Don’t Tell Me how to
Feel I absolutely hate
being told how I should feel after a win or a loss. A feeling is a naturally occurring phenomenon
and if my feelings don’t match the way some clown thinks I should feel, that doesn’t make me an “####.” Following the recent three game sweep that
the White Sox handed the Cubs at U.S. Cellular Field this past weekend, an
associate claiming to be a neutral—that is, he is a fan of both the Sox and the
Cubs—told me I’m an #### for being happier than usual after the three wins.
His reasons? We’ve all heard them
before. Because the Cubs are not in the
White Sox division—they aren’t even in the same league—so I should be happier
if they were to sweep the Twins, Tigers, or Indians. While true that sweeping one of the latter
teams benefits the White Sox in the standings more so than the Cubs, that doesn’t
mean I can’t put something extra into my celebration.
For the record, I didn’t celebrate any more than I would
normally have if it were any other team.
After all, the Cubs swept the Sox last weekend at Wrigley Field. But I was happy today that I didn’t have to
walk around with my head hanging low, trying desperately to avoid the fans of
the other team and their inevitable humiliating comments. You know the feeling. At the office, you walk down five flights of
stairs just because if you take the elevator, you have to walk right past the
desk of that obnoxious fan of your team’s rival. Sure, you’re out of breath when you return
from your smoke break, but at least you didn’t have to hear that annoying guy
rhetorically ask with a big silly grin “Hey, how about them Sox?” Guys like him—I’ll call him Loudmouth—make my
life hell. What’s great is that when the
Sox win I don’t have to say a darned thing to him. My joy is that Loudmouth hangs his head low
and tries to avoid me for a change. I
love that.
Besides that, who are you to tell me who I can root for and
root against, and why the heck can’t I
have both? Why is it “Don’t worry about
what the Cubs do, just worry about what the White Sox do?” That’s absurd. I hate
the Cubs. I love the White Sox. I'm going to be happy when the Sox win, and
I’m going to be happy when the Cubs lose.
If both happen in the same game, double the pleasure! I root for the White Sox when they don’t play
the Cubs, and I root against the Cubs when they don’t play the White Sox. That’s how it has always been, and that’s how
it always will be. That doesn’t make me,
or anybody else who is the same way, an ####.
What’s interesting, is what would happen if the White Sox
and Cubs (who have both dominated their respective divisions and have both been
in first place for several weeks) were to meet in the World Series. If the Sox won, I’d be happy that they won
the World Series. I wouldn’t be even more happy because they beat the Cubs. But if the Sox lost, I’d be disappointed about the loss, and I’d be even more disappointed
that they lost to the Cubs. I'd rather
die than face Loudmouth if that ever happens.
Cub’s Chances of
Landing Sabathia From everything I’ve been hearing, the Cleveland Indians are
on the verge of trading their Ace, left handed pitcher C.C. Sabathia, to the
highest bidder. The Cubs would seem to
be in the mix of possible suitors, and there is no doubt that GM Jim Hendry has
a strong interest and prospects to deal.
But, on second though, does he really have prospects the Indians want?
I’ve heard the names Felix Pie, Eric Patterson, Rich Hill,
Shawn Marshall, and Ronny Cedeno thrown around.
On paper it sounds like an impressive package of talent. But after much thought, I’ve ruled that the
Cubs would have to give up much more if they realistically expect to acquire
the services of Sabathia.
The Cubs better be prepared to meet the Indians' demands.
Pie has been a disappointing prospect up and down between the Cubs and their
Triple-A affiliate. When in the majors,
he is almost exclusively used as a defensive replacement or spot starter. He has similar problems to former Cub Corey
Patterson, such as the big question of whether he is a leadoff hitter with
speed, or a middle of the order power hitter.
Eric Patterson simply looks lost in the field, and lacks plate
discipline. He doesn’t look like an
every day major league hitter to me. Hill,
like Pie, has been up and down, and can’t find a spot in a starting rotation
that features Jason Marquis and his 4.96 ERA.
If Hill can’t supplant Marquis, how good is he really? Same goes for Marshall, who is only pitching
right now in the majors due to an injury to Ace Carlos Zambrano. Ronny Cedeno has “tools” but he is a career
platoon and/or utility player. Ditto another AAAA outfielder named Matt Murton.
So, if I’m GM Mark Shapiro of the Indians, what does interest me on the Cubs? If I'm Shapiro, the next time Hendry calls
me, I tell him, start with your starting SS Ryan Theriot, and build the package
from there. Get back to me when you’re
ready to include an actual major league player instead of five players you can’t
wait to get rid of.
Does Hendry have the sand to agree to such a swap of blockbuster
proportions? That I don’t know, but I’m
anxious to find out.
It's June 10th and, against all odds, both of Chicago's baseball teams are in first place. The Chicago Cubs at the beginning of the season seemed like an odds on favorite to take the NL Central crown, but nobody expected them to have the best record in all of baseball. On the southside, the White Sox, just as they were in 2005 when they won the World Series, were predicted by many to be nothing more than 4th place team. They sit atop the AL Central and hold MLB's biggest divisional lead. Here are the top 10 surprises; some for better, some for worse; for both of Chicago's baseball teams. I also predict whether the player(s) is likely to keep up the pace, fall off a bit, or get better as the season wears on:
10) Kerry Wood. Not only has he miraculously managed to stay off the disabled list, but he earned the role of closer in spring training and has gone on to convert on 18 out of 22 save opportunities, all the while striking out 40 and walking only 7. Verdict: I think Woody can keep up his pace as long as he doesn't get injured. It's close, but I'll say he keeps going steadily.
9) Jim Thome. The 38-year-old Sox DH is on pace to have the lowest OPS (.800) in any season in which he has played more than 100 games. Though that's still above league average, he is still striking out more often and walking less often than he normally does. And he was demoted from 3rd to 5th in the batting order. Verdict: Despite an obvious depreciation of talent due to age, Thome will improve at the plate as the season progresses.
