Manny in the West?

The hot rumor going into the winter meetings is that it's a 3 way horse race between San Diego, Los Angeles (Da Bums), and San Francisco to come up with the best deal to obtain LF Manny Ramirez from the Boston Red Sox. It's interesting that all 3 are working the phones because:

1) Each team wants Manny partly to prevent him from going to their opponent in the NL West.

2) Theo Epstein, Boston's GM, used to work for Kevin Towers, San Diego's GM - and they've traded between each other previously.

3) Ned Colletti, LA's GM, used to work for Brian Sabean, San Francisco's GM - and they are clearly trying to outdo each other this offseason.

Will Manny wind up in the NL West? It's questionable at best, because Manny's a 10 and 5 guy, so he has the right to approve or veto any deal. He's never played outside the AL, aside from Interleague games, so he might not be inclined to switch leagues. Of course, Omar Vizquel made the switch a couple of years ago to come to SF, at an older age - so perhaps Manny would consider it.

The question is - who will come up with the best deal? Will he come West?

I will say this: Manny's one of the few players today worthy of the salary he's getting (by comparison to recent contract signings). Gary Mathews Jr and Juan Pierre are NOT worth the $50 million and $40 million each are getting (and I'm glad the LA teams are the suckers in that bet).

So...whaddya think?

CY Young Pride in Ashland, KY

As a tribute to our hometown hero Brandon Webb and his winning of the Cy Young award, my family declared today as Brandon Webb Day. Actually, every November 15th will be celebrated as such from here on out!!

This holiday will consist of Will wearing his jersey to school. But now that the D-Backs have changed there color scheme, I guess this is now a Throw-Back Jersey. Cool huh!

Yesterday, Andy sent me the message that Brandon had won the award and I jumped out of my seat when I found out. I started calling everybody I knew and telling them. Exciting stuff for a kid from Ashland, Kentucky to accomplish and it's exciting for me because I have batted against him (He was 7 years old and it was a wiffle ball), but it still counts!

The news last night told how Brandon was out shooting yesterday when he got the call from his agent about the good news. He said he was stunned and actually thought the agent was pulling his leg! He's a humble guy and all of us in Ashland are very proud of him.

Happy Belated Halloween

Another season has passed and as I sit here reflecting upon yet another disappointing effort by the men in pinstripes, I look ahead to next year. Although the highest paid team in all of baseball choked again, there's always next year. However, this blog has been much fun and I've enjoyed getting to know you guys. Have a great offseason!

PS- Congrats Randal!!!

Year End Wrap Up (or Why The Giants Will Win It All In 2007)

Well, from a Giants fan's perspective, the rather boring 2006 season is over. It was a season in which no major records were broken or challenged, when a nearly .500 team won the World Series, when the playoffs were mediocre at best, when the All Star Game was completely forgetable, and when no major scandals or heroics marked the season whatsoever. If the highlight of the season was Albert Pujols assault on the Home Run record that was derailed in late April/early May, then the lowlight of the season was the not quite startling revelation of a Diamondback's pitcher who named names and then disappeared into obscurity. The Giants had their ups and downs, but mostly they just plodded from April to September as if it was a 9 to 5 job. Boring.

However, a sea change is definitely taking place as happens in baseball every decade or so. The stars of the previous period are giving/have given way to a new crowd. Brandon Webb, Albert Pujols, and Ryan Howard are replacing Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr, and Barry Bonds as crowd pleasers. And we are all keeping our eyes open to see what new talent will emerge and what new team will become dominant.

Which is why in 2007, the Giants will win it all. Getting out from under the bloated contract of Barry Bonds, the Giants will acquire some new young talent and will propel themselves to the top once more - only this time, they will win it all. Matt Cain will pitch the first Giants No-No since the 70's. Bonds, in a back up roll that he will not relish, will break Aaron's record and then retire, and young players will take this team to the promised land.

Of course, some of you may have different opinions. Don't worry, for I will be magnanamous in victory and not gloat too much when the Giants are having their victory parade down Market Street. Now, let's get those hot stove rumors started. 06 is done. 07 has begun!

Scuffing?

So, has Rogers been cheating in all his postseason starts?

