The Ten Million Dollar Man

January 13, 2012 is a day that will go down in infamy as one of the most pivotal days in Yankee history. Not only did the Yankees trade their #1 rated prospect Jesus Montero for Seattle Mariners right hander Michael Pineda (who magically forgot how to throw hard and is on the disabled list with tendinitis), but they signed Dodgers righty Hiroki Kuroda to a $10 million contract.

Yes, after two previous failed attempts with Japanese pitchers (see: Pussy-Toad, Fat and Igawa, Kei), the Yankees decided to take another chance in the Asian aisle of available pitching. The move was largely heralded by many to be a genius pick-up by Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman, as the final piece of the puzzle that took their greatest weakness (starting rotation), into one of their biggest strengths.

Well, the first start for Mr. Kuroda obviously did not go according to plan, allowing 6 runs in 5+ largely mediocre innings. During the course of the game, I noticed on twitter (Follow me @RameyRants shameless plug) that Yankee fans were up in arms with his performance, declaring him a bust and a mistaken addition by Cashman.

My initial reaction to this was like most rational thinking, level-headed baseball fans; those tweeters are lunatics and one game does not make a season, it is a small sample size and time will most certainly tell with Hiroki Kuroda. Remember, that was my initial reaction to his start.

Given time to think his performance over, and after spending considerable time going through boxscore after boxscore of games Kuroda pitched last season, well, add me to the list of lunacy. I don’t want to say I was ever on the Kuroda bandwagon to begin with, but if I was ever hanging onto the side of that wagon, I’ve now taken a full swan dive off of it and am currently rolling in a ball of dirt as it speeds on past me.

Last season, Kuroda went an underwhelming 13-16 with an era of 3.07. On paper, the win-loss total is almost as deceiving as his earned run average. While Kuroda played for an extremely under-achieving Los Angeles Dodgers team, his final statistics were heavily padded due to the league in which he played.

Against teams who finished in the top-15 in runs scored last season, Kuroda was a whopping 3-9 and he was 10-7 against teams who finished in the bottom-15. Of those 10 wins against the bottom half of the league, Kuroda amassed 7 victories against 3 of the 4 worst offenses in baseball (Pittsburgh, San Diego and San Francisco). The Yankees are paying $10 million to a guy who managed to win 50% of his games last year against the worst offenses money could buy and who lost more than 50% of his games against above-average hitting?

Brian Cashman signed a man whose career record against American League teams not named the Yankees is 2-9 with an era over 4, to pitch in the American League? A League that boasts such offensive juggernauts as the Rangers, Tigers, Red Sox and Angels and this guy only wins 3 games against good offenses?!?

Maybe watching Kuroda in his first game in pinstripes nibble the corners of the plate with every pain staking pitch was the start of something terrible. Not to mention it arose similarities in my mind to the Daisuke Matsuzaka saga that all card carrying members of Red Sox Nation have had to endure over the last 5 years.

But, I don’t think Kuroda has or ever will land in the Dice-K mold of frustrating an entire fanbase. No, I think to Yankee fans, Kuroda will end up bringing back the memories of a man gone, but truly never forgotten. Can you guess who it is?

The man in question sported a career record of a pedestrian 57-58, with a 4.11era in his 5+ full seasons in the Major Leagues before coming to the Bronx. Kuroda’s career record in his 4 seasons before embarking to the Big Apple was 41-46 with a 3.57era. Both the mystery man and Kuroda battled injuries earlier in their career, but saw success in the year prior to their signing with New York. Both signed with New York fraught with expectations of being the final addition to a championship caliber team. Have you figured out the mystery man’s identity yet? It’s Carl Pavano. Yes, THAT guy. I just compared Hiroki Kuroda to Carl Pavano.

Still with me?

If you’re actually still reading, I commend you, because my mother probably just broke her laptop and set fire to my picture at the mere mention of Carl Pavano’s name. Look, I’m not saying Kuroda is going to strain his buttocks pitching in a game, or be so disliked by his teammates that Mike Mussina essentially questions his manhood.

I’m simply saying that, like Pavano, Kuroda is going to end up being a colossal bust. An average pitcher, who got in way over his head and couldn’t stand the heat in the American League East’s kitchen.

Maybe Kuroda will end up proving me wrong and he’ll win 17 games this season and be a pivotal cog to the Yankees playoff rotation.

If that happens, then somebody please print this article out and shove it down my throat and make me eat every word I’ve written.

But, if I’m right and Kuroda pitches how I expect him to?

Then he is, who I thought he was.

And, I told you so.

State of the Rant Address

February 23, 2010 at 11:59AM. That is the day I decided to accept a Full-Time position in the Macy’s Human Resources Department. It’s a day I often think about and remember it as if it were yesterday.

April 4, 2010 at 3:23PM. That is the last time my fingers touched the keyboard of the Ramey Rant Blog. It’s been 2 long years. 24 thoughtless months. 734 days of indifference. It’s a day I had put so far into the back of my mind that it feels like another lifetime ago.

Two years ago, I made the tough, but conscious decision to abandon all dreams I had of becoming a writer and began to focus on my “career.” If what my job has become can be classified as a “career”, then I wish I had Doc Brown and a DeLorean with me, because I want to go back in time and slap the February 23, 2010 Chris in the face.

People make mistakes; it’s a part of what makes us human. Putting down my pen in favor of a shirt and tie was a mistake. If you know me at all, you know that I am not a spontaneous person; I don’t make decisions on a whim. Every aspect of my life is all a part of well-thought out process, from what I’m wearing, to what CD I listen to in my car. So the fact that in one singular moment I forever changed my life was the beginning of the end of the Rant. That is extremely hard to fathom in my mind.

The Rant was the reason I got out of bed in the morning. When I was having a tough day or needed to vent my frustrations, I’d turn to my writing. It was a sort of therapeutic release for me, to focus my stress on a certain subject and just write. And then without so much as even a second thought, I took the money and the easy way out and I let it slip away.

Someone once said “life is all about timing, the unreachable becomes reachable, the unavailable becomes available, the unattainable…attainable. Have the patience, wait it out. It’s all about the timing”

Well, two years have passed at the office, the unreachable is still unreachable, the unavailable, still unavailable. The unattainable, yep, you guessed it, still unattainable. I’ve had the patience, I’ve been waiting. I’m done waiting for my moment to come there; it’s time for me to do something else.

I don’t want to wake up another day thinking “what if?” For once in my life, I’m going to be proactive and not reactive. I’m done making the safe decisions and taking the easy way out in every situation. I’m 26 years old, it’s time to go balls to the wall and take some risks. In my heart of hearts, I know this is what I am meant to do, so it is what I plan on doing. All of the suit wearing and office bureaucracy, that’s now just a hobby. This is going to be my career; this will be my purpose in life. I’m not letting it slip away again.

The creative juices are flowing once more and everybody and everything is a target. While my dream of becoming a newsworthy writer is still a lofty one and I’ve set myself back quite a ways, I’m going to pour my blood, sweat and tears into this and give it everything I’ve got to make that dream come true.

So, to all the hack writers out there who do this for a living and think you’ve got talent, and believe me, there are A LOT of you, I hope you enjoyed your success while it lasted, because it’s about to be over for you. In the illustrious words of John Cena, your time is up, MY time is NOW.

Call it a comeback, call it the second coming, call it whatever you want. Fact of the matter is, after two long years, I can say without a shadow of a doubt:

FINALLY, THE RANT HAS COME BACK TO THE INTERNET

Predictions for the 2010 Baseball Season

With the 2010 Major League Baseball season getting underway this week, I thought it’d be a good idea to try and make up for last years debacle of predictions and give it another go. In case you forgot (or just never read it), last year the 8 teams I had making the playoffs were the; Braves, Cubs, Dodgers, Giants, Yankees, Red Sox, Indians and Rangers. Hmm, well, uh, in my defense, at least I had the Yankees in the World Series? (just because I had the Cubs beating them doesn’t matter!). The major award winners I picked last year were: Albert Pujols as the National League Most Valuable Player (I said he’d hit .330 with 38 homers and 130 runs batted in. Well, I was pretty spot on with the average and RBI, but didn’t give him enough homeruns!), Tim Lincecum as the National League Cy Young Winner, Jordan Zimmermann as the Rookie of the Year, Miguel Cabrera as American League Most Valuable Player, Zach Greinke and Roy Halladay (in a tie) for Cy Young Award and Ricky Romero as the Rookie of the Year.

In my defense, I did correctly pick Pujols, Lincecum and Greinke! But, I missed the boat on Miguel Cabrera (who finished 4th), Jordan Zimmermann and Ricky Romero (who didn’t even finish among the top 10, respectively). What does this tell you? That I can pick the obvious winners, but have no idea about anything else. Which is why I’m going for broke this year and doing it again!

Since the New York Yankees won the World Series last year, I’ll start off with the National League again this season (maybe I’m a little superstitious).

National League East

Philadelphia Phillies: 99 - 63
Atlanta Braves: 94 - 68
Florida Marlins: 89 - 73
New York Mets: 81 - 81
Washington Nationals: 74 - 88


It’s really hard to pick against the Phillies from winning this division again. They subtracted Cliff Lee from their rotation and added Roy Halladay; that’s a step up, even from as good as Lee was last season. The only question marks for the Phillies are if Cole Hamels can rebound from a terrible season last year and if Brad Lidge has anything left in the tank. If both of those questions are answered positively, then the Phillies are prime to make another run deep into October.

