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Fukudome!
Mar 31, 2008God, I love baseball.
Ryan Zimmerman’s walk-off home run for the Washington Nationals Sunday evening.
Kosuke Fukudome’s game-tying three-run blast in the the bottom of the ninth for the Chicago Cubs this afternoon at Wrigley Field.
Unbelievable. And what amazing fun.
Posted by Brian T. Smith MLB Picks - Part IV (Hello Cleveland!)
Mar 29, 2008This is scary.
What’s also scary? Living in the modern world without Major League Baseball. From November to April, we’re expected to go on pretending like everything is normal. No box scores. No day/night splits. No minor league callups. No home runs, bunts or 5-4-3 double plays. Well, you know what? I’m not going to pretend. Making it through yet another gloomy, boring winter without the aid of professional baseball is a frickin’ drag. This said, we made it. I made it. You made it. We (somehow) did it. And, now, baseball is back. April is around the corner. The sun is starting to stick around. And I’m psyched. It should be a great year for the game. (Actually, if you love baseball, it’s always a great year for the game. Even when the world around baseball is exploding, or the game is plagued with scandals and media-induced drama, baseball is still baseball. There’s a field. A diamond. Grass. Dirt. Gloves. Bats. A baseball. Talented players and worn-out coaches. Ah, I love it.)
OK. Enough moping. Onto the races.
Oh, yeah. One quick thing. Remember, kids: Don’t play fantasy baseball. It’s bad for you. Really. It is. And so are sabermetrics. Like drugs, both will ruin your life.
All right. Play ball!
American League East
Or, as I like to call it, the United States of America. You’ve got your rich snobs (the New York Yankees). Your rich but tolerable people (the Boston Red Sox). Your middle class (the Toronto Blue Jays - yeah, they’re in Toronto. So what?). Your working class (the Tampa Bay Rays). And the utterly disenfranchised (the Baltimore Orioles). It’s all there. One big beautiful melting pot. Just like our forefathers intended.
Boston - Heading into April, the Red Sox possess one of the most potent and versatile rosters in recent memory. Factor in that Manny Ramirez is in a contract year - who knew Ramirez remembered how to report to camp in shape? - the Red Sox are coming off their second World Series title in four years, and Boston’s youth movement is a year older, and Red Sox Nation is about to get totally annoying.
Toronto - If Roy Halladay and A.J. Burnett can stay healthy, the Blue Jays could hang with the Red Sox until mid-September and take the American League wild card. If not, remember Toronto: you’ll always have George Bell.
New York - The Yanks keep forgetting you have to good pitching to win at baseball. Trust me, Hank; it helps.
Tampa - Contending for my favorite team to watch that won’t hit the 75-win mark, the Rays are doing things right. Starting pitchers Scott Kazmir, James Shields and Matt Garza have the potential to be a potent 1-2-3 attack. Meanwhile, Carl Crawford and B.J. Upton have Vince Coleman/Willie McGee written all over them. Watch the Rays. And believe.
Baltimore - Eh. I’d rather devour Season 3 of “The Wire” for the fifth time than watch an Orioles game. Will someone please remind Peter Angelos the objective of playing a game is to win? I feel bad for Nick Markakis. Only Andy McPhail could save this franchise. Maybe he eventually will.
Predicted order of finish:
1.) Boston Red Sox
2.) Toronto Blue Jays
3.) New York Yankees
4.) Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays
5.) Baltimore Orioles
American League Central
Or, as I like to call it, the best, most-awesome frickin’ division in all of baseball. Man. How good is Detroit? How good is Cleveland? How interesting is Kansas City? All three are better and more worth your time than most crappy modern novels. Anyone want to buy me the “Extra Innings” package?
Cleveland - Grady Sizemore is everything a baseball player should be. So is C.C. Sabathia. Eric Wedge might be the best manager in the game. And Cleveland should have won the A.L. last year. If the bottom of the Indians’ starting rotation can support Sabathia and Fausto Carmona, it’s going to be a long year for the rest of the American League.
