There will not be a lot of writing this week, but in the meantime check out these short pieces by John Hollinger of ESPN. Hollinger gives a short synopsis of the winners and losers of the NBA free agency period, and I could not agree more with most of what he has to say (I think you can guess who the biggest winner was). On Friday, hopefully with time permitting to format it correctly, I will have the mid-season MLB review chat that Tom and Curt joined me for last week.
Hollinger's offseason winners.
And the offseason losers.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Who Are These Guys?
Have the 2010 Pittsburgh Pirates become the 1927 New York Yankees? Who are these guys swinging the bats the past five days or so? The dog days of summer are here, the World Cup is over, training camp is still a week or so away and the Pirates are out of the playoff race. In Pittsburgh, this is usually the worst sports time of the year by far. The Pirates, however, may just give us something to watch until the Steelers and Pitt begin their regular season, other than non-contact practices and meaningless pre-season games of course.
The reason the Buccos just might give us something to watch is the youngsters look like they are starting to figure out this Major League hitting thing. Over the past five games, during which they have four wins, the Pirates have scored a combined 48 runs. That is nearly 10 runs per game, and the most encouraging part is that the guys doing the damage are the guys who are in Pittsburgh’s long term plans.
Pedro Alvarez, the guy probably most important to the Pirates near and long-term future, has gone 9-20 over these five games, with 4 HRs, 9 RBIs, 7 runs and maybe more importantly, four walks against five strikeouts. Alvarez has shown his world-class power, absolutely clubbing the four home runs he has hit (two each in the past two games) but has also shown the ability to stay patient at the plate and hit his pitch. Alvarez’ development alone could be reason enough to watch these Pirates down the stretch.
Four other important members of the Pirates near-term future; Garrett Jones, Jose Tabata, Lastings Milledge and Neil Walker; have more than chipped in their own fair share. Walker has gone a red-hot 14-24 over the five games, Jones has gone 6-20 with a home run and 6 RBIs, Tabata has been the table-setter with 8 hits and 8 runs scored and Milledge has continued his steady play over the past month or so with a 6-16 mark during the five game Pirates’ run fest. The Pirates have done all of this with Andrew McCutchen out of the line-up the last three games, and we all know what McCutchen is capable of. The Pirates are also getting solid contributions from a red-hot Ronny Cedeno and Delwyn Young, two more guys that could be contributors to the team over the next couple of seasons.
I should be quick to point out that five games is a tiny sample size. Every team, no matter how bad, goes through a few hot stretches over the course of a 162 game season. But these are the new Pirates, the guys we have been hoping and waiting for since Neal Huntington took the general manager job and began trumpeting these young guys. They look to have their feet properly wet and the evaluations can begin. At the very least, these past five games can give us hope for the future…or at least a reason to watch over the final 68 games.
The reason the Buccos just might give us something to watch is the youngsters look like they are starting to figure out this Major League hitting thing. Over the past five games, during which they have four wins, the Pirates have scored a combined 48 runs. That is nearly 10 runs per game, and the most encouraging part is that the guys doing the damage are the guys who are in Pittsburgh’s long term plans.
Pedro Alvarez, the guy probably most important to the Pirates near and long-term future, has gone 9-20 over these five games, with 4 HRs, 9 RBIs, 7 runs and maybe more importantly, four walks against five strikeouts. Alvarez has shown his world-class power, absolutely clubbing the four home runs he has hit (two each in the past two games) but has also shown the ability to stay patient at the plate and hit his pitch. Alvarez’ development alone could be reason enough to watch these Pirates down the stretch.
Four other important members of the Pirates near-term future; Garrett Jones, Jose Tabata, Lastings Milledge and Neil Walker; have more than chipped in their own fair share. Walker has gone a red-hot 14-24 over the five games, Jones has gone 6-20 with a home run and 6 RBIs, Tabata has been the table-setter with 8 hits and 8 runs scored and Milledge has continued his steady play over the past month or so with a 6-16 mark during the five game Pirates’ run fest. The Pirates have done all of this with Andrew McCutchen out of the line-up the last three games, and we all know what McCutchen is capable of. The Pirates are also getting solid contributions from a red-hot Ronny Cedeno and Delwyn Young, two more guys that could be contributors to the team over the next couple of seasons.
I should be quick to point out that five games is a tiny sample size. Every team, no matter how bad, goes through a few hot stretches over the course of a 162 game season. But these are the new Pirates, the guys we have been hoping and waiting for since Neal Huntington took the general manager job and began trumpeting these young guys. They look to have their feet properly wet and the evaluations can begin. At the very least, these past five games can give us hope for the future…or at least a reason to watch over the final 68 games.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Mid-Season MLB Awards
Major League Baseball gets back into the full swing of the second half tonight following the All-Star break. There were a handful of games last night, but tonight marks the first night every team is in action as the real chase for October begins. Before we jump into the final 70 games or so, it is time to give out my mid-season awards in both leagues. Taking a look at the four major awards also gives a nice glimpse of what has happened so far this year. We will be back early next week with a more expansive look as Tom and Curt return for a mid-season chat to discuss the current season and what we see happening the rest of the way. On to the awards…
National League Manager of the First Half – Bud Black (San Diego) – Honorable mention goes to Bobby Cox of Atlanta and Dusty Baker of Cincinnati. If you thought San Diego, Atlanta and Cincinnati would be leading their respective divisions at the halfway point, raise your hand. Yea, not too many hands raised with that one. But of the three, San Diego is the team with the least amount of talent and, by far, the most overachieving team in baseball at the break. Atlanta’s rotation alone was good enough to make a run and Cincinnati was many people’s sleeper pick to start the year. Meanwhile, Black has the Padres in first place with only one player above a .750 OPS.
American League Manager of the First Half – Ozzie Guillen (Chicago) – This team was left for dead after a 24-33 start to the season. After last night’s win, the White Sox are 26-5 over the past month and a half and sit on top of the American League Central. Guillen was able to keep a veteran locker room from going into the tank and has coaxed the most out of an entirely mediocre line-up. Joe Maddon of the Rays and Ron Washington of the Rangers deserve mention, as does Jim Leyland in Detroit, but each of those clubs have some major talent.
Year-End Predictions: Bobby Cox of Atlanta and Ron Washington of Texas.
National League Rookie – Jason Heyward (Atlanta) – This one was a little tough as all three of the top rookies have missed extensive time. Two, Stephen Strasburg (you may have heard of him) and Buster Posey, were late May-early June call-ups while Jason Heyward, after a red hot start, cooled off due to a thumb injury and eventually went on the DL for almost a month. Heyward wins out for now as his impact on the season so far is greater than that of the other two. Posey is really coming on, however, batting .355 with 7 HRs in only 39 games and is my pick to overcome Heyward by season’s end. Strasburg’s innings are going to be limited by the Nationals and he will probably be shut down come September. If the pressure on the young 20-year-old Heyward weren’t enough, he will be forced to produce big time in the middle of a pennant race. That is why I like Posey to overtake him come season’s end. One other guy deserving mention is St. Louis starter Jaime Garcia, who is 8-4 with a 2.17 ERA.
American League Rookie – Brandon Boesch (Detroit) – While the National League rookie class is absolutely stacked, the American League has somewhat of a void in production among the rookie ranks. Boesch’ biggest competition will probably come from teammate Austin Jackson, who started the season on fire but has since cooled considerably, and closer Neftali Feliz of the Texas Rangers, he of the 100 mph fastball and 23 saves. Boesch is batting .342 with 12 HRs and a .990 OPS, numbers that translate to a MVP caliber season. Once a mediocre prospect, it is hard to see him staying on that incredible pace, but he has played well enough that he should coast to the AL Rookie of the Year award.
Year-End Winners: Buster Posey of San Francisco and Boesch.
National League Cy Young – Ubaldo Jimenez (Colorado) – This one was much closer than people would think, with Jimenez sporting a 15-1 record, 2.20 ERA and 113 strikeouts and all. But Josh Johnson of the Florida Marlins has been just as dominant, sporting a 9-3 record, 1.70 ERA and 123 strikeouts in 122 innings. More impressively, in 12 of Johnson’s 18 starts, he has allowed zero or one earned run, nearing a record of such starts set by Bob Gibson in 1968. Adam Wainwright and Roy Halladay have not been too shabby themselves. Jimenez’ no hitter will stay imprinted in the minds of voters, however, giving him the nod at the end of the year.
American League Cy Young – David Price (Tampa Bay) – With no pitcher being quite as dominant as Jimenez and Johnson, I went with Price here, who leads the AL in ERA and is tied with CC Sabathia for the most wins. This one will probably come all the way down to the wire with guys like Jon Lester, Justin Verlander, Cliff Lee and Felix Hernandez all getting their names in the conversation. In the end, though, I think it will come down to Price and Sabathia.
Year-End Winners: Jimenez and CC Sabathia of Yankees.
National League MVP – Albert Pujols (St. Louis) – Absolute, 100% coin flip right now between Pujols and Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds. Votto has been incredible to the tune of .314-22-60 with 59 runs and 7 stolen bases. He is at or near the top in every offensive category in the National League. So is Pujols, who right now sports an almost identical .313-21-64 with 56 runs and 9 SBs. They have been essentially the same player. I will give the slight nod in this instance to the guy who has done it 10 straight years now and plays a gold-glove caliber first base (Votto is no slouch over there either).
American League MVP – Miguel Cabrera (Detroit) – This was probably Robinson Cano’s award until about two or three weeks ago when A-Rod and Mark Teixeira decided the season had started. Cano is playing fantastic baseball at the plate and in the field. I had a Yankee friend say that even his outs are fun to watch right now because he is hitting everything so hard. But as well as Cano is playing, he has easily fallen to third in this race behind Cabrera and Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers. Hamilton, the former phenom turned inspirational story, is fully healthy and it shows. Hamilton leads the AL in average (.351), is tied for 2nd in HRs (22), 4th in RBIs, and tied for 6th in runs. It is true that Hamilton is aided by his ballpark and a terrific line-up around him, but there is no denying those kind of numbers. My first half MVP, however, has to be Miguel Cabrera. While Hamilton has an outside shot at the Triple Crown, Cabrera’s chances are very much real. Cabrera is currently 2nd behind Hamilton in average (.346), tied with him at 22 HRs and leads the AL in RBIs with 77 (he is also 3rd in runs scored and 1st in OPS). Cabrera is the AL version of Albert Pujols and anyone doubting his ability should take one quick look at his career numbers. In the end I think he will fall just short of the Triple Crown, but not short of the MVP.
Year-End Winners: Pujols and Cabrera.
National League Manager of the First Half – Bud Black (San Diego) – Honorable mention goes to Bobby Cox of Atlanta and Dusty Baker of Cincinnati. If you thought San Diego, Atlanta and Cincinnati would be leading their respective divisions at the halfway point, raise your hand. Yea, not too many hands raised with that one. But of the three, San Diego is the team with the least amount of talent and, by far, the most overachieving team in baseball at the break. Atlanta’s rotation alone was good enough to make a run and Cincinnati was many people’s sleeper pick to start the year. Meanwhile, Black has the Padres in first place with only one player above a .750 OPS.
American League Manager of the First Half – Ozzie Guillen (Chicago) – This team was left for dead after a 24-33 start to the season. After last night’s win, the White Sox are 26-5 over the past month and a half and sit on top of the American League Central. Guillen was able to keep a veteran locker room from going into the tank and has coaxed the most out of an entirely mediocre line-up. Joe Maddon of the Rays and Ron Washington of the Rangers deserve mention, as does Jim Leyland in Detroit, but each of those clubs have some major talent.
Year-End Predictions: Bobby Cox of Atlanta and Ron Washington of Texas.
National League Rookie – Jason Heyward (Atlanta) – This one was a little tough as all three of the top rookies have missed extensive time. Two, Stephen Strasburg (you may have heard of him) and Buster Posey, were late May-early June call-ups while Jason Heyward, after a red hot start, cooled off due to a thumb injury and eventually went on the DL for almost a month. Heyward wins out for now as his impact on the season so far is greater than that of the other two. Posey is really coming on, however, batting .355 with 7 HRs in only 39 games and is my pick to overcome Heyward by season’s end. Strasburg’s innings are going to be limited by the Nationals and he will probably be shut down come September. If the pressure on the young 20-year-old Heyward weren’t enough, he will be forced to produce big time in the middle of a pennant race. That is why I like Posey to overtake him come season’s end. One other guy deserving mention is St. Louis starter Jaime Garcia, who is 8-4 with a 2.17 ERA.
