Humor of the Day 10.28.09 [J. Mark English]

The World Series of UGH! [J. Mark English]

ARGH!

I friggin' hate both the Yankees and the Phillies. Okay, hate is a strong word. I DESPISE both teams.

I loathe the Yanks out of pure and cynical jealousy.

My antipathy for the Phillies follows from them sneaking (and dancing) their way into the playoffs the last three seasons at the expense of my favorite team, the New York Mets.

In order to avoid having to express too many thoughts on this years World Series (which I'm sure will be a ratings dream for MLB), my friend Chris Mari will be sharing a few thoughts from a Phillies fan perspective.

As for now, I do not know who to root for. Although from a business perspective, the Yanks winning it all will be a boon for American Legends.

Chris Mari has already been busy on his Facebook wall putting up the following comments:

dear boston, welcome to the phillies nation. enjoy your stay, who knows, you may even grow to like it. love, philly ps...will trade rally towels for yankees suck shirts...

or

dear phillies please win the world series. i want to repeat the best month, week, day everrrr.... and run around broad street like a maniac until the wee hours. oh and that parade was pretty cool too. brotherly love, christopher

Then there is my friend Adrienne (a Yankees fan) who writes things like:

Just sat next to Andy Pettitte at the movies,.. Law Abiding Citizen - he didn't like all the "blood and guts" so if he doesn't pitch well tomorrow its cause he didn't sleep well tonight! LETS GO YANKEES!

And here are some pics already up on Facebook:





Buckle up fans...its going to be an interesting few weeks...

September 11, 2001: How Baseball Helped Bring us Back [J. Mark English]

Mets Second Half Chances [David Stefanini]

The Mets begin the second half of the season tonight against the Atlanta Braves. Since the Phillies won the NL East last season with 92 wins I figured the Mets would need to get to 93 to make the playoffs this year. This means they need to find 51 wins out of their final 75 games. I looked at their schedule and game up with a list of the teams they will play and how many games against them. Here is that list:

ATL – 13

WSH – 9

HOU – 6

COL – 7

ARI – 7

STL – 2

SD – 4

SF – 4

PHI – 8

FLA – 9

CHC – 6

With seeing this list do the Mets have a real shot at making the playoffs or should they look to become sellers in this market?

They play 13 games against the Atlanta Braves who always give the Mets trouble. 7 games are on the road and 6 games are at home. They Mets are a better team than the Braves and should be able to take 8 out of 13 against them. This leaves them 43 wins short.

Then we go to the Nationals who are the worst team in the league. The Mets should easily take 7 out of the 9. If they don't take advantagae of the Nationals they will not have a chance at making the playoffs. They are now 36 wins short.

Houston is a .500 team at 44 and 44, so by their own record we'll give the Mets half of those games, 3. 33 more wins to go.

Colorado is a very good team sitting 6 games above .500. Right now they are better than the Mets so we have to assume only 3 wins for the Mets. 30 wins left.

Arizona is a horrible team and the Mets should only lose to Dan Haren. Let's assume Haren pitches one game and 'Zona steals another win, this still gives the Mets 5 wins leaving them only 25 short.

The Cardinals are next on the list and only have a 2 game series at Citi. Let's assume it's a split, 24 wins left.

San Diego is a bad team but I don't see the Mets being comnpleting any 4 game sweeps, therefore only 3 wins in this series. 21 left.

San Francisco is a very strong team with a lot of potential. Maybe they fall off later this season, maybe they continue this strong run. Right now they are better than the Mets and the only win here is when Santana pitches, 1 win for the Mets, 20 left.

Obviously the 8 most important games left for the Mets are against the Phillies. They are a strong team who the Mets always play well. These teams play great games which the Mets always have a lead late and the Phillies find a way to pull it out. Since these teams always play each other so closely it would be unfair to either team to assume a victory out of the eight games, so the Mets get 4 more wins leaving them 16 short.

The Marlins have been a thorn in the side of the Mets but this season the Mets should be able to beat them. The Marlins are streaky and it depends when you catch them. Mets are given 6 wins here, leaving them 10 games short.

There are only 6 games left against the Cubs and at this point we can only assume a split against the Cubs, leaving the Mets 7 games short of 93 wins.

