Yada, Yada, Yada...

This week was very interesting. So many different things happened. Both intriguing and disturbing.

The best thing that happened to the Yankees was A-Rod getting beaned by Franklyn German of the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday. A-Rod hit 2 consecutive homeruns off Ledezma, which made 4 times he’s faced Ledezma, and has 4 hits, all homeruns. There has been tension between the two teams lately, and this just added to it. (It originated when Dmitri Young ran over John Flaherty during a spring training game this year.) So FINALLY, the Yankees retaliated. Paul Quantrill came out and threw at Jason Smith. He missed him the first time, got a warning, and then threw at him again. Him and Torre were ejected. But this just got the Yanks riled up. This is what they needed. They haven’t really did anything like this since their championship years back in the 90’s. Think about it, last year, Boston threw at the Yankees all the time. Jeter has been hit a total of 96 times during his career, and a career high of 14 last year. And everyone knows that if someone is to get hit intentionally, you throw at the team’s best player, which is Jeter in this case. I’m not saying he was hit intentionally 14 times last year or 96 times over his career, but some of them were intentional. And over the last few years, the Yanks were not known to retaliate and stick up for their teammates. But the Yankees in the 90’s did. Those Yanks didn’t take garbage. They weren’t afraid of anyone or worried about their “professional” appearance. All they cared about was winning. And you have to have a fire in order to win. And I now see that in this Yankee squad.

What’s the big deal about American Idol? I personally think it is the worst show on television, but yet there was over 500 million votes to chose the winner of this contest. I think they should start American Karaoke, and go to different bars around the U.S. and give money to those who really can’t sing.

Curt Schilling is out until the all-star break. That should give him plenty of time to “Google” the Internet and read every article that mentions him. Then he can call up every talk show and voice his opinion on everything from the War in Iraq to what kind of toilet paper he uses.

How do the Suns lose to the Spurs after they shot 54% for the game? I know how---No Defense. It defiantly is true…Defense does win championships. If the Suns would play defense for one possession in each quarter, they’d be fine. Either that, or just let stinky Steve Nash hound the Frenchman Tony Parker. But then again, rumor has it that the French are exactly “clean” either.

I was watching the Jimmy Kimmel show the other night, and he showed a clip of Tom Cruise on Oprah. Has Tom Cruise lost his mind? Did anyone else the highlights to this? He went nuts confessing his undying love for that Dawson’s Creek girl. I personally think it’s all a stunt so that he can keep getting girls that are young enough to be his grandchildren.

The Oakland A’s are just plain awful. They are dead last in the most important offensive categories such as Runs Scored, AVG, SLG, HR and RBI. Their pitching is horrendous, although Dan Haren pitched a solid game last night (7IP, 2 ER), but still got the loss and is now 1-7 on the year. Joe Blanton allowed 7 ER in 1/3 of an inning the other day. To the Devil Rays. The Devil Rays of all teams.

That NASCAR girl Danica Patrick is kinda cute. If NASCAR started to implement a “Females Only NASCAR” and the credentials are you have to be very attractive, I’d start watching. Heck, I might even grow a mullet.

On Monday night, my Clark Men’s Softball League (CMSL) softball team, The CrossRoads, lost once again, to fall to 2-6. It’s a shame, because we keep improving every game. This game we came back from a 7 run deficit in the top of the 7th (last inning) to tie the game. We managed to get the first two hitters out in the bottom of the inning. The 3rd batter of the inning hit the ball to SS, he throws it and our 1B was unable to catch which allowed the ball to get by. But the ball hit the first base coach, but the ump somehow called the ball out of play. How? The first base coach is in play. They awarded second base to the hitter. The next guy comes up to hit and lines a bullet to our 2B, Pete “Dan” Marino. Pete makes an excellent effort (I’ll give him and ‘A’ for effort) and stops the ball. There was a play at the plate, but runner scored. If the runner was on 1B, he would have advanced to 3B possibly, but would have kept the inning alive. Oh well. At least we went to the bar CrossRoads (our sponsor) and got ourselves a few $1 drafts to ease the pain of the loss.

On the other hand, my work softball team improved our record to 7-0 yesterday. For the 6th time this season, we 15-run the other team and had to call the game after 7 (that league is 9). We have our sights on the championship.

But speaking of going to bars after softball games, I find myself, as well as all the other players who go to the bar afterwards, fall into the trap of “I am only going to have 1 beer then leave” but then end up devouring anywhere from 5-10 beers. Yeah, who are we kidding? Here is a great article from one of my favorite publications, The Onion, which was posted this week. My teammates and myself had this conversation the other day, and this happens to be written. Coincidence?

My buddy and I were emailing one another during work the other day. And he was very puzzled about a very important issue. Here is what he wrote. I just realized how disproportional the amount of salt is to the amount of pepper they give u in those little packet things.. There's always enough salt for like 25 people in one package but there's only like 10 little specs of pepper... What the hell is that? I always have to get up and grab another pepper (after I’m comfortably settled in) bc it only covers like 1/3 of my sandwich... while at the same time my plate is littered in zillions of little un-used salt crystals bc they all spilled out all over the place.... Why wouldnt they just make it even? If anyone knows the answer to this very important issue, please let us know. If you haven’t been following the show The Shield, I recommend you start doing it now. I just like how they show the dirty side of our finest.

New season of the H.B.O. original series, Entourage, starts airing Season 2 next week. I cannot wait. But when I saw the previews for the new season, I see that characters like Turtle, improve their look. I liked it how Turtle was the D-Bag of the group. But what makes this show so great, is the group of characters, which they cast. Here is a break down and my take on the main characters.

Vince – He is the movie star, originally from Queens, NY, who brings along his friends for the ride. He buys a mansion, allows them to live in it. Gets all types of women, allows his friends to have the scraps. He is down-to-earth, allows his best friend/manager, Eric, to make his decisions for him, which includes which movie roles to take. He isn’t very intelligent. But who needs to be when you are making millions.

