For those of you who missed it, there was a slight disagreement over proper decorum between Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett and, well, pretty much the entire LA Angles team. The genesis of it all? Bobby Abreu calling timeout. Normally not a big deal, but he did it during Beckett's windup. The umpire (foolishly) granted the timeout request, and Beckett, since he was already in the middle of his pitching motion, let the pitch fly anyway...over Abreu's head.
Abreu wasn't thrilled with the location, and stared at Beckett with a "what was that?" look on his face. That gave Josh the chance to do what he loves best, be ornery towards a batter. Beckett had words with Abreu, the benches cleared, and then Beckett had words with Angels coach Mike Scioscia, and some shoving ensued.
Interestingly, 4 Angels players/coaches were ejected, and no Red Sox were. But, MLB disagreed with that decision, and suspended Beckett for 6 games. Beckett claims the ball wasn't intentionally tossed near Abreu's head, and if you believe that, I have a Red Sox 2003 ALCS Champions ring to sell you. There is no way Beckett wasn't trying to send a message with that throw. If you don't believe me, check out his actions immediately afterwards. He gets in the face of Abreu, Scioscia, and the Rally Monkey.
Was the suspension justified? Yes. Being a starting pitcher, Beckett only plays once every 5 games, so a 6 game suspension for Beckett is the same as a 1 game suspension for a regular player. And given Beckett's intentional toss in the vicinity of Abreu's (large) head, it's warranted.
That being said, I believe Beckett was right to make the statement he did. The ball was far enough away from Abreu's head to not be a threat to harm the ex-Yankee. Since it wasn't dangerous, it was a perfectly valid statement to make: watch yourself, batter. Batters have no fear anymore: from the body armor they wear at the plate that would make a tank blush, to the quick warnings given by the umpires when a pitcher throws too far inside, pitchers don't have much on their side anymore. Hitters can even dictate the pace of the game by calling timeout and stepping out of the box after every pitch. And the balance wasn't this out of whack 30 years ago. It has swung, gradually, towards the hitters over time. If pitchers don't make a statement on something like this, soon they'll have to underhand the ball over the plate, and batters will be outfitted head-to-toe in Kevlar.
The pendulum has already swung well to the side of the hitters, the pitchers have to protect what little ground they have left to stand on. Beckett did that. Missing a game is warranted, but he did the right thing.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Sarcastic Guy, Vol. 1
In the first of what I'm sure will be a series of about 10 million posts (due to my unfortunate team allegiances) I give you, the last third of the ninth inning of the Mariners-Twins game last night:
Fact #1: It's game 2 of a 162-game season, in the grand scheme of things, it means nothing.
Fact #2: The Mariners are going to lose at least 85-90 games this season
Fact #3: MLB is giving away a week of their Extra Innings package for free this week, meaning I can see M's games I normally would never see.
That all being said...
Congratulations Brandon Morrow. Now I see why you pulled a Papelbon a couple weeks back and decided you wanted to be a reliever instead of a starter. Some said it was on account of your diabetes, and how managing your blood sugar was much harder as a starter. Some blame the previous regime for putting you in the bullpen in the first place and leaving you there for the better part of 2 years. But now we know the real reason: so that when you pulled an Ankiel and decided to stop throwing strikes it could be at the most visible and most damaging moment.
For those of you who missed it, here is how Morrow's 9th inning went, staked to a 5-3 lead:
Strikeout
Fly out to center
8-pitch walk (the 1st 3 pitches were balls)
4-pitch walk
Killed hot dog vendor with errant pitch
7-pitch walk
39-year old walking carcass of a useful pitcher replaces Morrow
Infield single
Walkoff single
Okay, so one of those things didn't actually happen, but the rest did. And yes, this wasn't entirely unexpected, as Morrow's walked 6 batters for every 9 innings he's pitched, but with a 2-run lead, underhand the stupid ball over the plate. Usually doing the other team's work for them is reserved for people who are actually paid by that other team.
And Erik Bedard, aka, Mr. 5 Innings, thank you for your 5 innings of work last night. It's nice to get consistency from at least one source on this squad, even if that consistency is a supposed ace pitcher obtained by gutting the farm system last year pitching 55% of the game every 5 days. In case you haven't noticed, top pitchers usually push for 7+ innings of work. In fact, your teammate threw 8 innings just the night before. The Mariners can get 5 innings of 3-run ball from Carlos Silva probably about 50% of the time, and Carlos Silva eats 1/3 of the baseballs used in his games. Also in case you haven't noticed, you're in your contract year, you might want to convince people you're not a candybone so you can make some money.
