Archive for May, 2010

New York Yankees vs. New York Mets Series Preview May 19th, 2010

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Starting Friday, May 21st, the New York Yankees will travel to Citi Field for a 3 game series against their in-state rival, the New York Mets. To say that these two teams dislike each other is putting things much too lightly. The “Subway Series,” which is what the Mets/Yankees rivalry is known as, always leads to intense games and rising tempers.

The modern Subway Series began in 1997, when the New York Yankees and New York Mets faced each other for the first time in franchise history. In 1999, the teams began playing a best-of-3 series. Taking into consideration all games since 1997, the New York Yankees lead the series 42 games to 30.

For the first series of 2010, the New York Yankees are scheduled to send Javier Vazquez, Phil Hughes, and CC Sabathia to the pitcher’s mound. While Vazquez has struggled so far this season, Phil Hughes and CC Sabathia have both been very good. The New York Mets will counter with Jonathan Niese, Mike Pelfrey, and Johan Santana. Once again, Niese has struggled in the early part of the season, but both Pelfrey and Santana have been very solid.

If there is one thing a professional baseball team dislikes, it is getting embarrassed. However, that is exactly what happened to the New York Mets last year in this series, when they lost 5 of 6 games to the Yankees. This weekend, the New York Mets will be looking for revenge in what should be a great series.

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Florida Marlins Franchise History May 12th, 2010

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The Florida Marlins are one of the newer franchises in Major League Baseball. Back in 1993, the team was first created as an expansion team and they play in the Eastern Division of the National League (NL). They played all of their games in the Pro Player Stadium but have since moved to the Sun Life Stadium. They ended up winning the World Series (1997 and 2003) and have been the one who reached the post season twice.

In 1993, The Marlins began their franchise play and ended their first season with a decent record of 64-98. They took a step back and finished last in the division in 1994 but in 1995, bounced back up to fourth place. In the 1996 season, John Boles stepped in as manager and it paid off in 1997 when the team ended up finishing the season with an 80-82 record.

The Marlins fell into another one of their slumps around 1998, only coming away with 54 wins that season. The team was slowly declining at this phase of time. When Huizenga sold the team to John Henry, and Leyland stepped back from his position as man, some changes were made to the management of the club.
In the 2003 season, Marlins went on to win 79 games and once again qualified for a wildcard playoff berth. In order to secure their second World Series championship, they would eventually go on to beat the Giants, Cubs, and Yankees.

In the post season, the Florida Marlins have struggled to make much of an impact. A few changes here and there can make a huge difference to a team that can adapt and take advantage of opportunities.

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A History of Steroid Use – MLB May 8th, 2010

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As of late, Major League Baseball has been ridden with steroids. To start implementing a drug testing policy, it was one of the last major sports organizations. Steroid supplementation was going on, was first hinted by Mark McGwire. In his locker, Androstendione was found which can convert chemicals into extra testosterone. He retired shortly after the season.

Another player named Ken Caminiti told sports illustrated that he had in face been using steroids during his career, not too long after all of Mark McGwire’s event went down. On other players using steroids, Jose Canseco was another person that helped to raise speculation.

Jason Giambi and Barry Bonds were other famous steroid scandals involved. To help with arthritis and other locker room ailments, their trainers had given them the supplements, both of them told Grand Jury.

These scandals ironically helped revive national attention for one of the nation’s oldest sports. More and more people are watching to see the big hitters at bat and more home run records continue to be shattered. Over the years, training and nutritional habits have improved and athletes are in better shape than ever before. Of the new “homer friendly” ballparks, steroids are definitely a part.

It is apparent that they will stay around as long as players are not getting caught, despite all the upcoming evidence of steroids being used in baseball. For finding out who is using them and who is not, there is still is no fool proof system. After the end of the career, more and more players confess about steroid use and will remain a part of the game before it is all contained.

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