Eric – He is the dude that played Nikki Cox’s brother in “Unhappily Ever After”. Eric is Vince’s best friend. Vince doesn’t trust anyone, but Eric. Eric does everything for Vince. He is his little b*tch, if you ask me. Eric is inexperienced and is learning the ropes. But Eric has Vince’s best interest at heart. Eric is also a little bit of a player taking on 2 girls at once, but calling the wrong one on one drunken night, and leaving a message, only to say the girls wrong name.

Drama – Johnny Drama is Vince’s older brother. Drama, who is also an actor, but unsuccessful one at that, rides in his brothers wings and takes small roles in projects that Vince takes. He is also a dumb meathead who thinks he is intelligent, and funny. But his uncanny humor makes him funny. In one episode, Drama gets royalties for a commercial he did and Turtle sees an add in the paper to get some foreign girls to perform favors for them. Drama insists that he WILL NOT pay for sex. But Drama meets a woman with, lets say, an improved chest. Drama asks her to take a dip in the Jacuzzi; she refuses because she is depressed due to money problems which wont allow her to pay for rent. So what does this bonehead do? Pays her $1200 rent.

Turtle – Probably the funniest character in the whole program. He isn’t really involved in the business per se, but his job is to drive the Hummer. He is a little overweight, dresses like a d-bag and doesn’t really shave. He is a pothead, like the others and just parties all the time. He meets women and tries for everyone, constantly getting turned down. But he always finds a way to hook up with one by the end of the party, all due to Vince not wanting her, so she settles for him. I say good for him. Take it while you can, I guess.

Ari – He is Vince’s agent. He is paranoid, self indulgent, greedy and impotent. He didn’t want Vince to take the role for a new Indie which was presented to him, “Queens Boulevard” because the money wasn’t there, which meant, it wouldn’t have been a big pay day for him. But he does come through in the end. He is a smart businessman, or at least, comes off as one to Vince and his crew. He plays the role of the agent that everyone thinks of and is written for in movies. Oh, and he is also played by Jeremy Piven of PCU, Old School and most notably, the guy who played George Costanaza in “The Pilot” episode of Seinfeld.

I recommend this show. I started watching it last week because my buddy had “Netflixed” it on DVD and got me hooked. It is something I enjoy, because I know if I were in Vince’s shoes, I would have my boys come along for the ride.

Finally, there are 4 new films that I actually want to go to the theater to see. Cinderella Man, Madagascar, War of the Worlds and Batman Begins.

I have never seen Star Wars in whole before. Go ahead, ask me where my childhood went. But I was never into it. The only reason I would want to see this new one, Episode 3, is because of the 2,131 special/digital effects.

On the other hand, I was always a fan of the Batman movies. The first Batman was incredible, the second one, Batman Returns was very good, the 3rd, Batman Forever got a little overboard, but still entertaining, but then I just refused to see Batman and Robyn. But this new one, Batman Begins, looks really good and I cannot wait to see it.

Remember, the next softball game for CrossRoads in the Clark Men’s Softball League (CMSL) in on Tuesday, May 31 at 6:30. We are playing a team that, apparently, we almost got into a brawl with due their out of control behavior over a men’s softball game. And plus, I don’t think you want to miss the Ron Jeremy look-a-like on the other team.

World Cup Baseball: Team USA

Since Major League Baseball has announced that there will be a World Cup of Baseball in 2006 before the season gets underway, I had time to contemplate who would make up the Team USA roster. When I saw that other people attempted putting their team together, they would go after players who were up and coming and some that were out of their prime, but put them on the roster out of “respect”, which is fine for an all-star game. But this is the World Cup of Baseball. Since we already try to show the world our dominance in every thing as it is, then why stop at baseball? I mean, baseball is our pastime, right? Well, actually, it originated from a woman’s game called Rounders, which was played in Europe. But for arguments sake, it is America’s Pastime.

So I suggest, besides me managing this fine group of elite players, is to make sure that we ask the players who are the best at their position at this particular time. So here is my list. I use two catchers (can’t have just one), a starter at each position, then a Corner and Middle Infielder as well as an extra Outfielder in case of injury.

I also included 5 Right-handed Starting Pitchers and 2 Left-handed Starting pitchers to choose from. There are also 3 relief pitchers, 2 Righties and one lefty. If you want to argue about who should or shouldn’t be on the list, leave a comment and we’ll talk. But once again, I know I’m right and if you disagree, you are wrong.

2006 USA World Cup Baseball Team

C- Jason Varitek – Relentless behind the plate. A vocal leader as well. Offensive numbers have been on the rise each year since 2002. On top of that, he is able to swipe a bag or two.

C- Joe Mauer – I know I said that you can not just put youth on the roster and must fill it up with players who are performing right now who also have a track record. Well, Mauer is performing now. He is only 22 years old. Twins selected him with the 1st pick in the 2002 draft, selecting him over Mark Prior. He has a high ceiling, and he is exceeding all expectations putting up gaudy .311/4/17 along with only 17 strikeouts. And on top of that, he’s an excellent defensive catcher.

1B- Todd Helton – A career .337 hitter with a 1.043 career OPS. You might say that is scewed due to the fact that he plays at hitter friendly, thin-aired Coors Field. But Helton can also hit on the road. Over the last 3 years, Helton has a .310 average and a .939 OPS to go along with 33 HR and 128 RBI. Very impressive numbers especially for numbers on the road.

2B- Jeff Kent – Just put it this way. Over the last 3 years, Kent has averaged 92 Runs, 167 Hits, 38 Doubles, 4 Triples, 29 HR, 103 RBI to compliment a .300 average and .894 OPS. All that from a guy who plays the middle infield.

3B- Alex Rodriguez – Not his natural position, but he qualifies for 3B because Derek Jeter will be occupying SS. A-Rod still sets the standards for hitters. He is currently leading the AL in HR (16), RBI (46), and Runs Scored (40). All this while also hitting a collective .318 with a staggering 1.055 OPS. And to think, he just hit his prime at the age of 29.

