HAKANIN.Sports

Paul’s Note: Wow, first real post since last November, this whole graduating and working thing is real time consuming! The following article was posted on 2/22. J-Train is currently in Florida covering the spring training for the Yankees. For the original article in Traditional Chinese, click HERE.

As we know, many professional athletes are not the most eloquent speaker, often slipping in a couple swear words as they talk.

Just now I was in the Yankee clubhouse and saw Igawa taking an English lesson. In fact, it was more of a prank on him if anything.

On the right of Chien-Ming Wang’s locker is Brian Bruney’s, then Igawa’s, and then Darral Rasner’s. Today Rasner and Bruney got together and taught Igawa some English.

What did they teach him? The universal swear - “F*ck You.”

Igawa was very studious, repeatedly practiced out loud. Bruney and Rasner also patiently correct Igawa’s pronunciation. I was chatting with Wang, but kept getting interrupted by Igawa’s “F*ck You,” making it difficult to continue. Rasner also pointed out to Igawa that he should flipped off the middle fingers at the same time.

Finally, Igawa mastered the phrase and pronounce it correctly! Bruney then called their teammates over, first up was Chase Wright, “Hey Chasey! Come here! Igawa has something to tell you.”

Wright came, Igawa shouted “F*ck You!” and flipped him off with both hands, Chase Wright looked confused, not knowing what was going on. Meanwhile everyone else was falling over laughing, even Wang had a couple chuckles because it was just hilarious.

Then a couple more teammates and staffs were called over and got greeted by Igawa’s “F*ck You” and middle fingers.

Finally, Bruney asked Kyle Farnsworth to come over.

Igawa saw it was Farnsworth, hurried and plead “No, no!” Farnsworth suspected something, “What? What do you wanna say?” Igawa could beg Bruney to stop, I guess he did not want to get beat up by Farnsworth…

J-Train writes for the Word Journal, one of the bigger Mandarin news paper in North America, in NYC. He spends most of his time covering Asian athletes, with focus on Chien-Ming Wang and the New York Yankees. He recently became the first Taiwanese baseball writer to join the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA). For more of his articles, you may go to The J-Train Blog (it’s in Traditional Chinese), or click HERE for my translated ones. For those English speaking fans, HAKANIN.com will continue to provide the translated version of his articles, so stay tuned!

Popularity: 72% [?]

Filed under: Joseph Liao, MLB, New York Yankees, The J-Train Blog | No Comments

Absolute Sports Report is a nice read for those who are interested in more than just 1 sport. David and his co-writer Michael cover a variety of topics from baseball, basketball, and even NHL!

It looks like they just started in October, but they consistently post quality news, rumors, and updates for your favorite sports.

Enjoy!

Popularity: 61% [?]

Filed under: MLB, Sports | No Comments

Hey guys, just wanna let you all know that I will be traveling to Taiwan for my father’s 60th birthday so HAKANIN.com and HAKANIN.Sports may not get updated for about a week or so. I will have internet access but obviously will be spending most of the time with my family since I have not been back for several years.

Cheers.

- Paul

Popularity: 63% [?]

Filed under: Site Announcement | 1 Comment

As Joe Torre ended his tenure with the Yankees, it appears that he is not going to be without jobs for too long.

It is reported that since Grady Little resigned/forced out of the Dodger organization, Torre has reached agreement with the team for a 3-year, $14.5 million contract. While his presence will be an upgrade from Little (track record wise), this may not be the most ideal situation for our own Chin-Lung Hu.

Torre is known for riding on his veterans and seldom jump to unproven talents. Perhaps it’s in his style, or perhaps it is due to the pressure of managing for the Yankees where the “win now” mentality trumps all. So that limits Hu’s chance of developing in the big league level. In fact, other rookies like Andy LaRoche and Tony Abreu should be concerned as well about their big league future. With Rafael Furcal being the most paid infielder, as long as he remain healthy and relatively productive, Hu will be blocked behind him and the emerging young Preston Mattingly (whose father might follow Torre to L.A., btw). Little Mr. Baseball was ranked as the 10th top prospect of the Dodger system, also the most athletic player, so he is definitely a threat to Hu’s playing time. Hu has been red hot this past year, hitting a combined .325/.364/.507 in AA and AAA, and also received the honor of MVP of the Future game during All-Star break. Yet, his age at 24 is near the end “prospect stage” so the next couple years will be crucial for his career.

With Torre returning to the NL, perhaps he will have a different approach with his players under a different organization, not to mention owner. Either way, Hu better have a solid spring training and such to establish his value to be on the roster, or even a trade piece to move on to a different organization where he has more opportunity to play and improve himself.

