Tori Hunter's Resurgence

Years ago I remember Tori Hunter getting his spikes caught on the wall in the triangle in center field at Fenway and hurting himself badly. For the last five years he has been a fixture in California with the Angels. As a pending free agent one always has to wonder if Hunter is suffering from contract year syndrome, but there is nothing in the history or apparent makeup of Tori Hunter that should make one think this is the case. Today Tori had 4 more hits and if one looks at his numbers in the second half of the season one can be nothing but impressed. Of course, it is true, that Hunter has been batting in the rocking chair between Mike Trout and Albert Pujols but many players hit in prime spots in the batting order and you still have to deliver. Hunter has delivered over and over. One could easily see a three year 24 million dollar deal in Tori's future this winter. Certainly more than he expected as the season started.

Buck Showalter and the Orioles

As we go into the last three games of the season the Yankees and Orioles are tied for first place in the American League East. It is, even for the most optimistic baseball fans, something no one could have predicted. The Orioles have had some great seasons. Adam Jones led the team for much of the year. Chris Davis who has been on fire this last week has proved that Texas maybe gave up on him little too early with a thirty homerun season and Jim Johnson, who?, Jim Johnson today earned his fiftieth save. The O's have been managed by Buck Showalter in what might be the best example of how much a manager can affect the success of his team. Think about this, the Orioles have one pitcher, just one pitcher, that has started more than twenty games this season. I, in my experience, have never seen a team built like this and have this success. The Orioles have won some unlikely number of extra inning games in a row. This is a team that is fearless. Contrast that to the Yankees. First anyone who says that the Yankees have choked is wrong. Yes the Yankees had a big lead in July, and no one expected this race to get this close, but the Yankees have had their own injury troubles. Even though Mariano Rivera has been ably replaced by Rafael Soriano the bullpen was significantly shortened by his loss. The Yankees are old. Derek Jeter has been immense but injuries and a significant drop-off in performance when playing by Mark Teixera and Alex Rodriguez have slowed the team. Curtis Granderson has also shown that you can hit forty homeruns and still be one of the most overrated players around and CC Sabathia who by pitching through injury without complaint has shown just what, pardon the pun, a great deal of guts he has. No, this team has not choked, I think that it is clear that Joe Girardi is not the best manager in baseball, I think it is possible that he cannot affect a group of professionals to the extent that Buck Showalter can affect his team of cast offs, rookies and misfits, but he will in the end absorb much of the blame should the Yankees falter. With the exception of my friends who are Yankee fans, and perhaps even they will admit after season end a grudging admiration, one cannot but be excited and happy for the resurgence of success in Baltimore. Baltimore, a town that when we were growing up was a baseball powerhouse. Earl Weaver, Ken Singleton, Cal Ripken, Eddie Murray, and all that pitching, the Orioles were baseball royalty and a welcome sight is seeing them succeed. Go O's, finish the dream.

Northwestern in 5 and 0

I know, I know, the Big Ten is down and their toughest competition is still weeks away but I am always happy to see this. In our house we root for Northwestern. Every week they win is a good week.

Ryder Cup Collapse

I went to bed last night pleased with the fact that the United States was well ahead in The Ryder Cup, seemingly well on their way to victory. I must admit that I neglected the coverage today, I was watching baseball and the NFL, and by the time I started seeing panicked tweets about a pending collapse much of the damage had been done. What seems clear is that right now American golf is not as strong as it used to be. Perhaps it is destiny. With the amount of money that even mediocre golfers can make these days it seems clear that this tournament now just does not mean as much. It makes for great theater, and certainly NBC most surely appreciated the fact that it tightened up, the loss is unacceptable and has to be a bitter pill to swallow for anyone invested in the success of the American team.

American League MVP Race

The race for American League MVP might be the first great battle between the old and the new methods of determining a players value. For those not familiar with the controversy we have Miguel Cabrera in Detroit with a very valid chance of winning the first Triple Crown in baseball since Carl Yastrzemski with the Red Sox in 1967. And yet most feel that Mike Trout, the super rookie of the California Angels will win the award. Trout's case is bolstered by the statistic of the moment, WAR, or Wins Against Replacement Value. This number purports to determine how many wins a player provides his team above what an average player at his position would provide. Trout is far and away the leader in this category, in fact, he is the only player in baseball with a double digit number in this category. Interestingly if you ask players they almost unanimously pick Cabrera. Of course there is likely to be a possible anti rookie bias in this sort of thing but we must understand that players, like most of us, were raised on the big three numbers. Homeruns, RBI's and Batting Average were the three totems that determine value. I can attest that growing up a Red Sox fan and hearing about how Ted Williams did not win the batting title when he hit .406, nor in a season when he won the triple crown, I was mortified. At that time of course it was the press and an anti Williams bias that worked against Williams but what this makes clear is that while not frequent these controversy's do arise. Red Sox fans will remember a ballot a few years ago when a New York sportswriter left Pedro Martinez off a ballot completely for MVP. In the end it might well come down to who makes the playoffs. Trout and Cabrera both could make the playoffs and both could miss, perhaps that will be the deciding factor. If I had a vote, I love Trout, he has won me about five fantasy leagues this year, in fact in August a competitor offered me Cabrera for him and,though I could not believe I was doing it, I turned him down, still for MVP I cannot turn away from the the numbers Cabrera has put up. Of course if Trout steals and runs his way into the playoffs in the next three days I reserve the right to change my vote.