Ramirez, you are a genius.

It must be frustrating to be Manny Ramirez.

Seriously.

First of all, you're one of the most gifted and consistent players in baseball. Though you did not earn your $160-million dollar contract (who could?) you came closer than anyone thought you could. You helped the Red Sox win their first World Series in forever, and then you go back to leading the AL in RBIs the following year.

Then one day you want the day off, you're scheduled to have the day off, and one of your teammates goes down and you stick to your guns and take the day off.

And you get blasted for it.

You get in an altercation with Curt Schilling (who's missed a ton of games over the season) over it, needing to be separated in the clubhouse. David Wells, the 4.45 ERA-holding David Wells, claims that you're "messing with his chance to win."

You're the one who's accused of not being a team player. You're the one who was blasted last year for going with friend Enrique Wilson (of the Yankees) during the playoffs. And it eats at you. It eats at you; you were the MVP of the World Series. You, more than anyone else, put the Red Sox over the top.

WAY TO GO ON CALLING THEIR BLUFF.

It was a simple proposition that you made- since everybody was mad at you, they could trade you... which they couldn't do if they wanted to win.

"I hope they do break up those guys (Ramirez and Ortiz)," said one AL GM earlier Saturday. "I wouldn't mind never facing them again. They can trade him (Ramirez) if that's what they want to do. But I don't see how they can move him and still win."

See, Manny Ramirez was just tired of being treated like crap by players who have been average or not very good this year, and he called them on it. He isn't crazy. This isn't a case of Manny being Manny. It's a case of a player standing up for himself and his abilities (just like Pedro Martinez did last year by signing with the Mets).

Manny, way to go.

Ichiro, HOF 250- words.

This will be short. Ichiro should be in the Hall. He will end his career hitting over .300; he has accomplished everything in one of the worst hitting parks in baseball. He's won two batting titles in four years; he's won a gold glove every year he's been in the league. He was MVP and ROY in the same season; he's been an All-Star every year in the league- legitimately. Here's some more interesting stuff- he led the league in intentional walks twice; an idea unheard of for a non-power hitter.

He's only really comparable to a young Tony Gwynn or an older player; in Japan his career average was quite a bit higher than Gwynn's, while in MLB it will probably be lower, but not by much. Internationally, he will definitely reach 3,000 hits, though he may not in MLB.

To consider Ichiro as a non-HOFer would basically have to assume that his career falls off the table, which is unlikely. Baseball should take a clue from basketball, which is a sport proud to induct international players of quality (Drazen Petrovic, etc.) without trying to normalize their contributions with respect to one league.

NBA Offseason Moves...

This is a quick recap on the winners and losers of the NBA offseason...

WINNERS

New Jersey

"And all of a sudden the Nets had a bright idea. Instead of trying to out-shoot their opponents, they could sign a power forward who could score and make their opposition guard them inside AND out. He would lead them to new horizons; he would play with a chip on his shoulder. He would run the floor. His name would be Shareef."

Atlanta (pending...)

Let's assume the Hawks sign Joe Johnson. Then their lineup would look something like this:

PG Salim Stoudamire (or Joe Johnson)
SG Josh Childress (or Joe Johnson)
SF Josh Smith
PF Al Harrington
C Marvin Williams

Wow, that looks way better than last year. I don't know why Joe Johnson is signing with the Hawks anyway, except that he wants to get paid, and if Marvin Williams turns out to be the truth... the Hawks could... oh, never mind. Now, people are claiming that this lineup is too small, the Hawks don't know what they're doing, blah, blah, blah. But they won like 12 games last year, so maybe some sort of radical change would do them good.

Cleveland

LeBron James, meet Larry Hughes.

Indiana

I like how the Pacers lucked into Danny Granger, are getting Artest back, and then decide to sign the best international player. They were always a player away against the Pistons; now they've signed two.

Portland

They've got a new coach and possibly a new point guard in Jarrett Jack, who I like. I think Jack could be the steal of the draft... but that's just me. They also are rid of some of their contracts, but they still have D-Miles. I guess you can't win 'em all.

LOSERS

Phoenix

They made their money by runnin' and gunnin', so they trade Q-Rich and fail to re-sign Joe Johnson, leaving the ageless Jimmy Jackson to start, and presumably Kurt Thomas, Shawn Marion, and Amare to be the front court. This leaves Phoenix with a) no depth and b) way less shooting. This puts them in a precarious spot in the West; they may not have needed Q in the playoffs, but once again, he was nice to have in the regular season.

LA Lakers

Trading Caron Butler for Kwame Brown was stupid. Drafting Andrew Bynum was worse. This could be a nightmare.

Sacramento

Wow, we're seeing a theme with the west, huh? The Kings are dangerously close to being the odd team out in the West; after losing Cat Mobley, they decided to take a chance with the enigmatic Bonzi Wells, losing Bobby Jackson in the process.

Utah

Arguably worse at trading than the Kings, the Jazz managed to pull the plug on Kirk Snyder to re-gain the lovable oaf Greg Ostertag, who is only liked in Utah.

NY Knicks

Channing Frye, welcome to hell. I don't think I've seen a pick so scrutinized without playing a game in a long time. You would think I'd give this team a "Winner" because of their acquisition of Larry Brown, but just look at that roster. At least Allan Houston gets a ticket somewhere else...

Looking for a reason to care about the NFL

I'm really trying to get into this NFL thing.

Don't get me wrong, I used to be into it. Some of those vestiges remain. I watched the NFL Draft for what seemed like eleven hours... wait, it actually was eleven hours. I would not leave the recliner until my main man Aaron Rodgers got picked. I like Ricky Williams, dislike Terrell Owens, and think Randy Moss will be bad-to-the-bone in Silver and Black, no matter who throws it to him. I'm trying to like Manning and Brady like I loved Favre and Elway, and I want to believe the Bengals will make the playoffs this year, though I ought to know better.

But that's not the problem. I still don't care. Really, I've been having this problem for years; when push comes to shove, I don't care about the NFL.

Now this may come as a shock to all of you, but each of the last three years, I've missed the first half of the Super Bowl. That's right, I've missed it... no pre-game parties, no chips n' salsa, no beer or no soda, no commercials, nada. And I don't care at all. Not a lick. Not even a smidge. I actually had an opinion about last year's game, since I liked the Eagles and McNabb, but even then, it wasn't enough to get me to avoid attending my late night church service.

Now I'm not trying to come off as a zealot with that last sentence. I just don't care anymore. Gone are the days when I could be enamored with the idea of seeing two teams that I couldn't give two cares for show off in a publicized game. And since I don't care about the Super Bowl, I have a hard time caring about the NFL, who proudly proclaims that the whole point of playing the season is for the Big Game.

Now, we've had one good Super Bowl these last 3 years, one OK Super Bowl, and one bad Super Bowl. But there's been a common theme: nobody outside the respective regions the teams play in cares. Nobody. I could walk up to someone on the street right now and ask them if they're a Pats fan and chances are they wouldn't have a clue. Same with the Bucs. The Panthers? Forget about it. We've seen two traditional teams (Oakland and Philly) get outplayed, and if the Patriots happen to make it again ________ (insert NFC team here) will probably get outplayed too. And we'll have to pretend that the Pats are now a dynasty and we'll give them all cookies and we'll try to overlook the fact that we don't care.

