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Tag: Baseball

  • AJ Burnett Pitching To Save Yankees Season, Twitter Reacts

    On December 18, 2008 the New York Yankess signed AJ Burnett to a five year $82.5 million contract. His first couple of seasons in pinstripes were successful, helping the team win the World Series in 2009 by winning game 2 of the series.

    During the 2010 season Burnett’s pitching was quite disastrous, as he went 10-15, 5.26 ERA. 2011 hasn’t been any better for the right-hander, as his record is 11-11 with a 5.15 ERA. The Yankees skipper, Joe Giradi, had removed the erratic Burnett from the post season rotation, but was forced to re-insert him for Game 4 after Game 1 was suspended for rain. Burnett was quoted as saying:

    “Believe it or not, I have pretty good confidence every start. I always go out believing I can throw a no-hitter, even last year when I couldn’t get out of the first inning. I had good games and bad games this season, but my confidence has never been a problem.”

    Although Burnett is confident in himself, his coach doesn’t seem to share the same sentiment. Giradi told ESPN that Burnett will likely have a very short leash. Die hard Yankees fans have flocked to Twitter to share their thoughts and their predictions on what will happen when Burnett takes the mound tonight… most of them are pure doom and gloom though:

    @MichaelSausto
    Michael     Aj burnett tonight on TBS… Not very funny 5 minutes ago via Twitter for iPhone · powered by @socialditto

    @word_czar
    Rob Reinalda    Hoping there was a typo and the Yanks will have Carol Burnett on the mound tonight, and not AJ Burnett. 1 minute ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    @KevinGPrice
    Kevin Price    Fill in the blank: AJ Burnett will _______________ tonight. 5 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    @JoeyMcCullough
    Joey McCullough    ***BREAKING NEWS!!!*** AJ Burnett has already given up a run to the Tigers. 41 seconds ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    @illogicalvulcan
    illogicalvulcan    So our entire season is dependent on AJ Burnett? What could possibly go wrong? 1 minute ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    @masnSteve
    Steve Melewski    For 82.5M million, shouldn’t the Yankees be able to count on AJ Burnett to at least save their season? 4 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    @SevenOhThree
    Valerie Moliterno    AJ Burnett is pitching tonight. God, help us all. 7 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    @sluz5511
    Mike S    Why doesnt anyone have confidence in aj burnett? Just take a look at his numbers… Oh, wait.. My bad 3 minutes ago via TwitBird · powered by @socialditto

    @MTH0707
    Mack Herlyn    AJ Burnett is pitching to save the Yankees’ season. #omfg 4 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    @Scott_Ian
    Scott Ian    Anyone else think it’s crazy that AJ Burnett makes more than Mariano & Jeter? AJ, no pressure tonight down 2-1. #biggestgameofyourcareer 1 minute ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    @MarkusESPNLV
    Matt Markus    Call me crazy but do not be surprised if AJ Burnett throws a GEM tonight. #MLB #Postseason 3 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    @nicoletenzer
    Nicole Tenzer    AJ Burnett, I’m BEGGING YOU, please win this game. 1 minute ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    How do you think AJ Burnett will do tonight? Let us know your thoughts.

  • Jerry Meals’ Braves/Pirates Call Controversy Spawns Amazing Twitter Trend

    We all know that officiating error is a part of most popular sports. Whether it is a poor strike three call on the outside corner, a referee missing an obvious traveling violation or a back judge calling a ridiculous offsides, human error is part of professional sports.

    In a way, it adds more excitement to the game. Would you want a robot calling balls and strikes? I sure wouldn’t.

    The latest sporting controversy involves a call by a home plate umpire in last night’s marathon MLB game between the Atlanta Braves and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

    The game ended in the 19th inning with a much disputed “safe” call at the plate on a runner that appears to be out by at least 3 or 4 steps. Many on the internet are calling this the “worst call in the history of sports.”

    Here’s the situation: Game tied at 3-3 in the bottom of the 19th inning. Men on 2nd and 3rd with one out for the Braves. Chopper to third base, the runner goes. The throw to home clearly beats Julio Lugo by a mile. The sweeping tag appears to get Lugo’s leg, but to everyone’s shock the umpire calls him safe.

    The Pirates appear perplexed, quite understandably.

