MLB
I used to be a Bill James guy. Not anymore.
Working in the front office for my beloved Red Sox, James, who is obsessed with signing guys with high on-base percentages, is a contributing factor to why, on April 10, the Red Sox led baseball in walks.
But James’s most famous contribution to baseball is his “sabermetrical” analysis, which has popularized the use of new statistics like such as OPS(on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) to determine player value.
By Billy Fellin
This title of a popular Linkin Park song is exactly where baseball and Barry Bonds are. A few years ago, all anyone could talk about is how the games would go down between the Yankees and Red Sox. Now steroids rule the cooler talk of the sports channels of the world, and I believe that it is ruining the sport. In case anyone has been missing that.
We often hear about players having “it.” Derek Jeter has “it”, Tom Brady has “it”, and Michael Jordan had “it.” No it’s not their athletic ability, but their unbelievable ability to lift their teams. It is unfortunate that there are so few of these players in sports, but it makes this writer thankful and more appreciative of the few that are there. Even if I am a die hard Jets and Mets fans and the sheer praising of Brady and Jeter is taking everything I can do not to throw up on my computer. I guess you have to give credit where credit is due.
The Mets have been looking for someone from their farm system to come up and lead this organization to a new level. The fans’ and the organization’s hearts have been broken by the likes of Bill Pulsipher, Greg Jeffries, Jason Isringhausen, and many others who were supposed to be “the guy,” but never panned out. Thankfully for the Mets, “the guy” has come in the form of David Wright.
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter–Martin Luther King Jr.
Bobby Baseball is not a real person. He is made up of media accounts, water cooler conversations and privy moments of underlying sheer hatred. There are many other questions that I would pose to any journalist regarding the treatment of Barry Bonds. Why is he so hated? What did he do to merit said hatred? Will the person who has seen the grand jury testimony, please stand up? The two books that were written about Barry’s steroid use have not one stitch of proof. How come there aren’t more Jose Cansecos? What I want America to understand is this is not about steroids, it’s about the witch hunt. Blacks have had heroes dragged, stabbed, assassinated, hung, ridiculed, ostracized, falsely accused and nullified. These are some of the reasons why some Blacks come to the defense of Bonds. The way he and other athletes are treated in the media conjures images Blacks are sick of seeing and feeling. Lyle Alzado, Bill Romanowski, Ken Caminiti, Jason Giambi (Comeback Player of the Year? What?). These are some of the few athletes who weren’t branded with as hot a tool as the one Barry gets stuck on his muscular chest every single time he is interviewed. Could you deal with the scrutiny? Could you deal with the judgemental scolding saliva of drunk fans and their misled children alike?
By Mark Cooper
In his opening start of 2006, Barry Zito didn’t look prepared. He wasn’t following through on his pitches, his control was terrible, and at times he just looked lost on the mound. The climax of his night was his final pitch, a hanging curve over the center of the plate that reigning AL MVP Alex Rodriguez walloped over the left center fence for a grand slam. Michael Kay said it best for both the ball and for Zito; “Seee Ya!”. Zito’s final stat line provided some gaudy numbers; in 1 1/3 innings pitched, he gave up 7 runs, all earned, on 4 hits, 4 walks, and 1 home run, the grand slam by A-Rod. Although Zito was out there a long time (59 pitches), it was the shortest outing of his career in terms of innings. This start brings up the question, is Zito overrated? There are many people who take him as ace, which he isn’t. He also is mistaken for a Cy Young caliber pitcher because of his 2002 season, where he won the trophy.
I’m going to make a bold prediction. Certainly a prediction that will have its fair share of naysayers, people who will laugh, scoff, insult my baseball knowledge, and best of all, will be utterly stupefied when it comes true. Are you ready?
The Seattle Mariners will win the AL West. Yes, I said the Seattle Mariners. The same Mariners that became the first team in MLB history to win 90 games in back to back seasons and then proceed to lose 90 games in back to back seasons. In fact, one step worse, they actually had a string of four 90 win seasons snapped by their two consecutive 90 loss seasons.
Let me be clear about one thing. This is not the same Mariner team that stumbled out of the gates in 2005.
“Hope springs eternal” is the most commonly-used cliché applied to the start of every baseball season. But I don’t like it, mostly because I don’t think it applies. Hope doesn’t spring eternal for the Royals for more than six weeks, and then they’re 14 games back and scouting the next draft. For them it’s more like hope springs for a month and a half.
So for my lead, I’m going to dive back into the bag of tricks and grab, “everything old is new again.” It’s the perfect way to describe that return of the Grand Old Game, and it applies this year more than ever.
by Trevor Freeman
Is it just me or was anybody else out there not prepared for Opening Day? I’m not sure if it was because I was afflicted with a huge dose of “GeorgeMasonitis” or if it was because hearing the word “steroids” come out of Linda Cohn’s mouth every thirty seconds made me want to gag.
Welcome to Opening Day. I know the White Sox and Indians played on Sunday night, but to me that’s the equivalent of the play-in game. Today’s when baseball really starts. The season only gets officially underway when the President throws out the first pitch. It’s not quite that first Thursday-Friday of the NCAA tournament, but it’s up there.
With Opening Day on the horizon now is a perfect opportunity to break down the season ahead of us. Every year teams over achieve or fail to live up to expectations due to injuries or various ailments, causing predictions to fluctuate from reality, but hey that’s why they play the game.