Month: November 2009

All-Free Agent Spectacular!!!!!!

/ Jason / 2 Comments

Two sports posts in a row (and a third to come this weekend with my picks post). What can I say? There’s only so much room for me talk about race. Judging by the total lack of comments on Tuesday’s post, either I summarized everyone’s feelings or no one read it (latter!).

My favorite sports season began yesterday and you likely didn’t notice. That would, of course be, the Hot Stove season. The Hot Stove season is where baseless arguments are made. And I love those. No one has any idea how a player is going to fit on a club. No one knows if someone is going to click on a club. Everyone just likes to think they know. Myself included.

With that, I’m going to build my All-Free Agent team. A number of players filed for free agency yesterday and looking at the list, I realized that I could build a great team. So, I’m going to. Complete with the salary that I think is fair to ink them at, based on the current state of baseball. Yesterday, Bobby Abreu re-signed with the Los Angeles Anaheim Angels of California for 2 years/ $19 million. He played last year for $5 million. So yea, it’s going to be a wallet busting season on the stove. Here is my All-Free Agent Team (with middle relief men missing because I don’t want to fall asleep looking at their names). (Teams listed are who they played for last year)

Catcher: Josh Bard (Washington Natinals). As a general rule in baseball, if you have a very good catcher, you don’t get rid of him. Hence, there are so few quality, everyday catchers available right now. This came down to Bard and Pudge Rodriguez, but I think Bard has more, albeit marginal, upside at this point in their careers. But make no mistake about it, this is a weak spot.

Contract: 1 year/$1,500,000

First Baseman: Aubrey Huff (Detroit Tigers). This came down to Huff and Delgado, but I have my concerns with Delgado and think Huff can be had for cheaper. Keep in mind that Huff, over the last two years, has hit 47 Home Runs and 193 Runs Batted In. He’s a marginal to below marginal on-base guy, but there is certainly pop in his bat.

Contract: 2 years/$11,000,000

Second Baseman: Orlando Hudson (Los Angeles Dodgers). Much like Bobby Abreu, Hudson was a very late signee going into the 2009 season, and much like Abreu, he was a key contributor on a division winner. Hudson played 149 games for the Dodgers and put up quality numbers (for an albeit light-hitting second baseman): .283/.357/.417. And he played quality defense with only 8 errors in those 149 games. And he made the NL All-Star team. Not bad for a guy who was jobless in Februrary.

Contract: 3 years/ $15,000,000

Third Baseman: Mark DeRosa (St. Louis Cardinals). I really like Mark DeRosa. I don’t know why. His numbers aren’t great. He’s not stellar defensively. But he is a gritty “ball player.” And I respect that. He’s hit 20+ Home Runs in each of the last two seasons and even though he doesn’t get on base as much as I would like, clearly that’s not a direction I am going in at the moment with this team.

Contract: 2 years/ $12,000,000

Shortstop: Adam Everett (Detroit Tigers). Adam Everett is one of my least favorite baseball players. He’s not even a baseball player. He is the worst hitter I have ever seen. He is, also, to this point, the only shortstop who has filed for free agency.

Contract: 1 year/$1,000,000

Left Fielder: Matt Holliday (St. Louis Cardinals). Finally, we have a real debate, one that a few teams are going to have to wrestle with in the coming weeks. Holliday or Jason Bay? Holliday is 2 years younger, so that is a big check on his side. Their offensive power numbers (HR/RBI) project out to be equal based on games played (Bay has played in about 100 more games and has about 100 more at-bats than Holliday. Bay and Holliday have very similar OBPs with the very slight edge going to Holliday. As far as fielding, Holliday has committed more errors than Bay. For me though, this comes back to the age. Both of these guys are long-term signs for whoever picks them up. Give me the guy who has fewer miles on his odometer.

Contract: 7 years/$120,000,000

Centerfielder: Mike Cameron (Milwaukee Brewers). His defense is great and he hits home runs. His batting average and OBP will never impress you. Despite his age, I like him better here than Rick Ankiel, who I’m not sure is a Major League hitter without the aid of performance enhancers. Cameron is not a favorite, but he’s the best option until Chone Figgins files for free agency.

