In the interest of full disclosure I will say that I dislike Don Imus. Talk radio is a medium that attracts loudmouthed boors and Imus is no exception. He has a history of saying stupid things (as documented by Slate, here).
If you want opinions on the whole affair from those who are qualified:
1) Michael Wilbon probably wrote the best piece I've read on the subject, highlighting Imus' pathology. Particularly stirring is the excerpt from a "60 Minutes" interview where Imus first denies hiring former producer Bernard McGuirk to do "nigger jokes" and subsequently admits to it only after being called out.
2) Stephen Metcalf, an excellent writer, characterizes Imus as an artifact of sorts that "ought to have been shit-canned" in a headier piece about Imus' place in culture.
3) Jason Whitlock approaches the subject from a less direct vantage point, calling out the glorification of gangster culture in hip-hop. He's right, The Game and Young Jeezy are probably not great role models.
As for the opinion of someone less qualified (because, by my own definition, the criteria for qualification is to be published in a major media outlet- I'm aware that this definition qualifies Dan Shaughnessy and Stephen A. Smith which is an unfortunate externality) and a response to Ian, I offer my two cents.
Ian, despite what Les Moonves or CBS's PR person may have said, the real reason for dismissing Don Imus was not for just this one comment about the Rutgers womens basketball team. Principally, it's a financial decision. As Dr. Z from SI put it: "CBS Radio did an assessment of the balance sheet, which is how corporate people adjust their morality, and decided that whatever financial gain Imus might generate in the future would be offset by the loss of advertising revenue, plus image..." When Imus said the words, “nappy-headed hos” it was picked up by the media, the blogosphere, and the youtube community launching an off-the-cuff remark into a maelstrom. The writing was on the wall. Once MSNBC quit on Imus, CBS has no other option than to follow suit or they would look like a collaborator, damaging their public image and, in turn, their bottom line.
And to say that Imus’ history or saying racist and sexist things was not an issue here is just plain wrong. Here’s a hypothetical: a producer at CNN hears of the Imus story and says to his coworkers, “Yeah, but Imus has been saying s*** like this for twenty years- wait a minute, Imus HAS been saying s*** like this for twenty years…” and two hours later it comes out that Imus once referred to journalist Howard Kurtz as a “boner-nosed… beanie-wearing Jewboy” and sidekick Sid Rosenberg noted that Serena and Venus Williams would “more likely be featured in National Geographic than in Playboy.” Sure “nappy-headed hos” was the tipping point, but there were PLENTY of coins in the curse jar before it overflowed. “Why now?” is NOT a suitable argument in defense of Don Imus.
As for your characterization of Jesse Jackson as a hypocrite for calling Imus out after he spoke out against the Duke lacrosse players, it’s specious at best. The situations are wholly different. When Jackson spoke, there were pending, serious criminal charges against the Duke students and Jackson felt he was speaking out against an injustice. Perhaps Jackson should not have presumed their guilt, but at least there was a question of it. The facts from the case are that a group of predominantly affluent, predominantly white, student-athletes threw a party in which they hired significantly less affluent African American strippers and provided alcohol to 18, 19, and 20 year olds. Excuse me if I give Mr. Jackson a pass on this one.
On the flip side, Don Imus turned a female Division I basketball team into an object of ridicule for no perceivable reason other than his own edification. Here is an extended excerpt from the video: “…some rough girls from Rutgers. They got tattoos… some nappy-headed hos… the girls from Tennessee they all look cute… the jigaboos versus the wannabes…” (the last line belongs it Bernard “the nigger joke man” McGuirk referencing the Spike Lee movie School Daze in which two dichotomous groups of students at an all-black college fight over race and identity, one group more “black” and the other more “white.”)
I’m not going to go into why what he said was so bad, the odds are you’ve read about it ad nauseum at this point. But I do want to focus on one fact: these girls are innocents. Complete innocents. And Don Imus calls them out for being less attractive and less “feminine” than their opponents in a manner that reeks of both racism and sexism. Female athletes, especially female student-athletes, have a hard enough time dealing with the specter of the feminine ideal without the Don Imuses of the world making it more difficult for them.
And I just can’t get behind you equating the Rutgers womens basketball to Alex Rodriguez or Jason Kidd or even J.J. Reddick. These girls are student-athletes. They’re not mugging for the camera or endorsing Pepsi. It’s possible that none of them will get a dime more than their scholarship out of basketball. And this was no baseless insult from the peanut gallery, some drunk heckler that shouted “nappy-headed hos” from the fifth row. This is a radio personality, and not even a sports radio personality, de-humanizing and de-feminizing them just to make himself cackle. It’s malicious from top to bottom.
And please don’t weep for Don Imus or his throngs of listeners who won’t get to hear his farewell. Idiots are like cats, they always land on their feet (SEE ALSO: Rush Limbaugh). Soon the ink will dry on a behemoth of a deal with Sirius or XM and Imus can join Howard Stern and Opie and Anthony as the shock-jock dinosaurs in the retirement home of satellite radio.
You're right on so many levels. We agree on so many levels. We should not however, let our opinion of Don Imus, or our disgust with his humor and history of crass behavior get in the way of making an objective report of what happened. At the very essence of this case is the despicable way CBS handled it, and it's atrocious the amount of hypocrisy coming from every corner.
On your first point we're in complete agreement. The reason they gave was a lie. Terrible job by CBS.
On your second point, Jesse Jackson called the lacrosse players "rapists" when they weren't. Forgive me for saying that such a statement is much more unjust than Imus saying something stupid during an unfunny comedy riff. Jesse Jackson is a role model, a Congressman, and a civil rights activist. Imus is a guy on the radio that has carved a niche for himself doing this kind of inane stuff, with never a public word from CBS condoning him. So, to recap, Jackson, someone who is supposed to be held to a higher standard, carefully chose his words and described as fact that accused innocent men had committed one of the worst crimes you could admit, completely oblierating their reputations until the case completely fell apart. Meanwhile, Imus, a guy who everyone knows should be taken with a grain of salt, said something off the cuff that he later apologized for, including to their face, and the girls have done nothing but gain from this situation. You're right, the two aren't even comparable.
