162 games.
There is no lengthier season in professional sports than that of Major League Baseball. Starting at the beginning of April (or sometimes the last day of March), the season begins. It comes to an end on or around the last day of September. That's six months.
For those people who are not true fans of the game, 162 games seems excessive. It seems like overkill. For those that are not true fans of the game, shortening the season sounds like a brilliant idea. After all, the games at the beginning of the season really don't matter, it's just the ones at the end that make the difference.
Tell that to the Atlanta Braves, who lost a "meaningless" game on April 21st to the Los Angeles Dodgers, losing in the 12th inning after blowing a one-run lead in the ninth.
Tell that to the Boston Red Sox, who started their 2011 season 2-10 in April, finally getting themselves back on their typical track.
Tell it to both the Braves and Red Sox, who saw their 2011 seasons come crashing down on the final day of the regular season. Game 162.
Believe it or not, they all matter!
I've been a baseball fan since I was probably about six years old. As a kid, you dream about playing baseball in the big leagues. Some of my fondest memories are of playing catch in the backyard with my father. I remember pitching in grade school, looking off to the side and seeing my grandfather leaning against a tree, watching me. It's personal memories like that which make baseball such a special sports.
My first real memory of dramatic baseball came during the 1986 World Series. I was just starting to truly understand the game and what it meant. Being only eight years old, I had no real comprehension of what that World Series meant to the Boston Red Sox. When I saw the Red Sox lose Game 6 after Bob Stanley blew a save opportunity, leading to the infamous Bill Buckner error, I knew something dramatic and memorable had just happened, and I was hooked! It wasn't until years later that I truly understood the significance of that moment.
I had the great fortune of being in attendance at the Metrodome for the 1987 World Series, to see the Minnesota Twins win their first of two World Series championships. I've never heard a building louder. I was only nine years old at the time, but I knew that what I had just seen was something so unprecedented, so "special", that I figured out; only baseball could provide moments like that.
I remember spending a fall evening in October of 1988 at my grandparents' house. I got ready for bed early so I could just lay in bed in the spare room and watch Game One of the 1988 World Series. The Oakland A's, by all accounts, should have made quick work of the Los Angeles Dodgers. But, a funny, amazing thing happened as I was laying there watching the game, even more amazing to me than the '87 series. A hobbled, injured Kirk Gibson hit an improbable walk-off, two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth off A's closer Dennis Eckersley, who was absolutely untouchable during the regular season. As a ten year-old, I'd never felt goosebumps like that.
In 1991, the Twins reached the World Series again, and once again, I was lucky enough to be there for all four games. I'm 13 years old now, and seem to already have a wealth of baseball history in me just in the past fives years. And yet, it's about to get even deeper. An amazing jumping catch against the plexi-glass wall in left center by Kirby Puckett, followed by a storybook walk-off home run in the 11th inning of Game 6 by Kirby himself sends the Twins and Braves into a Game 7. There was no way to top the emotion from Game 6. Not a chance anything could be more exciting than that!
Wrong. Game 7 proved to be, what I still consider, the greatest baseball game ever played. A game with everything riding on it, with a "win or go home" finale assured. There would be no tomorrow. Twins pitcher, Jack Morris, took to the mound for one of the most amazing, guttiest pitching performances in the history of Major League Baseball; a 10-inning, 1-0 Twins victory, giving them their second World Series title in five seasons. In a word: Epic!
Over the last 20 years of my baseball-watching life, I've seen some amazing things happen, both live and on television. I've seen a World Series clinching walk-off homer by Toronto's Joe Carter in Game 6 of the '93 World Series. I watched the drama unfold in 1998 when Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa chased down Roger Maris's home run record of 61, with McGwire breaking it first. I saw the Arizona Diamondbacks break the unbreakable Mariano Rivera to win the 2001 World Series in Game 7. Seeing the 2004 Red Sox exercise their 86 year-old demons and win their first World Series since 1918. I was in attendance at the Metrodome once more in 2009 for Game 163, a one-game playoff between the Twins and Detroit Tigers in which the Twins won a back-and-forth game in extra-innings on a walk-off single to advance to the playoffs.
