I’m not much of a summer person. Anyone who knows me well knows how much I hate hot humid weather, but I guess that’s why they invented ice cream and cold showers, right? As a sports lover, August is the beginning of my favorite time of year... The baseball season is slowly creeping towards the homestretch and sometimes the wacky becomes the norm, and the NFL exhibition season begins, which means I get to start scouting and studying teams for the upcoming regular season.
Of course, if I’d just focus only on what Rex Ryan has to say about the 2010 season and Super Bowl XLV, my job would be so much easier, right? If he says it often enough, then we should all conclude the regular season is simply a formality en route to the New York Jets coronation in Dallas on February 6, 2011, right? Ah, August optimism... If only it were that simple.
As a die-hard Jets fan, I hope they make it back to the Super Bowl every season, but I am cautiously optimistic heading into the 2010 season. On paper, the Jets do appear much more loaded to go further than they went last season, but we don’t play football on paper, and there are always a whole bunch of ifs for the Jets and their loyal fans (as is the case for every NFL team) to cross fingers, toes and eyes during a marathon of a season. We’ve seen bubbles burst before after falling short in the AFC Championship game — 1983 and 1999 — but at the same time optimism, and even swagger, is “justified” as Super Bowl III legend Joe Namath said this past Thursday. Even with holdout Darrelle Revis out of camp the defense looks formidable. Even with Thomas Jones toting the ball in Kansas City’s backfield, and Alan Faneca playing on Arizona’s offensive line, the running game still looks steady. Even with Santonio Holmes facing suspension for the first four weeks of the season, the passing game looks promising. Even with Nick Folk as placekicker, one has to have faith in the special teams.
Of course, lots can go wrong fast during an NFL season. We keep it in the back of our minds and hope all those hobgoblins and gremlins stay there until after Valentine’s Day, but the reality is an NFL season is a war of attrition and all fans can really hope is that the Jets are still standing at the end, the last survivor of the NFL War of 2010.
Is there reason for worry at all the pre-season hype and bluster coming from Cortland? Perhaps. Last week, ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser noted that all the Jets lead the NFL in so far is mouths. Yes, there’s too much big talk. Then again, maybe for the first time in a long time, the big talk isn’t just empty.
Last points about the Jets... No matter what happens this season or beyond, and how many big talkers and studs this roster has, this will ALWAYS be the team of Broadway Joe. Without Joe Namath, there would never be any Jets legacy. Mark Sanchez can say all he wants that this is his offense, but for those who’ve endured the roller coaster since 1969, Sanchez is merely guiding the newest effort to honor and build on Namath’s legacy, as well as Winston Hill’s, and John Schmidt’s, and Don Maynard’s, and Ralph Baker’s, and Weeb Ewbank’s, and all the other members of that Super Bowl III team. You don’t talk about today’s Jets without talking about Broadway Joe and the rest of that 1968 team, the team that helped make the NFL and Super Bowl what they are today. That’s why next Monday night’s pre-season opener against the Giants is special. A new stadium. The ring of honor. The first step towards making a new chapter in history and waking up the echoes of 1968. But just as I proposed a few months ago that this new stadium be named after Wellington Mara and Sonny Werblin, the very men responsible for making New York football relevant and vibrant when the NFL needed both the Giants and Jets for its long-term growth and success, I can’t help but wonder why the Jets fail to recognize Werblin among the ring of honorees. If it weren’t for Sonny Werblin, there would be no Joe Namath, no Super Bowl III, no NFL-AFL merger, and quite possibly no buzz like we have now every year a new season begins. You always need to know where you come from in order to appreciate where you’re at. I do hope Rex Ryan and his merry band of men at Camp Chutzpah remember every minute of every practice and every meeting and every game that this entire 2010 season is a tribute to a legacy that really didn’t just start on January 12, 1969 at the Orange Bowl in Miami. It began in Sonny Werblin’s Park Avenue office during the summer of 1963, when the moribund and bankrupt Titans became the Jets and a team with a plan.
