Where was this review when I was a freshman in high school? I could have blown my English teacher away without actually having to read the book.
He’s a Great Book! with Ozzie Guillen — Of Mice and Men from Dan Bulla on Vimeo.
Love the intro of Ozzie at the field, belting books out of the park.
Do you know that guy that purposely tries to stand out in a debate by stating how he would have done something differently? Mr. Hindsight I like to call him. He’s this guy: “Well, I don’t know why he did it that way – that’s not the way I would have done it. I would have done it correctly…pure, 100% correct is how I would have done it.”
Well meet Twins’ broadcaster Dan Gladden…that guy.
Gladden played for the Giants in the mid-80s before winning a pair of World Series rings with the Twins. With the Twinkies in San Francisco facing the Giants for a three-game series, Gladden went on KNBR 680 radio on Tuesday and flat out blamed catcher Buster Posey for the way he was injured during a collision at the plate with Marlins’ outfielder Scott Cousins.
From CSN BayArea.com:
“Don’t, don’t don’t change any of the rules,” Gladden said when asked about Posey’s collision with Marlins outfielder Scott Cousins. “We’ve been playing this brand of baseball for long time.
“What people don’t talk about — I haven’t heard one person — talk about the bad position that Posey was in when he tried to put that tag down. You don’t put your leg in a position like that to try to block the plate. It was Posey’s fault for getting in a position where he did where he laid that left leg down like that and went about just trying to just kind of block the plate. When I came around third base I looked for contact on every play with the catcher. And I’d keep an eye on his eyes. His eyes would tell me where the ball is. I had run-ins with (Mike) Scioscia, I had run-ins with Dave Valle, all the catchers.”
Can you see me? You can’t see me. I’m rolling my eyes. I’m rolling my eyes at these ridiculous comments.
I wasn’t inside the radio studio when Gladden was on-air but I can picture him sitting there with a puffed-out chest talking about his days as a player. He apparently wanted to remind everyone what a tough-nosed athlete he was back in the day but in doing so, he didn’t bother to get his facts right while describing Posey’s injury.
Posey wasn’t blocking the plate, period – end of story. You can make the argument that he was moving in that direction to seal off Scott Cousins’ lane, but if you actually watched the play then you cannot definitively say that Posey was blocking the plate. So for Gladden to say, “You don’t put your leg in a position like that to try to block the plate,” is ridiculous and it shows how little the broadcaster was paying attention when ESPN showed the replays 72,000 times following the injury.
I love how Gladden says that he hasn’t “heard one person” talk about Posey being in bad position. Is he serious? Has he heard of the internet? Somebody get my man a computer and show him how to Google, because there have been plenty of people who have blamed Posey for the incident – and just like Gladden, they obviously didn’t watch the play. It’s a shame everyone just can’t admit that it was an unfortunate, legal play and move on. Instead, we’re subject to foolish claims by guys like Gladden, who apparently think that just because they played the position they can make up things that didn’t happen in order to talk about themselves.
ESPN just released their “Ultimate Team Rankings,” where they rank the 122 professional sports franchises using eight categories: Bang For The Buck, Fan Relations, Ownership, Affordability, Stadium Experience, Players, Coaching and Title Track. (Click on the link above for more details on what these categories mean.)
The Top 10:
1. Green Bay Packers
2. Tampa Bay Lightning
3. New Orleans Saints
4. Los Angeles Angels
5. San Antonio Spurs
6. Oklahoma City Thunder
7. Pittsburgh Steelers
8. Colorado Rockies
9. Memphis Grizzlies
10. Pittsburgh Penguins
The Bottom Five:
118. Minnesota Timberwolves
119. Sacramento Kings
120. Toronto Maple Leafs
121. Washington Redskins
122. Cincinnati Bengals
I’m not going to dive too deep into these rankings because I think they’re kind of silly. Are they fun to look at? Yeah, but so are pinwheels and I don’t want to break them down either. If you spend enough time, you can find a gripe about any team outside of the Packers. (It’s kind of hard to argue that they’re not the best franchise in sports right now across those eight categories, although somebody probably will – if they haven’t already, that is.)
Take the Bengals for example. You look at the Bengals and there’s a reason why they’re ranked so low. Their ownership sucks, they haven’t won a playoff game in two decades and their quarterback just quit on them. But in the “Affordability” category, they dropped from 80th last year to 114th this year, yet their ticket prices didn’t change. Their coaches dropped from 60th to 114th, which seems excessive even given Brad Bratkowski’s failures as offensive coordinator last year. And their players (which is a category based on effort on the field and liability off it) are 122 out of 122? Once again I’m splitting hairs because they’re ranked No. 121, but how are the Pistons not 122 after they quit on their head coach last year?
You get my point. These rankings are fun and they’re meant to be argued and debated, but I wouldn’t get too invested into the final numbers. I know there’s a lot of number-crunching that goes into some of the categories, but on a whole there’s a lot to be left up to interpretation.
That said, I’ll bite: What teams do you think should be ranked higher or lower? No surprise, I think my SF Giants deserve to be higher. No. 32 seems a tad low for a World Series champion with a beautiful stadium and players that are extremely well liked by fans. San Francisco is an expensive city so the Giants lose a little ground in “Bang For The Buck” and “Affordability,” but I was surprised to see them ranked in the 30s. (Especially considering the Rockies are ranked eighth – eighth!)
