On Hiatus Usually the titles I choose for "The Grand Scheme" are oblique references to something related to the Tigers or card collecting or what have you. This time it is much more literal. For the time being, I'm going to hold off on producing new "Grand Scheme" posts. This will come as a major disappointment to some of you, including my lovely wife who, in addition to helping me sort and pack the thousands of cards from my giveaway, has told me that "The Grand Scheme" posts are by far her favorite on the site. And although her vote counts for like, 10,000 votes on this sort of thing, my vote counts for like, 10,005. Sorry, babe. Barring some modicum of reader sentiment towards me keeping the Grand Scheme right now, I'm putting them on hold.
But Dan, no! Whhhhhhhhy?
For one, they take a lot of time to put together. A lot of internet scouring and reading and quote selection and such as. In the last month or so, my work schedule has gotten increasingly hectic and I just haven't had the time to devote to these as I would have wanted. Also, in a month I'll be starting Grad School, and with work showing no signs of slowing down I'm expecting a major time crunch.
For two, this baseball season is killing me. The Grand Schemes are fun because they allow me to comment on the Tigers, collecting and the baseball season in general by recapping what's going on in the greater scheme of things (get it?). But with the Tigers' season sinking fast, there's not a whole lot more of analysis and commentary that I can give other than "They're fucked." And although I can perhaps suggest ways that they could un-fuck themselves, or prevent said fuckage in the future, I fear that my comments will come off as the negative, profanity laden, and/or holier-than-thou rants that the internet is known for, and that I don't like reading. No thanks. I've already sworn more in this paragraph than I have in the last three months of published posts. Think of the children.
So for now, "The Grand Scheme" goes on the back burner. I envision bringing it back when life settles down--the offseason seems an appropriate time for this--and doing so at a scheduled regular interval. In the meantime, everything else about the blog will continue as normal. Seeing as how I average .0001 comments per Grand Scheme post, I'm guessing that most of you won't even notice the difference.
Chchchchanges Also, it appears as though this blog is a wee bit antiquated. I was clued into this when I noticed that my "google followers" gadget in the sidebar stopped working because my template was too old and crotchety. I'll consider this the wake-up call to do the blog re-design that I've wanted to do for over a year. This means that I may or may not actually do a blog redesign, but know that I really want to. On the docket: New (but similar) template. New "Grand Cards" logo. A Grand Cards banner. Additional functionality, but probably not much because I don't know a whole lot about the internet so I'll just take what I can get. These things should update the look and feel of the blog so that it will only be a little bit outdated instead of a lot-a-bit.
Checklists and Galleries To-be-expanded. This is probably a bad idea, since I'm behind on 2010 checklists and galleries, but I'm in the process of putting together comprehensive by-year checklists. This is a by-product of receiving a ton of cards from the 80s for which I have no checklists at all. So, I'll be putting these together, posting them in the "checklists" section, and then doing galleries if and when I complete a team set of these older cards. Then I'll start filling in with internet-gleaned galleries.
And that's really it, I'm hitting the pause button on "The Grand Scheme," continuing everything else as normal and hoping that life can slow down to the point where I can catch back up to it. We now return to your regularly scheduled programming.
Showing posts with label The Grand Scheme. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Grand Scheme. Show all posts
Monday, August 2, 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
The Grand Scheme Reaches The Fifth Stage
Denial
What a week it has been. Before the All Star break the Tigers were hot. We convinced ourselves that they were contenders. "The AL Central is weak", we said. "Cabrera is unstoppable," we attested. "Basho!" some of us screamed.
It was July 10th and the Tigers were in first place.
Anger
Cleveland? Cleveland?? I don't even know who plays for Cleveland! Seriously. I was watching the Tigers play the Indians in the first series after the All Star break and remarked that Cleveland may be the blandest, least memorable team in the major leagues.
Quick...name three players on the Indians. Go!
Let me guess, you said Travis Hafner, Grady Sizemore (who is out for the season) and Shin Soo Choo (also hurt). Or maybe Jake Westbrook. If you're a fantasy guy you might have pulled out Matt LaPorta. Do you know who you didn't say? All of the nondescript white guys that dominate their roster. Or should I say, all the nondescript white guys that dominated our roster.
Cleveland swept the Tigers over 4 games in three days. There was anger. We even needed to be warned.
Bargaining
But lo! All is not lost. Perhaps there are ways to turn this ship around. Hardball talk says Relief Pitching would cure what ails us. Visions of Dan Haren and John Buck dance in our heads.
The pessimist Lynn Henning says that the Tigers should sell at the trade deadline and a collective dislike of Henning by the Tigers fanbase solidifies us in our convictions: We can do this. We can turn this around.
I was halfway towards writing a piece called "the value of Johnny Damon" on Monday afternoon after reading this article. Damon, the veteran presence. The proven winner. Hope?
Depression
On the fourth batter of the 13th inning of the 91st game of the season, Brennan Boesch hit a bloop single to right field with runners on 1st and 2nd. Then Nelson Cruz did this. Johnny Damon, the expert baserunner, the veteran leader, the champion, was fooled. He didn't score on what should have been the game winning single.
But the bases were still loaded with only one out and Carlos Guillen at the plate. One run to snap this losing streak. To get on the right path. That's what winning teams do, isn't it? Come through when it matters? Cover for their teammates? Erase their mistakes.
Carlos Guillen grounded into an inning-ending double play. Cruz hit a game-winning home run in the Top of the 14th.
Just fucking kill me now.
Acceptance
What did we really expect though? This is a team that, up until the current losing streak at least, had vastly exceeded expectations, despite facing tremendous adversity including:
I'm sure any other Tigers fan can list 3-4 more reasons why this team shouldn't have been successful but was anyway. It fostered a sense of hope, of an ability to overcome. But it was a false hope.
On Monday, we could add another bullet point to the list.
So hell, I guess that's it. I'm not throwing in the towel, per se, but I'm accepting fate. Maybe it's a seven-game losing streak talking, but for the Tigers to pull out of this tailspin, with a brutal 2nd half schedule still ahead of them and so little in the way of consistent 1. Starting Pitching 2. Hitting and 3. Relief Pitching, I just don't see it. I'm not happy about it, and I'll continue to watch and root and hope, but it is acceptance time. This is not a playoff team.
Stubbornness
But man, we're a stubborn breed, aren't we? I mean, the White Sox and Twins don't look like Playoff teams either, although their holes are less substantial and numerous. Still I'm compelled to channel Bob Wojnowski
The Tigers probably need to become sellers, but do they really have anyone to sell? The pitching is a disaster, and the only people hitting are your respective franchise cornerstone (Cabrera), future (Jackson, Boesch) or your aforementioned, old, highly paid guys. The bullpen doesn't have anyone to spare either, assuming you want to keep the invincible Jose Valverde around for next year--when you might actually be able to compete.
I've accepted the fate of the season. It's a rebuilding year. Lord knows, I've seen my share of them in my short lifetime, in baseball and beyond. And that's OK. I get it. It's fine. There's always next year. Etc.
For someone who has gone through all stages of grief in the span of a week, that's as deep as my acceptance can go right now.
What a week it has been. Before the All Star break the Tigers were hot. We convinced ourselves that they were contenders. "The AL Central is weak", we said. "Cabrera is unstoppable," we attested. "Basho!" some of us screamed.
It was July 10th and the Tigers were in first place.
Anger
Cleveland? Cleveland?? I don't even know who plays for Cleveland! Seriously. I was watching the Tigers play the Indians in the first series after the All Star break and remarked that Cleveland may be the blandest, least memorable team in the major leagues.
Quick...name three players on the Indians. Go!
Let me guess, you said Travis Hafner, Grady Sizemore (who is out for the season) and Shin Soo Choo (also hurt). Or maybe Jake Westbrook. If you're a fantasy guy you might have pulled out Matt LaPorta. Do you know who you didn't say? All of the nondescript white guys that dominate their roster. Or should I say, all the nondescript white guys that dominated our roster.
Cleveland swept the Tigers over 4 games in three days. There was anger. We even needed to be warned.
Bargaining
But lo! All is not lost. Perhaps there are ways to turn this ship around. Hardball talk says Relief Pitching would cure what ails us. Visions of Dan Haren and John Buck dance in our heads.
The pessimist Lynn Henning says that the Tigers should sell at the trade deadline and a collective dislike of Henning by the Tigers fanbase solidifies us in our convictions: We can do this. We can turn this around.
I was halfway towards writing a piece called "the value of Johnny Damon" on Monday afternoon after reading this article. Damon, the veteran presence. The proven winner. Hope?
"We needed to talk," Damon said. "We got (the message). No one is mad at anyone. We got our butts kicked this series. We know that. We know we have to be better."Preach it Johnny!
--snip--
"We're OK. We're disappointed. But we're still in this thing."
Depression
On the fourth batter of the 13th inning of the 91st game of the season, Brennan Boesch hit a bloop single to right field with runners on 1st and 2nd. Then Nelson Cruz did this. Johnny Damon, the expert baserunner, the veteran leader, the champion, was fooled. He didn't score on what should have been the game winning single.
But the bases were still loaded with only one out and Carlos Guillen at the plate. One run to snap this losing streak. To get on the right path. That's what winning teams do, isn't it? Come through when it matters? Cover for their teammates? Erase their mistakes.
Carlos Guillen grounded into an inning-ending double play. Cruz hit a game-winning home run in the Top of the 14th.
Just fucking kill me now.
Acceptance
What did we really expect though? This is a team that, up until the current losing streak at least, had vastly exceeded expectations, despite facing tremendous adversity including:
- Two rookies started on opening day: one needed to be demoted for ineffectiveness
- Dropped the starting SS
- Dropped a starting Pitcher (Willis) and Demoted/Recalled Three others (Scherzer, Porcello, Galarraga)
- Lost Zach Miner, Bobby Seay and Joel Zumaya to season-ending injuries
- Thirteen rookies have played, eight making their major league debut.
- A starting catcher hitting below the Mendoza line
I'm sure any other Tigers fan can list 3-4 more reasons why this team shouldn't have been successful but was anyway. It fostered a sense of hope, of an ability to overcome. But it was a false hope.
On Monday, we could add another bullet point to the list.
- Brandon Inge out 4-6 weeks with a broken hand
So hell, I guess that's it. I'm not throwing in the towel, per se, but I'm accepting fate. Maybe it's a seven-game losing streak talking, but for the Tigers to pull out of this tailspin, with a brutal 2nd half schedule still ahead of them and so little in the way of consistent 1. Starting Pitching 2. Hitting and 3. Relief Pitching, I just don't see it. I'm not happy about it, and I'll continue to watch and root and hope, but it is acceptance time. This is not a playoff team.
Stubbornness
But man, we're a stubborn breed, aren't we? I mean, the White Sox and Twins don't look like Playoff teams either, although their holes are less substantial and numerous. Still I'm compelled to channel Bob Wojnowski
Still in itIf they stop the tailspin like, now, they can still make a move and get back in it. In theory. But there are only 10 days left to do so. Otherwise, things start to get awfully interesting. Seems to me as though Johnny Damon is a nice looking trade chip. Could Magglio solve the issues of a team seeking a bat, or is his 2011 contract too much of a disincentive?
--snip--
Being awful for a week raises red flags, no doubt, but not a white flag. The eyes may lie, but the standings don't. Of course, their two-and-a-half-game deficit might as well be 12-and-a-half if they pitch like they have since the All-Star break, as Jeremy Bonderman struggled in this one.
That's nudging the Tigers toward a major dilemma. Minor wounds are becoming larger, especially in their starting rotation. But the division is there for the stealing again, so do you respond to short-term temptation, giving up young players in a trade, or ride it out and be prudent about the future?
The Tigers probably need to become sellers, but do they really have anyone to sell? The pitching is a disaster, and the only people hitting are your respective franchise cornerstone (Cabrera), future (Jackson, Boesch) or your aforementioned, old, highly paid guys. The bullpen doesn't have anyone to spare either, assuming you want to keep the invincible Jose Valverde around for next year--when you might actually be able to compete.
I've accepted the fate of the season. It's a rebuilding year. Lord knows, I've seen my share of them in my short lifetime, in baseball and beyond. And that's OK. I get it. It's fine. There's always next year. Etc.
For someone who has gone through all stages of grief in the span of a week, that's as deep as my acceptance can go right now.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
The Grand Scheme Has A Fever
And the only prescription...
Nope, sorry. Not going down that road folks. The news of a fever came out 90 minutes before yesterday's game. The stricken was none other than Miguel Cabrera, who just transferred the excess heat in his body to his bat and went freaking nuts yesterday: 3-5 with a Triple and, oh, a game-tying 2-run home run in the bottom of the 9th. This comes on the heels of a kidney infection that hit him last friday, although "There isn’t any indication that his fever today is related to the kidney infection," which is good.
The concern for me is that the two are in fact related, or that the back-to-back nature of them is indicative of a low-lying illness that could fatigue the white-hot Cabrera down the stretch. The last thing we need is an illness plus extraneous strenuous activity, like, say, trying to hit home runs 700 feet in an exhibition. Well, no worries there:
On the Home Run Derby
I am really, really conflicted about the Home Run Derby. For one, I love it. It is fun to watch (for the first round at least) and was an absolute thrill to attend (at Comerica Park in 2005). In that particular year, then-Tiger Ivan Rodriguez thrilled hometown fans by blasting 20 home runs and finishing as runner up. This was also the year that Bobby Abreu hit home runs to parts of Comerica Park that don't even know what a baseball looks like. It was the perfect storm of exhibitions showmanship (Abreu, Josh Hamilton in 2008) and unabashed homerism and it was a lot of fun.