Is my analyze accurate, probably not, but I don't think it is to far off give or take a few games in certain series. I tried to be as fair as possible in doing this. So where do the Mets pick up these 7 wins? Maybe win all 9 against the Nats, win some more against the Giants and do more than just split against the Phils. Are the Mets really capable of doing this? I don't think so. I hope I am wrong but how I look at it is exactly like this. Met's falling roughly 7 games short of winning the division.

Reyes and Delgado Work Out [David Stefanini]

The news that Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado were working out today is great news for the New York Mets. Who do the Mets need back more, who knows, but they definitely could use one of them.

Delgado took batting practice for the first time since May 19th and Jose Reyes was doing agility drills. They showed clips of Reyes doing drills and working on his explosiveness which was so great to see. He wasn't limping and he looked like he was getting close to where everyone wants him to be. The question now becomes when.

No one seems to have an answer to that question and it seems as if no one wants to even take a guess at it. All I have read or heard is there is no timetable for the return of anyone. Carlos Beltran seems to have fallen off the face of the planet. I have heard nothing about him. Delgado says he is taking it week by week, which means we are probably a month away from seeing him. Reyes is saying nothing about when he can come back.


At this point it is good to just hear about these stars doing something. Even if they are still weeks away from returning it gives us Met fans hope. However, when they come back will the Phils be to far away? Reyes will bring the energy and hopefully Delgado will bring the power. How about Beltran who is a combination of power and speed? Will he be back soon? These are all questions above my pay grade (which remains at $0) and I hope the Mets executives have the answers.

In Johan We Trust [David Stefanini]

Name one positive thing for the New York Mets this season. Everyone just answered: Johan Santana.

How far can one starter carry a team? I'm not sure what the answer to that question is, but I have a feeling we will find out this season. He really should have 15 wins on this season when you consider the games he lost this year. How about throwing 7 innings, striking out 13 batters while giving up 0 ER, AND LOSING!

By his standards he had a sub par June and the Mets tanked with him. However on this night Johan would not be denied as he pitched 7 scoreless innings to lead the Mets to a much needed victory.

Another thing worth noting is the return of Angel Pagan, who looks like a legit replacement for Jose Reyes as the lead off batter for this team. He as great speed and understands what is asked of him in this game. He gets things going and is very aggressive on the base pads, while providing above average defense in center field. I'm in favor of benching Francouer of Shef IF/when Beltran ever returns. And no, I'm not saying this after one good game from Pagan. He has done this going back to last season, his problem is staying on the field. If he can play I think he'll be fine.

Another Stellar Move by the Mets [David Stefanini]

I'm hear to report yet another stellar move pulled by the New York Mets. They have traded outfielder Ryan Church to the Braves for outfielder Jeff Francouer.

In other words the Mets got rid of a decent hitting OF for a guy who strikes out a lot, and who posses little power. Francouer is batting a whopping .250 with 5 HRs this season. The one thing I can say about Francouer is he has a cannon for an arm. But like that matters with the amount of hits given up by the Met's pitchers.

Lets take a different stance on this trade, maybe the Mets looked to improve on team speed. Francouer has an incredible 5 SB this season whereas Church has 6.

Maybe it was to cut payroll, Francouer is making roughly 3.4 million whereas Church is making 2.8 million.

Okay I'll be serious now, the Mets clearly made this trade to get men on base more often. Francouer has an astronomical .282 OBP whereas Church has .332!

The only thing I can see positive in this trade is that Francouer is just 25 years old with a ton of upside. He seems to have a chance to develop great power and is a very good defensive RF. However, Church was a really good defender as well and he was only 30 years old with plenty of baseball left...

I took the time to run Church's numbers since he came off the DL and here they are: .291/.335/.401. Now lets compare those to Francouer's numbers for the season .250/.282/.352.

To keep going as why this trade is so great for the Mets lets see their corner outfielders. They now have 3 right handed batters with Sheffield, Tatis, and Francouer.

Great job Minaya! This is exactly why I'm a Mets fan....

If anyone has any idea why this trade was made, in terms of the Mets benefiting, in any other way than I have mentioned please feel free to leave a comment. I really want to hear how this is a good thing. This is what Minaya has to say about it, “This had nothing to do with not liking Ryan Church, but, one thing we like about Francoeur is the amount of games he plays."

