Wednesday, April 18, 2007

You Cannot Be Serious!!!

Over the past few years, one of my favorite things to do in my weekly football column was to feature a section titled the "Johnny Mac You Cannot Be Serious" department.

For the most part, that portion of the column was devoted to outrageous calls by the officials or inexplicable moves by head coaches.

So tonight -- with so many crazy things going on in baseball it seems -- I'm resurrecting my old friend. So here we go with another edition of...

THE JOHNNY MAC "YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS" DEPARTMENT

* Item #1 -- let's begin by examining some of the recent moves made by the Phillies, who are off to a terrible start. On Thursday night -- after staff "ace" Freddy Garcia got roughed up in his season debut -- Manuel challenged WIP Radio's Howard Eskin to a fight in his office after Eskin suggested Manuel needed to show more fire. Say, isn't that the kind of thing that managers do just before they lose their jobs?

* Item #2 -- I can't pin this one on Manuel entirely, but the decision to move Jon Lieber back into the rotation and send Brett Myers -- Opening Day starter Brett Myers, that is -- back into a setup role is just plain ridiculous. Can someone explain to me what kind of incriminating pictures Adam Eaton has of Pat Gillick? I understand Myers has struggled lately, but this is a move that makes absolutely no sense. Let's say it together now: You Cannot Be Serious!?!?!

* Item #3 -- Not to pile on Manuel, but -- during tonight's game against Washington, the Nats sent up Michael Restovich as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning...and the Phils promptly made a pitching change. But because Manuel (and bench coach Jimy Williams) didn't wait until Restovich was announced as a pinch-hitter, Restovich was still available in the 11th for a double-switch. Now THAT'S the kind of thing a manager does to get himself fired...but, again, Williams also deserves some blame here.

* Item #4 -- Finally...let's move away from the Phigtin' Phils for a moment. Is it really possible that Kei Igawa and Daisuke Matsuzaka have the same number of wins? You Cannot Be Serious!

* Item #5 -- Is it really possible that Sammy Sosa has three times as many home runs this season as Manny Ramirez and Carlos Delgado...combined?! You Cannot Be Serious!

Friday, April 6, 2007

Finally...

We're in the win column.

One of my favorite announcer "catch-phrases" is the one uttered at the end of winning Orioles games by play-by-play man Joe Angel. At the end each game, Angel tells you that "the Orioles...are in the ___ column."

Obviously, if the O's are losers, he tells you -- in a rather dejected voice, usually -- that "the Orioles...are in the loss column."

But when the Birds are victorious? It's a little brighter: "The Orioles...are in the WIN column!"

Much better.

And tonight -- finally -- I got to hear those words. After starting the season 0-3 -- with an ugly series-ending loss to the Twins on Wednesday night -- the Orioles picked up their first win of the season.

Making it even sweeter was the fact that the win came in Yankee Stadium -- and against former Oriole Mike Mussina.

Listen, I was a 17-year-old Orioles fan back in the spring of 1988...so I know all about losing streaks to start a season. Whenever I even hear the words "oh-and-twenty-one" I reflexively wince in pain.

So -- for 20 seasons now -- I've always savored that first win of the season just a little bit more.

And tonight both the Orioles and the Phillies got it. So I can rest a little easier.

* I know I knocked Directv's new "Strike Zone Channel" a bit in my last SportsBlurb.com column (which you can read here: http://www.sportsblurb.com/baseball/game.asp). But I have to say that after a few more nights of checking out the channel, I think it can work. Sure, they sometimes switch too quickly from one game to another -- but I think I've figured out the key to watching the channel: you have to have another game on at all times on a second television. Seriously -- the Strike Zone channel works pretty well when you can flip back and forth between their updates and cut-ins and another game. I hereby retract my criticism for the time being.

* Was that really David Riske shutting down the Tigers in the 9th inning tonight to register a save? I realize I'm late to this waiver wire party, but I can't imagine that Riske will succeed in this role -- even for a short time.

* There was something rather ironic about 44-year-old Jamie Moyer defeating that group of Marlins youngsters to give the Phillies their first win of the season, wasn't there?

* OK, the delay tactics by Seattle manager Mike Hargrove earlier tonight were just outstanding. Paul Byrd and the Indians, however, were not as pleased. After all, they were just one out away from making the game official...which would have likely resulted in a Cleveland win. But Hargrove had other ideas -- and perhaps a minute-by-minute weather forecast -- and was able to get himself a ppd. Very nice. Am I the only one who thinks there might be some bad blood between these two teams over the weekend?

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Some Early Observations

Before we get started -- my apologies for the lack of posts recently. Between the usual draft prep and a few other things, this blog has taken a back seat for a week or so.

But no more.

Let's just dive right into some observations from the first two days of the 2007 season...

* I was stunned that Daisuke Matsuzaka "only" went for $39 in my local, 12-team AL-only keeper league. This is a league with ridiculous inflation (Alex Rodriguez was a keeper at $65 for one owner) and I was shocked that the Dice-K hype didn't drive his price up into the high $40s.

* I know I've mentioned it before in this blog, but Daniel Cabrera is going to have a huge season for the Orioles this year. He looked absolutely unhittable at times on Tuesday night.

* Maybe it's just me, but I think Cardinals fans should be worried about the fact that Chris Carpenter is going to miss his next start with elbow inflammation. That rotation was shaky to begin with; the Cards could be in real trouble if their ace is gone for an extended period.

* Break up the Pirates...two wins -- on the road, no less. And with each loss, the Astros can feel Roger Clemens slipping away.

* Speaking of worried, I'm beyond worried that Jose Contreras might be finished. Not only did he get lit up like a Christmas tree on Monday, but Indians players were claiming that Contreras wasn't throwing nearly as hard as he did last year. Not good.

* How is it possible that there were NO games broadcast in hi-def on Tuesday as part of the MLB Extra Innings Superfan package? I realize there was a limited slate of games...but come on. Throw me a bone, here Directv. The season isn't even a week old and I'm already frustrated with the lack of hi-def availability.

* Speaking of which...if the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) wants to be taken seriously, they'll need to get moving on hi-def capability. Let's see...Peter Angelos secured the rights to broadcast both the Nationals and Orioles games on his network...but that network is planning a grand total of ZERO hi-def broadcasts in 2007? I guess I should be thankful that Angelos gave the go-ahead to broadcast the games in color...