It's Football Season

Yesterday while watching the bizarre Steelers-Chargers game early in the game, I was thinking the same exact thing that Todd, the other esteemed author of The Wheelhouse, texted me after a Hines Ward catch and run of 30 yards in the snow...

"Hines Ward is just great."

It's so true. Hines has always been a favorite player of mine for years as you can always count on him to produce year in and year out (and annihilate a couple linebackers from time to time). But during Sunday's game, it just didn't feel like football season was in full effect until you see Hines Ward sliding his way past defenders in the snow and muddy field at Heinz Field. At least to me it doesn't. Well, football season is officially here now as Ward had a monster day with 11 catches for 124 yards, the referees tried to change the outcome with penalties and terrible calls and the Steelers won the first 11-10 game in the history of the NFL. In fact, to drive home the fact of how strange a game it was...when was the last time a team had a 300-yard passer, a 100-yard rusher, a 100-yard receiver, had no turnovers and scored zero touchdowns? Let me know if anyone finds that out. How can the Steelers top that next week?

News Flash to Keith Olbermann: The Election Ended

Keith Olbermann is a dick. I've known this for a while now and that's why I do not "Football Night in America" on NBC...actually I never really watched it because he's intolerable. The guy should of just stuck to sports...something he knows, but no he wanted to be a "real" newscaster! Yeah that's right, he went from calling slam dunks on Sportscenter to being an "expert" on politics. So for some unknown reason last night, I found myself watching his show on MSNBC, "Countdown with Keith Olbermann."

During this offensive show, Olbermann rambles on and on for a 10-minute rant on the many interviews Governor Palin has been doing since the election ended. Oh and that rant goes on and on with the camera two inches from his fat face. Who cares that Palin's being interviewed? If there are networks out there that want to talk to her then obviously somebody wants to hear from her. Keith, you do know the election is over right? You can't persuade any Americans with your shitty liberal show anymore. Leave the woman alone.

After ruining my night by watching the show, a funny thought hit me. What will Olbermann talk about with no George W. Bush around or no Republicans in office? This show should come to a crashing halt. Since Olbermann's had the show in 2003, he's criticized the Bush administration and any other Republican he could find. What will he do with his boy Obama in the White House? He wouldn't dare say anything to hurt a Democrats image to the American people! Maybe he can make fun of everything Bush does after his term is up. Maybe they can just pull his show since he'll have nothing to talk about anymore. Then again, he never really had anything paramount to say anyway.

Start Spreading the News

For the first time since 1993 (excluding the strike year), the MLB playoffs will not feature a team from New York.

What a shame.

How dare the baseball world move on to the post-season without the Yankees or Mets. It's the first time this has happened since the divisional series and wildcard have been added. Just think about the waste of millions of dollars with each team.

The Yankees focused on their potent lineup, but did not add any depth to their rotation and it cost them. They relied on pitching "prospects" Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes to bolster their staff, but they ended up in Triple-A or the DL for the majority of the year. They dealt other prospects away for Ivan Rodriguez and Xavier Nady to replace the injuries of Posada and Matsui. All for not.

Then you have the Metropolitans who went out and traded potential superstar Carlos Gomez to Minnesota for Johan Santana. The hope was for Santana to push the Mets into the post-season after last season's September collapse. Santana did his part. The Mets bullpen did not. The pen was awful, especially after losing Billy Wagner to injury late in the season. They wasted numerous Santana starts all season and then could not close out games down the stretch, leading to another missed playoff opportunity.

Talk about two teams with similar comparisons. Two New York teams closing their respectable stadiums this year, featuring $100+ million payrolls and nothing to show for it on the last day of the season.

We won't have to hear from the Big Apple this October, and that's just fine with me.

Johan Santana Must Hate the Mets

Johan Santana couldn't have envisioned this when he decided to leave the Minnesota organization after eight stellar seasons to sign the New York Mets. Like most people in baseball, he was banking on the Mets being a power in the National League and with them adding him to the rotation, this was supposed to be his best chance at a World Series ring. Well the Mets are on their way to screwing that up.

Earlier today, Santana tossed another brilliant game for the Metropolitans, leaving in the 8th inning with a 3-2 lead. The bullpen promptly served up a game-tying home run in the ninth, taking the win away once again from Johan. They have done this on a routine basis this year, including two outings ago when the Mets bullpen gave up three runs over the past two innings against the Astros.

Santana currently has a dominating 2.85 ERA through 24 starts in 161 innings. His record to show for that sterling ERA? 9-7. Nine wins. He has tossed 16 quality starts and have lost four of those games. Another six of those starts have ended in a no-decision after the pen decided to blow it. Not to mention two starts where he suffered the loss after allowing only one run through seven plus innings due to lack of run support.

The bottom line is Santana is fifth in the National League in ERA and should have about 16 or 17 wins. If things keep up the way they are going, he's looking at his lowest win total since 2002, when he only made 14 starts and won eight. Obviously he's going to be saying the right things to the media, but this has to be frustrating. Also, this isn't just about him getting wins for his stat line, but the Mets signed him to help get them over their massive collapse from last year. That hasn't been happening, and it's not going to happen if they continue to waste starts from their best pitcher. The Mets are only two games behind Philadelphia for the division, but unless they find a way to take advantage of Santana's starts, the Mets are going to miss the playoffs for the second consecutive year.

You've Never Seen This Before

One of the greatest appeals of baseball is that could watch two thousand games and one day see something you've never seen before. Well on a summer night in early August in Kansas City, Jason Bay hit one of the strangest doubles (and almost home run) you will ever see...

ESPN Should Welcome Rain Delays More Often

ESPN had its Monday Night Baseball game of the Cubs-Astros all ready to go tonight, but an extended rain delay made for great TV. With the rain coming down and tarp going on at Wrigley, ESPN jumped around from game to game, showing fans a small morsel of almost all the games around the country tonight. And they had a knack for picking games at the right time.

In Texas, we saw a couple big home runs for the Rangers against the Yankees. In Tampa, we saw David Dellucci's moonshot for the Indians to give them the lead for good over the Rays. They also showed games that normally you would never see on national television, such as the Rockies-Nationals and the Pirates-Diamondbacks. Of course when they went to the Pirates game, the D-Backs were finishing a six-run eighth inning in a 13-7 win. They also sent us over to see Seattle's big comeback against the Twins as the Mariners put up a 10 spot in the seventh inning.

In the middle of this smorgasbord of games, the Cubs game got going again for a couple innings, but went to a delay again due to lightning in the area. It was eventually called a short time later. Before that though, ESPN capped off the live look-ins with the Angels-Orioles in what was the best game (or finish) of the night. With LA leading 5-1 in the ninth with two on and two out, the Angels summoned K-Rod in what would appear to be an easy save only needing one out for his 46th save of the season. That was not the case. Rodriguez got Roberts to ground to first base, but everybody was save after the ball skipped off Mark Teixeira for a fielding error. With the bases loaded, he served up a two-run single off Nick Markakis to cut the lead to 5-3. After a wild pitch that moved the runners into scoring position, Melvin Mora ripped a two-run double to tie the game. K-Rod stood shocked on the mound after only his fourth blown save of the year. The Angels went on to win it in the bottom of the inning, but at the point the Cubs game was over and we were sent to Sportscenter.

I don't say this often, but kudos to ESPN for not leaving us with John Kruk and Buster Olney for the entire length of the rain delay to hear them yap on telling rain delay stories. I felt like I had the MLB Extra Innings package as we jumped around from game to game all night. Maybe ESPN can just schedule nights where we see 8-10 different games. That would be fantastic, but I'm sure contract obligations and what not get in the way of that. Maybe I can just pray for rain delays on Monday and Wednesday nights. Either way, one thing is for sure. Tonight was a lot more fun watching that then any Cubs-Astros game has even been.

The Pirates Finally Made the Right Moves

Look, I'm a Pittsburgh Pirates fan...probably the biggest one you'll find these days. I'll be the first to point out the horrendous signings, drafting and trades they've made in the past 15 years. But the two trades made in the past week at the trade deadline were the right moves. Most of the fans and people around baseball are saying "here we go again" with the Pirates. I understand that fans are fired up once again (trust me, I've been there), but this time it is different. Really.

Some are comparing the Jason Bay trade to the Aramis Ramirez deal in 2003 when the Pirates handed the Cubs an All-Star third baseman for pretty much nobody (Bobby Hill, Jose Hernandez and Matt Bruback). They went ahead with that trade because they could not pay Ramirez what he wanted, and the front office at the time had no idea how to value its stars for sterling prospects. This is not the case this time around.

The Pirates can afford Jason Bay. They can afford Xavier Nady. The problem is prior management (Cam Bonifay, Dave Littlefield) left this organization in shambles with the Major League roster and minor league system depleted of stars and talent. The Pirates weren't going to finish over .500 with Bay and Nady...they simply need a lot more. Forget about the history and press that will come with the 16th consecutive losing season because it's already over. It's going to happen and there's nothing to do about it in the final two months, but they can start to finally rebuild in the right direction.

Neal Huntington took probably the worst job in baseball last winter with the task of piecing together a winning team with absolutely nothing in the cupboard. The former GMs left him with prize pieces such as John Van Benschoten, Sean Burnett, Bryan Bullington, Matt Morris and so on. In short, it's a mess. That's why Huntington went out and traded his best two bargaining chips for prospects that are Major League ready in an attempt to flood this system with quality prospects and add depth to it. He was able to acquire two top prospects in the Red Sox organization (Moss and Hansen), along with the number two prospect in the Dodgers organization (Andy LaRoche) and the third in the Yankees organization (Jose Tabata).

Huntington and the Pirates still have a long way to go. These trades are not going to make them contenders tomorrow, but it's a start. They need to continue building with solid draft picks and smart free-agent signings in the offseason. For the first time in the past 15 years, I can confidently say that the Pirates are finally moving in the right direction.