So, a couple guys go to the top of a cliff. They’re sitting on the edge, waiting for the cameraman to catch them jumping off. The stage is set, the cameras rolling…. and nothing happens. Good enough, maybe the next clip captured the jump. However, this is the video that was posted. Why? I have no clue. What could they have possibly been trying to accomplish by uploading this to youtube….
Monthly Archives: July 2009
Big Opening Games of the 2009 College Football Season
Sep 3, Oregon @ Boise State
The college football season kicks off with a colorful combination of Oregon’s always intense jerseys and Boise State’s blue field. This should be one wildly entertaining game, provided the High-Def broadcast isn’t too much on the retinas.
Sep 5, Maryland @ Cal
This is a pretty interesting season opening matchup for both programs, and I must say I’m surprised Maryland would make the trek to Berkeley so soon out of the gates. On the flipside, I guess when your yearly goal is to be bowl eligible at seasons end, taking a tough road game early on makes sense as barometer of where you stand. Neither team talent wise looks to have any serious influence on a conference title challenge this year (or any year for that matter). Gut feeling, Cal feeds off the home crowd, and its slightly better athleticism runs out to a two TD win.
Sep 5, Nevada @ Notre Dame
This game has upset written all over it. Notre Dame always likes to schedule a lightweight before they get into the Michigan – Michigan State thing, but this year they might’ve picked the wrong opponent. The game has shades of last year’s matchup with San Diego State, but I think the Wolfpack can execute at the right time and make the plays they need to take this game. There’s also a strong likelihood that Jimmy Claussen could pick apart this defense in a blowout, but until then, I’ll be keeping a close eye on this score.
Sep 5, Georgia @ Oklahoma State
Georgia was great last year….Oklahoma St. was decent. Georgia’s coach is not quite as crazy as Oklahoma St. Coach. SEC Teams always destroy in these matchups. It’s the first big non-conference game of the year, but I still have Georgia by 21.
Sept. 5, Brigham Young vs. Oklahoma.*
It’s pretty tough to pick against the Sooners. With a seasoned duo of Bradford and Gresham passing up millions in the NFL to come back and play, they must be out to prove something. I think this will be close for a half at most. I hope we see a battle, but to be honest with you I think this one’s going to be a blowout on neutral ground.
Sep 5, Alabama vs. Virginia Tech.*
A great early season match-up of two highly talented and ranked teams with realistic goals of winning their respective conferences. Alabama is coming off a banner conference season that ended with a terrible stumble to the finish line. They lost their conference championship game to eventual National Champions Florida, then lost the Sugar Bowl to a serious underdog in Utah. The underclassmen left over from last year will be aiming to correct their painful losing streak after starting the season 12-0. The Hokies are by far the overwhelming favorites to win the ACC-Coastal over Georgia Tech as well as the overall Conference title this year. The Hokies will begin as a preseason top-10 team due to a perennially strong defense and the emergence of QB Tyrod Taylor. Should be interesting to see where these teams start the season in the polls, as each has been ranked as high as #6 in preseason polls.
Sep 6, Colorado State @ Colorado
These in-state rivals will again kick-off the season for bragging rights, and Colorado will be looking to extend their series win streak to three. The Buffs will be looking to get off to a strong start to their season, after a disappointing 2-6 finish in conference capped by a 58-0 loss at Mizzu and a seat at home during bowl season. For the Rams it was an up and down season as they showed great fortitude to win their final three games and finish above .500. They won the New Mexico Bowl by scoring 3 times in the 4th quarter to win a shootout by 5 over Fresno St., mainly behind Gartrell Johnson’s record setting 285 rushing yards, 375 combined yards, and two TDs… both of which came in the fourth quarter.
Sept. 7, Miami @ Florida State
The Seminoles look to win their third consecutive against their ACC rivals. The Canes have a very rough first month, and they don’t start things off easy for them as they face a rowdy labor day crowd. Florida State should be able to continue their win streak capping off the three day weekend.
