Week in Review - 5/17/2010

 So I had this whole write up done for how the Twins suck and all that.  But I wrote it during the 7th inning of the game yesterday, and one swing of Jason Kubel's ample bat off Mr. Sandman erased all the bad feelings about this weekend.  We can now ignore Gardy's retarded use of Guerrier against A-Rod, Jesse Crain's inability to get anybody out (still), the fact that two of the spots in the lineup are going to be used by a combo of Brendan Harris, Nick Punto, Alexi Casilla, and Matt Tolbert, and the fact that the team is suddenly unable to get a big hit (save the Kubel slam).  But none of that matters, because the Twins went 1-2 in New York.  World Series, here we come.


WHO WAS AWESOME

1.  Stephen Strasburg.  Good lord, would you jerks just call this kid up to the bigs already?  After tossing 6-innings of 1-hit ball at AAA this week, he now has an ERA of 1.06 and a WHIP of 0.65 in his 7 minor league starts between AAA and AA.  He's faced a total of 125 batters, allowing just 22 to reach base on 14 hits and 8 walks, while striking out 40.  He's whiffed 3 batters for each one who gets a hit.  He's given up fewer hits than Jesse Crain in almost double the innings.  He has nothing left to prove in the minors, they're just keeping him down to try to save money down the line by keeping his service clock off, but at this point it's embarrassing.  They're just wasting his innings right now.  Although mark my words, if the Nationals stay in contention they won't make a trade around the deadline, they'll use the classic Twins line, "Calling him up is as good as a trade."  Classic Twins.

2.  Mike Leake.  Is it repetitive to put Leake in here week after week?  Maybe.  But do you know what else is repetitive?  His ability to get people out.  Again and again and again and again and again.  They seemingly keep him on a pitch count of right around 100, which is good for the rest of the league because nobody can hit this guy.  After a 6-inning, 4 hit, 2 run performance on Friday, he's now sitting at 4-0 with a 3.09 ERA, and he's just consistent as hell.  In his 7 career starts (all this year), he's never last less than 6 innings, never given up more than 8 hits, and has only given up more than 3 runs once.  And let's not forget this is a rookie who never played in the minors, just jumped straight to the Reds this year after being drafted last year.  He doesn't strike out a ton of guys so I don't know that he'll ever reach "superstar" status, but he will certainly be a star, and maybe already is. 

3.  Shane Victorino.  Thrust into the leadoff role for the Phils with Jimmy Rollins on the shelf, Victorino got off to a rough start this year.  And then we traded for him in fantasy.  And he is just destroying the ball.   In his five games this week, he had multiple hits in four of them.  And not just multiple hits, but a ton of extra bases as well.  In his 10-23 week, he picked up a double, a home run, and three triples and also walked three times.  He's always been a speed guy, thus the "Flyin' Hawaiian" nickname, but he's slugging the ball at an impressive .519 clip so far this year, which would be a career high, and already has 8 home runs against a career best of 14.  Perhaps a new nickname is in order.  This is where I'd put my suggestion but I can't come up with anything clever. 

4.  Adam Scott.  Welcome back Mr.  Scott.  After being one of the best young golfers on the tour a few years ago, to the point where he was known as the best golfer who hadn't won a major, a surfing accident (shark attack?) completely derailed him like that train from the Fugitive.  It got so bad at one point, that last season he missed the cut in 10 of his last 16 tournaments, and it was almost looking like he was basically done and might be heading towards David Duval land.  He had been looking better this year, making 6 of 8 cuts, and finally broke back through with a win at the Texas Open this weekend.  It wasn't exactly a top field, but there were enough good players there that this should be looked at as a huge positive step for Scott.  And between him and Aaron Baddeley finishing in third, it was quite the weekend for washed up young golfers.

