The 2-2 Pitch...

Putting Together a Championship Team in 3 Easy Steps

2012-02-02T09:58:00.016-05:00

As a fan of D.C.-area teams in the other major and minor sports, I know a little something about - well, if not rooting for teams who win championships, then at least rooting for teams who play against teams who win championships. (You can't really avoid it; they're on the schedule. It's the same reason you had to take Physics in high school.)

Here, for the benefit of the Washington Wizards, Washington Redskins, and all of those other teams who have lost their way, is how to assemble a title contender:

Step 1. Acquire Talent

The quality of your coach is negligible. A coach is for motivating and scapegoating. Your chances reside solely with the quality of your roster, and there are quite a few ways for compiling a championship caliber roster.

The NFL Way: draft superstars, keep said superstars from getting concussions and career-ending neck injuries.

(note that The NFL Way also doubles as The Non-Pittsburgh Penguins Way)

The SEC Way: lower your academic and moral standards until everyone's eligible, then choose the best guys

The NBA Way: live in a cool city, draft a cool megastar, have him convince his friends that they also wish to live in aforementioned cool city

The Soccer Way: live in Europe, sign a South American superstar

The Rays Way: put together a genius front office that works its tail off, draft really well, sign top talent to long-term contracts that favor you, watch the rest of your top talent depart for much larger contracts, sign well-valued free agents every single year, bite your fingernails

The Yankees Way: live in New York, win a ton of championships decades before you were born, start your own TV network so you can print your own money, draft franchise talent in the 1990s, sign high-priced overseas prospects and free agents, scapegoat someone to the media and fans when you lose two games in a week.

Step 2. Surmount Your Competition

Note that if your local competition is inferior, you can set the bar lower for yourself. Not too low, mind you. The ACC may be embarrassing at football, but the Maryland Terrapins still managed to go 2-10 this year. (And look great in doing so!) Still, measuring your opponents' strengths and weaknesses, and then being a little bit better than them is a fine place to start.

A popular fallacy pops up here. Some folks think it's best to be as outstanding an outfit as possible regardless of the mediocrity of one's opponents. But what does Boise State get for beating up on their conference? A bowl game on December 22nd and annual disappointment. So leave the annual disappointment to Cubs fans and improve yourself only incrementally over your foes. They'll test you all season, helping you improve, and then you'll triumph in the end. That's not a win-win. That's a straightforward win.

Speaking of which...

Step 3. Don't Lose

Losing's for losers.

Best of luck.

Super Bowl parties are miserable - except for yours

2012-02-01T11:11:00.002-05:00

Look, most people go to Super Bowl parties in bad moods, ready to complain.

It's a forced communal event -- the majority of the folks there probably don't even care about the football part, but they're there because in this day and age you have to be at a Super Bowl party.

And you're ready to be unhappy.

You don't really care about who's playing, except you know Tom Brady's on the Patriots and you hate Tom Brady, so go Giants! Meanwhile, the food is overwhelming and none of it is healthy, and you're going to keep eating and hating yourself for it, as if it's a second Thanksgiving, or Christmas, or New Year's. (You know, there's a lot of eat-now/exercise-later holidays around this time of year.)

You're also going 100% eagerly silent for every single commercial break, especially when Matthew Broderick's Ferris Bueller's Day Off commercial airs, which one friend loudly introduces as soon as it starts and loudly shushes everyone, but other than that rare reprise, when the commercial break ends, everyone gets disappointed and complains about how the commercials just aren't that good this year, and remember how good they used to be? This puts you in a worse mood, and you start arguing over great commercials from past years -- at which point everyone agrees that, forget the beer commercials, Eminem's spot from last year was really the best.

So everyone looks it up on their phones, and all of the football fans get upset because everyone's ignoring the game, which hasn't been all that great yet, but that's okay, it's the Super Bowl. The football fans all talk too much anyway, trying to show off their great knowledge and impress each other and all of the non-fans, and soon they're getting into conversations even more inane than great Super Bowl commercials.

At which point someone asks, "Hey, who's the halftime concert this year?" at which point someone else grouses, "Madonna!" and everyone groans about how there's never been any hot halftime acts representing you know, music going on now, except one person does try to speak up and say they heard that Cee Lo Green might be cameoing this year. That doesn't help too much, but everyone watches the concert anyway. When it's over, some people complain, some people shrug, and some people say, "It wasn't that bad."

And then all the non-football fans realize, yes, there's still another half of football to go, the best commercials have already been shown, and they're starting to get stomach aches from eating too much terrible food. And then Tom Brady and the Patriots win, and you're angry at the world.

Really, it's just a miserable experience for everyone.

Except That at YOUR Super Bowl Party

... you'll have awesome friends as company
... you'll have excellent food
... you'll laugh at the commercials
... the game will be great
... you'll all be rooting for the winning team

Recovery via sports

2012-01-31T17:01:00.001-05:00

I came down with food poisoning (or something that mimicked it) on Saturday in north Chicagoland. Take my word for it: You don't need to experience what I experienced. You really don't.

I'm back in Lansing now and still not really myself, but...

1) Here's Sam Miller of The Orange County Register, co-starring Jeffrey Loria.

2) Here's a routine basket by Blake Griffin, co-starring Kendrick Perkins.

3) Here's Patrick Kane, starring himself as Superman.
(plus bonus Corey Perry baby stick highlight)

4) Here's Novak and Rafael, battering a poor tennis ball around.

5) And here's Shaun White, being perfect.

I'm feeling better already.

Pizza is finger food

2012-01-28T00:53:00.000-05:00

The off-season was made for re-connecting, I'd dare say. During the season, you submerge yourself entirely in baseball. Once the season ends, you come back up for air and hear about all that has happened in your friends' and family members' lives.

In previous off-seasons, I've traveled southeast and northeast. This year, I'm in the midwest, visiting friends in Chicago (after previously going back to Maryland near the end of 2011).

Deep-dish pizza tonight, man. Oh yes. I'll have you know that I showed my Eastern roots -- I was the only one to eat my pizza without silverware.

Current reading material: The Prevalence of Nonsense and Ernie Harwell's The Babe Signed My Shoe.

Mo Gandhi, New York (AL)

2012-01-26T10:31:00.001-05:00

Courtesy of Jim Wiljanen, I now am in possession of a classic 1934 Mohandas "Mo" Gandhi baseball card.

Why? Gandhi at the Bat!

(Here's the story behind it.)

The things you learn from Bill James...

2012-01-25T16:53:00.004-05:00

I am a Bill James aficionado; he has a great intuitive sense of what's interesting and what's important, and I'm fascinated by both. For instance, from Chapter 1 of "Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame," page 5, there's this:

(remember, this is preceding the establishment of the current Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown)

*

The term, "the Hall of Fame," was an old one, having been used in baseball since about 1905, shortly after baseball developed a sense of its own history. A pitcher who threw a no-hitter would often be described as "having entered the Hall of Fame." A sportswriter who chose his all-time team would often describe it as his "personal Hall of Fame" -- for example, page 96 of the 1923 Reach Guide shows the "American League players in the Reach Base Ball Hall of Fame" -- in reality nothing more than a list of the league leaders for 1922.

In the early 1920s, organized baseball had approved a proposal to build a $100,000 baseball monument on the Potomac in Washington, D.C. This monument would have listed the names of baseball's greatest players, and this was often described as a "Hall of Fame."

This sounds like a brilliant idea...

2012-01-25T16:26:00.006-05:00

The Reading Phillies have an interesting notion for the Eastern League Home Run Derby this year.

While the derby's going on, there will be...

* a fanfest in the infield, with a bar at second base
* a Grammy-winner performing live music in front of home plate
* mascots making catches in the outfield, causing negative points to the home run hitters
* pink flamingos, an employee poised in a dunk tank, an employee suspended from a crane and a trampoline in the outfield

This is serious. Okay, maybe it's not serious, but they're totally going to do it.

I love, too, how the R-Phils' GM is so enthusiastic in this video about the "balls sizzling over the head" of fans and a Grammy-winner.

Maybe if they cut back on the chaos just a little, or maybe a lot, there'd be no problem. As it is, I'm thinking there's enormous train wreck potential here.

(On the bright side, the bar has been raised. Your move, every other minor league home run derby.)

credit to Crossing Broad

Happy 94th birthday, Ernie Harwell

2012-01-25T12:01:00.003-05:00

Today would have been Ernie Harwell's 94th birthday.

I grew up in the fine company of Chuck Thompson and Jon Miller, Joe Angel, Ken Levine and later Fred Manfra and Jim Hunter, calling Baltimore Orioles games on 1500-AM WTOP.

I did not grow up with Ernie Harwell, though I surely wish I did. I was a Detroit Tigers fan, after all, despite my Maryland residence. Ernie personified the same things that I admire in life: respect and consideration for others, enjoyment of the grand ol' game, and a love for a good story.

When I was hired to work for the Lugnuts in 2009, my father sent Ernie a letter. In it, he explained my love for the Tigers, my admiration for Mr. Harwell (I own his audio CD collection), and my recently-gained employment as voice of the team down the road in Lansing. Ernie responded with a letter to me, writing that he enjoyed hearing from my father and he hoped we would be able get together one day.

And so we did, meeting on an off-day that summer. It was not a very long confab, but the minutes brimmed with treasure.

The format was simple: Ernie asked me a simple question about myself, I would offer my reply, and this would then trigger a magnificent story in Ernie's memory. At times, he resembled Scheherezade, inserting an anecdote within an anecdote. While painting the picture of his first game in the Major Leagues, for instance, he set about describing the bench-clearing brawl in his very first inning, idly tossing in the comment, "You know, that pitcher would later have his nose bitten off in a bar fight." And then, as my mouth fell open, he was already off to his next story.

One thing I've found remarkable about life is that people generally praise in others qualities that they don't have in great abundance within themselves. With Ernie, he had so many magnificent attributes and strengths of character, everyone found something to extoll. People who did not have any real need to get along with anybody else -- well, they could not get over just how kind and caring Ernie was to everyone he met. Those who did not read as much as they felt they should praised Ernie's literary acumen. Those who did not trust others easily praised Ernie for how rock-solid trustworthy he was. And so on, and so forth...

Whoever you were, you found attributes in great abundance within William Earnest Harwell that you wished you had, too, like his great balance of faith in humanity and in religion; or the love between him and Lulu, his wife; or the way he connected with all of his loyal listeners, so that they all felt as though they were his family.

Here's what I admired the most about Ernie Harwell: I was not very long in his company, and I knew that he possessed a remarkable balance of confidence, dignity, and humility. There have been many Great Men and Women in this world who accomplished a Great Many Things. I don't know if I would have enjoyed any of their company more than I enjoyed the warm, sensible, witty company of Ernie Harwell.

Whether on the radio or in person, Ernie was the finest of company to keep.

Angela Zhang is 17...

2012-01-24T16:05:00.001-05:00

... and she may have discovered the cure for cancer.

I support Tim Thomas

2012-01-24T11:18:00.001-05:00

The Boston Bruins went to the White House yesterday to be honored for their Stanley Cup title of a season ago.

Goaltender Tim Thomas, one of the team's two Americans, was not with them. As he posted on his Facebook page:

I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People.
This is being done at the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial level. This is in direct opposition to the Constitution and the Founding Fathers vision for the Federal government.
Because I believe this, today I exercised my right as a Free Citizen, and did not visit the White House. This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country. This was about a choice I had to make as an INDIVIDUAL.
This is the only public statement I will be making on this topic. TT

Thomas and I do not agree in this regard, but that's fine with me.

(It's very difficult for me to see eye to eye with anyone who quotes the Founding Fathers. They were distinct individuals with distinctly different philosophies. Also, it's 2012 now. I doubt the Founding Fathers had foresight to hold opinions on such modern matters as interstate highways, let alone stem cell research.)

I support his right to protest what he is opposed to, thereby drawing attention to the issues. This was a peaceful, thoughtful protest.

Joe McDonald writes that Thomas's decision was the equivalent of snubbing the flag during the National Anthem. That's ridiculous. The flag is symbolic of our country as a whole. A protest of the government is merely that, a protest of the government. It is not required in the U.S. to agree with the actions of our politicians -- after all, we're a representational democracy; we elect our officials to serve the needs of the nation. If we disagree with their actions, we have the right to show our opposition.

Joe Paterno

2012-01-23T14:17:00.002-05:00

The lead sports story is -- has to be -- that Joe Paterno is dead.

I don't know about that whole idea that getting forced out at Penn State killed him. I couldn't tell you it was so, and I couldn't tell you it wasn't so. He was fired, he had lung cancer, he died. One could reasonably connect the dots, but we don't really know for sure. Let's say there was no Sandusky scandal. Do we know for certain that he doesn't get diagnosed with cancer? We do not.

I do know that he was a football coach at Penn State University (the school that never got around to designing football uniforms or a helmet logo) for 46 seasons and 409 wins, and I know too that he was fired amid Jerry Sandusky fallout.

There are two opposite reactions to his death: praising his legacy and his strength, and excoriating the reasons that led to end. Unfortunately, folks have generally chosen one or the other.

People are complicated, which means that their legacies should be complicated. But we don't like complications, as a rule, so we choose to simplify matters down to their essence. Good or bad. Great or tarnished. He can be both, you know. It's not an either/or situation.

There's no need to ignore JoePa's unique accomplishments, same as there's no need to close one's eyes to the fact that a serial child abuser was sheltered under the auspices of his football program. One does not mean that the other never occurred.

These are sad days in Happy Valley, and it's a full spectrum of sadness.

Spencer Hall is on point.

Losing

2012-01-23T13:34:00.001-05:00

The great Washington, D.C., sports radio host Ken Beatrice had an axiom about football: "More games are lost than won."

(He also didn't eat curly fries at Bernie Streeter's Arby's, though he was told they were very good.)

The two conference championship games yesterday were lost, not won.

AFC: Baltimore played New England smack dab even, with Joe Flacco outplaying Tom Brady, but Sterling Moore knocked away a game-winning touchdown from Lee Evans...

And then Billy Cundiff hooked one to the left.

NFC: San Francisco squared up with New York in an NFC nail-biter, but the Giants scored one of their two touchdowns in regulation thanks to a miscue by punt returner Kyle Williams...

And then Williams screwed up again in overtime, and that was all for the 49ers' season.

*

We are a people who glorify our winners far beyond the events of fortune and misfortune of a specific contest's circumstances. If Scott Norwood makes a field goal in 1991, Jim Kelly and the Buffalo Bills' image changes. If Adam Vinatieri misses a field goal in 2002, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick's legacy changes.

Such is the way of sport, eh? You understand this going in -- at the end of each day, there will be a winner and a loser. It's exhilarating and devastating.

But I believe it is a far worse matter to lose a game than it is a great matter to win it.

And the sun comes up, and the sun goes down.

Baseball Lingo: "majesty-arch"

2012-01-22T09:29:00.000-05:00

It is with great honor that I hereby crown the newest synonym for home run, "majesty-arch," as coined by Bradley Woodrum on FanGraphs (in their NotGraphs section).

More significantly, watch the latest Yoenis Cespedes video and see what you think.

As someone who cherishes his Omar Linares baseball card, I'm eager to see how Cespedes performs in the Majors (and hoping he outperforms how the great Linares fared in Japan).

Baseball Lingo: "snakebite game"

2012-01-20T15:59:00.001-05:00

Baseball lingo's my thing. I love learning new terms and phrases to refer to different players, items and events inside the game.

Today, thanks to Bill James via Grantland, we learn...

"A snakebite game is a game in which the starting pitcher pitches well and does not allow an earned run, but is charged with the loss anyway."

What Shakespeare is to the English language, Bill James is to baseball language.

Formerly known as Fausto Carmona

2012-01-20T11:40:00.000-05:00

There's a great story about Giants shortstop Jose Uribe, who first played under the name Jose Gonzalez, then asked to be known as Uribe Gonzalez, and finally decided that Jose Uribe was perfect for him.

