Both Barrels

Rough times for Cardinals fans....Pujols is out 4-6 weeks with a fractured wrist and all of a sudden, the Cardinals look like a very mediocre team. Of course, anyone who's a fan of a team in the NL Central has to acknowlege that even the best team in the division might be mediocre. Injuries have been a big part of the story of the 2011 Cardinals, but when you have a guy like Albert Pujols in your lineup you tend to weather the storm. But even with guys like Holliday and Berkman around to help keep this ship on the right course, you don't lose a guy like Albert to injury and not see some kind of impact. I didn't think the impact would be quite this noticeable, though.

One thing that I never do is celebrate injury. I think the vast majority of Cardinal fans are with me on this one. As a whole, we're a part of a fanbase that appreciates good baseball, and so that's why a recent post by a friend on Facebook has been bugging me for the last few days.

"My condolences to the Cardinals fans on the loss of your Pujols for 4-6 weeks. Today's message is brought to you by the letters H and A!! ;)"

Now to be completely honest, I'm married to one of THE greatest Cubs fans in the world. Her first words when she heard of the injury were "So we won't see Albert when we go to St. Louis?" (We're making our annual trip to Busch for the 7/29 game vs. the Cubs). That's how a real fan reacts. But too many Cubs fans seem to fit the comment above. Well, folks, it's a little too easy, but rather than respond directly to this "friend" I decided this was a better forum to blow off a little steam with responses that I'd have to that statement. With both barrels.....

1. Well now I feel bad....I didn't share my condolences when Darwin Barney...your team's best player....hit the DL.
2. Umm, when you posted this, you were still 5 games behind the Pirates. now you're 8.
3. (the LeBron answer) But when you wake up tomorrow you're still going to have the same problems....you're still rooting for the Cubs.
4. The hand gesture I'm showing you has been brought to you by the numbers 1, 9, zero and 8.
5. My favorite joke from 2006 was "What do the Cubs and Cardinals have in common? Neither team has won a World Series in their new stadium." Of course, the Cardinals ruined it by winning the 2006 World Series. I resurrected it in 2009 with the Yankees (my other favorite team) instead of the Cardinals. They ruined it, too. Doesn't have the same zip if you plug in the Twins, does it? Ahh, but it's still fun.
6. Good for you....maybe you'll only finish 15 games behind the Cards instead of 20 (or more).
7. Feels like I should be able to come up with a really witty response, but after 100+ years of this, I've grown weary of making fun of the Cubs (Ok, not old enough to have done this for 100 years, but you get the idea...).

Thanks. Felt good getting that out of my system.

(and seriously, this is meant in fun, and with the type of spirit that makes the Cardinals/Cubs rivalry the most fun in baseball)

LeBron could learn from ARod, Jeter

It might be the most I've enjoyed a championship that didn't involve a team that I cared about. It's also probably the first time since the Jordan era came to a close that I've really watched an NBA Finals series that didn't involve the Celtics. The rational human being that lurks somewhere inside my head wanted to feel at least a little bit sorry for LeBron and Heat as they fell short of their own expectations, but the obnoxious sports fan - as he often does - took over and enjoyed every second of the Heat's demise. He even switched over to see just how dejected the losers looked after the last two losses. I don't think I'm much different from any fan out there that doesn't hail from Cleveland. I don't really have any reason to hate the Heat and LeBron except for "The Decision" and the premature championship celebration. No use in spending more time talking about those events. Bottom line, you celebrate a title that you have yet to win, and people are going to love watching you lose. At times, I feel a bit uneasy at how we put people up on a pedestal in our culture and then try to tear them apart. Yet, you just know that one day, after LBJ has failed to win title after title, he'll be the sentimental favorite.

