Owner: Between the Lines URL:http://between-thelines.blogspot.com Join Date: Sat, 21 Jul 2007 18:45:11 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Our Mission here at Between the Lines is twofold: First, to expose bad sports commentary in all its forms, for the mindless, poorly written and uttered drivel it is; Second, to go all Teddy Roosevelt on the monopoly that uninformed "experts," di Site statistics:Click here
Hearts and Minds 2007-07-27 23:29:00 Barry Bonds may be persona non grata in major league parks across the country, but even his most vehement detractors wouldn't dispute the fact that his statistics rival, or even surpass, those accrued by the greatest players of all time. The only consideration that could possibly (and justly) bar Bonds from inclusion among the immortals is the near-certainty of his steroid use. Or so I thought before reading the latest column by Sam Borden of The Florida Times-Union: There is a certain division among the sports-watching world that is oddly similar to a separation that also exists among the general population: One segment of people who almost entirely trust their heads, and one segment who almost entirely trust their hearts.This division is a little simplistic, don't you think? Aren't there plenty of people who use a combination of the two? N.B.: For the rest of this response, I'm just going to ignore the fact that by "heart," Borden really means "emotion," or "character," or some Read more:Hearts
There's Another Blog in My Life... 2007-07-29 15:52:00 ...but I never loved it. And I'm ending it tonight. That's right, I'm guest-blogging, today only, for the traveling Davey over at Blown Coverage. Check it out.
Culture of Losing 2007-08-03 10:03:00 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07215/806622-194.stm
NY Media to A-Rod: Opt Out, Please 2007-08-01 15:04:00 One would think that with A-Rod in the midst of what will most likely be his 2nd MVP season in pinstripes, support for him throughout the New York area would be overwhelming. But while the majority of the Yankee faithful seems to have come around (and kudos to them for their gracious acceptance of, you know, the best player ever-- and after only 3 1/2 seasons in the Bronx!) certain members of the print media continue to hold their inexplicable grudges. Filip Bondy of the NY Daily News is one such figure.Nearly everybody and his uncle were knocking balls over the wall last night for the Yankees. Seven Bombers effortlessly ripped eight homers, tying a franchise record from FDR's days back in 1939. You got the feeling the bat boy might have lined one off the left-field foul pole, if given half a chance during the 16-3 victory against these White Sox pitching imposters.Was it really "effortless?" This was only the second time in the Yankees' long history that the feat has been accomplish Read more:Please
Dunnderhead Alert 2007-08-01 00:11:00 Adam Dunn takes a lot of unwarranted abuse from the anti-sabermetric crowd, but we thought Paul Daugherty of the Cincinnati Enquirer was above all that. Seriously, he was one of us. And now he's not. At some point between his columns of June 13th, 2007, and July 31st, 2007, someone got to him, and made him change his tune. I hope it was worth it, Daugherty. As John Lennon asked, "How do you sleep?" The combined forces of BTL would really like to know.Hunches abound the day before the non-waiver trade deadline. Here's another. Here is all that matters about Adam Dunn:The Reds can't afford him.Which is a shame, right? You wish that they could afford him, because he's so good and everything, and you're writing an article to lament the fact that they can't? Please?You can haul out your geek sheets and quote chapter and verse about Dunn's OBA, OBP, OPS, HR and RBI and how he hits with RISP, OK? You can say the Reds won't match his power when he's gone. You can defend his defense by Read more:Alert
"Ruthian" is a Pseudo-Adjective for a Reason 2007-07-31 14:11:00 Dave Perkins of the Toronto Star has an interesting opinion on the relative merits of some legendary sluggers:Bonds, who comes across as an unpleasant individual both near (in limited dealings) and far, has built up no...deposits of goodwill. His story is one of statistical accomplishment only and that Everest of numbers contains the great unknowable element – how many of them are legit and how many are not?So it's difficult to view the numerical ladder as the absolute indicator of historical ranking. To me, the greatest home run hitters of them all are Ruth and Josh Gibson, in either order.Because we don't know how many of Bonds' homers were steroid-assisted, you're prepared to abandon statistics altogether? You're just going to flip a coin, come up with either Babe Ruth and Josh Gibson, and call it a day? Babe Ruth hit 714 home runs in the major leagues. Josh Gibson, according to his Hall of Fame placque, hit "almost 800" in the Negro Leagues. Why isn't the number more precis Read more:Pseudo
