Tag: Spring Training

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The Final Season: The Sun Begins To Set

The Final Season-Entry Four

The Sun has slowly begun to set on the storied career of Derek Jeter. I say that only because today will be the first of quite a few notable lasts for Jeter. This will be the final spring training game of his 20 year+ career. With each passing “last moment” that goes by, the sun will set slowly on the captain’s final season. Hopefully all the pomp and circumstance will give way to one final twilight for Jeter, one final October.

Today’s game will be against the Marlins, and the biggest thing to take away from today will not be any ceremony or speech, no number in monument park or plaque on a wall. It will be as simple as this; The captain has had a completely normal and healthy spring and will head north just recently finding his timing at the plate. Yes, He’ll be 40 in June, but I have learned that whenever those doubters get going, Jeter always shines.

Jeter’s last Opening Day will be on Tuesday the 1st and the following day, Wednesday, April 2nd, the Astros (one of the teams that passed on Jeter in the 1992 draft) will honor Jeter with a brief ceremony before the game. Something that each team is bound to do for the captain as we saw last year with Mariano Rivera’s farewell tour. Wednesday’s ceremony will be attended by Andy Pettitte and Rodger Clemens (for some reason).

Next monday, April 7th, The Yankees will host the Baltimore Orioles in Derek’s final home opener. The details of the pre-game festivities have yet to be released but since the Yankees have all year to plan something special for Jeter, I don’t believe he will be the focus of any ceremony that day. The thing to watch will be the fans. Monday’s home opener will mark the first time the fans will get to say goodbye to the captain in the Bronx.

My heroes, my dreams and my future lay at Yankee Stadium. And they can’t take that away from me.

-Derek Jeter

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Sports

Yanks Make Offer But Cano Focused On 2013

Yesterday, the Baseball world learned that the Yankees had made a “significant” offer to Robinson Cano’s agent, Scott Boras. Hal Steinbrenner had eluded to the fact that the Yankees were prepared to make an offer. Then Brian Cashman confirmed to members of the New York media that “a significant offer had been made. The question remains, is it significant enough to get Cano to forgo free agency and pledge his career to the pinstripes?

Scott Boras is notorious for instructing his clients to test the market and use free agency to their advantage. Since Boras usually represents the best of the best, that strategy usually works. Cano said today that he does not want to talk about the Yankees’ offer. He stated “I want to focus on the 2013 season and I don’t want my contract to become a distraction for this team.” Cano has repeatedly let on that Boras is in the driver’s seat of these talks and that he is purely focused on Baseball.

Reputable baseball journalist Jon Heyman took to twitter this morning explaining that in his experience, when a team has to tell the media they made a “significant” offer, a deal is usually not close to done. Sweeny Murti of WCBS thinks that Boras and Cano are just a few days away from calling off talks until after the season. I agree with Sweeny. I think that Cano has all the leverage and no matter what the offer was from the Yankees, it’s only a starting number. Cano is the best second baseman in the league and will command at least 8 years and at least $200 million. Do not fret Yankee fans, I think it’s still more likely that Cano stays in pinstripes but a deal won’t be reached until after the season. If a deal was close, the Yankees wouldn’t have to let their fans know that talks were ongoing. Sit tight. It’s going to get bumpy.

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Sports

Your 2013 World Series Champs Are…


Pitchers and catchers have officially reported to spring training and baseball is now underway. I can confirm that baseball people are doing baseball things in both Florida and Arizona. As camp gets underway, many teams still have issues to work out and even though not a single game has been played, baseball writers all over America have already made their predictions for the World Series.

I’m not a believer in an off season champion. Just because you look good on paper doesn’t mean it will translate. But in the spirit of spring training, I will make my own World Series prediction based solely on what teams look like on paper. The World Series will be played between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Washington Nationals. Toronto will have beaten the Angels to arrive in the fall classic and the Nats will have beaten the Braves in the NLCS. Your world champions will be the Washington Nationals. What a great 2013 season that was! So exciting!

Like I said, I don’t believe this will be the outcome of the season. This is what I believe would happen if “on paper” meant anything after a 162 game season. I made these picks because I think that the Braves and the Nationals are two of the most well built ball clubs we’ve seen in a while but I think the Nats are slightly better. The Angels are always a dangerous team and with Hamilton they just got even more dangerous. They likely have the best hitting outfield in the league and Pujols at first. I also think that Toronto is going to have their turn this year. They had a shot last year until they were riddled with injuries. But that’s the thing. These are my predictions but I don’t think they will happen because after 162 games, players get hurt or have off years or don’t mesh well together. Meanwhile other players have surprisingly great years and stay healthy and a teams vibe carries them somewhere no one ever saw coming.

So there you have it, my prediction that won’t happen. So if you are a fan of any of the teams I picked to lose, don’t worry, there is still a chance.

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Sports

Yankees To Play Army at West Point Exhibition Game

The Yankees have a very rich history with the Military Academy at West Point. Often, West Point cadets are invited to Yankee Stadium for countless reasons ranging from unfurling large American flags, playing the Star Spangled Banner, fund raisers and College Football games. The history goes back to the days of Gehrig and Ruth. It was not uncommon to see the Yankees play Army in an exhibition game in those days.

Recently though, no such games have been played. In fact, the most recent visit the Yankees have made to West Point was in 1982 when at the request of George Steinbrenner, the Yankees conducted preseason workouts in front of cadets due to snowy conditions at Yankee Stadium. Steinbrenner’s admiration and respect for the school was very well known but for some reason he either never tried to or never succeeded in setting up an exhibition game between his Yankees and the Army Black Knights.

However, this year the Yankee organization was able to do just that. After the Yankees leave Florida, they will make a stop in Washington D.C. to play an exhibition game against the Nationals in their home park. After that, on March 30th, the Yankees will make the trip north of Yankee Stadium to play an exhibition game against the Black Knights in historic West Point. I’m sure many fans will take this opportunity to see a great afternoon of Baseball. I know I will.

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Politics Sports

Cervelli’s Dream

We are just under a month away from pitchers and catchers reporting to their respective spring training camps. Right now, however, these camps are quiet. Not a creature stirring, not even a mouse. Well, with one exception. Francisco Cervelli has already reported to Tampa to get a head start on making a big league run this year with the Yankees. Cervelli’s chances of becoming the club’s primary catcher are pretty good coming into camp. If the Yankees continue to look internally for the solution to their vacant catcher position, the options are Cervelli, Chris Stewart and Austin Romine.

None of theses options are what you would call “sexy.” But I have always loved Cervelli’s intensity and heart. He plays with a fire that most guys don’t have. Romine is young and calls a very good game. His hitting is not where the organization hoped it would be. He was improving a great deal until he hurt his back and missed most of the 2012 season. Chris Stewart isn’t a bad option but he is definitely not your starting catcher if I had any say. Come Opening Day, my two catchers would be Cervelli and Romine. Spring training will tell who gets the start on Opening Day.

As long as the Yankees stick to their plans of getting a righty outfielder/DH and don’t go get a catcher, the job is Cervelli’s to win. He has something to prove to himself and to this team. He’s looking to show everyone that he can help the big league club and not just as a back up. He told Bryan Hoch of Yankees.com that this is his dream opportunity and he’s not about to settle. It will be interesting to watch him in spring training. He’s a great team guy and he’s a fan favorite. I’m pulling for him.

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