Results tagged “wildcard”

Now that there seems to be a compelling 2008 presidential race, Mayor Bloomberg's White House prospects appear diminished. And associates of the billionaire suggest to the NY Times that post-mayoral life may not be enough for Bloomberg.

For an avowed non-presidential candidate, Mayor Bloomberg certainly gets more attention than some of the actual candidates. Newsweek devotes its cover story to "Mike" Bloomberg, "The Billion Dollar Wild Card," a reference to the billion dollars Mayor B has at his disposal, should be decide to run for president next year. That is so much more flattering than the "Lazy Like a Fox" cover Newsweek had of Fred Thompson! Newsweek editor-in-chief Jon Meacham got to...

Rudy Giuliani better check his sports allegiances. While campaigning in Boston, a reporter asked the former mayor which team he would be cheering for in the World Series - the Colorado Rockies or the Boston Red Sox. To our surprise (and Bostonist's), he went with the Red Sox, "I'm rooting for the Red Sox. I'm an American League fan, and I go with the American League team, maybe with the exception of the Mets. Maybe that would be the one time I wouldn't because I'm loyal to New York." Last time we checked, the Yankees and Red Sox were bitter rivals. We're betting that you won't catch a Mets fan rooting for the Braves or Phillies in the World Series or a Giants fan rooting for the Cowboys or Eagles.

We understand the desire to milk every last dollar out of sports fans, but we have to say, the "Wild Card collection" is ridiculously bizarre. The Sports Hernia Blog pointed out the Yankees Wild Card hat and some reactions to it:

"If I see one person wearing that hat, they will get a swift donkey punch. I will take their hat, light it on fire and then shove it up there f**king nose." -- Brian, 30, passionate Yankee fan

Continue reading "Hats Off to MLB's Wild Card Chutzpah"

It took the Mets a little more than two weeks, but they've somehow managed to squander a seven-game lead in the National League East. Since September 12th, the lead has slowly gotten smaller and is now zero, zilch, zip, nadda, nil. With three games left in the regular season, the Mets are tied with the Phillies for first in the NL East. The last time the Mets weren't in sole possession of first place - May 15th! How did they get to where they are now? Starting on Sept. 14th, the Mets went 4-10, including a 5-game losing streak and a 4-game losing streak. It didn't help that the Phillies went on a tear during the same stretch of games, including a three-game sweep of the Mets.

From last place to the playoffs, the Yankees have taken their fans on a trip, but they will play October baseball once again. The same cannot yet be said about the Mets.

• Yankees 6, Indians 1: The Yankees played well against the soft part of their schedule and last night, against an actual playoff contender, they continued their recent winning ways (they've won 20 of the last 27 games). In his second start since returning from a May leg injury, Hughes, a key player in the future of the Yankees rotation, pitched brilliantly. He allowed only one run over 6 innings to the AL Central-leading Indians. Equally as impressive as Hughes, if not more so, was Joba Chamberlain who pitched perfect 7th and 8th innings. Chamberlain picked up one strikeout in the 7th before striking out the side in the 8th. The win put the Yankees in a tie for first-place in the Wild Card standings and gave them the same record as the Mets (not that it matters).
• Marlins 4, Mets 3: Perhaps it was the cold weather that pushed Billy Wagner into the blown save territory last night. Wagner, who hasn't exactly inspired confidence recently, blew only his 2nd save of the season. Wagner allowed a two-run double by Hanley Ramirez in the 9th to spoil the return of Carlos Beltran from an oblique strain. Beltran had the go-ahead, three-run homer in the 5th inning, but the Mets were unable to capitalize on a night that the Braves loss.
• Cyclones 4, Doubledays 3: Brooklyn won its third straight game last night by defeating the Doubledays. The Cyclones took the lead in the 7th with a two runs in the inning. Doubledays starter Marc Rzepczynski had a career high 10 strike outs in six innings of work.

A look at some noteworthy programs this week:

- Yankees 8, Twins 1: Doing well against a potential first round opponent is never a bad thing. Unfortunately for the Yankees, they weren't facing one of the Twins' aces yesterday. Fortunately, it looks like Alex Rodriguez might be coming out of his slump. A-Rod got the Yankees off to a good start with a solo home run in the 2nd inning and later added another solo shot in the 7th. There was even a bases-loaded single in a four-run Yankee fifth inning. It was the 2nd game in a row that Rodriguez had a home run and the first time since July 1st and 2nd, good enough to earn him a curtain call. Corey Lidle pitched six shutout innings for his 3rd win as a Yankee.

- Yankees 14, White Sox 3: It's always encouraging when you can beat one of the best teams in baseball. Even better when you beat them comfortably. At the end of the day though, a win is a win and the Yankees remain 1.5 games behind the Red Sox for the AL East lead and only 4 games behind the White Sox for the Wild Card. Who says the Wild Card has to come out of the AL Central? In drubbing the White Sox, every yankee starter reached base

If we're thinking about winning next year -- which we need very little, to my understanding, to actually have a very good, compact team -- they should be thinking about the future. I'm here for not only one year; I'm here for four years. Those are three good years that you have probably an ace out there willing to go with you the extra mile to try to win. Win. I'm a winner and I've always been and I hope I finish like that.

