Vizquel's Path to Shortstop at 40 Could Stand as a Test for Jeter

Left, Ron Vesely/MLB Photos via Getty Images;

Barton Silverman/The New York Times

Omar Vizquel, with the Giants in 2006, is the career leader in games
at shortstop, with 2,690; Derek Jeter of the Yankees is fifth, with 2,274,
and says he intends to play through 2014, the option year in his contract.

March 1, 2011
By Tyler Kepner, NY Times

Omar Vizquel first played shortstop in the major leagues in 1989, when Derek Jeter was a freshman in high school. Now Vizquel is the only player on a roster who was active in the 1980s, the oldest man in baseball who does not throw a knuckleball.

Vizquel, who turns 44 next month, started at shortstop for the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday at Camelback Ranch. He does not play the position much anymore — just nine times last season — but his 2,690 games at shortstop rank first on the career list. Jeter is fifth with 2,274, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Jeter turns 37 in June, and to Vizquel, he is young. The master rejects the premise that Jeter’s performance is slipping.

“It’s really weird that I start reading a lot of stuff last year about people doubting him as a shortstop,” Vizquel said in the clubhouse Tuesday morning. “I just couldn’t believe what I was reading, because here I am playing shortstop at 41, 42 years old, and a guy that is 36 over there in New York, they’re talking about, ‘He can’t do it anymore.’ You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Vizquel may be incredulous because he is the only player in the last 90 years to do what Jeter is attempting now. Jeter’s new Yankees contract includes a player option for 2014, which he has said he will use. That would mean four more seasons as the starting shortstop, through age 40.

The Hall of Famer Honus Wagner played at least 100 games at shortstop from 1911 through 1915, when he was 41. Since then, Vizquel is the only man to play 100 games at the position for four consecutive seasons at age 37 or older. He did it for the Cleveland Indians and the San Francisco Giants from 2004 through 2007.

Luke Appling, another Hall of Famer, lost most of two seasons to military service during World War II, when he was 37 and 38, and returned to be a regular shortstop for three of the next four seasons.)

Vizquel listed all the reasons the position can be challenging for older players. To succeed, he said, a shortstop must have quickness and explosiveness, swift lateral movement and the ability to accelerate, decelerate and jump. He must also be diligent.

“You’ve got to stay on top of your game all the time,” Vizquel said. “If you let it go, your body’s going to let you know real quick. And when you’re going to try to come back, it might be too late.”

Jeter acknowledged as much last month in Tampa, Fla. He starts training earlier in the off-season than he used to, he said, and his workouts last longer. His efforts last season could not save him from the worst year of his career, when his average tumbled 64 points, to .270. His defense suffered despite winning a Gold Glove.

Vizquel also had a bumpy year at age 36, in 2003, when two knee operations cost him most of the season. He recovered to hit ..291 for the 2004 Indians, but when he became a free agent after the season, only the Giants offered him a three-year contract through age 40.

Vizquel won Gold Gloves in each of the first two seasons in San Francisco and hit at his career norms, if not a bit better. He did not feel his age in the field until 2007, when he was 40 and in his final season as an everyday player. It was an unwelcome sensation for a fielder once famous for range.

“The ball goes by you, and you start questioning yourself and doubting: ‘Wow, I saw the ball there, why couldn’t I just get it?’ ” Vizquel said. “Maybe it was a matter of first-step reaction, or a matter of leaning down to get that ball. Your mind is telling you that you can get to that ball, and your body’s not allowing you to get to that ball.”

Advanced fielding metrics show that Jeter improved his range for two seasons before last year’s steep decline. Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman has spoken about Jeter’s eventually leaving shortstop, but learning a position in his late 30s could be more challenging than simply staying put.

Vizquel did not start at another position until 2009, when he was 42. Jeter has never played another position, and Vizquel doubts he ever will.

“Let’s face it — are you going to see Derek Jeter playing another position?” Vizquel said. “I don’t see him playing third base or second base. He’s just a natural shortstop.”

Few have ever looked as natural or graceful in the field as Vizquel, who needs 201 hits for 3,000, a milestone Jeter should reach by midseason. Vizquel doubts he will get enough playing time to make it, but his glove is his legacy, anyway.

His glove and his enthusiasm.

“I see a lot of 32-, 33-year-olds talking about, ‘Oh my God, I’m tired today,’ ” Vizquel said. “That really pumps me up. Here you are at 43, trying to do the same, and you don’t feel that kind of tiredness or soreness. It just makes you feel so good.”

