Doesn't Seem Like a Big Deal Dept.

Struggling Colts turn attention to fixing problems

By MICHAEL MAROT

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Colts have lost two straight meaningful regular-season games for the first time since October 2008.

I know I'm getting older but 2008 does not seem all that long ago to me.

A Bit of a Departure

I found this article while reading a blog that is actually popularby this writer known as "Slacktivist". It may be the most abrupt and creepy ending to any news story ever:

The dancing continued past the ball’s official end at midnight. Mr. Wilson had to tell people to go home. The fathers took their flushed and sometimes sleepy girls toward the exit. But one father took his two young daughters for a walk around the hotel’s dark, glassy lake.

That is the ENDING to a New York Times story. Read that sentence. The two page story just ends there. I’m sorry, but that sentence is the beginning of a story, probably one that ends up as a plot on Law and Order SVU. How on earth did a New York Times editor allow that to be the ENDING to a story?

The Nerd In Me Says This Is Just Inaccurate

Lakers' season is long, but Warriors' is longer

I know it's like, metaphorical or something like that. I'm probably just being picky here.

I'm Going To Give Phil Some Credit Here

For what seems like reasonable argument:

Phil Rogers, Chicago Tribune
If you love baseball, you really love playoff baseball. I remember racing home from school to watch in the early '70s, the vision still clear in my head that I was at Brian Briscoe's house, in his family's sunken living room, when Campy Campaneris fired the bat at Lerrin LaGrow in 1972.The current postseason format is working well, but this being America, more must be better. So I've bought into the idea of adding two more wild-card teams, creating a best-of-three first round. I'd be 100 percent in favor of shortening the regular season, but does anyone think owners are going to open the gates 120 fewer times as a group?So shorten spring training by a week, open the regular season earlier and let teams have bigger rosters the first two weeks, protecting pitchers.

Gotta give him something sometimes, or else I'm just a big bully.

Case Closed.

Did You Ever Notice

...that when a team "shows up" they win. And when they don't "show up" they lose? It has to be true because Mike Lupica (I used to love watching The Sports Reporters)is writing about it:

Alex Rodriguez must step up for Yankees in Game 6 of ALCS against Rangers in Texas

I know he didn't write the headline, but whoever did really 7 Mary 3'd it there. Because it's cumbersome. And they had this song in the nineties. It was called 'Cumbersome'. It was like, "I have becoooooommmme Cumbersooooommmmme." You remember it, don't lie. My point being the last half of it should be cut out.

They are the Yankees,

BOOOOO! Oh sorry, gut reaction.

defending champions of the sport, best team money can buy, most expensive pitching staff ever assembled. They are Mo Rivera, the greatest money player of them all, and Derek Jeter

BOOOO!!! Sorry...sorry...

and Alex Rodriguez

BOOO!!! And no, I'm not sorry this time.

and Robinson Cano,

...-shrug-

their best player this season, maybe the MVP of the league and the league championship series before it's over. And here is where they are in Arlington Friday night: Playing for their season. Again. Trying to win a play-in game to get to Cliff Lee.
The Yankees showed up on Wednesday in Game 5, they did, hundred percent.

So did they not bother to try in the first few games? Is Texas so bad that the Yankees just need to "show up" and they'll win? I thought they were in this position because the Texas offense has been clubbing them to death with 25 runs in 3 games.

Now they have to do it again in Texas, or they become another big, bad Yankee team of this decade that got hit somewhere before the World Series and never recovered.
You know who is supposed to show up Friday night for Game 6? Alex Rodriguez.

You know who's not? Shawn Dunston. But "by gum it" he'll show up anyway, like that guy at the Halloween party who doesn't wear a costume. He's unwanted, but he's a friend of a friend so there's not much you can really do.

So far he has three hits in the series and only one of them - two-RBI single that Michael Young should have made a play on, eighth inning of Game 1 - has mattered.

Ha! So the only thing he's done is get a huge hit in one of the two games the Yankees have won. That's why they call him Choke-Rod!

There have been times when he seemed perfectly happy to take a walk, leave it to Cano when Cano was still hitting behind him.

UGH!!!! Are you kidding Lupica? I'm not sure if this is even worth making a joke about at this point. Seems too obvious. How about we go this way: The games the Yankees lost have been by 5, 8, and 7 runs. I'm pretty sure that's not just on A-rod. It certainly isn't because he was patient enough to get on base and help the team's odds of winning, as opposed to reaching out of the strike-zone like...well...Shawn Dunston. And you know what? This year, leaving it to Cano is not a bad idea, as you pointed out, in this article, when you called him a potential MVP.

This game Friday night, then in Game 7 if the Yankees make it, would be a good time for A-Rod to remind us that October and November of 2009 actually happened.

Great, so now the New York media is moving on to the, yeah he got hot once, but that proves nothing. So New York worships guys like Boone who had ONE big at bat for them, but rips the best player on the franchise for the past few years because he only had one good ENTIRE PLAYOFF RUN. Honestly, you guys don't deserve A-rod. He would be a god if he was a Cub or a Red, but the New York media seems determined to find something wrong with him. Oh no, I'm sorry, it's his fault for taking all that money, the rest of us would have turned it down.

Cano isn't supposed to have to carry this offense on his own. Carrying an offense is supposed to be Rodriguez's job description.

That is just ridiculous. Actually lets take a look at what Cano has done in this series while carrying the offense. Game one he did great, but so did A-rod so we're not including that. We're just talking about when he had to "carry" the offense:
Game 2: Double and a HR (win for Lupica)
Game 3: 0-3 (Win for me!)
Game 4: Another HR (Lupica)
Game 5: Another HR (Lupica)
Alright, so that did not work out the way I thought it would. Cano has 4 HR's in 5 games. That is definitely what Lupica calls: 'carrying the offense'. But my original point was...eh forget it, Cano is awesome, I'll just leave it at that.

Rodriguez got his numbers this season, the way he always does in the end, got to 30 home runs and 125 RBI, even hitting just .270. Friday night he is the one who's supposed to hit the ball over the fence, do something to get his team to Cliff Lee. This is the night when big Yankees show up, make the kind of swing A-Rod made against the Twins in the last postseason, the Angels, the Phillies.

Why can't Jeter do something? Isn't he the new Mr. October?

It is a good thing he did knock in those two runs in the Game 1 rally, or this October would remind people, exactly, of the ones when he looked like the easiest out on the team.
He's not the only one in the order who hasn't shown enough stick. Derek Jeter has hits, but has struck out six times.

YES! Someone actually laid some blame on the chosen one's doorstep. It's a big day for the New York media. And honestly, how can you go through this whole article and not blame the pitching at all? 25 runs in 3 games. Tough to get to the World Series with those kind of numbers.

Case Closed!

Singletary Likes Roaring Fires and Walks on the Beach

From Niner's insider on SFGate.com:
A completely flummoxed and frustrated Alex Smith came to the side lines after throwing three straight incompletions in the fourth quarter and Singletary was intent on benching him. He confronted Smith and told him of his desires.

There has GOT to be a better way to say that.

Smith, then, according to Vernon Davis didn't know what to do.

I share his confusion. Though I do have a sweet new tag to use.

Case Closed.

The Spirit of the Sky!

Sky Andrecheck lives on as we can see in this headline:

New, revitalized Jazz are semi-legitimate

Ballsy.

