Turn Back the Clock: Outfield

The outfield is the land of multi-category producing titans. The 2009 season was no different, though some of the men that were expected to provide those efforts failed to do so. In what follows I will discuss my top-10 list from the 2009 Fanball Annual Guide that was on newsstands prior to the start of the 2009 season, and briefly hit on how each players season turned out.

To read previous positional reviews click on the following link:

CATCHERS

FIRST BASE

SECOND BASE

THIRD BASE

SHORTSTOP

1. Grady Sizemore

2. Carlos Beltran

3. Josh Hamilton

4. Ryan Braun

5. Ichiro Suzuki

6. Carl Crawford

7. Manny Ramirez

8. Matt Holliday

9. Alex Rios

10. B.J. Upton

Sizemore was derailed by injury, chiefly a strained elbow that required surgery (he also had hernia surgery). His performance simply killed teams that drafted him in the first round (.248-18-64-73-13) with all his 5×5 numbers being five year lows as he appeared in a mere 106 games.

Beltran has a lost season like so many other Mets. The chief injury was a bone bruise in his leg, more specifically his knee. As a result he appeared in just 81 games though he was exceedingly effective in his half season of work hitting a robust .325 with 10 homers, 48 RBI, 50 runs and 11 steals. Clearly he was on pace for a special season, but alas, injuries ruined his effort.

Hamilton had a bummer of a season that he kicked off with a wild bender during spring training that was kept under wraps (as a recovering addict, this was especially damaging news). I never thought he would repeat the 130 RBI, but I thought the 30-HR pop was certainly legit. Injuries limited him to just 89 games as he hit 10 homers with 54 RBI and a .741 OPS, only .160 points below his 2008 mark. Has a ton to prove in ’10.

Braun was a flat out stud and seems certain to be a top-5 selection in 2010 in almost every draft. Not only did he lead the NL with 203 hits, Braun also socked 32 long balls, drove in 114 runs, hit .320 and stole 20 bases. Not many have a legit shot at hitting .333 while going 20/20.

Suzuki started slowly due to injury, but you would never have known it if you looked at his final numbers that included 225 hits and a .352 average. Amazingly, the sorry Mariners only knocked him in 88 times on the year, and his steal total of 26 was actually a career worst, though no one should complain when you hit .352.

Crawford was an outright beast hitting .305 with 15 homers, 68 RBI, 96 runs and a career best 60-steals. Only one AL player bettered that steals total – Jacoby Ellsbury with 70, and he scored two less runs, hit only eight homers, and batted four points lower at .301.

Ramirez was suspended for 50 games for performance enhancing drugs, and with that his season was a bust. At the time of his suspension he was doing his best Albert Pujols impersonation hitting .355 with a 1.156 OPS through 36 games, but he returned to his a mere .255 with only 10 homers and 34 RBI in 68 games.

Holliday was, as I wrote prior to the start of last season in the aforementioned magazine, terrific. “He won’t be the Coors version of Holliday, but he should still be near the elite.” Compare his 2008 performance in Coors (.321-25-88-107-28) to his 2009 work in Oakland and St. Louis (.313-24-109-94-14). Seems like I hit this one out of the park.

Rios was an unmitigated disaster. Simply atrocious. Though he nearly went 20/20 (17 homers, 24 steals), he hit a paltry .247 with only 17 homers and 71 RBI. After his trade to the White Sox he apparently forgot how to play baseball as 41 games in Chicago netted a .199 average, nine RBI and 11 runs scored. Pathetic.

B.J. was the wrong Upton to place on the list. B.J. floundered to a .241 average with 11 homers, 55 RBI, 79 runs and 42 steals, while younger brother Justin simply tore it up in the desert on his way to hitting .300 with 26 homers, 86 RBI, 84 runs and 20 steals.

By Ray Flowers

What an Odd Life

Mine is an odd life. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to regale you with stories about how hard my life is, it’s really not, it’s just at often times rather odd. Here are some thoughts about why mine is an odd life.

* I get to work in the field of sports. How many people, male or female, would kill for that job? Millions I bet. For those of you are only slightly jealous at that news, how about I add in the fact that I work from home. Now you all hate me, right?

* I get to state my opinion on a daily basis on a myriad of topics, and no matter how much empirical data I use to help form my opinions, I still get a smattering of emails detailing how stupid I am. Really, it’s pretty funny sometimes. I mean there are certainly guys I don’t personally like because of their off the field issues or simply because of the team they play for, but at the same time I’m never going to say that Manny Ramirez or Alex Rodriguez stink because of the teams they play for. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred I’d like to think I let the data lead me to the “correct” conclusion. Even so, I still get the occasionally humorous email asking me how dare I propagate such inane advice on an unsuspecting public. Always brings a chuckle to me.