But now it's 2010 and Miguel Cabrera is in the derby and I'm not on board. Here's why:
Still, Cabrera has partcipated in the Derby before (2006) did well and showed no ill effects. And he wants to win it. And he's awesome. So I guess those are all points towards wanting to see him in it. I guess it all just makes me uneasy. If I could get some sort of cosmic guarantee that says Cabrera can participate and then return to the regular season and continue performing at the same level that would be great. Because I think everyone would rather have a triple crown season an MVP and a playoff run than a trophy presented by state farm.
All Star Notes
In case this wasn't implied, Miguel Cabrera made the all star team. So did closer Jose Valverde who still doesn't have a baseball card as a Tiger despite the fact that there have been a half dozen card releases this year, including two series of Topps and had a 0.38 ERA as of last week (which ballooned to 1.00 after Tuesday's game against the O's). No other Tigers made the team, although there is some argument to be made for Magglio Ordonez, Justin Verlander and Brennan Boesch. Personally, I don't feel as though any of them were robbed of a spot (the way Cabrera was last year), so I'll let my personal biases pass for the time being.
HOWEVER, I think Brennan Boesch should have been included on the final ballot. Apparently his stats have been displayed ad nauseum to make this case, to which many Tiger fans have said "enough, we get it" so I'll let it be. He's got to be your odds-on rookie of the year favorite right now though, right?
I also share the feeling that Cabrera should be starting in the game. He's currently leading the major leagues in all three triple crown categories. Do I even need to say more than that? That's what Jim Leyland is for: (HT Hardball Talk
Question his managerial tactics all you want, but there's no manager I'd rather have talking to the press and running the clubhouse.
Damon a Hall of Famer?
As I was driving to work this morning Peter Gammons was on the Ed Norris show, and they asked the question: given Damon's 2500th hit last night, his age (36) and career durability, it is not outside of the realm of reason that he will reach 3000 hits. If he does, is he a Hall of Famer? The co-host said no (Ed Norris said yes). My gut said borderline. But Peter Gammons said yes, and definitely if he reaches 3000. Funny enough, Craig Calceterra commented on the same thing this morning, noting Damon's apparent desire to reach that milestone and, ultimately, the hall.
Which got me thinking, Damon has been a very good player for the entirety of his career. If he plays for 2-3 more years, he will have statistics that compare favorably to any number of Hall of Famers. He's also been a crucial part of two championship teams--a point that Gammons thinks is important. He was on two teams that likely would not have won the world series without him. That's a big deal. If he can take the Tigers into the playoffs (and beyond) he could be a lock. You can't underestimate the value of a "gamer" in the eyes of the writers. Tack on statistics that put him in the top 10% of players every year for his entire career and I think there's a strong case to be made.
Roster Notes
Armando Galarraga goes down to AAA as the superfluous 5th starter before the All-Star break. He'll be back up folks, don't worry. In his place, another MLB Debut:
Welcome to the show, kid. Bless You Boys and the Detroit Tigers Weblog give you the breakdown.
Misc. Baseball card giveaway is about 50% packed up and will be shipped out tomorrow. My wife get a big thank you for her help and will get another shout out in a later post. Good recap of the Tigers at the halfway point. They're in first...but how? Musical chairs for relievers, Casey Fein was called up, pitched a few innings and went back down to make room for Ryan Perry, for those keeping score. Kirk Gibson was given the interim manager role in Arizona. I'm thrilled for Gibby. So is Jim Leyland. Dontrelle Willis DFA'd again. Agent says he needs "a long break" from the game. Like retirement, perhaps?
Nope, sorry. Not going down that road folks. The news of a fever came out 90 minutes before yesterday's game. The stricken was none other than Miguel Cabrera, who just transferred the excess heat in his body to his bat and went freaking nuts yesterday: 3-5 with a Triple and, oh, a game-tying 2-run home run in the bottom of the 9th. This comes on the heels of a kidney infection that hit him last friday, although "There isn’t any indication that his fever today is related to the kidney infection," which is good.
The concern for me is that the two are in fact related, or that the back-to-back nature of them is indicative of a low-lying illness that could fatigue the white-hot Cabrera down the stretch. The last thing we need is an illness plus extraneous strenuous activity, like, say, trying to hit home runs 700 feet in an exhibition. Well, no worries there:
He explained why he’d skip the Home Run Derby if he didn’t think he was strong enough to participate.So, if he's not feeling well, he's out. Please go ahead and get your doctor's note now.
“In the Home Run Derby, it’s going to be easy to get tired,” Cabrera said. “You swing hard.”
On the Home Run Derby
I am really, really conflicted about the Home Run Derby. For one, I love it. It is fun to watch (for the first round at least) and was an absolute thrill to attend (at Comerica Park in 2005). In that particular year, then-Tiger Ivan Rodriguez thrilled hometown fans by blasting 20 home runs and finishing as runner up. This was also the year that Bobby Abreu hit home runs to parts of Comerica Park that don't even know what a baseball looks like. It was the perfect storm of exhibitions showmanship (Abreu, Josh Hamilton in 2008) and unabashed homerism and it was a lot of fun.
But now it's 2010 and Miguel Cabrera is in the derby and I'm not on board. Here's why:
- Illness and injury: he's had minor things so far this year. They do not need to be exacerbated
- Tigers' history: from the same free press article, the Tigers' recent home run derby history is abysmal. Inge had 0 last year. Ordonez 2 in 2007. In fact, Pudge Rodriguez aside, no Tiger has had more than 4(!) in the derby (Cecil Fielder did it twice in 1991 and 1993). It's embarrassing.
- Why mess with a good thing? Ask Josh Hamilton. Or Vlad. Or Ken Griffey Jr:
"Everything that you were taught not to do you have to do in the home run contest," says Griffey, who won the Derby in 1999 in Boston. "It's either a home run or nothing. You try to forget that swing when the season starts (again), but there's not a lot of time. Bad mechanics can hang around a long time."
Granted, ESPN ran a pretty good article last year that debunks that rumour, but I prefer to quote Hamilton. "Why mess with a good thing?" With the season Cabrera is having? I wouldn't.
Still, Cabrera has partcipated in the Derby before (2006) did well and showed no ill effects. And he wants to win it. And he's awesome. So I guess those are all points towards wanting to see him in it. I guess it all just makes me uneasy. If I could get some sort of cosmic guarantee that says Cabrera can participate and then return to the regular season and continue performing at the same level that would be great. Because I think everyone would rather have a triple crown season an MVP and a playoff run than a trophy presented by state farm.
All Star Notes
In case this wasn't implied, Miguel Cabrera made the all star team. So did closer Jose Valverde who still doesn't have a baseball card as a Tiger despite the fact that there have been a half dozen card releases this year, including two series of Topps and had a 0.38 ERA as of last week (which ballooned to 1.00 after Tuesday's game against the O's). No other Tigers made the team, although there is some argument to be made for Magglio Ordonez, Justin Verlander and Brennan Boesch. Personally, I don't feel as though any of them were robbed of a spot (the way Cabrera was last year), so I'll let my personal biases pass for the time being.
HOWEVER, I think Brennan Boesch should have been included on the final ballot. Apparently his stats have been displayed ad nauseum to make this case, to which many Tiger fans have said "enough, we get it" so I'll let it be. He's got to be your odds-on rookie of the year favorite right now though, right?
I also share the feeling that Cabrera should be starting in the game. He's currently leading the major leagues in all three triple crown categories. Do I even need to say more than that? That's what Jim Leyland is for: (HT Hardball Talk
It's not a good system, if you want to know the truth. But you get run out of baseball when you say that. I'll be getting booed everywhere I go. In reality, they're making a big deal about the game meaning something now and that the starters should play at least five or six innings. Well, I managed a couple All-Star games where guys I had sitting on the bench were better than the guy that started. So, to me they can throw that theory totally out the window.
Question his managerial tactics all you want, but there's no manager I'd rather have talking to the press and running the clubhouse.
Damon a Hall of Famer?
As I was driving to work this morning Peter Gammons was on the Ed Norris show, and they asked the question: given Damon's 2500th hit last night, his age (36) and career durability, it is not outside of the realm of reason that he will reach 3000 hits. If he does, is he a Hall of Famer? The co-host said no (Ed Norris said yes). My gut said borderline. But Peter Gammons said yes, and definitely if he reaches 3000. Funny enough, Craig Calceterra commented on the same thing this morning, noting Damon's apparent desire to reach that milestone and, ultimately, the hall.
Which got me thinking, Damon has been a very good player for the entirety of his career. If he plays for 2-3 more years, he will have statistics that compare favorably to any number of Hall of Famers. He's also been a crucial part of two championship teams--a point that Gammons thinks is important. He was on two teams that likely would not have won the world series without him. That's a big deal. If he can take the Tigers into the playoffs (and beyond) he could be a lock. You can't underestimate the value of a "gamer" in the eyes of the writers. Tack on statistics that put him in the top 10% of players every year for his entire career and I think there's a strong case to be made.
Roster Notes
Armando Galarraga goes down to AAA as the superfluous 5th starter before the All-Star break. He'll be back up folks, don't worry. In his place, another MLB Debut:
 |
| 2010 Topps Pro Debut #16 Robbie Weinhardt |
Welcome to the show, kid. Bless You Boys and the Detroit Tigers Weblog give you the breakdown.
Misc. Baseball card giveaway is about 50% packed up and will be shipped out tomorrow. My wife get a big thank you for her help and will get another shout out in a later post. Good recap of the Tigers at the halfway point. They're in first...but how? Musical chairs for relievers, Casey Fein was called up, pitched a few innings and went back down to make room for Ryan Perry, for those keeping score. Kirk Gibson was given the interim manager role in Arizona. I'm thrilled for Gibby. So is Jim Leyland. Dontrelle Willis DFA'd again. Agent says he needs "a long break" from the game. Like retirement, perhaps?
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
The Grand Scheme Is One Pitch Away From Throwing Its Last Pitch
"Oh my God, that did not just happen." That was Gerald Laird's response to last nights painful-to-watch arm explosion of Joel Zumaya. It's not fair. I don't mean for the fans who loved him, or the team that relied on him or the bullpen that he solidified. It's not fair for Joel Zumaya. For those of you who haven't seen the video you can watch it here and prepare to feel your heart sink.
I was also able to embed a bootlegged version:
Joel Zumaya is Chet Steadman's career compressed into 171 career appearances. He has the whole life cycle of a star pitcher: Emergence, Domination, Decline, Rebirth, Last Hurrah. Except that he's 25 and that apart from his unbelievable 2006, he has been hurt in each subsequent season thanks to Guitar Hero, An Evil Box, a Rogue Finger, a Finicky Shoulder and a Traitorous Elbow (it seems).
With all that said, we don't actually know what's wrong with Zumaya this time. He's having an MRI today to get things checked out. I'm not a doctor, but my guess is that it is going to look like the elbow equivalent of this:
As if the screaming, writhing and hand shaking didn't clue you in, some quotes might flesh out the presumably grim diagnosis:
Jim Leyland, like the rest of us, was blindsided by this and then decided to get all philosophical. From the same Detroit News article:
And then you realize, that maybe it's not possible for one pitcher to pitch at a speed that is TEN STANDARD DEVIATIONS above the next fastest pitcher. That's right:
Onto other things, briefly...
VOTE I finally voted my 25 times for Miguel Cabrera to the All Star game. If you don't do this you are a pox on us all. If you do vote, and don't vote for Cabrera you're just insane. Note the stats:
.335 AVG (5th), .412 OBP (3rd), .629 SLG (1st), 20 HR (1st), 66 RBI (1st)
Go Vote Now.
Write Him In Also, while you're voting, why not cast a write in vote for Brennan Boesch? Ignoring the fact that he is easily the best rookie in the major leagues thus far this year (.335/.385/.616, 12 HR, 45 RBI), how about comparing those stats to other AL Outfielders (w/200+ ABs)?
3rd, 8th, 2nd, 6th, 8th.
If that does not an AL All Star make, than what does? Write him in.
I've got to get me one of those The Baltimore Sun has a fantastic article that I read this morning while I was in the company break room waiting for the coffee to brew. It is a major, front page feature searching for the owner of a 1914 Babe Ruth Rookie Card that was loaned to the Babe Ruth Museum years ago. Here's the card, currently on display at the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum:
This is from the 1914 Baltimore News, and only 11 are believed to be in existence. Forbes called this the most valuable card in the world in 2009 and it will be at the centerpiece of a "Groundbreaking" exhibit on baseball cards that the museum is putting together. I've dealt with the director of the museum in my work life in the past, so I may try to get him on the horn and see what they have planned--hopefully in time for The National in August. If not, while you're in town you might want to go and check it out anyway.
Should I sue? Probably not, considering that it makes my life so much easier. I'm talking about the page that launched yesterday on the University of Michigan Athletic Dept. site that tracks all U-M alumni in the Major and Minor Leagues. It's name? Block M In the MLB. So where do I sign up to get my royalties? On the plus side, this means that I no longer need to maintain a tedious spreadsheet and scour minor league game reports to keep up on these sorts of things. That's what unpaid student interns are for. The site is nicely done, and if they can get a Minor League stats feed the way that they have for the MLB guys (which they won't, because MiLB game stats are a pain to find), it would be awesome. If nothing else, it will keep tabs on everyone for me instead of having to do it myself.
