This just in: The Red Sox and Yankees play this weekend. And apparently there’s some sort of rivalry between the two? I don’t know, but ESPN seems to care.
Anyways, seeing as how I’ve been busy with other stuff (such as seeing the Cubs lose to the Padres 4-3 in 14 innings in the front row of the Wrigley Field bleachers Tuesday), and have had to ask nights off work, and seeing as how I only update my blog when I’m at work (nice, huh?) I figured it’s time to catch up on some of the events over the past week and a half.
I finished reading the Mark Frost book The Greatest Game Ever Played last week (the same week Zach Johnson pulled off a Francis Ouimet-esque performance at the Masters), and I must say, EXCELLENT book. For anyone who enjoys the game of golf (playing or watching) I highly recommend it. And for anyone who’s seen the mediocre Disney movie with Shia LaBeouf movie: Trust me, read the book. The movie doesn’t do it justice at all. Just thought I’d throw that in.
Alright so I’m an optimist. Maybe that makes me a homer. Maybe it makes me a bad columnist because I’m not constantly criticizing, but I can’t help it. When it comes to my teams, I always look at the bright side of things and I always believe (at least in most cases) that they can come out on top. But at the same time I’m not a ridiculously biased fan who just constantly thinks that my team is the greatest. I’m a realist. When the Packers were making their late season “push,” I was optimistic that they could make the playoffs with a few lucky breaks. But I also knew that they were a mediocre team in a mediocre division and that they were lucky to even be in that situation and I didn’t expect them to pull through, and they didn’t, so there. I’m not an idiot, just an optimist.
Here’s a rundown of stuff that I care about.
NBA--Which brings me to the Chicago Bulls. Despite a crapjob of a game against New Jersey which dropped them from the two seed to the fifth seed, I’m still optimistic that they can come out of the East and get the honor of losing to the Mavericks/Suns/Spurs in the NBA Finals. And I have my reasons.
The biggest problem with the Bulls this season has been inconsistency. While the same three guys (Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, and Luol Deng) have been providing the scoring all season, they haven’t beaten the good teams consistently all season, and that’s why people are picking against them against the likes of Detroit, Cleveland, and Miami. But here’s the thing. The Bulls are undoubtedly the deepest team in the East. With Chris Duhon, Thabo Sefalosha, Tyrus Thomas, Malik Allen, and the finally healthy Andres Nocioni coming off the bench, they have an unlimited array of rotations they can throw at any team they play.
And yes, I know that they’re playing Shaq and D-Wade and that the Heat are the defending champs and that Shaq has lost only one playoff series in like the past seven years, but the Bulls match up against the Heat very similarly to how the Pistons matched up against the Lakers when they beat them for the ’03 title. With the most obvious being Ben Wallace against Shaq. And while both Shaq and Wallace aren’t the same players they were four years ago, and Wallace might not be able to handle Shaq like he did in Detroit, Bulls’ announcer Stacey King brought up a good point on Chicago Tribune Live. When Wallace missed a few games late in the season to sickness, the Bulls rotation often had undersized Allen at center and Thomas playing power forward and the zone gave opposing teams fits. Those two along with P.J. Brown mean the Bulls should be able to match up against Shaq with several guys and if that doesn’t work, they still have an abundance of fouls to throw at him.
Also, Wade averages a career-low 16 points per game against the Bulls for his career. Dating back to their college days, Hinrich has just had Wade’s number defensively and now he’s not even 100 percent.
Let’s face it. The Heat are old. They’re the defending champs but how can they expect to win a seven game, grind it out series against a young, scrappy team against the Bulls that play great defense, shoot the ball extremely well, and now finally have a defensive set that is designed to stop a guy like Shaq. When the Bulls and Heat played last season, the Bulls didn’t have Deng or Wallace and still played the Heat tougher than any team in the playoffs. Now they have Wallace and Deng is healthy and having the quietest great season in the NBA. The Heat can’t counter Deng defensively. Wade and White Chocolate are too small and Antoine Walker, James Posey and Udonis Haslem are too slow.
The Bulls should win this series. And let’s say six games at the most. I’m optimistic.
(Note: I won’t go into why the Bulls should beat the Pistons until they actually meet in the second round).