(* No Home Team)
No Surprises on the NBA 2009-2010 Schedule
Cleveland Cavaliers’ fans, David Stern included, will be happy when the NBA schedule is released. Multiple sources are reporting that the Lebrons will open the season at home against Boston on national television. They will also be featured in the main event on Christmas Day against none other than the Lakers. Coincidentally, it’s yet another Kobe vs. Shaq Christmas Day matchup. However, this year will lean a little more heavily on the Kobe-Lebron angle. The bottom line, no surprises here.
Merry Christmas! It's Us Again!!!
Go For Broke!
In these tough economic times, when it feels like your money isn’t going all that far, just remember that there are plenty of people that are worse off than you. USA today had a study on athletes, and it found that 78% of retired NFL players are bankrupt within 2 years, and 60% retired NBA players are broke within 5 years. So congratulations to all the rookies out there! They’re usually thrown into the glamorous filled lifestyle of the rich and famous, but that life is usually abruptly ended, and they end up being just an anecdote in one of my pointless posts! Far too many times we see athletes blow off hundreds of millions of dollars, but there should be no reason to be surprised. They have to realize they just can’t blow through cash like Joey Chestnut powers down hot dogs! Here is a list of things that some players didn’t realize weren’t within their means.
Taking the Lil Wayne approach. This guy already has two kids and is about to have two more with two different ladies on very close due dates.
Travis and six of his eleven kids
I’m not saying don’t have kids, but he could easily go broke down the line just like Travis Henry who has 11 kids with 10 different women. In March of this year he was pulled over and arrested for failing to pay $16,600 in child support. He is currently in jail for trafficking cocaine. Shawn Kemp ran into similar problems having at least 7 kids with 6 different women.
Buy cars, actually buy many many cars! Jack “the Ripper” Clark owned 18 cars at the time he filed for bankruptcy, and 17 were not paid for in full including a 1990 Ferrari that he owed $300K on. In 1992 he owed $11,459,305, and had only $4,781,780 in assets. He was still in the second year of a three year $8.7 million contract from the Red Sox while filing for bankruptcy.
Buy a private jet. Burn money like it’s going out of style! Scottie Pippen borrowed $4.375 million to get himself a personal jet. Did you know that it costs about $50K to fix a windshield on one of those!?! I’m sure that insurance, fuel, and a personal pilor are good investments to ride in style to the next stop on the road trip. Apparently, he still owes the airplane company $5 million. 
You could go by sea if you don’t like flying. Latrell Sprewell tried to hide his 70 foot yacht in storage, until the bank foreclosed on his house and yacht. He famously turned down a 3 year $30 million contract stating “I’ve got a family to feed”.
Ballin out of control. Most players fall into this trap. They don’t drive their own cars. They don’t write their own checks. They don’t raise their own kids. They just play their sport and let others pick off their carcass like vultures. Just look at how Vick turned out, as his friends ran his life outside football helping lead to his dog fighting ring. For some reason most athletes set up a large support system behind them, and because they are the only ones supporting it they go broke! LaTroy Hawkins offers his advice to teammates “When I was a young buck, I was trying to spend all my money. Now I try to preach to young guys in the clubhouse who are like that. I’ve got all this stuff from 10 years ago — jewelry, rims — that I think, Why the f— did I even buy this?”
Screw up, deny everything, and fight it with all the lawyers and cash you have. Rodger Clemens sold his Bentley last year to none other than Bret Michaels. The sale of the car was reportedly to pay for legal fees. 
Kareem signed over his power of attorney, and then let an agent named Tom Collins have his power of attorney. It cost Kareem about $9 million before he figured it out. Mark Jackson was taken by one of his business managers who forged about $2.6 million worth of his checks to get his gambling fix. Barry Bonds seems like he’s well on his way to this dilemma.
So in the end, athletes are just like many of our own friends and people we know. Maybe our friends aren’t going bankrupt or quite as extravagant as these athletes, but we all know people living out of their means. A recent study suggests that if you make $35K a year you will never retire. I myself think I could contain my own spending if I hit the lotto, but then again I am a sucker for a friend in need and I can think of a lot of them that would probably hit me up.
