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One-on-one and nearly perfect

Posted by Vince

Oct. 5, 2006 1:11 p.m. • 0 comments

BASEBALL PLAYOFFS

I’m sorry, but you can take your left tackle trying to handle a speed rusher on the outside, or your shutdown corner locked on the receiver, or your quick guard taking the ball to the rim against a polished shot blocker, or your veteran goalie trying to stone a right winger racing down the ice.

Those are all great, but the best one-on-one battle in all of sports is a hard-throwing pitcher facing a fast-ball hitter in the post season.

And you won’t see many better than Tiger reliever Joel Zumaya facing Alex Rodriguez with two outs in the eighth in Thursday’s game at Yankee Stadium.

Zumaya, after a how-you-doing curve ball to open the faceoff, threw two 103-mile-per-hour fastballs and one 101-mph - a changeup is how John Miller described it on ESPN - past A-Rod for the strike out.

What drama. What fun. What testosterone. What a game.

So what do you think? What is the best one-on-one matchup in sports? Let me know by clicking the Comments link below.