8) Scott Linebrink and Octavio Dotel. If the White Sox are leading after the 6th inning you might as well turn off the lights and go home. Dotel, who normally pitches the 7th inning, is averaging 12.4 strikeouts per 9 innings with a 2.86 ERA. Linebrink is the 8th inning guy and has recorded 15 holds with a WHIP of only 0.89. The White Sox as a team, meanwhile, have the second best bullpen ERA in the majors. Verdict: I actually believe Dotel will improve a little bit but Linebrink can't continue to pitch out of this world. As a whole, I'll average them out and say they keep it up.
7) Alexei Ramirez. It took some time and an injury to Juan Uribe, but Ramirez has supplanted Uribe as the everyday secondbasemen and has produced in a big way. He's now hitting .291 with 4 home runs with an OPS of .762. In addition, he flashed ungodly range with a rifle arm in the field. Verdict. It's hard not to imagine Ramirez getting better as he gains experience.
6) Ryan Theriot. Many thought that Theriot could never be an everyday shortstop at the major league level, but all he's done so far in 2008 is hit .323 with a .404 OBP. He's also second on the team with 40 runs scored. Verdict: Though his average and OBP will come back down to Earth, Theriot's run production and stolen bases will remain and/or go up. However, overall, he's due to regress.
5) Gavin Floyd. The White Sox starter leads the team in wins and has a 3.10 ERA with a 1.07 WHIP. Amazingly, he's taken a no hitter into the 5th inning, 8th inning, and 9th inning this season! That's in only 12 starts, folks. Verdict: Though Floyd seems to have found a longterm home with the Sox, he's unlikely to pitch like this forever.
4) Carlos Quentin. Not many people had ever heard of the former 25th overall pick out of Stanford before this season, but Quentin may now be the best player in MLB history with a last name beginning with 'Q." He's near the top of the AL leaderboard in homers (16), RBI (54), OBP (.383), and OPS (.933). Verdict: Because he's young and plays in a hitter's park, Quentin will continue his assault on AL pitchers.
3) Jose Contreras. After last season, it was hard to envision Contreras would ever pitch at an elite level again. But the former All-Star and 30-something Cuban pitcher has regained the forkball, and more importantly the confidence, that made him one of baseball's better pitchers in 2005-06. He has a 2-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a 1.13 WHIP. Verdict: Contreras will stay at his current pace for the season.
2) Ryan Dempster. The former starter who turned closer is now a former closer turned starter. If that sentence wasn't confusing enough, try reading this one: In over 80 innings pitched Ryan Dempster is 7-2 with a 1.13 WHIP and a 2.90 ERA. Verdict: Dempster is due to wear down due to the comfort level lowering as he approaches 200 innings on the season. Though he'll still win plenty of games, his runs allowed will increase.
It's early, but Soto has proven to be one of the best catchers in all of baseball.
1) Geovany Soto. Before this season, I predicted that Soto would be a future All-Star. Little did I know that the future is now! Soto is now a lock to make the All-Star team in 2008, and is a front runner for the rookie of the year. Dare I say he makes a run at MVP? He's got an OPS of .898 with 10 longballs. Verdict: The kid is for real. He'll keep it up.
Young/Vazquez Trade a Good One for D-Backs and White Sox CF Chris Young of the Diamondbacks looks to be a stud prospect boasting speed, power, and outstanding defense. Much has been made of the former White Sox farmhand, who, on December 20, 2005 was traded along with Orlando Hernandez and Luis Vizcaino to Arizona for SP Javier Vazquez. I've heard general comments from White Sox fans saying that it was a mistake to trade Young, and recently Foxsports.com's own Ken Rosenthal quipped that this past offseason's acquisition of Carlos Quentin from Arizona would finally help ease the pain of losing out on Young to Arizona. What seems left out in this talk every time is that the White Sox acquired a bona fide #1 or #2 starter in Vazquez, who is MLB's second leading strikeout pitcher since 2001 and went 15-8 with a 3.74 ERA in 2007 while playing his home games in hitter friendly U.S. Cellular Field for a 4th place team that lost 90 games. Sure, the White Sox could use the speedy CFer in their leadoff spot right now, but something tells me that their GM Kenny Williams wouldn't be willing to give up Vazquez to re-acquire him. A potential 30/30 OFer is about the going rate these days for an Ace.
Rays' Seeason a Pleasant Surprise But... This in response to Foxsports.com's Dayn Perry'scolumn that the Tampa Bay [Devil] Rays winning season is great for baseball. It sure is nice to see somebody besides New York and Boston atop the A.L. East, but I greatly fear a Tampa divisional title would give MLB execs a false sense of parity in baseball. (By the way, they will always be the Devil Rays to me, just as the Angels will always be the Anaheim Angels, or occasionally, the California Angels). Before this season, I'd have given the Devil Rays a 0% of ever making the playoffs under MLB's current structure. I now see that they are a legitimate contender for the not only the division, but the pennant. However, these types of seasons are few and far between. MLB is in desperate need of a salary cap that would give other small(er) market teams a more fair chance more often. All top notch free agents have three teams that can afford to sign them: the Red Sox, Yankees, and Mets; once in a while the Cubs, Dodgers, or Angels will join the mix. In a couple seasons when the Devil Rays' players hit free agency, they will let them walk and they'll stink again... that is if they don't head towards Marlin-i-zation and trade them all before it even gets that far. The Red Sox and Yankees will never stink so long as they are allowed to throw money around like it's candy.
