Hope Springs Eternal

Maybe the Giants really started something that Super Bowl Sunday in February. Those incredible men in blue and their nasty defensive linemen, and most heartening of all, a host of new guys to lay low the "greatest team of all time" Patriots, guys making their bones, if you will.

I'll never forget Steve Smith, a big name at USC but new to the NFL, finding still another hole in a Pats zone and dancing down the sideline to make sure his team got that critical first down. That was immediately preceding that beautiful Eli floater to a wide-open Plaxico versus another ill-fated Belichick blitz.

But Smith certainly wasn't the only new face to shake the halls of the great this past football year. There was a seventh round draft choice named Ahmad Bradshaw who dragged a huge Pats defensive lineman for a few more yards that day, and a big kid from East Orange who did his best to see if Tom Brady's navel could touch his spine. And what about that huge tight end out of Western Oregon, of all places, getting open and deftly turning upfield for a 45-yard gain.

Yes, there were six rookies who made that Giants team , all of whom made their presence felt in the playoffs, and even that wasn’t the end of it. Those G-Men also made some key pickups outside of the draft, most notably a fullback named Hedgecock and a kick-returner named Hixon, whose efforts couldn’t be missed in that run of runs.

And we had a new and totally unlikely Super Bowl Champion.

Of course, none of that had been expected. And if it had been expected, it couldn’t have been so incredible of course, all of which brings me around to some new heroes on the baseball diamonds of the Major Leagues, and the hard courts of the NBA, still other new faces or names you never heard to shake the countenances of the powerful.

Looking at today’s standings in the American League this morning, I see Baltimore and Tampa Bay leading the American League East, the Rays having just swept the World Series Champion Red Sox. Their winning streak couldn’t have been accomplished without Evan Longoria, fresh out of the minors. He hits for average and power, plays a nifty third base, and can steal a base if there’s a need. But he joins a team that already had developed B.J. Upton and the hard-throwing right-hander James Shields.

In the AL Central, the “Pale Hose”, those Chicago White Sox are surprising the Indians and in the West, those Billy Bean Oakland A’s are tied for first with the Angels. The White Sox are doing it with re-treads who seem to have re-discovered their games, names like Crede and Pierzynski. The A’s are doing it with guys like pitcher Dana Eveland, a 25-year old southpaw, and still another over-achieving re-tread named Emil Brown. Emil presently leads the A’s with 25 rbi’s, a figure that is second only to still another new face, Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers.

On the senior circuit, the National League, the Florida Marlins lead the East, 1 ½ games over the Mets and Phillies. Hanley Ramirez is once again tearing it up with 8 home runs, 22 runs scored and 18 rbi’s from the LEADOFF position. He also sports 8 stolen bases, and despite having shown this fearsome production for over two years now, he is still not exactly a household name. The Fish also can boast of Josh Willingham, a former Met batting .341 and two pitchers doing very well, Mark Hendrickson with 4 wins already and Scott Olsen, who leads the team in ERA at 2.06.

In the NL Central, there are the Cubbies, finally, in first place with a 16-9 record. And, although old names such as Derrek Lee and Carlos Zambrano are leading the team in batting and pitching, they wouldn’t be there without Kerry Wood and Carlos Marmol finishing games for them.

While Wood had been a household name as a starter before his injury, his closer role is new and one he seems quite comfortable filling. Marmol sets him up and, in only his second year, mystifies batters with his combination of heat and breaking balls, not unlike the more ballyhooed Joba Chamberlain of the Yankees.

In the West, the Diamondbacks of Arizona lead the way, and, although some “woulda thunk it”, what with pitchers like Brandon Webb, Dan Haren and Randy Johnson, who really expected a fella named Micah Owings to start out 4-0 with 28 strikeout’s and only 9 walks. And only the baseball-savvy could’ve foreseen still another Upton named Justin to sport a .323 BA along with five dingers.

In NBA basketball, how good was it to watch a kid like Josh Smith tear up the mighty Celtics twice in a row? Smith was a human wrecking ball, with 28 points and 7 blocks in their latest game. The 6’9” 235 pound Smith seems unstoppable in closing out his fourth year in the league. In Saturday night’s Hawks win, he was even more dominating, hitting 11-17 from the field while grabbing 9 rebounds, dishing off 6 assists and pilfering the ball twice.

Meanwhile, seasoned but unheralded veteran Joe Johnson, originally drafted by the Celtics back in 2001, grabbed the spotlight last night. Joe hit for 35 points, going 14-24. The Celtics seem to be reeling after their two relatively easy wins in Beantown and will undoubtedly welcome a return to their home court after suffering two rather decisive beatings in Atlanta.

In every sport, the beat goes on. We watch the great either hang on or tumble, but it’s always intriguing, and most of us root for that new blood to have their day. And yet, if the veterans still hold sway, we recognize and appreciate their dominance, be it either in teamwork or defense, pitching or long home runs. It’s the good fight that’s appreciated.

