Three Pitch Inning

So with the baseball season officially beginning with the first Red Sox/Yankees series I wanted to share some thoughts about the team.

1. I am worried. Now I will tell you why. Yes, it's no surprise that the Sox got off to a slow start and have turned it around of late. My concerns are with the lineup. Specifically with two players, Ellsbury and Ortiz. I can't get worried to the slow start Pedroia is off too because he's done this before and ended up winning the Rookie of the Year.

Ellsbury has been getting Papi treatment. By this I mean he had one spectacular run on a high stage ('07 World Series) and has been given the benefit of the doubt ever since. He was awful last year in the playoffs and everyone seemingly gives him the benefit of the doubt that he will be a great leadoff hitter. Yes, he is fast but has he ever shown that he could handle this spot in terms of the bat. He's shown flashes but he has a career .291 average with a .343 OBP. Not bad for a guy with less then 200 career games, but is it even a question that the only reason he is there is because of the speed. It's a nice tablesetter but from a team that values getting on base and has the personnel to do it why not hide his deficiency and use his as a second leadoff hitter in the 9 hole?

Fittingly Ortiz his the other concern. He's the biggest concern. If anyone has seen him could you ask him politely to return to the team and relieve the shell of himself that has been standing at the plate so far this season. Players start off slowly but Ortiz hasn't flipped the ignition in three seasons. Now it is glaringly apparent because Manny isn't punishing the ball behind him (Youk is but he isn't the same as Manny). Ortiz has been injury plagued and I think it has finally taking a toll in the form of his stardom. He's still a personality but we need to stop giving him the treatment he got when he was saving games in the eigth inning every week. He doesn't do it anymore. We need to move him down in the line up. If Tito wants to keep the lefty/righty/lefty why not swap him and Drew. Drew hasn't been killing the ball but he is killing pitching with a +.400 OBP. Then Ortiz can move down where there is less pressure and he doesn't need to press to be the guy. This senario would allow Youk to get into the inning more often and we know how he has been hitting and how deadly the Sox are when they string together a couple of hits.

2. The Ortiz reshuffling brings the next issue, the lack of a feared bat. People are starting no collapse the pedestal Ortiz has been on (or has he done it himself, is it just me or is he starting to look like Mo Vaughn) and the Sox have no other option. No one is scared of Youk the way they should be but that doesn't help the Sox. Manny was that presence and we dont have it. The bright side is that the sports world is collectively drowning in this economy except for the Sox. The Nation's demand for tickets would outlast any depression (which says something considering tickets are still going up).

What does this mean? Did you see what happened in the NBA at the deadline? There you go. Big names should and will be available. All these depend on whether they are contending: Halladay, Vernon Wells, Alex Rios, Rolen, Overbay, Dye, Thome, Konerko, Victor Martinez, Cliff Lee, The entire Tigers organization (I think they get thrown in for free in you buy a Ford), Crisp, Guererro, Abreu, Lackey, Beltre, Ichiro, Washburn, Saltalamachia, Blalock, Michael Young, Holliday, Giambi, Cabrera. That's just and abbreviated list of the AL. You can bet the NL is just as extensive. This will give the Sox to bolster their lineup however they choose. People will be available and we have contracts that could come off the books soon. Yes, I did just use expiring contracts in a baseball sense. This could be the new emergence, prospects (not new) and expiring contracts. Without question the Sox need another big bat that can get things done when we leave the friendly confines where the Sox struggle.

3. I was always told end positive so here it goes. How about Tek? Sure he's only hitting .231 but he does have three homers and is making good contact. I know the numbers aren't great but remember we signed him at a discount for his abilities to handle the staff so if he can give us .240-.250 with 15-20 homers isn't that a huge bonus? If you say no you ask too much of the team and I don't want to be your friend. He's done being a big producer but if he can give us something then that's that.

The other positive in my eyes in the bargain buying by Theo coming together. The bullpen looks great and the starters look good too. Saito and company are holding down one of the best bullpens in baseball which will only get better (Bard is coming people). After that, Penny doesn't look like he's a CY contender he used to be, but a 12 win number 5 starter? Why not? The fact that Theo stocked on pitching was genious considering Dice may have killed us because he needed to prove something in a meaningless world tournament and go back to his daily 150 pitch side sessions. Does he or does he not have have fatigue? In April? Really? Thanks Dice. But Penny looks good, Smoltzy is coming and Bowden and Buchholz waiting in the wings. They seems stocked and if they aren't, well, pitchers will be a plenty come June.