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So let me get this straight... Isaiah Thomas is coming back to the Knicks as a “consultant” to James Dolan and Donnie Walsh? He gets to stay on as head coach for Florida International University, 7-25 last season? And this is a conflict of interest in the eyes of the NBA and NCAA? Are you kidding me? What should commissioner David Stern be worried about... FIU might supply a few extra scrubs to fill out the Knicks’ bench, possibly making them more of a joke?
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Question: What is it about the Tampa Bay Rays and no-hitters? For almost the fourth time in approximately one calendar year, the Rays were going to be no-hit victims by Toronto’s Brandon Morrow yesterday, but dodged the bullet with two out in the 9th inning on a close hit by Evan Longoria. Still, the Rays lost 1-0, and were swept in Toronto for the entire weekend series, including a wild 17-11 loss Saturday.
Morrow (9-6, 4.45 ERA) was masterful, striking out 17 batters, bringing his season total to 151. And yet, for as much as Morrow should’ve been the story, the question begs as to how the Rays keep finding themselves on the wrong end of no-hitters. Since last July 23, the Rays have been no-hit by Chicago’s Mark Buehrle and Oakland’s Dallas Braden by perfect games, and no-hit by the White Sox’s Edwin Jackson while he pitched for the Arizona Diamondbacks (hardly a perfect game). Now Morrow takes the Rays to their last out. Why? How does this happen to one of MLB’s best offensive lineups? The Rays are 3rd in the AL in runs scored and runs batted in, 4th in On Base Percentage, 1st in walks received, and 7th in home runs. At first glance one would consider the Rays a fairly disciplined collection of hitters, but consider they are also 12th in hits, 11th in batting average and 9th in total bases, which gives some evidence of the feast or famine results one might expect from a young and free swinging team. Maybe the statistics tell the story; maybe the Rays simply are quirky magnets for no-hitters at a greater frequency. Nonetheless, when the next no-hitter is brewing, chances are good the Rays may be involved.
As for Saturday’s game, another Blue Jay made an auspicious debut: catcher J.P. Arencibia went 4 for 6, including 2 home runs and 3 RBIs. The Jays lead the entire major leagues in home runs with 175 despite being near the bottom of the AL in hits, team batting average and On Base Percentage, hence their feast or famine fortunes this season. What made Saturday’s game most remarkable was Toronto hitting 8 home runs off one of MLB’s best pitching staffs, including 6 off starter Jamie Shields.
Sometimes baseball’s like that... Offensive explosion one day, 1-0 pitchers’ duel the next.
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Has anyone noticed the AL’s winningest pitchers so far this season are the Yankees’ C.C. Sabathia, the Rays’ David Price, and the Twins’ Carl Pavano, all with 14 wins? By the way, for those who think the Yankees can roll through the post-season regardless of winning the AL East or wild card, C.C. Sabathia is 13-0 at Yankee Stadium, 1-5 away from the Bronx. Maybe this statistic doesn’t mean much, but if I were manager Joe Girardi I’d want the AL East crown real bad, just to be on the safe side with my pitching rotation’s bipolar home-road performance.
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Is it time to stick a fork in the Mets and declare them done for the 2010 pennant race? Yes, I, loyal fan since the ugly duckling beginnings, am finally accepting the cold realty that the 2010 season was fun while it lasted, and the Mets are now on proverbial life support. Is there anything wrong with an August youth movement, benching Jeff Francoeur and Luis Castillo in favor of Fernando Martinez and Reuben Tejada? Is there anything wrong with releasing Alex Cora and his .207 batting average? No, but there also would’ve been nothing wrong with using a 4 or 5-man outfield rotation when Carlos Beltran came off the DL, rather than disrupting team chemistry and a spunky lineup with a 33-year-old centerfielder still trying to regain his form after a long rehab from knee surgery. But the damage is done and all we can really do is a premature post mortem on how things went wrong so quickly.