Doin Work E-mail debate: Who Else is on the list of 100+ that used PED’s?
In the wake of the leaked positive test results of Manny Ramierez and David Ortiz back in 2003, there has been unrest on what exactly should happen, and what should happen with the rest of the names on the list. We debated all morning in an e-mail chain that you can decide for yourself what the MLB should do.
Brian: It’s so lame they don’t just release all of the positive test names. The big ones are out there, so why don’t they release the rest of them…
Andre: Apparently Clemens wasn’t on the list, but we all know that Barry Bonds is crapping in his pants every time he hears more names have been leaked.
Tony:If they released, the MLB would be sued immediately by people as well as the players union. Legally they can’t just release because of privacy.
Brian: So who’s getting sued for all of these leaks then? If I was the players union, I’d be going after someone…
Nelson:MLB has not been the ones to officially leak anything, hence why they cannot say, “Here’s the whole list”…. like Tony said, a mess of lawsuits and headaches would come from it. These names will just continue to trickle out.
Andy:MLB has the rights to this information for they were the ones conducting the test, for the good of baseball they should concede both the players union and MLB with a stipulation that no action will be taken against them.
Tony: The players Union exists for the exactly the opposite to happen. They are there to protect the player across every possible spectrum including players privacy. If a players name on that list isn’t public yet, they will fight to keep it that way.
I do agree it’s pretty much BS at this point however.
Nelson:You guys are all living in a fantasy land….the tests were CONFIDENTIAL. MLB will never just release the whole list. It may all get leaked, but you will never see MLB publicize it.
Andy:Nelson your missing the point I am saying what would be best for the game not that this will magically happen. MLB is just like every other business which at this point is filled with lies, cheats and people covering them up.
Nelson:What point am I missing? You guys keep saying what MLB and the players union should be doing. I’m just saying why it shouldn’t and won’t happen. It might be best for you to enjoy the game, but it is not best for the business of baseball.
Andy: See I disagree 100% I don’t think bleeding out a list of the course of the next 5 years and constant wondering if your favorite star player took steroids is “best for business”. Ownership needs to be taken on topic because as the onion slowly get peeled back fans will become more and more discouraged. Especially in a economic downturn, I mean 1994 people got fed up with high salaries in a recession and it took years to get the fan base back.
Nelson: What I am saying is that opening up the flood gates and saying, “Here’s the whole list, wonder no more” which then opens up the lawsuits that was previously mentioned is not best for business. I don’t buy the John Q. Public wondering about who did (is?) take steroids is hurting business all that much. Baseball is hotter than ever right now. Have you honestly stopped watching any games or buying merchandise because of this? No you haven’t so why would anyone else?
The fan base went away in 1994 because of the strike. Baseball is still being played despite these news items, so it’s not the same thing. There is still something to watch, and since this test was years ago, it really is somewhat irrelevant at this point in time.
Andre: It’s funny, the conversation went from what’s right and wrong in terms of morality, fairness and legality to those names already leaked, to what’s god and bad for the game of baseball financially.
What happened there? Talk about missing the point, it’s not about how baseball will be affected financially, it’s about gaining the respect and trust of the fans back. Baseball needs to prove itself worthy of their fans after looking the other way for way too long and hiding information from the public who are the only victims here. We have watched the entire situation turn into a gigantic circus of smoke and mirrors, sample tests with hidden results, and privacy contracts that aren’t even really being enforced because they can’t. The MLB Players Union is not a victim, they are the culprit and shouldn’t be able to hide behind the false pretense of secrecy from sample testing. MLB Owners and MLB Front Office were enablers willing to put profit ahead of the truth the fans deserved. NO ONE in baseball should expect any sympathy, the fans are the ones who deserve this way before the millionaires walking around on egg shells waiting for their name to be dropped next.
Matt: Did you guys catch “More to Love” last night?….
