It is the “deadzone” of the football season. No training camps. No rookie camps. Nothing. Even baseball is stopped for its All-Star game. So it is no surprise that a legitimately big story is getting all the pub lately.
Will he or won’t he? Brett Favre has asked to be released by the Green Bay Packers because he feels he is no longer wanted. Well there’s a reason for that Brett, they don’t want you back. Standing on the outside looking in fans and even sports writers are not privy to what goes on behind the scenes with regards to players. Whether it is a player’s interaction with the coach, general manager, or in the locker room, it is hard to get a true reading on the personality of some athletes. But something tells me that the Packers front office would love nothing more than to get rid of the headache of Brett Favre. His act is wearing thin.
Favre has been upset in recent years with GM Ted Thompson because he has not gotten help for the quarterback. In the 2005 draft Thompson drafted Aaron Rodgers, QB out of Cal in the first round. This upset Favre because he wanted a running back to help his offense. Last year Favre wanted Randy Moss, but Thompson was unable to obtain the Pro Bowl wide receiver either. But looking at these moves it is hardly possible for Favre to be upset. During the 2005 draft the Green Bay Packers selected Rodgers for two reasons, he was the best available player (should have been the top QB taken and gone to San Fran) and they were uncertain of Favre’s future. As for Moss, he accepted less money to go back to the New England Patriots this season, so Thompson tried, and last time I checked, the Packers last season had the deepest, youngest, most talented group of wide receivers in the NFC.
Sorry but the Packers organization has to move on. They asked Favre to stop his yearly game of indecision and figure out whether he will be back this year by March, which would allow the team to make the correct selections in the draft and target particular players in free agency. It would allow them to start building around Aaron Rodgers.
Now Favre is trying to say that the Packers pressured him to retire. That the right thing to do would be to release him so he can play somewhere he is wanted. Favre is painting himself as the victim. I am not bashing Favre, I am in awe of many of his accomplishments. He holds the all-time touchdown record, three MVP’s, and a Super Bowl victory. Green Bay has had a chance to win because he has been their quarterback. But in the NFL the winning franchises are the ones that drop a player a year too early before a year too late. It appears that the Packers want to get rid of the act of Brett Favre, and turn over to their fourth year QB in Aaron Rodgers.
What they should do is trade him to an AFC team that they would only play against if they met in the Super Bowl. Green Bay crosses over from the NFC to play the AFC South division with the Indianapolis Colts, Houston Texans, Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars. All of these teams have confidence in their quarterbacks and wouldn’t seek Favre anyway.
I hope for the Packers sake that they can get out from under this problem as gracefully as possible. The media and fans generally love Favre and will be sympathetic to him, but when you scratch below the surface it is clear that this was brought on by Favre’s own inability to decide whether he wants to play or not. I never think it is right to tell a player to retire. Players should play as long as they want, but in this case, it should be as far away from Green Bay as possible.
-Michael DiPetta
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
MLB: First Half Review, Second Half Preview
The All-Star game is tomorrow night in Yankee Stadium marking the midway point of the long baseball season. It kicks off the final farewell for many baseball fans of Yankee Stadium. The All-Star game tomorrow is as much a celebration of past Yankee greats and memories the stadium conjures up as it is for the exemplary performances of the players playing in the game.
This season has been full of surprises. The Tampa Bay Rays, despite losing seven straight games heading into the break, are the most surprising team in contention. Their young stars have stepped up and matured beyond many peoples expectation this year. The National League West was arguably the most competitive division last year with the Arizona Diamondbacks winning the division and the Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres playing a one game playoff to win the Wild Card. Arizona and Colorado would meet in the National League Championship Series with Colorado prevailing and making it to the World Series. They ended up losing to the Boston Redsox. However, this season is entirely different. Entering the All-Star break no team in the division has a winning record. Arizona is the division leader with a 47-48 mark.
Big pitchers have been traded to the two best teams in the NL in the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers. CC Sabathia was traded from the Cleveland Indians to the Brewers while Canadian Rich Harden was traded from the Oakland Athletics to the Cubs. Both are called upon to help their new teams make a push to the World Series.
Despite all the fanfare at the beginning of the season for the Detroit Tigers, they currently do not hold a playoff spot in the American League. That doesn’t mean they still can’t sneak up and pass the surprising Minnesota Twins in the AL Central though.
The fans can look forward to another All-Star Game tomorrow with all their favorite players. But this time around there is something special. Yankee Stadium will be torn down at the end of the year. The Yankee mystique will be seen throughout the game. They will honour all-time greats and display future ones in Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter and third baseman Alex Rodriguez.
