Three Thoughts: Rangers, Phil, Jets and I'm Back From Vegas

Sorry for the lack of updates on the blog, but I was on a mini-vacation to Las Vegas. Fear not, because I'm back with three sports-related thoughts for you:

1. The ending to the Rangers' season was about as brutal as it gets. 82nd game and the shootout. Tough way to be sent home. The Rangers' problem all season was scoring and in that final game, the issue came to a head. I watched this game from Lagasse's Stadium/Sports Book in the Palazzo. It was one of the nicest places to watch a game--though it will always be soured a bit by what I saw there (and the rude hostess who refused to turn on the game). I don't think the Rangers were going to go anyplace in the playoffs. But the chance to beat the Devils (AGAIN) in the playoffs was one that I was looking forward to. Let's hope this off-season leads to some retooling of the team and the end to the Wade Redden and Michael Rozsival eras on Broadway. Maybe even the Sather era too...(hopefully)
2. Las Vegas loved Phil. Watching the Masters from Vegas was interesting because of the betting interest vs. the rooting interest. I'm not sure which way most of these people were leaning, but they all seemed to love Lefty. Tiger got cheers as did the rest of the pack--but no one got the roars form the crowd quite like Mickelson. People may have had rooting/betting interest in Lee Westwood, Anthony Kim or Fred Couples, but no one seems to have won golf fan's hearts and wallets combined quite like Phil Mickelson. Especially now with Tiger's public demotion.
3. The Jets are pretty large favorites. As soon as the Santonio Holmes trade came across the ESPN screen, the Mandalay Bay sports book jumped the Jets odds to win the Super Bowl to 6-1. The only team better than the Jets were the Colts at 5-1. The Jets were very close last year and the odds makers seem to be taking the flurry of off-season moves as the push they need to get over the top. They should be a better team, but the 2nd best team in the NFL? Or the second-most-likely team to win the Super Bowl? I'm not sure yet.

I am now back, refreshed and ready to blog. I'll throw up something on the Yankees today and hopefully last night's LOST as well a bit later. I miss the bright lights of Vegas but it's time to get back to blogging...and rooting for my baseball bets--the Brewers to win the NL Central, the Braves and Rockies to make the NLCS...with the Rockies hopefully winning and losing to the Yankees in the World Series. Picture above is taken from my Blackberry (sorry, a little blurry) from the Mix Lounge in THEhotel at Mandalay Bay.

The Mets REALLY Need to Swing for the Fences

If there wasn't incentive enough before, now there's real incentive for the Metsies to take a page out the book of their cross-town Bronx Bomber friends: hit some home runs. Why? Because at least when they do so in 2010, it'll go to a good cause. From the New York Post:

If there are Mets fans who don't know who Stewart Rahr is, they will soon enough. The Brooklyn-born billionaire -- a k a Stewie Rah Rah -- is donating $1,000 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation every time a Met hits a home run at CitiField, and $5,000 every time David Wright does, as he did on Opening Day. Later in the season will be "Home Rah Rah Day" with giveaways of Rahr's trademark yellow sunglasses.

Last season the Mets hit 95 home runs which was dead last in the National League--well dead last in any league. Their leading homerun hitter was Daniel Murphy  with 12 and they had 4 people (David Wright, Gary Sheffield, Carlos Beltran, Jeff Francoeur) tie for second with 10. They had the longest streak of games without a home run in 2009, when they had an 8 game drought from July 3rd to July 11th (they also went 7 games in May). So let's just say, they need to hit some more home runs in 2010. That's why they signed Jason Bay, wasn't it?

David Wright was the real disappointment of 2009 on the power front only hitting 10 home runs after hitting 33 the year before. Wright has the Mets only home run so far this season (pictured to the right from The Star-Ledger), so that's $5,000 in the books. It must be The Situation and Vitamin Water (H/T Ari). According to FanGraphs, the projections for Wright's 2010 home run total lie between 19 and 25. Let's hope that he finds his power stroke again. Come on David, it's for the kids!

Players Union Needs to Stop Complaining, Start Focusing On What's Important

This irks me: “We have concerns about the operation of the post-2009 free agent market,” new union head Michael Weiner said Tuesday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “We have been investigating that market. Our investigation is far along but not yet complete.”

