Mike Bridenstine's Tumblr Thing

If the season was over today in the National League, the Dodgers, Brewers, Cardinals and Phillies would be headed to the playoffs.  The Dodgers have the best hitting, while the Cardinals have the best pitching.  

Top 20 in HR, RBI and AVG: Raul Ibanez (SLG), Albert Pujols (OPS), Ryan Zimmerman, Ryan Braun and Joey Votto (AVG, OBP).  Adrian Gonzalez leads in HR.  Prince Fielder leads in RBI.       

Top 20 in W, ERA and K: Johan Santana (ERA, W, K), Wandy Rodriguez, Chad Billingsley, Adam Wainwright, Ted Lilly and Jake Peavy.  Jason Marquis and Bronson Arroyo are tied for wins.  Javier Vazquez is tied for K’s.      

If the season was over in the American League, the Rangers, Yankees, Red Sox and Tigers would be in the playoffs.  The Rays have the best hitting, while the Mariners have the best pitching. 

Top 20 in HR, RBI and AVG: Justin Morneau (SLG), Evan Longoria (RBI), Aaron Hill, Torii Hunter, Adam Jones and Miguel Cabrera.  Carlos Pena leads in HR.  Jason Bartlett leads in AVG.  Kevin Youkilis leads in OBP and OPS.

Top 20 in W, ERA and K: Justin Verlander (K), Zack Greinke (W, ERA), Felix Hernandez, Roy Halladay (W), Matt Garza, Edwin Jackson, CC Sabathia, Jered Weaver and James Shields.                   

Right now, Jason Bartlett leads the American League in Batting Average… Carlos Pena leads in Home Runs… and Evan Longoria leads in RBI.  And they’re all on the Tampa Rays.  That’s a teammate Triple Crown if it holds up.  It probably won’t.  In fact, OPRJ thinks Longoria will win the A.L. Triple Crown all by himself.  But it got me thinking.  Has that ever been done before?  Have three guys from the same team taken home an individual title to make up a 3 way Triple Crown?

Yes.  Twice.  But they were both from a really long time ago.

The 1902 Pittsburgh Pirates: Ginger Beaumont won the batting title, Tommy Leach led in home runs and Honus Wagner led in RBI.  

The 1884 Chicago White Stockings: King Kelly won the batting title, Ned Williamson led in home runs and Cap Anson led in RBI.

Since I did this for baseball and concluded it was A-Rod, I thought I’d do the same for the NBA.  It has to come down to one of three guys; Shaq, Kobe and Tim Duncan.  The NBA Playoffs are still going on, and Kobe has a chance to solidify himself as the Player of the Decade.  But there have only been 2 teams to win NBA Championships since 2000 that didn’t have either Shaq or Duncan on their team.    

Shaquille O’Neal

• 9 All-Star Games
• 2000 MVP
• 3 Finals MVPs
• 7 All-NBA First Teams
• 1 Scoring Title
• 4 NBA Championships

Kobe Bryant

• 10 All-Star Games
• 2008 MVP
• 7 All-NBA Defensive First Teams
• 7 All-NBA First Teams
• 4 Scoring Titles
• 3 NBA Championships (possibly 4)

Tim Duncan

• 10 All-Star Games
• 2 MVP Awards
• 2 Finals MVP Awards
• 7 All-NBA Defensive First Teams
• 7 All-NBA First Teams
• 3 NBA Championships

Here’s my Top 10:

But just by comparison, here’s what Michael Jordan did in the ‘90’s:

• 7 All-Star Games
• 6 NBA Finals MVPs
• 4 NBA MVPs
• 7 All-NBA Defensive 1st Teams
• 7 All-NBA First Teams
• 6 NBA Championships
• 7 Scoring Titles

Raul Ibanez leads the National League in home runs, RBI, slugging and OPS.  He’s also third in batting average.  

Here’s the thing… Raul Ibanez is 36.  He’s been playing since 1996.  And he’s never been this good.  He’s never been an All-Star.  He’s never finished higher than 20th in MVP voting.  You’re telling me that all-of-a-sudden, in his late thirties, that Raul Ibanez is the best hitter in baseball?  Come on.  Before this season, he averaged a home run every 26 at bats.  This season, he averages a home run every 9 at bats.  He has 17 home runs.  He’s on pace for 66.  The most he’s ever hit in a season is 33.  His Major League Average is 23.

We’re talking about baseball in the year 2009.  The same year that Alex Rodriguez admitted to using steroids and Manny Ramirez was suspended 50 games for taking a banned substance.  I know it’s only May, but you gotta take a look at a guy with no track record of being a power hitter, suddenly leading the majors in long balls at age 36.  I’m not buying it.      

If the season was over today, the Dodgers, Brewers, Cardinals and Phillies would be heading to the playoffs.  The Dodgers have the best offense and pitching.    

