Archive for April, 2008
Jeff J. Snider
Sports
Over on his blog, Rob Neyer discusses the Tigers’ decision to have Miguel Cabrera and Carlos Guillen switch positions, with Cabrera moving to first base and Guillen moving to third. Among other things, Neyer had this to say:
Presumably, at some point Leyland or someone else connected with management will favor us with the rationale here. This is definitely a bit strange, considering the Tigers had all winter to figure out who should play where, decided on Cabrera at third base and Guillen at first base, and now they’ve reversed course barely three weeks into the season.
They may favor us with some rationale, but they may not be totally forthcoming, because I suspect the truth has some version of this: “Well, we didn’t want to switch Cabrera’s position before we signed him to a long-term contract, because we didn’t want to do anything to rock the boat.” It seems likely to me that this move is coming as soon after the contract as possible without everyone knowing exactly what was going on.
Neyer also has concerns about Guillen and Cabrera both learning new positions on the job, but I don’t think it’s a big issue. Guillen was a decent shortstop, which should make his transition to third easier. At any rate, he will immediately be better at third than Cabrera. And that upgrade at third should more than make up for any downgrade they get by switching to Cabrera at first.
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:23am
Jeff J. Snider
Sports
The other day, in my National League favorites post, I had this tangent while talking about Roberto Clemente:
And speaking of Clemente and jerseys, I just gotta say how dumb I think Yankee fans are. LaTroy Hawkins wanted to wear number 21 to honor Clemente, but he met a huge backlash from Yankee fans because number 21 was Paul O’Neill’s number. Paul freaking O’Neill! Yes, he was a great Yankee, but not great enough to have his number retired (as evidenced by the fact that, you know, they haven’t retired it). Only Yankee fans could be so self-involved to think that Paul O’Neill is more important than a guy wanting to honor a great ballplayer and humanitarian like Roberto Clemente.
Well today, Joe Posnanski blogged about the same thing. My only regret: that I didn’t think of “Paul O’FreakingNeill,” which is much more creative than the “Paul freaking O’Neill” that I said. But I will do Joe one better and say it should have been “Paul O’Freaking’Neill.”
Anyway, as with most things Joe writes, this is worth a read.
April 22nd, 2008 at 01:24pm
Jeff J. Snider
General, Web Stuff
I think I’ve always known this in the back of my mind, or perhaps in the cockles of my heart, but I never really thought about it until now. “Rantings & Ramblings” is, well, a stupid name for a website. Or more to the point, it is a stupid name for MY website.
I didn’t realize it until Craig over at Shysterball linked to me the other day, and he said, “…Jeff Snider over at Rantings & Ramblings….” My exact thought was what you see in the title of this post.
You see, I don’t really rant all that much. When you look up “rant” in the dictionary, you see words like “wild” and “tirade” and stuff like that. I do occasionally get passionate about things, but I like to think that I generally avoid the incoherence and irrationality that “ranting” implies.
And I really hope I don’t ramble too much, at least not in a bad way. I think rambling can be a beautiful art form (Joe Posnanski’s blog, to which I am a recent convert, is a great example). I also think that when left in the hands of amateurs, rambling is a sign of weak thoughts and/or weak writing skills. Blogs especially lend themselves to this kind of rambling, because hey, no editor! You don’t have to begin with the end in mind; you just start typing, and whatever comes out is your own special artistry. Only excepting that kind of writing, you know, sucks. With very few exceptions, I start writing knowing at least approximately what I want to say; and in those cases where I DON’T know where I’m going, that is a deliberate part of the process, and that lack of a road map becomes my road map. Freaky, eh?
So if I don’t rant much and I rarely ramble, the title “Rantings & Ramblings” ceases to have meaning and is left with just alliteration. Don’t get me wrong — I LOVE alliteration. But if I’m going to give my personal website a name based only on alliteration, I can surely come up with something more creative and less juvenile than “Rantings & Ramblings,” no? It just sounds so faux-edgy and pretentious, like something Lewis Black would come up with.
So with that said, I am officially announcing that I will be changing the name of my site as soon as I think of a better one. I don’t know if it will be something boring based on my name (which, you’ll notice, is also the domain name), or if it will be something that creatively describes me. Heck, it might even be alliterative. But whatever it is, it will be, at a minimum, accurate.
If you have any ideas, feel free to throw them in the comments.