He was, as one wag put it, the player to be named later.

Jose's real name was Jose Altagracia Gonzalez Uribe.

Cleveland Indians pitcher Fausto Carmona's real name is not, as it turns out, Fausto Carmona. According to la policia en la Republica Dominicana, it's really Roberto Hernandez Heredia. Also, he's 31, not 28.

Apparently, he is still right-handed.

The first thing, clearly, is to get visa issues sorted out. But there are most definitely larger ramifications here: If you're the Indians, you feel scammed, and I can't say I blame you. A 31-year-old pitcher is viewed (and paid) in a very different way than a 28-year-old pitcher.

Meanwhile, if you're a Dominican player right now, you don't think people are going to give you second looks? I have some friends from the Dominican on teams that I've broadcasted for, and now I really do want to ask them, man to man, "Am I calling you by your real name?" and "Do you know any guys who aren't going by their real name?"

It's an old joke in baseball when an older player has a birthday (I first heard it with Tim Raines), they'll say, "Yes, I'm 38 -- but I'm 28 in Dominican years."

So it would seem to me that if you're Dominican -- heck, maybe if you're any Latino player, because G-d knows that we Americans don't care a lick about different ethnicities and nations of origin -- you're humiliated by the ex-Fausto Carmona today and you're dreading that a ton of people, even well-meaning folks like me, will question whether your identity is a lie.

There's a Yiddish phrase, "shanda for the goyim," which refers to a Jewish person who shames us in front of non-Jews, particularly by conforming to a negative Jewish stereotype. Bernie Madoff was a shanda for the goyim.

Ex-Fausto Carmona is the Dominican version of a shanda for the goyim.

What's worse to people in baseball, to be caught abusing PEDs or to be caught lying about your name and age?

I'd argue it's the latter.

If a teammate can't be trusted to tell you his real name, what else can't you trust him about? It's a clubhouse betrayal.

Class Warfare and Sports Excellence

2012-01-18T12:19:00.003-05:00

Read this Rob Neyer column, spun off from this Jorge Castillo article in the NYT, then we'll discuss things further...

*

Here's what caught my eye: Once ballplayers in Puerto Rico were made eligible for the draft in 1990, they started receiving much less money to sign. This, it is thought, is one of the reasons that Puerto Rican kids are not as good in baseball as they were before, termed by commenter Fraggin Judge as a lack of economic urgency (particularly compared to, say, young ballplayers in the Dominican).

We have long heard that inner-city kids see athletics as their route to fame and fortune, primarily chasing dreams of future basketball or football superstardom. I have also read that the finest boxers were always members of the lowest class of citizens, whether they were Jewish, Irish, Black, Native American, Italian, Latino, German, or what have you, and I wonder if MMA fighters also come from the same challenging backgrounds and childhoods.

I would love to see a far-reaching worldwide study on athletes and their socioeconomic backgrounds. It would be my guess that a large percentage of the world's finest athletic talents came from poverty.

Although...

You know, a life of luxury provides sporting advantages to the ambitious. Aspiring athletes who come from wealth will receive the finest coaching, utilize only the best in sporting equipment, and compete on only the best of surfaces. They also receive the benefit of being able to travel far to test their abilities against the greatest of competition.

So I wouldn't be surprised to see some of the finest athletes in the world come out of the higher classes of society either.

It makes sense.

Someone in the lowest class would strive to become an athlete because the slim possibility of success and escape tramples the reality of how few reach the pinnacle; it's the same reason so many people play the lottery.

Someone in the highest class would strive to become an athlete because of the fame and glory that go with it; and they can still land on their feet afterward if they fail to attain their goal.

But if you're in the middle class, you have the combination of other opportunities that are open to you and the knowledge that the road toward a sporting career is fraught with cautionary tales. Is it worth it to sacrifice a decade of your life toward a potentially fruitless, embittering chase when you can just go to college, then maybe grad school afterwards, and ideally find yourself in a far more stable vocation to support a family? Probably not.

Basically, what I'm saying is: If we want sports to continue to provide a high standard of excellence, entertainment, and achievement, we need greater socioeconomic inequality.

A large, comfortable middle class. Good for society. Bad for sports.

Baseball movies

2012-01-18T11:05:00.004-05:00

First, a confession:

I don't like Bull Durham.

I know, I work in baseball, I'm a huge baseball fan -- I'm supposed to like Bull Durham. But I don't. I like scenes in Bull Durham. I like the baseball scenes. I like the bus scenes. I love this scene.

But I don't care about Susan Sarandon, I don't care about the love triangle, and I don't understand for the life of me how an undisciplined bonus baby with bad mechanics and limited command gets called up to the Majors from Single-A. Eh, maybe it's a cup of coffee and he'll be back in Double-A the next season. But, no, even that doesn't bother me so much as an ostensibly baseball movie being really about Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon. Bupkis to that.

By the way: In Single-A, 24-year-olds and 25-year-olds are ancient. Even a 23-year-old who's played in the league for three straight years is too old. Not too many Crash Davises down here.

*

I love Field of Dreams and The Natural.

I love A League of Their Own. Tom Hanks is a genius, and so is Jon Lovitz.

Major League is funny the same way that Airplane! and Hot Shots! is funny. It is roundly agreed upon that no one should ever admit to seeing Major League 3. (I actually saw ML3 maybe two or three straight times on a flight to Israel -- yes, I was ready for the plane to land.)

Sugar. Have you seen Sugar? It's a top notch portrayal of a Dominican youngster in the minors, really first class, and there are parts of it where you're just about convinced that you're watching a documentary. But then... it takes a turn on you, and you go whoa! It's a turn that completely betrays any true baseball player in a way that steroid abuse or bat-corking never would. Yes, I loved it, but be forewarned. I came out of it with big questions about the seeming maturity and "happy ending" for our protagonist, though I also came out with a greater understanding for the experience of the poverty-stricken Latino Major League hopeful.

The Sandlot is a classic. Rookie of the Year is cute. Angels in the Outfield is terrific fun.

Now to Moneyball...

I saw Moneyball in a party of five. Two of us were non-baseball fans. Three of us, including me, were baseball fans. The non-baseball fans loved it. The two other baseball fans, excluding me, thought it was no good and in some areas downright insulting to a baseball fan. (We also thought Scott Hatteberg, Carlos Pena, and Art Howe should be outraged with how they were each portrayed.)

Me, I thought Brad Pitt performed a fine biopic of Billy Beane in an eh baseball movie. I really enjoyed it but have no need to see it again.

Martin

2012-01-16T14:07:00.001-05:00

I believe that I read once that Martin Luther King, Jr. was born with the true first name of Michael, but later changed it. (That's one of those things that interests me in life -- popularly held beliefs that aren't quite true, like discovering that "Silent Cal" Coolidge loved to talk.)

Dr. King's legacy is mighty and extraordinary; to touch on a tiny aspect of it still brings you to matters of great significance.

Desegregation, for one.

I was part of desegregating busing in Prince George's County, Maryland, bringing me, and later my brother, from our hometown of Greenbelt to John Carroll Elementary School in Landover for kindergarten and first grade. (We would later go to Glenarden Woods E.S. from second grade through sixth grade.)

This might seem overly simplistic, but so be it: When you're a kid, skin color is only a difference of curiosity, like hair color or eye color or voice. You're different from the kids around you and you realize it, but other than the question of "Why?" it doesn't have any bearing on your life. Some kids are nice and some are mean, some are quiet and some are loud, and as a kid you know that skin color has nothing to do with it.

When you're a kid, you are judged entirely on the content of your character. That is, at its purest, are you great fun to be around? Skin color doesn't enter into it. Neither does religion, ethnicity, or socioeconomic class. (Height, weight, athletic coordination, and cuteness don't enter into it, either, at least not until you get older. Then, unfortunately, those get pretty important.)

And so I went through my school years in a mesh of wonderful diversity, but it was not hammered into us that we were sitting in multiethnic, multiracial classes. We took it entirely for granted that our classmates came in all shades of skin tone.

My childhood was spent in that storybook post-racial society. As an adult, I recognize that this does not exist elsewhere. The more I travel, the more I witness racism, as well as sexism, homophobia, and xenophobia.

You know what, though?

I have no need yet for a true post-racial adult society. I frankly welcome the conversations brought about by race.

I am no longer a child; I am a mature adult. I can handle it.

Let us remember who Dr. King was and what he strived for, whether in the arena of civil rights or socioeconomic inequality, and keep moving forward. I'll speak rationally about my perspective and listen to positions sculpted by alternate perspectives.

Then, while our children play together blissfully, we can work together to help uplift society around us.

I don't want to work for the Chiefs

2012-01-16T13:32:00.001-05:00

Via Deadspin (which in turn is via the Kansas City Star) comes this must-read story:

"The Kansas City Chiefs Might Have the Worst Workplace in America"

Scott Pioli, Dictator.

(Really, if you think about it: Kyle Orton makes a great henchman.)

Broadcaster Nightmares

2012-01-13T09:47:00.004-05:00

I suppose everyone in their passions and lines of work will have nightmares about things going wrong.

This is true, these are all nightmares I experience. (One of them came about last night and inspired this post.) They terrify me, and also make me feel so glad that I don't have, say, police officer nightmares or firefighter nightmares or military personnel nightmares or astronaut nightmares or zookeeper nightmares or hot air balloon operator nightmares.

* I meet the new team for 2012... but I can't pronounce their names! Oh no!

* It's time to broadcast the game... but none of my equipment is set up! Oh no!

* I begin broadcasting... but I don't know who anyone is! Oh no!

* I arrive at the ballpark... but the game is already in the fourth inning! Oh no!

* We're in a rain delay for hours and hours... but they won't call the game! Oh no!

* I don't have a voice! Oh no!

Okay, truth be told, I've never had a nightmare yet about not having a voice. Being in a plane crash, sure, but never not having a voice. Maybe if I had a better voice, I'd worry more? Heck, if I had a better voice, I'd be a movie preview narrator or an audio book reader.

Ah, but that's the subject of a different post: "Broadcaster Dreams."

(The #1 broadcaster's dream, always, is to be a professional athlete for the sport we cover. We all peaked too soon.)

Shades of Gray, and Steroids

2012-01-12T11:57:00.003-05:00

If it looks like everyone in the class is cheating on the exam and getting better grades -- and it especially looks as if the professor and the college know about this and either do not care or are perfectly fine with it -- why wouldn't you cheat?

But first, Rob Neyer.

I am an unabashed Rob Neyer fan. I own his books, I read his columns and I would look forward to his interviews on sports talk radio.

Every year around Hall of Fame voting time, Rob Neyer writes columns like this, citing a writer belonging to the BBWAA, in this case Terence Moore of MLB.com, sharing openly that he would never vote for a player with any whiff of performance-enhancing drug use about him.

Rob's very last paragraph:

"For baseball writers like Terence Moore, life is wonderfully simple. Everything is on, or off. Yes, or no. Zero, or one. Black, or white. There is no room for nuance, no shades of gray. The word appears next to a man's name, and the thinking stops. How comforting that must be. How terribly comforting."

First, before we talk shades of gray, here are the black and white facts:

* Steroids were illegally used by players from the 1980s through the 2000s.

* They were highly effective.

This cannot be ignored.

The very best players in the game used PEDs: Alex Rodriguez. Manny Ramirez. Rafael Palmeiro, of his 3,000 hits and 500 homers.

Eric Gagne used PEDs and became the game's greatest closer. Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds used PEDs and became the game's greatest home run hitters. Roger Clemens used PEDs and it revitalized his career to the point that he became the great pitcher he had been a decade earlier.

This is why I'm glad I'm not a Hall of Fame voter.

This was illegal use, and it made each of these players an unmatched great. I cannot support that.

On the other hand, I have no doubt that their use of PEDs was implicitly encouraged by their team and Major League Baseball -- and maybe explicitly encouraged, too, who knows? PED users earned enormous contracts and increased playing time at the expense of non-PED users. If you saw that and you're a competing baseball player, why wouldn't you use? My answer is: Because you're ethical. Or perhaps you don't want to do lasting damage to your body.

But -- come on!

The vast majority of baseball players do not care a lick about cheating or not. They would use a corked bat if assured they could get away with it, they chew tobacco in the minors openly even though they it's illegal, and they figure out new ways to get a better (illegal) grip on the baseball on the mound and put wicked movement on it.

These are not the villains of the game. This is your everyday player, from the utility infielder to the long reliever.

Everyone in baseball looks for an edge, and it's always been that way. Baseball is not an ethical man's game. Baseball is conniving and unscrupulous and underhanded, incorporating signs and sign-stealing... just don't get caught, or you'll get knocked down by a purpose pitch.

Rob cites a hypothetical example in which a veteran player used PEDs for a couple of days in the midst of a quick recovery, and that was it for the extent of his 18-year career.

It's a nice story, and maybe for a couple of players it's true.

Let's delve further:

What would a minor league teenager, who's never been away from home before, do when a respected guy on the team stops by and lets him know how he could get to the Majors quicker?

What does the veteran, at the tail end of his career, say when he's shown how PEDs can extend his time in the Majors a couple of more effective seasons?

This is what Rob Neyer means by shades of gray. We don't know who used, we don't know why they specifically used, and we don't know how long they used. Every case was different. Brian Roberts isn't Andy Pettitte, who isn't Rafael Palmeiro, who isn't Alex Sanchez.

If every single player during the Steroid Era came out and told us exactly how much they used, we could actually get somewhere. We could see which non-users performed best against users and we could see which users only started using after they already had gained Hall of Fame stats.

(This to me is the HoF argument for Bonds and Clemens; they belonged in Cooperstown well before they began injecting steroids. Whatever you might think about their tainted seasons, their untainted seasons hold up extraordinarily well.)

But we're never going to get that information, and that makes the job for every Hall of Fame voter all the more difficult. So what? It should be a difficult job, filled with heavy thinking and analysis, to determine who receives baseball immortality. That's a responsibility that needs to be taken seriously, and I demand that the BBWAA voters take it seriously.

Column of Controversy

2012-01-11T10:59:00.001-05:00

Are you in the sports media? Would you like to bring attention upon yourself?

It's surprisingly easier than you'd think.

You could...

* write an article badmouthing a city

* vote for zero people on your Hall of Fame ballot

* publish a book in which you speculate groundlessly about the sexuality of a team's star quarterback

* go on your sports talk show and make idiotic, inciting comments

* dump jealously all over a special sporting event because you're not included

* write a column as if you were there, even though you weren't

* come up with your own self-important catchphrases schticks and then run them into the ground

(And then there's this, a top-notch dissection of a columnist's work all during the year in which his local team won the World Series.)

See? Easy.

About that BCS Championship...

2012-01-10T09:06:00.001-05:00

There were some terrific bowl games this year. This, the last game, the most important game, was not one of them.

It was garbage.

Embarrassing.

This was the baseball equivalent of two terrible teams, one trying to bunt their way on base and the other one with the bat on its shoulder, trying to draw walks. One of them has to win. Fans lose.

If you didn't watch -- and I envy you if you didn't, because you're a wiser person than I am:

LSU punted. Alabama drove down and kicked a field goal. LSU punted. Alabama missed a field goal. LSU punted. Alabama kicked a field goal. Rinse, repeat, add in a meaningless late touchdown with a missed extra point, just to remind us how bad this game was.

Late-night host J.T. the Brick was on target: The vaunted SEC can't play offense.

Tigers quarterback Jordan Jefferson was a mess, botching the option, dropping the snap, flipping one pass directly at a Bama linebacker. The Crimson Tide played offense fine, until they got anywhere near the end zone. Then they sent out the field goal unit again.

On the bright side, it was so bad, that the group of friends I was watching the game with turned it into a roast. You had to laugh to keep from groaning.

Although we really should have just turned the channel.

Good riddance to you, SEC.

