Adam Dunn

It's 10 days or so until the All Star Game, which is usually reserved as the halfway point of baseball. However, the official halfway point is now gone, and where are we? What do we have to say about the baseball season that truly sums it up?
In the 10th year of his career, Adam Dunn was a high stakes big money free agent that was supposed to get 40 big swings despite the fact that his average wouldn't be "great" and he would strike out a lot.
What did Ozzie Guillen and the White Sox get? Ozzie got even more high blood pressure than normal, which definitely causes him to tell it like it is and to have baseball columnists wonder why he's still in management (though I have to say that I think he's awesome). The White Sox got a .171 hitter in 234 at bats (he's seriously challenging Dan Uggla for futile zero of the year).
For the 7 home runs that they bought with $12million (ok - $6million since it's the first half of the season), they got 100 strike outs. While that's good enough for 2nd place (Drew Stubbs is still in first place with 112 - there's no catching abject futility, is there), there's a sign around Mudville (located on the otherside of Wrigleyville) that Chicago isn't going to be represented in the post season and next year will be another rebuilding year for both the south and the north side.
So while a player that should be hitting in 4 at bats every game for the first 85ish games could be doing some damage, he's getting about 2/3 of the at bats he could be getting because he's a liability. When you look at the facts - 1732 punched outs in 1517 games for his career - you see danger to the playing and the rooting and the paying. It's clear as day, but now he's an albatross for the White Sox. He's got 4 years and $56million to go for Obama's team, so we have to wonder... when will Ozzie crack and start kicking Dunn's ass like it was a catcher's mask?
On the other side of the Second City, there's Carlos Pena, who pretty much sucked all year, but is at least a little better lately. He's got 76 whiffs in 251 at bats. He's carrying a .219 average (.171 for the last week, mind you). He does at least have 17 home runs in the homey capacity of Wrigley, with it's wind blowing out in these nice summer days (the kind of thing which helps our favorite steroids mirages transcend from attitude to baseball altitude until they're asked to answer questions on the witness stand, eh Sammy Sosa).
Texas, Detroit, Oakland, Boston, Tampa Bay... and the Cubs... they're all trying and have tried to figure out what to do with a problem like Carlos in the same way that the White Sox are joining the Reds, Diamondbacks, and the Nationals in dealing with a problem like Adam.
At some point, baseball is going to say that we can't all be Rob Deer. We can't flirt with the Mendoza Line all year and hope that it will get better... especially when the home runs aren't clearing the walls... especially when the player needs to ride the bench to figure it out or because he is a liability.
It's times like this that the defensive play of David Ortiz... you know... he who isn't a true player because he can't make Terry Francona bench Mike Cameron or Darnell McDonald in favor of moving Adrian Gonzalez to the outfield in order to get Big Sluggi's 4 at bats in (at .300 batting average, mind you) actually seems like it's an over rated thing. Mind you - the fact Francona wouldn't play him all of the inter-league games - that's scary because once you get past Jacoby Ellsbury in the outfield, Boston pretty much sucks. JD Drew is fortunately about to get his unconditional retirement for the purpose of never letting Philadelphia fans chuck D cell batteries at him from the 600 level of Veterans Stadium again (in retrospect, the anger should have been celebration - other than the first September he played in 1998, he was pretty much hype over hall of fame).
So this brings us to the question - what is a baseball player supposed to be?
While many players look to crack the leagues, some veterans hold down spots just because. Other players play half of the game, although they do that well, and make us wonder about the logic of inter-league or the DH (or Astroturf - oops, I've come unstuck in time again). And maybe we wonder about other things, too, like a home run derby that will be shockingly devoid of names and power because the big boppers only bop, so they won't make it and the big names will probably opt out because they'll be too afraid to hurt themselves in a meaningless "exhibition" game.
Which only makes us wonder... what's wrong with this game today?

Matt Albers

The Padres tied the game at 3-3, but there seems to be this mentality on the Red Sox... open up and kill whatever comes at them without mercy. There's no prejudice. It's just attack, attack, attack. Last night was a 14-5 drubbing after the 10-run 7th. Sunday was a 6-run first off Yovanni Gallardo, who looked abysmal.
Monday, the Padres ended Wade Leblanc's no decision with a brutal drubbing that featured no home runs, but it did feature a lot of offense. Adrian Gonzalez hit a single and double in the 7th inning alone (3 RBIs for that endless beating).
Ellsbury is now batting .311.
Adrian Gonzalez is now batting a Major League leading .353.
Big Sluggi is now hitting .323.
And while Pedroia and Youkilis aren't exactly dominating, it's not like they're slouches and schlubs either.
In the end, while there were only 14 hits, the Red Sox took 9 base on balls. When the fear is there that a team is so scared to pitch to offensive dominence, it comes out in other ways. That's what happens when you have a pair of glorified AAA pitchers coming in to stop the bleeding, but instead, they let the dam burst all over the place.
And what a mess it was. The fact that Carl Crawford and JD Drew weren't even in the game and the fact that Jason Varitek and Mike Cameron were says that every night in June (save 3) has been a turkey shoot.
From humbling 0-6 beginnings, Boston is now a major league 2nd best 44-28 (they played 1 game less than the Phillies who have the best record). On April 15th, they were 2-10 after a loss to the Blue Jays, which followed up a sweep by the Rays. The only team that the Red Sox were beating was the Yankees (they still are - other than that 1 loss to the Bronx Bombers on that series, they've been brutalizing them in spite of Terry Francona's "managerial skills" (i.e. feeling his puppet strings pulled when it comes to replacing a pitcher or making a lineup.
Last night, mid reliever Matt Albers came in for the win. He now has a 3.08 ERA with a 2-3 record. He's not great. He won't be in Phoenix in a few weeks, but the role of the bullpen and pitching staff seems to be protect the division lead from the Yankees and the Rays and don't mess up worse than the offense can cover your ass. With Lackey sucking and Matsuzaka and Bucholz injured, it's a matter of carrying the team through the dark times and building up an insurmountable lead. We can live with that.
This week is San Diego and a better than usual Pirates team. In short, there are going to be a lot of wins. However, the followup series is against Philadalphia at Citizen's Bank. The World Series preview is about to be upon us. Fortunately, my refrigerator is stocked with Yuengling (the good stuff). Nothing like heating things up on the baseball burner when the weather is already 90 degrees.