SS- Derek Jeter – So you want a leader? How about Derek Sanderson Jeter? 4 World Championships under his belt. Captain of the New York Yankees, the most prestigious and most famous and most successful sports franchise in the entire world. He is also a career .315 hitter. And did I mention that he also won his first gold glove last year?

LF- Garret Anderson – Why not Bonds? Well, he can’t walk right now and I’ll guarantee he will not be the same player he used to be. Why Garrett Anderson? Well, he has been the most underrated player of his era. No recognition because he plays on the west coast for a team that does not get much recognition, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Since 2000, he has driven in at least 116 runs in 4 of the 5 years. 2004 was the first year he didn’t get to 116, and that was due to an injury plagued season. He is a career .299 hitter with a career .804 OPS. Very good defensively as well.

CF- Johnny Damon – Today, Johnny Damon is the best all-around centerfielder in the game. He plays above average defense and is a hitting machine. He hit a career high of 20 homeruns and drove in 94 runs in 2004. Right now he is on pace to hit .354 and drive in 77. He currently has an OBP of .413. He would make an excellent leadoff hitter for the this USA squad.

RF- Gary Sheffield – Could you think of a more intimidating presence standing in the batters box than Gary Sheffield? He put together one of his best statistical years last year, at the ripe age of 35, where he finished 2nd to Vladamir Guererro in the MVP balloting. Now at 36, he is on pace to put up .317/25/122 and projected to steal 22 bases. He improves as he is getting older. Just think of the numbers he could put up in this monstrous lineup.

CI- Scott Rolen – He is the Mike Schmidt of this era. He is a gamer, competes at the highest level every single day. Gold glove winner and put up career numbers last year. If A-Rod wasn’t a thirdbaseman, he’d be getting the starting nod.

MI- Marcus Giles – This was a difficult decision. I had to choose between him and Brian Roberts. But Giles gets the nod over Roberts for one particular reason; his track record. Lets compare the two over the last 3 years. Giles: .298/37/140 and a .847 OPS. Roberts: .267/10/105 and a .702 OPS. This year Roberts has exceeded his 3 year total (2002-2004) totals of homeruns with 11. But based on track record, I would have to go with Marcus Giles.

OF- Jim Edmonds – I know what everyone is thinking, I chose Edmonds as my backup outfielder because of his excellent, gold glove defense. That is true, but people overlook what he has done offensively. And he has been a monster. But he is overlooked in that Cardinal’s lineup because of the names of Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen, Larry Walker etc. Over his last 3 years, he has averaged these kind of numbers; .296/36/94. Very impressive. But the most impressive statistic over those 3 years is his mind boggling 1.016 OPS. That is almost Bonds-like.

RHP- Roger Clemens – The most dominating pitcher of this era. Overpowering, and still at the age of 42 has shown to be the most dominant pitcher in all of baseball. Simply amazing.

LHP- Randy Johnson – This is based solely on track record. He is not having his normal “RJ” kind of year, but none-the-less, he’s still pitching well. Having him and Clemens at the top of your rotation would be absolutely frightening.

RHP- Tim Hudson – He is the most complete pitcher since he came up in 1999. His record does not speak volumes of the kind of dominating pitcher Huddy has become. Huddy has the 2nd best winning percentage (.700) since 1999, right behind Pedro. He has a career 3.29 ERA, and had consecutive years of his ERA under 3.00 in ’02 and ’03. He has a 2.3/1 K/BB ratio over the span of his career. And he has just entered his prime.

RHP- Mark Prior – He arguably would have the best mechanics and best stuff out of any pitcher placed on this roster. If healthy, he could be almost as dominant as Clemens. He has a career 3.07 ERA and an impressive 9.65 K/9.

RHP- Ben Sheets – Sheets already has been successful playing international competition as he was the winning pitcher in the U.S. Gold Medal game in the 2000 Summer Olympics. He showed MLB what he was about in 2004 when he struck out 264 and walked only 32. His 12-14 record in ‘04 is very deceiving because he played for a non-competitive ball club, but maintained a 2.70 ERA. He carried over his dominance to 2005 striking out 25 in 27 innings, and walking only 4, with a 3.95 ERA before hitting the DL on April 30 with an ear infection.

LHP- Dontrelle Willis – Dominant lefty. Has learned how to pitch and realized that he doesn’t have to strike out everyone out, although he does K 7.03 every nine innings. Wacky delivery throws hitters off. Has an 8-1 record to date with a 1.55 ERA. Has a 3.8/1 K/BB ratio and more impressive is his 0.95 WHIP this year. He dominated his rookie year to win ROY in 2003, mediocre year, but I consider that part of the sophomore slump, and now he is showing the kind of pitcher he really is, one of the absolute best, hands down. But above all else, he would find it the greatest honor to pitch for his country in a tournament like this.

RHP- Jake Peavy – Jake will only be turning 24 next Tuesday, and has already established himself as one of the “Next” pitchers. Right now he has a 2.29 ERA, had a 2.27 a year ago. His K/BB ratio is 5.92:1, as it has improved every year. And he has a 10.14 K/9. And his WHIP this season is 0.97. Now those are ACE stats.

RHP- Brad Lidge – Was a dominant set-up man for the Astros before they dealt Octavio Dotel to the A’s. Became the most dominant closer in all of baseball when he stepped in. Recorded 29 saves in 33 opportunities. Had 17 Holds before being named the closer. 157 K’s in just 94.2 innings of work in 2004. This year he has 31 K’s in 19 innings to compliment his 8 saves.

LHP- Billy Wagner - A left handed strike out machine who reaches as high as 99-100 mph with is fastball. Was a dominant closer with the Houston Astros. Has an injury plagued year in 2004, but has been strong in 2005 recording 10 saves in 12 opportunities. He has struck out 19, walked only 3 and has a 0.86 WHIP.

