For years, I have so wished that radio shows did not have a 7 second delay. I have always wanted to call Sid Hartman's radio show and say, "Hey, Sid, you are a sanctimonious windbag." and hang up.

Can I get a pony too??
I don't like Eric Chavez - so give them a call Batgirl tell them no deal - ok?!?

Much love
WW

The fact that Sid Hartman still has a job in legitimate journalism (if the Strib can still be considered legitimate itself) speaks volumes about the sad state of sports columns today. He's the epitome of someone virtually stealing his paycheck for doing no work of value to society at all.

Eric Chavez would definitely raise the Hotness Quotient.

Did the A's respond with, "Who's the best looking GM in baseball?"

Mmm...Eric Chavez. And we have to give up two ugly ones in the process? I'm in!!

don't call little abner ugly! :) he's one of my fav.... i know it's lame, but i think he's little kid cute. you know what i mean? i hope he's back next year!

BG- do you get to pick what color the pony is?

WW- listen to the good people- Chavez would certainly keep the boyfriend t-shirts flying off the shelves. I'd say the thongs, too, but with that kind of hotness, undergarments need not apply.

Not saying I'd take him over David Wright, but over Cuddles and L-Rod? Mmmmyeah. Ok, he's having shoulder surgery "sometime in the next five years"... he's still Chavez.

Every little BatGirl should have a BatPony.

Would you name it:

A. Beane?
B. Moneyball?
C. Little Nicky Tail Swisher?

I don't see the 'hotness' factor in Mr.Chavez - kind of like that whole Joe Crede thing - I don't get it - if we're going for sheer hotness factor -I'd say keep DJ Cuddles - come on - he's got that adorable dimple and he just couldn't be nicer!!

That aside - Chavez just bugs me - kind like Troy Glaus - ;-)

Much Love
WW

grumble, grumble...

I just hope we get a legitimately solid hitter. None of this slightly-above-average but past-his-prime crap. Or, "we couldn't afford a good hitter so we got an average hitter who is a good fielder or utility guy instead" hooey. I WANT A BONA-FIDE 1 THRU 5 GUY!

How does everyone feel about Denard Span? He is hitting well in the summer leagues right now. Will he eventually become the replacement to Torii in CF?

Thoughts.

WW- you know how Torii's 5 consecutive gold gloves make him just a little hotter?

Chavez was awarded his 5th consecutive gold glove this year, too.

I'm sure a case could be made for keeping Cuddyer and his magic dimple around. But think about those times when a ball's hit to 3rd and before your mind can even finish thinking "wow, good job keeping that one from becoming extra bases," the ball sails across the infield, smacks the first baseman's mitt and the 1b ump raises a fist, knocking your wind out and making you think about how sick a play that was? Imagine experiencing that on a very regular basis. Chavez could make it one very hot corner ;-)

I'm not saying go get the guy's jersey, just be open-minded if, by some longshot it does happen. When Piazza was traded to the Mets, I was pissed. Thought he was too Hollywood, a hotshot, and his affiliation with LaSorda carried with it a stigma.

I grew to reserve a permanent spot for him on the Mets shelf in my heart and even started to get a little misty during the final days of this season when it started becoming obvious that he was likely not returning next year. Those sad eyes of his said it all.

Look at it this way- at least Chavez won't exacerbate your Glaustrophobia ;-)

Chavez, Mr. give me my multi million $$$ deal Oakland but no I don't want to be a leader.

He would crumble under the pressure in Minnesota. Which is a pretty sad statement.

Not that it would ever really happen, I'm just saying if it did.

Since we are in fantasy land right now, instead of Chavez, why not wish the Mets part with David Wright for JC, Lil Abner, and a hot dog vender to be named later???

Cal- you have a better chance of seeing Tony Gwynn scooting around on a flaming chariot ;-)

Then again, we did give up Scott Kazmir for freaking Zambrano. And not even the GOOD Zambrano. So it'd have to be the best damned hot dog vendor you've got for us to even consider it.

I'll agree with Hannah! that Abby has that cute little boy look to him that would be missed. But I'd regretfully give him up if we could get Chavez AND pony for Batgirl.

