Broadcaster and baseball geek, Keith Olbermann, was given a tour of the new Yankee Stadium. He took a video camera, too. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhWfy80MrOA&hl=en]
We will debut a live chat next Tuesday at 6:45 p.m. from Citizens Bank Park. More information will come in the ensuing days, but in the meantime, bookmark this link to participate.
It wasn't all that long ago when I wrote an essay about how a 14-year-old female swimmer was tougher than then-Phillies pitcher Gavin Floyd. Actually, the swimmer just wasn't tougher mentally than Floyd, but I had an inkling that if it ever went down, the girl would give him a beating.
The point was that Floyd was soft. I based that assessment from listening to his teammates, coaches and team executives talk about him, as well as from body language. Floyd just didn't seem comfortable in his own skin. He was intimidated by the media, his teammates, himself and worse, the competition.
Floyd had talent to spare and dominated his way through the minors even though he was rather uninspired. He yawned his way through a minor-league no-hitter and pitched, as some experts observed, as if he was bored. But when he got to the Phillies and quickly realized that everyone was talented and that he would have to become fully engaged, well, that's when things got difficult.
"The competition isn't a threat," pitching coach Rich Dubee said in a story dated June 5, 2006. "It should be a challenge. It intimidates him sometimes. Everything's life and death, and it doesn't need to be that way. This needs to be something that he enjoys doing. I'm sure he felt extra heat - a lot of a lot of good players have had to go backward to go forward. Hopefully, he can get straightened out and get back up here."
That was when I wrote about how 14-year-old Amanda Beard, the Olympic champion and a contemporary of Floyd's, could kick his ass.
Nevertheless, after a four-inning stint in Los Angeles on June 1 of 2006 where Floyd gave up seven earned runs on seven hits, three walks and three homers, the fourth overall pick of the 2001 draft never pitched for the Phillies again. Though he was drafted ahead of big-league regulars like Mark Teixeira, Aaron Heilman, Bobby Crosby, Jeremy Bonderman, Noah Lowry, Dan Haren, Scott Hairston, Kevin Youkilis, Dan Uggla, Ryan Howard and David Wright, the Phillies packaged him up as a complimentary piece in the deal to acquire Freddy Garcia from the Chicago White Sox.
Who would have guessed that Garcia got just one more win for the Phillies after the trade than Floyd?
Or who would have guessed that Floyd's nasty sweeping curve would return to form and become one of the best pitches in the American League? Who would have guessed that Floyd would have solidified himself as a main cog in Ozzie Guillen's rotation on the South Side?
Better yet, who would have guessed that Floyd would have carried two no-hitters into the eighth inning - and beyond - during the first month of the season?
Anyone? Pat Gillick? Charlie Manuel? Cole Hamels? Anyone?
As Charlie Manuel told MLB.com in today's edition:
"When I see Gavin pitch like that, it shows he can do it," Manuel said. "He's 3-1. He's been kind of inconsistent in his career, but his stuff, everyone in baseball and everyone in our organization and the White Sox organization sees the same stuff. That's why he was projected as someone who could be a good big league pitcher."
Just somewhere else.
"I think the change of scenery helped him," Manuel said. "I think he was ready for a change of scenery from Philadelphia, and it's been good for him. He's pitching to his potential."
Floyd came five outs away from a no-hitter against the Detroit Tigers on April 12 where he struck out four and gave up just the one hit in a 7-0 win. Earlier this week, Floyd took a no-no into the ninth against the Minnesota Twins before Joe Mauer - the No. 1 pick of the 2001 draft - laced a double to left-center with one out.
All told, Floyd has a 3-1 record with a 2.50 ERA in six starts - all in which he has pitched at least six innings. If there has been one mar on Floyd's slate it is that he ahs just 19 strikeouts to 18 walks this season. However, opponents, obviously, aren't getting too many hits off him. In nearly 40 innings, Floyd has given up just 20 hits to hold the opposition to a .149 batting average.
As fellow first-round draft pick and minor-league teammate Cole Hamels told MLB.com:
"It's great for him," Hamels said. "He's always had the stuff. It's always been a confidence factor. I don't think he ever got comfortable in Philadelphia. He has tremendous stuff, and now he has to go out there and show everybody what he's really all about and the player that a lot of people saw."
His new manager Guillen saw it and was willing to send his close friend Garcia packing in order to get Floyd.
As Guillen told the Chicago Sun Times:
"So far, he makes me sound like a genius," Guillen said. "Everything is mental. If you believe in what you have and that you can do this, it's going to be easier. There's no doubt this guy has great stuff.
"I like his arm, and that's the reason we take the chance. He believes in himself now and has confidence."
Can Floyd keep it up? Only time will tell. But the one thing for sure is that Guillen and the White Sox are going to give him a chance. Confidence and comfortability seem to have given the tall righty the toughness that was missing during his time in Philadelphia. Experience seems to have helped, too. The mark of a good athlete is how he (or she) handles defeats. It's easy to cruise through games with yawns and knockouts, but it's much more difficult to get back up after being knocked down.
The tough ones get back up.
Maybe Floyd is as just as tough as Amanda Beard? The difference now appears to be that one was simply a late bloomer.
I'm tired. Just beat. Frankly, it's all I can do to keep my eyes open or from pitching forward off the couch and onto the floor. If I'm not rubbing my eyes I'm yawning. And if I'm not yawning, I'm quickly trying to snap my head back up after quickly dozing off.
In other words, I'm tired.
But the reason for my languor is not from too much exercise or other "lifestyle" choices. Generally, I eat well, though this week I had my first pizza, beer and ice cream-type dessert of the year. I figure a person needs to earn those types of things and after four months I relented. Besides, the next shot I get at those types of things won't be until November so I might as well enjoy the week of letting go.
Still, I get plenty of rest, drink lots of water and take vitamins. Additionally, I give badass lessons on the side for folks interested in becoming a man of steel though the ability to fly and the vertical leap are not in the syllabus. We just deal in hard-headed toughness.
Anyway, the reason why I'm beat and bone weary is because of all these damn late-night starts for the Phillies. Sure, Arizona, where the Phillies are knee-deep in a four-game set with the Diamondbacks, is just two hours behind us on the east, but that's an extra two hours I have to think about a nap and rearranging the daytime schedule. Just wait until the Phillies get to San Francisco on Friday night when the first pitch isn't thrown until after 10 p.m.