Forever a Boy of Summer, in Brooklyn and Beyond

                                       Associated Press

Duke Snider’s two home runs accounted for

both runs in the Dodgers’ 3-2 loss to the

Yankees in Game 6 of the 1952 World Series.

A tribute to center fielder Duke Snider from his Brooklyn Dodgers teammate Ralph Branca.

By RALPH BRANCA
March 5, 2011; NY Times

I’ll never forget the winter of 1947. Because of the Dodgers’ plan to sign Jackie Robinson as the first African-American in the majors, we avoided Florida and spent training camp in Havana. This was the great postwar Brooklyn team of Pee Wee Reese, Dixie Walker, Pete Reiser and Hugh Casey. Our manager was the indomitable Leo Durocher.

Gil Hodges was back from a long stint in the Marines. He was our second-string catcher. (We were a year away from recruiting Roy Campanella.) It was Gil who introduced me to a rookie from Compton, Calif.

“Ralphie,” Gil said, “meet Duke Snider.”

His handshake was firm and his eyes were clear. He had a smile and an irresistibly upbeat spirit. We were both 21 and eager to make it in the big leagues.

We began talking baseball, but, typical of Duke, he didn’t discuss himself. He wanted to tell me how, back in Los Angeles, he had seen Jackie excel at football, baseball, basketball and track. He trumpeted Jackie’s athleticism and was thrilled at the prospect of playing with him. Duke never even hinted at his own skills.

That winter, we played exhibition games in the Caribbean against the Montreal Royals, the Dodgers farm club to whom Jackie was signed. As it became clear that Branch Rickey, our general manager, was going to make Jackie a Dodger come opening day, a few veterans circulated a petition arguing that an African-American had no place on our team. Duke was outraged and perplexed.

“Are they crazy?” he said to me. “Besides being a great guy, he’s the best thing that’s ever happened to this team.”

Like most of us, Durocher supported Jackie and the petition wound up in the garbage, where it belonged.

In 1948, Duke’s sophomore year, Campy came on board with pitchers Carl Erskine and Preacher Roe. In 1949, when Don Newcombe became a Dodger, Duke came into his own. He hit .292 and had 23 home runs. He commanded center field and was crowned the Duke of Flatbush, a title he will hold forever.

Jon Soohoo/Los Angeles Dodgers,
                  via Associated Press

Snider and the Dodgers

won in 1955, and moved

to Los Angeles for the

1958 season.

Along with Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays, Duke formed New York’s golden center-field threesome. I’m prejudiced, but of the three, Duke was the most nimble fielder and possessed the most accurate arm.

From 1947 to 1957, the Dodgers won six pennants and one World Series, finally besting the Yankees in 1955 as Duke hit four homers and drove in seven runs. Without Duke, who holds the franchise career records of 1,271 runs batted in and 389 homers, the Brooklyn Dodgers would not be the Brooklyn Dodgers.

On a team of extraordinary individuals, Duke stood out. He had intelligence, integrity and wit. He played hard, and superbly, day in and day out. His long career is a model of athletic excellence.

In 1980 at his Hall of Fame induction, I was there with many of his teammates to cheer him on. We weren’t surprised when he talked about how great we were and failed to mention his own remarkable accomplishments.

The Brooklyn brotherhood never died. We kept up over the years. We would have dinner when, as the broadcaster for the Montreal Expos, Duke came to New York. His knowledge of the game grew over the years. I loved talking baseball with Duke. He had his opinions without being opinionated. He genuinely wanted to hear what you had to say.

In the end, when he was living in a nursing home, we continued to talk. In the last weeks, when I learned he was failing, I contacted his beloved wife, Bev, who was by his side. I wanted to tell Duke just how much I admired him. I wanted him to know what a privilege it was to call him my friend. At that point, all Bev could do was put the phone to his ear. He died last Sunday at 84.

I still see Duke as a young man. I see him out there in center field, racing past the ads for Van Heusen shirts and Gem razors, while executing a brilliant running catch. I see him at the plate, crushing Robin Roberts’s fastball and sending it soaring high over that crazy right-field wall at Ebbets Field. I see him rounding the bases. I see him smiling. I feel the joy of his sweet, happy soul.

Ralph Branca, a right-hander, pitched for the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1944 to 1953, and in 1956.

