Tagged: Justin Morneau

Week 26 in review: The Mets should make me their next GM or manager, seeing how I was able to lead 2 different fantasy teams to victory.

So…….regular season is over, 22 teams are going home and the Yankees are in the playoffs. No big shock there…

The Rays won the east….yeah, enjoy that-have fun losing to Cliff Lee while the Yankees waltz through Minnesota. Anyway, Ill predict the results tomorrow or something. Lets get onto something much more interesting…like…

I won 2 of my fantasy leagues. Not 1, but TWO!
The Roid Sox held off a late rally to clinch while cpDOOM! 2.0 destroyed their opponent to claim the title. I’m already thinking about next year, where cpDOOM! 3.0 will be claiming a title.

Anyway…

Biggest Yankee Game:
9/28/10: Yankees-6, Blue Jays-1
Playoff clincher and Sabathia proving yet again that he should be Cy Young.

Favorite Picture:
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/The-Twins-have-a-problem-with-the-Timberwolves-m?urn=mlb-273996

The story here is that the Twins, like most teams, have about a million ads all throughout their field…and theyve got a problem with the NBAs Minnesota Timberwolves’ ad that can be seen. Instead of a picture, Im just gonna let y’all read the article, which includes 2 images…so that this week I can avoid violating copyright laws…

Fantasy:
I dont know if you heard, but I won 2 Fantasy titles.

For the sake of comparison:
cpDOOM! 2.0 opening day……..finals
C: M. Montero…………………….R. Doumit
1B: Sandoval………………………D. Lee
2B: Roberts………………………..J. Keppinger
3B: Blake…………………………..J. Bautista
SS: Bartlett………………………..T. Tulowitzki
OF: Braun………………………….R. Braun
OF: Crawford………………………C. Crawford
OF: Swisher……………………….N. Swisher
U: Upton……………………………B. Upton
P: Atlanta Braves………………..San Diego Padres

on bench for the finals were Montero and the Braves. (Like I said in my previous post, the Padres are damn good against the giant for some reason)

Roid Sox opening day…………..finals
C: M. Napoli………………………J. Buck
1B: M. Cabrera…………………..M. Cabrera
2B: B. Phillips……………………M. Aviles
3B: C. Davis………………………J. Bautista
SS: C. Barmes…………………..S. Drew
OF: C. Quentin…………………..L. Morrison
OF: N. Swisher…………………..N. Swisher
OF: A. Lind……………………….R. Raburn
U: J. Morneau…………………….T. Wigginton
P: San Francisco Giants……..San Francisco Giants

Phillips and Lind were on bench for the finals. The other guy started the Red sox pitching, so I knew I was safe pitching the Giants.

It was no coincidence that both teams featured Jose Bautista. Unbelieveable now, but he went undrafted in both those leagues. Picking him up proved to be the clincher, though at the time I thought he might prove to be a decent bench player.

This Week:
The 27 time defending world champion New York Yankees will continue their title defense as they face off against the Twins in the American League Division Series.

…yes, the same Twins we swept last year in the ALDS.
…actually no, not the same Twins because they dont have Morneau and Mauer sucks this year so theyre actually worse than last year.

Week 13 in review: All Star tweaking

Lets take a moment to single out all the Yankees on this years All Star team.

-Derek Jeter. As always, one of the best shortstops in the AL. The no-brainer pick to win the vote.

-Robinson Cano. The best 2B in all of baseball. Again, a no-brainer selection.

-C.C. Sabathia. Good 1st half, though he wont play if he pitches on Sunday against the Mariners.

-Phil Hughes. One of the best 1st halfs of any AL pitcher. Should be a no-brainer to start if not for his recent streak of high ERA.

-Alex Rodriguez. Only injuries could stop him from being an All Star, and this year he was healthy (thus far *knock on wood*)

-Mariano Rivera. Best closer in history. Always gets the save for the AL. The man probably has a lifetime roster spot reserved for him.

-Andy Pettitte. Thats right b!tches. Pettittes an All Star. Replacing an injured person, but he was gonna be an All Star anyway for the beforementioned Sabathia thing. That was Girardis plan all along, or so he claimed. Though, I dont see why he couldve had a Red Sox pitcher replace Sabathia, forcing Jon Lester to wait until the last minute out of spite…

-Nick Swisher (as soon as he wins the final vote thing). Because I said so…

Biggest Yankee Game:
7/4/10: Yankees-7, Blue Jays-6, 10 innings

Holy crap. That game went back and forth and back and forth the whole damn time. Jays by a run, Yanks by 2, then its Jays by 2, then Gardner hits a 2 run inside the park homer to tie it up, Yanks take a 1 run lead into the 9th, Jays touch Rivera up to tie it up again, then Thames literally comes up off the DL to win it for us in the 10th. DeWayne Wise prolly has more than a few mixed moments from the whole game himself…
Momentum building win for the Yankees, making them the first 50 win team in baseball…while the Blue Jays slip below .500
I think its officially over for them this year. Though God dammit a few more key additions for them and they can contend long term…