Shaq the Entertainer
Shaq tried showing off his skills in the ring against the Big Show on Monday Nights WWE Raw. There are also other clips of him throwing the verbal smackdown throughout the show as well, and all I could think of was: Where’s that off season spare tire he usually has? He looked surprisingly fit throwing a chokehold and bulldozing the Big Show. Did he join the Jenny Craig program like Baron Davis did last off season? Could it have been because he was wearing black? Cleveland has to be pumped to see him in this good of condition!
My First Look at Brett Wallace
The prized prospect in the Matt Holliday deal made his Raley Field debut tonight in his new hometown of Sacramento. The River Cats wasted no time pencilling him into the cleanup spot. He also got the start at third base, where many question whether he will stick, or eventually make the move to first base or designated hitter. While he didn’t do anything extraordinary in the field, he didn’t make any mistakes either. The Salt Lake Bees wasted little time testing his glove, as leadoff hitter Brad Coon hit a sharp grounder to the left of Wallace. Wallace made a diving effort to no avail. It wasn’t a play he should’ve made, but he didn’t exactly make a gold glove attempt. The other balls hit to him were routine, and he fielded them cleanly and threw perfect strikes to first. So far, so good.
At the plate, Wallace has that hitter’s presence about him. He showed good plate discipline, while still remaining aggresive. His first at bat resulted in a sharply hit groundout to first that would’ve been a double, say, if a runner were on first. Problem is, the River Cats only had one runner on the entire game. Angels’ prospect Sean O’Sullivan stole the show, throwing the first no hitter in Raley Field’s ten year history. In his second at bat, Wallace put up a good fight, but ultimately chopped an excuse-me check swing groundout to short. In his third and final at bat, he had shortstop Cliff Pennington on first, who drew the only walk from O’Sullivan. Wallace, though, popped out to short center field.
All in all, it’d be foolish to draw any conclusions from one game. Wallace was hitless, but so was the rest of the team. As I said, though, he has a promising presence at the plate. There’s no doubt that Wallace will hit at the big league level, and his glove was dependable enough to raise no questions at this point.
In other River Cats / A’s news, Justin Duchscherer will make a rehab appearance on Friday in Sacramento.
WTF….The Worst Boxing Knockout of All Time?
I don’t even know what to say about this video. Was it rigged? Who the hell would take the time to set something like that up with these blow-hards? Is the blond haired dude a pussy? Nobody that size is a pussy of that magnitude. Or did he seriously get caught flush on the first friggin punch? Whatever the case maybe this goes down as the lamest boxing knockout in history…
Doin MLB Power Rankings
#1 Los Angeles Dodgers – In the 2nd edition of the Doin Work Power Rankings, the Dodgers are still in the #1 spot. We’ll see if Schmidt can do anything for them. 
I almost dropped them to #2 after seeing the new look Cardinals win their second in a row against them, but you can’t argue with the best record in the league!
#2 New York Yankees – The Yankees have won 23 of their past 29, and have seemed like the unstoppable machine that we had expected when they signed all those $100 million contracts this off season. They seem to be rolling full steam ahead and good luck to anyone playing them now. They are closing in on the Dodgers for the #1 spot.
#3 Boston Red Sox – You can’t go against a team with good pitching and depth! They are in the toughest division, and are surviving the worst team wide hitting slump of the season. I’m guessing they will make a run at Cliff Lee to sure up those holes in their starting rotation that injuries left behind.
#4 Los Angeles Angels – Yes, 2 Los Angeles teams in the top 4! And yes, I assure you there are plenty of fair weather fans roaming the streets of Southern California, I see them every day. 
The Angels seem to be catching fire winning 3 out of 4 from the Twins, and winning 12 of their last 15. They need to get someone so they don’t have to rely on Santana, because he looks like a black hole in the rotation.
#5 Philadelphia Phillies – Looks like they keep getting denied on the Halladay offers. If that goes through they’ll be impossible to beat when he’s on the mound. They are averaging 5.49 runs per game second to only the Yankees. They look like they could wrap their division up by Labor Day if nobody gets hot.
