Doug Mientkkiewicz Backs A-Rod

According to this story, former Yankees' first-baseman and former high school teammate of Alex Rodriguez, Doug Mientkiewicz back A-Rod and states

"From my perspective, it would be 99.9% impossible for us not to know...You're basically accusing every kid that's gone through puberty that they're on steroids, too, huh? He gained a couple of inches height-wise too, if I remember right. . . . I knew what he looked like in ninth grade. He was skinny. Who isn't in ninth grade? He was very dedicated back then, he worked harder than anyone else."

It will be interesting to see, in the coming weeks, how many players come to Rodriguez's defense.

Mientkiewicz was in a unique position to make such a comment because he played with A-Rod in high school, but this begs a bit of a question:

Did Selena Roberts talk to Mientkiewicz? She supposedly talked to one of A-Rod's roommates, but the Daily News article that has everyone in a stir does not mention who the source is.

One would hope that Roberts talked to more than just one teammate.

***

It's not really a secret that I'm not one of A-Rod's biggest fans, but the issue for me here isn't so much whether A-Rod did or did not do steroids (I'm of the belief that it's probably harder to find players who didn't use PEDs than those who did), but the way Roberts seems to have gone around, doing her reporting.

The caveat is, thus far, Roberts has yet to turn up anything false, but digging into someone's background like this?

A-Rod didn't murder babies, here.

I get that being a public figure means you relinquish some of your right to privacy, but seriously, unless you've taken a life in the past, or committed rape or genocide or some other such atrocity, what does it matter?

Seriously.

What does it matter what A-Rod did or didn't do way back when?

Look, if you caught him in the act, then yeah, make a big deal about it. What he's done in the major leagues is certainly relevant--especially anything he may have done with the Yankees.

Most crimes, however, have a thing called a Statute of Limitations. After a certain time frame, you can't prosecute the crime. Believe it or not, SoL exists even for rape (though not murder).

Shouldn't there be a statute of limitations on steroid accusations? For real?

Nothing Petty About It (Postgame Notes 19 Sept 07)

English papers be damned.

History is where it's at, and history is what the Yanks have done, are doing and will do.

Andy Pettitte was BRILLIANT in his start. He was due for a good start, and tonight, despite the eight hits, he got the big outs--something like four double plays in 7.1 innings pitched.

He is the guy you want on the mound in a big game. He might have bad games, but there's no one else that can pitch that often, and you can just feel a Yankees' win...


Joba was Joba for the one batter he faced, and Mo...well, should I decide I want to die of a heart attack, I'll put him on the mound, game 7 ALCS against Boston or World Series against Mets, with the tying run on second and two out...

Only joking. I love Mo! Greatest of all time, indeed!


The Yankees' bats only managed five hits today, but they were five big ones. A solo HR by Matsui was the biggest, obviously.

Mientkiewicz, appropriately scored the GW run on a wild pitch. Why was it appropriate? Because, once again, he showed that defense wins championships. Two BRILLIANT plays, assisted by A-Rod, of course, but you all know that as well as Giambi has been playing, he's not going to stretch like that.

If USA gymnastics needs an alternate or something in Beijing, they might want to consider the Mient Man!


The part that everyone will be talking about: 1.5 back of the division.

If you told anyone in May, and I mean anyone, that this would be the case in September, when we were 14.5 back, they would say 'no way, stop living in 1978.'

If you follow baseball at all, what you're witnessing right now is history, and, as a history major, this fills me with the utmost GLEE!

Enjoy it. I know I am.


Oh, and by the way, we just swept the Orioles.

SCORES AND STUFFS

Well, again, everyone knows this one. Toronto beat Boston 6-1. It was a 2-1 game for most of the game, and then, with two out in the bottom of the night, Russ Adams hit a home run. There were three men on base. Some call it a Grand Slam, I'm a fan of the Four-Run-Home Run! Anyway, the GS was off of Paplebom, as the bullpen collapse in Boston is absolute. Who wudda thunk it? Baseball's most 'given' division is now the most interesting...

Detroit lost to Cleveland, 4-2, pretty much having decided they really don't want the Wild Card after all. Cleveland, and not Boston, now is tied for the best record in the AL--and because the AL >> NL, the best record in baseball. Again, who wudda thunk it?

The Indians are tied with the Angels for that record, as the Angels beat Tampa by the blowout score of 2-1. The Angels, like the Yankees, also understand that defense wins championships.

Seattle beat Oakland 9-4, as Hernandez has now won three straight starts. If he had won those starts a bit earlier, they might actually have mattered.

The Chi Sox beat Kansas City 7-0, in what is one of the only offensively productive games of the night, but that's what happens when teams can't pitch...well, at least Kansas City. I still can't get over the fact that KC has a pitcher named Billy Buckner...

Minnesota leads Texas 4-2 in the seventh. Minnesota is in serious danger of finishing the season under .500. Remember, this was supposed to be a good team...

The Mets beat Washington, 8-4, finally ending their losing streak. I think, then, the Red Sox 'collapse' can officially be considered bigger than the Yankees'.

Atlanta beat Florida 5-1, barely staying relevant.

