May 12 - Philly Challenges TO to a Game of Chicken

It was good to see Philadelphia Eagle owner Jeffery Lurie lay down the line yesterday and tell Terrell Owerns, in no uncertain terms, that the Eagles will not be re-negotiating Owens contract this year. Owens, evidently upset that he is being underpaid, has threatened to sit out this year if the Eagles do not tear up his 2004 deal (49M with 9M up front) and replace it with one that gives TO a more robust guarantee. Owens posturing has clearly rubbed Lurie the wrong way as he stressed yesterday that re-doing the contract “is not even an issue.” Lurie then went on to criticize Owens’ agent for giving the player “self-destructive advice.” The Eagles are in quite a box here, since it doesn’t take an expert to know Owens is a key to this team’s success. They can win without him, but they cannot win big, especially since it is too late in the year to just go out and find a replacement. Sure, they won two NFC playoffs with TO on the sidelines, but this is not a bigtime team with Todd Pinkston and Reggie Brown split wide. But even though Owens is needed, Lurie is known as a hard ass who has a history of drawing lines that he won’t cross. He did it with Duce Staley and he did it again with Jerry Trotter. This is clearly a guy who thinks contracts are sacred and once signed, each signatory is bound to live up to its obligations. So what can Lurie do at this point if he isn’t willing to cut a deal? Well, he can attempt to trade Owens, but that may prove difficult since not many will want to deal with this headache. Also, other teams know Philly is under the gun so no one is going to offer fair compensation. Short of a trade, Philly is left with the options of either playing the season with a couple of scrubs lined up outside or hoping Owens buckles and comes back. I am not confident the latter will happen. Owens has burned so many bridges that he would need a map and compass to find his way back without a new contract. I honestly feel there is a decent chance he will sit out without a new deal. I am in the minority here, but Owens and Lurie both seem to me like guys who won’t blink. Thus, without a trade, I think it is entirely possible that Owens will be sitting at home on opening day.

Kudos to the United States Olympic Committee which recently honored one of sports first anti-doping crusaders. This didn’t exactly make Sports Center, but ten days ago, Shirley Babashoff was awarded the USOC’s Olympic Order for her efforts to fight steroid abuse in swimming. In case you are not familiar with Shirley’s resume, she was one of the world’s top swimmers from 1972-1976. During those years, she won thirteen silver medals at two world championships and two Olympics, finishing second behind East German women ten of those times. Finally, in 1976, at the Montreal Olympics, Babashoff went public with her suspicion that the Germans were using performance enhancing drugs. Shirely didn’t stop there as she refused to shake hands with any gold medalists whose performance she felt was tainted. This outburst drew heavy criticism from some in the media who thought she was a poor loser and therefore dubbed her “Surly Shirley.” Ultimately, Babashoff was vindicated when it was disclosed in the early 90s that there was systematic doping in the former East Germany. But even though Babashoff was proven right, she was never awarded any of the gold medals that she would have won on an even playing field. For me, Babashoff’s story has always been compelling. She was not merely a good swimmer. She was great and I don’t use that word lightly. In fact, aside from Janet Evans and Mary T Meagher, Babashoff was probably one of the two or three best American female swimmers during the German drug reign which lasted from 1972 until 1988. This was a woman that probably would have won three or four individual gold medals in Montreal had the meet been clean. With such a bounty, it would have been Babashoff, and not Bruce Jenner, who would have been on the cover of Wheaties. Unfortunately for her, she returned from Montreal with a bunch of silver and a sullied reputation. This should not have been the fate for a teenager who worked her ass off and just wanted a fair fight. I am glad the USOC took at least this little step to recognize Shirley and her trailblazing role in the war against performance enhancing drugs. It doesn’t completely right a terrible wrong, but it was an important and long-overdue gesture that should have received more attention.

Notes from the National: The D-Train kicked the extra point last night as he moved to 7-0 on the season with a 2-1 win over Lee Harvey Oswalt. Doesn’t he always start off like this? Well, not exactly, but close. In 2003, he started 9-1 before finishing 14-6 and in 2004, Willis started 6-3 before finishing 10-11. Granted, Willis has never got off to a start like this – 1.08 ERA, .193 BAA and only two home runs in 50 innings – but let’s calm down before we extrapolate this out to a 25-0 year. With that said, Willis is downright nasty right now. It was a tough loss for Lee Harvey who threw a million pitches but watched as his offense couldn’t rally to get him off the hook. Lance Berkman (1-17) may have been more valuable on the DL then the playing field. The Braves rallied for an improbable win in Colorado but Danny Kolb evidently didn’t get the memo and ended up tossing away the victory in the bottom of the ninth. Kolb just doesn’t look like he is the answer at the back of that pen and the bet here is Chris Reitsma will eventually be closing. BH Kim gave up only one run over five for the Rockies yesterday in what may have been the best game pitched at Coors this year. Twenty-two year old Tim Stauffer made his MLB debut last night for San Diego last night and got the win as the Padres pounded the hapless Reds. Stauffer, a recent first rounder, gave up two runs over six and it looks like he may get some starts while Tim Redding is out. Stauffer was helped by some insane production from the top of San Diego’s lineup where Dave Roberts and Mark Loretta combined for nine hits and five runs. The Padres have been hot, but we will see if it is for real over the next week as both Florida and Atlanta visit the Pet Store.