American League Rookie – Brandon Boesch (Detroit) – While the National League rookie class is absolutely stacked, the American League has somewhat of a void in production among the rookie ranks. Boesch’ biggest competition will probably come from teammate Austin Jackson, who started the season on fire but has since cooled considerably, and closer Neftali Feliz of the Texas Rangers, he of the 100 mph fastball and 23 saves. Boesch is batting .342 with 12 HRs and a .990 OPS, numbers that translate to a MVP caliber season. Once a mediocre prospect, it is hard to see him staying on that incredible pace, but he has played well enough that he should coast to the AL Rookie of the Year award.
Year-End Winners: Buster Posey of San Francisco and Boesch.
National League Cy Young – Ubaldo Jimenez (Colorado) – This one was much closer than people would think, with Jimenez sporting a 15-1 record, 2.20 ERA and 113 strikeouts and all. But Josh Johnson of the Florida Marlins has been just as dominant, sporting a 9-3 record, 1.70 ERA and 123 strikeouts in 122 innings. More impressively, in 12 of Johnson’s 18 starts, he has allowed zero or one earned run, nearing a record of such starts set by Bob Gibson in 1968. Adam Wainwright and Roy Halladay have not been too shabby themselves. Jimenez’ no hitter will stay imprinted in the minds of voters, however, giving him the nod at the end of the year.
American League Cy Young – David Price (Tampa Bay) – With no pitcher being quite as dominant as Jimenez and Johnson, I went with Price here, who leads the AL in ERA and is tied with CC Sabathia for the most wins. This one will probably come all the way down to the wire with guys like Jon Lester, Justin Verlander, Cliff Lee and Felix Hernandez all getting their names in the conversation. In the end, though, I think it will come down to Price and Sabathia.
Year-End Winners: Jimenez and CC Sabathia of Yankees.
National League MVP – Albert Pujols (St. Louis) – Absolute, 100% coin flip right now between Pujols and Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds. Votto has been incredible to the tune of .314-22-60 with 59 runs and 7 stolen bases. He is at or near the top in every offensive category in the National League. So is Pujols, who right now sports an almost identical .313-21-64 with 56 runs and 9 SBs. They have been essentially the same player. I will give the slight nod in this instance to the guy who has done it 10 straight years now and plays a gold-glove caliber first base (Votto is no slouch over there either).
American League MVP – Miguel Cabrera (Detroit) – This was probably Robinson Cano’s award until about two or three weeks ago when A-Rod and Mark Teixeira decided the season had started. Cano is playing fantastic baseball at the plate and in the field. I had a Yankee friend say that even his outs are fun to watch right now because he is hitting everything so hard. But as well as Cano is playing, he has easily fallen to third in this race behind Cabrera and Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers. Hamilton, the former phenom turned inspirational story, is fully healthy and it shows. Hamilton leads the AL in average (.351), is tied for 2nd in HRs (22), 4th in RBIs, and tied for 6th in runs. It is true that Hamilton is aided by his ballpark and a terrific line-up around him, but there is no denying those kind of numbers. My first half MVP, however, has to be Miguel Cabrera. While Hamilton has an outside shot at the Triple Crown, Cabrera’s chances are very much real. Cabrera is currently 2nd behind Hamilton in average (.346), tied with him at 22 HRs and leads the AL in RBIs with 77 (he is also 3rd in runs scored and 1st in OPS). Cabrera is the AL version of Albert Pujols and anyone doubting his ability should take one quick look at his career numbers. In the end I think he will fall just short of the Triple Crown, but not short of the MVP.
Year-End Winners: Pujols and Cabrera.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Pirates Dreadful Season Continues
The Pirates head into the All-Star break on yet another six game losing streak, all six on the road once again. I have actually written this opening three times in the last two weeks, each time this post getting bumped by other news. The common link each time I have written this piece has been how dreadful the Pirates have been.
The first edition came immediately following the Pirates first win after 17 consecutive road losses. The second time the Buccos had actually managed to win two of three from the Cubbies, giving them a whopping four wins in a 23 game stretch at that point. This time, the Pirates are fresh off another miserable road trip where they were swept in Houston and in Milwaukee, two teams that had been playing nearly as bad as the Pirates had been.
The Pirates play for most of the first half of the season has been quite simply horrible, almost downright embarrassing. The current six game losing streak has pushed their road record on the season to 11-38, which for perspective’s sake would equate to a 126 loss season. These Pirates are playing some historically bad baseball on the road. Worse yet, the Bucs play at home has not been much better recently. Overall, the Pirates have nine wins in 36 games in June and July. NINE FREAKIN’ WINS…
Not only are the Pirates losing, they are playing terrible baseball. Horrible fielding, bad baserunning, poor at-bats and a general lack of fundamentals have exemplified this current stretch of embarrassing baseball. As we begin the All-Star festivities tonight, the Pirates are a National League worst 30-58, a record that puts them on pace for 107 losses this season. That number of losses would be more than even the worst pessimist would have guessed to start the year. With the halfway point behind us and no end in sight to the losing, it is time to take a quick look at what has gone right (very little) and what has gone wrong (way too much) so far this season:
The Good
Andrew McCutchen – McCutchen has picked up right where he left off last year and that has the young phenom well on his way to stardom. After batting .286/.365/.471 with 12 HRs and 22 SBs in only 433 at-bats as a rookie, “Cutch” has followed it up with a .287/.363/.435, 8 HRs and 20 SBs as a sophomore and that despite a recent slump. Yes, a few more timely hits would be nice, but those hits will come as McCutchen matures. Despite getting ripped off from an All-Star appearance this year, you can be sure that McCutchen is well on his way to multiple All-Star classics.
Evan Meek – Meek has been dominant out of the bullpen. The former Rule-5 pick, maybe Neal Huntington’s best move as a GM to date, has held opponents to a .184 batting average, sports a 1.11 ERA, a 0.95 WHIP, and has struck out 45 batters in 48 innings against only 14 walks. He probably did not deserve his All-Star bid, but Meek definitely looks as though he will be the Buccos closer in the not so distant future.
Arrivals of Walker, Tabata, Lincoln and Alvarez – Only Neil Walker has performed reasonably well since his call-up to the big leagues but all four of these Pirates’ prospects earned their trip to the show and none have looked totally outclassed. The Pirates’ future is very dependent on these four guys, along with the two guys above, so to see them in their big league uniforms is a positive in itself.
And that’s about it on the list of the positives. Paul Maholm and Garrett Jones have performed well, and that is more than most of this organization can attest to, but neither has exceeded expectations. On the contrary, there have been too many negatives to list in this space. As the halfway point nears we will try to limit our list to the most glaring deficiencies at the halfway mark.
The Bad
Ryan Doumit – I have to vent for a quick second: Has any catcher in the history of baseball missed more foul tips than this guy?! Little league catchers don’t get hit from foul tips and pitches in the dirt as much as this guy. Throw in his total inability to throw a runner out, the pitchers’ slow delivery be damned, and Doumit has to be the worst defensive catcher in baseball. He is not a very good hitter either, and any hope that he was going to be a cornerstone for this franchise is out the door. Sure, he can still be a productive Major League catcher. Most teams would take a .260-.280 hitting, 15-20 home run guy as their backstop. But Doumit is 29-years-old now, there is no more potential with him. He is what he is, and that is an average catcher at best.
Lastings Milledge – I am not going to crush Milledge in this space. He has played hard, competed and seems to have matured a great deal since his arrival. His talent simply did not match the hype, however, and I think we are getting the definitive answer on his role going forward. He is a good fourth outfielder. The simple fact is that you cannot have a corner outfielder, especially one that is not even a superior fielder, hitting only 5-10 home runs over the course of a season and be in your everyday line-up. Milledge does enough to be a productive player off the bench and start a couple of times per week, but I think any hope that he could be the starting right fielder long-term has left.
Neal Huntington – I could have put Ryan Church, Bobby Crosby, Aki Iwamura, or Jeff Clement here but those guys all have one thing in common; they were brought here by general manager Neal Huntington. I will not bore you with stats, you can look them up for yourself, but these four Huntington acquisitions have been just terrible. Poor talent evaluation has done this franchise in for 15 plus years now, and the only hope for any small revenue team is the ability to recognize cheap and available talent. It is still way too early to judge the Huntington drafts, but his signings and trades on the Major League level are not giving much hope, or optimism, to the franchise right now.
Walker, Tabata, Lincoln and Alvarez – It is entirely too early to judge the performance of any these guys to this point. Like I said earlier, just seeing them in the big leagues is a step in the right direction. Each of them has shown glimmers of their potential, but the overall performance has not been there yet. It would be nice to see a string of hits and stolen bases from Tabata, a few big home runs and less strike outs from Alvarez, and a few gems in a row from Lincoln. They could be coming, but to this point we have not seen enough of it. At the very least, they do give us something to watch as the season progresses. Their development, along with that of McCutchen, are going to be vital to the near future of this team.
The first edition came immediately following the Pirates first win after 17 consecutive road losses. The second time the Buccos had actually managed to win two of three from the Cubbies, giving them a whopping four wins in a 23 game stretch at that point. This time, the Pirates are fresh off another miserable road trip where they were swept in Houston and in Milwaukee, two teams that had been playing nearly as bad as the Pirates had been.
The Pirates play for most of the first half of the season has been quite simply horrible, almost downright embarrassing. The current six game losing streak has pushed their road record on the season to 11-38, which for perspective’s sake would equate to a 126 loss season. These Pirates are playing some historically bad baseball on the road. Worse yet, the Bucs play at home has not been much better recently. Overall, the Pirates have nine wins in 36 games in June and July. NINE FREAKIN’ WINS…
Not only are the Pirates losing, they are playing terrible baseball. Horrible fielding, bad baserunning, poor at-bats and a general lack of fundamentals have exemplified this current stretch of embarrassing baseball. As we begin the All-Star festivities tonight, the Pirates are a National League worst 30-58, a record that puts them on pace for 107 losses this season. That number of losses would be more than even the worst pessimist would have guessed to start the year. With the halfway point behind us and no end in sight to the losing, it is time to take a quick look at what has gone right (very little) and what has gone wrong (way too much) so far this season:
The Good
Andrew McCutchen – McCutchen has picked up right where he left off last year and that has the young phenom well on his way to stardom. After batting .286/.365/.471 with 12 HRs and 22 SBs in only 433 at-bats as a rookie, “Cutch” has followed it up with a .287/.363/.435, 8 HRs and 20 SBs as a sophomore and that despite a recent slump. Yes, a few more timely hits would be nice, but those hits will come as McCutchen matures. Despite getting ripped off from an All-Star appearance this year, you can be sure that McCutchen is well on his way to multiple All-Star classics.
Evan Meek – Meek has been dominant out of the bullpen. The former Rule-5 pick, maybe Neal Huntington’s best move as a GM to date, has held opponents to a .184 batting average, sports a 1.11 ERA, a 0.95 WHIP, and has struck out 45 batters in 48 innings against only 14 walks. He probably did not deserve his All-Star bid, but Meek definitely looks as though he will be the Buccos closer in the not so distant future.
Arrivals of Walker, Tabata, Lincoln and Alvarez – Only Neil Walker has performed reasonably well since his call-up to the big leagues but all four of these Pirates’ prospects earned their trip to the show and none have looked totally outclassed. The Pirates’ future is very dependent on these four guys, along with the two guys above, so to see them in their big league uniforms is a positive in itself.
And that’s about it on the list of the positives. Paul Maholm and Garrett Jones have performed well, and that is more than most of this organization can attest to, but neither has exceeded expectations. On the contrary, there have been too many negatives to list in this space. As the halfway point nears we will try to limit our list to the most glaring deficiencies at the halfway mark.
