The Baseball Post-Season

As I have alluded to in recent posts, recent events in my life have kept me away from The Grandstand.  So, before another game gets played, allow me to share some thoughts and opinions on the.....

MLB Post-Season

The Post Season for Major League Baseball began two weeks ago, and it has mostly been with whimpers and not bangs.  To review....

1. All four Wild Card Rounds ended in 2-0 sweeps.  A distinct lack of drama.
2. Two of the four Divisional Rounds ended in 3-0 sweeps, and the other two series were 3-1 wins.  The most exciting play of all eight rounds might well have been the 8-5-3 double play that ended Game 2 of the Phillies-Braves series and gave the Braves a win over Philly.
3. Three of the four teams that received byes into the Divisional Round lost their series by 0-3, 0-3, and 1-3.  All three of those losing teams won at least 100 games in the regular season.
4. In the League Championship Series, both the Rangers and the Phillies hold 2-0 advantages.  While I don't think it will happen, the possibility exists that these two series could also result in sweeps.  The possibility also exists that we could see ten rounds of Playoffs without a single one of them reaching an ultimate Win-or-Go-Home game (3, 5, or 7).

Of the four points above, it is #3 that is causing the most wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Not so much because the three 100 win teams - Braves, Dodgers, and Orioles - lost, but that the one week layoff that they earned from winning their  divisions is what caused them to be out of sync and at a disadvantage when playing teams that had to play actual games to get to the Divisional rounds.  The old argument of "Rest vs. Rust".  I am not sure what the answer is to this conundrum. One thing for certain is that MLB is not going to reduce the number of teams and/or rounds of playoffs.  It is or likely that they would add teams and have no team get byes.  MLB Playoffs will then turn into the NBA and NHL when it comes to the post-season, if it hasn't already.  I get a huge kick out of Michael Wilson on Pardon The Interruption continuing to scream about how MLB has opted to "delvalue the regular season."  This coming from the guy who staunchly defends just about everything that the NBA does, and if ever there is a sport with a devalued regular season, it's the National Basketball Association.

However, let's leave all that behind and concentrate on what we now have before us.

ALCS 

First off, I confess to knowing next to nothing about the Texas Rangers,  but they have been most impressive as they have stormed through the AL bracket.  They are now 7-0, including a sweep of the 100 win Baltimore Orioles.  They have an old school manager in Bruce Bochy, who was last seen winning three World Series titles with the Giants, and some really, really good young players, led by veteran Corey Seager.

The Astros, astonishingly, are playing in their SEVENTH consecutive ALCS, and we all know about the cheating scandals that engulfed them in the last decade, so it's easy to root against them.  However, they also have an Old School manager in Dusty Baker, and in Jordan Alvarez, and amazing player who seems to do nothing but hit home runs. They may be down 0-2 in the current series, but I am not selling them short in this series.

Hey you kids, GET OFF MY LAWN!!!!

Speaking of Bochy and Baker, I are the comment on Facebook two nights ago that they look like two old guys that you would see pushing a buggy by themselves at Sam's Club at 10:30 on a random weekday morning.   I make that statement with some authority because I, too, am an old guy who pushes a buggy by himself at Sam's Club at 10:30 in the morning on random weekday mornings.

NLCS 

Far be it from me to sell the Diamondbacks short.  They earned their way into the Playoffs and were 5-0 as they headed into the LCS.   However, they have run into a real buzzsaw in the Phillies, who appear to be unstoppable on their way to the World Series Championship that eluded them last year.   Players like Kyle Schwarber, Trey Turner, Nick Castellanos, and especially Bryce Harper, combined with a 1-2 pitching punch like Zach Wheeler and Aaron Nola appear to be just too much for the D'backs, and perhaps for whatever team they face in the World Series.

A word about Harper.  The world became aware of him when he made the cover of Sports Illustrated when he was 14 or 15 years old.  The accompanying article described a cocky kid that, combined that an insufferable father who was the baseball equivalent of a "Show Biz Mother", made you want to root for him to fail.  He has, however lived up to the billing. Overall Number 1 draft pick, in the Majors at age 19, a two time MVP, and a $300 million dollar man.  He may be the kind of player that you root for only of he plays for YOUR team (Steelers Fans, think Hines Ward here), but he is the real deal, and he is showing it throughout these playoffs.  The only thing that has eluded him is a World Series ring, and I am guessing that that quest will be fulfilled by the end of the month.

