Random Thoughts On Baseball

1. I’m tired of talking about Ozzie Guillen and how reprehensible a human being he is. But I would like to share a picture of him after the White Sox won the World Series last year.

I don’t know if this is his son or another relative, one of his players, a batboy, or someone he met at a bar but I do know that he might want to reconsider his choice of epithets directed at Jay Mariotti. I’m just saying.

2. Most people see the 162-game regular season as a marathon. I contend that it’s really a series of four 10K races:

April: a month unto its own. A fast start in April doesn’t mean anything (1987 Brewers) and a slow start in April means even less (2005 Yankees).

May/June: these two months are less about contenders breaking away than they are about bad teams playing themselves out of meaningful baseball later in the season (2006 Royals).

July/August: the dog days of summer are where the true contenders make their bones. Teams that make it into October begin laying the foundations for their postseason with trades in July and good winning streaks in August (2004 Red Sox).

September: the pennant race is the all-out sprint at the end of the season. Some teams have postseason berths locked up. Some teams carry their August winning streaks into September and play their way in (2005 Astros).

I bring this up because most teams will hit the mathematical mid-point of their season in the latter half of this week. Some teams are already out of it (Royals, Pirates, Cubs, Devil Rays, Orioles) and some teams are teetering on the brink of contender/pretender status (Twins, Indians). For the Twins, Indians, and other teams on the contender/pretender see-saw, the mathematical mid-point becomes decision day regarding trades, minor league promotions, and managerial/front office job security. For this particular issue personified, ESPN wrote up the impending dilemma the Twins face in their decision on Torii Hunter.

3. This past Friday marked the 25th anniversary of the longest professional baseball game ever played, a 33-inning affair between the Rochester Red Wings (AAA Baltimore Orioles) and the Pawtucket Red Sox (AAA Boston Red Sox).

Despite winning the 1983 World Series, the Baltimore Orioles suffered through a generally lousy decade of the 1980’s. On the other hand, the Boston Red Sox enjoyed a mini-renaissance in the late 1980’s, finishing first three times in five years, including winning the 1986 American League pennant. The interesting thing about the box score of this game is how, in hindsight, one could have predicted the futures of the two parent organizations. Cal Ripken and Floyd Rayford were the only everyday players to emerge from the Rochester side while the Pawtucket club featured three future everyday players (Marty Barrett, Wade Boggs, Rich Gedman) as well as two future starting pitchers (Bruce Hurst, Bobby Ojeda). All five of those Pawtucket players played in the 1986 World Series – Barrett, Boggs, Gedman, and Hurst for Boston and Ojeda for the Mets.

4. For anyone that watched the 9th inning of last night’s White Sox-Astros game unfold, it has to be said that Brad Lidge is absolutely one of the most overrated pitchers in baseball. He’s the Caucasian version of Armando Benitez. In short, if I’m an Astros fan, I’m selling my playoff ticket options. It’s going to be very hard for Houston to make the playoffs with a closer that simply can’t keep it together in big spots, and last night was a meaningless game in late June. The Cardinals aren’t a very imposing team this year but it looks to me like they don’t have much to worry about in terms of winning their division...