Barry Larkin and Tim Tebow

2012-01-09T19:19:00.001-05:00

I was more or less ambivalent toward Reds shortstop Barry Larkin while he played. I was a fan of Alan Trammell and the Detroit Tigers, and I was completely disinterested in the doings of the Cincinnati nine (except for their wonderful upset of the A's in 1990).

Barry Larkin was, though, the favorite player of my best friend, Kevin, and so I proudly presented him with all of my Larkin baseball cards for his birthday one year.

Today the Reds great was the only player voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the BBWAA.

I can disagree that there were no other worthy candidates. I cannot disagree that Larkin's deserving of the honor. He was the best N.L. shortstop of his era, a perennial All-Star, and one of the greatest shortstops in the history of the game. Even better, he did this all in his hometown in front of all of his friends and family.

Barry Larkin earned his place in Cooperstown.

(Now about my boy Tram...)

*

I am a proud Tim Tebow hater. I'm fundamentally biased against evangelicals, same as I'm prejudiced against fundamentalists in every faith, including my own. I don't like people or teams who are yammered about constantly on ESPN and other sports forums. And I don't like players who are given all of the credit while their teammates and coaches are ignored.

None of this is Tebow's fault; he was brought up to have the faith he has, he's a modest altruistic hard-working fellow, and a great deal of the rigmarole surrounding him has snowballed way beyond he could ever imagine. He conducts himself terrifically wherever he goes. Oh, and he keeps on winning big games when the spotlight's on him.

On Sunday, in his first career playoff game, the Steelers dared Tim Tebow to throw the ball and beat them himself. He did. He earned the win, knocking the defending AFC champs from the playoffs.

Victories and honors should be earned, not merely given. Barry Larkin and Tim Tebow deserve all of the kudos and acclamation they're receiving.

(Hear what I'm saying, Blue Ivy Carter? You have to earn it, girl.)

For both Barry and Tim, there are even better days ahead.

Narrative

2012-01-06T14:18:00.002-05:00

If you didn't know, here's how I spend my year:

February - September: working for the Lansing Lugnuts as their media/broadcast department

October - January: traveling, applying to move up within the broadcasting field, working for the local radio stations, and doing a ton of creative writing

It's my ambition to broadcast during baseball season and put out books in the off-season. So far, I've got the baseball down. This is my writing time.

I don't, frankly, like nonfiction as much as I like fiction. Nonfiction is gray and hazy in reality, no matter how much people want to make it black and white. Nonfiction can be dull or interesting or both or neither. It doesn't care. It's simply life proceeding right along, and whatever happens happens. There's no fade-out end to a romance after our two lovers get together; there's life every day afterwards, and then every day after that.

It's true that nonfiction can be turned into a narrative, and then we sculpt it however we want. We can add in heroes and villains and morals, making things far more black and white.

For instance, there's no great reason that the NFL playoffs this year have to be interesting or well-played. We just want it to be that way. Jim Rome on his radio show today talked about how excited he was for the playoff weekend and how much he loved every game. Well, of course: It's his job to turn sports into a narrative. Rome then specifically gave the storylines as he saw them.

(Personally, I'm far from enthused about any of the games. It doesn't help that I think the Bengals stink, and the Falcons and the Giants aren't all that great, and the Texans stink, and the Lions have major deficiencies, and the Broncos stink... and I'm hoping that the Steelers are better than they've looked recently. The NFL this year, for whatever reason, is a mediocre product. There's the Saints and the Packers, and the Patriots and Ravens some of the time, and that's about it.)

But there aren't really storylines in games, aside from - perhaps - who won and who lost. Everything else is created by folks looking down from the outside.

This was where Tony Kornheiser failed in large part on Monday Night Football. As a columnist, he wanted to tell the narrative of each game. Each night, therefore, he decided upon the headline and he stuck to it. He'd talk Brett Favre the entire game, for instance, or yammer on and on about the greatness of Tom Brady. It was true, and it was mind-numbing. After a while, you just said, "Enough, Mr. Tony. Enough."

The worst part is when reporters take it upon themselves to create the narrative -- taking quotes out of context, asking insulting/inciteful questions, and generally seeing what they can do to create a story. There's always that player in the locker room who doesn't know any better and takes the bait.

Basically what I'm saying is:

I prefer watching sports and writing fiction.

I'm trying to write a novel right now. It's an often frustrating process that goes in spits and spurts, and I'm blogging right now instead of working on it.

Eh, there are worse things. I could be watching Tim Tebow play quarterback.

HoF talk

2012-01-06T13:39:00.002-05:00

Look, it's very nice that the A's signed Coco Crisp and the Marlins traded for Carlos Zambrano, but the real baseball talk going on right now -- amid NFL playoffs, NCAA bowls and hoops, NHL, and NBA -- is Hall of Fame talk.

I like this.

I enjoy reading all sorts of different baseball writers' Hall of Fame ballots. (For example: CBS Sports' Danny Knobler, Scott Miller and Jon Heyman.)

* Barry Larkin deserves to go in. This is firmly agreed upon by all manner of rational folks, even those who might consider voting for Rick Santorum.

(Yes, I am among those who cannot understand why Republicans are falling all over themselves to support liars, bigots, and fools rather than someone who actually seems like a good choice for the nation's highest office. I have great friends who are members of the GOP, and I am embarrassed for them.)

Seriously, Rick Santorum?

* Alan Trammell deserves to go in, according to smart people and also biased boyhood Tigers fans like me.

(By the way: Would you like to read a poor column advocating for Larkin and against Trammell? Here you go. Apparently the fact that Alan Trammell was not demonstrably better than Hall of Famers Cal Ripken and Robin Yount is not enough to put him in Cooperstown. Oh, Devon Teeple. It's even worse to compare his stats to Tony Fernandez's stats and think that the two were equals.)

* Tim Raines deserves to go in, according to smart people. They've convinced me. He had a very nice career and were he to be elected, he would not bring down the HoF standard at all. If you had to name the top leadoff men in baseball history, Raines has to be in the top five, right?

* Jack Morris is borderline. Some smart people think he should be, most think he shouldn't.

Look, here's my problem with Morris supporters. They all say, to a man: Forget about the high ERA. He won the most games of any pitcher in the 1980s and he pitched the most brilliant World Series game of our time in 1991.

Well...

1) You can't forget about the high ERA. It's part of his record. It shows that he tended to give up a lot of runs. That's like saying about a hitter -- forget about his low batting average. Well, you can't. It shows that he didn't tend to get too many base hits. You can counterbalance it with stats showing a man's effectiveness, sure, but you can't make them vanish.

2) Yes, Jack Morris did have the most wins from 1980-1989, but that's an arbitrary span. Are you going to collect every single ten-year span and induct the winningest pitcher? Who had the most wins from 1977-1986? How about from 1973-1982? (I'd love to find out and tell you, but I'm stumped by how to do so on BaseballReference.com.)

3) Yes, Jack Morris was stellar in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series. That's great. Hey, check out this World Series pitching performance. Or this one from a non-HoF'er.

On this list of the best pitching performances in World Series games through 2007... Jack Morris rates 39th, right behind Josh Beckett beating the Yankees in 2003.

I somehow doubt that Beckett's going to Cooperstown.

The Iowa Caucus is stupid

2012-01-03T11:59:00.001-05:00

That's my opinion.

*

The sports scene yesterday was remarkable.

I know that the various talking heads on sports talk radio, whether on ESPN, Fox Sports or Yahoo, are considering the top news of the weekend to be the NFL axings of the Polians in Indianapolis (Tony Kornheiser's #1 story) or firings of various coaches in Miami, St. Louis and Tampa Bay (Dan Patrick's poll question).

Those don't rank anywhere for me.

Yesterday featured a tripleheader of magnificent college bowl games. Michigan State vs. Georgia was fantastic. Wisconsin vs. Oregon was awesome. Oklahoma State vs. Stanford was the icing on the cake.

Unfortunately, none of them matter all that much. MSU's win doesn't distract from the Big 10(ish)'s various failures. Oregon's triumph merely cemented them as a fine bridesmaid. Oklahoma State and Stanford was a battle for #3 in the polls and a showcase for Justin Blackmon and Andrew Luck's draft status. (I'd take 'em both.)

The second best sports story of the weekend was the Cowboys/Giants play-in game on Sunday night, though that was more of a story for what it meant rather than the sort of game it was. It was a bad game. For all of their fans, Dallas sure doesn't earn their allegiance too well. Overhyped, overcovered, and their season's over early, again.

Hey, look, football's bad right now, whatever the reason. There's virtually no defense in the college game -- except for LSU and Alabama, neither of whom has a quarterback. In the NFL, the Denver Broncos and Houston Texans are playoff teams, and they're terrible. The Bengals aren't too much better.

But hockey!

Hockey's great right now.

Did you see the Winter Classic between the Rangers and Flyers? Marvelous. Citizens Bank Park looked great. The atmosphere was awesome. Philadelphia took the two-goal lead, but New York swooped right back with three straight. There was a penalty shot with under 20 seconds to go, and King Henrik stoned Danny Briere.

The Winter Classic was everything I love about sports.

Drew Brees, MVP?

2011-12-27T13:26:00.000-05:00

I think it's very nice and great and everything that Drew Brees broke Dan Marino's record last night for passing yards in a season.

I'm not enthused because football records don't get me like baseball records do. If someone is threatening DiMaggio's hitting streak, or flirting with .400, or going after 30 wins in a season -- I'll be going nuts every single game.

But to NFL records: eh. I didn't care when running backs started breaking the "most TDs in a season" mark, from Emmitt Smith to Marshall Faulk to Priest Holmes to Shaun Alexander to LaDainian Tomlinson.

This is very nice for Drew Brees, though, and he makes a terrifically easy guy to root for. The argument that this now makes Brees

By the way...

Tom Brady is 187 yards behind Marino's single-season mark. If Brees hadn't broken the record, Brady would've done it this Sunday. And considering that Brady is 190 yards away from Brees, a big game for the Pats quarterback and something strange happening to the Saints could mean that Tom Brady ends the year with the most passing yards in a single NFL season.

All of this in an "off" year for Brady (because a bad Patriots defense and undistinguished performances from receivers not named Welker or Gronkowski has overshadowed him).

Who's your MVP then?

Uh, let's go with Aaron Rodgers. Even though he only has 4,643 passing yards this year, and not 5,000.

*

By the way, when Marino set the record in 1984, there were only three quarterbacks in the league with at least 4,000 passing yards. This year, there are seven already and three others within 150 yards of topping the mark.

Monday Mishmash

2011-12-26T10:03:00.000-05:00

First things first: This was TNT's NBA opening video yesterday, and it is fantastic.

I'm a LeBron hater (and a Tebow hater, and a Yankees hater...), but man did the Heat look good yesterday. As a Wizards fan, this is going to be a long season.

On the bright side, there's a host of fun teams to watch -- off the top of my head, I'd tune in to the Thunder, Clippers, Kings, Nuggets, Warriors, and Timberwolves just for the sheer entertainment value of the way they each play basketball. I'm a simple man. I like teams that are running and blocking and dunking and generally getting up and down the court in a hurry.

Yes, the Heat do that too, but I'm a hater (who thinks they'll win the title this year).

*

Bob Nightengale reports that the A's are likely moving to San Jose. If this means more fans, a better stadium, and a higher payroll, it works for me. With the Twins in their beautiful new ballpark and the Marlins opening up their new digs next year, this means we're getting closer to having every team in MLB in a good situation.

Now if we only could do something for the poor, mighty Tampa Bay Rays.

*

Terrible trade for the Reds in dealing for Sean Marshall. Maybe he'll help out their bullpen, but they gave up proven starter Travis Wood and diminutive talents Dave Sappelt and Ronald Torreyes.

No exaggeration: Torreyes was the best opposing player I saw in person this past year. He influenced virtually every game that his Dayton Dragons played and led the Midwest League in batting in the second half.

*

Saturday was NFL, Sunday was NBA, today is NHL.

I'm perfectly happy about that.

Happy 6th day of Chanukah!

Dreidel days

2011-12-23T10:38:00.000-05:00

I have never been shy in letting folks know that I'm Jewish, and perhaps that's because I'm generally the minority in the room. There's something strengthening to your identity to know you've got something that not everybody else has.

I'm speaking, of course, of the ability to spin a dreidel upside down. I'm a master.

So far for Chanukah (which can be spelled any way you'd like), I've received a shirt/tie, a sweater, and a 2012 Onion tearaway calendar. Solid.

This is an American Jewish tradition to receive gifts each night of Chanukah. My siblings and I were threatened as kids with an Israeli Chanukah when, nearing the holiday, we misbehaved or disobeyed our father -- and we'd leap to behave properly! An Israeli Chanukah meant no gifts, and no one wanted that.

I've got my chanukiyah in the kitchen, set up on aluminum foil for maximum safety. After singing the blessings (I sing Hebrew so much better than I sing in English), it's family tradition to go through a medley of Chanukah songs before reaching for a gift.

Since I'm celebrating -- or rather, "observing" the holiday -- away from my family, I returned from a Thanksgiving visit to Maryland with my presents all with me. It's been my choice which one to open each night. That's easily one of the best parts of Chanukah, going through the presents and picking the perfect one out each night. Shaking is totally allowed; I'm very big on trying to guess what the gift is before opening it up.

A quick note: Jewish days all start in the evening and continue through the following day. Last night was the third night, for example, and today is the third day. This gets confusing for some people, but look: Christmas Eve is December 24th and Christmas is December 25th. Simple.

And now a clip from our traditional family movie for the holiday season: Happy Chanukah!

On Yu Darvish and false scoops

2011-12-20T10:33:00.000-05:00

Last week it was reported that the Toronto Blue Jays posted the highest posting bid to negotiate with Japanese ace Yu Darvish. Here's the initial NY Post story, and the sort of follow-up that came about next.

Well, no.

The Texas Rangers posted the highest bid.

This is all well and good for the Rangers, and I harbor them no will.

I do, however, harbor ill will toward all reporters who report wrongly without repercussions. I don't need something like this, but I do think there needs to be a running tally of media members who get their scoops wrong. Let us know who's trustworthy, the same way Amazon.com lets us know how reliable their sellers are.

Currently, it's all about the speed of the scoop. That's not good enough. We need accuracy.

Tales from the Winter Meetings: SABR

2011-12-19T10:41:00.004-05:00

First, your Tim Tebow mention of the day.

He took a 29-yard sack yesterday.

That is all.

*

I joined the Society of American Baseball Research at the Baseball Winter Meetings.

The Society, in my mind, whether this is true or not, is baseball's version of MENSA... except that they'll admit anyone, high IQ or not. They're very forgiving in this way.

SABR has become connected with baseball analytics, though it is much more than that. It's about baseball research and a search for greater knowledge, especially with regard to little-known history.

(One of the top articles right now is the "20 Greatest Blunders of the Deadball Era.")

Frankly, going through the website, I am already intimidated. There are specialists in the 19th century, in specific cities and states, and in specific areas such as mathematical analytics. I'm not really much of a researcher nor a mathematician.

But that's all right.

I'm a reader.

They can all do their great research projects and I'm going to read them, and then I'll share what I think on the broadcast airwaves and on this blog. There's treasure everywhere, as Bill Watterson once wrote.

From the greatest blunders article, there's this wonderful gem, derived from the years when ballplayers would ghostwrite columns in the local paper. It's a little tiff between diametrically opposite Hall of Fame pitching teammates...

When Marquard grooved one for Baker.

In Game 2 of the 1911 World Series, Frank Baker’s two-run home run off Rube Marquard broke a 1-1 tie, and the Athletics beat the Giants, 3-1.

When Matty grooved one for Baker.

In Game 3 of the 1911 World Series, Frank Baker’s ninth inning home run off Christy Mathewson tied the game at 1-1 and sent it into extra innings. The Athletics won in eleven innings, 3-1.