April 21st, 2008 at 11:44pm
Jeff J. Snider
General
I did the American League the other day (background is in that post, too); today we will look at the National League.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Favorite: Russell Martin*
Why: There’s an asterisk there for a reason. Russell Martin is my favorite current Dodger, and one of my three favorite current players (along with Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez). I was in Dodger Stadium the day Martin made his Major League debut, and I have to admit that I was excited the day before when I saw Dioner Navarro injure his hand on TV, knowing it meant Martin would get the call. But I am a lifelong Dodger fan, and I have very fond memories of the 1988 World Championship team, including Orel Hershiser and his magical season. Well guess what? Orel in 1988 and Russell today are both represented by a Dodger jersey with the number 55 on back. And the 55 gives a minor shout out to Mike Marshall, my favorite player from my childhood and number 5 for the Dodgers.
Would I buy his jersey: Yep. Gimme a NNOB with number 55, and I am very happy.
San Diego Padres
Favorite: Shawn Abner
Why: When I was a teenager, our youth group from church went down to a Padres/Dodgers game in San Diego. Before the game, Shawn Abner was like the designated warm-up partner; he stood there for about a half-hour and played catch with just about every one of his Padres teammates. When he was done, he turned to me and tossed me the ball. The ball that every single Padre — even the good ones! — had just played catch with. He became my favorite Padre that day.
Would I buy his jersey: Probably. My only hesitation would be, like with the Bo Jackson White Sox jersey, that no one would know I was wearing a Shawn Abner jersey. They’d think my last name was Abner; or even worse, they might think my FIRST name was Abner (no offense, Mr. Doubleday).
San Francisco Giants
Favorite: Willie Mays or Mel Ott
Why: Having a favorite Giant is kind of like having a favorite venereal disease. As a Dodger fan, I just don’t like the Giants. (It’s not as intense as the way Giants fans feel about the Dodgers; the Giants could finish in 4th place, and as long as the Dodgers finished in 5th, Giants fans would be happy. It’s sad, really.) So my options are guys I loved on other teams who happened to play for the Giants (Brett Butler, Orel Hershiser, etc.) or go old school with Mays or Ott. I’d choose Mays or Ott because it wouldn’t have to be a San Francisco Giants jersey.
Would I buy his jersey: Yeah, I could go with a Mays or Ott jersey. Probably Ott, just because (as far as I know) he never godfathered Barry Bonds.
Colorado Rockies
Favorite: Larry Walker
Why: He was a good player outside of Colorado. Every other Rockie I can think of either never got a chance to prove he was good elsewhere (Todd Helton), proved that he WASN’T any good elsewhere (Dante Bichette, Vinny Castilla, etc.), or wasn’t any good anywhere (98% of the players who have played for the Rockies). Walker had his best years with Colorado, but he did just fine with the Expos before and the Cardinals after. And I have a soft spot for Canadians, for some reason.
Would I buy his jersey: I don’t think so. I don’t like the Rockies, I don’t like the way their jerseys look, and I don’t like Walker enough to justify it.
Arizona Diamondbacks
Favorite: Roberto Alomar
Why: Sure, he only played 38 games and had 110 at-bats for the D-Backs. But I am a big Alomar fan, and I don’t like the Diamondbacks, so I don’t care a whole lot.
Would I buy his jersey: Probably not. I wouldn’t mind having an Alomar jersey, but the only way it would say D-Backs on it is if it completed the set.
Chicago Cubs
Favorite: Ryne Sandberg
Why: I was a big fan of Sandberg when he was playing, and while his Hall of Fame induction speech rubbed me a bit the wrong way, I still love the guy.
Would I buy his jersey: Yep. I really like the Cubs home jerseys, and I would love to wear Sandberg’s number.
Houston Astros
Favorite: Jeff Bagwell
Why: Maybe it’s his first name. Maybe it’s the number 5. Maybe it’s a lot of things. But I have always been a big Jeff Bagwell fan, ever since he kind of came out of nowhere to win the Rookie of the Year award. Nolan Ryan also entered the picture, and I kind of wouldn’t mind having Ryan jerseys from the Mets, Angels, Astros, and Rangers; but I remember Ryan more as a Ranger, and Bagwell teamed with Craig Biggio to define the Astros for the better part of my lifetime.
Would I buy his jersey: Heck yeah.
Cincinnati Reds
Favorite: Tom Seaver
Why: For my entire life that I remember, I have had a vague dislike for the Reds. They were the Dodgers’ big rivals back in the day, and I still believe that they didn’t play their hardest against the Braves late in the 1991 season, helping the Braves overcome the Dodgers’ lead and dress up as Cinderella. I don’t actively hate the Reds, but I have a big ol’ helping of I-don’t-give-a-crap that gives me no desire to pick a Reds player from my baseball-watching days. So I am going with Tom Seaver, whose pitching I always admired.