RHP- Joe Nathan – Long Relief/Set-up man with San Francisco two years ago, turned Closer with the Minnesota Twins. Has been dominant. He recorded 44 saves last year in his first year as closer, only a year after obtaining 20 Holds. He struck out 89 batters in 72 innings last year. Currently has 13 saves, projected for 46 this year, only 1 blown save opportunity, to go along with 22 K’s and a 1.86 ERA.

And this would be my projected batting order for this prolific team:

CF - Johnny Damon
SS - Derek Jeter
1B - Todd Helton
RF - Gary Sheffield
DH - Alex Rodriguez
3B - Scott Rolen
2B - Jeff Kent
LF - Garret Anderson
C - Jason Varitek

Now, that is a line-up. I realy should be managing.

Yada, Yada, Yada...

The Scape Goat: Get off Willie Randolph’s back. I cannot stand Met fans ridiculing Willie for taking Pedro out after the 7th inning of yesterday’s game against the New York Yankees. Pedro just had a cortisone shot so Willie did not want to risk losing him to injury. Pedro was at the 99 pitch count when Willie decided not to pitch him anymore. He has always been effective up until the 103rd pitch, especially against the Yankees, who own him. So by going by history, which is always a good reference on how to approach certain situations so that you don’t repeat failures, you have to take him out and replace him. The Mets did not lose the game due to Willie’s managing or because of the pitching. They lost the game because they beat themselves. Wright had a big error and then Reyes failed to get just the one out at 2B on the double play ball. I blame the players for failing, not Willie and his managerial decisions.

Larry and Nate: I was on SI.com this morning and came across a very funny article which documented a meal that Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm creator, Larry David, and former Cowboy Pro-Bowler Nate Newton had together. I think that Larry David is a brilliant comedic genious and it really shows in this dialogue. After reading this I think that Larry David should sit down with everyone from the Cowboy players from the 90’s and call it: Larry David Visits the White House.

What Is Shavlick Thinking?: What is the NBA draft coming to? It seems as though anyone who has any kind of NBA dreams and amibitions has decided to enter the draft. When I saw Duke player Shavlik Randolph enter the draft I gasped. I started to actually choke. This dude wasn’t even one of the top 7 players on the Duke team this year. Granted, he did not hire an agent, but what is he even thinking to have even some kind of hope of being drafted? Randolph is listed as a 6-10’ Forward. He averaged just 4.4 pts/game and 4.3 rebounds/game. And this was for the Duke BlueDevils. He’s a Forward and averaged just 4.3 rebounds/game? How do you think you’ll actually be able to crash the boards with the best basketball players on the planet? I’m at a loss of words. I think I have a better chance of meeting Natalie Portman and making out with her than he does of even being on any teams draft board.

Fan In Disgust: A few weeks ago I wrote about how much I hated the Yankee fans after their cruel treatment of a poor Oakland A’s fan. But I will admit my impatience with Oakland Fan’s right now. Jason Giambi returned to Oakland last week, and the fans were very disrespectful to the former Athletic. Giambi, caught up in all the Balco and Steroid fiasco, was booed incessantly while at Network Associates Coliseum, but then a fan went overboard when they threw and hit Giambi with a beer. Giambi, who is a class-act, handled the situation with class. He didn’t retaliate, instead opting to allow security to handle the situation. If you don’t like Giambi because of the steroid shenanigans, fine. You can boo all you want. But you never put someone in physical harm. Giambi was a hero to the city of Oakland. He was the leader of the young A’s team, and a fan favorite. He was let go due to management not giving him a no-trade clause. It was their discretion to let him go, not his. And all fans should remember that. So don’t try to pin your boo’s to that. You dislike him because of the Balco situation. Grow up and don’t throw things. Don’t run on the field like in the Sunday game, which required Eric Byrnes to tackle a player trying to leap the left-field wall. And don’t throw cell-phones from the 2nd deck and hit players (Carl Everett) in the back of the head. It is becoming an embarrassment to be associated with the A’s fans. But then again, like I’ve stated, these probably aren’t the true Oakland fans. Just the ones that decided to hop along for the ride during the good times. I know I’ll be seeing them riding the Yankee wave in the next couple months.

Money Money Money: Could there have been a more obvious choice for the new, 3rd Apprentice on Thursday? Kendra overwhelmed everyone, while Tana just disappointed everyone. When Governor Pataki is supposed to carry the United States Flag for an event that is supposed to help bring the 2012 Olympics to New York City, you better have a flag in his hand. And what was up with that tirade she went thru on live television? Tana went ballistic. I had duesch-chills, which is the feeling you get when you are embarrassed for someone else. I also think it is time for Mark Burnett and Trump to sit down and hash out another way to announcer the winner of the next Apprentice.

The Shaw Shank Penguin: The best commercial out on television is the new Madagascar commercial. I forget exactly what the product is supposed to be, maybe for a fast food restaurant like McDonalds or Burger King, but I think it is extremely clever. It’s the commercial where the Penguins are making an escape route, and then taking a hit at The Shaw Shank Redemption, the guard throws the pebbles at the poster and it breaks through, revealing the Penguins escape route. I die laughing every time I watch that commercial.

Another quick thing on penguins. I bought the best t-shirt I have ever seen in St. Louis. On the front of the T-Shirt is a lonely little penguin, and beneath the penguin is says “I wish I could fly.”

Final Fare Well: Last week while watching Reggie Miller close out a spectacular career, I couldn’t help but be taken back a little with emotion. I was listening to Mike & Mike of ESPN Radio the next morning, and they brought up a great point. Reggie Miller is the final link of the great players his playing days, and of my child hood days. In the 90’s, Reggie Miller provided great rivalries with the Knicks teams which included Ewing, Starks, Anthony Mason, Oakley, Charlie Ward, or against the Bulls with Jordan, Pippen, Kerr, Cartwright and Grant. Or the link of great players during those years which included Barkley, Drexler, Malone, Stockton, The Dream etc. I always thought those were the best days of basketball. Competitive basketball with great players who could come through in the clutch at any time. Those days are pretty much gone with an exception of a few players.