Top 20 in HR, RBI and AVG: Raul Ibanez (HR, RBI, SLG, OPS), Albert Pujols, Ryan Zimmerman, Carlos Lee and Ryan Braun.  Adrian Gonzalez is tied for HR.  Carlos Beltran leads in AVG.  Joey Votto leads in OBP.    

Top 20 in W, K and ERA: Jake Peavy (K), Johan Santana (W, ERA), Javier Vazquez, Chad Billingsley (W), Wandy Rodriguez, Aaron Harang and Adam Wainwright.  Bronson Arroyo is tied for wins.    

If the season was over in the American League, the Tigers, Blue Jays, Red Sox and Rangers would be heading to the playoffs.  The Rays have the best offense and the Royals have the best pitching.  

Top 20 in HR, RBI and AVG: Justin Morneau, Aaron Hill, Evan Longoria (RBI), Johnny Damon, Adam Jones (SLG, OPS) and Miguel Cabrera.  Carlos Pena leads in HR.  Victor Martinez leads in AVG and OBP.          

Top 20 in W, K and ERA: Justin Verlander (K), Zack Greinke (ERA), Roy Halladay (W), Felix Hernandez, Matt Garza, Edwin Jackson and CC Sabathia.   

Hank Aaron - 21 seasons, Stan Musial - 20, Willie Mays - 19, Cal Ripken - 19, Rod Carew - 18, Carl Yastrzemski - 15, Yogi Berra - 15, Brooks Robinson - 15, Mickey Mantle - 14.  

Current Streaks:

Manny Ramirez - 11, Alex Rodriguez - 9, Ichiro Suzuki - 8, Alfonso Soriano - 7, Albert Pujols - 6, David Ortiz - 5, Michael Young - 5.    

If the season was over today, the Dodgers, Drewers, Cubs and Mets would be in the playoffs.  The Dodgers have the best pitching and hitting.    

Top 20 in HR, RBI and AVG: Albert Pujols (RBI), Raul Ibanez (SLG, OPS), Ryan Zimmerman, Carlos Lee and Ryan Braun.  Adrian Gonzales leads in HR.  Cristian Guzman and Joey Votto lead in AVG.  Votto is second in OBP to Manny Ramirez, who I’m not counting.       

Top 20 in W, K and ERA: Johan Santana (ERA), Wandy Rodriguez, Dan Haren, Chad Billingsley (W), Josh Johnson, Yovani Gallardo, Ted Lilly (W), Aaron Harang, Javier Vazquez (K) and Tim Lincecum.  Derek Lowe, Bronson Arroyo and Shairon Martis are tied for wins.     

If the season was over in the AL, the Blue Jays, Rangers and Red Sox would be in the playoffs, with a one-game tie breaker between the Tigers and Royals.  The Blue Jays have the best offense and the Royals have the best pitching.      

Top 20 in HR, RBI and AVG: Justin Morneau, Ian Kinsler, Evan Longoria (RBI, SLG), Aaron Hill, Miguel Cabrera and Adam Jones.  Carlos Pena leads in HR.  Victor Martinez leads in AVG, OPS and OBP.        

Top 20 in W, K and ERA: Zack Grienke (ERA, W), Edwin Jackson, Jered Weaver, Roy Halladay (W), Jarrod Washburn, Matt Garza, Felix Hernandez, CC Sabathia and James Shields.  Justin Verlander leads in strikeouts.     

Eminem hasn’t released an album since 2004.  Since then, Mike Holmes and I wrote “Every Eminem Song Ever” in 2005, started performing it on stage in 2006 and eventually came out with a JoVoRobo-directed Blerds video about it later that year.  I’ve heard from reliable sources that Jimmy Iovine has heard the song, but wouldn’t pass it on to Eminem.  And I’ve heard that Eminem eventually heard the song and thought it was funny.  I not-so-secretly wanted to hear a response.  Ideally, it would have been a diss track, but I would have taken anything.  But another 3 years went by without a new album.  And I just listened to the new one, off leaked tracks on YouTube - another new thing to emerge since Eminem’s last album.  How is it?  If Holmes and I wrote the song now, it would be something like “Pills and murder, pills and pills and murder.”  The album cover is a bunch of pills.  Yes, he’s been on drugs and fantasizes Slim Shady-style about murder and that’s what he wants to talk about.  

Don’t get me wrong.  I love Eminem.  I have for a decade.  But his new album isn’t very awesome.  He’s still one of the most talented lyricists in the history of hip-hop.  His rhyming cadences are still insane.  He’s really one of the best rappers ever and he proves it on some brilliant moments on this album, but the whole thing felt a little dated to me.  

