MLB – A pretty even World Series is expected from Giants and Rangers

MLB News

Jordin Sparks greets Christina-Taylor Green’s family – 2011 MLB All-Star Game

We attended the 2011 MLB All-Star Game at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. The pre-game ceremony honored the victims of the January 8, 2011 shooting in Tucson Arizona.

mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110712&content_id=…
PHOENIX — John Green said his daughter, Christina-Taylor Green, would have been right here at Chase Field on Tuesday, watching the 82nd All-Star Game with rapt attention.

"Oh, she definitely would have been here," Green said. "This is definitely right down her alley."

Christina, 9, the granddaughter of former Major League pitcher, manager and executive Dallas Green, was the youngest of six victims shot and killed in a Jan. 8 shooting in Tucson, Ariz. On Tuesday night, a moment of silence was held for victims of the tragedy, and the names of those lost were shown on the giant scoreboard in center field.

In a moving pregame ceremony, John Green and his wife, Roxanna, were escorted by All-Star managers Bruce Bochy and Ron Washington to home plate, where they delivered the lineup card.

"It was very emotional, but it was a fitting place to honor our daughter and the other families who lost people in the Tucson tragedy," John Green told MLB.com while sitting behind the first-base dugout along with Roxanna and their son, Dallas. "Our baseball community got behind us. We always felt that, but one thing, it showed the other families how good the baseball industry is at taking care of people. We appreciate it. It meant a lot to us for our son to be here. Christina would have loved to have been here."

"We’re very honored to be here," Roxanna added.

During the pregame ceremony, Daniel Hernandez, the local hero who helped save the life of U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords during the shooting, threw out the ceremonial first pitch along with Hall of Fame broadcaster Joe Garagiola.

"The whole week, actually, having my son and wife involved, was special," said John Green, a Dodgers scout. "We’re with Danny Hernandez again, who was with us for the State of the Union address, and all of the events that surrounded the Tucson tragedy. It was nice seeing other people who went through all of that. It’s kind of a healing thing.

"We still miss our daughter unbelievably. One of the things we didn’t want is for people to forget. Maybe they learned whatever lessons you can learn from these things."

The Greens asked people to continue to help The Christina-Taylor Green Memorial Foundation by visiting Christina-TaylorGreen.org.

"Anyone who wants to contribute or buy the merchandise we have for sale there, they have to reach out to the website," Roxanna said.

"Christina is kind of our beacon of hope, born on 9/11, and then she passed away during this tragedy," John said. "But with her foundation we are running, we are doing things helping those less fortunate — things she would have been involved with. Helping school children with all the budget cuts and things like that, we’re trying to give back to the community in that way. That’s something Christina would have been proud of."

The Greens said they especially enjoyed the ceremony, because of what it meant to little Dallas.

"They were nice," John said of Bochy and Washington. "It’s not often you get a chance to be around that gang. And they were a little looser than they would be normally, during an All-Star Game. To have my son down there, and Andre Ethier came up, and he’s wearing Christina’s bracelet. I didn’t know he was wearing it. That was pretty special. He’s an Arizonan, so he understands, and he’s a Dodger, so he knows what we went through."

Bochy said after the game that the lineup-card ceremony was "pretty emotional" for him and Washington.

"It breaks your heart what happened," he said. "It was a beautiful young girl, and for her family to go through that, it was emotional for everybody. The players were talking about it, so it was nice to have them out there, and I told them that it was a special moment, I thought, but a very tough moment, for us and for the family."

With a giant U.S. flag unfurled in the outfield, Arizona’s own Jordin Sparks delivered a stunning national anthem, befitting a 2007 "American Idol" winner.

"I get nervous every time I sing the national anthem. That and ‘American Idol’ make you nervous," said Sparks, just back from touring. "The national anthem is a song that everyone knows, and they’ll know if you mess up. It’s definitely a lot of pressure. But it’s such an honor to be able to sing it, as well, because it’s the nation’s song."

Taylor Sturges, 17, representing the Metropolitan Phoenix Boys & Girls Clubs of America, had the honor of delivering the game ball for Roy Halladay to throw the first pitch. Since 2005, a lucky B&GCA youth has been able to handle that assignment.

