I had intended to skip the World Baseball Classic finale. I was too aggravated by the lousy balls and strikes calls in the U.S. loss to Japan to really enjoy the whole extravaganza anymore.
But….there was nothing else to watch on a Monday night, not for me anyway, and this game was really intense. You could tell by just watching. The crowd was electric. The Japanese pitching was great. Both defenses chipped in with beautiful and unlikely double plays. There was a great outfield assist. It was a tight game. All the way……
The Japanese pitchers seem to have better stuff and more stuff in terms of pitch variety. They also attack the hitter very intelligently. They’re good at the technical things, too, such as holding runners on. They have very good control.
The Japanese on offense were like an Angels team on steroids. Lots of contact, lots of hits, lots of peskiness on the bases. But not too much in the way of power. But if you like sacrifices, and moving the runner over, Japan is your team.
If Japan was like the Angels, Korea was like the Yankees, but with a way better defense. The pitching was good but not great. But they had some big guys who could put the ball over the wall. And did.
The game’s recap today by most accounts focused on Ichiro’s hit in the extra inning to drive in two. But that wasn’t the story of the game at all. Not really. There had been a lot of baseball playing on both sides before that.
A few plays come immediately to mind, Ichiro’s perfect bunt laid down the third base line, the Japanese left fielder’s perfect short-hop stop, wheel and throw to second to nail a very surprised Korean. There were some very timely double-plays by the Koreans.
The Japanese presence on the bases all night long was all too evident. But they couldn’t do anything with it. Those Korean defenders were stout and stalwart every time they had to be. Meanwhile, the Koreans couldn’t get anything going early.
But Korea hung tough and finally tied it in the fifth when the monster Choo powered one over the wall. After falling behind again, they came within one when another big fella hit a looong sacrifice fly. And they finally tied it in the ninth on a two-out clutch single through the hole by one of the Lee’s.
If there’s anything that’s hard to really follow about Korea, it’s the number of Lees. I’m pretty sure there were four of them, and most of them did something important in the course of the game. There were also two Kims. I guess it’s no different than our Smiths and Joneses but I can’t recall seeing 4 Joneses and 2 Smiths in a game. I could be wrong.
The disappointing thing is that we’ll all have to read accounts of how we have fallen behind the Asians, and to a lesser extent the Latinos, in our national pastime. And I don’t think that’s true, or at least, not totally true.
We didn’t send our best players but the players we did send could have been better prepared to play if the Classic wasn’t held in March. On the pitching side of things especially, our guys looked raw. Peavy got creamed and so did Oswalt. I don’t think that’d be happening in October.
There was no Matt Holliday or Lance Berkman either. There was no Derrick Lee. I would have loved to have seen Joba out there on a few occasions. There are a heck of a lot of pitchers we could have used, but how many of them would have been any good in March? The timing of this thing is just really inconvenient.
While I think MLB would rather have this thing just go away, I don’t think that’s going to happen. And it shouldn’t happen. We can adjust our schedules every three years to make sure we’re prepared to field a team in March, selecting not only our best players, but also our most prepared players.
After the World Series in 2011, we select the team we plan on fielding in March. We keep them in shape, targeting March as the period of their best conditioning. We work these guys on playing as a team. We make sure they know all about hitting the cutoff man, bunting, hitting to the right side, you know, the things nobody in American baseball cares about anymore.
That doesn’t mean we’d win necessarily, but we’d have a hell of a lot better shot. We were a called third strike away from beating Japan the other night. We had to play a utility guy, DeRosa (who did a hell of a job by the way) at first base because we couldn’t find another. That’s obviously not optimal.
If there’s anything good about it, it makes it rather obvious this Classic didn’t have our full attention. So what have we really lost? But I’m sure our opponents don’t feel that way, nor do their fans. To them, Japan is the best baseball team in the world.
