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Saturday, April 27, 2002
April is Must Win Time  By Ben Maller Buddy Bell of the Rockies is the latest to find out just how important winning games in April is. On Friday Bell joined Phil Garner (Tigers) and Davey Lopes (Brewers) in losing his managing job before May 1st. Many experts say that April is not all that important because its just the begining of a long marathon of a 162 game season. The truth is if you stink in April your probably going to stink in May, June, July, Augest and September.  It has always been a pet peave of mine when managers and players say how unimportant these early season games mean. To me next to the pennent race games of late september and october these April games are the most important. Face the facts, When the season begins their is a sense of excitment and hope that your team will have a good year, there is a genuine interest in baseball. A 3-14 start can distroy all that and give most fans no real reason to pay for those overpriced tickets.  When you think about it its really simple. Every win a team gets in April is one less win they're going to have to get in October. I'm glad to see that baseball is no different than any other entertainment field. If a TV show sucks they cancel it if a radio show has no listeners they fire the hosts. I hope that Tony Muser in Kansas City and Jerry Narron in Texas rented and didn't buy. permalink Friday, April 26, 2002
A Magical Deal for Detroit  By Ben Maller My philosophy on trading super stars is that 99% of the time the team that gets the super star player gets the better end of the deal. The Detroit Pistons are in that 1% of teams that actually ended up better off without their star. It was after the 1999-2000 season, when Grant Hill was a free agent, he was the Pistons franchise and one of the most popular players in the NBA, but he wanted out. Hill had his eyes on the sunshine of Florida and so he could get more money with Orlando. The Magic worked out a sign-and-trade deal with the Pistons. Not since the Indians sold Manhattan to the Dutch for $24 dollars has a deal gone this bad. On August 3rd, 2000 Orlando sent guard Chucky Atkins and forward Ben Wallace to Detroit for Grant Hill.  Wallace has turned into the NBA's premiere power forward. He's averaged 13 rebounds a game since hitting the Motor City and was named the NBA's defensive player of the year this season when he became just the 4th player in NBA history to lead the league in blocks and rebounds in the same season.  Atkins has averaged 12ppg and been a starter in the Pistons' backcourt more than half the time and shot 41% from the floor.  As for Grant Hill, he has played 18 games for the Magic since the trade in 2000 and might never return to play again. Along with the hiring of Rick Carlisle as head coach, the biggest reason for the Detroit Pistons magical season has been that trade back in 2000 that was supposed to be just a salary dump. Remember that the history of trading super star players is almost always one-sided in favor of the team that gets the super star. The Dodgers did not get fair value for Mike Piazza. The A's didn't get equal value for Mark McGwire. The Patriots didn't get equal value for Drew Bledsoe. The Suns didn't get fair value for Jason Kidd and the Bulls didn't get fair value for Elton Brand. On and on the bad trades go. Agree? or Disagree? Sound off, e-mail Ben permalink Thursday, April 25, 2002
West Should Head East  By Ben Maller According to reports Jerry West is undecided on whether or not to take a front office job with the Memphis Grizzlies. West has been Laker basketball for the past 40+ years. Jerry should take the seven million dollars a season from Michael Heisley, the Grizzlies owner, and run the basketball team from his southern California home. I remember back in the 1991 when Gene Autry gave a truck load of money to Whitey Herzog to run his baseball team into the ground while the White Rat fished on a river boat in Missouri. West is the basketball version of Bill Parcells or Ron Wolf in football. I'm sure that the billionaire Heisley would allow West to do whatever he wants as long as he signs on the dotted line. The only records the Grizzlies currently hold are bad: they have reached 100, 200 and 300 losses faster than any franchise in NBA history. West is the NBA--his silhouette was used for the NBA logo. The guy is one of the greatest winners in all of sports--he won one championship as a player, in 1972, and six more as an executive -- five in the 1980s. Few men know talent like Jerry West. His departure is going to be a huge blow to the Los Angeles Lakers organization. Phil Jackson will leave in a few years, Shaq will get old and the Lakers will stink and will wish they had kept West around. The Detroit Pistons, Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls all had championship runs and then stunk out loud. The Lakers franchise is the only one that has been able to stay competitive while building up for another title run. Jerry West was in charge from the Showtime days to the Shaq & Kobe era. West will be the biggest thing to happen in Memphis since BBQ. Lets hope that he does the right thing for himself and his family. The sports world is ready for the Grizzlies to be a winner. permalink Wednesday, April 24, 2002
