Although I will have more in depth previews of each game before they happen, and reviews of games after they happen, I will enlighten the world by giving a rough overview of the 2007 campaign starting with the offense.
I expect great things from this offense that returns almost all of its skill players. The holes to fill are big ones however with the loss of one of the best offensive lineman in recent PSU history in Levi Brown. Another major loss is Tony Hunt who carried the load for Penn State the past three seasons putting up under-appreciated numbers. The loss of BranDon Snow could be harmful as well since he was a terrific lead blocker, but now with Matt Hahn taking over full time, it will give PSU another passing option. All of the receivers return, but it will take better performances from them this year to beat teams like Notre Dame, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Drops, bad routes, and lack of size hurt this group last year. A real flaw in the offense was in the red zone where a mix of bad playcalling and a lack of a go-to receiver led to terrible production inside of the 20. Now with the emergence of Chris Bell and the newly transformed WR in Brent Brackett, it seems that PSU should have some better options. Austin Scott and Rodney Kinlaw should perform fairly well in the offense with more speed than Hunt had, but the tough yards will be missed. Look for a lot more passing this year as Morelli goes into the season with a lot of confidence after having one of his best games in the Outback Bowl victory over Tennessee. The offensive line will be anchored by center A.Q. Shipley. Overall the line will have more experience, but it lacks the automatic blocks of Levi. The offense has the ability to look like the '94 squad and put up a lot of points through the air and on the ground, but it all comes down to players like Derrick Williams, Anthony Morelli, and Austin Scott who came into college with the highest expectations. If they can emerge to become what we all expected, then the sky is the limit. The defense will always keep this team in ballgames so it will simply be a matter of scoring more points than the other team, as John Madden likes to say.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Is Gagne Worth it?
Since coming to the Red Sox, Eric Gagne has given up 7 earned runs in 4 innings. In 4 of his 5 appearances for the Sox, he has given up at least one run, and the only outing of the five that he did not allow at least two baserunners, he gave up a game tying homerun to Miguel Tejada. Things are just terrible for Eric, but Boston is going to stick with him. And they should. Gagne has been one of the most dominant closers over the past five years, and in 2003, he converted all 55 of his save opportunities and had 137 strikeouts in just 82.1 innings. He was named the NL Cy Young award winner in 2003 and had a string of 84 consecutive converted saves. Since then he has battled arm issues, and has been limited to just 56.2 innings over the past three seasons.
The Sox obtained Gange in a trade with Texas where they sent rookie pitcher Kason Gabbard, and two minor league outfielders to the Rangers. Gabbard had pitched extremely well for Boston in the 41 innings he saw, going 4-0 in seven games and holding opponents to just a .196 average. After seeing Gagne struggle, many fans are upset by the trade feeling that Gabbard would have been better to hold onto, but this hindsight is misled. Gabbard pitched out of his mind for the Sox and most likely would never have continued that trend. Boston used to high stock to snag a guy that may not still have the dominance that he had with the Dodgers, but someone that could provide some quality late innings relief and take some of the load off of Okajima who currently has thrown more innings than in any other season in his career. Gabbard has reasonably good stuff, but his fastball peaks out around 88 mph, and will probably end up a lifetime 3rd or 4th starter. The reality is that he pitched well, but he just doesn't project well in the future. Julian Tavarez pitched well for a stretch of about 7 games, but he's back in the 'pen where he belongs.
As for Gagne, yes he has struggled, but the guy has proven (even this year with Texas) that he can get it done. This is a new role for him, but maybe now after blowing save chances as a setup guy, he will realize the importance of his position. I think that it is good for him to get these bugs out of his system so he can get the right mentality to go out there and dominate. From what I have seen, it seems like he's throwing his pitches lackadaisically and he is missing his spots and leaving pitches up in the zone. Some of it is even good hitting by the Orioles. In the game where he surrendered 4 er's, a lot of the pitches that were hit were scooped off of the ground and driven to right field...simply good hitting.
