By Eddie Mayrose

New York Baseball Fans Never Learn

It happens every spring.  One of our two, local nines gets off to a slow start and the “First Time-Long Time” experts light up the phone lines on the talk shows.  Last season, after the Yankees had blown their first eight contests with the Red Sox, the signings of Mark Teixeira and C.C. Sabathia were questioned; as was the competence of manager Joe Girardi.  Just curious; how’d 2009 work out for the Bombers in the end?  Yet, even in the middle of a strong start to 2010, Yankee fans are again showing off their short memory; this time looking to hang struggling starter, Javier Vasquez. Despite the fact that Vasquez was an All Star in his first go-round in the Bronx, won a World Series in Chicago, is coming off the best season of his dominant career and was acquired for next to nothing, the so-called experts cite the grand slam he surrendered to Johnny Damon in the 2004 ALCS as the reason he’ll never be able to succeed in New York.  Remember that down the stretch as they’re chanting his name in the ninth inning of a two hit shutout. Continue reading »

by Eddie Mayrose

College Basketball Winners and Whiners

What’s better than the opening of the NCAA Tournament?  Not only does it signal the beginning of the best event on the sports calendar, it brings to a close the four days of whining we are forced to endure annually from the coaches that feel their teams were unfairly excluded.  Here’s a thought, guys.  Beat someone.

For the second year in a row, Virginia Tech’s Seth Greenberg is telling anyone who’ll listen that his Hokies got the short end of the stick.  He counters the argument that his non-league schedule included a few high schools by pointing out that his squad had a better record than NCAA-bound Wake Forest and even beat the Deacons head to head.  That’s fine.  However, with the Big Dance on the line, they got knocked out of the ACC tournament by Miami; the worst team in the league.  So, spare us all, coach.  You had your shot and blew it.  Don’t expect the Selection Committee to clean up your mess. Continue reading »

I’m wondering if Alex Rodriguez is now considered a “true Yankee” by the Bombers’ Jeter-worshiping fan base whose judgment seems to be based solely on post-season success.  My question to them, using the same barometer: Given his lack of playoff participation, is Don Mattingly a true Yankee?… Joe Torre may have four World Series titles and fourteen straight playoff appearances but his decision to start Hiroki Kuroda in Game 3 of the NLCS is the single, biggest reason the Dodgers are playing golf this weekend…Wanted to give credit to umpire Jerry Davis for refusing to give Angels’ shortstop, Erick Aybar, the old “neighborhood call when he failed to touch second base while turning a double play in Game 2.  Wanted to point out that the logic of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver that he should have called him out was ridiculous, if only because Davis would have been skewered when replay showed the miss.  Wanted to, that is, until Tim McClelland blew up at third base in Game 4.  Ironically, McClelland is thought by many, including old Moonlight, to be the best in the game.  His positioning on both blown calls, however, would have gotten him a scolding at a High School umpires clinic.  Unfortunately, the blown calls throughout these playoffs has refueled the ridiculous notion that replay should be used in baseball.  Here’s a better solution.  Let’s have actual umpires handle the training, evaluation and assigning of MLB’s men in blue and make sure that current umps submit for retraining each off season… I don’t care how cold it gets, those hats with the ear flaps have got to go… Throw out all of the stats.  The most glaring evidence of the Yankees’ dominance to this point is that both the Twins and the Angels, two of baseball’s most fundamentally sound teams in the game, suddenly started making mistakes you wouldn’t expect from Little Leaguers once the pinstripes showed up in the other dugout…Have to give credit to Phils’ GM Ruben Amaro.  Even though his team was desperate for starting pitching at the trade deadline, he refused to overpay for Toronto’s Roy Halladay, turning instead to Cleveland and Cliff Lee.  Is there anyone in baseball who’d trade Lee for Halladay straight-up right now?… Say what you will about Joe Girardi’s overmanaging in Game 3 but you can’t deny he followed the same, safe, course most managers choose in today’s game.  It seems that many would rather have a reason for failure than risk trusting their instincts. While it’s true that Alfredo Alceves may have been the better matchup on paper, Girardi’s eyes just saw Dave Robertson mow down two Angels without breaking a sweat.  How about managing to your own players’ strengths rather than the other guys?…Get used to these young Dodgers; Loney, Ethier and Kemp.  They’ll be the core of a perennial contender for a long time… I know that TBS must be very proud of its expensive toys but I really don’t need a silly box to tell me that the low, inside pitch I just saw was, in fact, low and inside.  Same goes for FOX and the graphic that tells me “NYY lead 3-2″.  Even in the unlikely scenario that I didn’t know that before tuning in, I’d remember after someone mentioned it… No surprise that Mariano Rivera is one of just two closers that haven’t blown a save this post season but who’d have guessed Brad Lidge would be the other?… Gotta love C.C. Sabathia taking the mound on three days rest in Game 4.  His “I’m the ace, gimme the ball”, mentality is a refreshing change.  Somewhere, Sandy Koufax was smiling…  Phillies’ manager Charlie Manuel, who had current Dodger Jim Thome in both Cleveland and Philadelphia, signaled to his former player that, “This is the guy we want”, just before Jimmy Rollins doubled to win Game 4.  Nice call, skip… Most relieved man in the world Thursday was Angels’ manager Mike Scioscia.  After pulling John Lackey despite Lackey’s strong objections and watching his bullpen throw batting practice, Scioscia was spared a very uncomfortable press conference by the Angel bats… Was anyone really surprised that Manny Ramirez was in the shower when the Phils came back to beat the Dodgers in Game 4?

