I've finally reached the end of my rope in regards to the Buster Posey injury discussion. He got hurt five days ago, when is enough enough?
For those of you who did not click the link above, Posey was injured in a home plate collision with Scott Cousins of the Florida Marlins.
To be completely honest, I don't know what all of the "discussion" is about. That is a clean, hard nosed baseball play that has happened (unofficially) millions of times since the creation of the game of baseball. The only thing that made this one different was the unfortunate fact that Buster Posey happened to suffer an injury on the play. If he doesn't get hurt on the play, it isn't even a footnote in baseball's record books. It'd just make up 3 seconds of a 30 second highlight on Sportscenter.
The other thing that sets this thing apart is the fact that it was Buster Posey who was injured on the play. In baseball circles, he's kind of regarded as the "golden boy" of up and coming young superstars. During the offseason, MLB Network ran a series of programs titled "Top 10 Right Now," which they ranked the top 10 players at each position. After a little more than half of a season in the big leagues, Posey was ranked by MLB Network as the second best catcher right now (behind Joe Mauer). I thought that was a little high, but that's not what we're talking about at the moment. Sadly, if it were Matt Treanor, and not Buster Posey, that this happened to, we probably wouldn't be talking about it.
Jeff Berry, Buster Posey's agent, has already called for Major League Baseball to eliminate collisions at the plate. To me, this is a joke. The injury happened on a play that has always been considered a baseball play. If Scott Cousins had intentionally gone to the head, I would agree with the argument. If he had gone low and taken out Posey's legs, I would have agreed with the argument. However, Scott Cousins ran right through Buster Posey's body, as players are taught to do. It wasn't the contact itself that injured Posey, it was the way he fell after the contact. This is an insanely stupid request from Jeff Barry who is probably just a little nervous that his cash train may have just de-railed.
If for some reason MLB would pass a rule eliminating home plate collisions it would just be another instance where a league changes a rule because of an injury to a star player. Honestly though, I don't even think MLB will consider passing this rule. If they did however, then they'd have to eliminate take out slides, automatically fine and suspend pitchers for hitting a batter with a pitch and eliminate suicide squeeze plays just because they sound bad. Seriously, the game is great. There's no need to change the rules to soften it up. You wouldn't want to follow the same path as the NFL.
As soon as you think that the Buster Posey injury discussion is FINALLY over, Mike Matheny has to chime in with his opinion on the matter. I really have mixed feelings on his comments on the issue and at the moment, I'm not completely sure what to say about them. I like how he isn't in favor of changing the rules and I also like how he says that this wasn't a dirty play either. However, he also mentions that even though it wasn't a dirty play, it was an unnecessary play. He claimed Cousins was "hunting" on the play and that Posey gave him a lane to slide to the outside that Cousins didn't take.
Honestly, you could make the case that there is always an outside lane on any play like that. After watching the video again several times, I still maintain that it is just a hard (yet clean) baseball play.
Cousins is tagging up on a ball in the top of the 12th inning and represents the go ahead run for the Marlins. As soon as that ball is caught, he put his head down and chugged his way to the plate as fast as his legs would take him. He looks up, sees Posey blocking the plate, while making a play on the ball and he ran through him. To me, that's doing whatever it takes to give your team the lead in the 12th inning of a tight ballgame. I understand the Giants don't like it, based on the end result, but it Cousins was on your team, he would've gained a lot of respect in the clubhouse for a play like that.
My favorite part of this entire play though is the sportsmanship shown by Cousins after the collision. As soon as he scored the run, his first move was to check on Posey to make sure he was ok. Unfortunately he wasn't but that's a class act by a player in the heat of the moment. It's never a good thing to overlook positive sportsmanship considering there isn't enough of it in sports as it is.
One thing people are overlooking about this whole thing is the role Chris Coghlan played in this whole thing. He was on deck at the time this play went down. At the moment the ball was hit, Coghlan got into a position behind the plate where he could direct Cousins what to do in the event of a close play. That way the runner doesn't have to take his eyes off of the plate because doing so would cause him to slow down. I know he's back there because he is in the video immediately after the collision. However I've never seen a view of the collision which shows his instructions to Cousins. Did Coghlan tell Cousins to run over Posey? My instinct on the matter tells me yes. Had Coghlan told Cousins to slide to the outside (aka Matheny's "lane"), I have no reason to believe that he wouldn't have done it.
Either way, what should it matter, it was still a clean baseball play. It's sad that Buster Posey got hurt and is probably out for the season, but that's a risk you take everyday you put the catcher's gear on. Players know the risks so they shouldn't be surprised when something like this finally does happen. It's unfortunate but it's just part of the game and it should stay that way.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Random Thoughts
I was going to do each of these as individual posts, but unfortunately some internet troubles have slowed me down as of late. Thank you Comcast!
Boulevard of Broken Wings
For the record, yes, that is a Green Day reference.
A couple of weeks ago, the Detroit Red Wings were eliminated from the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs by the San Jose Sharks.
While yes, I am a little disappointed that the Red Wings will not be winning the Stanley Cup this season, I cannot be too disappointed. This may be the best 7 game series that I have ever seen in the time I've been a hockey fan.
Here's a quote from the Elias Sports Bureau: "The Sharks-Red Wings series was the first playoff series in NHL history in which six games were decided by a one-goal margin. All seven games would have been one-goal games if it wasn't for Darren Helm's empty-net goal in Game 6 that made the final score Detroit 3, San Jose 1."
Every single game, except one, was a one goal game. The only reason that game six was not a one goal game as well was because the Red Wings added an empty net goal late. Then there's the fact that the Red Wings were down 3-0 in this series and came back to force a game 7. I can safely say that this series was so close that neither the Wings or Sharks deserved to lose 3 games in a row, even though they both did. Each game in this series went down to the wire with both teams having the opportunity to win.
At this point, I'd just like to tip my hat to the San Jose Sharks for their performance in this series. The Red Wings threw everything they could at them, yet the Sharks kept coming. That's a real testiment to Todd McLellan and the San Jose Sharks. Not many teams in the NHL today can do that to the Red Wings. That's not bias from a Red Wings fan, that's just reality. So again, I'd like to congratulate the Sharks on playing an excellent series in round 2 and I would like to wish them the best of luck in the Conference Finals against the Vancouver Canucks.
Pick Your Poison
I have to say it now: I'd really hate to be a Chicago White Sox fan. I'm not even saying that because the Sox have greatly underachieved up to this point in the season. They still have a great lineup and a great deal of time to turn this thing around. I certainly wouldn't count them out, especially with a General Manager like Kenny Williams.
I think it sucks to be a White Sox fan becuase there is no good way to watch and/or listen to a game.
If you cannot watch the game on television, you are stuck having to listen to Ed Farmer on the radio. I really don't recommend this unless you want to fall asleep. I certainly don't recommend listening to him especially while you are driving. He may be the most boring radio play by play commentator that I've ever heard. He is extremely monotone and rarely shows any emotion at all. It gets worse when you add in the fact that Darrin Jackson is his color guy. He is just as boring as Farmer is, which I believe is why he was taken off of television broadcasts.
Then you have Ken "The Hawk" Harrelson. This guy may be the worst television play by play man I've ever seen or heard.
First and foremost, he's a former player, so he probably has no business being a play by play man anyways. Most former players are color commentators, not play by play announcers.
Second, I have no idea the last time Harrelson actually called an MLB game. Maybe he's never actually called one? At this point in his career, he's all cliches. No matter the situation, he always has a stupid one liner to insert to describe the situation. Any White Sox game you watch, you'll hear the same thing every game. I could probably call a White Sox game from the comfort of my computer desk if you gave me a Hawk Harrelson soundboard.
Back when I was 10, I though Harrelson was a pretty cool guy. It was fun to play pick-up baseball and repeat all of his cliches. Then, unlike Peter Pan, I grew up into an intelligent baseball fan. Then I realized that not only is Hawk a lousy announcer, he's an idiot. He's a fan in the booth, not a commentator.
Speaking of being an idiot, that brings me to point number three. Not only is he all cliches, I think he chugs White Sox Kool Aid 24-7-365. I have never heard a more homer announcer in my life. Don't get me wrong, I expect a little bias. He's been calling Sox games for a number of years and they pay his salary so a little bias should be expected. However the product he puts on the airwaves is absolutely ridiculous. Teams opposing the White Sox can never do anything right. Any time they do, it happened becuase the White Sox did something negative and "gave it to them," rather than them earning it. Not to mention every time a close or questionable call goes against the White Sox, it's because the umpire has something against the Sox. I wouldn't expect him to know anything about human error. If he does, he certainly wouldn't admit it on the air.
The only thing that saves White Sox television broadcasts is Steve Stone. He's widely been regarded as one of the best color commentators in the game of baseball. I do however think his commentary has gotten worse since joining the White Sox organization. That makes me wonder if there is some pressure coming from the Sox front office on the broadcasters to keep things positive.
The only thing I do like about Harrelson is the emotion he shows during broadcasts. If only he could give some of that to Ed Farmer.
I already know some White Sox fan is going to chime in and talk about the late Ron Santo and the Cubs. I will completely agree, Ron Santo was not a great color commentator. Like Harrelson, he was a fan in the booth, not a commentator. Like with the White Sox television crew, the fan (in the booth) is paired with a pretty decent partner. Both Steve Stone and Pat Hughes are both very good at what they do.