"I’m amazed and I’m so honored to be here," she said. "This is my first All-Star Game ever. I brought my little brother and all my family, so I’m really excited."

Mark Newman is enterprise editor of MLB.com. You also can leave comments on his MLB.com community blog. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Christina-Taylor Green, 9, of Tucson.[106] Green was killed in the shooting in Tucson that wounded US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Because her date of birth was September 11, 2001, she had appeared in the book Faces of Hope: Babies Born on 9/11 (page 41).[108][109][110] She was the granddaughter of former Major League Baseball player and manager Dallas Green.[109][111]

www.flickr.com/photos/alanenglish/sets/72157627136385548/
IMGP9874

MLB – A pretty even World Series is expected from Giants and Rangers
MLB News

The Giants will have the home-field advantage and pitching as weapons to counteract the Rangers lineup, which has a powerful offense.

The Texas Rangers are at the doors of what they have always been longing for: a World Series championship ring. The San Francisco Giants will face the ghosts of the 1912, 1924, 1962 and 2002 World Series defeats that still haunt their past. And the fans will witness a final between two teams that had never before found themselves face to face in the climax of the season.

Both teams will come out with all they’ve got straight from the beginning, as we will see Rangers’ winning ace Cliff Lee starting in game 1, while the Giants will depend on Tim Lincecum’s torque to counteract the powerful Texan offense.

San Francisco won its ticket to the main event of the season after defeating the Philadelphia Phillies in 6 games for the National League Championship. That game will never be forgotten by Juan Uribe, as his home run in the 8th inning sealed a 3-2 victory that represented more than just being the number one team in the NL, it represented the chance to become the number one team in the World. 

Meanwhile in the American League Championship Series the Rangers where taking down the defending champions New Yankees in Game 6 with a 6-1 victory, which made their so desired dream of reaching a World Series Championship come true.

Even though the Rangers don’t have experience in this kind of games, the boost that defeating the defending champions represents will give them more confidence in their game, and enough reasons to believe that they can definitely win this.

Without being disrespectful to the Giants, their World Series experience hasn’t been very positive, and if they get to be down in the series, you can be pretty sure that the ghosts from past defeats will start to hunt them. Anxiety might also play against them, since their only World Series title was achieved in 1954, and their unquiet fans are hoping that their third attempt since then will be successful.

The World Series has been very competitaive in the past 10 years, no wonder why independently of who wins this year’s, the MLB will see its ninth different champion arise.

From declaring themselves in bankruptcy to disputing a World Series Championship has been a great step for the Rangers that found financial relief in Nolan Ryan Group’s 8 million investment, and talent in their roster.

The Giants have a slight advantage in their pitching thanks to the options that they have in Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez and Bumgarner, which they hope that will be sufficient to counteract an offense that has scored 787 runs this season.

It is true that the Rangers don’t have another pitcher of the category of Lee, but Wilson and Lewis should be taken for less, as they could both play a big role. The best example is Wilson’s two wins against the defending champions.

The scenario is ready, and the teams are to, all that is missing is the umpire’s “play ball” call.

MLB News

Weekly sports magazine.

Sporting News, October 6, 2006 issue-Alex Rodriguez-Mr. October. MLB Playoff Preview Issue.

Click on the button for more MLB News information and reviews.

Youkilis returns, reclaims spot at cleanup
MLB News
By Taylor Soper / MLB.com | 08/14/11 4:12 PM ET SEATTLE — Manager Terry Francona didn't have much to say prior to Boston's final tilt of the six-game road swing, but he did make some changes in the lineup with the return of third baseman Kevin …

MLB News question by Wine Police: Sporting News top 50 MLB players has Lincecum as better than Halladay – do you agree, why or why not?
The data was based on a poll the Sporting News did of 21 MLB General Managers, Lincecum came in at #5 and Halladay #6.

MLB News best answer:

Answer by Embarrassed Cubs Fan
My opinion:

There’s no way the #5 and #6 best players in MLB are guys that only play once every fifth day.