Former Yankee is Now ‘Bama’s Assistant Coach

From Alabama Crimson Tide’s website:

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - University of Alabama head baseball coach Mitch Gaspard announced today that former Crimson Tide and Major League Baseball player Andy Phillips has been named as an assistant coach. Phillips will become the hitting and infield coach for Alabama, beginning with the 2011 season. With the hiring of Phillips, current assistant coach Dax Norris will take over as the pitching coach for the Crimson Tide.

(…)

A four-year letter-winner and an All-American selection for Alabama, Phillips, a Demopolis, Ala., native, played six seasons in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees, New York Mets, and Cincinnati Reds. Before returning to the Capstone, Phillips played two years in the Nippon Professional League (Japan) for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp (2009) and the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles (2010).

Great for Andy! Sad to see his playing days have ended, but I’m sure that he’ll be one heck of a coach for his alma mater.

Best of luck to him and the Crimson Tide baseball this upcoming season!

The Armando Galarraga Acrostic Poem

Thanks to my friends/followers on Twitter, it came to my attention that Armando Galarraga was DFA’d just a day after he signed a one-year deal with the Tigers. Therefore, this acrostic poem is (obviously) dedicated to him.

With out future ado…

Armando Galarraga was just
Recently DFA’d by the Detroit Tigers in order to
Make room on the roster for Brad Penny.
Armando is most known for his
Near perfect-game that was
Decided
On a poor (and ugly) call by umpire, Jim Joyce.

Galarraga will
Always be remembered as a winner, not a
Loser, because he
Accepted Joyce’s sincere apology with
Recognition that not everyone is “perfect”.
Right now, it’s uncertain what team
Armando will be pitching for in ’11, but no matter where
Galarraga goes, I will be rooting for him
All the time.

The -Riano Boyz

As you’ve all probably heard by now, the Yankees have signed top-notch reliever Rafael Soriano.

From Bryan Hoch:

NEW YORK — The Yankees have created one of the game’s top late-inning relief combinations, agreeing to terms with free-agent right-hander Rafael Soriano on a three-year, $35 million contract.

Soriano and the Yankees came together on the deal late Thursday, according to a source. The Yankees have not confirmed the report, and Soriano must pass a physical before the contract can be officially announced.

With Soriano installed in the Yankees’ bullpen, the team will enter 2011 showcasing a new setup man for Mariano Rivera, as well as a possible future successor for the long-occupied closer role in the Bronx.

This excites me a lot! What other club can say that their 8th inning guy is SoRIANO and their 9th inning guy is MaRIANO?

On a serious note though, I think this was a very good move by the Yankees. Not only will Soriano be one of the best 8th inning guys in the game, but if there are times when Rivera needs some rest, there’s no one more reliable than Soriano to close out a few games.

As you can tell, I have a lot of faith in this guy. I’m hoping that he’ll prove me right. *Crossing my fingers.*

The Cassel Trio

Greetings from Bradley International Airport, where my 7:35pm flight to Raleigh, NC has been delayed until 9pm. Ugh. On a good note though, Bradley has free wi-fi. Definitely a plus.

Earlier in the day, I watched my favorite NFL player have an awful game against the Baltimore Ravens. Matt Cassel had only nine complete passes for a total of 80-something yards. Throw in a few interceptions and he probably wishes he never arrived at Arrowhead Stadium today.

Anywho, because he’s my favorite player, my reaction to this game is much like my reaction to when Phil Hughes pitches poorly: he’s still my favorite and nothing he does will change that.

The story behind me becoming a Cassel fan is a long and complicated one and I don’t care to bore you with a bunch of random football nonsense. However, I’ll give you some other random nonsense. I recently found out something about Cassel that interested me a lot: he has two brothers, both who play(ed) professional baseball.

His younger brother, Justin, is currently a pitcher in the Chicago White Sox organization. His older brother, Jack, had pitched for the San Diego Padres and Houston Astros, prior to retiring from the game last year.