Fact #4: This is why I don't spring for any of the MLB game packages.
Fact #1: It's game 2 of a 162-game season, in the grand scheme of things, it means nothing.
Fact #2: The Mariners are going to lose at least 85-90 games this season
Fact #3: MLB is giving away a week of their Extra Innings package for free this week, meaning I can see M's games I normally would never see.
That all being said...
Congratulations Brandon Morrow. Now I see why you pulled a Papelbon a couple weeks back and decided you wanted to be a reliever instead of a starter. Some said it was on account of your diabetes, and how managing your blood sugar was much harder as a starter. Some blame the previous regime for putting you in the bullpen in the first place and leaving you there for the better part of 2 years. But now we know the real reason: so that when you pulled an Ankiel and decided to stop throwing strikes it could be at the most visible and most damaging moment.
For those of you who missed it, here is how Morrow's 9th inning went, staked to a 5-3 lead:
Strikeout
Fly out to center
8-pitch walk (the 1st 3 pitches were balls)
4-pitch walk
Killed hot dog vendor with errant pitch
7-pitch walk
39-year old walking carcass of a useful pitcher replaces Morrow
Infield single
Walkoff single
Okay, so one of those things didn't actually happen, but the rest did. And yes, this wasn't entirely unexpected, as Morrow's walked 6 batters for every 9 innings he's pitched, but with a 2-run lead, underhand the stupid ball over the plate. Usually doing the other team's work for them is reserved for people who are actually paid by that other team.
And Erik Bedard, aka, Mr. 5 Innings, thank you for your 5 innings of work last night. It's nice to get consistency from at least one source on this squad, even if that consistency is a supposed ace pitcher obtained by gutting the farm system last year pitching 55% of the game every 5 days. In case you haven't noticed, top pitchers usually push for 7+ innings of work. In fact, your teammate threw 8 innings just the night before. The Mariners can get 5 innings of 3-run ball from Carlos Silva probably about 50% of the time, and Carlos Silva eats 1/3 of the baseballs used in his games. Also in case you haven't noticed, you're in your contract year, you might want to convince people you're not a candybone so you can make some money.
Fact #4: This is why I don't spring for any of the MLB game packages.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Well, that was a bit of a letdown
You knew that if UNC brought their A-game and Michigan State brought their A game that UNC was going to win comfortably. Well, for the first half, UNC brought their A+ game, and MSU brought their D- game, which resulted in 55 points and a 21 point advantage for North Carolina at halftime (both title game records).
Now, no matter what Michigan State did in that first half, they were going to be lucky to stay within 10 points of Carolina. But, that was some of the worst basketball I have ever seen out of a Michigan State team. Not only did they turn the ball over 13 times, many of those turnovers were (cue Bill Walton) TERRR-IBLE decisionmaking. With that many turnovers, MSU had to be doing something else very well, and neither their 3-point shooting nor their offensive rebounding showed up in that first half. It really looked like Carolina's size really bothered the Spartans, especially their guards.
Some of it too was Michigan State looked overwhelmed by the moment. Surprisingly, I'd include Tom Izzo in that statement. He said to his team before the game that he didn't want to use many timeouts early to stop runs. I understand this, when I coach, I loathe using timeouts early. Better to have them later in case the game is close. Well, that occasionally results in my team going down big and us having lots of timeouts in hand with the game out of hand. I do fault Izzo for not using a timeout 5-6 minutes into the game. Not because he needed to stop UNC's run, but because it was obvious that Michigan State was playing way too fast. The analysts saud MSU wanted to run selectively. It looked like they were trying to outrun North Carolina, and that is a recipe for failure. 5-6 minutes in the game was early enough to change up and slow the game down to cut down on the turnovers, but by halftime, MSU had no choice but to keep running due to being down by 21.
As I expected, UNC could not string 40 minutes of focus together, as they went 6 minutes early in the second half with 1 field goal. The thing is, it didn't matter thanks to the huge cushion they built up in the first half, and Michigan State's inability to hit a 3-pointer (7 for 23).