Oh, I know everybody will take offense to this, but tell me one thing: How many of you can honestly say you lived and died with any of the last few "Big Games"? And after that, doesn't that make the NFL mean just a little bit less every year? I know it does for me.

So give me a reason to care again. Give me players that pump up the stats in the regular and the postseason. Give me arrogance and arrogant players in commercials; give me someone to hate who doesn't act like he's 12. Give me a better story than T.O. and Ricky; give me an underdog or tradition. And for crying out loud, let's make this Super Bowl thing matter again.

***NEW CONTEST***

The winner of this contest will have their choice of

A) One (1) free double cheeseburger from McDonald's, redeemable by hanging out with me. (Item can be substituted for other dollar menu item.)

or

B) One (1) Deuce McAllister Game-Used Jersey card, courtesy of Fleer Authentix.

or

C) One (1) Chris Kaman game-used card, courtesy of Upper Deck.

To do this, you have to figure out what all of the following players have in common:

Jon Garland, Ben Sheets, Eric Chavez, Jaret Wright, Michael Tucker, Carl Everett, Charles Johnson, Robin Ventura, and Mark McGwire.

Also, you have to tell what makes one of these players different from the others, which is related to how they are similar.

No hints, no begging, but it is discernable using the internet.

That's all.

Mike

Redemption for Skip Bayless.

Skip Bayless redeemed himself today with his sports version of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," a lovely little satire that had me snickering for some time. Stuff like this is why he's a sportswriter and I'm a marginally-employed student jetting to grad school... ah, well.

In other news, those wacky Nationals are on a losing streak, and the A's are continuing to make me look stupid. I kind of think that Washington's luck has run out; they simply aren't going to hit enough, even with Preston Wilson. Oakland, however, has Rich Harden and Barry Zito, and those guys are the Clemens/Oswalt of the AL; they'll win enough games to keep their team in the race regardless. I really should have recognized that earlier, but I think I've got it now.

Speaking of teams who should keep trading, now would probably be a good time for the Rockies to trade Todd Helton. He's hitting again, just like he used to, and he could completely change the complexion of any race he gets thrown into. He's also currently batting .407 in July, which is remarkable.

Is anything more important in the AL than the 10 times that Oakland and Minnesota play each other in the next two months?

John Smoltz is a Hall-of-Famer....

One of the more interesting careers in modern times has been the career of John Smoltz, a traditional power pitcher who has run the gamut of possibilities through his career, and is now at what seems to be nearing the end of his career. To be sure, Smoltz may have three good years left in him, but as he reaches 40 years of age the clock is definitely ticking. So it's a good time to evaluate his HOF credentials, if only because it seems to be the fashionable thing to do these days.

Here's what we know about John Smoltz: he's pitched his entire career for the Atlanta Braves, and is one of the few players in the modern era to spend an entire career with one team. His role has been that of both starter and closer, and he has excelled in both. In 1996 he won a Cy Young award; in 2002 he won a Rolaids Relief award. This year he is well on his way to another successful starting campaign, while last year he had 45 saves. Smoltz has been one of a few pitchers to have successful careers both as a starter and as a closer, but he has been the only one to go back to starting after closing.

Smoltz has been an All-Star seven times, including this year. While his win totals are less than most Hall-of-Famers, (partially due to a lost year of pitching in 2000, when he had Tommy John surgery) his win/save totals still impress. He is the only pitcher (I think) to lead the league in both wins and saves. His credentials in wins and ERA match up with Schilling and Kevin Brown (Schilling as a borderline HOFer, Brown not as close), and his postseason stats are good as well (14-4, 2.70 ERA).

So I've made a case for why Smoltz will be in the Hall, but according to good speechwriting principles, it is necessary to bring up opposing viewpoints, show where they may be valid, and then disspell them. Here's what I came up with, and here's what I think people will say about Smoltz.

1) He was never dominant.

2) His stats do not add up.

3) He rode the coattails of Maddux and Glavine.

Well, Smoltz has been pretty dominant over the last part of his career. How dominant has Smoltz been? Consider 2003. Smoltz had a paltry 1.12 ERA in 2003, with 73 strikeouts and only 8 walks. In short, it was one of the most dominant performances of the modern era; unfortunately for Smoltz, it came when Eric Gagne had probably the best season ever for a relief pitcher (except for maybe early Eck). and so it was quite overlooked.

When John Smoltz won 24 games in 1996, it was the highest win total in quite some time. In fact, over the last 15 years, two players have won 24 games- Smoltz and Randy Johnson. Now, wins are notoriously overrated, but Smoltz also led the league in strikeouts that year, lending credence to those totals. Interestingly enough, Smoltz also led the league in strikeouts in 1992, opening a window to what I feel will be a second point of contention- that Smoltz's stats don't add up.

Smoltz has enough All-Star appearances to warrant the HOF bid; he also won a Cy Young. Yet it is quite possible that he will not reach 200 wins or 200 saves. Many will see his less than impressive win-loss totals from the 1990s and draw the erroneous conclusion that Smoltz doesn't deserve to go to the Hall. But as all good sabermetricians know, man doesn't live on wins and losses alone. Smoltz has twice led the league in strikeouts (a measure of dominance), innings, and win-loss percentage. He was also two saves away from the all-time record in 2002, and he had a year of his career taken away in 2000. It's completely plausible, given this year's results, that Smoltz would be well over 200 wins if he hadn't closed for three years, and would be very close to 250, in which case there would be no doubt.

Finally, the idea that Smoltz rode Glavine and Maddux's coattails is certainly laughable now (they're both gone). But in 1996, Smoltz was the ace, winning the Cy Young. Additionally, Smoltz made All-Star teams during their careers together, implying that many of the years he was as good or better than Glavine or Maddux.

Why is this discussion important now? It's important simply for the fact that too often we talk players out of the Hall of Fame instead of into it; it's important because players like Palmeiro, Sosa, and Glavine may get talked out of the Hall by sensationalist twits who seem to think that you need to jump out of burning buildings while pitching in game 7 of the World Series for either Boston, New York, or Chicago in order to make the Hall. And that enough is reason to spare a good player from this mess.

Mike

Twins-tasic!

I just made up that awesome word, but I was plenty stoked to see my Minnesota Twins defeat the Baltimore Orioles today. For one thing, it's rare to see anyone other than a select few teams on TV. Second, ESPN actually got off their "we're not gonna actually show any sports, but we will talk about them nonstop" kick to put some commentators up in the Twin Cities for a game between two wild-card contenders. Fancy that! Now, if we could only cut the re-airing of "1st and 10..." well, we don't wanna count them chick-hens...

So, the game was sort of nice, there was more "Walkoff Delight" courtesy of Jacque Jones, another one of a handful of players in our generation that will probably never be an All-Star but will have nonetheless had one of the best and most productive careers. Another one of these players is current Twin Shannon Stewart, who is an even better example of this type of player. Players like these can't jack their stats up quite high enough at the break for the team, but nonetheless have solid composite numbers at the end. Also falling into this category were Tim Salmon (an extreme case, clearly robbed many times over) and Eric Karros. I'm sure there are more of these guys floating around, but I can't think of them, so if anybody wants some homework...