Contract: 1 year/ $5,000,000

Rightfielder: Rocco Baldelli (Boston Red Sox). Truth be told, I’d sign Scott Podsednik and move him to right field in this situation, but I’m going to stick to my rules and go with a sentimental choice. Rocco does not do anything very well and there still have to be concerns about how his body would hold up over a 162 game schedule where he would play at least 145 games. But I’d cross my fingers and also sign Reed Johnson as an insurance policy.

Contract (Rocco’s, not Reed’s): 1 year/$2,000,000

Starting Pitchers: John Lackey (LA Angels), Jason Marquis (Colorado Rockies), Brad Penny (San Francisco Giants), Jarrod Washburn (Detroit Tigers), Justin Duchscherer (Oakland Athletics). The only one that needs any real explaining is probably Justin Duchscherer, who I’m frankly willing to take a flier on in the short term and hope that he has his depression in order.

Contracts:

John Lackey: 5 years/$70,000,000

Jason Marquis: 4 years/$44,000,000

Brad Penny: 2 years/$10,000,000

Jarrod Washburn: 3 years/$33,000,000

Justin Duchscherer: 1 year/$2,000,000

Closer: Ben Sheets (Free Agency All-Stars). I’m throwing a curveball because Sheets has been a free agent since last offseason. Injury problems have put a huge halt on his career progress, maybe for good, but I look at this as a project with the opportunity for great success. Will his arm stay in one piece? Maybe not. But at this point in his career and with only mediocrity available to me, I’m in the mood for a project. And I’d do the same thing with Rich Harden.

Contract: 2 years/$10,000,000 (An enormous financial risk, I know, but enough that I think it would interest Sheets in a pitching lifestyle change.)

Finally, my batting order would look like this:

Orlando Hudson

Mark DeRosa

Aubrey Huff

Matt Holliday

Mike Cameron

Rocco Baldelli

Josh Bard

Adam Everett

Starting Pitcher

Predicted 2010 Record: Not good.

Not Everyone In The Empire Is Evil

/ Jason / 1 Comment

My sporadic blogging of late can be blamed on the World Series taking hold of my life. It’s been a few years (2005 ChiSox/Astros) since I have been captivated by the World Series. Last year, I would have rather watched Nancy Grace at the height of a child abduction than have watched the World Series. Despite my years of vocal support for the Tampa Bay Rays coming to fruition, I just wasn’t spellbound by the matchup against the Phillies. And so the World Series dipped off my radar.

This year, however, we were treated to a stellar matchup of big market, star-laden clubs and it did not disappoint. Game 1 brought us the Cliff Lee/CC Sabathia showdown. Game 2 had Pedro Martinez back on the mound at Yankee Stadium (his daddy’s house). Game 3 provided the Phillies fans with an opportunity to show the white-collar Yankee crowd how to “do” a World Series game. Game 4 had CC on 3 days rest, and Game 5 gave us another opportunity to watch the most dominant left-handed pitcher in baseball prove critics and analysts wrong yet again. Game 6, the elimination game, certainly won’t live in baseball lore as a classic, but we did bear witness to one of the best individual World Series games ever by Hideki Matsui, in what will likely be his last game at Yankee Stadium. 6 RBI on 3 hits.

I was a little bothered by Matsui winning the Series MVP, because he did not play the entire series. He actually did not start any of the games in Philadelphia. While he was the MVP of the clinching game, Derek Jeter was the MVP of the World Series. His ability to get on-base was the single most important part of the Yankees 2009 postseason run. And it sadly won’t be remembered because he’s Derek Jeter and he’s “supposed to” be that good. It sounds foolish, but Jeter is one of the most underrated players of this generation, perhaps the first athlete in the internet age to be underrated while at the same time be never forgotten by the media (both old and new). Jeter is written and spoken about at great length, yet somehow, I don’t think people truly understand how good he really is. And not just how good he is, but how valuable. Jeter excels on the field. He is one of the 3 best shortstops in baseball history. He’s a 5-time World Series champion. He plays in the largest market, for the most widely recognized American sports franchise in the world, and never, ever says or does the wrong thing off the field. He is as close to a perfect athlete as my generation will ever see and to me, the 2009 postseason was just another opportunity for us to bear witness to his greatness. Even if he wasn’t the “most valuable player.”

