Just a Few Thoughts

Just a few thoughts on some sports related topics…

I am not taking a side, just making an observation.  The NFL needs to find some way to get the NFL officials signed and on the field.  I think football officials are poor in general but the replacement officials are a flat out embarrassment right now.  It looks like they just pulled some schmucks off the street and gave them striped shirts.  Some don’t even appear to know the rules or what they are looking for.  It is a travesty.  Even the announcers are having a tough time biting their tongues. 

I thought so before the draft and I think so now.  Robert Griffith III is going to be a superstar.  He is already one of my favorite players.  He is like a Michael Vick with a brain.  My goodness, he is fun to watch…

Salvador Perez may just be the Royals all around best player right now.  He now has nearly 400 career at bats.  He is hitting .318 with 14 home runs and 7 pick offs.  Pitchers love him and he looks like he knows what he is doing, both behind the plate and in the batter’s box.

The Kansas Jayhawks looked better yesterday against TCU than they did in their first two games despite the loss.  TCU was simply a bigger, faster, and better football team.  KU at least was competitive.

It appears as if the Kansas City Chiefs have joined the Royals as a snake bitten franchise.  Few of their moves seem to work out.  The Chiefs look awful right now and I blame Romeo Crennel.  KC was out-schemed, out-coached, out-prepared, and out-played today.   Crennel, like Todd Haley, was Scott Pioli’s choice for head coach.  The Chiefs seem reluctant to spend money to sign superstars or take chances by drafting quarterbacks high in the draft.  Kansas City fans deserve better. 

Speaking of rookie quarterbacks, Russel Wilson, Andrew Luck, Ryan Tannehill, Brandon Weeden, and RGIII have made it look easy to be a rookie quarterback starting in the NFL thus far…

I am pulling for the Oakland A’s and Baltimore Orioles.  I love the underdogs.  These two teams are winning against teams much more willing to spend at will.  Quick – name ten players for each team!

Congratulations to the University of Louisiana-Monroe.  They marched into the home stadiums of two mighty SEC schools over the past two weeks.  They beat highly ranked and horribly overrated Arkansas in OT, then fell by a field goal to Auburn in OT.  The SEC is very good at the top, but their middle and lower tier teams are very mediocre. 

I was shocked to see all the empty seats in Doak Campbell Stadium Saturday.  Florida State is a very good football team and I couldn’t believe that place wasn’t packed, even for a cupcake non-conference game, oops, I mean conference game, against an awful Wake Forest team. 

I think KU should load up on bottom tier ACC teams for future non-con pigskin match-ups.  Rice and Northern Illinois would finish in the middle of the pack in that conference.  So would UL-Monroe.

After watching early season Chiefs and Jayhawk football games, I have but one question – Is it basketball season yet?

TIRED OF CHEATERS

Man, I am getting sick and tired of cheaters.  The latest player to draw a 50-game suspension from MLB is none other than the All Star MVP, the Giants' Melky Cabrera.  The Melkman was suspended today for testing positive for testosterone.  Cabrera did not even deny the results and will not fight the decision.  He did offer an apologize.  Well, forgive me if I do not accept.

Melky Cabrera had a terrific all around season for the Kansas City Royals in 2011.  He amassed 201 hits on his way to a .305 average, 18 HR, 20 SB, and 87 RBI.  He hustled and played with intensity.  While has wasn't a great defensive center fielder, he was more than adequate.  He turned down a 2-year, 11 million dollar contract extension from the Royals and they traded him to the Giants for the horrifically awful Jonathan Sanchez.  I thought it was a good trade at the time because the Royals had Lorenzo Cain knocking on the door to play center field and were in dire need of a starting pitcher.

The trade couldn't have been worse for the Royals.  Sanchez may have evolved into the worst starting pitcher in the majors and Cabrera has been MVP-like.  The Melkman leads the majors in hits and runs scored.  He is hitting .346 and has an OPS of over .900.  He won the MVP in the year's summer classic while his former hometown fans in Kansas City cheered him.

Today, I found out he is a dirty, rotten, PED-taking cheater.