The wording “grooved one” suggests that the pitchers served up “fat” pitches. Mathewson’s (ghost-written) column of the morning after game two was critical of Marquard’s serving up Baker’s blow: “Baker’s home run was due to Rube’s carelessness.” Continuing, “Marquard was told just what not to pitch to Frank. Well, Rube pitched just what Baker likes.” Ironically, the very day that column appeared, Mathewson served up a home run to Baker, too. Marquard (his ghost) then wrote, “Just what happened, Matty?” (Fred Lieb, The Story of the World Series.)

You're the normal one

2011-12-18T11:26:00.000-05:00

I like to watch NBA preseason.

I know. It's totally, mindlessly forgettable, but I enjoy it. I'm a basketball fan. I stayed up last night to watch the first half of Golden State/Sacramento to see what Jimmer Fredette could offer. (He was excellent.)

I did not watch Saturday Night Live, though I did catch the best sketch of the night this morning: Tim Tebow and Jesus. (Pray to Matt Prater!)

Everyone is entitled to enjoy unpopular aspects of life, it seems to me, while disdaining several popular aspects of life -- hey, I don't like the beach or coffee or fireworks. I don't care for Halloween or Thanksgiving or draft day in any sport. I don't own an iPhone or a Blu-Ray player or even a microwave.

Meanwhile, I greatly enjoy wintry days, several previews before my movie, pro rugby, pro soccer, and All-Star Games in any sport (except football). And, I admit, I enjoy the casual rhythm of preseason basketball, same as I love exhibition baseball.

I just can't stand NBA refereeing.

Tales from the Winter Meetings: Jack Lazorko

2011-12-17T14:21:00.000-05:00

If you've never seen this before from This Week in Baseball, seriously, just watch.

It was at the New Era Cap booth at the Trade Show... and I had the thrill of shaking hands with the inimitable Jack Lazorko. (I raved to him about the TWIB spot and everything.)

I still have his rookie card, too.

Tales from the Winter Meetings: Bobby Valentine

2011-12-17T14:04:00.001-05:00

The Baseball Winter Meetings were held in Dallas last week, and I attended -- where I promptly became sick with a seven-day cold. And now here I am, finally getting around to writing about it.

For those who've never been to a Meetings, everyone in baseball is there. Everyone. It's astonishing. I flew in on a Sunday, flew out on a Thursday, and jammed a wealth of experiences and conversations in between.

Since there's too much to tell all in one spot, I'll break it down a series of anecdotes. Today, the new manager of the Red Sox.

*

I shook Bobby Valentine's hand and congratulated him on his recent hire.

He was standing, talking with a friend near the front lobby, and I said -- why not? To be honest, I considered the question of "Why not?" for nearly ten minutes, standing frozen around a corner, and then made my approach when another man stepped up to talk with his friend.

The conversation was brief. I said, professionally and politely, "Excuse me" and "Congratulations" and he said "Thank you," and then I walked away.

It was worth it.

Sports Talking Points That Need to be Rewritten

2011-12-02T11:45:00.000-05:00

"The NFL is a quarterback league."

Except when Tim Tebow can win a game with only two completions and the 49ers can win nine of their first 10 games with Alex Smith under center. Right now there are, perhaps, 9-12 teams with a competent quarterback -- the Cowboys, Giants, Packers, Lions, Saints, Falcons, Patriots, Ravens, Steelers... and maybe the Bengals, Chargers or Raiders. There are 20+ teams with stiffs at QB.

(Speaking as a Redskins fan, my team has had the choice between Rex Grossman and John Beck this year. They both stink, one worse than the other... and the Skins have the same record as Phil Rivers' San Diego Chargers. It's a bad year for the NFL.)

"Defense wins championships" (in the NFL).

Except the New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl two years ago thanks to a brilliant offense -- and the 20th best defense in the league. Two years before that, the champion Giants were #17 (and topped the 4th-ranked Patriots). The champion Indianapolis Colts were #23 in the NFL in 2006.

Does it help to have a great defense? Hey, it can't hurt. Still, the top team in the NFL right now is the undefeated Green Bay Packers, who have the 30th-ranked defense in the league. Meanwhile, the AFC-favorite New England Patriots have the worst defense in the league. (ESPN's team defense chart)

"Great pitching beats great hitting."

Except that the Texas Rangers had a blast disposing of this one in the 2011 postseason.

Texas was shut down by Rays rookie Matt Moore in the first game of the ALDS before beating Jamie Shields, David Price and Jeremy Hellickson in succession despite - statistically - having the better offense but the worse opposing starter. Team ERA: 4.25. They won.

In the ALCS, the Rangers' offense again carried the load and the relievers provided all four victories against the Detroit Tigers. The starting pitching was negligible. A Texas starting pitcher made it through six innings exactly once in the six games. Team ERA: 4.02. They won.

In the World Series, the Rangers pitched to a 4.65 ERA... but they held the Cardinals to a .243 batting average and .396 slugging percentage while hitting .254 and slugging .419. Naturally, they lost. The Cardinals' Series-winning ERA was a mediocre 3.86. On the bright side, it was a classic series.

The easiest way to crush this talking point, though, is just to note that arguably the greatest pitching staff in baseball history -- the 1990s Atlanta Braves -- won only one World Series amid their 14 consecutive division titles. Except for one season, 1995, the Braves' great pitching was annually outdone.

The ballot is out...

2011-12-01T15:45:00.001-05:00

The 2012 BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot has been released.

The nominees are...

(cue the cutting and pasting)

Jeff Bagwell, Jeromy Burnitz, Vinny Castilla, Juan Gonzalez, Brian Jordan, Barry Larkin, Javy Lopez, Edgar Martinez, Don Mattingly, Fred McGriff, Mark McGwire, Jack Morris, Bill Mueller, Terry Mulholland, Dale Murphy, Phil Nevin, Rafael Palmeiro, Brad Radke, Tim Raines, Tim Salmon, Ruben Sierra, Lee Smith, Alan Trammell, Larry Walker, Bernie Williams, Tony Womack, Eric Young

I'm conflicted about steroid guys.

On the one hand, MLB owners and management implicitly approved the use of PEDs, rewarding such players with huge contracts and promoting the game around them... and then immediately scapegoated them when the truth was discovered.

On the other hand, PEDs were/are illegal in this country. That's not up for debate. I am of the opinion that it's the rare enhanced player who would have made the Hall of Fame without the need of a PED -- Roger Clemens, for instance, or Barry Bonds. It's a hypothetical argument, but that's my contention. Without steroids, Rafael Palmeiro is Will Clark, and Will the Thrill's not a Hall of Famer.

In other words, I'd vote Clemens and Bonds into the Hall while keeping one-dimensional sluggers Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa out.

As for the rest of the field:

Barry Larkin and Alan Trammell are among the top 10 greatest shortstops to ever play the game. Tim Raines is among the top three or four greatest leadoff hitters to ever play the game. Jeff Bagwell ranks with the great slugging first basemen of the 1920s and 1930s. I like Edgar Martinez on the basis of his late start and tremendous offensive production. (I'd rather vote for a great-hitting DH than a good-bat/bad-glove player like Bernie Williams.)

Lee Smith puzzles me; I'll leave him out for now. Jack Morris was a very good pitcher, but not Hall-worthy. Dale Murphy makes a compelling pre-steroid case, but I'm not convinced.

Also, Jeromy Burnitz and I share the same birthday.

There you are: Five guys from this class for me.

Really troubling

2011-11-30T14:03:00.000-05:00

From Sports by Brooks, this video is - at the very least - highly unsettling.

Via ESPN and CNN footage, it's ESPN's Mark Schwarz discussing the network's possession of a tape of a phone conversation between Bernie Fine's wife and a young man whom the Syracuse assistant coach had sexually abused -- and ESPN's decision to do nothing about it.

Brooks is spot on. If you're an advertiser with an ESPN, you have some major questions for the network -- and they better come up with better answers than the ones Schwarz was providing.

Good to know

2011-11-29T15:08:00.001-05:00

Driving from New Jersey to Maryland on Monday, I listened to ESPN's Greenberg & Golic morning show.

(I generally tune into sports talk radio while driving - it goes along with being a sports fan.)

The topic of conversation was Ndamukong Suh, dirty punk.

Which is true, you know. You can't stomp on a guy and expect not to be thought of as dirty, particularly not when you have a litany of personal foul penalties already on your resume. (You can't give a lousy excuse for it, either, without any personal responsibility or remorse.)

Here, however, was how Mike & Mike -- and a third Mike -- discussed the matter:

1) Special guest Mike Ditka talked about how he had done all sorts of different things on the football field that he now regrets, and how he had definitely stomped on guys -- and then proceeds to catigate Suh for the play.

2) Co-host Mike Golic talked about his own dirty actions, including the story of one particular premeditated assault on an opponent -- and then similarly berates Suh for his action against the Packers.

In other news, Bob Gibson disapproves of pitchers for throwing inside, Ulf Samuelsson thinks the NHL should crack down on dirty play, and Roddy Piper is against eye-pokes.

Glass houses, gentlemen.

The Name Game

2011-11-18T15:19:00.001-05:00

New Cubs manager Dale Sveum's surname is pronounced "swame," rhyming with 'name.'

It occurs to me that there have been a host of athletes' names through the years that do not have the most common pronunciations, and yet sports fans don't give them much thought.

MLB
Craig Biggio - "bih-zhee-oh"
Kiki Cuyler - "kye-kye kye-ler"
Johnny Evers - "ee-verz"
Mark Grudzielanek - "grud-zih-lah-neck"
Derek Jeter - "jee-ter" (NBA player Pooh Jeter pronounces his surname "jeh-ter")
Sandy Koufax - "koh-fax"
Stan Musial - "myew-zee-uhl" (or "myew-zhul")
Mike Piazza - "pee-ah-tza"
Albert Pujols - "poo-holes"
Gary/Ron Roenicke - "reh-nickey"
Red Schoendienst - "shane-deenst"
Jim Thome - "toh-may" (although "toh-me" is also acceptable)
Joe Torre - "tohr-ee"
Carl Yastrzemski - "yuh-strem-skee"

NBA
Kobe Bryant - "koh-bee"
Antawn Jamison - "an-twan"
Dirk Nowitzki - "noh-vitz-kee"
Shaquille O'Neal - "shuh-keel"
Kiki Vandeweghe - "van-deh-way"
Dwyane Wade - "dwayne"

And, lastly:

NFL

Brett Favre - "farv"

All right, who'd I miss?

Ditch the NCAA hoops Top 25 poll

2011-11-15T09:45:00.002-05:00

The Top 25 poll for college basketball, whether voted on by the coaches or by the Associated Press, is obsolete and needs to go.

* The poll rankings don't affect seeding for the NCAA tournament, which determines the true champion for the year. Therefore, they're entirely insignificant.

* There's one #1 team in a Top 25 poll. There are four #1 seeds in the tourney. Ditto #2, #3, and so on. Are you the #11 team in the country? Forget that, you're a #4 in the East. The Top 25 poll confuses things...

* ... and let me say again, rankings don't affect seeding. The 20th team in the poll might be a 3-seed in the tournament. The poll carries no weight. It's bupkis.

* Why are "25" teams even listed? There are 68 total teams in the tourney, 37 of them receiving at-large berths. If you want to list the most likely teams to qualify, you might as well make it a Top 40 or thereabouts.

Really, the poll's about pure vanity and nothing else.

Ditch it.

I feel you, Rick Perry

2011-11-14T11:55:00.001-05:00

No need to discuss any politics here, except to say - for purposes of full disclosure - that I am liberal and Democratic and I support the "Occupy __" movements.

Rick Perry said "Oops" last week. He blanked.

As somebody who talks for a living, specifically during baseball season, let me tell you: It happens.

I've blanked on the name of my radio station.

I've blanked on the teams playing.

I've blanked on the stadium's name.

I've blanked on the city I'm broadcasting from.

I've blanked on my board operator's name.

I've blanked on my broadcast partner's name.

Heck, I've blanked on my name.

It happens.

It's embarrassing, but it happens.

In one incident in college, I could not remember what a certain position was named. "It's 4th down," I said, "so they're bringing out the -- uh -- the kicker -- Nick Aiello -- who kicks it to the other team on 4th down. Aiello. Out to kick." Five minutes later, my interior monologue: "The punter. That's what he's called!" Hey, it's easy to laugh about it now. At the time, I was panicking.

If you're going to vote against Rick Perry in the primaries, it would seem to me that you could find more substantive reasons than "Oops."

Clarify the MVP criteria

2011-11-09T09:30:00.000-05:00

Major League Baseball is irrationally idiotic and obtuse.

Exhibit A: Refusing to standardize or remove the DH, causing each league to play a significantly different game.

Exhibit B: Placing unequal quantities of teams in the AL West and the NL Central, making it easier to make the playoffs in the AL West (and in the American League in general) and more difficult to make the playoffs in the NL Central.

Let me submit a third item.

From this November 2010 OpposingViews.com article by Hardball Times, we learn the guidelines for voting on the league Most Valuable Player Awards.

A pertinent quote:

The BBWAA has been voting on the MVP award since 1931. Jack O’Connell, secretary-treasurer for the BBWAA, said by email this week: “That award places 'value' on contributions to the team by a player. The only guidelines for the other awards is for voters to select the pitchers, players or managers they feel are most deserving of being honored. It's as simple as that. These are elections, not coronations...

BBWAA members assigned to the National League Most Valuable Player committee are told, “There is no clear-cut definition of what Most Valuable means. It is up to the individual voter to decide who was the Most Valuable Player in each league to his team. The MVP need not come from a division winner or other playoff qualifier.

“The rules of the voting remain the same as they were written on the first ballot in 1931: (1) actual value of a player to his team, that is, strength of offense and defense; (2) number of games played; (3) general character, disposition, loyalty and effort; (4) former winners are eligible; and (5) members of the committee may vote for more than one member of a team.”

Want to know why the MVP debate is convoluted? Because "it is up to the individual voter to decide" what the award means to her or him."

That's ridiculous.

The Cy Young Award goes to the best pitcher in the league, bar none. The Hank Aaron Award goes to the best hitter in the league, end of story. The Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Award goes to the best rookie in the league, no questions asked. The Silver Slugger and Gold Glove Awards are presented, respectively, to the top power-hitter and defender at each position, nothing vague about it. The Manager of the Year goes to, drumroll, the best manager in each league.

But as for the MVP...

Some writers vote for the best player in the league. Some writers vote for the best player on the best team in the league. Some writers vote for the best player on a playoff team. Some writers vote for the player who was the heart and soul of his team. Some writers vote for pitchers. Some writers exclude pitchers entirely.

The Most Valuable Player award is the TOP AWARD. It's the pinnacle of post-season honors.

Is clarifying the MVP criteria really too much to ask for? Or is it okay with MLB that your top award is being voted on by people who have no consensus what sort of player they are voting for.

Two easy steps to fix this:

1. There are writers who refuse to vote for pitchers because they believe, idiotically, that "pitchers have their own award." Yes, the Cy Young Award is solely for pitchers -- and the Hank Aaron Award goes solely to hitters. Tell these writers to cram it and start voting deserving pitchers among their top 10. Or don't. Disqualify pitchers entirely. Just make it clear.

2. Outright specify which is more important to winning the MVP, making the playoffs or compiling huge numbers. Don't leave it vague. Give each accomplishment a measure of weight.

Baseball's a great game, but that doesn't mean we should overlook its idiocy.

Penn State

2011-11-08T12:37:00.001-05:00

The #1 story in sports right now is Penn State University and Jerry Sandusky.

I am reacting like everyone else. It is sickening and horrible. I'm increasingly uncomfortable the more I read -- it's abhorrent.

More details will come out as Penn State decides how to react. Joe Paterno looks to be out, but that's a minuscule salve.

That is all.