    Here’s the video from the final play of the game –

    What do you think? Did the tag get Lugo, making this a comically horrible call? Or did Lugo escape the tag, making this one of the better calls I’ve ever seen?

    Lugo said he didn’t feel the tag in the postgame interviews. “He made the right call, I got in there,” he said.

    Either way, the Twitterverse is decidedly holding the belief that home plate umpire Jerry Meals made the wrong call and an incredible trending hashtag has emerged: #jerrymealssaysitssafe.

    Here are some of the best tweets –

    @CharlesPaulKane
    Charlie Kane    I’m playing Oblivion. I’m going to take off all my armor, discard my weapons and attack guards. Why? #jerrymealssaysitssafe 25 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® · powered by @socialditto

    @mgosnik
    Michael Gosnik    #jerrymealssaysitssafe for playstation 3 users to type in their personal info for online play. 38 minutes ago via Twitter for iPhone · powered by @socialditto

    @Lifes_Spectator
    Hayden Karnitz    Letting Casey Anthony babysit your kid #jerrymealssaysitssafe. 43 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    @jesslag
    Jessica L    Gonna cross these mountains with my new friends the Donners #jerrymealssaysitssafe 1 hour ago via Twitter for iPhone · powered by @socialditto

    @hamsandcastle
    George Dubsteb Bush    An island full of dinosaurs in captivity? Count me in! #jerrymealssaysitssafe 1 hour ago via HTC Peep · powered by @socialditto

    @kystokes
    Kyle Stokes    Gonna wait until the last minute to raise the debt ceiling cuz #jerrymealssaysitssafe 3 minutes ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    @scottlowder
    Scott Lowder    Sure NewsCorp, buy MySpace for 580 million dollars. #jerrymealssaysitssafe 1 minute ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    And the winner for both most timely and most insensitive goes to –

    @THEjoelowry
    Joe Lowry    Amy Winehouse doing drugs. #JerryMealsSaysItsSafe 1 minute ago via Twitter for iPad · powered by @socialditto

    The game last night, despite the controversial ending, made history. Clocking in at 6 hours and 39 minutes, it was the longest ever for both the Braves and the Pirates.

    Do you think it’s safe for Jim Joyce to come out now?

  • Roger Clemens Mistrial Fails To Please The Internet

    Fallen baseball star Roger Clemens, one of the poster boys of the steroid era, has just been given the law equivalent of a called third strike off the outside corner – or maybe more like a no decision.

    Today, the judge presiding over his perjury trial declared a mistrial, based on rookie mistakes by the prosecution team.

    U.S. District Court Judge Reggie Walton stopped the prosecution right in the middle of a video that they were showing the jury. That video, of Clemens’ 2008 testimony before congress, contained the mention of a piece of evidence that Walton had previous ruled inadmissible.

    Friend and former NY Yankee teammate Andy Pettitte went on record and said that Clemens told him about his steroid use back in 1999. Although Clemens denied that claim, Pettitte says that he told his wife, Laura, about the admission.

    Judge Walton previously disallowed prosecutors the chance to bring Laura Pettitte in to testify in the current trial, saying that he didn’t want her to testify because she hadn’t actually spoken with Clemens herself.

    That video that the Judge stopped today of Clemen’s 2008 congressional hearing included a mention of Laura Pettitte’s statements by Representative Elijah Cummings.

    This did not fly with Judge Walton. He said that didn’t know how to “un-ring the bell.”

    “I think that a first-year law student would know that you can’t bolster the credibility of one witness with clearly inadmissible evidence,” Walton said.

    Ouch.

    The Judge went on to say that he “can’t in good faith leave this case where a man’s liberty is at risk.”

    The interwebs are not as concerned with procedure. Although I don’t see the vitriolic response associated with another recent trial outcome, it’s still disgruntled. Here’s some Twitter response –

    @dmar
    Dan Martinez    When judge starts sentence w/ “I think that a 1st-year law student would know…..” that’s not good for lawyer http://es.pn/qOSEgE #clemens 27 minutes ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    @FireRunner
    Henry C.    Really? Prosecutors in Roger Clemens make a “first year law student” mistake and Clemens walks clean due to mistrial. #Clemens #fail 25 minutes ago via Twitterrific for Mac · powered by @socialditto

    @robixsmash
    robix smash    It’s a good thing we spent all of that money on the Roger Clemens trial, eh? #fail 26 minutes ago via Twitter for iPhone · powered by @socialditto