The Cubs beat Cincinnati 3-2. Alfonso Soriano has turned into a really good lead-off hitter, but, even so, A-Rod has the MVP season...

Milwaukee and Houston are tied at two in the eighth. Prince Fielder hit #47, inching closer to A-Rod, who has been slumping.

Philadelphia and St. Louis are tied at one in the ninth, in another game that threatens that can go long.

The Dodgers are up on Colorado 5-4 in the seventh. The two seem to be playing each other a lot, don't they?

San Francisco and Arizona are tied at two in the third, Arizona has the bases loaded. Remember when this Barry Zito guy was supposed to be good? Yeah, me niether.

San Diego is up on Pittsburgh 2-1 in the 3rd. I'm really glad I'm not on the west coast; I couldn't stay up that late!




Okay, I am FINALLY going to get that English paper done. Well, maybe after Sportscenter.

Mighty Moose (Postgame Notes 18 Sept 07)

I could start by talking about how the Yankees just decided to take the hard road for the division or about how 2007 (right now) beats the hell out of 1978, but I won't talk about that...just yet.

It might get lost in the twelve run offensive outburst, but Mussina's 7 shut-out innings were simply brilliant.

He gave up just three hits, and one walk, and didn't allow a runner to scoring position until the seventh. It deserves to be considered for his best start this season, and, well, he sure picked a good day to have a good start! It's amazing, we have a six man rotation, and the last starting pitcher to lose a game? Chien Ming Wang.

That tells you something.

Offensively, the Yankees did everything right. We did the whole couple-big-innings thing, instead of Torre's patented chip-away thing, but a win is a win is a win, especially when the final score is 12-0.

Jeter, Abreu, Matsui, Posada, Cano and Mient Man had great games; Cabrera had a sac-fly RBI, and when you break slumps, you start small.

Best offensive moment of the night? Mientkiewicz's HUGE home run, both in terms of distance and importance to the game, which was still close at that point. In the course of about one week he's gone from automatic out to hottest player on the team. He wants to be on the postseason roster pretty bad.

A-Rod has been slumping a bit, hasn't hit a Home Run since Kansas City, and it looks like he's pressing. Don't worry; if he slumps now it means he should be fine for October.

Oh, another fact that might escape your notice:
Tonight's win means the Yankees have finally won a series against Baltimore. No reason to not go after the sweep, of course, but winning the games we have to win sure feels good...especially when teams like Boston, err, don't.

This isn't 1978.

It's 2007, and it's so much better. Why?

Right now, what we are seeing is the birth of a dynasty.

Yeah, there are growing pains, but that's necessary. That we can have these growing pains (like Phil's first inning jitters and Cano's swinging at everything) and still be just 2.5 back of Boston in a season in which we were, at one point, 14.5 back, says VOLUMES about our team. Try to think of any other team that managed to rebuild and win in the same year?

You can't, can you?

If you liked the teams of '96, '98, '99 and '00, stay tuned...unless I've missed the mark completely, we're about to surpass that.

This year is where it all starts.

Consider yourself lucky, we’re on to something HUGE.



SCORES AND STUFFS

In a score probably known everywhere starting in Jersey, radiating up north through Maine and then west to Toronto, Boston blew a one-run lead and lost 4-3 to Toronto. Eric Gagne had one of his now-trademarkable collapses, as he walked the bases loaded and the game-tying run in with TWO OUTS in the eighth. Right now, Brian Cashman is a genius...

In a score which is probably more important, Detroit lost to Cleveland, 7-4, to fall five games back in the loss column of the Yankees. Again, it's too soon to know anything for sure, but Detroit is fast running out of games to make up the deficit. That they collapsed after leads of 5-1 and 4-1 is kind of just like holding a giant mirror up to their season...

Kansas City is up on the Chi Sox 3-2 in the ninth, as they try to surprise everyone and finish somewhere other than last place in the AL Central.

Minnesota is up on Texas 4-2. This game doesn't matter much, but both teams play Detroit and/or Boston in the remaining schedule, so any signs of them playing good baseball is a good thing for Yankees' fans.

LA is up on Tampa 1-0 in the third. It sounds weird, but the Yankees might actually want LA to win. If the Yanks win the division, we want Cleveland to have the third seed, not the second.

Seattle is up on Oakland 3-1, but they are all but mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. Talk about a September you'd like to forget...

The Rockies beat the Dodgers 3-1 in game one of their double-header; the Dodgers are up 7-5 in the nightcap, in the 8th.

Washington beat the Mets 9-8, as the Amazins' blow another four run lead. You know, if you think Boston is on the verge of collapse, the Mets lead will be down to 1.5 games if Philadelphia can beat St. Louis.

Speaking of which, Philly and St. Louis are tied at three in the ninth.

Cincinnati beat the Cubs 5-2, a loss that hurts as the Cubs only had a one game lead on Milwaukee, who...

...are up 9-1 on Houston in the ninth.

Atlanta is up 4-3 on Florida in the ninth, as they've decided that the Mets losing = good time to start winning games.

Arizona is up 4-0 on San Francisco in the third, and...

San Diego is up 4-2 in the third against Pittsburgh.


Going to take a breath now...