MLB Week in Review (September 13-19)
It has been a strange few weeks in professional sports as controversy seems to follow almost every major league. The National Football League has been haunted by controversy after controversy at the start of their season. They have yet to have a week without a major off-field incident that has put the league in jeopardy. The MLB has had their own set of controversy as they always do in every season. In a period where they are still dealing with PED issues there are never a season where the MLB does not deal with some type of controversy. Yet still this season it seemed to be more on the side than just baseball and the controversy on the field. The Despite the usual issues that the MLB has always dealt they have stayed out of the headlines for the majority of the year until now. This week the off-field issues that the MLB has dealt with moved beyond PED use and into the realm that the NFL has been dealing with. It was never as serious as child abuse or domestic abuse but it was something aside from PEDS. Only a few weeks ago Ron Washington left the Texas Rangers after seven years as their manager. While the manager of the Rangers Washington led the team to plenty of success and helped them become one of the best teams in the MLB. This year it did not go the way that they were used to as the Rangers fell to the bottom of the league under Washington. A few weeks ago Washington announced that he was stepping away from baseball and the Texas Rangers. It was a bit of strange timing for the longtime manager but many assumed that the losing season had taken its toll and that he was ready to step away from the game or at least take a break. This week the reason for leaving became clear after speculation began to build. The resignation had been reportedly due to the assault of a beat reporter for the Rangers. Media outlets began looking into these reports as Washington’s legacy as one of the great baseball men was quickly evaporating. This week Washington cleared things up and although it was better than an assault on a woman it was not great. Washington revealed that he had cheated on his wife and had left the Rangers to reconcile with his family. It was another controversy in professional sports as the veil has clearly been broken between the heroes on the field and the people they are off of the field. The Washington was just the latest in this trend and as the NFL starts to deal with their issues, the MLB continues to deal with their own. It has been a constant in the MLB with PEDs always being the big story. If Washington’s confession of his transgressions off of the field are just the tip of the iceberg for the MLB it could be a dangerous road that the league is starting on. With the NFL going through their own issues right now, Washington’s admittance of his cheating may have many thinking what is next. The state of the sports world is in a bad spot right now and the MLB will try to stay out of the controversy despite the recent developments in Texas. As the MLB continues to march towards the postseason they are hoping to put this behind them and begin focusing on baseball. The race for the postseason is coming to an end while one of the faces of baseball for the last decade is set to end his career and that is what baseball wants to focus on instead of these off-field issues. If that is all they have to deal with in the end of their season they will be lucky as other leagues are falling into the dangerous waters and baseball tries to avoid it in the most important part of their season.
Extra Innings
(More on the week that was in the MLB)
Stroman Suspended
Marcus Stroman has taken the Blue Jays by storm in his rookie season but this week he did not have the best time as he was suspended 6 games and fined for throwing at the head of Caleb Joseph although he will appeal the suspension
Jeter’s Farewell
As the season closes out Derek Jeter is winding down his career and he made a great last impression at home breaking the power drought at Yankee Stadium as it marked his first home run of the season at home
Umpire Suspension
Suspensions are usually handed out to players for any number of issues but there are rarely umpires on the suspension announcement although that changed this week when Joe West was suspended for putting his hands on Jonathan Papelbon while arguing with the pitcher
Key Scores:
Los Angeles Dodgers 17 – 0 San Francisco Giants
– The Dodgers and Giants are once again fighting for the West division but this is not the fight that the Giants wanted to show as they were easily out-hit in a big win for the Dodgers that extended their lead in the West
Baltimore Orioles 8 – 2 Toronto Blue Jays
– The Orioles were not expected to have this type of season as many expected them to compete for the division title until the end but that was not the case as the O’s took the AL East with this win against the Jays
Washington Nationals 3 – 0 Atlanta Braves
– The Nationals and Braves have been fighting for the NL East all season and finally it was the Nationals who took the division crown with a win against the Braves that gave them their second division crown
Los Angeles Angels 5 – 0 Seattle Mariners
– The Oakland Athletics were the rulers of the AL West for the last two years and were the leaders this year but it was the Angles who beat the Mariners and took the title earning the division title
Next Week:
Seattle Mariners vs. Houston Astros (Saturday September 20th; 7:10 pm ET)
– The Mariners are still in the fight as they hope to end a long postseason drought but they will need to continue winning if they hope to win a wild card spot this year and facing the Astros should help them get closer to a spot
Cleveland Indians vs. Kansas City Royals (Monday September 22nd; 7:05 pm ET)
– The Royals had a great start to the second half of the season that put them into the top of the Central division but now they are fighting to get back to the lead while the Indians are hoping to play spoilers
San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (Wednesday September 24th; 10:10 pm ET)
– The Dodgers have clinched a postseason spot but they are still trying to clinch the division while the Giants are trying to take the title for themselves in an important matchup between the two divisional rivals
Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Cincinnati Reds (Friday September 26th; 7:10 pm ET)
– The Pirates did not seem like they would be ready for the postseason at the start of the season but now they are in a position to clinch a wild card spot while the Reds are trying to take them out of that spot
The Sport Addiction 