Tag Archives: Baseball

March 18, 2010

Doin a Video Game Review: MLB 10 The Show

By chappy81

I’ve been searching for a solid baseball video game for awhile. And by awhile, I mean since 2007 when Electronic Arts stopped making their MVP baseball series. I tried out the 2K9 series last year, and thankfully I rented it opposed to buying it. The game was un-realistic to say the least. I also tried out The Bigs, and that one was even less like the real game, and felt more like NBA Jam (side note: I’m very excited about the new edition of Jam). Anyways, I think I’ve finally found my replacement for the EA MVP Series, and after about ten games played it is; Sony’s MLB 10 The Show.

The graphics are great, but they better be for every PS3 game. The best part about the game is obviously how much control you have over everything. The pitching is tough, and like real life the pitchers get angry, and over throw when they aren’t getting calls. It’s great how they did borderline pitches that are grazing or missing by millimeters. If your guy is on a streak of strikeouts, then when you slightly miss a corner the ump still gives it to you. It also works the other way when you can’t throw a strike, and you get squeezed on the corners having everything get called a ball. Fielding is fairly good, even though it randomly switches what player you are from time to time it usually changes you to the correct/closest person. They don’t make it super hard, and that’s a big plus, because I hate playing those games when a weak grounder ends up being an inside the park home run. Hitting is tough, but I think I’m getting the hang of it and finally not swinging at every pitch. If you square one up it’s usually out of the park. While hitting you can swing for the fence or you can use the left toggle to “go with the pitch” and spray it all over the field. All in all great gameplay, and I didn’t really scratch the surface of some of the truly cool features. I just wanted to let everyone know that if they are looking for a lifelike game this is it.

Another great feature in the franchise mode is the announcers. Yeah I know you rolled your eyes, but in this game they seem to not recycle the same phrases nearly as much. They also talk about the batters previous games. They will talk about how hot or cold they are and spit out stats like if they homered or went 3 for 3 or struck out five times. It’s pretty refreshing so far, because I don’t think I’ve really heard them repeat anything more than a couple times over about ten games. One downside is you have to listen to one of my most despised announcers, Rex Hudler. If you want to know how much I can’t stand him, read this one I wrote a little while back. Pretty good when the games can last an hour or more. Two thumbs up for the show! Oh, and so what if I only wrote this post because my hands were getting tired from playing!

5 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Sports, video games

March 11, 2010

Which Oakland Team Had the Most Injuries?

By chappy81

I know basketball season isn’t quite wrapped up, but the Warriors have had the most injury plagued season I’ve ever seen them go through in my lifetime. Nearly all NBA teams have close to 12 guys suiting up for every game, and the Warriors have had 9 or fewer players suit up for 31 of their 63 games thus far. It looks like this trend will continue to for the remainder of the season as even the D-Leagues they’ve called up are somehow getting hurt too. Being a die hard fan of everything that is Oakland sports, it’s tough to watch my team go through these kinds of problems. Anyone that follows the A’s would know that they’ve had their fair share of injuries over the past few seasons, and it got me thinking what team had the worst injury riddled season of all time in Oaktown!?! It wasn’t hard to pick a team to match up with the Warriors this year. The Oakland A’s had a ton of injuries last year (17 times they used the DL), but not quite as many as the 2008 squad (25 times they used the DL, and a team record). So my question is, who had the worst injury plagued season the 2009-10 Warriors or the 2008 Athletics?

 

Both these guys were supposed to see huge minutes this year.

2009-2010 Warriors

This Warriors season has had lots of lots in just one box season. It’s worse because it’s been mostly the players we thought would be starting. I remember watching a post game interview with Stan Van Gundy, and he was saying that having 8 guys isn’t a huge deal, but which 8 you have is the most important. Truer words have never been spoken. Not that I was thinking that the Warriors were going to have a great season, but I figured we would be better than this! It was announced that Andris Biendrins will getting season ending surgery. He had a terrible year that will come to an end before most knew it even started. They have a pretty long list of guys that are out for the season including three guys that might have been starters such as; Anthony Randolph, Kelenna Azubuike, Brandon Wright, and the guys they traded for are even out for the season like Raja Bell and Vlad Radmanovic. Even the guys who were there as expiring contracts have gotten into some games like Deavan George. It’s amazing how inconsistent their lineup has been. Five games ago the Warriors had three healthy centers and no backup point guards, On Monday they had four eligible guards and only one center. A summary of this season was in a game against the Bucks in mid-January.  They didn’t even have enough players to finish a game! The refs didn’t even know what to do when the healthy body, Stephen Curry, received his sixth foul. They had to confer and ended up giving the W’s a Technical foul, and let Curry keep playing so they had the five guys to finish the game.

Will Chavy ever play more than four or five games at a time?