Girls set to face off on Saturday ... as starting pitchers

On March 5, 2011, Marti Sementelli, left, of Birmingham High School and
Ghazaleh Sailors have the distinct honor of breaking down one of baseball's
gender barriers, becoming the first females to start against each other in a high
school baseball game. Sailors will be pitching for San Marcos of Santa Barbara.

A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN

By Jill Painter, Staff Writer
L.A. Daily News

03/03/2011

Marti Sementelli shared laughs with a Birmingham High assistant baseball coach Thursday, feeding him balls as he hit grounders during an afternoon practice.

Her hair was tucked under a blue cap, so you couldn't tell she was a girl from a quick glance.

Sementelli was behind the plate, but on Saturday, she'll take center stage on the mound in a historic game against San Marcos High of Santa Barbara.

Sementelli will start for home team Birmingham and visiting San Marcos will start a female pitcher, Ghazaleh Sailors. It is believed to be the first time that two California high school baseball teams have faced each other with girls as starting pitchers.

"I'm really excited. It's something you don't see everyday," said Sementelli, a senior.

"It's a special thing. It might not ever happen again. I look forward to it. When we first heard it was possible, we were like, `how sick would that be?"'

Sementelli and Sailors have known one another since they played on the USA Baseball women's national team in international competition. So when Birmingham coach Matt Mowry confirmed that the matchup would happen last weekend, Sementelli celebrated with her father, Gary, then called Sailors, who didn't know yet.

San Marcos initiated the conversations and Mowry and Sementelli agreed.

"Their athletic director called me and I said, `I'm all for it. If your coach is willing to throw his girl, I'll throw mine and we'll make history," Mowry said. "I talked to Marti about it. She's all for it."

Seating might be difficult to come by since there are only three rows of seats on either side of Birmingham's baseball field and one set of grandstands. Mowry said he was thinking about adding more seats, remembering one game that drew about 1,000 fans, most of whom had to stand the entire time.

Gary Sementelli worked with his daughter every day. She played in Sherman Oaks Little League and now is working on playing collegiate baseball.

"There are so many girls that play Little League and then they stop," Gary Sementelli said.

"People tell them, `you can't play anymore. There's no scholarships. They'll be bigger and stronger than you. They're meaner than you. So don't do it.

"There are thousands of girls who play. What if you have a lot of success. You're supposed to quit? To be able to see these two girls, that will be great. There's an opportunity for girls to play baseball."

Jim Nemerovski, who founded the Web site www.girlsplaybaseball.com, lives in Northern California and hopes to make it to the game with his baseball playing son and daughter.

"It's highly likely one or both of these girls will end up playing baseball in college," Nemerovski said. "That's huge. The thing we're experiencing they're truly respected and admired, especially when they can get up there and deliver the goods. It's a truly amazing reaction."

Sementelli have talked to each other before on Facebook, and Sementelli hopes they'll be able to talk about Saturday's game decades from now.

"I keep seeing the words gender barrier," Sementelli said of the attention that has come with the rare all-girls pitching matchup. "You want to be recognized, but then again, this should be natural and normal. It's like a girl playing volleyball. Or a girl can play tennis or golf. Maybe years from now it won't cause that much attention because it means we've done what we needed to do. It would be a normal game."

Gilbert (Arizona) Firefighter in New League of Her Own

                                                                             Tim Hacker
Gilbert firefighter medic Ila Borders, right, shown, Tuesday,
March 1, 2011 at her station in Gilbert with engineer Andy Larkin,
from left, firefighter Tony Maturan and Captain Bob Badgett.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

By Dan Zeiger
Tribune East Valley Tribune

Ila Borders works in relative anonymity as a firefighter and emergency medical technician in Gilbert, far away from her time as a gender barrier-breaker in the national pastime.

And it can be said, jokingly, that the hazards of her current occupation pale in comparison to when she really felt the heat, while trying to make it in professional baseball as a pitcher.

"Baseball has helped me in this job tremendously," Borders said. "Dealing with stressful situations and thinking quickly on your feet, getting along with others and having to be a team player and perform - those are all qualifications necessary for both jobs."

In 1997, Borders made national headlines as one of the first women in professional baseball, embarking on a four-year independent minor-league career. In 52 games with four teams, the left-hander posted a 2-4 record with a 6.75 ERA.

While Justine Siegal received positive reviews for her work while pitching batting practice to the Cleveland Indians and Oakland Athletics last week - she is believed to be the first female to throw to major-league hitters - Borders did not always find respect easy to come by.

