April 10 against the New York Yankees. Left-hander Horacio Ramirez will be the No. 5 starter but also would work out of the bullpen.
Braves fixture and all-around mostly-good guy* Chipper Jones has signed a 3 year, $42 million deal that should put him with the Braves through his retirement. As a big fan of Chipper throughout his career, it’s good to see the guy stay in one uniform for the duration, and we sincerely hope we’ve avoid the demoralizing sight of the once-great hero* limping around in a bizarro uniform for one more season.
Just in case you need a reminder, here are some highlights of Chipper’s career, courtesy of Wikipedia, god’s gift to slackers and aspiring sportswriters.
In perhaps an omen of things to come–all owners should kiss their teams goodnight and maybe linger in the doorway a little–two minor league baseball teams are ceasing operations. The Atlantic City Surf and the Ottawa Voyageurs of the Independent Can-Am league will be no more, says the AP.
Miles Wolff, the league’s commissioner, said Monday that a deal to sell the Surf last week fell through. Without strong ownership and the money to back it, Wolff says it made no sense to continue to operate the club.
“We are tremendously disappointed that the Can-Am League will not be in Ottawa and Atlantic City in 2009,” Wolff said. “These are two cities that we believe can be strong members. However, without solid ownership and the financial commitment behind these teams, it is in the best interest of the league to go with six clubs.”
While neither team seems to have been strong financially, as firm devotees of minor league baseball, we are tremendously sad to see two teams go, though one does have to wonder about the implications for the future of all baseball.
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