To sum this up, there's only one good way to watch a White Sox game. Either watch the television feed on mute or pray to the gods that they are on either ESPN or MLB Network. That way you can watch your White Sox without the pain of listening to either Ed Farmer or Hawk Harrelson.
HEATing Up
Right now, I can safely and confidently crown the Miami Heat as 2010-11 NBA Champions.
I'm sure you're asking yourself, "We're still in the Conference Finals, how can you award the Championship to the Heat?"
If you're asking that, you're absolutely right, we are still in the Conference Finals. The Heat are currently leading the top-seeded Bulls 2-1 in the East. In the West, the Mavericks currently lead the Thunder 3-1. With that said, I will tell you why the Heat will win the Championship and that is the "Superstar Effect."
Of the remaining teams, the Heat have more "superstars" on their roster than any of the other teams. The Heat have 2.5 superstars on their roster. The two superstars are obviously Dwayne Wade and LeBron James. I'm generously going to consider Chris Bosh as half of a superstar. He's not remotely in the same category as Wade and James, but he's not a bad player by any stretch of the imagination. He was the best player on a bad Raptors team, which inflated his numbers a bit. The Bulls (Rose), Thunder (Durant) and Mavericks (Nowitzki) only have one superstar and that will ultimately cost them in the long run.
The officials and the NBA will deny it, but there is such a thing as the "superstar effect." Like it or not, superstar players get calls to go their way that other players do not get. That's reality and there's no way around it. In the case of guys like Wade and James, you can barely look at them without being called for a foul. Just ask the Mavericks about that one. Back in 2006, the Miami Heat rode Dwayne Wade and the "superstar effect" to an NBA Championship, beating the Mavs in the Finals. I'm a Mavs fan, so there is some bias there, but I think most NBA fans would agree with that assessment.
The other thing the Heat have going in their favor now is merchandising. Like it or not, the league revolves around money and superstar players sell merchandise. No matter what team wins a championship, in any leauge, there is a spike in merchandise sales. I'm not going to get specific here because the Heat are already the Champions. However the presence of Wade, James and Bosh will cause a higher spike in sales than that of any of the remaining teams. Even though they will NEVER admit it, the NBA wants the Heat to win the NBA Championship because of the greater amount of income. Even though the NBA secretly wants the Heat to win, they will not instruct officials to make that happen. I want to clear that up now. The "superstar effect" is a subconsious reaction by officials, nothing intentional to carry out some evil plan.
The sad part about this whole thing is that the Heat may be the worst TEAM remaining in the playoffs. Yes they have the superstars but they also filled out the remainder of their roster with role players. The other remaining teams have a much better collection of talent than the Heat do. So I'm hoping that somebody, anybody can step up and beat the Heat but I don't see it happening. Go Mavs Go.
Boulevard of Broken Wings
For the record, yes, that is a Green Day reference.
A couple of weeks ago, the Detroit Red Wings were eliminated from the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs by the San Jose Sharks.
While yes, I am a little disappointed that the Red Wings will not be winning the Stanley Cup this season, I cannot be too disappointed. This may be the best 7 game series that I have ever seen in the time I've been a hockey fan.
Here's a quote from the Elias Sports Bureau: "The Sharks-Red Wings series was the first playoff series in NHL history in which six games were decided by a one-goal margin. All seven games would have been one-goal games if it wasn't for Darren Helm's empty-net goal in Game 6 that made the final score Detroit 3, San Jose 1."
Every single game, except one, was a one goal game. The only reason that game six was not a one goal game as well was because the Red Wings added an empty net goal late. Then there's the fact that the Red Wings were down 3-0 in this series and came back to force a game 7. I can safely say that this series was so close that neither the Wings or Sharks deserved to lose 3 games in a row, even though they both did. Each game in this series went down to the wire with both teams having the opportunity to win.
At this point, I'd just like to tip my hat to the San Jose Sharks for their performance in this series. The Red Wings threw everything they could at them, yet the Sharks kept coming. That's a real testiment to Todd McLellan and the San Jose Sharks. Not many teams in the NHL today can do that to the Red Wings. That's not bias from a Red Wings fan, that's just reality. So again, I'd like to congratulate the Sharks on playing an excellent series in round 2 and I would like to wish them the best of luck in the Conference Finals against the Vancouver Canucks.
Pick Your Poison
I have to say it now: I'd really hate to be a Chicago White Sox fan. I'm not even saying that because the Sox have greatly underachieved up to this point in the season. They still have a great lineup and a great deal of time to turn this thing around. I certainly wouldn't count them out, especially with a General Manager like Kenny Williams.
I think it sucks to be a White Sox fan becuase there is no good way to watch and/or listen to a game.
If you cannot watch the game on television, you are stuck having to listen to Ed Farmer on the radio. I really don't recommend this unless you want to fall asleep. I certainly don't recommend listening to him especially while you are driving. He may be the most boring radio play by play commentator that I've ever heard. He is extremely monotone and rarely shows any emotion at all. It gets worse when you add in the fact that Darrin Jackson is his color guy. He is just as boring as Farmer is, which I believe is why he was taken off of television broadcasts.
Then you have Ken "The Hawk" Harrelson. This guy may be the worst television play by play man I've ever seen or heard.
First and foremost, he's a former player, so he probably has no business being a play by play man anyways. Most former players are color commentators, not play by play announcers.
Second, I have no idea the last time Harrelson actually called an MLB game. Maybe he's never actually called one? At this point in his career, he's all cliches. No matter the situation, he always has a stupid one liner to insert to describe the situation. Any White Sox game you watch, you'll hear the same thing every game. I could probably call a White Sox game from the comfort of my computer desk if you gave me a Hawk Harrelson soundboard.
Back when I was 10, I though Harrelson was a pretty cool guy. It was fun to play pick-up baseball and repeat all of his cliches. Then, unlike Peter Pan, I grew up into an intelligent baseball fan. Then I realized that not only is Hawk a lousy announcer, he's an idiot. He's a fan in the booth, not a commentator.
Speaking of being an idiot, that brings me to point number three. Not only is he all cliches, I think he chugs White Sox Kool Aid 24-7-365. I have never heard a more homer announcer in my life. Don't get me wrong, I expect a little bias. He's been calling Sox games for a number of years and they pay his salary so a little bias should be expected. However the product he puts on the airwaves is absolutely ridiculous. Teams opposing the White Sox can never do anything right. Any time they do, it happened becuase the White Sox did something negative and "gave it to them," rather than them earning it. Not to mention every time a close or questionable call goes against the White Sox, it's because the umpire has something against the Sox. I wouldn't expect him to know anything about human error. If he does, he certainly wouldn't admit it on the air.
The only thing that saves White Sox television broadcasts is Steve Stone. He's widely been regarded as one of the best color commentators in the game of baseball. I do however think his commentary has gotten worse since joining the White Sox organization. That makes me wonder if there is some pressure coming from the Sox front office on the broadcasters to keep things positive.
The only thing I do like about Harrelson is the emotion he shows during broadcasts. If only he could give some of that to Ed Farmer.
I already know some White Sox fan is going to chime in and talk about the late Ron Santo and the Cubs. I will completely agree, Ron Santo was not a great color commentator. Like Harrelson, he was a fan in the booth, not a commentator. Like with the White Sox television crew, the fan (in the booth) is paired with a pretty decent partner. Both Steve Stone and Pat Hughes are both very good at what they do.
To sum this up, there's only one good way to watch a White Sox game. Either watch the television feed on mute or pray to the gods that they are on either ESPN or MLB Network. That way you can watch your White Sox without the pain of listening to either Ed Farmer or Hawk Harrelson.
HEATing Up
Right now, I can safely and confidently crown the Miami Heat as 2010-11 NBA Champions.
I'm sure you're asking yourself, "We're still in the Conference Finals, how can you award the Championship to the Heat?"
If you're asking that, you're absolutely right, we are still in the Conference Finals. The Heat are currently leading the top-seeded Bulls 2-1 in the East. In the West, the Mavericks currently lead the Thunder 3-1. With that said, I will tell you why the Heat will win the Championship and that is the "Superstar Effect."
Of the remaining teams, the Heat have more "superstars" on their roster than any of the other teams. The Heat have 2.5 superstars on their roster. The two superstars are obviously Dwayne Wade and LeBron James. I'm generously going to consider Chris Bosh as half of a superstar. He's not remotely in the same category as Wade and James, but he's not a bad player by any stretch of the imagination. He was the best player on a bad Raptors team, which inflated his numbers a bit. The Bulls (Rose), Thunder (Durant) and Mavericks (Nowitzki) only have one superstar and that will ultimately cost them in the long run.
The officials and the NBA will deny it, but there is such a thing as the "superstar effect." Like it or not, superstar players get calls to go their way that other players do not get. That's reality and there's no way around it. In the case of guys like Wade and James, you can barely look at them without being called for a foul. Just ask the Mavericks about that one. Back in 2006, the Miami Heat rode Dwayne Wade and the "superstar effect" to an NBA Championship, beating the Mavs in the Finals. I'm a Mavs fan, so there is some bias there, but I think most NBA fans would agree with that assessment.