Only the most maladjusted and insecure among those on hand at EnergySolutions Arena, including the players, could have cared in the least about the final count Thursday night, when the Jazz opened their 2010 preseason against Portland in the annual Who-Gives-A-Flyin’-Rip Classic.

Yeah. Pre-season NBA basketball is the only thing on earth less meaningful then...well...regular season NBA basketball.

Not even Jerry Sloan cared about the end result. The proof? He played Kyrylo Fesenko, Earl Watson, Sundiata Gaines, Jeremy Evans, and Gordon Hayward for most of the fourth quarter, while the front-line guys spectated.

S.O.P. in preseason basketball games I would guess. I've never actually watched one. It's true. I'm not a scout so why the heck would I?

Winning a game on Oct. 7 mattered not enough to even mention the score here.

Yuck! That sentence left a bad taste in my mouth. But yes, we get the point, preseason basketball doesn't matter. I'm going to fix that sentence also: The game was so meaningless I'm not even going to mention the score.

The numbers on the board were mere digits in the lights on this insignificant night.

Right, the game lacked any meaning. It was a black hole of meaning. Put dog crap in one hand and the meaning of that game in the other and see which one gets filled first. We all get it.


The real issue was how the new and revitalized Jazz would fit together in their first taste of semi-legitimate competition against a semi-legitimate opponent in semi-legitimate circumstances.
The semi-legitimate short answer? Semi-legitimate.

That's some legitimately terrible writing from a semi-legitimate journalist.

But semi-legitimate enough for Deron Williams to believe this bunch of Jazz players could be the best he’s ever competed with in his six seasons here. His only qualifiers: “Once we start clicking,” and, “We’re going to need that second group.”

Why even list these cliche's? Why? And what was Deron supposed to say? "Yeah, without Boozer we're much worse off. I've pretty much written the season off and look forward to playing for the Heat in the future."


The first group, a starting lineup of Williams, Raja Bell, Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap, and Andrei Kirilenko, rolled up a big lead on the Blazers, and from there ... planted a new seed that looked promising, indeed.

The first group 'planted their seed' in the Blazers. Heh...

That's it for me. The rest of the article is a good analysis of the Jazz players and how they looked. Nothing more to see here folks.

Case Closed.

Bringing Back a Classic

If firejoemorgan.com had a pet peeve it was the use of the term, "true yankee". They had plenty of articles ripping journalists who applied the term to anyone who got a game winning hit for the 'Evil Empire'. Well I intend on continuing the tradition and thanks to Joel Sherman:

Crucial hits make Berkman true member of Yankees

Interesting, I had assumed the trade made him a member of the...oh wait! Joel wrote "TRUE" member. Exactly. Because you see, if you get game winning hits (Boone) you're a "true" Yankee. If you a choke artist like A-rod up until last year, then you're just some bum collecting a paycheck, whether you're the best player on the team or not.

MINNEAPOLIS — Lance Berkman resided in an interesting place as he came to bat in the fifth inning last night.

Wait a second, wait...wait...wait...You can become a true Yankee in the 5th inning? I'm pretty sure that according to the rules you can only become one in the 8th inning or later. Because everyone knows getting a hit in the 5th inning is a lot easier than getting one in the 9th. Just a scientific fact.

Technically, he was a Yankee. He had the uniform, drew a paycheck signed by a Steinbrenner, enjoyed the company of a clubhouse saturated with All-Stars.

If you're not a Yankees fan, you probably get how arrogant that last line sounds. True or not.
But even Berkman admitted he wasn’t really a Yankee. He acknowledged that “they were making the playoffs with or without me.” And since his July 31 acquisition, it has essentially been without him. There were days he seemed to be hitting with a wet sock rather than wood,

I'm sorry, but is it harder to swing a wet sock than a dry one? What does the dampness of a sock have to do with the metaphor?

...so stingless were his at-bats,

That's called mixing your metaphors kids.

so lacking in meaning were his regular-season efforts.

What? His efforts lacked meaning? What on earth does that mean? And could he write it in a more pretentious way?

Thus, with the score tied 1-1 in Division Series Game 2, Berkman was still searching.

I guess so. No journalist/writer now-a-days should start a sentence with 'thus'. It just makes you sound like a cardigan wearing twerp. Thus, people want to beat you up.

He had talked quite a lot about having a moment or two in the playoffs that would make his brief stay with the Yankees more than a footnote, more than an unfortunate pitstop in a terrific career gone to seed.

And ANOTHER mixed metaphor. Congrats. By the way, my great-grandmother called and said no one's used "gone to seed" since the Haymarket Riots.

Carl Pavano threw a 2-0 changeup that dipped down in the zone. At that moment, Berkman had accumulated 107 Yankee at-bats and registered one homer. Heck, there were a lot of batting practices against 60 mph pitches from coaches when Berkman could not get a ball out of the park. In the Yankee Game 2 lineup, the only player less likely to be able to get over the deep center-field wall at Target Field than Berkman was Brett Gardner.

Ha. Also, Gardner, not a true Yankee yet. Though I believe being brought up in the system means different rules apply to you. I'd need to check my manual on "Yankee-ness".


Yet Berkman did not just get it over the wall to put the Yankees ahead 2-1, “he got it over our bullpen,” hitting coach Kevin Long said. “That ball was crushed.”

Rule 2.1 The farther the home run goes, the more of a Yankee the player becomes.

It was his first postseason homer since Oct. 17, 2005, NLCS Game 5, Astros vs. Cardinals; coincidentally that homer also coming in support of Andy Pettitte.
In those days, Berkman was renowned for gap-to-gap might that was mainly absent as a Yankee before last night. He went over center fielder Denard Span’s head again in the seventh inning, launching a double so far that it actually scored Jorge Posada all the way from first with the run that would put the Yanks ahead for good.
“You don’t feel you are part of the team until you do something to help the team,” Berkman said.

That's fine, I think we can all understand that. You show up halfway through a season and you might not feel like you are part of the team. I get it.


So now he is a Yankee, the offensive star in a 5-2 triumph that sent the Twins to their eighth straight playoff loss to the Yankees.

First, lets all laugh at the Twins ineptness. Alright, now lets laugh at the arrogance of a member of the press bestowing "Yankee-ness" on a major league baseball player.

So he didn’t come to New York to hit third. He came to put a coat of paint on that season. He wanted to know for sure if his lost passion was about meaningless games in Houston or something gone dead in his batteries forever. He says now “in my heart, I know this was the right move.”

When did he say he lost his passion? And yeah, leaving a dead team for the perennial favorites
was the right move, brilliant.


And he turned out to have something left in more than his heart.

Just UGH...Baseball has that magic thing, I get it, but this is just 'Disney sappy'.

He still had enough that after getting a favorable call — Pavano’s 1-2 pitch in the seventh was probably strike 3 — he could still capitalize. He walloped the next pitch for a double that ultimately brought an infuriated Twins manager Ron Gardenhire out to complain and, ultimately, to get ejected over that likely missed call. Berkman now had five hits in 12 career at-bats off Pavano, all for extra bases.

Gee, so maybe it had less to do with his heart and more to do with him being able to dominate the pitcher he was facing. It might have a little more to do with talent. I dunno, that's just me.


But the homer and double last night were particularly sweet. They allowed him to step inside the velvet rope and really join the Yankees.

Ehhh...clubs like that tend to be filled with boring, vapid people anyway. Personally I don't think its worth the effort to get in.