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Can You Be More Specific? 2007-07-31 14:07:00 CNNSI's John Heyman, on the Scott Proctor-for-Wilson Betemit trade: Proctor is 2-5 with a 3.81 ERA in 52 games this season. Betemit has hit 10 homers and driven in runs.26 of them, to be precise. But hey, the deadline's in less than an hour; John must be pretty busy right now. Read more:Specific
I've Had Quite Enough of Your Lip 2007-08-05 16:46:00 If you had asked for my opinion yesterday, I would have told you that Mike Lupica's "Shooting from the Lip" column in the NY Daily News should be one of the last destinations for any sports fan in search of informative, impartial analysis (nobody asked). But his latest offering only confirms my earlier assessment. Without further adieu, let the shootout begin:Roger Clemens has started the same number of games and made the same number of appearances this season as Kei Igawa. To this point Clemens has one more victory than Igawa to show for all that. Look on the bright side, though. At least the Yankees haven't had to farm The Rocket back out yet.And why is that, exactly? If Clemens has only one win more than Igawa, and Igawa has been demoted to the minor leagues for the second time this season, shouldn't Clemens be knocking on Scranton's door himself? Could it be because judging a pitcher solely by his win-loss record is idiotic? Clemens' 4.23 ERA isn't setting any records, but Ig Read more:Enough
A Helpful Reminder... 2007-08-05 16:15:00 ...from the Toronto Sun's Bob Elliott, as Barry Bonds threatens to surpass Hank Aaron:To me, Bonds passing Aaron does not qualify as a day of mourning. How about the Virginia Tech massacre, where 32 were killed and 25 were wounded. The Bluffton University team bus plunging off an Atlanta freeway, killing five. Coffins arriving from Afghanistan and Iraq. Or 9/11. They were days of mourning. Thank you, Mr. Elliott, for imparting a little perspective. Why, just last night, I heard someone say that Bonds tying Aaron reminded him of the day almost six years ago when almost 3,000 Americans perished, and I thought to myself, wouldn't it be nice if some heroic columnist would come along to disabuse everyone of that widespread notion? And you alone, out of the thousands who could have filled the role, rose to the challenge. A grateful nation turns its eyes to you, Bob Elliott. Read more:Reminder
Learn Your Lesson 2007-08-05 15:35:00 Mr. Clutch has already written about the folly of attributing the Cubs' recent success to Lou Piniella's petulant rage. It has come to my attention, however, that certain professional sportswriters have (inexplicably) failed to "get the memo." How a six-time "US Sportswriter of the Year" could have missed one of BTL's official communiques is beyond me, but whatever CNNSI veteran Frank Deford's excuse might be, a stern talking-to is definitely in the offing. Oh, woe is sport. The summer of our disgrace, the month the fun went out of fun and games. Has ever sports been so unhappy?Frank Deford could also use a little refresher on subject-verb agreement. Treating "sports" as a singular noun is apparently acceptable, if incredibly awkward. But how can "sport" and "sports" both be singular? I'm not letting Frank Deford get away with writing "woe is sport" and following it up two sentences later with "has ever sports." Not on my watch, Frank. A referee accused of fixing NBA games. One of
Famous Last Words 2007-08-05 01:43:00 With a little help from the power of hindsight, Clay Hensley's pre-game resolution to challenge Barry Bonds, rather than pitch around him, takes on a new aura of tragic fate:“I'm going to pitch to him,” Hensley said. “I'm not going to lay one over the middle of the plate. But I'm going to pitch to him.”Ah, the bittersweet stench of destiny. Brings to mind General Custer's famous "I'm going to make a last stand" speech.Hensley and other Padres pitchers admit they have considered what it would be like to be forever known as the pitcher who gave up a historic home run to Bonds. “I just don't want to be that guy,” Hensley said. “I'd rather (be known) for something else. I've thought about it, but I'm not going to worry about it.”Maybe you should have thought about it a little more. The thought process could have gone something like this:"I'm pretty bad at pitching; Bonds is really good at hitting. I don't want to be known for the rest of my days as the guy who Read more:Famous
