Just wondering...
What are the odds of Milwaukee Brewers slugger Ryan Braun failing a MLB drug screen in October 2011 - with extremely high levels of synthetic testosterone in the sample...
But due to a "chain of custody" foul-up, manages to escape the mandatory 50-game suspension for testing positive...
Making his appeal the first successful one of its kind in MLB history...
And now we learn that Braun's crack legal team in preparation for that one-of-a-kind successful appeal, just happened to solicit the expertise of the guy now suspected of being the ring-leader of the latest MLB PED scandal - Tony Bosch - as a "consultant"...
But somehow the dollar amount this expert was going to charge for his invaluable consulting was never agreed upon, thus leaving an unpaid balance for "services rendered" of somewhere between twenty and thirty thousand dollars - which seems to be a bit vauge...
Oh yeah...Braun never had any dealings with Bosch prior to or after his successful appeal...
So it's just an amazing coincidence that the college Braun attended in Miami, Florida has been linked to Bosch and his "anti-aging" clinic over the years, although Braun never personally visited the establishment, or even knew the expert consultant before he got popped for testing positive in the first place.
Sound plausible? Well...
Showing posts with label brewers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brewers. Show all posts
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Friday, March 30, 2012
Good News for Cardinal Nation
Accurately predicting the fates and fortunes of all 30 MLB teams is virtually an impossible task; often, "luck" - good or bad - completely changes a team's destiny, for better or worse. Or, we allow personal bias to factor into our prognostications; thereby creating our own, personal little "wish list" (Example: The North Side Chicago resident who has predicted the Cubs will win the World Series every year, for the past forty-seven years. Well, it's been 103 years and counting, and there's no end in sight).
Aside from luck and personal bias screwing up the predictions of even the most astute baseball "experts", the real culprit is misinformation; either ignoring relevant information or misinterpreting it altogether. For example, MLB Network's team of analysts - including former players such as Harold Reynolds, Larry Bowa, Mitch Williams, Billy Ripken, Sean Casey, Al Leiter, and the ever-zany Dan Plesac - were unanimously off-base when ranking the hitting prowess of the four NL teams in the first round of last year's playoffs.
That one should have been a no-brainer; the Cardinals not only led the league in BA, OBP, SLG, and RUNS (the most important category), they were coming into the postseason about as red-hot as a team can be. Strangely enough, not one of these savvy baseball whizzes figured that one out, favoring the obvious "favorite", the pitching-rich (not hitting) Phillies. Go figure.
The uncanny knack for making predictions that are the polar opposite of what is actually going to happen is a trademark for some of these geniuses. A classic example occurred during last year's World Series when the ever-garrulous Sean Casey was unable to correctly predict the winner for ANY of the seven games played between the Cardinals and Rangers. That's hard to do, folks.
My personal favorite MLB Network prognosticator is Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams, who voices his opinions so decisively and with so much conviction, he almost sounds believable. Of course, even by his own admission, when it comes to predicting the outcome of anything significant - such as the six division champions each year - he's batting .000. That's why I was horrified when Wild Thing boldly declared back in December, the Cardinals - even without Albert Pujols - would win the NL Central in 2012. Yikes!
They were officially doomed.
Reluctantly, I had to write the Redbirds off, although I tried to rationalize that the opinions expressed by Mitch Williams should have no bearing on the actual outcome. But deep down inside I knew; if there's one thing certain in baseball, it's Wild Thing's absolute perfection in being wrong. There's no denying it; he's the best there ever was at never being right.
Well, somewhere along the line, between Ryan Braun's miraculous synthetic testosterone exoneration and Chris Carpenter's shoulder problems, Wild Thing had a change of heart. "The Brewers will win the Central", Mitch declared earlier this week on MLB Network. This is, of course, horrible news for fans of the Brewers, although they probably don't realize it. All they know is their man, Braunie, didn't do it and he's coming back for a full Beast-Mode season; so there!
More importantly, this is great news for the good guys - the Cardinals - who hope to defend their title minus King Albert, but still with a very good team that just got some very good news on the pitching shoulder of Chris Carpenter. According to Cardinals Senior Vice President and General Manager John Mozeliak, Carp should be back in the rotation "sometime in May". I think most fans would've been happy with a June or July return of our conquering postseason pitching hero; so this is a definite bonus.
Things are looking up in Cardinal Nation as this week draws to a close; and it all started innocently enough with Wild Thing's revised prediction earlier this week, capped off with that favorable prognosis coming down on Friday of that very important right shoulder in the Redbirds' starting rotation.
Cardinals fans have been patiently waiting for this new season to begin, biding time over the past five months watching David Freese's glorious Game Six heroics, over and over again. It never gets old.