The thing about time zones is that they get better the farther west you go. I remember Randy Wolf explaining the reason why he was a Braves fan as a kid instead of the nearby Dodgers was because the Braves were always on TV when he got home from school. He could come home, put his books down and there was Glavine, Maddux and Smoltz pitching for the Braves every day at 4 p.m. Perhaps the fact that California kids get so much more exposure to the game than the kids living in the Eastern Time zone is the reason why there are so many west coasters in the Majors.
We get bad traffic, foul attitudes, snowy winters and humidity and they get 300 days of sunshine a year, beautiful landscapes and the Braves game at 4 p.m.
Surely that theory as to why California is home to the most baseball players is correct, but it doesn't do anything for hardcore Phillies' fans that need some sleep. Better yet, imagine trying to follow a game when you're fatigued after a long day, you finally get the kids off to bed after an argument with a four-year old over whether it's the Leaning Tower of Pisa or the Leaning Tower of Pizza only to settle in front of the tube on the night Jamie Moyer is pitching.
The drug companies ought to try to make a pill that can put a guy out faster than a west-coast game pitched by Jamie Moyer. Hell, that's a narcotic.
Inevitably, though, it's about the seventh inning when you finally shake off the cob webs and look up to see red caps and visiting grays dashing around the bases in the desert. But just when you think it's some sort of Alice in Wonderland-type dream without the backwards clock, big No. 6 takes a called third strike and reality returns.
***
So yeah, Ryan Howard's slump is well into its second month and has shown the slightest interest in taking a break. In fact, it's really quite confusing why Howard's dead weight continues to fill up the cleanup spot in the batting order between the hot-hitting duo of Chase Utley and Pat Burrell.
Worse, it seems as if Howard really doesn't have a clue at all right now. Always quick to make adjustments at every level of his pro career, Howard seems perplexed as his average dips closer to .160 and his strikeout total edges closer to triple digits with each passing week.
Remember, it's still May.
Nevertheless, don't be surprised if Howard finishes the season with a .220 average and 220 strikeouts even though to boost his average that high would take some work. In the meantime, Howard could at least feign interest in the field or stop acting like the umps are ringing him up on bad or borderline calls. He should take his medicine like a man or at least in the same manner in which he fought for the $10 million for the season.
Better yet, dig this quote lifted from Scott Lauber:
"To me, it's all about seeing the ball and having good at-bats," Howard said. "To everyone else, it's about results. That's how it is in the media and everywhere else. So that's that. People see what they want to see. There's a lot of stuff that you don't see, other stuff that's going on. I try to do what I can to help the team win in whatever ways I can."
No, trying to help the team in whatever way he can is something Eric Bruntlett or Chris Coste says. For Ryan Howard, who whined about money for the past two years, it is about results. If he wants to blame the media for focusing on things like "results," fine. But if that's the case he shouldn't go crying to the media when he doesn't get the contract he wants or when his new video game comes out.
Then again, video games are for guys with results so that's that.
Here's a theoretical:
Who is out of baseball first? Jim Thome or Ryan Howard.
So yeah, the day of running is here. I was good enough for a trophy, but not for a check. I would have preferred a check.
I'm holed up here in a hotel in the Pocono Mountains kind of like Hunter Thompson on the Vegas strip, only not as much fun and fewer grapefruits. But I bet I have the departed gonzo doctor beat on pounds of ice applied to muscles and tendons as well as milligrams of NSAIDs ingested.
Do I know how to party or what?
Anyway, it's always peculiar to note the extremes folks (like me) will go to in order to put on some skimpy and overpriced clothing along with shoes featuring more technological materials than the space shuttle in order to run around like a weirdo. Oh sure, there really aren't too many things that are more fun than dashing around all naked in the wind-like, but it's not exactly natural. Hell, when is the last time a giraffe out on the savanna decided to get the training run in for the day?
Giraffes run when they have to, not because they can.
But speaking of natural, Pat Burrell's plate appearance with two outs in the bottom of the 10th was certified organic. Better yet, it was artful - a measure of power vs. power and baseball savvy all rolled into a healthy, natural mix. Better yet, watching here in the heavily fortified compound off the Interstate with free parking, a pool, wireless and a complimentary breakfast, it was hard not to see how Burrell was going to end last night's game with a home run. On the telecast it was easy to see Burrell attempt to get his timing down to catch up with Brian Wilson's blazing fastball and by the time he solved the riddle of velocity and location, the baseball didn't stand a chance.
But more than the walk-off homer to win another game for the Phillies, Burrell's transformation this season has remarkable. At the plate he's balanced, patient, focused and relaxed. He seems to have a plan every time he strolls to the plate that goes beyond the simple grip-it-and-rip-it mien. For once it seems, the numbers tell the full story about what Burrell is bringing to the table for the Phillies - certainly it's been a long time since that occurred.
Burrell rates in the top five in six major offensive categories. He leads the league in RBIs (29); he's second in homers (nine) and slugging (.690); third in OPS (1.142); fourth in on-base percentage (.452); and fifth in walks (23). Better yet, Burrell is on pace to set career highs in homers, RBIs, walks, hits and runs.
Perhaps most importantly, Burrell is on pace to set a career low in strikeouts. Sure, he's whiffing at a clip that could give him 113 for the season, but that's a big drop from last season's 120. That's because he and Chase Utley are carrying the middle of the order while Ryan Howard attempts to find a clue out there.
But how about this? Should Charlie Manuel bump up Burrell a spot in the batting order to cleanup and slide Howard down to the fifth or sixth spot? For one, Burrell might get more pitches to hit with the specter of Howard's past performances lurking on the on-deck circle. For another, the Phillies break up the lefties in the middle of the order so that the opposition can't bring in a late-inning left-hander to face both Utley and Howard.
From here, holed up on the first floor waiting for the wakeup call in order to get caffeine and numb from the ibuprofen, the Burrell-Howard switch seems like the smart thing to do. With Burrell driving in runs and winning games for the team and Howard doing his best to kill rallies with an avalanche of whiffs, the longest-tenured Phillie seems ready to be the anchor.
