Michell Barrett News Deck: January 2012

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Arsenal v Manchester United: five Premier League title pointers | Dominic Fifield

United refuse to give up their title; doubts remain over defence; utility player a must-buy; Valencia a comfort; all over for Arsenal

1 United refuse to give up their title

Witnessing stoppage time at the Etihad Stadium must have been crushingly deflating for Manchester United, a sense that fate is with Manchester City's championship bid inescapable. Even Sir Alex Ferguson's pre-match assessment that "what we've got to do is make sure we keep on City's coat-tails" felt resigned. Yet, while there are clear weaknesses in their makeup, psychologically this United team retain strength. This game was a test of their powers of reaction, an examination even sterner once Arsenal had revived after the interval and equalised. Yet Danny Welbeck's winner sent out a message: this is not City's title just yet. The pursuit has been maintained.

2 Doubts remain over United's backline

The champions would argue this represented one of the more daunting trips of the campaign, though the shortcomings of their rejigged and reshaped backline are all too evident these days. Arsenal may have pressured them only in fits and starts but United still creaked, particularly at the beginning of the second half as panic threatened to set in. With Nemanja Vidic a long-term absentee and Rio Ferdinand missing here, there was a fragility to United's defence. Neither Jonny Evans nor Chris Smalling tracked Robin van Persie as he collected Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's reverse pass to equalise, and other opportunities had been desperately denied up to then. Winning the Premier League title with such an inexperienced rearguard would constitute a considerable achievement for Ferguson.

3 United miss utility player of choice

The cameras focused on Fabio Capello as Phil Jones was carried round the touchline on a stretcher, though the watching England manager's concern will have been felt more keenly than Ferguson. The damage sustained to the utility player's left ankle as he stumbled in retreat from Theo Walcott will be determined once the swelling recedes, but his discomfort was clear and ominous. While England wonder about Euro 2012, United will ponder whether right-back is fast becoming a position of real concern. Smalling has featured there but was required centrally here. Rafael da Silva, Jones's replacement, is still raw, had been booked by the break and was subbed himself before the end. If there is a position where an addition must be made this January, it is here.

4 Valencia's return offers reassurance

The Ecuadorean winger maintained recent high standards, unsettling Thomas Vermaelen ? a stopgap left?back ? with slippery skill and a crunching header for United's first-half reward. The 26-year-old offers balance and bite, his rhythm thankfully now restored. Perhaps Valencia needed longer to recover fully from the fractured ankle suffered at Rangers in September 2010. He missed much of pre-season last summer after succumbing to injury at the Copa Am�rica which certainly set him back but this was like old times with his tormenting of Andrey Arshavin for his side's second proving as much.

5 Arsenal have been cast to periphery

For much of the second period the momentum was with Arsenal, the home support driving them on in pursuit of their equaliser, only for the mood to turn poisonous. Oxlade-Chamberlain's substitution for Arshavin had the locals in open revolt, the abuse raining down on Ars�ne Wenger when the Russian was half-hearted in tracking Valencia for United's winner. The title has long gone but a third successive league defeat leaves fourth place five points away, and the third-placed Tottenham Hotspur still 10 clear. Results have reverted to the misery of autumn. The disaster Wenger had feared ? a failure to reach the Champions League ? may well now become a reality.

Dominic Fifield

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2012/jan/22/arsenal-manchester-united-five-title-pointers

Josh Fields Chone Figgins Mike Fontenot Jake Fox

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Roberto Mancini's imaginary red cards mess with the minds of the FA | Barry Glendenning

Manchester City manager's waving of an object that is not there leaves the Football Association wrestling with the nonexistent

Racial abuse, simulation, injury-faking, two-footed leg-breakers, fan misbehaviour, player depression, alcoholism and gambling; leveraged buyouts, unfit and improper owners, clubs going into administration and almost out of existence, rising ticket prices and falling attendances. In a sport as increasingly beset by serious problems as it is apparently bereft of moral probity, it has been heart-warming this week to see the Football Association promise to crack down on the critical issue of managers and players waving ? things that aren't there.

In the very unlikely event that you have been lucky enough to miss all this: during the Manchester derby in the FA Cup third round, City's Vincent Kompany was sent off for a studs-up challenge on United's Nani that the referee, Chris Foy, deemed dangerous enough to merit instant dismissal. After the game, the City manager, Roberto Mancini, moaned that Foy's decision to brandish an actual red card had been influenced by Wayne Rooney's decision to wave an imaginary one, in the now customary style of vigorously shaking a raised, clenched fist with thumb visibly squeezed against inner-forefinger, like a priest sprinkling his congregation with an aspergillum, or a very small barman stretching to pull a pint of Old Speckled Hen.

In the two matches City have contested since, Mancini has demonstrated that he is very much from the "do as I say, not as I do" school, on both occasions waving imaginary cards in unsuccessful bids to have players dismissed. When pulled up on his hypocrisy, Mancini mumbled unconvincingly about it being "different" when managers do it, because consigned to a place on the periphery of the white-hot cauldron of battle, they are out of the field of vision of referees and therefore cannot influence them. Roberto, meet Sir Alex.

As justification for poor behaviour goes, Mancini's was unconvincing, albeit considerably less lame than the "Actually, I fell into the lifeboat and it took off before I could get out ? honest" defence offered up this week by another high-profile middle-aged, bronzed Italian in charge of a listing ship. But considering how some referees portentously go about dispensing justice, it is difficult to imagine that any manager could go unnoticed if he ran the sending-off gamut.