The team has had a nice Spring Training, looking good in their post-Albert exhibition games. Now, it's just about time for the real thing, as the Cardinals strive to win back-to-back World Championships for the first time in franchise history; number twelve overall.
I suppose the only way the Redbirds could top the magic of 11 in '11 would be an encore. How does 12 in '12 sound?
Aside from luck and personal bias screwing up the predictions of even the most astute baseball "experts", the real culprit is misinformation; either ignoring relevant information or misinterpreting it altogether. For example, MLB Network's team of analysts - including former players such as Harold Reynolds, Larry Bowa, Mitch Williams, Billy Ripken, Sean Casey, Al Leiter, and the ever-zany Dan Plesac - were unanimously off-base when ranking the hitting prowess of the four NL teams in the first round of last year's playoffs.
That one should have been a no-brainer; the Cardinals not only led the league in BA, OBP, SLG, and RUNS (the most important category), they were coming into the postseason about as red-hot as a team can be. Strangely enough, not one of these savvy baseball whizzes figured that one out, favoring the obvious "favorite", the pitching-rich (not hitting) Phillies. Go figure.
The uncanny knack for making predictions that are the polar opposite of what is actually going to happen is a trademark for some of these geniuses. A classic example occurred during last year's World Series when the ever-garrulous Sean Casey was unable to correctly predict the winner for ANY of the seven games played between the Cardinals and Rangers. That's hard to do, folks.
My personal favorite MLB Network prognosticator is Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams, who voices his opinions so decisively and with so much conviction, he almost sounds believable. Of course, even by his own admission, when it comes to predicting the outcome of anything significant - such as the six division champions each year - he's batting .000. That's why I was horrified when Wild Thing boldly declared back in December, the Cardinals - even without Albert Pujols - would win the NL Central in 2012. Yikes!
They were officially doomed.
Reluctantly, I had to write the Redbirds off, although I tried to rationalize that the opinions expressed by Mitch Williams should have no bearing on the actual outcome. But deep down inside I knew; if there's one thing certain in baseball, it's Wild Thing's absolute perfection in being wrong. There's no denying it; he's the best there ever was at never being right.
Well, somewhere along the line, between Ryan Braun's miraculous synthetic testosterone exoneration and Chris Carpenter's shoulder problems, Wild Thing had a change of heart. "The Brewers will win the Central", Mitch declared earlier this week on MLB Network. This is, of course, horrible news for fans of the Brewers, although they probably don't realize it. All they know is their man, Braunie, didn't do it and he's coming back for a full Beast-Mode season; so there!
More importantly, this is great news for the good guys - the Cardinals - who hope to defend their title minus King Albert, but still with a very good team that just got some very good news on the pitching shoulder of Chris Carpenter. According to Cardinals Senior Vice President and General Manager John Mozeliak, Carp should be back in the rotation "sometime in May". I think most fans would've been happy with a June or July return of our conquering postseason pitching hero; so this is a definite bonus.
Things are looking up in Cardinal Nation as this week draws to a close; and it all started innocently enough with Wild Thing's revised prediction earlier this week, capped off with that favorable prognosis coming down on Friday of that very important right shoulder in the Redbirds' starting rotation.
Cardinals fans have been patiently waiting for this new season to begin, biding time over the past five months watching David Freese's glorious Game Six heroics, over and over again. It never gets old.
The team has had a nice Spring Training, looking good in their post-Albert exhibition games. Now, it's just about time for the real thing, as the Cardinals strive to win back-to-back World Championships for the first time in franchise history; number twelve overall.
I suppose the only way the Redbirds could top the magic of 11 in '11 would be an encore. How does 12 in '12 sound?
Friday, January 13, 2012
The Hall of Fame Case for Ted Simmons
I have to believe Ted Simmons' long, overdue inclusion into baseball's Hall of Fame will finally happen, as the Veteran's Committee will be reviewing his qualifications - which are decidedly Hall of Fame caliber - in time for the upcoming January selection process.
* His career began as a full-time catcher for the Cardinals in 1970, which happened to coincide with a prolonged period of mediocrity the team would endure throughout his tenure in St Louis, which came to an end ten years later, when he was traded to Milwaukee. Being stuck on a mediocre team wasn't his fault. In fact, without Ted Simmons in the lineup, the Cardinals would have been something far less than mediocre through the 1980 season - in other words, they would have really sucked.
* His career roughly coincided with the career of Johnny Bench, who was arguably, the greatest catcher in MLB history. Being second banana to the Great Bench unfairly diminished his performance, which was in fact, Hall of Fame caliber.
