Author Archive

Thank You, Hideki Matsui

Posted: 6th November 2009 by Frankie Riolo in MLB
As the 2002 postseason came to a close for the New York Yankees on a Nick Johnson pop-up to Anaheim Angel shortstop David Eckstein, one question was immediately raised as the players solemnly gathered their belongings together from the visitors dugout and continued down the hallway to the clubhouse. With clean-up hitter Bernie Williams beginning to show serious signs of slowing down, the talented Alfonso Soriano showing no signs of maturing ...
While literally millions of New Yorkers (including myself) were busy celebrating the 27th New York Yankee World Championship up and down downtown New York's Canyon of Heroes, the rest of Major League Baseball began offseason business as usual. The National League Champion Phillies moved quickly in picking up the 2010 club-option on their lefty ace Cliff Lee. Lee, who went 7-4 with a 3.39 ERA in 12 starts ...

Twins and Tigers to Play Tiebreaker

Posted: 5th October 2009 by Frankie Riolo in MLB
Unless you are completely oblivious to the national sports media, you know that the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers will be playing a tiebreaker game this Tuesday in Minnesota's Metrodome.Minnesota claims the right to host the game since they won the 2009 regular season series against the Tigers.I realize I am a little late on breaking this, but just to reiterate, the probable pitchers are Scott Baker for the Twins ...

The Enigma That Is Alex Rodriguez

Posted: 2nd October 2009 by Frankie Riolo in MLB
A .320 batting average, three home runs, five doubles, eight runs batted in, and two stolen bases in 11 games. Do those numbers look good? They should. To make it easier, those numbers would project to be 44 home runs, 73 doubles, 118 runs batted in, and 29 stolen bases in 162 games. Those numbers belonged to Alex Rodriguez during the 2004 post-season. Theávery same post-season ináwhich the Red Soxápulled offáarguably the greatest ...

Fixing The Wild Card

Posted: 28th September 2009 by Frankie Riolo in NFL
There has been some talk floating around this September regarding ideas to add a second wild card spot to both leagues.When I first heard of any idea involving changing baseball's playoff format, I was not in favor of it. Hey, maybe I don't like change. Neither do many great fans of the game. Although, after a dismal September in terms of pennant races, I am beginning to think that another ...

Twins-Tigers: Major Drama Could Be on Tap This Week in Detroit

Posted: 27th September 2009 by Frankie Riolo in MLB
It has been an eventful weekend. While the games may not have been the most exciting, the playoff picture is starting to come to form.The New York Yankees managed to officially take the American League East and home field advantage throughout the playoffs by beating the Red Sox this afternoon.Meanwhile, out in Colorado, the fighting Rockies gave way to the Cardinals on Saturday night, allowing St. Louis to claim the ...

The AL Cy Young Picture

Posted: 23rd September 2009 by Frankie Riolo in MLB
As the regular season starts to wind down, postseason matchups are not the only topic debated by both the experts and the fans. Who will receive what award starts to become a very heavily discussed matter around this time of year.Today, we turn to the American League Cy Young award.This year's race can easily be narrowed down to just a handful of candidates. However, once you have your finalists picked, ...

MLB’s Top 10 Surprise Players of 2009

Posted: 18th September 2009 by Frankie Riolo in MLB
Every year, teams go all out to put the right pieces together. The major league offseason is filled with free agent signings, blockbuster trades, top prospect call-ups. With all these event going down, any club would take the extra bonus of having a player who has a great season out of nowhere. When a guy who is expected to ride the bench all year, keep a position warm for an ...

NL Wild Card Living Up To Its Name

Posted: 17th September 2009 by Frankie Riolo in MLB
With a little over two weeks left to go in the regular season, most division races are pretty much wrapped up. Sure, some teams are certainly capable of making a late push, however, here on Sep. 17, history will be working against cities hoping for some kind of Cinderella story.With the Texas Rangers faltering in the Wild Card, it appears that everything in the American League is set. In addition, ...

The Yankees Had Better Get Their Act Together

Posted: 16th September 2009 by Frankie Riolo in MLB
So far, 2009 has proven to be the most exciting year for the New York Yankees since 2001. Clutch hitting late in games seems to be a recurring theme, there are finally some reliable arms in the bullpen, and most importantly, strong team chemistry seems to be back.The team's dominance since the All-Star break has led many people to believe that the Yankees are uncontested favorites to be the American ...