The Atlanta Braves are fast becoming one of my favorite teams that I think could do some serious damage in the post-season (if they get there). In the off-season they traded their ace Javier Vazquez back to the Yankees, but get a fully healthy Tim Hudson and a complete season out of phenom Tommy Hanson. Couple that with the upgrades in the outfield with Melky Cabrera and rookie sensation Jason Heyward and I think the Braves are going to a team to be reckoned with this season.

The Florida Marlins narrowly missed the playoffs last year and should be primed for a breakout season under manager Fredi Gonzalez, but the mounting pressures that their delusional owner is putting on the team, means they won’t hold up to his standards and kiss Fredi Gonzalez’s job good-bye come mid-July.

If you remember, last year I was extremely critical of the New York Mets and bashed them at every chance I got. Well, consider this a flashback, because it’s the same old story. The Mets did nothing and I mean nothing to improve their ballclub from last season. Sure, the Mets can blame their lack of wins last season on the injuries, but even when healthy, this team, as it’s built is not good enough to win 85 games, let alone a division. Mark my words, by the 2nd week of August, the Mets are going to be staring up at the aforementioned three teams in the standings and everybody will be left wondering what happened. Well, I’ll tell you what happened; the Mets have an idiot General Manager who should have been fired two years ago. Stay Classy Metropolitans.

The Nationals are getting better, but they’re still the worst team in this division. They’re slowly, but surely taking the right steps in surrounding Ryan Zimmerman with talent and are a few years away from contending.

National League Central

St. Louis Cardinals: 95 - 67
Cincinnati Reds: 88 - 74
Chicago Cubs: 84 - 78
Milwaukee Brewers: 77 - 85
Pittsburgh Pirates: 72 - 90
Houston Astros: 71 - 91

Once again, the National League Central is a tough division to predict. The Cardinals have by far the best offense (anchored by Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday) and most stable starting rotation, but have a shaky bullpen. The Reds are going to be a team that surprises a lot of people, but not me, I think they can be in contention right up until the end of the season, thanks in large part due to the eventual emergence of Aroldis Chapman who will show that despite his age, he’s the real deal. The Cubs are going to disappoint again, simple as that. They blamed their shortcomings on Milton Bradley’s presence in their clubhouse last year, well, who’s to blame when the same failures happen this year, now that he’s gone? Bottom line, they’re the Mets of the NL Central.


National League West

Colorado Rockies: 96 - 66
San Francisco Giants: 91 - 71
Los Angeles Dodgers: 83 - 79
San Diego Padres: 78 - 84
Arizona Diamondbacks: 72 - 90


I’m extremely high on the Rockies. With the emergence as Ubaldo Jimenez as a front of the rotation starter and the hopeful return to health for Jeff Francis, the Rockies are primed to make a big splash this season and continue where they left off last season after Jim Tracy took over as manager. Their offense is high powered with Troy Tulowitzki finally beginning to live up to his promise and potential. The real question marks the Rockies have to answer are in their bullpen; can Huston Street stay healthy enough to close games? I’d hedge my bets and say yes, because the Rockies are the team to beat here.

The Giants have Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum, which would make them the favorites to win any playoff series. The problem is, can they get to the playoffs? Aside from Cain and Lincecum, I don’t think Jonathan Sanchez has enough talent to throw strikes to give them another solid starter. Nor does their offense really strike me as an imposing force. Kung Fu Panda (terrific nickname) Pablo Sandoval is terrific, but they have too much age and too many guys who can only move base to base at a very slow pace. I see them having a hard time scoring runs consistently, so even with the dynamic duo of Lince-Cain, I don’t see it translating into enough W’s to push them over the hump.
Let me explain how the Dodgers season is going to turn out; Joe Torre announced that Vicente Padilla would be his opening day starter. (Yep, Vicente Padilla. I know, I thought he was playing in the Mexican Leagues somewhere too. But no, he’s the Dodgers opening day starter.) Also, they haven’t improved their ball club even remotely over last season, where they were completely underwhelming in the playoffs. So, to put it lightly, it’s no steps forward, and two steps back for them.
The Padres are going to be bad, but not as bad as the Diamondbacks. D-Backs ace Brandon Webb has stopped throwing in his rehab from his shoulder injury and there’s no timetable for his return. That is a major red flag. When you also factor in the D-Backs are starting Ian “I may have let up 12 runs but I still made my pitches” Kennedy at the back end of their rotation with Rodrigo Lopez and I’m calling shenanigans. (But, Arizona will shatter the record for number of players with funny names. Not only are they sporting an Augie Ojeda, but they’ve got a Gerardo Parra and a Rusty Ryal. If their bullpen is decent and Blaine Boyer and Esmerling Vasquez stick with the big club, all bets are off!)

National League Most Valuable Player: Honestly, they should rename this award after Albert Pujols. It’s his every year until he decides he doesn’t want it anymore. Why do they even bother pitching to him? He isn’t human. He’s a cyborg. I won’t even make steroid jokes about him, because even steroids wouldn’t help somebody this much. Chalk up another .330, 45 and 140 season for him and call it a day.

National League Cy Young Winner: Tim Lincecum has won two Cy Young Awards and he hasn’t even hit the prime of his career yet. People keep saying he’s going to break down with the violent motion of his delivery and sure, he could. But, I also could win the lottery tomorrow, doesn’t mean I will though. That being said, Lincecum won’t win it this year. I’m high on the purple and black in Colorado and this award goes to Ubaldo Jimenez. 19 – 7, 2.92 era and 210 strikeouts. Money in the bank. (watch him go 7 – 19 with a 5.00 era and I’ll laugh and retire)

National League Rookie of the Year: Jason Heyward; Braves. He’s 20 years old and is the size of a middle linebacker. He’s dynamic, he’s exciting. He’s my first non-Yankee man-crush since Danny Tanner (shut up, Bob Saget is a genius). There’ll be a ton of ups and downs for him, he’ll strike out a ton and it won’t be long until the league figures out he can’t hit a breaking ball, but he’ll still manage .280 with 22 homers and 80 rbi. Just wait and see.

American League East

Boston Red Sox: 102 - 60
New York Yankees: 99 - 63
Tampa Bay Rays: 91 - 71
Baltimore Orioles: 82 - 80
Toronto Blue Jays: 70 - 92

The Orioles and Blue Jays won’t be in the division race discussion once the calendar turns to June. Toronto traded away their best player and the only guy who owned the Yankees, literally every time he pitched. That’s going to hurt a lot and it’s going to show in the standings, as well as in the stands. Good luck filling the Rogers Centre this season, really. The Orioles have made a ton of additions to their team that I like; Garrett Atkins, Miguel Tejada and Kevin Millwood, specifically. But, it isn’t enough to make up any considerable distance on the three headed monster of the AL East that is the Yank-Ray-Sox.

You could literally flip a coin to decide which team of the Red Sox, Yankees and Rays will win the division, who will be the wildcard and who will be the team left out of the party. There’s arguments as to why each team could win the division, just like there’s an argument why they won’t. This season, the coin flips towards Boston. Adding John Lackey, Mike Cameron, Marco Scutaro and Adrian Beltre is going to sincerely help. The Red Sox had one of the worst defenses in baseball last season and now they will boast one of the best. For the next 3 or 4 years the Red Sox can throw an ace on the mound almost nightly (Beckett, Lester, Lackey and Buchholz). The only and I mean only problem with Boston is their loyalty to David Ortiz. That is going to be the Achilles heel of the team. Terry Francona is loyal to a fault and he won’t take Ortiz out of the lineup when he starts showing signs of further decline (my approximation will be 9:13PM, 2nd inning of the first game of the season). Ortiz is done, it’s over, finished. He’s old, he’s fat, he’s slow and he’s probably 43 years old. Call it a career. He had a nice 5 year run when he was the most feared hitter in the American League. Now he’ll be the most feared guy in the buffet line.

I know, I know, the Yankees won the World Series and I’m showing them no respect. But, give me a break. I bleed the pinstripes through and through and I’m no fool. The Red Sox have vastly improved their team and we vastly improved our pitching and defense too (adding Curtis Granderson and Javier Vazquez). But, it was at the expense of our offense. (sorry but Nick Johnson + Curtis Granderson does NOT = Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon). Does this mean I think the Yankees are done? Hell no, I just don’t think they’re going to win the division. That’s not a knock on them, at all, and I’ll even go one step further; even with a 2nd place finish in the AL East, they’re still the team to beat.

The Rays will benefit from having a full year in the rotation from David Price, as well as boasting the new most feared hitter in the American League Evan Longoria as the anchor of their lineup. They have a legitimate closer in Rafael Soriano, but that’s about it. What have you done for me lately, Tampa? You still have the Albatross known as Pat “don’t call me the bat” Burrell as your Designated Hitter, Carlos Pena last season looked more like the guy that no team wanted a few years ago, than the hitter he was in 2008. BJ Upton is liable to throw a tantrum and start crying after he strikes out and you can’t afford to keep Carl Crawford beyond this season. Add that to the fact that the Rays owner said next season their payroll will be about $15 million less and this team has “being blown up at mid-season and traded for assorted crap” written all over it.

American League Central

Minnesota Twins: 94 - 68
Detroit Tigers: 88 - 74
Chicago White Sox: 81 - 81
Kansas City Royals: 73 - 89
Cleveland Indians: 66 – 96

I could not have been more wrong about the AL Central last season. It was borderline pathetic. I under-estimated the Tigers, White Sox and Twins and over-estimated (terribly) the Indians and Royals. Let’s hope I can do better with this division in 2010.