Here's Royals' outfielder Joey Gathright relaxing after a game... [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cySfw8f0beg&hl=en]
Meanwhile, there's a chance that Lenny Dykstra might have to part with some of that fortune he supposedly has. According to reports, Dykstra is being sued by the publisher of his magazine after just one issue.
Workouts are important indicators of potential performance. If a man or an animal put in quality workouts time in and time out, chances are they are going to do well when it comes time for the big day.
Plus, you can really tell a lot about a man (or an animal) based on how much he enjoys practice and his craft. Word is Seabiscuit whinnied and whined every time he saw horses circling the track. Sometimes it took all the might of the stable hands just to hold back the legendary horse from busting through the rails to take off after another horse breezing through a few furlongs.
The same was said about Michael Jordan, too. Legend has it that for as competitive and nasty as he was during a playoff game, he took the battles to another level during every day workouts. It was what made Jordan great, some said.
Allen Iverson? Practice? Not so much.
As a workout fiend known for leaving some of his best performances on the back roads instead of in the big races, I have a special fondness for workout logs and results. That's especially true this time of year when the Triple Crown stakes races approach. That's why I spent a little while this afternoon combing through the charts and times for the workouts of the 20 horses set to race in this Saturday's Kentucky Derby. Yeah, I'm sure some of the times are withheld and other workouts are ignored, but I continue to use the workouts as the top criterion for picking a winner in a horse race.
After that, it's hard to ignore past performances.
Bloodlines? Yeah, that's important, but not as much as one would think.
So without much more waxing on, here are the three horses I like in Saturday's big race:
- Eight Belles - the No. 5 horse is a field pick at 20-1, which means he's not much of a contender. However, the Kentucky-bred filly has won four straight races this year as well a workout where he breezed through five furlongs in 58.2 this week. Last week Eight Belles did four furlongs in 46.6 and seems to be getting stronger.
- Colonel John - OK, I like the name, and at 4-1 the No. 10 is the second favorite in the Derby. But the numbers are big - two five-furlongs sessions in 57.8 and 59.4 during the last two weeks coupled with six lifetime races in which the Kentucky-bred colt has four wins and two second-place finishes. Call this horse the smart money.
- Big Brown - Despite coming out of the 20th hole, the lightly-raced Kentucky native is the favorite at 3-1. However, even with a few somewhat pedestrian workouts, Big Brown is a big monster when the bell rings. All three of Big Brown's wins were by big margins, including a five-length romp in last month's Florida Derby. Word around the backstretch is that Big Brown is a big "freak" and very well might roll over the big field for the first jewel of the Triple Crown.
Could Big Brown be the first horse to win the Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978? We'll find out on Saturday. In the meantime, arrange the 5, 10 and 20 in a trifecta and send me a big kudos if this works out for you.
OK, I just can't resist. It's so hard to stay away...
Anyway, the Phillies will be wearing green caps this evening when they play the San Diego Padres here at the Bank. The reason, in addition to clever marketing, is because the ballclub announced that it had begun a "groundbreaking green initiative," in which it will attempt to "offset its carbon footprint" from being typical wasteful Americans. In order to offset its waste, the Phillies have purchased 20 million kilowatt-hours of Green-e Energy Certified Renewable Energy Certificates, which the team says the EPA reports is the largest single purchase of 100 percent renewable energy in pro sports and is equal to planting 100,000 trees.
According to its web site, Green-e Energy is "the nation's leading independent consumer protection program for the sale of renewable energy and greenhouse gas reductions in the retail market."
Moreover, the Phillies say they are the first Major League Baseball team to join the EPA's Green Power Partnership program, which is a "voluntary program that encourages organizations to buy green power as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with purchased electricity use." The team also reports that according to the EPA, the team is the third largest Green Power Partner in Philadelphia and seventh largest Green Power Partner in Pennsylvania.
So that's why the Phillies are wearing green caps. It also is worthy of a nice kudos for the Phillies for being proactive in a vital issue. However, the cynic in me couldn't help but wonder if the new greening of the Phillies means the team will shut off the lights to the ballpark after the game instead of letting them burn away all night?
Does it also mean that the team will encourage its ballplayers to drive more fuel-efficient automobiles? Perhaps the team will even begin composting some of the waste left in the seats after the game? I'm sure there are many more little peccadilloes we can delve into about the team being truly "green," but in the meantime it should be noted that it is a most worthy effort.
Besides, there are a few more noticeable recycling stations planted about the ballpark, which is nice.
Speaking of the Phillies' ballpark, Sports Illustrated ran a poll of fans and ticketholders ranking the stadiums on several criteria and Citizens Bank Park came in 10th. The categories are affordability, food, team quality, tradition, atmosphere, fan IQ, hospitality, promotions, traffic and neighborhood.
Amongst those, the Philllies performed well in food (fourth), team quality (ninth), atmosphere (seventh) and fan IQ (seventh). In promotions and traffic the Phillies did OK, checking in 10th of the 30 teams.
What hurt the team was the ballpark's neighborhood - it was rated 20th - and the patrons in the ballpark. In that category, called hospitality, the Phillies were dead last.
Hey, it was the home team's fans that responded to the poll. In other words, the Phillies fans are the people who are so self-loathing.
Anyway, for those who did not click on the link, here are the top 10 rankings according to the Sports Illustrated poll:
1.) Cleveland
2.) Milwaukee
3.) Pittsburgh
4.) Detroit
5.) St. Louis
6.) Seattle
7.) Colorado
8.) Chicago White Sox
9.) L.A. Angels
10.) Phillies
Cleveland? Milwaukee? Detroit?
Interestingly, the Phillies and the White Sox are the only teams rated so highly that did not have a ballpark located in the downtown area of the city. The L.A. Angels play in Anaheim, which is a suburb of a suburb so there really isn't a downtown to speak of. Nevertheless, it's worth noting that CBP was rated better than the ballparks in New York City, Boston and Wrigley Field - the so-called traditional ballparks.
Since no one asked and it is my web site, here's how I'd rate the parks:
1.) Coors (Denver) - mostly because if I'm there it means I'm in Colorado.
2.) Camden Yards (Baltimore) - best press box and they have fresh-brewed ice tea in the media dining room. It's also easy to get to and all of the logistical stuff. It was the first of the "retro parks" and still the best.
3.) Fenway (Boston) - sentimental choice, but really, the place is a bit of a dump. It is also cool to walk to and from the park in one of the best "walking cities" in the country.