My boy Brady Clark in Milwaukee kept it going last night with a couple more knocks – he is hitting .414 over the past week and now leads the NL is runs scored. Even with Junior Spivey hitting third, the Brewers punked the Phils and if I had to guess, Philadelphia is nearing breakup depth. If you listen closely, you can almost hear the hull being crushed. The Mets took a tough loss yesterday in a game that featured the NL’s two least disciplined leadoff hitters. Derrick Lee – whose walkoff blast was the difference – is on pace to drive in about 160 runs, which is about sixty more then he has ever tallied. I kept hearing over the off-season how the Giants Noah Lowry was one of the top young lefties in the NL. It turns out that was all hype as Ark Boy is 1-4 with an ERA of 5.49. The Pirates have actually won seven of their last ten and now return home for a very manageable eight game home stand. If things break right (6-2), the Pirates could be over .500 when the head for St. Louis on the 23rd. That isn’t bad for a team that hasn’t hit a lick thus far. Javy Vasquez didn’t get a decision, but he pitched well again for the Dbacks last night. That guy went fro Ass to Ace in a matter of weeks. Have any of you non-fantasy guys ever heard of this guy who plays short for the Nationals? Maybe it’s time you did since Jamey Carroll is hitting .350. The Cards banged out 19 hits last night against the Dodgers, twelve of which came off Brad Penny. The Cards onslaught came sans Scott Rolen who may be headed for the DL with a damaged wing. Is Rolen really hurt or does he just want to skip Saturday’s game against Pedro – the guy he is 1-11 against lifetime and made him look like a child last October? If Rolen were any more overated, his name would be Hideki Matsui.

Airmail from the AL: It was a classic “half empty-half full” game for the Yanks yesterday. On the bright side, Tino stayed hot with his fifth dong in five days and the chilly triumvirate of Posada, Matsui and Bernie combined for seven hits. On the dark side, Carl Pavano gave up four bombs and Gayrod dropped two more balls. I guess the Robinson Cano era is just about over and the Rey Sanchez era is just about to begin. Meanwhile, the Yanks formally released Steve Karsey today. He signed an 18M dollar contract for the Yanks after the 02 season and ended up just throwing 12 innings under that deal. That equates to 1.5M per inning. Seattle is one of the top revenue generators in baseball so how come they have such crappy pitching? Just when it looked safe to go back in the water when Keith Foulke pitches, the shark re-appeared. How do you blow a three run save opportunity against the Athletics? After this week’s dramatics at Fenway, the Sox are now ahead of last season’s pace with three starters on the DL, a shaky bullpen and almost zero production from the infield. Things pretty much cannot get any worse for Octavio Dotel who blew ninth inning leads on both Tuesday and Wednesday. It probably isn’t the best time for Billy Beane to be dangling his suicidal closer. Kansas City got the post-Tony Pena era of to a rousing start by blowing a late inning lead at the Sky Dome. The Jays got to love those wins that come on days when Dave Bush pitches. Those victories should be called “steals.” The Rangers bullpen is a mess right now as three right-handers have already blown out their arms. It showed yesterday as the Rangers were unable to hold a 4-2 lead at home against Detroit. Pudge is mired in a terrible slump right now and the steroid whispers are growing every day. He is now “svelte” and has the numbers to prove it. The White Sox got back on track yesterday against Dewon Brazelton, but let’s see them do it against Baltimore. Garland goes for his seventh win tonight against Bruce Chen in a matchup of the two biggest over-achievers in the AL this season. Baltimore got by Santana yesterday although Johan wasn’t around to take the loss. He’s too smart and crafty for that. Brian Roberts drove in his 30th run yesterday – his career high coming into this year was 53. The Angles putrid offense was at it again yesterday, scoring just three against the Tribe’s Cliff Lee. How long will it be before Chone Figgins (one for his last twenty-one) is cast adrift in the Pacific and Mike Piazza is DH’ing in Orange County?

May 11 - Lebron Names Maverick as his Top Gun

Word out of Cleveland has it that LeBron James has fired his agent, Aaron Goodwin, and replaced him with a kid named Maverick Carter who used to play on LeBron’s high school basketball team. That is not a joke. James has fired a reputable Jewish agent and replaced him with a guy off his possy. This has to rank as one of the dumbest moves in the history of sports representation. I don’t know a ton about that business, but I know enough to say that when deals are being negotiated, you want a guy from the Tribe at the table and I ain’t talking about someone off the Cleveland Indians forty man roster. This one absolutely makes no sense to me. Goodwin was the guy who pulled ninety million out of Nike, twelve million out of Coke and some decent pocket change out of a handful of others. How can James complain with such largesse? After all, James is the fourth highest paid endorser in the world and he has never played in a playoff game – college or pro. I guess he could be pissed that some average English midfielder makes more then him, but that can be easily addressed with a car deal here and wireless deal there. So Goodwin is now gone and in comes James’ high school buddy and former teammate. Am I crazy, but doesn’t this sound an awful lot like HBO’s Entourage, where Vince (movie star) lets his boyhood friend Eric manage his career. Someone should tell James that Entourage is not based on a true story. This kind of stuff doesn’t happen in the real world. And when it does, the participants become punch lines in a stupid comedy. All I know is that when ESPN comes calling and wants me to write a daily column, I am not going to have my boys from Santa Monica - Javier or Thor - negotiate my deal. Well, I guess at this point, the ball is in Maverick’s court. But fear not – if he messes up, James can always go to Wolfman, Hollywood, Ice, Slider, Merlin or Viper. That was a softball that I couldn’t resist.