Misc. Reminders: Allen & Ginter group CASE break, Grand Cards Trade Away Day 4: Autographs. Also, I don't know why this took me so long, but I'd like to congratulate the ol' alma mater for winning the 2010 State Championship in baseball. They beat division rival Saline, who lost in the championship game for the 3rd straight year. There were tears. I played on this team way back in the pre-championship days along with my friend Bobby, who hassled me into promising a shout out on this blog, which I then didn't give him, leading to more hassling. So take that Bobby. Your first formal e-recognition of our friendship will forever be associated with Pioneer Baseball. How does that feel? Don't mess with someone with editorial control.
I was also able to embed a bootlegged version:
Joel Zumaya is Chet Steadman's career compressed into 171 career appearances. He has the whole life cycle of a star pitcher: Emergence, Domination, Decline, Rebirth, Last Hurrah. Except that he's 25 and that apart from his unbelievable 2006, he has been hurt in each subsequent season thanks to Guitar Hero, An Evil Box, a Rogue Finger, a Finicky Shoulder and a Traitorous Elbow (it seems).
With all that said, we don't actually know what's wrong with Zumaya this time. He's having an MRI today to get things checked out. I'm not a doctor, but my guess is that it is going to look like the elbow equivalent of this:
As if the screaming, writhing and hand shaking didn't clue you in, some quotes might flesh out the presumably grim diagnosis:
Catcher Gerald Laird, whose home run in the eighth gave the Tigers a huge insurance run, said he heard a "little pop" when Zumaya threw the last pitch.That's Gerald Laird, who heard something pop from 60'6 away, in the middle of the game, on a pitch that was fouled off. A "little pop" to the catcher is a freaking atomic bomb on the mound. You may also prefer to hear Laird's prognosis of the mystery injury:
"When he let the ball go, something didn't sound good," Laird said.
It's a little block in the road. In seven or eight months you'll be throwing again and I'm sure I'll be seeing that 96 mph fastball again.Geez, power of positive thinking huh? We don't know what's wrong and Laird is already predicting that he won't be able to throw for another 7-8 months and that he's going to top out at a relatively pedestrian 96 MPH. I shudder when I think of what someone who actually knows about this stuff might predict.
Jim Leyland, like the rest of us, was blindsided by this and then decided to get all philosophical. From the same Detroit News article:
"There was no indication that anything was wrong (with Zumaya) before tonight," Leyland said. "I don't know that anything was wrong. But I've always said with any pitcher, you are one pitch away from throwing their last pitch."There's obviously been a lot of news on this at this point and it is just so sad. An as unexpected as it was, especially given the situation, it wasn't that unexpected, was it? I mean, the guy throws over 100 miles per hour. He hit 99 on the fateful pitch last night! And the injuries haven't even seemed to slow him down. In 2006 he threw over 100 MPH 233 times in 2006, ahead of 2nd place Kyle Farnsworth (26 times). Jump to 2008 and it was 18 100 MPH+ pitches (2nd in the Majors) in 2008, in just 21 games. In 2009 the number leapt to 198 times, more than twice the number of Jonathan Broxton, this time in only 29 games (!) before his season ended due to injury. Then comes 2010 and everything seems all peachy keen and Zumaya is back and business and BAM!
And then you realize, that maybe it's not possible for one pitcher to pitch at a speed that is TEN STANDARD DEVIATIONS above the next fastest pitcher. That's right:
how easy is it for your Joe Average hurler to break the aforementioned 100 mph mark? The short answer is that it isn’t:That was a hardball times article written after the 2006 season. Separate injuries in four seasons later and he is still throwing just as hard. It's not possible. The body can't do it. 10 standard deviations doesn't exist in real life, especially not when you're taking a sample of people who are performing at a level that is already 3 standard deviations (or more) above what the average person is capable of doing.
Season #of 100 mph pitches
2002 106
2003 204
2004 82
2005 134
2006 335
To give an idea of relative magnitude some 3.5 million pitches are tossed in the majors each year of which 75% or so have accurate speed measurements. Two things jump out. First, the very low number of 100+mph pitches (less than 0.01% of all balls pitched), and second, the spike in 100+mph pitches in 2006. Yup, you’ve guessed it; the 2006 spike was caused by the emergence of one man: Joel Zumaya. If we look at pitch speed leaders each year we see that Zumaya was responsible for nearly 70% of the 100+mph fastballs in 2006, and, incredibly, his individual total exceeded the league total in each of the previous four years.
Onto other things, briefly...
VOTE I finally voted my 25 times for Miguel Cabrera to the All Star game. If you don't do this you are a pox on us all. If you do vote, and don't vote for Cabrera you're just insane. Note the stats:
.335 AVG (5th), .412 OBP (3rd), .629 SLG (1st), 20 HR (1st), 66 RBI (1st)
Go Vote Now.
Write Him In Also, while you're voting, why not cast a write in vote for Brennan Boesch? Ignoring the fact that he is easily the best rookie in the major leagues thus far this year (.335/.385/.616, 12 HR, 45 RBI), how about comparing those stats to other AL Outfielders (w/200+ ABs)?
3rd, 8th, 2nd, 6th, 8th.
If that does not an AL All Star make, than what does? Write him in.
I've got to get me one of those The Baltimore Sun has a fantastic article that I read this morning while I was in the company break room waiting for the coffee to brew. It is a major, front page feature searching for the owner of a 1914 Babe Ruth Rookie Card that was loaned to the Babe Ruth Museum years ago. Here's the card, currently on display at the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum:
This is from the 1914 Baltimore News, and only 11 are believed to be in existence. Forbes called this the most valuable card in the world in 2009 and it will be at the centerpiece of a "Groundbreaking" exhibit on baseball cards that the museum is putting together. I've dealt with the director of the museum in my work life in the past, so I may try to get him on the horn and see what they have planned--hopefully in time for The National in August. If not, while you're in town you might want to go and check it out anyway.
Should I sue? Probably not, considering that it makes my life so much easier. I'm talking about the page that launched yesterday on the University of Michigan Athletic Dept. site that tracks all U-M alumni in the Major and Minor Leagues. It's name? Block M In the MLB. So where do I sign up to get my royalties? On the plus side, this means that I no longer need to maintain a tedious spreadsheet and scour minor league game reports to keep up on these sorts of things. That's what unpaid student interns are for. The site is nicely done, and if they can get a Minor League stats feed the way that they have for the MLB guys (which they won't, because MiLB game stats are a pain to find), it would be awesome. If nothing else, it will keep tabs on everyone for me instead of having to do it myself.
Misc. Reminders: Allen & Ginter group CASE break, Grand Cards Trade Away Day 4: Autographs. Also, I don't know why this took me so long, but I'd like to congratulate the ol' alma mater for winning the 2010 State Championship in baseball. They beat division rival Saline, who lost in the championship game for the 3rd straight year. There were tears. I played on this team way back in the pre-championship days along with my friend Bobby, who hassled me into promising a shout out on this blog, which I then didn't give him, leading to more hassling. So take that Bobby. Your first formal e-recognition of our friendship will forever be associated with Pioneer Baseball. How does that feel? Don't mess with someone with editorial control.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
The Grand SchemGOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAL!
Reminder, Day 2 of my massive card trade away is going on until 5:30pm tomorrow. Up for grabs are a ton of cards from your team of choice. There are already some hotly contested team offers, so get in on it!
In which your author had a mini-stroke
Boy, that was awesome. Clean sheets at the half in Group D keep the US's Saturday opponent a mystery for a little longer. (Update: It's Ghana))
The analysts know best I mean, they're analysts. We're talking about professionals, right? So why am I bothered by an ESPN article that heaps praise on Miguel Cabrera? This sort of national exposure is exactly what I complain the Tigers (and Cabrera) don't get enough of. So what gives?
I can't quote enough of this article to really do it justice, so perhaps I'll summarize.
Step 1: Say that Cabrera has conquered his Demons
Step 2: Talk about how intelligent of a hitter he is
Step 3: Also credit his supporting cast in the lineup
Step 4: Cabrera is really great!
Uh huh. So what makes this article different from the first three random pieces of Bleacher Report garbage that comes up in a google search for "Bleacher Report Miguel Cabrera?" I mean seriously, please tell me the difference between this:
One is written by and "expert," ESPN analyst Aaron Boone. Now, I have no particular problem with Boone, per se, but when I read something coming from a former major leaguer, I'm hoping for something a little more substantive than information that everybody knows and a tiny clubhouse anecdote. I want some real Todd Jones or Doug Glanville shit, ok ESPN?
One Million Dollars The Strasburggery has gotten out of hand. $100,000 for his 1/1 Red Autograph card? That's insanity. And the guy who bought his superfractor is already selling it again and has made a profit, which I guess means that he's not quite the fool that I took him for. Oh, and Topps is now selling $350 per pop autographs on Strasburg's Topps #661, of which only 300 will be offered, and only 119 have even been unlocked at this point. And the Finest redemptions and Red Hot Rookie redemptions are just adding fuel to the fire, likely withholding Strasburg's card until the bitter end.
It's all quite crazy, and to be honest I'm not sure how I feel about all of it. I'm wondering though...would anyone like to go all profit-share on a case of Bowman Chrome?
A Wolf, a Fox and an Oriole... This will be a future "M in the MLB" post if I ever get around to it, but it's worth mentioning at least that former Michigan catcher Jake Fox, after being designated for assignment last week was acquired by the Orioles yesteraday, leading to a Baltimore Sun comment section explosion of frustration, including my favorite
Zing!
It also spawned an article exploring the connection between the O's and the Cubs, which is unsurprisingly robust given Andy MacPhail's history in the Cubs organization. This is not dissimilar to Dave Dombrowski's penchant for dealing with the Marlins and former Marlins (Robertson, Willis/Cabrera, Sheffield, Pudge, etc.) and I imagine that you could uncover a similar pattern of relationships with every team in baseball.
For what it's worth, Fox flied out to the wall in his O's debut last night, but will most likely provide more power to the Orioles than their entire first base platoon has all season.
Misc. A Cardboard Problem has a great interview with the new President of Upper Deck. Well done Sooz! Stale Gum is as disappointed as I am with Topps' Red Hot Rookie #2 selection. .225 1HR 2RBI is not "Red Hot." I kind of totally want these World Cup Cards. They are fantastic.
In which your author had a mini-stroke
Boy, that was awesome. Clean sheets at the half in Group D keep the US's Saturday opponent a mystery for a little longer. (Update: It's Ghana))
The analysts know best I mean, they're analysts. We're talking about professionals, right? So why am I bothered by an ESPN article that heaps praise on Miguel Cabrera? This sort of national exposure is exactly what I complain the Tigers (and Cabrera) don't get enough of. So what gives?
I had a chance to play with Cabrera when we were both with the Florida Marlins in 2007, and what really blew me away about him was how smart he was at the plate. We would talk over the course of a game and you could just tell that he had a great understanding of how a pitcher was going to attack a certain hitter. He knew what they were going to throw, how to make contact, and where to hit it. He also gave me a lot of advice on my own approach at the plate, often predicting where a particular pitcher would throw to me.
I can't quote enough of this article to really do it justice, so perhaps I'll summarize.
Step 1: Say that Cabrera has conquered his Demons
Step 2: Talk about how intelligent of a hitter he is
Step 3: Also credit his supporting cast in the lineup
Step 4: Cabrera is really great!
Uh huh. So what makes this article different from the first three random pieces of Bleacher Report garbage that comes up in a google search for "Bleacher Report Miguel Cabrera?" I mean seriously, please tell me the difference between this:
I started calling him "Albert Einstein" because that genius light went on when he was in the batter's box. The first time I used his nickname he had no idea who Einstein was. But after friend and teammate Alfredo Amezaga explained the moniker, Cabrera thought it was pretty funny.and this:
He’s 6'2", with arms the size of Paul Bunyan’s and thighs that look like folded over sandbags. He doesn’t have a chest, he has Rhode Island, and maybe a little of Vermont.
He doesn’t walk, he advances.
One is written by and "expert," ESPN analyst Aaron Boone. Now, I have no particular problem with Boone, per se, but when I read something coming from a former major leaguer, I'm hoping for something a little more substantive than information that everybody knows and a tiny clubhouse anecdote. I want some real Todd Jones or Doug Glanville shit, ok ESPN?
One Million Dollars The Strasburggery has gotten out of hand. $100,000 for his 1/1 Red Autograph card? That's insanity. And the guy who bought his superfractor is already selling it again and has made a profit, which I guess means that he's not quite the fool that I took him for. Oh, and Topps is now selling $350 per pop autographs on Strasburg's Topps #661, of which only 300 will be offered, and only 119 have even been unlocked at this point. And the Finest redemptions and Red Hot Rookie redemptions are just adding fuel to the fire, likely withholding Strasburg's card until the bitter end.
It's all quite crazy, and to be honest I'm not sure how I feel about all of it. I'm wondering though...would anyone like to go all profit-share on a case of Bowman Chrome?
A Wolf, a Fox and an Oriole... This will be a future "M in the MLB" post if I ever get around to it, but it's worth mentioning at least that former Michigan catcher Jake Fox, after being designated for assignment last week was acquired by the Orioles yesteraday, leading to a Baltimore Sun comment section explosion of frustration, including my favorite
Would rather they picked up Edwin Encarnacion but he's not white and incompetent so he wouldn't fit into the O's plans.
Zing!
It also spawned an article exploring the connection between the O's and the Cubs, which is unsurprisingly robust given Andy MacPhail's history in the Cubs organization. This is not dissimilar to Dave Dombrowski's penchant for dealing with the Marlins and former Marlins (Robertson, Willis/Cabrera, Sheffield, Pudge, etc.) and I imagine that you could uncover a similar pattern of relationships with every team in baseball.
For what it's worth, Fox flied out to the wall in his O's debut last night, but will most likely provide more power to the Orioles than their entire first base platoon has all season.