Detroit - I’ve been thinking Detroit is a cool city for years. You’ve got the Pistons, you’ve got the Tigers, you’ve got Motown …Yeah. See? That’s a lot of cool stuff. The Tigers are going to destroy teams this year. I don’t know how else to put it. Unless Curtis Granderson gets hurt (oops). Or Kenny Rogers gets old (eh … ). Or Dontrelle Willis continues his slide. Or their bullpen falls apart. Or …
Chicago - I wish Ozzie Guillen managed that other team in Chicago.
Kansas City - My other favorite team to watch that won’t hit the 75-win mark.
Minnesota - Dear fans of the Twins and Timberwolves: I’m really sorry your pro baseball and basketball teams now totally suck.
Predicted order of finish:
1.) Cleveland Indians
2.) Detroit Tigers
3.) Chicago White Sox
4.) Kansas City Royals
5.) Minnesota Twins
American League West
Otherwise known as the most boring and pointless division in baseball. Let’s see. The Angels will be good, but not good enough. Ichiro Suzuki will carry the Mariners, while Richie Sexton will wonder how in the world he’s still getting payed to play baseball. The Rangers won’t have any pitching. And the A’s will undertake a youth movement dictated by the fact that Bud Selig is convinced everything in baseball is A-OK. All right. Moving on …
Predicted order of finish:
1.) The not really in Los Angeles Angels
2.) Seattle Mariners
3.) Texas Rangers
4.) Oakland Athletics
p.s. Need more proof that the A.L. West is a laugher? There’s only four teams. What a joke!
Boom of the Year: Rich Harden
Bust of the Year: Nick Swisher
American League MVP: Magglio Ordonez
American League Cy Young: Fausto Carmona
American League Wild Card: Detroit Tigers
American League Champion: Cleveland Indians
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National League East
The home of real baseball. The Mets, Phillies and Braves all look playoff-worthy. The Nationals are on the rise. And the Marlins are the best Triple-A club in the game. I wish people like John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, David Wright, Jimmy Rollins, Pedro Martinez, Bobby Cox, Ryan Howard and Chipper Jones would stay in the game forever. The N.L. East has more drama than Hollywood on a daily basis.
Atlanta - Smoltz, Glavine and Tim Hudson give the Braves a major edge in a pitching-weak division. Chipper Jones, Brian McCann, Jeff Francoeur and Mark Teixeira are fearsome. The Braves’ bullpen is improving. And Cox is the best manager in the game. Break out the tomahawks.
New York - Another team in New York that can’t seem to remember you need pitching to win. Interesting.
Philadelphia - Some serious answers (Howard, Rollins, Chase Utley, Cole Hamels), but way too many questions. Break out the batteries.
Washington - My third-favorite team to watch that won’t hit the 75-win mark.
Florida - Choose your own adventure: Someone gives you free tickets to either a Marlins or Dolphins game, but you can only go to one. Which path do you decide to take?
Predicted order of finish:
1.) Atlanta Braves
2.) New York Mets
3.) Philadelphia Phillies
4.) Washington Nationals
5.) Florida Marlins
National League Central
How come the N.L. Central has six teams and the A.L. West only has four? Oh, yeah. Right. Because they play real baseball in the N.L. Central.
The Cubs look good, but they also looked good at the start of the 2007 season. The Brewers are a year older and have the most raw talent. And don’t be surprised if the Reds make a strong run, then fade.
Milwaukee - Brewers fans deserve a trip to the playoffs, and they should get one this year.
Chicago - Still way too many questions for a team that possesses some of the best players in the game. How do you not make it to the World Series with Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Carlos Zambrano, Carlos Marmol and Ted Lilly on your roster? You’re the Cubs.
Cincinnati - The talent is there. Their first two starters are top-notch. And Dusty Baker was the right choice. The Reds might be the best kept secret in MLB.
St. Louis - If I was the general manager of the Cardinals, and I had Albert Pujols on my team, I’d figure something out - quick.