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The Art of Getting Away with It 2007-08-04 10:42:00 You may have heard about the comments made by Paul Zeise, of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Zeise commented on the air at KDKA Radio:It's really a sad day in this country when somehow ... Michael Vick would have been better off raping a woman if you look at the outcry of what happened. Had he done that, he probably would have been suspended for four games and he'd be back on the field. But because this has become a political issue, all of a sudden the commissioner has lost his stomach for it.Personally, I think he has a point; however, I don't want to get into that today. The matter at hand is that he was suspended both from the radio show and from his paper for making this statement. This seemed outrageous to me at the time, as it was definitely an extraordinary overreaction. Essentially, Zeise made a statement that might offend some people, and since he isn't a very well-known sportswriter, the good people at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette decided that the easiest thing to do was to s
Culture Club 2007-08-04 01:06:00 In preparation for his latest column, Bob Smizik of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette dug deep within himself, utilizing every iota of his baseball acumen, to determine the root of the long-suffering Pirates' problems. Here's what he came up with:Forget about the CEO, what Pirates need most is an exorcistYou're probably thinking that Mr. Smizik is just being playful, tongue-in-cheekily acknowledging, but simultaneously ignoring, the real reasons behind the Pirates' failures, while throwing a crazy alternative theory out there to show us his wry sense of humor about the whole affair. Don't blame you; I know I did, until I read the rest of the article. The most difficult challenge facing the Pirates' next CEO will not be upgrading the team's current talent level or expanding the Latin American base of operation or persuading owner Bob Nutting to increase the payroll significantly. Those are only secondary issues to what makes the Pirates perennial losers.I'd say those issues are actual
Taking the Notorious Ph.D. to School! 2007-08-08 00:48:00 You'd think that someone who posts about once every two months would have a bunch of sweet post titles just waiting to see the light of day, right? Guess not.Todd Boyd writes for ESPN.com and, like Scoop Jackson, loves to use obscure hip-hop references to obfuscate the points of his columns. The reading experience is akin to an aptitude test: are you current enough to keep up with all the references? If so, congratulations, you may be able to parse this column and understand what Todd Boyd is trying to say. It's like being a member of an exclusive club, or knowing a secret language that only Todd and Scoop and maybe DJ Khaled truly understand.Don't know DJ Khaled? Well, looks like you're going to have to enjoy this post a little less than everyone else. Anyway, Todd Boyd thinks Hank Aaron should take the time to acknowledge the achievement of Barry Bonds, but remains in the shadows out of jealousy. I disagree, but let's see how Boyd arrived at that conclusion. **EDIT** I realize a Read more:Taking
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Fate Should be Tempted a Little More Than This 2007-08-07 23:11:00 Wet blanket extraordinaire Mike Imrem of the Chicago Daily Herald refuses to refrain from pooping the 2007 Cubs' party. That's right; his attitude is so negative, he qualifies as both a wet blanket, and a party pooper. Although the Cubs have been playing great baseball ever since they were inspired by a Piniella conniption and saved from a powerful curse by the departure of Michael Barret, Imrem just can't permit himself to ride the bandwagon. I suppose a little reluctance on the part of a longtime Cubs devotee is understandable, but really, you have to give me at least a slightly more convincing rationale than this:Don't blame me; it's just not meant to beWhen I saw this headline, I concluded (correctly) that no actual analysis would be forthcoming. Anything that might appear at first glance to be analysis would actually be superstitious nonsense masquerading as substantive information. When that blinding moment of epiphany occurs, a BTL post invariably follows close behind. Read more:Tempted