MLB--All this NBA talk has pushed aside the biggest story of the week, that being Mark Buehrle’s unbelievable no-hitter. Not only is it the first White Sox’s no hitter since I was four years old. Not only was it remarkable because it was by a contact pitcher. Not only was it by my favorite player in the entire major leagues, but it was also the first no-hitter that I saw from beginning to end. And it was by my favorite team, at a low point in their season. I don’t care how he pitched last season. Buehrle is one of the most likeable players in baseball; a down to earth, low-key guy who just goes with the flow. He’s had the quietest successful six year span that I can think of. He just goes out and pitches and usually does well and enjoys doing it. After all the money Kenny Williams has thrown around over the past two years, I don’t know what I’ll do if he lets him leave and sign with St. Louis this off-season. It just can’t happen. Be smart Kenny, be smart.
NFL Draft—The fact that every mock draft I’ve read since the season ended has had the Packers drafting Marshawn Lynch in the first round has made this year’s draft somewhat uninteresting. Although last year was the same thing as it was a mortal lock that they were going to draft A.J. Hawk, I could at least get excited about it because I was a HUGE Hawk fan in college and was incredibly pumped about them drafting him. This year it’s different because A) I don’t know jack squat about Lynch and B) I think they’re drafting the wrong guy.
I know the Packers lost Ahman Green and need a running back, but wouldn’t it be more logical for them to package together late round picks and/or Marquand Manuel to San Diego for Michael Turner or Dallas for Julius Jones, both of whom are young and available, than take their chances on someone in the draft? Plus, the guy they should be drafting is safety Reggie Nelson from Florida. Nelson’s stock has dropped due to all the genius scouts who were upset about his 40 time or something stupid like that. But the fact is, the guy flat out has a nose for the football. He is a lot like Troy Polamalu but with better hands, and even more importantly, he doesn’t bite on the play action fake! Which is something both Nick Collins and Manuel (along with every other player on the Packers defense, offense, special teams, coaching staff, and front office) do ALL THE TIME. Ted Thompson made a plan when hired as GM to build his team through the draft instead of overpaying free agents. But with this it doesn’t stray away from that method at all. You’re trading for an incredibly young running back that clearly has some NFL skill and you’re still able to build your vastly improved defense even more by adding a true playmaker in Nelson.
But I guess I don’t really know much, that’s just what I think.
April 20, 2007
April 8, 2007
This Week in White Sox Baseball
(Seeing as there's six months and 162 games in a Major League Baseball season, I decided to just do weekly recaps of the White Sox because it would be too ridiculous to write about the team every time something interesting happens)
Having not posted anything in a week or so, and seeing that the White Sox have been arguably the biggest enigma through the first week of the season, I figured it’s time for a summary of what I think about the team with the first week of the season in the books.
I was more excited about this baseball season than any other (aside from last year as the defending champs), with the reason being that I had less of a clue what to expect out of the White Sox than any other year I can remember following them. So with Monday’s 1:05 start, I skipped my Astronomy class and set myself up all ready to watch the opener. And what a miserable opener it was. 10 minutes into the first inning it was already clear that there was no way the White Sox would win that game. And Grady Sizemore tied Johan Santana as my favorite player I wish I could like but have to hate because he plays on a division rival. Having said that, Sizemore is my early favorite for AL MVP but even if he hits .350 with 30 HRs and 100 RBIs, ESPN’s “experts” won’t consider him because his name does not include the words Jeter, Ortiz, or Rodriguez in them, and when he does win it everyone will be as shocked as they were when Justin Morneau won it last season and these “experts” will talk about what a shame it is that Ortiz didn’t win it because he’s the most clutch hitter in the world and players who don’t play in New York, Boston or aren’t named Bonds shouldn’t be talked about. Then Tim Kurkjian will argue that Sizemore has been wildly underrated and deserves the award, followed by John Kruk and Peter Gammons taking him in the basement, beating him senseless and reminding him that if he ever talks about a player not in New York, Boston, or named Bonds, Kruk would sit on him.
