April 20 - What Do You Have To Say Now George?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the "enough is enough" edict George Steinbrenner put out on Sunday was supposed to be good for more then a single night. I guess I should have read the fine print since George’s $200 million dollar team and his $48 million dollar capital improvement project lost last night to perhaps the worst starting pitcher in baseball. Clearly, enough was not enough as The Yankees lost as a (-350) favorite last night. That doesn’t happen in baseball. Maybe Pedro against Seattle nets you those kinds of odds, but you don’t see that too often. Despite being a heavy favorite, Randy Johnson went out last night and got bombed by the punch-less Rays while Hideo Nomo was able to shut down the Yankee’s vaunted offense. This is the same Nomo who gave up eight runs in two innings last Friday at Fenway. Its funny how the tabloids and the Yankee’s state-run television network pronounced the Bombers all better after Monday’s thrashing of Tampa, but there is little out this morning discussing last night’s historic debacle. This is tantamount to the old Soviet Tass network coming out the morning after Chernobyl and saying there was a little accident at the plant but things should be alright down the road. The only difference between Randy and Chernobyl is the plant only had one meltdown while it was in operation. Randy has had two in one week and three of this year’s starts have looked a lot more like John Halama than Sandy Koufax. It is clear to this scribe that Johnson has lost some velocity and as a result, he is having trouble keeping the ball in the yard. The Rays jacked two dongs last night and the Sox hit three last Thursday. This doesn’t happen against vintage Johnson. Joe Torre can smile all he wants, but deep down he knows the sound under the hood could be a big problem and one that a simple overhaul cannot fix. I have said this once and I will say it again. When it goes – IT GOES and if you don’t believe me, you should take a look at the careers of Steve Carlton and Warren Spahn. These two guys hit a wall and it ended overnight. What if we are seeing history repeat itself? The early indications are not promising for the Yanks, especially since Steiny has $48 million dollars committed to this guy through 2007. Like Herpes, that is a gift that just keeps on stinging


Could someone tell me why the Redskins are in such a hurry to end the Patrick Ramsey experiment? It was just three years ago that the Skins moved up in the draft to select Ramsey, a hard thrower out of Tulane. While Ramsey hasn’t exactly turned the world on its ear, he has had some moments and has demonstrated he can play in the NFL. His numbers have not been great but he hasn’t exactly marched out there with a ton of weapons. After all, Rod Gardener has never been confused for Randy Moss and Laverneaus Coles is not exactly Art Monk. Further, the Skins have never been able to protect Ramsey and this has led to a number of forced errors. Well, after investing two years in Ramsey, ESPN is reporting that the Skins are ready to replace Ramsey with Auburn’s Jason Campbell. In order to do this, the Skins had to trade away some of their future for Denver's first round pick on Saturday. This strikes me as a bit of knee jerk reaction from a franchise that always seems to be on its heels. The Skins just spent two years grooming Ramsey but are now ready to fold just before seeing the flop. And for what? Jason Campbell? It just seems to me that Washington is stuck on a treadmill. They spent a whole bunch of time grooming Ramsey and now they are going to start the whole process over with Campbell. I guess this shouldn’t come as much surprise since Washington has never been bullish on Ramsey, but to throw it all away on a flier like Jason Campbell seems odd to me, espeically since securing Campbell's pick was particularly expensive. They must either love this kid from Auburn or think Ramsey just flat out stinks. Regardless of whether it is the former or the latter, I think Washington is on the cusp of making a big mistake and one that could set the franchise back for years to come. Haven't we been saying the same thing for years now.