In other news, the Reds called up Austin Kearns, presumably to shop him around before the deadline. I thought sending him to Louisville anyway was pretty contrived... Kearns clearly had no business being there anyway. Trading Kearns is probably a mistake, but then again, the Reds do need some pitching help so it might be acceptable under certain circumstances.

Be prepared for a massive attack on the Nationals' chances if Livan Hernandez follows through on his threat not to pitch any more this year. If he opts for the surgery that team is done. I also might have to take back my comments on the A's, since they're pitching extremely well. By the way, so are Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson, so I guess everyone should be happy.

Is he or is he not? The case for whether or not John Smoltz should be in the Hall of Fame is coming soon. I think this will be far and away the most interesting discussion of this type we'll have in the coming years. His stats are really quite unlike any other pitcher, even the Eck. Is it too early to put Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz in the Hall? We'll have to save that for another time.

Walkoff Madness!

This is what Justin and I saw Friday Night....




Albert Pujols hits a walkoff in the 13th, making our scalped ticket purchases look golden. On a side note, Phil Garner doomed the Astros in that game (and arguably the series) with poor managing.

Knowing that his Astros would be facing the nearly unhittable Chris Carpenter, and knowing the dominance of the Cardinals lineup, it would have been smart for Garner to go after game one. Instead, Garner tries to save his bullpen, taking out Brad Lidge (after only an inning) and Dan Wheeler (who was pitching well). He wasted another guy for one hitter, leaving him with Chad Bradford and Russ Springer to close the game out. And sure enough, the Astros finally scrape out a run, but ol' Phil has nobody to close the game out with, and Pujols ends it in the 13th.

We could also get into the pinch-hitting, which somehow removed Lance Berkman from the game and left in Mike Lamb, and used up the whole 'Stros bench.

Meanwhile, LaRussa just chugs along, removing relievers without compromising the integrity of his lineup, leaving around Brad Thompson to pitch in long relief, and going to Tavarez once he figures out the game will be a little while. And sure enough, the Cardinals win.

Fever Pitch Review!!!

Here's something different: a review of Fever Pitch. I probably wouldn't see this movie ever, but my girlfriend saw it and agreed to write a review of it on this blog! Yes! So, coming directly from Rachel... I give you the review.

"Here's what I have to say about Fever Pitch.

Granted, a seven hour plane ride leaves room for massive boredom (or hours of sleep, whichever one chooses); however, it was not boredom that made me choose to watch the quality movie Fever Pitch, starring Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon. I can't believe that Mike is actually posting this review on his website. While Fever Pitch knocked my Red Sox off, I'm afraid Mike and his other regular three viewers would be less than enthused. Nonetheless, this film is a classic tale of a couple whose only intrusion in their relationship is the boyfriend's love -- make that obsession -- with the Red Sox. In the end he decides to sell his season tickets in order to prove to his girlfriend that he loves her more than baseball. And, just as he is about to sign the contract, his girlfriend jumps onto the baseball field and runs over to catch him before he signs his seats away. When she reaches him he insists he loves her enough to sell his tickets, yet she insists that if he loves her enough to do that, then she loves him enough to not let him do that. Well, there you have it. You really should run out and watch this movie. I mean, don't run across any baseball fields with games in progress to get it, that would only be fitting for Drew Barrymore to do. And, if you're too busy tonight to watch it, you can always check out the www.feverpitchmovie.com, complete with heart heading separators.

I think this is enough of a chick review for one post. Thanks to all of you who sent me get well soon wishes. The squirrel card was great, thanks! Until the next baseball-related chick flick, that's all for now.

Rachel"

Skip Bayless and the Hall...

Skip Bayless's contributions on to why the Hall of Fame shouldn't admit Rafael Palmeiro were among the most bogus ideas I've ever heard...

Let's break ol' Skip's argument down to why he feels Raffy ain't a HOFer...

1) "He wasn't one of the dominant players of his era."

2) "Palmeiro is nothing more than a very good player who has benefited from being a left-handed hitter in bandbox ballparks, Camden Yards and Ameriquest Field in Arlington, featuring right-field jet streams."

3) It's possible he used steroids.

4) He was never a league leader, and he only made four All-Star teams.

5) He doesn't have transcendent greatness, immortality, and all that other stuff.

Skip claims Palmeiro wasn't one of the dominant players of his era quite erroneously; for one thing, he completely ignores the depth of AL First Base during Palmeiro's prime. During Palmeiro's prime (the 1990s), there were a number of first basemen who had dominant stretches, hindering Palmeiro's chances at All-Star balloting. Among these included 2-time MVP Frank Thomas, 50-HR fan favorite Cecil Fielder, 1993 batting champ (and 2-time WS champ) John Olerud, 1995 MVP Mo Vaughn, Carlos Delgado, MVPs Giambi and runner-up Tino Martinez, and others. Put it this way, we're not dealing with Ozzie Smith syndrome here, where you could just arbitrarily make All-Star teams by showing up. Palmeiro had the possibility of getting snubbed pretty much every year, and he was, frequently.

Palmeiro also played almost every game every year, which made him quite unique among the players in this list. He also had nine consecutive seasons of 100 RBI or more. That's pretty dominant. Or, if you like, you can look at his .889 career OPS as a measure of his "greatness."

While Palmeiro did benefit from Texas and Baltimore's ballparks, he also spent a portion of his career in old Arlington Stadium, where he hit home runs, and is still hitting home runs today. He could probably play next year, and he'll probably hit home runs next year. And he might play every game.

Bayless also used an argument that Palmeiro's home runs shot up from 22 to 37 from 1992 to 1993, which is when Canseco claimed that he introduced Raffy to steroids. But Palmeiro hit 26 home runs in 1991... where was the juice? Also, expansion occurred in 1993, reducing pitching quantity... so there's not a whole lot that you can say to suggest that Palmeiro was juiced. There were no jumps to 50-70 HRs, for example. Bayless considers Canseco to be credible? That's a joke itself.

Saying that Palmeiro never led the league in anything is sort of meaningless too. If you're going to argue that stats don't matter for greatness, then you can't complain that Palmeiro didn't lead the league in any of the Triple Crown categories... after all, he was in the Top 10 for HRs 11 straight years, RBIs 7 straight years. He also led the league in runs one year, hits in another, and has constantly been one of the consistent hitters.

But I'm still not addressing the major underlying problem with Bayless's reasoning, the idea of true greatness. Skip doesn't see production and durability as a prerequisite for greatness, and would prefer a few years of brilliance over a career of excellence. Hall of Fame players, for Bayless, must truly do everything right. But Palmeiro has. He is one of the last of his kind; you will not see players last into their 40s with the ability he has had. Gone are the near-twenty year players you've seen in the past... here to stay are the few years of brilliance, followed by exorbitant salaries and early retirements.

Palmeiro's career, to me, is very similar to Robin Yount's. Yount never led the league in anything "great." He won two MVPs, but made only 3 All-Star teams. In fact, one could make the case that in 1989, his MVP award was shady at best; his team finished fourth, he wasn't an All-Star, and he still didn't lead the league in anything. Yount only made it to the playoffs twice; he racked up 3000 hits, but only hit .285 in his career. Yount was the face of a franchise; however, that franchise languished for most of his career. But no one dares question his greatness. In the same way, no one should look at Palmeiro's lack of accolades and deduce that he's not great. No one can think that Palmeiro's not a Hall-of-Famer.

