Comments (4)

By Jimmy, 4/7/2011 4:38 pm

Here’s a a simple recipe for pan-seared porterhouse steak.  You will need a cast-iron skillet.

Ingredients:

• One porterhouse steak fillet
• A fistful of minced garlic
• Some butter
• Some thyme
• Olive Oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Vegetable Oil

You can marinate the steak overnight if you want, though I didn’t do that and it came out fine.

1. Brush both sides of the raw steak with olive oil, and cover it with salt and pepper.
2. Pre-heat a cast-iron skillet on your stove top at “High” setting.
3. Add vegetable oil to the skillet, and once it starts to evaporate, add half of your butter.
4. Once the butter liquefies, add half of the garlic and the thyme, and drop the steak right on top of it.
5. Make sure your vent fan is turned on, or you will activate your smoke alarm and piss off your neighbors.
6. Add the remaining butter, garlic, and thyme to the top (still raw) side of the steak.
7. Cook for about 4 minutes on each side for rare (rare is recommended).  If you are have some sort of weird fetish for medium or well-done steak, just stick the entire skillet in a 450 degree oven for a few minutes after searing both sides.
8. Don’t touch the skillet with your bare hands, it’s likely to be very hot.

Enjoy!

Coming up next: Dewey’s House takes a trip south of the border for Jimmy’s famous huevos rancheros!  Arrrrriba!

Comments (1)

By Jimmy,

It doesn’t really matter which pitcher the Red Sox are facing at this point.  A 10-year-old German Shepherd with bad hips could be on the mound for the Tribe, and he would give up only 1 run over 7 solid innings.

But, just in case you are curious, the Sox are actually facing Fausto Carmona this afternoon.  Carmona is an extreme ground ball pitcher (60% ground ball rate over the course of his career) who throws a hard sinking fastball.  While he’s inconsistent at times, he has the stuff of an elite pitcher and could easily shut down this struggling Red Sox team.

While Jon Lester is the staff ace of the Red Sox, let’s keep in mind as we head into his second appearance of 2011 that he is notorious for struggling in the early part of the season.

Here are his second April starts in each of the last three years:

• 4/12/2010 – 5 innings, 9 hits allowed, 3 walks, 4 earned runs (loss)
• 4/13/2009 – 6 innings, 10 hits allowed, 0 walks, 6 earned runs (loss)
• 4/9/2008 – 5.1 innigs, 5 hits, 4 walks, 4 earned runs (loss)

The Red Sox could easily end up at 0-6 while the Yankees march into town tomorrow.  Things aren’t going exactly as we expected, are they?

Here is the head-to-head data for today’s game:

Marco Scutaro in particular has hit Carmona very well in a number of plate appearances.  It would be nice to see some offense from the bottom of the order.

It’s just about game time.

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By Jimmy, 4/6/2011 2:18 pm

A Fenway business-related matter has been in the news here, causing a minor controversy in some circles.  It seems that the Red Sox are planning to take on a practice currently seen at most American professional sports venues: the sale of mixed alcoholic beverages.  Now, before I embark on my rant, I’ll preface it by saying that I have no intentions of purchasing mixed drinks at Fenway Park; I prefer instead to have one or two beers while taking in the game.

Boston and Massachusetts are known for their proud embrace of 400-year-old puritanical “blue laws”, most of which do not have any practical application to modern society.  Stupid shit, like business owners needing a permit to open shop on Columbus Day (because we all know that Chris Columbus single-handedly discovered America, so it only makes sense that we commemorate his heroics by chipping away at the already-fragile state economy).

Mayor Tom Menino, seeking to continue a Boston tradition of shackling the free market in the name of idiocy, took issue with the Red Sox selling these drinks at Fenway.   His argument was something along the lines of, “Err-ehh (I’m doing my Mayor Quimby voice here) err-ehh, these drinks should nawt be sold in the bleachahs, err-ehh“.  Somehow, in Menino’s mind and in the minds of a bunch of grandstanding city and police officials, it’s completely fine for people in the bleachers to swill a dozen 5% ABV beers and drive home to Reading or Dedham in their Ford F-150′s, but the appearance of a whiskey sour in Section 35 will cause Armageddon.

