Letters to the Editor
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"peek," not "peak"
Common mistake, though it shouldn't be.
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Rowand
He actually started out last season pretty similar to what he's done so far this year. Then he had his famous face-plant into the wall and was never really right after that.
I have to admit that I was doubtful about him coming in the season. But now I hope the Phillies give him a contract before the end of the season.
It's especially impressive considering that he's hit everywhere in the lineup. Only in the past three weeks or so has he been consistently in the 5 hole. And not coincidentally, Ryan Howard is on a tear with a real bat finally hitting behind him.
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great line
Albert Pujols, whom Buster wants to marry
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educated All-Star voters
One possible explanation for this year's more intelligent All-Star voting? When you look at the ballot at MLB.com, you're able to call up "pop-up" boxes listing key stats for the players at each position, and you can then rank the players by each stat. Sure, the chart leaves out defensive skills and the much-dreaded "intangibles," but it also shows pretty clearly who's got the best numbers at each position. Accordingly, it makes it a lot harder for (conscientious) voters to choose guys having subpar years, and a lot easier to recognize the Russell Martins. I don't remember this feature being on previous year's ballots, though I may be wrong.
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define "star"
I can never get worked up about the annual all-star discussion because I have never seen a definition of a "star". Is the point of the exercise to bring together a bunch of famous players, or to showcase talented players I may not have noticed, or the players who are having really good years the first half of the season?
"Beltran's having an off year, not as bad as 2005 but nothing like his superlative '06. His power is way down, from 41 home runs last year to nine so far this year, approaching the midway point of the season." This seems to be saying that this year's performance is the criterion. Fine. But why go through this selection rigamorole? A week or so before the break, crunch the numbers and announce who had the best first halfs.
Actually, this seems to me the least interesting selection criterion. But that is just my opinion, and if that is what people want to see, fine. But outrage (even mock outrage) that some people vote based on other, equally undefined criteria is just silly.
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Jeter is not the right choice.
Just because we're all used to seeing someone in a position doesn't make them a good choice (as we learned once again in 2004).
Cabrera is having a magnificent season. He's basically step for step with Jeter at the plate (Cab's .343/.383/.457 vs. Jeter's .342/.418/.476). Shortstops, though, are counted on just as much for defense as offense, and Cabrera is clearly the better of the two. Cabrera's only made 4 errors this season. Jeter? 11. Granted, it hasn't even been half a season yet, but if you have shortstops hitting nearly identically, and one of them makes three times as many errors as the other, your vote should be for the fielder who gets things done.
Cabrera's a big reason why the Angels have a six-game lead in the West. Give Jeter the year off and vote for Cabrera.
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Love the column, hate to be a jerk, but...
When you have an error in the first sentence of the column, it makes it harder for me to enjoy the rest of it. No big deal, but in future remember it's "peek" not "peak."
See the link below, or if the link gets deleted in editing, simply google the phrase "take a peak." It's the first link you get.
http://www.englishforums.com/English/TakeAPeekOrTakeAPeak/bzhjd/Post.htm
Once again, sorry about the stickling, I'm a loyal, daily reader. Even when it's baseball season and I don't care about the actual sports...
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But who's going to be throwing to them?
I know it gets kind of iffy this time of year guessing who's going to be the starting pitchers in each league (with throwing schedules, "injury" excuses, and the general fallibility of coaches all having to be considered), but if you had to choose them this year, it'd have to be Peavy and Haren, right? Furthering the possibly one-sided conversation, is there a more underrated pitcher in all of baseball than Haren?
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Folks
It's just a typo. You never made a typo?
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NL outfield thoughts
Andrew Jones is funny. Tubby guy who swings like he's in a F5 twister - usually below the pitch. And he catches the ball like he wants to give the management a heart attack - which is a nice touch.
Barry Bonds has done irreparable harm to baseball, and he just might be the devil - the jury is still out. I defended him up until that reality show (ironic). He's just an ass, with a needle hanging out.
Carlos Beltran is just about as good as they come (except for freezing with the world on the line).
G.D. Ken Griffey Jr. is having a great offensive season. If you get ESPN, you've noticed that he's in a time warp at the plate. I can't be the only one absolutely loving it. Nevertheless, I bet old poppa griff would be a more effective right fielder tonight than his son. I know, I know, if Jr. tried to make plays his legs would explode, so I'll put up with it. And, what person in America over the age of 15 doesn't want to see Jr in the derby? Get that man a chartered flight to the AllStar game, and fast.
Jenkins ain't that bad, but Soriano is too much fun to not invite to the All Star game.
But wait! What's even more exciting is that somewhere in Columbus, OSU football players are throwing steel around.
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Upton equals errors
You're right. Fantasy baseball is to blame. And as the 2004 Chappy Ballzack Fantasy Baseball Blowout League (CBLB) and current last place team, I can assure Placido Polonco is much more deserving than Upton. Upton boots more balls than a sassy Cowgirl at a rodeo, and strikes out more than any other 2Ber in the Bigs.
Now I know you're a St. Louis native and probably grew up watching Tommy Herr toss more balls into right field than any of us and think an error prone 2Ber can play for an effective team like Herr did, but Upton's juggling act has cost his teams runs and games. Sure, he's fast, has power and has maybe more potential than any 2ber since Ryan Sandburg, but he aint there yet. He needs some time to figure out how to put the bat on the ball, then put the ball in his glove, then throw to first. Polonco's been deserving for years and is that polished fella Upton should dream about becoming.
On the Bonds thing...we'll you're just insane.
Regards,
Chappy Ballzack.
2004 CBLB Champion.