God the year in baseball has been a wacky one. And oh yeah, It's just June! I still got more than 4 months of this stuff, predicting who will win, who will lose. I need Asprin. But many teams and players alike, not all of the stars, have risen beyond expectations and are looking at career years. Some will continue into stardom while the rest will crash and burn like my buddies on my coach the day after the Super Bowl and 10 bowls of nachos. But let's see if I can predict who and what teams will stay above the curve, shall we.
1) Chipper Jones, 3B, Atlanta Braves: Jones has been on a tear. A tear like one on your underpants after an atomic wedgie. Oh yeah. He's batting .416, highest in the majors and is 6th in the National league in homers and 8th in RBI. Now many of you may think this is going to go away because he's never done thing. Uhh, big wrong! Remember last year? The dude hit a porcelain clean .337 and had 29 big shots. Every year since 2004 his average has gone up at least .18 points. He could easily hit above .350 this year no sweat. But hear is what I give him. A line of .342, 32 homers, 109 RBIs and 201 hits. Boom.
2) Tampa Bay Rays: God, one of the most suprising and good-story teams, but I can't help but wait for the day the start to burn. But it won't happen suddenly. A game here or there, a small injury, but soon it will seem like they are 2 games, 5 games, then 10 games back and not in first, but in 3rd or maybe 4th, depending on the Jays. So far they are 35-25, a good 10 games over .500 and a game and a half behind the Sox. But remember, they are on a 3 game losing streak and the fire seems to be going out. Unless Joe Maddon can get these guys going, I see a almost predictable season of 85 wins and 77 losses.
3) Brandon Webb. So far, the best pitcher in baseball and almost a lock for the Cy Young. So far, the best record in baseball at 11-2. But many of those wins came from the early part of the season when the D-Backs were on a roll. Now, on a 3 game skid, they are slowing down. Webb is 2-2 in his last 4 starts when he was 9-0 in his previous starts. Yes, I do think he will still get the Cy Young because the NL is still a shallow pool even with Zambrano and Santana. I really think he'll have a 22-9 season with a 2.98 ERA and 207 K's.
4) Chase Utley: Why didn't any of us see this coming? Anyone? The signs have been there for years. His average has raised steadily in the past 4 years and now is his breakout year. The Phillies are in first, they look to go deep into October and he is Moses, taking them to the promised land. He already has 21 homeruns, 2nd in the NL and he has knocked in 53 guys. A season of .329, 42 homers, and 104 RBI's seems to be in order.
Now why are many of these guys in the NL? I think the NL is on the verge of becoming the sronger league, if not already so. The DH's in the AL have become old, (Ortiz, Hafner) and the NL has been biding there time in the draft. Teams like the Cubs and Phillies could easily beat aging teams like the Yankees and the Tigers, though I do think the Red Sox still own the league, either AL or NL. But players start hot every year and every team looks like they could make it to October. BUT TOO BAD! ONLY 2 TEAMS DO! The rest will be sitting home. Like me. Goodnight folks.
As we come to a close in our NFL regular season games ,we look at the teams that jumped in and were popped out of the playoff bubble. There are teams that should have made it and in many opinions teams that shouldn't have. The latter happens alot in all sports, including baseball and basketball.I think we need to make some urgent changes to out playoff systems, to reasonablalize the format for getting in and how we should determine the winner. I will cover baseball today, and college football and basketball tomorow,along with pro football. Here we go.
Baseball- This past season in baseball we had many close races in all divisions. 4 out of the 6 divisons were decided by less than 5 games and all of them were decided by less than 10 games. In the NL West, what some call the best division, there had to be a playoff to determine who would get a spot in October ball, and they werent even fighting for the division title. There could have easily been three teams from the NL West that could have been championship contenders, while in the NL East or NL Central, there might as well been no team that made it, seeing as none of the teams won 90 games, what I consider to be a benchmark for success. So here is what we should do.
1) Abolish the division system in determining playoff rankings. Why should the Cubs make it even when the Padres, who had a better record by 5 games, didn't? Sure, you can keep the divisions to preserve rivalries, such as Red Sox-Yankees, but this would take out the problems we have every year of complaints that their division was to hard and someone elses was to easy. The Top 5 teams from each league would make the playoffs. The format would be, 1 has a bye, 2 plays 5, and 3 plays 4. Then the winners would play each other in a semi-final game to determine who would play the first seed, with that game finding the league champion.