Mets Chances Going Forward [David Stefanini]

Roughly halfway through the baseball season I think it's time to take a realistic look at the chances the New York Mets have at making the playoffs.

This is a team, once again, who on paper was the clear favorite going into the season to win the NL East. Just like the past two seasons when the team takes the field they look nothing like the favorites. They currently sit 4.5 games back of the Phillies in the NL East and 5.5 games back of the San Francisco Giants in the NL Wild Card.

Everyone has blamed the injuries this year for the teams failures, I'm not buying that. Yes it is very difficult when 3 of your 4 best position players get injured. Not to mention 2 of your 5 starters, and your new set-up man. However, when all these players were on the field they weren't exactly notching victories every night looking unstoppable. They have no clue how to play defense and outside of Santana no starter has really been there consistently.

Last night they got one of their injured players back, Oliver Perez. He was wild Ollie again, but he managed to pitch 5 innings and pick up a victory. Can us Met fans count on him the rest of the season, no. So where else can we look for help, Carlos Beltran has not stepped on a field in a while, Carlos Delgado can't even jog, and everyday it looks more like Jose Reyes will not come back this season at all.

I still believe this team has a chance at making the playoffs. Watching most of their games this season they have lost in some of the weirdest ways possible. A dropped pop-up, a few bad calls, forgetting to hit the base pads. I know it's all part of the game but you have to figure in the second half the Law of Averages will begin to work out and those loses will start to turn into wins for the Mets.

These next four games should give us an indication as to how this team will do in the second half. If they come out like a desperate team hustling for every ball and running everything out, maybe putting up a 5 game winning streak, or even taking 3 out of the final 4 games we can all have a glimmer of hope going into the second half. But if the Mets fall to 6 or 7 games back of the Phils for first I don't see anyway possible for this team to make the playoffs.

Pedro Martinez: Will He Return? [J. Mark English]

Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald opines:

Pedro Martinez is ready again for the lights, camera and action.

Sounding restless, peppy and in good humor, Martinez spoke from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, yesterday about why he is convinced he can help a contending team win a championship this year.

“I don’t have to keep pitching, but I’m too young to stay home and be lazy,” said the 37-year-old three-time Cy Young winner who had his best years with the Red Sox [team stats] from 1998 through 2004. “The main reason is I’m totally healthy now. As far as my health goes, this is the best I’ve felt since before 2001 - going back to ’99 or ’98 probably. I am throwing a lot down here and when I wake up the next day, I’m not sore. I can throw and throw and throw and throw.

“My arm is in full shape to throw, I just need to sharpen up my breaking stuff, really just my curve.”

Laying off the heavy weight work worked well for Martinez this offseason.

“I’m 37 - I don’t know what to do with my energy,” said Martinez, who made 20 starts last year for the Mets, five the year before. “I try to burn it all off on the field down here while I’m working out. I’m in tippy-top shape.”

He paused.

“I’m thinking of becoming a swimsuit model.”

Martinez sounded more focused on suiting up with a big league team over the next few weeks. He is not too picky about where he signs, either league is fine, as long as he goes to a team that has a chance to contend. All things being equal, going to the National League is his preference, and that is not because of the absence of the designated hitter.

“No, that’s not it, all batters are the same,” said Martinez, whose lifetime ERA in the AL is 2.52, 3.31 in the senior circuit after nearly 1,400 innings in each league. “I have won a Cy Young in the National League, I have won the Cy Young in the American League, and I have won a championship in the American League. But none in the National League. This would complete the whole circle.”

Mets Win Seventh In A Row [David Stefanini]

Make it 7 wins in a row for the New York Mets. This was a game two weeks ago that the Mets would have lost. After already winning the series by taking the first two games and fifth starter Livan Hernandez getting off to a slow start, the Mets would have struggled through the afternoon and lost the game. This time however, they battled back, took the lead and later turned the game into a 4 run victory.

Omir Santos drove in two big runs in the 4th inning and continues to look impressive. The thing I like about him is how he runs. He got caught stealing after he drove in those two runs, but he is a deceptively fast runner. This team has a lot of speed with the likes of Reyes,Beltran and those guys, but having a catcher with some speed just contributes to the Mets base running ability. Brian Schneider is set to start rehabbing soon, but is there any Mets fan who wants him to return?

