For reasons I’ve never been quite able to understand, the theme from Dennis Quaid film The Rookie gets stuck in my head every spring training. So, in order to inflict the same effect on you, here it is:
Happy Pitchers and Catchers, everyone!
In 30 Teams, 30 Posts, I write a post about every MLB team in some way in the lead-up to the beginning of the 2015 season. This is the second post of the series- look here for the rest. Today, a tongue-in-cheek post about the San Francisco Giants.
The San Francisco Giants have won the World Series in 2010, 2012 and 2014.
They did not win the World Series in 2011 or 2013. In fact, they didn’t even make the playoffs.
So, despite the small sample size of that trend, it’s obvious that the Giants will not make the playoffs this year. Sure, they still have a good rotation, a very strong bullpen, Buster Posey, Hunter Pence, Bruce Bochy, and the like, but they also no longer have Pablo Sandoval. Michael Morse is gone too, which removes a power threat.
And, again, it really doesn’t matter, since it’s an odd year, not an even year. They could have Willie Mays and Barry Bonds available in the outfield, Juan Marichal in the rotation and Willie McCovey at first, and they still wouldn’t be making the playoffs this season. So, really, why even bother previewing them? Go eat some cookies or play video games or something. Maybe read a good book.
So, yeah, maybe the Giants will be worth writing about next year, when they are next scheduled to win the World Series. Until then, though, what they do will probably just be kind of meh.
Here’s the latest Wisdom and Links over at “Hall of Very Good”! Check it out, and learn of the MLB vs. College Challenge!
In 30 Teams, 30 Posts, I write a post about every MLB team in some way in the lead-up to the beginning of the 2015 season. This is the first post of the series.
Let’s start this off with the most depressing of all Major League Baseball teams: The Philadelphia Phillies. After all, there is nothing more depressing than seeing something that was once great, only to have fallen into horrible disrepair and general despair.
And, man, that totally fits the Phillies. It was less than seven years ago that the Phillies won the World Series, less than six years since they lost to the Yankees in the World Series, and less than four years since the grand rotation of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Roy Oswalt and Joe Blanton were knocked out in the first round of the playoffs by the Cardinals, with Ryan Howard injuring himself on the final play of the series.
It’s been all downhill from there. And now, they are, without question, the most hopeless of all teams in Major League Baseball. Some teams like the Twins may well end up being worse than the Phillies in the standings, but they have better prospects for the future and better people at the helm. The Phillies, meanwhile, have… Ruben Amaro Jr.
Ruben Amaro has become something of a bogey-man in baseball internet circles. It is a scary place to be in, where Dusty Baker stalks young pitchers by night attempting to ruin their arms and Joe West purposely gets calls wrong just to piss us all off.
The internet’s characterization of Amaro can perhaps best be described as seeing him as Nero, fiddling while Rome burns. And, to a certain extent, there is some truth to that. The results of the Phillies have to a certain extent gotten worse with every passing season since he took over after the 2008 season, and the playoff appearances early in Amaro’s tenure can more be drawn up to the after-effects of Pat Gillick‘s work. He was the one who gave Ryan Howard a 5-year extension that was recently named the 7th-worst in baseball, and they remain one of the few- perhaps the only– team to not hold statistical analysis in a high regard (perhaps that is why he is known to overvalue the players he does have). Last year, I attended a Moneyball screening with a post-show discussion on statistics by FanGraphs editor/writer Dave Cameron. He said that the Phillies have one statistical analyst, and that Major League Baseball more-or-less may have forced them to take it.
I think he was only half-joking.
And so, as a result of all of this, the Phillies enter this spring training as one of the few teams that can truly be said to not have any chance. Jimmy Rollins is now gone to Los Angeles, and Amaro is still probably trying (perhaps in vain, given how much he wants for them) to get rid of Hamels and Howard. Oh, and did I mention that Amaro has literally said that the team would be better off without Howard? Because he totally did.
No wonder some are saying this might be one of the most awkward spring trainings in the team’s history.
Now, to be fair, it isn’t all bad for Philadelphia. They do still have some prospects left, including young SS J.P. Crawford, who is MLB.com’s 21st best prospect, #37 prospect Aaron Nola, a RHP who made it as high as AA last season, and #55 prospect Maikel Franco, a power-hitting corner-infielder who made his debut in the bigs as a September call-up.
They won’t nearly be enough to turn around the Phillies anytime soon however (Keith Law recently named the Phillies the 25th best farm system in baseball), and so, the team that only a few years ago was a perpetual contender for the World Series crown is currently in a holding pattern of horribleness, filled with has-beens, never-will-bes, and players who may just be a year or two away from falling into one of those categories. It somewhat reminds me of the Orioles of the mid-to-late 1990s, who went from two straight ALCS in 1996 and 1997 to a team not unlike the Phillies of today.
