Okay, Now What?

 

There are 30 teams in Major League Baseball.

Each one has a General Manager.

Teams can win with poor General Managers.  Teams can lose with good General Managers.  The truth of the matter is that there are lots of moving parts.  Where a team is in their development life-cycle, Injuries, bad field management, flu bugs, there's tons of factors that determine whether a team wins or loses.

I won't pretend that Alex Anthopoulos is the best GM in baseball.  He was named Executive of the Year by his peers.  But that's one year.  Is he amazing and irreplaceable?  Not sure yet.  I'm working through that.

I do; however, know what amazing and irreplaceable does like.

And you know what?  Eventually that guy was replaced too.

There have only been 5 GMs selected to baseball's hall of fame.  Unlike others sports, this hall of fame is damned near impossible to get in to.  And one of those GMs that joined the likes of Branch Rickey is the Blue Jays own, Pat Gillick.  He took 4 different teams to the post season as an executive.  His teams won 3 World Series.  His revamping of the minor leagues and sheer abuse of the rule 5 drive make him legend in baseball circles.

Best General Manager I've ever seen.  On any team.

And I know what a terrible General Manager looks like too.

It looks like a guy that signs Vernon Wells to a 126 million dollar contract.  A guy that signs an aging Frank Thomas to a two year 18 million dollar contract.  Signs B.J. Ryan, Corey Koskie, A.J. Burnett, trades Cesar Iztuis and Paul Quantril for the legendary Luke Prokopec,  That ladies and Gentlemen would be Mr. JP Ricciardi.

Worst General Manager I've ever seen.  On any team.

However Pat Gillick traded (.283 career, 2 all star games) Damaso Garcia AND (51-58, 4.14) Luis Leal for (28-42, 4.08) Craig McMurtry.  And Ricciardi got Marco Scutaro (.277 2012 WS MVP) out of Oakland for two guys named (1-6, 5.09) Graham Godfrey and (-) Kristian Bell.

Good GMs can do stupid things.  Stupid GMs can do good things.

Alex has proven himself to be neither of these two guys.  Not yet anyway.

In 17 years Gillick was over .500 11 times, was 1352 - 1297 (.510); Ricciardi in 8 years was .500 4 times, was 642 - 653 (.496); Anthopoulos in 6 years was over .500 4 times, and was 489 - 483 (.503).

If you think Double A was a good as Gillick, well....you're on crack.  And if you think he was as bad as JP, you probably share the same dealer with the guy that thinks he was a good as Gillick.

That being said, when Toronto was running out onto the field to play the Oakland Athletics on August 13th of this season, the Jays had the same winning percentage under The Greek that they did under The Italian. .496 for both of them.  The real difference between them is simply that the Jays played .638 in the last 47 games with Jason of the Argonauts (get the Greek reference there) steering the ship.

As most people know, there's only two things in this world that I detest.  1) People that don't accept other peoples cultures or ethnicities and 2) Greeks.  More on that later.

I started writing this with a "ya it sucks, but we'll fine", but as I've thought about it more and read some other stuff....I'm not so sure that's true anymore.

Ricciardi, who had everything going for him (dude's Italian...come on!) was pretty much hated from the outset here.  He butchered Delgado's free agency getting nothing for him when he would have stayed here had their been a real offer.  He got nothing for Chris Carpenter who went to St. Louis to win a Cy Young and a World Series.

But more than that it was the lies.  Remember when BJ Ryan's aching "back" was solved by season ending Tommy John (elbow) surgery?  JP's explanation for this on purpose miss-communication? "Its not a lie if we know the truth".  Holy friggin' Constanza.

Then he lied about Halladay asking for a trade and providing a list of teams that he would go to.  Halladay had to hold a press conference to deny it all.  Mid season!

He insulted fans.  He was arrogant.  He was a dick.  I'm half Italian and I hated him.  Yep, the first Italian I hated.

So why the difference with The Greek?  Well he didn't lie.  His personnel deals were 'smart'.  Doesn't mean they all worked out, but they were well thought out.  He's handled player signings responsibly and respectfully.  He got Bautista done when everyone thought he would bolt after his 50 home run year.  He stayed, I was surprised.  He got Encarnacion resigned.  No fanfare, just quietly taken care of.

But there's more.

Gillick and Anthopoulos have something else in common.  Toronto and Canada for that matter is very different than the States.  Its more than just guns.  Pat learned this where as Alex was born into it.  Americans are aggressive.  They're arrogant.  At least your type-A personality Americans that run sports franchises are like that.  Canadians are different.  We're generally honest.  We're polite.  Our humor is mostly self deprecating (or making fun of Greeks).