* I write about “fantasy sports” almost exclusively, though a good deal of my analysis wouldn’t look out of place on a report written by a scout for whatever sport I’m discussing. Still, try impressing a lady by telling her you work from home, write about fantasy sports, and drive a Ford Focus. Now you know why I’m single.

* Each morning I wake up at 7:22, 7:20 or 7:25 is so yesterday, and then spend the next 38 minutes waking up, scaffing down something edible to give my brain some giddy up, and reading all the recaps of the previous night’s action. I then spend an hour on the Fantasy Buffet with Kyle Elfrink talking sports. At 9:01 AM my day has already crested and I’m heading down the mountain as the most exciting part of the day passed when I wasn’t even fully awake.

* I get to do live advice to help pass on some of my knowledge to the fantasy faithful. Some people ask a question and just want a “yes” or “no” type answer, while others will spend 15 minutes arguing with you about whether or not Tim Hightower will pick up four or six carries in the coming week. Quite a bit of diversity here, and you just never know whether you will laughing, or crying, at the end of a shift.

* My seasons are all off, you know, like Mother Nature has been lately (at least here in California where no one, plant or animal, seems to know just quite what to expect anymore). In my case my seasons are off because of the schedules we keep. As a general rule of thumb, I get the chance to follow most sports quite intently for about half the regular season before I end up moving on to the next in some form. As an example, it’s Week 8 of the NFL season, right smack dab in the middle of things, but for the last two weeks I’ve been working on player capsules for our holiday Baseball Magazine (yes, the World Series is still going on too and that adds an odd twist to the proceedings). Honestly, if I think back three months, I was knee deep in putting together the content for our preseason NHL coverage even though baseball was still in full effect. The bottom line is that I’m partially schizophrenic when it comes to my sports coverage because of the responsibilities of my job.

So there you have it. In this brief trip around a day in the life of Ray, I’ve attempted to give a few pointed examples of why my job is a bit odd at times. Believe me I’m not complaining, I can think of about, oh, 138,975 other jobs I wouldn’t rather have, so I’m clearly in the camp of understanding just how lucky I am to have my current position. And with that, I’m going to continue to plow through pitcher capsules for our Baseball Magazine which you will be able to find in time to have something to stuff into your brother’s stocking for the holiday season. Now who is it that just scored that touchdown…

By Ray Flowers

How Good is Albert Pujols?

Earlier this week I made the case for Albert Pujols as the lead dog in The NL MVP Race. Honestly, he isn’t the lead dog, he is the only dog worth even mentioning.

Some of you may understand just how historic Pujols has been in his career, other’s may not, so I thought I would spend a few minutes detailing to you just how amazing Pujols has been through his first nine seasons.

(1) If not for some moronic voting in 2002, Albert Pujols would have been selected to the All-Star team in every season of his career (he ended the year hitting .314 with 34 homers, 127 RBI and 118 runs scored and was hitting “only .294-21-66-66 in 84 games in the first half).

(2) Pujols may have won two MVP awards so far, his third one will be added to the mix shortly, but despite playing only nine seasons he is already 11th all-time in MVP Shares. He could easily move up to about sixth on the list after this year’s vote is announced.

(3) Pujols owns a .334 career batting average, the 24th best mark in baseball history for players with at least 3,000 plate appearances. He has never finished below seventh in NL batting race in his nine seasons.

(4) Pujols owns a .427 career OBP, the 13th best mark in baseball history. Six times he has finished in the top-3.

(5) Pujols owns a .628 career SLG, the fourth best mark ever. In each of his nine seasons he has finished in the top-9.

(6) Pujols owns a 1.055 career OPS, the fourth best mark in baseball history. In all of his nine seasons he has finished in the top-10, and over the past five years he has finished first in the NL four times.

(7) Pujols has had only one “down” season in his career. In 2007 he hit .327 with 32 homers, 103 RBI and 99 runs scored. That ’07 season is the only one in his career in which he has failed to knocked in at least 116 runs or score at least 100 times.

(8) Here is how Pujols ranks, amongst all major leaguers, during his career (minimum 3,000 plate appearances).

