Not that it's necessarily a bad problem to have, but what do you do when you have conquered not just your own sport, but the entire sporting world before your 24th birthday? In the history of the modern Olympic Games, dating back into the 1800's, no individual has ever hauled in as many gold medals in a single Olympic Games as Phelps has won in 2008.
Perhaps President of NBC would be a fair position to offer the kid, since the network has benefitted maybe the most off of his incredible run of success. Ratings were astronomical, as people tuned in to see if he would succumb to the mounting pressure of trying to make history. Guess we now know the answer to that question.
2) Why was everyone so surprised when it was discovered that the little girl singing at the Opening Ceremonies was lip-synching, and hadn't even recorded the song she was singing in the first place?
Anyone remember Milli Vanilli? This stuff crops up every now and then and people always act so shocked and outraged that anyone would try to pull something over on them. Get real.
And as far as the age of the Chinese female gymnasts is concerned, same thing. I have no idea whether they are the appropriate age to qualify for the Olympics or not, but is there anyone out there who really believes the Chinese government would be above pulling a fast one to get the most out of their shining moment in the world's spotlight? Again, get real. Happens all the time.
3) This isn't really sports related, but did I miss the memo that went out regarding weather forecasters?
Why did all the weather geeks suddenly decide that it's not "thunderstorms" any more, but rather just "storms?" Watch any forecast, local or national, and they all say the same thing - "Developing clouds this afternoon, with a chance of storms as the evening progresses."
Aren't they supposed to be as specific as possible? Shouldn't they say "thunderstorms" if that's what they mean? Isn't there more than one type of storm? Maybe it will be a hailstorm or just a rainstorm, but no, when they refer to thunderstorms, they all just say "storms."
I don't like it. It bugs me. Except for Hannah Storm. There's no need to refer to her as Hannah Thunderstorm, but she's the only exception that should be tolerated in my book.
4) Did Joe Torre think he left the zoo behind when he left New York?
When Manny Ramirez got out to L.A. and vowed to cut his hair, was the half-inch or so that got taken off really what Torre had in mind?
Seeing Manny be Manny must be like getting a rusty nail in the eye for Torre, a baseball lifer who played in the days when management and ownership had all the rights and players had none, to deal with a guy like Ramirez, who is tolerated because of his tremendous talent but who seems to have no ability to see the world through anyone else's eyes. I suppose having $200 million will do that to a guy, but still.
5) How long will it be before Brett Favre begins getting skewered by the press and the fans in New York?
Two games? Five? Half a season?
Favre has always been an all-or-nothing quarterback, which has simultaneously been both his blessing and his curse. As long as he consistently delivers "alls," he will be hailed as a conquering hero in football's toughest market. As soon as a few "nothings" get tossed in there, though, watch out. If he's able to protect the ball like he did in the first half of last season in Green Bay, Favre has nothing to worry about. That's never been his history, though, so look for fireworks as the season progresses.
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If you love fiction and have a few minutes to spare, check out my website, www.allanleverone.com
It has become standard practice for athletes of all incomes and all ability levels in all professional sports to endear themselves to the local fan base by exclaiming loudly and to anyone who will listen how much they are looking forward to finishing their career in that city.
Usually midway through the introductory press conference, the athlete in question vows, in between posing for the obligatory photos shaking the hands of the team's ownership and management (also known as the very same people he will be fighting tooth and nail against to get more money from come contract time) and holding up his new home jersey with his name on the back, that this is where he has wanted to play his entire career and he is looking forward to retiring from this lucky city.
The players inevitably say these words with the utmost sincerity, counting on the suckers...uh, excuse me...fans...yeah, that's it, fans...to eat it up like Rosie O'Donnell at the dessert table, which they inevitably do.
But Manny Ramirez has set a new standard for baboozling home-town fans, a mark which may never be broken. After stating in early summer that he fully expected to remain a Boston Red Sox until retirement, he orchestrated a trade out of town by performing in-game job actions that were so blatantly obvious they have inspired an investigation from the league office.
But wait, there's more! After donning mirrored sunglasses and wowing fans in L.A. by stating, within 24 hours of arriving in town, "I think that I'll play here for the remainder of my career," sources now say that what the man for whom the term "enigmatic" was originally coined meant to say was that he wants to sign a free agent contract this winter to loaf...uh, excuse me...play...yeah, that's it, play, for the New York Yankees until his retirement from the game.
Anyone can change his mind, of course, and it was a whole five days between Manny's oath of devotion to L.A. and the revelation of the latest city he's developed a crush on, but ultimately, it probably doesn't much matter, anyway. The guy will hit wherever he is, and chances are he's not going to be too sure where that is, anyway.
Besides, if the flirtation with New York doesn't work out, there are still over two dozen cities he can swear he wants to finish his career in, and that doesn't even include Green Bay, where Manny may or may not have volunteered to play quarterback. He's just hitting his stride!
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If you love fiction and have a few minutes to spare, check out my website, www.allanleverone.com
You know you're stuck in the dog days of summer when it seems like all the sports stories are the same ones, recycled over and over. The promise of spring is gone for a lot of Major League baseball teams as they drop out of pennant races, the real college and NFL football games are still weeks away, and even though the Olympic Games are happening this year, there doesn't seem to be much sizzle.
