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By Sean Napfel, on February 21st, 2012%
 Mariano Rivera says Monday that he wants to ‘leave the game on top.’ (COREY SIPKIN/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)
Mariano Rivera, whose 603 saves over 17 years with the New York Yankees are the most in Major League Baseball history, said the 2012 season may be his last, although he’s not ready to announce his decision.
Rivera, 42, told reporters yesterday at the team’s spring training facility in Tampa, Florida. that he wasn’t sure when he’ll be ready to announce any such thing,
“It can be tomorrow, it can be in August, it can be in July, but I will definitely let you know, I won’t let you know now, but I know. I want to do my job, always, but I made my decision already.”
Rivera, who has helped the Yankees win five World Series titles, surpassed Trevor Hoffman’s career saves record in September, establishing a mark that some baseball historians said may stand forever. No other reliever has more than 500 saves and the closest active pitcher, 36-year-old Francisco Cordero, is 276 saves behind Rivera.
Rivera is coming off a season in which he had 44 saves and a 1.91 earned run average, his 11th year with an ERA under 2.00. Rivera has averaged 40 saves since 1997, when he took over as the Yankees’ closer.
Rivera has an 8-1 record with a 0.71 ERA in a record 94 postseason appearances and his 42 career playoff saves are 24 more than any other pitcher.
Rivera said when asked about the possibility of retirement:
“Decisions like that are hard, It involves what you do, it involves what you have done for 22 years. At the same time, they have to be made.”
Rivera is entering the final season of a two-year, $30 million contract with the Yankees, the only team he’s played for during his major-league career.
Former Yankees catcher Jorge Posada, one of Rivera’s closest friends, retired last month after 17 major-league seasons at the age of 40. Rivera said he’s not quite ready to follow yet.
“When I let you guys know, you guys will know,” Rivera told reporters yesterday. “I’m going to leave it at that.”
 David Robertson is currently the favorite to supplant Mariano Rivera as Yankee closer. There are skeptics, however. Including some of Rivera’s teammates, specifically Rivera’s eighth inning set up man David Robertson who would be the legendary closer’s presumptive successor, rolled his eyes when asked about the potential retirement of Rivera.
Simply put, Robertson said: ”I’ll believe it when it happens. You never know, he might Brett Favre us.”
By all indications, Robertson figures to be next in line after emerging as one of the game’s top relievers.
Robertson earned all-star honors for the first time last season, when he went 4-0 with a 1.08 ERA in 70 appearances, most of them as Rivera’s set-up man. The 26-year-old Robertson admitted that he’d relish a chance to close someday. But he’s not entirely sure that “someday” is coming any time soon.
By Sean Napfel, on February 19th, 2012%
Welcome to spring, everyone. Well, spring training at least.
For me, this has always been the first official sign of spring.
Pitchers and catchers officially report to camp this morning. They’ll take their physicals — those who haven’t done so already – before going through their first official workout tomorrow.
It’s been a long and often quiet winter, but it’s finally time for pitchers and catchers. Baseball is back.
By Sean Napfel, on February 16th, 2012%
Call it wishful thinking, Orioles fans.
 On Tuesday, reports surfaced out of Washington DC that maligned Orioles owner Peter Angelos was “quietly shopping” the Baltimore Orioles. The whispers of a potential sale originated from Eric Bickel, a radio host on 106.7 The Fan in Washington. Bickel said Tuesday that he had heard Angelos was quietly discussing a sale of the Orioles. Bickel said Angelos was looking to sell the team but not his majority share in the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, which broadcasts Orioles and Washington Nationals games.
However, an Orioles official told Childs Walker of the Baltimore Sun that there’s “absolutely no truth” to rumors owner Peter Angelos is considering selling the team. Walker goes on to state the obvious by suggesting the reports of Angelos considering a sale have become annual grist for Baltimore-area sports fans, desperate to see the Orioles end their streak of 14 straight losing seasons.
I’m not an Orioles fan, but by living here I can certainly attest to those notions.
By Sean Napfel, on February 2nd, 2012%
 Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton, a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, had a relapse this week, according to a report from Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News.
Sources told Fraley that Hamilton drank alcohol on Monday night in an area bar, but the circumstances leading to the incident could not be determined.
The Rangers released a statement today to say they were “aware of a situation, but we don’t have further comment at this time.”
