Archive for the ‘MLB’ Category

Another Red October

Posted: October 15, 2012 in MLB
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As Pujols lays in his bed of millions, The Saint Louis Cardinals are once again in the NLCS. In fact, the last two World Champions are playing against each other in the NLCS.

It is amazing to me how many national sports writers and so called experts out there believed that the Cardinals were going to fall off the radar this year due to Pujols and Larussa being gone. In the same breath, they believed that the Angels were almost assuredly guaranteed a playoff spot. In a post at the beginning of the season, I reported the complete opposite. The Cardinals would go to the playoffs and the Angels would be testing their golf game early. Baseball, more than any sport is not just one man, nor one manager. This has been proven over and over and over again. When are the experts going to wise up to this simple fact?

The reason the Cardinals are so successful is because they are the best run organization in baseball top to bottom…period. The second best run organization isn”t even in the Cardinals rear view mirror. Call it arrogance, call it pompous, but it is the truth. Fans fill up the stadium, managers develop their players, and the front office doesn’t try to keep up with the Jones’ or the “Benjamins” like so many teams do.  The Cardinals have developed a culture of winning, a culture of respect, and a culture of ”I want to be better, so that my team is better.” I liken it to a well run company whose margins keep growing because the employees have a will to win, a will to beat out the competition.

The Cardinals are not just one bloated contract after another. They have a balance of young and old, well paid and minimal contracts, high strung and calm personalities, but most of all a will to win more than any other team. That will to win  has been on display a lot in the past year or so. Carpenter taking the mound in game five against Hallady of the Phillies last year, being down to their last strike twice in game 6 of the World Series last year, and again being down to their last strike in game 5 against the Nationals this year. This team is resilient and never says die. Now I am not guaranteeing another World Series victory this year. Anything can happen in the playoffs, and there are some good teams left. However, what I am saying is that this team will fight to the death more than any other team, and they will be fun to watch for as long as they are in it. Hopefully, they will once again raise the trophy, but if not, there is always next year. The Cardinals aren’t going away, so haters you better just accept it.

Top Five Reasons Why ESPN is THE EVIL EMPIRE

Posted: May 9, 2012 in MLB, NBA, NCAA, NFL
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It is about that time. If you are even a casual reader of this blog, you can tell that my affinity for ESPN is quite low. So without further ado, here are my top five reasons for why ESPN sucks.

1.) ESPN is the cause for conference realignment. Yep that’s right. It is all ESPN’s fault that the rivalries and traditions of college sports have deteriorated. Why? Well, why have schools gone from the Big 12 to the SEC, the Big East to the Big 12 etc?….money. Where does the money come from? TV Contracts! And on what tv stations do 90 percent of the college games play? Well, the “ESPN Family of Networks” of course. Those ESPN Family of Networks just keep paying a ridiculous amount of money to air college football games, that schools are thus taking advantage. And Why not…it isn’t the school’s fault that ESPN employs a bunch of morons. Then, what really bugs me is that the same ESPN idiots who have been the cause of conference realignment, start pointing fingers at the schools and their Presidents. ” Well, it’s Missouri’s fault that the Big 12 almost imploded because they wanted to get to the SEC. Well it’s Syracuse’s fault that they are moving to the ACC.” No you morons. It is your fault because you are paying conferences a ridiculous amount of money to air a game where you don’t really have a lot of competition.

2.) Their Groundbreaking News is Usually Wrong. As far as groundbreaking news goes, ESPN is barely a step above the National Enquirer. Let’s take the Albert Pujols signing this past winter as an example. When was the first time you ever heard that the Angels were even in the mix? Oh yeah basiclaly when Pujols signed on the dotted line. Great investigative journalism ESPN. I thought you were the WorldWide Leader Sports.

3.) The Decision. Enough said. Yes Lebron is evil and a complete idiot. However, you would think grown men would know better. Then, of course, these are the same people who then chastised Lebron for months on end about what an awful thing he did.

4.) Their Experts aren’t Experts. I love when ESPN asks the Experts about their predictions for the upcoming champion of the four major sports. For example, take a look at who 33 out of the 45 “experts” picked to win the World Series last year. The Red Sox…hmmm interesting since ESPN is based in Bristol, CT and the closest baseball team are the Red Sox. Also, these guys aren’t experts. They are either reporters, anchors, or washed up has been or never was professional sports players who would rather come up with some new schtick than actually do any reasearch. They just have an opinion like everyone else. You know what ESPN should do? Ask someone out in Iowa sitting on their couch with a sausage hanging out of their mouth who they think the 2012 MLB Champion will be. That would at least be entertaining, and make more sense than the junk these experts pull out of their butts.

5.) Mel Kiper, Chris Berman et al. They suck period. They aren’t funny, they aren’t original, they think they know everything, problem  is they don’t and they’re not.

6.) ESPN Insider: You are so special that you make people pay extra for your great opinion…errr (ahem!) investigative reporting. Wow you really do suck.

El Hombre?

Posted: April 17, 2012 in MLB
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Well Well Well…you knew it was coming. As a St. Louis Cardinals fan, it is my duty to report my feelings about Mr. Pujols and how he left. It is also my duty to discuss how each team will be effected this season and beyond.

