Getting hard-ons for the wrong people

The nostalgia orgasms that writers have this time of year when discussing Jack Morris's candidacy just kill B.A. every time. One of the latest periodical hard-ons belongs to Jon Heyman. Here's what this guy has to say about the great Jack Morris:

2. Jack Morris. The ace of three World Series teams, it's an abomination he may never get in. Morris made 14 Opening Day starts, tied with Steve Carlton, Randy Johnson, Walter Johnson and Cy Young, behind only Tom Seaver's 16 (the others already are or will be in Cooperstown). Also pitched the greatest game of the past 25 years, winning Game 7 of the 1991 World Series 1-0 in 10 innings against a young John Smoltz. The only two reasons I can think of for him not making it are: 1) he got hit hard his final couple years and finished with a 3.90 ERA, and 2) he was no charmer. Neither is a good enough reason to omit him. His impact was great.

An abomination? Really? First of all, in my opinion, the ace of a staff is the guy who was clearly better than everyone else in the rotation. So, no, Jack Morris was NOT the ace of 3 World Series Championship teams. Dan Petry had just as good if not a better season than Jack Morris did on the 1984 Tigers.

Jack Morris (1984)
240.1 innings pitched
1.282 WHIP
109 ERA+
148 K
87 BB

Dan Petry (1984)
233.3 innings pitched
1.273 WHIP
121 ERA+
144 K
66 BB

He didn't have the best season on the 1991 Twins, either. Kevin Tapani put up a 143 ERA+ and a 1.086 WHIP. To be fair, he probably just got very lucky that year, as he never had another season like it, and was not overpowering at all. However, Morris had been a below average pitcher every season since 1987 leading up to 1991, so Morris very well could have gotten lucky, too. In 1992, he wasn't even close to being the best pitcher in his rotation. Jimmy Key was. ERA+ of 116 versus 102, WHIP of 1.218 versus 1.255.

But, that shit doesn't matter. Because Morris was clutch...he was an amazing postseason force. God forbid Jack Morris was the opposing pitcher in a postseason game...

Jack Morris (postseason)
92.1 innings pitched
3.80 ERA (3.90 career regular season)
1.246 WHIP (1.296 career regular season)

Just because he was the guy that started in that amazing 1-0 win in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series doesn't mean he should get a ticket into Cooperstown. Should Bobby Jones be a Hall of Famer because of his 1-hitter against the Giants in 2000? Or how about we give Jeff Weaver a plaque for his 2006 postseason?

I exaggerate, but you see the point. Morris was a pretty good pitcher for a number of years, but he was not dominant and like it or not bad seasons count, too. As do the postseason games in which he pitched badly (see 1987 ALCS Game 2).

Funny I mention that game. The guy who beat him in that game unfortunately just doesn't get Heyman wet.

I still am unconvinced that he [Blyleven] deserves enshrinement. But I do think he deserves an explanation.

Blyleven did some great things in his career, and he pitched a lot of dominating games. Yet he never had a truly dominating season. He threw 60 shutouts -- but won 20 games only once in an era when 20-game winners weren't nearly so rare as they are today.

1973: 158 ERA+, 1.117 WHIP
1974: 142 ERA+, 1.142 WHIP
1977: 151 ERA+, 1.065 WHIP
1984: 144 ERA+, 1.135 WHIP
1989: 140 ERA+, 1.116 WHIP

Times in Top 5 for ERA+: 6
Times in Top 5 for WHIP: 7
Times in Top 5 for K/9 IP: 9

Times Jack Morris has had a season equal to or better than years listed above: 0

Bert was no match for Jacky-boy in the postseason though...

Bert Blyleven (postseason)
47.1 innings pitched
2.47 ERA
1.078 WHIP

But really, "he was rarely among the ultra-elite in his 22-year career."

Seriously, this is like getting a hard-on for Julia Roberts wearing a maternity outfit, but just nodding and turning away from Jessica Alba naked. One is clearly way better than the other, but you go for the lesser chick...and yet the reasons for which you claim to like her more are reasons the other chick is better. This must be Jon Heyman logic. I guess in 2006 Barry Zito gave him a banana crotch but Brandon Webb made him soft.

Providing Isiah Thomas with the support he deserves

Jack Bauer and I were present at tonight's disaster at the world's most famous arena and contributed to the euphonious "FIRE ISIAH!!!" chants that erupted relentlessly throughout the entire 4th quarter. However, I felt slightly bad at how poor little Isiah was getting his feelings hurt, so I decided to try and make some small talk from section 310.

"Hey Isiah! Harass any women lately?!"

Douchebag didn't bother to dignify that with an answer. Fag.

And so far he hasn't taken Jack Bauer's advice either...

"Hey Isiah! Get Keith Van Horn back!!!!"

Jack Bauer was actually supporting Isiah, with votes of confidence such as "YOU RULE ISIAH!!!" Having felt some compassion for the sexual harasser/proud owner of the quote "If Larry Bird were black, he'd just be another good guy"/guy who doesn't think it's as bad for black people to call women "bitches", I decided to vouch for Isiah to Jimmy D by exclaiming "GIVE HIM AN EXTENSION!!!"

If Knick tickets weren't so fucking expensive, I'd be doing this every home game. Seriously, this is almost as fun as it would have been to be at the LJ 4 pt play game or "the dunk" game courtesy of John Starks. We need him back. Starks is amazing. He is Zeus's bitch. His penis is more powerful than a tactical nuclear weapon. Just like David Lee.

Jack Bauer: Did somebody say David Lee?
B.A. Baracus: Jack, calm down...don't you have the whole Tony Almeida being alive to worry about this season?
Jack Bauer: Don't you have to whole being unemployed and making no money since the A-Team went off the air 20 years ago thing to worry about?
B.A. Baracus: ..........touche!

Anyway, please, continue what we started tonight. Give Isiah our support...by asking how his sex life is going? Get his mind off basketball. Ask him how his bitches are doing. Tell him to remind us about how tough it was to grow up on the streets of Chicago. Ask him about how Game 5 of the '87 Eastern Conference finals turned out or what he thinks of Larry Bird. Most of all, show him that you care about him.......getting his motherfucking ass fired.

Oh, and James Dolan's band sucks. True story.

B.A.'s gonna have to choke a bitch

"According to multiple reports, the Yankees will go forward by offering right-hander Phil Hughes to Minnesota in a possible deal, hoping to bring Santana to the Bronx and give New York the true No. 1 pitcher it covets."

What...the fuck....ARE YOU IDIOTS THINKING???

How many times am I going to have to tell this to people or write about this? WE DO NOT FUCKING NEED JOHAN SANTANA BADLY ENOUGH TO GIVE UP PHIL HUGHES AND MELKY CABRERA.

Phil Hughes is going to be an excellent pitcher. He was forced to work with less than his best stuff for a lot of the year and really learned how to pitch. It paid off by the end of the year as he had a 2.73 ERA, 1.18 WHIP in 30 innings in September, as well as a very good series against the Indians, allowing just one run in 6 innings with 6 strikeouts. He has a great fastball which touches 93-95 and looks even faster, fantastic 12-to-6 curve, and an above average changeup. He has great stuff. He showed it in the minors, and he showed he can do it in the big leagues, too. And he only turned 21 this past June. Johan Santana is 8 years older than Hughes, has a lot of mileage on his arm, and could very well not be able to throw the number of innings he has in the past. And we're going to have to pay him $25 mil/year to do so while giving up valuable pieces to what could be an excellent Yankees team with great staying power in maybe as little as 2 seasons.

I've already proven that Melky Cabrera is much more valuable to the Yankees than a Torii Hunter or Aaron Rowand. Young, great arm, plays a good center field, good contact hitter with effective leadoff hitter potential over old, overrated defense, and career years in walk years. Although it would not cost money, Johnny Damon being put back in center and Hideki Matsui playing left field everyday sucks like Sex and the City. Although his zone rating was good last year in center (.928), Damon's just too old and fragile to handle the position anymore. Not to mention his arm just absolutely blows impotent cock like Sex and the City actresses with the pun most certainly intended and is meant for left field. All of this can basically be said about Matsui, also. His knees are question marks and will be better off getting lots of time at DH.

There is no need to make a huge splash with Santana...for now. Get him in free agency or in a trade deadline deal.

Why do I have to be a fugitive? I should be runnin' the Yanks, foo!

What I would do with the New York Mets

This franchise is in a bit of a mess here right now. Stuck with a bunch of vets past their primes. Since it's fun to fool around with a team you have no emotional ties to, here's what I would do in an attempt to fix the New York Mets.

STARTING PITCHING
Problems are numerous in this area. Glavine was the only Met to get to 200 innings pitched this year. Oliver Perez and John Maine were pretty effective, but these guys are not front of the rotation pitchers. And Maine having never thrown a full season caught up to him in the second half. They're going to need to replace Glavine. And you cannot expect El Duque to keep getting people out. He's older than Fidel Castro. So here's what I do.

1. Sign Carlos Silva.
He's not great. Hard to say how well he'll do because he pitches to contact, isn't a big groundball pitcher, so he has a small margin for error. However, he's 29, will pitch around 200 innings and won't walk people. He gives up home runs, but at Shea you can knock down the number of gopher balls he'll give up. He usually gives up 20-25, so making half of his starts at Shea that could go down to about 15-20.

