For now, we’re talking about baseball, so if you’re not sure how to answer the question above, I’ll give you three choices:
First, you could be Fan #1. He goes to a game once a year, twice maybe, but most likely, the second game is at the invitation of a friend who paid for his ticket. He probably never played baseball on any organized team, and he only watches the MLB playoffs if his hometown team is playing.
Or, maybe you’re Fan #2. He reads about his home team most mornings when he wakes up. He had season tickets at one point, but he doesn’t anymore. He watches the playoffs partly because he likes baseball, but mostly because he wants to be able to talk about the games with his coworkers. He can tell you who the best teams in the league are, but he’d look at you funny if you said ‘Zack Greinke.”
If you’re truly obsessed, you may be Fan #3. He loves baseball. He loves it because it ties him to his father, and his grandfathers, and the men who built this country before them. He loves the magnificently cerebral experience that is a game of baseball. He definitely played, or, if not, wrote about his high school team. He watches Baseball Tonight whenever he can. If he doesn’t have season tickets, its because he either doesn’t live in his hometown, or simply can’t afford them.
It doesn’t matter what kind of fan you are. Major League Baseball will take us all.
But, if you play the game, manage the game, own the game, announce the game, promote the game, write about the game, or really, really care about the game, you must be Fan #3. You must love the game. You must stand up for it.
This week, I stood up for baseball.
In his article, which you can read by clicking here, William C. Rhoden of the New York Times claims that a Yankees-Dodgers World Series would be the only great match up for baseball. He says:
What follows is the letter I sent to Mr. Rhoden and his editors at The Times.
Dear Mr. Rhoden,
I write to commend you on your October 11th column, in which you claim that a Yankees-Dodgers World Series would be the best match-up for baseball, the only truly ‘Great Series’, and a ‘Series for the ages.’
The intention of your piece is a good one. Clearly, you care about the future of the game, and in searching for a good story you found an option that may provide a therapeutic moment of closure to the steroid era. But, I also write to challenge you, since, I would ask, “For once, why can’t baseball, alone, be the story?”
We’ve been so conditioned to dig for the ancillary plot lines, I’m afraid we’re missing the obvious beauty in the game itself. It can’t be ignored that the four teams left standing are the best four teams from the 2009 season. When was the last time that happened? These four teams finished first or second in each of their leagues, and they were the top four teams in all of baseball when playing teams with winning records. The Dodgers and Phillies are in the midst of a heavyweight bout. They traded devastating offensive blows in Game 1, and then gave us a pitching duel for the ages in Game 2. The Yankees, on the other hand, needed every bit of muscle they could muster to outlast the scrappy Angels in 13 rainy innings late into Sunday morning.
In match-ups this close and with teams this talented, the speed of the game is breathtaking. The pressure each team puts on its opponent influences every play, since any mistake could be the difference in the game, and the Series. And with games this good, the two best teams will inevitably advance to the World Series.
Besides, any way you slice it, the World Series will sell itself.
A Dodgers-Angels final would put Baseball’s biggest stage under America’s brightest lights in Los Angeles.
A Yankees-Phillies series would pit the two deepest offensive clubs against each other, and bring the defending champs back to the ring to face the most dominant franchise in World Series history.
A Phillies-Angels battle – clearly the least attractive for Fox – would still include two of the top 5 major markets in the country, and pair the two most fundamentally balanced teams in the game.
And, yes, if a Yankees-Dodgers series is what we get, it too will be great. It will be great for pitting the Yankees, a group of championship veterans managed by a second year coach, against the Dodgers, a group of future champions who are managed by the Yankees’ old veteran skipper. It will be great for matching up two teams that refused to lose in 2009. But for all the reasons that a Yankees-Dodgers World Series would be a great one, Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez aren’t on that list of reasons.
If we really want to move on from the steroid era, then let’s stop talking about it altogether. Because hyping Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez – two whose faces will forever be etched in the steroid era’s stone of Mount Mash-More – would only remind America of baseball’s tainted past. It would only reinforce the persistence of baseball’s soiled decade, and the dishonesty of the game’s heroes.
Mr. Rhoden, for those of us who love the game, who care about the game, who want the steroid era to be a transgression of the past, let us not perpetuate the continuation of this sour topic. Let us instead prop up the great teams left standing, with honest heroes named Jeter, Howard, Hunter and Kemp. And let us pass on to the newest fans a postseason of great games, a strategy of winning baseball, and a tradition that is purely exhilarating.
Respectfully,
DJ Gregory, Philadelphia, PA
I have acted as a therapist of sorts all season.