The other thing the Heat have going in their favor now is merchandising. Like it or not, the league revolves around money and superstar players sell merchandise. No matter what team wins a championship, in any leauge, there is a spike in merchandise sales. I'm not going to get specific here because the Heat are already the Champions. However the presence of Wade, James and Bosh will cause a higher spike in sales than that of any of the remaining teams. Even though they will NEVER admit it, the NBA wants the Heat to win the NBA Championship because of the greater amount of income. Even though the NBA secretly wants the Heat to win, they will not instruct officials to make that happen. I want to clear that up now. The "superstar effect" is a subconsious reaction by officials, nothing intentional to carry out some evil plan.
The sad part about this whole thing is that the Heat may be the worst TEAM remaining in the playoffs. Yes they have the superstars but they also filled out the remainder of their roster with role players. The other remaining teams have a much better collection of talent than the Heat do. So I'm hoping that somebody, anybody can step up and beat the Heat but I don't see it happening. Go Mavs Go.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Too Much Free Time - April Edition
As I mentioned in an earlier blog, my favorite baseball team is the Miami Florida Marlins. Before the season started, I decided that I really (I mean really) wanted to keep up with the Marlins this season. So I logged on to Microsoft Excel and created a spreadsheet which would allow me to keep track of how the Marlins are doing. Being a fan of uniforms in sports, I made this spreadsheet largely uniform based. I'll clarify that a little more once I get into my findings through the month of April.
My spreadsheet consists of six pages. The first page is just the Marlins season schedule. I update this daily with a simple "win" or "loss" and put the game score in the column next to the result. The second through fourth pages all contain the Marlins schedule as well, but they are there solely to keep track of various uniform elements. The first of those pages is there so that I can keep track of what hat the Marlins are wearing for each game of the season. This is kind of a dull element to track because, to the best of my knowledge, the Marlins only have one official game hat. They will however still be wearing the MLB "Stars and Stripes" caps for select games this season, as they've done the past three years. With the Marlins moving into a new stadium next season and changing their name (to the Miami Marlins), I wouldn't be surprised if they wore a throwback hat or two though. However, to the best of my knowledge, they are not planning on doing that.
The second of the uniform based pages has to do with the jersey the Marlins are wearing on a given day. This is a little more interesting because the Marlins have three different jerseys that they can wear. They have their traditional home white jersey, which they have worn for every home game so far this season. They have their traditional road grey jersey, which they have only worn for one series (2 games and a rain out). Like most MLB teams today, the Marlins also have an alternate jersey. In recent years, the Marlins have worn their alternate jersey for both home and away games. They seemingly wore their alternate more than both their tradtional home and away jerseys, but can't confirm what happened in the past (I'm just going on gut instinct here). However for this season, I can confirm what they are wearing! The Marlins have yet to wear their alternate at home, but have worn it for all but two of their away games.
The third uniform based page (fourth page overall) has to do with the color pants the Marlins are wearing for each game. Like with the hat, this one is pretty simple. If the Marlins are at home, they are going to be wearing their white pants with black pinstripes. If they are on the road, they are wearing their plain grey pants. Really no surprises there.
The fifth page of my spreadsheet, like the others, also contains the Marlins season schedule. On this page, I keep track of who the Marlins starting pitcher is for each game. As of this very second, the Marlins starting rotation consists of Josh Johnson (who may be the best pitcher in the Major Leagues at the moment), Ricky Nolasco, Javier Vazquez, Anibal Sanchez and Chris Volstad. Of course, as the season drags on, there will be a few other guys that make a spot start or two, but if this rotation stays healthy, they are going to have a damn good season.
The last page happens to be my favorite. This is where the magic happens. Not really, but this is where all of the data is kept track of. I keep track of the Marlins record when each element is in place. I also keep track of the number of runs scored and allowed when each element is in place as well. So without furthur adieu, let's take a look at how the Marlins are doing through the first month (25 games) of the regular season.
Overall
Games Played: 25
Record: 16-9
Runs Scored: 109 (average of 4.36 per game)
Runs Allowed: 93 (3.72/game)
Black Hat
Games: 25
Record: 16-9
Runs Scored: 109 (4.36/game)
Runs Allowed: 93 (3.72/game)
White Jersey
Games: 15
Record: 10-5
Runs Scored: 70 (4.67/game)
Runs Allowed: 51 (3.40/game)
Grey Jersey
Games: 2
Record: 1-1
Runs Scored: 6 (3.00/game)
Runs Allowed: 6 (3.00/game)
Black Jersey
Games: 8
Record: 5-3
Runs Scored: 33 (4.13/game)
Runs Allowed: 36 (4.50/game)
White Pants
Games: 15
Record: 10-5
Runs Scored: 70 (4.67/game)
Runs Allowed: 51 (3.40/game)
Grey Pants
Games: 10
Record: 6-4
Runs Scored: 39 (3.90/game)
Runs Allowed: 42 (4.20/game)
When Josh Johnson Starts
Games: 6
Record: 4-2
Runs Scored: 29 (4.83/game)
Runs Allowed: 15 (2.50/game)
When Ricky Nolasco Starts
Games: 5
Record: 4-1
Runs Scored: 25 (5.00/game)
Runs Allowed: 18 (3.60/game)
When Javier Vazquez Starts
Games: 5
Record: 3-2
Runs Scored: 21 (4.20/game)
Runs Allowed: 26 (5.20/game)
When Anibal Sanchez Starts
Games: 5
Record: 2-3
Runs Scored: 14 (2.80/game)
Runs Allowed: 18 (3.60/game)
When Chris Volstad Starts
Games: 4
Record: 3-1
Runs Scored: 20 (5.00/game)
Runs Allowed: 16 (4.00/game)
Home Games
Games: 15
Record: 10-5
Runs Scored: 70 (4.67/game)
Runs Allowed:
Away Games
Games: 10
Record: 6-4
Runs Scored: 39 (3.90/game)
Runs Allowed: 42 (4.20/game)
Black Hat-White Jersey-White Pants
Games: 15
Record: 10-5
Runs Scored: 70 (4.67/game)
Runs Allowed: 51 (3.40/game)
Black Hat-Black Jersey-Grey Pants
Games: 8
Record: 5-3
Runs Scored: 33 (4.13/game)
Runs Allowed: 36 (4.50/game)
Black Hat-Grey Jersey-Grey Pants
Games: 2
Record: 1-1
Runs Scored: 6 (3.00/game)
Runs Allowed: 6 (3.00/game)
So those are the stats I've compiled over the first month (25 of 162 games) of the regular season. Yes there is a lot of overlapping data, but that happens when you look at the individual elements and the big picture at the same time. Now it's extremely early in the season, so I'm not going to get too up or down based on these results. However there are a few trends that are starting to show up. As more data is inputted as the season rolls along, we'll see if those trends continue. After 25 games and the month of April, the Marlins are in second place only 1.5 games behind the heavily favored Philadelphia Phillies. So in a (very simple) nutshell, this whole thing proves is that the Marlins are kicking ass at home, are getting outscored by an average of .30 runs per game on the road (and still have a winning record!), and that I have way too much free time. Go Marlins!
My spreadsheet consists of six pages. The first page is just the Marlins season schedule. I update this daily with a simple "win" or "loss" and put the game score in the column next to the result. The second through fourth pages all contain the Marlins schedule as well, but they are there solely to keep track of various uniform elements. The first of those pages is there so that I can keep track of what hat the Marlins are wearing for each game of the season. This is kind of a dull element to track because, to the best of my knowledge, the Marlins only have one official game hat. They will however still be wearing the MLB "Stars and Stripes" caps for select games this season, as they've done the past three years. With the Marlins moving into a new stadium next season and changing their name (to the Miami Marlins), I wouldn't be surprised if they wore a throwback hat or two though. However, to the best of my knowledge, they are not planning on doing that.
The second of the uniform based pages has to do with the jersey the Marlins are wearing on a given day. This is a little more interesting because the Marlins have three different jerseys that they can wear. They have their traditional home white jersey, which they have worn for every home game so far this season. They have their traditional road grey jersey, which they have only worn for one series (2 games and a rain out). Like most MLB teams today, the Marlins also have an alternate jersey. In recent years, the Marlins have worn their alternate jersey for both home and away games. They seemingly wore their alternate more than both their tradtional home and away jerseys, but can't confirm what happened in the past (I'm just going on gut instinct here). However for this season, I can confirm what they are wearing! The Marlins have yet to wear their alternate at home, but have worn it for all but two of their away games.
The third uniform based page (fourth page overall) has to do with the color pants the Marlins are wearing for each game. Like with the hat, this one is pretty simple. If the Marlins are at home, they are going to be wearing their white pants with black pinstripes. If they are on the road, they are wearing their plain grey pants. Really no surprises there.
The fifth page of my spreadsheet, like the others, also contains the Marlins season schedule. On this page, I keep track of who the Marlins starting pitcher is for each game. As of this very second, the Marlins starting rotation consists of Josh Johnson (who may be the best pitcher in the Major Leagues at the moment), Ricky Nolasco, Javier Vazquez, Anibal Sanchez and Chris Volstad. Of course, as the season drags on, there will be a few other guys that make a spot start or two, but if this rotation stays healthy, they are going to have a damn good season.
The last page happens to be my favorite. This is where the magic happens. Not really, but this is where all of the data is kept track of. I keep track of the Marlins record when each element is in place. I also keep track of the number of runs scored and allowed when each element is in place as well. So without furthur adieu, let's take a look at how the Marlins are doing through the first month (25 games) of the regular season.
