something good...finally
After all the hoopla that has surrounded Barry and his passing Aaron as the Home Run King, we finally have a couple good things to talk about.
First off let's visit the New York Metropolitans. My hat goes off to Tom Glavine on his 300th win. Do I have some bias towards him because he pitched for the Braves for a large amount of his career? Of course, but he's also a class act. If more of our baseball players all the way through the ranks, then Major League Baseball might not be dealing with all the stuff they are going through right now. He went about winning his game in his typical fashion, both on and off the field, simple and quiet. Even with one out standing between him and history he did not let his emotions betray him.
The next big question is will there be another 300 game winner? Most likely not for a long, long time. The next guy that's anywhere close, Randy Johnson, went under the knife and probably ended his career. We'll probably see another 500 saves, Mariano Rivera, before we see another 300 game winner. They way pitchers are being used so sparingly any more, asked just to give 6 or 7 innings, and the way they are put on the DL with the smallest of tweaks, I just do not see 300 wins happening soon. For the time being I feel it is totally okay to tell Tom to close the door behind him. If 3 is company, 23 a big enough party.
Now let's make a stop at the Gateway to the Midwest, St. Louis, where speaking of parties, this one has not stopped for the last 3-plus days. The story here is Rick Ankiel, and this is the story, I feel, that should be getting more press than Juicing Barry is getting. Rick was a pitching phenom a few years back. In 2000 he was 11-1, 194 K's in 175.0 innings. He seemed to be everything the Cardinals organization expected him to be. However when it came to the post-season he had a melt down similar to that of Mark Wohlers in the late 90's. Ankiel became the first pitched to throw 5 wild pitches in one inning. The poor kid looked like his life was over, he stood on the mound with a lost, empty look on his face. But the Walt Jockety of the Card's organization saw something in him. So he sent Ankiel to the minors to work on becoming an outfielder. And what do ya know, after 3 - 4 years of working in the minors, Ankiels back in the majors.
5 - 12, .417 BA, 3 HR's, and 6 RBI's, not to mention and pretty slick catch to boot, Ankiel may have found himself back at home. This very well could just be a flash in the pan, like his pitching career, but I certainly hope not. This kid deserves a long line of success. Heck, he's only 28, he still has plenty of production left to give.
I'm not a big fan of Barry Bonds. Talk with anyone who has tried to talk to him or interview him, he is a jerk and very stand offish. Yes he has broken a record no one ever thought would happen, but I feel that we are giving his record too much play time. The next day, and the day after that, I could not turn on the t.v. and not see something about his home run. This may be a bit naive, but with all the praise that he is getting and all that controversy that goes with just uttering his name; are we maybe in a way telling those that follow Bonds and all those that have steroids associated with their name, that maybe it is okay to cheat? Like I said that may be a bit naive, but it certainly makes sense to me.
First off let's visit the New York Metropolitans. My hat goes off to Tom Glavine on his 300th win. Do I have some bias towards him because he pitched for the Braves for a large amount of his career? Of course, but he's also a class act. If more of our baseball players all the way through the ranks, then Major League Baseball might not be dealing with all the stuff they are going through right now. He went about winning his game in his typical fashion, both on and off the field, simple and quiet. Even with one out standing between him and history he did not let his emotions betray him.
The next big question is will there be another 300 game winner? Most likely not for a long, long time. The next guy that's anywhere close, Randy Johnson, went under the knife and probably ended his career. We'll probably see another 500 saves, Mariano Rivera, before we see another 300 game winner. They way pitchers are being used so sparingly any more, asked just to give 6 or 7 innings, and the way they are put on the DL with the smallest of tweaks, I just do not see 300 wins happening soon. For the time being I feel it is totally okay to tell Tom to close the door behind him. If 3 is company, 23 a big enough party.
Now let's make a stop at the Gateway to the Midwest, St. Louis, where speaking of parties, this one has not stopped for the last 3-plus days. The story here is Rick Ankiel, and this is the story, I feel, that should be getting more press than Juicing Barry is getting. Rick was a pitching phenom a few years back. In 2000 he was 11-1, 194 K's in 175.0 innings. He seemed to be everything the Cardinals organization expected him to be. However when it came to the post-season he had a melt down similar to that of Mark Wohlers in the late 90's. Ankiel became the first pitched to throw 5 wild pitches in one inning. The poor kid looked like his life was over, he stood on the mound with a lost, empty look on his face. But the Walt Jockety of the Card's organization saw something in him. So he sent Ankiel to the minors to work on becoming an outfielder. And what do ya know, after 3 - 4 years of working in the minors, Ankiels back in the majors.
5 - 12, .417 BA, 3 HR's, and 6 RBI's, not to mention and pretty slick catch to boot, Ankiel may have found himself back at home. This very well could just be a flash in the pan, like his pitching career, but I certainly hope not. This kid deserves a long line of success. Heck, he's only 28, he still has plenty of production left to give.
I'm not a big fan of Barry Bonds. Talk with anyone who has tried to talk to him or interview him, he is a jerk and very stand offish. Yes he has broken a record no one ever thought would happen, but I feel that we are giving his record too much play time. The next day, and the day after that, I could not turn on the t.v. and not see something about his home run. This may be a bit naive, but with all the praise that he is getting and all that controversy that goes with just uttering his name; are we maybe in a way telling those that follow Bonds and all those that have steroids associated with their name, that maybe it is okay to cheat? Like I said that may be a bit naive, but it certainly makes sense to me.
posted by The Submariner at 6:15 PM
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