Mostly, my clients have been Philadelphians. Since I live on the west coast, and can therefore watch from afar instead of being sucked into the funnel of worry and cynicism that is the local Philadelphia sports opinion, I can approach things from a slightly less emotional place. I’m a rational guy. I believe in things that make sense.
I believe in The Phillies. The Phillies make sense.
It makes sense when Charlie Manuel makes the tough decision to start JA Happ last night, a lefty, the sort that the Rockies don’t hit well.
It makes sense when he has the conviction to pull the young starter in the top of the fourth. Cholly makes tough decisions.
It makes sense when Carlos Ruiz, who, by the way, since the NLCS against the Dodgers last year is now batting .341 with 7 RBI in the post season, helps his staff out with two RBI hits tonight. Chooch is clutch.
And then the ninth inning arrives, and all you can do is hope. You just hope things keep making sense.
You hope that your leadoff hitter, Jimmy Rollins, is gutsy enough to tough out his early post season struggles to slap one through and get on base. You hope Victorino can get the bunt down and make it interesting by flying to first. You hope Utley busts it down the line, even if the ball DID go off of his shin, even if he WAS out at first base, just to give the umpire the chance to call him safe for his hustle. You hope Howard can hit a fly ball. You hope.
And on a cold night at Coors Field, it kept making sense, until…
…Brad Lidge walked in from right field, and nobody knew what made sense anymore. That’s what made last night’s finish ‘epic,’ as my dad so appropriately texted.
The moment he walked out of the bullpen I started jumping around like a 6-year-old on Christmas Eve, pulling the hair on my head from its roots, screaming, “He’s coming in! He’s coming in!”
Though Carlos Gonzales did his best to single handedly keep the Rockies in the playoffs, Lidge was clutch. With nobody but the struggling Myers, the young Bastardo, and the questionable Kendrick left behind him, Brad Lidge stepped up, rode the momentum of his team’s loyalty and got three big outs. He saved the game, and, ultimately, it makes no sense.
Side note, I’d have paid a few ‘G’s’ to have been a ‘fly on the mound’ for Charlie Manuel’s think tank session before Helton’s at bat in the ninth. Seemed like he said something like, “Pitch around Helton, I know you’ve got Tulowitzki…oh, and don’t screw up again.”
For a game that relies so heavily on numbers, and trends, and rationale, the climax of Game Three was an unforgettable moment in Philadelphia sports history where the hero closer who limped into the playoffs got reinvented by postseason pressure; resurrected by pure emotion.
The Phillies proved themselves to be the resilient bunch they claimed to be all week with a gutsy, come from behind victory, in a frigidly hostile environment, capped by an unimaginable ninth inning. They found a way to win when it made sense. They found a way to win when it made no sense.
They know how to do it.
After all, they’re still the champs.
The Philadelphia Phillies have a problem. They have a huge problem. They can’t finish.
Indisputably perfect in their 2008 championship season was their closer, Brad Lidge. But since falling to his knees following the final out of that mystical run, Lidge has been abandoned by the very same baseball gods before whom he knelt on that holy night last October. His fastball is just a bit less precise, making his nasty slider look like just another red-light tramp, ignored as she passes by. Walks have become common, his ERA has skyrocketed to 7.17, and his perfect 48-of-48 save record of a year ago has already been replaced by 9 blown saves.
In an attempt to quell my own fears and those of my panicking brethren, I delved deeply into Baseball Reference hoping to identify a past team that has won the World Series with such a poor performance from their closer. What did I find? The only team in the last 25 years that has won the World Series with a closer who blew at least 9 regular season saves was the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals. And they shouldn’t count, because their save-blower, Jason Isringhausen (10 blown), injured his hip in early September of that year and didn’t play in the 2006 playoffs. Aside from the ’06 Cards, no recent team has won a World Series when their closer has blown more than 7 save opportunities.
Panic turned to instant hysteria. “Oh, no,” I thought, “What are we going to do?”
Like any true blooded Philadelphian, I ditched Plan A – logic and reason – and moved quickly to Plan B – insecure defensiveness. Since Lidge’s atrocious stat clearly (sarcasm font needed) bars any chance of a Phillies repeat, I will cease consoling myself, and instead gather stones to throw at every other team left standing.
I got your back, Brad.
So, with even more help from Baseball Reference, here are ten stats that surely substantiate how no team mentioned below can win the World Series this year.
