Ben usually likes to cover PK, dont worry, I'm just going to cover his non-football thoughts and Ben will post the rest on Wed. I know all of you will love this because he pretty much only covers baseball teams from New York and Boston, but fuck it, I'm going to go over these thoughts anyway.
a. I must be un-American. I hate Sweet Caroline in the bottom of the eighth at Fenway. How'd that dumb song ever get picked as a fan anthem?
I couldnt agree more. Every time I go to Fenway this song just makes me want to punch babies, especially when everyone sings along like idiots. Tessie falls into this catagory as well. If I could never hear either of these two songs ever again, I will die a happy man.
b. Jon Lester is pitching pretty well. Of the last 65 batters he's faced, the Boston lefty has allowed four hits and struck out 29. Koufaxian.
He is striking out almost 50% of the hitters he faces. I'm pretty sure he's doing better than "pretty well."
c. What a bullpen the Red Sox have. The other night against the mighty Phils, with Papelbon resting after two straight Yankees nights, Boston pitched five relievers in the last six innings, allowing one run and striking out nine. The fifth, Daniel Bard, hit 100-mph on the gun twice and struck out Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth and Shane Victorino for his first save.
Unfortunately that bullpen didnt do so great against the "mighty phils" on Sunday, giving up 7 runs in the 7th inning.
d. Have you noticed a lot of baseball players look like they're wearing pajamas, not form-fitting uniforms?
Who cares?
e. Amazing but true in Saturday's New York Times: The Yankees have sold out one game out of the first 30 home games this year at the new Yankee Stadium.
Why is this amazing? The yankees clearly misread the economy and fucked up by overpricing all of their seats.
g. How does Luis Castillo show his face Friday night when the Mets play at home for the first time since the drop?
I dont know, this is just a guess, but maybe because he is contractually obligated to?
h. Great hustle, Mark Teixeira. I hope every baseball player from Little League to MLB saw the replay of you scoring from first on that Castillo drop.
Sure, theres that. Or maybe their parents could, you know, teach their kids to always hustle and not rely on a professional ballplayer to set the example. Maybe I'm crazy?
Theres other stupid shit, like a drill seargant wanting to put NFL players through bootcamp, and the obligitory coffeenerdness nonsense, but I'll let Ben take on that tomorrow.
Update: I was just listening to the radio and I just heard Donte Stallworth was sentenced to 30 days in jail for DUI vehicular manslaughter. So this is what our legal system has come to, if you are rich and can afford to pay off the family of the person you killed--while drunk--you can skate on any kind of prison sentence. For vehicular manslaughter the minimum sentence is 4 years and Stallworth got 30 days. I honestly dont wish anything bad on Stallworth but, you cant tell me if the same thing happened to one of us we wouldnt be sitting in a cell right now for the next half decade or so. Not to mention Michael Vick got way more and he didnt kill anyone. I'm not saying what Vick did was right, but how does he do more time in prison when Stallworth actually killed someone? Some things just dont make sense to me.
29 comments:
The song probably got picked because as we know, Boston fans (read Bill) likes to use dated material. I'm surprised they don't have any Bruce songs.
And why would this make you un-american? Its not a patriotic song. I don't get that comment, does anyone else?
Why does he refer to Lester as Koufax? Cuz he pitches left handed? He isn't even the hottest pitcher in the bigs, please stop listing all your non-football related crap on Boston teams. if you do, just change the section to Non-Football Related Boston News. No offense, if i wanted Boston updates on their team I would go the Boston Globe page or just watch ESPN.
Shouldn't H also point out the to kids the proper way to catch a pop up as well as run the bases? And shouldn't parents teach their kids not to act like a jackass when pitching, i.e. Papelbon. How many more lessons should kids learn from pro's? How to act like you can't have any fun (Kobe), or an ass (Lebron), or how you shouldn't do drugs (Dallas Cowboys), or not to drink and drive (every one of them)?
