A boring winter....

Okay, so the White Sox are trying to put together the 2002 All-Star Team, the Tigers kick their fans in the rocks (because their GM is bad at his job), the Yankees are just pullin' it out on people, the Red Sox have no direction, the Angels and Mariners are trading players and the National League is just kind of standing still.

Jason Bay is going to get paid, but it looks like Boston is going the smart thing and let Jason Bay walk (really, he ain't that good, can't field his position at all). It wouldn't surprise me to see them sign Matt Holiday, but they (and the Angels) are reportedly really unhappy with Scott Boras, for the same reason. Mark Teixeira and the way Boras kicked them both in the rocks this time last year.

I was honestly puzzled by the Mariners signing of Figgins for a few reasons.
1) I can't believe Figgins didn't get at least $10 mill per.
2) I understand that Seattle plans to bat him 2nd (giving them a hell of a 1-2 punch), but where are they going to play him (3rd? 2nd? Left?)
3) Didn't Seattle learn its lesson from the last time they signed an LA-area 3rdbaseman coming off a career year, or not?

The Tigers....eeeeesh. I told Tiger fans that the Willis/Bonderman/Robertson/Maggs/Guillen contracts were going to come back to hurt. And they have....big time. Granderson was the Tigers second best player, the face of the franchise and signed to a really really club friendly contract. The Yankees probably just locked up the AL East again, so good luck to the Rays next year (I wouldn't piss on Fenway Park if it were on fire to put it out, so I hope Boston doesn't do a damn thing this offseason).

The White Sox....they're all over the map. Who knows? Hideki Matsui? Coco Crisp? JJ Putz? I'm good. For God sakes Kenny, GO GET ADRIAN GONZALEZ. Or at least Dan Uggla. Or at minimum, Brent Gardner. Blegh. I might start calling for him to be removed as White Sox GM if the Sox don't win the division this year.

Nothing truly interesting has happened yet, so I'm waiting just like you people!! I'll keep this up!

A long winter ahead....

(Smile)

A bottle of Merlot, a new Lady GaGa video and my baseball blog...(wow, I need a boyfriend).

So, I said Yankees in 6 or 7, and it ended up being Yankees in 6. Yay! We now move on to the realm of the offseason, which in some ways (well, not really) is more fun than the actual season. You have the free agent market, the trade market and the bevy of offseason awards. I'm not even going to try to predict those (well, Pujols & Mauer in MVP, Lincecum & Grienke in Cy Young).

It's very difficult to try and predict the trade market, several teams clearly have needs (Rays = closer, White Sox in left field, Yankees in rotation, Cubs with Milton Bradley, etc), but you can't say, "I think this guy will be traded here for this unknown minor leaguer" and maintain sanity, so I won't really try. Nor will I really try to project out the deals the major free agents will get (although I have, lol), and rest assured I'll chime in with ideas on major trades/signings and starting in about February, I'll make my division predictions.

Congrats to the Yankees, and good luck repeating next year, I already have thoughts on how the AL will break down ;-)

World Series blog

Well, well, well.

(Big ol' smile).

Look who was right: ME!!!

The coming world series match-up between the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies not only reinforces my own sense of baseball smugness (which took a real hit during my regular season predictions), but promises (on paper) to be a real interesting match up.

Both teams can beat you to death, offensively. Rollins, Jimmy is only hitting .227, but Jeter, Derek is hitting .259. Both A-Rod and Ryan Howard are just punishing opposing pitchers, but other than Jason Werth of the Phils, none of the other big boppers have done a ton of damage.

The Yankees starting pitching has been fantastic, but other than Hammels, the Phillies don't really go for wanting either.

Brad Lidge has been getting the job done this postseason, just not as pretty as Mo has.

All of the 'battle-tested' arguments for the Yankees go out of the window because the Phillies WON the whole thing last year. This is going to come down to who plays better baseball. The Phillies do, however, have the better manager.

If I'm said better manager, Charlie Manuel, then there's no way I start Cole Hammels in Game 2. I use him at home in Game 3. I go to Pedro and ask him to scrap out whatever he has left to go against the Yankees in Game 2. The Phillies have to win at least one of the first two games in Yankee Stadium. Well, have to is a really strong phrase, but if they can split the first two games, they're in a much better situation than if they go down 0-2. AJ Burnett is certainly beatable, especially if Pedro can give you anything like what he did in the NLCS. Unlike Hammels, Pedro has played the Yankees on a huge stage before. He knows how to pitch to Jeter, Matsui, Posada and A-Rod. In a hostile environment. Cole just hasn't been good enough to justify starting in Game 2 in Yankee Stadium. He's a better bet in Game 3 at home, where you at least get to take away one of the Yankee weapons by forcing Andy Petite to bat in the lineup. Plus, you have a (slightly) better chance at getting Damon/Cano out, and you force Tiexiera to his less strong side (notice there I didn't say 'weak side').

I haven't really talked about Game 1 yet for a reason. As much as I like Cliff Lee (I think he's good at baseball and cute, which has gotten me into trouble in two very different circles of friends I have) and as good/great as he's been for the Phillies, he is not as good as his ex-Indian teammate CC Sabathia. The numbers show that, as does the eye test.

