Rangers at the Quarter Pole

At about the one-quarter point of the season, wanted to post on my view of the Rangers. They came out of the gate smoking with a chip on their shoulder. Since, they have flattened out. I am still giddy that the Rangers have turned into a model franchise. There is so much talent, great management, beautiful park, stocked minor leagues.

Everything for this team will hinge on 2 things: development of the young starting staff, and injuries. Offense, defense, bullpen are fantastic. They have 4 young arms on the starting staff who must get better to win a World Series. I hate the fact that the everyday team is ready to win a championship, but the staff may be too far behind them. The potential and flashes of greatness in Holland, Feliz, and Darvish give hope. But I have a hard time seeing them pitch the team through the 3 rounds of playoffs at this stage of their development.

And of course, too many of the core players have injury histories. Will we have Kinsler, Hamilton, Cruz, Beltre for 150 games or 120?

I love sitting down and watching this team. There are highlights most nights, on the mound, at the plate, on the bases. Wonderful times for Rangers fans and legitimate hope for a championship in the future. For this year, I can’t predict one based on the starters and their youth and inconsistency. But, it’s a fun ride.

S

Appreciating Duncan

I just read the new article in SI about Tim Duncan. It really made me think about how we choose our favorite players. We gravitate toward the mega-talents with big, exciting games who do the fantastic things; like Josh Hamilton, Kevin Durant, etc. The funny thing is I sit down and watch my favorite players and typically get frustrated. Hamilton swings at anything he sees despite the game situation. Durant too easily settles for long jumpers. But when I watch Duncan, I just shake my head in appreciation of how he does everything right.


Imagine a player coming along with these attributes:

1. Supremely gifted athletically – 1st team all-pro talent
2. 7 feet tall
3. Concentrates on fundamentals
4. Has little ego
5. Can put up any numbers necessary but doesn’t care about stats
6. Works to improve all facets of game, not just the flashy ones
7. Leads quietly and by example
8. Is proficient as a scorer, passer, rebounder, defender
9. Has no use for the trappings of fame and adulation
10. Never undermines management

I would challenge you to look at Duncan’s run in San Antonio and compare to any player/team/coach situation ever. Since Duncan arrived, SA has the best winning % of any team in any American team sport. They built that organization around Duncan and have a .700+ winning % and 4 championships to show for it. In truth, Duncan is the holy grail of athletes. Someone who has hall of fame talent, cares about winning, is a leader, is loyal, works hard, and doesn’t chase money/fame.

As a sports fan, I’m kind of embarrassed that we put any other type of player above Duncan in our attention. He is the guy we should all value the most, especially in this age of 24/7 news and twitter. He hit the league, made all-NBA and all-Defensive 13 years in a row and won 4 championships. His game is a training video waiting to happen and he does it all exactly right. No commercials, no twitter, no tabloids, no drama, just hoops.

S

Josh Hamilton

.467 with nine homers and 18 RBIs.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Frank Howard (1968) and Shawn Green (2002) are the only other players to have nine-homer, 15-RBI weeks in major league history.

What can I say, the bat is on its way to Cooperstown. 

J

NBA Superstars

Playoff Comparison for the Big 3.
Kobe- 43% FG - 31.2 ppg - 5.8 Reb - 0.2 blk- 1.4 steals- 3.40 TO - 4.5 assist
Lebron- 49%-27.5ppg- 5.80 Reb - 0 blks- 2.25 steals- 4.25 TO - 5.3 assist.
Durant- 46%- 26.6 ppg- 7.5 Reb-  1.8 blks- 1 steal- 3.75 TO - 3.8 assist.

With the efficiency rating:  Lebron 24.75 Durant are 24.75  Kobe 23.4
 I think that Rebounds are underrated and points gained with Shooting percentages under 48% should have a bigger impact.
I wish that the stats showed minutes with the ball in their hands and shots taken in the last 3 seconds of the shot clock.

Only Lebron is shooting a higher percentage than his team in the Playoffs.

J.

Saints - Coach Vitt

I cannot believe that the Saints were allowed to name Vitt interim head coach if the NFL had an affidavit saying that he was a primary party in the cover up.

If Hargrove is that specific in the details of what was asked of him in an effort to cover up, it is hard to imagine that anyone would accept Vitt for anything in a leadership role.

J.