But I’m rambling. Anyways, after the first two games of the season (The opening day shellacking and the heartbreaking 8-7 loss where Jason Michaels stuck his glove out while falling down to make the final out of the game), I refused to listen to 670AM The Score because I know how Chicago fans are and didn’t want to hear all the ridiculous talk about how the White Sox were going to be horrible this year and their starting pitching was bad and their offense was inconsistent and blah, blah, blah, blah blah. Yes, Contreras lasting only one inning and looked as hittable as ever and yes, Jon Garland didn’t impress anyone. But It’s one freaking start! Everyone seems to forget that A) The White Sox have the best pitching coach nobody has ever heard of. B) Their bullpen is ridiculously improved (If you didn’t see David Aardsma blow away three straight Indians’ hitters with the bases loaded and nobody out, trust me, his stuff is just plain nasty. Like Matt Thornton, all he needed was Coop to get him to throw the ball over the plate). And C) Their offense is still among the best in baseball and the fact that they’re 2-3 even though Jim Thome and Jermaine Dye are both hitting .118, A.J. Pierzynski is hitting .111, and Tadahito Iguchi is hitting .143, means that once they start hitting (and trust me, they will start hitting. Just watch this upcoming Oakland series when they get to play in 70 degree weather instead of 20 degrees), they will still be right there in the AL Central race. Combine that with the fact that the Tigers’ pitching looks worn down from last season, the Twins offense is, well, the Twins offense, and the Indians still don’t have a bullpen, and I’m still optimistic about the final 157 games. Although they have to pick it up fast because there isn’t much time to pull it all together (do you sense the sarcasm here? Good.)
Aside from the obvious negatives, here are some bright spots I’ve seen through the team’s first five games:
-Darin Erstad. It’s hard to imagine that a three-time Gold Glover who is a .286 career hitter and who, before last season, had played at least 125 games and had at least 146 hits in eight out of the past nine years would be seen as done after just one injured season. He got the exact same treatment from the Angels that Thome had gotten from Philadelphia a year earlier. After one year they just forgot that the guy can flat out play. And unlike Thome, Erstad is only 33 years old. And he fits the White Sox’s lineup so well. He’s just like Aaron Rowand with the exception that Erstad is more experienced and a MUCH more disciplined hitter. Hitting in the two-hole he can hit in any situation that presents itself. He can bunt a guy over, hit a ball to the right side of the infield with a guy on second base, pull the ball or go opposite field if he needs to. And not to mention the fact that he’s still solid defensively and can play first base if Konerko or Thome get hurt. He did win a Gold Glove there only two years ago.
-Bullpen. Thornton struggled a bit (including the homer he gave up to Sizemore), but aside from that the bullpen has been a pleasant surprise. With the aforementioned Aardsma, there’s also Nick Masset who has had to come in in the second inning twice already with Contreras’ meatball in which he did his best in a bad situation, as well as when Buehrle got nailed with a line drive where he pitched 4 2/3 innings and only gave up one run and four hits. He and John Danks (who only threw one bad pitch against the Twins and would’ve won against most other starters, but unfortunately Santana was on the mound) are making Kenny Williams’ McCarthy trade look alright, but it’s early.
-Javier Vasquez. Yet another question mark because of the 21 million dollar extension Williams gave him before the season started, he looked unhittable through 6 2/3 against Minnesota. Despite walking four, he hit his spots like a guy of his potential should. But the disclaimer about Vasquez is that we saw that same kind of nasty stuff last year, but he did it so inconsistently that he still finished the year with a sub-.500 record. So I’m not going to jump on the Vazquez bandwagon just yet, but it’s a good start for him.
Look, the White Sox gave up 20 runs through their first two games of the season and people freaked out. When a team only a year and a half removed from a World Series with three of the pitchers who got you there still on the team, this should be seen as a worry, and it was. But since then, including Sunday’s loss to Minnesota, the White Sox have allowed only six runs over the past three games. Do I think the staff will continue to only allow two runs per game? No. But do I also think they will allow 10 runs per game as they did against Cleveland? No. My guess is it will land somewhere in the middle. And if that’s the case and the offense picks up, the White Sox will be fine. I’m not jumping in the Chicago River yet.
Having not posted anything in a week or so, and seeing that the White Sox have been arguably the biggest enigma through the first week of the season, I figured it’s time for a summary of what I think about the team with the first week of the season in the books.
I was more excited about this baseball season than any other (aside from last year as the defending champs), with the reason being that I had less of a clue what to expect out of the White Sox than any other year I can remember following them. So with Monday’s 1:05 start, I skipped my Astronomy class and set myself up all ready to watch the opener. And what a miserable opener it was. 10 minutes into the first inning it was already clear that there was no way the White Sox would win that game. And Grady Sizemore tied Johan Santana as my favorite player I wish I could like but have to hate because he plays on a division rival. Having said that, Sizemore is my early favorite for AL MVP but even if he hits .350 with 30 HRs and 100 RBIs, ESPN’s “experts” won’t consider him because his name does not include the words Jeter, Ortiz, or Rodriguez in them, and when he does win it everyone will be as shocked as they were when Justin Morneau won it last season and these “experts” will talk about what a shame it is that Ortiz didn’t win it because he’s the most clutch hitter in the world and players who don’t play in New York, Boston or aren’t named Bonds shouldn’t be talked about. Then Tim Kurkjian will argue that Sizemore has been wildly underrated and deserves the award, followed by John Kruk and Peter Gammons taking him in the basement, beating him senseless and reminding him that if he ever talks about a player not in New York, Boston, or named Bonds, Kruk would sit on him.
