Random thoughts

So it's been a crazy past couple of months; between my job, 4 classes at law school, and working on one of the journals at the school. As a result, my blogging duties have slacked completely. Since it's been a while, here are some random thoughts:

- So Joe Torre ended his tenure as Yankees manager by rejecting a (cough "lowball") offer for 1 year, $5 million. He ends a 12 year period where the team made the playoffs every year, one 4 World Series titles, went to 2 more Series on top of that, and was the face of the team. He ends all this to go to the Dodgers; people with a sense of baseball and Yankees history will find it funny that he left for the team that was, for much of the 50's through the 80's, the team's National League rival. From a nostalgia standpoint, it's sad to see Torre go, but I'm more concerned about the choice of Girardi as manager. For a team putting so much stock in its young pitchers, you'd think they'd at least look at the way the Marlins pitchers broke down last season after a year under Girardi. Also, when someone leaves a job, and NO ONE has anything good to say on the way out, shouldn't that tell you something?

- If I were the Yankees, I would have offered A-Rod the $300 million. I don't think it's even a tough decision to re-sign the best player in baseball, especially when you're about to move into a new stadium.

- UConn football lost last weekend, starting the worst weekend of football in recent memory (ended by the Giants loss at the hands of the Cowboys). Still though it's incredible to me that the Huskies have stuck around in the Top 25 for this long, and that they are in line for their second bowl game in a handful of years. I remember vaguely Cliff Robinson playing for UConn basketball in the mid-late 80's, and I was 9 when UConn made its first trip to the Elite 8, losing a close game to Duke. It was very cool to be a fan of the men's basketball program as it rose to prominence, and it would be just as cool to be a fan of the football program as it tries to do the same thing. Obviously, the Big East will never be the SEC, the ACC, or any of the big football conferences, but it's still fun to have major college football in Connecticut.

- Read Basketball Prospectus; it's brought to you by the same guys as Baseball Prospectus. If you read and like John Hollinger's stuff on espn.com, it will be right up your alley.

What an odd night

So the Yankees have finally succumb to the obviously superior Indians. Although I will say that having Borowski as your closer has to make you want to vomit every five minutes. Jesus, that was scary at the end last night and I am not even an Indians fan.

I did enjoy what was possibly A-Rod's last at bat as a Yankee and he did what everyone accuses him of: hitting an ultimately useless home run. Good for you Alex, good for you.

Thankfully, we don't have to be bombarded with FOX shitting themselves over a Red Sox/Yankees ALCS. Personally, I don't think I could take that again. 2004 was just about enough for me.

Meanwhile, in football world the Buffalo Bills had their first MNF showing in 13 years and boy was it something. Our defense actually showed up and basically personally assraped Tony Romo. Thanks to what I think was inept coaching (really? Trent Edwards throwing on third down when you are up by 11? Just run the fucking ball!) we of course lost the game due to a 53 yard field goal. Like there was any ever doubt the Bills would blow it.

First off: Fuck Dick Jauron. Fuck him in the ear. He sucks and looks like death. Take your Yale degree and go coach pee wee football. That is about what you are worth. Second: If I ever have to see Jerry Jones jumping up and down in Ralph Wilson Stadium again, I might jump out a window. Third: Tony Romo is a dick. Seriously, his post game comment about "great qbs" overcoming adversity was utter crap. Stop listening to ESPN slurp on your balls. You aren't that good.

JD Drew did not rape your mother

Among other bad things, JD Drew does not get as dirty as some fuckfaced retards (COUGH COUGH) would enjoy - he also takes a lot of pitches, almost never swears on the field, practices wikka, has never (to my knowledge) railed a stripper or dragged Jacoby Ellsbury's drunken ass off a bar stool at Fanuiel, and went home to be with his 18-mo.-old son instead of getting wasted on the mound with a naked Papelbon last week.

He did not, however, rape your mother, nor did he rape the Red Sox out of $14 million.

After the dust settled, JD Drew finished with a season-long composite of .270/.373/.423 (for a .796 OPS) - this is not exactly worth $14 million on the whole, but this compares similarly with such stalwart players as Jermaine Dye (who some idiots wanted to replace Drew at the trading deadline), Miguel Tejada and Michael Young. By most measurements Drew played decent defense (with the exception of Zone Rating, which is always f-ed for Fenway's bizarre RF) to offset the positional issues. He was worth about 4.6 wins according to WARP3, and was certainly a positive contributor for the Sox this season.

More striking, Drew has amped it up in September, to the tune of .342/.454/.618 (OPS of 1.072). In the second half, he went .286/.379/.462 (OPS .841), which includes a brutal month of July. If you take away his May and July bed-poopings, he played four months of .900+ OPS baseball - Manny Ramirez has an OPS of just about .900 exactly this season. When you look at that division banner and think about the Yankees' inevitable run this month, you have JD Drew to thank for helping fend off the Scourge's Surge.

With the usual adjustment to the AL, as well as the severe personal issues Drew has gone through, this season and his hot streak heading toward the playoffs should be viewed as a massive positive - booing this man should result in a punch in the anus, when Certified Hard Workers (r) like Trot Nixon struggle to sub-.700 OPS numbers in a platoon role.

So the next time Simmons makes a cheap crack about Drew wilting in a prime role or taking a called third strike think about this:

Drew's OPS for the year: .796
RISP: .784 (league: .780/RS: .829)
RISP/2 out: .831 (league: .753/RS: .792)
Tie game: .863 (league: .764/RS: .825)
Close/late: .763 (league: .723/RS: .745)
Plus, Drew is third on the team in WPA for hitters - if you don't know what that is, bitch you better ask somebody . . .

Then, after properly smart-ifying yourself, inform them kindly that they should a.) eat uncooked pork and get trichinosis and/or b.) stop being the Massholiest of all Massholes, and embrace a guy who has worked hard and fought through 2 very tough months to be a productive player who may wind up the centerpiece of the Sox playoff run. If nothing else, his September indicates he could be the middle-of-the-order fixture the Sox wanted him to be for years to come.

JD Drew is not a problem on the 2007 Red Sox. Should the Sox get some breaks, I fully expect to see Drew on the mound, dancing with Paps and looking like these guys: