canuckhound73 Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 I am going to make a bold prediction here, and say Josh Hamilton will be in the HR derby finals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Bob Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 Justin Morneau wins the Home Run derby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaborik_Fan#1 Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 Congrats to Justin for beating substance abuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chester Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 Nice Moreneau wins! Well done! Hamilton was impressive, that was insane, but he tired himself out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretzky's Mullet Posted July 15, 2008 Author Share Posted July 15, 2008 A little bit of resemblance there? America, meet Josh Hamilton. Oh, and Morneau won the derby. Anyone else notice how sheepish he felt to be winning under the circumstances? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretzky's Mullet Posted July 15, 2008 Author Share Posted July 15, 2008 http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Ao4r...o&type=lgns Ichiro’s speech to All-Stars revealed By Jeff Passan, Yahoo! Sports NEW YORK – Piece by piece, the legend started to reveal itself. “How do you know about that?” Michael Young asked. A whisper here. A story there. Something about the greatest pregame speech since Rockne invoked the Gipper, one laced with profanity and delivered to the American League All-Stars every year. “It’s why we win,” David Ortiz said. He pointed to Ichiro Suzuki, the Seattle Mariners’ wisp of an outfielder, a man who still uses a translator to do interviews with English-speaking reporters – and happens to be baseball’s amalgam of Anthony Robbins and George Carlin. Every year, after the AL manager addresses his team, Ichiro bursts from his locker, a bundle of kinetic energy, and proceeds, in English, to disparage the National League with an H-bomb of F-bombs, stunning first-timers who had no idea Ichiro speaks the queen’s language fluently and making returnees happy that they had played well enough to see the pep talk again. The tradition began in 2001, Ichiro’s first All-Star appearance, and the AL hasn’t lost a game since. Coincidence? Um. No. “I know how important it is to the game,” Ichiro said. “I’m more concentrated at that moment than I am in the game.” A wide grin spread across his face. Ichiro’s secret had been exposed, so, hey, why not have fun with it? He crafts his public portrayal similar to the image he projects on the field: a technician, a warrior, a Ph.D. in stoicism. In reality, Ichiro’s All-Star teammates love him for his wicked sense of humor and sly deceit, shown with a vocabulary far more expansive than he leads on. All the first baseman around the AL know Ichiro speaks English, singles accounting for 1,393 of his 1,711 hits since joining Seattle in 2001. Generally, the conversation doesn’t move much past pleasantries, which makes the speech all the more shocking. “That’s kind of what gets you, too,” Minnesota first baseman Justin Morneau said. “Hearing him say what he says. At first, I talked to him a little bit. But I didn’t know he knew some of the words he knows.” The exact words are not available. Players are too busy laughing to remember them. Ichiro wouldn’t dare repeat them in public. So here’s the best facsimile possible. “Bleep … bleep bleep bleep … National League … bleep … bleep … bleeeeeeeeep … National – bleep bleep bleepbleepbleep!” “If you’ve never seen it, it’s definitely something pretty funny,” Morneau said. “It’s hard to explain, the effect it has on everyone. It’s such a tense environment. Everyone’s a little nervous for the game, and then he comes out. He doesn’t say a whole lot the whole time he’s in there, and all of a sudden, the manager gets done with his speech, and he pops off.” And onto the field they go, enemies during the regular season, friends because together they just saw a 5-foot-9, 160-pound man from Japan, a national icon who surely could win office there, create beef where there wasn’t any. Certainly it ranks high on his list of accomplishments. Two-time AL batting champion. Rookie of the Year. MVP. Unparalleled instigator. “The cool thing,” Young said, “is that for two days, at least, we call a truce and become a bit of a team.” It is somewhat bittersweet, then, to change sides and end up playing for the hated National League, as many have done over Ichiro’s eight seasons. These players know the Ichiro effect, relish it, perhaps even need it to win. And so Miguel Tejada, the longtime Oakland and Baltimore shortstop who made the NL team this season with Houston, wonders whether the speech isn’t so much an Ichiro thing as it is a cultural blessing. “I hope Fukudome does it this year,” Tejada said. Kosuke Fukudome, the Cubs outfielder, will start in center field for the NL team. He is not fashion conscious, does not have a sycophantic following and does not start trends. He is, aside from sharing a left-handed swing and exemplary bat control, the anti-Ichiro. “I have no plans for that,” Fukudome said. Which leaves the NL hoping for some kind of a miracle. Ichiro was asked how much he believes the speech has contributed to the AL dominance that has stretched more than a decade now. “I’ve got to say over 90 percent,” he said. Well, maybe last year. Ichiro went 3 for 3, hit the All-Star Game’s first inside-the-park home run and won MVP honors in the AL’s 5-4 victory. And, remember, he concentrates more on the speech. At the All-Star interview session Monday, Ichiro readied himself for Tuesday’s performance with his vocal cords – albeit with some trepidation. “If I don’t say it this year, I want to see if we win or not,” Ichiro said. “Personally, I want to see what happens. But I think Ortiz is going to make something happen.” Oh, Big Papi knows better than to let an All-Star Game go by without Ichiro’s speech. The winner gets home-field advantage in the World Series, and his Red Sox may need it. And the All-Star Game just wouldn’t feel right without a waif Japanese warrior telling the National League to … Bleep! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ajax19 Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 Whoever bumped up this thread, thank you!!! I was looking for this last night and couldn't find it! The search SUCKS on this forum. I literally typed in "MLB" and it says it did not find any results. ABSOLUTE GARBAGE!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretzky's Mullet Posted July 16, 2008 Author Share Posted July 16, 2008 Sheets is a good pitcher, but I think Volquez, Lincecum or Webb could've started the All Star game. Also, the moment of the pre-game would've have to be the look on Papelbon's face when they announced him. Huge boos, but that smirk basically said it all. And I'm not even a Red Sox fan. I also think being out of baseball has been a little bit rough on Tony Gwynn's waistline, not that it wasn't in wonderful shape as it was. Just noticed that Lincecum got sick today though. EDIT: By the way Joe Buck, if Albert Pujols is "the game's best hitter", and he's a better fielder than Alex Rodriguez (which I'd suggest he is), then how exactly is Alex Rodriguez "the game's best player"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Alchemist Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 If a Cub player gets injured I will kill someone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Alchemist Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Hit and runs are stupid. Dempster will blow this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cup.Bound.Canux Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 that was crzy last night all those HR"S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Alchemist Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Dempster is pitching on two days rest and is throwing 96. GET HIM OUT OF THERE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaborik_Fan#1 Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Hey Carlos... enjoying all these Mariano Rivera facts? I sure am. I want to see Marmol in the game, he's one of my 2 favorite pitchers to watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaborik_Fan#1 Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Young needs to learn how to play defense, Jeter would have had that. But of course Mo gets out of it, that's just what he's done for the last 12 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Alchemist Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Marmol is broken. Lou abused his arm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaborik_Fan#1 Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Marmol is broken. Lou abused his arm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Alchemist Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Meh its not a huge deal. Their starting pitching is looking great. They'll probably pick up a guy like Fuentes before the deadline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaborik_Fan#1 Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 hahaha that's how you play 2nd! What a joke. Costing the Cubbies home field! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Alchemist Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 OMFGGGGGGGGGGG DIE UGGLA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Alchemist Posted July 16, 2008 Share Posted July 16, 2008 Should've let Zambrano pitch the whole game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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