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KLMNO BASEBALL
Ortiz powers up in final round to win his first Home Run Derby
by Greg Beacham
anaheim, calif. — Boston slugger David Ortiz won his first Home Run Derby title Monday night, hitting 11 homers in the fi- nal round to beat Florida’s Han- ley Ramírez at Angel Stadium. “Big Papi” added another high- light to his resurgent season with a relentless series of drives into the elevated stands above the right-field wall. Ortiz hit 21 ho- mers in the first two rounds of his fourth derby before holding off Ramírez and beating a field miss- ing most of the majors’ top power hitters. Ortiz said the title means a lot to him, and he dedicated his per- formance to former major league pitcher Jose Lima, a fellow Do- minican Republic native who passed away in May after para- medics found him in cardiac ar-
rest at his Southern California home.
“I wanted to come here and
make sure the fans enjoy what we do,” Ortiz said. Ramirez matched Ortiz’s 21 ho- mers in the first two rounds, pull- ing most of his shots over the left- field wall. But Ortiz became just the second slugger to reach dou- ble digits in the final round, while Ramirez managed only five. Milwaukee’s Corey Hart and
Detroit slugger Miguel Cabrera were eliminated in the second round, with Hart failing to con- nect after hitting 13 in the open- ing round. Ortiz hit 13 in the sec- ond round, including nine in his first 12 swings. With Yankees bench coach
Tony Peña feeding fastballs straight into his wheelhouse, Or- tiz coolly outslugged his younger competitors to win in his first derby appearance since 2006. He
reached the semifinals that year and in 2005. He hadn’t been back in the
field since — and Ortiz’s entire ca- reer was on the skids after he struggled in 2009 and again in April of this season. Boston’s be- loved slugger is back on his game with 18 homers and 57 RBI this season, earning his sixth all-star berth. The derby field at Angel Stadi- um wasn’t exactly a murderers’ row, featuring five first-time com- petitors and no returning cham- pions. Ryan Howard, Albert Pujols,
Alex Rodriguez and defending champion Prince Fielder all sat out. So did major league homers leader Jose Bautista, NL co-lead- ers Adam Dunn and Joey Votto, and Josh Hamilton, who hit 28 homers in a single round at Yan- kee Stadium two years ago. — Associated Press
TUESDAY, JULY 13, 2010
ALEX GALLARDO/REUTERS Boston’s David Ortiz swats one of his 11 homers in the final round, besting Florida’s Hanley Ramírez. National League counting on its aces to end skid all-star game from D1
est since 1992, while the AL mark of 4.21 is the lowest since 1991. The first half of the season wit- nessed four no-hitters, including two perfect games (and that’s not counting the one by Detroit’s Ar- mando Galarraga that was wiped out by an infamous umpire’s call). It saw 46-year-old Jamie Moyer become the oldest pitcher in his- tory to throw a shutout, and it saw 21-year-old Stephen Strasburg be- come the first pitcher in history to strike out at least 14 batters with- out a single walk in his major league debut.
Above all, it has been the year of young aces, from Jiménez to Johnson to Lincecum in the Na- tional League, to Tampa Bay’s Da- vid Price, Boston’s Jon Lester and New York’s Phil Hughes in the American League. All are repre- sented on the league’s respective rosters Tuesday night, with Price earning the starting nod in the American League. “I think it’s incred-