[By the way....HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA towards the Indians. In back-to-back years you traded away Cy Young winners, who now are going head to head in the World Series. Mark Shapiro: any time you want to give the 2005 Executive of the Year Award to the guy who really deserved it that year, Kenny Williams, feel free. Dude, the only reason people think (THINK) you're good at your job is because of that trade you made with Montreal (Bartolo Colon for Lee, Brandon Philips & Grady Sizemore). Well, Montreal thought they were going to be contracted, you gave up on Philips (how'd that work out for you?), Grady's now hurt and Lee is gone. Plus, you've had two absolute flop teams the last 2 seasons after a huge choke job against the Red Sox in 2007. Shapiro....no flags!!!!]

Lee is, however, the Phillies best pitcher, and does actually give them a pretty decent shot to win Game 1. I have been amazed at how good Sabathia's been this post-season, given how terrible he was in the past with Cleveland and Milwaukee. It was most likely small sample size (the overall biggest problem with the playoffs), but I also believe that if one team can get to CC, it's the Phillies (although 'getting to' CC might only mean 3 runs the way he's thrown this post season).

My World Series record is pretty even keeled this decade...didn't know baseball well enough in 00 or 01 to make a pick, didn't care in 02, thought the Marlins had a shot in 03 but picked the Yankees, knew the Red Sox would do it in 04, picked the White Sox in 05, picked the Tigers in 06 but rooted Cardinals, picked the Rockies in 07 and actually called Phillies in 5 last year. The short of it is I don't know: I think these were the two best teams in baseball this year, so this should be an entertaining World Series between two pretty evenly matched teams. Though I don't like it (because of my reasons, not because of the pick) I'm going to go with the Yankees, but I think it'll take 6 or 7 games to do it. I'm actually rooting for the Phillies, not because I dislike the Yankees (I actually like them a lot, minus Nick Swisher), but because I really like the Phillies. The Flyin' Hawaiian...Big Bad Ryan Howard, Chase Utley...that team is just fun, lol. Should be good, but anything can happen.

So far, so good!

Well, here we are pushing into the middle of October and yet again we have terrible weather in which to play baseball in! (2009 wants to be 2008 sooooo hard! [Think about it...another terrible Flo-Rida song dominates the charts in January/February, Britney comes out of no where with a chart topper, the White Sox are mediocre to bad at baseball, fall weather sucks, Obama is all over the news (but this time it's not good) and the Phillies and Dodgers are playing in the ALCS].

Bud Selig really should fix this timing problem, but he won't, in part because he can't. Believe you me, I very much dislike Pud Selig (as I call him), because I think he has allowed the Steroid Era to blossom, I think inter-league play is a fun but pointless exercise and all he does is dither about making a decision. You, Mr. Selig, are the damn commissioner of the game. You are appointed for life. You made $18 MILLION last year (behind only A-Rod and Jeter in-terms of baseball salary). You can do whatever you want to the game.

If the players' union truly stopped you from testing all the players for illegal (the U.S. government said they were illegal, regardless of baseball, so Bonds, Sosa, Ramirez, Clemens, Palmero, et al, should all be IN PRISON), then you grab as many microphones as you can, as many cameras and as many webcams, you line 'em all up and say, "I love the game of baseball. I know there are players violating the rules and tainting this game and its numerous hallowed records, I won't stand for it, I am trying to fix it but this union is standing in my way. Help me fix this game by pressuring the union!"

But he didn't do that. CONGRESS had to step in (BIG ups to the House for passing the Matthew Shepard Act, by the way. Kudos. RIP, Shepard) before he did anything. Idiot.

And now we have this weather thing. Baseball cannot be fairly played in 30 degree weather while its raining. It's just not the same game, period. Cutting inter-league play would help shorten the season by at least 2 weeks, meaning that by now we'd be in the middle of the World Series, instead of it being (at least) 10 days away, with the weather only being worse in New York or Philly, unless both LA teams win (more on that later. Like, 'right-now' later).

Speaking of which...my prediction can still come true...the Yankees and the Phillies are both still alive!!! I'm planning on doing a separate WS blog when the teams are all set, but I have the Yankees in 7 over the Angles and the Phillies in 6 over LA (sorry, Kathryn).

In regards to the free agent market this off-season...you've got 4 players and a lot of...well, not-good players out there. The top contracts should go to (in order):
Matt Holiday
John Lackey
Chone Figgins*
Jason Bay


*Although I want to see how much of an effect Bobby Abreu had on him (see the SI piece today [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/10/15/abreu.angels/index.html].

To me, the trade market is far more interesting, given that the Rays are going to put 2 of their 3 starting outfielders at least out there (Crawford & Upton) and I think are going to try hard to trade BJ Upton. The Rays have reportedly lost faith in Upton's abilities and work ethic (come on Kenny, that's right in your wheel house; a failed first-round talent with work ethic problems [cough, Alex Rios, cough]) and the Marlins are for certain going to trade Dan Uggla (no way they pay him again next year, not after he again hit 30 and 90, while again increasing his walk total AND made $8 mill in 2009).