One thing that just baffles me about LeBron is how he simply refuses to learn from his previous gaffes and continues to give the public things to pick apart. He really has replaced ARod as the most needlessly dissected athlete in America.....at least until the next girlfriend is caught feeding ARod popcorn at a sporting event. Truthfully, the steroid fiasco took some of the fun out of hounding ARod. So we've moved on to LeBron. He doesn't come off as calculated as Rodriguez, but he does have the same talent for saying something completely dumb at the worst possible time. Case in point, LBJ was doing a decent enough job answering questions during the post-game presser after the Mavs clinched. Then, all of a sudden and seemingly out of nowhere, he responds with a quite that sounded to many as if he was essentially saying "I'm still 'King James', you're still a bunch of peasants, and when you wake up tomorrow, then next day, the next month, that will still be the case." It's up to you to decide what he really meant with the statement, but everyone agrees it was a poor choice of words. LeBron could learn a thing or two from a guy like Derek Jeter -- a guy who very rarely seems to be the center of controversy even playing in New York. Instead, LeBron seems to have taken a few pages out of ARod's "Guide to Embarrassing Yourelf In Front of the Media."

Thanks to my infrequent posting, a few other thoughts to share.....

1. Someone in the Post Dispatch floated the idea that the Cardinals might be the best team in the majors, and the Cards answer with a 7 game losing streak that finally came to end against Kansas City on Saturday. When healthy, the Cardinals should be as much a contender as any other NL team. But, the injuries have caught up with the team a bit, and now we're facing 4-6 weeks without Albert Pujols....although knowing Pujols, it will only be 3 weeks.
2. Speaking of Albert, the silver lining may be that it lowers the price tag a bit for 2012. Still can't imagine him playing in another uniform.
3. I'm sure this will read as a Cards fan picking on Cubs fans, but I had to laugh that many of the Cubs fans I follow on twitter suggested that their team was putting itself back into the NL Central race. We all know the NL Central is a shaky division at best, but really, when your team comes off a nice stretch where you've made up ground and you're STILL 9+ games out.....well, you were that far back for a reason, and post-Memorial Day, these things don't tend to change. Sorry.
4. Picking on the Cubs, Part II: Many Yankees fans that I follow on twitter said that the shine was off of young shortstop (of the future?) Eduardo Nunez now that they'd had a look at Starlin Castro. Wonder how they feel after watching the full series. To my eye, and it is admittedly one that looks for things to not like about the Cubs, Castro is much like Carlos Marmol and Carlos Zambrano -- tantalizing talent that makes you think he could be special, but a head that just as often makes you wonder how quickly he can get out of town.

Can't think of anything else that needed to be said....thanks for reading.

The I-55 "Rivalry"

With the possible exception of Celtics vs. Lakers, the I-55 rivalry is hands down my favorite in sports. I don't think it's one that translates outside of a particular geography, though, in the same way that C's/Lakers, Yankees/Red Sox or Packers/Bears does. A big reason for that was on grand display this past weekend.....It has seemed to be very rare in my 38 years that both the Cubs and the Cardinals have been good in the same season. They have been closer in the standings in the last decade, but the last time that this rivalry seemed to have real teeth was back in 2003 as the favored Cardinals just couldn't hang with Dusty Baker's surprising Cubs. But then in 2004, the roles flipped and the Cardinals returned the favor by being a juggernaut team (that eventually lost to the more...er, umm ....juggernaut-y Red Sox). But more often than not, it seems that when one team is a serious contender, the other fades by mid-August if not sooner. And we've certainly never seen any games with the kind of drama that was on display in the 2003 and 2004 playoffs when the Yankees and Red Sox met in the ALCS in consecutive years. It was those two series that really lead ESPN to believe that the nation really cared about that rivalry (and they've been shoving it down our throats ever since.....and I mean no disrespect -- I am as much a Yankees fan as I am a Cardinals fan).

But still, growing up in Central Illinois, this is the rivalry that seemed to matter above all others. Peoria is about 3 1/2 hours from St. Louis and about 3 from Chicago. Peoria' local Midwest League has been the low A affiliate to both the Cubs and the Cards at different points in the franchise's history -- and has seen the beginning of the careers of such talents as Greg Maddux, Mark Grace, Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina. I had friends growing up that shared my love of the Cardinals, and I had just as many friends that were Cubs fans. (Side note....only a handful of folks cared about the White Sox until they donned black hats in the 90's. And even after that, they are a distant #3 in terms of baseball pecking order....maybe further down with the likes of the Yankees, Red Sox and Braves having dominant stretches that attracted fans). For my 8th grade class trip, we had a choice of going to the St. Louis Zoo and a Cardinals game or spending a day at Six Flags. We voted for the former simply because it was the option that got us a day off of school. My 8th grade teacher, herself a huge Cubs fan, gave a lecture to the class that for the Cubs fans, it was one thing to go to St. Louis and cheer against the Cardinals, but another to do so wearing a Cubs hat (the opponent was the Braves). In other words, leave your Cubs apparel on the bus or at home.

