And the Award Goes To...

When the Cy Young Awards are given to their winners after the MLB season concludes many Mets fans are going to be sorely disappointed when Johan Santana does not take the award home. He is deserving, no doubt, but the award is given to the best pitcher in the National League, and that, is without any doubt, Tim Lincecum of the Giants.

Although both guys have the stats to win the award, I have to give the nod to Lincecum. 8-2, 2.37 ERA 132 K in 114 IP. Those numbers are just downright filthy. He is on pace to win 17 games and strikeout 285 batters this season. Last night he threw his 3rd complete game and 2nd SHO. Oh, did I mention that it was against Albert Pujols and the Cardinals? He managed to hold "The Machine" to just one hit and even made the best in the game look absolutely foolish on a breaking ball.

For a guys who is listed at 5'11" and 170 lbs. to be pitching the way he is at the ripe old age of 25, it is safe to say that he is truly a notch above the rest of the pitchers in the National League. So I'm sorry Mets fans but Johan won't get that Cy Young as long as "The Freak" has something to say and do about it.

We Are All Witnesses...

It isn't often where the phrase "One man does not make a team" is ever wrong, but in some cases, it is. One player ultimately comes to many people's minds when they talk about this sort of thing. And it has been said for the past few years.

Albert Pujols:
This is really a no-brainer isn't it? When you look at the starting line-up of the St. Louis Cardinals does anyone else actually strike fear in you? The answer is no. This season Pujols leads the Cards in 10 (yes, 10) offensive categories. Can you say dominant? Not only does he lead his team in the obvious categories like Home Runs and RBI (sorry Ryan Ludwick), he leads the Cards with 9 SB. No that is not a typo. 9 SB leads the Cards and its the guy in the middle of the order swiping bases. If he stays on his current pace, he will hit 61 HR and drive in 159 runs, while scoring 131 runs. If Pujols were to go down with an injury for an extended period of time, the Cardinals would be flat out screwed, because no one in that order can pick up that kind of slack.

The scary thing is that Pujols is only 29 years old, so he is really just hitting his prime production years. Considering the fact that he has hit at least 32 home runs and driven in at least 103 runs every season of his career, we could all be witnessing one of the best players of all-time. I actually heard a person say that Pujols is already the best player in the history of the Cardinals. I, for one, do not agree with that assessment considering Stan Musial and Rogers Hornsby, to name a few that I feel are still better all-time players than Pujols, but he is on his way to eclipsing them in my eyes.

So we, as baseball fans, should sit back and enjoy watching Pujols' career, because players of his caliber are so rare to come by. It is not out of the realm of possibility that we could see a Triple Crown winner this season in Pujols. He is that good. Or as ESPN calls him: The Machine.

I Take NO Pleasure In Viewing This...

It's taken me this long to figure out what to write...well, here goes! I am a HUGE Yankees fan...a lot of people will agree with that statement. I really try to stay positive when it comes to watching the Yankees play (I said TRY) however it is hard sometimes because they just are so infuriating with the way they play against lesser teams. As we speak, the Yankees are in danger of losing 2 out of 3 against the Washington Nationals. In a word, that is UNACCEPTABLE! I'm getting sick of watching the Yankees struggle against the pitchers that they've never seen before. This is a team of veterans, I find it no excuse when they get shut out against a journeyman with terrible numbers or a rookie looking for his first win..ever!...This is what advanced scouting is for. Do the Yankees even HAVE it?!? Cause you could really fool me with the way they've looked against the likes of Shairon Martis, John Lannan and Craig Stammen??? WHO ARE THESE GUYS!?!! You have GOT to be able to hit against these guys...everyone else in the Majors can do it!!!

This team looks absolutely flat in every way. This is a perfect example of a team playing down to the competiton. The Yankees must of thought that this would be an easy 3 game series against a bad team. Well guess what? THE BAD TEAM CAME TO PLAY THIS WEEK!!! This isn't just about them playing bad against the Nationals. For me its about playing against every lesser team, facing all the bad pitching that they always seem to make look like Cy Young.