As a teenager hitch hiking from California to Vulcan Alberta to tryout for a minor league ball team, Pat Gillick might of figured that out.  If not, maybe he did when he pitched for the Vancouver Canadians four years later.  Maybe it was when he was the Assistant General Manager of the Jays in 1977.  Or when he took over as the GM the next year.  Or when he became a Canadian citizen.  But somewhere along the line Gillick figured us out.

He spoke from the heart.  He was honest.  He would always explain his moves or lack of moves.  He brought scouting to the organization.  He (along with the Dodgers) was the first to mine the great baseball resources of the Dominican Republic.  He watched games like a 'fan' not like the 'boss'.  He lived in Toronto.  He was one of us.  He had a GREAT gig, but he was one of us.

There is nothing in the above paragraph that isn't true about Anthopoulos.  And there is nothing in the above paragraph that is true about Ricciardi.

The devil you know is maybe better than the devil you don't.

Organizationally, you've gotta wonder what the heck is going on.  The replacement of Beeston was botched.  Going after Kenny Williams without permission?  Crazy.  Going after Dombrowski and then not wanting to pay the compensation?  Who's running this show?

Then the Mark Shapiro signing.  By all accounts, and I mean ALL accounts, he's a good guy.  He better be, because most people already hate him.  They may have reason to.  I'm not sure though.  I'm not sure who to be mad at here.

So the word is that the Jays offered Double A a 5 year contract.  Alex hasn't denied that.  He has said that issue wasn't term or money.  Great.  He has said that the loves the team.  Loves the city. Said it was his dream job.  The only thing he has said is that Toronto is not "the right fit for me".

What the fuck?

What exactly does that mean?  Not the right fit.  Let me think....if I had that gig and was offered a long term deal at more than double my current salary, what could possibly make me quit?

1.  Money (oh yeah, not that)
2.  Term (oh yeah, not that)
3.  Hate my co-workers....doesn't seem to be an issue.
4.  Hate my boss....maybe, Double A says no and to be honest, he doesn't really know him.
5.  Organization change of direction.....uh-oh.

This is my worry.  If its any of the first 4, I say "see ya Alex", you're on my list of Greeks I hate.  If its #5 we got us some problems and I don't blame him leaving.  So could it be that Shapiro needs to sign off on player personnel decision like happens in 29 other organizations?  Probably.  And shame on Anthopoulos if that's the reason he's leaving.  Organization direction changes could be lots of other stuff.

• We want you to cut back on the scouting staff
• We want you to cut player salaries by 20%
• Maybe Alex wanted to get Pillar and Goins locked up for long term deals to keep them away from their 1st couple of years of free agency and the club said no. 
• Maybe they said no to making a serious run at Price. 
• Maybe they don't want to spend any money on resigning Estrada.  

There's lots of maybes.  I'm not sure if anyone remember what happened after the Jays won their 2nd World Series.  Rickey Henderson was allowed to leave as free agent.  He would play 5 more seasons.  Mark Eichhorn was granted free agency and he would play 2 more years.  Tony Fernandez was granted free agency and he would play another 8 season.  Jack Morris was simply released, he hooked up with Cleveland and went 10 - 6. Turner Ward was put on waivers and picked up by Milwaukee and he would play until 2001.  

Then the strike in 1994 and Darnell Coles leaves, Todd Stottlemyre, Pat Borders, Danny Cox, Dave Stewart and Dick Schofield....all gone.  And who said enough of this shit, I'm out?  Gillick.  

The point being that I fear something much bigger is afoot than Shapiro getting sign off on personnel moves.  And for that I worry.  

But if its anything else then Alex is just being a suck which doesn't match anything we've learned about him in the last 6 years.  

I blame Rogers regardless of what the issue is because they had the power to fix or prevent any of it.  The quick answer is that he IS replaceable and it isn't the end of the world.  

The truth is that this sets a tone.  A tone of who the club is and what they're about.  And the next GM will not be very likely to "get us" and dammit, that's important.  People said they left baseball because of the strike....I came close to leaving because of Ricciardi and the stupid stylized blue jay logo plus all his other bull shit.  

The likelihood of getting someone of Anthopoulos' character versus someone closer to Ricciardi's?  Don't like the odds.    

Until proven otherwise, Alex will stay on the good list, but his perch is tenuous.

GREEKS THAT I....

Fundamentals

This won't take too much of your time.

Fuck.

I was looking at Facebook last night after the last out and saw lots of people posting kind messages about the Jays, the season, get 'em next year etc.  I didn't I post anything.  I couldn't quite get past my rage.

Fuck.

There were so many ways that the Jays could have lost that game that I would have tipped my hat said nice job.  I get it.  And don't get me wrong, I DO tip my cap to Kansas City.  They played great baseball.  Fundamental, proper, smart baseball. Even the stupid Greek.