Misc. A Cardboard Problem has a great interview with the new President of Upper Deck. Well done Sooz! Stale Gum is as disappointed as I am with Topps' Red Hot Rookie #2 selection. .225 1HR 2RBI is not "Red Hot." I kind of totally want these World Cup Cards. They are fantastic.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
The Grand Scheme Has A Quick Announcement To Make
I'm giving a way a metric ton of cards Yeah, that's right. You see, I live in a rowhouse in Baltimore City. For those of you not familiar, rowhouses are long, narrow and have no closets. Maximization of space is the name of the game. One thing that that is rather wasteful is a box (ahem...boxes) of cards that I don't particularly care about.
So I'm giving them away.
Kind of. Over the course of the next week or so, I will be hosting the "Grand Card Trade Down." Every day at 6pm, I will post a particular lot of cards that I will be giving away. The idea is simple: Make me an offer for them. Any offer will do and the best offer will win. I'll spell out the rules when I launch the first contest tomorrow, but I'm keeping things as simple as possible. All contests will run until 5:30pm the next day.
So, keep an eye out for this. I am literally trying to get rid of boxes of cards, some new, some old, some autographs, some relics, some oddballs etc. I need to get rid of 1000 cards AT LEAST. And all you need to do is offer me up an old Tom Brookens or something.
Day 1 of the contest will start tomorrow at 6pm!
In other news...
Demoted Rick Porcello was sent down to AAA after another rocky start yesterday. This is the right move. He's been having a rough time of it all year, with a sinker that isn't sinking and a slider that isn't sliding. He's only 21 years old and after seeing what a trip to Toledo did to Max Scherzer, it was a no-brainer. He'll be back at some point, probably after the All-Star Break. In the meantime, his fill-in is still a question mark.
Still Boesching the Ball Basho (Brennan Boesch for the uninitiated) is still punishing the baseball. He's actually played himself into being a legitimate All-Star threat, which is something that exactly zero people would have predicted at the start of the season, or even a month ago.
But I think the question of everybody's minds is, "Where does the Banana Tree stand relative to other rookies?" Well, Bless You Boys is glad you asked. They've got a complete rundown of stats that compare Jason Heyward to Basho. Guess who has a higher Batting Average, OBP, Slugging Percentage, OPS, and more Extra Base Hits in in 65 fewer at bats? Come on, guess.
Granderson makes his Pitching Debut This weekend was weird. On Friday former Tiger Dontrelle Willis pitched against the Tigers (and lost, unsurprisingly) against Armando Galarraga (his replacement). On Saturday, former Tiger Edwin Jackson took the mound. On Sunday, it was former D-back Max Scherzer...facing Ian Kenneday.
3 starters were on different teams explicitly because of the Granderson trade and one former Tiger (Willis) faced his replacement. The only pitcher to not have switched places on a roster in one way or another was Rick Porcello...who was demoted to Toledo after the game. What an odd weekend.
On Dizziness Miguel Cabrera left Friday's game with Dizziness. People were worried but Jim Leyland assuaged our fears.
Misc. I'm giving away cards in bunches large and small every day starting tomorrow. That's all you need to know.
So I'm giving them away.
Kind of. Over the course of the next week or so, I will be hosting the "Grand Card Trade Down." Every day at 6pm, I will post a particular lot of cards that I will be giving away. The idea is simple: Make me an offer for them. Any offer will do and the best offer will win. I'll spell out the rules when I launch the first contest tomorrow, but I'm keeping things as simple as possible. All contests will run until 5:30pm the next day.
So, keep an eye out for this. I am literally trying to get rid of boxes of cards, some new, some old, some autographs, some relics, some oddballs etc. I need to get rid of 1000 cards AT LEAST. And all you need to do is offer me up an old Tom Brookens or something.
Day 1 of the contest will start tomorrow at 6pm!
In other news...
Demoted Rick Porcello was sent down to AAA after another rocky start yesterday. This is the right move. He's been having a rough time of it all year, with a sinker that isn't sinking and a slider that isn't sliding. He's only 21 years old and after seeing what a trip to Toledo did to Max Scherzer, it was a no-brainer. He'll be back at some point, probably after the All-Star Break. In the meantime, his fill-in is still a question mark.
Still Boesching the Ball Basho (Brennan Boesch for the uninitiated) is still punishing the baseball. He's actually played himself into being a legitimate All-Star threat, which is something that exactly zero people would have predicted at the start of the season, or even a month ago.
But I think the question of everybody's minds is, "Where does the Banana Tree stand relative to other rookies?" Well, Bless You Boys is glad you asked. They've got a complete rundown of stats that compare Jason Heyward to Basho. Guess who has a higher Batting Average, OBP, Slugging Percentage, OPS, and more Extra Base Hits in in 65 fewer at bats? Come on, guess.
Granderson makes his Pitching Debut This weekend was weird. On Friday former Tiger Dontrelle Willis pitched against the Tigers (and lost, unsurprisingly) against Armando Galarraga (his replacement). On Saturday, former Tiger Edwin Jackson took the mound. On Sunday, it was former D-back Max Scherzer...facing Ian Kenneday.
3 starters were on different teams explicitly because of the Granderson trade and one former Tiger (Willis) faced his replacement. The only pitcher to not have switched places on a roster in one way or another was Rick Porcello...who was demoted to Toledo after the game. What an odd weekend.
On Dizziness Miguel Cabrera left Friday's game with Dizziness. People were worried but Jim Leyland assuaged our fears.
"Miguel got hit where it's not very comfortable and was dizzy,"Oh my god I've been there and it is a horrible horrible feeling. I'm not surprised that he wasn't taken out immediately, it's one of those things that just builds and builds until you just want to die. I shiver just thinking about it.
Misc. I'm giving away cards in bunches large and small every day starting tomorrow. That's all you need to know.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
The Grand Scheme Loses Faith in the Invisible Hand
Hold On To Your Loonies First, let me proclaim this: ATTENTION ALL TEAM COLLECTORS, the veritable Tunguska is hosting a 2010 Allen & Ginter CASE BREAK on his blog and as of right now, most teams are still available. I jumped on board as soon as I found out last night, and if you've got the cash to spare, I highly recommend that you do so as well. It's a case, for goodness sake. Think of the minis!
Also, Tunguska is a Canadian, and is charging just $45 Canadian per slot, which means that you can take advantage of our northern brother's favorable exchang...wait, WHAT?!?!
The Canadian dollar is currently worth more than it's American counterpart. $.97 to the Looney. It was as low as $.92 in May. In fact, monthly averages haven't shown a favorable exchange rate since February 2008 (when $1.00146 would buy us a Canadian buck). I knew things were bad in the US, but geez. This really puts things in perspective.
Even so, I recommend that you sign up for the group break if you're still looking for a way to get your A&G fix.
I think in Philly, you're considered a bad parent if you don't let your kids drink beer
Sweet mother of God, Philadelphia. You embarrass us all.
Big Potato Day Yesterday was the anniversary of Dan Quayle infamously telling a spelling bee contender that his Potato was "missing a little something on the end" (it was the E). To celebrate this, I was going to show a fancy new baseball card of the Tigers' own Big Potato, Jose Valverde. So, I went to my Series 2 pile to pull him out only to find...no Potato. Here's a pitcher who currently has an ERA under 0.70 for the Tigers and is as dominant a closer as exists in the AL and I don't have a Series 2 card of him? Considering that he was in Series 1 (as an Astro), I guess I can't complain too much, but if you're going to give me Phil Coke, why not go the extra mile with the Tigers' big free agent signing?
Still not an All-Star The latest All Star ballot results came out Monday and Miguel Cabrera is still in 3rd place among AL first basemen. This is the player that is leading the league in Home Runs. And RBIs. and has a .330 batting average. And a 1.062 OPS!
The silver light is that Justin Morneau (who, I begrudgingly admit, is also extremely deserving of All Star status) has overtaken Mark Teixeira. The worry was that the undeserving Teixeira would win the fans' vote, with Morneau selected by the players and Cabrera out in the cold...again. This is essentially what happened last year, but would be far more criminal in this season, aka "the best individual season by a Tigers player in history."
But don't take my word for it:
That's Jim Leyland, who is actually notoriously stingy with praise for his own players. But he also doesn't pull punches and he's saying what we're all thinking. If Miguel Cabrera isn't an All Star, they might as well not even play the game.
Johnny Damon goes a step further:
Also, Cabrera is 26. You may now pick your jaws up off the floor.
It's worth noting that this isn't the first time that Damon has praised Cabrera. A Bless You Boys post from back in February includes this snippet (from Jason Beck initially):
Cooling down Austin Jackson was benched last night with some back troubles, which comes in the midst of a dramatic cool-down, in which he is batting a weak .220/.235/.280 in June and is 4-41 since his 4-hit came on June 3. This is probably just a regular slump, albeit one that drags him down to the general levels he should have been in all along (.300 hitter, good XBH power), and isn't too much to be worried about. He's no Bashó after all...
I will say this about Jackson, which I may have said at other points so far this season. I am really impressed with what he has done, especially defensively. I think that he is going to be an excellent player for the Tigers for years to come and may become the career Tiger fan-favorite fans lost when Granderson was traded.
Speaking of Bashó The Free Press today makes the case for Brennan Boesch over Austin Jackson has rookie of the year:
What's that you say? That quote was all about Miguel Cabrera? Hmm...maybe because that's the basis of Samuelson's argument for The Banana Tree to win the ROY. Protection. He even calls himself out on it:
Rookie Redemptions Which brings me back to something that I brought up yesterday: Are we going to get a Jackson or Boesch rookie redemption card of some sort? I certainly hope so and here's why:
This is the Tigers' lone rookie redemption card from the last few years--a Rick Porcello refractor (#/199) from 2009 Finest. It is a fabulous card which is an excellent addition to the team set. I would absolutely love to see Jackson or Boesch have a similar offering in 2010 Finest. It is worth noting, by the way, that though Porcello was the top of the class in 2009, he was the 9th (of 10) redemption, announced towards the end of the year. I guess there's no arguing with the hype machine, especially in this day and age.
As I write this, the Indians' Carlos Santana was announced as Topps Red Hot Rookie #1, meaning that everyone with redemptions 2 and above just saw the value of their cards increase incrementally.
Misc. I don't have much to say about other things at the moment, so I'll relegate them to here. Ooh! Except this: The custom-designed Infinite Baseball Card set, which I regrettably missed out on before it was pulled for legal reasons, has an update set available with new players! This should avoid the legal messiness that he faced before. These cards are really nice looking and I think I'm going to pick them up, although the OCD in me now wants to seek out the other 10 cards that he discontinued. Topps Attax has a follow-up set called "Battle of the Ages" in which Verlander and Cobb both have cards. They will be added to the Topps Attax gallery. Speaking of Galleries: I'm waiting on a few more cards to trickle in, but a Topps S2 gallery is in the offing. Following up on my Michigan draft posts, the Michigan Daily has a good rundown of the five 2010 draftees. Also, an excellent story on the best home-field advantage in sports. More Michigan stuff? How about the fact that realignment is what made Michigan a Big-10 power in the first place. Fingers crossed that the new realignment does the same thing. Tigers go for the sweep tonight with Verlander on the mound in a series in which they didn't have to face Stephen Strasburg, which is probably a bad thing given the ticket sales it could have brought.
Also, Tunguska is a Canadian, and is charging just $45 Canadian per slot, which means that you can take advantage of our northern brother's favorable exchang...wait, WHAT?!?!
The Canadian dollar is currently worth more than it's American counterpart. $.97 to the Looney. It was as low as $.92 in May. In fact, monthly averages haven't shown a favorable exchange rate since February 2008 (when $1.00146 would buy us a Canadian buck). I knew things were bad in the US, but geez. This really puts things in perspective.
Even so, I recommend that you sign up for the group break if you're still looking for a way to get your A&G fix.
I think in Philly, you're considered a bad parent if you don't let your kids drink beer
Sweet mother of God, Philadelphia. You embarrass us all.
Big Potato Day Yesterday was the anniversary of Dan Quayle infamously telling a spelling bee contender that his Potato was "missing a little something on the end" (it was the E). To celebrate this, I was going to show a fancy new baseball card of the Tigers' own Big Potato, Jose Valverde. So, I went to my Series 2 pile to pull him out only to find...no Potato. Here's a pitcher who currently has an ERA under 0.70 for the Tigers and is as dominant a closer as exists in the AL and I don't have a Series 2 card of him? Considering that he was in Series 1 (as an Astro), I guess I can't complain too much, but if you're going to give me Phil Coke, why not go the extra mile with the Tigers' big free agent signing?
Still not an All-Star The latest All Star ballot results came out Monday and Miguel Cabrera is still in 3rd place among AL first basemen. This is the player that is leading the league in Home Runs. And RBIs. and has a .330 batting average. And a 1.062 OPS!
The silver light is that Justin Morneau (who, I begrudgingly admit, is also extremely deserving of All Star status) has overtaken Mark Teixeira. The worry was that the undeserving Teixeira would win the fans' vote, with Morneau selected by the players and Cabrera out in the cold...again. This is essentially what happened last year, but would be far more criminal in this season, aka "the best individual season by a Tigers player in history."
But don't take my word for it:
"You have to be careful when you talk about personal things, but like I said, if Miguel Cabrera's not on the All-Star team, then you might as well not have an All-Star team."
That's Jim Leyland, who is actually notoriously stingy with praise for his own players. But he also doesn't pull punches and he's saying what we're all thinking. If Miguel Cabrera isn't an All Star, they might as well not even play the game.
