With the division races lacking true drama and my team in complete control of their division, I am going to change things up a bit and just express my various opinions on some topics around the baseball world. Hope you like it.
As I mentioned the Cardinals are to the point where its not if they will clinch and win the Central Division for the first time since 2006, it's which day this week it will happen? (I'm saying Thursday). By taking two of three from the Cubs over the weekend the Redbirds erased any hope that Cubs fans had no matter how diehard they may have been. I must mention however, that I was in the bleachers for the Sunday Night game on ESPN, one in which the Cubs salvaged one game with an 11 inning thriller that had everything; and the Cubs fans that were sitting a couple rows in front of me reinforced everything we Cards fans hate about the Cubs. These fans were drunk, obnoxiously loud, and to top it all off they were dillusional about their chances to win the division. Its one thing to go to another city to support your team, and I am in no way saying you should ever give up on your team, but the way Cubs fans do so is down right embarrassing. The group was the epitome of everything "real" baseball fans hate. I don't want this to be a sweeping indictment to all Cubs fans, but from what I saw I sunday there doesn't seem to be any hope for the Northsiders.
The Redbirds handily beat the Astros lastnight and look to be coming out of their offensive slump that plauged their last homestand; the put up great numbers against Wandy Rodriguez who had been previously unhittable. Mark DeRosa hit two homeruns and added a double to lead the way offensively and Kyle Lohse wasn't great put definitely took a step in the right direction in reclaiming his early season form. Lohse has been told he has two more starts to win back his rotation spot from John Smoltz; a move that I believe would be beneficial to the Cardinals in the playoffs. I think Smoltz could handle being our number 4 starter in the playoffs, but I believe he would be a bigger help to the team as a late-inning option out of the bullpen that would shore up the Cards most glaring weakness, Right-handed relief pitching.
MVP No. 3 for Pujols?
I truly and unbiasedly feel that Albert Pujols has again earned himself another MVP award, and any voter that votes against that has a hidden agenda or is just plain stupid and should have their vote revoked. Albert's stats this season are again impressive to say the least, and he's is probably a rough month batting average wise away from a triple crown. You can't say enough about Pujols off the field either and his presence in the locker room is unparalelled. Add all of these things in with the fact that his closest competition is either on a bad team (i.e. Prince Fielder), or has stuck out almost 200 times (i.e. Ryan Howard) and Albert has to be a lock for the N.L. MVP right?
N.L. Manager of the Year?
My cousin tells me yesterday that managers like Tony LaRussa don't win the award, "managers that taking crappy teams to the playoffs" win the award. Now right off the bat I didn't agree with him, one because he is a bit biased being a Rockies/Jim Tracy fan and two because I am a bit biased and feel LaRussa is the best canidate for the award. After further consideration, I realize that this isn't LaRussa'a award to lose, it is definitely Tracy's. A case can be made for all the division leaders and their managers; Charlie Manuel in Philly, Joe Torre in L.A., and of course LaRussa here in the Lou, but something must be said about the job that Jim Tracy has done. I'm not sure about the Rockies exact record when Clint Hurdle was fired but I am very sure that they were dead in the water when Tracy took over. I understand that Tracy didn't inherit a bad baseball team when he took over, in fact many would say their team this season is better than the one that went to the World Series 2 years ago. The one thing everyone needs to understand is that every team in the league is talented, some more than others obviously, but it is the manager's sole job to take that talent and maximize it to the fullest potential. Jim Tracy has taken the team he was given and maximized their talent into a full blown playoff contender and one of the hottest, most feared teams in the league. At the moment, the Rockies have a 4 game lead in the wildcard and should be able to win that race. If the Rockies get to the playoffs, Jim Tracy is my vote for Manager of the Year hands down. Thanks Cousin.
Baseball Picks for Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Yankees over Angels
Indians over Tigers
Dodgers over Nationals
Reds over Pirates
Orioles over Blue Jays
Mariners over Rays
Phillies over Marlins
Mets over Braves
Cubs over Brewers
Cardinals over Astros
Red Sox over Royals
Twins over White Sox
Padres over Rockies (sorry Jay)
Rangers over A's
Giants over D'Backs
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Im glad you didn't talk about American Leauge teams... Yuck.
ReplyDeleteWell here are some numbers on Tracy. He is 64-36 in his first 100 games tying a major leauge mark with 2 others, as managers that come in to a mid-season coaching change.
Eleven games below .500 on May 29 they were 18-29 only the lowly Nationals (Sorry JD) were worse. Now they sit at 85-65. Never had they been 20 games over. Now they are HOPEFULLY going to be 21 (Sorry K).
But I think Tracy's confidence in starting pitching and keeping them in tough situations, while letting the bullpen be more fresh more often is the secret to why the Rocks are winning games late.
Also a curious stat for the MoY award. Tracy's Rocks are 26-10 against the Central. Sorry but that means Tracy wins the Head to Head with LaRussa.
Love talking Baseball Man!
GO DBACKS!
GO ROCKS!
I have to agree here. Most people who work in the game know strategy well enough. We sure do. But motivation is first priority. That, and maybe energy levels.
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