Before I type out anything more, I just want to take a moment to say it's so sad about what happened at the Rangers game last night. For those who have missed it, Josh Hamilton tossed a ball into the crowd after catching a fly ball. Shannon Stone, a local firefighter and Rangers fan (judging by apparel), leaned out to catch the ball. He apparently was able to grab it, but then tumbled twenty feet behind a scoreboard. He was with his young son at the game, who "witnessed his father's fall." Reports say he was conscious and talking on the way to the hospital. Unfortunately, all was not as well as it looked, and he passed away. Last year, or maybe two seasons ago, the Rangers had another man fall from the second deck, as he was leaning out to try to catch a foul ball. He took a thirty foot fall, fractured his skull and sprained an ankle, but he went home after a couple days in the hospital. It just shows you how crazy and random these things could be. I can't imagine what the family is going through. Or Josh Hamilton, for that matter. As much of a damn shame as it is, though, I don't think anybody can blame the Rangers, though. There is railing at the park, and it has actually been raised recently. It was just an accident, and accidents happen, as awful as it is. In happier news, Jeter turned in another hit last night. A double off the first pitch of the game. It was kind of a lazy first pitch. Just a fastball right down the pipe. A younger Jeter may well have put it out of the park. The rest of the night, though, wasn't so kind to him or the Yankees. They lost again, and the Red Sox now sit atop the AL East, and the Rays are definitely threatening. It helps when you can take head-to-head games like that. I've kind of been wondering why Jeter's drive for 3,000 has struck such a chord with me. I can kind of remember Craig Biggio's 3,000th, but that didn't have the same kind of resonance. There are a few reasons for that, though, and none of them are because Biggio played in Houston and Jeter plays for New York (and the Yankees in particular). I think it has a lot more to do with timing. In a lot of ways, it seems to me that Biggio and Jeter are similar players. Very, very good players who just got the job done. Nothing particularly flashy or overwhelming in what they did, but they did it every night, the same way over and over. Jeter had the better teams and bigger stage, so more people saw him, and I would imagine his overall numbers are a bit better, but I think the comparisons would surprise people.* But Jeter captures my imagination and I've made sure I've caught these last few games to see him do it. And that's because I've grown up with him. Biggio broke in in 1988, which is really before my time. I saw the meat of his career, but he was already established when I really understood what was going on. Jeter broke in late 1995, really got going in 1996. He is the biggest baseball name that I have really been able to watch from start to finish, and being on the Yankees, I've gotten to see a lot of him. And let's also be clear: the finish is near. With all my thoughts about getting older, Jeter is another sign of how I'm not the kid I used to be. He's the first first-ballot Hall of Famer I've watched from start to finish. There's a bit of bittersweet to watch Jeter go for the capstone of a storied career. I feel obligated to watch him obtain it. *I haven't actually looked or anything. Just my sense of it from watching the games. Actually, I just checked it out at Baseball Reference. Biggio is fairly close in all categories and holds a bit of an edge in power categories. As it stands, the Derek Jeter Hit Counter stands at 2,998. The Rays third baseman (not Evan Longoria last night, but I don't remember who it was) made a couple nice plays that could have easily turned into 3,000. One was a nice diving play towards the line, the other was a charging barehand play. They go again tonight at 7. It doesn't look like there's any national coverage of the game, but I know MLB Network will be showing every at bat, and I would be shocked if ESPN doesn't do the same. I'd rather watch the game, though, so it looks like I'm going somewhere to watch MLB.TV for the night. As you've probably heard (or figured out by not hearing), Derek Jeter did not get the 4 hits he needed last night to reach 3,000. He did hit a nice double in the 8th inning. Otherwise, he struck out, grounded out, and walked. Not an awful game, but not a great game, either. Still, not what most people wanted to see last night. I'm sure most are also not all that disappointed, though. There are a lot of people that would have felt a bit cheated for Jeter to get 3,000 on the road. It also would have felt cheap for him to get it at home due to engineering some rest. Thankfully, it looks like he'll get it at home (four games against the Rays to get three hits) in a natural fashion. So, rolling back into New York, the Derek Jeter Hit Counter stands at 2,997. Now that we've gotten a dreamy-eyed Jeter and his performance out of the way, let's get to other news. The Cleveland Indians are a very good baseball team. Justin Masterson threw a gem of a game, allowing just three hits and two walks through eight innings. Manny Acta probably wishes he would've let him go for the complete game when he went to his bullpen, summoned Vinnie Pestano, who promptly had three runs charged to his name without recording an out. Chris Perez came in and put out the fire, but not before things got interesting. Behind that strong pitching performance were two (back-to-back, even) amazing plays by maybe the best defensive shortstop since Ozzie Smith (or at least Omar Vizquel in his prime), Asdrubal Cabrera. He's no slouch with the bat, either, boasting a .292 batting average and .836 OPS. Curtis