Overall
Games Played: 25
Record: 16-9
Runs Scored: 109 (average of 4.36 per game)
Runs Allowed: 93 (3.72/game)
Black Hat
Games: 25
Record: 16-9
Runs Scored: 109 (4.36/game)
Runs Allowed: 93 (3.72/game)
White Jersey
Games: 15
Record: 10-5
Runs Scored: 70 (4.67/game)
Runs Allowed: 51 (3.40/game)
Grey Jersey
Games: 2
Record: 1-1
Runs Scored: 6 (3.00/game)
Runs Allowed: 6 (3.00/game)
Black Jersey
Games: 8
Record: 5-3
Runs Scored: 33 (4.13/game)
Runs Allowed: 36 (4.50/game)
White Pants
Games: 15
Record: 10-5
Runs Scored: 70 (4.67/game)
Runs Allowed: 51 (3.40/game)
Grey Pants
Games: 10
Record: 6-4
Runs Scored: 39 (3.90/game)
Runs Allowed: 42 (4.20/game)
When Josh Johnson Starts
Games: 6
Record: 4-2
Runs Scored: 29 (4.83/game)
Runs Allowed: 15 (2.50/game)
When Ricky Nolasco Starts
Games: 5
Record: 4-1
Runs Scored: 25 (5.00/game)
Runs Allowed: 18 (3.60/game)
When Javier Vazquez Starts
Games: 5
Record: 3-2
Runs Scored: 21 (4.20/game)
Runs Allowed: 26 (5.20/game)
When Anibal Sanchez Starts
Games: 5
Record: 2-3
Runs Scored: 14 (2.80/game)
Runs Allowed: 18 (3.60/game)
When Chris Volstad Starts
Games: 4
Record: 3-1
Runs Scored: 20 (5.00/game)
Runs Allowed: 16 (4.00/game)
Home Games
Games: 15
Record: 10-5
Runs Scored: 70 (4.67/game)
Runs Allowed:
Away Games
Games: 10
Record: 6-4
Runs Scored: 39 (3.90/game)
Runs Allowed: 42 (4.20/game)
Black Hat-White Jersey-White Pants
Games: 15
Record: 10-5
Runs Scored: 70 (4.67/game)
Runs Allowed: 51 (3.40/game)
Black Hat-Black Jersey-Grey Pants
Games: 8
Record: 5-3
Runs Scored: 33 (4.13/game)
Runs Allowed: 36 (4.50/game)
Black Hat-Grey Jersey-Grey Pants
Games: 2
Record: 1-1
Runs Scored: 6 (3.00/game)
Runs Allowed: 6 (3.00/game)
So those are the stats I've compiled over the first month (25 of 162 games) of the regular season. Yes there is a lot of overlapping data, but that happens when you look at the individual elements and the big picture at the same time. Now it's extremely early in the season, so I'm not going to get too up or down based on these results. However there are a few trends that are starting to show up. As more data is inputted as the season rolls along, we'll see if those trends continue. After 25 games and the month of April, the Marlins are in second place only 1.5 games behind the heavily favored Philadelphia Phillies. So in a (very simple) nutshell, this whole thing proves is that the Marlins are kicking ass at home, are getting outscored by an average of .30 runs per game on the road (and still have a winning record!), and that I have way too much free time. Go Marlins!
Friday, April 29, 2011
Carolina Got sCAMmed
With the first pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, the Carolina Panthers select Cam New... *click*. As a fan of the Carolina Panthers, that is the only thing I've seen of the NFL Draft. I turned it off at that moment and have no desire to watch another second of the draft. To be frank, the Panthers screwed up bad and I'm pissed.
Going into the draft, the "experts" were saying that there are three can't miss standouts in this draft and Cam Newton wasn't one of them. Those standouts were Alabama defensive tackle Marcell Dareus (3 - Buffalo), Georgia wide reciever AJ Green (4 - Cincinnati) and LSU cornerback Patrick Peterson (5 - Arizona). Not only are they all much safer picks, the Panthers need players at all three of those positions.
The Panthers defense was absolutely terrible last season. They struggled all season to fill the void left by Julius Peppers and have still yet to fill it. Dareus could've been a huge part of filling that void. Considering the Panthers play in the quarterback heavy NFC South (Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, and Josh Freeman), they could always use a shutdown corner, which they don't have. With all of the new rule changes favoring the passing game, that also puts a whole new emphasis on pass rushers and secondary. The Panthers could've also used a wide reciever the caliber of AJ Green. Word on the street is that Steve Smith, who is already a star reciever in the NFL for the Panthers, wants a trade out of Carolina and has already cleared out his locker. That leaves the Panthers with a TERRIBLE recieving corps, considering Smith was the only good (and he was great) reciever on their roster.
Last season, the Panthers did not have a first round pick. Their first pick was 48th overall and took place during the second round. With that pick, they chose Jimmy Clausen, who played quarterback at Notre Dame. They also drafted Cincinnati's quarterback, Tony Pike, in the sixth round of the same draft. As of this second, here is what the Panthers roster of quarterbacks looks like (in alphabetical order): Clausen (23 years old), Matt Moore (26), Cam Newton (21), Keith Null (25), Pike (25), Brian St. Pierre (31). St. Pierre is easily the oldest quarterback on the Carolina roster and barring some serious injuries, he isn't even going to given a chance on the field. That leaves the Panthers with a ton of young quaterback and no veteran leadership. That's one reason the pick of Cam Newton is so unbelievably stupid. That's like handing your car keys to your 15 year old son/daughter, who just got their drivers permit, and letting them drive without an adult.
The big thing about that that gets me is that Ron Rivera (new Panthers head coach) has already acknowledged that Jimmy Clausen didn't have a chance of succeeding last season. With all of that said, they still completely gave up on him and drafted Cam Newton anyways. I'm not competely sold on Clausen either, but I atleast want to see him in a situation where he atleast has an opportunity to succeed before I completely give up on him. He wasn't given that last season and had a horrible season. If nothing else, Clausen can keep the seat warm while the Panthers fill some holes around him. He's good enough to do that and can make some plays if given the opportunity. He just needs to be given one first.
Now, let's talk about Cam Newton and his "red flags". I seriously question his character. In November of 2008, while still at the University of Florida, he was arrested for allegedly stealing the laptop of another student. After completing a court-approved pretrial diversion program, the charges against Newton were dropped, but the laptop was found to be in his possession. He left the University of Florida prior to the spring 2009 semester in order to avoid a suspension or possibly expulsion for academic cheating.
The thing that really scares is the fact that he left the University of Florida rather than facing the consequences of his actions. If you knowingly do something wrong, which Newton did, you need to be man enough to face the consequences if you get caught. He did not, he chose to run. That makes me wonder what he is going to do in Carolina when the going gets tough, and it's going to get tough. Is he going to buckle down and work harder or is his going to flee? The past tells that when the going gets tough, Cam Newton gets running.
After leaving Florida, Newton enrolled at Blinn College in Brenham, Texas. In one season there, Newton led Blinn to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) national football championship. That really isn't surprising though that a five-star division one recruit dominated while playing at a junior college.
After his one season at Blinn, Newton enrolled at Auburn. In his first (and only) season at Auburn, Cam Newton had a dominant season. He led the Tigers to a 14-0 record and a BCS National Championship. Along the way, he dominated individually and took home the Davey O'Brien award (for the nations top QB) and the 2010 Heisman Trophy. Here are Newton's individual statistics for the 2010 NCAA football season:
Completion Percentage: 66.1 (185-280)
Passing Yards: 2854
Yards per Game (pass): 203.9
Touchdowns (pass): 30
Interceptions: 7
Sacks: 23 (for 152 yards lost)
Rushing attempts: 264
Rushing Yards: 1284 (Auburn's leading rusher)
Yards per Game (rush): 91.7
Touchdowns (rush): 20
On a quick side note, that is a lot of sacks. I appreciate the fact that he is moving around trying to make something happen, but that is something that needs to change in the NFL. He needs to learn to be smarter with the ball and protect field position. Taking 23 sacks is not doing that. He can get away with it at Auburn, where they are better than many of their opponents to begin with, but he won't have that luxury in the NFL.
Newton is a big, strong, powerful kid. He was able to run over and through guys at Auburn. He won't be doing that in the NFL, I can promise that. Defenders are much bigger and faster and stronger than they are in college. If Cam is going to be the franchise guy for the Panthers, I don't want him out there trying to run through guys and taking huge hits. If he is that guy, I want him healthy and on the field. He won't be if though if the thinks he's going to run through guys like he did in college. He needs to learn to slide and protect the ball. Huge hits lead to fumbles. Fumbles lead to points. Points lead to losses and the Panthers don't need any more of those.At this point though, I don't mind if he does try to run through somebody because I don't want him on the field.
During his time at Auburn, Newton still couldn't avoid controversy. According to Mississippi State (MSU), they were approached by Cecil Newton (Cam's father) wanting a payment for Cam's services. Apparently Cecil told the people at MSU that "it would take more than just a scholarship" for his son to play at MSU. Cecil was apparently asking for somewhere between $100,000 and $180,000. After an NCAA invesigation, due to insufficient evidence, they ruled that Cam Newton was eligible to play. As part of that ruling, they stated that Cecil Newton acted along and neither Cam nor the University of Auburn had any knowledge of his actions.