4.) Yankee Stadium (New York) - sentimental choice, but really, the new park is needed.
5.) Nationals Park (Washington) - OK, I haven't been there yet, but it's in Washington and everyone says it's cool. So there.
6.) CBP (Philly) - I'm here so much and know my way around. Here's a fun fact: I've been covering games at CBP longer than at the Vet.
One more interesting caveat: the bottom three rated parks (Florida, RFK ad Shea) are all in the NL East.
I had something all written and ready to go, but I didn't like it and it was kind mean (but true) so I'm going to take a break for a few days. Plus, I have that whole marathon taper irritability thing going on so I'm just going to cool out. Check back on Friday night or Saturday when I might post something from the Poconos where I'll be holed up in a hotel (with a pool!) for a few days ahead of Sunday's big race.
Below is a photo of Stanford runner Alicia Follmar, who took a hard fall in the Penn Relays women's collegiate distance medley race at Franklin Field yesterday. While on the ground after the fall, Follmar was spiked on the head, which probably didn't feel too great, either. Those spikes are sharp like needles and can cut through soda cans like those ginzu knives in the old TV commercials. Imagine what it must feel like to be trampled on the head by a shoe covered with ginzu knives... yeah, ouch!
Nevertheless, Follmar got up -- bloodied but unbowed -- and finished in third place, behind Tennessee and Michigan.
Alicia Follmar is much tougher than you.
photos from the Track & Field News
just relaxing, cooling off and having fun. Don't they write songs about this?
photo from Recovox News
We're kind of into the whole endurance sport thing here at Finger Food World Headquarters in Lancaster, Pa., U.S.A. We're big fans of all of it and follow it the way most people get into football or baseball. Truth is, we such big running geeks that we can recite training logs of some of the sports top athletes for the weeks leading up to a big race. Like how Alberto Salazar raced Henry Rono in a 10k match race days before winning the '82 Boston in the famous "Duel in the Sun." Or how Brian Sell ran 10 in 52 the day before finishing third in last November's Olympic Trials.
There are many reasons for our geekdom. For one thing, running, cycling, swimming and those types of things are the most egalitarian of all the sports. If a person want to be good at one of those sports, all he has to do is put in the work. Over time, the people who are consistent in working hard will get good results.
Guaranteed.
What I also like about those sports is you don't have to pass the ball. If a mistake is made, it's your own damn fault. No one has to worry about fielding errors or those types of annoyances.
Sure, there are errors in a race. For instance, over a decade ago I was in a 10k and running in second place well off the lead. Actually, the leader was so far ahead that I couldn't see him and there was no one within sight behind me either. I was in no-man's land... literally. But here's the thing - the leader had the local police leading the way with a pace car. All he had to do was follow the guide through the woods and hills of the course out in some nature preserve on the far northern edge of Lancaster County. Not only was the dude in the lead and winning easily, but also he had a tour guide.
Back in second place (or first loser) I'm grinding it out a hoping that every corner I turn is the last one. Finally, around 30 minutes into it I figure it's time to put down the hammer and run it in hard. Out there by myself I didn't know if anyone was gaining on me so I'm scared about losing second. But here's the funny part - there was no one out there to show me the way to the finish line. So running hard with eyes bulging and froth flying from my mouth, I missed the final right turn. Actually, the course wasn't marked so it wasn't like I missed the turn - the turn didn't exist.
About five minutes later I realized something was wrong, but I still worried that someone would catch me. So I kept hammering away and before I knew it I was somewhere in the woods of Lebanon County -- just running around and trying to find the finish line. It took another 30 minutes for me to find my way back to the car. So yeah, an error in running can cost another person a race.
Anyway, as endurance freaks this is a fun time of year. London, the Olympic Trials and Boston were piled on top of each other in successive weeks. That's like holding the conference championships and the Super Bowl without bye weeks with all the best athletes in the world in action.
Locally, the Penn Relays start today with the Olympic development 5 and 10 kilometer races set for tonight's Distance Night. The big-timers preparing to win gold in Beijing like 400-meter man Jeremy Wariner and sprinter Tyson Gay are in town for Saturday's marquee events.
Meanwhile, the road racing scene blasts into full gear, too. The always speedy Broad Street Run is next weekend, as well as a ton of smaller, local races. That goes for the multi-sport set, too. In fact, one-time Phillie Jeff Conine has joined our ranks as an endurance geek. After finally retiring from the Major Leagues, Conine has jumped into the triathlon and even got a special waiver to compete in October's Hawaiian Ironman.
Frankly, I think he should qualify like a real athlete, but you know, Major Leaguers often have special entitlements.
Anyway, Conine's new hobby was chronicled by The New York Times this week.
There is nothing like warming up for a marathon with a long swim and bike ride, huh?
Speaking of qualifying for big races, there was another story in The Times about the lengths people go to get into the Boston Marathon and why, as Gina Kolota writes, "Why is it so hard to enter?"
Here it is:
It isn't hard to enter the Boston Marathon. The fact is the qualifying standards are a little too fair. Soft, actually. Boston is good because it's supposedly difficult to get into. There should be standards sometimes.
Look, our sport is easy - if a person want to be good, all he has to do is put in the work. Over time, the people who are consistent in working hard will get good results. Even Jeff Conine.
Guaranteed.
Monday was one of those epic days in sports where everything kind of fell into place the way everyone expected.
Robert Cheruiyot dominated the Boston Marathon... again.
The Flyers went from a 3-1 lead in a best-of-seven series to a do-or-die Game 7... again.
And Chase Utley hit a home run and made some clutch plays to lead the Phillies to a victory... again.
You know - no big whoop.
Anyway, Cheruiyot won his fourth Boston against a weaker field than in past years. One reason for that is because the top American runners either ran in the Olympic Trials last November (or London two weeks ago) or will run in the track Trials in July. So unlike the past handful of years where the elite Americans showed up and ran with Cheruiyot for a little bit, this year there were other things going on.
Additionally, guys like Ryan Hall and the fastest runners in the world went to London where the course is much more forgiving, the competition fierce and fast times are inevitable. Boston's course beats the hell out the quads and calves with the undulating terrain. No, Boston isn't exactly a slow course - there is a net downhill, after all. There are parts of the route from Hopkinton to Boston where runners actually have to hold back to avoid going too fast.