The Yankees are 3 games out of first place in the American League East. There is no doubt they are fortunate to be even that close, considering they can not seem to beat the Boston Red Sox either, its 8 in a row, dating back to last year I believe...but thats another story for another night. The question I seem to ask myself with this Yankees team is how good are they, really? Are they just a good team, a team that is going to finish over .500 and struggle to get in to the playoffs? Or are they the team everyone expected them to be coming in? The team that was dubbed the best in the spring, on paper, as always. The better teams, the playoff teams if you will...do not lose to the worst teams in the league...they roll through them and beat them like any other team. You know, kind of like the great Yankees teams did in the 90's and going back, even earlier than that. One thing I will say about this Yankees team is they do have fight...they lead the league with 20 come from behind wins, which can be misleading considering a comeback win consists of being down after the very first inning. Scary to think where they'd be if they didn't have that many come from behind wins.

I'm still looking for the Yankees team that we saw when they went on that 9 game winning streak. Right now? They are just a streaky team that doesn't hit the bad pitching...and can't beat the bad team, not even the worse one. In a word, it is UNACCEPTABLE!

WIth the First Pick ...

The NHL Entry Draft is just 9 days away and the New York Islanders, my favorite team, are fortunate (HAHA) to have the 1st overall pick. This draft class coming out of college and junior hockey leagues is deep, and there really isn't a consensus top pick in the draft, but 3 young men that are all worthy of the honor.

John Tavares:
Tavares is the Islander fans dream choice. His resume speaks for itself. He is the all-time OHL goal scoring leader with 215. He has won two World Junior Championships with Team Canada and numerous other awards during his stint in the OHL. He has a natural nose for the puck around the net, and has an immense skill set. He could provide the Islanders with scoring that they desperately need (201 goals as a team in 2008-09, an average of 2.5 a game).

Victor Hedman:
The Swedish defenseman is atop many draft boards around the league. He is 6 ft. 6 in. and has been compared to great defensemen such as Chris Pronger. He has been playing in the Swedish Elite League since 2007, further showing that he is capable of playing at the highest level. He could be the backbone of a defense right out of the gate and that is why he is talked about as a possible No.1 pick.

Matt Duchene:
The 5 ft. 11 in. center from Ontario has skyrocketed up draft boards over the past few weeks. He quickly made this a three-man race for the top pick. He has been compared to hockey greats Steve Yzerman and Joe Sakic and he has accumulated 129 points in 121 games for the Brampton Battalion. His resume may not be as good as the other two young men, but he has so many skills that will translate well to the NHL.

If it was up to me, I would take Tavares. The Islanders need scoring right now and he will provide it right now. So Garth, don't mess around here, and take the slam dunk.

Fundamentals?

Luis Castillo you should be ashamed of yourself, plain and simple. From day one you learn to use two hands when you catch a pop-up. I simply cannot stand watching these so-called professional baseball players showboat and use one hand to catch a pop-up (see Jones, Andruw). They all do it and I can't wait for every single one of them to get burned.

Luis, you are first. Your closer did all that was expected against one of the best hitters in baseball. He popped him up with the tying run on second. To give him that kind of an effort and not give him he save that he earned is deplorable. Again, Luis you should be ashamed of yourself. There is absolutely no excuse for you dropping that ball. You are a professional and easy pop-ups are meant to be caught.

If I was Jerry Manuel I'd bench you for the rest of the series. Let Cora play 2nd and Valdez play short, I could care less at this point. You do not deserve to play professional baseball for awhile. And while you sit in the dugout watching your team play, try and teach Delgado a little something about using two hands, I think he needs the help too.

I've Seen This Episode Before...

Seeing the Yankees lose their 7th straight game this season against their hated rivals, the Boston Red Sox, and 8th overall, I had many feelings going through my head. The first, like many Yankee haters, was happiness, but then I started to feel somewhat bad for the fans of the Yankees and even the Yankee players. It is a horrible thing to see your favorite team lose over and over to your hated rival.

