Fantasy Geeks Squeal With Delight

What's more exciting than a Star Wars fan on a real date?

The recent announcement received by Fantasy Sports Geeks that they will not be enslaved by Darth MLB.

Major League Baseball was handed a big fat beat down in court recently when they lost their case regarding the control of their statistics.

Fantasy sports have blown up in popularity and an MLB accountant somewhere probably saw an opportunity to row down an additional revenue stream.

Story Source

Joe Torre New Dodgers Skipper?

That's what Peter Abraham is reporting on his LoHud (Lower Hudson) old media blog.

Reports have been swirling that this season's Dodgers Manager Grady Little has his head on the chopping block since the end of season. Grady lost control of his team as they played their way out of the playoffs in a deep nosedive fashion.

Abraham's article also states that Torre is interested in bringing along Yankees coaches Kevin Long and Don Mattingly. Mattingly was recently told he was no longer in the running for the Yanks' Manager job.

Dodgers' GM Ned Colletti has had no comment as of this writing. He is doing one of two things at the moment:

1) Giggling his brains out because he pulled of this coup, hired Torre, and prolonged his own position as GM with the Dodgers.

or

2) Has photoshopped a Dodger cap on Torres dome and is staring at it while he hopes to hear sports talking heads drop the rumor he hired Torre. Why? Fantasy that he could pull off a deal of that magnitude.

If the Dodgers did hire Torre, are they still in the hunt for A-Rod?

Joe Torre disavowed the validity of the rumor this evening on an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman.

What to do about A-Rod?

I hesitate to write this blog, because this A-Rod story is blowing up and I'm sure this will be just one of thousands of words written about this guy, and I hate just giving him more attention.

I've been thinking about what to write about A-Rod should he opt out for a few weeks now. First of all, I really didn't think he would opt out of his contract for a multitude of reasons: he could've fleeced the Yankees for all they're worth in signing an extension, a free agent auction where the Yankees aren't involved could end up screwing him, maybe he honestly likes playing in New York like he's played lip service to for so long, why would he want a bigger contract when he tried to give back money on his current one just to get traded to New York or Boston, etc.

Obviously, none of these thoughts were correct. So now that we live in a world in which a baseball player has opted out of a contract worth over 80 million dollars for the next three years, what is there to say? Well, even though A-Rod will most likely go on to become the best statistical player of all time, his legacy will always be tied up in the size of his contracts. When talking about greed, people love to quote Michael Douglas's speech in the movie "Wall Street," and it's safe to say A-Rod is a disciple. At this point, there's no going back. New York was the one and only clubhouse where there was a chance he might blend in. Anywhere else, his contract will be the 800 pound (or 800 million dollar) gorilla in the locker room. And when it comes time to break Barry Bonds' career homerun record? Forget about it. If the San Francisco Giants thought Bonds was a distraction, the A-Rod version will be double that.

That was all before A-Rod's news was leaked DURING game four of the World Series. This was despicable. I imagine that it was more superagent Scott Boras's fault than A-Rod's; nonetheless, unless A-Rod fires Boras tomorrow, citing his douchey behavior in a public statement, we have to hold the player accountable for this move as well. A-Rod has made it clear that he considers himself above the game, and if he considers himself above the game, then he definitely considers himself above his team.

This is the type of personality one really has to think hard about before adding to your clubhouse. Would I take A-Rod on my favorite team for free? Absolutely. Would I give him 15 million a year? I think so. But would I give him more money than my entire pitching staff? Absolutely not. The team who ponies up enough dough to land this guy might as well give him a stake in the ownership of the franchise, since you're already putting him before the team anyways.

A-Rod Is Fast

Ex Mariner, Ranger, and now Yank Alex Rodriguez wasted no time opting out of his current contract with the New York Yankees.

He had 10 days to do so after the World Series and he went ahead and saved the media a countdown by doing that today.

So the Rodstakes are now on.

In the past month things have gotten a little weird as Rodriguez' super agent/pimp Scott Boras has been measuring A-Rod's worth by television station increased revenue and other new sports valuing measurement paradigms.

Teams supposedly in the chase are the Dodgers, Angels, Mets, Cubs, and maybe even the new 2007 World Series Champions Red Sox.

I Told You So

Many of you have disrespected me ever since I've been the voice of reason on this "blog".

Today I can tell you that I told you the fix was in with the NBA orchestrated by David Stern in his grand scheme of taking the NBA global.

Now the Detroit Piston's Rasheed Wallace is also on my truth train.

There's more going on in sports than meets the eye.

Much more.

New Reasons for a College Football Playoff

I heard someone somewhere arguing that the parity in this year's college football season might temporarily put to rest the annual call for a playoff system. I disagree, vehemently.

