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Fantasy Ruins the Real Thing

Jan5

It’s a new year and that means that we are that much closer to pitchers and catchers reporting!  For me, it is also a time when I start to seriously start planning for my fantasy baseball league.  This is because I am the commissioner of a 12-person league consisting of me and 11 boys (which is hilarious in so many ways) and I have a bit of prep work to do to get ready for our season.  Fantasy baseball can be a great way to learn more about the players in the game as well as the game itself.  But in some ways, it also have a detrimental effect on how you enjoy the real game.

Sandy K's Brothers team's logo in honor of the team's namesake

My first year of playing fantasy baseball was fun because the boys (the league I play in has always been me as the only girl) all thought they were playing with someone who had zero clue about the game.  You can read why I generally do badly in the game here, but today’s post about fantasy baseball has to do with the effect it has on the real game.  There are many formats in fantasy baseball and in my particular league, we play with 13 scoring categories (5 pitching and 8 hitting categories).  In fantasy, you are obviously trying to put together a team that has players that excel in all the various categories that you score in to win.  Each spring, a few weeks or maybe even days before the real baseball season begins, my league begins the process of drafting players for our teams.  The first few years I was playing fantasy baseball, I always drafted a 2nd baseman because there were usually only 2 or 3 players who were the elite at that position and if you didn’t get one of those players, you might not be able to make up the lost production in other spots depending on how the remainder of the draft goes.  After getting my 2nd baseman, then I would look to complete my outfield.  Last year however, I ended up in a mini dilemma as far as who to take.  I had the third pick in our draft and was faced with do I take A-Rod or do I go for one of the top outfielders?  I wasn’t even thinking about taking a 2nd baseman yet because, there would be plenty of them in rounds 3 until at least 6 and there was plenty of depth at that position where I would be quite happy with many of the eligible players for that position.  Ultimately, I ended up taking A-Rod for one simple reason:  third base has gotten really thin in terms of picking up a productive guy.  If I didn’t take A-Rod with my first pick, I might have been left wondering when I could get a great third baseman and who he would be.

Inevitably when I go to games, I always find myself getting into discussions with some of my fellow baseball fans because they will wonder why a particular guy isn’t playing when he has “better numbers” than someone else.  Most of the time, I am usually able to explain, in a rational way, why the guy they think has better numbers shouldn’t actually be in the game.  Of course, my opinion could just be me being a curmudgeonly person and preferring to have a balanced team with great pitching, stellar defense and enough offense to score one more run than the opposing team.  However, in fantasy, because you are looking to fill a roster with the players at every position that have the best offensive numbers and with pitching, you want the pitchers who have the best stats for the categories you score in, you lose sight of a player who does just enough to win the real game.  Those players somehow are viewed as bad at baseball because they don’t put up those stellar numbers.

There are a few positions on the field that seem to lend themselves to this type of thinking and ironically, they happen to be some of the most important defensive positions, in my opinion.  Consider you have a player who bats .275, has a few stolen bases, not much pop in his bat (1 home run) with a stellar glove and has 15 rbis.  Now, there is a guy on the team who plays the same position, but bats .248, also a few stolen bases, 10 home runs and a so-so to bad glove with 25 rbis.  Oh and the position the guy plays is second base.  I know many people who say, I want the second guy because he hits home runs.   Personally, I’d prefer to have the first guy because he plays a middle infield position and I would much rather my middle infielder be spectacular at defense.  That is a position that I think is more important to have a guy who is strong defensively than to be spectacular offensively.  If I get power numbers out of the player / position in the real game, it’s a bonus.

It seems to me that many people who play fantasy baseball will tend to look at all the positions on the field as needing to have players who are spectacular offensively and when they get a Second Baseman, Center Fielder or Catcher who doesn’t put up monster offensive numbers isn’t considered as good.  This inevitably leads to fans thinking the team needs a better second baseman, center fielder or catcher on the team.  I don’t count the Short Stop in this category because over time, that has changed to being a bit of a power position with the likes of players like A-Rod and Cal Ripken, Jr. who showed that a big guy can play a position that previously had been played by small guys with no power to hit the ball at all.  The same fantasy-warp also applies to pitchers as well.  If you have a pitcher who is a power pitcher (guy who throws a lot of strikes and gets guys out via strikeouts) he is deemed as more valuable than someone who is more of a finesse pitcher (or as I call them a pitching pitcher) i.e. someone who pitches to contact and must rely on his defense to get outs.  The power guy generally should have a lower WHIP (walks plus hits divided by innings pitched) because he is striking guys out so not many hits will happen.  This of course is assuming he isn’t walking a guy for every one he strikes out.  (see Carlos Marmol as someone who is close to doing this).

In any event, I enjoy playing fantasy baseball, but I wish that it didn’t have such an influence in how people actually view the game on the field and what the players can do.  I think in order to have a successful team that wins, all you need is great pitching, stellar defense and just enough offense to score one more run than the other team.  Now to work on setting up the various things in my league and to figure out what this year’s draft strategy will be

Opposites Attract

Dec31

I love sports.  They are dependable for ensuring that if I am having a crappy day, that watching a game, whether it is an old one or currently happening, I will be cheered up.  They rarely let me down in terms of knowing what is going to happen.  The thrill of finding out how the ending will occur is so much fun for me.  If I am let down by sports, it is usually because the team I am rooting for didn’t end up with my desired result.  Though, this disappointment doesn’t last long as I always look forward to seeing the next game.  Even if I am having the best day ever, sports just are icing on my fabulous cake for keeping the party going.