2008 Athletics

The 2008 A’s were a perplexing team. At the time I felt that they were good enough to make a run at a division title around the All-Star break being 3-5 games out of first, but those hopes were dashed around the trade deadline when we sent our proven players like Blanton and Harden off in trades. We essentially were waving the white flag for the season right there. Maybe I wasn’t looking at the overall picture enough at the time, because they had a ton of guys getting hurt, and maybe management felt that they didn’t have as good a chance as I thought they did at making the playoffs. Especially since the Angels traded for Texiera as the premier trade deadline splash. Anyways, they used the DL an amazing 25 times with those players missing a total of 877 games. Sure you have the often injured Eric Chavez type guys on there, but that’s beside the point.They obliterated every other team in the league in that category by 10. They didn’t even recovery that well in 2009 using the DL 17 times, and was second in the league in that category. Maybe it’s not The Curse of the Wash after all that is bringing them down, maybe it’s just the injuries!

All in all, Oakland fans have been getting used to hearing, so and so is having surgery. So and so, is day to day. So and so got in a moped accident. Ok, that last one was a cheap shot, but you get the point. Maybe these past couple of years will make them upgrade their training staffs. Maybe karma will kick in and give them a clean bill of health for the next three years! My pick for the most injured team, goes to the 2009-10 Warriors, they’ve been more banged up than Charlie Sheen the last couple months!

8 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Sports

March 9, 2010

Seriously Royals Fans?

By mceezy

I googled the Royals and this came up.

Just saw this poll on espn.com, and I can’t believe the good people of Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska actually think the Royals will win the AL Central. I’m an expert in blind faith to your local team, but really? Winning the division? ESPN asked, “If Joe Nathan is out for the season, who is the favorite to win the AL Central?” This question is a bit misleading, because if Joe Nathan WERE healthy, would the Twins even then be the favorites? Probably not. I think irregardless of Nathan’s situation (hmm, has a nice fantasy team name ring to it), the Twins are not the favorites. Despite Miguel Cabrera’s slumping trend and the downgrade from Granderson to Damon, the division still runs through Detroit. But what stands out to me most is that in three states, the majority of voters predicted the Royals would win it. I’m the first guy to go on record saying I like the talent in the Royals system, but until they actually contend within their division, I can’t even begin to speculate that they’d actually win it. Missouri is the state where the Royals play, so that makes sense, although for every Royals fan, there’s got to be 2 Cardinals fans who dislike the Royals. And sure, Kansas shares a name with the home of the Royals, but you’re equally close to the Rockies, so you should know better about your teams winning divisions. Lastly, Nebraska is where the Royals triple-a affiliate is, so I can see where all the Mark Teahens and Billy Butlers to come through your town would give you plenty of reason for optimism. But let’s get serious here, no matter how promising the talent on the Royals roster is, they’re still the least likely team in all of baseball to ever win their division. I’d say it’s pretty much a two horse race between the Royals and Nationals to be the team that never wins their division in our lifetimes. Having said all this, look for my next post about why the A’s will win the AL West this year. After all, they did acquire the Royals best player, Coco Crisp!

10 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , | posted in Sports

March 5, 2010

Yup, I’d Say Baseball Has Officially Started!

By chappy81

I found the celebration kinda cool. A bowling ball knocking over his team mates (pins). I guess this isn't the NFL though.

Prince Fielder was plunked by a heat seeking 80 mph fastball in spring training today by the Bay Area flamethrower, Barry Zito. I think this is the first moment I’ve truly felt baseball is REALLY starting. There’s something about the competitiveness of this incident that makes it feel like they are starting to care about the games. The retaliation beanball was for a choreographed team celebration after Prince hit a walkoff in the 12th inning of a game in early September last year (pictured above). It pretty much killed the Giants season as they were holding onto a very slim playoff hope. I guess they still had a chip on their shoulders about it. There was no previous bad blood between the teams, and that’s what makes this one of the greatest parts about baseball. Most sports when you retaliate for anything you get called for a foul, whether it’s a technical in basketball or an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the NFL. The only sport you can really retaliate in is baseball. A sport that is built on traditions and history, never forgets a time when the team was slighted or given a cheap shot. Zito and the Giants didn’t forget when Prince strolled to the plate today. Zito helped them get some of those pent up feelings out in one pitch for things that happened long ago. It’s cool that a team can feel some kind of revenge 6 months after the fact, even if it was during a spring training game. I didn’t really see it as showboating in the walkoff, but I guess this is a sport that pitchers get mad when hitters stroll to first admiring their homers going out of the park. It’s not the Lebron and company doing their sideshow pregame. Regardless of how meaningless it is in the scope of things, I love how one beanball got me excited about the upcoming season!

4 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , | posted in Sports

March 2, 2010

Pebble Beach Stories Part III: The Baseball Players

By chappy81

The 8th at Pebble is my favorite hole on the course. There isn't a better over the cliff 2nd shot anywhere I've played!