The other reason that I love this rivalry -- it really is a friendly rivalry. I've watched games at Wrigley field, proudly wearing my red, and not been the least bit worried about being an opposing fan in "the enemy's ballpark." Same has held true for my wife when we've taken in games in St. Louis. Sure, you get a few good-natured barbs thrown your way, but I've never once felt like things would turn ugly (the same can't be said when I've worn my Yankees gear as a visiting fan). In truth, though my loyalties are rarely at odds (though I will admit to rooting for the Cubs in 2003 once the playoffs started), I just can't muster up much hatred for the Cubs. Doesn't mean I enjoy watching the Cards lose to them, but on days like today -- where the Cards have finished a heartbreaking sweep of the Cubs -- I really feel pity for Cubs fans as much as anything.

There are two players on the Cubs that I truly dislike....Carlos Zambrano and Carlos Marmol. I think both are perfect examples of the kind of misguided talent evaluation that has taken the Cubs from contenders in 2003, 2004 and 2007-09 and put them where they are today. They have great "stuff", but they also have screws loose that will ALWAYS prevent either from ever reaching his true potential. The Cubs will never win a World Series with Big Z in their rotation, and if they do ever get to a pressure packed game 7 in the NLCS with Marmol as their closer, I have no doubt that he'll fold just like he folded today. Zambrano is a bit easier to explain...I'm not sure where I picked up the intense dislike for Marmol.

But aside from that, there are a lot of Cubs players that I semi-root for....especially the young guys like Colvin and Barney. So on a day like today, I'm marveling at the way Pujols, in a down season, ended two straight games (one on a pitch that wasn't all that bad) in walk-off fashion. But I can't help but feel a bit sorry for a fan like my wife. She loves her team -- always will -- but has always had respect for the Cardinals. Of course, she like me, is married to a fan of the enemy, and related to several more such fans. But even in the worst of times, her stripes don't change. One change has happened, though. The cluelessness of the Ricketts family combined by the occasionally brilliant but mostly awful reign of Jim Hendry has made her somewhat apathetic to her team. For the second straight season, we're not going to make a single trip to Wrigley, which is especially note worthy because the Yankees come to play this year. In 2003, I burned a vacation day to buy tickets for the same series. This year, we decided that we didn't want to put any money in the Cubs' wallets. I'm thrilled with the way the Cardinals have hung in there all season -- one in which my expectations were fairly low -- but I do feel sad that a fan like my wife hasn't been able to feel the same sense of hope around her team. It's been years and years of either waiting for the bottom to drop out (when they're good) or just wondering how far down the bottom is (how she feels this year).

Vanquish the Cubs, Bring on the Reds

More time passed since my last post than I had intended, and the outlook has changed considerably since then. With my last post, Mitchell Boggs had just taken the closer reigns from Ryan Franklin, and the Cardinals were just starting to show some signs of life. As it stands today, they are atop the NL Central (tallest midget, some would say) and at times look like a serious contender in the NL. Boggs has given way to Eduardo Sanchez as the "head" of the closer committee, although we've also seen Trever Miller and Fernando Salas close things out.

