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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Radioactive man meets the Kansas City Royals

                                  When the Washington Nationals made the playoffs in 2012, it was the first time the franchise had made the playoffs in 31 years. ( 1981, when they were the Expos ) Now the Kansas City Royals hold the record for playoff futilty at 27 years...that is, since Division play started in 1969.  It was in 1969 that the Royals debuted, along with the Padres, Expos, and Seattle Pilots (who became the Brewers the next year ) as the four expansion teams added to the league.  Out of the four teams, the Royals were initially the most successful; with young players like George Brett, Willie Wilson, Freddie Patek, Paul Splittorf, and such, Kansas City were a playoff team in only their seventh year of existance.



                  Between 1976 and 1985, KC made the playoffs six times.  The first three times, they lost to the Yankees, although it seemed like evey time you turned on the T.V., George Brett was homering off a Yankee pitcher. By 1980, they finally beat New York to advance to the World Series, only to lose to the Phillies in six games.  They won the west in 1984, but had to wait another year to advance to the Series again. The 1985 World Series will always be remembered for game six, where Don Denkinger blew a call at first base, ( Jorge Orta was out by a mile ) which led to a KC Rally, and eventual win. They won game seven 11-0, to defeat the Cardinals, their last playoff game to date.



             Lots of experts are expecting great things from the Royals; just like the good old days, they're using young players from their farm system to rebuild.  Signing "Big game" James Sheilds also helped things a bit, and the fans at least of something to look forward to. The days of astroturf, bullpen cars, Dan Quisenberry, Hal McRae, Lee May, the Mad Hungarian, Larry Gura and such may not be returning, but hopefully, with all the wild cards and such, maybe they can see a little post season action. I mean, even the Pirates, who haven't had a winning season in 21 years have gone to the playoffs more recently..as for newer Royal players,.people have been touting Alex Gordon as the new George Brett...if that's the case, looks like we have a new spokes person for Preperation H...

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

The World Baseball Distraction...

                                  Well, this weekend is when actual Grapefruit league games will be played...and while I can't wait to see actual games, it's going to be a letdown, as usual. The first few weeks of Spring training usually feature dozens of triple and double A players, with little or no shot to play in the majors that year, playing against each other.  I mean sure, I'll still watch a 21 year old pitching to the 12th string catcher, facing a 40 year plus player, just trying to hang on one more year...Basically, it'll be a few weeks until the starters will be playing at least 5 innings per game, so we'll need something to tide us over til then...something...international...


                   Enter the World Baseball Classic: Debuting in 2007, the WBC is a well meaning tournament featuring 16 countries competing  against each other.  I guess MLB figured it would make up for losing baseball in the Olympics. The reality though, is that there will most likely be 2, maybe 3 teams who actually have a chance; and they're not the ones filled with Major Leaguers.  Japan has won both the 2006 and 2009 WBC championship (I don't know why it wasn't held last year instead of this year, but whatever ) ...it's been four ye), beating Korea and Cuba (the other two teams that I think have a chance).  I mean, sure, Venezuela has a killer line-up, as do the usual suspects like the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, the U.S.A and such. Those teams will surely kick the crap out of the Netherlands, Italy, Australia and Brazil ( Brazil?), but when in comes down to it, country pride wins over millionaires. (Side note, any of those last 5 teams are still better than the Houston Astros this year )


                                   
            Japan has won both times because they actually care...there's a couple of Major leaguers on the team, but they would rather blow out one of their starters arms ( Dice-K in 2010 ) than lose the tournament.  Korea is like a less talented, but just as hungry version of Japan, (baseball-wise, of course) while Cuba, who has no big leagers on their team, is entirely something different.  The Cuban team is filled with players who are, quite frankly, afraid to lose...Fidel and his brother take "beisbol" very seriously down there.  Also, there are at least a handful of Cuban players who are showing the "world" (well, actually, mostly America) that they're are ready to defect at a moments notice to play in the bigs.  So, while it's great to see some fairly competitive baseball, it's a safe bet that it'll be Cuba v.s Japan, with probably Japan winning...just as Abner Doubleday would have preferred...            

Monday, February 11, 2013

Having an interleague game everyday is just plain stupid...

                                        Usually, I try to start my entries here with some sort of cross referencing, ala Dennis Miller, pre 911 ( before he became a FOX news stooge); but this year's upcoming MLB schedule has me so angry, that I'm going to be, as Nick Lowe would say, "subtle as a flying mallet" (O.K., I got that one out of the way).  I am no fan of interleague play to begin with, but playing an interleague game EVERY DAY?  What is Selig thinking?  It's almost as if he's single handily trying to kill the pennant race...oh sure, there's the one game playoff...oh, and about that...