ible,” said Yankees Man- ager Joe Girardi, who will manage the American League squad. “You see so many young kids that are pitching at such a high level. . . . I think it’s the time of the pitcher right now. It seemed like 15 years ago, it was a time of young shortstops, and other times, it seems there’s an influx of great, young talent in outfielders. But right now, the influx of young pitching in baseball is incredible.” The outcome of the all-star game tends to reflect its era. In 1998, the year Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa staged their storied, steroids-fueled home run race, the midsummer classic (at Den- ver’s Coors Field) was a 13-8 slug- fest — won of course, by the Amer- ican League. From 1998 to 2005 (the year before baseball began penalizing first-time steroids us- ers), the all-star game saw an average of 11.5 runs per game. Since then, the teams have aver- aged just seven runs per game. “I think it’s just one of those
crazy things in baseball that hap- pens,” said Florida’s Johnson, who this season posted eight consec- utive starts in which he allowed one earned run or less. “You can’t explain it. But it’s good to hear about the pitching for a change. It’s been more about home runs for the last 10 years.” Why has the game’s balance of power shifted to pitching? The most obvious answer is the in-
NATIONAL LEAGUE
SS Hanley Ramírez, Florida 2B Martin Prado, Atlanta 1B Albert Pujols, St. Louis DH Ryan Howard, Philadelphia 3B David Wright, N.Y. Mets LF Ryan Braun, Milwaukee CF Andre Ethier, L.A. Dodgers RF Corey Hart, Milwaukee C Yadier Molina, St. Louis
RHP Ubaldo Jiménez, Colorado
All-Star Game starting lineups AVG. HR RBI
AMERICAN LEAGUE
.301 13 53 .325 10 39 .308 21 64 .294 17 65 .314 14 65 .292 13 54 .324 14 54 .288 21 65
.223 3 33 W-L ERA Ks
15-1 2.20 113
NL Reserves:C Brian McCann (Atlanta); 1B Adrian Gonzalez (San Diego); 1B Joey Votto (Cincinnati) ; 2B Brandon Phillips (Cincinnati) ; 2B ChaseUtley (Philadelphia) ; SS Rafael Furcal (Atlanta) ; SS José Reyes (N.Y. Mets) ; SS Troy Tulowitzki (Colorado); 3B Omar Infante (Atlanta); 3B Scott Rolen (Cincinnati); LF Matt Holliday (St. Louis); CF Michael Bourn (Houston); CF Marlon Byrd (Chicago Cubs); RF Jason Heyward (Atlanta); RHP Chris Young (San Diego); RHP Heath Bell, RHP Jonathan Broxton (L.A. Dodgers); LHP Hong-Chih Kuo (Dodgers); RHP Matt Capps (Washington); RHP Chris Carpenter (St. Louis) ; RHP Yovani Gallardo (San Diego); RHP Roy Halladay (Philadelphia); RHP Tim Hudson (Atlanta); RHP Josh Johnson (Florida); RHP Evan Meek (Pittsburgh); RHP Adam Wainwright (St. Louis); RHP Tim Lincecum (San Francisco); RHP Brian Wilson (San Francisco); LHP Arthur Rhodes (Cincinnati).
RF Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle SS Derek Jeter, N.Y. Yankees 1B Miguel Cabrera, Detroit CF Josh Hamilton, Texas DH Vladimir Guerrero, Texas 3B Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay C Joe Mauer, Minnesota
LHP David Price, Tampa Bay
AVG. HR RBI .326 3 24
.274 8 43 .346 22 77 .346 22 64 .319 20 75 .300 13 61 .293 4 35
2B Robinson Canó, N.Y. Yankees .336 16 58 LF Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay
.321 11 50 W-L ERA Ks 12-4 2.42 100
AL Reserves: C John Buck (Toronto); C Victor Martínez (Boston); 1B Paul Konerko (Chicago White Sox); 1B Justin Morneau (Minnesota); 2B Dustin Pedroia (Boston); 2B Ian Kinsler (Texas); 2B Ty Wigginton (Baltimore); SS Elvis Andrus (Texas); 3B Adrián Beltre (Boston); 3B Alex Rodriguez (N.Y. Yankees); CF Vernon Wells (Toronto); CF Torii Hunter (L.A. Angels); CF Vernon Wells (Toronto); RF José Bautista (Toronto); RF Nick Swisher (N.Y. Yankees); DH David Ortiz (Boston); RHP Andrew Bailey (Oakland); RHP Trevor Cahill (Oakland); RHP Clay Buchholz (Boston); RHP Fausto Carmona (Cleveland); RHP Neftali Feliz (Texas); LHP Cliff Lee (Texas) ; LHP Jon Lester (Boston); RHP Phil Hughes (N.Y. Yankees); LHP Andy Pettitte (N.Y. Yankees); RHP Mariano Rivera (N.Y. Yankees) ; LHP CC Sabathia (N.Y. Yankees); RHP Joakim Soria (Kansas City); RHP Rafael Soriano (Tampa Bay); LHP Matt Thornton (Chicago White Sox); RHP José Valverde (Detroit); RHP Justin Verlander (Detroit); RHP Jered Weaver (L.A. Angels)
St. Louis’s Albert Pujols will hit third for Manager Charlie Manuel, while Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera will do the same for Manager Joe Girardi.