The Twins have always been known as a team that could pitch and play defense, but their offense was always missing that one final piece to put them over the top. The last few years Mauer and Morneau have been giving their offense some more credibility. Last year Cuddy and Kubel helped them make their offense a legitimate threat. This year? The old faces are back, but they’ve brought some friends in Orlando Hudson, J.J. Hardy and Jim Thome. Yikes. The Twins are actually going to have one of the top-5 offense in all of baseball! Losing Joe Nathan for the season to Tommy John Surgery really hurts, but they do have a serviceable closer in Jon Rauch to step in. All this means is that the roles of every bullpen arm has just gotten more important to their success. They’ll be fine.

The Tigers added Johnny Damon, Austin Jackson and Scott Sizemore to their every day lineup. That’ll help, to an extent. I just don’t see them doing enough to combat what the Twins have added. Johnny Damon isn’t 28 anymore. He’s also not playing with the short porch in right field for the Yankees. He’s playing in the cavernous Comerica Park and actually expected to play defense. Good luck with that Detroit.

The White Sox suck. Ozzie Guillen is a clown. Jake Peavy is pitching in the American League and not the National League. You lost Jim Thome and added Andruw Jones. Should I continue? They aren’t good, but they aren’t the levels of suck that is Kansas City and Cleveland. That’s a whole new level of suck. They’re the suckiest sucks that ever sucked. They actually suck at sucking. They can’t even do that well.

American League West

Texas Rangers: 93 - 69
Seattle Mariners: 85 - 77
Anaheim Angels: 81 - 81
Oakland Athletics: 73 - 89

Look, I picked the Rangers to win the West last year and they screwed me over. I’m doing it again this year and they better not let me down. Seriously though, Nolan Ryan apparently knows more about baseball than just throwing 98mph fastballs and walking 8 people a game, while throwing a no hitter. He knows how to build a contender. Slowly, but surely, he’s put the pieces together to help the Rangers claim the west. Now is the time to do it. The Angels aren’t the fearful group they once were, but more on them in a minute. The Rangers have power (Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz, Vlad Guerrero), speed (Elvis Andrus and Julio Borbon), pitching (Scott Feldman and C.J. Wilson) and a stud arm in the pen (Neftali Feliz). Watch out for Texas.

The Mariners added Cliff Lee and have paired him up with Felix Hernandez as the most imposing top of the rotation duo in the American League. But, you still need three other pitchers in that rotation and Ian Snell, Jason Vargas and Ryan Rowland-Smith aren’t at all imposing. Sorry, they just aren’t. Good enough to win 80+, but not good enough win 90+ and compete. Maybe next year, but probably not.

In the past 12 months the Angels have lost John Lackey, Chone Figgins and Vladimir Guerrero. They’ve been replaced with Joel Piniero, Brandon Wood and Hideki Matsui. One of those names is actually an upgrade. The other two, not so much. I’ll let you be the judge and figure out who I’m referring to. The playoff series between the Yankees and Angels last year was terrific, but David finally slayed their Goliath. It’s just too bad the Yankees won’t get to do it again this season.

American League Most Valuable Player: Even though his team is going to finish in 3rd, the one place Tampa Bay finishes 1st is going to be in the MVP race. Evan Longoria will be your 2010 American League MVP. .310 average, 35 home runs and 125 runs batted in. He’s a superstar and he scares the living crap out of me at the plate.

American League Cy Young Winner: The Zach Greinke shot in the dark I won with last year, is going to replaced by the obvious choice of the best left handed pitcher in the American League. Apologies to Cliff Lee and CC Sabathia, but the best left hander in the AL is Red Sox Jon Lester. Realize it pains me to say he’s going to win the Cy Young, but he will. 20 – 6, 3.10 era. I wish I end up wrong and Sabathia wins it, but it’s not likely.

American League Rookie of the Year: Scott Sizemore; Tigers. He’s going to hit and he’s going to run. The rookie class in the American League isn’t that outstanding, so it shouldn’t take much for him to stand out above the rest.

We’ve got the regular season records and regular season awards all taken care of, now it’s time to take a look at the crystal ball for what October baseball will bring.

In the National League Division Series:

Phillies over Cardinals in 3
Rockies over Braves in 5

In the American League Division Series:

Rangers over Red Sox in 4
Yankees over Twins 5

In the National League Championship Series:

Rockies over Phillies in 6

NLCS MVP: Ian Stewart

In the American League Championship Series:

Yankees over Rangers in 7

ALCS MVP: CC Sabathia

In the World Series:

Yankees over Rockies in 6

World Series MVP: Curtis Granderson

There you have it. Before the games have even been played, I’ve predicted the records of all 30 teams in baseball, the winners of the major awards and how October (and early November) will play out. It took a lot of back and forth thinking to rationalize how the Yankees, a team I bashed before, could possibly repeat as World Champions. Well, once the calendar turns to October, the Yankees have the rings, the experience and the hunger of a champion. The Rockies want the rings, need the experience and are being fed to the lion.

So, like the 27 times before it, for the 28th time, to steal a line from Billy Joel, the entire world will be in a New York State of Mind.

Am I right? I guess we’ll find out in 6 months.

Until then….

Are you ready?

A few hours have passed since the final score was tallied. The stadium in Minnesota is now empty. The media has quietly dispersed to write their newspaper stories and edit their sound bites. The respective clubhouses have both been cleared out; one filled with the lingering questions of ‘what if?’ and the other covered with the remaining residue of a raucous champagne celebration.

One of the most exciting “regular season” play-in games to ever occur is now finished; but a distant memory to some, an unforgettable moment to others. For fans of one franchise, the season is now over, a bitter and long winter lie ahead, pondering the questions of what should happen next and who needs to go. Fans of the other lie in anticipation for a quick turn around to compete in a first round playoff game in the Mecca of sports, the big apple, New York City.

Players on one roster must pack their bags and board a plane to head home, their eyes cast downward, sorting the disappointment from their minds, playing back each moment in their heads, wondering what could have been done to prolong their season for one more week, at least. Players on the other roster pack their bags eagerly awaiting the red eye flight to New York, their heads held high knowing they were the last men standing in an all out dog fight for 12 innings and nearly 4 and a half hours, living to play another day.

The manager of one squad must live with the decisions he made possibly being the cause of his club’s defeat. Having all winter to second guess his choices while trying to sort out roster fluctuations and getting back to the grind in preparations for spring training in February. The manager of the victors has to move on from the utter jubilation of a hard fought victory and assert himself and his coaches to prepare for their upcoming game a few short hours in the future.

Of course, I am talking about the Detroit Tigers and the Minnesota Twins. In case you missed it, the Twins came from behind twice in the game (first down 3 – 0 and then down 5 – 4) to stage an improbable comeback 3 weeks in the making to win the American League Central Division Title and set up a first round match up in the American League Division Series with the New York Yankees.

For the past 10 days, Yankees fans have long been debating who they would rather see their beloved Bronx Bombers face, the struggling Detroit Tigers or the hottest team in the land the Minnesota Twins. It seemed as if people were on the fence (I, myself would talk myself into rooting for one and then 10 minutes later find myself thinking of reasons to root for the other) with their opinions, but now that the opportunity to debate is over with, let’s get down to the important matter, do the Twins pose a threat to the Yankees quest for a 27th World Championship?

In short, I’d say, yes, the Twins do pose a threat to the Yankees quest for a 27th title and a victory parade through New York City in 3 weeks. That’s not to say I expect the Twins to win the series, but I don’t think it’ll be as easy as many Yankee fans hope it will be. People will take a look at the head to head records of the two teams and see that the Yankees had a clean sweep of Minnesota this season defeating them in all seven games. But, if you take a closer look at the scores of the games, the Yankees beat the Twins by a 8 runs in 6 of those games. The only game that wasn’t close was a 10 – 2 victory in July. The rest of the games were decided by no more than 2 runs and in mid-May the Yankees needed three straight walk off victories to defeat Minnesota. It’s not as if Minnesota is just going to roll over and let the Yankees run right past them towards the American League Championship Series.

Many people felt that the Yankees were better suited facing the Twins because they lack superior starting pitching and their lineup isn’t as strong as Detroit’s, therefore they would be the better opponent for New York. I admit, before I began to take a closer look at the Minnesota team, I was one of those individual’s. After a brief analysis of their statistics, I came to the following conclusion: they’re a better team than Detroit. It’s really not even close.

The Tigers would have been an easier opponent for the Yankees to face (I know, I know, you’re going to start yelling at me that the Yankees would’ve faced Justin Verlander twice, but hear me out). Detroit was a team that should’ve wrapped up the division 3 weeks ago, then 2 weeks ago, then last week. Hell, they were up 3 games with 4 to play. It took a Hindenburg like disaster for the Tigers to lose this division to Minnesota (disclaimer, the Titanic of all collapses is still held by the Mets. Sorry, the Tigers made it close, but the Mets were the best team in the National League when they choked in 2007. Detroit was lucky to be in the AL Central and have a chance). Detroit is the team that all Yankee fans should’ve hoped and prayed they saw them face.