Look for Francona to continue to stick with Gagne and also look for Eric to gain some confidence. The playoffs aren't far off, and that is why he was brought in. He has done it in the past, and I fully expect him to shape up into what everyone expected in the next few weeks.
The Sox obtained Gange in a trade with Texas where they sent rookie pitcher Kason Gabbard, and two minor league outfielders to the Rangers. Gabbard had pitched extremely well for Boston in the 41 innings he saw, going 4-0 in seven games and holding opponents to just a .196 average. After seeing Gagne struggle, many fans are upset by the trade feeling that Gabbard would have been better to hold onto, but this hindsight is misled. Gabbard pitched out of his mind for the Sox and most likely would never have continued that trend. Boston used to high stock to snag a guy that may not still have the dominance that he had with the Dodgers, but someone that could provide some quality late innings relief and take some of the load off of Okajima who currently has thrown more innings than in any other season in his career. Gabbard has reasonably good stuff, but his fastball peaks out around 88 mph, and will probably end up a lifetime 3rd or 4th starter. The reality is that he pitched well, but he just doesn't project well in the future. Julian Tavarez pitched well for a stretch of about 7 games, but he's back in the 'pen where he belongs.
As for Gagne, yes he has struggled, but the guy has proven (even this year with Texas) that he can get it done. This is a new role for him, but maybe now after blowing save chances as a setup guy, he will realize the importance of his position. I think that it is good for him to get these bugs out of his system so he can get the right mentality to go out there and dominate. From what I have seen, it seems like he's throwing his pitches lackadaisically and he is missing his spots and leaving pitches up in the zone. Some of it is even good hitting by the Orioles. In the game where he surrendered 4 er's, a lot of the pitches that were hit were scooped off of the ground and driven to right field...simply good hitting.
Look for Francona to continue to stick with Gagne and also look for Eric to gain some confidence. The playoffs aren't far off, and that is why he was brought in. He has done it in the past, and I fully expect him to shape up into what everyone expected in the next few weeks.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Barry Bonds
What do I think of Barry Bonds? I think he's an asshole and a cheater just like most of the country. Somehow, however, the city of San Francisco just ignores the steroid allegations because, as so many people say, there is no proof. Unfortunately it is hard to definitively say that Barry did steroids, and proof is what our legal system relies on. Not logic. A guy that looked like Alfonso Soriano somehow went from stick figure to elephant man. Yea sure, he works hard, but so does every professional athlete, and they don't look like him. "Well he works the hardest". From my knowledge, Manny Ramirez is a very dedicated worker and works out about as hard as any in the league and his physique hasn't changed since he broke into the majors over 10 years ago.
My point here is that Bonds has defied the aging process (which will come back to haunt him since I expect him to cease walking at the age of 50), and he has defied the natural tendencies of baseball players. Has there ever been another major leaguer to go from excellent to the best after the age of 35? No, and there is a reason. It doesn't happen. Unless you start taking steroids and there we are.
Barry Bonds was one of the best players in the league when he played with the Pirates. He could do everything (except throw out Sid Bream). He was electric on the basepaths and still hit monstrous home runs despite being just a little guy. He was headed for the Hall of Fame without a question and the way he was hitting, it was probable that he would hit over 500 home runs. He had quick hands, good plate discipline and great knowledge of the game thanks in part to his father. Today he remains one of the best hitters in baseball. Steroids don't make you a better hitter, they make you stronger which allows you to hit with more power, which allows you to use a smaller bat (32 inches!!) that gets through the zone faster, allowing you to hit inside pitches with greater ease and control your bat all without sacrificing power since you are a man-beast.
Basically it's cheating. Barry isn't the only one doing steroids, and it is thought to be very prevalent in the majors. From the standpoint of a guy trying to make it in the majors, I can understand the use of steroids. In that situation, the player needs to do something to keep his job, and although he could just work hard in the offseason and hope for the best, why not take a risk and take steroids and come back twice as strong? What has he got to lose? His job? It's already on the line, but in Barry's case...why? Why taint a career that was heading for Cooperstown? Is it not enough to be in the Hall of Fame?