The Natural Strikes Again

Tonight was one of those reminders of why I love sports.  Every once in a while you see the really special things.  In over 90 years of "live ball" American League baseball, no one has ever had 18 total bases in a game.  Not Ruth, Gehrig, Williams, DiMaggio, Mantle, or Griffey.  I walk in, turn on the Rangers, hear them say Hamilton had a 2-run dinger in the first.  2nd at bat: boom.  Next at bat, double to the wall.  Next at bat: boom.  I think: 1 more at bat?  Hope he goes for it.  Final at bat:  BOOM.  He hits 3 homers to dead center, 1 to left, and a double to right-center.  The most talented baseball player in 50 years gives us one more tasty memory to file away as evidence.  A feat accomplished a mere 16 times in the grand history of baseball, and we were witnesses.  Something even more rare than a perfect game.  The Natural can't seem to give us complete years, but the moments are something special.

S

Bubba, Rory, Woods, and Hogan.

Bubba winning the Masters made me very happy and his popularity continues to explode.  I see where he has WD from The Players next week.  I have to respect his decision and did not like the PGA announcers questioning his decision.  His play in New Orleans showed that he wasn't ready to start his next run. 
Long Live Bubba.

Rory, he is amazing to watch from the first round to the last.  It is a constant improvement.   If he could putt better he would be close to AC historically, but that isn't going to happen.

Woods, also known as AC, is blaming his Haney swing for his failures now.   Amazing, he actually missed his 8th cut ever this weekend.  Maybe that is skewed by his WD for supposed injuries in the past, but his consistent greatness was amazing.

In the recent SI article about Hogan and his great run, I found a piece of information that shocked me.  Even though the article was slanted toward his greatness, it still showed how smart Hogan really was.  The fact that he researched and designed clubs and balls to give him an advantage is amazing.  What a brilliant man, an arrogant ass, but brilliant.

Hogan's 9 majors is still amazing, even if he won 8 of them and had 31 of his 64 wins after Byron Nelson retired in 46.


J.

Matt Flynn

How do I word my feelings of apprehension of a big contract for Matt Flynn in Seattle?

I will say that I think that the Green Bay system and their brilliant coach has made a lot of people drink the Kool-Aid.

I hope he is the Best QB out west, I have to pull for a Tiger from Tyler.

J.

Jared Weaver No Hitter

During the last three years, Mr. Weaver seems to have found the "IT" factor.
I was glad his no-hitter popped up and the media could recognize his talent over forget the perfect game pitched for the White Sox earlier in the month. Weaver is now making a case for being considered a top 3 pitcher in the league.
He has been in top 2 of the AL in ERA and Whip for the past two years.   Fernandez 2010, Verlander 2011.

The most amazing thing to me, is that he doesn't get the number of Ground Outs as the other top pitchers.
If you look at his Air Outs vs Grounders it confuses me.
2011- Whip 1.01... GO- 174 AO-313.  ERA 2.41  
The person close to him was Verlander was at AO 270-Go 215, Whip .92. ERA 2.40.

This year he is on pace for another fly ball year.. 50 AO- 34 GO.( Around 300 - 200)

For a comparison, Halladay STATS. 2010- GO- 271 AO 195  -- Whip 1.03.  2010 -- GO 328- AO 204. 

Someone explain this to me! S, this is your specialty.. Is it good or bad?

j

Rivera Done?

At age 42 with a torn ACL, we may have seen the last of Mariano Rivera.  Where to place Rivera in the pantheon of pitchers?  Rivera has pitched about 1,219 innings, the equivalent of less than 6 seasons as a starter.  He has over 600 "saves" in the modern era.  He won 5 (I think) championships.  His career 9-inning stats are excellent: 7 hits, 2 walks, 8 K's, 2.21 ERA.  The ERA is the best ever in the post-war era for pitchers with over 1,000 innings.  However, I believe that modern relievers are over-valued.  Rivera contributed to less than 5% of his team's innings; compared to a C.C. Sabathia who contributes in around 17%.  Although his managers had great peace of mind knowing that he would close out a close game, in many of his appearances he appeared after the work was done and very seldom had to work in high-stress situations (compared to starters).  I do not know the totals, but a high % of his saves were 3 outs, with no baserunners inherited, and a comfortable lead to work with.  Rivera was no doubt effective, in fact among the 3-out closers of this era, he was probably the best or among the top 2 or 3.  But I cannot go along with those saying today that he is among the great pitchers of all time.  I simply don't think that modern relievers make the impact that many believe they do over a long haul.  And, this is not just a Yankee-hate thing; I say the same thing about Trevor Hoffman.  A guy who pitches a mere 1,200 innings in those circumstances just doesn't cut it as a true all-time great in my book when compared to the whole population of pitchers across history.

S