2 weeks already?

Stephen King and Stewart O'Nan chronicled in their book "Faithful" , the Red Sox simply do not play well on the West Coast. Ever.

Well....

A quick look at Baseball-reference.com show that's not entirely the case. Since '99, going into this season, the Sox have a road record against the A's and the Halos of 40...and 40. As in .500.

Ironically King and O'Nan wrote that the Sox never win on the West Coast in 2005. Which was in fact the first year since 99 that the Red Sox didn't have an overall winning record in California.

From 2000 through 2004, had a 24-15 record in CA, but since then only a 12-21 record. Why is this?

Still, the opening 3-6 record in 2009 shouldn't be the cause of too much concern. Clearly, with the exception of Youk and Wake, the rest of the team is playing very much below expectations, and most of them should improve (and some, including Lowell, have shown that they are).

However, what is more a cause for concern is Big Papi. I watched 2 of the West Coast games, and every time he comes up to bat, my first thought is:

There's no way that wrist is 100 %

He looks uncomfortable in the batter's box, his swing looks noticably slower and pitchers clearly have his number right now. Bay and Drew have the potential to make up some of the power numbers, and Youk is on a mission to steal the MVP title from his team mate, but if BP remains a shadow of his former self, then with the loss of Mannyland, this team will struggle with power.

I've been wrong with predictions before, so but I'll be watching with a sligly baited breath....

However, with the punching bag otherwise known as the Orioles coming to town, I suspect the Red Sox will be substantially closer to .500 by the end of the series.

Aural memories....

I'm a music nut.

There's no other way to describe it.

After getting my first radio and cassette player (remember those?!?) at an early age, my life has been surrounded by music. More or less every significant event or time period in my life can be connected to certain songs, albums or artists.

Junior High? My metal phase, mainly Iron Maiden (The Power Slave and Somewhere in Time albums) and Van Halen. Albums on heavy rotation were 1984, 5150 and the aforementioned IM records.

High School? My guitar was my life in junior high and early high school and I listened more to guitarists than bands, so Eddie Van Halen, Clapton and Steve Lukather featured frequently. I moved after my first year in high school and making new friends expanded my musical genres, and I was introduce to The Cure and Depeche Mode, and later the first ventures into dance music - which also coincided with the beginning of regular concert going. Albums included Staring at the Sea, Violator, Fahrenheit and Lettin' Off Steam.

In college? More of The Cure, and got introduced to Red Hot Chili Peppers, Barenaked Ladies, D:A:D and Manic Street Preachers. This was also the period when I started DJing, both at clubs and on the radio, so my music taste became even more eclectic; discovering more house music, R'n'B, hiphop and soul. A Tribe Called Quest, De-La-Soul, Guru, KLF, NWA/Ice Cube and Snoop/Dr.Dre did many turns on the turntables. Most of my income was spent on records, and I had now amassed a substantial collection. Influential albums; Gold Against The Soul, Gordon, Blood Sugar Sex Magic and The White Room.

Emigrating? Moving from Sweden to the UK ironically made me embrace Swedish music to a greater extent as well as some new British discoveries. Eric Gadd and Blacknuss represented Sweden, whilst Fat Boy Slim and to an extent Oasis represented Britain. I also reacquainted myself with Aerosmith and Beastie Boys, and a certain Marshall Mathers came on the scene. Albums included Allstars, 2001, What's the Story?, You've Come A Long Way Baby, Nine Lives and Floating.

Often I'd go through more bands than clothes. Whenever I'd discover a new band, I HAD to get all the records the artist had ever released, and I'd listen exclusively for a few weeks or months until I found the next one. Some artists stuck, others were laid by the wayside.

Somewhat bizarrely, on a trip to India I spotted a video on an Indian music channel by John Mayer, and his music has played a big part in my recent life. His Continuum album came out days after discovering the events that lead to my divorce, but luckily I can now listen to the album without my first thoughts going back to that time period.

In the last eight to ten years my taste has returned a little bit to the more guitar oriented genres, and artists frequently played on my iPod(s) include Linkin Park, Lostprophets and probably my all time favourite - the Foo Fighters.

I've over the years been to more concerts in my life than I can remember, but I sadly never got to see Van Halen with their original line-up. Despite that I did manage to many of the bands I listened to more frequently, including this (at least in Europe) somewhat unknown band that my Canadian dorm-mate introduced me to in 1992 - Barenaked Ladies. All good things must come to an end, but it's still sad to find out that one of the lead singers, Steven Page, went down a path in his life that ultimately ended with him leaving the band. At least I managed to see the original line-up several times, including a very memorable New Years Eve in Phoenix, AZ.

Ah well, time to go to work, so it's Paramore and Prodigy on the iPod...

And over to Todd...

I recently joined a sportsbloggers group on LinkedIn and found this gem today. This is the kind of writing I aspire to produce.....still working on it. As many things in the post ring true for me in several levels, I wanted to share this...

Todd Civin writes:

It was the night of my first race. The Derry five miler. The most I'd ever run at work is 45 phone poles, or about three miles. "What's an extra two?" I thought. That was until I passed the three-mile mark.

Read his full post here.

Thank you Curt

For 2004 alone we should be grateful, but there are so many more things worth mentioning...some other time.

Thank you again #38.

Nice week

After a solid purge (and getting a ladder to the storage space in the loft), most of my belongings are now more or less arranged in a somewhat orderly fashion in my room.

Which is good.

Liverpool also beat Real Madrid 4-1, ManUtd 4-0 and Aston Villa 5-0.

Which is also good. (Which is an understatement!)

London also displayed itself to the fullest last week with glorious sun most of the week and mid teens temperature. My relatively short relocation has opened up new venues and my recent run through Richmond Park passing a herd of deer completely oblivious to people taking pictures and running past them. (Although the picture below was not taken by me...sadly)


Truly an oasis in the midst of metropolitan hustle. I was (relatively easily) convinced to sign up for a half marathon later in the year, so my training has now started in earnest. Which should no doubt help me in many other ways, including getting from 1st to 2nd base a fair bit faster.

Sometimes life is good, despite its challenges.

Materialistic madness

What you sow you shall reap. What goes in must come out. Etc. Etc.