Fine, forget the athletic comparisons. I concede the high ground there.
And I am not weeping for Don Imus. I don't like him. I think he's said a ridiculous amount of stupid things in his career. But is there any evidence of CBS saying, "Listen, Don, tone it down or we're going to let you go."? The coin that overfilled the jar does not work here, as you can tell when the jar is getting too full and know not to put another coin in. A more apt analogy would be placing rocks in a pond and then stuffing in Everest...when this issue should have been not much bigger than the other rocks. Again, I am in complete agreement that those were all awful things, and if he was warned by his employer that they were unacceptable and could result in termination, than I'd be okay with this.
But they fired him for doing his job, a job that made them millions of dollars for decades. He should not have been fired for this. He's apologized. The more this drags out, the more all other disingenuous parties make him look better by comparison. People want to make him jump through hoops, do the talk show circuit, apologize to the world. He was right in drawing the line. He said he'd apologize to those girls and he did. He's insinuating political correctness is becoming a joke. Some people deserve respect, like those girls. Other don't, like the hypocrites.
And for the first time in a long time, I respect Don Imus.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Don Imus: Wronged Jerk
Listen, Don Imus is a jerk. We know this. What he said was stupid. We know that. And now we know he's out of a job. Can someone please TELL ME why doesn't Don Imus still have his job?
The answer IS because he's made some recently insensitive comments about a group of innocent female athletes. The answer is NOT that this is the latest in a long line of moronic insults, although he's undoubtedly made them. That is NOT what got him fired. It was this one comment. CBS even stated as much in their statement.
Please, please, PLEASE tell me how there aren't numerous double standards in this fallout...
Tell me how Jesse Jackson can demand that Don Imus be fired after Jackson himself called the innocent Duke lacrosse players "rapists" and "thugs." Which is more disparaging, being called a nappy headed hoe or being called a rapist? Which victimized group got sympathy and which got death threats? Someone find me that Jesse Jackson apology and someone show me where Jackson's income is getting slammed.
Tell me how Howard Stern never lost his job while making endless racist jokes. Tell me how South Park is still on the air after last night's episode alone insulted gays, Persians, Mexicans, and Butters. Tell me how Carlos Mencia still has a job on Comedy Central making a living off racism.
Tell me how a rapper can call women hoes and have no recourse, but Don Imus does it and gets FIRED. Both are entertainers. Both are public figures. Both can be listened to by any demographic.
Tell me how Imus' endless insults and barbs towards just about everyone goes without even the threat of him losing his job, and then one public outcry costs him his job.
Tell me how the Rutgers girls basketball team can claim to be athletes yet not be able to take baseless insults from the peanut gallery. Has Alex Rodriguez, Jason Kidd, or J.J. Reddick heard any insults or disparaging remarks hurled at them?
Tell me how Rosie O'Donnell can take personal shots at Republicans on The View (among an endless list of other moronic comments) and keep her job.
Tell me how Rush Limbaugh can criticize a Parkinson's Disease victim as faking it (among an endless list of other moronic comments) and keep his job.
Finally, tell me how CBS, the most gutless character in this overblown story, spends years making money off Don Imus saying stupid shit for four hours every morning, and then fire him, without warning, for saying something no stupider than many things he's said in the past. Moreover, they did it during a week where he was raising money for charity, without letting him finish this week of fundraising, not even allowing him to say good-bye to listeners that have listened to him for decades. Tell me why he deserves to be fired by his employer for doing what practically must have been his job desription. Tell me that.
The answer IS because he's made some recently insensitive comments about a group of innocent female athletes. The answer is NOT that this is the latest in a long line of moronic insults, although he's undoubtedly made them. That is NOT what got him fired. It was this one comment. CBS even stated as much in their statement.
Please, please, PLEASE tell me how there aren't numerous double standards in this fallout...
Tell me how Jesse Jackson can demand that Don Imus be fired after Jackson himself called the innocent Duke lacrosse players "rapists" and "thugs." Which is more disparaging, being called a nappy headed hoe or being called a rapist? Which victimized group got sympathy and which got death threats? Someone find me that Jesse Jackson apology and someone show me where Jackson's income is getting slammed.
Tell me how Howard Stern never lost his job while making endless racist jokes. Tell me how South Park is still on the air after last night's episode alone insulted gays, Persians, Mexicans, and Butters. Tell me how Carlos Mencia still has a job on Comedy Central making a living off racism.
Tell me how a rapper can call women hoes and have no recourse, but Don Imus does it and gets FIRED. Both are entertainers. Both are public figures. Both can be listened to by any demographic.
Tell me how Imus' endless insults and barbs towards just about everyone goes without even the threat of him losing his job, and then one public outcry costs him his job.
Tell me how the Rutgers girls basketball team can claim to be athletes yet not be able to take baseless insults from the peanut gallery. Has Alex Rodriguez, Jason Kidd, or J.J. Reddick heard any insults or disparaging remarks hurled at them?
Tell me how Rosie O'Donnell can take personal shots at Republicans on The View (among an endless list of other moronic comments) and keep her job.
Tell me how Rush Limbaugh can criticize a Parkinson's Disease victim as faking it (among an endless list of other moronic comments) and keep his job.
Finally, tell me how CBS, the most gutless character in this overblown story, spends years making money off Don Imus saying stupid shit for four hours every morning, and then fire him, without warning, for saying something no stupider than many things he's said in the past. Moreover, they did it during a week where he was raising money for charity, without letting him finish this week of fundraising, not even allowing him to say good-bye to listeners that have listened to him for decades. Tell me why he deserves to be fired by his employer for doing what practically must have been his job desription. Tell me that.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Papelbon, Fenway ovations
Idle thoughts while waiting for the Red Sox home opener (2:05)
This was my stance on the Papelbon debate on Easter morning:
When the Sox had a 2-3 record and Papelbon had one appearance with a 3-run lead, it seemed foolish that Julian Tavarez started the game that had the Sox fall to one game under .500. If Papelbon was a starter, Wakefield's strong outing could have occured in the fifth game of the year and the Sox would be one game over .500. The only other difference would have been that a different Red Sox reliever would have been counted on for that 3 run save, and probably have gotten it. More importantly, Julian Tavarez wouldn't be starting every fifth game.