We've also seen the first installment of the I-55 rivalry for 2011 - a time that is always a little tense in my household (as my wife is a huge Cubs fan). The Cards took 2 of 3, which -- and I don't mean this as anymore than a statement of fact in terms of the Cubs -- is the minimum you'd expect given the start of both teams. The sad fact of the matter, for Cubs fans, is that the team just isn't very good. There is some hope for the future as the Cubs continue to fill the gaps with young talent from the farm system. Geo Soto and Starlin Castro have both settled in as fixtures in the lineup, and while it is too early to proclaim him the real deal just yet, Darwin Barney is looking like the type of player that might hold down 2B for a couple of years. Tyler Colvin has struggled to start the year, and may earn a trip back to AAA Iowa, but playing behind the likes of Alfonso Soriano, Kosuke Fukudome and Carlos Pena means that either ineffectiveness or injury is likely going to give you a shot sometime soon. The young pitchers are also starting to gel a bit -- Samardzija is starting to develop something useful besides his fastball and Andy Cashner looks like a top 3 starter (and is getting closer to coming off the DL). So while 2011 looks like another "wait for next year" type of season, the tide may be turning.

Of course, you can't talk about the series in Chicago without mentioning "The Hug". During batting practice prior to the first game of the series, Cubs GM Jim Hendry and Pujols greeted each other with a hug.

Many a hopeful Cubs fan decided that this was just the latest sign that Pujols would ditch the Cardinals to sign with the Cubs. The Cubs also have several big contracts coming off the books and would be able to offer the huge contract that Pujols is looking for. It would certainly be a coup for the Cubs to sign the megastar player away from their rivals, but this would be a terrible move on several fronts.

First off, Pujols isn't going to the Cubs for any less than he's demanding of the Cards. You needn't look any further than left field at Wrigley to understand why you don't give a player in his 30's a lengthy free agent deal. Plus, with all of the contracts coming off the books, the Cubs are going to have a few holes to fill. Even if Pujols took money over than winning, who are you putting at 3rd? Right Field? What about the rotation? Obviously, I'm far from unbiased, but I really don't see it happening, and if it does, I think it would be yet another signal that Cubs management just doesn't get it.

The Cardinals left Chicago and rolled into Cincinnati ready to take on the Reds. The Reds have been a bit of an enigma this season. They started out the season looking like a powerhouse, then came back to earth. But with Cueto and Bailey back in the rotation and Scott Rolen returning to face his former team, the Reds are poised to take the lead in the NL Central if they can sweep the Cards. Friday's game was one that has become typical of this rivalry as the Cards jumped out to the early lead only to having the Reds continue to hang around until Joey Votto's walk off single in the 10th. The remaining two games in this series should prove to be equally as dramatic.

Where Did the Fight Go?

I had the best intentions of writing a post about the now infamous fight in Cincinnati last week, but the reality of life with a 6 month old child and 40+ hour a week job (not to mention being old and needing sleep) got in the way. With the extra few days of perspective, my viewpoint changes, and not really for the better.

The Cardinals finally looked like the team most expected them to be during that series versus the Reds. They were ticked at Brandon Phillips calling them "little bitches", and they set out to show him and his team why they were still the team to beat in the NL Central. It was a much anticipated series, and turned out to be a bit of a yawn. With sweep in hand, the Cards returned home to face the lowly Cubs and a roster that looked like it belonged in Des Moines. I was thinking sweep, or 2 of 3 at the very least.

Now that the Cards have dropped 2 of 3, I'm starting to become more and more convinced that this is a team destined to go out with a whimper once October rolls around -- assuming they even make it that far. For the second straight series, the Cardinals can only manage one win against the Cubs. Had the Redbirds shown any streak of consistency at all in 2010, I might chalk this up to the rivalry and the fact that these series against their biggest rival are about as close to meaningful baseball as the Cubs are going to see from here on out. We've seen this series after series with this year's Cardinals, though, and unless that mythical switch is out there just waiting to be thrown, we might be seeing a team falling far short of expectations. A shame, given that so many things are going right:

1. Wainwright is having his second straight Cy Young worthy campaign.
2. Pujols has turned things on and just became the only player in history to hit 30 HR in 10 straight seasons.
3. Matt Holliday is putting up numbers consistent with a guy who commanded huge money on the free agent market.
4. Jaime Garcia has more than made up for the departure of Joel Piniero and softened the injuries of Lohse and Penny.
5. Rookie Jon Jay has been raking and is an almost permanent fixture in the 2 hole.
6. Colby Rasmus still has some room to grow, but is clearly blossoming into one of the team's best players.
   