I will watch most any sports, but my favorites are about as opposite as one can get.  Fortunately, they are also in opposite times during the year, so that I am occupied with sports year-round without a break.  Some may find this strange because you should take a break from your loves just for sanity purposes, but for me, there is an inherent break given the sports I follow closely. 

Hockey and Baseball.  Fast, heart-pounding, brutal, ice, clock.  Those would be things that come to mind when I am thinking about hockey.  Slower, long grind, nine, grass, timeless.  Those are some of the words that come to mind for me when I think about baseball.  In almost every way, these two sports are opposite.  Both are team sports, except that baseball is deceptive in that while it is a team sport, it is more about the individual players coming together to do something.  Guys can still be superstars even if only one person is putting up stats while the rest of the team is just blah or in some cases, just bad at the game.  With hockey, sure, there are superstars, but every guy on that team needs to do his thing in order for the points to be put up on the scoreboard and the team to win.  Sure, at times a team will get a win that can and should be credited to a goalie who stood on his head, but for the most part, you need all the forwards, defensemen and the goalie to work in concert for things to equate to a win.

The biggest difference for me between the two is the speed of the game.  In hockey, you are up against a clock.  The guys are athletic and moving around on skates!  Things happen quickly and if you aren’t paying close attention, you can miss something in the blink of an eye.  When I watch hockey, it can be the most intense 60 minutes ever (spread out over about 2.5 hours).  If a guy with the puck gets a breakaway to the net and then shoots and JUST MISSES the goal or the goalie makes a great block, it is super intense, waiting for that score to happen.  I think it is probably more intense when it is a potential goal that the team you aren’t rooting for shoots.  When your team’s goalie makes a great stop, you will realize you were holding your breath waiting to see if the puck crosses the line.  In baseball, there is none of this type of heart-pounding stress.  You know you are in for at least 3 hours of time to sit back and relax while watching the game.  Sure, there are times when you will hold your breath — usually when a pitcher is throwing a no-hitter or making a bid for a perfect game, but generally, guys get hits and you just want to make sure that the base runners don’t score.  Sometimes, the game can go really quickly if you get two pitchers who like to get the ball and throw it to the plate.  Those type of pitchers will not allow for batters to play games to mess with their rhythm.  Those are also games where no one is getting very far on the base path.  Honestly, I love those types of games because anytime there is a great pitching duel, sign me up.  I know a lot of baseball fans out there don’t care for them because they would like to see lots of home runs (and the ensuing fireworks that some parks will shoot off when a home run is hit).

The inherent heart-pounding with hockey is a great change for when it is not baseball season.  And conversely, the relaxed games of baseball are great to get away from the heart-pounding that is hockey.  Hockey is just intense and I love it.  The fact that you have guys going after each other and even the fights are just amazing.  Seeing those guys do that, it is a way to enjoy getting out aggression without being an angry person myself.  With baseball, it is just more relaxed in terms of being able to watch, but you don’t have to do it super closely to know what is happening.  Once in a while there will be a fight, but the whole team will get involved.  Personally, I like the way hockey goes about dealing with the aggression and hits.  Unfortunately in baseball, it doesn’t always happen. Especially if you happen to be watching an American League game where the pitchers don’t hit.

Overall, each sport has its own unique rhythm and beauty and watching to see what the beauty in each game is, is a wonderful thing.  Speed, athleticism and skill in each are all on display in different ways.  Every sport has its own rhythm and beauty, but for me, the beauty in hockey and baseball is the best kind of beauty to behold.  If you haven’t experienced the beauty, I’d encourage you to take a look and appreciate it for all its glory.

Definitely a Hot Stove or at least it is warming up

Dec2

Just when I thought the White Sox hot stove was going to barely turn on, today they turned the burner on high and made huge news.  Such huge news that LeBron’s return to Cleveland took a backseat on sports talk radio this afternoon and there was no Bears talk.

In case you haven’t heard, the White Sox signed free agent Adam Dunn.  The same Adam Dunn that Kenny Williams has had an obsession with (because he wants more power and if it comes from the left side, like Adam does, BONUS).  There were other moves involving the Sox, which I will get to later in this post, but the huge news was Dunn.  The signing won’t be official until tomorrow afternoon at a press conference at 2 pm CST, when presumably Dunn might be introduced.  In any event, KW in his usual manner is keeping quiet on the whole thing even though every media outlet is reporting it is a done deal.  So done in fact that the Sun-Times’ Joe Cowley said it had been done for 24 hours from what he was hearing.

In any event, I know I should be thrilled about the Dunn signing, but in truth I am not sure how I feel.  This is probably because I am not a complete sabamatrician.  I appreciate stats in baseball because they can help to compare players and tell you things about them, but I also like to judge players upon what I see them do.  In my opinion, fantasy also contributes to this over reliance on stats as well (more on that in another post).  I know that thanks to Money Ball, stats are far more important in the game in evaluating talent and players, but I still can’t bring myself to put more stock in them than what I see on the field.  In any event, next season will be fun listening to Hawk Harrelson call games because he will actually have to start discussing stats potentially as opposed to just watching the game.