Nash’s MVP. Ok, I’m getting a little tired of people complaining about Nash winning the MVP. First you hear about how race came into play and how Stern is laughing about Nash becoming MVP because he wanted someone white to win. Then the writers wanted to vote for someone that wasn’t technically American (Nash is from Canada). Then others say that it was because they wanted to give it to Nash for being a PG instead of giving it to the traditional big man. No one really knows if any point guard could have come in and did the things Nash did. I believe Nash did a fantastic job with pretty much the same personnel from the year before. Could Kidd have done it? Sure. Could Tyrone Lue? No. Nash was blessed with a fantastic season, so let’s just reward him with it. He deserves the award, so lets stop complaining and just look forward to the rest of the NBA playoffs and the NBA draft.

All Aboard: D-Train Keeps Rollin

What can I say about the D-Train, Dontrelle Willis? This young man has been pretty unhittable thus far, and now I am hitting myself for not drafting him on any of my four fantasy baseball teams. His stats are mind boggling. The last player to start the season 7-0 with an ERA 1.08 or lower was Randy Johnson. Only two other pitchers have accomplished that same feat, the Rocket and Fernando Valenzuela. Dontrelle Willis is pitching so well, that his ERA ballooned from a 1.07 to a staggering 1.08 after allowing 1 Earned in 8 while fanning 5 increasing his total to 40 on the season, and allowing a meager 6 hits and walking 2.

D-Train’s ERA is extremely impressive. But the most impressive stat for Dontrelle is his miniscule 0.88 WHIP (Walks and Hits/Innings Pitched). A WHIP for good pitchers is around 1.17. That means that Dontrelle’s WHIP is .29 below what the average WHIP is for a good pitcher.

And if you’re a big league manager, don’t even think about starting left handed hitters against Dontrelle, unless they are your last resort. Left handed hitters are batting .176 against Dontrelle. He has only walked 1 and struck out 11 while facing just 36 left handed hitters on the year. That’s averaging just under 1K for ever 3 left handed hitters.

So the question becomes…can he keep it up? I think so. Last year he got off to a very good start, but then tailed off once June/July hit. But I think he is more mature now, and understands that he does not have to strike everyone out, which allows him to save his arm, save pitches and go the distance (he has 3 complete games and 2 shutouts). So hop aboard on the D-Train. The Marlins have already, and they are hoping to ride him all the way to the playoffs.

Ego Getting in the Way of Production

What is Jason Giambi’s thinking by declining the option of heading to Columbus to work on his swing? I haven’t seen a professional athlete or celebrity fall this low since Meg Ryan got that lip job. Why is his ego so high right now that he won’t accept this opportunity to help himself? But not only will it help himself, it will help his team out as well.

Giambi has always preached that he puts the team ahead of himself. Not in this case. Giambi is being selfish. He actually believes that he can work things out on the major league level. Why? How? Tino is on fire, slowly creeping towards Mattingly’s record by hitting a homerun in his 5th consecutive game (Mattingly hit a HR in 8 consecutive games). And Tino is an upgrade at 1B over Giambi, which means Giambi’s only position is in the DH role. But with Ruben Sierra about to return from the DL, the DH role could be crowded, leaving Giambi to bat against right handed pitching only.

Giambi should take this assignment and head down to Columbus. I think it’s completely bogus how a player who has 5 years of major league service can not get sent down to the minors without his permission. If you are not performing up to par, then you have no right competing at the highest level. He obviously can not handle it. Right now, he is on pace to finish the season with 28 RBI and 19 extra-base hits. He walks too frequently. His On-Base-Percentage (OBP) is higher than his Slugging-Percentage (SLG). If he doesn’t get extra-base-hits and gets only singles or walks, that means he is clogging up the bases.

Giambi should just push his pride to the side and go down to the minors, unless, or course, he doesn’t think he could even hit minor league pitching. And if he can’t even do that, just accept a buyout. He has enough money to last him the rest of his life. Why keeping pouring gasoline onto the fire.

A’s/Yankees Series; Game 3: Mother’s Day:

I woke up this morning hung over from the night before. I admit, I went out into the city, met up with my one buddy Nick and his friends, drank a lot, then at 3am, went over to this bar called Lunasa. Both places in the East Villiage. After getting back to my friend J’s apartment, I remember walking out around 4:30 or 5 and grabbing myself 3 slices of Greek pizza. I don’t know. I get hungry when I drink.

J woke me up around 10ish. It was time for me to get up and go to the game. But I had to go by myself because I couldn’t find any takers for the extra ticket I had for this game. Reason being: Mother’s Day.

Is it a bad thing that I kind of skipped out on Mother’s Day for an A’s/Yankee game? I don’t know. When I finally realized last week that the game fell on Mother’s Day, I had to break the news to my mom. She was understandably upset that I was going to the game, but I think that was primarily because she and my sisters were expecting me to cook. But I got out of it after I explained to her that it was the A’s, my team, in town. And this is the only time during the season that the A's are in town and I can’t pass it up. Not even on Mother’s Day. But, she’ll get over it.

So I take the subway from my buddies apartment to The Stadium. I get there at 11:04am. 2 hours and 1 minute before the first pitch. I go check my bag into the bowling alley across the street. Then I decide to just go into The Stadium and check out batting practice.

I get inside and see the Yankees are taking batting practice. I can’t remember the last time I watched batting practice, but I do remember distinctly the last I wanted to watch batting practice: August 24, 1998: My buddies Mike, Frank, Dave and myself were on our way to Shea to see a Cardinals/Mets double header. I couldn’t wait. McGwire, back in town. And all I wanted to do was go watch him take BP. Long story short, we miss the first train, so we had to wait about an hour for the next one. I’m all pissed because I’m going to miss BP. My buddies were ragging on me and telling me also that its just BP that we’re not missing anything. We get to Shea, get to our section and we over hear two guys talking. This is how the conversation went:

“Hey, did you see the batting practice?”
“No, I missed it.”
“Oh man, McGwire hit 12 out, and a bunch out of the stadium.”