The Bad
Ryan Doumit – I have to vent for a quick second: Has any catcher in the history of baseball missed more foul tips than this guy?! Little league catchers don’t get hit from foul tips and pitches in the dirt as much as this guy. Throw in his total inability to throw a runner out, the pitchers’ slow delivery be damned, and Doumit has to be the worst defensive catcher in baseball. He is not a very good hitter either, and any hope that he was going to be a cornerstone for this franchise is out the door. Sure, he can still be a productive Major League catcher. Most teams would take a .260-.280 hitting, 15-20 home run guy as their backstop. But Doumit is 29-years-old now, there is no more potential with him. He is what he is, and that is an average catcher at best.
Lastings Milledge – I am not going to crush Milledge in this space. He has played hard, competed and seems to have matured a great deal since his arrival. His talent simply did not match the hype, however, and I think we are getting the definitive answer on his role going forward. He is a good fourth outfielder. The simple fact is that you cannot have a corner outfielder, especially one that is not even a superior fielder, hitting only 5-10 home runs over the course of a season and be in your everyday line-up. Milledge does enough to be a productive player off the bench and start a couple of times per week, but I think any hope that he could be the starting right fielder long-term has left.
Neal Huntington – I could have put Ryan Church, Bobby Crosby, Aki Iwamura, or Jeff Clement here but those guys all have one thing in common; they were brought here by general manager Neal Huntington. I will not bore you with stats, you can look them up for yourself, but these four Huntington acquisitions have been just terrible. Poor talent evaluation has done this franchise in for 15 plus years now, and the only hope for any small revenue team is the ability to recognize cheap and available talent. It is still way too early to judge the Huntington drafts, but his signings and trades on the Major League level are not giving much hope, or optimism, to the franchise right now.
Walker, Tabata, Lincoln and Alvarez – It is entirely too early to judge the performance of any these guys to this point. Like I said earlier, just seeing them in the big leagues is a step in the right direction. Each of them has shown glimmers of their potential, but the overall performance has not been there yet. It would be nice to see a string of hits and stolen bases from Tabata, a few big home runs and less strike outs from Alvarez, and a few gems in a row from Lincoln. They could be coming, but to this point we have not seen enough of it. At the very least, they do give us something to watch as the season progresses. Their development, along with that of McCutchen, are going to be vital to the near future of this team.
Friday, July 9, 2010
LeBron Leaves for Miami
I had my mid-season Pirate review that I have been working on and condensing for about a week now all ready to be posted today (look for it on Monday now). I was sure LeBron James was heading back to Cleveland, last night’s show would be much ado about nothing, and we could be back to talking a little baseball. I mean, there is no way that James would go on national TV, on his own one hour program, and tell his fans and his hometown that he was leaving right? Wow, was I wrong!
LeBron used to be my favorite player. “Used to be” is the absolute key phrase in that sentence. We will get to that in a second. First, let’s discuss the actual show itself. I had no problem with it initially. Many of the local and national reporters, “the old guard”, thought it was a selfish and narcissistic act. Of course it was, but that’s the world we live in today. LeBron is the biggest sports star in the world right now; at least he has a reason to have his own hour-long program to announce his team for the next five or more years. I will take that over some 18-year-old high school athlete who has yet to accomplish anything announcing his college decision at a press conference any day of the week. This mattered, and it mattered big time, to the entire landscape of professional sports. Not to mention that it was entertaining and captivating at the same time.
The show itself, however, was a dud. The “King” montage at the beginning was a bit much, the speculating by the ESPN guys kind of ruined the actual moment, and the actual announcement itself was kind of boring. I will give LeBron some credit, at least, in that he stuck around and answered all of Mike Wilbon and Stuart Scott’s questions after his decision was announced to Jim Gray. That was the only meaningful part of the hour long special.
Now, the decision itself, I really just do not get it. As I said, LeBron used to be my favorite player. I actually attended the same 5-star camp going into my senior year as LeBron was entering his sophomore year of high school. I remember coming home from that camp and telling my Dad about this kid “LeBron James”, that people are talking about him as the next big thing. LeBron and Melvin Scott, who played at North Carolina, are the only players I remember from that camp even though there were probably loads of division one players there. (My team won the championship at the camp by the way, and I have no idea how. We didn’t have a single big-time recruit on our squad but somehow we played well enough to beat all of these top players.) It was not long after that James’ reputation spread nationally and he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated and ESPN as the chosen one. Telling my Dad that early about “this kid” always gave me a special attachment and rooting interest in LeBron. I was sure that he was going to become the greatest player who ever lived. He still might, but last night’s decision has given me serious doubts and definitely changed my overall view of “The King”.
First and foremost, this has nothing to do with LeBron leaving Cleveland. He should do whatever and play wherever that makes him happy. If that wasn’t in Cleveland, so be it. He owes nothing to the people of Cleveland other than a thank you for rooting for him the last seven years, something he did last night in his post-decision interviews. This has everything to do with LeBron’s competitive make-up.
LeBron did not leave Cleveland for money, for the bright lights of New York, to further his global icon ambition, LeBron left purely for basketball reasons. Basketball reasons that simply go against every trait that a player who aspires to be the greatest of all time must have. LeBron is going where it will be easy to win, to join a cast of superstars, to build a team and franchise that already had its cornerstone and icon. They say to be the best, you must beat the best. LeBron is joining the best. If LeBron truly wanted and desired to go down as one of, if not THE best, to ever play the game, he should have stayed in Cleveland or went to New York where everything would have been built around him. Even Chicago would have been acceptable. Miami, however, was a cop out.
Listening to Jon Barry and Michael Wilbon, among others, say that Miami is not the favorite next year made me turn the TV off. How do they put guys who know nothing about basketball on TV and then call them experts? They are, at worst, the co-favorites with the Lakers, and at best, the overwhelming favorites to win the title next year and for the next five years. The Cavs were the favorites last year when they surrounded James with guys like Moe Williams, Antawn Jamison and Delonte West in the starting line-up. Put any marginal guys at point guard and center and this Miami team is going to win 60+ games and be the favorites in the East. You’re telling me a starting line-up of Mario Chalmers, Wade, James, Bosh and say Jermaine O’Neal is not overwhelmingly superior to Williams, West, James, Jamison and Shaq? Come on now…
That is why I absolutely hate this move by LeBron. My wife couldn’t figure out why I was so mad last night. She said, “wait, he’s going to play in South Beach with other great players, what’s so bad about that?” I couldn’t explain it to her, and I am not sure I am explaining it here, but don’t we want our best athletes to be so competitive, so driven, that they want the team to be built around them and win championships their way. The same way that Michael, Magic and Larry did. The same way young Shaq and old Kobe have. I know that is what I wanted from LeBron. Maybe LBJ just wasn’t wired that way from the beginning. Maybe South Beach is the best place for him, maybe he will go on to win multiple titles and go down as a top ten or top five player of all-time. I just wanted so much more for him, and I wish he wanted the same.
LeBron used to be my favorite player. “Used to be” is the absolute key phrase in that sentence. We will get to that in a second. First, let’s discuss the actual show itself. I had no problem with it initially. Many of the local and national reporters, “the old guard”, thought it was a selfish and narcissistic act. Of course it was, but that’s the world we live in today. LeBron is the biggest sports star in the world right now; at least he has a reason to have his own hour-long program to announce his team for the next five or more years. I will take that over some 18-year-old high school athlete who has yet to accomplish anything announcing his college decision at a press conference any day of the week. This mattered, and it mattered big time, to the entire landscape of professional sports. Not to mention that it was entertaining and captivating at the same time.
The show itself, however, was a dud. The “King” montage at the beginning was a bit much, the speculating by the ESPN guys kind of ruined the actual moment, and the actual announcement itself was kind of boring. I will give LeBron some credit, at least, in that he stuck around and answered all of Mike Wilbon and Stuart Scott’s questions after his decision was announced to Jim Gray. That was the only meaningful part of the hour long special.
Now, the decision itself, I really just do not get it. As I said, LeBron used to be my favorite player. I actually attended the same 5-star camp going into my senior year as LeBron was entering his sophomore year of high school. I remember coming home from that camp and telling my Dad about this kid “LeBron James”, that people are talking about him as the next big thing. LeBron and Melvin Scott, who played at North Carolina, are the only players I remember from that camp even though there were probably loads of division one players there. (My team won the championship at the camp by the way, and I have no idea how. We didn’t have a single big-time recruit on our squad but somehow we played well enough to beat all of these top players.) It was not long after that James’ reputation spread nationally and he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated and ESPN as the chosen one. Telling my Dad that early about “this kid” always gave me a special attachment and rooting interest in LeBron. I was sure that he was going to become the greatest player who ever lived. He still might, but last night’s decision has given me serious doubts and definitely changed my overall view of “The King”.
First and foremost, this has nothing to do with LeBron leaving Cleveland. He should do whatever and play wherever that makes him happy. If that wasn’t in Cleveland, so be it. He owes nothing to the people of Cleveland other than a thank you for rooting for him the last seven years, something he did last night in his post-decision interviews. This has everything to do with LeBron’s competitive make-up.
LeBron did not leave Cleveland for money, for the bright lights of New York, to further his global icon ambition, LeBron left purely for basketball reasons. Basketball reasons that simply go against every trait that a player who aspires to be the greatest of all time must have. LeBron is going where it will be easy to win, to join a cast of superstars, to build a team and franchise that already had its cornerstone and icon. They say to be the best, you must beat the best. LeBron is joining the best. If LeBron truly wanted and desired to go down as one of, if not THE best, to ever play the game, he should have stayed in Cleveland or went to New York where everything would have been built around him. Even Chicago would have been acceptable. Miami, however, was a cop out.
Listening to Jon Barry and Michael Wilbon, among others, say that Miami is not the favorite next year made me turn the TV off. How do they put guys who know nothing about basketball on TV and then call them experts? They are, at worst, the co-favorites with the Lakers, and at best, the overwhelming favorites to win the title next year and for the next five years. The Cavs were the favorites last year when they surrounded James with guys like Moe Williams, Antawn Jamison and Delonte West in the starting line-up. Put any marginal guys at point guard and center and this Miami team is going to win 60+ games and be the favorites in the East. You’re telling me a starting line-up of Mario Chalmers, Wade, James, Bosh and say Jermaine O’Neal is not overwhelmingly superior to Williams, West, James, Jamison and Shaq? Come on now…
That is why I absolutely hate this move by LeBron. My wife couldn’t figure out why I was so mad last night. She said, “wait, he’s going to play in South Beach with other great players, what’s so bad about that?” I couldn’t explain it to her, and I am not sure I am explaining it here, but don’t we want our best athletes to be so competitive, so driven, that they want the team to be built around them and win championships their way. The same way that Michael, Magic and Larry did. The same way young Shaq and old Kobe have. I know that is what I wanted from LeBron. Maybe LBJ just wasn’t wired that way from the beginning. Maybe South Beach is the best place for him, maybe he will go on to win multiple titles and go down as a top ten or top five player of all-time. I just wanted so much more for him, and I wish he wanted the same.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
NBA Pieces Beginning to Land
The NBA free agency period is now six days old and the dominoes are beginning to fall. Free agents cannot officially sign with their new teams until July 8th, that is the day in which the salary cap will be revealed, but players can agree to deals anytime after July 1st leading up to the 8th and obviously anytime after that. Three of the four major deals announced so far have been veteran stars remaining with their current teams; Paul Pierce with Boston, Dirk Nowitzki with Dallas and Joe Johnson with Atlanta.
Pierce and Nowitzki were no-brainers as they are the faces of their respective franchises. Both players took slightly less money than they could have made under the NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement in order to give their teams some financial flexibility to pursue that ever elusive title. Both players are now seasoned vets on their way to the Hall of Fame who have made loads of money in their career. It is no surprise that winning, as well as their legacy in one city, were very high on their list of priorities. Johnson’s deal was a little shocking as it appears to me like the Hawks have committed $120 million over the next six years to ensure second round playoff exits. Johnson is a nice player, a borderline all-star, but giving a max deal to a 28-year-old borderline all-star is no way to build a contender. I have no doubt that Atlanta will be regretting this move in the next 2-3 years.
Those three signings, however, were somewhat expected. The first big shake-up came when Amar’e Stoudemire agreed to a contract with the New York Knicks. Stoudemire’s contract is for five years and around $100 million. Stoudemire, unlike Johnson, is a franchise-type player. At the very least, he makes the Knickerbockers relevant once again, and potentially makes them very serious players in the competition to sign another star. Even if the Knicks were to strikeout in the LeBron James-Dwyane Wade race, the rumblings have already begun that the Knicks could land Carmelo Anthony and/or Tony Parker, both of whom become free agents next year.