I admit, I thought MSU had a good chance to knock off UNC. I was impressed with their defense and thoroughly underwhelmed with UNC's win over Villanova. It turns out I didn't give enough credit to UNC's defense (their length at every position but center really altered a lot of shots) or the offensive skills of Lawson, Ellington, and Hansbrough. North Carolina was the odds on favorite all year to win the tournament (even though they weren't the #1 overall seed in the bracket, Vegas gave them the best odds), and Monday night was a perfect example of why.
Now, no matter what Michigan State did in that first half, they were going to be lucky to stay within 10 points of Carolina. But, that was some of the worst basketball I have ever seen out of a Michigan State team. Not only did they turn the ball over 13 times, many of those turnovers were (cue Bill Walton) TERRR-IBLE decisionmaking. With that many turnovers, MSU had to be doing something else very well, and neither their 3-point shooting nor their offensive rebounding showed up in that first half. It really looked like Carolina's size really bothered the Spartans, especially their guards.
Some of it too was Michigan State looked overwhelmed by the moment. Surprisingly, I'd include Tom Izzo in that statement. He said to his team before the game that he didn't want to use many timeouts early to stop runs. I understand this, when I coach, I loathe using timeouts early. Better to have them later in case the game is close. Well, that occasionally results in my team going down big and us having lots of timeouts in hand with the game out of hand. I do fault Izzo for not using a timeout 5-6 minutes into the game. Not because he needed to stop UNC's run, but because it was obvious that Michigan State was playing way too fast. The analysts saud MSU wanted to run selectively. It looked like they were trying to outrun North Carolina, and that is a recipe for failure. 5-6 minutes in the game was early enough to change up and slow the game down to cut down on the turnovers, but by halftime, MSU had no choice but to keep running due to being down by 21.
As I expected, UNC could not string 40 minutes of focus together, as they went 6 minutes early in the second half with 1 field goal. The thing is, it didn't matter thanks to the huge cushion they built up in the first half, and Michigan State's inability to hit a 3-pointer (7 for 23).
I admit, I thought MSU had a good chance to knock off UNC. I was impressed with their defense and thoroughly underwhelmed with UNC's win over Villanova. It turns out I didn't give enough credit to UNC's defense (their length at every position but center really altered a lot of shots) or the offensive skills of Lawson, Ellington, and Hansbrough. North Carolina was the odds on favorite all year to win the tournament (even though they weren't the #1 overall seed in the bracket, Vegas gave them the best odds), and Monday night was a perfect example of why.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
MSU vs UNC
First things first: Michigan State was the best team on the floor tonight.
Michigan State has the best hands (defensively) that I've seen in this tournament. If the officials on Monday call the game the same way both sets of officials did tonight, that's going to favor the Spartans big time. Many times a UConn player would make a strong move to the basket only to have the ball poked out. That and their commitment to rebounding carried MSU to game 64 of this tournament.
North Carolina didn't make last year's mistake of sleepwalking through the first half, they came out firing and hit enough 3 pointers to keep Villanova at bay. UNC increased their lead in the 2nd half with their defense, which is something last year's team was not able to do. Whether it's maturity, hunger, or a slight shift in talent, defense carried the day for Carolina blue.
As for the 2 fallen Big East squads, 3 pointers killed them. UConn shot 2-6 from downtown, and while Villanova showed a bigger commitment to the 3-pointer (27 attempts), they were similarly bricktastic at it (5 makes).
While both the winners today made strong statements, neither looked anything close to unbeatable. Michigan State did their level best to hand UConn the chance to get back in this game by being careless with the ball against UConn's desperate full court pressure in the last 4 minutes, while UNC also showed a surprising reluctance to put their foot on their opponent's throat, with turnovers and blown 2-3 foot shots galore in the 2nd half.
The analysts said Michigan State needs help to win the title. There is no question that UNC is the better team, and that if both teams bring their A-games, UNC wins by 8-12. However, if we see the same 2 teams on Monday that we saw tonight, Tyler Hansbrough will graduate with no national title. Michigan State's defense will pose many of the same problems Villanova's defense presented tonight. And Michigan State will shoot better than 18.5% from beyond the arc, putting more pressure on UNC's defense.