Considering how often match officials appear to see things that have not actually happened, it seems inconceivable that they could miss the sight of a man in a place of prominence on the touchline blowing an imaginary whistle, sprinting towards the imaginary scene of an imaginary crime, only to suddenly backpedal furiously while shooing away the inevitable imaginary players that swarm around him protesting innocence, before singling out an imaginary transgressor and theatrically producing the imaginary red card. Think Martin O'Neill's regular and conspicuous technical area impersonations of Basil Fawlty thrashing a car with a branch but with a more considered, sinister and specific outcome in mind.

Neither has it gone unnoticed that in the midst of the furore surrounding Mancini's imaginary card-waving and simultaneous railing against same, a number of his peers have been critical of his behaviour, tacitly suggesting that the dark art of attempting to get opposing players dismissed is a particularly cynical, dishonest and Italian innovation that has infiltrated the otherwise impregnable fortress of moral fortitude and playful innocence that is the Premier League.

If anything, however, it is Mancini's honesty that has been his undoing. Throughout the whole sorry farrago, he has never once denied waving an imaginary red card, when he could so easily have claimed to have been brandishing a card of a completely different hue or bent: an imaginary yellow card, an imaginary Nectar card, an imaginary playing card, an imaginary Top Trumps card, an imaginary credit card, an imaginary Lottery scratchcard (think of all the imaginary money you could win?), an imaginary Victoria & Albert Museum membership card or an imaginary birthday, wedding, condolences or get well soon card.

Footballers have long been criticised, often unfairly, for their lack of intelligence but Mancini always seemed to be one of the smart guys. If he believes the waving of imaginary cards from the technical area to be an exercise in futility but insists on doing it anyway, you would think he would be at least clever enough to understand that perhaps the only advantage of these garish, nonexistent rectangular pieces of stiff paper is their status of not actually being there.

It follows that this nonexistence ought to render it impossible for rival managers, sanctimonious media pundits or FA disciplinary committees to actually prove whether the imaginary object he was seen holding aloft from his position near the bench was a red card, the Olympic torch or the latest copy of the revamped Big Issue featuring Joey Barton's maiden journalistic treatise.

For the greater good of English football, however, we should applaud the honesty of men like Roberto Mancini, who are prepared to own up to actions which, according to the FA fly in the face of their pitifully inadequate, tokenistic and largely made-up-as-they-bumble-along Respect campaign. Considering the time it is taking the Wembley blazers to sort out the increasingly festering football problems that are all too apparent, one shudders at the thought of how long they would struggle with the complex existential minutiae of those rooted in the realms of the unreal.

Barry Glendenning

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2012/jan/20/roberto-mancini-imaginary-red-cards

Derrek Lee Brent Lillibridge John Lindsey James Loney

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Albert Pujols will get a nice payday for breaking Barry Bonds? home run record

The nitty-gritty details of Albert Pujols' new $240 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels were released on Thursday and let's just say that it's good to be considered Phat.

Over the next 10 years, the backloaded contract will give the first baseman an annual salary ranging from $12 million in 2012 to $30 million in 2021. He'll receive a hotel suite for all road trips, four seats to every home game at Angel Stadium and a luxury suite for his charitable foundation on 10 different dates a year. He'll also donate $100,000 each year to the team's charity and will receive $1 million annually for the 10 years after he retires as part of a personal services contract that he has the option to decline.

Not everything is guaranteed, though. There are $10 million worth of incentives in the contract, including $3 million for his 3,000th hit (he's currently at 2,073) and $7 million for career homer No. 763, which would propel him past Barry Bonds on the all-time list.

Pujols currently has 445 homers and what's interesting is that Alex Rodriguez could actually own the record by then. The $275 million deal that A-Rod signed with the New York Yankees in 2007 contains four separate bonuses of $6 million for tying Willie Mays, Babe Ruth, Henry Aaron and Bonds on the all-time career homer list and another $6 million for becoming the all-time home run king. A-Rod, whose career began eight years before Pujols' did, has hit 629 career home runs heading into the 2012 season.

What's also interesting is that in today's stats-first culture in baseball, these incentives get reported without any controversy at all. That's as it should be, considering that baseball is the most "individual" of team sports and it's to the team's benefit for the player to compile as many positive stats as possible. (Though I suppose it's possible to make an argument that home run incentives could be detrimental to a team if the player is trying to swing for the fences during every at-bat.)

As players like Frank Thomas and Tony Gwynn can tell you, such absolution when it comes to a focus on stats compilation hasn't always been granted from the ballwriters (or in the case of Gwynn, from Mike Pagliarulo). The good news for the pocketbooks of today's players, however, is that not only is a push toward huge career totals encouraged by their teams, it's compensated in rather handsome fashion.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/pujols-nice-payday-breaking-barry-record-235010963.html

Mark Teixeira Miguel Tejada Ruben Tejada Ryan Theriot

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Luke Scott will stump for the Rays in 2012

Leave it to Luke Scott to take his act to a swing state during an election year.

Oh we kid, we kid. While it's easy to make jokes about baseball's most famous birther, it's also easy to see why Scott is heading back to his home state of Florida. The Tampa Bay Rays�were looking for a designated hitter loaded with potential value and Scott had the type of crappy 2011 that could make him a bargain.

After posting a couple of underrated seasons with the Baltimore Orioles ? including a .902 OPS mark in 2010 ? Scott struggled with a torn labrum in 2011. The injury limited him to a paltry season line of nine homers, 22 RBIs and a .703 OPS over 64 games and led to him being non-tendered by a Baltimore team he had called home since 2008.

