I do kind of wish there was a sprinkle of bizarro articles around every season, just to mix things up. A guy who had a great season might go, “I hope you all enjoyed the ride last year because, let me tell you, that’s as good as I’m going to get. I have reached my  peak!” The no-hope-returning-from-injury-guy, “I am a beaten and broken man. I feel worse than when I started this quote.” Or the guy who had a down year expecting even more trouble ahead: “They’ve all figured me out. I’ve got no more tricks up my sleeve. I am the captain and we are on the sea of uncertainty.*” I enjoy things that will never happen.

However — back on course — while it’s still early in the Spring Training season, I have already seen some memorable optimistic quotes/stories. The first one ends on a sad note. And I feel really, really bad that this guy is injured again, but it’s kind of what led me to this post.

Joel Zumaya was a bit of a breakout star during his rookie season with the Tigers in 2006, throwing 100 mph out of the bullpen and striking out tons of people, but he’s battled injuries pretty much ever since. He signed a Minor League deal with the Twins this offseason, and this was him just a couple of weeks ago:

“They’ve said they’re going to just watch over me a little bit in the beginning,” Zumaya said. “I’ve told them, ‘Don’t baby me; I’m here to go full out now.’ I took a whole year off, so my arm is basically healthy. Progressing will be the main thing.”

Zumaya then tore his UCL in his first bullpen session, ending his season and, possibly, his career. That led to this quote:

“Maybe it’s time to move on. I’m a pretty dang good fisherman, so I might pursue professional fishing.”

Such a quick turnaround from clear skies to the crash. Feel better, Zumaya. I hope you can either make your way back or find them fish.

The great Ichiro Suzuki didn’t exactly have a bad year last season, but he was down from his usual elite numbers. Now, I’ll take any excuse to quote Ichiro, and here’s what he said on last year’s “struggles” and this year’s expectations:

“We always feel fresh and always feel open to new challenges every year,” he said. “That’s never changed. I feel the same way this year. But I’m happy that a lot of people say I suffered last year.”

I have a feeling I am also going to be happy about this.

Matt Kemp, who finished second in the NL MVP voting last year with his .324 average, 39 homers and 40 steals is not messing around when it comes to the upcoming season:

“Fifty-fifty? Hey, I set my goals high.”

Hell yes, Matt Kemp.

Now, not everyone does the positive-spin thing. Jayson Werth, who got that ridiculous contract from the Nationals then struggled last year,  and has always come off as a bit gruff (and not just because of the beard), had this quote:

“I’ve been playing baseball since I was 4 years old. I’ve had really good seasons, I had really bad seasons. I’ve had average seasons. Last year was just a bad season. Whatever. I’m over it. I’m ready to play ball, play 162 games.”

I kind of like that one! Although it’s basically him saying I will promise you nothing. “There’s been sunny days, there’s been rainy days. There have been days when it’s rained when the sun has been out. Yesterday was rainy. I’ve over it. I’m ready for more weather.”

Well, those are just a few I’ve seen so far, but I’ll be on the lookout for more as Spring Training rolls on. Now, I must go … I’m feeling pretty good right now, but I expect I’ll feel even better soon.

Also, again, best of luck, Zumaya

Thanks.

*Stolen from photographer Ross Halfin quoting producer Martin Birch on an Iron Maiden DVD.

– Brian Cougar

Here’s the link: http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/27/10519504-new-york-yankees-baseball-players-pose-for-media-day

The circumstances surrounding this photo are pretty basic and bland: The Yankees were taking their generic annual portraits for the media. However, in the wide shot of the photographer taking the picture of A-Rod, we see that this is all happening in some random men’s bathroom, with three urinals in the background. I enjoy everything about this picture … it’s currently the background photo on my laptop, and I honestly want to print it on some nice glossy paper and frame it.