Here’s the third installment of my stories from working at Pebble Beach. If you missed PART I or PART II click on the links to view. The baseball players are easily the most entertaining group of characters that I saw stumble their way the through the golf course. The best part about the baseball guys is that they show up to the first tee smelling like booze at 8-9AM. No other professional sports group drinks nearly as much as them. They will often ask you to grab them a bloody mary to cure the hangover before their round. It’s pretty funny when the mini-store they have at the resort runs out of booze EVERY time they come to town. The only times I saw the store sold out was during tournaments or when the baseball players were there! Another fun part is watching the baseball guys BOMB their drives.  They are one of the groups that plays a lot of mini golf games while at the resort such as scrambles/best ball/elimination games throughout the week. I always would volunteer to be a judge for the events and got to most of the time. Anyways, with spring training in full swing here’s my most notable memories from the always fun, MLB players.

Brett Boone – Easily the winner of the biggest drunk guy maneuver. Although there were complaints of someone leaving fecal matter in the elevator on this very night, but nobody owned up to that one, so it will be a mystery forever. We just know it had to be one of the ball players. It might be a coincidence, but  the two times that Boone came to Pebble, I saw him occasionally over their week, and about 6 of the 7 times I saw him, he had a cocktail in hand. I remember helping him in the morning of the particular day of the “incident”, and he was dropped off in the front area where the bag drop is. He had a cocktail in hand, and already had that drunk lazy eye look at 8:30 in the morning. Not surprising by any means, but he was slightly ahead of pace on this particular morning if you know what I’m saying.

Anyways, fast forward 16 hours to a little after midnight. Brett Boone and another player that was never identified to me decided to start a bonfire just outside his hotel room at Spanish Bay. A good chunk of landscape got burnt luckily not any fairway, and also a little of the building had some charring on it. This extremely smart idea no doubt came from some heavy drinking, and earned Boone a $20K fine for fixing up the damages. He also received a ban from the resort. In case you were wondering why so many athletes go broke, this could be another good example of why…

Adam Dunn – He holds the title for the best golf shot I’ve ever seen by a non-golf professional. We were doing a scramble, and I was the judge for the six pairings (twelve players overall). Basically, the game was; the two worst scores are eliminated on each hole, each pair had players alternating shots, when there were three teams left it went to a single elimination for each hole. I can’t remember who Dunn’s teammate was for this mini game, but there were only three teams left at the time of the shot. We were on the par 4 15th hole at Pebble. Dunn was hitting his fourth shot, and it looked like the other two teams had VERY make-able par chances(Neither groups made them). He was about 45-50 yards out, and he hit his shot a mile up in the air. It bounced on the green once with a little backspin slowing the balls speed after it touched down, and on the second hop it went into directly into the hole. His 50 yard chip in saved them on the hole, and they eventually won the scramble. It very well could be the only time I’ve really seen Dunn win! Sorry Reds and Nats fans, pun intended.

Derek Lee – The longest drive I’ve ever seen on the 18th hole came from Derek. I’m not sure exactly how far it traveled, but it went close to 400 yards. It was past the trees that are supposed to give you trouble on your second shot. It was a shame he wasted that monster drive by shanking his second shot into the water to the left of the green, but hey, most of us would be happy with just having that first shot… A side note on DLee, my buddy in guest services wouldn’t accept any of his money/tips from him all week while “hooking” him up with upgrades to his room and things of that nature. At the end of the weekend, he sent my buddy to the pro shop to get fitted for clubs and sent him a brand new set of Nike golf clubs. My friend couldn’t turn that down! I’ll always root for him no matter how much he struggles or how much Chicago fans rip him, he just made that good of an impression on me!

Cory Lidle – I was debating whether putting a negative on the deceased was in bad taste, but essentially I’m just telling a story. Also, it’s been two years since the plane crash, so I figure enough time has passed. It’s a shame my memory of Lidle was the most horrid display of putting I’ve seen. I could really see two year old throwing a ball at the hole and getting as close as him. He missed so bad on one putt he was slightly off the green after it. He took his time setting up these putts, and seemed to put some genuine effort into the shots which made it more perplexing. Something just wasn’t clicking, I felt bad for the guy. He ended up four putting that green, and the one that actually went in, was a rocket that he was lucky it stayed down. Maybe he didn’t care or was just THAT bad at putting.

13 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Pebble Beach Stories, Sports

February 25, 2010

Doin Work’s 2010 Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft

By dyslecix

Alright fantasy fans, we’ve are proud to say that we’ve now completed our cycle of fantasy sports here at Doin Work. We had a mock football, basketball, and now we’ve done baseball. I guess we could do one for Hockey and Golf, but seriously, I doubt there’s much interest from the fantasy community for either of them. As always, we had a 12 team mock, with people writing a little bit on why they picked the player they did, and in some cases why the already regret picking them! With out further ado here’s the first three rounds of the draft!

1) Matt La Porta Potties – Albert Pujols (Cardinals)

HELLO  #1 PICK!!! I can’t remember the last time there has been a more straight forward #1 pick in a fantasy draft?!? Matt La Porta is going to be shitting on some Potties for sure this season. The only downside now is waiting two full rounds to pick again.