Raul Ibanez

Ok, so Raul Ibanez is having a few good games, so we can either look at this blog as:
1) celebrating his return to form.
or
2) a final curtain call before he bows out gracefully.
There was that late career career-year that he had in 2009 (34HRs, 93 RBIs, and .272 over 134 games), which led the Phillies to a 2nd place finish against the Yankees in the World Series (no thanks to their offense crapping the bed when it counted as Mighty Ryan whiffed 13 times in 25 plate appearances and only hit a home run in an already decided last game of the season).
This year, he's 22 for 103. If not for the 3 game 8 for 12 swing, he was 14 for 91 before facing Washington's not so formidable pitching staff. On top of this, he has 27 whiffs for those first 91 at bats (none since).
Will he keep his average over the Mendoza Line, or will he go to seed against Atlanta?
I know where my money is (5 whiffs and 2 for 12 in the first series he played against them this year).
Philadelphia fans are fickle. They booed Santa Claus and threw snowballs at the jolly guy back in 1968. In 1999, they greeted JD Drew with D cell batteries after he refused to sign for their team (he never did have that career both the Phillies and Cards thought he would). They booed Mike Schmidt, who is considered the greatest third baseman EVER.
Do you think that they give a hoot about keeping around an over-priced guy who can't get a hit between April 18th and May 3rd? Do you really think a 1 time all star that played 2 stints with Seattle around a few years with Kansas City is going to cause fans to feel bad for his loss? They're already celebrating the fact that Jayson Werth took his over-priced talent to Washington and isn't doing well (.230 with 4 home runs, 8RBIs, and 27 strikeouts).
The Phillies are more concerned about not having Chase Utley and Dominic Brown than not having an aging outfielder that has been on the decline for ages with a few years of over-achievement. To this, I knew what was coming, but alas, the guy in my fantasy league that begged me to have Ibanez (I wouldn't budge - I'm not known for giving in when I know that I'm right) wanted to pretend differently (even though he tried to pass him off like a free T-shift giveaway that nobody really wants (but you can use it to wipe off your car oil after you change it!).
The reality is that of the 2 choices for what this blog today is, it's all about what Ibanez isn't and that he should go the way of the dodo bird. In this, I'm not alone - Eric Seidman of ESPN concurs with me as he says, "These are all signs that point to the end of a player's career. Ibanez will undoubtedly have a hot streak or two this season wherein Phillies fans and fantasy owners will convince themselves that he has regained his stroke. The streaks are temporary fixes, however, like using a piece of gum to plug a hole, and before we know it the Ibanez who looks his age will be back. Other players may have been prematurely written off in the past, but the same cannot be said of Ibanez. Practically everything he has shown so far this season suggests that he has reached the end of his career."
The only question is when can the Phillies get their injured players back and when can they start dealing with other teams that have called the game early?
And let's be honest - there aren't many teams ready to call their seasons (Houston and San Diego are about it, and even they aren't THAT FAR off of the .500 pace that could take them back into contention). Hell, even Kansas City and Pittsburgh are playing competitively.
Which really says we are in new baseball times.