Why, you ask, is it acceptable to have a free-flowing torrent of domestic beer at the ballpark, but no mixed drinks with roughly the same alcohol content?  It’s simple: certain people have this Norman Rockwell image of what a baseball game should look like.  Wooden stadiums, wool uniforms.  Beer, peanuts, and hot dogs (but nothing else!).  All children should have red hair, freckles, and huge smiles.  Umpires should be fat and authoritative.  Players should have a gruff blue-collar appearance to them, like coal miners.  There should be very few minorities around, and everyone in the crowd should be wearing fedoras.  There are no strawberry daiquiris or pomegranate martinis in the Norman Rockwell world of baseball, it’s as simple as that.

The same type of people who are raging against the sale of mixed-drinks at Fenway are generally the same type of people who complained about the kiosks serving sushi or pizza.  It’s baseball!  There’s no sushi in baseball!

Thankfully, it appears that a compromise has been reached.  Fenway can sell their mixed drinks, as long as they err-ehh, keep them away from the bleachahs, err-ehh.  Because, you know, God forbid the unwashed masses get their hands on a watered-down Tom Collins.  The universe would collapse on itself.

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By Jimmy, 4/5/2011 9:38 am

Here’s a quick rundown of the batter vs. pitcher data between Josh Beckett and Indians starter Josh Tomlin:

Tomlin, a 26-year-old right-hander, is in his second season after tossing only 73 innings in his rookie campaign.  Most of the Red Sox have yet to face him.  He’s not an overpowering pitcher; his fastball sits at around 89 MPH and he doesn’t get a ton of ground balls.  He seems like the type of pitcher who might provide a good warm-up for a few of Boston’s left-handed bats.

Josh Beckett, on the other hand, is very familiar with several of Cleveland’s regulars.  I’ll quickly point out that a large chunk of his appearances against Orlando Cabrera occurred during Beckett’s Florida days, and he simply hasn’t been that guy lately.  Alas, his appearances against Pronk, Choo, and Asdrubal are more recent.

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By Jimmy, 4/1/2011 3:40 pm

Well, here we are again.  The Boston area landscape still resembles some snow-covered industrial town in eastern Russia, but in other parts of the country, professional baseball games will be played.

I’ll post a very quick preview of the match-ups, while I try to figure out a way to watch the game on my computer without my boss noticing.

Game 1: Boston @ Texas

Red Sox hitters vs. C.J. Wilson:

Rangers hitters vs. Jon Lester:

Yikes.  As good as Jon Lester is, the middle of that Texas lineup has hit him quite well over the course of his career.  And C.J. Wilson, being a left-hander, is a huge thorn in Boston’s side (in addition to being a prick, apparently).

Pregame notes:

• It will be weird, and rather unfortunate, to see Adrian Beltre wearing the colors of the opposition.  His season here was really outstanding, and I don’t think enough people will remember it 10 years from now.
• Is it OK for me to start disliking Josh Hamilton now?  Or is that still considered un-American?  I’m thinking the “He’s a great story!!!!” honeymoon period ends after 3 years, right?
• Happy opening day.

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By Jimmy, 3/30/2011 5:58 pm

2010 Pythagorean Record: 78-84

Roster Analysis:

Despite having a few very good players entering their prime (Kemp, Kershaw, Billingsley, Ethier), this team will not be very good, due to a few large weaknesses in the lineup and the back of the rotation/bullpen. The Dodgers haven’t finished in last place in 19 years. They could very well contend for that dubious accomplishment in 2011.

Projected Record: 72-90

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By Jimmy,

As previously mentioned, Orioles manager Buck Showalter has been running his yap about beating the Red Sox and their $215 million payroll (sic). Can the Orioles back up their skipper’s bold words?

Orioles 2010 Pythagorean Record: 63-99

Roster Analysis:

The O’s management has very creatively improved the offense with guys who, while not superstars, should score a few more runs and make a few more plays than the dreck they had on the field last year. They’ll be hoping that their young, promising starters improve enough to ensure the pitching staff isn’t a complete abortion like it was last season. Personally, I think the 2009 Jeremy Guthrie (5+ ERA) is the guy you’ll be seeing if we assume luck-neutral environment. He’s not a strikeout pitcher, and he’s not a ground ball pitcher. Frankly, he shouldn’t be that good.

