Let's see what Mike Celizic has to say about the AL East race:
It almost doesn’t matter what the Yankees do against the Red Sox in what is being touted as a crucial series for both teams. It’s all but a foregone conclusion that the Yankees are going to win the AL East.
>> That's just stupid. It's not a foregone conclusion. You could say that you, Mike Celizic, think the Yankees will win the division. You could say that despite being 2.5 games back, the Yankees should be considered the AL East favorites for reasons X, Y and Z. Saying they're a mortal lock at this point is totally insane, and it's bad sportswriting. It would be bad sports talk radio, and that's saying something.
Baltimore ran out to an early divisional lead and had a chance to bury both the Yankees and the Red Sox. The Orioles couldn’t do it. Their pitching inadequacies finally overcame their precocious hitting and that was that.
>> pre·co·cious
Pronunciation: pri-'kO-sh&s
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin praecoc-, praecox early ripening, precocious, from prae- + coquere to cook
1 : exceptionally early in development or occurrence
2 : exhibiting mature qualities at an unusually early age
Baltimore's youngest regular is CF Luis Matos, who is 27 and a 5-year veteran. Their lineup includes 16-, 18- and 19-year vets Sammy Sosa, B.J. Surhoff and Rafael Palmeiro.
Could Celizic mean the Orioles' hitting was precocious because it manifested itself early in the season? I'm going to assume he just doesn't know what that word means.
Celizic supports his argument by saying that the Yankees have a great offense (true) and a great bullpen (probably true unless Tom Gordon goes into the tank). The Yankees also until very recently were playing Tony Womack in center field. Tony Womack. They've turned to terrible baseball pitchers Sean Henn and Darrell May to start some games for them.
They're not a lock to win the division. No one is, and anyone who says otherwise is either grandstanding or delusional.
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Michael Ventre is even worse than Celizic when it comes to being absurdly confident about his opinions without any real justification.
Here's Ventre on Barry Bonds:
Baseball is a numbers game, and often the emphasis on statistics is daunting to some outsiders. But in the case of Bonds, an examination of the numbers is essential for a deeper understanding of his current situation:
Stuck on 703 home runs. Behind Babe Ruth at 714 and Henry Aaron at 755. Three knee surgeries. Turns 41 on July 24. Zero at-bats thus far in 2005. Out another two months at least.
Deduction: Ain’t happenin’.
>> Could you be more emphatic about this?
Barry is done, kaput, finito. Let’s give him a farewell roast, a gold watch, “Barry Bonds Day” at SBC Park and a retrospective of his career on every sports show in America, because he’s not coming back in ’05, or ’06, or ’07, or ever.
>> Thank you. Could you repeat yourself a little more now?
He is now an ex-player. A sleeping Giant who will never awaken to play again.
>> Excellent. Now write two more paragraphs, one speculating on what an entire organization of hundreds of people is thinking and another just repeating yourself again.
The official announcement won’t come for some time, because both Bonds and the Giants want to perpetuate the notion that this once-magnificent professional athlete is experiencing a mere bump on his career path. If anyone can come back from this type of setback, the logic goes, it’s our superhero. He works out like a professional bodybuilder. He is relentless. He is determined.
But he’s also human. That period when he captured the nation’s attention by dropping baseballs into McCovey’s Cove like fishing lures off a party boat is long over. Pining for his return is like wishing Michael Jordan would turn back the clock and thrill us again by dominating the NBA, or longing for Wayne Gretzky to lace up the skates and lead the NHL in scoring.
>> Well done. Now, for old time's sake, be emphatic again.
Face it. Barry has broken down.
>> Maybe Michael Ventre has done some awesome investigative reporting and he has some inside information that I don't haveabout the extent of Barry Bonds' injuries ...Okay, I read the rest of the article. He hasn't and he doesn't. He's just being provocative for the sake of being provocative.
Hey, do you think you could finish this off by repeating yourself again?
Say goodbye to Barry.
>> Great, thanks.
Labels: HatGuy, mike celizic, yankees
