April 28 - Denver Bends Over in San Antonio

What the hell happened in San Antonio last night? Somebody from Colorado hasn’t been pounded like that since an Eagle County concierge went upstairs to swap spit with Kobe and ended up getting Bryant’s double-pump reverse jam. The only difference was Bryant lasted longer in that hotel room then the Nuggets did last night at the SBC Center. In case you missed it, the score of the Spurs- Nuggets game was 63-32 at the half. Who gets doubled up at half? Did someone on the Nuggets draw a yellow card early forcing the Noogies to play a man down? Listen, I understand the Noogies were playing with the House’s money and therefore they probably conceded the game, but there is never an excuse for getting doubled up half way through the game. Looking on the bright side for Denver, they now get to go home where they have been awesome and even though Tim Duncan was terrific last night, he doesn’t seem quite right. As such, I think the Spurs would gladly get this thing back to San Antonio all even. Has anyone other then myself realized that the this matchup features the home towns of two telco giants since SBC is based in San Antonio and Qwest is based in Denver? I wonder if the CEO’s of these companies have a side bet like Mayors and Governors often make on the Super Bowl. Here is one suggestion - if San Antonio wins, Qwest has to make Manu Ginobli its corporate spokesman and if Denver wins, Carmelo Anthony will get to headline SBC’s new DSL marketing campaign. I can just see it now: “If you want to be as quick as me, get DSL now!”

Notes from the National: You can officially scratch the Giants off your post-season invite list after Armando Benitez tore his hammy the other night. That is a minimum of four months which translates into at least a dozen blown saves from Matt Herges and Jeff Fassero. The Giants bullpen was a disaster last year with Herges and there is absolutely no reason to think Act II will be any different. I think at this point, Giants GM Brian Sabean has to take a hit but I’ll save that for later. The Astros were shut out yesterday by the Pirates, but that is no surprise since it is the fifth time this has happened to Houston since April 13. Pirate hurler Kip Wells had the honor yesterday which is somewhat surprising given the fact he entered the game with an ERA of 6.47, but I guess with Houston's Berkman-lite lineup, nothing is impossible. Greg Maddux is the next lotto winner to get a shot at this feeble lineup. The Braves absolutely have Tom Glavine’s number despite his protestations to the contrary. He got smacked around yesterday by his old team and that leaves him 1-7 with an ERA over nine against the Braves since coming to New York. If you don’t think Leo Mazzone isn’t the best pitching coach in the majors, just take a look at what he has down with Mike Hampton. The Jose Reyes watch has now reached 96 plate appearances without a walk. The century mark will be pierced Friday night at RFK. Mark Grudzielanek has one triple and one dong this year and he happened to hit them both yesterday while going for the cycle. The Cards have now won six in a row and eleven of twelve. They face Hudson on Friday and Smoltz on Sunday. Derrick Lee is tearing through the National League like Goerge Patton tore through France. He had two blasts yesterday and is now hitting .430 and slugging .800. Didn’t the Cubs get Lee for his glove? Here is a scary thought – Reds shortstop Felipe Lopez has a slugging percentage that is two hundred points higher then the Reds slap hitting centerfielder. Padres GM Kevin Towers really made a shrewd move at the end of spring training by trading for Tim Redding who is now 0-4 with an ERA of almost eight. Are you telling me the Padres couldn’t find someone from within the organization to put up Redding’s numbers? The Dodgers have officially cooled off while the Diamondbacks are officially hot. The Dbacks have won fourteen games this year while they only won 51 in all of 2004. Someone should call the Sports Bureau to see what the greatest one year turnaround in history is because these guys may have a shot.

Airmail from the AL: Here is the stat of the day – Mike Mussina threw 105 pitches last night and the Angels only missed five of them. Why do Yankee fans have any confidence in this guy? He had a miserable year in 2004 and he now is having trouble reaching 88 on the gun. This is the year Mike transitions from a bit above average to a bit below average. If you have Yankee tickets for tonight’s game, get there early because John Lackey against Kevin Brown will surely feature a 7:05 fireworks show. I wouldn’t be surprised to see these guys give up four home runs tonight before being lifted. The A’s cooled down the White Sox for a couple days but Chicago now gets to play Detroit, KC, Toronto and Tampa over its next dozen games. They could easily be 24-10 by the time their schedule toughens on May 12th. Jason Bonderman won his third yesterday but he has not exactly had the kind of breakthrough start many pundits were predicting. He hasn’t been bad, just not special. The same cannot be said of his teammate Carlos Guillen who has been terrific. You know the Indians have bullpen problems when Scott Sauerbeck gets time. Before popping up in Cleveland, Scotty was last seen cleaning out the latrine at Fenway. The best forty something lefties in the AL right now are - in order: Jamie Moyer, Kenny Rogers and Randy Johnson. Rogers held Seattle scoreless for six last night even though he walked five. Do the Twins play the Royals every night? It is no wonder people predicted the Twins would win 100 – it is because they play Kansas City 35 times. I don’t see how Scott Kazmir can handcuff the Sox and get drilled by the Jays. Maybe Boston should trade for Alex Rios and keep him around as their designated Kazmir killer.