Would I buy his jersey: It’s a tough call, but probably. I don’t know how often I would wear it, though, since I don’t like the Reds and I don’t care a whole lot for the look of their jerseys. Why am I buying it again? Hmmmmm…
Milwaukee Brewers
Favorite: Don Sutton
Why: It’s a tough call taking Sutton, who I liked a lot but more as a Dodger, and Robin Yount, who I liked less but I actually liked as a Brewer. I went with Sutton, although I also had to forget his time as a Braves announcer to do it.
Would I buy his jersey: Sure. I like the old 1980s Brewers jerseys, and I like Sutton.
St. Louis Cardinals
Favorite: Albert Pujols
Why: I like the Cardinals. Pujols is one of my favorite players. He’s number 5. It’s a no-brainer.
Would I buy his jersey: Absolutely.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Favorite: Roberto Clemente
Why: One of the first books I ever read was a little 150-page biography of Clemente, back when I was about eight or nine years old, and I developed an immediate respect and admiration for him as a player and a person. He’s right up there with Ripken and Gehrig on my list of favorite all-time players.
And speaking of Clemente and jerseys, I just gotta say how dumb I think Yankee fans are. LaTroy Hawkins wanted to wear number 21 to honor Clemente, but he met a huge backlash from Yankee fans because number 21 was Paul O’Neill’s number. Paul freaking O’Neill! Yes, he was a great Yankee, but not great enough to have his number retired (as evidenced by the fact that, you know, they haven’t retired it). Only Yankee fans could be so self-involved to think that Paul O’Neill is more important than a guy wanting to honor a great ballplayer and humanitarian like Roberto Clemente.
Would I buy his jersey: For sure. And it would be one of my prized possessions.
Atlanta Braves
Favorite: Dale Murphy
Why: It would definitely have to be someone from before the Glavine/Smoltz era began, because I can’t stand front-runner Braves fans. And being a Mormon, Dale Murphy was always a bit of a role model for me. I don’t know if Murphy should be in the Hall of Fame or not, but I believe he was criminally overlooked for consideration.
Would I buy his jersey: Yes, as long as it was a pre-tomahawk jersey.
Florida Marlins
Favorite: Ivan Rodriguez
Why: The first postseason my wife and I watched together was in 2003, when the Marlins beat the Yankees in the World Series. When Pudge held on to the ball as J.T. Snow barreled over him at the plate, ending the decisive game of the NLDS, the Marlins became our team for that postseason. Whenever I see Pudge, it brings back wonderful memories of teaching my wife about the game of baseball and sharing my favorite sport with my favorite person (hey, something can be cheesy AND true). That’s a good enough reason for me.
Would I buy his jersey: Yeah. I don’t care a whole lot for the look of the Marlins’ uniforms, but it’s not too bad.
Washington Nationals / Montreal Expos
Favorite: Pedro Martinez
Why: Pedro Martinez as an Expo reminds me of a simpler time in life. I knew Pedro was going to be great (as great as his brother Ramon, for sure) since he was a rookie with the Dodgers, so his success in Montreal was a sweet thing for me (with just a bit of bitterness about him being yet another Dodger who went on to greatness somewhere else). Pedro’s last couple years with the Expos and first couple with the Red Sox were just amazing, and it all started in Montreal.
Would I buy his jersey: Yes if I could fudge on the years a bit and go with the pre-1992 jerseys. Otherwise, it would be a toss-up.
Philadelphia Phillies
Favorite: Darren Daulton
Why: Lousy for eight seasons. Really good for two seasons. Injury-plagued for four seasons. Looked like Gaston from “Beauty and the Beast.” I have 247 of his baseball cards. What’s not to love?
Would I buy his jersey: Sure. I actually really dig the pinstripes with the blue stars dotting the “i”s.
New York Mets
Favorite: Sid Fernandez
Why: I like fat guys, even if they do throw with the wrong arm.
Would I buy his jersey: I’d have a hard time wearing a Mets jersey, for some reason. I don’t really dislike them (although I still hate their fans for cheering when Kirk Gibson tore up his knee sliding into second in the 1988 NLCS), but I always have a nagging negative feeling when I think of them. So no, probably not.
