Saturday, September 26, 2009

Remember Me?



The bad seed is back! No, I don't mean Michael Vick and I don't even mean Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn. To quote the group House of Pain, “just like the Prodigal son, I’ve returned.” That’s right; it's me, the rambling ranter, the bombastic blogger, the tirading typist, the overall witty wordsmith that you have all missed for the past 2 months; Ramey’s Rants is BACK!

Where have I been, you ask? I could come up with some lame excuse like I was busy with school, or getting my life together, but, I'm not going to do that to you. You know me better than that. Let's just call the past 7 weeks the "summer of George" (cheap Seinfeld reference) or Ramey's Summer Sabbatical. Whatever spin you want to put on it, the bottom line is, I'm back, commercial free, no interruptions. It's been too long and I've missed you all (the 5 of you who are blood related and obligated to put up with my insufferable ranting).

I’ve missed a lot in the nearly 2 months it’s been since I last posted. Major League Baseball is wrapping up another star studded season; the NFL has started in full swing. Hell, I even missed Tony Romo’s first complete meltdown of the year! But, before I write about any of that, there’s one issue I want to cover; John Kruk. You sir, are an idiot. That’s the nicest way I can term what I really think of you. This is a family friendly blog, so I’m refraining from the alliteration of obscenities I would love to throw in your direction for being one of, if not the worst baseball analyst I have ever heard or seen in my 23 years on this planet.

You work for ESPN John, which stands for “Entertainment and Sports Programming Network”, which means, you are supposed to have some form of neutrality and unbiased take on the overall spectrum of Major League Baseball. That’s what I was expecting to read the other day when I read the article you wrote “Plenty of question marks for potential playoff teams.”

Yeah, I know, that was my first mistake. Reading an article written by John Kruk should’ve been my clue that I wasn’t going to be happy with the end result. Asking Kruk to write a coherent thought is like asking Jimmy Fallon to not laugh at his own jokes; you’d like to think it’s possible, but it won’t happen in this lifetime. But, I gave it a try anyway. I began reading it with an open mind and he had me for one sentence. Literally. One sentence. He lost all integrity after one sentence. Let me run you through my thought process as I read the first two sentences of his article:

“Which of the teams likely headed to the playoffs have the most to figure out in the next two weeks?”

Alright, he’s going to break down every team in the playoff hunt and what their key weaknesses are. This’ll help see how every team is shaping up.

“All of them except the Boston Red Sox”

MOTHER F%*@*$*@ COULD YOU BE ANY MORE OBVIOUS WITH YOUR DEVOTION TO ANYTHING CHOWDAH?

That was the PG version of my true reaction. In fact, the very first thing I did after I read those two sentences was copy and paste it and sent it to a friend who would be equally stunned and irritated at that notion. But, needless to say, I plunged ahead. I read the article waiting for him to explain how every other team has bigger holes than the Titanic and the Red Sox are a 25 man wrecking crew hell bent on baseball domination.

To paraphrase Mr. Kruk; the Angels have to figure out what to do with their bullpen only if they play Boston, since they just can’t beat them. The Yankees have such terrible pitching we should just forfeit the rest of the season and opt to not show up for the playoffs. The Cardinals and Phillies have equally bad bullpens (Last I checked, Ryan Franklin did not equal Brad Lidge). The Dodger’s starting pitching is iffy and the Rockies bullpen has holes to fill as well. So, if you’re keeping track, we have 4 teams with bullpen issues.

The Red Sox though? They are “the only team heading into the postseason that you can look at and say, ‘this team is ready for the playoffs.’ Aside from the middle relief, which hasn’t been too good…”

But wait John, how can you say that? If the Rockies, Cardinals, Angels and Phillies all have bullpen ‘questions’, how can the Red Sox be a well oiled baseball playing cyborg if their relief pitching “hasn’t been too good?”

Oh, not to mention “Jon Lester is pitching well and Daisuke Matsuzaka has looked good. The Sox look to me to be the one, of all the teams likely headed to the postseason, that is the most dolled up and ready to play in the playoffs.”

Right. The Red Sox are the most complete team headed into the playoffs. You know, not the Cardinals who have Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday anchoring their lineup with Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright (combined 34 – 12 with a 2.45 era) at the forefront of their rotation, with Ryan Franklin (37 saves, 1.98 era and 1.14 whip) closing out games.

Not the Yankees who have the best record in baseball. Who, when the last time I blogged on August 5th had a 2.5 game lead over Boston, have expanded that to (at one point 9 games) now with 8 games to play an insurmountable 6.5 game lead. The same Yankees who have seven players with over 20 home runs and seven with over 75 runs batted in. Or, the same Yankees who have CC Sabathia (best pitcher in the American League over the last 2 months) as their staff ace, or Mariano Rivera (42 saves and a 0.91 whip) closing out games.

