David Ortiz & Perennial Yankees Killers During my Lifetime

As much as I hate to admit this you have to respect what David Ortiz has done in his major league career. Sure you have the controversy of the failed steroid test and the Mitchell Report inclusion that wasn’t an inclusion because a Boston-area Senator was in charge of the report but if you can presume that he has been clean since, and every drug test he’s taken has suggested that he is, then you still have to think he has Hall of Fame numbers. Numbers, I didn’t say credentials. While his Hall of Fame credentials may always be up for debate and the fact that he has as many failed tests as Alex Rodriguez has may be as well you cannot deny the fact that he’s been a perennial Yankee killer. In fact there have been quite a few during my lifetime and we will showcase them here this evening in honor, for lack of a better word, of Ortiz.

Ortiz once had a teammate, speaking of failed steroid tests, in Manny Ramirez that made up one of the toughest middle-of-the-lineups in my recent memory. Ramirez faced the Yankees in 203 games and hit a monster 55 home runs against them with 165 RBI and a .322 batting average. Ramirez killed just about every team though. 

Speaking of Ortiz, Ramirez and the Red Sox there was a trio of starting pitchers that the Yankees simply could not get to on most nights consistently. Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and John Lackey all shut down some of the greatest offenses of my lifetime starting with Beckett in the 2003 World Series and ending with Lester and Lackey most recently before being traded away by the Red Sox. 

Speaking of the pitching side of things I can remember Roy Halladay mowing down Yankees with tons of consistency. It didn’t matter who the mighty Yankees sent at Halladay in his years with the Toronto Blue Jays the man they called Doc set them down with ease. I halfway remember skipping games on purpose that he pitched to save myself the aggravation. 

The final pair of teammates to completely torment the Yankees date back to my early years as a fan. Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez absolutely destroyed the New York Yankees. I can remember Tino Martinez and Ken Griffey Jr. trading home runs on a Saturday afternoon in the Bronx more than once and it always seemed like the Mariners got the better of the Yankees. It started in 1995 in the ALDS and it went on that way until the Yankees beat the 116-win Mariners in 2001. Edgar killed Yankees closer Mariano Rivera at the plate, one of the few that could say that, and Griffey killed anyone and everyone put in front of him during his prime. All because as a child he got kicked out of the Yankees clubhouse when his father, Ken Griffey Sr., was a member of the team. Way to hold a grudge kid!

You Know What? Good for Adam LaRoche!

The now former Chicago White Sox first baseman and DH Adam LaRoche has officially retired from the game he loves, Major League Baseball. Many people were shocked when they learned of the news, LaRoche isn’t old and he had one more year on his contract worth $13 million so why would he walk away? Family, that’s why and good for him!

The White Sox organization led by President Kenny Williams confirmed that they asked LaRoche on two different occasions to “dial it back” with his 14-year old son and his time in the clubhouse. Drake LaRoche, son of Adam LaRoche, has spent a good amount of time in the White Sox clubhouse apparently and the organization was worried it would affect the team’s ability to focus in 2016. Kenny, it’s spring training. Loosen up.

LaRoche is 36-years old and is currently with his sixth team in his career. As a veteran player he wanted to spend time with his family while he could. Again, it’s spring training. If Drake is traveling with the club and hanging out during the season that’s one thing, this is another. LaRoche’s decision has been abrupt and quick but it’s the same decision I think I would have made. The game will one day leave LaRoche behind, if he ultimately doesn’t leave it first, but his family will always be there. His family was there before the game. Good for him for choosing family first over a game. A job. Any job. Good for him.

Look, I truly do see both sides of it. Williams doesn’t want LaRoche’s son distracting the team (although he mentioned numerous times in his interviews that Drake was far from a distraction) and Williams wants to win first and foremost. I also see the side of LaRoche and am left wondering what Prince Fielder, Cal Ripken Jr., Ken Griffey Jr. and a slew of others would have been in this game if they had not come to the ballpark with their fathers on a day-to-day basis. It’s a family game and family comes before any job or any game. Again, the game is going to leave LaRoche behind one day and will turn its cold shoulder on him but Drake won’t.