There is yet more good news about this team. Tomorrow the best pitcher in the world, Johan Santana is scheduled to make his 7th start of the season. The game is against the Atlanta Braves and their ace Derek Lowe.

Around the Horn [David Stefanini]

• Alex Rodriguez hit a 3-run HR on the very first pitch he saw this season. The happiest person that AROD is back, Mark Teixeria. Now all the attention can be taken off his lack of production and put on AROD. Furthermore, finally C.C gives the Yankees something worth talking about. Complete game 4 hit shutout.
  
  
• The Mets won their fifth game in a row. As a Met fan I'm so happy they are finally playing like they are capable. As a Met fan I'm waiting for them to lose 3 out of 4 and play .500 ball for the next month. Jonathan Niese looked very good against the Pirates. Leave Oliver Perez wherever he is and let this kid Niese develop. He has great stuff.
  
  
• The Los Angeles Dodgers have lost their second straight game without Manny. Just make HGH and steroids legal and all this will go away. I enjoy watching superior athletes playing at the highest level possible. Hitters and pitchers are doing performance enhancing drugs, so it cancels itself out. They are harmful, but so is alcohol and cigarettes, if someone wants to risk their health for better performance I say it should be allowed.
  
  
• The Arizona Diamondbacks introduced their new manager A.J. Hinch. He is 34 years old with no managerial experience. Good luck Arizona you're going to need it.
  

There and Back Again [J. Mark English]

For the few of you avid readers of this blog, you might have noticed that the site has not been updated much since the fall of 2007. (Sarcasm?)

There are no good reasons why this site has not been updated on a regular basis.

Consider the site reopened. American Legends Blog 2.0 is up and running!

As editor of the site, I will reach out to writers who share different views and passions as they follow the world of sports.

The business that this site is affiliated with, American Legends, will keep sports cards and memorabilia collectors up to speed with the latest news in the industry. There will also be postings about any special sales that will be going on, and updates on fantastic collections that have been purchased.

Also, please join our Facebook fan page. Our hope is to build an online community of enthusiastic sport fans who want to be involved in the wonderful world of sports in a way that only the magic of the internet can provide.

There are millions of sports blogs available to anyone spending time online. This blog will not offer the false promise of being anything other then a group of fans who just want to share therir take on the sporting community. This site will not attempt to be a source of news, other then to help point readers to articles of interest from our point of view.

If we can find our way into your niche of sports blogs that you check on a regular basis, then we will do our best to keep the ideas on this site fresh, full of ideas, and a commitment to regular updates.

Should you have any suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact me via e-mail: JMEnglish@gmail.com.

Finally, over the past year, the New York Mets left my heart aching after two breakdowns in consecutive seasons, both occuring on the last day of the season. Sandwhiched between these collapses I felt the thrill of seeing the New York Giants win a Super Bowl in a unforgettable upset of the undefeated New England Patriots.

The Mets and the Giants have tempered my emotional reaction to sports. The bitterness of the Mets quickly gave way to the realities of life. In the same way, the Giants winning the Super Bowl did nothing to improve my own life, except give me an excuse to take a day off from work to see them in a parade.

The Philadelphia Phillies won a World Series, in a city that had not seen a sports championship since 1983. The city was jubliant in the glow of finally being champions again, but what did that do to ebb crime in the city of Brotherly Love?

The Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup last spring. Did Lord Stanley bring jobs back to an ailing city, that has been ravaged by recession?

These questions are rhetorical.

Why do we care so much? Why, despite the economic downturn, are people still coming out to the parks? Okay, so Yankee Stadium isn't selling out the $2,500 seats, and attendence has been slipping across the board. But even on bad nights in New York, for example, the baseball attendence is still well above 30,000. Think about how much money is being spent on the nights that baseball is in town in New York. Shouldn't fans be saving that money?

Sports must have a deeper meaning if we are convinced to throw away our money. There must also be a certain madness of sports that is able to capitvate our emotional interests.