Houston - The curse of The Rocket.
Pittsburgh - The Steelers should be pretty good next season.
Predicted order of finish:
1.) Milwaukee Brewers
2.) Chicago Cubs
3.) Cincinnati Reds
4.) St. Louis Cardinals
5.) Houston Astros
6.) Pittsburgh Pirates
National League West
Where pitching rules and hitting is but a dream.
San Diego - Kevin Towers is the best GM in baseball. And how come everyone’s jumped on the Brandon Webb-Dan Haren bandwagon, but ignored the two-headed monster that is Chris Young and Jake Peavy? Throw in the greatest pitcher of the modern era (Greg Maddux) and a strong farm system, and I’ll take the Pads while the D’Backs, Dodgers and Rockies cancel each other out.
Arizona - Yeah, their rotation is impressive. But it also helps to have hitting.
Los Angeles - A sleeper. If everything comes together, the Dodgers could surprise. If not, L.A.’s favorite team could be a mess.
Colorado - One and done for the Rocks.
San Francisco - There’s a reason everyone’s picking the Giants to finish last.
Predicted order of finish:
1.) San Diego Padres
2.) Arizona Diamondbacks
3.) Los Angeles Dodgers
4.) Colorado Rockies
5.) San Francisco Giants
Boom of the Year: Alfonso Soriano
Bust of the Year: Carlos Delgado
National League MVP: Mark Teixeira
National League Cy Young: Carlos Zambrano
National League Wild Card: Chicago Cubs
National League Champion: Milwaukee Brewers
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World Series Champion: Cleveland Indians
The National Media and Terrelle Pryor
Mar 20, 2008There are times when I’m embarrassed to call myself a sports writer.
Usually, it’s when ESPN is running something completely ridiculous like “Who’s sexier: Tom Brady, Tiger Woods or Lebron James?”
Or when ESPN devotes half a day discussing the minute details of how the Boston Red Sox decided not to go to Japan, and then changed their minds.
Or when ESPN devotes a whole day discussing “bracketology.”
Or when I’m covering a high school game, and fans constantly berate refs/players/coaches with all the class of a second-grader.
Or when …
Well, actually, it’s quite often.
Sports are a wonderful microcosm of the modern world. There are things I love. There are things I like. There are things I tolerate. And there are things so ridiculous, short-sighted and self-involved that I wonder how we ever made it past the 20th Century.
Which brings me to Terrelle Pryor.
I’ve never met Pryor. Probably never will. But the fact that I even know his name is scary.
Pryor’s every move has been documented, covered and dissected in the past year.
Is Pryor going to sign? When’s he going to do it? Who’s he like more, “University of Ohio State” or Michigan? Did you hear that he got into a fight?
How about this one: who cares?
Really, who cares?
If you’re Pryor, you care. If you’re a friend of Pryor, related to him, played ball with him or coached him, you care. And if you’re a Buckeye follower, well, congratulations.
But the rest of the world? ESPN? Sports writers, The Associated Press and the national media?
Are you kidding me?
Sadly, no.
This is where we’re at.
End times, kids.
We’re not even two months removed from the sad story of Kevin Hart, Pryor has yet to even play a down of collegiate football, but your average hardcore sports fan now knows more about Pryor than hat’s going on in Iraq, the state of their own local government, or why the national economy is in the tank.
A blow-by-blow breakdown of Pryor’s “career” and Wednesday’s press conference still ranks in ESPN’s top-10 stories, a day after Pryor made his announcement.
And judging by Pryor’s quotes, he’s got the act down.
(People wonder why modern athletes are so jaded. Well, if you had two major press conferences and had fielded thousands of questions from the media before you graduated high school, you might be, too.)
It’s all Pryor, all the time.
Granted, his numbers look great.
Pryor could be the next Vince Young.
But he could also be the next Michael Vick, Todd Marinovich, Maurice Clarett …
I have nothing against Pryor. I wish him the best.
Hate the game, not the player … I get it.