This was Hamilton’s second relapse into drinking in just over three years; he also drank to excess in a Tempe, Ariz., bar in January 2009.
Hamilton, the 2010 American League MVP, is entering the final year of his contract with the Rangers. He’s due to make $13.75 million in 2012.
By Sean Napfel, on January 24th, 2012%
 Prince Fielder hit 38 homers with 120 RBI last season with the Brewers. (By Jeff Curry, US Presswire) DETROIT (AP) — Free agent first baseman Prince Fielder and the Detroit Tigers agreed Tuesday on a nine-year, $214 million contract that fills the AL Central champions’ need for a power hitter, a person familiar with the deal said.
CBS first reported the agreement.
The person told the Associated Press that the deal was subject to a physical. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the contract was not yet complete.
Detroit boldly stepped up in the Fielder sweepstakes after the recent knee injury to star Victor Martinez. A week ago, the Tigers announced that the productive designated hitter could miss the entire season after tearing his left ACL.
The Tigers won their division by 15 games before losing in the AL championship series to Texas. Adding Fielder gives the Tigers two of the game’s premier sluggers, pairing him with Miguel Cabrera.
The move also keeps Fielder’s name in the Tigers’ family. His father, Cecil, became a big league star when he returned to the majors from Japan and hit 51 home runs with Detroit in 1990. Cecil played with the Tigers into the 1996 season.
Several teams had shown interest this winter in the 27-year-old Fielder, who had spent his entire career with Milwaukee. He visited Texas, and the Washington Nationals also got involved in the discussions.
The beefy slugger hit .299 with 38 home runs and 120 RBIs last season. He is a three-time All-Star and was the MVP of last year’s event in Phoenix.
Fielder has averaged 40 homers and 113 RBIs over the past five years. He’s also been among the most durable players in the majors, appearing in at least 157 games in each of the last six seasons.
The deal is only the fourth $200 million contract in baseball history, following Alex Rodriguez’s $275 million, 10-year contract with the New York Yankees, A-Rod’s $252 million, 10-year deal with Texas and Albert Pujols’ $240 million, 10-year contract last month with the Los Angeles Angels.
Among current players, his $23.78 million average salary is behind only A-Rod ($27.5 million), Ryan Howard ($25 million), and Cliff Lee and Pujols ($24 million each).
Detroit general manager Dave Dombrowski said last week he felt finding a replacement for Martinez was a short-term problem, but he left himself some wriggle room, saying it depended who the player was.
Acquiring Fielder opens all sorts of possibilities, such as moving Cabrera to third base or having one of the two sluggers be the designated hitter.
By Sean Napfel, on January 24th, 2012%
 Longtime Yankees catcher Jorge Posada is reportedly set to retire. (William Perlman/The Star-Ledger) Jorge Posada will formally announce his retirement from the New York Yankees and Major League Baseball this morning during a press conference held at Yankee Stadium. Reports of Posada’s intentions to retire were first published back on January 7 by WFAN radio’s Sweeny Murti, but no official announcement was made by the Yankees until yesterday.
Here’s the official release from the Yankees:
The New York Yankees today announced that catcher Jorge Posada will hold a press conference on Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. to announce his retirement.
Posada, 40, finishes his 17-year Major League career with a .273 batting average (1,664-for-6,092) with 900 runs, 379 doubles, 275 home runs and 1,065 RBI in 1,829 games—all with the Yankees. Of the 13 former Major League catchers in the Hall of Fame (Johnny Bench, Yogi Berra, Roger Bresnahan, Roy Campanella, Gary Carter, Mickey Cochrane, Bill Dickey, Buck Ewing, Rick Ferrell, Carlton Fisk, Gabby Hartnett, Ernie Lombardi and Ray Schalk), only Berra has better numbers in batting average, home runs and RBI (.285, 358 and 1,430, respectively).
As a player on five World Series championship teams (1996, ‘98, ‘99, 2000, ‘09), Posada finished his career among Baseball’s all-time postseason leaders in games played (second, 125), doubles (third, 23), hits (fourth, 103) and RBI (tied for ninth, 42). His 119 postseason contests at catcher are the most all time, ahead of Berra (second, 63). In his career, he caught at least one game in six different World Series, tied with Elston Howard and Wally Schang for third-most all time, trailing Berra (12) and Bill Dickey (eight). In 2011, he batted a team-best .429 (6-for-14) in the Yankees’ five-game ALDS vs. Detroit.