Championship Series Preview

Well, much to the chagrin of longtime Sawx booster and Brooklyn Eagle columnist, Tom Kane, we called the Angels-Red Sox series perfectly.  We had the Yanks in 4 and the Phils in 5, one game off on each.  We couldn’t have been more wrong about the Cardinals-Dodgers, though, as we were reminded by Moonlight reader, Ken Jankowsky.  That the Dodgers were not only able to overcome the Cards’ starting rotation was impressive enough but to do it in three straight was something not many saw coming.  It bodes well for Joe Torre’s boys going forward, especially with a potential Game & scheduled for Chavez Ravine.  Let’s take a look at the two matchups that’ll give us our 2009 World Series, disregarding for a minute the drooling Fox executives offering up their souls for a Yankees-Dodgers Fall Classic.

Angels vs. Yankees-  Have to love the Yankees deciding to ride their big horse, C. C. Sabathia, in three games if the series goes seven.  Unfortunately for the Bombers, Mother Nature doesn’t look like she’s planning to cooperate.  Sabathia likely won’t get the chance for that third start, however, as the Angels should wrap things up beforehand.  While Alex Rodriguez finally busted out of a career long postseason slump, he did it against a pitching staff far inferior to that of the Angels.  Mike Scioscia’s boys play the game as fundamentally sound as anyone and won’t make the same silly mistakes that did in the Twins.  Expect Derek Jeter to continue to shine while ARod and Teixeira will struggle.  Vlad Guerrero walks off with the MVP award as Los Angeles takes the title in five games.

Phillies vs. Dodgers
Tough break for the Phillies as Cliff Lee won’t go until Game 3.  Philly manager Charlie Manuel keeps his fingers crossed that Cole Hamels can dig himself out of his season long funk and give his club a decent start in the opener.  Can’t see it happening.  As for the Dodgers, their starter, Clayton Kershaw, had the lowest BA against in the NL.  Their bats have awakened at just the right time and Manny Ramirez is always lurking.  Get to know these young Dodgers; Ethier, Kemp and Loney, as they will be the elite of the National league for a long time.  The Phils should enjoy a little success in their home park but not enough to win.  The pick here is the Dodgers in 6.

by Moonlight Graham

The HK Fantasy Baseball League

Did he really do that?

Last Sunday morning, having received an absolute gem from Johan Santana the day before, Skippy Shakes owner Bob Carr looked at the HK Fantasy standings and found himself one point ahead of the Mean Street Posse and a point and a half ahead of Ricciardi Brothers Inc. Having waged a two month assault on the top spot from as far back as twenty seven points, Carr had finally grabbed the lead with just one day to go. Unfortunately, he couldn’t leave well enough alone and almost managed himself out of a title.

One of the deals that catapulted his Shakes squad in the last two months was the acquisition of C.C. Sabathia. As the Brewers’ ace carried his squad toward the playoffs, he also carried Carr; allowing the Shakes to make huge gains in the pitching categories. So, with C.C. on the bump for Milwaukee’s finale, Carr was sitting pretty. Santana had given him the slightest of leads in ERA and WHIP. Leads that were crucial to holding on to the top spot. So, what did Carr do? He reserved Sabathia rather than risk a bad outing. The plan was to stay right where he was and allow the others to fall back. Sadly, he paid no mind to the results of his last grand plan to protect his ERA; the ill fated benching of Hideo Nomo on the day he threw a no-no at Coor’s Field. Lightning couldn’t strike twice in the same place, could it?

As Sabathia was holding the Cubbies to just four hits and one run during his complete game, Carr watched in horror as Jerry Manuel summoned Luis Ayala from the bullpen for the Mets. True to form, Ayala grooved one for Dan Uggla, pushing Carr’s ERA just below Ricciardi Bros. and creating a three way tie. That Tim Lincecum and Ubaldo Jimenez had strong outings for RBI only served to drop the Shakes further down in the category. Carr was distraught.

Resigning himself to being the perpetrator of the biggest bonehead move in league history, he flipped through the channels to see if there were any games still going on. That’s when he stumbled across the ninth inning of the Mariners- A’s game and found the now beautiful J.J.Putz standing on the mound protecting a one run lead. Forgetting for the moment that he had cursed Putz’s incompetence for two months, he now begged his fellow redhead for just three outs. You see, Carr was also tied in the saves category and could gain a critical half point if Putz could only close out the A’s. He did and Carr had his league title by the slimmest of margins. He still pulled the biggest gaffe in fantasy league history but at least it didn’t cost him a Yoo-Hoo shower.

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Next week, we’ll start to look back at the 2008 season with Fantasy Awards and readers’ tales of their successes and failures, booms and busts and plans going forward. Enjoy the playoffs as we turn our focus back to the world where the only numbers that count are the ones on the scoreboard. Incidentally, I like a Rays- Cubs World Series so, you might want to put a little money down on any of the other six teams.