Well, I wouldn't say I've done a 180, but I certainly paused to think about going in a new direction.
On Sunday night, with Boston leading Texas 3-2 with one out and the tying run on third base and two of the most dangerous hitters in the league (Young and Teixeira) coming up, Francona called on his closer. A few minutes later, the lead is still safe and the eighth is over. An inning later and Papelbon finishes off a dominant five out save and the Sox hang on. Saj proceeded to ask me: "How big is your Papelboner right now." And I could only reply truthfully. "Enormous."
But here's the thing. He's too good. He is Rivera, Smoltz, and Gagne in their prime good. Papelbon, like Smoltz, was meant to be a starter. Guys like that are too good to be a closer. There's a reason Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson did not pitch out of the bullpen. They would have been the best two closers ever, no doubt in my mind. The door would be slammed shut as soon as they came in. But where were they more valuable? As a starter, of course.
Now, I am by no means saying I expect Papelbon to be as good as Martinez. What I am saying is that he can be a great starting pitcher. He has heat, stuff, a brain, and catcher who calls the best games in the world. He could be great. And a great starting pitcher is much more valuable than even the best closer ever. Just ask the Yankees, mired in an oh-too-long-for-that-payroll six-year drought, despite having the best closer in the league.
Anyway, with every Papelbon save, my opinion will probably waiver. I'm never going to say he doesn't look fantastic out there. He does. But the Red Sox will lose a majority of Tavarez starts, and maybe half of Wakefields. And that's difficult for a closer to make up.
Saj, I'd like your thoughts on this. Also, quick predictions before the Fenway home opener. Rank what you think will be the five loudest ovations at Fenway, and then name one or two players whose ovations will be luke warm.
Five loudest
1. Matsuzaka
2. Papelbon
3. Ortiz
4. Varitek
5. Manny
Worst ovations (non-bench players): Lugo, Crisp, Tavarez
I disagree with you on Papelbon, and here's why:
1. Papelbon was a closer in college and a damn good one.
2. This Peter Gammons piece from yesterday (ESPN Insider). It perfectly summarizes what Papelbon does for the Red Sox, mentally. He basically ensure that the Red Sox win games that they are in a position to win through seven or eight innings. It's a morale boost to know that if you score runs early you have a great insurance policy.
3. What he did on Sunday was one of the best relief performances I have ever seen. He came in with guys on first and third with a one run lead and threw 15 pitches for 5 outs and 3 strikeouts, including a three-pitch domination of Brad Wilkerson to end the game. I'm well aware of the "200 innings is better than 100 innings" argument, but we seem to take "Papelbon being an ace starter" as a given when it is not. He's got great stuff, but so did Eric Gagne and he was a complete bust as a starter.
4. That glower on the mound. Papelbon is, hands down, the scariest white dude in baseball. He personifies the intimidation that Randy Johnson used to have back when he wasn't 300 years old and his left arm wasn't fossilized.
5. Top to bottom, Papelbon makes the bullpen better. Now Francona can use Romero, Donnelly, Pineiro, Timlin in innings 5 through 8 with seemingly reckless abandon. Like I said before, this is the best Red Sox bullpen since El Guapo was rolling around out there and we all know what a good bullpen can do in the playoffs.
6. Jon Lester is only six weeks away at a time when the fifth starter is the least necessary. I do think Tavarez should be taken out of the rotation ASAP in favor of the incredible Devern Hansack (who has an incredible tale) as Lester's placeholder. Remember Lester is only 23 and, as a fifth starter, he's major league ready.
Giddy for opening day at the Fens: watching on www.mlb.tv in the office, over/under on when I get fired is 3:30.
This was my stance on the Papelbon debate on Easter morning:
When the Sox had a 2-3 record and Papelbon had one appearance with a 3-run lead, it seemed foolish that Julian Tavarez started the game that had the Sox fall to one game under .500. If Papelbon was a starter, Wakefield's strong outing could have occured in the fifth game of the year and the Sox would be one game over .500. The only other difference would have been that a different Red Sox reliever would have been counted on for that 3 run save, and probably have gotten it. More importantly, Julian Tavarez wouldn't be starting every fifth game.
Well, I wouldn't say I've done a 180, but I certainly paused to think about going in a new direction.
On Sunday night, with Boston leading Texas 3-2 with one out and the tying run on third base and two of the most dangerous hitters in the league (Young and Teixeira) coming up, Francona called on his closer. A few minutes later, the lead is still safe and the eighth is over. An inning later and Papelbon finishes off a dominant five out save and the Sox hang on. Saj proceeded to ask me: "How big is your Papelboner right now." And I could only reply truthfully. "Enormous."
But here's the thing. He's too good. He is Rivera, Smoltz, and Gagne in their prime good. Papelbon, like Smoltz, was meant to be a starter. Guys like that are too good to be a closer. There's a reason Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson did not pitch out of the bullpen. They would have been the best two closers ever, no doubt in my mind. The door would be slammed shut as soon as they came in. But where were they more valuable? As a starter, of course.
Now, I am by no means saying I expect Papelbon to be as good as Martinez. What I am saying is that he can be a great starting pitcher. He has heat, stuff, a brain, and catcher who calls the best games in the world. He could be great. And a great starting pitcher is much more valuable than even the best closer ever. Just ask the Yankees, mired in an oh-too-long-for-that-payroll six-year drought, despite having the best closer in the league.
Anyway, with every Papelbon save, my opinion will probably waiver. I'm never going to say he doesn't look fantastic out there. He does. But the Red Sox will lose a majority of Tavarez starts, and maybe half of Wakefields. And that's difficult for a closer to make up.