Yeah, the Kazmir for Zambrano thing...what was it Peterson said at the time? Something to the effect of he "could FIX Zambrano in a few minutes of working with him."

Pfffffft.

Nope not even the 5 Gold Gloves will make me like Eric Chavez -

Glaustrophobia - good one!

Much Love
WW

From today's Strib:

Look for the Twins to court free-agent third baseman Bill Mueller of the Red Sox, for example.

"I'm not going to say exactly where we're looking," Ryan said. "But we're going to be concentrating more on infielders."

Hmm, 8.5 million with a bad wing vs. 2.5 million...Looks like no pony for Batgirl.

If we pick up Billy Mueller, I'LL buy BG a pony.

ROY's announced

AL - Huston Street
NL - Ryan Howard

AL Cy Young Tomorrow
NL on Wednesday!

much love
WW

Mariano Rivera should win the AL CY Young and The D-Train should win the NL Cy Young.

Iguchi got robbed!!!!
Okay, that was a joke, Steet did a hell of a job for the A's.

Although it pains me to say this, I think Santana should be AL Cy Young. Relievers should have their own award.

If you haven't already, check out BG's link saying Sid is full of it. I wish more sports columns were realistic and there was less of the ESPN hype machine, making a story out of absolutely nothing and acting like you should care. (ie stories on the Red Sox)

A side note, would anyone else love to see Terrell Owens sign with the Raiders next year? To have Moss and Owens on the same team, THAT would be cause for reality TV.

Don't relievers have their own award? I seem to remember Jeff Reardon winning something when he was a Twin?

Fireman award? Rolaids relief award?

Hey Mets, have you ever tasted a Dome dog? if we throw in the dogs the Mets need to give Mr. Wright up. :)

I wish the Twins could have a shot at him now, and not when he's a FA and priced outta their league. Which I guess means the Twins will never have a shot at him. The Mets couldn't possibly make to bad deals could they?

TOTALLY off subject (and BG feel free to delete it, cuz I know it's off subject), but it seems the Carolina Panthers cheerleader team have higher standards than the Vikings when it comes to a "conduct" code...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9956517/

Cal- send over some of those Dome Dogs so that I can.. errr... so that the Mets' scouts can see what we're talking about.

On second thought, I hardly eat hot dogs at Shea anyway, what with the sausage and pepper sandwiches and the knishes. My mouth is literally watering right now just THINKING about a knish.

Deal's off... I didn't like how you were looking at him, anyway ;-)

In Venezuelan baseball news, Ugueth Urbina has been arrested for attempted murder.

(clicky my name)

Fat Ass Colon wins the Cy Young. I think Mo was discriminated against because he is skinny and a reliever. No Fair.

Too bad they decided not to give the Cy Young to the best pitcher in baseball this year.

Hey now Will.

They managed to get it right last year. I mean, getting it right once out of the last two years isn't that bad, now is it? I mean, we can't expect more out of people than .500, right?

Colon winning the Cy Young this year is a joke.

To follow up, here's a relative comparison between Santana and Colon. I apologize for the stats, but it's for the greater good.

*Johan Santana*

2nd in ERA (by .01)
2nd in IP
1st in quality starts
4th in complete games
2nd in shutouts
1st in K's
1st in K/9
1st in WHIP (the difference between 1 and 2 is equal to the difference between 2 and 20)
1st in opponent's batting average
1st in opponent's on-base percentage (the difference between 1 and 2 is equal to the difference between 2 and 33)
1st in opponent's slugging percentage
1st in opponent's OPS (the difference between 1 and 2 is equal to the difference between 2 and 21)

*Bartolo Colon*

8th in ERA
7th in IP
8th in quality starts
10th in compelte games
19th in shutouts
8th in K's
16th in K's/9
3rd in WHIP (1.16 compared to Johan's .97)
13th in opponent's batting average
3rd in opponent's on-base percentage (.291 compared to Johan's .250)
17th in opponent's slugging percentage
10th in opponent's OPS

I found and compiled those lists in about ten minutes of work. Surely Cy Young voters should be required to do at least ten minutes of work in deciding their vote, shouldn't they? Such a shame that Santana lost. It wasn't even a tough choice.

