Rooting for Khalil Greene, Francisco Liriano and baseball
Posted on June 29th, 2009 – 10:58 AMBy Howard
“Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self. Therefore, trust the physician and drink his remedy in silence and tranquility.” — Khalil Gibran.
“#$%&!” – Khalil Greene, after being struck out by Francisco Liriano, playing the role of physician during Sunday afternoon’s game, the best one that Liriano has pitched all season. The screamed F-bomb was clearly heard on TV and sent Dick Bremer into a momentary word stumble.
“(Baseball) is a source of a lot of joy, but it’s also a source of a lot of frustration and sadness and fear. It’s difficult to deal with, because it is something I really enjoy doing, but it has become at times like a love-hate relationship. And the hate is not for the game necessarily but it’s in the feeling that the game often tends to arise within me. It’s not whatever you would consider to be normal. It’s a different level of intensity.” — Khalil Greene, in USA Today after returning from the disabled list earlier this month because of an anxiety disorder.
“Infielder Khalil Greene, battling anxiety issues again, is likely to go on the disabled list for a second time. Greene, who homered in three straight games in Kansas City a week ago before going 0 for his last 13 in New York, had sat out two games this weekend before starting Sunday (against the Twins). Greene went 0 for three, striking out twice and committing an error at third base, and La Russa lifted him after seven innings. ‘He was having some problems,’ (Manager Tony) La Russa said. ‘That’s all I’ll say. Otherwise, there’s no reason to take him out.’ “–Today’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch website.
One of the great joys of baseball is our ability to analyze from afar. We make trades to help the teams we follow, we analyze performances and try to make sense of the myriad numbers that are both the beauty and curse of the game. We want out .310 power hitters not to go into slumps, which also means they’ll never go on team-carrying tears. We want our .394-hitting superstars to play every day, especially when we have tickets to the game. We want continuous improvement from young players, consistency from veterans and managers to do the right thing — either going by the book or taking a risk — depending on what we think we’d do in a given situation.
None of that is bad.
As fans, we have the absolute and total right to do all of these things. In fact, it is our responsibility to expect excellence because, after all, the participants are the ones who have reached the highest levels because they’ve never been willing to settle for less. So it’s OK to scream when Nick Punto hurts himself and the team with dives into first base or when Sean Henn can’t get the ball over the plate or while trying to figure out the mysteries of Delmon Young or Alexi Casilla.
At the same time, the Khalil Greene thing is reminder and a reinforcement to me. It happens that I was talking to a friend this weekend about the venom that sometimes comes from people when things aren’t going well for their teams. As snarky as I can get about stuff, I said that the reason I love baseball is that when things are going well, it’s a reminder that I’ve chosen to follow and watch the truly beautiful game (Sorry, soccer).
When my team plays badly, it’s still baseball.
I told my friend, after we were done dissecting Justin Morneau, that the last time a baseball game had truly made me crazy — made me mumble and grumble afterward — was Game 4 of the 2004 playoffs. You might remember it as the Juan Rincon game.
If Khalil Gibran had bothered with baseball, I suspect he would have said something like: To have something that provides joy without a whole lot of pain is a gift to be cherished.”
I hope Khalil Greene can rediscover the joys of baseball.
***
Speaking of the joy of baseball, there’s Francisco Liriano’s performance yesterday. Given an early lead, he didn’t spit it up, holding the Cardinals hitless until the fifth inning — and them coming back with a solid sixth and seventh after his struggles in the fifth (giving up two runs and three hits on consecutive pitches).
But here’s the best part: In 2006, when Liriano was truly the Franchise, he was retiring batters with ground balls when he wasn’t striking them out. His ratio of ground outs to fly outs was 2.19:1, an outstanding number and testament to his slider and changeup. That ratio dropped to 0.92:1 last season.
Yesterday, in addition to his six strikeouts, Liriano got 12 ground outs and only 3 fly outs. And there were only two walks. For all the chatter about what Liriano needs to do to be a top-of-the-rotation pitcher, those are numbers worth watching in good times and bad.
And one other thing, who would have bet that on the last trip through the rotation, the games lost by the Twins would be the ones pitches by Blackburn and Slowey? I’ll take that as another hopeful sign.
146 Responses to "Rooting for Khalil Greene, Francisco Liriano and baseball"
I do love when you come back from a weekend waxing poetic, Howard!
I suppose I’m just being cynical to wonder if the timing of Greene’s impending trip to the DL has ANYTHING to do with the Cards picking up DeRosa. In any event, I’m on board with hoping for the best for Greene.
As for your final paragraph, I like that you’re interpreting the Blackburn/Slowey losses in a “glass half full” manner. I suspect others would counter that it could just as likely be a sign of trouble… that the two most reliable members of the rotation thus far could begin faltering.
All good point Howard.
I don’t know to what extent you have any say in this, but I must say that the online ads in the sports section, including this blog have become extremely obnoxious the last few weeks, blocking out articles even when you try not to roll over them, etc. The ‘Bing’ ad is particulary problematic. If anything can be done about this, it would be nice. It’s making it almost not worth the trouble.
Jim,
That would be valid if Blackburn’s start had showed any indication of faltering. That may have been the best start of the road trip so far, it just happened to end up in a bad loss. As for Slowey, I’ll hope that the combination of his injury, the heat, and a freakishly good hitter are a trifecta he won’t have to deal with again anytime soon.
I always liked Greene when he played for the Pads–I too am rooting for him to have a happy ending like Grienke. I wonder how many players in the past had this problem and it was covered up…
I am hopeful yesterdays win by the Franchise was the start of his second half run where he wins 10-12 games the rest of the way and looks like he did before Tommy John.