Matt, in fact, also has some baseball talent himself. He attended USC where he, obviously, played football. However, he was on the school’s baseball team as well. (Where he was teammates with current big-leaguer and former New York Yankees pitcher, Ian Kennedy. Remember him?) Matt was then drafted in the 36th round of the 2004 MLB draft by the Oakland Athletics. Obviously, he didn’t sign with the West Coast team. Instead, Matt was drafted by the New England Patriots a year later and served back up to one of the greatest QB’s of all time, eventually becoming a starter himself.

There you have it. Matt, Jack, and Justin Cassel. That’s definitely one athletic and sports-oriented brotherhood.

Dallas Braden Continues to Attract Attention

Dallas Braden may have thrown a perfect game last season, but his 2010 batting stance needs a little help.

Even Bugs Bunny could probably produce more hits with his eyes close.

(Photos from here and here. H/T to @leftypower031 for the post idea.)

What Sugar Land (TX) and Lemony Snicket Have in Common

Once upon a time, in this past school semester, I was working a High Point University’s men’s soccer game and heard that one of our soccer players is from Sugar Land, Texas. As a big country music fan, I wondered, for the entirety of the game, if Sugarland (the band) is named after the city. According to Wikipedia, it is.

In addition to this finding, I also noticed that Sugar Land (the city) will be home to a future baseball team, the Sugar Land Skeeters. The Skeeters will begin play in 2012 in the Atlantic League. (No, it is not associated with Major League Baseball.)

Recently, the Skeeters’ logos (as well as their stadium) were announced/revealed/displayed on the organization’s website and Facebook page.

While I think that these logos are rather creative, I had a tough time accepting this one:For some reason, it looked familiar and for weeks, I had no idea why. And then, the other day, I went into the public library in my hometown. On display near the children’s section was Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, a series that I read when I was either in elementary or middle school. (Side Note: Awesome books. Definitely one of my favorite reads as a kid.) Anywho, I walked over to these books and flipped through some of them, recalling the awful unfortunate events that the protagonists encountered. Upon reading the back cover, I noticed this:

Putting the two together:At first, I was amazed on how similar these two pictures looked, but then after looking and looking and looking and looking, I’ve finally convinced myself that it is a mere coinkidink. And coinkidinks are usually cues for a blog post.

Anywho, say whatever you want, but I now may have my favorite professional non-MLB baseball team. I jumped on the “LS” bandwagon when the books came out, so I might as well jump of the “SL” bandwagon once the team takes the field in 2012.

475(ish) days til Opening Day!

Countdown to Baseball

I would guess that most of you have one or both of the following countdowns:

1. 46 days until Pitchers and Catchers report to Florida (and Arizona)
2. 92 days until Opening Day 2011

I have these countdowns myself. I’m not a fan of countdowns that exceed 100 days so I tend to hold those (ie: All-Star Game countdown) off until it is closer to the event/day.

In addition to those big MLB events, I have another baseball countdown: 55 days until High Point University’s first home baseball game of the 2011 season. Can’t turn down free baseball.

Anywho, my new year’s resolution is to post an entry at least once a week this year. I’m hoping that I can stay true to this word and resume blogging on a constant basis like I had previously done a year or so ago; before I was bombarded with school work, work work, and extracurricular activities at High Point U.

I’m looking forward to another great baseball season and I hope that you will follow along with me. I will be posting entries about the New York Yankees, the High Point Panthers, as well as any other baseball news (in MLB, MiLB, or the NCAA) that seems important and/or interesting. In the next week, look out for a post about what Sugar Land, Texas and a children’s book author have in common.

Thanks for reading and Happy New Years!