I GET that Dunn is superior to ANYONE who filled the Designated Hitter role for the Sox last season given the abysmal numbers put up primarily by Mark Kotsay and Andruw Jones last season.  However, if Dunn gets his hands on a glove to be used a ton in the field, his offensive output will be negated by his lack of being able to play defense.  There is no place to hide him on the field.  I am still not a fan of Dunn’s strike out rate and I fear he is going to do it at times when I least want it to happen.  I know many say that outs by a strike out are the same as if a guy hits a liner or flies out because it is still an out (unless it is in a situation where a guy is at 3rd with less than 2 outs or a guy is at 2nd with 1 or no outs), but I think that a strike out is worse because no contact has been made and with a liner or fly ball, I believe the baseball gods have a say whether that ball finds a piece of fair ground to land on.

My other issue is with Dunn is I think he is old.  Yes, he is only 31, but I still see that as on the wrong side of awesomeness.  He’s been relatively healthy, but the deal he is getting is 4 years at $56 million.  I am not a fan of the amount of the money spent on Dunn.  The years I can live with, but if for some reason Dunn starts to break down, then this deal will just look horrible.  It may be premature to think horrible deal, but it isn’t unprecedented in sports for a guy to get big money and years and then turn out to be a huge bust.  Finally with Dunn, I still question whether he is a guy who is committed to being a full-time DH.  When the Sox tried to acquire him at the 2010 trade deadline, he balked because he feels he can play the field and that he is not a designated hitter.  Only problem with that is that Dunn is the only person in baseball who thinks he can play the field.  I hope he is fine with being a DH because he is terrible with a glove.

As I started writing this post, I found out that the White Sox have reached an agreement with AJ Pierzynski for 2 years at around $8 million.  This is good.  I have thought that of the free agents we were losing, he was the one that needed to be a priority.  I didn’t think that Tyler Flowers was ready to handle the pitching staff and after Victor Martinez went to Detroit, the available free agent catchers left a lot to be desired.  This news I know made a friend of mine on twitter extremely happy as her twitter handle is about Pierzynski.

In brief comments made today by KW, he has said that Paul Konerko is now the priority in bringing him back.  There are rumors that he is close to signing and if he does come back, The King, Dunn and Rios in the middle of the White Sox lineup makes me think that I won’t need to prepare for a 4th place division tie finish.  Apparently, there has been money found to be able to land Dunn and still bring back The King.  I really do hope PK will come back, but if he doesn’t, I do understand why he wouldn’t as I have said previously.

Other Sox action today:  As expected, Bobby Jenks was non-tendered.  For those not super baseball contract savvy, it means that the Sox chose not to offer him a contract and he is now a free agent.  Jenks still had arbitration eligibility and the Sox decided after his declining production as the closer (he was still getting the job done, but just not as well) along with his expected raise getting him close to $9 or $10 million to walk away.  Alexei Ramirez opted out of his contract for 2011 and the Sox picked up a club option on him for $2.75 million.  This was a great move.  Ramirez deserves every bit of the money he will be earning over his previous salary of $1.1 million.

Overall, I think I am mostly feeling positive about moves that are occurring. In some ways I wonder if my not being fully happy about the Dunn thing makes me a bad sox fan, but KW has done some things of late that have made my white sox lose their luster they have had for so long.  Granted, he isn’t the only culprit, but I feel like he is more to blame than others might be.  This could  be because I am so hungry to win again and make Minnesota look silly.  Because I HATE the Minnesota Twins (but maybe not completely hate them).

There are still questions to be answered, such as who will be the closer.  Matt Thornton is more than capable, but I think he might think too much and doesn’t have a short memory, which are things I don’t want my closer to have.  I want him thinking very little and I certainly want him to have an incredibly short memory.  Plus, Thornton is the best set-up man and he is a great lefty specialist if you need him there.  There is still possibility that JJ Putz could be closer, but I think he is going to walk for the best deal and I don’t see that coming from the White Sox.  The bullpen aside from the closer still needs help and the middle relievers out there are very underwhelming.  Also, I still think Carlos Quentin is an issue.  If he can be traded for a productive bat that can FIELD, then please send him packing.  As great as he was in 2008, I won’t miss him.  His “intensity” thing is getting old really fast and I think he is more destructive than productive.  I am sick of waiting for him to be good for a bit then getting in a huge funk because he had a bad at bat.

2011 is looking like the final hurrah in getting another championship.  The starting pitching is there and the offense clearly looks better than it could have been.  Really all I want is a team that has top notch pitching top to bottom, stellar defense and enough offense to score one more run than the opposing team.  I don’t need a team of sluggers but want a good balance of everything needed.  (Guess that makes me kind of old school in terms of not wanting a team that out slugs everyone to win it all). If the teams doesn’t go all the way in 2011, then maybe there could be whole sale changes in the front office with the GM going and the Manager going.  Not to mention that if KW does stay, he will have to do the one thing he has never done here and that is the dreaded rebuilding.  With the state of the farm system, I might have to prepare myself for a number of years of bad baseball on the south side.

