I get it.
There's always a sense of exhaustion when so much happens in so little time, and we just want our time off to be away from it and not think about things that are going on and have happened. In most of what passes for life, it's all good, and it's the way it should be...
Unless the fans are voting for you to be an All Star, and they expect to see you giving your all amongst the other great players from your generation.
Which brings us to Derek Jeter.
He's been doing it since 1996, which might seem old hat, but consider that he plays in the Big Apple. He plays for the Yankees. He's a "bi-racial angel" (at least according to the movie The Other Guys). He just got to 3,000 hits (in a 5-5 game against the Tampa Bay Rays' David Price in which hit 3,000 was a home run - oh, and he had the game winning hit). He does have a super hot gal pal (Minka Kelly) who he most likely wants some time with to get a little bit of lovin', but he is one of the pre-eminent baseball players of his generation and his fans invited him to the game (to start no less!), so shouldn't he be there?
He was 6 for 9 in his last 2 game with a double, home run, 2 RBIs, and a stolen base. He had the game-winning hit when he came through big on Saturday. That's what he does. That's why the fans love him. And even a certified Yankee hater like myself who self hatingly has to admit that he doesn't hate Jeter anymore but somehow feels a degree of respect for him is now forced to think back on the days of old and sum up that old A-Rod style hate for Jeter (and we all know what the chances of sending a get well soon card to A-Rod is going to be for his surgery).
This whole All Star sit out thing has me upset to the point that I now have to wonder about Jeter's situation (so convenient because it allowed for him to get the hit at home instead of on the road). And I'm not here to make conspiracy theory seem real because that isn't what this is about, but it is about a man who should be giving the game a chance to celebrate it's past, present, and future, but instead, he thinks that he's above the fans. Hopefully, they'll leave him off the ballots in his final 2 years. We'll see if the Yankees feel obligated to him beyond the contract he's in now.
Hank Aaron said it best:
“There is a commitment I think that players have. At least it ought to seem like it’s a commitment. It is a game that belongs [to the fan]. I was privileged to play in 23 [All-Star Games] in the first one as much as I was the 23rd one. So I feel like these players should deem it’s a privilege. It’s their game; it belongs to them. And it’s a privilege when you can go out there when you can stand next to stars that you performed against and with. … Sometimes I think that some of the players take for granted that these things are going to go on forever.”
In response to stepping up to speak to the players about their attitudes towards today's game:
“I would be willing to speak and tell them the importance of this game … sure I would. It matters to me that baseball keeps going in the direction that it’s going in and I think that the All-Star Game is one part of baseball that we need to keep improving on. … The only way you’re going to improve upon them is if these guys are going to take out of their busy schedules and come here in play in these games.”
In response to making pitchers who were picked show up at the game:
“I don’t know so much about that. … But I do know one thing, if he pitched in the game on Sunday but was nominated to come to the game, he would come here just to show his face. … The fans appreciated when his name was called and he walked or ran out on the field.”
Once again, baseball's most outspoken former player (Willie Mays also has a lot to say, so it's not like Aaron is the only one) puts it exactly as it needs to be. If Jeter listens, he'll understand. It's all straight forward. This may be a high-paid profession, but at the end of the day, it's a kids' games that adults get the right to play and be idolized for. If he'd rather sleep with Russian models that run, hit, catch, and throw, then so be it, but then he needs to retire and do that 24/7 instead of this. There are tons of players that would love to take his place.
Showing posts with label New York Yankees. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New York Yankees. Show all posts
Monday, July 11, 2011
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Kevin Millwood
When you need a job, you look at the openings, your talents, and your needs, and you make a logical decision to see what you can do.
For example, Kevin Millwood is currently hanging out with the Red Sox in the minor leagues. He's not very happy because he's not in the pros, but to be honest, this isn't the days when he was filling the number 4 slot with the Atlanta Braves. His ERA isn't league leading like it was when he was in Cleveland. He's not throwing a no-hitter for the dead era Phillies. He's just a pitcher with an upside that hasn't lived up to expectations for quite some time. The 4-16 stint in Baltimore last year with a 5+ ERA wasn't good either.
So if he's crying over not being in the majors - just because he once was all right (thank you, Leo Mazzone), then perhaps there is a sense that he "just hasn't earned it yet (baby)."
And he isn't alone.
Future Just for Men spokesman Jason Giambi is sending out all the right signals to the Yankees to let them know that he doesn't want to be a role player for Colorado and wants to play for them (it's not quite Rickey Henderson informing the major leagues that "Rickey wants to play and he wants to play for you," but hey, it's a start. With comments like:
“I wasn’t touching the ground, I was excited." (at the prospect of playing in New York and hitting a home run).
“Just being excited like old times to have that opportunity to play in front of (the fans) again. I went up there, and I think he could have thrown the resin bag at 2-0 and I would have swung at it, no matter what.” (in an attempt to ass kiss for the Big Apple since his second stint with the A's wasn't quite the way his first stint with them was.
And we can't fault him for trying since we're trying to work and we're willing to work any number of places - though having a specialized advanced degree pretty much says that I'm stuck in some variation of it because too many employers think I'm too "skilled" to be "happy" at lesser part time jobs that would accomodate my slightly over part time hours of teaching. Too many other employers think I'm too pricey for the starting salaries that they can afford due to my "advanced" degree (interesting because I thought that a liberal arts masters degree wasn't quite as "advanced" as a STEM degree, but yeah...).
So if there is love and a paycheck and an opporuntity to get it, so be it. Let Mr. Giambi do what he has to do to earn it. Let Mr. Millwood work hard to have the comeback he deserves (and who can say that he's not worth one more chance - aren't we all?).
In the end, all people deserve the right to earn a living - even Barry Bonds - he who was so hated that he didn't get a job after posting a .480 OBP and 132 walks to go with his 28 home runs in the year he set the all time home run record. And yeah... this was something about BALCO, and Bonds was a clubhouse cancer, but if that's the case, why bring him back for the record? And maybe there was a fear of the perjury trial and what could be said, but if you look at Barry's stats... they were positively sick (even if it made me physically sick to see him beat McGwire's home run record). This was a man who in 2004 walked 232 TIMES! Somehow, only 120 of these were intentional. This was a man who is ranked #21 all time on Baseball Reference Dot Com. This was a man who was walked with the bases loaded. This was the man who was walked 177 times the year he hit 73 home runs (McGwire was walked 162 in the year he hit 70).
But like so many others from an era that made a mistake, he was passed over and left to be forgotten. It's not that he didn't shoot himself in the foot and sabotage his world, but still... isn't ours a society of second chances? Aren't all sins save upsetting Oprah worth another chance?
For example, Kevin Millwood is currently hanging out with the Red Sox in the minor leagues. He's not very happy because he's not in the pros, but to be honest, this isn't the days when he was filling the number 4 slot with the Atlanta Braves. His ERA isn't league leading like it was when he was in Cleveland. He's not throwing a no-hitter for the dead era Phillies. He's just a pitcher with an upside that hasn't lived up to expectations for quite some time. The 4-16 stint in Baltimore last year with a 5+ ERA wasn't good either.
So if he's crying over not being in the majors - just because he once was all right (thank you, Leo Mazzone), then perhaps there is a sense that he "just hasn't earned it yet (baby)."
And he isn't alone.
Future Just for Men spokesman Jason Giambi is sending out all the right signals to the Yankees to let them know that he doesn't want to be a role player for Colorado and wants to play for them (it's not quite Rickey Henderson informing the major leagues that "Rickey wants to play and he wants to play for you," but hey, it's a start. With comments like:
“I wasn’t touching the ground, I was excited." (at the prospect of playing in New York and hitting a home run).
“Just being excited like old times to have that opportunity to play in front of (the fans) again. I went up there, and I think he could have thrown the resin bag at 2-0 and I would have swung at it, no matter what.” (in an attempt to ass kiss for the Big Apple since his second stint with the A's wasn't quite the way his first stint with them was.
And we can't fault him for trying since we're trying to work and we're willing to work any number of places - though having a specialized advanced degree pretty much says that I'm stuck in some variation of it because too many employers think I'm too "skilled" to be "happy" at lesser part time jobs that would accomodate my slightly over part time hours of teaching. Too many other employers think I'm too pricey for the starting salaries that they can afford due to my "advanced" degree (interesting because I thought that a liberal arts masters degree wasn't quite as "advanced" as a STEM degree, but yeah...).
So if there is love and a paycheck and an opporuntity to get it, so be it. Let Mr. Giambi do what he has to do to earn it. Let Mr. Millwood work hard to have the comeback he deserves (and who can say that he's not worth one more chance - aren't we all?).
In the end, all people deserve the right to earn a living - even Barry Bonds - he who was so hated that he didn't get a job after posting a .480 OBP and 132 walks to go with his 28 home runs in the year he set the all time home run record. And yeah... this was something about BALCO, and Bonds was a clubhouse cancer, but if that's the case, why bring him back for the record? And maybe there was a fear of the perjury trial and what could be said, but if you look at Barry's stats... they were positively sick (even if it made me physically sick to see him beat McGwire's home run record). This was a man who in 2004 walked 232 TIMES! Somehow, only 120 of these were intentional. This was a man who is ranked #21 all time on Baseball Reference Dot Com. This was a man who was walked with the bases loaded. This was the man who was walked 177 times the year he hit 73 home runs (McGwire was walked 162 in the year he hit 70).
But like so many others from an era that made a mistake, he was passed over and left to be forgotten. It's not that he didn't shoot himself in the foot and sabotage his world, but still... isn't ours a society of second chances? Aren't all sins save upsetting Oprah worth another chance?
Friday, June 17, 2011
Bud Selig
What would this site be without 2 days in a row to talk about the Houston Astros? Have I mentioned them at all this year other than to say that Lance Berkman doesn't live there anymore?
Nevertheless, baseball wants to change things up a little and just like they did with the great shift of the Brewers to the NL Central when the D-Backs and the Devil Rays joined the game in 1998. There needed to be a balance of teams at an even number (all be it 14 American League teams and 16 National League teams), and well, that seemed to make it happen... something about a National League tradition in the land of Laverne and Shirley, but yeah.