As you all know, Albert Pujols, signed a 10 year deal worth 254 million dollars with the Anaheim Angels over the winter. As most Cardinal fans know though, Pujols was gone way before this past winter. He was gone by January of 2010 when the Cardinals gave Matt Holliday a 120 million dollar contract. That made him the highest paid Cardinal at the time, and that soured Pujols who was near the end of his 8 year 111 million dollar contract. Honestly, I can understand Pujols’ frustration at the time. To pay Holliday more than Pujols was absolutely ridiculous. Holliday is a good player, even great some years. However, his defense is very average, and he will never be on the same level as Pujols overall.

So at that time, I could completely understand Al’s issues with management. However, when it became time to resign, the Cardinals were willing to make Pujols the highest paid Cardinal (10 yrs at 210 million) , and to have him make up more than a fifth of their payroll. Let me say that again ONE PLAYER, 1/5 OF THEIR ENTIRE PAYROLL! To just field a baseball team, you need 9 players and that doesn’t include the other starting pitchers, utility players, relief pitchers etc. That is a ton of money. However, this is the point in time where Pujols started to act like a spoiled brat. He wanted to feel respected, he wanted to be the highest paid first baseman in the game, etc etc etc. I am all for people who try to get the most that they can, and thus support their family. However, was 21 mil for 10 years not enough? How about all the winning you have done in St. Louis…was winning two World Championships and being in a third not enough?

What did he want the Cardinals to do at this point?? Especially when who knows how old he really is (sorry that might be wrong to say but the guy is from the Dominican Republic let’s not act like there have not been players with fake birth certificates that have come from there), and this past season showed some decline. This past year was the first year where he did not hit .300 and have 100 rbi’s. He was still great, but was he the best hitter in the game last year? Maybe, maybe not.

Anyways, how will this effect both of these teams moving forward?? I personally believe that the Cardinals are going to be fine. They added Beltran, they have Freese for a full season, and they still have Berkman, Molina Jay, Holliday and Craig in their lineup. Furthermore, they have a good enough rotation to win the NL Central with Wainwright, Carpenter, Garcia, Westbrook, Lohse and Lynn (while Carpenter is on the DL). Moving Forward, they will also have some cash flow every year freed up to get whomever they need to. In the near term, I don’t see anyone beating them in the Central, and after that, the Playoffs are a complete crap shoot. Get hot, and you will win the thing.

As far as the Angels, they are not completely handcuffed by the 25 million a year. Obviously they are in a much bigger tv market, and they can inflate their payroll if they need to. However, what happens if Pujols does decline every single year from here on out? Then what? Only time will tell. In the near term though, this team still has questions. Is their lineup better than the Rangers even with Pujols? No not even close. Is their Starting Pitching better? Probably since they have Weaver, Wilson and Santana.

However, if Pujols was concerned with winning at all, he should have stuck with the Cardinals….easier division, more talent. However, I guess after you win so much in 11 years, the only thing that matters is STRAIGHT CASH HOMEY!

Happy Opening Day! Errr Night? Hmmm…?

Posted: April 4, 2012 in MLB
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Some of you may or may not know this, but it is fact that MLB is ruining baseball. Yep it’s true. It may not have ruined baseball as a whole, but in the past few years, it has ruined what made the sport so great.

The latest blunder that MLB has made, happened this year. Did any of you know that Opening Day actually occurred last week? Oh yeah…in Japan? Raise your hand if you knew that…now raise your hand if you understand what the heck MLB was trying to accomplish by doing that? This is absolutely dumbfounding. Bud Selig, the commissioner of MLB,  is an incompetent moron who really needs a good Pr and Marketing Department. I am guessing he has neither. Either that, or they all need to be fired asap.

Anyways, to explain a little, the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics opened the MLB season last week on Wednesday in Japan. Yep that’s right…America’s favorite passtime (or at least it used to be) opened in Japan. So, ok not many people even knew that, so if no one knew it did it really happen?

So, let’s just get past that and see what other stupid things MLB is doing. Opening Day is tomorrow! YAY! Wait…what? There is a game tonight? So tonight is Opening Night? Oh..(Actually this is just for effect, I knew that my beloved St. Louis Cardinals were playing the Miami Marlins tonight). Well ok, I can get past that, I mean the game tonight is with my beloved World Champion Cardinals.

 

David Freese's Home Run to send the Series to a 7th Game Last Fall

 

So, tomorrow everyone else will play…oh… you mean there are only seven games tomorrow? So on opening day errr night err whatever it is, only 14 teams will actually start? Wow MLB…please shut up while I stand up and fart in your general direction.

This is just another reason why the NFL has overtaken the MLB in terms of popularity and TV Viewership. It is not the only thing, but the MLB has zero clue about how to market themselves, the NFL on the other hand does an incredible job. It is so sad to see, because baseball is still a beautiful game.

I played a lot of sports growing up as a kid, but every time I enter a baseball stadium, I am immediately transported back to the past with my Dad and I playing catch in the backyard, kicking the dirt while playing second base in Little League, and remembering the first time I walked into Busch Stadium and saw the greenest grass I had ever seen. No other sport does that to me but baseball. It is almost like it is in our blood as humans, something transcendent, something magical. However, MLB is destroying it, and it makes me incredibly angry.