In spite of all of this, the Cards still find themselves trailing the Reds on 8/16. Why is that? You can point to some of the under-performers -- Ryan, Schumaker, Lopez, etc. Then there are injuries to guys like Freese, Lohse, Penny and (since traded) Ludwick. The big problem, though, is that the team doesn't seem to play with that "Win or Die" mentality that Tony LaRussa managed teams seem to carry. Tough to pinpoint a simple reason why that is missing, but if this team doesn't find its heart soon, then we'll be talking 2011 much sooner than any of us would have thought.

D. Lee - Loser, Part 2: ....And we have our answer

I had started out the day thinking about my post regarding Derrek Lee and the possibility that he'd veto any deal that would send him to a contender. One very plausible reason that Lee would veto a trade -- something I knew about but wasn't thinking of as I wrote my entry -- is because his daughter suffers from a rare disorder called Leber's Congenital Amaurosis. You can read more about Lee's Project 3000 here.

I would give Lee a pass here if I truly believed that was the reason, but there is some evidence to suggest that a bigger reason is just that Lee would prefer to draw his salary and finish out the season with the Cubs and doesn't care in the slightest about having a chance to compete down the stretch -- and of course rebuild some of his value as he heads into free agency.

The topic came up on WSCR's "The Mully and Hanley Show" this morning as the hosts spoke with Chicago Tribune baseball writer Phil Rogers. You can listen and judge for yourself, but to me, Rogers tone of voice confirmed what I've thought and written about -- that Lee doesn't put much importance on winning. Rogers even mentioned that when asked about going to a contender, Lee commented that he'd "...been on 100 loss teams before..." when he was in Florida. Hardly sounds like a guy that values the ring, huh?

And now we have proof as ESPN1000's Bruce Levine has confirmed that Lee will turn down any opportunity to join a contender, in spite of the fact that we know that both the Rangers and the Angels have inquired about making a deal. I can now say, with certainty, that Derrek Lee is the PERFECT poster child for the mess that the Cubs have become.

D. Lee: How to admit you're not a winner without actually saying so

When he was first traded to the Cubs, I thought that Derrek Lee was as classy of a player as there was in the NL. He also chose that time to start putting up some pretty impressive numbers, and so I thought the Cubs at least had a player around that I could root for. Now, in 2004, I was probably closer to being a bandwagon Cubs fan than I've ever been at any time in my life. Let me explain that real quick -- I grew up a Cards and a Yanks fan, but lost touch with baseball a bit when basketball was top dog in sports. I also drifted away from the Cards a bit because of some down years and then Tony La Russa's decision to force out my all time favorite player -- Ozzie Smith -- in favor of Royce Clayton. Had the Cards won the NLCS in '96 and faced the Yankees in the World Series, this point would be moot. 1996 was also the year I had moved to the Chicago area, and was dating my future wife, who is a HUGE Cubs fan. I had so much fun watching the 2003 post season through her (and other Cubs fans that I know) that it was tough not to get a little caught up in things. As 2004 opened, my wife and I made our first trip to Spring Training in Arizona, and it seemed like the Cubs were about to put it all together. Statistically speaking, they had a better year than many realize, but what you saw playing out in reality was a team built to win that had put itself in position to do just that -- and then choked the whole thing away with as unlikeable group of players as I've ever watched. Chief among them for me -- Sammy Sosa, Moises Alou and (possibly my least favorite player of all time) LaTroy Hawkins. In '05, I made the first of my yearly treks down to Busch Stadium -- this one for the final time at the second version of the park -- and it rekindled my love of the Cardinals.

(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Sorry, that was quite a tangent....but does speak to the respect I had for Derrek Lee. He's hit .282, averaged around 25-26 homers, stolen over 100 bases and driven in 983 runs in his Cubs career. He's played gold glove caliber defense for most of this time, and has won the award in '05 and '07. He also won the Silver Slugger award in '05. He had done all of this with a quiet grace, and I took him as a player coming into his own that lead by example. He was easy to root for. The one thing I always bristled at -- and, yes, largely because of my rooting interests -- was that the Cubs had their answer to Albert Pujols. Sorry, Derrek Lee has NEVER been anything other than a poor man's Pujols on his best days.