2. Trade for Cliff Lee if the deal is reasonable.
He still has some upside, and the Indians are apparently thinking of shipping him off. Lee going to the Yankees was a possibility but it would be at a high cost considering the fact that the Yankees are contenders. It's not the same situation for the Mets. They might get him cheap. If possible, try to trade Ruben Gotay (to play second base platoon with Cabrera, which could work well seeing as they are both switch hitters who have different natural sides) and Carlos Gomez (who they might see as a better option than 41 year old Kenny Lofton). If they want more, then fuck that.

So now the Mets rotation is:
SP Oliver Perez
SP Carlos Silva
SP John Maine
SP Pedro Martinez
SP Cliff Lee

Not great, but it'll do for now as the Mets can try to make a pitch for Santana in the 2008-2009 offseason. There really is no clear cut number one starter here, but of all of them, I'd put Perez one because he's the best of this group. Silva will pitch a good number of innings and they will likely be pretty effective, so he'll fill the two slot. Maine is a number 3 starter anyway, so this should be a good role for him. Pedro Martinez will probably be one of the best #4 starters in baseball. He's a six inning pitcher at this stage in his career, maybe get seven innings out of him if he has an extra day or two rest. Every once in a while you can have Duque start in his scheduled spot to give him that extra time. With Lee in the #5 slot, you don't have a whole lot to lose, and a fair amount to gain. If he sucks, put him in the bullpen and give Pelfrey another shot.

BULLPEN
This was a pretty big cause for concern this year. So here's what I do.

1. Sign David Riske
He's always been fairly reliable and just about anything is better than Guillermo Mota.

2. Sign Scott Linebrink
Another solid bullpen vet. Sign both Linebrink and Riske, then Heilman becomes expendable.

SECOND BASE
I would sign Tadahito Iguchi. Nevermind David Eckstein. Eckstein's been getting hurt a fair amount the past couple seasons and he would have to switch positions, not to mention Eckstein plain and simply just doesn't help the Mets. Iguchi has enough power to hit around 14-17 homers. He can hit around .275-.280 and OBP about .350, which is pretty solid. Defensively, he's not Robinson Cano or Aaron Hill, but he's decent. Try him for like 3 years, $15. AT THE ABSOLUTE MOST, $24 million. If he wants more than $8 million a year, then just re-sign Castillo. Castillo's defense is lesser and he has a good deal less power, but he can hit around .300 and OBP .370-.375. If the Mets re-sign Castillo, then I'd bat him leadoff and stick Reyes in the 2-slot.

FIRST BASE
Stuck with Carlos Delgado for now. He's turning 36 next year, and his prime's obviously behind him. However, you can still expect 25 homers out of him. There really isn't anything available aside from a trade for Mark Teixeira, and frankly the Mets don't have anything they can give up for him, especially considering the fact that as division rivals, the Braves would demand a lot.

CATCHER
Torrealba was the Mets' target, but that deal went into the toilet. Not necessarily the worst thing in the world, he's terrible. There's nothing out there now that Posada's back where he belongs. Since just about anything other than Barajas is better than Lo Duca, the Mets could try to work out a deal with Michael Barrett. I know, not great, but there's nothing else out there, unless you want Rod Barajas's career .288 OBP. Barrett's had several years of hitting 16 homers (and not simply due to Wrigley, he has legit power). He's been bad throwing runners out the past two seasons and overall for his career he's about 23% successful, but Lo Duca wasn't exactly much better this past season, and Barrett's going to provide a good deal more on offense than Lo Duca would. You could also give Lieberthal a chance, too if you'd like.

RIGHT FIELD
Decline Shawn Green's option. Just let Milledge play right field for now. I hate the guy, but he's put up solid minor league numbers at a young age, and he had a decent run with this Mets this year (.786 OPS). He'll do what Shawn Green could or probably better, and Green would cost about 20 times as much. Save the money, then when Pedro's contract's up at the end of the year, there'll be a good amount of money for the Mets to try and land Santana. The Yankees now have A-Rod back for the $275 million deal, so the Yankees might be less willing to spill another ton of money into signing Santana, especially if the Wang-Hughes-Kennedy-Chamberlain rotation turns out well.

So there's my attempt at fixing the New York Mets up a little bit. My main goal for the Mets here is to try and stay somewhat competitive while shredding some salary. Dump Shawn Green, sign either Iguchi or Castillo who are both pretty good players and hopefully won't cost too much, sign Barrett or Lieberthal for a short-term deal (Lieberthal might be more likely for a short deal), sign Silva (a pretty good AL starter who will probably be very good in the NL), trade for Cliff Lee (since you're not really giving up anything important), sign Riske and Linebrink to pitch in the bullpen, etc. I think this will keep the team somewhat competitive. Also, you don't make any retarded long-term signings and fuck yourself anymore. If you decline Green's option, there's $10 million freed up. After 2008, you're done with Pedro and Delgado (around $30 million). That's $40 million free in a year you can try to sign Santana. They might not be able to, which is not the end of the world, because they still have $40 million to play with. After 2009, you're done with Wagner (another $11 million). There's a lot of money to play with now. Plus, after 2008, you can try to trade Milledge (and hell, maybe even Reyes too) for some better pitching. Right now, the Mets should be looking to sign guys to deals no longer than 3 years and they should not be big name, high salary types. Then, you ride out the rest of these dead weight contracts to free up money. Then, SPEND IT WISELY for once.

Some projections for the Yankees, Part 2

3B Alex Rodriguez
Couldn't believe it when I saw that he was coming back, but he's back. I was totally willing to let Betemit play third all year. But hey, a guy who hit 54 home runs wants to come back? At what we'd originally offered? And without his agent? Great. So anyway, here's what I expect from A-Rod.

158 G 700 PA 592 AB 180 H 27 2B 0 3B 45 HR 91 BB 17 HBP 124 K .304/.411/.578

I don't see as many home runs obviously. But essentially I see the same type of year.

LF Johnny Damon
This is going to be an interesting one. Damon, first off, has to show up at spring training in better shape than he was in last year. He was banged up all the time, had to DH, and with the way he was hitting in the first half we would have been better off letting Pettitte and Wang take a few hacks. But anyway, if he shows up healthier, here's what I see out of Damon.

145 G 620 PA 555 AB 158 H 31 2B 1 3B 14 HR 62 BB 3 HBP 78 K .285/.360/.420

Basically 2006 with much less power.

CF Melky Cabrera
This will also be interesting to see. Melky was having a very good year until September rolled around and he went into an awful, automatic out type slump. Let's take a stab at this one.

150 G 620 PA 561 AB 162 H 30 2B 6 3B 9 HR 55 BB 4 HBP 66 K .289/.356/.412

Pretty reasonable. Hopefully in his prime he can be the .300/.360/.450 with 12-15 homers type of guy he shows flashes of.

RF Bobby Abreu
Glad he's back. I knocked him early in the season for looking like he doesn't care, but in all fairness, he looks like that all the time. Really the only knock on him is his fear of the wall. Anyway, despite his awful first two months which may have been due to the oblique strain in spring training, he had a solid year, and from June onward he was very Abreu-esque. So, here goes.

158 G 700 PA 609 AB 178 H 43 2B 2 3B 19 HR 91 BB 3 HBP 121 K .292/.387/.463

Bill James predicts 110 walks. That's a little high. I see 85-90.

Posada, Matsui, and Duncan to come.

OK seriously, Boston fans need to be shot

Red Sox fans are such fucking pieces of shit. They're not Red Sox fans. They're Yankee haters. Their enjoyment of sports is based purely on jealous, vindictive hate. Anyway, this waste of an internet page written by people whose "mothers we wish had had medical plans that included abortion" (words of the great George Carlin), links an article talking about how NEW YORK fans are classy because a Red Sox fan got assaulted in Yonkers after Angels-Red Sox ALDS Game 1. Of course, when you read the article, you find out that the two assailants were from PENNSYLVANIA and that they were only in NY for a construction job. Way to leave out important information you fucking New England smegma-devouring piece of shit.

Oh yeah, and Red Sox fans are certainly ones to talk about being classy. They don't derisively chant the opposing pitcher's name every single fucking time he gets into a jam. They don't start victory riots that kill girls because police had to fire a pellet gun. They don't throw bottles at cops and force the police to arrest almost 40 of them. No, they're classy, classy people. They also are very knowledgeable of the team and the game. They know their shortstop in 2004 was Nomahhhh. And Manny was always on the Red Sox, right? So was Schilling. Kevin Millar still plays first base, right?

And the players are very classy, too. They don't engage in excessive celebration. They don't show up the pitcher. They don't shoot their mouths off like little bitches.

I am willing to bet that most of these bandwagon faggots have no idea who their second baseman was last year. Mark Loretta?! Who the hell is that???!!! And Edgar Renteria?! WHO??!! Orlando Cabrera? Those guys were never Red Sox! Oh yeah, and Jeter swallows!!!! GAY-ROD!!! GAY-ROD!!! Yankees suck! Yankees suck!

That is about as intelligent as you'll see these Sox fans get. And while they like to talk about the Yankees being gay, Pedroia (who jumped into Big Floppy's arms and looked like he was ready to be humped) and Papsmear (who did Irish stepdancing in his fucking underwear on the middle of the baseball field) on the other hand are totally cool and awesome dudes. Let me see if I get this straight. Jeter, who bangs hot women like Jessica Biel and Jordana Brewster, is gay. A-Rod, who's married with a daughter, is gay. But Pedroia who goes for a cockride on David Ortiz after hitting a fence-scraping home run, and Papelbon who does Riverdance in his underwear, skin-tight underwear at that, in the middle of a baseball field, are awesome and amazing. OK, I just wanted to make sure I understand who's gay and why.

I don't think I'll ever be able to express in one post, or hell, in any finite number of posts, my hatred for the Boston Red Sox and their fans. So just expect these to keep coming every time I come across more of these third rate products of broken condoms.