This make me sad but worse, it makes me mad as hell!  I am sick and tired of cheating in baseball.  I am pissed off that players still are trying to cheapen the game I love.  How many more times are we, as fans, going to have to go through these trials and tribulations.  I am so disappointed in Melky Cabrera.  Sadly, I will never be a Melky fan again and I will never trust another number he posts, whether or not he ever tests positive for PEDs again.  I am glad he is no longer a Royal but his accomplishments and contributions from his lone season in Kansas City have been considerably diminished.

When will these players, making hundreds of thousands at the least, and many, many millions at the most, learn that we the fans will no longer endure cheaters.  While the testing seems to be helping to a certain extent, how many are still cheating and not getting caught?  There is no way know and that dims the game, in my opinion.  All I can do is hope no other players test positive, a faint hope indeed.  I am tired that the reputations of players I like and enjoy watching continue to tarnish the game by cheating.  I am ready for baseball to be cleaned up once and for all - I just don't think that will ever happen again.  I am sad...and pissed as hell about that.

All Star Ponderings

Keep in mind as you read this that I am a life long Royals fan.  I grew up in the heyday of the 70s and 80s.  I have suffered through some of the worst team managements in the history of sports.  Despite the last quarter of a century, I still love my team and the city and area it represents.  I want my team and Kansas City to be shown in the best light possible.

As far as the process of how the All Star teams are selected, I don’t have much issue in general.  I think more thought could be put into the whole process of picking the reserves, though.  There is too much chance for selfishness.  I will hold up Ron Washington as an example of this.  I like Washington.  It can be conceded he has been good in his tenure as manager of the Rangers.  I do have a problem though with his selection of Elvis Andrus to this team.  It is not that I think Andrus is undeserving.  It is the fact that Washington added Andrus as the seventh Ranger on the team (Yu Darvish was added as the 8^th Ranger later).  For the first time in many years, the Royals had more than one legitimate candidate for this exhibition.  With the game in Kansas City, Alcides Escobar should have been selected in addition to the Royals’ best player, Billy Butler.  Escobar, the leading hitting shortstop in the majors, would not have been a pity pick.  Escobar, and the hometown Royals, deserved more than just Butler, who will probably get one pinch hit at-bat.  The Royals fans deserved more and the Rangers were already over represented as it was.

Then there is the case of Robinson Cano.  Some writers have complained about the childishness of the Kansas City fans in their relentless booing of Cano and their glee in his utter failure during the Home Run Derby.  The fans were irritated because Cano failed to select Butler for the derby.  They booed him because he said he would select Butler.  I personally heard an interview with John Kruk and Cano and the Yankee said as much.  Then he did not pick Butler.  He has since told at least two different stories on why he didn’t.  The fans booed him because he flat out lied.  Period.  He lied and has made excuses.  The derby is supposedly strictly about the fans.  Cano and MLB have proved otherwise.  The fans booed as a way to show their displeasure and that is their absolute right.  Shame on those who fail to understand that.

The Royals fans showed their class by warmly welcoming former Royals, Carlos Beltran and Melky Cabrera.  The fans appreciated their efforts on behalf of the organization and are happy for their successes.  The Kansas City natives were very warm in their greeting of Chipper Jones, playing his first ands last game in Kaufman Stadium.  The fans aren’t classless, just frustrated at the lack of things to cheer about and the lack of respect shown them by those who made decisions concerning the All Star selections.   There should be some consideration to the home team every year when it comes to the rosters and derby.  It would cost the league nothing and would mean everything to the home fans.

Check out my tv and movie reviews at jawsrecliner.com and get twitter updates @jawsrecliner

ROYAL CANDIDATES

It is sign that the process is finally starting to show results.  Dayton Moore has verbally pounded us for six years, telling us to be patient.  If Royals stick to the process, eventually the process will net real results on the field.  Finally, we are seeing those results.  For the first time in many, many years, the Kansas City Royals have some actual, real, legitimate candidates for the Major League Baseball All Star game in Kaufman Stadium on July 10^th. 