    @BryanMolyneux
    Bryan    Did Roger Clemens just get extremely lucky? #mistrial #Steroids 26 minutes ago via Twitter for Android · powered by @socialditto

    @jaycohen007
    Jay T. Cohen    Judge Grants Roger Clemens A Mistrial. So, where’s your outrage now, Nancy Grace?! 9 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    @BorowitzReport
    Andy Borowitz    Roger Clemens, celebrating his steroid case being declared a mistrial, throws car across parking lot. 34 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    The hearing to decide on whether a new trial will be held will occur on September 2nd

  • Home Run Derby Becomes More Social Media Friendly

    Professional Sports organizations are notoriously cautious when it comes to their players’ interactions with social media. And rightly so, as athletes have continued to fail at social media in various ways and to various degrees since the middle of the last decade. If you need a refresher, think Santonio Holmes’ suicide request of another Twitter user or Larry Johnson’s gay slur problems.

    If you need more recent examples, I present to you the genius of Kenny Britt and the 9/11 – Osama Bin Laden fueled rants of Rashard Mendenhall.

    In an effort to control what is broadcast by their players, the NFL has implemented a tweet-free environment when it comes to actual league events. The NBA later followed suit. Last week, the NBA further restricted Twitter during the lockout, suggesting that contact between players and teams on the social media platform could result in a million dollar fine.

    But Major League Baseball is taking steps to further integrate social media with its players and is not only allowing Facebook and Twitter updates during this year’s All-Star festivities, but encouraging it.

    A select group of players will be live-tweeting the Home Run Derby tonight. These players include both participants and spectating players. Here’s the list from MLB.com –

    [David] Ortiz (@davidortiz), [Jose] Bautista (@JoeyBats19) and [Matt] Kemp (@TheRealMattKemp) will be tweeting on their accounts during the course of the event as participants, and so will other gathered All-Stars including Heath Bell (@HeathBell21), Gio Gonzalez (@GioGonzalez47), Hunter Pence (@HunterPence9), Brandon Phillips (@DatDudeBP), Gaby Sanchez (@GabySanchez215), Justin Upton (@RealJustinUpton), C.J. Wilson (@str8edgeracer), Howie Kendrick (@HKendrick47) and Joel Hanrahan (@hanrahan4457).

    @str8edgeracer
    C.J. Wilson    Just got off the phone – apparently I’ll be shooting HD video and sick photos during the Home Run Derby! And tweet live about it! #mlb 3 days ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® · powered by @socialditto

    Players that aren’t already heavily involved in Twitter will be participating in the live-tweeting (read: talking smack) via official MLB accounts like @MLB and @MLB_PLAYERS. Participants and spectators are both being encouraged by the MLB to interact with Facebook during the competition.

    If players don’t have their own mobile devices to post with during the Derby, they can use designated social media station set up on the field. These stations will have laptops, tablets and cameras. Everyone (including fans) us being asked to use the hashtag #HRDerby when discussing the event on Twitter.

    Between batters, some of the live-tweets will be shown on the big screen at Chase Field as they roll in.

    The Home Run Derby will air at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN. It will also be broadcast as a live stream on mlb.com and espn3.com.

    [Image Courtesy mlbreports]

  • YouTube Seals Its Biggest “Premium Sports” Deal Yet

    Baseball fans in Japan and four other countries have reason to celebrate today.  A record-breaking deal involving YouTube and Major League Baseball has been struck, and as a result, said fans will gain access to lots and lots of footage.

    In an email to WebProNews, a YouTube representative provided some more details in the form of bullet points.  One highlight is that "[f]ull-length, catch-up MLB games [will be] available in Japan 36 hours after they air."  Historic game footage will be offered, too, along with profiles of Japanese players.

    That’s almost bound to go over well, since baseball is quite popular in Japan.

    Furthermore, according to the representative, "Baseball fans in Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, and Russia [will get] access to the full range of MLB’s highlight clips and archives on YouTube," and both organizations hope this will increase local interest in the sport.

    YouTube Logo

    Anyway, regardless of what occurs next or how baseball’s perceived in any particular area, this arrangement is supposed to represent "the largest partnership for premium sports content in YouTube history," making it quite significant.

    Other large, sports-related deals YouTube’s managed to complete involved cricket and wrestling of the not-quite-real variety.