Red Sox June

Red Sox June

Red Sox June

The Rain Maker Sports: Sports Bytes - June 9, 2010

I can't imagine Alex Rodriguez is enjoying himself very much right now. Although the Yankees pounded out 15 hits last night to punish the Orioles 12-7, the Yankee 3B went 0 for 5. It's a frustrating feeling watching your teammates pile on the hits while you prove incapable of getting on base even once. It may have only been Little League in my case, but I did experience that feeling once before. My team won 25-3, but I was 0 for 3. I wanted to be happy that my team won, but I couldn't shake my disappointment with my own performance. It wasn't long after that I started pressing at the plate, which is something Rodriguez is already doing . . .

Yankees reliever Chad Gaudin's nickname should be "Hanging" because that is what most of his pitches do. Yesterday he was rocked for five hits and four runs in just two innings of work . . .

14 strikeouts in seven innings pitched, and a fastball that reached 100 m.p.h. more than once. I would say that Stephen Strasburg's introduction to the "Big Leagues" was successful . . .

The Red Sox continue to win. Last night in Boston's 3-2 win over the Indians, Tim Wakefield threw 7 1/3 innings to propel himself past Roger Clemens into first place for the most innings pitched in Red Sox history. Wakefield has now pitched 2,777 innings in a Red Sox uniform, one more than Clemens . . .

We haven't reached Father's Day yet and the Orioles are already 22 games out of first place . . .

However, the O's can find solace in that their -112 run differential is not the worst in baseball. That "accomplishment" is held by the Pittsburgh Pirates (-136) . . .

The Phillies scored 10 runs yesterday against the Marlins. Lately 10 runs is a week's worth of production for the defending NL Champions . . .

The Mets winning ways at Citi Field continue. Last night they won their ninth straight home game when Ike Davis hit a walk-off homer in the bottom of the 11th inning to beat the San Diego Padres 2-1 . . .

Mike Pelfrey earned his eighth win of the season, which puts him in a tie for second place with about 40 other pitchers for "Most Wins" in MLB . . .

Toronto has hit the most homers in the majors (97), while Seattle has hit the fewest (33) . . .

The San Diego Padres are the only team in baseball whose staff ERA is under 3.00 (2.99) . . . Arizona's ERA is 5.50 and opposing clubs are batting .286 against them. The only pitching staff with a worse "Batting Average Against" percentage is the Milwaukee Brewers (.288) . . .

According to ESPN.com Dallas Cowboys RB Marion Barber played the last 13 weeks of the 2009 season with a torn quad muscle. Barber is a punishing running back who enjoys steamrolling defenders as much as eluding them, so the toughness he displayed in playing with a severe injury is no surprise. I just hope his sacrifice for the team doesn't result in a shortened playing career. I have yet to see an NFL franchise reward a player for his willingness to play through injury. Those players are just as likely to be unceremoniously released when they no longer perform at the same level . . .

Here's an interesting NFL.com poll question. " Which 30-and-over running back will have a better 2010 season?" The choices are Larry Johnson, Chester Taylor, LaDainian Tomlinson, Brian Westbrook, and Ricky Williams. Of the 57,226 respondents, 36% selected Ricky Williams. Tomlinson finished second with 32% . . .

The NY Jets' 27-acre complex in Florham Park, NJ is featured in the June 2010 issue of Inc magazine . . .

Tell me this isn't an endorsement commercial just waiting to be filmed. Seahawks WR Golden Tate was nearly arrested on Saturday after being "caught trespassing in a Top Pot doughnut shop at 3 a.m." Tate was hungry and was looking for a late-night snack , so he allegedly snuck into the shop to swipe a few donuts. When he was asked why, he profusely apologized and confessed that the donuts are "irresistible" . . .

About the Author

I am a PR Specialist and writer who has publicized world champions such as Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield, and mega-events like Lewis-Tyson and De la Hoya-Vargas. Contact Donald Tremblay (The Rain Maker) at 718-664-3405 or at dtremblay@earthlink.net. For more info about me visit my LinkedIn Profile http://www.linkedin.com/in/donaldtremblay