First Batkitty #1 and Boo get caught with 'roids, then Torii breaks his foot, then the Bitch Sox win the world series. Now they give the Cy Young to Bartolo Colon? What have I done to make the baseball gods so angry this season?

What a sad sad day, Johan K. didn't even get 2nd place. I'm so saddened by this.

Allow me one more stat, because I left out what was ultimately the most important one.

Bartolo Colon, 7th in run support. Johan Santana, 30th.

The most appalling thing may be that almost 20% of the voters left Santana off their ballot altogether. Crazy.

As disappointed as I am, I can't say I am surprised.

This is what happens when you ask one of the most ignorant groups in America (sports writers) to decide something.

Johan is still my, " Cy Young "

I understand why all of the Twins people think Santana should have won this year, and hell he is one of the best pitchers in either league, but Mariano Rivera was clearly the best pitcher in the AL this year.

And Will, while Johan's stats are impressive the two you left out are Colon is 1st in Wins, Johan is tied for 5th and The Angels finished in first place in their divison and the Twins in 3rd. Winning, after all, is the most important thing.

If any one thing kept Santana from winning his second Cy, it was lacking of winning.

My ESPN boyfriend Jayson Stark agrees that Santana should have gotten it and even concedes that Mo would have been a better choice than Colon.

Click my name for the article.

From Starks article about MO

Rivera, the runner-up, had the best season of his career. And that's saying something. He had his lowest ERA ever (1.38). He allowed his fewest baserunners ever (only 0.87 per inning). He had his best strikeout-walk ratio ever (4.44 whiffs per walk).

He gave up one run all season on the road. And he gave up one extra-base hit all year to the 120 hitters he faced with runners on base. Yep, one.

But clearly, some voters think relievers aren't supposed to win this award, either -- six of them didn't even list Rivera on their ballot.

"And Will, while Johan's stats are impressive the two you left out are Colon is 1st in Wins, Johan is tied for 5th and The Angels finished in first place in their divison and the Twins in 3rd. Winning, after all, is the most important thing."

Nope. Didn't leave those out. Those are team stats, not pitching stats.

"Mariano Rivera was clearly the best pitcher in the AL this year."

If Rivera was clearly the best pitcher in the AL, I'm thinking the Yankees would have found ways to use him more than 70 innings this year.

"If any one thing kept Santana from winning his second Cy, it was lacking of winning."

Mike - The problem with that is that in the American league pitchers don't have any control over how many runs their team scores, and that's half the equation of what equals a win. Colon's run support was much better than Santana's, and hence his 21 wins despite the stats showing that Santana really is the superior pitcher. Sadly, this resulted in most of the voters not even taking the time to care and phoning it in.

I'll agree that Rivera deserved more consideration than he did. He had a great year and likely was his best chance to ever win a Cy Young.

Sorry guys but 16 wins is just not Cy Young worthy, and believe me I am a huge Johan fan.

I mean I can't wait till he is a free agent in 3 three years and come to the Yankees from Reggie's farm team in Vegas :)

Tell that to Greg Maddux, David Cone, Rick Sutcliffe and Fernando Valenzuela.

From Fire Joe Morgan...
----
"But what this voting really proves is that Cy Young voters are still mushy traditionalists who value the almighty 'win' above all other indicators of who pitched best over six grueling months.

Not that there isn't something to be said for pitchers who find a way to win. That is, after all, the object. But Colon sure was helped out by his bullpen (which blew zero saves for him) and his run support (6.02 runs per game).

And if you zap wins out of the who-pitched-best equation and compare him with the guy who finished third in this voting -- Johan Santana -- it wasn't even close.

Santana piled up 81 more strikeouts, beat Colon in ERA by 61 points, allowed almost two fewer baserunners for every nine innings, and had more innings pitched, complete games and shutouts.

Hitters who faced Colon had a batting average of .254 against him. The on-base percentage against Santana was .250. Any more objections, your honor?

True, Colon had five more wins than Santana (21 vs. 16). But since Santana actually pitched more innings, how was that win gap his fault? The win differential is a stat we can attribute almost completely to their offenses. It's that basic.

