May 16 - Tom Ouwits, Outplays, and Outlasts

Kudos go out today to Tom Westman, the Brooklyn fireman who simply overwhelmed the competition and was crowned Sole Survivor last night. How’s this for domination. Westman’s team never lost an immunity challenge (1st time in competition history) and he was five for seven in individual immunity challenges. That puts him up there with athletes like Michael Phelps and Annika Sorenstam. In the final challenge, Westman stood atop a navigational buoy for almost twelve hours before his big challenger – Ian – called it quits and bowed out of the game. Ian probably could have held out longer, but there was no way he was going to outlast Tom on that buoy. It simply wasn’t going to happen and after half a day, Ian finally got the message and decided there was no stopping Tom from claiming his million bucks. Tom absolutely dominated this competition from start to finish and in retrospect, his competitors made a huge mistake by not knocking him off when they had a chance. Both Gregg and Stephanie saw this coming, but Gregg acted too late and Stephanie was unable to attack in strength. As such, Tom was able to clear an important hurdle when the game was down to six and from there on out, he was simply too powerful to stop. So now there is a bunch of chatter that Tom is perhaps the top player in show history, I can’t really comment on that since I missed five of the ten seasons, but I have to agree that Tom has rightfully secured a place in the Survivor Hall of Fame. He wasn’t a terrific schemer, but he built a strong alliance and not many in show history can match Tom’s toughness. He will certainly have a bullseye on his back a couple years from now if he decides to compete on Survivor All-Stars II. Now one person from this season who I am sure will take up that invite is Stephanie who also deserves some Hall consideration. She didn’t win, or even make the final four for that matter, but she was a real tough chick who probably could have won if a couple of breaks had gone her way.

Notes from the NL: We’ll start in New York, where the Cards took two of three off a Mets team that got some good news and some bad news. Starting with the good – Tom Glavine emerged from witness protection to throw a great game on Friday, but Pedro, pitching with extra rest, got cracked for the second straight time. The latter could be a real problem since Pedro is almost always money in the bank throwing on five days rest and it is real problematic to see him lit up like that. After making a brief appearance last week, Mike Piazza was put right back into the refrigerator. St. Louis did get some bad news this weekend as Scott Rolen will be out at least a month, but they should be able to easily whether the storm in that very weak division. Plus, their schedule through early June is far from daunting as they have series lined up with Philadelphia, Kansas City, Pittsburg, Colorado and Houston. The Cubs got some more terrible news this weekend when Carlos Zambrano came down with some “tennis” elbow in a start at Washington. He could be shelved and that would be terrible blow for a team whose infirmary is already too crowded. It is hard to imagine, but 37 games in to the season and Washington is tied with Florida, which was swept this weekend at the big Pet Store. Beckett and Letier lost tough games on Friday and Saturday, while A.J Burnett got smacked around in the seventh yesterday. Florida was supposed to have a bigtime offense this year, but they are currently 14th in the NL is runs scored, even though they are sixth in slugging. It seems like they are having trouble coming up with some clutch hits and that begs the question of whether they used them all up on the way to the 2003 title. The Padres, meanwhile, are on a tear, having won 11 of their past 13. Brian Giles has played a big part in the surge as he has slugged .667 since May 1 with 10 RBI, 11 walks and only one whiff. Another team streaking right now is Pittsburgh, which has won nine of its last twelve. The Pirates continue to throw the ball well and are now finally scoring a handful of runs. It may be too much to ask, but the Bucs need Jack Wilson to start generating some offense and Daryl Ward to keep smacking long balls.

The only guy hotter in MLB right now then Bobby Abreu is Tino Martinez. Abreu dropped another bomb yesterday and that gives him home runs in seven of his last eight games. He has a huge contract and is the cornerstone of the Philly franchise, but that probably won’t stop a couple of AL teams from kicking the tires and getting a price. Ken Griffey has quietly resuscitated his year but it won’t matter for a Reds team that would need a miracle to win 70. A team has huge problems when its big three are Eric Milton, Paul Wilson and Russ Ortiz. Those three have given up 26 bombs in just over 100 innings and collectively sport an ERA above seven. It is a good thing Aaron Harang is around to pitch a good game every once in a while or Cincy would have to carry 14 pitchers. Arizona took three of four in Denver this weekend, as Brandon Webb moved to 5-0 with a win on Saturday night. The Dbacks are now about a month ahead of where they were last season. Atlanta keeps chugging along as they took two of three in LA this weekend over a Dodger team that is beginning to struggle. The Dodgers better get some off Brian Moehler tonight because they have D-Train and Beckett ahead on Tuesday and Wednesday. When is Bobby Cox going to call it quits on Rafael Furcal leading off? Imagine how tough Atlanta would be if they had a place setter who could actually get in place. San Francisco fans better hope things bottomed out last night because anything worse is a federal crime. It’s bad enough that they had to send 63 year old Jeff Fassero out there to start, but to only get four hits of Brendon Backe is too much for any fan to take.