In the end, though, this summer ultimately comes back to where James and Wade, and to a lesser extent, Chris Bosh end up. All three of their situations are still very much up in the air. It is impossible to evaluate the winners and losers of the “Summer of LeBron” until we find out where everyone lands. That is something we should know in the next few days.
Pierce and Nowitzki were no-brainers as they are the faces of their respective franchises. Both players took slightly less money than they could have made under the NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement in order to give their teams some financial flexibility to pursue that ever elusive title. Both players are now seasoned vets on their way to the Hall of Fame who have made loads of money in their career. It is no surprise that winning, as well as their legacy in one city, were very high on their list of priorities. Johnson’s deal was a little shocking as it appears to me like the Hawks have committed $120 million over the next six years to ensure second round playoff exits. Johnson is a nice player, a borderline all-star, but giving a max deal to a 28-year-old borderline all-star is no way to build a contender. I have no doubt that Atlanta will be regretting this move in the next 2-3 years.
Those three signings, however, were somewhat expected. The first big shake-up came when Amar’e Stoudemire agreed to a contract with the New York Knicks. Stoudemire’s contract is for five years and around $100 million. Stoudemire, unlike Johnson, is a franchise-type player. At the very least, he makes the Knickerbockers relevant once again, and potentially makes them very serious players in the competition to sign another star. Even if the Knicks were to strikeout in the LeBron James-Dwyane Wade race, the rumblings have already begun that the Knicks could land Carmelo Anthony and/or Tony Parker, both of whom become free agents next year.
In the end, though, this summer ultimately comes back to where James and Wade, and to a lesser extent, Chris Bosh end up. All three of their situations are still very much up in the air. It is impossible to evaluate the winners and losers of the “Summer of LeBron” until we find out where everyone lands. That is something we should know in the next few days.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Fast and Furious Start to NHL Free Agency
The NHL Free Agency period is off to a fast and furious start. This seems like it occurs every year with the NHL as the signings happen so fast that they become impossible to keep track of. Throw in the fact that there are about four million free agents in the market (actual number on the ESPN free agent tracker is well over 600 players), half of whom you see once a year at most, and it becomes almost entirely hopeless to grasp who has done what with their rosters. That being said, here are a few of the more notable signings that I have seen, and their potential impacts on the respective teams.
Anton Volchenkov (6 years, $25.5M) and Henrik Tallinder (4 years, $13.5M) to the Devils – The game of defensemen musical chairs continued on day one. The Penguins essentially traded Gonchar and Hamhuis for Martin and Michalek. The Devils did some retooling of their own on the blue line with the additions of Volchenkov, a very defensive minded guy, and Tallinder, a good puck moving defenseman. These signings should be helpful to the Devils but they do not address their primary concern which should be putting the puck in the other team’s net. I would also rather have the Penguins’ two additions, both of whom are younger and slightly more versatile.
Dan Hamhuis (6 years, $27M) to the Canucks – Speaking of Hamhuis and moving defenseman, Hamhuis’ rights were traded twice before free agency began with neither team, Penguins included, coming close to signing this solid two-way defender because of his desire to return home to the British Columbia. This is a nice signing, and it came gift-wrapped, for Vancouver who continue to upgrade their roster in front of Roberto Luongo. The addition of one or two scorers could make the Canucks a viable Stanley Cup contender next year.
Toni Lydman (3 years, $9M) to the Ducks – I am not so much thrilled with this move for the Ducks, although Lydman is a good skater and passer from the blue line and becomes a cheap replacement for the retired Scott Niedermayer, as I am wondering what the Buffalo Sabres are doing. Losing Lydman and Tallinder in front of goaltender Ryan Miller could prove to be a significant blow to a team who was built around winning games 1-0 and 2-1 last year.
Ray Whitney (2 years, $6M) to the Coyotes – I mention Whitney because he was on many people’s short list for the Penguins to acquire and shows the relative lack of scoring punch on the market. Despite being 38-years-old, I like the signing for Phoenix as the relative small dollar amount and short timeframe limit the risk associated with the winger’s age. For a team needing some scoring power, Whitney was one of the better alternatives out there.
Antero Niittymaki (2 years, $4M) to the Sharks – From the ”this does not make any sense” category, the Sharks decided to let Evgeni Nabokov leave to sign Antero Niittymaki, the same Niittymaki that was a career bum in Philadelphia and Tampa Bay. What? Say that again, please. I know that the Sharks have been extremely disappointing in the post season the past few years, but they let their world-class goaltender, the one who led them to the Western Conference Finals last year and the best record in hockey over the last three years, leave for a career underachiever with no Stanley Cup playoff credentials. I can honestly say that I do not understand that one. There is going to be a team that gets Nabokov at a discount in this free agency and turn out to be very happy that they did.
And finally, for all of the Penguins fans out there, Colby Armstrong signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs for three years and $9 million. I know Colby was a fan favorite here but I am glad that he signed on day one so that we would not have to hear his name continue to come up in these parts. Armstrong is a nice role player, but he is not worth the $3M per year that he received on the open market, a price that reflects the lack of forward depth available. Good for Colby and I hope to see him do well, just glad that he was never on Ray Shero’s radar.
Anton Volchenkov (6 years, $25.5M) and Henrik Tallinder (4 years, $13.5M) to the Devils – The game of defensemen musical chairs continued on day one. The Penguins essentially traded Gonchar and Hamhuis for Martin and Michalek. The Devils did some retooling of their own on the blue line with the additions of Volchenkov, a very defensive minded guy, and Tallinder, a good puck moving defenseman. These signings should be helpful to the Devils but they do not address their primary concern which should be putting the puck in the other team’s net. I would also rather have the Penguins’ two additions, both of whom are younger and slightly more versatile.
Dan Hamhuis (6 years, $27M) to the Canucks – Speaking of Hamhuis and moving defenseman, Hamhuis’ rights were traded twice before free agency began with neither team, Penguins included, coming close to signing this solid two-way defender because of his desire to return home to the British Columbia. This is a nice signing, and it came gift-wrapped, for Vancouver who continue to upgrade their roster in front of Roberto Luongo. The addition of one or two scorers could make the Canucks a viable Stanley Cup contender next year.
Toni Lydman (3 years, $9M) to the Ducks – I am not so much thrilled with this move for the Ducks, although Lydman is a good skater and passer from the blue line and becomes a cheap replacement for the retired Scott Niedermayer, as I am wondering what the Buffalo Sabres are doing. Losing Lydman and Tallinder in front of goaltender Ryan Miller could prove to be a significant blow to a team who was built around winning games 1-0 and 2-1 last year.
Ray Whitney (2 years, $6M) to the Coyotes – I mention Whitney because he was on many people’s short list for the Penguins to acquire and shows the relative lack of scoring punch on the market. Despite being 38-years-old, I like the signing for Phoenix as the relative small dollar amount and short timeframe limit the risk associated with the winger’s age. For a team needing some scoring power, Whitney was one of the better alternatives out there.
Antero Niittymaki (2 years, $4M) to the Sharks – From the ”this does not make any sense” category, the Sharks decided to let Evgeni Nabokov leave to sign Antero Niittymaki, the same Niittymaki that was a career bum in Philadelphia and Tampa Bay. What? Say that again, please. I know that the Sharks have been extremely disappointing in the post season the past few years, but they let their world-class goaltender, the one who led them to the Western Conference Finals last year and the best record in hockey over the last three years, leave for a career underachiever with no Stanley Cup playoff credentials. I can honestly say that I do not understand that one. There is going to be a team that gets Nabokov at a discount in this free agency and turn out to be very happy that they did.
And finally, for all of the Penguins fans out there, Colby Armstrong signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs for three years and $9 million. I know Colby was a fan favorite here but I am glad that he signed on day one so that we would not have to hear his name continue to come up in these parts. Armstrong is a nice role player, but he is not worth the $3M per year that he received on the open market, a price that reflects the lack of forward depth available. Good for Colby and I hope to see him do well, just glad that he was never on Ray Shero’s radar.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Pens Sign Defensemen
It is now being reported that the Penguins have signed a defenseman to replace the departed Sergei Gonchar. Dave Molinari of the Post Gazette is reporting that the Penguins have signed Zbynek Michalek, formerly of the Phoenix Coyotes, to a four year deal worth around $20 million. Molinari writes of the new defenseman, who is only 27-years-old, “Michalek, 27, is an accomplished shot-blocker who plays big minutes and is extremely solid in the defensive zone.”
I have to be honest here as I have not seen much of Michalek so I cannot pass judgment on the player first-hand. As most of you know, the Coyotes do not get too much TV time in these parts. But if what Molinari writes is true, and there is no reason to doubt such an accomplished writer, this is the perfect replacement for Gonchar and another brilliant job by General Manager Ray Shero. The Penguins biggest problem in the playoffs last year was their defense corps inability to shut down their opponents. Adding a solid, defensive minded player to the blue line is exactly what the Penguins needed to add this offseason.
Michalek accumulated 17 points, 30 penalty minutes and a plus five in 72 regular season games last year for the overachieving Coyotes. The penalty minutes seem to be a bit on the low side for a defensive-minded blue-liner, but the rest of his attributes seem solid.
Molinari is also reporting that the Penguins have signed defenseman Paul Martin, formerly of the New Jersey Devils, to a 5 year deal worth $25 million. Martin, as some might recall, was hit with a slapshot in a game against the Penguins at Mellon Arena last year that effectively ended his season. Martin is another solid player in his own zone and was going to play for the United States in last year’s Olympics.
Shero is certainly acknowledging that the loss of his shutdown tandem of Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill last summer was a mistake. The Penguins have now signed two defensemen that are very solid in their own end but will not have the impact in the offensive zone that Gonchar or even Jordan Leopold had. I am a little surprised that the Penguins signed two of this type of defenseman, especially to four and five year contracts, respectively, but I must say that I like what the Penguins are doing so far.
I have to be honest here as I have not seen much of Michalek so I cannot pass judgment on the player first-hand. As most of you know, the Coyotes do not get too much TV time in these parts. But if what Molinari writes is true, and there is no reason to doubt such an accomplished writer, this is the perfect replacement for Gonchar and another brilliant job by General Manager Ray Shero. The Penguins biggest problem in the playoffs last year was their defense corps inability to shut down their opponents. Adding a solid, defensive minded player to the blue line is exactly what the Penguins needed to add this offseason.
Michalek accumulated 17 points, 30 penalty minutes and a plus five in 72 regular season games last year for the overachieving Coyotes. The penalty minutes seem to be a bit on the low side for a defensive-minded blue-liner, but the rest of his attributes seem solid.
Molinari is also reporting that the Penguins have signed defenseman Paul Martin, formerly of the New Jersey Devils, to a 5 year deal worth $25 million. Martin, as some might recall, was hit with a slapshot in a game against the Penguins at Mellon Arena last year that effectively ended his season. Martin is another solid player in his own zone and was going to play for the United States in last year’s Olympics.
Shero is certainly acknowledging that the loss of his shutdown tandem of Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill last summer was a mistake. The Penguins have now signed two defensemen that are very solid in their own end but will not have the impact in the offensive zone that Gonchar or even Jordan Leopold had. I am a little surprised that the Penguins signed two of this type of defenseman, especially to four and five year contracts, respectively, but I must say that I like what the Penguins are doing so far.
Gonchar Headed to Ottawa
News is being reported that Sergei Gonchar has signed a deal with Ottawa for 3 years at $5.5 million per year. If the sources are correct, I say "Bye, Bye Gonch!"
Gonchar is still a solid player at 36 years old, but he is nowhere near the player that helped the Penguins win the Stanley Cup two seasons ago. He has lost a step in my opinion, and seemed to shy away from contact last year more than he had in the past, something that can be expected of a player that age.
The Penguins have two young offensive defensemen in Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski that can replace what Sergei does on the power play, a power play that severely underachieved last year I might add. Gonchar is a stable presence and good veteran in the locker room, but the Penguins have plenty of leadership in Sidney Crosby. If the Penguins are able to use the money they saved from not resigning Gonchar to bring in a younger, lockdown defender such as Anton Volchenkov, I think it will be a win in the long run for the Pens.