It's bad to say, but I've never believed a second of that story. I didn't when it happen and I don't now that he is a member of the Carolina Panthers. I think that whole mess was a very well thought out plan by the Newton camp. Even though Cam may not have had any direct involvement in the mess, I have a very hard time believing that he had no knowledge it was going on. I think they set it up so that he wouldn't be tied to it if they got caught, which they did.
The other thing that really scares me about Cam Newton was the offense he ran at Auburn. The offense he ran was an overly simple version of the spread offense. I can't officially confirm this, but I've read several places that Auburn made their offense overly simple so that Cam Newton could run it. I don't want a guy on my roster that needs his college offense (which isn't a pro style offense) dumbed down so that he could run it. When ESPN's Jon Gruden asked Newton to tell him what an Auburn play sounded like and Newton couldn't come up with an answer. Newton said it himself in that last video clip, a typical Auburn play was just a number. They ran a quick offense with very little huddling, so Newton has very little experience calling plays in a huddle. Newton also worked mostly out of the shotgun formation so taking snaps under center will be new to him, much like it was last year for Tim Tebow. Those two factors are second nature to NFL quarterbacks and it scares me that Newton hasn't done it.
Jimmy Clausen ran a pro style offense at Notre Dame under Charlie Weis and has had no problems adjusting to play calling in the NFL. He is also comfortable taking snaps under center, which Newton is not. Clausen was much more ready coming out of college than Newton is now.
Also, Newton has only played one season in Division-One NCAA football. Yes he was a backup for a season at Florida (behind Tebow), but he didn't play. I could care less what he did at Blinn College because he wasn't playing top talent every single game. Yes he played well in his one season as a starter at Auburn but I want to see him do it again so that I know that he can do it again. That lack of experience again scares the crap out of me.
I've also seen some reports where Cam's work ethic has been questioned. I don't care how high his upside is, he'll never get there if he's lazy. Look at former number one overall pick JaMarcus Russell. If there are any questions at all about his work ethic...avoid, avoid, avoid. You don't want to place the fate of your franchise in the hands of a lazy player.
During the interview portion of the combine, Newton presented himself very well. This does not surprise me. He knew his issues coming in so he knew the questions that were going to be asked. He got coached very well leading up to this portion of the combine and it showed. However it's just like any speech class a person will ever take. The more you practice, the better the delivery will be every time you deliver the speech. That's really all this was, I don't care what anybody says.
When you add this whole thing up, Newton has way too many more question marks than positives. The Panthers had the first pick in the entire draft so they could've picked anybody they wanted. They took their chances on Newton, who has a huge upside but is also a work in progress. There were much safer picks out there that would've solved more glaring problems for the Panthers. Yes they probably do need a quarterback, but they need a lot of other things as well.
To make a long story short, I think the Panthers made a huge mistake taking Cam Newton with the first overall pick of the draft. Even though Ron Rivera has yet to even coach a game for the Panthers, I'm already calling for his head. Him and General Manager Marty Hurney just set this franchise back 5-10 years with this pick. Instead of filling a need, they just created another question mark. If the Panthers do not win 5 games next season, I want Rivera and Hurney to both lose their jobs. They screwed this whole thing up so badly that it isn't even funny. Well, I suppose it probably is funny if you aren't a Panthers fan. Either way, the Panthers just got sCAMmed by Cam.
Going into the draft, the "experts" were saying that there are three can't miss standouts in this draft and Cam Newton wasn't one of them. Those standouts were Alabama defensive tackle Marcell Dareus (3 - Buffalo), Georgia wide reciever AJ Green (4 - Cincinnati) and LSU cornerback Patrick Peterson (5 - Arizona). Not only are they all much safer picks, the Panthers need players at all three of those positions.
The Panthers defense was absolutely terrible last season. They struggled all season to fill the void left by Julius Peppers and have still yet to fill it. Dareus could've been a huge part of filling that void. Considering the Panthers play in the quarterback heavy NFC South (Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, and Josh Freeman), they could always use a shutdown corner, which they don't have. With all of the new rule changes favoring the passing game, that also puts a whole new emphasis on pass rushers and secondary. The Panthers could've also used a wide reciever the caliber of AJ Green. Word on the street is that Steve Smith, who is already a star reciever in the NFL for the Panthers, wants a trade out of Carolina and has already cleared out his locker. That leaves the Panthers with a TERRIBLE recieving corps, considering Smith was the only good (and he was great) reciever on their roster.
Last season, the Panthers did not have a first round pick. Their first pick was 48th overall and took place during the second round. With that pick, they chose Jimmy Clausen, who played quarterback at Notre Dame. They also drafted Cincinnati's quarterback, Tony Pike, in the sixth round of the same draft. As of this second, here is what the Panthers roster of quarterbacks looks like (in alphabetical order): Clausen (23 years old), Matt Moore (26), Cam Newton (21), Keith Null (25), Pike (25), Brian St. Pierre (31). St. Pierre is easily the oldest quarterback on the Carolina roster and barring some serious injuries, he isn't even going to given a chance on the field. That leaves the Panthers with a ton of young quaterback and no veteran leadership. That's one reason the pick of Cam Newton is so unbelievably stupid. That's like handing your car keys to your 15 year old son/daughter, who just got their drivers permit, and letting them drive without an adult.
The big thing about that that gets me is that Ron Rivera (new Panthers head coach) has already acknowledged that Jimmy Clausen didn't have a chance of succeeding last season. With all of that said, they still completely gave up on him and drafted Cam Newton anyways. I'm not competely sold on Clausen either, but I atleast want to see him in a situation where he atleast has an opportunity to succeed before I completely give up on him. He wasn't given that last season and had a horrible season. If nothing else, Clausen can keep the seat warm while the Panthers fill some holes around him. He's good enough to do that and can make some plays if given the opportunity. He just needs to be given one first.
Now, let's talk about Cam Newton and his "red flags". I seriously question his character. In November of 2008, while still at the University of Florida, he was arrested for allegedly stealing the laptop of another student. After completing a court-approved pretrial diversion program, the charges against Newton were dropped, but the laptop was found to be in his possession. He left the University of Florida prior to the spring 2009 semester in order to avoid a suspension or possibly expulsion for academic cheating.
The thing that really scares is the fact that he left the University of Florida rather than facing the consequences of his actions. If you knowingly do something wrong, which Newton did, you need to be man enough to face the consequences if you get caught. He did not, he chose to run. That makes me wonder what he is going to do in Carolina when the going gets tough, and it's going to get tough. Is he going to buckle down and work harder or is his going to flee? The past tells that when the going gets tough, Cam Newton gets running.
After leaving Florida, Newton enrolled at Blinn College in Brenham, Texas. In one season there, Newton led Blinn to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) national football championship. That really isn't surprising though that a five-star division one recruit dominated while playing at a junior college.
After his one season at Blinn, Newton enrolled at Auburn. In his first (and only) season at Auburn, Cam Newton had a dominant season. He led the Tigers to a 14-0 record and a BCS National Championship. Along the way, he dominated individually and took home the Davey O'Brien award (for the nations top QB) and the 2010 Heisman Trophy. Here are Newton's individual statistics for the 2010 NCAA football season:
Completion Percentage: 66.1 (185-280)
Passing Yards: 2854
Yards per Game (pass): 203.9
Touchdowns (pass): 30
Interceptions: 7
Sacks: 23 (for 152 yards lost)
Rushing attempts: 264
Rushing Yards: 1284 (Auburn's leading rusher)
Yards per Game (rush): 91.7
Touchdowns (rush): 20
On a quick side note, that is a lot of sacks. I appreciate the fact that he is moving around trying to make something happen, but that is something that needs to change in the NFL. He needs to learn to be smarter with the ball and protect field position. Taking 23 sacks is not doing that. He can get away with it at Auburn, where they are better than many of their opponents to begin with, but he won't have that luxury in the NFL.
Newton is a big, strong, powerful kid. He was able to run over and through guys at Auburn. He won't be doing that in the NFL, I can promise that. Defenders are much bigger and faster and stronger than they are in college. If Cam is going to be the franchise guy for the Panthers, I don't want him out there trying to run through guys and taking huge hits. If he is that guy, I want him healthy and on the field. He won't be if though if the thinks he's going to run through guys like he did in college. He needs to learn to slide and protect the ball. Huge hits lead to fumbles. Fumbles lead to points. Points lead to losses and the Panthers don't need any more of those.
During his time at Auburn, Newton still couldn't avoid controversy. According to Mississippi State (MSU), they were approached by Cecil Newton (Cam's father) wanting a payment for Cam's services. Apparently Cecil told the people at MSU that "it would take more than just a scholarship" for his son to play at MSU. Cecil was apparently asking for somewhere between $100,000 and $180,000. After an NCAA invesigation, due to insufficient evidence, they ruled that Cam Newton was eligible to play. As part of that ruling, they stated that Cecil Newton acted along and neither Cam nor the University of Auburn had any knowledge of his actions.
It's bad to say, but I've never believed a second of that story. I didn't when it happen and I don't now that he is a member of the Carolina Panthers. I think that whole mess was a very well thought out plan by the Newton camp. Even though Cam may not have had any direct involvement in the mess, I have a very hard time believing that he had no knowledge it was going on. I think they set it up so that he wouldn't be tied to it if they got caught, which they did.