DAM
I echo JimCrikket. Philosophy and baseball are rarely so intertwined as they are here at A Fan’s View. Perhaps during the All-Star break we should have a baseball/philosophy day on this blog. It’d be interesting to read what some of the commenters here have to say about some enduring truths about life and baseball.
LaVelle mentioned Jimmy Piersall in his blog just last week. Some posters had read his book “Fear Strikes Out” and saw the movie. Jimmy didn’t let his anxiety destroy his career, he got help, and came back and finished his career. Piesall not quite as eloquent as Khalil. He said “going nuts is the best thing that ever happened to me.”
Good luck to K.Greene.
Nice food for thought, Howard. Some observations (to the theme of “Maybe I’m Amazed”):
-Maybe I’m amazed how absolutely laugh out loud funny it was that Bert Blyleven apologized for FS North’s microphones picking up Greene’s F-bomb yesterday.
-Maybe I’m amazed that the Twins, who were previously feeble on the road this season, managed to take 2 out of 3 on the road against each of the NL Central’s top three teams without the benefit of even one hit from their pitchers.
-Maybe I’m amazed that in spite of the above feat, we still remain just one game above .500 and four games behind division-leading Detroit. This isn’t exactly the sprint which was June 2006 between the Tigers and Twins, but it smells something like it.
-Maybe I’m amazed that in spite of the last two notes above, Blyleven continues to lobby for just 6 interleague games per season. I say if it aint broke don’t fix it.
-Maybe I’m amazed that the manager seemed most concerned on his Sunday morning radio show about the delay in getting Nick Punto back into the lineup. “Sooner or later you need a player there,” Gardy said. He’s right…perhaps a FO move is in order.
-Maybe I’m amazed that just when you might be thinking how frustrating it is that Justin Morneau is streaky (as articulated by Dick Bremer during the first inning yesterday), he wins you a game with one swing of the bat.
-Maybe I’m amazed that Buscher continues to be on the roster and Morales never plays.
…220 will right me when I’m wrong, but Maybe I’m Amazed at the way I need it!
Jason, I missed the Blyleven apology. That’s hilarious. For those of you who need to know why, here it is.
Baseball is and will always be my most favorite and frustrating sport to follow. The Twins are the only local team that I really care about. The frustrating parts concern Morneau’s streaky spells, Gardy’s managing (Redman over Morales in the second Cardinal game), and our big useless dummy in left field (Young). What concerns now is how many games the Tigers have come back on to win in the 8th or nineth.
I’m no aesthete, but what I’ve always found beautiful about baseball is how much luck is involved (hence, unpredictability). Of course it takes tremendous skill to play MLB, but when bat meets ball anything can happen. From that, every game is a microcosm in which any one player can drastically impact the outcome, regardless of skill level. That’s not to say that baseball stars don’t dictate long term success, just that their presence determines far fewer outcomes than other sports’ stars. An example: Twins playing .500 w/o Mauer as compared to the Wolves performance following the injury to Big Al. All in all, when every game is an unknown adventure waiting to happen I think it makes for a richer experience than watching Brazil dismantle the US in the 2nd half as everyone expected.
“Blyleven continues to lobby for just 6 interleague games per season. I say if it aint broke don’t fix it.”
It’s broke, because the schedule becomes uneven.
The White Sox play the Cubs.
The Mets play the Yankees.
The Angels play the Dodgers.
The Rays play the Marlins.
Meanwhile, the Twins get to play the Brewers, and the AL Central final 2008 standings end in a tie.
The Twins SHOULD love interleague play, because the inequitities favor them.
But it IS broke.
Tampa Bay would certainly argue that playing in the AL East makes for an incredibly unfair schedule. Only way to fix the system is for each team to have the same schedule.
“It’s broke, because the schedule becomes uneven”
But that’s ALWAYS the case. However, I do think we’ve erred in going with too many intraleague games. I belive we we’re done with the Red Sox for the season already back in May. Huh?
OB,
“Only way to fix the system is for each team to have the same schedule.”
That is absolutely true, but it isn’t possible.
Interleague play just adds to the inequity.
Also,
-Maybe I’m amazed at the way the Cardinals screwed up so many times yesterday. Three inexcusible errors by their infield and that horrible baserunning play by Joe Thurstan in the ninth inning. I haven’t watched much Cardinals baseball over the years, but I guess one would assume a Tony LaRussa managed team wouldn’t look like the Bad News Bears as was the case yesterday.
-Maybe I’m amazed that Tony LaRussa continues to be treated like a legendary manager when his first World Championship (1989) came in part courtesty of two of the biggest dopers of baseball’s Steroids Era, and his second World Championship came in a year where they won just 83 games in the regular season.
–Maybe I’m amazed that the St. Louis Cardinals continue to be regarded as the “Yankees of the Midwest”, even as they have only won two World Championships since 1967.
I agree with sane on this one. How about the Cards who play 6 games against the lowly Royals?
I don’t know why identical schedules are impossible, sane? Seems to me that the NBA and NHL manage pretty well and they don’t even play series’. I think the logistics could be worked out.
sane,
Another point of veiw is that interleague play seems to pit teams against teams that are in similar markets size wise. Over time that should balance out with the current inequities (caused by the wave of team dominance/no dominance) you cite.
Anyways, I like it.
Interesting perspective in your article, Howard. I have played and watched enough baseball in my years of life, and have seen strange things happen. Bloop hits that win games, line drives hit on the nose for outs, bad baserunning errors, bad fielding errors… The beaty of baseball is that nothing is a constant given. It is a game of skill and luck. Well written article, and thanks Howard.
I hate that all the interleague games are piled into one month. Why can’t they be spread over the entire season. If I was commish for a day, the first thing I would do is 15 teams in each league, with interleague games ranging from opening day to closing day. At any one time, there would be 1 interleague series going on.
I agree lefty. IL play need not be a novelty. Baseball is quirky enough to withstand a normal schedule.