A Steph in the Right Direction

How fitting that the above title was used in a New York Post article when the Knicks traded for Stephon Marbury in January 2004. Now, I'm using that same title for a different purpose. If you haven't heard yet, Isiah Thomas named Mardy Collins the starting point guard for tonight's game against the Phoenix Suns, prompting Stephon to bolt Phoenix and head home in what looks like the beginning of the end of the Marbury era.

No, I'm not making this up by the way....

How could anyone make this up?

To be fair to Steph, most of the blame is unfairly being put on him. He has been playing poorly, but so has Jamal Crawford, Eddy Curry, and Quentin Richardson. Of course, Mr. Starbury isn't making things much easier by not showing up to practice and most likely missing tonight's game. A class act would go to the game and play hard off the bench to try to get that starting job back.

While Steph has been a great person off the court (try finding a player in the NBA who has done more recently than he has), he isn't exactly the type of person you would call classy. After all, his pickup line for a Knicks intern was "are you going to get in the truck?"

This was the right move for Isiah to make though. This team needs a PG that will play defense and do a good job of feeding the other scorers which Stephon can't do consistently. Can Mardy Collins become that player? Its too early to tell but it looks like he does have the defense part down already.

Well, with that said, I will be the first to say goodbye Steph. You weren't the player we thought you were going to be for this franchise but at least you made it entertaining with your famous interviews (damn you YouTube for taking those classics down).

Today it was Stephon. Could Isiah be the next one? God I hope so.

Tune it tomorrow for another episode of "As the Knicks Turn."

The Choke Artists

No, the title above is not for a new show premiering on Fox tonight, but it is the perfect description of our New York Knickerbockers. After the Knicks dropped an embarrassing 75-72 decision to Pat Riley's Miami Heat (who happened to be without Wade), Knick fans around the world are starting to realize like Chicken Little did that the sky is indeed falling.

Before I really get into this post, I just want to say that I will not tolerate anyone who says "its ok that we lost because we were without Zach Randolph." NO! No more excuses. Even without Zach, who couldn't attack (thanks to Mr. Clyde Frazier for getting that stuck in my head), this Knicks team had to win last night if they wanted to at least show a possibility of differentiating themselves from last season's team. However, they were handed the keys to the car and they proceeded to drive the car right off the fucking cliff (one of the few times you will hear Jack Bauer curse in a post, bookmark this).

Words cannot truly explain this team's futility right now to make the plays that are needed to close out games. Stephon Marbury still can't execute when the game is on the line. Jamal Crawford still can't be a consistent player for the Knicks. Eddy Curry still can't play defense. The list goes on and on..

Yes, after only 4 games I started to wonder why the hell David Lee was only getting 23 minutes a game. Last night, I got my wish as Lee was the starting PF since Zach was in Indiana to attend his grandmother's funeral (obviously this wasn't the way I wanted Lee to get his minutes). David did not disappoint with 14 points and 14 rebounds despite a bad shooting night. Here's the thing about Lee, even if he gets off to a bad start in a game or has a bad shooting night overall, as long as he gets 30 minutes or more, he will essentially always give you a double-double. He is not a guy that needs 15 shots to be effective but he will still find ways to make an impact on the game like he did last night.

That is precisely why my good friends, Isiah should either get Lee 30 minutes a game or just trade him while his value is still sky high. As much as I like David Lee, it makes no sense to keep him on the roster if you only intend on playing him less than 25 minutes per game. Is giving Lee more minutes going to solve all of the problems? Hell no. However, giving some of Curry's minutes to Lee will make this team better, guaranteed. Lee and Randolph make for our most productive frontcourt by far. Unlike Curry, both of them rebound and both of them put at least a little bit of effort on the defensive end.

In my opinion, the biggest problem this team has right now though is the poor guard play. Stephon can still be an offensive weapon but his defense (which was surprisingly average last season) has been absolutely terrible so far as evidenced by 100 year old Penny Hardaway blowing past him at one point last night. Crawford has also been bad on the defensive end and while his offense can be spectacular on some nights, it is way too inconsistent for a team that aspires to start him while hoping to be a very good team at the same time.

To be fair, we don't have anyone on the bench that is any better. Nate is hurt right now so he really can't be counted on (as soon as he is 100% again though, I will be demanding that he gets more minutes). Mardy Collins is a good defensive point guard but his offense can be a big liability right now. Plus, the kid really needs to learn how to shoot free throws. Fred Jones is also a good defensive guard but like Mardy, he doesn't give you anything on the offensive end. I still can't fathom why we cut a rookie like Demetris Nichols to keep Jones on this roster. Excuse me, I think I'm going to go throw up right now....

Actually, when you think of it, that could be the motto for the Knicks this season.

Trade Rumors

Here's my opinion on some of the possible trades for the Yankees:

Apparently one rumor was posted a while back on MLB Trade Rumors saying that a possible package of Wang, Melky, and Ian Kennedy for Johan Santana. In addition, it said the Yankees would pursue Aaron Rowand heavily. I have a real problem with a deal like this. Here's my projection for Chien-Ming Wang next season:

215 IP 1.321 WHIP 3.64 ERA (87 ER allowed)

This was based on a lot of calculation involving singles, doubles, triples, home runs, walks, and hit batsmen allowed (along with their run values) while factoring in double plays induced. Basically I used base runs to determine a score rate off Wang multiplied by the base runners allowed and home runs allowed. It's a pretty damned good formula. It gave Wang a 4.03 expected ERA this year and a 3.99 expected ERA in 2006. Then multiply this expected number by a factor of 0.91, because each year his ERA was 0.91 times his expected. This gave me 87 ER allowed for an ERA of 3.64, pretty reasonable to expect of him. Let's look at Ian Kennedy's minor league totals:

149 IP 0.97 WHIP 1.87 ERA
165 K

That's pretty damned good. The Yankees kept him down in the minors longer than Joba because a guy like him who doesn't throw 98-101 mph is not going to be as convincing as a guy who does. And well, he basically was just as good. Here were Joba's numbers:

88.1 IP 1.01 WHIP 2.45 ERA
135 K

Aside from Joba's insane K/9 IP, Kennedy was actually better. And 165 K in 149 IP is not too shabby either. A lower ERA in a lot more innings and fewer baserunners allowed. This guy has the potential to be an excellent major league pitcher. However, not to assume he will meet his potential, let's say he's a league average starter, which was a 4.47 ERA in Yankee Stadium this year. Let's say he pitches 160 innings this year, too.

160 IP 1.40 WHIP 4.47 ERA

So he allows about 80 runs in those 160 innings. Wang allows 87 and Kennedy allows 80. So 375 IP and 167 ER. That's a 4.01 ERA. And for that, the Yankees pay about $1 million. Excellent, excellent deal. And this is assuming that Kennedy only pitches 160 innings and only at league average. He is very likely to be better than that. It could be as good as 390-400 innings at a sub-4.00 ERA. Giving that up, the Yankees will probably be getting about 215 IP of about 2.90-3.30 ERA (I'm not bothering to project his numbers, this is basically just a given). So that's about 70-80 runs allowed in 215 innings. To cover Kennedy's hypothetical league average performance over 160 innings, you'd need to rely on Mike Mussina or the DeSalvo/Clippard/Rasner crowd. I don't like an inconsistent starting rotation. One game is a sure win because Santana is pitching, another game is a likely loss because Mike Mussina and his Wakefieldian fastball, or one of our 4A pitchers is on the mound. Mussina could return to decent form. He could suck like he did for a lot of this year. He's 39 = more likely to suck.

Now, obviously, Johan Santana is an awesome, awesome pitcher. However, he is going to be commanding a huge amount of money post-2008. Baseball Prospectus has him worth around $22 million per year for 2009. And hell, seeing what guys like Jeff Suppan and Barry Zito get, he deserves it. But, do we really want to be dragged down by another enormous contract if we're going to give up important pieces of the team? Plus, Santana has a lot of mileage on his arm, and you never know, it may have affected him a little this year (33 HR allowed, 9 more than previous worst). Sure he'll be an upgrade over Wang, but it's at the loss of a top-notch prospect in Kennedy, an excellent defensive centerfielder with good offensive potential in Cabrera and a hell of a lot of money. Even if we didn't have to give up Wang in this deal, I would be very reluctant to make a trade like that. Here's why.

Say the Yankees pursue Torii Hunter or Aaron Rowand to replace Melky Cabrera. Rowand is 30 years old, and likely to not repeat last year again, and Hunter at 32 is even less likely. Both guys have decent pop. You can expect around 20 home runs from each guy. Melky when he hits his prime will probably be 12-15 homers at most. However, Melky has a better eye (8.8% BB rate versus Hunter's 6.6% and Rowand's 5.7%), strikes out less often than the two of them, and can possibly be a leadoff hitter within a year or two. As far as defense goes, Hunter and Rowand are not upgrades over Cabrera.

Torii Hunter (2007)
.891 zone rating and 47 plays made out of zone in 1314 innings
5.0 win shares
2 FRAA

Aaron Rowand (2007)
.861 zone rating and 69 plays made out of zone in 1373 innings
5.1 win shares
9 FRAA

Melky Cabrera (2007)
.910 zone rating and 33 plays made out of zone in 1072 innings
4.9 win shares
16 FRAA

The Yankees will have a solid 23 year old likely leadoff-type hitter (who could replace Damon when he's gone) who's excellent defensively for basically $500k. Rowand and Hunter will be slight upgrades offensively (they'll hit for more power, but probably put up similar/worse OBP) and downgrades defensively. They will be demanding Gary Matthews, Jr. type money (5 years $50 million) and they're both in the 30s. Sound like a good deal to you?