Earlier this week, Jayson Stark of ESPN tweeted the following:

A source who has known Lee for years says it's "highly doubtful" he'd waive his full no-trade to OK any deal at this stage.

My opinion of Lee has been on the decline over the last few seasons, and I think it may have bottomed out with this revelation. Obviously, until we get to the end of this season, we can't close the door on the topic, but to me, this confirms what I've started to suspect for the last couple of seasons -- that Derrek Lee just isn't a player that is driven to win. I started to notice a shift in his body language the last few years and saw signs that he was far to nonchalant towards the game. Sure, there were the flashes of anger as he'd slam his bat down after striking out at a key moment in a game or when he'd hit into a(nother) double play -- it got to a point where the sports media here in Chicago started calling him "DP Lee". He rebounded nicely in the second half last year and I thought his impending free agency coupled with the arrival of Rudy Jaramillo would be key factors in a big year for Lee.

That hasn't been the case. He's currently hitting .251 with 11 HR and 44 RBI. Not awful numbers, but not what you've come to expect from D-Lee. According to baseball-reference.com, his runs above replacement has dropped from 45 in '09 to 4 in '10. Pretty big drop, huh? His wins above replacement has slipped from 4.7 to .4 in the same time. I've also heard mention on WSCR (a Chicago sports/talk radio station) that both Lee and Aramis Ramirez were players that had refused instruction from Jaramillo earlier in the season. They may not have agreed with his teachings, but given the sluggish start both players got off to, there is no earthly reason why you wouldn't talk to your hitting coach to see what he might suggest.

If Lee refuses to be traded to a contender, that cements it for me. (How could a Southern Cal native not see the benefit of playing in LA?) He's just another player out there who puts up good numbers, plays the game well during his time and then fades into the background after he retires. I think Lee has the talent to have been an all time great player -- if not at least an all time great Cub. As it is, I don't think he'll be all that fondly remembered....He'll be missed next year certainly, but 10 years from now, I don't think he pops to mind as a defining player of this current Cubs team. And that's too bad, because I think we're seeing proof that he is all too good a representative of this decade's Cubs -- talented, capable, but ultimately forgettable.

All Star reaction, Odds & Ends

The 2010 All Star Game is in the books. The streak is over. The NL finally won a game. Ding dong the witch is dead.

Honestly, I thought it was a good game. It kept me watching, which isn't always the case with these exhibitions. I've already blogged about things I don't like about the affair, but the game itself is always fun for me. As a kid, I used to marvel at seeing all of the different uniforms, seeing all of these great players that I idolized playing on the same team. I'm sure this will come off as a little cliche and really sappy, but I still get that feeling watching the teams come out -- even if FOX does try to sap ever ounce of enjoyment out of the telecast by making the pre-game drone on and on. Didn't mind the "All Stars Among Us" stuff, but do we really need a cast member of Glee out singing extra songs? She did a great job with the anthem, but I guess I've grown a bit weary of anything to do with that show.

But, yeah, the NL did it. So whichever team decides to play well enough to represent the NL gets home field advantage. I still hate that wrinkle, by the way. If I had to choose right now, I'd say that the Yankees and Braves will meet in the World Series this year -- and I say that with an attempt to strip away as much bias as I can. I'd love to say Cardinals/Yankees in the WS, but honestly, don't want that to happen because I don't want to be forced into rooting against one of my favorite teams, and I just don't think the Cards are playing well enough to get there. There's a lot of time, obviously, to change that, but as of the 1/2 way point, doesn't look like they are going to get the job done.