I love it.
I have always thought that “F-Bomb” is a great nickname for Francisco Liriano. Apparently, Khalil Greene agrees with me!
Khalil Greene = Owen Wilson. Both looks and Personality.
That’s money Icon. I’m using it.
OB,
“I don’t know why identical schedules are impossible, sane? Seems to me that the NBA and NHL manage pretty well and they don’t even play series’”
Playing series is a big part of the problem.
16 teams (in NL) X 3 games/series = 48 interleague games.
13 (other) teams in AL to play 114 games = (approximately) 9 games against your divisional (and league) opponents.
Nine games per year against the White Sox and other divisional rivals would add up to 36 divisional games and 126 non-divisional games.
Not good for fan interest.
Excellent comment at 12:23, Icon…. I can see it now…. “Who’s pitching? the F-bomb.” Good line. Gotta love it. 
“It is a game of skill and luck.”
As are most games.
That is exactly my point, sane.
Fair point sane. To me that raises a different question. Why does baseball need to be regional whereas other sports are acceptably national? That’s not rhetorical, I really do enjoy the rivalries. That being said, I doubt casual fans would complain about 3 more games vs. Yankees or Red Sox. On another tangent, might not more games against the NL central even enhance regional interest?
I’ve tried twice already to send this through and I suspect it’s not going because of the link I tried to imbed. I’ve deleted it, and I apologize right up front if, eventually, 3 comments end up going through with essentially the same point.
I clicked the link to the Post-Dispatch you provided, Howard, and nosed around a bit. I found an article on the DeRosa trade.
Does this sound familiar?
“We heard rumors all last year and nothing happened,” (2B)Schumaker said. “To get a guy like DeRosa is a huge.”
“He’s going to be an improvement, just look at his numbers,” said ace Chris Carpenter. “Any time you get close to the (trade) deadline, you’re looking and wondering if there’s going to be something to help the club. I think adding Mark is terrific.”
Back on June 18, from Pujols: “They’re not blind. They see what we see.”
Further from the article:
“Pujols’ comments did not go unnoticed.
‘There was definitely some pressure to move,’ said a team source. ‘You don’t operate in a vacuum. You add his voice to everything else — the manager, the media, fans — and it gets a little loud.’”
From GM John Mozeliak: “Sometimes you do have to make short-term decisions,” Mozeliak said. “Sometimes you have to take off the visionary hat. I think that’s how you have to look at the deal.”
Makes one wonder if the Twins would take off their “visionary hat” if Twins’ team leaders (that would be you, Mr Mauer and Mr Morneau) would make a simple, pointed statement similar to Pujols’.
Doc,
I thought you were implying that baseball had a corner on the “skill and luck” combination when you said “The beaty of baseball is that nothing is a constant given. It is a game of skill and luck.”
I guess that’s the beauty of ALL sports.
You folks do realize that if we adopted the Bert Blyleven model of interleague play, where we swapped 12 of the 18 interleague games on the schedule and reduced the amount of division games by 3 per opponent in order to get more games against the Yankees, Red Sox, and Angels, the end result would more than likely be damaging to the Twins’ win-loss record?
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I like the idea of a few series at NL parks every year. I also have no problem with getting them out of the way in June or July so we can focus on the opponents pertinent to divisional races in August and September.
As far as ensuring that each team in any given division is exposed to the same amount of games against the same teams as everyone else, this is an impossibility if you’re interested in continuing geographical rivalries, which is what gives interleague play its buzz in the first place.
So like I said, if it aint broke, don’t fix it.
I bet fans in Colorado, Seattle, Toronto, Atlanta, Arizona, and San Diego wouldn’t miss interleague play one bit.
I like fcmlefty’s idea of having the interleague series spread out more, not all in the same time period. Maybe have two series, all before the All-Star game.
Absolutely, sane. And that is exactly why I am frustrated with all of the experts who question the why did’s after the fact. Decisions are decisions, some work, some don’t. That is the beauty of ALL sports.
A caveat Jim. I seem to recall reading the other day that the Twins were willing to top the Tribe’s offer for DeRosa last year and were a bit surprised when the Cubs pulled the trigger. Perhaps Cuddy to 2B and Punto to Utl might suitably shake things up?
The Twins SHOULD love interleague play, because the inequitities favor them.
I think the Brewers were a tougher opponent than the Cubs, last year and this year, too.
Cubs laid down like dogs for the White Sox this weekend.
JC,
“Makes one wonder if the Twins would take off their “visionary hat” if Twins’ team leaders (that would be you, Mr Mauer and Mr Morneau) would make a simple, pointed statement similar to Pujols’.”
Do you mean like Torii’s and Johan’s statements on the Castillo Trade?
No (visionary?) hats were removed on those occasions.
I bet you play the slots over blackjack too Doc. Odds be damned.
“So like I said, if it aint broke, don’t fix it.”
It’s still broke, but don’t let Bert fix it.
Jason, if interleague play was curtailed and the Twins had to play legitimate out-of-division opponents like the Yankees, Red Sox, and Angels, so would the Twins’ division rivals.
Though I definitely disagree with Blyleven’s idea of only 2 interleague series and both against the Brewers.
OB, you should have been with me last week…. Won at both, Odds be damned.
Just ask romer.
So like I said, if it aint broke, don’t fix it.
It’s very broken. The two sets of rules is a good place to start. The DH is not going away in a world where the players union calls the shots. Might as well adopt it to both leagues.
As it stands, that the AL can still dominate interleague play with one player essentially tied behind its back really points out how inferior the NL has become.
before you wish for fewer nl games;
last 2 1/2 years against the al, 169-179.
against the nl 37-17.
And like I said, don’t fix it to help the Twins.
Fixing it hurts the Twins.