Considering the Yankees are currently sitting six games above .500, the question in the title of this post seems rather silly. Until you take a closer look, that is.
After sweeping a hapless Oakland team and taking two of three from the Angels in L.A., the Bombers were just swept by the Red Sox, who outscored their hated rivals 25-13 in the process. Joe Girardi’s club has now lost seven in a row to Boston and is just 1-8 in the season series.
Adding insult to injury, it appears as though reliever Joba Chamberlain could need Tommy John reconstructive surgery after he was diagnosed with a torn ligament in his throwing elbow. The injury is a major blow to the club, as Chamberlain heads to the DL with a 2.83 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. He had stabilized one of the biggest issues for the Bombers, who have struggled getting to Mariano Rivera in the ninth.
If Rafael Soriano (elbow) could ever get healthy and pull his head firmly out of his rear end, then the loss of Chamberlain could be slightly mitigated. But the $35 million offseason acquisition has been nothing shy of disastrous thus far in the Bronx, so relaying on Soriano at this point isn’t prudent.
Of course, the Yankees can pick their poison in terms of what their biggest weaknesses is right now: their bullpen or their starting rotation. For the most part, Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon have pitched beyond expectations. Teams with as much offensive firepower as the Yankees have will certainly take Garcia’s 3.86 ERA and Colon’s mark of 3.39.
But at some point, A.J. Burnett will have to step up. He’s 6-4 on the year but his ERA is north of 4.30 and worst of all, he remains inconsistent. One start the Yanks are getting seven innings out of him and the next he’s done in five. Assuming Colon and Garcia have at least one bad stretch coming up between them, the Bombers need a more consistent effort out of Burnett. (It would have also been nice if CC Sabathia could have stopped the bleeding with a win over Boston on Thursday night but alas, not even the big fella could save this club right now.)
The other more subtle issue that seems to be growing more problematic by the day is Girardi himself. His moves lately are baffling and just in terms of managing his pitching staff, it seems as if he either leaves his starters in too long or overuses his bullpen. It’s like there’s no middle ground with Girardi and you have to wonder when his players will start losing confidence in him – if they haven’t already, that is.
The good news for the Yankees is that the American League doesn’t look as strong as it has in recent years. The Red Sox are the class of the division and the league, but the Indians have figured out that they’re the Indians, the Tigers are inconsistent and the Rangers look a lot less scary than they did a year ago. It’s not inconceivable that an 88 or 89-win Yankees team could make the postseason as a Wild Card and hope to get hot at the right time. After all, they’re still third in runs scored, first in home runs and second in slugging percentage and OPS. In other words, their offense can certainly carry them all season.
But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a major dark cloud that is presently hovering over this club and it’ll be interesting to see what the front office has in store if things continue to get worse.
In a Class A South Atlantic League on Monday night, Washington Nationals top prospect Bryce Harper hit a home run to right-center field, stood at home plate to admire the longball before making his way around the base paths and then blew opposing pitcher Zach Neal a kiss while trotting down the third base line.
If you only read that opening sentence, then Harper sounds like immature teenager who is only holding himself back when it comes to advancing through Washington’s minor league system. If you hear the rest of the story then…Harper sounds like an immature teenager who is only holding himself back when it comes to advancing through Washington’s minor league system.
Some fans are giving Harper a free pass because apparently Neal was the one who said something to the outfielder as he made his way around the bases. In other words, Neal provoked Harper to blow him a kiss and therefore, Harper was somewhat justified in what he did. (Never mind the fact that Neal only scolded the young outfielder because Harper stood at home plate to admire his home run.)
But whether or not you like Harper’s cockiness or are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt because he’s so young, it doesn’t change the fact that actions like these will only hold him back in the long run.
Look, he’s a teenager and teenagers make poor decisions. That’s just the way it is. Let’s keep in mind that Harper is only 18 and isn’t benefiting from going off to college to mature for four-plus years. He’s been the center of attention for years now and is already a millionaire before his 21st birthday.
But the point is to see this kid play in the major leagues as soon as possible. And whether he was provoked or not, blowing kisses at an opposing pitcher doesn’t give the Nationals confidence to promote him. They’re not just looking for a star player – they want Harper to be a solid clubhouse presence as well. How can they rely on him to be a well-rounded player if they breeze him through the minors without teaching him what it’s like to be a professional ballplayer first?
Some people can take or leave baseball’s “unwritten rules.” Personally, I favor some and think others are rather ridiculous. (For example, not being able to steal when you’re up by X amount of runs in the late innings. Hey, man up and throw those runners out if you don’t want them taking a free 90 feet on you.)
But whether you’re in favor of those unwritten rules or not, it doesn’t change the fact that baseball has always been a game that polices itself. Granted, times have changed and Major League Baseball has cracked down on retaliation plays. But if Harper doesn’t cool it he’s going to find a couple of fastballs in his ribs. I’m one of the few who appreciates an athlete’s cockiness but at the end of the day, showing up a pitcher isn’t beneficial to anyone – especially for a youngster like Harper who is trying to make his way to the big show.
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