While they should be a bit better, keep in mind that this was basically a 100-loss team in 2010. They brought in some interesting low-cost, past-their-prime players to fill gaps, but it would take a miracle for this team to even approach a .500 season, especially given their divisional opponents. They’ll win enough games to avoid being a complete embarrassment, but they’ll lose enough games to make Showalter look like a jackass.

Projected record: 74-88

Comments (1)

By Jimmy, 3/28/2011 9:03 am

I’m sure you’ve heard about this one already, but Orioles manager Buck Showalter (known as a bit of an oddball for quite some time now) issued some bold statements in a recent interview with a men’s magazine:

“I’d like to see how smart Theo Epstein is with the Tampa Bay payroll,” he barked. “You got Carl Crawford ’cause you paid more than anyone else, and that’s what makes you smarter? That’s why I like whipping their butt. It’s great, knowing those guys with the $205 million payroll are saying ‘How the hell are they beating us?’”

Okay, a few quick points:

• The Red Sox payroll was $168 million last year, and will be around $180 million this year
• In 12 years as a MLB manger, Showalter has had 1 postseason appearance and zero championships
• In 8 years as GM of the Red Sox, Theo Epstein has 6 postseason appearances and 2 championships
• Showalter is 18-24 in his career against Epstein’s Red Sox

In all honestly, the comments don’t bother me a bit.  The Orioles play Boston roughly 18 times per season, and the games tend to be among the dullest on the schedule, aside from the fact that it gives Red Sox fans a chance to visit Fenway South and help themselves to some crab legs and Yuengling.  If Buck wants to play the Rex Ryan role and fire up the rivalry a bit, it’s fine by me.

Coming up: a blitzkrieg of team previews.

Comments (1)

By Jimmy, 3/18/2011 10:19 am

Ever since the NCAA basketball tournament expanded in 1985, No #16 seeded team has ever beaten a #1 seeded team (overall record is something like 0-102).

Until today, that is.

Boston University will shock the world by upsetting top-seeded Kansas.  How, you ask?  Simply because they are a better basketball team.

You see, Kansas lost to Kansas State earlier this year.  Kansas State lost to UNLV.  UNLV lost to Colorado State, who lost to Sam Houston University, who lost to McNeese State, who lost to Northwestern State, who lost to Canisius…who lost to BU.

In other words, BU > Canisius > NWSU > McNeese St > SHU > CSU > UNLV > KSU > Kansas.

Ipso facto, BU > Kansas.  This is irrefutable logic.  Place your bets now and thank me later.

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By Jimmy, 2/23/2011 10:29 am

2010 Pythagorean Record: 92-70
Run Scoring: 4.88 runs per game (1st out of 16)
Run Prevention: 4.23 runs per game (7th out of 16)

After a 14-year hiatus from the playoffs and 9 straight losing seasons, manager Dusty Baker oiled up the Big Red Machine and flipped the flipped the “ON” switch, leading them to a 1st place finish in the NL Central last year. Cincinnati’s success was mostly due to their powerful offense, highlighted by first baseman Joey Votto’s stunning MVP performance (.324/.424/.600).

All of this happened despite a disappointing year from prized starter Edinson Volquez, who missed time due to Tommy John surgery and also served a 50-game suspension for violating MLB’s drug policy (fortunately for the Reds, these things happened concurrently). Now that Volquez appears to be healthy and a few other changes have taken place, how does the 2011 roster look?

Why am I predicting a slight decline for Votto? Only because he set the bar so incredibly high in the previous season. Matching his 2010 results will be very difficult. Put it this way, he can still have a great season at the plate in 2011 while still being slightly less productive (1 or 2 less wins). This is what I’m betting on.

The rest of the downgrades are pretty standard. Rolen and Hernandez are both coming off of very good years, but both players are in their late 30′s and a solid bet to decline a bit. Jay Bruce, as good as he was last season, might be even better in 2011.