Here is a question for King, who currently has the highest attendance and highest average attendance for home games in MLB? I'll give you a slight hint, they play in New York, and they are not the Mets. Who cares if they sell out or not, they still get plenty of people there, over 45,000 every game. I'm well aware its down from last year, but they still draw more then anyone else.
Is it just in the nature of Boston fans to rip on NY teams (or LA teams) no matter what? Get over yourselves already.
well they did used to play Kevin Millar karaokeing "Born in the USA", I will say, that was pretty amusing.
I dont get that comment, I dont even know why he said it. Maybe he could have said "not a true red sox fan" but that would've been just as stupid.
Probably because thats the only good lefty he can name off the top of his head. I have noticed that he does only talk about Boston and New York teams, thats why I threw that in the into.
I'm confused. Whos ripping on NY and LA teams? King just found it amazing that the yankees have only sold out 1 home game and I just pointed out that its not really that much of a shock because of the ridiculous ticket prices. And when was anyone here ripping on LA?
Not all boston fans rip on other teams. I really wish Boston fans could somehow shake that sterotype. But its not going to happen until our teams start sucking again and everyone hops off the bandwagon.
Isn't Manny pretty much the one who started wearing the long, baggy pants? He's this first one I thought of when I read the 'pajama' comment.
Also, I wonder how the Giants/Jets are feeling looking at the Yankee's attendance? And they have the whole PSL backlash to deal with.
The Stallworth verdict is just jaw-dropping. It makes me wonder what they're not telling us. When I see something like that, it makes me think the prosecution didn't have a strong case, but this seems like a slam-dunk. That's just crazy shit.
AJ's probably talking about the Simmons' recent Kobe column, and all Bill's LA-hating.
wv: unbrucis
Manny might've been the first, although, I do remember Jim Thome used to wear pretty baggy uniforms in his Indians day.
This is what it sounds like with the Stallworth case. He pretty much paid them off, literally, he paid them off. So then they talked to the prosecution and said that he "suffered enough", and thats what lead to the plea deal. I just think its messed up that if you have money you can get away with things normal people cant.
I never said you were ripping on LA. It seems like both Celtic fans and Lakers fans always rip on each other no matter how good the other team is playing.
I was just saying, the Yankees have the highest attendance in the majors, so why does King feel the need to point out they have only 1 sell out? Seriously, what is the point of saying that? They still get 45K a game, so really they are making just as much money as they did last year since the prices are higher.
I would have compared Lester to Pedro, since, you know, they both played for Boston and they both are dominating. I mean i understand they are both left handed, but I would just think he would compare him to someone just as dominate that also played for Boston
Ya I saw that Stallworth thing and was like, 30 days? Thats it? That has to be a misprint. Its just amazing how people can get away with things, yet the smallest crimes get punished to the max.
And to me, baggy uniforms have been around since the old days. Take a look at some of those pictures, or just watch the throw back games nowadays....look how baggy those things are. I mean the Tigers played the other day in their uni's from 1909 or something...Migual actually cut his jersey cuz it was so huge. It's not a new concept, just some players look more ridiculous then others (like Manny).
But you also have the opposite, some guys wear really tight uni's and those also look weird.
I took it to mean that fans of places like Boston rip NY and LA fans just in general, like the rest of the country rips "Red Sox Nation".
I don't mind the tradition of Sweet Caroline, it might be dumb, but it's unique, and it's theirs, so eh, more power to 'em.
If Brett Favre can show his face and repeatedly scouser for new teams to throw interceptions for after the way he ruined the Jets season, after the "It's too freaking cold, I'm heaving this up" interception against the Giants two years ago, and the fabulous 6 intereception performance a decade ago in the playoffs, then I'm guessing that Castillo might be able to show his face the next day. Shit happens. I dropped a routine flyball once before, and I remember it happening on occassion to other baseball players each year, and sometimes a teammate is there to grab it before it hits the ground...and become a Web Gem or some such on tWWL.