2) Huff Huff Pass – Hanley Ramirez (Marlins)

Tough to NOT pick Han Ram. Sure he might be considered weak when it comes to pain tolerance by his teammates, but that doesn’t effect any of his play when he’s out on the field. He’s a 30HR/30Steal/100Run/100RBI guy, so it’s tough to find any reason not to take him. Oh yeah, and he’s a shortstop that’s usually in the race for a batting title too! Shortstop was my weakest position last year, so I decided to sure that position up right off the bat this season…

3) Who Creamed in My Clear – Chase Utley (Phillies)

This was a tough choice for me, A-Rod and Miguel Cabrera were hard to pass up. In the end I’ve decided to go with the player that has won me two previous championships. Locking up a 2nd baseman who’s production is so prolific is a valuable early draft piece to have. There will be plenty of other players at corner positions and in the out field to pick up later on down the road.

4) Triple Hawpes Brewed – Alex Rodriguez (Yankees)

I really hate the Yankees, and dislike A-Rod to the extent that I probably wouldn’t mind if he got hurt. If there’s a guy in the league that is as feared as Pujols, I’d say A-Roid fits that mold. He’s hit 30 HR’s and 100 RBI’s in 12 consecutive seasons, so no reason to think he’ll slow down batting in the middle of the most feared lineup in the big leagues.

5) Blue Va-Jay-Jays – Miguel Cabrera (Tigers)

Ummmmm…..When I saw I had the fifth pick I immediately wrote down Chase Utley and A-rod, and by god they went three and four right in front of me. Miguel is essentially a panic pick based on me looking at a million possible picks right up to time expiring. Longoria, Braun, and Kemp  got long looks right up before I hit the “Draft” button. From a talent stand point, I probably got the best player on the board, not much to complain about really.

6) I need TP for my Pujols – Prince Fielder (Brewers)

Prince killed me every time I played him last year. I think he hit 40 of his 46 home runs when he was playing me in this head to head league. Seriously though, Prince is a one man wrecking crew, and he is just turning 25 years young. He looks like he could be an MVP contender for years to come. Even though there’s a lot of 1B that can put up comparable numbers, I sided with him because he killed me every time I was against him, and if you can’t beat him pick him!

7) Kinsler’s List – Ryan Braun (Brewers)

Bamm, I was hoping Braun would still be here. He’s a dynamic young power producer and I was hoping he’d be here instead of kemp. Alas, they were both still available making my decision even more simple. Getting a power outfielder is a great pick, there is so much power available in later rounds to build off, I’m just happy I got my guy. I’ve seen in happen in other drafts, but I’ll keep my fingers crossed that Ryan Howard makes it back to me. If these league values pitching I’ll have a chance.

#8 Lawn Mauers – Joe Mauer (Twins)

League wide I’m known for picking my hometown Minnesota players too early in drafts, and since I never seem to do all THAT great in the leagues why not change my strategy you ask? I’d much rather draft a guy I like earlier than I should instead of drafting a guy that I want to see fail in non-fantasy situations. I LOVE Mauer, and pray that we sign him to a long term deal. He’s easily the best catcher in the league, and will be producing at a spot that it’s hard to find good production at!

9) The Uggla Truth – Evan Longoria (Rays)

Lincy or Longoria? Lincy or Longoria? Lincy or Longoria? Lincy or Longoria? Lincy or Longoria? Honestly, I took a shot of Jack, flipped a coin, and landed with heads. Longoria it was. Thanks Mr. Daniels for making my pick a tad easier.

10) Keeping up with the Kouzmanoffs – Mark Texiera (Yankees)

Tex went invisible in the playoffs, but maybe it was because he was nervous in his first year with the Yankee playoff spotlight. I don’t see any reason for him to struggle during the regular season. Sitting in the heart of the order in the best lineup in the bigs he will put up huge numbers.

11) The Good,The Bad,And The Utley – Tim Lincecum (Giants)

Wow, okay so I hate taking pitchers early in drafts. I love building from the infield and then out, and tackling pitching last. I’m also an avid believe in streaming. Seeing Lincecum here so late, I couldn’t pass on the value. This has totally shaken up my draft strategy, but will see what happens, I also feel very good knowing I’d have a ton of trade partners with other owners in this league.

12) Mound Rubbers – Ryan Howard (Phillies)

There are no sure things in baseball, but Howard is pretty close. He’s smacked 45 or more homers in the last four straight seasons, and I doubt he’ll slow down anytime soon residing in a very hitter friendly lineup and park. I’m not sure how I got screwed with the last pick this year. I finished second to last in the standings and still have the disadvantage of picking last. Screw you random pick generator!

