SB Nation User Blog: louismg

Just Win, Baby (and Don't Get Attached)

louismg — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 19:43:15 -0000

The week's big news has clearly been defined with the A's trading for Rockies' outfielder Matt Holliday. Unlike recent off-season trades, despite the A's having given up three players, in this case, we're seen as having "acquired" talent rather than "lost" talent, like we were when we traded away Nick Swisher, Dan Haren and others. Interesting play on words, given that in each case you had players coming and going, but that we are the recipient of the most marquee name has folks thinking differently about the A's in 2009.

Speculate what this means all day long, as to what the new lineup will be, whether more trades are coming, or even if we'll have Holliday around for more than a half-season, but I'll be honest with you... it doesn't really matter.

What does matter is if once the new team takes the field, that our guys outscore their guys, and manage to win more often than we lose.

As fans, we have a tendency to get attached to players. We may put posters of them on our walls, and trade their baseball cards. We may wear their jerseys and claim one (or more) as our favorite. But what we've learned from years of watching, this team especially, is that we shouldn't get attached.

When the A's honored Dennis Eckersley on August 13, 2005, and retired his number, Ray Fosse lavishly praised Huston Street, a promising youngster at the time, and suggested that one day, maybe his number would be retired along the same wall - a preposterous comment then, given his short tenure, and practically laughable, now that we'd seen him replaced by Ziegler and shipped off as part of a package deal to the Rockies. In the stands that day, with many of you, it seemed naive for Fosse to expect a player of Huston's talent, if achieved, to stay with the franchise long enough to have his uniform retired. We've moved beyond the era of players who would spend greater than a decade with one team and excel.

Think about it - are we going to retire Chavez' number when he retires? Or that of Ellis? Probably not. We may like these guys now, but they are filling a role on a team and plugging away on a franchise that's not setting records, winning pennants, or doing much that's memorable, to be honest. While the Raiders have covered themselves in self-mockery, saying to "Just Win, Baby"... that's what we need to do.

If Matt Holliday is going to be the missing piece that turns this franchise from one that battles for 3rd with Texas to one that battles for titles with Anaheim, that's one thing. But if he'll end up being another player to cheer for, hitting around .280 with 20+ homers and contributing to a few A's wins in a 70 victory campaign, then it really doesn't mean a whole lot. I won't be buying a Holliday jersey, just like I didn't buy a Street poster, or lobby for a Greg Smith bobblehead. I want championships.

Today Is the First Day Of Winter

louismg — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 23:40:53 -0000

All you budding meteorologists and dayologists might try and say Winter doesn't officially start until December, but as far as I'm concerned, it's all darkness, starting today, until Spring Training.

Last night, as the Phillies piled on one another in what looked like an elementary school pileup of "Smear the (insulting adjective goes here)", only with 200 pound bodies, I turned off the TiVo and started to make preparations for what will be a long hibernation period, as we baseball fans will go starving, snacking only on minor sports and petty contests like the Super Bowl and March Madness until the crack of the bat and thud of the catcher's mitt snap us back awake.

For the next few months, we are really in the worst part of the calendar year. You know, I was doubtful that this so-called financial crisis could really slip from recession to depression, until I realized there would be no baseball and got depressed myself.

After the very visible publication and aftermath of Moneyball, some of us have said that the games themselves aren't actually Billy Beane's and the A's favorite time of year, and they may enjoy the baseball draft and the Hot Stove League more. But as a fan, I'd rather sit in the rain to watch a sloppy blowout against the Mariners than be reloading the transaction wire on the Web. I'm a fan to see the games, to sweat out every strike and bloop hit, to debate the merits of speed, fielding and if there is such a thing as too many strikeouts.

Even if I hadn't been rooting for the Rays in this year's World Series, which I was, I didn't want baseball to end last night, because every year, when the lights finally go out on the last game of the season, I know the future is bleak, full of cold, darkness, and silence.

How many more days until pitchers and catchers report?