As for Stallworthe.....What the legal guy on the radio said was 30 days in jail, 2 year house arrest, 8 or 9 years probation. Depending on the house arrest, this might be merely intolerable, instead of rage inducing. If they let him have "work release house arrest" though, fuck him with a 2x4.
sorry I didn't comment on some of Fred's stff earlier, but "Yup" sort of didn't fell like a real contribution to the commenting section.
Peter King writes about baseball with the aplomb of a guy who watches baseball once a month. Maybe twice if the SAWX are playing the YANKS
I tell you one thing that annoys me and that is when a writer compares a player like Lester to Koufax because they are both white and left handed. The Braves have a farm hand, Jason Heyward who is LH and African American. Guess who he gets compared to? Dave Parker, Willie Stargell, and Fred McGriff. There is no one else he is comparable to? No one that is not of the same skin color as him?
The Yankees do still have great attendance, I think Peter was not trying to show favoritism or anything but like Chris said, he doesn't follow the game enough to know any real facts or make deep observations.
My question is who would play 2B if Castillo did not show is face? I thought Manny was one of the first with the baggy pants.
I need to look into the Stallworth thing, I haven't read anything about it. (God, I feel like Joe Morgan in one of his chats) That seems like a pretty low sentence for him though. I don't even know if he would end up getting the probation if he did something else wrong. My Least Favorite Person Leonard Little never had his sentence happen because he pled down when he was caught under the influence again. I have to hear about this house arrest.
Fred and J.S. did a great job of getting stuff up over the past couple of days. I have to admit, I asked him to keep Peter King for me, but I am glad he covered the baseball part because at this point in his MMQB I am almost too tired to argue with Peter.
Seriously, his fucking "takes" are like things some dude who doesn't watch baseball would say if he just watched his first game of the year.
"Oh man, the Red Sox bullpen didn't give up any runs today. That is awesome for a bullpen to do! They have SUCH A GREAT BULLPEN!"
"Hey what's the deal with all these baggy uniforms? They didn't use to be that baggy last time I checked. I remember they used to be different. Now they're all baggy! Heh heh they look like pajamas!"
"Infield WHAT rule? Oh God! Only in baseball!!!!"
Ok, so I made that last one up.
It's funny because his takes on baseball remind me a little bit of TMQ's take on football...except TMQ is actually supposed to understand football to write a column about it.
I have read him say a few times that baseball is his first love. I find it hard to believe since he doesn't seem to know a whole of a lot about it.
yeah I wasnt trying to steal the King column from you, I was just trying to get something posted and I figured you wouldnt mind if I just threw in a short little snippet of his non football thoughts.
so, how bout Sosa being the second name leaked off the "confidential" list of players from the 2003 test?
Wow, Sosa....no way! If I would have had to pick one name off that list, no way would it have been Sosa. I don't believe it, and I can't wait for everyone else to deny it too (you know, like ex-gm's, ex-managers, etc all).
Oh and welcome back Ben!
The thing I have wondered about the 104-name list is this: If this is supposed to be an anonymous test to see whether or not MLB needs to drug-test regularly, why were there names with the samples in the first place? Couldn't you just say, "Here are 1000 samples from major league players, tell me how many of them are using PEds."?
Also, Stallworth is going to get to play during his 2-year hoiuse arrest. So, whatever. Hopefully Goodell takes some action here.
I was always under the assumption that Sammy Sosa was on steroids. He even corked his bat as well. He is a double cheater. I know everyone is tired of hearing it, but I hate these slow leaks. Either name everyone who is on that list or quit leaking names one at a time.
I want to talk to the person that thought Sammy Sosa was clean and see how they could be so naive.
Dear Major League Baseball,
I don't care anymore. I really don't. At this point, everyone not named Derek Jeter and Greg Maddux that played between 1994-2006 is simply going to be assumed guilty until proven innocent. And I'm fine with that. I don't care who was and wasn't on steroids 10 years ago. It makes no difference to me. All I care about is that (A) you're making an effort to clean it up, and (B) you stay out of my face about it.