OR
2) Another option would be keep the divisions and instead set a benchmark on wins-losses to determine playoff teams. With a 90 win benchmark, this would allow in the teams that deserved it and again, end the controversy of weaker divisions being easier. Luckily with this year, no team that had 90 wins was shut out of the playoffs. But teams like the Cubs and Phillies had less than 90 wins and still got in. With a benchmark win total, it would allow only the best clubs in.
Well as we rumble into the final month of the MLB regular season with many a team fighting for a spot in the playoffs, there are alot of busts and alot of suprise helpers. We have over 10 teams that still have October in their sights. But what did it take to get there, and how much did they spend to get it. So today, I'll examine some big-name stars, some that can be called overpaid.
Now let's take Roger Clemens. He was one of the biggest stories this offseason and during the Yankees usual 2 month slump to start the season. There were questions surrounding him, mainly, how much did he deserve to make. The Yankees, who usually spend money blindly, decided he needed 18 million dollars to fit his talent level. Well, now the Rocket it 6-6 and is looking like what he is, a heavy, 45 year old man trying to play a younger man's sport. So if we can determine how good he really is, then we can see the real value of other players by Yankee Standards. Now, if we use a system devised by my boys down at the office, thanks guys, I'll tell you how much Jake Peavy would be worth if he went to the Evil Empire.
Now wins and losses don't hold much, if any weight in this formula. It focuses on K-BB ratio, WHIP, and homeruns per- innings pitced. One of the simplest versions of this formula is the points system, so I'll be using that. For K-BB ratio, pitchers within the 1-2 K range get 10 points, 2-3 get 20, and 3-4 get 30. Clemens has a 2.2 K-BB ratio so he gets 20 points. Peavy, on the other hand, has a 3.7 K-BB ratio so he gets 30 points. For WHIP, pitchers start at 50 points and for every tenth of a point after the starting whole number of 1 lose 10 points. Peavy has a 1.03 WHIP so he comes out with 46 points there while Clemense, who has a 1.34 WHIP comes out with 27 points. As of now Peavy leads Clemens 70 points to 47 points. For homeruns-innings pitches, for every inning pitched without a homerun, the pitcher gets a point. Clemens has a 10.7 innings pitched ratio for 11 points and Peavy has a 26 innings pitched ratio for 26 points. So at the end of it all, Peavy wins 96 to 58.
Now we divide Clemens salary by his number of points, 58, and we get 310,334 dollars per every points, compared to just 49, 479 for Peavy. Then we multiply the per-point amount for Clemens by Peavy's point total, 96, and we get 29,793,024, the amount of money Peavy would be mathematicly values at if he were signed by the Yankees.
Now this would never happen, but who knows? It's the Yankees.
In light of the Michael Vick debacle, I have heard numerous opinions on the values of a dogs life over a humans, how killing a dear is different than killing a dog, and many more. I have come up with some questions for you all to see where your sould lies.
Is a dogs life worth less than a humans? What if the human is blind, deaf, and a quadrapaligic who is also mentally retarded?
Is hunting a deer the same as killing a dog? What if you also eat the dog and use the parts, Native American style?
Like in the first question, if you murder the disabled person should you get 20 more years in prison than you would get for killing dogs?
Since so many of you say people hunt deer to control the population, if there was a spike in the dog population, is it humane to let them run wild and hunt them with guns or bows?
Here are some that don't have to do with sports.
Which is worse? Driving while talking on a cell phone or smoking crack? They're both illegal.
Which should get the longer sentence? Child abuse or abuse on an adult?
Now I for one am not an any side int his argument except that what Vick did was inhumane and cruel. I would just like your insight on these scenarious. Thanks.
In today's sports world, we hear teams, mostly in major league baseball, pout and cry about how they can't win with a market as small as they have it. They don't have enough money to compete with the big guns, like the New Yorks, or the Bostons. But if you look at it, having a larger market doesn't translate into a winning team. Sure, having your team in a big market helps a lot but it in no way gives you an edge automaticly.