ALL-STAR NOTEBOOK
Strasburg’s not around, but he’s drawing raves
by Dave Sheinin
anaheim, calif. — Though Stephen Strasburg is spending the all-star break in relative peace and quiet some 100 miles south of Angel Stadium, the Washington Nationals’ phenom is very much on the minds of the assembled all- stars, many of whom have watched Strasburg’s starts on television in clubhouses across the league since his memorable debut a month ago. “Incredible,” New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez said about Strasburg on Monday, dur- ing media availability on the eve of Tuesday night’s All-Star Game. “He’s really amazing. I just hope [the Nationals] allow him to grow at his own pace and mature nicely, because he’s an amazing talent.” Major League Baseball re- vealed over the weekend that some 78,000 Strasburg jerseys were sold in the month of June, more than that of any other play- er. MLB also took the unprec- edented step of selling his jersey at FanFest during all-star week. That will come as no surprise to
Strasburg’s fellow big leaguers, who seem just as fascinated by him as the general public is. “You look at the guys with great
ROBERT GALBRAITH/REUTERS
creasingly stringent drug-testing policy. However, as many observ- ers quickly point out, pitchers used the same drugs as hitters did during the so-called Steroids Era. Another explanation is that young pitchers today get better training as amateurs and as minor lea- guers, and thus arrive in the ma- jors as nearly finished products. “The command and how to pitch — these guys, they are defi- nitely taught more and they can handle situations better,” said NL Manager Charlie Manuel of the Philadelphia Phillies. “And I think that you’re going to see that in the near future, [they] just keep get- ting better.”
Added New York’s Hughes: “I think it’s something we haven’t seen a lot of in the past. A lot of guys in the past, when they were kids growing up they wanted to be hitters. Now I think it’s cool to be pitchers.” The influx of young pitching has caused a wave of turnover on the all-star rosters. Of the 16 pitchers on the National League roster (including injured ones who won’t participate), seven are first-time all-stars, including Washington Nationals closer Matt Capps. On the American League side, 10 of the 18 pitchers are first- timers. “There are a lot of new faces
LEON HALIP/GETTY IMAGES
here,” said Detroit Tigers right- hander Justin Verlander. “It’s a cy- clical game, and this is a wave of young pitching. And it’s nice to see the guys coming up and being represented.” This would be the perfect year, in other words, for a 1-0 all-star game — something the game hasn’t seen since 1968. That was the year Bob Gibson posted his 1.12 ERA and Denny McLain won 31 games, and the writers dubbed the whole thing the Year of the Pitcher. This year, the year of the pitch- er is still lowercase. But there is still a long ways to go.
sheinind@washpost.com THOMAS BOSWELL Powerful young arms may help National League level the playing field boswell from D1
Manager Whitey Herzog was asked whether he let a young pitcher absorb a seven-run third inning because the eventual 13-3 AL win seemed desperately need- ed for the health of the game. He denied it, but never stopped smil- ing. These days, the gap seems much smaller; the last four AL wins were all by one run. So, if the arrival of a wave of power pitching arms really does tilt decidedly toward the NL, it could even por- tend the next switch in the all-star balance, now or soon. “There’s no question we have some big arms on our team and with command, too,” said Chris Carpenter who, with fellow Cardi- nals curveballer Adam Wain- wright, has crazy-good stuff. “Ubaldo has that nasty sinker and change-up that he can throw to spots. Josh Johnson has sink, cut, control to both sides of the plate.”
Oh, the AL has plenty of quality pitchers, too, with young, blos- soming Tampa Bay southpaw Da- vid Price starting, and more left- ies, such as Jon Lester and CC Sa- bathia, behind him. But, come mid-July, nobody has a clear in- timidation advantage — anymore. Probably because of the desig-
nated hitter rule, the AL evolved into a power-pitching league as nibbling hurlers gravitated to the less-demanding NL — the land where pitchers hit, managers played for one run and sacrifice bunts provided free outs. But, given time, the actual evo- lution of the species seems to have outrun this mere baseball trend. “I know this isn’t a news flash, but athletes keep getting bigger, stron- ger and faster,” said San Diego Manager Bud Black, whose staff leads major league baseball in ERA. “Velocities are higher than they were eight to 10 years ago. The average major league fastball is now 91 mph. It used to be 88-90.
“So, teams have changed their scouting scales. Baseball in gener- al is looking for power pitching, the ability to produce strikeouts. You need big arms,” added Black, who has amassed an almost ridic- ulous bullpen with the kind of speed you used to see only in a closer and setup man. “Even in the last six months, the conversation’s shifted more. That’s where the game is now.” The starting pitching matchup is symbolic: two stars who’ve blos- somed this season in Jiménez and Price, 24, who, according to Andy Pettitte, “has made the biggest jump I’ve ever seen a young pitch- er make in one season.”
Baseball could wish for no bet- ter trend because it’s all-star game has problems aplenty. Since a win in ’87, the NL has gone 3-18-1. Cou- ple that with lopsided results in interleague play, a disparity that isn’t as great this year, and you have the illusion that the NL is ac- tually Class AAA baseball. Players
don’t think the gap is terribly wide. But it’s public opinion that matters. As if that weren’t bad enough, over the last half-dozen years, many of the game’s most famous or notorious names have retired or gone into eclipse. In ’04, Ken Griffey Jr., Roger Clemens, Tom Glavine, Iván Rodríguez, Mike Pi- azza, Barry Bonds, Manny Ramí- rez and others topped the mar- quee with what were thought at the time to be lock Hall of Fame credentials.