While the offense can’t really be expected to significantly improve upon their success from the previous season, the pitching staff will likely be a little better. A healthy Volquez and another year of seasoning from Cueto, Bailey, and Wood translates into one of the most promising young rotations in the National League. And while the bullpen will miss the services of the ageless wonder that is Arthur Rhodes, Aroldis Chapman will make an immediate impact in the late innings, and could even take over the closer’s role if Cordero struggles.

Best Case Scenario: Votto continues to wreak havoc upon NL pitchers, and usurps the “best hitter in baseball” tag from Albert Pujols after his second-straight MVP season. The rotation stays healthy, and the Reds approach 100 wins.

Worst Case Scenario: Votto regresses into a mortal power hitting first baseman, and one or more key starters get hurt. St. Louis leaves the Reds in their dust. Record is slightly above .500.

Conclusion: This is a team that is set to be very good for a very long time, both in pitching and offense. Anything less than a Wild Card berth in 2011 will be a disappointment.

Projected record: 95-67

Comments (3)

By Jimmy, 2/8/2011 10:20 am

Yes, today is the day that the Red Sox equipment truck leaves Fenway Park and embarks on the long journey down I-95 to Fort Myers. I have to ask: wouldn’t it be easier for the Sox to just keep a bunch of equipment in some warehouse in Florida year-round? Maybe send a couple of U-Haul vans down with player-specific items (bats, etc.), but keep everything else down there? Certainly this would be cheaper and easier. I guess that’s a question for John Henry.

Anyway, the Boston Globe has maintained a library of photos from each “Truck Day” since 2006. Let’s observe the evolution of this all-important day:

2006:

"People seem to be making a bigger deal out of this, so we'll go ahead and drape this neat little tarp over our tractor trailer. Weeee, 49 days until Opening Day, kids!

2007:

"Look, we didn't even make the playoffs last year, so we're not decorating the damn truck, OK? Why are you people even standing around here? Beat it. Losers."

2008:

"So, it turns out that those 'Japanese revenue streams' were just a bunch of bullshit, and we can no longer afford paint. It's just a truck, anyway. WHY ARE YOU PEOPLE HERE??!!"

2009:

"We need two trucks this year. One for the equipment, and the other for Brad Penny."

2010:

"It looks like more idiots are showing up for this thing every year, so let's paint half the truck and get Jet Blue to sponsor it".

2011:

"Okay, we spent a fortune on free agents, so let's paint the entire truck and put a message on it. Something that says 'Not a bridge year'. And get me Jet Blue on the phone again."

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By Jimmy, 2/7/2011 9:07 am

Dennys Reyes is the most recent journeyman left-handed pitcher to be acquired by the Red Sox.  One interesting note on the veteran pitcher, turning 34 in April: he has managed to slightly increase his fastball velocity in each of the past four seasons:

I still think that Hideki Okajima will be a difficult incumbent to remove, even if Reyes or one of the other newcomers is lights-out in the spring.  I’m hoping that I’m wrong.

Other Notes:

• Take an impartial, docile crowd, add Joe Buck to the mix, and you have yourself a recipe for a very dull sporting event.  It’s amazing how they are able to suck the life out of this game every year, even if it’s a closely-fought battle.  Contrast that with the atmosphere of the BCS title game (which was a blowout).
• You know what else is depressing?  In 14 years or so, that E*Trade baby is going to have a massive drug problem.

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By Jimmy, 2/3/2011 12:43 pm

Big news concerning the Yankees: Andy Pettitte has decided to retire according to various reports.

Pettitte would have easily been penciled into the Yankees rotation had he decided to pitch in 2011. As of right now, the 4th and 5th starters in the New York depth chart appear to be Freddy Garcia (yes, the guy who pitched for Seattle 1,000 years ago) and Ivan Nova.

Of course, in today’s world of sports, “retiring” doesn’t actually mean retiring. I’d say the probability of Pettitte being the #5 starter on the Yankees in 2012 is around 50%. But, it appears that they will need to scramble a bit to fill out the back-end of that rotation in the short term.

