By Jose M. Romero / https://twitter.com/RomeroJoseM

 Somebody please tell me why there was even a hint of doubt as to whom the American League most valuable player is.

Tell me what argument can beat a triple crown. Best betting average, most home runs, most runs batted in.

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By Jose M. Romero / https://twitter.com/RomeroJoseM

The Miami Marlins were cool again. They’d hired a Latino manager and a good one at that, Ozzie Guillen. They were moving into a new ballpark close to downtown. They spent a ton of money on free agents like shortstop Jose Reyes, closer Heath Bell and starting pitcher Mark Buehrle.

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By Jose M. Romero / https://twitter.com/RomeroJoseM

PHOENIX — Stefen Romero and I are not related. He just happens to have the best last name I know.

He’s also a pretty good baseball player. One whose future in the game looks bright.

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By Jose M. Romero / @RomeroJoseM

For FOX Deportes

PHOENIX – It was snowing in New York. In the 50s in the Pacific Northwest. Overcast and in the 40s in Chicago.

But there wasn’t a cloud in the sky with the temperature near 90 degrees in east Phoenix, where I watched an Arizona Fall League baseball game on Wednesday afternoon between the Phoenix Desert Dogs and the visiting Peoria Javelinas.

The league features six teams made up of some of the top prospects in professional, top young minor-leaguers who are their respective major-league club’s best hopes for the future.

The Desert Dogs have players from the Tampa Bay Rays, Atlanta Braves, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers and Oakland Athletics organizations. The Javelinas, based out of Peoria, Ariz., northwest of Phoenix, are made up of minor-leaguers from the Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, Minnesota Twins, San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners.

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By Jose Romero / @RomeroJoseM

I’ll say it to just get it out of the way: I’m L.A. Dodgers for life, sworn enemy of all things San Francisco Giants.

It’s hard enough to have deal with the fact that San Fran has more World Series titles than the Dodgers, seven to six.  I don’t like them, none of them, never will.

And then came Sergio Romo.

I interviewed him at spring training in Scottsdale once. He was nice enough. It was fun story about those dark beards he and teammate Brian Wilson have. He was a good sport.

Then I saw Romo on Twitter, calling a fellow Mexican American pitcher “raza.” I started to think this was one Giant, but only one, that I could actually pull for.

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Por Samuel Navas / @sam_navas

Para FOX Deportes

San Francisco sigue en la resaca de su fiesta por tener al campeón de la Serie Mundial de la MLB. En el camino humillaron a unos feroces y peligrosos Tigers que se quedaron reducidos a nada en la serie. Cuatro partidos perdidos por los de Detroit que vieron como de ser favoritos pasaron a ser el ‘hazme reír’ de la temporada.

Si analizamos por encima la debacle de los Tigers, resulta curioso que terminaron pagando por la humillación con la que dejaron a los Yankees en la ruta. Alex Rodríguez fue humillado en la serie, CC Sabathia también terminó haciendo el ridículo en la lomita. La más baja productividad de los bombarderos del Bronx, errores a la defensiva y cabe también mencionar la pobre rotación de lanzadores que tuvieron. Tigers se comió a los Yankees en cuatro juegos, pero lo pagaron con la misma moneda.

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By Adry Torres

First of all, hours before Game 1 of the World Series, I predicted that Detroit would take it all in five games. So right now it seems impossible unless they win three straight, Bud Selig changes the rule book and gives the Tigers an extra win somewhere along the way.

They can still win their first championship since 1984 but if those broken bats, weird bounces and rolls of the ball don’t start going their way after Game 3 on Saturday night is over, we’ll soon be talking about why San Francisco was able to it all.

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By Jose M. Romero

Instead of staying home to watch Game 1 of the World Series Wednesday night, I opted to record the Spanish-language broadcast on, you guessed it, FOX Deportes, and attend a dinner honoring local teachers in downtown Phoenix.