It can’t be the Dodgers who have had the best record in the National League since the beginning of time. It isn’t the Rockies who have been playing tremendous since Jim Tracy took over the team 3 and a half months ago. Nope, it’s still Boston. The Red Sox are the most complete and ready team for the playoffs. Uhh, whatever you say John. Have you been watching baseball for the last 3 months? ESPN does pay you to watch the games, right? You realize this is the Boston Red Sox of 2009 and not 2007, right? Need me to explain?

So, Boston is the team most ready for the playoffs. The Yankees have questions in their starting rotation, according to you; is Andy Pettitte healthy? How terrible will A.J. Burnett be? Should Joba Chamberlain even be on the roster? Well, how about those Red Sox John?

For as bad as A.J. Burnett has been in the 2nd half of the season (4 – 5, 4.69 era, 83 strikeouts and 10 home runs allowed in 88.1 innings), Josh Beckett hasn’t really been much better (5 – 3, 4.38 era, 84 strikeouts and 15 home runs allowed in 86.1 innings). That’s the Red Sox ace pitcher right there and Burnett is the Yankees #3 starter come the postseason. Ouch.

For as well as Jon Lester is pitching in the 2nd half (6 – 2, 3.04 era with 87 strikeouts in 83 innings), CC Sabathia has been phenomenally better (10 – 1, 2.54 era with 91 strikeouts in 92 innings).

Oh yeah, Daisuke Matsuzaka has “looked good” since coming back from injury. Granted he has 2 wins (and wins are all that matters), he has allowed 15 base runners in 11.1 innings and thrown 203 pitches or nearly 19 pitches per inning. Same Matsuzaka, just with a healthier shoulder. That equals trouble for Boston.

For as terrific as Clay Buchholz has been in the 2nd half of the season (7 – 3, 3.21 era with 58 strikeouts and a 1.32 whip in 84 innings), he hasn’t been as good as “injured” Andy Pettitte (5 – 2, 3.17 era with 73 strikeouts and a 1.09 whip in 76.2 innings).

Kruk is right though. Joba Chamberlain is a huge question mark. But, at most, he’ll start 2 games all postseason (one each in the ALCS and World Series, if the Yankees are lucky enough to get there). But, how much of a question mark does Jon Lester become now? Not only did he get smacked all over the Bronx by the Yankees last night (and terribly outpitched by Joba the question mark), but he also left with an injury.

Do you want me to tackle the Red Sox starting lineup, too? The Red Sox starting catcher is batting .208 and allows base runners to steal off him like they have an EZ pass going through a toll booth. Your starting designated hitter David Ortiz, while impressively has hit 27 home runs and is nearing 100 runs batted in, is batting a putrid .237. Jason Bay, the Manny Ramirez replacement, while he has put up power numbers reminiscent of Ramirez with 36 and 115, is batting just .265 and strikes out once per game. You want the key to beating the Red Sox? Keep Jacoby Ellsbury off the bases and pitch around Kevin Youkilis. Nobody else on that team scares you or can beat you.

This Red Sox team isn’t like the ones of years past. They aren’t scary top to bottom or have the bullpen that can shut a team down. Yeah, Jonathan Papelbon has 37 saves and a 1.94 era, but he also has a 1.20 whip and throws 18 pitches per inning. Not to mention the league has figured out Hideki Okajima, Ramon Ramirez has come back down to earth and Billy Wagner can’t pitch back to back days. But remember everybody, the Red Sox are the most ready.

To say I expected more out of John Kruk would be a foolish lie. I expect this out of him. He was an average player, who became a below average baseball analyst who is now obviously a lazy columnist who does no research or have any factual basis on anything he reports.

So congratulations John Kruk and ESPN for proving once and for all, without a shadow of doubt, where your allegiance and loyalties truly lie. ESPN is supposed to be the worldwide leader in sports, not the worldwide leader in Red Sox Nation. Don’t get me wrong, this is not some bitter Yankee fan angry that he questioned his team’s chances of competing for the World Series trophy. Once October starts anybody can win, even Boston. But, to flat out state that every team in the playoff hunt except Boston has questions needing answers is the most absurd and unsubstantiated claim I have ever thought imaginable.

This is public request and plea for John Kruk to respond to this and please lay claim to his reasoning behind Boston having no flaws headed into the playoffs. I’ve sent this article along to ESPN and would love nothing more than for you to respond John. I’m sure I’m not the only person in the world who read that article and came away with the same questions that I did.

I always said I would stop at nothing in life to get to what I feel was the pinnacle of sports journalism and work for ESPN. Now, I could care less. There are other networks and other websites I will set my sights on working for. I want to cover all sports, unbiased. That can’t happen at ESPN. So, I guess this is a thank you to John Kruk and the rest of your co-workers at ESPN. It was always my dream to work there, but, I’ve been woken up from it. Now it’s time to fall back asleep and find something else to dream for.

Until next time, I promise I won’t go far...