Postseason Preview and Season Awards
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: the 2004 Postseason and Season Awards
Topic: 2004 Playoffs and Awards
The 2004 season was one of the best in recent memory. Randy Johnson passed Steve Carlton into 3rd on the all-time strikeout list AND he threw a perfect game. Bonds surpassed 700 home runs, finishing with 703. He could pass Ruth next April or early May. Ichiro broke the George Sisler's 80 year old record hits record of 257.

As usual, the Braves and Yankees won the NL East and AL East respectively. The Red Sox played the role of bridesmaid to the Yankees again to take the AL Wild Card. The Dodgers and Giants went down to the 2nd to the last day of the season. The Astros and Giants battled until the last day of the season for the NL Wild Card. The Angels took the first two games in Oakland the last weekend of the season to take the AL West, led by Vlad Guerrero. The Cardinals who most everyone picked to finish 3rd in the NL Central , won their division easily, as did the Minnesota Twins (yet again). The Cubs lost 5 of 7 games to the Reds and Mets to blow their Wild Card chances.

There was the typical drama during the season. More steroid talk, Jose Guillen being suspended without pay, Giambi's assortment of injuries, Davey Lopes takes over for Jimmy Williams to lead the Astros to an unlikely Wild Card berth. There were many great stories this season and hopefully, more will come about during the postseason.

Enough of my ranting. Here are my picks for the Postseason and why.

The Atlanta Braves will lose to the Astros in 5 games. Clemens and Oswalt will outduel their counterparts of Jaret Wright and Mike Hampton. Russ Ortiz will pitch well over the back half of the Astros rotation, though Brandon Backe has been relatively solid. Carlos Beltran will be big difference maker in the series, which will lead Scott Boras (Beltran's agent) to overuse the word special even more during Beltran's impending free agency. Astros over Braves 3-2.

The St. Louis Cardinals will crush the Dodgers due to their lack of starting pitching. Gagne can't save a game that the Dodgers trail by 6 runs. The Dodgers might take one game in the series but will be home for the LCS. The Cardinals offense is too much for anyone in the NL, especially the team I feel is the weakest in the playoffs, no offense intended to Dodgers skipper Jim Tracy. Cards 3-0 over the Dodgers.

The Red Sox will beat the Angels in 4. Vlad Guerrero and Glaus will have good series but will not be able to overcome the inconsistent starting pitchers of the Angels. Colon is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get. Washburn is okay but too much offense by the BoSox will eliminate the Angels. BoSox 3-1 over Angels

The Twins-Yankees is probably my favorite series for balance. The Yankees starters would scare me if I was a Yankee fan. Vasquez has been shaky of late. Mussina is usually decent in the playoffs but has limited success as the No. 1 in the playoffs. The Twins have Cy Young candidate Johan Santana who has been the most dominant starter after the All-Star break. Radke has been good of late as well. I think the key to this series will be game 3. I think Santana will win Game 1 and the Yankees will beat Radke is Game 2, not necessarily because of Jon Lieber but they wll score enough to win. Carlos Silva is the key to the for the Twins. If he can win Game 3, the Twins win the series. If he loses, teh Yankees win. My pick is the Twins in 4 because of the lack of depth in starters by the Yankees. I don't like the way Kevin Brown, Javier Vasquez or Estaban Loiaza have pitched and I think the Twins offense will take advantage of it. Twins 3-1 over the Yankees

For my season awards, here are my picks:

First, let me say that the MVP to me is the Most Indispensable Player for a team that had success. Sorry, A-Rod, you wouldn't have gotten my vote last year.

AL MVP: Until the last week of the season, my pick was Gary Sheffield. Then Vlad Guerrero carried the Angels into the playoffs. Manny and David Ortiz had great years for Boston but not the VALUE to the team that Guerrero had. So my pick is Vlad Guerrero.

NL MVP: Everyone wants to pick Bonds. I like Bonds as a player. He is the most dominant player of my lifetime. As a person, I prefer to make no comment. But the MVP isn't a popularity contest anymore. I think that the player who had the biggest impact for his team's success was Adrian Beltre of the LA Dodgers. Beltre had a career year. Shawn Green had average numbers. Milton Bradley had an okay year. Gagne was Gagne (which is the best closer in the game today with Mariano Rivera 1A). No one on the Dodgers had a stellar year. Without Beltre the Dodgers aren't in the playoffs. Every other team in the NL who made the playoffs (sorry Barry) had at least one player who supported the big bat. Steve Finley helped a lot after the trade but he had no help before the trade.