Case Closed!

It's Been A Long Time

I know. Things have been hectic here at the Bronson Courthouse. I've tried to keep my eye out, but you get involved in a civil dispute involving 2 cats and a stamp collection, it's going to eat into your time. Anyway, here's a little Phil Rogers to keep the fires burning:

Baseball whispers: Who's Nick Markakis?
Nick Markakis remains one of the best hitters no one notices.

Um, people have noticed him. A lot of people. A lot of people who like baseball. And to be honest, we're not all that impressed. He's a good hitter, good OBP, decent SLG, a little speed. I have no idea about his defense though because I'm too lazy to scroll down to the bottom of the page.

He entered the weekend with 43 doubles, making him only the third player in history to have four consecutive seasons of at least 43 doubles. The other two were Joe Medwick and Tris Speaker.

Oh yeah, he's frickin Tris Speaker because he has a randomly selected number of doubles for a random amount of consecutive seasons. So next year if he accomplishes this feat again you can tell your friends that Nick Markakis is better than HOFer Tris Speaker. Go on. I dare you to tell them that.

Case Closed.

This Really Got My Goat...

Whatever that may mean.

Regarding fantasy sports:
"I never pay attention to it," says the Detroit Tigers' Jim Leyland, who's been managing the real thing for more than 20 years. "It's amazing when you hear fans say, 'Hey, I had your guy on my fantasy team.' That doesn't mean anything to us."


Seriously, what a jerk thing to say.
Timmy: “Hey Mr. Leyland, I bought your jersey today cause you’re my favorite manager!”
“Suck it Timmy, I gotta go have a smoke.”

Maybe people do it to feel like they're in charge of a real team. But it's nothing like a real team, believe me.

Yeah old man, no one thinks that.

This Isn't the World Series of Poker...

Heck, I didn't even know Norman Chad still wrote for anyone. Unfortunately, he still fancies himself a columnist and presents junk like this:

NFL fantasy football fans have taken over the sport

The National Football League — America's last refuge of undeniable world dominance — began its 91st season Sunday.
(Traditionally, Major League Baseball unofficially opens its season by having the president throw out the first pitch; in the NFL, the new season is unofficially christened when Jay Cutler throws his first interception.)

I'm gonna say 'ouch' for Jay Cutler.

For the uninitiated, here is a brief chronology of the three crucial stages that established the NFL with its fan base:
-- In 1920, the NFL began play. Fans generally rooted for a team when they watched a game.

Still true.

-- In the 1950s, the point spread became prevalent. Some fans now rooted for a team to "cover" the point spread, with money being involved; this is commonly known as "gambling."

Which the NFL can thank for its explosion in popularity.

-- In the 1990s, Fantasy Football took hold. Some fans now didn't root for teams. Rather, they rooted for individual players to score touchdowns or defenses to record sacks, with money being involved; this is not known as "gambling" but it is.

Yeah Chad, people still root for teams. I mean it's 2010. Have we not dispelled this notion that running a fantasy team is in direct conflict with rooting for your favorite team?
Over the last generation, two changes have greatly altered how many fans watch NFL games — instant replay as an officiating tool and fantasy football. What once was a relatively pure and simple viewing experience — relax a little and root for your team — has been largely perverted.

This is completely unprovable on his part. The idea that before instant replay and FF, people apparently didn't care what happened during a game. You'd think he would be thinking these progressions for fueling interest in the sport.

Fans now concentrate on officiating mistakes or individual achievements; in the latter case, whichever team wins is inconsequential.

Yeah I just watched my local NFL team with a group of 15 fans, most of whom have fantasy teams. Trust me, they were extremely concerned with the local team winning. A bit too much if you ask me.
(This would be like going to the opera to see "La Boheme" and not caring if Mimi and Rodolfo can reconcile their lost love before her death because you're so hung up on sound and lighting issues and whether Rodolfo hit a higher note in the third act than Marcello.)

Wow, that is like the worst fantasy league ever.

America may need to rebuild, but it will have to wait until a nation of fantasy freaks is done shouting, "They've GOT TO challenge that!!!"

I don't get what the challenge system has to do with fantasy football. All apologies to fans of the Lions, of course.

Now, frankly, I shouldn't begrudge fantasy fanatics their pleasure. The games are there for our recreation and entertainment; if someone finds more enjoyment by having a financial stake in how various players perform, so be it. And I had made my peace with these people — they stay out of my living room, I stay out of their sports bars — but then I heard about fantasysportsinsurance.com and fantasydispute.com and, well, the uneasy truce was over.

I'm sorry Chad, you're best known as an announcer for what again? Water polo right?

If Tom Brady has a season-ending injury in Week 1, you now are protected. You can buy fantasy insurance online with just a few clicks and a credit card.
(I'm fairly confident many people these days do not carry life insurance but carry fantasy insurance.)
If you think there was an unfair trade in your fantasy league, you now have an avenue to justice. You can settle disputes with your fantasy friends online with just a few clicks and a credit card.
(Remember: Fantasy owners have rights, too!!!)
Incidentally, I'm glad to see lawyers have found another revenue stream; to be honest, I've always thought our nation was under-litigated.

Ha! Lawyer joke!

Of course, the fact that you can now insure your fantasy picks or resolve fantasy disputes raises the age-old question:
Does America have too much wealth? I think that's self-evident. More importantly, does America use its wealth wisely? Well, folks, if we've got enough money to spend $14.95 a pop to have a Yale-trained lawyer arbitrate a fantasy feud, I believe that one's self-evident, too.
(Full disclosure: In regard to misspent wealth and skewed priorities, I must admit that I earn income from commenting on what 22-year-olds wear while playing poker.)

Hey he copped to it finally, nice. Also, he's right, but who am I to begrudge someone a way to sucker people out of their money.

Alas, I wish we could dial the clock back to a time when watching the Jets and Giants lose provided all the weekend pleasure we needed.

That sounds like a horrible, boring time. It's sounds like the kind of time Grandpa Simpson waxes poetic about.

By the way, Jay Cutler threw his first interception with 5:33 to go in the first quarter of the Lions-Bears game. Enjoy the rest of the season!

Case Closed!

Phil Never Lets Me Down

And I thank him for that. I really do, or I would have gone a full week without any post:

Sandberg deserves shot at managing Cubs

A pretty easy premise to work with. You just have to list a few reasons why Ryno should manage the Cubs.

Ryne Sandberg's Iowa Cubs just ended the year with the most victories in the Pacific Coast League, yet are home watching four other teams in the playoffs. Can you think of a feat that would better qualify someone to manage the Cubs?

Someone who has a track record of winning in the Majors? (Oh yeah, they tried that.) Someone who has a solid philosophy on strategy and game management? Someone who has experience managing in a big city and dealing with the media and the pressure that every former manager talks about? (Tried that too) But hey, winning the PCL isn't a bad start I guess.

Having said a polite no thanks to Ernie Banks 39 years ago and a jarring no-thanks to Billy Williams at least a few times, the Cubs again are deciding whether they want to turn their team over to one of their all-time great players. No matter what general manager Jim Hendry and Chairman Tom Ricketts ultimately tell Sandberg, it won't be as smooth as the kiss-off P.K. Wrigley gave Banks when Mr. Cub's career ended in 1971.

And here is where we get off-track.

