Some thoughts on the new stadium

My friend Eric took his first visit to the new Yankee Stadium on Sunday and agreed to do a write-up for me (since I have yet to go, though I probably will soon).  Here’s what he has to say:

Went to the new stadium yesterday for the Yanks-Twins game. Overall I was very impressed. The stadium is a beautiful structure and a very worthy successor to the House That Ruth Built. I think that only a die-hard sentimentalist would not view it as a significant improvement. The first thing that struck me walking in was the open feel of the main concourse – much lighter, brighter and airier than the old park. Definitely a more welcoming feel.

I had great seats (got them through work): field level, row 12 – just inside the infield dirt, and the first non- “legends” row in our section. (Face value was 225.). Because we had those good seats and didn’t get there very early, we didn’t see as much of the stadium as we otherwise would have; our section was pretty close to the gate through which we entered.

The place looked great from where we were sitting. The stadium seemed to have a more vertical look from the inside compared to the old one. It took me a little while to get used to the new scoreboards – lots of flashing light etc., a little distracting when trying to look up and see the pitch count. (Obviously that is a very minor point, and, yes, I should just remember the pitch count in the first place.). One of the most noticeable differences was the new layout for the bleachers. Looks like the right field bleachers in particular are now much farther away from the field, which is too bad. But on the whole, the layout of the new stadium didn’t seem all that different, just a cleaner, updated version of the old one.

The new stadium is widely viewed as a monument to excess. Not having been in a luxury suite or one of the restaurants, I guess I didn’t get the full perspective on that. From where I sat, it is just a very nice, modern, clean ballpark. What I saw was not over the top. Personally, I do think it a bit silly that you can order sushi, knob creek, or a pinot grigio from your seat. I know that rubs some people the wrong way, and its not really what I associate with a day at the ballpark. Still, this is New York after all: you can’t be too surprised at quasi-pretentious touches like that. And anyone who doesn’t want to be handling chopsticks during “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” is free to opt for a hotdog and a Bud, as I did.

On the high-end/luxury issue, there were tons of empty field level seats, especially in the Legends area. They’ll fill up eventually. It is an unfortunate sight, and it does look like a misstep on the part of the team to have brought an expensive luxury product to market in the teeth of a brutal recession. In the end, it’s bad timing, but the situation is temporary. Eventually, the economy will improve, those seats will sell, and all the current handwringing will be forgotten. (Also, it’s still only May; ticket sales will pick up later in the season.)

The fall of David Ortiz

This is a post I’ve delayed writing for two reasons: 1) I can be silly and superstitious and I don’t like to jinx things and 2) I’m not much of a gloater.

Since Big Papi burst on the scene in 2003, I’ve been telling people it wouldn’t last.  I’ve annoyed Red Sox fans by referring to him as Mo Vaughn.  My reasoning?  Those big and unathletic sluggers, especially in the “steroid era,” tend to have a short shelf-life.

Well, it’s starting to look more and more like I’ve been right.  Things really came to a head last night, as Ortiz went 0-7 with 3Ks and left 12 men on base in a game the Red Sox lost in extra innings.  Maybe Ortiz will snap out of this slump, but it looks like the bill may have finally come due for Big Papi.

The funny thing is, last night wasn’t the moment when, for me, Ortiz looked like he might be done.

That was Sunday night.  Here was the scene: National television, Fenway Park, against the Rays.  Big moment, men on base, middle of the close game.  The fans were going nuts, trying to will Ortiz to a big hit.

Well he got one.  As soon as he hit it, I said “that’s over the monster.”  But it wasn’t.  Even Carl Crawford in left field seemed fooled – it was just a double off the wall.  In fact, it hit so low off the wall that if Crawford really made a leap at it, he might have got it.  It was Ortiz’s biggest hit of the season.  He drove in some runs and the Red Sox won.

But Papi really got into that ball.  He hit it on the screws.  And it barely got to the wall.  Any other ballpark in the land and that’s an easy out.  Red Sox fans went nuts and got to applaud one of their favorite players, but I couldn’t help but think that if I was a Red Sox fan, I’d be depressed by that hit in the long run.

We’ll see how this all plays out, but as a Yankee fan I can’t say I’m upset to see the legend of Ortiz finally collapse.  While it’s easy to say steroids could be in play here, I don’t know if that’s the case.  The thing about steroids is you don’t just take them and then sit on the couch and get ripped.  You have to work your butt off.  Let’s just say Ortiz isn’t exactly a gym rat.  And I think that’s really the issue here – you can’t be that out of shape and continue to play a professional sport at a peak level past your prime.  It just doesn’t make sense.  Maybe if you’re a rubber armed pitcher like David Wells, but a power hitter like Ortiz?  I don’t see it.