Who do we blame for this Mets downslide? GM Omar Minaya? Manager Jerry Manuel? Underperforming veteran players? A roster simply playing too far above its head in May and June? Owner Fred Wilpon? COO Jeff Wilpon? Bernie Madoff? Bad luck? All of the above?
My theory is the Mets were never as good as they played in May and June, but they really aren’t as bad as they’ve played since early July. Somewhere in the middle lies the truth for essentially a .500 team (55-56). I’m not completely convinced the Wilpons are in financial straits after Bernie Madoff fleeced them in his Ponzi scheme, but I do think there’s some evidence the episode has made the Mets ownership very skittish about expanding payroll. The Mets already have the NL’s third-highest team payroll of $136 million, and chances are the Wilpons will seek to gradually trim the payroll over the next few years. Does this mean the Mets are giving up on competing? No, why should they? Look at the Tampa Bay Rays with their 67-44 record and $72 million payroll. Money isn’t the limiting reagent when it comes to team success.
What about bad luck and injuries? Maybe last year’s 70-92 disaster could be blamed on an astronomical rash of injuries, but look at the mounting injuries the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies are dealing with. The Red Sox are 63-49; the Phillies are 62-49. How are both teams overcoming injuries better than the Mets have the past couple of seasons? Granted, the Red Sox ($161M) and Phillies ($143M) have higher payrolls with more talent and deeper rosters, but Carlos Beltran, Angel Pagan, David Wright, Jose Reyes, Jason Bay and Jeff Francoeur are hardly the Toledo Mud Hens.
Could we attribute the Red Sox and Phillies’ success to better managing? Terry Francona is clearly one of MLB’s best managers, and Charlie Manuel knows how to lead a team too, but neither are necessarily mentioned in the same breath as Miller Huggins, John McGraw, Connie Mack or Casey Stengel. Then again, Francona and Charlie Manuel have on attribute Jerry Manuel clearly lacks — the mentality of playing to win as opposed to avoiding loss. As cruel as this sounds, Jerry Manuel manages as if he’s running a prevent defense in football, and as we well know, a prevent defense merely stalls the inevitable — snatching a close defeat from the jaws of victory. The Mets play all nine innings for the most part, but they keep finding ways to lose the close ones. The Mets are 14-22 in one-run games so far this season. By contrast, the Phillies are 18-11. The Padres, NL West leaders and owners of the NL’s best record, are 21-15. When you consider the Mets can’t win on the road (22-37 vs. 33-19 at home) and can’t win the close games, there’s little margin for error if the lineup isn’t consistently running on all cylinders.
The issue isn’t talent as much as it’s mental toughness and focus. This falls on the manager, and the sands of the 2010 hour glass are running out on Jerry Manuel.
Does this let Omar Minaya off the hook? Not at all. For all of the big moves Minaya’s made since 2005, bringing in stars like Beltran, Francisco Rodriguez, Pedro Martinez and Carlos Delgado, the fact remains that these big moves have mostly failed to pay off the expected dividends. Minaya underestimated the talent and heart on his roster, especially with Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo. While Minaya deserves credit for finds like R.A. Dickey, Angel Pagan and Jonathon Niese, these finds haven’t been enough.
But Fred and Jeff Wilpon would rather be penny-wise and pound-foolish by holding onto bad contracts and trying to extract something, anything, from them. Why not simply cut Perez and Castillo and accept the fiscal losses? If unwilling to take a loss on contract money still owed, why not simply re-assign Minaya within the organization and start with a new GM? Ironically, when Alex Cora was released, Minaya said that Cora had the talent to be a future GM. Why not move Cora from the field to the front office? What’s there to lose if he has this potential? Or keep him as an additional coach if he’s the positive role model everyone says he is in the clubhouse? You have to start somewhere. Joe Torre first started his managerial career as a player-manager for the Mets in 1977. Not too long ago, the Mets had another veteran in the twilight of his playing career who would’ve been a wonderful addition to the coaching staff upon his release in 2007, Jose Valentin. Where is he now? Nowhere in Flushing, that’s for sure. If a player can’t do it on the field anymore and is still universally seen as a positive part of the organization, find a new role rather than severing all ties and kicking him to the curb.