5.  Young Pitchers.  Too many to name individually (not counting Leake, who is just a straight pimp).  Mat Latos tossed a one-hitter for the Padres.  So did Johnny Cueto for the Reds.  And speaking of Reds, the day after Cueto's gem Homer Bailey went the distance for a shut out.  Ricky Romero threw a complete game shutout, striking out 12, while Tommy Hanson struck out 10 in 7 innings.  Phil Hughes won his fifth game, as did David Price.  And someone named John Ely pitched a gem for the Dodgers in just his third major league start.   I don't know if it's a great era for young arms or just a weird week, but I've definitely noticed the youngsters this week.  You probably have too, perv.


WHO SUCKED

1.  LeBron.  I'm not going to belabour the obvious here when you can read 26,500 articles just by searching google for "LeBron James lackluster", but that was brutal.  Unless his elbow is far worse than anybody thinks, this was a shocking lack of effort and focus by someone who is thought as possibly the best player in the league.  On the other hand, he's only 25 (for real, I looked it up) and 25 years are prone to petulance.  I'm going to go ahead and not write him off just yet.  Seriously, if he wants to sign with the Wolves, I'm on board.  Smart money says the Nets, though.  Book it.

2.  Rich Harden.  Rich Harden is from Canada.  British Columbia, to be exact, the same province that gave us Kristin Kreuk (pictured), Jason Priestley, and Bryan Adams.  So you'd think that when he gets to pitch in his home country, like when he goes to Toronto, he'd be all amped up and be lights out.  Well, he might get amped up, but he sure as hell can't pitch for crap up in the great white north, and Friday's 2.2 inning, 4 hit, 6 walk, 7 run disaster in what has clearly become a trend at this point.  His other two career starts in Canada were nearly as bad.  In 2004, he went just 4 and 1/3 innings, giving up 7 hits and 7 runs, and in 2005 he gave up 5 hits and 6 walks in five innings, but escaped allowing just four runs.  So that means in his career his ERA is 13.50 in Canada.  Since Minnesota is basically Canada without the monopoly money and bigger fish, I'd say it's a good thing the Twins didn't sign him.

3.  Jason Bartlett.  Hey do you remember when Bartlett was thrown into the Delmon Young/Matt Garza trade and the only people who cared were the ladies who got all hot every time they looked at him because it looked like he was just going to be a mediocre shortstop?  And then remember last year when he hit .320 and stole 30 bases and showed some power and everyone was all angsty about how the team could let him go and blah blah blah?  Well, spaz, you can relax because he sucks again.  After going 3-23 this week, he's now hitting .236 on the year and isn't bothering to slug the ball even a little bit.  So it looks like the Twins got the better of the Harris/Bartlett part of that deal.  Suck it, Rays.

4.  Former Texas Open Winners.  Zach Johnson and Justin Leonard had combined to win the last 3 Texas Opens.  Back then it was played at La Cantera.  This year, they moved it to TPC San Antonio, and these two clowns apparently couldn't handle the long course, because they both missed the cut spectacularly.  Johnson fired an 80 in the first round that he couldn't recover from, which included a truly stunning six-putt after putting the ball on the green off the tee in one on 13, including three misses inside of three feet.  Justin Leonard wasn't quite as bad, but he also shit the bed in the opening round, posting a 76, and wasn't able to recover, which including a triple bogey after doinking his drive into the wilderness.  Excellent work, guys. 

5.  B.J. Upton.  Remember two years ago when I predicted Upton would be the MVP?  And remember this year, when I insisted that last year was just a down year and he'd be back and knocking the cover off the ball and all that?  Well it turns out I'm an idiot, because Upton just keeps sucking and sucking and is suddenly in danger of being benched.  He had a nice couple of games over the weekend after word came out that he was close to hitting the pine, including two doubles yesterday, but that still put him at just 4-18 for the week, and he's hitting just .119 in May and .225 for the year.  He has also lost his power, not having homered since April 19th, and isn't walking anymore either.  Last year he still had value even if he wasn't hitting because he would at least walk, so now that he's not hitting or walking, he's essentially worthless.  Let's just say it's pretty easy to decide who to bench to put Kubel back in the lineup.