Johnny Damon goes a step further:
"He's in a class by himself. I haven't got to see (Albert) Pujols play too often, but what he's doing, especially in this ballpark ... this ballpark could be the only thing that keeps him from winning the Triple Crown. He's that good. The thing is, he still has a chance to be that Triple Crown candidate."This is his direct response to a question about how Cabrera compares to ARod and David Ortiz. Yeah, I'd say that's pretty good praise.
Also, Cabrera is 26. You may now pick your jaws up off the floor.
It's worth noting that this isn't the first time that Damon has praised Cabrera. A Bless You Boys post from back in February includes this snippet (from Jason Beck initially):
[Cabrera] is going to win an MVP before he's done. Magglio is on his contract year."And he's right. Cabrera is having an MVP-caliber season, and Magglio Ordonez has performed like Magglio Ordonez always has save for the first half of last year. There's something to say for track records, I suppose. Although he's not actually in a contract year as much as he's in an "I better play well enough for the Tigers not to bench me so that I am automatically re-upped to another elephant-caravan load of money" year. Still, no complaints from this end.
Cabrera's eyes widened as he looked over attentively. Damon smiled back.
"That's right, MVP, baby," Damon said. "And then you take me to dinner."
Cooling down Austin Jackson was benched last night with some back troubles, which comes in the midst of a dramatic cool-down, in which he is batting a weak .220/.235/.280 in June and is 4-41 since his 4-hit came on June 3. This is probably just a regular slump, albeit one that drags him down to the general levels he should have been in all along (.300 hitter, good XBH power), and isn't too much to be worried about. He's no Bashó after all...
I will say this about Jackson, which I may have said at other points so far this season. I am really impressed with what he has done, especially defensively. I think that he is going to be an excellent player for the Tigers for years to come and may become the career Tiger fan-favorite fans lost when Granderson was traded.
Speaking of Bashó The Free Press today makes the case for Brennan Boesch over Austin Jackson has rookie of the year:
The Tigers first baseman is having a season to end all seasons. He finally will make the All-Star Game as a Tiger. He will be invited to take part in the Home Run Derby. And he’ll take his rightful place in the conversation that starts with, “Who is the best player in the game not named Albert Pujols?”
What's that you say? That quote was all about Miguel Cabrera? Hmm...maybe because that's the basis of Samuelson's argument for The Banana Tree to win the ROY. Protection. He even calls himself out on it:
Sometimes, a little too much credit is given to “protection” in the lineup. Ultimately, it’s still Cabrera doing the damage. He’s the stud. Boesch is the supporting player. But the bottom of the Tigers' lineup is so offensively challenged that the rookie has been the key to keep it going.Indeed, sometimes too much credit is given to protection, sometimes not enough. The fact is, Boesch has excelled in his role and has both provided protection for Cabrera and inflicted a bunch of damage on his own. At the same time, just as Jackson has hit a cool streak, it is only a matter of time before Boesch--a .250 hitter in the minors--comes down somewhat as well. Bashó has surprised and impressed all of us, and if, come the end of the season, he has outperformed Jackson, and the rest of the AL rookie class, then he deserves the award for sure. I'm just not sure that a month and a half of production is enough to make the distinction yet, although it's certainly enough to put him at the forefront of the conversation.
Rookie Redemptions Which brings me back to something that I brought up yesterday: Are we going to get a Jackson or Boesch rookie redemption card of some sort? I certainly hope so and here's why:
This is the Tigers' lone rookie redemption card from the last few years--a Rick Porcello refractor (#/199) from 2009 Finest. It is a fabulous card which is an excellent addition to the team set. I would absolutely love to see Jackson or Boesch have a similar offering in 2010 Finest. It is worth noting, by the way, that though Porcello was the top of the class in 2009, he was the 9th (of 10) redemption, announced towards the end of the year. I guess there's no arguing with the hype machine, especially in this day and age.
As I write this, the Indians' Carlos Santana was announced as Topps Red Hot Rookie #1, meaning that everyone with redemptions 2 and above just saw the value of their cards increase incrementally.
Misc. I don't have much to say about other things at the moment, so I'll relegate them to here. Ooh! Except this: The custom-designed Infinite Baseball Card set, which I regrettably missed out on before it was pulled for legal reasons, has an update set available with new players! This should avoid the legal messiness that he faced before. These cards are really nice looking and I think I'm going to pick them up, although the OCD in me now wants to seek out the other 10 cards that he discontinued. Topps Attax has a follow-up set called "Battle of the Ages" in which Verlander and Cobb both have cards. They will be added to the Topps Attax gallery. Speaking of Galleries: I'm waiting on a few more cards to trickle in, but a Topps S2 gallery is in the offing. Following up on my Michigan draft posts, the Michigan Daily has a good rundown of the five 2010 draftees. Also, an excellent story on the best home-field advantage in sports. More Michigan stuff? How about the fact that realignment is what made Michigan a Big-10 power in the first place. Fingers crossed that the new realignment does the same thing. Tigers go for the sweep tonight with Verlander on the mound in a series in which they didn't have to face Stephen Strasburg, which is probably a bad thing given the ticket sales it could have brought.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
The Grand Scheme Realizes Life Is Just One Crushing Defeat After Another Until You Just Wish Flanders Was Dead
Update #1 Bud Selig is in high-level discussions about the perfect game and will issue a statement today. (From Jon Heyman @ SI.com)
Update #2 Jim Leyland will have Armando Galarraga bring out the lineup card today and shake hands with Jim Joyce, who is the home plate umpire today. (From Jason Beck's Twitter) That's a classy move.
Update #3 Bud Selig will not overturn the call. Jerk.
Context OMG! Did you see So You Think You Can Dance and America's Got Talent! Could you believe it when that one judge gave an X when he totally shouldn't have! They need get replay on in there, or at least the commissioner should step in or something. Also Armando Galarraga threw a Perfect Game last night. Except not. See for yourself.
No, I wasn't watching reality TV last night. But wasn't watching the game either. In fact, I flipped over to the Tigers' website at 9:10 or so to check the score and saw the headline "Galarraga's Perfect Game Lost On Blown Call on 27th batter," or something to that effect. I spent the next 15 minutes trying to gather all the information that I could. Then I watched the video on MLB.TV. Then I lived the rest of my evening in stunned shock and anger as I tried to wrap my head around what happened.
Then I went to sleep.
Now it's this morning and my brain has things all sorted out.
Overturn The Call Ok. Let's get the controversial ideas out of the way, shall we? The consensus is some sort of amalgamation of opinions that leads to something like this:
Boy, it's really a shame that this happened to Armando Galarraga, and if only there was something we could do about it because MLB will never over turn the call, and they really shouldn't because it opens up a can of worms that sends us all into a baseball death spiral in which history is rewritten and the Cubs didn't blow the 2003 NLCS because Bartman was nullified and life as we know it would end. Also, Replay.
One: I'll get to replay in a minute
Two: I know how to take care of cans of worms.
Three: What happened last night was unprecedented. When unprecedented things happen, the initial thought is that there is nothing that can be done about it, mostly because nothing has been done about it before. Because it was unprecedented. Ironically, there is some precedent for dealing with unprecedented things:
That's from the most unprecedented of them all: Bush v. Gore (2000)--the case that effectively decided the 2000 Presidential Election. In an unprecedented case, the court used some unprecedented terms: "Our consideration is limited to the present circumstances" as in, if we applied this decision to all Equal Protection law, we would open up more cans of worms than the whole world could eat. So instead, the decision was made on this case and this case alone and can't be applied to any other case. Done.*
What I'm saying is that Bud Selig has the power to change the ruling. He could do so with a limiting clause that says that this decision was made in this case and this case alone and can not be used as precedent in any other baseball events past, present or future. It could happen. Worms avoided.
Of course, it won't happen because this is baseball, and the force of history is too strong and the strength of tradition too great. Nobody wants to be the one that screws with how the game is supposed to be played, and I get that. But this whole thing got me thinking: instead of issuing a decree declaring a Perfect Game as described above and leaving people to swallow it, Selig could actually do something that creates an applicable rule for situations exactly like this one that could be applied from here on out. Let's give it a shot.
*Legal scholars dispute the legitimacy of this, but it doesn't really matter because we're talking about baseball and not constitutional law. In more irony, I am using, as precedent, a case that was explicitly noted as being unable to serve as precedent.
The Armando Galarraga Rule The big concern about Bud Selig stepping in is precedent. Craig Calcaterra--a law talkin' guy himself--describes the risks of such an act.
So let's draw the line. Using the parlance of the baseball rulebook:
---
Rule 10.23 - Perfect Games
(a) definition of perfect game
A perfect game may also be granted by the Commissioner of Baseball, or a duly appointed review committee if, and only if, the following circumstances are in place.
(b) A Pitcher has thrown a Perfect Game through 26 batters;
(c) On a batted ball in play, the 27th batter is ruled safe by an umpire even though video review of the play after the fact shows conclusively that the player was ruled safe by error;
(d) The subsequent 28th batter makes an out to end the game.
In this, and only this situation, a Perfect Game will be granted to the pitcher through the following mechanisms:
e) The official scorer will rule an error on the umpire for the 27th batter, denoted "E-U";
f) The pitcher will be credited with recording on Out on the 27th batter;
g) The pitcher will be credited with a Perfect Game in which he recorded 28 outs
Review of plays for Umpire Error can only be made after the game has been completed and cannot affect the Win-Loss outcome of the game.
---
So, how do you like it? It puts a new rule in place that is very limited in scope and doesn't affect the outcome of the games or send us sliding down a slippery slope. I like it. Please note, a similar rule can be put in place for no-hitters and other key milestones. The jist is: treat it like an error, that can only be ruled retroactively on the should-be last batter. It is statistical validation, much like changing a hit to an error, and nothing more. But it's something.
Replay! To me, adding a rule like this is much less jarring than the wholescale implementation of Instant Replay that so many people are calling for. Craig Calcaterra is screaming for it.
But Jerry Crasnick makes the case for why replay would have been a thief of joy in the situation:
To which I say Bah. Galarraga had his euphoria for a split second, it's just that it was stolen away from him. I hypothesize that if you go frame by frame that you can pinpoint the exact moment that Galarraga's heart rips in half. If nothing else, replay would have given him relief and validation.
Still, I'm compelled to channel the thoughts of my friend Butter, who is an Umpire and a Tigers fan and spoke with me extensively on the issue:
He continues by describing the unintended consequences of such a system. Say the situation was different and instant replay is now available for bang-bang calls like this. If runners advance on a disputed call, for example, how do you deal with that? What bases are they allowed? What if runs scored? All of a sudden, you have realistic situations in which you my dramatically reshape the game by altering the result of plays that happen during the course of the disputed play. If nothing else, it is nearly impossible to codify every possible scenario into the rule book to account for replays like this, and I'm not a fan of that.
What's more, I'm a child of the replay era. I was there when the Big Ten was the first college conference to implement replay in football. I've seen it evolve and here's what I notice: Replay removes balls.
It takes officials and makes default towards making the non-controversial call, regardless of whether it is right or wrong. In football it happens an egregious amount. In baseball, with the sheer number of close plays in a game and the number of games in a season, it will be unbearable. I think ultimately, while replay will be able to get these plays right, we will see that Umpires will get them wrong more often than they do now, and the quality of the officiating will decrease, leading to more replay, leading to more disruption. It's a slippery slope that I don't want to be a part of.
That being said, you could do two things: The first is to use replay to review umpires on their ability to make these calls. This probably already happens, and if it doesn't, it should. The second is that if you're going to insist on Replay, leave it up to the Manager. Each manager gets one challenge per game in which he can ask for replay on a call like this. To activate his challenge the manager needs to come out of the dugout, scream in the face of the umpire for no less than 45 seconds and kick dirt on his pants. Throwing bases is optional.
The Other Stuff I'm sure you've all read everybody's reactions and comments and so forth, and because this is already really freaking long I'll spare you the extra linkage and quotes. Instead, bullets:
Update #2 Jim Leyland will have Armando Galarraga bring out the lineup card today and shake hands with Jim Joyce, who is the home plate umpire today. (From Jason Beck's Twitter) That's a classy move.
Update #3 Bud Selig will not overturn the call. Jerk.
Context OMG! Did you see So You Think You Can Dance and America's Got Talent! Could you believe it when that one judge gave an X when he totally shouldn't have! They need get replay on in there, or at least the commissioner should step in or something. Also Armando Galarraga threw a Perfect Game last night. Except not. See for yourself.
No, I wasn't watching reality TV last night. But wasn't watching the game either. In fact, I flipped over to the Tigers' website at 9:10 or so to check the score and saw the headline "Galarraga's Perfect Game Lost On Blown Call on 27th batter," or something to that effect. I spent the next 15 minutes trying to gather all the information that I could. Then I watched the video on MLB.TV. Then I lived the rest of my evening in stunned shock and anger as I tried to wrap my head around what happened.
Then I went to sleep.
Now it's this morning and my brain has things all sorted out.
Overturn The Call Ok. Let's get the controversial ideas out of the way, shall we? The consensus is some sort of amalgamation of opinions that leads to something like this:
Boy, it's really a shame that this happened to Armando Galarraga, and if only there was something we could do about it because MLB will never over turn the call, and they really shouldn't because it opens up a can of worms that sends us all into a baseball death spiral in which history is rewritten and the Cubs didn't blow the 2003 NLCS because Bartman was nullified and life as we know it would end. Also, Replay.
One: I'll get to replay in a minute
Two: I know how to take care of cans of worms.
