On Wimbledon and Tennis

There’s not too much better in life than this, can’t go out as the air-quality index is high ( I find any reason), the women’s Wimbledon semifinals is on the tube and the action has been really good. That spider on the wall still hasn’t moved, the gutter guy hasn’t called (not that that means he’s not coming) and I can look forward to a nice workout followed by some baseball action tonight.

But what’s this? “Days of Our Lives” just interrupted the NBC coverage. How stupid is this? Okay, I switch to ESPN and now, instead of watching a continuation of a great match between Kvitova and Pironkova, I’m seeing an interview with Sabine Lisicki (of the powerfully serving Lisicki’s), which is fine, I guess, but where’s the live action?

So I try the Tennis Channel. Nope, it’s not there, they’re showing “Tennisography” whatever the heck that is. Ok, back to ESPN and, finally, here’s the semifinals again but it’s well into the third set now and Pironkova is down 2-love, all of which means we missed the key games in the match.

I’m of course pulling for the decided underdog, Pironkova, but even more so as the broadcasters and court officials have been doing nothing but disparaging her and making bad calls. If it weren’t for the Bulgarian’s prudent challenging, she’d have lost already.

“Sneaky, clever, off-putting”, they’re now saying of Pironkova, which reminds me of a description of Japanese at Pearl Harbor. Geez, ya think ESPN’s pulling for the blonde? Do they just hate Bulgaria?

Now I’m really pulling for the Bulgarian. She calls for another challenge but this time is wrong, but not by much. The Russian now holds again for the 3-1 lead. I’m thinking we missed the action in the first two games, the action upon which the match was decided. Now they tell me all the action is available online or on my cell phone.

Okay, so the coverage leaves a lot to be desired but it’s still better than “Days of Our Lives”.

The Bulgarian holds again for 3-2 but then Kvitova looks to hold too at 4-2. She really does have an impressive game, especially when she’s serving. That favoring of the big servers that characterizes the action here is what makes it unique, that and the fact that anybody who’s anybody shows up there.

And that’s why we’re seeing the Bulgarian at all. One of NBC’s disparaging remarks was that the Bulgarian only shows up at Wimbledon. I think that’s great. Whoa! A great get by the Bulgarian, then a great forehand by the lefty Czech, then an incredible rally and they’re both playing great tennis. So ESPN goes to commercial. Geez.

Now, as the Bulgarian goes down still another break, the broadcast team decries the loss of Venus Williams and the Dane blonde from the tournament. Yeah, I feel bad too. Imagine the pain of seeing some new faces.

Okay, now Pironkova’s finished. The big Czech (and all of these players are anything but vertically challenged) had too much power.

Okay, now I can break from tennis for a while to contemplate baseball.

It’ll be Cliff Lee and the Phillies against Josh Beckett and the Red Sox, the two best teams in MLB and two of the best pitchers. Surely this could be a preview of Game 2 of the World Series. (The Phils have Halladay, the Sox (no, not those White Sox) have Jon Lester ). Me, I’ll be pulling for my two fantasy pitchers going tonight, Michael Pineda and Ryan Vogelsong, against the Braves and Cubs, two teams that can’t boast of many hitters, although Aramis Ramirez and Brian McCann might disagree.

Now the fourth semifinal has been suspended by rain. This is ridiculous. Where’s the roof when you need it? Who the heck is on Center Court? Great, a Legends match. It takes 15 minutes to close the roof and move the matches around to courts they should have been scheduled on in the first place.

Okay, back to baseball, the Cubs game starts at 2:20PM and, Eureka! It’ll be on WGN! Cool. Now I can switch between tennis and baseball, if ESPN and Wimbledon ever come to their senses. It’ll be a continuation of Azarenka-Paszek, which Paszek, another Eastern European, is leading 1-0. It’ll be interesting to see how long it takes them to make a decision on the switch.

The Giants just took the lead in the Cubs game, on bloopers mostly, much like watching a Mets game. But Kung Fu Panda helps out the Cubs by grounding into a double play. But the pitcher refuses to get out of trouble and it’s now 3-zip. It’s looking good for Ryan Vogelsong.

Meanwhile, ESPN is babbling about Rafael Nadal and Mardy Fish. Where’s the women’s semifinal?

A peek back at ESPN and they’re covering the men’s prospects; there’s been no mention of the women’s semifinal everybody’s been waiting for. Vogelsong, meanwhile, is starting well but now is facing Starlin Castro, a tough hitter who can be pesky on the bases. Getting this out will be big.

But a sidetrip to the kitchen for three perfect eggs and a coffee leaves that result unanswered. Upon my return though, the Giants are up again and it’s still 3-nothing. Back to ESPN to finally find out that they will indeed do the smart thing and play the women’s semifinal on Center Court. It’s pointed out that Azarenka’s obnoxious screaming will even be more annoying under the roof. You can’t make this stuff up.

Vogelsong is now getting banged around a bit as Carlos Pena just went deep with a man on and Soriano flied out very deep to center. Maybe he’ll be more careful now. So far I’m not that impressed with the Giants Number 4 starter with the nice ERA.