Whatifsports (WIS) a Must See for Any Sports Fan Here is a unpaid advertisement for www.whatifsports.com, a subsidiary of Foxsports.com. WIS is just an amazing website, and if you're a sports fan who hasn't heard about it yet, you should check it out immediately. Ever been sitting in a bar with your buddies and argue about who would win a series between the 1927 Yankees and the 1969 Mets? Or how about Grant Hill and Christian Laettner vs Bobby Knight's undefeated Indiana team? '72 Dolphins against the '85 Bears? Jordan's Bulls against Wilt's Lakers? Whatifsports uses a highly complex simulation to match any historical teams in MLB, NFL, NBA, CBB, NHL, and CFB, and then generates a box score with play by play so you can read it as if the game were actually played. I've simmed all these games and hundreds more and I can't get enough. WIS also has SimLeagues where you can mix and match players from any era on any team and form your all time dream team (How about Nolan Ryan throwing pirtches to Ivan Rodriguez behind the plate with Brooks Robinson, Ozzie Smith, Roberto Alomar, and Keith Hernandez as their infield defense?). My favorite though is the Dyansty leagues. I'm in a MLB Hardball Dynasty where I get to play GM of a baseball franchise complete with 5 minor league teams. There's a Rule 5 draft, amatuer draft, international free agents, and full trades and free agent signing. It's just absolutely awesome.
Bears Should Keep Benson Count me in the minority of Bears fans who think that they should not release RB Cedric Benson, even in spite of his most recent run-in with the law. The Bears drafted the back whom they obviously believe will carry the bulk of the load in Matt Forte from Tulane. First, I don't think it's ever a good idea to hand a starting job to a rookie unless the team is in full-blown rebuilding mode, and the Bears think they can compete in the NFC North, especially with the retirement of a certain quarterback famous for a number '4' on his jersey. It is quite obvious at this time that Benson will never pan out to be the back the Bears thought he would be when they drafted him fourth overall in 2005, but that doesn't mean he can't be productive. Benson had a couple of halfway decent seasons as a backup to Thomas Jones before taking the starting reigns last season. He's also the best available insurance policy in case Forte gets hurt or dissapoints.
Announcers have duty to disclose the No-Hitter I was driving home late last night listening to the White Sox-Twins radio broadcast on Chicago's WSCR 670 AM on Tuesday. Late in the game, the Sox had a significant lead, but the Twins, I knew, had one run on the board. The White Sox radio team of Ed Farmer and Steve Stone, declined to announce over the waves that Sox starting pitcher Gavin Floyd had yet to yield a hit to Minnesota. As a White Sox fan, I sure would have appreciated the knowledge of history possibly in the making. I definitely would have listened more intently, as my mind often wonders while listening to baseball games on the radio. Farmer, the play-by-play man, instead said "One run and two errors for the Twins," instead of blurting out "Gavin Floyd has a no-hitter." It never dawned on me, until Justin Morneau doubled to left center field and Farmer finally came clean, that the White Sox had come this close to one of baseball's remarkable feats. While other players should not mess around with their teammate's head by making him aware of the situation, it is the announcer's job to tell the whole story, and Floyd's possible no-no was a big part of the picture.
Chiefs' fans don't expect to win Don't worry, I'm not going to beat a dead horse. This isn't going to be a rant on how much I hate Carl Peterson, or Herm Edwards. This is actually to point out that fans of the Kansas City Chiefs have grown content with losing. In recent blogs (in which I have lambasted Chief's management and called for their heads on sticks outside Arrowhead Stadium) other Chiefs' fans have accused me of over-reacting (among many other things). One Chiefs' fan commented that "13 [draft] picks this year and [next year's draft] should give [the Chiefs] a chance to compete for the AFC West title in 2010." Another posted "Even if they do finish 8-8, I will know that they are on there [sic] to greatness the following year." There was also talk of "getting ready for a championship run," and one guy even said "I don't mind being a .500 team as long as we beat the few teams we need to (you know, division rivals)." Chiefs' fans are pathetic in this manner. They are ok with rebuilding, and then two or three years later making a run at winning the division. They are ok with finishing .500 as long as they beat the stupid Raiders. Frankly, they are ok with mediocrity. Quite simply, any sports fan content with mediocrity for any reason is a loser. Sports isn't about competing for the division, beating your division rivals, or making a run at a championship. Sports are about winning the championship. If that doesn't happen, the season was a failure, but fans of the Chiefs often seem to overlook the biggest, most important part of sports.
I need help. I have a new “disease”. Actually, this sickness has existed for some time now, and I’ve had it my entire adult life, but only in the past few months have I realized and come to accept that I am AAS positive. That is to say, I’m an Adult Autograph Seeker.
That’s right. I’m a grown adult of 27 years of age, and I enjoy meeting professional athletes and asking for their signature on a piece of memorabilia. Since graduating high school I have meet several Chicago area athletes like Mike Singletary, Jon Garland, Neal Cotts, and Brandon McCarthy, and I have their signatures on photos and baseballs to prove it. I have spent my own hard earned money to purchase autographs from other collectors as well. These athletes include (among many others) Tom Brady, Tony Gonzalez, Derrick Johnson, #### Butkus and Frank Thomas.
I couldn’t dream of going to a professional game without bringing Sharpie and something for somebody to scribble their name on. What if I came face to face with one of my favorite players? I couldn’t let myself live that down. Oh yeah, and I still bring my glove to baseball games too. I'm sooooooo bad.
Obtaining autographs was something I enjoyed as a kid, and I guess I never grew out of it. I can remember meeting many all-time greats. My first autograph was Hank Aaron, so I was off to a good start. Although I was only seven at the time and I barely knew who this man was, let alone why my dad gave $10 to wait in line at the Villa Park Odium to get his autograph, I remember being honored to meet a man who had so many fans. That same day I got Willie Stargell and Stan Mikita’s autographs too. Mikita signed a game used hockey stick from his playing days in the early 1970’s. Good ol’ Dad broke his stick skating at the ice arena where the Blackhawks used to practice and an attendant let him borrow a stick from Mikita’s personal bag. My dad used the stick for about 5 seconds before taking it out to the car and driving home. That is one heck of a souvenir!