- Paul

Popularity: 72% [?]

Filed under: Chin-Lung Hu, MLB, Sports, Taiwan | No Comments

So, you saw the numbers - Red Sox leading the series 2:0, Rockies are the first team since 2001 Yankees be held to only 1 run or less in first 2 games of the World Series, Hideki Okajima and his incredible 0 ERA in the post season, or the Rockies (minus Matt Holliday) went 1-22 in Game 2.

Is the series really over? Far from it.

Let’s not forget the Rockies have had 8 days off. Let’s not forget this is the first World Series appearance for the franchise. Let’s not forget the average age of the Rockies team is 27.8 - 11th youngest team in the league - while the Red Sox are the 2nd oldest team.

Game 1 was a disaster. Game 2 was much better, but the hitters were still too tensed. Holliday getting picked off on the 1st? That was a careless mistake that his nerves got the best of him. Their DH Ryan Spilborghs strokeout 3 times - all looking - was a clear sign that they were overmatched by the experience Red Sox team, and overwhelmed by the October atmosphere, especially in Fenway. But Game 3 is going to be at home, the Rockies will be able to play some Home ball where they won 51 games and batted .298 instead of the .261 on the road. These guys played hard and did the little things all season, it is really hard to imagine they would just roll over and make it a clean sweep for the Red Sox.

Now, am I saying that they have a shot? Not really. They still have to face Beckett and the deadly lineup of Boston, and they still have to find a way to win in Fenway - in October. What I am saying is that the Rockies WILL come back and give the Red Sox a run for their money, and force them to close the deal at home. I see the Rockies win a couple games, forcing a Game 6 back in Boston, and Manny being Manny, not worry about a damn thing and win it big for the Sox.

The Rockies are a young, talented team that lack a Big Time Ace to be on the same level as the elite teams. Maybe Jimenez can be that guy one day, but it is not going to be this year. Obviously there bullpen can use some upgrades as well because after all, this is still baseball, you still need pitching to win. As long as the front office keep the young core players around, they will have a shot at October for the next couple seasons.

- Paul

Popularity: 68% [?]

Filed under: MLB, Sports | No Comments

So after some battle with my set up, HAKANIN.Sports is back.

I will admit, I was playing around with the set up too much that I had to just start over with my subdomain, but that’s all in the past now. As I explained on HAKANIN.com, the changes were necessary, although I did not plan on dropping the ball so bad I nearly lost both my sites.

Anyway, we are back, sorry for the inconvenience, and I should get back on writing very shortly =)

Thanks for understanding and being so patient,

- Paul

Popularity: 66% [?]

Filed under: Site Announcement | No Comments

The switch over is almost complete, thank you for being patient. There are still a couple kinks to work out, or even a new theme depending on how much time I have. Eventually the old hakanin.com/blog will become more of a personal blog while over here we will focus on sports and only sports.

Feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions/suggestions.

Popularity: 65% [?]

Filed under: Site Announcement | No Comments

Ok, so maybe I am a little extra pumped because Stephen Colbert is running for President (sort of), or maybe I am just competitive that I want to see the Mets win *something* so check this out:

PEOPLE Magazine’s Sexiest Fan Alive Contest

Although it is awfully tempting to vote for Candie, the uber cute Astro fan in a bumble bee outfit, we gotta go with Brian the Mets fan, who is currently at 3rd behind the Red Sox and Cubs fan. You have 5 votes each day, so even if you are not a Mets fan, shoot my man Brian a vote or 2 once a day, courtesy of finding the contest through HAKANIN.com, sounds like a good deal? =)

- Paul

Popularity: 100% [?]

Filed under: MLB, New York Mets, Randomness, Sports, Totally Awesome | No Comments

If you are a registered voter from South Carolina, you need to check out Colbert Nation tomorrow to sign the petition for his democratic presidential candidacy. Whether he plans on going as far (with this gig) as possible, it will be something fun to watch.

Other than that, check out my end of the year fantasy wrap up, today we will take a look at the possible One Year Wonders and whether you should pay attention to these guys next season.