Best of

Nov24

It is the baseball off season and it can be a lonely time in the world of sports for baseball fanatics like me. Fortunately, in January of 2009, the MLB Network was launched and that was something to pacify my time until real games began. It became a place where if I were not watching a hockey game (my “winter” sports obsession) or some tv show, my tv was usually on this network.

Surprisingly, there is a lot of good stuff on the network and over the past two years it continues to evolve and get better. Aside from having shows that tell you the latest goings on with the Hot Stove, there is also original programming.

One of the shows I have come to enjoy a lot is called Prime 9. It is a show that does a countdown of the top 9 whatever in baseball. Some of the subjects include best pitching seasons, best short stops, left fielders, cinderella season, etc. There are usually ground rules as to how they went about assessing things and they even say the point is not to make a definitive list, but to start debate.

This past week’s episodes were the best double play combos and (unique) worst uniforms. The episode about the keystone corner duos was fun to see. Only 2 of the combos on the list have i actually seen in action and from what I remember, I understand why they were listed. The other 7 in the list, I have only seen highlights from. The show also does a good job of not only showing highlights of those who played before I was aware of baseball, but also having others explain why those made the list.

The list of best double play duos is

9.  Joe Morgan and Dave Concepcion

8. Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese

7. Lou Whittaker and Alan Trammel

6. Roberto Alomar and Omar Vizquel

5. Nellie Fox and Luis Aparicio

4. Joe Gordon and Phil Rizzuto

3. Bill Mazeroski and Gene Alley

2. Johnny Evers and Joe Tinker

1. Bobby Grich and Mark Bellanger

The uniforms episode was awesome to see.  This was a chance to look back at some of the fashion choices that teams have had over the years.  Of course, most of these choices came from the color tv era.  Some of the uniforms you just couldn’t appreciate unless you saw them in full technicolor glory.  And at times, it would look like your tv was puking with all the fanciful choices made.  Of course as I watched this, I was wondering who on earth the owners of the teams at the time consulted in coming up with the particular colors, etc.  It was also interesting to hear what some of the players had to say about wearing some of the worst uniforms that could have ever been thought of.  This show also reminded me of some teams, like the Dodgers and Yankees that have only had a couple uniforms throughout their history and imagining those teams wearing anything other than their normal uniforms would probably cause me to keel over from shock.  Camouflage uniforms were not included because those are to honor the troops (and I am all for doing whatever can be done to honor them and what they do for me.)

The most unique (worst):

9. San Francisco Giants and their orange jersey (back when it was a regular part of the rotation and not just on fridays) and the orange stockings.

8. Florida Marlins (in particular, the teal colored sleeves when they first came into existence)

7. Anaheim Angels (this was the uniform pre-2002 that had the wings, pinstripes and the periwinkle blue sleeves)

6. Cleveland Indians and the RED uniforms of the 70s.  The players they talked to about this uni were united in their dislike of looking like giant peppers or ketsup

5.  San Diego Padres’ uniforms from the 70s that were brown and mustard colored.

4. Kansas City / Oakland Athletics.  These uniforms were due to Charlie Finley with the Gold and Green and it sort of fit in with his marketing of the players and various nicknames they had.  Seems to have worked as there is still the green, gold and white that you see in Oakland.

3. Pittsburgh Pirates.  These uniforms were from the 70s and while the Yellow and Black colors wasn’t a big deal, the sheer number of uniform combinations was mind-boggling.  Their poor equipment guy

2.  Houston Astros of the late 70s / early 80s.  These uniforms had a bit of a rainbow look to them.  Surprisingly, it is one of the common ones for throw-back uniform looks and you can see a lot of people wearing them in the stands at times.

1. AND THE MOST UNIQUE / WORST UNIFORMS?????  Feel free to guess.  As I was watching the episode, I was thinking the entire time, if this particular team’s uniform didn’t appear on the list, the people who put the list together really just did a huge injustice with the concept.  Seeing it as the worst however, I couldn’t agree more with the list makers.  Fortunately, on throwback uniform days, this team has NEVER sought to resurrect these uniforms, which is the best thing ever.

RIP 2010 White Sox

Oct26

So long, farewell, Auf wiedersehen, good night.  Rest in Peace 2010 Chicago White Sox.  You provided me with a lot of fun, a lot of frustration and a lot of what if for a season that was better than 2009, but somehow felt far worse in 2010.  Perhaps the feeling that 2010 was worse than 2009 was because of the acute awareness that we were going on 5 years of the last time you got to the promise land.  Maybe it was because I was listening to sports talk radio more and the various hosts and pundits were speaking with such urgency and hunger for a championship, that I was starting to crave it more.  Or, perhaps it was the bravado of the general manager who put this together with the pitching that made it all seem like it should happen.  In any event, a toast to the season past and looking forward to another long grind in hopes of a championship in 2011.

It is fitting that I write this today on the 5th anniversary of the Chicago White Sox winning the World Series in 2005.  I know in the coming weeks, there will be lots of changes coming to the team.  I’m pretty sure Mark Kotsay (who felt he was underappreciated) and Andruw Jones (who did his thing for a couple of months then went back to bad) will not be back with the team.  I don’t think Omar Vizquel will be back, but he still is in great shape and may want to play and mentor young players.  Questions remain with whether Paul Konerko will be back and I don’t think he will be.  There is also a question at catcher.  My guess is the White Sox will low ball A.J. Pierzynski and it will be up to the market to see if a team wants A.J. for more years and money than the White Sox will offer.  Of course, there are issues at 3rd base.  After the 2010 season, I don’t see Mark Teahen getting that job unless he goes to Camp Cora (assuming Joey doesn’t get a managerial job) and becomes a better 3rd baseman than Brooks Robinson or Mike Schmidt defensively.