April 21st, 2008 at 12:06am
Jeff J. Snider
Sports
Over at ShysterBall (one of the most engaging, intelligent baseball-related blogs I have come across), Craig Calcaterra had what I think is a wonderful idea. And because it’s not stealing if you give credit, I am going to use it here. Here’s what Craig had to say:
Thinking about which Giants jersey I’d get got me thinking of my favorite players. That, in turn, got me thinking of whether I have a favorable opinion of enough players to where I could conceivably buy a jersey for every team and still feel good about it. So here’s my list of my favorite players for each team, limited to my baseball-watching lifetime (roughly 1978-present), why I like them, and whether I’m deep enough in like with the guy to justify buying his jersey.
First, a little bit about my background as a baseball fan. The first year I remember anything from is 1983, so I wouldn’t be surprised if I don’t have many players from before then. On the other hand, I am deeply in love with baseball history, so it may turn out that my favorite players from some teams played before I was even alive. So while I am not going to limit myself to players from “my baseball-watching lifetime” like Craig did, I’m not just going to go with Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Willie Mays, and the like.
I also have a longstanding love of old-school baseball uniforms. Long before throwback jerseys became popular, my brother and I tried to get our mom to make some replicas of those ugly orange-striped old Astros jerseys, mine with “Bjorkman” on the back and his with “Pujols.” (I guess we had a thing for Alan Ashby’s backups.) So I will resist my natural urge to list players just because of their obscurity. No Ron Romanick jersey for me.
Craig started with the American League, and I shall do the same. He started in the AL East, but I’m a California boy, so I will start in the West:
California Angels of Los Anaheim
Favorite: Brian Downing.
Why: I grew up a Dodger fan, and the Angels were always second-class, but they were also about a half-hour closer and a little bit cheaper, so I went to almost as many Angel games as Dodger games growing up. I loved Brian Downing. Maybe it was that he wore number 5 (my favorite Dodger at the time was Mike Marshall — the outfielder/first baseman, not the relief pitcher — who also wore number 5); maybe it was his open stance, which I emulated pretty often in Little League; maybe it was just his glasses. I don’t know, but there’s no question that Brian Downing is my Angel.
Would I buy his jersey: Yeah, I would definitely dig a classic Downing jersey.
Oakland A’s
Favorite: Mark McGwire
Why: I had a neighbor who loved the A’s, and he especially loved Jose Canseco. (That neighbor is now serving a life sentence for murder; Canseco ruins everything he touches.) Between his Canseco love, the 1988 World Series, and my overall loathing of Rickey Henderson, I was not much of an A’s fan. But I always liked Mark McGwire. I still like Mark McGwire. I will never stop liking Mark McGwire.
Would I buy his jersey: I’m torn. On one hand, I think the A’s uniforms have pretty much always been unattractive; at best, they are a color scheme that I don’t think I could wear. But other than aesthetics, I would love to have a McGwire A’s jersey. So I guess what it boils down to is this: if I had all 29 other teams and needed the A’s to complete the set, I wouldn’t have a problem getting the McGwire jersey. But since I’d rarely, if ever, wear the thing, I probably wouldn’t get it just for fun.Yeah, I think I would definitely like a McGwire A’s jersey.
Seattle Mariners
Favorite: Alex Rodriguez
Why: A-Rod is one of my favorite players of all time, and one of my three favorite active players. There have been other Mariners I have liked (Griffey, Buhner, Edgar), but certainly not nearly as much as I like A-Rod.
Would I buy his jersey: Without a doubt.
Texas Rangers
Favorite: Nolan Ryan
Why: Another of my favorite players of all time. It seems like a cheap, obvious choice, but I grew up idolizing Nolan Ryan. When I was fifteen years old, there was an article written about me in our local newspaper with the headline, “Budding young Nolan on the rise,” about when I struck out 18 batters in a seven-inning game twice in one season. I thought that was the greatest compliment anyone could ever pay me, and I am still prouder of the comparison to Nolan Ryan than I am of the games themselves.
Would I buy his jersey: For sure. And I’d wear it a lot.
Minnesota Twins
Favorite: Bert Blyleven
Why: When I was 17 years old, Todd Blyleven pitched for the Lake Elsinore Storm, my hometown Class A minor league team in the California League. Todd and I became pretty good buds, and he once introduced me to his dad before a game. Bert was extremely friendly, and it wasn’t until later that I realized I had just been chit-chatting with one of the best pitchers of my lifetime (no matter what the stupid Hall of Fame voters say).
