The Dick's Jinx

post from Sliding Into Home: A Yankees Blog on 03 November 2009 04:07:00 PM. © Sliding Into Home: A Yankees Blog

According to Cody Derespina of Newsday, WCBS and Dick's Sporting Goods made the same mistake the Philadelphia Inquirer made and ran an claiming the Yankees had won their 27th world championship.

The ad, which ran Tuesday during the 1 p.m. hour, reportedly was to promote Yankees championship gear and said that the franchise had already captured its 27th title.

WCBS general sales manager Chad Lopez said he hadn't heard about the ad and declined further comment until he had more information.

Does anyone know how to do their job correctly anymore? The two teams are now even in the stupid premature ad department.

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AFL Rising Stars Game featuring several Reds
prospects on MLB Network Saturday at 8pm

post from Red Reporter on 03 November 2009 03:32:00 PM. © Red Reporter

AFL Rising Stars Game featuring several Reds prospects on MLB Network Saturday at 8pm

A little heads up that a few Reds prospects will be featured in a Rising Stars game on Saturday in Arizona and the game will be shown on MLB Network. The past two first round picks - Mike Leake and Yonder Alonso - as well as Chris Heisey and Zack Cozart will be on the NL roster. You can bet that we'll have a game thread up, so keep your eyes out for it on Saturday!

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http://www.redreporter.com/2009/11/3/1113286/afl-rising-stars-game-featuring

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Yankees Teixeira struggling in playoffs (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 03 November 2009 02:53:33 PM. © MLB News Blog

A high-priced slugger is having a hard time in the postseason with the New York Yankees. No, not that one. This time, it's Mark Teixeira who looks out of sorts at the plate. While Alex Rodriguez is piling up RBIs in the cleanup spot behind him, Teixeira is searching for answers in his first postseason [...]

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http://www.mlbnewsblog.com/2009/11/03/yankees-teixeira-struggling-in-playoffs-ap/

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Howards 12 Ks match World Series record (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 03 November 2009 02:41:45 PM. © MLB News Blog

Ryan Howard's World Series can be summed up like this: swing and miss. Over and over, Howard has gone down swinging against the New York Yankees. Overall, the Philadelphia Phillies' slugger has struck out 12 times in the first five games, tying Willie Wilson for most whiffs in a World Series. Wilson did it with [...]

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http://www.mlbnewsblog.com/2009/11/03/howards-12-ks-match-world-series-record-ap/

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Chan Ho Park spitball

post from lenNY's Yankees - A Bronx Bombers Blog on 03 November 2009 02:39:00 PM. © lenNY's Yankees - A Bronx Bombers Blog

Remember when everyone thought Mariano Rivera threw a spitball? Well, this video of Chan Ho Park is a little more conclusive, in my opinion. I. Hate. The. Phillies. (Hat tip: Pinstripe Alley) [...]

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http://www.lennysyankees.com/2009/11/chan-ho-park-spitball.html

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Rays trade 2B Iwamura to Pirates (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 03 November 2009 02:37:46 PM. © MLB News Blog

The Tampa Bay Rays have traded second baseman Akinori Iwamura to the Pittsburgh Pirates for right-handed reliever Jesse Chavez. The deal was announced Tuesday night. Iwamura hit .290 with one homer and 22 RBIs in 69 games during the final season of a $7.7 million, three-year contract he signed after playing in the Japanese Central [...]

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http://www.mlbnewsblog.com/2009/11/03/rays-trade-2b-iwamura-to-pirates-ap/

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Have we finally found Mrs. Matsui

post from Zell's Pinstripe Blog on 03 November 2009 02:28:08 PM. © Zell's Pinstripe Blog

Last year, Hideki Matsui secretly wed a 25-year-old woman from Japan. Hideki held a press conference to announce it, but he wouldn’t release her name to the public. Instead, he held up a drawing of her rather than a photo.Have we finally discovered who this mystery woman is? Fans of his, and the Japanese media have [...]

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http://zellspinstripeblog.com/2009/11/03/have-we-finally-found-mrs-matsui/

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Clinching in New York

post from The Ghost of Babe Ruth on 03 November 2009 02:21:00 PM. © The Ghost of Babe Ruth

Well, my boys did their fans in New York a nice favor by dropping that game yesterday. Now, when they finally clinch it, they'll do it in front of 50,000 screaming fans instead of a quiet opposing stadium.