Because Kubel is back, folks.  Hold on to your butts.

All-Star Tuesday Talkings (British Open Preview)

Yep, it's all star Tuesday so I'm writing, but I don't plan to write a single thing about the All-Star game because it's just so stupid. Let me get this straight, this game counts for something pretty important now, but the starters are still voted in by idiotic fans? And they take rosters of 33 freaking players on each team, and managers are bound by some stupid unwritten rule to try to play everybody? And you can't let any pitcher go more than one or two innings because if Roy Halladay hurts his arm in his third inning of work somehow every one will be mad at you even though he routinely goes nine innings every fifth day? It's like the collective league is Regina George and the manager is Gretchen Weiners.

I just don't get how something so far removed from real baseball can give such an advantage to a team in the quest to win the World Series. Seriously, if this rule was in place in '87 and '91 and the NL won the all-star game, we'd be sitting wondering if the Twins will ever win a World Series. I mean, I'm not exactly a huge fan of the random element they used to have but it's better than this - and better than giving home field advantage to the league that has a better record in interleague play, which I've also heard bandied about. That's also idiotic.

It's really simple. Home field advantage goes to the team with the better regular season record. That's how all the other leagues do it. Why? Because it makes a lot more sense to reward a team for a great 162-game season than it does to reward a team whose league won a stupid exhibition. And if you insist on keeping that dumb rule, then Gretchen Weiners has to stick up to Regina like that time she wore sweat pants to the lunch table. Throw Halladay three innings. Then throw Greinke three. Then go through the closers and end with Rivera. Bam, game. But they won't. It'll be one inning, one inning, one inning, and eventually either Tim Wakefield or Andrew Bailey will be in and it'll be tee-off time for the NL. Stupid.

What makes it even worse is that I actually get a little bit pumped up when they do all the fanfare before the game. They always give it a nice historical perspective, whether it's tonight's little St. Louis baseball mini-history or like the year they brought out Ted Williams and Willie Mays, it's a very nice touch and I enjoy it. Then the game starts and it's a big joke. Let's just move on to something else.

- I'm mainly writing tonight to give my half-assed British Open preview, much like my half-assed Masters and US Open previews, which didn't quite get the winners right. All that really means is that I am due. In the same tradition, I will give you my top ten (after Tiger) picks to win.

1. Steve Stricker. It's weird to pick a noted non-closer to win an event like the British, but it all seems to be in place for Stricker. Two wins in his last four events, including a win last week, and recent success at the Open, finishing 8th and 7th the last two years. No reason he shouldn't be right there at the end.

2. Ian Poulter. It's almost a certainty that Ian Poulter will be winning a major at some point, probably while wearing pink pants, and it makes a lot of sense that it could be this one. Poulter is a very solid Open player, topping off with a second place finish last year at Royal Birkdale, has been very solid in the other majors (31st, 20th, and 18th) and is having a good year.

3. Lee Westwood. Westwood isn't super, duper great at the Open, but he does have two top tens in his career and has made the cut the last three years, so he's not horrible either. He's familiar with links style golf, being a communist and all, and is getting hot at the right time, with a tie for 8th last week in the Scottish Open coming on the heels of a runner-up finish in the French Open.

4. Hunter Mahan. This guy is quietly playing some of the best golf of anybody right now, but at the same time is a bit under the radar since he hasn't actually picked up a victory. He has top 10s in his last three starts, has made the cut in every event he has played this season, and has top tens in both of this year's majors. He did miss the cut last year at the Open, which gives me slight pause, but last year was a rough one for him, and not only has he found his game again but two years ago when he was playing well he pulled a sixth place finish at Carnoustie.