And that’s why we can’t just ignore the Classic anymore. As painful as it may be to change our ways and our timing, we have to treat the Classic as if it were the Championship of the World. The World Series sadly is just an American affair.
Besides, overall, we still have the best baseball in the world. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t have guys like Ichiro playing with the Mariners or Dice K, the MVP of the Classic for the second time, playing for the Red Sox. Beltran, Delgado, Santana, Reyes…..they’d all be playing at their respective homes.
Whatever the truth may be, and the truth is sometimes too elusive to even take a guess at, there can be no doubt whatsoever that this Classic has added a new dimension to baseball, as much as we may dislike the notion. Be happy!
I
Showing posts with label WBC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WBC. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
A Call for Instant Replay
Is there anything more frustrating in baseball than the terrible calls on balls and strikes? There’s no reason for it either. In this age of rampaging technology, there is no reason we should have to watch a terribly blind or paid-off home plate umpire call a third strike on a pitch that was at least a foot outside.
David Wright couldn’t save last night’s WBC game against Japan. He couldn’t overcome the bad call for strike three. He had to walk meekly to the dugout; he had to be content with whatever few words he managed to squeeze off to the fool or thief behind the plate.
The bad call decided the game. Japan’s pitcher Dice K was on the ropes. There was a man on first and second with just one out. Wright was the U.S.’s best hitter at the plate. Wright hung tough, fouling off pitch after pitch on the outside corner of the plate before taking the pitch that was obviously well outside.
But it was only obvious to everyone at home watching on TV and to everyone in the stands. The thief behind the mask thought it nipped the outside corner. As it was a breaking ball, he saw his opportunity to steal the game and he took it. He knew the next batter, Adam Dunn, wouldn’t have a chance. And he didn’t.
It didn’t really matter that Derek Jeter made it all moot by bungling a routine throw to first base in the next inning, keeping the inning alive so that the Japanese could put the game out of reach. All his error did was to hopefully keep him off the next version of the WBC USA baseball team. The game had already been decided. The umpire killed off the USA’s best chance.
I had been a big proponent of the WBC until last night. Now I’ll join the plethora of print and TV journalists trying to downplay the excitement we’ve been witnessing night after night. Speaking of payoffs, Major League Baseball has been exerting all its muscle apparently to coax the very worst out of these media hypocrites.
I’ve seen articles to the effect that the fans don’t care, that the players don’t care; this despite the evidence of our own eyes. I’ve seen ridiculous statistics pulled right out of their anuses to prove that U.S. baseball participants do worse with their major league club after playing in the Classic. We’ve seen the Yankees complain bitterly about a dogging-it second baseman whining about a sore shoulder.
But now I don’t care. If the games can’t be played fairly, I’m not interested. It’s too easy for the umpires to cheat, too easy for them to be influenced.
Much as the NBA tries to convince us that their referees are clean and fair, MLB and WBC officials will try to convince us that instant replay would never work for balls and strikes.
But a very similar type of situation exists in tennis. A ball or strike call is basically a line call. Tennis players are given three challenges. TV already has the box it throws on the screen. I’d be much more comfortable with that. You can still keep the idiots and thieves behind the plate.
I’ve had it with officials. Given any opportunity to fail, they take it. They would have us believe, in the NBA, that the stars really didn’t take five or six steps on their way to that driving dunk; they would have us believe that rookies commit all the fouls.
And MLB would have us believe that they didn’t know players had been shooting crap into their butts for years and years. They’d have us believe that they had no interest in increasing home run totals after the big strike. And they’d have us believe that it would be impossible to challenge horrible calls on balls and strikes. The same of course goes for the WBC.
Maybe the stakes in this event are too high to expect an honest umpire. After all, it’s not just the U.S. watching. The world is watching. They anxiously wait to see which team is the best in the world.
Japan takes on S. Korea now for the crown. But I won’t be watching. I’ll just spend my time wondering what Wright would have done with the next pitch, a pitch that might have been in the strike zone.