Questions I'd love to see an athlete ask the media

2011-11-08T12:21:00.001-05:00

* Is this what you really want to do with your life? Why?

* Maybe that quote is disrespectful toward me and/or the team, but what was the context?

* How much preparation did you do before you came in here?

* Is your article already written and you're just looking for quotes to fill in? Or: What's your soapbox and what are you looking for from me in order to prove your point?

* Was I the person you really wanted to talk to, or did you settle for me?

* Are you going to treat me with the same respect that you want me to treat you? Or: When we're not in the same room, what do you think of me then?

Why I'm watching The Boondocks

2011-11-07T11:20:00.002-05:00

I'm a Washington, D.C., area sports fan. I root for the Mystics, D.C. United, the Bullets/Wizards, the Maryland Terrapins and the Georgetown Hoyas, and all of the other DC-and-surrounding-vicinity colleges like George Mason, George Washington, Howard, and American University.

(I'm not really a Nats fan; I work in baseball for a Blue Jays-affiliated club, I've worked for a Rays affiliate, I grew up a Tigers fan, and there were no Nats while I was growing up.)

The two teams I wish to focus on here are the most popular: the Redskins and the Capitals.

You can't root for the Skins and the Caps in the same way.

The Washington Redskins have won three Super Bowls and five total championships.
The Washington Capitals have zero Stanley Cups and zero total championships.

The Redskins have been in existence since 1932, in Washington, D.C. since 1937.
The Capitals have been in existence since 1974, playing in D.C. the entire time.

The Redskins, clearly, have the lineage and tradition, with generations of faithful fans.
The Capitals do not.

However:

Each team has made the playoffs exactly 22 times. This year, it is very likely that the Caps will make the playoffs and the Skins will not. Even conceding that it is easier to make the postseason in the NHL than the NFL, it's easy to see that the Washington Capitals are a first rate powerhouse, among the favorites in the Eastern Conference entering each season, while the Washington Redskins are miserable losers with optimistic moments few and far between.

The Caps lost to the Islanders on Saturday, 5-3, after winning the previous day in Carolina. It's tough to win the second of back-to-back road outings. The defeat dropped their record to 9-3, best in the Southeast. Still, hey: I know the Caps are going to make the playoffs. That's where things get interesting since they've made a habit of losing early in the postseason. But they're going there, no doubt in anyone's mind. It's taken for granted.

The Skins lost to the 49ers on Sunday, 19-11, their fourth consecutive loss. They are now 3-5. They are terrible. Their offense is nonexistent. They were lucky to score 11 points.

That's where both teams, while their fates diverge, come together for me: I really have no must-see need to watch their games. The Caps are going to win, more often than not, but their regular season games feel inconsequential. The Redskins' games are also inconsequential because they're not going anywhere; they stink.

And so I am now watching episodes of The Boondocks instead of my teams. That's great - brilliant, even - TV.

Good news, everyone

2011-11-03T11:27:00.000-04:00

Complaining is easy, especially on something as cathartic/therapeutic as a blog.

On the bright side, though: There's a new Shel Silverstein book! (Here's my current book of choice. It's just outstanding.)

Hockey is terrific.

And, hey, it looks as though I might be publishing a book soon! Stay tuned...

Hypothetically speaking, that's nonsense

2011-11-03T09:58:00.008-04:00

On ESPN Radio's Scott Van Pelt Show yesterday, Ryen Russillo and Doug Gottleib discussed a potential national championship rematch between LSU and Alabama following their game on Saturday night.

(LSU and Alabama have fine defenses, offensive lines and running games. Their quarterbacks are mediocre. I'd rather watch Andrew Luck face Matt Barkley... but that was last week.)

The main crux of Russillo and Gottleib's conversation: if LSU vs. Alabama is a terrific game, shouldn't they rematch for the national title? From there, they imagined a victorious Alabama team stumbling against Mississippi State or Auburn and what ramifications a loss post-LSU would have.

Classic sports talk radio fodder: Bring up a situation that doesn't exist yet, and then react as if it did, creating hypothetical situations from it.

It's nonsense. It's drivel.

My local area of sports talk, DC, does this all the time. "Let's say the Redskins get killed by the 49ers this week, will it be time to panic?" "Yeah, but let's say they play the 49ers in a close game but lose by a field goal. Do you panic then?" And from there, they get into a topic of conversation on the week in which Mike Shanahan finds himself on the hot seat. Ridiculous.

It's like the old Jewish joke of the man who goes to his neighbor's house to borrow something. On his way, he starts imagining what his neighbor's reaction will be. Sure, he'll lend it... but what if he doesn't? What kind of a man wouldn't lend to his neighbor? By the time he arrives at his neighbor's door, he's worked up into such a lather that he knocks on the door, punches his greeting neighbor in the face, and snarls, "Keep it!"

We don't know what's going to happen in LSU/Alabama. It could be that, hey, the game's a classic.

Then let's react to it.

How's that sound, sports talk drivelers?

By the way - if Boise State, Houston, Oklahoma State and Stanford all end the season undefeated, there's no way a one-loss team should be anywhere near the national title game.

Cram it, SEC.

EDIT: On the Tony Kornheiser Show today, Tony just posed this hypothetical scenario to Pat Forde -- What would happen if the SEC team that wins on Saturday night then loses in the SEC Title game? Idiocy. There's a lot in life that's complicated and headache-inducing. No need to create headaches out of thin air due to adding hypotheticals onto hypotheticals. Let's discuss things when they actually happen.

Also: If Major League Baseball's postseason was run like college football, the Yankees and Phillies would have been voted into the Championship Game, the Rays and Red Sox would have been inserted into prime BCS bowls since their division was clearly the toughest, and the Cardinals would've played an unwatched bowl game on December 28th against the Angels.

Apathy and disgust, conquered

2011-11-02T13:47:00.000-04:00

The NBA missed its Opening Night last night due to the lockout.

I'm in the minority when I say: I miss it. I cheer for competition in baseball, for hockey, for football, for soccer, and yes, for basketball. (Not auto racing. Not golf.)

I'm not happy when my Washington Wizards lose games, but I'm used to it. I'm really not thrilled when an entire league loses games.

There are complex issues at work in the lockout, I realize.

Generally, I fall on the side of the players. The owners not only make more money and have more job stability, they have longer primes. An owner can run a basketball franchise much longer than a player can play the game.

Additionally, to put this into simple mathematics, let's say the Cleveland Cavaliers before LeBron James sold only 47% of their tickets, with LeBron James sold 99% of their tickets, and after LeBron James sold only 43% of their tickets. (This is hypothetical, mind you, not fact.) Don't you think James deserves a share of the profits that the Cavs made, especially since it was based upon his presence? I'd say so. I don't mind a player making an exorbitant amount of money as long as he in turn helps his employer profit. That's what it comes down to, in the end: Win games, make money, and not always in that order.

Setting aside the lockout, though...

The solution to every athlete and sport's problem has always been: Play the game.

Michael Vick needs to revitalize his image? Baseball needs to recuperate from the steroid scandals? Brawls and referee controversy in the NBA? Recruiting and agent problems in college football?

The games play on, and all is forgotten.

I don't like a lot of things about college football. I don't like the polls, the BCS, the conferences, the coaches, the fraud of "student-athletes," the recruiting -- heck, I don't even like the Heisman Trophy. (Wait until after the National Championship to hand it out and then we'll know who the best player in college football is. No more chumps like Jason White or Troy Smith who couldn't cut it against a good team.) But I love the game of college football, what transpires on the gridiron. When I watch Stanford play USC or Boise State play Georgia, I forget about all of the game's woes.

The World Series was its own best advertisement for baseball. You may not like a heck of lot of things about the Major Leagues, whether it's the Yankees payroll or commissioner Bud Selig or the way the DH is ignored by one league and glorified by the other. Still, all of those concerns fade away when the game is compelling, and the 2011 World Series was FILLED with compelling baseball.

(The NFL is an exception. The NFL is producing terrible football right now. I'm hoping it's just a funk that will be straightened out by season's end, but seriously - the last time the NFL was good, Tom Brady and the Patriots were going for it on 4th down against the Colts, 11/15/09.)

The NBA is dealing with apathy right now. When the owners and players' association figures things out and comes to a deal, it may very well still have to deal with an apathetic or disgusted public...

Until, that is, the NBA produces compelling, exciting basketball once more.

Then all will be forgotten.

Baseball's biggest PR problem

2011-11-01T09:26:00.000-04:00

The problem with baseball is not that the games go on for over three hours, or that Tony La Russa and Ron Washington used their entire bullpens in each World Series contest, or that the umpires' strike zones are inconsistent.

It's much more simple than that.

Baseball is my favorite sport. Basketball isn't. Yet this page of the NBA's greatest shots is better than anything baseball can ever produce online. Why? Because it has video links.

Baseball's media department, run by Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM) prohibits the sharing of any MLB video away from the official Major League website. It's asinine and counterproductive, and promotion of the game suffers because of it.

If I wanted to show someone why Barry Sanders was so good, I type 'Barry Sanders' into YouTube and a multitude of his highlights come up. Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins, same thing.

The greatest dunks? The greatest hockey goals and saves? They're easy to find and share. A non-fan becomes a fan in a heartbeat. "So that's why Pele's the greatest soccer player!" "That's why Wayne Gretzky's the Great One!" Yes, video proof.

Why should someone become a baseball fan? Who was Bill Buckner? What did Kirk Gibson's home run against the Eck look like? Why is Ozzie Smith regarded as the greatest defensive shortstop of all time? Baseball has none of this.

I know exactly why Pete Maravich was the man. Where are the highlights of his baseball contemporaries - Mantle, Mays, Clemente, Banks, Gibson, Aaron, etc.? Ken Burns can show video reels of Babe Ruth in his national pastime documentary - why aren't those videos easier accessed by a curious public?

Of all the sports, baseball is most proud of its history... yet, visually, that history is entirely inaccessible to fans, and that's bush league.

Why I don't like Tim Tebow... with bonus Duke hate!

2011-10-29T15:11:00.002-04:00

Here's why I don't like Tim Tebow:

Reason #2 is media oversaturation.

That's the easy one.

Tebow equals ratings right now, so ESPN and Fox are jumping fully on the bandwagon. If he loses this week, they'll do 24/7 of what went wrong for him. It's the same reason I don't like the Yankees, Red Sox, Notre Dame, Cowboys, Lakers, the NFL offseason and LeBron James -- the sports equivalents of Lindsay Lohan and Kim Kardashian. All of those topics equal higher ratings... and so the big media outlets run them into the ground.

Now then...

Reason #1: the idea that he's an underdog competing with nothing but heart and spirit against superior athletes is nothing but idiocy and hogwash.

Tebow played at big-time high school football and college football programs with and against the finest athletes in the nation. He's listed at 6'3, 236 pounds, fast enough to outpace linebackers, as he did last week against Miami, and strong enough to absorb a hit and deal a blow of his own.

You know what's he's competing against? Compared to the average NFL quarterback, he can't throw. His reads are slow, his release takes too long, his spirals are wobbly, his accuracy is inconsistent.

The defense against Tebow should be exactly the same as the defense against Michael Vick: keep him in the pocket, don't let him run, show him different looks in the secondary, and dare him to pick you apart.

*

Here's why I don't like Duke's men's basketball team, who are otherwise an utterly respectable unit with terrific talent and a legendary coach:

On offense, if their 3-pointers aren't falling, they do whatever they can to draw the foul, arms and legs flailing. On defense, they elbow, slap, shove, trip --- and then they flop upon the first hint of contact.

If Duke ever had to play itself, offensive and defensive players flopping at the slightest provocation, it would look like Italian soccer.

A poem from the baseball season

2011-10-28T16:58:00.005-04:00

Never a Pothole When You Need One

While watching “The Kingdom” on the team bus,

returning to Lansing from Clinton, Iowa,

we hit a bump and the audio went out.

Now we’re rooting for our team of US commandos

to hold back on killing any dirty Muslim terrorists

until the next bump.

Muted vengeance is unsatisfying.

Social Media's best contribution to society:

2011-10-28T11:55:00.001-04:00

The feeling when you're watching a sporting event utterly momentous, and then going on Facebook and/or Twitter to realize your friends are also watching.

Last night was a prime example. It's after midnight in the Eastern time zone. It's nearing 1 a.m. And there we all are, friends from North Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Illinois, Delaware, New York, New Hampshire, Maryland, and Ontario brought together by the increasing drama, second-guessing managerial moves, having heart attacks with every pitch, increasing in number by the minute to join together in fandom. I'm watching alone in my apartment in Michigan, and yet I'm not alone in the slightest.

It's a beautiful thing.

(It's even better it's one of those sneaky sort of games that you don't realize is turning into a classic until you reach the very end. Butler vs. Pittsburgh in the NCAA tourney. Boise State vs. Nevada at the end of last year's college football season. US women's soccer vs. Brazil in the World Cup.)

*

Social Media's worst contribution to society is lending anonymous power to loud-mouthed small-minded schlemiels, but that's another story.

Let's talk Game 6

2011-10-28T10:10:00.000-04:00

When the World Series began, I wasn't rooting for either the Cardinals or the Rangers -- I only wanted Game 7. I have no dog in the fight, favoring neither the Cardinals or the Rangers. Ever since the World Series began, I have been rooting only for a Game 7.

Now, after a fantastic first five games and last night's Game 6, we're here.

When David Freese lined his two-out, two-strike, two-run game-tying triple in the ninth, the game became great. When Lance Berkman answered Josh Hamilton's two-run homer by lacing his two-out, two-strike game-tying single in the tenth, the game became classic. When David Freese walked off in the eleventh, it was added to the pantheon of epic World Series games.

Game 7. No rain in the forecast. Let's do this.

The most anticlimactic Game 7 in World Series history (that I can think of off the top of my head) was 1985. Kansas City vs. St. Louis. First base ump Don Denkinger's blown call highlighted a Royals 9th inning comeback in Game 6. In the series clincher, the Cardinals embarrassingly imploded. Final score: KC 11, StL 0. Don't remind the folks at Busch.

Somehow I don't think tonight will be anticlimactic.

Quality Control

2011-10-26T11:20:00.000-04:00

My perspective is inexpert, but I'd say that the NHL is currently being played at an enormously high level, the World Series is being contested in a set of outstanding baseball games... and the NFL consists of utterly poor football.

The NFL is the ACC right now. One excellent team (Green Bay equaling Clemson), a couple of fine - albeit schizophrenic - contenders, and an overwhelming amount of mediocrities and doormats.

Pro football is the most popular sport in America at the moment not because of its entertainment level, but because of gambling and fantasy football, neither of which require good quarterbacking or solid tackling.

The problem with leagues

2011-10-25T12:44:00.000-04:00

1. Teams in a league are owned separately. The league is one. The teams are many.

2. Teams are supported by separate fanbases, relying on those fanbases to stay in business thanks to ticket and merchandise purchases.

3. Fanbases, with rare exceptions (Tampa Bay, Oakland), support winning teams. Few fanbases (Kansas City, Chicago) support losing teams.

4. For every winning team, there is a losing team. For every dynamic powerhouse, there is a pathetic unit going nowhere.

Put these together: I have not seen a league yet in which every franchise was thriving economically.

Walking to the Back of the Team Bus at 3:30 a.m.

2011-10-25T08:56:00.001-04:00

The initial steps, past the pair of seats with only one occupant, go without incident.

Coaches recline in their seats and snore away their stresses. Veteran players lean back upon their faithful pillows and dream of what still might be.

The aisle is left unbothered.

Knees begin to appear where the players begin doubling up, jutting into the aisle from all angles. Dexterity is needed to maneuver around them. No need to rouse a player from his slumber. Let sleeping starters lie.

The first true obstacle appears: The long legs of a dozing outfielder extending across the area between seats, stretching onto the nearest armrest. Behind him, the longer legs of a pitcher cross from the opposite direction, his feet mounted high atop the headrest of a teammate.

