Baseball
Anibal Sanchez is a bad dude. This is the same man who struck out 16 Atlanta Braves a few Fridays ago.
But when there is big game to be hunted, Bryce Harper picks up his elephant gun and goes to work. Harper hit a majestic blast to right-center off Sanchez and drove in another on a sacrifice fly in the Nationals 3-1 victory over the Tigers.
The home run was Harper’s 10th of the season.
Because I like to see interesting things, I watched Jose Valverde’s ninth inning save against the Royals last night in Detroit. Right now, Jose Valverde qualifies as an ‘interesting thing’ to say the least.
This is a man who supposedly lost 20 pounds, though I don’t know where he lost it. He looks like the same old Valverde to me. He is built like my grandfather, complete with a pasta-gut. He has stilts for legs and arms that are equally wiry.
Armed with a new wind-up motion (which is mostly horse shit) – Valverde threw 18 pitches – all fastballs. He got the final out by retiring Billy Butler on a ball that looked like it was leaving the yard. If Valverde continues to throw 100% fastballs, I can tell you right now there’s going to be a gang-bang on his behalf later this summer. In fact, there will be several.
But I realized while texting back and forth with a friend who is a Tigers fan last night that perhaps I’m being a little too hard on Valverde. After all, this is a man who was likely sitting in a San Pedro de Macoris bar about a month ago with his head in his folded skinny arms, fast asleep. You know he was. He was ordering up shots of Milagro, stacking the rocks glasses on his gut; just hammering them down one by one waiting for the call from Jim Leyland.
Jose Valverde is 1 for 1 in save opportunities by golly and this proves that the save is indefinitely an overrated statistic.
As part of our preview for the upcoming 2013 season, we’ll be doing a 10 Bold Predictions for 2013 series that will be featured between now and Opening Day. Our fourth prediction: the Anaheim Angels or Detroit Tigers represent the American League in the 2013 World Series.
You should be at that point where you’ve picked about four teams in your head that you could see squaring off for a trip to the World Series. There can be other teams that you feel good about, but no more than a maximum of four should be included in your small circle of trust that you know will play for the Pantheon in October in front of the world.
There are some loaded teams in the American League this year. I think the Red Sox will be better than anyone is expecting (expectations haven’t been lower in Boston since I hit puberty). The Toronto Blue Jays might set a record for home runs hit and runs scored. The Yankees will still be the Yankees, they’ll be relevant at some point though probably not at the end when it matters most. The Tampa Rays are going to be really strong too I think.
At the end of the day there are only two logical teams that I see playing for the ultimate prize.
Last year we dubbed the Anaheim Angels as the Miami Heat of baseball. They won 89 ballgames and that was good enough for third place in the American League West; and it resulted in them getting a trip back to their respective homes when the postseason began.
As loaded as they appeared, there were glaring holes we just didn’t see. I mean, you can’t hide a Vernon Wells. And when Peter Bourjos hit just .220 it didn’t matter how Albert Pujols rebounded to be just as Pujolsian as ever before after April and it didn’t matter how nuts Mike Trout went all year. There were things that the Angels couldn’t rebound from.
And even the Miami Heat fell short in their first season together before winning a title.
But the Angels really are the Heat of all of baseball now. After you wondered how much money they could have left they went out and signed Josh Hamilton to a monster deal. In many first innings this season you’ll see Trout, Pujols and Hamilton all bat. The Angels will play with more leads before their starter even takes the mound than any team in baseball this season because of it.
The Tigers won 88 games last season, one less than the Angels; yet they ended up in the World Series. The Tigers have baseball’s best hitter in their lineup in Miguel Cabrera and have a host of other players around him in the lineup aside from Prince Fielder and Austin Jackson.
While the Tigers won’t score as many runs as Anaheim, they have better starting pitching. I like about four of Detroit’s guys to be able to contend for the AL Cy Young, and only one of them is named Justin Verlander. Scherzer, Fister, Sanchez, hell even Drew Smyly if given the opportunity could jump off the page and win about 18 games on this team. The Tigers are also bolstered with the finest manager in the American League by my estimation.