It isn't yet known how much the Rays will pay Scott, but Marc Topkin of the St. Pete Times reports that the one-year deal contains an option year for 2013.

Tampa Bay GM Andrew Friedman is clearly looking for the 2007-10 version of the 33-year-old. That four-year period saw Scott average 23 homers and 70 RBIs each season while posting a collective .847 OPS. If the Rays were able to nab Scott for, say, $5 million ? the O's paid him $6.4 million in his second-to-last year of arbitration ? it will be a calculated risk worth taking.

As for Scott's famous political beliefs, he tells Topkin he'll be focusing on baseball in 2012 while also continuing to support "the principles this country was founded on."

Think he can support a Mormon named Mitt?

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/luke-scott-stump-tampa-bay-rays-2012-195549677.html

Troy Tulowitzki Justin Turner Juan Uribe Chris Valaika

Monday, January 16, 2012

Pakistan v England: Five things to concern England's players in Dubai

England will play one Test against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi and two in Dubai, new venues for most of Andrew Strauss's team

Placid pitches

We may not be in the subcontinent, but the pitches will be subcontinental in character. It will not take long before the ball starts to double-declutch on landing. Even with England's giants there won't be much bounce. Patience will be required and much canniness. Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad will hope for reverse swing despite a lush outfield. Andrew Strauss said: "The bowlers are excited by the challenge out here." We'll see if they are still so excited on 7 February.

Teasing teesras

They had better not pay too much attention to the "teesra". Saeed Ajmal, mischievous, like any good old spinner, has mentioned his third way of bowling. England will have enough problems with Ajmal's off-break and his doosra, which really do exist, without fretting about another mystery ? or is it mythical? ? delivery from Pakistan's most dangerous bowler.

Pietersen's phobia

We probably aren't really allowed to mention KP's problems with left-arm spinners. But rest assured that Misbah-ul-Haq is very likely to toss the ball to Abdur Rehman soon after Kevin Pietersen's arrival at the crease. Rehman is an orthodox left-arm spinner (with no teesra and not even a doosra) but he is a cagey, inscrutable operator. For England to win this series the batsmen must all play the spinners better than they have in the past in the subcontinent.

Empty stands

England are used to playing in front of big crowds which, to their great good fortune, is usually the case at home and was the case in Australia last winter (except when they were winning with ridiculous ease). A big audience gives an automatic adrenaline rush. Here England will be appearing in front of many pale blue plastic bucket-seats. Strauss said the novelty of playing at a new venue and the fact that his team have had a good break would ensure that they will be buzzing with excitement. That may well be the case on day one and two of the series, but what about days 13 and 14? England will have to generate their own excitement. As a venue, the United Arab Emirates may spawn one of the most destructive factors on any cricket tour.

Tired minds

Two Tests in Dubai with the daily drive from the city past the skeletal high-rise buildings that look as if they will never be completed could begin to numb the minds of the most conscientious cricketers. The players may tire of a sparsely populated Dubai International Cricket Stadium even though the facilities are excellent. But it is not Lord's or the SCG, hallowed grounds which effortlessly generate an atmosphere of their own and a sense of history.

The players may start to tire of another attritional day of Test cricket if they are not careful. In the past, such groundhog days could lead a touring party to drink, but that may not apply to this disciplined crew, especially after the England and Wales Cricket Board has announced that the official drinks supplier has signed a two-year extension to its contract. Buxton mineral water is still freely available to them all. Despite all the remunerations Rodney Marsh, Ian Botham and Freddie Flintoff may conclude that they played in the right eras.

Vic Marks

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2012/jan/16/england-pakistan-dubai-five-things

Stephen Drew David Eckstein Alcides Escobar Yunel Escobar

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Orel Hershiser invented Tebowing back in 1988

Before you call it a week and turn yourselves completely over to this weekend's NFL playoffs, let it be known that it was not Tim Tebow who introduced the concept of "Tebowing" to the sinning masses.

Nor was it yours truly who first Tebowed at one of baseball's postseason sites.

The genius of the genuflection, rather, was none other than ex-Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Orel Hershiser, who broke out the same exact pose after closing Game 7 of the 1988 NLCS against the New York Mets.

We don't have the full story, of course, so we've reached out to Orel to see if Baby Tebow, who had just turned one, had anything to do with the strikeout of Howard Johnson ? or anything that happened afterward. Until then, Blair Johnson of the Yahoo! Sports Minute has more on Hershiser's highlight, including a video of the play.�

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/orel-hershiser-invented-tebowing-back-1988-203026244.html

Mark Hamilton Todd Helton Mike Hessman Eric Hinske

Friday, January 13, 2012

A?s pull trigger again, trade closer Andrew Bailey to Red Sox

The Oakland A's efforts to cut current expenses, avoid future expenses, and acquire all the cheap talent they can ahead of their reported move to San Jose continued on Wednesday as they shipped 27-year-old closer Andrew Bailey to the Boston Red Sox.

It's a trade we've been anticipating for several weeks now ?�even before general manager Billy Beane shipped Trevor Cahill to Arizona and Gio Gonzalez to Washington ?�but was finally made official on Wednesday with ESPN's Buster Olney first reporting the deal. We later learned that outfielder Ryan Sweeney was also heading to Boston with Red Sox outfielder Josh Reddick, first base prospect Miles Head, and pitching prospect Raul Alcantara coming back to Oakland.

That will not be celebrated as a great return for Oakland. Both prospects are years away from cracking a major league roster and are far from surefire bets to pan out. But given Bailey's injury history, the loaded closer's market, and Oakland's desire to go cheap at all costs, a lesser return is to be expected.