Now, I’m not saying A-Rod is the best player of my lifetime; that’s certainly open for debate – especially with Albert Pujols around, plus A-Rod’s PED past, and he even has some competition for most entertaining, the most obvious being Manny Ramirez, but I think Manny hit his high water mark with Mannywod in Los Angeles during the 2008 season, and it’s all sort of been downhill since (although I’m glad he’s back with the A’s … maybe he’s got one last run left, however I thought that was going to be the case with the Rays last season, and that obviously didn’t work out). I’ll even throw Ichiro and his 200-hit seasons, “If I ever saw myself saying I’m excited going to Cleveland, I’d punch myself in the face, because I’m lying” quote and Ichiro-designed T-Shirt nights into the mix, but he comes across as more enigmatic that entertaining. A-Rod, on the other hand … I’m going to list, without any Googling, some memorable A-Rod moments, both on and off the field:

Stripper in Toronto; poker game; three home runs off Bartolo Colon; Kate Hudson; Cameron Diaz feeding him popcorn; “loosey goosey” PED defense; calling reporter who broke PED news a “stalker;” two-homer, seven-RBI game to end ’09 season; Get off my mound; homering in first at-bat of ’09 season; ending the past two Yankees postseasons with strikeouts; yelling “Hah!” in Toronto; fight with Varitek; announcing extension with Yanks during ’07 World Series; slapping the ball away in 2004 ALCS; driving home Damon after Damon’s double steal in ’09 World Series Game 4; kissing himself in the mirror; centaur painting rumor …

I’m going to stop there, and I’ve surely left out a lot of other moments. A-Rod is not my favorite player of all-time, not even close (that would be Yankees legend Bernie Williams), and I also grew up watching two future Hall of Famers, Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, who have had plenty of memorable moments of their own; but have they been as entertaining as A-Rod? I don’t think so. More respected? Definitely. More easy to root for? Certainly. Do I expect/want them to be any more than elite baseball players who have helped and continue to help the Yankees win games? No. But A-Rod, for good reasons and bad, has been so, so entertaining throughout his career, especially since he first signed with the Yankees in 2004.

Outside of diehard Yankees fans, kids and maybe men/women who find him overly attractive, A-Rod is, obviously, not a beloved figure. The rest is generally broken down to people who respect his immense talent but think he’s a bit of a diva/phony, and those who think he’s just an outright chump. The diva/phony thing, while probably true, is a label I can’t really hold against A-Rod. This is a guy who was an elite big league player at 20, signed the biggest contract of all-time by the time he was 25, then joined the most famous franchise in his sport only after their biggest rival was blocked from trading for him in 2004. Should we expect someone like this to be some normal dude? I know people will point to Jeter and Pujols as MLB megastars who have managed to avoid the types of negative tabloid headlines A-Rod has brought on, but those two also are overly protective of their private lives, and don’t really show you anything about themselves outside of their performance on the field (which I’m 100% fine with). Plus, if the NY Post is to be believed (and who wouldn’t believe them?), Jeter leaves gift baskets for ladies after a night out with a bunch of signed autographs … and that’s A-Rodian levels of bizarre behavior, if true.

A-Rod’s weird behavior also always seems to come from an honest place of obliviousness. There are some “characters” in MLB, like Derek Holland, Brian Wilson and Logan Morrison, who, while on occasion pretty entertaining, seem to be trying really (and sometimes way too) hard at being entertaining. A-Rod, on the other hand – especially the off the field stuff – seems like he just can’t help it, and I find that a bit more endearing.

Finally (ending this like a high school book report), there’s how entertaining A-Rod can be when he’s at his best as a Hall of Fame caliber baseball player. Back in 2007, I was at a Yankees/Orioles game in the first week of April featuring a pitching matchup of Steve Trachsel vs. Kei Igawa, and this was moving along as one of those forgettable early-season games where you go, have an alright time at the ballpark, and never think of the game again. Igawa and Trachsel were both pretty terrible, Trachsel was his usual slow-pitching self and the Yankees were trailing by a run with two outs in the ninth. Then, single, walk, HBP, and A-Rod steps up to the plate with that glorious chance to be the hero or the goat. He gets himself into a two-strike count; my roommate (and Mets fan … but he got me a free ticket to the game, so he’s A-OK) is outright laughing about how great it will be to watch A-Rod choke, then – BOOM! – ball goes flying into the black at old Yankee Stadium, walk-off grand slam.

A-Rod’s walk-off grand slam

He may not be the best, but he’ll get himself photographed wandering around Central Park shirtless and hit walk-off grand slams, and, to paraphrase Tommy Lee Jones as Ty Cobb, the quest to be entertaining is not a sin.

Thanks (that’s for @sportsangle).

