Good morning! Well, there was
one Game 7 last night, and there will be another Game 7 tonight!
The Red Sox shelled the weak
Yankees pitching staff all night on their way to an easy 10-3 win. I
have to admit, I did watch the game in its entirety. However, after
listening to Joe Buck and Tim McCarver say one too
many stupid and inaccurate thing, the game moved to TV #2 in the
living room, with the sound muted! What was the final straw, you
ask? For me, it was how they were talking about how Mark Bellhorn
was not a typical #2 hitter because he led all of baseball with 177
strikeouts. May sound like a small thing, but after listening to the
guys talk in such pathetically glowing terms about players from both
the Red Sox and especially the Yankees, it just didn't take much for
me to want to mute them. The fact that Bellhorn led the American
League in strikeouts was really sad for a 2 hitter. However, he was
18 behind Adam Dunn's new major league record 195 strikeouts was
forgotten. Actually, this comment was made at other times in the
series too. I just thought it was pretty funny that I couldn't stand
Buck and McCarver by, the second batter of the game!!!
(And I'm sure you're all
wondering what I was watching on TV #1 with the baseball game on TV
#2... This is how much I'm annoyed by the East Coast bias and sick
of the Yankees and Red Sox... I watched reruns of MTV's Made! Enough
said!)
I can't stand the Red Sox.
Seriously, I don't know that there is a more whiny organization in
baseball. The final straw with them, for me, was when they lost out
to the Yankees in their attempt to land Alex Rodriguez in the
offseason. Their owner made a comment saying that baseball needs a
salary cap to keep the Yankees from spending so much money. Well,
the fact is that the Yankees lead the big leagues in salary.
However, the team that spent the second most in 2004 was none other
than those poor, helpless Red Sox.
Another thing that I can't
stand about the Red Sox is all of the stupid Curse of the Bambino
talk! Uggh! I just about get ill every time I hear about it! For the
final time, there is no curse. Just poor managerial decisions, or
player error, or bad luck have all played a role in them losing.
Mistakes and poor performance, not a stupid Curse is what has kept
the Red Sox from winning the World Series. A curse didn't pull
Bill Buckner's glove off the ground in '86. A curse didn't
wind-aid Bucky Dent's home run. And the Curse did not throw
the fluttering knuckle ball that Aaron Boone hit into the left field
bleachers in Yankees Stadium a year ago.
Oh, and I am also hearing
people say that now that the Red Sox have beaten the Yankees, the
"Curse" is over! No! All it means is that they beat the Yankees and
get to go to the World Series. But the Curse has to do with winning
the World Series, not beating the Yankees, or even getting to the
World Series.
I used to think that there
were so many of the Red Sox players that I just can not stand, but
when I think about it, there is just one, Manny Ramirez. Yes,
he is one of the Top 4 most pure hitters in all of baseball. But his
arrogance and lackadaisicalness just get on my nerves. Maybe he is
just aloof, and that's just his personality. But that is also the
reason why in the past I have had problems with Cristian Guzman
and his perceived lack of effort. Manny Ramirez can hit.
No one can argue that. But he is absolutely horrible on defense! I
don't know if there is a worse outfielder in all of baseball! But
there are other bad outfielders, so it isn't that. However,
generally those other bad outfielders at least make it look like
they are trying. Anyway, enough on Manny Ramirez!
Doug Mientkiewicz.
Dougie Baseball used to be one of my favorite Twins. He was
incredible with the gloves and previous to this season, two of the
previous seasons he hit .300 with lots of doubles. He produced much
of the time. He was for quite some time the 3rd hitter in the Twins
lineup. However, this year, he was horrible, and the Justin
Morneau Era was more than ready to begin! When that decision was
made, Mientkiewicz's true colors showed up. He got into
fights/arguments with his teammates and coaches. Never being afraid
to say anything, he took his problems to the media. Gardy even put
him into the lineup, but he took himself out saying he wasn't into
it mentally. By being so disgruntled, he put GM Terry Ryan into a
bad position and because of that, he was unable to get much in
return for Doug (although Justin Jones could be great down the
road). One of the reasons he wanted out of Minnesota was because he
didn't want to just be a late-inning defensive replacement and that
he wanted to go somewhere that would appreciate what he does. Well,
he found that team, the Red Sox appreciate what he brings to the
table and Terry Francona does a good job of getting Dougie
into games, as a late-inning defensive replacement. Hmmm...
Recently, he was upset because he was batting ninth in the lineup
for the Red Sox... OK, you hit like .240 on the season, how could he
hit any higher for them?