In the late 1990's and early 2000's, I suffered as many Yankee fans are right now, as I watched my beloved Mets lose time and time again to the Atlanta Braves. It would seem like the Mets would wilt under the pressure of playing in Turner Field (or as I call it: The House of Pain). From 1998-2001, the Mets were 21-35 against the Braves, including a few 3-9 seasons. Every time the Mets would get remotely close to first place, there would be a three game series with Atlanta on the schedule and the Braves would treat the Mets like an older brother who wants nothing to do with the annoying little brother.

It seems all too familiar right now with the Yankees and Red Sox. Both teams come into a series with intensity and confidence, but the Yankees always seem to blink first. It doesn't matter if the game is at Fenway or Yankee Stadium, the Sox always seem to have the mental edge in each and every game. The Red Sox are quickly taking the role of big brother, and if the Yankees aren't careful they are going to be exposed to wet willies and wedgies (figuratively) for a long time if they don't start winning ball games against Boston soon.

The Dream Team

It is my contention that one cannot truly be a baseball fan if they aren’t willing to admit that there are great players on teams that aren’t their favorite. Many times in baseball a fan will be too proud to admit that the star player on their rival team is a great player. To me this is childish and doesn’t show a love for the game. I’m a Yankee fan, but have no problem showing respect for other great players. To show this, I’ve drafted my own personal dream team, filled with the best players (in my humble opinion) at each position.

Catcher- Joe Mauer. Hands down. The problem with catchers is that since they get so beat up behind the plate, their shelf life dwindles quickly, and their performance sinks. There are 3 types of catchers in the game. Catchers who are great hitters but are sub-par defensively, such as Mike Piazza, catchers who are good defensively but can’t hit such as Jason Varitek or Jose Molina, and then there is the rare breed who can do both. That group would have Joe Mauer as its shining example. Mauer is a two time batting champion in 6 seasons in the majors. As a catcher. No contest.

First Base – My vote goes to Albert Pujols. Simply put, he’s the best hitter at the position. Forget Ryan Howard, forget Teixeira (who is vastly better defensively, and would be my runner-up) and forget Youkilis (third place, honorable mention). Albert gets the job done at first base, while hitting at least 30 home runs in each of his 8 full seasons and the man has never hit below .314. For a power guy that’s absolutely ridiculous. He has the highest lifetime batting average of any active player (.334), and he can pick it a little at first base. That’s all you need. If a guy could hit like that, I don’t care where he’s put on the field, he’s in that lineup.

Second Base – This was a tough one. There wasn’t a clear cut winner in my mind. I have it down to Dustin Pedroia or Chase Utley. Utley’s a bigger power and RBI guy, but arguably Pedroia is the better all around hitter. Pedroia bats for average and hits rather than home runs and RBIs. I’d give the defensive edge to Dusty, but Utley is still a low .300 hitter even with his 30 HR and 100 RBI. I’ll give it to Utley. Arguments and criticisms welcome. Moving on.

Third Base – Everyone knows the answer to this one. Since it’s rather unclear when he actually started taking steroids, it’s tough to say how much they helped and whatnot, so I still have to give this one to Alex Rodriguez. He’s better that 34 than most guys are at 24. The career numbers are there, the home runs and RBIs are there, the batting averages are there. But it’s tough to say what kind of player he would be if he didn’t take PEDs. My favorite player not in Yankee pinstripes is Evan Longoria, third baseman for the Rays. It’s pretty clear this kid will be a superstar, but he’s only been in the bigs for one full season. Granted, he’s having a hell of a year right now, 13 HR and 55 (good for second in the league behind Jason Bay), but he doesn’t have enough to show me that he’s good enough to surpass someone such as A-Rod or even David Wright. David Wright gets my runner up vote. David is a pure, clean player (we hope) and is also a low .300 guy who hits 30/100 each year. While he’s no A-Rod, he’s a pure talent which goes a long way.