Granderson also made a great catch against the way to rob Nick Swisher of at least a double, maybe a triple (depending on the carom). I don't know if the Indians will be able to hold off a surging (and also very good) Detroit team down the stretch, but it would not surprise me if they hold on. It unfortunately looks like the Wild Card will come out of the East again, so this is is a one-bid division. Should be a great race down the stretch. I won't be able to watch Derek Jeter tonight, unfortunately. I'll be moving stuff into the new apartment and nobody can record the game for me. I'll keep my fingers crossed that the quest continues to tomorrow, where I will definitely find a way to watch the game if at all possible. If I have to figure out a way to watch it on MLB.TV, so be it. Today is July 6, 2011. It's feeling like 1997, though, which is long before PNC Park (pictured here) was ever dreamt up. It was 1997 the last time the Pirates were this close to the division lead, and they were actually leading the division. The Central apparently was weak that year, though. The Pirates were leading the pack with a 42-43 record. They would finish second in the division that year at 79-83, five games back. The Astros won that year, and were promptly swept by the Braves. The last time the Pirates were winning on this date was back in 1992, when there were still two divisions and the Pirates took a winning record (and maybe the division lead) wire-to-wire. For those that haven't been paying attention, baseball is back in Pittsburgh. All the Indy products I followed (with some outside the organization pitching help) for a few summers have managed to get the Pirates into sole possession of second place in the division, a game and a half down of a pretty surprising St. Louis team (given all the injuries), and four games over .500. I'm told the Pirates have sold out their last five games, which is a good sign.* I'm also told they've been on national TV a few times recently, which is even better. Unfortunately, I've not been able to watch, because my mom's cable doesn't really get ESPN. Don't even ask about MLB Network. It's been frustrating. We'll be moving into the new apartment soon, though, and I can get my DirecTV back. *Even if it was probably just the 4th of July weekend boost, it's still nice to see. I've been a lifelong Cubs fan, but let's face it. This year's version is bad and downright boring. I've got a more personal connection to the players in Pittsburgh. PNC Park, as you can see above, is a gem of a park that I really need to get to. It has made me think pretty hard about maybe getting MLB Extra Innings so I can watch the Pirates regularly. If I weren't such a cheapskate, I probably would. Plus, I know I'm going to have to start paying for NFL Sunday Ticket so Kristine can watch the Packers, which also makes me hesitant. So, yeah, for this year, I have to quit pretending and just admit it. I'm a Pirates fan. And even better news for the Pirates? There's still help down on the farm. Indianapolis got off to a dismal start. It really looked for all the world that all the talent in the organization was either newly drafted or in Pittsburgh. But since then, Indy has been on a tear, and just broke through to the plus side of .500 themselves at 44-43. Alex Presley just got called up pretty recently. I've not got to see him in a Pirates uniform yet, but I can tell you that he is definitely ready to go. Another boost to the season. And the Indy Indians continue to win. There's still some talent yet to be added. Call me crazy, but I think the Pirates just might win this thing. And even if they don't, I think you can go ahead and start engraving Clint Hurdle's name on the "Manager of the Year" award. I don't think I was alone in thinking this might be the year they break .500, but I don't think anybody had them contending for a playoff spot. I don't have that many big traditions I have to do every year. For somebody like me, that's kind of hard to believe. There are many traditions I definitely appreciate and like doing, but there aren't many I feel I must do to keep me happy. One of those few, though, happens every Fourth of July. As you may have guessed, it's the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Competition. Is competitive eating a sport? I wouldn't say so. I like the Sports Illustrated definition. If you can't actively play defense, it's not a sport. That doesn't mean it's not competition, or that it's not athletic. But, yes, you can't really play defense in competitive eating. But that doesn't mean I'm any less enthralled by it. I don't really know why I enjoy watching it so much. The hot dog competition is first and foremost on my competitive eating calendar, as I believe it is for most pro eaters. In fact, it's the only date on that calendar. But I have stumbled across different competitions, and it's a big reason I love watching Man vs. Food, which might be the best show on TV today. And I will watch every time. I've watched Krystal burgers.* I've watched different kinds of pie. I've heard (but not seen. . .yet) of sushi and barbecue. I've seen Adam Richman tackle some of the biggest restaurant challenges in the country and saw some downright amazing dishes. I don't know what it is, but something about eating gross amounts of food in very little time captures my imagination. *Think White Castle if you don't know that those are. I didn't until I watched that. It might be hard to imagine, but it seems the former "best eater in the world," Takeru Kobayashi is making a bit of a mockery of things.