So here we are again and it looks like it's the Astros turn. Someone from the NL Central (6 teams) has to go to the AL West (4 teams), the players are in favor of it, and there really isn't any other team that far west that would fit with the other teams, and besides, they would supposedly be a great matchup against the Rangers (if they decide to field a team with guys other than Hunter Pence if they decide to contend).
Because if it isn't the Astros, who is it?
Neatly tucked into this realignment situation is a new playoff situation that will see another team find their way into the playoffs (because in a Bud Selig world, it's all about money as opposed to logic). While we agree that there needs to be a 5 team division universality, we think that a 5th team in the playoffs is stupid beyond belief. If baseball lets this "blond moment" happen and doesn't stop it, what will that say for the playoffs? When October rolls around, we let 2 teams face off in a best of situation. Will it be multiple games? A single game that is more than what would happen if 2 teams were tied for the final spot going in where it is stuffed between the last game of the season and the first game of the playoffs? How much rust will Bud Selig let his teams accumulate as he makes his pittance on two leagues worth of games (whether single games or a best of 3 situation) to let another team play?
Is this his solution on what to do now that Boston, Tampa Bay, and the Yankees all want to play, or is this for the fact that he's that worried about the Yankees slipping out of contention and baseball needing the Yankees in the playoffs or else?
How many times can we spew hate on this bad haircut having schlub of a human before the Ancient Aliens come back to take him away once and for all?
Is there really that much of a problem for baseball in getting a decent commissioner?
Man, it's times like these that we wonder.
Nevertheless, baseball wants to change things up a little and just like they did with the great shift of the Brewers to the NL Central when the D-Backs and the Devil Rays joined the game in 1998. There needed to be a balance of teams at an even number (all be it 14 American League teams and 16 National League teams), and well, that seemed to make it happen... something about a National League tradition in the land of Laverne and Shirley, but yeah.
So here we are again and it looks like it's the Astros turn. Someone from the NL Central (6 teams) has to go to the AL West (4 teams), the players are in favor of it, and there really isn't any other team that far west that would fit with the other teams, and besides, they would supposedly be a great matchup against the Rangers (if they decide to field a team with guys other than Hunter Pence if they decide to contend).
Because if it isn't the Astros, who is it?
Neatly tucked into this realignment situation is a new playoff situation that will see another team find their way into the playoffs (because in a Bud Selig world, it's all about money as opposed to logic). While we agree that there needs to be a 5 team division universality, we think that a 5th team in the playoffs is stupid beyond belief. If baseball lets this "blond moment" happen and doesn't stop it, what will that say for the playoffs? When October rolls around, we let 2 teams face off in a best of situation. Will it be multiple games? A single game that is more than what would happen if 2 teams were tied for the final spot going in where it is stuffed between the last game of the season and the first game of the playoffs? How much rust will Bud Selig let his teams accumulate as he makes his pittance on two leagues worth of games (whether single games or a best of 3 situation) to let another team play?
Is this his solution on what to do now that Boston, Tampa Bay, and the Yankees all want to play, or is this for the fact that he's that worried about the Yankees slipping out of contention and baseball needing the Yankees in the playoffs or else?
How many times can we spew hate on this bad haircut having schlub of a human before the Ancient Aliens come back to take him away once and for all?
Is there really that much of a problem for baseball in getting a decent commissioner?
Man, it's times like these that we wonder.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Hunter Pence
For the 3 people in the world who read Ulysses and actually liked it (the ones that declared it was the best book of the 20th century), today is Bloomsday, the day when the main character met his wife. I got part way through the 2nd chapter before I saw a reference to the characters having sex in the first chapter. When I reflected on the knowledge that I didn't catch that while it was happening, I put the book away knowing I'd miss everything else in Joyce's stream of consciousness technique as well. There was another time that I felt like I should try it again - another Bloomsday, but... that didn't happen either. That said, it's not that I don't get deep literature - I did a lot of Faulkner (smartly enough, I did it with notes), but yeah... now, I just prefer baseball, outdoorsy travel, and American history. Currently, I'm still trying to make it through the Curt Flood book and a book on the Negro Leagues as well as a survival book I started a while ago as well. We never do have enough time to do the things that we want to do, but there is always time for baseball.
With this site being about baseball, let's see what's going on in the world of baseball news...
The Rangers are whining about the Yankees stealing signs. For the record, we think that even though it's the Yankees who are still baseball's version of the worst toilet in Scotland, there is still a sense of win at all costs. In NASCAR, they say that if you aren't cheating, you aren't trying. We'd also like to think that if you aren't trying to rip off Kyle Busch's ears or deck him solidly, you aren't trying, but we'll take live with whatever form of winning the game of baseball that you present. Besides, how much cheating can it be if you're smart enough to figure it out? Like counting cards in Vegas, if a person has the brains to calculate what is being done, then I'm all for it. If they need binoculars and some crazy dude in the stands wiring back coded info, then that's something altogether different. If a person knows how to play the percentages of what's left versus what's dealt, then he or she should be allowed to rake up the pot. Why handicap intelligent people?
And for those people intelligent enough to get it and figure it out and be one step ahead of the curve, there is the biggest success story on the Houston Astros: Hunter Pence.
OK, so he's not pretty to look at, but at least he's not the dreaded version of Edinson Volquez. And that said, whoever the gal is with him... she looks decent. All the same, Mr. Pence is fresh off a 23-game hitting streak in complete obscurity. Who knew until it was over?
And just like Joe Dimaggio, as soon as it ended, he started a new one, which is already 2 games strong, but still... in those 2 games he is 5 for 10 with a double, an RBI, and a stolen base. And so his ticket will be punched to the desert unless aliens abduct him because someone has to go to the All Star Game for Houston (even if they're mathematically eliminated from playoff contention already). And who knows, maybe he'll leave Texas for brighter pastures come trade deadline time, too. I'm sure the Yankees will give 26 cents on the dollar for him (you didn't think we'd spend this whole blog being nice to the Yankees, did you?).
All in all, he would be batting .326 with 9 home runs and 51 RBIs. His strikeouts are a little lofty at 62 for his 19 base on balls, but .326 is still a nice number - especially when he's hotter than Hell right now.
And while the focus on the streak has left him a singles hitter, he gets on nicely and is raising his average to new heights, which is what the good things in baseball are all about - even if nobody else takes the time to discover them.
With this site being about baseball, let's see what's going on in the world of baseball news...
The Rangers are whining about the Yankees stealing signs. For the record, we think that even though it's the Yankees who are still baseball's version of the worst toilet in Scotland, there is still a sense of win at all costs. In NASCAR, they say that if you aren't cheating, you aren't trying. We'd also like to think that if you aren't trying to rip off Kyle Busch's ears or deck him solidly, you aren't trying, but we'll take live with whatever form of winning the game of baseball that you present. Besides, how much cheating can it be if you're smart enough to figure it out? Like counting cards in Vegas, if a person has the brains to calculate what is being done, then I'm all for it. If they need binoculars and some crazy dude in the stands wiring back coded info, then that's something altogether different. If a person knows how to play the percentages of what's left versus what's dealt, then he or she should be allowed to rake up the pot. Why handicap intelligent people?
And for those people intelligent enough to get it and figure it out and be one step ahead of the curve, there is the biggest success story on the Houston Astros: Hunter Pence.
OK, so he's not pretty to look at, but at least he's not the dreaded version of Edinson Volquez. And that said, whoever the gal is with him... she looks decent. All the same, Mr. Pence is fresh off a 23-game hitting streak in complete obscurity. Who knew until it was over?And just like Joe Dimaggio, as soon as it ended, he started a new one, which is already 2 games strong, but still... in those 2 games he is 5 for 10 with a double, an RBI, and a stolen base. And so his ticket will be punched to the desert unless aliens abduct him because someone has to go to the All Star Game for Houston (even if they're mathematically eliminated from playoff contention already). And who knows, maybe he'll leave Texas for brighter pastures come trade deadline time, too. I'm sure the Yankees will give 26 cents on the dollar for him (you didn't think we'd spend this whole blog being nice to the Yankees, did you?).
All in all, he would be batting .326 with 9 home runs and 51 RBIs. His strikeouts are a little lofty at 62 for his 19 base on balls, but .326 is still a nice number - especially when he's hotter than Hell right now.
And while the focus on the streak has left him a singles hitter, he gets on nicely and is raising his average to new heights, which is what the good things in baseball are all about - even if nobody else takes the time to discover them.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
David Ortiz
One has to wonder about all the hype and the hooplah associated with David Ortiz's first plunk from the Yankees in 1 full season worth of games (162) between the 2 teams. Sure, the Red Sox do tend to hit a lot of Yankees, but is this hatred, crowding the plate, bad pitching or what? And sure, it is the unwritten code of baseball as exacted by great men like Bob Gibson that a certain 17" of plate is mine and that a certain amount of respect is mine. All good pitchers ever knew this. That's why Pedro was so dominant (you gotta love that Gerald Williams hit - it sure did scare Tampa Bay, that's for sure). All good hitters knew this. That's why Barry Bonds wore tank armour on his arm.
Who cares who takes offense to a flipped bat? For years, the Yankees made people put up with their fecal material (as if it didn't stink) because they were winning and they were on top. Now, they are starting to suck. They're starting to get old.
If the best thing that the Yankees can do to trump up to justify CC taking a shot at the sluggi one is that Joe Girardi was worried about the feelings of poor little Hector Noesi (and since the Yankees pitching staff is injured, thin, and brittle in mind and body, they've got a lot of protecting to do), then so be it because it's New York and they'll do what they can to stay in the forefront of everyone's mind - even when they're on the decline.
"Hating the Yankees is as American as pizza pie, unwed mothers, and cheating on your income tax," Columnist Mike Royko once said.
We agree. That said, if you haven't seen the following video of Big Sluggi getting nailed by CC Sabathia on MLBTV's Intentional Talk, then you're really missing out.