5. Sergio Garcia. Usually this sexy son of a bitch would be my #1 pick after Tiger, but a slow and disappointing year so far has really left me scratching my head. Still, the spaniard is a wizard when it comes to the British Open, with six top 10s in his last eight attempts and he does seem to be getting his game figured out, notching a tie for tenth at the US Open and has played better across the pond than here in the States.

6. Henrik Stenson. This guy is another one who it feels like is just waiting to win a major, and could be set up to do it this week. He already won this year at the "fifth major", the Players Championship at Sawgrass, and has been in contention at pretty much every major recently, with three top tens in the last four majors. He's a cool customer, since like most Swedes he has no soul, so if he's in contention coming down the stretch he isn't likely to Van de Velde it up.

7. Rory McIlroy. It's weird to pick a kid this young to be a top contender at the Open, but he's just tough. This year his four toughest events have resulted in a Quarterfinal finish at the Match Play, a 20th place finish at both the WGC-CA and the Masters, and a tie for tenth at the US Open - clearly he's not intimidated. Add in the fact that he is ripping it up on the European Tour (fifth in the Race to Dubai), and it wouldn't surprise me to see him right in the thick of it on Sunday.

8. Jim Furyk. Boring? Predictable? How about we go with steady instead. Top 11 in five of his last six tournaments, made the cut in fourteen of his last fifteen majors, and two top fives in his last three Opens, with a tie for twelfth in the third. He did miss five straight cuts at the British from 2001-2005, which shows me that this kind of golf can swallow him up at times and keeps me from putting him any higher on my list, but I expect him to hang around and at least make a little noise.

9. Paul Casey. I was looking back at my Masters and US Open previews, and I picked this clown first after Tiger and second after Tiger and Furyk, and he rewarded me with a T-20 and a missed cut, but I still can't drop him all the way, especially at the British where he finished seventh last year. He absolutely dominated the Euro Tour early, and still leads the Race to Dubai, but has faded in recent weeks. I expect being back in Europe will rejuvenate him.

10. Justin Leonard. This is a straight up hunch pick, which I can't really justify. He's had success at the British, but his win and his runner-up were both in the 1990s. Since then he's missed the cut as much as he's finished top twenty (three each) and he doesn't come in particularly hot, with two missed cuts in his last three tournaments. But I'm feelin' it!

And that's it. Some notable names are missing. Geoff Ogilvy, Zach Johnson, and Luke Donald are both garbage at the Open. Paddy is the two-time depending champion, but he's missed the cut in four of his last five events, and his game is just not in the right shape here again. I don't think Anthony Kim is ready just yet, and the wunderkind of the early season, Nick Watney, has fallen back to earth. Cink is still gay, and Els and Goosen are too far gone. One sleeper I've seen mentioned somewhere is Martin Kaymer, a commie who comes in hot, having won the last two Euro Tour events. Don't believe it. He doesn't have that kind of game.

- Finally, hold on to your butts people, the Sci Fi channel is having the marathon of all marathons on Saturday, July 25th, and I can't wait. Unfortunately, the Egyptian is getting married that day and I am an usher, so I can't exactly watch live, but the Tivo will be a crankin'. Check out the schedule:

8am - Kraken: Tentacles of the Deep
10am - Croc
Noon - Super Gator
2pm - Lake Placid 2
4pm - Spring Break Shark Attack (third best shark movie ever)
6pm - Deep Blue Sea
8pm - Malibu Shark Attack (World Premiere!)
10pm - Eye of the Beast (Dawson in a Squid movie)

I'm tivo'ing everything on that list except for Lake Placid 2 and Deep Blue Sea, which are super lame. Expect an influx of Live Movie Blogs in the coming weeks, as long as I can get Mrs. W to watch a few of these.

Also, Sci Fi renamed itself SyFy for some unfathomable reason. Can anyone explain this one? Cutesy for the sake of cutesy? I really hope somebody gets fired for this. This is even worse than the time Itchy ripped out Scratchy's spine and played it like a xylophone, but got two different notes from hitting the same rib.