But we’re part of the game. We subscribe to it and contribute to it and keep it alive.
And, right now, the game is broken.
From the proliferation of high school recruiting sites to signing day-mania; from an obsession with meaningless stats to an unhealthy obsession with kids who aren’t even old enough to even vote—we’ve created a monster.
Pryor’s not a savior. He’s not a god. He’s not even a college star, yet.
He’s a kid.
Good luck, Terrelle Pryor.
I hope you make it.
You can’t fool the fans
Feb 28, 2008At 5:55 p.m. Thursday, I took a call from sports correspondent Lloyd Combs, who’s in Castlewood tonight working the Region D, Division 1 girls semifinals.
“There’s not 100 people here,” he said of the scene 35 minutes before tipoff.
Used to be that for a Region D Tournament, you’d have to get there early—as in an hour or so before tipoff—or risk not finding a parking space or seat.
Not these days, which is yet another example of why basketball fans in southwest Virginia aren’t fooled by the Virginia High School League’s new divisional format for Group A basketball playoffs.
Since postseason started almost two weeks ago, I’ve covered three district tournament (Clinch Mountain girls, Lonesome Pine boys, Southwest boys) and regional quarterfinals in Abingdon and Gate City.
At only two of those events—the LPD boys, in part because of Pound’s small gym—and Gate City was the attendance and atmosphere worthy of a postseason event. At the others, particularly the Clinch Mountain girls semifinals at spacious Virginia High, it was like watching a game in a library at times.
The apologists will take the VHSL’s side and say it creates more state champions and gives schools with a smaller enrollment (like Ervinton and Twin Valley) a chance to better compete at this level. In theory, yes, in reality, not automatically.
Do you think the powerful Council teams of the mid-90s or the early 2000s needed divisional play to make their stamp on the state? Considering the 142-student school won a Group A title and reached the state semifinals three other times in seven years, I think you know the answer.
And if the Ervinton girls (and perhaps the Twin Valley boys and girls) reach the Division 1 semifinals in two weeks, it’s possible they could play schools with two or three times the enrollment. So that argument about playing schools your size is already a falsehood.
Look, the cat’s ran out of this bag permanently. Divisional playoffs are coming to Group AA as soon as next year and they’ll be in every sport within five years.
But if the last couple of weeks is any indication, prep basketball fans—at least the ones in southwest Virginia—have cast their vote for divisional playoffs.
By staying away from the gyms.
The VHSL goes PC
Feb 24, 2008The Virginia High School League’s PC Era begins tonight with newly-expanded playoff formats in boys and girls basketball.
Congratulations, VHSL. Now you can crown twice as many state champions in Group A. And while you’re at it, you can also give us a Region C, Division 1 girls field in which the bottom four seeds (as colleague Tim Hayes pointed out) combined for a 1-85 record.
One and 85! Again, I repeat, 1 and 85!
This is postseason basketball, where only the best teams are supposed to survive? Or at least teams which are playing their best now? Something tells me the Holston girls aren’t peaking. Nor for that matter is 5-19 Gate City, which somehow drew the No. 8 seed in Region D, Division 2.
Blame the good old VHSL for this new format, which is worse than Zima. What’s next—certificates of participation for everyone like in Little League?
Here’s a novel concept for executive director Ken Tilley and the folks up in Charlottesville: How about going with the regular season champ and tournament champ (or tournament runner-up if the regular season champ takes the tournament)? You know, like the format you used to have—the one which made some sense?
Instead, the PC Era is only going to grow like kudzu. Group AA will probably go to it as early as next year. Group A might expand it to all other sports besides football. Do we really need to see a Region D, Division 1 baseball tournament in two years?
There will be 16 regional games Tuesday, including eight in Region IV. Of those 16, probably 4 or 5—tops—will be competitive. The rest won’t be watchable.
But in the world of the VHSL, where money talks and common sense takes a back seat, they’ll be laughing all the way to the bank. Even if the average basketball fan won’t find much about which to smile.