I fully understand that the Yankees would’ve had to face the Tigers ace Justin Verlander in 2 games of that series, but, who cares? Verlander wasn’t exactly that great of a pitcher in his career against New York and even if Detroit won those games, they still would have to win another game, which wasn’t exactly in their favor. Not to mention their closer had an earned run average way north of 4.00 (terrible, utterly terrible) and they had exactly 2 relievers with earned run averages under 4. Basically, you could score on their bullpen more than Paris Hilton.

And their starting lineup? Well, they’re just named recognition only. They aren’t throwing out the Magglio Ordonez or Placido Polanco of 3 years ago. They aren’t even throwing out the Curtis Granderson of last year. The only guy the Tigers lineup to really fear facing is Miguel Cabrera. He was the only person on that team who made you worried. Brandon Inge hit a bunch of home runs this season, but he’s batting lowering than David Ortiz on the season (in other words, he sucks guys). Curtis Granderson struck out nearly once per game and didn’t even get a hit one out of every four times (in other words, he sucks too guys). Their starting catcher and starting short stop were both batting worse than the previous two! Why was there even a debate on who the Yankees would be better off facing? I feel foolish for ever thinking Detroit was good!

But, Detroit lost, can’t talk them down any longer. I can only talk up the Minnesota Twins and what a problem they will pose for New York tomorrow night. Sure, the Twins starting pitching doesn’t boast an “ace” or someone that can conceivably silence the Yankees bats for a long stretch of time. But, they do have guys that consistently throw strikes and allow their defense (one of the best in baseball) to make spectacular plays behind them. They may not have the strikeout machine, flame throwing, pitchers that other teams have, but they’ve got guys who are crafty and know how to pitch. (even Carl Pavano).

Their bullpen is one to be weary of as well. Joe Nathan is their closer. He’s one of the top 3 closers in all of baseball (I’d rank him ahead of Jonathon Papelbon and about 9 miles behind Mariano Rivera). These guys don’t screw around. After adding Jon Rauch and Ron Mahay to the mix, to compliment Matt Guerrier, the Twins have one of the best bullpens in baseball as it stands right now.

Everybody thought the Twins were done when one of their best hitters in Justin Morneau went down with a back injury forcing him to miss the rest of the season (after all, that’s 30 home runs and 100 rbi they’re missing). But, they’re being powered by the MVP Joe Mauer (it’s not a question of IF he’ll win, but by how much he’ll win by…I vote unanimously). They also have two guys in Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer who have hit nearly 30 home runs and 100 runs batted in a piece. Orlando Cabrera is a veteran player who knows how to hit (and knows how to stick it to the Yankees. We haven’t forgotten 2004, you rotten little…) and Denard Span may be one of the biggest surprises of the season stepping into the center field job superbly and playing tremendous defense and adding in speed and poise at the top of the batting order.

All in all, the Twins are going to be a tough team to beat. They’ve essentially been playing must-win games for nearly a month and have risen to the occasion tremendously winning 17 of their last 21 games to reach the playoffs. There has been no team hotter in baseball over the past 6 weeks than these Twins. They are riding a hot streak we haven’t seen since the 2007 Rockies (who rode it all the way to the World Series).

I wouldn’t like to be the team that has to see these 25 guys sitting in the dugout across from you. They’re a fundamentally sound team, who are well coached by Ron Gardenhire and have not only momentum, but the confidence in themselves to play at a high level and succeed. Add in the fact they play their home games at the Metrodome (between those thunder sticks and the homer hankies, it’s a tough place to play in given all the noise) and the Yankees are in for a tall order to come up victorious in this five-game series.

Have I convinced you yet that the Yankees aren’t going to just steam roll right on through Minnesota? And that this series will be extremely tough and an absolute melee to see who comes out on top? Compelling argument isn’t it?

Well, forget every damn word you just read. It means absolutely nothing. It doesn’t matter that we play the Twins. It didn’t matter if we played Detroit either. They’re the New York Yankees. They aren’t the Yankees of 2000 – 2008. They are THE New York Yankees again. (did you just get chills reading that? Because I did). They’re back in the saddle and ready to roll on through October. No disrespect to the Twins, they are a great ball club and have been playing terrific baseball for the entire month of September (and into October), but what did that get you? It got you a first round date with the executioner; the Yankees. Sure, the Twins have been playing great for the past month, have you read the newspaper lately? The Yankees have been playing outstanding baseball for the past 4 months. Since June 23, the Yankees have gone 65 – 27, or just the best in the big leagues. They’re clicking on all cylinders. Offense, defense, pitching. You name it, they have it.

The Twins have starting pitching that challenges hitters and makes you put the ball in play, that’ll help in Minnesota, but in Yankee Stadium? You need to strike people out guys. That’s why the Yankees are the best in the business. No team fuels the high octane heat the Yankees throw out there on a nightly basis. They’ve got the big dogs in the rotation (Sabathia and Burnett). The big dogs in the bullpen (Hughes and Rivera).

The Twins have a terrific lineup filled with both power and speed, but, the bottom of their order is something to laugh at. Their 7 – 9 hitters couldn’t hit the backside of a barn if you gave them three tries. The Yankees 7 – 9 hitters? They hit a combined 67 home runs and 225 runs batted in. Yikes. The Twins have 4 players who hit 25+ home runs and had 90+ runs batted in. That’s impressive. The Yankees? They have 7 players who hit more than 20 home runs and had 7 with 80+ runs batted in. That’s historic.

The Twins are a terrific team, but the Yankees are better. It’s not even close. The Twins aren’t even in the same class as the Yankees. Honestly, no team in baseball is at this point in the season. The Yankees should be the odds on favorites to not only get to the World Series from the American League, but to win the whole thing.

The Yankees had the best record in baseball at 103 – 59, no other team was closer than 6 games back to the Yankees pace. The season the Yankees as a team and as individual’s had, would be the talk of town if it were any other team. But, it’s the Yankees and they just ‘spent another $400 million to get back to the post season’. If this were any other market in baseball, people would be salivating over them as being an unstoppable team with nothing in their way from a World Series birth. But, the Yankees don’t get the respect any more. They haven’t won anything in 9 years and didn’t make the playoffs last year and haven’t made it past the first round since 2004.

Things have changed. This was the year where the Red Sox and Rays were going to surpass the Yankees and leave them in a cloud of dust. Nobody expected the Yankees to be able to compete with the depth of the Red Sox or the youth and skill set of the Rays. How’d that work out for everyone? The Yankees effectively gave the rest of baseball the giant middle finger, a resounding “eff you” and went onto post historic seasons from many of their star players.

Derek Jeter? I wrote about him back in March, saying he was in decline, the Yankees needed to move on from him and get as far away from the Captain as possible. (I can be an idiot sometimes I guess) I was wrong. Dead wrong. Apologies to the faithful leader of the Yankees. He’s gone on to post arguably the best season of his career both offensively (.334, 18 home runs and 68 runs batted in) and defensively (he can actually move to his left this year) and would’ve been the sure-fire MVP if Joe Mauer decided not to play baseball this season. A giant “eff you” to me and the rest of the media for doubting him.

Alex Rodriguez? Embarrassed by being ousted as a former steroid user and subject to public ridicule, he suffered a hip injury and was forced to have surgery and miss the first 6 weeks of the season. What did he do? Come back with a passion and determination I never thought was possible and he put up numbers in ¾ of a season that most people would dream of having during a full season. A giant “eff you” to the entire world, including some of his own teammates.

The list could go on and on, but you get the picture. This isn’t your typical run of the mill Yankee team from years past. This is a team that is unified and actually likes one another. It’s a team that has a little old school flavor with that new school look. From top to bottom you can see it in their eyes. From the old guard in Jeter, Rivera, Pettitte and Posada, to the new guard of Sabathia, Burnett, Teixeira and Swisher. They have the look. The hunger in their eyes. The determination. The grit. This is the year where all the past demons are exorcised. Consider this post season to be “The New York Yankee Exorcism”

First up on the agenda? The Minnesota Twins. The Yankees need to exorcise the first round post season demons that have plagued them in years past. In 2007, the Yankees soundly defeated the Indians in all 6 regular season match ups, only to be bounced out of the playoffs by the Indians and some bugs. In 2006, the Yankees were poised to wipe the floor with the Detroit Tigers and were promptly send home packing in stunning fashion. It’s always been said what happens in the regular season means nothing once the playoff starts. Usually, that would be the case. In this instance, it’s not. The victories the Yankees had over the Twins during the season speak volumes. They beat them early, they beat them late, they came back when they were down. They did it with offense, defense, pitching. In any way you could win a game, the Yankees did so against Minnesota. It’s time to exorcise the first round demon.

Carl Pavano is a Minnesota Twin. Yes, the American Idle himself. Spending 4 years and $40 million of the Yankees money to sit on the bench and never pitch, Mr. Pavano finds himself in the unfamiliar spot of actually having to pitch. (think you can find the Yankee stadium mound on Friday night Carl? You haven’t seen it too much before). There is nothing any Yankee fan wants to see more, than they want to see Carl Pavano on the receiving end of a good old fashioned butt whooping courtesy of the Yankees. Let’s exorcise that demon, shall we?

Let’s say the Yankees are able to get past Minnesota and move onto the American League Championship Series, this is where the exorcising demons get interesting. Red Sox or Angels; take your pick. There’s revenge to be sought from each of them. Memories of 2004 whirl around in our heads with each passing day on the calendar. Every time the Yankees play the Red Sox our blood pressure rises with the memories of the celebration on our field in 2004. But, then the Angels have eliminated the Yankees from the post season not once, but twice in the past decade. They’ve also been the only team over the course of the last 10 years to constantly and soundly spank the Yankees worse than a troublesome four-year old. We want revenge on each of them. It doesn’t matter who. One would be sweeter than the other, but the prize would be equally the same. Exorcise those demons any way you want.

