Posts Tagged ‘Matt Holliday’
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End of the Road for Boston Woes OR Just the Beginning of Boston’s Road WoesJuly 20th, 2008
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A few short months ago a la October, the Angels were basically running away from Fenway’s bombers with their proverbial tails between their legs. After losing two series ending in sweeps to the Red Sox on two separate post-season occasions since the turn of the millennium, the Angels seemed to have their work cut out for them again in 08 if they wanted any chance at another World Series run.
The Angels have been, in their career, weak against the formidable Boston lineup. It is because of this that so many sports writers have criticized the Angels’ management for not acquiring a more fear-inducing bat for the middle of the lineup to back Big Daddy Vladdy. In fact, despite a successful first half, power rankings on ESPN still give little credence to the team and still stress this same overly-repetitive theme: “The Angels are the clear favorites in the AL West despite an offense that ranks 23rd in the majors in OPS and runs scored. Will they make a run at Mark Teixeira or Matt Holliday, or cling to the hope that starting pitching, a great closer and a flair for one-run victories can propel them deep into October?” (Crasnik’s “Starting 9” on ESPN.com). Though that last little statement, ending in a rhetorical question, seems to be rather connotative of a negative sentiment, I beg to differ, and offer up a definite YES. Great pitching > great hitting. Almost always. Read more
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The Team with No NameJune 7th, 2008
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I’d like to share a story with you.
When I was eight or nine, my younger brother decided to ride his bike down the hill near the front of our house. It was a small hill, and even though he had been riding his bike without his training wheels for only a year or so, he could have handled it easily.
If the front wheel of his bike hadn’t broken off halfway down the hill.
Man, my brother was messed up after that. He went flying head-first off his handle bars and landed face-first on the street. His face was all bruised, he had bad cuts on his arms, even a couple of his teeth were gone. He looked terrible for a long, long time after that (in fact, it’s probably a blessing that — almost twenty years later — when he first met the woman who eventually became his wife, she didn’t have the best eyesight in the world), and it took him a while to feel comfortable on a bike again. Read more
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The Justice LeagueApril 20th, 2008
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I started writing this waaaaay to early. You see, I had this great article about the bullpen for the Colorado Rockies all mapped out in my head. I mean, these guys have been phenomenal so far this season. Unstoppable. Unhittable. More on fire than Richard Pryor ever was. I even picked out this great picture to represent how truly awesome they’ve been . . .
By the way, and no disrespect intended, but I’d say Kip Wells is probably Wonder Woman, only because he kind of has a girlie name. Unfair? Maybe. But did John Wayne ever portray a cowboy named “Kip”? Of course, I’m not one to criticize. For the first 10 years of my life my mom insisted on calling me “Jamie” only because she had desperately wanted a girl when I was born. Don’t even get me started on the way she dressed me.
But like I was saying, I was all set to write this fantastic piece about the Rockies’ bullpen and how they helped the Rockies sweep the Astros for the very first time in Minute Maid Park.
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The Almost Revenge of the 800-year-old ManApril 8th, 2008
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Whew.
I’m not saying I was ready to wheel in an oxygen tank, but still. I am, though, breathing a little easier tonight. The Rockies closed out a game.
Finally.
Granted, the season is only seven games old, and I probably shouldn’t get too worked up over a little five game losing streak and the Rockies’ inability to actually score runs this early in the year. After all, most clubs have trouble getting the offense on track, and it’s best to think of the baseball season as a marathon and not a sprint. Very valid points. Still, do you know of any guys who went on to win a marathon after they tripped and fell right after the gun went off? Yeah, that’s what I thought.
Baseball is all about momentum. That’s what I believe. We “experts” — and yeah, I’m throwing quotes around experts because you can’t see me roll my eyes when I say it. I’m not an expert, okay? And more importantly, I know I’m not an expert. Fan? Yes. Insightful? Sure. Expert? No. But . . . Sexy? Well . . . No. Shouldn’t have even tried. Sorry — like to talk about pitching rotations and defensive positioning and starting line-ups, and we like to approach the game like it’s one giant chess match. And, you know what? It’s fun to think that way. It really is. It’s fun to analyze which manager is going to make the key move at the right time to counter whatever the other manager had in the works, and which team had the better off-season it terms of front office moves and player transactions. it may not seem like fun to most people, but what can I say? We’re geeks. Maybe not hardcore geeks(Captain Kirk is better than Captain Picard), but we’re close. Don’t believe me? Check out the picture on my writer bio. Newest member of the Lambda Lambda Lambda pledge class. (For the record…Kirk kicks Picard’s ass every day of the week.)
