Spring Training Update

We were able to catch a simulated game from Scottsdale today - talk about the best way to watch baseball

We could hear the vets telling some AA 30 year that he wasn't anything for hitting a home run in a practice game.

Roberto Kelly was holding court in both English and Spanish.

Brian Sabean was sitting right behind home plate with Felipe Alou, checking the action.

As for actual action, both Randy Johnson and Zito looked sharp:






But Buster Posey wasn't impressed - he might actually pan out....



I was keeping an eye on Pablo Sandoval, probably one of the biggest keys to the Giants contending this year. The ball jumped off his bat during BP, and while he didn't LOOK great fielding grounders, he got the job done every time. Nate Schierholtz also hit well...



And lastly - just because I got a good video of it, Scott McClain made a nice diving grab on a ball hit down the line - our very own Crash Davis...

Exciting draft thought

I love the combine - it totally turns the draft upside down.

A scenario presented today? Since Michael Crabtree cannot workout, the possibility of him dropping to the 49ers at ten.

http://blog.pressdemocrat.com/49ers/2009/02/day-3-might-crabtree-fall-to-49ers-at-no-10.html

Now I know I have not been very happy with the offseason thus far. I was having a pretty hot and heavy BRO-mance with OJ Atogwe, only for him to be ripped away by the dreaded franchise tag. Same goes for Terrell Suggs. I also suggested Vernon Carey, who just got PAID by the Dolphins.

So it hasn't been going my way... But if the team could grab Crabtree, the team's WR situation, so bleak a few years ago, would look much brighter with the addition of Crabtree to already talented youngsters Josh Morgan and Jason Hill.

But who knows what will happen come draft day. Just a though to make it a little more exciting - and almost admit I could be wrong about something.

If we can't get him - we could always draft Terry...

Bounce Bud

Bud Seilg - time for you to step up and accept some blame.

I have decided it is time for Bud to go, especially after his comments damning Arod for steroids, totally ignoring the fact he was overseeing the game while all this controversy went out of control.

Selig was named the official commissioner in 1998 – since then, what are his significant accomplishments? Interleague play(something many players and fans have thought is played out), two expansion franchisees, he made the All-star game the determining factor in home-field advantage for the World Series, the World Baseball Classic, created the MLB network years after the NFL, NBA, and YANKEES all had their own channels, and came up with a steroid policy that called for a 10 game suspension for the first positive test.

Oh yeah, and he let the All-star game end in a tie – remember that image? Its what I think of when I see Bud…

This whole steroid mess happened under his watch, and he is giving no leadership in this time of need, just trying to shield himself from fault.

Well, sorry Bud. When you are the boss and you can’t control your workers, you get fired. You don’t take a three million dollar raise when Roger Goodell, the head of the most powerful sport in America, is taking a 20% pay cut.

If the NFL is any model, we need a younger, stronger leader who isn’t afraid to take charge, make a decision and lead this league into the future. Bud isn’t in touch with his product or his customers, and it is time to make a change. America’s pastime is the country’s 3rd most popular sport, and there has to be someone to blame for that.

Steroids - what an F-ing Mess

Big shout out to Mess for giving me the best view on this whole Arod scandal since the news broke:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/09/opinion/09glanville.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2

It is a refreshing take on Alex Rodriguez – in many ways, he was the anti-Bonds – someone who tried to make everyone like him.

But I want to get down to the REAL issues with all of this steroid news.

First off, if you are one of those positive tested players, you have to be upset. The players didn’t have to change the Collective Bargaining Agreement(CBA) to put testing in. They agreed, on very specific terms that identities wouldn’t be released.

This goes against the very spirit of that agreement. Glanville writes:

There is a lot of outrage out there about Alex. Not surprising. But what really surprises me is the lack of outrage about how a confidential and anonymous test could be made public. We seem to gloss over the fact that these players voted to re-open a collectively bargained agreement in a preliminary effort to address the drug problem. When privileged information is shared it effectively hurts anyone who has expected privacy in any circumstance, just as when someone made Britney Spears’s medical records public.

