The Marlins complete their capitulation
What a mess in Miami. Yesterday the Marlins agreed to send last December’s prized free agent signings Jose Reyes and Mark Buehrle, as well as John Buck, Emilio Bonifacio and Josh Johnson to Toronto. While the Marlins added some more promising young prospects, they have effectively waived the white flag as far as contending anytime soon. Much [...]
Buster Posey: the heart and soul of the two-time champions
For the second time in three seasons the San Francisco Giants celebrated a World Series title in near utter silence. In 2010 it was a shocked Texas Rangers crowd watching the Giants dog-pile on the Rangers field. Sunday night it was the Tigers’ faithful enduring a title celebration at the expense of their home town [...]
What the SF Giants and Mitt Romney have in common
First, let me apologize to the great city of San Francisco. There is a rumor going around here on the east coast that they’re not always, shall we say, all that receptive to Republican policies. Or anyone that disagrees with them, for that matter. So the residents of Frisco might bristle when I make the [...]
‘Trouble With the Curve’ is predictable but still satisfying
In Trouble With the Curve absolutely nothing happens that you couldn’t figure out would probably happen in the first 30 minutes of the movie. But that’s okay. It’s still a well-written, well-acted movie that manages to connect with the audience emotionally without going overboard sentimentally. Think of Trouble With the Curve, the directorial debut of longtime [...]
Travel nightmare awaits MLB wild card
With less than 20 games remaining in baseball’s regular season, it seems MLB hit a home run with the addition of the second wild card this season. In the National League while it seems Atlanta is running away with the top wild card spot, there are five teams battling for wild card #2 and only [...]
Bullpen fuels O’s’ and A’s’ improbable runs
Not many people took the Orioles and the Athletics seriously a month or two back. They had put together nice seasons, but nobody really thought they were actually playoff contenders, did they? They didn’t act like it themselves either, with the Orioles making one move post-trade deadline–acquiring mediocre starting pitcher Joe Saunders–and the Athletics actually [...]
Red Sox GM should be Executive of the Year after stunning trade
You would rarely make the case for a GM to be “Executive of the Year” when his team on August 26th is just 61-67–13 games back in the division and nine back in the wild card race–but if I had a vote, Boston’s Ben Cherington would get a good, hard look from me after the stunner [...]
Politics aside, there was never anything to debate with Strasburg
I found myself caught in one of those typical Washington “inside the beltway” arguments on Tuesday night. Anyone familiar with DC-speak will recognize it.“It starts at the top. These guys didn’t have a plan and now they found themselves caught in a tough situation,” says one of my companions.“No plan? Hardly. They’ve said since the [...]
Assessing the pennant races after the trade deadline
Teams can still make trades with players that clear waivers, but the post-trade deadline landscape in MLB has crystalized. Let’s take a look. AL DIVISION LEADERS Yankees–The Yankees didn’t make a big splash at the deadline, but added 1B-3B. Casey McGehee for reliever Chad Qualls, and last week added Ichiro for two middling prospects. The Yankees [...]
MLB trade deadline activity starts early
The MLB trade deadline is still a week away, but it doesn’t seem like it. Yesterday the Yankees went out and got Ichiro Suzuki from the Mariners, and the Tigers went out and got Omar Infante and Anibal Sanchez from the Marlins. With the White Sox already having acquired Brett Myers from the Astros, it [...]