SB Nation User Blog: 3744nsheffield

What to expect from Milton Bradley

3744nsheffield — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 14:43:31 -0000

I have had the pleasure of watching Bradley for the past two seasons. I live in Dallas, so I followed his season with the Rangers, and I grew up a Cubs fan (and, sadly, remain one). The thing with Bradley is not so much that he has an "attitude" problem; it's that he doesn't play enough.

One doesn't need to be well-liked to be successful. The Dick Williams Oakland As couldn't stand each other and won two World Series. Everyone works with jerks, and the world goes on. The problem with Bradley is that he gets hurt and can't play. He is injury prone, and there is a reason that he has had only one year with more than 500 at-bats in his 10 seasons in the major leagues.

The other problem with Bradley is that he says he's hurt and can't play, and he is the only one who thinks he is hurt. He pouts, just like the guy who calls in sick because he's mad at the boss and he'll show the boss how much the company needs him. That happened in Texas, when he had a bunch of mysterious ailments in the last month or so. Even the beat writers here, hardly a negative group, were wondering what was going on. The general consensus was that he was malingering to protect his stats in a contract year. In Chicago, the "ailments" started early and never let up. You can tell this is going on because Bradley doesn't go on the DL, never has a serious injury, and always says he'll be OK in a few days.

The problem with this, of course, is that the team has to substitute a lesser player for him in the lineup and the bench is a man down. It drove Lou Piniella crazy, and even Ron Washington was annoyed.

Will this happen in Seattle? Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe Griffey can lay down the law. Maybe Wakamatsu can figure out how to handle him in a way no one else has. The one thing I wouldn't count on is that it won't happen in Seattle because the atmosphere is "low-key." It happened in Texas, and no one pays any attention to the Rangers after the Cowboys start training camp. It doesn't get much more low key than that.

Is it time to say We told you so about Milton Bradley

3744nsheffield — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:36:53 -0000

The Cubs have played 17 games and Bradley has played in 10. That puts him on a pace to play 95. Management planned for him to play 130. To do that, Bradley would have to play in 120 of the next 145. He has played in 120 or more games only twice in his career.

Forget his lousy start. Forget his umpire woes. Forget the fact that he hasn't played enough so no one can see how bad his defense is. Bradley doesn't play enough to make the signing worthwhile.

What's worse is that this team was built around him playing those 130 games. When he doesn't, many of its flaws -- no bench, no defensive versatility, Pinella's fear of too many right-handed bats -- are exposed.

Rip this if you will, but numbers are numbers. Unless Bradley starts playing regularly, and that means six days a week, this team has serious problems that will affect how many games it wins.

The Tribune Co.'s financial mess

3744nsheffield — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 21:24:41 -0000

Fitch Co., which rates corporate debt, issued a report today that says it expects more newspapers and newspaper groups to default on their debt, be shut down and be liquidated in 2009. (The report also says that several cities could go without a daily print newspaper by 2010.)

What does this have to do with Tribune Co. and the Cubs' sale? The report identifies Tribune debt as junk, with a serious possibility that Tribune Co. will default and not be able to meet its obligations. It also assigns a negative outlook to the company and the newspaper sector, which means its credit rating is probably going to get worse. If that happens, it's time for what the bankers call chaptering out -- bankruptcy.

Are we in a situation where a bankruptcy court could force a Cubs sale? I couldn't find the Fitch report -- the account I saw was in a newspaper trade journal that didn't discuss the Cubs or go into much detail about the Tribune Co. But this is the first serious discussion I've seen that any of this is possible.

Come on, Al, put the magic number up

3744nsheffield — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:25:34 -0000

The Cubs' magic number to clinch the division is 28 this morning. It's 24 to clinch the wild card. Cool Standings has the Cubs at 85.7 percent to win the division and 98.3 percent to make the playoffs. That's second best in baseball, behind only the Angels (99.9 percent in their pathetic division).

I realize, after my last post, that many of you are still a little gun shy about this, and see any mention of the magic number as putting the cart before the house, tempting fate, and playing into the hands of Cardinals fans, who will then be able to make tremendous fun of us. Perhaps. But let me ask you this: What would a Yankees fans do?

Some perspective for Mariners fans

3744nsheffield — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:23:40 -0000

I'm still laughing about Jeff's recent post that had "binoculate" in the headline. It was, as most of the posts here are, quite clever. I've been writing professionally for a very long time and have never used binoculate, let alone seen it in an article.

Yet the post also demonstrated that Mariners fans are getting a little punch drunk after all this losing, and that you need some tea and sympathy. So, as a public service, here are some organizations that may actually be worse:

• The Chicago Cubs. One almost season does not make up for all that futility (shamless plug for a piece I wrote about the Cubs' all-time worst players). And, as I like to point out, the North Siders taught Jim Riggleman all he doesn't know about managing.

• The Texas Rangers. I live in Dallas, and get to watch them on a regular basis. Ouch. That means I have seen them trade away Chris Young, Adrian Gonzalez, John Danks, and Francisco Cordero in the past couple of years for almost nothing.

• Kansas City Royals. This does not even require an explanation, does it?