The Toronto Blue Jays are represented by staff ace Roy Halladay. He is one of the front runners for winning the Cy Young award for the AL’s top pitcher. Halladay has been the loan bright spot on a Jays team that had some great expectations falsely placed on them at the beginning of the season. This team from the start was nothing more than a .500 ball club and at the break they are currently 47-48. In a division with the Yankees, Redsox, and Rays, it is going to be hard to move any higher than fourth place this season.
The big question surrounding the Jays going into the second half is whether they will trade A.J. Burnett and what will they get in return. A group of two or three prospects is what the fans will expect. The Philadelphia Philles have expressed interest in Burnett but so far they are just rumors. Unfortunately it looks like the second half is going to be full of moral victories and trades that will only benefit the future for a team that has missed the playoff every year since their World Series win in 1993. Fans can look forward to a possible September call-up of Travis Snyder. The outfielder is regarded as the best prospect the Jays have and is projected as a big time future slugger in the majors. However, the Jays will not want to start the clock on his free agency and arbitration earlier than they have to, so he may not get the chance until next season.
The Burnett trade talk is keeping the Toronto baseball scene lively, but after the trade deadline passes there will be very little to look forward to until 2009.
Watch for the Boston Redsox to win a second straight division title. I have been a believer in the Rays since day one, but their recent slump and youth scare me. It is fair to assume that the New York Yankees will have another second half surge that will propel them into the Wild Card just ahead of Tampa by a game or two. Detroit will start to play better creating a three way race between the Chicago Whitesox and Minnesota Twins to see who wins the AL Central. The AL West is the Angels to win once again. Despite the Texas Rangers having amazing performances from Milton Bradley, Ian Kinsler and Jos Hamilton, they are third in the division, and will miss the playoffs. Oakland has played better than expected, but will fall short of the Angels a second straight year.
As for the NL, nothing is certain. The Cubs currently have the best record, but have proven time and time again to fail come playoff time. Milwaukee and St. Louis will push the Cubs to the brink making the Central the best division in the NL. The NL East has the surprising Florida Marlins making a push for the division title, but it will likely be a battle between the Phillies and New York Mets again to see which team wins the division. After the Mets collapsed last season they have to pull together and not let it affect them late this season. As for the aforementioned disappointing NL West, it too is a toss up, the Los Angeles Dodgers or the Arizona Diamondbacks could win with a record of .500.
The baseball season is a little over halfway done and the playoffs are just around the corner. But if you want to watch the most exciting races for division titles and the Wild Card, it would be best to look to the National League.
-Michael DiPetta
This season has been full of surprises. The Tampa Bay Rays, despite losing seven straight games heading into the break, are the most surprising team in contention. Their young stars have stepped up and matured beyond many peoples expectation this year. The National League West was arguably the most competitive division last year with the Arizona Diamondbacks winning the division and the Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres playing a one game playoff to win the Wild Card. Arizona and Colorado would meet in the National League Championship Series with Colorado prevailing and making it to the World Series. They ended up losing to the Boston Redsox. However, this season is entirely different. Entering the All-Star break no team in the division has a winning record. Arizona is the division leader with a 47-48 mark.
Big pitchers have been traded to the two best teams in the NL in the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers. CC Sabathia was traded from the Cleveland Indians to the Brewers while Canadian Rich Harden was traded from the Oakland Athletics to the Cubs. Both are called upon to help their new teams make a push to the World Series.
Despite all the fanfare at the beginning of the season for the Detroit Tigers, they currently do not hold a playoff spot in the American League. That doesn’t mean they still can’t sneak up and pass the surprising Minnesota Twins in the AL Central though.
The fans can look forward to another All-Star Game tomorrow with all their favorite players. But this time around there is something special. Yankee Stadium will be torn down at the end of the year. The Yankee mystique will be seen throughout the game. They will honour all-time greats and display future ones in Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter and third baseman Alex Rodriguez.
The Toronto Blue Jays are represented by staff ace Roy Halladay. He is one of the front runners for winning the Cy Young award for the AL’s top pitcher. Halladay has been the loan bright spot on a Jays team that had some great expectations falsely placed on them at the beginning of the season. This team from the start was nothing more than a .500 ball club and at the break they are currently 47-48. In a division with the Yankees, Redsox, and Rays, it is going to be hard to move any higher than fourth place this season.