Angels are playing like Devils  By Ben Maller The Angels didn't figure to win the AL west in 2002, but the hope was they would at least stay in the race till May 1st. The bad news halos from Anaheim have officially been eliminated from the AL west race by BenMaller.com. At 6-14 the Angels are off to there worst start in franchise history. GM Bill Stoneman has put together a team that does not work. The Halos do not have one starter to match Jamey Moyer or Freddie Garcia in Seattle or Mark Mulder & Tim Hudson in Oakland. The Angels have a bunch of 3-and-4 starters like Aaron Sele, Jarrod Washburn and Kevin Appier and are hoping to get by. The Halos team ERA is 5.22 that's good for 11th in the American League ahead of only Kansas City, Detroit and Toronto.  The offense has been horrible, a .231 team average is dead last in the AL. The Angels have scored 73 runs--the worst total in the AL and 3rd worst in baseball. Brad Fullmer, who was brought in to fill the DH hole, has batted .167 with NO homers and just 2 RBI's while Tim Salmon looks more like Rob Deer again batting .143 with NO homers. Troy Glaus is batting just .219. Of course, the Angels will score runs at some point and the pitching figures to get hot for at least a month. The problem is the Halos at 8-games under .500 are buried in the AL west 10 1/2 games behind Seattle. Its April 24th and the best the Angels can hope for is a .500 record and to not embarrass themselves anymore than they already have. permalink Tuesday, April 23, 2002
Big Ben's Insider Baseball Notes  Pittsburgh has won six in a row, outscoring their opponents 36-16 in that span. At 12-5 the Pirates are off to the their best start since 1992 when they were 14-3 after 17 games. The Bucs have not had a winning April since going 12-10 in 1994. Over the last three games the Pirates are batting 16 of 39 (.410) with runners in scoring position. The Padres dropped three of four in Los Angeles last weekend and are just 2-8 on the road this season. Despite a .397 average from Phil Nevin, San Diego is batting only .227 as a team. Nevin has a .300 average, 100 home runs and 332 RBI in just over three seasons as a Padre. Tom Lampkin has only one hit in 33 at-bats this season. The Phillies have lost four in a row and eight of ten. They were swept in Pittsburgh over the weekend. Philadelphia was 13-6 after 19 games last season. Scott Rolen owns a .708 slugging percentage, tops among big league third basemen. The Red Sox have won six in a row and will be trying for their first seven-game winning streak since April 19-27, 1998. The Red Sox have outscored their opponents 52-18 on this current stretch. Boston is 8-0 on the road for the first time in franchise history. They also won their last five road games to close out the 2001 campaign. Opponents are batting .214 against Red Sox starting pitching, the lowest in baseball. Baltimore is 2-6 at Camden Yards this season. Jay Gibbons hit .308 (12-for-39) with five home runs and eight RBI in his last nine games. The Red Sox have beaten the Orioles seven straight times, including a three-game sweep earlier this season in Baltimore. Milwaukee is coming off a four-game sweep of the Cardinals over the weekend. The Brewers are 4-0 under interim manager Jerry Royster. The Brewers four-game sweep was only their second since joining the National League in 1998. Jose Hernandez is batting .636 (7 of 11) with 2 home runs and six RBI in his last four games. Montreal comes into the series in sole position of first place and are off to their best start since 1995. The Expos haven’t been in first place this late in the season since May 18, 1996. Astros relievers have a 5.91 ERA, highest in the league. Last year the Houston pen had a 3.79 ERA. Shortstop Adam Everett was sent down to Triple-A New Orleans on Sunday after hitting .189 in 14 games. Right-handed pitcher Brad Lidge was called up to take his place. Houston’s Jeff Bagwell and Daryle Ward and Florida’s Mike Lowell each have nine multi-hit games this year, tops in the league with Montreal’s Vladimir Guerrero. Cliff Floyd has four homers and seven RBI in his last three games and was robbed of another homer by B.J. Surhoff Josh Beckett has a 2.38 ERA in seven career starts. Houston is 21-11 against Florida since 1998. The two teams split six games last season. The Rockies are 6-13 Colorado pitchers have a 6.36 ERA in nine road games. Juan Pierre has a nine-game hitting streak and has reached base safely in all 18 games since the season opener. Adam Dunn is hitting .357 (10-28) in the cleanup spot and .133 (4-30) elsewhere in the lineup. St. Louis suffered a four-game sweep in Milwaukee over the weekend. This marked the first time the Cardinals were swept in a four-game series since September 1999 when they lost four in Cincinnati. The Cardinals are 1-6 on their current 13-game road trip. The Cards are batting .238 and have a 5.86 ERA over the past eight games. The Mets’ .237 batting average and 3.05 on-base percentage rank 27th in baseball. However, their pitching staff has allowed the fewest home runs (11) and their team ERA ranks second at 2.55. Al Leiter is 2-0 and has allowed just one earned run in 24 innings of work (0.38 ERA – best in baseball). The Twins are 31-12 in April games over the last two seasons. Eddie Guardado leads the American League with eight saves. Guardado has converted his last 14 save opportunites going back to last September. The Devil Rays are 21-17 all-time against Minnesota, their best record against any American League opponent. Randy Johnson became the first five-game winner this season when fired a two-hitter and struck out 17 in Arizona’s 7-1 win over the Rockies Sunday. The Diamondbacks have won 8 of their last 10. Curt Schilling suffered his first loss of the season when he gave up six runs in six innings against the Cardinals last Wednesday. In 33 lifetime appearances against the Braves Schilling is 10-10 with a 3.59 ERA. The Diamondbacks are 8-1 and have outscored opponents 53-26 when Johnson and Schilling take the mound. 21-year old Korean Jung Bong will make his first major league start tonight in place of Jason Marquis who was placed on the 15-day DL retroactive April 15 with tendonitis in his pitching shoulder. Rafael Furcal had three triples in the Braves 4-2 victory on Sunday. He was the first player to perform the feat since Lance Johnson of the White Sox did in on September 23, 1995. In seven games away from SkyDome this season, Carlos Delgado is hitting .476 (10-21) with a .676 on-base percentage and a .952 slugging percentage. Toronto starting pitchers have a 7.61 ERA and only four quality starts. The Blue Jays have allowed 24 first-inning runs in 17 games. Shannon Stewart is a .342 career hitter in April and is hitting .338 this season. Alex Rodriguez is hitting .425 with six homers and 16 RBI over his last 10 games. At 5-13, the Rangers are off to their worst start since moving to Arlington. The only time the franchise got off to a worse start was in 1962, its second year of existence. That Washington Senators team started 3-15 and finished 60-101, 35 1/2 games out of first. The Giants starting pitchers are 9-4 with a MLB best 2.06 ERA. Barry Bonds was 0-for-3 Sunday, ending a streak of 58 consecutive games in which he’s reached base safely. Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa have gone deep in the same game nine times. Chicago has dropped four of their last five games and are 2-6 at home, averaging just 2.1 runs per and 6.5 hits per home game. The Cubs have committed 10 errors in their last five games, accounting for 11 unearned runs. Jason Giambi returns to Oakland wearing Yankee pinstripes. Giambi is a .320 career hitter at Network Associates Coliseum and has hit 102 home runs there. These teams have faced off in the first round of the playoffs each of the last two seasons, with the Yankees winning in five games both times. The Bronx Bombers lead the American League with 29 home runs. The A’s are second with 28 dingers. Including postseason play, Orlando Hernandez is 6-0 in his career against Oakland with a 2.98 ERA. Eric Chavez leads the league in slugging (.755). The Yankees lost all six regular-season meetings in Oakland last year. Stats Inc. permalink
"Mr. Irrelevant 2002"   Mr. Irrelevant XXVII, the 261st pick overall, is Ahmad Miller, a Defensive Tackle from University of Nevada Las Vegas, selected by the Houston Texans. While David Carr, Julius Peppers and Joey Harrington will get all the money and fame from being picked in the top three of the draft they won't get what Miller gets. He's the winner of the "Lowsman Trophy" and gets to spend a week in Newport Beach being wined and dined and honored for being the last player selected in 67th annual college football draft. "Irrelevant Week means doing something nice for someone for no reason"  Being picked last doesn't mean that you don't have a chance to play in the NFL. Looking at the list of past Mr. Irrelevant's, two of the past three Jim Finn of Indianapolis and Mike Green of Chicago are special-teams standouts. Kentucky linebacker Marty Moore, the last pick in 1994, played eight years in the league. I think that Irrelevant Week should expand into other areas of life. Who's the most Irrelevant talk show host? How about the most Irrelevant fans. This has huge potential. permalink Monday, April 22, 2002
