The Blue Workhorse

Minus a very few bright spots during the 2008 campaign, Atlanta Braves’ hometown hero Jeff Francoeur has been horrible in every sense of the word.

In his last 18 games, the right fielder is hitting just .121 with a .183 on-base percentage and .136 slugging percentage, but his struggles go back much further than just the last three weeks. During his two previous seasons in Atlanta, Francoeur built a reputation for being a clutch hitter in big situations.

Not true this year.

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In 1991, the Atlanta Braves did the unfathomable.

After having the worst record in Major League Baseball in 1990 and three straight seasons finishing at the bottom of the NL West, a young group of developing stars chased down Tommy Lasorda and his Los Angeles Dodgers to win the pennant during the last week of the season.

Those young upstarts, who virtually came out of nowhere, then continued their improbable season by defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 in the NLCS, including the final two games of the series at Pittsburgh, to advance to the franchise’s first World Series appearance since 1958.

The Braves twice fell one run short of claiming the World Series title against the Minnesota Twins in that memorable 1991 World Series but eventually went on to win the 1995 World Series title amidst their dominant run in their division in the ’90s and early ’00s.

Why does it matter what the Atlanta Braves did at the end of the last century? Because what they did is now being replicated by a young group of developing stars in the toughest division of the American League.

The Tampa Bay (no longer Devil) Rays are following the design Atlanta’s John Schuerholz so masterfully created after taking over as the general manager for the Braves and are now doing the unfathomable by leading the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees, and the remainder of the AL East while having the best record in baseball.

The Rays have used each of their high draft picks to build their organization from the farm system up much the same way the Atlanta Braves have been renowned for doing. Tampa Bay also has focused on building around a talented young pitching staff (their starting rotation is aged 24-26) just as Schuerholz did with Atlanta.

How similar are this year’s Rays to the Atlanta squads from the early ’90s? We’ve compared this year’s squad of the AL East leading Rays, who are coming off a sweep of perennial power Boston, to the Atlanta squads from their early 1990s heydays:

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Let’s play a quick game of name those numbers. Who has produced these incredible statistics?

151.1 IP / 9 W / 2.28 ERA / 195 K / 1.13 WHIP

Jake Peavy? Johan Santana? Many of you might see the line and figure it must have been a line from Peavy, Santana, or one of the other top-flight starting pitchers 151 innings through the season.

However, these stats were the combined 2007 season statistics of Carlos Marmol and Jonathan Broxton, two of the most dominant middle relievers in the game.

In terms of fantasy baseball, middle relievers are often forgotten when they can be a huge weapon as an added bonus to your pitching staff. They can be the secret key to lower WHIP and ERA, and many of these guys also pile up the strikeouts:

Carlos Marmol (CHC)
Let’s begin by talking about Marmol — the slender 6-foot-2 Dominican with electric stuff.

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A Four Seed is Just a Number

An underdog? … Yes.

A surprise national champion? … Absolutely.

Cinderella? … Not even close.

Last night, the Fresno State Bulldogs completed an unprecedented run to a national championship, by defeating the Georgia Bulldogs 6-1 in the deciding Game 3 of the Championship Finals to win the College World Series.

Following the game, members of the media began comparing their title run to other great upsets in sports history, and saying it may top them all. While all the media attention is exciting, people that know baseball understand Fresno State had a damn good ball team.

I understand the idea that a four seed in a baseball regional is equivalent to a 13-16 seed in the NCAA basketball tournament. If a 13th seeded team emerged from March Madness as the champion, obviously it would be a huge story and be called the greatest Cinderella run in tournament history.

I get it.

The problem I have is the Fresno State is too talented to be labeled a Cinderella.

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UPDATE: With a 6-1 victory, Fresno State took the deciding Game 3 to be crowned as the national champions, but were they really a Cinderella team?

With their backs against the wall, the Fresno State Bulldogs rallied from an earlier 5-0 deficit to beat up on their fellow Bulldogs from Georgia 19-10 in Game 2 of the College World Series Championship Finals. The win sets up a winner-take-all championship game at 7 PM EST on Wednesday night.

Tuesday night’s comeback and eventual thrashing performed by Fresno State is just another notch in the belt in the incredible journey the Bulldogs from the Valley have endured. Beating favored teams and staving off elimination might as well be put on the team’s daily itinerary with the regularity this squad has performed the tasks during the postseason.

