This here is the definitive analysis. Pay special attention to why more Red Sox names weren't mentioned in the report.
I need those pants.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Carl Cares About Baseball's Integrity
Forget everything I've ever said regarding the Mitchell Report.
This here is the definitive analysis. Pay special attention to why more Red Sox names weren't mentioned in the report.
I need those pants.
This here is the definitive analysis. Pay special attention to why more Red Sox names weren't mentioned in the report.
I need those pants.
Friday, December 21, 2007
The League of Extraordinary Stoves, Pt. 2
To keep myself sorted out this winter, and to counter the doldrums induced by the immense lack of baseball playing, I've started an (ir)regular feature covering the off season trades, signings, and whatever else puts new players in new uniforms. I may still have no idea who plays for what team come spring, but at least this time I've tried.
Carlos Silva to the Mariners
Seattle needs some starting pitching help, and although Silva isn't great (though the M's think he's great enough to lock him up for four years) he should be able to positively contribute to the rotation. He's capable of producing good seasons (see 2005) but equaly as capable of producing blah seasons (see 2006). He gives up a lot of hits and doesn't strike out many, but whatever. The Mariners somehow finished with a decent 88-74 record despite having the fifth-worst team ERA in the league. Imagine how well they could compete with a real staff.
Geoff Jenkins to the Phillies
It's been pointed out that Jenkins only batted .215 against left-handed pitching last season, and that may prevent him from being the every-day right-fielder. Last year's regular right-fielder, Shane Victorino (a name straight out of a Rob Schnieder SNL skit) will likely move to center to fill in the gap left by Aaron Rowand, who's now a Giant. That leaves Jenkins and Jayson Werth (who batted .375 aginst lefties last season) to share right-field. As far as I can tell, every member of the 2008 Phillies is going to hit 25 home runs and bat .260 (except for Ryan Howard, who will hit 50 home runs, and Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins, who will both bat over .300).
Ron Mahay to the Royals
The Royals, whether you want to admit it or not, have a good-looking bullpen. Mahay was exceptionally good in 2007 with his 2.55 ERA and his 55 strikeouts in 67 innings. As long as the starters (and the defense behind them) can limit those early runs, and as long as there's some run support in there somewhere, the Royals should finish above last in 2008.
Kip Wells to the Rockies
Wells has led the league in losses twice and struggles to keep his ERA under 5.00, having not done so since 2004. Although he'll get more run support in Colorado (and consequently less losses), Coors Field isn't going to play nice with the rest of his numbers. I'm not sure why the Rockies (or anybody else, for that matter) would want to sign him as he's quickly filling in the mediocre void left by Jose Lima.
Cliff Floyd to the Rays
Two things that surprise me about Cliff Floyd: 1) He still plays baseball, and 2) he's only 35 years-old. I thought for sure he was 40 and retired. Anyway, he doesn't quite replace the holes left by Delmon Young and Elijah Dukes, not all by himself, but he'll be a decent offensive contributor.
Hiroki Kuroda to the Dodgers
There's not near as much hype as Daisuke Matsuzaka (or Hideo Nomo, if you want to keep the comparisons strictly in LA) generated, but apparently Kuroda's pretty good. He doesn't walk a lot of batters and has a ton of pitching experience in Japan. With Brad Penny, Derek Lowe, a healthy Jason Schmidt (whenever that might happen), and now Kuroda, the Dodgers have an excellent starting rotation.
Jim Edmonds to the Padres for David Freese
I'll miss Edmonds, but at the same time I won't. He's had some great Cardinal seasons, but he's aged and brittle now and his best years are behind him. As far as his new team, the Padres regular center-fielder, Mike Cameron, is looking elsewhere (rumor has it he's talkin' with the Phillies, which would leave the Philadelphia outfield in a little bit of a jumbled mess [at least after he returns from his 25-game PED suspension]), and his absence would leave the door open for Edmonds to field that gigantic outfield. I don't know if he's still capable of playing the Petco center-field as everytime he makes a diving effort I fear he'll give himself a concussion. His bat has seriously deteriorated as well and between his weakened bat and his weakened fielding ability I don't know if he'll be able to survive 2008.
If it seems odd to trade a veteran for an A-ball player, the Cardinals have also offered to pay part of Edmonds' contract. But Freese is somebody to look out for. He's already proven himself on the lowest rungs of professional ball and will hopefully advance easily through the Cardinals system. He does strike out a lot, but so does Edmonds. Look for Freese to emerge as a third base candidate for the Cards in a couple years.
Stick around if you can stand it for a Part Three to come.
Carlos Silva to the MarinersSeattle needs some starting pitching help, and although Silva isn't great (though the M's think he's great enough to lock him up for four years) he should be able to positively contribute to the rotation. He's capable of producing good seasons (see 2005) but equaly as capable of producing blah seasons (see 2006). He gives up a lot of hits and doesn't strike out many, but whatever. The Mariners somehow finished with a decent 88-74 record despite having the fifth-worst team ERA in the league. Imagine how well they could compete with a real staff.
Geoff Jenkins to the Phillies
It's been pointed out that Jenkins only batted .215 against left-handed pitching last season, and that may prevent him from being the every-day right-fielder. Last year's regular right-fielder, Shane Victorino (a name straight out of a Rob Schnieder SNL skit) will likely move to center to fill in the gap left by Aaron Rowand, who's now a Giant. That leaves Jenkins and Jayson Werth (who batted .375 aginst lefties last season) to share right-field. As far as I can tell, every member of the 2008 Phillies is going to hit 25 home runs and bat .260 (except for Ryan Howard, who will hit 50 home runs, and Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins, who will both bat over .300).
Ron Mahay to the Royals
The Royals, whether you want to admit it or not, have a good-looking bullpen. Mahay was exceptionally good in 2007 with his 2.55 ERA and his 55 strikeouts in 67 innings. As long as the starters (and the defense behind them) can limit those early runs, and as long as there's some run support in there somewhere, the Royals should finish above last in 2008.
Kip Wells to the Rockies
Wells has led the league in losses twice and struggles to keep his ERA under 5.00, having not done so since 2004. Although he'll get more run support in Colorado (and consequently less losses), Coors Field isn't going to play nice with the rest of his numbers. I'm not sure why the Rockies (or anybody else, for that matter) would want to sign him as he's quickly filling in the mediocre void left by Jose Lima.
Cliff Floyd to the Rays
Two things that surprise me about Cliff Floyd: 1) He still plays baseball, and 2) he's only 35 years-old. I thought for sure he was 40 and retired. Anyway, he doesn't quite replace the holes left by Delmon Young and Elijah Dukes, not all by himself, but he'll be a decent offensive contributor.
Hiroki Kuroda to the Dodgers
There's not near as much hype as Daisuke Matsuzaka (or Hideo Nomo, if you want to keep the comparisons strictly in LA) generated, but apparently Kuroda's pretty good. He doesn't walk a lot of batters and has a ton of pitching experience in Japan. With Brad Penny, Derek Lowe, a healthy Jason Schmidt (whenever that might happen), and now Kuroda, the Dodgers have an excellent starting rotation.
Jim Edmonds to the Padres for David Freese
I'll miss Edmonds, but at the same time I won't. He's had some great Cardinal seasons, but he's aged and brittle now and his best years are behind him. As far as his new team, the Padres regular center-fielder, Mike Cameron, is looking elsewhere (rumor has it he's talkin' with the Phillies, which would leave the Philadelphia outfield in a little bit of a jumbled mess [at least after he returns from his 25-game PED suspension]), and his absence would leave the door open for Edmonds to field that gigantic outfield. I don't know if he's still capable of playing the Petco center-field as everytime he makes a diving effort I fear he'll give himself a concussion. His bat has seriously deteriorated as well and between his weakened bat and his weakened fielding ability I don't know if he'll be able to survive 2008.
If it seems odd to trade a veteran for an A-ball player, the Cardinals have also offered to pay part of Edmonds' contract. But Freese is somebody to look out for. He's already proven himself on the lowest rungs of professional ball and will hopefully advance easily through the Cardinals system. He does strike out a lot, but so does Edmonds. Look for Freese to emerge as a third base candidate for the Cards in a couple years.
Stick around if you can stand it for a Part Three to come.
Monday, December 17, 2007
The Mitchell Report, or, Way To Underwhelm The Masses, George
I suppose I'm obligated to weigh in on the Mitchell Report.
Here it is in all of its .PDF glory. Since it's hundreds of pages of bland "so-and-so received such-and-such from so-and-so", what I would do is read over the list of those mentioned in the report, then do a search within the .pdf file to find more information about your favorite cheater.
Honestly I am less than impressed with the report as a whole. Maybe I was expecting something harsher or more damning. Maybe I was expecting more big names. Maybe I was expecting clever and witty prose. Maybe I was expecting Joe Don Baker. But I suppose it is what it is: a concise history of performance-enhancing drug use in Major League Baseball, reasons why PEDs are bad, some obvious conclusions, some recommendations that the Commissioner and the Players Association may or may not pay attention to, and, most scandalously (and the only part of the report that people care about), details of former and current players' dealings with illegal substances.
Ah sweet, named names. This'll be like Christmas. The anticipation is killing me.
Not so much.
The names, as you peruse the list yourself, are a little bit disappointing and fall into two categories:
1) Unsurprising names. Clemens, Giambi (both of 'em!), Tejada, Sheffield, Juan Gonzalez. High-profile fellows, but a bit on the beefy side. And don't forget about Canseco and Bonds!
2) Desperate bottom-rung players. Athletes who've teetered between the Majors and Minors, who've made careers out of being back-ups, athletes who lack the physical abilities that would allow them to have a comfortable big league career, athletes who needed something to prevent them from falling into obscurity. Mike Bell, Gary Bennett, Larry Bigbie, Howie Clark, Cody McKay, some guy named Nook.
When I initially looked over the list of names it seemed like there were an awful lot of Toronto Blue Jay players. There was Howie Clark (probably most famous for being a part of that "Alex Rodriguez yelled in my ear" incident earlier in the 2007 season), Troy Glaus, Gregg Zaun... as well as former Jays like Clemens, Canseco, Benito Santiago, a couple others, etc. Fortunately for me Wikipedia has already organized the named names by team, and the Jays aren't anywhere near being the worst offenders. Nope, just like in everything else, the Yankees need to be the biggest and best in every single category. Twenty-three former and current Yankees have been cited in the report. But just in case you were thinking that artificially enhanced athletes make for more championship teams, in come the Orioles with eighteen current and former offenders.
In fact, just from looking at this list you could probably throw out the notion that using PEDs correlates with success. If you could somehow quantify overall baseball ability, plot it on the y-axis, and then make the x-axis the number of fluid ounces of HGH injected into the bum, your plotted points would look pretty scattershot. PEDs do not make you a superstar. Now as to whether or not they enhance your own personal ability, I don't know. It's like with corked bats; everybody perceives and assumes that a corked bat will make you a better hitter, but there's not enough scientific evidence to support this.
Some players, most notibly Andy Pettitte and Rick Ankiel, claimed that they only used HGH to recover from injury. This seemed okay with me (especially since this was before HGH was specifically banned in baseball) until I realized that 1) HGH use isn't a ligitimate means of injury recovery, especially when 2) it's obtained through shadey doctors and iffy clinics. It's illegal, actually, for doctors and clinics to distribute HGH to athletes for injury recovery or to bulk up or things like that. I don't know if it's outright illegal for a person to possess HGH, but you're sure not allowed to pass it out for these purposes.
HGH is approved for those with short bowel syndrome. If I were an athlete caught with the stuff, I'd be claiming short bowels.
Anyway, does the Mitchell Report destroy baseball? No, not hardly. This is less an urgent crises than it is a tumor that's been allowed to grow for too long. It's a shame that Major League Baseball only within the past couple years is trying to remove it. The Report is kind of like a spade used to dig it out. Painful, yes, but everybody knew it was coming.
And besides, organized baseball has been around since the Civil War and has withstood many a dour day. The Black Sox of 1919, the Pittsburgh drug trials of 1985, the strikes of 1981 and 1994... baseball has always survived and the fans have always returned.
Here it is in all of its .PDF glory. Since it's hundreds of pages of bland "so-and-so received such-and-such from so-and-so", what I would do is read over the list of those mentioned in the report, then do a search within the .pdf file to find more information about your favorite cheater.
Honestly I am less than impressed with the report as a whole. Maybe I was expecting something harsher or more damning. Maybe I was expecting more big names. Maybe I was expecting clever and witty prose. Maybe I was expecting Joe Don Baker. But I suppose it is what it is: a concise history of performance-enhancing drug use in Major League Baseball, reasons why PEDs are bad, some obvious conclusions, some recommendations that the Commissioner and the Players Association may or may not pay attention to, and, most scandalously (and the only part of the report that people care about), details of former and current players' dealings with illegal substances.Ah sweet, named names. This'll be like Christmas. The anticipation is killing me.
Not so much.
The names, as you peruse the list yourself, are a little bit disappointing and fall into two categories:
1) Unsurprising names. Clemens, Giambi (both of 'em!), Tejada, Sheffield, Juan Gonzalez. High-profile fellows, but a bit on the beefy side. And don't forget about Canseco and Bonds!
2) Desperate bottom-rung players. Athletes who've teetered between the Majors and Minors, who've made careers out of being back-ups, athletes who lack the physical abilities that would allow them to have a comfortable big league career, athletes who needed something to prevent them from falling into obscurity. Mike Bell, Gary Bennett, Larry Bigbie, Howie Clark, Cody McKay, some guy named Nook.
