Has anyone noticed that Yovani Gallardo has an 8-1 record? What about Shaun Marcum with 83 strikeouts? We've been paying so much attention to Zack Greinke since his return from the DL, that we forgot there are two other incredibly competent aces in the Brewers' rotation. In fact, Gallardo leads the team in wins, while Marcum leads in ERA and strikeouts. These guys need more attention.
I love interleague play. There, I said it. I don't get why so many people dislike it. It provides us with interesting matchups between teams that wouldn't play each other anyway, which is a refreshing change of pace after seeing the Mets and Braves play each other 18 times. Also, you just know there's a potential World Series preview in one of those series. Sure, it's probably not the White Sox-Diamondbacks matchup (although I must admit, I am enjoying the Padres-Twins series, considering I predicted that as my long-shot World Series matchup last year and both teams are doing so poorly this season) that's going to be happening in late October, but a Brewers-Yankees series? A Rockies-Indians matchup? A Phillies-Red Sox series, which many have and still predict WILL be what we see in the Fall Classic? The way this season is going, any of these could be it. But that's why it's so cool to see interleague play, regardless of what the so-called "baseball purists" say.
Edwin Rodriguez, the coach who took over the managerial duties of the Florida Marlins after Fredi Gonzalez was fired last season, took a preemptive measure against his own job security and resigned this weekend amidst a 17 losses out of 18 games skid by his team. He's the second manager to be out of a job this season, after the Atheletics fired manager Bob Geren. Baseball is notoriously horrendous when it comes to manager turnover: while the likes of George Steinbrenner are gone, it's still far too easy for a manager to be used as a sacrificial lamb when his team's not doing well. I'm not saying that it's necessarily unjustified; a team is only as good as the people leading it. You can have an All-Star at every position, but if the manager doesn't know what he's doing, the team will make the Pirates look like the Yankees. However, it's also not great for a team to have 2 or 3 different kinds of managerial styles to get used to in the span of 1 or 2 seasons. If the team can't get behind, or get used to, a manager before he's booted out the door, it can affect the day-to-day as much as the overall state of the team. There's a very delicate balance that has to be found, and it seems like most general managers or owners can't seem to get it right yet.
This blog must be jinxed. Every time I talk about someone doing well or awful, they almost immediately begin to do the opposite. Therefore, I feel that I'm personally responsible for Derek Jeter's injury and subsequent placement on the DL, pausing his quest for 3,000. Jeet, I'm sorry.
I love interleague play. There, I said it. I don't get why so many people dislike it. It provides us with interesting matchups between teams that wouldn't play each other anyway, which is a refreshing change of pace after seeing the Mets and Braves play each other 18 times. Also, you just know there's a potential World Series preview in one of those series. Sure, it's probably not the White Sox-Diamondbacks matchup (although I must admit, I am enjoying the Padres-Twins series, considering I predicted that as my long-shot World Series matchup last year and both teams are doing so poorly this season) that's going to be happening in late October, but a Brewers-Yankees series? A Rockies-Indians matchup? A Phillies-Red Sox series, which many have and still predict WILL be what we see in the Fall Classic? The way this season is going, any of these could be it. But that's why it's so cool to see interleague play, regardless of what the so-called "baseball purists" say.
Edwin Rodriguez, the coach who took over the managerial duties of the Florida Marlins after Fredi Gonzalez was fired last season, took a preemptive measure against his own job security and resigned this weekend amidst a 17 losses out of 18 games skid by his team. He's the second manager to be out of a job this season, after the Atheletics fired manager Bob Geren. Baseball is notoriously horrendous when it comes to manager turnover: while the likes of George Steinbrenner are gone, it's still far too easy for a manager to be used as a sacrificial lamb when his team's not doing well. I'm not saying that it's necessarily unjustified; a team is only as good as the people leading it. You can have an All-Star at every position, but if the manager doesn't know what he's doing, the team will make the Pirates look like the Yankees. However, it's also not great for a team to have 2 or 3 different kinds of managerial styles to get used to in the span of 1 or 2 seasons. If the team can't get behind, or get used to, a manager before he's booted out the door, it can affect the day-to-day as much as the overall state of the team. There's a very delicate balance that has to be found, and it seems like most general managers or owners can't seem to get it right yet.
This blog must be jinxed. Every time I talk about someone doing well or awful, they almost immediately begin to do the opposite. Therefore, I feel that I'm personally responsible for Derek Jeter's injury and subsequent placement on the DL, pausing his quest for 3,000. Jeet, I'm sorry.
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