So here, in no particular order, are the sports stories that would be banned immediately if I were King of the World:
1) Brett Favre - As great a player as Brett Favre was, and as poorly as his annual retirement sagas were handled (especially this year's), and whether he leads the NFL in passer rating and wins a Super Bowl with the Jets this year or whether he stinks worse than two week old tuna, can't we just let the whole thing go? I bet even Obama and McCain can agree on this one. Please, sports people everywhere, for the love of God, I'm begging you, just let the Favre thing go!
2) Manny Ramirez - Now the big story is that Bud Selig has asked a representative to look into how the whole Manny trade from Boston to Los Angeles was handled. Yay. What's he planning on doing if he doesn't like how it was handled? Declare the whole thing a tie? Let it go for crying out loud! Manny will hit like gangbusters and play hard until he decides not to and that's that. What you see is what you get with him. Always has been and always will be. Let's move on.
3) Redeem Team - Not to be cynical here, but sitting on the edge of my seat, trying to see if a bunch of multi-millionaires can beat another bunch of multi-millionaires to win a gold medal in what used to be the ultimate amateur competition just doesn't really do it for me. The outstanding United States Olympic Basketball Team will either win it all or they won't. What does redeeming have to do with anything?
4) Olympic athletes testing positive for banned substances - I guess I am getting cynical in my old age, but over the next three weeks or so we will see a few stories of courage and inspiration, a few genuinely interesting and exciting matchups in sports most of us only pay attention to every four years, and more than a few medal-winning athletes testing positive for banned substances and being stripped of their medals. They will immediately have the obligatory stunned and outraged reaction, proclaim their innocence, insist - through their high-profile attornies - that they have no idea how the substance got into their system and will fight these scurrilous charges until their dying breath, and then six months to a year down the line will give their medals back and serve their suspensions. Happens every four years. I can't wait.
Okay, I'm done now. Sorry for the interruption. I'd love to stay and chat but I'm off to the Jets website to read up on the latest Favre stuff.
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If you love fiction and have a few minutes to spare, check out my website, www.allanleverone.com
How do you gain acceptance from the fans in a new situation in a strange city after being traded for one of the most feared hitters of this generation, all in the middle of a heated pennant race?
Well, how about by hitting a triple in your first at-bat with your new team, reaching base four times in that game, and scoring the only two runs in a 2-1, extra-inning win? Then you could follow that up with a three-run homer in the first inning of the next game to put your team ahead to stay, while playing stellar defense, something fans in that city aren't used to from their left fielder.
Do all that, Jason Bay, and you become an instant fan favorite, even in a notoriously high pressure city, where players on every team based in that city are routinely subjected to a level of scrutiny some guys are never able to adjust to.
Who knows what the long term holds for Bay, the 29 year old left fielder beginning his American League career with the Boston Red Sox after spending his first four seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but for now, if the signs scattered around Fenway Park are any indication, the guy has the fans eating out of his hands.
A random sampling of some of those signs:
"Manny Who?"
"Welcome to the Bay State!"
"FenBay Park"
"Un-Bay-Lievable!"
"Boston Loves BaysBall!"
"We're Bay-Watch Babes!"
and my personal favorite,
"Bay being Bay"
As of Sunday night, the Red Sox are now 3-0 in the Jason Bay era in Boston. The Bay State, indeed!
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If you love fiction and have a few minutes to spare, check out my website, www.allanleverone.com
Just when you think you've seen it all - and it's hard not to believe you have after nearly eight full years of Manny Ramirez lunacy - comes this report from the Boston Globe's Gordon Edes, citing an unnamed source "with direct knowledge of the negotiations" that took place between Manny's representatives and the Boston Red Sox.
According to Edes, who covers the Red Sox daily, "within an hour after [the] Red Sox informed Manny Ramirez he had been traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers...Ramirez' agent, Scott Boras, called the Sox back." Incredibly, the message Boras carried was that Manny was just kidding about the whole getting out of Boston thing; just kidding when he said that the Red Sox didn't deserve a player like him; just kidding when he said he was sick of them and they were sick of him.
According to Edes, Boras offered the following proposal - if Boston agreed to drop the option years on his contract, Manny would be a good boy and not cause any more trouble the rest of the season!
By that time,of course, the deal with the Dodgers was done, making the affair probably the last "Manny Moment" ever in Boston. Unless of course, by some massive cosmic joke the Red Sox were to meet the Dodgers in the World Series, which, undoubtedly, every single management type at the Fox network, the home of this year's Fall Classic, would sell their souls to see.
But for now the point is moot. The Manny Ramirez Traveling Circus has taken its show to the West Coast, and everyone involved is beginning the long process of moving on. For Manny, though, who must be wondering why this time was so different after all the other episodes of foolishness the Red Sox management endured for so long without ever seeming to hold him accountable, it's a new day in Hollywood, and a new town to woo with the promise of all his monster talent.
Here's hoping he doesn't quit on his new team like he quit on his old one.
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If you love fiction and have a few minutes to spare, check out my website, www.allanleverone.com
It's a shame that a partnership that has been as beneficial to both parties as the Boston Red Sox and Manny Ramirez has to end like this, with public bickering and contentious finger-pointing in the middle of a playoff race!
But the relationship between Ramirez and the Bosox has been a symbiotic one from the very beginning. The Red Sox have won two world championships in the last four years - after going zero for the previous eighty-six - with Manny Ramirez patrolling left field at Fenway Park, while Ramirez has become wealthier than he probably ever dreamed possible while growing up in the shadow of Yankee Stadium.