This year has brought up an entire new reason for the nation's age old desire for a division 1 playoff. That reason is this: the disparity of conferences. Let's look at our current top two: Ohio State and Boston College. If these two teams finish the season undefeated, they will play in the national championship bowl, and deservingly. Nonetheless, they will have done so facing very few tests. I actually don't think this will happen, as OSU could fall to Michigan or Penn State and BC has to get past Virginia Tech this week. But those are just a few breaks these two teams need to swing their way in order for them to finish in the same place they are in now.

The basic problem here is that the Big Ten and the ACC are comparatively weak. The Big 12 is not looking so hot either. Of course this is all just cyclical, in time these conferences will be strong again, but in the short term, it likens the chances of a national championship game featuring at least one, maybe even two untested teams.

Meanwhile, the winner of the SEC will have at least one loss, and it wouldn't surprise me if the SEC champion ends up with two, maybe even three L's. But there's no doubt in my mind that whoever finishes atop this specific conference this specific year deserves to play in the title game.

When you look at the list of LSU, Kentucky, Auburn, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina, if one of these teams can emerge from the rest with only one or two marks on their record, surely anyone following college football has to agree that they are more deserving than anyone at a chance for the title.

Sports Douche of the Week

This one is too easy. This weeks Sports Douche of the Week goes to republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani. If you missed it, Giuliani said in Boston this weekend that he will be rooting for the Red Sox in the World Series because he's an American League fan.

That's right. The former mayor of New York is going to be rooting for the Boston Red Sox. I expect Giuliani's numbers in the polls to dip after this idiotic remark.

DOUCHE!

An Unexpected World Series

Let's be honest: none of us here at the Frappe saw a Rockies, Red Sox World Series, and neither did you.  We were too busy picking the Angels and the Mets to even consider a perennial loser like the Rockies making the playoffs.  But, here we are, so let's get psyched.

I've already sounded off about how the NL might have the advantage this year in the World Series simply because they were playing with the most intensity.  However, the Rockies are coming off a 9 day stretch which is similar to how the Tigers had a large break before last years World Series before getting worked by the Cardinals.  Based on precedent, I have a feeling the Rockies momentum has now cooled in the snow and the Red Sox, who have just come back from a 3-1 game deficit, has had less time to relax and would be the most likely candidate to keep rolling through the rest of the postseason.  

My prediction:  we see the strangest world series yet as games extend into November and the Rockies end up taking the Red Sox in Fenway in Game 7.    

On another note, does anyone else think it's strange that Dane Cook is doing the promos for the postseason this year?  Seriously, Dane Cook?  Really?  Since when is Dane Cook a baseball fanatic that has any weight in convincing the public to watch the postseason?  After about 2 of these, I was pretty sick of hearing this self-promoter infringe on America's Pastime.  Thank goodness Saturday Night Live picked up on how ridiculous this combination is.

NFL Timeout Rules Leads to Fake Field Goals

Even the most casual NFL fan has probably seen or heard of a game this season in which a kicker nailed a last second field goal, only to find out that the opposing coach had called a timeout just before the snap, making the ensuing kick meaningless.

"Icing the kicker" is an old strategy, but it has taken on a new twist this year because of an NFL rule change. Prior to this year, players on the field had to call a timeout. Now, coaches can do it from the sideline. It seemed innocent enough, but the coaches have already exploited it.

The reason I don't like this new rule is simple: No football fan deserves to think his team just won the game on a last second kick, only to discover that it didn't count. At least under the old system, you could see the linebacker turn around and ask for timeout. Now that the "action" is happening on the sideline, you have no idea until well after you've already started celebrating.

In last night's epic Cowboy comeback, the rookie kicker Nick Folk nailed a 52 yarder twice to earn the victory, the first of which was negated because of Buffalo's coach's timeout. Even though it didn't affect Folk, it's meant the difference between a win and loss for a handful of teams earlier in this young season. But more importantly, it makes for bad football. The solution is simple: switch the rule back to the way it used to be.

Focus

I have to tell you that I think things are funny.

I often see humor in things that others don't. I often say things that are hilarious and others don't laugh.

I see humor in the folds and crevasses of life. It's the part of life where I'm completely selfish. If I think it's funny.............it's funny. And it has gotten me in trouble. Laughing at inappropriate times has earned me the title of clown................and more negative labels. If that's possible.

With that out of the way, you may or may not think the following is funny............but it is.

How about Alex Rodriguez wanting to buy the Cubs? Yep, supposedly that's what he said last week. Nice focus on the task ahead of you. You know the task I'm speaking of, the playoffs that you were about to get rolled in?

Of course it was instantly denied which in this day and age of spin, pretty much says it was true.

Maybe if your trash liners are made of 5 dollar bills you have to amuse yourself by playing real life Monopoly.

It went something like this "Yeah Scott (as in Boras, A Rod's agent), I hear Mark Cuban wants to buy the Cubs. I can't let him do that 'cuz that will give him two blue sports properties and then he'll put hotels on them and I'll have to pay rent".

