Return of D-Rose (Part 5)

Green Arrow

There's a new show on CW11 this season and it looks like DC Comics is trying to revive Green Arrow in Arrow. I'm not as familiar with this character  as with Batman and Superman, but the show is pretty good so far. It features a younger Ollie Queen getting started with his crime fighting career after years of being a castaway. The 3rd episode, last night even featured another DC character, Deadshot and ended with an homage to a comic book cover... I won't spoil it if you want to catch the replay.

I like what they did to modernize his costume. It's a darker green and made of practical materials that allow protection and movement. The only thing is he needs a mask  because the shadow of the hood wouldn't be ideal for many situations.

The supporting cast is nice too. He gets help with his cover from a body guard that his mother assigned to him. Last night, it's hinted at that an IT person from his dad's company could be another helper. There's also Laurel "Dinah" Lance, who is Black Canary in the comics, but she's just a lawyer in this series. Hopefully we get to see Black Canary in the future.

So... finally I have a show to write about. It''s been a while since Stargate!

2013 Season

The Yankees could potentially look very different next year with the number of free agents and options on the current team:

Outfield

There will be a logjam in the outfield positions because of Gardner's return and the mid-season acquisition of Ichiro. Most likely, Andruw Jones and Nick Swisher will not return because of their poor performance at the end of the season and playoffs. Ichiro is a short-term contract, but the Yankees would do well to sign him up. Other than Jeter, he was really the only other consistent guy after the break. Besides, it would cause absolute chaos for the opposing team with Jeter, Ichiro and Gardner in the same lineup. 

Martin

Martin had a really bad year as a hitter, but he's still a solid gold glove catcher and came through with clutch hits. This one can go either way, but I'd rather see him stay as  the pitchers are already used to him. With Cervelli returning, Martin won't have to take the full load also.

Pitching

I think Soriano is either a free agent or option. This one's a no brainer. Although his blown saves will always stand out, this was the best season of his career and comparable to a typical Rivera season. 

A-Rod

He's still on contract, but it's funny how trade rumors immediately surfaced after the Yankees were eliminated! Most likely he'll still be the 3rd baseman, but if some deal comes out of this, it makes room for my 2004 prediction that David Wright will play for the Yankees one day.

Capacity Crowd

Last night, the Bulls fans filled the United Center... not for a Miami vs Chicago playoff game, but a preseason against Minnesota! This is why the Bulls franchise has the best fans in the world and I'm proud to be one of them. This is a screwed season not only without Derrick Rose, but with a complete restructuring of the Bench Mob. We'll be lucky to make it to the lower end of the postseason. But one thing's for sure... the fans will always be there to support their team. Fans of many other major franchise cut and run when their teams suck. Just look at the Knicks, Mets... even the Yankees.

Bulls won 92-81 as many of the new faces mixed well with the core. Deng had 14 pts. Boozer lead with 24 and 9 rebs. A vintage Rip had 15 pts and 5 asts. Hinrich, with a sore thumb dished out a team high 8 asts. Gibson, the only returning member of the Mob came off the bench with his usual double-double. I would love for this starless team to come out and shock the world this year!

Sword of Azrael: Lance

It's been talked about for a long time... Lance Armstrong and doping, but earlier in the week way too much evidence surfaced in the form of 1000+ pages. 1000 pages! That's a lot of evidence. What did he do, keep a diary of his daily activities? Anyway, Azrael doesn't need to had out an excommunication penalty here because he pretty much got one in real life already. Almost immediately after, he lost all of his endorsements including Trek, Giro, FRS, Honey Stinger, 24 Hour Fitness, Anheuser-Busch and Radio Shack... millions of dollars worth. That's how you go from hero to zero in one day.

I hope the younger pro athletes are following this story because it's the roadmap on what not to do. How many times have we seen top athletes have great careers and blow the entire thing on doping? Instead, they go down in history as drug users. Even for the ones that bounced back, there's always going to be the "what if." What if Darryl Strawberry didn't have the drug years? Maybe we'd be talking about him instead of A-Rod. What about Doc Gooden? He could have easily been the best pitcher in MLB history. McGwire, Sosa, Bonds, A-Rod? If these guys make it to the Hall of Fame, there will always be a virtual asterisk by their names.

Another point I want to make is that there was a bit of good in Armstrong's career... the Livestrong Foundation. Even if his career was not honest, this foundation was a  good thing and still is a strong organization in fighting cancer. I hope people still support it.

A Postseason w/o Derek(rick)

Game 2 really felt like Game 1 of the Bulls 1st round against the 76ers. The Yankees, like the Bulls have enough talent to win this series, but with their captains going down, the inspiration was gone. Kuroda again pitched a great game, but the offense was only able to scrap up 3 hits.

In Game 3, Justin Verlander pitched a 2-hitter into the 9th... the 2 hits coming from Ichiro. The Yankees showed some fight in a 9th inning threat with runners on 1st and 2nd and Ibanez at the plate, but that was as far as they got. Detroit, the team that eliminated the Yankees last year now has a chance to close this out at home.