                     Sure, last year's inaugural one-game playoff was pretty good, but it seemed a little contrived; why force excitement, when it can come naturally. For example, the Tigers/Twins one game playoff a few years back was pretty awesome...it ended in extra innings after a long season for both teams.  One of the first games I remember as a kid was the (for me) heartbreaking one game playoff between the Red Sox and Yankees on October 2nd, 1978.  After 162 games, each team had a 99-63 record, and had to play one more game to decide the AL east...there was no Wild Card then...
The Yankees started the eventual AL CY Young award winner, Ron Guidry, while the Sox featured the AL MVP, Jim Rice.  It's now known, of course, as the Bucky "bleeping" Dent game, after his home run in the late innings.


                 To go back even further, before the League Championships Series era (1969-1993...1995-2011, was the Wild Card era, and 2012-onward will be known as the Wild card and a half era ), teams who had the same record at the end of the year had to play a best of three playoff, ala  the Giants/Dodgers in 1951...you know, the "Shot heard 'round the world" series"...but all of those short, exciting series and /or games will be less frequent with this whole interleague on an everyday business they're doing this year...here's a scenario:


           Let's pick two random teams in the same division, say The Rangers and the Angels...now, usually, teams in the same division will often play each other at the end of the year. And let's say these two contending teams happened to be playing each other at season's end and also happened to have identical records...well, they would have to play each other in a sudden death like end to the season (for one team,anyway). Now, with the new format, the likelyhood of that happeneing becomes less frequent.  I mean, sure,  I was absolutely horrified when Boston lost to the Orioles on the last regular season game of 2011, just minutes before Evan Longoria's walk-off beat the Yankees, ensuring the Wild Card went to Tampa...but it was exciting....oh, and I also got to meet this guy Mick, who worked at the bar next door...the only Rays fan I ever met.  He bought me a shot because he felt sorry for me...O.K., now I'm pissed;when does the season start?

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Me and baby brother...

                                  For the next few years, 2/3rds of the Atlanta Braves  starting outfield will consist of brothers B.J., and Justin Upton.  They are the only brothers to ever go no. 1 and no. 2 in the baseball draft. B.J., the older of the two, has been somewhat of an underachiever (except for the 2008 ALCS, where he murdered Red Sox pitching ), while his baby brother has been more consistent.  Along with Justin Heyward, they make up one of the best outfields in baseball.  Brothers playing on the same team is not that unusual; a few years back, the Laroche brothers both played for the Pirates at the same time, while for a brief time during the late '80s and early '90s, Cal and Billy Ripken were a double play combination.


                   Now, as far as brothers playing in the outfield, the Alou brothers from the '60s take the cake...not just two, but THREE brothers started all three outfield positions in 1963. After briefly playing together for the San Fransisco Giants that year, they all went their seperate ways...The oldest, Felipe, was the power hitter of the bunch, hitting 206 in his career.  Matty, the middle child, won a batting title ( w/ Felipe finishing second ) with a more Rod Carew-like approach to hitting.  He died a little over a year ago.  The youngest, Jesus, was actually a bigger prospect than the other two, but never lived up to his potential.  I remember getting his baseball card in the '70s when he was on the Astros...it kind of freaked me out, going to Catholic school and all...Spanish wasn't spoken much in Milton Ma. back then.



          As far as post careers go, Felipe by far had the most exposure.  He managed the Expos to a 70-40 record, before the strike ended the season in 1994. One of the members of that Montreal team was his son, Moises, who would have a better career than his dad and two uncles. In fact, you could say his numbers are borderline Hall of Fame-worthy, playing for a number of teams (btw, he was the one who tried to make that catch in the 2003 NLCS that was interfered with by Steve Bartman...sorry, Cubs fan ).  Later, Felipe would manage his old team, the San Fransisco Giants to some successful seasons.  So, as for the Braves this year, they should have a great outfield...if Justin continues to play like he has the past few seasons...and his brother pretends it's the 2008 ALCS...and if Justin Heyward hits like he did a few years ago...ah, the word "if"...it's not just Bread's second biggest hit...oh, btw, I realize that I never once mentioned the band "War" in this piece, despite using one of their song titles as my main title...what can I say, it's my favorite song from them...