So how come I'm so bloody surprised about the amount of stuff I have? How can I be shocked that my belongings (sans furniture) required almost 30 moving boxes? Which I now have to try to fit into a 100 sq ft room....

Not. Going. To. Happen.

I'm sitting here, trying to see the actual floor in between the masses of just....well....stuff.

So the next weeks will be spent weeding and sorting and filtering. Not used in the last year? Gone.

Things to do:

1. Hang up pictures. (Might seem like a strange priority, but you'd be surprised how much space pictures take on the floor. )
2. Sort and put away clothes. (Note: Try to avoid having a non-functioning washing machine for 2 weeks before moving house. Result is all your clothes in big blue IKEA bags.)
3. Pack up one more box of books and put into storage. (Surprising stat no. 47: Books take up space. And when you've had 10+ years in a large house, with plenty of bookshelves, restricting your large collection to 1 bookcabinet is not an easy task. )
4. Sort out parking permit.
   
5. Try to fit everything into the kitchen cabinets. (Clearly some weeding out needed here too.)
6. Go for a run. (This will actually be item no.1. October might seem far away, but so is 13 miles through London on foot. In 2 hours hopefully. Running programme starts in earnest today.)

Thank god I've got nothing to do then. At least I've got just about 3 weeks until the season starts in glorious HD.

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy

Or should the title of this post be "What Goes Around Comes Around"? Or perhaps "The wheels on the Karma Bus goes round and round".

Imagine the sorrow and sadness I felt after reading that even the Dallas Cowboys - the mecca that is the gathering of the maladjusted and the miscontent - have cut overall nice guy Terrell Owens.

So what's that T.O? 17 teams that have thrown your sorry ass out on the street? I cannot even imagine how you can ever have survived playing with such clearly inferior quarterbacks such as Steve Young, Jeff Garcia, Donovan McNabb and Tony Romo. Poor you...

Don't let the door slam you on the way out.

Fan...wait for it...aticism

So, most of my posts have been about one love - sports.

As we twiddle our thumbs waiting for the first pitch thrown in anger, I thought I'd orate a smidgen about another passion, both personally and professionally - television.

See, I get paid to watch TV...to simplify things a little bit. Yes, I know "we" (as in society) should not watch too much TV, and when given the choice of a nice day outside and or vegetating on the couch, I'm often the first one out the door. I play sports, I love to hike and enjoy fresh air walking around.

Still, I will not deny that I watch a fair bit of television, both professionally and personally. However, I'm quite selective about what I watch. I refuse to watch anything "reality" based - in my opinion it peaked with The Real World: San Francisco. Since then, a bunch of has-beens or never-will-be's trying to be the most outrageous person on tv just to get famous enough to be invited to turn on the Christmas lights in Oldham. Super.

Give me a properly scripted, well cast drama or comedy show any day. Over the years I've watched glimpses of more shows than I can remember, and followed a (not) suprisingly vast amount of shows.

Sooner or later though most show "jump the shark". Rarely does a series maintain the writing and energy produced in earlier seasons. Every now and then comes along the exception that drags you in. Now even the shows that fail to jump the shark have their ups and downs, but in today's TV market the leash is much, much shorter and many shows are cancelled long before they fulfil their promise.

Other shows seem to spend a weekly waiting game to see if they get renewed for another half season. Gone are the days of Cheers and Mash, both series that performed below average at launch before going on to run very succesfully for more than a decade.

Currently worth spending 45 mins on:

• Life - Damian Lewis of 'Band of Brothers' fame stars as a falsely imprisoned LAPD officer who is exonerated and returns to LAPD with a goldbadge, untold million$ and an urge to find out who framed him. All while in a Zen like frame of mind.
  
• How I Met Your Mother - A story told in flashbacks of how a group of 20-somethings live in NYC. It would be too much of a cop out to call it Friends for the next generation - plus this show is funnier.
• Entourage - Sex and the City for men. The city is LA. The sex is with a star actor, his hanger-ons and friends with countless number of starlets and wannabes. An HBO production, so not a PC dialogue in sight.

Now I'm off to see OC Ska...and then pack for my move this weekend. Joy and pain all rolled into one.

.....and we're back

After the annual January baseball holidays, we're now back to our previously scheduled entertainment.

For the Sox, truck day happened while I was on vacation in DC, and all teams have now reported to spring training. The Sox are enjoying a very quiet camp, whilst further up the gulf coast the Yankees turmoil continues day by day.

Despite spending more money than Iceland's national debt, the Yankees are far from a sure thing. Without a doubt, the rotation has improved - how could it not when they added the #1 and #2 pitchers available on the market? However, as good as Burnett's stuff is, he only seems to be able to get through a full season when he's in a contract year.....which he won't be for another 4 years....

And whilst the Yankees offense will be formidable, their defense still leaves a lot to be desired. Sure, Teixeira will be a huge upgrade at 1st from previous seasons, but the other side of the infield is not getting younger or better. In fact, Baseball Prospectus article at ESPN highlights the defensive liability that Derek Jeter has become. (You have to be an ESPN Insider to read the full article.)

While there are arguments over the accuracy and effectiveness of different contemporary defensive metrics, they are nearly unanimous on The Captain's limitations. Clay Davenport's new play-by-play metric that debuts in this year's edition of the Baseball Prospectus annual says Jeter's work with leather cost the Yankees 18 runs in 2007, and another 12 in 2008. John Dewan's plus/minus system from the Bill James Handbook rates Jeter the worst shortstop in total plus/minus of the last three years. On a scouting level, as strong-armed as he is, his range afield has become an obvious issue, just as it did for Cal Ripken in his mid-30s.

Will the Yankees front office have the brass balls, and the ability, to convince Jeter that CF is a great position for him? I for one hope that they don't, because that would indeed make the Yankees better....

The first ST games start this week, and then we have the WBC to look forward to in March.

Bring it on.

In all it's green, green glory

Our highest quality HD feed streams at 3Mbps and is a 720p resolution.

How sweet will that be???

Hot Stove pt. MMIX: A Prince among men

With "Mr.Yankee" now off the books it seems as the Red Sox are midway through Plan B.