I would have loved to be in the room yesterday when Jason Giambi looked Brian Cashman in the eye and said “fuck you, I have been to Columbus and I am not going back.” Well, there you have it. The Yanks asked their $80 million headache to take a demotion and he responded by quoting Tanner and telling them to stick it where the Sun don’t shine. So the Yanks now face the prospect of either letting Giambolic rot at the end of their bench or giving him his outright release. The latter would cost them $80 million, less 300K per year if some other team were dumb enough to pick him up. The former costs them a roster spot and the constant reminder of what jackasses they were back in 2001. Well, it seems that Torre reluctantly has chosen to pursue the former and he is now saying that Giambi is his personal “project.” Sorry Joe, Giambi is not a project. Building a tree house is a project. Painting your house is a project. Restoring Giambi is more like a Herculian effort on par with cleaning the Hudson of PCBs or building a new subway line in Manhattan. Guys – this corpse is cold and ready for burial. I don't think I am really going out on th elimb when I say Jason Giambi will NEVER be a legit major league baseball player again. He simply cannot put the bat on the ball. I will give Peter Gammons credit for pointing out that Giambi has put the ball in play less then fifty percent of the time he has come up this season. That has never been done in baseball history. A hundred years and no one has ever done that. If you want a little more perspective on that number you should know that the eleven year old little leaguers stuck in right field (think Timmy Lupus from BNB) usually put the ball in play more then half the time. My only question is why are pundits like Gammons and Buster Olney pleading with Giambolic to accept a minor league assignment. Implicit in both their requests is a belief that this mess can be fixed. What are these guys watching? This horse didn’t just leave the barn. This horse bought a house in Montego Bay and is now flying there in a $80 million dollar plane that was purchased with Mr. Steinbrenner’s money. Just think how Steiny feels right now. This past weekend, his big horse crapped out and that will cost him millions in lost stud fees. And now he has to transfer funds to make sure his check to Giambolic doesn’t bounce. Just think, if Giambolic, Steve Karsay, Jaret Wright and Bernie all got together and pooled their severance checks, they could probably buy the Devil Rays.

There is one additional thing to mention on the Giambi front. What are these guys on YES talking about when they refer to Jason as some kind of profile in courage? Last night, Jim Kaat made Giambolic out as some kind of hero for disclosing his drug use while the rest of these clowns in baseball have been hiding and lying. Sorry Kitty, Jason didn’t disclose anything voluntarily. He went before a Grand Jury and told the truth under the threat of perjury. That is not exactly a voluntary disclosure. The only reason we know about his testimony is someone in the U.S. Attorney’s office leaked his testimony to the San Francisco Chronicle. And since that time, Juice (sorry OJ) has said nothing to confirm or deny his past drug use. In fact, his cryptic apology earlier in this year was the stuff of cowardice and not courage. If JFK were alive and writing an addendum to his book today, it is safe to say Jason wouldn’t have his own chapter. However, Jason will most certainly get a chapter in Kaat’s Profile in Bullshit which is due out this June.

Notes from the NL: Things just keep getting worse for the Giants in what is quickly becoming a season of discontent in the Bay Area. Jason Schmidt, who was having a terrible year, was sent to the DL yesterday with a strained right shoulder. Does this guy ever stay healthy for an extended stint? With Schmidt on the DL, the Gyros are missing their cornerstone, their closer and their ace. That is the Hat Trick of Hate. Things are so bad in San Francisco right now that 63 year old Jeff Fassero was called on to make last night’s start against Pittsburgh. Fassero actually responded by giving up just a single hit over five, but the Bucs then got to the Giants horrible bullpen and notched a 5-2 win. Jason Bay, who is hitting .355 over the past week, had the big blast for the Bucs. Sorry Yankee fans, he won’t be unrestricted until after the next presidential election. The situation in Houston is getting downright critical as Jeff Bagwell went to the DL yesterday and the Assholes lost another. They got Lee Harvey throwing against the D-Train tonight and perhaps four against the ailing Gyros at Minute Maid may help Houston get well. The Assholes are 15th in the NL in both scoring a slugging. That is pretty sour considering they play in that little juice box. The Reds got a much needed win last night over the streaking Padres, although Ken Griffey’s 13 game hit streak came to a halt. Brian Giles had a couple more hits last night and he is now officially scorching hot.

The Brew Crew pounded Philadelphia last night and you have to wonder how many more times Philly manager Charlie Manuel is going to send Vincente Padilla out to the mound. The guy gets raped every time he goes out there and at some point the insanity must end. Lyle Overbay had a three run blast for the Milwaukee last night and he is now hitting .350 with seven Jacks and 24 RBI. Will the Brewers make this kid available this summer with Prince Fielder maturing at AAA Nashville? It may cost a lot but if the Brewers fall out of it in July, what about Overbay to Boston for Hanley Ramirez and another prospect. Greg Maddux actually struck out ten Mets last night. That isn’t going on the Mets year-end highlight film. Corey Patterson had two blasts for the Cubs and he now has eight home runs but only one double. Oh yea, he also has 28 whiffs and only six walks. This guy is on my all “feast or famine” team. Word has it that Kris Benson’s wife slept with Cliff Floyd after the game as punishment for Kris giving up six runs in six innings. The Dodgers came back from a 7-3 deficit at Busch last night by hanging up a half dozen in the Sixth. J.D. Drew, after basically going hitless during the first half of April, has quietly fought his way back to respectability. He has raised his batting average more then a hundred points since April 19th. Reggie Sanders smacked two more home runs for the Cards last night and now has nine on the season. Perhaps Billy Beane should have got this guy in the Mulder trade instead of Kiki Calero. Marcus Giles had four knocks last night for the streaking Braves who are just starting out on a brutal twelve game road trip that will take them to LA, San Diego and Boston after they leave Denver. Smoltz goes against BH Kim today in a game that looks on paper like one of the most lopsided of the year. How are the Braves only minus 180 in that one? This one looks so bad that Kim will probably shock the world and scalp the Bravos. The Dbacks were criticized for giving the oft-injured Troy Glaus all that money, but all he has done is smack ten home runs and drive in 27. Can you believe Carlos Baerga is only 36 years old and plays second base for the Nationals? I would have taken the over at 45 and guessed the former Indian was surfing the internet for teenage girls in Cleveland.

Airmail from the AL: So Tony Pena finally said enough is enough. What took so long? You put me in that dugout and I last no more then a dozen games. That situation is truly horrendous and I have no problems predicting that they will make a run at the 2003 Detroit Tigers, who lost 119 games and the 1962 Mets, who lost 120 games. Right now, they are on pace for a MLB record 121 losses. Last night, Roy Halladay took care of the Royals in a mere 1:44. Zach Greinke has actually pitched well for KC but he has nothing to show for it since he gets more support from his jock then his offense. Brad Radke wasn’t great last night, but the Twins were able to come back late and get a win at Baltimore. Radke has now walked one guy in fifty-six innings. How many walks would Jose Reyes draw if you gave him 500 cracks against this guy? Eric Beddard threw well for Baltimore last night and his left arm will go a long way towards determining whether Baltimore is for real. Everyone thinks Baltimore’s pitching will collapse, but there is some talent pitching in the Inner Harbor. Wang Chung picked up his first win for the Yanks last night as Constantino went yard again. If he keeps this up, he will be flipped with Matsui in the lineup. Tom Gordon pitched well again – when does he get his release? If Aaron Sele retired, what was he doing out on the mound fro Seattle last night? After watching Mariner Jeremy Reed - my AL ROY pick - over the past few days, I am ready to concede defeat. At 9:05 last night, I published a piece on http://backtofoulke.blogspot.com/ that called for the Sox to make a change at first base. Less then an hour later, Kevin Millar hit a walkoff two run shot to beat the A’s. I don’t care what Millar did last night – he still needs to go. Bronson Arroyo pitched his ass off AGAIN last night and there is little doubt he is the anchor of that staff right now. Johnny Damon had three more hits last night and he just may be the hottest player in the AL right now. If the A’s are going to trade Octavio Dotel, they should do it now before he blows anymore ninth inning leads. How about Dotel to the Mets for Mike Cameron and five million in cash?

Tampa kept nipping at the Yankees heels with a comeback win last night against the White Sox who have mysteriously lost two straight at the Trop. That vaunted White Sox bullpen was at fault last night although Jose Contreras really didn’t do his job either. If the Rays got to play New York and Chicago every night, they would be a contender. Chan Ho wasn’t great last night, but he kept the Rangers in a game they eventually won. I think Buck will take four runs over six innings every time out from Mr. Park. Pudge had a hell of game for Detroit, going 0-5 with two whiffs and stranding seven. I know Pudge is a Hall of Famer, but what is going on with that .288 OBP? The Angels actually scored some runs last night, including four off Indian ace C.C. Sabathia. Why does everyone think Anaheim’s lineup is stacked? If Finley keeps ths up, they got holes all over the place. I love OC, but he isn’t a huge threat and Chone Figgins and Darrin Erstad are not exactly Doug DeCinces and Wally Joyner. How about that 1986 reference?

May 10 - Van Gundy Pulls Hammy Backpeddling

Would someone put out an All Points Bulletin on Jeff Van Gundy right now and notify the highway patrol in Fantasyland to keep an eye out for a punkish bald guy with grocery bags hanging under his eyes. I would add that our suspect is also hobbling as the result of a hamstring injury he incurred while back-peddling from some recent statements that recently made the news. In case you missed it, JVG crapped the bed yesterday with some comments that were intended to clarify some recent criticisms he lobbed at the NBA and its referees. JVG had claimed that he was told by a NBA “official” who was not working the playoffs that the league’s referees were targeting Yao Ming in the Houston-Dallas series. Most interpreted this comment to mean JVG had been tipped off by a referee. After al, what other kind of official doesn't have to work during the playoffs? NBA Commish David Stern clearly felt as much and he responded by fining JVG a hundred large for implying that a playoff series was fixed. So what did JVG do in response? Well, he claimed yesterday that his original comment was misconstrued since the “official” in question was not a referee, but was instead a league official who presumably works in the same offices as Stern. You don’t need to bring in the sniffing dogs to know that dump on JVG’s lap is freshly minted bullshit. The country hasn’t seen back-peddling as tortured as this since Kerry tried staking out a position on the war. Does JVG honestly believe the public will be persuaded by this clarification? And what purpose does the clarification serve? Will the public’s trust in the league be improved because JVG heard the fix was in from a front office type rather then a referee? What difference does that make? And why should Stern feel better about this issue post-clarification? Is there really any difference between one of his referees ratting him out or the guy down the hall doing the same? If I had to guess, I would say one of two things is happening here. First of all, it is possible JVG made this whole thing up and this latest incident is just a poor attempt to clean up the mess. Secondly, he was telling the truth in the first place and this latest incident is merely a transparent attempt to repair his relationship with Stern. I would guess the truth is probably somewhere in the middle and I now have my dogs working the case.

I can’t believe I forgot to include my thoughts on John Rocker in yesterday’s column but his comments are so deserving of ridicule that I will use one of my “better late then never” exemptions on this occasion. I am actually surprised this news didn’t attract more media attention, but Rocker was at it again this weekend. For those of you who missed it, Rocker basically compared his plight to that of Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron. I will paraphrase here since I can’t find the original quote: “I am tired of taking so much shit. I realize guys like Jackie and Hank took a lot of crap early in their careers, but no one has ever had to take as much shit for as I long as I have. This has been going on for six or seven years and I am tired of it.” Wow. This is simply off the charts. Rocker has never had trouble convincing the world he was an idiot, but he gets the lifetime achievement award with this one. The funny thing about this comment is Rocker actually demonstrated some understanding of history by alluding to the trouble Jack and Hank went through while integrating the game. But what he lacks is any perspective of what their effort truly entailed and for that he deserves ridicule, embarrassment and condemnation. This comment is so asinine it barely deserves any analysis. I think it goes without saying that Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron had to put up with extraordinary amounts of bullshit during their careers. Those guys are legitimate American heroes and it has nothing to do with what they did on the baseball field. John Rocker, on the other hand, is a national disgrace and it too has nothing to do with anything he did on the playing field. This most recent outburst is clearly the highlight on Rocker’s resume. I, for one, didn’t have too much problem with what he said a few years back about the seven train and the folks you might find on that mobile cesspool. Was Rocker stupid for saying what he said? Probably. Did it demonstrate that Rocker is nothing more then a dumb Cracker? Of course it did. But in the grand scheme of stupidity, those comments barely moved the needle in my book. This most recent comment not only moved the needle - it broke the machine.

Notes from the NL: Roger Clemens now has more wins then any pitcher alive after he notched his 330th last night with a 2-1 victory at Florida. I still can’t believe this is the same guy who went 40-39 for Boston from 1993-1996. Last night, he threw seven scoreless and his ERA is now just a touch above one. A.J. Burnett drew the short straw for Florida last night and took the hard luck loss after he gave up two runs over seven. It took 13 innings, but San Diego stayed hot with a win over the horrendously bad Reds. Jake Peavy was pretty ordinary for Los Madres last night, but they did get shortstop Khalil Greene back and that should help Mama’s mediocre offense. Meanwhile, Ken Griffey is on a tear right now as he is 18 for his last 53 with three bombs and 12 RBI. His numbers are still punk, but he is making a run at respectability. Word now has it Grif is going to pair up with Venus and host a drive time show over at WKRP. The Phils won 4-2 at Milwaukee last night as Chase Utley launched two solo bombs. Jim Thome was having a horrible season for the Phillies but his replacement – Ryan Howard – is just one for his last eighteen. The Phils can’t win with either the white guy or the black guy so maybe its time to go Asian. The Mets Mike Cameron his been on fire since coming off the DL, as he is hitting over .500 over his first five games. If the Mets want to move him, the time is obviously ripe; but if he is going to hit like this, why trade him? Don’t look now, but with Mike Piazza hot, the Mets suddenly have the most potent offense in New York and that includes both the Jets and the Giants. The same cannot be said of the Cubs who are really struggling. If Derrick Lee reverts to the mean, this team is going to starve for runs. Mark Mulder has obviously fixed those problems that plagued him last year as four of his last five starts have been terrific. He struck out a dozen over seven last night and for the season, he has only given up two bombs over 50 innings. Albert Pujoles supplied all the juice St. Louis needed last night as he jacked two and drove in four. He is on the verge of passing Derrick Lee for the lead in the NL MVP race. Look out for Marlin Angel Cabrerra who is in the lead pack and running smoothly. Agent Mulder pitched a lot better last night then his old teammate Tim Hudson who got lit up at Coors. Brad Hawpe is quietly having a nice year in right for the Rockies. Could Hawpe, Clint Barmes and Garret Atkins be a budding nucleus? I doubt it but I thought I would say something nice about the Rockies today. You can’t say Livian Hernandez doesn’t earn his paycheck every start for the Nationals. He went out last night and threw 123 pitches over seven innings while picking up his fifth win. How many teams would die for this innings-eater. Guys, you missed your chance because the Nationals are no longer a routine seller at the trade deadline. D.C. leadoff man Brad Wilkerson strikes out way too much, but he is slugging .500, hitting .300 and has scored eighteen runs. Those are pretty heady numbers for a guy nobody has heard of outside of the Washington Beltway.

Airmail from the AL: Break up the Yankees who have now won three in a row. Last night, Randy Johnson gave a game effort, although he was far from his old dominating self. Tino Martinez, the guy who is singled out in Three Nights in August as being the biggest prick in baseball, has been on fire of late. Who would have thought that cat would have seven blasts at this juncture. Giambolic went 0-3 last night and he is about three hitless nights away from being released even though he is owed more then $70 million dollars. Danny Cabrera gave the Birds eight shutout innings last night while Miggy continued on with his march to the AL MVP award. It will be interesting to see how the Birds handle Radke and Santana over the next two days. I have watched the A’s a bunch over the past few days and I actually feel sorry for these guys. They just cannot muster any offense, especially with runners on third. Wakefield didn’t pitch well last night, but he did enough to pick up his fourth win in five decisions. Johnny Damon extended his hitting streak and now has nineteen RBI from the leadoff spot. The reason for this is really quite simple – he has the highest batting average in all of baseball with runners in scoring position. Kevin Millar actually jacked one for the Sox last night but more on that clown later. Only 13,000 turned out in Toronto to watch the Jays thump the Royals, but it looked like the number was closer to 8K. The Jays are willing to do just about anything to jumpstart Vernon Wells including dropping him in the lineup. He responded with a couple of knocks last night. The Royals are now stuck at 8-24 – that plays out to a forty win season and a step closer to contraction. Detroit looked like they were ready to begin a long slide late last week, but have now won three in a row to right the ship. Last night’s shutout win over Texas. It is a good thing Detroit didn’t hit one of those bids for Urbina since it now looks like Troy Percival is going to be out for a while. John Lackey gave the Angles a decent outing last night, but as I wrote yesterday, this Angels offense is more sluggish then a Southern California freeway at rush hour. They were shutout last night by Kevin Millwood who gave up just a single hit over eight. The Angles started four guys last night who finished the game hitting under .200. What is this – girls softball? Not only does this team strikeout a lot, but they are dead last in the AL in drawing walks. You think anyone in that organization has ever even heard of Moneyball?


It was reported last night that Red Sox Kevin Millar, Billy Mueller and Mark Belhorn have agreed to throw five dollars a day into a charity pool until one of them hits a blast. Five dollars? What kind of outlay is that? If these guys went Jackless for the next 100 days, some lucky charity is going to receive a not so impressive $1500. I sure hope NESN misreported that number because that is pretty damn embarrassing for three guys who make $3.5, $2.5 and $2.75 million per year respectively. I don’t know about Mueller but as far as the other guys go, it may be smart to save their money since there is no telling whether they will ever be paid to play baseball again after this season. If these guys wanted to be charitable, Belhorn would donate $1000 per strikeout, Millar would chip in $1000 per broken bat foul and Mueller would cough up $1000 for every game he misses due to that balky knee. Such a bet would raise some serious coin. Guess what – Millar hit one out last night so some Boston Charity is in line for a $15 payday.

With the Oakland Athletics mired in the doldrums, Oakland Tribune Columnist Carl Steward asks where is Michael Lewis now? Lewis, of course, wrote the best-seller Moneyball, which chronicles how Oakland GM Billy Beane built a highly successful team on a tight budget. The morale to Moneyball is that certain evaluative methods are outdated and teams can be better assembled using new analytic metrics. For instance, Lewis writes about how Beane is consumed with guys who have high on base percentages, believing that having high on-base guys is much more important then having guys who simply slug home runs. Well, Beane now has neither. His team is entirely crippled at the plate as the stats show. This team is last in the AL in runs, slugging and extra base hits while it is tenth worst in Beane’s coveted On Base Percentage category. Double B has been baseball’s golden boy for the past five or six years, but this year, things seem to have fallen apart. It started this off-season when Beane let Jermaine Dye walk and traded two of his arms – Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder – for a bounty of spruced up journeymen. Dye was probably leaving anyways and I don’t fault Beane for making the trades since both his pitchers were bound to leave over the next two years, but it looks like he failed to get what Oakland needed in return. I am not sure the pitchers Beane got in return for his two guns won’t pay dividends in the future, but what was needed right now were a couple of bats. I am not saying he could have got Atlanta to part ways with Marcus Giles in exchange for Hudson, but he sure should have tried. Without getting any bats in return for his two big guys, Beane is now stuck with a lineup devoid of power or speed. He has big holes in the corners of his outfield and his one legitimate deep threat – Eric Chavez – is dying without proper protection. The funny thing is Oakland is still getting good pitching without Mulder and Hudson, meaning some offense would go a long way towards helping this team in the win column. So now there are calls for Beane to trade pitcher Barry Zito for a bat, preferably one that comes from the right side. Beane should have thought of that when he still had good chips to trade. You won’t see Lewis writing that story anytime soon.

May 9 - New York's Place in the Sports World

New York sports fans are quick to defend their city as the capital of the professional sports world, but with the Yankees on the precipice of disaster, the sports scene in the Big Apple doesn’t look all that ripe. I am not saying the city is hopeless, but when you look at every city in America with a professional team in the three major sports, New York does not stack up very well, especially considering that there are five entries rather then the customary three. I base this observation on a review of the past year and each cities prospects for the year ahead. Let’s begin by taking a look at New York. If you ask me, the Jets are probably the brightest spot on the local sports scene as they are unquestionably a playoff contender going forward. But the same cannot be said for the rest of the locals. The Yanks look to be in complete disarray and if 05 is a loser, 06 will be a disaster. The Mets are on their way up, but I can’t see them making the playoffs this year. Meanwhile, the Giants are a mess and the Knicks are a disgrace. For the sake of this argument, the Nets don’t count since they play in New Jersey and are less popular then the local indoor football team.

So when it’s all said and done, if you are a Giants-Yankees- Knicks fan, you have a drought on the horizon. The Yankee story is busted and will probably need a couple years in the shop, the Knicks currently reside in the Abyss and the Giants are at least a couple years away and that is assuming Eli turns out to be something. Things are a bit better out on the Island for you Mets-Jets fans, but it will still be a while before either truly contends. The Jets are fairly close, but how many of you think Chad is the man to deliver the Jetsons to the Promised Land? Those of you raising your hand are dreaming. As for the Mets, things are definitely on the mend, but these things take time. There is a solid young nucleus there, but it won’t be this year. In sum, the New York sports scene has some decent stories, one legitimate playoff team, one up and comer, and a bag full of garbage. So how does this rank with the other cities in America? Here are my rankings which are based on performance over the past year and the immediate prospects ahead.