A Letter to Carl Pavano

Dear Mr. Pavano:

In an ugly, disguisting, painful, dreadful, and horrific kind of way, I don’t hate you. When you spent those unmemorable years in the Yankees’ organization, I thought you were done. I thought that you had nothing left in your tank and your pitching career was dead. However, injuries aside, I fulling understand that there are some players who just can’t play in the Bronx; players who just can’t take the New York pressure no matter how much they dreamed of wearing pinstripes. Trust me, I get it. Standing on the mound at Yankee Stadium is probably nerve racking for many. For others, like Mariano Rivera, it’s nothing. But let’s face it, you’re not Rivera. You’re Carl Pavano. While Mo is loved by Yankee fans from New York to Los Angeles, you’re hated by Yankee fans from New York to Los Angeles. Our super-closer got the last four outs last night. Tonight, Yankee fans will be hoping you don’t even get four outs. Okay, so that’s a little cruel, I admit it. But I just think that you owe us – your former teammates and all Yankee fans – a little something. We had to deal with all your crazy injuries. We had to deal with your inconsistent performances on the mound. We had to deal with your bad attitude. We had to deal with YOU. Just because of this, I think you owe us a win. And I don’t mean a Minnesota Twins win; I mean a Yankees win. Just throw some meatballs down the middle of the plate. Gently – and by gently, I mean ever so gently – hit a Yankee when the bases are loaded. Make an error or two if you have to field the ball. Don’t cover first if a Yankee grounds out to Michael Cuddyer.  You get the point. Don’t worry, we won’t tell Ron Gardenhire and all your teammates who love and adore you; it will be our little secret. You owe us, and here’s your chance to pay us back. Hope you’ll cooperate tonight. I’ll be watching.

Sincerely,

Leah

Oh Where, Oh Where Has the Season Gone?

Song to the tune of, Oh where, oh where has my little dog gone:

Oh where, oh where has the season gone,
Oh where, oh where did it go?
With its walk-off wins and pitching duels,
Oh where, oh where did it go?

Oh where, oh where has the season gone,
Oh where, oh where did it go?
With its perfect games and division races,
Oh where, oh where did it go?

Well, that’s the song that 22 teams and their fans will be singing starting tonight. But on Wednesday, the eight teams that survived the 162-game regular season test will be competing for the ultimite title of 2010 World Champions.

Eight teams. Three rounds. Eleven wins. One champion.

It all comes down to this: win or go home.

**Go Yankees!**

When Soccer Triumps Baseball

I hated soccer once upon a time. I thought it was boring, pointless, and anything but entertaining. Watching players run back and forth across a field for 90 minutes trying to kick a ball into a fairly large net didn’t satisfy me one bit. Not only did it not satisfy me, it tired me. Bored me. The fact that the most goals I’ve seen in one game, by one team, was four. Four. The lowness of the score also bothers me. Especially when it’s 0-0 after 89 minutes and 59 seconds. And two overtimes later, it’s still scoreless. I just watched almost 120ish minutes of athletics running around not achieving anything. I bet in games like this, goalies hate their teammates. I saved all those 30+ shots but you couldn’t score just ONE? Nope.

I once thought that soccer on the field should be played like that foosball game that I was always terrible at. Players would stand in a line holding a rope and the only direction they could move was right or left. There would be no contact between teams and none of those head shots that always gave me, of all people, headaches. There would be no running around the field for 90 minutes. Instead, the first team to score a certain amount of goals would win. Meaning, more that four goals would be needed. Meaning, the game would be more exciting.

But let’s face it. Foosball is foosball and soccer is soccer.

I’m still not a huge soccer fan. You won’t see me sitting down infront of the TV in four years watching the World Cup. And in the slightest chance that I might, the volume will be muted because vuvuzelas are one of the most annoying things in the world. Right up there with those darn cowbells at Tropicana Field.

But lately, I’ve seemed to enjoy the sport a little. And there are a couple reasons why:

1. Yankees are playing lousy… I can’t turn to my favorite team for some stress release because they just seem to make everything even more stressful. [See Joe Girardi.] So I have to turn to someplace else…
2. High Point Panthers… the only soccer team[s] that I will actually watch.

Last night was awful. If there was any bright spot, it’s that the men’s soccer team won 4-0. The Yankees couldn’t even score four runs last night. Wimps.

I still love baseball and always will. I have a baseball blog after all. My Facebook and Twitter profile pictures are of me sitting in the Yankees’ dugout with my Phil Hughes #65 shirt on. Those aren’t going to change anytime in the near future. Trust me.

It’s just that I’ve learned to respect soccer more than I ever thought I would. That’s all.

Go Yankees and Go Panthers!