AL CY Young- This is obviously a 2 man race between Curt Schilling and Johan Santana. Schilling gave the BoSox the dominant workhorse that the lacked. They had the dominant pitcher (Pedro, but he isn't a workhorse anymore) and a workhorse (two actually, Wakefield and Lowe, but neither is dominant). Santana and Radke helped the Twins pull away in the weak AL Central. The numbers are comparable between Santana and Schilling. They both piled up tons of wins, strikeouts, and both were in the top 15 in ERA (Santana 3rd and Schilling 12th). My vote goes to Johan Santana. He was just a little better in most categories. It isn't his fault he plays in the AL Central. He shouldn't be penalized because the Twins sealed up the division in August. He was the most dominant pitcher in the AL.

NL Cy Young- The NL race is also a 2 man race, with apologies to carl Pavano. Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens were the 2 best pitchers in the NL. The Diamondbacks scored 22 runs for Johnson in his 14 loses. Clemens kept the Astros in ever game he pitches. Clemens won 18 games for a playoff team.

Unit movement
Mood:  chatty
Now Playing: Randy Johnson on the move
Topic: Trade Season
Everyone is guessing where Randy Johnson will end up before August 1. The Angels, Red Sox, Yankees and Cubs are among the teams looking to land the Big Unit.

New York Yankees
The Yankees would love to land Randy Johnson. One, he is the biggest name available. Two, it would keep Boston from getting him. Three, the Yankees desperately need a big-game pitcher for the play-offs.

How is it possible? George usually can do anything he wants. he throws the money out and people come to the pinstripes. He has a couple of decent minor leaguers but very few big leaguers available.

How likely is it? Looking at their farm system, it seems highly unlikely. They have few upper level prospects the D-Backs would want and Halsey was their top upper level arm in the minors who is an average major leaguer at best. They do have a very talented young catcher (Dioneer Navarro). He is a switchitter compared to Posada but better average and less power. Jorge DePaula is a potentially good young arm as is Ramon Ramirez. I doubt the Yankees will part with Navarro or DePaula, but you never know with George.

Boston Red Sox
How is it possible? The BoSox have a few very good prospects including 3B Kevin Youkilis, SS Hanley Ramirez, C Kelly Shoppach and some quality young arms including LHPs Brian Marshall and Abe Alvarez.

How likely is it? It is possible. The talking and writing baseball gurus are implying a three-way trade with the Cubs. Boston send disgruntled SS Nomar Garciaparra to the Cubbies for some of the Cubs minor league pitchers (the Cubs have the best young arms in the minors, led by Angel Guzman). The BoSox would then send the pitching prospects (and maybe some of their own prospects) to the Diamondbacks in exchange for Randy Johnson. I don't see it happening if the Cubs are still interested in johnson. Why help another team get the player you want?

Chicago Cubs
How is it possible? The Cubs have all teh prospects the D-Backs could want. Are they willing to weaken their future for a World Series now? (Yes, if the Cubs get RJ, I think they will win the series over the Yankees or Angels). The Cubs have upper level position and pitching prospects. Their farm system is one of the best in baseball thanks to Player Development Director Oneri Fleita.

How likely is it?

New Owners; New Ideas
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: for the fans
Topic: Good news
My congratulations to Anaheim Angels owner Art Moreno on his purchase. Mr. Moreno has a great idea. He lowered beer prices. As a fan, (and someone who enjoys cold beverages) this makes me very happy. Now if I got to the concession stand, I can carry a $10 and maybe get 2 beers instead of paying $20 for 2 brews. Concession prices are an aboration to the sports fan. $4 for hot dogs that aren't even the size of the buns. $7 burgers. $5 fries. Not often do we get our money's worth for our food and drink purchases at games. Therefore I wanted to thank Mr. Moreno for his effort. Now all we need is lower ticket prices.