After acquiring Brad Penny, the Sox have as I mentioned now struck deals with Rocco Baldelli, John Smoltz and as of yesterday former Dodger closer Takashi Saito and a one year deal with Mark Kotsay, giving the roster plenty of quality depth in the rotation, bull pen, situational relief and on defense.

Kotsay gives the Red Sox insurance in the OF if Baldelli, as suspected, will not be playing on an everyday basis should one of the starting outfielders go down with injury, and his versatility will also give the Sox adequate backup at 1B.

Smoltz should be back by May/June, and gives the Red Sox the option to keep Masterson in the bullpen and possibly trade one of their prospects for a catcher and/or a bigger bat.

The latest rumour involves yet another Scott Boras client (he must be the Yankees of the agent world), Milwuakee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder. Although substantially weaker in defense at 1B, he does rake a big bat, and would allow the Red Sox to move Youk to third and trade Lowell.

I admire and respect Mike Lowell, and part of me would be annoyed after yet another player accepting a deal with a "home town discount" and then being traded (see: Arroyo, Bronson), but sadly it is indeed a business nowadays, and it is risky to rely upon the performance of a 35 year old 3B coming of hip surgery.

Still, my hat's off to Lowell for the way he played through pain during the ALDS in 2008. If the Red Sox somehow can keep him, it would warm the cockles of my heart.

Smoke clearing

As we all know what happened with Mr. Angels/Rangers/Braves, it's time to take another look at the line-up:

As it stands now, after last nights pleasing news, Red Sox would open in April with this:

1. CF Jacoby Ellsbury
2. 2B Dustin Pedroia
3. DH David Ortiz
4. LF Jason Bay
5. 1B Kevin Youkilis
6. 3B Mike Lowell
7. RF JD Drew
8. SS Jed Lowrie
9. C Josh Bard

RH Josh Beckett
LH Jon Lester
RH Daisuke Matsusaka
RH Brad Penny
RH Tim Wakefield
(RH John Smoltz)

CL Jonathan Papelbon
SU Hideki Okajima
SU Ramon Ramirez
MR Manny Delcarmen
MR Javier Lopez
MR Justin Masterson
LR David Aardsma

Bench:
OF Rocco Baldelli
IF Julio Lugo
1B Jeff Bailey

With the signing of Baldelli, the Red Sox have found their 4th outfielder and potentially a power bat if the doctors can indeed improve his rediagnosed medical condition to allow him to get 350-400 AB per season.

John Smoltz also gives the front office a lot more flexibility with their prospects, and Buchholz seems to be trade bait for a new bat (potentially a C). Apart from he-who-shall-not-be-mentioned-but-we're-all-laughing-our-asses-of-at-his-non-existant-market, there are no top tier big bats on the free market, which means that if the Red Sox will add one, then they will have to trade.

Some rumours (or perhaps wishful thinking) have mentioned Joe Mauer, but I suspect that he is untouchable, even if we throw Buchholz and other top line prospect. I get the impression that the front office rates Michael Bowden higher, thus making Clay tradeable. However, with Epstein and co thinking long term, they know that most likely there is a power bat available from the minors towards the end of 09 or early 2010 in the shape of Lars Anderson, 1B extraordinaire, who has been tearing up A and AA, and will probably start 2009 in Portland before moving up to Pawtucket in the late spring/early summer.

Obviously a blockbuster deal with the Rangers for Josh Hamilton and Jarrod Saltalamacchia/Teagarden/Ramirez for Ellsbury, Buchholz and perhaps Daniel Bard might be difficult, as neither of the Rangers players have any large contracts the Red Sox could take on. Still, it would make the Red Sox lineup a feared one, with better back end rotation, defense and bullpen than the Yankees:

1. 2B Dustin Pedroia
2. RF JD Drew
3. DH David Ortiz
4. CF Josh Hamilton
5. 1B Kevin Youkilis
6. 3B Mike Lowell
7. LF Jason Bay
8. C Jarrod Saltalamacchia
9. SS Jed Lowrie

Looks good to me :)

New Year, New Hope

A new year always brings a sense of a clean slate and a brighter and more focused, albeit sometimes short-lived, outlook on life and its possibilities. Many of us enter each new year with new personal goals and/or milestones ahead of us:

This is the year I will take charge of my fitness/finances/career/personal life (fill in your own noun), etc.

It’s no coincidence that January is the month with by far the most new membership applications to UK fitness clubs, as people look to the New Year as a year with limitless possibilities. Once past the Winter Solstice, every day is just that fraction little bit brighter and longer, and we take charge of our lives to avoid yet another Van Wilder year (although without the glorious parties), stuck in Punxatawney in an eternal winter.

We exercise more, we tighten our purse strings, we search for that next wonderful career opportunity, and if we don’t have someone, that special person to have in our lives. Whilst January is often a cold and dark month, it also allows us to look at the year as a fresh new canvas to paint the next chapter in our lives…of course hopefully a better one than Isaac did…


A new year also brings new hope to many sports fans.

This is the year that my team will finally win the championship.

Glorious are the days of the ignorance and hope. As Thomas Grey wrote many years ago:

Where ignorance is bliss, / ‘Tis folly to be wise.

Most fans (possibly excluding Royals fans) can spend the early winter months (and longer if you’re an NFL fan) dreaming that this is the year. The MLB and the NFL , with its salary cap (NFL) and revenue sharing (both), means that even small market teams are able to go on extended chases for the title if everything falls into place.

Since the introduction of the Free Agency in the NFL in 1992, the Super Bowl has seen 11 different champions, with only Dallas, Denver and New England winning more than once during the 16 Super Bowls of that era. The MLB is a little bit more skewed due to the salary luxury tax and not a fixed cap, but even the World Series has seen 9 different winners since the 1994 strike year, with only the Yankees, Marlins and the Red Sox winning more than once during that period.

Still, despite the Yankees fielding an infield earning more ($80.5m) per year than half of teams paid their entire roster in 2008 (1B: Teixera, $22m/year, 2B: Cano, $9m, SS: Jeter, $22m, 3B: Rodriguez, $27.5m), baseball is one of the sports where money isn’t the sole determining factor. Witness Tampa Bay’s total payroll of $43m in 2008 not preventing them from winning the AL East, beating the Yankees $201m and the Red Sox $138m rosters.