The Orioles didn’t return to the playoffs until 2012. It’s not that out of the realm of possibility that the Phillies could be facing a similar wait.
Beginning this weekend, I begin my previews of the 2015 MLB Season!
Well, sort of. You see, they won’t be true previews. I’m not going to be making any true predictions (yet) on how the season will go down. Instead, for each team, I’ll just write my thoughts about them. Maybe it will end up a preview, maybe it will end up a reflection on a specific player, maybe it could be a wild tangent about the club’s theme song or mascots. Anything is possible.
So keep an eye open, because starting this weekend…. 30 Teams, 30 Posts.
In honor of the College Baseball season starting tomorrow, here’s a post originally published on June 1, 2012:
In basketball, the NCAA tournament is in many ways a far bigger event than even the NBA Finals as the marquee event for the sport.
In football, the passions in some regions for college teams are larger than that of any NFL team. Okay, with the possible exception of Green Bay. Maybe.
Baseball, however, has it’s amateur competitions mostly forgotten. Yes, the draft is shown on MLB Network (at least the first round or two), and it isn’t too hard to find a college game on TV if you know where to look… but it is a afterthought unless it’s draft day (and even then, there usually are just as many high schoolers who are getting drafted) or the College World Series.
There are several reasons for this:
So what can be done? Well, MLB is apparently discussing helping fund scholarships and a transition to wooden bats in NCAA, which could be helpful. However, I think College Baseball will remain what it is: fun to watch come the College World Series, but generally ignored outside of that.
As you would know unless if you’ve been living under a rock the last day or two, Spider-Man is coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In honor of this, here are the web-slinger’s appearances in BIZARRE BASEBALL CULTURE:
2007’s TRIPLE-A BASEBALL HEROES
The crossover between Marvel Comics and AAA baseball that you never knew you needed, Spidey is one of the main characters in this comic. There is also a serious error, however, as Peter Parker is portrayed wearing Yankee regalia, which goes against the well-established fact (to Spider-fans) that Pete is a Mets fan.
2008’s TRIPLE-A BASEBALL HEROES
Spider-Man has a much smaller role in the second AAA/Marvel crossover, but does still appear, so it counts.
One of the greatest achievements in human history, right up there with fire, the wheel, the polio vaccine and Mario Kart. I mean, just look at this:
In this comic, Spider-Man aids Billy the Marlin in stopping Doctor Doom, who has arrived in Miami to kidnap Jeff Conine in order to force him to join the Latverian National Baseball Team, or something like that. It’s amazing. I did not make that up.
Peter Parker Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #33
The last (for now) Bizarre Baseball Culture featuring Spidey, this issue is entirely about Peter Parker’s love of the New York Mets and how it was a bond between him and his Uncle Ben. Features an appearance of an off-brand and talking Mr. Met.
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So, there you go! Spider-Man’s appearances in BIZARRE BASEBALL CULTURE! Enjoy!
I didn’t expect to write a post about the Little League World Series today, but, alas, current events have other plans. As you may have heard, the Jackie Robinson West Little League of Chicago has been stripped of it’s US Title for last year’s World Series, due to revelations that they used players from outside their district.
It’s a sad ending for what was an inspiring story- the first team in history to win the US title made up entirely of African-Americans, coming at a time when participation in the sport by African-Americans continues to drop and racial issues were increasingly in the news. It’s all the more sad because this was the result not of any child, but rather the adults.
And, with that, the many issues people have with youth sports again have arisen. Among them being that the LLWS being on television is, according to some people, an abomination that promotes behavior like this while exploiting 12-year-olds for profit.
In many ways, they do have a point. It is wrong that ESPN, it’s sponsors, and the overall organization of Little League make large amounts of money off 12-year-olds while those 12-year-olds receive no cut or royalty from it. And, yes, having that much pressure and attention placed on a kid is a recipe for possible disaster psychologically when you are so young. The Little League World Series is far from perfect, and at the very least something should be done to compensate the kids who draw in large audiences every year (perhaps have some sort of college trust fund or hold money in escrow or something).
However, I am here to argue that those people who believe that the Little League World Series doesn’t belong on television regardless are wrong. Go below the jump for more:
Another new link in the the blog roll: SABR’s Media Blog, dealing with news and research related to baseball and the media.
While we mourn the death of the Fan Cave, head over to Hall of Very Good for my latest Wisdom and Links, where I talk about how America deserves a better class of baseball fan. Also, there are links, which are cool.
The Baseball Continuum 