2ND ROUND Continue reading

1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Mock Drafts, Sports

February 24, 2010

Spring Keeping – A Fantasy Dilemma

By mceezy

With Spring Training upon us, it’s time for players and coaches to report and start preparing for the new season. It’s also time for fantasy GMs to start preparing for their season as well. While many of my counterparts already have their keepers locked in and are deep into the season previews and projections, I have yet to spend more than 5 minutes thinking about who I want to bring back on my team. Just to be clear, I’m not trying to play the role of the guy who goes out of his way to tell people how little time he spends looking at his team but still does well. No no, I waste countless hours tinkering with numbers and positions and rarely does it pay off. My football and basketball resume is atrocious, but baseball is the one sport I’ve had some success. In my first year playing fantasy baseball, I finished second back in 2005. The next year I won the league. Then, we started playing for money and quickly my luck changed. Last year I returned to the Olympic podium, clinching third place – fortunately, since I never paid and third place gets their money back.

Anyway, the time has come for me to declare my keepers and I’m as lost as ever. The end of last season seems like so far gone that I don’t even know if all the guys on my roster are still alive. All I know is that I’m pretty sold on Matt Kemp as one of my three keepers. After that, it’s a toss up. So, help me out Workforce…. who should I keep?

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Sports

February 22, 2010

Is the AL West the Best Division in Baseball?

By chappy81

I guess it might be a stretch, since none of the four teams residing in the AL West are truly considered a threat to knock the Yankees off their thrown, but is there really anyone that looks like they can derail the Yankees besides injuries? I don’t think so… Can you name the only division that had three teams finish the season with 85 wins? Surprisingly, it’s the AL West! Sure you can argue that the AL East had three 84 win teams, but the basement is a lot worse than it is in the West.

The Yankees have pushed over the $1 billion mark in payroll a long time ago, and the Red Sox aren’t all that far behind, so we’ve been trained to see the East as far superior. Surprisingly the AL West had a great record versus the East going 95-79 in 2009. I think the best team in the West (Angels) regressed a little over the off-season losing their horse/ace in Lackey, and their versatile infielder Figgins, and that has put the division up for grabs.

I felt that Seattle made the biggest push to be a force in the west by trading for a bonafied yearly Cy Young contender, Cliff Lee, and last year’s runner up Felix Hernandez was already there setting up one of the deadliest duos in the league. They also stole Figgins away from the Angels, which should get them two guys on base if Ichiro and Figgy are hitting one and two. Milton might be able to knock them in if he’s on the field for more than 80 games, but that’s a big IF.

The Rangers bolstered their roster, but there are question marks already on the health of the players they signed. Vlad seems past his prime, but if he can be productive anywhere, it’s going to be in Arlington where careers being revived happens. They also signed the often injured Rich Harden, which could be a boost if they have a plan b for all the starts he gets scratched from each year. They were in the race for the West crown up to the last couple weeks, and have a ton of young talent that will only be better this coming season. It seems like a lot of the experts are picking them to win the west this year, but those predictions don’t seem to have much confidence behind them.

I’ll do my A’s preview a little closer to the season when I’ve gathered all my expectations of them, but honestly, all I’m hoping for from them is to stay healthy for once. We’ve used the DL more over the past two years than anytime in franchise history, and broke records two straight years in a row for DL usage. Not a good stat for a young team trying to figure out what pieces go where, and far from a recipe for success! Not sure about the offense, but the pitchers must be happy to have a true ace on the staff in Sheets. They owned a better run differential than Seattle last year, so there’s some hope!

All in all, I’d say the top teams of the AL West aren’t as good as the AL East. From top to bottom though, the West has teams that will be able to pull out wins night in and night out. You know you aren’t getting that from Toronto or Baltimore, who have both probably already given up on this year. I’d say that one distinct advantage that the West has over the East is in the farm systems. The East gets better through buying free agents that most of the time we can’t afford, and the West gets better by building up their prospects from within. I’m pretty pumped to see how it all shakes out, and one thing is for sure, the West is up for grabs this year with none of the teams completely out of the picture. Can’t say the same for the AL East.

What really defines the best division in baseball? The degree of difficulty? The balance from top to bottom? General intrigue?

Maybe I’ve been worn down from all the northeastern hype, and the YES network, but I believe there’s a solid argument that the west is the “best” division in baseball!

6 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Sports

February 17, 2010

Great Sports Games I Attended, Part II

By mceezy

A couple weeks back I introduced the first installment of a new feature here on Doin Work. Being a Northern California sports fan, I’ve seen more than my share of lousy games. Between the A’s, Raiders, Kings, and Warriors, I’ve endured my share of losing seasons. But there are a few games that stand out in my memory. Today, I’m bringing out the big gun. Quite possibly the greatest game I’ve ever witnessed, given the importance of it. I can probably count the number of professional sports playoff games I’ve been to on one hand. Most of them are A’s games. Although they’ve made it to the postseason more than most teams, it often has ended in disappointment. But not on this day in 2006…..

MCeezy and DJ Inevitable doing what they do best in the Oakland Coliseum parking lot.