The facts are the facts, though, and the two warring factions have progressed well beyond the point of no return. So if you accept the premise that there is no scenario under which Manny would be playing left field at Fenway Park next year, the question becomes, would the Red Sox benefit more from trading Ramirez now or cutting ties with the mercurial slugger at the end of the season.
Conventional wisdom says the Red Sox cannot afford to trade Manny now, since they can't win without him. I believe exactly the opposite - it is imperative they move him now. Manny Ramirez has always marched to the beat of his own drum, and assuming the player who, even under the best of circumstances, is likely to take an at-bat or an entire game off will give his all to help a team he has come to despise would be a massive error in judgement.
Assuming he will give 100% because he will be playing for a contract, I believe, is an erroneous assumption. This is a man who has hit over 500 home runs in his illustrious career and who has been one of the most feared run-producers in the modern game. He knows - he doesn't suspect, he knows - that someone will give him big money over the winter, whether he runs out a ground ball or not; whether he plays a routine fly ball into a triple or not.
For a rapidly sinking team in the middle of a playoff chase, the promise of a left fielder potentially loafing his way through the final two months is an unacceptable risk. If Fox's Ken Rosenthal is accurate in his published report that the Red Sox, Marlins and Pirates are in talks that would send Ramirez to Florida in exchange for three players who would then be shipped to Pittsburgh in return for outfielder Jason Bay, they should bite the bullet and do it. Now.
Bay is a 29 year old who has averaged 31 home runs and 102 RBI per 162 games played, well below Ramirez's averages of 40 HR and 135 RBI per 162 games played, but still, his numbers would be enough to keep some pop in left field for the Red Sox, especially when you consider the fact that they will get nothing if they cut ties with Manny at the end of the season.
The Red Sox are a team trying to win now. The situation as it stands in Boston is ugly and, regardless of what people may think, is not going to get any better until it is resolved. Manny has brought the Sox two World Series titles and plenty of turmoil, and it is time to say goodbye, and the sooner the better for everyone.
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If you love fiction and have a few minutes to spare, check out my website, www.allanleverone.com
To the surprise of absolutely no one, Manny Ramirez is mired in the midst of his annual mid-summer meltdown. It appears he may finally have worn out his welcome even in Boston, where Red Sox management has shown incredible patience over the years with the $160 million head case.
The final straw may have come Friday night, when Manny begged out of the lineup just prior to the first game of a huge home series against the Yankees, citing mysterious knee problems to bench coach Brad Mills while manager Terry Francona was addressing the media.
The club immediatey called Manny's bluff, sending him for MRI's on both knees, which came back negative. Now, just weeks after Ramirez serenely stated that he knew the team would pick up both of the $20 million options they hold on his contract and that he fully expected to finish his career in Boston, there is no one anywhere who expects that to happen.
Half-Baked Ravings has unearthed a secret listing of some of the excuses Ramirez has used over the eight tumultuous seasons the talented slugger has spent in Boston as to why he was unable to take the field at various times. This listing is not complete, but merely a representative sample:
January 30, 2001: Just weeks after signing his massive eight-year, $160 million contract to come to Boston as a free agent, Manny calls then-manager Jimy Williams, complaining he isn't feeling well and will not be able to play in that evening's game. Williams explains it is only January, and that the season doesn't start until April.
April 9, 2001: Hours before the day's game, Manny calls Jimy Williams on the telephone and says he won't be able to make it to the park on time. He is lost, and can't remember what exit to take for Jacobs Field. Williams reminds Manny he plays in Boston now. Manny turns around.
July 14, 2003: Manny informs then-manager Grady Little that he is unable to play in the game that day. Little asks what's wrong and Manny tells him he's fine, but the dog ate his glove.
August 7, 2005: Manny begs out of the game, citing headaches. Manager Terry Francona, concerned about his star left fielder, sends him to the hospital for a precautionary MRI on his head. Results on the head scan turn up nothing. Literally.
September 2, 2006: Manny starts the game, but has to be replaced after he wanders into the left-field scoreboard during a pitching change and can't find his way out. Days later he is finally located, sitting inside the Green Monster trying in vain to make all the numbers for the manually-operated scoreboard add up to 160 million.
Whatever team becomes home to the Human Rubik's Cube that is Manny Ramirez and his Traveling Circus in 2009 will quickly discover, if they don't already know, that he defines the term, "high mantenance." With all that production comes a price. Hopefully they will keep a psychologist on retainer - for team officials, not for Manny.
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If you love fiction and have a few minutes to spare, check out my website, www.allanleverone.com.
What could be better than baseball at 6:00 a.m.? Almost anything, actually, but for fans of the World Champion Boston Red Sox, the early start was made worthwhile by the final result, a 6-5 extra-inning thriller at the Tokyo Dome over the Oakland A's, in a seesaw game that had a little of everything, with not much going as predicted. For example:
1) Conquering hero Daisuke Matsuzaka would shut down the A's for seven innings or so, and the Boston bullpen would finish them off.
Uh, not so fast. Matsuzaka looked nervous and wild early, allowing two first-inning runs and loading the bases in the second, before settling down and looking good in the 3rd, 4th and 5th. His final stats, 5 IP, 5 BB, 6 K, 2 runs allowed, in an outing that could have been much worse. He actually left with the lead and had a chance at a win, before Kyle Snyder came in to pitch the sixth and immediately coughed up the 3-2 Boston lead, allowing a two-run homer to Jack Hannahan.