As far as Boston goes, this deal helps us make better sense of their bullpen heading into 2012. Bailey will obviously handle the closing duties, moving Mark Melancon, their recent acquisition from the Houston Astros, into a more comfortable setup role. It also gives them the flexibility to move Daniel Bard into the starting rotation.

We've already heard manager Bobby Valentine state Bard would be given an opportunity to win a spot in their rotation next spring. New general manager Ben Cherington reiterated that after the trade became official. With Bailey now on board, though, you have to figure Bard will have a longer leash in his starting audition, as Valentine will be less likely to prematurely end the experiment with the key roles in his bullpen filled.

Of course all of this could change if an injury occurs, but as Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe pointed out on Twitter, as we stand Cherington has done a nice job retooling the bullpen in wake of Jonathan Papelbon's departure. For the price of Reddick, Jed Lowrie, Kyle Weiland, and two minor leaguers, the Red Sox have acquired an eighth and ninth inning duo in Melancon and Bailey that could anchor their bullpen for the next three or four years.

[Video: What sports fans can expect in 2012]

I'd say that's impressive start to�Cherington's tenure in the big chair. But now comes a bigger test and a better question. What can�he pull off to help solidify their starting rotation between now and April?

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/pull-trigger-again-trade-closer-andrew-bailey-red-012735377.html

Ike Davis Mark DeRosa Daniel Descalso Ian Desmond

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Report: Todd Coffey, Nationals Have Deal

by FanHouse Staff

Filed under: Brewers, Nationals, MLB Rumors, MLB Hot Stove, MLB Free Agency

The free-agent pitching market is just about empty at this point, but the Nationals made one more move to shore up their staff, reportedly agreeing to terms with reliever Todd Coffey.

The deal, which is pending a physical, was first reported by MLB.com. Coffey, 30, is a seasoned bullpen arm who will provide Jim Riggleman with a late-inning option as needed.

He spent the last two-plus seasons with the Brewers after Milwaukee picked him up off waivers from the Reds in September 2008. Coffey was very good in 2009, posting a 2.90 ERA in 78 appearances, but saw his ERA jump nearly two runs to 4.76 last season.

Coffey first reached the majors in 2005 with the Reds and has a 4.15 ERA in 369 career big league games. He is perhaps best known for his trademark move of sprinting from the bullpen to the mound whenever he is summoned by his manager. Listed at 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, he gets up quite a head of steam for a big man.

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Source: http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2011/01/19/report-todd-coffey-nationals-have-deal/

Kila Ka aihue Don Kelly Howie Kendrick Adam Kennedy

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

The Mets aren?t fans of R.A. Dickey?s mountain climbing plans

New York Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey is planning to scale Mount Kilimanjaro next month and the sight of him training in an oxygen-deprivation mask is enough to put a smile on anyone's face.

Well, not everyone's. As the 37-year-old knuckleballer prepares to climb all 19,336 feet of the mountain in Tanzania, the Mets are publicly tsk-tsking his offseason plans.

While the team has no contractual mechanism to prevent Dickey from ascending the tallest free-standing peak in the world, they want it known they won't hesitate to void his contract if he hurts himself on the way up. Dickey has one year and $4.75 million remaining on his deal before becoming a free agent next offseason.

From the Wall Street Journal:

"If we thought it was a good idea, we wouldn't have sent the letter," Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said. "Beyond that, have we tried to dissuade him from going? It seems to me that the letter is enough of an effort to dissuade him, and he intends to go on nonetheless."

Dickey intends to complete the trip with Colorado Rockies pitcher Kevin Slowey and will be doing the climb to benefit Bombay Teen Challenge, which fights sex trafficking in India. He says Kilimanjaro is not at all like tackling Mount Everest and the Wall Street Journal backs that up by reporting that nearly two-thirds of the 25,000 people who set out to climb Kilimanjaro each year eventually reach the summit.

Of course, what's most interesting about this story is that we never would have considered it one before the 2009 season. Back then, Dickey was an aging journeyman looking to extend his career with the newly-learned knuckler and the Mets were a team looking forward to a rotation led by a productive Johan Santana and Mike Pelfrey. No one would have blinked twice if Dickey had said he was going to spend the offseason being shot out of a cannon during a traveling rodeo.

Nearly three years later, Dickey has turned into the most consistent part of the Mets' rotation and the team has turned into a worrisome and watchful mother clinging to a lone source of pride and joy. Given how far the team has fallen over the past few seasons, you can understand why they'd be concerned about another potential plummet.

Big BLS H/N: Deadspin

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/mets-aren-t-fans-r-dickey-mountain-climbing-191136611.html

Daniel Murphy Donnie Murphy Xavier Nady Mike Napoli

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

BCS Championship, Alabama Vs. LSU: The Numbers That Mattered From Tide's Domination

Source: http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/2012/1/10/2695897/bcs-championship-score-2012-alabama-football-lsu

Brandon Wood Chris Woodward Danny Worth Lance Zawadzki

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Happy Birthday Boy! Remembering Early Wynn

On occasion, Big League Stew honors a birthday boy per week by taking a longer look at his career. Please join us in lighting the candles.

Early "Gus" Wynn, who died in 1999, would've celebrated his 92nd birthday today. He's one of only two pitchers to finish his career with exactly 300 wins, sharing that distinction with the great Lefty Grove.

Wynn wasn't exactly a late bloomer, as he had a great year when he was 23, but between World War II and his own inconsistency, he didn't get established as one of the best pitchers in the American League until he was 30. And then he became one of the greatest old pitchers of all time. He won the 1959 Cy Young Award with the pennant-winning Chicago White Sox at age 39. The only older pitchers to capture the award were 40-year old Gaylord Perry in 1978 and 42-year old Roger Clemens in 2004.

