Rooting against the Cardinals is usually pretty futile.
They're the one team that somehow, some way seems to do everything right. They won the World Series in 2011 after David Freese hit everything and Texas decided they didn't actually want to win. They then let Albert Pujols walk in free agency, but recovered easily from letting one of the best hitters ever walk in free agency and drafted future (and probably current) phenom Michael Wacha with the compensatory pick. That's just the last three years. At this point, St. Louis's constant and eerily consistent success seems to be just as inevitable as death and taxes.
The Cubs, on the other hand, are dreadful. I've said before that it took me a little while to settle on being a Chicago fan, and that happened to come after their great 2003 run. The only successful teams I've really ever rooted for were in '07 and '08, and I didn't really know what was going on.1 The Cubs I know fell apart because all their players were old and they didn't have a good farm system. The Cubs I know are basically the opposite of the Cardinals.
I came into the postseason having given up on rooting against St. Louis. I tried when they won in 2011, and I tried last year when they came back from being down 6-0 against the Nationals in the series clincher. This year, I just didn't have the willpower. I didn't care when they beat the Pirates in the Wild Card, and while I was rooting for Clayton Kershaw, I didn't really care when they beat the Dodgers in the NLCS. After they took game three, I figured another World Series would be inevitable and I would just avoid watching as much MLB Network in the offseason.
Then, when Boston's Koji Uehara picked off Kolten Wong2 to win game 4 and Jon Lester pitched his second gem of the series to win game 5, I got a little excited. The notion that the Cardinals were somehow flawed was an extremely gratifying feeling. Ultimately, Shane Victorino decided to eat some planets for dinner, John Lackey gritted his way through 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball, and the series was over.
I don't hate the Cardinals. The Cubs aren't good enough and I don't have the energy. For that one series though, I was finally happy to be rooting against them. The fact that they lost after catching an endless number of breaks over the course of the season somehow made them appear just like everybody else. It didn't matter that St. Louis was good enough to have the best record in the NL and made the World Series while the Cubs lost another 96 games and tied for the fourth worst record in the majors. For right now, the Cardinals are tied with the Cubs and the other 27 teams for second place, and that's just fine with me.
1. Not to mention the fact that they got swept out of the playoffs both years because of course they did. ↩
2. Another of the seemingly endless St. Louis cache of young, exciting talent. God they're annoying ↩
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
The Bulls, Season Openers, and What Should Have Happened
This year's introduction to the NBA was a boring ho-hum affair that no one really knew about. It featured two mid-market teams, one significantly better than the other, a promising yet flawed top pick and a team trying to be the first new Eastern Conference Champion in three years.
Did you know the Pacers beat the Magic last night in the first game of the 2013-2014 season? And it started an hour before the defending champs opened the season against their top rival? Do you know why anyone thought that was a good idea?
Either way, the real opener last night began at 8:00 pm Eastern time with Chicago trying to spoil Miami's banner raising ceremony much like the Blackhawks ruined the Kings' last year. If nothing else, it proved that being a Bulls fan for this season is going to be interesting.
Some think they have a legitimate shot at a title. Others rely more heavily on crackpot theories like "history" and "evidence" and "talent."
Here's how last night *should* have worked out.
1) Derrick Rose shoots 60% from the floor with 35 points, adds eight assists, four rebounds and four steals for a remarkable beginning to his comeback season.
2) Either Taj Gibson or Jimmy Butler posterizes Dwyane Wade just as Miami thinks it's about to go on a run.
3) The Bulls, in a Ditka/Thibs-inspired fervor, win by 40.
Instead, stupid reality had to come along and spoil literally1 everyone's fun.
Playing against Miami when its defense rolls on all cylinders as it was is demoralizing, deflating and frustrating. I've played a lot of NBA 2K11 in the months following last year's Finals, and I almost forgot how sloppy basketball really is. In video games, one player has possession at a time, one player corrals a rebound, and I'm either winning by 20 or [error: other option not found]2. In real life, the Bulls struggled to get into even their most basic half court sets and their defense looked lost and disorganized. Miami's impressive quickness and frantic traps made it shocking that Chicago could even muster the 95 points with which they finished. The Heat shot over 50% from the field, and eight players scored in double figures.
Still, it wasn't all bad. Boozer had an impressive evening, tallying 31/7/2/1/1 and at least four "grab-it-Jo!'s." He now leads the league in scoring, by the way. Jimmy Butler added 20 points and five steals despite being plagued by foul trouble. Rookie Tony Snell played seven minutes and didn't get the Stan Podolack treatment. Derrick Rose actually participated in a game of professional basketball and that's always nice.
Miami is obviously a great team, and last night provided a perfect example of what happens when they execute their strategies. The pace was far too quick for the Bulls to handle, they were only -1 in the rebounding margin, and they made over 55% from beyond the arc. That's not going to happen every time, but it's also by no means a rarity.