I am only criticizing the inequities, which I will GLADLY endure to help the Twins.
But fixing it doesn’t hurt the Twins. If the Twins had to play the Yankees more often (boo hoo), the White Sox, Tigers, and Indians would all have to play the Yankees more often too.
“so would the Twins’ division rivals.”
I’m sure someone can look it up, but I have to believe our division rivals have handled the Yankees and Red Sox a lot better than we have in the last 5 years. (Do not include Kansas City in the analysis)
Yes indeed, Doc, good luck does trump all. That’s not to say that all decisions are equal though.
Jason,
I’ll bet even the Royals play the Red Sox and Yankees better than the Twins have recently.
Especially the Yankees in Yankee Stadium.
Here’s the sad thing about Bert’s argument in favor of getting more Yankees and Red Sox games…it’s driven by what you would get at the gate.
If you pencil in one more home series versus the Yankees and Red Sox and eliminate the home series with the Pirates and Astros this year, the end result is a lot more money in the Twins’ pockets. Now I realize this argument won’t really apply as much to the next couple seasons, at least, because of Target Field, but the bottom line, as we all know, is the Yankees and Red Sox represent premium games.
So too do the Brewers, and Bert still wants 6 games against them.
I’m not suggesting that Bert’s opinion was driven by the Twins’ interests at the gate, but you can surely believe that if the Pohlads could make the schedule, it would involve more Yanks and Red Sox at home and a lot less NL team, Indians, Royals, and Tigers.
IMO, if the Twins can’t win more games than their divisional rivals against the same opponents, they don’t deserve to win a division.
So I don’t feel sorry for them that they’ve been terrible against the Yankees.
sane, I think my point was that the Cardinals had developed the same reputation for focusing on the future constantly that the Twins have and that if, as it appears, enough pressure from within and without the organization appears to have convinced their new GM to pull the trigger to improve the team in the short term, maybe… just maybe… there might be some hope for the Twins, too.
On the other hand, I can’t imagine either of the M&Ms ever calling out the front office, even as subtlely as Pujols did.
During the Red Sox series a few weeks back, it was pointed out that the Twins home record against the Bostons going back the last few years was something like 17-8.
I can recall a few Twins wins over the Yankees at home, too. I think the hex only applies at their place.
Ultimately, I am skeptical that the schedule undermines or advantages any team. 162 games should separate the wheat from the chaff. Albeit, there are exceptions (’06 Cards, ‘87 Twins).
Jason, the Twins wouldn’t be trading a series with the Pirates/Astros for a series with the Yankees/Red Sox.
There are what… 3 home series with interleague teams?
So you’d be trading series with Milwaukee (every year and always at or near sellouts for every game) and two other NL teams (even the midweek Pirate series was very well attended this year), for 3 more AL series… they CERTAINLY wouldn’t all be against teams like the Yankees and Red Sox. You’d also be getting more games against the Rangers, Ms, As, Orioles, etc.
And it would also mean playing fewer games against teams in our own division like the WSox… also always well attended.
Let me put it this way. If teams actually made more money WITHOUT interleague play, there would be no interleague play.
So no, I don’t think Bert’s argument is based on increasing gate receipts for the Twins
Nice article Howard. I think interleague play is fine just get rid of the rivalry games because none of them are true rivals anyways.
“”"OB says:
June 29th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Yes indeed, Doc, good luck does trump all. That’s not to say that all decisions are equal though.”"”
Which is why I quit when I am ahead.
Reminds me of my favorite B Kliban cartoon…..a buffalo is standing by himself and says “I’ve never met a shortstop I didn’t like, with the possible exception of Kahlil Greene.”
“…none of them are true rivals anyway.”
Really? Not even the Mets/Yankees, Cubs/WSox?
I don’t like F-Bomb as a nickname for Liriano. I prefer a nickname my kids can actually use.
Smart man, that Doc.
Germane to the discussion (plus Papi).
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2009/06/29/feeling_uneasy_the_rule_vs_nl/
Buff….I do not like the nickname Franchise for him either. No yet, anyway.
“Franchise” is the cleverest. Too bad it isn’t the most accurate. Maybe later.
It was accurate when he got the name in 2006. Things change.
Darned if you don’t tend to give yourself away as a Macalester alum some of the time. I remember my freshman year in those hollowed halls seeing that Khalil Gibran quote plastered in more than a few dorm rooms around Turck Hall
OB, good link. The only thing fair for the ECBS is if they win every game.
Shaun, fcm:
As a “franchise,” Liriano used to be Best Buy. Now he’s probably Kmart. But at least he’s not Circuit City.
Good point, Howard. And if FL has more games like yesterday, he will move up to our local True Value.
“I don’t like F-Bomb as a nickname for Liriano. I prefer a nickname my kids can actually use.”
Well we finally know what name Dick Bremer posts under here in 220.
JC,
my analysis about the money at the gate was premised off what Blyleven proposed during yesterday’s game. He proposed keeping the 6 Brewer games, so we wouldn’t lose that income. He also proposed no further NL games, meaning the Pirates and Astros series goes away and essentially 12 fewer AL Central games, meaning six divisional home games are also gone (let’s say 3 v. Tigers and 3 v. Indians for the sake of argument…of course this opens a whole new discussion since Bert’s proposal would involve a disparate number of home and road games vs. each divisional opponent).
To fill in the 12 home dates vacated by Bert’s adjustment, you would likely have another series at home against Yanks, Red Sox, maybe Rays, Rangers, Angels, etc…but Yanks and Red Sox are the obvious keys.
Clearly, we make more money off Yanks and Red Sox than any other teams (hence the premiums placed on those games at the gate). I think it’s fair to say that replacing Pirates / Astros with another series with Rangers / Orioles (or whatever) would be a wash.