Will Francona finally move Ortiz down in the lineup?  What happens if Ortiz just can’t cut it anymore?  Either way, it’s good to see the Yankees aren’t the only team whose players age.

Joke of the Day: Angels want something in return for Matthews

Just read this article from Ken Rosenthal this morning, and I have to admit, it made me laugh:

The Angels recently tried to sell the Reds on outfielder Gary Matthews Jr., but the talks failed to progress, according to major-league sources.

The Reds need a right-handed bat, and Matthews is a switch-hitter. But the Reds, one source said, wanted a starting pitcher back if they were going to include a veteran starter such as right-hander Aaron Harang or Bronson Arroyo in the deal.

Um, of course the Reds would want another player if they were to trade Arroyo or Harang for Matthews. You see, Arroyo and Harang have a little thing called value. I realize that Arroyo, in this economy, is overpaid, but come on. The Angels think they can approach a team about Matthews and actually ask for something in return?

What scenario would have to happen for you to be happy about your team trading for Matthews? Well, let me describe it as a Yankee fan:

If Gardner and Melky both completely flame out and the Yankees traded for Matthews with the Angels taking on over 60% of his contract and including at least one useful part, be it a prospect or otherwise. I could get behind that move.

Of course, all this aside, this was probably a worthwhile conversation for the Angels to have considering this is the Reds we’re talking about and they have committed to starting Willy Taveras for the next two seasons. So obviously, they have an affinity for acquiring bad players.

How much is Strasburg worth?

Rumors are that Scott Boras will demand a contract worth 6 years and $50 million for uber-prospect Stephen Strasburg.  Strasburg has been posting crazy, video game stats, striking out more than 2 batters an inning for San Diego St. 

So will the Washington Nationals be willing to pay Boras’ ransom?  Will they draft Strasburg even if they have no intention of paying him that kind of money?  Would Boras really have Strasburg spend a year in Japan? 

That’s the problem prospects have in general: they don’t really have that much leverage.

But when it comes to the Nats, they are a team that desperately needs something to show their fans they have hope.  If they let Strasburg go over financial concerns, it would be a huge hit to their fan base, especially coming off a winter where they were desperate to find anyone to take their money.  Adam Dunn settled to play in DC because he lost out on the game of musical chairs; all evidence points to him rather being elsewhere. 

Boras obviously knows all this so he’ll ask for the most money ever for a player being hyped as the best prospect ever.  If the Nats choose not to draft Strasburg, the Mariners would probably be willing to open up the purse strings and you know if he falls to the likes of the Tigers, Red Sox, and Yankees, they will be more than happy to.

I think when all is said and done, he’ll be a National simply because the Nats can’t afford not to make this happen.  But it should be an interesting situation.

Be wary of World Series MVPs

In my auction fantasy draft, I stayed away from bidding for Cole Hamels.  Don’t get me wrong: I think Hamels is excellent.  It’s just that history tells us young pitchers who have a gigantic increase in their workload and have to pitch deep in the postseason don’t usually have a lot of success the following year.  Fausto Carmona was last year’s poster boy for this.

So I’m not particularly surprised to hear that Hamels is being shut down to have his elbow examined in Philadelphia.  Hopefully it will end up being nothing serious, because Hamels is fun to watch, but I’d be surprised if he got over the 200IP mark this season.

Of course, as far as fantasy auctions are concerned, I bid whatever was necessary to secure Tim Lincecum on my team, despite the fact that he had a big workload bump last season as well.  I guess rules are meant to be broken.

… and the answer is, not really

Syracuse hung in there in the first half, but just couldn’t get anything going (ie – make a short range shot) in the second half. This is likely due to them running out of energy (and that Paul Harris just can’t seem to make layups). Admirable effort from the Orange though and hopefully it will net them a 3 seed.

Louisville set out to prove that they were deserving regular season champs and while they certainly did everything they could, in some ways the victory is a little hollow. Sure, SU had a great run, but they were playing way below 100% this evening and Louisville never had to play Pitt or UConn.

Will ‘Cuse have anything left?

Syracuse advanced to the Big East Championship Final, defeating West Virginia, despite clearly being a little gassed from the previous night’s marathon.

Syracuse stayed in control of the game, but were extremely sluggish, especially Johnny Flynn, who seemed to be saving his energy for bursts when the team really needed it.

Louisville poses a very difficult challenge for The Orange tonight, as they like to press and use their athleticism. However, Syracuse does have the ball-handlers – Flynn, Harris, Devendorf, Rautins – to get the ball up court.

As if often is, long range shooting will probably be critical in this game. If Louisville can hit the outside shot and extend Syracuse’s zone, it could be a difficult night for The Orange.

