Holy Crap!



This certainly puts the Federal budget into perspective.

HT LyfLines

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

Under the radar - Baltimore's first three in the batting order are all in the top 11 in batting average in the AL - Brian Roberts (.356 11th), Adam Jones (.359 10th) and Nick Markakis (.381 3rd). That's quietly impressive... I get confused - is I Want Revenge the name of the Kentucky Derby favorite or the name of the Selena Roberts book on A-Rod?... I feel bad for Pittsburgh's Ian Snell. In his last three losses he gave up a total of just 6 earned runs. Why is it that some pitchers always seem to have bad luck when it comes to their team's offense always taking a day off when they start?... There are still 4 players who have as many or more home runs as individuals than the Oakland A's have as a team total... People in Boston are very worried about David Ortiz. I imagine that people in Chicago may be similarly concerned about Derrek Lee and his single HR and .200 BA... Not for nothing but if A-Rod had 3 HR but was hitting just .197 - he'd be booed both at home and on the road. Those are Mark Teixeira's numbers so far... Is Julian Tavarez really the Nationals new closer? Wow - things are worse in Washington than I thought.

Interesting Player Comparison

Player A - .328 BA/ 1152 R/ 312 HR/ 1131 RBI/ .999 OPS/ 141 OPS+
Player B - .305 BA/ 1583 R/ 317 HR/ 1595 RBI/ .857 OPS/ 135 OPS+

Player B had the benefit of 3 more full seasons to compile more runs and RBI. Just looking at the comparison makes you think that the players are fairly close in offensive skills. It should be noted that Player A has won 3 Gold Gloves while Player B won just one.

Have you figured it out? Player A is Todd Helton while Player B is George Brett.

Helton may be the most under-rated player of this generation. Many people credit his numbers to playing at Coors Field but consider this - Helton's career road OPS is higher (.886 to .857) than Brett's overall career OPS.

Brad Penny

The only pitchers in baseball who have started 4 games for their teams but yet have a worse ERA than Brad Penny and his 8.66 are the Mets' Oliver Perez (9.31) and the Indians' Carl Pavano (9.50).

The optimist in me says "At least the Red Sox don't have Oliver Perez and his 3-year $36 million contract." The pessimist in me says, "For Penny's production the Sox would have been better off with Pavano's $1.5 million contract." The realist in me says, "All three of these guys suck."

As an aside - Pavano's contract has $5.3 million in incentive bonuses. That's funny.

Very Cool



I never saw a person rock with a ukulele before but this was so awesome that I half expected him to smash his ukulele at the end.

HT NRO

Eric Gagne

Is it time to revisit the trade that send Eric Gagne from the Rangers to the Red Sox? Within Red Sox Nation the deal is viewed as perhaps the worst evah made by Theo Epstein. Gagne was a warm barrel of suck during his time in Boston but it has to be said - the Red Sox may have actually gotten the better end of the deal. Here's the deal according to Eric Gagne's Baseball-reference.com page:

July 31, 2007: Traded by the Texas Rangers with cash to the Boston Red Sox for Engel Beltre (minors), Kason Gabbard and David Murphy.

Kason Gabbard has been reacquired by the Red Sox for cash considerations. David Murphy has been absolutely awful - hitting just .097 in 31 AB this season (that .097 is not a typo). Engel Beltre has a .307 OBP for Single A Clinton. Meh! Meanwhile the Red Sox used the compensation pick for Gagne signing with the Brewers to select Bryan Price - a 6'4" righthander who can throw 95 mph.

The Sox may have actually won this trade.

Brad Penny

Is it unseemly to complain about a loss after your team had just won 11 straight? I don't care - it should have been 12 in a row. Two players cost the Red Sox the win. Brad Penny has an ERA of 8.66, couldn't get out of the third inning last night without giving up 7 runs and really shouldn't be starting any more games once Dice-K comes off the disabled list. Justin Masterson should take Penny's rotation spot but that won't happen. They will stick with Penny and he'll continue to stink the joint up.

Does it seem strange to anyone that Penny was able to get a $5 million contract but Pedro Martinez was not? The other player who cost the Red Sox last night was Javy Lopez - the lefty relief guy who lefties are hitting an even .400 against. The Red Sox should jettison Lopez ASAP. He's a waste of a roster spot.