Oh, and by the way, Skip left out George Brett on his "no-doubters" list, but Yount made it easily... oh well.

Non-Sports Post of the Week...

Yesterday, my friend Justin and I went to the Anheuser-Busch plant in St. Louis, Missouri. We took the free tour of the facility that was offered and were moderately impressed. Afterwards, we were able to try different products in a "refreshments bar," which seemed for most to be the general highlight of the tour.

Unfortunately, the tour was marred by Anheuser-Busch's treatment of their namesake "Clydesdale" horses. The first stop on the tour took us into a stable which housed four or five of the trademark animals. While the stables were quite clean, they did not afford the animals much room, and due to the nature of the size of the animals, provided little comfort.

Foremost among these animals was a dark Clydesdale named "Luke," who appeared to be quite disconsolate in his cage. As I looked at the dark, proud eyes of the gentle beast, I could not help but think that his destiny should lay somewhere outside the confines of the cage. Luke would not eat; his eyes were down as he looked away from the visitors. Additionally, the tour group was loud, the heat stifling, and the stable nondescript.

Since Anheuser-Busch has no practical use for these horses other than novelty, why not allow the animals to live a normal life in, say, somewhere other than downtown St. Louis? Luke was the most depressed animal I think I've ever seen in my life. Free the Clydesdales!

Bobby Abreu...

Here's my take on Bobby Abreu's 41 home runs...

AMAZING.

That's all you can say. I thought it was really dumb to have the only quote in all the sports stories I read about this be given by Johnny Damon, by the way. "Pretty sick." Pretty sick! The guy hits 41 home runs and the best we can come up with is "pretty sick." Well, it's a good thing Damon said it, instead of, I don't know, Kenny Rogers.

What irks me about the whole thing is that Abreu has been one of the ten best players in baseball this decade, and people are just like, "Who is this guy?" But damn if we don't know what Derek Jeter had for breakfast. Let's not forget, Abreu went 30-30 in 2001 without being an All-Star, 25-25 in 2000 without being an All-Star, and 20-20 with a .300 average in 1999, 2002, and 2003 without being an All-Star. It isn't his fault he plays for the Phillies, who never seem to get anybody who can hit leadoff or get on base for him. The Philly fans actually like this guy, and that's enough to make him the truth in my book.

Kudos to Ortiz for showing up too... nobody seemed to want to question his home runs. I've heard talk that the ball might have been juiced... but I think that's sort of ridiculous. If the ball was juiced for this Derby, then it was definitely juiced for all of Sosa's and Giambi's Derby performances. Those balls traveled forever. And Jason Bay, Andruw Jones, and Mark Teixeira didn't really do much. Did the HR Derby orchestrators only juice Abreu's balls? That seems sort of unlikely.

Let's go on to the trades, namely the Bret Boone to my Twins deal. This trade tears at the heart of my core, as I'm actually going to have to cheer for Boone now. I guess his dismissal from Seattle is enough to make me change my mind about him, he seemed pretty heart-broken. But I still maintain that he was on 'roids. He could get on my good side by admitting it... I have a soft spot for Jason Giambi because he at least admitted (though he was forced) that he took steroids. That's better than the other cheaters... that whole reconciliation thing works for me.

At any rate, Bret Boone is better than Luis Rivas or Nick Punto, and I guess that's all that matters.

Preston Wilson to the Nationals... this goes into the Jim Bowden immediate acquisition of five-tool outfielders category. I guess Wilson can't really hit for average, but he should be able to hit for power. What this trade does for Washington is basically up in the air. I think it puts Marlon Byrd probably back on the bench, and Ryan Church should get fewer innings as well. Still, the whole idea is to protect Jose Guillen, and Preston Wilson should be able to do that a little better job of that. At any rate... Zach Day, welcome to hell.

Byrnes for Kennedy and Witasick.... I really think Eric Byrnes will be able to hit in Colorado, and Joe Kennedy will probably be better off not pitching there. There's some expert-quality analysis. Apparently the A's have not read my memo that tells them they're out of contention and insist on acquiring some more contracts. By the way, Jay Witasick could have been an All-Star this year, that's how bad Colorado is.

Payton for Bradford... Jay Payton needed to get the heck out of Boston; he might be better off on a team where he actually plays. That '04 campaign with the Padres would worry me though. I guess replacing Byrnes with a similar player is an OK idea.

Question of the day: What is the value of Preston Wilson's 2005 contract? The winner gets a prize.

NL Wild Card Preview...

It is a little bit imprecise to predict the NL Wild Card; the NL East is so evenly matched that it alone could be a column in and of itself. However, we'll try to figure out who's a'contendin' and who's a'pretendin' out in the league where pitchers have to defend their actions at the plate.

Not Right Away...

Milwaukee Brewers (42-46)

Milwaukee is in the process of recovering from the dark times, namely the mid-90s, late-90s, and, well, half of this decade. They have exciting talent, including Rickie Weeks, who will be an All-Star, Prince Fielder, who has a lot of power, and Jose Capellan, the centerpiece of the Danny Kolb deal (back when that deal could have had a center piece). Now, the Brewers are moving forward, and they have a number of good players to do it with.

As for this year, the pitching staff has been good but not great, and the hitting has its holes. Though Brady Clark, Lyle Overbay, Bill Hall, and Geoff Jenkins have been good, and Carlos Lee has been great, the lineup is still missing key hitters at key positions. As it doesn't appear that the Brewers are in the market for a new slugger, we'll have to wait until next year to see if this talent can materialize.

Living on the Fringe...

New York Mets (44-44)

Give Omar Minaya credit. If he had managed to sign Carlos Delgado in the offseason, his transformation would have been complete, and this team would probably be an NL East contender. However, for the very first time since their World Series appearance, the Mets are in it to win it. Led by Pedro Martinez, one of the greats of our generation, and the surprising resurgence of Cliff Floyd, New York has held its own in a very tough NL East race.

What has been most surprising is the lack of production from one of my favorite players, Carlos Beltran. Signed to a gaudy deal at the start of the year, Beltran has neither shown the power nor the speed that had teams lusting after him during free agency. If Beltran has a stellar second half, the Mets could be major players in the race.

Similarly, the Mets still have some remnants of the pre-Minaya era, including the contract of Tom Glavine, who has struggled after having a pretty good season last year (wins/losses aside). However, Martinez has given confidence to players like Kris Benson, who no longer feel the pressure of having to go out and win every start. This confidence has made the Mets staff markedly more consistent then last year, although progress needs to be made.


Philadelphia Phillies (45-44)

This team has no legitimate reason to be on the fringe, except for the fact that Jim Thome is having the worst season of his career. Well, we might also throw in the shaky bullpen and the fact that the team's players don't seem to like each other much. Nevertheless, the Phillies have stuck around due to solid pitching from Cory Lidle, Brett Myers' ability to turn the corner, and Pat Burrell's ability to stop sulking and start hitting for power again.

The Phillies have been blessed with one of the best hitters in baseball, Bobby Abreu. Abreu's consistent performance was finally rewarded this year with an election for All-Star starter. With the improved performances from Burrell, Myers, and Utley, the Phillies should be strong contenders. However, dissension from in between (read some of Billy Wagner's comments) and the lack of one more quality starter could keep this team from the playoffs.