As for the Senators, it is a decent sign albeit one that may be a little too long, but it is not a cure for what ails them most. On the positive, Ottawa has lacked a puck moving defender on their blue line for some time now and Gonchar should work well with the Senators' good group of offensive forwards. The Senators problem, however, has been goaltending, and Gonchar surely does not solve that problem.
Gonchar is still a solid player at 36 years old, but he is nowhere near the player that helped the Penguins win the Stanley Cup two seasons ago. He has lost a step in my opinion, and seemed to shy away from contact last year more than he had in the past, something that can be expected of a player that age.
The Penguins have two young offensive defensemen in Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski that can replace what Sergei does on the power play, a power play that severely underachieved last year I might add. Gonchar is a stable presence and good veteran in the locker room, but the Penguins have plenty of leadership in Sidney Crosby. If the Penguins are able to use the money they saved from not resigning Gonchar to bring in a younger, lockdown defender such as Anton Volchenkov, I think it will be a win in the long run for the Pens.
As for the Senators, it is a decent sign albeit one that may be a little too long, but it is not a cure for what ails them most. On the positive, Ottawa has lacked a puck moving defender on their blue line for some time now and Gonchar should work well with the Senators' good group of offensive forwards. The Senators problem, however, has been goaltending, and Gonchar surely does not solve that problem.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
NBA and NHL Free Agency Period Set to Begin
The NBA free agency period begins in about a half hour, 12:01am EST on July 1st. This NBA free agent class will probably go down as the greatest in the history of sport. The top prize, as everyone who has a pulse has heard whether they have wanted to or not thanks to ESPN, is LeBron James. James is not the only prized free agent out there, however, as future Hall of Famers on the market include Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Dirk Nowitski, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. Other All-Stars still in the prime of their career and could someday reach HOF status include A’mare Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer, Joe Johnson and David Lee. Throw in a few restricted free agents such as Rudy Gay and J.J. Redick and what you have is a historic free agent class. The landscape of the NBA for the next 5-10 years will depend on the next few days or weeks and where each of these particular guys end up.
The NHL free agency period begins not long after that of the NBA’s with a twelve-noon EST starting time tomorrow. While the NHL free agency class lacks the marquee names that the NBA free agency list possesses, there are a number of valuable players and stars that could contribute to Stanley Cup contenders next year.
Check back on the blog as I analyze every major move as it happens and its potential impact on next season and beyond for the particular teams and players involved.
The NHL free agency period begins not long after that of the NBA’s with a twelve-noon EST starting time tomorrow. While the NHL free agency class lacks the marquee names that the NBA free agency list possesses, there are a number of valuable players and stars that could contribute to Stanley Cup contenders next year.
Check back on the blog as I analyze every major move as it happens and its potential impact on next season and beyond for the particular teams and players involved.
Monday, June 28, 2010
United States Fails Expectations
The United States failed once again in its efforts to make a footprint in the international soccer scene, this time by failing to get out of round two in the 2010 World Cup. The U.S. advanced to the elimination tournament in dramatic fashion but was eliminated without any further success by Ghana in the round of sixteen. It was a disappointing loss for the U.S. as they were favored, and picked right here in the blog, to advance to the semifinals of the World Cup for the first time in 80 years. The expectations of Americans were raised after the team gained a favorable draw in the elimination tournament. But just as they did during group play in 2006, Ghana eliminated the U.S. by a score of 2-1, ending hopes for a deep run by the Americans.
This loss had to be exceptionally frustrating for the United States Soccer Federation as they were hoping to build upon their unexpected run to the finals of the Confederation Cup last year. Instead, the Federation faces another four years of building and planning to get the national team over the hump on the international scene.
The game itself was an enjoyable one, taking away the final result of course. The U.S. once again fell behind early but kept attacking and attacking before Landon Donovan’s penalty kick in the second half tied it up. At that point it seemed like the Americans had all the momentum and a trip to the quarterfinals was all but inevitable. The Americans were unable to capitalize on the momentum, however, and another defensive lapse in extra time proved costly as the Americans allowed the game winning goal by Ghana.
The 2010 World Cup will move on to the quarterfinals without the U.S. National Team, who provided an entertaining but ultimately disappointing performance in the competition. The only positive I can take from Americans’ loss is that I can now wait another four years before watching soccer once again.
This loss had to be exceptionally frustrating for the United States Soccer Federation as they were hoping to build upon their unexpected run to the finals of the Confederation Cup last year. Instead, the Federation faces another four years of building and planning to get the national team over the hump on the international scene.
The game itself was an enjoyable one, taking away the final result of course. The U.S. once again fell behind early but kept attacking and attacking before Landon Donovan’s penalty kick in the second half tied it up. At that point it seemed like the Americans had all the momentum and a trip to the quarterfinals was all but inevitable. The Americans were unable to capitalize on the momentum, however, and another defensive lapse in extra time proved costly as the Americans allowed the game winning goal by Ghana.
The 2010 World Cup will move on to the quarterfinals without the U.S. National Team, who provided an entertaining but ultimately disappointing performance in the competition. The only positive I can take from Americans’ loss is that I can now wait another four years before watching soccer once again.
Friday, June 25, 2010
World Cup Smorgasbord
It has been a week since I have posted anything and with good reason; I have been on vacation enjoying the beautiful weather and golf courses in Myrtle Beach. In between daiquiris and bunker shots, however, my brothers and I have been following the World Cup closely. Here are my thoughts on the first two weeks of competition, the group round, and all other things World Cup related:
· The biggest story of the Cup so far has not been Italy’s ousting, France’s dysfunctional team, or even Landon Donovan’s goal to advance the United States. The biggest story of the World Cup so far has been the vuvuzelas (pronounced voo-voo-zela for those of you, like me, that still cannot pronunciate it correctly). I agreed with the FIFA president who said that the horns are a South African tradition and who are we or anyone to tell the host country to do away with their own customs and traditions. BUT…
· What a stupid tradition…no wonder their soccer team stinks and became the first host country not to advance to the elimination round. What child would want to be subjected to those loud, annoying horns their entire life trying to compete at the highest level of their sport. I say this in jest, but only partially, as the horns really do take away from the enjoyment of the games. Instead of concentrating on the action and listening to the chants and singing that soccer is famous for, we are constantly wondering how much more annoying this buzzing sound could be. I wouldn’t tell South Africa to stop with their traditions, I simply would avoid taking the Cup or any other competition back to their country as long as they want to annoy the rest of the world.
· Landon Donovan’s goal to beat Algeria and not only advance the United States to the elimination round but to also win their group may have saved soccer’s relevance in the United States for the foreseeable future. Not only was the goal dramatic and memorable, it made people forget about the disallowed goal from earlier in the contest and the phantom call that cost the U.S. a win in the Slovenia match. Soccer has had a hard enough time gaining relevance in the States, if scandal and corruption started entering people’s soccer conversations it could have been another long time before soccer caught on mainstream like we have been anticipating it to for so long.
· Speaking of the Unites States winning Group B, Americans have to be excited about their draw in the elimination tournament. The U.S. draws Ghana in its opening game followed by the winner of Uruguay and Peru. Yes, Ghana eliminated the United States in 2006 but this is a different, more experienced and better U.S. National team this time around. At this point, anything less than a semifinal appearance could possibly be considered a disappointment.
· One other complaint before we get to my predictions (guesses) for the rest of the tournament. Why does every soccer play act like they were shot in the back or the leg everytime they fall on the ground?!? I understand flopping (only sort of because it is still extremely wimpy) as I can see a player trying to draw a penalty, but once the call is made or not made, what is the point in rolling around on the ground like a 7-year-old who just fell off their bike? Seriously, I think this aspect of soccer, more than anything else, is the reason why soccer has not caught on here the way everyone has expected it would.
· Argentina and Brazil, two of the perennial top teams, look like the teams to beat after the group stage. Other teams playing well include the Netherlands and Germany. Argentina, in particular, could have a tough road to the semifinals with Mexico in the second round followed by a quarterfinal date with the winner of Germany and a darkhorse candidate in England. Brazil’s path could be difficult as well with a good Chile team and a possible quarterfinal match with Netherlands. Still, I expect Brazil to reach the final four, along with the United States, Spain and England in a bit of an upset pick. From there I see the United States' run ending against Brazil and Spain finding a way to reach the finals before eventually falling to Brazil, making Brazil your 2010 World Cup Champions.
· Oh, and do not hold me to those predictions….I only watch soccer every four years!
· The biggest story of the Cup so far has not been Italy’s ousting, France’s dysfunctional team, or even Landon Donovan’s goal to advance the United States. The biggest story of the World Cup so far has been the vuvuzelas (pronounced voo-voo-zela for those of you, like me, that still cannot pronunciate it correctly). I agreed with the FIFA president who said that the horns are a South African tradition and who are we or anyone to tell the host country to do away with their own customs and traditions. BUT…
· What a stupid tradition…no wonder their soccer team stinks and became the first host country not to advance to the elimination round. What child would want to be subjected to those loud, annoying horns their entire life trying to compete at the highest level of their sport. I say this in jest, but only partially, as the horns really do take away from the enjoyment of the games. Instead of concentrating on the action and listening to the chants and singing that soccer is famous for, we are constantly wondering how much more annoying this buzzing sound could be. I wouldn’t tell South Africa to stop with their traditions, I simply would avoid taking the Cup or any other competition back to their country as long as they want to annoy the rest of the world.
· Landon Donovan’s goal to beat Algeria and not only advance the United States to the elimination round but to also win their group may have saved soccer’s relevance in the United States for the foreseeable future. Not only was the goal dramatic and memorable, it made people forget about the disallowed goal from earlier in the contest and the phantom call that cost the U.S. a win in the Slovenia match. Soccer has had a hard enough time gaining relevance in the States, if scandal and corruption started entering people’s soccer conversations it could have been another long time before soccer caught on mainstream like we have been anticipating it to for so long.
· Speaking of the Unites States winning Group B, Americans have to be excited about their draw in the elimination tournament. The U.S. draws Ghana in its opening game followed by the winner of Uruguay and Peru. Yes, Ghana eliminated the United States in 2006 but this is a different, more experienced and better U.S. National team this time around. At this point, anything less than a semifinal appearance could possibly be considered a disappointment.
· One other complaint before we get to my predictions (guesses) for the rest of the tournament. Why does every soccer play act like they were shot in the back or the leg everytime they fall on the ground?!? I understand flopping (only sort of because it is still extremely wimpy) as I can see a player trying to draw a penalty, but once the call is made or not made, what is the point in rolling around on the ground like a 7-year-old who just fell off their bike? Seriously, I think this aspect of soccer, more than anything else, is the reason why soccer has not caught on here the way everyone has expected it would.
· Argentina and Brazil, two of the perennial top teams, look like the teams to beat after the group stage. Other teams playing well include the Netherlands and Germany. Argentina, in particular, could have a tough road to the semifinals with Mexico in the second round followed by a quarterfinal date with the winner of Germany and a darkhorse candidate in England. Brazil’s path could be difficult as well with a good Chile team and a possible quarterfinal match with Netherlands. Still, I expect Brazil to reach the final four, along with the United States, Spain and England in a bit of an upset pick. From there I see the United States' run ending against Brazil and Spain finding a way to reach the finals before eventually falling to Brazil, making Brazil your 2010 World Cup Champions.
· Oh, and do not hold me to those predictions….I only watch soccer every four years!
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Alvarez Debut Afterthoughts
A night that began with so much promise ended with another dreadful display from the hometown Pittsburgh Pirates. What we hoped would be the beginning of a new era in Pittsburgh baseball ended with fans mumbling “the same old Buccos”. Yes, it was the debut of the Pirates best hitting prospect since Barry Bonds and best overall prospect since Kris Benson (we will leave Chad Hermansen walking on water out of this) but Alvarez’ debut became a mere afterthought with the Pirates losing their 10th straight game.
The ineptitude of the Buccos over the past few weeks even channeled down the excitement for the Alvarez arrival. The crowd, though obviously larger than a normal Wednesday night, was still quite meager for the moment. The crowd also lacked the energy and buzz that was present when Andrew McCutchen arrived on a mid-summer day last year. Still, most of the crowd on hand was there to see the arrival of the next savior in Pirates history.
