Yeah, yeah, yeah, Jeremy Lin, omigosh!
I hate being so cynical. I can’t even stand myself. Furthermore, I’m probably as happy as anyone over our new point guard’s prowess on the court. Just to recap his game for the un-Lin-itiated, he dribbles, he sees the court, he drives and he scores. Let’s see…what else is there? Oh, he steals the ball a bit too.
But is it possible that all this hoopla won’t go to the man’s head? And can we just let things happen instead of predicting what kind of legacy he’ll have before his career is over? How great will he be? Why did everybody pass on him? Is he like or unlike Tebow? Will Carmelo’s return surely doom our local heroes?
Give the guy a break. Let him just play. Things are hard enough. After all, it took the man an awfully long time to get here. He shouldn’t be burdened by all these predictions. Besides, there are some other Knicks playing very well too and the ink runs out before anybody gets to them. And this is a team game after all. Just ask Carmelo.
Okay, this wasn’t meant to be all about the Knicks but what else is there?
Well, it’s hot stove season but I think all the cooking is pretty much done by now. Baseball will resume in a few weeks in Florida and Arizona and it looks as if the Yanks, Rangers and Angels and Phillies and even the Marlins are going to be much better. My Metsies are going to need a lot of luck. The waste of resources known as our legal system will pretty much make sure that the Mets will be in limbo for ages.
The saddest part of this off-season to me is that Justin Turner, the only Met who could drive in runs when it counted, and a guy who ably manned both second and third bases, is no longer being mentioned at second base. Nothing makes me sadder than a guy who outperforms expectations and then is seemingly punished for it. Turner is currently listed as the backup third baseman behind David Wright. Geez, maybe they really will trade David.
On the Yankees front, I hated to see them trade Montero. While I realize that the pitcher they picked up, Michael Pineda, is one of the best young pitchers out there, Montero could’ve hit 40 homers at Yankee Stadium. They seem to be getting away from their Bronx Bombers persona. It looks as if it’ll be still one more year of the pitcher. I can’t say it makes me happy.
All baseball needs to do to end this ridiculous pitchers dominance is enforce the strike zone. As long as the worst umpires in the world are allowed to call strikes 6-inches outside the corner of the plate, the pitching dominance will continue. And all the Jamie Moyers of the world (43-44 years old)will keep getting contracts.
I’ll be making my spring training pilgrimage once again so the Mets will be hearing from me early and often. I may even wear my Johan Santana shirt. If Santana can come back as strong as ever, the Mets might even contend.
One good thing, by the way, about the Mets failure to offer Jose Reyes a contract is that Jose can never be blamed for leaving New York because of money. Jose will always be a hero at Citifield. And I can imagine some big, big performances from Jose each and every time the Marlins face the Mets. In 18 games, Jose will hit ten triples and steal 20 bases. And he’ll be gunning down Mets baserunners with regularity.
We can look forward to loving and hating Bobby Valentine in Boston. We can root for Joba to come back from the knife and throw the way he used to. And yeah, Santana will make some headlines one way or another. Jason Bay might finally relax. I wonder if Granderson and Cano can do what they’ve done once again.
Yeah, I know, it’s just baseball. You have to admit though, that it’s a pretty interesting game. And it’s perfect for television. There are natural breaks between innings for commercials, ample time to pick up a bag of chips and a Coke, and some ice in a nice tall glass.
And there’re games going on every day. There’s no need to build up the next game as in football. Before you can say “Jackie Robinson”, the next game is upon you. If you play fantasy baseball, you’ll have something to look forward to every day, and, inevitably, some regrets for that bonehead pitching move that not only didn’t get you the win but also lost you the battle for ERA and WHIP.
So, while most New Yorkers are probably thinking about Jeremy Lin, and rightfully so, this fellow wil be thinking about baseball and, more specifically, the Mets. Having just heard Francesa’s interview with Sandy Alderson, I’m even more psyched up. With any luck at all, the Mets should be better. The starters will be more experienced, the relief acquisitions should help and the lineup should have a good deal of power.
And Sandy hasn’t forgotten about Justin Turner after all. But he is a little worried about defense. Some of the better hitters on the squad may be giving some runs back somewhere along the line. The pitching depth isn’t where he’d like it to be but he is hopeful of picking up some quality as spring training moves along.
If you would have told me last year that we needed to just worry about pitching depth, I think I would have danced a jig, or maybe even a salsa, as just one more honorarium to Victor Cruz. But that’s where the Mets are today.
Yeah, the Giants were great…. and lucky too. And the Knicks may be the most exciting team in basketball. But I’ll feel a whole lot better when April rolls around, spring is in the air and baseball is right around the bend.
Showing posts with label baseball. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baseball. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Baseball Season Over
Yeah, Jose is hurt again and Murphy’s down too. And it’s true that Santana and Ike Davis won’t be returning soon. But look at the bright side. We’ll get to see even more guys moving up from Buffalo which, thus far, hasn’t really been detrimental.
And there really hasn’t been in a big dip in the standings. This Mets team keeps hanging around the .500 mark, not that they’re going anywhere. The Phillies have been playing light out and the Mets are 17 games behind. And they’re really not close to the Braves either for the wildcard.
The Mets have played gallantly under the circumstances and last night’s game may have been their finest effort of the year. With the entire infield seemingly playing musical chairs all game (which may have led to Murphy’s injury while playing second base), they hung close all game and won the game in the bottom of the ninth against one of the better closers in the National League.
In my last column, I just killed a couple of players, notably Pelfrey, Pagan and Duda. But after last night, Duda gets a reprieve. Pagan gets a nod for playing well last night but whether he’ll keep it going is anybody’s guess. And it would take a few perfect games in a row to change my mind about Pelfrey. He comes up the shortest when he’s needed the most, time after time after time.
It’s all about the future for our Metsies, the present having been rendered totally irrelevant. Sandy Alderson will have to make some sense out of this, um, mess? I hesitate to characterize this current team as a mess though. There are several pretty serviceable players on board. And the pitching hasn’t really been bad either.
I’d like to rid the roster of symbols of losing. To me, that means Pagan has to go. He may go to another team and shine for a while but I’m just tired of looking at him. The same goes for Pelfrey. Other than those two though, Sandy can keep the rest. There really is a whole lot to like about the way they play, especially when they just hit and hit and hit some more.
Next year can’t come soon enough. Ike should be healthy (finally), Turner at second, Tejada at short and Wright at third should be a fine infield. Josh Thole’s been a pretty good catcher.
Jason Bay is starting to relax at the plate, an important factor. Duda will be adequate in right field and Jason Pridie does enough in center to not be embarrassing. I’d rather have him there than Pagan if only because he’d appreciate it more.
Pagan seems to be pouting all the time. “Ewww, I;m batting second, ewww I’m batting 5th, ewww I’m batting first”..get rid of him. He’s one of the only fast men in baseball who can’t run the bases. And he messes up in centerfield about two games out of seven. The man’s a menace. (Maybe it’s the beard).
We’d still have good ol’ Daniel Murphy to spell just about anybody anywhere. But the spots he can fill adequately are first and second. In any event the man can hit and can be a roving utility guy and pinch-hitter.
Free agency? Who knows? After the pirates in bankruptcy court get finished pillaging the Wilpons, who can say what will be left. It’s a long shot that we’ll keep Reyes. I’m beginning to think it’d be acceptable to let him go, especially in the face of dwindled resources. We need other pieces more, such as in the pen and in the outfield.
If there’s a point to all this, it’s just that Mets fans should have already forgotten about 2011. Think 2012 and beyond. The lawyers (and judges) may have finished stealing by then.
What can we do in the meantime? Well, there’re the Yankees of course. And there’s the NFL Jets and Giants. And oh yeah, there’s Rutgers football. Heh-heh.
I like the Yankees a lot more now that I’m playing Cano and Granderson 5 or 6 times a week on my fantasy team. Cano has been unspectacular but really steady. Granderson has been great. While I expected him to have a good year, he has exceeded all expectations. While I could wax poetic about him, the best thing I could write would simply be his stat line, currently .273, 28 homers, 86 rbi’s, a nice even 100 runs scored and 22 stolen bases.
But Granderson is more than just his stats. He plays a nice centerfield, he’ll hit anywhere in the lineup, and he picks up the balls that get away from the opposing catcher. A nicer guy you’ll never find.
Cano is the anti-Granderson. He’s a study in lack of intensity. But it’s only a façade. It’s just that he’s such a good baseball player that he seems to not be trying….anywhere. In the field, he just floats around; at the plate he seems asleep until the last moment when he absolutely rips at the ball. His line is .295, 18 homers, 75 rbi’s, 71 runs scored and 8 stolen bases, not too shabby for a guy who’s sleepwalking.
The Yanks are in trouble though. If even CC can’t beat the Red Sox, nobody can, at least none of the Yanks. AJ Burnett and Phil Hughes aren’t really what the Yanks expected while the others are better than expected but worse than will probably be required. Colon, Garcia, Nova? I don’t think so.
It’s looking more and more like a Phillies-Red Sox World Series although I suppose the Rangers or Giants could insinuate themselves into the picture. I’ve been mourning the Pirates lately and wondering what effect their demise will have on two of my fantasy guys, McCutchen and Neil Walker, two very nice players, especially McCutchen, and did I mention the Mets could use a centerfielder?
The baseball season seems over. Look to the Jets. The Giants are just marking time.
And, um, Rutgers?
And there really hasn’t been in a big dip in the standings. This Mets team keeps hanging around the .500 mark, not that they’re going anywhere. The Phillies have been playing light out and the Mets are 17 games behind. And they’re really not close to the Braves either for the wildcard.
The Mets have played gallantly under the circumstances and last night’s game may have been their finest effort of the year. With the entire infield seemingly playing musical chairs all game (which may have led to Murphy’s injury while playing second base), they hung close all game and won the game in the bottom of the ninth against one of the better closers in the National League.
In my last column, I just killed a couple of players, notably Pelfrey, Pagan and Duda. But after last night, Duda gets a reprieve. Pagan gets a nod for playing well last night but whether he’ll keep it going is anybody’s guess. And it would take a few perfect games in a row to change my mind about Pelfrey. He comes up the shortest when he’s needed the most, time after time after time.
It’s all about the future for our Metsies, the present having been rendered totally irrelevant. Sandy Alderson will have to make some sense out of this, um, mess? I hesitate to characterize this current team as a mess though. There are several pretty serviceable players on board. And the pitching hasn’t really been bad either.
I’d like to rid the roster of symbols of losing. To me, that means Pagan has to go. He may go to another team and shine for a while but I’m just tired of looking at him. The same goes for Pelfrey. Other than those two though, Sandy can keep the rest. There really is a whole lot to like about the way they play, especially when they just hit and hit and hit some more.
Next year can’t come soon enough. Ike should be healthy (finally), Turner at second, Tejada at short and Wright at third should be a fine infield. Josh Thole’s been a pretty good catcher.
Jason Bay is starting to relax at the plate, an important factor. Duda will be adequate in right field and Jason Pridie does enough in center to not be embarrassing. I’d rather have him there than Pagan if only because he’d appreciate it more.
Pagan seems to be pouting all the time. “Ewww, I;m batting second, ewww I’m batting 5th, ewww I’m batting first”..get rid of him. He’s one of the only fast men in baseball who can’t run the bases. And he messes up in centerfield about two games out of seven. The man’s a menace. (Maybe it’s the beard).
We’d still have good ol’ Daniel Murphy to spell just about anybody anywhere. But the spots he can fill adequately are first and second. In any event the man can hit and can be a roving utility guy and pinch-hitter.
Free agency? Who knows? After the pirates in bankruptcy court get finished pillaging the Wilpons, who can say what will be left. It’s a long shot that we’ll keep Reyes. I’m beginning to think it’d be acceptable to let him go, especially in the face of dwindled resources. We need other pieces more, such as in the pen and in the outfield.
If there’s a point to all this, it’s just that Mets fans should have already forgotten about 2011. Think 2012 and beyond. The lawyers (and judges) may have finished stealing by then.
What can we do in the meantime? Well, there’re the Yankees of course. And there’s the NFL Jets and Giants. And oh yeah, there’s Rutgers football. Heh-heh.
I like the Yankees a lot more now that I’m playing Cano and Granderson 5 or 6 times a week on my fantasy team. Cano has been unspectacular but really steady. Granderson has been great. While I expected him to have a good year, he has exceeded all expectations. While I could wax poetic about him, the best thing I could write would simply be his stat line, currently .273, 28 homers, 86 rbi’s, a nice even 100 runs scored and 22 stolen bases.
But Granderson is more than just his stats. He plays a nice centerfield, he’ll hit anywhere in the lineup, and he picks up the balls that get away from the opposing catcher. A nicer guy you’ll never find.
Cano is the anti-Granderson. He’s a study in lack of intensity. But it’s only a façade. It’s just that he’s such a good baseball player that he seems to not be trying….anywhere. In the field, he just floats around; at the plate he seems asleep until the last moment when he absolutely rips at the ball. His line is .295, 18 homers, 75 rbi’s, 71 runs scored and 8 stolen bases, not too shabby for a guy who’s sleepwalking.
The Yanks are in trouble though. If even CC can’t beat the Red Sox, nobody can, at least none of the Yanks. AJ Burnett and Phil Hughes aren’t really what the Yanks expected while the others are better than expected but worse than will probably be required. Colon, Garcia, Nova? I don’t think so.
It’s looking more and more like a Phillies-Red Sox World Series although I suppose the Rangers or Giants could insinuate themselves into the picture. I’ve been mourning the Pirates lately and wondering what effect their demise will have on two of my fantasy guys, McCutchen and Neil Walker, two very nice players, especially McCutchen, and did I mention the Mets could use a centerfielder?
The baseball season seems over. Look to the Jets. The Giants are just marking time.
And, um, Rutgers?
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Some of This...Some of That
This week is almost over. WooHoo! There was no baseball at all except for the worst telecast of an All-Star Game ever Tuesday night. Jack Buck and Tim McCarver as hosts wasn’t bad enough. There were also totally obnoxious people Fox threw into the dugouts as well. One used-car salesman lookalike kept saying “talk to me, man”. It was disgusting. Fox now joins ESPN on my “don’t watch” list.
The game itself wasn’t all that bad. The announcers were. One boring guy would be bad enough but Fox felt they needed two. Jack Buck just reeks of smugness. McCarver’s full of insights ad infinitum in that drawl that puts me asleep. Where’s Kevin Millar or Harold Johnson when you really need them?
Then, wonder of wonders, after three years of spending our hard-earned taxpayer money in an effort to nail the arrogant Roger Clemens for lying to Congress about steroids, the prosecution totally blows the trial by defying the judge’s direct order. The judge was awfully quick to call a mistrial too. The whole thing is really suspicious-looking. And in the beginning of September, there’ll be another hearing to determine whether the case should be re-tried.
What a waste of money! It’s just what the American people need right now. I don’t know about anybody else. I’m tired of the way this country is running, or not running. I’m blaming Obama. The same guy who’s dragging out the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by printing money so that our existing money becomes worthless, the same guy who wants deficits up the ying-yang, the same guy who’s really done nothing but bankrupt the country, he thinks Roger Clemens needs to go down, no matter what the cost.
The government is now 0 and 2 in its perjury efforts against Bonds and Clemens. Yeah, I know, the Bonds jury found Bonds guilty of one count but that verdict didn’t even make any sense. They convicted him of obstruction of justice without one single guilty for perjury. So that will still drag on making all the lawyers very happy.
As this is written, CC Sabathia shut down the Jays earlier in the day and the Mets are beating Cole Hamels and the Phillies 3-0. Beltrans’s not playing today and supposedly has a fever. I’m fine with Carlos sitting out if it’ll help ensure his good health prior to a deal being done. It’ll be good to get some prospects in here.
The Mets traded K-Rod of course already and that move made sense too. It made even more sense that K-Rod was the first to go, this despite his overall good performance this year. That troublesome 17 mill option was negotiated away apparently so that K-Rod wouldn’t have to deal with any awkwardness as to games in which he’ll appear. But it’s unclear what prospects the Mets actually picked up in that trade. It was done mostly to improve their overall salary situation.
If it will help the club to sign Reyes to another contract, or at the least to be able to make him an offer, it makes sense to trade Beltran as well. The Giants had been courting him, supposedly, and there is interest coming from Philly and Boston and maybe some other clubs as well.
I don’t think there can be any question that the Mets will fare worse this year without their closer and leading hitter. But with Wright soon returning and Reyes too, the Mets should at least be positioned to score some more runs.
Not that you could complain today about runs scored as the Mets are now leading the Phils and Hamels 5-0 and even Jason bay just contributed a hit. Ike Davis and Santana are likely out for this entire season though, an eventuality that nobody expected earlier. I’m hoping Wright comes back strong off his fractured back and can perform at least as well as the plug-ins have been playing. He surely wasn’t impressing anybody before he went down.
Hamels is out of this game and now the Mets lead is 7-zip. It looks to be still another hit barrage although Murphy did slug a rather long dinger off Hamels. They’ll need all the hits they can get too. Without K-Rod, the Mets are left with candidates who’ve either never closed or, in Isringhausen’s case, haven’t closed in a long time.
All in all, I’d expect them to still be able to play .500 ball throughout this season and maybe it’ll be next year that will smile on our heroes. Gee, that sounds vaguely familiar. Maybe that pirate of a lawyer for the other losers in that Ponzi scheme can finally be made to seek and sink some other unfortunate ships.
Oh well, at least the NFL lockout may be winding down. Both sides seem fairly confident at this juncture. I hadn’t been optimistic at all re a settlement. I did think it rather amazing that the owners didn’t find out until Thursday that the Players Association had secured an insurance policy against a lockout, the proceeds of which would assure up to 200, 000 dollars per player. That surely did speed things right along.
It’ll be great to finally be able to watch the NFL Network again. And, with Mets prospects this year looking rather bleak at the moment, there’ll be some measure of happiness thinking about the ridiculous Giants and Jets fortunes for the upcoming year. And fantasy football drafts can proceed without further ado.
It’s times like these that focus one’s priorities in life. Continuations of ridiculous wars while we’re broke, stupid failed prosecutions for minor offenses, and the only winners are the lawyers and the judges. If any country needs an outlet rather than reality, it’s our good ol’ USA.
And, speaking of the USA, tomorrow our women’s soccer team can win the FIFA Gold Cup if they can get by Japan, this after putting on the show of their lives against France in the semifinal. I know I’ll be watching.
The game itself wasn’t all that bad. The announcers were. One boring guy would be bad enough but Fox felt they needed two. Jack Buck just reeks of smugness. McCarver’s full of insights ad infinitum in that drawl that puts me asleep. Where’s Kevin Millar or Harold Johnson when you really need them?
Then, wonder of wonders, after three years of spending our hard-earned taxpayer money in an effort to nail the arrogant Roger Clemens for lying to Congress about steroids, the prosecution totally blows the trial by defying the judge’s direct order. The judge was awfully quick to call a mistrial too. The whole thing is really suspicious-looking. And in the beginning of September, there’ll be another hearing to determine whether the case should be re-tried.
What a waste of money! It’s just what the American people need right now. I don’t know about anybody else. I’m tired of the way this country is running, or not running. I’m blaming Obama. The same guy who’s dragging out the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by printing money so that our existing money becomes worthless, the same guy who wants deficits up the ying-yang, the same guy who’s really done nothing but bankrupt the country, he thinks Roger Clemens needs to go down, no matter what the cost.
The government is now 0 and 2 in its perjury efforts against Bonds and Clemens. Yeah, I know, the Bonds jury found Bonds guilty of one count but that verdict didn’t even make any sense. They convicted him of obstruction of justice without one single guilty for perjury. So that will still drag on making all the lawyers very happy.