We are talking about a guy who, until this season, was a choker in big games.

Mets or Cards? Game 7

Okay, let's throw it down...

Mets vs. Cards in game 7? Who takes it to get run off by the Tigers in 5 games?

Yankees and Presidents

Torsten Pedersen in Locus Standi has an excellent article on the striking coincidences that connect the Yankees failure to win in the post-season when the President is a Republican. Donnie, you better hope for a democrat at the next election, buddy.

Read the post here.

Thanks for the excellent stats, Torsten!

A Tribute from the Land of the Bandwagon Jumpers

When I talked to Andy Friday I made him the following promise: If the Tigers beat the Yankees out, I would buy a Detroit hat, take my picture, and post it here. Since this sad fact did indeed come to pass, and I am a man of my word, I went to the mall a few minutes ago to make the purchase. Here's the problem, I went to every sports store in the mall and there were no Tigers anything to be found. Looks like there has been a run on all of the Detroit crap. Oh well, I do live in the land of the bandwagon jumpers as is evident every year just before the World Series and especially when a man like Rick Pitino goes to the team you despise the most.

Anyway, couldn't come through on the hat bro, so I made this sign instead. Go Tigers! yawn...... Just kidding, I'm actually for the Tigers to win it all. I always go with the team that knocks out the Yankees because it takes the best to beat the best!

Playoff Predictions: Let's Here 'Em!

Yankees over Tigers
A's over Twins

Yankees AL Champs


Mets over Dodgers (sorry Marcel)
Cards over the Pad's

Mets AL Champs



Yankees take the Subway Series in 6!

NL Haters Have A Show (Spoilers ahead)

Last week, on the season premiere of Jericho, I couldn't figure out why the two towns hit by nuclear weapons were Denver and Atlanta. I figured there might be a sports connection, but I knew of no fierce Denver-Atlanta rivalry or Kansas-Denver-Atlanta rivalry. But this week, in the second show, you begin to discover a little more of what's going on and the scope of the attack. In addition to Denver and Atlanta, we see that Chicago (Wrigleyville), Philadelphia, and San Diego were hit and the implication is a great many more... Perhaps the rest of that list includes, San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Cincinatti, Houston, Miami, New York (Flushing Meadow), and Washington D.C.. Leaving Oakland, Anaheim, Arlington, Seattle, Minneapolis, Detroit, Chicago (West Side), Tampa Bay, Kansas City, Toronto, New York (Bronx), Boston, Baltimore, and Cleveland to survive and repopulate the United States with a new civilization based on the notion that all men must do their part to help out... except one person who is designated to only come in once in a while and lend a hand before going to sit back on the bench.

THE LORD'S BASEBALL GAME

I recently got an email foward that I modified to make it a little more "juicy."

The Lord's Baseball Game

Freddy and the Lord stood by to observe a baseball game. The Lord's team was playing Satan's team. The Lord's team was at bat, the score was Satan's team 3, the Lord's team 0. It was the bottom of the 9th inning with two outs. The atmosphere was thick with tension......(read more)

JAIL TIME!

Here's where I'm coming from, just to set the record straight. I like Barry Bonds. I have been a Bonds apologist since 1993. I didn't like Bonds before that. I thought he was brash and cocky and a Pirate. But when he became a Giant and I watched him regularly back up his brashness and cockiness with thrilling baseball and homeruns, well, the guy just sort of rubbed off on me the way that Orel Hershiser as a Giant or Jeff Kent as a Giant never did. Its hard not to respect a ball player that comes to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning when the game's on the line and you just KNOW he's going to hit a homerun to win the game... and he does. I've never thought that about any other player who ever played the game. When the news media kept trying to rip him apart for being standoffish, I ignored them. The reporters don't play the game, so really, what should I care what they think about whether Bonds is rude or surly. That's their problem, not mine. When the news media tried to make him into a clubhouse pariah, well, again, I didn't care. The Giants kept winning with him. If other players have a problem with that, that's their problem - so long as they keep winning. But when the Steroids scandal hit and hit so closely to Bonds, I admit my faith was a little shaken. However, I've now been waiting for years for the smoking gun, and I've still not seen it, heard it, read it, or discovered it. I've heard a lot of former players bag on Bonds and I've heard a lot of reporters bag on Bonds, but I've never seen anyone actually provide direct evidence that Bonds cheated. This may qualify me as the ultimate Bonds apologist, however, I still consider the spirit of law to be much more important than the spirit of trail by media. I believe in INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY. If you've ever been accussed of something that you didn't do, you know how frustrating it is to have nobody believe you until you can clear your name. That's where I'm coming from, just so you know.