#6 Texas Rangers – The Rangers look for real this year, keeping the Angels in check. They’ve won 7 of their last 8. Their offense struggled after the All-Star Break, but it looks like they found their swings again putting up 12 runs in their last two games.
#7 Tampa Bay Rays – It might be a good thing for them to be somewhat “under the radar”. 
Maybe not to the extent they were last year, but if they can figure out a way to get Kazmir and Price functioning properly they should make a push at the wild card spot.
#8 Chicago Cubs – They are on fire winning their last 5 games and 12 of their last 14. Although it’s been weak competition, they still have overtaken the Cardinals for the top spot in the division. We’ll see if this winning lasts when the competition gets better.
#9 Detroit Tigers – The Tigers have a plethora of pitching and a ballpark that caters to pitchers, which probably explains their 31-16 home record. Rick Porcello has been a nice surprise, but it’s been Fernando Rodney’s 21 saves in 21 opportunities that has stabilized the 9th inning all year.
#10 St. Louis Cardinals – With Holliday and Derosa in the lineup, they looked really good against the top ranked Dodgers. You could even say they have a lineup that’s scary! I think they look poised to battle with the Cubs in the NL Central.
#11 Colorado Rockies – The Rockies have gone 34-13 since June 4th which has them in the lead for the NL Wild Card at the moment. Surprisingly, their pitching has been the part of the team that has shined over that stretch. We’ll see if that keeps up in the thin air.
#12 San Francisco Giants – If the Giants make a trade for a hitter, they could make the jump into playoff contender. As it stands they may win the Wild Card, but I don’t see them making it very far if they do make it. Their pitching can only get them so far.
#13 Chicago White Sox – Their bright spot was Buehrle’s perfection. Their bad spot, is the middle of their order where they are getting no production in the home run department from Dye, Thome, or Konerko. If they are going to go anywhere, they need these guys to start hitting.
#14 Atlanta Braves – They’ve been playing well, but they aren’t going to even get a whiff of the Phillies in the division race. Say what you want about Ryan Church for Jeff Francoeur, but it seems like there’s a change in the clubhouse attitude. Their starting pitchers have a combined 3 loses in the month of July.
#15 Seattle Mariners – King Felix finally looked human tonight giving up more than one earned run for the first time in his last 13 starts! 
Seattle seems to be fading behind the Rangers and Angels, but look much improved over the past few teams they put out there.
#16 Florida Marlins – Han Ram is hitting a eye-popping .427 with runners in scoring position. He is also the league leader in BA. They are so up and down, I’m not sure what to make of them. I think they’ll finish out the season around the .500 mark.
#17 Houston Astros – Nobody could figure out how they were doing as well as they were, but it looks like they are falling back to earth as the wins aren’t coming as easily as they were. A rough series against the Cubs pushed them backwards in their quest for a division title.
#18 Milwakee Brewers – The Brewers, just like the Astros have hit a rough patch going 3-7 in their last 10 games. 
If they don’t make a move at the trade deadline, Prince and company may have to slug their way into the playoffs. I don’t like the odds of that happening.
#19 Minnesota Twins – Minnesota looked bad on their westcoast swing losing games to the A’s and the Angels in every way possible. They should have a shot at the division if they can straighten out that rotation, and stop letting other teams put up those crooked numbers on a nightly basis. Their offense has been good, but that means nothing when you can’t stop the other team.
#20 New York Mets – They haven’t looked like a playoff team, and the injuries have piled up over the season. It may have been too much to overcome. Since no New York team is ever a seller, look for them to try to make a move that will give their fans at least a little hope.
#21 Toronto Blue Jays – We’ve all been wondering where Halladay will go or if he’ll even go. It’s starting to remind me of the Favre saga. The Blue Jays have had a nice run lately with all their players trying to showcase their skills in hopes of being traded out of the Canadian black hole to a contender.
#22 Cincinnati Reds – At least they stopped their losing streak against San Diego. 
