Bobby Cox does it again, and leaves a tiring starting pitcher in, one inning too many. Chuck James struggles to get out of the sixth inning, and watches his lead disintegrate and vanish when Chad Paronto raises his hand and accepts the role as "currently unreliable Braves relief pitcher."
A pitcher must know when they fuck up, when Dmitri Young is able to score from first base.
Anyway, this weekend, I am going out to Boston for some fun, food, and of course baseball. I paid a ludicrous amount, but I have tickets to Sunday's game at the hallowed grounds of Fenway Park, as my Atlanta Braves take on the Inferior League's Boston Red Sox for a three-game series.
The game I will be going to will be Tim Hudson vs. Tim Wakefield, which will be an interesting match-up - Andruw Jones, provided he sheds his coat of sucktitude and stop striking out like Adam Dunn blindfolded, can actually have the chance to steal some bases against the slow pitching knuckleballer. Hudson, will hopefully perform brilliantly, and then it will be a lull every time Wakefield takes the mound.
Unfortunately, I was unable to get tickets to the highly anticipated John Smoltz vs. Daisuke Matsuzaka matchup on Saturday - I'd put my money on Dice-K, since as is the usual MO, Young-Unproven Pitcher vs. John Smoltz usually results in a loss for the future Hall of Famer.
However, the biggest problem with this weekend is that the Yankees will be playing the Mets. I dislike both teams, and although the answer is quite simple, I don't like it regardlessly. I will have to pull for the Yankees, so that they can help the Braves regain the top spot in the NL East. Unfortunately, the way those teams are playing, I forsee Jose Reyes having a field day with the Yankees, and the Mets taking that series winning at least two of the three games.
As for the Braves, I'm hoping for a 2/3 series win, seeing as how Friday's game is a toss up in the air, with the Lerew vs. Player-to-be-Named-Later/Cash matchup, Smoltz likely losing Saturday, and Hudson hopefully getting the win on Sunday, but all in all, I'm more looking forward to actually being at Fenway Park.
But with the way Andruw Jones is playing, the Braves will probably get swept. Here's how I would put the batting order to help teach Andruw how to earn his money again:
1. K. Johnson
2. W. Harris
3. E. Renteria
4. C. Jones
5. B. McCann
6. J. Francoeur
7. A. Jones
8. S. Thorman
9. Pitcher
DH (for Interleague): J. Saltalamacchia
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Chris Broussard is an idiot
I was at the gym, running on the treadmill, watching SportsCenter as is the norm, while I am at the gym. "The Fag," Jay Mariotti was having a one-on-one chat with some nobody whose name I occasionally recognize on the ESPN website, Chris Broussard.
They're "discussing" the recent incidents involving King Gravy Train AKA Robert Horry hip checking Steve Nash, and the subsequent suspensions of Horry, Stoudemire and Boris Diaw. Same shit, different voices, Horry did it deliberately, Nash sold it like he was hit with the foreign object, and so forth.
But then out of nowhere, Broussard pulls the one card that had absolutely no involvement whatsoever in this argument.
The Race Card.
Obviously, the suspension of three black players is the NBA's way of oppressing black basketball players. Who shouldn't be playing in the white man's NBA Playoffs.
The last time I checked, Bruce Bowen, Shawn Marion, Michael Finley, James Jones, among the many others riding the pine are all black men.
Who are not suspended.
Who will be playing in the next game.
Oh yeah, Horry's hip check has everything to do with race.
Chris Broussard, go fuck yourself, you racist piece of shit.
They're "discussing" the recent incidents involving King Gravy Train AKA Robert Horry hip checking Steve Nash, and the subsequent suspensions of Horry, Stoudemire and Boris Diaw. Same shit, different voices, Horry did it deliberately, Nash sold it like he was hit with the foreign object, and so forth.
But then out of nowhere, Broussard pulls the one card that had absolutely no involvement whatsoever in this argument.
The Race Card.
Obviously, the suspension of three black players is the NBA's way of oppressing black basketball players. Who shouldn't be playing in the white man's NBA Playoffs.
The last time I checked, Bruce Bowen, Shawn Marion, Michael Finley, James Jones, among the many others riding the pine are all black men.
Who are not suspended.
Who will be playing in the next game.
Oh yeah, Horry's hip check has everything to do with race.
Chris Broussard, go fuck yourself, you racist piece of shit.
Moneyball is Overrated
Billy Beane might be the hero to many bloggers and sportswriters, but he isn’t to me. The main theory of moneyball is that defense and speed don’t matter. It doesn’t matter if a base runner goes station to station just as long as he has a good OBP. It also doesn’t matter that he can’t field his position and has 20 errors a year. The theory is that errors, stolen bases, and good defensive plays don’t make as much of a difference over the course of a season as getting on base and extra base hits. Extra base hits and high OBP are nice, and the moneyball theory has been proven right over the course of a season. But the goal of sports is to win a championship. Something moneyball has never done.