<>As I gaze out my window, I see the snow has stopped falling. Ah yes, hope springs eternal.<>

Omar's Home for the Aged

I've heard all season how much talent there is on the Mets. I myself picked these Mets to win the NL pennant this year, but it seems as if that prognostication may have been wishful thinking. In GM Omar Minaya's zeal to maximize experience on his roster, he may have forgotten just how much experience these old fellas really have.

Do you want adventure? Just hit a grounder to the Mets right side. Carlos Delgado, the erstwhile slugger and first baseman, will give that ground ball his best effort every single time. That usually means a swipe at the ball; his feet begin to move as the ball passes the lip of the infield.

Delgado’s bat, to be kind, doesn't inspire fear in opponents anymore. For a player who keeps and consults a hitting chart, he seems to be a slow learner. Pitch him outside, he'll try to pull it anyway, the result usually being a ground ball to second base into a shift. For the record, Carlos will be 36 in June and this is his 16th year in the majors. I wonder if his birth certificate shares a lot of the same characteristics as the one Miguel Tejada's been showing around.

Next to Carlos is already oft-injured Luis Castillo, who is a good little fielder but has become totally ineffective at the plate. Just for the record, Luis is just 32 but this is his 14th year in the major leagues. That's a lot of ground balls, a lot of bending, a lot of everything. It seems to have taken its toll.

We Mets fans anxiously await the arrival of Moises Alou. Moises will be 42 in July. This will be his umpteenth year in the majors and he does sport a .303 career batting average along with 332 home runs. But he played only 123 games in 2005 playing for his Dad in San Francisco, then just 98 games in 2006 for the Giants, then just 87 last year for the Mets. Does one detect a pattern here?

Then there is my favorite pitcher, Pedro Martinez. Pedro pitched a few innings in his first start before grabbing his hammy. He's now expected to return to the mound in 10 days. Which mound that might be I have no idea. Pedro will be 37 in October and, hopefully he'll be getting a World Series ring for his special day. For the money he's getting, though, why can't he make an appearance once in a while?

The long line of aging superstars continues. There is also El Duque, Orlando Hernandez. He'll be 39 in October. He just had surgery on his right foot but the boot won't come off for another two weeks.

I suppose I should be thankful that Delgado and Castillo at least play. If Delgado goes down for some reason, we're left with journeyman pinch-hitter Marlon Anderson, who is 34 years old. Of course, Marlon hasn't been too successful at pinch-hitting this year, but, what the hell, it's still only April, right?

There are only 10 current Mets players born after the year 1978. Six of them are pitchers. The position players are Jose Reyes, David Wright, Angel Pagan and the new backup catcher, Gustavo Molina. Pagan is supposed to be replaced by Alou. Is it surprising to anyone that the best performances thus far have been put in by these same young whipper-snappers. (Ryan Church will be 30 in October).

I should point out that Omar has done much better in the pitching arena. Johan Santana has been terrific as expected. Oliver Perez and John Maine are two other fine arms acquired by Minaya. They provide hope, as does Mike Pelfrey, another young starter, and even recently-acquired Nelson Figueroa. That's a pretty fair rotation, even if Pedro and El Duque never show their faces again.

So there is still hope for Mets fans. We have had our share of bad luck. Three grand slams have been given up by the relief corps. Even for a bad staff, that would be rather unfortuitous. Aaron Heilman surrendered one. Jorge Sosa surrendered the other two, and I suspect we'll be seeing less of Mr. Sosa in the near future.

The regulars, though, have to start playing to their potential. The chemistry has been bad. If not for Angel Pagan and Ryan Church, two of the most unlikely heroic figures one could imagine, we might have a much worse record. We could be the National League Tigers.

Jose Reyes, David Wright and especially Carlos Beltran have to be more consistent. Beltran has been somewhat hampered by his "new legs", I think, and it seems to have sapped some of his power. He also has hit a LOT of line drives directly at fielders. I think Beltran will get better and better, and, if he does, he is capable of carrying this team all by himself.

It is also entirely possible that Delgado has taken his batting problems into the field with him. But this is the Major Leagues. Life is tough. If Delgado can’t work his way out of his current funk, Willie will really have to start managing, starting with replacing Delgado for defensive purposes in close games.

Willie has been slow to react to situations. A perfect example of this is his hard-headedness with respect to batting Castillo second, despite stats reflecting the team’s total ineffectiveness and abysmal won-loss record when that is the case.

Willie has attacked Pagan for no good reason except to solidify Alou’s place in left field upon his return. He’s been insistent on keeping Heilman in his place in the relieving rotation despite every indication that that might not be prudent. Yet he’s been remarkably supportive of Brian Schneider, the oft-injured catcher.

Can Willie manage? A team this old needs a manager, perhaps a real gunslinger, somebody who’ll recognize when a change is needed and then make it. So far, he’s just dug in his heels, fighting the tide going against him.

Go Get 'Em Hank !!