I've seen quite a bit in my lifetime so far. However, nothing I've seen rivaled what I saw Wednesday night. Four teams; the Cardinals and Braves in the National League, and the Red Sox and Rays in the American League. Two playoff spots; the Wild Cards. One winner. A season where 161 games all led up to this night. Game 162.
The Cardinals made quick work of the Houston Astros, doing their part for the night, leaving it up to Atlanta to decide whether they'd be playing in the post season, or playing a one-game playoff against the Braves on Thursday. Atlanta led Philadelphia 3-2 entering the ninth inning.
The Red Sox, needing a win and a Tampa Bay loss to secure the Wild Card, led 3-2 in the seventh inning before a rain delay kept them waiting, and watching, what was happening in Tampa.
The Rays trailed the Yankees 7-0 entering the bottom of the eighth inning. Many fans in attendance had already left as it seemed an insurmountable lead to overcome. They just needed to hope the Red Sox choked, as they'd been doing throughout September, in order to play a 163rd game on Thursday.
As the Cardinals watched from their clubhouse, the Braves proceeded to blow their one-run lead, allowing the Phillies to tie the game in the top of the ninth, ultimately sending them into extra-innings in Atlanta. As this was happening, the Rays began mounting a minor assault on the Yankees, scoring three runs in the bottom of the eighth, allowing Evan Longoria to come to the plate with two runners on. Longoria hit the first pitch he saw into the left-center field stands for a three-run homer, bringing the Rays to within one at 7-6. The Red Sox could only sit and watch as the rain fell in Baltimore.
Once their game resumed, the Red Sox attempted to hold their 3-2 lead, learning that the Rays had just tied their game with the Yankees at 7-7 with a two-out, two-strike, pinch-hit home run by Dan Johnson, a guy who hadn't hit a home run since April. The Red Sox entered the ninth inning leading 3-2.
As the drama unfolded in both Baltimore and Tampa, the Braves succumbed to the pressure of the moment first, allowing a run in the top of the 13th inning, and falling to the Phillies 4-3. The Cardinals were going to be the National League Wild Card winners.
Back in Baltimore, the Orioles start the bottom of the ninth trailing 3-2, facing the ever-intimidating Jonathan Papelbon. After their first two hitters struck out, the Orioles get a double, ground-rule double, and a single from the next three hitters to win the game 4-3, sending the Red Sox into waiting mode to find out if the Yankees could beat the Rays to create the need for a one-game playoff on Thursday.
Boston wouldn't be waiting long. Within three minutes of the Red Sox losing, Evan Longoria comes to the plate for Tampa Bay with one out in the bottom of the 12th inning, and lines the 2-2 pitch over the wall in left field for a walk-off, Wild Card-clinching 8-7 victory.
The drama within those 90 minutes was, as far as I'm concerned, unmatched in baseball. Having all four games taking place at the same time, having two of the four go into extra-innings, having three teams (Braves, Red Sox, and Yankees) all blow ninth-inning saves with two-outs, having three incredible clutch home runs hit by Tampa Bay in the 8th, 9th, and 12th innings...having it all happen within 90 minutes, on the last day of the regular season. Words can hardly describe it and give it justice.
If you're somebody who thinks the regular season is too long, and that baseball is boring, there are some people that might agree with you. For me, however, I couldn't imagine it being any other way. Wednesday night WAS baseball. Nights like that may not happen often, or ever, for that matter. But, when they do, they're nights you will always remember!
Showing posts with label St. Louis Cardinals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label St. Louis Cardinals. Show all posts
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
Does Pujols' Injury Cost Him More Than Just Six Weeks?
When Albert Pujols suffered a broken bone in his left wrist during a collision on Sunday, the entire city of St. Louis gasped, wondering if this might be the end to their season. How could they overcome this? Their all-star first baseman, arguably the best player in baseball, sidelined for up to six weeks. Would they be able to stand their ground without him?
Oddly, the Cardinal fans weren't the only ones gasping at the news. Baseball fans in general, upon hearing the word that Pujols had suffered an injury that no hitter would ever want to endure, began to wonder if they'd seen the last of Pujols, at least the Pujols we've grown to expect. Will his power numbers ever be the same? Will he still be able to hit for the same .329 career average he has? Will he still be considered a lock for the Hall of Fame if the answers to both of those previous questions are "no"?