In my childhood I also attended a Blackhawks practice and got to meet and get signatures from Chris Chelios, Jeremy Roenick, Doug Wilson, and Ed Belfour. At a card show once I met a young White Sox rookie named Alex Fernandez, who apparently was not quite popular yet. I knew this because after purchasing a Fernandez rookie card and having him sign it, my friend and I noticed there was nobody else in line behind us, so we went back to the same dealer, bought a dozen more cards and got him to sign all of them for us. At a different show years later I met Tom Waddle and Tom Paciorek. I met Bill Cartwright at a White Sox game once.
The point is this: It was fun for me as a kid, and it’s fun for me now, so why do I get made fun of or get snickers from people just because I’m all grown up?
I guess that’s just the kid in me still, or maybe it’s the sports fan, or possibly a combination of both. I won’t give up my hobby, and I couldn’t dream of giving away or selling any of my autographs. In fact, I’m all about getting more. I don’t mind spending big money to add to my collection, but my preference will always be meeting athletes in person. When I hear radio commercials touting that so-and-so will be signing autographs at this place on this date, my ears perk and my eyes light up. God, I love that feeling.
For now, all my autographs are stored away in boxes until I can finish remodeling my basement. Then, they’ll be on display for all my friends and family to view. It’ll be my favorite room in the whole wide world. I just wish I didn’t have to be embarrassed because of my AAS disease.
As currently constructed, here is how I would lineup the 2008 version of both Chicago's baseball teams.
Cubs
1 - LF Alfonso Soriano 2 - SS Ryan Theriot 3 - 1B Derek Lee 4 - 3B Aramis Ramirez 5 - RF Kosuke Fukudome 6 - 2B Mark DeRosa 7 - CF Felix Pie 8 - C Giovanni Soto 9 - (pitcher)
Analysis: While many Cubs fans clamor for Soriano to be moved down in the order, perhaps to the number six slot, I strongly disagree with this move. The only places I would bat Soriano are leadoff or third. Clearly, Soriano's statistics are much higher leading off because of the pitcher's propensity to deal him plenty of fastballs, which is about the only pitch Soriano can hit out of the park. But hitting him third followed by Lee would accomplish the same thing, while also giving him the freedom to steal bases at will. If the Cubs acquire 2B Brian Roberts from the Orioles, the top of my order would be Roberts, Theriot, Soriano and everybody else would move down a slot. I think Pie is currently the Cub's best option in CF, and I have Soto eighth instead of Pie because of his plate patience. Soto's good batting eye allows Pie to be aggressive on the basepaths ahead of him, while also letting him draw plenty of walks in front of the pitcher.
White Sox
1 - CF Jerry Owens 2 - SS Orlando Cabrera 3 - DH Jim Thome 4 - 1B Paul Konerko 5 - RF Jermaine Dye 6 - LF Nick Swisher 7 - 3B Joe Crede 8 - C A.J. Pierzynski 9 - 2B Juan Uribe
Analysis: This lineup 2-8 is potent, but obviously there are question marks at leadoff and 9 and there are injury questions as well. Without Owens, this team has a terrible problem of having only station-to-station speed, which was a major inhibitor of the Sox's offense last year. Owens stole 32 bases last year, and hit .279 in the second half of the season. Cabrera is the ultimate run producer from the number two hole, so Owens should score plenty of runs. If Crede's back is still hurting, if he can't produce anywhere near his 2005 or 2006 form, or if he is traded (as speculation has), Josh Fields would fill in nicely at number eight, while Pierzynski moves up to seven. The White Sox have deep quantity but little quality at the second base position. At this point in time, I feel Uribe is their best option. Because of all these question marks, this lineup is considered tentative, but if healthy, they could be dominant.
In recent years since steroids have become such a hot topic in sports and especially in baseball I’ve heard many sports writers say or write that they wouldn’t vote for the accused users on the first ballot for the Hall of Fame (HOF) but would vote for them thereafter. Or, some people have predicted that Mark McGuire, who was snubbed in his first year of eligibility in the summer of 2007, will make it.
If you’ve read my blog in the past you may already know that I am firm in my stance that no steroid user should ever make the HOF. I’m going to challenge the seemingly popular public opinion that getting into the HOF after waiting umpteen years is somehow less satisfying than getting in on the first ballot.
Sure, it might be somewhat anguishing waiting all that time, but if you won the lottery at age 45 does it mean any less than if you had won it with the very first ticket you purchased on your 18th birthday? Who cares? You’re still a millionaire.
Using steroids is not on the same moral plane as murder, but what if it was? What if a judge reduced a life sentence down to 5 years because he thought the guy really learned his lesson? That prisoner is saying “hey, that wasn’t so bad, my crimes were well worth it.”
We live in a society that does not reward the bad guys. Baseball should be no exception.
Cheaters don't win, in any sport, or in life.
Using steroids is cheating, and cheaters aren’t supposed to win. Major League Baseball should, by any means necessary, see to it that anybody ever suspected—that’s right, I said suspected, not proven—of using performance enhancing drugs never even sees his name on the ballot.
There is too much left open to subjectivity in this debate, and this is the only way I see that works. You were indicted by a grand jury on charges of perjury, Mr. Bonds? Bye bye Cooperstown. You failed a steroid test, Mr. Palmeiro? No HOF for you. Your name appeared on the now notorious Mitchell Report, Mr. Clemens and Mr. Pettitte? Sorry, no can do.
While in previous posts I have argued that baseball should retroactively pull post-season awards (MVPs, Cy Youngs, etc) from users and erase their stats from the record books, I have now come to the conclusion that even if it did so—a nearly impossible slippery slope to maneuver around in and of itself—not every sports publication would acknowledge such a move. Would ESPN.com actually remove all references to Barry Bonds from its website? No, but the one thing that is constant is that name on a plaque in the halls of baseball glory in Cooperstown, New York.