As this is written, CC Sabathia shut down the Jays earlier in the day and the Mets are beating Cole Hamels and the Phillies 3-0. Beltrans’s not playing today and supposedly has a fever. I’m fine with Carlos sitting out if it’ll help ensure his good health prior to a deal being done. It’ll be good to get some prospects in here.
The Mets traded K-Rod of course already and that move made sense too. It made even more sense that K-Rod was the first to go, this despite his overall good performance this year. That troublesome 17 mill option was negotiated away apparently so that K-Rod wouldn’t have to deal with any awkwardness as to games in which he’ll appear. But it’s unclear what prospects the Mets actually picked up in that trade. It was done mostly to improve their overall salary situation.
If it will help the club to sign Reyes to another contract, or at the least to be able to make him an offer, it makes sense to trade Beltran as well. The Giants had been courting him, supposedly, and there is interest coming from Philly and Boston and maybe some other clubs as well.
I don’t think there can be any question that the Mets will fare worse this year without their closer and leading hitter. But with Wright soon returning and Reyes too, the Mets should at least be positioned to score some more runs.
Not that you could complain today about runs scored as the Mets are now leading the Phils and Hamels 5-0 and even Jason bay just contributed a hit. Ike Davis and Santana are likely out for this entire season though, an eventuality that nobody expected earlier. I’m hoping Wright comes back strong off his fractured back and can perform at least as well as the plug-ins have been playing. He surely wasn’t impressing anybody before he went down.
Hamels is out of this game and now the Mets lead is 7-zip. It looks to be still another hit barrage although Murphy did slug a rather long dinger off Hamels. They’ll need all the hits they can get too. Without K-Rod, the Mets are left with candidates who’ve either never closed or, in Isringhausen’s case, haven’t closed in a long time.
All in all, I’d expect them to still be able to play .500 ball throughout this season and maybe it’ll be next year that will smile on our heroes. Gee, that sounds vaguely familiar. Maybe that pirate of a lawyer for the other losers in that Ponzi scheme can finally be made to seek and sink some other unfortunate ships.
Oh well, at least the NFL lockout may be winding down. Both sides seem fairly confident at this juncture. I hadn’t been optimistic at all re a settlement. I did think it rather amazing that the owners didn’t find out until Thursday that the Players Association had secured an insurance policy against a lockout, the proceeds of which would assure up to 200, 000 dollars per player. That surely did speed things right along.
It’ll be great to finally be able to watch the NFL Network again. And, with Mets prospects this year looking rather bleak at the moment, there’ll be some measure of happiness thinking about the ridiculous Giants and Jets fortunes for the upcoming year. And fantasy football drafts can proceed without further ado.
It’s times like these that focus one’s priorities in life. Continuations of ridiculous wars while we’re broke, stupid failed prosecutions for minor offenses, and the only winners are the lawyers and the judges. If any country needs an outlet rather than reality, it’s our good ol’ USA.
And, speaking of the USA, tomorrow our women’s soccer team can win the FIFA Gold Cup if they can get by Japan, this after putting on the show of their lives against France in the semifinal. I know I’ll be watching.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Concede 2011 to the Yanks? Not Yet!
Everybody hits. That’s been the theme for this Thursday afternoon Mets game versus the Cards in Port St Lucie. Just to give you an idea, it’s 16-3 Mets in the eighth.
The new second baseman has gone 4 for 4 as has David Wright. Angel Pagan has been having a monster game. But I’ve been really impressed by this centerfielder Dendecker who so far has made an over-the-shoulder catch on the track and, oh yeah, he also smacked a home run.
Jesus!
I’m out of synch again. Everybody else is worried about the 2 basketball games tonight. After all, it is the greatest basketball tournament in the world. Just ask TNT or TBS or TRU. But not me. I’m watching the Mets, listening to Keith throw the baloney with Gary, and just now enjoying watching Bobby Parnell strike out a Cards batter.
It’s really too bad some more of these rookies can’t make the team. Twenty-five man rosters are really difficult to determine. Right now, it looks as if there’ll be 6 outfielders and seven infielders, two catchers and ten pitchers. I know it sounds like a lot (25) but it isn’t. Too many promising rooks go back down.
I’d love to see this Dandecker guy do his thing in the outfield, especially if Carlos Beltran has to be rested about half the time. But I shouldn’t complain, there will be at least a few adds to the roster, from the minors and free agency too. And I like them all. What a surprise, right?
The Mets current depth chart shows Chin Lung Hu backing up Reyes at short, Daniel Murphy backing up Davis at first and Luis Hernandez, the glove guy, backing up a brand new face (and maybe bat) named Brad Emaus (rhymes with Remus they tell me). David Wright appears un-backed up at the corner but Murphy could probably spell him too. One gets the feeling that they’ll all get a lot of playing time.
New in the outfield will be Nick Evans backing up Beltran in right, baseball legacy Scott Hairston spelling Angel Pagan in center and strongman Lucas Duda backing for Jason Bay in left. It’s really a pretty solid outfield.
I wonder about the catching depth behind relative newcomer Josh Thole. Pete Nickeas hasn’t shown a whole lot yet and Ronnie Paulino just got here after some paper issue. If there is an obvious weakness, it’s behind the plate.
Chris Capuano didn’t do anything to hurt his chances today. He pitches like a really experienced fellow, which he is. And all his stuff was down, um, when it did stay down. Along with the other free agent, Chris Young, they’ve been looking more like the two and three guys in the rotation rather than number 5 starters.
My only fear about the pitching is that the current number 1, Mike Pelfrey, isn’t really a number one ace. R.A. Dickey, the knuckleballer, isn’t a number one either despite his great showing so far. Jonathan Niese hasn’t had a great spring either. Most of my hopes will be for the two free agents and Dickey. Niese and Pelfrey will have to show me something. In terms of mental toughness, Pelfrey and Niese don’t really cut it, as talented as they may prove to be.
The relievers look pretty good to me too. Missing is Perpetual Pedro but D.J. Carrasco could be the setup guy the Mets have needed for years. He has experienced good success with the White Sox and Pittsburgh. Bobby Parnell and Manny Acosta looked pretty good last year and one Taylor Bucholz, another experienced pitcher, is now listed as the number 5 reliever. K-Rod of course will continue to be the closer….not too shabby at all.
Everybody says the lineup depends solely on Beltran but I don’t think so. The problem will be yanking him in and out of the lineup. I’m actually wishing the Mets would trade him before his perceived value goes totally in the hole. Any other power hitter would do in his place, especially one with good knees. As much as I sympathize with Beltran’s problems, and he’s always played pretty hard, he’s more of a chronic problem now than he is an asset.
My brother tells me the Mets have no chance, also that the fantasy value of even Mets stars such as Wright and Reyes will be way down because of the weak lineup around them. He’s a Yankee fan though, which is to say the only good players are ones that have done it for years, that players such as Pagan and Jason Bay and Ike Davis have little worth. I disagree. And it’s even easier to disagree on a day like today when the Mets score 16 runs.
We’ll see how his Yankee old guys do this year, especially Arod and Jeter and Posada. On the pitching side, we’ll see if Mariano still has it at 42. (I don’t think so). I anxiously await the demise of the Yankees, who have hung too long with all these players. And this will be the year the Red Sox show them just how old they really are.
The Yanks may still make the playoffs but whether they’ll prevail past the first round is very questionable. The pitching isn’t there and the lineup is old. An old lineup usually looks older in the dog days of August. We’ll see, but the picture isn’t a promising one for the Yankees. One through five as a whole, I’d be happier with the Mets starters.
And so far nobody’s counting on anything from Johan Santana, who’ll return after the All-Star break or thereabouts. How’d that be for a shot in the arm?
Yeah, the Mets are undervalued and the Yanks quite the opposite. What’s new under the sun? Surely that’s been the case lo these many baseball seasons. I may be forced to concede eventually that the best team in New York resides in the Bronx.
But not yet, not yet.
The new second baseman has gone 4 for 4 as has David Wright. Angel Pagan has been having a monster game. But I’ve been really impressed by this centerfielder Dendecker who so far has made an over-the-shoulder catch on the track and, oh yeah, he also smacked a home run.
Jesus!
I’m out of synch again. Everybody else is worried about the 2 basketball games tonight. After all, it is the greatest basketball tournament in the world. Just ask TNT or TBS or TRU. But not me. I’m watching the Mets, listening to Keith throw the baloney with Gary, and just now enjoying watching Bobby Parnell strike out a Cards batter.
It’s really too bad some more of these rookies can’t make the team. Twenty-five man rosters are really difficult to determine. Right now, it looks as if there’ll be 6 outfielders and seven infielders, two catchers and ten pitchers. I know it sounds like a lot (25) but it isn’t. Too many promising rooks go back down.
I’d love to see this Dandecker guy do his thing in the outfield, especially if Carlos Beltran has to be rested about half the time. But I shouldn’t complain, there will be at least a few adds to the roster, from the minors and free agency too. And I like them all. What a surprise, right?
The Mets current depth chart shows Chin Lung Hu backing up Reyes at short, Daniel Murphy backing up Davis at first and Luis Hernandez, the glove guy, backing up a brand new face (and maybe bat) named Brad Emaus (rhymes with Remus they tell me). David Wright appears un-backed up at the corner but Murphy could probably spell him too. One gets the feeling that they’ll all get a lot of playing time.
New in the outfield will be Nick Evans backing up Beltran in right, baseball legacy Scott Hairston spelling Angel Pagan in center and strongman Lucas Duda backing for Jason Bay in left. It’s really a pretty solid outfield.
I wonder about the catching depth behind relative newcomer Josh Thole. Pete Nickeas hasn’t shown a whole lot yet and Ronnie Paulino just got here after some paper issue. If there is an obvious weakness, it’s behind the plate.
Chris Capuano didn’t do anything to hurt his chances today. He pitches like a really experienced fellow, which he is. And all his stuff was down, um, when it did stay down. Along with the other free agent, Chris Young, they’ve been looking more like the two and three guys in the rotation rather than number 5 starters.
My only fear about the pitching is that the current number 1, Mike Pelfrey, isn’t really a number one ace. R.A. Dickey, the knuckleballer, isn’t a number one either despite his great showing so far. Jonathan Niese hasn’t had a great spring either. Most of my hopes will be for the two free agents and Dickey. Niese and Pelfrey will have to show me something. In terms of mental toughness, Pelfrey and Niese don’t really cut it, as talented as they may prove to be.
The relievers look pretty good to me too. Missing is Perpetual Pedro but D.J. Carrasco could be the setup guy the Mets have needed for years. He has experienced good success with the White Sox and Pittsburgh. Bobby Parnell and Manny Acosta looked pretty good last year and one Taylor Bucholz, another experienced pitcher, is now listed as the number 5 reliever. K-Rod of course will continue to be the closer….not too shabby at all.
Everybody says the lineup depends solely on Beltran but I don’t think so. The problem will be yanking him in and out of the lineup. I’m actually wishing the Mets would trade him before his perceived value goes totally in the hole. Any other power hitter would do in his place, especially one with good knees. As much as I sympathize with Beltran’s problems, and he’s always played pretty hard, he’s more of a chronic problem now than he is an asset.
My brother tells me the Mets have no chance, also that the fantasy value of even Mets stars such as Wright and Reyes will be way down because of the weak lineup around them. He’s a Yankee fan though, which is to say the only good players are ones that have done it for years, that players such as Pagan and Jason Bay and Ike Davis have little worth. I disagree. And it’s even easier to disagree on a day like today when the Mets score 16 runs.
We’ll see how his Yankee old guys do this year, especially Arod and Jeter and Posada. On the pitching side, we’ll see if Mariano still has it at 42. (I don’t think so). I anxiously await the demise of the Yankees, who have hung too long with all these players. And this will be the year the Red Sox show them just how old they really are.
The Yanks may still make the playoffs but whether they’ll prevail past the first round is very questionable. The pitching isn’t there and the lineup is old. An old lineup usually looks older in the dog days of August. We’ll see, but the picture isn’t a promising one for the Yankees. One through five as a whole, I’d be happier with the Mets starters.
And so far nobody’s counting on anything from Johan Santana, who’ll return after the All-Star break or thereabouts. How’d that be for a shot in the arm?
Yeah, the Mets are undervalued and the Yanks quite the opposite. What’s new under the sun? Surely that’s been the case lo these many baseball seasons. I may be forced to concede eventually that the best team in New York resides in the Bronx.
But not yet, not yet.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Uncertainty the Only Certainty
Now I know I’m a baseball fan. It’s all I can do to muster any enthusiasm for football anymore. It’s totally unpredictable.
This week it was Dallas and Buffalo who came back from the dead. Teams I expected to come back from the dead didn’t. There was the dreadful Minnesota totally striking out against the Bears, a real juggernaut. There was Brett Favre running around, getting hit, dropping the ball, then running around, throwing on the run, getting intercepted. And then there was Washington on Monday night, Washington, I thought, with that defense that gives up yards but not points. Surely they’ll stop Michael Vick. You know what happened there.
And then there were the “good” teams, such as the Steelers, getting lambasted by Tom Brady, and our Giants, ballyhooed all week for being the best team in the NFC, decidedly NOT covering the best wide receivers in the game, Dez Bryant and Miles Austin, Roy Williams and Jason Witten. Oh, and they didn’t get to the quarterback either. After all, it was only Jon Kitna. You know how that one turned out.
Of course I belong to one of those Yahoo football groups, making picks for each week’s games, just the winners, no point spreads to make things more difficult. This year, the spreads aren’t necessary. Anything can happen and usually will, but only when you’re absolutely SURE of a very different outcome.
Being that I’m one of those analytical types, I need to put this uncertainty into some kind of box. Surely there are underlying reasons for it. I’ve got it narrowed down to two basic factors. Coaches and players. Not bad, huh?
The Cowboys changed coaches after losing became a way of life. Boom! They won, convincingly. You wondered how they could have looked so abysmal all those other weeks. You wonder if they’ll go undefeated for the rest of the season. You wondered how they ever won with a lily-livered coach. You wondered why it took Jerry Jones so long to act. You wonder much the same thing about that Bengals coach, Marvin Lewis. What’s the owner thinking? Oops, there’s another factor, owners.
A subset of owners might be stadiums, new stadiums, and seat licenses, especially unsold seat licenses, to be exact. The Jets sure stocked up on players this year, LaDainian and Santonio and the rest. The Giants actually went out and bought a secondary, not that it looked that way last Sunday. Of course, Kitna had all day to throw. Jerry Jones too had that gigantic edifice in Big D built to accommodate all those rabid Cowboys fans. He figured they had as much talent as they needed, so he didn’t need to go crazy, especially on defense. He figured, as Wade did, that any sorry bunch of bodies could comprise a well thought out system of defense. Heh-heh.
Another factor seems to be the betting line itself. Maybe it’s the Internet betting that’s made the spread more important. Those heavy favorites just never seem to pan out, except when they do, once again totally inexplicably.
Let’s recap. There’re coaches and players and owners and stadiums and the betting line itself. Oh, and maybe the fact that there’s a whole TV network dedicated to football, 24/7, and endless analysis, if you could call it that, of everything you ever wanted to know about, well, mostly about Brett Favre, or Chad Ochochinco or T.O. Oh yeah, there’re those reality shows too, starring the aforementioned, of course, but there are others too, like for Shawn Merriman, I understand.
Of course there’s ESPN too, not that I watch those guys anymore. I wonder, does anybody? I mean…why? There’s a baseball channel and a football channel and teams with their own channels. There’re even channels for tennis and golf, for Pete’s sake. (Pete’s a bigtime golfer and tennis enthusiast, take my word for it). If it’s a sport, chances are it’s got its own channel. Horseracing and soccer, of course, and even fishing and fitness and wildlife and, omigosh, as I write this, there’s a woman getting into dressage. Honestly.
Maybe I should just stop trying to pick game winners and just concentrate on my fantasy team. There’s quite enough uncertainty there alone. Replacing Drew Brees on his bye week with Brett Favre was my brain-fart of the season. And to compound that mistake, I had dumped Jon Kitna for him. After all, he’d be facing those ferocious G-Men. And surely Jahvid Best would finally start producing against the lowly Bills, right? Surely he’d be a better start than Miles Austin, who never did establish any kind of rapport with Kitna. Romo used to love him but not Kitna. He loved Dez Bryant. And besides, they were facing the feared G-Men.
Luckily for me, my other players played great, Percy Harvin and Ahmad Bradshaw, Brandon Lloyd and Knowshow Moreno. But the really fortunate thing was my opponent’s decision to take his chances that his running back, Clinton Portis, listed as questionable all week, would actually play on Monday night, even if Skins coach Mike Shanahan had been saying for days that he wouldn’t play. After all, isn’t it true that Shanahan’s the biggest phony in the NFL, except for Belichick maybe? Shanahan saying he wouldn’t play only kind of guaranteed that he would. Of course we know how that one turned out.
Oh yeah, one more factor, a big one, injuries, even after you figure out the enigmatic code that basically says “doubtful” players are the only ones who won’t play. “Questionable” guys figure significantly in their team’s fortunes week after week, hence my opponent’s hesitation to go with anyone else in that spot. (Yeah, he would have had to drop a player with a bye to replace him but still…).
There are just so few things you can count on. That uncertainty might be the biggest winning factor of them all, the only thing on which you can rely.
I’ll take baseball anytime, and especially those Mets.
This week it was Dallas and Buffalo who came back from the dead. Teams I expected to come back from the dead didn’t. There was the dreadful Minnesota totally striking out against the Bears, a real juggernaut. There was Brett Favre running around, getting hit, dropping the ball, then running around, throwing on the run, getting intercepted. And then there was Washington on Monday night, Washington, I thought, with that defense that gives up yards but not points. Surely they’ll stop Michael Vick. You know what happened there.
And then there were the “good” teams, such as the Steelers, getting lambasted by Tom Brady, and our Giants, ballyhooed all week for being the best team in the NFC, decidedly NOT covering the best wide receivers in the game, Dez Bryant and Miles Austin, Roy Williams and Jason Witten. Oh, and they didn’t get to the quarterback either. After all, it was only Jon Kitna. You know how that one turned out.
Of course I belong to one of those Yahoo football groups, making picks for each week’s games, just the winners, no point spreads to make things more difficult. This year, the spreads aren’t necessary. Anything can happen and usually will, but only when you’re absolutely SURE of a very different outcome.
Being that I’m one of those analytical types, I need to put this uncertainty into some kind of box. Surely there are underlying reasons for it. I’ve got it narrowed down to two basic factors. Coaches and players. Not bad, huh?
The Cowboys changed coaches after losing became a way of life. Boom! They won, convincingly. You wondered how they could have looked so abysmal all those other weeks. You wonder if they’ll go undefeated for the rest of the season. You wondered how they ever won with a lily-livered coach. You wondered why it took Jerry Jones so long to act. You wonder much the same thing about that Bengals coach, Marvin Lewis. What’s the owner thinking? Oops, there’s another factor, owners.
A subset of owners might be stadiums, new stadiums, and seat licenses, especially unsold seat licenses, to be exact. The Jets sure stocked up on players this year, LaDainian and Santonio and the rest. The Giants actually went out and bought a secondary, not that it looked that way last Sunday. Of course, Kitna had all day to throw. Jerry Jones too had that gigantic edifice in Big D built to accommodate all those rabid Cowboys fans. He figured they had as much talent as they needed, so he didn’t need to go crazy, especially on defense. He figured, as Wade did, that any sorry bunch of bodies could comprise a well thought out system of defense. Heh-heh.
Another factor seems to be the betting line itself. Maybe it’s the Internet betting that’s made the spread more important. Those heavy favorites just never seem to pan out, except when they do, once again totally inexplicably.
Let’s recap. There’re coaches and players and owners and stadiums and the betting line itself. Oh, and maybe the fact that there’s a whole TV network dedicated to football, 24/7, and endless analysis, if you could call it that, of everything you ever wanted to know about, well, mostly about Brett Favre, or Chad Ochochinco or T.O. Oh yeah, there’re those reality shows too, starring the aforementioned, of course, but there are others too, like for Shawn Merriman, I understand.