I'll use the biggest example, the New York Yankees. They, with the Mets, have the biggest market in all of baseball yet they are 8 games behind the Red Sox for the division crown and not moving up any faster. That's because years and years of buying the players they wanted got them alot of arrogance, so they depleted the farm system. I hate when people say they dislike the Yankees because they just win because they have the biggest market revenue and can buy all their players. That doesn't work out. The teams have to scout and develope to be good. Let's look at the Milwaukee Brewers. They have the second to last market size! Yet they're tied for the National League Central lead. They win by develepment. They brought up J.J.Hardy, Prince Fielder, Bill Hall, and Corey Hart. Those are all contributing players on the team. The Brew Crew didn't go out and cry about their market size, they made the best of a hard situation and took to the scouts to win. In the bottom 10 markets, 5 of those teams have winning record and lead the division, or are back by less than 5 games. That should be a point for all the teams, "cough, Pittsburg, "cough, that they can win just as easily as a larger market team with a little work and ingenutity. Here is the list of teams by market size.
Sorry about the delay folks, I've been away on buisness. If you haven't been there already go and check out Aspen, Colorado. Great hiking. But okay, back to baseball.
Since the creation of major league baseball, the shortstop has been an integral part of the team. They have to have quick reflexes, knowledge of how to play the game, and speed. Back on the older days of baseball the shortstop wasn't required to be one of the leading hitters on the team. They were mostly a defensive position, with the occasionall player having a quick bat and a knack for game saving plays and quips for the media. But in the evolution of baseball, their have become a growing number of bigger and more powerful shortstops. Ernie Banks was one of the first great power hitting shortstops. They are now being needed to be top hitters in their teams lineups. But that doesn't mean they have to be. Some of the top base stealers are shortstops. It is one of the most unique positions in baseball and here we go.
1) Derek Jeter, New York Yankees: The Golden boy, The Captain, Mr. Perfect. Whatever you want to call him is going to be true. He is the heart and soul of the Yankees. People all over the world now him and he is the reason little kids become Yankee fans. He has stats to back it up, too. A .330 batting average and 139 hits make him a dangerous hitter to face. And when he is on base it's not much better. He has 11 steals and 66 runs scored. He has a .397 OBP and a .456 slugging percentage. And doesn't he always seem to make the big play?
2) Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins: Just an undiscovered talent in the Josh Beckett trade with the Red Sox a few years back, he has now come to be known as a top class shortstop and a player that will be great for another 15 years. A .339 batting average and 17 homeuns put him in with Rollins, Jeter, and Rentaria in the list of great hitting shortstops. He has alot of underated speed and has swiped 27 bases this season with 27 doubles. He has an amazing .565 slugging percentage, something we never see even today with shortstops.
3) Jimmy Rollins, Phillidelphia Phillies: Even though his prediction for a Phillies division crown doesn't seem to be in the works, that is no fault of Rollins. He is the best player on the Phillies now that Utley is down and has kept the ship afloat. He is part of the wave of power shortstops, having hit 20 homeruns and have gotten 61 RBI. He has a league leading 12 triples and 23 doubles. A .288 batting average and a .524 slugging is a reason he could be the best shortstop in the bigs.
4) Jose Reyes, New York Mets: The fun-loving, easy going player is not easy out on or off the bases. He has a .301 batting average and when he gets on he gets it on. A shortstop best 42 steals make him the last person you want on the bases. He has walked more than he has strick out, with 52 and 50 respectivly. He has 10 triples and 28 doubles, giving him a .450 slugging percentage.
5) Carlos Guillen, Detroit Tigers: Guillen is one of most underrated players with fans outside of Michigan, but in no right should he be. He has a .314 batting average and a .530 slugging percentage that puts him atop the batting leaders for shortstops. Showing his power, he has 14 homeruns and 70 RBI. In just 338 at bats, Guillen has compiled 106 hits, putting him on pace for 194. He has gotten 27 doubles and is no slouch on the basepath either, having gotten 7 steals.