In the end, if Sluggi is having a great year and rebounding from the usual early season crappiness and post steroids drought that he has been forcing Boston fans to put up with, then bring on the retaliation towards him - we haven't thought anything about him since Obama ran for president, but hey, if he's 2004 David Ortiz, we'll take that he's going to be a target. For us, Papi can be in it to win it and make the Yankees hate him all that he wants. They still owe him a foot on that game one shot he almost put out of the stadium in the 2004 ALCS (game 1) when the Red Sox started to rally back after Mussina had left them in a stagnant morass. The time has come to pile on the misery to make the Yankee fans remember the 1980s and early 1990s for what they were - a complete joy to all non New Yorkers!
So let Girardi and crew cry. They'll be making us put up with their Jeter 3000 lovefest soon enough, which frankly put, is enough to make us vomit (even if we're doing better with getting over that whole Jeter sucks thing - besides, it's all about hating on A-Rod).
Who cares who takes offense to a flipped bat? For years, the Yankees made people put up with their fecal material (as if it didn't stink) because they were winning and they were on top. Now, they are starting to suck. They're starting to get old.
If the best thing that the Yankees can do to trump up to justify CC taking a shot at the sluggi one is that Joe Girardi was worried about the feelings of poor little Hector Noesi (and since the Yankees pitching staff is injured, thin, and brittle in mind and body, they've got a lot of protecting to do), then so be it because it's New York and they'll do what they can to stay in the forefront of everyone's mind - even when they're on the decline.
"Hating the Yankees is as American as pizza pie, unwed mothers, and cheating on your income tax," Columnist Mike Royko once said.
We agree. That said, if you haven't seen the following video of Big Sluggi getting nailed by CC Sabathia on MLBTV's Intentional Talk, then you're really missing out.
In the end, if Sluggi is having a great year and rebounding from the usual early season crappiness and post steroids drought that he has been forcing Boston fans to put up with, then bring on the retaliation towards him - we haven't thought anything about him since Obama ran for president, but hey, if he's 2004 David Ortiz, we'll take that he's going to be a target. For us, Papi can be in it to win it and make the Yankees hate him all that he wants. They still owe him a foot on that game one shot he almost put out of the stadium in the 2004 ALCS (game 1) when the Red Sox started to rally back after Mussina had left them in a stagnant morass. The time has come to pile on the misery to make the Yankee fans remember the 1980s and early 1990s for what they were - a complete joy to all non New Yorkers!
So let Girardi and crew cry. They'll be making us put up with their Jeter 3000 lovefest soon enough, which frankly put, is enough to make us vomit (even if we're doing better with getting over that whole Jeter sucks thing - besides, it's all about hating on A-Rod).
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Gary Carter
Instead of caring about the actions of Gary Carter, a Hall of Famer that many people might have forgotten about in our non historic attitude for 1980s baseball, we spend our time getting upset at Bryce Harper for blowing a kiss to a pitcher who he just homered off of. Of course, this was precipitated by Harper getting drilled with a pitch earlier, but alas... when it's a slow baseball week (except for the Red Sox beating the Yankees AGAIN), we have to make issues where we can.
That said, when Carter gets radiation treatment for tumors that are cancerous, we should probably pause for a second and think of that... even if Harper is a number one pick and may have offended the sensibilities of baseball's Puritanical and stodgy elderly blue hairs, no hairs, and What Would Babe Ruth have done-rs (eaten Polish sausage, slept with hoochies, drank a lot, blown his money, talked smack on Charlie Root's pitching in the 1932 World Series and somehow made us believe that it was a called shot, gotten suspended for throwing dirt in an ump's face, and was too obese to run out his final home runs as a Boston Brave when the Yankees grew tired of him). Even if Harper stomped the foot of a player covering first. Even if Bryce Harper does whatever it is that a super young guy with a lot of testosterone and a big me attitude is going to do, because let's be honest... he's a future athlete supreme growing up in the spotlight.
But we talk about that... we talk about Jonathan Papelbon, a formerly decent relief pitcher, getting ejected from a game for bumping an umpire, and we think it means something other than the was angry at the calls. Sure, he was bounced and he's going to appeal whether he bumped the ump, but alas, in the long run, who cares? As Pedro Martinez once said when he gave up an appeal, "I didn't want to listen to all that stuff." He came back and struck out 15, allowed 2 hits, and threw a complete game shutout that let no walks happen.
From 1974-1992, Carter was great. He hit 324 home runs. Only Yogi Berra (historic shots), Lance Parrish + Johnny Bench + Carlton Fisk (contemporaries) and Mike Piazza (a steroids era player alleged to be linked to the juice) have more. Despite a dismal last 4 years of few appearances, he still batted .262 from a position that was more about throwing out runners and calling the game from behind the plate than doing things at the plate. In his day, he was throwing out as many as 50% of the runners who attempted to take second on him, but then injuries happened, and now, the biggest injury of all, brain cancer, is happening, and like he did in his baseball career, Carter is fighting.
And the newspaper guys care more about blowing kisses at the pitcher.
Here, we just hope Carter gets better and beats this nasty stuff.
That said, when Carter gets radiation treatment for tumors that are cancerous, we should probably pause for a second and think of that... even if Harper is a number one pick and may have offended the sensibilities of baseball's Puritanical and stodgy elderly blue hairs, no hairs, and What Would Babe Ruth have done-rs (eaten Polish sausage, slept with hoochies, drank a lot, blown his money, talked smack on Charlie Root's pitching in the 1932 World Series and somehow made us believe that it was a called shot, gotten suspended for throwing dirt in an ump's face, and was too obese to run out his final home runs as a Boston Brave when the Yankees grew tired of him). Even if Harper stomped the foot of a player covering first. Even if Bryce Harper does whatever it is that a super young guy with a lot of testosterone and a big me attitude is going to do, because let's be honest... he's a future athlete supreme growing up in the spotlight.
But we talk about that... we talk about Jonathan Papelbon, a formerly decent relief pitcher, getting ejected from a game for bumping an umpire, and we think it means something other than the was angry at the calls. Sure, he was bounced and he's going to appeal whether he bumped the ump, but alas, in the long run, who cares? As Pedro Martinez once said when he gave up an appeal, "I didn't want to listen to all that stuff." He came back and struck out 15, allowed 2 hits, and threw a complete game shutout that let no walks happen.
From 1974-1992, Carter was great. He hit 324 home runs. Only Yogi Berra (historic shots), Lance Parrish + Johnny Bench + Carlton Fisk (contemporaries) and Mike Piazza (a steroids era player alleged to be linked to the juice) have more. Despite a dismal last 4 years of few appearances, he still batted .262 from a position that was more about throwing out runners and calling the game from behind the plate than doing things at the plate. In his day, he was throwing out as many as 50% of the runners who attempted to take second on him, but then injuries happened, and now, the biggest injury of all, brain cancer, is happening, and like he did in his baseball career, Carter is fighting.
And the newspaper guys care more about blowing kisses at the pitcher.
Here, we just hope Carter gets better and beats this nasty stuff.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Jo Jo Reyes
After a dismal beginning to the 2011 season that saw him go 0-5, Ubaldo Jimenez finally seems like he's back, at least for one game, as he shut out the Dodgers on a 4-hitter in Chavez Ravine. Add to this the fact that he was free of walks and had struck out 7 batters and you have the recipe for the first 4 months of 2010 Ubaldo Jimenez. That said, what happened to Ubaldo?
Was it all just make believe? Did we dream that 2010 season? Maybe he's just trying to steal Jo Jo Reyes' thunder after he finally got a win for the first time after losing 28 straight starts. From June 13, 2008, (his last win) to May 30th, he couldn't buy a win. He made it to 3-4 on the 2008 season on that victorious day in June, but after that, he lost 7 more games. He 0-2 the next year, 0-0 the year after that, and prior to his win a few days ago, he was 0-4. Talk about an absolute lack of love.
So can either of these guys rattle off a win steak for the ages? Sure Jimenez has potential, but scouts talked about his lack of velocity in recent times. That's a far cry from Dexter Fowler making a superb catch to save Ubaldo's no hitter and be useful on the baseball field (other than striking out in the batter's box).
But we can't all be great, it's just when a player does what Jimenez did...
15-1 with a 2.20 ERA on July 8th.
19-8 with a 2.88 ERA when the season finished.
We have to wonder.
He had and has potential. The 214 whiffs say it, but he has problems (the league leading 16 wild pitches say that, too).
Reyes is Reyes. The career 5.87 ERA might reflect hope in upside. It might reflect being cheap to get a pitcher to eat innings in a town that doesn't have a contract (see Toronto, and see the $439,000 salary).
But Ubaldo has movement on his pitches and he could be the man... with or without blisters on his hand.
All the same, for whatever he is, he has a great name that just rolls off of the tongue. He's like Asdrubal Cabrera... there's just pop on that name and we want to feel something great is going to come when it hits the senses.
Sadly, prior to tonight it hasn't happened, but maybe, just maybe, like Francisco Liriano turning things around with that no hitter, we want to believe it's going to happen, and then it doesn't, and something worse happens (1 hiccup game in the next 3 and an injury), and we forget the greatness, and the Yankees don't have a pitching option to trade for in July, and yeah... hope dies withering.
But there are always the moments of glory and the feeling of greatness that is like a long yearned for moment of ecstasy that comes with a pie in the face...
And couldn't we all use one of those.
Was it all just make believe? Did we dream that 2010 season? Maybe he's just trying to steal Jo Jo Reyes' thunder after he finally got a win for the first time after losing 28 straight starts. From June 13, 2008, (his last win) to May 30th, he couldn't buy a win. He made it to 3-4 on the 2008 season on that victorious day in June, but after that, he lost 7 more games. He 0-2 the next year, 0-0 the year after that, and prior to his win a few days ago, he was 0-4. Talk about an absolute lack of love.
So can either of these guys rattle off a win steak for the ages? Sure Jimenez has potential, but scouts talked about his lack of velocity in recent times. That's a far cry from Dexter Fowler making a superb catch to save Ubaldo's no hitter and be useful on the baseball field (other than striking out in the batter's box).
But we can't all be great, it's just when a player does what Jimenez did...
15-1 with a 2.20 ERA on July 8th.
19-8 with a 2.88 ERA when the season finished.
We have to wonder.
He had and has potential. The 214 whiffs say it, but he has problems (the league leading 16 wild pitches say that, too).
Reyes is Reyes. The career 5.87 ERA might reflect hope in upside. It might reflect being cheap to get a pitcher to eat innings in a town that doesn't have a contract (see Toronto, and see the $439,000 salary).