When I initially looked over the list of names it seemed like there were an awful lot of Toronto Blue Jay players. There was Howie Clark (probably most famous for being a part of that "Alex Rodriguez yelled in my ear" incident earlier in the 2007 season), Troy Glaus, Gregg Zaun... as well as former Jays like Clemens, Canseco, Benito Santiago, a couple others, etc. Fortunately for me Wikipedia has already organized the named names by team, and the Jays aren't anywhere near being the worst offenders. Nope, just like in everything else, the Yankees need to be the biggest and best in every single category. Twenty-three former and current Yankees have been cited in the report. But just in case you were thinking that artificially enhanced athletes make for more championship teams, in come the Orioles with eighteen current and former offenders.
In fact, just from looking at this list you could probably throw out the notion that using PEDs correlates with success. If you could somehow quantify overall baseball ability, plot it on the y-axis, and then make the x-axis the number of fluid ounces of HGH injected into the bum, your plotted points would look pretty scattershot. PEDs do not make you a superstar. Now as to whether or not they enhance your own personal ability, I don't know. It's like with corked bats; everybody perceives and assumes that a corked bat will make you a better hitter, but there's not enough scientific evidence to support this.
Some players, most notibly Andy Pettitte and Rick Ankiel, claimed that they only used HGH to recover from injury. This seemed okay with me (especially since this was before HGH was specifically banned in baseball) until I realized that 1) HGH use isn't a ligitimate means of injury recovery, especially when 2) it's obtained through shadey doctors and iffy clinics. It's illegal, actually, for doctors and clinics to distribute HGH to athletes for injury recovery or to bulk up or things like that. I don't know if it's outright illegal for a person to possess HGH, but you're sure not allowed to pass it out for these purposes.
HGH is approved for those with short bowel syndrome. If I were an athlete caught with the stuff, I'd be claiming short bowels.
Anyway, does the Mitchell Report destroy baseball? No, not hardly. This is less an urgent crises than it is a tumor that's been allowed to grow for too long. It's a shame that Major League Baseball only within the past couple years is trying to remove it. The Report is kind of like a spade used to dig it out. Painful, yes, but everybody knew it was coming.
And besides, organized baseball has been around since the Civil War and has withstood many a dour day. The Black Sox of 1919, the Pittsburgh drug trials of 1985, the strikes of 1981 and 1994... baseball has always survived and the fans have always returned.
Monday, December 10, 2007
The League of Extraordinary Stoves
I just learned where the term "hot stove league" might've come from. During the winter, baseball fans warm themselves around a hot stove and discuss off-season wheelings and dealings. Sounds like good ol' Depression-era fun!
Anyway, I've already lost track of who's going where, and by spring I'll be completely lost. I'm usually sorted out by May, but for the first few weeks of the season I'm always surprised to see certain men wearing a new team's uniform. "He plays for THEM now?" "Why isn't what's-his-face in the line-up, or on the roster... oh, he's in a different league now." Etc.
So in an effort to keep myself sorted out, I'll gloss over some so-far transactions. While warming myself by a hot stove.
Apparently Eric Gagne is going to Milwaukee. This'll be good for him both in effectiveness and in self-esteem (as he's fairly hated in Boston right now). He did well with Texas earlier in 2007, and he should fare even better back in the National League. He also seems to do well when he's the team's go-to closer instead of the set-up man and back-up closer roles he dismly served with the Red Sox.
But don't the Brewers already have closers? Francisco Cordero, who had 44 saves in 2007, is now a Red (thanks to free agency), and Derrick Turnbow, who saved 63 games in 2005 and 2006 combined before becoming Cordero's set-up man, isn't wholly reliable.
I don't expect Gagne to continue sucking as much as he did with Boston, and so I'm not terribly anxious to have him pitch all those games against the Cardinals in the 2008 season. But we'll see how he turns out.
More Brewer happenings...
Milwauke gets Salomon Torres. Pittsburgh get pitching prospects Marino Salas and Kevin Roberts. Torres is a lot like Gumby, in that he's very flexible. Middle relief, a closed ballgame here and there... he's even good to start. The Pirates liked him so much that they used him in over half their games between 2004 and 2006. This might explain his inflamed elbow (and his subsequently poor season) in 2007, but the Brewers should get good use out of him.
As for Salas and Roberts, the Pirates could use all the pitching help they can get. Salas is a decent prospect who put up so-so AAA numbers in 2007, but he still might get the call in 2008. Roberts still needs a couple years of work, and I don't know if he'll ever make any impact in the major leagues. But again, Pirate pitching is crummy, so who knows.
The Brewers also signed relief pitcher David Riske. Milwaukee's pitching was shoddy in 2007, and they're obviously trying to do something about it. Do you hear that, St. Louis? Making bad pitching good again?
Aaron Boone, one year contract, Washington Nationals.
...Will remain inconspicuous.
Andruw Jones is a Dodger now. Two years for $36 million dollars? Shoot, I'll strike out a bunch of times and hit .220 for free! But he can still field, and the Dodgers will probably boot Juan Pierre to left (formerly occupied by Luis Gonzalez, who's now a free agent), keep Jones in center, and make Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp fistfight for rightfield rights.
Honestly, though, I don't anticipate Jones performing as craptacularly with his bat as he did in 2007. Just because.
I'm a little bit excited to see Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera in Detroit uniforms next season, mostly because I like the Tigers a lot more than I like the Marlins. Florida, in turn, gets six players.
Breakdown time. First the trimmings.
The Marlins now own:
Cameron Maybin - He's been tearing up the minors with his bat, but he also strikes out a whole lot. He was unimpressive during his 2007 big league cup of coffee, but his future looks bright, especially with Florida.
Mike Rabelo - In Florida he'll either start or platoon or third-string or do something. I don't really care. I'm more interested in who the new back-up catcher in Detroit will be. In 2007 it was all Ivan Rodriguez and Rabelo. Pudge sure ain't gonna catch 162 games, and the organization's minor league catchers are all "all field, no hit" (although Nick Trzesniak down in Erie looks promising). Brandon Inge caught for a few seasons before moving to third base, but he's paid too much to be strictly backup. Maybe the Tigers can deal for Crash Davis or something.
Andrew Miller - The Marlins are getting a fine young pitcher. A lefty, too. Maybe he'll be the next Dontrelle?
Dallas Trahern - Pretty good minor league numbers. He'll probably help the Marlins win another World Series in two years.
Eulogio De La Cruz - Best. Name. Ever.
Burke Badenhop - Great minor league numbers. The Tigers weren't just trading away fillers.
The Tigers now have:
Dontrelle Willis - In Detroit his D-train moniker works doubly well. Last season was no good for Willis, but he was also pitching for a last-place team. Hopefully with the Tigers as 2008 contenders Dontrelle will once again excel.
Miguel Cabrera - People make fun of Cabrera because he's chubby/fat (and it should be noted that his listed weight at baseball-reference.com is off by about eighty pounds -- no joke). Whatever. We can address the weight issue when he's not hitting .320, when he's not hitting 30 home runs, and when he's not knocking in a hundred (plus a dozen) RBIs. Besides, doesn't the extra girth help him smother the ball at third base? No? Oh.
Good players at both ends of the deal. But whereas the Marlins are looking at world domination down the road, the Tigers are planing for victory NOW.
Moving on...
Outfielder Jose Guillen, like in 2007, is capable of good seasons. But, like in 2006, he's also susceptible to bad ones. Which Jose Guillen did the Royals just acquire? Kansas City also has a lot of young talent in the outfield (now that the old man talent, Reggie Sanders, is a free agent), so I'm not sure how they're going to sort that all out.
Sure, Elijah Dukes isn't going to get in any trouble in WASHING-freaking-TON D.C.
(Off-field problems + area of high crime = fun times for all)
Randy Wolf is pretty good when he's healthy, but he's hurt all the dang time. Even so, the Padres have a spot for him now that David Wells is a free agent. But due to Wolf's tendency to not pitch all the time they may want to pick up/call up another starting pitcher.
I know David Eckstein will probably sign with another team, but couldn't the Cardinals find somebody better? Instead of somebody worse? Instead of Cesar Izturis? Fortunately it's just a one-year deal, and he's not a bad fielder (Gold Glove in 2004), but I'm sure the Cards could do better. The Angels have a ton of shorstops, maybe they can spare Cesar's brother.
The Mets acquired catcher Brian Schneider and outfielder Ryan Church from the Nationals in exchange for Lastings Milledge. Let's break this one down into chunks.
Schneider to the Mets... but what about Paul Lo Duca? He's talking with Toronto now, which is weird because he'd have to split time with Gregg Zaun. Lo Duca is more valuable than Schneider both in ability and moneys, but maybe the Mets are looking to free up some bucks. Or maybe Schneider was just part of the deal. I don't know.
I don't know about Ryan Church either. The Mets' outfield is stacked full of Beltrans and Greens and Alous and Reyeses and Chavezes. If there was no room for Milledge than there's really no room for Church.
I don't even know why this deal even happened as it doesn't appear that the Mets will be benefitting from any of this.
Not only do the Rays need a reliable closer, they need reliable middle relief, set-up men, starters, everything. Troy Percival, one of the few bright spots in the Cardinals pitching staff (of course they're letting him go), will be good for Tampa Bay.
The Astros signed Kaz Matsui to a three-year, $15 million deal. His bat loved Colorado (and bitterly broke up with New York after starting off so well), but I imagine it'll "just be friends" with Houston. Matsui is replacing the retired Biggio at second, so he's got some pretty scrappy shoes to fill.
I've got things to do, so I'm going to shelve the rest of this for a Part Two.
And I'm sure between now and then everybody else will switch teams and I'll have to do the whole thing over.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Say Goodnight, Gracie
I'm doing my best to digest congealed Thanksgiving leftovers.
I'm doing that and also gearing myself up for the Missouri/Kansas game set to kick off in about four hours.
However, TV listings are only giving me the "To Be Announced" description.
If "To Be Announced" turns out to be "Duck Tails: The Movie" then a certain offending television set is going to find itself flung right off the balcony.
So this is the biggest game in the history of EVER. And it just got BIGGER because #1 LSU lost. So now there's a number one ranking on the line in addition to all that other stuff. Insane. I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around it.
Anyway, as far as baseball goes, Torii Hunter is an Angel now, and that's interesting because the Angels already have a full outfield. Maybe they're defecting to a softball league and will play four in the field instead of three.
The Cardinals patched up the holes in their dismal team by signing... a backup catcher. Jason LaRue hit an astoundingly awful .143 for the Royals last season. His OPS+ (a stat measuring offensive production against everybody else in the league [an average player has an OPS+ of 100]) in 2007 was just 33. The Cardinals have pitchers whose OPS+ is higher than that. But don't overlook the fact that LaRue's stolen base percentage last year was 100%. One-for-one, baby!
They're saying we won't know what killed Joe Kennedy, who the Blue Jays picked up late last season, for another two months. It's tragic and a little bit disturbing to find out a 28-year-old athlete in good physical condition apparently dies of natural causes. Around Thanksgiving, too. In Florida for a wedding. With a wife and one-year-old son. So sad.
Don't confuse George Burns with George Burns or, of course, Nathan Birnbaum. All were born within seven years of each other. All were fairly popular at one point or another. Only two were MVP candidates (with George Henry winning the AL award in 1926, although it's worth noting that prior winners [*cough* Babe Ruth *cough*] weren't eligible to win repeat MVP awards until 1930).
Today is George Joseph's birthday. That's what spurred this Burns tangent. Happy 118th.
I'm going to go now because every minute I spend typing is another minute I spend not watching college football.
I'm doing that and also gearing myself up for the Missouri/Kansas game set to kick off in about four hours.
However, TV listings are only giving me the "To Be Announced" description.
If "To Be Announced" turns out to be "Duck Tails: The Movie" then a certain offending television set is going to find itself flung right off the balcony.
So this is the biggest game in the history of EVER. And it just got BIGGER because #1 LSU lost. So now there's a number one ranking on the line in addition to all that other stuff. Insane. I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around it.
Anyway, as far as baseball goes, Torii Hunter is an Angel now, and that's interesting because the Angels already have a full outfield. Maybe they're defecting to a softball league and will play four in the field instead of three.
The Cardinals patched up the holes in their dismal team by signing... a backup catcher. Jason LaRue hit an astoundingly awful .143 for the Royals last season. His OPS+ (a stat measuring offensive production against everybody else in the league [an average player has an OPS+ of 100]) in 2007 was just 33. The Cardinals have pitchers whose OPS+ is higher than that. But don't overlook the fact that LaRue's stolen base percentage last year was 100%. One-for-one, baby!
They're saying we won't know what killed Joe Kennedy, who the Blue Jays picked up late last season, for another two months. It's tragic and a little bit disturbing to find out a 28-year-old athlete in good physical condition apparently dies of natural causes. Around Thanksgiving, too. In Florida for a wedding. With a wife and one-year-old son. So sad.
Don't confuse George Burns with George Burns or, of course, Nathan Birnbaum. All were born within seven years of each other. All were fairly popular at one point or another. Only two were MVP candidates (with George Henry winning the AL award in 1926, although it's worth noting that prior winners [*cough* Babe Ruth *cough*] weren't eligible to win repeat MVP awards until 1930).
Today is George Joseph's birthday. That's what spurred this Burns tangent. Happy 118th.
I'm going to go now because every minute I spend typing is another minute I spend not watching college football.
Monday, November 19, 2007
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly [writing]
Some quick GOOD/BAD labeling.
-Alex Rodriguez just won the AL MVP award. GOOD. He's, like, the best player in the universe, and that's just something everybody will have to deal with.
-Alex Rodriguez will play for the Yankees after all. GOOD. All the silly drama will continue next season and things in Yankeeland will still be interesting.