There are several reasons why I believe that proof of steroid usage is not necessary in enacting this baseball law. The first, and the most obvious, is that baseball law is not synonymous with and is not governed by the court of law. In this regard, users are not “innocent until proven guilty” because they are not being sent to prison. Rare it is that a player actually fails a Major League steroid test for several reasons. First, the Player’s Association has not approved a test involving blood, which would be necessary to detect certain drugs, including Human Growth Hormone (HGH). Other drugs, like erythropoietin (EPO) and insulin, are difficult to detect using any means. Also, many cheaters were able to successfully cover up their usage with other drugs. Norbolethone (aka “The Clear”) is a drug that balances the levels of natural testosterone and epitestosterone, which means, according to Bonds’ currently imprisoned former trainer Greg Anderson in the book Game of Shadows “You can take [the steroids] the day of [a drug test], pee, and it comes up clear.”
Anderson explained how easy it was to beat the steroid tests.
This is all very important because, for most of the past decade, there has either been no steroid testing in baseball, not a strict enough test, or too many subsidiary drugs to conceal drugs that were being tested for.
There is also precedence for banning cheaters in spite of there being no criminal evidence or intent. The first commissioner of baseball, Kennesaw Mountain Landis, banned all 8 members of the Chicago “Black Sox” even after they were all acquitted of charges by the judicial system. Landis was a real commissioner who ruled baseball with tough love. The current commissioner, Bud Selig, is a cowardly pud who apparently feels no action is obligatory to restore the sanctity of the game.
Many have stated that it is hypocritical for voters to keep Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa out of the HOF when they are same people who voted for these guys to win the Cy Young and MVP. This logic is not valid. Just because they were wrong then doesn’t mean they have to be wrong for the rest of their lives. In the same way, it is asinine to make any argument that says “Player X (Ty Cobb, ####lord Perry) is in the HOF, so Player Y (Bonds, Clemens) should also be.” In hindsight, it was probably a mistake to put Perry, an admitted ball doctor, into the HOF, but that doesn’t mean we have to make the same mistake over and over and over again forever. Times have changed. It’s time to raise the bar. This is the Hall of Fame, not the Hall of Pretty Darned Good or the Hall of Spectacular, but I Cheated.
In 2005, two Chicago based radio personalities read an all-inclusive list of baseball HOFers. They then spent approximately 45 minutes “kicking guys out” who didn’t deserve to be there, thus reducing the list by at least 40%. Though this was done just for fun, it is something I keep in mind when deciding who should go and who should not. The HOF is too watered down anyway. Phil Rizutto? Bill Mazerowski? Puh-leeze.
(Oh yes, and before you spout off the “Rizutto was a key member of a Yankees dynasty winning many World Series’” argument, you may want to read this July 2006 post stating that Individuals Don't Win Championships, Teams Do).
If baseball has stood firm this long with the decision to ban Pete Rose, there isn’t much in the way of taking it one step further with steroid cheats. What these guys have done; bulking up and hitting jaw-dropping, tale-of-the-tape home runs in awe inspiring quantity, is far worse than gambling. Betting on a game doesn’t affect the outcome.
Just because everyone else was cheating doesn’t mean it was ok for Player X to cheat too. To quote myself when I wrote in August of 2007 in The Difference Between Ruth, Aaron, Maris and Bonds, McGuire, Sosa, “So if 20 guys all get busted robbing a bank does the police let them go because they had strength in numbers? More importantly, and more realistically, if the CEO of a tax firm turns a blind eye to his accountants fudging numbers on purpose would the public brush the incident off its collective shoulders and chock it up to an oversight? Hell no! They’d all be punished, all arrested, all fired. Selig is just as much to blame as the McGuires and Sosas of the world.”
Putting cheats in the HOF is a slap in the face to people who actually deserve to be there. This feeling is equivalent to an injured U.S. soldier going down to the corner Wal-Mart and seeing Purple Hearts on sale for $19.99 plus tax. That act of heroism during battle doesn’t seem all that heroic now that everybody has the medal.
And making a guy wait X number of years before finally letting him in is not punishment enough, either. I wouldn’t let a murderer out of prison early, just as I wouldn’t allow my toddler to have the cookie 10 minutes after saying “no” the first time. Not only should steroid cheats never be voted into the HOF, but their names should never even appear on a ballot.
I wrote last year about the disappointment of the 2006 White Sox, a 90-win team that seemed to underachieve and finished 3rd place. The 2007 version is far worse and at least ten times more disappointing. Frustrated White Sox fans have a cornucopia of questions to ponder.
Who is to blame?
In no particular order these are the major contributing factors to the second worst record in the American League.
1) Poor Hitting. Paul Konerko, A.J. Pierzynski, Jermaine Dye, Joe Crede, Tadahito Iguchi, Juan Uribe, and even bench players Rob Mackowiak, Pablo Ozuna, and Alex Cintron have hit dozens of points below their career norms or what could have been reasonably expected of them prior to the season's beginning. When that many players are failing consistently to get on base, scoring runs is going to be difficult, and the White Sox are dead last in the Major Leagues in runs scored after finishing 3rd in the entire league last year.
Crede's bum back is the likely culprit to his poor hitting this year
2) Injuries. So many people avoid this topic, but the White Sox, who have been one of the healthiest teams over the last decade and a half or so, have been riddled with injuries to important players. Jim Thome, Scott Podsednik, and Darrin Erstad have spent significant time on disabled list. Dye, Crede, and Cintron have battled injuries that very likely could have led to their decrease in production. Ozuna, a valuable utility player, is likely out for the remainder of the season. And, an injury to backup catcher Toby Hall forced Pierzynski to add extra innings of fatigue to his knees.
3) Bad Bullpen. It is perplexing to all parties involved, but the Sox--the team that was supposed to have the strongest and deepest bullpen in the A.L.--have seen their bullpen fail over and over again. Bobby Jenks is a rock, but nobody else seems to posses the ability to record an out, and former All-Star Mike MacDougal was even sent to AAA earlier this month.
Who is not to blame?
I've heard names thrown out, but here are the guys that have had absolutely no fault in the losing record.