Wrigley loved Banks. He would invite him up to his office for visits and almost always paid him above the scale for starting shortstops (albeit requiring Banks to pose for pictures signing the documents). Once or twice he vetoed trades that Leo Durocher or someone in his front office had worked out with another team, like the 6-for-1 deal that would have allowed Banks to hit alongside Henry Aaron and Eddie Mathews in Milwaukee.

Has nothing to do with Sandburg.

Banks was made a player-coach in '67, the thinking being that he was almost ready to become a coach. But by the time Banks finally was finished as a player, Wrigley couldn't bring himself even to consider him as a possible successor to Durocher. He said he was "too fond of Ernie to make him manager of anything,'' including a baseball team."Managing is a dirty job,'' Wrigley said. "It doesn't last long and it certainly isn't anything I would wish on Banks.''Lots of old friends feel that way about Sandberg."
There's one school of thought that holds Sandberg should be eliminated from consideration to replace Lou Piniella because these things always end badly, and that Sandberg is too nice of a guy to handle such a failure.

They don't want him to manage because his feelings might get hurt? Oh sure, that is a solid hiring policy. Only hire people you hate because eventually they'll get hurt.

Some compare Sandberg to Alan Trammell, the Cubs' bench coach. He played 20 years as a shortstop for the Tigers before accepting a chance to manage them in 2003, seven years after he had played his last game. His first team lost 119 games and the next two 90 and 91 before he was sacked in favor of Jim Leyland, who was given Magglio Ordonez and Kenny Rogers, and the chance to manage in the World Series.Trammell hasn't exactly been besieged with offers to manage elsewhere, including a snub from the Cubs after 3 1/2 seasons as Piniella's top assistant.Is this the fate that awaits Sandberg?Hardly.

Why not? By all accounts the Cubs are heading anywhere but up so a couple 90-loss seasons aren't out of the question. Any reason he'll avoid this fate?

None of these anecdotes tell us anything about what the Cubs could expect to get if they hired the power-hitting second baseman who twice got them to the threshold of the World Series.

Then why share them, other than to hit your word count?

There's no way to predict how it would go for Sandberg.Maybe he would flame out spectacularly. Maybe he would turn into a North Side version of Ozzie Guillen, without so many expletives having to be deleted.It's a roll of the dice.

Those are the only two options? Either fail so badly you end up drinking yourself to death or become a crazy Venezuelan...and end up drinking yourself to death? Why would anyone want this job?

I say put the bones in his hands and stand back, hoping that this time next year — or the year after that, two years after that, even three years after that — Cub Nation rings with cries of "hot shooter, hot shooter.''

Ugh. Why would anyone say that? Because it works with the metaphor. Because running a baseball team is all luck, like dice.

There's no question it is tempting to see if Joe Girardi really wants to leave the Yankees to come home to the Midwest. He has proven himself as a solid big-league manager and is in almost every way a safer bet than Sandberg.

Great argument for NOT SANDBURG. That's the point of the article right?

But will he really leave the Yankees?If he does, how much of a price will you pay for that move — both now, in terms of the size and length of his contract, and over the course of time in him being able to say he sacrificed for the good of his hometown franchise?

I don't understand the last part of that run-on sentence. How much will the Cubs pay for Girardi to say he sacrificed for the good...? Why would they have to pay for that? I really don't understand.

Why not start fresh with a guy who was a great player ...

Cause God knows great players make great managers. That's why Banks worked out so wel...oh right.

...and has spent the last four years adding to his base of knowledge by managing in the minors?

Hey a solid point. Way to go Phil.

Hendry dared Sandberg to do that, and Sandberg called him on it.

Like coaching a minor league team is a game of chicken. I dare you to live in Iowa for 4 years!

It's time for Hendry to give Sandberg his dream job, no matter how badly anyone fears for Sandberg.It would be one thing if Sandberg's teams had treaded water, but they haven't. He has had three winning seasons in four years — how would Cub fans have liked to have that ratio the last 60 or so years? — and took a team that was only two games above .500 to the championship series of the Southern League in 2009.Sandberg seemed poised for another playoff run this year but his team faded late (in part because the undermanned Cubs grabbed players like Darwin Barney, Casey Coleman, Andrew Cashner and Scott Maine) and wound up tied with Memphis for the division title. Their matching 82-62 records were better than the other three division leaders but the Redbirds advanced on a tie-breaker while the I-Cubs went home.Given that it's going to be at least a year or two before the Cubs regain the flexibility to be major players in the free-agent market, it's an advantage for Sandberg that he knows the organization's young players.

All excellent points. I'll give him this part.

Case Closed.

Good Article 12

From Hardball Times regarding the White Sox not signing Thome.

Edwin Jackson Is Ruining The White Sox

Apparently that's the new theme in the Chicago Newspapers. You know, ignoring his sick stats since coming to the White Sox. Even with his .98 ERA, he's the reason for them falling apart because...he killed team chemistry. It's obvious to everyone in know:

Leading up to the July 31 trade deadline, some Sox players had said Trader Kenny didn't need to make a move, especially one to acquire a hitter. He traded for a pitcher, Edwin Jackson, and the Sox nosedived.

See! You get a good player and your team collapses. It's just logic!

Case Closed.

What Would I Do Without You Phil?

Risk of adding Ramirez may be rewarding for Sox

I don't want to get too excited, but the unsure nature of that headline makes me suspicious that my boy Sky Andrecheck is writing headlines for the Tribune. Wow, the combined powers of Phil Rogers and Sky would be unstoppable! Well lets get to the good stuff (me in regular/Phil in italics).

Williams already has traded Daniel Hudson and entry-level lefty David Holmberg for Edwin Jackson, and the Sox have lost six games in the standings with Jackson (at an additional $1.4 million) on the payroll. Here's hoping Williams doesn't add to the body count to lessen the financial burden of acquiring Ramirez.

In 4 starts Edwin has not given up over 1 ER and has a .96 ERA. He also has 2 wins if you care about that sort of thing. My point is, I do not think it's Jackson's fault that the Sox are free falling from the playoff picture.

Considering the Sox are getting such a diminished version of Ramirez that the Dodgers have been starting Scott Podsednik instead of him, the risk seems extreme. But their lineup isn't the greatest either, even if they have averaged 6.2 runs over the last two weeks.

I can't believe Phil is going to make me look up Manny Ramirez's numbers and compare them to Podsednik. Manny OPS .915. Pods .708. The reason they have been starting Pods recently is so Manny doesn't get hurt before the Dodgers could deal him. At 38, Manny is injury prone. That would have been a much more valid argument. I don't see why he didn't mention it.

Ramirez, ejected during a pinch-hit at-bat Sunday in Colorado, has 40 RBIs and a .915 OPS in 66 games this season, which has been interrupted by three stints on the disabled list. Paul Konerko is the only Sox regular who has been as productive with performance prorated by availability.

Oh he did. Way to make me seem like a jerk Phil.

Don't worry too much about Ramirez's dreadlocks and what he does or doesn't do in the clubhouse. He has historically been a non-factor off the field — although, sure, it would be nice if he kept his uniform on until the end of games, something he might not have always done in Los Angeles.

Here's the snap. Go deep. The Sox are so desperate, they're calling the hail-Manny play.

Looks like someone was just as desperate for a joke to end him column with.

Case Closed.

The Obsession Continues...

Looks like we'll have to wait till 2012 until I have more to post on Strasburg.