• Washington Nationals. Jim Bowden may be the most inept general manager in baseball -- and he hasn't been fired yet.

• Pittsburgh Pirates. Its last winning season was 1992. How many of you reading this even remember 1992?

Hope this helps. And, regardless of anything else, the Mariners have Ichiro. They can't say that in Kansas City.

Cubs magic number is 39

3744nsheffield — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:02:32 -0000

It's time to acknowledge this fact, since the number went below 40 after Wednesday's doubleheader sweep in Atlanta. Which means -- all together now -- that any combination of Cubs victories and Brewers defeats totaling 39 means the Cubs clinch the division. (And those of us who are old enough to remember 1969, when the magic number never went down to zero, need to take a deep breath or two.)

Cool Standings, by the way, says the Cubs have an 81 percent chance of winning the division and are 97.4 percent to make the playoffs.

Baseball Prospectus' take on the presidential election

3744nsheffield — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:12:38 -0000

Turns out Nate Silver is a political stats junkie as well as well as a baseball one. He runs a site, fivethirtyeight.com, that analyzes polling data in the same way that BP analyzes baseball numbers. The goal is to predict who will win the presidential election, in much the same way it predicts player performances and season results. Which is spiffy enough (and no, this not a post about the election, so don't comment on that).

But what's even spiffier is that Will Caroll, who analyzes player medical histories at BP, did the same thing for John McCain on the fivethirtyeight site. I've been following baseball and politics for a long time, but this has to be a first. What gives out on a politician? Do the legs go first? Can they have Tommy John surgery for their brain? Where do they go for a rehab assignment?

Ponson and Strip Club Jones

3744nsheffield — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 14:39:07 -0000

Sidney Ponson gets drunk and mouths off, and the Rangers release him with all sorts of high-sounding words. I'm curious: Is what Ponson did worse than what Pac Man Jones has done? Will the mainstream media rip Ponson and praise the Rangers for taking a firm stand (like Jim Reeves did in the Star-Telegram)? Will Rangers fans take a similar stand?

Because that's not what either did when the Cowboys signed Jones. No one was using high-sounding words. No one especially cared that Jones is a thug of the highest order, that people have died around him. What did Galloway say? "Jones makes sense" for the Cowboys. I can hardly wait to hear how he praises the Rangers for letting Ponson go.

But what will be more hypocritical will be the reaction on this blog and elsewhere. The same fans who were whooping and hollering when the NFL said Jones can play this year if he's a good boy in training camp will sound as sanctimonious about Ponson as Jon Daniels did.

Visitors here spend a lot of time ripping the MSM. Next time you do it, make sure you're not making the same mistakes.

Why Mariners fans are some of my favorites

3744nsheffield — Tue, 13 May 2008 21:34:12 -0000

And I'm completely serious when I say this. You guys are great, and I always get a kick out of reading this blog and USS Mariner.

I'm a Cubs fan and have been so since 1968. As such, I understand the futility of life and the joy of small victories (or even almost victories). As my bartender, another life-long Cubs fan of my generation, says: "You lose more often than you win in life, and being a Cubs fan prepares you for this."

The problem, though, is that most Cubs fans today don't understand this. They see the experience as some sort of amusement park ride, where there are going to be ups after the downs because there are supposed to be. They don't understand that sometimes, the downs are all you're going to get.

Which is why I enjoy reading this blog so much. The existential angst! The hopelessness and loathing! The Kierkegaardian dread! Plus, you do it so intelligently. Most sports blogs, sadly, are places for the lame of mouth and the halt of brain to feed their fixes. Here, and at USS Mariner, you not only roll Sisyphus' boulder up a hill, but can explain, using cold, hard logic, why it will fall down again. I shudder at the grandeur of this achievement.

And, to be honest, losing is probably more fun than winning. One appreciates the game more, and you don't run the risk of turning into a Yankees fan. The perfect example is the Red Sox, whose fans were crusty yet lovable New Englanders until just a couple of seasons ago. Winning, however, has turned them into insensitive louts who are no fun to be at a game with.

So hang in there, Mariners fans. After awhile, it's a badge of honor to have endured so much mediocrity.

Glorypark: Yet another reason why Tom Hicks must go

3744nsheffield — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:38:13 -0000

Those of us who were at opening day had to deal with traffic jams, horrible parking, long lines, and few vendors. And what did the owner of the Rangers offer as consolation? That we would all be able to go shopping in a couple of years.

Hail to Glorypark! (That's sarcasm, by the way.) Hicks told The Morning News that fans must be patient and put up with those inconveniences for as long as three seasons so he can build the silly thing.

This is another sad example of little he cares about the fans -- and how little he understands the role of fans. Hicks sees the fans as cash flow, not as the team's reason for being. Glorypark is "synergy" for the Rangers, so it's no big deal to inconvenience the fans for three seasons. It's inconceivable to him that Glorypark would anger fans or keep fans away, because we're supposed to do what the marketing people say we will do.

Hicks can build all the shopping malls he wants, and he can make as much money as he wants. But that doesn't make him a good owner. Somehow, I don't think George Steinbrenner, for all of his other faults, would make it difficult for fans to get to Yankee Stadium so he could build a shopping mall.