There’s lots of history-related stuff to get to, but hardly any of it could sustain its own overly-analyzed article. So to save time, I’ve collected some of the recent history-related news and compiled it into a tidy little mash-up. I have a tendency to start new segments on this site, only to grow bored and quickly abandon them, so I won’t proclaim this something I’ll regularly do. But you never know.
Kemp surprisingly close to triple crown, NBA closer to canceling opening games
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Anyway, lousy introduction over. Commence reading:
- Seriously. Matt Kemp could actually win the triple crown! Many sports fans believe that the sports media has an inherent “east coast bias.” I tend to disagree. Three-fourths of this country’s sports teams are east of the Mississippi, so of course more attention will be paid to the team’s bordering the Atlantic. But man, I can’t think of any other reason why Matt Kemp’s chase for a triple crown isn’t getting the same day-to-day attention that ESPN gave Jeter when he was chasing his 3,000th hit. I think even Ray Allen passing Reggie Miller’s three’s record got more publicity. Kemp is tied for first in the National League in home runs, tied for first in RBI, and only six points behind Ryan Braun for first place in batting average. It’s unlikely, but not totally inconceivable that he could wind up with the first triple crown since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967, 44 years ago. And yet, all the baseball press seems to be going to the Red Sox these days. What a shame.
- Not this Red Sox collapse isn’t fascinating to watch. Not even Jon Lester and Josh Beckett can save them. At this point, the schedule is their best friend. It’s almost unquestionable that if the season went a week longer, the Sox couldn’t possibly make the postseason. Their hitters have gone cold, their pitching is abysmal. But there’s only four days left in the season, and they play five games. The Angels and Rays aren’t exactly playing out of their minds either, so all Boston may have to do is win twice and they should be in the clear. The Rays finish the year with a three-game set against the Yankees, and the Angels are totally unreliable because their lineup is three years late of being impressive. (No contender should have Bobby Abreu, Torii Hunter and Vernon Wells in the heart of the order.)The NBA recently canceled training camp and half of the league’s preseason games. Which begs the question: how come we only ever hear about the NFL’s training camp? I didn’t even know the NBA’s training camp existed, let alone that it was something Gilbert Arenas and Ron Artest were required to attend. Anywho, there really isn’t a whole lot of historical precedence for the NBA missing games. because until 1999, it had never happened. The NBA used to take a lot of pride in being the only sports league that never lost a game due to a work stoppage. But you wouldn’t know it from the guys running the league now, who see the loss of regular season games as a necessary casualty. And a work stoppage now would be particularly devastating. In 1999, the NBA had just lost Michael Jordan and the best team in the league was the San Antonio Spurs; in other words, it was a season that could afford the first two months to be trimmed off. But people want to see this current season. They want to see how LeBron is going to react to losing in the finals, they want to see the Miami Heat. Sadly, they’re just going to have to wait.These aren’t your daddy’s Diamondbacks. But they almost are. Arizona won the division on Friday, one of three teams to win their division on Friday. (Coincidence?) They lost 97 games last year, which ties the ‘91 Braves and the ‘99 Diamondbacks for the most losses in the previous year by a team that won their division. Like most drastic turnarounds, Arizona owes most of their success to their pitching staff, particularly Ian Kennedy and Daniel Hudson. Which isn’t to say that Justin Upton isn’t one of the 10-15 best players in baseball at this point, because he obviously deserves some credit as well.
- How important is Mariano Rivera really? I heard Tim Kurkjian do a radio interview last week saying that Mariano Rivera is one of the 10 greatest Yankees in franchise history. And what baffles me is that his opinion isn’t an aberration. Look, I get that Rivera is phenomenal at what he does, better than maybe anyone else in baseball at what they do. But a Yankee Top 10 player???? No way. It’s tough being a great closer, but it’s easier being a closer, period, than it is being a starter. Find me one failed closer who went on to be a great starter and I’ll name you 20 failed starters who went on to be great closers. Only having to pitch in one inning, without having to worry about a pitch count, pitching to batters who are probably a little tired, with a fresh arm is unarguably easier than what a starter has to do. Making Rivera a Top 10 Yankee is like making Rob Bironas an MVP candidate. I know he’s spent his whole career there and is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but I’d take 20 former Yankee starters before I’d even consider Rivera.
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