For die hard baseball fans

Read this article and found it to be a great gift for any baseball fan. Enjoy!

 

This Time I Called It

Only hours after I predicted that the owners would start griping about “cost certainty” in the wake of their spending spree and before the end of the current collective bargaining agreement, I see this article on Yahoo Sports. jeff Passan reports on “growing dissent over the CBA.” And quotes Chicago White Sox owner, Jerry Reinsdorf, as saying “I am already lamenting it.”

I realize that the real battling needs to go on between owners, not between owners and players. On the whole, it is clear that MLB is flush with money. The players deserve as much of that money as they can get their hands on. It is not their fault that owners get crazy and pay 10 mil for mediocre pitchers just because everyone else is doing it. That’s the owners fault. If I were the owner of the A’s I’d be more angry with the Rangers owner than with the Union. But then again, if I were the A’s owner I wouldn’t be angry because my team consistenly makes the playoffs because the team isn’t run by fools!

 

I hate Scott Boras

If there was any justice in the world J. D. Drew won’t be overpaid by another team and will ruin the confidence all players have in Scott Boras creating once again a better market for teams not willing to overpay for premium talent. Unfortunately Drew fits the description of what the Padres want in a left fielder, but I’m hoping they give a chance to Ben Johnson rather then overpay with the new found money they have found with Klesko & Park no longer eating up 30 million. The problem with Drew in my opinion is his seemingly lack of desire to play. I read an article in mid September where Drew was talking about how he was banged up and needed a break. While he was spouting this hurt the team a little help them a lot later mentality, Kent and Garciaparra were being massaged and taped ready to hobble out and play. There would be no breaks for them if the Dodgers were going to have a chance to win the West or the Wild Card. Who knows if Drew toughed it out maybe they would have won the west and had home field for the first round at least. The other thing and this is why I take more of a management stance, they get paid well. They get paid well to do something I would almost do for free. I could live off of the per diem they give out alone and have no problem flying on private charters and first class hotels. They don’t deserve to get paid as much as they do with perks included. I do think they should be compensated well enough where they don’t need to take on a winter job and can train year round, but when you’re as uninterested in the game as Drew seems to be, why should you even be allowed to play much less have raked in 11 million last year. I hate my job and probably won’t make that in my lifetime. Drew you want to trade jobs?

 

Someone has fashion sense?

I’m liking the d-backs new color scheme, it’s about time, but with all the money teams pay out to designers you think they could have done a better job then a cross between San Diego State University Aztecs and the Washington Nationals. Thank god they got rid of their previous colors and those stupid sleeveless jerseys. Something tells me though their fans will be wearing them again in 20 years like me and some Padres fans I know.

 

Almost Perfect?

I’m batting a thousand! So the Padres acquired Bud Black and I’m excited to see what he can do. I’m not having any of this “a pitcher doesn’t know how to manage” b. s. either.

I am however bummed about the Barfield trade . I liked that kid. I envision shades of Alomar. Now I know Mets fans could care less, but before he got there he was a pretty fine ballplayer, which seems to be lost on Mets fans. I remember when he was traded and always held out hope that when he was a free agent he would re-sign with the Padres but no such luck. I will always hate Joe McIlvaine for that trade. It seems however this regime is taking the same approach that it’s easier to find a second baseman then a third baseman according to Sandy Alderson. It’s also been said because he’s a Scott Boras client that that may have had something to do with it. Note to Padres if you don’t want Scott Boras clients on your roster don’t draft them. I can’t really blame them, I think the game will be a better place when that guys out of the game. None to soon in my opinion, but that’s a rant for another day. I’m also thinking they may have made the trade with an idea of flipping the pitcher they got (Andrew Brown) in a trade for Sheffield. that might be wishful thinking, but I am a Padres fan after all.

 

I called it!

My predictive powers are coming to light

 

For anyone curious to get a look at the Japanese pitcher causing all of the commotion, check it here:

 

Slow News Day

Not much to write about today. Still a few days before the free agent world starts to heat up. There is talk of a Jake Peavey for Heilman/Milledge/Owens package floating around. Joel Sherman had it then the Metropolitans dissected it. I’m not really going to spend any more time on it because there isn’t much more to be said. Besides, we all know that its just the kind of thing that fills an early November baseball column.

The only other news I have to report, and I have a good source on this, is that Omar Minaya was overheard trying to get someone to waive a no-trade clause over the phone while at Willie Randolph’s daughter’s wedding. Also notable was Wade Boggs chewing tobacco and using his champagne glass as a spitoon. Classy. Also in attendance, Yogi, Torre, Mariano, and Mazzilli.

 

You Tube

Chris Wilcox over at Miracle Mets dug up a funny You Tube video on his Miracle Mets Blog. Definitely worth checking out for a laugh. I love how Gary Carter has a mug that says “Gary” on it. Cuz you know he really did.

Well Chris, I’ll see your You Tube video and I’ll raise you one. If you haven’t already seen it, check out this genius who recreated game 6 of the ‘86 World Series using video from Nintendo’s RBI baseball. Here it goes…

My partner has a whole arsenal of Earl Weaver audio that hopefully he will share links to as well…

 

More on Mota

Brooklyn Met Fan has an alarmingly honest admission of guilt from Guillermo Mota on his blog.

Mota, to his credit, basically fessed up: ““I have no one to blame but myself, I take full responsibility for my actions and accept MLB’s suspension. I used extremely poor judgment and deserve to be held accountable…To my teammates and the entire Mets organization, I am sorry. I truly regret what I did and hope that you can forgive me. To baseball fans everywhere, I understand that you are disappointed in me, and I don’t blame you. I feel terrible and I promise this is the first and last time that this will happen. I am determined to prove to you that this was one mistake.” BMF gives him credit for taking it like a man unlike most including Rafael Palmiero who dragged Miguel Tejada into his own mess.

I can’t even believe it. I expected a whole rigamaroll about how he didn’t do anything that is illegal in his country, yada, yada, yada. I hope that guys like Sosa and Palmerio look at this guy who was no kind of a star and realize that they got out classed by a middle reliever. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind having him back after he took this much responsibility.

I also don’t think that his vast improvement was due to the roids. I think it is psychological. I think he was mixing his pitches better with theMets. I also think the friendly confines of Shea probably helped a bit too. Maybe I’m naive. Anyway, congrats to Guillermo on being a man.