AVG: .334, 1st overall
HR: 366, 2nd overall (A-Rod has 394)
RBI: 1,112, 1st overall
Runs: 1,071, 1st overall
OBP: .427, 3rd overall
SLG: .629, 2nd overall (Barry Bonds posted a .731 mark)
OPS: 1.055, 2nd overall (Barry Bonds posted a 1.262 mark)

(9) And finally. In each of his nine seasons, Pujols has hit at least .314 with 32 homers, 103 RBI and 99 runs scored. That run of nine consecutive seasons is the longest such stretch in the history of the game (Babe Ruth is second with seven). What about Alex Rodriguez or Manny Ramirez, the two other right-handed hitters often spoken of as potential all-time greats from the right side of the plate? A-Rod’s longest stretch is two years (2000-01) while Manny has never done it in back-to-back seasons.

Those are just some of the numbers that speak to the greatness that is Albert Pujols. So next time you are sitting around the fire blazin’ up some smores and the conversation floats to baseball, you know which man you should lead with when someone asks you ‘who is the greatest right-handed hitter you have ever seen play?’ If you are under 40 and you don’t say Mr. Pujols you need to lay off the ripple. If you were to come back and ask this question in another 10 years I think it’s at least a 50-50 bet that no matter how old you are that the answer would be Albert Pujols. Mr. Pujols isn’t just great, he is historically magnificent. You can tell him I said so.

By Ray Flowers

Will it Ever End?

The Pirates are at it again, and by “it” I mean the systematic dismantling of their major league roster as they plan for the mythical “future” when at some point they will be a good club once again. I don’t know when that will happen, hell I don’t know if will ever happen, but they are certainly giving it the old college try. Before I get to that, and is it just me or have the Pirates sucked up and abnormally huge portion of media attention of late, I want to let you all know that I’m not just going to bash the Pirates today, I’ll also bash other figures in the game of baseball as well. Maybe one of your “guys” will be on the list and you can leave a comment for me either agreeing or disagreeing with me on my take on each guy.

Today the Pirates dealt John Grabow and Tom Gorzelanny to the Cubs for Kevin Hart, Jose Ascanio and Josh Harrison. The people in Pittsburgh are going to need to have their players to wear neon signs with their names as they likely have no idea who and the heck the majority of these guys are at this point. I don’t have the list in front of me, and frankly I’m past the point of really caring, but off the top of my head the Pirates have given up the following players recently.

1B: Adam LaRoche
2B: Freddy Sanchez
SS: Jack Wilson
OF:Jason Bay, Nate McLouth, Xavier Nady, Nyjer Morgan
P: Ian Snell, Grabow, Gorzelanny

I’m sure there are guys I’m leaving out, but honestly, can the Pirates really say they are a better organization without those men? They might be a stronger organization, but their major league club is much, much worse. If “they” try to claim otherwise I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see their noses grow like Pinocchio’s.

Oh, and before I leave the Pirates just thought I would point out that Nyjer Morgan is hitting .482 since the All-Star break. I’m just saying.

David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez reportedly tested positive for steroids back in 2003. What a shock. Still, how is this information becoming public? Why did the court bother to make the records secret if people were going to openly flaunt that secrecy ruling and just leak out the info? Speaking of that list, why don’t the powers that be just dump out the whole list rather than one or two names leak out every month? Bottom line for me is that there is no way to verify what happened in 2003 and if players tested “positive” for something that was legal in baseball at the time, why is everyone flipping out? If you look hard enough you can probably find an NFL player who tests positive for steroids every week, yet no one seems to care in that sport do they?

Delusional Player of the Week – Russ Ortiz who still doesn’t get why the Astros weren’t kissing his feet for his work on the hill for them this season was released immediately after his outing on Thursday in which he allowed nine runs while recording just seven outs. With a 5.57 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Russ doesn’t think he deserves a raise.

Brandon Webb had a mysterious “setback” in his attempt to return from a shoulder issue, and at this point he is being sent for more tests. “He’s not probably making the progress we were hoping for, so I think we have to make an assessment about what to do next,” GM Josh Byrnes said. So let me see if I have this straight. Webb’s shoulder has been a concern since last off-season when the club couldn’t get insurance on a potential long-term deal with Webb when the tests raised the issues in his shoulder. No matter, Webb continued to pitch and made all of one start before heading to the DL. It now appears nearly certain that he will require surgery, and if he does it is far from certain that he will be ready to go at the start of 2010. So here is the question – (a) why didn’t Webb undergo surgery last off-season if this was a concern or (b) why didn’t he do something differently, training wise, in order to avoid this outcome (perhaps he did but there was no stopping it)? Furthermore, why hasn’t he just undergone the procedure by this point since it’s clear he is done for the year? I would avoid surgery at all costs too, but that decision may end up costing Webb all of 2009 and some of 2010.