Shortstop – This is also a tough one. There’s no shortstop in the AL worth mentioning. Derek Jeter isn’t Derek Jeter anymore (although he can still play, but he’s not in his prime) and there are two in the NL that have their obvious downfalls. Jose Reyes is a low power guy and a good leadoff hitter. His OBP is at a consistent .350 or so each year and he’s a stolen base machine. He’s good for a home run total in the teens somewhere, which is decent for a leadoff hitter. His average fluctuates from year to year. He’ll hit .300, then next year it’ll be .280, then .297, then .273. His lack of consistency is a problem. But he’s young and still maturing as a ballplayer. Jimmy Rollins is another choice. Rollins is more of a power hitter (and a leadoff hitter strangely enough) having hit 30 homers and had 94 RBI in his MVP season in 2007. However, he’s not a .300 hitter, having hit .290 once as a career high. He doesn’t have Reyes’ speed and he’s older. I’d give a slight edge to Jose Reyes. He’d be my shortstop.

Right Field – Ichiro Suzuki. Second highest career batting average (.332), he’ll hit .330 or higher each year, 200 hits at least, and at least 35 steals each year. No arguing with that, the man is arguably the best slap hitter in the game. His OBP is through the roof, he only fell below .400 once in his career. Not to mention he has one of the most feared arms in the outfield. The other feared arm is coming up next.

Centerfield – Carlos Beltran. Beltran has the best cannon among centerfielders. Rick Ankiel might be slightly better, but Beltran is a way better hitter than Ankiel. Beltran is good for at least 25 HR a year, with a career high of 41 in 2006. He’s notched 100 RBI in 8 of his 12 major league seasons. 3 Gold Gloves in a row can’t be a mistake. He glides around centerfield effortlessly and will gun down anyone who dares to run on him. Easily the best all-around centerfielder in the game.

Left Field – Left Field is not known for its defensive demands, so a sub-par defender will do here. Since I did this for A-Rod, I must be fair and say Manny Ramirez. Manny hits everything, and is now the most feared hitter in the National League, cheater or not. Who knows when he started using. When he was starting to decline or maybe his whole career. He’s a great hitter. But with A-Rod I chose a clean alternate, so I shall do the same with Manny. I’d actually pick Jason Bay, who is the current AL RBI leader with 56. Not a high average guy, hitting around .285 with one venture into .300 territory in his career, but he’s an easy 30/100 hitter. He’ll do the job.

Pitching Staff is as follows:

#1 Starter – Johan Santana. Best pitcher in baseball, hands down. 2 Cy Youngs, a nasty win percentage (.684) and a career ERA barely over 3 as a lefty, it’s no contest this guy is the ace among aces.

#2 Starter – Roy Halladay. 2003 Cy Young winner, a complete game machine and he lead the league in innings pitched 3 times. Doc Halladay may give up a lot of hits but is masterful enough at his craft that he can just mow people down and get out of jams. Definitely the best pitcher currently throwing a baseball in the AL and the highest win total of anyone on my staff.

#3 Starter – CC Sabathia. Also an innings pitched fiend, Sabathia is a Cy Young award winner as well (although in my opinion undeserved) in 2007. What he did for the Brewers last season was incredible. He makes his starts and has the capability to carry a team to the postseason. His hits to IP ratio isn’t that good but his K/IP is almost 1 to 1. He has 1,000 more IP than ER. Pretty impressive. Capable of being the ace of any staff, albeit not the best in either league.

#4 Starter – Tim Lincecum. 2008 Cy Young Winner, led the National League in strikeouts and winning percentage last year (.783). Clearly the future of pitching. 265 strikeouts is nothing to sneeze at, and winning the Cy Young over the guy who won 22 games is also impressive and shows talent and promise. He’s a solid back-end starter with the possibility of ace status in a few more years. He may be on the front end of the Giants rotation, but on this one, I hope he’ll understand why he’s taking a backseat.

#5 Starter – Josh Beckett. Beckett is the only one on this staff without a Cy Young, compliments of CC Sabathia. Beckett was my choice for the 2007 Cy Young Award, having won 20 games in ’07 to Sabathia’s 19. Also has about a strikeout for every inning pitched like the others, Beckett has a low walk total and is good for about 30 starts a year. He only had one year where his season record was a losing one (2002). He’s the frontline starter for Boston, but is only the fifth best starter in the game, if that. I’d take him on my staff obviously.

I’m skipping middle relief because nobody really cares about them.