This was my reaction, in my head:

“&*jdu&a;lkjf%2*^a;#"

Lots of cursing going on inside there.

So I check out the BP, see all the fake Oakland fans----meaning, these people who just became fans probably around the 1999-2001 season when they started winning again. I loved every minute of it.

Once the A’s and Yanks went back to their clubhouses to get ready for the start of the game, I went to go find myself a seat. Since I was alone, I figured I just sit in the bottom section and take some really good pictures, especially since this was going to be the first time I get to watch Rich Harden pitch live.

I had to move my seat a few times, since I taking a seat that belonged to someone. By the 3rd inning I was good. But it wasn’t looking promising for the A’s. In the 1st inning, the A’s were sat down in order. But 2nd inning, I thought the A’s were going to run away with the game. Brown started the inning by allowing a single up the middle to Hatteberg. Then he walked Bobby Kielty, then allowed another single to Erubiel Durazo, but Hattberg was unable to score. Situation: Bases Loaded, 0 outs. 6, 7, 8 hitters due up. Keith Ginter lined up out A-Rod, then Brown struck out Eric Byrnes and Marco Scutaro to end the inning. I was fuming.

The A’s bats were unproductive once again in this game. They totaled 7 hits in this game, and only 19 for the series. I felt like saying “19 hits, they got 19 G*ddamn hits”..almost like Bob Eucker says it in the movie Major League.

Harden pitched a pretty good game. The only thing I got upset over him about was that he walked Giambi twice. Twice! Just pitch to him. He can’t hit. Throw right at him and make him beat you, which he won’t. Just annoyed me.

Brown pitched flawless to team that can’t hit. But the crushing blow came in the 8th inning. A’s were still in the game, only down 2-0. I can live with that. Even if they are down 2-0, they can get to Mo’ like the did Friday night. But no. Macha, once again, proves why I should be managing the team. F’n Macha. So the situation was he took Harden out and replaced him with Kiko Calero. No problem with that, except Kiko has been having arm problems.

Kiko starts the inning off by walking Matsui (remember what happened Friday night when Mo’ started the inning off walking Scutaro?). Then he allows a single to A-Rod, which advances Matsui to 3B. Next up is Tino. A lefty. Since Kiko is struggling, why not put in the left handed specialist Ricardo Rincon? Especially since Posada is on deck, you can flip him around to the right side of the plate where he is less effective, and then keep him in to pitch to left handed Giambi. So you would have Rincon pitching to a Lefty, Righty, Lefty. But no, Macha leaves Kiko in. I knew exactly what was going to happen. This is what was going through my mind (Because I kept quiet this whole game):

“Macha you bum, put Rincon in. You’re going to blow this game….again. You no good manager. You should be on the unemployment line with Art Howe. You s*ck. Tino is going to hit a homerun.”

Sure enough, Tino hits a homerun. As soon as he does that, I get up and start to approach for the tunnel. As soon as I make my way to the walk area, I hear the crack of the bat again and the crowd going crazy. Upperdeck homerun for Jorge Posada. I called it. I knew it. Fire that b*stard. He doesn’t deserve to have a job.
So the A’s lost 6-0 and lost the series 2-1. I was bummed out. And now I’m going to have to hear from all Yankee fans for now on. Stupid Yankees always ruin my day.

A’s/Yankees Series; Game 2:

Gorgeous Saturday morning. Perfect day for a ball game. I’m anal when it comes to getting to The Stadium, so I wanted to leave by 10:15 to make it to The Stadium to meet up with my buddies from Connecticut to pre-game. My buddy Ian and I get there at 11am but my buddies wouldn’t make it there til at least noon. So we kick back a 6 pack while waiting for them. When they finally arrive, we meet up with them and have another beer. We all decide to head into the game around the 2nd inning or so. Ian and I decided to sit where the CT guys have their package seats. So of course, I get bombarded with the name calling once we get up to the seats. I don’t say anything for a few minutes, but once again, I can’t keep quiet, so I decide to yell back.

This was now the beginning of the re-newal of hatred towards most Yankee fans, not all. As I started to become a little verbal, a security guard comes up to me and threatens to throw me out of The Stadium. This doesn’t sit too well with me because I am now being picked on by security, when their primary job is to protect the fans who are being harassed, like myself in this case. But their excuse for threatening to throw me out was because of the Oakland jersey I wore to the game.

I didn’t really watch too much of the game because I was in a constant shouting match with approximately 10 fans in the area. One was in his late 40’s or early 50’s and donned a Jose Canseco hair cut. Another guy tried making fun of me, but then I just attacked him for being obese. Shut him up. Another guy and his friend started on the Atlanta Braves Chop because of my Hudson jersey, so I just went along with it. When they saw me do the chop, I think it got them A-Holes annoyed. So they yelled more at me, then I had to call the guy out for looking like white-trash with his white-trash mustache. Then there was the dirty hippie yelling at me. I told him to take a shower.

The A’s ended up losing the game. Blanton didn’t pitch that bad, from what the stats show (again, I wasn’t paying attention to the game, I was defending myself and my team.). Blanton threw for 6 innings, allowed 4 earned runs and struck out three.
I vouch that the A’s will win tomorrow and I will have the last laugh.

A’s/Yankees Series; Game 1:

On my first night of the three game Oakland A’s/New York Yankees series, I was a little skeptical heading to The Stadium. The Yankees have been slumping, heading into tonight’s game in a 3 game funk. The A’s, were also in a funk just being swept by the Texas Rangers…handedly. The A’s pitching hasn’t been up to par lately, but neither have the Yankees. Zito was taking the hill, going into combat against Carl Pavano. Pavano hasn’t exactly been stellar this season, but neither has Zito, although Zito did pitch effectively in his last outing pitching 7 innings, allowing only 2 runs on 5 hits.
When I arrived to The Stadium, I headed over to Billy’s where I could meet my buddies, all Yankee fans (unfortunately), and get myself a $6 bottle of Yeungling, as opposed to the $7.25 miller light inside. I knew I would get bashed and harassed, because it is Yankee Stadium and these are Yankee fans. They are the most cocky and most vocal fans in the country, and rightfully so. (Although I’ve heard many stories and rumors that Philly fans are worse.)