Joel Zumaya will head under the knife at some point in August to fix his shoulder, and his 2009 campaign is over after just 31 innings. Zumaya can still rush it up there with anyone in the game, his average heater this year was an astounding 99.3 mph, but dude simply cannot stay healthy. Is all of this the result of a bad body, poor luck or too much Guitar Hero? Beats me.

By Ray Flowers

What an Interesting Ride

Today I’ll delve into the mystery of where the human race came from. Alright, I’m just blowing smoke as I have no desire to put half of my readers to sleep in the first paragraph (according to a recent survey, they usually don’t start snoring until the third paragraph). Instead, I’ll just touch on a few of the interesting stories that caught my fancy in the last 24 hours in the world of baseball. Hey, we don’t all have to be astrophysicists.

Coco Crisp is likely done for the year as his troublesome shoulder injury will require surgery. Apparently his labrum is torn. You have to respect a guy for trying to play through injury, but sometimes you just have to do what’s best for the team, and that isn’t continuing to go out there if you are hitting .228. Who will take over in center? Apparently the answer to that trivia question is Mitch Maier. The Royals first round draft pick in 2003, shouldn’t Maier have a better line than .253/.312/.313 in his career with that pedigree? Always amazes me when guys have a higher OBP than SLG, and Maier is awfully close in his 198 career at-bats.

Josh Hamilton, I got a lot of respect for that man. Not only has he beaten back his addictions, he continues to be a great role model for those people out there that need someone to turn to when the going gets tough. I also have to say, that since turning his life around, has he done anything wrong? Continuing to do the right thing, he said on Tuesday that he would likely turn down an invitation to the All-Star game even if he was voted into the mid-summer’s classic by the fans (he is currently third in the outfield in fan voting). “The best thing would be to decline going and let somebody else take that spot. Obviously if I stayed up there in the voting, I appreciate the fans doing what they’ve done.” Now it is debatable if Hamilton will be able to play by the time of the game or not as he is still working his way back from a torn abdominal muscle, but I’d like to think that he is letting everyone know his intentions so that the fans will end up choosing someone more deserving of being named to the team. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Do you ever wonder to yourself just how pathetic some people’s lives are? I mean really, who sets up those spamming programs to fill your email box up with this crap? I especially like the ones that come from “your own address” with a title like “sexy ladies in your town want you.” What, did I somehow forget that I sent myself a note about sexy women who want to get down when I was at that brothel last weekend? Come up with a better scam than that people.

Did you catch the continuing antics of Manny Ramirez last night? Manny told the media he would not be doing any interviews until his return to the Dodgers on July 3rd. “I ain’t talking today, baby,” he declared. “Write what you want.” That lasted all of what, an hour? After warming up for the game Manny sat down with the press and talked, well, sort of. “I’m not talking about [performance enhancing drugs] anymore,” he said. “I already said what I’m going to say. I’m here to do my rehab…” Uh Manny, no one wants to talk to you for any reason other than to get your take on your suspension, so if you aren’t going to discuss it just do us all a favor and keep your mouth shut. The man is Picasso with a bat in his hands but an utter buffoon everywhere else.

Another nail in the coffin of Sammy Sosa perhaps? On Tuesday all-time Cub great Ryne Sandberg told ESPN radio that Sosa does not belong in the Hall of Fame. “Part of being in the Hall of Fame, they use the word integrity in describing a Hall of Famer, in the logo of the Hall of Fame, and I think there are going to be quite a few players that are not going to get in.” I’m getting a bit sick of all of this. I won’t launch into a diatribe at this time, but before we all get on that high horse to judge people, why don’t we look back into the past and consider some of the men already in the Hall of Fame. It doesn’t take any digging at all to find spousal abusers, alcoholics, drug users, racists, bigots – you name the vice and there are probably a handful of men already enshrined in the Hall that gave into it. It’s so nice to know that in the 21st century we have evolved so completely that we are now in position to be morally superior and pass judgment on everyone else.

By Ray Flowers

Death of the Hero?

Have all the heroes disappeared in the world of baseball? In case you missed it, and how could you, the New York Times has reported that Sammy Sosa tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in 2003 as one of the 104 major leaguers who failed the “confidential” drug testing that led to Major League Baseball instituting a sport wide steroid testing policy that they continue to follow until this day. Do we have proof that this accusation is true? Of course we don’t since the records that are being reported on are secret and that the “source” for the story is anonymous fearing a potentially stiff legal penalty for divulging privileged information. Much like Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez, Sosa never officially failed a major league drug test (the 2003 tests weren’t “official,” that didn’t happen until the following year of 2004 after a high enough percentage of players failed the first test in 2003 to kick in official sanctions), but that certainly won’t help to remove the tarnish that has set in with regards to their legacy.