Saj, I'd like your thoughts on this. Also, quick predictions before the Fenway home opener. Rank what you think will be the five loudest ovations at Fenway, and then name one or two players whose ovations will be luke warm.
Five loudest
1. Matsuzaka
2. Papelbon
3. Ortiz
4. Varitek
5. Manny
Worst ovations (non-bench players): Lugo, Crisp, Tavarez
I disagree with you on Papelbon, and here's why:
1. Papelbon was a closer in college and a damn good one.
2. This Peter Gammons piece from yesterday (ESPN Insider). It perfectly summarizes what Papelbon does for the Red Sox, mentally. He basically ensure that the Red Sox win games that they are in a position to win through seven or eight innings. It's a morale boost to know that if you score runs early you have a great insurance policy.
3. What he did on Sunday was one of the best relief performances I have ever seen. He came in with guys on first and third with a one run lead and threw 15 pitches for 5 outs and 3 strikeouts, including a three-pitch domination of Brad Wilkerson to end the game. I'm well aware of the "200 innings is better than 100 innings" argument, but we seem to take "Papelbon being an ace starter" as a given when it is not. He's got great stuff, but so did Eric Gagne and he was a complete bust as a starter.
4. That glower on the mound. Papelbon is, hands down, the scariest white dude in baseball. He personifies the intimidation that Randy Johnson used to have back when he wasn't 300 years old and his left arm wasn't fossilized.
5. Top to bottom, Papelbon makes the bullpen better. Now Francona can use Romero, Donnelly, Pineiro, Timlin in innings 5 through 8 with seemingly reckless abandon. Like I said before, this is the best Red Sox bullpen since El Guapo was rolling around out there and we all know what a good bullpen can do in the playoffs.
6. Jon Lester is only six weeks away at a time when the fifth starter is the least necessary. I do think Tavarez should be taken out of the rotation ASAP in favor of the incredible Devern Hansack (who has an incredible tale) as Lester's placeholder. Remember Lester is only 23 and, as a fifth starter, he's major league ready.
Giddy for opening day at the Fens: watching on www.mlb.tv in the office, over/under on when I get fired is 3:30.
Friday, April 06, 2007
MLB: First Week Ramblings
- I watched the Dice-K start yesterday at work and between hooting and hollering at every pitch I noticed that the Royals broadcast team once refered to him as "Daisuke Matsui" and once as "Matmatzaka." As always the lesson is that if you're going to let white people announce sports contests, make sure they're younger than 50. White people and Walt Frazier.
- My koworker Karl sent me this article about an ambidextrous college pitcher today. For a long time Ian has been clamoring about the benefits of an switch-pitcher and I have been saying that it's almost impossible for someone to develop pitching-level arm strength in both arms. Well, Pat Venditte has proven me wrong and Ian right- a first in the history of our friendship. I think Venditte should take this whole two-handed thing further and develop an nasty two-handed breaking pitch that he delivers over his head as if he were a soccer player tossing a ball in from the sideline. Then he could give it a cool name like "The Annihilator" and mug for the crowd when he's about to pull it out with two strikes on a guy. Sorry, I've been reading too many wikipedia professional wrestling articles today.
- The fantasy season is only three games deep and already I've decided that my drafting of A.J. Burnett over Rich Harden was the stupidest thing I will do this year. On the team in question (I have three) my pitching is anchored by Dave Bush and Rich Hill with Brad Lidge in my bullpen. Yikes. And it was all a panicky brainfart during the 12th round when I saw I hadn't drafted a starter other than Kazmir yet. And I also drafted him before Papelbon. I'm going to propose that the league commissioner just dissolve my team. Not literally though, I'm just being dramatic.
- I know it's still early in the season, but I love that a Yankees starter has not lasted further than four and a third innings in the first two games this year. And I love that A-Rod popped out with the bases-loaded last night in the eighth when the Yankees lost by only one run. I love that too. And I love that for every Jeter error, A-Rod chokejob, or loss to the Devil Rays more and more New York fans jump on the Mets' bandwagon. That's what I love most of all.
- My koworker Karl sent me this article about an ambidextrous college pitcher today. For a long time Ian has been clamoring about the benefits of an switch-pitcher and I have been saying that it's almost impossible for someone to develop pitching-level arm strength in both arms. Well, Pat Venditte has proven me wrong and Ian right- a first in the history of our friendship. I think Venditte should take this whole two-handed thing further and develop an nasty two-handed breaking pitch that he delivers over his head as if he were a soccer player tossing a ball in from the sideline. Then he could give it a cool name like "The Annihilator" and mug for the crowd when he's about to pull it out with two strikes on a guy. Sorry, I've been reading too many wikipedia professional wrestling articles today.
- The fantasy season is only three games deep and already I've decided that my drafting of A.J. Burnett over Rich Harden was the stupidest thing I will do this year. On the team in question (I have three) my pitching is anchored by Dave Bush and Rich Hill with Brad Lidge in my bullpen. Yikes. And it was all a panicky brainfart during the 12th round when I saw I hadn't drafted a starter other than Kazmir yet. And I also drafted him before Papelbon. I'm going to propose that the league commissioner just dissolve my team. Not literally though, I'm just being dramatic.
- I know it's still early in the season, but I love that a Yankees starter has not lasted further than four and a third innings in the first two games this year. And I love that A-Rod popped out with the bases-loaded last night in the eighth when the Yankees lost by only one run. I love that too. And I love that for every Jeter error, A-Rod chokejob, or loss to the Devil Rays more and more New York fans jump on the Mets' bandwagon. That's what I love most of all.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
The Greatest Baseball Preview in America: Conclusion
Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees: Trillionaires Collide!*
*Might be overstating it a bit.