The middle infield looks good.  I expect that for 2011, Alexi Ramirez will continue to develop into an elite shortstop and I have no doubt that Gordon “Bacon” Beckham will also continue his development as a 2nd baseman.  The outfield for 2011 also appears up in the air to me as it seems to me that only Center Field is set.  Alex Rios was quite the pleasant surprise for 2010 given how he was a disappointment when he came to the Sox in 2009 after a waiver wire deal.  Carlos Quentin still frustrates to no end.  After watching what he can do and then seeing how he gets in his own way when it comes to hitting, he is clearly his own worst enemy.  From what I see, he looks like a guy who over thinks everything and could benefit from some days of just going out, playing the game as just that – A GAME and having fun.  I know that is easier said than done, but if he could do that, he might actually be the player that everyone thinks is there.  The other annoying thing with him is that in 2010, he was playing Right Field as though he had never fielded there in his life.  Some of the routes he takes to catch fly balls made zero sense and he at times would make the worst left fielder look like an all-star if that guy played in right.  Given how much of an enigma Quentin is, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him traded this off season. 

Juan Pierre was much better than I thought.  Although, at the beginning of the season, I was not one of those fans who was pining to bring back Scott Podsednik as I think he is beyond baseball stupid and while Pierre and Podsednik are basically the same type of player and would put up similar numbers, I’d much prefer to have a guy who had baseball intelligence to one who was just as dumb playing the game as you could find.  Granted, Pierre didn’t make as much contact or get on base as much as sabermatricians would like, he was serviceable enough in the job that I was ok with things for the most part.  Whether he will be back next season, not sure, but if KW can find a better lead-off option then I am all for that. 

The pitching staff.  Those were the guys who were touted at the start of the 2010 season as being the savior of the team and would-be leaders to the Promised Land.  With a starting 4 of Buehrle, Peavey, Floyd and Danks, how could this team not go far?  Not to mention having Freddy Garcia as a number 5 could be fine.  And if he wasn’t, you had a few guys in the minors who would work as a serviceable 5th starter.  Sadly, the pitching staff got off to a bad start.  That, going along with lack of offense made of a recipe for a bad start to the season.  It seemed if the hitting was there, the pitching wasn’t.  If the pitching was, there were not enough runs scored to support it.  Eventually, it all did come together, but then the bullpen faltered down the stretch and alas, the season came to an end for the White Sox. 

I can only hope that the ensuing off-season will bring together a group of guys to fit with the existing starters (and all those guys come back healthy – I’m looking at you Jake Peavy) and few position players that will not only compete, but actually win in 2011.  Some advice for KW:  for the love of god, please get off the obsession with Adam Dunn.  And while you are at it, stop obsessing with other players you’ve been looking at / after for quite some time and trying to make them members of the White Sox.  Go get the best players out there, hell even dream and get in the Cliff Lee sweepstakes.  And please stop going after washed-up has-beens who you think you can catch lightening in the bottle.  News-flash – you won’t because there is really nothing to be caught (see how that Jones experiment worked?  Good while it lasted and not there when it was needed most).  Stop trying to bring the Kansas City Royals to the south side, unless you are talking about bringing Zack Greinke or Joakim Soria here.  Lastly, please don’t disappoint me and other fans with bringing in bad players or giving out bad contracts that make it impossible to move those players later when you realize those players are bad.  

And now back to my regularly scheduled watching of post season baseball, hockey and the occasional football game.

Love-Hate Relationships

Oct12

Relationships. So many different kinds we have in life. We have so many with relationships with people such as lovers, friends, parents, siblings, co-workers, frenemies, virtual friends. We also have them with objects. Some of us even have them with sporting teams.  And yes, I would be one who has a relationship with sporting teams.  Most of the time, I have a great deal of love for my White Sox.  But there are times when the team plays so badly that I hate them.  On the flip side of that, I generally have a bit of a hate for the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers.  Rarely do I have much love for either of those teams.  I can’t say that I have that kind of emotion for the Cleveland Indians or Kansas City Royals, but that is because those teams have been so bad for such a long time, that they don’t worry me as being any real competition or threat to the White Sox.

However, the Minnesota Twins really test my patience as far as a love hate relationship goes with something.  I was very excited and actively rooted against them in the 2010 playoffs against the Yankees.  I was an unabashed fan of the Yankees and it was because I dislike the Twins getting to the playoffs so much.  Granted, the reason they were there was because they played well and my White Sox blew it on so many occasions.  The Twins have also owned the White Sox like the Yankees have owned the Twins.  As much fun as it was to enjoy the Yankees making the Twins look silly, it was also painful to watch.  Mainly because I missed that my team wasn’t in the playoffs.