Ben Maller.com's
2002 NFL Draft Winners & Losers Winners  1.) Buffalo Bills: They needed a QB, T and WR. The Bills landed Drew Bledsoe in the prime of his career from the Patriots to play QB. Mike Williams the mammoth tackle from Texas was picked in the first round. Josh Reed who was a star at LSU will fill the need for a WR. Don't overlook the selection of Coy Wire the safety from Stanford who's going to be a solid pro. The Bills should be a playoff team in 2002 if everyone stays healthy.  2.) San Diego Chargers: They needed a Guard, Cornerback and WR. The Bolts landed the draft's best stopper corner in Quinton Jammer a stud from Texas and then in the 2nd round picked up Toniu Fonoti from Nebraska to fill the offensive line need. The Chargers also landed Reche Caldwell a speedy wide out from Florida. Add that to signing free agent LB Donnie Edwards from Kansas City and the Chargers are looking good if they can just stop eating Flutie Flakes.  3.) Houston Texans: Needed Everything. Their first draft went very well except for taking the full 15 minutes to announce the drafting of David Carr, when they had already signed him. The Texans also got WR Jabar Gaffney from Florida to give Carr someone to throw too. They got offensive line help on Chester Pitts (San Diego State) and Fred Weary (Tennessee). Houston even took a flyer on Jonathan Wells the talented but inconsistent RB from Ohio State. The Texans should be competitive from game one assuming that Carr is the real deal.  4.) Dallas Cowboys: Needed WR, QB, RB and defensive impact player: Jerry Jones landed the draft's best player in Roy Williams the super star safety from Oklahoma. Ronnie Lott is back in the NFL and he's wearing #31 with the Cowboys. Dallas also got extra picks by trading down and they picked up talented but controversial WR Antonio Bryant from Pitt in the second round. The Cowboys didn't get a young RB to groom to replace Emmitt Smith or a QB to replace that bum Quincy Carter but they got a pair of impact players.  5.) Carolina Panthers: Needed a RB and defensive help: The Panthers have a potential franchise defensive end in Julius Peppers who they picked in the first round. Carolina grabbed DeShaun Foster from UCLA to fill the need for a RB. I love Foster's ability to play the game if he can hold on to the damn ball. Randy Fasani a talented QB from Stanford was selected from Stanford in the 5th round. Losers  1.) Cincinnati Bengals: Needed a QB, CB & TE. The Bengals are the village idiot's of the NFL. They drafted a tackle, Levi Jones, 10th overall when just about everyone had him going no higher than 20th. They didn't draft a QB and took Matt Schobel a tightend from TCU in the 3rd round instead of Jeremy Shockey. The reason the Bengals suck was on display over the weekend. Mike Brown Sucks!  2.) Atlanta Falcons: Needed help on offense at skill positions and a safety on defense. What the hell were they thinking drafting T.J. Duckett the running back in the first round. The Falcons had just signed Warrick Dunn to a free agent deal to play RB and they already had the walking-injury Jamal Anderson under contract. The Falcons didn't draft a WR till the sixth round! This just proves that Bobby Beathard still has no clue what the hell he is doing.  3.) Seattle Seahawks: Needed a TE, OL and RB help. Mike Holmgren was unable to make a trade for Jeremy Shockey the TE from Miami. Instead of filling another need the Hawks got the Lawerence Phillips of tightends in Jerramy Stevens from Washington. So much for character meaning anything. Stevens has quite the "Rap Sheet" going for himself. A fourth-degree assault charge that stemmed from a high-school fight, a guilty plea last year for a misdemeanor hit-and-run as well as suspicion of sexual assault that led to his arrest two years ago. All that and he's only 22-years old. Nice job Seattle!  4.) Detroit Lions: Needed Defensive Help and QB: Drafted Joey Harrington the QB from Oregon. All you need to know about this pick is the reaction of Matt Millen. He didn't want Harrington and the Lions didn't need Harrington. Detroit's defense was almost as bad as the Colts last season. They have to build that side of the ball up before they get a QB. Also, there are just too many questions about Harrington to draft him 3rd overall.  5.) New York Jets: Needed secondary help and a DT. Drafted Bryan Thomas a defensive end from UAB with the 22nd overall pick in the draft when many had him not even going in the first round of the draft. Thomas might be a good pro but the Jets passed up two good football players that they needed more. Ed Reed, the stud Safety from Miami, and Lito Sheppard the CB from Florida. permalink |
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