The day before the season's first full slate of games, Saj and I will break down the greatest rivalry in sports this side of Sorenstam-Pak. This rivalry, first born out of tradition and mutual disdain, has evolved into baseball version of the Cold War, with each side outspending all other competitors in the time-honored male activity of oneupsmanship. The last two seasons have had the New York Yankees spending over 200 million dollars each year, an accomplishment no other American sports organization has ever come close to. While the Red Sox stood a solid 70 million behind, that was still enough to be comfortably ahead of the third highest spender. Now the rough 2007 numbers have the Red Sox approaching 160 million, while the Yanks have only slightly trimmed down their gargantuan budget.
But now 'tis the season to see how well money can swing a bat and paint the corner. Time to break it down, position by position. Saj and I will alternate posting and responding at each position. Tomorrow afternoon, check back in for our official predictions of the 2007 season. We will then take a week off to recooperate from the longest month of our lives. (My fingers won't stop bleeding.)
Once again, my font is in bold, while Saj's font is regular. Without further ago, the conclusion to our month long baseball preview:
THE BOSTON RED SOX AND THE NEW YORK YANKEES
CATCHER
To properly gauge who has the better catcher, one needs to decide what is the catcher's most important job on the team. Is it to provide good hitting to extend the potence of a lineup? Is it to be a human backstop behind the plate? Is it to be a de facto leader of the team? Is it to handle the pitching staff? The Red Sox and Yankees have two of the better catchers of the last six to eight years, but of late they have become known as such for two different reasons. Jorge Posada has consistently been one of the top hitting catchers in the game. He has hit 20 or more homeruns in six of the last seven seasons (the other season was 19). Last season he hit 24 home runs, drove in 93 runs, and played 143 games while hitting an admirable .277. As a switch hitter, he's more than a catcher, but an asset at the plate.
Jason Varitek, meanwhile, is much more of an asset behind the plate. His offensive numbers are in steady declinaton, but no one in baseball calls a better game or handles a pitching staff with as much skill. His powers of making a pitcher their best even extend into the fantasy realm. Last year, my fantasy baseball team, brilliantly named Cheney's Pacemaker, was in first place right through August. However, in mid-August at our trade deadline, I decided to shore up my last week link before the playoffs, and traded Varitek in a deal for Josh Willingham. My pitching staff promptly fell apart, and my first place regular season team lost in the semi-finals. That is the power of Varitek.
Lately, of course, mentioning power and Varitek in the same sentence is impossible. He looked increasingly terrible at the plate last year and looks atrocious this spring, hitting barely over .100. So we return to the beginning of this verbose catcher preview. Which do I prioritize as the chief task of the catcher? While all are important, I'll take the guy that can lower my pitching staff's ERA. Slight Edge: Red Sox
Ian, I agree with you. Posada is a better hitting catcher (Varitek will be atrocious at the plate this year), which may be more valuable than a catcher's effect on a pitching staff (great BP article), but as they both enter their age 35 season I just can't see Posada hitting like he used to which is where the bulk of his value lies. As far as more conventional defensive stats Posada has given up 43 passed balls in the last four years to Varitek's 11 and while Posada has a better caught-stealing percentage, people tend to run on him more for whatever reason and that could skew the numbers. In the end I give the edge to Varitek because there is no way in hell Posada could ever grow such an awesome goatee. And do I even have to mention how awesome THIS was? Edge: Red Sox.
FIRST BASE
The Yankees are a mystifying team in that for all their All-stars they always have one or two fundamentally terrible players in their lineup. Karim Garcia was one. Miguel Cairo was another. And the list goes on. In the spirit of that time-honored tradition, the 2007 Yankees have handed the first base reins over to the two-headed monster that is the Doug Mientkiewicz/Josh Phelps experience. Mientkiewicz is very, very bad at the plate. And while good, he's overrated as a defensive specialist. I think it was Confucius who said, "Fielding first base better than Kevin Millar is like beating a cripple in a footrace. You may win but that does not make you Jesse Owens." And that Confucius was a smart fella, I'll tell you that much. Oh, and Giambi might suit up at first for a few games (especially in inter-league play). Get ready to Tivo that steroid-fueled three ring circus. The guy can barely touch his toes with a yardstick.
Meanwhile the Red Sox are suiting up a man affectionately known to all as "The Greek God of Walks." Kevin Youkilis is an on-base machine who, as a transplanted third baseman, plays plus defense. He's very well suited to hit second ahead of Manny Ortez and the gang. Edge: Red Sox.
Am I the only one who was surprised that the Yankees didn't enter the now over Todd Helton talks? Either they upgrade at first base OR they drive up the price on the Sox. Giambi out of the infield is truly addition by subtraction, and the Yankees have enough hitting as it is, so I don't blame them for trying to shore up the defense of their entire infield (Can you say E-Rod?) by starting better defensive first basemen. Still, one cannot deny the pluses Youkilis brings to the table as a perfect table setter for the Sox loaded middle of the order. I'd like to see him hitting #1 or #2 all year. The Yankees platoon, defensively, is not far superior to Youkilis', but they will be a very weak spot in the Yankees offense, while Youkilis is an intergral part of the Sox' lineup. Edge: Red Sox
SECOND BASE
By the end of this season, Robinson Cano will be Yankees fans' second favorite player after his double play partner. He will hit well over .300, play a decent second base, and make every Yankee fan proud that he's one of the few players that came up through the system. The Red Sox counter with their own home grown product, Dustin Pedroia. Pedroia has been a name good Red Sox fans have known for a couple years. The 2007 season was always his target date of arrival, but now that he's here, Sox fans are more nervous than excited. With Hanley Ramirez, Freddy Sanchez, and Anibal Sanchez doing so well as ex-Red Sox farm products, Sox fans might become furious that the one that remained was the one that didn't amount to anything. Edge: Yankees
Agreed, Cano is good. Nothing to add. Edge: Yankees.
SHORTSTOP
This guy versus this guy? Long story short I am finally willing to admit that I want to be Derek Jeter. For the longest time I was 100% sure Jeter was overrated but he had a MVP-caliber season last year and he's shored up his spotty defense in recent years. He's still overrated by Yankee fans but he's a Hall-of-Famer in both the sport of baseball and the sport of banging impossibly hot and famous women. And for some goddamn reason the Red Sox paid Julio Lugo $36 million. Edge: Yankees.