The Bulls lost to the Heat on the road in a contest where their starting five were all playing at the same time for the first time ever3 in the first of an excruciatingly lengthy 82-game season. Chicago probably won't play this poorly all year based solely on the fact that last year's team won a playoff series when literally4 everyone was injured.
But hey, if they do, at least the Blackhawks beat Ottawa last night.
1. Figuratively ↩
2. As it turns out, the only possible outcome is for me to be winning by double digits because I'm a sore loser who quits and restarts if I'm not winning because the game is unfair and rigged against me. It's also anti-Semitic ↩
3. This is primarily due to the fact that Derrick Rose was out all last year and Jimmy Butler was playing in his first "non-redshirt" season. ↩
4. Again, figuratively ↩
Did you know the Pacers beat the Magic last night in the first game of the 2013-2014 season? And it started an hour before the defending champs opened the season against their top rival? Do you know why anyone thought that was a good idea?
Either way, the real opener last night began at 8:00 pm Eastern time with Chicago trying to spoil Miami's banner raising ceremony much like the Blackhawks ruined the Kings' last year. If nothing else, it proved that being a Bulls fan for this season is going to be interesting.
Some think they have a legitimate shot at a title. Others rely more heavily on crackpot theories like "history" and "evidence" and "talent."
Here's how last night *should* have worked out.
1) Derrick Rose shoots 60% from the floor with 35 points, adds eight assists, four rebounds and four steals for a remarkable beginning to his comeback season.
2) Either Taj Gibson or Jimmy Butler posterizes Dwyane Wade just as Miami thinks it's about to go on a run.
3) The Bulls, in a Ditka/Thibs-inspired fervor, win by 40.
Instead, stupid reality had to come along and spoil literally1 everyone's fun.
Playing against Miami when its defense rolls on all cylinders as it was is demoralizing, deflating and frustrating. I've played a lot of NBA 2K11 in the months following last year's Finals, and I almost forgot how sloppy basketball really is. In video games, one player has possession at a time, one player corrals a rebound, and I'm either winning by 20 or [error: other option not found]2. In real life, the Bulls struggled to get into even their most basic half court sets and their defense looked lost and disorganized. Miami's impressive quickness and frantic traps made it shocking that Chicago could even muster the 95 points with which they finished. The Heat shot over 50% from the field, and eight players scored in double figures.
Still, it wasn't all bad. Boozer had an impressive evening, tallying 31/7/2/1/1 and at least four "grab-it-Jo!'s." He now leads the league in scoring, by the way. Jimmy Butler added 20 points and five steals despite being plagued by foul trouble. Rookie Tony Snell played seven minutes and didn't get the Stan Podolack treatment. Derrick Rose actually participated in a game of professional basketball and that's always nice.
Miami is obviously a great team, and last night provided a perfect example of what happens when they execute their strategies. The pace was far too quick for the Bulls to handle, they were only -1 in the rebounding margin, and they made over 55% from beyond the arc. That's not going to happen every time, but it's also by no means a rarity.
The Bulls lost to the Heat on the road in a contest where their starting five were all playing at the same time for the first time ever3 in the first of an excruciatingly lengthy 82-game season. Chicago probably won't play this poorly all year based solely on the fact that last year's team won a playoff series when literally4 everyone was injured.
But hey, if they do, at least the Blackhawks beat Ottawa last night.
1. Figuratively ↩
2. As it turns out, the only possible outcome is for me to be winning by double digits because I'm a sore loser who quits and restarts if I'm not winning because the game is unfair and rigged against me. It's also anti-Semitic ↩
3. This is primarily due to the fact that Derrick Rose was out all last year and Jimmy Butler was playing in his first "non-redshirt" season. ↩
4. Again, figuratively ↩
Monday, October 7, 2013
Andy Pettitte, Marlon Byrd, and the Hypocritical Baseball Media
I don't understand a lot of different things. I don't mean to put myself down, there are just aspects of life that don't compute with me. Some of those things fall under the broad category of "sports."
I don't understand Andy Pettitte. I also don't understand Marlon Byrd, though I admit it's to a lesser extent.
Pettitte is one of the most beloved Yankees to ever play the game. He's had an illustrious career in which he's racked up impressive stats, both in the regular season and in the playoffs. He never won a Cy Young, was only named an all-star three times, never led the league in strikeouts and only led the league in wins once (in his second season). He posted an ERA above 4 in exactly half of his 18 major league seasons.
He was also extraordinarily consistent throughout his elongated career. He started at least 26 games all but four seasons, and pitched over 200 innings in 10 of them. He never lost more games than he won, and only recorded single-digit win totals in his two injury shortened seasons. BaseballReference lists his career WAR at an impressive 60.9 (55th all time) ahead of Hall of Famers Whitey Ford (53.9, 79th) and Sandy Koufax (53.2, 82nd) and just behind Juan Marichal (61.9, 50th) and Dennis Eckersley (62.5, 46th).