If the Yankees somehow make it to the World Series, ah the sweetest revenge. We WANT the Dodgers. No, not for the posterity of avenging our 1981 World Series defeat. No, it’s Joe Torre. It’s Manny Ramirez. It’s the showdown people have been itching to see in New York. Torre was forced out of New York and didn’t have the most glowing things to say about some of his former Yankee friends. Manny Ramirez is just hated by everyone for being, well Manny. Nothing would be sweeter than to see Joe Torre and Manny Ramirez in Yankee Stadium for Game 1 of the World Series. Actually, the only thing sweeter would be seeing them walk off the Yankee Stadium field in disappointment following a Game 6 loss as the Yankees celebrate (we can only dream).

This could be the year for it all to end. Every demon can be exorcised. Every loss, criticism and failure atoned for (this means you A-Rod and you too, CC). The next 3 weeks could dispel the bitter taste that has been in the mouths of all Yankee fans since that faithful night in 2001 when Luis Gonzalez’s bloop floated majestically over the head of Derek Jeter, ending the Yankee dynasty and putting us through 9 years of baseball hell.

The next 3 weeks could put the Yankees back on the track to beginning a new dynasty; with a mix of old Yankees and new Yankees united as one. Will it happen? I’m not sure. Can it happen? You bet. Do I think it will? I hope.

One thing I do know, and I’ve been seeing it for the past 6 months from game 1 all the way to game 162. Derek Jeter has the look. He’s got that championship gleam in his eye. He’s 35 years old, but he’s hungrier now than when he won the World Series for the first time 13 years ago.

If he comes running out of that Yankee dugout at 6:05pm tomorrow evening for Game 1 of the Division Series with a little extra hop in his step, well, the rest of baseball should be worried, because then I won’t be the only one thinking they’re back.

But, until then, I’ll leave you with this thought. To quote a song by T.I. and Jay-Z

"No one on the corner have swagger like us"

And it’s true. No one does. Sorry Minnesota Twins. It’s an admirable job you’ve done by making the playoffs. But, your good fortune is about to run out. It’s the New York Yankees time again.

Living a nightmare

Please bear with me for a little bit, because I have some hostility to get off my chest in the direction of Tony Romo. Yes, it has been nearly a month into the NFL season and I have yet to condemn Romo’s ability or question his passion for the game of Football; until now. Ask anybody and they will tell you that I am an ardent supporter of anything having to do with the Dallas Cowboys. I bleed silver and blue, it’s a part of who I am and a part of what I am about. Despite my disdain for Romo’s surfacing prima donna attitude, I have (more often than not) kept quiet about my feelings towards #9 and have remained highly supportive of him (unless you count the time last year when he broke his pinky and I applauded), simply because he was (and to steal a line from Terrell Owens) MY quarterback.

For 3 years I lived under the mantra that the Cowboys won and lost as a team. It didn’t matter if Romo played bad and they won, or if he played terrific and they lost, it was a team effort. Well, after 3 years of hearing about him dating country singers, making commercials, vacationing in Mexico the week of the big playoff game, playing professional golf, or whatever other excuse you can dream of to explain the failures of a franchise, I can finally say, without a shadow of doubt; it’s on Romo.

Winning and losing as “a team” can only take you so far. At the end of the day, you can’t blame the coaches for a team failing to execute (although Wade Phillips sure makes it hard to do that). You can’t blame the owner/General Manager for butting into areas of game management where he doesn’t belong (although Jerry Jones sure makes it hard to do that). No, the blame for defeat or praise for victory lies with one and only one person; the quarterback. In this case, it happens to be Tony Romo.

As a fan of the Dallas Cowboys, life has not been too pleasant in the land of the big D for much of the last decade. The Cowboys, winning an impressive 3 Super Bowl titles in a 4 year span in the early 1990’s, have not won a playoff game since 1996. A 40 to 15 victory over the Minnesota Vikings was the last time the Cowboys played deep into the heart of January during the NFL season. Barry Switzer is the last Cowboys head coach to win a playoff game. Since his departure following the 1997 season, Cowboy fans have endured an un-impressive two year coaching stint from Chan Gailey (thanks for the 8 and 10 win seasons, with nothing to show for it), the worst coach in Cowboys history Dave Campo (you actually won 15 games in 3 years? I didn’t think it was that many), a guy who has turned around more franchises while sporting the dumbest nickname ever (Tuna) in Bill Parcells and for the past three seasons, Wade Phillips. What do the Cowboys have to show for it? Nothing. Zilch.

But, Cowboy fans remained supportive; after all, they didn’t have a quarterback during that time. It’s true. Troy Aikman wasn’t “Troy Aikman” any more. To say he was a shell of his former self would be an understatement. Once Aikman retired following the 2000 season, the revolving door of Dallas Cowboy quarterbacks began.

Being the Quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys is the most publicized pressure filled position in all of sports (all due respect to being the Centerfielder of the Yankees, the Cowboys is more important). Throughout the history of the Cowboys there have been two franchise quarterbacks who lived up to the hype and billing of being THE guy for “America’s Team”; Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman (all due respect to Don Meredith, Danny White and Steve Pelluer, but, you guys sucked). The Cowboys have won 5 Super Bowls as a franchise and three of them were Aikman and the other two were Staubach. Needless to say, not many people have played at a consistently high level for Dallas.

The search for the next franchise quarterback began in earnest following the 2000 season and continued on for the next 6 years until Romo stepped in. Quincy Carter, Anthony Wright, Ryan Leaf, Clint Stoerner, Chad Hutchinson, Vinny Testaverde, Drew Henson and Drew Bledsoe all had their chances to lead the Cowboys back to the playoffs and find a new level of success. To say they all failed would be an inaccuracy. While there’s no doubt in my mind Ryan Leaf was a train wreck and Anthony Wright was forgettable, Clint Stoerner plays for Team Arkansas in the All-American Football league, Chad Hutchinson can rest assured that his professional baseball career was far worse than his pro-football career, same with Drew Henson. Vinny Testaverde can at least resign himself to the fact that he played for 25% of the league in his career.

If not for the combined efforts of Quincy Carter and Drew Bledsoe, Tony Romo would have never been given a chance to play in Dallas. (we’ll get back to that in a minute, but first I want to get to the root of the problem with Romo). The career of Tony Romo can be summarized with two words; Who knew? Who knew that a guy would be signed from relative obscurity to be a Dallas Cowboy, simply because one of the coaches on the team went to the same college and heard good things? Tony Romo didn’t go to a big-time athletic school with a chiseled out collegiate program that prepares you for the NFL. Nope. Romo went to Eastern Illinois, a college nobody has heard of, nobody knows where it is, nor does anybody really care. After his senior year, nobody in the NFL wanted him and he went undrafted.

But, there he was, signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent at the insistence of then assistant head coach Sean Payton. What Sean Payton saw in him that no other coach (other than former Bronco’s coach Mike Shanahan) nobody will ever know, but he saw something that warranted a contract and a roster spot. In 2004, Romo, then the emergency quarterback, was facing being cut from the roster the first week of training camp. However, thanks to the drug problems that “Cokehead Quincy” Carter suffered from and his overall poor attitude during camp, Romo was retained and Carter was released. See? Dallas fans can thank Quincy Carter for Tony Romo having a job right now.

A mere 2 years later, Romo finally got his chance; I was there to see it on October 23, 2006, Texas Stadium, Giants vs. Cowboys on Monday Night Football. After another underwhelming 1st half performance from Cowboys quarterback Drew Bledsoe, amid boos and chants of “We want Romo”, the switch was finally made. At the start of the 2nd half, in front of a crowd of 63,512 crazed Dallas fans (and my wonderful family of Giants fans, whom I wouldn’t even sit with at the game), Romo trotted onto the field and begun taking practice throws, signaling to the crowd that he would be taking over the quarterback position for the Cowboys; the rollercoaster ride would begin.

Greeted by a standing ovation and chants of “Romo, Romo”, the Drew Bledsoe era had officially been given the Old Yeller treatment and a new era was ushered in. The results were largely unimpressive in his first prolonged taste of NFL action throwing 3 interceptions, but there were flashes of brilliance. With Romo behind center, fans were on the edge of their seats with every drop back, every dazzling scramble to avoid taking a sack, every throw sailing majestically into the Dallas night; a star was born that night in Texas.

The first highlight reel play from Romo came late in the 4th quarter, the outcome of the game already decided (resounding victory by the Giants), Romo unleashed a dazzling bomb to a wide open Patrick Crayton for a 53 yard touchdown pass. As the remaining crowd leapt to their feet with excitement, it wasn’t the fact that the Cowboys scored that we were cheering about, it was the fact that for the first time in 6 years, we had something to cheer about.

Two days later, on October 25, Tony Romo was announced as the new starting quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. In his first career start against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday Night Football in front of a national televised audience, Romo dazzled yet again, leading the Cowboys to a 35 – 14 victory and a media darling was created.

Tony Romo became the new hit of the NFL. Leading the Cowboys to impressive victories over the undefeated Indianapolis Colts on November 19th and a Thanksgiving Day victory over Tampa Bay which saw Romo throw a career high 5 touchdown passes, Romo was leading the charge to get the Cowboys back into the playoffs.