I walk into Billy’s and grab myself a bottle of Yuengling. I braced myself for the worst. But there wasn’t too much more new things or sayings or any kind of harassment to endure that I haven’t already. That’s just part of the territory that comes with being a fan of the away team. So I got the normal barrage of “Oakland Sucks” “Go back west” “You’re a fag”, you know, the usual. But I was in good company. As soon as I walk in and start hearing all the comments, someone comes up to me and tells me he’s from the west coast and a big time Oakland fan. He did secretatively. It was like I was the new kid in school and some of the cool kids came up to me and told me their deep dark secret about enjoying something that is kind of looked down upon, but they were trying to tell me to remain low key, and nothing will happen. I don’t know, I don’t mind showing my colors. So I waited for my boys, well, foes on this night, at the bar for about 45 minutes. Nothing but the stink eye being thrown in my direction along with the “F U Oakland fan” comments. It was almost like I was a Chinaman living in the U.S. during World War II.
My friend J finally shows his face in the bar. I don’t look like such a loser anymore at this time. Finally someone to have a beer with and not look like the “creepy guy that shows up to the baseball game by himself, brings his glove and takes all the stats, all at the same time wearing his headphones which are hooked up to a 1964 transistor radio”.
Granted, maybe in the later days of my life I could be like that. But I mean, hey, not yet. I’m still young and vibrant and not quite a “loser” just yet. I’m expecting that title once I hit 30---the end all, be all age.

At the bar, J and myself chugged our last brew-ha-has so that we could make the first pitch of the game. We get into The Stadium, and once again I hear all the jabs at me for wearing my Tim Hudson jersey. As we walk up to our seats I hear more jabs from my boy CK and Mr. B. Nothing but “Oakland Sucks” “F Oakland” “Stop living in the past, Hudson’s with Atlanta now”. But it’s fine with me because as soon as we get to our seats they give me hi-fives.

The game starts off with the A’s top 3 hitters going down in order. Zito comes out to the hill hoping to continue his performance from last game. He gets Jeter to fly out to left, then allows a single to Womak. He strikesout Sheff, but then lets up a shot to deep left-center field to Matsui, which just nicks off Kotsay’s glove. That scores Womak and the “speedy” Matsui chugs his way to third. Not looking good. Lots of finger pointing in my direction, my head just dropping down in disappointment, especially since I was talking back smack to the Yankee fans who were harassing me, i.e. J, CK and Mr. B. But I was still fine with it because I knew that Pavano was on the hill.

The A’s bats were still silent in the 2nd, but Zito regained control of the game, which was a sigh of relief. In the top of the 3rd, Eric Byrnes led off the inning with a laser shot to center. Right before that I was talking about how much of a slump Byrnes is in since he isn’t playing regularly and about the rumors of him being traded to St. Louis for Reggie Sanders. Well, that shut me up. Irishman Bobby Kielty came up to bat in the 4th and hit a two run homerun to right field, again, I got shut up because I haven’t been too highly on Kielty of late.

As I went down to the concession in the bottom of the 4th inning to get myself and J two Premio Sausages (the absolute best…screw Fenway’s sausages) I had to watch the next few innings on the T.V. screen while also avoiding getting harassed once again and watching someone spill mustard all over 2 people’s clothes. Zito retired 11 in a row from the 1st inning to the bottom of the 5th. But Zito was able to recover from allowing the double to Andy Phillips, which was about 3 feet from being a homerun. Needless to say, I was nervous.

Zito continued to pitch lights out until the top of the 8th, but the A’s bats were silenced during that time as well. In the top of the 8th, Zito started off the inning walking catcher John Flaherty. How do you walk John Flaherty of all people? Just throw him strikes. This is what gets me annoyed, Ken Macha does not know how to manage a team and he defiantly does not know how to manage a pitching staff. He does not understand that after 7 innings, Zito is usually done. So just take him out. Macha, who looks like a weird character as it is because he looks like hes in his late 30’s, but has grey hair like a 80 year old man, needs to understand this. I don’t get it.

So Flaherty walks, rookie “sensation” Robison Cano hits into a fielder choice to Zito, Flaherty advances to second. Jeter comes up to bat, hits a scorcher to Chavez at third, and Chavez made a spectacular diving play (Brooks Robinson would have been proud, and yes A-Rod, that’s why Chavez is a gold glover), he throws it to first but Scott Hatteberg fails to come up with the play. That allows Cano to advance to 3B.

So here’s the situation: Cano on 3B, Jeter on 1B and 1 out.

Posada comes in to pinch hit for Tony Womak, and hits a seeing-eye RBI single to right which scores Cano, Jeter moves to 2B. Now Macha finally decides to make a pitching change, but because he is such a brilliant manager, he decides to have Dotel come in and try to get the 5 out save. STUPID, STUPID, STUPID! Bring in Huston Street. I braced myself for the worst case scenario, because I knew they were in eminent danger.

Dotel comes in to face Gary Sheffield. Jeter and Posada decide to pull off a double steal on the 1-1 pitch and steal the bases safely, while Dotel throws ball 2. So what does Macha decide to do? He decides to keep pitching to Sheffield. Is he out of his mind? Hideki Matsui who is in a major slump, is on deck. Why not walk Shef, load the bases and try to get Matsui to ground into the inning ending double play? I don’t get it.

They pitch to Shef, he grounds out to Scutaro at Short, Jeter scores and Posada remains at 2B. Matsui comes to the plate and then Macha continues this trend of bad decisions by Intentionally Walking Matsui to get to the hottest hitter on the team, A-Rod. I’m not even going to ask why because I’m sure you, the reader, are too. Absolutly Insane. I felt like a wounded horse watching this. All I wanted was to be shot and let it be over with. I couldn’t take it.