Out of 68 players here this week, only three have, or are virtu- ally certain to get, Cooperstown credentials and also have no ster- oid taint at all: Derek Jeter, Ichiro Suzuki and Albert Pujols. A dec- ade ago in Atlanta, the number would’ve been more like 12 to 15. “It’s been like that for a few years now,” said Jeter. “But how do you know these other guys aren’t going to end up in the Hall?” Several almost certainly will.
“Players like Joe Mauer and Ev-
an Longoria — they are the faces of our game now,” said Alex Rodri- guez. “I’m going to be a fan of the sport, watching them, for a long time after I stop playing it.” But in a period when one of the
game’s most talented players, Hanley Ramírez, has to apologize to his whole team for flagrant fail- ure to hustle, it would be reassur- ing if 10 certified adult immortals were here. They aren’t. Instead, what baseball has is a lot of fine players in their prime and, sud- denly, an explosion of pitching. “Hopefully, it’s not The Year of the Pitcher, just the First Half of the Pitcher,” said Jeter, grinning. “But you keep seeing no-hitters, perfect games, or near-misses. And there are just a lot more pow- er arms.” The changes have happened so fast that even Lincecum senses what’s happened in the last five years. “You see more pitchers who are
engineered to be major leaguers now. They are more polished, use their secondary pitches more at a young age,” he said. “I was a fast- ball-curve guy when I came up. Coaches pressured me to work on my change-up in college, but I didn’t. Now, it’s one of my best pitches.” Much of the talk here is of pitchers who haven’t even made an all-star team yet. Not just Latos and Strasburg, who are already dominating, but kids who are barely known to many fans. For example, a pair of Reds pitchers — Mike Leake, 22, who’s 6-1, and Tra- vis Wood, 23, who took a perfect game into the ninth inning Satur- day in the third start of his career. Yes, two more National Leaguers. “These young pitchers now are just so advanced,” Pettitte said. Or as Lincecum says, as he looks forward to Tuesday night, “Right now, it’s just one big show- time.”
boswellt@washpost.com
stuff, and he just blows everyone out of the water,” said Yankees right-hander Phil Hughes, a first- time all-star. “And he has a great idea how to pitch, which is amaz- ing for a guy his age. I’m still de- veloping a change-up and he’s got a lights-out one. It really makes everyone else look like B players.” Matt Capps, Strasburg’s Na- tionals teammate and the organi- zation’s lone all-star, put forth the majority opinion that, for all of Strasburg’s ability, he had not done enough yet to qualify for an all-star berth. “He has the physical talent and
ability, without a doubt,” Capps said. “But there are a lot of deserv- ing people, and a lot of deserving people through the years who never got here. I don’t think the track record is there to say [he] should be here. But as far as the talent, I think this will be the last three-day vacation he has in a long time.”
Rough start for Capps Capps’s all-star experience got
off to a rough start, as his flight out of Washington on Sunday night was delayed slightly, forcing Capps and his wife Jennifer to run through Dallas/Fort Worth Airport to make their connecting flight to Orange County. By the time they arrived at their hotel, they were too tired to do anything except sleep. “I was looking forward to hit- ting that pillow,” Capps said, “and as I did, it seemed like it was morning.” As of early Monday afternoon, Capps said he had not been told what his role in the NL’s bullpen would be, and said he didn’t care if NL Manager Charlie Manuel picked him to pitch the ninth in- ning. “That’s up to Mr. Manuel,” Capps said. “If he gives me the ball, it’ll be an honor and I’ll go in there and do it. If he doesn’t, and we got to the bottom of the ninth, I’ll be cheering my tail off.”
Lee wants stability
Texas Rangers lefty Cliff Lee, who was traded over the weekend for the third time in less than a year, did not want to discuss his pending free agency after the sea- son. But he did say he will be seeking a no-trade clause from whichever team he signs with. “I think every player wants
that: stability,” Lee said. “You want to have control of your fu- ture if you can. As much as I’ve bounced around, that’s definitely going to be something I’m after in that situation.”
Beltre’s status uncertain
AL Manager Joe Girardi caused some confusion Monday morning by announcing Boston Red Sox third baseman Adrián Beltre had been scratched from the Amer- ican League’s AL’s roster due to a pulled hamstring and replaced by Texas’s Michael Young — only to be contradicted later by Beltre himself, who said he had not de- cided whether to withdraw. “They announced it without telling me,” Beltre said. “I think I’m going to play and be on the ac- tive roster.” An MLB official said Girardi’s announcement had been made prematurely, and that Beltre would test his leg during Mon- day’s workout before making a decision on his playing status.
sheinind@washpost.com
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