How was he doing this? How did this nobody from a school I can’t even locate on a map lead the Dallas Cowboys to the forefront of the NFC after years of failure? It’s simple, he was playing the game in a way that his Cowboy quarterbacking predecessors Bledsoe, Hutchinson, Carter, etc didn’t; with passion. Tony Romo played the position with a youthful enthusiasm that was rarely seen in Dallas for as long as I, or anyone can remember. With the somber and boring Drew Bledsoe, the Cowboys played just that, somber and boring. There was no excitement, no fire, no heart, from the team or fans in the crowd. Every minute of every quarter, for every game, for every season, it was just as if we were going through the motions, the game lacked a certain feel, whether it be hopefulness or joyousness to be watching “America’s Team” play. Tony Romo brought those feelings back. Tony Romo saved the Dallas Cowboys franchise on that cool Monday night in October 2006. He was the new sheriff in town. The new gunslinger in town ready to topple the NFC and lead the Cowboys back to the Super Bowl.

Or, so we thought. There was only one problem with that whole theory. Nobody knew that Tony Romo was lacking the most important gene that can be wired into an NFL player’s psyche; fortitude. Romo played with passion, he played with heart, but he would wilt under the pressure quicker than Alex Rodriguez in October. The first example of this was made clear in the 2006 playoffs as the Cowboys played the Seattle Seahawks in the first round. With 1:19 left on the clock and Dallas trailing 21 – 20, the Cowboys attempted a 19-yard field goal for the win; an easy chip shot, the 2nd round was in our sights. As the ball was snapped and Romo caught it to hold for Mike Vanderjagt, the unthinkable happened; he bobbled the ball, the kick was blown, the game was lost and the tears began to flow. As Tony Romo sat on the field with his hands on his head shaking in disbelief, I sat in a friends basement sobbing like a little school boy who was told there was no Santa Claus.

The next season began and it was more of what Romo had done in the previous season when he stepped into the starter’s role. Excitement, jubilation, smiles on the sidelines, exhibiting true joy in not only playing football, but being a part of this team. But, it all began to change exactly one year to the day of his first career start. On October 29, 2007, Romo was given a six-year $67.5 million contract extension with the Cowboys. Two weeks later he began dating pop-star Jessica Simpson (ughhhhhhhhhhhh) and the downward spiral would begin.

Romo finished off the 2007 regular season breaking the all-time Dallas record for touchdowns and completions in a season, leading the Cowboys to a 13 – 3 record and a playoff date with the New York Giants (who the Cowboys had manhandled twice previously in the season). What happened? Oh, it’s just those pressure situations we spoke of before. You know the rest. Romo chokes. Cowboys lose. Giants win the Super Bowl. My family rejoices and I shorten my life expectancy by at least 7 years with the amount of alcohol I consumed to get over my grief of yet another failed playoff venture.

The 2008 season was one of the biggest disappointments in Dallas Cowboy history. Being labeled as a Super Bowl contending favorite, the Cowboys faltered down the stretch during the last month of the season (which has become classic Romo due to his 5 – 8 career record in the month of December) and they failed to make the playoffs. It was midway thru the 2008 season that I had realized what was wrong with Romo; he lost his passion.

Call me crazy, call me a cynic, call me whatever you like; I stand by this statement; Tony Romo lost his passion for football and it became all about the stardom. Therein lies the problem. Before he received that wealthy extension with the Cowboys, Romo was just another guy who got a chance to play a game he loved as a living. Once he hit pay dirt, you could instantly see his eyes go “cha-ching”. Weeks later he’s become some sort of Hollywood party goer with Jessica Simpson. Months after that, in the week leading up to the biggest game of his career (the aforementioned playoff meltdown against New York), instead of preparing for the contest, what does he do? Flies to Mexico for a little love on the sand with his bosomy blonde bimbo Simpson. Hallelujah at least we know he scored at some point in the month of January in his NFL career (wow, that was a tasteless cheap shot and I don’t even care).

Bottom line is simple; at some point Romo stopped being about football and began thinking about life outside of football and becoming a mega-star. It’s no secret that Romo is an avid amateur golfer and has attempted to qualify for the PGA tour (and hey, guess what? Failed at that too. He chokes at two sports!). He is also a frequent guest on local sports radio programs in the Dallas area and even hosted his own sports radio program. He’s featured in commercials and TV ads, you get the picture. At some point it became less about being the quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys and more about being Tony Romo, rising star.

If you don’t believe me, just watch him play now compared to two years ago. Everything is different. Sure, most of the statistics are the same (right up to the usual December meltdown), but the body language is different. He doesn’t have the same loose attitude and jovial demeanor he exhibited when he became the toast of the town in 2006. The smiles on the sidelines have diminished. It stopped being about playing a game and having fun and just seems like it’s something he does to get paid to do. After a week 17 annihilation at the hands of the Eagles last season, Romo finished off his post game press conference with this doozy of a quote when asked about how he’ll deal with another loss and not going to the playoffs:

“I wake up tomorrow and I keep living”

The quarreling with offensive coordinator Jason Garrett has increased. He alienated his star receiver Terrell Owens (call him a bad teammate if you like, but he was never a problem in Dallas) and ultimately led to his release. Even today I read reports that Romo and current receiver Roy Williams are having trouble getting on the same page. This is NOT the same Tony Romo that won the hearts of millions of Cowboy fans over the world. That’s the Tony Romo I cheered for. This Tony Romo I want to see benched and ridden out of town. I don’t want this Romo as my quarterback. He doesn’t belong.

He had the opportunity to be a franchise altering quarterback for the Cowboys and be this generation of Cowboy fans Troy Aikman. Instead, he’s already lost my faith and has begun to lose the faith of Dallas fans across the nation. Only one man can fix this and it’s Romo himself. He needs to take a good, long, hard look in the mirror and decide what he wants to be. Does he want to be just another NFL star who had a good career, made a lot of money and ventured off into other avenues? Or, does he want to be one of the next great players in this league and lead his team to a cavalcade of accolades? In my heart I always felt it would prove to be the latter, these days I feel like it’s going to be the former.

All I know the joy I used to have in watching the Cowboys play every Sunday is slowly diminishing with each incomplete pass and seeming indifferent attitude over failure that Romo exhibits now. He’s not the same man and I don’t think he will ever lead this team to the level people think he can. It just isn’t in his genetic makeup. Some people that ability to rise to the occasion, with your back against the wall and lead your team to a level of play you didn’t think existed, while others don’t. Tom Brady has it. Donovan McNabb doesn’t. Peyton Manning has it. Jay Cutler doesn’t. Eli Manning most certainly has it. Jamarcus Russell most certainly doesn’t. Brett Favre had it and has shown glimpses even in his old age that he still does. Tony Romo’s idol is Brett Favre, maybe he should study some film of old #4 and see what true heart is all about.

That’s what it’ll come down to for Romo in the end. He either has the heart of a warrior and a true competitive spirit a la Brett Favre, who despite his constant flip flopping on if he’s retiring or playing, has never once shown a lack of heart, or he doesn’t. Favre plays the game day in and day out today with the same passion and excitement he did 20 years ago. That’s the kind of man I want as my quarterback. That’s the man I thought was my quarterback on that Monday evening in Texas 3 years ago when I stood up and cheered with my eyes beaming with fervent excitement. As the games tread on and Romo’s lackadaisical play continues, I grow more and more weary of the bleak future for the Cowboys.

You’re 29 years old now Tony. What have you won? Nothing. So often you are compared to Troy Aikman for your talents and god given abilities. Well, Troy Aikman had 3 Super Bowl titles by the time he was 29.

With a matchup in Denver tomorrow afternoon, all eyes will be on Romo. He’s coming off 3 straight weeks of shaky performances, following a disappointing pre-season and an off-season in which he spent more time on the putting green than he did in the film room. It’s entirely up to Romo. Find the passion you once had for the game and get it back, before it’s too late. The excuse that you’re a young quarterback no longer plays into effect. The time is now to either take the road less travelled and become one of the elite, or go down the path of so many before you and just be “some guy who went to work every Sunday to collect a check”.

I don’t know if he’ll ever regain that look in his eyes that he used to have, but I can hope. But, until that day, there’s only one thing I can do in the meantime;

Wake up tomorrow and keep living

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...

Random Thoughts

This isn’t one of your normal run of the mill “Ramey’s Rants.” This is going to be a few paragraphs of me bragging and gloating about how awesome I am and how intelligent my sports knowledge is. Basically, this is me letting all of you know that 3 weeks ago in my 2nd half baseball preview, that was the writing equivalent of a breakout performance. Don’t know what I’m talking about? Well, let me explain.

The biggest deals made at the trade deadline were the deals that sent Matt Holliday, Cliff Lee, Victor Martinez, George Sherrill, Freddy Sanchez, Jack Wilson and Ian Snell all packing to new locations. If you didn’t read my 26 page “Second Half Preview”, let me give you a few snippets from it when discussing the above names.

Re: Matt Holliday: “Adding Mark DeRosa, who now finds himself on the disabled list helps, but they (the Cardinals) could use something more. (perhaps call up Billy Beane and see how Matt Holliday is feeling?)”

Where’d Matt Holliday end up? The St. Louis Cardinals.

