Wake Up With Nolan Ryan Career Highlights

      There is no better way to start the morning than with a video highlight reel of the best right-hander of all time.  Nolan Ryan is probably the most talented man to ever step foot on the mound in major league baseball.  Nolan Ryan was in the league for over twenty years.  To this day he holds the record for most strike outs all time with a whopping 5,714 over his career.  Nolan Ryan also obtained an incredible seven no hitters over the span of his career.  On top of all these incredible feats, he regularly threw over 100 mph and had a devastating 12-6 curveball.  There will never be another pitcher as talented as Nolan Ryan.

Enjoy the clip!

Washington Nationals KILL Colorado Rockies

      The Colorado Rockies have been off to a hot start thus far.  However, they were not match for the powerful Washington Nationals lineup.  The Nationals recorded an incredible 16 runs during the game and had 19 hits.

      The Nationals had seven players who had multiple hits during the game.  This is almost unheard of in a major league game and was an incredible feat for them to accomplish.  Gio Gonzalez pitched an excellent game going 6 and 2/3 innings and only giving up 2 runs to the opposition.

      However, the most impressive guy on the field, as usual, was Bryce Harper.  Bryce has proven himself time and time again to truly be one of the best players in the league today.  Personally, I believe that if Bryce continues on the tear that he has been he could be one of the best of all time.  In tonight's game Bryce hit a 441 foot 3 run BOMB.

Happy Birthday Aaron Judge! Yankees Win 3 - 1

      Aaron Judge has been absolutely incredible thus far.  He has hit for power and has been excellent defensively in right field for the Yanks.  Tonight was no different as Judge played an excellent game in the Yankees 3 - 1 win over the Red Sox.  Aaron was 1 for 3 on the day, and hit a two run home run in the second inning which ended up being the deciding factor in the ball game.  On top of his offensive performance, Judge made an excellent diving catch in right field.  Originally, the diving play in the stands was ruled not a catch, but a challenge by Joe Girardi overturned the umpire's decision.

   

      Aaron Judge definitely had a birthday to remember with his excellent game this evening.  The home run he hit tonight was his seventh on the season and it has been great seeing him perform at such a high level so far.  It was great to see a Yankees pull out a win against the Red Sox without key players Gary Sanchez and Didi Gregorious, especially when facing the Sox ace pitcher Rick Porcello.  All is looking up for the Bronx Bombers at this point in the season.  One can only hope that it continues throughout the rest of the year.

Return of the Greatest Sports Rivalry

      The best rivalry in all of sports is officially back tonight, and I could not be more excited.  The Yankees and Red Sox square off against one another tonight at 7 p.m. at Fenway Park in Boston.  The series was supposed to kick off last night, but the game was postponed until a later date due to inclement weather.

      It is always October when the Yankees and Red Sox face off with one another.  It does not matter what time of year, or what either team's record is, these two teams always play each other with the utmost intensity.  For decades, the Yankees and Red Sox have always been in playoff contention for the AL East.  It is for this reason that they continue to battle it out every time they take the field against one another.  Every game they play matters and could effect their season drastically.

      The rivalry between the Yankees and Red Sox has been around for almost a century, and began when Babe Ruth left the Red Sox to join the Yankees in the 1920's.  It was at this point that the "Curse of the Bambino" was born.  The rivalry had its hot and cold moments over the years, and was specifically intense during the 1940's, 1970's and early 2000's.  The Yankees always seemed to best the Red Sox until the Sox broke the curse in 2004, beating the Yankees in a 7 game ALCS series and going on to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.

      I am extremely excited for the 2017 chapter of this historic rivalry to get under way!  Please enjoy this short clip highlighting some of the best moments between the Yankees and Red Sox over the years, and get hyped for tonight's game!

Key Game Recaps - 4/24

      The Baltimore Orioles defeated the Tampa Bay Rays by a score of 6 – 3 last night.  This was a big win for the O’s as it keeps them atop the standings of the AL East with an astounding record of 13 – 5.  Adam Jones had an excellent day at the plate going 3 for 3 with 2 RBI’s and Mychal Givens recorded the win on the day.

      The Chicago Cubs absolute destroyed the Pittsburgh Pirates by a score of 14 -3.  The Cubs were extremely hot at the plate and put together a whopping 17 hits on the day.  Kris Bryant went 3 for 4 with two walks on the day and Addison Russell went 4 for 6.  This was a big win for the Cubs who got off to a bit of a rough start this season, but now have a record of 11 – 8.