He who hesitates here is wise.

Crossed legs, like the crossbones beneath the skull on a pirate’s flag, signal that a dangerous situation is near. For players to stretch out so widely, there must be another player missing from his seat.

And there he is, curled up in the darkened aisle, utterly unaware that he might be stumbled over by an unassuming busmate.

If it is worth it to proceed, despite this obstacle, step up on an unoccupied armrest and negotiate a path above the crossed legs, stepping carefully from armrest to armrest, seat to seat, until clear ground can be found.

It is a perilous path. Trust that the motorcoach operator does not choose to take a curve in a hurry, jam upon his brakes, or do anything else unexpected or untoward that might send everyone hurtling together at once.

Sleeping, like traversing a crowded bus, is accomplished best by the man who trusts in his driver.

At last, after several uneasy steps, an empty stretch of aisle is found for a landing spot.

Halfway there!

A daring attitude creeps in at the sight of more raised feet. Why not tap the players in question and see if they’ll move?

They do, half-consciously, one after another, swinging their legs away for a half-second to allow quick passage, before returning to their previous positions.

Another prone form is revealed in the aisle, again blocking the way.

No matter. Up onto an empty armrest once more, beginning the dangerous tightrope dance anew, until it looks safe to come down and – Oh, good G-d. What was just stepped on?

A considerate semi-awake player sees fit to use his smartphone in one of its most practical functions, illuminating the aisle and revealing that the soft thing underfoot – was a duffle bag, thank goodness, and not a shortstop.

With the newfound light, the final steps come easier, edging around several of the pointier knees and smellier feet in the league, until at last there is only one last outstretched body in the way, stretching out horizontally like a tollgate. By this time, all proper respect and consideration is tossed to the wind. The player’s legs are lifted directly out of the way, no toll necessary.

His immediate reaction is one of grumpy understanding, especially once he sees the door opened.

It is an unenviable route to the bathroom on the team bus, but it is always worth it.

Good or bad?

2011-08-13T15:38:00.002-04:00

A road trip is generally thought of as either good or bad, rarely neither.

The Lugnuts are coming off a 3-4 trip to Fort Wayne and South Bend. Three of four games lost at Parkview Field shouldn't sit too well, especially when those game were ripe for the taking if only there was a clutch hit gained here or there. Bad trip, right?

There was an earlier road trip this second half in which the Lugs went 7-2 in a trio of three-game series taking them from Lake County to Kane County to Clinton. That's pretty clearly a good trip, isn't it?

Not quite.

It's all about how the final game goes that determines how you feel coming back home.

The nine-game road trip ended with a disastrous loss to the LumberKings, 11-5 on a miserably hot day, made worse by a Clinton nine-run seventh inning. It was a 7-2 road trip that left everyone sulky and irritable on the bus ride back.

This last road trip, conversely, finished off with a satisfying 6-2 win in which players as diverse as Jake Marisnick, Jack Murphy, Garis Pena, Egan Smith, Aleson Escalante, and Shawn Griffith all had a part in finishing off the Silver Hawks. It felt good, regardless of the overall 3-4 record on the road trip.

Oh, yes, one other thing: the 7-2 trip required a long drive home from Iowa. The 3-4 trip just completed needed only a little two-hour jaunt from South Bend.

Which one was better? No contest.

With regard to the ESPN article on the Blue Jays...

2011-08-12T13:23:00.000-04:00

I'm skeptical until shown better information than one year's worth of selective data and anonymous eyewitness guesswork.

Then again, it wouldn't surprise me if this was true. Baseball players historically cheat as much as or more than any other other sport's athletes. In the grand scheme of things, cheating in baseball is ranked as slightly better than trying to bunt to break up a no-hitter but much worse than hot dogging a home run.

A brief update

2011-08-10T13:00:00.000-04:00

David Cooper is now longer batting .400 for Las Vegas. He's now at .379, collecting two-hit games the past three days and in 11 of his last 16 games. Home/road splits? All right: he's batting .379 on the road (.450 OBP) and .379 at home (.457 OBP).

That, it would seem clearly to me, is the makings of a .300+ hitter in the Majors. The question is, with Adam Lind at first base and Mike McDade breathing down the back of his neck in Double-A, will Cooper get his shot with the Blue Jays or is he merely trade bait?

Henderson goes to the Show

2011-08-10T12:55:00.000-04:00

Henderson Alvarez was the Lugnuts' 2009 Opening Day starter at the ripe old age of 18, turning 19 a couple of weeks later. He spent last season with A-Advanced Dunedin, going 8-7 with a 4.33 ERA, and began this season with the D-Jays as well before getting called up to Double-ANew Hampshire in late May.

Now 21-year-old Henderson is heading to the Big Leagues, promoted directly from the Eastern League to start for Toronto against the Oakland Athletics.

When he throws his first pitch tonight at 7:00ish p.m. against, perhaps, Jemile Weeks, he'll be the sixth Lugnuts alum to make his MLB debut this season and the 78th all-time Lug to reach the Majors.

David Cooper's batting .400

2011-06-11T14:35:00.000-04:00

I'm just saying.

The Jays' 2008 1st rounder went 4-for-5 yesterday and his batting average is up to a Pacific Coast League-leading .400. Highly impressive.

A change for the better

2011-05-29T12:44:00.000-04:00

Last night, the Lugnuts eked out a 3-2 win over Bowling Green thanks to a home run from Marcus Knecht, two RBIs from Carlos Perez, four shutout innings from John Anderson, and an edge-of-your-seat save by Steve Turnbull.

But let's ignore all of those other guys and talk about the man who allowed Bowling Green's first run... and also picked up his first win of the season.

Misaul Diaz started the Lugnuts' first game in 2011, April 10th at West Michigan, and was battered about for five runs on five hits, two walks and two hit batsman in 2 2/3 innings. In his next start, he gave up six runs on five hits and four walks and didn't complete the 5th. Three straight starts allowing a home run followed, overlapping with three straight losses.

In a completely justifiable decision, Diaz was sent to the bullpen. He has since made four relief appearances, accumulating 11 2/3 innings -- and he has already struck out 16 men, the same number of strikeouts he piled up in 24 innings as a starter.

Take it further: He has only four walks as a reliever, compared to 17 walks as a starter. He has a 2.31 ERA as a reliever, compared to 6.38 as a starter. If you'd like to talk specifics, last night his change-up was utterly unhittable. Bowling Green has now faced Misaul twice, with only three hits, one run (on a strikeout/wild pitch) and 11 K's to show for it in six innings.

The best thing about Diaz's breakthrough performance: It joins a host of other sterling relief improvements by these Lugnuts. I'm still wondering about Dayton Marze's consistency, but there seems to me to be no doubt about the Midwest League mastery shown by Marcus Walden, Danny Barnes, or Steve Turnbull. Scott Gracey has already earned his call-up to Dunedin. If the Jays need any other candidates for promotions, it's a crowded field.

That felt great - now let's move on

2011-05-11T09:54:00.000-04:00

Everything went right for the Lugnuts last night, from Casey Lawrence and Dayton Marze's strong pitching to key offense and grinding at-bats to brand new second baseman Jonathan Jones' sliding catch for the final out.

Conversely, everything went wrong for the Loons, from a complete absence of offense to terrible pitching by Raul Burgos and Robert Boothe to a freaky run-scoring error off a return throw to the mound by catcher Michael Pericht. Heck, even unhittable closer Shawn Tolleson gave up two hits.

In short, it's one to send the Lugnuts to sleep smiling, but it's also one to move on from. Every team gets to experience routs over the course of the year from both sides of the scoreboard. The last time the Lugs went on the road, they humiliated Fort Wayne in the series opener 12-2, were promptly routed themselves 12-4 the next day, and then were shut down in a pitcher's duel in the rubber match.

I suppose Great Lakes is wondering how their Loons will react to being humbled at home. Me, I'm wondering how the Lugnuts will react.

Lefty Sean Nolin to the mound today in a swap out with Misaul Diaz, who looks like he's off to the bullpen due to ineffectiveness. Tim Sexton, a good one, starts for Great Lakes.

Hello from Dow Diamond

2011-05-10T18:28:00.000-04:00

Back to blogging, after a little hiatus! Okay, more than a little - since the first game of the season. It's good to get back to it, though.

Video Coordinator Pete Gaglio is sitting next to me in the Great Lakes broadcast booth; he tells me he understands how busy the schedule can get, but I'm still going to try to do a little better as the season wears on.

This is an interesting Lugnuts team this year. It doesn't feel that they've played their best baseball yet, due to awful infield defense, inconsistent starting pitching (8-9, 4.51 ERA, .292 average against, 1.52 WHIP), and a lack of hitting from K.C. Hobson yet. (I'm certain K.C.'s going to catch fire sometime soon.) Still, there they are, with the second best record in the Eastern Division.

Works for me.

Big games starting tonight against Great Lakes, the first of six in a row vs. the Loons. I don't know if there's any team in the Eastern Division anyone wants to beat more than the Loons.

A 13-12 loss is a good thing

2011-04-11T09:35:00.000-04:00

A 13-12 loss, particularly one where you blew a 12-7 lead in the late-going, should not be a good thing. It should be exhausting, draining, difficult to stomach.

Getting sick, that's not a good thing. Not only was I sick, miserably sick, all last week - especially Thursday and Friday, so was the Lugnuts coaching staff and the front office.

Arriving at the ballpark early in the week to discover that the lights didn't work downstairs, that's not a good thing. Arriving at the ballpark on Opening Day to discover that the lights didn't work upstairs, that's not a good thing.

Having the field thaw on the afternoon of the scheduled first game of the season, turning the infield to marshland and wiping out the entire weekend's worth of planned festivities... that's definitely not a good thing.

So it was that yesterday, a rollercoaster defeat, represented - at last! - a return to meaningful baseball for the Lansing Lugnuts. That, yes sir, is a very good thing.

Count it down

2011-03-30T10:55:00.006-04:00

1 day until Opening Day
tomorrow, 1 p.m., Tigers vs. Yankees to get it started

2 days until the Blue Jays' first game
Friday, 7:07 p.m., Ricky Romero against the Twins

4 days until the Lugnuts arrive in town
plane lands in Detroit on Sunday night

6 days until the Crosstown Showdown presented by Auto-Owners Insurance
next Tuesday, 7:05 p.m. vs. Michigan State, $1 food specials,
Cooley Law School Stadium

7 days until Meet the Team
April 6th, 7:00 p.m., get to know your 2011 Lugnuts,
Cooley Law School Stadium

8 days until the first day of the Midwest League season... and the first Thirsty Thursday
April 7th, 7:05 p.m. vs. West Michigan,
Cooley Law School Stadium

Are you ready?

Of writers and athletes

2011-03-30T10:32:00.000-04:00

I am an unabashed fan of Bill James, and so it was a great pleasure today to have my brilliant poet friend Jaime pass along this excerpted essay of his from Slate, entitled "Shakespeare and Verlander." It is about, to be quite blunt, how come our culture can produce the finest athletes in any sport and yet no such talented writers to approach the likes of Shakespeare and his contemporaries.

James also wrote one of my favorite essays of all time, based around the idea that as a native Kansan he was sick and tired of the negatively-connoted Midwest "dust bowl" idea being played up in relation to the allure of the city (particularly New York). He themed it around the black and white misery of Dorothy's Kansas in the Wizard of Oz movie compared to gloriousness of Oz, writing that there was just as much wonder and happiness and triumph to be found in the small towns of Kansas and Nebraska as there was in New York City.

These two theses are related, I think...

It is often mentioned that for a tiny nation, Ireland has produced so many of the greatest writers and poets, and I think this is related, too.

Really, great talent/skill is where 1) you look for it, 2) where it is cultivated/appreciated. James gets right into the thick of this in his essay.

I think there are simply sensational writers being produced right now, as there always have been -- but they need light shed upon them. Unfortunately, light comes their way only if they stumble onto it serendipitously (or work their hearts out to be discovered, perhaps) or if they're friends with someone, who is already gaining the light of attention. That latter reason is why one hears of great writing friendships/groups; why the music scene is always filled with singer-songwriters/musicians collaborating. You work with someone else great, it makes you greater... or it at least puts you in their company so someone with resources will take a chance on you.

Here's perhaps the most important reason, though: I think we as a culture seek to discover/cultivate great athletes because they make a great deal of money for many people other than them, whether in clothing/merchandising or sports agencies or media networks, etc. etc. etc. During Shakespeare's day, a great playwright (or even just a good one) could bring fame to an awful lot of people. In contemporary culture, who do you think is going to make the most people the most amount of money, a topflight baseball player or a novelist? If it's the novelist, that novel better be able to be turned into a smash movie with plenty of sequels in store.

In the grand scheme of things...

2011-03-04T11:57:00.001-05:00

Heartfelt condolences to Wes Leonard's family and friends and everyone else affected by his sudden death last night. Man oh man. Here's the story. Yes, the next logical step is to determine the cause, but first let everyone come together and mourn/honor his memory. My cousin David also just passed away, yesterday. Moving on is fine, but grieving comes first.

I hope you will excuse me if I continue this blog post in a less somber tone, focusing on baseball. It's just a reminder that sports are fun and all, but there's far greater gravity to be found elsewhere in life. (And now that epic Heat collapse against the Magic doesn't quite seem so significant.)

The Blue Jays lost to the Pirates in Spring Training action yesterday, but if you read the recap, you'd see that the main story according to the reporting writer was Brett Cecil's three scoreless innings.

(Former Lugnuts update, Blue Jays edition -- Darin Mastroianni, 1-1, single; John Tolisano, 0-2; Moises Sierra, 0-1; David Cooper, 0-3; Jake Marisnick, 0-1. No pitchers. Former Lugnuts w/ Toronto are now 5-for-34.)

This is one of those weird things about Spring Training write-ups -- writers realize that March games are meaningless, and so they use their game recap space to write up a player profile piece and ignore 90% of what happened in the game. (Then at the end of March, they'll start realizing... hey, look at so-and-so, hitting the cover off the ball for the past few weeks!)

Elsewhere, for example:

Jordan Zimmermann's return was considered the most important thing in the Nats/Cards game (a slugfest won by Washington, 7-5)
The Tigers lost to the Braves, 4-3, in a dramatic walk-off decision... but let's focus on Chipper Jones instead
Yes, the Astros defeated the Marlins, 5-3... but really, don't you want to hear about Jason Castro's surgery?
Hey, look, Freddy Garcia wants to make the Yankees rotation. Also, the Yanks and Rays played to a 1-1 10-inning tie.

From ESPN's Sweet Spot, Bill Parker writes that the BBWAA has made no bigger mistake than their treatment of Lou Whitaker as a Hall of Fame candidate. To sum up, briefly: Whit was a tremendous defender and his offensive skills were just about as good as Ryne Sandberg. He wasn't as powerful but he reached base more often and he played in a more difficult park for hitters than Sandberg. I grew up revering Whitaker and Alan Trammell. If/when the two of them receive their just due and end up in Cooperstown, by hook or by crook, I shall do my darndest to be on hand.

Remember Robinson Chirinos? He played for the Lugs in 2003 and 2004, and now he looks to be on the verge of making the Majors with Tampa Bay (after coming over from the Cubs in the Matt Garza trade). Thus far this spring, he's 3-for-7 with a double, a home run, and a team-high five RBIs in just four games. There weren't any ex-Lugnuts who made their Major League debut in 2010 - I'm hoping that gets rectified this year.

A bitterly windy day near the capitol

2011-03-03T09:15:00.001-05:00

With our job fair completed, the majority of the gameday staff for the 2011 season is now hired. With me, I now have to concentrate on the team media guide and articles for the Lugnuts magazine.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Marketing Department is concerned with preparing all other materials for the season and getting our affairs in order for when it's time to put single-game tickets on sale. We've got some big things in store.

A link: Chicharito scores a goal with face. Always fun.

