August 2012
Looking East
Although most of the great non-U.S. ballplayers have come from Latin America, a fair number have also hailed from the East. No, I’m not talking about New Jersey. I’m talking about the land of the rising sun. Players like Ichiro in his heyday or the sometimes brilliant Yu Darvish. Or the professional pitcher pictured here at the right. But aside from a couple Koreans and one or two Chinese, baseball doesn’t seem to have had quite the same effect on the rest of the continent.
We could take the time to do an in-depth study of why certain Asian cultures have successfully assimilated baseball and I’m sure there are quite a few reasond to be found. However, we see no need to be scientific and instead decided to focus on the most important metric available in the internet age: Youtube videos.
So, in two steps, here’s why there aren’t more Asian ballplayers, moving from the west (Rinku and Dinesh??)…
…to the east:
I think that pretty much clears it up, even if the horsey dance is quite catchy.
-A
Harrison v. Molina: Not Exactly What You Think
I’ve watched the play about a 100 times now — each time the pain rings out through my own body, more and more. I’ve often heard about mothers feeling their children’s’ pain — lovers experiencing each others’ physical ailments.
This is what that must feel like.
Watching Yadier Molina get crushed is something I will never be able to fully accept. But I’ve watched it over and over and I really do think Josh Harrison had no other choice. Yadi did his job. He took away the plate. The only way Harrison had a shot was to go under, over or through Yadi.
Yadi’s a beast. Over and under were not plausible options. Harrison’s only choice was to barrel through.
That’s baseball.
It sucks to watch your man-crush get pummeled, but I watched Mickey Ward get destroyed once too, and he came back like the champ that he was.
Yadi will be back too.
So please, don’t hate me ‘cuz I’m right.
And What if the Tigers DON’T Make the Playoffs?
Seriously. There is no guarantee. There is NEVER a guarantee (right, Red Sox?).
Whether you’re listening to the Worldwide Leader of Dopes or MLBN or that fat guy at the end of the bar who just won’t shut up, you’ve probably heard some variation of the following phrase regarding the AL Central:
Yeah, but the Tigers are the better team and they’re going to win the division.
Oh really? Then what are they been waiting for? Hockey season?!? It’s coming!!!
Sure the Tigers have been playing better baseball the second half, but the truth is, the White Sox have been playing championship-caliber baseball. And what is championship-caliber baseball? It’s winning in walk-off fashion even though you allowed the Mariners to come back from 5-run deficit in the top of the 9th. It’s getting gutsy performances out of nobodies like DeWayne Wise. It’s having your MVP catcher thrown out of the game only to have his backup, Tyler Flowers, be the hero. TWICE.
Verlander, Cabrera, Prince. Indeed, these are mighty names with infinite possibility.
But possibility is no match for performance. And as long as long as the White Sox keep getting more than the Tigers, then all those analysts and “experts” would do well to right their wordy ships and recognize the truth from potential.
Also, there is a White Sox fan holding a gun to my head as I write this.
And he asks that you don’t hate me ‘cuz I’m right.
Peace,
Jeff
RSBS Presents: It Could Have Been Worse
Although the respective baseball careers of Melky Cabrera and Bartolo Colon took a huge hit this past week with the announcement of fifty game bans for each player, they can still count themselves as being lucky. Fifty games? That means they have to sit out the rest of the season and then come back next year. Sure, they’ll have that “cheater” label pasted on them but that doesn’t mean some team won’t go ahead and pick them up anyway. No, it could have been w hole lot worse. In fact, that’s why RSBS is using this opportunity to bring you the latest installment of the hard-hitting series, RSBS Presents. This time, RSBS Presents: It Could Have Been Worse.
They could have ruined precious artwork:
In Spain, an octogenarian parishioner took it on herself to restore a 19th Century fresco by Elias Garcia Martinez. When you take a close look at the before and after, you see that she might have missed a couple details. You know, like the eyes:
And the mouth. And pretty much the entire face.
They could have created a royal scandal:
Not content with getting schooled by Ryan Lochte in a pool at a Vegas club, Prince Harry, the third in line for the British throne let me remind you, managed to get his naked self snapped in photos with young women in equal states of undress.