Then, in the tenth, with the Red Sox leading 6-4 and Jonathan Papelbon looking for save number one of the season, Oakland tattooed him, scoring a run and not tying the game only because of a bonehead baserunning play by Emil Brown, who got caught in a rundown between second and third after driving in the 5th Oakland run. Papelbon eventually nailed down the save, but he looked eminently hittable.
The best performance came from unheralded Bryan Corey, pitching because Mike Timlin is unavailable, and the other Japanese conquering hero, Hideki Okajima. Both men pitched a scoreless inning for the Sox, with Okajima picking up the victory.
2) J.D. Drew would improve on his lackluster performance in 2007 in right field for the Sox.
Drew actually did help the Sox, although not in the way people might have expected. He pulled himself from the starting lineup with back spasms, clearing the way for last season's Pawtucket Red Sox (AAA) MVP, Brandon Moss, to play instead. All Moss did was go 2-5, driving in the lead run in the sixth inning and then homering in the ninth off Oakland closer Huston Street to tie the game and force extra innings. It was Moss's first big-league home run.
The man who has had trouble staying healthy for his entire career is starting out the 2008 season in typical fashion, but at least for today, it all worked out for Boston.
3) Manny Ramirez would have a monster season in this, his contract year.
This expectation, at least after one game, looks like a keeper. Manny hit the ball hard, going 2-5 with a pair of doubles and 4 RBI. In keeping with his goofball persona, Manny stood at home plate admiring his second double, in the tenth, and nearly got thrown out at second base. Some things never change.
4) Jacoby Ellsbury would hit leadoff and run wild on the bases.
After a slow start at the plate this spring, manager Terry Francona elected to take some pressure off the rookie and returning World Series hero by hitting him down in the lineup. Batting eighth, Ellsbury went 1-4 and was a non-factor offensively, but made an outstanding leaping catch in deep center field that Coco Crisp would have been proud of, crashing into the wall and barely hanging on to the baseball.
5) The Tokyo fans would be a loud and raucous bunch.
At times the Tokyo Dome seemed almost eerily silent, especially considering how loud the fans are when their own Japanese League teams are playing. They seemed knowledgeable and respectful, only really getting loud when Matsuzaka or Okajima did something special.
Okay kids, quiet down, everybody take your seats, it's time for a pop quiz. Hey, you. That's right, you there in Fargo, North Dakota. I see you slipping the cheat sheet under your test paper. Don't worry, it's open book and multiple choice, you'll be fine. Is everyone ready? Got your #2 pencil sharpened? Okay then, here we go:
1) How long will Roger Clemens be sleeping on the couch after throwing his wife under the bus in his Congressional testimony?
A) One month
B) Six months
C) Forever
D) Couch? Try the basement, or maybe the garage in the back seat of the Bentley.
2) What would be the most interesting event to be invited to?
A) The Grand Jury deliberations when the government presents its perjury case against Roger Clemens.
B) Michael Vick Day at the Westminster Dog Show.
C) Movie Night at Bill Belichick's house.
D) A backstage pass to anywhere Erin Andrews is broadcasting from.
3) You are facing Tiger Woods in the Accenture Match Play Championships and you have a three hole lead with five holes to go. You:
A) Talk trash on the tee, since there's no way even Tiger could come back from that sort of insurmountable deficit.
B) Start preparing your excuses, since only Tiger Woods could come back from that sort of insurmountable deficit.
C) Hope for a freak thunderstorm to roll through, hitting you with a bolt of lightning, thus preventing you from blowing such an insurmountable lead.
D) Walk off the course. You're toast.
4) Manny Ramirez states publically that he wants to finish his career in Boston. This means:
A) He will wait until August to demand a trade this year, rather than July.
B) He knows no other park has a scoreboard he can disappear into when he gets bored out in left field.
C) He will retire at the end of 2008.
D) Nothing. He never really knows where he is anyway.
5) You are Roger Clemens and it has just come out that someone has a photograph proving you were at the Canseco party you swore you didn't attend, the one where Brian McNamee says you inquired about steroids. You:
A) Continue to vehemently deny you were there, producing a receipt from the local Piggly Wiggly for the date and hours in question to prove you were elsewhere at the time.
B) Desperately try to find out the photographer's name so you can have a little "private time" with him, like you did with your ex-nanny before she testified to what a great guy you are and how she remembered you were playing golf that exact day ten years ago.
C) Insist the photographer is misremembering the date he took the photo, saying Canseco had parties almost every day that summer and you attended every other party but that one, so the photo must be from a different day.
D) Admit that yes, you were at the party, but only for five minutes to pick up the missus after she got her usual round of shots of HGH from Brian McNamee that you only found out about afterward and were very angry about.
Okay class, pencils down everyone, time is up. How did we do?
The expression "Hope springs eternal" may not have been coined with sports fans in mind, but it may as well have been. As spring training cranks up in Florida and Arizona, every major league team is undefeated and fans of all of them look at their lineups and try to convince themselves they will still be interested at the beginning of October.
For the defending World Series Champion Boston Red Sox, this means more or less maintaining the status quo. But questions still linger, as they do for every team, from the most successful to the least. Here are the Top Ten Questions for the Sox heading into spring training:
10) How will the Curt Schilling injury affect the rotation? Eight million dollars lies in the balance, as the Red Sox could void Schilling's contract if he opts for surgery, since the team's medical staff insists rest and rehabilition can have the 41 year old starter ready by the All-Star break. Schilling's long-time doctor, Craig Morgan, disagrees with the diagnosis and insists Schilling will never pitch again without surgery.