1) GM Kenny Williams. Williams did what most general managers would have done with a 90-win team: he kept the core players and tried tweaking what needed some tweaking. While he did fail to acquire a stud leftfielder to replace Podsednik, he made several successful moves such as getting John Denks and Nick Massett for the currently struggling and currently injured Brandon McCarthy, and got a future rotation piece in minor leaguer Gio Gonzalez for the also struggling and injured Freddy Garcia. Williams also made a nice move in signing Erstad. The simple fact of the matter is that it is a much more difficult job to improve on a 90-win team than on a 70-win team, and Williams made a nifty effort.
Williams and Guillen still have what it takes to do this again
2) Manager Ozzie Guillen. The man who won the A.L. Manager of the Year and that big, shiny, World Series trophy in 2005 didn't suddenly "forget" how to manage just two short years later. He's not doing much else differently than he did in 2005. The players have failed to execute.
3) Starting Pitching. All five starters have stayed healthy and have pitched well, especially in stretches. Denks and Javier Vazquez have surpassed expectations, while Jon Garland, Jose Contreras, and Mark Buehrle have all done what was expected of them.
What would JCScheffres do to fix the White Sox?
This is a messy situation, as Williams was quoted on the radio today saying it is difficult to trade players that helped to win a World Series two years ago, but from a baseball prospective he knows what has to be done. With some hard work and a little bit of luck, the White Sox can win the Central Division title again in 2009. Trading Buehrle (my favorite player on the team) is the first step.
The Florida Marlins were able to land Hanley Ramirez from the Red Sox for Josh Beckett. Ramirez is hitting .320 with 22 stolen bases and 62 runs scored. If the White Sox could get a middle infielder even close to being on the same plane as Ramirez for Buehrle, Williams would be tickled pink. The last successful middle infielder who came up through the Sox's farm system that I can remember is Ray Durham; and before that, Guillen (who was acquired via a trade from the Padres). Of course, any team inquiring about Buehrle's services would also have to include a minor league pitching prospect no more than two years away from the big leagues.
If the Sox are to unload Buehrle, they would like a guy who can do similar things to Ramirez
Dye, Contreras, Podsednik, and Iguchi are all must-trade players. Of those, Conreras is the only one with years left on his contract (signed next year and the year after at $10 million a pop). For those four players combined, Williams should be able to land eight to ten players, at least half of which would be talented enough to make significant contributions by 2009.
It's a difficult personal decision to trade the World Series MVP
In the short-term, trading Thome could also bring in some young talent, and he, like Buehrle, is relatively healthy and productive. The Angels would love to have Thome batting behind Vladimir Guerrero in the DH spot. If a team knocks my socks off with an offer for any other player on my roster, I would have to pull the trigger, but moving the above players is essential to the rebuilding process.
In the off-season, unloading Joe Crede would be wise, as it looks like Josh Fields will be good enough to take over at thirdbase. Too bad Chicago couldn't have made the move last year when he could have actually returned something of value.
Furthermore, trading all these high priced veterans would provide the salary flexibility to fill in the holes in the offseason.
It isn't an easy job, but with some luck--a commodity Williams has seen no shortage of recently--the White Sox can contend again sooner rather than later.
As the Chicago White Sox hover within a few games of .500 and seem to drift further from the division leader Cleveland Indians on a daily basis, I am hearing rumblings from fans expressing the desire to re-acquire former CF and current Phillie Aaron Rowand. As the rumblings increase in frequency, so does my disgust.
For Rowand, the White Sox acquired Jim Thome, the team’s current leader in batting average, on-base%, slugging%, and walks. If not for a muscle injury that kept him out of the lineup for more than two weeks, he’d also be leading the team in homers and RBI. Anybody who points out Rowand’s leadership and overall welcomed presence in the clubhouse should take note of Thome’s longstanding reputation as being the same person.
The Rowand trade has been one of the better trades in the successful career of Sox GM Ken Williams. But Sox fans want the “grindy” player back in Chicago. The current CF on Chicago’s southside is Darin Erstad, whose mold was used the form Rowand (or so it would appear if such a thing were actually possible). Even with two LFs likely out for extended periods of time with injuries (Scott Podsednik and Pablo Ozuna), the Sox are stacked with serviceable options. Rob Mackowiak has improved his outfield defense tremendously from last year, and up-and-comers Ryan Sweeney and Brian Anderson loom in AAA.
The Sox already have a couple of players similar to Rowand in their outfield
Despite Rowand’s hot start to 2007—he’s batted .325 through the first 51 games—I just don’t see enough room for him on the team unless Williams is willing to give up so soon on Anderson, a move I strongly oppose. Besides that, the Phillies just don’t have any interest in dealing Rowand.
In the end, I can only think of one question to ask those Sox fans clamoring for Rowand’s return: Would you rather have the reckless, fence-crashing, “small baler,” or the soon-to-be member of the 500 home run club and surefire future Hall of Famer?
I am a big proponent of interleague play for several reasons. One of the few things Bud Selig, MLB’s often detested commissioner, did right was adding interleague play to the schedule in the mid-90’s following the highly unpopular player’s strike. Several changes have been made since then and just about all of them are for the better, but interleaue play is still a work-in-progress. Here are some changes that need to be made:
Scatter Interleague games throughout the entire schedule The interleague games have been around long enough that there is no longer any point to scheduling every team in the league to play them all at the same time. Scatter them randomly throughout the whole season (much like the NBA and NHL would do) and make it more convenient for scheduling road trips (The Red Sox could stay in town for 3 more games against the Giants while they are playing the A’s, thus saving a long flight back later in the year).
Make up your mind with the DH It really doesn’t matter which way baseball goes, but either add the DH to the National League or remove it from the American League. Different rules for different venues is unconditionally ludicrous. The rules need to be the same for every single team in both leagues. If I’m going to suggest changes then I might as well suggest which change to make, so as a fan who mostly watches American League games I’m going to add the DH all around. I have always backed the argument that it adds several years to the careers of players who otherwise couldn’t play the field, such as Frank Thomas, Harold Baines, Eddie Murray, Edgar Martinez, and the most recent example, Mike Piazza. Watching a pitcher bat is like watching the handicapped kid try to play in the YMCA with everybody else. Fans pay money to see homeruns (or least base hits). I no longer want to watch a pitcher bunt a guy over from second to third with 1 out or, just as bad, strike out swinging on three straight pitches.