So essentially the Yankees will be paying $32 million a year more if they make the Wang-not-included deal (trade for and then sign Santana to an extension worth what he's likely to command) and they'll only marginally improve. And they'd probably be worse than before should they include Wang in the deal.

If there was a deal on the table along the lines of Kennedy and a couple second-tier prospects like Horn/Tabata or Ohlendorf for Santana, then that wouldn't be a bad deal if it was accepted. However, I find this kind of deal unlikely to happen.

EDIT: People have proposed a trade including Robinson Cano for Johan Santana

This is a bad idea in my opinion as well. And I think the Twins would want more than Cano, so this move would be bad in my opinion.

Robinson Cano (2007)
.306/.353/.488
41 2B, 19 HR

Screwing around with calculations, I got Cano creating 92-95 runs, which is just about what you'll find for other runs created formulas. An average major leaguer creates around 80. So he is worth about a full win to win and a half above average on offense. On defense, he is 31 FRAA. Combine the two, and he is worth about 45 runs more than an average player. So about 4.5 wins above average. Santana I don't think will merit a loss of 4.5 wins. Santana, as I said, will allow 70-80 runs in 215 innings. An average major league pitcher allowed 107 runs in 215 innings. So basically Santana will be worth 3.5-4 wins above an average starter. So the Yankees will lose about one win above average overall, assuming they even have an average second baseman next year as a replacement. And I know everyone's saying, "You win with pitching! You win with pitching!" No, you win with pitching, hitting, and fielding. Matsui is aging, Damon is aging, Abreu is aging, Jeter is aging. The Yankees offense will not be as formidable as it was last year in all likelihood. Think about it. Posada will not repeat last year. A-Rod will still be great (I can't believe he's actually back, I'd accepted him being gone) but not what he was this year, Damon and Matsui are likely not to improve much. Giambi hopefully gets in shape and stays healthy but you can't count on it. So Cano's bat (and glove while we're at it) is certainly desirable and you can't afford to lose him and possibly more pitching prospects for Santana.

As Yankees fans, we have to stop approaching each year as with a "Must win now!" attitude. It can lead to making deals for guys who put up flashy numbers at a suspicious (i.e. old) age and acquiring excellent players, but at great losses (good players you already have and lots of money). 2008 is a transition year as Douggy Bombs has said, and I am perfectly willing to accept that. If we do not make these deals, the 2008 Yankees will still likely be a very good team that can either win the AL East or the Wild Card. Plus, as already stated, Santana is a free agent at the end of 2008. With Pavano and Giambi coming off the books, and no more A-Rod, and the new Stadium being complete, look at all the money that will be available to land Santana and all the Yankees will have to give up is money. I know that whatever team trades for him will try to retain him, but what team will be able to offer the kind of contract the Yankees can? Few if any. Sure there have been times that the soon-to-be free agent who got traded at the July 31st deadline was signed to an extension. But there have been times that the free agent signed elsewhere. Randy Johnson in 1998. Carlos Beltran in 2004. So if the Yankees acquire Santana, it should be via free agent signing post-2008 season, not via trade.

Some projections for the Yankees, Part 1

So apparently the Yankees have made offers of about $40 million over 3 years to both Posada and Rivera. Hope they take them. Pettitte hopefully decides to come back. He declined his option but that's simply because he wants more time to think over his future. For now, here's what I expect out of the New York Yankees lineup next year.

1B Jason Giambi
I think the Yankees need to get this through to Giambi: this is your walk year. There's a team option for 2009 but there's no guarantee that we will pick up your option. So lose weight, be ready to play first base, we need your bat more than ever this year. That should give him a lot of incentive to show up in great shape and healthy.

I intend on coming up with a projection system of my own when I get the chance, but I will take some well-informed guesses right now based on as much info as possible.

130 G 550 PA 440 AB 120 H 25 2B 0 3B 33 HR 101 BB 12 HBP 105 K .273/.424/.555

Here's where I came up with these projections. If he stayed healthy, he would get into pretty much every game against righties and would get only occasional starts against lefties (like Nate Robertson) as Shelley Duncan would likely get the nod against the lefties. So I figure that he would get into 130 games and get about 550 plate appearances should he stay healthy. Looking at his BA/BIP in 2005, when he was hitting well, it was .293. The past two years he's been about .250-.260. His line drive percentage was 16% the past 2 seasons, but I think that if healthy, he will hit more liners, probably putting him around 18%. So I made a quick and dirty guess that his BA/BIP would jump to about .280ish. His strikeout rate in 2006 was 23%, so I figured he would be right around that, maybe slightly less. His walk rate was down to 13% this year, but I think that if he's any bit effective next year, he will be pitched to more carefully and draw walks at about an 18% rate, a more Giambi-like percentage. In 2005, he homered once every 13 at bats. I think that he could do just about the same in 2008 under these assumed conditions. So, having figured out all of this, it became mere calculation to come up with the totals, aside from basically just guessing the number of doubles he would hit. So if he could put these kinds of numbers up in 2008, I would be pretty happy.

2B Robinson Cano
I was very happy with Cano's explosion in the second half, going .343/.396/.557 with 13 homers. I was especially happy with his 24 walks in 329 plate appearances. That was a much higher walk rate than either of his other two full seasons. He is arguably the best second baseman in the AL. Polanco's a good player, but he got a little bit lucky this year. Cano is better. And fuck Dustin Pedroia. He's a big turd in a midget's body. Fenway Park just helps cover up the smell. Anyway, assuming Kevin Long works with him to maintain/improve his second half plate discipline, here's what I can see him doing next year.

155 G 670 PA 613 AB 199 H 40 2B 4 3B 23 HR 50 BB 7 HBP 73 K .325/.382/.515

Basically, I think he can be like a 1998 Derek Jeter, just with a little more power and less speed. These projections were based largely on his second half from this past season. Being a young player, you have to look at the most recent data more than you do a veteran (not to say that it's not important for an aging vet). His walk percentage was about 7.5% in the second half, so it should stay about the same if not get a little bit better. Maybe even 8%. His K-rate was 11% in the second half, and historically he hasn't struck out much. So I think it'll remain around the same, at about 12 or 13%. In the second half, he homered once every 22 at bats. For the season, he homered once every 32 at bats. I think that he'll be somewhere in between, leaning slightly towards the once per 22 at bats end. Say about once every 25 at bats. His BA/BIP in the second half was a beastly .354, which you cannot expect to last. Overall for the year it was .331. My guess is that it can be around .340 seeing as how his walking a little more will keep him from putting more weakly hit balls in play. He always hits a ton of doubles, so 40 is reasonable. His 7 triples this year was an anomaly, so my guess is he'll hit more like 3 or 4 next season. So overall, this is what I see happening for Cano.

SS Derek Jeter
Hard to believe but Derek Jeter is getting old. He is turning 34 next season. How will he respond to his tools diminishing over the next few years? They already have started to drop. His power has been declining, he appears to be losing a step, his range at short continues to shrink. However, I do think that he will be determined to put up a big season this year because the loss of A-Rod makes the Yankees lineup hard-pressed to compensate. So, here's what I think he can do next year realistically.

147 G 705 PA 626 AB 209 H 36 2B 2 3B 16 HR 64 BB 13 HBP 103 K .334/.407/.474

Now, I think Jeter's chances of hitting these numbers are lower than Cano's to hit my predictions for him, but this is feasible. As of mid-August, he was still hitting in the .330s with an OBP around .400. I'd originally had Jeter hitting more home runs, but I've realized that he probably will not. If he has a good year next year, it will look like this or 2006.

I will predict the rest of the team very soon.

Knicks Game 1 Preview - Jack is Back

Its been awhile folks and I apologize for that. I do hope you forgive me though as protecting the country is a full-time job....as is torturing terrorists and sending their asses back to where they came from.

Well, a new NBA season is underway and after how baseball went this season, it is a welcome change. The past NBA offseason was a memorable one. For example, we found out that referee Tim Donaghy bet on games he officiated. The sad part is this didn't really surprise as many people as it should have because the officiating was that bad in several games (e.g. The 2006 NBA Finals). Hell, that explains why the cast of the Sopranos is always seen at Knicks games. Another big story was obviously the Boston Celtics becoming relevant again with the Kevin Garnett trade. As if winning the World Series wasn't enough, Boston fans will also have the luxury of watching two other contending teams in football and basketball this year (deep breaths Jack....deep breaths).

For the Knicks, this offseason is certainly one they can afford to forget. Enough has been said about the sexual harassment case, so I'm not going to go into that at all. With that said, if any ladies want to make a quick $11.6 million, go meet Isiah Thomas. Sorry, had to get that one out. On a related note, I think the anthem to this season's Knicks team should be "Under Pressure" by Queen and David Bowie...

Anyway, the Knicks are in Cleveland tonight to play LeBron James.....err.... I mean the Cavs. While it would be easy to just say that this will be an interesting matchup (this WILL be an interesting matchup by the way), this should be a fun game to watch as the Knicks and Cavs usually get up for these games. Of course, this also happens to be the first Knicks game of the season, which seems to have some significance.

The good news for the Knicks is that Anderson Varejao, the energetic PF/C who comes off the bench for the Cavs, is still holding out (which means he won't be playing tonight). Varejao often does a good job guarding Eddy Curry so Eddy McNuggets should be able to get some good looks tonight.