* Playing half his games for most of his career in cavernous Busch Stadium turned countless home runs into long outs. Few players in MLB history ever smashed baseballs with the degree of ferocity Simmons did in 21 big league seasons, so his relatively modest home run total of 248 is misleading.
The hard-hitting (switch-hitting) Simmons amassed 2472 hits (probably none of the "infield variety") - more than Bench, Carlton Fisk, Gary Carter, or Jorge Posada, for that matter. His lifetime .285 BA also leads that quartet, and his 1389 RBI total is close to the top of that heap, trailing only Bench by a mere seven runs batted in.
What about OPS+? This is perhaps the most accurate saber-metric measurement of a player's offensive production, taking into consideration "on base percentage" and "slugging percentage", while factoring in the "degree of difficulty" associated with the playing venue. As stated, old Busch Stadium was a pitcher's haven - not at all condusive to the long ball. Here's how Simmons stacked up against the three Hall of Famers and the one potential Hall of Famer:
Bench - 126
Posada - 121
Simmons - 117
Fisk - 117
Carter - 115
Of the three catchers already enshrined in Cooperstown, Bench played in four different World Series, winning twice; Carter and Fisk both played in one Fall Classic (both were very "classic" Fall Classics), as did Ted Simmons - ironically, as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers, playing against his old team - and losing in seven games - in 1982. Carter was on the winning side playing for the Mets in 1986, and we all know Fisk's Red Sox fell to Bench's Reds in 1975, although Carlton's memorable Game Six walk-off home run made him an instant legend in Bean Town.
If World Series success affects Hall of Fame voting, five-time winner Jorge Posada may find himself in Cooperstown some day; hopefully, by that time, Cooperstown will have already admitted the greatest Cardinal catcher in history - Ted Lyle Simmons.
Just ask Peter Gammons; he belongs.
Fascinated with St Louis Cardinals history? Test your Redbird IQ!
http://www.amazon.com/St-Louis-Cardinals-IQ-Ultimate/dp/0983792259/ref=cm_pdp_books_itm_title_5
* His career began as a full-time catcher for the Cardinals in 1970, which happened to coincide with a prolonged period of mediocrity the team would endure throughout his tenure in St Louis, which came to an end ten years later, when he was traded to Milwaukee. Being stuck on a mediocre team wasn't his fault. In fact, without Ted Simmons in the lineup, the Cardinals would have been something far less than mediocre through the 1980 season - in other words, they would have really sucked.
* His career roughly coincided with the career of Johnny Bench, who was arguably, the greatest catcher in MLB history. Being second banana to the Great Bench unfairly diminished his performance, which was in fact, Hall of Fame caliber.
* Playing half his games for most of his career in cavernous Busch Stadium turned countless home runs into long outs. Few players in MLB history ever smashed baseballs with the degree of ferocity Simmons did in 21 big league seasons, so his relatively modest home run total of 248 is misleading.
The hard-hitting (switch-hitting) Simmons amassed 2472 hits (probably none of the "infield variety") - more than Bench, Carlton Fisk, Gary Carter, or Jorge Posada, for that matter. His lifetime .285 BA also leads that quartet, and his 1389 RBI total is close to the top of that heap, trailing only Bench by a mere seven runs batted in.
What about OPS+? This is perhaps the most accurate saber-metric measurement of a player's offensive production, taking into consideration "on base percentage" and "slugging percentage", while factoring in the "degree of difficulty" associated with the playing venue. As stated, old Busch Stadium was a pitcher's haven - not at all condusive to the long ball. Here's how Simmons stacked up against the three Hall of Famers and the one potential Hall of Famer:
Bench - 126
Posada - 121
Simmons - 117
Fisk - 117
Carter - 115
Of the three catchers already enshrined in Cooperstown, Bench played in four different World Series, winning twice; Carter and Fisk both played in one Fall Classic (both were very "classic" Fall Classics), as did Ted Simmons - ironically, as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers, playing against his old team - and losing in seven games - in 1982. Carter was on the winning side playing for the Mets in 1986, and we all know Fisk's Red Sox fell to Bench's Reds in 1975, although Carlton's memorable Game Six walk-off home run made him an instant legend in Bean Town.
If World Series success affects Hall of Fame voting, five-time winner Jorge Posada may find himself in Cooperstown some day; hopefully, by that time, Cooperstown will have already admitted the greatest Cardinal catcher in history - Ted Lyle Simmons.
Just ask Peter Gammons; he belongs.
Fascinated with St Louis Cardinals history? Test your Redbird IQ!
http://www.amazon.com/St-Louis-Cardinals-IQ-Ultimate/dp/0983792259/ref=cm_pdp_books_itm_title_5
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