In a world of deadbeat dads and missing fathers who don’t even know their kids it’s refreshing to see someone put their children and their family first. If I ever meet you Mr. LaRoche I am going to shake your hand because in my eyes you made the right decision. You made your money presumably, you’ve had your fun and your family comes first. The way it should be. 

Mike Piazza Should Make Hall of Fame in 2016

Mike Piazza fell just short of the Hall of Fame for a third straight vote in 2015 but should not have to wait much longer to get elected. Piazza topped out at 69.9% of the vote this season after garnering just 62.2% in 2014 and 57.8% in his first season in 2013. If Craig Biggio, who missed the Hall by two votes in 2014 before getting in this season, and his eight point jump is any indication it looks like Piazza may finally enter the Hall in 2016.

Entering a class with new comers like Ken Griffey Jr., Billy Wagner and Trevor Hoffman there is undoubtedly going to be another big class elected and another logjam on the ballot. Next year seems like the most likely of seasons for the best hitting catcher in Major League history to join the rank of the immortals. Piazza was a 12 time All-Star and will use Biggio’s induction as a precedent for positional players of the “Steroid Era” to finally get into the Hall in my opinion. 

Too Early To Look at the 2016 Hall of Fame Class?

Here is just a quick, and albeit early, look art the potential Hall of Fame class for the 2016 season. After three pitchers, John Smoltz, Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez got in along with second baseman Craig Biggio in 2015 we may see a little more offense in 2016.

The offensive candidates are led by none other than Ken Griffey Jr. who seems to be a shoe in for the Hall with no prior steroid allegations or suspicions. Following Griffey into the Hall is likely, and finally, Mets and Dodgers catcher Mike Piazza after falling short since the 2013 season. Tim Raines will be on the ballot once again along with Jeff Bagwell while newcomer Jim Edmonds joins the group.

The pitchers are not alone though as a couple notable closers of our generation join the discussion as Trevor Hoffman and Billy Wagner make their first runs at Cooperstown. Who will get in? It's a little early to tell but we may see another four, or even five, players elected once again in 2016 and I simply cannot wait.

This Day In New York Yankees History 7/3: Jim Thome Approaches Don Mattingly

I know we're going way back on this one but apparently there used to a crazy Boston law back in the day that restricted baseball games on Sunday within 1000 feet of a church. Okay.... I don't see the correlation between the two of them but I digress. On this day in 1932 the Boston Red Sox joined the 20th century by playing their first Sunday Game at Fenway Park. The Red Sox and Boston lawmakers immediately regretted the idea as the Red Sox would lose to the Yankees 13-2 on this day. Whoops.

Also on this day in 2002 against the same Yankees team Jim Thome, a member of the Cleveland Indians at the time, hit a home run off New York's David Wells giving him a home run in his seventh consecutive game. The home run would leave Thome just one game short of the major league record shared by Dale Long (1956 Pittsburgh Pirates), Don Mattingly (1987 New York Yankees), and Ken Griffey Jr. (1993 Seattle Mariners) who all had home runs in eight consecutive games.

Quick Hit: Eight Consecutive Days w/ Home Runs

Today marks the day that the Pittsburgh Pirates first basemen Dale Long made history way back in 1956. Long would hit his eight home run in eight games establishing a new major league record. While this record would later be tied by New York Yankees first basemen Don Mattingly in 1987 and the Seattle Mariners outfielder Ken Griffey, Jr in 1993 the record has still yet to be broken.

Not that the two should matter or necessarily collate but two of the three men never got a World Series ring. Was this the Baseball Gods saying they could have their cake but not eat it too? The world may never know. Long got a World Series ring finally as a member of the New York Yankees in 1962 but was a part time player and only played in two games and had five at bats in the series against the San Francisco Giants.