...Now we rant and rave. Vod pretty much covered the main points and Picasner had no intention of putting in his two cents, until, that is, The Sports Reporters came on. Now I'm ready to start throwing darts.
***THE BEST TEAM MONEY CAN BUY***
I'm sick of hearing this. Look, we all know the Yankees have greater resources than most teams, if not all, but they USE those resources. They spend it on players. For example, Pittsburgh gets a ton of luxury tax from the Yanks. Were they out there bidding on the big free agents? No. Were they bidding on ANY free agents? No. It seems like they were too busy unloading any player who made more than minimum wage. Where's the luxury tax? Why, in the owner's pocket. The Yanks "outbid" Boston for Teixeira. Yeah, right. Tell me that if Boston bid $160 million, they couldn't come up with another $10 million to at least up the ante. They CHOSE NOT TO. Three sports reporters basically said the Yanks should be leading the league because they "bought" the best team. But one man had the right idea and you'd never guess who. Boston's own Bob Ryan (I'M SHOCKED! SHOCKED!). Ryan said, "It's all about judgment. They made plenty of mistakes in the past (K. Brown, C. Pavano, etc.), and we just laughed at the wasted money. This time they got it right and we blame the money. You can't have it both ways. Give the Yanks credit for continuing to try."
***"WE WANT TO BELIEVE ORTIZ"***
And they admit that Ortiz is making it hard. Mitch Albom made the best point: If Ortiz KNEW he didn't take steroids and that 'tainted supplements' was the most likely reason, why did it take him a week to say this. Aha! Could it be he wanted to make sure about what they found? No point in saying it was supplements if later they say it was injected steroids. The MLBPA lawyer, Michael Weiner (a completely appropriate name), gave a defense straight out of Lewis G. Carroll: "Just because your name is on the list (having tested positive), does't mean you took steroids." What was it on there for, potential replacement judges for American Idol?
Let Picasner give you a list of names: Clemens, McGuire, Sosa, Bonds, Rodriguez, Palmero and Ortiz. Who was the only one to step and say, "Yes, I did." Rodriguez. Maybe there's more to it than what he admitted to, maybe it was spun into the best possible light. But A-Rod is reviled and we want to believe Ortiz. Either reveal ALL the names or ignore these occasional 'leaks.'
***HE GETS PAID TO SAY THESE THINGS?***
Tim McCarver should limit his comments to the obvious (Yes Joe, that was what we call a 'single') and quit trying to inject these moronic little insights into the game. In the third inning, A-Rod almost gets hit (or perhaps he did), but is told the ball hit the bat instead. McCarver says "This is a break for the Yankees. They don't want A-Rod on base, they want him to hit." Was I asleep when they taught that little axiom about baseball? Whenever you have a chance to get on base, you should turn it down and keep on trying to hit a home run. Yeah, nobody cares about On-Base Percentage anymore. Atta boy, Tim. You're the dumbest announcer in baseball...except for the champ, Joe Morgan. Joe Buck is trying, but he has a ways to go.
***AND NOW THE MEDIA***
Mitch Albom is upset that he wasted a lot of time discussing where Roy Halladay might end up and then Toronto never did trade him. A big furor over nothing. He wants to be paid for his 'wasted time'. Well, Mitch, who created the furor? That's right, the media. This all started when Riccardi, in response to a question, said he had no plans to trade Halladay, and he would listen to offers, but it would have to be an outstanding offer. I didn't notice him standing in Central Park holding a picture of Halladay, saying, "For Sale. Cheap" Well, Mitch, we fans wasted a lot of time reading your rumors and guesses, too. Where's my check?
Hannah, where are you?
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