I can tell you from personal experience that it's much more special to clinch the World Series at home. As you know, I won 7 World Series as a player (3 with Boston, 4 with the Yankees), but we only clinched 3 of them at home, including only one of my Yankee championships.

(I know, doesn't it seem like I should have won more World Series titles? Berra won 10, Dimaggio won 9, but I only won 7. Joe knows not to talk to me about it. He actually doesn't talk much to anyone about anything, including to Marilyn. But we see them together all the time, just staring into space. Very sweet, I guess.)

Anyway, I was watching the game with Cravath last night and he was feeling pretty emboldened by the victory. He thinks that Giraldi made a mistake by going with a 3-man rotation. It showed last night with AJ, and he thinks Andy Petite is going to be tired tomorrow, too. If the Phillies win that one, then it's anything goes.

Now, I'm not one of those old-timers who thinks today's players aren't tough enough or strong enough. Hell, if I had to bat against all those sliders and cutters and one-inning relief specialists, I'm sure I wouldn't have hit 714 home runs--maybe more like 700 or so, but definitely not 714.

But I don't think Giraldi made a mistake. He has that strong bullpen which should be able to shut down the Phillies in case the starters falter, and last night they just didn't. The offense did its part by scoring 6 runs. Now it's time for the pitchers to pick them up.

Yankees in six, mark my words!

---
Read more at www.theghostofbaberuth.com

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-york.html

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1989 Fleer Darryl Strawberry

1989 Fleer Darryl StrawberryI like this card. The 1989 Fleer set was not very popular, but like many of the late 80’s issues from Fleer, these cards look good for certain teams and terrible for others.For the Mets, these cards look great! The dark grey design works well with the Mets’ team colors. And the white [...]

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http://bapple2286.wordpress.com/2009/11/03/1989-fleer-darryl-strawberry/

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Tuesday Afternoon Astros Link-Fest

More photos » by Rob Carr - AP

How is the weather in Arizona, Jason?

Browse more photos »

Let's look at some baseball-related links while wondering why the heck Joe Girardi is still pitching to Chase Utley...

Here's a nice roundup done by Brian McTaggart on the Astro Winter League contingent. Of note, Chia-jen Lo has headed back to Taiwan for a while and the Astros can't hit or pitch. I kid, of course, though one is more troubling than the other. I saw a tweet from Jonathan Mayo that the AFL league ERA was something like 5.87. That's with Stephen Strasburg, even. So, I'm not as worried about Danny Meszaros, especially when he has struck out eight in 5 2/3 innings. But, Jason Castro, Jose Vallejo and Jon Gaston all struggling is worrying. Castro has played a ton in the past season, though, and Vallejo isn't expected to do much next season. This leaves Gaston. He's got more potential than anyone gave him credit for, but with the extended slumps, the strikeouts and the fact he's probably going to settle in left field, how is he not a younger Luke Scott? Not that that's a bad thing, but it's an interesting comparison. I may have to look into a little more deeply.

Speaking of prospects, here's a good interview by The Unofficial Scorer with Jiovanni Mier. I have to admit, I've been intrigued with Mier all summer. He's played well, has shown good range at short and has got some pop in his bat. Like Castro, he profiles as more of a doubles hitters than a home-run threat, but as long as he can get on base at a .360-.380 clip in the majors, I'm fine with fewer homers.

Sparked by the Astros flirtation with Phil Garner, this article from THT talks about all the rehirings throughout history. Under Peculiar Owners, Jaffe lists just Charlie Finley and George Steinbrenner, but I'm thinking a certain grocery magnate from Temple could join that list...

File this under, 'Things I would have done if I had lived in 1911.'

Finally a bit of speculation on the merits of Russell Branyan. He's been mentioned a few times as a possible candidate for that black hole at third base the Astros currently have. Would he tingle anyone's toes if he signed? According to FanGraphs, Branyan was worth 12.5 million in 2009, which is more than he was worth in the previous three seasons combined. It might be a bad idea, then, to give him a multi-year deal. Instead, how about targeting a guy like Joe Crede, who may be released by the Twins. Crede earned 2.5 million in 2009 but was worth 8.3 million. His hitting has never rebounded to 2006 levels, but his wOBA was back to .330 as recently as 2008 with the White Sox. He's great with the glove, so maybe a move to the National League will help his hitting.

Back tomorrow with a look at the Astros fielding...

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http://www.crawfishboxes.com/2009/11/3/1112763/tuesday-afternoon-astros-link-fest

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