Nah, I gotta take Lugo over Jeter. And then I'll take the Yankees to go all the way. Both statements are laughable. Edge: Yankees.
THIRD BASE
Man, this hurts. Where's Scott Cooper when you need him? Mike Lowell is respectable. He works hard, he's a good clubhouse guy, he can hit for power and hit in the gaps. Defensively, he plays a great third base. He has a goatee. And that's about it. He's not getting any younger and this will probably be his last year in Boston. On the Yankees' side, we have what could be the most talented player in the game. Sure, he's a bigger head case than Jason Voorhees, but he's still a five tool player who scares you for six innings a game and 140 games a year. Unless you're David Wright or Miguel Cabrera, the third base matchup will always go to the Bronx Bombers. Edge: Yankees.
I don't want to talk about it. Edge: Yankees
OUTFIELD
Very difficult to tell this one. So I'm going to say it's a wash. A healthy Coco Crisp and a healthy J.D. Drew alongside Manny Ramirez could eclipse the production of the vaunted Yankees outfield of Bobby Abreu, Hideki Matsui, and Johnny Damon. All three of them aren't getting any younger and Matsui might be the only to reach upper 20's in homeruns. But they'll stay healthy which is more than you can say for the Red Sox. Edge: Even
What are you smoking? *Editor's note: You know what I'm smoking* As a whole this Yankee outfield is easily better than the Red Sox outfield. One by one, it's Manny over Matsui, but Damon and Abreu by a mile over Crisp and Drew. Edge: Yankees
DESIGNATED HITTER
Whew. Big Papi puts a stop to this Yankees run of four straight edges since the Sox took the first two. Giambi is a very good hitter. Nice OBP. Good eye. Good power, especially at Yankee Stadium. But David Ortiz is the best designated hitter in the league, and one of the top five hitters in all of baseball. Edge: Red Sox
Completely in agreement. Jason Giambi IS a very good hitter and his last two seasons in Oakland were actually statistically better than anything anyone else (not named Barry Bonds) has done in the last two decades of baseball, including Pujols, Hafner, and Ramirez. but Giambi is five or six seasons removed from those seasons and presumably from steroid abuse. He's still a dangerous hitter in a pro-lefty park but David Ortiz is 1B to Hafner's 1A in terms of the best DH's in the league. And he has the Papi-mystique, the 500-foot homeruns, the personality, and the second-best righthanded hitter in the game protecting him in the lineup. Simply put, David Ortiz is the best non-Ryan Howard bet to hit 60 homeruns this year. Edge: Red Sox
LINEUP
Edge: Yankees
Quick lineup note: It's easy to forget how good the Yankees lineup actually is. They lead the league in runs scored last year (scoring runs being the principle objective of an offense) by 60 and they are a good bet to do it again. But Cano is their only regular younger than 31 and their defense is weak. Edge: Yankees
PITCHING
I'm really happy to state this: the Red Sox have an unequivocally better pitching staff than the Yankees. You can't even argue this point. Top to the bottom in the rotation, and even, finally, in the bullpen. Schilling, even despite his opening day hiccup, Beckett, and Matsuzaka might be baseball's best top three and with Papelbon closing and guys like Romero, Donnelly, Pineiro, Timlin around to set up, this Red Sox bullpen is the best it has been since the days of Hipolito Pichardo and Rich Garces. Meanwhile the Yankees had to start THIS GUY on opening day, Andy Pettitte is sporting grey streaks in his hair (and a balky back), Mike Mussina will be 38 this season, and Chien-Ming Wang started the season on the DL with a strained right hamstring. Hamstring injuries don't just fade away (SEE ALSO: Junior Griffey) and his right leg is the one he uses to push off the rubber. How effective will his power sinker really be this season? Speaking of power sinkers, don't you need a good infield defense to complement them? I guess Brian Cashman never got that memo. And their bullpen looks just about as crappy as any other Yankees bullpen since they overused Tom Gordon and Paul Quantrill: cross your fingers for a few innings and let Mariano Rivera dominate the ninth. In the end the Yankees will score enough runs to make the playoffs in spite of their pitching, but to stick around in the playoffs I'll take Schilling, Beckett, and Daisuke. Edge: Red Sox.
My thoughts almost exactly. Though your comparison of lineups reeked of bias, this pitching comparison is spot on. I don't have anything else to add to the starters. For the bullpen, I'd say that Joel Piniero does not help ones argument when discussing the strength of Boston's bullpen. (I expect him to be traded soon.) Who you did forget was Craig Hansen and Manny Del Carmen, who are both very young, improving, and won't have to be relied upon to get big outs in the 8th and 9th. Papelbon's move to the bullpen I did not agree with, but it did mean that Boston's bullpen became a strength, as Romero, Timlin, and Donnelly is actually a damned good trio of set up men. Edge: Red Sox.
Final tally:
Yankees 4
Red Sox 4
Here we go again.
Ian calling me a biased sports fan is like Mussolini calling FDR a fascist.
Saj using humor as a defense mechanism is as automatic as Papelbon in the ninth.
Previous Previews
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Al East
Toronto Blue Jays
Baltimore Orioles
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
AL Central
Minnesota Twins
Detroit Tigers
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
Kansas City Royals
AL West
Oakland Athletics
Los Angeles Angels
Texas Rangers
Seattle Mariners
NATIONAL LEAGUE
NL East
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Atlanta Braves
Florida Marlins
Washington Nationals
NL Central
St. Louis Cardinals
Houston Astros
Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers
Pittsburgh Pirates
Chicago Cubs
NL West
San Diego Padres
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Francisco Giants
Colorado Rockies
Arizona Diamondbacks
*Might be overstating it a bit.