Fuck.

So, when I cool down a little I'm going to talk about awards, rosters, off season moves etc...but right now.  This is all about how the Jays completely fucked up that game and who I blame.  You can call this sour grapes or being a suck.  Whatever.  The game, as quoted so eloquently in Bull Durham is simple.  "This is a very simple game.  You throw the ball. You catch the ball.  You hit the ball"

Still fucking livid.

The Blue Jays were 5-6 in the post season.  Five and fucking six!!!  You know the last time the Jays lost 6 out of 11 games?  July 8th - July 23rd.  Want to know who they played in the middle of that?  Kansas City.  Want to know what else happened in that stretch?  Osuna lost his 1st game.  Dickey got his only loss of the 2nd half.

Last night's game was not "Nice Try".  Not for me.

David Price.  Two home runs (solo) are hard to digest.  I get that.  But his Game Score for the game was 59.  What does that mean?  It was the 3rd best start of the series.  Estrada's game 5 and Volquez' game 1 were the only ones better.  I have no issues with Price.  Particularly after the way he reeled it in after giving up 2 homers after only 4 outs.

Josh Donaldson?  He may win the MVP.  But his is probably most responsible for that loss.

Inning one

Revere leads off with a double down the line.  Hits are fucking precious in post season.  NEVER assume you'll get them.  A lead off double is a gift from the baseball gods.  Do you know what it gives you?  It give you an opportunity to score a run without the benefit of hit.  Does life get any better than that?

Donaldson up.  He has one job.  Advance the runner.  A home run will do it, a single, double, a ground ball to the right side, a fly out to deep right or right center.  If you're not going to man up and be the team guy instead of the "ME" guy then you damn well better succeed.

Foul ball.  Foul ball.  Strike out swinging.

Thanks.

If he moves the runner there is zero pressure on Bautista to get a hit, he just needs a ball in play.  Not that Bautista bows from pressure, but its the tone it sets for the game.  Jose to his credit tried to go to right, but it wasn't his job to do that.  It was like he was trying to do Donaldson's failed job AND his own.

What should have happened:  Revere single, Donaldson fly out to right moves the runner to third, Bautista fly out scores the run 1-0 Jays.

Inning five

This one will haunt me.

Russell Martin walks to lead off.

Why is he still in the game?  Someone with speed, Cabrera or Pompey or Latroy fucking Hawkins needed to be in and take second.

Kevin Pillar follows with a walk.

Two on, nobody out.

Okay, you dodged the keeping Martin in bullet.  But refer back to inning #1, you have been blessed a second time in the same game with an opportunity to score a run without a hit.

And this time, we've got Goins up who can handle the bat.  A bunt will do it.  Strike looking, the bunt wasn't on.  You've got to be kidding me.  Then he bunts foul.  So.....was the bunt on with the first pitch and he didn't like it?  I don't think so, he didn't square to bunt.  Here's what I think happened.  With Martin and Pillar walking there was a reasonable chance that Ventura was starting to unravel, maybe he'd walk 3 in a row. Lets take one.

Good idea, but you have to square to bunt just in case its a strike.

Goins ultimately flied out to center. No runners advance.  Again.  Revere flied out to left.

Then Donaldson.

For fucks sakes.

The game is 2-1 for KC.  The only offence in the game, because of your failure to execute is Bautista's solo home run.  He lines out to 3rd on the 1st pitch of the at bat.  Joe Buck will tell you he hit it hard.  I don't really give a shit. He was out.  He didn't try to work anything.  I'm not saying Donaldson is a shitty player.  He just picked a bad time for a shitty game.

What should have happened:  Martin walks (replaced by Cabrera), Pillar walks, Goins sacrifices the runners up a base each, Revere's line out to right scores Cabrera.  Jays 3, Royals 2.  The Jays have now left 2 free runs on the table.

Inning nine

The score was 4-3 for Kansas City heading into the 9th.  After Bautista's home run the score SHOULD have been 5-4 for the Jays.  This isn't hoping people got hits.  This is scoring runs by playing little league fundamental baseball.  Something every major leaguer should know how to do in spades.  No sympathy for this shit.

The 9th was the worst.  Martin singles.  Martin replaced by Pompey (nice call).   Pompey steals 2nd.

Guess what?????

3rd time with a runner on 2nd and nobody out in the same game.  Surely to god they'll get it right this time, right?  Pillar will bunt, right?

Pillar, after a 7 pitch at bat walks.  On the 6th pitch, Pompey brazenly stole 3rd base!

So now we have runners at 1st and 3rd and nobody out.

Inexplicably, Navarro pinch hits for Goins.  I hate the call.  I would have played for the tie and got the bunt down toward 1st.  Or let him swing away, he's unlikely to hit into a double play. Fuck it.