Of course, at the same time, watching the Twins make the playoffs yet again, made me wish that my team had an organization like the Twins do in a lot of ways.  If there is one nice thing I can say about Kenny Williams, the general manager for the White Sox it is that he is aggressive and will take a chance at finding lighting in a bottle and getting that key piece that is needed.  Something that truly irks me about the organization though is that from top to bottom, I don’t see everyone being on the same page.

In examining the Twins organization, they stress that what players do at the Major League level is the same stuff they expect from players in instructional league.  Players don’t advance to the next level until the organization is satisfied that a player will do things the right way.  This was super important for the Twins because they are a small market team that didn’t have a lot of revenue to go a buy the necessary pieces that were needed for a championship.  Because of this, they had to ensure their home-grown players were ready when they moved to the next level.  What is so cool about this (and irritating if you support a team NOT the twins) is that if a player at the Major League level gets hurt then the guy who is in the minors can easily be plugged in to that position and fill that void left.  It is as if the MLB player didn’t disappear because the guy who replaced him is more than adequate to handle things.  This is especially noticeable when it comes to defense.

I truly hate, yet am supremely envious of this.  Generally, the Twins are one of the best defensive teams in MLB and they rarely beat themselves with dumb mistakes that will lead to runs being score by the other team, whether by error or giving the other team extra outs to make plays.  When guys go down, they don’t miss a beat.  And this fact about the Twins makes me love them and hate myself for loving an “enemy” so much for what they do top to bottom.  Great examples from the 2010 season was early on, Joe Nathan, their closer had to have Tommy John surgery, which meant he was done before the season even began.  The guy who filled in for him, did an ok job and then at the trade deadline in July, they went and picked up a guy to help them out even more to help solidify the bullpen.  The 3rd baseman, Danny Valencia who ended the season did not appear in the line up for the Twins until June and he just slide right in.  He came up big for the team late down the stretch run as well.  Very few of the players on the roster are not home-grown.  And seeing how well they play, I am envious and kind of hate that they have so much GOOD home-grown talent. Of course, the player i love-hate the most is Joe Mauer.  He is their catcher and the way he goes about playing the game as well as the daily beating he takes as a catcher is just amazing.

On the other hand, when I see these things, it makes me sad that my team’s farm system is so depleted.  For the most part, I am on board with the idea that prospects are good for using to obtain pieces that are proven that will help you with the ultimate goal of winning a championship.  However, when I see the major league players who seem to be completely lacking in any concept of fundamental play, such as if you’re throwing a relay play from the outfield to make sure you hit the cut-off man to prevent the base runners from advancing, I get very sad because it seems to so rarely happen that those fundamentals are put into play.   In the past 10 years, the white sox have had VERY FEW players on the roster who are home-grown talent.  On the 2010 roster, only 1 pitcher and 1 position player for the entire season were home-grown.  And when injuries happened, it seemed like the replacements were just not quite ready, but as a fan I had to deal with those guys because there wasn’t anyone else to fill in.

I know many sox fans may disagree with me because there seemed to be a lack of hitting during the season and some of the players who filled in were relatively good with the bat, but in my opinion, those guys were horrible with the glove and that hurt the team more due to possibly committing an error and the pitcher being  unable to pitch over it or maybe giving the opposition more than 3 outs to work with.   What I can hope is good news is that in the last few years the White Sox have been doing some overhauling of the minor league system and perhaps there will be a little more focus on truly developing prospects as opposed to developing enough to trade them away.  Thus far, none of the prospects trade away have burned the team, but who knows when that day will actually come.  I would just like to once in a while see some home-grown talent and if the team needs to call upon those guys, I won’t be watching that guy playing with a bottle of tums worried he is going to be beyond horrible handling a glove.

Hannukah, Christmas and Kwanzaa in October!

Oct6

October 6, 2010.  The date the Yankees begin the 11 game trek to accomplish Mission 28, i.e. winning world series title 28 in the team’s history.  It is also just hours away from the start of the NHL season.  Or better, the campaign for the defense of the Stanley Cup by the Blackhawks.  As a baseball addict and huge lover of the Chicago Blackhawks, this is such an exciting time.  I don’t necessarily care who wins the World Series — well as long as it is not the Minnesota Twins, but post season baseball is the bomb.  The eight teams that make the post season have a fresh start and anything can happen.  Particularly when in the first round when it is a best of 5 series.  You get a team that is firing at all cylinders and they can be dangerous.  Add a top flight pitching staff with potential aces as your 1-3 game starters and it could be amazing.

Even though my team is out of the playoffs this year I still will find someone and something to root for.  Whether it is the Texas Rangers getting to the playoffs and the amazing story of Josh Hamilton, Dusty Baker leading the Cincinnati Reds to the playoffs and being only the 2nd manager to lead 3 different teams to the playoffs, the Yankees going for it again, etc., there is always something fun to see.  I am hoping to see some amazingly pitched games as well as stellar defense to back up the pitching.  A few magnificent runs would be great as well.  Whatever happens, it will be fun guaranteed.

As for hockey season beginning, it is going to be fun.  Even though the Blackhawks lost a lot of key players due to salary cap issues after winning the Cup in June, I still like the way the team looks. There is still depth there and the core is still there.  It is going to be an exciting season to watch.  It will be a little sad seeing some of the former Blackhawk players on other teams, but such is the business of sports where you can’t keep everyone you would like to.  That can be for a number of reasons, but generally they can all be summed up as due to the almighty dollar.