He's the real guy I want Kenny Williams, GM of the White Sox, to get. One, Dan Uggla's hot. I said it. I'll stand by it. He's also really good at baseball, despite his defensive woes. This year he had a 2.4 WAR value, and wacked out 30 homers despite playing in a huge park with no real protection in the lineup (well, a caveat, Hanley Ramirez is pretty good protection) and is just damn hot. His walk total has gone from 68 to 77 to 91 over the last 3 years and in the AL, especially for a team that has no DH, you don't have to worry about the fielding issues. He can at least somewhat competently play the position (as shown by his 1.2 UZR in the field in 2008) sometimes, and though he's not a real fast guy, can at least steal a base or two, much more than Jermaine Dye, Jim Thome, Paul Konerko or Carl Everette could as White Sox DH's.

I love the pickle the Twins are in (AND BY THE WAY, BASEBALL IDIOTS, how did that whole Nick-Punto-&-Carlos-Gomez-are-grinders-and-that's-why-the-Twins-win thing go against the Yankees?!!!?!?! Hahahahahahaha...grindie just means bad at baseball with athletic talent. Both those players made HUGE base-running mistakes which cost the Twins dearly, and I enjoyed it thoroughly, that ass-whoopin). They have that nice, new, open-air park coming next season (how much fun is that going to be in April in Minneapolis?!) and should have some nice new revenue coming in. Why does this make me, an avid Twins hatter, happy?

Because, ladies and gentleman, the Twins are going to have to pay home-town hero Joe Mauer very, very soon. And he's going to get A-Rod money (the 2nd contract, not the first [$275 mill guaranteed vs. $252 million guaranteed {WHY AREN'T I GOOD AT BASEBALL?!!?}]). Or at least Jeter money. The fact is, other than Albert Pujols, Joe Mauer is the best baseball player on earth. One could argue he's better than Pujols, given the position he plays and his additional duties with the pitching staff (I might be persuaded, after a strong drink or two, to make that argument myself, actually).

This year (2009) Joe Mauer led the American League in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. As a full-time catcher. Now, go back and read that again. He won his 3rd (THREE!!!) batting title. As a full-time catcher. He is the first catcher in the history of the AL to win 3 batting titles. He is....phenomenal at baseball, and I swear that's not a pun about my blog title. His WAR this year was over 8. The Twins are not good without him, at all. Period. He's your AL MVP. Jeter is second, Ben Zobrist, of the Rays, is third. That's it. Not Mark Tiexiera. Mauer.

The Twins have to pay him. A lot. Real soon. Okay, you say, they've got an additional $40 million a year coming in for the next 4 years with this new stadium. That should do it, right? Well, not so fast. Because, you see, the Twins have 3 other really good players who also need to be paid. Justin Morneau, Joe Nathan and Michael Cuddyer. Are any of them Mauer good? No, absolutely not. But they are all really, really good. And are going to need to be paid. $160 million (again, divided over 4 years) will not be nearly enough to keep them all. And while Mauer is the biggest cog, you need them all. You need Morneau to get pitchers to pitch to Mauer. You need Cuddyer in case one of them gets hurt (which they both do), and because he keeps pitchers honest with the two of them. You need Nathan because he makes playing the Twins an 8-inning affair. To say nothing of the need of the Twins to develop a starting staff to match the White Sox, and even the Tigers. So, the Twins have some very interesting and difficult decisions ahead. I love it. Either way, one of those 4 won't be in Minnesota for very much longer. I love it.

I think I have long-since exhausted you, the lovely readers, patience with me (although that may have nothing to do with this blog), so for now, I will say,
"Peace and love, peace and love!"

WS blog soon, stay warm.

It's been a long time...I shouldn't have left you...

without some dope music to step to...

And now, allow me to say that I am completely stupid. Cubs suck, Sox/Twins/Tigers suck, Rays are mediocre...Rangers choked (although I think I called that one). My apologies for not getting to the NL Central or NL West, but I've been working and getting adjusted.

The Cardinals made the best trade at the deadline, and Matt Holiday better get down on his knees and kiss Albert Pujols rear-end, because Pujols re-made Holiday into a very rich man come this off season. Dave Duncan is hands down the best pitching coach in the game...come on, Joel Pinero and Kyle Losche? Oh good Lord. Jeff Weaver a couple of years ago...wow. And that training staff deserves a lot of cred for keeping Chris Carpenter in one piece this year too.

The Cubs...eeesh. As a Sox fan, I should know better than to pick the Cubs to do anything, but I said at the time that Milton Bradley was a giant mistake. Not even considering that you signed him to a $30 million deal, while BOTH Adam Dunn AND Bobby Abreu were still available. BOTH signed for LESS than Bradley, both have produced far better and neither has smeared an entire city and fan base as racist without offering specific examples (and I don't ever mean to diminish charges of racism, but you have to say, "I heard this at this time, I heard that at this time and I told security about it," early on. I don't like Cubs fans, but the overwhelming majority of them just love their team and want them to win, for crying out loud. Lou Pinella clearly doesn't want to be a major league manager anymore but still wants to be paid (and I don't blame him...I'd like $3 million too). Cubs fans, the next 2 years are going to suck for you. Ryan Dempster will never be as good as he was in 08, and Soriano & Bradley are going to decline next year again. Zambrano is a head case, and I'd be Derreck Lee at least gets shopped in the off season.

