Mets pitcher Harvey, agent Boras are being ridiculous

Mets pitcher Matt Harvey doesn't deserve to wear the uniform of a professional baseball player. On the advice of his dumb agent Scott Boras Harvey is limiting the innings he will pitch for the remainder of the season and post-season in order to - theoretically - protect his arm for future seasons.

Well, what if the Mets, or any other team that he pitches for someday, never end up in a pennant race again? Harvey could spend the rest of his career pitching for mediocre teams. If that's what he wants, then he's hardly a competitor. He should just go out and get a regular job like the rest of us.

Scott Boras is hardly one to give advice. Players should know he's only about money. He doesn't really care about what's best for them, only what's best for himself.

Harvey owes an apology to all Mets fans.  Or he can just get out there and pitch, and help the team win, in the regular season and the playoffs.

Sports are becoming too much about entertainment and not enough about competition.

The best Closers in New York Yankee history

Baseball has evolved to the point where teams usually bring in one pitcher to "close" a game.  Here are the top five closers in Yankee history.


5) Johnny Murphy: Fifth in franchise history with 104 saves, Murphy pitched out of the bullpen from 1932-1946. He contributed to six World Series championships and was selected to three American League All Star teams.

4) Dave Righetti: The American League Rookie of the Year in 1981 and two time All Star during eleven seasons from 1981-1990, Righetti tossed a no-hitter in 1983 but was then converted into a closer. He ended up second in team history in saves with 224.

3) Rich Gossage: In seven years with the Yanks from 1978-1983 and 1989, Gossage had a 42-28 record with 151 saves and a 2.14 ERA. A four time All Star, he struck out 512 batters in 533 innings and held opponents to a .207 batting average.

2) Sparky Lyle: Winner of the 1977 Cy Young award, Lyle saved 141 games and had a 2.41 ERA in his seven years with the team from 1972-1978. A three time All Star, he was an important contributor to the team's championship seasons in the 1970's.

1) Mariano Rivera, P: The all time major league leader in saves with 652, Rivera was 82-60 with a 2.21 ERA during the regular season from 1996-2013. A 13 time All Star and member of five World Championship teams, he pitched 141 innings in 96 post season games, with an 8-1 record, 42 saves and 0.70 ERA.

Yankees won't miss pitcher Hiroki Kuroda

The Yankees starting pitchers are all question marks entering 2015 spring training. Still, it's unlikely that the team will miss pitcher Hiroki Kuroda, who opted to return to Japan after seven seasons in the major leagues.

While his 38-33 record with a 3.44 ERA in three seasons with the Yanks sounds good on paper, the team ought be able to easily come up with 13 wins and an ERA below 4.00 from one of their younger pitchers such as Chase Whitley or Adam Warren - provided they are given a fair shot, and not banished to the bullpen or demoted to Scranton after one bad start. Even Chris Capuano is capable of those numbers, if he wins a job in the starting rotation.

Kuroda was recently quoted as saying that pitching in the major leagues was "more tougher than enjoyable."  I bet the millions of dollars he made while performing at a mediocre level made things more enjoyable, though.  At least now he can go back to being a dominant pitcher in Japan's less difficult league.

Above the law: How come baseball players who fight on the field are not arrested?

Most baseball brawls start when a batter is hit by a ball thrown by a pitcher. The batter might charge the mound and assault the pitcher, and then all players and coaches from both teams dive into the fray. There's usually lots of pushing, shoving, and grabbing, and punches are thrown, but they don't always land on their intended targets. Once in a while a player is badly injured, as what happened recently with Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Zack Grienke.

A question I have is, how come players who fight on the field are not arrested and charged, as they would be if a fight occurred off the field? Do baseball players, and other professional athletes, have some sort of immunity on the field?  A lawyer out there has to answer this question for me.  If two employees of a company have a fistfight in the office, the police are called, and someone might get arrested. How come baseball players can't be arrested? The field is their "office." It's still a public place. There's lots of witnesses.

Personally, I think guys who charge the mound after getting hit by a pitch are babies. Maybe if Carlos Quentin didn't stand so close to the plate he would not have led the National League in 2012 and the American League in 2011 in the "Hit By Pitch" category with 17 and 23, respectively. Batters who crowd the plate thinking that gives them and edge should be prepared to be moved away by a pitcher who is going to throw inside.

In any case perhaps the legal types out there can advise as to why pro athletes who fight on the field are never arrested.