This whole performance enhancing mess has been discussed ad nauseam, and I have no intention of repeating what has been said in so many corners. I would however like to pose the following question:

Who is the greatest home run hitter in baseball the past 25 years?

Barry Bonds is widely regarded to have cheated during the second half of his career, so he is out.

Sammy Sosa? From a 175 lbs rookie to the cover of Muscle and Fitness magazine with biceps bigger than my thighs. Shocking that he likely cheated.

Mark McGwire? Next.

Rafael Palmeiro? The biggest hypocrite on Earth? I never liked that guy anyway, especially after he did those Viagra commercials and then claimed he didn’t take the product. Yeah, right.

A-Rod? Please. That guy is so phony that he would stand out in a room of fake money in a Secret Service vault (for those of you that don’t know the Secret Service, those folks that run along next to the presidential motorcade with dark glasses an ear microphones, are the branch of government that investigates phony money).

Manny Ramirez? Thought he apparently made it out of the initial barrage clean, his recent test failure certainly casts a huge pale of suspicion over everything he did previously.

So amongst guys who have played the bulk of their careers since 1980, we are left with two names – Jim Thome and Ken Griffey Jr.

As of this writing Thome has 553 home runs, the 13th best mark in baseball history. As for Griffey, his number is 617, so he becomes the king of the modern day home run hitters. In fact, If not for a series of injury filled campaigns from 2001-04, Griffey likely would be closing in on 700-home runs instead of 620. Think I’m full of it?

Consider that Griffey had hit at least 40-home runs each year from 1996-2000. Even if we posit that he would slow a bit with age, let’s cut that number all the way down to a very conservative 30 a season (after all he hit 35 in 2005 when he returned to health), how many extra home runs would he have hit during his four injury filled seasons? In those four seasons Griffey had 1,027 ABs, an average of 257 a year. Given that he averaged 582 the previous five seasons when he was blasting 40 homer a year, let’s again play it conservative and give him 550 at-bats a season at the rate of 30 homers a year. That equates to one home run per 18.33 ABs. If we add an extra 300 at-bats a season, remember he averaged 257 in that time and we are positing 550 a year, that would given him an extra 16.4 home runs a season. 16.4 times four years equals an additional 66 home runs, which when added to his total of 617 brings The Kid up to 683 in his career. Like I said, within shouting distance of becoming just the fourth man in history to record 700 big flies without the aide of artificial stimulants in his career.

We’ll likely never know the truth of who did what, when, but for my money, and face my opinion is the one that counts given that I’m the one penning this article, here is my top-10 list of home run hitters who have ever played the game.

755 – Hank Aaron
714 – Babe Ruth
660 – Willie Mays
617 – Ken Griffey Jr.
586 – Frank Robinson
573 – Harmon Killebrew
563 – Reggie Jackson
553 – Jim Thome
548 – Mike Schmidt
536 – Mickey Mantle

Long live Ken Griffey Jr., truly one of the most complete players, steroid enhanced or otherwise for that matter, who ever played the game of baseball.

By Ray Flowers

Woe is Me

Today I’ll touch on a couple of baseball injuries in the Lone Star state, and then delve into two NFL stories that really got my ire over the weekend. Oh yeah, the one bright spot will be a certain right-handed pitcher who you wouldn’t think would be an ace, but in fact he’s almost pitched like one in the early going.

Brandon McCarthy is DL bound yet again, this time due to a stress fracture in his right shoulder (a very similar injury to the one that sidelined him two years ago). Doug Mathis figures to take his roster spot. McCarthy, one of the more dominating starters in the minors in recent times, has just never been able to stay healthy, and even when he has, his performance has merely been average. Through 81 minor league appearance he owns a 3.35 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 10.1 K/9 and a superb 5.69 K/BB mark. Alas, those numbers did not translate to the bigs as he has posted a 4.61 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 6.10 K/9 and 1.74 K/BB rate. Think about that – McCarthy’s strikeout to walk ratio is literally less than one third of what is was in the minor leagues thanks to the fact that he has lost four Ks per nine innings off his dominating minor league number. Oh well. Guess that’s what happens when you share a pitching staff with Kris Benson – guilt by association or something?