1. NL Fantasy All-Star Team
2. AL Fantasy All-Star Team
3. Most Underachieving List
4. One Year Wonders
5. Injury Bug Attack! Who To Bounce Back in 2008?
6. Sleepers Watch

Here is my list:

• Jorge Posada (NYY-C): A career .277AVG hitter who turned 36 this past August. Not going to happen again. At a thin position like C, people are going to look at Jorge and be tempted to draft him. First of all, he may not even be a Yankee next year as he heads for FA. Without the line up, he will just be an old catcher without a chin. He will give you about .260 next season, maybe .270 if he stays with the Yankees, and perhaps 12-15HR. Look else where.
• Carlos Pena (TB-1B): The AL Comeback player of the year had an FANTASTIC year. Can he keep up as he approaches 30? Well I say yes, but not with another 40+HR. If he stays with the young Devil Ray, he is not going to get all the pitches he got this year. He caught everyone by surprise in 2007, and the other teams will be ready for him in 2008. Let someone else burn a high high pick on him, he is going to give you something closer to his career AVG of .252, and possibly 30HR at most.
• Brandon Phillips (CIN-2B): A change of scenery was all Phillips needed. He was that one top prospect who can never live up to his reputation. Over hyped and given up by the Indians, Phillips found his place in Cincinnati. I think he is legit, and will continue to put up impressive numbers as a 2B. His OBP is alarmingly low, with a BB-K rate of 1-to-3, but he is also only 26 with 2 full seasons under his belt. I will give him the benefit of the doubt, assuming that he will mature as a hitter to reach the base more often. The 30-30? Not a fluke.
• Ryan Braun (MIL-3B): The young 3B showed power in the minors, but no one saw that 34HR coming. He is only 23 and the inexperience showed with his lack of walks. But who cares when he still batted .324 with OBP of .370? Well you should, for 2008. His bat is going to keep him in the lineup, around Prince Fielder, J.J. Hardy (who by the way, cooled off after April, but should heat up again in 2008), and the end-of-the-season version of Rickie Weeks, but pitchers will figure him out. While he crushed all pitches, he seemed to have most trouble with curve balls. If I can read his stats and noticing some form of a weakness, so will the scouts. Braun will be a good gamble for 2nd tier 3Bs, possibly matching his HR total but with a more realistic AVG around .270~.280
• Troy Tulowitzki (COL-SS): Two words: World Series. If you are a fan of baseball, you gotta love the story of the Rockies. While my Mets lost all those games, they just kept on winning. He is a wizard with his gloves, and his bat gets better as the season goes on. I am not going to make a prediction here, because the WS is going to either do wonders to his career, or hold him back a couple years. Just watch the games!
• Aaron Rowand (PHI-OF): Okay, so maybe I am somewhat bias here since I never liked this guy, and he has been a pain since joining the Phillies, but I just don’t buy it. I don’t believe he has a legit 20+ HR power, and his style of defense will get him hurt. If he stays with the Phillies, he may benefit from the Citizens Bank Park, and the team keeps him batting 5th, he will give you some numbers, but there are plenty OFs out there, don’t waste your time and draft picks. Perhaps a steal near the end of the draft.
• B.J. Upton (TB-2B/3B/OF): He may not have all those positions next season depending on how your league works, but he will most likely keep the OF eligibility. I was a big fan of his throughout 2007, believing that it was the year he took off and lived up to his potential. Will he continue? I believe so. Just when you thought his injury would slow him down, he came back with a hot July. He is too good not to keep up so I kinda feel cheap even mentioning him, but I know there are people still doubting his plate discipline and poor defense, but I see a 30-30 machine for years to come, barring from injuries.
• Kelvim Escobar (LAA-SP): What? Two years in a row that Escobar made 30 starts? He is due for a major injury, I can feel it. Don’t get too excited about his stats, we all know he is good, but injuries are major concerns here, he needs to prove us all wrong by putting up another impressive season like 07, not necessarily 18W, but at least show us that he is here to stay before we can safely commit.
• Ted Lilly (CHC-SP): I didn’t think he can keep up, but he did just fine. Solid stats line and stayed relatively drama and injury free. Don’t get carry away though, he is your #3 SP at best.
• Al Reyes (TB-CL): He has been a journeyman, and will continue to pitch like a journeyman - who happened to be a closer. He is a prime example of not wasting high draft picks on CLs. Stats showed that his magic faded along with D-Ray’s records, but as long as he can keep his job, he will get SVs here and there, but chances are some contending team will trade for him either during the off season, or by next July.

There you go, some of them deserve your attention next season, and some of them you should just stay away from. Fantasy Baseball isn’t all about drafts, it helps, but play your FA and pay attentions to CL situations because you never know who will be the next One Year Wonder for you to take advantage of in mid season.

- Paul

Popularity: 79% [?]

Filed under: Fantasy Baseball, Fantasy Sports, MLB, Sports | No Comments

While checking out Metsgrrl’s blog, I noticed she featured a YouTube clip of a SNL skit making fun of Dane Cook and his commercials for the playoffs. Never liked the man before, and those commercials only make me hate him even more. I am glad MG agrees with me, and hope you guys enjoy the parody as well.

Popularity: 76% [?]

Filed under: MLB, Sports, Totally Awesome | No Comments