The 2003 test was only supposed to assess whether the number of players using performance-enhancing drugs exceeded a certain threshold. If it did, as part of the agreement, a full drug policy would be instituted in the following testing year. One that was more comprehensive with penalties. This was at least a step in the right direction.


Would you be happy if your personal medical records were released without your permission?

But Glanville brings up a great point – baseball’s drug culture. How can Bud Selig put an asterisk on 762 or keep Bonds out of the hall of fame when MLB is just as guilty for this era as the players and dealers themselves.

Think about it – your dream is to be a major league player. You are close, but just not quite good enough. But all the players good enough as using, why wont you try it? I am sure there are plenty of players who missed out on a major league career because of their integrity, and I salute them for that - but I can’t blame the players for breaking down and using based on the times.

And can we stop with this keeping players out of the hall of fame business? This is ridiculous. So because Barry Bonds tested positive for steroids AFTER he had: won 8 gold gloves, 3 MVPs, and an ESPY for male athlete of the year. He was the first 500/500 player, the first 400/400 player, the epitome of a 5 tool player.

Jason Stark says he won’t make it to the hall:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=3892788

Jason - cut the whining Many eras of baseball include scandals – hell, Wikipedia has a page dedicated to baseball scandals!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Baseball_scandals .

I think listening to my daily fix of the Junkies (http://www.junksweb.com/main.shtml), they said it best:

“The Hall of Fame is going to be filled with guys like Jim Thome – and you might wanna test him!”

They pretty much laid out the entire solution I think is necessary – this is a black eye for baseball, and it is an era we just know will be regarded as the steroid era. Really, other than the fact these guys were cheating, does it really need to be treated any different from the dead ball era-a time in which other's are compared to differently, based on the culture/game? What about the era where ballplayers took care of their bodies with whiskey and women rather than supplements and trainers?

Does Rickey Henderson’s stolen base record deserve an asterisk because he played during a time cocaine was flowing in major league clubhouses? Tim Raines once said he slid headfirst so he wouldn’t break the coke vials in his back pocket.

NO. No, no and no. The main reason this witch hunt kills me is while they are in fact trying to flush steroids from the game, many people have suggested up to half the players in the game were using at one point, with Jose Canseco having the biggest guestimate at 85%.

So if somewhere between 50-85% of the players were using, then you cannot drop the hammer on a select few to justify your stance on it now. Hell, before the program that Glanville writes about started, I do not believe there was a specific rule in the MLB handbook outlawing steroids, just a provisional clause stating that any substances illegal by US law was also illegal in MLB.

So players like Bonds, ARod, etc, have to suffer, even though they were just a product of their times. You don’t think either took notice of the McGwire/Sosa home run chase? The attention and love thrown their way for reaching the mark? Read Game of Shadows – it was practically the reason Bonds started, according to the book: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_of_Shadows

I want to make this clear – I feel fooled, duped, bamboozled. I thought I was watching the greatest hitter of all time break that home run record, not just a great player who had chemically enhanced himself to be the best. But at a time when I am sure pitchers were juicing just as much as the hitters, ballparks are made to be home run havens, and MLB turned a blind eye to this until reporters starting breaking stories, you can’t single out the guys that you caught in a test that was supposed to be confidential, especially when the problem extended way beyond them.

While doing a little research on this topic, I stumbled upon two things - one was that Bud Selig is contemplating punishing ARod, and the other was a piece Howard Bryant wrote for ESPN.

So Bud, you are thinking about punishing a player for failing a test in which it was guaranteed confidential and non-punishable. You are a joke if you are seriously considering this.

I'll wrap it all up with Bryant, who sounds like more of a leader that Selig:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=bryant_howard&id=3899274

That is probably the most fair and balanced view I have seen on this topic - which of course mirrors mine. Lets hope more people start looking at this rationally, rather than just throwing players under the bus because they were one of the few unfortunate souls to be cheating who got outed by a confidential test.

SNL is back - didn't you get the memo?

I know I made this announcment a few weeks ago, but this weekend's SNL was HIL-AR-IOUS
here are some highlights:



An I never thought I'd say this - but watch out for Seth Meyers - he is becoming dangerous on Weekend Update:






And he is right - that guy is a dick.