The flaw in the theory is that while over the course of a regular season stolen bases, errors, and good defensive plays don’t matter, in the post-season they can change a game. The post-post season is about winning one game at a time and ultimately a series. One great defensive play can give a team momentum that can be carried into the next game and for the rest of the series. In the post-season a team doesn’t face a number 5 starter, and they rarely face a number 4. When facing the best pitching in the league scoring runs is at a premium. One of the best ways is to manufacture a run, something moneyball is against. If a guy hits a lead-off double late in a 1-1 game the next hitter should be bunting, if the lead-off guy gets on base by a walk or single he should try and steal, and the hitters need to give themselves up to get the run in. Of course a three run homer is better than a sac fly, but how many three run homers do you think Johan Santana is going to give up?
So until the A’s get some rings on their fingers then moneyball is a failure, and those who practice it, fools.
The flaw in the theory is that while over the course of a regular season stolen bases, errors, and good defensive plays don’t matter, in the post-season they can change a game. The post-post season is about winning one game at a time and ultimately a series. One great defensive play can give a team momentum that can be carried into the next game and for the rest of the series. In the post-season a team doesn’t face a number 5 starter, and they rarely face a number 4. When facing the best pitching in the league scoring runs is at a premium. One of the best ways is to manufacture a run, something moneyball is against. If a guy hits a lead-off double late in a 1-1 game the next hitter should be bunting, if the lead-off guy gets on base by a walk or single he should try and steal, and the hitters need to give themselves up to get the run in. Of course a three run homer is better than a sac fly, but how many three run homers do you think Johan Santana is going to give up?
So until the A’s get some rings on their fingers then moneyball is a failure, and those who practice it, fools.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Chris Reitsma's cousins are dorks
So this past weekend, I made a trip out to Seattle, Washington for a weekend of some fun with friends, in a city that I've never been to before. Naturally, being the manly, baseball-loving man that I am, I prearranged an evening for my two friends and I to take an evening out to Safeco Field, to watch some Seattle Mariners baseball. Luck would have it, they would be taking on the mighty New York Yankees that evening.
Despite the fact that I firmly believe that AL baseball is inferior to NL baseball, I can't discriminate in my ultimate goal to eventually make my way to every single major league ballpark in America. Besides, with Jose Vidro serving as the DH for the Mariners, it's not like they've got a premier bat to hit in place of the pitcher.
Safeco Field is a beautiful ballpark, with nice big seats, a huge variety of eateries, albeit a little exploitative towards their Asian audience, but with good Northwestern Red Hook brew, and a park specialty in their Garlic-Salt French Fries.
Matt DeSalvo vs. Miguel Batista - prior to the game, I had to give the nudge to Seattle's starter, against the untested rookie. And after the first inning, it looked like it would be a ball game, as Batista left the first unscathed, and the Mariners were only hindered by a double-play, by the King of GIDP, Jose Vidro. There is nobody to feel sorrier for than Suzuki Ichiro, because he always gets on base; Safeco made a good point to point out Ichiro's 42 consecutive steals, and the reason for that is simple - if Ichiro doesn't get of that first bag, then there's a high probability that Vidro is going to slap down one of his trademark GIDPs.
Anyway, I made the dubious mistake to seek food in the top of the 2nd inning, because it was then that Batista had a meltdown and allowed the Yankees to score five runs. He would allow two more runs, before being lifted for Eric O'Flaherty, who admirably pitched 4.2 innings of scoreless ball.
But the real story began in the bottom of the 8th inning, when the Mariners made another call to the bullpen. Out comes ...
Chris Reitsma.
Time out.
I am from Atlanta. I cheer for the Atlanta Braves. Two years ago, John Smoltz made the critical shift from dominant closer back to being a dominant starting pitcher. To fill the void that Smoltz left in the tail end of the bullpen, the Braves acquired seemingly effective former-Milwaukee closer, in Dan Kolb.
Well, that didn't last long.
Kolb(b) became notorious for walking the first batter he faced in every save situation, and subsequently blew 165 save opportunities in a 162-game season. By mid-season he had a major fallout with the Atlanta organization, and was pretty much kicked out. For the remainder of the 2005 season, the Braves put together a sloppy closer-by-committee, which was helmed by the unreliable Chris Reitsma. This forced the starters to go deeper into games, and forced the offense to provide enough run support to build a hefty cushion for the suspect bullpen to protect towards the ends of the games. By the time the season ended, trade-deadline acquisition Kyle Farnsworth proved to be reliable enough to go 10/10 on save chances in the remainder of the regular season. Ironically, it was Reitsma who led the team in saves with 15. As a whole, the team generated a paltry 38 saves. To put it in perspective, Washington Nationals closer, Chad Cordero put up 47 saves, by himself. In the end, Farnsworth proved to be crap, and gave up a grand-slam and a game-tying homer to the Houston Astros in that season's NLDS, who ended up winning in 18-innings off of a walk-off homerun from Joey Devine. The humiliation of sucking so much was obviously too much for Farnsworth who immediately bolted at the end of the year to become Mariano Rivera's jock-sniffer in the Inferior League.
So that left Chris Reitsma by default, for the closing duties in the 2006 season. That, didn't last long either, as he was inconsistent, unreliable, and I have vivid memories of him blowing a gigantic lead in Wrigley Field against the fucking Cubs. Yet another committee-bullpen arose, featuring losers such as Mike Remlinger, Ken Ray, Jorge Sosa, Chad Paronto, and Macay McBBride, to blow saves until Bob Wickman was acquired at the trade-deadline to actually bring some stability to the bullpen.