So the situation is 3-3 tie, 2 out, Posada on 2B, Matsui on 1B and A-Rod at the plate with Dotel still pitching (Hasn’t Macha learned yet that Dotel is not a good closer?) It’s the 2-1 pitch and the pitch gets away from Kendall, but luckily for the Kendall and the A’s, Posada thought he had the speed of Womak and decided to go to 3B. He is easily thrown out. There goes the Yankee’s chances of winning the game with A-Rod at the plate.

Top 9, Tino goes in to play 1B and Mo’ comes into the game. Mo’ sits down the A’s in order. Yanks come up to bat, with Dotel still in the game, and luckily he shuts the Yanks down 1, 2, 3.

Top 10 was a fun inning for me as an A’s fan, for this is when it all came crumbling down, but all the while giving me a heart attack. Watching this was like watching an episode of American Idol. Just couldn’t stand it.

Mo’ walks the leadoff man, Marco Scutaro (never a good sign). Kotsay comes up to the plate and Macha makes a good decision; have Kotsay bunt Scutaro over to 2B and put him in scoring position. One problem: Kotsay can’t get the bunt down. If you are a major league ballplayer, you better be able to bunt. I don’t care if you’re a power hitter or a singles hitter, everyone should know how to bunt. So Kotsay fails at his bunt attempt, ends up striking out, looking no less. Kendall comes to the plate and gets hit with the pitch, and it looked like he made no attempt to get out of the way for the pitch. I like that. Way to take one for the team. Chavez comes up to hit, hits the ball the whole where Jeter makes a fine play, but can’t get the throw off. Bases loaded for Scott Hatteberg. He hits the pitch to Tino at 1B, but he bobbles the ball then throws it away while trying to throw Scutaro out at home, which also allowed Kendall to score. And to think, they put him in for defensive purposes. A-Rod made another error later in the inning which allowed one more run to cross the plate and gave the A’s the 6-3 victory.
Not the prettiest game, but I’ll take it and that should shut the Yankee fans up for a while.

Should He Stay or Should He Go Now

Now that the Nets season is officially over, the drama has already set in. This offseason’s drama is once again surrounding Jason Kidd and whether or not he should stay in Jersey or demand a trade. Just another sequel to last seasons debacle (which may I add I don’t blame J-Kidd for wanting out of Jersey.) Bruce Ratner, the owner of the New Jersey Nets, dismantled the team last summer when it was approved by the league for him to own the team. First he got rid of K-Mart, in a sign-and-trade with Denver. Ok, we can deal with that. So who did they get? Nene? Camby? NOPE. No one. Draft picks. How do you trade the first pick from the 2000 NBA draft, who was also an all-star for just draft picks? I don’t care if you don’t know anything about the game of basketball, but in business you’re not supposed to get nothing for a BIG something. Then Ratner goes ahead and lets go of Luuuuuuuuu-cious Harris and Kerry Kittles “And Bits”, with again, trading Kerry Kittles, who was the longest tenured Net on the team, and their 8th pick in the 1996 NBA draft, for just DRAFT PICKS. This guy Ratner loves draft picks.

Ok, so during the season Ratner saw that fans were not showing up to the games. No matter how hard he tried to get the fans interested by putting game packages with $15 Screecher Seats which included a whole hotdog and soft drink (the least he could do is make it 3 beers because if you were sober, it was difficult to watch the team play), it just didn’t work out. So Ratner decides to splurge money and trade whining Alonzo Mourning (who somehow is all of sudden not injured once he was traded from the Nets and released from the Raptors), Eric Williams and fan favorite and defensive monster A-Train, Aaron Williams for Vince Carter. I was skeptical about the transaction for these reasons.

1) The Nets took on VC’s contract 6yr/$70 mil, which is much larger than K-Marts 6yr/$66 mil.

2) VC admitted to not playing hard all the time with the Raptors at the end of his tenure with the team.

3) VC wasn’t a prime time player. He never really hit big shots and never proved himself to be a top player.

But the trade ended up being pretty good for the Nets. They ended up going 33-24 once VC arrived. He hit some big buckets and he might have been the best player in the NBA during the final 2 weeks of the regular season. But he wasn’t the answer. They need a big man, a player like ken-YON mar-TIN. Someone who will crash the boards, play hard nose defense and someone who can also run the floor with Kidd, along with getting the crowd fired up and do a little trash talking and pushing and shoving down low. That’s what the Nets are lacking. So Ratner, if you are listening, sign a big man and draft a big man like Wayne Simien in this June’s draft. Make Kidd happy. If Kidd is happy, I’m sure Ratner’s fat pockets will be happy at the end of the day.

Sweet Lou Isn't Looking So Sweet

Is it me, or does it look like Lou Pinella is about to go on a rampage and will take out anyone in his way. Yes, we all know Lou doesn’t exactly have the best temper in the world, but man, he looks miserable while he’s managing the Tampa Bay DevilRays. And I don’t blame him. The man goes form managing a very good Red’s team in the 80’s – early 90’s, then becomes manager of the Seattle Mariners where he managed great players such as of Ken Griffey Jr., Randy Johnson, A-Rod, Jay Buhner (how could you trade Jay Buhner for Ken Phelps?), Edgar Martinez (arguably the best Designated Hitter EVER), Joey Cora, Heathcliffe Slocumb (ummm, scratch that, I’m only listing greats.)

But anyway, you get my point. Its almost like if you were at work and had a big project to work on and management asked you to be the Project Manager but gave you a bunch of interns that would work under you. Wouldn’t that suck? I mean, yeah, if that were me I’d go out each night with my players and take the women that they don’t want for the night, but other than that, it’s not like anything is going to get accomplished and everything will fall onto your shoulders and you are the one blamed for the project not succeeding. So I don’t blame him for being miserable, unless he is getting laid a lot due to his players.