So long story longer, we would certainly benefit more at the gate using Bert’s proposed adjustments to the schedule. I don’t think that was his motivation for suggesting the changes, but I think it is a fact…whether we as fans care about that or not.
East Coast BoSox?
OB, close…. I call them the East Coast Bitch Sox.
Appropriate.
I love baseball!
Wow! The manager of the team with David Ortiz as their DH doesn’t like interleague play. Not exactly “man bites dog” is it?
Yet somehow I suspect that he won’t complain if he has to put Papi out there in October (or is it November this year?).
I liked the idea of the DH when it was introduced because I’d seen enough of Dean Chance trying to hit to believe pitchers had no business with a bat in their hands. But I didn’t like when the situation evolved in to one where the DH became a full-time gig for old and/or overweight guys who couldn’t play defense any more (if they ever could).
I guess I’m saying I’m somewhat lacking in sympathy for the ECBS.
ANNOUNCING THE AL SCHEDULE 2010 (I wish)
Time to trot out last year’s Model Schedule which I offered to mlb at no charge. 
I don’t personally buy the idea that playing the whities, tigers, royals, and indians 19 times a year is good for “fan interest”. This fan is more interested in variety. Bring in the Dodgers and I’ll go see them (I did. Bring in Houston and I’ll go see them (I did). Bring them all in once every 2 years and I’ll go see them.
Here you go MLB (your AL schedule for 2010):
AL 14 teams:
Every team plays a 3 game series (home and away will alternate each year) with every NL team (16 teams). That comes to 48 games.
For the 5 team AL divisions, they play each team in their division 12 times for 48 more games. (The 4 team division plays two teams in their division 14 times and one team 13 times; a slightly unbalanced schedule for 41 games).
The 5 team division teams play each of the other 9 teams in the AL 7 games each or 63 games. (The 4 team division teams each play the other 10 AL teams 7 games or 70 games.)
The last 3 games needed for the 162 game season are the NL/AL rivalry games (e.g. Twins vs Brewers).
Perfection! I should have copyrighted the schedule, but offer it up at no charge. It is worth it to get rid of those never-ending divisional games - 76 games a year - nearly half the season against 4 teams. Blah!!!
JC….”"”I guess I’m saying I’m somewhat lacking in sympathy for the ECBS.”"”
Thank you, JimCrikket.
I heard a nickname for M&M and Kubel today. “Jojuja”. Don’t think it’ll catch on, but it’s good for a laugh.
Buffalo:
My use of the nickname “F-Bomb” was not originally intended to bring profanity to mind, though that adds an amusing double entendre. Incidentally, I would rather see kids uttering the word “F-Bomb,” than the actual swear word that that euphemism represents.
I started calling Liriano that name in 2006. I saw other letter nicknames (A-Rod and K-Rod specifically) and thought that Liriano should have an F nickname. At that time his pitches were as destructive as bombs to many helpless AL hitters, so I thought it appropriate.
This year that nickname has taken on a bit of a different meaning, since Mr. Liriano has caused me to utter more F-Bombs than are strictly appropriate in polite conversation.
Hopefully in the future, all of the F-Bombs will be coming from the hitters that face Liriano and not from me (or your children)!
Well then, Jason, I’ll just blame Bert instead of you for having a faulty premise.
First, as you pointed out, you end up in that scenario with unbalanced schedules within your own division. That would not, could not, fly.
But on top of that, you can’t premise anything on the Twins getting an extra home series with the Red Sox and Yankees. It might happen once every few years, but the ECBS and Evil Empire can’t play EVERY AL team in an additional series. The Twins are supposed to always get them? Not happening.
I’m not even sure the Twins would benefit if Bert did get his way… especially if it’s at the expense of several BitchSox games at home.
You lose 4 home series (two against NL teams that drew well to the Dome and two against Divisional rivals that tend to draw better than average) and replace them with four series against east coast or west coast teams. Who, besides NY and Boston would draw better at the Dome than the interleague games do? Tampa, Toronto, Baltimore, LAAAAA, Texas, Seattle, Oakland?
Carlos G: Love your schedule. But doesn’t it make the NL a complete mess?
I suggest this….The Twins play the White Sux 81 games at home, and 81 at Sux. That’ll fix everything.
How bout: Astros to the AL West so all divisions are equal (La Tech in the WAC is still worse). Equal divisions so now make the schedule more regional with two series away from intraleague regional foes (AL central) and given to interleague regional foes (NL central).
Lame jab at soccer, very lame. Grow up.
ANNOUNCING THE NL SCHEDULE 2010 (I wish)
I don’t care quite as much about the NL schedule, but just to save mlb schedule makers the effort, I will also give them a formula for that league.
Here you go MLB (your NL schedule for 2010):
NL 16 teams:
Every team plays a 3 game series (home and away will alternate each year) with every AL team (14 teams). That comes to 42 games.
For the 5 team NL divisions, they play each team in their division 10 times for 40 more games. (The 6 team division plays three teams in their division 9 times and two teams 10 times; a slightly unbalanced schedule for 47 games).
The 5 team division teams play each of the other 11 teams in the NL 7 games each or 77 games. (The 6 team division teams each play the other 10 NL teams 7 games or 70 games.)
The last 3 games needed for the 162 game season are the NL/AL rivalry games (e.g. Twins vs Brewers).
Summary: All NL divisions 45 interleague games; plus 40 division and 77 league games for 5 team divisions = 162; and 47 division and 70 league games for the 6 team division = 162 games.
This is like a dream come true schedule for a true baseball fan! Example, Twins fans will see EVERY major league team EVERY year AND will see EVERY major league team at least once at Target Field every other year. How could you possibly prefer the current schedule of seeing the blah royals, blah indians, etc week after endless week instead of this fresh and interest-generating schedule!?!