– Brian Cougar

Today I ended up watching the series finale between the Nationals and Phillies, which included a start by former Yankee Chien-Ming Wang, who has recently returned to the Majors with Washington after spending two years recovering from a major shoulder injury. I was always a big fan of Wang during his tenure with the Yanks, because he won the vast majority of the time when he was healthy, and because he was so wonderfully boring. Also, his dignified disposition (for reals).

When Wang was pitching, you knew you were going to be seeing basically nothing but sinkers, and if they were behaving and staying in the lower half of the zone, he was likely going to get a ton of ground balls and win the game. If the sinker was up, like it was during most of his disastrous final season with the Yanks, he was going to get shelled. And that was it. Rarely was he going to strike out too many, although he did once strike out 10 in a game against the Mets … and this was in 2007, before the dark times began for that franchise. But generally it was sinkers and ground balls, with the occasional slider thrown in just to give the batter another look.

Because of this predictable nature, I couldn’t even get annoyed when Wang was pitching poorly. It’s not like he’d start throwing 3-2 breaking balls to No. 9 hitters (I’m looking at YOU Joba. I’m not going to check if Joba actually has ever done this, I’m just going to assume he has … multiple times. This blog doesn’t do fact checking), or being completely inept despite having two impressive pitches like A.J. Burnett; if Wang wasn’t pitching well in a game, it was basically, “Well, that damned sinker isn’t behaving today!” Misbehaving sinkers ruin everything.

And today, it was the same as it ever was. Wang still has that ridiculously deliberate windup, still throws basically nothing but sinkers and actually struck out four while throwing some pretty impressive sliders. He ended about allowing two homers, although one followed a play when Washington second baseman Danny Espinosa fielded a ground ball and, well, fell down for reasons unknown. Raul Ibanez actually was credited for a hit on that play, which makes no sense.  Wang was trailing, 3-2, after 5 2/3 innings before a rain delay ended his outing, but the Nationals ended up rallying for the win after a two-out, two-strike homer by Ian Desmond in the ninth tied it and Brad Lidge hit Jonny Gomes with the bases loaded in the 10^th to give Washington the victory.

But it was good seeing Wang back. Despite his horrible performance in the 2007 postseason, he had an impressive career with the Yanks, winning 19 games in back-to-back seasons before the injuries started to derail his career in 2008. Derek Jeter also always referred to him as Mr. Wang, which I found amusing. And now he gets to continue his career with Washington, where he gets to pitch with the soothing sounds of that jazz beat MLB.com reporter Bill Ladson has been hearing recently outside Nationals Park. Who needs Yankee Stadium when you have that?

While I didn’t exactly make it a point to say in any of my posts from this season that Bartolo Colon should be in the Yanks’ rotation, I did title one post “Free Bartolo,” and everyone should have realized that was just short for: “Free Bartolo from the shackles of the bullpen and put him in the rotation for he is a stud.”

I’m not going to lie and say I was on board the Free Bartolo campaign from the beginning (well, since I started it, I guess, technically, I was).  When I heard that the Yankees signed Colon to a Minor League deal, I, like most everyone else, thought it was another example of how unprepared they were for the possibility that Cliff Lee would reject their big-money offer AND Andy Pettitte would end up retiring (I know Colon signed before Pettitte retired, but I think they were pretty sure he was retiring at that point). Colon didn’t pitch in the Majors last season, he hasn’t been all that good/healthy since he won the Cy Young in 2005, and the thing I always think about whenever someone mentions Colon is the time A-Rod took him deep three times in the same game.

Also, the man is a bit portly. I know he wasn’t exactly lean when he won the Cy Young, but it’s never a good sign when a candidate for your favorite team’s starting rotation is being compared to Andre the Giant. However, despite the time off and the plus-sized pinstripes, Colon was impressive throughout Spring Training, and I was surprised when he lost out to Freddy Garcia for the fifth-starter’s spot (thus, Free Bartolo was born). Apparently the biggest supporter — outside of this MLBlog — of the Free Bartolo campaign was Phil Hughes, who imploded in all three of his starts this season and is now on the DL with a dead arm, which has allowed Colon to join the rotation and strut his stuff.