The Sox have their hands full with a harder then ever AL East and only games can show us where they are going. Until next time, this was Three Pitch Inning.

NFL Draft

Kiper has his Big Board.  McShay has his time on Sportscenter.  Tirico and Crew get to put teams On The Clock.  What do I get?  Well, I get to complain.  And I will.

Mostly, I like the draft.  Not as a spectator event considering the first round lasts until Memorial Day but from the aspect that a team can completely reinvent themselves in a matter of two days.  Miami started their rebuilding through the draft.  Baltimore may not have made the playoffs without the draft.   New England put together the best offense ever through a draft weekend trade.  

So what the problem?  Draft position. 

It does make the most sense of any sport.  Reverse order of record, with the Super Bowl competitors selecting in the last two positions.  Yes, it makes sense, but as a people we constantly follow schemes that make no sense (see: BCS).  So I will suggest something that makes more sense but is more confusing, although not a whole lot more confusing.

Nowadays in the NFL we see a large disparity between competitiveness between conferences.  No one will claim the NFC East is equal to the NFC West.  Or the AFC South is equal to the AFC West.  Basically, the Wests for a long time has been terrible and although one team from each of their conferences get a playoff team, the others generally have a high draft pick.  

The gripe I have is that those inferior playoff teams still get a pick higher then more competitive teams that miss out on the playoffs. This, in a sense, rewards inferior teams that make the playoffs with a higher draft pick, where the system is clearly in place to help the teams that do not make the playoffs improve so that they may be able to compete of one of those coveted playoff spots.  So this year when I saw that Philly, Minnesota, and San Diego all had higher picks then my New England Patriots.  Of course this piece is written out of homerism but it does happen every year.

The superior teams that miss out on the playoffs are being given the ultimate punishment by not making the playoffs and not given the ability to improve themselves in the appropriate manner to compete within a division where the disparity is smaller.

The answer is simple.  The twelve teams that make the playoffs should draft in reverse order at the end of the round, with the Super Bowl teams selecting at the end.  From there, starting at pick 20, the teams that miss out on the playoffs should pick at reverse order of record.  This will allow teams a more fair way of improving their teams to compete within their respective divisions.  This would also not reward teams making the playoffs with a .500 or sub .500 record.  Yes they may need to improve more then say an 11-5 team but clearly to compete within their division.  Moreover, this those teams to be rewarded twice in a league that reward poor play from the drafting perspective.

The problem suggested is tanking for a playoff spot but in a this sport that would not really be an issue.  The NFL has seen a slew of Wild Card teams make the Super Bowl in recent years, as well as this year's 9-7 Cardinals come within minutes of a championship.  This is a league where every team that makes the playoffs honestly believes they can win it all.  This ideology suggests that tanking would not be an issue.

The system I suggested would also in theory make the final weeks of the season more excited because of ramped up competitiveness within the division.  So, NFL, just something to consider... 

Redux: Must see TV Thursday, a hilarious reread.

Well fan thank you very much for staying loyal to the last site on your favorites. I took a small hiatus, or at least that's what I'm going to call forgetting the fact that I had a blog for a couple of months. With that said welcome back me and I hope to have a lot for you in this, the summer '07: Summer of our lives!

Well like I mentioned I have big plans for the summer and I have coined it the sizzlin' summer series which is served with baked potato or rice pilaf. The wondrous dish or knowledge that you could easily think of yourself if you either a) thought enough about it yourself or b) have yet to experience (like warehouse work).

So let's get started on this piece without further ado, tomorrow night marks the best night of non-season sports television. The NBA draft is truly must see TV.

Let's start with the draft itself. Of all televised drafts: Baseball (finally!), Football, Basketball, and maybe hockey but I doubt it, basketball is the one that has completely understood the television audience. We aren't all that into sitting in front of the TV watching analysts for 2 full days of drafts (or six hours for the first round); we also aren't interested in watchin a draft that last time I checked has more rounds than Billy Joel has DUI's, and that the players may never be seen for years if ever again. Basketball comes in at around 2.5 to 3 hours long and everyone taken in the first hour and a half will be on your NBA team in the fall. In addition, there are only five positions each as crucial as the other and thus we can follow players more closely and not draft a lineman that played at southern new mexican christian junior college.