1) Boston – No explanation needed. Things are so good in Beantown that Boston Rob Mariano may win the Amazing Race giving Boston five major championships since the Pats took out the Rams back in 2002.
2) Miami – The Fish are legitimate WS contenders and the Heat are right in the mix.
3) Atlanta – The Braves are rock solid and the Falcons were in NFC Championship. Not bad although no one in that city cares about anything other then UGA football.
4) Minnesota – M/STP has both the rock solid Twins and the improving Vikes. Wolves are a drag, but that could be fixed relatively quickly.
5) Chicago – Stuck with the woeful Bears, but the White Sox are on fire and the Bulls are a year away from being real good and two away from the Final Four. (Upon further reflection, I probably have ChiTown to high.)
6) Detroit – The Pistons have one ring and could have another coming. Lions are improving. Bonus points because Mike Phelps is swimming at Michigan and the Wolverines should be plenty good in football next year.
7) Philly – The Phillies are terrible but Eagles should win the NFC again. Sixers don’t help or hurt.
8) LA – The Lakers are a mess and no pro football hurts, but two pretty good baseball clubs and the best college football program in the country. That counts for something. Bonus points for Derby winner - Giocomo - running on the Southern California Circuit. LA also gets boost from that Pepperdine win in the NCAA mens volleyball championship Saturday night. UCLA gals go for Water Polo win this weekend.
9 Tie) Jets-Mets-Knicks. Can the kids mature quick enough to back Pedro?
9 Tie) Dallas - Mavs are still alive and Rangers have outside shot at the West. Parcells could have his team back in the Playoffs. Lets hope that doens't happen.
11) Phoenix – Suns have a good shot at a title and DBacks could win a weak West. Cards will be better although 2005 will not be a playoff year. 2004 was one of the worst years any city has ever had to endure but things are looking better in 05. I can't go crazy on Phoenix until I see the Dbacks do a little more.
12) Seattle – The Sonics are still alive and the Seahwaks are presentable. M’s are lost right now. Washington Husky basketball helps but early defections cost UW a spot in preseason top-5. Seattle isn't even a good music town anymore.
13) Yankees – Giants – Knicks. Yanks are the only hope for this sorry triumvirate.
14) Washington – There are some problems, but the Wizards are a team on the rise and I am still letting Washington take credit for the Birds until the Nationals are sold to local ownership. Skins drag this down because it’s a Skins town and that organization is horrendous. Case would be helped if Rehnquist gave up his head coaching spot at the court.
15) Houston – Rockets early exit hurts and Texans are average, but Astros did play in NLCS last year. Future is uncertain for all three, but at least $50 oil is gunning the local economy.
16) Wisconsin – The Packers are sliding, the Bucks are painful to watch and the Brewers can’t afford to compete. A bad 2005 for Favre will cost this State a couple slots.
17) Denver – There is a disgrace playing at Coors and the Broncos are in decline. The Noogies are improving but early exit confirms this team isn’t close. Barnett’s mess up the road at CU doesn’t help.
18) Cleveland – Things don’t look too good right now, but there is Lebron and Tribe is probably a year away. Can Romeo and Phil Savage turn around the Brownies by 2010?
19) Bay Area - Niners are stuck in Nowheresville, the Warriors stink and both the Gyros and A’s are stuck in mediocresville (That is being generous for the As in particular). The only thing the Bay Area has going for it is Bonds upcoming trial and next weekend’s NCAA Women’s Water Polo Championships where Stanford is seeded number two

In sum, New York isn’t the worst spot to be, but it is hardly the best. I would put it somewhere in the middle although I don’t think there is much upside for the next couple years. I guess I am a bit jaded by the fact that I don’t believe in Chad so I am not going to give the Jets serious Super Bowl consideration and I think the Yankees are toast. I could be wrong on both and in that case, my rankings go to hell, but as on May 9th, 2005, this is my story.

Notes from the National: It was not a pretty weekend for the Assholes who were outscored 38 to 8 over a four game set down in Atlanta. I am not sure what was worse – the thumping the Astros took or the ass beating that the Rockets took Saturday night in Dallas. Things haven’t been this bad in Houston since oil was twenty dollars a barrel. Mike Hampton had the huge game on Sunday for the Braves, pitching a two hit shutout while also blasting a dong. I’ll say this again – why does this .350 hitter not pinch hit on his off-days? In fact, why doesn’t he just play first base? Meanwhile, the Assholes are a complete mess right now – they finally got Berkman back but giving up nine runs a game to the pea shooters down in Atlanta is unforgivable. This could be a real long summer in Houston, especially if Lee Harvey Oswalt pitches like he did Friday night. Colorado actually won a road game Sunday, beating Al Leiter and the Florida Marlins. Florida was looking for the sweep after the D-Train threw seven scoreless on Friday and Beckett followed with seven more on Saturday. The Fish are obviously getting great pitching from their young hurlers but you have to wonder whether these kids will eventually wilt under such heavy workloads? The Mets were looking for a nice sweep at Milwaukee on Sunday, but Tom Glavine came up lame once again. He is like a cancer that goes into remission but comes back every fifth day. Pedro got a cheap win on Saturday, but he’s entitled to a few of those. How long will it be before Mets third baseman David Wright starts hitting cleanup between Beltran and Floyd? Brewer manager Ned Yost got the “prick move of the weekend” award when he lifted Wes Obermueller on Saturday with two outs in the fifth and the score tied at three. Ned, why not give the kid a chance to close the fifth and get the win? Los Madres took two of three in St. Louis, but Sunday was ugly as they gave up eleven in the first and went down 15-5 against Jason Marquis. Tim Redding was the victim and at 0-5, his days in San Diego would appear to be numbered. The Cubs avoided a sweep and ended a seven game slide on Sunday as Carlos Zambrano gave up only a single run over nine. Were those pre-game festivities yesterday at Wrigley held to honor the 60th anniversary of V-E Day or the 60th anniversary of the last Cubs team to have played in the World Series? Things have gotten so bleak at Wrigley that Ben Grieve got the start yesterday in left. What is next – trading for Jose Offerman and having him play short? The Gyros avoided a sweep and ended a four game slide on Sunday, but whatever happened to Jason Schmidt? He got torched again on Saturday night. The Gyros are only 15-15, but their next ten are against Pittsburgh, Houston and Colorado. Outside of the perhaps the NFC Central, it doesn’t get much easier then that. Hey Yankee fans – Nick Johnson is hitting .318 and slugging close to .500 for Washington. The Steelers have won five of six after they scored two touchdowns and a safety at Phoenix yesterday. Oh wait, that was the Pirates. Admiral Halsey took the loss for the Dbacks who gave up twelve in the final two frames. The Dodgers and Reds played an exciting series this weekend where the closest game was decided by six runs. Eric Milton gave up two more Jacks for the Reds last night, giving him 13 on the year. At this rate, he may give up 60.