I also wanted to say that I did find some value for concession at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. There is a little stand on the first base side for a restaurant called Primanti Brothers. A Primanti Brothers sandwich is a mouthful and then some. Pounds of meat, cheese, fries (yes, the fries are on the sandwich) and condiments in a massive one item called a Primanti Brothers sandwich. YUMMY! The cost is around $7 for it and worth every penny. For $7 at most ballparks (including PNC), you can't get something to eat (except $3 M&M's) and a drink. For $7 and how stuffed you feel, it is definately worth it, especially given teh alternatives. My thanks to Primanti Brother and if you are interested in expanding to Richmond, you would have at least one loyal customer. :)

Draft Issues
Mood:  blue
Now Playing: Contracts and more contracts
Topic: sad state of sports
It is a somewhat sad state of sports where players are paid millions of dollars for "potential". What if the real world worked that way? Let's say the kid from Stanford graduates and has good grades and a sharp business savvy, what company would pay him millions of dollars for work he hasn't done yet? The answer, probably none. The one good thing about the now-defunct XFL was their proposed pay scale was the same across the board. Everyone makes a base salary and are paid based on performance. If you have a career year, you get paid for that. If you have an off year, you get paid little.

Look at some of the horrible contracts in professional baseball. Mike Hampton's $121 million over 7 years. His record since signing the deal: 38-44 with a 5.17 ERA. Denny Neagle (5 years for over $51.5 million) 19-23 5.56 ERA. Chan Ho Park ($65 million over 5 years) 40 starts, 12-16 6.00 ERA. I won't even mention Darren Dreifort or Scott Erickson or Kevin Brown. These are just the BAD pitching contracts.

Jason Kendall is a terrific player and the face of a faceless franchise (Pittsburgh Pirates) got a 6 year $60 million deal. Let's not forget my favorite player (please see the sarcasm, I couldn't stand this guy) Albert "don't call me Joey" Belle. The O's paid him $65 million for 5 years in 1998. He even played 2 of the 5 seasons. Thankfully the Orioles got insurance to pay 90% of the last 3 years of the contract. For their investment, Belle provided 60 HRs and 220 RBIs, batting 289. He had a degenrative hip condition that ended his career.

Then there are players who have phenominal early years before they are able to get the big contract. Albery Pujols averaged over 30 Hr, 100 RBI, 100 runs scored, batting over .300 AND playing 4 positions (not counting his inning at 2nd base during the All-Star game his rookie year). Wade Miller and Roy Oswalt were outstanding with miniscule contracts (in baseball terms, I wouldn't sneeze at $300k a year).

Every sport overpays for athletes. This has led to a potential lockout for the NHL for the coming season. MLB and the NBA have priced themselves out of most people's budget. I used to go to over 10 major league games a year. Now I MIGHT go to 3 if I am lucky. The reason: money. Tickets starting at $10 or so and with that you get a nose bleed (my apologies to Turner Field's $1 seats which is a fantastic idea). The NBA is pricing itself out of the price range of the people who have bankrolled the idea (a common sentiment in the sports world). NASCAR has even started to outprice its patronage. Some (if not many) fans make sacrifices to keep going to games. Others look for alternatives. Look at the growth explosion of minor league baseball and arena football (both are family oreinted and cost effective options to see the sports people love). Just my opinion as a humble and fiscally challenged sports fan.

The NoVa Expos
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: Expos moving
Topic: Relocation
Everyone wants to know where the Expos will be relocating next season. Las Vegas, DC, Northern Virginia, Monterrey (Mexico), Portland, Norfolk. All of these names have been thrown around by Herr Selig. Here is my take on the situation for each city:

Las Vegas: No stadium will be major league ready by next season. Their current stadium has 9334 seats. Major League minimum requirements is almost 3 times that amount. The concept is nice but the season ticket base would have to come from the casino owners and local businesses unlike the season ticket holders in other cities, which are average joes. They can sell tickets to the tourists. Vegas is a good option for relocation in the future if another team needs to relocate.