Narvarro strikes out but Pillar steals second.  Still.  Only one out, a fly ball ties it!

Revere strikes out.  Again. A ground ball or fly ball would have scored the run.

Then Donaldson.  Donaldson who was zero for four.  Donaldson who had left 4 runners stranded already.  Donaldson who had seen all of 9 pitches in 4 at bats.  He comes up with the tying run at 3rd and the go ahead runner at 2nd.   Behind him is ALL of your offense.  You NEED to get to Bautista to the plate.

To his credit, he saw 4 pitches.  Almost half the total of his first four at bats.  0/5, 6 stranded runners.  I didn't hear the MVP chants.

What should have happened:  Martin singles, Pompey runs and steals 2nd, Pillar bunts him to 3rd, Goins scores him on a Sac fly, but or hit.  6-4 Jays.

Look....I don't honestly expect anybody to get  two out hits.  It is the hardest thing to do in baseball. What I do expect, not hope for, but fully expect is for teams to take advantage of their opportunities to score without a hit.

Before last night KC had 6 runs scored in the series on sacrifice flies.  That is scoring without benefit of a hit.

I'm still pissed.  That was a completely winnable game.  I'm not talking about "if someone came up big".  They left 3 runs on the table that should have scored with outs.  Robbie Alomar would have advanced runners in the 3 hold.  So would Molitor.  This team can mash with legendary teams.  They can defend well.  They can pitch well enough and better than most.

But fundamental baseball is absent and a championship will be too unless they figure that out.

Hopefully some of you will watch KC in the world series and you'll watch a little less as a fan of the Jays and little more as a fan of the game.  I do not like the Royals very much right now, but I do appreciate their ability to play fundamental baseball.

That was the difference.

Believe

Baseball is about believing.

Sometimes there's no cause to believe and you have to search.  I believe that there is truth in numbers. Anyone who has seen my compulsive breakdown of Old Timers stats would know that I am relentless in finding the answer.  The truth does live in the numbers.

So obsessive is the search for the answer, that I often lose sight of the question.  And that's where the long, rambling, 'where the fuck is he going' BLOGs come from.  BLOG editions like this one is in danger of becoming. Sort of like Fox Mulder on his relentless search for 'the answer', I too believe that the truth is out there.  But not with aliens.  With numbers.  Unless aliens created numbers, then all bets are off.

I believe that there is a definitive equation that will provide every answer.  Its the String Theory of baseball. It keeps me up at night.  I wish I was kidding.

So where, you ask, are the Blue Jays defensible numbers?  Why should you believe?  What compelling evidence is there that would allow you to put your heart on your sleeve and let this team have your 100% positive support Friday night and Saturday?

Here are some numbers.

Kansas City has 3 wins to Toronto's 2.
They are 2-0 at home; the Jays 0-2 on the road.
They have given up 39 hits; the Jays 50
They've given up 4 home runs; the Jays 5.
They have a team ERA of 4.81; the Jays 6.91
Their bullpen has recorded 3 Holds; the Jays have none.
They've turned 4 double plays; the Jays have 2.
They have 31 RBIs; the Jays have 23.
They're hitting .296; the Jays .239.
The Royals have 6 sacrifice flies; The Jays haven't hit one yet.

There is nothing in these numbers that would you lead you to believe that the Jays have any chance at all.  To be completely honest, there is no hope in these numbers whatsoever.  But I'm not talking about "hope", I'm talking about belief.

They numbers need to be absorbed and churned and calculated and reapplied and swirled and stoked until you get what you're looking for.

To people like me who think that The Number 23 isn't a psycho thriller, but actually makes sense; Bill James is a legend.  Bill James?  Ya.  Bill James.  James is a 66 year old historian, writer, analyst and baseball geek who has been publishing books since he was 28 years old way back in 1977.  He named his approach for looking at baseball statistics "SABERMETRICS".  The 'SABER' part comes from the Society for American Baseball Research which was founded in Cooperstown, New York in 1971. Think of them as the baseball version of the Illuminati.

I used to buy his annual Baseball Abstract back in the day.  It was just data then.  This was way before people knew how to make data look pretty.  If you bothered to dig into it, you would understand why Tony Fernandez was greater than any short stop in the game (yes, including Ozzie Smith).  You would understand why despite leading the league in home runs and outfield assists, you'd be further ahead by having a run of the mill outfielder than you would be with Jessie Barfield.  You would also understand how Dave Stieb should have won a Cy Young in 1985 with only 14 wins.

Bill James was met with a lot of resistance.  It was thought that he was trying to replace scouts, coaches and managers with math.  It wasn't the case of course, but the old guard didn't like it.