With the good, comes the bad though. The bad news is that LeBron James only scored 10 points his first game, which happened to be on national television. You think LeBron has some motivation to improve on his .182 FG % and 10 ppg? Not to mention, the Cavs (because I just remembered that LeBron is on a team) just got completely outplayed on their homecourt by a very good Dallas Mavericks team. What I'm getting at is the Cavs will definitely be up for tonight's game. If the Knicks don't bring any game tonight, this will be a blowout.

So with that said, here are the keys to tonight's game for the Knicks:

1. E-ZPass (aka Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph) MUST be productive on the offensive end. If these guys don't give you offense, they certainly aren't going to give you any defense, making them useless. Hence, the Knicks need production from their top two options on offense? Make enough sense? Good.

2. Don't let LeBron score 50. Yes, I know this sounds foolish but here's the thing, LeBron is going to get his tonight. Players like LeBron James and Kobe Bryant don't follow up bad games with even shittier games. LeBron is going to look to dominate tonight so it would be foolish to say that the Knicks can hold him under 20. What you have to do though, is make sure he doesn't win the game by himself. If he is going to score 35 points, fine, there won't be much you can do to stop him from doing that if his shot is on. What you can do though, is make sure guys like Daniel Gibson and Larry Hughes don't also go off.

3. Give David Lee minutes. No, I'm not just saying this because I happen to be wearing a David Lee jersey right now (sue me), but its a fact, Lee was the team's most efficient player last year by far. He's a good rebounder, passer, and is very good at scoring off of offensive rebounds (alliteration anyone?). Plus, he is a God among men, he can turn water into wine, and part the Red Sea at the same time.....

4. Stephon Marbury has to play aggressive. By aggressive, I don't mean telling a Knicks intern to get in a truck and have sex with him, but I mean going to the hoop strong with the ball and finishing or dumping it off to E-ZPass (yes, I will make this name stick). Steph can't be on the floor just standing around and swinging the ball around the perimeter. If you ask Steph to do that, you are better off just playing Mardy Collins at PG. Its about time both the Knicks and Steph realize that the team is much better when he is a weapon on this team.

5. Use depth as an advantage. One of the major advantages the Knicks have going up against any team in the league, is the ridiculous amount of depth this team has. While the Knicks may still be the laughingstock of the league, their bench certainly isn't. David Lee is one of the top 6th men in the league, Nate Robinson is a good uptempo guard who seems to be getting it as he enters his 3rd pro season, Jeffries and Balkman are both guys that can defend multiple positions, and Fred Jones is a good defender who can also knock down an open 3 (a skill that is very much in demand on this Knicks roster).

So kick back tonight, grab a beer, and if the Knicks are losing, go get another cold one out of the fridge. Enjoy.

Fuck Fenway Park

Fenway Park is a piece of shit

As if this wasn't already known. But let's take a look at it from a statistical point of view.

The Yankees, this year, hit 46% ground balls, 19% line drives, struck out 15% of the time, walked 9% of the time, and hit fly balls 10% of the time.

The Red Sox, this year, hit 42% ground balls, 18% line drives, struck out 16% of the time, walked 11% of the time, and hit fly balls 12% of the time. Considering the Yankees hit liners or grounders 5% more of the time, they should have a somewhat higher BA/BIP. But.......

Red Sox BA/BIP
.315

Yankees BA/BIP
.318

What can this be attributed to?

*drumroll*

That irregularly shaped, dilapidated, pile of green shit. Come hit at Fenway Park! Make friends with the Green Monster, which has been sprayed with the semen of mediocre hitters since 1912!

On the road, Yankees' BA/BIP was .341 approximately. The Red Sox had a BA/BIP of .325. So basically the difference was made up big time at Fenway. With that in mind, let's have a quick talk with free agent Mike Lowell.

B.A. Baracus: So Mike, you're a free agent. What do you think your value is?
Mike Lowell: Well, B.A. I'm an amazing hitter as I've told Joe Morgan. I hit .324 and I drove in 120 runs. It's all because I'm amazing. Whatever A-Rod gets, I should get at least 80-90% of that contract since I hit for a higher batting average and I drove in about 80% of the runs.
B.A. Baracus: That's pretty funny. Almost as funny as your 97 pt difference between home and away batting average.
Mike Lowell: SHHHH!!!!!! Not so loud! GMs like Kenny Williams wouldn't know that! He'd be too stupid to look that up. He'd see "World Series MVP". "120 RBI". "Age 34", which apparently would be attractive to him. I would miss the Green Monster, but who cares. I just needed him for one year. I love the Green Monster. I do, but for $20 million, I'll go play increasingly poor defense, make Joe Crede look like Mike Schmidt, stuff Uno's Deep Dish down my throat every night and take Ozzie Guillen calling me a "fatass faggot" everyday for all I care. I got what I wanted out of the Monster. On road trips to Boston I'll show him my gratitude.
B.A. Baracus: You don't think the Monster will feel used? He gave you a .373 home BA this year, a .993 home OPS, 13 of your 21 home runs and you're just going to go for the dollar signs?
Mike Lowell: You know how much the Monster gets? He could care less. This year it was me. Next year it can be Bobby Kielty for all Greeny, hehe I call him Greeny, cares. Monster just wants dick. It's been catching on.
B.A. Baracus: Apparently. You guys just get gayer by the minute.
Mike Lowell: And we're damn proud. Next year if the Sox win, Papelbon's going to do his gay Riverdance routine with just a red sock on. Red Hot Chili Peppers style.
B.A. Baracus: You guys have reached the bottom of the gay sewer underneath steaming piles of shit...and yet you continue to dig deeper.

As Douggy Bombs said, everything associated with the Boston Red Sox is gay and stupid.

Seriously I want Sox fans to die

On this stupid Sawx blawg, this schmuck writes about this Mike Vaccaro article from last year that was saying the Yankees need to hit David Ortiz or brush him off the plate. I agreed and still do. I haven't been able to find it, but from the start of the 2004 season through the early 2005 season, Red Sox pitchers had hit nearly twice the number of batters that Yankee pitchers had hit. They've hit A-Rod and Jeter many times. Ortiz NEVER EVER gets hit or pitched inside. Not by Yankee pitching. Not by anyone. He needs to fucking get drilled with a fastball in his back or on his wrist/elbow and knocked off the plate. Anyway, here's what the douchebag writes in response:

Can't wait to see the reaction on NYYfans.com - or hell, the New York Post, - next time, say, Tony Mazz decides to suggest Josh Beckett let one fly toward Giambi's gargantuan, sweaty melon.

Fuck you, douchebag. Seriously. If it were the other way around, and Yankee pitchers were the ones hitting Red Sox batters constantly, then I would not disagree with the Red Sox writer if he wrote that. I would not WANT to see it, but I could understand it.

And here's some other shit that this guy has written:

Bernie Williams tossing his batting helmet at Charlie Relaford when he struck out looking in the seventh. Delmon Young got 50 games for tossing his bat at an ump. How many games will Bernie get? Or will his True Yankee status innoculate him from further censure?

Delmon Young flung his bat hard at the umpire and it hit him in the stomach. That could have seriously injured the umpire. Bernie simply tossed his helmet towards the umpire in disgust. Maybe he shouldn't have done it (though knowing how umpires can be total douchebags, it's understandable), but to compare flinging a bat at a high speed, a potentially lethal weapon, towards an umpire to tossing your helmet towards an umpire's feet...that's not even apples and oranges. That's like apples and bird shit. Go fuck yourself, dipshit.

After pointing out how A-Rod's error led to Ortiz reaching, he writes:

Why did A-Rod win that MVP award last season? Oh yeah, it's because he plays the field everyday.

Wow you're an idiot of the highest order. A-Rod won the 2005 AL MVP award instead of Big Floppy because (or rather, he SHOULD have won it because)...

A-Rod: .321/.421/.610, 48 HR, .352 EqA, 12.8 WARP3
Big Floppy: .300/.397/.604, 47 HR, .336 EqA, 9.6 WARP3

A-Rod was worth over 3 more wins to his team and just plain and simply had a better year. If you're going to bring up all of Ortiz's "clutch" hits, go fuck yourself. Clutch doesn't make a guy with inferior numbers a better player. And as I've written before, clutch is overrated and totally misunderstood.

This guy also writes about how Giambi and Andy Phillips took curtain calls after hitting 3-run homers off Beckett last June. Basically, he says,

After the Yankees were upset with Manny's admiring his HRs at Fenway, they take curtain calls in the second innning. In June.

OK, I think the curtain calls are a bit much. However, to compare a curtain call, which consists of coming up to the top step of the dugout and tipping your helmet, to standing at home plate admiring your home run, showing up the pitcher (which pisses me off to no end), is another moronic comparison. The only fair point he made here was A-Rod stealing second up 6 runs after the Yankees complained about Patterson stealing second up 6 runs the previous night. That's fair. But comparing curtain calls to showing up a pitcher on the field after you bomb one, stupid.

These fans know absolutely nothing about the game. And yet they think they do, so they write blogs. Please, Cleveland. Win tonight. I can't take living in Massachusetts with the Red Sox being anywhere near a World Series. Forget about them actually being in one. I'd have to break the 5th Commandment numerous times should that happen.

If I were MLB commissioner...

Several things I would do:

(a) rid MLB of steroids, HGH, and all sorts of illegal substances
(b) raise the mound
(c) put Questec in every ballpark and implement an instant replay challenge
(d) put an end to unnecessary showboating

Obviously, (a) is necessary. I would do (b) because I'm sick of ridiculous offense and double-digit run-scoring games. I would do (c) because I hate inconsistent strike zones and blown calls. I want umpires to be held accountable for being inconsistent and I also want teams to protect themselves from getting fucked by a terrible call.

