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As noted on DEADSPIN (thanks Ed), Bud Selig claims he could have called the game at any time last night but didn’t. That is akin to saying you can fly, but you can’t.
It is a meaningless statement. Selig makes a lot of those. In fact, since everyone else is ripping him for last night’s random waffling, let’s take a step back to enjoy some other fine moments of Selig Logic let forth upon the unsuspecting masses.
On geography;
“St. Louis is closer to Minneapolis than Milwaukee is.”
Well, kind of, in the same sense that New York is closer to the Pacific Ocean than Los Angeles. Oh well, on we go.
On why the Nationals exist at all;
“In a lot of ways, it’s helpful to have a team in the nation’s capital. There’s no question about that. It’s helpful politically and a lot of other ways. As far as I’m concerned, Washington deserves a major league franchise. It’s a major league market. I have no question about that.”
Well, as long as he has no questions, I guess everything is fine. That silly history of failure in that market shouldn’t even be on the table when considering stuff like this.
On the sale of a majority share of the Reds to Carl Linders’ friend, Robert Castellini.
“Local ownership there was critical, and it was crucial to Carl Lindner. The one overriding goal we had was to have local ownership.”
That would be “we” as in “Me and Carl said so that’s why.”
On steroids;
“Major League Baseball has always recognized the influence that our stars can have on the youth of America. As such, we are concerned that recent revelations and allegations of steroid use have been sending a terrible message to young people.”
I love that last one. Note that it is not steroids that are causing a problem. Nor is it the fact that there were drug dealers in team rooms or clubhouses. Nor is it the fact that steroids can kill people via long, painful, deaths. Nope, none of that matters. Just the fact that the “allegations” are sending a bad message.
And we all know that Bud is all about the message even when he is unclear on the content.
Unrelated to baseball, I should note that many of our bloggers up here work in the entertainment, political or legal arenas. Some have had, at least, cursory dealings with the Hudson family. The tragic loss of loved ones is a difficult enough burden to bear. The unceasing glare of the media spotlight would seem to make it insufferable. There is nothing I can say that will ease their loss in any way. But, for whatever it’s worth, our thoughts and prayers go out to each and every one of them now and forever.
Back on a happy thought, the legendary Niteowl has already started a thread about the World Series and the joys of Selig, so CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE FUN!
Philadelphia Phillies: 3
—Scott Eyre, Jamie Moyer, Matt Stairs
Tampa Bay Rays: 1
—Cliff Floyd
A quick history for those of you who have no clue what the above means. In 1981 a guy named Ron Berler wrote an article stating that any team with 3 or more ex-Cubs on its roster could not, and had not, won the World Series. The fact that the 1960 Pirates had overcame the curse just added a new dimension to it when they went on to suck for years after.
Even so, the original article appeared in less than 20 papers nationwide. One of those papers, however, got read by Mike Royko, who interviewed Berler and the rest is history. The ex-Cub factor joined the Billy Goat in the pantheon of Cubs’ related curses.
There is a second version of the curse as well. Simply put, if the Cubs dump a player or trade him for a bag of balls, said player will go on to win the World Series for another team. While not true in every instance, there is enough anecdotal evidence to keep this one alive as well.
These players include Andy Pafko (who, coincidentally, played in the 1945 World Series as a Cub), Gene Baker, Smoky Burgess, Don Hoak, Dale Long, Lou Brock (whose first title was in 1964 after a mid-season trade to the St. Louis Cardinals), Lou Johnson, Jim Brewer, Moe Drabowsky, Don Cardwell, Ken Holtzman, Billy North, Bill Madlock, Manny Trillo, Greg Gross, Rick Monday, Burt Hooton, Bruce Sutter, Willie Hernández, Joe Niekro, Dennis Eckersley, Joe Carter, Greg Maddux, Joe Girardi, Glenallen Hill (after his second stint with the Cubs; his title came in 2000 after he’d been traded in mid-season), Luis Gonzalez, Mike Morgan, Mark Grace, Mark Bellhorn and Bill Mueller.
The second team to overcome the ex-Cub factor was the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks. They have similarities to the 1960 Pirates that are worth noting. One, both teams won on walk off runs in the bottom of the 9th in game 7 and, two, both teams won against the Yankees. Oh yeah, and both teams went on a big suck parade for several seasons thereafter.
To keep some perspective on all this HOODOO (you’re welcome Elliot), please keep in mind that the 2008 White Sox made the playoffs with no ex-Cubs on their roster and got beaten by a team with one.
Nevertheless, for those of you looking for a local angle to retain your interest in the World Series this year, there you go.