Return of D-Rose (Part 4)

Yankees Catchup

ALDS
The Yankees finished off the Orioles in Game 5 3-1. It was another close one, but for some reason it felt comfortable the entire time. The Yankees led since the 5th inning and CC was just dominant, pitching 4-hit, 1-run ball in a complete game. Offense wasn't that good on the Yankees side either. They only had 5 hits, but were just lucky to drive in runs when they needed to. Granderson homered. Ibanez had a RBI and so did Ichiro.

Mr. October
The Yankees were down 4-0 in the 9th inning of Game of the ALCS. Martin started a rally with a base hit. Ichiro powered in a timely homer to make it 4-2. Teixiera worked a walk with an 0-2 count. Ibanez came up and everyone knew what was coming... yet another clutch homer to tie the game and send it into extra innings. But the Yankees would not score another run and fell in the 12th. Ibanez came up again in the 11th, but couldn't win the game. It would be too unreal if he did!

Deja Vu
Also in the 12th, Jeter fractured his ankle on a diving grab. This reminded me of the Bulls game where Derrick Rose tore his ACL. The leader went down and the dream of a championship along with it. Hopefully that's not the case, but it just reminded me of it. Fortunately with baseball, if a star is missing, it's not as big as an adjustment as in basketball.

Raul!

Raul! Just as I thought, Hiroki Kuroda pitched a gem at home. However, the Yankees offense was non-existant except for an RBI triple by Jeter. Still down by 1 in the 9th, Ghirardi placed Ibanez in to pinch hit for the slumping A-Rod. It was the right move either way. Ibanez has been clutch all year long and has been on fire since the end of the season. So he hits a game-tying homer... again! A-Rod is the first one to greet him as he crosses the plate. Both teams then went scoreless for 3 innings. Ibanez came up again in the 12th... and hits a game-winning HR... again! The Yankees lead the series 2-1 and can close out tonight.

The news will be around taking A-Rod out, but he's all about the team no matter what the media tries to spin this into. Both the media and many Yankee fans love to hate A-Rod, but they forget that this is a team sport. They have much more to worry about in the opposing dugout than each other. But internal rivalries always make interesting stories even if they're false and constructed from nothing.

Ibanez made a place for himself in Yankees history despite being on the team for less than a year. The Playoffs are the stage to be part of a classic. If you look back, Aron Boone didn't have a particularly good season for the Yankees, but he will be remembered forever for that Red Sox game.... "one of the greatest games you will ever see!"--Michael Kay. Raul Ibanez had a good season with a lot of clutch hits.

Return of D-Rose (Part 3)

Evened Up

The ALDS began over the weekend and the Yankees did their job despite losing the Monday game. The new format is 2-3. The first 2 games are played away and then it's 3 straight at home. So the Yankee split the road trip and come back home with the advantage. In Sunday's Game 1, the weather tried to put a stop to it and ruin both teams' rotations. But after 2+ hours, CC pitched an 8 2/3 inning gem and the team gave him some heavy run support in the 9th for the 7-2 blowout victory.

In Game 2, Andy Pettitte grinded out a nice 3-run performance, but the Yankees offense went cold, only scoring a run in the 1st and then 7th. The opportunities were there, but they stranded 9 runners, actually outhitting the Orioles 9-7.

Kuroda is up in Game 3 tomorrow, so I like our chances. Some other factors to think about though are... we've had trouble getting out of the ALDS in recent years. Also, the Orioles are playing the best baseball in their franchise history.

#1 Again

It came down to the last day, but the Yankees finally got to the top of the AL East. It was a fitting end to the season as they closed  out against the Rival Red Sox at home. With the blowout victory, they also eclipse a franchise record for homeruns in a season... surpassing the recent 2009 team. Now, the Orioles will face the Rays in a 1-game playoff to determine who gets in as the wildcard. The winner will open the playoff against the Yankees.

The Red Sox ended a disappointing season, clinching last place in the AL East. Did anyone not see this coming as soon as they hired Bobby Valentine? He managed to turn a consistent playoff team into a last place one and dismantled the championship core. As a Yankee fan, I think they should give this guy a long-term contract!

On Top for Now

Statistically, the Yankees hold the edge over the O's in the final series of the regular season. They get to face the lowly red Sox while the O's are facing the Rays. The Yankees did their part last night, blowing out their rival. All they needed was a 40-min bottom half of the inning where they powered in 9 of their 10 runs. The Orioles lost their game and fell 1 game behind in the race. There are 2 games left, but it's the Red Sox, so you never know. As bad as they are this year, the record goes away when it's a rivalry series. They want the Orioles to overtake the Yankees. 

The Yankees also have to play hard because it's more than just making the playoffs. There are a lot of questions floating around about the pitching and there's still the season long issue about knocking in runs and relying too much on HRs.

Making it Interesting

Here we are at the last week of the season and it looks like it's going to come down to the wire, at least in the AL East. The Yankees, who had a 10-game lead after the break had an uncharacteristically bad 2nd half. They let the Orioles get within 2 for much of it. They were able to put together some short streaks, but would lose almost enough games to give it back. Pitching has been shaky and they've wasted good outings by Kuroda. Key players have been injured as well.

After the weekend, it's all tied up now. The Red Sox did their part by getting swept by the O's. the Yankees had their troubles with Toronto, but came out of a great comeback game Sunday that will hopefully inspire the team a bit more. Teixiera is back in the lineup tonight.