David Wright couldn’t save last night’s WBC game against Japan. He couldn’t overcome the bad call for strike three. He had to walk meekly to the dugout; he had to be content with whatever few words he managed to squeeze off to the fool or thief behind the plate.
The bad call decided the game. Japan’s pitcher Dice K was on the ropes. There was a man on first and second with just one out. Wright was the U.S.’s best hitter at the plate. Wright hung tough, fouling off pitch after pitch on the outside corner of the plate before taking the pitch that was obviously well outside.
But it was only obvious to everyone at home watching on TV and to everyone in the stands. The thief behind the mask thought it nipped the outside corner. As it was a breaking ball, he saw his opportunity to steal the game and he took it. He knew the next batter, Adam Dunn, wouldn’t have a chance. And he didn’t.
It didn’t really matter that Derek Jeter made it all moot by bungling a routine throw to first base in the next inning, keeping the inning alive so that the Japanese could put the game out of reach. All his error did was to hopefully keep him off the next version of the WBC USA baseball team. The game had already been decided. The umpire killed off the USA’s best chance.
I had been a big proponent of the WBC until last night. Now I’ll join the plethora of print and TV journalists trying to downplay the excitement we’ve been witnessing night after night. Speaking of payoffs, Major League Baseball has been exerting all its muscle apparently to coax the very worst out of these media hypocrites.
I’ve seen articles to the effect that the fans don’t care, that the players don’t care; this despite the evidence of our own eyes. I’ve seen ridiculous statistics pulled right out of their anuses to prove that U.S. baseball participants do worse with their major league club after playing in the Classic. We’ve seen the Yankees complain bitterly about a dogging-it second baseman whining about a sore shoulder.
But now I don’t care. If the games can’t be played fairly, I’m not interested. It’s too easy for the umpires to cheat, too easy for them to be influenced.
Much as the NBA tries to convince us that their referees are clean and fair, MLB and WBC officials will try to convince us that instant replay would never work for balls and strikes.
But a very similar type of situation exists in tennis. A ball or strike call is basically a line call. Tennis players are given three challenges. TV already has the box it throws on the screen. I’d be much more comfortable with that. You can still keep the idiots and thieves behind the plate.
I’ve had it with officials. Given any opportunity to fail, they take it. They would have us believe, in the NBA, that the stars really didn’t take five or six steps on their way to that driving dunk; they would have us believe that rookies commit all the fouls.
And MLB would have us believe that they didn’t know players had been shooting crap into their butts for years and years. They’d have us believe that they had no interest in increasing home run totals after the big strike. And they’d have us believe that it would be impossible to challenge horrible calls on balls and strikes. The same of course goes for the WBC.
Maybe the stakes in this event are too high to expect an honest umpire. After all, it’s not just the U.S. watching. The world is watching. They anxiously wait to see which team is the best in the world.
Japan takes on S. Korea now for the crown. But I won’t be watching. I’ll just spend my time wondering what Wright would have done with the next pitch, a pitch that might have been in the strike zone.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Sunday Blues
I’d like to first extend my apologies to any regular readership, as life’s realities have once again intruded upon my carefully-crafted fantasy existence. Between personal problems and the proposed NJ budget, carefully crafted by the tyrant Corzine to attack the middle class and smokers, it’s really tough to keep my mind on sports.
Kudos though, to the WBC, the Knicks and the Nets. Raspberries to the
The
Jake Peavy gave up six runs right off the bat, no pun intended, and that was pretty much the end of things. Meanwhile, the friggin’
The Mets are showing pretty well. Beltran and Delgado have been smacking the ball all around the parks while K-Rod closed out the Dutch with four outs too. I can’t say it makes me happy though. A 162-game season is hard to preface with a huge tournament.
The timing of this event really couldn’t be worse for the
Major League Baseball has to prevent teams from being obstructionists too. And the biggest fly in the ointment thus far seems to be the Yankees, whatta surprise, who whined loudly about a little shoulder problem for Cano. Is there still any doubt that Cano is a deadbeat? I guess so. I know you won’t find him on my fantasy roster.