Read this and note that Dickey’s average fastball is ~10 MPH faster than his knuckler (84.8 vs. 74.6).
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/wakefields-fastball-redux
JC I guess i dont consider cubs/sox or yanks/mets rivals like say red sox/yanks.What’s more screwed up is there are two more NL teams then AL teams.
I agree BC. The AL West / NL central dilemma has always bugged me.
OB: possible on the Astros, but I’d move Milwaukee to AL Central, KC to AL West to balance it out. Of course, that takes away our natural NL rival.
Bottom line on why things are the way they are (re: 6 teams in NL central, 4 teams in AL west) is timing.
No team in the central time zone is going to want a significant portion of their schedule played in the pacific time zone. How would you like it if the Twins played 36 games per year (not counting possible road games against NL West teams) in the pacific time zone? If not for this quirk, I believe MLB would’ve fixed it long ago.
Jason: I think the reason is actually for scheduling. They need an even number in each league because of the outdated way they schedule the season.
I hear ya on the pacific time zone thing though. It is frustrating as hell that the Wild start so many games a season after 9:00, and the Wolves start quite a few that late too.
Jason it’s simple get rid of the wildcard and go to 4 divisions.
Or back to 2 divisions, BC.
Carlos,
While your schedule is interesting, I don’t like it and here’s why. Less than 30% of the schedule is against teams that you are in direct competition against in order to make the playoffs.
First lets look at other sports.
NFL: Must win division to make playoffs (yes there are wild cards). Teams play 50% of their games against their own divsion rivals and 14 of the 16 games are against common opponents.
NBA: Conference is more important than division (need to be in top 8 to make playoffs, winning division has small benefit). Teams play each team in other conference twice (30 games) remaining 80 games are in own conference).
NHL: Conference is more important, but only play teams in other conference once. More focus on Divisional games.
MLB: Need to win division to make playoffs, so a great deal of emphasis should be on the teams within your own division and common opponents.
Howard-
Checked out the Khalil Gibran link and am loving his work… just bought two books! Mind-blowing s-bomb.
The reasons that the Conferences are unbalanced is because they didn’t used to play against each other and for the most part still don’t.
Remember there used to only be 28 teams. They added 2 teams and re-aligned the teams into 3 divisions.
There will be no realignment unless and until there is another expansion.
Each league must have an even number of teams (not even to each other; just an even number in each) for the schedule to work, otherwise there would always have to be interleague games or teams would have to take more days off. No team wants to have off days on Fridays and Saturdays, because this deprives them of revenues on days that attendance would be high. And no team wants to get stuck playing a team from the other league in September, during a pennant race! That is why the Brewers switched to the NL when we had the last realignment.
If the AL expanded to 16 teams (Mexico City and Honolulu!), then MLB could switch to a NFL style alignment, with four, four-team divisions in each league. Unless and until that happens, the AL/NL will remain unbalanced. We’ll just have to live with it.
RyanH,
Keep this in mind when reading Gibran. It’s from Sand and Foam: “Half of what I say is meaningless; but I say it so that the other half may reach you.”
a) Don’t say you weren’t warned.
b) Kind of like a blog, huh?
Howard, I really loved the post you did a few weeks ago where you asked people to share their stories of how they started following baseball. It was as fun to read the other stories as it was to share my own.
Would you consider running another column in the same vein where you ask people to share where they were and what they felt when the Twins won it all in 1987 and 1991 (or even when they lost in 1965)? I think that blog post could generate just as many memorable stories.
Just a thought.
Icon: I don’t think one interleague series at most per team in september would ruin the pennant race at all. With the right matchups, it would be more intriguing. You don’t think, for example, the Yankees dropping 2 of 3 to the Mets right before a big Red Sox series wouldn’t be interesting?
Besides, the Twins play 3 series this year in september against non divisional teams. In the grand scheme of things, is the series against the rangers any more or less meaningful than it would be against the Pirates?
You have a good point, Lefty. Perhaps they could even try to schedule some of the rivalry matchups in September to make things interesting.
But I still don’t think it will happen. I think expansion is the only way that MLB will ever even the divisions, and I don’t know what the chances of that are anytime soon.
As long as you have two “leagues”, they’ll be unbalanced because you need an even number in each league. Otherwise, scheduling doesn’t work, regardless of whether you just schedule within in your league or have limited interleague play.
Personally, I’d blow the whole thing up and start over. Two leagues/4 divisions, all based roughly on geography:
EASTERN LEAGUE (14 teams):
NE Division:
Boston, NYY, NYM, Phil, Tor, Det, Pit
SE Division:
Balt, Wash, Atl, FL, TB, Cin, Cle
WESTERN LEAGUE (16 teams):
Midwest Division:
StL, CHW, CHC, Minn, Milw, KC, Hou, TX
Western Division:
CO, Sea, Az, LAA, LAD, SD, Oak, SF
Cheaper travel, no major issues with timezones, lots of potential for natural rivalries.
I tend to agree with you Icon on evening divisions. I just wish all the interleague games weren’t piled into 1 month of the season. The Twins play 6 interleague series per season. Why can’t they be 1 series per month? The only reason I can think of is a schedule maker that doesn’t want to work too hard.
Whoa, JC…. I think your proposal would cause a civil war within the baseball fan community.
Baseball is the most traditional of all of the sports. And you just proposed eliminating the American League and the National League, two institutions that have graced our game for more than a century each.
Though, I do like the idea of not having to play the Red Sox and Yankees every year.
You might be on to something Jim C….the only half way big problem I see is Baltimore not being in the same division as the Yankees. Those Yankee fans subsidise that crappy organization in Baltimore when they show up 10 times a year!
“The Twins play 6 interleague series per season. Why can’t they be 1 series per month?”
Actually, since the Twins just went 12-6 in interleague play, I’d like to see them play all of their games against NL opponents, not just 1 per month! Especially if they could play 3 or 4 series against the Nats!