But Ubaldo has movement on his pitches and he could be the man... with or without blisters on his hand.
All the same, for whatever he is, he has a great name that just rolls off of the tongue. He's like Asdrubal Cabrera... there's just pop on that name and we want to feel something great is going to come when it hits the senses.
Sadly, prior to tonight it hasn't happened, but maybe, just maybe, like Francisco Liriano turning things around with that no hitter, we want to believe it's going to happen, and then it doesn't, and something worse happens (1 hiccup game in the next 3 and an injury), and we forget the greatness, and the Yankees don't have a pitching option to trade for in July, and yeah... hope dies withering.
But there are always the moments of glory and the feeling of greatness that is like a long yearned for moment of ecstasy that comes with a pie in the face...
And couldn't we all use one of those.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Giovanni Ramirez
There's a stigma about Barry Bonds - he's an asshole. He's a liar and a cheater. The list goes on, but when it came to the family of Bryan Stow, the victim at the Dodgers / Giants game earlier this season, he showed that he still had orange and black pride with an "uncharacteristic" respect for humanity when he gave Stow's children college scholarships (and a signed glove and bat).
This is a hell of a lot more than we can say for Giovanni Ramirez, an ex-con picked up in a surprise raid on his place of residence (along with evidence and others at the scene), who is being held on investigation for this 3 strike offense that would see him charged with assault with a deadly weapon. And if it is true that he is the prime scumbag who beat the tar out of Stow and left him completely unable to care for himself or his children as he slowly moves out of a medically-induced coma.
And sadly for the McCourt family, the Stow family is now suing the hell out of the Dodgers for their part in the beating (seeing as they won't be able to take successful legal action in monetary form against the ghetto trash that was picked up in the incident). Says the lawyer for Stow:
It's fairly simple. The Dodgers have shown a total disregard for public safety. They've gotten rid of security people, they've had all these incidents at their games, more than other teams, there's also a known gang presence. What did they think was going to happen?
And if this brings attention to people who take obsession with their teams too far and makes us all realize that we can hate the Yankees, but that we should still respect the flesh and blood human-ness of their fans. Talking trash about the team is one thing, but throwing beer and throwing punches? Talking smack on Jeter and A-Rod is one thing, but provoking fans with insults to who they are? Sure, we've all been there in a fierce rage where our team wins or loses in a heated rivalry and we've all taken the abuse and dished it out, but at the end of the day, it's just a game and that's why the game is so great.
But how this incident didn't happen a hundred times before as the networks fiercely covered every single Red Sox / Yankees game for the better part of a decade and fanned the flames on the best rivalry in baseball (and John Roseboro vs. Juan Marichal not withstanding, there are very few events in Dodgers / Giants lore that merit mentioning - other than Jackie Robinson refusing his trade to the Bay). Here, Red Sox and Yankees fans do the deeds that could cause trouble - they go into the stadium in full uniform. They drink and they get loud, but somehow, other than getting doused in beer and talking a lot of smack, there are no major incidents.
In L.A., this year, it's all different, and that's sad, which makes it nice to see someone like Bonds trying to make up for the problems that it caused.
This is a hell of a lot more than we can say for Giovanni Ramirez, an ex-con picked up in a surprise raid on his place of residence (along with evidence and others at the scene), who is being held on investigation for this 3 strike offense that would see him charged with assault with a deadly weapon. And if it is true that he is the prime scumbag who beat the tar out of Stow and left him completely unable to care for himself or his children as he slowly moves out of a medically-induced coma.
And sadly for the McCourt family, the Stow family is now suing the hell out of the Dodgers for their part in the beating (seeing as they won't be able to take successful legal action in monetary form against the ghetto trash that was picked up in the incident). Says the lawyer for Stow:
It's fairly simple. The Dodgers have shown a total disregard for public safety. They've gotten rid of security people, they've had all these incidents at their games, more than other teams, there's also a known gang presence. What did they think was going to happen?
And if this brings attention to people who take obsession with their teams too far and makes us all realize that we can hate the Yankees, but that we should still respect the flesh and blood human-ness of their fans. Talking trash about the team is one thing, but throwing beer and throwing punches? Talking smack on Jeter and A-Rod is one thing, but provoking fans with insults to who they are? Sure, we've all been there in a fierce rage where our team wins or loses in a heated rivalry and we've all taken the abuse and dished it out, but at the end of the day, it's just a game and that's why the game is so great.
But how this incident didn't happen a hundred times before as the networks fiercely covered every single Red Sox / Yankees game for the better part of a decade and fanned the flames on the best rivalry in baseball (and John Roseboro vs. Juan Marichal not withstanding, there are very few events in Dodgers / Giants lore that merit mentioning - other than Jackie Robinson refusing his trade to the Bay). Here, Red Sox and Yankees fans do the deeds that could cause trouble - they go into the stadium in full uniform. They drink and they get loud, but somehow, other than getting doused in beer and talking a lot of smack, there are no major incidents.
In L.A., this year, it's all different, and that's sad, which makes it nice to see someone like Bonds trying to make up for the problems that it caused.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Jason Giambi
In 2000, I got myself a Jason Giambi rookie. In 2001, I gave it away after he signed with the Yankees and got rid of his dirtbag image for pinstripes.Somewhere in those years afterward, I never forgot that he was once the guy that Mark McGwire took under his wing and even begged St. Louis to sign (instead of Tino Martinez who the Yankees cast aside for the Cardinals despite his contributions to the magnificent run that all of their fans thought they had over the past 5 years). Sure, he was salivated over with Seattle in that year that the Mariners beat the Yankees in 1995, but it wasn't the same way that the Yankees lusted after Giambi. Like someone else's girlfriend that is hovered over when the imminent breakup is about to occur, but that doesn't work out when the window of opportunity is there (is everything a Seinfeld episode, or is it just me?)... Tino went to the Yankees, but he was quickly cast out when the opportunity came to get Giambi.
And so the Yankees did, but for the fact I gave his rookie card away (I wouldn't touch Yankee cards at that period of my life - especially ones that featured former "one of my favorite players"). I felt the same way with Randy Johnson and Kevin Brown. Randy was someone that I once adored the hell out of in only the way that a grown straight man can feel for a baseball player that he'll never know. Brown was someone whose talents I really liked. I didn't know much about his temper, but I'll tell you... I loved seeing him smash his hand in the dugout during a stretch run collapse.
Who knew that it was a sign of fierce competitor-ness / roid rage?
And when Giambi got struck by "parasites," I wasn't thinking about how he took Miguel Tejada to task in the 2001 playoffs for being a schlub. Though I never forgot that, I just felt that it was the universe paying him back for taking Yankee dollars and creating a demise of the Oakland team that was dominating August to make the playoffs year after year (Zito, Hudson, Mulder, Tejada).
He was 33, 43, and 38 for home runs in those last 3 Oakland years as he rose from the ashes of a dismantling that saw McGwire shipped to St. Louis. He was first in MVP in 2000 and second in 2001. He batted .315, .333, and .342 those last 3 years. He was 123, 137, and 120 for RBIs those years. He was also 105, 137, and 129 for walks in those campaigns! In the end, he was holding down the first sack and leading a team of dirt bags to the ALCS only to see them implode to the Yankees - we can blame the universe or we can blame his fat ass brother for that, but all the same... the A's were never to be again.
Giambi found a new hope and he found BALCO, and after 2 seasons without scruff, he wasn't the same man again. He did bounce back, but never to the level of his time in Oakland or his 2 41 home run seasons that began his New York tenure (and so began the Curse of Jason Giambi and Mike Mussina - the 2 players that the Yankees had to have at the end of their 3-year run, but couldn't win it all with).
He went back to Oakland in 2009, and it meant well at the beginning, but by the end of the year, he was playing in Denver, a town he still plays in. It's a bit role, and he sort of resembles the guy that he used to be - with a little more gray in the beard... the mustache thing is now over as he looks scruffy again, and for one evening, the old Jason was back killing Philadelphia substitute pitching (Kyle Kendrick) last night.
In the end, he had 3 homers and 7 RBIs.
Now that he's 40, he finally has a 3-homer game. He joins Babe Ruth, Stan Musial, and Reggie Jackson on that short list. For that, we wish him well and back in the lineup on a regular basis, but sadly, the end is coming... there will be no Cooperstown due to his non-specific apologies, but we will remember... that evening with Tejada's playoff goat self.
He was once the man.
Last night he was again.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Carlos Beltran
Every now and again, the sun even shines on a sleeping dog's ass.
Big Sluggi (the designated former favorite player of Beantown) seems to be back. He had a great game last night and raised his average to .295, his homers to 7, and his RBIs to 19. Hell, he has as many walks as strikeouts (19) and is nowhere near as futile as he has been at this time in years past. And last night, he had a great game in helping the Red Sox kick the holy hell out of the Yankees for a weekend sweep and a .500 record for the season - albeit with a performance against a team in the decline... a team that is looking to one of it's former greats and saying (in the words of Buster Olney):
The bottom line is that Posada is 39 years old and failing at the last task the Yankees' decision-makers believe he can handle: being a designated hitter. The only thing saving his job this morning is his two decades of history with the franchise.
It's a sad day when a team has to kick its former star to the curb.
But it's only REALLY a sad day when a team isn't prepared for the what ifs... take Minnesota who is in dire need of plastic sheets to avoid bed crapping supreme (that would be the fault of the 2 Joes - Mauer getting injured and Nathan just being lousy) as they went down this weekend to the Blue Jays and Jose Bautista who jacked 3 souveniers out to the customers in Sunday's game alone. I know that I didn't believe in him before, but he seems to be in the groove in the relative obscurity of Toronto, which is nice - as long as he doesn't think he can parlay that power into a move south of the northern border.
This weekend was quite a weekend for former Royals going on a 3 homers in one game tear.
With a 3 for 5 performance (all long balls) on Friday, Carlos Beltran showed that he still has a little wiggle in his stride. That said, he's batting .285 as of this fine Monday morning, but it was a weekend to make the Mets remember why they paid the big money to get him after his 8 homer / over .400 batting average performance in the 2004 playoffs against Atlanta (who everyone beats in the playoffs) and St. Louis (who Houston couldn't beat).