Without a DH rule, his career may have ended in 2001
Play one 3-game series with every team in the opposite league The first step in this rule change is actually getting rid of the awkward “Rivalry Weekend,” which seemingly forces rivals upon some fans who don’t necessarily see it that way (the Blue Jays and the Rockies, anybody?). Every team in both leagues should then play one 3-game series against every team in the opposite league every single season, and the series would alternate home-and-away with each new season.
Move the Brewers back to the American League Central, and the Royals to A.L. West I’ll never understand why Selig pushed so hard to move Milwaukee to the National League, thus having 14 A.L. teams and 16 N.L. teams, including only four in the A.L. West and six in the N.L. Central. Playing a balanced schedule and making it fair for all parties involved is going to require having the same number of teams in every division.
Go back to the balanced schedule As a fan who watches and/or attends upwards of 140-150 White Sox games every season, I’m sick of playing the Indians, Tigers, Twins, and Royals almost every week. Well, actually, my proposal would still be unbalanced, but yet, more balanced than what it is now. Based on the above rule changes, if my White Sox played every National League team for one 3-game series, they would play 42 interleague games. They could then play 80 combined games vs the A.L. West and East (this equals out to two 4-game home-and-away series against each of the 10 teams). This leaves enough room on the schedule to play each team within the division nine times each. These changes cut the interdivisional games down from 19 to 9, add a little bit more pizzazz to an otherwise predictable and lackluster schedule of baseball.
I don’t understand it.
So many publications, experts, and baseball gurus have picked the
Cleveland Indians to run away with the American League Central title in 2007,
and I’ve heard a number of these predictions going as far as to say they will
win the Pennant and/or World Series.
I’ve been mulling it over for weeks, and even after seeing the Indians
take 2 of 3 from my White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field last week, I’m still
convinced that Cleveland is at
least one year away from moving any higher in the standings than fourth place.
This American League Central sure is one tough division; the
toughest in Major League Baseball by a landslide. I think the division will come down to
whoever has the better head-to-head record between Chicago and the Detroit
Tigers, while the Minnesota Twins, dearly missing Fransisco Liriano and Brad
Radke, take third, and Cleveland handily finishes above Kansas City but
more than 10 games behind the Tigers and White Sox.
Seriously, what do the Indians have that the Sox don’t?
Both have excellent young managers and comparable
lineups. The Indians possess more
balance from 1-9 in the batting order, but no team in baseball can stack up
with Chicago’s 3-6 of Jim Thome
(.288 BA, 42 HR, 109 RBI in 2006), Paul
Konerko (.313, 35, 113), Jermaine
Dye (.315, 44, 120), and Joe Crede
(.283, 30, 94). The Indians would have
to clone both Grady Sizemore and
their best hitter, Travis Haftner,
just to hold a candle to that fearsome foursome.
Hafner (left) and Thome (right) are similar hitters, but Thome has far superior protection behind him
The Indians don’t even come close to matching up with Chicago’s
depth. Rob Mackowiak, Alex Cintron,
and Pablo Ozuna help to compose the
best and most versatile bench this side of the Mississippi.
But, the lineup isn’t even close to being the biggest
problem in Cleveland. The Tribe will score runs by the ton in
2007—even though they’re not as good (on paper) as the White Sox. No, no, Cleveland’s
biggest problem is pitching. You think
the White Sox have question marks on the pitching staff? Then the Indians have QUESTION MARKS ON THE PITCHING STAFF!
Cleveland ace C.C. Sabathia is almost the exact same
pitcher as White Sox starter Mark
Buehrle. And fear not, White Sox
fans, Buehrle’s 2006 stats. Last year
was the exception to his spectacular career, not the rule. Jon
Garland backed up his “fluky” 2005 18-win season by winning 18 games again
last year. Jose Contreras may be past his prime, but he’s more dependable than
the Indians’ Jake Westbrook. The well-traveled Javier Vazquez is inconsistent, but no GM in the league would turn
him down in favor of Paul Byrd or Cliff Lee. Both teams have inserted young, highly
touted, and yet unproven phenoms into the rotation. The Indians have 23-year old Jeremy Sowers and the White Sox will
use 21-year old John Danks.
You think the White Sox have question marks? The Indians will throw this man every 5th day
Cleveland’s
bullpen was made over this off-season, but they might as well have put a
band-aid on a corpse. Adding 35-year old
Joe Borowski and 42-year old Roberto Hernandez, both of whom have
had major arm surgeries at one point during their careers, will make little or
no noticeable difference. Matt Miller, 35, when and if he comes
of the disabled list, is no spring chicken himself. The rest of Cleveland’s
relief corps (minus lefty Aaron Fultz)
are holdovers from one of the worst bullpens in the American League in 2006.
Meanwhile the White Sox counter with one of the best
bullpens in the league and they will hold leads at a far better success rate
this year compared to the Tribe.
Combining both youth and experience, the Sox will feature six relievers,
all of whom throw fastballs at 95+ mph.
Lefties Matt Thornton and Andy Sisco are downright nasty to both
left-handed and right-handed batters,
and setup man Mike MacDougal has
experience closing out games—he even made the All-Star team in 2003 as the
closer for the Royals. Closer Bobby Jenks, who saved 41 games last
year, has ice in his veins, demonstrated by his outstanding performances during
the 2005 post-season and World Series.
When it comes right down to it, I don’t see how “experts”
like Foxsports.com’s Dayn Perry can
rank the Cleveland Indians #1 in Baseball, so far ahead of the Chicago White
Sox. If the Indians played in the A.L.
West they would easily make the playoffs.
If they played in any division in the National League they would easily
win the Pennant. But in this division, I
just don’t see any way they stack up to the team I see as the favorite, the
Chicago White Sox.