When the dust settles, we’ll have a barn-burner of an ALCS to watch. It’s not going to be one of those that gets decided in four or five games like last year when the Yankees shouldn’t even have been there and got embarrassed by Detroit. You’re going to see two teams that shook out of a deep AL-field battling it out until the final strike. Expect high drama and a lot of memorable games that entertains anyone with an interest in the sport.
These two teams are absolutely loaded, and anything less than reaching this step would be a monumental disappointment. The difference between last year is whoever shakes out of this ALCS is likely to be crowned the World Series Champion, because the American League is a lot deeper than the National League this season.
Anaheim and Detroit, for all the marbles in 2013.
If someone told a Tigers fan that this would be the closing picture to the 2012 Detroit season, they would have been ecstatic. The only problem is that this picture is from the ALCS victory, not the World Series. For the second time in six years, The Tigers were the runner up to a National League club. For Detroit fans in general, I’m sure it seems like you city has been short on luck the past several years with little hockey, the Pistons and Lions being horrible, and general economic problems. (Side note: sometimes it feels like Detroit and Cleveland are in a race to the bottom.) The Tigers have been a bright spot. Spending plenty of money, signing big free agents, and winning. But coming up short hurts bad – no one denies this.
So what did Detroit do in the off season do avoid this fate again.
Major Off-Season Moves:
A lot of people thought the deal that the Tigers gave Sanchez, $80M over 5 years, a steep price to pay for a 4th starter. But that’s the free market. The Tigers valued a 4th starter more than other teams valued a number two – because I think that’s what Sanchez can be. Meanwhile, they filled out the fifth spot by keeping Porcello around. Then the signed Torii Hunter, who is seemingly ageless. He’ll be a upgrade over having to play Delmon Young in the OF.
More goodness after the jump.
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Oakland Athletics vs. Detroit Tigers
Prediction: Detroit Tigers over Oakland Athletics in four games.
Baltimore Orioles vs. New York Yankees
Prediction: New York Yankees over Baltimore Orioles in three games.
I have to admit, I never thought I would live to see a Triple Crown winner in Major League Baseball.
On this night, Miguel Cabrera becomes the first man in baseball to win it since Carl Yastremski in 1967.
Cabrera polished off a .330, 44 home run, 139 RBI season. And I didn’t own him on any fantasy teams. What a joy that must have been.
I apologize that it took a few days to get this up, but it was a holiday. And Adam Dunn delivered. Anyone out there catch this tweet?
He might be in a new city and a few years removed from when we knew him best, but we still know our Big Donkey.
If you missed it, below is video of Dunner ruining Jose Valverde’s heritage holiday this past Saturday. Yeah, he hit it where balls don’t belong in right field at Comerica Park.
I have illusions of grandeur–Dunn celebrating late into the night with a sombrero on and taking body shots of cheap tequila while disregarding the offered lime or lemon. Even if it didn’t happen, you know it probably should have happened.
How I miss Adam Dunn being in my big league city.
The Detroit Tigers signed Prince Fielder to a monster, 9-year $214 million dollar contract today. While you were busy thinking of him in a lineup that already contains Miguel Cabrera, or where the Tigers will put Fielder, Cabrera, and Victor Martinez once Martinez returns from injury in a year or so; you probably didn’t realize that this deal brought Fielder to the city where the Fielder name gained fame and notoriety in the baseball world.
Prince is going to the city where his daddy Cecil hit 284 big league home runs. The Tigers were the forgotten team all along while everyone seemed to speculate about Prince signing with the Nationals, Mariners and Rangers. All the while, this move makes perfect sense for the Tigers who were likely to jump into the sweepstakes once Victor Martinez went down with season ending surgery on his knee last week.
Our opinion is while it’s a great signing for the immediate term–Fielder got too much money. He’s not like an Albert Pujols in the sense that he’s likely always to remain in peak physical condition into his middle and late 30′s. By the time this deal is done, Fielder probably won’t be worth the value. This deal is really going to see the value come to the Tigers within the first four to five years of the contract. This is not unique for a lot of baseball contracts that are signed today. How many 9-year contracts ever even see the player live out the life of the contract in the same place?