With this bias clearly stated, let me explain why I think the two Chronicle reporters should either reveal their source of the secret Grand Jury testimony or go to jail for contempt. Their argument is that they need to shield their source to protect the public's right to know the important news of the day. The government's counter argument is that someone willfully and knowingly broke the law to leak secret testimony to these reporters and that while they don't like this information being out there, the fact is that they're not after the reporters but the person who broke the law.

We live in a nation that is held together by a Constitution and laws. Grand Juries exist to allow prosecutors the chance to present evidence that a law was, in fact, broken and that enough evidence exists to take a person to trial. The Grand Jury, in this case, was convened to hear whether there was enough evidence to try four members of the BALCO Steroids scandal. Bonds was called as a witness to present testimony as to what he knew about the scandal. The proceedings were supposed to be secret. Anyone breaking those rules would be subject to not only fines and prison time, but might also jeopardize the proceedings of the case against those accused. In a Grand Jury evidence is only presented in one direction - there is no rebuttal, cross-examination, or the opportunity for witnesses to defend themselves. They are placed on the stand and asked questions which they must answer without being given the opportunity to clarify all of their remarks. It is not a trial - merely an attempt to see if evidence exists to move forward with a trial. The reason many Grand Juries have secrecy clauses is not to keep the public uninformed of what is going on in these proceedings, but to not taint any possible testimony and evidence before a real trial can begin.

The problem I have with the two Chronicle reporters receiving this leaked information is that they then turned around and presented this to the public as fact. And since Bonds was still tied up in a Secrecy agreement about his testimony to the Grand Jury and wasn't about to come forward and try and explain his testimony before a trial could begin, these two reporters were basically given license to trash Bonds and his image in the media free and clear - without any rebuttal or counterevidence presented. Bonds was tried, convicted and sentenced by the public without a single opportunity to set the record straight.

Now, I'm not saying that he could set the record straight. Maybe he could, maybe he couldn't - maybe he's guilty as hell. I don't know. And neither do you. And neither are these reporters. Anyone who claims to know for sure what Bonds did or didn't do with steroids is a liar, or clairvoyant. Why? Because Bonds has never had his day in court. Never. And, according to the spirit of the Law that makes this country great, Bonds is still innocent until proven otherwise.

I think these two Chronicle reporters need to do something to restore the balance to the system. I think they need to reveal who leaked the Grand Jury testimony so that we can determine why this highly biased information was printed. I think they need to acknowledge that while some secret information is important for the world to know, whether a guy used steroids or not is NOT one of those things - even if it helps the writers get a book published and sells more newspapers. And quite frankly, I think if they refuse to reveal their source, they should go to jail for just as long as Bonds' former trainer - who refuses to testify further against Bonds in a "Secret" Grand Jury because he knows that this information will just be used to drag his former friends name through the mud even more. To do anything else would be the equivalent of saying we have two justice systems - one for those who we don't like, and one for those who we do. And that's not a system I want to believe in.

And that's all I have to say about the ugly side of baseball...

Let's enjoy the last two weeks of the season!

New York Born...

Interesting article at ESPN about the NY-born baseball teams (Yankees, Mets, Giants, and Dodgers) - there's an outside chance, for the first time in baseball history, that the four teams originally born in New York could be in the same postseason this year (with the Giants having the longest shot at it).

Other permutations of at least 3 of them in the same postseason have occurred, the most recent being 2000 with the Giants, Mets and Yankees (the Giants losing to the Mets in the NLDS).

Check out the article here.

Sad Day for a Good Guy Ball Player

Guys, Just wanted to post this and ask for your prayers. This is an article in todays Ashland, KY Paper:

Couple’s life together was just beginning

Brandon Webb’s college roommate, new bride killed

By MARK MAYNARD
The Independent

A former Kentucky baseball player who was an ex-roommate of major leaguer Brandon Webb was among the 49 killed when a commuter jet crashed during takeoff Sunday morning at Blue Grass Airport in Lexington.