There was one more large gasp to speak of, and that gasp was from Albert's agent. Would the injury squash any potential they would have to get him the $300 million contract they'd been rumored to have been seeking this offseason? Would this injury potentially drive down his value, in this, the last year of his current contract?
These questions, among many others, are all very valid questions and concerns. We won't know until Albert comes back, some time in August, whether he'll be able to get back to the player he's been for his entire career. There is a strong possibility that he may not, given the history of some players who have had similar injuries. When you look at players such as Derrek Lee, the first baseman for the Baltimore Orioles, who broke his wrist in a similar fashion while playing for the Chicago Cubs in 2006, the power numbers take a slight decline immediately. Lee was able to improve those power numbers a couple years after the injury, but overall, his career averages have been down since. Would Pujols be the same way?
Looking at his career numbers, he is easily one of the greatest players to ever play the game. If his career were to end today, I think it would be safe to say that Albert Pujols would be a first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee. In his first ten season in baseball, he's never hit below .312, he's never hit less than 32 home runs, and never driven in less than 103 runs. Just those three stats alone are impressive, but there are so many more. It's those career numbers, however, that this injury could ultimately rob baseball fans of. The type of player that Albert Pujols is only comes along so many times during a generation. Given all of the talk of performance-enhancing drugs over the last few years in the sport, Pujols seemed to be the poster child for doing it the right way. His career numbers would have been those we would ultimately have compared to the greats of the game. Those comparisons are what have been jeopardized now by this injury.
From a business perspective, the injury could cost Pujols millions of dollars. Unless he comes back in August and lights it up over the last two months, the consensus thought amongst those in baseball is that he may never recover to be the hitter he once was. If that's the case, his overall value would take an incredible hit. No team in their right mind would give a player like Albert Pujols the type of contract he'd reportedly been looking for, just on reputation, especially coming off this type of injury. The reason Pujols and the Cardinals couldn't get a deal done before his spring training deadline was because of how far off the two sides actually were. Now, whatever the Cardinals were offering will more than likely go down, so the gamble Pujols and his agent took by not accepting any of the offers put before them by the Cardinals could come back to bite them in the rear. Only time will tell.
Having been a baseball fan for over 25 years of my life now, I've seen many great players come and go. I've seen players that were great, and we now know they were artificially great. I've seen players be crowned the next big thing, only to never pan out. When it comes to Albert Pujols, he is the real deal. He's been the most impressive player of the last 50 years. His career numbers through the first ten years are numbers many life-long Major Leaguers would kill for. And he's not done...that's the scary part.
All we, as fans, can hope for is that the injury isn't as serious and career-threatening as it appears it may be. If it's not, we can expect to see more of the same from Albert over the next few seasons. If it is as bad as advertised, then how he comes back from it will define the career of Albert Pujols. Is he truly "the machine" we sometimes think he is? We'll have to wait a few weeks to find out.
Oddly, the Cardinal fans weren't the only ones gasping at the news. Baseball fans in general, upon hearing the word that Pujols had suffered an injury that no hitter would ever want to endure, began to wonder if they'd seen the last of Pujols, at least the Pujols we've grown to expect. Will his power numbers ever be the same? Will he still be able to hit for the same .329 career average he has? Will he still be considered a lock for the Hall of Fame if the answers to both of those previous questions are "no"?
There was one more large gasp to speak of, and that gasp was from Albert's agent. Would the injury squash any potential they would have to get him the $300 million contract they'd been rumored to have been seeking this offseason? Would this injury potentially drive down his value, in this, the last year of his current contract?
These questions, among many others, are all very valid questions and concerns. We won't know until Albert comes back, some time in August, whether he'll be able to get back to the player he's been for his entire career. There is a strong possibility that he may not, given the history of some players who have had similar injuries. When you look at players such as Derrek Lee, the first baseman for the Baltimore Orioles, who broke his wrist in a similar fashion while playing for the Chicago Cubs in 2006, the power numbers take a slight decline immediately. Lee was able to improve those power numbers a couple years after the injury, but overall, his career averages have been down since. Would Pujols be the same way?