In contrast, the uphill climbs in Newton come at a point where a runner's glycogen stores are just about gone. They don't call them Heartbreak Hill for nothing. Hell, I recall doing workouts through the Newton hills and attacked the famed (infamous?) Heartbreak Hill fresh and it gave me a little kick in the ass. Imagine spending miles 16 to 21 of a marathon trying to get over those hills.
Lance Armstrong, who mastered Alpe d'Huez (among others) during his seven Tour de France victories, ran his first Boston yesterday. From the sound of it, Armstrong got a little boot to the rear in Newton though it should be noted that he ran negative splits for a respectable 2:50:58.
According to the Associated Press:
Armstrong said there's no comparison between running a marathon and cycling, either physically or mentally.
"You can't compare the pounding or running with the efficiency of a bicycle," he said. "Nothing even comes close to comparing the pain, especially it seems like this course, with a significant amount of downhills ... that really take their toll on the muscles."
But Boston is not exactly a world-record course, either. Cheruiyot was on course-record pace yesterday, casually ripping through miles 3 to 19 in 4:53 or faster. That includes a 4:37 at mile 19 that obliterated the rest of the field. However, Cheruiyot "slowed" over the final 10k to finish in 2:07:43, well off his record 2:07:14 he set in 2006. Interestingly, Cheruiyot's fourth victory in Boston was only the fifth winning time under 2:08 in the 112 years of the race.
Compare that to the London Marathon this year where the top six in the 2008 race ran under 2:07 and it's easy to see why the best runners don't show up to Boston (or New York) any more. Why go get beat up when Chicago, London and Berlin have (relative) cakewalk courses?
Nevertheless, Boston and its sponsors might have to dig into the coffers to lure the big guns away from London in the spring. The fact that Haile Gebrselasie, Paul Tergat, Martin Lel, Khalid Khannouchi - and worse - Ryan Hall, have not lined up on Patriot's Day in Hopkinton proves that Boston is missing something.
Sure, runners like London because of the speedy course and the chance for fast times. But more than anything else runners go where the best competition is. That hasn't been Boston for a long time.
*** Elsewhere, it's Game 7 night in Washington where most folks seem to have a bad feeling about the fate of the Flyers.
There. That's the depth of my hockey analysis.
***
Had Chase Utley not broken his hand last season, Jimmy Rollins probably wouldn't have won the MVP Award. Chances are Utley would have been in the top three with Prince Fielder and Matt Holliday. So noting that it was Utley's injury that pushed Rollins into the MVP discussion in 2007, it's kind of ironic that Rollins' injury has the spotlight on Utley.
Then again, six homers in five straight games kind of gets a ballplayer noticed...
Plus, it's only April 22, too. There is a lot of baseball to go.
Nevertheless, Utley is off to one of those stop-what-your-doing-when-he-comes-up starts. So far he has reached base in all but one of the Phillies' 20 games, has posted gaudy numbers in categories that all the stat geeks love, and seems to have his hand in the outcome of every game.
Things happen whenever Utley is on the field. But then again that's not new.
Remember when Ryan Howard used to be that way?
Anyway, during his pre-game powwow with the writers prior to last night's game at Coors Field, the Wilmington News Journal's Scott Lauber reports this quote from manager Charlie Manuel:
"Chase Utley is a very, very, very tough player. I've been in the game a long time, and he's as tough as any player I've seen. I'm talking about old throwback players, guys like Pete Rose and Kirby Puckett. You could put Utley in that category. He could play with any of them."
So there's that... which is nice.
The Phillies decided Jimmy Rollins might need more than a day or two to recover from his ankle injury... nearly two weeks after the injury occurred.
Hey, who wants to rush into things?
Nevertheless, the Phillies finally decided that Jimmy Rollins' ankle wasn't getting better any time soon so they placed him on the 15-day disabled list. But because Rollins was used as a pinch hitter three times since the injury occurred on April 8, the Phillies won't be able to backdate the DL stint. That also means Rollins isn't eligible to come off the disabled list until May 5.
It's an odd situation. Rollins' injury isn't getting any worse, but it's also not getting much better. The reigning NL MVP said he was "75 percent" before the series against the Mets began, but that might only be about 76 or 77 percent today.
Plus, Rollins had been testing the ankle in batting and fielding practice daily. The ankle, as we all know, is an enigma wrapped in a riddle - then there's the bone and ligament throwing a monkey wrench into the deal. Ankle injuries can linger and reappear out of the blue like a bad bowl of chili. That's especially true even if a ballplayer believes he's 75 percent.
So a break just might be the ticket for Rollins, who will head to the DL for the first time of his career.
Yes, injuries stink.
ESPN is here at the ballpark for one of those national cable broadcasts that any clearheaded person with a normal life and responsibilities finds nauseating. There are a lot of reasons this is the case, but for lack time (and desire) we'll stick with the superficial.
Firstly, a Sunday night game means the game won't start until after 8 p.m. My kids go to bed at 8 p.m. and my oldest boy (he's 4) says "baseball is boring." The reason is because there are never any big games on TV before his bed time. I suspect there are a lot of kids out there who don't say baseball is boring and have a respectable bed time as well. They get shut out, too.
Worse, because Sunday night games are produced by ESPN it means they are overwrought with all sorts of gizmos, graphics, teevee things and general fluff that hinder the natural ebb and flow of the game. When ESPN gets its hands on a game it's just like building a dam in the middle of a free-flowing river. Sure, the water moves a little bit, but there are no rapids. In fact there are times when some production geek jumps out onto the field to tell the umpires to halt the game because all of the commercials haven't run yet.
Look, I'm an adult with a brain who doesn't like to have his chain jerked. Just show me the game so I can get to bed at a respectable hour on a Sunday night because the kids are getting up at the crack and after that all bets are off.
Sleep, as we have written on this site on so many other occasions, is better than HGH.
Another reason why the ESPN game stinks is Jon Miller and Joe Morgan. Truth be told, Miller was brilliant with the Orioles before Peter Angelos destroyed that once proud franchise. These days it seems as if he gets paid by the word. Meanwhile, Joe Morgan was brilliant as a big-league second baseman with that kinetic chicken wing flap that personified all his at-bats.