It was an overcast Thursday morning. I remember it clearly. We purchased tickets long in advance for this game, but no one in their right mind could’ve predicted the Athletics would come back from Minneapolis with a 2-0 lead on the Twins in the ALDS. After the two improbable victories, the team returned to Oakland with a chance to clinch. Now, any baseball fan knows that a potential series clinching game is no walk in the park for the A’s. They earned a reputation of not being able to close out series. Still, nothing could contain my excitement, for my A’s fandom may have been at an all-time high that season. After attending more than 25 home games that year, I felt like a part of the team. I still remember when I requested the day off from work. My boss said he’d get back to me, and I actually told him straight up, “Honestly, if you don’t give me the day off, I’m gonna quit. It’s that serious.” Ultimately he obliged, but out of good will I went and put in an hour or two of work just to knock a few things out. Around 8am, my friend Andy met up with me and we ventured across the Bay Bridge to Oakland for the big game.

Continue reading

3 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Sports

February 12, 2010

The Big Hurt Will Be Missed!

By chappy81

Frank Thomas hung up the spikes today, after his VERY hall of fame worthy 19 year career. He was easily one of the most dominating hitters while I was growing up, and I’m sure I still have a few of his rookie cards laying around in some boxes. I’m not sure if his trade mark will be his large set figure or his big smile. Admittedly I wasn’t a White Sox fan, but always enjoyed watching Frank battle at the plate as he never took a pitch off, and was great at figuring out where pitchers were trying to attack him. He never said the word “retire” in his statement, but did say things like “life goes on”, and “I’m done.” He feels he can still play, but seeing friends like Jermaine Dye struggling to get a contract agreement, he felt his time was probably up.

He compiled some Hall of Fame worthy stats over his career; .301 batting average, .419 OBP, 521 home runs, and 1,704 RBI’s. He walked more than he struck out. He won back to back MVP’s in 1993 and 1994. He won a batting title in 1997 (.347). His numbers through the 90’s are reminiscent to what Pujols has been doing over the past decade. Big Frank is number one in twelve of the all-time categories for the White Sox, and will surely be wearing their cap when he is enshrined into the HOF.

He wasn’t on the A’s for long, but I’m grateful for him for single handedly helping the A’s get to the ALCS in 2006. He hit .270 with 39 HR’s, and 114 RBI’s that year, and it was his last year as a true star at 37 years young. He’s a guy with no ties to steroids, and it’s refreshing this day in age to assume a great player didn’t use PED’s especially since his double 0 decade was filled with injuries. It makes me that much more sure he didn’t use PED’s, because he never came back quickly from those injuries.

Sharing that smile and power with the A's made me even more of a fan of his!

3 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Sports

February 11, 2010

Lincy Wants More: E-Mail Thread

By dyslecix

Tim Lincecum, the two time Cy Young Award winner, is going to be arbitration eligible for the first time in his career. He obviously deserves to get paid, and there really isn’t any reason for him NOT to demand boat loads of money. The Giants wanted to give him $8 million in his first year of arbitration eligibility, but Lincy’s camp wants around $13 million. We debated in an e-mail chain what the Giants should do. We had someone that isn’t a part of Doin Work crew, but is a huge fan Giants fan, and is under the name Lincy Lover.

Lincy Lover: They should give him $40 plus million, in essence buying out his arbitration, and move on.

Cali4Dre: I’m curious what the Linecum’s team countered with when they say over $40M…

Lincy Lover: It’s really a matter of what the 2 years after this one are worth, since he’s not getting a dime more than $13m this year, no matter how things shake out.

Cali4Dre: If Lincy wants 3yrs/40M, I think the G’s should offer $80M over 6 years and be done with it…  Maybe that would meet his expectations, and they could sign him long-term all at once (at a discount in the latter years)

Lincy Lover: That’s less money than Felix and Verlander got, so it’d have to be more like 6 yrs. for $90m, but I like where you’re going with his contract…

Cali4Dre: I realize it’s less money than the other contracts, but the G’s need to at least be diligent in their pursuit of the best deal possible, which it seems they are doing by going to arbitration, otherwise they would have already made a better offer…  and do we really think the Verlander/Felix contracts will have a huge say in the outcome of Lincy’s hearing?  Tough to say…

Dyslecix: Would this already be done if Zito wasn’t on the books ($90M plus over 6 years)? I’m going to say yes, the Felix and Verlander contracts have a huge impact on Lincy’s deal.

Cali4Dre: Ah, Barry Zito’s contract… The gift that keeps on giving (headaches that is) Well, based on ML experience, both have been in the league longer than Lincy, so it’s not a perfect match for the situation.  The thing that makes the difference is the CY’s (ie. multiple)

Lincy Lover: I’m guessing it would be more if Zito wasn’t in play, but yes, it becomes a no-brainer if Zito’s not in the mix. Zito’s deal is also a problem because his contract is heavily back-loaded, so as Timmy makes more, so does Barry. I don’t see it as huge for the hearing, but if those contracts (along with Zito) are a baseline for any long-term negotiations.

Dyslecix: I’ve been reading a lot more SI of late…and saw this last week… I think the main point is the market has been set by those two, and Lincy, with his two Cy Young Awards, has all of the leverage at the table. I see that being the biggest thing.