Looking at his career numbers, he is easily one of the greatest players to ever play the game. If his career were to end today, I think it would be safe to say that Albert Pujols would be a first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee. In his first ten season in baseball, he's never hit below .312, he's never hit less than 32 home runs, and never driven in less than 103 runs. Just those three stats alone are impressive, but there are so many more. It's those career numbers, however, that this injury could ultimately rob baseball fans of. The type of player that Albert Pujols is only comes along so many times during a generation. Given all of the talk of performance-enhancing drugs over the last few years in the sport, Pujols seemed to be the poster child for doing it the right way. His career numbers would have been those we would ultimately have compared to the greats of the game. Those comparisons are what have been jeopardized now by this injury.
From a business perspective, the injury could cost Pujols millions of dollars. Unless he comes back in August and lights it up over the last two months, the consensus thought amongst those in baseball is that he may never recover to be the hitter he once was. If that's the case, his overall value would take an incredible hit. No team in their right mind would give a player like Albert Pujols the type of contract he'd reportedly been looking for, just on reputation, especially coming off this type of injury. The reason Pujols and the Cardinals couldn't get a deal done before his spring training deadline was because of how far off the two sides actually were. Now, whatever the Cardinals were offering will more than likely go down, so the gamble Pujols and his agent took by not accepting any of the offers put before them by the Cardinals could come back to bite them in the rear. Only time will tell.
Having been a baseball fan for over 25 years of my life now, I've seen many great players come and go. I've seen players that were great, and we now know they were artificially great. I've seen players be crowned the next big thing, only to never pan out. When it comes to Albert Pujols, he is the real deal. He's been the most impressive player of the last 50 years. His career numbers through the first ten years are numbers many life-long Major Leaguers would kill for. And he's not done...that's the scary part.
All we, as fans, can hope for is that the injury isn't as serious and career-threatening as it appears it may be. If it's not, we can expect to see more of the same from Albert over the next few seasons. If it is as bad as advertised, then how he comes back from it will define the career of Albert Pujols. Is he truly "the machine" we sometimes think he is? We'll have to wait a few weeks to find out.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Perception Vs. Reality: The Tale Of Two First Basemen
There are many quotes about perception. One involves perception being reality, the other involves perception being in the eye of the beholder. Both are true statements when one truly thinks about it. In the case of Albert Pujols an Justin Morneau, two of the top first basemen in baseball, both apply, however, the realities don't match the perceptions placed upon them by their separate eyes of their beholders.
Both Pujols and Morneau have been thought to have been slumping this year. Throughout the month of May, both were struggling at the plate, different from what each had done the previous year, and in Pujols's case, his entire career. Pujols went through a homerless drought in May that finally came to an end after close to 110 at-bats. Morneau, after missing the last half of the season in 2010 with a concussion, has come back a shell of his 2010 first-half self, hitting below .240 with only two home runs (until hitting two in the Twins' June 1st loss to the Detroit Tigers). So...the perception of both sluggers is that they were struggling and slumping.
Here's the reality:
A "slumping" Pujols is now hitting an un-Pujols-like .275 with 12 home runs (after hitting two, including a 12th inning walk-off on Saturday against the Cubs), and 37 RBI's. His .275 average ranks 6th on the Cardinals amongst their regulars. His two homers Saturday have tied him with Lance Berkman for the team lead with 12, and his total of 37 RBI's have him second on the team behind Berkman. So...the perception of Albert struggling right now is based on what? His career averages of .329, 37 HR, and 115 RBI? The sad thing is, Albert's insane career already has set his bar ridiculously high. So high that when he actually hits "average" numbers, we see it as struggling.
Morneau, on the other hand, is actually struggling. The part that is getting at me, though, is the lofty bar that Twins fans have placed on their above average slugger. Notice the descriptive words used. I said "above average," not "great." What most Twins fans need to realize is that Morneau is not a "great" hitter. His career only spans two less seasons than that of Pujols, but his numbers are nowhere near that of the "great" slugger in this conversation. Thus far in 2011, Morneau is hitting .236, with only 4 home runs, and 20 RBI's. But...let's look at his career averages. Batting average? He's a career .283 hitter. Home runs? His career average is 21. RBI's? Only 78 RBI's on average per year. So, what are people basing their perception of "slumping" on? His MVP 2006 season? His first half of 2010? Clearly these people aren't looking at the overall body of work.