At the same time as the Yanks try to destroy any baseball talk outside their own team, they are still patiently keeping those seats unaffordable for all but the richest. I anxiously await their demise, not only on the field but also in home attendance. Really! Was there ever a more disgraceful team management in any sport whatsoever?
You have to wonder about the security of these fans as they approach the gates of the new stadium. In this economy, and with the locals not only ticked off about the stadium in general but also about their inability to afford seats, I could definitely see some hostility directed toward their dwindling fan base.
See “Robin Hood.” It’s pretty easy to characterize the new stadium as
I have to say it’s really nice to see the Knicks and Nets both coming back to contend for that eighth playoff spot. D’Antoni never stops. He’s never missed the playoffs and doesn’t act as if he wants to break his streak. I couldn’t help but notice his pulling the jock Harrington from the lineup down the stretch, definitely a good thing. He also chastised Lee and Robinson for their attitudes toward the officials.
Although I’m not quite ready to shower the same kind of credit on Lawrence Frank, you can’t help but notice his N.J. team is still trying. The thing I always notice about the Nets is their height. Lopez, Yi, these are big guys, and that never hurts in basketball. If the refs ever give Lopez a break (they won’t), the Nets would be great. Both teams have their work cut out for them down the stretch though. They have to face each other twice down the stretch.
The Knicks also have to face LeBron and the Cavs, then shortly thereafter have a home and home against
The Nets might have it even tougher. A home and home vs
The madness begins soon, of course, and the finals seem harder to predict every year. We see the UConn’s and Pitt’s of the world all season but then come to realize that Louisville’s not too bad either.
Actually it’s probably a lot harder to predict the 64 entrants than it is to pick a winner. There’s at least as much acrimony over the participants as there is about the results. And that’s a good thing, I guess, except I keep thinking those last 32 teams should really be in the NIT.
I never should have watched “No Country for Old Men”. I find myself pining for the good ol’ days, day games, 154-game schedule, no DH, double-headers, Mickey, Willie and the Duke.
Sports, governments, the medical establishment, they all share disturbing similarities….too few dollars chasing too many services. Do we really need those extra 8 games in the season? How about the number of police on the streets? How about that EKG for a stomach ache?
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, March 4, 2009
On the WBC And Stuff......
Does this seem backward to anyone else out there? I mean, we’re having a World Series to start the season. The World Baseball Classic starts tomorrow and it looks as if it’ll be a pretty good one. Not that there’s more than 4 or 5 real contenders, but the contenders will probably have some really interesting tussles. Baseball being baseball, there could be some really good first-round games too.
But the way the divisions shape up, it looks as if the good ol’ USA will win their division, not that it’s impossible they could have some trouble along the way. Venezuela could give them some trouble, but I don’t expect much from Canada and Italy isn’t really ready for prime time. They have one hell of a team meal though.
Japan should be good in Pool A. I don’t figure either China to match up with them and who knows about Korea? For Japan, the first few games should play out like exhibitions.
The Pool B division features Cuba, I would suppose, but it seems as if we’ve grabbed off all their best players and those fellas don’t necessarily want to go back. Mexico City might be close enough to inspire a little anxiety. Mexico could probably give them a little trouble. The less said about South Africa and Australia, the better.
Pool D figures to be a dogfight. There’s the Dominican Republic that seems to breed baseball players, Puerto Rico, Panama and the friggin’ Netherlands. No, really….The ten-run rule may be in effect in the first round.
So it shapes up as a 4-team matchup between Japan, the U.S. the Dominican Republic, and then Mexico or Cuba, I guess. All those games should be worth watching at the very least, and some of them might wind up being classics.