This Saturday at 1 p.m. is our open audition for Lugnuts Pit Crew, Hawkers, and Granger Rangers. We're looking for young (16 and older), fearless, exuberant folks who are ready to have a great time at the park this year. Wear comfortable clothing, come on out, and show us what you got!

Our new manager would not want you watching this.

Former Lugnuts update from Dunedin: Darin Mastroianni, 1-6; Moises Sierra, 1-6, BB; Mike McDade, 0-6; David Cooper, 2-5, 2 B; John Tolisano, 0-2; A.J. Jimenez, 0-1. In all, 4 hits in 26 at-bats. Hey, the spring is young!

This really opens your eyes to how the Blue Jays farm system underperformed during J.P. Ricciardi's tenure -- there are absolutely no Lugnuts from 2005-2007 anywhere to be found. (Well, there is Casey Janssen among the pitchers from 2005.) But from the 2006 team, and this sounds absurd, there have been zero Major Leaguers. Not a single one. The 2007 team had Travis Snider and that's it.

Not good, man. Not good. It shows why everyone was so grateful that Alex Anthopoulos was given the reins.

As for the pitchers this spring: Henderson Alvarez, Joel Carreno, Alan Farina, the aforementioned Janssen, Brad Mills, Luis Perez, and Marc Rzepczynski have all seen time on the mound.

It's too early for anyone to have distinguished themselves yet in the black and white stats, although I doubt I'm alone in my satisfaction with Eric Thames' early play.

Spring is young yet. Heck, in Lansing, Spring hasn't even arrived yet.

Campy and Newk

2011-02-21T18:22:00.000-05:00

I am currently reading Jules Tygiel's "Baseball's Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy."

The most interesting thing so far has been a quote from Branch Rickey - "It might not be so good to sign Robinson with other and better players unsigned." Shortly thereafter, the Dodgers inked Roy Campanella and Don Newcombe to contracts.

In other words, Brooklyn considered Jackie to be the perfect man to break the color barrier because of the quality of his character, but not as talented as such negro leaguers as Campy and Newk.

In retrospect, though Roy Campanella became a Hall of Fame catcher and Newcombe was a bulldog in the rotation, Jackie Robinson electrified the National League and retired as one of the greatest second basemen of all time.

Not bad for a character guy.

Dear Sen. Lautenberg and Sen. Durbin:

2011-02-21T15:33:00.004-05:00

I am writing to wholeheartedly support your letter and stance regarding a ban on smokeless tobacco in the Major Leagues.

I am the radio broadcaster and media department for the Lansing Lugnuts, a Class-A team in the Toronto Blue Jays minor league system. This is my seventh year in professional baseball, including stints in Brockton (MA), Montgomery (AL) and Crestwood (IL).

I wish to inform you that everywhere I have been, despite the ban to the contrary, the vast majority of the minor league players and coaches use smokeless tobacco on the field, in the clubhouse and in public. Indeed, it is the rare one or two players on a team in any league who DON'T use smokeless tobacco. No wonder the problem is so rampant in the Major Leagues.

Thank you very much for your time.

Sincerely,
Jesse Goldberg-Strassler

Be prepared

2011-02-21T11:31:00.001-05:00

A Black History month tribute today to Willard Brown, an immensely talented slugger who was noted for:

1) being nicknamed "Sonny" (or "Sunny") because he would always play better on sunny days than cloudy days,
2) integrating the St. Louis Browns,
3) using the broken bat of Browns teammate Jeff Heath to hit a home run -- and Heath immediately destroyed the bat beyond use in the dugout afterward (life was hell for Brown in St. Louis to say the least),
and 4) my favorite: heading to the outfield with a copy of Reader's Digest in his back pocket for whenever the game grew slow and he needed something to occupy his attention

I would have gotten along, I think, with Willard Brown.

Jim Edmonds, Hall of Famer

2011-02-19T12:36:00.000-05:00

Let's talk Hall of Fame for a moment here.

The discussion has arisen because of the retirement of one James Patrick Edmonds, a center fielder for 17 seasons in the Major Leagues.

Some reading material on the subject:

* Rob Neyer from back on Feb. 1st at SB Nation (I am an unabashed Rob Neyer fan)
* Andy on the Baseball Reference blog; verdict: unsure
* Aaron Gleeman at Hardball Talk; verdict: HoF
* bryn.swartz at Philly Buster via Yardbarker: nope
* Chad Dotson on Sweet Spot; verdict: HoF

etc. etc. etc. I'm sure you can find a heck of a lot more articles on the subject if you look hard enough.

As for me, I suppose you can guess my opinion right from the title line. I'm not a "small hall" person. It's okay with me that the Hall of Fame is bigger than Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, and Walter Johnson. There's space there. (Maybe not for Jim Rice, but hey, what can you do?)

My criteria is pretty simple: Is the guy one of the ten or so best players at his position of all time? I'd contend that Jim Edmonds is one of the ten best center fielders in baseball history.

That's my argument.

You can take it farther, mentioning his 132 OPS+ or his 393 home runs... but really, it's all about where you stack up historically, and Jim does just fine. Was he as good as Ken Griffey, Jr.? No, but that's okay. Griffey wasn't as good as Mays, and that doesn't lessen him any as a player.

Which center fielders were better than Edmonds? Going from my Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract: Mays, Mantle, Cobb, Speaker, DiMaggio, Duke Snider, Junior Griffey... anybody else? We'll exclude negro leaguers in this conversation (but Oscar Charleston's still got my vote for being in the top three among all baseball players all time). "Sliding" Billy Hamilton? Larry Doby?

Jim Edmonds, Hall of Famer.

That's my argument for Alan Trammell being in the Hall of Fame, too, right alongside Lou Whitaker. Name me 10-15 middle infielders better than them in baseball history. I don't believe it can be done.

First week back

2011-02-18T16:33:00.000-05:00

Jackson Field is uncovered. All of the snow has melted.

It's a glorious sight.

I'm completing my first week back with the Lugnuts. Mostly my work has been limited to creating up the 2011 media guide, which is painstaking and sometimes numbing; I'm right now in the midst of typing up the Toronto Blue Jays' complete statistics from last year, number by number. It needs to get done but I'll be happier when it's over.

Perhaps the best part of my week occurred early on. We're preparing a story for the 2011 Lugnuts team magazine about new manager Mike Redmond, thus requiring images of Mike from his Major League career. I love that I'm in a position that allows me to call up Major League teams directly and ask for a favor. (The Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins forthrightly responded, the Indians quite promptly. Highly appreciated.)

The work week also consisted of several interviews for key spots in The (Marketing) Department, as we're shoring everything up heading into the season. Outside of work, the dominant Lansing Lugnuts' front office trivia team (name withheld to protect the innocent) triumphed in the City Limits' DJ Trivia Thursday night competition for the second straight week. Challenge us next Thursday in Mason if you dare.

Black History tribute today to the greatest black player in Detroit history, Norman "Turkey" Stearnes.

A (Sort-Of) Defense for Albert Pujols

2011-02-14T21:27:00.000-05:00

Heard on Peter Brown's show on Sporting News Radio last night:

Albert Pujols wants too much money.

He's right, too. Pujols apparently wants $300 million over ten years. That's a heckuva lot of money over a heckuva long time for a guy who isn't getting any younger. (Who is?)

Those, I believe, are the three best arguments against it: 1) too much money, 2) too many years, and 3) who knows how long he'll stay productive?

The other arguments I heard on Peter's show, though, were ridiculous.

"The common fan can't relate to the player anymore." The common fan could NEVER relate to the star baseball player. Not during Mike Schmidt's day, nor Mickey Mantle's day, nor Joe DiMaggio's, and right on back past Babe Ruth to the very start. Never. Since when did you ever have to relate to a guy in order to root for him? Who could relate to Michael Jordan?

More pertinently, "Baseball players are all overpaid." Put yourself in the place of a baseball owner. It's a business. You're in it to make money more than anything else. If a star player helps an owner double or quadruple his profits thanks to helping the team win/sell more tickets/sell merchandise, who could argue against the player deserving his share of those profits? For a more concrete example, how much money did LeBron James make the Cleveland Cavaliers, and how much money did his signing with the Heat cost them?

This brings us back to Albert Pujols. How much money has he made the Cardinals? How much money will he make the Cardinals in the future? After you figure that out... then you can figure out how much he deserves to be paid.

It's still not $300 million over 10 years.

FDR

2011-02-11T12:03:00.001-05:00

Another remarkable story from "Baseball" that I couldn't imagine taking place today:

The story is told about a game at the Polo Grounds being stopped for 45 minutes so that President Roosevelt's speech to the nation could be put over the PA system.

On an unrelated note, Hosni Mubarak has resigned in Egypt. I think this is a good thing.

Lou Gehrig

2011-02-11T11:41:00.000-05:00

For the second time in Ken Burns' "Baseball," they've matched up a description with the actual event -- and the description was flat wrong. The first time, it was the newspaper report of a game. The second time, the one I just watched, was a radio broadcaster describing Hank Greenberg striking out on a low fastball. He clearly didn't; the fastball was up above his letters. As a broadcaster, this is comforting to me.

Since I have siblings who live in Delaware, let's honor Hall of Famer Judy Johnson for Black History Month, an outstanding infielder from the state.

You know the line "Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth." Here's the complete Lou Gehrig Speech, unabridged, from the website LouGehrigSpeech.com:

"Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.

"Look at these grand men. Which of you wouldn't consider it the highlight of his career just to associate with them for even one day? Sure, I'm lucky. Who wouldn't consider it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert? Also, the builder of baseball's greatest empire, Ed Barrow? To have spent six years with that wonderful little fellow, Miller Huggins? Then to have spent the next nine years with that outstanding leader, that smart student of psychology, the best manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy? Sure, I'm lucky.

"When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift - that's something. When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in white coats remember you with trophies - that's something. When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter - that's something. When you have a father and a mother who work all their lives so you can have an education and build your body - it's a blessing. When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed - that's the finest I know.

"So I close in saying that I may have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for."

Plenty to marvel at

2011-02-10T10:33:00.001-05:00

The Black History Month nod today goes to the fabulous pitcher Hilton Smith, overshadowed by Satchel Paige but superb on his own merits.

Interesting notes from Ken Burns' "Baseball" of the day: In the Great Depression, the St. Louis Browns averaged less than 1,500 fans per game. Worse, the Cincinnati Reds, Boston Braves, and Philadelphia Phillies all nearly went out of business. The Braves eventually moved to Milwaukee and then Atlanta. The Reds and Phillies righted the ship... and both made the National League playoffs last year, meeting in the first round. Imagine an NL without them!

Link to enjoy: Johnny McEntee, U-Conn's Trick Shot Quarterback.

Website to enjoy: Did the Cavs Win Last Night?

An article that shouldn't have been written: ESPN's Roy S. Johnson is impatient about college basketball's regular season and wants to get to March.

This is a pet peeve of mine - the national sports media deciding that there's nothing worth caring about except for everything NFL, college football, MLB, March Madness, and the NBA playoffs... which leaves this period in February "sports-light." I'm a fan of the Tony Kornheiser radio show, but Tony was complaining about this the other day. Trust me, if you're a sports fan, there's plenty to care about all year long, except for the day after the Major League All-Star Game.

In the NHL, the violent, high-scoring Bruins/Canadians game last night.

In the NCAA, the last-second Rutgers comeback against #10 Villanova.

Yes, there's plenty to enjoy, and the baseball season won't be long now.

Babe Ruth

2011-02-09T16:34:00.000-05:00

In watching "Baseball," it occurs to me that Babe Ruth would have had a more difficult go of things if he were playing today.

After all, the Babe...

* went into the stands after a heckling fan
* jumped on top of the dugout on a different occasion and challenged fans to fight him
* punched an umpire
* threw dirt on an umpire
* corked his bat
* was suspended by his manager, Miller Huggins
* was suspended by American League President Ban Johnson
* was suspended by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis

I ignore his imbibing, his enjoyment of brothels, and his overeating. I think he'd get along with those in today's society just fine.

Starting anew

2011-02-09T10:27:00.003-05:00

In support of Black History Month, here's the man considered possibly the greatest player of all time (and if not #1, then he's #2 behind Babe Ruth): Oscar Charleston.

If I'm going to build this a little from the beginning, as it feels with the start of each season, then a couple of quick baseball things about me:

* I love baseball history, particularly the great stories.

* I grew up a Tigers fan in Maryland. Alan Trammell is my boyhood hero.

* I don't quite understand all of the new statistics, but I get what they're getting at and I appreciate that. I think on-base percentage (or on-base average, depending on your preference) is easy to understand, and I think fielding range statistics are tremendously important.

* A double play in the act of being turned is a beautiful thing.

* I'm currently watching Ken Burns' "Baseball" for the very first time. It's everything that everyone says it is. (I'm in the 4th inning right now.)

* I like 50% of "Bull Durham," 99% of "Sugar," and 100% of Tom Hanks in "A League of Their Own."

* I love hockey. I love soccer. I love football. I love basketball. I love tennis.

* Also: curling.

Ask questions at any time, I'll do my best to answer them to the best of my ability.

Back on the horse

2011-02-08T12:17:00.000-05:00

Here I am, back again, ready for a new season.

Hopefully I'll start work in the Lugnuts' office shortly, once technicalities are squared away.

In the meanwhile, I have a Twitter handle now (@jgoldstrass). Feel free to follow me.

My favorite sports story of the day: Wake Forest baseball coach Tom Walter donates a kidney to one of his players.

First Lugnuts' game: April 5th vs. Michigan State.

To answer the most popular question we've been receiving: No, we have no idea how good the Lugnuts will be this year. We're hoping for quite a few top prospects (Deck McGuire, etc.) but we won't know the roster until April 3rd or so. It gets pretty hectic there for a little bit.

Cliff Lee and the Phillies

2010-12-15T15:06:00.000-05:00

It's all well and good that the Phils now have locked up Cliff Lee and boast a starting rotation of Lee, Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels... but did we forget the reason they were eliminated by the Giants last year in the NLCS?

They stopped hitting.

Here's how their offense has changed from 2010 to 2011 so far: Exit Jayson Werth, enter Domonic Brown.

How does this solve those offensive woes?

Explain this

2010-12-01T10:40:00.000-05:00

Andre Johnson and Cortland Finnegan got off with a $25,000 slap on the wrist following their melee on Sunday afternoon. No suspensions were handed out.

Really?

Derek Anderson and LeBron James

2010-11-30T17:48:00.012-05:00

Last night, Derek Anderson was caught laughing on the sideline during the 49ers' rout of his Cardinals and then blew up when asked about it in the postgame press conference.

It strikes me as a case of people expecting athletes to act how we want them to act rather than be the real people they are.

We have no idea what kind of person Derek Anderson is, but now we're judging him don't know. We just hate the fact that Derek Anderson would dare to laugh while his team was getting blown out.

The usual sports equation goes like this, however: Great talent = Great person. The two have no correlation to one another, not a bit, and yet has soon as a tremendous talent arrives on the scene, sportswriters fall all over themselves to declare how terrific a person he is.

Here, for example, is Joey Votto's cover, totally framed around what a "nice guy" Joey Votto is.

Then there's LeBron James, whose public persona started to take a hit last summer with "The Decision."

Contrast that with Sports Illustrated's 2003 depiction of a modest James or, more recently, Michael Rosenberg's defense of an earnestly competitive James who deserves our admiration.

Here's Adrian Wojnarowski's latest column. What do you think of King James now?

On the other hand, I refuse to believe...

2010-11-29T14:31:00.000-05:00

...that Derek Jeter is going to sign with a team other than the Yankees.

Unless it suddenly becomes concrete and official, I don't see it happening. There's no way.

Interesting note: You know how it's always talked about how you never see a player play for one team for the entirety of his career anymore?