The most optimistic estimates don't have Schilling returning to the rotation until mid-July, and perhaps never, so the question becomes, how big of a hole will this leave in the Sox rotation?
The answer - Probably not much. Schilling was out for over seven weeks last year and his spot was filled with varying levels of effectiveness by Julian Tavarez. This year, Tavarez could get the nod again, or Boston could try rookie Clay Buchholz, he of the September no-hitter last year.
9) Will Tim Wakefield's back hold up for one more year? Wakefield will turn 41 this summer, and although the prevailing theory is that knuckleballers can pitch well into their forties and even beyond, the rest of their moving parts have to cooperate for them to do so. Wake has suffered from off-and-on back problems the last few years and if he misses any significant amout of time this season, the Sox could be forced to deal for pitching help to overcome the loss of forty percent of their rotation.
8) Does Manny Ramirez know it's his contract year? It sounds like a ridiculous question until you realized Manny lives in his own universe, which doesn't necessarily follow the same rules as ours. The Sox own a club option for 2009, but if they choose not to exercise it, Manny could find himself being Manny somewhere else next year. It would obviously be to his benefit to have a big year in 2008.
7) Will there be any lingering effects from the club's trip to the Far East in March? The Sox open the 2008 regular season against the Oakland A's in Japan in March, while all the other teams are still getting the kinks out and preparing for April. They play two games that count in Tokyo, then return to the States for three more exhibition games in Los Angeles against the Dodgers before the season re-starts for good.
Manager Terry Francona is doing his best to put a positive spin on the potentially exhausting trip, but it's obvious he doesn't relish the extensive travel and the distractions the team will face, while the rest of the A.L East will still be sitting around the hotel pool in Florida.
6) Which Julio Lugo will show up this year? Will it be the man Boston signed a year ago to be an offensive upgrade at shortstop over slick-fielding Alex Gonzalez, or the stiff who was a near-automatic out for most of the season in 2007? A comparison of the numbers for Gonzalez from 2006 and Lugo from 2007 shows what a disappointing year the new Sox shortstop had:
While Lugo did drive in a relatively impressive number of runs, especially for a player with such a low batting average, that is mostly a factor of the players in front of him getting on base. A lot. The Sox expect more offensively from Lugo for their $36 million investment over four years.
5) What does Dustin Pedroia do for an encore? The reigning A.L. Rookie of the Year struggled mightily last April, finishing the month hitting well under .200, before bouncing back to hit line drives all over the yard the rest of the year. Was his .317 BA and .380 OBP a fluke or will he be a consistent .300 hitter in his career? For a little guy who swings like he's Ryan Howard, it's hard to picture such consistency, but he did it from May on last season. We'll see.
4) Where will Coco Crisp end up? And more importantly from a Boston perspective, what will he bring in return? It's clear the center field job is Jacoby Ellsbury's to lose, so whether Boston will go into the regular season using Crisp as a fourth outfielder or whether he's gone before the beginning of April, he will not finish the year in Boston.
It doesn't seem likely teams will offer a lot for Coco, as he never really fulfilled his promise offensively during the two years he roamed center field at Fenway. Defensively, though, he's magical, diving and using his outstanding speed to get to just about everything. His arm is a liability for a center fielder.
3) Will Hideki Okajima and Javier Lopez be the lights-out lefties they were in 2007 out of the bullpen? It's hard to imagine Okajima could duplicate his performance from last year, especially in the first half. Although he seemed to tire a bit toward the end of the season, his numbers were still eye-popping for a guy who was considered by many to be a throw-in, someone to keep Daisuke Matsuzaka company as he adjusted to life in the United States.
Okajima's 2007 numbers: 3-2, 5 saves, 2.22 ERA, 63K's in 69 IP, only 50 hits allowed.
2) Is this the year all those games behind home plate catch up with Jason Varitek? The all-time club leader in games caught, the Captain's numbers have declined the last couple of years. Compare his numbers from 2004 and 2005 with those from 2006 and 2007:
The man brings a lot more than offense to the park with him; his preparation and ability to handle the pitching staff is legendary. But the position of catcher is a physically demanding one and Tek will turn 36 in early April.
Varitek may require more days off in 2008, and backup Doug Mirabelli is on the roster mostly due to his uncanny ability to hold on to Tim Wakefield's knuckler. If the offense struggles, an unlikely possibility to be sure, the lack of punch from this position could become glaring.
1) Are the injuries to David Ortiz fully healed? Knee and hip problems prevented Big Papi from generating the kind of power he was able to produce in 2006. Although Ortiz posted career highs in 2007 in batting average (.332), doubles (52), and hits (182), his home runs dropped from 52 in '06 to 35 last year, and his RBI total dropped as well, from 137 in 2006 to 117 last year.
Assuming the physical problems are a thing of the past, look for a big year powerwise from the Big Man in the Sox lineup.
Always on the alert for stories highlighting the ridiculous in the world of sports, the following headline immediately grabbed my attention, although maybe not anyone else's, unless you're a tennis fan, or perhaps a gambling nut.
Here's the Associated Press headline that I found so interesting: "ATP fines Davydenko for not trying hard."
Now, my first thought upon seeing this headline was undoubtedly the same as yours - Thank God Manny Ramirez doesn't play tennis. Even a twenty million dollar a year contract wouldn't be sufficient to provide Manny with a living wage if he had to pay a fine every time it appeared it wasn't trying hard.Hit a 400-foot laser off the top of the right field wall and end up standing at first base? Cha-ching! $10,000 fine! Stand at home plate for ten seconds admiring your latest moon-shot home run? Cha-ching! Another $10,000!
