2009 MLB Season is closed for business

Posted on 05. Nov, 2009 by Corey in All, General Baseball.

Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby summed it all up when he was asked about the baseball offseason.  “People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball.  I’ll tell you what I do.  I stare out the window and wait for spring,” said Hornsby.

Today is a sad day in my life, and I feel very empty inside.  I know that there is no Major League game to watch, no boxscores to check in the paper and no fantasy team lineups to be set.  For the next several months I will read about the Hot Stove League (Baseball’s offseason) and watch countless College Basketball Games.

Thankfully, there will be some baseball to watch during the cold winter months.  With the addition of the MLB Network, plus the ESPN family of stations, I will be able to watch replays of old games, and also get a helping of Arizona Fall League and Winter League Baseball games.

In the next day or two I will add ESPN Deportes onto my cable package and watch some games from the Dominican Republic, Mexican and Venezuelan Winter Leagues.  Sure I will only understand a word or two since all the games are broadcast in Spanish, but it allows me to watch the game that I love.

As I have mentioned many times before, if my beloved Cincinnati Reds are not in the post season than I tend not to root for any particular team, but for good, long playoff series.  With that said, it would have been nice to see Philadelphia win last night to force a game 7, but I can’t have everything.  I should be happy that this World Series even went six games, the first since the 2003 series to do so.

What I will get sick of during this off season is listening to people complain about how much they hate the New York Yankees, and how they “bought a championship” having the highest payroll in baseball.  I tip my cap to that fine group of players and realize that they still had to perform on the field and games aren’t won on paper.  People forget that the Yankees have had the highest payroll for years, yet this is their first appearance in the Fall Classic since 2003, and first title since 2000.

I am happy for Alex Rodriguez.  Steriods, PED’s or whatever, he is still one of the greatest players in the game, and will be in the history of the game, and I am happy to see him finally get a ring.  Maybe now New York fans will appreciate him as a true Yankee that did perform on the world’s biggest stage this post season.

I am happy for Pedro Martinez.  Out of Major League Baseball and without a pro contract until halfway through the season he proved that he still belongs in the game and has something left in the tank to get big league hitters out.  I thought he handled himself very well returning to pitch in Yankee Stadium twice in the World Series.  It sounded like the crowd chanted “Whose Your Daddy?” at him nonstop, but he didn’t let a thing bother him.

I am happy for Jerry Hairston Jr.  It was just a few months ago I remember sitting with him in Sarasota, Florida outside the Reds Spring Training Clubhouse and hearing him talk about how happy he was to return to Cincinnati for a second straight year and help this team fight for a playoff spot.  He was traded at the deadline to the Yankees and will now sport a championship ring for the rest of his life.

I am happy for Marino Rivera, Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, and Jorge Posada.  Take away Andy’s few season’s in Houston and his HGH, that Fab Four are what the New York Yankees are all about.  The core of that team does things the right way and I was happy to see them dancing around last night on the field.  I understand the point that the Yankees have the money to be able to keep home grown talent like these guys and not lose them to a higher bidder.  But I also feel that why penalize and hate the Yankees but they are successful at what they do and are fortunate enough to have cash to throw around.  What sports fan doesn’t want that for their team?

I am happy for Joe Girardi.  I cannot imagine the amount of pressure he is under in New York, but he helped keep the team focused and got the job done. Sure, I probably could have managed that team of All-Stars to a successful season, but Girardi does deserve some credit.  All I want to know is if the Florida Marlins want him back now.

I do have a question for Brian Cashman, and the other Yankee front office members, How do you NOT resign Hideki Matsui now?

As everyone knows, this is the first season of the New Yankee Stadium, and they were able to bring home a championship.  In 1923, the first Yankee Stadium opened, and they also brought home a championship that year. My guess is that the “Yankee Universe” would gladly chip in a build another new home next year if it mean another championship.

Chase Utely did have one great World Series but unfortunately for him, in a losing cause it will quickly be forgotten. Watching Utely the last few weeks made me realize that he looks a lot like Cody Puckett, the second baseman I had this season with the Dayton Dragons.

The New York Yankees pitching staff seemed to wear more Phiten necklaces than the Phillies so maybe that had something to do with outcome of the series.

I was amazed to hear that this is the first time since the 1991 Minnesota Twins, that a team went with a three man starting pitching rotation during the playoffs, and was able to win the World Series.  It sure did work out perfectly for the Yankees in that aspect.

I have to admit that I am not looking forward to the offseason talk about instant replay in baseball.  I really have not determined my stance yet on the subject, but I am already sick of hearing about it.

Loving the game of baseball as much as I do, I would never complain about the length of an individual contest.  I have complained about the late starting times for playoff games, but the uncertainty of the actual game time makes baseball special and unique.  But, I was a little frustrated with the amount of player meetings on the mounds during the games.  I realize these are very important games in the grand scheme of trying to win a championship, but those meetings really put a damper on it for me.

There is not much else that I would like to say about the 2009 Major League Baseball Season.  Baseball is the top game, and the love of my life.  Once again I can proudly say I did not miss an inning or even a single pitch of the postseason and am sad to see it all end.  But I know that in a few short months it will all start up again.
Closing out the FOX broadcast last night, Mark Grace said it best.  “It is always great when you can end the season with the two best teams playing in the World Series.”