Resume Game.
So the bottom line is that Chris Reistma sucks. So Chris Reitsma is called out of the bullpen, and it takes me no time at all to start hurling the obscenities and taunts from the upper deck, since I'm sure he'll be able to hear me from 300 feet away. While I was jeering, there were four individuals that were cheering. Are they serious? Cheering for... Chris Reitsma?
Anyway, I kept up the insults, even as he let two base runners get on. Eventually, they looked back at me and attempted to get me to shut up. Why the hell should I?
"He's my cousin!"
Chris Reitsma's cousin.
I was cheering for the Mariners the entire game, but after hearing that, there was nothing more I wanted to see than to see a Yankee, ANY Yankee to tee off on Reitsma, just to prove a point. I jeered and taunted, until they asked me what my beef was with Reitsma - I spun my Braves cap around my head, so they could see the Atlanta A, and I yelled to them,
"I'm from ATLANTA - he's going to give up six home runs!!"
And to this, they had no more response. Apparently, they realize that I have a first-hand memory to his total sucktitude, and they had no more argument - they made some comment about how I was drunk (far from it), and turned their backs to me and proceeded to attempt to concentrate on the game, while I began to hurl my insults towards them instead.
"If you're his COUSIN, how come your seats suck so much???" I seriously thought player family got somewhat better seats than the upper deck.
"I see you're wearing his jersey!!!" They were wearing blank Seattle Mariners away jerseys with no names or numbers on it.
Unfortunately for me, despite allowing two base runners, Reitsma managed to get out of the inning, and surprisingly even striking out Alex Rodriguez to end the inning. The alleged cousins had no rebuttal, despite the free hits they earned by their so-called cousin getting out of the jam.
The rest of the game was relatively uneventful, but was redeemed in the end, when Mariano Rivera delivered the cutter to Jose Vidro who promptly grounded it to Derek Jeter who ended the game with the GIDP. Yankees win, 7-2.
Despite the fact that I firmly believe that AL baseball is inferior to NL baseball, I can't discriminate in my ultimate goal to eventually make my way to every single major league ballpark in America. Besides, with Jose Vidro serving as the DH for the Mariners, it's not like they've got a premier bat to hit in place of the pitcher.
Safeco Field is a beautiful ballpark, with nice big seats, a huge variety of eateries, albeit a little exploitative towards their Asian audience, but with good Northwestern Red Hook brew, and a park specialty in their Garlic-Salt French Fries.
Matt DeSalvo vs. Miguel Batista - prior to the game, I had to give the nudge to Seattle's starter, against the untested rookie. And after the first inning, it looked like it would be a ball game, as Batista left the first unscathed, and the Mariners were only hindered by a double-play, by the King of GIDP, Jose Vidro. There is nobody to feel sorrier for than Suzuki Ichiro, because he always gets on base; Safeco made a good point to point out Ichiro's 42 consecutive steals, and the reason for that is simple - if Ichiro doesn't get of that first bag, then there's a high probability that Vidro is going to slap down one of his trademark GIDPs.
Anyway, I made the dubious mistake to seek food in the top of the 2nd inning, because it was then that Batista had a meltdown and allowed the Yankees to score five runs. He would allow two more runs, before being lifted for Eric O'Flaherty, who admirably pitched 4.2 innings of scoreless ball.
But the real story began in the bottom of the 8th inning, when the Mariners made another call to the bullpen. Out comes ...
Chris Reitsma.
Time out.
I am from Atlanta. I cheer for the Atlanta Braves. Two years ago, John Smoltz made the critical shift from dominant closer back to being a dominant starting pitcher. To fill the void that Smoltz left in the tail end of the bullpen, the Braves acquired seemingly effective former-Milwaukee closer, in Dan Kolb.
Well, that didn't last long.
Kolb(b) became notorious for walking the first batter he faced in every save situation, and subsequently blew 165 save opportunities in a 162-game season. By mid-season he had a major fallout with the Atlanta organization, and was pretty much kicked out. For the remainder of the 2005 season, the Braves put together a sloppy closer-by-committee, which was helmed by the unreliable Chris Reitsma. This forced the starters to go deeper into games, and forced the offense to provide enough run support to build a hefty cushion for the suspect bullpen to protect towards the ends of the games. By the time the season ended, trade-deadline acquisition Kyle Farnsworth proved to be reliable enough to go 10/10 on save chances in the remainder of the regular season. Ironically, it was Reitsma who led the team in saves with 15. As a whole, the team generated a paltry 38 saves. To put it in perspective, Washington Nationals closer, Chad Cordero put up 47 saves, by himself. In the end, Farnsworth proved to be crap, and gave up a grand-slam and a game-tying homer to the Houston Astros in that season's NLDS, who ended up winning in 18-innings off of a walk-off homerun from Joey Devine. The humiliation of sucking so much was obviously too much for Farnsworth who immediately bolted at the end of the year to become Mariano Rivera's jock-sniffer in the Inferior League.