Anyway, once I got past my appreciation for Manny's incredible good fortune, I decided to research the story, and here's where it gets really messy. Nikolay Davydenko, the ATP professional in question, was leading his match in the St. Petersburg Open 6-1 after one set, but then lost the last two sets 7-5 and 6-1, largely by double-faulting four times in the second set and six times in the third.
It was so ovious he was tanking that chair umpire (What a great job that is, you get to sit in a chair while you ump the match. Haven't MLB umps gotten wind of this yet?) Jean-Philippe Dercq rebuked Davydenko in the middle of the match for not trying.
Again, I couldn't help thinking how fortunate Manny Ramirez is that he chose baseball over tennis, but here's the point. The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the governing body in pro tennis, fined Davydenko $2000 for his devil-may-care attitude toward his match.
Now, I don't know about you, a $2000 fine would certainly get my attention, but for a professional athlete in this day and age, that sounded a little skimpy to me, especially when I checked out Davydenko's career statistics. The guy is 26 years old and has been playing professionally for eight years. In that time, he has earned $6,629,256 in prize mony, or an average of $828,657 per year on the professional tennis circuit. In other words, a $2000 fine isn't going to do much but lower the tip for his next call girl.
And it gets better. This isn't the first time Davydenko has been suspected of cheating or worse. He is currently under investigation by, you guessed it, the ATP, for possible involvement in a betting scandal. During a different tournament earlier this year, in a match he was leading 6-2 after one set, Davydenko withdrew citing a foot injury while an online gambling company, Betfair, was receiving a heavy amount of action on Davydenko's opponent. Betfair notified the ATP of the gambling irregularities - most people don't tend to put large sums of money on a guy who's losing - and the investigation was launched shorty thereafter.
So there you have it. You NBA fans can take heart in the knowledge that your sport isn't the only one suffering some credibility problems. Nikolay Davyenko is "Donaghy-ing" his was to infamy in the world of tennis, which apparently is a little murkier than it might appear at first glance. I'm just glad I decided not to put all my innate athletic ability to use. It's scary out there.
In a startling departure from his previous policy of sticking with his set pitching rotation regardless of the circumstances, Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona today acknowledged he will be shaking things up on the mound for Game Six and, if necessary, Game Seven of the ALCS, both of which will be played this weekend at Fenway Park.
"I can no longer ignore the fact that Josh Beckett is the best big-game pitcher this town has seen since the heyday of Pedro Martinez, maybe ever," Francona stated. "With that in mind, I have made the determination to move Josh ahead slightly in the rotation. The new matchups for this weekend are as follows:
Game Six: Cleveland - Fausto Carmona Boston - Josh Beckett
Game Seven: Cleveland - Jake Westbrook Boston - Josh Beckett
The manager went on to say, "We understand a move like this is somewhat unconventional, and it should not be construed as an indication we have no faith in our other starters, but in an organizational seance last night held over the bloody sock, we conjured up the ghost of Cy Young, who told us he would have pitched every day in this situation, and that we would be crazy not to do the same. He also suggested Babe Ruth may have been connected to Balco in some way, but by that time he was fading back to ectoplasm, so we pretty much wrote that comment off as a desperate plea for attention."
When asked what he would do for middle relief in games six and seven, Francona said Beckett would be providing his own middle relief, but that of course Jonathan Papelbon would be available to close both games out, with two inning stints in each if necessary.
A quick look at the combined stats for Beckett and Papelbon, compared with the stats for the rest of the rotation, shows the wisdom in this bold move by the Red Sox brass:
Beckett and Papelbon: IP-17, H-11, ER-3, BB-3, K-20, ERA-1.59 Rest of Staff: IP-28, H-35, ER-25, BB-13, K-34, ERA-8.04
Half-Baked Ravings caught up with Boston slugger Manny Ramirez, still standing at home plate in Jacobs Field admiring his 400-foot RBI single from last night, and asked the enigmatic player for his opinion of this radical move by the team. His response? "I like it, man. If Beckett burns out, so who cares? It's not the end of the world or anything...Uh...what was the question again?"
You know "The Book" that baseball managers everywhere are supposed to use to guide their decison-making processes during game situations? The one that dictates actions that are supposed to maximize your chances to win a game?
Cleveland Indians Manager Eric Wedge knows "The Book." Wedge used it to guide his actions in the ninth inning o####ame his club was leading at Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox last night, and is probably still tearing pages out of it in frustration.
Here's the situation: Bottom of the ninth, Cleveland leading 8-6. The front office has just traded his closer, Bob Wickman, to Atlanta, so Wedge is left with a bullpen that incredibly, on the last day of July, has not one pitcher in it with a major league save this season. Somehow, whether through drawing straws, throwing darts, or picking names out of a hat, the manager has made the decision to use 22-year-old Fausto Carmona as his closer du jour.
Fausto is one day removed from a game in which he gave up four runs in one inning to Seattle in a Cleveland loss, but obviously someone has to be on the mound, and Wedge apparently felt Carmona was as good an option as any.
Alex Cora leads off the inning for Boston by slapping a hit past the drawn-in third baseman Andy Marte. Tying run comes to the plate in the person of Kevin Youkilis, who does what he normally does - look at lots of pitches and foul off a few. The man who statistically sees the most pitches per at bat in the American League finally walks on a 3-2 pitch. Tying run at first with nobody out.