The U.S. team is worth rooting for, for sure. I like the infield especially, with Jeter at short, Pedroia at second, Wright at third base and then there’s Youkilis at first. Good players, good team players all, they’ll be tough to beat. The outfield seems a little power-deficient, but it’s speedy with Granderson and Victorino in there, and Ryan Braun should provide some pop.
The pitching staff is weird. There are only four real starters, and a couple of them are kind of questionable, in terms of quality. Peavy and Oswalt are great pitchers, but I don’t know that Ted Lilly and Jeremy Guthrie match up with them. Then there’re a million, it seems, relievers and some pretty good ones in J.J. Putz and J.P. Howell, my favorites, but then almost all these relievers can be tough for an inning or two.
But this USA team could play with and beat a lot of past All-Star teams, and I think they’ll be really good defensively and on the bases. I just wish the pitching staff were a little more solid. You might be seeing a lot of Davey Johnson , depending upon the rules on visiting the mound.
You have to like the Dominican Republic team though, with at least three first-round fantasy players in the infield in Jose Reyes, Hanley Ramirez and Arod. He’s questionable now, I guess, but then he’s always been questionable. Then they have some really interesting young pitchers, featuring Johnny Cueto and Edison Volquez.
Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado anchor the Puerto Rico team, but they’ve got plenty of good players, and pitchers too. Alex Rios could outdo Delgado for power and match Beltran for speed. They’ve got a really nice catcher in Geovany Soto too, but I’m not crazy about their pitching staff either.
And if none of the above particularly turns you on, you can watch the exhibition season games, not that they’ll be very exciting with all those star players missing. The Mets especially seem really short-handed, what with the likes of Wright, Beltran, Reyes and Delgado all being gone. I think I could live without seeing Putz and crazy Ollie for a few weeks, but I lost my enthusiasm for the rest of Spring Training.
It was really good to see Manny Ramirez finally agree to the Dodgers contract though. If I have this right, I understand Manny has an option for 2010, but not the Dodgers. He’ll get his 45 mill or thereabouts, but he apparently thinks he’s worth more in a better economic climate, or maybe he just doesn’t like LA. You’d think Manny and LA was a match made in heaven but maybe it’s not.
Or maybe he just doesn’t like Spring Training. What am I saying….maybe? It’s nice to see a guy hold up the entire League though. If anybody’s totally aware of his own worth, it’s Manny, and he doesn’t put on any airs. You won’t hear any rah-rah speeches from Manny..
And it’s really great the football Giants care about defense, but some thought, at least, should be given to the wideout position. I guess they figure they can pick a wideout anytime, but you’re not going to find a quality one if you wait. I suppose they’ll draft a few but they haven’t been that smart about those receiver picks in the past.
The Jets look as if they’re making some good moves too, but a quarterback would be a nice addition, unless they really expect a lot out of their reserves. They don’t seem that concerned. I know there’s a plan……somewhere..
The only other thing that intrigued me lately was the duel between Shaq and Superman down in Orlando. They apparently don’t like each other much either, not that anybody could really like Shaq and not that Shaq cares about anybody else. He sure is high on himself though, and especially when the officials let him hang around in the paint for twenty seconds or so.
In any event, though, Howard gave him all he had, and it was apparently more than enough for Shaq. Nothing would make me happier than the disppearance of Shaq from the NBA-protected list (from penalties).
Unless it’s Kurt Warner finally re-signing with the Cardinals.
But the way the divisions shape up, it looks as if the good ol’ USA will win their division, not that it’s impossible they could have some trouble along the way. Venezuela could give them some trouble, but I don’t expect much from Canada and Italy isn’t really ready for prime time. They have one hell of a team meal though.
Japan should be good in Pool A. I don’t figure either China to match up with them and who knows about Korea? For Japan, the first few games should play out like exhibitions.
The Pool B division features Cuba, I would suppose, but it seems as if we’ve grabbed off all their best players and those fellas don’t necessarily want to go back. Mexico City might be close enough to inspire a little anxiety. Mexico could probably give them a little trouble. The less said about South Africa and Australia, the better.