Will this translate into another MSU upset win over a #1 seed? UNC's shooters will spread the Michiga State defense, and UNC rebounds even better than UConn, helping negate a large MSU advantage tonight. It will come down to UNC's focus. As long as Roy has been on Tobacco Road, UNC has never played all 40 minutes in any game that I've seen. Villanova's inability to hit a 3 kept it from biting the Heels tonight, but Michigan State will be primed to take advantage of these lapses in focus. If Hansbrough's wide eyes and Lawson's quick feet can hold their teammates together, UNC walks away with this one, but if they slip up for a couple of 3-4 minute stretches, Tom Izzo will have the gameplan to keep MSU right in it.
Michigan State has the best hands (defensively) that I've seen in this tournament. If the officials on Monday call the game the same way both sets of officials did tonight, that's going to favor the Spartans big time. Many times a UConn player would make a strong move to the basket only to have the ball poked out. That and their commitment to rebounding carried MSU to game 64 of this tournament.
North Carolina didn't make last year's mistake of sleepwalking through the first half, they came out firing and hit enough 3 pointers to keep Villanova at bay. UNC increased their lead in the 2nd half with their defense, which is something last year's team was not able to do. Whether it's maturity, hunger, or a slight shift in talent, defense carried the day for Carolina blue.
As for the 2 fallen Big East squads, 3 pointers killed them. UConn shot 2-6 from downtown, and while Villanova showed a bigger commitment to the 3-pointer (27 attempts), they were similarly bricktastic at it (5 makes).
While both the winners today made strong statements, neither looked anything close to unbeatable. Michigan State did their level best to hand UConn the chance to get back in this game by being careless with the ball against UConn's desperate full court pressure in the last 4 minutes, while UNC also showed a surprising reluctance to put their foot on their opponent's throat, with turnovers and blown 2-3 foot shots galore in the 2nd half.
The analysts said Michigan State needs help to win the title. There is no question that UNC is the better team, and that if both teams bring their A-games, UNC wins by 8-12. However, if we see the same 2 teams on Monday that we saw tonight, Tyler Hansbrough will graduate with no national title. Michigan State's defense will pose many of the same problems Villanova's defense presented tonight. And Michigan State will shoot better than 18.5% from beyond the arc, putting more pressure on UNC's defense.
Will this translate into another MSU upset win over a #1 seed? UNC's shooters will spread the Michiga State defense, and UNC rebounds even better than UConn, helping negate a large MSU advantage tonight. It will come down to UNC's focus. As long as Roy has been on Tobacco Road, UNC has never played all 40 minutes in any game that I've seen. Villanova's inability to hit a 3 kept it from biting the Heels tonight, but Michigan State will be primed to take advantage of these lapses in focus. If Hansbrough's wide eyes and Lawson's quick feet can hold their teammates together, UNC walks away with this one, but if they slip up for a couple of 3-4 minute stretches, Tom Izzo will have the gameplan to keep MSU right in it.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Cutler is a Bear
The Chicago Bears took a large step towards improving their offense today, acquiring Jay Cutler from the Broncos. The Bears gave up a lot: current starter Kyle Orton plus their first round pick in 2009 and 2010. The Broncos sent back a 2009 3rd rounder in addition to Cutler.
Update: Now reports indicate the Bears gave the Broncos the 2009 3rd rounder, and the Broncos gave back a 2009 5th rounder. So the trade is
Broncos get: Orton, 2009 1st, 3rd, 2010 1st
Bears get: Cutler, 2009 5th
Jerry Angelo went all in here, I like this trade less than the original because the Bears do have holes, and it will be very difficult to fill those holes with 1 pick in the first 3 rounds of this year's draft. Especially with a kick returner as the best receiver on their roster.
The Bears haven't had a quarterback of Cutler's talents...well...ever. Their offense immediately takes a few steps forward, and you have to think they're now looking at wide receiver with a 2nd or 3rd round pick, as why buy a Mercedes and give it a 4-cylinder engine? The Bears have also upgraded the number of 12-year-old girls on their roster, as evidenced by Cutler's antics over the last month.
