Maddux Sports Blog

Last week, I considered where teams were in the American League when it came to making the 2009 playoffs. In this blog, with less than 60 games left in the season, I take a look at the National League. Here’s the way that things are shaking down on the senior circuit.

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Here we at the end of month three of the 2009 Major League Baseball season with about 75 games played and 87 to go. There’s been some movement, drift and milestones In the American League as the West is in flux, the Central is looking a tad odd and the East looks like it can change at any moment. Let’s take a quick look at each division.

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Day one of the post-Manny world was rocky for his Dodgers. The good news was that they scored nine runs. The bad news was that that was only against the lowly Nationals, and it wasn’t enough runs to win. There’s not much in that game that can be blamed on the loss of Manny directly, and we didn’t learn that much, but losing to the Nats is never a good thing.

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The Major League Baseball season is more than a month old. Here’s what’s happening with just 136 games to go in the season.

Humanly Possible?

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Well, it is almost here. Right? So, what the heck is going to happen? The baseball season runs 162 games—the longest season in the professional sports. It is an unforgiving seven-month marathon that demands innumerable roster moves, amazing stamina and individual team play that can make or break an entire season in one game, swing or pitch. What can we expect? Here are ten things that I do believe will happen. Some are for sure and others may appear to be farfetched. Then again, futures are one of the toughest things to get right in sports. 

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Arizona Diamondbacks – 86.5 - I am all over the under here. A lot of people like this team this year, but I am not one of them. Beyond Brandon Webb I don’t trust their pitching, and there is a fair bit of the lineup that doesn’t excite me. They will be a solid team, but this is too many wins for them.

Cincinnati Reds – 78.5 – I wanted to be optimistic about this team. They have a lot of talent that is easy to like. I just think this number is too big, though. If it was 72.5 I would be all over the over, but this seems ambitious. I’d probably lay off entirely here, but if I had to take a side I would go under.

Colorado Rockies – 77.5 – This number is silly. They are going to have pitching problems, and they will seriously miss Jeff Francis. Todd Helton is getting old, and the rest of the starters have a lot to prove. I will be very surprised if they go anywhere close to this number, never mind going over.

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The Bulls seem determined to make a truly bizarre coaching choice. The latest man to  rise to the top of the pile is Vinny Del Negro. His biggest asset in the search is that he isn’t Doug Collins.  You probably remember Del Negro from his days  as a somewhat average player who bounced around five NBA teams and a couple in Europe for good measure. He had a good college career at NC State under Jim Valvano, and he comes from a basketball family – his dad played for Adolph Rupp at Kentucky. There’s just one problem with an otherwise solid coaching resume – he’s never coached at any level before. Hmmm. He was a broadcaster for a while after he retired before joining the front office of the Suns, peaking at assistant general manager. I’m sure he’s a good guy, and he obviously gave one heck of an interview, but it seems odd that a team with so much on the line (a solid roster, the number one pick, etc.) would give the keys to a guy who has never driven. It’s also a relatively unique-to-basketball thing. The NBA seems much more likely to give a job to an unproven guy than any other league. In the NHL you have to cut your teeth in the minors or as an assistant (unless you are Wayne Gretzky, and Del Negro is no Gretzky). You have to put in your time in baseball, too. The NFL wouldn’t hire someone who isn’t an established assistant or a college coach.  This would be like the Raiders firing Lane Kiffin and hiring Scott Pioli to take his place. Doesn’t make much sense, but I wish the Bulls well. At least I will be able to find something else to be fascinated by once they make this hiring official.

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Random notes from Wednesday afternoon:

• You had better get used to the BCS the way it is now because it isn’t going to change any time soon. After much discussion today the BCS officials have chosen to change nothing until at least 2014. There was a proposal on the table to go to a four team playoff in 2010, but that was rejected. According to the officials the BCS is in an ‘unprecedented state of health’. That’s clear evidence that the BCS officials don’t actually watch the BCS games.
• Ugly, ugly game by the Mets today. They lost 13-1. To the Pirates, of all teams. To make matters even worse, nine of the 13 runs Pittsburgh scored were unearned. There’s sloppy and then there is the game New York played today. Five pitcher appeared for the Mets, but just two were responsible for the unearned scores. Oliver Perez started, but he didn’t make it out of the second inning. He allowed seven runs, but only two were earned. He walked five. Jorge Sosa was the third pitcher in, and he made Perez look sharp by comparison. He allowed four hits and five runs (one earned) in one inning. The rest of the team did their part in this mess by contributing three errors.
• We have another drug cheat in baseball. Giants’ catcher Eliezer Alfonzo is out for 50 games after testing positive for performance enhancers. He has been in the minors this year, but he started 113 games over the last two years and had put up respectable numbers. He probably would have found his way back to San Francisco soonif he hadn’t got caught because the drugs were obviously working – he was hitting .306 with 14 RBIs in 16 games.
• The Kentucky Derby is only three days away. The post position draw occurred today, and it featured an odd moment. Big Brown, the Derby favorite, is trained by Richard Dutrow, Jr. He is one of the most obnoxiously arrogant men on the planet. He has been so boastful about his horse that if you listened to him you would wonder why they are even bothering to run the race before giving his horse the roses. No one wants the outside post – number 20 – in the race because the horse has to travel so far to get to the rail. No one except for Dutrow that is. Other posts were available when Dutrow picked his post, but he took the 20. He says it is because he doesn’t want a horse outside of him, but more likely it’s just another way for him to show off. The horse has been unbelievable, but it has to overcome a lot to win here – he has raced only three times, including just two this year. No horse in more than 70 years has won the Derby without having run at least five times before.

When the Mets acquired Johan Santana from the Twins in exchange for mostly underwhelming talent it was seen as a steal – a major coup. The conventional wisdom was that he was the most dominant pitcher in the American League, so he would dominate in the weaker National League. He’s only three games into his new career, so it is far too soon to draw any conclusions yet, but if he plans to be dominant then he is easing into it. He’s just 1-2 after a loss on Saturday against Milwaukee, and as such he has burnt a fair bit of bettor money up so far. That’s not going according to plan, but is it time to panic yet? Of course not. Here are six reasons why:

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