Cali4Dre: I think besides the two Cy Young Awards, maybe a major piece but not the only one, you would also have to look at years in ML (3 to 5-JV and 5-FH) and starting point of their first year.  For JV and FH, according to your article, it was only $7M in year one… He’s in arbitration year one with the Giants offering $8M and Timmy asking for $13M.

Lincy Lover: The reasoning to lock him up now is to hopefully save money down the road, when he could hit the open market and be too expensive to keep, but you’re right, they don’t really have to do anything for 3 years.

Dyslecix: If they wait, his value will only increase….He’s a super star, and will only get better. Lock him up now at whatever the cost.

Cali4Dre: Wouldn’t they just keep going back to arbitration though, with Timmy probably winning it every year?  Might as well have more certainty, and less ill will with your Star… What would it cost the Giants to just waive Zito?  I assume a lot, but not all of the money is guaranteed obviously…

Dyslecix: Interesting…I thought all of Zito’s contract was straight up guaranteed. I heard them going on and on about this a while back when he was shitting on the mound every 5 days, and were discussing waiving him. It’s been forever since I heard that though…

Lincy Lover: Right. Any long term deal is basically buying out his arbitration and pushing back his free agency, but it seems like the Giants are going to be very careful with any hearings and stick to numbers and precedent, so not sure how much ill will can build up. All money in baseball is gauranteed, and zito’s due about $83m over the next 4 years, and i think there’s even an option for another year that the giants would buy out for $7m. f-me.


1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Sports

January 26, 2010

Holy Sheets! The A’s Locked Him Up!

By chappy81

A lot of moves have gone down this off season within the AL West, and for the most part the Oakland A’s weren’t a part of them. Sitting on more money than a lot of clubs, I guess they are being somewhat selective with their signings. Last year they took awhile to get into the market, but found great value in some of the players that hadn’t been signed yet. There’s still plenty of time to add more players to the mix and make a splash, but today they signed free agent Ben Sheets to a one year $10 million contract, with the chance at more if he hits some incentives. Now we have a two headed monster at the beginning of the rotation in Duscherer and Sheets. Last year we didn’t have a clear Ace and now we have two. Pairing these two vets with Brett Anderson (last year’s most impressive rookie starter) and Trevor Cahill looks to be a solid rotation.

Sheets is reportedly still hitting the mid-90’s on the radar gun when he worked out for interested teams, and looks completely recovered from the elbow surgery that sidelined him all of last year. If he ends up being his old self (2008 All-Star), he will be worth the money. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him traded away at the mid-July deadline if he’s doing well, for some always coveted prospects to put in the system, but hopefully we will be in the playoff hunt when that time rolls around and stick with him! Even if the fragile Sheets ends up getting hurt along the line, which isn’t out of the question, he will be able to help out the very young an inexperienced pitchers currently on the roster. Last year they had basically no guidance from any veterans, so all the nuances of the game they can absorb from Sheets will be great for them on and off the field. If this gamble on a injury prone player doesn’t work out, I won’t blame them for at least trying to get someone that can compete with the Felix and Cliff of the Mariners. Here’s to wishing Ben good health in 2010!

6 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , | posted in Sports

January 18, 2010

More Fun With Milton, Getting Sued Edition

By chappy81

Bradley's world has always been a little upside down...

I’m not sure what it is about athletes getting sued or getting in trouble that is so fascinating to me, but alas, I give you the most recent case against one of the most hated players in baseball, Milton Bradley. He is being sued by his landlord in Chicago for $44K in back rent, fees, and interest. I truly CAN understand why people hate Bradley so much, because he has the skill set to be a force in baseball, but he never really lives up to that potential as he sits out from hangnail type injuries throughout each season, and causes rifts in the clubhouse more often than not. His personality is emotional to say the least, and that sensitivity has made the media get on him that much more! I can’t defend most of his tirades, but I’m still grateful for his stint with the A’s. He single-handedly carried our offense to the ALCS in 2006.  Unfortunately, he won’t be remembered for his on-field contributions, and more for his dynamic personality off the field. To beat the dead horse, at the end of the article I found a statement I thought was pretty funny,

Bradley — who said during his time in Chicago that writers, fans and even waiters didn’t like him

Sounds like a pretty open and shut case to me. If you sign a lease and don’t pay it, you might find yourself getting sued. I’d expect that if I decided to stop paying rent! I’m guessing the landlord is probably a Cubs fan and has close to the same amount of hate towards him as the rest of the city does. I’d wish him luck, but I think he probably needs a shrink to figure out why so many people hate him. I hope he does good in Seattle, as long as it’s not against the A’s!