Comedy!

It is not the forte of the sportswriter generally. Sure you may have a King Kauffman here or there, but there are a whole lot more Jay Mariotti's. And I found one "mini-jay" today going by the name of Bob Ford:

All these years, I thought GQ stood for Gentleman's Quarterly, but when the magazine came out with its exclusive, wide-ranging interview with Donovan McNabb this week, it's obvious the initials stand for Gone Qwazy.

Ouch.

Because that's where McNabb has gone. Not Washington, D.C., or Landover, Md. But Qwazy, USA, Zip code 55555.

So...you're gonna keep going with that joke huh?

And then there's the barfing. Admittedly, a lot of the legend associated with whether McNabb did or did not lose his Keeblers in the Super Bowl hinges on the recollection of Freddie Mitchell, who has a little Gone Qwazy in him, too.

Wow, you really want to hammer this thing home...well comedy of three's I guess.

Case Closed!

Sometimes...

I pick on an article, not because it has facts wrong, or an ill-informed opinion, but because I just didn't like how it was written. Who am I to judge a professional writer? I don't know what the qualifications of a media critic should be, but I have a 10th grade education from a school that was the focus of a documentary on basketball. Seems qualified enough to me. So this article doesn't come from the usual suspects. It was posted on Salon.com by a new writer to my blog, Steve Almond. There's nothing wrong per say with the column, just the ending struck me as being...off:

The hit TV series based on Bissinger's own book is the quintessential example. Way back in the pilot episode, the star quarterback suffered a paralyzing spinal injury. The next week, his teammates were back in action, ready to "play through the pain" and prove themselves in battle. And we were there to watch – and cheer.

This is probably over-picky but it just kinda cuts the article off, without an ending. Maybe that's just me.

No case to close here really.

I Didn't Realize That Last Post

...was number 100. If I had known I would have tried to make it special, or at least interesting. Anyway, time for a Strasburg update since I've now dedicated this blog to following the young fellas career. The Nationals are thinking of shutting Strasburg down for the season? No! What will I use for filler on the blog?

Great Article About Scouting

Revenge of the old man here. Brought to my attention by "A Man Named Scott."

Keeping The Proper Perspective

I know that a sports columnist's job is to talk about issues in the arena of sports. And my old sport's econ teacher used to joke that your could find out more from the police blotter than the sports pages about today's athletes. When handling stories like these, you really have to be mindful of all the issues involved, if you just correlate it to sports, you can miss the bigger picture and come off as slightly ignorant to the rest of the world.
So here are some news articles about K-Rod. Now let's get into the opinions. First up: Bob Klapisch

Mets organization shows a lack of backbone

The first few paragraphs are well-written and thought out. Then he gets to the second half of the article:

K-Rod may do time, but this much is certain: He’ll return to a clubhouse full of nice guys, not one of whom is a leader.

Huh? What does this have to do with anything you've talked about in this article? (Yes I'm making you read the article from it's source, sorry) The man has a history of violence against both men and women and you're decrying the lack of leadership in the Mets clubhouse? Not the time Bob.

David Wright? He gets the most TV face time, but he’s a watered-down version of the ’80s-era Keith Hernandez. Beltran is the Mets’ most talented player, but he’s as non-confrontational as Wright. Jose Reyes is just trying to stay healthy. And what about Manuel? He’s just a short-timer with no credibility in the room, on his way to getting fired.

So Bob has decided that this incident of domestic violence is the perfect opportunity to rip into various members of the Mets organization. Classy. Also Beltran is the most talented player? He's played 106 games in the past two years. Angel Pagan would have a quarrel with Bob's contention, at least this year.

That, in part, is why Rodriguez went off on a family member on Wednesday, because somewhere in his consciousness he knew he could get away with it.

No, it's not. That's just ridiculous. He did it because he's a hot-headed bully.

At no time did K-Rod stop to think, “These are my teammates’ wives, their children, they shouldn’t have to witness this.”
That deterrent should’ve stopped K-Rod, had he been more self-aware.

That, or the idea that beating up a 58-year-old man when your a pro athlete in his prime is just flat out wrong.

That’s why he’s going to need counseling. It may or may not work. Rodriguez’s rage comes from the same place that makes him fearless in the ninth inning.

Wow, I can't tell you how stupid I think this statement is. Dumb and ignorant. His rage has caused two people to file for restraining orders against him. His rage does not help him paint the outside corner with a breaking ball. Really stupid statement. Then I read this statement from Carlos Beltran:

Carlos Beltran said one of the reasons the Mets played so well yesterday was that they are tired of being publicly embarrassed.

Joke Number 1: You'd think the Mets would be used to that.
Joke Number 2: Maybe they should hire Fishburn's daughter to do their PR. Then they'd be really motivated every time she sent a tweet.
Joke Number 3: Which player will beat up a family member next to spark their big run to the playoffs?
Joke Number 4: You'd think the Mets would be used to that.

Then Kevin Kernan writes this:

Maybe they will keep that edge for a while, especially with the Phillies coming to town.

Dear Lord, he bought into it.

“It’s disappointing,” Beltran said of the K-Rod situation. “Everyone has family issues, but you don’t want something like this to happen at the ballpark nor at the place where you work."

Someone tell Beltran to shut up, now. Carlos, you shouldn't want something like that to happen ANYWHEREERERERERERERERER!

“We felt all the negatives would turn into a positive,” Beltran said.

The negative being your closer beat up his 58-year-old father-in-law. Great math lesson from Professor Beltran about negatives turning into positives. Beating up an older man and getting accused of rape (Santana) are both negatives. 2 negatives = a positive! And a Mets victory! Yay math! Though a word of warning Mets, one more negative makes things go back to negative.

Case Closed.

It's About to Get All Nerdy In Here

Stat nerdy that is. That's what happens when you write a half-assed article arguing a guy who isn't even the best player at his POSITION should be league MVP. Please Joe Frisaro, make your terrible arguments:

Uggla vaults himself into NL MVP talk

Seems more like you, Joe Fisaro, are vaulting him into NL MVP talks.

WASHINGTON -- Don't look now, but here comes Dan Uggla soaring up the home run charts. The Marlins' second baseman has 26 homers, which are four behind National League leader Adam Dunn, who has 30. Uggla is fourth in the league in homers, and he also trails Albert Pujols and Joey Votto, who both have 28.

Because not leading the league in a major category is a reason to be MVP. Not that HR's are the only measure, I'm just saying it's a poor stat to point out.


Combine his homers with 71 RBIs, 77 runs scored and a .283 batting average, and Uggla is worthy of being in the NL MVP conversation.

None of those stats matter to me. They just don't. And none of them have the look of an MVP anyway.

The 30-year-old may not be a frontrunner, but he is making a case to be in the top five or six.
Manager Edwin Rodriguez says Uggla is the Marlins' MVP, giving him the edge over Josh Johnson based on him being an everyday player.

He does have the highest WAR of position players on the team, 4.0. So I agree with that.


"The numbers are there," Rodriguez said. "If you know a little about baseball, and you watch and notice the bat speed he can generate, you can understand why.
"He has such a powerful swing, not only to the pull side. But I have seen him to right-center field and center field. The bat speed really impresses me."

Sorry, but bat speed is not a reason to give someone the MVP. And the numbers? They're good, but he's still tied for 11th in the league in WAR. That's pretty far down there for an MVP candidate.