So, despite the unusually cold start to 2009 here in the UK, and the Yankees single-handedly trying to solve the credit crunch by purchasing every single player, winter will eventually lead to spring, and with that we all have hope for a better year than the last one, regardless of the challenges we face. We face the new year looking forward to a long overdue reform in world leadership, and a better future. 2009 can be the year we achieve that next great career jump, it can be the year we greet our svelte mirror-image in the morning, and 2009 can be the year.

To steal the catch phrase of 2008:

This is the year.

off topic....

During the "hot stove" months, there is only so much one can write about baseball.

Sure, I can write about my beloved 49ers, who after half a decade of futility which pushed them off the screens here in the UK I now can see in almost HD glory each weekend through NFL.com's HD Gamepass.

Sadly, a sharper TV image does not equate to a sharper pass defense or a more accurate journeyman QB. Thankfully Gamepass did not include a HD shot of Mike Singletary's pantsless display.

However, despite a win yesterday, 2008 is truly yet another transport journey to a top 10 draft pick. Alas, I do not think this will change until the Niners get an owner who actually knows enough about football to own a team, but conversely realises he knows too little to meddle in everyday runnings of the actual team. (Hi Al Davis and John York). Although it now seems abandoned to an extent, you can still visit www.dumpyork.com for some more musings on this topic.

So, with no baseball, no football and nothing really to write about the premiership right now apart from another weekend of poor referreeing (ok, so the 'Pool will be top after tonights game!), what can I write about?

The frustrations of international migration? The fact that it seems near impossible for a highly educated career driven person to move to another continent?

Alas, as I don't want to ruin any chances in the future, I'll keep my frustrations inside whilst I wait for a more sports oriented topic to come around.

US State Dept, please find my application among the other millions...

Dream Team

1. CF Jacoby Ellsbury
2. 2B Dustin Pedroia
3. DH David Ortiz
4. 1B Mark Teixera
5. 3B Kevin Youkilis
6. RF JD Drew
7. LF Jason Bay
8. SS Jed Lowrie
9. C Jason Varitek

RH Josh Beckett
LH Jon Lester
RH Daisuke Matsusaka
RH Jake Peavy
RH Tim Wakefield


CL Jonathan Papelbon
SU Hideki Okajima
SU Ramon Ramirez
MR Manny Delcarmen
MR Javier Lopez
LR/Spot Starter Justin Masterson
LR David Aardsma

Bench:
OF Rocco Baldelli
C Jarrod Saltalamaccia
IF Julio Lugo
1B Jeff Bailey

On can dream, can't we?

If you can't stand the heat....

For those who follow international rugby, the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks, are well known for their pre game ritual.

They perform a Haka, a maori war dance, before the kick-off of every game. Whilst I find it very entertaining, nobody in their right mind can refute the fact that part of the ritual is to intimidate the opposition.

So why is it now that the All Blacks throw their toys out of the pram when an opposing team very classily refuse to be intimidated by their gamesmanship?

My blood pressure was pretty high but then I regained my composure. I was a bit upset about it.

This quote comes from the All Black's centre Ma'a Nonu, who got his panties in a bunch when the Welsh team decided to form a line and stare down the war dancing Kiwis.

But it was really hard. The haka is a war dance. If you're going to stand there like that then in the past people would have charged, but it's a rugby match and you can't do that.

Ehh...really??

So one team is allowed 2 mins of choreographed intimidation, but the other team forming a single line and staring back is outrageous?

Honestly Nonu, wake up and smell what you're shovelling. I enjoy the Haka as much as anyone, but if you do gamesmanship, then you better be prepared for getting some your way.

These mean Welsh are not playing fair when they're not being intimidated by our war dance...

To quote an OC girl....

Oh, puh-leeze

The little engine that could

For the second time in three years we have the previous years ROY become the MVP the following season.

After gargantuan Ryan Howard did it in the NL for the Phillies, the somewhat more vertically challenged Dustin Pedroia did it for the Red Sox.

And yes, the vote should have probably been closer, and yes, Joe Mauer was also a very valid choice, but I will not argue with the voters....for once.

Dustin Pedroia plays with a chip much larger than his shoulder. His size has always been an argument thrown in by perhaps less knowledgable pundits, and yet everytime he's confounded his critics by outperforming expectations.

Yes, he only hit 9 HRs in 2008, but he also led the league in doubles and his clutch hitting was on occasion superb.

Whilst Youk and Mourneau had v good years, I suspect part of the issue is that we simply don't expect that much offensively neither from a catcher or a second baseman.

This year we had two standout 2B, Chase Utley and D-Ped, which shows that the game is continually evolving.

Now we just wait for the recession busting contract coming to a tv screen near you.

9 figures? Honestly?

MLB Idol

After a short break, we return to the regular programme schedule....

With the actual awards based on merit; Silver Slugger and Cy Young, out of the way we now head on to the popularity contest that is the MVP.

To clarify for the uninformed, the MVP should be by definition be given to a player, who in comparison with his team mates has stood out across the MLB as the Most Valuable Player, i.e the team would not have been anywhere near where they ended up without said player. Also, it is not supposed to include post season feats, regardless what a bitter Albert Pujols said in 2006 when he lead the Cards to the playoffs but still lost out to Phillies' Ryan Howard who was spending October on the couch.

I see it this way: Someone who doesn't take his team to the playoffs doesn't deserve to win the MVP - Pujols, November 2006

"You have to consider everything. You have to put all the numbers together" - Pujols, November 2008

Way to turn the coat Albert. Now, don't get me wrong. Based on the context that only regular season feats playing part in the decision, both choices were correct. Pujols is a maginificent player, and his .357 with 37 home runs and 116 RBIs was head and shoulders above anyone else on the Cardinals and he carried, on a dodgy elbow, the team for most of the season.

However, it still raises issues about how the selection process is made. Just consider these figures for a second:

AB H HR BA OPS SB
546 173 50 .317 1.091 5

AB H HR BA OPS SB
550 165 39 .300 .963 11

Here's a hint - the second line, clearly inferior to the first one was awarded the AL MVP in 1995. The first line belongs to the Indians' former slugger Albert Belle, generally considered among sportswriters (as in the people voting for the MVP) as one of the surliest jack-asses in baseball. The second line belongs to Mo Vaughn, an mountain of a man (towards the end of his career a completely immobile mountain of a man) and a very genial man in dealing with the press.