The day before the season's first full slate of games, Saj and I will break down the greatest rivalry in sports this side of Sorenstam-Pak. This rivalry, first born out of tradition and mutual disdain, has evolved into baseball version of the Cold War, with each side outspending all other competitors in the time-honored male activity of oneupsmanship. The last two seasons have had the New York Yankees spending over 200 million dollars each year, an accomplishment no other American sports organization has ever come close to. While the Red Sox stood a solid 70 million behind, that was still enough to be comfortably ahead of the third highest spender. Now the rough 2007 numbers have the Red Sox approaching 160 million, while the Yanks have only slightly trimmed down their gargantuan budget.
But now 'tis the season to see how well money can swing a bat and paint the corner. Time to break it down, position by position. Saj and I will alternate posting and responding at each position. Tomorrow afternoon, check back in for our official predictions of the 2007 season. We will then take a week off to recooperate from the longest month of our lives. (My fingers won't stop bleeding.)
Once again, my font is in bold, while Saj's font is regular. Without further ago, the conclusion to our month long baseball preview:
THE BOSTON RED SOX AND THE NEW YORK YANKEES
CATCHER
To properly gauge who has the better catcher, one needs to decide what is the catcher's most important job on the team. Is it to provide good hitting to extend the potence of a lineup? Is it to be a human backstop behind the plate? Is it to be a de facto leader of the team? Is it to handle the pitching staff? The Red Sox and Yankees have two of the better catchers of the last six to eight years, but of late they have become known as such for two different reasons. Jorge Posada has consistently been one of the top hitting catchers in the game. He has hit 20 or more homeruns in six of the last seven seasons (the other season was 19). Last season he hit 24 home runs, drove in 93 runs, and played 143 games while hitting an admirable .277. As a switch hitter, he's more than a catcher, but an asset at the plate.
Jason Varitek, meanwhile, is much more of an asset behind the plate. His offensive numbers are in steady declinaton, but no one in baseball calls a better game or handles a pitching staff with as much skill. His powers of making a pitcher their best even extend into the fantasy realm. Last year, my fantasy baseball team, brilliantly named Cheney's Pacemaker, was in first place right through August. However, in mid-August at our trade deadline, I decided to shore up my last week link before the playoffs, and traded Varitek in a deal for Josh Willingham. My pitching staff promptly fell apart, and my first place regular season team lost in the semi-finals. That is the power of Varitek.
Lately, of course, mentioning power and Varitek in the same sentence is impossible. He looked increasingly terrible at the plate last year and looks atrocious this spring, hitting barely over .100. So we return to the beginning of this verbose catcher preview. Which do I prioritize as the chief task of the catcher? While all are important, I'll take the guy that can lower my pitching staff's ERA. Slight Edge: Red Sox
Ian, I agree with you. Posada is a better hitting catcher (Varitek will be atrocious at the plate this year), which may be more valuable than a catcher's effect on a pitching staff (great BP article), but as they both enter their age 35 season I just can't see Posada hitting like he used to which is where the bulk of his value lies. As far as more conventional defensive stats Posada has given up 43 passed balls in the last four years to Varitek's 11 and while Posada has a better caught-stealing percentage, people tend to run on him more for whatever reason and that could skew the numbers. In the end I give the edge to Varitek because there is no way in hell Posada could ever grow such an awesome goatee. And do I even have to mention how awesome THIS was? Edge: Red Sox.
FIRST BASE
The Yankees are a mystifying team in that for all their All-stars they always have one or two fundamentally terrible players in their lineup. Karim Garcia was one. Miguel Cairo was another. And the list goes on. In the spirit of that time-honored tradition, the 2007 Yankees have handed the first base reins over to the two-headed monster that is the Doug Mientkiewicz/Josh Phelps experience. Mientkiewicz is very, very bad at the plate. And while good, he's overrated as a defensive specialist. I think it was Confucius who said, "Fielding first base better than Kevin Millar is like beating a cripple in a footrace. You may win but that does not make you Jesse Owens." And that Confucius was a smart fella, I'll tell you that much. Oh, and Giambi might suit up at first for a few games (especially in inter-league play). Get ready to Tivo that steroid-fueled three ring circus. The guy can barely touch his toes with a yardstick.
Meanwhile the Red Sox are suiting up a man affectionately known to all as "The Greek God of Walks." Kevin Youkilis is an on-base machine who, as a transplanted third baseman, plays plus defense. He's very well suited to hit second ahead of Manny Ortez and the gang. Edge: Red Sox.
Am I the only one who was surprised that the Yankees didn't enter the now over Todd Helton talks? Either they upgrade at first base OR they drive up the price on the Sox. Giambi out of the infield is truly addition by subtraction, and the Yankees have enough hitting as it is, so I don't blame them for trying to shore up the defense of their entire infield (Can you say E-Rod?) by starting better defensive first basemen. Still, one cannot deny the pluses Youkilis brings to the table as a perfect table setter for the Sox loaded middle of the order. I'd like to see him hitting #1 or #2 all year. The Yankees platoon, defensively, is not far superior to Youkilis', but they will be a very weak spot in the Yankees offense, while Youkilis is an intergral part of the Sox' lineup. Edge: Red Sox
SECOND BASE
By the end of this season, Robinson Cano will be Yankees fans' second favorite player after his double play partner. He will hit well over .300, play a decent second base, and make every Yankee fan proud that he's one of the few players that came up through the system. The Red Sox counter with their own home grown product, Dustin Pedroia. Pedroia has been a name good Red Sox fans have known for a couple years. The 2007 season was always his target date of arrival, but now that he's here, Sox fans are more nervous than excited. With Hanley Ramirez, Freddy Sanchez, and Anibal Sanchez doing so well as ex-Red Sox farm products, Sox fans might become furious that the one that remained was the one that didn't amount to anything. Edge: Yankees
Agreed, Cano is good. Nothing to add. Edge: Yankees.