Of course, those were different days for Carlos Beltran. He had a fair bit of pop and a hell of a lot of upside. Then again, he was playing for Kansas City, and when he got traded to Houston for the stretch run, he jacked 23 dingers and hit .258 with 53 RBIs in a potent lineup. He quickly signed with the Mets, which is a place where dreams come to die (and injuries pile on like trash in the Hudson). Pedro Martinez, Carlos Delgado, Johan Santana, and Luis Castillo are just a few, though fans and followers seem to have many more choices of who the worst Met signing is, but this isn't about the worst - it's about getting out from under bad decisions.
That said, Beltran's 7 years haven't been all hard time. The first 4 years had some power and some bat, but the last few years... half and 1/3 seasons just make the team wonder what they were paying for. Was he really going to hit 40 home runs and bat .300 every year? Would he patrol center field with a fine toothed comb and shag all of the nasty fly balls that came his way, or would he prove to be what most things that do well in media obscurity truly do when the light of the Big Apple shines on them?
That said... it seems like he's just trying to play his way out of the Mets lineup, which would be nice for them if they could get some return for the next few years and ship him to a contender, where he can just be free to decide if he'll come back or not next year - provided he doesn't get injured and provided he can continue to hit... which are 2 big ifs.
One definite thought being... he won't get 7 years, $119million - no matter what kind of potential he has with the decline he's already showing.
Big Sluggi (the designated former favorite player of Beantown) seems to be back. He had a great game last night and raised his average to .295, his homers to 7, and his RBIs to 19. Hell, he has as many walks as strikeouts (19) and is nowhere near as futile as he has been at this time in years past. And last night, he had a great game in helping the Red Sox kick the holy hell out of the Yankees for a weekend sweep and a .500 record for the season - albeit with a performance against a team in the decline... a team that is looking to one of it's former greats and saying (in the words of Buster Olney):
The bottom line is that Posada is 39 years old and failing at the last task the Yankees' decision-makers believe he can handle: being a designated hitter. The only thing saving his job this morning is his two decades of history with the franchise.
It's a sad day when a team has to kick its former star to the curb.
But it's only REALLY a sad day when a team isn't prepared for the what ifs... take Minnesota who is in dire need of plastic sheets to avoid bed crapping supreme (that would be the fault of the 2 Joes - Mauer getting injured and Nathan just being lousy) as they went down this weekend to the Blue Jays and Jose Bautista who jacked 3 souveniers out to the customers in Sunday's game alone. I know that I didn't believe in him before, but he seems to be in the groove in the relative obscurity of Toronto, which is nice - as long as he doesn't think he can parlay that power into a move south of the northern border.
This weekend was quite a weekend for former Royals going on a 3 homers in one game tear.
With a 3 for 5 performance (all long balls) on Friday, Carlos Beltran showed that he still has a little wiggle in his stride. That said, he's batting .285 as of this fine Monday morning, but it was a weekend to make the Mets remember why they paid the big money to get him after his 8 homer / over .400 batting average performance in the 2004 playoffs against Atlanta (who everyone beats in the playoffs) and St. Louis (who Houston couldn't beat).
Of course, those were different days for Carlos Beltran. He had a fair bit of pop and a hell of a lot of upside. Then again, he was playing for Kansas City, and when he got traded to Houston for the stretch run, he jacked 23 dingers and hit .258 with 53 RBIs in a potent lineup. He quickly signed with the Mets, which is a place where dreams come to die (and injuries pile on like trash in the Hudson). Pedro Martinez, Carlos Delgado, Johan Santana, and Luis Castillo are just a few, though fans and followers seem to have many more choices of who the worst Met signing is, but this isn't about the worst - it's about getting out from under bad decisions.
That said, Beltran's 7 years haven't been all hard time. The first 4 years had some power and some bat, but the last few years... half and 1/3 seasons just make the team wonder what they were paying for. Was he really going to hit 40 home runs and bat .300 every year? Would he patrol center field with a fine toothed comb and shag all of the nasty fly balls that came his way, or would he prove to be what most things that do well in media obscurity truly do when the light of the Big Apple shines on them?
That said... it seems like he's just trying to play his way out of the Mets lineup, which would be nice for them if they could get some return for the next few years and ship him to a contender, where he can just be free to decide if he'll come back or not next year - provided he doesn't get injured and provided he can continue to hit... which are 2 big ifs.
One definite thought being... he won't get 7 years, $119million - no matter what kind of potential he has with the decline he's already showing.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Jorge Posada
Normally, and by normally, I mean if I wasn't married to my wife or hoping for a relationship (as was the case for Game 6 of the 2003 World Series - the one where Beckett lights out-ed the Yankees - I did see the end of that one with the pile on celebration after the date sucked), I would be spending the entire weekend draped in a Red Sox jersey over my "certified Yankee hater" shirt, wishing death on the Evil Empire.
Several things have changed this:
1) On December 1, 2007, I met my wife. She's awesome and I'd rather go see Brides maids with her than watch a "relatively meaningless" season game. Granted, it counts in the standings and for the total of wins against each other per year (if we end up tied and have to determine post season home advantage), but alas... it's just not the same as it used to be.
2) In those days before my wife, the Red Sox had won one World Series, and until then, things were even worse. Hell, let's be honest. Things were worse because of the win, but the second win...
3) The year the Yankees didn't even make the playoffs (2008)...
4) The fact that it's hard to be attached to this group of players... many who weren't even around for either team's historic runs... and if they are, they're older than velociraptors...
So yeah...
Here we are in da Bronx and the Red Sox are officially victors in the first 2 games of the series. While the first game got close at the end, the 2nd game was a 6-0 laugher, and well, that's really what it is.
The reality here is not in the box score... it's in the aging of the old guard as Jorge Posada asked out of the lineup as his average rises to .165 after being as low as .125 at the end of April. There are 6 home runs, but in 108 at bats, there are only 18 total hits.
He's not the only one.
Derek Jeter is at .267 with 2 home runs.
Mark Teixeira is at .254 with 9 home runs.
Alex Rodriguez is at .252 with 6 home runs.
Curtis Granderson and his .281, 12, 26 line is the star. Even Robinson Cano isn't leading the team yet. Did I jinx the guy by picking him for fantasy (.279, 9, 25)?
In the beginning, the Red Sox and the Rays were 0-6, but both rebounded. Now, the Rays are in first place and they're cold kicking ass on all opponents. While not as good as Philly or Cleveland (and Cleveland is actually the 2nd best team - by default of playing one less game than the Phillies), we can see that there is a new guard in baseball that isn't including the money teams (well, save Philly, which is somehow moving around Ryan Howard's move to #2 in strikeouts to ride his hits and homers to victory).
For a team that played tough against Texas (4 wins), they lost 2 to Kansas City in the stadium. They've lost 4 of 5 to the Red Sox, and today, they face the Sox with Freddy Garcia on the hill against Jon Lester and a Boston team that is trying desperately to get to .500 (while 19-14 since the 0-6 start of the season, they're below the mark, and frankly, every time they've been getting to .500, they always find a way to phone it in and stay mired below.
Is today the game that they go otherwise? Or is this the continued loss of power from a once great dynasty / stable of big contracts?
Several things have changed this:
1) On December 1, 2007, I met my wife. She's awesome and I'd rather go see Brides maids with her than watch a "relatively meaningless" season game. Granted, it counts in the standings and for the total of wins against each other per year (if we end up tied and have to determine post season home advantage), but alas... it's just not the same as it used to be.
2) In those days before my wife, the Red Sox had won one World Series, and until then, things were even worse. Hell, let's be honest. Things were worse because of the win, but the second win...
3) The year the Yankees didn't even make the playoffs (2008)...
4) The fact that it's hard to be attached to this group of players... many who weren't even around for either team's historic runs... and if they are, they're older than velociraptors...
So yeah...
Here we are in da Bronx and the Red Sox are officially victors in the first 2 games of the series. While the first game got close at the end, the 2nd game was a 6-0 laugher, and well, that's really what it is.
The reality here is not in the box score... it's in the aging of the old guard as Jorge Posada asked out of the lineup as his average rises to .165 after being as low as .125 at the end of April. There are 6 home runs, but in 108 at bats, there are only 18 total hits.
He's not the only one.
Derek Jeter is at .267 with 2 home runs.
Mark Teixeira is at .254 with 9 home runs.
Alex Rodriguez is at .252 with 6 home runs.
Curtis Granderson and his .281, 12, 26 line is the star. Even Robinson Cano isn't leading the team yet. Did I jinx the guy by picking him for fantasy (.279, 9, 25)?
In the beginning, the Red Sox and the Rays were 0-6, but both rebounded. Now, the Rays are in first place and they're cold kicking ass on all opponents. While not as good as Philly or Cleveland (and Cleveland is actually the 2nd best team - by default of playing one less game than the Phillies), we can see that there is a new guard in baseball that isn't including the money teams (well, save Philly, which is somehow moving around Ryan Howard's move to #2 in strikeouts to ride his hits and homers to victory).
For a team that played tough against Texas (4 wins), they lost 2 to Kansas City in the stadium. They've lost 4 of 5 to the Red Sox, and today, they face the Sox with Freddy Garcia on the hill against Jon Lester and a Boston team that is trying desperately to get to .500 (while 19-14 since the 0-6 start of the season, they're below the mark, and frankly, every time they've been getting to .500, they always find a way to phone it in and stay mired below.
Is today the game that they go otherwise? Or is this the continued loss of power from a once great dynasty / stable of big contracts?
Friday, May 6, 2011
Andre Ethier
Andre the Giant, he's not. He's about a foot too short, and he's not French. On top of that, he just doesn't have the hair. He doesn't have the strength to last a full season either. He's also not the kind of guy that can scare the beejesus out of an in his prime Hulk Hogan. However, he's still one of the greats of the game of baseball - still coming into his stride and deciding what kind of player he wants to be.For example, last year, Andre Ethier lost his .300 average on July 28th. He battled to bring it back, but by August 26th it was gone. For an average that was as high as .394 after 30 games, he lost it all only to go 7/10 in a meaningless final weekend against Arizona on the final weekend to take it back to .292.