Sincerely,
Everyone
I would change that mailing address to the Mainstream Media.
I agree, just release the whole list already and get the talk over with at one time...instead they will continue to release a name every 2 months.
So let me ask this, i know its been talked about, but still...If the voters didn't elect Mark, will they elect any of these people linked to PEDs? Sosa (clearly not), Bonds (maybe), Raffy (nope), Roger (maybe)...but what about ARod and Manny now?
If you elect just one of them, don't you have to elect all of them? Its all or none at this point, isnt it?
The thing is, this PED talk will never go away because every year when the HoF voting takes place we will talk about who is on the voting list and if that player used and if so will they be voted in...this will happen every year now. To stop this talk, shouldn't MLB just take these players off the ballet like they did Rose?
By the way, I believe Magglio will be named on that 104 player list...I believe he used PEDs in Chicago. We should make a list and see how many names we can get right, with the winner getting that Pedrioa signed ball.
I am with you Jeremy, I don't even care anymore who is on the list. That's why I want the list revealed because it is pretty obvious they are going to release the names one by one anyway, so may as well just get it over with.
Leave it to baseball to still bungle the steroids issue. You would think they would want this whole situation over with as soon as possible, but instead they let it drag out.
I think it is going to be hard to let one proven steroid guy into the HoF without seriously considering the candidacy of the other proven steroid users.
For that list I want to put Marcus Giles, Mike Piazza, and Brian Giles as submissions who are on the 104 (or 102 person) list now.
I think one thing we are not taking into account with that list is, its not all going to be superstars. I'm sure there will be a bunch of scrubs on the list as well.
In the aftermath of the Morris/Media/Ibanez saga, I think i'm going to refrain from speculating about who has used PED's. I dont want Ken Rosenthal coming after me, yelling about "the power of the written word"
FL has some statute/law that stipulates that if the dead driver/pedestrian was also at fault, the driver/killer can be found not guilty of the more serious offense (manslaughter) and just plead to misdemeanor DUI/DWI or whatever. Watch the Leyritz case unfold. I bet the result is similar since it's been determined that the other driver was also drunk.
I read about that as well. Since I have put a curse on Jim Leyritz for previous World Series and NLCS transgressions, I am fully and completely confident the curse will extend to him being punished sufficiently. At least I hope so.
I'm sure Rodger will step in. He better. This is worse then what Pac Man has done.
My other choice for didn't use steroids...Tony "Double Cheeseburger with a vanilla shake please" Gwynn.
Jeremy--
How DARE you fail to mention Frank Thomas in your list of people-who-almost-100%-are-sure-not-to-have-taken-roids
Frank Thomas would never use steroids. Ever. I am at the point I am even questioning Griffey just because everyone else seems to be doing steroids as well. At this rate the active homerun leader is going to be Andruw Jones.
Seriously though, if it turns out Jeter and/or Maddux and/or Pedro and/or Glavine WERE on steroids, quite frankly, I'm not sure how I would respond to that. Like, Clemens or Bonds or A-Rod weren't really earth-shattering, because everyone pretty much agreed that those guys are douchebags, but Jeter or Maddux? Is that the biggest sports news story ever? Could that possibly top the 1919 Black Sox? I say yes, considering it was probably considerably easier to fix a World Series in 1919 than any of us realize. How do we rank all of these? I'm brimming with questions.
I think if it turns out that players like Maddux or Jeter used steroids then I think I would lose complete faith in baseball players. If Tony Gwynn or another player like that got lumped in I don't even know how I would feel.
I think it sucks but they just have to release the names of those 104 people. It's like baseball doesn't even want to save itself anymore.
We either want this discussion to go away or we don't. I promise you, I'd not be surprised to hear about Jeter, Petey, Maddux etc.
Competitive edge, multi-year mega million deals are very strong motivations to bend rules that were not enforced.
Contrary to the fact I just posted something else about steroids, I do want it to go away. Release all the names! Violate a person's rights! I am for that now. I want it to go away so I want it all in the open so we can move on.
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