SHORTSTOP
This guy versus this guy? Long story short I am finally willing to admit that I want to be Derek Jeter. For the longest time I was 100% sure Jeter was overrated but he had a MVP-caliber season last year and he's shored up his spotty defense in recent years. He's still overrated by Yankee fans but he's a Hall-of-Famer in both the sport of baseball and the sport of banging impossibly hot and famous women. And for some goddamn reason the Red Sox paid Julio Lugo $36 million. Edge: Yankees.
Nah, I gotta take Lugo over Jeter. And then I'll take the Yankees to go all the way. Both statements are laughable. Edge: Yankees.
THIRD BASE
Man, this hurts. Where's Scott Cooper when you need him? Mike Lowell is respectable. He works hard, he's a good clubhouse guy, he can hit for power and hit in the gaps. Defensively, he plays a great third base. He has a goatee. And that's about it. He's not getting any younger and this will probably be his last year in Boston. On the Yankees' side, we have what could be the most talented player in the game. Sure, he's a bigger head case than Jason Voorhees, but he's still a five tool player who scares you for six innings a game and 140 games a year. Unless you're David Wright or Miguel Cabrera, the third base matchup will always go to the Bronx Bombers. Edge: Yankees.
I don't want to talk about it. Edge: Yankees
OUTFIELD
Very difficult to tell this one. So I'm going to say it's a wash. A healthy Coco Crisp and a healthy J.D. Drew alongside Manny Ramirez could eclipse the production of the vaunted Yankees outfield of Bobby Abreu, Hideki Matsui, and Johnny Damon. All three of them aren't getting any younger and Matsui might be the only to reach upper 20's in homeruns. But they'll stay healthy which is more than you can say for the Red Sox. Edge: Even
What are you smoking? *Editor's note: You know what I'm smoking* As a whole this Yankee outfield is easily better than the Red Sox outfield. One by one, it's Manny over Matsui, but Damon and Abreu by a mile over Crisp and Drew. Edge: Yankees
DESIGNATED HITTER
Whew. Big Papi puts a stop to this Yankees run of four straight edges since the Sox took the first two. Giambi is a very good hitter. Nice OBP. Good eye. Good power, especially at Yankee Stadium. But David Ortiz is the best designated hitter in the league, and one of the top five hitters in all of baseball. Edge: Red Sox
Completely in agreement. Jason Giambi IS a very good hitter and his last two seasons in Oakland were actually statistically better than anything anyone else (not named Barry Bonds) has done in the last two decades of baseball, including Pujols, Hafner, and Ramirez. but Giambi is five or six seasons removed from those seasons and presumably from steroid abuse. He's still a dangerous hitter in a pro-lefty park but David Ortiz is 1B to Hafner's 1A in terms of the best DH's in the league. And he has the Papi-mystique, the 500-foot homeruns, the personality, and the second-best righthanded hitter in the game protecting him in the lineup. Simply put, David Ortiz is the best non-Ryan Howard bet to hit 60 homeruns this year. Edge: Red Sox
LINEUP
Edge: Yankees
Quick lineup note: It's easy to forget how good the Yankees lineup actually is. They lead the league in runs scored last year (scoring runs being the principle objective of an offense) by 60 and they are a good bet to do it again. But Cano is their only regular younger than 31 and their defense is weak. Edge: Yankees
PITCHING
I'm really happy to state this: the Red Sox have an unequivocally better pitching staff than the Yankees. You can't even argue this point. Top to the bottom in the rotation, and even, finally, in the bullpen. Schilling, even despite his opening day hiccup, Beckett, and Matsuzaka might be baseball's best top three and with Papelbon closing and guys like Romero, Donnelly, Pineiro, Timlin around to set up, this Red Sox bullpen is the best it has been since the days of Hipolito Pichardo and Rich Garces. Meanwhile the Yankees had to start THIS GUY on opening day, Andy Pettitte is sporting grey streaks in his hair (and a balky back), Mike Mussina will be 38 this season, and Chien-Ming Wang started the season on the DL with a strained right hamstring. Hamstring injuries don't just fade away (SEE ALSO: Junior Griffey) and his right leg is the one he uses to push off the rubber. How effective will his power sinker really be this season? Speaking of power sinkers, don't you need a good infield defense to complement them? I guess Brian Cashman never got that memo. And their bullpen looks just about as crappy as any other Yankees bullpen since they overused Tom Gordon and Paul Quantrill: cross your fingers for a few innings and let Mariano Rivera dominate the ninth. In the end the Yankees will score enough runs to make the playoffs in spite of their pitching, but to stick around in the playoffs I'll take Schilling, Beckett, and Daisuke. Edge: Red Sox.
My thoughts almost exactly. Though your comparison of lineups reeked of bias, this pitching comparison is spot on. I don't have anything else to add to the starters. For the bullpen, I'd say that Joel Piniero does not help ones argument when discussing the strength of Boston's bullpen. (I expect him to be traded soon.) Who you did forget was Craig Hansen and Manny Del Carmen, who are both very young, improving, and won't have to be relied upon to get big outs in the 8th and 9th. Papelbon's move to the bullpen I did not agree with, but it did mean that Boston's bullpen became a strength, as Romero, Timlin, and Donnelly is actually a damned good trio of set up men. Edge: Red Sox.
Final tally:
Yankees 4
Red Sox 4
Here we go again.
Ian calling me a biased sports fan is like Mussolini calling FDR a fascist.
Saj using humor as a defense mechanism is as automatic as Papelbon in the ninth.
Previous Previews
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Al East
Toronto Blue Jays
Baltimore Orioles
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
AL Central
Minnesota Twins
Detroit Tigers
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
Kansas City Royals
AL West
Oakland Athletics
Los Angeles Angels
Texas Rangers
Seattle Mariners
NATIONAL LEAGUE
NL East
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Atlanta Braves
Florida Marlins
Washington Nationals
NL Central
St. Louis Cardinals
Houston Astros
Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers
Pittsburgh Pirates
Chicago Cubs
NL West
San Diego Padres
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Francisco Giants
Colorado Rockies
Arizona Diamondbacks
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