Monterrey (Mexico) Is this really an option? Who will be the season ticket holders? The average person in Mexico can't afford tickets for the most part, let alone season tickets. Players have expressed that they would not feel safe playing in Mexico for a season. They would also have the same problems that the Expos and Blue Jays currently have, their currency doesn't equal the US Dollar. At one point in Canada, the Canadian dollar equaled .75 US Dollars. Since MLB costs are in US Dollars, the teams needed to make $1.25 to break even. Not made for a Major League franchise.

Portland Portland also doesn't have a stadium that is ready for Major League Baseball. They could have a strong fan base. They could have a nice season ticket base. (Season ticket base and luxury boxes are the main steady stream of revenue for teams; guess I should have said that earlier). So Portland could be a good option for relocation in the future if they can get a stadium.

Norfolk is a very nice option, but again, they do not have the facilities to accomodate a Major League franchise next year. Compared to the other US cities, the Norfolk Tides stadium (Harbor Park) could be expanded to accomodate a generous number of seats but still not up to major league specs. Norfolk would be a great relocation site (along with Vegas) because of the thousands of servicemen and women in the area as well as the surrounding communities. The new team in Norfolk would have to keep prices reasonable to be a viable franchise but as for moving the Expo there next year, it isn't a realistic option.

The best option is either the DC or Northern Virginia group.

I am going to combine DC and Northern Virginia because their traits are very similar. They have a stadium that is Major League ready (RFK, granted it isn't PNC Park or Camden Yards). They have a large fan base. They have the luxury boxes to sell and the companies to buy them. They have a plethora of places to build the new ballpark, including right next to RFK or the Northern Virginia option near Dulles Airport. I say that MLB needs to move the expos to the DC/NoVa area. If they have to, pay off Peter Angelos to get him to drop his stance against the relocation to teh area (which has softened of late). For those of you who have been to the DC/NoVa area, I don't belive that a team in the DC area and especially Northern Virginia will have the dramatic economic impact that Angelos is claiming. To drive from Northern Virginia to Camden Yards on a weeknight, it will take a MINIMUM of 2 hours to make the 35-40 mile trip. From DC it is a minimum of 90 minutes. Not many people I know make the trek in that direction. Most of the O's patrons that I know live in Howard County, Baltimore area and areas east and west of the city, not in the DC area. I lived in Frederick (45 miles northwest from Camden Yards and it would take me an hour to get to the game; half an hour minimum less than the DC folks). Just my opinion, as a loyal baseball fan.

Atlanta Braves
Mood:  surprised
Now Playing: Your Atlanta Braves
Everyone seems to have written off the Atlanta Braves this season. People say they don't have this or that and they need to "reload". The Braves have been reloading annually for almost every year since their run began in 1991 (1994 notwithstanding).

Marcus Giles, the team MVP last season, has been injured for 2 months. Furcal missed a couple of weeks with a finger problem. LaRoche (a preseason Rookie of the Year candidate) hurt his shoulder and has also been out. Chipper has been injured twice this year with a bad hammy. Horacio Ramirez and Paul Byrd have also been out. Injuries have desimated the team thus far this season.

Granted, many players have been underachieving. Mark DeRosa, a first-time starter in the Bigs, started off well but hit .178 in May and has started to turn it around in June. Andruw Jones is hitting .250 and striking out 1/4 of the time. Chipper is hitting .214 on the season. The starting pitchers have been inconsistent and the bullpen has been slightly above average. Russ Ortiz is a workhorse and one of the more consistent performers since being acquired from San Francisco. Mike Hampton had an AWFUL June. John Thompson is pitching to his career averages. Jaret Wright has been brilliant at times and awful at others. Paul Byrd has been a nice surprise. The bullpen has blown 7 saves (about average in the league).

JD Drew has been a very solid contributer when he is on the field. Johnny Estrada is making Mr Schuerholz look like a genius, batting around .500 with runner in scoring position. Estrada was the player teh Braves received in the Millwood deal. Nick Green has been very solid after his call-up. He was leading the International League in hitting when he was called up. Jesse Garcia has been a solid contributor at the utility position.

My feeling is that the Braves will be fine. The Phillies and Marlins have yet to run away with the division, which is Atlanta's saving grace. With consistent starting pitching and a turn around from key players like the Chipper and Andruw Jones and Mark DeRosa, the Braves could be on their way to the playoffs again for the 14th season. Just my opinion, as a baseball fan.