Losers

The New Orleans Hornets lost by 58 points last night to the Denver Nuggets playing perhaps the worst game in NBA playoff history. In my mind though - it still pales to the complete crapping the bed performance of the San Jose Sharks in the NHL playoffs. The Sharks had the best regular season record in all of the NHL but now they are out of the playoffs after suffering a first round defeat at the hands of the 8th ranked Mighty Ducks. Maybe I was wrong about Joe Thorton? Is he the A-Rod of the NHL?

Johnny Damon

After this season the Yankees will have some decisions to make about their outfield. Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui are both free agents. The top outfielder free agents will be Jason Bay and Matt Holliday. Knowing that the Yankees will have a hole to fill and the fact that Bay has fit in so well in Boston probably means the Red Sox get Bay wrapped up (they CANNOT let Bay go to the Yankees). That leaves Holliday as the top free agent but the problem there is the fact that maybe Holliday is not as good as his Coors Field inflated numbers would indicate. He has yet to hit a home run this season and I predicted that he'd be exposed this year.

Today the Yankees have Damon, Melky Cabrera and Nick Swisher as the starting outfield with Brett Gardner poised as the CF of the future and Xavier Nady as the corner insurance plan. Hideki Matsui is basically just a DH at this point and I don't see them re-signing Godzilla.

I guess the Yankees could live with an outfield of Cabrera, Gardner and Swisher but I think the Yankees will start to realize that Johnny Damon is more important to their plans than most people realize. My prediction is that Damon eventually gets a two-year extension from the Yankees and finishes his career having played more games in pinstripes than in any other uniform.

Manny Who?

During the Red Sox current 9-game winning streak they have a team OPS of 1.025. That's the same OPS Manny Ramirez has for the season.

Going into today's action - Manny was 19th in the major leagues in OPS. Jason Bay - Manny's hopefully long term replacement - is 5th in all of baseball with a 1.135 OPS. Kevin Youkilis leads everyone with a mark of 1.345.

Pick of the Day

Today's pick of the day is the Tigers (-$150) with Armando Galarraga taking the hill against Kansas City who will be starting Sidney Ponson. I like this pick as much for Galarraga as I do Ponson. Galarraga has been generally tough to hit while Ponson has basically been a pinata.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Back from Vegas and the damage to the wallet wasn't as bad as it could have been. I did spend a night gambling in old Vegas - downtown - and I'm a convert. Just a huge difference in the vibe between the strip and downtown. So many people just stick with the strip and I think that's a huge mistake.... Best beer man ever. I had to watch it three times to get the full effect... I stayed at the Paris for my time in Vegas and I must say the gambling there is awful. First off they got rid of their poker room about 7 months ago. The poker room used to be my main reason for going to the Paris. Their sports book also leaves a lot to be desired. I won't bother going back to the Paris... Separated at birth - Matt Garza and Mentok the Mindtaker... Hearing the late Harry Kalas' voice on the Coors Light commercials with the various football coaches creeps me out... Pick of the day - Derek Lowe and the Braves (-$122) over the Cincinnati Reds...

Las Vegas



Off to Las Vegas for the rest of the week - so blogging will probably be light.

Yesterday I had a great day going into Boston to watch the Red Sox beat up on the Orioles in the Patriot's Day matinee. Patriot's Day is a Massachusetts holiday celebrating the battle of Lexington and Concord and "the shot heard round the world." These days its pretty much known as Marathon Monday.

Heh Heh

A very classy lady walked into a Lexus dealership to browse, and spotted the most beautiful, perfectly loaded Lexus she ever seen. She walked over to inspect it closer. As she bent forward to feel the fine leather upholstery, an unexpected little burst of flatulence escaped her. Very embarrassed, she anxiously looked around to see if anyone had noticed. Sure enough, there standing right behind her was a salesman. With a pleasant smile he greeted her, "Good day, Madam. How may we help you today?" Trying to maintain an air of sophistication and acting as though nothing had happened, she smiled back and asked, "Sir, what is the price of this lovely vehicle?" Still smiling pleasantly, he replied,

"Madam , I'm very sorry to say... if you farted by just touching it, you are gonna shit when you hear the price."