President Teddy Roosevelt described the "aurora" of athletes in this famous saying:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Epictetus, the stoic Greek philosopher once observed about the ancient Olympics:

You would fain be victor at the Olympic games, you say. Yes, but weigh the conditions, weigh the consequences; then and then only, lay to your hand--if it be for your profit. You must live by rule, submit to diet, abstain from dainty meats, exercise your body perforce at stated hours, in heat or in cold; drink no cold water, nor, it may be, wine. In a word, you must surrender yourself wholly to your trainer, as though to a physician....

Weigh these things fully, and then, if you will, lay to your hand; if as the price of these things you would gain Freedom, Tranquillity, and passionless Serenity.

These two describe the boundless abilites of man The passive observer sees what he/she hoped they could be. Professional sports offers us a chance to live vicariously in a dream that we could not achieve.

Which is why we live for the zenith of sports, and suffer willingly through the heart wrenching losses. Even if the moment is fleeting, sports may give us the encouragement to step into our own arenas, and achieve our own dreams.

Peter Gammons on the Mets Collapse [J. Mark English]

Shout out to my friend whom sent me this article. Its a great bit from Peter Gammons on ESPN on how revenue sharing in baseball has helped even the playing field, but that still does not excuse what happened to the Mets:

In the end, none of the six teams that finished first in 2006 repeated in 2007, another feather in Bud Selig's revenue-sharing cap. What once were baseball-mad franchises in Philadelphia and Denver were revitalized as Cleveland makes its way back, a new cast of heroes named Jimmy Rollins and Matt Holliday and Prince Fielder and Carlos Pena stepped to the podium and, damn, can we wait to see how Joba Chamberlain, Troy Tulowitzki and Howie Kendrick fare in October? For every Holliday and Tulowitzki, there is Trevor Hoffman, who no one in the game ever wants to see fall. For every Chase Utley there is David Wright, who stood when others hid and accepted accountability for the Mets' untimely fall....

...The Mets "blew" a seven-game lead to a team that rode shotgun down the avalanche in September, a team from whom the Mets can look at and learn from. Charlie Manuel understood that the Phillies are a player-driven team, the best kind of team, and tinkered only with the pitching staff.....Omar Minaya did the right thing in insisting Willie Randolph be retained.

Now here are seven ideas to help two very good, dignified men move forward and not look back on the vast disappointment of September:

1. Minaya should build a stronger partnership with Randolph, similar to the ones between Mark Shapiro and Eric Wedge, or Walt Jocketty and Tony La Russa. This shouldn't be hard. It may entail less front office, and perhaps even ownership, presence other than Minaya in the clubhouse and around the batting cage. And as hard as Omar works, he has to accept the general manager role that Pat Gillick built in Toronto. When the team was winning, Pat was nowhere to be found, but when they were losing, he was in back of the batting cage accounting for whatever there was in question. Shapiro has adopted that leadership style, as have Theo Epstein and Cashman, and it will be easy for Minaya because he's usually the first to admit mea culpa.
2. Spend whatever it takes to get Rudy Jaramillo in as hitting coach/psychologist/motivator. He is one of the great hitting coaches of his time; Rickey Henderson is not.
3. It was ridiculous that Wright, at 24, had to be the player spokesman on every night Tom Glavine didn't pitch, but nothing's going to change Carlos Delgado or Carlos BeltranMoises Alou play another year, and use Carlos Gomez and see if there is another Mark DeRosaRyan Freel on the horizon. Maybe old friend Marco Scutaro.
4. Lastings Milledge may be very good in time, and he's not going to bring Johan Santana in return. But he could bring Joe Blanton, and the innings he'd eat up in the National League would make Pedro Martinez and the relievers a lot better. Get Blanton and a bullpen arm. Or Cliff Lee and another reliever from Cleveland.
5. It seems inevitable that there is going to be a catching change, so why not get Ramon Hernandez out of Baltimore, where he has worn out his welcome. Hernandez had a very good relationship with Rick Peterson and Peterson's pitchers in Oakland, and might be revitalized just being away from the Orioles.
6. Let Mike Pelfrey and Philip Humber develop, either with more minor league innings, or perhaps as middle men. Pelfrey's power stuff might be better suited in the short run to the sixth and seventh innings.
7. Stop worrying about the Yankees. Back in May, when Cashman was being savaged by the Mets' media, Minaya actually felt so saddened by it that he called on a Sunday morning before an ESPN telecast to defend his fellow GM. The Yankees are very well run, their farm system is producing, they've made mistakes, they have the highest payroll, and on and on. The Mets are well run, they have some young, high-ceiling prospects, they've made mistakes, and they have the highest payroll in the National League. It means nothing to the Mets if someone says they do it right and the Yankees do it with their wallet, because all that should count to the Mets is the competition in the NL East. Add a starter or two and a couple of right-handed relievers and a couple of Eric Byrnes clones and the Mets will be fine, as long as some of their veterans look in the mirror.