Ok, Mike, I'm assuming you're not talking about Scott Boras and his clear conflict on interest, because, well, you seem to have no interest in regulating agents. And I'm sure you're not talking about the treatment/salaries of minor league players, since, well, you don't seem to have much interest in their well-being. So what exactly are you talking about?

Oh, right, Mike...you're talking about players (read: high-paid veterans) whose salaries--as your union cited recently--is actually up. This in a time where the economies of all your American League Central cities from Cleveland to Detroit seem to be in shambles. I'm not crying for the owners, but let us not shed a tear for these poor players either. I'm not getting involved in the convoluted baseball labor negotiations but I have a feeling that big-market owners, small-market owners, and the (veteran) players are all making out just fine.

And this all started because Jim Edmonds and Jermaine Dye had a hard time finding work? Boo hoo. Maybe teams are realizing that signing defensively challenged, over-the-hill players is not a good use of funds. Maybe there is more (read: better) information available to teams and they are giving out more offers that are consistent to what they read--like FanGraphs telling us that Jermaine Dye was worth negative $1 million in 2009 and negative $2.4 million in 2007. I don't always agree with FanGraphs values, but maybe teams are realizing that giving these guys $5 M guaranteed is a waste of funds. Good for them. As FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal writes: "Employees seek to earn as much possible. Employers seek to pay as little as possible. That’s how free enterprise works. If the owners simply are showing more discipline in free agency, the players have little basis for complaint."

Listen, it may be true that teams colluded and maybe an investigation will uncover something egregious. But I agree with Sabernomics' J.C. Bradbury: I'm not buying it. The Econ education in me leads to me to cling strongly to Bradbury's opening argument:

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The Yankee Clipper: Yankees Take Series #1

It's early, but a series win is always sweet--especially against the Red Sox. Let's take a look at how we got there:

1. The Grandy Man Can. What a shot! That was the first extra-inning homer Jonathan Papelbon had ever allowed and the second extra-inning homer Curtis Granderson ever hit according to Baseball-Reference. Also from B-R, Granderson has 104 career home runs and 54 of those have come with no one on base and no one out. This one he'll remember for a while. After making the last out against Papelbum in Game 1 of the series, he put the dagger in him in Game 3. Sweet revenge for the Grandy Man (who got sung to by John Sterling). Let's see him do in in October now. 2 HR down, how many to go? Curtis!
2. This one comes from ESPN on a very odd record set: "The Yankees set a record for the modern era with their 17th straight win in regular-season games that were tied after seven innings. They equaled the 1906 New York Giants at 16 on Tuesday night." So if you're tied after 7 innings, they have won 17 straight and if you're losing after 7 innings they have Joba and Mo. You probably need the lead.
3. Well they would have had the lead had Daniel Bard not blown it in the 7th. Daniel Bard continues to struggle against the Yankees. They seem to have his number. In 2009, Bard gave up 5 home runs total--but 4 of those were served up to the Yankees. Last night, on an 0-2 count to Nick Swisher, Bard left one over the plate and Swischalicous smacked it into rightfield which scored...
4. ...Jorge Posada, who may be one of the worst baserunners I've ever seen. I know that he's slow, but jeez. The throw actually beat him there and his belly flop of a slide left him scrambling to get back home to touch up. Jorge does a lot of things well, but running the bases is certainly not one of them.
5. Chan Ho Park's redemption. It was a series of ups and downs. Granderson made the final out of one game and got the game-winning hit of another. Papelbon was lights-out in game 1 and got hit hard last night. Joba wasn't good in game 1 and was fist pumping in Game 2. It was "Chan Ho, and away we go" (H/T Calter) in Game 1 and last night it was 3 innings of redemption for someone who could be a very important piece in the Yankees bullpen.

Final thought: It's only three games into the season, but this was a really good start. This was typical Yanks-Sox. Either team could have easily won 1, 2 or 3 games in this series. The bullpens were tested. And the Yankees came out with two wins. On to Tampa Bay.

Update: Didn't see this before I posted. Maybe Joe West wouldn't be so mad if he would of, you know, called strikes. Others agree.

