Baseball
I tried. I really did. I tried harder than I did in high school when I was trying to hook up with the prom queen (Chelsea Ruplin, I’m still trying if you’re reading this). Unfortunately, much like in high school, I couldn’t do it. I wanted to write a cheerful, positive column on the upcoming New York Mets season, but the more time I spent thinking about the Metropolitans, the more depressed I became about the 2010 season. For those of you who don’t know what it’s like to be a Mets fan, let me try and paint a picture for you. My friend Devers and I were talking at a party the other night when the conversation shifted to the Mets:
Devers: “Did you hear what happened?”
Me: “No, what?”
Devers: “Wait, this is Mets related, let’s go outside so nobody hears us.”
This led to a discussion on Jose Reyes’s recent thyroid problem and, needless to say, a half hour of what the Costanza’s would call “The Airing of Grievances”. To steal a joke from the great Conan O’Brien (Rest in Peace), the motto has changed from “You Gotta Believe” to “You Gotta Be Kidding Me”. With that out of the way, let’s get on with the preview for CitiField’s second inaugural season.
Key Additions:
- Jason Bay – Coming off a huge year at Fenway, the Mets decided to break the bank on a power hitter, even though they play at one of the least hitter-friendly parks in the MLB. Whether or not he works out, though, is a moot point. The Mets needed another power bat in the middle of the lineup to replace Delgado and they got it.
- Gary Matthews Jr. – Wait, really? This is their second biggest signing? There has to be someone else. Rod Barajas? Moving on…
The Lineup
The biggest story coming out of Spring Training is the possibility of Jose batting in the 3rd spot. This would leave the middle of the order looking like Reyes third, Wright fourth, and Bay fifth. Looks pretty good, no? Well that depends on the health of Reyes, who happens to be more fragile than Samuel L Jackson’s character in ‘Unbreakable’ (I would use the character’s name but I don’t know it. I only watch bad sports teams, not bad movies). I’ll set the over/under on the number of games Reyes plays this year at 60, and I’ll take the under. The only positive thing in the lineup this year was the same as last year: David Wright. Although he had a down year in terms of power, expect big things this year. Look at the equation: Jason Bay as protection + Lower outfield walls at CitiField + Possible steroids scandal = Huge year for Wright. The rest of the lineup? Ho-hum. Angel Pagan, Louis Castillo, Daniel Murphy, Barajas, Matthews Jr…any of those guys scare you? M
e neither.
The Pitching Staff
If Johan Santana felt pressure to win last year, I strongly hope his doctor upped his Xanax prescription this year. Johan needs to win at least 20 games this year or it’s going to be ’09 all over again. Well, if you look at the rest of the staff, we are looking at ’09 all over again. Mike Pelfrey, Oliver Perez, and John Maine; pardon my language and sarcasm but that’s f**king awesome. Mets fans have been waiting for these guys to turn the corner much like hip-hop fans have been waiting for Dr Dre’s new CD. In both cases, it may never happen. On the bright side, Frankie Rodriguez should be solid, as long as he actually gets some save situations.
Prediction:
84-78 Good enough for 3rd Place in the NL East and another year where we miss the playoffs.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go rush out and buy my Rod Barajas jersey before they sell out.
So Big Mac is finally out of the closet. Shocking, I know. I'm long over it, but honestly, how much does it suck that EVERY SINGLE PLAYER I grew up idolizing is practically a proven juicer. All those hundreds of prized rookie cards: Clemens, Bonds, McGwire...all worthless. And I'm not going to even get into those cherished Red Sox World Series memories. Ugh....
Well, to make my point, here's a list of the great ballplayers from my generation, and the degree of steroid suspicion associated with each. Try not to throw up....
*=slight suspicion of steroid use
*****=proof or admittance of steroid use
So all of baseball's '09 prizes are in, are perhaps none were more noteworthy than the MVP and Cy Young Awards by Albert Pujols and Tim Lincecum respectively. There was certainly nothing surprising about these selections; the two absolutely dominated from Opening Day on. The astounding part comes when you look at just what company having won multiple awards put them in. Albert is now one of only 10 players in the history of the game to win a third MVP, and he's only 29! He could easily pile on another three or four. He joins the likes of Joe Dimaggio, Mickey Mantle, and Stan Musial, and has all but punched his ticket to Cooperstown before the age of 30. If he's clean, and we're all hoping to death that he is, we could be talking about the greatest right-handed hitter of the modern era.