Depending on who you ask, Andy Pettitte is either a shoe-in to be inducted into Cooperstown or is at least on the border.
Andy Pettitte also admitted to using HGH.
Marlon Byrd has obviously had a less illustrious career. In 11 years prior to 2013 he made one all-star team and batted over .290 five times. He was never a very patient hitter and therefore never had gaudy on-base numbers. He hit 39 and 43 doubles in 2009 and 2010 respectively, the only times he hit more than 30 in a season. Byrd was always a productive hitter who could stabilize the bottom half of the order and a quality outfielder who added legitimate value to any team.
Then this year in his age 35 season Byrd suddenly found his power stroke. He hit 24 home runs in 579 plate appearances after hitting 22 in his previous 1265. His .511 slugging percentage and 272 total bases are the highest of his career, and he just batted fifth for a team that's one win away from the NLCS.
Marlon Byrd was suspended for testing positive for the PED Taximofen in 2012.
Somehow, the fact that both of these players admitted to steroid use never seems to get mentioned. I'm already on record saying that steroid users should not be vilified for their past mistakes, nor to I blame them for seeking out a competitive advantage. I have found that I'm in the minority in that regard.
Baseball media and its fans have completely trashed numerous players' careers due to admitted (or in some cases, perceived) steroid use. Just ask anyone who was on this year's Hall of Fame ballot.
Somehow, Pettitte and Byrd have escaped this scrutiny. While I don't think it's necessarily deserved, the media seems to have decided that these two likable players are exempt from the career blemish of steroid use. Barry Bonds was a jerk to the media and never tested positive for steroid use. If inducted with an asterisk, his plaque would read "may or may not have cheated, we think." That's all hypothetical though, because I would bet that he's never even going to sniff the Hall.
Being a nice person shouldn't make you above scrutiny. Apparently in today's baseball media though, it kind of does.
I don't understand Andy Pettitte. I also don't understand Marlon Byrd, though I admit it's to a lesser extent.
Pettitte is one of the most beloved Yankees to ever play the game. He's had an illustrious career in which he's racked up impressive stats, both in the regular season and in the playoffs. He never won a Cy Young, was only named an all-star three times, never led the league in strikeouts and only led the league in wins once (in his second season). He posted an ERA above 4 in exactly half of his 18 major league seasons.
He was also extraordinarily consistent throughout his elongated career. He started at least 26 games all but four seasons, and pitched over 200 innings in 10 of them. He never lost more games than he won, and only recorded single-digit win totals in his two injury shortened seasons. BaseballReference lists his career WAR at an impressive 60.9 (55th all time) ahead of Hall of Famers Whitey Ford (53.9, 79th) and Sandy Koufax (53.2, 82nd) and just behind Juan Marichal (61.9, 50th) and Dennis Eckersley (62.5, 46th).
Depending on who you ask, Andy Pettitte is either a shoe-in to be inducted into Cooperstown or is at least on the border.
Andy Pettitte also admitted to using HGH.
Marlon Byrd has obviously had a less illustrious career. In 11 years prior to 2013 he made one all-star team and batted over .290 five times. He was never a very patient hitter and therefore never had gaudy on-base numbers. He hit 39 and 43 doubles in 2009 and 2010 respectively, the only times he hit more than 30 in a season. Byrd was always a productive hitter who could stabilize the bottom half of the order and a quality outfielder who added legitimate value to any team.
Then this year in his age 35 season Byrd suddenly found his power stroke. He hit 24 home runs in 579 plate appearances after hitting 22 in his previous 1265. His .511 slugging percentage and 272 total bases are the highest of his career, and he just batted fifth for a team that's one win away from the NLCS.
Marlon Byrd was suspended for testing positive for the PED Taximofen in 2012.
Somehow, the fact that both of these players admitted to steroid use never seems to get mentioned. I'm already on record saying that steroid users should not be vilified for their past mistakes, nor to I blame them for seeking out a competitive advantage. I have found that I'm in the minority in that regard.
Baseball media and its fans have completely trashed numerous players' careers due to admitted (or in some cases, perceived) steroid use. Just ask anyone who was on this year's Hall of Fame ballot.
Somehow, Pettitte and Byrd have escaped this scrutiny. While I don't think it's necessarily deserved, the media seems to have decided that these two likable players are exempt from the career blemish of steroid use. Barry Bonds was a jerk to the media and never tested positive for steroid use. If inducted with an asterisk, his plaque would read "may or may not have cheated, we think." That's all hypothetical though, because I would bet that he's never even going to sniff the Hall.
Being a nice person shouldn't make you above scrutiny. Apparently in today's baseball media though, it kind of does.
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