Asher B. Chancey also writes for Baseball Evolution and you can read his work there by following this link.
At this point, we have to begin to discuss the possibility of an official curse – for the third time in four years one of the American League’s elite homerun hitters has suffered a season ending injury in September, and for the second year in a row it may cost the American League a 40-homerun hitter. On Monday, Carlos Pena broke two fingers after being hit by a C.C. Sabathia pitch against the Yankees. Pena currently leads the AL in homerun with 39, ahead of current AL RBI leader Mark Teixeira’s 35 and several players at 31, but is now done for the season.
Last season, Carlos Quentin led the AL in homeruns with 36 and had essentially locked up the AL Most Valuable Player Award going into September when he broke his wrist after slamming his bat in frustration on September 5th. He ended up second in the league with 36 homeruns behind Miguel Cabreras’ 37.
In 2006, Travis Hafner – who came up through the Rangers farm system with Pena, and who with Pena was made expendable by the emergence of Teixeira – was dominating the American League with 42 homeruns, 117 RBI, 100 walks, and a league leading 1.097 OPS and 179 OPS+ when his season was ended on September 1st when he was plunked by C.J. Wilson of the Rangers.
One is also reminded of Sammy Sosa’s first elite-power season, in 1996, when he had 40 homeruns and 100 RBI through August 20th, but had his wrist broken when he was hit by a pitch against the Marlins. He finished fifth in the NL in homeruns behind Andres Galarraga’s 47, and almost certainly would have led the league if not for the injury; Galarraga hit 13 homeruns from the date of Sosa’s injury through the end of the season. Interestingly, both the Sosa and Hafner HBP’s came with the bases loaded and drove in a run.
Sadly, unlike Hafner, Quentin and Sosa, this injury will likely cost Pena three different crowns. Not only does he currently lead the American League in homeruns, but he also leads the league in walks (87) and strikeouts (163). The AL bases on balls race is very tight, with Chone Figgans tied with Pena and Nick Swisher one walk behind him, while Jack Cust (152) and Russ Branyan (149) are more than capable of catching Pena in the strikeouts department.
Looking at the careers of Sosa, Hafner, and Quenton, one wonders what’s next for Carlos Pena. For Sosa, Hafner, and Quentin, these injuries radically changed their careers, and one must wonder whether the same will be said for Pena.
Sosa, of course, would go on to struggle through the 1997 season, and the narrative of that year is that the wrist injury lingered, plaguing his season. Of course, 1998 would be the year that Sosa and Mark McGwire would change baseball forever, and it is possible that Sosa’s 1997 troubles led to his alleged usage of performance enhancing drugs before the 1998 season; it has often been alleged that players begin using performance enhancers in response to injuries, so it makes sense. If so, then one HBP in 1996 changed the course of baseball history.
Hafner and Quentin, meanwhile, have not been the same players since their season-ending injuries. Quentin has been terrible in 2009 (16 homeruns, .235 average, .769 OPS) after what looked to be a breakout 2008 season, and Travis Hafner went from being one of the best hitters in baseball to enduring a solid, but comparatively lousy, 2007 and injury-plagued 2008 and 2009 seasons.
The good news for Pena is that his injury is to his fingers and not his wrist – the number of players to rebound slowly from broken wrists is too many to count, but includes Sosa, Quentin, Hafner, Vernon Wells, Derrek Lee, Hideki Matsui, Ken Griffey, Jr., among others – and comes at the end of the year, so he should have plenty of time to recover before Spring Training 2010.
On the other hand, Pena, like Hafner, has never been the model of consistency and durability, and has given the impression of someone playing on borrowed time during his big-power-low-average stint with the Rays. Whether this marks the end of Pena’s brief period as a full time major league contributor, like Hafner, remains to be seen.
On another note, it is impossible not to notice the convenient way in which this injury occurred. Pena, teammate Evan Longoria, and Mark Teixiera are currently locked in battles for the homerun and RBI titles; Pena currently leads Teixeira in homeruns by four, and Teixeira leads the RBI race with 106 ahead of Longoria (102) and Pena (100). Obviously, Pena won’t be garnering any more RBI, and with Pena done for the year the RBI opportunities for Longoria likely decrease as well. So, Sabathia’s sniping of the American League homerun leader essentially paves the way for Mark Teixeira to lead the league in both homeruns and RBI, which make Teixeira the front-runner for the AL Most Valuable Player Award. Indeed, it is hard to imagine that Award could go to anyone other than a player who leads the AL in homeruns and RBI in his first season with the New York Yankees in the year that the team led the AL in wins after missing the playoffs the previous year. Sorry, Joe Mauer and Derek Jeter.
It is all just a little too convenient.
As to Pena’s recovery, I won’t make any predictions. I am, after all, the one who said we’d seen the last of Derrek Lee, who currently has 32 homeruns, a .298 average, and a .954 OPS.
And as to the AL MVP, well, let’s just hand it to Mr. Teixeira now. Unless, of course, he has some frustration-related bat-slamming in his future.