There are no other baseball players besides Alex Rodriguez, don't you know?
-Barry Bonds was finally indicted for something. I can't proclaim a GOOD or BAD verdict because, while I want to see Bonds get his just desserts, this whole thing saddens me.
I'm no legal expert, but something is still confusing me quite badly; Barry Bonds, indicted for purjery/obstruction of justice for lying about taking steroids. However nobody has proven that Bonds took steroids. So... he's been indicted for lying about something that hasn't been proven yet. Maybe something will be revealed during the preceedings. Or maybe evidence is optional in cases like these. Regardless, I wish he'd been indicted four or five months ago... BEFORE he went and broke that homerun record.
-The USA just won the Baseball World Cup. GOOD. Take that, World. As if I knew these games were being played anyway.
-Tom Glavine will play another year. BAD, actually. He had a so-so 2007 season, not an awful one. His numbers were merely average, but he'll be 42 years-old next year and decline is inevitable. He should leave the game with good memories of his 300th win still fresh in the fans minds instead of dampening them with the subpar performance he's bound to have with the Braves next season.
-Derrek Lee won the NL Gold Glove for first basemen. BAD. Because statistically Albert Pujols deserves the prize. Better fielding percentage, more assists, higher Range Factor. The voters must've only looked at the errors category where Lee had seven, Pujols with eight. Just one more error despite playing in fifty more innings.
Want to see why mainstream media doesn't take sportsbloggers seriously?
Okay.
Now check out my FireJoeMorgan imitation.
"Alex Rodriguez Does Not Deserve the 2007 AL MVP Award"
How's that for a confronting title? He does deserve the 2007 AL MVP, by the way. As if you couldn't tell where I was going with this.
"What a complete and utter joke."
This article, a complete and utter joke you say? Continue...
"ESPN reported today that Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez has been named the 2007 AL MVP. If this isn't a sign that the world is coming to an end, I don't know what is."
Well, Biblically there are wars and rumors of wars and false prophets and horsemen and whatnot. Oh, wait, here in Revelations... "And the fifth seal was broken, and it doth declare the winner of the 2007 American League Most Valuable Player Award. Alex Rodriguez, it spake, and there was much gnashing of teeth..."
"Forget about A-Rod's stats for a second..."
Oh dear, here we go.
"...and focus on a much more important question: where did the Yankees end up this year?"
Don't tell me. I can totally guess this. Um... um... shoot, I give up.
Because he led the league in RBIs.
Because he led the league in total bases.
Because he led the league in slugging percentage and runs scored and a bunch of other offensive categories.
Because MVP awards aren't contingent on their postseason performance.
Because his postseason performance wasn't all that terrible anyway.
"It would be one thing if A-Rod valiantly led a small market team to their first playoff appearance. But that couldn't be further from the truth."
Valiantly? Like, on a horse?
And what do small market teams have to do with absolutely anything regarding MVP awards? Should he NOT get the MVP because he doesn't play for the Royals? WHAT THE BEANS ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT???
"A-Rod plays on the best team money can buy. The Yanks are expected to get to the playoffs every year. With their payroll, anything short of a World Series championship should be considered a complete and utter failure for the franchise."
I spy an attempt at logical reasoning. But regardless of payroll, I think that anything short of a World Series championship should be considered reality. The Yankees look good on paper, but my spiral notebook isn't in an early-season slump, isn't dealing with a pitching staff emaciated by injuries, isn't dealing with HIGHLY UNREASONABLE EXPECTATIONS.
By the way, "complete and utter" sounds like the name of a toast spread.
"Since the Yankees didn't win a world championship, there's simply no way A-Rod should get the MVP."
If I drank coffee (which I don't... it upsets my stomach) I would have spat it all over my monitor just now. Only teams that deserve to win the World Series should have MVP award winners? But there's an NL and AL MVP award. Who doesn't get one because their team didn't win the World Series?
This is also a good time to point out that one man does not make a baseball team. A team doesn't lose because one player isn't doing too good. If, say, Alex Rodriguez has a bad set of games and the Yankees lose ten in a row, it's probably because the whole dang line-up is slumping. The pitching staff is tossing softballs. Alex Rodriguez's teammates aren't producing. He may contribute to the team's failure, but he's not solely responsible for it. This isn't the New York A-Roddys.
"MVP stands for "Most Valuable Player." Not most home runs or RBIs—which aren't too difficult to rack up when you are surrounded by the league's best talent."
If there are men on base you've still got to knock them in. Good grief. And obviously hitting the most homeruns does not automatically get you an MVP award. A Silver Slugger, yes. An MVP... leading the league in most offensive categories sure helps.
"The player who means the most to their team is supposed to win this award."
Rodriguez, yes, check, means the most, wins the award. Goodnight everybody.
"Where would the Tigers be without Magglio Ordonez? Could the Indians have had the year they did without the efforts of C.C. Sabathia on the mound?"
They can't all be MVPs. C.C. was the 2007 AL Cy Young award winner, so he got his props. And as for Magglio, the Tigers didn't even make it to the playoffs this season, so the author is making a case for points he rebutted earlier.
"What about can't they be considered, you biased hacks?"
You no write goodly.
"All season long, all we ever heard about were the Yankees, the Red Sox, and A-Rod's stellar season. It's time for the real gems of the league to be recognized, and the overpaid, underperforming superstars to be put in their proper place once and for all."
So did Rodriguez have a stellar season, or did he underperform? MAKE UP YOUR MIND. And what do the Red Sox have to do with anything else mentioned in this article?
If I ever write anything overwhelmingly stupid I want you to pick it apart line by line, then lop off my typing fingers, 'cause Lord knows I don't want to end up like this fool.
-Alex Rodriguez just won the AL MVP award. GOOD. He's, like, the best player in the universe, and that's just something everybody will have to deal with.
-Alex Rodriguez will play for the Yankees after all. GOOD. All the silly drama will continue next season and things in Yankeeland will still be interesting.
There are no other baseball players besides Alex Rodriguez, don't you know?
-Barry Bonds was finally indicted for something. I can't proclaim a GOOD or BAD verdict because, while I want to see Bonds get his just desserts, this whole thing saddens me.
I'm no legal expert, but something is still confusing me quite badly; Barry Bonds, indicted for purjery/obstruction of justice for lying about taking steroids. However nobody has proven that Bonds took steroids. So... he's been indicted for lying about something that hasn't been proven yet. Maybe something will be revealed during the preceedings. Or maybe evidence is optional in cases like these. Regardless, I wish he'd been indicted four or five months ago... BEFORE he went and broke that homerun record.
-The USA just won the Baseball World Cup. GOOD. Take that, World. As if I knew these games were being played anyway.
-Tom Glavine will play another year. BAD, actually. He had a so-so 2007 season, not an awful one. His numbers were merely average, but he'll be 42 years-old next year and decline is inevitable. He should leave the game with good memories of his 300th win still fresh in the fans minds instead of dampening them with the subpar performance he's bound to have with the Braves next season.
-Derrek Lee won the NL Gold Glove for first basemen. BAD. Because statistically Albert Pujols deserves the prize. Better fielding percentage, more assists, higher Range Factor. The voters must've only looked at the errors category where Lee had seven, Pujols with eight. Just one more error despite playing in fifty more innings.
Want to see why mainstream media doesn't take sportsbloggers seriously?
Okay.
Now check out my FireJoeMorgan imitation.
"Alex Rodriguez Does Not Deserve the 2007 AL MVP Award"
How's that for a confronting title? He does deserve the 2007 AL MVP, by the way. As if you couldn't tell where I was going with this.
"What a complete and utter joke."
This article, a complete and utter joke you say? Continue...
"ESPN reported today that Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez has been named the 2007 AL MVP. If this isn't a sign that the world is coming to an end, I don't know what is."
Well, Biblically there are wars and rumors of wars and false prophets and horsemen and whatnot. Oh, wait, here in Revelations... "And the fifth seal was broken, and it doth declare the winner of the 2007 American League Most Valuable Player Award. Alex Rodriguez, it spake, and there was much gnashing of teeth..."
"Forget about A-Rod's stats for a second..."
Oh dear, here we go.
"...and focus on a much more important question: where did the Yankees end up this year?"
Don't tell me. I can totally guess this. Um... um... shoot, I give up.
"Exiting from the playoffs after the first round, that's where.
So how in the hell can you justify giving their star player the MVP award?"
Because he led the league in home runs.Because he led the league in RBIs.
Because he led the league in total bases.
Because he led the league in slugging percentage and runs scored and a bunch of other offensive categories.
Because MVP awards aren't contingent on their postseason performance.
Because his postseason performance wasn't all that terrible anyway.
"It would be one thing if A-Rod valiantly led a small market team to their first playoff appearance. But that couldn't be further from the truth."
Valiantly? Like, on a horse?
And what do small market teams have to do with absolutely anything regarding MVP awards? Should he NOT get the MVP because he doesn't play for the Royals? WHAT THE BEANS ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT???
"A-Rod plays on the best team money can buy. The Yanks are expected to get to the playoffs every year. With their payroll, anything short of a World Series championship should be considered a complete and utter failure for the franchise."
I spy an attempt at logical reasoning. But regardless of payroll, I think that anything short of a World Series championship should be considered reality. The Yankees look good on paper, but my spiral notebook isn't in an early-season slump, isn't dealing with a pitching staff emaciated by injuries, isn't dealing with HIGHLY UNREASONABLE EXPECTATIONS.
By the way, "complete and utter" sounds like the name of a toast spread.
"Since the Yankees didn't win a world championship, there's simply no way A-Rod should get the MVP."
If I drank coffee (which I don't... it upsets my stomach) I would have spat it all over my monitor just now. Only teams that deserve to win the World Series should have MVP award winners? But there's an NL and AL MVP award. Who doesn't get one because their team didn't win the World Series?
This is also a good time to point out that one man does not make a baseball team. A team doesn't lose because one player isn't doing too good. If, say, Alex Rodriguez has a bad set of games and the Yankees lose ten in a row, it's probably because the whole dang line-up is slumping. The pitching staff is tossing softballs. Alex Rodriguez's teammates aren't producing. He may contribute to the team's failure, but he's not solely responsible for it. This isn't the New York A-Roddys.
"MVP stands for "Most Valuable Player." Not most home runs or RBIs—which aren't too difficult to rack up when you are surrounded by the league's best talent."
If there are men on base you've still got to knock them in. Good grief. And obviously hitting the most homeruns does not automatically get you an MVP award. A Silver Slugger, yes. An MVP... leading the league in most offensive categories sure helps.
"The player who means the most to their team is supposed to win this award."
Rodriguez, yes, check, means the most, wins the award. Goodnight everybody.
"Where would the Tigers be without Magglio Ordonez? Could the Indians have had the year they did without the efforts of C.C. Sabathia on the mound?"
They can't all be MVPs. C.C. was the 2007 AL Cy Young award winner, so he got his props. And as for Magglio, the Tigers didn't even make it to the playoffs this season, so the author is making a case for points he rebutted earlier.
"What about can't they be considered, you biased hacks?"
You no write goodly.
"All season long, all we ever heard about were the Yankees, the Red Sox, and A-Rod's stellar season. It's time for the real gems of the league to be recognized, and the overpaid, underperforming superstars to be put in their proper place once and for all."
So did Rodriguez have a stellar season, or did he underperform? MAKE UP YOUR MIND. And what do the Red Sox have to do with anything else mentioned in this article?
If I ever write anything overwhelmingly stupid I want you to pick it apart line by line, then lop off my typing fingers, 'cause Lord knows I don't want to end up like this fool.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Alex Rodriguez: Coloring By Numbers
I get the impression that people think Alex Rodriguez is something of a liability. Critics, many of them in the New England region, many of them Yankee "supporters", consider him a choker, or a selfish goon disinterested in team cohesion.He's currently making his free agent rounds and will end up with whoever is willing to pay the most cash for him. Thus far there aren't many takers, and it's not due to post-season unproductivity or big fat jerkiness. The only reason Major League ballclubs aren't clamoring for Rodriguez is because he's the highest payed player. He's simply unaffordable.
Let's say I'm a big league team. Probably the Royals. I'm poor but I want to -- I don't know -- street race. I can't afford the high-performance sports cars, so I'm left with my dumb (and ageing) Ford Escort. If I want to seriously compete I can't simply go out and purchase the best models. I'll need to build up my own cars myself and work with what my budget allows.
Alex Rodriguez, therefore, is a gold-plated time-traveling DeLorean with a rocket engine. His salary this season (part of that gargantuan 10-year, $252 million deal) was $22.7 million. Tampa Bay's 2007 TEAM payroll totaled $24.1 million.
(Completely amusing, by the way, is the thought of Alex Rodriguez in a Rays uniform... and, for financial reasons, the only player on the field.)
(You'll notice, too, that I'll never call him A-Rod. He's not some sort of load-bearing I-Beam, and I'm not so lazy that I can't say and spell his dang name.)
As far as Rodriguez's talent is concerned, FireJoeMorgon.com has already beaten this topic to death. I like to play with the numbers myself, though, so here's my argument that Alex Rodriguez is not as crappy as you think. And not crappy at all. And actually quite good.
Postseason Meltdown
Some time ago Alex Rodriguez got the reputation of being a clutch choker. I don't remember when the scapegoating began, but it probably started during the 2004 ALCS. In the twelfth innings of Game 5 against the Red Sox, the Yanks up three games to one, Rodriguez had a chance to knock in the go-ahead run standing on second base. A win here would take the Yankees to the World Series. With two outs, instead of hitting a Hobbs-like home run, he flied out to centerfield. In fact, for the rest of the series he could do absolutely nothing with runners on base. It was hard to watch, and since so much expectation had been heaped upon him, and since it absolutely mortified Yankee fans to watch New York botch a three-game series lead, he was the natural boo-ee.