It was that same length and money amount that got Prince Fielder through the door in Motown. And while we all thought the market for Prince Fielder was becoming extremely thin with the Rangers throwing big money at Yu Darvish, the market all along was very much alive.
I’ve definitely got reason to root against the Yankees tonight. I mean, New Yorkers are really a loud, brash, cocky breed of fan. My roomate, teammate, and probably my best friend from early on in my college career; George, was a big Yankees fan. I watched the entire 2001 and 2002 postseason with him. He changed my mind about Yankees fans, at least for a short period in my life.
I was the best man in his wedding back in 2009. To the outsider–it was that postseason when A-Rod went off. In fact he hit a dramatic home run the night of his wedding. What a great feeling that must have been for my lucky friend huh?
Well shortly after his wedding–of which I delivered a best man speech at–my friend disowned me. For no reason at all. The true reason was his new wife didn’t really like me and he lost his damn mind. That’s really all I can figure. At that point, I figured that every time the Yankees lost it was a good night for me because I knew that somewhere in this world my fraud of a friend might be distraught about it out in his new whine & cheese lifestyle of a world in Connecticut. That’s if, he could ask for his wife for his nuts back long enough to check the box score the morning after. I assume he stopped watching baseball altogether. He probably spends his days and nights buying her flowers or fancy chocolates and disowning other friends she doesn’t like.
But if he’s out there and he has her permission to watch television on his own for a little bit tonight, he’ll be tuning in to the game. And as fun as the thought is of his agony if they get pounded tonight–he would get over it. Because baseball isn’t that important to him anymore. Things that were important to the friend and teammate I knew now play second fiddle to his mean wife and his bullshit house and pets.
Wouldn’t you know three years after I met George, I met the girl I would marry. And as my damned luck would have it–Yankees fan. First line she ever said to me was about the Yankees. Her brothers love the Yankees. They’ll be in New Yankee Stadium tonight. Her best friends mostly love the Yankees. Again–they’re going to the game tonight. My father-in-law? Asks me my thoughts on the Yankees in whatever series they’re in before he asks me how work is going. Or how his daugther is doing.
So I realize, there’s enough people I love in my life right now who love the Yankees that sure; I’ll pull for your damn Bronx Bombers. Whether it’s negative or positive interest that I have in them, there’s always interest. They interest me more than the Tigers–minus that little chain-smoking managerial ball of perfection that they have standing on the top stoop.
They’ve got Doug Fister opposing them tonight. He’s been lights out scary good since becoming a Tiger. Hell, I might even say this guy will contend for 20 wins next year. He was a scrub for the Mariners. He’s definitely figured it out. I have a feeling that he is the story of tonight’s game when the dust settles. Let’s just call it a gut feeling.
George if you’re out there and you see this post, I still have your shoes that I thought I would someday get to return to you when I saw you again. In fact I’m wearing them at work right now while I write this post. They look older now and are stretched out because my feet were always a half size bigger than yours. You missed my wedding, you missed the birth of my child (we bought a puppy but close enough), you didn’t call on my birthday. I know your wench of a wife hates me but I hope your Bombers win tonight old buddy. But it’s not because of you.
Go Yankees.
Arizona DiamondBacks vs. Milwaukee Brewers
Diamond Hoggers’ Prediction: D-Backs over Brewers in 5
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Philadelphia Phillies
Diamond Hoggers’ Prediction: Phillies over Cardinals in 4
Tampa Bay Rays vs. Texas Rangers
Diamond Hoggers’ Prediction: Rays over Rangers in 4
Detroit Tigers vs. New York Yankees
Diamond Hoggers’ Prediction: Tigers over Yankees in 5
I had some guys over to the house this past Friday to watch the Indians gear up and try and make an unlikely run to the 2011 playoffs. After all, it’s not like the Reds are worth watching anymore; and I truly haven’t had a Cincinnati game on since before I went to Las Vegas weeks ago. I’ve quit on them. My interest has shifted to upstart underdogs like the Indians and Arizona Dbacks from now until the end of this season. Hopefully one of them gives me something worth watching when the playoffs roll around.