Germany has upset defending champion Russia, 76-73, on the second day of the European basketball championship in Poland.
Jan-Hendrik Jagla scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Germany Tuesday in Gdansk. Russia was on the court with only three players from the team that upset Spain in the 2007 final. Russia fell behind early and trailed by double digits for most of the game, before pulling within one point with just under two minutes to play.
But Heiko Schaffartzik hit a three-point basket for Germany, which held on for its first win in Group B. Germany is without U.S. National Basketball Association star Dirk Nowitzki. In other action, point guard Tony Parker scored 23 points to lead France past Latvia, 60-51, to top Group B with two wins.
Mindaugas Lukauskis (l) of Lithuania and Poland’s Marcin Gortat during their EuroBasket 2009, European Basketball Championships group D match in Wroclaw, 08 Sep 2009
Mindaugas Lukauskis (l) of Lithuania and Poland’s Marcin Gortat during their EuroBasket 2009, European Basketball Championships group D match in Wroclaw, 08 Sep 2009
In Group C in Warsaw, a young Serbia looked nothing like the squad that stunned world champion Spain on Monday, falling to Slovenia 80-69. Forward Bostjan Nachbar led Slovenia with 17 points and six rebounds, while point guard Goran Dragic chipped in with 16 points as Slovenia improved to 2-0. Spain topped Britain, 84-76.
In Group A at Poznan, Macedonia slipped past Israel, 82-79. Greece improved to 2-0 with a 76-68 win over Croatia.
Host traditional power Lithuania continued to struggle in Group D, losing 86-75 to host Poland in Wroclaw. Turkey cruised to an easy 94-66 win over Bulgaria.
American teenager Melanie Oudin has continued her upset streak against higher-ranked Russian players to advance to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York.
The 17-year-old upstart rallied to knock off 13th-seeded Nadia Petrova, 1-6, 7-6, 6-3 on Monday. Previously at the tournament, Oudin upset 2006 champion Maria Sharapova and fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva.
In men’s competition, top seed and defending champion Roger Federer of Switzerland reached the quarterfinals with a 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 win over Tommy Robredo of Spain. Federer will play Robin Soderling of Sweden.
The French Open finalist advanced to his first quarterfinal appearance at the U.S. Open, after eighth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko retired with a leg injury with the number-12 Swede ahead, 7-5, 3-6, 6-2. Federer comes into the match with an 11-0 career record against Soderling.
Earlier, Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Argentina’s Gisela Dulko that took just 47 minutes. The victory avenged her sister Alona’s loss straight-sets loss to Dulko in the second round.
It was a hard-fought 3-1 victory against Norway in the semi-final. Germany’s women owed their win to their substitutes, who scored all the German goals after Norway grabbed an early lead.
On Thursday evening, Germany’s women footballers will take on England in Helsinki in a bid to win their fifth consecutive European Championship.
However, they had a tough time fending off Norway in the semi-final on Monday night. Germany went in trailing by a goal to nil at half time, after Norway scored from a corner, using a clever set-play to confuse the German defense. Coach Silvia Neid was fairly modest after the match, when asked what magic she had worked in the half- time team talk.
“During the break, I just pointed out the things we needed to do better,” Neid said.
However, Neid’s involvement in the German victory was far greater than she herself suggested. The tactical changes she made at half-time – which freed the Germans up to push forward against a defensive Norwegian side – helped transform the game. Furthermore, all three German goals came from substitutes that Neid introduced in the course of the match.
Simone Laudehr equalized on 59 minutes, and two minutes later Celia Okoyino da Mbabi put Germany in front, completing the game’s turnaround. Norway struggled to threaten the German goal after falling behind, and in the dying moments Fatmire Bajramaj grabbed another for Germany, putting the result beyond any doubt.
However, the win was nowhere near as convincing as the comfortable 4-0 victory against Norway that the German women chalked up in the groups stages.
“Sometimes as a team you play poorly for part of a match,” goal-scorer Simone Laudehr said stoically after the game. “But we really wanted to reach the final, and tonight, we fought for it.”
As the women’s game continues to struggle for international recognition, just 2,765 spectators attended the high-profile match in Helsinki.
Germany square off against England – who scraped into the final with a 2-1 win against the Netherlands after extra-time – in the final on Thursday evening. The Germans are hot favorites for that encounter, and it’s hardly a surprise: if they win it will be their fifth consecutive European Championship, and their seventh in total.
Greece has routed Macedonia, 86-54, on the opening day of the European basketball championship in Poland, while Croatia downed Israel, 86-79, in the other Group A match in Poznan.
2005 European champion Greece took an 18-5 lead in the first five minutes Monday and cruised to the win. Point guard Vassilis Spanoulis led Greece with 17 points, while center Yannis Bourousis added 11 points and eight rebounds.
In Group B, defending champion Russia pulled away late to beat Latvia 81-68. Russia got 24 points and nine rebounds from American-born Kelly McCarty and 22 points from point guard Sergey Bykov to hold off a late challenge. Latvia cut Russia’s lead to 65-63 with 4:08 to play before Russia closed out the win with a 16-5 run.