Adrian Gonzalez

The good news is that all is right with the USS Pujols... 2 home runs in a Dodger crushing celebration last night means that the universe - at least the one that exists in the NL East and hits .300, 30, 100, and 100 is back on pace. He may only be up to .241 with 10 RBIs and 4 jacks, but he's hot again, and for that, life is good.
Ichiro was off to a little bit of a slump, but 2 more hits puts him at .276. Once again, life is good, and all is right with the highest paid (and most effective) singles machine in the history of baseball (though Pete Rose and Ty Cobb probably have something to say about that).
And while Baltimore losing is par for the course, Boston dropping to 2-10 with a loss against the Blue Jays is a crime against humanity.
So let's try to figure this out.
Carl Crawford's 0 for 5 drops him to .135. He's making $142 million over 7 years.
Jacoby Ellsbury's 1 for 4 raises him to .195. Coming back from injury, he was a question mark, but still... he's better than this. After all, he's batting .288 for a career.
Marco Scutaro goes 1 for 3 to raise his batting average to .188. Sure, he was the subject of a movie called Player to Be Named Later, and he did once hit a 3-run game winning home run against Mariano Rivera proving that the sun can shine on a sleeping dog's ass, but still... and he's making $11 million over 2 years AND HE SUCKS.
And Jarrod Saltalamacchia, the catching option that was supposed to be the good one since the other option, Jason Varitek, is headed for AARP, is hitting .154 this year. He hit .167 in 2 less at bats of an injured season last year, but Theo the wonder child and Francona the puppet boy thought that they could make something of the lad... but it didn't work. Sure, he's a bargain basement $750,000, but still... you think that he could at least make the Mendoza Line. Save 1 good 2 for 4 game against the Yankees, and this guy is outright ejected from the pros.
And just like we talked about rewarding pitchers who do nothing in Boston, now, the 0 for 4 night for Adrian Gonzalez (dropping him to .244 with 1 home run and 7RBIs) gets him $154 million over 7 years.
The message of rewarding greatness is understood, but if it's not happening this year, what does it really mean? Are we just trying to be the biggest payroll ever to miss the playoffs? Does it mean that Baltimore and the Blue Jays can quake at who finishes in third in AL East as the Red Sox look to move on without JD Drew and his 5 years $70 million after this year?
The free spending and day dreaming hopes of the Wonder Twins ensures that just as Zan and Jayna were the dumbest cartoon superheros ever, Terry and Theo are the most useless front office pair to ever steer a baseball ship. I know I said that I want my team to slump as low as they possibly can if it gets them fired, but I don't know how much more I can take of this disaster of a season. We're now officially 2 games behind Houston and Seattle who were both dead in the water before the season started. We're 7 games behind 2nd place Kansas City who was also marked for death. Even Pittsburgh who hasn't had a winning season since 1991 is 4 games better than us and their best players are looking for July trades as opposed to playoff dreams in western Pennsylvania.
What does it say? Worst baseball summer in Boston since 1960's 65 and 89? Even the futility of World War 2's player depletion in 1945 hasn't looked this bad - especially with a payroll of $160million.

Harold Reynolds

America is a land of second chances. From 1983 to 1994, Harold Reynolds wasn't an offensive threat at all. His 21 home runs from the second sack weren't anything to write home about. Hell, Ryne Sandberg had more home runs in a season during 6 of his years in the pros than Reynolds had total, and considering that he was the new face of second base (before Utley, Cano, and Soriano showed just how much power one could have from that position), Mr. Reynolds was just rapidly decelerating into career ending lack of productivity. All the same, he did have 60 stolen bases in his best year, but as a whole, he was what he was - average and his batting average of .258 for a career proved just that.
Nevertheless, he became a face for baseball because he went on to be a baseball guy for ESPN Baseball Tonight, and in that, he was always knowledgeable and interesting. However, after nearly a decade, he was canned from ESPN for hugging a female intern, which was considered offensive and sexual harassment when 3 weeks later, she said something about the hug and the dinner afterward. Maybe it was because she was white and he was black. Maybe he didn't return her further advances or maybe she just didn't hit it off with him. Either way, ESPN was not happy.
Later that year, he filed suit and won against his former network in that they settled the money he had asked for, and eventually, he went his way until MLBTV picked him up, which is unlike Steve Phillips, also an ESPN guy canned for issues that he had while being in a bizarre love triangle (cue New Order). There began the 3rd chance for Mr. Reynolds.
Now, Reynolds is on the air daily with Billy Ripken (the least of the Ripkens), Dan Plesac, and Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams (getting another second chance for himself after becoming Joe Carter's monkey boy and the most hated figure in Philadelphia history this side of JD Drew and Santa Claus). Together, they're disseminating what can only be described as "porn" since the constant baseball images on MLBTV are not only addictive and a guilty pleasure when I should be working or being productive on my days off, but a constant opportunity to gawk at the money shot home runs and defensive gems. I get to skip to the best parts of the greatest arguments, relive the memories past of glory that is missing from my life in this cold, nasty winter as I wait for life to come back to a former glory. Somehow, the images of the past and a past never seen have become my substitute for a daily life.
Not that I'm complaining. The countdowns are incredible and the Bob Costas interviews are enlightening me to all that is the grandeur of baseball. While they play the old Ken Burns Baseball stuff (I have this on DVD - it's the Vivid Entertainment of baseball), they haven't gotten to the new stuff yet. Someday, I'm sure they will, and I'll be able to record it rather than having to pay for the DVD just yet. On really good days, there are things on there like the entire game of Bill Mazeroski's home run to beat the Yankees and make Mickey and Roger cry.
If only MLBTV reached out to the world with their history (through Youtube), there would be a generation of baseball converts, but unfortunately, the already converted will be the only ones to relish in this greatness of a past world that can no longer be - at least until baseball becomes a game instead of a business.
Nevertheless, the hot stove is always burning - at least until my wife gets home and we watch "acceptable" television together.