Pool D figures to be a dogfight. There’s the Dominican Republic that seems to breed baseball players, Puerto Rico, Panama and the friggin’ Netherlands. No, really….The ten-run rule may be in effect in the first round.
So it shapes up as a 4-team matchup between Japan, the U.S. the Dominican Republic, and then Mexico or Cuba, I guess. All those games should be worth watching at the very least, and some of them might wind up being classics.
The U.S. team is worth rooting for, for sure. I like the infield especially, with Jeter at short, Pedroia at second, Wright at third base and then there’s Youkilis at first. Good players, good team players all, they’ll be tough to beat. The outfield seems a little power-deficient, but it’s speedy with Granderson and Victorino in there, and Ryan Braun should provide some pop.
The pitching staff is weird. There are only four real starters, and a couple of them are kind of questionable, in terms of quality. Peavy and Oswalt are great pitchers, but I don’t know that Ted Lilly and Jeremy Guthrie match up with them. Then there’re a million, it seems, relievers and some pretty good ones in J.J. Putz and J.P. Howell, my favorites, but then almost all these relievers can be tough for an inning or two.
But this USA team could play with and beat a lot of past All-Star teams, and I think they’ll be really good defensively and on the bases. I just wish the pitching staff were a little more solid. You might be seeing a lot of Davey Johnson , depending upon the rules on visiting the mound.
You have to like the Dominican Republic team though, with at least three first-round fantasy players in the infield in Jose Reyes, Hanley Ramirez and Arod. He’s questionable now, I guess, but then he’s always been questionable. Then they have some really interesting young pitchers, featuring Johnny Cueto and Edison Volquez.
Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado anchor the Puerto Rico team, but they’ve got plenty of good players, and pitchers too. Alex Rios could outdo Delgado for power and match Beltran for speed. They’ve got a really nice catcher in Geovany Soto too, but I’m not crazy about their pitching staff either.
And if none of the above particularly turns you on, you can watch the exhibition season games, not that they’ll be very exciting with all those star players missing. The Mets especially seem really short-handed, what with the likes of Wright, Beltran, Reyes and Delgado all being gone. I think I could live without seeing Putz and crazy Ollie for a few weeks, but I lost my enthusiasm for the rest of Spring Training.
It was really good to see Manny Ramirez finally agree to the Dodgers contract though. If I have this right, I understand Manny has an option for 2010, but not the Dodgers. He’ll get his 45 mill or thereabouts, but he apparently thinks he’s worth more in a better economic climate, or maybe he just doesn’t like LA. You’d think Manny and LA was a match made in heaven but maybe it’s not.
Or maybe he just doesn’t like Spring Training. What am I saying….maybe? It’s nice to see a guy hold up the entire League though. If anybody’s totally aware of his own worth, it’s Manny, and he doesn’t put on any airs. You won’t hear any rah-rah speeches from Manny..
And it’s really great the football Giants care about defense, but some thought, at least, should be given to the wideout position. I guess they figure they can pick a wideout anytime, but you’re not going to find a quality one if you wait. I suppose they’ll draft a few but they haven’t been that smart about those receiver picks in the past.
The Jets look as if they’re making some good moves too, but a quarterback would be a nice addition, unless they really expect a lot out of their reserves. They don’t seem that concerned. I know there’s a plan……somewhere..
The only other thing that intrigued me lately was the duel between Shaq and Superman down in Orlando. They apparently don’t like each other much either, not that anybody could really like Shaq and not that Shaq cares about anybody else. He sure is high on himself though, and especially when the officials let him hang around in the paint for twenty seconds or so.
In any event, though, Howard gave him all he had, and it was apparently more than enough for Shaq. Nothing would make me happier than the disppearance of Shaq from the NBA-protected list (from penalties).
Unless it’s Kurt Warner finally re-signing with the Cardinals.
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