The other thing that really scares me about Cam Newton was the offense he ran at Auburn. The offense he ran was an overly simple version of the spread offense. I can't officially confirm this, but I've read several places that Auburn made their offense overly simple so that Cam Newton could run it. I don't want a guy on my roster that needs his college offense (which isn't a pro style offense) dumbed down so that he could run it. When ESPN's Jon Gruden asked Newton to tell him what an Auburn play sounded like and Newton couldn't come up with an answer. Newton said it himself in that last video clip, a typical Auburn play was just a number. They ran a quick offense with very little huddling, so Newton has very little experience calling plays in a huddle. Newton also worked mostly out of the shotgun formation so taking snaps under center will be new to him, much like it was last year for Tim Tebow. Those two factors are second nature to NFL quarterbacks and it scares me that Newton hasn't done it.
Jimmy Clausen ran a pro style offense at Notre Dame under Charlie Weis and has had no problems adjusting to play calling in the NFL. He is also comfortable taking snaps under center, which Newton is not. Clausen was much more ready coming out of college than Newton is now.
Also, Newton has only played one season in Division-One NCAA football. Yes he was a backup for a season at Florida (behind Tebow), but he didn't play. I could care less what he did at Blinn College because he wasn't playing top talent every single game. Yes he played well in his one season as a starter at Auburn but I want to see him do it again so that I know that he can do it again. That lack of experience again scares the crap out of me.
I've also seen some reports where Cam's work ethic has been questioned. I don't care how high his upside is, he'll never get there if he's lazy. Look at former number one overall pick JaMarcus Russell. If there are any questions at all about his work ethic...avoid, avoid, avoid. You don't want to place the fate of your franchise in the hands of a lazy player.
During the interview portion of the combine, Newton presented himself very well. This does not surprise me. He knew his issues coming in so he knew the questions that were going to be asked. He got coached very well leading up to this portion of the combine and it showed. However it's just like any speech class a person will ever take. The more you practice, the better the delivery will be every time you deliver the speech. That's really all this was, I don't care what anybody says.
When you add this whole thing up, Newton has way too many more question marks than positives. The Panthers had the first pick in the entire draft so they could've picked anybody they wanted. They took their chances on Newton, who has a huge upside but is also a work in progress. There were much safer picks out there that would've solved more glaring problems for the Panthers. Yes they probably do need a quarterback, but they need a lot of other things as well.
To make a long story short, I think the Panthers made a huge mistake taking Cam Newton with the first overall pick of the draft. Even though Ron Rivera has yet to even coach a game for the Panthers, I'm already calling for his head. Him and General Manager Marty Hurney just set this franchise back 5-10 years with this pick. Instead of filling a need, they just created another question mark. If the Panthers do not win 5 games next season, I want Rivera and Hurney to both lose their jobs. They screwed this whole thing up so badly that it isn't even funny. Well, I suppose it probably is funny if you aren't a Panthers fan. Either way, the Panthers just got sCAMmed by Cam.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Jackie Robinson Day
I'd like to wish everybody a Happy April 15! That means one of three things:
1. Happy Birthday Ryan!
2. Shit! Did I pay my taxes? (yes I did)
3. Jackie Robinson Day.
On this day back in 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first player to break baseball's color barrier when he made his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers. This was a monumental step forward for the game and one that should be celebrated annually. Not only should it be celebrated, it should be celebrated at every park in Major League Baseball that is hosting a game on Jackie Robinson Day.
With all of that said, MLB couldn't have screwed this whole celebration up any more if they'd tried. I take that back, I'm sure they could make it worse if they wanted to, and they probably will in future seasons. On Jackie Robinson Day every season, every player and coach on every major league roster and the umpires for every single game will be wearing the number 42.
On April 15, 1997, the 50th anniversary of Robinson breaking the color barrier, MLB commissioner Bud Selig announced that the number 42 would be retired league wide. The exception to that rule were players that were already wearing the number 42. They would be allowed to continue using the number. It's been 14 years since that announcement and there is only one player left in the league still wearing the number. That's Yankees closer Mariano Rivera. Even though it's his right to continue using the number, I personally think he's a little selfish for continuing to use the number. However that's a different argument for a different day.
In 2007, Ken Griffey, Jr. asked MLB for permission to wear the number 42 on Jackie Robinson Day as a tribute to the man and his accomplishments. Once he was granted permission from Selig and Rachel Robinson (the widow of Jackie Robinson), Selig extended the offer to all major league clubs. During this period, players were not required to wear the number 42 but had the option to do so if they wanted to. Starting in 2009, all players, coaches and umpires were required to wear the number. That tradition continues today.
As great of an occasioin as Jackie Robinson Day is, the tradition of everybody wearing the number 42 is completely stupid and over the top. It makes it extremely hard, if not impossible, to tell who anybody is on the field. To make things harder, players do not wear their last names on the back of their jerseys for Jackie Robinson Day, just the number 42. Why can't players just wear a special sleeve patch to commemorate the occasion? They could even make it a hat patch as well if they wanted to. It has the same effect, yet looks far less stupid.
Like I said before, Jackie Robinson Day is a great occasion that should be celebrated by everybody in baseball. You'll never hear me say that it shouldn't be. They just need to find a better way to do it.
I'd like to give a quick thank you to Jackie Robinson for his dedication to the game of baseball. He really helped to shape the game of baseball, and pretty much every other sport for that matter, into what it is today. So I tip my cap to you Jackie. Thank you for a job well done!
1. Happy Birthday Ryan!
2. Shit! Did I pay my taxes? (yes I did)
3. Jackie Robinson Day.
On this day back in 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first player to break baseball's color barrier when he made his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers. This was a monumental step forward for the game and one that should be celebrated annually. Not only should it be celebrated, it should be celebrated at every park in Major League Baseball that is hosting a game on Jackie Robinson Day.
With all of that said, MLB couldn't have screwed this whole celebration up any more if they'd tried. I take that back, I'm sure they could make it worse if they wanted to, and they probably will in future seasons. On Jackie Robinson Day every season, every player and coach on every major league roster and the umpires for every single game will be wearing the number 42.
On April 15, 1997, the 50th anniversary of Robinson breaking the color barrier, MLB commissioner Bud Selig announced that the number 42 would be retired league wide. The exception to that rule were players that were already wearing the number 42. They would be allowed to continue using the number. It's been 14 years since that announcement and there is only one player left in the league still wearing the number. That's Yankees closer Mariano Rivera. Even though it's his right to continue using the number, I personally think he's a little selfish for continuing to use the number. However that's a different argument for a different day.
In 2007, Ken Griffey, Jr. asked MLB for permission to wear the number 42 on Jackie Robinson Day as a tribute to the man and his accomplishments. Once he was granted permission from Selig and Rachel Robinson (the widow of Jackie Robinson), Selig extended the offer to all major league clubs. During this period, players were not required to wear the number 42 but had the option to do so if they wanted to. Starting in 2009, all players, coaches and umpires were required to wear the number. That tradition continues today.
As great of an occasioin as Jackie Robinson Day is, the tradition of everybody wearing the number 42 is completely stupid and over the top. It makes it extremely hard, if not impossible, to tell who anybody is on the field. To make things harder, players do not wear their last names on the back of their jerseys for Jackie Robinson Day, just the number 42. Why can't players just wear a special sleeve patch to commemorate the occasion? They could even make it a hat patch as well if they wanted to. It has the same effect, yet looks far less stupid.
Like I said before, Jackie Robinson Day is a great occasion that should be celebrated by everybody in baseball. You'll never hear me say that it shouldn't be. They just need to find a better way to do it.
I'd like to give a quick thank you to Jackie Robinson for his dedication to the game of baseball. He really helped to shape the game of baseball, and pretty much every other sport for that matter, into what it is today. So I tip my cap to you Jackie. Thank you for a job well done!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Who Am I?
This probably should've been my first blog, but I thought the Tampa Bay Lightning's uniform situation was a little more important. Anybody that knows me personally will agree with that immediately. I've always been interested in sports and the uniforms that go along with those sports. That is one of the reasons I collect jerseys. If something is rare, unique, or just an absolute throwback, it usually catches my eye. As a collector though, I still have my boundaries, I will not own a jersey of a team that is a rival of my team. With all of that said, here's a little bit about me and who I am as a fan.
There are a lot of people who choose their loyalties based on proximity. For example, if you live in Illinois, you are a Chicago fan all of the way. I live in Illinois, and I am an exception to that rule. My favorite teams are scattered throughout the United States. I follow most of the major sports and have a favorite team in each. Those teams include (listed in alphabetical order) the Carolina Panthers (NFL), Dallas Mavericks (NBA), Detroit Red Wings (NHL), Florida Marlins (MLB), and Manchester City Football (soccer) Club (EPL).
When I was growing up, I was raised by my father to be a Detroit Lions fan. I have no idea why he likes the Detroit Lions but he's always been a fan of them. So when I was growing up, I had a Barry Sanders jersey (may have been my first jersey, but I can't confirm that), a Lions winter coat, t-shirts, sweatshirts, etc. I can just sum that up by saying that I had a lot of Lions stuff. Back in 1996, I'm not really sure why, but I decided that I was going to be a Carolina Panthers fan. I've been that way ever since. I've seen them blow a Super Bowl, which stung a little bit. I've also seen them complete seasons with one and two wins respectfully. The most recent bad season just so happened to be the 2010 NFL season in which they went 2-14 and were rewarded with the first pick in the 2011 NFL Draft (aka they were the worst team in football). I'm content with that though. Like with many things, it has to get worse before it can get better.