My guess is that I won’t be fully engaged in the hockey season until the baseball post season is over, but that is ok.  I wasn’t fully engaged in baseball until the Stanley Cup had been decided.  Here is to an exciting post season coming up as well as a phenomenal start to the hockey season for the Blackhawks.

My King is most likely leaving me

Oct4

Paulie.  The King.  The Captain.  Harvester of Sorrow.  Class Act.  One of the nicest players ever.  Hard Working.  Generous.  Unassuming.  Even keel.

When I think about Paul Konerko, the first baseman for the Chicago White Sox, the above are many of the words that come to mind when I think about him.  And I probably have seen his last game as a member of the Chicago White Sox.  Fortunately, the team ended the 2010 season at home so I was able to go to the last few games and see him play.  As it was the final game, I had to go and am glad I did.  Admittedly, I had thought about not going to the game because I could have done a ton of stuff at home, but given that it could very well be the last time I see Paul take an at-bat in a sox uniform, hear Harvester of Sorrow by Metallica played as his walk-up music.  I had to attend this game.  It was also potentially the last game that A.J. Pierzynski plays as a member of the White Sox as well, but with Paul, it felt more like saying good-bye to a really reliable friend who was leaving.

On thursday, Sept. 30, 2010, Paul had a session with the media where he discussed his upcoming free agency and what the future may hold for him.  The comments that Konerko made struck me as extremely honest and frankly quite refreshing to hear.  Granted, they were not exactly something a long time fan of his would want to hear, but I greatly appreciate his honesty as over the years, I feel that I have come to expect nothing less of him.  A few things that struck me that Konerko said with regard to his free agency had to do with what he was looking for in terms of expectations, the “home town” discount and how to catch the Minnesota Twins.

With regard to catching the Twins: “The Twins are a good team, a great team, and more than that they go about it the right way.  You have to go out and catch them.  They’re not going to come back to you.  With the talent and the people here we can do that if we tidy up some tings and get a little better with some things and move their way, move toward. them.”  With regard to tidying things up and whether that meant on or off the field, Konerko said, “A little bit of both, a little bit of everything.”

I can only speculate about what he means when he says a little bit of tidying up off the field, but it does make me wonder if the drama off the field between Kenny Williams, the GM for the White Sox and Ozzie Guillen, the manager did actually get to the players and potentially mess with what the players were trying to do.  The off the field drama was in my opinion ridiculous.  I really hope it wasn’t a distraction to the players, despite it keeping the Chicago sports media busy with things to talk about on a never ending basis.  The statement also makes me wonder if there is still some anger in the fact that Ozzie said no to the idea of Jim Thome, who is an incredibly close friend of Paul’s coming back to the sox for the 2010 season.   As much as Ozzie has said blame him for the decision, I think Kenny is to blame just as much since as the GENERAL MANAGER who brings the players to the team to be managed, he could have brought Jim Thome back if he really wanted to do it.  Unless the ultimate motive was to make Ken Williams look as good as possible while throwing his manager under the bus.

In terms of expectations for free agency, I like and appreciate that Konerko is not going into things thinking he should get a particular number of years and / or money to continue playing.  He seems to want to see what the market is for his services and then go from there in deciding what to do next.  Last off season was not kind to veteran players.  Jermaine Dye ended up not playing in the 2010 season because of what he was looking for in terms of position (not keen on being a DH), length of contract, etc.  He had offers to play, but for him the situations presented were not to his liking, so he sat out.  Perhaps he will play again in 2011, but who knows.  Johnny Damon was another veteran who it took some time to sign because of what he was looking for in terms of salary and playing time.  He eventually ended up with the Detroit Tigers, but for only one year.  While things were unkind to veterans in the 2009 off season, I did hear that Konerko could set the market for the 2010 free agent first baseman class.  Either way, I hope he can get what is most beneficial to him and allows him to enjoy playing the game a few more years.

The most surprising of the comments is that money isn’t a huge factor.  In discussing his future, Konerko is very honest in that he has his family to think about since he has a 5 year old and a 2 year old.  Or as he said, real little people walking around.  From the comments, it really seems that he is probably going to leave Chicago, even though he would like to stay.  In his comments he said that even if the white sox give more money / years, he still may end up leaving.  In other words, there isn’t necessarily a home town discount to keep him.  This is because of uncertainty in the direction the team is going, where he would fit into those plans and something that he stressed, but whether there is a need for him from any team.

Overall in listening to his comments, I get the sense that while he feels he has a few more years left to play, he would be ok with not being offered anything this off season.  He said his goal when he was in the minors was to make the majors and play in one place for 10 years at the same position.  He’s accomplished that with 2 additional years to boot.  And as a long time white sox fan, I greatly appreciate everything he has done for the team.  Mainly though, based on everything in total, I feel as though I have seen the last of Paul Konerko playing in a White Sox uniform.  The comments regarding more years / money from sox vs. another team really do it for me.  Surprisingly, I am ok with that.  For some time, I have felt the team needs to move in a different direction to get back to the world series and if in order to accomplish that goal, Konerko and the White Sox need to part ways, then so be it.