Denver certainly has downgraded at quarterback, but they have also swapped the next Brett Favre in terms of drama for one of the lowest maintenance signal callers in the league (this guy sat behind the Rex Grossman experience for 3 years). Plus, with 2 1st round picks, if they want to move up in the 1st round to draft Stafford or Sanchez, they should have sufficient ammunition to do so. I would be very surprised if we get through Day 1 of the draft without the Broncos adding another quarterback to their roster.
Kyle Orton will get to answer the question of whether he's really a limited robot behind center, or whether he was held back by cheap, lead-based toys in Chicago. Fairly or unfairly, I don't see Denver hitching their train to Kyle Orton.
And Jay Cutler? He gets the chance to show whether he's an incorrigible gunslinger (a rich man's Rex Grossman if you will), or whether he was pressed into that role on account of a defense that couldn't stop anyone. With the Bears Cutler has a good support structure: a good running game, a good defense, and a decent offensive line. Update: the Bears have upgraded their line too, signing former #1 overall pick Orlando Pace to a 3-year deal. Pace isn't a top LT anymore, thanks to numerous injuries, but he's a definite upgrade over what Chicago has at the position. His receiving options have taken a hit though. Going from Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal to Devin Hester and Greg Olsen is like going from top sirloin to sloppy joes.
Whether the Bears win this trade or not comes down to whether or not Cutler can adapt to his surroundings. He has never won, but he hasn't had a ton of help either (we've covered Denver's shortcomings, and Vanderbilt only stopped getting dumped on in the SEC last year). If Cutler can embrace a slightly lesser role, he instantly makes Chicago a dangerous team, certianly a favorite in the NFC North. If he cannot, then it will be interesting to see how he reacts when Brian Urlacher tells him to stop blowing games. Based on this past month, I don't forsee that exhcange going well.
Update: Now reports indicate the Bears gave the Broncos the 2009 3rd rounder, and the Broncos gave back a 2009 5th rounder. So the trade is
Broncos get: Orton, 2009 1st, 3rd, 2010 1st
Bears get: Cutler, 2009 5th
Jerry Angelo went all in here, I like this trade less than the original because the Bears do have holes, and it will be very difficult to fill those holes with 1 pick in the first 3 rounds of this year's draft. Especially with a kick returner as the best receiver on their roster.
The Bears haven't had a quarterback of Cutler's talents...well...ever. Their offense immediately takes a few steps forward, and you have to think they're now looking at wide receiver with a 2nd or 3rd round pick, as why buy a Mercedes and give it a 4-cylinder engine? The Bears have also upgraded the number of 12-year-old girls on their roster, as evidenced by Cutler's antics over the last month.
Denver certainly has downgraded at quarterback, but they have also swapped the next Brett Favre in terms of drama for one of the lowest maintenance signal callers in the league (this guy sat behind the Rex Grossman experience for 3 years). Plus, with 2 1st round picks, if they want to move up in the 1st round to draft Stafford or Sanchez, they should have sufficient ammunition to do so. I would be very surprised if we get through Day 1 of the draft without the Broncos adding another quarterback to their roster.
Kyle Orton will get to answer the question of whether he's really a limited robot behind center, or whether he was held back by cheap, lead-based toys in Chicago. Fairly or unfairly, I don't see Denver hitching their train to Kyle Orton.
And Jay Cutler? He gets the chance to show whether he's an incorrigible gunslinger (a rich man's Rex Grossman if you will), or whether he was pressed into that role on account of a defense that couldn't stop anyone. With the Bears Cutler has a good support structure: a good running game, a good defense, and a decent offensive line. Update: the Bears have upgraded their line too, signing former #1 overall pick Orlando Pace to a 3-year deal. Pace isn't a top LT anymore, thanks to numerous injuries, but he's a definite upgrade over what Chicago has at the position. His receiving options have taken a hit though. Going from Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal to Devin Hester and Greg Olsen is like going from top sirloin to sloppy joes.
Whether the Bears win this trade or not comes down to whether or not Cutler can adapt to his surroundings. He has never won, but he hasn't had a ton of help either (we've covered Denver's shortcomings, and Vanderbilt only stopped getting dumped on in the SEC last year). If Cutler can embrace a slightly lesser role, he instantly makes Chicago a dangerous team, certianly a favorite in the NFC North. If he cannot, then it will be interesting to see how he reacts when Brian Urlacher tells him to stop blowing games. Based on this past month, I don't forsee that exhcange going well.
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