Next batter for Boston is Mark Loretta, who, on a 1-0 pitch, pops up a high fastball to shortstop Jhonny Peralta, bringing "Big Papi," David Ortiz to the plate. According to "The Book," you never, ever walk Ortiz in this situation. A double-play is already set up, since Loretta wasn't able to move the runners over, and the last thing you want to do if you're the Indians manager is put the winning run on base and the tying run into scoring position. Eric Wedge followed the dictates of "The Book," and at this moment is probably still flushing pages of it down the toilet in his hotel room. Ortiz watched two breaking pitches dip outside the zone for balls, then launched a majestic line drive into the deepest part of Fenway, the centerfield bleachers, to do what everyone in New England has come to expect - win another game.
Wedge was faced with situations National League managers had become familiar with over the last several years with Barry Bonds. The dictates of "The Book" do not apply, because the moment that hitter steps into the box, he, and everyone on base in front of him, is already in scoring position by virtue of his special abilities at the plate.
The risky play for Wedge would have been to walk Ortiz and try to induce the next batter, Manny Ramirez, into hitting a ground ball for a double play. Obviously only a marginally better choice, since Ramirez had already homered once in the game and is also one of the most dangerous hitters in baseball. However, Manny does have the propensity for hitting into an occasional ground ball double-play, plus his "Manny moments," when he fails to hustle, also have the possibility of coming into play.
"The Book" says that statistically, the batter is more likely to fail than succeed in any given situation. Thus, even a batter who hits .400 is failing sixty percent of the time. The problem with ths chapter of "The Book" is that it doesn't take human factors into account.
Factors like the young age of Carmona and the obvious fact that he was put into a situation he was not ready for. He was fidgety and uncertain, uncomfortable from the first pitch of the inning. Factors like the Fenway crowd, which was as loud as it has been at any time this season, sensing Carmona's discomfort. Factors like Ortiz's otherworldly calm, and his ablilty to focus on just the task at hand and what needs to be accomplished. Two days prior, he had won a game in the eleventh inning by slapping a ground ball to the shortstop position, which was unmanned due to the shift the Angels were employing, to drive in the winning run in that game.
The point here is not to say that Eric Wedge managed poorly. Ultimately the manager is only as successful as his players. Plus, "The Book" became "The Book" through the thousands of situations in baseball games that make up probabilities. It is quite possible, maybe even probable, that had the Indians walked Ortiz, Ramirez would have won the game instead. But if the same situation arises tonight, what will Wedge do this time, since his copy of "The Book" is probably now floating in the Boston sewage system?
Do you remember seeing the movie "City Slickers," with Billy Crystal? I'm talking about the first one, the one that was entertaining. Like any modern movie worth it's salt, if it's halfway successful, it spawns a sequel, sometimes many sequels, of varying quality.
Anyway, in the first "City Slickers" movie, there's a moment, about two-thirds of the way through the film, where Billy Crystal has a revelation that makes his life worth living again. He's been slogging through life, tired of his job, disconnected from his family, completely unhappy. Then Jack Palance's character, the tough, scary cowboy who seemingly hates Crystal, lets him in on the secret of life, which happens to be this: Palance holds up one finger. Billy Crystal, mystified, says something like, "Your index finger is the secret of life? What does that mean?" To which Palance replies, "That's what you have to figure out. It's the one true thing, and it's different for everyone. You have to determine that one thing which makes your life worth living."
It's too bad Jack Palance isn't still around, because the Boston Red Sox front office could have used a little dose of his index finger, or maybe even his middle finger. Anyone who's even a little bit familiar with baseball knows what the one true thing in the sport is: pitching. You can never have enough of it, everyone wants more of it, and the team with the most of it usually finds itself in a position to go deep into the postseason. If you don't believe that, just look at the reigning World Series champs, the Chicago White Sox, and their impressive pitching during their four-game sweep of the Astros last fall.
This year during spring training, the Bosox felt they had the rarest of problems - too much pitching, or at least enough that they could afford to trade away a starter who had become a solid, reliable part of the rotation, Bronson Arroyo, for a fourth or maybe even fifth outfielder, Wily Mo Pena. Arroyo had proven himself over the last two seasons, in that time going 24-19 for the Sox, and logging a total of 384 innings in the process.
At the time of the trade, there was a logjam of pitchers in the starting rotation, including Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett, Tim Wakefield, David Wells, Matt Clement, Arroyo, Lenny DiNardo, and Jon Lester. It seemed like a good idea to the front office to use Arroyo as bait to land a guy who in time might be able to take the place of Trot Nixon in right field or even Manny Ramirez in left. In theory, not such a bad idea, although Jack Palance might have disagreed.
The problem, which has become obvious to everyone, is that pitchers don't always stay healthy in the major leagues, and practically as soon as the trade was finalized, guys started dropping. Wells was coming off knee surgery, struggled to get healthy, then, naturally, took a line drive off his knee and went down again. DiNardo is suffering from some sort of arm problem and is on the 60-day Disabled List. Clement, a mystery even when healthy, has had arm problems and is still a long way from being ready. Finally, for the coup de grace, the until-now always reliable Wakefield is having back problems and may have to go on the DL.
Suddenly, what seemed like an embarrassment of riches on the mound for the Red Sox during the spring consists of Schilling, soon to be forty and still the best pitcher on the club, Beckett, immensely talented but also immensely inconsistent, Lester, impressive but an untested rookie, and a bunch of guys named Kyle Snyder. Suddenly Arroyo and his 9-6 record and 137 innings pitched looks pretty desirable. GM Theo Epstein admits they will be looking both within and outside the club for pitching help, maybe the most obvious quote of the year.