Preface: Tampa Bay dumped salary last night by trading Scott Kazmir to the Angels. They’re done. No team has won the World Series with an average age under 27 years since the 1969 Mets (25.8 years), so this year’s Florida Marlins (26.8 years), are done. The Braves can’t run. Seriously, they can’t. They have 47 stolen bases this season, or, 0.36 per game, which puts them on pace for 58 at season’s end. No team has ever won it all by stealing that few bases. Atlanta is done.
I’m just getting warm.
10. Texas Rangers. Although not the youngest team in history at 27.9 years, the Rangers’ youth – as often does – is wreaking havoc on their patience and pitch selection at the plate. Their 1006 strikeouts, compared to 379 walks, give them a SO/BB ratio of 2.66. Only three teams in history* (modern baseball) have won the World Series with a ratio over 2.0. And, no team has ever won the World Series with a ratio higher than 2.30 (2005 Chicago White Sox). Texas is out.
9. San Francisco Giants. Boy, do the Giants know how to ruin a good thing. Their run support is so bad (this sounds like a ‘fat momma’ joke) that if the Giants went the distance, Matt Cain (12-4, 2.39 ERA) and Tim Lincecum (13-4, 2.34 ERA) could be the first duo ever with ERAs under 3.00 who fail to win 16 games apiece. Only three other pitchers in World Series history have had such little run support, and never have there been two such aces on one staff. Stay tuned for what should be 6 more starts apiece, but expect the Giants to fall short.
8. Chicago White Sox. Defense wins championships. The White Sox have booted it 97 times. Their .980 fielding percentage would be the lowest since that of the 1989 Oakland A’s. And, it looks like Mark Buerhle emptied his swing-and-miss reservoir earlier this summer. The White Sox are kicked out.
7. LA Angels. The Angel’s 4.87 ERA would be the highest in history (1960) to win a World Series. And, picking up Scott Kazmir’s five-point-seven-niner won’t help. Only the 2000 New York Yankees came close to this mess, with their own 4.76 earned run nightmare. To heaven you go.
6. LA Dodgers. I could have pointed to the Dodger’s terrible homerun output, but for now, I’ll spare them any analysis of that incompetence. But where’s the starter stamina? No team has ever won the World Series with fewer than 4 complete games from their starters. The Dodgers have 1 complete game. And the guy who threw it (Eric Stults) is now enjoying the view of the tumbleweeds from the team bus rides in Triple A. Albuequerque. They can’t go the distance.
Now, it gets tougher…
5. Detroit Tigers. Here’s a weird one. No team has ever (again, since 1960) won the World Series with less than 250 doubles. The Tigers have 186 two baggers, and they are on pace to hit 239 of that variety. I think they’re in what must be called “double trouble.”
4. St. Louis Cardinals. Offensively, here’s what the Cardinals have; a .415 slugging percentage, a .746 OPS, and 129 homeruns. And don’t forget, King Albert has 40 of those bombs all to himself. No team has won with offensive numbers that low since the ’97 Marlins. And, while Ryan Ludwick, who has hit 18 homers, is likely to connect on at least 2 more before season’s end, if he doesn’t, the Cardinals would be the first team since – you guessed it – the 1982 Cardinals – to attempt to win a World Series without two twenty-homerun guys. The Cardinals are power OUTaged.
Now, it gets really tough…
3. Colorado Rockies. Personally, I’m more worried about the Rockies than I am about Brad Lidge. They’re good. They’re hot. And, they’ve done it to the Phillies before. But, try this stat on for size. Before the 2004 Red Sox, no team with more than 1100 strikeouts had ever won the World Series, and only a handful of teams with 1000 K’s had accomplished the unlikely feat. And while K counts have been rising in recent years, the Rockies 7.68 strikeouts per game puts them on pace for 1245 sit-downs at season’s end. That’s a whiff of thin air. Strike. Out.
2. Boston Red Sox. Josh Beckett is having some problems right now, but if I lived in ‘The Nation,’ I’d be more concerned with the ups and downs of the starting line-up. Offensively, no team since the 1988 Dodgers has won the World Series with more than one everyday starter hitting under .240. The Red Sox have two such stars in Jason Varitek (.224) and David Ortiz (.230.) Although not technically “everyday starters,” Nick Green, who is hitting .230, and Casey Kotchman, currently sporting a lusty .216, clearly help to lower the offensive curve. Bye-bye BoSox.
1. New York Yankees. The Yankees are very, very confident. But two things must be remembered; One, the Phillies took two-out-of-three in the regular season, on the Yanks’ home turf (what is the name of that place where they play now?). Two, the Yankees have A-Rod. Enough said.