As I mentioned earlier, I live in Illinois and grew up at the height of the Chicago Bulls championship runs. So naturally, I grew up following the Chicago Bulls. I still follow them quite closely, but don't consider them to by "my" team. A lot of that has to do with Dirk Nowitzki, who happens to be my favorite basketball player, and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. Nowitzki is a special player, I'm not sure anybody will deny that. He's a matchup nightmare for opposing teams. It's very rare when you have a seven footer who has the outside game of a guard, who can also play down on the blocks. If you put a big man on him, he'll take him outside, creating a mis-match on defense. If you put a smaller player on him, he'll take him down low and create another mis-match on defense. If you double team him, that leaves somebody on the court open, which again isn't a good thing for the opposing team. On the flip side, you have owner Mark Cuban, who is sort of a controversial figure in sports. He's said and done a lot (emphasis added) of stupid things which have landed him fines from the NBA. At the end of the day though, he is just a passionate fan who is willing to do whatever necessary to help his team win. In past years he's tried unsuccessfully on a couple of attempts to buy Major League Baseball teams, most notably the Cubs. The sad thing is that the "Old Boys Club" known as the baseball owners won't approve Cuban as an owner. I really think he'd be good for the game of baseball but it doesn't look like he'll ever get the chance to prove it.
The Detroit Red Wings are probably the team that I am most passionate about. I've always been a hockey fan, even when it wasn't "cool" in the mid-90s. I can't say that it was never not cool to be a hockey fan, but there were never really any followers of the game where I live back in the day. As I said before, I was raised by my father to be a Detroit Lions fan. I also happened to play for the Tigers at the same time back when I was in Little League. So I always kind of had that Detroit connection, even though I've never been to Detroit, or Michigan, for that matter. When I became interested in the game of hockey, naturally I became a fan of the Red Wings thanks to that Detroit connection. During my time as a Wings fan, I've been spoiled a little bit. I've been there for four Stanley Cups and they've never missed the playoffs since I've been following them. I'd like to think that I'm their good luck charm, but that probably isn't the case. My luck as a Wings fan, as much as I hate to say it, is probably on borrowed time, not that I'm complaining.
The team I've been a fan of the longest happens to be the Florida Marlins. I've been a fan of them since they entered the league back in 1993. A year or two before they entered the league, I went on a family vacation to Florida and had an AMAZING time. Of course what 6 or 7 (or somewhere around there) year old isn't going to have a great time at Walt Disney World? So when the state got a professional baseball team a couple of years later, I instantly became a fan. Like with my other teams, I've been around for two World Series championships and some absolutely horrible years where they were not even competitve. For the most part though, the Marlins have always been a middle of the pack team. They've always been a tough matchup and a team others don't like to face, but they usually end up falling just short in the end. I'm fine with that though because they always seem to be competitive every single year, which is all I can ask for as a fan. It'll really be interesting to see what happens next season when they move into their new ballpark in down town Miami. For those who were not aware as well, they are also going through a re-branding process next year as well. Starting with the opening of their new park, they will be known as the Miami Marlins, rather than the Florida Marlins.
I now go from my oldest loyalty, to my newest, and that belongs to Manchester City Football Club. Being in the United States, soccer really isn't a huge thing here. Yeah, we have Major League Soccer, and even though it's getting better every year, it's not exactly top flight football. I really got interested in the game of soccer watching the 2006 World Cup, which was played in Germany. At the conclusion of that World Cup, I made the decision that I was going to start following soccer and that I had to choose a team to follow. Somehow I was always attracted to Manchester City. I knew right away that I wasn't going to jump on the bandwagon of one of the top teams because it's too easy to do it that way. When you think of the "Boys in Blue," they will always be the little brothers in the city of Manchester. Everybody, even if they aren't soccer fans, have atleast heard of Manchester United. Manchester City is to Manchester United what the Los Angeles Clippers are to the Lakers. Or what the New York Mets are to the Yankees. I think you get the point. Up to this point, I haven't seen much of a return on that "investment," but thing are looking up and I see City being championship contenders for the next several years. Hopefully they can live up to those expectations atleast once.
As a sports fan in general, I love to go see live sporting events, no matter who is playing. To make the game more interesting, I like to cheer for somebody in that game, even if I don't have any ties to them as a fan. What's the point in going if you are just going to sit on your hands the entire game and not cheer for anybody? One label I've been given is that I'm an antagonist who likes to always cheer for the away team. Even though it usually ends up that way, that's not necessarily true. Most of the minor league teams close to me happen to be affiliated with rivals of my favorite team. So therefore, I'm not going to cheer for those teams just because of their affiliation. It's not that I'm necessarily trying to be antagonistic, it's that I'm trying to be a fan of my team. If that means cheering against the home team, so be it.
The example I'll use here are the Rockford IceHogs, who happen to be AHL affiliates of the Chicago Blackhawks. I've hated the IceHogs long before their affiliation with the Blackhawks. Back in the day, when they were still members of the United Hockey League, they had a nice rivalry with the Quad City Mallards. The Mallards happened to be my favorite local team growing up and the two teams are located about two hours from each other. When I was roughly 10 years old, I went with my dad to see the Mallards play in Rockford. Around 5 minutes into the game, the Mallards scored to take a 1-0 lead. My teams scored so naturally I stood up and clapped. A few seconds later, I get hit in the middle of the back with a chuck-a-puck. It takes a real classy fan to hit a 10 year old kid in the back with a chuck-a-puck for clapping when his team scored. Since then I've been challenged to a fight by a drunken bachelor party (just for wearing a Mallards jersey) and have had a half empty water bottle fly past my head (for standing up and clapping for a goal). I've also been called an asshole by a fan just for standing up and clapping for a goal. I didn't say a word, I just stood up and clapped. Back in the day, there were some extremely mean spirited fans that went to IceHogs games. It's gotten much better in recent years, but I still will never cheer for them. I've had way too many negative experiences in the past and now they have the whole Chicago Blackhawks affiliation thing going against them as well. Being a Red Wings fan, I can't find it in my heart to cheer for anything related to the Blackhawks.
There you have it. That's a little bit of an insight as to who I am as a fan and where my loyalties lie.
There are a lot of people who choose their loyalties based on proximity. For example, if you live in Illinois, you are a Chicago fan all of the way. I live in Illinois, and I am an exception to that rule. My favorite teams are scattered throughout the United States. I follow most of the major sports and have a favorite team in each. Those teams include (listed in alphabetical order) the Carolina Panthers (NFL), Dallas Mavericks (NBA), Detroit Red Wings (NHL), Florida Marlins (MLB), and Manchester City Football (soccer) Club (EPL).
When I was growing up, I was raised by my father to be a Detroit Lions fan. I have no idea why he likes the Detroit Lions but he's always been a fan of them. So when I was growing up, I had a Barry Sanders jersey (may have been my first jersey, but I can't confirm that), a Lions winter coat, t-shirts, sweatshirts, etc. I can just sum that up by saying that I had a lot of Lions stuff. Back in 1996, I'm not really sure why, but I decided that I was going to be a Carolina Panthers fan. I've been that way ever since. I've seen them blow a Super Bowl, which stung a little bit. I've also seen them complete seasons with one and two wins respectfully. The most recent bad season just so happened to be the 2010 NFL season in which they went 2-14 and were rewarded with the first pick in the 2011 NFL Draft (aka they were the worst team in football). I'm content with that though. Like with many things, it has to get worse before it can get better.
As I mentioned earlier, I live in Illinois and grew up at the height of the Chicago Bulls championship runs. So naturally, I grew up following the Chicago Bulls. I still follow them quite closely, but don't consider them to by "my" team. A lot of that has to do with Dirk Nowitzki, who happens to be my favorite basketball player, and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. Nowitzki is a special player, I'm not sure anybody will deny that. He's a matchup nightmare for opposing teams. It's very rare when you have a seven footer who has the outside game of a guard, who can also play down on the blocks. If you put a big man on him, he'll take him outside, creating a mis-match on defense. If you put a smaller player on him, he'll take him down low and create another mis-match on defense. If you double team him, that leaves somebody on the court open, which again isn't a good thing for the opposing team. On the flip side, you have owner Mark Cuban, who is sort of a controversial figure in sports. He's said and done a lot (emphasis added) of stupid things which have landed him fines from the NBA. At the end of the day though, he is just a passionate fan who is willing to do whatever necessary to help his team win. In past years he's tried unsuccessfully on a couple of attempts to buy Major League Baseball teams, most notably the Cubs. The sad thing is that the "Old Boys Club" known as the baseball owners won't approve Cuban as an owner. I really think he'd be good for the game of baseball but it doesn't look like he'll ever get the chance to prove it.
The Detroit Red Wings are probably the team that I am most passionate about. I've always been a hockey fan, even when it wasn't "cool" in the mid-90s. I can't say that it was never not cool to be a hockey fan, but there were never really any followers of the game where I live back in the day. As I said before, I was raised by my father to be a Detroit Lions fan. I also happened to play for the Tigers at the same time back when I was in Little League. So I always kind of had that Detroit connection, even though I've never been to Detroit, or Michigan, for that matter. When I became interested in the game of hockey, naturally I became a fan of the Red Wings thanks to that Detroit connection. During my time as a Wings fan, I've been spoiled a little bit. I've been there for four Stanley Cups and they've never missed the playoffs since I've been following them. I'd like to think that I'm their good luck charm, but that probably isn't the case. My luck as a Wings fan, as much as I hate to say it, is probably on borrowed time, not that I'm complaining.
