It is Independence Day; baseball is our national pastime; so let me focus baseball today…
I have already commented on the pathetic nature of the NL West. It has been mediocre for a couple of years now but the current status is approaching moribund. Arizona leads the division with a record of 43-43; that is merely an introduction to the malodorous condition there. The cumulative record for the five teams in that division is 190-239; if a single team played to that percentage for a season it would win 72 games and lose 90 games. As a division, these teams project to a team that is 18 games under .500. So, should we call this division “pathetic” or “useless” or “lamentable”? You make the call.
Francisco Rodriguez has been the lights-out closer for the Angels this year; he has 34 saves already. If you are a Cardinals’ fan suffering from GERD, you may not want to read the rest of this paragraph. So far this year, the St. Louis Cardinals bullpen has blown 19 save opportunities. Rodriguez projects to 65 saves for the year; the Cardinals bullpen projects to 36 blown saves for the season. So, should we call the Cards’ bullpen “pathetic” or “useless” or “lamentable”? You make the call.
I think there are a few players out there who have had seasons well below the expectations of the teams that took them north out of spring training. The disasters that are Barry Zito and Dontrelle Willis have been discussed before; I mean there are other players who are not earning their keep so far this year. Obviously, this is not a complete list of underachievers for the year; but these four guys jumped out at me:
Carlos Delgado (Mets): Because he plays the field about as well as Edward Scissorhands would, the Mets expected him to produce big time at the plate. He is hitting .238 with 49 RBIs; that is not “producing big time at the plate”. In fact, he has a total of 73 hits this year and has struck out 66 times.
Andruw Jones (Dodgers): The Dodgers are paying this guy in the neighborhood of $18M a year. Granted, he has been out with a knee injury for about a month; but when he went on the DL, he was hitting .165 with 2 home runs and 7 RBIs in 43 games.
Paul LoDuca (Nationals): He signed his deal about 36 hours before the Mitchell Report named him as steroid user. He was supposed to be the veteran leader that would manage the Nats’ young pitching staff and show them what it meant to pitch at the MLB level. Problem is he cannot hit (.228, no home runs and 6 RBIs in 30 games) and he cannot stay healthy and he has lost the catching job. The Nats have tried him at first base and in left field. Watching LoDuca play a fly ball is like watching a drunk trying to catch snowflakes on his tongue.
Gary Matthews Jr. (Angels): Signed a big deal two years ago and did nothing last year. The Angels then signed Torii Hunter to play CF and moved Matthews to LF; Matthews has continued to stink. He is hitting .239 with 7 home runs and 33 RBIs in 82 games this year. At an average annual salary of $10M, he is an underachiever.
As of this morning, the San Francisco Giants project to win 72 games this year. Last year, the Giants won 71 games. Last year, the Giants had Barry Bonds on the squad. At the moment, it looks as if the Giants are one game better off with Bonds sitting at home and wondering if there is a conspiracy to keep him out of MLB. Just saying…
As of this morning, the leading home run hitter in the AL is Grady Sizemore; he has 21 in 85 games. That projects to 40 home runs for the season. For all those folks who kept saying that steroids did not help anyone hit a baseball, can you explain why it appears as if no AL player will hit more than 40 home runs this year? It was not all that long ago when hitting 50 home runs in a year was commonplace.
Shawn Chacon was cut adrift by the Astros after he attacked and choked GM, Ed Wade. No matter what might have been the provocation, what he did was assault and battery. Manny Ramirez suffered some “internal discipline” from the Red Sox after he attacked the team’s traveling secretary. Taking reports of what Manny did at face value, what he did was also assault and battery. Why the difference? It’s simple. Manny Ramirez is worth the grief he causes the Red Sox; Shawn Chacon is not worth nearly the grief he caused the Astros. If you do not think that is fair, book yourself passage to Utopia.
Speaking of the Astros, here is a cautionary word. I have read in two places now that if the Astros fire manager Cecil Cooper they will turn to Jim Fregosi. GM Ed Wade and Fregosi are buds from their days in Philly; the management in Philly created an environment where no one was accountable for actions and jobs were handed out and retained on a friendship basis. If that environment translates to Houston, it will not be good news for Astros fans. Oh, and by the way, my opinion of Jim Fregosi as a manager is that if you called him a wit you would only be half-right.
I want to be on record well before the fact on this one. If there is a Cubs/White Sox World Series or a Mets/Yankees World Series (hah!), it will be called a subway series. That’s fine. Here is what must not be allowed to happen:
The MLB marketing mules must not succumb to the temptations of cash and allow Subway restaurants to have any kind of promotional tie in with the World Series where former fat-guy Jarod plays any role at all. If the marketing mules go down that path to perdition, there is no physical torture that should be considered cruel or unusual.
Baseball survived the Black Sox scandal; baseball survived myriad work stoppages; baseball survived the Steroid Era; baseball might not survive Jarod endlessly hawking inedible sandwiches for the entirety of a World Series.
Have I made myself clear?
The gossipmongers are out in full force again linking A-Rod and Madonna in some kind of relationship that they paint as unseemly. [Aside: I’m not sure how one would have any relationship with Madonna that was seemly but that is not the point here.] Nonetheless, here is the detail I am looking for that will let me know that this story has run its course:
We learn that at the outset of their alleged passionate encounters she yells, “Batter up!”
Finally, here is an item from Dan Daly in the Washington Times:
“News item: Middle school teacher in Alabama sleeps with eight members of high school baseball team.
“Comment: That might be the strongest argument yet against the DH.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports…