* According to Fangraphs.com, Phillies closer Brad Lidge warmed up SIX times before coming into the All-Star game. NL manager Clint Hurdle, never the sharpest sandwich in the tool shedmust've blown a fuse or something. SIX TIMES?!??!** Is Hurdle trying to get his ass kicked by Charlie Manual? (There's a fight I'd pay to see.) Hurdle must be thinking, "Well... gee... (he starts all thoughts with "Well... gee....") if we can't win the NL, I'm going to make dang durn shuuur that them Phils don't neither...buuuuuuuuurp!!"
*I don't understand the outrage over the All-Star game determining home field in the World Series. Makes no sense to me. First of all, who cares? Second, for home field advantage to be any advantage at all the series has to go to the seventh game. Here are the number of times the World Series has gone to seven games in the last ten years: 3 ('97, '01, and '02). That's out of the last ten years. In the last five years: never. This is much poop about nothing.
Also, why is the old way of just handing home field to each league every other year any better? The way they do it now is certainly no stupider than the way its always been done. If they really want to be fair about it they need to go back to even schedules and then give it to the team with the best over-all record. But that's not going to happen.
*Josh Hamilton's display in the home run derby was impressive. Whats more impressive by far to me anyway is that because of the odd circumstances in which he's returned to baseball the Rangers have him for the next four years. He won't be a free agent until the age of 32. Thus, the Rangers are getting his best years for a song.***
*Perhaps Toronto GM JP Ricciardi's biggest offense aside from being somewhat douchey, may be wasting the career of Roy Halladay. In this era of increased information, we know the bones of what makes a great pitcher. Essentially it boils down to as many strikeouts and as few walks as possible, allowing ground balls instead of fly balls, and staying healthy. Halladay does all that. He's probably the best pitcher in baseball over the last five years and he's never been to the playoffs. He still has time to get there (he's only 31 now), but his time as an elite pitcher is dwindling. His best shot at the playoffs will come if Ricciardi gets eaten by a bear (or fired) and/or he gets traded in the off-season.
**Intermittent question and exclamation points are meant to indicate indignation
***Do people say "for a song" anymore?
4 comments:
No way Ricciardi lasts beyond this year unless the Jays go something like 68-5 the rest of the season.
One more reason to like Halladay: he's from The Filhty Critic's stomping grounds of Arvada, Colorado.
Here is something I am typing for the second time since the HR Derby, believe it or not: "Forget it, Yankee fans -- Hamilton is not going to be a Yankee anytime soon."
Must be great to be a Yankee fan -- any great player, you can look at him and think, "man, I can't wait 'til we get him."
Don't Boston fans think like that now too?
F One Ball Kruk for his "Hamilton is a future Yankee" comment.
Last night, while talking to ATT Wireless customer service for about 30 minutes, it turned out that the guy I was talking to, whose accent was driving me crazy because I couldn't place it, was in Nova Scotia. After quickly dismissing some Maple Laffs talk, he told me that he was a Jays fan and he was bumming about their season. I don't think he likes Ricciardi either.
Do you know how many times the home team won game 7 in the last 10 years?
3. Out of 3.
At least in 2 out of the 3 series, the team that was granted home field advantage actually had a better record than the other team. SO they really did deserve it.
Good point. And two of those three Game 7s were won by a single run, so you could make the argument that it has had a big affect on the games.
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