Originally selected by the Yankees in the 24th round of the 1990 First-Year Player Draft, Posada holds the distinction of being one of just five players all time to record at least 1,500 hits, 350 doubles, 275 home runs and 1,000 RBI while playing at least 50.0% of his games at catcher, joining Ivan Rodriguez and Hall of Famers Johnny Bench, Gary Carter and Carlton Fisk. He ranks eighth all time in home runs among players whose primary position was catcher.
Posada was the first Major Leaguer to catch at least one game with the same team in 17 straight seasons (1995-2011) since Cincinnati’s Johnny Bench did so in 17 consecutive seasons from 1967-83 (credit: Elias Sports Bureau). In his career, Posada caught 1,574 games with the Yankees, trailing only Bill Dickey (1,708) and Yogi Berra (1,695) for most games ever caught in pinstripes. A five-time American League All-Star (2000-03, ’07), he twice finished in the top 10 in American League Most Valuable Player balloting, ranking third in 2003 and sixth in 2007. On May 17, 1998 vs. Minnesota, he caught David Wells’ perfect game, the second of three in Yankees history.
The Puerto Rico native finishes his career ranked seventh on the Yankees’ all-time list with 379 doubles and 936 walks, eighth with 275 home runs and 11th with 1,065 RBI. He is one of just eight players to appear in at least one game with the Yankees in each of 17 different seasons, joining Yogi Berra (18), Mickey Mantle (18), Frank Crosetti (17), Bill Dickey (17), Lou Gehrig (17), Derek Jeter (17) and Mariano Rivera (17). Along with Jeter and Rivera, Posada is part of the first trio of teammates in MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL history to appear in a game together in each of 17 straight seasons (credit: Elias). Elias also notes his 1,693 regular season games played with Jeter surpassed Lou Gehrig and Tony Lazzeri (1,659 games) for the most games played together by any pair of teammates in franchise history. A model of durability, Posada began his career by playing 1,450 games (1,369 at catcher) before being placed on the disabled list for the first time on April 28, 2008 with right rotator cuff tendinitis.
A five-time Silver Slugger Award winner (2000-03, ’07), Posada homered in 29 different ballparks during his career, the most by any player in Yankees history. His 246 home runs as a catcher rank second on the Yankees’ all-time list behind only Yogi Berra. In his career, Posada recorded 14 pinch-hit, go-ahead RBI in the seventh inning or later, tied with Johnny Blanchard for the most such RBI by a Yankee since 1950 (credit: ESPN Research).
Previously, it was reported that Posada wanted to continue playing in 2012 if he could find the right situation.
Posada spent his entire 17 big league career with the Yankees after being drafted by the club in the 24th round of the 1990 draft. The catcher hit .273/.374/.474 for his career with 275 home runs. In total, Posada earned five All-Star nominations, including his resurgent 2007 campaign. That year, Posada hit .338/.426/.543 with 20 home runs and finished sixth in the voting for AL MVP.
Personally, I’m glad Posada decided to retire. I couldn’t of imagined him wearing another uniform that wasn’t the Yankees. He’s a lifetime Yankee and he went out as such. I have the lifetime memory of being in Yankee Stadium for the final regular season game of the 2011 season against the Boston Red Sox. In that game, Posada had three hits including a home run and his final curtain call.
I’m also lucky enough to have met Jorge during the 2005 season and as expected, he was nothing short of a gentlemen and a class act.
Best of luck to you in retirement Jorge. Thanks for the memories.
Here are a few photos that I dug out of the vault from that special day on April 17, 2005. The photos feature Jorge Posada and a very young Sean Napfel.
By Sean Napfel, on January 13th, 2012%
 The New York Yankees may have finally gotten the supporting cast they’ve been seeking to line up behind ace left-hander CC Sabathia. The Yankees, who have been quiet so far this off-season, got busy and made some noise on Friday night by agreeing to send top prospect Jesus Montero to the Mariners in a four-player trade that brings 22-year-old stud pitcher Michael Pineda to the Bronx, according to a person familiar with the situation.
Pineda, a hard-throwing right-hander went 9-10 with a 3.74 ERA for the Mariners last season. He is seen as a young top-of-the-rotation starter the Yankees have lacked behind CC Sabathia.