* I know, it's hard to imagine making a mockery of something as silly as competitive eating. But, after getting himself arrested last year after the competition and this year, he went even further. He staged his own competition on a Manhattan rooftop, video feed of Chestnut's earlier performance and competed against that. There is a video, and he put down 69 hot dogs, which would be a world record. *The current title holder is, of course, Five-Time Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Champion Joey Chestnut, as pictured above with the coveted Mustard Belt. Here's my rub, though. If didn't happen at Nathan's, it didn't happen. Or at least at a legit competition. If you're not at the same competition as your competitors, dealing with the same atmosphere and all the other variables, you can't say you hold the record. It just rings hollow. Furthermore, all this does is draw attention to yourself instead of the competition, and makes you look like a petty fool. If you want to beat Chestnut, then go and compete with Chestnut head to head, not against a recording of him. Until that happens, Chestnut is still number one in our hearts and our record book. Grow a pair, Kobayashi. A few Pirates notes. Not only are the Buccos three games over .500, they're only a game and a half behind the Cardinals for the division lead. Forget about a winning record, go for the gold and win the whole damn thing! For the Pirates to go from 105 losses last year, the latest in an almost 20-year loser's saga to win the division and make the playoffs would be an unbelievable story, which any respectable writer ought to be stumbling over themselves to cover. Related to that, I totally agree with Posnanski that it's downright criminal that Andrew McCutchen didn't make the All-Star team. Just a damned shame that everybody in MLB ought to feel bad about. Another do-over post. Thanks, faulty internet! Mike Greenberg has been even harder to listen to than normal. I really ought to cut Mike & Mike out of my morning drive, because it does me no good. For those of you that haven't been listening (and good for you!), Greenie has been promoting his "Greenie Plan," which he seems to support without any hint of sarcasm or irony. To summarize, he wants baseball to become like basketball or hockey. To elaborate, he wants two fifteen team leagues, rolling interleague, uniform rules between leagues, and balanced schedules. This more or less ignores the last, I don't know, century or better of baseball, completely changes the structure of the league, and does very little to actually gain anything. What is his grand evidence that we need his change? The Tampa Bay Rays. You know, the team that was in the World Series a few years ago and does more to prove that the Yankees and Red Sox are not impossible to beat. The bigger point is that the Rays would be leading any other division, but they won't make the playoffs because they can't overtake the two big boys. Nevermind that they have made the playoffs the past few years and currently sit four games behind the leader (New York) with exactly half the season to go. A little early to decide they can't compete, isn't it? Let's just say the AL East is a two-team race, though. The other two (I just can't lump the Rays in there) teams just have too far to climb, they can't get there. Because this is what the argument is saying. The Yankees and Red Sox dominate their division too much, so we need a way to include more teams. A very East Coast-centric* problem, but it's ESPN, so what would you expect? Furthermore, it's ESPN and New Yorker Mike Greenberg. *If only I knew the code for an en dash. You don't see that punctuation very often. There are parts I can get behind. The uniform rules would be good, but only if it's NL rules. I would much rather have different rules if it meant the expansion of the DH. The balanced schedule is okay, though it really doesn't bother me one way or the other. That's the extent of it, though. No, it seems Greenie is getting his panties in a bunch over something that ought to be a very simple fix instead of overhauling the league. If you want to curb the Yankees and Red Sox big advantage, you put in a salary cap. Now they can't afford to pay every player they want, and they have to make decision. Which in turn spreads talent out, and gives smaller market teams a number to shoot for instead of just deciding "we're spending x amount this year." I would also argue for a salary floor. There are valid arguments against the salary floor as a competitive balance issue. For example, the Pirates have been criticized for not spending enough on their team. As a fan of the Indy Indians, I knew the brigade was coming, so I didn't worry about it. And sure enough, they're sitting just two games back in the NL Central right now. With baseball, you have to remember there is a farm system, and most fans really don't know what even their own teams have in the pipeline, let alone other teams. The Pirates committed themselves to a rebuilding plan, which did include some cheap years without many wins. It looks like they're going to start seeing the benefits now. It may have been harder to pull that off with a salary floor. That said, when the Marlins are the most profitable team, there's a problem. This would be a major change on the business end of baseball, but it wouldn't dismantle baseball's entire history and structure on the field. It would probably also help teams like the Cubs with a bunch of money to spend and no idea how or on who to spend it. Much better to keep some of that money in the pocket than to waste it on giving Soriano and Fukudome huge contracts they had no chance at living up to. In Wimbledon news, Djokovic (However it's spelled. Crazy Serbs.) is through to the finals, and Nadal and Murray just kicked off. Murray holds a 3-2 lead in the first set as I type. I'm sure most of the world is rooting for him, with all due respect to Nadal. |
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