In the other Group B match in Gdansk, France defeated Germany, 70-65.
Elsewhere, Slovenia beat Britain, 72-59, in a Group C match in Warsaw, while in Group D action in Wroclaw, host Poland topped Bulgaria, 90-78.
– By VOA News
Werder Bremen recently signed Bolivia’s Marcelo Moreno. The striker is thankful for the belief the club has in him after a difficult season at Ukrainian side Shaktar Donetsk. Deutsche Welle spoke to him.
DW: Marcelo, you’re 22 years old and your resume sounds quite impressive: Bolivia, Brazil, Ukraine and now Germany.
Marcelo Moreno: Yes, despite my young age I’ve had the chance to gain experiences in different countries. I think that this helped me grow and improve, which is what I’ve been trying to do all my life.
Nevertheless, your season in the Ukrainian league provided you with some bitter moments. Although you won the UEFA Cup with Shaktar, you spent most of the time on the bench.
I wasn’t really keen on going to Ukraine when Shaktar signed me, but that’s how negotiations turned out. Although it was important for me to arrive in a European league, everything was very difficult for me, the language, the food, everything. That was my time of adaptation, of getting to know what it’s like to play in Europe. Now I know, and I’ve left the bitter moments behind.
Now it seems that better times are ahead of you, as Werder Bremen had been trying to sign you for a long time, and they didn’t let go until they had you.
That’s correct, and I am happy that Bremen have given me this opportunity. It’s actually my second opportunity, as I had to turn them down in the past. No other club would have done what Bremen have done for me. They were patiently insisting on my signing and believing in me from the start. I want to repay them with good results, with triumphs, with my goals which could help Bremen reach their goals.
Bremen are known for their formidable ability to attract talents and turn them into superstars: Diego, Claudio Pizarro and Miroslav Klose are only a few examples. Maybe soon your name will appear on that list.
I know that this is a huge club that knows what it wants. The team wants titles and has always had important players who made the club significant in Germany and the world. Now, I finally have the feeling to be in the right place in order to become an international star. Diego is a good example of what a player can achieve with the support of Werder Bremen.
You were the top scorer of the Copa Libertadores. Do you aspire to repeat that feat?
My objective certainly is to become the league’s top scorer. This needs to be the mentality of any striker. We live on goals and I want to score as many as possible to help Bremen achieve their targets. It was a wonderful experience to be the top scorer of the Copa Libertadores, and I want to achieve something similar here in Europe.
We heard that you get along especially well with your Portuguese-speaking teammates Naldo and Hugo Almeida. Does that derive from your Brazilian background?
I speak Portuguese with both of them because it’s the easiest way to communicate, and when I do so, I feel Brazilian. Brazil is a very important country in my life; I spent half my life there. But first and foremost I am Bolivian. I love both countries, no doubt, but I am Bolivian.
Which makes you a very exotic player not only in the Bundesliga but in Europe as a whole. There aren’t any other Bolivians playing in Europe.
The word “exotic” is correct. It’s rare to find a Bolivian player in Germany, and it isn’t common to find a Bolivian in Europe’s strongest leagues. That’s why I’m all the more proud to be here, flying the flag of my country.
On an international level, you are Bolivia’s most prolific player despite your young age. You even surpass the legendary Marco ‘el Diablo’ Etcheverry.
He is my real idol. His career was fantastic, he even played in a World Cup, which is one of my dreams. My career appears to look more prestigious than his, but he is “the Devil,” and nothing compares to him.
Speaking of your dream to play a World Cup, it won’t happen in 2010. Bolivia has no chance of qualifying for South Africa.
Yes, only a miracle could help us qualify now. We didn’t have the necessary results, despite some spectacular victories such as our 6-1 thrashing of Argentina. My Bolivian teammates are as stumped as I am. We simply don’t know what happened.
Let’s talk about your immediate future: the Bundesliga, Werder Bremen. Peruvian star Claudio Pizarro could become your partner up front.
I would love to play at his side. I think that I could learn a lot from his cleverness. But that can only happen if I earn my spot. I am working hard in order to feel like being a part of the team, the rest is up to the coach.
Do you have doubts about being a regular starter?
My mentality is to work every day and earn my spot, I want to deserve it. I won’t take anything for granted, so I will fight for it.
What can Werder Bremen fans expect from Marcelo Moreno?
Hard work, the will to win, score and give Bremen and Germany many reasons to smile.
And what does Marcelo Moreno expect from his stay in the Bundesliga?
I want to win the League title and maybe another UEFA Cup title, but this time as a starter.
The Bundesliga is Marcelo Moreno’s third international stop. The striker left Bolivia for Brazil, where he became the top scorer of the Copa Libertadores in 2008. Afterwards, he moved to Ukrainian club Shaktar Donetsk and won the UEFA Cup in 2009, despite not being a starter for most of the season. Werder Bremen had already tried to sign him years ago, and despite failing to do so, they followed his every move. This summer, finally, they succeeded in signing him.