Buster Olney of ESPN once wrote about Albert Belle:

It was a taken in baseball circles that Albert Belle was nuts... The Indians billed him $10,000 a year for the damage he caused in clubhouses on the road and at home, and tolerated his behavior only because he was an awesome slugger... He slurped coffee constantly and seemed to be on a perpetual caffeinated frenzy. Few escaped his anger: on some days he would destroy the postgame buffet...launching plates into the shower... after one poor at-bat against Boston, he retreated to the visitor's clubhouse and took a bat to teammate Kenny Lofton's boombox. Belle preferred to have the clubhouse cold, below 60 degrees, and when one chilly teammate turned up the heat, Belle walked over, turned down the thermostat, and smashed it with his bat. His nickname, thereafter, was "Mr. Freeze."

When Belle retired, the NY Daily News' Bill Madden wrote:

Sorry, there'll be no words of sympathy here for Albert Belle. He was a surly jerk before he got hurt and now he's a hurt surly jerk....He was no credit to the game. Belle's boorish behavior should be remembered by every member of the Baseball Writers' Association when it comes time to consider him for the Hall of Fame.

Hold on for a second...shouldn't the MVP be given to the best player, not the most friendly good player? NY Times writer Robert Lipsyte agreed:

Madden is basically saying, 'He was not nice to me, so let's screw him.' Sportswriters anoint heroes in basically the same way you have crushes in junior high school... you've got someone like Albert Belle, who is somehow basically ungrateful for this enormous opportunity to play this game. If he's going to appear to us as a surly asshole, then we'll cover him that way. And then, of course, he's not gonna talk to us anymore—it's self-fulfilling.

This is one of the two fundamental flaws in the voting process. It simply becomes a popularity contest. In 1947 the Red Sox splendid splinter Ted Williams, who was no friend of the 4th Republic, lost to the friendly Hollywood Yankee Joe DiMaggio, despite Williams winning the Triple Crown.

Williams numbers; .343, 32 home runs and 125 RBIs were far superior to DiMaggio's .315 with 20 home runs and 97 RBI, but one writer left Williams off the ballot completely after a clash with Williams, thus allowing DiMaggio to win the MVP by one point.

The second issue normally affects the top teams. A team cannot win 90+ games by having just one great player. Therefore teams like the Red Sox and the Yankees sometimes lose out on MVPs because other players "splinter" the vote.

This year it seems the 4 front runners for the AL MVP come from two teams; Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis from the Red Sox and Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer from the Twins. An outsider with a considerable shot is Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez, who of course set a new single season record with 62 saves (but in the process lowered his strike outs to a career low 77 since becoming the closer in 2002 and had a not too impressive 2.24 ERA).

The announcement is made later today. Now we wait.

In space nobody can hear you screaming

Did you hear that?

For the second time in less than a week, Fox executives let out angst ridden screams. First the whole Manny vs. the Red Sox story was eliminated with the Dodgers, and now the Phillies will face a team that couldn't even sell out much less their own arena than stadiums across the country.

Phillies v. Rays.

Chew on that for a second.

Taste as good as a Red Sox vs. Dodgers WS?

Not for Fox management....

Even last year's Red Sox vs. Rockies series, with RSN fans across the country watching every play, still produced the second to last rated series in terms of television ratings ever.

Think the Rays and Phillies will beat that? Analysts say not. And I don't doubt them. Sure, the Rays from zero-to-hero story makes for great headlines, and most fans now know of Longoria, Upton and perhaps even Shields. Baldelli's story also makes for a heartwarming tale, as does Maddon's unorthodox views on baseball management.

Big ratings it does not.

For a World Series to rate, it requires a sub plot that non-partisan casual followers of baseball can be bothered to turn on the television set for. Manny trying to shove it to the Red Sox, or the Sox trying to shove it to Manny, etc.

This is why the CS normally rates higher than the World Series. Non-Yankees and Red Sox fans would still watch an ALCS between the two teams. Dodgers vs. Giants (not that such a matchup is likely in the near future) or a Cubs-Cardinals series would increase the ratings.

And honestly folks, ratings is what it's all about.

Ratings allow YES to generate enough income for the Steinbrenner family to consider buying every player in the MLB.

Ratings allow Fox and TBS to pay MLB enough money that allows the Mariners to give a 4 year $48m contract to Carlos Silva. And the SF Giants to sign Barry Zito to a $126m contract for that matter.

Ray-Phillies? As much as baseball purists might enjoy the quality of baseball, a ratings driver it ain't.

Now what?

The Rays were throughout the season, and eventually in the postseason, the better team.

One can look at injuries to Lowell, Beckett and Big Papi as reasons for the Red Sox slump, but ultimately the Rays were simply better.

As much as I am glad to be free of "Manny-being-an-asshole", it was clear that we did not have a hitter that made the pitcher, the opposing manager and their fans quake in their seats - the way BJ Upton made most of us feel during the ALCS.

So, whilst most of the current Red Sox no doubt will be back there are some question marks.

"Guaranteed" to come back are of course Youk and Pedroia. The OF will most likely consist of Bay, Ellsbury/Crisp and Drew, and Lowell should have a few more years in him. If not Lars Anderson is hitting the skin of the ball in the minors and could come up to play 1B with Youk moving over to third.

The rotation looks pretty set if Beckett comes back to health, with Lester, Dice-K, Beckett. Wakefield and Byrd are bigger question marks, but Buchholz and especially Bowden in the minors.

The bullpen could do with some help as Timlin most likely is hanging up his hat (at least he should). Okajima found his form a little bit towards the end of the season, but Ardsmaa could assist and Daniel Bard might find his way up towards the end of 2009.

However, the big issues facing Epstein and co are of course shortstop and catcher.

Shortstop could be solved internally with dumping Lugo and putting Lowrie permanently at short, but catchers are in short supply within the organisation. Kevin Cash is not a long term answer, and as there are not many options on the open market a trade, possibly for Laird or Saltalamacchia from Texas being mentioned.