Fast-forward a year to the 2005 ALDS against the Angels. Two-for-fifteen, five strikeouts, no home runs. Yankees did not advance.
The 2006 ALDS against the Tigers. One-for-fourteen, four strikeouts, no home runs. Yankees did not advance.
Naturally the Yankees' failure as a team is due to Alex Rodriguez's inability to play the game of baseball, ain't it? Right? Aren't they awful because Choke-Rod is awful?
Well, first of all I don't consider four playoff appearances in four years awful.
Secondly AREN'T THERE, LIKE, THIRTY OTHER PEOPLE ON THE TEAM?
2007 ALDS Breakdown
So the Yankees fall to the Indians in the first round of playoffs and it's all Rodriguez's fault again.
Yes and no.
Yes -- because Rodriguez amassed zero hits in his first eight plate appearances.
No -- because A) he then went four-for-nine with a homer, and B) he wasn't getting much help from his teammates.
In this series the only Yankees who got more hits than Rodriguez were Robinson Cano and Johnny Damon with five. The Yankees as a team batted .228 (.223 without Rodriguez). Derek Jeter, the Captain, Clipper, Savior, Etc., went three-for-seventeen with four strikeouts. No walks, no extra-base hits. Grounded into three double plays. And Chokey Rodriguez is the bad guy?
Hideki Matsui, two-for-eleven.
Jorge Posada, two-for-fifteen.
Melky Cabrera, three-for-sixteen.
Chien-Ming Wang, fourteen hits, twelve(!) earned runs in five-and-two-thirds innings.
Roger Clemens, three earned runs in two-and-two-thirds.
Some guy named Ohlendorf, three runs in one inning.
Again, Alex Rodriguez, .267 series batting average, a home run, a couple walks, a couple runs, grounded into ZERO double plays. Not great, but not deserving of his wretched public perception.
And if you go back and check the numbers for the 2004, 2005, and 2006 playoffs series you'll find that, shockingly, Alex Rodriguez was NOT the only player on the New York Yankees who performed poorly. Egads! In fact, you'll find that he was one of the better ones on the 2004 team where in that postseason he hit .320 with three home runs, eight RBIs, two stolen bases, and five doubles.
And if you go back even further, as a member of the Seattle Mariners his postseason totals are fairly impressive. In fifteen postseason games spanning from 1995 to 2000 he hit .340, had three homers, three doubles, six runs, eight RBIs. These are not choking numbers.
Rodriguez and Jeter, Head-to-Head
It's the natural tendancy of Yankee fans to like Derek Jeter and dislike Alex Rodriguez. Jeter is a born-and-bred Yankee, a first-round draft pick who rose up through the organization to become the first Yankee captain since Don Mattingly. For many years Rodriguez was seen as something of a rival; both played shortstop, both excelled at baseball, and they would meet each other in the playoffs. So when Rodriguez came to the Yankees and gave up his shortstop position it was immediately apparent that he was to be second-banana. And when, heaven forbid, they weren't chummy with each other... well, every good guy needs a bad guy.
But I would much MUCH rather have Alex Rodriguez on my team than Derek Jeter. I mean, it's great to have them both together, but if I had to choose it'd be Rodriguez all the way. That's not to say that I don't like Derek Jeter. I love the guy. He's got a great bat and seems to be a pretty good team leader. But athletically he's no Alex Rodriguez.Although they are different types of hitters (Jeter with his inside-out good-for-gaps swing, Rodriguez with his big good-for-home runs swing) they both have remarkably similar offensive stats. Per 162 games they average about two-hundred hits, thirty-four doubles, seventy-ish walks, and a .388 on-base percentage. (Interestingly they're both also hit by pitches about eleven times every season.) So it's clear that they're both equally adept at reaching base, but it's how they reach base that's so very important.
Per 162 games:
Derek Jeter's slugging% = .462
Alex Rodriguez's SLG% = .578
This means that for each at bat, Rodriguez is going to average more bases. More bases equals more opportunities to knock in runs and be in scoring position himself. Speaking of runs batted in...
Per 162 games:
Derek Jeter's RBIs = 82
Alex Rodriguez's RBIs = 128
It's quite an accomplishment to attain 100 RBIs in a season, even extrapolated to 162 games. Rodriguez averages 128.
There's also Bill James' Runs Created stat, which is a calculation of how many runs a team of Derek Jeters or a team of Alex Rodriguezes would score.
In 13 seasons Derek Jeter's Runs Created per game is 6.8, meaning a team of Jeters would score 6.8 runs per game in Major League baseball.
In 14 seasons Alex Rodriguez's RC/G is 8.4, meaning a team of Rodriguezes would score more runs than a team of Jeters.
In 2007 Jeter's RC/G was 6.3. Rodriguez's was 10.4.
So clearly, and I don't even know why I'm arguing this, Alex Rodriguez is a much better offensive weapon than Derek Jeter. But what about DEfensively? Both are Gold Glove shortstops, but which one is better at his position?
By the numbers Rodriguez is only an average third baseman, but I don't think it's fair to compare stats from his secondary position. So any numbers I pull up for Rodriguez will strictly be for games played at shortstop.
Their fielding percentage is about the same (Jeter's .975 to Rodriguez's .977), but we need to be able to figure out who has the better range. The point of being a fielder is to make outs, and naturally you'll be able to make more outs if you're able to get to more balls. Fortunately there's a range statistic, and in this instance the results are very telling.
The Range Factor is calculated by adding assists and put-outs and then, for the sake of averaging, dividing by games played. Somebody who is able to get to more balls will have a higher RFg.
Derek Jeter's career RFg is 4.05, which is actually below the league average of 4.12 for that span of time he's played.
Alex Rodriguez's career RFg at shortstop is 4.42, well above the league average of 4.15 for his span of time.
And as for double plays turned, Jeter averages a double play every 1.8 games played, or 90 every 162 games.
Rodriguez at short averaged a double play every 1.5 games played, or 108 every 162 games.
Alex Rodriguez is a better shortstop than Derek Jeter.
Alex Rodriguez. Is a better. Shortstop. Than Derek Jeter.
So why did Rodriguez have to move to third base? Because Jeter wouldn't have even been able to play the hot corner. He's a subpar shortstop who wins Gold Glove awards because of that neat jumpy throw he does.
But Alex Rodriguez is the bad guy. And the boos of finnicky fans and finger-pointing media probably aided in his decision to persue free agency. And now the Yankees will lose their best player.
[By the way, I didn't pull any of these numbers out of my hindquarters. Baseball-Reference.com is the source for all of these stats and more.]
Saturday, October 27, 2007
World Series Game 3 Live Blog-o-rama
Welcome to Game 3 of the 2007 World Series in Colorado.
I'm not in Colorado, but I AM in front of a TV, and reading about the game here (as it happens!) is dang near as good as being there. I promise.
Here's how it works. During the game I'll type stuff, then at the end of each half-inning I'll hit the "Publish Post" button. That way you can read along. Or you can just come back tomorrow and read it all in its entirety. Or you can go outside and do something productive.
I've decided that for every Colorado run scored I'll take a celebratory shot of vodka, and for every Boston run scored I'll take a drown-my-sorrows swig of beer. If this ends up being a high-scoring game (and it might -- thinner air, y'know -- or it might not -- humidored baseballs, y'know) then let my pickled liver be a health warning to you to never play drinking games with baseball.
PREGAME
Major League Baseball is offering "international coverage" of this year's World Series. Seperate from the FOX broadcast, up here in Canada we get the play-by-play talents of Dave O'Brien and the colo(u)r commentary of Rick Sutcliffe. Interestingly, due to my close proximity to Detroit, I can still get the FOX broadcast on my TV.
So who do I pick? The insufferableness Tim McCarver, or the inaneness of Rick Sutcliffe? Suddenly I envy Sophie's choice.
Tonight's pitchers will be Dasuke Matsuzaka for Boston and Josh Fogg for Colorado. If Fogg ends up winning this game for the Rockies I can just imagine all the punny headlines that'll say "FOGG LIFTS FOR ROCKIES" or "FOGG SHROUDS SOX" or "FOGGET ABOUT IT" or something equally as unclever.
As for Matsuzaka, I can't call him Dice-K. It reminds me too much of, Dice Clay, as in Andrew, and the last thing I need is for Andrew Dice Clay to take up brain space.
Because of the non-DH in the NL stadium, Terry Francona had to make a decision. Does he bench one of the most feared hitters in the Majors (Ortiz) or does he bench the man hitting .444 this postseason (Youkilis)? They can't both play first base, although I would pay a few dollars to watch them try. But it looks like David Ortiz will get the start, making Kevin Youkilis a very good hitting bencher. Look for his Bluto self to make an appearance later in the game.
I'll stick with Sut and O'B for now. Less irritating FOXy bells 'n' whistles. The commercial breaks are shorter on this channel too.
The bullpen, apparently, is in the middle of the woods.
And, lest we all forget, the Rockies mascot is a BIG PURPLE DINOSAUR.
National Anthem time... and wow, Carrie Underwood's voice has the power to conjure fireworks!
Let's play ball.
TOP 1ST
Jacoby Ellsbury up first for Boston. I like him, and I hope one day he doesn't play for the Red Sox. Even when he screw up, like that wimpy hit he just now dribbled, he makes it into something positive (in this case his hit was so wimpy that nobody could field it in time).
Dustin Pedroia has all five vowels in his name. If only his name was Dustiny (but only sometimes). HIT AN RUN HIT AND RUN... foul. Try again. Seemingly routine groundball to short, but SAFE at first because Vowels is so dang fast.
Alright, man on first and second, Ortiz at the plate. No outs. Fogg's in some early trouble. So he strikes Davey out. Nice. Take THAT Mr. Big Papi sir.
Now Manny, who's even more dangerous than Ortiz. I'm glad baseball announcers are finally addressing the fact that Ramirez isn't some dumb manchild. He's an intelligent hitter who just happens to speak chop English and wear baggy pants.
Pop out to left. Two outs. Mike Lowell up.
It's a little bit funny to me that the two rookies immediately got on base, but the veterans can't get anything done.
Full count on Lowell. What's going to happen? The runners go and... AND... flyout to center.
Three outs.
BOTTOM 1ST
Kaz Matsui up first for the Rocks. First pitch from Matsuzaka is hit into the right field for a single... NAY, a double, thanks to some excellent ball misshandling by JD Drew. Single + Error, technically. Either way there's an instant man in scoring position.
Tulowi... Tulo... witz... TROY steps up to the plate, trying not to let 'Zaka's butt waggle distract him. He works his way up to a full count. Matsuzaka appears bored and throws his heralded apathy pitch. Strike three.
One out.
Matt Holliday now, perhaps still thinking about the fact that he still needs to touch home plate from that game against the Padres. Back to the pitcher... SNAGGED by Matsuzaka. He then spun around and caught Matsui off second in a rundown. They play around and get the second out.
Todd "Gotee of Doom" Helton now at bat. Holliday at first. Maybe a ghost runner on second.
Ground ball to third. Force at second. Three outs.
TOP 2ND
If each team is going to put two runners on base without scoring any of them then this is going to be a very long and frustrating game.
JD Drew quickly grounds out to second. One quick out. Quick quick quick.
Jason Veritek now at the plate. Veritek sounds like some sort of sythetic fiber.
Holy smokes. Veritek's broken bat helicoptered right through Fogg's legs. The ball trickled to Troy at short, who made a great throw to nail 'Tek at first. Two outs. Extra points for amusing chaos.
Julio Lugo, who was awful earlier during the regular season, has been oddly awesome in the playoffs. Like just now when he hit a double. I don't understand.
Dasuke Matsuzaka at bat. Rick Sutcliffe is talking about home runs for some reason.
Strike three. Three outs.
BOTTOM 2ND
First pitch to Garrett Atkins... is in his face. Off the shoulder, actually. Take your base.
Now Hawpe. On pop.
Strike one, two, three.
One out, man on first.
Now's the catcher, Yorvit Torrealba. Yorvit flies out to Manny in left, who makes every putout attempt an exciting one.
Two outs, Cory Sullivan at bat. I know absolutely nothing about Cory Sullivan. Isn't he a racecar driver or something? Probably, because he weakly dribbles out to Lugo at short. Flip to second, three outs.
TOP 3RD
Ellsbury in at bat number two. Wowie. Stretched that single down the left field line into a double. So once again there is a man in scoring position.
Can Pedroia reach base again? Yes, yes he can. He dropped a great bunt, which Torrealba fielded (when it was closer to Fogg) and dang near threw it into the seats. Helton managed to grab it, but Peds was easily safe at first.
Ortiz, RBI double to right. I'm grabbin' a beer as they intentionally walk Manny. A Rickard's Red... like, for the RED Sox. Get it?
The bases are now loaded for Mike Lowell. No outs.
Lowell single right up the middle (dividing the infield exactly in half). Two more runs come in. It's 3 - 0, Boston, no outs. What more?
Drew vs. Fogg. Drew pops to Troy. Reliable ol' JD, good for an out when you need it most.
One down. Veritek... singles to left. Manny coming around trying to score. The throw from Holliday is... is... is... doggone it, the umpire took forever to call that. OUT!
That was sure exciting. Two outs.
I like how Manny popped up after his slide into home and called himself safe.
Oh dear. Fogg just walked Lugo to reload the bases.
And now feared hitter Matsuzaka at bat... singles? A TWO RUN single?! Five to nothing??!
Okay. Man on first and third, two outs... wait a second, Ellsbury already batted this inning.