Comments (4)

By Jimmy,

Why "Inverted W"? Why not just call it "The M"? /seinfeld

2010 Pythagorean Record: 72-90
Run Scoring: 4.04 runs per game (14 out of 16)
Run Prevention: 4.58 runs per game (12 out of 16)

Coming into last season, a realistic goal for the 2010 Nationals was to not be the worst team in the major leagues.  With a little bit of help, they made it happen.  Despite clearing that lofty benchmark, the season was not without frustration, as young superstar pitcher Stephen Strasburg required Tommy John surgery after only 12 starts in the big leagues.

During this offseason, perhaps looking to fill some seats in lieu of Strasburg’s injury, the Nationals shocked the baseball world by signing free-agent outfielder Jayson Werth to a 7 year/$126 MM deal.  Just about everyone outside of DC (myself included) questioned why a team clearly in rebuilding mode would make such a move.

So, can the Nationals compete in the NL East with Strasburg a virtual non-factor in 2011?  I’ll save you the suspense; probably not.  Let’s look at the roster:

When the Nats let Adam Dunn leave via free agency, they washed away any net offensive potential added with the Werth signing. The end result is a lineup that isn’t very different from the 2010 version. Zimmerman is a true superstar and should get better as he enters his prime, and Ramos and Espinosa are both promising young players, but this is a crew that won’t be scoring many runs.

The view from the pitcher’s mound doesn’t get much better. Livan Hernandez is legendary for his rubber arm at this point, but 2010 was the first time in 5 years that he finished with an ERA under 4.50. Given his age and track record, a regression is almost a certainty. Marquis and Lannan are batting practice machines who would have trouble cracking most AAA rotations. Zimmerman has some potential, but he’s never pitched more than 134 innings in one season during his professional career. Tom Gorzelanny is probably the best healthy starting pitcher on the team right now.

The bullpen was Washington’s strength in 2010. They weren’t just good, they were terrific. After losing Matt Capps and Joel Peralta along with the likely regressions of guys like Clippard and Burnett, the relief corps should be just about average in 2011.

Best Case Scenario: Zimmerman provides MVP-caliber results, Jayson Werth hits around 40 home runs, Pudge Rodriguez retires and allows Wilson Ramos to become the full-time catcher. Stephen Strasburg returns at the end of the season and has a couple of dominant starts, restoring some hope. Nats finish a tad under .500.

Worst Case Scenario: Strasburg suffers a setback and does not sniff a pitcher’s mound in 2011. Jayson Werth shows signs of aging, giving the front office a terrifying sense of buyer’s remorse on that 7 year deal. Zimmerman regresses a bit, and the Nats lose over 100 games (again).

Conclusion: It’s all about the prospects, baby. Fans should keep an eye on top draft pick Bryce Harper, likely to start the season in High-A and already campaigning for a September call-up. After seeing what he did as a 17-year-old in junior college, he could be the real deal.

Projected record: 71-91

Comments (4)

By Jimmy, 1/11/2011 11:20 am

Managers should really adhere to the MLB uniform rules, like they did in the old days...wait, what?

2010 Record: 81-81
Run Scoring: 4.09 runs per game (11th out of 14)
Run Prevention: 3.86 runs per game (1st out of 14) 

The A’s 2nd place finish in the AL West last season was a tad unexpected, as the team’s young pitching staff managed to dominate the American League.  Under the tutelage of pitching coach Curt Young, the A’s rotation has seemingly perfected the art of inducing ground balls to a science, as they managed to prevent runs despite modest strikeout rates. 

As most of their key pitchers are cost-controlled and will be returning in 2011, the A’s spent the offseason finding creative ways to improve their glaring weakness: offense.  The team is finally rid of Eric Chavez after years of gauze-wrapped disappointment, and Rajai Davis will no longer be creating outs. 

While the offense should be better, the biggest question facing this team will be whether or not the Oakland pitching staff can rediscover the magic they found in 2010 now that Curt Young has been ripped away by an evil big-market team. 

Let’s look at the projected roster: 

Suzuki and Kouzmanoff, both in their prime, should hit a little bit better than they did in 2010, while Ellis is a good bet to regress as he enters his mid-thirties.  DeJesus and Willingham are both significant improvements to what was an anemic Oakland outfield last year, while Coco Crisp should be decent in centerfield as long as he remains healthy. 

