Baseball Blogger

As a follow up to today's earlier entry, Baseball Blogger is interested in hearing your Champmionship Tales.  Where were you, what were you doing when your team won it all - all sports are fair game.  The coolest story gets highlighted and the writer gets to feel super special.  Please just reply to this entry and next Monday, Baseball Blogger will pick a winner. 

Thanks for your interest

- BB

Three months have passed since the Baseball Blogger mused on all topics baseball.  So, with the passing of the World Series and the passing of old curses for the second consecutive year, the Blogger is back and better than ever.  Please note at the bottom of the page you can add Baseball Blogger to your "My Yahoo" page as an RSS feed.  In the near future I will be adding other similar RSS options.  Anyway, on to more pressing matters...

The World Champion Chicago White Sox.  Never thought you'd ever hear that?  Well neither did I.  However, as the ticker tape fluttered across LaSalle Street this Friday in Chicago and legions of White Sox fans packed downtown Chicago streets it became incredibly apparent that the Windy City has finally flipped the page.  Standing on the Wells St. bridge and having the privilege of being right underneath four F-14 Tomcats taking part in fly-over tribute to the World Champs, I became increasingly aware that anything - and I mean anything - is possible.  Three generations of White Sox fans have come and gone since last the city of Chicago tasted the sweet champagne of baseball's championship. All of the players were here for the parade:  Reinsdorf, Mayor Daley, Hawk Harrelson, Ed Farmer, the players, and of course Ozzie.  However, it wasn't the images of those celebrities (and at this point that is truly what they are in this city) that gave pulse to the event, rather it was the smiling faces of grandfathers, fathers and sons who lined the streets on a perfectly pristine early fall afternoon in Chicago on Friday.  Having lived here long enough one learns that you really don't see people smiling and frolicking in the streets on a Friday afternoon.  You generally see suits, stoic faces, and hurried stares, but on this day you saw smiles, tears, euphoric applause, and you saw those things from nearly everyone you passed on the street from Chicago's finest to sanitation workers to the city workers playing hooky.  Everyone you saw, everything you saw was beaming; in fact, grinning on behalf of those who came in went and never got the chance.  So it is to that refrain that we celebrate along side the legions of White Sox fans, we celebrate the passing demons and an incredible sense that anything is possible if you believe and don't stop believing.  Pardon the pun.  So to my fellow Chicagoans I once again offer the unbelievable phrase...Congratulations to your World Champion Chicago White Sox. 

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All of the trade talk regarding Manny Ramirez created quite the drama in Boston this week.  First he wanted to be traded, by this morning he wanted to stay and told Terry Francona as much.  So, the trade deadline came and went and he remained in a Red Sox uniform.  Fast forward to the 8th inning of today's Red Sox V. Twins game...when Manny came out to hit in the 8th with men on first and second, the Red Sox crowd absolutely went insane.  Of alll the Red Sox games I've seen this year, I have not seen an ovation like that thus far.  With the crowd still on their feet and screaming, Manny bounced one up the middle to give the Red Sox the lead going into the ninth.  Then the crowd really let loose. 

The 1984 Detroit Tigers do not usually get mentioned when one talks of the great teams in the modern era. It may lead the casual fan to wonder if they derserved to win the World Series in 1984. The following graph clearly shows they were the superior American League team in 1984.

 I ask myself...is there any bigger pitching disappointment in the past 5 years than Kerry Wood? (Insert Matt Anderson reference).  Kerry Wood is officially heading to the 15 day DL. It appears that Wood can not get past the 60-70 pitch barrier without experiencing shoulder pain.

On August 5th, Wood will report to AAA affiliate Iowa and begin his new career as a "closer". Why did Wood finally agree to take on this new role. I have a feeling it has something to do with the recent successful conversion to a closer of Curt Schilling...er...ah... never mind.

 Unless somebody introduces this kid to Brett Favre's pharmacist, I don't expect his career to turnaround. Don't look for any type of Eckersley or Smoltz like transitions here. Chances are, this will only last until the eminent season ending shoulder surgery. I predict this season will just be followed with a few more touch and go start/DL seasons in the future. Wood is a good hitter, maybe its time to make that jump to the outfield.

The Yankees and Mets - has long been heralded as the series we are supposed to care about.  Well, as the horribly rated World Series of 2000 taught us, no one outside of New York really cares.  I'm starting tonight's diatribe a bit off the topic - not meaning to bash interleague or anything like that - I simply bring up the reference to capture the dummification of baseball presented by ESPN's resident moron Joe Morgan.  The Yankees are 37-37, seven games back of the first place Red Sox.  Joe Morgan has throughout the season has continued to claim that the Yankees are going to go on an improbable tear to turn their season around.  In interviews with Brian Cashman and Joe Torre, Morgan essentially told the audience that the Yankees won't keep losing and are still the most dangerous team in baseball, but they're just playing inconsistently.  I think the Yankees themselves are a lot more worried about their embattled season than the incredibly myopic and self - important Morgan.  Cashman talked about job security and Torre talked about never having had a team this talented play so inconsistently.  Those types of comments seem to underscore great uncertainty at the leadership level of the organization.  The only person who doesn't seem to recognize the multiple weaknesses of the Yankees is the guy behind the mike, Joe Morgan.  Note the rookie "Reese" played left for the Yankees tonight, Womack played center - weakness personified.  Do yourself a favor and turn the television audio off, Dave Soup Cambell is still doing the ESPN radio telecast. 

The World Champs brought the Tribe back down to earth yesterday while completing a three game sweep in Clevelad.  The Red Sox are all of a sudden only one game behind the improbable Orioles and the Yankees remain in their season - long malaise.  So, it remains to be seen if the Red Sox can overcome the one piece of their Championship Season that eluded them and that is an AL East Crown.  That said, with their recent awaked ness and the impending return of Schilling, the Red Sox may have their best chance to win the AL East since last doing so in 1990.

Sad to see Eric Gagne go down this year, sad indeed.  Gagne over the past three years has been one of the most dominant closers the game has ever seen, no question.  The 2003 Cy Young Award Winner saved 84 consecutive saves during one magical stretch of his career a couple of years ago, and yes this is the Major League Record.  It will be interesting to see how the scuffling Dodgers will respond, tonight they are in San Diego trailing the seemingly destiny-laden Padres.  Game Over may very well mean game on in San Diego - after all, Trevor Hoffman, the original Game Over Closer is quite healthy.  See ya late in '06 Game Over Gagne, we hardly knew ya.

-THE EDITOR

"I love the way you analyze"  Hawk on DJ's comment that Hawk couldn't have been in high school when he met Bob Dole five years ago.