When the season is over and the Mets have finished playing out the string of meaningless September games, Fred and Jeff Wilpon need to sit down and take a fresh look at their team and the grand scheme for its future. What kind of team do the Wilpons want to have as they look towards 2011 and beyond? How do they want their roster constructed and managed? Until the Wilpons come to terms with a vision it won’t matter who the GM, manager or players are.
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Memo to Darryl Strawberry: Congratulations on the opening of your new restaurant, Strawberry Sports Grill. Good luck! As one former cancer survivor to another, do you have any salads on the menu? Just wondering...
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Heard about Alex Rodriguez’s left leg injury yesterday. Took a line shot off the bat of Lance Berkman moments after saying a quick hello to FOX Sports announcer Joe Buck while playing the field during batting practice. This is definitely one for the books we could look up years from now, as Casey Stengel used to say. Hey, Joe! Good to see you... OW! OW! I’m wounded!
Guess that’ll teach A-Rod to cater to the media, eh? For the record, that’s supposed to be the most solid swing Berkman’s had since the Yankees acquired him from Houston.
As we see, A-Rod recovered quickly from his shin boo-boo and returned to the lineup in last night’s 7-2 win over the Red Sox. Gee... You don’t think? Nah...
Speaking of A-Rod, now that he’s reached 600 career home runs by age 35, the question remains as to how good his chances are of surpassing Barry Bonds’ record of 762, especially if he’s now clean of PEDs. Well, he averages 25 homers a season for the rest of his career, A-Rod should be huffing and puffing towards the record six seasons from now, 2016, at the age of 41, on par with how old Henry Aaron was when he passed Babe Ruth’s 714 in 1974. And that’s the way it should be when pursuing a record associated with longevity. An older player should be running on fumes and Ben-Gay, perhaps carrying a slight paunch, not an increased skull circumference like Bonds did. Would it mean something if A-Rod breaks Bonds record sometime in 2016 looking like he’s carrying Father Time on his back? Yes, because A-Rod wised up and allowed himself to age like all ballplayers should. Maybe if A-Rod breaks the record looking more like Ernest Borgnine rather than Joan Rivers folks might finally give him his due and look past his Texas Boli days.
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BIG prediction from my crystal ball: The Baltimore Orioles will become respectable next season under new manager Buck Showalter, a force to be reckoned with in the AL East by 2013, and win the world series by 2016. By the way, Jerry Manuel will be the Orioles manager in 2016 after Buck drives everyone nuts and Peter Angelos is forced to fire him after the 2015 season at the advice of Dr. Phil.
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Any idea how San Diego and San Francisco keep leading the NL West? Pitching, pitching, and more pitching. The Padres have their solid rotation of Mat Latos, John Garland, Kevin Correa and Clayton Richard, and Heath Bell still continues to be among the best closers. The Giants have their solid rotation of Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum, Jonathan Sanchez and Barry Zito. Of course it still remains to be seen if the Giants can get consistent performances from their bullpen. Either way, both teams need pitching to keep carrying them as neither is an offensive juggernaut.
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Did you catch that “blown” call by Bob Davidson during the 9th inning of Thursday night’s Phillies-Marlins game? What clearly seemed like a fair ball down the third base line was called foul by Davidson, costing the Marlins the winning run of a game they’d ultimately lose in 11 innings. Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez called the call the “worst” he’s seen in his entire MLB career as a player and coach, and there’s been lots of hubbub over Davidson’s arrogant refusal to reconsider his call. Of course, folks have done their fair share of harping over the need for expanded instant replay in MLB, especially after it’s been approved for the Little League World Series. This is all well and fine, I agree Davidson appeared in a very poor light, and I do agree MLB needs to come out of the Dark Ages and use technology more to assist with umpiring. However, if you take four or five extra looks at the call in question, you might just start to wonder the same thing I did... When the ball left Gaby Sanchez’s bat, it DID immediately strike in foul territory first then land very near the foul side of the third base line on its first bounce in front of the third base bag. With all due respect to baseball experts and hysterical baseball fans and media members, I’m not completely convinced Davidson blew the call the longer you look at the replay.