Airmail from the AL: It is safe to say that Tino Martinez is absolutely blistering right now. With 12 home runs and 29 RBI in just 105 at bats, he has made Jason Giambi’s problems into a nuisance rather then a critical situation. However, it should be noted that in order for Martinez to revert back to the mean, he will hit about six more home runs over the final three quarters of the season. In Oakland this weekend, the Yanks absolutely manhandled the As, although Randy Johnson was far from impressive on Sunday against a lineup that was about as bad as I have ever seen in MLB. Anything less then a three hit shutout against that A’s team would have been a disappointment. If you don’t believe me – check it for yourself. Bobby Kielty was hitting cleanup and Keith Ginter was hitting fifth. That is simply not a major league lineup. As each day goes by, it looks more and more like A’s GM Billy Beane got crushed on the Jason Kendall swap. In the big series of the weekend, Baltimore won the final two games of its four game set against the White Sox after losing the first two to Garland and Buerhle. Eric Beddard was rock solid for the Birds yesterday and it now looks like this big lefty is for real. As I have been saying all along, the Baltimore staff is not that bad and is unlikely to completely implode as some have suggested. On the flip side, the O’s have lost Luis Matos in center for a while and with Sosa ailing, that outfield will probably need an import. One suggestion - Mike Cameron for Jorge Julio and Larry Bigbie?

The Red Sox inexplicably lost a series in Seattle this weekend as fill-in Jeremi Gonzalez got crushed Friday night and Tim Wakefield gave up a huge inning yesterday. On the positive side, Wade Miler looks very solid right now, Dave Wells should be back on Wednesday and the Manny-Papi lineup flip seems to be working out. In case you missed it, Manny nailed his 400th yesterday and there are now only five guys in history with four hundred bombs and a higher lifetime average then ManRam. Those guys have names like Williams, Ruth, Musial and Foxx. It took a strong outing from Roy Halladay, but the Jays were finally able to beat the Tribe. Speaking of the Jays – what the hell is wrong with Ted Lilly? Toronto’s lefty was an all-star last year, but this season, he is 1-4 with an ERA over ten. This guy didn’t fall from grace – he was shot out of a cannon. Texas lost yesterday, but how about the complete game shutout they got from the Gambler on Saturday night. If Kenny throws another one of those, his pitching coach is going to get a little concerned that his 59 inning scoreless streak is in some jeopardy. Brad Radke gave the Twins a nice start yesterday even though he did walk a batter. That is only the second free pass Radke has allowed this year. Rads got off to a real slow start, but he has now won four of his last five decisions, Guess what – the Angels actually scored some runs yesterday as Juan Rivera blasted a three run slam. Edgar Renteria has been a C minus for the Sox but OC has been no better for the Angels. Perhaps, the Sox, Angels and Cardinals should have just kept their shortstops this off-season.

The asinine line of the week goes to John Kruk who, I am told, opined on Baseball Tonight that Many Ramirez should be dealt before he becomes a 10-5 guy and can then veto any trade he wants. This is simply a moronic comment. Does John really think Manny cares where he plays and is willing to use a no-trade clause to keep himself in Boston? That doesn’t seem far-fetched. It sounds downright ludicrous. Granted, there are probably some markets Manny would veto, but teams in those markets couldn’t’ afford Ramirez in the first place so it is a mute point. After all, Minnesota and Milwaukee are not likely to be calling anytime soon and you are crazy if you think Manny would turn down a trade to New York, Chicago or Los Angeles. Further, Kruk’s statement wrongly implies that Manny is tradable at all. Let me ask you this – what team is going to pick up the four years and 78M that Manny is owed? In order to get rid of Ramirez, the Sox would have to eat a big portion of that contract and there is no way that is going to happen. As much as it annoys the Sox front office, Manny is stuck in Boston through 2008. That was a fact the day John Henry bought the team and it remains a fact today. They tried giving him away and there were no takers so why would anyone trade for him at this point? Now the rumor on the street and in Boston is that ManRam is shot, but judging from his bomb yesterday, I think those rumors are a bit premature. Sure, Manny is hitting below .250 and I think it is fair to assume he isn’t working his ass off this year, but let’s not go crazy. Manny will get his numbers this year and if he hits .270, so what? The guy is still slugging .560 and has driven in 34. That RBI total translates into something well north of 120 so I think it would be wise for the Manny bashers to take a breather until real problems pop up. That could happen in the future, but for the time being, Kruk should zip it before he pokes his own eye out. I would like to add, however, that in 2008, the Sox are going to have three contracts on their hands that may not be too pretty. That will be the final year of Manny’s deal, as well as that of Jason Varitek and Edgar Renteria. That could be real ugly for the Sox.