The Yankee Clipper: Game 2

I have to admit, most of my time was spent last night watching LOST and some of my sports watching was split between the Yankees/Red Sox and the Rangers. But that doesn't mean I can't give you a Yankee Clipper for Game 2:

1. I'm sure you've heard by now of Big Papi's big, expletive-laced tirade. Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston has some more information. Matt at Fack Youk thinks he may have justifiably been upset since we are two games into the season and he's already getting questions about his production. Craig Calcaterra at HardballTalk agrees with Matt. I'm OK with Papi being upset about being questioned this early in the season, but the dude is playing in one of the biggest baseball media markets and reaped a lot of good will form the writers when his career was going well. He can't now turn to the same people and mouth off just because they have to fill a newspaper column. That's unfair.
2. Also unfair is claiming that Joba Chamberlain has been magically healed by the bullpen gods because he pitched well last night and pumped his fist (*cough* Wallace Matthews). We'll never know now if he could have done this as a starter in the rotation, but those same people weren't texting me on Sunday night and saying that Joba's "bullpen mentality" wasn't working that night. I'm rooting for him to do well in this role--I really am--but I'm not going to engage in selective celebrations of success. We can collectively fist pump if Phil Hughes pitches well in the 5th role and the Yankees get to the playoffs at the end of the year. I can't say I didn't love the fist pump (I did one at home), but let's all settle down a bit (picture to the right from the ESPN New York article)
3. Nick Johnson's walk. Sometimes the biggest hit of the game is not a hit at all. If you want to see a reason we got Nick Johnson, that was it. Like Giambi, because of his eye Johnson is one of those guys who is sometimes does more damage with a walk than with a hit. It's not the most fun baseball, but it's what puts runs on the board and marks in the win column. As Mike from River Ave Blues wrote, Nick Johnson's biggest swing came with the bat on his shoulder.
4. Nick Swisher's patience. Pitchers will hate both of the "Nicks" in the Yankees lineup of 2010. Swishalicous saw 30 pitches last night. The best AB was 8 pitches against Manny Delcarmen. He doubled at the end of the at-bat and even though he didn't score, the amount of pitches he saw effects the game and the rest of the series. Maybe Delcarmen is unavailable tonight because of the toll he took last night. That's a victory in and of itself.
5. Robinson Cano's power. When Cano is on with the bat, he has such a sweet swing. This is a guy who could win a batting title and maybe vie for an MVP award if he kept focused all season. His blast to rightfield last night continued to show that. Focus, Robby, focus.

Final Thoughts: Other aspects I didn't talk about? Jorge and AJ doing fine as battery mates (we can stop that chatter for now), Alfredo Aceves doing really well out of the bullpen (I think that will be a big factor), and Marco Scutaro's error (is their a Red Sox curse for not resigning Orlando Cabrera?). 1-1 record and going for the series win tonight. Good start to the season. I just love having baseball back as the weather continues to get nicer.

Lost with LOST: Constant-ly Messing With Desmond's Happy Ending in the Matrix

I watch basketball and baseball very differently. For the most part I don't turn on basketball until the second half. There's no reason to, in my mind. It's like American Idol, Dancing With the Stars or the ilk (a host of shows I do not care to watch): you really just care about the ending and everything else before it is just filler. Baseball is different. It's a finely woven story from first pitch to the final out. Some find that difference boring but I'm not one of those. It's the only major sport that's not timed. I love the intricacies of the game, the games within the games, and how each pitch changes that at bat and the at bats after it. "Whatever happened, happened"...but until the last out is recorded, the game isn't over. LOST is baseball (you were probably wondering where I was going with this analogy. Well, I'm here). You have casual watchers who turn it on for enjoyment but you also have people who analyze every pitch, every at-bat. You have the real hardcore "nerds" who take it to the next level and search every literary reference and spoken word in LOST or every "PitchFX" in baseball. I sit someplace in the middle. But if LOST is truly baseball, then Desmond Hume is the set-up man: a misused character that literally sets up some of the most important parts of what we're watching. Desmond may disappear when we want him most and not be used enough, but he's always giving us great production. We, like Daniel Faraday, need Desmond Hume--he's our constant. And last night's episode was our set-up for the rest of the season.

As good as a shot of MacCutcheon 60 with John Updike

I ended last night's episode "Happy Ending", with a big "what the heck just happened?" I still will honestly say I don't know. But what the heck, I'm going to give it a try, brutha! John Updike*, in the same New Yorker article that he famously described Fenway Park as a "lyric little bandbox of a ballpark" also wrote of Fenway that it was "a compromise between Man’s Euclidean determinations and Nature’s beguiling irregularities." Hell, we could use the same description to paint a picture of The Island.