But I’m rambling. Anyways, after the first two games of the season (The opening day shellacking and the heartbreaking 8-7 loss where Jason Michaels stuck his glove out while falling down to make the final out of the game), I refused to listen to 670AM The Score because I know how Chicago fans are and didn’t want to hear all the ridiculous talk about how the White Sox were going to be horrible this year and their starting pitching was bad and their offense was inconsistent and blah, blah, blah, blah blah. Yes, Contreras lasting only one inning and looked as hittable as ever and yes, Jon Garland didn’t impress anyone. But It’s one freaking start! Everyone seems to forget that A) The White Sox have the best pitching coach nobody has ever heard of. B) Their bullpen is ridiculously improved (If you didn’t see David Aardsma blow away three straight Indians’ hitters with the bases loaded and nobody out, trust me, his stuff is just plain nasty. Like Matt Thornton, all he needed was Coop to get him to throw the ball over the plate). And C) Their offense is still among the best in baseball and the fact that they’re 2-3 even though Jim Thome and Jermaine Dye are both hitting .118, A.J. Pierzynski is hitting .111, and Tadahito Iguchi is hitting .143, means that once they start hitting (and trust me, they will start hitting. Just watch this upcoming Oakland series when they get to play in 70 degree weather instead of 20 degrees), they will still be right there in the AL Central race. Combine that with the fact that the Tigers’ pitching looks worn down from last season, the Twins offense is, well, the Twins offense, and the Indians still don’t have a bullpen, and I’m still optimistic about the final 157 games. Although they have to pick it up fast because there isn’t much time to pull it all together (do you sense the sarcasm here? Good.)
Aside from the obvious negatives, here are some bright spots I’ve seen through the team’s first five games:
-Darin Erstad. It’s hard to imagine that a three-time Gold Glover who is a .286 career hitter and who, before last season, had played at least 125 games and had at least 146 hits in eight out of the past nine years would be seen as done after just one injured season. He got the exact same treatment from the Angels that Thome had gotten from Philadelphia a year earlier. After one year they just forgot that the guy can flat out play. And unlike Thome, Erstad is only 33 years old. And he fits the White Sox’s lineup so well. He’s just like Aaron Rowand with the exception that Erstad is more experienced and a MUCH more disciplined hitter. Hitting in the two-hole he can hit in any situation that presents itself. He can bunt a guy over, hit a ball to the right side of the infield with a guy on second base, pull the ball or go opposite field if he needs to. And not to mention the fact that he’s still solid defensively and can play first base if Konerko or Thome get hurt. He did win a Gold Glove there only two years ago.
-Bullpen. Thornton struggled a bit (including the homer he gave up to Sizemore), but aside from that the bullpen has been a pleasant surprise. With the aforementioned Aardsma, there’s also Nick Masset who has had to come in in the second inning twice already with Contreras’ meatball in which he did his best in a bad situation, as well as when Buehrle got nailed with a line drive where he pitched 4 2/3 innings and only gave up one run and four hits. He and John Danks (who only threw one bad pitch against the Twins and would’ve won against most other starters, but unfortunately Santana was on the mound) are making Kenny Williams’ McCarthy trade look alright, but it’s early.
-Javier Vasquez. Yet another question mark because of the 21 million dollar extension Williams gave him before the season started, he looked unhittable through 6 2/3 against Minnesota. Despite walking four, he hit his spots like a guy of his potential should. But the disclaimer about Vasquez is that we saw that same kind of nasty stuff last year, but he did it so inconsistently that he still finished the year with a sub-.500 record. So I’m not going to jump on the Vazquez bandwagon just yet, but it’s a good start for him.
Look, the White Sox gave up 20 runs through their first two games of the season and people freaked out. When a team only a year and a half removed from a World Series with three of the pitchers who got you there still on the team, this should be seen as a worry, and it was. But since then, including Sunday’s loss to Minnesota, the White Sox have allowed only six runs over the past three games. Do I think the staff will continue to only allow two runs per game? No. But do I also think they will allow 10 runs per game as they did against Cleveland? No. My guess is it will land somewhere in the middle. And if that’s the case and the offense picks up, the White Sox will be fine. I’m not jumping in the Chicago River yet.
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