For his part, Pedro did ok. Alvarez got his first ovation when he began a 5-4-3 double play in the top of the second. He got another loud ovation when he came to bat for the first time in the bottom of the second inning. He promptly struck out, something that Pirates fans should get used to. Even if Alvarez turns out to be everything he is expected to be, he is going to strike out his fair share. By the end of the night, Alvarez finished 0-2 with a walk and a run scored. He also committed an error by failing to field a relatively routine throw to third in the top of the ninth. As far as debuts go, it was fairly ordinary.
We did see flashes, however, of the enormous potential Alvarez possesses. He worked a good at-bat in his first plate appearance before striking out. He worked another good at-bat in the fifth, drawing a walk and eventually scoring the Pirates’ first run of the game. Alvarez then hit a sharp line-drive the opposite way to left in his final at-bat in the ninth. The White Sox manager, Ozzie Guillen, and pitcher, John Danks, were both quick to praise the kid mentioning the obvious talent he possesses.
In the end, however, the so-so performance by Alvarez was overshadowed by the pathetic baseball that the Pirates are playing right now. I am embarrassed that I wrote just a few short weeks ago that this team was playing hard and fundamentally sound baseball for the most part. Over the past few weeks, they are doing anything but. The Pirates incompetence was punctuated by a Bad News Bears like 9th inning in which they committed four errors and threw the ball around like a bunch of ten-year-olds. It prompted a buddy of mine to text me, “Is this the Mount Washington little league team” in reference to my little league days. I had to quickly respond that we were much better than that. Pedro Alvarez may one day be the guy who leads this baseball club back to respectability, but what was obvious last night is that day is still very far away.
The ineptitude of the Buccos over the past few weeks even channeled down the excitement for the Alvarez arrival. The crowd, though obviously larger than a normal Wednesday night, was still quite meager for the moment. The crowd also lacked the energy and buzz that was present when Andrew McCutchen arrived on a mid-summer day last year. Still, most of the crowd on hand was there to see the arrival of the next savior in Pirates history.
For his part, Pedro did ok. Alvarez got his first ovation when he began a 5-4-3 double play in the top of the second. He got another loud ovation when he came to bat for the first time in the bottom of the second inning. He promptly struck out, something that Pirates fans should get used to. Even if Alvarez turns out to be everything he is expected to be, he is going to strike out his fair share. By the end of the night, Alvarez finished 0-2 with a walk and a run scored. He also committed an error by failing to field a relatively routine throw to third in the top of the ninth. As far as debuts go, it was fairly ordinary.
We did see flashes, however, of the enormous potential Alvarez possesses. He worked a good at-bat in his first plate appearance before striking out. He worked another good at-bat in the fifth, drawing a walk and eventually scoring the Pirates’ first run of the game. Alvarez then hit a sharp line-drive the opposite way to left in his final at-bat in the ninth. The White Sox manager, Ozzie Guillen, and pitcher, John Danks, were both quick to praise the kid mentioning the obvious talent he possesses.
In the end, however, the so-so performance by Alvarez was overshadowed by the pathetic baseball that the Pirates are playing right now. I am embarrassed that I wrote just a few short weeks ago that this team was playing hard and fundamentally sound baseball for the most part. Over the past few weeks, they are doing anything but. The Pirates incompetence was punctuated by a Bad News Bears like 9th inning in which they committed four errors and threw the ball around like a bunch of ten-year-olds. It prompted a buddy of mine to text me, “Is this the Mount Washington little league team” in reference to my little league days. I had to quickly respond that we were much better than that. Pedro Alvarez may one day be the guy who leads this baseball club back to respectability, but what was obvious last night is that day is still very far away.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Alvarez Debut
Pedro Alvarez makes his much anticipated Major League debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates tonight. I am heading over to the ballpark now for what could be the beginning of a new era in Pirates baseball. I was at the opening game for Andrew McCutchen as well and the stadium had a certain buzz about it on a beautiful afternoon day last year. It will be interesting to see what kind of crowd and what kind of buzz the game tonight holds during a terrible stretch of baseball being played by the Pirates.
I will report back after the game with my first impressions of Alvarez and his debut.
I will report back after the game with my first impressions of Alvarez and his debut.
Lakers Dominate Game Six
Wow! Who saw that coming?!? I knew the Lakers would come out like a defending champion should and lay it all on the line, but a 22 point blow-out, a game that was all but over in the first half? I think game six can be summed up pretty easily in two short phrases: The Lakers played tremendously as a team and; The Celtics played awful pretty much to a man.
I thought the Celtics could pull out the series in six with Andrew Bynum dragging one leg up and down the court, but that would not be the case when the rest of the Lakers finally joined Kobe Bryant in defending their title. Bynum was a non-factor once again (2 points, 4 rebounds in 16 minutes) but the rest of the Lakers’ frontcourt more than picked up the slack. Check out the rest of these stat lines:
Pau Gasol: 41 minutes, 17 points, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks;
Lamar Odom: 28 minutes, 8 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks;
Ron Artest: 32 minutes, 15 points, 6 rebounds, 3-6 3pt FGS, no craziness.
Including Bynum, that is 42 points, 33 rebounds, and 7 blocks from the Lakers frontcourt, their best output since game three. Throw in Kobe’s 26, 11, 3 and 4 steals and their best defensive effort since game three and this was by far the Lakers best play of the series so far. Sure Boston lent a hand in helping the Lakers look so dominant with too much one-on-one play and at least a half a dozen missed lay-ups and dunks. But the tone was set early in this one as the Lakers turned a 12-12 tie into a 28-18 end of first of first quarter lead, and they never looked back.
To add injury to insult, the Celtics also lost their starting center in Kendrick Perkins, who left with a severely sprained knee and is most likely out for game seven tomorrow night. The Celtics have probably played better in the series with Perkins off the floor, but his absence certainly hurts the depth and toughness of the Celtics frontcourt. Boston is going to need big-time performances from Rasheed Wallace and/or Big Baby in game seven to have a shot.
Well we all got what we wished for in the beginning of this series….game seven between two champions and the two greatest franchises in NBA history. We have not seen any ESPN classic games yet, but it has been a classic series as a whole. It should only be fitting that we have a game seven between these two teams. We will find out tomorrow who rises to the occasion.
I thought the Celtics could pull out the series in six with Andrew Bynum dragging one leg up and down the court, but that would not be the case when the rest of the Lakers finally joined Kobe Bryant in defending their title. Bynum was a non-factor once again (2 points, 4 rebounds in 16 minutes) but the rest of the Lakers’ frontcourt more than picked up the slack. Check out the rest of these stat lines:
Pau Gasol: 41 minutes, 17 points, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks;
Lamar Odom: 28 minutes, 8 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks;
Ron Artest: 32 minutes, 15 points, 6 rebounds, 3-6 3pt FGS, no craziness.
Including Bynum, that is 42 points, 33 rebounds, and 7 blocks from the Lakers frontcourt, their best output since game three. Throw in Kobe’s 26, 11, 3 and 4 steals and their best defensive effort since game three and this was by far the Lakers best play of the series so far. Sure Boston lent a hand in helping the Lakers look so dominant with too much one-on-one play and at least a half a dozen missed lay-ups and dunks. But the tone was set early in this one as the Lakers turned a 12-12 tie into a 28-18 end of first of first quarter lead, and they never looked back.
To add injury to insult, the Celtics also lost their starting center in Kendrick Perkins, who left with a severely sprained knee and is most likely out for game seven tomorrow night. The Celtics have probably played better in the series with Perkins off the floor, but his absence certainly hurts the depth and toughness of the Celtics frontcourt. Boston is going to need big-time performances from Rasheed Wallace and/or Big Baby in game seven to have a shot.
Well we all got what we wished for in the beginning of this series….game seven between two champions and the two greatest franchises in NBA history. We have not seen any ESPN classic games yet, but it has been a classic series as a whole. It should only be fitting that we have a game seven between these two teams. We will find out tomorrow who rises to the occasion.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Bynum Injury the Difference
The Lakers and Celtics series has played out relatively how I thought it would to this point with a split of the first two games in Los Angeles followed by the Celtics winning two of three in Boston (although I would have guessed a different order in which it happened). I picked the Celtics before the series to win game six in L.A. and take home yet another title in their storied history, but I did so with the understanding that anything could happen when the series returned to Los Angeles. After a very entertaining but very unpredictable series so far, you could make the argument that is even truer now that we actually head into game six back in Los Angeles with the Celtics up 3-2.
However, it’s my belief that this series took a dramatic shift when Andrew Bynum aggravated his knee injury in game three. The Lakers dominated the boards in game one and their length with Pau Gasol and Bynum looked like it would be too much for the Celtics. In game two, an unconscious shooting performance by Ray Allen and a slightly more aggressive Celtics team managed to get out of L.A. with a split, despite 13 blocks combined by Gasol and Bynum. Game three, one in which you would have thought Boston would have a distinct advantage heading home with short rest, was once again owned by the Lakers big men as they won the battle on the boards and supported by Kobe Bryant, blocked another seven of Boston’s shots. It was here that the series made a dramatic shift after Andrew Bynum came down wincing after a dunk.
After playing 28, 39, and 29 minutes in the first three games, respectively, Bynum was only able to play 12 minutes in game four and a very lackluster 32 minutes in game five (6 points, 1 rebound). The Celtics took advantage of the Lakers’ diminished size advantage, winning the rebounding battle in both games and getting great production from their undersized bench, namely Glen “Big Baby” Davis, who became much more of a factor when they were not dealing with the length of Bynum in the middle. It has also allowed the Celtics to focus all of their non-Kobe defensive efforts towards Gasol (who shot under 50% in both games four and five), especially with how poorly Lamar Odom is performing in the series and how badly Derek Fisher and Ron Artest have shot.
So with the series heading back to Lakerland for games six and seven, and Bynum dealing with short rest and a six hour flight back to the west coast, I do not expect a significant improvement in his performance. That gives me great confidence that the Celtics should have the upperhand tonight in game six, and in game seven as well shall it get to that. If I were a Boston fan, which I am not, I would be feeling pretty giddy right now that my team was about to take home its second championship in three years. Let’s see if Kobe Bryant has anything to say on the contrary.
However, it’s my belief that this series took a dramatic shift when Andrew Bynum aggravated his knee injury in game three. The Lakers dominated the boards in game one and their length with Pau Gasol and Bynum looked like it would be too much for the Celtics. In game two, an unconscious shooting performance by Ray Allen and a slightly more aggressive Celtics team managed to get out of L.A. with a split, despite 13 blocks combined by Gasol and Bynum. Game three, one in which you would have thought Boston would have a distinct advantage heading home with short rest, was once again owned by the Lakers big men as they won the battle on the boards and supported by Kobe Bryant, blocked another seven of Boston’s shots. It was here that the series made a dramatic shift after Andrew Bynum came down wincing after a dunk.
After playing 28, 39, and 29 minutes in the first three games, respectively, Bynum was only able to play 12 minutes in game four and a very lackluster 32 minutes in game five (6 points, 1 rebound). The Celtics took advantage of the Lakers’ diminished size advantage, winning the rebounding battle in both games and getting great production from their undersized bench, namely Glen “Big Baby” Davis, who became much more of a factor when they were not dealing with the length of Bynum in the middle. It has also allowed the Celtics to focus all of their non-Kobe defensive efforts towards Gasol (who shot under 50% in both games four and five), especially with how poorly Lamar Odom is performing in the series and how badly Derek Fisher and Ron Artest have shot.