      The Los Angeles Angels defeated the Toronto Blue Jays in a very close game by a score of 2 – 1.  The Angels desperately needed this win to bring them to 9 – 12 on the season.  Mike Trout and Albert Pujols both had key hits on the day and Jesse Chavez had a great day on the mound going six innings strong and only giving up one run.

      The rough n’ tough Washington Nationals were defeated by the Colorado Rockies by a score of 8 – 4.  The Rockies have gotten off to a very impressive start thus far and are currently atop the NL West with a record of 14 – 6.  Carlos Gonzalez and Mark Reynolds both had two hits in this great win by the Rockies.

Wake Up With Hideki Matsui Highlights

      Hideki Matsui was one of my favorite ball players when I was growing up.  I always admired his humility and his great talent on the ball field.  Matsui played 10 years in the Japanese leagues before joining the Yankees in 2003.  He was a career .300 hitter while in Japan and hit over 330 home runs during his time there.  When coming to America, Matsui provided an incredible spark which helped lead the Yankees to a World Series Championship in 2009.  Matsui was the MVP of this series.  Hideki is one of those guys who probably will not make the Hall of Fame, and has probably already been forgotten by those who are not Yankee fans.  However, he will always have a place in my heart, and the hearts of all Bronx Bomber die-hards.  After all, what Yankee fan can forget the monstrous grand slam he hit during his Yankee Stadium debut in 2003?

      Enjoy!!

Top 5 LHP's of All-Time

Great lefty pitchers have always seemed to come few and far between in the major leagues.  However, whenever true left-handed talent floats through the league, everyone and their mother is able to recognize it.  Here is a list of who I believe are the five greatest left-handers to ever take the bump in a major league baseball game.

5. Whitey Ford

This may be my bias as a Yankees fan here, but I definitely believe that Whitey Ford needs some recognition as a top 5 guy when discussing LHP’s.  Whitey had a great career with the Yankees and has 6 World Series Championships, 1 World Series MVP award, 1 Cy Young award, and was voted a 10-time all-star.  He was definitely not the biggest guy to take the mound, but Whitey was always ruthless and fought for every single out that he recorded.  Over a 16-year career, he struck out almost 2,000 batters and had an ERA of 2.75.

4.  Warren Spahn

Warren Spahn comes in at number four on the list.  Over a twenty-year career, Spahn was voted an all-star an amazing 17 times.  He played almost his entire career for the Boston/Milwaukee Braves where he won a World Series title and Cy Young award in 1957.  Over his whole career, Spahn averaged an ERA of 3.09 and struck out over 2,500 opponents.

3.  Clayton Kershaw

Some people would say that it is absolutely ridiculous to consider Clayton Kershaw as a top 5 pitcher at this point in his career.  I would definitely have to disagree.  Kershaw has been an absolute powerhouse ever since entering the league in 2008.  He has an absolutely devastating hook to complement his 90+mph fastball and this has been absolutely detrimental to his opponents thus far.  This can be seen with the 1,900 strikeouts that Kershaw has recorded over just 9 years in the league.  In this time, he has also won 3 Cy Young awards and been voted an all-star 6 times.  He has a career ERA of just 2.39 thus far.  All Clayton needs to do now is win a World Series title and he may move up even higher on the list of best left-handed pitchers.

2.  Randy Johnson

Randy Johnson.  The Big Unit.  Any fan of baseball knows who this guy is.  He was the greatest pitcher of the 1990’s and an absolute freak athlete.  There will probably never again be a 6’10’’ left-hander who could dial up the radar gun to 100+mph.  He is arguably the greatest lefty of all time, and some may go as far as saying he is the greatest pitcher of all time.  He played in the league for over twenty years and in that time recorded over 4,800 strikeouts.  This is second only to Nolan Ryan who played five more years in the league than he did.  Johnson was a 10-time all-star and won a World Series title in 2001. 

1. Sandy Koufax

If there is any baseball player that I wish I was alive to see play, it would have to be Sandy Koufax.  My grandpa would tell tales of his talent until he was blue in the face, and growing up, there were few names that I idolized more.  While Koufax didn’t have the longest career, he was always extremely efficient and won the hearts of all Brooklyners during the 1950’s and 60’s.  Koufax had an absolutely lethal arsenal of pitches and was extremely dominant on the mound.  He won an MVP award in 1963 and was a 3-time Cy Young award winner.  Koufax won 4 championships as a Dodger, and was a 7-time all-star.