They say true genius is marked by a little bit of crazy[1], so in that regard Morgan at the plate was quite a treat.
But listening to Morgan has an announcer is like listening to that old man who slowly drove his big-assed car with the tail fins through my neighborhood a few weeks ago while I was out running. Instead of passing by, the old guy sidled that beast next to me to chastise me for "running on the wrong side of the road."
"You should run on the other side so you face traffic," he yelled through the passenger-side window. "You're going to get killed running the way you are."
"Dude," yes, I called the old man (he was at least 80) driving a powder blue Cadillac with tail fins, "Dude." "It's a one-lane road. There is no other side."
So yeah, that's what Joe Morgan sounds like to me. He's a guy chewing me out because he can... until I turn the channel.
Which is what I usually do.
But not tonight - instead I'm sitting in the press box filthy with New York writers and local TV types who like to get out for a ballgame once in a while. Better yet, the TV hanging from the ceiling right over my seat perfectly augments the action on the field. That's because ESPN games are on a seven-second delay, so if I miss a pitch on the field all I have to do is look straight up to catch what happened.
Thank you, ESPN. And thank you to the folks at the Federal Communications Commission for protecting our eyes and ears from something.
***
Who would have guessed that I would have been ready to go for Boston instead of two weeks from now?
Nevertheless, the Boston Marathon is tomorrow and like the geek I am I will be glued to the Internet coverage on WCSN.com as well as the television broadcast on Versus.
Is there any way Robert Cheruiyot won't win his fourth straight Boston? I wonder if Brian Sell considered jumping in the race as a hearty warm up for his buildup before the Beijing Olympics in August.
Anyway, this year's Boston had the extra added flair of playing host to the women's Olympic Marathon Trials this morning. It was kind of a doubleheader of marathoning, if you will. But rather than run the regular Boston course from Hopkinton to the Back Bay, the women's trials looped around the Charles River into Cambridge and back a few times before finishing on Boylston Street.
And just as everyone suspected, Deena Kastor won easily by coming from well off the pace to lead a relatively weak field. Kastor is one of the best five or six marathoners in the world as well as one of the best one or two American marathoners ever, so the fact that she didn't take over the lead until 23½ miles into the race wasn't as dramatic as it could have been.
Actually, Kastor made it look kind of easy by rolling through at 5:43 pace.
But when she goes to Beijing for her second Olympic medal, Kastor knows a 2:29 won't cut it, nor will her main competition be the No. 42-seeded and unsponsored Magdalena Lewy Boulet or the No. 17-seeded Blake Russell, the 2006 national cross country champion.
In Beijing it's going to be hot, dirty and intense.
Meanwhile, Joan Samuelson, the 1984 Olympic Marathon champion and former U.S. record holder, finished with a respectable 2:48. That's really good considering that Samuelson has qualified to run in every single Olympic Marathon Trials and will turn 51 next month.
[1] Actually, I don't know if "they" say that at all. I just made it up.
Note: The gang back at the CSN office did a nice job putting together a tribute for Johnny Marz.
For those of us who grew up dreaming of glory as an athlete, there was nothing more impressive than the Olympian. Oh sure, big leaguers were cool because they got to travel around the country from city to city to play games. To be a pro in some sport was always the goal of every kid.
But pro athletes are one of many. To be an Olympian is to be a part of a very select group.
Olympians are the best of the best. Moreover, Olympians are chosen once every four years. That just adds to aura.
John Marzano was an Olympian.
A member of the first U.S. Olympic baseball team in 1984, Marzano's teammates were former Major League MVPs and All-Stars Mark McGwire, Will Clark, Barry Larkin and B.J. Surhoff. That team finished second to Japan in the Los Angeles games, but the title of Olympian was not lost on Marzano.
Though he spent 10 seasons as a backup catcher in the Major Leagues and 16 years in pro ball, Marzano seemed the most proud that he was an Olympian. Almost as proud of his baseball academy where he taught kids the right way to play the game that had been so good to him.
Mythical, impressive, teacher, Philadelphian, Olympian. That was John Marzano.
Marzano, a native of South Philadelphia, was found dead inside his home on Passyunk Ave. in the city today. He was just 45. It was in his home, the report states, that a family member called police to break down the door where Marzano apparently fell. Marzano reportedly fell down a flight of stairs in his home, but the cause of his death was not immediately clear, police said.
Marzano graduated from Philadelphia's Central High School and Temple University, where he was a member of the school's athletic Hall of Fame. As a catcher for Temple, Marzano earned a spot on the 1984 U.S. Olympic team before being drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the first round (14th overall pick) of the 1984 draft.
Marzano played in the big leagues for the Red Sox, Rangers and Mariners. He also played in the minors for the Indians and Phillies organizations.
He also played for the U.S.A.
Better yet and more impressive than all of that was how easily and readily Marzano made friends. At the ballpark or in the newsroom at Comcast SportsNet, Marzano knew everyone. Even more amazing was how well he knew everyone - from the top to the bottom, anyone who came into contact with Johnny Marz! as he was affectionately known, was always greeted with a quick smile, pat on the back and a pointed joke delivered directly and personally.
It was a joke meant just for you specially delivered from Johnny Marz.
"You always knew when John was in the room," said Michael Barkann, the host of many of the shows on Comcast SportsNet in which Marzano appeared. "You never asked, 'When'd you get here, Johnny?' He always made an entrance, and it was big and it was loud and it was full of joy."
Most important of all, Marzano was a husband to Terri and a father to Dominique and Danielle as well as a grandfather. For that, The Olympian will be missed most of all.
So the big Cole Hamels vs. Johan Santana matchup was kind of good. It wasn't one of those transcendent matchups like we always heard about when Bob Gibson took on Robin Roberts or Sandy Koufax and all of those other great pitchers from a generation or two or go, but that's not the fault of the pitchers.
There just aren't enough great pitchers to go around to have those classic matchups the way they used to.
Nevertheless, Hamels likely will square off against Santana again this season and it has already pitched in a much-hyped showdown against Roger Clemens during his first season in the big leagues. Of that outing Hamels wasn't so much geeked up about pitching against Clemens as he was about hitting against him. In fact, the single Hamels rapped out was the only one Clemens surrendered that day.