Almost 40 years later the pendulum has swung dramatically.  Ryan Goins is proven and respected as
the 9th best player defensively in all of baseball . This is known.  It is accepted.  Its understood that if you put Edwin Encarnacion at 3rd base that you will hurt your team no matter how great his offensive contributions are.  Its not just about counting the errors.  And you have "king" Felix Hernandez in Seattle who won a Cy Young with 13 wins.

These are considered victories for sabermetrics.  This isn't a Money Ball conversation, but money ball relies heavily on sabermetrics.  The ARE NOT the same!  A complete discussion on money ball would be a good conversation one cold day in February.  But the concept around it is putting value (dollars) in things that people don't recognize as prime stats.  

So here is something that is NOT sabermetric related that might mean something.

When facing elimination:
Royals:  2-0
Blue Jays: 4-0

When having a chance to eliminate another team:
Royals:  1-1
Blue Jays:  1-0

Back to sabermetrics.....there's a lot of stats I follow.  One of my favourites is WAR. I've explained that before.  Another one I really like is "GAME SCORE".  This isn't too commonly used outside baseball circles, but you can trust me on this.  This is what GMs look at when they are signing pitchers.  More than wins.  More than ERA. More than innings pitched.  

Game Score is a great stat.  I'll explain it in a second.  Everyone knows the "quality start" stat?  That's where a pitcher worked 6 or more innings and gave up 3 or few runs.  Its sort of an indicator, but .... not so much.  I mean, what does it really tell you?   If you were to project it over a season you would have 210 innings pitched (15th among starters), and a 4.50 ERA (110th overall among starters) and that's it.  It gives you an innings eater with and ERA in the bottom 20% of baseball.  No indication of wins.  No indication of strikeouts, walks, hits, WHIP, or value to your team.

So I think this is where Bill Jame and people of his ilk said, "there's got to be a better way".  Surely there are games where a guy worked 8 innings, got the win, gave up 4 runs and struck out 17 while walking none.  That isn't a quality start?  Then there's games where a guy could pitch 6 innings, give up 6 runs (3 earned), 8 hits, 5 walks, get the loss, but it IS a quality start.  There has to be a better way.

Enter the game score stat.  If you're a football fan, think of Quarter Back Ratings, its similar.  The way this works is that every pitcher starts the game with 50 points. They add or subtract based on the following:

+1 point for each out recorded.
+2 points for each inning completed after the 4th
+1 point for each strikeout
-2 points for each hit allowed
-4 points for each earned run allowed
-2 points for each unearned run allowed
-1 point for each walk allowed

Its not perfect, but it is a much better indicator than anything else going.  Personally, I would modify slightly and have +.5 for each fly ball out and +1.5 for each ground ball out....but that's me.  A mistake by a ground ball pitcher is single.  A mistake to a fly ball pitcher is runs.  But whatever, this is still a great stat.

So if you think about the series so far, who had the best and worst starts?  You had Volquez (1-1) Vs. Estrada (1-1), Ventua (0-0) Vs. Price (0-1); Cueto (0-1) Vs. Stroman (1-0) and Young (0-0) Vs. Dickey (0-1).

Before you answer, lets look at what traditional ERA says.

So obviously, Volquez is #1 with his game one start where he didn't give up a run.  And equally obvious is Estrada's game five start where he gave up just one.  Yep, Young pitched well.  Actually everything looks good, but it feels like Price pitched better than his ERA.  So if we look at our game 6 and game 7 matchups we have Price V. Ventura.  Hmmmmm.  Ventura is more than a run and a half per game better!  Yowza, doesn't look good for game 6 does it.  And despite Stroman's 30+ lead in ERA that looks pretty safe, you've gotta get to game 7 for it to even matter.  

Now lets look at Game Score's ratings of the pitchers.  

A little different.  Estrada, even though he gave up an earned run rated better than Volquez' game #1 one start.  Why?  fewer walks, fewer hits, more strike outs, virtually no base runners and more innings.  

And much as I suspected, Estrada's game one start and Price's game 2 start both equaled 50 points.  So what does that mean?  It means, mathematically, that they neither hurt nor helped their team's chance of winning.  The game was still as equal as before the first pitch.  

So lets look at the game 6 match up.  Price was a 50.  Ventura was a 40.  He already has the better performance.  All things being equal, the Jays just need to get to the KC pen an inning earlier.  I'm not as sold as on the Royals pen as others other.  But that's okay.  What I do firmly believe is that you need to get people in bad positions.  If your 7th inning guy is pitching in the 4th or 5th, that's a bad position.  If your closer is in to start the 7th, that's a bad position.  They need to speed up the cycle of the pen.  