Tonight, Ethier attempts to be the 54th player in baseball history to get to a 30-game hit streak. Seeing as he sat out against Carlos Zambrano on Wednesday night, one has to wonder if it's still a record if we pick and choose who we face in getting our hits. Alas, unlike Terrance Mann, we have to go with the idea that a record is a record. Joe Dimaggio didn't get to pick and choose his 56 games. Hell, he didn't even choose to sit out after the streak was over. He went right back to hitting in 19 straight games, but alas... players today are wusses.
Eric Chavez is a perfect example. As a player that isn't shy about expressing how he sits out against tough pitchers like Randy Johnson, he stands as a player that is over-rated, over-paid, and over-exposed - especially now that he is in New York - though currently injured like Derek Jeter who isn't really injured, but he isn't playing and he is replaced in the lineup, Chavez's opposite in every way. Despite this, in 2006-7, he made $9.5mill each season. This increased to $11.5mill per and went to $12.5mill in 2010. What did the A's get? He went to the field 137 times and earned a Gold Glove in 2006. Nevermind that Gold Gloves are a way of giving love to a popular player from years past as opposed to rewarding CURRENT defensive awesomeness, but yeah... After that, he played 90 games, 23, 8, 33, and 17 games. He went from a .240 batting average in 2006 to a .241 the next year, but seeing as it was over limited games, it's not rerpesentative of anything - simply a bad investment on an over-hyped player.
Now, while it would be wrong to wish him into a speedy retirement, the reality is that other than a feel good story in limited at bats in the Bronx, it's hard to wonder what the Yankees were getting, but that makes us thing about Mark Prior, Freddy Garcia, Kerry Wood, (pre St. Louis) Lance Berkman, Bartolo Colon, Chan Ho Park, and Austin Kearns (who all played for the Yankees in the past calendar year).
In this, it's hard to think what they thought they were getting. Granted, when they signed Jose Canseco in 2000, it was to keep him away from Boston - smart business sense. But these guys were all considered washed up. It's not like they went into a city that would just show them love unconditionally (St. Louis does this) for what they could be and bring them back to life.
Los Angeles still has hope for its stars. How long did Mannywood last after Manny Ramirez showed his true colors? The fans still believe in Matt Kemp as they turn a blind eye to his strikeouts and look only at his times connecting with the ball. And tonight, they'll have hope for Andre Ethier, but for us... we just wonder who this guy is.
But don't think anything of it... it's probably East Coast bias.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
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.
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.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Osama Bin Laden
Ten years ago, I went to sleep after watching the end of the 8th inning of the 2001 World Series. That was the World Series when the Yankees were playing to win back happiness from the depths of post 9/11 depression that existed in NYC. I'm not a Yankees fan, and I never thought about that aspect during the series - just that they wouldn't 4peat. When I woke up, I found that they lost and I was in jubiliation at the Diamondbacks victory. I made sure that I made any Yankee fan who crossed my path suffer for Rivera's defeat at the hands of Luis Gonzalez's bloop single. In the end, I never thought I could wake up to better news.
About 2 weeks ago, I watched 9 Innings at Ground Zero and was visibly moved by the aspect of baseball bringing America together (from Bush's World Series first pitch to Jeter's heroics to the Mets captivating America by making a run for their own pennant). Much of it is very powerful. It's actually impossibly to watch without tears, but it takes us back to an America that hasn't existed since the great partisan divide of the Iraq War (for better or for worse).
Today, I woke up to much better news - Osama was dead. It turned out that if I stayed up another half hour or so, I would have heard the news as the reporters broke into it. Nevertheless, I wanted to shout "USA, USA, USA" like the hordes of joyous celebration at West Point, in the subways, in Times Square, and from the Philadelphia / Mets game. It was about 615 and my wife was still asleep, but I wanted to wake her up to tell her, but she still had about an hour before her alarm clock was set to go off, so I split it down the middle and told her at 645. When I did, she asked me if something was wrong, and all I could say was "we killed Bin Laden. The most wanted terrorist in the world was now dead, and everything had changed. The air of celebrations hit home. And with that, in many ways, it was like America came together again - save a few comments from anonymous You Tube posters and the like speculating conspiracy or judging whether it was hypocritcal to kill a mass murderer for murdering our people.
In the hindsight of a million news stories, I have to admit that there were times that I wondered if we'd ever get him. Years and years of wondering why Bush was failing and finally Obama made it a point to get him, and somehow, we got the intel to make it happen, and I have to say that I'm just glad that we did.
In the classes that I taught today, we briefly looked at all of the headlines from all of the major news sources, the blog sites (Huffington Post and Townhall), and Al Jazeera (Arab news network). It's interesting to see the difference, to see the words of Obama (we watched him on You Tube), and to contemplate what Bush would have done. It's amazing to think about how things have changed, and as I sit here, there are scary things, too.
I called my parents to tell them it happened, and they knew. My mom was reflecting on how they're quacks over there and would do something while wondering about the need for celebration ("but this was how it was at the end of World War 2"). I know that there will be some semblance of retaliation. We must be ever vigilant to that... we're not in a 9/10 world anymore, but that said... there is something powerful about the moment... the change.
Ayman al-Zawahiri is still out there. There are plenty of lunatics ready to make jihad and suffering on the West. The war has not been won (or lost) and yet there are people who will contemplate what we should do now that Bin Laden has finally died.
Sometimes, the world just becomes too real for sports. One has to wonder about all of the changes and events of the weekend and stop and think... to find time to enjoy the simple things, but all the same, to pause and reflect and remember our history and our future.
And to remain ever mindful.
About 2 weeks ago, I watched 9 Innings at Ground Zero and was visibly moved by the aspect of baseball bringing America together (from Bush's World Series first pitch to Jeter's heroics to the Mets captivating America by making a run for their own pennant). Much of it is very powerful. It's actually impossibly to watch without tears, but it takes us back to an America that hasn't existed since the great partisan divide of the Iraq War (for better or for worse).
Today, I woke up to much better news - Osama was dead. It turned out that if I stayed up another half hour or so, I would have heard the news as the reporters broke into it. Nevertheless, I wanted to shout "USA, USA, USA" like the hordes of joyous celebration at West Point, in the subways, in Times Square, and from the Philadelphia / Mets game. It was about 615 and my wife was still asleep, but I wanted to wake her up to tell her, but she still had about an hour before her alarm clock was set to go off, so I split it down the middle and told her at 645. When I did, she asked me if something was wrong, and all I could say was "we killed Bin Laden. The most wanted terrorist in the world was now dead, and everything had changed. The air of celebrations hit home. And with that, in many ways, it was like America came together again - save a few comments from anonymous You Tube posters and the like speculating conspiracy or judging whether it was hypocritcal to kill a mass murderer for murdering our people.
In the hindsight of a million news stories, I have to admit that there were times that I wondered if we'd ever get him. Years and years of wondering why Bush was failing and finally Obama made it a point to get him, and somehow, we got the intel to make it happen, and I have to say that I'm just glad that we did.
In the classes that I taught today, we briefly looked at all of the headlines from all of the major news sources, the blog sites (Huffington Post and Townhall), and Al Jazeera (Arab news network). It's interesting to see the difference, to see the words of Obama (we watched him on You Tube), and to contemplate what Bush would have done. It's amazing to think about how things have changed, and as I sit here, there are scary things, too.
I called my parents to tell them it happened, and they knew. My mom was reflecting on how they're quacks over there and would do something while wondering about the need for celebration ("but this was how it was at the end of World War 2"). I know that there will be some semblance of retaliation. We must be ever vigilant to that... we're not in a 9/10 world anymore, but that said... there is something powerful about the moment... the change.
Ayman al-Zawahiri is still out there. There are plenty of lunatics ready to make jihad and suffering on the West. The war has not been won (or lost) and yet there are people who will contemplate what we should do now that Bin Laden has finally died.
Sometimes, the world just becomes too real for sports. One has to wonder about all of the changes and events of the weekend and stop and think... to find time to enjoy the simple things, but all the same, to pause and reflect and remember our history and our future.
And to remain ever mindful.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Bud Selig
Bud Selig, everyone's favorite first rate idiot in charge, is back with more dumbass decisions, which inevitably show no sign of intelligence or any forethought on anything other than money and keeping the best teams in the playoffs EVEN WHEN they're not the best teams.So let's think about the idea of an expanded playoff roster for a playoff that already features 4 teams from each league in a best vs. wild card and then a face off between the 2nd and 3rd best (unless of course the wild card is from the same division as the best team, which results in a need for the following scenario to happen... The Beers beat Detroit and Denver beats Atlanta in the American Southwestern Division East Northern, then Milwaukee goes to the Denslow Cup, unless Baltimore can upset Buffalo and Charlotte ties Toronto, then Oakland would play LA and Pittsburgh in a blind choice round robin. And if no clear winner emerges from all of this, a two-man sack race will be held on consecutive Sundays until a champion can be crowned.)
So you add a team to each mix, which basically says... hmm... the Yankees and Red Sox may not both make the post season because Tampa Bay is too good... hell... David Price threw another complete game victory and both the Sox and the Rays are surging after coming out of the gate with shoelaces tied, and Heaven forbid that one of those teams doesn't make the playoffs because we need an all East Coast World Series or we'll never sell advertising time... unless we can get the Cubs to play pro ball and actually want to compete for another World Series title. That might work, EVEN THOUGH it didn't work for the White Sox, the Giants, the Astros, the Angels...
Despite this, the unscientific poll at ESPN says that people want this. Yet all the same, in the words of Bill Murray in the awesome Groundhog Day, "people like blood sausage."Haven't we learned... when Colorado rolled through all of the adversity (and Trevor Hoffman's non-clutch-ness) to make it to the World Series in 2007 only to sit waiting for Boston to finally want to win the ALCS, we should have learned. They rusted and went out in 4 straight.
Nobody wants November baseball. It's cold and miserible. The players look like they should be on an episode of Gold Rush Alaska with all of the clothes they were to bundle up from the cold.
In addition, no managers and owners want to risk their players to injuries if they play in more games than are necessary. Like we've learned with the extended NFL season argument, each additional game is another chance at taking out an oblique muscle, but maybe that's just the legal substances that players use since they can't use steroids.