Prior to the LCS, I wagered that the Phillies would play the Rangers in the World Series.  I also made separate wagers on both the Phillies and the Rangers winning the Series.  I am liking my chances to cash a couple of tickets after all is said and done.

The "stare down" may well end up being the 

most lasting image from the 2023 Playoffs

Sports, Money, and Morgan Freeman

Sports and money much in the news this past week......

Bryce Harper finally signed a contract this week.  It's with the Phillies for 13 years and a total of $330 million, which comes out to $25 million and change per year.  Harper will NOT be the highest played player in MLB.  That will be the Rockies Nolan Arenado at $32.5 million, and there are several others out there who make north of $25 million, including his new teammate, pitcher Jake Arietta.

There is a report out there that Harper and his agent, Scott Boras, turned down an offer from the Dodgers for four years and $180 million, which would have come out to $45 million per year.  Plus, it would have made Harper a free agent once again at the age of 30, when, assuming his career arc continues as it has over the years, he could have cashed in on yet ANOTHER mind boggling contract.

I guess it was more important to Harper (and Boras) to sign the contract with the largest total payout ($330 M) versus getting the highest single season contract ever ($45 M).  That is a real first world problem.  No wonder it took so long to hammer out a deal.  Plus, Boras gave out this memorable quote:

"It was important to Bryce to sign a contract where he knows he'll be in one place with the same team for a long period of time." (Those may not be the exact works, but that's the gist of it.)

Okay, I realize that this Phillies contract includes no-trade and no-opt-out clauses, but what are the odds that Harper will spend the entire thirteen year length of that contract with the Phillies?  I say that there is not a chance in Hell that that will happen, and I'd bet a hundred bucks to that effect.  Trouble is, that contract expires after the 2031 season, the year in which I will turn eighty, so there is a chance that if he is still with Philly then, I won't be around to see it, or to pay off or collect upon said bet.

Oh, and I can't wait to hear and see how the denizens of Citizens Bank Park are going to react the first time Harper goes into a ten game 5-for-44 slump.

However, I also know this, if the Phillies strike it rich and reach a World Series or two during the first five or six years of that contract with Harper playing a key role in their success, both the team and its fans are going to be really, really happy with the deal, and that is something that we followers of the Bob Nutting Pirates are never going to experience.

And in football, we Steelers fans are being inundated with news coverage and endless talk show bleatings about (a) negotiations of a contract extension for Ben Roethlisberger, (b) the team not "tendering" or "franchising" Le’Veon Bell, and (c), the entire Antonio Brown fiasco.

Here is what The Grandstander thinks.

(a) The QB is the most important position on the team.  They have to do this deal.  Even though Ben turns 37 today (Happy Birthday, Big Ben!), and his skills may not be what they once were.  Just don't make these negotiations turn into yet another media circus.  Fat chance.

(b) Seeya Le'Veon, and don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.  I do admit, though, that I am interested to see where he ends up and how much money he gets.  He bet big time on himself by skipping a season last year, and he may never get back that $14.5 million that he didn't get from the Steelers last year, but we'll see.

(c) Brown is perhaps the best receiver in the NFL, maybe the best ever in Steelers history (think  about that if you will), but he is a selfish and narcissistic team killer, who quit on his coaches and teammates last season, and I hope that the door DOES hit him in the ass on his way out.  I don't care about him, and I don't care to read or hear about him anymore.  As far as AB is concerned, I refer you to the great Morgan Freeman (I know you were wondering where he came into this discussion) and this quote from "The Shawshank Redemption":

"I don't give a shit."

Punks and Jerks

Just when I was about to put aside my feelings about Bryce Harper and accept him as perhaps the best player in baseball, which he may very well be, and look upon him as the new Face Of The Game, he pulls a stunt like he did this weekend by barking at an umpire and earning himself a well-deserved one game suspension.

Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with him bitching over a strike call and getting tossed from a game.  Happens to everyone.  I do have a problem with him coming on to the field at the end of the game to celebrate a walk-off win and then seeking out and barking out an obscenity to the umpire.

