You better watch out, because next week ESPN Baseball Tonight analyst John Kruk (aka “Santa Kruk”) will present some MLB teams with special “gifts” this holiday season to help them overcome the challenging obstacles they faced in 2009, or will face next season.
The “Santa Kruk” segments will appear in all SportsCenter episodes — with a new one each day — Tuesday, Dec. 22, through Saturday, Dec. 26. The following are the daily segments, with the gift and an explanation, including video:
Tuesday, Dec. 22
- Philadelphia Phillies gift — fire extinguisher; the team blew 10 leads heading into the 9th inning last season
- Minnesota Twins gift — winter hats, to prepare them for moving outdoors
- Chicago Cubs gift — a goat catcher (akin to a dog catcher), since the goat is to blame for no World Series win since 1908
Wednesday, Dec. 23
- Boston Red Sox gift – tax-free bond, so there is less discussion about the luxury tax creating obstacles for them
- San Francisco Giants gift — rule change, so Pablo Sandoval can be their all-time hitter
Thursday, Dec. 24
- New York Mets — power tools; the Mets had the least homers in majors last season
- Kansas City Royals — umbrella and lots of rain, so Zack Greinke can pitch every game
- Florida Marlins – cash; they would be really good if they had money to spend
Friday, Dec. 25
- St. Louis Cardinals — lifetime contract for Albert Pujols
- Pittsburgh Pirates — tickets to a Sister Sledge concert, to return to the glory days of “We Are Family”
- Texas Rangers — Mark Cuban as new owner
Saturday, Dec. 26
- Washington Nationals — eight clones of Ryan Zimmerman
- Los Angeles Dodgers — cooking lessons with Giada, so she can teach them how to whip up a recipe to beat the Phillies
- Houston Astros — a NASA rocket scientist, to figure out what’s gone wrong
-30-
Media contact: Nate Smeltz (860) 766-4550; [email protected]