If we can't get the commish to give us an All Star Game with a victor (or a Pete Rose slide into Ray Fosse), then what makes anyone think that he'll make more playoffs do more to bring the 2 best teams together than the current system already does?
Besides, this isn't the NBA with over half of the teams (even the crappy ones) in the playoffs. We want the best of the best. We don't want to go Wild Card on Wild Card for the battle of who wasn't decimated by fatigue and injuries.
Besides, this isn't the NBA with over half of the teams (even the crappy ones) in the playoffs. We want the best of the best. We don't want to go Wild Card on Wild Card for the battle of who wasn't decimated by fatigue and injuries.
But that said, baseball is a business, and with the walking skeleton from Wisconsin leading the charge, baseball will continue to fall in the ratings and the hearts of young, potential fans.
You can guarantee that.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Anibal Sanchez
On September 6, 2006, Anibal Sanchez moved into history as the author of a 103 pitch no hitter for the Florida Marlins. He took down the D-Backs, whose great pitcher Randy Johnson threw the last no hitter (in the form of a perfect game). In the end, Sanchez was dealing - 4 walks and an error prevented the gem, but in the end, he got the mystique that eluded many other great pitchers who came so close (I think of Pedro Martinez and Harvey Haddix, to name but 2).What goes around comes around.
With 9 strikeouts last night, Sanchez was dealing, dealing, dealing, but he also had 3 walks and 123 pitches as he went to the showers after allowing one run and one hit (the run came first, but the hit to lead off the 9th by Dexter Fowler... that's the one that hurts. After all, Marlins pitcher AJ Burnett once had a no hitter - even though he let up 9 walks - In that, it's nice to play against the Padres).
One had to wonder if he would even be allowed in for the closing ceremonies of the game and would get a no hitter by committee (such as when 6 Astros pitchers combined to stifle the Yankee offense - that was a beautiful game - I know, I watched the whole thing!).
But this Marlins machine wouldn't have been had it not been for a trade that sent him, Hanley Ramirez, and 2 other guys that went to seed quickly for Josh Beckett (in the words of Katy Perry to Elmo, we know where he stands in the minds of this blogger) and Mike Lowell (who was instrumental in the 2007 World Series, but was an overpriced hanger on last year when the BoSox couldn't send him to Texas. And in the end, that's what he always was save one triumphant fanfare moment in the World Series when sentiment saw the fans begging him to be kept on.
Sure, Hanley Ramirez is full of himself and needs to be put in his place sometimes, but he does have offensive value... and Sanchez... if he can keep it together, he'll be playing his way out of south Florida soon. We all know that they can't afford to keep anyone longer than a few years.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Derek Jeter
I know... I know... I've said it before about a great many things: A) I'm a Red Sox fan and a "Certified Yankee Hater" (I've got the t-shirt to prove it). B) Derek Jeter's flip play is the most over-rated play this side of Willie Mays' backward catch (great play, but Mays was well known for losing his hat to make plays more theatrical and that yard was really deep - players today would watch a homer rather than get a chance to duplicate the feat) in the history of baseball.
C) Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty was a great book and an even greater feeling (though we wouldn't know for sure until the Angels in 2002 and the Marlins in 2003; Detroit in 2006 was just the icing on the cake) to know it was over... yeah!
D) I didn't watch the original single of the Luis Gonzalez game winner. All of my talk about Mariano Rivera being over-rated was shown for what it really was - knowing the truth as I went to bed after the end of the 8th inning. I did celebrate the next day, but it would be ages before I saw the video of the whole inning.
E) I have come to grudgingly respect Joe Torre since Tom Verducci's excellent Yankee Years book. In fact, some of my greatest dreams (and worst experience in the last 5 years of teaching) came from Mike Mussina and Jeter rallying the troops together in 2005 and thinking that giving my students a motivational push would make them want to do the same for me. Fat chance of that, but it's still a nice dream for a Mr. Holland moment.
F) Since the Yankees didn't make the playoffs in 2008 and since the Red Sox won in 2007, I have lost some of my hatred for the Yankees. Well, that and the fact that I don't watch full Yankees / Red Sox games religiously since I spend more time with my wife (we met at the end of 2007).
That being said...
On Saturday, I watched Nine Innings from Ground Zero, which is actually an HBO production, and let me just say...
It was the best documentary this side of Ken Burns Baseball. However, I don't think I would or even could watch it twice. Yes, there are scenes that stand out (the aforementioned flip, the George Bush first pitch, and Brielle Saracini), and those can be watched again, but even those are super emotional - especially Saracini.
When you watch Saracini, she's a tween reading a letter about being bummed out over the events of 9/11, but she's writing it to Derek Jeter and asking if he can cheer her up with a phone call. Not knowing who she is or isn't, it's at that moment that they reveal that her father was Victor Saracini, the pilot of Flight 175, which was horrifically slammed into the World Trade Center on that September morning, killing everyone aboard (for a total of 2,819 victims). And it's at this moment that the emotion of the rest of the film truly hits - it's human lives lost, stopped, and completely eliminated. It's survivers that don't know how to make sense of it. Looking at the link to all of the dead and what the stats mean (the lives, the money, the city, our America), it's just catastrophic and over-whelming and completely emotional.I was a blubbering wreck.
Watching Jeter 10 minutes before tell Bush to throw from the mound or face being booed while giving him advice to throw a strike brings it all home... as my friend Dale said, to not include that on Ken Burns' The 10th Inning, wasn't right. It is our game and what our game can do. For all of the pro Yankee sentiment that they should have won (and while I wouldn't have wanted them to win ANY of the other 5 World Series they won since my rebirth interest in baseball after the Air Force, I don't think I would have minded that one for all of these reasons in hindsight). To understand that there was a visible presence of anti-Arizona sentiment for what this win would mean for New York... it just said everything. But we forget that... and we forget that the Mets almost went to the playoffs that year before folding as America cheered for them, too - from the moment of Mike Piazza's game winner to their last hurrah in that elongated month of baseball.
And it goes back to the event of the flip... fat ass Jeremy Giambi chugging around the base path on a shot to the corner, and somehow, some idiot decision allowed him to move around third even though he had to be gasping for air, and if only he wasn't Jeremy Giambi, but rather, someone who didn't look like a softball player from a beer league, he would have made it a half step sooner or slid to avoid the tag... but he didn't.
And for that, he was out and the New York comeback was in motion and that was it for Oakland. It was finished. Seattle was soon to be history, and it was all because some force of nature compelled Jeter to be a superhero that post season. His game winning home run in the World Series against Byung-Hyun Kim, perhaps the worst reliever this side of Joe Nathan and Rod Beck, and the set up for the second comeback the next night against Kim... it all made it seem like he really did save the day...
And then Rivera folded like an ironing board being put into storage, and it was all over. And for this new perspective... it's really there and understandable in truth and reality and perspective and sadness and nostalgia from the Yankees, their fans, and Rudy Giuliani. And perhaps, there is a lot of anti-Yankee hate in some of the Amazon reviews... and perhaps there is some for Rudy and Bush, too, but politics aside, they were the men of the hour. Bush was at his finest in that pitch and with the bullhorn. After all, this is 2 years before Iraq and in a time when people wore anti-Osama Bin Laden shirts... a time before we all took the following statement from Condoleeza Rice (as taken from CNN): Still, she disclosed that the U.S. intelligence community had intercepted communications from al Qaeda suspects during the summer of 2001 that included these words: "Unbelievable news in the coming weeks;" "Big event ... There will be a very, very, very, very big uproar;" and "There will be attacks in the near future." Rice described these interceptions as "troubling, yes." But she added, "They don't tell us when; they don't tell us where; they don't tell us who; and they don't tell us how."
to mean that America was somehow complicit in the act of 9/11 because we didn't know enough to stop it. And for this partisanship, perhaps, it's the ultimate treason in America to believe that we did this (even Bill Clinton condemned the attitude of blaming our own country for this radical act of jihad).
But alas, we have forgotten so much about that day. I remember one time in teaching 9/11, I had a video of the events from Youtube, which played the news clips and people left the room in tears. They had literally never seen it before or it was personal to them (we never know who in the room has lost a friend, neighbor, or relative), and I felt truly bad for daring to show a video so that I could make them understand the statistics and events that they were to try to write about (in part because many of their comments weren't grounded in reality - through no fault of their own, but based on how they were caught in a post Iraq / Afghanistan uprising attitude of the media and the world around them).
And yet, I knew why I did it. This was our history, and the same tears I felt at MANY times in the video were something that makes me realize that we should never forget.
And it was something that says no amount of understanding what America could have done to make someone hate us so much that they would plan out a heinous attack on this level WOULD EVER JUSTIFY their having done what they did or even TO ALLOW US TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT TO KEEP IT FROM HAPPENING AGAIN. And while I don't claim that America is innocent or totally happy go lucky nice to the whole world, I don't see that search for WHY as being worthwhile - only WHAT can we do to eliminate this evil from the world and make sure it never comes back again. For that, I have come to wonder that if by doing anything so rational as hunting for understanding, we are in a sense enabling the evil in the world that would seek to destroy us, and for that, I have changed from the 30 year old man that stood in front of a room slack jawed as the building came down while 9th graders looked to me for understanding and I had none - only an all too wrong idea that the only thing that mattered after 9/11 was maintaining our lives and rights as normal - when in reality, we were changing for always and needed to adjust to winning a war that we would quickly be forced into.
But all of this detracts from what is good with America, and the end result of that is baseball (amongst other things). For anything that gives us happiness in its entertainment and sense of pleasure while making our day brighter is good, and this isn't something that a cornered dog lashing out with 19 of his minions to devastate the true sense of normalcy and the world that we live in some sense of jihad purpose would ever be able to understand.
And if there are rights and truths in the nearly 10 years since this day they are that anyone can offer something, even something insignificant to a large part of the world, to make the world a better place.
For that, I love baseball, slot canyons, waterfalls, Christmas, music, the history and culture of the country I live in, my family, and especially my wife.