Unfortunately, while Wynn played on two great teams, the early-to-mid-1950's Cleveland Indians and the late-'50s White Sox, he never won a World Series title. He arrived in Cleveland exactly a year after their 1948 championship, and he played in losing efforts in the 1954 World Series with the Indians and in 1959 with the White Sox. (The White Sox, of course, went from 1917 to 2005 without winning a championship. The Indians still haven't won one since 1948. Fortunately, no one in either city tried to write a specious article about the "Curse of Early Wynn.")

Best Year: 1956: 20-9, 2.72 ERA, 277 2/3 IP, 3.16 FIP, 1.17 WHIP, 1.74 K/BB, 8.2 WAR
Wynn became known early on in his career for a big fastball, but he was never much of a strikeout pitcher. Then again, few people were in those days. He finally led the league in strikeouts for the first time in 1957, when he was 37, with a modest 184 in 263 innings, just 6.3 per nine innings. He also walked more than his share of people, another good reason for his up-and-down results.

Wynn was apparently miffed that he didn't get into the Hall of Fame on his first try. He had to wait until 1972, nine years after he retired and four years into his eligibility. But the voters may have been right to hesitate. His career numbers certainly aren't bad by any means, but his 3.54 ERA and career 107 ERA+ indicates that when you took in consideration his whole career, all his good years and all his bad years, he was more solid than spectacular.

Even his 1959 Cy Young Award wasn't exactly deserved. Wynn won it over Toothpick Sam Jones, who finished with a much lower ERA, pitched in far more games because he was both the Giants' closer and ace starter, and was only one win behind Wynn's AL-leading total. Jones finished the year with 5.9 Wins Above Replacement, compared to Wynn's 2.7, and it seems hard for us to understand how voters justified awarding Wynn. But Wynn was 39, his team was playoff-bound, and he had never won before. And, though this is a far worse reason, it can't have hurt that Wynn's 22-10 record looked better than Jones's 21-15 record, though Jones had four saves and pitched in 15 games as a reliever in addition to his 15 starts.

Then again, Wynn should have won in 1956, when he probably was the best pitcher in baseball, but he couldn't get a single vote. So it all evened out in the end.

Worst Year: 1948: 8-19, 5.82 ERA, 198 IP, 4.78 FIP, 1.67 WHIP, 0.52 K/BB, -1.6 WAR
You couldn't always count on Wynn for consistency, but you could almost always count on him for innings. The reason that Wynn took so long to get established is that he had a year like this in his late 20s. Arguably, he was even worse in 1942, when he posted a 5.12 ERA in 28 starts at the age of 22, but it's understandable for a young pitcher to struggle. In 1948, he was a 28-year old army veteran who had been an All-Star the previous season and who was in his eighth major league campaign. He probably should have known better.

As it happened, though, that was the absolute nadir for his career. From his first cup of coffee in 1939 through 1948, he was 72-87 with a 3.94 ERA. After that, from 1949 to 1963, he was 228-157 with a 3.39 ERA.

1948 was the absolute nadir, though his end-of-career quest for 300 was a little embarrassing. He was winless and stuck on 299 for nearly a year, from Sept. 9 of 1962 to July 12 of 1963. He finished the 1962 season with a 4.46 ERA and a 7-15 record, and by that point he didn't have much of a fastball left so he increasingly used a knuckleball he'd developed. The 42-year old looked done to every team in baseball, so he opened 1963 without an employer. April, May, and the first half of June all passed before the Indians finally took pity on him and signed him. It was the only year of his career in which he was mostly used him in the bullpen, making 15 relief appearances and only five starts.

But he was effective, finishing the year with a 2.28 ERA, and he deserved the win a week earlier ?�his 300th win came on a day when he allowed four runs in five innings, but he had received a no-decision in his previous start, when he had pitched six scoreless, and had actually taken a loss in his first start, when he pitched a nine-inning complete game allowing just two runs. So karma was finally on his side.

Claim to Fame: As his Hall of Fame page notes, "Early Wynn was also a switch-hitter who tallied 90 pinch-hit appearances, including a grand slam, making him one of five Major League pitchers to attain that feat." Wynn was actually a pretty decent hitter as pitchers go, amassing 6.3 WAR as a hitter to go with his 52 WAR as a pitcher. He also had two hits in the World Series, one in 1954 and one in 1959 ?�both doubles. (His hitting was more notable than his pitching, as he managed a 4.95 ERA in four World Series starts.)

But his true claim to fame will always be his time in the Indians rotation. Bob Feller and Bob Lemon both had more consistent peaks and shorter careers than Wynn; they were mostly done by their mid-30s while Wynn had a half-decade more excellent baseball left in him. Ultimately, he was third-best of the three. But there's no dishonor in that. It was arguably the best one-two-three punch in history ?�the only competition is Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz, and that was 40 years later and a very different era.

Happy birthday, Gus.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/big-league-stew/happy-birthday-boy-remembering-early-wynn-164922701.html

Orlando Cabrera Miguel Cairo Alberto Callaspo Robinson Canó

Lady Gaga Yankees fan now riffing on LMFAO

The name "Michael LaPayower" may not ring a bell, but his past Internet reputation might. Back in 2010, the big New York Yankees fan won his 15 minutes of Internet fame, being mocked on sites like Deadspin for his pinstriped-parody of a Lady Gaga song.