That's it for now. I would expect to see a more indepth preview from Faldo tomorrow some time, and if we're really lucky maybe Super Sioux Fan will send in a new post.

Thursday Things (Schilling, Leonard, Facebook, Rico - A lot of Rico)

Well, since I get to work from home tomorrow, I might as well drink some vodka and post some things. I know, I'm surprised too. But sometimes we have to step outside of our comfort zone and do things we don't like to do. Bear with me.

- We'll start with an article I had seen but was brought up again in the comments here about your beloved Shane Schilling, called an "ex-basketball standout" in a case of hyperbolic journalism if I've ever seen one. What is not hyperbolic, however, is how big a whackjob this guy turned out to be.

The latest is that Schilling has been jailed on charges of drug possession and making terroristic threats - which does not mean threatening to blow up buildings (that would be Shamala). Apparently, since I assume if you're still here you aren't reading the article, Schilling had the cops called on him because of a loud argument accentuated by breaking glass and talk of "injections." When the cops showed up, superstar called them pigs, told them to leave, and threatened that he would kill them if they stayed. Three hours later, Schilling abruptly decided to open the door and layed down to be handcuffed without further comment. Police found a hatchet, knives (a ninja, perhaps?), and meth.

Following up on his brush with the law for attempted robbery, auto theft, receiving of stolen property - an event which included attacking some poor student on Washington Avenue and skipping town after being charged in Orono, this dude is pretty much fucked. And of course, don't forget his drunk driving incident where he crashed an explorer, then fled the scene but left his ID in the car. (NOTE: I can't find a link to this story anywhere, but I know it happened). Clearly he is dealing with his post-college life very well.

But I'm not here to dwell on the negativity. And shame on you. Let's remember the good times. Like when he scored 9 points in his first ever game as a Gopher. Or his Gopher career high 16 points his freshman year against Ohio State. Or any of the 16 other times he hit double-figures in scoring as a Gopher. Or his explosion his senior year to average 16.3 points per game, hitting 20 points six times including a huge 26 point, 8 rebound, 4 steal effort against Long Beach.

So you see, there is plenty of good stuff here to talk about. I'm really sick of all you people always having to dwell on the negative. You don't have to tear others down to build yourself up. Grow up, jerks.

By the way, if you google "Shane Schilling Drunk" we come up as the fourth website listed. Awesome.

- Speaking of Google, I started to google "How long do babies hate males" since Wonderbaby is NOT my biggest fan this past week and seems to have a real hate on for males and is in love with all females and you know that auto fill thing google has? It comes up first as "How long does weed stay in your system" as in, that's the thing people most often google that starts with the phrase "how long." The third thing is "How long does cocaine stay in your system." I'm serious. It looks like Mr. Shilling has been doing ALOT of googling.

- This week's horrible golfer who really let me down award goes to Justin Leonard. This week is the St. Jude classic, held at TPC Southwind, and not only is Leonard the defending champ, he also won this event (same venue) in 2005. Additionally he comes in hot, with a 5th, 16th, and 13th in this last three events. Should be good to go, right? Wrong. Captain Dickface instead shoots a 76, +6 on the day, good for 149th place (out of 156). Thanks, ass. You're already six shots off the cut, assuming it doesn't move, and you're 8 shots behind Notah Begay III, who generally makes about one cut a year. Adam freaking Scott would have probably shot even par for god's sake, and he might be the worst golfer in the world right now. Leonard is officially in my "go-to-hell" pile along with Sean O'Hair and some other guys I don't remember right now.

- Putting DWG on facebook has already been a resounding success. I'm friends already with both Melvin Newbern and Vincent Grier. If you haven't signed up to be our friend yet, you should. More than daily updates and a little discussion here and there. You're missing out, nerd.