The most deserving Royal, taking positions into account, in my opinion, is Mike Moustakas.  The 22-year old has been a consistent producer at the plate all season and his defense has been much better than anticipated.  Moose has 13 home runs, over 60 runs produced, and a .842 OPS.  Moustakas is in the top 5 among AL third basemen in numerous offensive categories.  The biggest problem for Moose is that there are two of the best offensive players in the American League playing third base.  Either Adrian Beltre or Miguel Cabrera will certainly be voted in as a starter and the other is certainly deserving of an all star roster spot.  Will Ron Washington choose to go with 3 players from the hot corner?  Royals fans have to hope so because that may be Moustakas’ only chance to make the team.

The second most deserving Royal is DH Billy Butler.  Unfortunately for Country Breakfast, David Ortiz is going to be the AL’s starting DH for the Midsummer Classic (on a side note, the Red Sox don’t deserve to send more players than Ortiz to the game).  On top of Ortiz being a lock, Chicago’s Adam Dunn has bounced back with 24 home runs in 2012 and could gain a manager’s selection and Toronto’s Edwin Encarnacion has had a terrific year for the Blue Jays.  Either of the players could snag the back up DH spot on the All Star roster.  Butler has 15 dingers, nearly 60 runs produced, and he sports a .868 OPS.  Butler is deserving but may lose out to either Dunn or Encarnacion.

This leaves shortstop Alcides Escobar.  Escobar is a spectacular fielder and this year he has added a valuable bat to his repertoire.  He is hitting a surprising .315 with 12 steals.  He only has 2 home runs but add in 2 triples and 19 doubles to complete his All Star resume.  Outside Derek Jeter, no shortstop has had a better all around season than Escobar.  It is because of this lack of league wide position depth that leads me to believe Escobar may be able to sneak onto the roster. 

A case could also be made for Tim Collins but for the first time in a long, long time, Kansas City has legitimate choices at several positions.  Usually, teams who have to be represented by someone and have few candidates end up sending their best bullpen performer.  This is the position the Royals have been in for years.  Maybe this year, we will get to see more than one Royal in the All Star game.  It would be a great reward for all of us fans who have suffered through all the losing.  Hopefully on July 10^th, there will be couple of boys in blue representing the Royals in Kaufman Stadium.

Before closing out, it is an interesting note that Billy Butler has publicly mentioned his desire to participate in the Home Run Derby.  Because of the Yankees and Rangers filling out a majority of starting spots, there may be a trickle down effect for players like Moustakas, Butler, and Escobar.  This situation could curtail any chances they had at being selected.  A solution may be to reward Billy Butler with a spot in the Derby instead.  As a Royal fan, this would be a great reward to have our home town guy on the spotlight.  

Check out my movie and TV review blog at jawsrecliner.blogspot.com and get twitter updates @jawsrecliner

Savior at Shortstop

There some local bloggers in the Kansas City area who refer to the Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar as the Shortstop Jesus.  This comes from a loyal but perennially disappointed fan base that has endured a quarter of a century of failure and more of our fair share of terrible shortstops.  Sure, the Royals have briefly ran out guys like Rey Sanchez, Greg Gagne, Fred Patek, and Jay Bell out for a season or two but they have also paid good money to the likes of Yuniesky Betancourt, Neifi Perez, Angel Berroa, Onix Conception, and Tony Pena, Jr.

While I can’t remember every stiff to don the Royals uniform and play shortstop, I have seen them all since Freddie Patek in the 70’s.  I cannot remember any as spectacular as Alcides Escobar.  None have been as fun to watch on an everyday basis as Escobar.  None has combined the glove, range, and arm that Escobar possesses.  Some have been terrific at making the routine plays and some could make the highlight reel plays.  Escobar does both on a day in and day out basis.  One of the joys in watching the Royals every night the past season plus is that there is a good chance I am going to see something awesome from the shortstop position.

Escobar came to the Royals via the Milwaukee Brewers in the Zack Greinke before the 2011 season.  Escobar had a reputation as a slick fielder but his 2010 numbers were less than impressive.  He committed 26 errors in 711 chances in 2009 and 2010 for the Brewers, 20 of these came in only 552 chances in 2010, indicating he was a bit raw.  Since coming to the Royals, he has committed only 18 errors in 929 chances and only three of those have been fielding errors.  Read that again – he has made only 3 fielding errors in 929 chances and 190 games.  These numbers are not diluted by a lack of range because this dude has the best range of any shortstop I have ever seen and he has the arm to turn that incredible range into outs.