Yesterday, the Sun Times ran a front page banner welcoming legendary sportscaster (and all around nice guy according to the 2 people I asked) Dan McNeil to their staff. Then they ran his column after the paid classifieds. So, it was easier for me to find out how to get my roto rooted than it was to read his insightful piece on Mike Singletary and the history of sports legends who return to Chicago in a managerial capacity. Obviously, there are still some kinks to be worked out.
He was originally slated to write four columns for the paper, which he dutifully did. Yesterday was his fifth and it seems he has found himself a second job.
Good for him.
As part of the wildly popular Mac, Jurko & Harry show on WMVP-AM, he brings a wealth of sports knowledge and a welcome sense of humor to the paper. He won’t screech, his flip won’t flop (without a valid reason being given, such as “I was wrong.”) and whether you like him or not, you won’t feel as though you are being talked down to by a drooling moron.
These are all good things.
I do find it interesting that a member of the media who is firmly ensconced on the public air waves and in the digital world would turn to such a staid media as newsprint to connect with the masses, but it is a welcome addition.
Also a bit of a surprising one. After all, he does not pander to the lowest common denominator (unless beer is involved, which I heartily endorse), and he makes sense when he speaks. These are not attributes that have been lauded by any media as of late. Maybe, just maybe, that “Change” we keep hearing about is actually happening.
I, for one, certainly hope so.
It isn’t any fun to read the paper and feel as though you would insult the intelligence of your bird if you used it as liner.
It’s Friday, the World Series is shaping up to be as good as advertised. Jamel has the Phillies winning in 7 and accurately called the result of the first two games prior to the series beginning, so make of that what you will. In the meantime, there is no need to stress your brain, just CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE FUN!
Here I am, having a crap day, walking in the cold with no jacket because my wife forgot where she packed the winter stuff (she found it after I got to work), and then I read Nite’s look at the WS and all is okay in my world. It’s baseball. Sunny days, hot dogs and cold beers. The perfect antidote. Since it worked so well for me, I am sharing it with you. That’s just the kind of guy I am.
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Rays-Phillies Open 2008 World Series
With Cole Hamels - Scott Kazmir Matchup
Scott Kazmir 1-0 will make the first pitch tonight in the 2008 World Series and if there is a seven game series it will end on October 30th. If there is a four game sweep the series will end on Sunday October 26th.
Kazmir is 1-0 in the postseason with a 4.02 ERA. Opponents are hitting .262 against Kazmir. In the ALCS he gave up 5 runs in 10 1/3 innings while giving up 8 hits, 3 homers, 6 walks, a hit batsman and 9 strikeouts.
His starting opponent for the Phillies is Cole Hamels, 3-0, who is only pitcher this postseason to win three games. He has posted a microscopic 1.23 ERA. He has given up only 3 runs and 13 hits in 22 innings while striking out 22 and walking 6 and giving up one homer. Opponents in the postseason have hit .173 against the offerings of Hamels.
The Phillies will be using a designated hitter since the game is in an American League park. The Rays have played eleven games this postseason while the Phillies have played nine and lead the Phillies in homers by a 22-10 margin and have outscored them 64-40 and outhit them 102-77.
The two teams are closer in batting average with the Rays leading .268 to .259. The Rays have 37 walks while the Phillies have walked 34 times. The Rays have struck out 90 times while the Phillies have struck out 63 times.
The Rays pitchers have allowed 14 homers while the Phillies pitchers have allowed only five homers. The Phillies have converted all five of their save opportunities as Brad Lidge with a 1.23 ERA and dominated the Brewers and Dodgers in the postseason. He has 46 saves with 41 during the season and 5 more during the postseason.
It will be interesting to see if Jon Maddon will use David Price as his closer in the World Series. Price proved he is not easily intimidated by striking out three of the five batters he faced in the final game of the ALCS. When he walked the first batter in the ninth inning he shook it off and retired the last three batters. Price was unexpectedly handed the ball in the biggest game of the postseason for the Rays and showed why he was the No.1 draft pick in 2007 out of Vanderbilt.
B.J. Upton had 14 hits to lead the Rays in the postseason while Pat Burrell had 9 hits to lead the Phillies. Upton also leads the Rays in homers with 7 while Burrell leads the Phillies with 3. Upton also leads the Rays in RBI’s with 15 while Shane Victorino has 11 for the Phillies. Upton has a wide lead in slugging percentage with a .826 while the best percentage by a Phillie is .625 mark by Victorino.
With Grant Balfour struggling in the ALCS, after pitching scoreless baseball in the ALDS, it will be interesting to see if Maddon will go to him since he didn’t use Balfour in the crucial seventh game of the ALCS since Balfour had a 19.29 ERA in the ALCS.