Sure, he’s not the king. And at this rate, that’s probably a good thing. It’s hard for your subjects to take you seriously once they’ve seen the royal jewels and scepter.
They could have picked the entirely wrong career:
Remember when Dave Chappelle played the blind white supremacist on his eponymously named show? Well, that kind of happened in real life this past week when the leader of an anti-Semitic party in Hungary discovered that he was Jewish. And if that wasn’t bad enough, he also found out that maternal grandparents were holocaust survivors. Sure, a fifty game ban may suck but finding out that you are the person you hate and giving up all your neo-Nazi street cred? That’s a tough pill to swallow.
So there you have it. Melky and Bartolo messed up but they’ll live to fight another day. Well, unless they accidentally try restoring the Willie Mays statue. MLB don’t like it when people mess with Willie.
-A
The Filibuster
Thoughts on the blockbuster? Are you surprised?
Miles G.
Niles, MI
________________________
When news broke of the blockbuster trade between the Dodgers and Red Sox sending Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Nick Punto to LaLa Land for James Loney and prospects I had to put down my beer, take a few deep breaths and squint to make sure I was reading the news ticker at the bottom of the screen correctly.
I was.
Well, looky there, I thought, out with the Theo, in with the Cherrington/Bobby V.
I was a bit surprised that it happened after the trade deadline and before the offseason, but when considering how it took place (the Dodgers claiming Gonzalez and Beckett off the waiver wire), it wasn’t that suprirsing that a deal developed so quickly. By rule, the parties involved only had 48 hours to get a deal done and both sides seemed to know exactly what they wanted.
The Dodgers wanted to spend money on star power. The Red Sox wanted a do-over.
Both got their wish and the result is an exciting development for all of baseball!
But what is really surprising to me on this day is completely unrelated to baseball. Like this guy’s nightmarish job. That’s surprising. Or how about that former Baywatch star Donna D’Errico hurt herself while off searching for a mythical boat. That’s surprising. Or how about that Mitt Romney is questioning President Obama’s birth certificate? That’s–
Oh, wait. That’s not surprising at all.
Hate me ‘cuz you gotta go to work tomorrow, just don’t hate me ‘cuz I’m right.
Peace,
Jeff
Have a topic you want to see us Filibuster? Send us your Filibuster questions by emailing RSBSblog@gmail.com or by commenting below.
Something’s Rotten In the State of Texas
And no, I’m not referring to the Houston LOLstros, though they are pretty darn rotten, I admit.
The rottenness I’m talking about is the foul stench that emanates from a past-his-prime public relations disaster who seems to have eaten Tony Gwynn on his way to joining the Sugar Land Skeeters. That’s right, as if taking a page right out of Jose Canseco’s book of insanity, Mr. Clemens, the fallen idol of my youth, is now preparing to embarrass himself with what I can only assume is a Favrian attempt to prolong the inevitable Hall of Fame first ballot denial.
If Roger can get on a Big League roster, he’ll get another five years before being considered. And who knows, by then they might be banning people 50 games for NOT TAKING EFFING STEROIDS.
Good grief.
And happy Friday!
Jeff
Putting the “Legitimate” in Legitimately Dumb
What would MLB do if it turned out that Melky Cabrera was “legitimately” using PEDs? For the same matter, what if Barry Bonds came out and told us that he had been using the “cream” and the “clear” but it was legitimate so we didn’t need to worry about it? I’m pretty sure that the fans and MLB would call bullsh*t on both of them.
By now I’m pretty sure you know where I’m going with this since you couldn’t swing a cat this week without hitting some news about Clay Aiken‘s long-lost father, Todd. (Ok, fine, they spell their names differently but how funny would that be?) And with both sides of the debate more than willing to weigh in, once again the Presidential race turned away from the economy and back towards the Republican’s seeming fetish for pushing away women voters.
Getting back to the original question I posed, of course you’d laugh at Cabrera or Bonds’ statements (speaking of which, what is it with the Bay Area??). Whether it was “legitimate” or not, violating the League’s substance abuse policy means you have to face the consequences. Sure, some guys, like Bonds, Sosa and McGwire, benfited from Bud’s willingness to look the other way as long as the money kept rolling in. But the way things stand now, a violation is going to get you fifty games, just like Manny and Melky. Except for when it doesn’t. Yes, I’m looking at you Ryan Braun and your technicality.
Whether or not you get away with it, there is no such thing as “legitimate” or “illegitimate” PED use just like there’s no such thing as “legitimate” or “illegitimate” rape. And it’s important to keep in mind here that although PED’s may tarnish someone’s legacy or hurt a team in the playoff hunt, rape destroys a person’s life, no matter what Mike Huckabee or Todd Akin say. It has nothing to do with “legitimate” or “illegitimate.” It’s plainly and simply unacceptable.
-A
Et Tu, Melky?
Last week we heard the collective breath leave the many fans of the San Francisco Giants who had placed their hope in Melky Cabrera. His fall from grace not only hurts the Giants’ playoff hopes, it also hurts baseball as he had been one of a handful of rising stars this season. In fact, it was only a couple months ago that he captivated the nation in propelling the NL all-stars to consecutive wins in the mid-season classic and bringing the game’s MVP award home to the Bay area. He was a star in the making but that disappeared into the blackhole of a 50-game suspension.
Now, you may be asking yourself, “What exactly does it sound like when a star gets sucked into a blackhole?” and you can be forgiven if you missed the answer with all the white noise emanating from the gas giants that make up the sports punditocracy. See, as luck would have it, CNN just happened to provide us an answer last week (fast forward to about the four minute mark).
Hm, not as dramatic as I would have expected. So long, Melky.
-A
The Filibuster
Obama/Biden is hardly the Cabrera/Fielder combination it once was. Should the president drop Joe?
Aaron T.
Woodbridge, VA
________________________
Apparently the VP’s comments about the big banks putting “y’all back in chains” under a Romney administration have set off a firestorm of criticism. Of course the Romney campaign indignantly declared this a new low in an election that will surely reach entirely new lows over the next few months. But if you take a step back, none of this should really come as a surprise. It’s just Biden being Biden.
Anyone who follows politics knows that Joe Biden is a walking gaffe machine. I mean, this is the man who famously referred to the future President as “articulate and bright and clean.” At least this time he’s pointing his rhetorical weapons of mass destruction at the other side. And let’s be honest here, that’s part of the reason why Obama brought him on board as VP in the first place. It’s also one of the reasons why there’s absolutely no reason for the President to drop him now.
Honestly, Biden’s moment last week was a godsend for the Obama campaign. It followed news of the Paul Ryan pick, a moment that was supposed to change the election debate to matters of the economy and the budget. Instead, the press and everyone else is talking about Biden’s statement. Add in that it fires up an important part of the Democratic base, black Americans, and I really don’t see where this is hurting the Obama campaign at all. Biden’s “gaffes” often serve to humanize both him and the President he serves. They also give the campaign a way to say something while still claiming plausible deniability. ”Hey, we didn’t ask him to say that. That’s just Biden being Biden. However, now that you mention it….” Sounds like a winning strategy to me.
More than that, though, Obama has no desire to get rid of Biden because Biden is the guy who turns the Obama strategy into reality. You think the Affordable Care Act gets passed without Biden making calls and twisting arms? You think “Don’t ask, don’t tell” gets repealed without Joe putting in some face time? Sure, sometimes he may force the President’s hand, like with his comments on gay marriage, but is that such a bad thing? Here’s an even better analogy. Biden is COO to Obama’s CEO. And trust me, being CEO without an effective COO is a painful proposition. Just ask George HW Bush about that one.
Should Obama drop Joe? Hell no.
-A
Dominance Defined
There’s a difference between dominating and being dominant. Anyone can dominate for a moment but being dominant is something else all together. Jeremy Lin dominated for a few games. Michael Jordan was dominant. The other night Felix Hernandez proved that he’s not only capable of dominating but that he is dominant. Other players have made that jump as well but as much as it has to do with skill, it also has a lot to do with attitude.
Let’s try to break it down a little.
This is dominant:
This is not:
Dominant:
Not so dominant:
And just in case it still isn’t quite clear, here’s one more example.
New-school dominance:
Old-school dominance:
I think that about sums it up.
-A
Red State Blue State
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