11 posts tagged “major league baseball”
Ten years ago today, one of the game of baseball's iconic voices went to that great broadcasting booth in the sky.
A Cub fan and a Bud man I'll always be, Harry. Thanks to you.
Hope springs eternal, ladies and gents. Nowhere is that more true than in Cubbie Fandom.
This is our year. I can feel it.
(And, hey, if not - there's always next year.)
...the life of a Cubs fan is filled with heartbreak, anger, frustration, horror and outright resignation.
Every once in a while, though, the life of a Cubs fan is pure joy. And it reminds you why you love these abject failures so damn much.
Today was one of those days.
Somewhere, Harry Caray is smiling and drinking a Bud.
Here, in the Heartland, we're digging ourselves out of a mountain of snow. A brutal, brittle wind is howling constantly, blowing snow drifts to dangerous levels all over the place. Once you do get the snow dug, there's a wonderful layer of black ice underneath, further complicating matters.
Spring should be the furthest thing from my mind, wouldn't you think? Wrong. Why?
Pitchers and catchers! For Cub fans, hope springs eternal. But fuck all that. This year is our year, baby.
Of course I know it's not, but I have to tell myself that. We all do.
- The Yankees bringing back Andy Pettite. With a player option for 2008, this thing'll cost Steinbrenner a whole lotta calzones. $32 million worth, to be specific. When he wasn't injured, Pettite was a marginal pitcher the past two years in one of the weakest division in baseball. In the National League. Now he goes back to the AL East, one of the two most difficult divisions in baseball. They passed on Ted Lilly at 4 years for $40 million, and seem to be passing on ZIto for 6 or 7 years and $100 million, but now they're going to be on the hook for two 2 years and $32 million to Andy Pettite. A curious move, to put it kindly.
UPDATE: Hey look, I was right about something! For once. Pettite to the Yankees, and Bonds and Manny are staying put (the Manny situation is still fluid, but it doesn't look as though he's going anywhere for the time being). Herbie (Jason Schmidt) left the Misfit Toys to pitch in Chavez Ravine (I thought he'd head to Seattle), so I was wrong on that gut feeling. Whatever.
Seth Mnookin wrote a somewhat interesting/mildly entertaining piece for Slate yesterday bemoaning the outrageous spending thus far in MLB's hawt-stove action. There are admittedly many examples for Mnookin to hold up for ridicule and scorn, including the largesse bestowed upon Juan Pierre, Gary Matthews and, yes, Alfonso Soriano.
The only problem with all of this? It might have to do with the fact that visitors to Mnookin's Web site this morning would find him defending the ill-advised and bloated deals his beloved Red Sox handed out to J.D. Drew (5 years, $70 mil) and Julio Lugo (4 years, $36 mil).
I'm officially on record stating that, of all the bad or grossly overpriced deals doled out thus far, Drew's may go down as one of the - if not the - worst of them all (see below). I don't think he can handle the Fenway crowd and Red Sox Nation in general, and they're stuck with each other for the next five freaking years (at $14 mil per). And Lugo is a 31-year-old career .270 hitter that will now make $9 million for the next four years.
So which is it? If the free-agency spending is out of control this winter (and I agree that it is, almost unlike I've ever seen before), how can Mnookin defend the Red Sox deals (especially the one for Drew)?
- J.D. Drew signing with the Boston Red Sox. This won't go well, I'm telling you. And for five years, too? Yikes.
- Zito ends up with the Mets. Six-year deal.
- Jason Schmidt ends up with the Mariners (although he'd be smart to go to the NL)
- Bar-roid Bonds re-signs with the Giants
- Andy Pettite is back in Yankee pinstripes soon
- Man-Ram stays in Boston (I'm waffling on this one, but I think Epstein's going to stop wasting time, money and effort when he knows they're not going to get what they want in return
I tell you what, Albie, why don't you shut the fuck up, mmmkay? That's great that you think only players from teams who make the playoffs should win the MVP. It really is. It's just fucking super duper for you.
Presumably, you mean you should have won the MVP, and, presumably, you're also referring to Ryan Howard, the very deserving winner of this year's NL MVP, even though his team did not make the playoffs - but came very close to doing so.
How about this, though: You be happy with your fucking World Series title, which, a lot of people would rightfully argue, is much more important and worthwhile than the MVP award. And you let Ryan Howard, who singlehandedly pushed his team to the brink of making the playoffs (despite the fact his team's front office had given up on the season at the trade deadline), enjoy his MVP award, because he earned it. How's that sound, asshole?
Just keep your fucking mouth shut and act like a champion. Instead of being petty, selfish and jealous, say "I am berry, berry happy for Mr. Howard, and I am even more happy with this World Series trophy here. That is all that really matters, not individual honors." Instead, you ran your stupid fucking mouth and sounded, well, petty, selfish and jealous.
Just go back to ingesting copious amounts of human growth hormone and shut the fuck up, Albie. Nobody cares what you think about the MVP's voting process and criteria. You didn't win the MVP because Ryan Howard deserved it more than you did. It's that simple. So go get some hair plugs to take care of that premature receding hairline of yours and fuck right off.
Oh, and happy holidays.
Sincerely,
Everybody else
Who exactly, within the Boston Red Sox organization thinks it is a good idea to sign J.D. Drew to what one assumes will be a lucrative contract, as is expected in the next day or so?
By all accounts, Drew is a malcontent, crybaby and ginormous flake who handles criticism as well as fucking Cosmo Kramer does. Which is OK, because he won't face any criticism or pressure playing for the fucking Boston Red Sox. The only place with fans more demanding hard to please is the Yankees.
Drew had a breakout year in '06 playing for the Dodgers because L.A.'s the best possible place for him. It's laid back, and Dodger fans are easygoing, loyal and not terribly hard to please. And even when you don't please them, they don't really care all that much.
Drew opted out of the rest of his contract with the Dodgers because he thought he could make more money. And, as the free agent market has shown thus far, he certainly will cash in. But if he indeed ends up in Boston, it will not end well. It also won't begin well, and nothing in between those two points will go well, either.
This is like watching a bad celebrity marriage you know is going to explode. It's just a matter of when. It's a good thing I don't like the Red Sox, because this train wreck will be fun to watch.