(The people who assert that forget that Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Tris Speaker, Billy Williams, Warren Spahn, etc. all switched teams at the end of their career, as if this was somehow a new occurrence.)

Anyway, your National League All-Star Game starters this past year:

Hanley Ramirez, SS, Florida
Martin Prado, 2B, Atlanta
Albert Pujols, 1B, St. Louis
Ryan Howard, DH, Philadelphia
David Wright, 3B, New York
Ryan Braun, LF, Milwaukee
Andre Ethier, CF, Los Angeles
Corey Hart, RF, Milwaukee
Yadier Molina C, St. Louis
Ubaldo Jimenez, SP, Colorado

Exactly one of those players -- Ethier -- has switched organizations in his career, and that was before he reached the Majors. Every single one of them has played each and every game in his career for the same team. What do you think about that?

As for the American League side, seven of the 10 players (Ichiro, Jeter, Longoria, Mauer, Cano, Crawford, Price) can boast the same, with only Miguel Cabrera, Josh Hamilton, and Vlad Guerrero serving as the exceptions.

That's a pretty stable sort of life for a professional sports league's superstars.

This is irrelevant, but Justice John Paul Stevens is mistaken about the "Called Shot." That's one of those myths, like Abner Doubleday or Plymouth Rock or the idea that corked bats help hit a baseball farther that I think would serve us all a lot better if we forgot we ever heard them in the first place.

I still believe in Boise State

2010-11-27T13:36:00.000-05:00

It's the off-season, so I'll be updating this much more often in ensuing days.

I stayed up for the brilliant game between the Boise State Broncos and Nevada Wolf Pack last night. I'm not ruing my lack of sleep one bit.

Maybe I'll be the first to declare this: Kyle Brotzman, the Boise kicker who missed a 26-yard field goal at the end of regulation, is the American college football version of Ghana's Asamoah Gyan, who missed a last-second penalty shot at the World Cup against Uruguay. Heartbreaking. Both those guys could make their kicks in their sleep, but in the crucial moment they came up lacking.

The rest of the college football season is now anticlimactic.

Ah, what am I saying? College football always becomes anticlimactic in November and December.

Cam Newton reminds me of Ohio State's Troy Smith, albeit he's bigger, stronger, slower, and with a weaker arm and worse footwork...

I'm sorry, I guess he doesn't remind me at all of Troy Smith. You know who he reminds me of instead? Tim Tebow. Big, strong, loves to run for first downs up the middle on third and short. Same polarizing cloud of controversy surrounding him, too.

Embarrassing News from the Commissioner

2010-11-09T09:50:00.000-05:00

Commissioner Allan H. "Bud" Selig, against all facts to the contrary, believes Abner Doubleday invented baseball.

Way to go, Bud.

"Shock the World"

2010-11-02T12:05:00.000-04:00

ESPN's front page headline for Jayson Stark's Giants championship column is, bafflingly, "Shock the World," though "Trophy finds home in San Francisco" is the title above Stark's actual article.

Far better.

After all, the 92-70 Giants had a better record than the 90-72 Rangers this season. In Dave Sheinin's Washington Post preview of the playoffs, he listed the Rangers as the eighth best team in the playoffs and forecasted a first-round elimination at the hands of the Rays. When Texas outlasted Tampa Bay in a hard-fought series and then dominated the Yankees in the ALCS, heads were turned... much the same way the Rays had seized critical opinion entering the 2008 World Series against a then-underrated Philadelphia team.

The San Francisco Giants, as has often been stated, featured an odd lineup of self-described misfits... but they were placed alongside a talented pitching staff that outclassed Philadelphia's hyped H2O of Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt.

This was a championship earned, and a fitting titleholder. No flukes here.

The ZOOperstars were onto something...

2010-09-16T11:35:00.000-04:00

Apparently, the ZOOperstars knew a little something about the angelic Derek Jeter, inspiring them to create this punnish character.

Last night, Jeter dramatically reacted to an inside pitch, feigning injury after the ball knocked off the knob of his bat. Home plate umpire Lance Barksdale bought the act and gave him first base.

Included in the linked article is the following excerpted comment:

"...I really think people are making too much of this. Most importantly 1- It had no effect on the game, 2- Players fake injuries all the time in soccer, the most popular sport in the world, and players fake fouls in another sport played worldwide in basketball."

This person is utterly incorrect on the first point -- after all, Curtis Granderson followed with a home run and Jeter scored the game-tying run. Really, no effect on the game? You sure about that one?

As far as the second point is concerned, does the commenter really believe that faking injuries -- flopping in order to draw bogus calls from the referees -- is the reason that soccer and basketball are so globally popular? Soccer and basketball succeed in spite of flopping. Flopping stinks. It stinks when Duke's men's basketball team does it. It stinks when the Italian soccer team does it, it stinks in general.

On the bright side, good triumphed over evil and the Rays beat the Yankees. Well...

I'm not naive. I have no doubt that a random Rays player would have reacted in the exact same way as Jeter. The exact same way. Baseball, like basketball, like soccer, like a great deal of other sports and livelihoods, is highly approving of "taking liberties." Baseball loves its cheaters all the way up until the very moment they get caught, at which point everyone either buries the cheater in question or rushes to their defense with the ol' "Everybody does it."

Politics features much of the same. Same with college football and college basketball recruiting. Cheat, cheat, cheat... and then scapegoat or declare "Everybody does it." It's the American way.

And it's darn globally popular, too, just like soccer.

2011 Lugnuts Starting Lineup Forecast

2010-09-15T13:15:00.002-04:00

This came about because of a terrific question sent in by a fan on the final LugCast of the regular season.

Here are my predictions for the 2011 Lansing Lugnuts...

Lineup:
C Carlos Perez
1B K.C. Hobson
2B Oliver Dominguez
SS Gustavo Pierre
3B Andy Fermin
LF Marcus Knecht
CF Jake Marisnick
RF Michael Crouse
DH Lance Durham

Key question: Lance Durham and K.C. Hobson are both left-handed hitting first basemen. They shouldn't both be here, and yet Hobson is a virtual Lugnut lock while Durham has spent the last two years with Auburn. Where else would you send him?

Bench:
C Jack Murphy
OF Stephen McQuail
OF Markus Brisker

Key question: How many struggling 2010 Lugnuts -- i.e., Ryan Schimpf, Balbino Fuenmayor, Eric Eiland -- return for 2011?

Rotation:
RHP Deck McGuire
RHP Drew Hutchison
RHP Daniel Webb
RHP Casey Lawrence
RHP Asher Wojciechowski

Key questions: This is a prospect-laden rotation, albeit totally right-handed. Does Sam Strickland slide into the rotation to give the Lugs a left-handed arm? Will we see talented 18-year-olds Aaron Sanchez and Noah Syndergaard sooner or later?

Bullpen:
LHP Sam Strickland
LHP Michael Kelly
RHP Scott Gracey
RHP Danny Barnes
RHP Milciades Santana
RHP Dayton Marze
RHP Drew Permison

Key questions: Once again, these are all newcomers with the exception of Gracey and late addition Barnes. Who else returns from the disappointing 2010 bullpen? A recommitted Brian Slover? A healthy Dustin Antolin? Aaron Loup or Matt Wright, just to make sure there are some more lefties in the pen? By the way, the numbers were just brilliant for Marze, Santana, and Permison last year. Hopefully they'll keep it up.

Top 10 Lugnuts Games of the Year

2010-09-15T11:27:00.000-04:00

Here's my ranking of the Top 10 Lugnuts Games of 2010.

Enjoy!

Post Season Assessment

2010-09-15T11:24:00.001-04:00

The season is now over, and a strange ride it was.

We began the year believing that the Lugnuts might be one of the best teams in the league. It didn't quite end up that way, due to promotions, injuries, and inconsistency.

Promotions
By the end of the year, the Dunedin Blue Jays featured the following 2010 Lugnuts in their starting lineup -- catcher Yan Gomes, third basemen Kevin Ahrens and Mark Sobolewski, shortstops Ryan Goins and Justin Jackson, second baseman Ryan Schimpf, first baseman Jon Talley, and outfielders Chris Hopkins and Kenny Wilson (and, for a while, Brad McElroy). Chad Jenkins and Ryan Shopshire anchored the D-Jays starting rotation while lefty Evan Crawford was one of the team's finest relievers.

In other words, aside from the injured A.J. Jimenez, utilityman Kevin Nolan, struggling Balbino Fuenmayor and Eric Eiland, and sluggers Sean Ochinko and Brad Glenn, Dunedin received virtually every Lugnuts starting position player. That's crazy.

Injuries
Terrific reliever Dustin Antolin blew out his elbow in June. Jimenez was dogged by injuries from April till September. Glenn, in the midst of a brilliant start, destroyed his shoulder on a pair of dives and wasn't the same until July. Starters Matt Fields, Dave Sever, and Ryan Tepera all lost starts due to time on the DL. It was a simple formula -- when the Lugnuts were healthy, they won; when they were hurt, they lost.

Inconsistency
This wasn't a bad bullpen this year, but it certainly wasn't a reliable bullpen. There wasn't a single reliever to capably count on, week in, week out. Everyone had their ugly moments, from Steve Turnbull to Casey Beck to Nestor Molina to Brian Slover to Aaron Loup, etc. etc. etc. They were great -- at times. They were simply terrible -- at times. I have no idea who from that crowd will emerge next year as a quality arm and who will bomb out miserably.

Doomed by the Dragons, but on the other hand...

2010-09-02T09:21:00.000-04:00

That Dayton series was devastating, with back to back horrible losses on Monday and Tuesday nights. Otherwise, this West Michigan series would be terrifically dramatic and we might be looking at a playoff push.

On the other hand...

The initial loss to the Dragons on Saturday convinced a lot of folks, especially among the Blue Jays, that the postseason simply wasn't going to happen this year. Toronto reacted by moving newly-activated A.J. Jimenez along with Justin Jackson and Kevin Ahrens up to Dunedin.

What did that affect? An energized Oliver Dominguez and Randy Schwartz are now receiving regular at-bats right to the end of the season, along with the hot-hitting Jon Del Campo (and a terrific Balbino Fuenmayor yesterday), to inject some pep into a listless lineup.

Meanwhile, the pitching corps features newcomers Drew Hutchison, Casey Lawrence, and Daniel Webb all wanting to make positive impressions right down to the very end. Hutch/Lawrence carried that victory last night against West Michigan.

Today, Dave Sever heads to the hill. Dave (and fellow Opening Day starter Matt Fields) has been pitching better and better as this year has gone on.

Are the Lugs going to make a last-ditch playoff push? I humbly doubt it... but look: the crowds are going to be sensational the next two nights. A three-game sweep of the Whitecaps would make things awfully interesting during the final weekend of the season.

Satisfaction

2010-08-26T15:42:00.001-04:00

HUGE game last night, complete with early offense, a dramatic home run, controversial umpiring, a last-ditch rally, and a near-riot with the Whitecaps surrounding and shouting at the umpires while the Lugnuts celebrated their 7-6 triumph.

Yeah, man. I loved it.

Today's game looks like a mismatch, pitting Lugnuts right-hander Casey Lawrence in his 2nd MWL start against Whitecaps ace Jared Wesson. Casey needs to get off to a good start against a Caps lineup that was held mostly at bay yesterday and still managed to score six runs on nine hits.

It's Pink Floyd Night in West Michigan, complete with Pink Floyd jerseys for the Whitecaps and a huge group of Lugnuts front office staffers attending. I loved the idea of yesterday's Ronald McDonald House game... but let's just say that the jerseys weren't to anyone's liking.

Something I'm worried about: Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish New Year, is on the first day of the playoffs this year. If the Lugnuts make it in, I won't be your broadcaster for the first two games of the postseason.

But let's cross that bridge when we come to it.

Injury Updates

2010-08-19T12:53:00.000-04:00

Spoke with Lugnuts Athletic Trainer James Gardiner, Esq., yesterday. Among the nuggets gleaned:

C A.J. Jimenez is done for the year due to a tear in his elbow. He's back in Florida right now. Surgery is required. Cross your fingers.
RHP Nestor Molina is going to be just fine and could be back very soon.
Ditto RHP Ryan Tepera, who should be back shortly.
And, not to be forgotten, 1B/3B Randy Schwartz is able to be activated anytime the Lugnuts decide they require his hitting services.

Cracking Mini-Bats and Schooling Prospects

2010-08-19T11:41:00.000-04:00

John Lott of Toronto's National Post was in town over the weekend to see the Lugnuts up close. Here's his first article, a spotlight piece on Sal Fasano.

Great game last night!... that I didn't see.

It was my annual game re-creation broadcast, a tribute to the way baseball broadcasting used to be done. Of course, back in those days they didn't use computers to help pass along the information -- and they weren't stymied by internet frustrations (which we had all night long), but hey! Another year, another game re-creation!

To take you behind the curtain: I cracked mini-bats together to simulate the crack of the bat, and I slapped a ball into a glove to simulate a pitch hitting the catcher's mitt. Every year, hopefully, I should be able to get this game re-creation more and more authentic.

It was also a successful and satisfying 10-5 victory for the Lugs, featuring a balanced offense and fine pitching (not including the 1st, 2nd, and 9th innings).

Meanwhile, West Michigan finally lost a game. 12-game winning streak - over! There's a tie for the playoff race again. Things look promising for the rest of this series - they're taking on Fort Wayne, and the Lugnuts get two more contests with South Bend.

But then the Nuts have to go to Fort Wayne for four games, and... there's a long way still to go.

A Much-Needed Day Off

2010-08-18T10:54:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was the final day off of the regular season -- and, thankfully, it was at home.

This is an intriguing Lugnuts team right now. The lineup is a mix of solid experienced hitters with Ochinko, Glenn, McElroy, and Ahrens, who are going to have mostly solid days; young high-ceiling guys like Marisnick, Crouse, and Hobson, who are going to have some great days and some poor days; and enigmas like Fuenmayor, Jackson, and Eiland, who I have no idea if they're going to be productive or not on a day-to-day basis.

With the starting rotation: I really enjoy watching Hutchison pitch, I'm interested to see whether Sever can keep up his recent effectiveness (despite not striking anybody out), I'm wary of Shopshire and Field's yo-yo behavior, and I believe Smith really should be pretty good as the year goes on.

The bullpen, frankly, doesn't have a closer. It's not Steve Turnbull, or at least not at the moment. It's not Casey Beck, especially not against Fort Wayne. It's not Brian Slover, who is consistently throwing two schizophrenic innings every outing -- one of those innings is excellent, and one of those innings is the opposite. Maybe it's Aaron Loup, who's looking terrific recently, or maybe Danny Barnes will step in.

But, no, this isn't a good bullpen right now. Not compared to the better teams in the division.

And yet... this still might be a playoff team...

Falling Apart

2010-08-09T01:55:00.000-04:00

There's no rosy way to put it.

These have been painful games for the Lugnuts.

A six-game losing streak looks bad on paper but the way it has occurred has been even worse, with poor pitching, shaky fielding, shoddy baserunning, and nonexistent hitting (with the exception of Kevin Ahrens and the rare solid day from a Ryan Schimpf or a Brad Glenn).

Time for pride and heart to come to the forefront.

Lightning Rods

2010-08-06T13:33:00.000-04:00

Brief opinions on divisive/controversial topics:

Baseball needs instant replay. Good riddance to "human error."
Pete Rose should be elected to the Hall of Fame.
So should Shoeless Joe Jackson.
Induct Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens into the Hall of Fame together -- but induct Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker together first.
Get rid of the Designated Hitter.
Baseball games are only slow to members of the media and umpires... but a game should never start past 7:05 p.m.
Michael Lewis' Moneyball is completely overrated.
I'm anti-BCS, as any reasonable person should be.
ESPN covers Brett Favre, LeBron James, Duke, Yankees/Red Sox, Dallas Cowboys, and Notre Dame football waaaay too much. (Wait, that's not a controversial opinion at all.)