He has given me immense joy watching him play with my favorite team and for that I will always be grateful for what he did.  I have never attended Sox Fest so I have never met him, but from those who have, they say he is a wonderful person.   I do have an autographed photo and signed ball by him and I love that I have these items in my collection of white sox stuff.  Thank you Paul for the time you’ve been here and I really do hope things align in the universe so that you can finish your career and retire as a member of the White Sox.  Whenever you do hang it up, I have no doubt that Jerry will erect a statute to commemorate your service on the outfield concourse.

So many things

Sep30

Wow, it has been a busy 24 hours with my White Sox. First there were the comments from Mark Buehrle on the end of this coming season and what he might do after next season. Then, Paul Konerko held a mini presser with media before tonight’s game to discuss his impending free agency. On top of that, ESPN has announced it is coming out with a station for WOMEN. I have so many thoughts on these issues and if I write about them all, it would be one really long post. So, for now, I will give you a taste of my opinions on these things with much more in-depth though in later posts coming this weekend. (because i really am trying to keep up with the blogging and start doing it regularly).

On Buehrle: I don’t begrudge him contemplating retirement, but I did hear some stuff on sports talk radio that he was being a whiny guy for walking away from it if he does given how the economy is right now for a lot of working people.  That was an interesting debate to listen to and frankly those who “don’t want to hear it” from Buehrle, I can see where they may get that from, but I think their irritation is misplaced. Particularly given some of the reasons that Buehrle has given as to why he could potentially hang it up after his current contract ends.

On the Beloved Paul Konerko:  He is such a classy guy on the field and seems that way off the field.  I won’t go so far as to say he is, because 1) i don’t know him and 2) i don’t want to live in a fantasy totally in believing he is a great guy when he just might not be and hides it well.  Please don’t misunderstand that I am slamming him because I LOVE Paul Konerko, the first baseman for the White Sox for the past dozen years.  I just have to be realistic about how a guy may be off the field and how I am not privy to how he may behave otherwise.  His comments on pending free agency are understandable, especially given the fact that no one knows what direction the team is going and if he is indeed tired of the off the field drama that has occurred this season, I can’t blame him for wanting to go to an organization that doesn’t have those issues.  If he chooses to not come back to the White Sox, I would be sad, but completely understand.  I am so thankful for his years of service and the entertainment he has provided me since he has been a member of this team.

On ESPN Women:  Dear 4-letter network buffoons:  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!?!?  Are you now implying that women aren’t smart enough to watch your regular networks?  Are you implying that you need to have a channel focusing on women so you can show stupid commercials, pink up the viewing, etc. to get women to watch?  Am I not allowed to watch your regular stuff and understand?  This has got to be the dumbest idea ever.  I suppose I could “give” it a shot, but really I am just feeling insulted that somehow I need to have my sports catered to me, in the same way that clothing manufacturers figure that if they make my favorite teams’ attire in pink, I will happily buy & wear it.  Never mind that 1) my team’s colors are NOT pink and 2) I want to wear my team colors in flattering sizing!

Those are my very brief initial thoughts on the day’s news that struck me.  In the next couple of days, I will have much longer posts on each of these things and hopefully, I can reconcile my feelings with what has been said and discussed.

Kiss and Make Up

Sep27

On September 27, 2010, the white sox brass had a meeting and apparently it was decided that Ozzie Guillen, the current manager of the White Sox will be back for the 2011 season.  All season long, there has been a bit of a battle between Ozzie the manager and Ken Williams, the GM, with Jerry Reinsdorf, the owner playing dad between his two squabbling sons.  Many things have gone on during the season to make the relationship between Oz and KW bad, including the whole twitter-gate controversy, the drafting of the youngest Guillen son by the White Sox in what was perceived as way too low for his talent, Ozzie’s desire to have a rotating DH while KW wanted to have one specific player at DH, whether to bring Jim Thome back among others.

Ozzie is under contract through 2011 and he has an option for the 2012 season.  Lately, it seems that Ozzie wanted further assurances that he would be with the Sox beyond 2012.  The 2012 option automatically kicks in if the White Sox win the AL central in 2011, but even if they don’t Oz could still be back.  Sadly of late, this whole drama ended up being the story of the white sox season.  It was getting so bad that many started to take sides and demand either Oz or KW should be gone because the relationship was so damaged and seemingly unworkable.  There has even been speculation that with the amount of managerial turnover about to occur in MLB, Oz might have been trying to get himself fired so he could go manage another team since he was under contract.  If Oz was / is trying to get fired for potentially greener pastures, I am not a fan of that.  Call me crazy, but I feel that if you have a contract and a commitment to do something, you should follow through, no matter how bad things may get at times, especially if you personally are contributing to the atmosphere you are working in.

Personally, I haven’t really made up my mind fully as to whether a continued Oz and KW romance for putting together a winning baseball team is ultimately what I would like to see for my team.  I do think Oz is a good manager, although he has issues.  I also think for the most part that KW has been a good GM.  However, with the two strong personalities, I am not sure it can last much longer and be for the good of the team to bring another championship to the White Sox.  It has worked for the most part, but all good things must come to an end and I am starting to think this has reached the boiling point, despite what has happened of late. While it seems the two children have made up from their feud that had gotten quite ugly during the season, I feel I need to see more before I can say they truly have kissed and made up.  This latest news just says that the off season will be more entertaining and potentially volatile than I can remember in a really long time.