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

Carl Pavano comes back to pitch against the Yankees today in the new Yankee Stadium the day after the Indians pounded they Yankees 22-4. Often a pitcher pitches very well against former team the first time out but just as often a top team who gets shelled the day before comes back the next day to do the shelling. It should be interesting to watch... File this under once a thought gets in your head - its tough to get that thought out. Nelson Figueroa pitches today for the Mets. In my mind I always confuse the 6'1" Figueroa with the 2'4" Nelson de la Rosa. I know this is completely unfair to the only major league player to ever play at Waltham Mass's Brandeis University but at this point I can't help it... Early season craziness. The Florida Marlins have the best record in baseball and the Pittsburgh Pirates have the best team ERA. Who knew?... Going into today's action - there are 20 major league players who have more home runs by themselves than the A's have as a team (3)... Just to simplify things - I think if Chipper Jones plays for the Braves today then the Braves win. If not - the Braves get swept by the Pirates... No team's offense has been better at not giving up free outs by striking out than the Phillies. As a team they have struck out just 50 times so far this season. The reason they don't have a winning record is because no team's pitching staff has been as generous at giving up home runs in baseball than the Phillies. Brad Lidge gave up the team's 25th dinger last night... Today is Rick Miller's 61st birthday. That makes me feel old. I remember a tale told about Miller of how he ended up getting a nice contract as a free agent in 1977 because Angels owner Gene Autrey told his GM to get that outfielder from the Red Sox and that Autrey liked that player. The GM signed Miller only to learn that Autrey was referring to Dwight Evans. Rick Miller is tied to Butch Hobson in his personal history. In 1980 - Miller with Mark Clear and Carney Lansford were traded to the Boston Red Sox for Rick Burleson and Butch Hobson then two years ago Miller replaced Hobson as coach of the CanAm league Nashua (NH) Pride...

Gary Sheffield's 500th HR

There has been lots of gushing over Gary Sheffield's 500th HR with nobody willing to come out and say that despite the 500 HR - Sheffield ain't no Hall of Famer. Well I'll say it.

Gary Sheffield quit on the Brewers, used steroids with Barry Bonds and if the Yankees had signed Vlade Guerrero instead of Sheffield in 2003 - the Yankees in my opinion would have at least 2 more World Series victories to their credit. These are just some of the reasons Sheffield won't get elected to the Hall of Fame.

Hitting 500 HR is supposed to be a ticket to Cooperstown but consider that both Rafael Palmeiro and Mark McGwire have 500 HR and little consideration from voters. Why would Sheffield be any different?

It took Sheffield 22 seasons to get to 500 HR. It took Fred McGriff 19 seasons to get to 493. Sheffield is supposed to be a slugger but yet never led his league in HR. McGriff led the league twice. Teams traded for McGriff to help them win. Teams traded Sheffield because he was a pain in the ass. I think McGriff has a much better case for the Hall of Fame.

I wish someone would tell the talking heads on Baseball Tonight that. Gary Sheffield is not a Hall of Fame player.

The Joe Kerrigan Effect

As of this morning the Pittsburgh Pirates and their impressive 2.90 have the lowest team ERA in all of baseball. Just by purely looking at the stats - you have to assume that Joe Kerrigan is doing a heck of a job as pitching coach for the Pirates.

Pat Maholm has emerged as a legitimate Ace - going 2-0 with a 0.87 ERA in three starts so far. Zach Duke is back to his 2005 form - the form that allowed him to go 8-2 with a 1.81 ERA as a rookie, Duke is 2-0 with a minuscule 0.59 ERA. Maybe most impressive is the fact that the enigma that is Craig Hansen has yet to give up a run in five innings of relief work this season (though with just 4 K's to 3 BB - Hansen probably isn't out of the woods).

The Pirates were dead last in the NL last year in team ERA. Who could have guessed that the Pirates pitching staff would be one of the more interesting stories of the young season?