At the beginning of the 2011 season, Escobar struggled at the plate.  Through the first few days of June, he was hitting down in the Eric Hosmer .200 range.  He caught fire in June and raised his average up to the .250 range and he was able to maintain that average pretty much through the rest of the season, finishing at .254.  The funny thing was that even when he was hovering around .200 for two months, no one cared.  He was so much better with the glove than what Kansas City fans were used to, we didn’t care what he hit.  In this era of baseball, offense is king so it is very difficult to impress with the glove so much that no one really gives a hoot how a player hits.

Going into tonight’s game in Baltimore, Alcides Escobar is hitting .305 in 2012.  Three errors and a .305 average?  Are you kidding me?  He only has one home run and one triple but he leads the team in doubles with 13.  Keep in mind that the Royals are a team of double hitting fools.  To lead in that category is an accomplishment.  Throw in 7 steals in 8 chances and you are looking at a legitimate All Star candidate.  This all being said, I do not expect Escobar to maintain that lofty average.  He is an absolute free swinger with only 6 walks this season but he doesn’t strikeout at a crazy rate.  He maintains an excellent contact rate at 85% so he does put wood to ball when he swings.  He is enjoying an unsustainable batting average on balls in play of .354.  That will come down and so will his average.  When you consider his defense though, however long he hits like he is, his average is pure gravy. 

I would really like to see the Royals to go one a run in June and for more than the obvious reasons.  I would love to see the Royals get more than the one All Star roster spot.  It will be decades before the summer classic returns to Kansas City so it would be great for all of us long suffering fans to get a couple of hometown players in the game.  It’s hard to give a bad team two spots unless they earn them but the Royals have some guys who are earning those spots.  Billy Butler is having a terrific year and with the DH this year, he is the leading candidate to represent the Royals but there are some other guys who are worthy.  Mike Moustakus has had a good year at the plate and has been much better than anyone ever expected with his glove work at third.  A couple of the bullpen guys have been terrific.  And, of course, there is Alcides Escobar.  Derek Jeter will be the AL starter at shortstop and rightfully so but I don’t think any other shortstop is more worthy right now than Escobar.  If he can keep his average around .275 and continues his splendid defense, Alcides should get the nod.  No other shortstop outside of New York is having a comparable well rounded season. 

Despite all the frustrations in watching the Kansas City Royals, Alcides Escobar isn’t one of them.  He makes watching the games a joy and I have become a great fan.  I look forward to many more years watching this guy and I am excited about that.

Special thanks to baseball-reference.com and BaseballHQ.com for their excellent stat work.

Check out my movie and TV review site at jawsrecliner.blospot.com and get more baseball news at bigbrotherbaseballproject.blogspot.com

Thank You, I'll Have Another

I am by no means a horse racing fan.  I enjoy a good horse racing movie just like the next guy.  I grew up on a farm and always had quite a few cattle around at all times but I was never much of a horseman.  I always preferred the 3-wheeler instead as my mode of transportation when herding the cattle from place to place.  

I just happened to be at my parents' house yesterday.  My mom likes to watch the Triple Crown races so the Preakness Stakes were on.  I had seen the replays of the Kentucky Derby and was impressed by the winner, I'll Have Another.  It was quite the story.  The horse was buried in 6th or 7th most of the race then charged by the pack, including the favored Bodemeister down the stretch.  Bodemeister obviously ran out of gas (oats?) at the end of the Derby.  Throw in a first time winning trainer and owner, plus a no-name jockey and the story almost becomes Hollywood worthy.

Going into the Preakness Stakes, Bodemeister was again the favorite but I'll Have Another really jumped up the boards at 3:1 odds.  Everyone was wondering if the first race was a fluke.