Of course, you’d also have to add playing injured to that itinerary. Whether it’s torn thumb ligaments, shoulder tendinitis, or a myriad of bruised body parts, several Bulldogs have continued to show up to the ballpark and perform despite playing with injuries.

Leading the way for the walking wounded, better known as the Fresno State Bulldogs, has been third baseman Tommy Mendonca. Despite setting an NCAA record with 97 K and dislocating two fingers and severely bruising two others in regional play, Mendonca has dropped jaws in Omaha with his stellar defense and scorching hot bat.

He leads all College World Series participants in HR (a CWS record-tying 4), RBI (11), and Web Gems — seemingly making at least one highlight worthy defensive play per night. All of this even though after the game he has to awkwardly reach out his left hand in order to shake hands with fans and the media.

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Is the NBA’s product apathetic toward me?

The Boston Celtics have done it!

The once dominant franchise slumped into the dark depths of defeat to once again rise to the top of the National Basketball Association.

As a life long fan of the Celtics, I should have been immersed in the joys of a post championship hangover on the morning after. However, I was well rested, as I did not even watch past the midpoint of the third quarter of the championship-clinching Game 6.

In fact, throughout what I did witness of the game, my attention was dispersed between college baseball College World Series, TBS reruns of “The Office,” and what is quickly becoming my favorite book, God and Man at Yale by William F. Buckley.

Although my favorite team emerged victorious, in what once was the focal point of my birthday celebrations as a youth (watching Jordan hoist trophy, after trophy, after trophy…) has become a mere afterthought. I pondered the underlying reasons to my recent apathy towards the David Stern-managed league and came to one conclusion. The NBA is apathetic towards me.

There is no effort to reach out to me as a young to middle-aged professional male with strong lifelong ties to an organization. (Please understand generalizations such as this are not made of malice or ill will. Assessments of a broad section of people are not reflections of all members of a race or class, but a statement of opinion regarding generalizations arrived at through casual observations of my brief 23 years of life.) This demographic has been ignored since the late 1990s.

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“Wow” is all I could muster as I witnessed the culmination of the greatest golf tournament I have ever seen.

As the US Open came to a close with Tiger Woods hoisting yet another trophy and winning another Major, I began to reflect on what makes Tiger so good. This coupled with memories fresh from Father’s Day spurred thoughts of the characteristics I would like a son of mine to possess if I am ever blessed to have one (or ten).

If I am able to raise a family with the type of consistency, focus, and respect Tiger Woods exemplifies to the viewing public and was taught by his father, Earl Woods, I will consider it a success.

Consistency
One does not become as good as Tiger is at a chosen profession just by chance or natural ability. Sure, Tiger was born with genetically inherited talent from his father. He was also fortunate enough to have the opportunity to play golf from a very young age. However, along the way Tiger had to choose between becoming a better golfer and all of the fun distractions so many of us get caught up in that prevent us from pursuing our own dreams and improving upon our God-given abilities.

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In an attempt to jump start an anemic offense, the San Diego Padres are finally making some baseball sense. They have called up the sweet-swinging, infielder-outfielder Chase Headley from their Triple A affiliate, the Portland Beavers.

Headley has been regarded as the top offensive threat in the Padres’ organization after he tore through Double A last season posting a line of .330 AVG/.437 OBP/20 HR/78 RBI/82 R for San Antonio. This year, the former second round pick out of the University of Tennessee, struggled early in Triple A but posted a .357 average in May. Despite the early struggles, Headley’s line at Triple A Portland was still impressive: .305 AVG/.383 OBP/13 HR/40 RBI/49 R.

Another intriguing fact about Headley is his .400 career OBP, showing he is willing to work counts and be patient at the plate. This is a key component to the success of young hitters, since free-swingers, not named Vladimir Guerrero, are more prone to slumps, and this shows Headley has the plate discipline to be a consistent performer at the big league level.

The Padres are expected to use Headley in the outfield, but he could also see some action at third base. In terms of a fantasy impact, he plays at a terrible offensive stadium, but Headley has the line-drive swing that could benefit him playing at Petco Park. Depending on where manager Bud Black inserts him, he could also be without much protection in a weak San Diego lineup.

He will be in uniform on Tuesday for the Padres in storied Yankee Stadium when San Diego opens up a three game set against the Yankees. He could be a good one to pick up in keeper leagues, or if you happen to have a utility spot open, but do not expect big home run and RBI numbers yet.

DRang

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