Diamond Cuts: Seventh Inning Stretch

Seventh Inning Stretch is the seventh volume of the Diamond cuts series of baseball song compilations. The collections are inspired by a passion for baseball, music, and helping others. Proceeds from sale of CD benefit Hungry for Music's programs for disadvantaged youth.

It was here that Ortiz developed his incredible hitting skills. But in what may have been one of the biggest errors of Major League history, the Mariners traded Ortiz to the Minnesota Twins in 1996 for the rather mediocre David Hollins. With the Twins, Ortiz still wasn't an amazing standout, just another young designated hitter with real potential but whose skills kept wavering between major league and minor league potential.

Big Papi - Boston's Not So Secret Weapon

This didn't last long. The Boston Red Sox signed him the next month, January 2003, as a free agent with a significant salary increase to indicate their faith in him. They were well rewarded; under the guidance of the Sox's coaching staff, who mostly trusted Ortiz to know what was good for him, he developed into one of the best hitters in the league, becoming the full-time designated hitter that year and quickly developing a reputation for a fearsome hitter. In 2005, nearly half of his record-setting 47 home runs either gave Boston the tie or the lead, and he finished the year with a three-season record of .326. He lost the MVP award in 2005 to New York's Alex Rodriguez, leading to heavy controversy and plenty of extra Boston hating on A-Rod, but, consistent with his personality, Ortiz didn't let it bother him. He just kept playing.

Big Papi - Boston's Not So Secret Weapon

He is an active philanthropist and willingly works hard to help raise funds for charity, even sporting a pink bat one day to support the Breast Cancer Foundation. He's fulfilled wishes for children for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, played backyard wiffleball with disadvantaged Boston kids to support youth sports, and celebrated his 32nd birthday by leading a relief effort at a Stop & Shop grocery in Plainville, Massachusetts, trading his autograph to fans for non-perishable items to send to hurricane victims in the Dominican Republic. Though he's had a tantrum or two, most notably the day he started throwing bats out of the dugout to protest an umpire's call, he has never had a breath of scandal attached to him as a player or as a family man. He remains one of the most positive role models in sports today for kids.

Today, he's one of the hottest hitters in Major League ball. David gained the attention of baseball scouts when he was still in high school in the Dominican Republic, and in 1992 when he was only 17, he was signed by the Seattle Mariners as an undrafted free agent.

Ortiz is known for his excellent team sportsmanship. He's thought to be one of the best Major Leaguers under pressure, and never chokes in a big game. He's also one of the league's best clutch hitters, bringing in the winning run many, many times in critical playoff games. His attitude is infectious among his teammates, and unlike similar players on rival teams who sport the nickname Cooler for their opposite effect, when Ortiz is brought out the rest of the team tends to relax and do better overall.

This paid off in 2006, when Ortiz came into his maturity as a player. He tied his career high in home runs in a game with the Seattle Mariners, and broke the Red Sox single-season home run record with a hit off his old Twins teammate, Johan Santana, which must have felt poetically just. He ended that season with 54 home runs, despite troubling health problems involving an irregular heartbeat. Despite this challenge, he was a key player in 2007 when the Sox won their second World Series in four years.

This all changed in 2002, when Ortiz hit .272 with 20 home runs and 75 RBIs. Even though the Twins lost the playoffs, Ortiz was clearly a force to reckon with. Still, the Twins saw Ortiz as an underachiever, a player who didn't work as hard as he ought to, and they decided that his high salary, nearly a million dollars a year, wasn't worth it. Only nine days before Christmas, they released the young player, leaving him without a team to play on for the first time in his life.

Topps New York Yankees 2007 Baseball Card Team Set

Topps New York Yankees 2007 Baseball Card Team Set
Customer Review: Topps Yankees 2007 Set - Team Sets Are Great For Baseball Fans and Kids
I'm a baseball fan, so I bought a bunch of different team sets. While these sets are somewhat pricey when you consider they only include 13 cards, they are nice for kids or die hard fans like me who may want to collect them as a set. The picures are nice enough, no special graphics to speak of. They do have embossed signatures on them, perhaps useful to compare against autographs if you ever get a real one. The only negative is that they rumble around in the box during shipment. That means the edges of the cardboard backing and even a corner on the plastic front were frayed. So keeping these sealed may not be practical unless you get lucky or buy them retail somewhere you can inspect them. Overall, great set. Mine had the Jeter card in front, but of course ARod, Posada, Mariano and the entire core group were all included. Enjoy!

How to Overcome a Sports Injury?

Sheehan claims, It was tough because I was a senior and all of my friends were going away to college and I was stuck at home. But I just kept working hard as I knew I couldnt be done with baseball.

He then goes on in his second year to have an ERA of 1.8 and finished 6 and 2 while both losses were the results of unearned runs. He earned all conference honors and then he began to get looked at by larger colleges. With interest from a number of larger colleges he really felt the need to go to a smaller school so he could get the starts and innings he needed to continue to improve. He decided on Centenary as they offered him and 80% baseball scholarship. Baseball scholarships are normally only given in fractional percentages like this even for the best of players. The colleges are so limited on the number of baseball scholarships that they are forced to divide the total amount among players.

Sheehan was a 2003 graduate that spent his freshmen year at Johnson Community College rehabbing his arm. It allowed him to get a jump on the classroom while building back the strength in his arm. Then he joined Cowley College, a small school in Arkansas City, Kansas on a baseball scholarship and reclaimed his career. He only went an undefeated seven and zero with a 3.4 ERA.

It has been an interesting road for pitcher Jeremy Sheehan. Going from a high school pitcher that had to endure the customary career ending Tommy John surgery to baseball scholarships and now becoming the Ace of his college team. He attributes the injury to motivating him to work hard enough to improve his strength and increase his speed enough to get a baseball scholarship.