*Side Note: I wrote the Updike piece because I happened to stumble upon it this morning and then saw this (!) in The Atlanic: "On the island, we see a white rabbit named Angstrom who apparently is being subjected to Widmore's electromagnetic tests. Harold C. "Rabbit" Angstrom is the main character in five John Updike novels and represents the struggles of mid-century middle class Americans, with many problems surrounding his family life." (!!!!)

The Island is where we open this episode. In the eye* of one Desmond Hume. The man who is declared to be "special" by everyone Widmore: Charles, Eloise, Daniel, and even Penny. Except when Desmond is blasted into his Sideways World, he has no Penny. He's a rich man without a Penny--which would make him Penniless. He has everything but nothing. He has the approval of Charles Widmore--a man who he constantly sought the approval for in the Island World.

*Side Note: Now, let's remember, when we talk about the eye, we can remember another Bostonian, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and his essay titled "Circles". Read through that when you get a chance for some big LOST-y statements made. The only reason I have this literary reference? 10th grade English and my need to memorize Emerson, Thoreau and all those American authors. But this one was one of my favorites. And I think the most relevant to LOST. Oh yeah, and Penny's last name is Milton. Which I think refer's to John Milton...who wrote "Paradise Lost". I do remember that too.

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About Tonight's Yankee Lineup

For a while we've speculated on NYaT what would happen with the Yankees lineup when they faced a lefthander. Tonight we get an idea of just that, with Jon Lester on the mound for the Red Sox:

Brett Gardner is out of the lineup in favor of Marcus Thames who is batting 8th. Curtis Granderson has been dropped down to 9th.

Joe Girardi has said that he wants Thames in there vs. lefties but that it won't be a strict platoon with Gardner and that others will be out of the lineup as well. Since Nick Johnson actually hits lefties better and Nick Swisher is a switch hitter, I would assume this means that Granderson would lose some playing time against lefties with Gardner moving over to center.

So what does this mean for Randy Winn? It seems like he's going to be a late-inning pinch runner or defensive replacement for the time being. And he probably will get some starts vs righties to rest the other OFs. But if you had Winn getting more ABs than Thames, you may be disappointed.

My one concern is that, while Thames is much better vs. lefties with his bat than Gardner, is it enough to put him in the field with as poor a fielder as he is? If the Yankees get him three PAs vs. the lefty and lift him for a defensive replacement, it should minimize the damage.

But for a team which has done a great job of improving the team defense, letting Thames roam around the outfield too much may be detrimental. With everyone healthy, this won't be an issue. But when the inevitable injury occurs, the use of Thames in the outfield may have to be tempered.

Tonight doesn't show a ton, but for those of us that wondered how Girardi would adjust his lineup vs. lefties, we now have a good idea. Oh, and Posada is catching Burnett. So you can put an end to that talk as well.


-Andrew

The Best of New York Baseball Bracket Challenge: Narrowing Down The Candidates

Last night the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament ended but we're still finishing up with our New York Baseball Bracket Challenge. We're going to pit the best against each other so you can declare the best in New York. We'll list all the candidates this round, have you pick three and then we'll list arguments for those three players and have you vote for the top baseball player in New York (Mets or Yankees) history.

I decided to cheat a little and forgo the outfield vote. The Yankees own the three best outfielders in Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and Joe DiMaggio. Just missed includes: Charlie Keller, Roger Maris, Dave Winfield, Tommy Henrich, Bobby Murcer, Earle Combs, and Darryl Strawberry. But we're just going to go ahead and put the Yankees top three into the finals.

So here's the list (click on the link to find their original argument):

• Catcher: Yogi Berra
• First Base: Lou Gehrig
• Middle Infielder: Derek Jeter
• Third Base (results below): Alex Rodriguez
• Outfield: Babe Ruth (picture from Babe Ruth.com)
• Outfield: Joe DiMaggio
• Outfield: Mickey Mantle
• Righthanded Starter: Tom Seaver
• Lefthanded Starter: Whitey Ford
• Closer: Mariano Rivera

Remember, on the right side, pick your top 3 New York baseball players and we'll pit the top 3 all together head-to-head, to see who is the best baseball player in New York history. And let us know why you chose the way you did in the comments below!