So that left Chris Reitsma by default, for the closing duties in the 2006 season. That, didn't last long either, as he was inconsistent, unreliable, and I have vivid memories of him blowing a gigantic lead in Wrigley Field against the fucking Cubs. Yet another committee-bullpen arose, featuring losers such as Mike Remlinger, Ken Ray, Jorge Sosa, Chad Paronto, and Macay McBBride, to blow saves until Bob Wickman was acquired at the trade-deadline to actually bring some stability to the bullpen.
Resume Game.
So the bottom line is that Chris Reistma sucks. So Chris Reitsma is called out of the bullpen, and it takes me no time at all to start hurling the obscenities and taunts from the upper deck, since I'm sure he'll be able to hear me from 300 feet away. While I was jeering, there were four individuals that were cheering. Are they serious? Cheering for... Chris Reitsma?
Anyway, I kept up the insults, even as he let two base runners get on. Eventually, they looked back at me and attempted to get me to shut up. Why the hell should I?
"He's my cousin!"
Chris Reitsma's cousin.
I was cheering for the Mariners the entire game, but after hearing that, there was nothing more I wanted to see than to see a Yankee, ANY Yankee to tee off on Reitsma, just to prove a point. I jeered and taunted, until they asked me what my beef was with Reitsma - I spun my Braves cap around my head, so they could see the Atlanta A, and I yelled to them,
"I'm from ATLANTA - he's going to give up six home runs!!"
And to this, they had no more response. Apparently, they realize that I have a first-hand memory to his total sucktitude, and they had no more argument - they made some comment about how I was drunk (far from it), and turned their backs to me and proceeded to attempt to concentrate on the game, while I began to hurl my insults towards them instead.
"If you're his COUSIN, how come your seats suck so much???" I seriously thought player family got somewhat better seats than the upper deck.
"I see you're wearing his jersey!!!" They were wearing blank Seattle Mariners away jerseys with no names or numbers on it.
Unfortunately for me, despite allowing two base runners, Reitsma managed to get out of the inning, and surprisingly even striking out Alex Rodriguez to end the inning. The alleged cousins had no rebuttal, despite the free hits they earned by their so-called cousin getting out of the jam.
The rest of the game was relatively uneventful, but was redeemed in the end, when Mariano Rivera delivered the cutter to Jose Vidro who promptly grounded it to Derek Jeter who ended the game with the GIDP. Yankees win, 7-2.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Maddux vs. Smoltz
When the 2007 schedule was released for the Atlanta Braves this year, I noticed the four-game series that San Diego was going to have in Atlanta. The first thought that popped into my head when I thought about all the games I planned on attending was that "I want to see Greg Maddux pitch." With four consecutive games, the probability of that happening looked to be great.
Last Friday, I attended the Braves game in which John Smoltz outpitch Brett Tomko, and the Braves took down the Dodgers. Later that evening tuning into SportsCenter, I noticed that Greg Maddux pitched in a losing effort against the Florida Marlins that same day. If both Smoltz and Maddux maintain their five-day rest period, they were going to collide on Wednesday.
It was announced pretty early on this past Monday that it would indeed be John Smoltz vs. Greg Maddux for Wednesday's game. I quickly hit up my connections to see if I could score some tickets for such a special matchup, and fortunately for me, one of them came through.
Match-ups like these don't come around very often. The history that these two pitchers have, along with the Mets' Tom Glavine is historic, especially to those in Atlanta. A World Series, seven Cy Youngs, countless wins, and sheer dominance. Whenever any two of them pair up in a pitcher's duel, it's never really just about team vs. team, it's about friends acting as rivals, in order to one-up the other, to get those all-important bragging rights amongst friends.
Every now and then, a pitcher can skip a day or go a day early in order to pitch on a desired day, but for the most part the scheduling, and the necessity of routine and resting make it harder and harder for that to happen. So it's extremely convenient that Smoltz and Maddux managed to get their matchup lined up as it did.
The game was everything as advertised. Turner Field, which rarely sells out, let alone draw close to it's 50,000 seating capacity was quite packed, even on a school-night for the still-in-session students. As Maddux has aged throughout the years, he has definitely lost a step or two, and on any given night, you might see the aged Maddux who gets rocked in the first-inning and doesn't last too long, or you could see glimpses of vintage Maddux who just precisely dismantles a lineup in the least amount of pitches necessary. As much as I admire Maddux and his accomplishments, I still had to root for the home team, so I was hoping that he would at least give up a run or two, to give me some hope.
Nope, that wasn't happening, at least not in the first. Or second, or third, as Maddux carved up the Braves lineup with typical bait-pitches to make them swing at some garbage on the next pitch that flings right back to his glove, or to Khalil Greene, whom with the rest of the San Diego Padres, I'm beginning to believe has one of the most underrated defenses in the majors.
To make matters worse, it appeared early on that Smoltz was going to drop this one to his senior, as he gave up two solo-homers in the second and third innings, to give Maddux a little cushion. Not only did he give up the homers, he gave up a single to Maddux himself, who in good nature jokingly showed off his balding head prior to pitching. And upon Maddux getting onto first, Turner Field erupted in a massive standing ovation for their former ace.