Wow, do I feel better now. Because as every hot blooded Philadelphia fan knows, half of what propels us is the ability to scream at the other team, “We might suck, but you suck worse than we do.” So come on Brad, pull it together. In a year where everyone else is so bad, you don’t have to be perfect.
I can hardly wait for the parade.
It was the spring of 1994, and I was still numb. The cold winter had only intensified that frozen moment in my mind’s eye. You know the one. I don’t have to remind you. I don’t have to say his name – the other JC – the savior of Toronto. His was the only walk off grand slam in the history of the World Series, and it chilled my fragile, adolescent heart.
I opened the paper, eager, hoping I might find a different box score, a happier result, or maybe even a preview to the Game 7 that never happened. Instead, I found something totally different.
There, on the second page of the Philadelphia Inquirer’s sports section, under the heading, ‘MLB STANDINGS,’ new zeros had spread and divided. These clones took their places in vertical columns of ‘Wins,’ ‘Losses,’ ‘Winning Percentage,’ ‘Games Behind,’ and ‘Last 10.’ But now, the teams, whose play they represented, were mixed and matched in six divisions, instead of four. A ‘Central’ division had sprung up – out of nowhere – in the American and National Leagues. The Braves had somehow migrated to the Eastern Division (what a novel thought, considering their proximity to the Atlantic Ocean). And, the Milwaukee Brewers had jumped ship and found a new home in the National League? Whoa!
Realignment happened prior to the 1994 season, and I was none too thrilled. I thought it would detract from the importance of “Winning the Pennant.” I believed it would mar the tradition of the leagues, and the rivalries within them. And I insisted that the term ‘Wild Card,’ was one reserved for the NFL, family poker nights, and the likelihood of my mother’s punctuality.
I was wrong. I was way wrong.
Realignment has been awesome for the game of baseball. Today is August 21st. There are less than six weeks remaining in the MLB season and 15 teams still have hopes of making the playoffs. That’s if you include teams within 5 games of a division lead or a wild card spot. If you extend that deficit to 7 games – the same margin the Phillies overcame in two weeks last season – you can resuscitate Minnesota and Seattle (for now) and raise that number to 17 teams. That’s more than half the league!
What once appeared merely to be a superfluous tidying of the divisions has changed the name of the economic-game in baseball. What MLB did fifteen years ago is now enabling more teams to engage their fans deeper into the season, thus prolonging positive revenue streams from ticket sales, concessions, merchandise, and playoff packages. Now, it doesn’t matter if you have a world champion. It doesn’t even matter if you win the pennant. A franchise maintains success as long as it fields a team that can keep fans interested by contending for a division title or staying in the hunt for a wild card spot late into the season.
On August 1st, the day after the trade deadline, ESPN’s talking heads decided (however prematurely) that enough dust had settled, so they rolled tape and handed out report cards grading teams on their just-completed deadline deals. I chose, instead, to wait a few weeks, and see how last month’s trades would help prolong playoff hopes for teams around the league.
So, without further adieu, here are “The Cheese Whizard’s Winners and Losers: MLB Trade Deadline Edition.”
WINNERS: LOS ANGELES DODGERS
The Dodgers made a small move, by picking up left-handed reliever George Sherrill from the Orioles. And for a team that was leading the majors with a 62-37 record when the deadline week started, small was sufficient.
The only way the Dodgers can improve upon last year is to survive a likely NLCS match-up with the Philadelphia Phillies. The combination of the Phillies left-hand heavy line-up, the Dodger’s dearth of left-handed relievers, and the memory of the Game 4 bullpen debacle from a year ago make this move exactly what Los Chavez Ravineros needed. Besides, thanks to Kobe, their fan base will be unmoved by anything short of a world championship.
Sherrill has pitched in 9 games in Dodger blue, and hasn’t given up a run yet.
LOSERS: CHICAGO CUBS
The Cubs did nothing. Nothing. Nil. Nada.
Ok, they picked up Tom Gorzelanny and John Grabow from the Pirates. But two middle inning relievers are not what you need when Ryan Dempster and Ted Lilly (your #2 and #3 starters) are on the disabled list at the trade deadline. Then, to add injury to insult, Carlos Zambrano (their #1) fell to the DL just one week after the trade deadline.
I understand that the Cubs have drafted poorly, and therefore have no big prospects to use as trade bait. I understand that the Tribune Company is uncapping its felt tip – as we speak – to sign over the team, and Wrigley Field, for $920 million. I understand that Cubs’ fans will stay engaged, no matter what. But, The Cardinals made great moves for Matt Holiday, Mark DeRosa, and now John Smoltz. The Brewers and the Reds are stacked with young talent that will make them dangerous in the future. And the Cubs – the team everyone picked to win the NL Central – did nothing.