Chicago Cubs (43-44)

We now turn our attention to America's team, the Chicago Cubs. Blessed with pitching riches, the Cubs seemed poised to be a major force for the rest of the decade in 2003, when they came within a game of the World Series. Now, of course, it is 2005, and there is inexplicable mediocrity in the Chi-Town. What gives?

Well, what gives is the fact that other than Derrek Lee, the Cubs' offense has been anemic. Lee is the only reason that Chicago has a chance at the playoffs, as he is having an unbelievable year. His stats deviate from the norm so much, in fact, that prognisticators are literally counting down the days until he returns back to Earth. However, given Lee's talent, don't bank on this happening. Scouts have thought this could happen for awhile. His power surge reminds me a little bit of Sosa's surge in 1998- although his demeanor (and the times) are far different.

If the Cubs' pitching decides to resume its dominance (with Maddux, Prior, Wood, and Zambrano you would think they could have a winning record) and they trade for some hitting and their bullpen holds up and... well, you get the idea. My guess is that this is another year of second-guessing and what-ifs for Cubs fans, but hey, that's why they play the game.

P.S. Does sending down Corey Patterson really solve their problems? I doubt it.

The Contenders.

Florida Marlins (44-42)

One of the great mysteries in baseball is why the Marlins aren't a better team. They have the experience, the starting rotation, and even two very good power hitters. The D-Train could start the All-Star game. Yet the Marlins have been around .500 for most of the year, and nobody is quite certain why. But here is what we do know:

1) The Marlins have a terrible fifth starter.

Al Leiter is having a year that could make a lot of players retire. His ERA is around 7 in a ballpark that should at least kind of benefit pitchers. He has averaged less than five innings a start, and reminds us not of the bulldog, World-Series pitcher of the 90s.

2) Mike Lowell and Juan Pierre are struggling. Lowell's struggles are immense and hard to explain. It has been enough to warrant trade rumors, and the Marlins are now in the market at third, a place they never thought they would need help. Additionally, Pierre's OBP is down, and the power hitters (Cabrera and Delgado) haven't been able to knock in the batters.

3) The bullpen is shaky. With the exception of Todd Jones, nobody has been great. Guillermo Mota was supposed to be the closer, but he won't be given that opportunity any longer, partially due to ineffectiveness, and partially due to a fight with Jack McKeon.

Despite these problems, it's hard to overlook Florida's talent, and the Marlins (like the Yankees) should be in it due to talent alone.

Houston Astros (44-43)

This team was horrible and shopping its players a month ago. But Roger Clemens and Roy Oswalt have pitched so well that eventually even the meager run support the Astros provide is enough to win games. And winning is what the Astros have been doing, as Lance Berkman has come back and stabilized the lineup (sort of), Morgan Ensberg has returned to form, and Oswalt, Clemens and Lidge have been lights out.

Here is why the Astros are major contenders: they are almost guaranteed a quality start three out of four games in a series. Only a handful of other teams can claim that. Andy Pettite has been a hard-luck pitcher this year, but his ERA is still only 3.09. The dominance of their starters is leading to results that are similar to what is going on in Washington, and if Houston happens to pick up another bat down the stretch, this team could be really tough.

Atlanta Braves (50-39)

This team is perhaps the best testament to Bobby Cox's greatness as a manager. Confronted with a myriad of injuries, Cox and the Braves have decided to call up pretty much the entirety of their farm system, including... Wilson Betemit, Andy Marte, Kelly Johnson, Pete Orr, Jeff Francoeur, Kyle Davies, Bryan McCann, Brayan Pena, and Ryan Langerhans.

These players have been good replacements, and will inevitably push most of Atlanta's current starters out. However, nobody knew they would be good this quickly, and Atlanta has won many games this year because of that fact. The fact that Andruw Jones is leading MLB in home runs hasn't hurt either.

The real question is if this spot describing Atlanta's wild-card chances shouldn't have gone to the Nationals. But that's another question for another day. And why are there no NL West teams on this list? Well, you can read last week's column for that.

I'm out...

Mike

illnesses and maladies...

Rachel, please get well soon!

I love you,

Michael

Handicapping the Wild Card Races...

As suggested by John, I will now handicap the Wild Card races.

Looking at the AL, we should probably consider every team that is near or above .500. This includes the Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays, Cleveland Indians, Oakland A's, and Detroit Tigers.

We can separate these teams into three categories: "not right now," "maybe but need help," and "should be there down the stretch."

Not Right Now

Oakland A's (41-43). Look, what Oakland's staff is capable of is not in question here. I have no doubt that Zito, Harden, Danny Haren, Joe Blanton, and Kirk Saarloos will continue to pitch very well for the A's. But taking on Jason Kendall's contract was borderline unjustifiable at the time and continues to be an albatross for Beane and Co. Kendall has an OPS of .667, which isn't good. He also has... no home runs!

If you're going to be an everyday starter in the majors, you should probably be more productive than Kendall. You could even make the case that an everyday starter should be more productive than half of the A's starters. The A's will not make the playoffs with the lineup they have now, even with the return of Bobby Crosby.

Detroit Tigers (40-43). The Tigers have been hindered by injuries to Magglio Ordonez and others; yet there is finally some room for optimism in the Motor City. For one thing, Jeremy Bonderman is looking like a future All-Star; for another, their rotation is holding up reasonably well. Throw in the sharp acquistion of Placido Polanco, and the Tigers look shrewd, for once.

There are still too many holes to consider this team for the wildcard. These holes include a general lack of power- hopefully Magglio will take care of that- and some uncertainty with the rotation (can Nate Robertson and Wil Ledezma really be expected to hold down 4 and 5?). Unfortunately, these holes are significant enough to make the Tigers somewhat less than competitive at times still.

This concludes the "not yet" portion of the segment. Let's move on to the fringe teams.

"Maybe... my heart's been breaking..."

Toronto Blue Jays (44-41). You have to love the Blue Jays, a team nobody knows anything about. Yet this team is only four and a half outside of the AL East lead. We know Roy Halladay might be the best pitcher in the AL... we've heard that Shea Hillenbrand is an All-Star... and of course, there's Vernon Wells, who has been widely considered as a disappointment despite decent power numbers.

What you may not know is that the Blue Jay bullpen has been very good, that they have the probable Rookie of the Year in Aaron Hill (a stud third baseman), and a bunch of very capable if unspectacular position players, including Russ Adams, Reed Johnson, Frank Catalanotto, Alexis Rios, and others. They also have major holes in the rotation, as Ted Lilly, David Bush and Josh Towers have been fairly inconsistent. It's possible that these Jays could hang around for awhile, and if they do, it could be a nightmare scenario for the AL East teams down the stretch.

Cleveland Indians (46-37). It's been fashionable to tout the Indians as wild-card favorites, but their lineup has been slumping the whole year (especially Casey Blake and Aaron Boone) and their rotation has been shaky at times. However, you can't overlook Travis Hafner as a stabilizing force in the lineup, and having Arthur Rhodes and Bob Wickman at the end of games is pretty good.

Peter Gammons suggests the Indians may not want to trade to be in this pennant race because of all the talent they have in the coming years. With players like Grady Sizemore and Victor Martinez around, it's hard to argue with this logic. The Indians may be around for the stretch run, but it could be that they're looking toward next year to hit it big.