Now the man with the @bigyankeesfan Twitter handle is back and trying to get in on the next go-round of the MLB Fan Cave with a baseball-themed version of LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It." If nothing else, the man does own a wide spectrum of MLB gear.

This year's Fan Cave will feature multiple residents in a "Survivor" or "Big Brother"-type elimination format and they just announced that 17 All-Stars have confirmed they'll drop by in 2012. If you think you can best LaPayower ? or BLS pal Lindsay Guentzel, for that matter ? �you've got until Jan. 31 to film your own plea for a spot in the Fan Cave.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/big-league-stew/lady-gaga-yankees-fan-now-riffing-lmfao-214218269.html

Jack Wilson Josh Wilson Brandon Wood Chris Woodward

Friday, January 6, 2012

David Trezeguet's move to River Plate shows money does not rule all | Amy Lawrence

The former Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka might have benefited from a chat with his Argentina-bound compatriot before signing for Shanghai Shenhua

Nicolas Anelka has always come across as happily nonconformist, so it is unlikely that he would have consulted with one of his oldest footballing allies before leaving Chelsea for Shanghai Shenhua. But a word in the ear of David Trezeguet might have given an interesting perspective on departing European football for a distant, if lucrative outpost. Evidently it is not always the most rewarding decision.

Back in August, Trezeguet signed up for what appeared to be an easy stroll in the sunshine, backed up with a handsome payday, in the United Arab Emirates. He agreed a one-year deal with Baniyas SC, the club with the camel on its badge who are based in Abu Dhabi. But Trezeguet's stay lasted only three months. Injuries, which limited him to fewer than a handful of appearances, were cited as the official reason as the player terminated his contract. The club even praised his honesty, thanking him for not wanting to pick up a fat cheque when he felt he couldn't contribute.

But come the January transfer window, it seems matters of the heart convinced Trezeguet to wave an early farewell to Abu Dhabi. A call to arms from his boyhood club, River Plate in Argentina ? his parents are Argentinian ? proved irresistible. Trezeguet's injury concerns have miraculously disappeared, and the 34-year-old striker has fulfilled a lifetime ambition by signing a three-year deal. He is so spellbound he felt compelled to compare the act of joining River to winning the World Cup with France or collecting titles with Juventus and Monaco. "For me football is passion and I wasn't getting that in Arabian football ? What better place to experience that than here?" he enthused. "Being here is a unique feeling, motivated by everything that River represents."

Trezeguet is the latest player with Argentinian roots who has cut short a career overseas to join the cause of the River revival. Fernando Cavenaghi, who had won the league with Bordeaux, and Alejandro Dom�nguez, who earned titles with Zenit St Petersburg and Rubin Kazan in Russia, also mounted metaphorical white horses to ride all the way back to Buenos Aires. Another, Leonardo Ponzio, will join this month from Real Zaragoza.

River are on a mission to recover from the horror of last season's relegation. They are currently second in Argentina's Primera B Nacional, and the arrival of experienced players who know what it takes to be in a winning team is a fantastic boost when River need it most. At a time when most players haggle over this many thousands and that many millions to finalise moves, thank goodness for the few who turn their back on the bucks to chase rewards of a purer kind.

Trezeguet is a particularly influential person to bring into this situation as he went through the decline and renaissance of Juventus, the Serie A club where he spent a decade. Notably, players such as Gianluigi Buffon, Pavel Nedved and Alessandro Del Piero all stuck around when Juve were demoted to Serie B, and their guidance was crucial in helping along the young players who came into a strange situation. "Our shirt represents a history and the Juventus youngsters understood that," Trezeguet said. "River are going through a very difficult time ? I want to be part of the history [of their recovery]."

Although Trezeguet may be known for his achievements in the blue shirt of France, with whom he won the 1998 World Cup and cracked in the goal to claim the 2000 European Championship, he has always maintained a strong connection with his Argentinian roots. He was born in Rouen, where his father, Jorge, played for three seasons in the 1970s. But Trezeguet spent most of his youth in Argentina, before heading back to France in his teens to further his career.

It was there that he struck up a friendship with fellow strikers with whom he would grow up at the Clairefontaine academy, Thierry Henry, and the kid from the year below, Anelka. This month they are all on the move, probably for the last time. Trezeguet has followed his heart to River, Henry is following his back to Arsenal. We can only wait and see how much love Anelka generates for his new life in China.

Amy Lawrence

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2012/jan/05/david-trezeguet-river-plate

Eugenio Velez Dayan Viciedo Omar Vizquel Joey Votto

Happy Birthday Boy! Remembering Early Wynn

On occasion, Big League Stew honors a birthday boy per week by taking a longer look at his career. Please join us in lighting the candles.

Then again, Wynn should have won in 1956, when he probably was the best pitcher in baseball, but he couldn't get a single vote. So it all evened out in the end.

Happy birthday, Gus.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/big-league-stew/happy-birthday-boy-remembering-early-wynn-164922701.html

Michael Cuddyer Chris Davis Ike Davis Adam Dunn

Michael Young: Situation With Rangers 'Less Than Ideal'

by FanHouse Newswire

Filed under: Rangers, Spring Training

SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) - Michael Young reported to spring training on time Saturday for the Texas Rangers, saying he was ready to play and try to make the best of "a situation that is less than ideal'' after the team was unable to fulfill his request for a trade.

Young, the longest-tenured Rangers player going into his 11th season, arrived at camp a day before the first full-squad workout for the AL champions.

"I have nothing to hide. I have nothing to be ashamed of. There's not a thing I would change. So I'm not uncomfortable,'' Young said. "If I had a horrible relationship with guys in that room or my manager, I would be uncomfortable, but I don't. I love my teammates. I love my manager.''