Now I'm taking a few days (or weeks) off from baseball - if nothing else I'll be able to sleep!

MMMoney, money, money, money

Imagine you being a highly paid surgeon for a top hospital. Now imagine you choose to, just through pride, to help out your vet friend and end up injuring your hand, rendering you useless for your actual employer.

Think the hospital executives would be more than a little miffed? And probably rightly so.

However, in the world of international sports, although my analogy perhaps isn't the most watertight of comparisons, this happens with a scary frequency.

Now, I'm one of the biggest fans of international football there is, especially the World Cup, which normally takes my already certifiable sports madness to new heights.

Still, I am feeling more and more for the teams that actually pay huge transfer fees and sometimes even higher salaries for top athletes, only to have them go away to play a bunch of former Soviet minions only to come back on a stretcher.

The most recent round of World Cup qualifiers saw Liverpool's Fernando Torres carried of with a thigh injury after 16 mins in Spain's game against Belgium, Manchester City's Bulgarian midfielder Martin Petrov tearing his ACL in his country's WC qualifier against Georgia and City's recent last minute acquisition Robinho strain his thigh in Brazil's qualifier against Colombia.

Now, players will always want to play for their country (with a few notable exceptions), but sooner or later a huge lawsuit will be filed against a national football federation from a team losing its top star for the season, or god forbid career. Only after more than a year of negotiations did the English FA agree to reimburse Newcastle for Michael Owen's season ending injury during the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

I suspect that international qualifiers are now one of the most dreaded times of the year for club managers, as their own futures can in cases completely rely on their stars making it back from their international duties unscathed.

Oh Captain, my Captain

O Captain my Captain! our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won;
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:

But O heart! heart! heart!

O the bleeding drops of red,

Where on the deck my Captain lies,

Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills;
For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding;
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;

Here Captain! dear father!

This arm beneath your head;

It is some dream that on the deck,

You’ve fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;
The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;
From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won;

Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!

But I, with mournful tread,

Walk the deck my Captain lies,

Fallen cold and dead.

There's a general consensus in the baseball world, especially among executives - catchers are not able to sustain their performance very long into their 30s. Anyone who's ever caught behind the plate at any level of baseball surely realises it's pretty hard work. Now image doing that 5 days per week for 3-4 hours a pop for at least 6 months per year!

Pudge Rodriguez (aided by Scott Boras) signed a 4 year $40m deal with the then hapless Tigers at the age of 33. Pudge is, and rightly so, considered as one of the best "two-tool" catchers of all time. Apart from a sensational defensive catcher (48% of all basestealers gunned down in his career, by far the best ever), he was also a very potent batter. Not very surprisingly Rodriguez average and slugging percentage peak of .332/.588 came at the age of 28 in 1999 (Excluding his injury shortened .347/.667 2000 season when he only played 91 games). Clearly, there are more than just stats in play when it comes to the catcher position, such as leadership and the ability to handle and guide the pitching staff, something Pudge did well for most of his time with the Tigers (although there were a few grumblings in Detroit) . However, in his 5 years there, he never bettered his first season of .334/.510 with 19 HRs (admittedly, a superb year for anyone, much more so for a catcher), and anyone who saw his sorry shadow of a former self in his .219/.323 in 33 games with the Yankees must be joining me in thinking - "Pudge, you've got countless of millions in the bank, pack it up now..."

After the 2004 season, at the age of 32 the Red Sox went against their own policy and offered Jason Varitek (and Scott Boras) a similar $40m, 4 year contract (albeit without the flood of injury protection the Tigers managed to put in theirs). Uptil then, the Red Sox would not go past 3 years for any player older than 30. (See Martinez, Pedro and Schilling, Curt.) V-Tek, considered without equals in regards to handling a pitching staff, was never a batter of Rodriguez standards, but coming off a .297/.482 season with a career best average (He was a .271 life time batter after the 2004 season), the Red Sox decided he was a risk worth taking.

As my math skills are not at Bill James' level, I am unable to look at how much Varitek's handling of the Red Sox pitchers have aided the teams success, but I think it's safe to say that he has been a huge factor in that respect, especially considering he's been behind the plate for 4 no-no's in his career. However, as many Sox fans, I have with pain watched his steady decline in the batters box. From .281 in 2005 to .220 in 2008, Varitek is now just marginally more dangerous at the plate than an NL pitcher. A sad indicator is the increasingly frequent number of times Francona has lifted Varitek for a pinch hitter late in games, most recently in game 5 of the ALCS when pinch hitter Sean Davis sadly struck out.

If the Rays, and they're still clearly odds on favourites, knock out the Red Sox in either game 6 or 7, game 5 might have been the last time for Varitek in a Red Sox uniform at Fenway. Question is if Varitek, a Boras client, would be willing to take a more limited role in a short deal with the Red Sox for 2009, or if he would seek a longer contract elsewhere.

I am personally torn.

As with Pedro leaving in 2004, Varitek's best days are long gone, and sometimes it's better to remember someone at their best rather than to see their decline in front of your very eyes. 2008 has not been a good year for Varitek, neither professionally (disregarding Lester's no-no in May and still the faint hope of a WS place) nor personally, but I still wonder if he will walk away happy with a career including 2 rings, a Little League WS and a College WS, or if he will be yet another professional athlete staying in the game just that little bit too long.

My heart does not want him to be finished, but my head suspects it is so. I hope he proves me wrong, not that he really needs to prove anything to anyone anymore.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;

(Apologies to Walt Whitman)

O M G....

Wow. Just wow.

Do they do this intentionally? Have they come to the conclusion that the only way they can win the CS is to tank it initially so that their backs are against the wall? Is that how they get motivated?

Well, good for them. Although my left arm is still tingling a bit - is that good or bad?

Honestly, how the hell do you come back from down 7-0 in the 7th of an elimination game with your offense at that point having gone 0-fer-a billion?

Big Papi, 1 for 15 in the series swatting a fastball down and in like it was an annoying little bug and launching it 325 feet into the corner past the Pesky pole. Just like he used to do on a weekly basis in previous years, but have been so painfully unable to do since...well, I was going to say his wrist injury, but actually more or less all of 2008. Apart from a surge in May prior to his wrist injury, he's clearly been less than his lethal self for most of the year.