Anyway, enough on Doug. He is
rippable, but I still appreciate what he did for the Twins. But
Mientkiewicz is part of my final rant on the Red Sox. Actually this
rant deals with both the Red Sox and the Yankees. The Red Sox, with
their payroll, can afford to trade for the likes of Doug
Mientkiewicz and Dave Roberts and have guys making money
on their bench. The Yankees had Tony Clark and Kenny
Lofton on their bench. What would the Twins have done if someone
making $15 million was not on the disabled list heading into the
postseason? They'd at least have him on the postseason roster,
right? These teams can afford to make big mistakes because of their
money. I mean, they paid to have Travis Lee on their roster
this year! That is the difference, in my mind, between the teams
willing to spend and the teams that are unwilling to spend (ie the
Twins, and I won't call them a small market team despite their
choice to act like one - which I have no problem with). But as
I have said all along, the Twins did not lose because of the payroll
discrepancy. Paying huge money doesn't assure you anything, and I
would think that the Yankees are all believing that now.
But there are some things I do
like about the Red Sox. At the top of that list is none other than
Big Papi, David Ortiz. He is a former Twin whom the Twins
chose to let go of (again, I don't blame them, I would have done the
same thing at the time, and he would never have become this kind of
player had he stayed with the Twins) following the 2002 season. He
was always a clubhouse favorite for the Twins. Reading stories in
the paper made him seem to be quite a character. Clearly, he was a
leader for that young Twins team and brought them together. You just
won't hear me say a bad thing about him. I think last year, he
brought together a very fragile Red Sox team. You saw players,
including Manny Ramirez and Pedro Martinez, hugging
each other and I believe that was directly related to David Ortiz.
To see him playing as well as he has the last two years is just
great for me. He should finish in the top 4 or 5 in MVP voting again
this year. He was named the MVP of the ALCS after knocking in 11
runs. He hit another homer last night in the first inning which gave
the Red Sox an early 2-0 lead. I am definitely happy for him.
I like Johnny Damon. I
had to do a double-take a few weeks ago when I looked at his 2004
stats. .304/.380/.477 with 20 homers and 94 RBI out of the leadoff
spot! What an incredible year. Manny Ramirez and David
Ortiz get a lot of mention for AL MVP, but Johnny Damon
should be included in the conversation. He is their instigator! One
impressive stat that I did hear while watching and listening to the
first two batters of the game was that Damon led the league in
2-strike his. He walked 76 times and struck out just 71. I love a
hitter who puts the ball in play with two strikes. Unless you have
Adam Dunn-like capabilities, just put the ball in play and
make something happen!
I like Orlando Cabrera.
What a great replacement for the vastly over-rated Nomar
Garciaparra (at about 1/3 the price)! Bill Mueller and
Trot Nixon are very good. I continue to be more and more
impressed with Jason Varitek all of the time and his
all-around game. I really, really like Pokey Reese. He, to
me, would be a great replacement for Cristian Guzman at SS
for the Twins next year. No, he's not much of a hitter, but neither
was Guzzy. And, he is incredible with the glove!
I was very happy for Derek
Lowe last night. After a really awful regular season where he
went 14-12 with a 5.42 ERA, he pitched great last night in the
biggest game of the year. He went six innings of one hit ball. And
then another of my least favorite ball players came in, Pedro
Martinez. The move made no sense with Lowe pitching so well, but
Terry Francona went to Martinez for the seventh inning and he
got hit around for two runs while hearing the chants of "Who's Your
Daddy?" cascading down around him.
Now, I really didn't care who
won last night. If I had been forced to pick a team to cheer for, I
would have chosen the Yankees just because of my dislike for the Red
Sox. But it doesn't hurt my feelings to have the Yankees lose
either. I mean, I love seeing it show that spending money alone does
not win. Granted, we didn't learn a lot since it was the also
high-spending Red Sox that beat them, but that's ok.
What will the Yankees do now?
Clearly their weak spots are 2B and CF. Of course, you have to
assume they'll give Carlos Beltran a blank check, or at least
a contract that has blanks for the # of years and dollar value. That
will take care of CF. Bernie Williams would then presumably
take over the DH role with Jason Giambi hopefully coming back
to full health and putting up typical numbers from the 1B position.
Second base is the question mark. Miguel Cairo is not a bad
ball player, and if he's hitting 9th, that not bad at all. However,
if he isn't a great hitter, you'd like to think he could field, and
well, he's anything but stellar there. My guess is that the Yankees
will try to make a trade. They need to unload a few players,
including Kenny Lofton, and maybe they can get a 2B in
return. I guess I would prefer that they just give the job to minor
leaguer Robinson Cano (and no, not just because I own his
rights in a fantasy baseball keeper league). I would think that the
Yankees would want to once again start using some younger guys and
develop a new wave of talent.
