“Octopus” Pitches For New York Yankees Today
The New York Yankees are going to pitch Pat Venditte today in split-squad game against the Atlanta Braves at the request of manager Joe Girardi.
Venditte is a 24-year-old reliever who was 4-2 with 22 saves last season in 49 appearances split between Class A Charleston RiverDogs. Venditte is rarity who switch pitches meaning he can throw from his left or right hand. He is the only such talent in professional baseball and has to wears a specially made six-fingered glove that includes two thumbs.
He’s compiled a 1.87 ERA and a 1.069 WHIP last summer, striking out 87 while walking only 11 in 67.1 innings.
Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim Mike Scioscia Wins American League Manager Of The Year
34 Would Be Proud
Mike Scioscia of the Los Angeles Angels of Anhiem had to endure the most emotionally season of his 10 seasons as leader of the Angels and that culminated in him selected as the 2009 American League Manager of the Year by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
It was Scioscia’s second Manager of the Year award. He was named by the BBWAA in 2002, when the Angels claimed their first World Series title under his direction after entering the postseason as a Wild Card. Scioscia, who is the first manager in Major League history to pilot six postseason teams in his first 10 seasons, received 15 of a possible 28 first-place votes for 106 points.
The Twins’ Ron Gardenhire finished second with six first-place votes and 72 points. Joe Girardi of the Yankees (four first-place votes) was third, followed by the Mariners’ Don Wakamatsu (two), the Rangers’ Ron Washington (one) and the Tigers’ Jim Leyland.
Coping with the death of young pitcher Nick Adenhart in a car wreck on April 9, Scioscia and the Angels emerged from early struggles — they were 29-29 on June 11 — to take flight en route to a third consecutive AL West title, their fifth in six seasons.
In the AL Division Series, the Angels swept their October nemesis, Boston, in three games before falling in six games in the AL Championship Series to the Yankees, who went on to subdue the Phillies in the World Series.
With 97 wins, the Angels continued a run of excellence under Scioscia, whose teams have won 900 regular-season games in 10 seasons. His 567 victories over the past six seasons represent a Major League best — one more than Joe Torre has achieved with the Yankees and Dodgers and two more than Terry Francona with the Red Sox.
Joe Girardi Goes From World Series Champion To Good Samaritan
Well Done Joe
Joe Girardi is a World Series-winning manager and apparently, also a good samaritan. On his way home from winning the World Series with a 7-3 win over the Phillies on Wednesday night, At about 2:25 AM Thursday morning, a woman named Marie Henry lost control of her vehicle on the Cross County Parkway in Eastchester, New York and crashed into a wall. Not only did Girardi stop to check on her well-being, but he also flagged down the police.
According to the police, Girardi ran across moving traffic that travels at speeds at 80 mph to get across the highway and check on the accident.
“The guy wins the World Series, what does he do? He stops to help,” Westchester County police officer Kathleen Cristiano, who was among the first to arrive at the accident scene, told The Journal News. “It was totally surreal.”
We don’t hear enough good stories like this that surround sports figures. Girardi had no way of knowing the woman in the accident was unharmed and he put himself at risk in the case he would be able to help an injured motorist. This is a nice story and it shines light on the fact that there are many sports figures out there that do some good for society.
From champion to fine human being.
The “Core Four” Return
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It’s first season in and its first shot at baseballs ultimate showcase as the new Cathedral in the Bronx will host the 2009 World Series. Andy Pettitte followed the time-tested formula of handing the ball off to a Yankees bullpen anchored by Mariano Rivera to secured the Yankees 40th American League pennant with a 5-2 victory over the Angels in game 6 of the American League Championship Series in front of 50,173 fans.
It was another marquee moment in the inaugural season of the new house, where New York logged the Majors’ best home record and remained undefeated in postseason play, authoring a new winning tradition.
Pettitte became baseball’s all-time leader with his 16th postseason victory, breaking a tie with John Smoltz and setting a new record with his fifth career victory to clinch a postseason series. Rivera’s moved alone into first place in career LCS saves with 12 as Dennis Eckersley had 11. CC Sabathia became the eighth Yankees player to be named Most Valuable Player of an American League Championship Series.
Joe Girardi continuing to wear No. 27 as a reminder of the mission at hand, his club opened Spring Training thinking about segmenting its season into stages, keeping its eyes on the prize at the end of the line.
On Wednesday, the Yankees will open their first World Series since they lost to the Marlins in 2003. That six-year drought represented the fourth-longest stretch without a pennant in franchise history. The last time the Yankees won a World Series was when the Bombers defeated the Mets in a five-game “Subway Series.” Only four players Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte remain from that squad.
The Yankees didn’t win a pennant until their 21st season in 1921, while also experiencing spans of 12 years (1964-76) and 15 years (1981-96) between AL titles. The Yankees have been to the World Series seven times since ’96, five more times than any other team during that period.
The Bombers’ 40 appearances in a title game or series are the most among the four major North American sports. The closest team to New York is the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens, who have been to the Stanley Cup Finals 34 times. The Canadiens’ 24 titles are also second among major sports franchises to the Yankees’ 26 championships.
Philadelphia is expected to start Cliff Lee enticing a pitching match up between former Cleveland teammates and the past two AL Cy Young Award winners when he takes on CC Sabathia in the World Series opener. The Phillies won two of three at Yankee Stadium in May.