Single to center just out of reach of the diving Sullivan. Another run scores.
Hurdle is yanking Fogg, and the bottle I cracked open earlier this inning is already almost empty. Shoot, they don't even need Youkilis.
Who's pitching now? Franklin Morales? He got Pedroia to ground out to third. Three outs. FINALLY.
BOTTOM 3RD
It's not such a good thing when a pitcher leads off an inning at bat.
Strike three. That's why. Down goes Morales.
The mighty Kaz at bat. I kind of enjoy it when a Japanese batter faces a Japanese pitcher. I wonder if they have some deeper level of understanding that they subtly communicate to each other. I wonder if they make fun of the Americans. Whatever it is they're doing, Matsui and Matsuzaka are taking a long time to do it. Kaz keeps a-foulin', and 'Zaka keeps a-pitchin'.
Full count. This has turned into quite an epic battle.
Swing and a miss. Matsuzaka shames Matsui into striking out. Second out.
Troy Alphabetzki at bat. Weak grounder to Lugo. Tossed out at first. Third out. Change sides.
TOP 4TH
David Ortiz first up. Grounds to Kaz at second, who flips to Morales covering first.
One out. Maybe this will be a quick inning? Maybe six more runs won't score?
It's Manny time. A big shot to left-center. Back goes Sullivan. Back... back... caught at the track. Good job catchin' up to that, racecar driver man. Two outs.
Mike Lowell... back to the pitcher. Tossed out at first. Three outs. Quickest half inning ever.
BOTTOM 4TH
Matt Holliday at the plate. Matsuzaka still wiggling his rear. Foul ball after foul ball after foul ball. Then POW groundout to Ortiz at first. One out.
David Ortiz has been doing pretty good down there at first today, considering that his regular position during Boston field play is the bench.
Todd Helton now at bat. Maybe he can hit a six run homer. With nobody on base.
More fouls. Good grief. It must be ball souvenir day for the fans. And on the twelfth pitch... caught looking, strike three. How frustrating. Two outs.
Atkins up again, not really needing a diet. Unless a diet would make him a better hitter. I keed I keed... Atkins has been pretty solid with the bat this season. Not so much in the postseason, but... Oh, hey, ball four.
So, man on first, two outs, Brad Hawpe at bat. Pop out to Lugo. Three outs on, like, a million pitches this inning.
TOP 5TH
JD Drew now a-battin'. Gapper to left center, good for a double. Once again there is a man on second with no outs for Boston. They need to stop starting innings this way.
Veritek... showing bunt? Foul ball. Nice effort, 'Tek.
Strike three. Also a nice effort, 'Tek.
Out number one.
Lugo at bat now. What kind of nonsense will he involve himself in now? Full count now... and Rick Sutcliffe's favorite holiday is Halloween. He said so. He's still saying so. And Lugo's favorite holiday? The one where he flies out to right field. Two outs.
Is this Matsuzaka at bat again? I think he used up his one hit allotted to him. No more. But man, he sure is taking his hacks.
Grounder to Matsui at second. Tossed out at first. NOW who is shamed?
BOTTOM 6TH
Uh-oh, I don't have the expressed written consent of MLB to live blog this game.
Torrealba just Torre-singled-up-the-middle. That makes... TWO base hits for the Rockies.
Cory Sullivan. Fly out to Manny.
Now batting for Morales... Seth Smith. I know less about Seth Smith than I do about Cory Sullivan. But look! Another single. These are potential runs.
Just in time for another Matsui/Matsuzaka battle to the death. A dribbler to Lugo, snags it to his right... throws to third! Gets him out. Nice play, Julio. Two outs.
Still men on first and second. And Tulowitzki Tulo-pops-out-to-Lugo. Great.
TOP 6TH
Jeremy Affeldt now pitching for Colorado. Remember when he used to pitch for the Royals?
Jacob Ellsbury at bat, probably seconds away from hitting a triple or something. Hah, not this time. Grounder down the third base line, Atkins makes a nice little play and stops Ellsbury's reign of terror.
One out.
Dustin Pedroia watchin' all kinds of strikes go by him. Takes a hack and pops out to center.
Two outs.
Big Ortiz... swingandamiss.
Three outs.
BOTTOM 6TH
Hmm... one of the hits I thought the Rockies had wasn't really a hit. I've been bamboozled.
Kevin Youkilis is in the game now, as if they really needed him at this point.
Matt Holliday grounds out to Lowell at third. One out.
I wonder how much longer Matsuzaka can last. Doesn't all that waggling make him tired?
Todd Helton, after another hundred pitches from 'Zaka, takes a walk to first.
Atkins... what can you do to help the situation? Also take a walk? Good answer.
I knew the butt wiggles would do him in. Francona's yanking Matsuzaka for Javier Lopez.
Warm up time.
Wait, isn't Javier Lopez a catcher? He's pitching like one, giving up a hit to Hawpe. RBI. Rockies on the board. I'm going to wait until this inning ends before making a kitchen run.
There's a man on first, a man on second, one out, and a big ol' Torrealba at bat. He just swung so hard he did the moonwalk. Next swing, single to left. Atkins scores. 6 - 2.
Aw, nuts. Francona is taking Lopez out. In comes Mike Timlin, who I'm sure is sixty years old.
Warm up time again.
Spilborghs at bat? Baker on deck? These are just made up players.
Spilborghs, demanding recognition, just hit it DEEP to centerfield. Alas, it was caught. Two outs. No runners advanced.
Jeff Baker, taking huge cuts. Two quick strikes. A ball. Another ball. I wonder if he realizes this is the biggest at bat of his career.
Line drive to left-center... NO, Julio Lugo at short jumped twelve feet in the air and somehow snagged that thing. Curses.
TOP 7TH
Matt Herges now pitching for Colorado.
Manny Ramirez now batting for Boston.
Manny Ramirez now striking out for Boston. One out.
Mike Lowell up now. Mike Lowell down now. Strike three. Herges is making these batter appear fairly foolish.
Youkilis is in the dugout working on his swing, but he's all wrapped up in hoodies and oversized boxing gloves and whatnot and he looks kind of terrifying.
JD Drew can't look terrifying no matter what he does.
Jason Veritek on dek. Deck.
Drew swings and misses. Strike three. Herges totally just struck out the side like it was nothing.
Stretchy time.
BOTTOM 7TH
Holy cow, Philip Bailey just sang God Bless America. Maybe this is the pick-up the Rockies need in order to win this game. Some Earth, Wind, and Fire. Maybe Bailey should pick up a bat, too.
Anyway,
Kaz Matsui leading off, Timlin still pitching. And NICE, Kaz laid down a perfect bunt. Everybody just kind of stared at it. Now there's a Kaz on first.
Troy up. Timlin old.
Kaz scoring MORE points. Consider second base stolen.
Tulotroy hits a dinky little nubber that somehow skips through the infield. Kaz at third. Troy at first. Holliday at bat. Timlin no longer pitching.
Warm up time again again.
Uh-oh, Okajima now pitching. In the outfield Drew was yanked, Ellsbury's moved to right, and Coco Crisp, WHOSE NAME I WILL NOT MAKE FUN OF, is now in centerfield.
Holliday still at bat. DEEP! DEEP!!! HOME RUN!!!11!!! To centerfield. Way over Crisp. Three run homer.
Boston 6, Rockies 5.
Outstanding.
And I like how Holliday was all cool about it, like he hits three run World Series homers all the time.
Helton at the plate now, trying to bat despite the fireworks smoke polluting the field.
I just realized how much Stolichnaya I've got to put in me now. Maybe I'll split it with my imaginary friends.
Helton, full count, BASE HIT to left. Call this game a Top 40 countdown 'cause the hits just keep on coming. Cha-POW.
Atkins at bat. This is very un-Okajimalike behavior. Maybe he finally snapped his brain from that sudden head-jerk movement he pulls during every pitch. And a snapped brain... allows him to give up base hits?
Outs seem to be optional as there don't appear to be any.
Oh, there's one. Atkins struck out swingin.
Brad Hawpe lookin' to hit a baseball now. Also, without a helmet or hat, he looks a lot like Marc Summers. And Hawpe fails the physical challenge. Strike three.
Two outs.
Yorvit up. His number is 8. Yogi Berra's number is 8. I suppose it's a catcher thing. But you know what would make Yogi proud right now? A home run. I bet it would.
Ground out to 'Jima. Yogi weeps.
TOP 8TH
Surprisingly I hold alcohol very well, but I'll let you know if I puke all over the keyboard.
Brian Fuentes now pitching for the Rockies.
'Tek at bat. Hits it to short as slow as he possibly can. Easy out. One down.
I'm glad there's at least one exciting game in this here World Series contest. This one is turning out pretty good.
Lugo now. Lugo now on base. Call it a walk.
Up comes Coco Crisp. Crisp's real name, by the way, is Covelli. Covelli Loyce. Crisp. And not Count Chocula. Regardless of what his name is, Crisp bloops it past the diving Tuloblahblah for a single.
Man on first. Man on second. Jacoby "I'll Probably Get A Hit" Ellsbury at bat.
Ellsbury just got a hit. He popped it down the right field line and Marc Summers couldn't come up with it. Lugo scored, Crisp to third.
Fudge nuggets. Pedroia doubled to right. A couple people scored. And Fuentes isn't making me so happy.
Boston 9, Rockies 5. There goes another half beer.
Youk up to bat. Ground out to third. Two outs.
Manny now. Being Manny. Being growing hair like Predator.
High pop up just past third, which might be a homer in Boston. Three outs.
BOTTOM 8TH
Manny Delcarmen pitching for Boston. Now I guess I have to point out which Manny I'm talking about.
Was that Spilborghs? He just flied out to right. One down.
Willy Tavares now batting for Fuentes. I like Tavares. He might suddenly drop a bunt, or he might not. Whatcha gonna do? Tavares decided that he was gonna line out to the second baseman. Two down.
Matsui up again. Singles up the middle! He's had a pretty good day. But I bet his day would be a bit better if he crossed home plate.
'Witzki up now. And I spy Papelbon warming up in the bullpen. They might think about bringin him in 'cause Delcarmen just Del-walked Troy. Yep, here he comes.
Papelbon now. Holliday pops out DEEP to left. I had high hopes for that one. Three outs.
TOP 9TH
LaTroy Hawkins now pitching for Colorado.
I was on the phone with my wife for this whole inning, but I can tell you Lowell singled to center, some guy named Cora sacrificed Lowell to second, Lowell stole third base (!), and Veritek hit it deep to center to score Lowell. Lugo grounded out to short and the peasants rejoiced.
BOTTOM 9TH
Unless Papelbon completely loses his mind Boston has this one in the bag.
To prove my point Todd Helton pops out to right.
To prove my point Garrett Atkins grounds out to third.
Last chance Hawpe at bat now.
Hawpe now with the fate of the universe in his hands. SINGLES down the right field line. Make that a TRIPLE. I need to pay more attention.
Yorvit Torrealba now with the fate of the universe in his hands. Broken bat to short. Lugo fields it easily. Out at first.
Red Sox win Game 3.
To take a three game lead.
POSTGAME
That was, despite the outcome, a pretty exciting game. At least for a minute there. But now we have to accept the fact that the Boston Red Sox will probably become our Baseball Overlords. I intend to hide out underground, just like I did after the 2004 World Series, and peek my head out in February like Punxatawny Phil. I'll only come out when it becomes clear that the Red Sox will have a dismal 2008 season.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this live blogging of Game 3. And if you DIDN'T enjoy it, I hope you wasted a whole bunch of valuable time reading it.
My brain cells are thankful that no more runs scored.
I apologize for all the pictures of 80s B-list icons.
Hopefully I'll be able to do this again in the future. Probably not this season, though.
G'night, y'all.
I'm not in Colorado, but I AM in front of a TV, and reading about the game here (as it happens!) is dang near as good as being there. I promise.
Here's how it works. During the game I'll type stuff, then at the end of each half-inning I'll hit the "Publish Post" button. That way you can read along. Or you can just come back tomorrow and read it all in its entirety. Or you can go outside and do something productive.
I've decided that for every Colorado run scored I'll take a celebratory shot of vodka, and for every Boston run scored I'll take a drown-my-sorrows swig of beer. If this ends up being a high-scoring game (and it might -- thinner air, y'know -- or it might not -- humidored baseballs, y'know) then let my pickled liver be a health warning to you to never play drinking games with baseball.
PREGAME
Major League Baseball is offering "international coverage" of this year's World Series. Seperate from the FOX broadcast, up here in Canada we get the play-by-play talents of Dave O'Brien and the colo(u)r commentary of Rick Sutcliffe. Interestingly, due to my close proximity to Detroit, I can still get the FOX broadcast on my TV.
So who do I pick? The insufferableness Tim McCarver, or the inaneness of Rick Sutcliffe? Suddenly I envy Sophie's choice.
Tonight's pitchers will be Dasuke Matsuzaka for Boston and Josh Fogg for Colorado. If Fogg ends up winning this game for the Rockies I can just imagine all the punny headlines that'll say "FOGG LIFTS FOR ROCKIES" or "FOGG SHROUDS SOX" or "FOGGET ABOUT IT" or something equally as unclever.As for Matsuzaka, I can't call him Dice-K. It reminds me too much of, Dice Clay, as in Andrew, and the last thing I need is for Andrew Dice Clay to take up brain space.
Because of the non-DH in the NL stadium, Terry Francona had to make a decision. Does he bench one of the most feared hitters in the Majors (Ortiz) or does he bench the man hitting .444 this postseason (Youkilis)? They can't both play first base, although I would pay a few dollars to watch them try. But it looks like David Ortiz will get the start, making Kevin Youkilis a very good hitting bencher. Look for his Bluto self to make an appearance later in the game.