Baseball Observations – National League: Vincent Padilla should have stayed on the disabled list. Giving up five bombs in three innings to the Mets is not exactly announcing one’s presence with authority. The Dodgers just keep finding ways to win as they showed yesterday by coming back from a six run deficit in Milwaukee. Olmedo Saenz had the big hit yesterday and you have to wonder why this guy isn’t getting a few starts ahead of Hee Sop at first. With the exception of J.D. Drew, everyone on this team is hitting right now and D Lowe will go tonight as LA looks for its eighth straight. You think Arron Heilman is going to make it two in a row over Josh Beckett tonight down in Florida? The fish are riding a three game streak and the bet here is Florida makes it four tonight. Chris Guzman had three hits last night and in the process, raised his batting average fifty points. Another couple games like that and he will be hitting.250. Pittsburgh has lost four in a row and there are some in baseball who think this club has a shot to lose more games then Colorado. Last night they were shut down at home by Matt Morris of all people and you got to now wonder whether Jack Wilson’s 2004 campaign was a fluke. Mark Prior looked good last night and Corey Patterson is starting to show some signs of life. It is a good thing because Nomar is flat-lining. Dusty to Nomar: “Can I see you in my office for a minute?” Ken Girffey is still looking for his first home run. Russ Springer had a great hold for Houston last night after former Mets Dan Wheeler and John Franco almost tossed the salad. Andrew Jones had one of his typical 0-4, three strikeout games last night, while Chipper continued to tear it up. The Padres are 2-0 with Dave Roberts back in the lineup. I swear this guy is good luck.

Baseball Observations – American League: Manny’s last five hits have all been jacks. Last night’s blast went through the lights and one-hopped onto the Mass turnpike. Sox reliever Alan Embree blew last night’s game just a day after he popped off to the Boston Globe about how great he felt on the mound. Meanwhile, Roy Halladay looked great with the exception of a couple long balls and Corey Koskie woke up and had a huge night at the plate and in the field. I am curious to see how the Jays do against the Yanks with Lilly and Chacin going over the next two games. Did the Rangers actually record a shutout yesterday? That was none other then Pedro Astacio who threw eight shutout innings for Texas yesterday. This reclamation project has paid big dividends with three strong starts to open the season. With David DeJesus playing well in Center for KC, I have no option but to say Bernie is the worst centerfielder in the American League. It is close right now, but Bernie is just a shade worse than Gary Mathews down in Texas. Jeremy Reed is slowly picking things up in Seattle while Jamie Moyer is off to a quick start. Who would have thought that Moyer would be out pointing Randy Johnson in the race to be the best forty-something lefty in the AL? Brian Roberts hit another home run last night. This dwarf had fifty doubles last year and I am beginning to wonder if he has a shot at 50 jacks this season. He gets Dave Wells tonight and Matt Clement tomorrow. The bet here is Roberts will have at least seven home runs before the start of play Friday night. Is any team off to a more surprising start than the Chicago White Sox? El Duque gave them six strong innings last night and who would have thought this staff would lead the AL in era 14 games into the season. They are now 4-1 against Minnesota and 4-2 against Cleveland – the two teams who were favored to battle it out for the AL Central crown.

On ESPN Radio this morning, Tim Legler was asked about Vince Carter and what he thought about Carter’s admission that he dogged it up in Toronto in hopes it would spark the team to trade him south of the border. Specifically, Legler was asked whether Carter’s reputation would suffer as a result of this disclosure. ESPN’s three point specialist responded by saying Carter’s reputation “would take a hit in the short-term,” but could be repaired. I thought I had heard it all but Legler proved me wrong once again. What the hell does he mean that Carter's reputation would take a hit in the “short-term?” Is he kidding? Carter’s offense is just a technicality short of shaving points. He may not have been paid to dog it, but that is just semantics as far as I am concerned. At the end of the day, he layed down solely because he thought it would get him out of town. This is a guy who is paid eight figures a year to play hard 82 times a year. Everyone knows players take nights off, but Carter actually admitted to such malaise and he did it for completely selfish reasons. This is a serious ethical breach as far as I am concerned and it is one that Carter will have to carry for the rest of his career. From here on out – he is a bum in my mind. He may be a very talented bum, but at the end of the day, he is a selfish bum who let down his team and its fans. This is not a short-term problem as Legler suggests. Instead, it is a permanent blot on Carter’s record. As long as he plays, Carter will be known as a dog by every fan other then those NBA apologists like Legler who are willing to forgive just about any transgression so long as it doesn’t involve fisticuffs with the fans.