The NL West is fun race, but I think El Giants will be on the outside looking in (although this entire blog excercise has taught me that I seemingly know very little about predicting baseball [cough], so, maybe I should just shut the hell up). HOWEVER...I was right about Edwin Jackson coming back to Earth, so Tigers fans, better hope that Verlander can carry that weight in the playoffs, cause the AL Central the next 2 seasons should belong to the ChiSox, as long as Rios actually hits closer to his career numbers and not Brian Andersons (PUUUUUUKE).

I say the CS match ups are Angels-Yankees and Phillies-Cards, with a Yankees-Phillies WS with the NYY enjoying their 27th trophy.


Peace and love, peace and love.

NL East

Sorry that it's taken a while, but I found out that I have something to do when I move to Washington D.C. so I've been packing and getting ready to move.

We now move to the inferior national league. I know, I know, I'm a snob, but the NL just can't compete with the AL. I truly believe it's time for the NL to get the DH rule. I don't have any problem with the DH, in fact I think that pitchers in the AL are the cream of the crop (one of the reasons I'm nervous about one Jake Peavy pitching for my White Stockings...gulp). The pitchers job is to throw the ball and prevent the other team from scoring. Not hit the ball (part of the reason the Cubs keep having injury problems with one crazy-ass Carlos Zambrano (and really, he is a psychopath)), and I personally love to watch guys like Roy Halladay, Mark Buerhle and AJ Burnett pitch against guys like Jim Thome, Kendry Moralas and Vlad Guerreo (although only Thome is a full-time DH) because it's the best pitchers against the best hitters (yes, Pujols, Adrien Gonzalez and David Wright are all better hitters than the guys I just listed and all play in the NL, but I think my point is the same).

All of this DH/American league line up talk is actually a perfect intro to the best team in the National League and the current World Champion Philadelphia Phillies. I saw them some into Wrigley Field the other day when they crushed the Cubs (and that's just a statement of fact, the Phillies beat the Cubbies to death (I was actually in Wrigleyville for a few of the games, watching from the really tall building that looks into Wrigley and could hear the beatin' taking place)), and that Phillies team is probably (along with the Yankees) the most complete team in baseball. Rollins, Utley, Howard, Ibanez, Worth, Fransisco and Ruiz....man, they can just pound the baseball all over the yard. Hammels and Lee atop the rotation...ouch. Really...just ouch is all that's necessary.

The Mets are broken. And overrated. Period. And that new CitiField sucks. It's dimensions are so large that poor David Wright (the best looking player in the Majors, hands down) can't hit for power anymore. The Mets have one of the 3 best starters in baseball (Johan got a raw deal in the NL Cy Young voting in 2008, he really did) and a great closer, but everything else great about their team is broken (Beltran and Delgado, and lesser parts like Jose Reyes (who would fall into the category of 'overrated')).

The Braves...HA! Take it from me, Atlanta. If you are counting on Javier Vasquez to step it up down the stretch and help carry you into the playoffs....don't. He'll just wet the bed like he did in Chicago, when he wasn't viewed by ANYONE as the best pitcher on his team, he was looked at only as a guy who the Sox needed to be better than usual for a few weeks and totally wet his bed. Enjoy that, ATL.

And for a town with a large Cuban population (Miami) I just don't get why the Marlins don't have a bigger fan base. Cuba is supposed to be this baseball hot bed, where everyone from that island loves the game. Why can't the marlins get even 20,000 people in that damn place? What's up in the MIA?! You're team is good this year too! I thought at the begining of the year the marlins were due for one of their go-crazy-win-the-World-Series-than-blow-up-the-team runs, but they signed Hanley Ramirez to a long term deal 2 seasons ago (the only number I remember is $70 million...man I wish I could play baseball....(sigh)) and clearly don't look like a playoff team, despite nice (really nice) seasons from Josh Johnson, Cody Ross and Dan Uggla (also in the category for best-looking player in the majors...he's got those eyes...just dreamy...(another, different kind of sigh)).

Well, gotta finish packing, I move to D.C. in 3 days!!!!













Oh......right...there is a baseball team in the Nation's capital (and my future home...did I mention I'm moving there?) They just happen to be the worst team in baseball. For one simple reason: pitching. The Nationals have none of it. The top of their batting order (1-5) I actually like a lot...Nejer Morgan can flat out fly (and has been a Godsend defensively since coming from Pittsburg), Christian Guzeman has developed into a pretty decent player, and one really can't help but like Ryan Zimmerman (who signed a long term deal to STAY in D.C....now that's loyalty). Adam Dunn, looking at stats like VORP and WARP is one of the best offensive players in all of baseball (I don't have them handy, and I apologize but again...moving my life halfway across the country...) the problem with Dunn is that he cannot field. Anything. At all. He can't even mow the lawn (why the Tigers didn't trade for him and make him their DH, like I suggested a few weeks ago....(cough)).

NL Central's a comin', and I actually have nice things to say about the Cubbies, who I STILL think will win that division.

