Tuesday, June 16, 2009
There's no Karma in baseball...
Need proof? Look no further than this past weekend.
In the Bronx, you have baseball's bullies, the New York Yankees, down to their final out against the Mets, with Alex Rodriguez, everyone's favourite steroid poster boy, at the plate. He skies a routine pop-up to second base, where the usually sure-handed Luis Castillo fumbled it for the two-run, game winning error.
Meanwhile, in Toronto, the down-to-earth, self-deprecating Vernon Wells - by all accounts one of baseball's more admirable citizens - is mired in the mother of all slumps. Balls that once settled into his Wells' glove after a long run now seem to be clanking off that glove with alarming regularity. Worse, is that this may not be a slump, but rather his actual level of ability. That's not to say Wells is a .240 hitter. But where once fans envisioned .320 with 35-40 homers and Gold Glove defense, it may be that .275 with 20-25 home runs and good defense are more realistic expectations. That's still a good player, but not one to build a lineup around.
So the good guy can't buy a hit, while back in New York, the Yankees are building quite the heart-warming, feel good story. You can cheer for their $180-million mercenary first baseman, their $160-million mercenary ace, or their $85-million mercenary #2 starter. And of course, there's the aforementioned star, the pill-popping, extra-marital philandering Madonna-f***er. It's a veritable Norman Rockwell painting. This group of underdogs can certainly use every break they can get.
Much lip service is often paid to the Baseball Gods. If this weekend was any indication, those guys are douchebags. ¶ posted by Jim Turner at 10:26 PM
In the Bronx, you have baseball's bullies, the New York Yankees, down to their final out against the Mets, with Alex Rodriguez, everyone's favourite steroid poster boy, at the plate. He skies a routine pop-up to second base, where the usually sure-handed Luis Castillo fumbled it for the two-run, game winning error.
Meanwhile, in Toronto, the down-to-earth, self-deprecating Vernon Wells - by all accounts one of baseball's more admirable citizens - is mired in the mother of all slumps. Balls that once settled into his Wells' glove after a long run now seem to be clanking off that glove with alarming regularity. Worse, is that this may not be a slump, but rather his actual level of ability. That's not to say Wells is a .240 hitter. But where once fans envisioned .320 with 35-40 homers and Gold Glove defense, it may be that .275 with 20-25 home runs and good defense are more realistic expectations. That's still a good player, but not one to build a lineup around.
So the good guy can't buy a hit, while back in New York, the Yankees are building quite the heart-warming, feel good story. You can cheer for their $180-million mercenary first baseman, their $160-million mercenary ace, or their $85-million mercenary #2 starter. And of course, there's the aforementioned star, the pill-popping, extra-marital philandering Madonna-f***er. It's a veritable Norman Rockwell painting. This group of underdogs can certainly use every break they can get.
Much lip service is often paid to the Baseball Gods. If this weekend was any indication, those guys are douchebags. ¶ posted by Jim Turner at 10:26 PM