Josh Hamilton will undergo surgery for his strained abdomen and miss something like 4-6 weeks. “Given what it could have been, I think it’s probably better than what some of the alternatives are,” general manager Jon Daniels said. Hamilton had no shot to duplicate his numbers from last season (.304-32-130) in my mind, but that doesn’t mean I expected him to be this awful (.240-6-24 in 125 at-bats). As you might guess, this leaves the Rangers in a bit of a pickle on offense, even with the depth they have as they can hardly hope that Andruw Jones suddenly reverts to 2006 form when he hit .262 with 41 home runs and 129 RBI. Still, Jones has had a nice comeback season batting .272/.400/.533 a year after he hit about .100 points below his weight at .158, and he figures to see a few more at-bats along with David Murphy.

Don’t look and just answer me this question – who leads the NL in victories? If you said Johan Santana you would be wrong. If you said Jason Marquis, remarkably, you would be right as he is 8-4 on the year. Only twice in his eight wins have the Rockies scored as many as five runs so it’s not just like he has thrown his glove out there and picked up victories because of massive run support.

Manny Ramirez is still sitting in fifth place amongst NL vote getters for a starting spot in the All-Star game. He is a good deal back of Carlos Beltran some 250,000 votes behind the Mets’ star (Alfonso Soriano is fourth). If you didn’t catch my thoughts on the whole all-star matter, read The All-Star Fallacy.

Now, two football notes…

In case you were tempted to draft Chad Ochocinco, formerly Chad Johnson (and yes, that is his real name), don’t. Listen to the words of that joker in a recent interview with the Cincinnati Enquirer. “I’m not even going to lie to you, I’m going to say it. Last year, the off-season, I didn’t lift one weight, I didn’t run one route, I didn’t exercise,” Chad said. “I didn’t do nothing because my focus was on getting out of a situation I didn’t want to be in. I’m not going to lie.” Gotta give him an “A” for his honesty, but he gets and “F” for life, so I want him nowhere near my fantasy team given the air of negativity that follows around that buffoon. If he had just played football he could have had a glorious career. Now he will have to beg the league to let him in the Hall of Fame.

And lastly, from the IT’s FLAT OUT IMPOSSIBLE file there is this little diddy to mention. Kenny Phillips, a second year safety, is noticeably bigger this year. Here are his own words. “Sixteen pounds since the season ended,” he said. “I don’t know where it came from,” Phillips added, “but I’m proud if it.” I’ll tell you where you got it Kenny, you bought it from some drug dealer in Tijuana. OK, that’s harsh, and of course what I just wrote is mere supposition on my part, I have not one iota of proof that Phillips has done anything illegal to gain size, so let me be clear on that point. But I will tell you flat out that it is IMPOSSIBLE for a professional athlete, already in amazingly physical shape, to gain 16 lbs in a mere five months. Again, let me be clear – it is impossible. Which leads me to my last point. If Phillips was a baseball player he would be the lead story on ESPN as a certain PED user, but he’s a football player so no one, no one, cares. Gotta love the way we castigate baseball players and try to strip them of their dignity for potential PED use while paying absolutely zero attention to the seedy side of football where that stuff certainly goes on. Just keep laying hat on people Kenny, no one will care what you do away from the field as long as you perform on it.

By Ray Flowers

The All-Star Fallacy

Major League baseball wants the fans involved, but they don’t. They want everyone to love them, but at the same time they don’t really care what we, the fans, think.

Did you happen to take a glance at the All-Star voting for the National League that was just released? I could go on and on about how stupid it is to allow the fans to select the starting lineups each year which almost always results in some undeserving player taking the roster spot of some deserving option, but I will do it quickly with three potential landmines thanks to the ballot box stuffing that is going on in Milwaukee

Rickie Weeks, out for the season, currently ranks second amongst all second baseman in votes.

J.J. Hardy, hitting all of .247 as of this writing is second in the voting at the shortstop position.

Bill Hall, making Hardy actually look like an All-Star with his .223 average, is also second at his position – third base.

The bottom line is that most fans are “homers” or flat out have no idea about anything related to performance on a ball field (not any of you reading this of course, I’m talking about those “other” fans). But I’ll save my consternation over that for another time.

The real issue currently facing MLB and its fan voting for the All-Star game is that Manny Ramirez, suspended 50 games for violating the league’s drug policy, is currently fourth amongst NL vote getters in the outfield putting him within striking distance of actually being voted to start the game. Manny will have served his suspension and officially be allowed to return to active duty with the Dodgers before the All-Star game, so how could major league baseball step in and stop Manny playing in the mid-summer’s classic if that’s what the fans want? Leave that to Mr. Doofus, aka Bud Selig, the commissioner of baseball, to step in a throw a monkey wrench in the plans.