So, successful campaign, and while I’ll be rooting for him, I can’t wait to ignore Colon’s start against the Blue Jays on Wednesday while I watch the Rangers battle the Capitals in Game 4 of the NHL playoffs. #fireableoffense

I would have been pumped up to see any pitcher in the Mets’ bullpen get out of a late-inning jam, but the fact that it was Izzy doing the work made it certified Grade A Realness. He would have been in line for the W if Tulo didn’t make an absurd (Jeter style) play in the hole to rob Daniel Murphy of the go-ahead RBI base hit (after a two-out triple by Reyes, his second three-bagger of the night). Bobby Parnell ended up getting shelled in the next half inning to break the game open (terrible fielding on the mound, because apparently the Mets didn’t focus during pitcher’s fielding practice in Spring Training; followed by a Tulowitzki biiizooomb), and the Mets went on to lose … again.

As much as I am growing more and more frustrated by the Mets’ bullpen giving away games, for a night my anger was tempered by the return of one of my childhood favorites. Growing up as a Mets fan, Izzy was my favorite player in the mid 90s. Izzy was a highly-touted prospect in the Mets’ farm system (Generation faKe), but as a young kid, that was not the basis for my Izzy love. My adoration of Izzy stemmed from him being one of the first autographs I ever got as a child. There are countless stories across the baseball fandom of people loving or, sometimes, hating players based on an encounter they had with them in person (especially as a kid). Getting Izzy’s autograph before a game at Shea Stadium as a kid forever made me a huge fan of him, and made me want to be a pitcher.

I was a fired-up 12 year old when the Mets traded him to the Oakland Athletics for crap (Billy Taylor … who? Exactly) only a few appearances after he returned from Tommy John surgery. Along those same lines, I was also probably one of the few people (outside of Izzy himself, and possibly some of his close relatives) that was ecstatic to find out that the Mets were bringing him to Spring Training this year. Izzy went on to have a very successful career as a closer for the A’s and Cardinals. He ended up making two All-Star teams, and led the league in saves (2004) once. If he can stay healthy, and K-Rod has any injury issues, he has a chance to reach 300 career saves (currently at 293, second most among active pitchers behind the almighty Mo).

This season is still very young, but if the Mets starters do not start pitching deeper into games, and the mess of a bullpen (except for Izzy, obviously) does not start throwing significantly better, this is going to be a very long season for the Mets faithful. The bats are giving them plenty of chances to win games (especially the RBI machine that is Ike Davis), but it ultimately comes down to solid pitching, and the Mets have not shown much of it. Hopefully the play will improve, but for now I will just enjoy watching my boy Jason Isringhausen back on the mound for the Mets.

Pizzas for all.

-Kevin McRainoutsallovertonight

Now, most people have naturally compared Beckett’s performance tonight to how he pitched against the Yankees in the 2003 World Series, but the thing I found most impressive was the fact that, unlike then, when he was a fresh face to New York, tonight’s performance came in his 25th career start against the representatives of Pride, Power and Pinstripes. Beckett’s career stats against the Yanks — not including the World Series, of course — aren’t all that impressive (10-7, 6.26 ERA, 92 earned runs on 155 hits in 132 1/3 innings), which isn’t all that surprising (at least to me) because New York always has a loaded lineup and has faced him so many times. So to be as overpowering as he was tonight against a team that’s seen him a ton of times and has a strong lineup, even with A-Rod out (hell, A-Rod’s replacement, Eric Chavez, got one of the Yanks’ two hits off Beckett), sort of blew my mind. It’s one thing to blow away a team when they’ve never seen you before and you throw in the mid-90′s with a ridiculous 12-to-6 hook like Beckett does, but to dominate them when they’ve already seen you at your best  … I begrudgingly (as a Yankees fan) tip my hat to Beckett (Pedroia gets no hat tip, even though he was piling up the big hits all weekend. Guy is clearly a dirtbag. Hate hate hate.).

Now, speaking of pitchers with overpowering stuff (at least at one point in the past), Joba (Joba Joba) Chamberlain had one of his performances tonight that hurt my head. I know young Kevin brought up Joba’s additional pounds in his post below this one, but that’s not what bothers me about Joba. A large belly didn’t stop David Wells, Bartolo Colon (Free Bartolo!) or Hideki Irabu from being top-notch pitchers (OK, Irabu was only a top-notch pitcher in my childhood fantasies … that sounds creepy). Joba’s problem, as always, is his lack of control (leadoff walk to Big Papi in the seventh) and dumb pitch selection (walking J.D. Drew that same inning on a 3-2 slider). Three of the four balls to Ortiz were fastballs: you can’t be an effective pitcher in the big leagues if you can’t control your fastball, and Joba’s tendency to throw 3-2 sliders is something that’s bothered me about him since the 2008 season.

So, decent first week for the Yanks — outside of some poor bullpen performances and whatever is going on with Phil Hughes’ right arm. And this upcoming week brings two more interesting matchups in the Orioles (are they for real?) and the Rangers (off to a red-hot start, and will they continue where they left off against the Yanks in the 2010 ALCS?). I also might head out to Citi Field tomorrow or Tuesday to give some support to Kev’s boy, Izzy. Funky buttloving.

– Brian Cougar

Opening Day at Citi Field was not surprisingly a cold and rainy day of grossness — to match the grossness on the field. R.A. Dickey could not find the strike zone (five walks), and for the second time in a week, the Mets have given up a two-run single with the bases loaded to the opposing starting pitcher (Joe Blanton, Jordan Zimmermann). This, ladies and gentlemen, is not how you play winning baseball.

Game 2 of the series went a lot better for the Mets, with some good news coming on the field in the form of a decent outing by Chris Capuano in his first start, and two bombski’s from Carlos Beltran. I have never been the biggest Beltran fan, but I understand his importance to this team. If he bounces back to anywhere near what he used to be at the plate, the Mets lineup should put up a lot of runs.

Today’s game continued the trend of losing baseball. Chris Young threw a gem for seven innings, and now has two impressive starts to begin his tenure with the Mets (one earned run, one hit), but good ol’ Blaine Boyer quickly sabotaged the W. Mr. Boyer and I got off on the wrong foot with the Mets foolishly keeping him on the big league roster over my main man Jason Isringhausen. I didn’t like this decision for a variety of baseball reasons, but the main source of my dislike stems from the fact that Izzy was my favorite player on the team growing up. Izzy brings a lot to the table for this Mets bullpen. He has plenty of experience pitching out of the bullpen (mostly as a closer), to go along with the fact that he’s proven that he can get big league hitters out when he is healthy. The Mets have a very young ‘pen that could really gain a lot with Izzy there to mentor them. Something tells me that K-Rod is not the best guy to turn to for words of wisdom, or encouragement (avoiding a cheap joke about beating up old people).

Well, needless to say, the Mets went the jabroni route, and decided to keep Boyer and have Izzy stay down for an extended Spring Training to prove his health. Blaine has thanked this show of support by getting smacked all over the park every time he has touched the mound (two losses, ERA over 10.0, and almost two hits per inning). That is First Team All Fake material. He retired the Nats in order when he entered in the 10th, then allowed four runs on four hits in the 11th to give the Nats the win as the Mets dropped their second consecutive series to drop to 4-5 on the year. So far, the Mets are doing a good job confirming most of the preseason hate.

Quick thoughts: Beckett is absolutely dominating the Yanks right now, looks like old school Beckett from the 2003 World Series. (Brian’s boy Pedroia is on fire also). … Joba is fat, and way too much was made of his good pitching this spring. He is a mutant, and is definitely not going to be better with the 25 lbs of gut he added this offseason. … The Orioles are going to be a pest in the AL East, and could compete if their young arms stay healthy. Either way, that lineup is going to put up a lot of crooked numbers.

Pizzas for all.

– Kevin McMetsjustcalledupIzzyREAAAL

That was the first time I’ve used an emoticon in my LIFE (might be a lie).

– Brian Cougar

If Pelf shows up to the ballpark and throws like the front end starter he’s supposed to be, the Mets would be heading home for Opening Day with back-to-back road series wins against an NL East rival. Instead, the Phillies sent a strong reminder that they are the team with the big gun at the front of the rotation. They also surprised me with the amount of runs they put up without Chase and D. Brown (this is probably more a result of fake Mets pitching than realness at the plate by the Phils, but either way, I was surprised).

In order for the Mets to remain competitive this season, the pitching staff is going to have to do a much better job. The hitting has been very good (the two bad games at the plate were against two studs in Josh Johnson and Doc Halladay), now it’s time for the arms to start pulling their weight.

Opening Day is tomorrow at Citi Field, and I am confident in America’s favorite No. 3, Mr. R.A. Dickey, to pitch a good game and send the Mets faithful home with a W against the Nats, to match the realness of the free Mr. Met bobblehead doll.

Eat your pizzas and read your American History, people.

– Kevin McJabused by the Phils today