Meta-Meta-Criticism 2007-08-07 10:05:00 We here at BTL have made it our responsibility to call out sportswriters or broadcasters any time they say something stupid, or otherwise make some kind of egregious mistake. So, when guys like Phil Mushnik at the New York Post do likewise, we take it upon ourselves to also criticize their criticism. Following? Here's an excerpt from Mushnik's Monday column:Horrifying Sportcaster Cliche of the Week goes to Gary Cohen. Wednesday on SNY, Cohen said he could see how the Brewers' Manny Parra has enough good stuff "to have authored a perfect game in the minors" Yeesh. I don't really have a comment to make about this, except to say that it is completely mystifying. What is cliched about this statement? Saying that Parra threw a perfect game in the minors? He did throw a perfect game in the minors, so what's the problem here? Maybe it was Cohen's use of the verb "author" to describe how Parra threw the perfect game, but it's just a normal verb. I still don't see any cliche, let Read more:Criticism
Define "Settle In" 2007-08-07 01:24:00 Phillies starter Adam Eaton has grown disturbed about his poor performance early in games. Curiously, his poor performance later in games doesn't seem to faze him. Go figure.Early-game woes are irking EatonAdam Eaton is stumped. "What is it?" he asked.I'm afraid there's no easy answer, Adam. Eaton could become the first Phillies pitcher to finish with the league's worst ERA since Mark Leiter (5.67) in 1997.And all because of those early innings! If he could just figure out his problems at the beginning of the game, he'd be dominant, right? Eaton has a 7.63 ERA in his first two innings. He has a 5.25 ERA from the third inning on.Oh...hold on. You mean he's truly awful in the first two innings, and merely really bad for the remainder of the game? If he could just get his performance in the first 2 innings to resemble that of his performance in subsequent innings, why then...he would still be a terrible major league pitcher."Maybe more conviction," Eaton told reporters of a possible Read more:Settle
A King-Sized Error 2007-08-07 00:11:00 NY Post Yankee beat writer George King occupies a prominent spot on the short list of worst active sportswriters. Not only are his articles routinely poorly-written and riddled with typos, but the information he conveys so awkwardly is often completely erroneous. Most of the time this misinformation takes the form of baseless, unsubstantiated trade rumors, and while none of them ever materializes, it's still hard to prove conclusively that any particular one of them was never discussed by someone, somewhere, at some time. But this time, George finally carried his irresponsible journalistic practices too far, and I'm here to hold him accountable.August 6, 2007 -- Yankees fans are dying to see Joba Chamberlain pitch, but Joe Torre would simply like to meet the young man first. He'll get that chance today. August 6th is over, and it's safe to say that Joe did not, in fact, get that chance. Chamberlain was not called up.After yesterday's game, Mike Myers was designated for assignment
Blaming Barrett 2007-08-06 23:20:00 We've already informed you that identifying Lou Piniella's hysterics as the impetus for the Cubs' turnaround is stupid. Also stupid: crediting the loss of Michael Barrett
, and the subsequent addition of his inferior replacements, instead. But Jacob Luft of CNNSI has gone and done it anyway.The Cubs are no strangers to curses, having dealt with the wrath of an exiled billygoat for the past six decades. But now it looks like they have found another ballclub to share in the misery, if not take the burden off their shoulders altogether.The transfer of the curse -- if you believe in such silly notions -- took place on June 20, when Chicago traded catcher Michael Barrett, who had spent the better part of the past two seasons auditioning for the All-Ruffian team, to the San Diego Padres for backup catcher Rob Bowen and outfield prospect Kyler Burke.I'll just go right ahead and say it: I don't believe in such silly notions.These were the records of both teams after games played on June 19 Read more:Blaming
Defending Barry Bonds for Idiots 2007-08-06 20:16:00 Everyone at this point must be a little tired of hearing about Bonds
chasing Mays, chasing Ruth, chasing Aaron, and now finally hitting number 755. Nonetheless, since the feat occurred just this weekend, I suppose we can entertain a few more opinions, right? There are certainly a lot of players who refuse to credit Bonds' accomplishments. Since I'm on their side, I won't bother posting their opinions, but rather, I'll post the silly ones—the ones who try to invent some sort of twisted logic to allow them to support Bonds. First up, Andruw Jones:For Andruw Jones, all the talk about Barry