It would be like Reggie Bush 2 years ago during his last year at USC declaring that he was going to buy TCU.

If you don't see the humor in all that..........too bad.

Yankees Bite

The New York Yankees rose to the top over the weekend in proving they're the best losers, becoming the only first round playoff loser to win a game.

First round results: Winners 12 - Losers 1.

The Yankees made it interesting tonight but never seemed to be a real threat to come back and force a game 5.

The next round features an AL matchup of Boston Red Sox versus Cleveland Indians, while the NL has a war of the last two expansion teams in the MLB, Colorado Rockies versus Arizona Diamondbacks. Both NL teams are young and gritty which should make for some good games. The Boston Red Sox look to be in 2004 form, so it will be interesting to see if the Cleveland Indians are for real, or the Yankees that wore themselves out getting the Wild Card were just weak.

We know one person that's excited about these playoffs.

An Interesting Postseason

First things first:  yes, the Money Mouth is back in action.  Now pick your jaws off your keyboard, give a high five to your coworker, and let's get down the business.

Last year I came out very strongly making sure everyone knew that the NL didn't stand a chance in the postseason.  I had pure, hard-core facts to back me up and fence-straddling politicians agreeing with me.  It was that obvious.  And now that we are in another postseason in which the AL is once again the dominant league, I'm tempted to make another obvious forecast that it doesn't matter who ends up in the World Series because the American League team will win.  

Well, I'm not so ready to make that forecast because the NL Championship Series is going to be a battle of the west as the Rockies face off against the Diamondbacks.  Does anyone else feel that is just weird?  I mean, honestly.  The Rockies were nowhere on the radar at the beginning of the season, and unless you were IntrinsicBent, neither were the Diamondbacks.  But the scary thing is that whenever you have a team that "doesn't belong" in postseason play, they usually make a big splash.

Just to prove my point, lets reflect back on the 2002 Angels, 2003 Marlins, the 2004 Red Sox (this is obviously debatable), and the 2006 Cardinals.   While I would highly favor the Cleveland Indians over both the Rockies and the Diamondbacks on paper, I'm not so confident this year.  

In fact, I'm willing to lay this one in print:  The NL will win the Worlds Series this year.  Now let's just hope I'm wrong and the AL redeems itself after last year's pitiful performance.  

Money Out.

Revisiting The Frappe MLB Forecast

Hey FrappNation,

Revisiting the prognostication by the Sports Frappe writing team, it looks like we called it pretty close. The reformatting of our site chewed up the sweet graphics designed by our web design team, but you can make it out well enough to see the genius.

The Mets dissapointed us all. Only Money can be...........well.........Money at this point and call the World Series champ correctly. The Angels just have to get out of Fenway Park.

The End (of the regular season)

Last night's tie-breaker marked the end of the regular season. The Rockies won in an incredible 13 inning nail biter that is an instant classic in the Rockies' relatively young franchise.

With that it's time for BiCoastal Bias to make his MVP vote public. I'll stick to the races that count, beginning with the NL MVP: Matt Holliday. With his team's extra game, he secured his spot as the NL batting champion and hits leader, took over the NL RBI lead, and finished third in runs scored and fourth in homeruns. Jimmy Rollins is a close second, but as you know from Morneau's MVP performance last year, it all comes down to run production. In "runs created" (runs scored + RBI - HR), Matt Holliday led Rollins 221 to 203.

As for the AL Cy Young, a great case can be made for a multitude of candidates. For me, it comes down to Josh Beckett or C.C. Sabathia. I predict that Beckett gets a lot of votes for the fact that he is the only pitcher this season to hit the 20 win mark. This is the only stat in which he has an edge over Sabathia, as Sabathia finished 19-7, with a better ERA, not to mention that Sabathia pitched in 40 more innings than Beckett, for an Indians team that depended on their two aces. My vote goes to Sabathia.

As for the rest of the awards: A-Rod, Peavy, Pedroia, and Braun. I don't think these are all that arguable. (Although, after last night, Peavy might be looking at a bad reputation for terrible big game performances.)

Season Of Broken Records

The 2007 MLB season has been one that has been full of shattered records. Consider this:

• Craig Biggio collected his 3000th hit in a 5 hit game.

• Tom Glavine became the 23rd pitcher to amass 300 wins. He was only the 5th lefthander to accomplish this.

• Trevor Hoffman collected his 500th save.

• Alex Rodriguez became the youngest player to hit 500 homeruns. He was only the 3rd player to do so as a Yankee.

• Frank Thomas hit his 500th homerun and then boldly stated "I did this the right way."

• Sammy Sosa hit his 600th homerun this season. He did not make the same bold statement. Ironically, he did it against the Chicago Cubs during interleague play.

• Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron's all time homerun record, ensuring his place atop the Asterisk Hall Of Fame.

All of this and the playoffs haven't even started yet.