As much as I like Trevor Cahill, I can’t see him continuing to post an ERA under 3.00 with that strikeout rate of his.  He’ll be decent, but expect a few more batted balls to sneak through in 2011.  However, the rotation as a whole should perform reasonably well. 

Best Case Scenario: Barton continues to add power and becomes Kevin Youkilis 2.0, Matsui rakes, the rotation pitches as well as they did last year, and the A’s win roughly 95 games and beat out Texas for the AL West title. 

Worst Case Scenario: Willingham struggles against AL pitching, Matsui and Ellis decline drastically, and the rotation proves that 2010 was a fluke.  A’s finish in 3rd place, a few games under .500. 

Conclusion: This is a team whose Pythagorean record in 2010 was 85-77, and they appear to have addressed several weaknesses this offseason.  With a slew of good, young pitchers under their control and an improving offense, we could be seeing the beginning of a steak of success similar to 2000-2003 (i.e. the “Moneyball” years). 

Projected record: 91-71

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By Jimmy, 1/10/2011 5:04 pm

It looks like the Red Sox are somewhat confident that Hideki Okajima will win the last remaining spot in the team’s bullpen this spring, since they reportedly signed him to a guaranteed $1.75 million for 2011, a contract that could exceed $2 million if certain incentives are met.

In related news, the Cubs have claimed catcher Max Ramirez off of waivers after the Sox removed him from the 40-man roster to make room for Okajima.  Not really shocking news, since Ramirez would have had to face waivers eventually once the Sox designated him for assignment after spring training (assuming he wouldn’t have beaten out Jason Varitek for the backup catcher spot – a fair assumption indeed).

I’m not a big fan of the Okajima signing.  He’s a pitcher in his late-30′s who has been declining steadily over time.    Left-hander Rich Hill was very impressive in Pawtucket last year, and appears more than able to handle a pseudo-specialist role.  While there are a handful of candidates for the final bullpen spot, the money given to Okajima seems to indicate that the job is his to lose.  Hopefully, the money isn’t a factor in the decision of who makes the team this spring.

Comments (3)

By Jimmy, 1/7/2011 10:06 am

The State of Massachusetts gave John Henry and the Red Sox a Dikembe Mutombo style finger wagging yesterday, denying them the tax credits they planned on using to move the fences in by nine feet.  As a result of this, the renovation has been placed on hold indefinitely.

Not really the best PR move for the Sox, since they cited safety concerns as their primary reason for moving in the fences.

The whole idea seemed odd in the first place.  If anyone can find any records of an injury caused by the “narrow bullpen” in the 100 year history of Fenway Park, please let me know.

Other tidbits:

• The catcher picked up by Sox on waivers, Max Ramirez, is out of options and will need to pass through waivers (again) in order to be sent to the minors.  Note, this is the guy who came very close to being traded for Mike Lowell early in the 2010 season.
• From the same article liked above, the Sox currently have the 19th and 26th overall picks in this year’s Amateur Draft, in addition to two sandwich picks (three if a team signs Felipe Lopez).
• I’m a day late on this, but as you’ve heard, Boston Herald sportswriter Steve Buckley announced that he was gay yesterday.  Bold move, considering a large chunk of the Herald’s target community considers traits like “progressive” and “educated” to be bad things.  I can’t imagine it will be fun for him to work in the same building as Howie Carr and friends.  Best of luck to WEEI’s baseball trivia king.

Comments (7)

By Jimmy, 1/6/2011 10:16 am

In case you missed the announcement yesterday, here are the results of this year’s Hall of Fame vote:

Alomar and Blyleven will both deservedly get in.  The names highlighted in that sad shade of blue will be dropped off of future ballots (Parker due to the 15 year rule, the others due to the <5% rule).  A few thoughts:

• OK, I get the non votes for guys like McGwire and Palmeiro.  I don’t agree with it, but I get it.  However, the only reason to not vote for Jeff Bagwell is if you are accusing him of using roids / HGH.  His performance was obviously Hall-worthy.  Shouldn’t the null hypothesis be an assumption of innocence?  Why do we insist that Alomar is clean while Bagwell isn’t?  People have really swallowed the idea that steroids = home runs (and vice versa), and that’s unfortunate.
• I’m not a Kevin Brown fan, and a small part of me is laughing at him now, but he really got screwed here.  Postseason notwithstanding, Brown’s career was nearly identical to Curt Schilling’s, and I’m guessing Curt will be elected without much resistance (as he should be).  There is no doubt that Brown was a better pitcher than say, Jack Morris.
• I was expecting more of a groundswell of support for Tim Raines on this year’s ballot, but it looks like he has stagnated at around 40%.  Not a good sign for him.
• Prediction for 2012: Barry Larkin is the sole inductee.

Unrelated gripe:

I often consider getting more into biking, since part of my commute includes 1.5 miles of walking and Boston has become more bike-friendly recently.  However, certain encounters make me not want to become a part of that culture, like this morning, for instance:

Me: (walking on a sidewalk near the BU Bridge in 20 degree weather, listening to loud music on headphones)
Biker: “LEFT!!” (in a frustrated “Oh come on!” sort of tone)
Me: (realizing he had said this a few times and I hadn’t heard it, now stepping aside): “sorry man”
Biker: (after pedaling safely 15 yards away from me): “DICK!!”
Me: sigh…

I refuse to become that guy.  Walking is just fine.

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By Jimmy, 1/5/2011 10:44 am

If you are 30-ish, and a nerd, this image will likely bring back memories.

2010 Record: 57-105
Run Scoring: 3.62 runs per game (16th out of 16)
Run Prevention: 5.35 runs per game (16th out of 16th)

There’s not a whole lot to be said.  The Pirates, a team that has been bad for nearly 20 years, were historically terrible in 2010.  By far the worst team in baseball; the team with the worst offense and the worst pitching.  Their 105 losses were the highest total by the franchise since 1952.

Last year’s atrocities aside, there is a glass-half full way to look at this team.  First and foremost: things can only get better from here.  The Pirates cannot lose more than 105 games (right? RIGHT?).  Secondly, and most importantly, the team features some very talented young players with very high ceilings.  Both Andrew McCutchen and Pedro Alvarez are possible superstars in the making, and both Neil Walker and Jose Tabata appear to be decent players on the rise.

The harsh reality, however, is that the team’s ownership doesn’t seem to be interested in spending money.  Hopeful Pirates fans might point to the turnaround experienced by the Detroit Tigers after their 119 loss season in 2003, but unlike the Pirates, the Tigers ownership has been willing to sign big paychecks.  The team hasn’t been good enough in the draft to rely on cost-controlled talent like Tampa Bay has done in recent years (it’s a pity that they were just “good” enough to miss the boat on Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg).

With all that said, let’s  see how the team looks going into the 2011 season:

Like I mentioned earlier, there are a few reasons to tune into Pirates games in 2011.  Pedro Alvarez will be 24-years-old, and should provide some much-needed offense after fully usurping the job from Andy Laroche.  Also, Andrew McCutchen could develop into one of the best centerfielders in the game in the next year or two.

While the offense should improve a bit, the pitching will still be terrible.  The Pirates late-inning bullpen options  (Evan Meek and Joel Hanrahan) are decent, but they shouldn’t be expected to replicate last year’s success, and the team’s awful starting rotation won’t allow them to pitch with the lead very often.

Best Case Scenario: Alvarez emerges as an elite offensive third baseman, and McCutchen and Walker continue to improve.  The Pirates finish in last place again, but not by a large margin.

Worst Case Scenario: One of their young players gets hurt, and the team replicates 2010.

Conclusion: The highlight of the team’s summer will be making the first overall selection in the 2011 Amateur Draft this June.  They really can’t afford screw that one up.

Projected record: 64-98

Comments (7)

By Jimmy, 12/22/2010 11:43 am

It’s been rather quiet since the recent volley of bullpen acquisitions, so while I have some time I’ll go ahead and make my picks for this year’s Hall of Fame class.

One major thing to keep in mind when reading my ballot: I don’t penalize heavily for alleged steroid abuse.  My feelings can be summarized by the idea that many, many Hall of Famers have benefited from outside influences over the years, whether it was amphetamines, doctored pitches, a segregated “whites only” league, gambling, etc.  I don’t see why we should draw a line at steroids while ignoring all of these other things that have skewed the baseball almanacs for nearly 150 years.