Lastly, I would do (d) because it's really fucking annoying. When I see a guy do this, I feel like I'm watching a Little League game. What are you, 10? You're in the Major Leagues. It's a fucking privilege to play the game of baseball at the professional level and get paid shitloads for it. At the very least, be professional. I'm not saying you can't celebrate or show emotion, but don't do shit that shows up the pitcher. If you stand there and admire your home run, or flip your bat, or stand at home plate for 30 seconds like Manny did against K-Rod and Lewis the other night, you should be punished for it. Or if you strike somebody out, and you gesture/shout towards the other dugout or the guy you just K'd, then you should get punished. It's fine to pump your fist or yell "Yeah!" after a big strikeout or a big HR. I would try my best to act like it's not a huge deal, but you can get pumped up after that big K or HR without being a total douchebag. So here's what I would do for a hitter:

First time you do it, you get a warning.

Second time you do it, the guy batting behind you has to hit in an 0-1 count.

Here's why I do it that way. Hitting in an 0-1 count is a bit of a detriment for an obvious reason. But it's just one plate appearance. Typical everyday player gets 600 to 650 plate appearances. That is between 0.15 and 0.17% of all of your plate appearances throughout the year. So it obviously does nothing to a guy over the course of a season. However, it does piss your teammate off, as well as the rest of the team that you would rather indulge yourself in douchebaggianism than keep it to yourself for your team's own sake. Plus, it punishes the team a little bit and rightfully so. As a manager, you should drill professionalism into your players. A rule should help you do it. If you got a guy on your team that breaks the rule anyway, then as a manager you aren't doing a good enough job of keeping your players in order. Plus, the only time this could make a difference is in a close and late game. If Manny homers off Scot Shields in the 8th inning closing a 2 run game to a 1 run game, and he acts like a cocksucker and shows Shields up, then Mike Lowell has to hit with a strike on him. Let's say hypothetically that Shields historically owns Lowell, so hitting down 0-1 is detrimental to Lowell because in a fresh count he's already in a ditch. But aside from that, if your team has a huge lead or is getting killed, I don't think the 0-1 count rule would be the blame if you lose either type of game. If you blow the huge lead, blame it on the fact that your closer is Mike Myers. If you lose the blowout, blame it on the fact that your starter is Kei Igawa. Not the fact that ONE guy in your lineup had to hit in an 0-1 count. Because even if a guy hits a solo home run and that's your only bit of offense for that whole game, that affects 1 out of the 28 total plate appearances. That's 3.6%. If the other 96.4% can't do shit against opposing pitching, that's why you lost. And also, hitting in an 0-1 count is quite common even without the rule. Aaron Hill this year, for example, had to hit with an 0-1 count about 310 times (sac flies and sac hits not listed for these situations). So it's obviously not excessive punishment. However, it's a minor annoyance to the guy hitting behind you, and it will likely piss off some if not all of your teammates. And it will reflect badly on the manager. So it's a fair punishment in my opinion.

Third time you do it, you get a suspension with a fine that's proportional to your salary. And every time that you do it after that, the suspensions and fines are double the previous ones.

If you still do it after a warning and a punishment landing on your teammate, then obviously you need to face some sort of serious punishment.

For a pitcher, he must follow the same rules. However, the next batter gets to hit with a 1-0 count.

More rules I would implement to follow whenever I feel like posting them.

The Pwnage Awards, Part 1

Here are the Pwnage Awards followed by my nominations:

The Better to Be Lucky than Good Award

There are always several candidates for this, but my vote goes to:

Curtis Granderson

As stated before, he's a terrible leadoff hitter. Leadoff hitter's job is to be on base as much as possible, which he sucks at doing. And batting a guy with 20 doubles, 20 triples, 20 home runs, and 20 steals in the leadoff slot is stupid for obvious reasons.

Despite his terribleness as a leadoff hitter, he had a great year statistically. But is he really this good? Let's look this over:

Line Drive percentage: 21.0% (22.2% in 2006)
Home Run/Fly Ball percentage: 11.4% (12.3% in 2006)
Ground Ball percentage: 34.2% (38.9% in 2006)

Seems like he hit the ball pretty similarly to how he hit the ball last year. Let's see how he did with strikeouts and walks:

Plate Appearances per Strikeout: 4.79 PA/K (3.90 AB/K last year)
Plate Appearances per Walk: 13.00 PA/BB (10.29 PA/BB last year)

He cut down on his strikeouts, but that's nothing to congratulate him on. That's like congratulating Rosie O'Donnell for dropping 30 pounds from 350 to 320. He also was more of a free swinger this year, as he walked a good deal less frequently. Overall, I'd say he had a pretty similar year this year as he did last year. But oh wait, what?

2006
.260/.335/.438
31 2B, 9 3B, 19 HR

2007
.302/.361/.552
38 2B, 23 3B, 23 HR

Whadafuck? THT has Granderson second in the AL in PrOPS overachieving this year. Second only to his teammate Magglio Ordonez. Technically Ordonez is luckier, but Ordonez is actually a good hitter who was still good even if you took away the luck element. However, Granderson, without the luck element, he's really not much better than league average. His PrOPS last year .767 and actual OPS was .773. What was his PrOPS this year? .785, only 18 pts higher than last year and only 12 pts higher than what it actually was last year. Some guys are consistently above their projected numbers, like Jeter. He's always higher, so you can usually disregard the luck element in his PrOPS overachieving. However, with other guys it's good because it's usually correct in pointing out the lucky fucks. Granderson is very likely one of these people, which is why he gets my nomination for the "Better to Be Lucky Than Good" Award.

The He Didn't Collapse, He Just Sucks and Came Back Down to Earth Award

Jose Reyes. No question about it in my mind.

It was so sweet to see him absolutely suck Flushing nutsack as he got showered with boos in September. Here's how he did in September:

.205/.279/.333

This showboating, overrated, loafing douchebag slumping like that put a nice smile on B.A.'s face. Look at how he hit the ball this year versus last year:

Line Drive percentage: 18.5% (20.9% last year)
Home Run/Fly Ball percentage: 5.5% (10.6% last year)
Ground Ball percentage: 41.6% (45.2% last year)

Also:

Infield Fly Balls/Total Fly Balls: 13.4% (11.8% last year)

Combine all of the factors (he hit fewer groundballs, fewer line drives, more infield flies) and there you have his suckitude.

This is the future of the Mets, people. A guy who doesn't hustle on ground balls. Just takes off for 2nd or 3rd whenever he feels like it...which is all the time. A guy, whose biggest tool is his speed, that has a Ground Ball/Fly Ball ratio of 1.07. I'm sorry everybody. The guy just isn't that amazing. Halfway through this year I thought that maybe he was an excellent player, but unless he magically stops hitting pop ups and fly balls so he can use his speed more and picks up his walk rate from the first half of this past year, I don't see him being within an order of magnitude of being "one of the best players in the game". So he gets my nomination for "He Didn't Collapse, He Just Sucks and Came Back Down to Earth" Award.

Love for the Red Sox impedes rational thinking

From FJM last night:

It finally happened, you guys!!!

Joe Buck, bottom 6, Red Sox' diminuitive caucasian 2B Dustin Pedroia at the dish:

"He's a lot like David Eckstein -- he makes the most out of what he's got."

Finally. Someone pointed out the superficial/wrong.

Pedroia, in 2007, his 23 year-old rookie year: .317/.380/.442. .292 EqA.
Eckstein, Cherry Picking Best Ever Result in Every Category Throughout his Entire Career: .309/.363/.395. .274 EqA.

Eck's career SLG is .362. His career high in doubles is 26. Pedroia had 39.

But hey. They are both short. And white. So that's something.

Buck's right, KT. Take Dustin Pedroia out of that puke-colored, 5 century old, populated by overly hairy, obnoxious dirtbags who think chanting a player's name like "Rooooo-ger, Rooooo-ger" is funny, take their shoes off to count beyond 10 and can't name anybody other than Ortiz, Ramirez, and Varitek in starting lineup, piece of shit haven for hitters who would suck if they hit on the moon, he IS David Eckstein.

Dustin Pedroia (career):
Home: .334/.391/.482
Away: .265/.335/.365

David Eckstein (career):
Home: .297/.367/.375
Away: .276/.336/.350

There you have it everybody. If you take the unfortunately most probable choice for AL Rookie of the Year out of that ginormous-green-eyesore-ought-to-be-dynamited-piece-of-shit, he is David Eckstein. That's right everyone. Dustin Pedroia is David Eckstein. David Eckstein is Dustin Pedroia. By the way, Pedroia ought to shave that retarded chin goatee. You're like 5'2", 70 pounds soaking wet and look like you're 10. Growing facial hair won't make you look more badass. It will make you look more like a pussy because you're a pussy who's TRYING to look tough. And even more annoying is his swing. It looks like a drunk beer league softball player's swing. That ridiculous load-up followed by the war hack. The only reason it works at all is because of Fenway. I want Fenway to be burned down to the ground, or I want the Red Sox to suck so terribly for the next 100 years that all their bandwagon cumsumers all kill themselves, or I want the Red Sox to keep getting off to hot starts every year, giving their dumbass fans hope, and then collapsing in August/September every year so I can call out the bandwagon fans who will claim they don't care after bragging about AL East standings 15 games into the season.

I want David Ortiz to have Pesky's Pole shoved up his ass, then smashed with the giant Coke bottle, then electrocuted by the John Hancock sign...