I think it is about time somebody took at shot at San Francisco Giants GM Brian Sabean who has been coddled by the national media for far too long. Has Sabean done a good job in San Francisco? The answer to that question is a resounding yes. Since he took over in 1997, Sabean has built the Giants into a consistent winner that has been to four playoffs in eight years and was a Scott Spiezio at bat away from a world championship. Granted, Sabean inherited the central piece to these recent teams, but that shouldn’t cloud the fact that he has done a great job of re-tooling the Giants with a mid-market budget. But Sabean’s story has been a little less rosy of late and its time he took a hit. In case you haven’t followed the Giants, Sabean’s stable is a little bit long in the tooth. To be specific, Bonds is 40, Grissom is 38, Tucker is 34, Snow is 37, Alfonzo is 32 in Dominican years, and Durham is 33. If this wasn’t enough maturity, Sabean went out this off-season and acquired 32 year old Armando Benitez. 35 year-old Mike Matheny, 38 year-old Omar Vizquel and 40 year old Moises Alou. In sum, Sabena took an aging team and made it ancient. And guess what – it is now breaking down. Alou got hurt right out of the box, Bonds has missed April and will likely miss May and now Benitez is probably done for the season. Sabean can’t be faulted for all these injuries, but what do you expect when you rely on guys whose odometers have all turned over. I understand that Sabean was in a bit of a box this winter since Bonds is headed for jail and therefore there is pressure to win right now. But my critique is not just about the old guys Brian brought in this off-season. Look at this team – with the exception of Pedro Feliz, there is not a single home grown player in the lineup. Everyone is a mid-range free agent import and that suggests to me that Sabean has done a very poor job developing and keeping young players. Sure, he has uncovered some value in the free agent market, but where are the low cost farm hands that are a must for mid-market teams? Secondly, this is a team whose bullpen has stunk in recent years, but whose fault is that since Sabean was the one who gave up on the Twins all-star Joe Nathan. It was hard to predict Nathan’s rise, but that is what good GM’s are paid to do. Finally, what about the case of catcher A.J Pierzynski? With A.J around last year, the Giants got unusually good starting pitching but with him gone, Frisco’s staff ERA is third worst in the NL. Oh, by the way, A.J. went to the Chicago White Sox and their staff ERA is now TWO RUNS lower then what it was last year. Is that a coincidence? I don’t want to make it seem like I am a huge critic of Sabean, because I am not. Hell, he caught some bad luck with the Benitez injury, but he has made a number of questionable moves that deserve critique. You will never hear such critiques form Peter Gammons and the rest of Brian’s fan club, but I think its time somebody hit this guy with something other then 24 ounce gloves. Sabean has done a good job in Frisco, but the guy across the Bay is just much better in my estimation. You give Billy Beane the same budget as Brian, and he will win you some pennants. And he will do it with guys who weren’t old enough to vote for Michael Dukakis.

For those of you who still think Penn State football is relevant, I suggest you take a look at what happened at last weekend’s NFL draft. Not a single Nitany Lion was selected in the draft. More then 250 players were selected in the draft but not a single one had the privilege of matriculating under the tutelage of Tyrannosaurus Paterno. That is pretty staggering when you consider that players from Grand Valley State, William Penn and Tuskegee all had their names read at the podium over the weekend. So that begs the question: How much further can this program fall? They were 4-7 last year, 3-9 the year before and a less then ordinary 26-33 since 2000. So let me get this straight. Penn State doesn’t win and can’t put any players into the pros yet the school remains wedded to a seventy-eight year old coach. What are they waiting for in College Park? Is it going to take a winless season to get rid of Paterno? Will 1-10 with a high-profile sexual abuse case be enough? How about 2-9 and the disclosure that Paterno lied on the job application he first filed back in 1951? Would that do the trick? I couldn’t care less that Paterno is an institution in Central Pennsylvania. There are countless institutions that have outlived their usefulness and Paterno is one of them. Hell, communism’s final years in Russia were better than Joe’s most recent at Penn State and you don’t see that economic institution still in place. Last weekend just confirmed what I have been saying for several years. It is time for Joe to go!