I suspect the Baltimore organization would hope to make up for the loss of a few Yankee fans by being in a division they might have half a chance to be competitive in occasionally. But knowing Angelos, I’m not so sure.
As for causing consternation for traditionalists, Icon, if the DH didn’t bury them, what’s a little reallignment?
Maybe the should just contract the Twins and the Rays oh wait.
Actually, I think the reason they’re all lumped together is two-fold, lefty. First, they don’t want the perception that interleague games are playing a major role in deciding division titles in August and September. They think (perhaps correctly) that most baseball fans aren’t smart enough to realize all games count the same, whether in June or September.
But more importantly, it’s about money. MLB noticed that attendance tended to wane a bit in the latter part of the first half of the season (April-May everyone is excited about the new season; from the AS break on, the races drive attendance. But the 6 weeks or so before the AS break, fans kind of got bored).
So to drive up attendance in an otherwise dry period, they introduced interleague play. Guess what? It worked.
JimC: Just taking your idea a step further:
opposite league: 1 3 game series against each team. Play one whole division at home one year, road the next year.
other division, same league: 3 home, 3 away against each team.
division: for the east league, 12 against each divisional rival. For west league, 10 against each divisional rival. This leaves 2 extra games for the west league to play, which could just be extra divisional games, so youd play 5 teams 10 times, and 2 teams 11 times in the division. Wouldn’t be hard to set a consistant rotation on who you play for the extra games.
Valid points Jim C. A guy can wish though, right?
I like Icon’s 3:13 idea. Where were you, Icon?
This is from Nick Cafardo’s Boston Globe column.
“Mat Gamel, 3B, Brewers - After outfield/first base prospect Matt LaPorta went to the Indians in the CC Sabathia deal last June, don’t expect Brewers GM Doug Melvin to rush to deal Gamel or Triple A shortstop Alcides Escobar, who is hovering around .300 for Nashville. Melvin needs pitching, especially with Dave Bush going on the DL, but he’s going to find a way to get it without giving up the future left side of the infield.”
The Twins should make a BIG play for JJ now. Get er done.
And exactly what pitching do we have to spare to get this done? The Brewers need a major league starter. The Twins don’t really have a spare one to give.
For what it’s worth, I am a huge Khallil Greene fan. I wish him the best, and I’ve wanted him on this roster since he was in the minors for San Diego. He has an amazing arm, and a great glove, and awesome power for a middle infielder. He walks less than Delmon Young, bring him here and put him at 2nd base. He might welcome the change, and St. Louis might give him away, and pay part of his contract!
fcmlefty,
I have no idea what it would take. But like I’ve stated before, there’s only about 10 guys in the whole system I’d consider off limits.
I believe a plus O and a plus D SS is essential to a contending team constructed using the Twins model.
Expression451,
I like Greene a lot too. But the last couple of years scare me away.
Guess I’d like some sort of explanation as to why Hardy’s performance has fallen off so drastically this year before I went too far to get him.
That .158 BA and .501 OPS against LHPs this year doesn’t make me feel warm and fuzzy.
Paul, agreed, but I think there is something about coming to a team like this that might help him, and not to make light of mental illness as I take it deathly seriously… we have the Baby Jesus to heal him. But seriously, we have a great clubhouse, and there are some amazing doctors here in Minnesota that could do almost magic when it comes to helping him through it.
“I like Icon’s 3:13 idea. Where were you, Icon?”
Thanks, Shaun.
My own story probably isn’t that exciting. I was 11 in 1991, so the biggest benefit of Game 7 was that my parents let me stay up late on a school night (it was a Sunday night). And since that game went 10 innings, we were up well past our bedtimes. Also, we were allowed to eat a lot more junk food than usual (Doritos and Oreos and Cokes, I was too young for beer).
My brother and my Dad and I watched every minute of that game on our Cold War-era radiation-emitting TV. It was so tense that none of us even wanted to get up to use the bathroom for fear of missing something. But by the bottom of the 10th, we just knew that it would end well, especially after Dan Gladden’s leadoff double. Gene Larkin’s hit was just icing on the cake.
Without exaggerating, that is the happiest moment of my entire childhood.
JC,
Me too. But seeing as he bats RH I think that’s most likely a stat aberration.
He just fits too many team needs to be a bad bet. AND, as Chief has stated before, we’d be buying loww.
Expression451,
You may be right. But if I were deciding, I’d need a lot more info than is available to me now.
SE Division:
Balt, Wash, Atl, FL, TB, Cin, Cle
The problem with this is that Cleveland is more north that Philly, the 2 New York teams and Pittsburgh
I just posted and foolishly buried this over at LENIII’s blog:
And now we get the report the Twins are going up to a 12-man staff. What for?
BP, except Henn, is doing real fine. So are the starters (ignoring the blip by Slowey).
I can’t imagine KC will be an offensive challenge to the staff. There will be two days off between now and the AS break (7/13).
What pitcher can possibly make a difference for them for those last 9 games at home from 7/2 through 7/12?
Nice column. I agree that the Juan Rincon game is the last time a game drove me nuts. That one hurt.
And now we get the report the Twins are going up to a 12-man staff. What for?
romer,
where have you seen that? The only reason that might make sense is that Crain’s option time ends sometime soon and the Twins might lose him if he is in the minors at that time.
AL West:
Portland, Seattle, Oakland, California (It’ll be a cold day in Hell before I call them the L.A. Angels of Anaheim!)