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Question: Why are certain members of the New York media mocking Amar’e Stoudemire’s exploration of Judaism and possible Jewish roots through his mother?
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This past Wednesday evening I had the opportunity to accompany a friend and see a screening of “The Tillman Story,” due out soon in limited release. I highly recommend all of you add this movie to your must-see list, whether in a theater or on television. In fact, I’ve gone as far as recommending this movie to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and all NFL employees.
For those who don’t remember, Pat Tillman was a hard-hitting safety, and thinking man, for the Arizona Cardinals who gave up a multi-year multi-million dollar contract to serve in the US Army Rangers after the 9-11 Terrorist attacks. Sadly, Tillman was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan on April 22, 2004. The movie primarily focuses on the farce of an investigation conducted by the Pentagon and the shameful way the Bush-43 administration, and its cronies, used a dead football player as a public relations tool for its War on Terror agenda and the president’s re-election campaign.
But the most powerful part of the movie relative to sports was listening to Pat Tillman speak from his heart and deep mind on September 12, 2001 in a television interview. To paraphrase, Tillman noted how despite his national fame and comfortable wealth associated with being a professional football player, he really hadn’t done anything in life to contribute to the big picture of being a global citizen (this apparently was his motivation for leaving the NFL to serve in war just as athletes of earlier generations did during WWII and the Korean War). Tillman said, “we bitch” about things players don’t like as the trade-offs associated with professional sports, but players fail to remember or appreciate how these trade-offs are a much better benefit compared to struggles by previous generations of players.
Think about it... September 2001, and here was a player who GOT it, what the modern NFL was about relative to its roots and years of evolution. We’re closing in on the ninth anniversary of those attacks, and players are still bitching about things that have very little to do with the big picture. So why do NFL players like Darrelle Revis and Terrell Owens constantly harp on their monetary worth? Considering the uncertain state of the NFL’s future and its next collective bargaining agreement, might it be wiser to simply shut up and enjoy the peace of mind of having a contract and roster spot in the first place? After all, these guys are watched and rooted for by a national fan base still suffering from a double-digit unemployment rate. Will this crop of players get it like Tillman did?
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Speaking of shutting up, I really wish Brett Favre would until after he visits Dr. James Andrews and gets a full evaluation of his surgically repaired ankle. Hear what the surgeon has to say, then share with us your annual Hamlet routine of “to retire or not to retire.”
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This past weekend was the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony and exhibition game. Congratulations to Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, Rickey Jackson, John Randal, Russ Grimm, Dick LeBeau and Floyd Little for their entrance. I had the pleasure of watching all seven play during their NFL careers and thought highly of all of their contributions to the game. For LeBeau and Little their inductions are long overdue. However, my fondest player memory from this Hall of Fame class is of former Viking John Randal in a Brett Favre-related commercial. Randal, one of football’s most entertaining motor mouths, is sitting at a sewing machine making a miniature Packers jersey with Favre’s number 4 on it. In the next scene, Randall is chasing a chicken, wearing the Favre jersey, all around the coop in preparation for the upcoming season. We saw this unconventional training technique in Rocky, but the fact that a commercial took advantage of the Vikings-Packers rivalry adds special humor.
Lastly, the Hall of Fame game between the Dallas Cowboys and Cincinnati Bengals was pretty much a snoozer. However, I will give you food for thought towards any regular season predictions you might wish to make... T.O. or no T.O., if Carson Palmer can’t stay upright in the pocket and step into his passes, the Bengals’ offense is in big trouble. Perhaps I’m reading too much into what I saw in the limited action by the starting offense, but I sense their starting quarterback still isn’t completely healthy after a couple of injury-marred seasons. Just a thought for you to keep an eye on as the pre-season progresses and August eventually becomes September.
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