Ranting With Rizzo Podcast For 9-15-12

On "Ranting with Rizzo" this past week there was
a big look at the baseball pennant races, and who
still has a shot. We also take a look at week two
in the young NFL season. Checkout it out here:


 
Tweet Don't Believe In Plays, Believe In Players - Al Davis

Cole Hamels Signs New Deal, A Joke For The Phillies

AP Photo

Now I know that I will get attacked from all angles
by Phillies fans for that headline alone, but I can
assure you that the comment was made in their best
interest as well as the interest of many other fans
who have GM's dumb enough to give away the farm to
the first pretty face that can throw a pitch or stop
a puck.

I don't know how many of you reading this are sports
fans in general, as opposed to fans of just one sport,
but to step away from the 6 year $144Mil deal just
signed, it seems that their have been a spate of NHL
teams that think it's kinda cool to sign players to
8, 9, and 10 year deals. This is insane, especially
in a sports as violent as hockey. Take note NHL GM's,
there might be a good reason why most NFL contracts
aren't guaranteed, one hit and POOF! there goes your
budget.

Well this Cole Hamels deal is a little out there as
well, and frankly it's kind to say that it's only
"a little out there". $24Mil a year to a guy who
only gets on the field an average of once per week?
Six years to a player that can miss months at a time
for something as trivial as shoulder discomfort?
This is insane, and if you're a Phillies fan, even
if you like/LOVE Hamels, you should be pissed, or
at the very least disappointed at what Ruben Amaro
has done with YOUR money. Expect to suck for the
very foreseeable future, book it. Amaro has signed
the Phillies up for a long road of mediocrity and
suckiness. You put that many dollars into that
fragile a commodity and you are just asking for it.

What has gotten into these GM's? Has no one learned
from former Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks? How did
that 10 year $252Mil deal deal for A-Rod turn out?
Texas won nothing, and eventually had to trade him,
and there's more. Yes it's true that Brian Cashman/
Steinbrenner compounded the problem by doing it again,
but that's just too stupid to comment on. How about
the fact that at the end of that first deal which
would have been the end of last season, A-Rod ended
the year batting .276 with 16Hr's and 62 Rbi's over
a span of 99 games. Yes 99 games, because he's old
and breaking down! The Yankees thought they would
cash in on A-Rod breaking the Aaron/Bonds HR record,
but at this point he is still 118 behind Bonds, and
it would take him over four seasons to do that at
the pace he's been on the last two seasons.
NOT gonna happen !

Is anyone of these General Managers taking notes?
By the way, Happy 37th Birthday A-Rod!

Tweet Don't Believe In Plays, Believe In Players - Al Davis

Cole Hamels And Mike Rizzo, Who's Wrong?

AP Photo

I can completely understand when Nationals GM
Mike Rizzo decided to call Philadelphia Phillies
pitcher Cole Hamels "Fake Tough", it's a term that
can be applied to many a pro athlete "tough guy",
and even though I have no opinion on Cole Hamels
regarding that matter, I do disagree with the rest
of Rizzo's opinion on Cole Hamels deciding to hit
Nationals young star phenom Bryce Harper.

Rizzo was outraged that Hamels decided to throw at
the Nationals prize, and then admitted to it when
asked about it. This was Rizzo's reaction: "I've
never seen a more classless, gutless chicken *$%@
act in my 30 years in baseball", "It was a gutless
chicken *$%@ *$%@*$%@ act. That was a fake-tough
act. No one has ever accused Cole Hamels of being
old school." Now some of this may be true, BUT
I do disagree that this wasn't old school, it
most certainly was. Not only was it old school,
I also agree with Hamels when he said that "some
people (pitchers) have moved away from it (the
brushback pitch)" He hit a player, a star player,
and he not only admitted it, but also admitted
the he was NOT trying to injure him. He is RIGHT,
pitchers have moved away from it, and not only
should he have done it, but it should be done more
often. DON'T head hunt, DON'T intend to injure,
and if your gonna do it, then make sure that you
can ensure the first two DON'T happen.

Rizzo is clearly over reacting, trying to defend
his player, and without a doubt is the owner of
a very short temper. If it had been one of his
pitchers doing it to a Phillies star player I'm
sure that he would have either waxed poetic about
how his team is trying to compete and establish
themselves or how traditional it is or he would
have kept silent, but either way, he wouldn't be
calling any of his own pitchers chicken $%$@*

Think I'm wrong, and defending the wrong guy?
Well consider this, if someone had brushed back
Josh Hamilton the other night in Baltimore when
he had 4 HR's & a double, do you think he still
would have had the same type of night? I don't
think so, and if Cole Hamels had done that to
Josh Hamilton, I can assure you that an old
school guy like Buck Showalter would have been
proud of his pitcher, but I'm sure that like
Charlie Manual, he wishes Cole woulda kept his
mouth shut about it, probably Hamels only error.
Sorry Mike Rizzo, you're WRONG.