AL West

And now, with no fanfare, we go out west. And no one wants to, really. I love baseball (clearly) but the way I see it, no one really truly likes any of the 4 teams that comprise the American League West. Let's be honest: every other division in the game has its diehards nationally (we're going to stick in the AL for now): the east, obviously has the New York Yankees (hands down the most recognizable American Sports symbol in the world), the Boston Red Sox and I'll even throw in the Baltimore Orioles into the conversation (come on, everyone in the 1990s LOVED Cal Ripken Jr). The Tigers, Indians and White Sox all have a limited national following for the Central division. Anyone who knows anything about baseball knows the names Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Joe Nathan (the J-Headed Monster) in Minneapolis (only 3 more White Sox games ever in the Meterodome...thank God).

But out in the West...there's nothing. Raise your hand, when's the last time you saw someone in, say, Boston wearing an Oakland A's cap? They've (the A's) been in three different markets, and still barely have fans (Philly, Kansas City and Oakland). The Angels seem to exist only to compete with the Dodgers (by the way, who in the name of all that is holy thought it was a good idea to make the primary colors for Los Angeles' two baseball teams BLUE and RED?!!!? Really now? Really! I'll give the Dodgers a pass since they're about 126 years old, but the Angels marketing teams deserves a sharp stick in the eye for that one). {Blue and red being the colors of LA's two most famous gangs, the Bloods and the Crips, if you didn't know} The Rangers? Please...the fact that George W. Bush was their President of Baseball Operations is enough to prevent a fan base, even in Texas (where football DOMINATES all else anyways). The Mariners have had two first-ballot-best-players-to-ever-play in the last 20 years (Griffey Jr and Ichiro) but no one cares. I'm sorry, they just don't (and if you don't believe me, look up T.V. ratings. Numbers don't lie, provided your looking at the right numbers).

So, you've got a division no one really is that interested in, and for the last 5 years, it's also been a boring division. 2004: The Angels win it. 2005: The Angels win it. 2006: The A's win it (barely). 2007: The Angels win it. 2008: The Angels win it (by a lot). 2009: The Angels are in 1st. That's not going to change. I could just stop right there, the Angels are going to win that division, but you (I hope) expect a little more for me.

The Rangers have kept their heads above water much better than I thought they would so far this year, given that they have the same problems they always do. They will crush the ball, repeatedly, but they have to, because their pitching is just...puke inspiring (I really wish I could come up with a better adjective than that, but really, I think it works quite well). The Rangers have not had pitching really ever in my baseball lifetime (although I hear that Nolan Ryan guy was a thing...even though he only played 5 years at the end), although they are supposed to have pitching prospects in their pipeline that are good. I rather doubt it, given the way the ball plays at the Ballpark at Arlington and the fact that Jon Daniels, their GM is, in my mind anyway, an idiot. This is a guy who traded away Jon Danks to the White Sox for Brandon McCarthy (who is always always always broken) and Edinson Volquez for Josh Hamilton (obviously a great story of redemption, but the last thing the Rangers needed in 2007 was a HITTER). Ian Kinsler is a really fun player to watch (and has made both of my good fantasy teams good the last 2 years), Michael Young is that rare under-rated yet over-rated player (I'll explain that one in a bit) and the aforementioned Hamilton is a treat but that pitching 'thing' they got there is something bad.

The Mariners...bleh. Ken Griffey Jr. cannot play anymore. His return is a wonderful story, but he can't play. His bat is slow, he's late on fastballs he used to kill, can barely catch up to a slow breaking ball and, frankly, was never as good a fielder as he was made out to be. I will stand by that...yes he made the highlight real and deservedly so. However, by the metrics, Ken Griffey Jr was an average FIELDING center fielder. Love the guy, helped make my baseball season last year (see Game 163), but not as good a defender as people think. Truly. Felix Hernandez is 23 and has a live arm, but can't do it alone. I don't buy into Jarrod Washburn, other than this being a career year. Good for him, he'll probably get traded to the Yankees and get some postseason baseball, but career year. That's my bet.

I hate the A's. I do. I just don't like them; I think Billy Beane is an arrogant jerk (who did, however, help write a very interesting baseball book, Moneyball) that really hasn't ever won any hardware. Yes, he took the 2nd lowest payroll in the game to the postseason twice earlier this decade, but please, show me the American League Pennants and World Series rings he has. Don't worry, I'll wait. Oh, right...the A's have only gotten to 1 ALCS this decade. And promptly got waxed by the 2006 Tigers when they did. Oops. My bad. I did pick the A's to win the division this year at the start of the season, which is one more piece of evidence that I am a baseball idiot. I though the A's were due for one of their good years, but I did think Matt Holliday would regress a bit from his Colorado high days and that Jason Giambi was mistake. I thought the Angels would regress from their 100-win season last year, but I was wrong. About both. The A's suck, the Mariners are mediocre, the Rangers have no pitching and the Angels are the class of a division that no one cares about and will (once again) lose in the first round of the playoffs to the Boston Red Sox or the New York Yankees. Really, no numbers are necessary to go over a division that isn't compellingly competitive (like the AL East) or at least competitive (the AL Central)and that people aren't watching anyway.

We next move to the National League, going back East to the Phillies and the other piles of 'meh' out there and move across the country till we end up West again. Peace and love, peace and love. Thanks for reading.

Perfection

I won't make this near as long as last nights post (and I gotta stop using 'frankly' every other sentence, lol), but something happened today that deserves mention.

