STRASBURG STUNS IN PITCHING DEBUT

June 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment

By Alex

I’ve been watching sports for an awful long time and seen, like many people older than I, many great athletes come and go. I’ve witnessed phenoms take different sports either by storm or by whimper. 

Over time, one naturally becomes skeptical of over hyped athletes. Living up to hype is practically an impossible task. I remember reading an article about Bruce Springsteen during his first concert to Europe. Plastered all over the Hammersmith-Odeon venue were posters of him promising patrons an unforgettable rock journey. Springsteen later told  the story of how the posters posed needless additional pressure and tore them down.

Nothing hurts a performing person in whatever field more than not measuring up to a media driven promise. 

In sports we’ve seen Tony Mandarich and Lebron James and everything in between.  

That being said, I don’t recall a more hyped up athlete (Eric Lindros maybe?) than Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg. So high were the expectations one could wonder even if he did pitch well would it satisfy observers?

We won’t have to ponder that question.

In his pitching debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Strasburg’s performance was one for the ages. It was stratospheric in its supremacy as he allowed two earned runs, struck out 14 and issued no walks in seven innings worked. Let me repeat the 14ks and 0 walks. All under 100 pitches; 96 I believe.

He came up one strike short of the all-time record for a pitching debut held by both Karl Spooner and J.R. Richard who each pitched a full nine innings. Judging by how Strasburg was dictating the pace of the game – literally. The game had barely been two hours old by the time he was done – it’s not a stretch to think he could have beaten the record.

I don’t know why, but for some reason, he reminded me of Steve Carlton, Doc Gooden and Pedro Martinez – all rolled into one.   

His change up was clocked at 91 mph, a lethal curve at close to 80 mph and fast ball that hit 100 mph. Such was his nasty dominance.

Granted, it’s but one game. The hype machine can yet still sink its fangs (through injuries for example) and claim another young career. However, you can be forgiven for thinking not with this guy. No way.


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St. Jeter Canonized By SI; Woods Sees Frogs In The Forest

December 3, 2009 By Leave a Comment

By Beaker

I’d like to comment on a couple of things: St. Jeter and Horny Woods.

Heard a celebrity PR, damage control expert (now there’s a gig. Like being a “life coach.” I gotta tell ya, if you need a coach to make you live you have problems. I digress) make the following assertion about the useless Tiger Woods story:

“You have to remember good people do bad things.”

That seems like a reasonable thing to say. But after you let the fumes of the paint primer exit your brain, you come to the realization it’s a silly line of thinking.

Good people don’t do bad things. Bad people do.  Good people tend to avoid things like driving 100 in a 30 zone, murder and adultery.

Woods knew what he was doing. He was having an affair. It doesn’t make him bad. Just weak of the flesh and guilty of being stupid. So much for his mental toughness. He may be mentally tough on a lousy golf course but the game of life demands a different kind of inner strength. It also makes him, like every man alive, horny; perhaps perpetually. Who knows and I sure don’t care. Whatever it may be, he has to face the music.

Buh-bye.

What a lame story. It’s a story because people live vicariously through celebrities. They make up all sorts of neat, if not unrealistic, images of the person in their minds (because, you know, they want to believe in role models) and go bat-shit when they find out their…human. The news  network machine, slaves to celebrity gossip now, jump on the story knowing the pathetic psychological state of its viewership and make it a “headline.”

It brings me to something a buddy, not particularly known for his adherence to moral epitaphs and philosophical thought, once said, “You want a role model? Believe in yourself.”

That’s great advice people can use.

***

Derek Jeter (cue Ave Maria or Handel’s Messiah) was named sportsmen of the year by Sports Illustrated. Nothing wrong with that. He had a great year. Chase Utley (or Albert Pujols) never had a prayer. New York is the market when it comes to baseball.

Watch the hyperbole come in…wait….it’s coming…NOW!

“This verifies my idea that he is on the level of Ruth and Gehrig,” McDonell said. “He’s the greatest shortstop in the history of the game.”

I’m sure SI Group Editor Terry McDonnell knows his sports, but really.

8790 004 7DF5BD20 St. Jeter Canonized By SI; Woods Sees Frogs In The Forest

Wagner: We got your back

No, he’s not. It’s as simple as that. He may have surpassed those two baseball titans in sheer numbers on a couple of stats but Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig are two of the greatest players to ever play the game.

In case he forgot, how soon we all forget Pittsburgh Pirates legendary SS Honus Wagner – who until the arrival of St. Jeter was acknowledged by most experts as the greatest SS ever. I would settle for the best SS in Yankees history which is nothing to sneer at. But spare me lumping him with Ruth and Gehrig.