I'll stick with Sut and O'B for now. Less irritating FOXy bells 'n' whistles. The commercial breaks are shorter on this channel too.
The bullpen, apparently, is in the middle of the woods.
And, lest we all forget, the Rockies mascot is a BIG PURPLE DINOSAUR.
National Anthem time... and wow, Carrie Underwood's voice has the power to conjure fireworks!
Let's play ball.
TOP 1ST
Jacoby Ellsbury up first for Boston. I like him, and I hope one day he doesn't play for the Red Sox. Even when he screw up, like that wimpy hit he just now dribbled, he makes it into something positive (in this case his hit was so wimpy that nobody could field it in time).
Dustin Pedroia has all five vowels in his name. If only his name was Dustiny (but only sometimes). HIT AN RUN HIT AND RUN... foul. Try again. Seemingly routine groundball to short, but SAFE at first because Vowels is so dang fast.
Alright, man on first and second, Ortiz at the plate. No outs. Fogg's in some early trouble. So he strikes Davey out. Nice. Take THAT Mr. Big Papi sir.
Now Manny, who's even more dangerous than Ortiz. I'm glad baseball announcers are finally addressing the fact that Ramirez isn't some dumb manchild. He's an intelligent hitter who just happens to speak chop English and wear baggy pants.
Pop out to left. Two outs. Mike Lowell up.
It's a little bit funny to me that the two rookies immediately got on base, but the veterans can't get anything done.
Full count on Lowell. What's going to happen? The runners go and... AND... flyout to center.
Three outs.
BOTTOM 1ST
Kaz Matsui up first for the Rocks. First pitch from Matsuzaka is hit into the right field for a single... NAY, a double, thanks to some excellent ball misshandling by JD Drew. Single + Error, technically. Either way there's an instant man in scoring position.
Tulowi... Tulo... witz... TROY steps up to the plate, trying not to let 'Zaka's butt waggle distract him. He works his way up to a full count. Matsuzaka appears bored and throws his heralded apathy pitch. Strike three.
One out.
Matt Holliday now, perhaps still thinking about the fact that he still needs to touch home plate from that game against the Padres. Back to the pitcher... SNAGGED by Matsuzaka. He then spun around and caught Matsui off second in a rundown. They play around and get the second out.
Todd "Gotee of Doom" Helton now at bat. Holliday at first. Maybe a ghost runner on second.
Ground ball to third. Force at second. Three outs.
TOP 2ND
If each team is going to put two runners on base without scoring any of them then this is going to be a very long and frustrating game.
JD Drew quickly grounds out to second. One quick out. Quick quick quick.
Jason Veritek now at the plate. Veritek sounds like some sort of sythetic fiber.
Holy smokes. Veritek's broken bat helicoptered right through Fogg's legs. The ball trickled to Troy at short, who made a great throw to nail 'Tek at first. Two outs. Extra points for amusing chaos.
Julio Lugo, who was awful earlier during the regular season, has been oddly awesome in the playoffs. Like just now when he hit a double. I don't understand.
Dasuke Matsuzaka at bat. Rick Sutcliffe is talking about home runs for some reason.
Strike three. Three outs.
BOTTOM 2ND
First pitch to Garrett Atkins... is in his face. Off the shoulder, actually. Take your base.
Now Hawpe. On pop.
Strike one, two, three.
One out, man on first.
Now's the catcher, Yorvit Torrealba. Yorvit flies out to Manny in left, who makes every putout attempt an exciting one.
Two outs, Cory Sullivan at bat. I know absolutely nothing about Cory Sullivan. Isn't he a racecar driver or something? Probably, because he weakly dribbles out to Lugo at short. Flip to second, three outs.
TOP 3RD
Ellsbury in at bat number two. Wowie. Stretched that single down the left field line into a double. So once again there is a man in scoring position.
Can Pedroia reach base again? Yes, yes he can. He dropped a great bunt, which Torrealba fielded (when it was closer to Fogg) and dang near threw it into the seats. Helton managed to grab it, but Peds was easily safe at first.
Ortiz, RBI double to right. I'm grabbin' a beer as they intentionally walk Manny. A Rickard's Red... like, for the RED Sox. Get it?
The bases are now loaded for Mike Lowell. No outs.
Lowell single right up the middle (dividing the infield exactly in half). Two more runs come in. It's 3 - 0, Boston, no outs. What more?
Drew vs. Fogg. Drew pops to Troy. Reliable ol' JD, good for an out when you need it most.
One down. Veritek... singles to left. Manny coming around trying to score. The throw from Holliday is... is... is... doggone it, the umpire took forever to call that. OUT!
That was sure exciting. Two outs.
I like how Manny popped up after his slide into home and called himself safe.
Oh dear. Fogg just walked Lugo to reload the bases.
And now feared hitter Matsuzaka at bat... singles? A TWO RUN single?! Five to nothing??!
Okay. Man on first and third, two outs... wait a second, Ellsbury already batted this inning.
Single to center just out of reach of the diving Sullivan. Another run scores.
Hurdle is yanking Fogg, and the bottle I cracked open earlier this inning is already almost empty. Shoot, they don't even need Youkilis.
Who's pitching now? Franklin Morales? He got Pedroia to ground out to third. Three outs. FINALLY.
BOTTOM 3RD
It's not such a good thing when a pitcher leads off an inning at bat.
Strike three. That's why. Down goes Morales.
The mighty Kaz at bat. I kind of enjoy it when a Japanese batter faces a Japanese pitcher. I wonder if they have some deeper level of understanding that they subtly communicate to each other. I wonder if they make fun of the Americans. Whatever it is they're doing, Matsui and Matsuzaka are taking a long time to do it. Kaz keeps a-foulin', and 'Zaka keeps a-pitchin'.
Full count. This has turned into quite an epic battle.
Swing and a miss. Matsuzaka shames Matsui into striking out. Second out.
Troy Alphabetzki at bat. Weak grounder to Lugo. Tossed out at first. Third out. Change sides.
TOP 4TH
David Ortiz first up. Grounds to Kaz at second, who flips to Morales covering first.
One out. Maybe this will be a quick inning? Maybe six more runs won't score?
It's Manny time. A big shot to left-center. Back goes Sullivan. Back... back... caught at the track. Good job catchin' up to that, racecar driver man. Two outs.
Mike Lowell... back to the pitcher. Tossed out at first. Three outs. Quickest half inning ever.
BOTTOM 4TH
Matt Holliday at the plate. Matsuzaka still wiggling his rear. Foul ball after foul ball after foul ball. Then POW groundout to Ortiz at first. One out.
David Ortiz has been doing pretty good down there at first today, considering that his regular position during Boston field play is the bench.
Todd Helton now at bat. Maybe he can hit a six run homer. With nobody on base.
More fouls. Good grief. It must be ball souvenir day for the fans. And on the twelfth pitch... caught looking, strike three. How frustrating. Two outs.
Atkins up again, not really needing a diet. Unless a diet would make him a better hitter. I keed I keed... Atkins has been pretty solid with the bat this season. Not so much in the postseason, but... Oh, hey, ball four.
So, man on first, two outs, Brad Hawpe at bat. Pop out to Lugo. Three outs on, like, a million pitches this inning.
TOP 5TH
JD Drew now a-battin'. Gapper to left center, good for a double. Once again there is a man on second with no outs for Boston. They need to stop starting innings this way.
Veritek... showing bunt? Foul ball. Nice effort, 'Tek.
Strike three. Also a nice effort, 'Tek.
Out number one.
Lugo at bat now. What kind of nonsense will he involve himself in now? Full count now... and Rick Sutcliffe's favorite holiday is Halloween. He said so. He's still saying so. And Lugo's favorite holiday? The one where he flies out to right field. Two outs.
Is this Matsuzaka at bat again? I think he used up his one hit allotted to him. No more. But man, he sure is taking his hacks.
Grounder to Matsui at second. Tossed out at first. NOW who is shamed?
BOTTOM 6TH
Uh-oh, I don't have the expressed written consent of MLB to live blog this game.
Torrealba just Torre-singled-up-the-middle. That makes... TWO base hits for the Rockies.
Cory Sullivan. Fly out to Manny.
Now batting for Morales... Seth Smith. I know less about Seth Smith than I do about Cory Sullivan. But look! Another single. These are potential runs.
Just in time for another Matsui/Matsuzaka battle to the death. A dribbler to Lugo, snags it to his right... throws to third! Gets him out. Nice play, Julio. Two outs.
Still men on first and second. And Tulowitzki Tulo-pops-out-to-Lugo. Great.
TOP 6TH
Jeremy Affeldt now pitching for Colorado. Remember when he used to pitch for the Royals?
Jacob Ellsbury at bat, probably seconds away from hitting a triple or something. Hah, not this time. Grounder down the third base line, Atkins makes a nice little play and stops Ellsbury's reign of terror.
One out.
Dustin Pedroia watchin' all kinds of strikes go by him. Takes a hack and pops out to center.
Two outs.
Big Ortiz... swingandamiss.
Three outs.
BOTTOM 6TH
Hmm... one of the hits I thought the Rockies had wasn't really a hit. I've been bamboozled.
Kevin Youkilis is in the game now, as if they really needed him at this point.
Matt Holliday grounds out to Lowell at third. One out.
I wonder how much longer Matsuzaka can last. Doesn't all that waggling make him tired?
Todd Helton, after another hundred pitches from 'Zaka, takes a walk to first.
Atkins... what can you do to help the situation? Also take a walk? Good answer.
I knew the butt wiggles would do him in. Francona's yanking Matsuzaka for Javier Lopez.
Warm up time.
Wait, isn't Javier Lopez a catcher? He's pitching like one, giving up a hit to Hawpe. RBI. Rockies on the board. I'm going to wait until this inning ends before making a kitchen run.
There's a man on first, a man on second, one out, and a big ol' Torrealba at bat. He just swung so hard he did the moonwalk. Next swing, single to left. Atkins scores. 6 - 2.
Aw, nuts. Francona is taking Lopez out. In comes Mike Timlin, who I'm sure is sixty years old.
Warm up time again.
Spilborghs at bat? Baker on deck? These are just made up players.
Spilborghs, demanding recognition, just hit it DEEP to centerfield. Alas, it was caught. Two outs. No runners advanced.
Jeff Baker, taking huge cuts. Two quick strikes. A ball. Another ball. I wonder if he realizes this is the biggest at bat of his career.
Line drive to left-center... NO, Julio Lugo at short jumped twelve feet in the air and somehow snagged that thing. Curses.
TOP 7TH
Matt Herges now pitching for Colorado.
Manny Ramirez now batting for Boston.
Manny Ramirez now striking out for Boston. One out.
Mike Lowell up now. Mike Lowell down now. Strike three. Herges is making these batter appear fairly foolish.
Youkilis is in the dugout working on his swing, but he's all wrapped up in hoodies and oversized boxing gloves and whatnot and he looks kind of terrifying.
JD Drew can't look terrifying no matter what he does.
Jason Veritek on dek. Deck.
Drew swings and misses. Strike three. Herges totally just struck out the side like it was nothing.
Stretchy time.
BOTTOM 7TH
Holy cow, Philip Bailey just sang God Bless America. Maybe this is the pick-up the Rockies need in order to win this game. Some Earth, Wind, and Fire. Maybe Bailey should pick up a bat, too.Anyway,
Kaz Matsui leading off, Timlin still pitching. And NICE, Kaz laid down a perfect bunt. Everybody just kind of stared at it. Now there's a Kaz on first.
Troy up. Timlin old.
Kaz scoring MORE points. Consider second base stolen.
Tulotroy hits a dinky little nubber that somehow skips through the infield. Kaz at third. Troy at first. Holliday at bat. Timlin no longer pitching.
Warm up time again again.
Uh-oh, Okajima now pitching. In the outfield Drew was yanked, Ellsbury's moved to right, and Coco Crisp, WHOSE NAME I WILL NOT MAKE FUN OF, is now in centerfield.
Holliday still at bat. DEEP! DEEP!!! HOME RUN!!!11!!! To centerfield. Way over Crisp. Three run homer.
Boston 6, Rockies 5.
Outstanding.
And I like how Holliday was all cool about it, like he hits three run World Series homers all the time.
Helton at the plate now, trying to bat despite the fireworks smoke polluting the field.
I just realized how much Stolichnaya I've got to put in me now. Maybe I'll split it with my imaginary friends.
Helton, full count, BASE HIT to left. Call this game a Top 40 countdown 'cause the hits just keep on coming. Cha-POW.
Atkins at bat. This is very un-Okajimalike behavior. Maybe he finally snapped his brain from that sudden head-jerk movement he pulls during every pitch. And a snapped brain... allows him to give up base hits?
Outs seem to be optional as there don't appear to be any.
Oh, there's one. Atkins struck out swingin.
Brad Hawpe lookin' to hit a baseball now. Also, without a helmet or hat, he looks a lot like Marc Summers. And Hawpe fails the physical challenge. Strike three.Two outs.
Yorvit up. His number is 8. Yogi Berra's number is 8. I suppose it's a catcher thing. But you know what would make Yogi proud right now? A home run. I bet it would.
Ground out to 'Jima. Yogi weeps.
TOP 8TH
Surprisingly I hold alcohol very well, but I'll let you know if I puke all over the keyboard.
Brian Fuentes now pitching for the Rockies.
'Tek at bat. Hits it to short as slow as he possibly can. Easy out. One down.
I'm glad there's at least one exciting game in this here World Series contest. This one is turning out pretty good.
Lugo now. Lugo now on base. Call it a walk.