In my weeklong quest to give you the top 5 players at each major league position, I will follow up yesterday's edition with my ranking for the 5 best third basemen. Third basemen are a very unique class. They have to play one of the most difficult positions, the "hot corner", where balls come flying at them and they have little or no time to react. They have to be an atheltic group, with the ability to dive and run hard for balls, but they have to be strong to make the long throw to first. Third basemen usually have a good amount of power in them, enabling them to hit for high homerun and slugging percentage totals. This years top 5 was a very good group and I had to make some very difficult cuts.
1) Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees: Now don't start with the New York bias and that I'll put them over any players in the leauge. A-Rod is having one of his best career seasons, one that will land him a 32-million dollar contract in the offseason. He has a .310 batting average and has belted a league leading 32 homeruns. He has kept the Yankees somewhat close to a postseason spot while they have had one of the worst rotations in baseball. He is slugging .658 and has gotten 22 doubles and 105 hits. Alex has a .405 on-base percentage and is excells at working the pitcher, thusly getting him 49 walks, tops among all thord basemen. He is also having a Gold Glove season, making only 5 errors at third and making some spectacular plays this season.
2) Miguel Cabrera, Florida Marlins: He has been on and off the baseball stars radar for a couple of years but I think he is now here to stay. He has gotten a 3rd basemen high 109 hits, on pace to get 201 hits this season, has a .325 batting average , and a .603 slugging percentage. Though he has sometimes struggled with his weight, he has gotten that high school spped back, getting 23 doubles this year. He has a .404 OBP and has and OPS of 1.102.
3) Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves: Though he was hampered by injury this season causing him to play in only 71 game this year Chipper has some of the best numberes out of a third basemen. He has a .333 batting average and a .430 OBP. Though those numbers are most likely inflated due to the lack of at bats compared to others on this list, Jones will no doubt still have a season that is almost, if not better, to his numbers now. He is hitting just as good fromt he left as he is the right, he is hitting above .300 from both sides of the plate. He has won the battle with the pitchers 44 times, getting walked 44 times. He has hit 15 homeruns and has become Atlanta's all-time homerun leader.
4) David Wright, New York Mets: He has been slated as one of the best first basemen since his arrival into the league in 2005. Wright has a clean .300 batting average along with a .379 OBP and is sluggin .507. He has ammased 105 hits this year, on pace for 193. He is also on pace to have a 30-30 season, a showing of his speed and power. He is very patient at the plate gaining 45 walks. But I think the best thing about him is him moxie. He is 5 for 7 when a teammate was walked in front of him.
5) Aramis Ramirez, Chicago Cubs: He has a 3rd baseman high .321 batting averge, coupled with a .356 OBP. He has gotten 90 hits and has played an excellent 3rd base, making only 4 errors to have a .980 fielding percentage.
As in continuation with my MLB Rankings: Top 5 players posts, I will today rank MLB's 5 best 2nd basemen. Like first basemen, this is a very solid class of players. They are one of the most well rounded groups of position players in the game today. They combine speed and athleticism with strength and power. Here they are....
1) Chase Utley, Philidelphia Phillies: He is one of the best players in the league, regardless of position. He leads all second basemen in average, hits, doubles, and on-base percentage. He is the dynamite in the Phillies lineup, ready to explode for a 4 or 5-hit game against even the best pitchers. Against Jake Peavy, one of the N.L.'s best pitchers, Utley is 4-9 with 2 homeruns. As a regualr on SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays, Utley is a great defender. He has only made 5 errors for a .990 fielding percentage.
2) Brandon Phillips, Cincinatti Reds: A former castoff from the Indians, Phillips has really broken out this season for a line of .283, 19 and 57. Even better, he has 14 doubles and 4 triples, along with 17 stolen bases to show that he has some nice speed. He has gotten 104 hits and is on pace to have a 200 hit, 33 homerun season with 95 RBI's. Production at it's finest.
3) Placido Polanco, Detroit Tigers: A man on a mission, Polanco is out to prove to the Phillies that he still has game left in the tank. He has a league leading .335 batting average and has accumulated 112 hits, on pace for 209 hits and has gotten 20 doubles. But the most amazing this about Placido's season is his fielding prowess. He has made a grand total of.......0 errors! None! A 1.000 fielding percentage.