Then again, some may claim Jeter is not even the best shorts stop on the Yankees – Alex Rodriguez is. They’d have a point.

About that:

“McDonell was impressed by Jeter’s leadership, how he “stepped in and molded a team” this spring with the arrival of three expensive free agents, and Alex Rodriguez’s admission to using steroids from 2001-03 and then having hip surgery that kept him out until May.”

I like the way the media always tries to make A-Rod Jeter’s gimp. Yeah, I know how disliked A-Rod is along with the fact he used steroids and is considered to be a fake to some, but  A-Rod had a wicked season. It’s possible without him they don’t win the World Series.

About Jeter’s leadership. Measuring leadership is a fool’s game. Not that saying he’s a great leader is wrong. There’s enough evidence to suggest he is. However, perspective is needed from time to time. I seem to remember a period between 2000-2008 where his molding floundered. I also remember when he didn’t stick up for A-Rod like he did for Giambi. His leadership is selective. Just saying.

Jeter is a great, great ball player. A player who seems to have an uncanny ability to be at the right place at the right time (cue Handel’s Messiah again) permitting him to make all sorts of “wow” kind of plays. He had a great year and is beloved by New Yorkers. All he has is deserved.

BUT. He’s not on the level of the aforementioned players.

I know this is blasphemy to say. Meh.


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Stats Corner: A Most Amazing Accomplishment

September 7, 2009 By 3 Comments

Some statistics are just that impressive.

Consider Derek Jeter who sits just three hits behind Lou Gehrig on the New York Yankees all-time list. Jeter has 2718 hits in 2115 at-bats while Gehrig needed 2164 to knock in his 2721. So Jeter will likely have done it in less at-bats – I doubt he’ll go into a severe slump.

Note: Figures above originally published in error: not at-bats but games played. We regret the error and the person responsible has been killed.

Jeter has had to surpass the likes of Babe Ruth (3rd), Mickey Mantle (4th), Joe DiMaggio (6th), Yogi Berra (8th); names revered in Yankees folklore.

His contemporary and team mate during the Yankees dynasty of the 1990s,, Bernie Williams, sits in a 5th spot with 2336. Imagine that.

If he stays healthy, Jeter will become the first Yankee to reach 3000 hits.

***

I was looking over the list of hit leaders by team and a couple hit me:

An American of French-Canadian heritage, Napoleon Lajoie remains the Cleveland Indians all-time leader with 2046. Lajoie played early in the 20th century, when it was still fashionable (I’m guessing) to name your kid Napoleon. Prior to this it was Charlemagne. I kid.

In any event, it’s been a long-time sits the Indians have had a new chief, cough, in town.

Another one that hit me – deliberate pun notwithstanding – was Ty Cobb’s 3900 hits for the Detroit Tigers. I know we should never say never but man, that’s going to be one tough record to crack.

It’s like the Edmonton Oilers and the records Wayne Gretzky owns.

I wonder how many more Roberto Clemente would have clocked. He’s the all-time Pittsburgh Pirates leader with 3000. These are rough times for the Pirates, what, with them having the most consecutive losing seasons with 17 of all the four major pro sports in North America. They passed the Philadelphia Phillies who held that record for 16 straight seasons from 1933-1948. Good times for Philadelphia, eh?

The all-time hits leader and eternally wallowing in baseball purgatory, Pete Rose leads the Cincinnati Reds with 3358.

dCtYca4o Stats Corner: A Most Amazing Accomplishment

T'es encore cool, Eli!

As for the Canadian (teams) Tony Fernandez leads with 1583 for the Toronto Blue Jays. That record should fall at some point. Too bad Roy Halladay can’t hit.

And my beloved Expos – now Nationals – were led by one of my favorite Expos ever Tim Wallach with 1694 hits.


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MLB Power Rankings

April 27, 2009 By 2 Comments

By Rebecca Glass

This Purist Bleeds Pinstripes

So of course I hope you all understand why I didn’t get to these last week, but hopefully, now, they are back on track!

We didn’t learn a whole lot this week, except that the Florida Marlins early success was probably more of a reflection on the pitiful Nationals, and the Toronto Blue Jays are starting to turn heads.

30. Washington Nationals: Yesterday was their first road win since last season. I don’t know if any of you caught Saturday’s game, but watching Elijah Dukes play CF in the bright sun with the glasses on his cap, instead of on his face, kind of says it all.

29. Arizona Diamondbacks: What happens when you’re second to last in the league in the ‘runs scored’ category and dead last in run differential? You have a 7-11 record, and are really, really lucky it’s not any worse.