Bonds and drug use isn't an issue. "It doesn't matter," the Atlanta Braves star said Sunday. "There's a lot of people that take steroids, and they don't hit 755 home runs."We've all probably heard this argument a few times, and its logic never ceases to escape me. We're talking about Bonds passing Hank Aaron here, so is it relevant that "a lot of people take steroids?" I'm pretty sure Hank Read more:Idiots
A Banner Day 2007-08-09 19:34:00 Please excuse the entirely intentional pun; it's a momentous occasion, and I got a little carried away. As you can see, we have a pretty new banner, courtesy of a good friend of BTL who possesses what can only be called "mad photoshop skillz." It's a nice change from the acres of text which otherwise dominate BTL's layout, and we hope it will make your visits a little more enjoyable (it doubles as a link back to the main page if you're lost in the archives somewhere). We also hope it makes the dual meanings of "Between the Lines" even clearer. We read between the lines of articles that are written about events which transpire "between the lines." I know, right? BTL is renowned for its subtlety.Because I'm feeling generous, (and because many of you have requested the change) I'm hereby opening up the comments section to our huddled masses. Your yearning is over! Comment freely. You can even finally go back and transcribe those volumes of handwritten comments on old posts which you Read more:Banner
Also, Nobody Will Ever Win 18 Majors... 2007-08-13 23:16:00 Howdy, kids. The Intern is back after what can be generously described as a modest hiatus. This gem comes from loyal reader Kenneth from the Midwest:"on june 6, 2007, regarding luis castillo's consecutive errorless games record, nick punto said 'It's an amazing feat. I don't think that record will ever be broken.' then today, a little over 2 months later, placido polanco broke it" [Source]No doubt, though, this record will never be broken. You heard it here first.It's good to be back.-The Intern Read more:Nobody
George King Caught in the Act Again 2007-08-13 15:03:00 Less than a week after catching an erroneous factoid printed by George
King of the NY Post, lightning strikes again! Since ending a 0-for-20 slump on July 20, Damon is batting .370 (27-for-73) and has raised his average from .234 to .271.Damon is hitting .258. Count it! One of these days, I intend to proofread an entire George King column and determine exactly how many mistakes it contains. I will report back to you with the shocking findings, so stay tuned. Read more:Caught
, Again
The Benefit of Their "Expertise" 2007-08-13 02:33:00 Any publication to which Jeff Passan contributes probably shouldn't be titled the "MLB Experts Blog." It just invites criticism, if you know what I mean. But the good folks over at Yahoo! Sports settled on that very moniker, and they're sticking with it. The latest contributor to the MEB is Steve Henson, and while he's no Passan, I'm not sure he's completely deserving of the "expert" label either:The price of playing 81 games a year at cavernous Petco Park has never been illustrated more clearly than when San Diego Padres' outfielder Brian Giles hit five home runs in three games this weekend in the Cincinnati Reds' Great American Bandbox, er, Ball Park. Giles came into the series with two home runs. "This park is a little more conducive to my power," he said in the understatement of the year. Giles' power numbers have declined steeply since he hit 35 to 39 homers each year from 1999 to 2002 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He hit 23 in 2004, his first year full season with San Dieg Read more:Expertise
Maybe He Thought He Was Talking About Phil... 2007-08-18 20:09:00 Care of Mike Bianchi in the Orlando Sentinel (The Intern's third favorite Florida newspaper behind the Palm Beach Post and the Miami Herald, incidentally) today:Simms' fall from grace hits bottomThe Tampa Bay Buccaneers broke training camp Thursday at Disney -- the self-described "happiest place on Earth" where purportedly "dreams come true." Not for Chris Simms.As the one-time Bucs golden boy packed up and walked off Disney property, you had to wonder whether this training camp had become the saddest place on the planet where all his goals and aspirations came to die.The Intern admires Chris Simms' spleen game as much as anybody. But can you really say that he's falling from grace here? I mean, "one-time Bucs golden boy?" This is the same Chris Simms who threw 1 TD pass and 7 INTs last year before the spleen incident. That's as many TD passes as (current Patriots golden boy?) Vinny Testaverde threw last year. And 1/2 as many as were thrown by LaDanian Tomlinson. Yes, John Gruden Read more:Maybe