“I’m going to think about that,” Selig said. “He doesn’t come back till July 3. Normally, I’m sensitive to the wishes of the fans. If the fans choose someone, I’d like to honor that. But we’ve been testing players for a long time, and it bothers me that someone would [cheat] at this stage in the game. I’ve got some time to think about this one.”

Or how about this one from Manny’s own manager, Joe Torre, who had this to say when asked if he felt Manny should be on the All-Star squad if he is voted in by the fans.

“No,” Torre said. “I think if you asked Manny, he’d give you the same answer…To me, I think the significance of the All-Star Game is to reward players who have a good first half.”

I’m no apologist for Manny, and in fact I blasted him when the whole scandal broke in my article entitled Shame On You, so I have to say that I agree with Joe Torre completely here – you should only be allowed to play in the game if your performance earns you that right, which is why I mentioned the word “fallacy” in the title of this piece and decried the stupidity that is rearing its ugly head in Milwaukee with their idiotic ballot box stuffing.

As for what Mr. Selig said, my response is more biting.

Mr. Selig, do you EVER make the right choice? I could list a myriad of instances to show you how profoundly asinine the majority of his decisions are, but I won’t bore you other than to comment on the current situation.

Mr. Selig you gave the fans the right to vote for whomever they want to see start the All-Star game. Therefore, you have to live with their choices no matter how profoundly ridiculous they are.

Are we living in a communist society with a dictator arbitrarily making up his own rules when he doesn’t like what he sees going on? I’m sure we would all like it if we were driving down the street one day, going 35 in a 35 zone, only to get pulled over by a police officer who, despite the fact that the law states it is a 35 mph zone feels that it’s too fast so he’s going to give you a ticket anyway. A stupid example perhaps, but it still illustrates the point – societies operate on an agreed upon set of rules, and in this case Mr. Selig is taking about amending those rules mid-stream.

I don’t know if any of you remember your political science class from high school, but back then we learned about a little thing in our legal system called “ex post facto law” which states that government may not change a law today to punish you for something you did yesterday. I know we aren’t talking about a legal system here with baseball, but the bottom line is that if there is nothing on the baseball books about removing a player from All-Star consideration because of a failed a drug test, and if there is no one has ever shown it to me, then Manny, no matter how much of a shame it would be, must be allowed to start the game if the fans vote him in. Last time I checked, despite all of its legal privileges, MLB was not outside the realm of the U.S. Constitution (see Article I, Section 9), so Manny must be allowed to play.

Do you think I missed my calling and that I should have gone into law school instead of sports? Me neither, though it’s fun playing a fancy pants, morally superior person every once in a while. You might want to try it yourself sometime. God knows Mr. Selig does it all the time.

By Ray Flowers

Don't Forget Mother's Day

The weekend is nearly upon us, and before you jump in the shower to make yourself beautiful or handsome for your significant other, here are some of my thoughts revolving around the diamond as we head into a wonderful weekend of baseball. Oh, one other thing. Don’t be a bum and remember it’s Mother’s Day this Sunday. You don’t have to go and buy something fancy for your mama, but at least get her a card and write something heartfelt in it – they love that more than a new coffee machine anyway.

Jeremy Bonderman, out while working on strengthening his shoulder, is apparently hitting 90-91 mph with regularity on his fastball as he nears a minor league rehab assignment. Still just 26 years old which is pretty amazing, Bonderman was once an up and coming star who struck out 202 batters while winning 14 games in 2006. Since then it has been one physical setback after another. I wouldn’t put too much stock in his rehab until he takes the hill and we can see how he responds in actual game situations. He could end up being a fine AL-only addition, but I say you need to make him prove he is worth it before you blindly throw out a big FAAB bid on a guy who is coming off a terrible season (5.55 K/9, 1.22 K/BB, 1.56 WHIP in just 71.1 innings) despite a somewhat decent ERA of 4.29.

Chris Coghlan seems to have the Marlins in a bit of an excited phase – kind of like a college kid at the thought of a drunken party on Saturday night where there will be about 25 single gals looking for a good time. Coghlan, a second baseman who could also see time at third base if Emilio “I was great for two weeks but now I’m awful” Bonifacio doesn’t start hitting soon. Coghlan was simply tearing up Triple-A this season hitting .348 with a .990 OPS and 22 RBI in 24 games, and he figures to get a real shot at some substantial playing time which should pique the ears of NL-only participants. In 483 ABs last season at Double-A Chris hit .298-7-75-83 with 34 steals, showing that he could be highly productive. Still, he only has 24 games played above Double-A, so it would be wise to avoid blowing your FAAB budget on him.