Mark Buerhle performed the greatest achievement in all of baseball. Without doubt. An amazing performance, kudos to him and the rest of the White Sox (and I'm going to stop talking trash about Dewayne Wise for at least...1 week) and kudos to the Tampa Bay Rays, who stood and applauded Buerhle after the game was over. A class organization, truly.

I hope I'm deep in the cold, cold ground before I ever see Mark Buehrle wearing any uniform other than that of the Chicago White Sox.

Congratulations, Mark.

I lied! AL Central now up!

I promise not to personalize this too much, but I'm going to write this now as I'm a lil' hopped up on coffee (coffee for a date apparently never means sex). I know I said in my AL East blog I was going to do the NL Central now, but I changed my mind and will stay in the American League (and tonight, July 22nd, we also learned that the Rays are not as fundamentally sound as they were last year (I'm looking at you, Jason Bartlett and B.J. Upton)).

Speaking as a White Sox fan, I despise the Minnesota Twins. Everything about them. I hate Kerby Puckett, I hate Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and I especially, especially, especially hate Nick Punto (with all the silly 'grindyness' and sliding into first base). Having gone to college in Michigan (just a small, central Michigan school with a rather well known football team and colors of Maize & Blue), I know that Tiger fans feel much the same way (although they have as much White Sox loathing as Cubs fans). However, as said White Sox fan, I also fear the Minnesota Twins. But only in the Metrodome because the Twins don't play well on the road. Every year, the Twins seem to be in the race for the division in August, dinking and dunking their way to a division title. But, what gets lost in the labels of 'small ball' and 'Twins ball' is the fact that they have 2 absolute superstars in the center of their lineup (and anyone who says that the Twins don't win with superstar players is a brain-dead baseball bonehead) who crush the ball out of the ballpark. I speak, of course of Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau (and if 2 batting titles, one MVP trophy and a home-run derby championship aren't superstar credentials, then I'm giving up following baseball). Jason Kubel can be thrown in there as a guy who can hit with power (same with Joe Crede), but I really want to stop hearing about the Twins being a 'small ball' team. What the Twins do not have is starting pitching. Or relief pitching, save for one guy, Joe Nathan. He's the other reason the Twins are perennial contenders, they only play 8 inning games with Nathan as the closer (and boy oh boy, is that guy good at his job). The Twins, just 20-27 on the road, most certainly have the easiest remaining schedule (only 33 of their next 70+ games are against teams above .500), but that doesn't mean a damn thing, as the Twins late in the season can't seem to get the job done (see the glorious choke job of 2008 against the Royals when they only had to win 1 game to put the White Sox out of their misery). And see also the pasting the Oakland Athletics just gave them...in Oakland (Oakland? Oakland! Seriously? You got pounded by their sorry baseball behinds?! What? What?!!) So, no pitching, two really really really good hitters and a slightly soft schedule all add up to...I'm going to go with a straight 2nd place finish, because they'll have to outslug their opponents and are just an average baseball team, but one with a great fielding percentage (2nd overall in the AL). [I'm a big believer in defense, which is part of the reason this division is so competitive].

The Detroit Tigers have a phenomenal starter in Justin Verlander and a phenomenal hitter in Miguel Cabrera and a really nice guy/good player in Curtis Granderson and the underrated Placido Polanco but little else. No bullpen (we'll get to that), bad starters other than Verlander and Edwin Jackson, but he's an interesting case (and for all of my buddies who are Tigers fans, I'm about to shred him, so bear with me. Still love you though, guys).

For 2009, Edwin Jackson has a BABIP of .244. (For those not yet familiar, BABIP is batting average of balls in play, a statistic which measure luck, for either hitters or batters. It averages out to .290, so a pitcher under that has been lucky, a hitter under it unlucky and vice versa). A .244 BABIP says that Jackson's due to get hit hard (statistically, BABIP's even out over a season)in the second half, and his career era of 4.57 isn't pretty either if you love the old English 'D' for your baseball team. Even more bad news: the Minnesota Twins bat .314 against Jackson in his career, the Chicago White Sox (American's new team, in case you didn't see the All-Star Game) even better at .324. For the other real good Detroit starter, 2008 was a fluke year for Justin Verlander. That guy is legit good, top of the rotation good. But his BABIP against the White Sox is .266. However, he's given up 19 homer runs against them, along with 14 doubles and 9 losses. Quite simply, the White Sox beat him to death. Both on the South Side and in Detroit. But the BABIP stat indicates that not only do the White Sox absolutely tattoo him, but they've UNDER-PERFORMED against him. Statistically speaking, they should have hit him harder than they have in his career, and he's got a career 5.44 ERA against them. OUCH! But, in his defense, Verlander is an amazing pitcher against everybody else, including the Twins (well, the Indians have hit him too, but I won't believe in the Indians ever again. Seriously, you got a 22-3 record from Cliff Lee in 2008 (with RIDICULOUS peripheral stats, like BABIP, WHIP, BB/K's, K's/9, etc) and were still only .500. Cleveland Rocks? Oh, puh-lease).