World Series Evens Up at 1-1

louismg — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 07:31:55 -0000

Starting off a home game with a lead in the early innings is never a bad thing. If the first two games of the World Series are any indication, the 2008 contest is going to be low-scoring, and it's going to be close. After Wednesday's 3-2 Phillies victory, the Rays matched their 9-inning output in the first frame of tonight's contest, adding on a third run in the second, to push ahead to a 3-0 lead, which proved to be enough to take the game, as the Phillies have shown no signs of learning how to hit with men on, eventually falling 4-2.

As with the ALCS, the Rays leave Tropicana with a 1-1 split, having lost the first game and taken the second. And while they scored enough to win, James Shields didn't give up a run into the sixth inning, making the Rays' early-inning runs stand up, despite many opportunities. The Phillies left 11 men on base, due in no small part to their batting 1-13 with men in scoring position, having gone 0-9 the night before.

This 1-22 stat is one we'll no doubt hear time and again from Joe Morgan and crew on their nightly broadcasts, just like we were treated to their comments about how the Rays "don't like to bunt with the lead" and the usual nonsense, as I heard yet again on the radio this evening. Of course, it was the Rays in the 4th using the bunt to squeeze in a run to go up 4-zip, rendering their "analysis" moot. It's all part of trying to fill the hours of airtime, which resumes Saturday at 5:35 Pacific time.

Open Thread - World Series Game 2 (cont)

louismg — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 02:36:37 -0000

After six full, the Rays lead the Phillies 4-0, in an attempt to even up the series. Despite keeping Philadelphia scoreless, starting pitcher Shields has departed, having thrown more than 100 pitches. Meanwhile, Myers continues to do battle in hopes his offense will come through and give him a chance for the W.

Open Thread - World Series Game 2

louismg — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 23:07:43 -0000

In the ALCS, the Tampa Bay Rays dropped game 1 to the Red Sox, 2-0. In the second contest, the team's offense woke up, winning 9-8 in the first volley of what was eventually a 7-game series victory. After last night's close contest that saw the Rays vanquished 3-2 by the Phillies, they are looking again for the same Game Two magic. Taking the mound for the Rays will be James Shields, who sported a 14-8 record and 3.56 ERA, as well as a 4:1 strikeout/walk ratio in the regular season. He will be opposed by the Phils' Brett Myers, who was inconsistent in the 2008 campaign, muddling through to a 10-13 record and 4.55 ERA.

Game time is 5:29 Pacific Time. Try not to fill up the thread before first pitch.

Lineup

Philadelphia Phillies @ Tampa Bay Rays

10/22/08 5:35 PM PDT

Philadelphia Phillies	Tampa Bay Rays
Jimmy Rollins - SS	Akinori Iwamura - 2B
Jayson Werth - RF	B.J. Upton - CF
Chase Utley - 2B	Carlos Pena - 1B
Ryan Howard - 1B	Evan Longoria - 3B
Pat Burrell - LF	Carl Crawford - LF
Shane Victorino - CF	Willy Aybar - DH
Pedro Feliz - 3B	Dioner Navarro - C
Chris Coste - DH	Ben Zobrist - RF
Carlos Ruiz - C	Jason Bartlett - SS

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2008 - Brett Myers	10-13	4.55	1.38	163	65

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2008 - James Shields	14-8	3.56	1.15	160	40

Open Game Thread: NLCS: Dodgers vs. Phillies (Game 1)

louismg — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:07:00 -0000

I hate to say this, but I still haven't forgiven the LA Dodgers for the 1988 World Series, and I probably never will. Even with the amusements of Manny Ramirez and the "what might have beens" of Andre Ethier, I'm not exactly throwing on the powder blues and planning for a night out at Chavez Ravine. But the Dodgers went from being a forgotten team in a horrible division prior to the All-Star Break to a high-octane contender, powered by Manny and his amazing dreadlocks. Now, they're assumed to have the momentum, despite having finished the '08 regular season with a record eight games worse than the Phillies.

As for the Phils, they come from a franchise that had a great 1980, and ... well, that's almost it. A Joe Carter home run doomed their last memorable playoff appearance, and you better believe Bud Selig is praying they don't make it to the Big Show this year, eliminating LA as a media market. But not us. We're hoping Joe Blanton and company get their shot (against the Rays, of course). Game 1 is in the hands of Cole Hamels, who will be facing off against Derek Lowe, who I don't recall being all that fond of during his time at Fenway. Game time is 5:22 Pacific.