5 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , | posted in Sports

January 15, 2010

More A’s Activity

By mceezy

The tinkering continues in Oakland as the Athletics acquired 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff today from the Padres. He’s not exactly a guy I rosterbate to, but he can probably man the corner better than anyone else in house. He comes to Oakland with a minor league PTBNL (rumor is a fellow called Eric Sogard. We’ll hold off on him until we know he’s in the deal) . Going back to San Diego is Scott Hairston, who was just acquired from San Diego last summer. The A’s are also sending fringe player Aaron Cunningham in the deal. Cunningham looked promising in his time in AAA-Sacramento, but never found his stroke in the majors, batting .211 in limited action. I’ve seen a good majority of his progression through the minors since he was acquired from Arizona in the Dan Haren deal. While he was one of my more exciting prospects, I ultimately concluded that he’ll probably project to no better than a 4th outfielder on a big league team. Hairston, meanwhile, was the clear odd man out immediately following the Coco Crisp signing. All in all, the A’s acquired a position of need – and quite frankly their most dire by far – while trading away from a position of strength. …Strength in numbers at least.

While this move addressed some questions, it also raises just as many in my mind. Obviously the team got a veteran third baseman which they needed, but what does this mean for Eric Chavez? Don’t get me wrong, I’m about two full years removed from having stopped counting on Chavez being on the field, but I at least need some closure. Last I heard he was almost healthy. Granted that probably applies to him 95% of the time, but still. Perhaps he’s going to spend the majority of his time at DH, but wait, isn’t that what they brought Jack Cust back for? I really hope this move wasn’t made to clear room in the outfield for Cust. The other thing I still wonder about is the future of the third base position. Surely Kouzmanoff can’t be the long term solution. He’s a career .261 hitter whose average has declined in each of his three full seasons in the bigs. Not one to ever pay attention to fielding statistics, I couldn’t help but noticed that he’s cut his errors drastically each season, from 22 to 11 to just 3 last year. His fielding percentage has gone up each year as well, topping off at .990 last season. At least having a good defensive third baseman will alleviate a lot of roster concerns. I just really wish we had someone promising there in the minors. Brett Wallace was the most hope I’d had in years, and now he’s in Toronto. Don’t get me wrong, I’m equally excited about Michael Taylor. I just can’t come up with anything more exciting than Adrian Cardenas when I think about the A’s prospects at third. Problem is, Cardenas isn’t even a third baseman. It’s okay though, a good player is always just a trade away. At the rate the A’s are going, there should be a few more before the season rolls around.

2 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Sports

January 11, 2010

Monday Morning Randomness

By chappy81

Over the weekend there was one good playoff game, and the others turned out to be not so exciting, especially for someone like myself that doesn’t have any real connection to the teams playing. I just wanted to see some good contests, but that unfortunately didn’t happen for the most part. The Arizona and Green Bay game made up for it a little bit being the highest scoring playoff game of all time, but still, I really hoped for more this weekend. I have to say it was fun watching the Pats get blown out at home though! I guess I’ll talk about few other things I found interesting in the sporting world this weekend.

Aroldis Chapman signed with the Reds for $30 million. This made me happy since I won’t have to root against the man with the same last name as me wearing an Angels uniform. Seeing how he went to Cincy, I have a feeling he won’t pan out since most their moves don’t. Not too many guys I can think of fare well pitching in that stadium. Maybe he’ll end up being a closer, which would be slightly easier to be successful than a starter at least in Cincy…

Vlad Guerrero stays in the AL West, but is moving to Texas. If there’s anywhere to see if Vlad has anything left in the tank it’s got to be Arlington. If he doesn’t produce there it’s easy to assume that his bat speed has slowed, and IS out of gas. The Rangers kept busy by signing Kahlil Greene to a deal as well. It looks like the Rangers can be a team that will be tough in the west if they can get another pitcher besides the often injured Harden they might be in business!

I came across some more reason’s that Raines deserves to be in the HOF. This link on Sportsnation shows how voters picked Dawson over Raines 70% to 30% in an original poll when it was just their names, then they posted the best five season’s from both guys in a new poll using Player A and Player B. The percentages flipped, and 70% voted for Raines’s numbers over Dawson’s. Thanks for showing me I wasn’t crazy when I said Raines deserves to be in the HOF sportsnation!

Paquiao and Mayweather are fighting on March 13, but Pacman will be in Dallas fighting, and Mayweather will be in Las Vegas. Sounds like Mayweather must want to fight Pacman for the PPV purchases. We’ll see which fight is MORE worth watching as Mayweather hasn’t announced who his opponent is, but I don’t see myself buying either…

Kansas and John Wall dropped to #3 in the NCAA basketball rankings and Texas jumped to #1 with their perfect 15-0 record. Kentucky is #2, in case you were wondering at 16-0. It’s the first time anyone but Kansas held the top spot this year including the preseason. The Jayhawks lost to Tennessee on Sunday in an upset.

Jay Mariotti actually wrote something that I agree with about the Rooney Rule in the wake of the Pete Caroll hiring. Sure Seattle says that Leslie Frazier was a true candidate for the head coaching job, but does anyone buy that? Sounds like they went straight for Pete, and Frazier was only considered because of the rule. Like I said in my piece on Pete moving, just a waste of everybody’s time bringing him into interview…

5 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Sports