Believe me, the Royals do not want a game 7.  The Jays are favoured in game 6, that's bad enough.  Cueto on the hill for game 7?  Do you think there is anyone in Kansas City' fan base, front office or dugout that wants to see that?  They will lose their minds.  They have to, have to, have to, a million times over, HAVE TO win game 6.  They are undermanned on the hill.  The hook for Ventura will be frightfully quick if he shows the slightest sign of trouble.  KC, even down a bunch will not give up this game even if it means killing their bull pen for game 7.  That's how much the don't trust Cueto.  

Now lets look at team Game Score at a team level.   

Remember all those conventional stats at the beginning of this?  You will read and hear lots today about ERA, don't believe it.  The Jays, despite being down have pitched better.  That will be proven in games 6 and 7.

I've looked at offensive spins (on base is even; average and slugging go to KC), I've looked at umpires (Price is 6-1 win Nelson umping; Ventura is 1-0).  There is nothing that stands out.  Not enough anyway.

But there is one more number and that is the most compelling number of all
.

This number is Vegas.  Some people don't trust Vegas.  Maybe not in terms of picking a team at the beginning of the season, but on a specific game, I'm all over it.  One thing that I'm really confident about Vegas is that they really don't like losing money.

The Jays are favoured as -145.  That means that if you wanted to win 100 dollars you'd have to bet 145 bucks.  By contrast, you would have to bet 10 dollars on the Royals to WIN 145.  Wait until you see game 7, it will be up over -150.  The Jays in game 6 and game 7 on the road.  Everything lines up.

It is rare to see a visiting team favoured.  Its is extremely rare to see a visiting team favoured in the post season.  For example, the Cubs were down 3-0 and were home and were a slight favourite at -115 over the Mets who completely dominated them.

Yes Vegas is the most important number of all.

You can watch the game.  You can be ambivalent to a win or a loss and turn yourself off and stay safe.  You can be negative and not really commit to the game.  Or you can immerse yourself in the game and fully engage with a team that is one win from tying the ALCS.  Two wins from hosting game one of the World Series.  

I believe.

Game 5 magic.

John Gibbons can say some crazy shit, but his assessment of Marco Estrada's do-or-die start was perfect;

WOW.

The kid (yes I know he's 32 years old, which makes him a kid to me) was locked in.  Its well know by anyone who reads this that I watch baseball a little different than most.  Sure, I love it when the home team wins.  I dig home runs (probably less than most people).  I like strike outs.

But my favourite things?  A well executed bunt.  Scoring runs without a hit.  Double plays where the catch is hard, the throw is tough, the relay is bang-bang and the back end is only made because the 1st baseman stretched to his limits to go get the ball.

As of 2012, there were 17,808 people who had played major league baseball.  That's more than I would have expected, but hey....the game has been around for 148 years.  Of the 17,808 players, 974 have played only a single game.  Again, more than I expected.  One day I'll relate the story of John McGraw firing his entire team in the 1920's which saw a lot of one day players come in and out of the New York Baseball Giants lineup.

But of the 17,808 players, only one player has 2000 at bats (4 seasons roughly) and hasn't hit a home run.

No kidding.  Just one.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet catcher William (Bill) Holbert. He played for the original Mets, known of course as the Metropolitans.  He also played for the Trojans, Stars, Grays and the Bridegrooms. This was between 1878 and 1888.

Holbert was a career .208 hitter.  This was not the dead ball era of 1900-1919.  .208 sucked.  There have 35 players hit .400 in their career, the last one of course being Ted Williams in 1941.  Of the 28 players to hit .400 (some did it multiple times), 12 occurred during the time that Holbert played Major League ball.  He was bad.

But not defensively.  He led the league in put outs once, assists 3 times, double plays from catcher twice and had a career WAR (wins above replacement) over 1.0 despite his terrible hitting.  My point?  Holbert was my kind of player.

If you take Holbert out of the history of baseball, then the following statement is true; "Anyone can hit a home run".  They don't impress me much as Shania Twain would say.  99.99438% of players who have played the game have hit a home run.

Its just not special.

I cheered Bautista's game 5 bomb.  I cheered Colabello's game 5 blast.  But its the theatre that got there that makes it special.  Not the hit.  The home run is the cherry.  Rarely does a home run happen without a lead up.

So, this is about some unsung heroes from yesterday's game. Some are obvious, others not so much.

Lets start with looking at Edinson Volquez. That guy has pitched WAY above his pay grade in the post season.  Hats off, he's been teetering on spectacular.  I don't like how animated he is on the mound.  I think there's a "respect for the game" issue there, but fair is fair and he's pitched great.  Yesterday Volquez got charged with 5 runs, all earned, over 5 innings.  He deserved a better line.  He threw 88 pitches, 53 for strikes.  Some would say 54 for strikes, but that's another story.