 Montero, 21, was among the top hitting prospects in baseball but was a raw talent as a catcher. The Yankees had planned to use him as a designated hitter this season; they now might look to sign a veteran hitter to round out their roster.
The Yankees also picked up 19-year-old pitcher Jose Campos from Seattle and sent right-hander Hector Noesi to the Mariners. Campos was considered Seattle’s fifth best prospect in their system.
But that wasn’t the end of the news for the Bombers.
 They also agreed to sign right hander Hiroki Kuroda, formally of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Kuroda, turns 37 next month and has been a steady performer for some mostly mediocre Los Angeles Dodgers teams. He’s 41-46 lifetime with a 3.45 ERA, all spent within the pitcher-friendly confines of the NL West. He has, however, averaged a respectable 6.7 strikeouts per nine innings, though that number figures to worsen in the hard-knock AL East.
Gabe Lacques of USA TODAY points out, should Kuroda not pan out, the Yankees do have options. Many more than they did before Friday.
By Sean Napfel, on January 7th, 2012%
Longtime Yankees catcher Jorge Posada is reportedly set to retire. (William Perlman/The Star-Ledger) Jorge Posada intends to retire, according to a report this afternoon on WFAN radio, which cited an anonymous source in saying that an announcement will be made within the next two weeks.
Previously, it was reported that Posada wanted to continue playing in 2012 if he could find the right situation.
Posada spent his entire 17 big league career with the Yankees after being drafted by the club in the 24th round of the 1990 draft. The catcher hit .273/.374/.474 for his career with 275 home runs. In total, Posada earned five All-Star nominations, including his resurgent 2007 campaign. That year, Posada hit .338/.426/.543 with 20 home runs and finished sixth in the voting for AL MVP.
Personally, I’m glad Posada decided to retire. I couldn’t of imagined him wearing another uniform that wasn’t the Yankees. He’s a lifetime Yankee and he went out as such. I have the lifetime memory of being in Yankee Stadium for the final regular season game of the 2011 season against the Boston Red Sox. In that game, Posada had three hits including a home run and his final curtain call.
I’m also lucky enough to have met Jorge during the 2005 season and as expected, he was nothing short of a gentlemen and a class act.
Best of luck to you in retirement Jorge. Thanks for the memories.
By Sean Napfel, on December 21st, 2011%
Now that Yu Darvish’s negotiating rights have been won by the Texas Rangers, that leaves one more notable international free agent still up for grabs: Cuban outfielder Yoennis Cespedes.
According to ESPN’s Enrique Rojas, Cespedes is close to establishing residency in the Dominican Republic, the first step toward making him eligible for MLB free agency. That would make Cespedes ready to accept bids from interested teams sometime in mid-January, about a month before the start of spring training.
About a half-dozen teams are most interested in the outfielder, but with speculation centered on a $50 million price tag — in the form of a major-league deal –that number may dwindle down to the larger market clubs. The New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, and Florida – I mean - Miami Marlins seem to be the most aggressive suitors for Cespedes.
 Cuba's Yoennis Cespedes watches his third hit of the game as he drives in his fourth run of the game iagainst Mexico during their World Baseball Classic in March 2009. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy) Thanks to the good people at Bleacher Report, we’re able to find out more about Yoennis Cespedes who has become a YouTube sensation of sorts. Rick Weiner, a featured columnist for Bleacher Report covering the New York Yankees, does a great job breaking down the latest video featuring Cespedes.
Just over six minutes into the video, we get to see Cespedes in the field. After almost two minutes of warming up, he unleashes his throwing arm, which looks to be both strong and accurate.
Around the 13-minute mark, we see Cespedes taking batting practice. He knocks the ball all over the field, hitting two balls out of the stadium and then apparently just because he can, he drives a ball into the stands from the left side of the plate. Note, Cespedes is naturally a right-handed batter and is not known to be a switch hitter.
By joshua.hall, on December 19th, 2011%
Happy Holidays to my readers out there who stop by every week and read my ridiculous rants. It is always a pleasure to dish out all the sports news, both good and bad. I wish nothing but happiness to you and your loved ones. Enough with the sappy Lifetime diatribe, let’s kick off the blog!