Favorite Picture:


HoPark.pngDuring the Yankees 6-1 loss to the Blue Jays over the weekend, Chan Ho Park came in and was anything but effective. During that outing, he hits Aaron Hill with a pitch and knocks him over, to which the Yankees announcer, Michael Kay says “…and Chan Ho Parks Aaron Hill.” Which I laughed at for a while. I couldnt find a picture or video of it, so heres a pic of Park from that very game, which is the best I can give you right now…

Fantasy:
The following are all 5 of my fantasy teams, and (purely for my ego and bad @s$ drafting/trading/waiver skills) All Stars for each of them…

The Roid Sox:
-Justin Morneau
-Brandon Phillips
-Jose Bautista
-Miguel Cabrera
-Ty Wigginton
-Nick Swisher*

Showdown:
-Brian McCann
-David Ortiz
-Alex Rodriguez

cpDOOM 2.0:
-Jose Bautista
-Carl Crawford
-Ryan Braun
-Chris Young
-Ty Wigginton
-Nick Swisher*

Pretenders:
-Derek Jeter
-Marlon Byrd
-Roy Halladay
-Phil Hughes

F*cking Lozers:
-Brandon Phillips
-Evan Longoria
-Corey Hart
-Michael Bourn
-John Buck
-Tim Lincecum
-Josh Johnson
-Phil Hughes
-Trevor Cahill
-Brian Wilson

This Week:
West coast trip time. Lots of 10oClock games for me. At the A’s and at the Mariners.

 

…BTW, Sundays game was the official half way point in the schedule. 50 wins already? I smell another 100 win season!

Fantasy Draft #3…plus assinine suggestions

Fantasy baseball is like a drug. You cant make just one team.

Ive got multiple teams in the works this year. 1 in a money league, 1 for kicks, 1 to test a theory I have, and 1 that I created with some friends to test another theory.

This week I’m drafting my solo theory team, named “The Roid Sox” This is very simple, Im gonna draft power hitters and hope they homer me to victory. If theres a power hitter on the maket better than any of my existing power hitters, Ill aquire him….also if you use steroids, then theres a place for you on my team (Good news for David Ortiz)

…and my draft position is 11. So there goes Pujols, Tex, Fielder, ARod and Howard right from the getko. Eh, the bright side is Ive got a near end position, 11/12 meaning when I draft, I get 2 of the following 4 picks…plus Ill have more time to elaborate on my selections. Remember: home runs only, RBIs a plus, SBs dont mean sh!t here.

 

…and as I wait for the hour to pass…

Aceves pitched today, got the start even, and got shelled off his #1 position in the search of this years #5…Hughes becomes the new frontrunner. A nice 2.08 while Aceves falls down with Mitre as they jockey to keep up. Gaudin and Joba so far back in obscurity I wonder if theyre even in this race anymore.

Meanwhile Gardners average is a nice plump .281, putting him sadly way out in front in the OF race. Thames however is fighting to not get sent to AAA, and with an average barely over .100, it dont look too good.

 

……and yeah, theres also basketball going on apparently…I dont follow it much,  usually hope for Syracuse to lose and Kentucky to win. Why Kentucky? Here are the years when the Kentucky Wildcats won the NCAA tourney: 1948, 1949, 1951, 1958, 1978, 1996, 1998
Notice something similar?

 

Good lord, what else can I do to kill time…
oh yeah…

THIS was published. More or less highlighting changes needed to baseball.

I agree with the playoff off day shenanigans. Too many off days is annoying. Back in my day 1998, playoffs went 1-2-off-3-4-off-5 in the LDS, and 1-2-off-3-4-5-off-6-7 in the LCS/WS.
That Yankee/Angel ALCS last year? 1-2-off-3-4-off-rain-5-off-6 Thank God that the Yankees won game 6 or there wouldve been another off day thrown in there before game 7. I could care less about FOXs potential ratings. I cared more about how John Lackey was getting enough rest where he prolly wouldve pitched game 7.

Oh, and expanding the LDS to a best of 7? God no. Baseball should not be played in November. At this current rate, we’re gonna have to change the “Fall classic” to the “Late fall-early winter classic”

All Star game to stop determining home field advantage? Im sure every NL owner, fan and player would agree with that. It should go to the team with the better record. Period.

Division realignment? Pssssssssssssh. Ill touch on that in another post as to why thats a pretty dumb idea.

Shortening games? I really never had much to say for or against this. Pitchers who work fast (but not too fast) usually do well, while if someones getting rattled-it always helps to give him half a minute or so to collect himself mentally, usually with the help of the catcher/manager….but dont strictly enfore the push to quicken games…DONT fine a pitcher for “going too slow” and DONT get your panties in a knot when a game takes over 3 hours to complete.