Two-time Gold Glove third baseman Adrian Beltre was signed this winter, supplanting Young at third base. The Rangers plan for Young to be their primary designated hitter and have him fill in at every infield position. It is the third time in eight springs Young's role with the team has changed.

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Source: http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2011/02/20/michael-young-situation-with-rangers-less-than-ideal/

Hanley Ramírez Cody Ransom Édgar Rentería José Reyes

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Cliff Lee's Return to Phillies Highlights Unpredictable Offseason

by John Hickey

Filed under: Angels, Brewers, Mariners, Nationals, Phillies, Red Sox, Yankees, MLB Free Agency

All this week, the FanHouse staff will look back at the most significant baseball storylines of 2010.

Cliff Lee to the Phillies.

Jayson Werth to the Nationals.

Zack Greinke to the Brewers.

Carl Crawford to the Red Sox.

What do these offseason moves by the baseball establishment have in common?

Just that the baseball establishment thought each of those players would wind up somewhere else.

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Source: http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2010/12/28/cliff-lees-return-to-phillies-highlights-unpredictable-offseaso/

Ty Wigginton Jack Wilson Josh Wilson Brandon Wood

Musical Cards fan adapts ?American Pie? for Albert Pujols

Head into any bar late on a Saturday night and there's a 63 percent chance that a group of overserved patrons will be belting out Don McLean's "American Pie." The other 37 percent will be singing Billy Joel's "Piano Man." These are proven facts.

One keyboard-wielding St. Louis Cardinals fan, however, changed things up a bit this weekend and adapted the lyrics of "American Pie" to fit the trauma of losing Albert Pujols to the Los Angeles Angels. It's not the best song in the world ? what barroom bellowing backed by Budweiser ever is? ? but it's undoubtedly better than most of the typical jersey-burning responses that St. Louisans produced in the wake of Pujols' departure. Enjoy.

Want more Big League Stew all winter long?
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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Musical-Cards-fan-adapts-American-Pie-for-Alb?urn=mlb-wp28509

Garrett Jones Kila Ka aihue Don Kelly Howie Kendrick

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

What would a move to San Jose mean for Billy Beane?

What would a move to San Jose mean for Billy Beane? Oakland Athletics fans weren't too happy after pitcher Gio Gonzalez was dealt to the Washington Nationals last Thursday.

That followed another trade which sent Trevor Cahill to the Arizona Diamondbacks and presumably prefaces a possible future move in which �closer Andrew Bailey is traded to a contender looking for bullpen help.

But the days of watching good players develop and investing emotions in their success, only to see them eventually shipped elsewhere when they become too expensive, may soon be over.

That's because, as the storyline goes, salvation may await GM Billy Beane and the A's in San Jose.

Over the holiday weekend, USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported via Twitter that the A's will be granted permission to move to San Jose by February. That would seem to run contrary to Ken Rosenthal's report that the San Francisco Giants still refuse to give up their territorial rights to San Jose. Yet A's owner Lew Wolff remains�"very confident" that MLB will allow the team to move, presumably based on discussions he's had with commissioner Bud Selig.

Without a move, the A's will continue to lose money (reports had the team losing at least $1 million, despite receiving upwards of $30 million in revenue sharing), leaving them unable to compete with the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels in the AL West.

That gives Beane no other choice than to keep selling off the team's established young players in exchange for�low-cost, high-ceiling prospects. (Or, in the case of outfielder Josh Willingham , simply let him go because there's no money to pay him.)�While those players could develop into talents that help the A's contend, Beane would eventually have to repeat the process and sell them off, too.

It's a soul-crushing cycle, one that might make Beane wonder in his more contemplative moments if he should've taken the GM job with the Boston Red Sox when he had the chance in 2002.

What would a move to San Jose mean for Billy Beane?

At the time, Beane said, "I love Oakland, I love this franchise, I love the people I work with" when turning down the Red Sox. (Being 3,000 miles away from his daughter also factored heavily into the decision.)

But when were the Oakland A's going to love Beane back? Not from a financial standpoint. Beane has a contract through 2014, along with a small ownership stake in the team. But when would this grind of constant rebuilding ? watching players develop, only to let them go ?�finally yield some reward?

As "Moneyball" author Michael Lewis said in a September New York Times profile of Beane, maintaining the status quo would eventually force Beane to make a difficult choice.

"There are two avenues of escape, once you recognize the predicament that you're basically doomed if you're Oakland," Lewis says. "One is to become the San Jose A's ? to try and go from a small-market team to a big-market team. The second avenue of escape is to find another industry where those kind of inefficiencies still exist."

Moving to San Jose, and the revenue generated by a new ballpark, would allow the A's to compete with their division rivals (or rejoin the major leagues, if you want to be snarky about it) and likely prevent Beane from scratching the soccer itch he's developed in recent years.

We know what Beane can do with a small payroll. But what could he accomplish with a larger payroll backed by the revenue streams of a new ballpark in a wealthier area? We almost found out nine years ago when the Red Sox GM job was his if he wanted it.

Now, Beane could find that prosperity on his own terms, which is seemingly what he's always wanted.

Follow Ian on Twitter ?�@iancass ? and engage the Stew�on Facebook

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/What-would-a-move-to-San-Jose-mean-for-Billy-Bea?urn=mlb-wp29074

Adam Rosales Brendan Ryan Angel Sánchez Ramón Santiago

Monday, January 2, 2012

Happy Birthday Boy! Roy White turns 68 today

On occasion, Big League Stew honors a birthday boy per week by taking a longer look at his career. Please join us in lighting the candles.