They haven’t shown signs of anything good or consistent. The emergence of Brandon Phillips bat has helped fantasy teams out though. They seem to be stuck in the same situation year after year, and yup, it’s a bad one.
#23 Oakland Athletics – Possibly too high for a bottom dweller, but their pitching continues to mold towards next year as some of the rookie starters have shown promise. The question now is, when will they throw Brett Wallace into the mix!?!
#24 Pittsburgh Pirates – The Pirates have been shut out a league leading 11 times this season. I thought they may add to that total, but Lincecum settled for striking out 15 of them and going the distance. The Pirates should be sellers at the deadline, but they really don’t have much to sell…
#25 Cleveland Indians – Cliff Lee has regained his Cy Young form after a rocky start. It seems like everyone on their team is on the trading block. We’ll see if any deals get done, as they have some players that could be very valuable to a contender.
#26 Arizona Diamondbacks – Mark Reynolds and Dan Haren have been the only two bright spots to their season so far. Maybe they gave up too much a couple years ago to get Haren, so they have no options behind him. Maybe the fans have something to look forward to other than every Haren start, but I’m not sure what that is.
#27 Baltimore Orioles – The Orioles are letting the young guys take over, and the young guys aren’t winning. They need to move some guys like Mora to shake it up and get some pitching.
#28 Kansas City Royals – The Royals are good at one thing, and they keep doing it well. Being in last place is a staple for this team, and they are making a push to stay there losing 80% of the time over their last two weeks.
#29 San Diego Padres – They have Adrian Gonzalez, so at least it’s worth it to go to the park to watch him bat a few times. He has played in 308 consecutive games, which is a club record and the longest current streak in the MLB.
#30 Washington Nationals – Willingham got them in the news with his 2 grand slams. They might even be able to trade him for something now!
Another Lincecum Gem In The Making
Scrolling the box scores…. looks like Tim Lincecum has given up 1 hit through 4 innings, while striking out 8. He’s only thrown 50 pitches, so, barring a meltdown, we could very well see a complete game shutout tonight. Optimistic? Perhaps. But it’s only because he’s facing the Pirates!
Tim Lincecum is dialed in tonight.
GUEST POST: A Woman’s Perspective on Ironing Naked
By Kellan…
As a woman, I am horrified by some of the recent remarks made about the Erin Andrews incident. If you have been reading, I’m sure you’ve heard various opinions about how we are all to blame for choosing to care, and also that Erin Andrews is stupid for putting herself in this situation to begin with. Let’s back up here for a second and break it down…
Erin Andrews is a sex symbol in the world of sports. She knows that, we all do. If being hot is part of that, good for her and good for her career. Day after day she plays her position just like the players of the games she announces for. She has her uniform, and knows the drills. She appears to enjoy what she does and is good at it too. My point here is that what Erin Andrews did in the privacy of her own hotel room is not that different from what thousands of people do every day. We all come home after a long day of work, a fancy party, a long work out, and want nothing more than to shed our “uniform”. It how we step out of the role and character that we play every day. Sports player or not, male or female, being nude, or partially nude for that matter, is how we feel the most comfortable, relaxed, and free. Maybe Erin Andrews knows something more than the rest of us who have never tried it before…
My stance on the situation is that Erin Andrews has her ritual of ironing and curling in the nude. So what?! This may just be how she decompresses from her day of constant sexual attention and helps her focus on the next day’s tasks. When people are constantly looking at your body and critiquing your style, I can understand the desire to bare it all, to leave the responsibility of caring about what other people think behind. Unfortunately, the catch here is that although I am sure she is not the only one doing chores in the buff, few of us are in the spotlight like Ms. Andrews. People are infatuated with her, jealous of beauty and success, and they want to catch her doing something out of character. Thing is, this is her character, this is Erin doing what she does- but she didn’t invite, want, or ask others to be a part of it.