I don’t know what the problem is.  It might be Dr. Dre.  He produced most of this album and it’s not like Dre has been knocking shit out of the park regularly since 2001.  There are a few exceptions along the way (“In Da Club” being one of them), but it’s not like this is DR FUCKING DRE and it’s 1992.  For some reason, Dre + Eminem felt like an old album, most of the time.  Not helping are Eminem’s pop culture references, including Christopher Reeve disses.   He kinda died in 2004, man.  Eminem understands that and even makes a response from Reeve in “Medicine Ball” and has a sketch where a record producer chides him for doing it.  But still.  Really?     

The subject matter doesn’t help with the whole ‘dated’ critique.  I think the game has changed since 2004.  Now we have way too much Internet and know everyone’s opinions about the shit from TMZ and Perez Hilton seconds after it happens.  So I, for one, don’t really need Kim Kardashian ass jokes from this album.  It’s fleeting faster than it used to and nobody really cares anymore.  And I’ve heard critics say he blew Dre’s best beat on the album (“Bagpipes From Baghdad”) on a Mariah/Nick Cannon diss.  I feel like somebody should have told him not to waste his time on that.  Yeah, Nick Cannon replied and got some press.  And Fox News got mad he dissed Sarah Palin on “We Made You”, but come on.  He has a song (“Same Song & Dance”) about murdering Lindsey Lohan and Britney Spears.  They’re already murdered by bloggers on a daily basis.  It doesn’t mean anything.      

I don’t know what to say.  There are a few good songs, “Stay Wide Awake” and “Deja Vu” included, but I just can’t get around how seven-years-ago most of the stuff sounds.  Even the best songs sound like they should have been on Eminem Show in 2002.  I’ll give a few songs another listen and wait for Relapse 2, which is apparently coming out later this year, but I don’t have too much faith in Eminem’s current effort.   

At least he takes it easy on Kim, Mom and Hailey.    

Last week, I went to a Dodgers game.  The guy sitting behind me was talking loudly about how Pedro Martinez hadn’t signed with a team yet this season.  Holmes stopped me from turning around and correcting him on a few things he was blabbing about.  But then he said two ironically awesome things.

1.  ”Pedro is a power pitcher.  But not like Nolan Ryan.”

Oh, really you fucking baseball genius?  Nolan Ryan, who led his league in strikeouts 11 times?  The same guy who struck out 383 batters in 1973?  Nolan Ryan whose career strikeouts record might not ever get touched?  Yeah.  Good example.  Pedro is a power pitcher… but not like Nolan Ryan.  Also, you are a dick… but not quite like Hitler.     

But, whatever you do buddy, don’t look at all-time strikeouts per 9 innings.  Because Pedro is 3rd all-time.  And Nolan Ryan is 4th.  

2.  ”The only way Pedro Martinez will get into the Hall of Fame is if he buys a ticket.”

I immediately started to wonder which blow hard sports talk radio guy he was plagiarizing with that gem.  

Pedro Martinez was considered one of the (if not the) best pitcher in baseball from 1997 to about 2004.  He had competition - mostly from Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson -  but he was the shit during that period.  He helped pitch the Red Sox into 4 post seasons and won a World Series ring in ‘04.  He’s pitched through injuries for 17 seasons.  He is an 8 time All-Star and a 3 time Cy Young Award winner.  He also finished second twice.

It’s really going to suck for you when he gets in.  YOU, my friend, will be the one buying the ticket.  Start listening to new blowhard sports talk radio stations.   

The best records in the NL belong to the Dodgers and Cardinals, with the Reds, Brewers, Cubs and Mets close by.  The Dodgers have the best offense (with Manny) and the Giants have the best pitching.  The Pirates dropped to 4th.  

Top 20 in HR, RBI and AVG: Albert Pujols (HR, RBI, SLG, OPS), Chase Utley, Raul Ibanez (SLG), Ryan Braun, Carlos Beltran (AVG) and Manny Ramirez (OBP), who is out until July.  

Top 20 in W, K and ERA: Johan Santana (ERA), Johnny Cueto, Wandy Rodriguez, Dan Haren, Chad Billingsley (W), Yovani Gallardo, Tim Lincecum, Ted Lilly and Edinson Volquez.  Javier Vazquez leads in K.    

The best records in the AL belong to the Blue Jays, Red Sox and Royals, with the Tigers and Rangers close by.  The Blue Jays have the best offense.  The Royals have the best pitching.    

Top 20 in HR, RBI and AVG: Evan Longoria (RBI, SLG), Ian Kinsler, Aaron Hill, Miguel Cabrera, Adam Lind and Kevin Youkilis (AVG, OBP, OPS).  Carlos Pena leads in HR.  

Top 20 in W, K and ERA: Zack Greinke (ERA, W, K), Jered Weaver, Scott Richmond, Roy Halladay (W), Felix Hernandez, Matt Garza, James Shields and Armando Galarraga.       