Lineup

Los Angeles Dodgers @ Philadelphia Phillies

10/09/08 5:22 PM PDT

Los Angeles Dodgers	Philadelphia Phillies
Rafael Furcal - SS	Jimmy Rollins - SS
Andre Ethier - RF	Shane Victorino - CF
Manny Ramirez - LF	Chase Utley - 2B
Russell Martin - C	Ryan Howard - 1B
James Loney - 1B	Pat Burrell - LF
Matt Kemp - CF	Jayson Werth - RF
Casey Blake - 3B	Pedro Feliz - 3B
Blake DeWitt - 2B	Carlos Ruiz - C
Derek Lowe - P	Cole Hamels - P

Rickey Henderson Should be the First Unanimous Hall of Famer

louismg — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 04:38:57 -0000

Every year, members of the Baseball Writers Association submit their ballots to cast votes for new inductees into baseball's Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. And so far, after decades of voting, no player has entered the hall with unanimous support.

It takes 75% approval to make it in, and so far, the record is Tom Seaver, who was named on 425 of 430 ballots, for a 98.84% vote. In 2007, Cal Ripken came close, with 98.5%, and Tony Gwynn nearly matched him, gathering 97.6% of the vote.

But let me make myself clear. Whatever the reasons are for these so-called baseball experts to not vote in some of the legends of the game should be thrown away when it comes to Rickey Henderson, who deserves to go into the hall with 100% of the votes. Any writer who knowingly casts a ballot that does not include Rickey should be banned from ever voting again in the future, and they should be openly mocked, for they do not know this game.

Writers typically vote for a player based on multiple attributes, including: Statistics, Longevity, Awards and All-Star appearances, and Post-Season play. Rickey Henderson has each of these in spades, as I'll explain.

Rickey Henderson is no marginal, arguable, Hall of Famer. The man is a living legend who didn't just set records with his craft - he destroyed them and rewrote the record books. His 1,406 stolen bases, 468 more than Lou Brock's 938, the second-place mark are so far ahead, it's the equivalent of having 1,142 home runs (versus Barry Bonds' 762 mark), pitching 766 wins (versus Cy Young's 511), or striking out 8,565 batters (versus Nolan Ryan's 5,714).

In addition to his steals mark, RIckey Henderson scored more runs than any baseball player ever, with 2,295. He also led off 81 games with a home run, and holds the all-time mark for steals in a regular season, notching 130 in 1982, beating Lou Brock's 118 from the 1974 campaign. Again, put in Barry Bonds home run terms, that would be more than 80 dingers in a season.

Henderson led the league in stolen bases 12 times, and led the major leagues in runs scored five times. He was the AL MVP in 1990, and a ten time All-Star.

Rickey was no single-dimensional player. He hit more than 20 home runs in four separate years, accumulating 297 over his 25-season career. He hit .300 or better in seven seasons, as late as 1999, when he hit .315 for the New York Mets at the age of 40. He hit more than 500 doubles, and walked 2,190 times, second only to Bonds, and first overall at the time he stopped playing.

Lest it be said he was a man focused on statistics first and team second, Rickey won a pair of World Series titles, including in 1989 with the A's against the Giants, and in 1993 for the Toronto Blue Jays against the Phillies. In his 14 World Series games, Rickey batted a robust .339, and slugged .607, with 7 swiped bags against two caught stealing.

Yet, somehow, I bet some ink stained wretch is going to find a reason to not vote for Rickey. They'll make some question of his character. They might call him selfish, or remember the time when, while on the Mets, he was playing cards in the clubhouse. But in an era when players turned to drugs and steroids, Rickey supplied his own speed - at a level never seen before or since.

We may never see another player like Rickey, unless he comes out of his non-playing state and picks up the batting gloves. While everyone believes Rickey will be a first ballot Hall of Famer, and discussions are already going on, saying he'll wear the A's cap into the hall, I want to make it very clear - this man deserves to go in unanimously, period.