Re: Cliff Lee: “If they (the Phillies) can't put a package together to get Roy Halladay (you'd have to lose Kyle Drabek, sorrrry), maybe they could package some lesser talent together to snatch Cliff Lee from the Indians”

What happened? The Phillies refused to part with Kyle Drabek in order to acquire Roy Halladay and instead packaged together some lesser talent and snatched Cliff Lee from the Indians. Thank you, thank you very much.

Re: Victor Martinez: “Victor Martinez? Call up the Red Sox, see if you can pry Clay Buccholz from them for his services”

What happened to Mr. Martinez? Well, he got traded to the Red Sox, but I under-estimated Indians General Manager Mark Shapiro’s stupidity and he only got Justin Masterson out of it. Basically, that’d be the equivalent of trading in your Porsche for a used Toyota with poor brakes.

Re: George Sherrill: “thanks to the Joe Torre book on ruining bullpen arms, they could use a little more relief in that pen”

Well, I didn’t directly infer that the Orioles would trade Sherrill to the Dodgers, but I at least take credit in knowing that Joe Torre is still terrible at managing a bullpen and help was needed.

Re: Freddy Sanchez: “On the downside of things, your offense (Giants) is horrible. You need an Aubrey Huff or a Freddy Sanchez just to provide a little more support."

What happened to Sanchez? Freddy was packaged and shipped by the Pittsburgh Moving Company, I mean Pirates and sent to San Francisco. Again, I was right.

Re: Jack Wilson and Ian Snell: “With the recent trade of Yuniesky Betancourt and Ronny Cedeno batting just .168, they could be in the market for a middle infielder (Jack Wilson)….. The Mariners are one of the few teams who aren't in dire need of pitching help. I'd say maybe they'd be interested in someone like Ian Snell”

What happened to them? They were BOTH traded to the Mariners and Ronny Cedeno and his light weight batting average was part of the deal. I think I deserve a pat on the back for this one guys.

Now I’m not saying I’m some sort of baseball prophet on the level of Moses or Nostradamus or anything, but I’m definitely somewhere in between. I’m like the Muhammad of baseball knowledge.

That being said here are some random thoughts that have popped in my head this morning:

Ramey Rants Twenty Five Random Thoughts:

1. The New York Giants are giving Quarterback Eli Manning a $97.5 million contract extension. Huh??? Really? He’s not even a top-10 QB in the league! And if you don’t believe me, here’s who I’d rather have in no particular order; Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Phillip Rivers, Donovan McNabb, Tony Romo, Drew Brees, Kurt Warner, Carson Palmer, Ben Roethlisberger and Aaron Rodgers. Sorry Eli, you’re no better than 11th best.

2. Of Trevor Hoffman’s major league record 578 saves, only 54 have been for more than 3 outs or a mere 9.3% of his total.

3. Of “best closer in baseball” Francisco Rodriguez’s 232 career saves, only 19 have been for more than 3 outs or just 8.1% of his total.

4. Meanwhile, to end any doubt that Mariano Rivera is the greatest closer in history, of his 513 career saves, a staggering 110 have been for more than 3 outs, or an astonishing 21.4% of his total.

5. Michael Jordan “retired” from the NBA on three different occasions, Roger Clemens “retired” on three different occasions as well. Brett Favre has now “retired” on three different occasions, but has ‘discussed’ the notion on at least five occasions. I thought boxers were the only athletes who were allowed to retire a million times?

6. Michael Vick spent 2 years in jail, was suspended 2 seasons from the NFL and is still suspended at least 4 games into the 2009 NFL season? How does this begin to make sense? Hasn’t he paid his debt to society?

7. The new Dallas Cowboys Stadium is living proof that everything is bigger in Texas. If a fan wants to sit in one of the luxury suites, it’ll cost $800,000 per year to lease it, but that doesn’t include game tickets. Also, you’ll have to dole out $90 for pizza (not kidding) and $66 for a 12-pack of beer (also not kidding). And people complained about Yankee tickets?

8. The last time a major league baseball team had two 20 game winners in the same season was the 2002 Arizona Diamondbacks; they got swept in the first round of the playoffs. Bad omen for the Giants as Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain are both on pace to win 20 apiece.

9. San Diego Chargers cornerback Antonio Cromartie was fined $2,500 for posting a comment on his twitter account complaining about the food at training camp. Call out a player or coach, no big deal. Call out the chef on his choice of cuisine, pay the price. Food = power.

10. New York Mets center fielder Carlos Beltran has been out since June 22nd with a “bruised knee.” That could be the worst bruise in the history of black and blue’s.

11. Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay is a complete bulldog on the mound. He’s made 21 starts this season and has pitched at least 7 innings in 19 of them. In the other two starts he pitched 3 innings (and left with an injury) and 6 innings (his first start back from injury).

12. On June 7th, Halladay won his 10th game of the season, running his record to 10 – 1, with a 2.52 era. Since that time he’s put up a 1 – 4, 3.15 era in 57 innings over 8 starts. That also includes a complete game loss and another complete game no decision. Too bad they didn’t trade you buddy.

13. Recently enshrined to the baseball Hall of Fame, Rickey Henderson played 25 professional seasons and stole at least 50 bases in thirteen seasons; including 66 when he was 39 years old. Rickey liked to run. His AVERAGE season would see him hit .279 with 16 home runs, 59 runs batted in and 74 stolen bases. No wonder he declared himself “the greatest of all-time”

14. The ‘Ol Gunslinger Brett Favre, the “greatest Quarterback in history” had 36 career games of 3+ interceptions and 64 games of 3+ touchdowns and only twice in his career did he have 3+ of each. So, if you’re keeping score, Favre started 269 games in his career, in 13% of them he was REALLY bad, in 23% of them he was REALLY good and in the other 64% he was above average. He’s also guided his teams to a career 169 – 100 record for a .628 winning percentage.

15. On the other hand, Peyton Manning has started 176 games in his career and has only had 10 games of 3+ interceptions, while having 52 games of 3+ touchdowns and 71 games in his career without throwing an interception. So, if you’re keeping score again, of the 176 games Manning has started, in 5% of them he’s been REALLY bad, in 30% of them he’s been REALLY good, in 40% of them he’s been nearly flawless and he’s guided his teams to a 117 – 59 record for a .664 winning percentage. Sorry Brett, but Peyton is far and above better than you ever were.

16. Still don’t believe me? Well, Favre had only 5 seasons of 4,000+ yards passing and in only one of them did he complete over 65% of his passes. Peyton, meanwhile, has already had 9 seasons of 4,000+ yards passing and in six of those seasons he completed over 65% of his passes.

17. When it’s all said and done Albert Pujols will go down as the greatest hitter in baseball history. Think about this, the worst season he’s ever had was in 2007 when he hit .327 with 32 home runs and 103 runs batted in. He’s averaged 43 home runs per year in his career. He’s 407 home runs away from Barry Bonds. If Pujols averages just 35 home runs per season (which he very well can do since he’s only hit below 35 homers twice), he’ll surpass Barry Bonds record of 762 BEFORE his 40th birthday. Say hello to the baseball God.

18. When the Texas Rangers traded Mark Teixeira to the Atlanta Braves at the 2007 trade deadline, they acquired Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Elvis Andrus, Matt Harrison, Neftali Feliz and Beau Jones in return. Saltalamacchia is now the Rangers starting catcher, Andrus their starting short stop and Neftali Feliz, fresh off a 2 inning, 4 strikeout performance in his major league debut, is the best of the bunch. Greatest trade in Rangers history.

19. The Bridgeport Sound Tigers may be one of the dumbest names in sports. What the hell is a Sound Tiger? Then again, I may be employed by them in the future, so I may name my first child Tiger after them.

20. Back to the Twitter conversation from earlier; I follow dozens of athletes on twitter and I have to say, it really makes me dislike them. I thought I’d get an inside glimpse into the lives and personalities of athletes and I did, but I’ve been largely disappointed. I’ve learned that athletes, much like us regular Joe’s, are weird people with insane tendencies. Just ask Stephon Marbury. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, google it.

21. Pete Rose remains banned from Major League Baseball, because he bet on games? Yet, hundreds of players have compromised the integrity of the game by using performance enhancing drugs and they haven’t been banned. How’s that fair?

22. Can anybody else wait for the eventual press conference that David Ortiz will have in a few months saying that he tested positive for a banned substance in 2003 because of that mysterious “milkshake” he had that one time in the Dominican?

23. I’m glad to see Plaxico Burress was indicted on two counts of criminal possession of a weapon and one count of reckless endangerment. If Michael Vick was given the stiffest penalty the law could provide, I hope Burress receives the same treatment and is put behind bars for at least 3 ½ years.

24. Don’t believe anything that MMA fighter Fedor Emelianenko’s handlers say that they “tried their best to get a deal done with the UFC.” It’s 100% BS. If he really wanted to fight in the UFC, he would be. Fedor is scared of finally having competition and having the talent of his 30 – 1 record come into question, since about 25 of those victories have come from a group of people not good enough to be labeled a “has been” or a “never was”

25. Having recently attended a Yankee game, the stupidity and ignorance of sports fans is unbelievable. I’m talking about the “fans” who expect their sports teams to play flawless and nearly perfect 100% of the time. Newsflash genius’, nobody is perfect, nobody will play mistake free every minute of every day. If you expect that, give me whatever pills you’re taking, because life must be pretty sweet being that high. Grow a brain.