, Talking
An Entire Column on One Walk 2007-08-17 20:52:00 Not long ago, I posted about players' reactions to Barry Bonds, hoping quite unrealistically that it would be the last time I'd be speaking about Bonds at length, at least for a little while. Naturally, I was wrong, but I thought at the very least that anything I read about Bonds in the near future might be meaningful. But this column by Mike Berardino of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel (mouthful, eh?) isn't even that. Forget the right or wrong (and this column is most certainly wrong on many points). Forget all the controversy. This column is simply pointless and superfluous. It is entirely about one play in 1998 that tells us very little of consequence.Barry Bonds and his asterisk come rolling into town tonight, and the whole thing is enough to give me a headache.Understandable, but does that mean that you then have to write a pointless column and give me a headache?Yes, his head and his torso got awfully big in recent years, but what about those three MVP awards and eight Gold Glo Read more:Column
Mets Lack Vampire's Mentality 2007-08-17 20:19:00 Stephen A. Smith, the notoriously loudmouthed ESPN broadcaster, has a job at the Philadelphia Inquirer as a general sports columnist. That means he has to comment on multiple sports, which of course forces him to occasionally write about baseball, much to the dismay of baseball fans everywhere. Today, wise baseball fan that he is, Stephen A. has broken down the Mets' struggles in his latest column.Take a trip north to New York, hear the rumblings out of Shea Stadium, and you'll learn all is not well with the team there.I have heard these rumblings, but alas, I need Stephen A. to truly break it down for me.One pitcher in New York, John Maine, has been a shell of himself since the all-star break, going 3-3 with a 6.31 ERA in seven starts.He starts off on the right foot, with a fair criticism of Maine.Another, Oliver Perez (3-2, 4.33), hasn't been much better.Now, he begins to slip a little bit. Apparently, Oliver Perez "hasn't been much better" despite the number that Stephen himself Read more:Vampire
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A Dubious Prognostication 2007-08-17 14:00:00 Braves starter Tim Hudson might want to check the numbers before giving his vote of confidence to a struggling friend:"I think this offseason he'll get things ironed out and get back to the place he wants to be," Hudson said Tuesday. "In coming years, people will look back on this year with him and laugh about it."I can't envision a future in which Giants fans would look back and laugh about Zito's miserable 2007 campaign. Even if he does manage to rebound, (as Hudson himself has) the first year of his enormous contract will hold nothing but bad memories for Zito, and for the disappointed fans who have begun to boo his every appearance. But I can't say I'm too optimistic about Zito's chances. His K/9 has dropped significantly for the 3rd straight year, and his BB/9 has risen significantly for the 3rd straight year. He's heading in the wrong direction. And the move to the weaker National League was supposed to help him.Zito's abysmal performance can't be blamed on bad luck; his
The Real All-Current Team 2007-08-17 00:56:00 I come to you today as a result of a truly Herculean effort (at least in the Selig usage of the word). Although I am ensconced in a fishing lodge in the middle of the northern wilderness, I have reached out to you across space and time zones. Here I was, just lugging a laptop around in case I wanted to watch some old episodes of The Larry Sanders Show before bedtime, and miraculously, a wireless network notification appeared before my eyes like a mirage. This 21st century sure is something.Mere hours ago, I caught and clubbed my dinner into oblivion with just a minor twinge of guilt (which has since been erased, after a truly succulent meal). Now I sit before a roaring fire in a rustically-appointed room constructed almost entirely out of wood, blood and fish innards washed off along with any lingering remorse, preparing to type "VORP" more times than I care to think about. I could get used to this. In fact, I may be forced to integrate crackling logs (and the slaughter of innocent wil Read more:Current
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