Fortunately for the Braves fans, Maddux apparently worked himself a little too hard, and the emotions of the day's events evidently begun to get to him in the sixth inning, as he was pulled after only 72 pitches in 5.2 innings pitched. Upon the slow walk to the bullpen, not a single butt was seated as Maddux received his second massive standing ovation, to which he even had to tip his cap towards. It was truly a thing of beauty.
The rest would be history - the Braves would rally against yet another so-called-by-ESPN "impenetrable" bullpen, and beat Cla Meredith like a dead horse, and take the lead in late innings. Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano would slam the door on the Padres, and the game would be over.
John Smoltz gets the win, and Greg Maddux is fortunately left with the no-decision. Against the former Big Three members, Smoltz is now 3-0. Maybe, and I'm hoping that there will be another rematch out in San Diego, when the Braves venture out to Petco Park. Perhaps Maddux will tangle up with Glavine later on this year. And there's no question that Smoltz and Glavine will lock up again, maybe several more times later on this season.
Baseball is a team sport, but occasionally it goes back to being the game that we play with our friends.
Sunday, May 6, 2007
The NBA's Marty Schottenheimer
I wish I were on one of my Las Vegas trips last weekend. I think I'm the only person that called for the Houston Rockets losing the Utah Jazz, despite the fact that the home team has like this ridiculous 80% winning percentage. And there is one reason, and one reason alone that made me believe that Houston was going to lose.
Tracy McGrady.
He has become, basically, the Marty Schottenheimer of the NBA. Meaning, he just can't win in the post-season. Any team with McGrady on it is destined to lose in the NBA Playoffs.
I can't remember off the top of my head, but the furthest a McGrady team had ever advanced in the playoffs was I think the 2001 NBA Playoffs, when the Toronto Raptors went seven games with the eventual Eastern Conference Champion Philadelphia 76ers, but the argument from my end is that the team was hardly McGrady's - it was helmed by his more talented, more successful cousin, Vince Carter, whose 50 point explosion duel with Allen Iverson in the series was one of the most exciting scoring duels in post-season history.
Even when McGrady bitched his way out of Toronto and tried to be the second coming of Penny Hardaway in Orlando, he made it into the playoffs, and got bounced out by the Charlotte Hornets, 3-1.
The next year, and with the introduction of the best-of-seven in the first round, the Magic got a 3-1 series lead on the Detroit Pistons. They proceeded to choke the next three games, and allow the Pistons to go to the Eastern Conference Finals, or it could've been the year they won it all.
A few years ago, the Dallas Mavericks stormed their way into the post-season. Houston jumped all over them, and took a 3-1 series lead against them. Despite the fact that they only had to win one more game, they lost the next three, and losing the pivital game seven by FORTY POINTS. If that doesn't sound like having your heart ripped out and danced over, I don't know what does.
So it's pretty clear why I knew Houston was going to lose this year's opening round as well. When ESPN reporters asked McGrady if it was going to be the most important game of his life, and he responded "nah, I don't think so," I knew he was ready to lose. Not even retracting that statement three hours prior to tip off did little to put out the chances that an choke would be inevitable. The guy just lacks a killer instinct, or leadership skills to drive and inspire his teammates to want to actually destroy their opponents.
Dirk Nowitzki could possibly be capable of holding this title, but he's at least made it past the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
Tracy McGrady.
He has become, basically, the Marty Schottenheimer of the NBA. Meaning, he just can't win in the post-season. Any team with McGrady on it is destined to lose in the NBA Playoffs.
I can't remember off the top of my head, but the furthest a McGrady team had ever advanced in the playoffs was I think the 2001 NBA Playoffs, when the Toronto Raptors went seven games with the eventual Eastern Conference Champion Philadelphia 76ers, but the argument from my end is that the team was hardly McGrady's - it was helmed by his more talented, more successful cousin, Vince Carter, whose 50 point explosion duel with Allen Iverson in the series was one of the most exciting scoring duels in post-season history.
Even when McGrady bitched his way out of Toronto and tried to be the second coming of Penny Hardaway in Orlando, he made it into the playoffs, and got bounced out by the Charlotte Hornets, 3-1.
The next year, and with the introduction of the best-of-seven in the first round, the Magic got a 3-1 series lead on the Detroit Pistons. They proceeded to choke the next three games, and allow the Pistons to go to the Eastern Conference Finals, or it could've been the year they won it all.
A few years ago, the Dallas Mavericks stormed their way into the post-season. Houston jumped all over them, and took a 3-1 series lead against them. Despite the fact that they only had to win one more game, they lost the next three, and losing the pivital game seven by FORTY POINTS. If that doesn't sound like having your heart ripped out and danced over, I don't know what does.
So it's pretty clear why I knew Houston was going to lose this year's opening round as well. When ESPN reporters asked McGrady if it was going to be the most important game of his life, and he responded "nah, I don't think so," I knew he was ready to lose. Not even retracting that statement three hours prior to tip off did little to put out the chances that an choke would be inevitable. The guy just lacks a killer instinct, or leadership skills to drive and inspire his teammates to want to actually destroy their opponents.