Of course there’s ESPN too, not that I watch those guys anymore. I wonder, does anybody? I mean…why? There’s a baseball channel and a football channel and teams with their own channels. There’re even channels for tennis and golf, for Pete’s sake. (Pete’s a bigtime golfer and tennis enthusiast, take my word for it). If it’s a sport, chances are it’s got its own channel. Horseracing and soccer, of course, and even fishing and fitness and wildlife and, omigosh, as I write this, there’s a woman getting into dressage. Honestly.
Maybe I should just stop trying to pick game winners and just concentrate on my fantasy team. There’s quite enough uncertainty there alone. Replacing Drew Brees on his bye week with Brett Favre was my brain-fart of the season. And to compound that mistake, I had dumped Jon Kitna for him. After all, he’d be facing those ferocious G-Men. And surely Jahvid Best would finally start producing against the lowly Bills, right? Surely he’d be a better start than Miles Austin, who never did establish any kind of rapport with Kitna. Romo used to love him but not Kitna. He loved Dez Bryant. And besides, they were facing the feared G-Men.
Luckily for me, my other players played great, Percy Harvin and Ahmad Bradshaw, Brandon Lloyd and Knowshow Moreno. But the really fortunate thing was my opponent’s decision to take his chances that his running back, Clinton Portis, listed as questionable all week, would actually play on Monday night, even if Skins coach Mike Shanahan had been saying for days that he wouldn’t play. After all, isn’t it true that Shanahan’s the biggest phony in the NFL, except for Belichick maybe? Shanahan saying he wouldn’t play only kind of guaranteed that he would. Of course we know how that one turned out.
Oh yeah, one more factor, a big one, injuries, even after you figure out the enigmatic code that basically says “doubtful” players are the only ones who won’t play. “Questionable” guys figure significantly in their team’s fortunes week after week, hence my opponent’s hesitation to go with anyone else in that spot. (Yeah, he would have had to drop a player with a bye to replace him but still…).
There are just so few things you can count on. That uncertainty might be the biggest winning factor of them all, the only thing on which you can rely.
I’ll take baseball anytime, and especially those Mets.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Spring Means Nothing
I certainly hope it’s true that the spring means nothing. I know it means rain for me. And I probably haven’t nearly seen the end of it. Thank God for sump pumps and hoses and drains that still take more water than you’d think was possible. It’s meant rain for the Mets too unfortunately, and it just doesn’t look that promising right now. A Mets fan has to hope the sun is just around the corner.
Maybe it’s just that they’re always playing the Cardinals and the Marlins, who share the stadium down in nearby Jupiter, Roger Dean stadium. In case you’re wondering, Roger Dean is a local car dealer. I had been hoping he was a pirate or something, but alas, no. Both those teams are good though, if the games I’ve seen are any indicator. I have to think that. The alternative is too depressing.
Who knows, maybe today will be the start of a turnaround. Stranger things have happened. Murphy just made a horrible baserunning blunder and got hurt in the process. Maybe that will get Mike Jacobs on the team. At least he can hit the ball out of the park on a regular basis. I mean, if you’re going to hit for a low average, you may as well have some power. Dave Kingman would look good to me now.
Things could turn around too. Sean Green, who had been so bad as to be almost scary, just pitched two very solid innings. Of course they’re down by five so that really isn’t such a tremendous deal either. And here comes Kiko Calero into the game after watching Fernando Tatis have another totally inconsequential at-bat.
I don’t even know who started. The broadcast team is keeping it to themselves. It was probably Ollie though, judging by the score. Hmm, looks like Calero has a nice slider anyway, and he did do a nice job last year for the Marlins. (Somebody should tell these ladies in the stands behind home plate that they really should make an attempt to keep their knees together).
The guessing continues as to the composition of the bullpen. (Matt Holliday just hit his second homer of the day off Calero, about 420 feet to dead center, what a shot). The broadcast team seems to think it’ll be Francisco Rodriguez for sure and Pedro Feliciano for sure and everything else is up in the air. Fernando Nieve is out of options, I understand. I like Igarashi and Calero. Kelvim Escobar may return to form too. Then there is the kid with all the talent they’ll hold down, God knows why. (Yeah, I know why but I don’t agree).
Hope springs eternal for Jose Reyes, though, and I love his quote about feeling that he was Japanese, with all the pens and cameras following him around. Newly acquired Jason Bay just hit one out of the stadium. Wright still looks like Wright. Beltran is still out and probably won’t be returning for a little while yet. I refuse to speculate on him anymore. Angel Pagan is actually starting to look like not such a bad alternative to Beltran, not to mention Fernando Martinez, another young talent who won’t get called up until it’s too late to matter.
Mike Jacobs is up now and I’m hoping he hits another long one, just to make GM Omar Minaya a little crazier. Minaya’s supposed to make a decision by Friday on his final roster. It should be interesting. As a Mets fan, you have to hope the mid-season roster will look quite different from the one we are witnessing right now, barring a complete turnaround in their play once the season gets under way.
The Mets seem to be playing their cards for the future, no matter that their present may very well dictate the futures of the GM and manager Jerry Manuel. I just heard catcher Omir Santos will be starting the season in Buffalo, a fact that makes me sick. I just can’t get excited about Rod Barajas. In fact, I can’t make heads or tails on why they picked him up in the first place. He must think Barajas and Henry Blanco are an upgrade but you couldn’t convince most Mets fans of that.
I’ve defended Minaya for ages now, but I’m beginning to think I’ve been wrong about him. Not only is the present not too rosy, but the future doesn’t look that good either. Where are the pitching prospects other teams seem to have coming out their ears? Yeah, we have a first baseman in Ike Davis, a centerfielder in Fernando Martinez, and a pitcher in this Mejia(sp) who are supposed to be great (but not great enough to call up), but what about the pitching?
The starters inspire no confidence whatsoever, not even from this eternal optimist when it comes to the Mets. It’s as if God handed all the concentration and focus to Johan Santana, but withheld it totally from all the rest. Pelfrey, Maine, Perez…..what a mess! There has to be a short leash on these guys if they don’t turn it around pretty soon, especially for Perez and Maine. It’s beginning to look like the classic “addition by subtraction” situation.
K-Rod’s on the mound now, thank God. Only Sean Green’s done anything on the mound today. K-Rod just threw the nicest curve I’ve ever seen to record another strikeout. It looks as if the ninth inning will be secure, but it’s anybody’s guess how many times the Mets will arrive in that ninth inning with a lead.
Baseball’s a funny game though. Sometimes those teams appearing quite dead in March turn it immediately around once April rolls around. A Mets fan has to hope for that eventuality. I’m hoping Minaya will start showing some concern for his own immediate future. I’m hoping he gets a little less patient with players who have given him nothing in return.
Meanwhile, spring means nothing, spring means nothing…..
Maybe it’s just that they’re always playing the Cardinals and the Marlins, who share the stadium down in nearby Jupiter, Roger Dean stadium. In case you’re wondering, Roger Dean is a local car dealer. I had been hoping he was a pirate or something, but alas, no. Both those teams are good though, if the games I’ve seen are any indicator. I have to think that. The alternative is too depressing.
Who knows, maybe today will be the start of a turnaround. Stranger things have happened. Murphy just made a horrible baserunning blunder and got hurt in the process. Maybe that will get Mike Jacobs on the team. At least he can hit the ball out of the park on a regular basis. I mean, if you’re going to hit for a low average, you may as well have some power. Dave Kingman would look good to me now.
Things could turn around too. Sean Green, who had been so bad as to be almost scary, just pitched two very solid innings. Of course they’re down by five so that really isn’t such a tremendous deal either. And here comes Kiko Calero into the game after watching Fernando Tatis have another totally inconsequential at-bat.
I don’t even know who started. The broadcast team is keeping it to themselves. It was probably Ollie though, judging by the score. Hmm, looks like Calero has a nice slider anyway, and he did do a nice job last year for the Marlins. (Somebody should tell these ladies in the stands behind home plate that they really should make an attempt to keep their knees together).
The guessing continues as to the composition of the bullpen. (Matt Holliday just hit his second homer of the day off Calero, about 420 feet to dead center, what a shot). The broadcast team seems to think it’ll be Francisco Rodriguez for sure and Pedro Feliciano for sure and everything else is up in the air. Fernando Nieve is out of options, I understand. I like Igarashi and Calero. Kelvim Escobar may return to form too. Then there is the kid with all the talent they’ll hold down, God knows why. (Yeah, I know why but I don’t agree).
Hope springs eternal for Jose Reyes, though, and I love his quote about feeling that he was Japanese, with all the pens and cameras following him around. Newly acquired Jason Bay just hit one out of the stadium. Wright still looks like Wright. Beltran is still out and probably won’t be returning for a little while yet. I refuse to speculate on him anymore. Angel Pagan is actually starting to look like not such a bad alternative to Beltran, not to mention Fernando Martinez, another young talent who won’t get called up until it’s too late to matter.
Mike Jacobs is up now and I’m hoping he hits another long one, just to make GM Omar Minaya a little crazier. Minaya’s supposed to make a decision by Friday on his final roster. It should be interesting. As a Mets fan, you have to hope the mid-season roster will look quite different from the one we are witnessing right now, barring a complete turnaround in their play once the season gets under way.
The Mets seem to be playing their cards for the future, no matter that their present may very well dictate the futures of the GM and manager Jerry Manuel. I just heard catcher Omir Santos will be starting the season in Buffalo, a fact that makes me sick. I just can’t get excited about Rod Barajas. In fact, I can’t make heads or tails on why they picked him up in the first place. He must think Barajas and Henry Blanco are an upgrade but you couldn’t convince most Mets fans of that.
I’ve defended Minaya for ages now, but I’m beginning to think I’ve been wrong about him. Not only is the present not too rosy, but the future doesn’t look that good either. Where are the pitching prospects other teams seem to have coming out their ears? Yeah, we have a first baseman in Ike Davis, a centerfielder in Fernando Martinez, and a pitcher in this Mejia(sp) who are supposed to be great (but not great enough to call up), but what about the pitching?
The starters inspire no confidence whatsoever, not even from this eternal optimist when it comes to the Mets. It’s as if God handed all the concentration and focus to Johan Santana, but withheld it totally from all the rest. Pelfrey, Maine, Perez…..what a mess! There has to be a short leash on these guys if they don’t turn it around pretty soon, especially for Perez and Maine. It’s beginning to look like the classic “addition by subtraction” situation.
K-Rod’s on the mound now, thank God. Only Sean Green’s done anything on the mound today. K-Rod just threw the nicest curve I’ve ever seen to record another strikeout. It looks as if the ninth inning will be secure, but it’s anybody’s guess how many times the Mets will arrive in that ninth inning with a lead.
Baseball’s a funny game though. Sometimes those teams appearing quite dead in March turn it immediately around once April rolls around. A Mets fan has to hope for that eventuality. I’m hoping Minaya will start showing some concern for his own immediate future. I’m hoping he gets a little less patient with players who have given him nothing in return.
Meanwhile, spring means nothing, spring means nothing…..
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
There'll Be No Crab Yankees
They’re still the Evil Empire. They always will be. I’m reminded of this today as Yankee fans are picking on the Mets at every opportunity. It’s not good enough to have your team finally break through after years and years and millions and millions spent on virtually nothing. They have to remind everybody how bad the Mets are.
And why? Francesa seems to be obsessing about relief pitching. He of course hasn’t watched a single pitch so far this year and is relying on his sycophant for info that he’s frankly too intimidated to give. He likes his job. He knows Francesa doesn’t want to hear anything good. My brother talks about Vegas odds, which is okay. Vegas didn’t pick the Saints either.
But I’m reminded too today of how much more interesting the Mets announcers are than those of the Yankees. They can actually say what they like, including pointing out Dwight Gooden’s recent problem with the law. But there is a chemistry there on that Mets broadcast team that’s just absent from Yankees broadcasts. And they can change the people but they’ll still be laboring under the strict guidelines of the Evil Empire.
Santana’s pitching today and I’m watching him now getting screwed on the corners by the home plate umpire. But he’s cool. He’s focused, as he is always. But he just gave up his first walk and the pitch wasn’t that close. Hmmm.
You can probably tell I’m psyched for the season opener. This is probably maximum psych time for me as my fantasy draft is tonight, something I always look forward to, and I’ll be drafting eighth in a ten-team league. This presents some interesting problems. It’s a good thing I’ve thought about it too, my objectives, my exclusions (any and all Yankees) and the importance of winning as compared to having fun.
There are only a few locks really. And some of those locks are guys I wouldn’t pick with a gun to my head. Arod for example. Teixeira’a another. Even CC Sabathia, a longtime Crab favorite (my fantasy team name) will be summarily shunned as he has joined the bad guys. But there are some very nice Yankee fantasy players, I must admit, in just about every one of the first five rounds.
One of the biggest factors though in selecting is that cost/benefit ratio of winning versus having fun. Prince Fielder, for example, has been a Crabs mainstay year after year. He’s even more valuable in this league as strikeouts count against you and walks are a positive. Fielder was terrific last year too and could be even better this year, still relatively young but with all that experience and maybe even a better Milwaukee team. And he’ll probably be there at pick 8.
But will he still be there at 13? I don’t think so. So it’s either pick him at 8 or I don’t get him. I figure 1-7 will be Pujols, Hanley Ramirez, Arod, Utley, Braun, Longoria and Teixeira. But Teixeira may still be there at 8 if fellow players feel about Matt Kemp as I do, which is over-rated. One good thing about passing him up is that there’re seemingly a million good fantasy first-basemen, any one of whom could have a bigger year than Teixeira.
But Fielder’s a first-sacker too. Do I really want to win this fantasy year? There surely aren’t too many shortstops or second-basemen that I’d like to have. And there are really just 3 catchers who seem to tower above the rest. Mauer’s availability at 8 presents a big problem, not just because he was the American League MVP but because he just got a huge contract, much more than I would have paid for him, and that tends to wreck a fella’s motivation, y’know?
Then Fielder is rated above some other very good players, Tulowitzki, Cabrera, and our own David Wright. Can David shake his power numbers in spacious Citi? And they did lower the fence or something, didn’t they? And he did hit .307. But he only had 72 rbi’s. That’s awful. If he improves 50%, that’s still just 108 and who improves 50% under almost any circumstances?
Tulowitzki is an interesting possibility. He’s a shortstop, a position of scarcity, an he had very nice numbers all around last year. But it was a career year for him, even though it has been a short career. He was hurt in 2008 and had relatively horrible numbers for half a season. The year before though, he had a very respectable OPS of .838 in his first full year as a player. But that stat is 100 points lower than he achieved last year. So what should be my expectation? It’s a real puzzler but I’d say somewhere between the .838 and .930, which would be a very respectable year indeed from a shortstop.
So Tulowitzki is still alive for consideration. I can’t take Jeter. I just can’t. Talk about career years!
Moving down the rankings, dangerous in itself, and having already passed not only on Yankees but also on Miguel Cabrera, who I don’t personally like, there is Ian Kinsler, a second baseman, also in short supply, and he’s had four relatively good years in a row. He’s a definite possibility, especially since his numbers should improve with Josh Hamilton coming back to that Texas lineup.
Should I consider a pitcher? Lincecum, Halladay and Greinke have a healthy ranking over the rest of the field. But they all pitched a lot of innings last year. And I don’t like taking pitchers early. They’re all tainted goods, y’know, from a fantasy viewpoint. Although I recognize the need for good pitchers, I think the variability of their numbers is totally unacceptable. I think, for the most part, you have to be lucky with pitchers, and I’ll be checking out their innings pitched, you can be sure.
But, no matter what happens, and there’s always a surprise, at least I won’t have any stinking Yankees.
And why? Francesa seems to be obsessing about relief pitching. He of course hasn’t watched a single pitch so far this year and is relying on his sycophant for info that he’s frankly too intimidated to give. He likes his job. He knows Francesa doesn’t want to hear anything good. My brother talks about Vegas odds, which is okay. Vegas didn’t pick the Saints either.
But I’m reminded too today of how much more interesting the Mets announcers are than those of the Yankees. They can actually say what they like, including pointing out Dwight Gooden’s recent problem with the law. But there is a chemistry there on that Mets broadcast team that’s just absent from Yankees broadcasts. And they can change the people but they’ll still be laboring under the strict guidelines of the Evil Empire.
Santana’s pitching today and I’m watching him now getting screwed on the corners by the home plate umpire. But he’s cool. He’s focused, as he is always. But he just gave up his first walk and the pitch wasn’t that close. Hmmm.
You can probably tell I’m psyched for the season opener. This is probably maximum psych time for me as my fantasy draft is tonight, something I always look forward to, and I’ll be drafting eighth in a ten-team league. This presents some interesting problems. It’s a good thing I’ve thought about it too, my objectives, my exclusions (any and all Yankees) and the importance of winning as compared to having fun.
There are only a few locks really. And some of those locks are guys I wouldn’t pick with a gun to my head. Arod for example. Teixeira’a another. Even CC Sabathia, a longtime Crab favorite (my fantasy team name) will be summarily shunned as he has joined the bad guys. But there are some very nice Yankee fantasy players, I must admit, in just about every one of the first five rounds.
One of the biggest factors though in selecting is that cost/benefit ratio of winning versus having fun. Prince Fielder, for example, has been a Crabs mainstay year after year. He’s even more valuable in this league as strikeouts count against you and walks are a positive. Fielder was terrific last year too and could be even better this year, still relatively young but with all that experience and maybe even a better Milwaukee team. And he’ll probably be there at pick 8.
But will he still be there at 13? I don’t think so. So it’s either pick him at 8 or I don’t get him. I figure 1-7 will be Pujols, Hanley Ramirez, Arod, Utley, Braun, Longoria and Teixeira. But Teixeira may still be there at 8 if fellow players feel about Matt Kemp as I do, which is over-rated. One good thing about passing him up is that there’re seemingly a million good fantasy first-basemen, any one of whom could have a bigger year than Teixeira.
But Fielder’s a first-sacker too. Do I really want to win this fantasy year? There surely aren’t too many shortstops or second-basemen that I’d like to have. And there are really just 3 catchers who seem to tower above the rest. Mauer’s availability at 8 presents a big problem, not just because he was the American League MVP but because he just got a huge contract, much more than I would have paid for him, and that tends to wreck a fella’s motivation, y’know?
Then Fielder is rated above some other very good players, Tulowitzki, Cabrera, and our own David Wright. Can David shake his power numbers in spacious Citi? And they did lower the fence or something, didn’t they? And he did hit .307. But he only had 72 rbi’s. That’s awful. If he improves 50%, that’s still just 108 and who improves 50% under almost any circumstances?
Tulowitzki is an interesting possibility. He’s a shortstop, a position of scarcity, an he had very nice numbers all around last year. But it was a career year for him, even though it has been a short career. He was hurt in 2008 and had relatively horrible numbers for half a season. The year before though, he had a very respectable OPS of .838 in his first full year as a player. But that stat is 100 points lower than he achieved last year. So what should be my expectation? It’s a real puzzler but I’d say somewhere between the .838 and .930, which would be a very respectable year indeed from a shortstop.
So Tulowitzki is still alive for consideration. I can’t take Jeter. I just can’t. Talk about career years!
Moving down the rankings, dangerous in itself, and having already passed not only on Yankees but also on Miguel Cabrera, who I don’t personally like, there is Ian Kinsler, a second baseman, also in short supply, and he’s had four relatively good years in a row. He’s a definite possibility, especially since his numbers should improve with Josh Hamilton coming back to that Texas lineup.
Should I consider a pitcher? Lincecum, Halladay and Greinke have a healthy ranking over the rest of the field. But they all pitched a lot of innings last year. And I don’t like taking pitchers early. They’re all tainted goods, y’know, from a fantasy viewpoint. Although I recognize the need for good pitchers, I think the variability of their numbers is totally unacceptable. I think, for the most part, you have to be lucky with pitchers, and I’ll be checking out their innings pitched, you can be sure.