However, Syracuse has proved the past two nights that very little will phase them and they clearly have a good balance of dribble-penetration (Flynn-Devendorf), inside-scoring (Jackson, Onuaku), and outside shooting (Rautins, Flynn, Devendorf). They can pose matchup problems for pretty much anyone.

Hopefully the ‘Cuse will have their legs under them tonight. A win here would probably guarantee them a 3-seed, which is a huge deal as there is a big difference between playing a 13-seed than a 14-seed. And if you don’t believe me, just look at how many 4-seeds get upset every year.

An epic at the Garden

I tuned into last night’s Syracuse-UConn game expecting a good game. What I got was an epic rollercoaster that kept me up until the later hours.

Thoughts:

- If SU had lost that game, I would have been extremely bitter. I know I’m a Syracuse fan, but the treatment Thabeet gets from the refs is insane. He should have been fouled out of that game in regulation – and as we saw, once he was gone, UConn has no answer for Flynn’s ability to penetrate. On two pivotal UConn possessions at the end of regulation, Thabeet first committed a textbook offense charge, and then later pulled a Syracuse player to the ground on the loose ball, clearing space for a game tying put back from his teammate.

Along those lines, I also was upset the shot by Devendorf at the end of regulation was wiped off. The refs and announcers both don’t seem to understand the meaning of the word conclusive. On TV, they showed us multiple angles – the first few, the announcers said “he got it off in time” and in fact, it did look that. Upon subsequent angles however, it looked like the ball was still touching his finger tips. THAT IS NOT CONCLUSIVE. I don’t understand why it is that having a picture where it looks like the ball is still in his hands is conclusive, whereas having a picture showing the opposite is inconclusive. It’s all about perspective. Both views are equally accurate, which is why there simply was no conclusive evidence as to whether the ball was still in his hands – therefore, you go with the ruling on the court.

- I am VERY impressed with Andy Rautins. I used to think of him as simply a streaky spot shooter, but he has the ability to hit not only big shots, but big shots from very deep with people on him – almost McNamara-esque. And his passing and ballhandling, particularly in the Seton Hall game, has also been a big surprise.

- Couldn’t the NBA have small tournaments like this for each division? Wouldn’t that make what is a boring part of the NBA season exciting? The winner of the tournament would be in the playoffs no matter what, so every team would still have something to play for late in the season… just a thought.

- Doesn’t SU have to be at least a 4 seed now and probably a 3 seed?

Crazy for prospects

I’ve read two articles recently, one by Buster Olney and one by Peter Gammons, profiling a young prospect as one of the best ever. Olney discusses consensus number 1 pick Steve Strasburg, going so far as to say he might be the greatest prospect ever. And if the guy really throws 99-102 with movement as well as two plus breaking pitches, well… he might be right.

Gammons mentions a Marlins OF prospect who I’d actually never heard of, but apparently he’s so good that not only does Gammons heap praise upon him, but he claims the Red Sox were ready to trade Manny (as well as money for his salary) to the Marlins for just this guy.

Both are worth reading, but I have to wonder, could these guys really be as good as advertised?

No surprise – AL East will be amazing

So taking a look at some early projections, courtesy of RLYW, and it just confirms what we already knew: the AL East is amazingly strong. You could argue that the 4 top teams in the AL and 4 of the top 5 teams in baseball are in the AL East. That makes for some good baseball but it also makes life difficult for the teams that reside there. In general, most people see the AL East being a three horse race (Red Sox, Yankees, Rays), but if the Blue Jays were in any other division, they’d be a favorite to get to the postseason.

I saw one projection earlier that didn’t have a single AL West team over .500 (that was pre-Abreu though). Either way, it is within the realm of possibility that both the West and Central won’t have a team that wins 90+ games while the AL East will have 3. And of course, one of those teams won’t be in the playoffs.

Doesn’t it make more sense to go back a two division system or even eliminate divisions altogether? Thanks to the wild card, winning a division doesn’t really matter anyways. Why not just let in the 4 best teams? As far as scheduling is concerned, sure you could make a system where teams always play their geographic rivals a number of times, but otherwise it could rotate. Or just keep the division system for scheduling purposes, but change the way the playoffs participants are chosen.

It is true that the Rays have proven that the East superpowers can be beat. But how many times can the Rays accomplish that feat? They may have a team good enough to be in the postseason for years, yet only sporadically make it. And how do Blue Jays fans feel now, knowing that despite having a very good team, they need a perfect storm to overcome 2 of those 3 teams?

The argument for the current system is that it provides “competitive balance” by letting in some teams that don’t really deserve to be there and of course once a team is in the playoffs, anything can happen (see Cardinals, 2006). But competitive balance should be about rewarding the best team.