A Coy Hill has now tied up the game. It’s high time for a new fantasy pitcher.

And it’s high time too for the women’s semifinals, ESPN.

A Call to Arms

Just about 24 hours to the trade deadline now, and although things seem set, at least as far as any big moves in Major League Baseball, there still could be a few surprises. The Yankees are still interested in pitchers, and sorry Seattle seems to have one extra. The Mets could use some arms in the pen but there doesn't seem to be much available.

At least one thing remains abundantly clear, though, as we approach the deadline. You just can't have too much pitching. Witness the Angels John Lackey no-hitting the Red Sox for 8 1/3, the Cubs Carlos Zambrano out-dueling Ben Sheets of Milwaukee and even our Oliver Perez shutting down the Marlins for most of the evening down in Miami.

The Cubs sure seem loaded with arms but they added still another one in Jeff Samardzija, last seen catching passes all over the field for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The tall, rangy Samardzija is just 23 years old but has already picked up a save for the Cubs , who are presently locked up in a death match with the Milwaukee Brewers.

World Series Champions usually wind up having a little bit of everything, or a lot of one thing, and that thing is usually pitching. At this point, it seems that the Mets and Cubs have it on the Senior Circuit and the Angels have it in the American League. Starters and relievers, they have it all.

Aaron Heilman of the Mets seemed to confirm that last night when he helped nail down the win against the Marlins by pitching two crucial shutout innings after walking the first two batters he faced in the 7th inning. And Billy Wagner had another impressive outing in the 9th.

This next week should be very revealing as to whether the Mets can overcome a couple of injuries to their staff. John Maine's MRI revealed a strained shoulder, but he may be good to go for Sunday while their old pro Pedro Martinez, who at last call was battling through an arm problem that put undue pressure on his hip. Yet Pedro will probably try again soon, and what a nice surprise it would be if he can finish up the season.

If Pedro can produce over the remainder of 2008, he would be one of the only gambles the Mets have taken on aging players that will have worked out. Luis Castillo certainly didn't help but he at least played some games. The same can't be said for Moises Alou or El Duque. And Marlon Anderson has been a disaster, depending upon one's expectations, I guess.

If Maine and Pedro can keep on keepin’ on, the Mets will be looking good. It’d be Santana, Perez, Pedro, Maine and Pelfrey to finish out the season, a combination that I could certainly live with. The Phillies, Marlins and the rest of the NL may not.

No teams in the National League can compete with that starting rotation, although the Cubs come pretty close. In addition to Zambrano and Rich Harden, they can throw three other quite capable guys at you in Ryan Dempster, Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis. The Brewers come close with Sheets, Sabathia, Bush, Parra and Suppan but their relievers have been suspect.

Can anybody stay with the Angels though? In addition to Lackey, they can throw another Santana at you, a fellow named Ervin. And then there’s Jon Garland and another Weaver named Jered. Their fifth guy is nobody to sneeze at either, in the person of Joe Saunders, who is an unbelievable 13-5 with an ERA just a shade above three. Wow!

The Anaheim bunch also have the pen with Francisco Rodriguez and Scott Shields, although the rest of the staff isn’t that strong, offering some hope to contenders. If the starter they throw at you can’t go 7 innings, there will be some scoring chances until you reach the eighth. Good luck!

Of course, Red Sox fans may be wondering what’s wrong with Beckett, Dice K, Lester, Wakefield and Bucholz. That’s an easy one, Wakefield and Bucholz. And, besides Papelbon and Okajima in the pen, there aren’t any other fellows there you can go to with confidence. And, unlike the Angels, who have the better starting five, they will have to visit the bullpen more often.

Another wildcard might be the Sox of that other color, the Chicago White Sox, who can throw Buehrle, Vasquez, Danks and Floyd at you. But their fifth starter is weak, and so is their bullpen. Aside from big Bobby Jenks, the closer, there’s really nobody else.

The perennial playoff-dwellers, the Yankees, alas, are coming up short. If the Mariners can outlast them in their bid for Jarod Washburn, they’ll be hurting with Mussina as their ace, followed by Pettite and Chamberlain, but Rasner and Ponson certainly don’t inspire much confidence.

If they can pick up Washburn though, their chances look much rosier, as they do seem to have a pretty good pen, not just Mariano but an improving Farnsworth and the hot newcomer Edwar Ramirez. Veras isn’t too shabby either.

Of course, pitching isn’t 100% of the game. There’re some other required pieces as well. But the Angels seem to have shored up their lineup by acquiring the brute first baseman, Mark Teixeira, from the Braves. And, even if he winds up just being a loaner, he’ll certainly give them confidence down the stretch this season.

So, although all you might see on ESPN this week is news and more news concerning an even more famous arm, that right arm of Bret Favre, and where it will wind up this year, the real news for me will concern pitching arms, as those more closely relate to success than do the arms of quarterbacks, who, after all, need strong performances by about 44 other big and fast bodies.

So pay close attention. Watch those arms and where they’re going. That movement will probably decide this year’s Series winners.