I don’t understand the fascination with ruining people’s careers, challenging their self-esteem, and threatening their safety. This is about disrespect and lack of boundaries on the part of the peeping tom(s). It makes me sad and upset that what is deemed as normal or abnormal comes from what we “catch” other people doing. Frankly, spying and filming anyone without their knowledge is voyeurism, which is listed in the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders under paraphilia. That is abnormal.
I’d like to end my argument by expressing that what people do in their hotel room or house is strictly their business. Erin Andrews is not much different from your next door neighbor, parents, best friend, or yourself for that matter. In spite of being a gorgeous and intelligent woman of the spotlight, she was disrespected and wronged by doing something very normal in space she thought was safe and private.
Rickey Does Oakland Proud
Rickey Henderson was the star of the show today. Jim Rice was, for all intents and purposes, the opening act for what was Rickey’s show. It was probably the first induction ceremony I’ve ever watched in my life. I sat intently through the Joe “Flash” Gordon and Jim Rice tributes just to see the man. The man I took for granted as a child because I didn’t know how rare and special of a player he was. How was I to know Rickey Henderson was a once-in-a-lifetime player?
Well, today Rickey Henderson got his due. Today was his day. It was great to see all the green and gold in the audience today, at a time when the A’s fan base is in pergutory. That’s because Rickey was one of the greatest players we have, and will see, in our lifetimes. His speech left a little to be desired. I felt like I was watching Forrest Gump to be honest. That’s not a jab at Rickey. I would never insult Rickey’s intelligence, for he is an Oakland Tech alum, like my grandmother. But let’s be real, no one’s ever accused him of being the smartest leadoff hitter in the history of baseball! Did he not have someone proof read his speech? At any rate, I still watched without distraction, much like I did in the late 80s / early 90s in during the peak of his career.
Next weekend, the Rickey-fest continues back home in Oakland, as the A’s will retire his number 24. If I don’t have an eyewitness account posted here by Monday morning, feel free to question my devotion to the Oakland Athletics forever. Congratulations, Rickey. And in the meantime…. Eric Patterson ladies and gentlemen!!!
Renewed Faith: In Beane We Trust
Although Matt already wrote about the Holliday trade today, I felt there was a need to analyze how ingenious this move was. As Matt wrote Oakland teams are never shy from making a trade to at least give us hope that we are trying to make things better. Beane has consistently been one of the masterminds behind the bay area movement to give their fans hope, and the deal today sounds like we have these new guys to once again give us that hope.
The 2009 Baseball America Prospect Handbook says, “Brett Wallace, think batting champ with the ability to be a big bopper. “ This is one of many interesting players that the A’s have acquired as the rebuilding is starting to take some shape.
The A’s have historically been a mover around the trade deadline. In the past two years Beane has been very active as he traded ace Dan Haren for Brett Anderson, Greg Smith, Carlos Gonzalez, Dana Eveland, Chris Carter, and Aaron Cunningham. He then traded Huston Street, Greg Smith, and Carlos Gonzalez, for Matt Holliday. Today he traded Holliday and cash for Brett Wallace, Clayton Mortensen, and Shane Peterson. Since most haven’t heard of a lot of these guys you may not understand why it’s so significant to the A’s organization. These moves have laid a solid foundation for a much more competitive team in the near future. Fans seemed to think that it was going to take a few years to rebuild, but I’m confident that we could have the next Tampa Rays on our hands within a year or two!
So far it appears that the A’s have kept the best piece in terms of major league play so far from the Haren trade, with Brett Anderson. He has been dominant over his last four starts as he seems to be figuring out the way to pitch at the major league level tossing 26 1/3 IP, 2-0, 25 K, 0.34 ERA, and a 0.69 WHIP over the last month.
Tonight he is facing the Yankees with a 21 inning scoreless streak going into the game. The guy I was excited about for awhile, Carlos Gonzalez, was traded away in the Holliday trade, and he hasn’t impressed so far hitting only .229 in 97 at bats for Colorado this season. Street is having a pretty good year for Colorado, but even when he was on the A’s last year he wasn’t even the closer as Brad Ziegler took the spot from him. Beane has never seemed to highly value the closer’s role, so losing Street and C-Gon, hasn’t hurt them.