100% voting is all I will accept, and as fans, we should start making noise about it now. I can think of nobody else more deserving.

SB Nation Launches New Mobile Sites and Postseason Hub

louismg — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:15:19 -0000

Big news, AN fans. If you're as obsessed with the Green and Gold as I am, you'll probably find yourself feeling disconnected from the site when you're on the go. But in the last week, SB Nation rolled out a big initiative aimed at making all its sites, AN included, optimized for mobile phones. With so many of you checking out AN on your iPhones, BlackBerries, SideKicks and other cell phones, the new interface should load much more quickly, and take you right to the stories, without making you scroll-scroll-scroll through the sidebars commonly found on the standard Web site.

The new mobile version of AN is just the first step in a series of enhancements planned to make catching up with your favorite teams on SB Nation blogs even better. While today, the mobile site doesn't yet enable you to login and add comments, future updates to the platform will undoubtedly move in this direction.

If you're at your computer, you can get a sneak preview of the new mobile interface by pointing your browser to http://mobile.athleticsnation.com/. The mobile subdomain works for other sites in the SB Nation family, with examples including http://mobile.halosheaven.com/ and http://mobile.lookoutlanding.com/. You can even go straight to fanposts for AN here: http://mobile.athleticsnation.com/fanposts/full.

Also new with SB Nation is a hub dedicated to following the Postseason. You might have seen the new Postseason widget on AN on the right side below Fanposts and above Fanshots. The new hub, found here: http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/postseason, has the latest posts from the active teams' blogs, as well as linescores of each game. It's a great one-stop page fo get caught up on what the fans of this year's postseason clubs are saying, so check it out.

Having had a long conversation yesterday with Trei Brundrett, who is leading the development team at SB Nation, I am even more excited about the future of the SB Nation platform, and you can expect many big things coming. But for now, check out the AN mobile site and the SB Nation Postseason hub. You can also keep updated through the official SB Nation blog: Blog Huddle, found here: http://blog.sbnation.com/.

If you have comments on the new mobile site or Postseason hub, feel free to leave them here. I know they will see it. You can also see this announcement cross-posted to louisgray.com, in an effort to get the news to the masses.

Tonight, K-Rod Is Spelled With an 'E'

louismg — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 04:49:11 -0000

I don't know what I like better - seeing the A's win four straight, or making the Angels look like complete idiots in the process, but tonight, I'm glad I don't have to make that choice, because we got both. K-Rod, the new all-time single season saves leader, again left us with a memorable sulk-off, aiding the process with his inability to throw anywhere that wasn't named home plate.

After a scary top of the ninth inning, which saw the A's precarious 1-0 lead dashed when Brad Ziegler served up a two-run shot to Mark Texiera, I was not looking forward to another one of K-Rod's anger-inducing goggle-eyed celebrations on our home field. But that never was a risk, as Barton's lead-off single in the bottom of the frame was extended to a double when Gary Matthews tossed the throw in the infield, back to nobody. With Barton on second, K-Rod walked Hannahan, putting the tying and leading runs on base for Cliff Pennington.

Pennington's would-be bunt was awesome as he smacked the ball off the plate, sending it sky-high. K-Rod sent his throw to first well past the base, into the Angels bullpen while the A's came racing around to score and win the game. It was ugly, but as mentioned in the thread, many things about the Angels are ugly, and we'll take wins however we can get them.

The issue of pitchers being unable to field and throw to first or second continues to boggle my mind. They should be among the best, most accurate throwers in the world, but by and large, they make the most bone-headed throws to the bases of any position players. If it were the A's making this mistake, I'd be begging for more defensive practice, but if this is the Angels' style, more power to 'em. Tonight, I am a K-Rod fan. We love you, K-Rod. Thank you.

Open Thread: Game 151 - A's vs. Angels (Cont.)

louismg — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 03:39:57 -0000

After five innings, we have a real game on our hands. The A's are up 1-0 on the back of strong pitching by Greg Smith (only 1 walk, BTW) and an opportunistic double by Aaron Cunningham that plated Bobby Crosby in the fifth. The A's opted not to add on with the bases loaded and one out, so we're keeping this thing close. On to the sixth inning, A's!