Baltimore Orioles (45-39). The Orioles could be on the ropes; they started out hot but have been caught by the Red Sox. There aren't any questions about whether or not the Orioles can hit- with Tejada, Melvin Mora, the amazing Brian Roberts, and even the ageless Rafael Palmeiro, the Orioles will be able to stay in a lot of games.

But the Achilles has been their pitching. Since Erik Bedard got injured, their performance has been quite poor. None of the Orioles' starters have ERAs under 4, with the timeless Bruce Chen as the most consistent of the group. Additionally, Jorge Julio has been iffy, and Steve Kline has not been the same since he left St. Louis. If the Orioles don't get better pitching, their chances are through.

Should Be There for the Stretch

Texas Rangers (43-40). The Rangers are similar to the Orioles, except that their hitting is even better and their pitching could be worse. Kenny Rogers's implosion may have seriously cost Texas their chance to win the Wild-Card, and would be more serious if the Rangers' lineup didn't always have the possibility of punishing a team into submission.

Chris Young has been a surprise for the Rangers (apparently, he turned down a two-year deal to play basketball in the NBA with Sacramento to play baseball), as the 6-10 pitcher is 8-5 with a 3.80 ERA. However, he has been among the only surprises; Ryan Drese was released in June, and their bullpen has a tough time keeping leads. Like almost every year, the Rangers find themselves about two pitchers short.

New York Yankees (44-39). Say what you will about the Yankees, but this team isn't too far away from figuring it all out and chasing down the Sox. Randy Johnson will be good before the year is up; Chien-Mien Wang and Mike Mussina already are. And I think it's a little early to give up on Carl Pavano.

Still, the bullpen has been shaky except for Gordon and Rivera, who, to his credit, has been almost unhittable since the beginning of the year. The guy has an 0.83 ERA, he's still the best closer ever. I said that. And I won't take it back. You can just remember all the World Series games where the NL team knew they had no chance after 7 innings; or the times when Joe Torre gave Rivera the rare two-inning save. Rivera is still one of the few closers who can pitch any number of innings; he used to be a great setup, long relief guy for John Wetteland, a star in his own right.

The Yankees will probably move to get a new center fielder, giving up too much and getting too little. They don't have a good grasp on contracts anymore, and will eventually die out due to inability to gather together a team. But this isn't necessarily the year to count them out, and with all that talent they have to be there at the end.

Minnesota Twins (46-37). This is still my wild-card favorite. I'm biased, as the Twins are my favorite team. But it's pretty likely that the Twins have 1) the best bullpen, top to bottom, in baseball, 2) a rotation that has the fewest holes of any contender other than Oakland, 3) a decent outfield, and 4) the possibility of acquiring one more player.

What should bother Minnesota fans is the inconsistency of their team. The Twins have to work out their inconsistencies before playing the Chicago White Sox for what seems like a dozen games down the stretch. Additionally, players like Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau will have to step up offensively, and a new third baseman might be necessary.

Wow, this is a lot of text. I think I'll save the NL for later; there aren't as many teams, and I'm not as interested.

Mike

My favorite baseball websites...

I'm going to quickly give a review of my favorite baseball websites, pointing out their good points and maybe a few of their flaws. Check these out if you get a chance. I'll try to give out some annotative information so you can pick and choose what you might like.

"Charlie's Big Baseball Parks Page."

http://mysite.verizon.net/charliesballparks/stadiums.htm

This website is one of the most interesting and comprehensive things in the world. It has pictures and ratings for over three hundred baseball parks, and is brief but thorough. Check out what Charlie has to say about your local team... or preview any number of parks at once. Plus, you can see parks that aren't there anymore, and reminisce.

"Baseballreference.com."

http://www.baseballreference.com

I have been to this site more often than I can count, though people say there are better, more comprehensive sites. This site can really improve one's historical baseball knowledge - the similarity scores are amazing. And kudos to these guys for digging up salaries of the players, what a nice touch!

"Baseball-almanac.com."

http://www.baseball-almanac.com

I actually dropped these guys a line regarding their draft picks, it seems they were a little behind with some of their information. I still am impressed with the variety of stuff you find on this site. Plus, it's remarkable what these guys have considering there are like two of them doing it. And user input is welcomed!

Peter Gammons, espn.com

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/gammons/index

This guy knows more about baseball than anyone on the planet. And he's a true fan as well. And somehow, he's always in the know about what trades are about to be consummated, what minor leaguers will be the next big thing, and, of course, his team, the Red Sox. Gammons is the most legitimate Boston fan out there, period.

This site has some of Gammons's articles archived for easy reading, and of course Gammons is quite articulate. Did I mention he likes rock music and plays some himself?

Rob Neyer's website...

http://www.robneyer.com/

Espn.com has seen fit to make all of Rob's sabermetric stuff Insider-exclusive content, which is outside the budget of this college student. While I somehow feel robbed of great statistical arguments, including Rob's patented "Player A vs. Player B" blind statistical surprises, I can still read Rob's complaints about the Royals on his website. There are also some historical pieces in Rob's Articles section that could boost anyone's baseball IQ. Remember, baseball took places before the 1990s... strange but true.

On a side note, Rob's articles tend to polarize people. He tends to go right after superstars who aren't as strong statistically as people might think, and this alienates a certain percentage of fans and other sportswriters. I think this year he claimed that some players weren't really All-Stars, and that of course hurts.

"Bat-girl."

http://www.bat-girl.com/

This is a blog by some possibly high-school, possibly 20-something female Twins fan that is sarcastic, hilarious, and a tad bit infantile. If you're a girl, you can get a "Twins boyfriend," which apparently means you adopt some Twin as your current boyfriend. I don't know how that works, but it sounds hopeful. What girl wouldn't want Torii Hunter as a significant other? I couldn't hope to answer that. You should really read the July 3 spoof of Batman Begins though, that's top shelf.

Wait, correction, I guess this girl is in her twenties because she appears to be married. I just "Met Team Batgirl." This person could... have too much time on her hands. (But on the flip side, at least there are some devoted Twins fans out there.)

There are way more websites out there. This post just starts us off. I'm ending now because I can.

A 411 on the NL West...

For those of us who aren't from the Wild Wild West, it may not be clear that one playoff spot a year does indeed go to a team west of the Mississippi. This is a difficult thing to swallow, but since we must all make the best of it and can't just arbitrarily choose some equally matched, compelling NL East rivalries, we should at least become informed about this. So we'll try to handicap the race.

Last year, the NL West hunt proved to be quite a compelling race. There were three main culprits, one spoiler, and one complete mess of a team. Among the three culprits was San Diego, this year's current NL West leader and my pick for "most likely to win the NL West." San Diego is a rather interestingly-built ballclub. It doesn't contain any bonafide stars, but it has a lot of good players. The Padres are led by former Pirate Brian Giles, who came over to San Diego in what appears to be an increasingly lopsided trade involving Jason Bay and Oliver Perez. Nevertheless, Giles has been a solid if unspectacular Padre, and is the leader of a very questionable lineup.