CAN ANYBODY GET THIS FAT, ARROGANT, SELF-IMPORTANT PIECE OF SHIT OUT?????

David Ortiz (2007 Postseason)
.777/.882/1.555
2 HR
8 BB

I want him to fucking die. Not to mention one of his home runs he didn't deserve to hit. He was fooled on the pitch from Weaver and was lucky to even get his bat on it, let alone get it out of the ballpark. I want Manny to die, too. Is he still standing at home plate watching his walk-off home run like a fucking puerile 7 year old spoiled bratty fuckface that's never been shown a shread of discipline or taught the concept of sportsmanship? Shoot him in his scrotum. Then take his gay dreadlocks, shove them up his ass, then stuff them down his mouth.

That sucked

Let me just get a mild frustration rant out of my system.

Negatives:

Wang - Allowed over 10 earned runs in 5.2 innings pitched. That's fucking awful. He would have redeemed himself by pitching a solid 6-7 innings in Game 4 but instead can't get an out beyond the first inning. Sinker not sinking. Slider doing absolutely nothing.

However, the Yankees don't even get to the playoffs without Wang. He was the best starter the Yankees had this year. He had a 1.294 WHIP with a 117 ERA+. Groundballs were not nearly as frequent this year for him, but his strikeouts went up. It really got me angry because I was at this game expecting a gem and before I could blink, Sizemore had given the bleacher creatures a souvenir and after I'd realized that, Mike Mussina was throwing warm up tosses with Indians hanging out on each base. Wang's very good but he needs to figure out how to get his sinker working again. The guy frequently this year did not have his best stuff, as evidenced by the sharp decrease in G/F ratio as well as just watching the guy pitch.

Posada - couldn't hit anything in this series, going .133/.235/.200. Also did not call great games in my opinion. And I also think he could have at least blocked one of the Joba wild pitches.

That said, gotta resign the guy. He came up through the system and I can't and don't want to see him anywhere else. And the Yankees don't exactly have a Joe Mauer waiting in Triple A either.

Jeter - struggled mightily in this series. .176/.176/.176 in this series, hit into THREE double plays. THREE. He twice did it with a runner on third, in instances which you need to get a run home somehow. In fairness to Jeter, the second one was a hard hit ball right up the middle that looked like a hit off the bat, but Cabrera had it played perfectly. Ugh, it was also just frustrating to see Jeter struggle like that. I wanted to see him and ARod just go nuts this series, but oh well.

Now some positives:

Cano - hit very well this series. .333/.375/.800, with 2 HR. Hope this guy continues his 2nd half from this year for the whole season in 2008.

ARod - .267/.353/.467. Not great, but certainly not terrible. Had a rough first two games, but hit pretty well in games 3 and 4. Anyone in the press that shits on ARod for not "hitting when it mattered" can go disembowel themselves. PLEASE DON'T LEAVE AROD.

Hughes - pitched 5.2 innings striking out 6, walking none, and allowed just one run on a Garko homer when the Yanks were already down 8 runs. Cannot wait to see how the rotation looks next year with him, Kennedy and Chamberlain. Another interesting thing that I noticed. He only throws about 92-93 mph, but everybody tends to be late on it. It looks harder than the gun says. And considering the fact that, being 21 and still not done maturing physically, he may pick up more velocity as time goes by, he could be like a young Mike Mussina.

Pettitte - pitched reminiscent of 1996 WS game 6 in game 2. Just gutty as hell and was sharp as hell. Hope to see him return next year.

Also, I must say, I don't dislike Cleveland. I like their team. Sizemore, Hafner, Martinez, Sabathia, Carmona, Betancourt, Perez, etc. They're a good team. Despite the fact they knocked off the Yankees, I want to see them go all the way. It pissed me off that every team that I don't like won in all of the other series. I wanted Philly to win. They lost. I wanted Chicago to win. They lost. I didn't really want Anaheim to win, I just hate the Red Sox more and just wanted them out. Anaheim lost. I fucking hate this baseball season. If the Red Sox win, then this baseball season will officially be declared as the most annoying baseball season ever next to 2004.

2007 was a disappointment. But not to despair Yankees fans. This team has some young talent that will be great to watch in 2008 onward.

Has he ever saved a game?

I really think that all those career saves are made up. I've never seen this guy save a game. And I don't know how you can feel comfortable as a Padres fan when he takes the ball with a 1 run lead in the 9th inning against a good offense. He's blown a World Series game, an All-Star game, the one time he's faced the Yankees in recent years (back to back homers by Matsui and...KENNY LOFTON) at least 2 games against the Mets, blew a game in which Peavy went 7 innings, no runs, 16 strikeouts, last night, etc. THIS GUY SUCKS. Anyone who wants to put him in the top echelon of closers is an idiot. He isn't worthy of sniffing Mariano Rivera's jockstrap.

A New Motto for the Mets

Excitement update time!!!! WEEEE!!!!

Jose Reyes (2007)
.284/.358/.426
107 OPS+
.288 eqA

Jimmy Rollins (2007)
.295/.344/.531
119 OPS+
.296 eqA

Hanley Ramirez (2007)
.333/.387/.564
148 OPS+
.321 eqA

Still exciting.

Speaking of exciting, you know what Joba Chamberlain's ERA+ is right now?

1141


He is 1,041% better than league average. Only 23 2/3 innings, but still. A 0.750 WHIP. 34 K.

B.A.'s MVP and Cy Young picks

B.A. figured with the season at 150 games, it's a good time to make some picks.

AL MVP
It's ARod, people. It's not even close.

Alex Rodriguez (2007)
.308/.414/.641 (4th in OBA, 1st in SLG, 1st in OPS)
52 HR (1st)
149 runs created (1st)
180 OPS+ (1st)
24/3 SB/CS
.361 eqA (1st)
13.7 WARP3
35 win shares (1st)

As far as the ARod/Yankee haters, don't even try to say Magglio or Vlad. ARod's beating them in all of the major categories. ARod should be bringing home his 4th MVP trophy at the end of this season.

AL Cy Young
Bunch of worthy candidates. Carmona, Sabathia, Lackey, Bedard, Santana, unfortunately Beckett, too. And I think that ugly, alien-faced douchebag will win it, and while it kills me to say that he is a worthy candidate, I don't think he's the most deserving. I really think that Santana and Sabathia deserve it more. Sabathia's got virtually the same ERA+ as Beckett (138 vs. 142). He's got the same WHIP (1.137 vs. 1.129). The only thing Beckett's got on Sabathia is strikeouts. And not even by that much. 8.59 K/9 IP for Beckett and 7.88 K/9 IP for Sabathia. And more importantly, Sabathia's pitched a lot more innings. He's been just as good as Beckett for 45 more innings = more valuable. And Santana, same ERA+ (141), better WHIP (1.057), more K/9 IP (9.47), and 21 more innings pitched. Don't give me "Beckett's leading the league in wins! Santana's 4 wins behind!" The fact that people still think wins tell you who's the best pitcher means that some people need to click mute on the YES Network when Michael Kay starts talking about the paramount importance of the good old "W". Santana can't control how many wins he gets anymore than Beckett can. Santana's more deserving. So if it were up to me, it goes to Johan.

NL MVP
A lot of people say Matt Holliday. He's a great player, and is a worthy candidate, but I really think it's David Wright.

David Wright (2007)
.315/.409/.549
30 HR
126 runs created (1st)
151 OPS+
31/5 SB/CS
.334 eqA
12.2 WARP3
32 win shares (1st)

I find it very hard to not give it to David Wright this year. As far as Holliday goes:

Matt Holliday (2007)
.339/.402/.614
36 HR
116 runs created
151 OPS+
11/4 SB/CS
.318 eqA
11.0 WARP3
26 win shares

And plus, just look at the insane splits he has home/away:

.376/.434/.722 (home)
.303/.370/.497 (away)

He's obviously still a very good hitter even if you take him out of Coors Field, but still, when he's away from Coors Field, he's Jose Guillen (.303/.376/.476 on the road). So yeah, I hope to see David Wright go home with the MVP trophy...just not a World Series ring.

I know people like to look at RBIs as a determining factor, but RBIs are a function of the team more than they are of the hitter. Mike Lowell has more RBIs than Adam Dunn. Julio Lugo has more RBIs than Derek Jeter. RBIs do not reflect how valuable a hitter is. That's why the argument that Morneau driving in 130 runs last year makes him the MVP is so stupid. Jeter created many more runs and played a more difficult defensive position on the field than Morneau. Ugh, still pisses me off that Jeter didn't get it. Such bullshit. Anyway...

NL Cy Young
Jake Peavy everybody. No debate.

Jake Peavy (2007)
174 ERA+ (1st)
1.044 WHIP (1st)
9.98 K/9 IP (1st)
203.0 IP (6th)

He is head and shoulders above anyone else in the NL. Even with that absurd scoreless innings streak, Webb's ERA+ is 155 with a higher WHIP, fewer K/9 IP, etc. Jake Peavy is the 2007 NL Cy Young. It'd be a crime if it goes to anyone else.

