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Monday, May 11, 2009

Brief Thoughts About Baseball (5/04/2009 - 5/10/2009)

1. The Twins should have swept the Mariners. Instead the Non-Nathan bullpen blows it again. All they needed to do was pitch one scoreless inning. Instead, they give up 5 runs in two innings and lose the game. It's funny, all last year the Twins' number one problem was the bullpen. They did nothing to improve it in the off season. Shockingly, the Twins' number one problem this year is still the bullpen.

2. Apparently my message to Mark Texeira got through. He hit four home runs last week!

3. Liriano looked good early in the week, but struggled in his next start. He'll never be the pitcher he once was, and with him (along with the rest of the Twins pitching staff) being so inconsistent, the Twins aren't going anywhere.

4. So the Red Sox sweep the Yankees in one of those lame two game series that were all the rage last week. The Yankees have yet to win a game against the Red Sox this year. Frankly, the Red Sox own them. So the bloom is off the rose regarding this rivalry. It's just not interesting. Get back to me when BOTH teams are competitive.

5. Joe Mauer's been a freak since he's come back. If this power surge is for real (which it probably isn't) then Joe Mauer would be a top 5 player in baseball.

6. Not to be outdone, A-Rod homered against the first pitch he saw his season. Too bad for the Yankees he hasn't done much since then.

7. Han Ram's the man. That is all.

8. Sunday was a big day for Boston. The Bruins, Celtics, and Red Sox all won. It made me ill. Aren't we all sick of Boston?

9. Bobby Jenks threw behind Ian Kinsler. Big deal. It's been done a hundred times before. The only difference between this time and all the others is that Bobby Jenks admitted it was intentional. Now MLB may suspend him simply for not lying? Lame! Listen, Kinsler wasn't hit and even if he was the ball wasn't anywhere near the head. No suspension is necessary...and this coming from a White Sox hater.

10. I suppose I should say something about Manny Ramirez. I'm not sure what to say, though. He's a cheater. Probably has been for a while. I'm just one of the few people who believe that in the height of the steroid era around 90% of the players were taking some sort of steroid or human growth hormone. I have no proof of it. It's just a gut feeling. My point is, none of this surprises me anymore.
Of course, Boston lucks out again because Manny Ramirez forced his way out of the club last year. Now they can delude themselves into thinking he only started juicing after he left the organization. Yeah right...

3 comments:

  1. The Twins addressed their bullpen needs during the offseason: they signed a castoff Mets reliever. What? You expected them to actually acquire a player who isn't another team's dregs?

    re #2: My fantasy team thanks you.

    Remember before the season started and everyone talked about how intense the AL East race would be, with Boston, New York and Tampa all fighting it out? I know it's still early May, but instead it's pretty much just Boston hanging at the top while the Rays and Yankees struggle.

    And I enjoy watching the Yankees struggle as much as (possibly more than) your average non-Yankee fan, but frankly, at this point, I'd be much more gleeful if the damned Red Sox were the ones struggling to stay relevant in the AL East race.

    re #8: yes, yes we are.

    It DOES seem pretty ridiculous that MLB is investigating Jenks when you put it that way (that essentially, he's in trouble for NOT lying).

    I would love nothing more than to see Boston's "miraculous" 2004 season get dragged into the steroids quagmire.

    Regarding steroids, what's your take on Pujols, Griffey and Thome, the three players often cited as being the most likely "clean" sluggers? Would you put them in that 10%? Just curious.

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  2. I've been thinking about your question and I could go on a long rambling rant about this, but i would most be me speaking out of my ass. (Perfect for the internet!) But I'll keep it brief.

    Before 2004, there was NO testing for steroids or HGH. Heck, they still don't test for HGH.
    So, even if those players didn't take ILLEGAL steroids (by government standards), they were probably at some point using substances that are currently banned by Major League Baseball.

    And I'd also like to add that I think most people don't even know why they're against steroids. They just are. And if they do have a reason, it usually boils down to stats. And statistics aren't a valid reason to be anti-steroids. There are, however, some valid reasons...that nobody mentions.

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  3. Yeah, I know what you mean about people being against steroids for the wrong (or inconsequential reasons).

    The whole idea of "asterisks" on steroid-era player records has always irked me because history is its own asterisk...but we've discussed that at length already.

    The whole "won't someone please think of the children?" style argument doesn't hold a lot of weight for me, either. Not that it's necessarily an invalid argument, it's just one that doesn't do much for me.

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