Colon got a ridiculous 1.32 more runs per game than Santana did. And Santana's totals in his last three no-decisions tell it all: 23 innings, 9 hits, 3 runs, 0 wins."
---

Pretty much dead on accurate.

Dear mike,

Smiley face aside, keep making comments like that and you may fast become a Yankee fan that will not necessarily be as welcomed by batlings as you have been in the past.

bubblemint

"Sorry guys but 16 wins is just not Cy Young worthy"

By traditional reasoning, yeah, you're right.

But I think most of us are contending that the traditional reasoning is horribly flawed, and this year was a perfect example of that. Expect another perfect example when Roger Clemens doesn't come close to a Cy Young this year, despite easily being the most dominant pitcher in the NL.

Dear Mr. Mike,

Don't make me come over there.

Sincerely,
Batgirl

Dear Batgirl

I was only playing. It was a tongue in cheek, which seems to have turned foot in mouth.

mike

the position players ought to be pitching in to pay Santana for whatever his Cy Young incentive bonus would have been. Obviously its the hitters (and I use that term loosely) that cost him the CY this year.

Sportswriters are what they are. Expecting them to suddenly be educated and ignore Ws in favor of other stats is more than logically can be expected of their kind.

Dear Mr. Mike,

I know, silly.

Sincerely,
BG

Well I can't be outraged by the voting. Johan was my choice to win the AL Cy Young, but you can't argue with Colon. He has had a great year and he was huge in the second half. I am not a Colon fan, but he deserved it. I can't fault Rivera being second either beacuse without him, the Yankees may not have made the playoffs. If anything, he would have been a better choice to win the Cy.

"He has had a great year and he was huge in the second half."

Worth noting is the fact that Colon actually pitched better before the All Star break than he did after, according to the splits on ESPN.com.

I don't mean to come off as blindly railing on Colon. I admit he had a great year. But there seem to be a lot of misconceptions about just how great of a year he had, especially compared to other pitchers. I'm just trying to add some truthiness to the mix.

For the record:

I would have voted for Santana. If Torii can win a Gold Glove playing 2/3 of a season, then Santana can win the Cy Young with 16 wins.

Bottom line, the best pitcher in the AL was Santana. It's not an award for "lowest ERA when compared with team's run support" which, essentially, is "wins."

In an extreme scenario, a pitcher could strike out 80% of the batters he faces, give up less than one run per nine, and finish the year 0-12 with 15 no-decisions. That pitcher would still have deserved the Cy Young (like I believe Randy Johnson deserved it last year, and Clemens deserved consideration this year...).

Anyway, Colon is a better choice than either of the Chicago guys, and it is nice to see Santana get the #3 (thought for sure he'd be #5 after the Chicago guys).

As for Rivera, I just don't see it. I think that you have a better argument that Mariano should with the MVP than the Cy Young (though make no mistake, I don't think he should win the MVP either). Was Rivera the best pitcher in baseball? Ask yourself, if you could have one pitcher to pitch a game for you, who would it be? Sure, the answer changes when you say if you had to pitch to one batter (or three) but the best pitcher in the AL has to be one that can win a game for you - 8 scoreless innings. I guess that makes me a traditionalist, but it is how I feel about the Cy Young. Was anyone more valuable to their team than Mariano? Probably -- Ortiz, for one (though without Manny... that's my conflict there). But Cy Young? I don't think so.

I am not saying that a reliever could not win the Cy Young award... I am still open to the possibility. But I watched Rivera all season and I just do not think he could be characterized as the best pitcher in the AL.

YankeeFan

YF

Do we win the division or even make the playoffs if Braden Looper is our closer ? Our pitching this year was not very good, and we always knew we could be out of game quickly, until the 8th and 9th innings.

Mo was lights out all year he only blew 4 saves and 3 of those were in the beginning of the season. He should have won.

I guess I am a bit conflicted on this issue but would have to come down more on YankeeFan's side.

On the one hand, when someone is as dominant in his particular role as Rivera is, and has as fabulous a year as Rivera did, do you discount his excellence because of the limitations of his role? Isn't it all you can ask that the guy be the very best at what he does?