Closer – Francisco Rodriguez. The new single season saves leader strikes out an enormous total for only pitching one inning a game. That’s the only knock on him is he’s a 3 out pitcher. As much as I’d love to say Mariano Rivera is my closer, Mariano can still get the job done but his career is close to over and K-Rod’s is just beginning. He’s only 27, and at one inning per outing, he’ll be around for a long time and will be dominant for a long time. Aside from Rivera, Rodriguez is easily the most feared reliever in the game.

The Best of the Best?

Sometimes in baseball, the numbers drive the arguments. Who’s better than whom, who’s a better hitter, who’s more clutch, etc. But if there ever were a debate where the numbers were to be almost thrown out the window, it would be the debate of the ages. Who was the better player, Barry Bonds or Ken Griffey, Jr.? If you ask me, it’s no debate at all.

Let’s just hide our heads in the sand for a second and pretend that Barry Bonds didn’t cheat. If he was an honest talent, then his numbers would speak for themselves. .298 lifetime average, 1,995 RBI, 762 home runs, 2935 hits. That’s a Hall of Fame career. First ballot. Compared to Griffey, Bonds would be far superior. Griffey’s obviously no hack, but trails in each of these categories. Griffey’s got a .287 lifetime average, 617 home runs, 1,787 RBI and 2,711 hits. Now, in fairness, Bonds came up 3 years earlier than Junior did, but Junior played 2 years (including 2009) after Bonds…”retired”. So we’ll just call them even.

Neither one of them were the Rookie of the Year in their respective seasons, and Bonds was a 3 time NL MVP before he went to the Giants and started cheating. Griffey won his MVP in 1997, and never won a batting title (but the Court of Public Opinion rules Bonds’ 2 batting titles invalid since he cheated to get them). But my biggest factor in this discussion is this. Bonds led the league in home runs only once before he started cheating. His …cough… “magical”… season in 2001 of 73 home runs doesn’t count. He hit 46 legitimate home runs in 1993 which was good for the league lead. Griffey hit 45, just for the record. Griffey led the league in home runs 4 times. In 1994, and then 3 times in a row from 1997-99. So, score one for the Kid. I also find it a bit odd that the career Home Run King (I feel like I need to wash my mouth out with soap) only hit 50 home runs after he started juicing. That was the 2001 season. Never before had he done it. He hit 49 in 2000, which was also a cheating year since Bonds said he started using PEDs (that he didn’t know were bad. Nice try) after the 1998 season. So, in reality the closest he ever came was the 46 in 1993. Griffey hit 50 homers twice in a row. 56 in both the ’97 and ’98 seasons. Bonds became an automatic IBB, which in my opinion (and this is very open to debate) makes it easier to hit home runs, because when they decide to pitch to you it’s more likely to get a pitch to hit. It’s tougher to hit home runs when they’re trying to strike you out, not trying to pitch around you. Score another for Griffey.

Also, there’s one giant contributing factor to why Griffey is not atop the all-time home run list. He was hurt a lot. He got hurt playing hard, playing like Ken Griffey, Jr. could. He would make the highlight reels every night, scaling walls, laying out to catch fly balls, throwing guys out from deep center. Bonds was nothing but a warm body in left field, just occupying the space. Granted, he made some good plays as a Pirate, but he left his defensive skills in left field in Pittsburgh. But, if Griffey stayed healthy, it would be he who we would praise as the new Home Run King. He missed 90 games in 1997 when he broke his wrist running into the wall. After signing with Cincinnati in 2000, it was clear he wasn’t Ken Griffey, Jr. anymore, even when he should have been. He was supposed to be in his prime, at 31. His next 3 years should have been his best, but they weren't. He missed 50 games in 2001, 92 games in 2002, 109 in 2003, and 80 in 2004. That’s combined total of 421 games. That’s 2 and a half seasons of baseball. That’s good for at least approximately 75 home runs (30 in a full year, 15 in a half. It's probably more, but let's just be realistically generous.) which means Griffey would be closing in on 700 homers. Given this number, he’d stick around long enough to break Aaron’s record. Also, conventional logic dictates that if he wasn’t so broken down from being hurt, he’d have been much better and would have more than 700 by now.