Teams normally have high expectations after winning a World Championship, but after the 2005 White Sox won 99 games and went 11-1 in the playoffs 2006 wasn’t supposed to turn out this way. Not after retaining number one slugger Paul Konerko for another 5 years. Not after trading for a proven left-handed RBI machine like Jim Thome. Things are supposed to turn out better when you add a 5th starter like Javier Vazquez to a staff that already contained pitchers who hurled back-to-back-to-back-to-back complete games in the ALCS. This team wasn’t supposed to finish in third place and out of the playoffs. Not after winning the World Series and undoubtedly becoming a better team (on paper of course) in the offseason.
And, there’s no plausible explanation for why the White Sox did something this year that they have done every other season in their history. They failed the make the postseason for two consecutive years.
Sox fans knew that defending a title wasn’t going to be easy. They knew the division and league would be stronger and that everything would have to go right. For the most part, things didn’t turn out so bad. The team remained one of the healthiest in the majors all season, with only one starting pitcher landing on the 15-day DL once all season. Thome and Joe Crede have missed action here and there due to back problems, and there have been scattered other injuries to Scott Podsednik and Tadahito Iguchi. But Chicago can’t compare its infirmary with Minnesota (Fransisco Liriano, Torri Hunter, Brad Radke), or New York (Gary Sheffield, Hideki Matsui, Chen Ming Wang).
Serveral players, including Jermaine Dye, had excellent offensive years, yet the White Sox couldn't make the playoffs
Vazquez turned out to be a superior fifth starter to Orlando Hernandez. Rob Mackowiak and Alex Cintron lived up to the hype as great bench players. And other question marks turned out to be afterthoughts. Could Jon Garland win 17-18 games again? Check. Could Bobby Jenks save 40 games? Check. Could Thome be an MVP candidate? Check. Could this finally be the year Crede hits over .280 with 30 home runs? Check. Add to the mix that Jermaine Dye would exceed everybody’s expectations and hit .320+ with 40 home runs, Brian Anderson would play an errorless centerfield while hitting above .290 in the second half, Jose Contreras would start the season 7-0, and AJ Pierzynski would have better offensive numbers than in 2005, and Sox fans everywhere are scratching their heads.
Oh yeah, and the team had seven All-Stars representing the American League. They led the Major Leagues in home runs and runs scored. And their .312 batting average with runners in scoring position dominated everybody. How can a team with so many things going right have so many things go wrong?
The numbers don’t add up. Third place?
Some things that did contribute to this underachieving season: Mark Buehrle. Whether he was injured, tired, or whatever the excuse, the White Sox couldn’t count on him to be their stopper. Joey Cora, former second sacker and current third base coach, was responsible for too many runners thrown out at home. Freddy Garcia only pitched when he felt like it, Juan Uribe seemed to lack concentration on routine defensive plays, Ozzie Guillen shuffled the lineup at inopportune times, and Kenny Williams did not get a good defensive fourth outfielder to platoon for Anderson and Podsednik, leaving infielders Mackowiak and Pablo Ozuna to misplay fly balls on a daily basis.
The good things should have far outweighed the bad, but for some reason they didn’t, and I can’t explain why. Saying that their extended 2005 season resulted in fatigue for 2006, and their lackluster play is the result is bogus. The Sox only played 12 extra games last season, remember? The number of additional starts made by starting pitchers was minimal. Chalking this failure up to a lack of chemistry resulting from trading Aaron Rowand to Philadelphia is another ignorant mistake. Thome, the player Chicago got in return for Rowand, is known around the league as one of the most clubhouse-friendly players to have on a team, and his .290/42 hr/106 RBI/107 runs easily dwarf’s Rowand’s .262/12/47/59. Thome’s stats are better than both players he technically replaced, Carl Everett and Frank Thomas, too. How the Pale Hose would have fared without Thome’s monstrous bat, I can only fathom, would be at least ten games worse.
Anybody who would un-do the Thome trade either hates the White Sox or is clueless about baseball
And somehow, this all takes us back to a third-place team with two MVP candidates, seven All-Stars, the saves leader, and reining Manager of the Year. The team that, despite having so many things work in their favor, somehow managed to have gone 30-38 so far in the second half and become just the second non-Marlins team in the last ten years to win the World Series and miss the playoffs the following season. I couldn’t tell you how it all happened either.
In other words, individuals need not apply.To win a championship (from here on I’ll be referring to the four major professional American sports—hockey, football, baseball, and basketball), a team needs to be complete; there are very few weaknesses and most championship teams have none.
Often times we sports fans find ourselves engaged in hypothetical discussions of “which player would you rather have…”, or “will So-And-So make the Hall of Fame (HOF)?”Inevitably, one of our friends will always recite the “championship fallacy.”It has a few variations, but in its most popular form it states “Player A was so great because he won a Championship Title.”
My goal is to make the championship fallacy go the way of the Dodo bird.Or at least, slowly decrease its usage.
I have met dozens of people over the years who agree with me that Barry Sanders was a better running back than Emmitt Smith.He had a higher yards per carry average over his career, was not used in goal line situations (thus reducing his touchdown numbers), and lacked the luxury of playing behind one of the NFL’s greatest offensive lines (which Smith had for several seasons in Dallas).The same people who (rightfully) say Sanders was a better player than Smith will occasionally hypocritically say that Derek Jeter is a better shortstop than Alex Rodriguez or that John Elway is a better quarterback than Dan Marino.Why?The championship fallacy.
Smith, Jeter, and Elway are all fantastic players with HOF caliber careers.There isn’t necessarily anything wrong with holding the opinion that Elway is the superior to Marino.But, to reason this way because Elway won two Super Bowls while Marino never did is a form of logical lunacy.
Over the course of a 17-year career, Marino compiled passing statistics that are unlikely to be surpassed.The NFL’s all-time passer with 61,361 yards and 420 touchdowns, he played in one Super Bowl as a rookie, lost the game, and never returned to the Promised L