As for the Tigers line up, there's Miguel Cabrera and everybody else. Now, Polanco is a very underrated player (but has no pop), and Granderson is really fun to watch (and a really nice guy, by all accounts too), but you make your pitches to him, and he's an easy out. So, frankly is Brandon Inge for all the love he gets in Michigan (real good defender, but hits mistakes. That's it). Frankly, there is no reason to pitch to Miguel Cabrera. Seriously, walk his rear end every time. Maggs can't hit anymore (and he left his power in Chicago in 2004 when Willie Harris took out his knee), Carlos Guillen is broken, Gerald Laird is back to being bad at hitting (which happens to him when he's a full time catcher), and Tiger fans will tell you they want a hitter. But it won't happen, given the payroll constraints of that franchise, particularly in that city. The signing of Adam Everett was really nice though. The Tigers fielding percentage is 4th in the AL which will keep them around (along with their top two starters), but their bullpen is...lacking, to be kind. Fernando Rodney will not last [not with a .274 BABIP, which is already starting to even out this 2nd half and an era of 3.82], and Brandon Lyon is bad. No statistics are needed for that one, he's just bad at baseball. I think the Tigers will end up 3rd in the division, but not by much (say, a game or 3 between 1st and 3rd place). That leaves us with...

The Chicago White Sox. They are, by no means, perfect. They don't have the best starting pitcher in the division (that would be Verlander), but they do have the 2nd (that would be Mark Buerhle). They don't have the best hitter (Mauer, Cabrera and Morneau, Victor Martinez of the Indians and then Placido Polanco) in the division, but they have a larger collection of good hitters (Dye, Konerko, Thome, Pierzynski and Quentin [his 2008 wasn't a fluke, but more Q!perman in a bit]) than anyone else in the division. They don't have the best closer (Nathan) but do have the overall best bullpen (although Scott Linebrink and his career 3.72 second half-era and straight-as-a-string-fastball BLOW and should be put to sleep). They have an incredibly underrated manager in Ozzie Guillen. Ozzie is, without debate, one of the 5 best managers in the AL. Let's see...4 years...2 division titles, 1 world series championship, consistently outperforming computer-model projections for his team (exception being 2007, when he got career worst years from Buerhle, Dye, his bullpen and Pierzynski)...oh yea, and being really, really funny and honest. And, for the first time in my lifetime, the White Sox actually have a farm system they can go down to and get guys from for reinforcements (see Torres, Carlos and Beckham, Gordon [who has the best hair in White Sox history. I have a serious man-crush on Gordon Beckham]). The starting staff has been very good since June as well, mostly on the backs on Gavin Floyd's turn around (and his sparkling sub 2.5 era since June) and Mark Buerhle. I do not expect Jose Contreras to keep up his post-Triple-A performance, after all, he's 498753245092 years old (never trust what any Cuban birth certificate says).

What the White Sox do not do, do not have, and will not get, are play defense, a good defense and a good defense, respectively. They give teams 4 and 5 outs an inning far, far too much. Among 14 AL teams, the White Sox come in 12th in defensive efficiency. That's some bad medicine there, kids. And sending down Brian Anderson in order to make room for Carlos 'Q!perman' Quentin only compounds the problem, because you're putting Scott Podsedink in center field regularly. That retching sound is the SouthSide of the city of Chicago. Speaking of Pods, another reason I have a hard time believe in the White Sox is because of him. He's hit waaaay over his head this being picked up off the scrap heap by Kenny Williams. His BABIP this season is .335. OMG... .335. RIDICULOUSLY lucky in the batters box. That should come down, much like Jackson's should go up [but with baseball, one never knows, that's the fun. Jackson and Pods could stay this good all year, but looking at past performance, that likelihood is not promising]. If the White Sox could pick up the baseball, which they can't, then I'd say they'd run away with the division. But Minnesota and Detroit are just much much better at not giving the other team extra outs (and extra outs are a boon to the oppoenet, as the White Sox found out tonight, beating the Rays on 2 miscues by Bartlett and Upton. BYAH!!!)

I do think the White Sox will win the division, particularly if Q stays healthy. None of his stats from 2008 were out of line with his minor league performance, his 2008 BABIP was .278, his 2209 BABIP thus far is .214. His fb/gb ratio this year matches what he did last year, as does his hr/fb ratio, meaning that he's been unlucky and unhealthy. Not a good thing for Detroit and Minnesota. Statistical and anecdotal (based purely off of observations, which are notoriously flawed as all humans have an overwhelming tendency to see what they want in all things [I read that in a book. Yes, I read books]) signs point to the White Sox in the Al Central this year, but again, it's baseball. Anything can (and often does) happen. Either way, it's going to be a fun race in this division (sit back, relax and strap it down), but who ever wins will get waxed by the AL East winner in the ALDS (again) this year. But hey, just get into the playoffs and anything can happen (see 2006 Cardinals). That wasn't a shot at the Tigers, by the way, just a reference point.

I'm sure there are things I've missed, but I'm off to bed. Peace and love, peace and love, AL West up next.

1st real post.

I’m not planning on wasting anyone’s time, so I’m just going to jump on into baseball chatter. Thanks for reading, and here we go!