Let's hope that this is the start of a Big Papi revival. Despite monster performances during the regular season from Pedroia and Youk and from Bay in the post season, the Red Sox does not, I repeat, NOT stand a chance against the Rays unless they have a more potent home run threat from the heart of the order.

I am still waiting for Francona to announce that he's changing the rotation and letting Lester pitch on Saturday in game 6. Don't you think that would put some thoughts in the Rays' heads?

I know they roughed him up last time at Fenway, but he's simply too good to have his intimates handed to him on a plate twice in a row. Also, a long, solid, outing from Lester would allow the Sox to throw Beckett (on a short leach), Dice-K, Masterson et al at the Rays in game 7.

I thought they were dead donkey's last night prior to the 7th. Now I'm not so sure.

True, there is no question of which team is the better one. The Rays hit better, pitch better, field better and run better, but we're almost through the looking glass now. Now it comes down to cojones and experience. Let's see if last night brings a return to the Rays of game 1. The Rays that looked tighter than Ari Gold's golfing trousers.

If so the Red Sox have a fighting chance. Although damn you Phillies for clinching it in 5 so that Saturday's game starts at 2am here... I have to leave for the airport at 7am on Sunday morning, so that will be difficult to fit in...

Schwetty Balls

Wow.

This is heavy stuff. I'm still a little bit surprised at the Rays' batters impatience at the plate.

Top 9th, Bos 2 Tam 0...

Deja Vu all over again.

I suspect the rotation will be:

Game 1) Dice-K
Game 2) Beckett
Game 3) Lester

Sometimes you're good, sometimes you're just lucky... :) As the Globe wrote, because the 1-2-3 starters would get two starts each in a 7 game series, the only important factor is not the order of the starters but more the rest period, which made it completely sensible to start the rotation in the order it pitched in the ALDS.

Tonight it's Dice-K v James Shields. The Rays and the Red Sox are going out of their way to play down the past skirmishes between the teams, and I think they're right. I doubt any Red Sox players would be so stupid to risk being thrown out of a CS game, but we'll see if the Rays are as cool headed, considering their lack of post season experience.

As ESPN pointed out, Varitek and Ortiz have on their own more post season at-bats than the entire Rays roster, but the Rays looked very composed against the White Sox. Peter Gammons asked for a 7 game classic and I think he will get one in this series. Shields has been solid, Sonnenstein has been outstanding but Garza and Kazmir has been below average recently. Kazmir had a good year, but has been lit up by the Red Sox, going 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in the regular season. Similar with the Red Sox, Dice-K has been solid, Lester outstanding and Beckett has been hurting. It will come down to the rotation depth and form, but I'm predicting (with my heart), the Red Sox in 7.

8.37pm ET. I will be in front of the TV - where will you be?

A horseman

This day is one I did not think would happen - I actually agree with Tim McCarver....

"It's extraordinary -- the dichotomy between what he was in Boston and what he is in Los Angeles," McCarver said, according to the Philadelphia Inqurier. "I mean, talk about wearing out your welcome in a town, and it was a long welcome with the Red Sox. But some of the things he did were simply despicable, despicable -- like not playing, refusing to play. Forgetting what knee to limp on. And now it's washed, it's gone."

However, as I commented on before, this is more a making of Boras than Manny, but still it's good to see that more people are seeing the light of what happened...

Another Ludicrously Draining Series

After the Sunday night blip, the Red Sox clinched the series after more than a few plays going their way during the ALDS.

Now, after going 1-13 against the Red Sox in the post season since 1994, including 11 straight losses, I can understand the Angels being less than happy. I agree with the Halos' ace John Lackey when he says:

[On Sunday] they scored on a pop fly they called a hit, which is a joke

And it must be difficult to contain the emotions, and in fact it's not healthy to, after another difficult exit, but the Halos have many other points that I'll just give them the benefit of the doubt considering their new vacation plans.

[On Monday], they score on a broken-bat ground ball and a fly ball anywhere else in America [except in Fenway Park]. And [Pedroia's] fist-pumping on second like he did something great.

Ehh...yes. Pedroia kind of did. He used his surroundings to the fullest. Whilst the Green Monster turns what would have been fly ball outs into doubles, it also turns what would be line drive homeruns into doubles. Pedroia is a good example. On would on the surface expect that his diminutive stature is helped by the Green Monster, giving him a home run advantage at home. However, looking at his stats, it's the opposite. He's hit 7 of his 17 HRs at Fenway this season. True, of his 54 doubles, 35 came at home, clearly an advantage, but you have to wonder how many of those would have been a homerun in any other park.

Finally Lackey brings out the old chestnut to disparage the winning opponent:

We are way better than they are. We lost to a team not as good as us.

Ehh....no. If you win, you are better. If you lose, you are not. It's a pretty simple equation. Of course the Angels point to their league leading 100-62 regular season record. Looks good on paper, doesn't it?

A closer look points out that the Angels went 36-21 within the AL West, against such powerhouses as the Rangers (79-83 final record), Athletics (75-86) and of course the punching bags the Mariners (61-101) who the Halos went 14-5 against (The Red Sox when 6-3 against the Mariners). The Mariners won all season series agains their AL West opponents.

In comparison, the AL East had 4 out of 5 teams with winning records, with the Red Sox only winning one season series (Baltimore, 12-6), whilst tying the season 9-9 with the Blue Jays and Yankees and losing 8-10 against the Rays.

So sure, following the motto "You can only beat the team put in front of you" the Angels were clearly better in the regular season, including a spanking 8-1 record against the Red Sox.....

...but the Red Sox have gone from October hopeless to October hopefuls. The Red Sox, always sure to lose in the most agonising way in the post season, or even stumble on the last steps leading there, are now the mental giants of the pressure cooker that is October baseball (or November if we let the MLB decide).

No matter what obstacles arise, the Red Sox believe that plastic wrap will adorn the locker stalls come October. They expect closer Jonathan Papelbon to dance a jig eventually, designated hitter David Ortiz to man the clubhouse stereo with flair, and the home clubhouse carpet to require about four industrial strength cleanings over a four-week span.