The night before the trade deadline, the Cubs slept on a ½ game lead, in the NL Central. They now trail the Cards by 7 games. They don’t have to win a world championship. They don’t even have to win the pennant. But they should stop taking advantage of an overly loyal fan base that has been patient, even while being outright abused, for over 100 years.
WINNERS: CHICAGO WHITE SOX & DETROIT TIGERS
I love the American League Central. Maybe it’s Ozzie. Maybe it’s Leyland. Maybe it’s Mauer, Morneau, and the Twins ability – every year – to stay in the hunt on a small budget. Whatever it is, I love it. But let’s be honest, no team from the AL Central will be throwing a parade this fall. (Admittedly, although, it would be way cool if the Tigers could pull off a miracle for their city in despair.)
Success in the AL Central is measured by – exactly that – success in the AL Central. So, when Detroit added Jarrod Washburn to Justin Verlander, effectively solidifying the best one-two punch in baseball, Chicago wasted no time in sealing the deal for Jake Peavy. And if Peavy comes back from injury pitching the way he did this spring, he and Mark Burhle could go toe-to-toe with Verlander and Washburn. Bravo, two times.
The Tigers lead the ChiSox by 2.5 games. This one will be tight to the finish.
LOSERS: TORONTO BLUE JAYS
JP Ricciardi’s inability to move Roy Halladay doesn’t make the Blue Jays losers. What does make them losers is everything else he has done for the past 8 years. I exaggerate.
I was ready to praise Ricciardi for sticking to his guns. He set a steep price for his ace, and nobody offered him what he wanted. So he kept Halladay and insisted that they would, instead, “Try to win with him next year.” THEN, he traded 7-time Gold Glover Scott Rolen to the Reds, GAVE Alex Rios to the Chicago White Sox (yes, I said “GAVE,” as in, “for nothing”). He then put Vernon Wells, with his 7-year, $126 million contract, on “For Sale” signs all over the country, begging, praying, that some team, any team with a wallet, really, would take Wells off his hands.
Who exactly is Ricciardi trying to win WITH next year?
Still, Halladay makes the Jays a hot ticket at least one night a week in 2010.
WINNERS: BOSTON RED SOX
The Red Sox made the most crucial move of the entire season. They acquired Victor Martinez from the Cleveland Indians. Though Martinez is batting .324, with 5 homeruns, and 14 RBI in just 17 games with the BoSox, the deal to acquire him was significant for other reasons.
On July 30th, David Ortiz became the latest Major League slugger to show up on “The List.” The revelation that he tested positive for PED’s in 2003 exposed not only Ortiz, but also a large contingent of Boston’s 2004 championship team.
The next day, Theo Epstein pulled the trigger on Martinez, and gave a clinic in PR. He deflected the attention from Boston’s cloudy past, and shed light on the possibility of a bright future. Well done, Theo. They don’t call you the “Boy Wonder” for nothing.
LOSERS: PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Once again, the Pirates traded everyone.
Operating a baseball franchise in a small market is difficult. Drafting well, developing within, buying low, and selling high, are all important strategies in Pittsburgh, Oakland, Minnesota, Kansas City, and a handful of other cities in baseball. And the good news is that the Pirates now have a TON of new, young talent to sift through.
But here’s what troubles me about the Pirates…
In 2001, they moved into PNC Park, which is highly regarded as one of the nicest new stadiums in baseball. Of the $216 million it cost to build the place, the Pirates organization only contributed $40 million. And while average attendance peaked at 30,000 per night during the stadium’s first few seasons, last years average fell to 20,113, and last week, attendance failed to crack 13,000 during a three game set with the Brewers.
Playing the financial game is one thing. But when a kid walks into a ballpark and finds that the guy whose jersey he is wearing doesn’t play for the team anymore, he’s going to be hurt. And so is the team.
WINNERS: PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
I won’t brag. I won’t boast. Cliff Lee is 4-0, with 0.82 ERA, and 2 complete games since joining the defending champs.
The Phillies have made a ton of money since October, and in July, they did what was necessary to keep their fans engaged. They gave them hope of winning it all, again.
But this move was huge for another reason. Ruben Amaro Jr. is the new kid on the block, and he showed his brass in a pressure cooker of a situation. Where many a young GM might have taken the bait, he passed on Roy Halladay, who is now 2-3 with a 3.41 ERA since the trade deadline, and held on to his valued treasures, in JA Happ, Kyle Drabek, and Dominic Brown.