I call the Padres' lineup questionable because it is up for grabs whether this lineup should be significantly better than it is or not. For one, the Padres don't have anyone who is currently starting that is hitting over .300. For another thing, the Padres sure have a lot of people who seem like they should be hitting better than they are, including Ryan Klesko, Phil Nevin, Khalil Greene, and Xavier Nady. All of these guys have been tracked for stardom at one point in time, and while the clock's not running out on Greene, it is certainly ticking on the other three. However, before we can call this lineup a disappointment, we should look at other hitters in the lineup (namely Dave Roberts, Ramon Hernandez, and Mark Sweeney) who have been good pickups for the Padres. Do these two types of Padre hitters counterbalance? I guess that's the real question here.

The Padres also have two great young starters in Adam Eaton and Jake Peavy, who some of us may remember as last year's ERA title-holder. Individuals such as Woody Williams, Brian Lawrence, and rookie Tim Stauffer hold down the rest of the rotation, and Hoffman still closes the door. This remarkable collection of decent players (plus Peavy, who is a legit Cy Young candidate) is good enough for an NL West lead.

Why is this the case? Each NL West team that follows the Padres in the standings has at least one glaring hole in their lineup or rotation that needs to be resolved. Let's look at second-place Arizona. This alone is a remarkable statement; last year Arizona was unspeakably bad and this year they miraculously came up with money to sign shiny new free agents, including Troy Glaus, Russ Ortiz, and Shawn Green. The D-Backs also managed to pick up the ultimate one year fill-in, Jose Cruz. Remarkably, signing half of a new lineup and keeping a veteran rotation around can really do wonders for a team. In fact, Arizona was leading the NL West until disaster struck and Brandon Lyon was injured. This current lack of a closer has caused Arizona some problems, and is a reason why Arizona isn't doing better. Another reason is the utter demise of Ortiz- as predicted by many analysts previous to the year, Ortiz has benefitted from big ballparks and is getting hammered down in Bank One. It's worth noting that Javy Vazquez's last few starts are scary as well. If Arizona wishes to remain a part of this race, their pitching staff will have to be resolved.

This brings us to the two main disappointments of the NL West: the Dodgers and the Giants. Los Angeles supposedly had a solid lineup together for the season- after signing Jeff Kent and J.D. Drew, the Dodgers appeared ready for an NL West run and possibly a title run. However, disaster struck. Eric Gagne went down for the year, Drew broke his wrist, All-Star Cesar Izturis just went on the DL, Odalis Perez spent a month and half on the DL, and Milton Bradley broke his finger. In short, injuries crushed the Dodgers. If one combines the injuries with Los Angeles's laissez-faire attitude about acquiring a solid lineup- seriously, they've needed hitting for the last 15 years- and the combustible nature of their staff, with Jeff Weaver AND Derek Lowe anchoring it, it is of little surprise that the Dodgers are once again languishing.

San Francisco hasn't really had a fair deck the whole year, as they've had to deal with the whole "Will Barry Play?" saga. This huge ridiculous mess has settled into the "Will it matter?" question. San Francisco has actually gotten by offensively, sparked by rookie Lance Niekro, the solid Pedro Feliz, and Moises Alou. However, their pitching has inexplicably melted down, led by Jason Schmidt, who apparently has lost most of his trademark movement on his fastball. This deleterious turn has been compounded by the season-ending injury to Armando Benitez, the utter failure of former Twin Latroy Hawkins :( and the wholesale disappointments of Kirk Rueter and Brett Tomko, two guys who should be pitching better than they are. It appears the bubble may have burst on San Fran's fragile rotation, which could send the Giants spiraling.

And then there's Colorado, which has been bad as normal. I like the Rockies because I used to live there, and this is kind of tough to watch. Their rotation is bad, though Jeff Francis has promise. Their lineup can't hit... THEIR LINEUP CAN'T HIT! Todd Helton has had his worst season ever, rookie Clint Barmes fell down some stairs... Desi Relaford is starting... what else can I say? Shawn Chacon was on his way back until he strained his hamstring. I could write a while on this, and maybe I will, but I'll save it for later.

PREDICTED NL WEST FINISH:

San Diego 87-75
Los Angeles 82-80 (a reach...)
Arizona 76-86
San Francisco 73-89
Colorado 58-104 (this is generous)

Fourth of July Baseball...

As I sat downstairs today watching the Cincinnati Reds nearly blow a two-run lead in the ninth while playing the San Francisco Giants, I thought it might be about time for some massive, knock-your-socks-off baseball article. After all, I think that's the idea behind this blog...

While I was watching the Reds play the Giants (only for a little while) I managed to note a few things... one of which being that Ken Griffey is nowhere near as proficient at defense as he once was. In the course of two batters he managed to lose two balls in the sun, thoroughly frustrating new closer Kent Mercker (that's right, the Reds have turned to the Merck to slam the door shut) to the point that Jerry Narron saw fit to take Mercker out and throw in Matt Belisle. Belisle appears to be an excellent candidate for closer from what I can tell- he can throw over 92 and he kind of spotted his fastball nicely tonight. Of course, if he had faced batters that weren't Deivi Cruz, Jason Ellison, and Ray Durham, we might have been talking about a blown save, but that's another matter for another time. So here's what I'm wondering... is Narron just going to throw out whoever he wants to close? Personally, I think it would be really awesome to see four different pitchers on the Reds with five or so saves (even though it would be a fantasy owner's nightmare), because then teams would really have to do some scouting. (The flip side, of course, is that these teams just assume the Reds' closer sucks and tee off on him, but hey, let's be optimists here).

I then turned the dial to the Phillies/Pirates game, where I saw the Phillies up 10-1 before falling asleep on the couch for a little while. I must say that Tony Gwynn really brought his "A" game to Pittsburgh, chiming in with insightful comments like "the Phillies are really forcing the Pirates to throw strikes today," and "Lidle has the luxury of throwing a bunch of offspeed stuff, because the Pirates are looking to be aggressive right now." And what do you know, Gwynn was right, as Cory Lidle struck out Rob Mackowiak on three ugly-looking changeups, wasting a quality at-bat from Ryan Vogelsong in which Vogelsong absolutely laced a double, but Freddy Sanchez falls on his face rounding third, screwing Vogelsong out of an RBI. I guess that's the Pirates for you.

Does anybody remember when Ryan Franklin was going to be a star? Well, last year's 4-16 record kind of threw that to the wind, but today he got back on track against Kansas City, shutting them out 6-0, and improving his ERA to 4.44. The point of all of this is that playing against Kansas City can really do a lot for a player. Here's a sign your team is in a lot of trouble: you're letting Terrence Long bat fifth in your lineup with no qualms about it.

I also saw how Seattle unceremoniously showed Bret Boone the door the other day. Boone falls into the Rich Aurilia/Brady Anderson genre of players with hyper-mysterious power surges. What really confuses me is why Boone was being paid so much to begin with, but I guess that's a matter for another day. I bet the Mariners are wishing they could fire Sexson and Beltre as well, but that's a matter for another day. My favorite Bret Boone moment: Bret's being shut out of the Home Run Derby a few years back while Alex Rodriguez and Aaron Boone were making fun of him. That's comedy at its finest.

(Apparently Bret Boone played for the Padres in 2000. Does anybody remember this? Or is this another example of our complete ignorance for all NL West teams. I swear I need confirmation of this, at least a baseball card or something.)