We have a strong ballot this year, and I’ll end up using the maximum 10 votes.  I can’t remember another year in which I would have voted for 10 guys.  I’ll list my inductees by order of preference, along with the team that should be on their cap in Cooperstown.  In the interest of time, my argument for each will be very brief.

1) Barry Larkin – SS – Cincinnati Reds
12-time All Star, 2 Top Ten MVP votes, 1 MVP, 1 World Series Ring
Larkin is quite possibly one of the top ten shortstops in the history of the game.  He may not have had Cal Ripken’s durability, but he was on par with Ripken in nearly all other facets.  Played his entire career for the same franchise (this gets you a slight edge in my ballot).  Would have received around 90% of the vote last year if he played in a big market (he ended up with 50%).

2) Jeff Bagwell – 1B – Houston Astros
4-time All Star, 6 Top Ten MVP votes, 1 MVP
It’s kind of odd to see that Bagwell only made 4 All-Star teams, but the 1990′s were an era with lots of good first basemen (three of them are on this ballot).  Easily the best hitter in Astros franchise history.

3) Tim Raines – LF – Montreal Expos
7-time All Star, 3 Top Ten MVP Votes, 1 World Series Ring
Played his entire career in the shadow of Rickey Henderson, and thus is severely underrated.  Raines actually had a better SB percentage than the SB king himself (86% vs 81%).  Maybe the most productive NL outfielder during the 1980′s.

4) Mark McGwire – 1B – Oakland A’s
12-time All Star, 5 Top Ten MVP Votes, 1 World Series Ring
People are starting to forget how much of an offensive wrecking ball this guy was.  Right now, you can buy a ticket to the Baseball Hall of Fame and marvel at the plaque of Joe George “High Pockets” Kelly, but not McGwire’s.  A bunch of pretentious writers will probably ensure that it stays this way.

5) Bert Blyleven – SP – Minnesota Twins
2-time All Star, 4 Top Ten Cy Young Votes, 2 World Series Rings
The arguments I’ve read for not voting for Blyleven (“he wasn’t a big game pitcher”, “you never looked at the scorecard and said ‘oh no, we’re facing Bert Blyleven”, “baseball is about winning, and he didn’t win enough ballgames”) are all stupid.  Nine of Blyleven’s top ten comparable players on baseballreference.com are Hall of Famers.

6) Roberto Alomar – 2B – Toronto Blue Jays
12-time All Star, 5 Top Ten MVP Votes, 2 World Series Rings
Alomar never really identified himself with one franchise, which I think is a reason for his lack of support last year.  He and Blyleven were both a couple of votes short, so I’m guessing that they both get in this year.

7) Larry Walker – RF – Colorado Rockies
5-time All Star, 4 Top Ten MVP Votes, 1 MVP
The fact that his best seasons were played in Coors Field probably hurts him in the eyes of some voters, but Walker’s numbers would have been impressive if his home park was located on one of Jupiter’s moons.

8) Alan Trammell – SS – Detroit Tigers
6-time All Star, 3 Top Ten MVP Votes, 1 World Series Ring
Alan was hurt by inconsistency.  He has some years that were truly great, followed up by years in which he was so-so.  Still, next to Ripken, he was the 2nd-best SS in the American League during most of his career.

9) Raphael Palmeiro – 1B – Texas Rangers
4-time All Star, 3 Top Ten MVP Votes
An excellent player for a very long time.  I fully expect Raffy to get less than 10% of the actual vote and fall of the ballot completely.  If voters want to discount his career that much based on a PED he may have ingested later in his career, that’s fine.  It’s not how I would vote, though.

10) Kevin Brown – SP – Texas Rangers
6-time All Star, 5 Top Ten Cy Young Votes, 1 World Series Ring
Like Alomar, he bounced around for most of his career, and he was also a notorious douchebag.  Both of these things will hurt him in the voting.  His career is pretty similar to that of Curt Schilling, who would also get my vote once he becomes eligible.