So with the series heading back to Lakerland for games six and seven, and Bynum dealing with short rest and a six hour flight back to the west coast, I do not expect a significant improvement in his performance. That gives me great confidence that the Celtics should have the upperhand tonight in game six, and in game seven as well shall it get to that. If I were a Boston fan, which I am not, I would be feeling pretty giddy right now that my team was about to take home its second championship in three years. Let’s see if Kobe Bryant has anything to say on the contrary.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Strasburg Must-See TV
Last night I was out doing things around the house like cutting the grass, getting the pool ready to open, blah, blah blah. (Allow me a quick tangent here: Pools suck! Living in the Northeast, the amount of enjoyment you get from them doesn’t compare to the amount of work they are to open, maintain and close. Our pool was already here when we bought the house. If we would ever move or buy a house without a pool, I would never have one installed, unless of course, I could afford a pool boy. And by pool boy I mean a nerdy, fat kid with pimples, not the ones you see in movies that always end up the wife’s boy toy or something.) Anyways, while out doing yard work I told my wife to let me know when it was 7 o’clock because I wanted to see the first pitches in the debut of Stephen Strasburg of the Washington Nationals against our very own Buccos. So I settled in front of the computer right before first pitch, logged on to my email and saw that a few buddies had already queued up an email chat to discuss Strasburg’s outing as it was happening. Some of the guys were at work, some were at home, four different cities were represented, and everyone stopped what they were doing to catch this guy pitch for the first time. You know something is kind of big when it gets to stop what you are doing and watch mode.
Strasburg surely did not disappoint those who were watching either. It took all of about two innings for my buddies and I to be sold on this guy. In 7 innings, Strasburg allowed 2 runs on four hits while striking out 14 guys and walking none (on only 94 pitches I might add). To put that performance in perspective, 14 strikeouts matches the single game high so far in the majors this year. It is third most strikeouts in a pitcher’s debut in the history of the game. His 14 strikeouts and 0 walks!? He is the first pitcher in Major League history, all 135 years, to strike out 11 or more and walk none in his debut. Heck, only 5 pitchers since 1900 have ever struck out 14 or more and walked none. Three of those guys (Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, and Mike Mussina) are headed to the Hall of Fame and the other two have had pretty strong careers (Javier Vazquez, Brad Penny). Some quick research by my friend revealed that the 94 pitches used to register his 14Ks were the least amount ever thrown in a 14 strikeout game. There is really only one word to describe Strasburg’s performance, dominating.
The kid, I say kid as Strasburg is just 21-years-old, used a consistent 97-101mph fastball to overpower hitters and that may not even have been his best pitch. And yes, you are reading that correctly as the TV radar gun showed over 100 mph a number of times throughout the night. It was Strasburg’s curveball, however, that was even more impressive as it seemed to drop off the face of the earth. Throw in an above average change-up and great command and you start to understand why there was so much hype surrounding this guy.
If for whatever reason you missed last night’s performance, be sure to catch Strasburg pitch the next time that you can. We may be watching the beginning of what may become a very storied career.
Strasburg surely did not disappoint those who were watching either. It took all of about two innings for my buddies and I to be sold on this guy. In 7 innings, Strasburg allowed 2 runs on four hits while striking out 14 guys and walking none (on only 94 pitches I might add). To put that performance in perspective, 14 strikeouts matches the single game high so far in the majors this year. It is third most strikeouts in a pitcher’s debut in the history of the game. His 14 strikeouts and 0 walks!? He is the first pitcher in Major League history, all 135 years, to strike out 11 or more and walk none in his debut. Heck, only 5 pitchers since 1900 have ever struck out 14 or more and walked none. Three of those guys (Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, and Mike Mussina) are headed to the Hall of Fame and the other two have had pretty strong careers (Javier Vazquez, Brad Penny). Some quick research by my friend revealed that the 94 pitches used to register his 14Ks were the least amount ever thrown in a 14 strikeout game. There is really only one word to describe Strasburg’s performance, dominating.
The kid, I say kid as Strasburg is just 21-years-old, used a consistent 97-101mph fastball to overpower hitters and that may not even have been his best pitch. And yes, you are reading that correctly as the TV radar gun showed over 100 mph a number of times throughout the night. It was Strasburg’s curveball, however, that was even more impressive as it seemed to drop off the face of the earth. Throw in an above average change-up and great command and you start to understand why there was so much hype surrounding this guy.
If for whatever reason you missed last night’s performance, be sure to catch Strasburg pitch the next time that you can. We may be watching the beginning of what may become a very storied career.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Umpiring Fixes From a Former Ump
We are just over one-third of the way through the baseball season and despite the retirement of Ken Griffey Jr. (only one of the top 10 or so players of all-time), despite two perfect games, and despite a ton of great pennant races shaping up, the biggest story of the season so far has been umpiring, and more specifically a blown call that cost Detroit Tigers’ pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game. By now everyone knows the story: Galarraga was 26 outs through a perfect game when the first base umpire, Jim Joyce, called a runner safe on a relatively close play at first. The runner looked out live, and replay showed that he was clearly out, so it was a blown call that cost Galarraga a spot in history. The blown call caused a large outcry for more scrutiny and evaluation of umpires and an extended use of replay (right now it can only be used on home run calls).
Let’s tackle the Galarraga situation first. Galarraga will forever be remembered for what happened, much more so than had he pitched a perfect game. (If you think otherwise; there have been 20 perfect games in major league history and I dare you to name more than 7 or 8 of those, I will even spot you Roy Halladay and Dallas Braden from this year.) It is a shame that Galarraga had that moment taken away from him, but his place in history is probably more secure now than it ever would have been had he thrown a perfect game. I commend him and Jim Joyce, the umpire involved, for the dignity and class they handled the situation with. A ton can be learned from the situation just from the way these two men handled themselves.
But those crying for Bud Selig to step in, or any Major League Baseball change to the official ruling on the field, are flat out wrong. Yes, I understand that a “one time correction” could be made and that simply stating a can of worms would be opened is not entirely true, but in a sense, IT IS TRUE. We cannot undermine the authority of the umpires on the field or we might as well get rid of umpires altogether and call everything with replay. More importantly, we cannot begin a process where every egregious call will cause an outcry to be changed by the commissioner’s office. It is simply not a feasible or enjoyable way to manage the game on the field.
Galarraga’s situation, however, just highlights a larger theme in baseball today and that is the poor performance of umpires league-wide. When I say poor-performance I mean the umpires responsibility that goes above and beyond balls and strikes, fair and foul, out and safe. Blown calls are going to happen; they are and forever have been a part of the game. By performance I am talking about when umpires begin making themselves the story, such as Joe West speaking out about the slow pace of play between the Yankees and Red Sox (no matter how right he is), or the mismanagement of a game, such as the incident involving Mark Buehrle and his eventual ejection after two balk calls. Umpires, and their transgressions, are getting too much publicity for the enjoyment and for the good of the game.
I, myself, umpired from the time I was 14-years-old and into my early 20s. I umpired from Little League boys all the way up to American Legion, where 17 and 18-year-olds were playing at the highest level of amateur ball. I also ran the local organization’s umpiring crew for a few years training young umps, organizing a schedule and dealing with complaints. In college, besides umpiring in the summer, I refereed intramural basketball, flag-football and hockey amongst other sports as a way to earn a little extra beer money. There’s no one with more of an appreciation for what these men and women do than I have. It is a thankless job that is rarely rewarded with compliments, only headaches when complaints begin pouring in whether they are called for or not. That does not mean I haven’t complained a time or two in my life, it’s just that I understand that these are human beings trying to do the best that they can (we hope). And if you have never umpired or refereed a game in your life, you can have no appreciation for how hard it really is, especially at the professional level where players and judgment calls move faster than the human eye can follow. (This is especially true in basketball, where referring at the top levels is an almost impossible task.) So how do we help these umpires and try to satisfy the fans at the same time?
I think the most important aspects of fixing this umpiring situation are training and accountability. The technology we have today can be implemented for instant replay, but the most resourceful and appropriate use of this technology is to train the umpires. These are full-time positions paid handsomely by MLB, they should be trained universally by the best people and resources baseball can obtain. The second layer of this process, once all umpires are trained correctly, is proper evaluation and accountability. Has there ever been an umpire fired for poor performance? I have no idea what the answer to that question is, and that is a problem. MLB needs to hold its umpires to a higher standard, and let their fans know that this is taking place.
I do know that baseball has some form of umpire training and evaluation methods, but they are obviously not working. The same umpires have been around for what seems like ages. Players and managers know their tendencies, their behavior, and the way they call games. This is both good and bad. If the umpires are performing as they should, this is a good thing. I must add that the previously mentioned Joe West and Jim Joyce are two of the more well-respected umpires around the league for the job they do. However, there are a number of umpires who do not perform up to the level that fans and players expect yet there seems to be no consequences. If Major League Baseball wants to get umpires out of the headlines, it is time they take a proactive approach, train their umpires continuously and appropriately, and hold them accountable for their performance.
Finally, on replay, my stance is that it should be used as an aid to help umpires, not a crutch for them to lean on. I do not believe managers should have challenges or that a replay official should signal down to the field everytime he wants to review a call. The goal is not to prolong the game but to get an obvious call right. There should be one replay official, onsite, set up to reverse any call that was obviously misjudged. If a replay official cannot make a judgment before the next pitch is thrown, something that takes an eternity in baseball, the call on the field should stand. Let’s make it simple, get the calls right, and keep the game moving.
Replay, though, is not the most pressing issue facing the calling of games in baseball right now. Bud Selig and the rest of Major League Baseball need to ensure that they have the best possible and most well-trained umpires in the world officiating their games. They should take that from someone who has been there himself.
Let’s tackle the Galarraga situation first. Galarraga will forever be remembered for what happened, much more so than had he pitched a perfect game. (If you think otherwise; there have been 20 perfect games in major league history and I dare you to name more than 7 or 8 of those, I will even spot you Roy Halladay and Dallas Braden from this year.) It is a shame that Galarraga had that moment taken away from him, but his place in history is probably more secure now than it ever would have been had he thrown a perfect game. I commend him and Jim Joyce, the umpire involved, for the dignity and class they handled the situation with. A ton can be learned from the situation just from the way these two men handled themselves.
But those crying for Bud Selig to step in, or any Major League Baseball change to the official ruling on the field, are flat out wrong. Yes, I understand that a “one time correction” could be made and that simply stating a can of worms would be opened is not entirely true, but in a sense, IT IS TRUE. We cannot undermine the authority of the umpires on the field or we might as well get rid of umpires altogether and call everything with replay. More importantly, we cannot begin a process where every egregious call will cause an outcry to be changed by the commissioner’s office. It is simply not a feasible or enjoyable way to manage the game on the field.
Galarraga’s situation, however, just highlights a larger theme in baseball today and that is the poor performance of umpires league-wide. When I say poor-performance I mean the umpires responsibility that goes above and beyond balls and strikes, fair and foul, out and safe. Blown calls are going to happen; they are and forever have been a part of the game. By performance I am talking about when umpires begin making themselves the story, such as Joe West speaking out about the slow pace of play between the Yankees and Red Sox (no matter how right he is), or the mismanagement of a game, such as the incident involving Mark Buehrle and his eventual ejection after two balk calls. Umpires, and their transgressions, are getting too much publicity for the enjoyment and for the good of the game.
I, myself, umpired from the time I was 14-years-old and into my early 20s. I umpired from Little League boys all the way up to American Legion, where 17 and 18-year-olds were playing at the highest level of amateur ball. I also ran the local organization’s umpiring crew for a few years training young umps, organizing a schedule and dealing with complaints. In college, besides umpiring in the summer, I refereed intramural basketball, flag-football and hockey amongst other sports as a way to earn a little extra beer money. There’s no one with more of an appreciation for what these men and women do than I have. It is a thankless job that is rarely rewarded with compliments, only headaches when complaints begin pouring in whether they are called for or not. That does not mean I haven’t complained a time or two in my life, it’s just that I understand that these are human beings trying to do the best that they can (we hope). And if you have never umpired or refereed a game in your life, you can have no appreciation for how hard it really is, especially at the professional level where players and judgment calls move faster than the human eye can follow. (This is especially true in basketball, where referring at the top levels is an almost impossible task.) So how do we help these umpires and try to satisfy the fans at the same time?
I think the most important aspects of fixing this umpiring situation are training and accountability. The technology we have today can be implemented for instant replay, but the most resourceful and appropriate use of this technology is to train the umpires. These are full-time positions paid handsomely by MLB, they should be trained universally by the best people and resources baseball can obtain. The second layer of this process, once all umpires are trained correctly, is proper evaluation and accountability. Has there ever been an umpire fired for poor performance? I have no idea what the answer to that question is, and that is a problem. MLB needs to hold its umpires to a higher standard, and let their fans know that this is taking place.
