Time Out Awards: MLB season opener special edition

Jason Frazier, Alestle Reporter

by Jason Frazier, Alestle Reporter

This week was a huge week in sports. We had an exciting NCAA championship game, Tiger Woods returned to golf, Donovan McNabb traded, and NHL and NBA playoff races heated up as well. What more could a sports fan ask for? I almost forgot this week also marked opening day for MLB, where every team including the Royals has postseason aspirations.

In honor of opening day, I am going to have an MLB edition of this week’s Time Out awards. Although the season just started, some have already found a way to earn a Time Out.

First in the batter’s box to earn their Time Out is Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz.  Ortiz started the season 0 for 7. Now I’m not giving him a Time Out for his two-game lack of production; I’m not that harsh.

When confronted by media members regarding this, according to ESPN, Ortiz responded with this following profanity filled tirade.

“You guys wait ’til [expletive] happens, then you can talk [expletive]. Two [expletive] games, and already you [expletives] are going crazy,” Ortiz said. “What’s up with that, man? [Expletive]. [Expletive] 160 games left. That’s a [expletive]. One of you [expletives] got to go ahead and hit for me.”

What happened to the cool and calm Ortiz a.k.a. Big Papi? I understand why Papi was a little irritated, but he could have handled it in a more professional way. Big Papi needs to stop acting like the Big Paranoico (Paranoid); if you play in a big market you have to be prepared to be scrutinized.

Its hard to disagree with a MLB legend like Hank Aaron when he says he sees something special in a young player. Aaron laid lofty expectations on Atlanta Braves rookie outfielder Jayson Heyward after his opening day homerun.

“He can certainly bring the excitement back, not only for Atlanta but also for African-American players,” Aaron said. “We do need to have many, many more Jason Heywards.”

Aaron isn’t the only one singing the early praises of Heyward, it seems as a majority of baseball writers are already trying to induct him in the Hall of Fame.

So Hank Aaron and fellow Jason Heyward bandwagon riders take a Time Out for the pre-mature praise on this promising player.  It seems as if Heyward has a lot of tools to become a good player, but let’s give him a chance to have a career before we declare him the best baseball player ever.

My last timeout goes to the only Cardinal player I’m having issues with so far this season. I’m not going to completely throw him under the bus, since it’s so early, but Jason Motte, I need you to get it together.

Motte’s stat line so far reads an ERA of 27.00, WHIP of 6.00, and 1 loss, with the one loss coming in the Cardinals first loss of the season. Motte came in the game in the ninth inning with the score tied 1-1, and then threw a fastball in upper part of the plate to the Cincinnati Reds Johnny Gomes. Gomes deposited it over the fence for a walk off victory for the Reds.

Motte, the Cards long term success this season depends on you. Hopefully a Time Out will motivate you to get your act together.

That closes this week’s edition of the Time Out awards this week. Until next week; coaches, players, and all those involved in the world of sports be nervous, because I am on the lookout for those who deserve a Time Out.

Time Out Awards: NCAA, Shaun Rogers and MLB

Jason Frazier, Alestle Reporter

by Jason Frazier, Alestle Reporter

For the most part this past week, it seemed as if the sports world had taken my advice, and avoided doing anything worthy of receiving a Time-Out.  But not everyone heeded my advice.

My first Time Out goes to the NCAA committee for contemplating expanding the men’s basketball tournament from 65 teams to 96 teams. Expansion is usually a good thing, but in this case I don’t think so. The NCAA tournament is one of the most marketable, anticipated sporting events, why fix something that is not broken?

You already have a number of hopeful Cinderella’s in the tourney now, who have little chance to win the tourney. Why water it down with even more teams of that nature? How does the NCAA expect college students to afford extra travel expenses to show their team support for longer amounts of time? If you want to know why this will probably happen, it’s easy. Money from increased ticket revenue, TV contracts and other money generating factors is why this will take place. The people benefitting from this money are not students spending work-study money to show school spirit or the players spending extra time practicing instead of studying; it will NCAA officials. They truly deserve a Time Out.

The next Time Out goes to Cleveland Browns’ defensive tackle Shaun Rogers. Although football season is nowhere near, Rogers found a way to get a Time Out. Rogers must have been hiding under a rock the last 10 years, since he didn’t know airports have heightened their security since 9/11.  He thought it would be cool for him to bring a loaded gun on a plane. He was arrested shortly thereafter, a surprise to Rogers but not to anyone else. Rogers can accept his Time Out in whatever jail he currently is in right now.

When we are at MLB games, some of us get seats down the baselines and have ambitions of catching a foul ball. I think we fail to realize how dangerous this can be. Winthrop University professors Robert Gorman and David Weeks have gone back and documented 52 deaths from foul balls hit into the stands.

“It’s amazing to me that there aren’t more, to be honest, foul balls can zing off a bat at more than 100 mph,” Gorman said.” Even if the fan is paying attention, that’s not much time to duck or get out of the way. And for the fan that is glancing at a scorecard or a cell phone or has his or her hands full with a hot dog, forget about it.”

MLB is finally looking at addressing this problem by putting nets up to protect fans sitting behind the dugout and along the baselines. I’m giving MLB this Time Out for just now considering addressing this potentially dangerous problem.

That closes this week’s edition of the Time Out awards this week. Until next week; coaches, players, and all those involved in the world of sports be nervous, because I am on the lookout for those who deserve a Time Out.

Under the Arch: Battered Red Birds

Greg Maddox, Alestle Reporter

by Greg Maddox, Alestle Reporter

Flowers are blooming, rain is pouring, and here at SIUE the geese area attacking. It’s springtime, and you know what that means: baseball season is right around the corner.

St Louis Cardinal fans have a lot to look forward to this season. A fairly active off-season has bolstered the batting order and smoothed out the pitching rotation. The talent level on this team is high, and the players are poised for a run at the central.

Additions such as Matt Holliday, Felipe Lopez and Brad Penne are solid moves for a Cardinals team that has a knack for being conservative in the off-season. These acquisitions aren’t guaranteeing a contention with the Yankees quite yet, but the Cardinals are easily the most improved team in the NL Central.

The recurring theme for the Cardinals during spring training has been injuries. Pujols’ back is out of whack, Molina’s oblique is strained, and many other players are missing time with ticky-tack injuries.

Fans may be concerned with the fairly lengthy injury report, but before you get panicky, you must realize it is March 26.  These guys have had a long off-season after playing 166 games last season. I don’t know about you, but if I had to play 166 games of baseball in a seven-month span, I would want a lot of rest, too. Naturally if these players have been sitting on their couches since October, they may be a little out of shape.

Pujols has played more games than anybody the past nine seasons. The anti-inflammatory shot he is taking is just to keep him healthy enough to work through the injury during the spring. Come opening day, Pujols will be back to being the best player in the bigs. The man played with a horrible elbow injury during the same season he hit a career high 49 home runs.

Even with the solid offseason additions, the Cardinals are far from a perfect team. It is going to be difficult for any team to take out the growing powerhouse that is the Philadelphia Phillies. However, after them, I think it is a very competitive race at the top of the National League, a race I think the Cardinals could win.

The division is weak as ever. For the first time in awhile I foresee the Pirates being a bigger threat to the Cardinals than I do the Cubs (even if cutting Milton Bradley was addition via subtraction for them). And this is coming from one very pessimistic Cardinals fan.

If Cardinals fans want to worry about anything, it should be the hole at third base or the fact that Jaime Garcia is coming back from Tommy John surgery to be our fifth starter.