It seems the last half dozen years or so no matter how great he has been, he has always been overshadowed by other pitchers. No doubt Clayton Kershaw probably has the best stuff of any hurler in baseball today and deserved to start tonight as much as AW, but Matheny's bunch outlasted Mattingly's last October and no one can fault him for going with his guy. Wainwright truly fits the definition an "ace". Anybody that has watched him pitch going back to fooling Beltran in the 2006 NLCS with probably the best 12-6 curveball in postseason history knows that arm surgery has robbed him several MPH when he was at his peak, but he is an even better pitcher now. There is arguably no better competitor in sports today, and on top of the best curveball in baseball he probably works the edges of the strike zone as well as any pitcher since Greg Maddux. He doesn't get near the media fanfare that he would if he played on one of the coasts, but he is truly a master at his craft and a joy to watch pitch.
I was upset when Walt Jocketty traded JD Drew back in December of 2003 for a couple of journeymen and some AA pitcher i had never heard of. Thats one time Ive never been so glad to be wrong.
Its hard to believe this it for Derek Jeter. I've never really been a Yankee fan but other than probably Chipper Jones I've never respected a non-Cardinal as much as I have Jeter. Seems like a couple years ago he was going head first into the stands for a foul ball and a couple nights later somehow cut a throw off in foul territory on the first base line and made a perfect flip to to home to get out Jeremy Giambi. That play, along with Wainwright striking out Beltran and Joe Carter hitting the walkoff to win the 93 World Series are probably the three most memorable post season plays of my lifetime. David Freese's walk off in game 6 of the 2011 World Series and Albert Pujols hitting a Brad Lidge curveball off of the International Space Station in 2005 are honorable mentions. There may be a slight bias in my selections but I think most will agree, although they may have them ranked differently.
I was upset when Walt Jocketty traded JD Drew back in December of 2003 for a couple of journeymen and some AA pitcher i had never heard of. Thats one time Ive never been so glad to be wrong.
Its hard to believe this it for Derek Jeter. I've never really been a Yankee fan but other than probably Chipper Jones I've never respected a non-Cardinal as much as I have Jeter. Seems like a couple years ago he was going head first into the stands for a foul ball and a couple nights later somehow cut a throw off in foul territory on the first base line and made a perfect flip to to home to get out Jeremy Giambi. That play, along with Wainwright striking out Beltran and Joe Carter hitting the walkoff to win the 93 World Series are probably the three most memorable post season plays of my lifetime. David Freese's walk off in game 6 of the 2011 World Series and Albert Pujols hitting a Brad Lidge curveball off of the International Space Station in 2005 are honorable mentions. There may be a slight bias in my selections but I think most will agree, although they may have them ranked differently.
