Baseball is Still Going on?

Hidden under all the drama of punted footballs ricocheting off scoreboards and Florida's unanimous number one ranking are the 31 points the Red Sox and Yankee's put up last night. Brad Penny lead the way for the Sox with 8 runs earned. Wait, runs are bad? Well Mike Bowden did even worse 'cuz he helped propel the Yankee's to 15 runs by allowing 7 more runs after Penny. 7 runs in 2 innings. Man, I thought Chin Ming Wang was bad at the beginning of the year. And the nuclear explosions aren't just being held on Friday night. Currently Boston has racked up 7 runs on 6 hits in 3 in 1/2 innings of play. And to think, the new Yankee stadium was the one that was giving hitters a helping hand. Hell, who needs football when baseball is acting like the early 2000's again? Nobody... except Brett fucking Farve.

Stras-full Negotiations

Let's look at the Nationals 2009 stat line. 43-75 record on pace to lose 100 games. Dead last in the National League in ERA, batting average against, OPS, WHIP and quality starts. It's ok though. Don't worry yourselves DC fans, 'cuz you drafted the surest thing since....ever. Yet, the Nationals management has so far failed in signing the guy, who was drafted in early June, and today is the deadline for the Nats to sign him.

Forget that fact that waiting two and a half months to sign him keeps him off the field for that long. Also forget that Strasburg, would potentially be Opening Day material for Washington next year with the three months of minor league experience under his belt. None of this matters 'cuz right now, it doesn't look optimistic for Washington fans who had their guy opt out last year.

The fact the DC isn't throwing a multiple millions at the kid is completely unreasonable. What do that Nationals have to loose? They are absolutely abysmal in every single starting pitching category and Strasburg would improve the team right away.

Honestly, how many people could name the Nats' starters this year? I know I couldn't without the help of ESPN. Infact I couldn't give you a single name. John Lannan, Craig Stammen, Garett Mock, J.D. Martin, and Collin Balester. Any of those sound familiar? Sure don't to me. I almost wonder if the Nationals just pick their starting pitchers by whether they have double, adjacent consonants in their names. Lannan, Stammen, Garett, Collin. I would almost bet that more people know who Strasburg is, and he hasn't spent a day in the majors.

So, If the Nationals were to sign anyone this offseason, this is the guy. Money should not be an issue. Getting this guy on the field ASAP should be the issue, and clearly that's not the case for DC. I pray to god that they sign them, just for the 3 fans that are still loyal. But, then again, the Royals might have the top pick next year.

Dear Baseball, Go Die.

Six years ago, this would have been the happiest day of my life. A four-game sweep of the Red Sox, culminated by an exciting late-inning comeback in the final game to push the Yankees’ AL East lead to six and a half. It would have been more euphoric than chugging a gallon of morphine.

Instead, it’s just another Monday.

Six years ago, I would have loved to spend my Sunday night listening to Joe Morgan and Jon Miller drone on about the storied rivalry between my beloved Yanks and the goddamned Sawx.

Now, I fall asleep halfway through the Titans-Bills preseason game.

My feelings toward the Yankees – and baseball – have grown skeptical, distrusting and downright curmudgeon-y. I’ve resorted to watching soccer to get my sports fix this summer. I was actually excited to see Vince Young play like a Special Olympian in a meaningless football game last night.

Has a lot changed in baseball over the past six years? Technically, no. But my perception of it certainly has.

As a Yankee fan, the absence of a salary cap used to be my best friend. Now, as Buzz Bissinger so eloquently said, it pisses the shit out of me. I should be happy about the Yankees going back to their farm system with solid homegrown talent like Melky Cabrera, Robinson Cano, Joba, Phil Hughes and Phil Coke. But not when they go out and buy Texeira, Burnett and Sabathia.

I absolutely loved the Tampa Bay Rays’ 2008 run. So what if I caught most of it on the morning SportsCenter highlights because I now find baseball less entertaining than C-SPAN? I still relished the fact that a team on welfare could beat out two rich, self-entitled franchises for the division and league titles. You can probably imagine my level of loathing when the Yankees responded to this embarrassment by donating $161 million to Darfur Sabathia’s stomach and another $262.5 million for Burnett and Tex.

My league fanship has decreased concordantly with the exposure of the steroids epidemic. In my book, baseball players are only a small step above golfers and NASCAR drivers when it comes to athleticism. They don’t need to be exceptional runners or jumpers; they must have enough strength to swing an object that weighs less than five pounds; they won’t ever endure a sprint longer than 360 feet. So why the fuck do these people find the need to dope more than Keith Richards?

I don’t think I’ll ever come back to baseball, and certainly not to the Yankees. The game’s become watered-down with Balco and big-bucks. It no longer deserves the “America’s Pastime” moniker. “America’s Pasttime” is Babe Ruth snorting lines, chugging beers and hitting 714 home runs. With that, there’s only one person who can save the MLB for me.

Good luck, Josh.