The Rays will need better hitting out of Gabe Gross, Ben Zobrist and Fernando Perez who combined for a 0 for 19 ALCS. The Phillies would like to see Jimmy Rollins .143, Jayson Werth .190 and Pedro Feliz .154 start hitting.
In 53 years of following minor league and major league baseball this is the first time I have been able to watch every game of the postseason and it helps have a better overall perspective as the teams advance from the division series to the championship series and finally to the ultimate goal of every baseball player the World Series.
It would be easy to pick the Phillies to win but after Game 7 of the ALCS the Rays are playing like this may be their year. The brilliant move by Maddon to bring in David Price in Game 7 showed how deep this team is and to get that kind of performance from a pitcher who hadn’t pitched since September 28th was phenomenal.
The Rays are the classic rags to riches story since they had finished out of last place only once before this year when they finished fourth in 2004. They had never won more than 70 games in a season before this season. The Rays are 295 games under .500after their first 11 seasons with a .417 winning percentage.
On the other hand their opponents the Phillies are 1153 games under .500 in their existence but have a .470 winning percentage. The Phillies have won only one World Series when they beat the Kansas City Royals in 1980. Their last World Series appearance was in 1993 when they carried a 6-5 lead into the ninth inning thinking they were about to even the series with the Blue Jays at 3 games each. Instead Mitch Williams the highest paid Phillie at $3.5 million gives up a walkoff homer to Joe Carter that shattered the dreams of the Phillies and their fans.
Williams who had 43 saves in 1993 was traded by the Phillies during the 1993 offseason and only had six saves in 52 games with the Astros, Angels and Royals before retiring at the age of 32. Over those three seasons he walked 52 batters in 37 innings. The Phillies more than likely traded him because the Phillies fans would vent their frustrations on him for losing the 1993 World Series every time he entered a game and after his home had been vandalized after he gave up the walkoff homer to Carter.
So finally after 15 years the Phillies have a chance to put the 1993 World Series in the past if they can win in 2008 but as long as the Rays play the way they did during the 2008 season and postseason I wouldn’t bet against either team.
Yesterday, I wrote this;
A lot of people are whining about the defense, but I will forgo that today since it seems that half the starting defense was on the bench at the start of the game or sent there as the game went on. Even so, players who seemed doomed to collect splinters for the season, such as Kevin Payne and Craig Seltz, will be getting much longer looks from now on. Deservedly so.
At the same time, Mike Mulligan wrote, “Neener neener neener, BigBadBill’s a stupid doo doo head who don’t know nothin’ bout nothin’.”
Well, not quite in those exact words. Instead, he pulled out those annoying fact things and, heretofore, unknown stuff like actual interviews and proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that I had gotten it 100% wrong.
The defense will be an afterthought. You’ll be inundated with glowing reports on the offense. Is it the best in Lovie’s tenure? Is Orton finally the franchise quarterback the team has been seeking for decades? Can the Bears score points with the league’s elite?
The quote you need to read is the one from safety Mike Brown that perfectly sums up the reality of the Bears’ situation.
‘’Our defense isn’t playing worth a damn right now,’’ Brown said.
Brown insists he doesn’t know why the defense has been bad, but he is sure it’s not because of injuries. And he’s right about that. The Bears can lean on the battered secondary and inexperienced replacements as the key to their problems, but it goes much deeper. The team isn’t all that beaten up. Sure, Tillman and Vasher are out. But Corey Graham has been as good as either of them since moving into the starting lineup. Heck, he’s playing like a Pro Bowl cornerback over the last three weeks. He made 10 tackles in his second start at Detroit, added 12 in his third at Atlanta and was credited with eight by statisticians Sunday, a number that is sure to increase when the coaches review tape.
Then Mr. Mulligan goes on to combine logic and experience and remind everyone that no matter who is playing defense, they are doomed for one reason and one reason only. The ****ing Cover-2 (f/k/a Tampa-2).
The Bears won the turnover battle 5-1, yet they still needed a sack and an interception in the final minute to keep the Vikings from a potential game-tying touchdown. Where has it all gone so wrong?
The answer lies in the scheme the Bears use, not the players in that scheme. Simply put, the so-called Tampa-2 coverage isn’t working. Now, that is the signature coverage of the Bears’ scheme, but it’s time to look hard at different options. Do the Bears have to scuttle it in the bye week? Can they find a way to tweak it? Will they be as predictable after the break as they were before it?
In the end he managed to take the one happy thought I had from this game, load it into his smiling shovel and bury it deep. Sadly, I have to admit that he makes more sense than I did.
Oh well, I have been wrong before and will probably be so again. In the meantime, for a complete non sequitor, CLICK HERE TO LET THE WORLD KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THE ORANGE JERSEYS!