Long story short, the Indians proved to me this weekend that they amount to no more than a cock-tease. They seemingly searched out every way they could on Friday evening to blow an insurmountable lead; only to come back last night and blow a 3-0 lead with six outs to go.
At the risk of sounding like Colin Cowherd here (because I lack statistical fact and I’m only going off solid observation and opinion)–and granted the Indians never have a strong showing against the Texas Rangers–I’m officially selling the Indians as a true playoff contender. They’re done. I don’t care that they play Detroit 9 more times this season, including the final three games of the year.
They’re a solid, hard-battling, over-achieving group. There is a lot to like about them. They’re a lot better than I thought they would be and they made moves to do as much as they can to supplement what they started the year with in bringing in Ubaldo Jimenez and Kosuke Fukudome. But they’ve blown too many must-have games already at this point. They have shown me that they’re not going to be able to hang with the heat that a pennant race truly forces on a group of men.
They’re done. That said, Detroit isn’t good enough to put these guys away in the manner that Milwaukee has done to the Reds. They’ll hang around enough to be ‘in it’ until the last week or two of the season, but the Indians are largely just pretenders at this point. Come see me when you can get out of Texas with a series that you had on a platter.
After those deflating losses, they’ll lose two of three to Detroit in Cleveland this week (beginning on Tuesday) and the dream will never be real again.
Couple of things here, boys and girls. And yes I saw Justin Verlander close it down today–and knew he had it when he struck out a Rajai Davis (forever a footnote on the wrong side of a trivia question) who is riding the interstate as far as his batting average goes.
It’s been a pretty epic little sports Saturday. The Derby, which I missed. A bunch of NBA games down to the wire, which I also missed. A 5-time Major winner in Golf passed away early this morning. Oh yea, and that shithead closer that pitches for the Reds finally reared his ugly head just as I was starting to like him.
Happy Saturday all.
Leading up to the start of the 2011 Regular Season, Diamond Hoggers will preview each of MLB’s 30 teams . Today’s preview features the Chicago White Sox. Stay tuned as Diamond Hoggers previews every team division by division until the start of the regular season. We’re running out of time, so here is a preview of the American League Central. You’ll get the American League East tomorrow, so be ready on the fly. [Read more...]
Miguel Cabrera, when will you ever find what it is you’re looking for? Getting a DUI when he was seemingly on the brink of Pujolsian type numbers (and upper echelon fantasy status).
A deputy reported Cabrera was put in handcuffs after not following orders. Cabrera also “kept running out in the road with his hands up.”
A deputy asked Cabrera to get his a patrol vehicle, and he said, “(Expletive) you.”
Miguel Cabrera pushed off a vehicle into a deputy, who “delivered 3-4 knee spikes” into Cabrera’s left thigh.
So what’s this story got me thinking about?
A) What was Miggy drinking? I’m going with tequila. It’s demon fuel for a lot of men.
B) I’ve got the 3rd pick in my fantasy draft. Guy who drafts second says he’s taking Cabrera, allowing Tulo or Hanley to fall to me at 3. I was for sure taking Cabrera at 3 if he fell to me. I’m probably going to need to re-think this now that he probably is going to some type of Betty Ford center to dry out.
C) Cabrera obviously is going to be called an alcoholic in the days to follow. He probably is one. It’s no laughing matter. I hope he gets the help he needs to still carve out a big time career in this game because I enjoy watching him rake and I think the bottle is the only thing that can ruin a swing that pretty.
Update: He was drinking scotch. Apparently right in front of a deputy officer. If you’re going to go with something though, I’m with Cabrera in drinking scotch. It is a gentleman’s drink, you know. He probably had some Johnny Walker blue label. Maybe aged Chivas Regal.
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