As for Lincecum, this is his second straight Cy Young, making him one of fifteen players to ever win multiple awards. Now lets consider the fact that he's only 25. Twenty-freakin-five! Barring a catastrophic injury, which is certainly not out of the question given his unorthodox delivery, this kid could rewrite the record books before his time is up. A closer look at the two prizes:
MVP AWARD
Though some form of the MVP award has been unofficially awarded since 1911, it did not come to take its official present form as voted on by the Baseball Writers of America until 1931.
The balloting instructing mailed out to each voter are as follows:
"There is no clear-cut definition of what Most Valuable means. It is up to the individual voter to decide who was the Most Valuable Player in each league to his team. The MVP need not come from a division winner or other playoff qualifier. The rules of the voting remain the same as they were written on the first ballot in 1931:
- Actual value of a player to his team, that is, strength of offense and defense.
- Number of games played.
- General character, disposition, loyalty and effort.
- Former winners are eligible.
- Members of the committee may vote for more than one member of a team.
You are also urged to give serious consideration to all your selections, from one to ten. A tenth-place vote can influence the outcome of an election. You must fill in all ten places on your ballot. Keep in mind that all players are eligible for MVP, and that includes pitchers and designated hitters. Only regular-season performances are to be taken into consideration."
Players with 3+ MVP Awards
Barry Bonds (7)
Yogi Berra (3)
Roy Campanella (3)
Joe DiMaggio (3)
Jimmie Foxx (3)
Mickey Mantle (3)
Stan Musial (3)
Alex Rodriguez* (3)
Mike Schmidt (3)
Albert Pujols* (3)
Active winners with a shot at a second MVP: Dustin Pedroia, Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer.
CY YOUNG AWARD
The Cy Young Award was named after pitching legend Denton True Young, nicknamed "Cy" for his ability to reach the speeds of a cyclone with his fastball. After Young died in 1955, major league baseball decided to give an award bearing his name to the best pitcher in baseball the following year. Eleven year later, the award was expanded to include a player from both the American and National League.
Representatives from the Baseball Writer's Association of America cast first, second, and third place votes on whom they think is most deserving; the player who receives the highest sum total of points is awarded the prize. (3 for every first place vote, 2 for every second place vote, and 1 for every third place vote)
Multiple Cy Young Award Winners
Roger Clemens (7)
Randy Johnson* (5)
Steve Carlton (4)
Greg Maddux (4)
Sandy Koufax (3)
Pedro Martinez* (3)
Jim Palmer (3)
Tom Seaver (3)
Bob Gibson (2)
Tom Glavine (2)
Tim Lincecum* (2)
Denny McLain (2)
Gaylord Perry (2)
Bret Saberhagen (2)
Johan Santana* (2)
Active winners with a shot at a second Cy Young: Zack Greinke, Cliff Lee, CC Sabathia, Brandon Webb, Chris Carpenter, Roy Halladay, Jake Peavy.
The Gold Glove Award has been presented since 1957 to the best defensive player from each league, as voted on by players and managers. With the 2009 class now in the books (what, no Jacoby?!!), here's a glance at the greatest defensive players from yesterday and today.
The 3,000 hit club is one of the most exclusive and sought-after benchmarks in the game. Currently, there are 27 players that fill its ranks, and nearly all are or will be in the Hall (sorry Pete). Here are the active players that have a shot at finding their way in:
- Ken Griffey (39) 2763
- Derek Jeter (35) 2747
- Ivan Rodriguez (37) 2711
- Omar Vizquel (42) 2704
- Gary Sheffield (40) 2689
- Luis Gonzalez (41) 2591
- Alex Rodriguez (33) 2531
- Garret Anderson (37) 2501
- Manny Ramirez (37) 2494
- Johnny Damon(35) 2425
- Chipper Jones (37) 2406
- Vladimir Guerrero (34) 2249
- Ichiro Suzuki (35) 2030
- Albert Pujols (29) 1717
(Age) Hits to Date
So the Yankees are champions once again. And its about time. After all, think of all those poor eight-year-olds who had never seen their team win it all until now. As the Evil Empire gets just a little bit more evil, adding yet another piece of hardware to the ole trophy case, (excuse me while I throw up) lets see where the rest of us stand in history.