The problem, of course, is that everyone in contention is looking for pitching help, and there's not much out there of any real quality. I refer you back to baseball's One True Thing: You can never have enough pitching, and everyone wants more of it. Maybe Epstein will shock everyone by pulling a rabbit out of his hat - it's not like he hasn't done it before. But adding a fourth and maybe even fifth starter in the heat of a pennant race is a little more difficult than adding Dave Roberts or Doug Mientkiewicz, two of his big moves in 2004.
Meanwhile, the summer heats up, the games pile up, and the Yankees and Blue Jays creep ever closer. Bronson Arroyo sings and pitches his heart out in Cincinnati, and pitchers in Boston keep dropping. Jack Palance could have predicted it.
Some interesting topics this week for the third round of the NDS, and as much as I appreciate receiving immunity, here I sit pounding the keys. Ted Williams refused to sit out the last day of the season to protect his .400 batting average and went 6-8 to finish at .406, inspiring me to submit an entry 65 years later. I will not sit out a round, and although I can't guarantee this will be the equivalent of a .406 post, I'm reasonably confident you won't want to saw my head off and stick it in a jar, either.
1) Which athlete do you idolize most and why? Let me start by saying I don't really idolize athletes as much as I admire their abilities. Watching a world-class athlete do his or her thing is impressive, but what I really like to see is someone working hard and competing to the best of his or her abilities. Thus it's just a much a pleasure to see Alex Cora "inside-out" a ground ball to the right side of the infield to move a runner from second base to third as it is to see a monster home run by Manny Ramirez.
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The first time I ever saw a hockey game when I was a youngster got me hooked on the sport. The speed and grace of the players, combined with the raw power and occasional brutality, left me breathless and convinced I needed to learn how to skate.
Growing up in a suburb of Boston I naturally rooted for the Bruins, and at the time of my youth there was a little-known defenseman for the club by the name of Don Awrey. Don Awrey was a god to this eleven year old kid, on a Bruins team filled with stars like Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge, Johnny Bucyk and Gerry Cheevers.
This was in an era (the early-1970's) where most of the players didn't even wear helmets, much less face shields, and the thing that separated Don Awrey from everyone else in my eyes was his habit of propelling himself feet-first, like a guy sliding into second base, into the path of an opposing player's slapshot. It didn't matter who the opponent was or what kind of booming shot that player possessed, Don Awrey would routinely put himself in harm's way to stop a shot before it could get near the Bruins' goal, then get up and hobble, if that's even possible on ice skates, back into the action. I still can't believe Don Awrey would do that.
When I learned how to play hockey, the first position I played was defense because I wanted to be Don Awrey. If that's not idolization I don't know what it is. Stupidity, maybe. After I took a few shots in the legs like Don Awrey I decided to play a safer position, like goaltender.
2) If you could live with only one sport, what would it be and why? Simple. Baseball. If I may borrow a quote from IrishNut, who borrowed it from the legendary Red Smith, "ninety feet between home and first base may be the closest man has ever come to perfection." A close second would have to be sixty feet, six inches from the pitching rubber to home plate.
I played baseball from the age of six until the age of 18, then again in an over-thirty league from age 34 to 39, when I finally decided to call it quits for good. More Craig Counsell than Barry Bonds, I love everything about the game. The strategies, the games-within-a-game, the feeling of a solidly hit ball jumping off the bat, even the sting of a poorly hit ball which seems to vibrate your arms all the way up to the top of your head.
I suffered through the 1975 World Series as a Red Sox fan, seeing the Sox lose Game Seven on a seeing-eye single by Joe Morgan of the Reds. Ditto the 1986 series. The cast of characters was different with one or two exceptions, but the result was another loss, in an even more gruesome manner which even the most casual sports fan is well aware of. Numerous postseason appearances in the '90's failed to result in a championship.
My dad died in 1998, having lived a long and full life which, to his everlasting regret, did not include seeing the Sox win a World Series. Timing is everything. Everyone knows about 2004 and the long-awaited championship. I know my dad saw it and was glad.
3) Of these four people, Wayne Gretzky, Hank Aaron, Joe Montana, or Michael Jordan, who do you think made the biggest impact on his sport? To my way of thinking, the answer would have to be Wayne Gretzky. Jordan came close, but "The Great One" changed the entire way NHL hockey was played. Before Gretzky, there had been great scorers for sure, but his arrival changed hockey from a defense-first mindset to Score! Score! Score!
When Gretzky entered the league as a heralded teenager, not even his most ardent supporter could have predicted how he was going to singlehandedly rewrite the NHL record-book. At one time he held virtually every single scoring record of note, and he still holds most of them. Some eye-popping Wayne Gretzky statistics: Goals scored in a season: 92, with Edmonton in 1981-82. Points in a season: 215, with Edmonton in 1985-86. Plus-minus: Plus-98, with Edmonton in 1984-85, meaning when he was on the ice, the Oilers scored 98 more goals than they gave up that season. Career goals: 894. Career points: 2,857.
You can make a legitimate argument for any of the four above-mentioned stars, but with the possible exception of Jordan, the others were playing the same game as everyone else, just doing it better. When Gretzky was swooping over the ice, he was simply playing an entirely different game. He commanded the ice and was just unstoppable. He was the Great Gretzky.