Dirk Nowitzki could possibly be capable of holding this title, but he's at least made it past the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
Friday, May 4, 2007
The NEW Greatest Upset in NBA History
With king thug Stephen Jackson burying three-pointer after three-pointer, and Baron Davis having a Willis Reed-like performance, the 67-win Dallas Mavericks were sent packing in what is now being considered (and justifyably so, statistically) the GREATEST UPSET IN NBA HISTORY.
I haven't checked as I'm writing this, but I'm sure Mark Cuban spent all last night up writing a scathing blog entry or something about how he'll be back, and that his team will do better. Yes, they've gone from 57 to 60, to now 67 wins, but there really isn't much better without threatening the 1996 72-10 Chicago Bulls.
But I'm sure everyone's already heard all the stories about how Dirk Nowitzki is the equivalent of a modern Nick Anderson or John Starks, and how he will have to raise his game before the Mavs have any chance of ever succeeding, and how their window of opportunity is diminishing like the Chicago Bears'. So I won't bother to mention any of that any further, and instead share my own personal opinion of what a great upset really is.
The 1994 Denver Nuggets - the original GREATEST UPSET IN NBA HISTORY, entered the eighth seed of the Western Conference playoffs with a pedestrian 42-40 record, taking on the 64-18 Seattle SuperSonics. This was also back when the first round was a reasonable best-of-five series, instead of this best-of-seven, 40 games in 40 nights bullshit they do nowadays.
Seattle romps the Nugs in the first two games, and all signs point to a sweep. Realizing the lack of expectations, and the sudden alleviation of pressure, the Nuggets, led by Dikembe Mutombo and other stalwarts such as Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Robert Pack, LaPhonso Ellis and Brian Williams obliterate the Sonics in game 3, and pull off an overtime win in game 4. Suddenly, all the pressure is on Seattle, with George Karl being seen on the bench sweating bullets off of his plasticky-looking head. Shawn Kemp (before being revealed to fathering 47 illegitimate children)), Gary Payton, Kendall Gill and Detlef Schrempf were ineffective, and Mutombo was proving to be a human shield to the basket, providing defense, reminscent of a 1984 Georgetown Patrick Ewing.
Game 5 was especially memorable when Robert Pack turned it up a notch in the fourth quarter, while Ellis and Williams provided solid contributions. Mutombo once again made it next to impossible to score in the paint, and he vaccuumed in every rebound in sight. And in what I thought was one of the single most memorable scenes in basketball history was when Mutombo snared down the final rebound, and clutched it tightly. For reasons unknown, Kemp tries to poke it out of his hands, despite the final buzzer sounding. Mutombo collapses onto his back, clutching the ball, with a sheer look of jubilance on his face. For the first time in the history of the NBA, the eighth seed had defeated the one seed.
They lost to the Jazz in the next round, but not before at least pushing them to seven games.
Because of the 1994 Denver Nuggets, whenever the NBA Playoffs come around and the commentators are expected to talk up the eighth seed, viewers will always hear about '94. In 1999, the New York Knicks defeated the Miami Heat from the eighth seed and even stretched their run into the NBA Finals, but it was also the lockout-shortened season, which soured most people's opinion of basketball that year anyway. Most of the time, #8 goes without much resistance, but because of '94, and eventually '99, every now and then, people can believe.
And now, because of three more wins by the 2007 Dallas Mavericks, their loss to the Golden State Warriors is considered the NEW greatest upset in NBA history. But let's not quite get ahead of ourselves here - the word "New," as any professional wrestling fan will know, when attached to an accomplished title, is the proverbial kiss of death.
I refuse to acknowledge the 2007 Warriors, a team partially anchored by Stephen Jackson, fan fighter, and unlicensed gun holder, shooting them at 3 a.m. in Indianapolis night club, as the greatest upset winners in history, when in 1994, a team defensively anchored by über-humanitarian Dikembe Mutombo, a man who is a living embodiment of the American Dream, who spent $27 million of his own money to build a hospital in the Congo and named it after his mother.
So let's cut the pretenses, let's cut the bullshit.
1994 Denver Nuggets > 2007 Golden State Warriors.
The REAL Greatest Upset in NBA History.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Getting younger?
How beautiful is this? Every game doesn't seem like such a roller coaster when the game goes into the bullpen innings. Paronto and Yates build the bridge, to what I hate to call a "closer-by-committee," because both Gonzalez and Soriano are legit closer types who are going to be shuffled around based on scenario, instead of who is available. Watching last night's game, I felt, with each inning's beginning with a new pitcher on the mound, that the one-run lead would be safe. It was kind of strange, since this is the same team that last year, blew over 20 saves and cost John Smoltz a what would have been likely Cy Young award-winning season. But with each top half passing, the score remained unchanged, and Soriano earned his second save of the season.
In 2005, the Atlanta Braves got hit with the injury bug, HARD. Andruw jones led the team in games played (160, the last two were sat due to clinched division) and I think only Marcus Giles and Rafael Furcal were the only other position players to exceed 150 games in their own right. But the season was rescued by the emergence of a large contingency of young players who were brought up out of necessity, not choice. The production that came from these "kids" was not expected, and aside from the usual doubters, it seemed that the then 13-straight division title streak was going to come to an end.