A very wise choice for me.  Why? Teachers are important people, and I can’t bring myself to watch the San Francisco Giants. I just can’t.

I kept waiting for the Giants to be eliminated. The Cincinnati Reds choked away their divisional series, at home, no less. Then the St. Louis Cardinals had a 3-2 lead in the NL championship series, and the Giants came back to win that.

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By Adry Torres

Tigers’ Roar

As the home plate umpire is hours away from yelling ‘Play Ball’ in the 108th edition of the World Series, if the history of the Fall Classic is once again correct, the Detroit Tigers could come away with their first championship since 1984.

In World Series history, three times has a team that won a Game 7 in league championship series faced off against a team coming off a sweep. And if you believe in the baseball gods, the team coming off the Game 7 win swept its opponent in the World Series once as the Boston Red Sox brought out the brooms against the Colorado Rockies in 2007. In both other cases St. Louis had it easy against the Tigers in 2006 and during the 1988 World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers took out the Oakland A’s in five games.

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Por Luis Miguel Morales / @3luismiguel

Para FOX Deportes

Hoy más que nunca sigo diciendo que la política y los deportes no se mezclan.  Para muestra, basta un Ozzie Guillén.

Ok, dejemos atrás que el equipo quedó en último lugar de la División Este de la Liga Nacional.  Tampoco tomemos en cuenta las peleas verbales entre el cerrador (o más bien excerrador) de los Marlins, Heath Bell y Oswaldo.

El picther ahora es parte de los Arizona Diamondbacks y todo quedó en una mala relación, nada más.

Al final, lo que realmente pesó en Miami fueron las constantes presiones sobre el manager después de sus controversiales declaraciones.

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By Adry Torres
 

New York - Just days before the Boston Red Sox would end their dreadful season, Ben Cherington went on local Boston radio station WEEI and said the team wouldn’t drag their feet in making decisions during the offseason especially after management took its time with the managerial process and hiring of Bobby Valentine.

“I would like to spend less time on it this offseason, that’s for sure,” Cherington would tell WEEI about the way he and the club would handle any upgrades to the team.

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By Adry Torries

It’s hard for an athlete to accept the fact that he’s no longer that dude especially when that person is getting up there in age — athletically speaking —, banged up and not reliable any more.

Joe Girardi has tried very hard at getting that message across to Alex Rodriguez.

It’s no secret that A-Rod has been miserable at the plate since September and carried it over into the postseason, his least favorable time of the year as a member of the Yankees.

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By Adry Torres

Nueva York - Una cosa es pasar por la mala racha durante una series de partidos en la temporada regular. Los bateadores de los Yankees han escogido la temporada para hacerlo y si no despiertan fácilmente pueden ser víctimas de una barrida en la serie del campeonato contra los Tigres de Detroit.

Si no hubiese sido por la jugada hecha por Derek Jeter cuando J.J. Hardy bateo un rodado despacio con las bases llenas, los Yankees quizás estuvieran de vacaciones esta noche y no en Detroit para el tercer juego de la serie.

Sin embargo, la ofensiva aun sigue batallando, tratando de conseguir ese batazo para despertar los restos de los bates.

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Por Samuel Navas / @sam_navas

Para FOX Deportes

Las series divisionales de campeonato están en marcha. La Americana parece ser la más dispareja de las dos que integran la MLB. Tigers está a un solo juego de lograr la meta de avanzar a World Series. Detroit encontró a un rival complicado y tradicional del circuito, que entró a los playoffs con el título de la división Este. Pero ya en la acción, los Yankees parecen haber encontrado una maldición en el camino donde nada les sale bien.

Los bombarderos del Bronx cerraron la temporada con tambor batiente. No parecían tener rivales superiores en los diamantes. Un cierre que ilusionaba a cualquier fanático, con pocas críticas y con mucho aplauso. Pero el descalabro llegó tarde, tan tarde que los ha tomado en el peor momento de la temporada, en la final de división.

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