Three: What happened last night was unprecedented. When unprecedented things happen, the initial thought is that there is nothing that can be done about it, mostly because nothing has been done about it before. Because it was unprecedented. Ironically, there is some precedent for dealing with unprecedented things:
The recount process, in its features here described, is inconsistent with the minimum procedures necessary to protect the fundamental right of each voter in the special instance of a statewide recount under the authority of a single state judicial officer. Our consideration is limited to the present circumstances, for the problem of equal protection in election processes generally presents many complexities.
That's from the most unprecedented of them all: Bush v. Gore (2000)--the case that effectively decided the 2000 Presidential Election. In an unprecedented case, the court used some unprecedented terms: "Our consideration is limited to the present circumstances" as in, if we applied this decision to all Equal Protection law, we would open up more cans of worms than the whole world could eat. So instead, the decision was made on this case and this case alone and can't be applied to any other case. Done.*
What I'm saying is that Bud Selig has the power to change the ruling. He could do so with a limiting clause that says that this decision was made in this case and this case alone and can not be used as precedent in any other baseball events past, present or future. It could happen. Worms avoided.
Of course, it won't happen because this is baseball, and the force of history is too strong and the strength of tradition too great. Nobody wants to be the one that screws with how the game is supposed to be played, and I get that. But this whole thing got me thinking: instead of issuing a decree declaring a Perfect Game as described above and leaving people to swallow it, Selig could actually do something that creates an applicable rule for situations exactly like this one that could be applied from here on out. Let's give it a shot.
*Legal scholars dispute the legitimacy of this, but it doesn't really matter because we're talking about baseball and not constitutional law. In more irony, I am using, as precedent, a case that was explicitly noted as being unable to serve as precedent.
The Armando Galarraga Rule The big concern about Bud Selig stepping in is precedent. Craig Calcaterra--a law talkin' guy himself--describes the risks of such an act.
And doing so risks an awful lot. Why retroactively overturn this call and not others? Bad calls happen all the time. Should Bud Selig be in the business of changing the outcomes of games in which outs were called on trapped balls? Should he demand that a game be started over from the top of the sixth inning when the umpires missed a balk? It's an overused phrase, but it's overused for a reason: where do you draw the line?
So let's draw the line. Using the parlance of the baseball rulebook:
---
Rule 10.23 - Perfect Games
(a) definition of perfect game
A perfect game may also be granted by the Commissioner of Baseball, or a duly appointed review committee if, and only if, the following circumstances are in place.
(b) A Pitcher has thrown a Perfect Game through 26 batters;
(c) On a batted ball in play, the 27th batter is ruled safe by an umpire even though video review of the play after the fact shows conclusively that the player was ruled safe by error;
(d) The subsequent 28th batter makes an out to end the game.
In this, and only this situation, a Perfect Game will be granted to the pitcher through the following mechanisms:
e) The official scorer will rule an error on the umpire for the 27th batter, denoted "E-U";
f) The pitcher will be credited with recording on Out on the 27th batter;
g) The pitcher will be credited with a Perfect Game in which he recorded 28 outs
Review of plays for Umpire Error can only be made after the game has been completed and cannot affect the Win-Loss outcome of the game.
---
So, how do you like it? It puts a new rule in place that is very limited in scope and doesn't affect the outcome of the games or send us sliding down a slippery slope. I like it. Please note, a similar rule can be put in place for no-hitters and other key milestones. The jist is: treat it like an error, that can only be ruled retroactively on the should-be last batter. It is statistical validation, much like changing a hit to an error, and nothing more. But it's something.
Replay! To me, adding a rule like this is much less jarring than the wholescale implementation of Instant Replay that so many people are calling for. Craig Calcaterra is screaming for it.
It is absolutely imperative that baseball implement some form of replay now. This season, before the playoffs. The best way, in my view, is to simply station a fifth umpire in the official scorer's box. Give him the same feed the broadcast guys have. Give him a buzzer and, when an obviously bad call like this one happens, have him call down to the crew chief and overturn the call. In practice it won't take long. In function it will be no different than an on-the-field conference in which calls are changed every day. There is no reason this can't work and there's no reason it shouldn't be implemented.
But Jerry Crasnick makes the case for why replay would have been a thief of joy in the situation:
Inevitably, the game's sad ending is going to elicit an outcry for expanded use of instant replay. It's a worthwhile debate, but consider this for a second: How gratifying would it have felt if Joyce's botched call was followed by a trip to the replay booth, a five-minute conference, the umpiring crew emerging from the tunnel and Joyce throwing up his right arm with an "out" sign.
Yes, Galarraga would have had his perfect game, on paper, but that single transcendent moment of celebration is something that can never be retrieved. In baseball or any other sport, winners don't get mulligans on euphoria.
To which I say Bah. Galarraga had his euphoria for a split second, it's just that it was stolen away from him. I hypothesize that if you go frame by frame that you can pinpoint the exact moment that Galarraga's heart rips in half. If nothing else, replay would have given him relief and validation.
Still, I'm compelled to channel the thoughts of my friend Butter, who is an Umpire and a Tigers fan and spoke with me extensively on the issue:
I feel like my heart was just ripped out of my chest, and still I can't stand the thought of adding instant replay
He continues by describing the unintended consequences of such a system. Say the situation was different and instant replay is now available for bang-bang calls like this. If runners advance on a disputed call, for example, how do you deal with that? What bases are they allowed? What if runs scored? All of a sudden, you have realistic situations in which you my dramatically reshape the game by altering the result of plays that happen during the course of the disputed play. If nothing else, it is nearly impossible to codify every possible scenario into the rule book to account for replays like this, and I'm not a fan of that.
What's more, I'm a child of the replay era. I was there when the Big Ten was the first college conference to implement replay in football. I've seen it evolve and here's what I notice: Replay removes balls.
It takes officials and makes default towards making the non-controversial call, regardless of whether it is right or wrong. In football it happens an egregious amount. In baseball, with the sheer number of close plays in a game and the number of games in a season, it will be unbearable. I think ultimately, while replay will be able to get these plays right, we will see that Umpires will get them wrong more often than they do now, and the quality of the officiating will decrease, leading to more replay, leading to more disruption. It's a slippery slope that I don't want to be a part of.
That being said, you could do two things: The first is to use replay to review umpires on their ability to make these calls. This probably already happens, and if it doesn't, it should. The second is that if you're going to insist on Replay, leave it up to the Manager. Each manager gets one challenge per game in which he can ask for replay on a call like this. To activate his challenge the manager needs to come out of the dugout, scream in the face of the umpire for no less than 45 seconds and kick dirt on his pants. Throwing bases is optional.
The Other Stuff I'm sure you've all read everybody's reactions and comments and so forth, and because this is already really freaking long I'll spare you the extra linkage and quotes. Instead, bullets:
- Austin Jackson's catch was absolutely unbelievable. Look how far he ran!
- Jim Joyce is not dead, nor should he be. He admitted his mistake completely and his quote rings of remorse and honesty:
"I just cost that kid a perfect game," Joyce said afterward. "I thought he beat the throw. I was convinced he beat the throw until I saw the replay."
It was a bad call, and he blew it, but he wasn't a dick about it. - Miguel Cabrera is my hero, for letting Joyce hear it for the entirety of the next batter
- Armando Galarraga is clearly one of the most likable players on the team. May I please direct you to a post I wrote last year called "Can anybody not love Armando Galarraga?" He's just a genuinely good guy.
- Kudos to all the Tigers for supporting their teammate
- Armando, for what it's worth, your perfect game will be remembered more than just about any of the other ones in history. You did it. Congratulations
- Thanks to Claire for the idea for the title of the post
Friday, May 28, 2010
The Grand Scheme Feels Like A Giant
The Little GuysI don't know if you're one to peruse the comments around here, but if you were you may have noticed this snippet:
That was my wife's partial response to the Anniversary note. Of course, these tiny cards were at the forefront of her mind, because I've recently been blessed with a constant flow of A&G Minis in the mailbox. I decided I needed to backfill some collections, and 2006 and 2007 mini cards were high on the list. When all was said and done I had 22 new minis to call my own. Here's a taste:
I'm this close to being completely caught up with those sets.
The Big Guy A few weeks ago when Ernie Harwell passed the Tigers held a brief ceremony before the game. They also provided fans with a commemorative card--the specifics of which were very unclear when it was announced. Well, my family was at the game, saved one of the cards and sent it my way, where it arrived yesterday. Thanks Dad! I feel like this would look very nice in an understated frame.
For the record, this is roughly cabinet card size. It's pretty big.
The Empire Strikes Back This blog's arch nemesis has struck again, this time infuriating a professional, grizzled blogger to the point of italicizing his frustration for extra emphasis The offending paragraph:
...and the italics:
Lynn Henning.
Topps Series 2 Series 2 is out and I'm excited. There really seems to be some good stuff in there. Also, not so good stuff:
These are all basically the same card. One is cool. Ten(!) is lame. Dial it down Topps, you've already ruined a good idea.
Also lame: the fact that Justin Verlander (2006) and Rick Porcello (2009) are featured in the "Cards Your Mother Threw Out" insert set. No she didn't. There is no reason that anything after 1980 should be included in this set, much less cards that are less than 5 years old. Another decent idea that went way, way too far.
There's good stuff too, but I'm still wrapping my head around the whole set. I hope to have cards trickle into my possession over the next week or so so that I can give a more complete evaluation.
Misc. I thought, since it's been a long time since a Grand Scheme, that I'd have a lot to say. Not so much, I guess. In links, how about funding a good cause by buying this wrong on many levels Kirk Gibson Kansas City Royals Card? Come on. Do us all a favor.
I like the tiny ones the best. I enjoy holding them between my thumb and forefinger and pretending that I am a giant.
That was my wife's partial response to the Anniversary note. Of course, these tiny cards were at the forefront of her mind, because I've recently been blessed with a constant flow of A&G Minis in the mailbox. I decided I needed to backfill some collections, and 2006 and 2007 mini cards were high on the list. When all was said and done I had 22 new minis to call my own. Here's a taste:
 |  |  |  |
I'm this close to being completely caught up with those sets.
The Big Guy A few weeks ago when Ernie Harwell passed the Tigers held a brief ceremony before the game. They also provided fans with a commemorative card--the specifics of which were very unclear when it was announced. Well, my family was at the game, saved one of the cards and sent it my way, where it arrived yesterday. Thanks Dad! I feel like this would look very nice in an understated frame.
For the record, this is roughly cabinet card size. It's pretty big.
The Empire Strikes Back This blog's arch nemesis has struck again, this time infuriating a professional, grizzled blogger to the point of italicizing his frustration for extra emphasis The offending paragraph:
Once upon a time it was Michigan State that got into all the trouble. It was East Lansing where there were stability problems. …
Michigan State is now the regional example for how a Big Ten athletic program should be run. There was a bad mess with November's dormitory fracas. But between Mark Dantonio's reconstructed football program and Tom Izzo's spotless work in making MSU basketball an elite and ongoing force, MSU has become the Michigan of 20 and 30 years ago, while Michigan has taken MSU's unenviable place as the campus where too much bad sports news originates.
...and the italics:
"Fracas"? The number of kids kicked off the team reached double digits! It was the second consecutive year a large group of Michigan State football players descended upon a group of innocent bystanders and heard the lamentation of the women! Just the most recent incident has outstripped the entire Rodriguez era when it comes to player arrests… by a factor of five! Dantonio was directly responsible for the second incident because he let Glenn Winston walk out of jail and directly on to a practice field! This is brushed off in a single sentence!This is MGoBlog, the blog by which all blogs should balance their blog-scales for awesomeness. The offending writer is none other than everybody's favorite...
Lynn Henning.
Topps Series 2 Series 2 is out and I'm excited. There really seems to be some good stuff in there. Also, not so good stuff:
These are all basically the same card. One is cool. Ten(!) is lame. Dial it down Topps, you've already ruined a good idea.
Also lame: the fact that Justin Verlander (2006) and Rick Porcello (2009) are featured in the "Cards Your Mother Threw Out" insert set. No she didn't. There is no reason that anything after 1980 should be included in this set, much less cards that are less than 5 years old. Another decent idea that went way, way too far.
There's good stuff too, but I'm still wrapping my head around the whole set. I hope to have cards trickle into my possession over the next week or so so that I can give a more complete evaluation.
Misc. I thought, since it's been a long time since a Grand Scheme, that I'd have a lot to say. Not so much, I guess. In links, how about funding a good cause by buying this wrong on many levels Kirk Gibson Kansas City Royals Card? Come on. Do us all a favor.
Monday, May 17, 2010
"Basho," The Grand Scheme Named Himself, "Banana Tree."
Basho!
So why "Basho?" Have you seen this kid?
image from the Detroit News
That's Brennan Boesch. He is awesome. He was called up to the Tigers to fill in for an injured Carlos Guillen and has set the world on fire in the meantime. As it stands now he is hitting a cool .380 and is third on the team with 19 RBIs. He's only played in 19 games. Also, he has come through in all sorts of situations--setting the table, with runners on, vs lefties, vs righties. The kid is good.
And he loves his mom:
Anyway, every time I hear his name, which has been often considering how well he has hit I think "Basho," and then in my head go "Banana Tree." So from now on, that's what I'm calling him. Get on it now, it's going to be a thing.
Switching it up As you might have noticed, something funny is happening with Carlos Guillen. Once he is healthy again, he will be the Tigers' starting second baseman, marking the sixth (!) position that he has played for the team since 2007.
This is the forced-hand that the Tigers had to play with The Banana Tree (it'll catch on) crushing the ball all over the place. Who cares if some nerd thinks that it's not going to last.
Shove it, math. You can't keep The Banana Tree down.
