The Land of No Baseball

[sabugo]

Most of the time, due to living in a different continent, I'm too early or too late to participate in all the fun that happens in the shoutbox. You know, the shoutbox, where you're not supposed to ask for support but it is still an almost daily occurance. With that, I'm starting my very own thread where I will post thoughts and some other stuff.

As many of you know, I come from what I call 'The Land of No Baseball'. Seriously, there is no baseball in Portugal. I tell people I like this game and they look at my like I just came from outer-space. People don't even make fun of me for liking baseball, they just see me as a very, very, very sick person. It's like I have a rare disease and people don't know if they should pity me or stay a block away.

Anyway, on to this week's topic, Mark Teixeira's iminent retirement.
Teixeira was, for a long time, one of the best 1B in the game. And while his defense never failed him, his batting numbers severely dropped over the past 4 years - except of course for last season. (Whatever he and A-Rod were on last season they apparently ran out of it)
Teixeira is of Portuguese ancestry (so is Pedroia by the way, and so are a bunch of other MLB players, much to my surprise), so I am naturally inclined to like him. Be that as it may, it has become quite hard to like him at all for the past few seasons. Mostly because of injuries but also due to the increasing use of shifts, his at-bats became a nightmare to watch, and you'd be almost guaranteed to see him strikeout, ground-out, or pop it right into the shift.

Now, baseball is the one thing where I allow myself to be just a fan, like everybody else. I can't be like that in my day-to-day life, since I'm both an athlete and a coach, but with baseball, I'm just a fan. I haven't been a fan of Teixeira in quite a while. Which bothers me, because in some sort of weird way I feel like I'm betraying my country (and I don't even know if Tex has ever set foot in Portugal!!). Mark certainly did not choose to be unproductive but that's what most of the Yankee fans will rememeber, how he went out. He was great for almost a decade. Then one day he wasn't. He did contribute largely to the 2009 series and was generally well-liked by teamates and fans. I can think of a lot worst players to have manning first during his 8 year tenure with the Yankees. We had to go through a season of Lyle Overbay! (2013 you were so fun...)
So, have a nice final couple of months and then go through with your plan. I will like you again once you are in the rearview mirror. If you want, come to Portugal and start a baseball league here. You'd probably be able to play those 5 years you wanted and dominate everybody.


And to finish, something I haven't quite decided how to name:
People still do this?! / This guy is still alive?! / This is still a thing?!

Directly from our transaction thread, brilliantly maintained by laroquece over the years:
Diamondbacks released RHP Alexi Ogando.

Do you guys remember when this dude was any good? Now he just bounces around. There was talk at one point of making him a starter. It was around the time he stopped being good. Why do people in baseball go about fixing something that isn't broken?

[Yankee4Life]

I love this thread! LOVE IT!!  Keep it up.

Oh, maybe I can answer your question about Teixeira ever going to Portugal. I honestly doubt it because he probably can't even spell it.

 

[sabugo]

Between some housework and a fried computer I haven't been able to write so, here is what I have been thinking about in the Land of no baseball:

- Alex Rodriguez has finally retired. He had a very crazy career to say the least. He was up and down so many times along the years that it is incredible he lasted so long. Few people ever played the game who were more talented than he was. Few had better careers. But I don't know how many were so hated as Alex was. 

To me, he seemed badly advised sometimes. In the latter part of his career he showed a different side, one which we all want to love and adore and make us forget about the times when he was kissing mirrors, or hung paintings of himself in his house, or opted out of a contract before the world series. This guy goes for 150 something RBI's and it's still hard to root for him. At the same time, everybody says he is a hard-worker and that he knows a heack of a lot about the game of baseball. Maybe his personality transplant takes and he goes on to have a very long career as a mentor to the young Yankees. I sure hope so.

But man, how frustrating was it to watch him hit singles and pop-ups for a couple of seasons? In part it's our fault because of our expectations. In part it's Alex's 'fault' for being so talented. And part is just the Yankees not knowing how to read a calendar and employing old guys for years!

Then MLB goes all crazy on him. How can you not like a human being that Bud Selig dislikes? That whole thing seemed a bit exagerated. And there were probably many other guys deserving of such special care and attention. Alex Rodriguez was down, and they kicked him, plain and simple. Good thing he had one nice season left in him.


Is this guy still alive?
- Ryan Dempster. Last seen having a hearfelt conversation with one Mr. Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez. If found, please return him to his mother. 

 

[Fiebre]

Wow, probably one of the most accurate description about the way that most people feel about Arod!

[sabugo]

 

Wow, probably one of the most accurate description about the way that most people feel about Arod!

Thanks

And I didn't even go into Alex's weird of catching helmets whenever the Yankees walk-off.