Hamels didn't get any hits against Santana last night, but for the first seven innings of the game most of his teammates didn't either. Santana was crafty and sneakily good against the Phillies. He allowed a just one hit through the first six innings before Chase Utley led off the seventh with a solo shot into the bullpen in deep right-center. More impressively, Santana got 10 strikeouts against the first 23 hitters he faced.
The impressive part about that was Santana threw just 14 first-pitch strikes to the 26 hitters he faced. That's just OK... if that. It certainly wasn't as good as the first-strike ratio Hamels posted (22 for 28), which means a couple of things. One is Santana was sharp until he reached the 100-pitch plateau and a second is that the Mets were up there hacking early at Hamels.
Hamels noticed that. After the game he said it seemed as if the Mets' book on him was to get after him early in the count to avoid falling into a hole and putting the young lefty in position to use his batting-average destroying changeup.
"Because I've been around for two years there's plenty of video on me," Hamel said. "Hitters are swinging early in the count and not waiting for my ‘out' pitch."
As a result, the Mets forced the Phillies error-prone defense to make plays. When they didn't (misplays by Jayson Werth and Ryan Howard proved costly), Hamels' frustration showed.
"Some things caught up with me tonight," Hamels said. "I definitely showed my emotions on the field, dropping my head a few times going, ‘How did that happen?' But I'll see these guys again, and I'll make the adjustments."
Perhaps he'll even see Santana, though Hamels claimed he would be more prone to get caught up in the hype of the rivalry if he weren't pitching. When he's on the mound, Hamels says, the focus is on the Mets' hitters and not the opposing pitcher. The new-age Carlton-Seaver/Phillies-Mets matchup was almost lost on Hamels, who was more concerned with the four hits David Wright got than anything else.
Still, Hamels tipped his hand that he had some idea that Santana was stringing up the goose eggs on the scoreboard. For as much as he downplayed the big-time matchup, deep down Hamels knew Friday night's game was different.
That can explain the uncharacteristic displays of frustration on the field after a few plays.
"There definitely isn't much margin for error," Hamels said. "He's always going to be able to have success. When you go into a game, you know it's going to be low-scoring and you hope you're on the right side of it. He has phenomenal stuff that he can get away with mistakes."
Any way you slice it following the first installment, Hamels v. Santana could turn out to be baseball's best pitching duel in one of its better rivalries.
Looking at the Phillies in those new but old-timey uniforms in Thursday afternoon's victory over the Houston Astros got me to thinking about what a few old Phillies are up to these days. After all, there are quite a few ex-Phillies out there in the big leagues. In fact, one of them, Michael Bourn, beat the Phillies with a single, stolen base and a home run in the Astros' 2-1 victory last night.
Bourn leads the league with nine stolen bases and his two homers in 2008 already doubled his career total. But Bourn is hitting just .224 with a .318 on-base percentage. For a leadoff hitter, that's no good.
Geoff Geary pitched a scoreless inning for the Astros in Thursday's loss to drop his ERA to 2.84. In six games and 6 1/3 innings, Geary has six whiffs a loss and has held opponents to a .208 batting average. When used properly, Geary isn't too bad. The problem is the Astros might have to turn to the ‘pen a lot this year.
Houston, with GM Ed Wade, has a bunch of old Phillies. In fact, Tomas Perez got into Thursday's game and rapped out a pinch single to boost his ledger to 2-for-9 this season. Perez has appeared in seven games this year with one start.
In the American League, Bobby Abreu is closing in on the 1,000 RBI milestone. In 15 games for the first-place Yankees, Abreu is hitting .288 with two homers and nine RBIs. One of those homers came in last night's 15-9 victory over the Red Sox. Abreu's on-base percentage is still decent (.354), but he still strikes out a ton. So far he's whiffed 12 times.
Also in the AL East, Rod Barajas has hit reasonably well for the Blue Jays. In six games the much-maligned catcher who spent a rough season in Philadelphia in '07, is hitting .313. However, Barajas suffered a strained groin in Sunday's game and hasn't played since. Last season an injured groin landed Barajas on the DL. His poor play didn't help matters either.
The Blue Jays also have Scott Rolen, who finally had a pin removed from his broken hand and will rejoin the team in Baltimore this week. Manager John Gibbons said Rolen could rejoin the team in two weeks. "I've started hitting. I've been throwing. Baseball preparation-wise, I'm ahead of schedule," Rolen told the Toronto Star.
Last weekend Gavin Floyd took a no-hitter into the eighth inning in the White Sox victory over the Tigers. Better yet, the star-crossed right-hander while with the Phillies has pitched like the No. 4 pick in the draft. In two starts Floyd has allowed three runs and seven hits in 13 1/3 innings. The 2-0 record doesn't hurt either.
Maybe Floyd finally figured it out?
Meanwhile with the ChiSox, Jim Thome served a one-game suspension this week for arguing a third-strike call. Thome returned from the suspension last night and homered against the Orioles, which is his first homer since he blasted two on Opening Day. However, six of Thome's nine hits this season are for extra-bases and he has struck out in more than a quarter of his plate appearances. The .184 batting average sums that part up.
In Cleveland, Paul Byrd is 0-2 with a 6.07 ERA. Perhaps it's time to visit his dentist... Also, David Dellucci is hitting .276 with a homer and four RBIs in everyday action, while Jason Michaels is struggling with a 3-for-29 jag to start the season.
The Tigers struggles aren't just relegated to the standings. So far Placido Polanco is hitting .154 and took a game off with a nagging back. But veteran reliever Todd Jones has allowed just one run in six games for three saves.
In Minnesota, Nick Punto has fallen out of a starting position to a utility infielder's role. In eight games he's 3-for-11 with a stolen base.
Arthur Rhodes returned from Tommy John surgery to pitch a third of an inning for the Seattle Mariners last Tuesday. He allowed two hits without a run. Carlos Silva is the No. 2 starter in the Mariners' rotation after signing a big free-agent deal over the winter. In three starts, Silva is 2-0 with a 3.27 ERA and has pitched at least seven innings in all of his outings.
Kevin Millwood and Vicente Padilla hold down the top two spots in the Texas Rangers' rotation, which hasn't been all that great. At 6-9 the Rangers are just one game ahead of the Tigers for the worst record in the American League. Millwood, though, has pitched decently despite the 1-2 record. He's allowed three earned runs in his last three starts and was tagged for a loss the last time out even though he didn't give up an earned run.