I’m not even going to say that Bonds’ is a great player because he cheated to be great. Griffey is great because he’s the best player I’ve ever seen and he didn’t need a needle. Maybe Bonds didn’t either, but that’s the way he went. Bonds may have bigger numbers, but they don’t count. Once you’re in the Hall of Fame, everyone is as good as everyone else. If Bonds is indicted of perjury, my guess is he doesn’t get in. If the BWAA hides behind the idea that he was a Hall of Famer before he started cheating and would have been one anyway, he’ll get in, as will Griffey, both on their first ballot. Griffey gets in on his first ballot (my best guess to break Seaver’s record of 98.8% of the vote) and he did it with sheer talent. In this debate, there is no debate. Griffey is the better player of the two without question, and the best player of his era. Bonds’ numbers may trump Griffey’s in weight, but not in legitimacy. In the end, Ken Griffey, Jr.’s legacy will be that of greatness, Barry Bonds’ will be that of cheating and controversy.

The Last of His Kind...

On Wednesday, Randy Johnson became the 24th pitcher in Major League Baseball history to win 300 games. This is a great accomplishment, there is no doubt, but this will more than likely be the last time we, as baseball fans, see a 300 game winner.

The reason is simple. Guys just don't have as many opportunities to win games anymore. Specialization has taken the game and molded it into something different. Pitchers rarely go deep into games anymore. A quality start (6 IP, 3 ER) is now what teams are looking for before they go to the bullpen. Pitch counts (see Chamberlain, Joba) now take precedent over talent, and younger pitchers are forced to watch from the dugout as their hard work is ruined by the bullpen. It is a sad thing to see, as a pitcher gets 30-34 starts in a season and their record is filled with no decisions.

So congratulations Randy on the 300th win of your career. I am happy that I will be able to tell my children and grandchildren that I saw the last 300 game winner in the history of Major League Baseball.

The Time Has Come ...

Before the 1919 World Series, there was an agreement between members of the heavily favored Chicago White Sox and big-time gamblers to throw the World Series. The players, with their compliance would receive $100,000 for losing the Series to the Cincinnati Reds.

For the White Sox, it was a way of sticking to their penny-pinching owner, Charles Comiskey, who on a regular basis treated his players more like indentured servants than ballplayers. The players annual salaries were considerably lower than ballplayers on other teams who were simply not as good. The players' key motivator was the money that they were to receive.

The ringleader of the fix was Arnold "Chick" Gandil, the White Sox first baseman. He quickly got others to join on the fix, like "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, Eddie Cicotte, and "Lefty" Williams. Altogether there was seven ballplayers in on the fix, and one other, "Buck" Weaver, who had knowledge of the fix.

After losing the first two games of the Series, the players, with the exception of Cicotte, had not received any money. Some of the players abandoned the fix and attempted to win the Series outright. It was not to be, however, as "Lefty" Williams lost his third game of the Series in Game 8 (The Series was best-of-nine back then), after a threat was made on his wife's live if he didn't lose. The Sox lost to the Reds five games to three in the Series.

Rumors of the fix grew over the winter and into the 1920 season, and in September the eight players were indicted on charges of conspiracy, and suspended indefinitely from the team. Legal proceedings dragged on, and three players actually confessed to being crooked in the Series. The trial went into 1921, and the players were acquitted of all charges, after the signed confessions of Cicotte and Jackson were lost (or stolen, depending on how you look at it.).

Newly appointed Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis made a statement the day of the acquittal saying that any player who deliberately throws games, or has knowledge of the throwing of games will no longer play in the Major Leagues. With that statement, the eight men were banned from professional baseball.

The purpose of writing this entry is to call for the reinstatement of these men, and to allow Joe Jackson his rightful place in Cooperstown. It has been 90 years since all of this transpired, and these men have been punished long enough. Jackson belongs in the Hall of Fame, as he has the 3rd highest career batting average (.356) and had amassed over 1,700 hits in the 12 years he had played.

It is time to forgive these men and take them off the banned list, and reinstate them. I know I'm not alone on this, but I also know that there are many people that disagree with me, and I welcome arguments on both sides. All I know is that I feel that the "Black Sox" should be reinstated by Major League Baseball, and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson should be enshrined in Cooperstown.