Up comes Coco Crisp. Crisp's real name, by the way, is Covelli. Covelli Loyce. Crisp. And not Count Chocula. Regardless of what his name is, Crisp bloops it past the diving Tuloblahblah for a single.
Man on first. Man on second. Jacoby "I'll Probably Get A Hit" Ellsbury at bat.
Ellsbury just got a hit. He popped it down the right field line and Marc Summers couldn't come up with it. Lugo scored, Crisp to third.
Fudge nuggets. Pedroia doubled to right. A couple people scored. And Fuentes isn't making me so happy.
Boston 9, Rockies 5. There goes another half beer.
Youk up to bat. Ground out to third. Two outs.
Manny now. Being Manny. Being growing hair like Predator.
High pop up just past third, which might be a homer in Boston. Three outs.
BOTTOM 8TH
Manny Delcarmen pitching for Boston. Now I guess I have to point out which Manny I'm talking about.
Was that Spilborghs? He just flied out to right. One down.
Willy Tavares now batting for Fuentes. I like Tavares. He might suddenly drop a bunt, or he might not. Whatcha gonna do? Tavares decided that he was gonna line out to the second baseman. Two down.
Matsui up again. Singles up the middle! He's had a pretty good day. But I bet his day would be a bit better if he crossed home plate.
'Witzki up now. And I spy Papelbon warming up in the bullpen. They might think about bringin him in 'cause Delcarmen just Del-walked Troy. Yep, here he comes.
Papelbon now. Holliday pops out DEEP to left. I had high hopes for that one. Three outs.
TOP 9TH
LaTroy Hawkins now pitching for Colorado.
I was on the phone with my wife for this whole inning, but I can tell you Lowell singled to center, some guy named Cora sacrificed Lowell to second, Lowell stole third base (!), and Veritek hit it deep to center to score Lowell. Lugo grounded out to short and the peasants rejoiced.
BOTTOM 9TH
Unless Papelbon completely loses his mind Boston has this one in the bag.
To prove my point Todd Helton pops out to right.
To prove my point Garrett Atkins grounds out to third.
Last chance Hawpe at bat now.
Hawpe now with the fate of the universe in his hands. SINGLES down the right field line. Make that a TRIPLE. I need to pay more attention.
Yorvit Torrealba now with the fate of the universe in his hands. Broken bat to short. Lugo fields it easily. Out at first.
Red Sox win Game 3.
To take a three game lead.
POSTGAME
That was, despite the outcome, a pretty exciting game. At least for a minute there. But now we have to accept the fact that the Boston Red Sox will probably become our Baseball Overlords. I intend to hide out underground, just like I did after the 2004 World Series, and peek my head out in February like Punxatawny Phil. I'll only come out when it becomes clear that the Red Sox will have a dismal 2008 season.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this live blogging of Game 3. And if you DIDN'T enjoy it, I hope you wasted a whole bunch of valuable time reading it.
My brain cells are thankful that no more runs scored.
I apologize for all the pictures of 80s B-list icons.
Hopefully I'll be able to do this again in the future. Probably not this season, though.
G'night, y'all.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Game 3 Live Blog Scheduled to Coincide with Game 3
Because circumstances allow it for just this one time, I'm going to live-blog Game 3 of the World Series Saturday right here on this very website. I've done this once before, and it's kinda fun (for me, anyway. I don't know about you poor suckers who choose to read along instead of actually physically watching the game.).
So set your clocks, boot up your harddrives, and mute Tim McCarver. We're gonna have ourselves a jolly ol' time.
So set your clocks, boot up your harddrives, and mute Tim McCarver. We're gonna have ourselves a jolly ol' time.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Chillin' like a Machiavellian
Another reason to despise the R. Sox: They fouled up my anniversary plans by forcing a game seven. Done on purpose, I can tell.
Westbrook vs. Matsuzaka. When these two met last week 'Zaka allowed four runs, Westbrook just two, and Cleveland won. Will there be Indians in the World Series, or will it be a Rox and Sox matchup? We'll find out (I will, at least) in a few hours.
The Yankees must make October headlines, even when they're out of World Series contention. I didn't really think that they'd fire Joe Torre, but Joey pulled the ol' switch-a-roo. Did anybody consider the fact that maybe he didn't want to come back? And now that he's made that much known, can anybody blame him? Bickering players, manic corporate management, finnicky media... I'm surprised Torre's lasted this long.
But the Yankees refusal to negotiate on a one-year contract seems to indicate that they didn't really want him back after all. The organization is going through changes (new ownership, new ventures, new stadium), and a new skipper may have been part of the plan. The fans love Torre, and an outright firing wouldn't sit well (which was George Steinbrenner's plan/knee-jerk reaction, and an offered contract is demonstrated proof that he's not really in charge any more). Scheme: Make Joe look like a bad guy for wanting to leave Yankee Nation... offer a crappy contract, DON'T BUDGE ON IT, and naturally he won't take. Intentions are all speculation, but subterfuge doesn't appear to be beyond those who treat their baseball teams like empires.
As far as replacements go, I think I'd like to see Mattingly at the helm. I'm worried about how he'd do, though, seeing as how he's got no management experience at all. But I suppose he's been in the dugout long enough to know what's what. And as mellow as he is, I would pay solid dollars to watch him explode in front of an umpire.
I was initially hopeful that LaRussa might head to New York, but it looks like he's probably going to stay in St. Louis, and that's fine with me too.
(Source and source, because citation is important.)
Westbrook vs. Matsuzaka. When these two met last week 'Zaka allowed four runs, Westbrook just two, and Cleveland won. Will there be Indians in the World Series, or will it be a Rox and Sox matchup? We'll find out (I will, at least) in a few hours.
The Yankees must make October headlines, even when they're out of World Series contention. I didn't really think that they'd fire Joe Torre, but Joey pulled the ol' switch-a-roo. Did anybody consider the fact that maybe he didn't want to come back? And now that he's made that much known, can anybody blame him? Bickering players, manic corporate management, finnicky media... I'm surprised Torre's lasted this long.
But the Yankees refusal to negotiate on a one-year contract seems to indicate that they didn't really want him back after all. The organization is going through changes (new ownership, new ventures, new stadium), and a new skipper may have been part of the plan. The fans love Torre, and an outright firing wouldn't sit well (which was George Steinbrenner's plan/knee-jerk reaction, and an offered contract is demonstrated proof that he's not really in charge any more). Scheme: Make Joe look like a bad guy for wanting to leave Yankee Nation... offer a crappy contract, DON'T BUDGE ON IT, and naturally he won't take. Intentions are all speculation, but subterfuge doesn't appear to be beyond those who treat their baseball teams like empires.
As far as replacements go, I think I'd like to see Mattingly at the helm. I'm worried about how he'd do, though, seeing as how he's got no management experience at all. But I suppose he's been in the dugout long enough to know what's what. And as mellow as he is, I would pay solid dollars to watch him explode in front of an umpire.I was initially hopeful that LaRussa might head to New York, but it looks like he's probably going to stay in St. Louis, and that's fine with me too.
(Source and source, because citation is important.)
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Days of our Steinbrenner
The media has been making a big thing of this recent "threat" by George Steinbrenner to axe Joe Torre if the Yankees failed to advance. I think this had been blown WAY out of preportion, and everybody is making it sound as if Torre is as good as dead.
Here's the thing -- George Steinbrenner isn't in a very good condition right now. Senility, alzheimers, lobotomy, whatever... he is unsound and not able to make the major Yankee decisions he's been known to make. For goodness sakes, he's rarely at Yankee Stadium anymore, and when he is he looks vacant and unawares up in that kingly box of his. The Yankee organization, much too valuable to be placed in such brittle hands, is now run by businessmen and is no longer subject to the knee-jerk whims of Steinbrenner. George is merely the symbol of Yankeedom and has no more power over the roster than the Queen.
And now there's this quote floating around that Steinbrenner is going to fire Torre if the Yankees don't advance. I don't know if George said what he said in a moment of clarity or while in a dementious haze, but regardless of whether or not he meant it he has no authority to act upon it.
But here's the funny thing: now that the media has latched on to this errant quote, now that they've repeated it in papers and television enough times to convince themselves it's fact, the Yankees organization might just dismiss Torre to save face. The Yankees have taken great care to retain the kingly image of Steinbrenner, and Torre may have to go just to prove that Steinbrenner still pulls some weight around.A soap opera, for sure, but it's the New York Yankees. All you can do is shrug your shoulders and tune in next week.
Giving a Hoot
Cleveland, Boston
Colorado, Arizona
I don't have any allegiances to any of these teams. I do have an intense dislike for the Boston Red Sox organization (or "nation", or whatever), so from here on out instead of rooting for a team, I'll be rooting against the Sox. That's quite a negative way to participate in the playoffs, but I suppose it's better than just not caring.
What happens, though, is that I've got to suddenly and emphatically pull for the Indians even though I was just cursing their very existence during the Divisional Series. Fan-hood is such a strange thing.
As for the National League contenders, I'm just along for the ride. I think I might be more inclined to favor the Rockies, but if the Backs make a World Series appearance for the second time in their short existence I won't complain.
Ideally, given who's now remaining in the playoffs, I'd like to see a Colorado/Cleveland World Series. Both are due for a World Series appearance (this is only the second playoff appearance for the Rocks and the first time they've advanced to the NLCS, and the Indians haven't won a World Championship since 1949) and I'd be interested in seeing how Cleveland pitching responds to Coors Field.
Champion-wise, and I know this is extremely superficial, I'd rather team named for a mountain range win than the embarrassing Chief Wahoo. It's bad form to choose a victor based on mascots, but that's how uninvested I am.
Wait... the Rockies' mascot is that stupid purple dinosaur? DINGER?! Well then, there will be no winners this year.
I don't have any allegiances to any of these teams. I do have an intense dislike for the Boston Red Sox organization (or "nation", or whatever), so from here on out instead of rooting for a team, I'll be rooting against the Sox. That's quite a negative way to participate in the playoffs, but I suppose it's better than just not caring.
What happens, though, is that I've got to suddenly and emphatically pull for the Indians even though I was just cursing their very existence during the Divisional Series. Fan-hood is such a strange thing.As for the National League contenders, I'm just along for the ride. I think I might be more inclined to favor the Rockies, but if the Backs make a World Series appearance for the second time in their short existence I won't complain.
Ideally, given who's now remaining in the playoffs, I'd like to see a Colorado/Cleveland World Series. Both are due for a World Series appearance (this is only the second playoff appearance for the Rocks and the first time they've advanced to the NLCS, and the Indians haven't won a World Championship since 1949) and I'd be interested in seeing how Cleveland pitching responds to Coors Field.
Champion-wise, and I know this is extremely superficial, I'd rather team named for a mountain range win than the embarrassing Chief Wahoo. It's bad form to choose a victor based on mascots, but that's how uninvested I am.Wait... the Rockies' mascot is that stupid purple dinosaur? DINGER?! Well then, there will be no winners this year.
Friday, October 5, 2007
NL, Oh-No
Playoffs are underway, and since I only came in 5th place in my fantasy league I don't think I can make World Series predictions with any authority. I'm just hoping for an entertaining post-season.
I'm excited about the American League games. New York and Boston always make things interesting, and it's fun to watch the outstanding young pitchers from the Indians and Angels. These National League games, though...
The entire National League has been pretty abysmal this season. The Cardinals took a mediocre championship team and, even though expectations were already low, still managed to disappoint. The Mets, chosen by many to be World Series champions, didn't even make the playoffs. None of the teams finished with over 90 wins. And I can't bear the thought of either the Cubs or Phillies playing (let alone winning) a World Series.
It was a rough year for the Cardinals, and I looked for positivity wherever I could find it. However it was always marred by something. I was still celebrating April baseball when Josh Hancock tragically died in a car accident. The Birds delivered the Phillies their 10,000th franchise loss in July, but Philadelphia is now in the playoffs and the Cards are not. The Ankiel story was a good one, at least until HGH caught up with him. Now I can't believe in anything good ever again.
And although I'm bummed that the Cardinals didn't make it to the post-season this year, I'm at least glad that their collapse (losing 14 of 16 in September to go from 1 game behind the Cubs to 9.5) was overshadowed by the Mets' freefall (dropping 12 of 17 at the end of the season to lose their division lead).
If I had to choose an NL team to root for right now it'd be the Colorado Rockies, and not just because they have a chance to stop Philly from advancing. They won 14 of their last 15 regular-season games to take the NL West by surprise. I kind of feel they deserve it.
Of course after that playoff-to-make-the-playoffs game between the Rocks and Padres, everything else seems sort of anti-climactic.
I'm excited about the American League games. New York and Boston always make things interesting, and it's fun to watch the outstanding young pitchers from the Indians and Angels. These National League games, though...The entire National League has been pretty abysmal this season. The Cardinals took a mediocre championship team and, even though expectations were already low, still managed to disappoint. The Mets, chosen by many to be World Series champions, didn't even make the playoffs. None of the teams finished with over 90 wins. And I can't bear the thought of either the Cubs or Phillies playing (let alone winning) a World Series.
It was a rough year for the Cardinals, and I looked for positivity wherever I could find it. However it was always marred by something. I was still celebrating April baseball when Josh Hancock tragically died in a car accident. The Birds delivered the Phillies their 10,000th franchise loss in July, but Philadelphia is now in the playoffs and the Cards are not. The Ankiel story was a good one, at least until HGH caught up with him. Now I can't believe in anything good ever again.And although I'm bummed that the Cardinals didn't make it to the post-season this year, I'm at least glad that their collapse (losing 14 of 16 in September to go from 1 game behind the Cubs to 9.5) was overshadowed by the Mets' freefall (dropping 12 of 17 at the end of the season to lose their division lead).