28. Colorado Rockies: Right now the only other team besides Washington without at least seven wins. Having just played the Dodgers probably didn’t help matters, but their run differential is only -6, so the record is perhaps worse than the team is playing.

27. San Francisco Giants: Raise your hand if you’re surprised that, at having scored 60 runs, this team is dead last in runs scored. Yeah, me neither. However, some sort of pitching thing (I’m a Yankee fan, I don’t understand what this pitching is all about) means that they’ve only allowed 67 run. If the offense can figure out even a mild hot streak, this team could shoot up the rankings. It’s a huge if.

evan longoria rays 0420081 267x300 MLB Power Rankings

One Hit Wonders?

26. Houston Astros: This team just isn’t very good. They are third to last in runs scored and have a can’t-ignore-it run differential of -19. They’re better than they were last week, but this far down the rankings such things are moral victories, only.

25. Cleveland Indians: The offense woke up against the Yankees, and I’m not sure anyone really doubted this team’s ability to hit (although, face it, even the Giants would have been teeing off of Chien Ming Wang). However, the pitching is still shallow-and as long as Carl Pavano has a job it’ll be hard to get me to say otherwise.

24. Anaheim Angels: Angels fans must be so amused at the cute little Yankee fans talking about being bitten by the injury bug. The Angels haven’t just been bitten; they’ve been mauled by a white tiger, torn to shreds and spit back out again. If I didn’t have a deep, ingrained hatred for a team that always beats the Yankees and never beats the Sox when it matters, I’d feel bad for these guys.

23. Oakland Athletics: Chicks dig the long ball. Oakland ain’t hitting any long balls. Thus, I do not dig Oakland. Jason Giambi got a very nice reception when he returned to Yankee Stadium, however.

22. Tampa Bay Rays: It’s not so much that Tampa Bay is necessarily playing poorly as it is that everything went right last year. Even when things didn’t go right-like Crawford getting hurt-they went right, and Tampa didn’t suffer at all. Thus far, the bullpen has come back to earth, and trading Edwin Jackson looks like it may have been a mistake.

21. Milwaukee Brewers: It’s tempting to say that this is a better team than their record indicates, but with no Ben Sheets and no CC Sabathia, and Jeff Suppan still pitching, I’m not quite so sure that’s the case. They’re still a ton of fun to watch, however.

20. New York Mets: There’s Johan Santana, now with bullpen-proof guarantee ™, and then there’s everyone else. If the team could have Santana pitching every three days instead of every five, this team would do it and I can’t really blame them. David Wright is a defensive stud at third. Then again, compared to Angel Berroa…

19. Texas Rangers: Nothing new here-all hitting, no pitching. The Yankees could probably take a real good lesson from the people deep in the heart of Texas. You don’t pitch, you won’t win.

18. Baltimore Orioles: When the O’s decide they want to figure out where it all went wrong, they only have to look to blowing a 7-0 lead at Fenway. Even Matt Wieters can’t pitch.

17. Atlanta Braves: Are here because while Minnesota is about to get their superstar back and the Yankees not too far away either, the Braves just lost theirs, and I just lost the starting catcher on two of my fantasy teams. I swear I’m cursed when it comes to fantasy baseball. Really.

16. Minnesota Twins: Here’s an analogy for you: Joe Mauer : Minnesota :: Martin Brodeur : New Jersey Devils. They really can’t wait to get Mauer back, but they shouldn’t have to wait much longer.

15. New York Yankees: The offense is mostly fine–they’ve scored less than four runs only twice–but the pitching…

It’s not so much as that they’re pitching as that they’re trying to toss the ball somewhere in the basic vicinity of home plate and praying the umpire is kind. Nick Swisher’s leading the team in ERA (okay, okay…), but on a more serious note, the best pitching effort this weekend came from Mark Melancon, who, stud or not, was making his MLB debut…at Fenway Park.

1979jun 228x300 MLB Power Rankings

Pirates Get Their Power And Pride Back

14. Chicago White Sox: Are here because they are the last team left on my list. Talk about being (relatively) non-descript, huh?

13. Kansas City Royals: Zach Grienke is a stud, and now 29 other teams all wish they had traded for him in the off season, when the price was still low. He allowed a run on Friday, but it was unearned, so his 0.00 ERA remains in tact. Even Cliff Lee wasn’t this good last season.

12. Chicago Cubs: Don’t really belong this far down, but they didn’t show up in St. Louis until the last game of that series. They’re a better team than that, however, so I imagine the double-digit stay is only a temporary thing.

