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.