Since July 23, a span of 16 games, Uggla has 10 homers and 18 RBIs. He paces the NL in homers since the All-Star break, and he's one behind Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays for the most in the Majors.

Too bad the MVP has to do with the whole season.

Uggla is on pace for 39 homers, 112 runs and 104 RBIs.

Great numbers, all counting stats, but still.

Of his homers, half have come on two-strike counts.

So...the frick...what?

Uggla homered off Washington's Stephen Strasburg with two strikes on Tuesday.
"I got lucky," said Uggla, who connected on a 98-mph fastball. "He made a pretty good pitch, and I got away with a pretty good pitch."
Rookie Mike Stanton, who has incredible power, is learning by watching Uggla.
"It's ridiculous. It's fun for me to watch and a great thing for me to learn from," Stanton said. "Every day he's getting better and better. The numbers are skyrocketing, and it's fun to be on the same field as him."

Well, might as well hand him the league MVP since he's fun to play with.

Case Closed!

Pssst...Wanna Hear A Secret?

It's a new concept I know. Play the players who are doing well, bench the ones who aren't. Those clever Rangers have figured out the secret to success, don't let Christian Guzman play. I kid. They actually traded for him. And hey, currently they are 8 games up in their division so what can you say about it right?

Rangers' demand for accountability is paying off

Jon Daniels and Ron Washington have removed the free passes from the Rangers' clubhouse this season.

My 3rd grade teacher did the same thing when they found 'Nibbles' the gerbil in the boys urinal.

No more coddling players. No more excuses.

I hope they put up a bunch of those inspirational posters about giving 110% and pushing the extreme.

Every single player on this club must earn his role. And every single player must produce to keep that role.

I will admit that's a better plan than the Cubs plan of playing whoever is making the most and hoping they regain their past glory.

It's true.

Kurt Angle is writing the column, sweet.

Just ask Frank Francisco, who lost his closer's job to Neftali Feliz six days into the season. Or first baseman Chris Davis, who was banished to the minor leagues, as he should have been, less than three weeks into the season and again in July.

Great, they don't let players who are under producing play. We get it. Anything else?

Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Taylor Teagarden, the catchers on the roster when the season began, were each in the minors before the end of April.

Yeah Taylor, we got it, they aren't gonna let me play SS anytime soon. Are there any other reasons? Like they had great depth in the organization so they could afford to dump players who had less than satisfactory results?

Rich Harden? Stuck on the disabled with a sore glute – yeah, right – for about six weeks after too many raggedy performances to count. He's probably going to get one more chance to prove he should remain a member of the rotation until Derek Holland takes his spot.

Yeah, we get it...How about that their bullpen is a beast and they have a team ERA+ of 115!?!

Scott Feldman, a 17-game winner last season and the recipient of a three-year contract just before the season started, has been placed in pitching purgatory for the rest of the year. How else can you describe an opening day starter who is now a long reliever?

Yes, he was brutal and lost his spot...please give us something else to work with. How about improved defense?

Julio Borbon, the talented rookie center fielder, is the latest Rangers player to see his role altered. After more than a month of scuffling at the plate, he has been regularly supplanted by David Murphy, who provides some semblance of an offensive threat.

UGH!! This isn't an article, it's a transaction log.

Murphy delivered two key homers last week in wins over Seattle.

And has an OBP of .325. Not great. (Career: .334)

Borbon has three extra-base hits since July 2. That's unacceptable. So Borbon sits while Murphy plays more consistently as the Rangers prepare to begin a two-game series tonight with the Yankees.

The best teams, no matter the sport, make accountability a significant part of their team creed. The best teams have stiff competition for playing time.

Usually because they have a lot of the best players. It's not a creed, it's common sense, unless you're Dusty Baker or someone like that.

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle is terrific at making the guys on his team earn playing time.

Any example how? No? Alright we'll take your word for it.

Wade Phillips is getting better, though the true test will be how long it takes him to reduce Roy Williams' playing time once Dez Bryant returns from his high-ankle sprain.

Ask any athlete and he'll tell you he practices harder, focuses more intently and takes care of the details more vigorously when he must earn playing time with each performance or practice.

They'll also tell you their faithful to their wives...What athlete is going to say: "Yeah I really turn it down when there's competition for my spot, I mean why bother right?"

It's human nature. All of us work harder when we're aware we can be replaced at a moment's notice.

That's the trick to effective management, constantly threatening to replace your workers. It creates a sense of panic that is palpable in the office.

The Rangers have rarely taken this approach, though they've had a valid excuse: Neither the team nor the farm system has been consistently good enough to create real competition within the ballclub.

THERE IT IS!!!! DING DING DING DING!!!! Organizational depth. If you're the White Sox and have a lowly ranked farm system, you can't just run around replacing your players with double-A athletes. So the Rangers have done a great job of building a solid organization.

Daniels' upgrade of the farm system over the last few seasons has given Washington options that former manager Buck Showalter never had. These days, if a player slumps, the Rangers' farm system can provide an alternative, such as first baseman Mitch Moreland or pitchers Tommy Hunter and Alexi Ogando.

Or, as Daniels showed last month, the system is deep enough that he can trade for a better option – such as when he gave up prospects, including much-heralded Justin Smoak, in deals for Cliff Lee, first baseman Jorge Cantu and second baseman Cristian Guzman to strengthen the club as it pursues its first AL West title since 1999.

He used the words "strengthen the club" and "Christian Guzman" in the same sentence. Never thought I'd see that one.

Despite the philosophical shift, Washington gives players plenty of opportunity to prove they can handle their roles. Davis received every opportunity to succeed before the Rangers replaced him. The same goes for Borbon. And Harden. And Feldman. And every other player who's had his role changed this season.

The approach Daniels and Washington have taken this year is as big as any reason why the Rangers lead the AL West by eight games, which just happens to be the largest lead in baseball.

Yes, their approach of playing the good players and benching the bad ones has worked brilliantly.

Case Closed.

Jeter Beats Up Corpse of Ruth

Catchy headline right? You'll remember that. The key is brevity, unlike this headline by Filip Bondy who's parents obviously didn't know how to spell "Phillip.":

Derek Jeter's accomplishments with Yankees can be celebrated, but he can't be compared to Babe Ruth

It's like comparing apples and Apple iPods.

No. No Filip, it's not at all like that.

On the night when Derek Jeter passed Babe Ruth in total career hits - and when Jeter's milestone baseball was flipped by Josh Beckett in the second inning to Alex Rodriguez, of all people, for safekeeping - it was probably a good time to discuss just how silly these historic comparisons can become.

Who's comparing Jeter and Ruth? Outside of you Filip? Really, I haven't heard anyone do that.


You want to keep count of these things, go ahead.

Who? Me personally? What did I do to you?

The Yanks make a cottage industry out of it.

Out of what? Keeping tract of stats? I don't think that's what they're known for, I could be wrong.

They're entitled to their celebrations, and so are the modern players. But this is a shaky link between generations, more a rickety footbridge than a steel span.

What link? Baseball? Baseball is a shakey link between generations? I always thought the
opposite, but ok.

"I don't compare it, so I have to ask you if it's fun," Derek Jeter said after adding a second hit, No. 2875, during the 7-2 victory over Boston. "It's two completely different kind of players."

Who is making these comparisons? Jeter is no where NEAR the player Ruth was.