The big question surrounding the Jays going into the second half is whether they will trade A.J. Burnett and what will they get in return. A group of two or three prospects is what the fans will expect. The Philadelphia Philles have expressed interest in Burnett but so far they are just rumors. Unfortunately it looks like the second half is going to be full of moral victories and trades that will only benefit the future for a team that has missed the playoff every year since their World Series win in 1993. Fans can look forward to a possible September call-up of Travis Snyder. The outfielder is regarded as the best prospect the Jays have and is projected as a big time future slugger in the majors. However, the Jays will not want to start the clock on his free agency and arbitration earlier than they have to, so he may not get the chance until next season.
The Burnett trade talk is keeping the Toronto baseball scene lively, but after the trade deadline passes there will be very little to look forward to until 2009.
Watch for the Boston Redsox to win a second straight division title. I have been a believer in the Rays since day one, but their recent slump and youth scare me. It is fair to assume that the New York Yankees will have another second half surge that will propel them into the Wild Card just ahead of Tampa by a game or two. Detroit will start to play better creating a three way race between the Chicago Whitesox and Minnesota Twins to see who wins the AL Central. The AL West is the Angels to win once again. Despite the Texas Rangers having amazing performances from Milton Bradley, Ian Kinsler and Jos Hamilton, they are third in the division, and will miss the playoffs. Oakland has played better than expected, but will fall short of the Angels a second straight year.
As for the NL, nothing is certain. The Cubs currently have the best record, but have proven time and time again to fail come playoff time. Milwaukee and St. Louis will push the Cubs to the brink making the Central the best division in the NL. The NL East has the surprising Florida Marlins making a push for the division title, but it will likely be a battle between the Phillies and New York Mets again to see which team wins the division. After the Mets collapsed last season they have to pull together and not let it affect them late this season. As for the aforementioned disappointing NL West, it too is a toss up, the Los Angeles Dodgers or the Arizona Diamondbacks could win with a record of .500.
The baseball season is a little over halfway done and the playoffs are just around the corner. But if you want to watch the most exciting races for division titles and the Wild Card, it would be best to look to the National League.
-Michael DiPetta
There is no Home Run Derby Jinx
The Home Run Derby will be held tonight in Yankee Stadium. But a question has always popped up whenever it is time for the Home Run Derby. Does it really screw up hitters swings? Alex Rodriguez, third baseman for the New York Yankees, was asked to participate in the Derby but declined for fear of hurting his swing. This is a player that is often vilified in the New York tabloids, who could have taken part in the Home Run Derby in his very own backyard in front of his hometown fans but decided against it. He is a player that just hit his 537th home run, passing Yankee great Mickey Mantle for 13th on the all-time list. Yet even though it would be amazing for the fans, help his image, and given him a chance to become part of the legend of Yankee Stadium, a player that is closing in on the home run record held by Barry Bonds at a furious rate, felt that the Home Run Derby would hurt his swing in the second half.
This seems quite odd. Every year there appears to be a Home Run Derby curse on the players who make it to the finals. But is there any truth to it? Can this event truly hurt the mechanics of a ballplayers swing for months afterward? These are premiere athletes, maybe Prince Fielder is a wee bit over weight, but everyone in this showcase tonight is lean and full of muscle. Surely the likes of Canadian Justin Morneau, Grady Sizemore, Evan Longoria, Josh Hamilton, Chase Utley, Dan Uggla, Ryan Braun, and Lance Berkman are good enough not to let taking a few pure power swings in a row hurt them for months.
Looking at that list a little closer it is remarkable to see the athleticism. Uggla and Utley play second base for the Florida Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies respectively. A middle infield position usually associated with smaller fielding specialists, not power. First baseman Justin Morneau and Lance Berkman are your typical homerun hitters, but Berkman has 15 stolen bases this year! Mourneau is the only player in the Derby without a stolen base this season. Uggla has four, Evan Longoria has six, Josh Hamilton has seven, Ryan Braun has eight, Utley has 10, and Grady Sizemore has 22. There is a combined 72 stolen bases between the eight competitors to go along with their combined 167 homeruns.
But is there any truth to the theory that the Home Run Derby can hurt the mechanics of a players swing for weeks and months to come? Let’s look at some of the most recent finalist and see what they did in the second half of those seasons. In 1998 and 1999 Ken Griffey Jr won consecutive Home Run Derby’s in Coor’s Field in Colorado and then in Fenway Park in Boston. It was in 1999 though that he pulled out because he didn’t want to damage his swing for the second half of the season. Fans were obviously upset and Griffey ended up participating and winning with 16 home runs. His stats before and after the break in 1998 show us he might have been right as he hit 35 hr’s before the All-Star break and 21 after.