The new mindset is analysed by ESPN's Jerry Crasnick, and it does indeed seem as the Red Sox is a different animal after its recent post season success. However, you only need to ask the Patriots if you think that a feeling of entitlement gets you anywhere...

(And as a matter of full disclosure - going into this series I thought Papelbon would be playing golf in Florida by now...)

Finally, a quick look at the upcoming ALCS;

Thankfully, the MLB seems to have listened to my complains about the starting times of many games ;)

Game 1: Friday, Oct. 10, 8:37 p.m. (at Tampa Bay)
Game 2: Saturday, Oct. 11, 8:07 p.m. (at Tampa Bay)
Game 3: Monday, Oct. 13, 4:37 p.m. (at Boston)
Game 4: Tuesday, Oct. 14, 8:07 p.m. (at Boston)
Game 5*: Thursday, Oct. 16, 8:07 p.m. (at Boston)
Game 6*: Saturday, Oct. 18, 4:37 p.m. if NLCS is still being played; 8:07 p.m. if not (at Tampa Bay)
Game 7*: Sunday, Oct. 19, 8:07 p.m. (at Tampa Bay)

It seems as we might be able to get 2 reasonable start times and two weekend evening starts, which obviously helps the sleep deprived of us, in and outside the US.

As for roster, the biggest debate is which rotation to go with. The Red Sox are announcing their starting pitcher for Friday's game 1 sometime today, and Francona have a few conundrums to deal with.

Does he start Lester on 4 days rest on the road, or does he save him for game 3 at Fenway where Lester has been almost unbeatable this season? A Game 3 start would mean Lester would start a possible game 7, alternatively Game 1 of the World Series if the Red Sox make it that far.

If not Lester, who to start? Beckett could go on his normal 5 days rest, but Sunday proved that this is not the same Beckett as last year - or perhaps this Sunday's game was a blip? His start against the Rangers at the end of September was magnificent. Still, I think there are some remaining physical issues going on.

Or Francona could go with the long term record and start Wake? The main question is which Wake would show up - the one who went9-1 at Tropicana Field up to September 2007 or the one who went 0-2 in three starts there this year.

Finally, there's Dice-K, who somehow laboured himself to a somewhat deceiving 18-3 record this year, but finally showed that he can pitch with runners on, something he struggled with in 2007.

I suspect the rotation will be:

Game 1) Dice-K
Game 2) Beckett
Game 3) Lester

after that it's a crap shoot!

Now to wait another two days....

Geography

As I have no real affiliation to any particular region in the US, but instead picked my NFL team based on the first game I ever saw and my MLB team on a multitude of factors, including feelings for that particular city and events from moments there, I sometimes end up in strange emotional places.

Also, subsequent directly and indirectly related events and other people's affection for certain teams have elevated a general feeling of indifference to a true sense of dislike of the coach and certain supporters.

With this in mind, I still found it a bit odd that I found myself on Sunday night rooting fiercely first for my beloved San Francisco 49ers against the increasingly loathsome Patriots, and a few moments later passionately for my Red Sox against the Los Angeles/Anaheim Angels of California/Anaheim/Pasadena/Los Angeles. Now, I am the first one to admit that Tom Brady reminds me in many many ways of my first football idol; Joe Montana. Brady's poise in the pocket, with small adjustments to get away from pass rushers before launching another beautiful pass and his cool head in the face of extreme pressure is very reminiscent of the Bay Area favourite. Still, whilst Belichick has proven that he is a superb coach, he's also proven that he has can bend and break rules without compunction, both in his professional life and his personal life, thus at least for me not a deserving target of my respect. Also, my feelings towards the Patriots are compounded by the presence of Randy Moss and some fans.

Simply put - I don't like the Patriots.

Of course this causes raised eyebrows considering my immense devition to the Red Sox, as "normal" people follow the teams from the same city. If you're a Boston devotee, then it should be the Celtics, the Red Sox, the Patriots and if you're a glutton for punishment - the Bruins.

However, when I decided to follow the MLB, I could not bring myself to follow a team with Barry Bonds, and the A's are almost as close to Candlestick as the Mariners, so that was not really an option.

So here I am, cursing the Patriots one second and rooting for the Red Sox the next. I suspect something only a non-US person can relate to.

And those years when I was knee deep into Fantasy Football it got even worse...I once found myself wanting the Cowboys to score because I had Cowboy WR on my FFL team.

That's probably a step too far.

Wow...

Jason Bay is doing his best to make us forget about the Manny era...

4 runs against the Halos, all with 2 out, in the top of the first. And pushing Santana's pitchcount close to 30 after 1.

As I write this, Dice-K sat down the first two Halos...this could be a hole the LA gang might not crawl out of.

And yes, this one I am watching live...wearing my 38 jersey :)

Another 100 years?

The Cubs really have run out of excuses this time.

Despite a very good performance from Carlos Zambrano (if you exclude the pitch to Martin in the third and Manny's homer), this time there was no Goat Curse, not Bartman to blame it on. In a game where all four infielders committed errors, including a howler by second baseman Mark DeRosa that essentially blew the game for the Cubbies, they are now in a hole that I doubt they'll be able to get out of. With the Dodgers flying, and with one loss in the next 3 games knocking the North Siders out, I suspect that Going Back to Cali will be more enjoyable for the LA natives than the Cubs.

Interestingly, this is a series that the "experts" all got wrong. Of ESPN's ten strong jury, only Jim Caple went with the Dodgers.

Admittedly, this is a little bit late, but here are my predictions:

ALDS: Red Sox over Angels (3-1) and Rays over White Sox (3-1)
NLDS: Dodgers over Cubs (3-1) and Phillies over Brewers (3-0)

CS: Red Sox over Rays (4-2) and Dodgers over Phillies (4-3)

WS: Red Sox over Dodgers (4-1)

As for the Red Sox, I think that unless Dice-K is actually willing to challenge batters on the inside half of the plate and keep his off-speed pitches down (he leaves a lot of them way to up in the zone), the Angels have enough power to take advantage of him. Luckily we should have Beckett on Sunday and Lester either in game 4 on Monday or certainly if needed in game 5 on Wednesday.