"I was usually asked if I was a woman trying to hook up with guys, a feminist trying to change baseball and the world, or someone who just wants the media attention," Borders said. "I had to explain that I was there because I love baseball, I want to win and do well."

Borders was reluctant to do interviews during her career, but she agreed to one with Mike Wallace for a "60 Minutes" feature in 1998, when as a member of the Duluth (Minn.)-Superior (Wis.) Dukes, she became the first female pitcher to start a men's professional game.

One of the images from the "60 Minutes" segment: A batter mouthing "What a (expletive) joke!" after he swung and missed at a Borders pitch.

"Among (opposing players) and the media, it was hard to get them to understand," Borders said. "But among the guys I played with, my co-workers, I think they knew what I was about."

Borders, 36, has no legitimacy battles in the Gilbert Fire Department, whose roster includes former major-leaguers Clay Bellinger and Andy Larkin.

"You want - you need - good, dependable people working alongside you in this fire department, and it was obvious that she's a dedicated, hard-working person," said Larkin, who pitched for four big-league teams from 1996-2000.

"The times that I work with her, I see the same focus, systematic nature you need to succeed in baseball. She gets a task and completes it."

Although offered coaching and television jobs upon her retirement from baseball in 2000, Borders has not attempted to profit from her playing days. She has, though, kept a journal for years and is considering using those entries to help compile a book about her experiences in baseball and public service.

The La Mirada, Calif., native worked in the Long Beach Fire Department for 1½ years before moving to Gilbert in 2008. She is scheduled to play in a softball game on Saturday matching Gilbert police and firefighters against their Mesa counterparts as part of the Cactus League Hot Dog Challenge at Big League Dreams park in Gilbert.

"I had always wanted baseball my entire life, but after that ended, I needed to decide what I wanted to do for the rest of my life," Borders said. "I figured that I like people, like helping people, and want something that is different and challenging every single day."

More than 1,000 girls in the U.S. played on high school baseball teams as recently as 2008, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations. On Saturday, two female pitchers - Marti Sementelli of Birmingham High School in Lake Balboa, Calif., and Ghazaleh Sailors of San Marcos High in Santa Barbara, Calif. - are scheduled to start against one another.

Eri Yoshida became the first female to be drafted by a Japanese professional team and recently pitched in the independent Arizona Winter League. Chelsea Baker, a 13-year-old in Plant City, Fla., has been profiled by ESPN for her exploits as a Little League pitcher with an unbeaten record and nasty knuckleball.

Borders did not consider herself a trailblazer when she pitched, so she is hesitant to label herself one now.

"You go to Little League games and see girls in ponytails out there now," Borders said. "That's great, and I hope that, in a small way, I helped open people's minds to that ...

"Any time that a woman can go out there and play and pitch and do it for the love of the game, not because they want to be the first, I think that's awesome."

Baseball Adds Charlie Sheen To List Of Banned Substances*

*CAUTION

HUMOR

AHEAD



Charlie Sheen

From: http://www.sportspickle.com/
March 1, 2011

Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig announced today that actor Charlie Sheen is now among the list of banned substances under the league’s drug testing program.

“Charlie Sheen is among the most powerful narcotics in the world,” said Selig. “Just being in the same room with him can have powerful effects on a person’s body and mental state.”

Selig said baseball has not yet developed a test for Sheen, but that a player will be fined and suspended for Charlie Sheen “if he is acting insane like Charlie Sheen. I don’t think we need to over-think it.”

The actor has long been a baseball fan and is known to drop by MLB clubhouses to meet the players or participate in batting practice. But any future appearance by Sheen in a major league facility will cause the entire team to get suspended for Sheen — which results in a season-long ban.

Per the terms of baseball’s collective bargaining agreement, changes to the drug policy must be approved by the players’ union, but MLBPA chief Michael Weiner said the union will accept the change.

“I don’t think we want the public to think we are soft on Sheen,” said Weiner. “I don’t know a single player who has even tried Sheen. It’s suicide.”

Despite Weiner’s claims, baseball also announced that Devil Rays DH Manny Ramirez has become the first player to test positive for Sheen due to generally insane behavior. There are also reports that Ramirez attended a party at Sheen’s Los Angeles home in January where he snorted a line of Sheen’s skin cells. Ramirez claims he thought they were “ground-up women’s fertility pills,” but knew it was Sheen as soon as the skin cells hit his blood stream and he felt like “my brain was going to explode.”