But, no matter what happens, and there’s always a surprise, at least I won’t have any stinking Yankees.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
On 2010 Fantasy Baseball
Let me first offer my apologies to any regular readers for my extreme laziness of late. The Winter Olympics, though, is not really my cup of java, or anything else for that matter. Basketball doesn’t send me either, especially lately, although I suppose Tracy McGrady going to the Knicks was worthy of a few words.
And there’s been nothing new with the ol’ blue and orange. Even with spring training under way, there haven’t been too many nuggets upon which to comment. And I’m even having trouble filling out my fantasy baseball league. You don’t suppose it’s my inane posts, do you?
Fantasy baseball, for the uninitiated, is to me by far the best fantasy game, especially if you have some time to spare, as the opportunities to make moves abound, setting your pitching staff for the week, deciding between your fast second baseman and your slugger, or even picking up spot pitchers in a given week to put some pressure on your opponent. (This almost never works).
It’s still three weeks to the fantasy draft so I have ample time to obsess about which players I’d especially like to have on my roster. But I can’t even begin my period of real obsession until the draft order is set, and that really can’t be done until the league hopefully fills out a bit.
For the present then, I can just hope against hope that I don’t draw the number 1 pick, as Albert Pujols would be the only logical pick there, and I’m really not enthralled with the prospect of rooting for either him or the Cardinals. Of course, Matt Holliday is there in St Loo too, along with a couple of other fellows who can hit, so I should perhaps change my view.
Then there is the question of whether or not I want to have Mets on my roster. While Carlos Beltran has been practically a fixture on my annual fantasy teams, it’ll be troubling to assess how many rounds he should drop due to his late start and, even more troubling perhaps, how he’ll play when he returns.
Will he be a stolen base threat at all? Will his apparent disgruntledness make him take a seat when he’s a little sore? Will he decide it’s just too much trouble to take that extra base? Will the absence of Carlos Delgado bother him a lot? I’m thinking yes to that last question and really have very little clue as to the answers to the first two questions.
Should I continue my anti-Yankee policy? While my heart says yes, my head is screaming no, no, no. Even without Damon and Matsui, that Yankee lineup could be a real killer…again. Granderson is dangerous and, while I’m quite sure Nick Johnson will get hurt again, he still poses a threat to keep those rallies going when he is in the lineup.
But really, how can I live with having Arod or Jeter or Posada on my team? Do I really want to put myself in the position of having to root for them? I think not. I’ll just have to find a competing roster that can score nearly as much. Certainly the Phillies will find their way to home plate quite often this year, and the Cards should do very nicely indeed.
I’m sure my spring training trip next week will also affect my selections and, as I’ll be seeing a lot of the Marlins and Cards along with the Mets, I’m sure a Hanley Ramirez or Dan Uggla might find his way into my lineup, possibly to join a Holliday or a Poo Holes.
I know one thing for sure. I’ll be more likely to acquire a Jeff Francoeur in a late round rather than a David Wright or Jose Reyes early. And the same goes for pitchers, I guess, as Santana is coming off an operation and only the true faithful could expect big seasons from Perez, Pelfrey or Maine.
Who’ll be the surprise team of 2010? It could be the Reds or even the Pirates, believe it or not, or maybe those strange Brewers. And I’m expecting more from the Cubs and less from the Dodgers. In the American League, I’m expecting a lot from Seattle and, of course, the Twins, not that that would be that much of a surprise. And the M&M twins, Mauer and Morneau, could have very big years….hmmm.
Will a guy like Giants starter Tim Lincecum relax after his big contract? Will the Phils outfielder Jayson Werth go nuts in this last year of his contract? And how will Jason Bay react to his first year as a Met?
Then there’s the question of the newbies, the future stars and big bonus babies who sometimes pan out but more often either split time or play in AAA until July. There’ll be a run on those types in the late rounds and you don’t want to be caught with your pants down when that pick string commences.
Here is where you can find a good summary of those rookies expected to break out in 2010. You’ve probably heard of Stephen Strasburg, the million dollar baby with the Nationals (who could be another sleeper team), but you may not be familiar with Drew Storen, that same team’s potential closer.
And Neftali Feliz, who, I seem to recall, put in some innings last year as a reliever is said to be the Rangers’ Joba Chamberlain. He might become a starter if he can handle the innings.
On the hitting side of your roster, you might consider the Giants’ Buster Posey (and I love the name too, a nice baseball name), a catcher who can spell Bengie Molina, whose penchant for free-swinging is legendary. Another great baseball name is the Rangers’ Justin Smoak, who should be a pitcher with that moniker but actually plays the outfield and can hit like crazy.
So good luck, fantasy nuts, and make sure that first pick is solid. You’ll need him.
And there’s been nothing new with the ol’ blue and orange. Even with spring training under way, there haven’t been too many nuggets upon which to comment. And I’m even having trouble filling out my fantasy baseball league. You don’t suppose it’s my inane posts, do you?
Fantasy baseball, for the uninitiated, is to me by far the best fantasy game, especially if you have some time to spare, as the opportunities to make moves abound, setting your pitching staff for the week, deciding between your fast second baseman and your slugger, or even picking up spot pitchers in a given week to put some pressure on your opponent. (This almost never works).
It’s still three weeks to the fantasy draft so I have ample time to obsess about which players I’d especially like to have on my roster. But I can’t even begin my period of real obsession until the draft order is set, and that really can’t be done until the league hopefully fills out a bit.
For the present then, I can just hope against hope that I don’t draw the number 1 pick, as Albert Pujols would be the only logical pick there, and I’m really not enthralled with the prospect of rooting for either him or the Cardinals. Of course, Matt Holliday is there in St Loo too, along with a couple of other fellows who can hit, so I should perhaps change my view.
Then there is the question of whether or not I want to have Mets on my roster. While Carlos Beltran has been practically a fixture on my annual fantasy teams, it’ll be troubling to assess how many rounds he should drop due to his late start and, even more troubling perhaps, how he’ll play when he returns.
Will he be a stolen base threat at all? Will his apparent disgruntledness make him take a seat when he’s a little sore? Will he decide it’s just too much trouble to take that extra base? Will the absence of Carlos Delgado bother him a lot? I’m thinking yes to that last question and really have very little clue as to the answers to the first two questions.
Should I continue my anti-Yankee policy? While my heart says yes, my head is screaming no, no, no. Even without Damon and Matsui, that Yankee lineup could be a real killer…again. Granderson is dangerous and, while I’m quite sure Nick Johnson will get hurt again, he still poses a threat to keep those rallies going when he is in the lineup.
But really, how can I live with having Arod or Jeter or Posada on my team? Do I really want to put myself in the position of having to root for them? I think not. I’ll just have to find a competing roster that can score nearly as much. Certainly the Phillies will find their way to home plate quite often this year, and the Cards should do very nicely indeed.
I’m sure my spring training trip next week will also affect my selections and, as I’ll be seeing a lot of the Marlins and Cards along with the Mets, I’m sure a Hanley Ramirez or Dan Uggla might find his way into my lineup, possibly to join a Holliday or a Poo Holes.
I know one thing for sure. I’ll be more likely to acquire a Jeff Francoeur in a late round rather than a David Wright or Jose Reyes early. And the same goes for pitchers, I guess, as Santana is coming off an operation and only the true faithful could expect big seasons from Perez, Pelfrey or Maine.
Who’ll be the surprise team of 2010? It could be the Reds or even the Pirates, believe it or not, or maybe those strange Brewers. And I’m expecting more from the Cubs and less from the Dodgers. In the American League, I’m expecting a lot from Seattle and, of course, the Twins, not that that would be that much of a surprise. And the M&M twins, Mauer and Morneau, could have very big years….hmmm.
Will a guy like Giants starter Tim Lincecum relax after his big contract? Will the Phils outfielder Jayson Werth go nuts in this last year of his contract? And how will Jason Bay react to his first year as a Met?
Then there’s the question of the newbies, the future stars and big bonus babies who sometimes pan out but more often either split time or play in AAA until July. There’ll be a run on those types in the late rounds and you don’t want to be caught with your pants down when that pick string commences.
Here is where you can find a good summary of those rookies expected to break out in 2010. You’ve probably heard of Stephen Strasburg, the million dollar baby with the Nationals (who could be another sleeper team), but you may not be familiar with Drew Storen, that same team’s potential closer.
And Neftali Feliz, who, I seem to recall, put in some innings last year as a reliever is said to be the Rangers’ Joba Chamberlain. He might become a starter if he can handle the innings.
On the hitting side of your roster, you might consider the Giants’ Buster Posey (and I love the name too, a nice baseball name), a catcher who can spell Bengie Molina, whose penchant for free-swinging is legendary. Another great baseball name is the Rangers’ Justin Smoak, who should be a pitcher with that moniker but actually plays the outfield and can hit like crazy.
So good luck, fantasy nuts, and make sure that first pick is solid. You’ll need him.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Olympian Effort in Baseball?
Oh baby! Baseball’s really revving up now as baseball articles intrude on the Olympics and basketball coverage inundating the sports pages. But, this happens just as I was starting to get into Bode Miller and Lindsay Vonn, and, if I must say so, Julia Mancuso. And the ice dancing, something I ordinarily wouldn’t watch, drew me in last night as the coverage led off with a piece on White and Davis, one of the two American entries skating in the top 5.
What struck me were the sacrifices these two had put in for so many years of their lives. It makes you realize that these Olympians are athletes, highly trained athletes in every sense of the word. And then to see them put up some ridiculously high number to vie for gold was very gratifying. Their attitudes were great too, happy that they did their jobs pretty splendidly and only hoping for the best. They wound up with silver, of course, and I had to grudgingly admit that that Canadian couple looked pretty damned good too. (How’s that for analysis)?
It made me wonder too. Do baseball players try that hard to achieve excellence? More particularly, do Mets players try that hard? More particularly even than that, does Oliver Perez even toss the ball around in the off-season?
I pick on Perez as I had just finished reading that Sandy Koufax was impressed with him and that Jerry Manuel was impressed that he could duplicate the same delivery twice in a row. I can understand Koufax being impressed with his arm. Koufax was notoriously wild early in his career. His success came relatively late. I can recall watching some of his early games, wondering what all the fuss was about him. He couldn’t come near the plate some games.
Let’s hope Ollie’s career takes a similar path. That’d be nice. It’s encouraging too that Manuel had some good things to say about him. At this point, I don’t think Manuel would go out of his way to say good things about someone who has arguably been the Mets greatest failure.
But really, how hard is that guy capable of working? And how long will he be able to keep it up? I guess 2010 will tell us. We’ll see if he can become the #2 starter the Mets have needed. Not that a good or even great performance from Perez would have made any difference last year.
But, all in all, there have been a lot of good indicators coming out of Mets camp. You hear that Pelfrey dropped 25 pounds, not that that’s necessarily a good thing. I can recall Sid Fernandez, one of my all-time favorite Mets pitchers, dropping weight and being dreadful. But Pelfrey’s dropping some pounds is a good sign of effort.
Carlos Beltran, too, seems over his funk, or at least that has become his story. I personally don’t think Beltran is the type of person to worry too much about anything. And while he was obviously perturbed with the Mets and their medical staff, it sounds as if it was for good reason. He knows it, the Mets probably know it, and the whole incident just smells of bad public relations and bad communications within the Mets hierarchy. Again.
Ah well, let’s face it. Everything can’t be rosy. Sometimes it’s tough to be a Mets fan. For example, I had been looking forward to watching Omir Santos break out and have a good year. Next thing I know, he’s out and Rod Barajas is in. Why? I have no idea. And Santos won’t even be the second catcher. That job will go to another guy, Thole, nobody’s ever heard of. Why? I have no idea. Maybe it’s excessive perspiration or he needs a breath mint once in a while. He sure seemed to hit in the clutch. How bad can his pitch selection be?
And speaking of pitch selection, there’s the story out of Yankee camp that Burnett and Posada have worked out their differences, or, alternately, that there was never a problem to begin with. That Girardi gave Burnett Molina to catch all his games was just some kind of miraculous coincidence. Posada isn’t as stupid as he looks….or something.
Ah geez, there’s that Yankee hate coming out of me again. I just can’t help myself sometimes, like Newman (from Seinfeld) railing against the postal system. At least he had Kramer to rein him in and bring him back to reality. I have to rely only on Yankee beat writers and the few pearls of what is supposed to be wisdom from Brian Cashman.
Okay, he finally got them a World Series. After outspending the entire free world for baseball players for around ten years or so, he finally got one. Let’s anoint him baseball’s version of Bill Walsh. Oops, there I go again.
But really, the difference between the Mets and Yanks is astounding when it comes to PR. The Mets say nothing, the Yanks spin stories. For example, Joba is officially off his pitch count, but, oh by the way, he may be going to the pen.
I’m still amazed the Yanks let Johnny Damon go. He was the perfect Yankee in that nobody was ever more full of baloney. He’s thrilled to be a Tiger, he always wanted to play for Detroit, he’s happy with his one-year contract for 8 mill. Heeeere’s Johnny….
Let’s see now, is there a point to these ramblings? I’ll tie it all up with this….if the Mets put as much effort into communications as they expect their players to put into baseball, things would be better. And if the Yankees put as much effort into baseball as they put into baloney, they’d probably have some more Series rings to their credit.
Oh, and they really should have made more of an effort for Damon/Matsui. I can’t wait for crunchtime in Yankee games when it’s all on the line for, um, Granderson? Nick Johnson? Heh-heh.
What struck me were the sacrifices these two had put in for so many years of their lives. It makes you realize that these Olympians are athletes, highly trained athletes in every sense of the word. And then to see them put up some ridiculously high number to vie for gold was very gratifying. Their attitudes were great too, happy that they did their jobs pretty splendidly and only hoping for the best. They wound up with silver, of course, and I had to grudgingly admit that that Canadian couple looked pretty damned good too. (How’s that for analysis)?
It made me wonder too. Do baseball players try that hard to achieve excellence? More particularly, do Mets players try that hard? More particularly even than that, does Oliver Perez even toss the ball around in the off-season?
I pick on Perez as I had just finished reading that Sandy Koufax was impressed with him and that Jerry Manuel was impressed that he could duplicate the same delivery twice in a row. I can understand Koufax being impressed with his arm. Koufax was notoriously wild early in his career. His success came relatively late. I can recall watching some of his early games, wondering what all the fuss was about him. He couldn’t come near the plate some games.
Let’s hope Ollie’s career takes a similar path. That’d be nice. It’s encouraging too that Manuel had some good things to say about him. At this point, I don’t think Manuel would go out of his way to say good things about someone who has arguably been the Mets greatest failure.
But really, how hard is that guy capable of working? And how long will he be able to keep it up? I guess 2010 will tell us. We’ll see if he can become the #2 starter the Mets have needed. Not that a good or even great performance from Perez would have made any difference last year.
But, all in all, there have been a lot of good indicators coming out of Mets camp. You hear that Pelfrey dropped 25 pounds, not that that’s necessarily a good thing. I can recall Sid Fernandez, one of my all-time favorite Mets pitchers, dropping weight and being dreadful. But Pelfrey’s dropping some pounds is a good sign of effort.
Carlos Beltran, too, seems over his funk, or at least that has become his story. I personally don’t think Beltran is the type of person to worry too much about anything. And while he was obviously perturbed with the Mets and their medical staff, it sounds as if it was for good reason. He knows it, the Mets probably know it, and the whole incident just smells of bad public relations and bad communications within the Mets hierarchy. Again.
Ah well, let’s face it. Everything can’t be rosy. Sometimes it’s tough to be a Mets fan. For example, I had been looking forward to watching Omir Santos break out and have a good year. Next thing I know, he’s out and Rod Barajas is in. Why? I have no idea. And Santos won’t even be the second catcher. That job will go to another guy, Thole, nobody’s ever heard of. Why? I have no idea. Maybe it’s excessive perspiration or he needs a breath mint once in a while. He sure seemed to hit in the clutch. How bad can his pitch selection be?
And speaking of pitch selection, there’s the story out of Yankee camp that Burnett and Posada have worked out their differences, or, alternately, that there was never a problem to begin with. That Girardi gave Burnett Molina to catch all his games was just some kind of miraculous coincidence. Posada isn’t as stupid as he looks….or something.
Ah geez, there’s that Yankee hate coming out of me again. I just can’t help myself sometimes, like Newman (from Seinfeld) railing against the postal system. At least he had Kramer to rein him in and bring him back to reality. I have to rely only on Yankee beat writers and the few pearls of what is supposed to be wisdom from Brian Cashman.
Okay, he finally got them a World Series. After outspending the entire free world for baseball players for around ten years or so, he finally got one. Let’s anoint him baseball’s version of Bill Walsh. Oops, there I go again.
But really, the difference between the Mets and Yanks is astounding when it comes to PR. The Mets say nothing, the Yanks spin stories. For example, Joba is officially off his pitch count, but, oh by the way, he may be going to the pen.
I’m still amazed the Yanks let Johnny Damon go. He was the perfect Yankee in that nobody was ever more full of baloney. He’s thrilled to be a Tiger, he always wanted to play for Detroit, he’s happy with his one-year contract for 8 mill. Heeeere’s Johnny….
Let’s see now, is there a point to these ramblings? I’ll tie it all up with this….if the Mets put as much effort into communications as they expect their players to put into baseball, things would be better. And if the Yankees put as much effort into baseball as they put into baloney, they’d probably have some more Series rings to their credit.
Oh, and they really should have made more of an effort for Damon/Matsui. I can’t wait for crunchtime in Yankee games when it’s all on the line for, um, Granderson? Nick Johnson? Heh-heh.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
On Playoffs and Bad Football
The playoffs in both leagues start today without the Mets. Groan. I can’t help but wonder whether they could have taken the measure of the Phils or the Dodgers, Cards or Rockies, if they had remained healthy. Maybe, who knows, who’ll ever know?
These NL teams are really stacked though. It would have been tough. I think the Cards are the strongest overall with a powerful lineup and pitching to die for, especially in a five-game series with Carpenter and Wainwright sporting ERA’s of 2.24 and 2.76 respectively. L.A.’s Wolf was just 11-7 with a 3.23 ERA. Kershaw had a great 2.79 ERA but was just 8-8.
Then there’s Pujols and Holliday and a bunch of .300 hitters facing a nice lineup but not an exceptional one, not unless Manny Ramirez should suddenly catch fire. And that’s just not that likely.
In the other series, the Phillies against the Rockies, I know everybody likes the defending champion Phillies, but not me. Even if you forget about the Brad Lidge closer failures, their lineup just hasn’t performed as they did last year, when magic seemed to bloom out of their butts. They may wind up prevailing, with Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels providing a powerful 1-2 punch, but I just don’t think it’s their year.
The Rockies aren’t that impressive either really but were hotter for sure down the stretch and I like their Tulowitzki, Helton and Hawpe in the middle. The Rocks have Ubaldo Jiminez and Jorge De La Rosa too, and possess a better closer in Huston Street. Although it’s tough to pick against the World Champs, they just haven’t clicked as has that hot Denver team. Besides, my nephew likes them and he’s pretty lucky.
Over in the American League, the Yanks are just loaded. It seems almost ridiculous to even go through any analysis. They kill the Twins all the time too. So kiss it goodbye, Minnesota, maybe you should have picked up Favre. They’ll be lucky to take one game.
The other AL matchup should be a classic and I don’t even want to pick a winner as I like both teams. The Red Sox have dominated in their matchups in the past. But it’ll be a new series and, if Lester and Beckett should falter, the Angels have a shot. I love their lineup with real battlers like Figgins and Abreu at the top.