This race was very similar to the first.  Bodemeister ran ahead of the pack almost from the get go and he looked stronger than 2 weeks ago.  I'll Have Another was back a bit but not as buried as in the Derby.  With maybe 300 yards to go, it looked like Bodemeister was going to win the thing easily.  He had a good lead and was running strong.  If you watch the video, you can actually pinpoint the moment I'll Have Another kicked it into high gear.  He blew by the horse who was running second like that horse was running on a tread mill.  It was amazing how fast I'll Have Another closed the gap on Bodemeister.  As they drew even, you can actually see I'll Have Another lunging his nose further forward than his rival horse.  You read about horses having heart and you see it in the movies but I personally had never seen it in horse race - until yesterday.  I'll Have Another was like any human athlete who wanted it more than their opponent.  The effort that horse put forth and the speed in which it displayed those last 300 yards was very exciting to witness.

I've watched the videos of both races a few times now and they both impress me every time.  I have become a fan of I'll Have Another and I will be cheering him on to complete the elusive Triple Crown.

Check out my movie blog at jawsrecliner.blogspot.com and get twitter updates @jawsrecliner

Kansas City Fool's Gold

When have we seen enough?  How many times can a pitcher utterly fail?  How many times will a team run a guy out and leave your team with little chance of winning?  I guess if you run a small market baseball team and drafted a guy first overall, the answer is indefinitely.

Luke Hochevar has over 600 career innings and over 100 career starts.  Not counting 4 appearances in 2007, Hochevar is in his fifth full season.  His lowest ERA is 4.68 and only once has his WHIP been below 1.427.  Because of a nice second half last season, he had a career low WHIP of 1.283.  It turned out to be fool’s gold.

He looked to have finally turned a corner last season.  In the second half, he turned in a respectable 3.52 ERA, 1.134 WHIP, and 7.7 K/9ip.  Expectations were high in 2012 for the former number one overall draft pick.  Fantasy experts were listing him as a big sleeper and the Royals were looking for him to prove that their infinite patience in him was justified.  Many, including myself, really thought maybe the light bulb had finally clicked on.  Unfortunately, it had not.

In six starts, Hochevar has only thrown 28 innings and is supporting a downright ugly 9.00 ERA.  In the past, he has shown a penchant for looking brilliant for 3, 4 , sometimes 5 innings then he just loses it completely, allowing fists full of runs.  This year, those innings have been early in the game, crippling the bullpen.  He hasn’t been walking an inordinate number of batters but has been getting hammered.  He has allowed 39 hits in 28 innings.  He is pounding the middle of the strike zone, never an ideal place to be against major league batters.  Check out this graph of his pitch location from texasleaguers.com.

Note the cluster of strikes in what is the general wheelhouse of most big leagues.  Throwing strikes is great but you can’t just throw it down the middle.  If a guy hasn’t learned this little tidbit after 600 innings, I doubt he will ever will.

So, what should the Royals do with this albatross?  Kansas City suffers from a horrible lack of even mediocre depth in their rotation.  Now, with Jonathan Sanchez (another apparent mistake and another article all together) on the DL, it appears the Royals won’t be able to do anything with Hochevar until Sanchez returns, and even then it is doubtful KC can come up with another starter.  Fourteen months ago, the Royals had 5 top pitching prospects but only Danny Duffy has really started to pitch to his potential.  There is no immediate help in the minors.  I would suggest that as soon as Sanchez comes back, they should send Aaron Crow to AAA and begin to stretch him out a bit.  Let him rejoin the club when he as built up some stamina and push Hochevar to the pen.  Hochevar has shown superlative stuff in the past, albeit in small doses.  He wouldn’t be the first pitcher ever to go to the bullpen and discover how to pitch.  Maybe he can learn to at least be a decent contributor to the team.

Who knows if the Royals will do anything in the near future.  Maybe Hochevar can turn it around in his next few starts.  Again, anyone, including Dayton Moore, who believes that will happen, is just fooling himself.  I don’t think I would ever trust him to be a reliable cog for my team again.  Considering the Royals ran Kyle Davies out to the mound for several years doesn’t lead me to believe they will do anything with Hochevar either.  If nothing else, the Royals have proved to be slow learners themselves. 

My thanks to baseball-reference.com and texasleaguers.com for their stats and pitch data.