GIANT WINNING ^_^

AL Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera (right) of the Tigers walks away
dejected as San Francisco Giants teammates Buster Posey (left) and
Sergio Romo (54) celebrate the team's second world championship.

You know something? That jersey doesn't look half bad, when you win.

MAJOR LEAGUE GOOFBALL congratulates the 2012 World Series Champion San Francisco Giants. My early season chastising of your road uniform modification did little to phase your postseason ambitions, and you came through with flying colours. The Giants won Game 4 of the best-of-seven series against the Detroit Tigers by the score of 4-3 after ten innings of play to close out the baseball season with an emphatic four games to none series win. This is the second world championship won by the Giants in three years; their earliest coming in 2010 when they defeated the Texas Rangers in five games to win their first since moving the ball club from New York to the Bay Area in 1958, and their second under manager Bruce Bochy ^_^

Tigers Gone Bananas

Heartfelt congratulations go out to the Detroit Tigers, who defeated the New York Yankees 8-1 in the fourth game of the American League Championship to win the best-of-seven series four games to none, and will represent the American League in the World Series later this month ^_^

This is the second AL pennant for the ball club since the 3x Coach of the Year, future Hall-of-Fame manager Jim Leyland took over the ball club in 2006. Oddly enough, that was the same year the Tigers won their first pennant with Leyland, and their first as a ball club since 1984.

Congratulations Detroit ^_^ By the way, is there any chance you can hook me up with a celebratory American League Champion Detroit Tigers hoodie?

No? Oh, okay... :[

(All images courtesy of Major League Baseball)

What's Wrong With the Yankees?

A-BENCH for A-Rod! LOL!

The New York Yankees are mere moments away from their third game against the Tigers in Detroit for the American League Championship, and I am conflicted. I am conflicted because the Tigers are leading the series two games to none, and I expected this to be a lot closer and compelling.

Dozens of my friends are fans of the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox; the two most prominent baseball franchises since the Strike of '94, if not in all of baseball. The former, in particular, gets the most exposure, television coverage, postseason accolades, individual awards, and notable players. The late George Steinbrenner purchased the Yankees from CBS in 1973 for a ridiculous seventeen million dollars; according to the March 30th edition of Bloomberg Businessweek, the Bronx Bombers' franchise value is $2.85 billion. The Yankees even have a television channel devoted to showing Yankee games all the time o_O

What I Do Hate About The Yankees: Nick Swisher and his constant, over-the-top celebrations for EVERYTHING!

Many dudes call in to the local sports radio show in Toronto, and argue for a salary cap in baseball, but only in the rarest of rare cases are those dudes Yankee fans. The team you despise the most is usually the one with the deepest pockets, are always on television (see Dallas Cowboys), have the best players (see Los Angeles Lakers), are constantly building on their illustrious history (see Manchester United), or have one of the biggest trophy cases in all of professional sports (see New York Yankees...oh wait!). There are loads of us "Yankee Haters" that would love nothing more than to see the New York Yankees suffer in grandiose style. However, for me anyway, to actually watch it happening is kind of sad.

To their credit, none of the Yankees make excuses for the lack of offensive output (maybe A-Rod). Offence is sexy, exciting, intimidating, and puts fans in the seats; since the days of the Babe and Joe Dimaggio, Yankee Nation takes pride in their team for its offensive prowess and defensive artistry (see The Flip).

Something Else I Hate: The Yankees lose two games, and all of a sudden there are parallels to 1996. Totally different team (2012 is not 1996), more money, Twitter, this is the ALCS (not World Series), and they are playing the Tigers (not Atlanta Braves).

A-SMILE for A-Rod! LOL wait, what?

The perfect setup would be for the Yankees to reach the penultimate stage, and blow it in true "Red Sox style" fashion. If they had an eighty-six year history of failure and jinxes, I would be the happiest Blue Jays fan in the world. The game of baseball would be better for it, without question! However, for the sport to be compelling and dramatic as it is, we need the New York Yankees to be the actual "New York Yankees" of old. That separates our lads from the "evil empire", and the more disdain we feel for the enemy the more love and respect we have for our team. That is systematic for all professional sports, and not just baseball. Hopefully, the Yankees will get some of their magic back against Scott Verlander and the Tigers tonight, so we can see the Bronx Bombers blow it in game seven! What?

It must feel good to be a Detroit Tiger player though; that team flew right under the radar, and are playing loose as a goose!

(All images and video are property of Major League Baseball. You may also notice a reduction in links to sites such as Wikipedia or YankeesBaseball.com for team information; all you need to do is ask a Yankees fan, and they will tell you everything you need to know about the Yankees.)

Jeter, Yankees, Postseason

For Yankee haters like me, it is unfortunate that you can't separate the three. There are only a few great New York Yankee players I would want on my all-time team: Derek Jeter is at the top of that list.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi (right) and the team doctor aid
Derek Jeter off the field following his left ankle fracture.

So, to see one of the all-time competitors go down to injury is impossible! Jeter fractured his ankle fielding a ground ball during Game 1 of the ALCS against the Detroit Tigers yesterday. Team doctors affirmed the fracture is season-ending, as it is the same ankle Jeter had difficulty with all season.

The 6-4 defeat to the Tigers was secondary to the loss of team captain Derek Jeter, whose presence will be missed in the locker room, in the starting lineup, and on the field for the Yankees.

(All images are property of Major League Baseball.)

Something About Game 3

Pablo Sandoval of the Giants (left) and the Reds' Brandon Phillips
on a close play at third with the umpire and fans looking on.

I'll be short with this today, but I wouldn't put too much faith and words into the performance of postseason teams in Game 3.

After playing the first two games of the Division Series, teams like the San Francisco Giants and Cincinnati Reds, and the Oakland Athletics and Detroit Tigers travel cross-country to play at their opponent's ball park. The flights were long, bumpy, suitcases got lost, someone forgot their lucky monkey, and then comes the jet lag! =_=



There are two ways a series could go after such an experience: In the case of the Cincinnati Reds, the need for sleep, to close out a series, and entertain the home crowd provided the Giants a stay of execution as San Francisco rallied through ten innings to defeat the Reds by a slim 2-1 scoreline. This could be a minor chip in the armour of the Red Machine as they look to close out the series tonight in Game 4. Then again, if you are following the Detroit Tigers, then the experience will completely throw you for a loop as the vindicated Coco Crisp and Oakland Athletics look to rebound and draw level with the staggered Tigers. Maybe there was more to Oakland's resurgence than "Alburquerque's Kiss"? ^_^

All images, videos, and associated material are property of Major League Baseball.