He holds all sorts of records from the most HR's of all-time, the most HR's in a season, the most walks in the history of the game, and on and on and on. But there are no World Series rings on his fingers, there are millions around the world that simply hate him because of his deceitfulness and greed, and now there is talk about whether voters would even send him to the Hall of Fame. He has dethroned a man in Hank Aaron whose name has been spread in households across the country for thirty years, a man who was a symbol of persistence and determination. Fans jumped out of the stands to run by his side and shake his hand as he eclipsed the Babe. The nation embraced their new home run king, a worthy man.
No one jumped on the field when Barry circled the bases, of course if someone had it would be assumed that they might be trying to hurt him and probably would have been sniped before they got off the warning track. Millions watched at home and cringed when he hit that 84 mph fastball, I know I did, because he cheated Major League Baseball, he cheated Hank Aaron, and he will forever be in the history books with an asterisk. One day Alex Rodriguez will become the new home run king, and it will be a glorious day. Even if he still is a Yankee, every Red Sox fan, every baseball fan, will stand and clap and nod their heads because he did it the right way. He did it with honor and respect, and he will rightfully go into the history books without one of these: *.
My point here is that Bonds has defied the aging process (which will come back to haunt him since I expect him to cease walking at the age of 50), and he has defied the natural tendencies of baseball players. Has there ever been another major leaguer to go from excellent to the best after the age of 35? No, and there is a reason. It doesn't happen. Unless you start taking steroids and there we are.
Barry Bonds was one of the best players in the league when he played with the Pirates. He could do everything (except throw out Sid Bream). He was electric on the basepaths and still hit monstrous home runs despite being just a little guy. He was headed for the Hall of Fame without a question and the way he was hitting, it was probable that he would hit over 500 home runs. He had quick hands, good plate discipline and great knowledge of the game thanks in part to his father. Today he remains one of the best hitters in baseball. Steroids don't make you a better hitter, they make you stronger which allows you to hit with more power, which allows you to use a smaller bat (32 inches!!) that gets through the zone faster, allowing you to hit inside pitches with greater ease and control your bat all without sacrificing power since you are a man-beast.
Basically it's cheating. Barry isn't the only one doing steroids, and it is thought to be very prevalent in the majors. From the standpoint of a guy trying to make it in the majors, I can understand the use of steroids. In that situation, the player needs to do something to keep his job, and although he could just work hard in the offseason and hope for the best, why not take a risk and take steroids and come back twice as strong? What has he got to lose? His job? It's already on the line, but in Barry's case...why? Why taint a career that was heading for Cooperstown? Is it not enough to be in the Hall of Fame?
He holds all sorts of records from the most HR's of all-time, the most HR's in a season, the most walks in the history of the game, and on and on and on. But there are no World Series rings on his fingers, there are millions around the world that simply hate him because of his deceitfulness and greed, and now there is talk about whether voters would even send him to the Hall of Fame. He has dethroned a man in Hank Aaron whose name has been spread in households across the country for thirty years, a man who was a symbol of persistence and determination. Fans jumped out of the stands to run by his side and shake his hand as he eclipsed the Babe. The nation embraced their new home run king, a worthy man.
No one jumped on the field when Barry circled the bases, of course if someone had it would be assumed that they might be trying to hurt him and probably would have been sniped before they got off the warning track. Millions watched at home and cringed when he hit that 84 mph fastball, I know I did, because he cheated Major League Baseball, he cheated Hank Aaron, and he will forever be in the history books with an asterisk. One day Alex Rodriguez will become the new home run king, and it will be a glorious day. Even if he still is a Yankee, every Red Sox fan, every baseball fan, will stand and clap and nod their heads because he did it the right way. He did it with honor and respect, and he will rightfully go into the history books without one of these: *.
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