Randolph can't look in the mirror for some of those players, although one wishes some of them could spend a couple of days reviewing videos of the ferocity and dignity Willie carried onto the field as a player. And if they don't want to see the video, they should know this: When times got tough, Willie Randolph never turned into a turtle the way too many Mets did down the stretch.

Take a Balk with Me [J. Mark English]

Some MLB playoff thoughts -

• I didn't think it would be possible, but I'm actually watching playoff baseball. I guess I'm almost over the Mets "long national nightmare". Thanks Adds for the soothing words of comfort.

• The Phillies are down 2-0 already to the Colorado Rockies. Weren't the Rockies supposed to be up for contraction a few years ago? If not, they should have been. I think maybe two people in Colorado really cares about that team.

• Speaking of the Phillies, going back to the year 2001 they have gone 86-76, 80-81, 86-76, 86-76, 88-74, 85-77, and then this year 89-73. I guess it took that elusive 89th win to finally cross the threshold. Talk about consistency though. How many other teams have had that many winning seasons in a row without making the playoffs? Lets just say they were due.
  

• Going back to the Rockies. As my friend (a Mets fan) wrote: Kaz-fricken-Matsui!! 3-4 with 5 RBIs and only a single shy of the cycle!!! I don't think I have been happier with Kaz... ever. No Kidding.

• Another friend wrote to me this morning (also a Mets fan): Nothing quite sucks like listening to Joe and Evan on WFAN this morning excitedly discussing tonight's Yanks-Indians game - "The wait is over..." etc etc. - particularly when they talk about how NY "learned from their mistake" last year in underestimating Detroit... a mistake we (the Mets) hopefully learn from in '08... Just sucks not to be in on the fun... This is true.

• By the way, I'm watching the Indians take on the Yanks right now on TBS. Is it 1996 all over again? Where's Manny, Albert, Thome, Baerga and Lofton. Well all of them are gone...except Kenny Lofton (WHOS BACK IN THE PLAYOFFS AGAIN)...but this team, just like 1996, is all over the Yankees!

• Suppose the Yankees get knocked out again in the first round by next weekend. Does that mean the airwaves will be dominated by Yankees talk, and how much they have fallen short of their goals? Maybe the Met fan will finally be able to move on.

• Of the four teams in the NL playoffs, only two teams have won a World Series...and its only been done twice going back to 1908...(D'Backs and the Phillies).

• The playoffs on TBS? Its like they pulled out the best of their NBA coverage for baseball. Its prety weird. I'm not a fan. On the other hand its better then Tim McCarver.

• I'm also glad that the New York Rangers are playing now and that the NHL is back in action. This should help to further my recovery from the Mets disaster.
  

Video: Phillie Phanatic Offs Mr. Met; then Gets with Mrs. Met [J. Mark English]

Re: Long-Winded Baseball Reflections [Christian Amport]

Here's my rough assesment, unecumbered by empirical evidence and more supported by anecdotal evidence and conjecture. I'm open to criticism, these are just first thoughts.

I think the rules difference in format between the leagues accounts in large part to the difference in game outcomes and to the ability of some teams to excell above and beyond. And not due to the "designated hitters hit better than pitchers" argument (but that does play some part, see below), or that AL teams are able to consistently secure better pitchers than the NL.

I formulated this theory last spring playing softball. Now, I personally haven't played baseball since I was about 11. (With the brief exception of my stint with the Appeals softball team at DANY). And I was never a pitcher. So this never occurred to me until this past spring when I found myself as the replacement (and subsequently the regular) pitcher for my roommate's softball team.