There is nothing about Jeter's job description that even vaguely resembles Ruth's,

Well, the hitting and fielding. Those are vaguely similar.

and the Yankees of 2010 are every bit as different from the 1927 Bombers as a shortstop is very much unlike a right fielder/starting pitcher.

This statement is so dumb, I can't even break it down. Yes, most of the 1927 Yankees are dead now, so they've had to get different players. What that has to do with the difference between a shortstop and RF I have no idea. And I dislike it when people point out that Ruth was a great pitcher as if they have some sort of inside knowledge everyone else doesn't. Most baseball fans know this, even casual fans. I'll prove it in a lunch time survey and post the results after.


If Ruth hadn't "wasted" his time for five or six seasons as a potential Hall of Fame pitcher with the Red Sox,

Like that.

then he might well have collected 500 more hits and rescued the world from home run records by Barry Bonds and A-Rod.

True.


The times, the teams, and the teammates are utterly dissimilar.

Because people that played with or against Ruth are, for the most part, DEAD. That's why we have weighted stats like OPS+ to help compare from era to era.
Then Filip write a bunch of stats from the old team. They were great, blah, blah, blah.

By comparison, these best-in-baseball Yanks are from hunger. Sunday night, they started only one player, Robinson Cano, batting above .300, and only Mark Teixeira, who homered to lead off the fifth inning, has as many as 25 homers. Their showcase slugger, A-Rod, is rapidly sliding toward the .260 mark.

And all of this is greatly relevant to the Ruth vs. Jeter comparison.


But you take what you can get in a game diluted by expansion,

How is having A-rod, Teixeira and Cano a case of expansion diluting the talent pool?

and in this case the Yankees will gladly accept their solid victory over the Sox and a cushy seven-game bulge over Boston.

Ha...bulge...


Jeter received a nice ovation for dumping a single into center, his 2,874th career hit, and heaven knows he deserves it. He actually owns one more championship than Ruth, though he still trails the Babe by 481 homers and 94 pitching victories.

Ugh, that's why NO ONE compares the two. And hey! Did you know Ruth used to pitch? I had no idea till it was mentioned for a 3rd time this article.

"I didn't know till someone told me about it a few days ago," Jeter said.

I know it's impossible to prove, but I frickin guarantee what he said is bull.

"It's a spcial (sic) moment (though) it's not like it was a goal of mine because I wasn't aware of it."

Again...bull. And they just let Jeter get away with saying that crap. If it was A-Rod, no one would buy it.

These days, one Yankee or another is setting some kind of record or joining some sort of select club almost every day. Sunday, there were three such moments - Jeter passed Ruth in hits, Teixeira became one of four players to have at least 25 homers in his first eight seasons, and Rodriguez collected his 300th stolen base to go with his 600 homers.

Yeah, the Yankees have a lot of all-time greats on their team. It's probably why they're so good.

Jeter's was the most noteworthy, because of the name he surpassed. Yet it is all nonsense, really. This is now, that was 1927. Ruth is Ruth, arguably the greatest player in the history of baseball and one of the largest figures in all of sports.

All those are reasons why no one is comparing the two. Also, how is it nonsense that he passed Ruth in hits?


"The first thing I think of is Yankees," Jeter said when asked about his image of Ruth. You don't measure Ruth in singles or doubles. It just diminishes the legend. And you don't measure Jeter, the steady captain, against Ruth, the eclectic, magnificent Sultan of Swat. You measure him against Phil Rizzuto, Maury Wills, Luis Aparicio and maybe Cal Ripken Jr.
You're back to apples and oranges then, at least a little better.

So the point of the article is that Derek Jeter isn't as good as Babe Ruth. Groundbreaking stuff there Filip. I just love that he is complaining that everyone needs to stop comparing the two players when he is the only person I've read doing it.

Case Closed.

Ugh, It's Stuff Like This

That keeps me from liking Jeter:

Derek Jeter has constructed a 16-year major league career out of clutch hits.

Just a lame exaggeration.

I Am Having a Field Day Today

I got another fish on the hook thanks to the L.A. Times. We're just going to skip to the good parts, call it unfair if you want. If you have a great desire to read the whole thing in context be my guest. So this one is from Chris Erskine:

Dodgers fans can follow Blake DeWitt to the Cubs at their peril

The whole thing is in response to another article from a columnist saying they would become Cubs fans so they could follow the apparently stellar career of Blake DeWitt. Whatever.

Of course, not since Eddie Collins or Jackie Robinson can I think of a single second baseman who ever led a team to the World Series. In fact, it may well be the most inconsequential position on the field, right after the diva who oversings the anthem.

Number one, the idea of "Leading" a team to a World Series is a bit of an abstract concept. You can be the best hitter, but you're not the best pitcher and vice versa. Even so...THIS YEAR...the player with the highest WAR is (drumroll): Robbie Cano 5.5 WAR. But Jeter is the "captain, the leader" correct? I guess, though I thought the Manager was the leader, but what do I know?

This Situation Is Overblown

Like the grunge scene in the 90's, or Ebola threat of the 90's, or the Internet predator scare of the 90's, or the Y2K scare of the 90's, or the killer bee scare... At any rate, Dan Shaughnessy, the writer with hardest last name in the business, has decided to freak out Boston-style over one mediocre year and a few injuries. Then he'll attempt to correlate that to a completely different player, in a different era, playing at a different point in his career. It should be a blast:

This situation at critical mass

You mean the thing with all the naked bikers?

It’s impossible and unfair to measure another man’s pain. Some professional ballplayers play hurt, while others wait until they are 100 percent before they step on the field. Jacoby Ellsbury broke five ribs back in April and he’s the only person who knows the extent of his pain at this hour.

Just background info, nothing funny here folks, move along.

But the situation with the Red Sox and Ellsbury has become absurd. The Sox are falling fast against mediocre competition and Ellsbury is still on the disabled list even though he’s played five games of minor league ball, and Sunday went 2 for 5, almost jumping out of McCoy Stadium in pursuit of a Durham Bull home run.
It was hard to watch the Sox’ 6-5 loss to the moribund Indians last night.

I bet, the Indians are not...well good. There's not good. At baseball. But maybe baseball isn't their thing.

They started Eric Patterson in center and Ryan Kalish in left. Mike Cameron, who has played all season with an abdominal muscle tear, was mercifully placed on the disabled list, and Daniel Nava was recalled from Pawtucket. Kevin Youkilis went to the bench after hurting his thumb in the second inning. Victor Martinez replaced Youkilis at first base and Kevin Cash came in to catch.
Meanwhile, Ellsbury sat with his teammates in the dugout, still unable to play. It was not unlike that July night in 2004 when Nomar Garciaparra sat and stewed while Derek Jeter dived into the stands and the Yankees beat the Red Sox in extra innings.

Except that is was 2004. It was against the Yankees. It was two different players. Also the Red Sox were on the road in New York. But yeah, it was "not unlike" it in that they were playing baseball on both nights. So you got me there.

That was the night it was clear the Sox had to trade Nomar...

BEEP BEEP BEEP!!!! I will bet you a hundred zillion dollars he does NOTHING to back this "fact" up.

...and that’s the way it feels with Ellsbury now.

You owe me a hundred zillion dollars.

Too bad. Ellsbury’s an amazing talent, a 26-year-old center fielder who stole 70 bases last year and has a lifetime batting average of .297.