Derek and His Dominos

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When I started blogging regularly again I told myself that when it came to issues of the District, I wouldn’t be controversial or negative. That lasted two weeks and a day. Below is a link to a story I read in DC blog “Prince of Petworth (Petworth is a neighborhood in DC close to where I live).” The original story comes from another DC blog where residents talk about issues important to them. Or in the following case, embrace racial stereotypes, thus continuing to diminish the reputation of this city. Before I rant, you should read. Here’s the link:

http://www.princeofpetworth.com/2009/11/derek-on-being-the-stereotype-by-danny-harris/

Now, wasn’t that satisfying?

The first line triggered my “angry button.” “You white folks…” implies that only white people read blogs. Yesterday I wrote about embracing your negative-side. Embracing that you are a walking stereotype (to the point of openly admitting such and boasting that you meet the requirements) is not, in my book, a positive action. If I were a former drug dealing, 32 year old “father” of 5, I would be hell bent on making something more of my life than I already had. But I’m just “judging” according to Derek, because living here is “hard as shit.”

No, Derek, living in Burkina Faso is “hard as shit.” You know, adult literacy rate of 20%. Life expectancy of 48 years. 6 doctors for every 100,000 people. You know, all that “shit.” The neighborhoods where Derek grew up and for some ungodly reason continues to live, are not fun and no, they’re not nearly as easy as where I grew up. There is such a high concentration of poverty “across the (Anacostia) River.” There’s gangs, drugs, crumbling schools which are still in use, horrid representation (Marion Barry everyone!), and a lot of racial tension between white cops and the roughly 95% black population.

I don’t live across the mighty Anacostia, but I do live in a world where common sense rules all. There is not a 25 foot high electric wall keeping people in Anacostia, Barry Farm, Congress Heights, etc. barricaded into their communities. I understand the cultural importance of staying true to who you are and the neighborhoods that become a part of who you are. What I don’t understand is how anyone can acknowledge their short comings, talk about how they are a product of their “hard as shit” neighborhood, and then choose not to, you know, get the heck out of the neighborhood. The saying, “If you hang around the barbershop long enough, you’re bound to get a haircut,” rings true here. If you are prone to poor decision making, maybe you should disconnect yourself from the influence which has led you wrong your entire life.

I don’t want to stereotype. Liberal white men walk a fine line when they talk about issues that ultimately come back to race. And it makes us really uncomfortable. It makes us uncomfortable to criticize. It makes others think that we’re racist if we do. But when I read a post like this one, with lines like, “The closest many people will get to success here is being a teenage mom or a drug dealer,” I want to throw up. Because that’s just not true (and since when was having a child deemed a success?). And a mentality like that is just a crutch for unsuccessful people to be able to blame their surroundings. You make your own bed in life, period. Especially at the age of 32. This post by Derek is immature. Having an “it’s not my fault, it’s yours” mentality in this situation is what has led to the decades of urban decay “across the river.”

So what’ the solution? For one, education is a really cool thing. Life is not over for a 32 year old. While Derek says that he has a job and is trying to make right, he also mentions that, “You certainly not going to get nowhere if you play by the rules here” and “If you’re not caught up in the loop, which is politics, you out of the game unless you want to sell drugs or get a lame-ass job that pays you nothing,” so I’d like to know what his job entails. “Lame-ass jobs that pay you nothing,” become less lame jobs that pay you more when you have credentials and work experience. For the vast majority of people not only in the District, but all over, life is not handed to them. At some point, you have to tie your shoes and walk on your own. Whether that is getting a college degree or mastering a trade or involving yourself in community building, most people who accomplish anything in life get there on their own. There’s plenty of time for Derek to make something of himself. There are a bevy of educational opportunities in this city and in its surrounding counties in Northern Virginia and Maryland.

“People in DC need to care about what is happening on these streets and in these projects. For all of you in other neighborhoods, especially the white folks in Northwest, there ain’t no difference between us. It’s what’s in your heart that matters.”