Yankees--Established in 1901, based in NY since 1903. 27 World Championships, 40 Pennants, and $437 trillion spent.- Cardinals--Established in 1881. 10 World Series tites and 17 Pennants.
- Dodgers--Established in 1883, based in LA since 1958. 6 World Series titles and 21 Pennants
- Athletics--Established in 1901, based in Oakland since 1968. 9 World Series titles and 15 Pennants.
- Red Sox--Established in 1901. 7 World Series titles and 12 Pennants
- Giants--Established in 1883, based in San Francisco since 1958. 5 World Series titles and 20 Pennants
- Braves--Established in 1871, based in Atlanta since 1966. 3 World Series titles and 17 Pennants
- Reds--Established in 1869. 5 World Series titles and 9 Pennants
- Pirates--Established in 1882. 5 World Series titles and 9 Pennants
- Tigers--Established in 1894. 4 World Series titles and 10 Pennants
From the Onion
"Teammates Fully Support Jonathan Papelbon's Claim That Playoff Loss Was His Fault
BOSTON—Every member of the Boston Red Sox stood behind teammate Jonathan Papelbon during clubhouse interviews Sunday, vociferously defending the embattled reliever's assertion that the team's first-round sweep by the Angels was entirely his fault. "Pap is one of the best in the game, and if he says he single-handedly blew the series, then I'm with him," said second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who agreed that the closer's Game 3 ninth-inning meltdown was "100 percent on Papelbon." "Sometimes you have a bad day, and sometimes that bad day ruins an entire year's worth of work in the blink of an eye. I'm happy to go to war with a man who knows when he fails so totally and completely." Though Papelbon expressed appreciation for his teammates' backing, he did mention that he never actually said anything like that."
www.theonion.com
To use the latest Onion as another jumping off point, I feel like I gotta weigh on all the Papelbon talk. No doubt, Papelbon's meltdown to conclude game 3 and with it the 2009 season was painful to watch, an ugly blight on a largely exceptional career. But this should by no means signal the dawn of the Bard-era in Boston, which I have heard more than one fickle Sox fan suggest over the last baseball-less week. Lest we forget, up until the 9th inning of game 3, Pap had let up exactly zero earned runs in postseason play, a domineering streak of 26 innings through seven series with the Red Sox. The guy has a career line of 151 saves, a 1.84 era, and .98 whip, which, in case theres any doubt, is insane. For those thinking that a little offseason shopping is the answer, I ask who out there is even on Papelbons level. An aging Mariano Rivera? Good luck. Dido for Joe Nathan. Jonathan Broxton is undeniably nasty and up for free agency, but his era is stillover half a point higher than Papelbon, and he's pitching in a crappy division in the AAAA National League. Daniel Bard is good, someday maybe even great. But Jonathan Papelbon is THE BEST CLOSER IN BASEBALL. He's got that tenacity and killer instinct that was made to close ballgames, all the more so in the life and death environment of Fenway Park. He could stand to rely a little less on the fastball, but the guy is still a beast. He deserves to be in Boston for years to come. Don't let one blown save make you forget it.
Epic and then some. That was last nights Twins-Tigers showdown, easily one of the best games I've ever seen...and I didnt even have a horse in the race. It was probably the best case scenario for the Yankees (worst case if your a Sox fan) as now the Twins bullpen is toast. But man, poor Detroit. Just brutal. The Pistons' window has closed, the Lions are, well, the Lions, and now the Tigers blow the dream in one of the most heartbreaking finishes of all time. Could there be city more in need of a lift? Detroit just can't seem to get any production going (sorry Adam). Not that Miggy didnt deserve it what with his latest escapade ("al-co-hol-ic!") but give these fans a break. (Might we soon be seeing another to join the ranks of Detroit's unemployed?) Anyways here are my picks:
Phills over Rockies in 3
Cards over Dodgers in 5
Yanks over Twins in 4
Sox over Halos in 5