I’d take a 4 hour victory over a 2 hour defeat any day.

 

…Im out of ideas. I’ll just sit quietly for this draft to begin…

…Wow, half the league is actually here this time…

First couple picks, M. Cabrera and Justin Morneau.
Aramis Ramirez and Adam Lind follow suit…

Draft over. You’d be suprised at how many people wanted Zobrist so bad…

anyway…projected lineup…

The Roid Sox:
C: M. Napoli
1B: M. Cabrera
2B: B. Phillips
3B: C. Davis
SS: C. Barmes
OF: C. Quentin
OF: N. Swisher
OF: A. Lind
U: J. Morneau
P: San Francisco Giants

Bias…plain and simple…

Just so we’re clear, between this year and 06, Jeter should have gotten at least 1 MVP award. Cut short by a Twinkie AGAIN.

In 06 Jeter was the favorite by far, while 3 different Twins were up for the award against him, heres how those specific 4 did:

Justin Nobody: 320
Derek Jeter: 306
Mauer: 116
Johan Santana: 114

Its pretty clear the fact that 3 Twins on the ballot didnt effect the outcome.

 

2009? 2 Yankees vs 1 Twin?

Mauer: 387
Texeira: 225
Jeter: 193

 

You can feed me that BS sabermetrics or “Catcher is the hardest position” till the cows come home, Im not buying any of that. None of that was the case when that lying, cheating, DH, steroid using f*uck Ortiz was on the ballot.

Its pure anti-Yankee bias, plain and simple.

But dont worry, its all cool. The only hardware that ever matters is a ring, no bias can get that but pure talent, and Jeter has FIVE now. Mauer can only dream of winning even one if he stays in that sh!t town in Minny.

World Championships:

Jeter: 5
Texeira: 1
Mauer: 0
Morneau: 0
Santana: 0

Awards 2009

The Yankees may have the biggest award of the year already on their mantle, but that doesnt mean we cant add a few more, and thanks to Jeter and Tex, we’ve already added 3 gold gloves and 2 silver sluggers! (Seriously though, can everyone please stop harping on how “Jeters getting too old”? The man is the best shortstop in baseball…again)

What else could we possibly add to our 2009 award case?

Cy Young?
…No. Grienke had one hell of a season (and just imagine how good he wouldve been if he werent a Royal). CC may have had an outstanding year, and was ALCS MVP, but Greinke was the best pitcher in baseball. Period.

 

Manager of the Year?
I’m not sure why everyone suddenly jumps to Mike Scioscia for this award. Sure, he led a team to overcome the death of a rookie and went to the ALCS, but Girardi deserves it even more.
I’ll give Scioscia his deserved props though. Overcomming the death of a teammate isnt ever easy. Nick Adenhart may not have been Thurman Munson-like on that team, but he was still a part of that Angel-family vibe. Plus, this year was the first in a long time that the AL west wasnt pitifully easy to win. The Rangers showed up this time and the Angels were plagued with injuries.
Still…The Yankees utterly failed in 2008 when they didnt even reach October. Girardi thus fell deeper into the shadow of Torre and anything short of a championship in 2009 would mean a pink slip for Girardi. So for him to help pull this team up to #27 was amazing. Plus, he promoted something on this team long since though imnpossible for a New York team: chemistry. Joe Girardi deserves to be MotY…and maybe, unlike as a Marlin, this time he can win the award and NOT lose his job…

 

MVP?
If I were Derek Jeter, I would loathe the Twins. Then again, they are our personal punching bags every October…but Jeter was suppose to win MVP once before, but got snaked by anti-Yankee voters who instead gave it to some nameless Twin named Morneau, who wasnt even around this October…now this year, Jeter is threatened to get snaked out AGAIN, though by a not-so-nameless Twin.
Both Jeter and Mauer have silver sluggers to their names this year as well as gold gloves, so this one is closer than sportscenter would have you believe. Mauer has had a great year, not just by catcher standerds, while Jeter always has a great year, by New York standerds (which are pretty damn high)
What sets Jeter apart is his intangibles, he always gets a hit when the Yankees need it most, which is a big reason why the Yankees won over 100 games this year and DIDNT need an extra game this regular season. What hurts Jeters cause is that he plays for the Yankees, the most hated franchise in sports.
BTW: Jeter won the Hank Aaron award this year as well (top offensive player)…so, yeah…

 

Yeah, congrats to Mariano Rivera too, for winning yet another Delivery Man of the Year award…

 

Im gonna make predictions now…

Rookie of the Year
AL: Elvis Andrus
NL: Tommy Hanson

Manager of the Year
AL: Joe Girardi
NL: Jim Tracy

Cy Young
AL: Zack Grienke
NL: Adam Wainwright

MVP
AL: Derek Jeter
NL: Albert Pujols