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24 Recap: The Best Bitchslapping Episodes of the Season

Well that was much better, wasn’t it? This whole season we were building up towards something big and we finally seemed to hit the nail right on the head last night. My plan was the two hours of 24 and then the second half of the NCAA National Championship game. I got two amazing endings. The basketball final was one for the ages. The one on 24 was so game-changing-ly delicious that I think it might have seen our best “episode” in years. Why did I put episode in quotes? Because it was two episodes—AKA a two-hour event—that lived up to its billing.

Taking Yourself Hostage is So Hardcore

The ending was so shocking and so deliciously 24 that I think we need to backup two hours and figure out how we got there. The sun was rising. Jack was busy escorting President Hassan back to the United Nations when Hassan decided to take matters into his own hands—literally. Hassan crowbars Jack to the back of the head (seemed a little light, but Jack went down) and points a gun at Freckles. He then (for some reason) turns over his gun to the guy who had been trying to take him hostage in the first place (Bishop) and orders his wife, daughter, Frecks and Jack into a room where he adds a crowbar to the lock so they’re nice and trapped*. Hassan and Bishop exit to the street (7th Ave? Really? How did we get to the West Side? I need a 24 geography lesson) where there is an SUV waiting with keys underneath. How nice and convenient. Hassan has literally taken himself hostage. Now that’s a Jack Bauer move.

*Side Note: OK, here’s what I don’t get. Hassan is an honorable guy…but all those Secret Service people who fought for him when he was taking fire last episode now died for nothing. They sacrificed their own lives so he could get away and now he’s turning himself into the same people who were after him. Also, why the hell would he give Bishop his gun? What’s stopping Bishop from putting a cap in Jack and Freckles and pistolwhipping Hassan’s daughter and wife? He doesn’t want them getting free and blowing the mission. He had every reason to just kill Jack and Freckles since he was trying to do the same exact thing like 20 minutes before. Even Jack yells, “Mr. President, you can’t trust him!” Why did it change now? Why was this totally missed?

Jack calls Chloe for help (“Can you hear me now?” Sprint must be sooooo pissed that Jack’s hocking for Verizon now) and tells her that General Brucker is the one behind all this. Jack gets a phone call in to the President where he tells her that her Cabinet has been compromised and that she needs to confront him now. I mean she was already onto something wrong since she had just asked for updated casualty numbers, Hassan and Ethan (who Rob Weiss locked in his office to die). Chloe then watches as Jack carjacks some poor dude in a Hyundai who is trying to grab the morning paper. Sucks for you, dude—your car just got Jack’d.

Brucker, Rob Weiss and Bishop get to the terrorists just as the bomb is about to go off. Samir calls Tarin and tells him to stop the bomb. And with a few seconds left until detonation, it’s a good thing. Especially for Tarin who seems more than relieved. Tarin and Bishop then do a very cool phone trade: Hassan for the bomb. Meanwhile Taylor and Secret Service invade Ethan’s office, she has Brucker arrested and she smacks the shit out of Rob Weiss—and threatens him with treason. She’s really not happy about his treason and doesn’t want his promise of “plausible deniability”. Too late, Madam President—Weiss has confirmation*; Hassan is with the terrorists. Bitchslap number 2.

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Trivia Tuesday: We're Baaacccckkkk

It's been a long while since we had a Trivia Tuesday but I felt the beginning of the baseball season was a perfect time for it. Let's get to our first question with a big H/T to Jordan and to the ESPN TMI blog:

Over the last 50 years, there have been four instances of a pitcher getting the start on Opening Day after missing all of the previous season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Carl Pavano ('07 Yankees*), Scott Erickson (’02 Orioles), Alex Fernandez (’99 Marlins), and Diego Segui (’77 Mariners). Yesterday, three pitchers did just that. Name them!

*Side Note: Seeing Carl Pavano's name up there makes me sick. Chien-Ming Wang went down with a hamstring pull, Andy Pettitte suffered back spasms, Jeff Karstens had elbow stiffness, and Mike Mussina’s schedule lined him up incorrectly. So I know it's only one start and obviously he wasn't their #1 starter...but still...River Ave Blues thought it may be his destiny to pitch a no-hitter on Opening Day, but that that didn't happen. Oh, and in case you're wondering, by April 15th, he was on the DL--for the rest of the season.