Unsung hero?

Dioner Navarro.  0 for 3.  3 strikeouts.  A walk.  No runs.  No RBIs.  Left 2 runners on base.  Where is the hero in this?  There's two ways.

1.  He called a masterful game for Estrada.  Estrada had 17 called strikes, 15 swinging strikes, and 20 foul strikes.  Price who was pretty amazing for 6+ innings of his start had 18 called, 12 swinging and 21 foul.  Stroman who actually got a win was 19 called, 3 swinging and 16 foul.  Stroman was tricking no one.  Some of that's on Stroman to be sure, but a lot is on the catcher. Much has been made about the lack of swinging strikes against KC.  Not on this night.

For instance, everyone knows that an up and in fastball should be followed by something off speed low and away.  If you know that and I know that, you can be damned sure that the hitters for KC know this too.  So every so often a good catcher will double up on the high and tight or low and away to keep the hitter off stride. Navarro does this.  He does it better than most do.
 
2.  Volquez threw 88 pitches in the game.    Exactly 25% of his entire pitch count was against Navarro.  He saw more pitches than anyone else on the team and was one of the biggest reasons that Volquez was out when he was and the KC pen was forced to pitch in uncomfortable situations and early in the game than is the norm.
        

Kevin Pillar.  He was 2 for 4.  That was nice.  He got an RBI!  That was nice.  He caught every ball hit his way.  Range is not even questioned.  That's nice too!  He slid into the hand of Mike Moustakas and may have hurt him.  That was GREAT!   I do not care for the over rated Moustakas.  Reminds me of the other Greek, Nick Markakis.  Remember, there's only two things I hate in this world. People who are intolerant of other peoples ethnicities and cultures.  And Greeks.

Kevin, to his credit, in an elimination game became totally Canadian.  a) He hit one over the center fielders head.  b)  he didn't care that the score was 7-1 or that he was potentially the 3rd out, he ran like the wind to third base. c) he slid hard.  d) he was called out.  e) while the third base coach was arguing the call, Pillar put his hand on Moustakas' back and could be heard saying, "are you alright?" My god.  He could be in the Tottenham Old Timers with that attitude.  So Canadian.  Atta boy.  

Sanchez & Osuna.  Okay, I'm not quite willing to go Ward and Henke.  But seriously?  In the post season Sanchez has been in 8 of the 10 games played, worked 7 innings and has an ERA of 0.00.  ZERO!  Osuna?  6 games, 7.1 innings and a 1.23 ERA.  You may not have noticed their collective 14 pitches in a 7-1 game, but they continue to be deadly.

Tomorrow there will be a bit of a drill down into games 6 & 7.  You should be feeling good and pretty confident, you'll find out why soon.  But I'll tell you this.....

Joe Buck

I'm not talking about yesterday.

First today's game then a little humour.

• Marco Estrada 1-1 with a 3.09 ERA in post season
• 13-8, 3.13 for the regular season.
• 6-4 at home with a 2.95 
• 36-34, 3.95 career. 
• 1-1, 2.92 career against Kansas City
• Edinson Volquez 1-2 with a 2.31 ERA in post season
• 13-9, 3.55 for the regular season
• 5-5 on the road with a 3.61
• 79-68, 4.29 career
• 0-4, 4.68 career against Toronto.  

JOE BUCK (yourself)

To really understand Joe Buck, you need to understand his father, Jack Buck.

Jack was a legend.  As far as sports broadcasting goes this guy is on a short list of All - Stars like Ernie Harwell, Vin Scully, Red Barber, Chick Hearn, Danny Gallivan, Bob Cole, Dick Enberg and Pat Summerall.

The difference between Jack and the rest, for me, is that he was 2 sport threat.  He was the winner of the Ford C. Frick award and was enshrined in the in the Baseball Hall of Fame.  And he's in the football hall of fame as an announcer.  You know him.  You just don't know that you know him.  If you read these slowly, you may remember, like your grandfather telling you a story.

"Montana lines up at the five. And on third-down-and-three he rolls right, looking to throw ... looking to throw...and he throws into the end zone, touchdown! Touchdown! Touchdown, San Francisco, by Dwight Clark!"

— Calling "The Catch" in the 1981 NFC Championship Game.

"Here's the pitch to Mookie Wilson. Winning run at second. Ground ball to first, it is a run...an error! An error by Buckner! The winning run scores! The Mets win it 6 to 5 with three in the 10th! The ball went right through the legs of Buckner and the Mets with 2 men out and nobody on have scored three times to bring about a seventh game, which will be played here tomorrow night. Folks, it was unbelievable. An error, right through the legs of Buckner. There were 2 on, nobody out, a single by Carter, a single by Mitchell, a single by Ray Knight, a wild pitch, an error by Buckner. 3 in the 9th for the Mets. They've won the game 6-5 and we shall play here ... tomorrow night! Well, open up the history book, folks, we've got an entry for you."