Tweet Don't Believe In Plays, Believe In Players - Al Davis

Phillies & Eagles: Nothing But Broken "Dream Teams" So Far

AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar

With the Phillies dropping out in the 1st
round of the NL Playoffs on Friday night
and the Eagles off to a 1-3 start so far,
and fresh off of blowing a 20-3 halftime
this past Sunday, the city of Philadelphia
is no longer thinking "Dream Team", but
rather realizing that these are nothing
more than broken dreams.

Nothing is guaranteed, and they don't
play these games on paper, just ask the
16-0 New England Patriots.


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Brewers Brew, Cardinals Can't Fly

Wickerham/Getty Images

Yes anything can happen once you get into
the playoffs, but some years, it is what
is, and this may be one of those years in
the National League. The Diamondbacks have
a 20 game winner whereas the Brewers don't
this is true, but with that one edge now
out of the way, and the fact that no one on
the D-backs has more than 20 hr's, 90 rbi's
or was able to bat over .290 this season,
it's clear that their magic carpet ride will
soon end. Today's 4-1 defeat seems to be
just the beginning of that end.

The Cardinals squeezed into the playoffs with
one giant collapse by the Atlanta Braves, but
I get the feeling that just like the Phillies
didn't roll over for the Braves the last series
of the season, they aren't to play soft or take
it easy on the Cardinals in the first round
either. The Phillies put the pedal to the metal
in game one and the Cards should be grateful
that they only put an 11spot on them, but they
can expect more, and a quick series as well.

Tampa Bay Rays came out with their batting
helmets on, huh?

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What's With This MVP ?

Mathew Bush chosen first overall, and Phillip
Umber chosen third, and then you have to go all
the way down to number twelve before you see a
name that makes any impact to the typical
baseball fan, Jered Weaver. The thirteenth
pick incidentally was made by a team that no
longer exists, the Expos, but who knows, they
might be had they chosen first or second and
were wise enough to draft the name missing from
this article thus far, Justin Verlander. Jered
Weaver just signed a multi year deal this year
that will make him an Anaheim Angel for a long
time to come, and based on his record this year
of 18-7 with a stellar 2.41 era along with a
career record of 82-46, he deserves it, and the
Angels are the benefactors. But let's get back
to Justin Verlander, who this year is really
making waves. The kind of waves that real only
happen once in a while, when people begin arguing
as to whether or not a pitcher, a non everyday
player, is deserving of MVP consideration.

I am of the school that pitchers should not be
considered for MVP, BUT, I do believe that there
are exceptions, and every once in a while, a
special case happens. This is one of those cases.
When Steve Carlton won 27 games in 1972, the
Phillies were miserable, and his wins amounted
to nearly 46% of the Phillies wins, and though
it's tough to be the MVP of the league when
your team stinks, it has been done, ask Andre
Dawson. Though his Cubs didn't stink up the
joint like Carlton's Phillies, they did finish
last, and he still won MVP. Back to my argument.
Verlander has nearly 27% of the Tigers victories
this season and his era of 2.29 is a real gem
in a hitters league like the AL that sports the
DH, and what is an MVP anyway? Is it not a
player that has the most value to a team?,
preferably a winning team? Yankee fans will
scream and shout high from the mountain tops all
the while juggling their 27 trophies and tell you
that Curtis Granderson wuz robbed, when in fact,
though he is more than worthy of consideration,
his supporting cast of, A-Rod, CC, Texeira, Jeter,
Rivera, and company are much more of a compliment
to his numbers than Verlander's team is to him.
With that I won't go over every other player that
is worthy of consideration in the AL this season,
nor will I anoint Verlander MVP. What I will say
however is that in this writers opinion, he is
worthy of consideration, if I voted he would most
probably receive my vote, and what the heck were
the Padres thinking?

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The Mets err Giants Win The Pennant !

Courtesy: Metsblob
I am stealing this next line from someone I admire,
Len Berman: On this day back in 1951 The New York
Giants fell 13 1/2 games behind the Brooklyn
Dodgers. What happened after that, was history.
It culminated with, "The Giants win the pennant,
the Giants win the pennant!" The rest is mine:

Last night the NY Mets fell 10 Games behind the
Atlanta Braves in the Wild Card Standings, and
as good and gritty as the Mets have been at times
the Braves just won't lose. It does beg the
question though, is a comeback like the one the
Giants made over the Dodgers possible or is it
just that we don't want to believe it's possible
because it will only break our hearts as Mets fans?
Realistically and speaking of broken hearts, you
need only go back about five years to see an
example that's just about as miraculous, when
the Phillies overtook the Mets 7 1/2 game lead
with only 17 to go, a record collapse.

I for one do not think the Mets will overcome
this 10 game lead by the Braves, but you can't
deny that this is not only possible, but also
not that uncommon. Let's Go Mets !

Follow me on Twitter at @MadStorkSports