Leave Your "Marc" on Baseball History

Vote to BRAND Barry Bonds' 756th home run ball (Option 2) to have Bonds stand forever apart, but to recognize the significance of this era and its place in baseball history to serve as a warning and reminder for future generations. History will be the ultimate judge. While Bonds's home run numbers are certainly not legit, his story will serve as a reminder to those in the future of an era filled with corruption, a warning to avoid the pitfalls he fell into. A branded ball is certainly a great way to say more than all the words here, or anywhere else, could ever say about where the game has been, and where it should be going. History will not be kind to Mr. Bonds, but that doesn't mean that history, good or bad, should be buried. In time, what's in the record book won't even matter. It's all about perception. Babe Ruth's legacy will be hot dogs, the called shot, and home runs. Lou Gehrig's will be run production, the speech, and unfortunately ALS. Jackie Robinson's will be breaking the color barrier and that steal of home. Bob Gibson's will be the brushback / bean ball. Hank Aaron will have those wrists, and his class. Sandy Koufax will always have his curve, and Cal Ripken Jr. will always have the streak. But Barry Bonds will be remembered for steroids and controversy. And that's a mark far more painful and permanent than any asterisk could ever be. And by voting to brand the ball, you ensure that for generations of baseball fans yet to come. Don't let the significance of this moment pass you by. Vote often. -BOMBS

ESPN Sunday Night Baseball! Yankees-Red Sox! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!! (Part Deux, Episode 6 overall)

Tonight it's going to be slightly different. I'm going to write the commentary by Jon Miller and Joe Morgan, while I add the commentary (edited for content since this is assuming it would go on TV) of Douggy Bombs (he was talking to me in between fielding grounders, liners, concrete blocks, and tactical nuclear weapons), Jack Bauer, and myself, B.A. Baracus, right below. So enjoy.

In the first inning
Jon Miller: And there's a base hit into left field by Mike Lowell! Here comes Ellsbury! He scores! 1-0 Boston!
Joe Morgan: That's just great hitting right there, Jon. Mike Lowell is such an amazing hitter. The Red Sox should totally re-sign him for a 4 year deal worth $60 million.
Smart Stat Guy in the Back: I can't believe I am saying this, but...please listen to Joe, Epstein, you fucking pretty boy weenie. PLEASE...
Jon Miller: Totally agree, Joe. You'd know better than anyone else considering how deep your relationship with Mike Lowell is.
Smart Stat Guy in the Back: (runs and steals mike) That's what SHE said!
Jon Miller: Get outta here, you!
Smart Stat Guy in the Back: Sorry, it was totally worth it and I couldn't pass it up.
Jon Miller: I'll give you that. Anyway...oh hold on a second...(turns Mike off as he picks up his phone) Hello? Oh great! I'll send someone down for it now. (hangs up) My philly-cheesesteak-bratwurst-oreo-banana split pizza's here! WEEEEE!!!

Douggy Bombs: Mike Lowell can go [bad word] himself, that [bad word]ing piece of overachieving [poop].
B.A. Baracus: Yeah, good play to minimize the damage though.
Douggy Bombs: Thanks, that's not as good as the show I put on in BP. I was launching balls out of Fenway with a telephone pole.
Jack Bauer: Dammit!!! I KNEW someone took one of my condoms!!!
Douggy Bombs: Oh, damn. Sorry dude, I thought it was mine. If you want to use my live rattle snake, go ahead. Just make sure you give that mother[love maker] a good cleaning before you give it back.
Jack Bauer: Thanks, man. Anyway, don't let me hold you up. Get up to bat and kick some ass.
Douggy Bombs: Will do.

In the 5th inning
Jon Miller: And there's a drive to deep left! And......it's tied! Robinson Cano with a drive...over the wall in left. His 18th of the year. And this ballgame is tied.
Joe Morgan: The ball just jumps off his bat, Jon. Cano swings an explosive stick.
Jon Miller: Pfffffff fff fff fff fff!!!!!!
Joe Morgan: What's so funny?
Jon Miller: Well, you know..."explosive stick"?
Joe Morgan: I don't get it.
Smart Stat Guy in the Back: Your broadcasting career in one sentence.

Douggy Bombs: Wow, Robby likes to go oppo on Schilling.
B.A. Baracus: I know, that's the third time he's done that off him this year.
Jack Bauer: I just hope next time Cano lines one off Schilling's fat face next time.
Douggy Bombs: I'm on deck, dude. I'll take care of it.
Jack Bauer: True dat.
B.A. Baracus: Look at these fans. They're [adjective] retards. If you were to put the guys in Red Sox uniforms, I wouldn't be able to distinguish between those stupid [nouns] and like, Eric Hinske. And listen to them. They're chanting "Yankees suck" after Cano [adverb] ties the game with a home run.
Douggy Bombs: I'll take care of this. (to crowd) Hey, douchebags. I stole back the ball from the last out of the '04 World Series, had Shelley Duncan write "Red Sox suck" on it, wiped my ass with it, let my pet rhino drop a [numero dos] on it, then self-hit it into the Atlantic Ocean.
(crowd exits ballpark in a frenzy, storms into Atlantic Ocean, and they all drown)
Douggy Bombs: That good enough for ya, guys?
B.A. Baracus and Jack Bauer: That was awesome.

What happened last night?

I'm not sure, can somebody (namely Red Sox bandwagon dipshits) tell me what happened in the 8th inning last night? I mean, Hiroshima, I mean, Blowkajima, I mean Okajima usually shuts it down as the setup man and Papelbum, I mean Papelboner, I mean Crapelboner, I mean Papsmear, I mean Papelbon usually notches the save. Oh yeah, has Cano's HR landed yet? Last time I checked it was approaching Europe. Somebody please inform me ASAP.

More crap B.A.'d like to comment on

Clutch hitting

Awesome article proving that the idea of clutch hitting is stupid. If there are a few things I hate about old school baseball fans, it's their insistence that the best team is the World Series winner, that a pitcher's record is a good way to evaluate how good he is, that guys like Torii Hunter are amazing outfielders simply because they've made some flashy catches, and that clutch hitting is some sort of ability. No, HITTING is an ability. Clutch hitting is no fucking different than just plain hitting. Here are some guys who were considered to be guys who seemed to have a reputation to "rise to the moment" or a "flair for the dramatic".

Paul O'Neill
.288/.363/.470 career regular season
.284/.363/.465 career postseason (299 AB)

Derek Jeter
.318/.389/.461 career regular season
.314/.384/.479 career postseason (478 AB)

Bernie Williams
.297/.381/.477 career regular season
.275/.371/.480 career postseason (465 AB)

David Ortiz
.287/.381/.556 career regular season
.301/.383/.552 career postseason (143 AB)

And this is just looking at postseason numbers, and "clutch" doesn't appear to limit itself to just the postseason. Runners on, 2 outs and RISP, close and late, etc. But does there appear to be a huge difference between regular season splits and postseason splits over a significant sample size? No, motherfuckers. Now, of course some guys' career postseason numbers are lower or higher than their regular season norms over the course of 350 some at bats (see Tino Martinez), but some of that can be attributed to bad luck, and you can also look at the fact that he had several series in which nobody could get him out (see 1995 ALDS, 1998 WS, entire 2000 postseason). If he had even 100 more AB, the chances are pretty good that he would have reverted to the mean and wound up with splits very similar to his regular season career.

And of course, every player has hits that you remember. Jeter's HR off BK Kim, Bernie's HR off Randy Myers, O'Neill's big hit off Rocker in 1999, etc. They "came through in the clutch" as they say because they're excellent hitters and are going to get big hits in key situations at just about the same rate as they do all the time.

Sorry there's been a lack of humor, but I was up at a quarter of 6 this morning and I'm wiped and humorless. You got a problem with that, 'foo?!

Narrow-mindedness gets annoying

The best team is the team that wins the World Series

I don't know if I can convey the wrongness of this statement, but I will try:

WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG

and

WRONG

2006 St. Louis Cardinals
83-79 (outscored opponents by 19 runs)
Team OPS+: 102 (barely above average)
Team ERA+: 97 (slightly below average)

Essentially an average team.

WRONG

2003 Florida Marlins
91-71 (outscored opponents by 59 runs)
Team OPS+: 107 (somewhat above average)
Team ERA+: 100 (exactly average)

A slightly above average team.

WRONG

2000 New York Yankees
87-74 (outscored opponents by 57 runs)
Team OPS+: 100 (exactly average)
Team ERA+: 107 (somewhat above average)

A slightly above average team.

WRONG

That's just the first 3 teams I thought of. Why don't people understand this? The best teams don't always fucking win. You can say that the team that plays the best in that series just about always wins, and usually that is the best team, but is it necessarily the best team? No, motherfuckers. It is not. WHAT IS SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND ABOUT THIS?! I am not saying that the team that puts up the best numbers should automatically be given the World Series trophy. If you win the games, you get the World Series trophy. But, you don't get the title of best team. If I'm a runner, and I run a 4:45 mile (and I've been running this time for a decade), and I go up against a guy who's been running 4:20 for years, and beat him 4:39 to 4:40, does that make me the best runner? No, because I overachieved and the guy who runs 4:20 could have been sick or it was just one of those days when unluckily he didn't have it. Shit like that happens. It's the same case in baseball. Now, as I've said, usually the best team or team that at least is arguably the best, wins. The 2005 White Sox were below average on offense with their 95 OPS+, but their pitching was unbelievable with a 123 ERA+ (!!!). The Angels had a slightly better run differential, but their ERA+ was 114 and OPS+ was 98. They were basically even on offense and noticeably worse with their pitching. The 2004 Red Sox, though I hate to admit it, those douchebaggian, overly facial haired child molesters were a really good team (111 OPS+ and 116 ERA+). They were better than the Yankees (114 OPS+ and 96 ERA+), and relative to their leagues, just about equal to the Cardinals, but we all know the National League sucks ass.

Now, I could go into even deeper analysis to evaluate these teams, but I lack the time. The point is, the best team or arguably best team does not always win. Anointing the World Series winner the best team is a very narrow-minded way of evaluating the teams.