If I had to choose an NL team to root for right now it'd be the Colorado Rockies, and not just because they have a chance to stop Philly from advancing. They won 14 of their last 15 regular-season games to take the NL West by surprise. I kind of feel they deserve it.Of course after that playoff-to-make-the-playoffs game between the Rocks and Padres, everything else seems sort of anti-climactic.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
First Round Over-Achievers
I was perusing baseball draft picks of the past when I came across a note about John Elway. Elway was selected by the Royals in the 18th round of the 1979 draft and even played a season for Oneonta of the Yankees organization. So what other notable NFLers have been drafted by MLB teams? And more interestingly, which of them actually played minor league ball?- Tom Brady (18th round) was drafted ahead of Aaron Miles (19th round) in the 1995 amateur baseball draft. The Expos selected Brady out of high school, but he opted instead to play football at Michigan.
- But Ricky Williams beat them both by being selected by the Phillies in the 8th round. He even played four years of low-level pro-ball, but of course he turned out to be a little bit better at football.
- Bronco wide receiver Javon Walker was drafted by the Marlins in the 12th round of the 1997 draft (way ahead of David Eckstein in the 19th round) , but had difficulty putting the bat on the ball in the three years he spent in the Marlins' organization.
- Dan Marino was drafted out of high school by the Royals in the 4th round of the 1979 draft (the same draft as Elway) but played college football at Pittsburgh instead.
- Archie Manning was drafted four times between 1967 and 1971 but never signed.
- Here's some interesting trivia: Bronco defensive back John Lynch threw the very first pitch for the Marlins' organization in 1992. He would play two seasons in the minors before focusing on football full time.
Although several athletes have played in both the NFL and Major Leagues, very few have been successful at both. I can only think of Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders.
And for whatever it's worth, Tom Glavine was drafted in the 4th round by the L.A. Kings in the 1984 NHL draft, and longtime Angels/White Sox pitcher Kirk McCaskill was drafted in the 4th round by the Winnipeg Jets in the 1981 NHL draft.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Best New Rookie of the Year Artist
Sometimes I think the Rookie of the Year award is like the Grammy's Best New Artist award; occasionally the recipients will have successful careers, but most of the time they fade into obscurity. So for comparing and contrasting purposes here's a list of rookie winners and how they parallel each other.
2004's BNA winner, Evanescence, is currently struggling to retain fan loyalty and critics' approval.
2004's AL ROY, Bobby Crosby, is currently struggling with getting on base and strikeouts.
1998's BNA winner, Paula Cole, has just released a new album after eight years of studio inactivity.
1998's NL ROY, Kerry Wood, recently returned to the Cubs' bullpen after a full season of Major League inactivity.
1996's BNA winner, Hootie & the Blowfish, still periodically releases albums despite nobody really paying any attention.
1996's NL ROY, Todd Hollandsworth, still periodically makes big league appearances (though he's yet to be seen this season) despite nobody really paying any attention.
1992, Marc "Walking in Memphis" Cohn, one-hit wonder.
1992, Pat "NL ROY" Listach, one-season wonder.
1988, Jody Watley
1988, Walt Weiss (in the AL) and Chris Sabo (in the NL)
It was a slow year for everybody.
1984's BNA winner, Culture Club, was wildly successful, but drug use (including well-publicized heroin addictions by frontman Boy George) tore the band apart and hindered the members' musical ability.
1984's NL ROY winner, Doc Gooden, was wildly successful, but drug use (including well-publicized cocaine addictions by the Doc) hindered his pitching ability.
1981's BNA winner, Christopher Cross, had a hit song ("Ride Like the Wind") about going to Mexico.
1981's NL ROY winner, Fernando Valenzuela, was born in Mexico.
1975's BNA winner, Marvin Hamlisch, became the first person to win three Academy Awards in one night.
1975's AL ROY winner, Fred Lynn, became the first person to win the Rookie of the Year award and the Most Valuable Player award in the same season.
In 1967, despite the six nominees, there was no Best New Artist winner. This had never happened in the category before or since.
In 1967 the ROY recipients were Tom Seaver and Rod Carew, both Hall of Famers. This was the last time the two ROY awards went to eventual HOFs.
The 1966 BNA winner was Tom Jones.
The two 1966 ROY winners were Tommy Helms and Tommie Agee.
It was a great year for Toms.
On the other hand, sometimes there's absolutely no relationship whatsoever between the two awards.
1993, Arrested Development... what ever happened to them?
1993, Derek Jeter... 'nuff said.
The career of 1990 BNA winner Milli Vanilli crashed and burned in a fiery scandelous explosion.
The career of 1990 AL ROY winner Sandy Alomar just keeps on going and going.
2004's BNA winner, Evanescence, is currently struggling to retain fan loyalty and critics' approval.
2004's AL ROY, Bobby Crosby, is currently struggling with getting on base and strikeouts.
1998's BNA winner, Paula Cole, has just released a new album after eight years of studio inactivity.
1998's NL ROY, Kerry Wood, recently returned to the Cubs' bullpen after a full season of Major League inactivity.
1996's BNA winner, Hootie & the Blowfish, still periodically releases albums despite nobody really paying any attention.
1996's NL ROY, Todd Hollandsworth, still periodically makes big league appearances (though he's yet to be seen this season) despite nobody really paying any attention.
1992, Marc "Walking in Memphis" Cohn, one-hit wonder.
1992, Pat "NL ROY" Listach, one-season wonder.
1988, Jody Watley1988, Walt Weiss (in the AL) and Chris Sabo (in the NL)
It was a slow year for everybody.
1984's BNA winner, Culture Club, was wildly successful, but drug use (including well-publicized heroin addictions by frontman Boy George) tore the band apart and hindered the members' musical ability.
1984's NL ROY winner, Doc Gooden, was wildly successful, but drug use (including well-publicized cocaine addictions by the Doc) hindered his pitching ability.
1981's BNA winner, Christopher Cross, had a hit song ("Ride Like the Wind") about going to Mexico.
1981's NL ROY winner, Fernando Valenzuela, was born in Mexico.
1975's BNA winner, Marvin Hamlisch, became the first person to win three Academy Awards in one night.
1975's AL ROY winner, Fred Lynn, became the first person to win the Rookie of the Year award and the Most Valuable Player award in the same season.
In 1967, despite the six nominees, there was no Best New Artist winner. This had never happened in the category before or since.
In 1967 the ROY recipients were Tom Seaver and Rod Carew, both Hall of Famers. This was the last time the two ROY awards went to eventual HOFs.
The 1966 BNA winner was Tom Jones.
The two 1966 ROY winners were Tommy Helms and Tommie Agee.
It was a great year for Toms.
On the other hand, sometimes there's absolutely no relationship whatsoever between the two awards.
1993, Arrested Development... what ever happened to them?1993, Derek Jeter... 'nuff said.
The career of 1990 BNA winner Milli Vanilli crashed and burned in a fiery scandelous explosion.
The career of 1990 AL ROY winner Sandy Alomar just keeps on going and going.
Monday, September 17, 2007
On putting sharpies to good use
Shelley Duncan states the obvious.
Naturally I heard thousands of Fenway fans shouting "Yankees Suck" during last night's game, but somehow it's a no-no to write "Red Sox Suck" for a ten-year-old at the same game. Whatever.
But I find myself liking the Duncan brothers more and more. They're like the Yortuk and Georg Festrunk of baseball.
Naturally I heard thousands of Fenway fans shouting "Yankees Suck" during last night's game, but somehow it's a no-no to write "Red Sox Suck" for a ten-year-old at the same game. Whatever.
But I find myself liking the Duncan brothers more and more. They're like the Yortuk and Georg Festrunk of baseball.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
wooo.
Cardinals beat the Pirates 16 - 4.
Can this count as a double victory?
No use splurging all that offense for one measily win.
Can this count as a double victory?
No use splurging all that offense for one measily win.
The Art of Ducking
Again, I take requests. Even morbid ones.
In 1995 Kirby Puckett was struck in the face by a Dennis Martinez pitch. The blow broke his jaw and ended his season (the incident occurred in late September, and he only missed the final three games of the regular season). Some speculate that this injury led to the glaucoma that soon ended his career, but this hasn't been proven.
Twenty-two year-old Boston sensation Tony Conigliaro, who had led the league in home runs in only his second season and still holds the record for most home runs by a teenager, was hit in the cheekbone by Jack Hamilton in 1967. Tony C returned to baseball in 1969 and hit 20 home runs, then followed that up with a 36 home run season in 1970. But his eyesight grew worse and he soon had to retire from baseball. Due to being such a prolific hitter at so young an age, people often wonder how good he could have been had he not been struck in the face by a baseball.
Herb Score was an outstanding young pitcher for Cleveland who led the league in strikeouts his first two seasons. In his fifth start of the 1957 season he was struck in the face by a ball hit by Gil McDougald. Score had several broken bones in his face and missed the remainder of the season, but his eyesight was unaffected. Unfortunately after his 1958 return he adjusted his pitching motion, consequently making him a less effective pitcher. He only pitched one complete season afterwards and retired at the age of 29.
Cleveland shortstop Ray Chapman became the only Major Leaguer to have ever died as a result of a bean ball. Chapman was batting .303 when he was struck by a Carl Mays pitch on August 16, 1920. The Indians went on to win their first World Series that season and wore black arm bands in Chapman's memory. Though Carl Mays was an excellent pitcher, his reputation was forever tarnished by the incident (apparently he was also a bit of a jerk, which didn't help matters). Chapman's replacement at short, rookie Joe Sewell, went on to have a Hall of Fame career.
Don Zimmer has been hit in the head by pitches at least twice; once in the minors in 1953 in an incident that nearly killed him, and once again in 1956. The 1953 beaning left him unconscious for two weeks and he had to have screws put into his head. The 1956 beaning broke his cheekbone and ended his season.
In a famous incident Joe Medwick was beaned by Bob Bowman in 1940. Both had been teammates just six day before, and it's been disputed whether or not Bowman hit Medwick on purpose. Regardless, Medwick was knocked unconscious and missed a couple games with a concussion, though he was able to continue his Hall of Fame career.
"Juan Encarcion (sp?) getting nailed in the eye. Who are some past baseball players who suffered from running their eye into a ball and how many were career ending injuries?"Juan Encarnacion, while standing in the on-deck circle, was struck in the eye by a foul ball last Friday. The injury will end his season and potentially his career. This incident comes just a little over a month after a minor league coach was struck and killed by a foul ball. Helmets protect your head, but they don't protect your face.
In 1995 Kirby Puckett was struck in the face by a Dennis Martinez pitch. The blow broke his jaw and ended his season (the incident occurred in late September, and he only missed the final three games of the regular season). Some speculate that this injury led to the glaucoma that soon ended his career, but this hasn't been proven.
Twenty-two year-old Boston sensation Tony Conigliaro, who had led the league in home runs in only his second season and still holds the record for most home runs by a teenager, was hit in the cheekbone by Jack Hamilton in 1967. Tony C returned to baseball in 1969 and hit 20 home runs, then followed that up with a 36 home run season in 1970. But his eyesight grew worse and he soon had to retire from baseball. Due to being such a prolific hitter at so young an age, people often wonder how good he could have been had he not been struck in the face by a baseball.Herb Score was an outstanding young pitcher for Cleveland who led the league in strikeouts his first two seasons. In his fifth start of the 1957 season he was struck in the face by a ball hit by Gil McDougald. Score had several broken bones in his face and missed the remainder of the season, but his eyesight was unaffected. Unfortunately after his 1958 return he adjusted his pitching motion, consequently making him a less effective pitcher. He only pitched one complete season afterwards and retired at the age of 29.
Cleveland shortstop Ray Chapman became the only Major Leaguer to have ever died as a result of a bean ball. Chapman was batting .303 when he was struck by a Carl Mays pitch on August 16, 1920. The Indians went on to win their first World Series that season and wore black arm bands in Chapman's memory. Though Carl Mays was an excellent pitcher, his reputation was forever tarnished by the incident (apparently he was also a bit of a jerk, which didn't help matters). Chapman's replacement at short, rookie Joe Sewell, went on to have a Hall of Fame career.
Don Zimmer has been hit in the head by pitches at least twice; once in the minors in 1953 in an incident that nearly killed him, and once again in 1956. The 1953 beaning left him unconscious for two weeks and he had to have screws put into his head. The 1956 beaning broke his cheekbone and ended his season.
In a famous incident Joe Medwick was beaned by Bob Bowman in 1940. Both had been teammates just six day before, and it's been disputed whether or not Bowman hit Medwick on purpose. Regardless, Medwick was knocked unconscious and missed a couple games with a concussion, though he was able to continue his Hall of Fame career.There are a ton of other incidents. Boston pitcher Bryce Florie's was an ugly one in 2000, as was Dodger pitcher Kaz Ishii's in 2002. Although Ishii had to be taken off the field on a stretcher, he would come back to pitch for several more seasons. In fact he still pitches in Japan. Florie would only pitch in seven more big league games in 2001.
Billy Wagner has been hit by a comebacker, as has Andy Pettitte. Mike Piazza's taken one to the head, as has Sammy Sosa. Each were able to continue their careers with little ill effects. Baseball is a game of inches, but sometimes it's a millimeter's difference between a sore noggin and a career-ending injury.
Billy Wagner has been hit by a comebacker, as has Andy Pettitte. Mike Piazza's taken one to the head, as has Sammy Sosa. Each were able to continue their careers with little ill effects. Baseball is a game of inches, but sometimes it's a millimeter's difference between a sore noggin and a career-ending injury.
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