4) Luis Castillo, Minnesota Twins: Stuck in the outlands of Minnesota, Castillo has put together a ver well rounded season. He has a .309 batting average with 96 hits and a .361 OBP. He has some speed with 8 steals and is very good on the D-end with a .994 percentage and only 2 errors.
5) Brian Roberts, Baltimore Orioles: Just because his team is bad doesn't mean that he is. He has been a smooth hitter this season with 21 doubles and 20 walks. He knows how to work a pitcher and has gotten 115 hits in turn. He has a very good .318 batting average and has stolen a 2nd basemen high 28 bases.
Today's class of major league first basemen features some of the best hitters of today's era. There are some of the best homerun hitters that we have seen in a long time. Also, many of the players on this list are very classy, and do not fit the description of a Pacman Jones or Mike Vick. They are great on and off the field. And that is why making this list was so difficult. There are so many good power hitters and so many good contact hitter and hitter with good averages but no homeruns or power hitters with poor averages. So here is my list.
1) Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals: He may very well be the best first basemen that has played for the Cardinals in the past 30 or 40 years. And yes, I know I Mark McGuire played for the Cardinals. But Albert has all the hitters tools. Power, average, good walk habits, and the ability to hit to all fields. He has gotten a .315 batting average along with 20 homeruns while being in the worst power slump of his career. Pujols has lit up the scoreboards with a .550 slugging percentage and 103 hits, 2nd among all first basemen. But Albert hasn't just been great at hitting, he is a very solid fielder. He has a .992 fieding percentage and has made 7 errors while being bothered by a sore oblique muscle.
2) Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins: Mornuea is now silencing critics who thought he should't have been MVP last year. He has cracked 25 homeruns and gotten a .576 slugging percentage while knocking in a 3rd best in the league 76 RBI's. Justin has nicely gotten 98 hits, good for 4th in all first basemen. But like Pujols, he is a great defender, even better than Albert. Making only 2 errors, the Canadian Crusher has compiled a .997 fielding percentage, best among his position peers.
3) Prince Fielder, Milwalkee Brewers: The towering son of Cecil, Prince has made a name for himself playing for the Brew Crew. He has a N.L. best 30 homeruns and a .615 best among 1st basemen. He has shown why he was labled as one of Prospectus Magazine's best young prospects, at age 13! Fielder has a .282 batting average and has gotten 96 hits while driving in 72 RBI's. The only thing that drops Prince down in his fielding. He has made 10 errors and has a disapointing .987 fielding pentage. But if he keeps working, he will be the best first basemen for years to come.
4) Dmitri Young, Washington Nationals: One of the most unsung players in today's game, Young has become a major source of hitting for the deprived Nationals. He has a .339 average, tops on the N.L. That goes very smoothly with his .520 slugging percentage. Though he only has 9 homeruns, Dmitri is a porductive doubles hitter, coming into today with 25 doubles. He has gotten 101 hits while hitting in 52 runners. But like Fielder, Young isn't the greatest fielder. He has made 9 errors for a .984 fielding percentage.
5) Kevin Youkilis, Bosting Red Sox: He has really emerged this season as a very potent hitter in a vey potent lineup which enables him to see good pitches, and my oh my what he does with them. He has a .311 batting average and like Young, hits alot of doubles, with 28 of them. He has hit 9 homeruns and has gotten 98 hits. But the best thing is his fielding. In 75 games at first, he has made NO errors. Nada. Zilch. Nathan. None. He has a 1.000 fielding percentage! AMAZING!
And there you have it. Reminder- I did not forget Ryan Howard. He has a not so good .258 batting average and has struck out over 100 times. That is not good. If he breaks out of this slump I will edit this post.
I'm just another guy with other opinions. If you like my style, go for it and read. If not, yell at me and I will yell louder. I'll throw the race card into your face. I take a hard look at sports and try to find the real meaning for NASCAR, which is just an advertisment for beer.
Well as we rumble into the final
month of the MLB regular season with many a team fighting for a spot in the playoffs, there are alot of busts and alot of suprise helpers. We have over 10 teams that still have October in their sights. But what did it take to get there, and how much did they spend to get it. So today, I'll examine some big-name stars, some that can be called overpaid. 