- So everyone knows that Rico Tucker is the most athletic player in Gopher history, despite the fact that a bunch of dingleberries are trying to say that Rod Williams will be when he arrives. Leaving aside that nonsense, I thought it might be fun to check out what Rico's resume was coming out of high school in San Diego.

One thing I forgot or possibly never knew is that Rico made the Rivals150 the year he came out (2004). He was ranked #129, ahead of Rodney Stuckey, Chris Lofton, and DeMare Carroll. I don't really want to note this here, but it should also be said that Spencer Tollackson was ranked #118, so we probably don't need to pay too much attention to these lists. But that's not the point.

The point is, Rico was ranked the #20 point guard that year. Right behind Taurean Green and ahead of Lofton, Ramon Sessions, and Zam Frederick.

A lot of potential. I think we all saw that. Early in his freshman year, I unfortunately don't remember who the opponent was, but Rico got the ball in the far corner, drove by his man baseline side, and rose up for one of the most impressive dunks I have ever seen on any level, except some stupid white guy fouled him so he missed the dunk. Nevertheless, if you were paying attention, you were in man-love.

You probably don't remember this either, but Rico hit double-figures in scoring in both of his first two games. Two games which also totaled five steals and no turnovers, with better than 50% shooting. Overall in his freshman year, Rico hit double figures ten times, including a 17 point outburst against Loyola-Marymount that came with three trey balls. Alas, of those ten double-figure outputs, only two came in conference player, as Tucker's minutes dwindled. In team's first 13 games, he hit 20 minutes 10 times and never played less than 15 minutes. In the final 18 games he only hit 20 minutes four times, and totaled just 47 minutes in the team's final seven games. He ended up leading all Big Ten freshmen in steals and was 10th overall in the conference.

The following year his minutes were down from 17 a game to 14 a game, with a corresponding drop in almost every stat. He hit double-figures in scoring just four times, and hit 20 minutes played in just four conference games. His shooting dropped to just 30% on the season, and his assist to turnover ratio was an abysmal 0.63. What happened? He was Monsoned.

Those of you who remember that team should remember. Any missed shot, Rico was pulled. Any turnover, Rico was pulled. Hell, I remember a couple of times where he hit 2-3 shots in a row, then missed one, and was out at the next whistle. I question why Monson would even recruit an elite athlete, who was an unpolished gem, if we wasn't going to give him any free reign. It was a frustrating season for both Rico and Rico fans, and predictably he bolted for better pastures after that season, transferring to his home town Pepperdine.

In a new, more wide open system with a coach who was willing to give him room to thrive, Rico flourished. He opened the pre-season by winning the team's dunk contest, but then struggled played for Pepperdine until a December game against Montana State where he put up 24 points. The rest of the season, including conference play, Rico was on a terror, hitting double figures in ten of the team's last 11 games, stealing, assisting, and rebounding while cutting down on the turnovers that plagued him throughout his career. He made the all-tournament team at the Montana State tournament. He led the Waves in assists in fifteen times while leading the WCC in steals, finishing sixth in assists, and 15th in scoring. Things were looking very good, and very up for Rico, but then a knee injury ended his junior year, and basically wiped out his senior season as well.

His final year at Pepperdine, Tucker was only able to average 11 minutes per game, and hit double figures in scoring just once. He wasn't any where near the same player, as an athletic player with just one knee isn't a good combo, and played double figures in minutes just once in the team's last nine games. It was a lost season.

Really, I know I talk Rico up too much on here, but seriously think about it. He was a highly rated talent coming out of high school and had a very promising early freshman season before stupid Dan Monson decided he didn't like him or something and tanked the second half of his freshman year and his whole sophomore season. After the transfer, he started to really come into his own before the knee injury killed him.

I stand by my contention that not only is Enrico Tucker the greatest athlete to come into the Gopher basketball program in history, but also that with a better coach and/or no injury issues, he could have been a star. Well, maybe not a star, but a very, very good player.

I'm going to end the post here. Think on this for a while. Think on this.