The Yanks can take everybody in either league except for maybe the Angels. So naturally I’m hoping the Angels can make it through Boston. If Figgins and the rest of the speed they’ve got can get on base, they’ll be murderous on either Varitek or Victor Martinez to stop.
So I’m hoping for Rockies-Cards and Angels-Yanks. I have to think the Cards can take the Rockies and hope for a miracle that the Angels will take the Yanks. Actually, come to think of it, maybe it would be pretty neat for the Yanks to get by. Then I can root against them in the World Series once again.
The Cards would have a shot against anybody.
Okay, that’s enough baseball for now. It’s high time to pick on the Jets. No, not really. It’s hard not to like Sanchez and he had a rough, rough day in New Orleans. The offensive line of the Jets took some hits this week and then the Jets picked up Braylon Edwards for Chansi Stuckey and some picks.
I sure hope it’ll be one of those trades that benefit both parties but Edwards can’t catch, a sure-fire weakness in a wideout. I see lots of dropped balls in their future. He sure does get open though.
Then Eli getting hurt in the Chiefs game was decidedly inconvenient. That injury sounds as if it’ll be hanging around for some time too. We have to hope it doesn’t affect Eli’s accuracy. He was having one of his better years in that respect, or is it just that his receivers are better at finding spaces and understanding the offense?
It’d be tough to get on Coughlin’s charges for anything. They didn’t miss a beat against the Chiefs, a game I expected them to win but not cover the spread. I thought they’d let down. They didn’t. With Steve Smith and Mario Manningham and Hakeem Nicks to throw to, you have to wonder if they just might run the table.
They seem as loaded as the Yankees are in baseball. There just aren’t any weaknesses. Of course, I said that about the Mets early this year before every Met of any consequence got hurt. I can only hope it won’t happen to the Giants. Eli’s going down, even for a little time, is not a good sign.
One vaguely upsetting thing in the NFL going forward is the weakness, especially defensively, in at least ten teams. The Chargers are one of those teams for sure after seeing their Sunday night exhibition against the Steelers, who became a great running team seemingly overnight. Then we got to witness a Packers team on Monday that couldn’t block and couldn’t rush the passer. That the passer was my least favorite person in the entire world did not make for a pleasant night, I assure you.
It was good to see that Favre is still a hot dog though, and still looks out for his interests more so than for his team’s. His stupid long pass attempt down the sideline kept Green Bay in the game, and a better team may have been able to capitalize on the opportunity.
Tampa Bay and Washington are both horrible though, Tampa on the defense and the Skins on offense. The Bills once again seem pathetic. The Rams got slaughtered by the 49ers. The Raiders are horrible under a fat and lousy Jamarcus Russell. There’s hope for the Browns as they showed against the tough Bengals but can Mangini really be expected to turn that club around?
Well, it’s just Week Five and hopefully, things only get better.
These NL teams are really stacked though. It would have been tough. I think the Cards are the strongest overall with a powerful lineup and pitching to die for, especially in a five-game series with Carpenter and Wainwright sporting ERA’s of 2.24 and 2.76 respectively. L.A.’s Wolf was just 11-7 with a 3.23 ERA. Kershaw had a great 2.79 ERA but was just 8-8.
Then there’s Pujols and Holliday and a bunch of .300 hitters facing a nice lineup but not an exceptional one, not unless Manny Ramirez should suddenly catch fire. And that’s just not that likely.
In the other series, the Phillies against the Rockies, I know everybody likes the defending champion Phillies, but not me. Even if you forget about the Brad Lidge closer failures, their lineup just hasn’t performed as they did last year, when magic seemed to bloom out of their butts. They may wind up prevailing, with Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels providing a powerful 1-2 punch, but I just don’t think it’s their year.
The Rockies aren’t that impressive either really but were hotter for sure down the stretch and I like their Tulowitzki, Helton and Hawpe in the middle. The Rocks have Ubaldo Jiminez and Jorge De La Rosa too, and possess a better closer in Huston Street. Although it’s tough to pick against the World Champs, they just haven’t clicked as has that hot Denver team. Besides, my nephew likes them and he’s pretty lucky.
Over in the American League, the Yanks are just loaded. It seems almost ridiculous to even go through any analysis. They kill the Twins all the time too. So kiss it goodbye, Minnesota, maybe you should have picked up Favre. They’ll be lucky to take one game.
The other AL matchup should be a classic and I don’t even want to pick a winner as I like both teams. The Red Sox have dominated in their matchups in the past. But it’ll be a new series and, if Lester and Beckett should falter, the Angels have a shot. I love their lineup with real battlers like Figgins and Abreu at the top.
The Yanks can take everybody in either league except for maybe the Angels. So naturally I’m hoping the Angels can make it through Boston. If Figgins and the rest of the speed they’ve got can get on base, they’ll be murderous on either Varitek or Victor Martinez to stop.
So I’m hoping for Rockies-Cards and Angels-Yanks. I have to think the Cards can take the Rockies and hope for a miracle that the Angels will take the Yanks. Actually, come to think of it, maybe it would be pretty neat for the Yanks to get by. Then I can root against them in the World Series once again.
The Cards would have a shot against anybody.
Okay, that’s enough baseball for now. It’s high time to pick on the Jets. No, not really. It’s hard not to like Sanchez and he had a rough, rough day in New Orleans. The offensive line of the Jets took some hits this week and then the Jets picked up Braylon Edwards for Chansi Stuckey and some picks.
I sure hope it’ll be one of those trades that benefit both parties but Edwards can’t catch, a sure-fire weakness in a wideout. I see lots of dropped balls in their future. He sure does get open though.
Then Eli getting hurt in the Chiefs game was decidedly inconvenient. That injury sounds as if it’ll be hanging around for some time too. We have to hope it doesn’t affect Eli’s accuracy. He was having one of his better years in that respect, or is it just that his receivers are better at finding spaces and understanding the offense?
It’d be tough to get on Coughlin’s charges for anything. They didn’t miss a beat against the Chiefs, a game I expected them to win but not cover the spread. I thought they’d let down. They didn’t. With Steve Smith and Mario Manningham and Hakeem Nicks to throw to, you have to wonder if they just might run the table.
They seem as loaded as the Yankees are in baseball. There just aren’t any weaknesses. Of course, I said that about the Mets early this year before every Met of any consequence got hurt. I can only hope it won’t happen to the Giants. Eli’s going down, even for a little time, is not a good sign.
One vaguely upsetting thing in the NFL going forward is the weakness, especially defensively, in at least ten teams. The Chargers are one of those teams for sure after seeing their Sunday night exhibition against the Steelers, who became a great running team seemingly overnight. Then we got to witness a Packers team on Monday that couldn’t block and couldn’t rush the passer. That the passer was my least favorite person in the entire world did not make for a pleasant night, I assure you.
It was good to see that Favre is still a hot dog though, and still looks out for his interests more so than for his team’s. His stupid long pass attempt down the sideline kept Green Bay in the game, and a better team may have been able to capitalize on the opportunity.
Tampa Bay and Washington are both horrible though, Tampa on the defense and the Skins on offense. The Bills once again seem pathetic. The Rams got slaughtered by the 49ers. The Raiders are horrible under a fat and lousy Jamarcus Russell. There’s hope for the Browns as they showed against the tough Bengals but can Mangini really be expected to turn that club around?
Well, it’s just Week Five and hopefully, things only get better.
Friday, August 7, 2009
The Gods of Baseball
Yeah, I had hoped the Mets could get a few more good starts from Livan Hernandez but it wasn’t to be. Before that, I had hoped that Jonathan Niese might be a nice addition to the pitching staff. More recently, I’d hoped for all kinds of things from these Mets but it’s all starting to wear kind of thin.
The baseball gods have abandoned the Mets. Well, that’s not entirely true. Abandonment would imply some neutrality to their situation. What we have here is some active dislike. Surely, random chance would not account for the myriad of misfortunes surrounding this accursed team in 2009.
These latest injuries, Castillo twisting his ankle on a dugout step, Niese totally pulling a tendon from a bone, can’t really affect a Mets fan anymore. We’re out of it. We know we have no chance. So stop already, demons, or whoever you are, you must have accomplished your mission by now.
It’s not even just the players and fans who’ve suffered. The hellcats have managed to get the management too. In one week, Bernazard and Minaya suffered embarrassment that usually takes a few months or even years to accumulate.
For Mets fans, what had been a pleasant trip for several years, a fantasy cruise, has become a nightmare. To borrow from the movie Sahara, what had been the good ship Lollipop has become “a ghost ship, a death ship.”
I’ve been searching for silver linings all season. And, boy oh boy, have I had every opportunity! We’ve certainly had a good look at the minor league system. And we’ve seen some imaginative deals for players, some pretty good players at bargain basement prices, Sheffield for just 400K and Francoeur for very little, really!
There may be some problems that needed uncovering too. Beltran has intimated his injury was not treated right and there certainly have been a preponderance of hamstring injuries, Reyes (again), Niese, Sheffield and, well, what’s the use really of belaboring all this. I’m willing at this point to call everything “acts of God,” or, because I really don’t think God cares too much about major league baseball, “acts of the baseball gods.”
Maybe if I could take some solace in the fact that the Yankees are doing well, I’d feel better. They pounded the Red Sox this night, finally, after eight beatings, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they turned this whole thing around the other way. I mean, really, the Red Sox are all banged up too, and who knows whether the gods will favor them with their malicious intentions.
Jason Bay, who was killing the ball for much of the season and was arguably the best Red Sox player this year, was out, Dice K was out, Big Papi has become Big Poopie, and they had Youkilis playing left field. Oh, and did I mention their starting pitcher is 42 years old? Yeah, I know it’s John Smoltz but just saying….
Joba walked 7 batters in five innings and the Red Sox scored all of four runs. There’s more to this than meets the eye, even given Joba’s penchant for making great pitches in bad situations.
Yeah, they have their ace, Josh Beckett, going tomorrow but I just have this feeling that it won’t appreciably help their situation. The Yanks have Burnett going, which is to say definitely not chopped liver. Then they have Sabathia going, and then Pettitte and things aren’t looking that rosy for the Red Sox, y’know?
Everything’s right with the Bombers these days. Phil Hughes filled their gaping 8th inning hole and then there’s Mariano for the ninth. Even Sergio Mitre is looking good to me. A lot of things that could have gone badly for these damned Yankees is going right.
Wasn’t Matsui a question mark? Not anymore. How about Posada? He’s just fine, thank you. Damon? He’s having an incredible year. Cano is playing out of his mind, at the plate and especially in the field.
He’s been getting to every ball and it doesn’t seem to matter whether it’s to his left or to his right. He just makes it look more impressive when the ball is hit to his right side so he can make that incredible throw he’s developed back to Teixeira. They’ve been calling it a Jeter move but it’s really not. Jeter jumps high in the air, spins and throws, all of which takes some time. Cano just whips the ball over his left shoulder in one motion. It’s really unbelievable, especially for a guy who seemed to be loafing for much of 2008.
It’s looking a lot like a Yankees year. But it’ll take some convincing for me to believe these matters are being decided on the field and not in the heavens. And, yeah, I know, people make their own luck. Gimme a break, okay.
If people make their own luck, why do we have Murphy at first base, Cora at second, and Berroa at shortstop? And the unlikely combo of Tatis, Pagan and Francoeur manning the outfield? The only remaining regular is Wright at third, and I’m kind of afraid to even point that out.
This could’ve been, should’ve been, the Mets year. They had it all but relief pitching. Minaya finally picked up two of the best relievers out there in K-Rod and Sean Green and it should have been all over but the shoutin’.
No, this isn’t a case of people making their own luck. This is just too weird. Have you noticed that it rained all through June and July and it’s been about 10 degrees cooler? And there’s been hardly any sunspot activity? And, wonder of wonders, Bill Clinton got those two reporters out of North Korea? And, well, the President is Barack Obama?
Okay, maybe I’m overdoing it but I’ve just about had it. When the Yankees start having good luck too, on top of their incredible resources, the fates seem to be just piling on. Or is it those baseball gods?
The baseball gods have abandoned the Mets. Well, that’s not entirely true. Abandonment would imply some neutrality to their situation. What we have here is some active dislike. Surely, random chance would not account for the myriad of misfortunes surrounding this accursed team in 2009.
These latest injuries, Castillo twisting his ankle on a dugout step, Niese totally pulling a tendon from a bone, can’t really affect a Mets fan anymore. We’re out of it. We know we have no chance. So stop already, demons, or whoever you are, you must have accomplished your mission by now.
It’s not even just the players and fans who’ve suffered. The hellcats have managed to get the management too. In one week, Bernazard and Minaya suffered embarrassment that usually takes a few months or even years to accumulate.
For Mets fans, what had been a pleasant trip for several years, a fantasy cruise, has become a nightmare. To borrow from the movie Sahara, what had been the good ship Lollipop has become “a ghost ship, a death ship.”
I’ve been searching for silver linings all season. And, boy oh boy, have I had every opportunity! We’ve certainly had a good look at the minor league system. And we’ve seen some imaginative deals for players, some pretty good players at bargain basement prices, Sheffield for just 400K and Francoeur for very little, really!
There may be some problems that needed uncovering too. Beltran has intimated his injury was not treated right and there certainly have been a preponderance of hamstring injuries, Reyes (again), Niese, Sheffield and, well, what’s the use really of belaboring all this. I’m willing at this point to call everything “acts of God,” or, because I really don’t think God cares too much about major league baseball, “acts of the baseball gods.”
Maybe if I could take some solace in the fact that the Yankees are doing well, I’d feel better. They pounded the Red Sox this night, finally, after eight beatings, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they turned this whole thing around the other way. I mean, really, the Red Sox are all banged up too, and who knows whether the gods will favor them with their malicious intentions.
Jason Bay, who was killing the ball for much of the season and was arguably the best Red Sox player this year, was out, Dice K was out, Big Papi has become Big Poopie, and they had Youkilis playing left field. Oh, and did I mention their starting pitcher is 42 years old? Yeah, I know it’s John Smoltz but just saying….
Joba walked 7 batters in five innings and the Red Sox scored all of four runs. There’s more to this than meets the eye, even given Joba’s penchant for making great pitches in bad situations.
Yeah, they have their ace, Josh Beckett, going tomorrow but I just have this feeling that it won’t appreciably help their situation. The Yanks have Burnett going, which is to say definitely not chopped liver. Then they have Sabathia going, and then Pettitte and things aren’t looking that rosy for the Red Sox, y’know?
Everything’s right with the Bombers these days. Phil Hughes filled their gaping 8th inning hole and then there’s Mariano for the ninth. Even Sergio Mitre is looking good to me. A lot of things that could have gone badly for these damned Yankees is going right.
Wasn’t Matsui a question mark? Not anymore. How about Posada? He’s just fine, thank you. Damon? He’s having an incredible year. Cano is playing out of his mind, at the plate and especially in the field.
He’s been getting to every ball and it doesn’t seem to matter whether it’s to his left or to his right. He just makes it look more impressive when the ball is hit to his right side so he can make that incredible throw he’s developed back to Teixeira. They’ve been calling it a Jeter move but it’s really not. Jeter jumps high in the air, spins and throws, all of which takes some time. Cano just whips the ball over his left shoulder in one motion. It’s really unbelievable, especially for a guy who seemed to be loafing for much of 2008.
It’s looking a lot like a Yankees year. But it’ll take some convincing for me to believe these matters are being decided on the field and not in the heavens. And, yeah, I know, people make their own luck. Gimme a break, okay.
If people make their own luck, why do we have Murphy at first base, Cora at second, and Berroa at shortstop? And the unlikely combo of Tatis, Pagan and Francoeur manning the outfield? The only remaining regular is Wright at third, and I’m kind of afraid to even point that out.
This could’ve been, should’ve been, the Mets year. They had it all but relief pitching. Minaya finally picked up two of the best relievers out there in K-Rod and Sean Green and it should have been all over but the shoutin’.
No, this isn’t a case of people making their own luck. This is just too weird. Have you noticed that it rained all through June and July and it’s been about 10 degrees cooler? And there’s been hardly any sunspot activity? And, wonder of wonders, Bill Clinton got those two reporters out of North Korea? And, well, the President is Barack Obama?
Okay, maybe I’m overdoing it but I’ve just about had it. When the Yankees start having good luck too, on top of their incredible resources, the fates seem to be just piling on. Or is it those baseball gods?
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
A Wonderful Day
Camden Yards! What a ballpark! Lots of history, even more atmosphere, and a tremendous ball game in the offing. At press time, it’s 4-2 Mets against the Orioles and Pelfrey’s just starting to get into trouble in the sixth, this after striking out Brian Roberts with the bases loaded to end the fifth. But Pelfrey induces the easy double play, Castillo to Cora to Murphy. Not exactly Tinker to Evers to Chance.
It’s a little difficult to get into this inter-league play, especially when it produces matchups like this one. Not that there’s anything wrong with the Orioles, but the names in the lineup don’t exactly roll off your tongue. (And here comes Manuel to get Pelfrey outta there).
Up north a hundred miles or so at the new Yankee Stadium, inter-league play gives us the scary-bad Washington Nationals versus the Yanks. Incredibly enough, halfway through the game, the Nats have a 3-2 lead off an Anderson Hernandez home run of the three-run variety. Mets fans will recall the light-hitting Hernandez and continue to wonder at the ease of stroking the dingers at the Yanks new digs.
So it’s a good night. The temperature’s around 60, but it feels like warmer than that, perfect baseball weather for a night game. It’s now 8:58 PM and it seems as if the sun just went down, slowly closing the shutters on what has been a beautiful day, especially for a guy who’s not in love with hot weather.
Back to the Mets game and the Birds are taking their starter out too. So rather than watch still another ad, I see it’s the 7th and C.C. is still mowing them down. Big man, Sabathia, especially on the close-ups. Big glove, big body, big stretch, and a big heart too judging from his performances over the years.
But as I can’t bring myself to watch the rest of the 7th-inning ceremonies, it’s back to the Metsies, who have now chased the horrible O’s reliever, the lefty who faced two lefties and put both of them on-base. So things look good in Mudville. It’s bases-loaded for Beltran against new reliever Danys Baez. But Beltran grounds into a force at home. Uh-oh, maybe another wasted opportunity in the offing. Maybe Wright can save the day…maybe not. Wright has now fouled a few into the dirt before popping one up.
But the Mets catch a Luis Castillo moment that works against the other side as the Orioles muff the pop-up. So it’s now 6-2 and that’ll probably be the end of things with Church up, and sure as the sun will shine tomorrow, Church grounds out to third.
Manuel is fielding my worst nightmare of a lineup tonight, with Church and Schneider both in the game at the expense of Tatis and Santos. What a bad trade-off that is, even if Church did manage an RBI earlier. Even Church can get a hit once in a while.
Back to the Yankees, they’re now up by a run and Robinson Cano, who’s 4-4 tonight, just drove in Teixeira with the go-ahead run. What a find Teixeira has been! Everybody talks about the return of Arod and with good reason. Teixeira’s been on fire ever since, and he now leads the American League in homers.
Back to the Mets and my other doghouse guy is up there, Schneider. Omigosh! He strokes a double to go with a single and a walk. Holy cow, I might have to revise my opinion a little. Santos can’t play every day, I guess.
It’s the 8th now at the Yankees bandbox of a field and Sabathia’s now outta there. Kaye has just asked whether the bullpen can save the game, and it wasn’t a rhetorical question, not in this context. The Yanks bullpen has really been awful, it’s too nice of a night to say they’ve stunk, so I’ll anxiously await the result. Hopefully, they’ll throw Bruney in there and, wonder of wonders, they do.
Whew! A 96 mph fastball gets by Zimmerman for strike two. But another fireball gets fouled into the seats, Zimmerman’s catching up. Then one out of the strikezone and then a ground ball that Cano races down in the hole. I must say Cano has been excellent tonight too. I haven’t really been in his corner all year but he’s making me sorry.