Jeff Francoeur his a 3-run home run in his very first major league at-bat, propelling him to runner-up to the Rookie of the Year, some schlub known as Ryan Howard. Kyle Davies debuts on a cold rainy day in Fenway Park and limits the defending champion Boston Red Sox to 4 hits and 0 runs to get the win. Wilson Betemit shows some ballsy base-running and wins a crucial extra-inning game to shrink the magic number. Not only do the Braves not fall apart, they win their 14th-straight division title, where in the ensuing playoffs, Brian McCann cements his moment in history when he tees off on Roger Clemens, homering in his very first postseason at-bat. Media outlets are quick to jump on this one, gleefully pointing out the aspect that McCann was less than half of the Rocket's age. Despite the eventual loss, the mentioned names were only several of the large group of young talent to rise from the minors to help the Braves win yet another division title.
They were dubbed the Baby Braves.
This season, Scott Thorman has the dubious task of taking the product Adam LaRoche's place at first. Kelly Johnson is taking over at second, and the lead-off spot, neither of which he's done in his entire career. Macay McBBride has been inept. Mark Redman became the opposite of the late-90's Pedro Martinez - a guaranteed loss every five days. Closer Bob Wickman goes down with back problems. Brian McCann gets hit and then clubbed in same spot on the same hand, and is out temporarily. And to make things worse, his backup Brayan Peña is clubbed in the head by an overzealous strikeout swing. Willy Aybar's attendance and potential substance-abuse problems. Ryan Langerhans' slump leading the organization to essentially trade him for the equivalent of a pink slip - the notorious Player to be Named Later or CASH.
Macay McBBride was demoted to the minors where I hope he stays forever. In his place Steve Colyer has emerged and pitched out of the bullpen with the ability everyone hoped McBBride would have had. In Wickman's place, the Domincans have already each earned a save and any need for panic is not necessary. Thankfully, Mark Redman was demoted, and in his place, Kevin Barry, a young man who in his debut at Yankee Stadium last year showed genuine brilliance, when he held the Murderer's Row lineup scoreless in five-innings of long relief. A local kid, utilityman extraordinaire Willie Harris was brought in to take Langerhans's spot, as well as fill in anywhere else necessary. And last night was the debut of top catching/hitting prospect Jarrod Saltalamacchia, to take the place of McCann and Peña.
What players that were old, injured, slumping or just plain sucking, have all been replaced or held over by youthful talent. In Harris's three games, he has already outproduced Langerhans, noteably the go-ahead RBI, and a base-hit-stealing diving catch to prevent any potential tying-runs getting into scoring position. It was a special night for Salty, who was celebrating his 22nd birthday on his major-league debut, who unfortunately didn't get a hit, when his first at-bat was a towering shot to center that almost made it out, but didn't quite get out of the warning-track. He did get on base twice however, when he drew a walk, showing his good patience, and when Freddy Garcia plunked him to a rain of boos. The young Domincans did their jobs, as Gonzalez whiffed two in the 8th, including Ryan Howard, and Soriano nailed down the 9th, earning his second save of the season.
Most of these players are not as young as the original Baby Braves, some are from the original year, and some of these guys are going back down as soon as people come off the DL. But getting younger has never necessarily killed a team, and with the talent floating around the Braves organization, Atlanta is never far from another generation of Baby Braves to take over and thrive.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Mark Redman is the Worst Pitcher Ever
Although my co-writer may disagree with me, but Mark Redman is the worst pitcher in the history of baseball. Acquired during Spring Training to take place for the almost-as-worthless Mike Hampton who is going to miss the entire 2007 season along with the 2006 season, as well as most of the 2005 season he missed too.
I was at first optimistic, as lots of wandering players have a tendency to develop a case of "surrounded by winner-itis" where when they land a spot on a team that actually has the potential to succeed, they rise their own game and actually look like they belong.
After getting annihilated by the Mets on the Braves' own home-opener, I thought he might have just had a rocky start. But then he got annihilated by the Marlins in his next appearance, and then he got beaten by the fucking Cubs of all teams, I came to my senses and realized that Mark Redman absolutely sucks. He managed to get out of Florida with a no-decision, but still blew two generous leads, before the bullpen saved his worthless ass.
I saw the match-up today, and saw that it would be Mark Redman pitching against Cole Hamels, the lefty who, despite having no wins against the Braves, has their number. If this doesn't spell the makings of a Braves loss, I don't know what does.
But of course, a typical stat-curse developed, and mention of this fact was broadcast all over the radio and television, and despite the fact that Hamels gave up four runs, including two Chipper homers, he pretty much dominated the Braves yet again. Congrats to Hamels for getting his first victory over the Braves, and to the rest of the Phillies for beating Atlanta for the first time in five tries this year. Hopefully this will not be a common occurrence.
I told myself that tonight's game was pretty much locked up as a loss, and that I should not be the least bit frustrated and upset when it inevitably happens, but that didn't work - I'm still irritated, and I felt the need to discuss the points about why Mark Redman sucks and is the worst pitcher ever.
Mark Redman is a poison to a pitching staff. Not only does he suck, he sucks so bad that he has to be relieved early in the game, putting a huge workload on the bullpen. Villarreal pitched multiple innings, as did Peter Moylan, and both will probably not pitch at all tomorrow if needed. He is ungrateful, and seems to think leads are cushions the size of Zimbabwe, and has shown the trust of a fat kid with cake in protecting them.
