Mo Wins Pro Athlete Of The Year

post from Sliding Into Home: A Yankees Blog on 17 December 2009 11:50:00 PM. © Sliding Into Home: A Yankees Blog

The greatest closer to ever put on a uniform, Mariano Rivera, has been named 2009 Sporting News Pro Athlete of the Year.

On a team full of superstars, Yankees closer Mariano Rivera went about his usual way in 2009, dominating opponents and helping New York claim its 27th World Series.

Because of his performance?44 saves, 1.76 ERA and five more postseason saves?Rivera is Sporting News' Pro Athlete of the Year.

There is an interview with Mo that can be found here.

Congrats Mo!

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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SlidingIntoHome/~3/kUvByyMJoGY/mo-wins-pro-athlete
-of-year.html

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Radio Station WGOM

post from The WGOM on 17 December 2009 11:35:06 PM. © The WGOM

The other day I was thinking, Hey, what if I set up a Pandora Station with ten random songs seeded from last week's list and played the first ten songs? So, I went to random.org, generated ten random numbers and input the following songs into the station:

What Have You Got To Lose--Tom T. Hall [...]

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http://stickandballguy.com/blog/2009/12/17/radio-station-wgom/

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Go Horse!

post from LADodgerTalk.com - Get Your Daily Dodger Juice, Dodger News and Dodger Rumors on 17 December 2009 11:25:00 PM. © LADodgerTalk.com - Get Your Daily Dodger Juice, Dodger News and Dodger Rumors

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http://www.ladodgertalk.com/2009/12/go-horse/

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Checking in on the Red Sox

post from Bronx Baseball Daily on 17 December 2009 11:05:40 PM. © Bronx Baseball Daily

So the Red Sox have signed both John Lackey and Mike Cameron. In general, I think Lackey is a good[...]

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http://www.bronxbaseballdaily.com/?p=1417

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Braves/Angles Rumor About Javier Vazquez

post from Talking Chop on 17 December 2009 10:37:00 PM. © Talking Chop

I saw this rumor earlier this evening and thought very little of it, but then ESPN.com decided to repeat it and source it:

According to a reliable source, the Angels are talking to the Braves about Javier Vazquez. The Braves however want to deal Derek Lowe, obviously. The names of the players in a potential deal are not known, but it is no secret the Braves are looking for a power hitting left fielder and are said to be interested in Juan Rivera.

The ESPN rumor central piece adds this:

The Angels have actually been focused on Javier Vazquez, according to executives of two clubs that have spoken with them.

Maybe ESPN is reporting anything and everything, but they seem to have multiple sources. Kudos to AngelsWin.com, a blog, for getting this story first.

Complements aside, both sites mention the big hang-up with Vazquez being his no-trade clause to West coast teams. I don't think a player would negotiate that level of specificity into a contract and then ignore it when it comes trade time. Vazquez has been traded enough to be picky, and he won't waive his no-trade just to because Bill Stoneman and Vazquez "keep in touch," as the AngelsWin post mentions. That's a lot of wishful thinking on their part.

Furthermore, Vazuez and his agent should know that going into a contract year there is more value in remaining in the National League where Javy had a career year last year. They should also have some idea that the Braves want to re-sign Vazquez. Atlanta's a good and stable situation for Javy, and I don't see him waiving his no-trade to leave, that's the only leverage he has.

This rumor is likely a result of the Angels asking for Vazquez instead of Lowe, but that doesn't mean the Braves are going to bite. Frank Wren's luck is not on the side of negotiating a trade and not having the player veto it. The Angels may very well have interest in Javy, but I don't think that will end up being his ultimate destination.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.talkingchop.com/2009/12/17/1206752/braves-angles-rumor-about-javier

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Braves/Angels Rumor About Javier Vazquez

post from Talking Chop on 17 December 2009 10:37:00 PM. © Talking Chop

I saw this rumor earlier this evening and thought very little of it, but then ESPN.com decided to repeat it and source it:

According to a reliable source, the Angels are talking to the Braves about Javier Vazquez. The Braves however want to deal Derek Lowe, obviously. The names of the players in a potential deal are not known, but it is no secret the Braves are looking for a power hitting left fielder and are said to be interested in Juan Rivera.

The ESPN rumor central piece adds this:

The Angels have actually been focused on Javier Vazquez, according to executives of two clubs that have spoken with them.

Maybe ESPN is reporting anything and everything, but they seem to have multiple sources. Kudos to AngelsWin.com, a blog, for getting this story first.

Compliments aside, both sites mention the big hang-up with Vazquez being his no-trade clause to West coast teams. I don't think a player would negotiate that level of specificity into a contract and then ignore it when it comes trade time. Vazquez has been traded enough to be picky, and he won't waive his no-trade just to because Bill Stoneman and Vazquez "keep in touch," as the AngelsWin post mentions. That's a lot of wishful thinking on their part.

Furthermore, Vazuez and his agent should know that going into a contract year there is more value in remaining in the National League where Javy had a career year last year. They should also have some idea that the Braves want to re-sign Vazquez. Atlanta's a good and stable situation for Javy, and I don't see him waiving his no-trade to leave, that's the only leverage he has.

This rumor is likely a result of the Angels asking for Vazquez instead of Lowe, but that doesn't mean the Braves are going to bite. Frank Wren's luck is not on the side of negotiating a trade and not having the player veto it. The Angels may very well have interest in Javy, but I don't think that will end up being his ultimate destination.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.talkingchop.com/2009/12/17/1206752/braves-angles-rumor-about-javier

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Babe Ruth: Sport Psychology Experiments in 1921

post from The Winning Mind in Baseball on 17 December 2009 10:04:54 PM. © The Winning Mind in Baseball

For my final post of the year, I am including the text, link, and citation to a great find for anyone who loves baseball?an article describing a psychology experiment with Babe Ruth as the subject. In 1921 at Columbia University, Ruth took part in a battery of tests designed to understand why he was such [...]

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http://thewinningmindinbaseball.com/2009/12/17/babe-ruth-sport-psychology-experim
ents-in-1921/

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Site Notes: Desing updates, etc..

I’ve made some design changes.First of all, I did away with that wretched Ad campaign and replaced it with the Google one. Should decrease loading time, if that’s an issue for anyone. Moved the Ad’s down, too, so you don’t see them when you first load the page (at least I don’t). I think they’re [...]

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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CapitolAvenueClub/~3/mg5xyM14aSw/

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Attempting To Understand The Orioles Signing of
Mike Gonzalez

More photos » by Tom Mihalek - AP Browse more photos » Being a fan of the Rays, I'm used to Yankees and Red Sox being the top competitors in[...]

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http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2009/12/17/1206644/attempting-to-understand-the

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A modest proposal from Cubbie Nation:Go get
Ellsbury!!

post from Cubbie Nation - Notes from the Front Office on 17 December 2009 08:02:00 PM. © Cubbie Nation - Notes from the Front Office

Filed:December 19th, 2009Red Sox outfielder Mike Cameron (Cubbie Nation/file)Sigh. I just finished watching the Cameron - Red Sox press conference. Charming. Charismatic. Humble. Relaxed. You got to see so many of the reasons why managers love Cameron,[...]

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http://cubbienation.net/blogs/nftfo/archive/2009/12/18/a-modest-proposal-from-cub
bie-nation-go-get-ellsbury.aspx

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