If there’s a theme to the night, it may be that I’ve been wrong about all these guys, Church, Schneider, Cano…..I hope it’s true. If so, the Mets can maybe climb back in the race, if not for the NL East crown, maybe the wildcard, as the SF Giants now lead four or five teams in the hunt for that fourth playoff spot.
As for Cano, the Yanks look strong enough to get some playoff spot, with or without Cano. My favorite Yankee’s up at the plate now, but he just took strike two on a pitch that was well outside the strike zone. So things don’t look good for the Swish.
Swisher just advanced Gardner to third. Maybe Melky will have some luck and get C.C. that insurance run. Of course, going into the 9th now, Mariano Rivera may not need it.
Back to the Mets again and, lo and behold, it’s Church up yet again with runners on first and third. But he fends off a tough outside pitch by flying out weakly to left. Hmm, maybe I’m not that wrong about him. He’s really been pitiful all year at the plate and shows very little real sign of coming out of it.
Bobby Parnell’s in there now for the Mets in the ninth. And Mora’s up, one of the more recognizable Birds. He strokes one to right that Church lets bounce in front of him. Now another base hit makes it two on with nobody out. Here comes K-Rod in what nas now become a save situation.
Put both games in the books. K-Rod comes through. It is a wonderful day.
It’s a little difficult to get into this inter-league play, especially when it produces matchups like this one. Not that there’s anything wrong with the Orioles, but the names in the lineup don’t exactly roll off your tongue. (And here comes Manuel to get Pelfrey outta there).
Up north a hundred miles or so at the new Yankee Stadium, inter-league play gives us the scary-bad Washington Nationals versus the Yanks. Incredibly enough, halfway through the game, the Nats have a 3-2 lead off an Anderson Hernandez home run of the three-run variety. Mets fans will recall the light-hitting Hernandez and continue to wonder at the ease of stroking the dingers at the Yanks new digs.
So it’s a good night. The temperature’s around 60, but it feels like warmer than that, perfect baseball weather for a night game. It’s now 8:58 PM and it seems as if the sun just went down, slowly closing the shutters on what has been a beautiful day, especially for a guy who’s not in love with hot weather.
Back to the Mets game and the Birds are taking their starter out too. So rather than watch still another ad, I see it’s the 7th and C.C. is still mowing them down. Big man, Sabathia, especially on the close-ups. Big glove, big body, big stretch, and a big heart too judging from his performances over the years.
But as I can’t bring myself to watch the rest of the 7th-inning ceremonies, it’s back to the Metsies, who have now chased the horrible O’s reliever, the lefty who faced two lefties and put both of them on-base. So things look good in Mudville. It’s bases-loaded for Beltran against new reliever Danys Baez. But Beltran grounds into a force at home. Uh-oh, maybe another wasted opportunity in the offing. Maybe Wright can save the day…maybe not. Wright has now fouled a few into the dirt before popping one up.
But the Mets catch a Luis Castillo moment that works against the other side as the Orioles muff the pop-up. So it’s now 6-2 and that’ll probably be the end of things with Church up, and sure as the sun will shine tomorrow, Church grounds out to third.
Manuel is fielding my worst nightmare of a lineup tonight, with Church and Schneider both in the game at the expense of Tatis and Santos. What a bad trade-off that is, even if Church did manage an RBI earlier. Even Church can get a hit once in a while.
Back to the Yankees, they’re now up by a run and Robinson Cano, who’s 4-4 tonight, just drove in Teixeira with the go-ahead run. What a find Teixeira has been! Everybody talks about the return of Arod and with good reason. Teixeira’s been on fire ever since, and he now leads the American League in homers.
Back to the Mets and my other doghouse guy is up there, Schneider. Omigosh! He strokes a double to go with a single and a walk. Holy cow, I might have to revise my opinion a little. Santos can’t play every day, I guess.
It’s the 8th now at the Yankees bandbox of a field and Sabathia’s now outta there. Kaye has just asked whether the bullpen can save the game, and it wasn’t a rhetorical question, not in this context. The Yanks bullpen has really been awful, it’s too nice of a night to say they’ve stunk, so I’ll anxiously await the result. Hopefully, they’ll throw Bruney in there and, wonder of wonders, they do.
Whew! A 96 mph fastball gets by Zimmerman for strike two. But another fireball gets fouled into the seats, Zimmerman’s catching up. Then one out of the strikezone and then a ground ball that Cano races down in the hole. I must say Cano has been excellent tonight too. I haven’t really been in his corner all year but he’s making me sorry.
If there’s a theme to the night, it may be that I’ve been wrong about all these guys, Church, Schneider, Cano…..I hope it’s true. If so, the Mets can maybe climb back in the race, if not for the NL East crown, maybe the wildcard, as the SF Giants now lead four or five teams in the hunt for that fourth playoff spot.
As for Cano, the Yanks look strong enough to get some playoff spot, with or without Cano. My favorite Yankee’s up at the plate now, but he just took strike two on a pitch that was well outside the strike zone. So things don’t look good for the Swish.
Swisher just advanced Gardner to third. Maybe Melky will have some luck and get C.C. that insurance run. Of course, going into the 9th now, Mariano Rivera may not need it.
Back to the Mets again and, lo and behold, it’s Church up yet again with runners on first and third. But he fends off a tough outside pitch by flying out weakly to left. Hmm, maybe I’m not that wrong about him. He’s really been pitiful all year at the plate and shows very little real sign of coming out of it.
Bobby Parnell’s in there now for the Mets in the ninth. And Mora’s up, one of the more recognizable Birds. He strokes one to right that Church lets bounce in front of him. Now another base hit makes it two on with nobody out. Here comes K-Rod in what nas now become a save situation.
Put both games in the books. K-Rod comes through. It is a wonderful day.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
It's Just a Game
Well, here we are on Sunday afternoon, the Mets game just starting, and we’ve got Johan Santana going against the hated Yankees. Again. The Yanks have A.J. Burnet going so it should be a game more reminiscent of the opener, the one Luis Castillo lost.
Let’s not forget that in our rush to forgive him. I know he said some things after the game that made everybody happy, and he performed pretty well in Game 2. But his gaffe was a classic choke. He was overwhelmed by the moment. That doesn’t bode well for the future.
It should have been a great Friday night. (Luis just caught a popup to derisive applause). Instead, what we got was misery. It should have been a story of Joba and the equally as stiff-necked Jorge Posada fighting for four innings, it should have been about Joe Girardi totally blowing the game by inserting Mariano Rivera into the game in the eighth, a move that totally backfired when David Wright ripped a double to right center. It should have been the tale of K-Rod vs. A-Rod, a bout clearly won by K-Rod as he induced the easy popup to second base.
But no, what we got was a stumblin’ bumblin’ Luis Castillo. You knew he was going to miss it from the start. His legs weren’t working right, you could see he was flustered, and for a second it looked as if he wouldn’t even get under the ball. But instead, he just opened his mitt as far as he could spread it, like a frying pan, and his hands proved as hard as one, as the ball bounced a foot in the air as Luis fell to the ground.
Let’s not forget how pitiful it was, that’s all. Yeah, he apologized. It doesn’t make me feel any better. I had been one of his advocates, willing to accept his shortcomings for his veteran presence. But not after Friday night. Luis can get together with his friend Ryan Church, go down to the bus station, and buy a ticket anywhere they want.
Yes, Ryan Church hit a big homer the other day. That’s just great. It was his first homer in eons. It’ll likely be his last homer for a while. Did I say homer? It’ll probably be one of the few hits he gets this month. Francesa keeps saying Manuel is picking on him. I say “Good”!
Church’s best point is that he’s usually ineffectual. The rest of the time, he loses games.
We’ve got Fernando Martinez now. Send Church packing. Send Castillo packing. They’re wonderful people but they either don’t touch third base on the way home or they don’t catch fly balls with the game on the line.
Understanding? Sorry, my plate is full. I can’t take any more. Of course I realize the Mets can’t really just drop the two of them, especially in their depleted state, but let’s not expect too much from them. Bat for Church in big spots and spell Castillo with defensive replacements for the rest of his contract. They both deserve the disdain.
We’ve all faced situations like Castillo’s. We all choke up a bit in critical situations, usually if we’re really not prepared. The job interviewer opens with “tell me about yourself” and if you really hadn’t thought about it, you might have a lot of trouble. Practice and experience make those moments go away. Ordinarily.
Two games that should have been in the book as wins were lost. Two big wins became two big losses. As I said, my plate is full. When your veterans can’t perform under pressure, you may as well pack it in.
As this is written, Santana is getting banged around and Martinez missed the cutoff man. While yesterday was the day of Fernando, Martinez and Nieve, today will not be a repeat.
It’s now 4-zip. It’s probably over, or may as well be. Maybe I’ll switch to the parade. Bernie’s playing guitar there and with no less than another Feliciano, the one who wants you to light his fire. Well, Wright got still another hit, but who should come up but ol’ rally-killin’ Church. He thus far today has grounded out on the first pitch he was offered. Typical day for Church. And he just struck out, what a surprise.
The news isn’t all bad for the Mets though. Omir Santos has been a pleasant surprise. I like Alex Cora. Sheffield looks bad quite a lot but then does pop one over the wall once in a while. He looks for the base on balls much too often and sometimes looks silly doing it.
The pitching’s been pretty good too. It’ll certainly help them stay in the race, but this club is not a winner. It’s a shame too. They have some excellent individuals, Wright, Beltran, Santana, Reyes and Delgado when they play, but they seem to never put it together as a team, not as the Phillies do.
So I’m just narrowing my expectations. They’ll probably be able to play .500 ball until the return of Reyes and then maybe they’ll play little better than that. But they just don’t have enough players who play as if they care. Why should I get my hopes up?
In the meantime, I’ll watch. I’ll watch as if I were watching one of Joan Payson’s comic teams of yesteryear. A combination of hard luck and bad play has pretty much done them in for 2009. You can’t get good luck as they did Friday night and then throw it away, or better put, bumble it all away. If it takes the heart out of a fan, I’m sure it does much the same to the team.
But it’s just a game. Maybe Castillo should remember that. If he comes away with anything after this singular experience of his, it should be that. You’re supposed to be having fun, relishing the opportunity to show 50,000 fans just how good you are.
Let’s not forget that in our rush to forgive him. I know he said some things after the game that made everybody happy, and he performed pretty well in Game 2. But his gaffe was a classic choke. He was overwhelmed by the moment. That doesn’t bode well for the future.
It should have been a great Friday night. (Luis just caught a popup to derisive applause). Instead, what we got was misery. It should have been a story of Joba and the equally as stiff-necked Jorge Posada fighting for four innings, it should have been about Joe Girardi totally blowing the game by inserting Mariano Rivera into the game in the eighth, a move that totally backfired when David Wright ripped a double to right center. It should have been the tale of K-Rod vs. A-Rod, a bout clearly won by K-Rod as he induced the easy popup to second base.
But no, what we got was a stumblin’ bumblin’ Luis Castillo. You knew he was going to miss it from the start. His legs weren’t working right, you could see he was flustered, and for a second it looked as if he wouldn’t even get under the ball. But instead, he just opened his mitt as far as he could spread it, like a frying pan, and his hands proved as hard as one, as the ball bounced a foot in the air as Luis fell to the ground.
Let’s not forget how pitiful it was, that’s all. Yeah, he apologized. It doesn’t make me feel any better. I had been one of his advocates, willing to accept his shortcomings for his veteran presence. But not after Friday night. Luis can get together with his friend Ryan Church, go down to the bus station, and buy a ticket anywhere they want.
Yes, Ryan Church hit a big homer the other day. That’s just great. It was his first homer in eons. It’ll likely be his last homer for a while. Did I say homer? It’ll probably be one of the few hits he gets this month. Francesa keeps saying Manuel is picking on him. I say “Good”!
Church’s best point is that he’s usually ineffectual. The rest of the time, he loses games.
We’ve got Fernando Martinez now. Send Church packing. Send Castillo packing. They’re wonderful people but they either don’t touch third base on the way home or they don’t catch fly balls with the game on the line.
Understanding? Sorry, my plate is full. I can’t take any more. Of course I realize the Mets can’t really just drop the two of them, especially in their depleted state, but let’s not expect too much from them. Bat for Church in big spots and spell Castillo with defensive replacements for the rest of his contract. They both deserve the disdain.
We’ve all faced situations like Castillo’s. We all choke up a bit in critical situations, usually if we’re really not prepared. The job interviewer opens with “tell me about yourself” and if you really hadn’t thought about it, you might have a lot of trouble. Practice and experience make those moments go away. Ordinarily.
Two games that should have been in the book as wins were lost. Two big wins became two big losses. As I said, my plate is full. When your veterans can’t perform under pressure, you may as well pack it in.
As this is written, Santana is getting banged around and Martinez missed the cutoff man. While yesterday was the day of Fernando, Martinez and Nieve, today will not be a repeat.
It’s now 4-zip. It’s probably over, or may as well be. Maybe I’ll switch to the parade. Bernie’s playing guitar there and with no less than another Feliciano, the one who wants you to light his fire. Well, Wright got still another hit, but who should come up but ol’ rally-killin’ Church. He thus far today has grounded out on the first pitch he was offered. Typical day for Church. And he just struck out, what a surprise.
The news isn’t all bad for the Mets though. Omir Santos has been a pleasant surprise. I like Alex Cora. Sheffield looks bad quite a lot but then does pop one over the wall once in a while. He looks for the base on balls much too often and sometimes looks silly doing it.
The pitching’s been pretty good too. It’ll certainly help them stay in the race, but this club is not a winner. It’s a shame too. They have some excellent individuals, Wright, Beltran, Santana, Reyes and Delgado when they play, but they seem to never put it together as a team, not as the Phillies do.
So I’m just narrowing my expectations. They’ll probably be able to play .500 ball until the return of Reyes and then maybe they’ll play little better than that. But they just don’t have enough players who play as if they care. Why should I get my hopes up?
In the meantime, I’ll watch. I’ll watch as if I were watching one of Joan Payson’s comic teams of yesteryear. A combination of hard luck and bad play has pretty much done them in for 2009. You can’t get good luck as they did Friday night and then throw it away, or better put, bumble it all away. If it takes the heart out of a fan, I’m sure it does much the same to the team.
But it’s just a game. Maybe Castillo should remember that. If he comes away with anything after this singular experience of his, it should be that. You’re supposed to be having fun, relishing the opportunity to show 50,000 fans just how good you are.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Just Shoot Me, Peg
Being a Mets fan can be horrible. How many innings can feature Tatis, Church and Santos? Oh God!! I know it was just one game but the Phillies don’t have these problems. Everybody they send up to the plate has at least some percentage chance of getting a hit. Watching Sheffield try desperately to draw a walk was pitiful. Then there’s the return of Brian Schneider. Somebody kill me.
Of course, if you are the type who cannot obsess too much about the actual results, you’re in good shape. These two Mets-Phils contests have been baseball at its finest. And the two Red Sox-Yanks games haven’t been too shabby either. I wish I could make out what the fans in Boston were yelling at A-Rod. I couldn’t make it out but it was funny anyway. Real mean-spirited stuff. God, I love baseball.
A_Rod wound up walking in that at-bat late in the Yankee game. I thought it showed incredible poise and courage. (Damn , there I go sayin’ sumthin’ nice about a Yankee, and, horror of horrors, friggin’ A-Rod).
I have to say I’m having trouble focusing, just getting these various images of Beltran just missing that long drive to center, or Swisher diving to his right to snare somebody’s drive to the gap. Just saying “drive to the gap” makes me glad to be alive. Then, a little later, the Phils Jayson Werth made much the same catch in much the same fashion in much the same place on the field. (I was going to say “on the diamond” but the outfield is well outside the diamond, isn’t it)?
But Swisher’s a lefty and Werth’s a righty so the catch was actually quite different, but I digress.
I have to say the Mets are hangin’ in there. Pelfrey was mostly great tonight, and that was following Santana’s gutsy performance the night before. Wright was out of his mind at the plate, but geez, I wish he would’ve made the play on that bouncer and helped stop that 3-run outburst in the 7th, I think it was. And why was Pelfrey still in there, I wondered?
Then I found out. Aah! I really shouldn’t blame Parnell, I guess, but it’s difficult. The Mets reliever I had hoped would fill Putz’s shoes hasn’t quite done it yet. But then it was Chase Utley up there, right? And if it wasn’t him, it would’ve been Howard or Werth or Victorino or Rollins. Geez.
Technology is great as it applies to a baseball fan, though. I watched the complete Mets-Phils first game this afternoon as I was caulking the cracks between my house and the little side patio. (Caulking isn’t really that interesting, y’know)?
Why does the question mark follow the right paren’ anyway? It sure doesn’t exactly flow from the keyboard. But let me get back to technology. So I can just touch the “last” button on my remote and watch Jeter do his inside-out thing, then flip to watch Jimmy Rollins take out Alex Cora at 2nd base to foil the double play. It was a play that kept the Phillies alive, but K-Rod would have none of it.
The Mets games are done on the tube by Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling and Gary Cohen, and if there’s ever been a better triumvirate doing any kind of game, somebody let me know because I want to watch it. Darling is a great straight man for Cohen and Hernandez, who are a riot together, and they both are very knowledgable about the game, sharing their interesting insights on the way the game is played, or a bit of history, or what they had for lunch. And it’s all pretty funny.
Then there’s the basketball. It’s been tough to ignore this Lakers-Magic final, even if you’re down on basketball, which I have been for many a month of Sundays. If the officials don’t control the game, and if the NBA doesn’t control the officials, it really becomes a very great game, basketball.
There’re always big guys in the middle of course. And a man with the unlikely name of Pau Gasol is trying to play with the modestly-named Superman in the center of things, and so far anyway, he’s not been bad. The there’s Bynum and a couple of other bodies Phil Jackson could dream up to put against him, the big man, Howard.
Kobe Bryant’s been playing like Kobe Bryant can play, and that’s pretty darned good. That’ll eventually be the reason the Lakers will take this final, or these Finals, Kobe just taking things over when he needs to. So that’s not all bad. Let’s see if anybody can stop him.
I spent last week with a lot of people who hated sports, or just thought it was so very stupid. And who could disagree with them? They’re usually people who never had the occasion to play a game of any kind, so I can understand them not being interested. What I can’t figure out is why they seem so obsessed with stamping out anybody else’s interest. It’s really a puzzler to me.
I can’t dance. (That became obvious at this wedding I attended in the midst of our vacation). But I don’t hate dances, or hate anybody who participates, or who watches the participants with some level of enthusiasm.
These are the same people who could watch an opera or a ballet and appreciate the extraordinary talent displayed for them. So why can’t I do the same for baseball or basketball? And what business is it of theirs anyway? Maybe they’re just put off by the money it eventually costs each of us, even if the local politicos would have you believe differently.
There’s the New Yorker’s Smokers Quit Line, for example. How much are those gruesome commercials costing us? I smoke on occasion and just hit that same button on the remote within a couple of seconds. God, I do love technology.
Of course, if you are the type who cannot obsess too much about the actual results, you’re in good shape. These two Mets-Phils contests have been baseball at its finest. And the two Red Sox-Yanks games haven’t been too shabby either. I wish I could make out what the fans in Boston were yelling at A-Rod. I couldn’t make it out but it was funny anyway. Real mean-spirited stuff. God, I love baseball.
A_Rod wound up walking in that at-bat late in the Yankee game. I thought it showed incredible poise and courage. (Damn , there I go sayin’ sumthin’ nice about a Yankee, and, horror of horrors, friggin’ A-Rod).
I have to say I’m having trouble focusing, just getting these various images of Beltran just missing that long drive to center, or Swisher diving to his right to snare somebody’s drive to the gap. Just saying “drive to the gap” makes me glad to be alive. Then, a little later, the Phils Jayson Werth made much the same catch in much the same fashion in much the same place on the field. (I was going to say “on the diamond” but the outfield is well outside the diamond, isn’t it)?