The Holliday trade today was amazing in the sense that I don’t think they could have got any more than they did for him from any other team. Were the Cardinals that desperate to help Albert to not notice the A’s situation? They dealt away three of their top prospects that appear to be major league ready when it seemed like a week ago the A’s had no interesting offers for Holliday. The Tigers made an attempt, but it wasn’t enough for Beane. The Cardinals knew all the A’s would get was two draft picks if he left, and Holliday is very likely to accept an arbitration offer in this struggling economy. This was a match made in heaven for Beane. He escaped the trap of log jamming millions for an underachieving star next season, and now he has three promising young players to show for it. I don’t know how he does it! I wouldn’t trade Beane for any GM in the league.
A’s Pull Another Jack Move on the Cardinals
It seemed as though the A’s were going to deal Matt Holliday for Brett Wallace straight up. Instead, they got two extra players. Many would say this is a good deal for both teams, but frankly, I don’t really care what it does for the Cardinals. I don’t care if Matt Holliday hits .220 or .330 the rest of the way. No matter what happens, the A’s win. Perhaps I’m overstating it, but removing Holliday from the lineup is addition by subtraction. Seeing him up close this year has been a huge disappointment. Many have tried to chalk it up to him being in a pitcher’s park or having little 
help offensively in the lineup. The fact is, he simply wasn’t hitting. It’s not like he was constantly hitting balls that died on the warning track. Or that he was racking up hits but getting left on base when others failed to come through. You can’t even attribute his struggles to seeing few good pitches, because pitchers weren’t pitching around him. He had plenty of opportunities with runners on and saw plenty of pitches to hit. He just wasn’t hitting them. He filled in nicely for Mark Ellis providing the team’s bulk of infield pop-ups. At the same time, he beat out Bobby Crosby for the title of best at hitting into inning-ending double plays. Don’t let the past week or two fool you. The A’s could’ve traded him for the ol’ proverbial bag of balls and come out winners.
However, Oakland didn’t receive a bag of balls in this deal, but rather two top ten prospects from the Cardinals’ system. Brett Wallace is a supposed can’t miss big leaguer, and is probably less than a year away. Despite being a fat gut, scouts say he is in fact athletic, and could stick at third base for years to come. Third base, as A’s fans know too well, is a huge hole for the team. On top of that, they managed to snag St. Louis’ 2nd best pitching prospect, and 6th best prospect overall. It’s unlikely he’ll be the next Dan Haren, but he is projected to be a future #3 starter. The bottom line is the three players the A’s got are almost guaranteed to be better than the two compensation picks they would’ve received at the end of the season. The added bonus is that Holliday is out of lineup two months sooner!
He’s No David Bataller, That’s For Sure
This is just sad. I really hope this is the Ball State University TV station and not one of the esteemed Muncie networks. This guy is simply a mess. Seriously, he just should’ve fainted and this would just be another one of those newscaster fainting clips on youtube. Instead, he earns the title of Worst Sportscaster Ever, and for good reason. The highlight, for lack of a better word, comes during the Indiana Pacers highlights. He drops such gems as “Stephen Jacksons to David uh,” “Reggie Miller’s lookin good,” and then on a play by the Nets, he kicks up the excitement and comes with “HE SHOOTS THE THREE…AND IT’S GOOD!” Wrong team, B-Coll, and it wasn’t even a three, though it really doesn’t matter at this point. BUT, what would follow is probably going to be the apex of his sportscasting career. Jeff Foster grabs an offensive rebound and kicks to an open Fred Jones who knocks down a three. Brian “Boomer” Collins drops this beauty: “later gets the rebound, passes it to the man, and BOOM goes the dynamite.” Seriously, you know that was the one gem he had all queued up and ready to go. He’s definitely gonna be telling his grandkids about that one. Can we get a Real Men of Genius for this guy? Here’s to you Mister Worst Sportscaster Ever…
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