But on the other hand, there's no getting around the fact that the closer role in baseball has become such a specialized thing that it can't be compared to the demands of being a starter. For the most part, closers are put into a game when their team is ahead and always know they only have to get three outs (or at most six) before somebody scores a run. They will never face a particular batter more than once in a game and rarely have to deal with bases loaded or other such situations unless they have gotten themselves into it. Although I know next to nothing about football, it makes me think of the kicker in a football game. You might have a fabulous kicker with perfect stats -- you might even feel he was the difference maker in whether your team won or lost -- but at the end of the year, would you really say he was a "better player" than the quarterback who maybe made a few mistakes here or there but led his team game after game?

My only problem with relievers winning the award is this:

If one is truly the best pitcher in the league, wouldn't the team find a way to use him for more than 70 innings a year?

It sounds ridiculous considering the role, but think about it. If someone like Rivera is so good, why is he only pitching 70 innings? Why not trot him for the last two innings in a game? That would still only put him at 140 innings, still nowhere close to what starters pitch.

So, why not do it? Why don't guys like Rivera mostly pitch two or three innings for their saves? Most people would say that his effectiveness would decrease dramatically if he had to pitch twice as many innings. Well, isn't that a huge fault in his game? If a closer's effectiveness is capped at roughly 70 innings, which it seems to be, isn't that a huge fault against them?

Don't get me wrong, though. Rivera is easily the cream of the crop of the guys that can give you 70 great innings a year. But when I'm looking to give out the Cy Young, I'm looking to give it to the cream of the crop of the guys that can give you 220 great innings a year.

Eric Gagne won the Cy Young two or three seasons ago and what Mo did this year was every bit as important as what gagne did. Ask the Astro how different the season my have ended if Brad Lidge had pitched a little better in the playoffs.

Every at bat for a closer is a pressure stitution if it wasn't it would be as important as it is.

So that 'pressure' makes up for 150 less innings pitched?

There is nothing stated in the Cy Yound ballets that says you must be a starter or you must make 140 apperences.

Steve Bedrosian won the Cy Young on a losing team in '87 and he had 40 saves pitched 89 innings and had a 2.83 era. Tell me those stats are more deserving that what Mo did this year.

1.) Unfortunately for Rivera, we're comparing him to 2005 Johan Santana, not 1987 Steve Bedrosian.

2.) True, there is nothing stating the requirements for a Cy Young award winner. But wouldn't it make sense that a guy who pitched great over the course of 220 innings than the guy who pitched great over 70 innings?

Will

I think you are getting me wrong. I am not campaigning Rivera against Santana, I am saying Rivera deserved the award over Colon, but I guess since I think he was the best in the AL this year I am saying he was better then the Yankees opening day starter in 2008 :)

We're on similar pages, at least. I, too, thought Rivera deserved the award over Colon. The difference in our opinions, though, is that I don't think Rivera came even close to deserving it over Santana. Santana just pitched too well this year, and if he had an offense like the Yankees or Angels and managed 20 wins (more like 24 or 25 with those offenses, we wouldn't even be debating this.

For the sake of argument you can gives us Johan for one season and we can experiment with him to see haow many wins he can get :)

Dear Mr. Mike,

No.

Sincerely,
BG

I actually am unsure as to whether Colon or Rivera would be deserving, if Santana hadn't put up the numbers he did.

That is, Colon played in so many more games and pitched extremely well situationally -- I am not sure that he did not deserve to beat Rivera in the polls.

The arguments I see for Rivera, e.g., "Do we win the division or even make the playoffs if Braden Looper is our closer?" are completely valid -- only I see that as an argument for MVP over anything else.

Without A-Rod, we might make the postseason (think average 3b hitting 8th with everyone else moving up a spot, or Cano batting 1, Jeter 2, etc.). Without Rivera, we certainly do not sniff the postseason. Of course, the same could be said about Aaron Small... :)

I don't see the "best pitcher in baseball" argument, though maybe if the stats were laid out side-by-side (like Colon and Santana) we could compare. Of course, Rivera would crush in ERA, but that's only one stat (which, like wins, should not be the end of the argument). Should WHIP be given a greater weight? Probably, because that discounts runners inherited, etc.

Boy am I glad this is an imperfect system. If everyone was like "oh sure, Colon, no doubt" then what would we do for the next 5 months?

YankeeFan