It's clear to anyone with a pulse that the American League East is the best division in baseball. At the beginning of the year, I made my division picks as follows:

AL: Rays (East) Red Sox (Wild Card) White Sox (Central) A's (West)
NL: Marlins (East) Phillies (Wild Card) Cubs (Central) Dodgers (West)

Now, clearly, I look like a darn fool given what I said about the AL West and my pick of the Marlins to win the NL East (I've thought they were overdo for one of their crazy get-to-the-world-series-than-blow-up-the-team runs (see '97 and '03). I still think the Rays are in a position to make the playoffs, and the Red Sox are...well, the Red Sox (like it or not, Red Sox Nation, you guys are the Yankees of this decade). Despite the additions made in the off-season (Tiexiera, Burnett and Sabathia [man, I would love a slice of the money those fellas got]), I didn't believe the Yankees would make the playoffs and despite how they have played thus far (including the performances of Coke, Huges and Aceves in the bullpen), think that the Rays will see another October (they (the Yanks) have got a tough September schedule, with trips to LA, Seattle, an always intense Boston match-up and a run with KC (who always SEEM to play well at the end of the season)). What works against the Yankees, in my baseball world anyways, is their defense. Jeter and Cano are not good defensive players. And as a team, the Yankees are just 7^th in AL in fielding percentage, and are 7^th overall in errors committed. Those are not good numbers considering the Red Sox rank 3^rd in fielding % (although the Rays are 9^th).

Tampa has been…well, just mediocre this year, frankly. Yeah, they hit the ball a very long way and will run you out of the ball park (even if it’s not their ballpark). I thought they’d win the East again, but they seem to have fallen into the same hole that the 06 White Sox and 07 Tigers did (meaning that for a team which in the previous season made in to the World Series (05 and 06, respectively), the pitching which got them to the post season has been mediocre and the hitting has been what’s carried them). They still have a series of games left with Boston and New York, so they could climb back into it, but it looks for now like it will be the Red Sox and Yankees in the playoffs (again…puke).

Boston has been the best team in Major League Baseball since 2003. 2 WS wins, 4 ALCS appearances, enough All-Stars to make any non-Red Sox fan puke, fans in every corner of the globe and the best General Manager. All of that was very difficult for me to type, I hate the Red Sox, but it's true. They seem to have the surest shot at the playoffs in the AL, but they have a tough August plan, with a 5-game trip to Tampa and New York, a trip to Texas and a set of 5 games in Fenway against the Yankees and White Sox (who are, despite my fandom, a very underrated team). They aren't bothered by players who get injured, they just call up a guy, plug him in and keep chugging right along. I hate to say it, but they look (again) like your WS favorites (they will kill the Dodgers (who cannot play the AL with a 29-52 record in inter-league play since 2005) or Phillies (who have no starting pitching, seeing as Cole Hamels is mediocre this year) should they play them).

Speaking of the Cubs: A quick note/preview of my next posting, which will be about the NL Central (I’m going to go in order of divisions I think are the most competitive). The Cubs are still in a great position, despite what everyone in Chicago is writing at both the Tribune and the Sun-Times. Aramis Ramirez has missed most of the season and still isn't healthy. Milton Bradley is having, statistically, the worst year of his career. So is Soriano, and the pitching staff can't stay healthy. All of these problems, and they're still at .500 and only 3 games behind the Cardinals. And have some 70 games left to play. And the NL Central…well, for want of a better term, it sucks.

In the words of my favorite Beatle [because of the whole being-the-conductor-thing on Shining Time Station], peace and love, peace and love.

Here we go...And some background...

I love the game of baseball. I have had a strong affair with it for the last 4 years. Before that, it was a little crush, but in 2005, my love exploded. 2005 was the year the Chicago White Sox won the World Series.
Now, I will not abide by accusations of band-wagon hopping; I was a White Sox fan well before that magical summer, I just did not have the same appreciation for the game before that summer that I have had ever since. Yes, without question, the White Sox are my favorite team. I truly (and lamely) am in a better mood when they win than when they lose, regardless of what else has happened to me. I like to think that I'm a smarter baseball fan the more I watch the game, and have helped pass my time this summer by reading several books that examine the game and its evolving statistics (Moneyball is, for those interested, a great way to start, even though Billy Beane (despite his baseball acumen) is completely arrogant).
Baseball is a game unlike any other in the world. It's numbers (162, 755 [more on that one later], 2632) all mean something to fans all around the country (and increasingly, the world). It both proceeds and follows the history of the United States [a quick note, all statistics are courtesy of either baseballreference.com or mlb.com, unless otherwise noted]. And baseball fandom is not a uniquly Untied States phenomenon. Baseball passion runs hot in Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Japan, China, Canada and Mexico. I hope that my love for the game, and the love that millions of people around the world have, will come through in this blog, but I will not be a meatball fan. While I don't totally (emphasis on 'totally') discount the idea of momentum and 'intangable' skills, as Vin Scully once said on WSCR's 670 The Score (a wonderful Chicago-area sports talk station), "Momentum is tomorrow's starting pitcher."
Follow along, comment, argue, be passionate about your teams and favorite players, but a word of warning: I will NOT tolerate any homophobia in comments or responses. Too easy is it to resort to the "You have that opinion and that makes you gay!" (read: stupid) response. In the words of Mike Singletary: cannot play with 'em. Can't do it. I won't put up with homophobia, so leave it at home (or for that matter racism, etc). Other than that, hope that I do this well and that you enjoy!