Red Sox - Orioles Flotsam and Jetsam

Sci-Fi Connection: Pretty amazing game tonight. Brad Penny gives up 7 runs in the 2nd only to see the Red Sox came back to eventually take a 10-8 victory. The start by Penny made me wonder if the Red Sox front office is employing the Harkonnen Strategy. In the book Dune - the Baron Harkonnen first sends his ruthless nephew Glossu Rabban to rule Arrakis with the idea that he'd be so bad that the people would automatically welcome and love the Baron's nephew and heir Feyd Rautha. In this scenario - Brad Penny is playing the role of the grossly overweight Rabban and John Smoltz is being poised to look like a savior. Brad Penny's season ERA now stands at an even 11.00.

Playing the Role of Andruw Jones in 2009?: In the 7th inning with runners on 1st and 2nd with none out - I swear the Orioles pitched around Dustin Pedroia (4 straight balls) to get to David Ortiz. How the mighty have fallen. Ortiz then quickly struck out. The Orioles then got out of the jam by getting Kevin Youkilis to ground into a double play. I know its early but Ortiz is eerily reminding me of Jack Clark in his final year in Boston.

Because John Wasdin is not on the roster: Javy Lopez is really my least favorite player on the Red Sox roster right now. I get ill every time he comes in to pitch. Mike Timlin might be a better use of a roster spot - at least Timlin could get the bullpen guys doing that stomp-type music.

Prediction watch: I predicted that Coco Crisp would have as good or better numbers than Jacoby Ellsbury. Right now Crisp is hitting .235 but has 2 HR while Ellsbury is hitting .220 with no HR. Still a good trade for both teams - the Royals got a Gold Glove centerfielder and the Red Sox got Ramone Martinez who has been great in the bullpen for Boston.

My wallet thanks you: Just as impressive was the San Diego Padres come back from a 5-0 deficit after the 1st inning on the road to beat the Phillies 8-7 in Philadelphia. The Padres were part of a improbable 4-team parlay with the Red Sox (coming back from 7 runs down), the Marlins (coming back to win in 10 innings) and the under in the Atlanta game. Woo-hoo! Did I mention I'm going to Vegas next week?

The Red Sox the Buy the Boston Globe?

The Boston Herald today reported a rumor that principal Red Sox owner John Henry has mad overtures to purchase back the 17% of the Red Sox as well as the struggling Boston Globe from the New York Time Co.

I have no doubt that John Henry has probably indicated his willingness to buy-back the shares in the Red Sox. It makes sense that the Red Sox would want to get the 17% of the club the NYT owns. The valuation of the Red Sox keeps going up. The question is why would the Red Sox want the Boston Globe? Why would they want to do a reverse Tribune / Chicago Cubs situation?

The answer is - they probably don't want to buy the Boston Globe but that may be part of the cost of doing business to get that 17% back. If that was the case - then I wouldn't be surprised if the Worcester Telegram was also made part of the package since that central Mass paper is also owned by the NYT Co.

The smart money says that this never happens. The Red Sox have no need to take on distressed properties. They can let the New York Times continue to struggle and maybe get good terms for that 17% from the bankruptcy judge when the New York Times eventually has to sleep in the bed that they have been making.

Danny Ainge

Danny Ainge had a mild heart attack. I wish Danny all the best and especially a speedy recovery. Ainge doesn't get the credit he deserves - not even from the fans in Boston.

Ainge returned to the Celtics in 2003 when he was hired as the Executive Director of Basketball Operations. Not the President - that title Ainge made sure was returned to Red Auerbach who had been stripped of the title during the reign of ego maniac Rick Pitino. Only after the death of Red did Ainge become President of Basketball Operations. That was the classy thing to do and Ainge did it with little or no fanfare.

Not all of his moves have been perfect but he brought Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to town and with them the Celtics were able to win the championship last year. When the Celtics won the championship - Ainge pretty much stayed in the shadows to allow Doc Rivers and the players the spotlight. Again - a classy thing to do that brought little fanfare.

It his his skill at judging talent that especially goes under-appreciated. Ainge traded for the rights to draft Rajon Rondo; he drafted high schooler Kendrick Perkins because he saw in him a future NBA starter at center; Leon Powe; Big Baby Davis, the number of diamonds in the rough goes on and on. Do you think the Celtics are able to acquire Kevin Garnett if Aigne first didn't recognize the value of an Al Jefferson and a Ryan Gomes?

Danny Ainge may be under-appreciated in some circles but not here. I wish him all the best and most of all a speedy recovery.