Anyway, the Guillen move is the end result of a more seismic shift of the team's roster composition. Scherzer and Sizemore have been sent down to AAA. Armando Galarraga is back up, and pitched the team to a big win yesterday. Danny Worth fills in at Second Base, making him the Fifth position player to make his major league debut with the Tigers this season. I'm not in the mood to look this sort of thing up, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that has never happened before in Tigers history, September call-ups excluded. [Update: Bless You Boys tells us that the last time five Tigers made their major league debut in the same season was during the first five games of 1922.]
All of this caps off a convoluted few days that saw Ryan Raburn sent down Alfredo Figaro called up, the sent back down, Casper Wells up, presumably down, then not, then Sizemore and Scherzer down and Galarraga and Worth up.
Just keep winning, I guess, and I'll stop staring so hard trying to figure out what's happening.
Ernie v. Bo An eternal battle in heaven? Way back when I talked about an the old story that concludes with Ernie Harwell was fired by Bo Schembechler and the world imploded upon itself.
Some digging (and revisionist history?) may change things a little bit. In this version, both Bo and Ernie are the good guys, just the way it always was and always should be (Hat Tip to mgoblog:
The bottom line: Everybody knows that Ernie and Bo are great American Heroes and if you don't like you can just go and move to Stenchburg.
Where's Curtis? Once upon a time Curtis Granderson was the end all and be all of this blog. Then he was a Yankee and then he got hurt. We still love Curtis over here though, so we are saddened to learn that his recovery is not progressing particularly well.
The sooner the better, I say. Baseball is a better game with Curtis Granderson in it. Also, I maintain that he will proceed to have an excellent season with the Yankees, despite his troubles prior to his injury. Baseball is a game of hot and cold.
What is this, High School? High school coaches are notorious for making roster and playing time decisions on factors other than how good a player actually is. If you played a sport then you know this. Well apparently, it extends beyond the halls of High School.
It's sad, though. There have been numerous reports that indicate that Leyland would give up everything to have made it to the Major Leagues. In a different era he would have. As his former manager explains
Misc. Justin Verlander is too pretty for a Mohawk, I guess I need to apologize to Jason Davies for drawing him with such feminine eyes. Detroit is looking create an ordinance that would require teams to pay for the use of police and crowd control at games at events. The fact that this hasn't been in place for the last decade, at least, is indicative of the horrible mismanagement of city government. I've been a huge fan of just about everything Dave Bing has said since he took office. Michigan won the National Championship in (club) Lacrosse. This is their 3rd straight National Championship. Can we have D-I now plz? More Guillen at second base talk.
Slow dulcimer, gavotte and bow, in autumn,This, from "Impossible To Tell" by Robert Pinsky, the former Poet Laureate. It is worth noting that there is also a basho-bananatree.blogspot.com which may reveal that my intellect may not be as sharp as opening a blog post with poetry would indicate. It's really just the Simpsons. *sigh*
Basho and his friends go out to view the moon;
In summer, gasoline rainbow in the gutter,
The secret courtesy that courses like ichor
Through the old form of the rude, full-scale joke,
Impossible to tell in writing. "Basho"
He named himself, "Banana Tree"
So why "Basho?" Have you seen this kid?
That's Brennan Boesch. He is awesome. He was called up to the Tigers to fill in for an injured Carlos Guillen and has set the world on fire in the meantime. As it stands now he is hitting a cool .380 and is third on the team with 19 RBIs. He's only played in 19 games. Also, he has come through in all sorts of situations--setting the table, with runners on, vs lefties, vs righties. The kid is good.
And he loves his mom:
He has contributed in every way, with clutch hits and aggressive swings and extra-base power. But, uh, no, he wasn't going to meld even further with a snazzy haircut.So no team mohawk for The Banana Tree. Also, compliments:
"I couldn't do it -- I didn't want to see my mom cry," Boesch said, chuckling. "But it's so easy to fit in here because the veterans go out of their way to make the rookies feel comfortable. If I have a bad at-bat, Johnny (Damon) has something positive to say almost every time. Of course, I think you fit in when you produce."
Maybe once a year comes a hitter that really stands out to me, a rookie hitter. This guy is impressive.That's from Mark Teixeira. Not too shabby.
Anyway, every time I hear his name, which has been often considering how well he has hit I think "Basho," and then in my head go "Banana Tree." So from now on, that's what I'm calling him. Get on it now, it's going to be a thing.
Switching it up As you might have noticed, something funny is happening with Carlos Guillen. Once he is healthy again, he will be the Tigers' starting second baseman, marking the sixth (!) position that he has played for the team since 2007.
This is the forced-hand that the Tigers had to play with The Banana Tree (it'll catch on) crushing the ball all over the place. Who cares if some nerd thinks that it's not going to last.
Long-term, despite the fast start I still see Boesch as a .230-.250 hitter with a weak on-base percentage, albeit with enough power in his bat to be useful if deployed properly in a platoon role. He has a decent throwing arm and can swipe a base occasionally, but isn't going to keep himself employed with his defense alone. Tigers fans should enjoy the hot start while it lasts, but eventually Boesch will come to earth.
Shove it, math. You can't keep The Banana Tree down.
Anyway, the Guillen move is the end result of a more seismic shift of the team's roster composition. Scherzer and Sizemore have been sent down to AAA. Armando Galarraga is back up, and pitched the team to a big win yesterday. Danny Worth fills in at Second Base, making him the Fifth position player to make his major league debut with the Tigers this season. I'm not in the mood to look this sort of thing up, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that has never happened before in Tigers history, September call-ups excluded. [Update: Bless You Boys tells us that the last time five Tigers made their major league debut in the same season was during the first five games of 1922.]
All of this caps off a convoluted few days that saw Ryan Raburn sent down Alfredo Figaro called up, the sent back down, Casper Wells up, presumably down, then not, then Sizemore and Scherzer down and Galarraga and Worth up.
Just keep winning, I guess, and I'll stop staring so hard trying to figure out what's happening.
Ernie v. Bo An eternal battle in heaven? Way back when I talked about an the old story that concludes with Ernie Harwell was fired by Bo Schembechler and the world imploded upon itself.
Some digging (and revisionist history?) may change things a little bit. In this version, both Bo and Ernie are the good guys, just the way it always was and always should be (Hat Tip to mgoblog:
…But it’s not true that he wanted Harwell fired — not even close. The Tigers — very stupidly, in my opinion — hired a Chicago consulting firm to analyze their marketing approach, and the firm recommended they fire Harwell to attract a younger audience. If hiring the firm was stupid, their advice was even dumber — and showed absolutely no understanding of Tiger baseball culture. One line I had to cut about Harwell was his remarkable cult following among younger fans.That quote is actually attributable to John Bacon, who commented on his blog, but I strongly recommend the MVictors summary.
Schembechler, against their advice, got Harwell an extra year, but he did not prevent the firing. He did, however, take the fall for Monaghan, et al, thinking such loyalty was expected and would be returned. He was wrong about that, too, of course, but that’s the sequence of events, and Bo’s (relatively) limited role in the story.
The bottom line: Everybody knows that Ernie and Bo are great American Heroes and if you don't like you can just go and move to Stenchburg.
Where's Curtis? Once upon a time Curtis Granderson was the end all and be all of this blog. Then he was a Yankee and then he got hurt. We still love Curtis over here though, so we are saddened to learn that his recovery is not progressing particularly well.
Joe Girardi pegged Granderson's return in the area of 15-18 more days.
Granderson hit off a tee and threw in the outfield Friday for the first time since going on the DL May 1 after suffering the injury in that day's game. He won't try running until today.
"I haven't done any lateral movement," Granderson said. "I haven't done any starting and stopping and that's going to be the big test. Whenever we finally try that stuff out that will be a big evaluation in terms of how soon I can come back."
The sooner the better, I say. Baseball is a better game with Curtis Granderson in it. Also, I maintain that he will proceed to have an excellent season with the Yankees, despite his troubles prior to his injury. Baseball is a game of hot and cold.
What is this, High School? High school coaches are notorious for making roster and playing time decisions on factors other than how good a player actually is. If you played a sport then you know this. Well apparently, it extends beyond the halls of High School.
"I liked Jim as a catcher. He handled the pitchers well. It looked like he knew what he was doing, I was happy with him. In fact, I caught him more than I caught Gene Lamont until I got orders from Detroit to catch Lamont instead.That was his former manager in AA. Jim Leyland was the victim, not so much of managerial politics or buffoonery, but by a decision by the higher-ups who liked Gene Lamont's upside more. Lamont is now Leyland's bench coach, FWIW.
It's sad, though. There have been numerous reports that indicate that Leyland would give up everything to have made it to the Major Leagues. In a different era he would have. As his former manager explains
"There were only eight teams in each league," he said. "He could have played in the majors later. Sure he could have. Nowadays you don't have to be a great hitter to catch in the majors. Just handle the pitchers -- and Jim could do that.No wonder he sticks behind Gerald Laird.
Misc. Justin Verlander is too pretty for a Mohawk, I guess I need to apologize to Jason Davies for drawing him with such feminine eyes. Detroit is looking create an ordinance that would require teams to pay for the use of police and crowd control at games at events. The fact that this hasn't been in place for the last decade, at least, is indicative of the horrible mismanagement of city government. I've been a huge fan of just about everything Dave Bing has said since he took office. Michigan won the National Championship in (club) Lacrosse. This is their 3rd straight National Championship. Can we have D-I now plz? More Guillen at second base talk.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
The Grand Scheme Is Back In Town
In the City was as exhausting as it sounds, as miserable as you would expect a cold rainy New York to be and really awesome for one humorously proportioned reason:
heehee.
One thing that I like to do is travel to different baseball stadiums around the country, and when I'm there buy a team bobble head. On Sunday, I was treated to a weather-shortened trip to the Mets' Citi Field, which I must say I really, really liked. Not only did I get the mascot bobblehead with an oversized noggin, I was treated to oversized baseball cards too.
At the entrance:
And above the concessions stands
It is worth noting that because this was a work trip and I wasn't expecting to go to the game until the last minute I didn't have a camera and these pictures were actually stolen off some unsuspecting flickr'ers' pages. Rest assured, the oversized baseball cards were still there when I went. I thought that the daily lineup use of the cards was outstanding, the stadium as a whole got a thumbs up--especially the bridge area in Right Center--and I LOVED the Mets Hall of Fame and Museum. Well done Wilpons. A commemorative Mr. Met is now displayed proudly in your honor.
And another one At some point this eluded me, but there is another Detroit Tigers card in Topps Series 1 that I never included in my posts or checklists.
Right there in the middle is Ty Cobb aka the guy who got the highest vote totals of any of the inductees in the first Hall of Fame class. That's a Tiger card all right.
National Chicle circa 1953 A Cardboard Problem passed on the info that National Chicle is live. I'd like to get some in my hands before I judge them. With everyone making a fuss about the hand painted cards though, my first taste of painted cards was waiting for me when I got home today.
These are the first 1953 cards that I've ever seen in person or had in my possession and they are just fantastic. Note to self: Get more 1953 cards.
One of them good problems? Sometimes, when a player goes out there and exceeds all expectations and is doing great and everyone is jumping on the bandwagon it is healthy to take a deeper look and perhaps criticize parts of said players game, expose holes or mention areas of potential improvement. This is a good thing. It keeps us grounded--the player isn't superman after all-- but also keeps us optimistic--think of what he could be if he fixed this, for example.
So this is one of those good problems right? Right?!?
Yay! Oh, wait.
Aw, geez he just...well he uh...was playing so well I thought he was Ty Cobb. You guys lied to me! You told me he was Ty Cobb!
In fact, no. We knew all along that it was Austin Jackson, he of the "struck out a ton in the Minor Leagues" fame. And that's fine. As Rob Neyer says:
Then again, he's hitting .314 and heading into the bottom of the 9th tonight Jackson hasn't struck out--and he was facing Francisco Liriano who just carved up the Tigers 10 times on the night--so maybe things will turn around for the better. More likely though, things will turn around for the worse once it becomes apparent that Austin Jackson isn't twice as skilled of a hitter as the greatest hitter of all time and falls back into those normal bands of expected production. FWIW, I still like the kid.
More Ajax Everyone else does too, apparently:
Pushing the all too easy "Ron Washington is on cocaine--see?" jokes, is that just the most useless quote you've ever seen? Go get 'em Ron. Nice job on the praise though Ajax.
Down on the Farm WOTS is that the Tigers waaay overtaxed bullpen might need some relief from the minor leagues. I don't have any insight into this, but it does allow me to segue into the Topps Pro Debut minor league cards that I just got and LOVE.
That is one of 11 cards from the set of players in the Tigers system and it shows the coolest thing that I didn't know about the minor league teams: The Oneonta Tigers (now former Oneonta Tigers) modified an Old English D into an "O" and it is fantastic.
Topps has created a minor league set that actually looks and feels legit for the first time in who knows how long and it seamlessly integrates into the design of their regular base set. Win. Please do this again and again and again.
Misc. Barry Larkin is getting his number retired. Did you know that he originally went to Michigan to play football? That's cool. Granderson is really struggling right now, but he will have a card in the happy super fun team bonus sets that are a horrible pain to track down. Why is Topps 206 coming back? That should have been a one-off for sure. I guess it will be minis only for me again.
heehee.
One thing that I like to do is travel to different baseball stadiums around the country, and when I'm there buy a team bobble head. On Sunday, I was treated to a weather-shortened trip to the Mets' Citi Field, which I must say I really, really liked. Not only did I get the mascot bobblehead with an oversized noggin, I was treated to oversized baseball cards too.