And for that same reason, I despise tyranny and blind partisan hatred and agression.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Daisuke Matsuzaka
Baltimore went to New York last night to test their season against the Yankees and find out just how real that they are. They got rained out. Shame that Boston didn't get rained out. Once again, the Rays came in and whooped on them. It wasn't a 16-5 drubbing at the hands of Daisuke Matsuzaka, but losing a heartbreaker to David Price (3-2) is just as bad and does nothing to propel themselves up the division in any hope for contention. Thus, in honor of Daisuke's gyroball that doesn't live up to the hype of what we were all supposed to fear, I am going to create a list of 10 things that I really do fear more than the gyroball. 
1. That monkey from Toy Story 3. Fantastic movie by the way... Lotso and Big Baby were pretty scary, too - as was Ken's handwriting. 2. Being in the attic alone. Ever since I was a kid and my dad convinced me that a ghost lived in the cooby hole (a crawl in closet that you store stuff in), I have been paranoid about the attic. Let's just say that it scared my nieces and nephews as well since they don't have attics in their houses. 3. Since said ghost was a guy who fell off the enclosed porch, I'm also deathly afraid of heights. 4. Noises in the night from downstairs... it might be Hazel (our resident ghost who threw up the blind in our bedroom at 2am the first night that we were in the house) or it might be thug kids breaking in. 5. Not having music to listen to. I wouldn't want to live in a world without music. 
6. Having a daughter singing along with Ke$ha. Having a daughter someday and having her want to look like Ke$ha. Having a daughter and having her want to act like Ke$ha. Having a son impregnate someone like Ke$ha and to end up chained to her for life via child support payments and split custody for the rest of that child's natural life. 7. To lose my mental and physical faculties and be dependant on someone else for support the rest of my life. To have that person be an untrained slacker / loser making $10 or so an hour to pretend to care about me would make it even scarier still. 8. Knowing that Obama is in charge of security and economy and future for my country. Knowing that despite his incompetence, the best that people can do to create reason for him not to be there is that his birth certificate was supposedly faked, which is both assinine and desperate. 
9. Losing my wife to a tragic accident or old age or just not having her around. It's hard to want to live in a world without the person that you truly love. 10. Having to eat broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, or any salad like vegetables. Let it be known that I can out wait any person trying or expecting me to eat any leafy vegetable that there is. Oh yes... it ain't happening. 
That said, I fear tsunamis on the Pacific Coast more than Daisuke's gyroball and I live in Pennsylvania. I fear the Care Bears more than Matsuzaka. In short, there is nothing I fear LESS than the gyroball, which will forever be linked to the most over-hyped foreign import in the history of sports - and I remember Hideki Irabu.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Clay Bucholz
Winning 2 games in a weekend series against the Yankees is cause for celebration UNLESS you come out of the weekend 2and7. Then, you still need to assess the failings and contemplate the future without some of the dead spots in the lineup. Sure, the first week of the season isn't reason to hit the panic button, but you can lose a season in April even if you can't win one before the final stretch run winds to a complete standstill and playoff tickets are truly punched (ask the 2010 San Diego Padres). So what do the Red Sox and their anemic pitching staff do: They give Clay Bucholz a mega contract. (according to ESPN) The contract calls for Buchholz to be paid $3.5 million in 2012, $5.5 million in 2013, $7.7 million in 2014, and $12 million in 2015, according to the source. With a modest signing bonus and buyout language, the contract guarantees him $29,945,000, a major league source said. Both option years call for a salary of $13 million, although there is an escalator clause that could push the second option year to $13.5 million. So let's see what exactly he's being rewarded for - 4 runs in 3.2 innings (Nolan Ryan would not be proud) and a 7.20 ERA for the season. Sure, the first game was close, but this game... not so much as the Yankees won a laugher 9-4. Then again, let's look at the Boston Red Sox great sewer of waste that makes the US budget debate that sees America wondering if our governmnet will be shut down AGAIN seem tame by comparison. After crapping the bed at the beginning of last year, Josh Beckett got 4 years and $68 million. Of course, this is because the rapidly imploding John Lackey stol $82.5 million over 5 years. Jon Lester is signed through 2013 with an option for $13 million in 2014 with $30 million over 5 years. The great waste of a green card that is Daisuke Matsuzaka convinced the Red Sox to shell out $52 million for 6 years. This doesn't include the $51,111,111 negotiating fee that Theo Epstein and crew paid to negotiate with his agents to bring his ink to the contract. But it's all about the cause for celebration at the moment... and last night, the Red Sox got 16 base runners in a 4-0 win against the Yankees on a great game by Josh Beckett. Never mind that they teed off on CC Sabathia's lard ass (9 hits, 4 walks over 5.2 innings) in a way that managed to scare more fans than Matsuzaka ever could, but yeah... a win is a win, even if the game was still 1-0 at the end of the 6th and required opening a can of whoop ass on Joba the Hutt's rapidly waiver ready self. Fortunately, the Red Sox come out of their weekend of rescuing their worst season since Harry Truman was in the White House with a series with the Tampa Bay Rays, who are now 1-8 and in no position to do much with Evan Longoria out and the promise of Manny Ramirez up in smoke (or PEDs). With any luck, that might help them move up the list as they chase after a hot Baltimore team (even if they did lose 2 of 3 to the RED HOT Rangers who are 8-1 and looking to avenge their failing to win the World Series last year). And so continues week 2 of the season.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Kevin Millar
Back in 2003, Kevin Millar led the Red Sox to victory, and despite 1 12th inning home run off of Tim Wakefield's ugliest knuckle, there was still a feeling of MAYBE NEXT YEAR for real in all of the pain that came with that sucker punch over the Green Monster, which devastated the Fenway Faithful more than any long ball had since Bucky Bleepin' Dent. It was such a moment for Yankees fans that even though they had their asses kicked at home, they felt a sense of moral victory with that shot that it ended up in Drew Barrymore's "Hey, you have brain damage!" video in 50 First Dates. However, somewhere in that transition from COWBOY UP to IDIOTS, the Red Sox pulled it together for 4 wins on the brink of elimination and then swept the Cardinals.
It was the most magical of moments, and even after Millar left the Sox, there was a feeling that his cheerleader self needed to retire to be a bench coach in Boston (instead, he eventually retired to be an MLBTV host). He was the same glue that held the Red Sox together for their run to the top in much the same way as Jason Varitek did. Sure, there was Pedro for those early years, but after the "daddy" comment (so depressing, we won't even repeat it in its entirety), it was all over. Carrying a super little person around (2 foot 4 - Nelson De La Rosa), there was a sense of the circus as the Sox cast a few loose ends away and rode into a 2nd championship in 2007. Life was good, and even if Millar wasn't there, Manny Ramirez and Big Papi still were.
Life felt good until Manny went AWOL. Maybe this always was. Maybe it was as Millar said - "Manny being Manny," but there was something uglier in there. Drugs? Steroids? General insanity? Selfishness? All of the above? We don't know, but we do know he quit on 3 teams and seemed to be heading for a 4th when he retired today.
Of course, this was due to a 2nd drug bust. The last one was obviously just what he said it was - sexual medication. The supposed non-bust for being on the 2003 list of drug busts - that was also nothing. And in the end, that's what it was - an unofficial / official black eye. This time, his 50 game suspension would have been small potatoes as he was looking at a 100-game suspension in a season he was crapping the bed with a 1/17 start - but there was that final RBI... yeah.
And it's all over now, Manny.
As the Red Sox finally beat the Yankees for their first win of 2011, Jon Papelbon did something right (save the game in order in the 9th) as Dustin Pedroia's 3 hit day propelled the offense in spite of Wacky Lackey giving up 6 runs in 5 innings for a victory that was more due to a solid offense starting to wake up (12 hits / 9 runs) with a tee ball session off of Phil Hughes (out after 2 innings). Had they faced Bartolo Colon from the beginning, he of the healthy mid section, they would have been licking more wounds, but after Lackey left, the Yankees went to sleep. Alas, the weekend series moves on and so does life - its' just that now there won't be any more Manny Ramirez to kick around. Hell, he's done himself in for the Cooperstown vote despite 555 long balls. So much for magic numbers guaranteeing admission to the hallowed halls.
It was the most magical of moments, and even after Millar left the Sox, there was a feeling that his cheerleader self needed to retire to be a bench coach in Boston (instead, he eventually retired to be an MLBTV host). He was the same glue that held the Red Sox together for their run to the top in much the same way as Jason Varitek did. Sure, there was Pedro for those early years, but after the "daddy" comment (so depressing, we won't even repeat it in its entirety), it was all over. Carrying a super little person around (2 foot 4 - Nelson De La Rosa), there was a sense of the circus as the Sox cast a few loose ends away and rode into a 2nd championship in 2007. Life was good, and even if Millar wasn't there, Manny Ramirez and Big Papi still were.
Life felt good until Manny went AWOL. Maybe this always was. Maybe it was as Millar said - "Manny being Manny," but there was something uglier in there. Drugs? Steroids? General insanity? Selfishness? All of the above? We don't know, but we do know he quit on 3 teams and seemed to be heading for a 4th when he retired today.Of course, this was due to a 2nd drug bust. The last one was obviously just what he said it was - sexual medication. The supposed non-bust for being on the 2003 list of drug busts - that was also nothing. And in the end, that's what it was - an unofficial / official black eye. This time, his 50 game suspension would have been small potatoes as he was looking at a 100-game suspension in a season he was crapping the bed with a 1/17 start - but there was that final RBI... yeah.
And it's all over now, Manny.
As the Red Sox finally beat the Yankees for their first win of 2011, Jon Papelbon did something right (save the game in order in the 9th) as Dustin Pedroia's 3 hit day propelled the offense in spite of Wacky Lackey giving up 6 runs in 5 innings for a victory that was more due to a solid offense starting to wake up (12 hits / 9 runs) with a tee ball session off of Phil Hughes (out after 2 innings). Had they faced Bartolo Colon from the beginning, he of the healthy mid section, they would have been licking more wounds, but after Lackey left, the Yankees went to sleep. Alas, the weekend series moves on and so does life - its' just that now there won't be any more Manny Ramirez to kick around. Hell, he's done himself in for the Cooperstown vote despite 555 long balls. So much for magic numbers guaranteeing admission to the hallowed halls.
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