And his amazing OPS+ last year? 97. He is an outstanding fielder. UZR: a 23 the year before. Maybe Dan could have pointed that out.

This standoff of 2010 is at critical mass.

More naked bikers!

The Red Sox aren’t going to call him out publicly, but the organization and Ellsbury’s teammates simply have to be fed up.

Because he's hurt and trying not to ruin his career at the ripe age of 26? BTW he's making less than $500,000 this year. So it's not like he's a payroll strain.

Martinez, Jason Varitek, and Dustin Pedroia stayed with their teammates after they broke bones. Ellsbury went to Athletes’ Performance Institute in Arizona. Martinez vaulted right into the lineup when his broken thumb improved. Varitek and Pedroia plan to do the same thing.

So they haven't yet? You've decided to randomly give them credit before they even make their return, as opposed to Ellsbury who you are burying in spite of the FIRST LINE OF THE ARTICLE: It’s impossible and unfair to measure another man’s pain. Well at least Dan is calling himself out on it.

The rest of the article is mildly annoying, but nothing egregious.

Case Closed.

Oh Those Wacky Stats

Here is an odd statistical anomaly. Look at the last two games for the Brewers, Aug 1 and Aug 2. Aug 1 they score 2 runs and have on OPS of .764. Aug 2 they score 18 runs (yes 18 runs) and have an OPS of .770. I just found it kinda quirky. 18 runs and only 1 HR. They also left 15 people on base, so things could have been much worse for the Cubs. I mean, sorta, I guess it doesn't really matter after your down...lets say 12-1.

Phil Rogers is the Worst Reporter Ever

I know people hated Mariotti, but at least he's no longer employed at a major newspaper. Marrioti was just a stuff-stirrer. He wanted to get everyone riled up under the theory of "any reaction from the reader is a good reaction." Phil Rogers just doesn't seem to understand baseball. At all. And he's been covering it for like 5000 years or so. I don' even know what number of article this is about him. But he's turning this blog into his own personal showcase. Here's the newest entry (Phil in italics, me in regular typeface):

Standing pat at deadline right move for Sox

This is a continuation of his theory that adding good players hurts you team. Why? Cause change kills unicorns.

No Adam Dunn, no worries.

Well no worries except every time Juan Pierre and his 72 OPS+ come to the plate to pop out to the shortstop. (Though thanks to his fielding his WAR is .7, gotta give him that.)

And, hey, Kenny Williams, way to go. Way to say no.As constructed during the 26-5 stretch that carried them from 9 1/2 games back into the American League Central lead, there was really nothing wrong with the White Sox.

Team OPS+ 98, slightly below the league average.

That's why Paul Konerko took some time at the All-Star Game to talk about how he hoped Williams wouldn't do what's so easy to do in this age of short attention spans and ceaseless public pressure to do something, anything!

And this is how you write a run on sentence by just throwing in word after word and confusing everyone who is reading and trying to enjoy what you wrote the night before when you were watching the game with a can of Milwaukee's Beast and you had to get an article in before deadline and you might as well congratulate the GM on failing to get land any offensive help because obviously if the White Sox were playing .800+ ball for a month that will continue for eternity as long as you don't mess with the "gosh dang it" chemistry of the ball club.

That is, to try to fix something that wasn't broken.

Team OPS+ 98. Black holes of offense include:

A.J. Pierzynski: OPS+ 65

Gordon Beckham: OPS+ 74 (Though definitely hot as of late.)

Juan Pierre: OPS+ 71

Mark Kotsay: OPS+ 72


Konerko prodded Williams to believe in the role players who have meant so much to this point.

If by "role players" he meant the best bullpen in the MLB, then yes, he should believe in them. If he meant "role players" as in Mark Kotsay...then no.

This shouldn't have been too tough of a sales job, as it was Williams who brought all those guys to Chicago.But the temptation to add a fourth run-producer to the middle of an order Alex Rios, Carlos Quentin and Konerko anchor was great.

Yes. The temptation to improve the frickin team was great. Good thing Williams recognized the only thing that could come from that is winning a lot more games. Phew...close one there.

That's why Williams even called Dodgers GM Ned Colletti at one point to discuss Manny Ramirez.Williams' nature is to be hyperactive. But this time Williams did the right thing. He refused to consider trading Gordon Beckham and says he let it be known he valued Dayan Viciedo so highly teams didn't even ask about him.

Yes...that's why they didn't ask about him....You know in 66 plate appearances he has walked a grand total of.......................ZERO TIMES!!!! Not even hit by a pitch. That's actually hard to do. You have to have a real dedication to swinging the bat at everything to accomplish that one. (Yes small sample size I know. But 66 times and no walks...geez.)

Williams might have been able to say no Saturday because he had scratched his trading Jones

At first I thought he was talking about Andruw Jones...

...on Friday, dealing Daniel Hudson and David Holmberg to the Diamondbacks for Edwin Jackson. For those counting — OK, I may be the only one in America doing this — they were the 52nd and 53rd ranked prospects (Sox's top 30, Baseball America) that Williams has traded in his decade as a GM........

It's a good sign that Williams wouldn't mortgage the future once again by trading Beckham for Dunn or Jose Bautista. He hoped Nationals GM Mike Rizzo would give him a way to add Dunn without having Beckham in the package, but the counteroffer never arrived."I was not trading Gordon Beckham,'' Williams said.It's an even better sign that teams did not even ask about Viciedo, who the Sox project as a game-changing power hitter at either third base or (post-Konerko) first base. He's in the second year of a four-year, $10 million contract and is valued higher than it might have seemed heading into the weekend of the trade deadline."People know how we feel,'' Williams said, explaining why no teams asked for him. "He's 21 years old. A talent like that will be a major force in the league. I'd like you to find one or two (prospects) at his level who can do the things he can do, are as explosive. The ball comes off his bat. People understood we weren't going to (consider trading him)."

Here is a list of the top 50 prospects in the Minors at the beginning of the year one MLB.com. Use Edit->Find to look for Viciedo's name. See what happens. Go on. Try it.

Williams said he understands why some analysts have said the Sox are only "marginally better'' after adding Jackson in Jake Peavy's rotation spot, where Hudson had been. But he remembers being criticized for not making major moves at the deadline in 2005.

Past results may not predict future returns.

Names aren't known but it appears he would have added Nos. 54 and 55 to the list of those he traded away if Lance Berkman had been willing to come to Chicago.Berkman vetoed a deal with the White Sox so he could join old Astros teammate Andy Pettitte with the Yankees. This could be a blessing in disguise, as his batting average has been in steady decline (from .312 in 2008 to .274 in '09 to .245 this year) and he never has had to deal with the adjustments that come from being traded.

Wow. Still using batting average huh? Berkman's OPS+ 114. Beats the chum the White Sox are throwing out at DH right now doesn't it? Also the whole "dealing with the adjustments that come from being traded" thing. My suggestion? Remember to set your watch ahead a couple hours. There's, you've adjusted. Heck, your cell should do it automatically.

Nothing sometimes can be the right thing to do.Given the price tag placed on the available run-producers like Dunn and Bautista, this was one of those times.

I don't know the exact terms of the agreement for Beckham and Dunn and everyone else. All I know is Dunn hits like a mythological beast and would have a fun time hitting in US Cellular. (Park Factor 104. Favorable to hitters.) Beckham may be the future, but Dunn is the present.

Case Closed.