I do know that baseball has some form of umpire training and evaluation methods, but they are obviously not working. The same umpires have been around for what seems like ages. Players and managers know their tendencies, their behavior, and the way they call games. This is both good and bad. If the umpires are performing as they should, this is a good thing. I must add that the previously mentioned Joe West and Jim Joyce are two of the more well-respected umpires around the league for the job they do. However, there are a number of umpires who do not perform up to the level that fans and players expect yet there seems to be no consequences. If Major League Baseball wants to get umpires out of the headlines, it is time they take a proactive approach, train their umpires continuously and appropriately, and hold them accountable for their performance.
Finally, on replay, my stance is that it should be used as an aid to help umpires, not a crutch for them to lean on. I do not believe managers should have challenges or that a replay official should signal down to the field everytime he wants to review a call. The goal is not to prolong the game but to get an obvious call right. There should be one replay official, onsite, set up to reverse any call that was obviously misjudged. If a replay official cannot make a judgment before the next pitch is thrown, something that takes an eternity in baseball, the call on the field should stand. Let’s make it simple, get the calls right, and keep the game moving.
Replay, though, is not the most pressing issue facing the calling of games in baseball right now. Bud Selig and the rest of Major League Baseball need to ensure that they have the best possible and most well-trained umpires in the world officiating their games. They should take that from someone who has been there himself.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Lakers-Celtics Living Up to Expectations
The Lakers and Celtics are tied at one game apiece after two games at Staples Center in LA, and we could not have asked for a better start to the series. We have had it all, from fantastic performances (Kobe in game one, Rondo and Ray Allen in game two), goat performances (too many to mention, headlined by Ron Artest in game two), coaching adjustments, trash-talking, celebrity sightings, you name it and the NBA Finals have had it so far.
As the series shifts to Boston it has also gone much the way I thought it would so far with the Lakers being pushed by a strong crowd and a great Kobe performance in game one to the Celtics being fueled by the Rondo-Allen backcourt in game two, their biggest advantage in this series. These are not the same two teams from 2008. The Celtics were the bigger, stronger team in ’08 who had a huge advantage in the front court while the Fisher-Kobe backcourt was superior to the Celtics’ with a young and overwhelmed Rondo at the point. This year, it has been the Lakers’ frontcourt with the advantage having Pau Gasol as the best player among the bigs and what looks to be a healthy Andrew Bynum patrolling the paint. If the Celtics are going to win this series they are going to need more, a lot more, from Kevin Garnett and Glen Perkins. Luckily for the C’s, Rasheed Wallace and Glen “Big Baby” Davis have helped fill the void and the Lakers have refused to pound the ball into Gasol and Bynum extensively.
Gasol did not attempt a shot in the 4th quarter of game two, this despite finishing the first three quarters with 25 points on 70% shooting and going 11-13 from the free throw line. The talk of Kobe being the best player in the league is once again ridiculous; if he was so great and unselfish he would understand that his team’s biggest mismatch is pounding the ball down low. Yes, Kobe wants to win, but he only wants to win on his terms, hence his eight shots in the fourth quarter to Gasol’s none. Kobe may just be great enough to win this series on his own, or more realistically, with great performances from the rest of his team through three quarters and him taking over in the fourth but it would be much easier on him and his team if they were to attack the Celtics with their strength against Boston’s weakness to this point in the series.
Funny, however, that this has been a fantastic series so far (at least to me) and yet neither team has been clicking on all cylinders. As I mentioned, Boston needs more from their starting frontcourt and definitely needs more from Paul Pierce, who only had 10 points in game two. Los Angeles needs more from Derek Fisher, Lamar Odom and the rest of their bench who were brutal in game two. Odom, in particular, has been a complete no-show so far in this series and is very key to the Lakers’ rotation and flexibility. Ron Artest also went from a great game one to an absolutely awful game two. Whether these guys are able to pick it up or not I think we are in for an incredible series. There are too many stars on the court and too much pride at stake for each of these former champions and I expect a fantastic finish to the series.
As for what happens, I am thinking that the Celtics take two of three from the Lakers at home and we head back to Los Angeles a week from Tuesday with the C’s enjoying a 3-2 series lead. At that point, I would not be surprised by anything that happens with the Lakers having home court for the final two games. I am holding tight with my pre-series prediction of Boston in six, but at this point nothing would surprise me. It is time to sit back, relax, and watch a great series from this point forward.
As the series shifts to Boston it has also gone much the way I thought it would so far with the Lakers being pushed by a strong crowd and a great Kobe performance in game one to the Celtics being fueled by the Rondo-Allen backcourt in game two, their biggest advantage in this series. These are not the same two teams from 2008. The Celtics were the bigger, stronger team in ’08 who had a huge advantage in the front court while the Fisher-Kobe backcourt was superior to the Celtics’ with a young and overwhelmed Rondo at the point. This year, it has been the Lakers’ frontcourt with the advantage having Pau Gasol as the best player among the bigs and what looks to be a healthy Andrew Bynum patrolling the paint. If the Celtics are going to win this series they are going to need more, a lot more, from Kevin Garnett and Glen Perkins. Luckily for the C’s, Rasheed Wallace and Glen “Big Baby” Davis have helped fill the void and the Lakers have refused to pound the ball into Gasol and Bynum extensively.
Gasol did not attempt a shot in the 4th quarter of game two, this despite finishing the first three quarters with 25 points on 70% shooting and going 11-13 from the free throw line. The talk of Kobe being the best player in the league is once again ridiculous; if he was so great and unselfish he would understand that his team’s biggest mismatch is pounding the ball down low. Yes, Kobe wants to win, but he only wants to win on his terms, hence his eight shots in the fourth quarter to Gasol’s none. Kobe may just be great enough to win this series on his own, or more realistically, with great performances from the rest of his team through three quarters and him taking over in the fourth but it would be much easier on him and his team if they were to attack the Celtics with their strength against Boston’s weakness to this point in the series.
Funny, however, that this has been a fantastic series so far (at least to me) and yet neither team has been clicking on all cylinders. As I mentioned, Boston needs more from their starting frontcourt and definitely needs more from Paul Pierce, who only had 10 points in game two. Los Angeles needs more from Derek Fisher, Lamar Odom and the rest of their bench who were brutal in game two. Odom, in particular, has been a complete no-show so far in this series and is very key to the Lakers’ rotation and flexibility. Ron Artest also went from a great game one to an absolutely awful game two. Whether these guys are able to pick it up or not I think we are in for an incredible series. There are too many stars on the court and too much pride at stake for each of these former champions and I expect a fantastic finish to the series.
As for what happens, I am thinking that the Celtics take two of three from the Lakers at home and we head back to Los Angeles a week from Tuesday with the C’s enjoying a 3-2 series lead. At that point, I would not be surprised by anything that happens with the Lakers having home court for the final two games. I am holding tight with my pre-series prediction of Boston in six, but at this point nothing would surprise me. It is time to sit back, relax, and watch a great series from this point forward.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Lakers-Celtics Historical Final Preview
The Lakers-Celtics series kicks off tonight and I cannot remember the last time I have been this excited for a NBA Finals. We have two championship caliber teams; one the champion in 2008 and the other the defending NBA champ. We have at least five potential Hall of Famers (yes, Rondo is that good at this point) on the court. We have bad blood lingering from the 2008 Finals when the Celtics physically bullied the Lakers, namely Pau Gasol, on their way to their first NBA title in over 20 years. Finally, we have the historical aspects of the league’s two marquee franchises dueling in the NBA Finals for the twelfth time, a history that the Celtics own with a 9-2 edge.
I grew up a die-hard Lakers fan. Magic was my favorite player of all-time, I loved “Showtime” and I hated when Bird or anyone else was able to topple my Lakers. I continued to love the Lakers through the Shaq/Kobe era when for the first time we saw what a dominant big man and guard combo could accomplish. The Lakers are still my favorite team, despite my overwhelming fandom for LeBron James, though the luster has certainly worn off, especially after watching Kobe Bryant play me-first basketball for three years in middle of his prime and his still “above-thou” attitude when talking to the media.
This Lakers team is the best in the league when they are clicking on all cylinders, playing defense and feeding the ball into the post. Kobe Bryant is still Kobe Bryant. Gasol is the best offensive big man in the game. Derek Fisher reinvents himself every postseason hitting clutch shot after clutch shot. Ron Artest and Lamar Odom give the Lakers flexibility, defense and more scoring and rebounding options and Andrew Bynum, despite battling a knee injury, is a force down low. That is before we get to quite possibly the best coach of all-time in Phil Jackson. If the Lakers were playing anyone besides the rejuvenated Celtics, it would be easy for me to pick the Lakers in a short series.
The Celtics, however, have rebounded from a terrible regular season to finally make me a believer. It took three series to get here, but I am finally sold. As I wrote Monday, anyone who saw this team play in the regular season could not possibly have seen this coming. They finished the season on a 26-24 “tear”. Yes, two games above .500 over their final fifty games for a team that was completely healthy. They looked slow, old, and quite frankly, past their window. The only players that competed night-in and night-out were Rondo and Pierce. Then a funny thing happened in the playoffs. Garnett and Ray Allen found the fountain of youth. Rasheed Wallace actually started trying. Tony Allen and Glen Davis picked up their play off the bench and all of sudden this team looked much like the 2008 champions, except for one minor detail. Rajon Rondo is a superstar! The guy has played on a level that only Chris Paul, Derron Williams and Steve Nash have played at in recent years. He has been the difference in each of the Celtics’ series so far as nobody has had someone to contain this guy.
So there it is…both teams have the pedigree, the experience, and the talent to win this series. How do we decide? This pains me to say it, but I am going Celtics in six. The Celtics toughness and depth in the front court should be enough to offset Gasol down low and I simply do not think the Lakers have an answer for Rondo at this point. The Lakers home court advantage scares me, as their role players and bench play that much better at home, but in the end Boston is going to be too tough and too physical for the Lakers.
I grew up a die-hard Lakers fan. Magic was my favorite player of all-time, I loved “Showtime” and I hated when Bird or anyone else was able to topple my Lakers. I continued to love the Lakers through the Shaq/Kobe era when for the first time we saw what a dominant big man and guard combo could accomplish. The Lakers are still my favorite team, despite my overwhelming fandom for LeBron James, though the luster has certainly worn off, especially after watching Kobe Bryant play me-first basketball for three years in middle of his prime and his still “above-thou” attitude when talking to the media.
This Lakers team is the best in the league when they are clicking on all cylinders, playing defense and feeding the ball into the post. Kobe Bryant is still Kobe Bryant. Gasol is the best offensive big man in the game. Derek Fisher reinvents himself every postseason hitting clutch shot after clutch shot. Ron Artest and Lamar Odom give the Lakers flexibility, defense and more scoring and rebounding options and Andrew Bynum, despite battling a knee injury, is a force down low. That is before we get to quite possibly the best coach of all-time in Phil Jackson. If the Lakers were playing anyone besides the rejuvenated Celtics, it would be easy for me to pick the Lakers in a short series.
The Celtics, however, have rebounded from a terrible regular season to finally make me a believer. It took three series to get here, but I am finally sold. As I wrote Monday, anyone who saw this team play in the regular season could not possibly have seen this coming. They finished the season on a 26-24 “tear”. Yes, two games above .500 over their final fifty games for a team that was completely healthy. They looked slow, old, and quite frankly, past their window. The only players that competed night-in and night-out were Rondo and Pierce. Then a funny thing happened in the playoffs. Garnett and Ray Allen found the fountain of youth. Rasheed Wallace actually started trying. Tony Allen and Glen Davis picked up their play off the bench and all of sudden this team looked much like the 2008 champions, except for one minor detail. Rajon Rondo is a superstar! The guy has played on a level that only Chris Paul, Derron Williams and Steve Nash have played at in recent years. He has been the difference in each of the Celtics’ series so far as nobody has had someone to contain this guy.
So there it is…both teams have the pedigree, the experience, and the talent to win this series. How do we decide? This pains me to say it, but I am going Celtics in six. The Celtics toughness and depth in the front court should be enough to offset Gasol down low and I simply do not think the Lakers have an answer for Rondo at this point. The Lakers home court advantage scares me, as their role players and bench play that much better at home, but in the end Boston is going to be too tough and too physical for the Lakers.
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