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Atlanta Braves Off Season Report
Season Wrap Up Another year without postseason play after all of those consecutive years in it makes for unhappy Braves fans. But this time, I would have to say that a lot of the problem was caused by the myriad of injuries sustained, but especially those to their pitching staff, both starters and relievers alike. [...]
New York Mets Off Season Report
Season Wrap Up For the second straight year, the Mets had the right tools to make the playoffs, but in the end, failed to reach that goal. 2008 saw the firing of manager Willie Randolph and the tired arm of aging closer Billy Wagner. It also saw a renewed spark from 1B Carlos Delgado, who [...]
Philadelphia Phillies Off Season Report
Season Wrap Up The Phillies beat the Tampa Bay Rays, MLB‘s Cinderella story of 2008, to become the World Series Champs! What more needs to be said about 2008 except that Cole Hamels proved that he IS a # 1 starter with his performance in the playoffs. Just in case anyone was questioning his ability [...]
Baltimore Orioles Off Season Report
Season Wrap Up The O’s finished right about where I expected them to, but there was a silver lining to look forward towards. That is CF Adam Jones, who looks like he might become a decent everyday player once he matures at the plate and becomes a more patient hitter. Then there was the great [...]
Toronto Blue Jays Off Season Report
Season Wrap Up The 2008 season found the Jays in 4th place behind the Rays, Red Sox and Yankees, but was not without its highlights. The pitching staff, despite injuries toJanssen and Halladay (to begin the year) and McGowan for good parts of the year, were still the best in the MLB with a 3.49 [...]
New York Yankees Off Season Report
Season Wrap Up The Yankees failed to make the playoffs for the first time since the 90′s due to injuries, age and the less than expected performance out of some of their up and coming pitchers Kennedy and Hughes, not to mention CF Cabrera. They finished in third place just 3 games ahead of the [...]
Tampa Bay Rays Off Season Report
Season Wrap Up Who would have imagined that the newly renamed Rays would have made history in 2008? After finishing last in the AL East in 2007, they finished first in 2008, surpassing the mighty Yankees and Red Sox with their 97 wins. Not only did they win the AL East, but they also won [...]
The Baseball Reflections Annual Team Analysis
This off season Bill and I will tackle the task of analyzing the needs of each team going into the 2009 season. Last year I did it all myself and I think I forgot 1 or 2 teams along the way. Plus, I went overboard with details and the task took me two days worth [...]
Baseball Reflections.com Gets Personal
In recent discussions, the main writers of Baseball Reflections (that would be Bill and I), have agreed to let our hair down so to speak. We will start reflecting upon our hometown teams on a regular basis here on Baseball Reflections. So, Bill, a lifetime resident of Ohio, will reflect upon his Cleveland Indians and [...]
Brilliant or Naive, You Decide
It’s official, Scott Kazmir has switched places with James Shields and will start game 5 of the ALCS against the Red Sox at Fenway Park tonight. The Rays lead the series 3 games to 1, a familiar spot for the Sox in recent years (2004 and 2007). The thinking behind this, or so I’m told, [...]
Can They Do It Again?
Boston’s Ray of Hope Out of the 4 teams in ALCS history to be down 3-1 only to come back to win the series, Boston holds claim to 3 of them. First in 1986 against the Angels, then historically in 2004 against the Yankees (where they were down 3-0) and again last year (2007) against [...]
League Championship Series Update
ALCS In today’s matinee, the Red Sox will host the Rays at 96 year old Fenway Park in game 3 of their ALCS showdown. The series is tied at 1 game a piece going into these 3 games in Boston. The Rays need to win only 1 game in order to bring this series back [...]
National League Cy Young Award Nominations
Bill’s Excellent Analysis This has to be one of the hardest awards to pick this season as no one has really distinguished themselves from the field. The fact that a player who was traded to the league halfway through the season is in the discussion speaks volumes on how close this race is. Even so [...]
Bill & Pete’s AL Cy Young Predictions
Bill’s Excellent Analysis This year’s American League Cy Young Award may be the easiest award of the major season long accomplishment awards to decide. When one pitcher, with little run support, blows everyone else out of the water, the choice is pretty clear. 1. Cliff Lee, Cleveland Indians Winning 22 games is impressive, but doing [...]
If the Devil Wears Prada,What Does Scott Boras Wear?
For those of you who needed another reason not to like super-agent Scott Boras, here’s one more reason to add to the list. I found this article on Baseball Prospectus titled, “Boras vs. Baseball—A Primer” under the Kevin Goldstein’s Future Shock from this past Saturday. You can view what he wrote by clicking HERE. Once [...]