AL South:
Mexico City, Texas, Tampa, Baltimore
AL North:
Minnesota, Kansas City, Chicago, Detroit
AL East:
New York, Boston, Cleveland, Toronto
NL West:
San Diego, Los Angeles, Arizona, San Francisco
NL South:
Houston, Florida, Atlanta, Washington
NL North:
Milwaukee, St. Louis, Colorado, Chicago
NL East:
New York, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Cincinnati
thrylos, it’s actually an interesting exercise to try to come up with “geographically” logical divisions when you need to consider the limits on division size and natural rivalries.
With Atlanta and the two Florida teams pretty much down there by themselves, you need to find 4 other teams to include with them. Baltimore and Washington make some sense, being the two southernmost “eastern seaboard” teams.
Yes, you’d sure like to have Philadelphia in the same division as Baltimore from a geographic standpoint. But the Phillies are a natural fit with the NY teams and Boston.
In the end, I accepted imperfection and shipped the two Ohio teams, in tandem, to the Southeast. It’s not perfect, but hey, neither am I.
In today’s article by LENIII headlined “Liriano Responds To Pressure”, the last words of the article are:
“With interleague play over — and Punto healthy — look for the Twins to add a 12th pitcher this week.”
My vote: Buscher down, Swarzak up to the big league ‘pen.
JC,
realistically, the single problem with having a single league with several divisions instead of 2 leagues is that the NL-owners will never accept a DH and the players’ association will never accept the lack of a DH. It’s all based on $.
Icon,
I think that Vegas is probably an easier place for an expansion team than Mexico City.
romer,
thanks. Sounds like speculation.
Icon…..YES!!!!!!
LINEUPS!!!!!!
http://64.246.64.33/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=StarTribune&page=mlb/scores/live/lineup.aspx?gameid=24995
JUST POSTED.
Obviously, when I said “blow it up”, that’s what I meant. No more AL and NL. It does retain two distinct leagues, EL and WL. Each newly formed league would have to vote on the DH, assuming there was no Commissioner with the balls to say, “in the interest of the game, we’ll all use the same rules”. Equally obvious, that would require a new Commissioner. (Admit it, that fact alone has you liking the whole idea better, doesn’t it?)
The $ will always be there… and I think the new geographic rivalries will pique the interests of networks AND local TV systems.
Hmmmm… Vegas is an option. But I remember that the NBA and NFL have been very reluctant to locate franchises there because professional sports leagues tend to shy away from overt connections to gambling.
I chose Mexico City (somewhat facetiously) because I remember that when the Expos were going kaput the league flirted with relocating them to Puerto Rico or somewhere in Mexico to take advantage of the massive baseball fanship among the Spanish speaking world. I know that Mexico’s weak economy and recent outbreak of drug violence would probably make MLB hesitant to put a team there, though.
Interestingly, the Cardinals are talking about increasing their pitching staff back up to 13. I guess that reflects the non-DH thing. NL managers can afford to get by with 1-2 fewer bench players since they don’t have to have 9 in their line up every night.
JC,
I do like the idea. But I am not sure that the NL owners would like to add an extra $5 mil (the average DH salary) and the players’ union to subtract $74 mill (5*14) from the payrolls. It would be cool if that happens though…
Icon,
the problem with having any team in Mexico is the cost of living/GNP etc there. It will automatically be the smallest of the smaller markets and will not be competitive.
Can we call it basballosophy?
I concede your point on Mexico’s weak GDP.
However, you could not call Mexico City a small market. It has a metropolitan population of nearly 20 million. And not every person in Mexico is poor. Their average salary is very low, but there is also a wealthy elite class there that could probably easily afford to attend baseball games.
There is some precedent for American sports in Mexico City. In 2005 the 49ers played a regular season game there, and it drew over 100,000 paying fans.
On balance, I’m sure that MLB will not actually place a team in “Ciudad de Mexico Districto Federal,” but it isn’t that far-fetched of an idea.
In 2005 the 49ers played a regular season game there, and it drew over 100,000 paying fans.
How much were each paying though?
I don’t know what they paid to watch the game.
But I did just look up Mexico City in Wikipedia(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico_city ) - There was a citation in the article for a more reputable source, but I was too lazy to look that one up, and it told me tha the per capita income is over $25,000 (significantly greater than the rest of Mexico). That isn’t actually a whole lot worse than Detroit’s $34,000 pc income. If you consider the city’s massive population and the overwhelming passion for baseball in Latin America, I am convinced that Mexico City could support a major league team.
I admit that they would need to build a
I admit that they would need to build a domed stadium there, though, because Mexico City has a truly evil amount of air pollution.
thrylos, everyone has 25/40 man rosters, right? Is there a $5mil average difference in team salary between AL and NL teams? That would certainly be an issue, I agree. As for the union, there are x number of roster spots in MLB, which gives the union exactly that many members (plus DL, etc). I’ve never understood why the union cares what positions those x number of players play. Could be, I suppose, that current players consider the DH as a potential career extender for them. I’m just not sure that theory would stand up to examination.
Iconoclast $25,000 seems a bit high to me.
Don’t argue with me, argue with Wikipedia!
That income is certainly not equally distributed. The article goes on to say that average household spending in M.C. is over $52,000, which is about equal to Itlay and France. It also seemingly contradicts itself (gotta love Wikipedia) by saying the p.c. income is about $22,000, but the citation says that that is from 2000 data.
So I think that $25,000 is a reasonable figure. Mexico is poor, but Mexico City is not as bad off.
Icon,
In a domed stadium in Mexico will be more air pollution than outside the stadium. There not such a thing as non-smoking laws there…
The other thing is that international travel has become such a pain the last 8 years that even playing at Toronto is a hustle (several latin american players have visa problems every season), so that’s another strike against an international destination. I suggested Vegas, because it already has a baseball team (AAA, used to be the Colt 51s now just 51s) with a packed stadium in every game (they fill that puppy up to 15k people) and would sustain a major league team (more than Portland, as a matter of fact).
On the other hand, within this recession, expansion is a pipe dream.