It's almost hard to put Albert Pujols and Justin Morneau in the same conversation, because the reality of it is, they're not in the same class. Pujols is easily the best player in baseball, hands down. To me, there is no more evidence needed than that of Pujols's performance against the rival Cubs on Saturday, which I was fortunate enough to be in attendance for at Busch Stadium. My very first trip to St. Louis, and I saw one of the game's greatest clutch performers ever. There was no question that Pujols would be involved in the deciding run of that game, whether it have been a walk to put him aboard, or the outcome we saw, which was a hanging breaking ball drilled into the bullpen in left. The feeling was there that the Cardinals' go-to guy would be the one to ultimately put the team on his shoulders. Morneau doesn't come through in these situations, as evidenced by his .191 average with runners on base, and his .235 average with runners in scoring position. Compared to the .301 and .328 averages in those same categories that Pujols puts up, there is no comparison.
Morneau is a good player, don't get me wrong. But Twins fans, please don't make the mistake of calling him great. He is far from it. When the chips are down, he's not the player you can count on to pick you up. He's not a leader, and on a team in dire need of leadership, that's not a good sign from one of your "stars".
Both Pujols and Morneau have been thought to have been slumping this year. Throughout the month of May, both were struggling at the plate, different from what each had done the previous year, and in Pujols's case, his entire career. Pujols went through a homerless drought in May that finally came to an end after close to 110 at-bats. Morneau, after missing the last half of the season in 2010 with a concussion, has come back a shell of his 2010 first-half self, hitting below .240 with only two home runs (until hitting two in the Twins' June 1st loss to the Detroit Tigers). So...the perception of both sluggers is that they were struggling and slumping.
Here's the reality:
A "slumping" Pujols is now hitting an un-Pujols-like .275 with 12 home runs (after hitting two, including a 12th inning walk-off on Saturday against the Cubs), and 37 RBI's. His .275 average ranks 6th on the Cardinals amongst their regulars. His two homers Saturday have tied him with Lance Berkman for the team lead with 12, and his total of 37 RBI's have him second on the team behind Berkman. So...the perception of Albert struggling right now is based on what? His career averages of .329, 37 HR, and 115 RBI? The sad thing is, Albert's insane career already has set his bar ridiculously high. So high that when he actually hits "average" numbers, we see it as struggling.
Morneau, on the other hand, is actually struggling. The part that is getting at me, though, is the lofty bar that Twins fans have placed on their above average slugger. Notice the descriptive words used. I said "above average," not "great." What most Twins fans need to realize is that Morneau is not a "great" hitter. His career only spans two less seasons than that of Pujols, but his numbers are nowhere near that of the "great" slugger in this conversation. Thus far in 2011, Morneau is hitting .236, with only 4 home runs, and 20 RBI's. But...let's look at his career averages. Batting average? He's a career .283 hitter. Home runs? His career average is 21. RBI's? Only 78 RBI's on average per year. So, what are people basing their perception of "slumping" on? His MVP 2006 season? His first half of 2010? Clearly these people aren't looking at the overall body of work.
It's almost hard to put Albert Pujols and Justin Morneau in the same conversation, because the reality of it is, they're not in the same class. Pujols is easily the best player in baseball, hands down. To me, there is no more evidence needed than that of Pujols's performance against the rival Cubs on Saturday, which I was fortunate enough to be in attendance for at Busch Stadium. My very first trip to St. Louis, and I saw one of the game's greatest clutch performers ever. There was no question that Pujols would be involved in the deciding run of that game, whether it have been a walk to put him aboard, or the outcome we saw, which was a hanging breaking ball drilled into the bullpen in left. The feeling was there that the Cardinals' go-to guy would be the one to ultimately put the team on his shoulders. Morneau doesn't come through in these situations, as evidenced by his .191 average with runners on base, and his .235 average with runners in scoring position. Compared to the .301 and .328 averages in those same categories that Pujols puts up, there is no comparison.
Morneau is a good player, don't get me wrong. But Twins fans, please don't make the mistake of calling him great. He is far from it. When the chips are down, he's not the player you can count on to pick you up. He's not a leader, and on a team in dire need of leadership, that's not a good sign from one of your "stars".
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