These days, probably the most famous thing about Roy White is a single sentence Bill James wrote in 2001: "I may be the only person who rates Roy White ahead of Jim Rice, George Foster, Joe Carter, and several Hall of Famers."

For the younger readers among us, White was a two-time All-Star who played 15 years for the Yankees and hit 160 homers with 758 RBIs. James wrote that in his New Historical Abstract, eight years before Rice's election to the Hall of Fame (and one year before James was hired by Rice's former employers, the Boston Red Sox), and it brought White the most publicity he'd had in years ?�perhaps ever.

Roy White grew up in Compton, California, an understated man who won championships with the two biggest baseball teams in the world, in the World Series with the New York Yankees and in the Japan Series with the Yomiuri Giants. So why is he not remembered that well? It's because the things he was good at were things that you wouldn't necessarily notice. He walked a lot. He played good defense in left field in Yankee Stadium, which was so deep that it was known at the time as "Death Valley" ?�and, as a switch-hitter, White himself saw a lot of potential home runs turn into noisy outs in Death Valley. James highlighted White as an example of the extreme influence that home field can have in baseball: Jim Rice's inflated offense was partly due to Fenway Park, a bandbox which turned every hitter into a star, while White's relatively unimpressive offense was partly due to Yankee Stadium, which was death on right-handed sluggers.

Even at the time, White's talents and unflashy demeanor seemed to leave him in the background. On his blog The Flagrant Fan, William Tasker writes: "Roy White wasn't fuzzy. His typical countenance was impassive. He never pumped his fist." In his 1974 Topps baseball card blog, wobs notes, "In over ten years of late '60s and early '70s cards and Yankee yearbooks, I don't think I ever saw a Roy White smile." Bruce Markusen puts it simply: "Few Yankee fans seemed to have much of an appreciation for Roy White."

But his teammates did. As noted by SABR writer James Lincoln Ray, Mickey Mantle wrote an article in 1970 for Sport magazine that left no doubt as to what he thought of him. "People ask me: What happened to all the Yankee stars? I tell them that Roy White is as good a player as any of the old players we used to have."

Best Year: 1970: .296/.387/.473, 22 HRs, 94 RBIs, 24 SBs, 10 CS, 95 BB/66 K, 7.5 WAR
White picked a bad time to be on the Yankees. For most of his career, the biggest starts were Thurman Munson and Bobby Murcer; Reggie Jackson, Ron Guidry and Catfish Hunter arrived later and helped lead the Yankees to two world championships in 1978 and 1979, at the end of White's career. White began his career like Don Mattingly, during a playoff desert for the Yankees: from 1965 to 1975, the Yankees never made the playoffs, and unfortunately, those were the years when he was at his best.

He was never better than in 1970, when his 26-year-old self played left field, batted third and cleanup, and set personal bests with 22 homers, 94 RBI, and a .296 batting average ? it was the only time he ever hit more than 19 or drove in more than 84. As personal bests go, those look pretty anemic now, but remember, the late '60s were a pitching-dominant era, and the 1970s were nowhere near the offensive peak of the 1930s, 1950s, 1990s, or 2000s. For his efforts, White was named to his second straight All-Star team. But he didn't get into the game. He had that kind of career.

Worst Year: 1973: .246/.329/.374, 18 HRs, 60 RBIs, 16 SBs, 9 CS, 78 BB/81 K, 2.3 WAR
It's hard to pick a "worst year" for White. Statistically, his worst seasons were the ones in which he played the least, at the very beginning and very end of his career, and that hardly seems fair. His career tailed off quickly, as he was basically done as a productive everyday player by age 34, but in every year in which he played at least 120 games, he was an above-average player, thanks in large part to his fine defense.

His production in 1973 was certainly off his personal averages, but it was still basically league-average production, as the average hitter in the American League hit .259/.328/.381. The following year, his walks and batting average rebounded, but his home run total plummeted to just seven, and he hit 12 the following year. His low home run totals and inability to hit .300 marked him as an unsexy player, but he certainly wasn't a bad one. He was probably better than several Hall of Famers.

Including, possibly, Jim Rice.

Claim to Fame: As Tasker notes later in his blog post on Roy White:

He is known for two big things: First, he was on base when Bucky Dent hit the most famous home run of his career. Second, he hit an insane number of sacrifice flies. In 1971, White led the league with 17 of them. They made up 20 percent of White's 84 RBIs that year.

White is actually known for a third thing, too: he hit with a unique "pigeon-toed" batting stance. Writes Markusen:

From the Yankees' perspective, no one had a more distinctive stance than Roy White. Hitting out of a pronounced crouch, White tucked the knob of his bat toward his back hip, all while pointing each of his feet inward?toward the other.

White's name was often bandied about during the discussions of Jim Rice for the Hall of Fame. White himself didn't receive a single Hall of Fame vote. Now that Rice is in, not many people write about the old Yankee left fielder that the Red Sox analyst thought was better. But it's his birthday. He deserves it.

Off the Field: White played in Japan for three years, including the Giants' title season in 1981. He was a Yankee coach for a number of years after that, serving as the team's hitting coach from 1983 to 1986, and most recently as first base coach in 2004 and 2005. He was the highest-profile American player ever to sign a multiyear deal in Japan. He now works with his Roy White Foundation, an organization which seeks to provide financial assistance for students to attend college.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Happy-Birthday-Boy-Roy-White-turns-68-today?urn=mlb-wp28643

Danny Worth David Wright Kevin Youkilis Delwyn Young