— Calling the final moments of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.

"Gibson ... swings and a fly ball to deep right field. This is gonna be a home run! UNBELIEVABLE! A home run for Gibson! And the Dodgers have won the game, five to four; I don't believe what I just saw! I don't BELIEVE what I just saw!"

— Calling an injured Kirk Gibson's walk-off home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series off of Dennis Eckersley

"There's the snap; there's the kick. It is up; it is...NO GOOD! Norwood missed! Four seconds left. The Giants have won Super Bowl XXV by the score of 20–19."

— Calling Scott Norwood's missed field goal in Super Bowl XXV

Two pretty significant football and baseball moments.

And if you can picture the play in your mind's eye, (and I can certainly picture all of them), what to you most remember?  Pandemonium.  Crazy, off the charts enthusiasm.  Almost.  Almost.  Almost like the 7th inning of game 5 of the Jays / Rangers game.  That kind of crazy.

Now the beauty of these calls is that they compliment the moment.  They didn't JUDGE the moment.  They didn't downplay or overplay the moment.  You didn't hear, "the fans are reacting terribly to Buckner".  OR, "Scott Norwood was put in a horrible position by Jim Kelly not getting another 1st down".  OR. "I can't believe Eckersley left a pitch up". OR. "Montana is fortunate that Dwight Clark is 6 foot 4 or it would have been another incompletion".

No.  Jack, who I enjoyed immensely allowed the moment to carry itself and he complimented it.  So now that you know who Jack Buck was and what he's about....Here is what you need to know about Joe Buck.

He's nothing like his dad.

My complaint with Joe isn't just as simple as "he sucks", but I do accept that as valid criticism.  I also don't think he's a homer.  There is a petition circling on Twitter for FOX to remove Buck JR from the ALCS because he's anti-Kansas City.  Despite his Masdison Bumgartner love affair last fall, I don't believe this to be true.  And, possibly in an effort to look like he has a personality, JR signed the petition.

My issue is that he sucks the passion out of sports.  I watch football, but I'm not a FAN in any kind of fanatical way.  If I had a choice the Bills would win.  If I'm not in a football pool I don't watch and I don't miss it.  So because its not 'my' sport I can't really talk about how he wrecks it, although I read a lot about it.

But baseball IS my sport and its just terrible to hear what he does.  When Harold Reynolds starts to make sense I've got issues.  Its the deadpan that I can't stand.  Its the "I'd rather be anywhere than here" that comes across every time he opens his mouth.

People...there are real issues with this guy!  During the 2012 World Series, which San Francisco won, the entire stadium was chanting "JOE BUCK SUCKS" instead of cheering about winning a World Series.

There is no sense of moment.

As I said, I'm not a football fan.  But the one thing that I can agree with 98% of the world on is that Eli Manning is somewhere between below average and average and if not for a great coach and two moments of complete fluky "touched by the hand of god"; you would know him about as well as you know Ryan Tannahill.  However, even I have to admit that the stupid David Tyree catch probably has to rank as one of the top 3 Superbowl moments of all time.  You either cheered like you lost your mind; OR you said, "NO FUCKING WAY THAT JUST HAPPENED".  (I was the 2nd one).

Now go to youtube, find the play.  Hit play, close your eyes and listen to JR's call.

I rest my case.

But don't rely on me!  What does Google say?

(Don't blame me for the language, I was literally typing "Joe Buck is moron" when all this shit showed up

 Now someone had fun creating a bracket to get to the worst announcer of all time.  But I've got to tell you this would have been a lot of work and I really appreciate it!.  There are legendary bad announcers in here.  Sterling, McCarver, Gruden .... but they nailed this.   

If you have a Twitter account, check the hashtag #joebuckyourself

 Is it wrong to laugh at this?  I'm sort of sorry that this actually really happened as he went to Dr Phil to deal with not being able to live up to his father's reputation.  

 This could not be more true.

 Say it loud brother.  

My point exactly.   

 No shit. 

See previous comment 

 The fact that I can hear this being said and the fact that they have the same level of enthusiasm is all you need to know

 See?  Same with Harold Reynolds.  

 Sort of talks.  More rambles.  But only enough to be offensive. 

 And it brought down power in the tri-town area.  We can't do that again!

 In defense of Tim McCarver, his dumb factor went up when paired with the moron.  

 First I looked up arrogant, but I liked smug better. 

Too good to be true.  

The part that is cut off is "and all of you are stupid" .... nailed it. 

only harsh if it isn't true.