Jon Hooker and his new wife, Scarlett Parsley, were on the flight heading to Atlanta to connect for a honeymoon trip to California. They were married before 300 friends and family members Saturday night, according to former Kentucky baseball coach Keith Madison, who was in attendance.

The bride-to-be had arrived in a horse-drawn carriage for a fairy-tale wedding to Hooker at Lexington’s Headley-Whitley Museum.

“It’s so tragic because he was so happy last night,” Madison said. “It’s just an incredible turn of events. It’s really painful.”

Webb’s parents, Philip and Dreama Webb of Ashland, also attended the wedding. Brandon Webb learned of the tragedy prior to Arizona’s game with the Los Angeles Dodgers in Phoenix on Sunday.

“You never expect anything like this,” Philip Webb said. “He and Brandon were best friends. They roomed together (in a dorm) and had an apartment together in college. Their last year, they had an apartment and I had to go down and clean it after Brandon got drafted and Jon signed a free-agent deal. They had two dogs in the apartment so you can imagine what it was like.”

When Brandon was in the minor leagues, he spent some time with Hooker in the London area during the offseason. Hooker had lost his father at an early age in a car wreck, Philip Webb said.

The news came to Brandon on Sunday through Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin, who called him into the office and told him what happened. “He told Brandon he didn’t want him hearing it any other way,” Philip Webb said.

When asked how Brandon took it, his father hesitated for a second and then said “Not good.”

Webb is scheduled to pitch tonight against San Diego but his father wasn’t sure what his son was going to do.

“I’m not sure if Brandon knows what he’s going to do,” Philip Webb said.

The wedding on Saturday night was spectacular, Philip Webb said.

“For some reason, last night one of the songs that they played was ‘It is Well With My Soul.’ It was kind of strange at the time because you don’t hear that much at weddings. But, like Dreama said, it was like a testimony right there.”

The 27-year-old Hooker pitched at Kentucky from 1998 to 2001, posting a 5-5 career record with a 3.23 earned run average. He signed a free-agent contract with the Chicago White Sox in 2001 and played professionally for Independent League teams in Fargo, N.D., and Joliet, Ill., before going back to his hometown of London.

Hooker played for the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks from 2002 to June 2004 when he was traded to the Joilet JackHammers. He was a member of the RedHawks’ league championship team in 2003.

RedHawks general manager Josh Buckholz called Sunday a “sad day for Fargo.”

“Jon was a class guy and a great guy to have in Fargo,” he said. “He touched a lot of people’s lives. He was a fantastic teammate, he was a wonderful representative of our ballclub.”

Buckholz said nine members of the RedHawks roster, coaching staff and clubhouse staff were around when Hooker was with the team.

“There are a lot of people who knew him and loved him, and are dealing with this today,” Buckholz said.

There was a moment of silence prior to Sunday’s RedHawks game.

While at Kentucky, Hooker played not only with Webb but also Joe Blanton of the Oakland Athletics.

Hooker was working as a parole counselor and social worker while Parsley was in graduate school at Kentucky after graduating from Centre College, where she was also a cheerleader.

Philip Webb said Brandon has lost a dear friend. He said he gets choked up thinking about it.

“WSAZ was showing some clips of Jon at Kentucky and on one of those Brandon was giving him a high-five,” Philip Webb said. “Whenever you saw one, you saw the other at the school.”

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS contributed to this report.

RETROSHEET

For purists, historians and stat-junkie extraordinaires, I just ran into Retrosheet via Blog of Danny. I was amazed by the amount of stats like box scores dating back to the 1871. Will and Andy, your New York Gothams (pre-Giants) didn't do so hot their expansion year, 1883, finishing 6th and 16 games behind division leader, Boston Beaneaters. :-)

Randall, The Red Birds, as most of us know, started as the St. Louis Browns in 1882. They fared even worse than Will/Andy's Gothams that year, finishing 18 games behind the Reds.