Airmail from the AL: This story on the South side of Chicago is getting downright ridiculous. The White Sox swept the Jays in Toronto this weekend and have now won 24 of 31. They now only have to go 70-65 to win 94 on the year. Moral to the story is the Sox will be in this thing until the end. Mark Buehrle was pretty ordinary for Chicago yesterday, but he did enough to win his fifth. The Sox have now won eight straight while slugger Paul Konerko has been ice cold. He is hitting just .150 during the winning streak. Terry Francona did his best Grady Little impression last night when he inserted Cla Meredith into a 2-2 tie in the seventh. Meredith was making his MLB debut after pitching only a couple months above A ball. In fact, he was throwing for Virginia Commonwealth at this time last year. So what did Meredith end up doing? He gave up a game winning slam to Richie Sexson. The Sox did get some good news as Wade Miller looked pretty good pitching five strong innings. It was only Seattle, but Miller’s outing was encouraging and his return should help stabilize things for the Sox. The Yanks got a couple of shutouts that were long overdue, but let’s remember they came against the pitiful A’s. That Oakland offense is absolutely putrid so let’s no go crazy and claim Kevin Brown has suddenly found himself. His next start will be at Oakland but he has to do a lot more then blank the A’s before I am ready to say he is credible. The same goes for Mike Mussina whose two “BIG” wins have come against Tampa and Oakland. After all, throwing inside to Tejada and Texeira is a lot idffiernet then throwing inside against Scutaro and Sanchez. Baltimore failed to get the sweep over KC on Sunday as ace Rowdy Roddy Lopez got hammered. The O’s now must face Radke, Johan and Jon Garland on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Kenny Rogers gave the Rangers another great start yesterday and he now has a 21 inning scoreless streak working. He would have to throw four more complete game shutouts before he sniffs the MLB record that is held by his current pitching coach. Alfonso Soriano had a huge week, hitting .458 and slamming five Jacks. If the Rangers truly want to dump this guy, the time to do it is now. It looks like Justin Morneau is for real. Despite a stint on the DL, he is hitting over .400 with 20 RBI in just 16 games. Sorry Yankee fans, he won’t be unrestricted until at least 2008. Things are about to get real ugly down in Tampa. The Rays have the streaking White Sox coming for three and they then go out on the road for 22 of their next 28. The Angles Jared Washburn got smacked around yesterday and even though they are 18-13, the Angles have to have some concerns with their offense. They are 10th in AL runs, 10th in AL slugging and 13th in AL OBP. The Angles pitching has been great, but how long can that spotty staff carry this slumbering offense? My sense is the offense will pick just about the time the pitching reverts to the mean.

It was mentioned above, but this story has thus far not received a ton of attention. Not many people know this, but Boston Rob Mariano and Amber Brkich are about to complete a huge CBS reality show double – winning both Survivor and the Amazing Race. For those of you who aren’t Survivor fans, Rob carried Amber to victory in Survivor All-Stars (he finished runner up) and now the two of them have made it all the way to the final three on Amazing Race. The winner will be crowned on a two hour finale airing on CBS tomorrow night at 8:00. I haven’t watched much of the Race this year, but word has it that Boston Rob was absolutely devious in some of the early stages. This shouldn’t come as a surprise since he made a habit of screwing people over on Survivor. It is because of all the lying and cheating that Rob is a member of my reality show Hall of Fame. And let’s not confuse the issue. Rob makes this team go. Amber is hot, but Rob is the diesel that motors this train. He carried her on Survivor and I have been told he is doing it again on the Race. And given the fact that aside from the Celts, no team from Boston has lost in over a year, I gotta think this team is a lock to cross the finish line first. So where will this team rank if they can pull off this incredible double. Well, it certainly gives them the greatest accomplishment in reality show history. That is a no-brainer. The more important question is whether a victory gets Boston Rob up on the Boston Mount Rushmore alongside Orr, Bird, Ballgame, Russell and Brady. That is a tough call.

Did Steve Nash win the NBA MVP award because he is white and Shaq is black? Of course he did and that begs the question of why are we even debating this fact? Had Nash been just your typical black Canadian, like Ben Johnson or Grant Fuhr, there is no way he would have gotten his hands on that hardware. Everyone knows that because everyone knows the Basketball Writers of America is the most racist organization in America outside the Indiana State Republican Party. What a bunch of garbage. Nash won for one reason and one reason only. He turned an average team into one that had the best record in the NBA. His team got off to a blistering start, yet went 0-5 during a brief stretch that Nash Was out. When he returned, they won eight of ten on the road. Nash won because he made his team a whole lot better then they were the year before and in many people’s minds, this represents value. I am not suggesting this was a clear cut race since Shaq certainly compiled a worthy resume. There is no doubt he had a great year and deserved consideration. In fact, I would have voted for Shaq if I had been given a vote. But I cannot get too excited by his loss and it seems ludicrous to me that people are suggesting Nash won because he is a white dude. These theorists have this tortured idea that the NBA somehow orchestrated this in hopes of throwing a bone to suburban Americans who are tired of seeing the league dominated by blacks. Sorry, having a white MVP isn’t going to change that and the NBA knows it. Those voters left the party a long time ago and the stars will have to align before they return. Nash won because he had a very good year, his team had a very good year and a majority of voters felt he was the difference maker. With that said, it didn’t hurt that the majority of writers happen to be from north of the border. For that exact reason, I am taking Justin Morneau to win the AL MVP award.