I think ESPN only spent 25% of Sportscenter today talking about Brett Favre. What an improvement in their coverage the world of sports. What is that tagline of their, the Leader in World Wide Sports Coverage or something like that?

Ryan Freel is the newest member of the Cubs after being brought over in a deal with the Orioles. Freel will take over the roster spot vacated by Joey Gathright and basically supply the same skill set with the added ability to play multiple positions. Freel has always been a personal favorite for his 100% at all times spirit, and after a big spring training there was some hope that he might provide some value in a league specific scenario this season. Unfortunately Freel started slowly this year hitting .133 in 15 ABs before incurring a head injury, and though his speed isn’t what it once was he is still capable of stealing a bag and he did hit .298 last season in 131 at-bats with the Reds.

Adam Kennedy was sent from the Rays to the A’s on Friday. I know the guy has fallen out of favor but dude still hit .280 last season, slightly above his career .276 mark, and it just seems odd to me that he can’t find a backup job on someone’s squad. He has no fantasy value at the moment, though with the A’s motley collection of aging/injury prone infielders perhaps he can work his way into AL-only relevance by the time the season is complete (he could even see a fair amount of playing time at second over the next month until Mark Ellis returns from injury).

Wait. Did you hear that Manny Ramirez was suspended? How did I miss that? Oh wait, I didn’t. I think ESPN spent 25% of Sportscenter talking about it so when you add that to their coverage of Favre, that leaves the world of sports and the 3,000 or so other professional athlete’s in the States the could be covering received 50% of the show. If you sense a bit of sarcasm give yourself a little happy face stamp like your kindergarten teacher used to give you when you spelled beautiful right. Speaking of that, I sent to a current flame asking her to spend the weekend with me. Do you think that the happy face she sent back to me signaled ‘all systems go big boy’ or ‘you’ve got to be kidding you moron.’ For some reason I think it’s option number two.

Alex Rodriguez has been activated from the DL hopefully putting an end to the Cody Ransom and Angel Berroa era at third base. Of course, now they have the steroid using, whining, wife cheating, celebrity dating phase of the plan back in order. I’m not sure that is any better.

Shame on You

Are there no hero’s left? The answer to that question appears to be a resounding yes after the news broke today that Manny Ramirez was being suspended 50-games, starting immediately, for taking HCG a drug which, by most experts’ opinions is used to boost a body’s testosterone production and often one that is used to help regulate a body’s ability to produce the hormone after taking steroids. There is even a story out that stating that the reason Manny tested positive for the drug is that it may have been prescribed by a doctor to help him overcome erectile dysfunction. There are so many positions, I mean directions, that I could go with here I’m really tempted, but given the gravity of the whole matter I think I will just let that one lay where it is.

The fact of the matter is that baseball as we knew it is totally done. If there was any “star” in the game who seemed to be above the performance enhancing drugs (PED) scandals it was Manny. Why? Does the guy even know what day it is? Sometimes he acts like he is on drugs, but most would posit weed and not PED’s as the culprit thanks to his often outrages behavior. Alas, that “joke” is no longer applicable with the news we heard today.

So where does this all leave us? Can baseball respond? Take a look at the list of the greatest players of all-time, and a whole host of them are now tainted with names like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Alex Rodriguez and Sammy Sosa all under the pale of the PED scandal that has rocked the game to its very foundations. We have a couple of situations at play here.

1 – We have the group of suspected PED users in Bonds, Clemens, McGwire and Sosa. Anyone with half a brain in their head must admit that it appears, with a high degree of certitude, that each of these men used illicit means to boost their performance on the field even if they have yet to make such an admission.

2- We have an admitted user in A-Rod. He has stated that his PED use was limited to 2001-03 when he was a member of the Texas Rangers, but a recent book not only disputes that “fact,” it goes far beyond it to allege that A-Rod took PEDs as far back as high school. Regardless, unlike the men listed in number one above, A-Rod has admitted to PED use.

3- We have only one man off this list, despite everything that has been discussed, written or assumed, who has actually tested positive for PEDs while a major league player, and that is Manny Ramirez.

Not only will Manny have to live with the shame that this suspension will bring, his once pristine image, only tarnished by his flighty attitude and whimsical indiscretions on the field, is now called into question from a historical perspective. Given the climate we live in today, that means that a man who is clearly one of the top-10 right-handed hitters of all-time will likely find his name alongside the likes of Bonds, Clemens and McGwire five years after he hangs up his cleats – former superstars who may forever be denied admittance into the hallowed halls of the Hall of Fame. And for that, we should all be truly ashamed.

By Ray Flowers