Donnie, your Bronx Bombers began in 1901, but were then the Baltimore Orioles. Go figure. Their first season, they were in the cellar, trailing the Reds by 32.5 games and behind Randall's Browns.

James, I'm ashamed to admit that our beloved Blue was called the "Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers" back in 1884. Our first year we ended up, uh, um.....oh look at the time! Wow, I gotta get going....

9th place, 33.5 games back.

We all had very humble beginnings in this grand pastime that has transcended multiple generations. And the rest is history!

What's Wrong With *This* Picture??

You'd think the Little League would impose some sort of size rule after this mammoth of a 13 year old got in......

In the words of Harry Caray...."Holy Cow!!!!"

# 725

I agree - it's a troubling photo.

Once again, Will and I were there, sitting in the stands of AT&T Park, watching the Giants' Noah Lowry pitch a 2 hit complete game shutout, leading the Giants to a 5-0 win over the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks.

Of course, we also saw Bonds' career home run # 725 - I had witnessed # 722 and both Will and I witnessed # 723.

I arrived at the game just as the opening pitches of the game were thrown. As soon as I sat down, Will said, "You should've come here earlier. We could've gone down to the fence and said hi to Brandon Webb for Donny."

A missed opportunity. But Webb will be pitching Tuesday night against Matt Cain - should be an excellent game.

And on a side note - anyone catch the in-dugout tunnel brawl in Toronto between pitcher Ted Lilly and manager Josh Gibbons? Seems like the manager might be the problem in that town...

Hell Froze Over Today

Well, it's official, Hell has frozen over! I didn't think it would ever in a million years happen but it did thanks to Mr. Steinbrenner. This morning they broke ground in the Bronx on the new Yankee Stadium. I'm a bit upset as you can tell because they will eventually knock down the "House that Ruth" built to provide parking for the new, state of the art stadium. In my mind, it is the equivalent of knocking over the birthplace of George Washington to build a bigger house next door that glorifies his life.

It's a sad day for die-hard Yankee fans. It's a happy day for all the rest of you.

Comiskey II

Tonight I was at U.S. Cellular Field - formerly the "new" Comiskey Park - in the southside of Chicago. I picked up a ticket from our firm's payroll manager, whose brother is a Chicago police officer, with the police officer's association selling tickets as part of a fundraiser. We sat in the LF bleachers, watching the defending world champ White Sox take on the hapless Kansas City Royals.

Of course, the Royals were far from hapless this evening - they hung on to win 4-2, with the Chisox playing a sloppy defensive game that included a dropped fly ball to Jermaine Dye early the in game which allowed the inning to continue and the Royals to score a run. AJ Pierzynski, beloved by the southside, bemoaned by Giants fans, did what I saw him do waaaaay too many times in a Giant uniform...grounded into a double play.

However, I must say that the experience of attending a game at this ballpark is quite nice...I was surprised to see how wide the concourse was on the main level, as compared to AT&T Park in San Francisco, which has relatively wide concourses (compared to Candlestick), but is a much more intimate park that is squeezed onto a 13 acre site. I was awed at the size of this ballpark, which is much taller than AT&T Park, mainly due to the double-decker luxury suite level.

Awhile back, when Will had a Categories question about items from other sports that would make baseball more appealing (tongue in cheek of course), a couple of respondents suggested cheerleaders. The White Sox come closest, as they had young women, in very short shorts and Sox tee shirts, prance around the field throwing T-shirts into the crowd and dancing atop the dugouts (along with a couple of male "cheerleaders" - not unlike those you find in college squads, only without the gymnastics).



Food was good - I had a grilled hot dog with grilled onions and a diet soda, which only set me back $7.75. While my newfound Chicago friends thought that pricey, I found it to be a tremendous bargain compared to San Francisco, whereupon the same combo (with kraut added in addition to onions) will set you back nearly $12.

All in all - a good evening at the ballpark. While it's not a particularly intimate ballpark, it is a pleasant place to watch a game.

And for someone like me, it isn't often that I can say I'm watching the defending world champs. Sure am not going to say that about my Giants anytime soon...

Friday Baseball Category

Here is a nice simple one...

Name three baseball player nicknames you would never want to be called?

Get to it... Moonman!