Alex Rodriguez came back for the Yankees today.  And in his first at bat, he hits a three run home run.  Game still in progress…

That’s number 554.  The Yankees need him.  Right now the AL East looks much tougher than the Yankees had anticipated.  They knew they’d compete with the Rays and Red Sox, but now the Blue Jays are off to the best start in the American League.  Last year the Yankees missed the playoffs for the first time since nobody made the playoffs in 1994.

The Yankees added Nick Swisher, Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett to make sure that didn’t happen again.  Their defense was supposed to be shitty, and it has been (second worst to the Twins in the AL).  But they weren’t supposed to be a .464 team, which they were before today’s game in Baltimore.  Sports Illustrated predicted that when A-Rod returned to the team, “he’ll find a team replete with intriguing characters to displace the public’s gaze from whatever questionable lifestyle decisions he’s made in the past and with plenty of new stars to help diffuse the pressure under which he so often chafes.”

Nope.  Not the case.  A-Rod is returning to a subpar team right after a book said he’d been taking steroids since high school and tipping off opposing batters from shortstop.  Oh, and Sabathia is 1-3 with a 4.20 ERA.  Burnett has a 5.26 ERA.  And Teixeira is batting .192.  And they’ve missed Rodriguez.  But the problem has been the pitching, rather than overall hitting.  The Yankees have the second-worst ERA in the league, after the Cleveland Indians.  They almost give up 6 runs per game.  Sabathia has a shitty ERA, but it’s second-best on the team to Andy Pettitte’s 4.38.  

They’re lucky that the rest of the non-Teixeira hitters have stepped up a little bit.  And they have to hope Sabathia decides to be good again.   The Yankees have to go 84-50 the rest of the season to have the record SI predicted.  They also better hope the Rays don’t wake up and that the Blue Jays come back down to Earth.  This one looks like it’ll get interesting.       

In 2001, Ichiro Suzuki came into the league at age 27 and won the AL Rookie of the Year and the AL MVP.  And he led the Mariners to 116 wins.  He was an instant sensation in baseball, and he already had been in Japan since 1994.  He’d previously set the Japanese single-season record with 210 hits in 130 games and had seven consecutive batting titles.  He also had a bunch of MVP awards, 1,278 hits and seven Gold Glove Awards in Japan.        

Since entering the MLB in 2001, Ichiro has played in 8 All-Star Games, has 2 batting titles, he’s led the league in hits 5 times (including setting the single season record in 2004 - a record that had stood since 1920) and he has 8 Gold Gloves.  Everybody knows the guy is a hitting machine, and I’ll talk about that more later.  But 8 Gold Gloves?

To put that into perspective, here are a list of outfielders with more Gold Gloves than Ichiro: Roberto Clemente, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr, Andruw Jones and Al Kaline.  The number is even smaller if you consider only guys who were predominantly right fielders.  Then it’s just Clemente and Kaline.  So basically Ichiro is the third best fielding right fielder in the post-1957 era.    

How do you judge the guy when it’s time for him to retire?  He’s played professional baseball for 15 years.  His career stats in the MLB aren’t crazy good right now (other than his .330 career average), but if you combine the guy’s hits in Japan he’s sitting on 3110 hits.  That would put him in the top 20 all-time.  As it stands now, he’s 335th on the list.  I know you can’t just give him those hits, but it’s impressive none the less.  And it’s hard to dismiss his hitting titles and Gold Gloves from Japan considering he did the same shit here.  I mentioned before that Ty Cobb was the youngest guy ever to get 3000 hits at age 34.  Ichiro is 35 and he got his 3000th hit last year.  That’s the type of hitter we’re talking about.    

I think that Major League Baseball should consider letting Japanese stars into the Hall of Fame.  Let’s start with this guy…

That’s Sadaharu Oh.  You might recognize his name from the Beastie Boys song, “Hey Ladies.”  They’ve got more hits than him.  Anyway, Oh won 15 home run titles in Japan, including 13 in a fucking row.  The also has 13 RBI titles and 5 batting titles.  Oh yeah, and he won 11 championships, 9 MVP awards and he was an All-Star 18 times.  Double oh yeah, he has 868 career home runs.  Yeah, he’s lame about not wanting anyone to break his single season home run record.  But his career is incredible.  

One Japanese relief pitcher had been in the MLB for a brief period in the ‘60’s.  It’s weird to me that Hideo Nomo was the second Japanese player ever to play in the MLB in 1995.  It’s not exactly a Negro Leagues scenario, but it’s got its similarities.  I think that if you induct Sadaharu Oh and give some sort of respect to the Japanese league, it will allow people to take some sort of account into Ichiro’s time in Japan in the ‘90’s.  He might stack up the career stats he’d need to get into the Hall on his own, anyway.  But if it comes down to a tough decision at the end of his career, I think they should give him the nod.