It has all the makings of good television and this comes from someone who knows television than anything I have learned in a classroom. The NBA draft has all the fixins'.

The drama: What more drama do you wish then having players the likes of Garnett, Marion, Kobe, O'neil, Stoudamire, or Jefferson mentioned in trades the week before the draft. Not only that but the lottery. The name sells itself of drama, the worst teams in baseketball taking their pick of the best young players to immediately impact their fortune. My beloved Celtics lost out on the top 1 or 2...3...or 4 picks in the draft and are completely stuck at number five but it's still no less dramatic then if we did have those high picks. But I guarantee you when your team comes up you'll be shaking like Paris Hilton in front of a judge.

Comedy: Let's look at how much two storied franchises have fallen and become Pauly Shore and Andy Dick. The Knicks were a menace in the nineties with one of the best PFs in basketball in Ewing and a great shooter in Houston and Starks. They competed with the Heat in some classic payoff duels and even made the finals (protest and excuses accepted via comment section). The Celtics have many championships and a slew of the legends hanging from the rafters. Now sub .500 hundred play is more their game. Granted they have not had the best of luck, Len Bias, Tim Duncan, Pitino, Ainge, Rivers all become excuses for their downfall but the show goes on and the Celtics suck.

This leaves me at this. The coverage starts at 7 assuming is jumps into the first round I should have my first hard laugh of the night no later than 7:45 when Ainge either selects a player that does not deserve the press (Jianlian), or trades the pick, jefferson, green to the lakers for Kwame Brown and Andrew Bynum. Then 18 picks later the Knicks will entertain us all with this year's Renaldo Balkman. So in advance I would like to welcome Nick Fazekas to New York and tell him that Isiah knows what he's doing and he picked you a round to early for a reason. Unfortunately, that reason was not because you were the smart pick or even a some what logical pick, sorry.

Protagonist/ Antagonist Angle: As a Celtics fan that I have one pick to look forward to and 29 to dread however for most teams there is a clear enemy. Spurs have the Mavs, Suns have the Spurs, Portland has Seattle, Chicago has the Pistons, and Cavs have the Heat. Each will wonder how their team will counteract their rival's pick while still striving for that championship trophy.

Conspiracy: Last but not least is the conspiracy angle. If you know sports and read Bill Simmon's page on ESPN (bostonsportsguy.com) then you have heard all about the '85 Ewing to New York conspiracy. Well folks it appears as though we can add '07 draft to that short list. Think about it both teams that tanked most obviously for Oden/Durant the Grizz and the Celtics end up with the worst possible picks possible statistically. Coincidence, Maybe? Message to the NBA teams from David Stern? Probably. These teams figured out the flaw in the lottery system and Stern fixed the lottery so that he would not look dumb and to keep this from happening in the future. Years from now when the celtics are into the same 50 year drought we'll look back on this draft like we were cheated and rightly so.

All of these categories and more depict the necessity and genius of the NBA draft.

Moving along to the Celtics Section.
We need to do so many things to be competitive now and I will spend the next couple of hours telling you what we should do to give us the best chance to win now. After I thought about it. Here's the list of

Can'ts:
Trade Jefferson/Rondo

Draft List:
Horford (most likely off the board)
Brewer
Noah (if we trade down)
Thorton (if we trade down)
Young (if we trade down)

Tradeable pieces:
West
Gomes
Pierce
Ratliff
#5
Green
almost anyone else.

Basically there is only one thing to do if you're the Celtics.

Don't Mess this up. Trade for a veteran that can help now or draft a rookie that can come in a produce immediatey like Thorton or Brewer. I would trade down and see if we could add another pick to add Boston College's Jared Dudley or Sean Williams to the mix. I will be there and be excited tomorrow night ad you should be to. As for now I am going to go pray ad hope God will shine some sun on the Celtics. Until then enjoy and don't forget to check out the Sizzlin' Summer series. Goodnight.

This should be interesting... Don't Do it to us again Danny!