National League Mid-Season Review

Well, we covered the American League in this space earlier today, so it's time to do a review of the National League before the break for the Midsummer Classic. Is the National League starting to overtake the American? After years of dominance in interleague play and at the All-Star game, the senior circuit is starting to close the gap, and has been producing more young talent, particularly over the past year-plus. And that has shaken things up in the National League, too. Just over halfway through the season, the Pittsburgh Pirates have the second-best record in the league, the defending champion Giants are falling apart at the seams, and the consensus choice for best team in the league has been incredibly mediocre. But not everything has changed; the Marlins are still terrible. So who and what has been the best of the National League?

American League Mid-season Review

The All-Star break begins Monday, and just as everyone expected in March, the team with the best record in the American League is...Boston? To be sure, there were plenty of people who felt that the Red Sox would benefit from some decent mid-level veteran signings and a change in leadership from last year's Bobby Valentine disaster.* And here they are, 56-37 through July 10th, enjoying (among other things) a bounce-back year from Jacoby Ellsbury (minus the power), strong pitching from one-time lemon John Lackey (a 2.80 ERA and 3.16 xFIP in nearly 100 innings this year), and David Ortiz raking at age 37 (.331/.412/.636 with 19 bombs), which encouraged the execrable Dan Shaughnessy to accuse him of using steroids with zero evidence. Over in the Central, Detroit leads as expected, but not by nearly as much (50-40, 3.5 games up on Cleveland) as might be expected from a team boasting SIX All-Stars (to be fair, all of them are deserving apart from Torii Hunter). And in the West, relatively star-less Oakland is 54-38, riding an ageless Bartolo Colon (a 2.69 ERA and 4.06 xFIP in 120 innings at age 40 while throwing almost nothing but fastballs) and a cast of relative unknowns to a comfortable cushion over all of their western brethren save Texas. Without further ado, some awards and stories from the first half of the season.

What Matters for Game Seven

Wow. Last night’s Game Six was one of the most entertaining basketball games I have ever watched. I’m not going to lie; I was pulling for the Spurs, but regardless, I was riveted. The game featured almost everything one could hope for: Tim Duncan playing like it was 2003 and absolutely destroying Chris Bosh and the Birdman; Miami finally coming up with a defensive scheme that was able to cool down Danny Green (although he still got WIDE open twice); Kawhi Leonard continuing his breakout as perhaps San Antonio’s most critical and versatile player; the Heat’s three-point shooters coming to life; LeBron James having a monster fourth quarter, particularly when Dwyane Wade was on the bench; Tony Parker’s fourth-quarter heroics; and the best three-point shooter in NBA history nailing the tying basket with just seconds left in regulation. And there was so much more!

An Abusive Coach Gets His Comeuppance

I have played and followed and coached sports pretty much my entire cognizant life, but sometimes things happen that I just don't understand. I've coached sports for a dozen years, and am aware that there are all sorts of motivational tactics one can use. I just can't fathom how Mike Rice got to be the head basketball coach at a major state university* by acting like a spoiled five-year-old who is finally told "no." I don't understand how lots of coaches get their jobs, but usually there's some sort of explanation. Perhaps they're not a great game coach, but they kill it on the recruiting trail and produce high draft picks. Maybe they're good at managing the program but need someone else to carry the actual coaching strategy load for them. Or maybe they're a brilliant student and observer of the sport who can't quite communicate that brilliance to their players.

First Weekend Observations

This has been a wild first weekend of March Madness, with a ton of great games on pretty much every day except Saturday, when only two were much in doubt. I have watched a lot less basketball this year than I probably ever have in my life, so I haven't been nearly as informed as usual. But that won't stop me from having some opinions. There are three things in particular that I want to address.

The Case for Trading Stanton Now

A couple of days ago, ESPN's Buster Olney laid out the case for why the Miami Marlins need to trade outfielder Giancarlo Stanton now while his value is at its highest.  Leading the article was a gem of a quote from Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria about how he attended a food and wine festival recently and got a universally positive response from '20 to 30 people' about his November fire sale.  He claims that the negative feedback has stopped, and just wants to get support for the Marlins this year.

2013 Oakland Athletics Preview

Hey, remember three years ago when it seemed like everyone was celebrating the demise of Billy Beane after Oakland's third straight losing season?  Joe Morgan was probably cackling with glee while swirling good Scotch in a snifter.  Well, which one of those gentlemen is still employed in baseball today?  I'll give you a hint; firejoemorgan.com is no longer an active web page.  Last season, due to trades, one ugly injury (Brandon McCarthy fielding an Erick Aybar line drive with his dome), and a PED suspension, the A's ended the season with a rotation made up entirely of rookies, yet still charged from behind to steal the AL West from the Rangers before losing to Detroit in the ALDS.  So Moneyball isn't dead after all, huh?  Allow me to remind everyone that Beane's philosophy isn't so much religiously tied to on-base percentage as it is to exploiting market inefficiencies on the cheap.  For further proof, check out the projected lineup below.