Trading deadline “extremely close” to being a huge disappointment

July 31st, 2006 | Posted by PostmanR

So, it has come and gone. And save for Bobby Abreu moving his service to the Yankees, no big moves to report. (Small chance something could be reported after the 4 pm EST deadline.)

Seems like every year, we are tantalized by big names moving to contenders, only to be let down. The hype is there. The results aren’t.

Oh well.

And on a personal note, I’m glad Alfonso Soriano is not a member of the White Stockings. Didn’t make much sense. Sure, he’s good. But we don’t need another power bat and mediocre outfielding skills.

But really, they’ll be fine. Right? I hope. Oh no, I can feel the weight of the Twins, Tigers and Yankees falling down upon me.

Someone help!

(PostmanE just informs me that Greg Maddux has been traded to the Dodgers for Cesar Izturis. Sad day for Cubbie fans, indeed.)

Case of the Mondays: Cubs win! Cubs win!

July 31st, 2006 | Posted by PostmanR

Baseball:

We’re not sure how, but the Cubs have flat out dominated the Cardinals at Wrigley Field this season. The club’s four-game sweep of the Birdnals this weekend dropped Pujols and crew to a woeful 0-7 at Wrigley on the year. Hard to believe, no? You know, sort of like Mel Gibson getting a D.U.I. and being an anti-Semite in the process.

The Yankees acquired right fielder Bobby Abreu and pitcher Cory Lidle from the Phillies yesterday. Aging power hitter? Check. Unnecessarily large contract? Check.

Doping:

After Floyd Landis failed a drug test for having a little too much testosterone in his system (it was that sweet, sweet beer, damnit!) sprinter and sole co-world-record holder in the 100 meters, Justin Gatlin, tested positive for testosterone or other steroids from a drug test administered after a race in April. Gatlin’s coach claims he was sabotaged by a massage therapist who rubbed in a testosterone cream without Gatlin’s knowledge. Remember kids, drugs are bad for you.

Snoop Bloggy Blog:

Proof that Lance Armstrong was indeed in Iowa this weekend. E wasn’t making this up, people. [Deadspin]

Chuck Norris, the Combat League Playoffs and you. [Sportsfrog]

Ever wonder what announcers say during commercial breaks? Here’s a video of it. [WBRS Sports Blog]

Ryan Howard wins Home Run Derby 2006; I get older with very little to show for it

July 11th, 2006 | Posted by PostmanE

Did you feel the excitement? Did you absorb the rush? Were you able to gather yourself after the storm blew you from your bearings and replaced your previous baseball-watching consciousness with something altogether more enlightened?

Did you - um - hear that Ryan Howard won?

Yes, the Home Run did not fail to dissapoint, and in that, I mean the Home Run dissapointed once again. Perhaps dissapointment is the wrong word. I mean, you know what you’re going to get going in - a bunch of slightly interesting, but mostly boring, bat-to-ball connections with no real tangible impact on anything at all. That expectation doesn’t really make up for the lack of excitement, though; you almost wish someone would put on some sort of crazy ‘obviously this guy’s roiding performance’, just for old times sake. Instead, um, Ryan Howard wins.

The best part of the night, for me, was not the actual flight of the many home runs leaving the park. Instead, it was the pre-Derby speculation that David Ortiz and Ryan Howard were in jeopardy of losing their ability to hit baseballs because particpating in the Derby drastically altered Bobby Abreu’s approach to the game. Seriously, Karl Ravech and the two dwarfs had a serious discussion about this, and the dwarfs were in agreement - Ortiz and Howard are doomed. Abreu is, after all, hitting like 20 points less than what he was before last year’s Derby, which means almost nothing. Or it means that he’s in a pretty long slump that he will one day come out of, or it means that he had a really really good first half last year and has since mailed it in/struggled to regain form.

Whatever the reason, it can not be the Home Run Derby. But we’ll see, I guess, when Ortiz and Howard start whiffing incessantly. Call it the Derby curse. Oh wait, Jayson Stark actually did that. Yikes.

One more quick highlight: There was an anti-steroid commercial at the end of the show last night. No, really. Suprisingly, Jose Canseco was not the pitch man. Dissapointing. Another Home Run Derby, indeed.