Here are my Top Three Performances from NFL Week 15:
1. Quarterback Drew Brees (New Orleans Saints): Hall of Fame quarterbacks Dan Marino and Johnny Unitas both have NFL records that are in major trouble, all thanks to New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees. Unitas’ 47 consecutive games with a passing touchdown will have to wait until 2012 but with the way Brees is gaining passing yards these days, Marino’s single season record of 5,084 passing yards may soon fall into silver medal status. Brees certainly had a field day through the air, as the Saints picked up a huge 42-20 road victory over the Minnesota Vikings. Brees completed 32 of 40 pass attempts (80%), threw for 412 yards, and five passing touchdowns.
2. Running Back Reggie Bush (Miami Dolphins): Every once in a while, he just turns into real life video game. This used to be a constant for Miami Dolphins running back Reggie Bush, who would light up the scoreboard, and rewrite the record books during his days as a USC Trojan. After his tenure with the New Orleans Saints in which writers deemed him a bust, Bush has seemed to be finding his groove again in South Beach, and yesterday was proof of that fact. Bush carried the ball 25 times for 203 yards and one touchdown, a 76 yard score in the fourth quarter, to help the Dolphins pick up the 30-23 win on the road against the Buffalo Bills.
3. Defensive End Tamba Hali (Kansas City Chiefs): Who would have thought that the Kansas City Chiefs would be the team to give the undefeated and defending Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers their first loss of the season? The Packers and their quarterback Aaron Rodgers have been making mince meat of most defenses on their schedule in the 2011 season, even having blow out victories on the road. Chiefs interim head coach Romeo Crennel and his defensive end Tamba Hali weren’t going to lie down that easily to the Packers or even think of losing for that matter. Hali sacked Rodgers three times, hit him twice, forced one fumble, and helped the defense hold the Packers to 315 offensive yards in a shocking 19-14 Chiefs home victory.
Congratulations should also be in order for the Indianapolis Colts, who picked up their first win of the season, beating the Tennessee Titans 27-13 at home. However, the quest for the first overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft becomes quite interesting in the next two weeks, as the St. Louis Rams and the Minnesota Vikings have two wins each. If the Colts choose to show up in the next two games and win at least one game, the chances of not landing Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck becomes too high for comfort. Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck both want be the starting quarterback in 2012, and if Dan Orlovsky continues to improve, he may start for a different team.
The ever controversial, media hating, possibly tainted, all-time home run leader Barry Bonds is currently serving hard time…in his mansion. Bonds, who gave misleading information to the federal grand jury in their investigation on steroid use in professional sports, was sentenced to thirty days of house arrest, and two years probation. Not a bad sentence for a guy who used to pay off his former trainer Greg Anderson to keep quiet and serve jail time in order to delay the investigation. If this proves anything, it is that Barry Bonds made a mockery of the system, and the federal jury along with the verdict, looked like a complete joke.
It looks like life as a Lakers fan isn’t faring so well in Los Angeles these days. After a failed trade for Chris Paul which ended up being approved for the Los Angeles Clippers and a trade which sent Lamar Odom to the Dallas Mavericks, the Lakers are left with little to look forward to in the shortened 2012 NBA season. Lakers star player Kobe Bryant will be going through a messy divorce, Derek Fisher isn’t going to play any younger at 37, and Ron Artest, I mean Meta World Peace, is going to be his usual crazy self. New Lakers head coach Mike Brown is going to have his hands full in the Western Conference while other teams around his own continue to grow stronger by the day.
The WWE made a stop at First Mariner Arena in Baltimore last night for its “WWE TLC” pay per view. If you were a fan of surprises and delightful outcomes, last nights wrestling event was the place to be. C.M. Punk retained his WWE Championship in a triple threat ladder match, Daniel Bryan cashed in his “Money In The Bank” contract and won the World Heavyweight Championship, and the WWE’s own internet sensation, Zack Ryder won his first WWE singles title as he defeated Dolph Ziggler in a surprisingly good match to win the United States Championship. And the best part of the event: No John Cena in the main event!
I would like to thank you all for reading my blog this week! In the next two weeks, I will give you my own selections for the 2011-12 Pro Bowl teams, and my NFL 2011 Awards. Be sure to check me out on Facebook (Joshua Collins Hall) or e-mail me at y2joshua85@yahoo.com for any information regarding my blog and future projects. Enjoy your Monday night, I am out.
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