Ramey's Rants MLB Rankings

Hello all and welcome to the newest addition to the Ramey Rants blog. Every 2 weeks (so twice a month for all you scholars out there), I'll be giving you my opinion on how each team ranks in baseball. (wait till football and basketball season and I'll do those as well). It's been about a week and a half since I've had a good rant, so enough with the small talk, let's get to the rankings and be on the lookout for a rant in the coming days!

30. Pittsburgh Pirates (45 – 59): Pirate fans have little to smile about. Nate McLouth, Jack Wilson, Freddy Sanchez, Adam Laroche, are just a few of the names who have been traded in the past 6 weeks. Rookie super star Andrew Mccutchen is batting .292 and is fresh off a 3 homer performance on Saturday night, but he’ll be traded the moment he begins to blossom into something extraordinary.

29. Washington Nationals (33 – 72): Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman is batting just .250 since June 1st. Just putting that uniform on can really drain the talent out of a player.

28. Cleveland Indians (44 – 61): They traded away their ace Cliff Lee and their all star catcher Victor Martinez. The only reason fans have to show up to the ballpark nightly is center fielder Grady Sizemore and he’s batting .229. I would say football season is just around the corner, but you have the Browns. So, uh, 3 months until the Cavaliers season starts!

27. San Diego Padres (43 – 63): They traded away their best pitcher of the last decade in Jake Peavy (out with an injury since mid-June) and toyed with the notion of trading the face of their franchise, best player and all-star Adrian Gonzalez. Needless to say, if they did that, all 4 Padre fans in the world would riot.

26. Kansas City Royals (41 – 63): Zach Greinke may very well win the Cy Young award, but the emergence as Brian Bannister as a legitimate #2 starting pitcher should make Royals fans hopeful about the possibility of making a wild card run next year. Think the Mets and their shaky starting rotation regret trading him for Ambiorix Burgos 3 years ago?

25. Oakland Athletics (44 – 60): I thought Billy Beane was Mr. Moneyball and in love with on base percentages and working the count? Their team batting average is a below average .253 and their team on base percentage is an abysmal .322. Maybe Beane should stop writing books and start evaluating talent?

24. Baltimore Orioles (44 – 60): Adam Jones is on pace for a 30 homer and 100 rbi season in just his 2nd full season in the big leagues. He’s already drawn more walks than last season and eclipsed his career high in homers nearly 2 months ago. A star is born.

23. Cincinnati Reds (45 – 59): Reds ace Edinson Volquez has been out for much of the season with a bad pitching elbow after an alarming jump in his innings pitched last season. Score another one for Dusty Baker. Add that to Mark Prior, Kerry Wood and former Giant Bill Swift and you’ve got yourself an impressive list of terrific talents that have been derailed by this man. Congratulations! Dusty Baker, ruining right arms for 20 years!

22. Arizona Diamondbacks (46 – 59): Brandon Webb has been out since April with a bad shoulder that we ALL knew he needed surgery on, but did he? Nope. Waited until August to finally decide to shut him down and perform surgery. Way to wait so long and blow his next season too. I put 70% odds that the Diamondbacks cut Webb loose after this season and he signs with the Dodgers and really sticks it to Arizona in 12 months for screwing him over.

21. Toronto Blue Jays (51 – 44): J.P. Ricciardi really screwed up the Roy Halladay trade negotiations. He demanded too much, over played his hand with his only real suitor (Philadelphia) and they turned around and picked up Cliff Lee for 1/5 the talent that the Blue Jays wanted for Halladay. Great job J.P., can’t wait for you to sign Adam Lind to a $90 million contract extension in 3 years. You signed BJ Ryan to ridiculous money, gave Vernon Wells an absurd contract and can’t even trade your biggest trading chip and will lose him in 12 months for nothing? No wonder you live in Canada.

20. Houston Astros (52 – 53): Wandy Rodriguez at home (5 – 2, 2.12). Wandy Rodriguez on the road (5 – 4, 3.15). Dr. Jekyll, meet Mr. Hyde.

19. Minnesota Twins (52 – 53): It doesn’t matter if the Twins make the playoffs or not, Joe Mauer is the best player in the American League and the most valuable player as well. He’s going to hit .350 with 30 home runs and 100 runs batted in while catching nearly 140 games and missing the first month of the season. The last time a catcher batted above .350 with 30+ homers and 100+ rbi in a single season was Mike Piazza in 1997 when he hit .362 with 40 homers and 124 runs batted in. You’ve taken the leap to the next level Joe Mauer.

18. New York Mets (50 – 54): A New York Mets commercial for an upcoming game showed a montage of David Wright highlights and had the caption “He hasn’t given up yet and neither should you.” Yep, there you go. The 2009 New York Mets: Playing mediocre baseball since April 6th.

17. Milwaukee Brewers (52 – 53): Prince Fielder is on pace to hit over 40 home runs and have nearly 150 runs batted in. He just turned 25 years old. He’s 280lbs of salad eating, vegan power.

16. Seattle Mariners (54 – 51): Ichiro Suzuki is in his 9th career major league baseball season and has amassed 1,958 career hits. If you add that to the 1,278 career hits he had in Japan and Ichiro Suzuki is nearing 3,300 career hits. Easily a 1st ballot Hall of Famer and will arguably be one of the greatest right fielders in baseball history.

15. Atlanta Braves (53 – 51): With the impressive starting rotation the Braves boast with Javier Vazquez, Jair Jurrjens and Derek Lowe at the helm, the Braves should be a lot better than hovering around .500 on the season. If Chipper Jones and Brian McCann start hitting the way they’re capable of (and they’re showing signs of life), the Braves could make a late summer push towards the top.

14. Chicago White Sox (54 – 52): This past weekends 4 game series against the Yankees where the White Sox took 3 of 4 was definitely Gordon Beckham’s coming out party going 7 of 19 with 5 doubles and 8 runs batted in. He’s only 22 and he hasn’t even started hitting for power yet. Bad news for the rest of the AL Central.

13. Florida marlins (55 – 50): Cody Ross is second on the team in home runs with 17, trailing only Dan Uggla’s 19. Bet you didn’t know that. If Josh Johnson (10 – 2, 2.87) was in the American League, he’d be in the Cy Young debate, but pitching in the National League against the likes of Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain and he’ll be lucky to garner a vote.

12. Detroit Tigers (54 – 49): After just acquiring lefty Jarrod Washburn (8 – 6, 2.64), the Tigers boast the best 1 – 3 starting rotation in the American League with hard throwing Justin Verlander (12 – 5, 3.16) and Edwin Jackson (7 – 5, 2.64).

11. Tampa Bay Rays (57 – 48): Tampa has stolen a league high 142 stolen bases and at the end of the season will have one player with at least 50 stolen bases, one player with 40 stolen bases and another with 30 stolen bases. They like to run. Might as well just sign Usain Bolt and stick him at DH.

10. Chicago Cubs (55 – 48): In the 4 weeks since Aramis Ramirez has returned from a shoulder injury, the Cubs have taken off, going 15 – 8 while Ramirez has batted .338 with 5 homers and 17 runs batted and a .409 on base percentage.

9. St. Louis Cardinals (58 – 50): The Good: In the 11 games Matt Holliday has been a Cardinal, he’s hit .540 with 3 homers and 10 runs batted in. The Bad: In the 11 games since Matt Holliday has been a Cardinal, Albert Pujols has hit .200 with 0 homers and 2 runs batted in.

8. Colorado Rockies (58 – 47): The Rockies have 5 players in their offense who are on pace to hit over 20 home runs and 80 rbi (Todd Helton, Brad Hawpe, Troy Tulowitzki, Clint Barmes, Ian Stewart).

7. San Francisco Giants (58 – 47): You know the numbers Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain have put up this season (combined 24 – 5 with a 2.15 era in 43 starts), but the really amazing feat of the Giants pitching staff is their bullpen. Jeremy Affeldt, Justin Miller and Brandon Medders are having outstanding seasons setting up closer Brian Wilson (27 saves, 3.04 era).

6. Texas Rangers (59 – 44): With the emergence as Scott Feldman as a true #2 starter behind ace Kevin Millwood and the Rangers bullpen being re-solidified at the back end with C.J. Wilson, they’re poised to continue their surprising run in just the 2nd year under the guidance of team President Nolan Ryan.

5. Philadelphia Phillies (59 – 44): Cliff Lee pitched a complete game and scattered 4 hits in his Philly debut Friday night in San Francisco. Can you say World Series favorites?

4. Boston Red Sox (62 – 42): Trading for Victor Martinez isn’t going to fix the problems in their rotation. John Smoltz, Clay Buchholz and Brad Penny have gone a combined 10 – 10 with a 5.64 era in 31 starts. Not too great when they’re your #3 – 5 starters.

3. New York Yankees (63 – 42): Sergio Mitre has a 7.98 era and a whip of 1.98 in 3 short outings in the Yankee rotation. Help is needed. Paging Mike Mussina, paging Mike Mussina, you are requested in the Bronx. But really, it’s going to be Sidney Ponson, we all know it.

2. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (63 – 40): And people thought the Angels would miss Mark Teixeira’s bat in the lineup? All due respect to Teixeira, but Kendry Morales is having a stellar offensive season belting 23 home runs and 53 extra base hits to go along with 69 runs batted in.

1. Los Angeles Dodgers (65 – 40): Andre Ethier is having a career year batting .274 with 22 home runs and 67 runs batted in. And the Athletics traded him for Milton Bradley in 2005. Remember that questionable talent evaluating skill of Billy Beane I mentioned at #25, well this proves it.