(By the way, Kent Hrbek gets a few sentimental votes from me just because of that time in the 1991 World Series when he pushed Ron Gant off of first base. But I couldn’t get a Hrbek jersey just for one play.)
Would I buy his jersey: No question about it.
Kansas City Royals
Favorite: George Brett
Why: I saw Brett play in person a couple times, and there’s just not much not to like about the guy. Great player, seems like a nice guy. (My wife got his autograph once when she was a teenager and knew nothing about baseball, and it looks like it says “Joyce Butt,” so that’s what she calls him.)
Would I buy his jersey: Yeah. I like that the Royals’ uniforms look a lot like the Dodgers’, and I like the number 5. Maybe I’d get a his-and-hers matching set, with “BRETT” on mine and “BUTT” on my wife’s.
Chicago White Sox
Favorite: Bo Jackson
Why: I thought about Bo Jackson for the Royals, but he doesn’t quite measure up to Brett. But he definitely beats out Frank Thomas, LaMarr Hoyt, and Richard Dotson on the White Sox.
Would I buy his jersey: I’m not sure. For one thing, no one would know that a White Sox jersey with “JACKSON” on the back was a Bo Jackson jersey; they’d probably think my last name was Jackson and I had it personalized. But putting “BO JACKSON” on the back would be stupid. So I guess this goes back to the McGwire A’s jersey: if I needed just this one to complete the set, sure. But not just to have it.
Detroit Tigers
Favorite: Kirk Gibson
Why: I am cheating a little bit here. I love Kirk Gibson because I am a Dodger fan. But he’s not my favorite Dodger ever, and he is my favorite player who ever played for the Tigers, so I am going with it. And I dig the Tigers’ home jerseys from Gibson’s heyday, so I feel good about it.
Would I buy his jersey: Sure. I like the uniform and I like the player, so I can overlook the fact that I never really cared about the player when he wore the uniform.
Cleveland Indians
Favorite: Brett Butler
Why: Cheating again. I love Brett Butler as a Dodger, not as an Indian. But I like the Indians’ jerseys from Butler’s time there, so I wouldn’t mind wearing it.
Would I buy his jersey: Yeah. I don’t like the jersey as much as the Tigers’, and I don’t have quite the strong fondness for Butler as I do for Gibson, but I like both plenty to buy it.
Tampa Bay Satan Rays
Favorite: I don’t know … Wade Boggs?
Why: I like Boggs just fine, but I definitely think of him first with the Red Sox and then with the Yankees. If he hadn’t gotten his 3000th hit with Tampa Bay, I probably wouldn’t even remember that he played for them.
Would I buy his jersey: No.
Baltimore Orioles
Favorite: Cal Ripken Jr.
Why: My favorite player of all time. I love every single thing about Cal Ripken. I named my son after him.
Would I buy his jersey: For sure, for sure, for sure. I’d buy one for my son, too.
Toronto Blue Jays
Favorite: Roberto Alomar
Why: I don’t know for sure that he’s my favorite Blue Jay. I am also a fan of Paul Molitor and Joe Carter and Dave Winfield and Shawn Green, not to mention Jack Morris and Juan Guzman and a few others. There are lots of Blue Jays who I like, but none who I love. Alomar came close on my Indians list, and he probably tops the other guys here.
Would I buy his jersey: I have no burning desire to own a Blue Jays’ jersey, although I wouldn’t mind wearing Alomar. But I’d probably go with another team. Heck, he may end up on my NL list for either the Padres, Mets, or D-Backs. No dice on the Jays.
Boston Red Sox
Favorite: Roger Clemens
Why: As a pitcher growing up, I admired and idolized some great pitchers. Nolan Ryan was one, and I — like a lot of people — saw Clemens as the second coming of Ryan. Clemens turned out to be even better, which may or may not have been a natural thing. But from what I can tell, Roger Clemens of the Red Sox was clean and great.
Would I buy his jersey: Yes. I like the Red Sox, I like their jerseys, and I still have a fondness for Clemens.
New York Yankees
Favorite: Lou Gehrig
Why: I’m going old school on this. Growing up admiring Cal Ripken, I had a natural affection for Gehrig. There have been a lot of Yankees I have liked over the years, and I could see myself theoretically owning multiple Yankees jerseys. But the first one would have to be Gehrig’s.
Would I buy his jersey: Definitely.
And that’s it for the American League. I will post the National League as soon as I get the chance. I’m interested to see what I think.
April 18th, 2008 at 10:14pm