Harper is the kind of player (Pete Rose, Tom Brady, Hines Ward) that you love if he plays for your team and intensely dislike if he plays for the Other Guys.  If he played for the Pirates, I would probably be defending him, but he doesn't, so to me, he's nothing but a spoiled brat punk, and if MLB wants HIM to become the Face Of The Game, they better think again.

********

The Players Championship tees off today in Ponte Vedre, always a fun event to watch.  It is doubly in the news because this will be the first event in which Jordan Spieth will compete since his fourth round back nine meltdown at Augusta.  It has been well reported that Spieth spent a portion of his time after the Masters "recovering" while on a golf vacation in the Bahamas with fellow pros Rickie Fowler, Smylie Kaufman, and Justin Thomas.

It was reported that this foursome played at times while shirtless and not wearing shoes, and while it was not reported, I am willing to bet that large quantities of beer were involved.  Now, it you were on vacation and playing top dollar greens fees at a high end golf resort and encountered a group of twenty-somethings on the course acting out like this, you would no doubt report them to the marshals or pro shop and really really hope that they would be thrown off of the course.

Now, I am not ready to equate Jordan Spieth and his pals with Bryce Harper, but I wonder what people like Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus would have to say about this, and Tiger Woods has been pilloried for far less egregious on course behavior (and, yeah, I know Woods cheated on his wife; this isn't about that.).  Yes, Spieth and his buddies are still just kids, and are as entitled to let their hair down as much as anyone, but  they are also kids making multi-millions of dollars playing tournament golf.  They should be held to a higher standard than the guys from Animal House.

Home Run Derby Thoughts

So here was my night last night.  

I get home about 8:30.  Had Pedro Alvarez not been participating in the Home Run Derby, I would not have turned the TV on, but I did, just as Yeonis Cespedes was finishing his 17 homer stint, and just as Pedro was stepping into the batter's box.  Yes, I did watch his performance.  I'm glad he put on a show of sorts.  Some of his six HR's were real dingers, but I was glad to see that he did not appear to be over extending himself and swinging from his heals on every pitch.  I was also glad that he got passed up and did not go into the second round.

I will admit that I then watched Chris Davis and Bryce Harper take their cuts.  I'll tell you what, from the time I first became aware of Bryce Harper in that Sports lllustrated cover story when he was 16 years old, he has been a very hard person to like.  I guess he is this generation's version of Pete Rose - you like him if he plays for YOUR team, but can't stand him if he plays for the Other Guys.  (And admit it, Steelers fans, Hines Ward and James Harrison were those kinds of guys, too.)

Anyway, once I realized that Pedro was not going to advance to the next round, I switched to "The Big Break" (Spoiler Alert:  Was glad to see Chad get eliminated.  He was one obnoxious dude), and to my DVR'd "Pardon the Interuption".

When those shows were done, I went back to the HRD in time for the final Harper-Cespedes showdown.  Harper really looked like he was working hard.  Cespedes made it look really easy.

And Chris Berman was everything I expected him to be during the telecast.  Take that any way you wish.

Bryce Harper Arrives

Back in June, 2009, Sports Illustrated  ran this cover story on 16 year old high school baseball player Bryce Harper, proclaiming him baseball's "Chosen One", much as they did with LeBron James a few years before.  I can remember reading the article and thinking, "what an arrogant, insufferable little pr**k this kid is", and, of course, his parents were stereotypical baseball stage parents of the worst kind.  No wonder the kid was such a jagoff.


I also remember thinking, "you know, I don't want to hope that anyone fails at what they choose to do with their life (so long as it's legal), but in this case, I really hope this kid fails."  


Of course, a year later, after the kid, his parents, and Scott Boras somehow pulled an end-around getting through high school and college, he, Harper, became the #1 overall pick in the MLB Entry Draft.  Nothing I have since read about Harper has given me any reason to change my initial judgement of him.  


Yesterday, the Washington Nationals announced that they were bring Harper, age 19, up to the big leagues, and he makes his debut in Los Angeles tonight against the Dodgers.


Now if Harper were with the Pirates, I'm sure I'd feel differently, but I'm still hoping that the kid bombs out.