Here are some thoughts that I’ve conjured up in the last week:
Speculation about Willie Randolph keeping his job with the New York Mets has been all over the airwaves over the last couple of weeks.
If you were to take a peek at the record of the Mets since last May, their record is below .500, and that goes without mentioning that collapse last September when they were up 7.5 games with 17 games left on the schedule.
They kept losing, and the Philadelphia Phillies kept winning; the Mets were kept out of the playoffs. Even worse is the play of the Mets taking into account their payroll, the third largest in the league.
I suppose there is some hope because the others teams in their division are the Marlins, Nationals and Braves.
Odds are the Marlins won’t be able to keep up their winning ways with all this surprising pitching and offensive output. The Phillies will fall back because of their mediocre pitching, the Braves have problems in their rotation, and the Nationals are the Nationals. Pedro Martinez might be making his way back into the rotation in about a week, but we’ll see how a worn Pedro performs.
Did anyone hear Indy racer Danica Patrick’s post-race interview? She was clipped by Ryan Briscoe coming out of pit row with 29 laps to go
Being the little fiery woman she is, she made her way down to the area where Briscoe would be found. She was cut off by a race official and never made her way to Briscoe.
In an interview after the race, Danica was asked what she wanted to say to Briscoe, and she responded, “It’s probably a better idea that I didn’t make it all the way down there.”
Are you serious? I’m sorry Danica, but you’re 5’2″ and maybe 115 pounds. You’re not quite the most intimidating figure in sports, racing or life.
The reason I hate power rankings in sports was brought right up to the forefront this past week. A few weeks ago, the Arizona Diamondbacks were the “most solid team,” “had the best pitching” and “great hitting.”
These descriptions of the D-backs were given because they raced out to the best record in baseball. Seems fair, right? Looking at the early season schedule of the D-backs shows they played a lot of games against conference foes San Diego, Colorado and San Francisco.
This is by far the worst division in baseball, and the D-backs just beat up on the weak kids. Now that they’re playing outside their division, which means playing a lot tougher foes, there record is coming back down to earth, and their power ranking has dropped significantly.
Brandon Webb started 9-0 with an ERA of 2.56. He’s now 9-2 with an ERA of 3.01. His ERA has gone up half a run, but the last two games he has gotten the loss.
His offense hasn’t given him enough support because of the quality of competition they’re facing. This reminds of when Ben Sheets made 34 starts in 2004 with an ERA of 2.70. He finished with a losing record, but that’s because the Crew’s offense was brutal.
Can the real Eastern Conference Champion please raise his hand? Although the series is tied 2-2, many people can’t be pleased with the play in the East. The games have become somewhat boring to watch because sometimes the Pistons decide they’re going to throw up jumpers all game and not hit them, thus giving an easy win to the Celtics.
On the flip-side, there are moments the Pistons decide to play defense and hold the Celtics to a very poor shooting percentage. We’ll see how the series continues.
Now for something new. Quick-hitters:
-Derrick Turnbow has 16 walks and seven runs given up in 4.1 innings. He’s got to clear his head.
-Robert “Tractor” Traylor, a former first-rounder of the Bucks, has been invited to the Cavaliers summer league team for a chance at the big club. I thought his career ended over two seasons ago?
-Bill Schroeder announced that he is retiring as a Packer. Bill, we loved you when you burnt Champ Bailey on slants, but you last caught ball for us seven seasons ago. Why the wait?
-Detroit Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood could probably shutout the Detroit Tigers because everyone else does.
-I think the only reason ESPN showed the victory of Serena Williams over Ashley Harkleroad so many times was to announce Ashley’s upcoming pictorial in Playboy.
-This Sunday is Ryan Braun bobblehead day at Miller Park. No vacancy.
-The Rays have the best record in baseball after dropping “Devil” from their name in the offseason. Coincidence? At this time last year, they had the worst record.
-The Brewers picked up Julian Tavarez off waivers. Thanks Mr. Melvin. Why not pick up another Red Sox castoff?
Ramble on the Roof