Just something I found
interesting. The Yankees starter was Kevin Brown. In 2003, he
was 14-9 with a 2.39 ERA and 185 strikeouts. He got just four outs
and was credited with five runs allowed. Javier Vazquez came
in. He got six outs and allowed another three runs, not including
the three credited to Brown when Johnny Damon hit a grand
slam on the first pitch that Vazquez threw. In 2003, Vazquez was
13-12 for the Expos, with a 3.25 ERA and 241 strikeouts. He was even
an All-Star for the Yankees, this year! Next in for the Yankees was
Esteban Loaiza and he actually pitched three scoreless
innings. He was an All-Star representative of the White Sox in 2003
and again this year. Last year, he was 21-9 with a 2.90 ERA and 207
K. And these were the guys that the Yankees basically were left with
to throw in Game 7. All have been very good pitchers, and all could
again be good pitchers. Things just weren't working for them this
year, and it all came out last night as they were thrashed.
In either case, one thing is
for certain, the Red Sox will host Game 1 of the World Series on
Saturday night. We don't know who their opponent will be. Tonight,
Roger Clemens will start for the Astros against the
Cardinals' Jeff Suppan in the NLCS's Game 7.
I feel really bad for the
Cardinals and Astros. Because of the incredibly pathetic (yet
completely understandable based on ratings potential) east coast
bias, this NL Central series is not getting the attention it
deserves. It has been a great series. There have been great
offensive performances and great pitching. Some of the big names (Albert
Pujols, Lance Berkman and of course, the aforementioned
Carlos Beltran) have come up big while some no-names like
Brad Lidge and Brandon Backe have made names for
themselves.
And maybe that is really the
big issue at hand for me, the whole media attention so focused on
New York and Boston that cities and teams like St. Louis and Houston
are virtually ignored. It is really going to annoy me next week when
we have to listen to Joe Buck and Tim McCarver gawk
about everything Boston. And they'll give little cutesy lines about
the NL team that you know they only read in the media guide. They
won't know the non-star players, many of whom have played such an
important role. The NL Champ will be treated like a second rate
organization, and I think that's what bothers me. The fact is that
the Cardinals had the best regular season in all of baseball, and
the Astros are probably the best team in baseball right now. But
would anyone know that? Not unless you're in the St. Louis or
Houston markets, or are as into all of baseball like myself and many
people who will read this.
I guess there is just one more
thing that I am sure of. Whoever wins tonight's NLCS game and meets
the Red Sox in the World Series is the team that I will be cheering
for.
If I can answer any questions
or comments on any of my rant, or if you would like to further comment on any of this,
please e-mail me.
BASEBALL TOPICS
I just wanted to mention one
baseball topic that came out yesterday that was very exciting to me.
Major League Baseball and XM Satellite Radio reached an 11 year,
$650 million deal for the satellite provider to carry
baseball games staring next season. 16 additional stations will be
on the standard program list that all subscribers receive. With 30
teams, there could, at most, be 15 games on any day. The 16th
channel will be additional baseball programming, including
historical, classic games.
I have mentioned here before
that I love the XM Radio. I have had it now for almost two years.
There are currently 100 stations available including many music
genres, talk radio and sports stations. Adding all of the baseball
games makes it an even better investment for me! And, XM claims that
this won't increase their current $9.95 price per month.
Now, this is almost coming
across as an advertisement for XM Radio. But I really don't want
that to be the case. You see, I own a number of shares in Sirius
Satellite Radio, the competition. Why did I buy stock in Sirius
after I bought my XM system? I know. I know. But really the reason
was because at that time XM shares were over $12 per and the Sirius
shares were just under $3. (if you're curious, Sirius (SIRI) is at
$3.78 and XM (XMSR) is at $29.16) I figured that these are really
the only two companies that provide this. So, it seemed like a good
company at the time. Anyway, Sirius has similar deals with the NFL
and NBA. Sirius also just agree to pay Howard Stern $500 million to
be exclusively on their system.
The other baseball topic that
I wanted to quickly mention was that the Seattle Mariners selected
Mike Hargrove to be their next manager. They signed him to a
three year deal after letting Bob Melvin go a month ago. My
thoughts? Well, it's just another retread getting another chance.
Hargrove has had some success in the majors, particularly in
Cleveland in the '90s. But I guess I'm someone who likes to see new
blood in these types of jobs. You see the same thing in other
sports. Lenny Wilkins keeps getting coaching jobs in the NBA.
Bill Fitch used to too, and he's the all-time losingest
coach! Bill Parcells keeps getting NFL coaching jobs. It just
seems like GMs and ownership like to go with an old name rather than
giving new people a chance. I prefer to see guys move up from the
minor leagues to get to manage. I am also happy that a guy like
Ozzie Guillen was given a chance in Chicago. Let's be honest, if
a person is intelligent and knows the game of baseball, they can
win, given the right players. I just want to see new guys get
a chance. That has worked well the last two times the Twins have
named a new manager. First it was Tom Kelly and then Ron
Gardenhire.
And that is it for today! Have
yourself a wonderful Thursday! If you have any questions,
comments or ideas for future topics, please
e-mail me.
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