I say kudos to Hank Steinbrenner for his blustery attack on the Yankees decision to keep Joba Chamberlain in a relief role. He sees his franchise going down the tubes this year, he knows who is leading his bunch of planning miscreants, and he doesn't like it. Not one little bit.

Even as a devout Yankee-hater, I cringe at the ridiculous mistakes made by Brian Cashman over the years. So it comes as absolutely no surprise to me that the voluble Hank should go after him. How could he not? Cashman passed on Johan Santana this year as part of his plan to develop his young pitchers.

For the sake of a plan, Cashman chose to go forward with a starting rotation of two old guys, two new guys and just one relatively no-risk starter. But Cashman's errors are legion, starting with ignoring erstwhile Boss George to select Nick Johnson over Big Papi himself, perennial MVP-candidate David Ortiz.

I look forward to quite a few more attacks on the smug Cashman from Hank's direction. And I love his tone. Especially the "idiot" part. That word surely fits the bill. I mean....Carl Pavano, Kyle Farnsworth, Kei Igawa, LaTroy Hawkins, and going back some, Kevin Brown, Jay Witasik, Javier Vasquez, Jaret Wright, Steve Karsay...

And how about others he passed on....Curt Schilling, Hideki Okajima, Bernie Williams. How about trading Mike Lowell to the Marlins for three pitching prospects (in Brian's muddled mind) named Ed Yarnall, Todd Noel and Mark Johnson. Real household names are those three!

Without going into the tell-tale statistics, let's just review the current situation. The Yanks are 10-10. The Red Sox are 14-7. Kennedy and Hughes haven't panned out yet, and not only that, but they show not a hint of ever coming out of their funk. Mussina has been dreadful. Pettite has been very good, but how long can that continue?

All the Cashman apologists will point to the success of Joba in his setup role for Mariano Rivera. (Keeping Mariano is one of Cashman's good moves, to be fair). When the Yanks have held a lead going into the eighth inning, nobody can hold a candle to finishing up with Joba and Mariano. And you'll hear the yada yada yada as to how and why Joba will get injured in a transition.

But how many leads will they take into the eighth? Doesn't a contending team need at least three legitimate starters? Shouldn't there just be one day out of every five that the whole team will give up because they're down by seven? Not three out of five days, that's too much. Even for the Yanks lineup.

Let's look at the alternatives. For starting pitching, there are no good alternatives. In the relief area, there is one good one, at least at the current time. Brian Bruney has been impressive, showing every indication that he can handle that setup role.

Let's look at motivation. Joba wants to start. Just the fact that he wants to start would go a long way towards ensuring that he wouldn't injure himself on the way to stepping into his dream job. How hard is it anyway, this transition? Put Joba in a long relief role, a couple of innings, then three or four, then he's a five inning starter, then the sky's the limit. In a few weeks, he'd be a starter, and you wouldn't lose his services along the way.

Imagine Wang, Pettite, Chamberlain, Mussina, rookie. Four out of every five starts will be competitive, three out of five could be dominating starts. Good pitching four out of five days would go a long way towards motivating that Yankees batting juggernaut too.

Yes, the move makes sense. From a baseball and business standpoint. That the best pitcher in baseball went to the Mets doesn’t make things any easier for Cashman. That ticket prices will be going up in the new stadium doesn’t help his position either. What’s the first question you ask when thinking about attending a game? Who’s pitching? Kennedy? Um, I’ll pass. Santana? Sure, when do you want to leave?

<>And I think it’s quite possible that his master plan for developing young pitchers is founded on his rock-solid history of selecting bad ones. I also think Cashman had better start communicating with Hank, at least a little bit. It sounds as if he’s talking to George and Randy Levine a lot, but not with Hank. Big mistake, worse even than all his pitching snafu’s combined, if that’s even remotely possible.

The enormity of Cashman’s huge failures in the pitching department would be hard to exaggerate. Carl Pavano’s 4-year 40 million dollar contract would have to top the list as he went 4-6 in 2005, 1-0 in 2006, and then never pitched again. Kevin Brown comes close though. The Yanks picked up the remainder of Brown’s record 7-year 105 million dollar contract in 2004 and Brown went 10-6, then 4-7 in 2005.

<>Randy Johnson at 41 years of age was picked up for a mere $57 million for just two years, including the cost of dropping his no-trade clause. Jeff Weaver, another costly acquisition, though, did lose a Game 4 2003 World Series game to a walk-off home run by a light-hitting Alex Gonzalez. How about paying Clemens all that money last year on a start by start basis only to have him pitch badly and then be named in the Mitchell report?

More recently, of course, Kei Igawa signed for a relatively meager 5-year $20 million. He won a couple of games, lost a few more, and you just don’t hear too much about him anymore.

<>So.. is Hank allowed to question Cashman’s genius? It’s been suggested that Hank’s just a clone of his father, that because he inherited his Dad’s money, he should just shut up. I don’t think so.

I think he’s showing a bit of his Dad’s good instincts, as when his Dad suggested the Yanks acquire a guy named David Ortiz.