At the entrance:
And above the concessions stands
It is worth noting that because this was a work trip and I wasn't expecting to go to the game until the last minute I didn't have a camera and these pictures were actually stolen off some unsuspecting flickr'ers' pages. Rest assured, the oversized baseball cards were still there when I went. I thought that the daily lineup use of the cards was outstanding, the stadium as a whole got a thumbs up--especially the bridge area in Right Center--and I LOVED the Mets Hall of Fame and Museum. Well done Wilpons. A commemorative Mr. Met is now displayed proudly in your honor.
And another one At some point this eluded me, but there is another Detroit Tigers card in Topps Series 1 that I never included in my posts or checklists.
 |
| 2010 Topps #HOTG14 1st Hall of Fame Class |
Right there in the middle is Ty Cobb aka the guy who got the highest vote totals of any of the inductees in the first Hall of Fame class. That's a Tiger card all right.
National Chicle circa 1953 A Cardboard Problem passed on the info that National Chicle is live. I'd like to get some in my hands before I judge them. With everyone making a fuss about the hand painted cards though, my first taste of painted cards was waiting for me when I got home today.
These are the first 1953 cards that I've ever seen in person or had in my possession and they are just fantastic. Note to self: Get more 1953 cards.
One of them good problems? Sometimes, when a player goes out there and exceeds all expectations and is doing great and everyone is jumping on the bandwagon it is healthy to take a deeper look and perhaps criticize parts of said players game, expose holes or mention areas of potential improvement. This is a good thing. It keeps us grounded--the player isn't superman after all-- but also keeps us optimistic--think of what he could be if he fixed this, for example.
So this is one of those good problems right? Right?!?
The American League's top Rookie of the Year candidate? That's easy: Austin Jackson. Any plain fool could see that.
Yay! Oh, wait.
Jackson is making very poor contact, leading the AL in strikeouts and whiffing at a rate that would work out to over 220 strikeouts in 600 at-bats. Simultaneously, he’s hitting .500 on balls in play, which is to say that half of everything he actually makes contact with falls in. The reason for that, in turn, is a line-drive rate of 33 percent. The line drive rate for all batters this year is about 18 percent. Last year it was 19 percent. We have no way of knowing what the average line-drive rate was in, say, 1912, but I very much doubt even Ty Cobb hit one-third of balls solidly over a full season.
Aw, geez he just...well he uh...was playing so well I thought he was Ty Cobb. You guys lied to me! You told me he was Ty Cobb!
In fact, no. We knew all along that it was Austin Jackson, he of the "struck out a ton in the Minor Leagues" fame. And that's fine. As Rob Neyer says:
Is it impossible to be a productive hitter while striking out 200 times? Nope. Ryan Howard and Mark Reynolds have proved that quite convincingly. Before them, Adam Dunn.And he's right. But you know what those guys haven't even done? How about struck out in each of their first 19 major league games. As in, Austin Jackson has done something that nobody in baseball has done since the strikeout became an official recorded stat back in the aughts or what have you: he set a record for most consecutive games with a strikeout to start a career. He has 32 in 19 games. 32! He's not exactly trending to a 40 home run season either.
Then again, he's hitting .314 and heading into the bottom of the 9th tonight Jackson hasn't struck out--and he was facing Francisco Liriano who just carved up the Tigers 10 times on the night--so maybe things will turn around for the better. More likely though, things will turn around for the worse once it becomes apparent that Austin Jackson isn't twice as skilled of a hitter as the greatest hitter of all time and falls back into those normal bands of expected production. FWIW, I still like the kid.
More Ajax Everyone else does too, apparently:
Opposing managers are starting to rave about the Tigers' rookie centerfielder. During the Tigers-Angels series last week, Angels manager Mike Scioscia said Jackson reminded him of B.J. Upton, the speedy and powerful centerfielder of the Tampa Bay Rays.
After he saw Jackson in the first two games of the Tigers-Texas series, Texas manager Ron Washington said, "He looks like a baseball player. He has a good idea of what his ability is. And he can run. He can move." Washington gave Tigers hitting coach Lloyd McClendon a lot of credit for Jackson's success, including his at-bat to at-bat resiliency.
Pushing the all too easy "Ron Washington is on cocaine--see?" jokes, is that just the most useless quote you've ever seen? Go get 'em Ron. Nice job on the praise though Ajax.
Down on the Farm WOTS is that the Tigers waaay overtaxed bullpen might need some relief from the minor leagues. I don't have any insight into this, but it does allow me to segue into the Topps Pro Debut minor league cards that I just got and LOVE.
That is one of 11 cards from the set of players in the Tigers system and it shows the coolest thing that I didn't know about the minor league teams: The Oneonta Tigers (now former Oneonta Tigers) modified an Old English D into an "O" and it is fantastic.
Topps has created a minor league set that actually looks and feels legit for the first time in who knows how long and it seamlessly integrates into the design of their regular base set. Win. Please do this again and again and again.
Misc. Barry Larkin is getting his number retired. Did you know that he originally went to Michigan to play football? That's cool. Granderson is really struggling right now, but he will have a card in the happy super fun team bonus sets that are a horrible pain to track down. Why is Topps 206 coming back? That should have been a one-off for sure. I guess it will be minis only for me again.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
The Grand Scheme Knows You're Not Excited, But Doesn't Know Why
As Fun As A Kick in The Crotch Is that a pervasive malaise I hear among the collecting community? A Cardboard Problem was feeling it a month ago, I Am Joe Collector caught it, and Beardy is preaching it from the rooftops. The jist is this:
Collectors right now are bored.
I understand. Let's see. So far this year there have been the three "illegal" Upper Deck releases, only one of which was really exciting (Ultimate Collection) and is no longer really buyable because of pervasive counterfeiting.
There has been Topps, Topps Lite (Opening Day), Topps Jr. (Pro Debut) and Heritage on the other end. That is three of the same basic design and one of a rehashed design using the same formula for a decade. Recently, there was Topps Finest, which I thought looked snazzy as always, but failed to set the world on fire.
So people are cranky. And bored with what's out there. And not excited about collecting anything but stuff from the mid-aughts, or vintage things or what have you.
It's gotten so bad that eTopps was just listed amongst the best current releases and Beardy is already hyping up Gint-A-Cuffs II even though we're still months away from the next Allen & Ginter iteration.
These are Dark Times.
The Good Ol' Days I admit that I don't remember such a unified lull among bloggers at this time last year, but I'm not sure why. It's not like we were swimming in card-collector paradise. Just look at the release calendar.
That release calendar extends until the end of April 2009. In it we see two unlicensed products that nobody thought twice about (Playoff Contenders, Donruss Century Coll.), the unequivocally "meh" UD Spectrum, SPx--which people were ok with , the hit or miss UD POH and UD First Edition which not even UD First Edition's mother cares about.
With this in mind, it seems as though we are all going through a bit of withdrawl. Ask yourself this: were you really excited about Spectrum, or POH or SPx? No. You weren't and you know it. But they were something fresh and different and new to tide you over with a pack here or a pack there while you waited for something that you really wanted. The next big thing, as it were. In this case it was probably Goudey, or maybe something else.
So what are we to do, the masses seeking something to be excited about and with nothing new out there to feed our cravings, no matter how mediocre? Where is the excitement?
Get Excited It's coming.
I think, mostly because of the HUMUNGOUS INITIAL BACKLASH over the product previews, that people have written off National Chicle. If you are one of those people, you are a fool. Here are three reasons why (from one of Beckett's two galleries):
Oh, and there is a page of many, many more reasons why that have been posted in an unprecedented display of transparency to remedy the PR nightmare that was the initial preview of this set. This set not only replaces Goudey on the release calendar, it looks to me like it is going to surpass it in many ways.
Lest we forget:
1. Topps knows how to do vintage-y cards. They do them really, really well.
2. The #1 Biggest Complaint in the card industry since I re-started collecting has been the use of sticker autographs. These are all on-card and the initial checklist, if it stays intact, is strong.
This may very well be the first set that I decide to collect in its entirety since 2007/2008 UD Masterpieces. Why? The cards, by and large, look phenomenal. Sure, you'll get your occasional duds:
Of which I'm FURIOUS that these two players are made to look like brothers with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, thereby ruining, in my eyes, the best Tigers card in the set. There are others too, that are just not very good paintings. But they seem to be the minority. Taken as a whole, with a ton of preview images out there, this set looks great. Like, best set in a long long time great. Like, these are all hand painted and many of the images look as good if not better than UD Masterpieces great.
Yes, I'm annoyed by the Chipper/Ruth card. It is stupid. It is also just one card in a subset that I don't need to collect. Did I complain when 2008 UD Masterpieces featured Zombie Roy Halladay? No. It was what it was and I just turned the page and looked at my beautiful Evan Longorias and the like.
To me, the only question remaining is how will these cards look and feel when they are released? The only thing that I can see sinking this ship is a crappy cardstock choice or a bait-and-switch auto checklist and I think that Topps is too good at making sets like this to make that mistake (especially the former).
So Buck Up Suck it up folks. Quit moping. What is potentially the best baseball card set to be released in two years is coming out NEXT WEEK and there has been exactly ZERO hype for it. Zero. This passive-agression will not stand. Get on your computers, browse some images, see that box pre-orders are pretty darn affordable given two on-card autos and buck up.
I don't care if you buy any of these. I'm not a Topps shill. I don't even care if you like the cards or not. What I care about is shattering the illusion that there is nothing going on in the hobby and nothing to look forward to for months. There is and it's time that you start paying attention.
Collectors right now are bored.
I understand. Let's see. So far this year there have been the three "illegal" Upper Deck releases, only one of which was really exciting (Ultimate Collection) and is no longer really buyable because of pervasive counterfeiting.
There has been Topps, Topps Lite (Opening Day), Topps Jr. (Pro Debut) and Heritage on the other end. That is three of the same basic design and one of a rehashed design using the same formula for a decade. Recently, there was Topps Finest, which I thought looked snazzy as always, but failed to set the world on fire.
So people are cranky. And bored with what's out there. And not excited about collecting anything but stuff from the mid-aughts, or vintage things or what have you.
It's gotten so bad that eTopps was just listed amongst the best current releases and Beardy is already hyping up Gint-A-Cuffs II even though we're still months away from the next Allen & Ginter iteration.
These are Dark Times.
The Good Ol' Days I admit that I don't remember such a unified lull among bloggers at this time last year, but I'm not sure why. It's not like we were swimming in card-collector paradise. Just look at the release calendar.
February 4 - Topps Series 1
February 5 - Upper Deck Series 1
February 6 - Playoff Contenders
February 25 - Topps Heritage
February 27 - UD Spectrum
March 11 - UD First Edition
March 26 - SPx
April 2 - Topps Finest
April 16 - UD Piece of History
April 23 - Donruss Century Collection
April 29 - UD Goudey
That release calendar extends until the end of April 2009. In it we see two unlicensed products that nobody thought twice about (Playoff Contenders, Donruss Century Coll.), the unequivocally "meh" UD Spectrum, SPx--which people were ok with , the hit or miss UD POH and UD First Edition which not even UD First Edition's mother cares about.
With this in mind, it seems as though we are all going through a bit of withdrawl. Ask yourself this: were you really excited about Spectrum, or POH or SPx? No. You weren't and you know it. But they were something fresh and different and new to tide you over with a pack here or a pack there while you waited for something that you really wanted. The next big thing, as it were. In this case it was probably Goudey, or maybe something else.
So what are we to do, the masses seeking something to be excited about and with nothing new out there to feed our cravings, no matter how mediocre? Where is the excitement?
Get Excited It's coming.
I think, mostly because of the HUMUNGOUS INITIAL BACKLASH over the product previews, that people have written off National Chicle. If you are one of those people, you are a fool. Here are three reasons why (from one of Beckett's two galleries):
Oh, and there is a page of many, many more reasons why that have been posted in an unprecedented display of transparency to remedy the PR nightmare that was the initial preview of this set. This set not only replaces Goudey on the release calendar, it looks to me like it is going to surpass it in many ways.
Lest we forget:
1. Topps knows how to do vintage-y cards. They do them really, really well.
2. The #1 Biggest Complaint in the card industry since I re-started collecting has been the use of sticker autographs. These are all on-card and the initial checklist, if it stays intact, is strong.
This may very well be the first set that I decide to collect in its entirety since 2007/2008 UD Masterpieces. Why? The cards, by and large, look phenomenal. Sure, you'll get your occasional duds:
Of which I'm FURIOUS that these two players are made to look like brothers with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, thereby ruining, in my eyes, the best Tigers card in the set. There are others too, that are just not very good paintings. But they seem to be the minority. Taken as a whole, with a ton of preview images out there, this set looks great. Like, best set in a long long time great. Like, these are all hand painted and many of the images look as good if not better than UD Masterpieces great.
Yes, I'm annoyed by the Chipper/Ruth card. It is stupid. It is also just one card in a subset that I don't need to collect. Did I complain when 2008 UD Masterpieces featured Zombie Roy Halladay? No. It was what it was and I just turned the page and looked at my beautiful Evan Longorias and the like.
To me, the only question remaining is how will these cards look and feel when they are released? The only thing that I can see sinking this ship is a crappy cardstock choice or a bait-and-switch auto checklist and I think that Topps is too good at making sets like this to make that mistake (especially the former).
So Buck Up Suck it up folks. Quit moping. What is potentially the best baseball card set to be released in two years is coming out NEXT WEEK and there has been exactly ZERO hype for it. Zero. This passive-agression will not stand. Get on your computers, browse some images, see that box pre-orders are pretty darn affordable given two on-card autos and buck up.
I don't care if you buy any of these. I'm not a Topps shill. I don't even care if you like the cards or not. What I care about is shattering the illusion that there is nothing going on in the hobby and nothing to look forward to for months. There is and it's time that you start paying attention.
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