I'm out...

Mike

Wrapping up Wimbledon...

Well, it's time to wrap up the tennis tournament across the sea; you know, the one that involves grass. I normally wouldn't have so many Wimbledon-related posts, but since half of my readers seem to be avid tennis fans (2 out of the four-ish) I figured it might be the topic that elicited the most response. Besides, Venus Williams won Wimbledon, which gave me some cause for celebration.

It's been difficult to cheer for tennis in the past few years because of what American reporters bemoan as a "lack of superstars." I think that this term is a misnomer- we've been quite used to tennis players who were immature and gifted, and we're now stuck with a new breed of international players who are as good, but not interested in creating feuds with one another.

At the forefront of these superstars is Swiss sensation Roger Federer, a man who plays a different brand of tennis than perhaps anyone ever. His ability to control a match with groundstrokes is quite unparalleled, and his accuracy is killer and second-to-none. Federer mopped up Lleyton Hewitt (my favorite player, partially because he doesn't have any big weapons and partially because he yells "Come on!" for no particular reason in matches) in straight sets in the semifinals. Then Federer dismantled Andy Roddick, who, like Hewitt, claimed that he played very well, but didn't have a chance. This admission by Roddick was quite shocking, and it reminds us of another sport where players admitted they had no chance- golf, with Tiger Woods.

This begs the logical question: is Federer another version of Woods? I think it's a closer comparison then one might think; Federer has made the semi-finals of every Grand Slam this year, and has at one time won 3 of 4 majors in one year. In addition, Federer has complete dominance over one venue (much like Woods in Augusta) and doesn't seem to be slowing down at all.

What makes this assertion credible is the fact that many players on the ATP tour would probably agree with it. Roddick and Hewitt both played well at Wimbledon and didn't win a set; Spanish star Rafael Nadal needed four sets to beat Federer on Federer's worst surface - clay - in a match that many thought should have been the French final. It is conceivable that Federer wins at least 10 Grand Slam titles, which would make him historically great. In addition, Federer has an all-court game and wins practically every tournament he enters, making him sort of unlike a lot of his predecessors.

Yet, many of us don't care because Federer is quiet and non-American. His demeanor is neither candid nor reticent; his abilities speak for themselves. If you go to his website, you find a very professional, formal account of his abilities, and an advertisement for some cosmetics that he sells. (Those too aren't flashy.) Roger Federer brings up an important question: can greatness really speak for itself? Only time can tell.

Mike

All-Star Preview...

Before we get this over with, let's look at who should be (not who will be voted in as) our All-Stars.

Michael’s Midseason All-Stars!

AL
C- Jason Varitek, Boston

- The toughest player on the WS Champs is having the best hitting season of his career. An easy decision.

1B- Mark Teixeira, Texas

- Quick, name the Silver Slugger in the AL at first last year! If you guessed Teixeira, you’re probably in the minority, but he did slug 38 HRs last year. He’s well on his way this year, with more homers and a slightly better average then say, David Ortiz.

2B- Brian Roberts, Baltimore

- This will be the best season of his career. But hey, at least it’s a great season. Leading the AL in batting isn’t too bad either.

SS- Miguel Tejada, Baltimore

- Peter Gammons claims that Tejada is the best player in baseball. He may be right. Tejada has been unbelievable again this year, with 60 RBI already, putting him on a similar track as last year, when he had 150 RBI.

3B- Alex Rodriguez, New York

- Simply because he has a legitimate chance at a Triple Crown season this year. And he could be the premier power hitter of our generation.

OF (3) Vladimir Guerrero, Anaheim, Manny Ramirez, Boston, Johnny Damon, Boston

- Vladimir Guerrero has been dominant since his return from injury. Manny Ramirez is on his way to incredible power numbers. Johnny Damon has been the catalyst for a great Boston lineup. These were relatively easy choices.

DH- David Ortiz, Boston

- A monster year, reminiscent of Mo Vaughn.

SP- Mark Buehrle, Chicago

- He has been good this year, and he probably will win 20 games.

Backups:
C- Joe Mauer, Minnesota, Jorge Posada, New York
1B- Mike Sweeney, Kansas City, Paul Konerko, Chicago (AL)
2B- Alfonso Soriano, Texas
SS- Derek Jeter, New York
SS- Carlos Guillen, Detroit
3B- Melvin Mora, Baltimore
OF- Ichiro, Seattle, Scott Podsednik, Chicago, Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay, Gary Sheffield, New York, Torii Hunter, Minnesota

P- Roy Halladay, Toronto, Kenny Rogers, Texas, Johan Santana, Minnesota, Bartolo Colon, Anaheim, Jon Garland, Chicago, Matt Clement, Boston, Mariano Rivera, New York, Huston Street, Oakland, Cliff Lee, Cleveland, Dustin Hermanson, Chicago,

THE NL

C- Paul Lo Duca, Florida. This is the weakest position in either league. Ramon Hernandez of San Diego deserves some merit here too, and Mike Piazza will probably get voted in.

1B- Derrek Lee, Chicago (NL) Single-handedly keeping his team in playoff contention, Lee is a legitimate Triple Crown threat. Albert Pujols, however, is right on his heels, and is leading the NL voting. What does this mean? Todd Helton’s streak of All-Star games will surely end, as he is having the worst season of his career. Carlos Delgado also would deserve consideration in any other year.

2B- Jeff Kent, Los Angeles. Will Jeff Kent be in the Hall of Fame? It gets more and more difficult to say no as he racks up accolades. How much does Houston miss him?

SS- Felipe Lopez, Cincinnati. He's lost in the shuffle, but he's had the best year of any NL shortstop that hasn't been injured in Colorado.

3B- Morgan Ensberg, Houston. Ensberg has hit a lot of home runs this year. That's enough for him to be my starting third baseman. The Astros may not be contending yet, but they couldn't even talk of contending without Morgan's productivity.

OF- Bobby Abreu, Philadelphia, Andruw Jones, Atlanta, Miguel Cabrera, Florida. Abreu is having one of the best seasons of his career and could go for 40-40. Meanwhile, Cabrera has a monster average and Andruw is starting to figure out how to hit a little bit better for average...

DH- Let’s go with Pujols…

SP- Dontrelle Willis, Florida. I like what Clemens is doing, but he started the game last year, and Dontrelle has done too much to ignore.

RESERVES

C- Ramon Hernandez, San Diego, Mike Piazza, New York
1B- Carlos Delgado, Florida, Nick Johnson, Washington
2B- Chase Utley, Philadelphia
SS- Clint Barmes, Colorado (injured, but the only legit Rockie AS)* Cesar Izturis, LA
3B- David Wright, New York
OF- Jason Bay, Pittsburgh, Jose Guillen, Washington, Luis Gonzalez, Arizona, Carlos Lee, Milwaukee, Moises Alou, San Francisco, Cliff Floyd, New York
P- Roger Clemens, Houston, Jake Peavy, San Diego, Pedro Martinez, New York, Livan Hernandez, Washington, John Smoltz, Atlanta, Chris Carpenter, St. Louis, Jason Isringhausen, St. Louis, Chad Cordero, Washington, Roy Oswalt, Houston, Josh Beckett, Florida

Thanks to Jason for helping me get these last few picks in...

I'm done.

Mike