With the first line, I could not agree with Derek more. I certainly don’t agree with anything he says more than I do that line. This city of transplants is often far too concerned with shopping in Georgetown than it is in a row of crumbling storefronts on Martin Luther King Jr. Ave SE. For most people, “over there,” is a world away. But there are real people there, who do want a better life, who do want the neighborhoods that generations of their family grew up in to thrive the right way. Not people like Derek, who would clearly rather blame “the system,” than his own poor decisions in life. But parents who want their children (who they live with) to be able to raise their sons and daughters in a cleaner, healthier, safer, and better place, without having to move them away. It’s about more than clichés and stereotypes. This is how people live. And it could be so much better for them.

People I Admire (Volume I)

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At the advice of a colleague, I’m starting a new feature on Monday called “People I Admire.” I’m not so sure that this will be a long feature, as there aren’t a lot of people who I admire, but I’ll try to keep it going for as long as I can without including people like David Draiman or Kevin Sorbo.

For this week, I will talk about why I admire Tony Kornheiser.

Tony Kornheiser, or Mr. Tony as we will refer to him, first crept into my conscious in the late 1990’s on ESPN’s “The Sports Reporters.” However, it wasn’t until October 22, 2001 that he really became an important figure in my life as the host of “Pardon the Interruption.”

“PTI” combined all of the things that I love the most in life: sports and banter pertaining to sport. Along with his co-host and longtime friend Michael Wilbon, Mr. Tony helped change the face of sports on TV. Period. Before “PTI” there were no sports talk shows. Now, that’s all there is. Two jerks talking about sports. And it always seems scripted. On “Pardon the Interruption,” that has never been the case.

Imagine my joy when I moved to Washington and discovered that Mr. Tony had a daily local radio show. Not a sports-talk show. Just a show where a crotchety old man complained about things that made him angry. Kind of like that newspaper story from “The Simpsons” where Grandpa shakes his fist at a cloud. If I loved Mr. Tony on “PTI” talking about sports, you can imagine how much I loved Mr. Tony on the radio where he just got to rant about things.

Truth be told, there wasn’t much for me to do when I was jobless for 5 months. I blogged (as you likely know) and I listened to the replay of Mr. Tony’s show from 2-4 (because, really, did I need to be awake at 8 a.m. when it was live?). And life was good.

The Mr. Tony radio show consisted of 2 hours of talk about “American Idol,” begging for free things from people and sponsors, and life advice, like, “If you’re out on your bike tonight, do wear white.”

So the obvious question becomes, “ Jason, why do you admire this man?”

The reason why I admire Tony Kornheiser is because he’s not afraid to be brutally honest and hurtful towards people for no good reason. Statements like, “__________(person x) should have a Metrobus backed over their skull,” and “This person should be thrown in jail,” are used without hesitation for situations that would not normally require a punishment of death or prison. And I like that.

I fully understand the frustration that Mr. Tony so clearly feels towards people who are not himself or at least kind of like him. And I really respect him for his ability to be fully honest with people, even if it is hurtful.

One of the things that annoys me (and who knows, someday I might list all of them as one glorious blog post) is privilege and the idea that some people “deserve” to be treated differently from others because of their status. So it would probably be considered hypocrisy that I appreciate and admire a person who once begged on air for a free Cadillac and who has created a concept known as “The Mr. Tony Experience,” whereby Mr. Tony gets free things because he is Mr. Tony.

The reason why I let Mr. Tony slide when it comes to privilege is simply because he so openly embraces that aspect of his “ness.” My screenwriting professor in college once told me that he liked how I set-up a really cliché scene with the characters openly acknowledging how cliché it was. It was an easy tactic, and frankly, something I did just to get out of a scene I was not interested enough in to be creative with. However, I’m glad I did it that way because his words have always stuck with me. It’s simple really: embrace your own negativity. Don’t put on a show and pretend like you’re different. If you own up to your negative side and are honest with people about it, you’re alright in my book. Just like Mr. Tony.

Next week, perhaps I’ll profile why I admire Manuel Noriega.