Articles from July 2010

At first glance, there wouldn’t appear to be many similarities between the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees. The Yankees regularly top the league’s payroll, shelling out $206 million in player salaries to lead the way once again in 2010. This year the Rays have climbed to number 21 on the list and their payroll is still barely a third of New York’s. The Yankees make a habit of throwing as much money at as many big names as possible, landing blockbuster free agents every offseason as opposed to developing their farm system. Tampa Bay, on the other hand, has been led this season by homegrown talents Evan Longoria (3b, drafted by Rays in 2006) and the AL’s All-Star Game starting pitcher, David Price (drafted by Rays in 2007). The Yankees also happen to be the most storied franchise in baseball, if not all sports, and have won a record 27 World Series titles. The Rays only became a Major League team in 1998 and lost in their only World Series appearance. Yet despite these seemingly overwhelming differences, at the All-Star break both teams share one important trait: winning games.

Continue Reading ‘Evan Longoria and the Rays Battle Baseball’s Evil Empire’

It should not come as a surprise to baseball fans that the Texas Rangers are currently sitting atop the American League West with 51-38 record, good for a 4.5 game lead over the Angels.  Thus far, they have consistently fired on all cylinders due to a perfect blend of youth and experience that can be compared to the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays.  Over the past two seasons, the Rangers have managed to climb out of the cellar within the A.L. West to emerge as a legitimate contender for the pennant.  Prior to the All-Star break, they made a crucial acquisition of the Mariners’ Cliff Lee with the hope of filling the team’s only void: experienced starting pitching.  With Cliff Lee, the Rangers now have a bona-fide ace who is one of the best competitors in all of baseball, and has a proven history of postseason success.  Yet, while Cliff Lee will presumably guide the Rangers to a division championship, his pitching alone will not be enough to make them contenders for the American League’s best record.

Rather, the key to their ultimate success lies in one of the few under-performers in their explosive offense.  Even though the Texas Rangers offense has been electric all season, thanks to spectacular performances from Josh Hamilton and Vlad Guerrero, there has been one player whose impact continues to be under appreciated.

Julio Borbon.

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Much like the Cardinals, the Colorado Rockies have a lot of players who are just flat out likable. CarGo, Helton, Ubaldo, Spilly, Tulo…the list goes on and on. Based upon how hard they try to sell their abilities as actors, it’s obvious that these guys embrace the opportunity to be in these commercials. Therefore, without further delay, here are the best commercials featuring the Colorado Rockies:

Staring Contest:

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With the upcoming city league tournament set to begin Wednesday evening, tension around the Farmington baseball community is very high.  The team that wins city receives one of the three Connie Mack World Series berths not requiring a regional title.  It is basically the path of least resistance into the Series, and as a consequence locally based teams put everything they have into this single week of baseball.  In a typical year, only two teams have a realistic shot at winning the event.  Of these two teams, normally every kid on the field and a strong majority of the dugout will ultimately play collegiately somewhere in this country.  At least a kid in the league usually will be drafted each season.  Occasionally a kid will make it to the big leagues eventually.  The point I’m trying to make is that the caliber of the event is high on its own.  When the implications of a World Series berth are taken into account, it makes for the most exciting baseball event of the summer for practically every guy in the Four Corners region who has any remote ties to the sport.

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Kerry Wood & Mark Prior

July 7, 2003

Photographed by Michael O’Neill