11. Philadelphia Phillies: They’ve finally seemed to find the stroke they had last season, although Jaime Moyer is still not being Jaime Moyer. Still, while the Mets are struggling, the Braves hobbled by injuries and the Marlins reeling, it’s not quite the end of the world if the Phils struggle for a game or two.

10. San Diego Padres: No, I don’t know how they’re 10-8 either, but they’re the only other team with double-digit wins. It still counts. I still wouldn’t expect it to last, however.

9. Cincinnati Reds: Hey, well, they are 10-8, and getting great pitching from Johnny Cueto, while Aaron Harang is back to his old self. It still remains to be seen, however, if they’ll be able to compete with the Cubs and Cardinals once August rolls around.

8. Florida Marlins: They’ve come back to earth, gotten swept by the Pirates and lost big to the Phillies yesterday. It’s too early to tell which version of the Marlins is more representative, but given how bad the Nationals are, it’s more likely the post 8-1 start Marlins that we’ll see for the rest of the season.

7. Pittsburgh Pirates: Yeah, you read that right. This team is getting beyond stellar pitching. Everyone’s waiting for them to come crashing back to earth, like Toronto, but it hasn’t happened yet. How much longer do we wait?

6. Detroit Tigers: Looks like the offense that was supposed to score 1,000 runs last year finally showed up. Armando Gallaraga seems to have been quite the find, that move that’s supposed to yield nothing and instead means everything. He must be having the time of his life.

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Best Player In Baseball?

5. Seattle Mariners: Seattle is playing now like everyone thought they would last year, like they do have a $100 million+ payroll. It probably helps that the rest of the division is struggling, leaving room wide open for the Mariners to sneak through, and they are taking all sorts of advantage.

4. St. Louis Cardinals: Two words: Albert Pujols. Last night I suggested that watching Melky Cabrera hit was like watching a rat-infested ship head to Sicily in 1347 (extra points if you get the reference). Watching Pujols is like watching Michaelangelo on his back painting the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel.

3. LA Dodgers: The most impressive thing about the Dodgers is that they are more or less doing this without much help from Manny. Joe Torre, for once, is trusting his young players, and the payoff is an early season division lead.

2. Boston Red Sox: Boston makes quite the jump this week, but that’s what happens when you win ten straight games. They should probably not have won Saturday and definitely should not have won Friday, but when a team is on a roll, it’s on a roll. Kevin Youkilis and Jason Bay are Yankee Killers, apparently. Jacoby Ellsbury’s steal of home yesterday says it all, really.

1. Toronto Blue Jays: This team won’t stop winning. April’s still too early to ask if a team’s ‘for real’ -look at what happened to Arizona last season-but the fact is they’re doing all this while their starting pitching has been devastated by injuries. Which begs the question, of course, if these guys are this good now, what happens when their starting pitching comes back?


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Oh, Bay! Jason Being Jason

October 4, 2008 By 2 Comments

A man with a stick made of wood from Canada is making noise in Boston. And he’s not even a hockey player! Instead, he’s a baseball player who goes by the name of Jason Bay.

137788 Oh, Bay! Jason Being JasonWhen the Red Sox traded Manny Ramirez (some say they had no choice given his behavior) they gave up on one of the most feared sluggers in the game today – if not of our generation. There was no way they were going to replace his monstrous numbers. They were magnificent to the Sox but macabre to fans across the American League – to say nothing of opposing pitchers.

To “offset” some of that lost production, Boston went and traded for Jason Bay of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Bay is a solid all-around ball player but how was he going to adapt in Beantown?

It turns out pretty well.

Since being traded to the Sox, Bay hit .293 with nine home runs, .370 OBP and a .527 slugging in 49 games. Not Manny-like production but definitely productive.

So far in two playoff games against the LA-Anaheim Angels, Bay is leading the Boston team in hitting .556 with two HRs and five RBI’s. He’s doing his bit to destroy Anaheim’s already tenuous self-esteem. In case you haven’t heard, the Angels are now 0-11 against Boston in the post-season. Damn you demented Devil!

How is Manny doing in Los Angeles playing for the Dodgers anyway?

In 53 games he hit .396 with 17 HR’s and 53 RBIs. His OBP was .489 and slugging a sick .743.

Just sick.

Thus far in the playoffs Manny is hitting .500 with 2 HRs and 3 RBI’s. Hey, looka-that; Bay is leading him!

I hear they’re making a sequel to Being John Malkovich. It’s called Being Manny Ramirez.

In any event, both players have helped their respective teams down the stretch.


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