But Swisher’s a lefty and Werth’s a righty so the catch was actually quite different, but I digress.
I have to say the Mets are hangin’ in there. Pelfrey was mostly great tonight, and that was following Santana’s gutsy performance the night before. Wright was out of his mind at the plate, but geez, I wish he would’ve made the play on that bouncer and helped stop that 3-run outburst in the 7th, I think it was. And why was Pelfrey still in there, I wondered?
Then I found out. Aah! I really shouldn’t blame Parnell, I guess, but it’s difficult. The Mets reliever I had hoped would fill Putz’s shoes hasn’t quite done it yet. But then it was Chase Utley up there, right? And if it wasn’t him, it would’ve been Howard or Werth or Victorino or Rollins. Geez.
Technology is great as it applies to a baseball fan, though. I watched the complete Mets-Phils first game this afternoon as I was caulking the cracks between my house and the little side patio. (Caulking isn’t really that interesting, y’know)?
Why does the question mark follow the right paren’ anyway? It sure doesn’t exactly flow from the keyboard. But let me get back to technology. So I can just touch the “last” button on my remote and watch Jeter do his inside-out thing, then flip to watch Jimmy Rollins take out Alex Cora at 2nd base to foil the double play. It was a play that kept the Phillies alive, but K-Rod would have none of it.
The Mets games are done on the tube by Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling and Gary Cohen, and if there’s ever been a better triumvirate doing any kind of game, somebody let me know because I want to watch it. Darling is a great straight man for Cohen and Hernandez, who are a riot together, and they both are very knowledgable about the game, sharing their interesting insights on the way the game is played, or a bit of history, or what they had for lunch. And it’s all pretty funny.
Then there’s the basketball. It’s been tough to ignore this Lakers-Magic final, even if you’re down on basketball, which I have been for many a month of Sundays. If the officials don’t control the game, and if the NBA doesn’t control the officials, it really becomes a very great game, basketball.
There’re always big guys in the middle of course. And a man with the unlikely name of Pau Gasol is trying to play with the modestly-named Superman in the center of things, and so far anyway, he’s not been bad. The there’s Bynum and a couple of other bodies Phil Jackson could dream up to put against him, the big man, Howard.
Kobe Bryant’s been playing like Kobe Bryant can play, and that’s pretty darned good. That’ll eventually be the reason the Lakers will take this final, or these Finals, Kobe just taking things over when he needs to. So that’s not all bad. Let’s see if anybody can stop him.
I spent last week with a lot of people who hated sports, or just thought it was so very stupid. And who could disagree with them? They’re usually people who never had the occasion to play a game of any kind, so I can understand them not being interested. What I can’t figure out is why they seem so obsessed with stamping out anybody else’s interest. It’s really a puzzler to me.
I can’t dance. (That became obvious at this wedding I attended in the midst of our vacation). But I don’t hate dances, or hate anybody who participates, or who watches the participants with some level of enthusiasm.
These are the same people who could watch an opera or a ballet and appreciate the extraordinary talent displayed for them. So why can’t I do the same for baseball or basketball? And what business is it of theirs anyway? Maybe they’re just put off by the money it eventually costs each of us, even if the local politicos would have you believe differently.
There’s the New Yorker’s Smokers Quit Line, for example. How much are those gruesome commercials costing us? I smoke on occasion and just hit that same button on the remote within a couple of seconds. God, I do love technology.
Monday, May 4, 2009
The Answer - Playing Smart Baseball
Let ‘em play. It’s May 4th, for Pete’s sake. All the brilliant sports-riders know best, of course. The Mets have no heart. The Mets have no edge. The Mets have no pitching. Oliver Perez is a bum. Gimme a break already.
Let’s go through the field and evaluate what we have:
1B – Carlos Delgado – we may not have him for the year as he’s nicked up right now, but who’d you rather have than Carlos #1 (or Carlos #2 depending upon your point of view). Carlos is a hitter’s hitter, who records every at-bat in a log. How scientific is that? What players do that? Is this a guy who needs an edge?
Tatis has been his backup. He’s only recently started to hit the way he can hit. I look forward to seeing the old Fernando again, either in left or right fields, or first base. Dan Murphy can also spell Delgado in a pinch. From what I’ve seen ths far, he may be a better risk at first than in the outfield.
2B – Castillo and Cora – Castillo has been pretty good so far and Cora, in his limited playing time, has really shown me some flash in the field. There are a lot of second basemen who hit better but I’ll take fielding consistency at this position and we’ve got that, at the very least.
3B – David Wright – once again, who’d you rather see there? He’s shown some great fielding lately and, while he hasn’t hit in the clutch yet, you can say that about a lot of players, including Texas Rangers star shortstop/third baseman Michael Young. He’ll get better in the clutch, and I’ve seen improvement since he’s been moved out of the three spot, which he couldn’t and shouldn’t be forced to handle, not when Carlos Beltran is on the team.
SS – Jose Reyes – once again, who’d you rather have? Jimmy Rollins? No thanks. Hanley Ramirez? Not me. I want to see Jose vacuuming up everything in the hole or to either side and running like crazy. He does need to recognize the game situation though, and he looks as if he’s trying.
C – Ah, now here’s a sore spot. Three catchers means you really have no catchers. Schneider just isn’t really good in any area. I haven’t seen anything from him, which is why we see so much of Castro, who’s always got a reason for not playing, it seems. Now we’re getting to see Omir Santos, and I’ll take him over the other two any day of the week. So there’s hope at catcher. If he can keep it up, Santos is the answer.
CF – still once again, who’d you rather see in center than Carlos Beltran? Great fielder, great hitter, good speed, and only occasionally seems to be sleep-walking. Time off may be the answer to that quirk, but not too much please, just enough to give him that “edge”.
LF – okay, here’s a bit of a problem, but it’s getting better. Murphy shows some signs of calming down in the field and hits the cover off the ball. Sheffield spells him and he’s a great hitter, but you can downgrade him to just good lately. All in all, they’re an entertaining duo. You’ll get excitement from both of them, but sometimes good and sometimes bad.
RF – Ryan Church just doesn’t do it for me. He doesn’t hit in the clutch, he only occasionally seems to hit at all but he fields the position really well. He doesn’t seem to come through, at least not this year, and I’d love to see anybody else in the lineup rather than him. One reason Beltran had no steals until recently is that he was followed in the lineup by a totally oblivious Church. No edge here at all.
SP – Okay, now here’s a problem being addressed. Santana and a bunch of non-producers has been the story but there are some encouraging signs lately from both Mike Pelfrey, John Maine and Livan Hernandez. The only recent dud is crazy Ollie, which might turn out to be a mistake of Pavanian proportions. Stay tuned.
RP – Putz and K-Rod have been lights out, for the most part, but then there’s Sean Green, who really hasn’t been getting it done lately. Maybe the answer for him is less usage, not more. But these young guys filling out the pen show a lot of promise, moreso than, say, the Yankees have in their pen.
Mgr – Jerry Manuel’s my type of manager. Smart with a good personality for handling all the different types you find on a baseball field. Once again, who’s better? Sciosia? Valentine? Girardi? Come on. You won’t get Francona, one of the only managers who might be better, but he’s a Manuel-type anyway.
So there’s very little reason to complain, given the makeup of the team. It’s a very tricky business. If Omar did make any mistakes, it was signing Perez and making the trade for Church and Schneider for LoDuca. Of all the myriad moves he’s made over the years, that’s not really much to whine about.
The players have to just start playing as smart as the manager. Reyes can’t over-run bases and get thrown out, Beltran can’t take a play off by not sliding, Wright has to take a different approach with two strikes or with men on base. And Manuel has to keep his prodigious baseball savvy in check . Sometimes the answer is the obvious one, not one that only a genius could even conceive.
But it’s all fixable. The most serious problem nobody talks about is the problem with Delgado. Even without him, however, the Mets should be okay, with enough pitching and defense to win a lot of games.
But they have to play (and manage) smart baseball. We haven’t seen much of that. They seem to have reverted to the form they had in Willie Randolph’s last days, which is to say they’re doing just enough to lose.
Let’s go through the field and evaluate what we have:
1B – Carlos Delgado – we may not have him for the year as he’s nicked up right now, but who’d you rather have than Carlos #1 (or Carlos #2 depending upon your point of view). Carlos is a hitter’s hitter, who records every at-bat in a log. How scientific is that? What players do that? Is this a guy who needs an edge?
Tatis has been his backup. He’s only recently started to hit the way he can hit. I look forward to seeing the old Fernando again, either in left or right fields, or first base. Dan Murphy can also spell Delgado in a pinch. From what I’ve seen ths far, he may be a better risk at first than in the outfield.
2B – Castillo and Cora – Castillo has been pretty good so far and Cora, in his limited playing time, has really shown me some flash in the field. There are a lot of second basemen who hit better but I’ll take fielding consistency at this position and we’ve got that, at the very least.
3B – David Wright – once again, who’d you rather see there? He’s shown some great fielding lately and, while he hasn’t hit in the clutch yet, you can say that about a lot of players, including Texas Rangers star shortstop/third baseman Michael Young. He’ll get better in the clutch, and I’ve seen improvement since he’s been moved out of the three spot, which he couldn’t and shouldn’t be forced to handle, not when Carlos Beltran is on the team.
SS – Jose Reyes – once again, who’d you rather have? Jimmy Rollins? No thanks. Hanley Ramirez? Not me. I want to see Jose vacuuming up everything in the hole or to either side and running like crazy. He does need to recognize the game situation though, and he looks as if he’s trying.
C – Ah, now here’s a sore spot. Three catchers means you really have no catchers. Schneider just isn’t really good in any area. I haven’t seen anything from him, which is why we see so much of Castro, who’s always got a reason for not playing, it seems. Now we’re getting to see Omir Santos, and I’ll take him over the other two any day of the week. So there’s hope at catcher. If he can keep it up, Santos is the answer.
CF – still once again, who’d you rather see in center than Carlos Beltran? Great fielder, great hitter, good speed, and only occasionally seems to be sleep-walking. Time off may be the answer to that quirk, but not too much please, just enough to give him that “edge”.
LF – okay, here’s a bit of a problem, but it’s getting better. Murphy shows some signs of calming down in the field and hits the cover off the ball. Sheffield spells him and he’s a great hitter, but you can downgrade him to just good lately. All in all, they’re an entertaining duo. You’ll get excitement from both of them, but sometimes good and sometimes bad.
RF – Ryan Church just doesn’t do it for me. He doesn’t hit in the clutch, he only occasionally seems to hit at all but he fields the position really well. He doesn’t seem to come through, at least not this year, and I’d love to see anybody else in the lineup rather than him. One reason Beltran had no steals until recently is that he was followed in the lineup by a totally oblivious Church. No edge here at all.
SP – Okay, now here’s a problem being addressed. Santana and a bunch of non-producers has been the story but there are some encouraging signs lately from both Mike Pelfrey, John Maine and Livan Hernandez. The only recent dud is crazy Ollie, which might turn out to be a mistake of Pavanian proportions. Stay tuned.
RP – Putz and K-Rod have been lights out, for the most part, but then there’s Sean Green, who really hasn’t been getting it done lately. Maybe the answer for him is less usage, not more. But these young guys filling out the pen show a lot of promise, moreso than, say, the Yankees have in their pen.
Mgr – Jerry Manuel’s my type of manager. Smart with a good personality for handling all the different types you find on a baseball field. Once again, who’s better? Sciosia? Valentine? Girardi? Come on. You won’t get Francona, one of the only managers who might be better, but he’s a Manuel-type anyway.
So there’s very little reason to complain, given the makeup of the team. It’s a very tricky business. If Omar did make any mistakes, it was signing Perez and making the trade for Church and Schneider for LoDuca. Of all the myriad moves he’s made over the years, that’s not really much to whine about.
The players have to just start playing as smart as the manager. Reyes can’t over-run bases and get thrown out, Beltran can’t take a play off by not sliding, Wright has to take a different approach with two strikes or with men on base. And Manuel has to keep his prodigious baseball savvy in check . Sometimes the answer is the obvious one, not one that only a genius could even conceive.
But it’s all fixable. The most serious problem nobody talks about is the problem with Delgado. Even without him, however, the Mets should be okay, with enough pitching and defense to win a lot of games.
But they have to play (and manage) smart baseball. We haven’t seen much of that. They seem to have reverted to the form they had in Willie Randolph’s last days, which is to say they’re doing just enough to lose.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
On Good and Bad Baseball
Wowww…I hate to say it, being a long-time Yankee hater, but the Yanks looked great last night. And it was a great game to watch on TV, even with Michael Kaye just saying obvious stuff all night long.
The new guys came through for the Yanks, i.e. Burnett and Swisher, even Gardner, and the old Yanks, especially Jeter, seemed to reach back to their past to do what they always had done. Jeter and those inside-outers, that swing that dumps even inside pitches into right field for either a single or double. He went 3 for 5 last night, and his last hit was the Rays-killer, a long drive that kept goin’ and goin’……..
I was rooting for the Rays all the way too, especially as Garza (Rays SP) is one of my fantasy pitchers. And, after that 15-5 drubbing of the night before, I had been looking forward to a repeat – bad pitching, especially early, that just knocks the life out of a team, any team of competitors.
But it wasn’t to be. The Yanks took a quick early lead as another old-timer, Posada, hit a sac-fly to score Gardner who had earlier singled. Then Swisher killed a ball that landed waay out in right field for a second run.
Burnett held the lead through six tough innings, with A.J. providing the kind of no-hit pitching and showing the kind of stuff I hadn’t seen since David Cone. Longoria, Upton, Pena, it didn’t matter, they came, they saw, they sat down. It was awesome really, even if a little depressing for a Mets fan.
Ah, but you can’t keep a good team down forever and even the greats suffer a lapse sometimes. Burnett’s lapse came in the bottom of the seventh as a string of base hits by Crawford, Longoria and Pena plated one and a sac-fly tied the score at two.
But Burnett woke up and the Rays went to sleep. The Rays’ Navarro struck out looking, and just for good measure, just to make sure the Rays were shut down, catcher Molina threw out Pena at first for the third out. Just like that, the fire was put out.
And, just as a good football team scores on its next possession, the Yanks fired back in the 8th. Gardner and Jeter again were the culprits to set the table for Teixeira, who managed a sac-fly off the usually tough J.P. Howell, and the Yanks had the lead once again.
But it was a tenuous lead, and the Rays didn’t win the AL East last year for nothin’. I thought for sure the Yanks would replace Burnett, they’re so nutsy about pitch counts. But Burnett hadn’t thrown too many, they kept him in, and the bottom of the order for the Rays went very quietly.
Then, just to make absolutely sure the Rays were dead, the Yanks unleashed guys like Cano and even Melky Cabrera. They hit straight singles off Wheeler, one of the Rays closers, to set up Gardner, who hit a hard liner out to centerfielder Upton, who misjudged the ball coming straight at him and then over his head for the ground-rule double and that always so important insurance run.
But that wasn’t enough for Jeter. He clubbed a Wheeler offering for a big, big 3-run homer and it was all over. We didn’t even get to see Mariano, now that the Yanks had a big 5-run lead. And they didn’t need him, Bruney was just fine, thank you, as he mowed down the heart of the Rays order in the ninth, striking out the side, Upton, Longoria and Pena, boom, boom, boom.
The game was over but the impression remained. It was the Rays who made the big mistakes, it was the Yankees who maintained their focus throughout, and got contributions from everybody. They played not only like a team, but like a winning team, the kind of team that could put away the likes of the Rays and the Red Sox.
Mets fans can appreciate good baseball, not that we’ve seen much of it from our empty-headed local heroes lately. Reyes’s over-slide of second base the other day pretty much killed the Mets in that one. Before that, we had watched as our good ol’ Murphy just flat-out dropped an easy fly ball.
Aah, maybe it was an isolated incident, the Yanks playing like that, just the right place and the right time. After all, their ace was on the mound and they had just been drubbed and embarrassed. But still, the contrast between their heady play and that of the Mets is just too hard to ignore.
To make things worse, I read that Reyes is looking to steal home, just to show off his Jackie Robinson-ness. Give me a break, Jose! Learn how to take second. That would be a good start. As Jose goes, so go the Mets, and, if he sets the wrong tune, a totally bone-headed tune, the Mets will readily follow suit.
There are some likenesses between the two clubs though. The Yanks have their Wang getting banged around and we have our Oliver Perez. But with Yang, it’s a relatively new thing while with crazy Ollie, it’s just same thing, different season. You get the feeling Wang will come around; is there any real hope for Perez?
But there the likeness ends, at least as far as starters go. Sabathia and Burnett are the Yanks two aces, we have a legitimate Santana, but then a very questionable Mike Pelfrey, who’s been hittable to the max, especially early in the game, when a lot of games are decided. At number 3, they’ve got Pettite, we’ve got Maine….and pray for rain.
Even with all our nifty relief pitchers, Green and Putz and Frankie, these early deficits provided by all the Mets pitchers but Santana, drain the life out of a team. It’s just exhausting to have to keep coming back.
We need to see a change……soon.
The new guys came through for the Yanks, i.e. Burnett and Swisher, even Gardner, and the old Yanks, especially Jeter, seemed to reach back to their past to do what they always had done. Jeter and those inside-outers, that swing that dumps even inside pitches into right field for either a single or double. He went 3 for 5 last night, and his last hit was the Rays-killer, a long drive that kept goin’ and goin’……..
I was rooting for the Rays all the way too, especially as Garza (Rays SP) is one of my fantasy pitchers. And, after that 15-5 drubbing of the night before, I had been looking forward to a repeat – bad pitching, especially early, that just knocks the life out of a team, any team of competitors.
But it wasn’t to be. The Yanks took a quick early lead as another old-timer, Posada, hit a sac-fly to score Gardner who had earlier singled. Then Swisher killed a ball that landed waay out in right field for a second run.
Burnett held the lead through six tough innings, with A.J. providing the kind of no-hit pitching and showing the kind of stuff I hadn’t seen since David Cone. Longoria, Upton, Pena, it didn’t matter, they came, they saw, they sat down. It was awesome really, even if a little depressing for a Mets fan.
Ah, but you can’t keep a good team down forever and even the greats suffer a lapse sometimes. Burnett’s lapse came in the bottom of the seventh as a string of base hits by Crawford, Longoria and Pena plated one and a sac-fly tied the score at two.
But Burnett woke up and the Rays went to sleep. The Rays’ Navarro struck out looking, and just for good measure, just to make sure the Rays were shut down, catcher Molina threw out Pena at first for the third out. Just like that, the fire was put out.
And, just as a good football team scores on its next possession, the Yanks fired back in the 8th. Gardner and Jeter again were the culprits to set the table for Teixeira, who managed a sac-fly off the usually tough J.P. Howell, and the Yanks had the lead once again.
But it was a tenuous lead, and the Rays didn’t win the AL East last year for nothin’. I thought for sure the Yanks would replace Burnett, they’re so nutsy about pitch counts. But Burnett hadn’t thrown too many, they kept him in, and the bottom of the order for the Rays went very quietly.
Then, just to make absolutely sure the Rays were dead, the Yanks unleashed guys like Cano and even Melky Cabrera. They hit straight singles off Wheeler, one of the Rays closers, to set up Gardner, who hit a hard liner out to centerfielder Upton, who misjudged the ball coming straight at him and then over his head for the ground-rule double and that always so important insurance run.
But that wasn’t enough for Jeter. He clubbed a Wheeler offering for a big, big 3-run homer and it was all over. We didn’t even get to see Mariano, now that the Yanks had a big 5-run lead. And they didn’t need him, Bruney was just fine, thank you, as he mowed down the heart of the Rays order in the ninth, striking out the side, Upton, Longoria and Pena, boom, boom, boom.
The game was over but the impression remained. It was the Rays who made the big mistakes, it was the Yankees who maintained their focus throughout, and got contributions from everybody. They played not only like a team, but like a winning team, the kind of team that could put away the likes of the Rays and the Red Sox.