Rays of Hope for the Future of Baseball in Tampa Bay
Some things in baseball are just flat out wrong! When an exciting team with as great of a story as the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays have going, it’s just a crying shame to know that they only play in front of a home crowd of under 22K fans per game in the same year they [...]
Boston’s Diminutive Bad Boy
2007 Rookie of the Year, 2B Dustin Pedroia Boston’s diminutive 2B, Dustin Pedroia, is having another eye-popping year. In this, his 2nd season in the big leagues, he was voted into the starting line up at the All Star game (although some say that the Ranger’s Ian Kinsler would have been a better choice). He [...]
Red Sox Ok with Bay
OK, so here’s where I let my true colors shine for just a bit. The Red Sox had to trade Manny Ramirez because his attitude was finally beginning to be too much of a burden to carry for the 2008 Boston Red Sox. I don’t care if it was all his idea, his new agent [...]
Maple Syrup, Yes! Maple Bats, No!
Maple bats have got to go! Sure they may not splinter and may last longer, but when they do break, they are by far more dangerous. This year alone we have seen an umpire get impaled in the neck, a base coach get hit in the head and needed stitches, spectator incur a broken jaw [...]
Who Wants to Win the NL West?!
It seems as if no one in the NL West wants first place. It is truly sad when the Rangers would be in 1st place if after the All Star break if they were in the NL and they’re only 4 games over .500. No NL West team is above .500 as of July 21, [...]
What Makes a Player an All Star?
Is an all star a one dimensional player who can hit the cover off the ball? I would consider a true all star to be a player that is as above average both offensively AND defensively. Willie Mays was one of those rare players, so was Carl Yastrzemski and more recently, players like Dustin Pedroia, [...]
LA Story: Almost Perfect
On Monday night, first year Dodger pitcher Hiroki Kuroda needed only 91 pitches to complete a shutout of Chipper Jones, Mark Teixeira, Brian McCann and the Atlanta Braves. In fact, he came 6 outs away from a perfect game until Mark Teixeira doubled to lead off the 8th inning ( a solid hit by the way). [...]
The Indians Throw in the Towel?
A big trade was announced yesterday that sent 2007 AL Cy Young Award winner C.C. Sabathia to the Milwaukee Brewers for top prospect OF Matt LaPorta, P Zach Jackson, P Rob Bryson and a player to be named later (click on any of the three players for their numbers). Sabathia will become a free agent [...]
Baseball Divas
This post is a bit late due to a recent death in the family. So here we go.MLB recently received two black eyes due to the incidents in Houston between Astros pitcher Shawn Chacon and GM Ed Wade and the other incident also being in Houston, but this time on the visitor’s side between Red [...]
Injuries and Interleague Play
Recently I wrote about when pitchers were hitters, too. Something I did not mention, but in hindsight, I should have, is how AL pitchers run the risk of getting hurt when they pitch against an NL team in an NL park. Well, as you might have guessed, I’m not on the side of the Steinbrenner’s [...]
Griffey Hits # 600!
Enters an Elite Club He did it! I won’t hide it anymore, but I am a Ken Griffey Jr. fan. I always have been even though my home team is not Seattle or the Reds. I just think that he has the sweetest swing I have ever seen! He hit a no-doubter over the [...]
When Pitchers Were Hitters
Before there was the DH, all pitchers HAD to hit and there were some greats, if you can remember. I recall someone by the name of Ruth who came up in the Boston organization as a starting pitcher. We all know what happened to George Herman Ruth once he was traded to NY and transitioned [...]
On the Road
Baseball Reflections will be on the road late this week and away from a computer connection all of Friday, May 30th. I will try to write a commentary of the Red Sox/Orioles game I will be attending at Oriole Park at Camden Yards over the weekend. Next week will bring us a new article [...]
Pitching Wins in the MLB
In my opinion, pitching is probably the most important aspect of the game of baseball. This fact is highlighted by the dominance of Josh Beckett in the playoff both as a Marlin and as a member of the Red Sox. The same holds true for Curt Schilling, too. When the Angels won the World Series, [...]
Who’s Hot & Who’s Not: in the Standings
As of today, 5 teams have topped 20 wins. Some of them you would expect: Red Sox, Angels and maybe even the Diamondbacks. But who would have envisioned the rebuilding A’s or the Cardinals with their injury-riddled rotation? Predictions: The Sox, Angels and Diamondbacks have the best shot out of these five to stay atop [...]
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