I thought about attending tonight's game, but once again, I saw the lineup, and opted not to. Two of the four home games I've attended thus far have been Redman starts, and both were humiliating losses. I can't take it anymore. Although, I was mildly amused by the way the Atlanta "faithful" stood and cheered when Bobby Cox came out in the 1.2-st inning to pull Redman, as I probably would have done the same, and probably threw some John Rocker batteries at him on his way out. Believe me, it probably would've been worth it.
I know it's kind of harsh, but with the ability he plays, he's not going to be in the majors for much longer. How the fuck he became an all-star last year is completely beyond me, but I can only imagine it has to do with the fact that every team is supposedly represented in the Mid-Summer classic, and since Mike Sweeney was hurt for most of 2006, a crappy pitcher who could be afforded to be given the Andruw Jones treatment (a DNP) was selected in him instead.
I went off my tangent there - I meant to say that I know that it's kind of harsh, but at his position, I hope he's contemplating suicide - I'm baffled at how much this guy sucks. I would rather pitch and all-bullpen game consisting of the following guys:
I was at first optimistic, as lots of wandering players have a tendency to develop a case of "surrounded by winner-itis" where when they land a spot on a team that actually has the potential to succeed, they rise their own game and actually look like they belong.
After getting annihilated by the Mets on the Braves' own home-opener, I thought he might have just had a rocky start. But then he got annihilated by the Marlins in his next appearance, and then he got beaten by the fucking Cubs of all teams, I came to my senses and realized that Mark Redman absolutely sucks. He managed to get out of Florida with a no-decision, but still blew two generous leads, before the bullpen saved his worthless ass.
I saw the match-up today, and saw that it would be Mark Redman pitching against Cole Hamels, the lefty who, despite having no wins against the Braves, has their number. If this doesn't spell the makings of a Braves loss, I don't know what does.
But of course, a typical stat-curse developed, and mention of this fact was broadcast all over the radio and television, and despite the fact that Hamels gave up four runs, including two Chipper homers, he pretty much dominated the Braves yet again. Congrats to Hamels for getting his first victory over the Braves, and to the rest of the Phillies for beating Atlanta for the first time in five tries this year. Hopefully this will not be a common occurrence.
I told myself that tonight's game was pretty much locked up as a loss, and that I should not be the least bit frustrated and upset when it inevitably happens, but that didn't work - I'm still irritated, and I felt the need to discuss the points about why Mark Redman sucks and is the worst pitcher ever.
Mark Redman is a poison to a pitching staff. Not only does he suck, he sucks so bad that he has to be relieved early in the game, putting a huge workload on the bullpen. Villarreal pitched multiple innings, as did Peter Moylan, and both will probably not pitch at all tomorrow if needed. He is ungrateful, and seems to think leads are cushions the size of Zimbabwe, and has shown the trust of a fat kid with cake in protecting them.
I thought about attending tonight's game, but once again, I saw the lineup, and opted not to. Two of the four home games I've attended thus far have been Redman starts, and both were humiliating losses. I can't take it anymore. Although, I was mildly amused by the way the Atlanta "faithful" stood and cheered when Bobby Cox came out in the 1.2-st inning to pull Redman, as I probably would have done the same, and probably threw some John Rocker batteries at him on his way out. Believe me, it probably would've been worth it.
I know it's kind of harsh, but with the ability he plays, he's not going to be in the majors for much longer. How the fuck he became an all-star last year is completely beyond me, but I can only imagine it has to do with the fact that every team is supposedly represented in the Mid-Summer classic, and since Mike Sweeney was hurt for most of 2006, a crappy pitcher who could be afforded to be given the Andruw Jones treatment (a DNP) was selected in him instead.
I went off my tangent there - I meant to say that I know that it's kind of harsh, but at his position, I hope he's contemplating suicide - I'm baffled at how much this guy sucks. I would rather pitch and all-bullpen game consisting of the following guys:
- Bruce Chen
- Mike Remlinger
- Macay McBBride
- Ray King
- Chris Reitsma
- Dan KolBB
- Derrick Turnbow
- Kyle Farnsworth
- Brad Lidge facing Albert Pujols
John Heyman is a 14 year old Girl
John Heyman of si.com continues in the running for world’s dumbest man. He apparently watched a Nationals game and this is what he had to say, “And by the way, after watching the Nats the other day, it looked like a couple of their players thought they were representing not the Nats but the Fats.” Is that all he noticed? That Dmitri Young and Ronnie Belliard aren’t the most in shape people. They are bench players who are only playing every day due to injury, but they are also stepping it up. Both have good batting averages and some clutch hitting. Heyman just doesn’t like the Nationals. In fact he hates them so much that this is all he noticed. If he did watch them in the last week he would have seen the starting pitchers pitching 32.33 innings with an ERA of 1.67. That is far above his doom and gloom predications. So since he can’t bash the starting pitching he has to go after the position players. Since they didn’t do enough wrong for him to bash them based on baseball he just calls them fat. John Heyman is an emo kid that can’t insult someone creatively. He has the brain of a 14 year old girl and I bet she was glad to get rid of it.
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