Mets fans can appreciate good baseball, not that we’ve seen much of it from our empty-headed local heroes lately. Reyes’s over-slide of second base the other day pretty much killed the Mets in that one. Before that, we had watched as our good ol’ Murphy just flat-out dropped an easy fly ball.
Aah, maybe it was an isolated incident, the Yanks playing like that, just the right place and the right time. After all, their ace was on the mound and they had just been drubbed and embarrassed. But still, the contrast between their heady play and that of the Mets is just too hard to ignore.
To make things worse, I read that Reyes is looking to steal home, just to show off his Jackie Robinson-ness. Give me a break, Jose! Learn how to take second. That would be a good start. As Jose goes, so go the Mets, and, if he sets the wrong tune, a totally bone-headed tune, the Mets will readily follow suit.
There are some likenesses between the two clubs though. The Yanks have their Wang getting banged around and we have our Oliver Perez. But with Yang, it’s a relatively new thing while with crazy Ollie, it’s just same thing, different season. You get the feeling Wang will come around; is there any real hope for Perez?
But there the likeness ends, at least as far as starters go. Sabathia and Burnett are the Yanks two aces, we have a legitimate Santana, but then a very questionable Mike Pelfrey, who’s been hittable to the max, especially early in the game, when a lot of games are decided. At number 3, they’ve got Pettite, we’ve got Maine….and pray for rain.
Even with all our nifty relief pitchers, Green and Putz and Frankie, these early deficits provided by all the Mets pitchers but Santana, drain the life out of a team. It’s just exhausting to have to keep coming back.
We need to see a change……soon.
Monday, March 9, 2009
The WBC and Not Much Else
Well, a lot sure has happened since last time, notably the “friggin’ Netherlands” upsetting the Dominican Republic after I made some reference to the ten run rule. So apologies are in order. I guess I’ll be “in Dutch” with them for quite a while.
But then it is baseball. Especially if an inferior team can put together some semblance of a pitching staff, the chances are fair to middlin’ that they can eke out a win against a superior opponent, especially if it can take a lead. That’s of course exactly what happened to the stunned Dominicans, who seemed to be pressing for most of the game.
The U.S. team was fortunate to get by the tough Canada team in their opener but then really handed it to the Venezuelans in Game 2. As this Mets fan watched Victor Zambrano head out to the mound in the 5th, I knew the game was just about over. You might recall the Mets trading Scott Kazmir for Victor, an early Omar Minaya particularly gaseous brain fart.
While the entire core of the Mets team frolics in various sites around the world, the Mets fan gets to watch what’s left. It’s not saying a lot. I know I haven’t been able to tune in since the Classic started. What would be the point? I know I’m enjoying this World Championship though, almost as much as the players themselves.
You had to like the U.S. team as players such as Chris Ianetta of the Rockies came through with the big, big triple to clear the bases against Zambrano.
It seemed almost impossible that anybody could knock Arod out of the headlines, but Terrell Owens and the Dallas Cowboys managed it in splendid fashion. Of course, it was only momentary relief as Arod’s back in front again, finally deciding on having the surgery he so obviously needed. That the Yankees took so long to figure that out is way beyond me.
But then I remember it’s Cashman pulling the strings and then it makes perfect sense. The Yanks still have quite a few seats to fill in their new digs and what better way to stay on the front page (or back page actually in New York) than to drag out even obvious decisions? And that’s it for that subject. I promised myself not to dwell on A-Fraud.
On lighter matters, Jim Berman says that “no team circles the wagons like the Buffalo Bills.” It had better be true because they’ll have to do a lot of circling next year. Has anyone in the entire history of the NFL needed more apologists than Terrell Owens?
While a lot of folks think T.O. was a great acquisition for the Bills, and my brother not the least among them, I tend to disagree. It’s not as if they’re Super Bowl material up there, and as they’re only getting him for the one year, eight and a half million dollars would seem kind of pricey for a one-time winning record of about 9-7.
The Bills are, after all, the Bills and they’re in a pretty tough division. T.O. won’t be scaring the likes of the Patriots, and the Jets just beefed up their secondary. And nobody knows (and probably dislikes) T.O. better than Bill Parcells, who just happens to run operations down in Miami.
So I figure the Bills will, at best, win two of those six intra-Division games and probably only one. If they even manage 9-7 overall, it’ll be a miracle. Of course, their fans will probably be much happier with that than with what has been trying to pass for a competitive team all these long years.
But it was great to see ESPN’s obnoxious Stephen A. Smith say a lot of foolish things about T.O. before he signed with the Bills. Most memorable for me was that Stephen was absolutely sure that Owens would sign with a team that had a great quarterback. He mentioned Tom Brady and hinted that the Colts would be a good place too.
I guess Trent Edwards qualifies, somehow, as a good QB but it’s really, really hard to figure out why. I won’t bore you with statistics but Edwards has been mostly a disaster unless you’re overly amused by interceptions at the worst possible times. Let’s hope T.O. can have a positive affect on the “team of the Northeast.” I’m quite sure they deserve better times.
And, who knows? Maybe T.O. really was being picked on in Big D. Maybe he’d start getting more separation if he had a better chance of getting the ball thrown to him. There’s nothing quite so pointless as running hard on every play, only to see the ball go underneath to somebody else.
But football is way in the future and, as I can’t get into hockey (although I couldn’t help but notice the attention being paid to Martin Brodeur lately), that leaves just basketball. Thank God for March Madness because we won’t be seeing too much more of the Knicks or Nets.
The Nets are usually entertaining for three quarters, but then you remember that the game has four quarters. What a bad bunch down the stretch this group is! Going through the motions is almost more than you can say about these guys. Sadly, their play is typical of other teams around the league once they’re out of the playoffs.
D’Antoni finally aired some of his frustration with his Knicks team lately, so maybe that’ll have some kind of positive effect on what appears to be just a bunch of chuckers. I’m ashamed now to admit that Al Harrington is from New Jersey. Does the ball ever come back again once it gets into his voracious hands? He truly never had a shot he didn’t like. I just wish he made more of them.
It’s got to be challenging for D’Antoni, who never misses the playoffs, to watch these guys under-perform night after night. And now Curry’s coming back. Heh-heh.
But then it is baseball. Especially if an inferior team can put together some semblance of a pitching staff, the chances are fair to middlin’ that they can eke out a win against a superior opponent, especially if it can take a lead. That’s of course exactly what happened to the stunned Dominicans, who seemed to be pressing for most of the game.
The U.S. team was fortunate to get by the tough Canada team in their opener but then really handed it to the Venezuelans in Game 2. As this Mets fan watched Victor Zambrano head out to the mound in the 5th, I knew the game was just about over. You might recall the Mets trading Scott Kazmir for Victor, an early Omar Minaya particularly gaseous brain fart.
While the entire core of the Mets team frolics in various sites around the world, the Mets fan gets to watch what’s left. It’s not saying a lot. I know I haven’t been able to tune in since the Classic started. What would be the point? I know I’m enjoying this World Championship though, almost as much as the players themselves.
You had to like the U.S. team as players such as Chris Ianetta of the Rockies came through with the big, big triple to clear the bases against Zambrano.
It seemed almost impossible that anybody could knock Arod out of the headlines, but Terrell Owens and the Dallas Cowboys managed it in splendid fashion. Of course, it was only momentary relief as Arod’s back in front again, finally deciding on having the surgery he so obviously needed. That the Yankees took so long to figure that out is way beyond me.
But then I remember it’s Cashman pulling the strings and then it makes perfect sense. The Yanks still have quite a few seats to fill in their new digs and what better way to stay on the front page (or back page actually in New York) than to drag out even obvious decisions? And that’s it for that subject. I promised myself not to dwell on A-Fraud.
On lighter matters, Jim Berman says that “no team circles the wagons like the Buffalo Bills.” It had better be true because they’ll have to do a lot of circling next year. Has anyone in the entire history of the NFL needed more apologists than Terrell Owens?
While a lot of folks think T.O. was a great acquisition for the Bills, and my brother not the least among them, I tend to disagree. It’s not as if they’re Super Bowl material up there, and as they’re only getting him for the one year, eight and a half million dollars would seem kind of pricey for a one-time winning record of about 9-7.
The Bills are, after all, the Bills and they’re in a pretty tough division. T.O. won’t be scaring the likes of the Patriots, and the Jets just beefed up their secondary. And nobody knows (and probably dislikes) T.O. better than Bill Parcells, who just happens to run operations down in Miami.
So I figure the Bills will, at best, win two of those six intra-Division games and probably only one. If they even manage 9-7 overall, it’ll be a miracle. Of course, their fans will probably be much happier with that than with what has been trying to pass for a competitive team all these long years.
But it was great to see ESPN’s obnoxious Stephen A. Smith say a lot of foolish things about T.O. before he signed with the Bills. Most memorable for me was that Stephen was absolutely sure that Owens would sign with a team that had a great quarterback. He mentioned Tom Brady and hinted that the Colts would be a good place too.
I guess Trent Edwards qualifies, somehow, as a good QB but it’s really, really hard to figure out why. I won’t bore you with statistics but Edwards has been mostly a disaster unless you’re overly amused by interceptions at the worst possible times. Let’s hope T.O. can have a positive affect on the “team of the Northeast.” I’m quite sure they deserve better times.
And, who knows? Maybe T.O. really was being picked on in Big D. Maybe he’d start getting more separation if he had a better chance of getting the ball thrown to him. There’s nothing quite so pointless as running hard on every play, only to see the ball go underneath to somebody else.
But football is way in the future and, as I can’t get into hockey (although I couldn’t help but notice the attention being paid to Martin Brodeur lately), that leaves just basketball. Thank God for March Madness because we won’t be seeing too much more of the Knicks or Nets.
The Nets are usually entertaining for three quarters, but then you remember that the game has four quarters. What a bad bunch down the stretch this group is! Going through the motions is almost more than you can say about these guys. Sadly, their play is typical of other teams around the league once they’re out of the playoffs.
D’Antoni finally aired some of his frustration with his Knicks team lately, so maybe that’ll have some kind of positive effect on what appears to be just a bunch of chuckers. I’m ashamed now to admit that Al Harrington is from New Jersey. Does the ball ever come back again once it gets into his voracious hands? He truly never had a shot he didn’t like. I just wish he made more of them.
It’s got to be challenging for D’Antoni, who never misses the playoffs, to watch these guys under-perform night after night. And now Curry’s coming back. Heh-heh.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Holy Cow ! Winning is Risky !!
Holy Cow! Almost lost against the backdrop of NFL playoff games have been some very interesting baseball developments, not just signings but also the behind-the-scenes skullduggery among the various contenders for the talent that’s still out there.
For me, two signings take precedence. Both of them relate to the Yanks recent finalization of their humongous contract with Mark Teixeira, the wunderkind first baseman, who of course got 22.5 million dollars per year for eight long years.
First, I’m very happy for Jason Giambi, who Teixeira is replacing. Jason landed back in Oakland, the team for which he built his formidable reputation as a hitter for both average and power. That Oakland legacy was enough to inspire the Yankees to sign Giambi seven years ago for record numbers.
Sadly for Jason and Yankees fans, that signing never really bore fruit in terms of World Series victories. The prevailing remembrances for most New Yorkers of Giambi’s New York service will be steroids and a fervent wish that the Yanks had kept Tino.
But for the true baseball aficionado, Jason Giambi was a potent presence in the Yanks lineup, more than capable of knocking one over the wall or, at the very least, to draw a base on balls after coaxing about ten more pitches out of their opponent’s starter. If he had any speed on the bases, or anywhere for that matter, Jason would have been even more valuable.
Giambi will be missed in New York, I suspect, much as Tino Martinez was before him. Not because Mark Teixeira can’t play the game, but just as a Yankees presence and overall good guy and teammate. Giambi was always affable with the media, too, even after some rough nights in the field.
But his gaffes in the field and his lack of speed on the base paths severely limited his overall value and suppressed his runs scored quite severely. Surely though, he was valued by his teammates and management as a hard-nosed player who wanted to win. But in hindsight, he surely was not the player the Yanks had envisioned.
The second signing I’ve been anxiously awaiting took place yesterday. That would be the Indians signing of a true Yankees disaster, Carl Pavano, probably the biggest mistake the Yankees, or any team for that matter, has ever made in free agency except perhaps for the Albert Belle fiasco.
Pavano was beset by injuries throughout the term of his 4-year $50 million contract with the Yanks and pitched just 26 starts in four years. That’s basically 2 mill per start. Even the Roger Clemens partial-year deal doesn’t compare in sheer magnitude of loss.
But what makes this deal most intriguing is its structure. It’s for one year only at 1.5 mill, but Carl can make as much as 5.3 mill with 18 starts, not a bad deal for anyone concerned really. What makes this even better is that Pavano may be pitching against the Yankees in the middle of April, at the new stadium, as the Indians third starter behind Cliff Lee and Fausto Carmona.
Those two signings typify the risk involved for teams and players in free agency. It appears that only the major league players, like New York, Boston, Philly, LA…. can even contend for the really big earners, your Teixeiras and Mannys and Sabathias. Cleveland can’t compete for Sabathia or Burnet maybe but they can wind up picking up a potentially great pitcher for fair value.
If Pavano doesn’t make his starts number, he walks away with just 1.5 million. But, if he does win 15 or more games, and as he’s already undergone the arm surgery, his chances of doing just that are quite good, he’ll make, say, 5 million. That’s just 300K per win, and, figuring 25 starts, just 200k per start.
It’s good for the game that a team such as the Indians can still pick up a bargain and actually compete. And it’s just as good, if not better, that a team such as the Yankees or Boston can make such huge mistakes. Surely a Milwaukee can’t be so colossally stupid!
That’s not to say that the signings of Sabathia and Burnet and Teixeira are stupid. But the risk is pretty large. Ask yourself what are the chances that Teixeira will put in even close to eight full seasons. He’s a big fellow, he’ll be 29 in April and he’ll be playing the lion’s share of his contract years in his thirties, the last three years in his 35’s, so to speak.
Burnet’s getting 82.5 mill for 5 years and he’s already 32. Sabathia got better money, 7 years for 161 mill. He’s another big guy but he’s only 28 and he seems to throw effortlessly most of the time. The chances are pretty good, though, that all three free agents won’t finish their contracts in one piece.
To say the very least, the Yankees will be paying 3 or 4 times the Indians rate per win, and waaaay more than that for RBI’s. Ryan Garko, Cleveland’s first baseman, had 90 rbi’s in 2008 and 14 homers in 495 at bats. Teixeira averages over 100 ribbies per year and is a career .290 hitter. Garko makes about 420K. Their best player, Grady Sizemore, makes about 3 mill and their biggest bust is Travis Hafner, who only pulls down about 8 million.
What the big teams are really paying for is the surety of winning, the percentage chances of winning it all. That’s why the New York-Boston battle is so intriguing. Only God and the Yankees know what winning the title is really worth. It must exceed the marginal cost of these players, especially if you introduce the factor that these contracts are usually insured.
In the last ten years, big-market teams have made the World Series contests 12 times. But the little guys have made it 8 times, including Tampa Bay, Colorado, St Louis twice, Houston, Florida, Arizona and Atlanta.
Money alone won’t always make the difference. Holy Cow!
For me, two signings take precedence. Both of them relate to the Yanks recent finalization of their humongous contract with Mark Teixeira, the wunderkind first baseman, who of course got 22.5 million dollars per year for eight long years.
First, I’m very happy for Jason Giambi, who Teixeira is replacing. Jason landed back in Oakland, the team for which he built his formidable reputation as a hitter for both average and power. That Oakland legacy was enough to inspire the Yankees to sign Giambi seven years ago for record numbers.
Sadly for Jason and Yankees fans, that signing never really bore fruit in terms of World Series victories. The prevailing remembrances for most New Yorkers of Giambi’s New York service will be steroids and a fervent wish that the Yanks had kept Tino.
But for the true baseball aficionado, Jason Giambi was a potent presence in the Yanks lineup, more than capable of knocking one over the wall or, at the very least, to draw a base on balls after coaxing about ten more pitches out of their opponent’s starter. If he had any speed on the bases, or anywhere for that matter, Jason would have been even more valuable.
Giambi will be missed in New York, I suspect, much as Tino Martinez was before him. Not because Mark Teixeira can’t play the game, but just as a Yankees presence and overall good guy and teammate. Giambi was always affable with the media, too, even after some rough nights in the field.
But his gaffes in the field and his lack of speed on the base paths severely limited his overall value and suppressed his runs scored quite severely. Surely though, he was valued by his teammates and management as a hard-nosed player who wanted to win. But in hindsight, he surely was not the player the Yanks had envisioned.
The second signing I’ve been anxiously awaiting took place yesterday. That would be the Indians signing of a true Yankees disaster, Carl Pavano, probably the biggest mistake the Yankees, or any team for that matter, has ever made in free agency except perhaps for the Albert Belle fiasco.
Pavano was beset by injuries throughout the term of his 4-year $50 million contract with the Yanks and pitched just 26 starts in four years. That’s basically 2 mill per start. Even the Roger Clemens partial-year deal doesn’t compare in sheer magnitude of loss.
But what makes this deal most intriguing is its structure. It’s for one year only at 1.5 mill, but Carl can make as much as 5.3 mill with 18 starts, not a bad deal for anyone concerned really. What makes this even better is that Pavano may be pitching against the Yankees in the middle of April, at the new stadium, as the Indians third starter behind Cliff Lee and Fausto Carmona.
Those two signings typify the risk involved for teams and players in free agency. It appears that only the major league players, like New York, Boston, Philly, LA…. can even contend for the really big earners, your Teixeiras and Mannys and Sabathias. Cleveland can’t compete for Sabathia or Burnet maybe but they can wind up picking up a potentially great pitcher for fair value.
If Pavano doesn’t make his starts number, he walks away with just 1.5 million. But, if he does win 15 or more games, and as he’s already undergone the arm surgery, his chances of doing just that are quite good, he’ll make, say, 5 million. That’s just 300K per win, and, figuring 25 starts, just 200k per start.
It’s good for the game that a team such as the Indians can still pick up a bargain and actually compete. And it’s just as good, if not better, that a team such as the Yankees or Boston can make such huge mistakes. Surely a Milwaukee can’t be so colossally stupid!
That’s not to say that the signings of Sabathia and Burnet and Teixeira are stupid. But the risk is pretty large. Ask yourself what are the chances that Teixeira will put in even close to eight full seasons. He’s a big fellow, he’ll be 29 in April and he’ll be playing the lion’s share of his contract years in his thirties, the last three years in his 35’s, so to speak.
Burnet’s getting 82.5 mill for 5 years and he’s already 32. Sabathia got better money, 7 years for 161 mill. He’s another big guy but he’s only 28 and he seems to throw effortlessly most of the time. The chances are pretty good, though, that all three free agents won’t finish their contracts in one piece.
To say the very least, the Yankees will be paying 3 or 4 times the Indians rate per win, and waaaay more than that for RBI’s. Ryan Garko, Cleveland’s first baseman, had 90 rbi’s in 2008 and 14 homers in 495 at bats. Teixeira averages over 100 ribbies per year and is a career .290 hitter. Garko makes about 420K. Their best player, Grady Sizemore, makes about 3 mill and their biggest bust is Travis Hafner, who only pulls down about 8 million.
What the big teams are really paying for is the surety of winning, the percentage chances of winning it all. That’s why the New York-Boston battle is so intriguing. Only God and the Yankees know what winning the title is really worth. It must exceed the marginal cost of these players, especially if you introduce the factor that these contracts are usually insured.
In the last ten years, big-market teams have made the World Series contests 12 times. But the little guys have made it 8 times, including Tampa Bay, Colorado, St Louis twice, Houston, Florida, Arizona and Atlanta.
Money alone won’t always make the difference. Holy Cow!
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