It wasn’t pretty, but the Yankees slugged their way to another victory Tuesday beating the Orioles 12-9 and pulling to within a 1/2 game of the Wild Card lead. Aaron Small picked up the victory to improve to 9-0 and become the first pitcher in baseball to win his first nine games without a loss since the immortal Frank DiPino in 1989.

The loss last night was the team's 13th in the last 16. Not exactly the way to contend for a spot in the playoffs, is it? But the Mets are becoming familiar with mathematical formulas, because that's the only chance they have of playing more than two games in October.

Two Yankees who have received their share of criticism may have kept their team in the AL East race, at least for now. Jason Giambi hit a solo home run and Randy Johnson threw 7 one-hit innings during the Yanks' 1-0 win over Boston Sunday. By taking two of three, the Yankees trail Boston by three games. The teams close their season against each other in Boston.

The game: Jets at Kansas City (1:00 PM ET, Sunday, CBS)

The loss last night went to Randy Johnson, who seems to have finally come around. Despite the loss, Johnson had a respectable performance, allowing 3 runs in 6 and 1/3 innings. The bullpen blew the game when Tom Gordon allowed the tying run to score in the 7th inning and Mariano Rivera picked up the loss after a 9th inning error by Robinson Cano.

The best the Mets can now do at the end of this series is come to a half game of the Wild Card. With a tough road trip ahead, one has to wonder if this will be the closest they come the rest of the season. While last week's trip west was encouraging, the competition will be harder on the coming trip. Florida, Atlanta and St. Louis all have better winning percentages than the Mets.

Returning to Shea Stadium, the Mets find themselves facing the Phillies, the team atop the log-jammed NL Wild Card race, Tuesday night for a three game series. Friday night, the Mets start a 10-game road trip against the Marlins, Braves, and the Cardinals.

The sweep helps the Mets stay close in the NL Wild Card race. They are 3 games behind Houston and trailing three other NL East teams as well. The Wild Card may be the only hope for the Mets as they trail the Braves by 6.5 games, which isn't an insurmountable lead, but the Mets haven't had much success at beating the Braves.

There must have been something in the air for the Mets to win the way they did. Ramon Castro hit his 3rd home run of the season and Marlon Anderson hit two homers for the first time in his career to help the Mets explode offensively. In the first two games of the series, the Mets only scored 6 runs while Castro and Anderson had 5 RBI all by themselves last night. Anderson was starting in the place of Mike Cameron who was dismal in Tuesday's loss. Carlos Zambrano improved his record to 5-9 in 7 innings of work.

Kris Benson threw a season-high 125 pitches for his 7th win of the season. He allowed only 4 hits and 1 walk in 8 innings of work. Benson was aided by #6 hitter Mike Piazza, who was 3-3 with 3 RBI including a two-run a 425-foot home run into the Pepsi Picnic Area in left field.

First, the Jets played well enough to win. Then, at the latest and worse possible moment, a single player's costly mistake (Eric Barton's personal foul on Drew Brees after an incomplete pass that otherwise would have effectively ended the game) singlehandedly allowed the Chargers to tie the game and force overtime. Had San Diego rookie Nate Kaeding's 40-yard field goal attempt in overtime been good, Barton would be seen as a 'Bill Buckner' of football - in New York, no less. Anyhow, Barton ultimately would be off the hook (another similar story), after Doug Brien converted on a 28-yard attempt in the extra period.

Beltran and his agent, Scott Boras, were willing to give the Yankees a discount because Beltran preferred The Bronx. The Yankees, however, were unwilling to increase their already ballooning payroll after signing Randy Johnson to a contract extension. Boras reached out Saturday with a 6-year $100 million contract that would have resulted in an even larger luxury tax hit for the Yankees.

Interestingly, the Jets' spot had been assured at some point in the second half of their game, but most players said they were not aware of the Pittsburgh-Buffalo result until they had arrived in the locker room. Say what you want about competitiveness, but it brings up yet another opportunity to second-guess everything, considering it is the norm for playoff-bound teams rest key players in fear of injury.

The usually well-behaved Jets were penalized 12 times for 84 yards - astoundingly, all in the first half. Jets QB Chad Pennington (17-for-31, 189 yards, 0 TD, 3 INT) knew his performance was subpar, and said he blames only himself.

One way or another Sunday marks the beginning of the end for the Jets (at least as in the final quarter of the season), as the team travels to face the league's hottest team - the Steelers (11-1), and the league's hottest quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger (Sunday, 4:05 p.m., TV: CBS; RADIO: 1050AM ESPN). The rookie has been nothing short of immortal, off to an unheard of 10-0 start, only a few months after graduating from Miami University.

Last night, the Mets faced Livan Hernandez and managed only six hits. One of those hits was Mike Piazza's 20th home run of the season and was the Mets only run as they went on to lose 6-1 (box score). Al Leiter picked up his fourth loss in a row and his 8th of the season.

In yesterday's 4-2 loss (box score, Tom Glavine was injured in the 7th inning when Tomas Perez hit a ball off Glavin's shin. The result was a huge welt, but the extent of the injury could not be determined at Shea.

The only bright spot for the Mets was Wilson Degado, who had an impressive game offensively. Batting 8th and playing shortstop, Delgado went 3 for 4, knocking in four runs and hitting a home run in the 4th. Without Delgado, the Mets wouldn't have scored. Delgado was one of the players that the Mets acquired in the Roger Cedeno trade. Is anyone missing Kaz Matsui now?