My realization was this: pitching is exhausting. Being a good pitcher relies heavily on being able to pace one's self and stay relatively fresh. In softball, everyone bats. And the unfortunate situation of batting, or more specifically, having to potentially run bases right before you pitch makes a serious impact on one's ability to pitch well. I think the reality that AL pitchers have a full inning to sit on their ass and do nothing but relax between innings of pitching can be the difference between a good night of pitching and a great night of pitching. I for one know that my command, accuracy, and rythm were all affected in innings after having to bat and run bases. I always pitched better when I had a full inning's rest before pitching again.

I think that the fact that pitchers in the NL have to bat affects their performance and makes them more hittable, but it also may prevent them from pitching longer. Here's where you stat gurus can test my theory. If I'm right, then certain averages should be appreciably different across pitchers in either league. But maybe not. I would think strikeouts per inning pitched would be higher in the AL due to increased command. But Nl pitchers have th eoppurtnity to strikeout the opposing team's pitcher, so maybe not. I would think average pitches per inning would be higher in the NL, but given a separate theory about blowout wins and lop-sided games, that may not be the case either. Also, NL pitchers might get more outs off of fly balls and such, which have the potential to be easier outs (fewer pitches) than strikeouts. I think many of these statistics don't pinpoint what is going on and may be misleading though. So I won't spend too much time discussing them.

In general however, innings pitched per start at a first glance might be lower in the NL than in the AL. I would think that the AL would have more shutouts, more complete games and more 8 inning runs than the NL due to my "Tired from batting and running" theory. That also means that those same teams with longer-pitching starters would have stronger bullpens because they have to pitch fewer innings, less often. So the number of innings pitched by starters should be higher in the AL, and the number of innings pitched by middle relief should be higher in the NL.

So in the AL, you end up with a compounding effect over the course of a season is that if you have a few super star pitchers on your team, you get not only better quality starts, but longer starts, less reliance on relief, more rest for your bullpen and therefore a stronger team in a multi-play game theory situation. If your pitchers have to bat as in NL, you may still get a good start out of them, but it won't be as ice-cold as it would have been if they didn't have to bat and run bases. So a pitcher who might have pitched 8 shutout innings in an AL game now gives up 1 run over 7 innings to lose a close NL game (see also: Roger Clemens with Houston Astros). It's a subtle difference, but I think relevant nonetheless. But the point I'mt rying to make is that good pitching in the AL has the oppurtunity to to be better than good pitching in the NL.

I think the ripple effect of pitchers having to bat affects not only their ability to be rock solid starters, but it also disrupts the batting order while the starter bats, and it disrupts the batting order while various replacement batters cycle through the pinch hitting in later innings between relievers. As opposed to the AL where the DH can hit all game in the same place and maintain momentum.

My next point about that has to do with closeness of games. I think the AL has more one-sided blowout games because there is less interruption in momentum of batting in the AL. I think we'll all agree that superstitions aside, "momentum" is huge in baseball. When pitchers have to bat, it can break that momentum, particularly when there are 2-outs. So another thing I would suggest is simply that batting momentum is felt more uniformly as a team, good or bad in the AL. With a DH, there is no excuse for anyone who is batting. When the pitcher gets up in an NL game, no one expects too much, and when we get back to the top of the order, it's a new start for everyone. So to some degree, I view an AL batting order as more circular, and an NL batting order as linear. With a circular batting order, I think you have more potential for a blowout game as well as deeply felt team slumps because there is less built-in interruption in the batting quality (good or bad). So there's another couple stats to look up, is the average margin of defeat. So I would say that the NL has more hits due to pitchers being more hittable, but more runners left on base than the AL which would have more runs batted in due to the potential for continuous batting momentum. I think this is supported by the stats from Aaron where you see the ERA and scoring averages are both higher for the AL. I think that is due to more frequent high-scoring games against the mediocre or low end of any given team's starting pitching.

So what we end up with is better potential batting, and better potential pitching in the AL. But you have to look at the whole picture. When you have a lousy pitcher against an AL line up that's on fire, there's more potential to get totally shelled without the interruption of a pitcher having to bat. When you have an all star pitcher who can rest every inning against a slumping AL line up, you get more shutouts. So I think this way of looking at it supports the team records we see above. Is the good teams are better and the worse teams are worse in the AL. You get wider extremes. The NL hobbles the batting and the pitching simultaneously by forcing pitchers to bat, and you end up with, in my opinion, a different game.

Quality discussions are like this: I hate the Yankees, and am frustrated by the Mariners. Both are very streaky, something I think is indicative of the AL. I love the Mets, but I can appreciate the annoyance of runners left on base when there are 2 outs and the pitcher bats. has nothing to do with the Mets per se, but it goes with territory in watching the NL.

Quote from Opie and Anthony [J. Mark English]

"Meet the Mets, greet the Mets...step right up and play golf with the Mets" - Opie and Anthony (shout out to the friends who alerted me to this...)

Requiem for the Mets [J. Mark English]

A Day of Great Expectations and Melancholy [J. Mark English]

The only thing that I am certain of today is that by eight o'clock tonight, I will be sitting in my seat at Giants Stadium, awaiting the kickoff to a Sunday Night Football match up between the Eagles and the Giants. The Giants come in with a 1-2 record, as are the Eagles. The result of the game will likely determine which team has the hopes of turning around its season, and which team may want to start early preparation for the 2008 draft.

The implications of the Sunday night match-up will pale in comparison to the events that would have already occurred in Queens, slightly north of Giants Stadium, as well as the events that would have transpired a hundred miles south on I 95 in Philadelphia.

The Mets and the Phillies, as well as the Padres, will set the mood for Met fans at Giants Stadium tonight. Can the Mets stave off a complete disaster by finishing with a desperate finish in their finale? Will the Phillies actually surpass their expectations of always choking? Will there be an additional game needed to determine who wins the division tomorrow afternoon? Beyond this, will their be even another game after Monday to determine the Wild Card team?

Many questions hover in the baseball world as of this post, and most will be answered by the time I have made it past the security entrance at the Stadium. Football really will take a back seat to baseball today.

I'm sure to have vertigo from staring simultaneously at the Mets game, the Phillies game, and the Padres score. I'm dreading the tension, the palpitation I'm likely to suffer as the games take hold. It is likely I'll have a few heart attacks an during every gut wrenching pitch.

I think I have a pretty good notion of how this day will end. The Mets will probably lose, and the Phillies will win. This will make me an angry Giants fan, but an even more depressed Mets fan. There will be a feeling of melancholy for me at the game tonight. Instead of thinking about the Jints and their present day battle, my mind will still be on the Mets and what could have been.

Earlier this season the Mets played an up and down game against the Phillies that could be seen as an allegory for the season (they lost). Matt Cerrone of Mets Blog described his reaction following the game:

…man, i’m exhausted from this game…i can only imagine how the players feel…frankly, this game felt like a microcosm of this entire hi-wire, roller-coaster of a season…good play, bad play, down, out, dejected, hopeless, up, winning, hopeful, then, bam, the carpet is yanked out and i’m sitting here confused, looking at the scoreboard wishing it would change…

I fully expect that this will be my range of emotions throughout the games today. Of course, I will be enjoying it while it lasts to the very last out. Then I will console my sorrows with a shot of whiskey, and then hope that the Giants can exact some revenge on the Philadelphia Eagles.

LETS GO METS!

LETS GO GIANTS!

Mets Win, Phillies Lose, Setting Up A Great Final Day [David Stefanini]

What a roller coaster ride it has been this month being a Mets fan. Entering this month I thought for certain I would be taking my girlfriend to a Mets playoff game this year. In the middle of the month I found myself saying, its ok they will turn on the jets and start pulling away any day now. I was upset that the Mets allowed the Phillies to shrink the lead down to 2 games. Right now, at the end of the month, I am overjoyed that they have pulled even with the Phillies, a predicament I never thought I'd be happy about. With the Mets 13-0 victory today and the Phillies loss to the Nats 4-2, the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies enter the final day of the regular season with identical records.

The scenario is simple when it comes down to the NL East. If the Mets win and the Phillies lose, the Mets are in; and visa-versa for the Phillies. If they both win/lose, then a one game playoff will be played on Monday at Philadelphia to determine the champion.

Tomorrow, the Mets will send Tom Glavine to the mound in the biggest situation of the season. Glavine, who is coming off two sub-par performances, will look to beat Dontrelle Willis. Willis, who has been a great disappointment this season has an ERA of 5.4, and hasn't looked right since the beginning of last season. Hopefully, the Mets can jump on him early and give Glavine the run support he will need.