Saturday, October 28, 2006

Is There Anything More Unsettling ...

… than watching Sean Casey run the bases? The guy is a good hitter to be sure. But please, Sean, spend some time in the offseason taking some running lessons. Your style could use some work. I don’t normally get embarrassed for guys who make obscene amounts of money playing a game, but I almost made an exception for Sean.

Speaking of embarrassing, you would think that a pitcher who can hit a catcher’s mitt at ninety plus miles an hour could manage to throw the ball to first or third base to a target considerably larger than said catcher’s mitt. Go figure …

If you are going to win, you gotta do the little things well, little things like … say … not throwing the ball into the dugout ... or the stands ... or the outfield? The Tiger’s throwing errors went further than some of the Cardinals’ hits. You would think a few million dollars would buy you a throw to third base. I guess they forgot that clause in the pitching contracts.

But being the last loser in the MLB is a great step in the right direction.

Speaking of last, if you are younger than 16, the last time anyone other than the Braves won the National League East was before you were born. Will the Braves streak of fourteen straight division titles ever be matched? The Yankees are now at nine straight AL East titles. The Yankees won 15 of 18 between ’47 and ’64, but the most was five at time, which they did twice.

And speaking of streaks, Joe Torre is the longest serving manager of the Yankees since Casey Stengel left in 1960. Torre’s streak almost ended this year, and I wouldn’t put it past Steinbrenner to end it before February. (The inimitable Billy Martin once said he could tell when Steinbrenner was lying because his lips moved.) But for now, Torre is safe, looking ahead to managing what has to be considered a under-achieving team with a payroll north of $200 million dollars. Now, if only Bud Selig’s streak as commissioner would end.

But look at the bright side: Less than four months until pitchers and catchers report. And then spring will be on its way once again, and the boys of summer will back at it.

2 comments:

Chris Anderson said...

All funny stuff. Casey running is hard to watch, especially the double in the ninth, though not as hard to watch as your pitchers' fielding blunders. Amazing.

Sad fact: despite all the hub-ub that has surrounded the East & West for several years, the once-intimidating Tribe is the only AL Central team not to see the postseason in the last 2 years. And even they should have been there last year.

Nothing's easy in the Central.

Since we're talking sports, did you notice that USC was down 23 at one point in the 3rd quarter, and is down 16 entering the 4th? Heart-breaking. :-)

Bob said...

As painful as it was to watch all those errors, I'll take losing the World Series over another losing season any day!