The team I've been a fan of the longest happens to be the Florida Marlins. I've been a fan of them since they entered the league back in 1993. A year or two before they entered the league, I went on a family vacation to Florida and had an AMAZING time. Of course what 6 or 7 (or somewhere around there) year old isn't going to have a great time at Walt Disney World? So when the state got a professional baseball team a couple of years later, I instantly became a fan. Like with my other teams, I've been around for two World Series championships and some absolutely horrible years where they were not even competitve. For the most part though, the Marlins have always been a middle of the pack team. They've always been a tough matchup and a team others don't like to face, but they usually end up falling just short in the end. I'm fine with that though because they always seem to be competitive every single year, which is all I can ask for as a fan. It'll really be interesting to see what happens next season when they move into their new ballpark in down town Miami. For those who were not aware as well, they are also going through a re-branding process next year as well. Starting with the opening of their new park, they will be known as the Miami Marlins, rather than the Florida Marlins.
I now go from my oldest loyalty, to my newest, and that belongs to Manchester City Football Club. Being in the United States, soccer really isn't a huge thing here. Yeah, we have Major League Soccer, and even though it's getting better every year, it's not exactly top flight football. I really got interested in the game of soccer watching the 2006 World Cup, which was played in Germany. At the conclusion of that World Cup, I made the decision that I was going to start following soccer and that I had to choose a team to follow. Somehow I was always attracted to Manchester City. I knew right away that I wasn't going to jump on the bandwagon of one of the top teams because it's too easy to do it that way. When you think of the "Boys in Blue," they will always be the little brothers in the city of Manchester. Everybody, even if they aren't soccer fans, have atleast heard of Manchester United. Manchester City is to Manchester United what the Los Angeles Clippers are to the Lakers. Or what the New York Mets are to the Yankees. I think you get the point. Up to this point, I haven't seen much of a return on that "investment," but thing are looking up and I see City being championship contenders for the next several years. Hopefully they can live up to those expectations atleast once.
As a sports fan in general, I love to go see live sporting events, no matter who is playing. To make the game more interesting, I like to cheer for somebody in that game, even if I don't have any ties to them as a fan. What's the point in going if you are just going to sit on your hands the entire game and not cheer for anybody? One label I've been given is that I'm an antagonist who likes to always cheer for the away team. Even though it usually ends up that way, that's not necessarily true. Most of the minor league teams close to me happen to be affiliated with rivals of my favorite team. So therefore, I'm not going to cheer for those teams just because of their affiliation. It's not that I'm necessarily trying to be antagonistic, it's that I'm trying to be a fan of my team. If that means cheering against the home team, so be it.
The example I'll use here are the Rockford IceHogs, who happen to be AHL affiliates of the Chicago Blackhawks. I've hated the IceHogs long before their affiliation with the Blackhawks. Back in the day, when they were still members of the United Hockey League, they had a nice rivalry with the Quad City Mallards. The Mallards happened to be my favorite local team growing up and the two teams are located about two hours from each other. When I was roughly 10 years old, I went with my dad to see the Mallards play in Rockford. Around 5 minutes into the game, the Mallards scored to take a 1-0 lead. My teams scored so naturally I stood up and clapped. A few seconds later, I get hit in the middle of the back with a chuck-a-puck. It takes a real classy fan to hit a 10 year old kid in the back with a chuck-a-puck for clapping when his team scored. Since then I've been challenged to a fight by a drunken bachelor party (just for wearing a Mallards jersey) and have had a half empty water bottle fly past my head (for standing up and clapping for a goal). I've also been called an asshole by a fan just for standing up and clapping for a goal. I didn't say a word, I just stood up and clapped. Back in the day, there were some extremely mean spirited fans that went to IceHogs games. It's gotten much better in recent years, but I still will never cheer for them. I've had way too many negative experiences in the past and now they have the whole Chicago Blackhawks affiliation thing going against them as well. Being a Red Wings fan, I can't find it in my heart to cheer for anything related to the Blackhawks.
There you have it. That's a little bit of an insight as to who I am as a fan and where my loyalties lie.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Be A Man(ny)
Last week Manny Ramirez, now (or I guess formerly) of the Tampa Bay Rays, decided to call it a career. When I first heard the news, I wasn't at all surprised. His numbers to start the 2011 MLB season were horrible, and that may be sugar coating it.
This season, Ramirez only played in 5 games for the Rays. In that time, he had 17 at bats and recorded one hit and one RBI. He also struck out four times and currently has a batting average of .059, which again is not good. So again, when I first heard the news about his retirement, I wasn't surprised. I had a feeling that he just wasn't keeping up with the game as well as he had in the past and that his mind and body were both telling him that it's time to go. There have been several great athletes who have run into situations like that.
As time went on, it was apparent that this retirement was different. Apparently Manny had run into another issue with Major League Baseball's Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Back in 2009, when Manny was a member of the Los Angeles Dodgersof Los Angeles, he was suspended 50 games for an issue to do with the Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. It's also been reported, but never confirmed that Manny's name was also on the list of players that tested positive before MLB began regular drug testing. This round of testing was done in order to gauge drug use in order to decide whether or not to implement some form of drug testing. The names of the players who tested positive were not supposed to be released, even though some have come out since then.
Seeing as though Manny apparently tested positive again, he is now facing the possiblility of a 100 game suspension. Instead of being a man and facing the punishment for the act he committed, he instead decided to run away from it and retire. I lose a lot of respect for Manny just for that right there. If you knowingly do something wrong, you should always be prepared to face the consequences if you get caught. He's not a man though, he's only 38. As we know from the past, you don't become a man until you turn 40.
If Manny Ramirez decides to ultimately stay away from baseball, which I don't think he will, this will be his lasting legacy. Keep in mind that if he does decide to return, he will immediately be facing the 100 game suspension before he's able to resume his playing career.
Ramirez probably has statistics good enough for enshrinement in Cooperstown. He was never the best defender but the guy could always hit. As far as I'm concerned, he should never make his way to Cooperstown. Any player who ever tests positive for a banned substance, in my opinion, should never be allowed to make the Hall of Fame. Period. That includes Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Andy Pettite, Manny Ramirez, etc. Do I need to continue?
His only chance to get into the Hall of Fame, and I mean only chance, would be to be a man and face the consequences of his actions. You will atleast save a little bit of face there. By running away, you don't get to save any face and that won't be forgotten, I'll guarantee that.
For any player, in any sport, the Hall of Fame is the ultimate reward for a great career. At some point in each of these athletes' lives I'll guarantee that they've dreamed of being card carrying members of their sports Hall of Fame. Yet in reality, very few players come close to reaching that point.
With that said, it's a shame when a player who was probably good enough to make the Hall of Fame before the use of a banned substance resorts to using that substance. Barry Bonds was good enough. Alex Rodriguez was good enough. Manny Ramirez may not be on par with those guys, but with the way he could hit, he may have been good enough at all. Now neither of them deserve to be in the Hall and that's the way it should be.
This season, Ramirez only played in 5 games for the Rays. In that time, he had 17 at bats and recorded one hit and one RBI. He also struck out four times and currently has a batting average of .059, which again is not good. So again, when I first heard the news about his retirement, I wasn't surprised. I had a feeling that he just wasn't keeping up with the game as well as he had in the past and that his mind and body were both telling him that it's time to go. There have been several great athletes who have run into situations like that.
As time went on, it was apparent that this retirement was different. Apparently Manny had run into another issue with Major League Baseball's Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Back in 2009, when Manny was a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers
Seeing as though Manny apparently tested positive again, he is now facing the possiblility of a 100 game suspension. Instead of being a man and facing the punishment for the act he committed, he instead decided to run away from it and retire. I lose a lot of respect for Manny just for that right there. If you knowingly do something wrong, you should always be prepared to face the consequences if you get caught. He's not a man though, he's only 38. As we know from the past, you don't become a man until you turn 40.
If Manny Ramirez decides to ultimately stay away from baseball, which I don't think he will, this will be his lasting legacy. Keep in mind that if he does decide to return, he will immediately be facing the 100 game suspension before he's able to resume his playing career.
Ramirez probably has statistics good enough for enshrinement in Cooperstown. He was never the best defender but the guy could always hit. As far as I'm concerned, he should never make his way to Cooperstown. Any player who ever tests positive for a banned substance, in my opinion, should never be allowed to make the Hall of Fame. Period. That includes Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Andy Pettite, Manny Ramirez, etc. Do I need to continue?
His only chance to get into the Hall of Fame, and I mean only chance, would be to be a man and face the consequences of his actions. You will atleast save a little bit of face there. By running away, you don't get to save any face and that won't be forgotten, I'll guarantee that.
For any player, in any sport, the Hall of Fame is the ultimate reward for a great career. At some point in each of these athletes' lives I'll guarantee that they've dreamed of being card carrying members of their sports Hall of Fame. Yet in reality, very few players come close to reaching that point.
With that said, it's a shame when a player who was probably good enough to make the Hall of Fame before the use of a banned substance resorts to using that substance. Barry Bonds was good enough. Alex Rodriguez was good enough. Manny Ramirez may not be on par with those guys, but with the way he could hit, he may have been good enough at all. Now neither of them deserve to be in the Hall and that's the way it should be.
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