I haven't been as active the last few days, so a few random thoughts -- some baseball, some not:

1. It has been a horrible year for Cubs fans, but Marlon Byrd has been a pleasant surprise. I thought he'd be a bust for Chicago, but as it is, he's the one player on that team that I enjoy watching this year. Glad to see him come up big in last night's game.
2. I know the LeBron/Wade/Bosh thing is old news by now, but that introduction ceremony? C'mon -- even the Yankees don't trot guys out like that. It made Jason Giambi crying as he put on his pinstriped jersey look positively normal. I was always taught that as you play sports you should always act like you've done good things before and expect to do them again. I think that also includes don't celebrate like you've won a championship when you just signed a couple of players -- no matter who they are.
3. Sticking in the NBA -- Kyle Korver has a new fan in me for having the guts to stand up at a press conference to announce his signing with the Bulls and admit that he hated Jordan and the "Unbeata-Bulls". Good job, Kyle. I love it.
4. Also had no problem with Joey Votto saying he didn't congratulate Byrd because he's a Cub. Maybe not the classiest moment ever, but all sports are better off when there's animosity between teams and players. There's far too much back slapping and chit chat these days.
5. Wrote a full post on Steinbrenner, but one more note on the guy....I think he was great for baseball and he made the Yankees great for baseball. I know most people hated him and hate his team, but that's what is good about them. Love 'em or hate 'em, you tune in to watch 'em. That's good for the game no matter how you slice it.
6. Speaking of the Yanks -- people were up in arms as they ALMOST traded for Cliff Lee last week. "The Rich Get Richer" is what I heard from a few friends. Look, I get why the Yankees and their payroll are not popular, but when you've got the prospects to get a deal done, it has nothing to do with the rich getting richer. It has to do with smart baseball people understanding how to market the talent in their farm system. When they sign Cliff Lee to a big contract during the offseason, complain all you want. Until then, understand that trading is about having what the other team needs, not flexing your financial muscle.
7. Another note on that topic....How come nobody ever cites the fact that other teams contribute to the problem? I apologize for picking on the Cubs again -- well, no I don't -- but look at the deal they gave Soriano. No one else was offering anywhere near that much money. So after that deal, there were a bunch of players saying "I think I'm worth Soriano money." During the same off season, they overpaid for Mark DeRosa, which in hindsight worked out well, but at the time was questioned by writers here in Chicago. They also overpaid for Jason Marquis. The next year they extended Zambrano's contract and spent too much on Milton Bradley. I know that some of the spending is done to "keep up with the Jones" -- or Steinbrenners as the case may be -- but its always the Yankees fault when you talk about the contracts. Not arguing that the Yankees don't deserve a bigger share of the blame, just pointing out that a lot of teams give out a lot of dumb contracts that end up driving the asking prices higher, and soon you get the Yankees signing Teixeira, Sabathia and Burnett and most teams can't afford one of those guys.
8. I love the World Cup, but the final was brutal. Still, I am going through some serious withdrawal and can't wait for the Premier League to start back up in August. There are two things that I won't miss about the World Cup.....Soccer snobs who tell me I can't properly enjoy the game because I didn't play and American sportswriters tripping all over each other to say how boring the game is and that it's still not "on the rise" in this country. Both camps -- go away now. The snobs do more to hurt fandom over here, and the writers should be ashamed for going to the same well every four years. Come up with something new already.
9. Ok, a non-sports diversion. Last September, they re-released the Beatles' catalog, and I've been slowly updating my collection. I bought the remastered White Album today -- which has a lot of great music, but as a whole has never been my favorite Beatles album (Abbey Road is far and away my favorite, followed by Revolver, then Sgt. Peppers, then Rubber Soul). Listened to it during my afternoon commute, and was struck by 2 things: (a) Even when they weren't at their best, the Beatles made more interesting music than most could only dream of and (b) I have yet to find a double album that wouldn't be better as a single album. I mean, if the greatest band ever can't make a great one, who can?
10. Almost forgot -- Bob Sheppard. I have only been fortunate enough to go to Yankee Stadium (the old one) once. It was back in 2000 and I saw the Yanks and Clemens face a young Barry Zito and the A's with some tickets that a co-worker had been given. The Yanks were losing 2-1 late in the game, when my co-worker says "It's a school night for us. Do you mind if we take off at the end of the 7th?" No problem -- I was sure that I was jinxing them, and we did have an hour's drive back out to CT. So we leave, get to the car and turn on the radio to hear the end of the game. Right as we turn it on, we hear David Justice hit a home run to win the game in the 9th. The two things I'll always remember from that night are that you don't ever leave a game early and Bob Sheppard's voice is even more amazing in person. I'm glad I got to hear it for myself at least one time.

Thanks for reading.