Padilla, the $11million man, has pitched at least six innings in all three of his starts and has a 3.00 ERA with a 1-1 record.
In Washington, catcher Johnny Estrada should be in line for more playing time with Paul Lo Duca out of the lineup with an injured hand. The trouble for Estrada is his bat - the switch-hitter and one-time All-Star hasn't gotten a hit in a week.
Relief pitcher Jon Lieber hasn't allowed an earned run in three innings and 9 1/3 innings for the Cubs. The Cubs were town last weekend and no one seemed to interested in walking over to the visiting clubhouse to see how the 2-1 pitcher is doing. No doubt he's spending his free time washing his monster truck.
Reliever Ryan Franklin was pretty good for the Cardinals in '07. So far in '08, the righty has been a workhorse. Franklin has been in 10 games with a 2.16 ERA. Meanwhile, castoff starting pitcher Kyle Lohse is 2-0 and finally allowed a run in his last outing. Lohse has a 1.48 ERA in three starts though opponents are hitting .323 against him.
Gary Bennett is the backup catcher for the Dodgers, a role formerly handled by Mike Lieberthal. Like Lieby, Bennett hasn't seen much action this year, appearing in just one game.
In San Francisco, Aaron Rowand has found it a little difficult to show off the power that produced a career-high 27 homers for the Phillies in 2007. Rowand has also struggled with a sore rib and groin that was achy enough to force him to take a night off yesterday. In 12 games for the Giants, rowand is hitting .263 with four extra-base hits, no homers and four RBIs.
In San Diego, lefty Randy Wolf was slotted in as the fourth man in one of the best rotations in the league, but has posted the best numbers of all the Padres' starters. In his last start Wolf took a no-hitter into the seventh inning in a win over the Rockies. Meanwhile, Wolf's 1.42 ERA is fourth-best in the league, which fits in pretty nicely with a 8.53 strikeouts per nine innings (18 in 19 IP) as well as holding opponents to a .161 batting average.
Finally, Billy Wagner, Marlon Anderson, Endy Chavez and Nelson Figueroa all come to town this weekend with the Mets. Wagner, of course, is the Mets' closer who has not allowed a run in four outings. Better yet, he's still flipping that slider up there.
Anderson and Chavez have solid bench roles for the Mets, though the pair has combined for two hits all year (one apiece).
Figueroa, on the other hand, has been one of the better stories in all of baseball. His Quixotic journey through all sorts of pro leagues has been chronicled by all the New York papers. Plus, he's taken over a spot in the rotation with Pedro Martinez on the disabled list. In his first start of the season, Figgy gave up two hits and two runs in six innings for a win over the Brewers.
Regular readers of this site don't need to be told that I love coffee. To be more precise, I believe in coffee. Loaded with antioxidants and natural goodness, coffee is one of those little pleasures in life. Sometimes when it's quiet in the house and everyone is asleep at night, I catch myself pining for the morning so I can get downstairs and pour that first batch of the day into a big, blue cup.
Some research indicates that coffee appears to reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cirrhosis of the liver and gout. Better yet, because it's loaded with those glorious antioxidants, it stops free radicals from damaging cells.
Better yet, coffee can be a load of fun. Once, for no particular reason other than I was in college and had nothing better to do, I drank nothing but a Colombian hazelnut brew continuously and stared at my face in the mirror until I actually saw the hair on my face grow.
Then we went bowling.
I don't recall what my score was from that outing on the lanes, but I bet it was pretty good. That's because coffee can also be classified as a performance-enhancer. In fact, the glorious caffeine that is the main stimulant found in those roasted beans is classified as a banned substance by the I.O.C. in certain doses. Actually, because of the ban on greenies and other amphetamines in baseball, coffee urns are quite prevalent in big-league dugouts and clubhouses.
For folks that like to train for and run marathons, coffee is very much a part of the training regimen. Speaking for myself, I don't move very well in the morning without coffee chased by approximately 90-fluid ounces of water/electrolyte replacement.
It's a strict drug regimen that helps keep my mind limber.
However, if there is no time for the coffee to settle in before I have to get out the door extra early, a glucose gel fortified with about 100 calories and caffeine does the trick.
After all, the point is to pile up the work in order to make the lungs and legs stronger than Babe the Blue Ox. Because there is no limit to a human's aerobic capacity, strength over a long distances is a matter of piling on as much work as possible. Sometimes it's a balancing act between health and injury, which very well could be the issue with Shane Victorino and his seemingly chronic calf problems.
Victorino, the Phillies' center fielder, is on the 15-day disabled list with a calf injury. Worse, it's the second time the so-called "Flyin' Hawaiian" has landed on the disabled list since last August with an injured calf. The calf muscle, of course, is the engine of the leg. If a person has trouble with their knees, hamstrings or quads, chances are the problem began in the calf.
Meanwhile, calf injuries are largely preventable. Most times they are caused by tightness, tiredness, hydration issues, or weakness. Certainly all sorts of variables could lead to those problems, but usually it doesn't take anything more than a few strengthening and training adjustments to correct the problem.
Then again, maybe Victorino wasn't properly healed before he jumped back into the action last season. Healing, after all, takes time just like building strength does.
*** Speaking of coffee, I finally got a chance to try out the Pikes Place blend at Starbucks the other day. The much-heralded blend from the uber-coffee shop is an attempt for the company to go back to the old days when it was all about the coffee and simplicity and not all the other stuff it seems to focus on these days.
The hook with the Pikes Place coffee is that it isn't over-roasted like all of Starbucks' other blends. In fact, each shop posts when each particular batch was roasted in order to advertise some sort of bourgeoisie-ness in which the date a coffee is roasted is vital information.
People need to know this.
Anyway, according to a story in Time Magazine the Pikes Place blend is supposed to be lighter and crisper cup of coffee for "people who don't like Starbucks."
I don't know... I guess that's right. Then again it seems as if my palate is ruined from drinking Starbucks coffee too much.
Kind Coffee of Colorado... now that's a cup of coffee.
*** In other news, Chelsea Clinton dropped into my neighborhood today -- with Ted Danson, too...
Yeah, I didn't see it. I'm too busy watching Michael Bourn beat the Phillies.
Apparently her mom is in Philly doing something on the other end of town.