Gyro's - staying smart?

Well fanfest passed - Very happy I didn't make it

Not that I was in any shape to - More on that never.

While I didn't attend, some interesting nuggets came out of it - Baggs has it well covered:

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/extrabaggs/2009/02/07/sabean-breaks-from-fanfest-to-deliver-state-of-the-team/

I must say, the more this offseason I think keeping Sabean beyond 2009 is a must.

This team has been constructed very wisely. They have stayed true to the youth movement, and while they have signed some veterans, they are all short term deals that will plug holes for '09.

All the while, the team has stressed player development. Sabean has kept Pablo Sandoval's name pencilled in the line up the entire offseason. The team also has a mix of young players vying for time at second base, first base, and the fourth outfield spots.

All the time, Sabean has spoken to the media with a chip on his shoulder. He has been the face of the team since Bill Neukom took over, and he has ruled with an Iron Fist. He has been true to his word, drafting well, not passing on players due to "signability" issues. He is rebuilding this team in his vision, through developing players - a vision distorted in a last ditch attempt to grab a World Series while Bonds was raking.

Poor Barry - maybe he should have been nicer.

Anyway - I know that .500 ball would be probably the best they can hope for, this is still an incomplete team. They have offered Aurilia a minor league deal - which is nice considering none of the young second basemen prospects are exactly head turners. They have also offered Joe Crede a one year deal, which just deepens the line up and improves the defense.

Hell, they even brought Will Clark back just to show the youngsters some swagger.

And all this while Manny Ramirez is dangling, just waiting for a team to swoop in an woo him. Most GMs who want to save their jobs would throw money at the problem, go for the quick fix. Sabean has seen this method fail, and he has chose to keep his young players, keep his draft picks, save some money and stay the course.

I understand fans for getting impatient with teams for consistently failing to produce a winner, but bay area fans need to show restraint - Because I think by as early as next year, we will witness the rebuilt farm system begin to produce major league quality players.

Here is a cool video of Pablo Sandoval's offseason:

The Wrestler

Sometimes a movie comes along that’s heartwarming, story of an underdog who fights his way to the top, sending everyone in the theater home with happy thoughts and warm feelings.

The Wrestler isn’t one of those movies.

Mickey Rourke plays broken down pro wrestler Randy 'The Ram' Robinson, who saw his peak in the 80’s, but finds himself in 2008, struggling to make rent, or even to continue living his dream.

This movie is a very interesting look at the business of pro wrestling – tanning sessions, steroid use (out in the open), partying and, strangely enough, plenty of wrestlers who are more than happy to lose to a legend like Ram. Yes, its official – wrestling is fixed, but these guys still take plenty of punishment.

But this film is more than that. You get to look into the soul of Ram, especially after a match when he collapses in the locker room, awakening to a world in which wrestling is no longer a part of his life.

Rourke is able to sell the viewer on watching a man giving up his life, because that is what wrestling represents to Ram – everything in his life. He has lost everything else his former celebrity status brought him, but he still lives for those few moments before being called onto the stage, where the crowd is jacked and chanting his name. The situation is a catch 22 – Ram can’t wrestle because it could kill him, yet giving up wrestling is giving up the only thing in his life that matters (to him).

Rourke nails the role. He IS the wrestler, a man from a difficult industry with a violent nature, and behind the curtains he has mellowed with age, shares his wisdom with youngsters and just can’t stay away from the ring. You can see throughout the movie he isn’t afraid to let loose when angry, but that he is more than just a meathead trying to bash skulls.

Another delightful part of the movie is Marisa Tomei, who not only nails her role (as a stripper), but is naked for a good portion of it, which is nice. Very nice – good work Marissa! I believe the comment of the night was, “she was a better stripper than most real strippers!”
Haha – but I digress…

So go see the Wrestler – I don’t really want to give any details about it, other than its good, a kind of character study movie more than one where the plot will blow you away. While this flick isn’t the earth shattering best-of-2008, it will have you leaving the theater with a lot to think about and a completely new view on Rourke, who transforms himself into The Wrestler.