The past five winners have shown minimal decline. Garret Anderson of the Angels hit 22 home runs before the 2003 Derby and only seven after. In 2004 winner Miguel Tejada hit 15 home runs before the Derby and 19 homeruns after it. In 2005 Bobby Abreu won with a total of 41 home runs in the Derby. He hit 18 before the All-Star break and only six afterward. In 2006 Ryan Howard won and hit 28 home runs before the Derby and 30 after it for a total of 58 on the season. Last year’s winner Vladimir Guerrero had 14 home runs before the break and 13 after.
The stats show that it is really hit and miss whether the player struggles after winning the Home Run Derby or not. Past contestants that have gone on to struggle like Abreu and last year’s runner-up Alex Rios were not mashers anyway. Abreu and Rios are players that have 25-HR power and if they get into a month long slump it reflects in their season home run totals more drastically than a Ryan Howard. Howard seemingly can hit 40 home runs in his sleep.
If a player doesn’t want to risk hurting his swing then I can understand that the swing is a mechanically detailed athletic act. But the timing and mechanics would never hurt a fantastic player to the point that they slump for three months afterward. There’s no question that it could mess with a hitters timing and mechanics for about a week. But good players will always adjust. The only reason a slump from the Home Run Derby would last longer than a week is because the player starts pressing and only tries to hit home runs rather than naturally swinging like they always do.
In the end, there is no real home run jinx. We can enjoy watching the players participating tonight continue their fantastic seasons throughout the rest of the summer, and for some, into October.
-Michael DiPetta
This seems quite odd. Every year there appears to be a Home Run Derby curse on the players who make it to the finals. But is there any truth to it? Can this event truly hurt the mechanics of a ballplayers swing for months afterward? These are premiere athletes, maybe Prince Fielder is a wee bit over weight, but everyone in this showcase tonight is lean and full of muscle. Surely the likes of Canadian Justin Morneau, Grady Sizemore, Evan Longoria, Josh Hamilton, Chase Utley, Dan Uggla, Ryan Braun, and Lance Berkman are good enough not to let taking a few pure power swings in a row hurt them for months.
Looking at that list a little closer it is remarkable to see the athleticism. Uggla and Utley play second base for the Florida Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies respectively. A middle infield position usually associated with smaller fielding specialists, not power. First baseman Justin Morneau and Lance Berkman are your typical homerun hitters, but Berkman has 15 stolen bases this year! Mourneau is the only player in the Derby without a stolen base this season. Uggla has four, Evan Longoria has six, Josh Hamilton has seven, Ryan Braun has eight, Utley has 10, and Grady Sizemore has 22. There is a combined 72 stolen bases between the eight competitors to go along with their combined 167 homeruns.
But is there any truth to the theory that the Home Run Derby can hurt the mechanics of a players swing for weeks and months to come? Let’s look at some of the most recent finalist and see what they did in the second half of those seasons. In 1998 and 1999 Ken Griffey Jr won consecutive Home Run Derby’s in Coor’s Field in Colorado and then in Fenway Park in Boston. It was in 1999 though that he pulled out because he didn’t want to damage his swing for the second half of the season. Fans were obviously upset and Griffey ended up participating and winning with 16 home runs. His stats before and after the break in 1998 show us he might have been right as he hit 35 hr’s before the All-Star break and 21 after.
The past five winners have shown minimal decline. Garret Anderson of the Angels hit 22 home runs before the 2003 Derby and only seven after. In 2004 winner Miguel Tejada hit 15 home runs before the Derby and 19 homeruns after it. In 2005 Bobby Abreu won with a total of 41 home runs in the Derby. He hit 18 before the All-Star break and only six afterward. In 2006 Ryan Howard won and hit 28 home runs before the Derby and 30 after it for a total of 58 on the season. Last year’s winner Vladimir Guerrero had 14 home runs before the break and 13 after.
The stats show that it is really hit and miss whether the player struggles after winning the Home Run Derby or not. Past contestants that have gone on to struggle like Abreu and last year’s runner-up Alex Rios were not mashers anyway. Abreu and Rios are players that have 25-HR power and if they get into a month long slump it reflects in their season home run totals more drastically than a Ryan Howard. Howard seemingly can hit 40 home runs in his sleep.
If a player doesn’t want to risk hurting his swing then I can understand that the swing is a mechanically detailed athletic act. But the timing and mechanics would never hurt a fantastic player to the point that they slump for three months afterward. There’s no question that it could mess with a hitters timing and mechanics for about a week. But good players will always adjust. The only reason a slump from the Home Run Derby would last longer than a week is because the player starts pressing and only tries to hit home runs rather than naturally swinging like they always do.
In the end, there is no real home run jinx. We can enjoy watching the players participating tonight continue their fantastic seasons throughout the rest of the summer, and for some, into October.
-Michael DiPetta
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