Ranting With Rizzo Podcast For 10-13-12

"Ranting with Rizzo" was on at noon Saturday, miss the
the show 1170AM WDIS?, Well, here's the podcast
of this past Saturday's show, Have a listen, and enjoy: 



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 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

Is Davey Johnson Poised To Make The Nationals Remind Us Of The 86 Mets?

By Rob Carr, AP

Yes, I know, Blasphemy!, well at least to New York Mets
fans anyway. Can you think of a better headline to use
that goes with Davey Johnson, a 9-3 start, and lots of
young talent like the Nationals have? Maybe, but as a
life long Mets fan, Davey Johnson has a special place
in my heart and it irks the the beejesus out of me that
a manager who has a win percentage as high as he does,
a World Series title and never had managerial record of
worse than 77-85 during a full season, had to wait over
ten years to get his next shot as a Major league manager.

Davey Johnson has a .562 career winning percentage, and
a record that is 262 games over .500! He has managed
in the Olympics, for both the American & Dutch national
teams, and even taught a little baseball in China.
Now Johnson is back at the helm of an MLB team, and has
the parts to make some hay. Stephen Strasburg may not
exactly remind you of Doc Gooden yet, but the potential
comparison is there. There isn't a Keith Hernandez type
on this team, but how many teams have that anyway?
This Nats squad has Jayson Werth, not Gary Carter as it's
big name gun from another team. For a home grown leader
they lean on Ryan Zimmerman instead of a Daryl Strawberry
or a Mookie Wilson, and though you may not get as many
practical jokes out of Brad Lidge and Drew Storen as you
did from Jesse Orosco, and Roger McDowell, you might get
more saves.

OK, so maybe the '86 Mets are a lofty comparison 12 games
into the season, but this team definitely has a chance to
do a couple of things that team did, win the division, and
win the World Series. I also can't help but feel that
Davey Johnson is once again poised to show the rest of us
what a smart baseball man he is, and his link to that 1986
team is obviously inevitable. I will still root for my
Mets, but I have to root for Davey too. He deserves it.


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

Jim Riggleman Head Scratcher

It's hard to feel to bad for a guy who's career
record as a manager is 662-824 and winning at a
44% clip, but I gotta give it to him for at least
saying it like it is. He was quoted as saying:
"I'm 58, I'm too old to be disrespected",
I'll buy that, good job Jim !

Knee Jerk Reaction To Posey Injury

I know there are some among you that think
this might be worth considering, and if you
are among them, then I'm sorry, but eliminating
the collision with the catcher at home plate
because some star catcher got hurt is just
plain STUPID. Yes, I know that sounds harsh,
and maybe even offensive, but you can't go
overreacting every time someone gets hurt on
a play that occurs hundreds of times.
If that was just some everyday non star,
no one would have cared past the high light
piece. It's only a big deal because he's
now worth millions to the SF Giants.
Maybe they should have done with Posey the
same thing the Washington Nationals did with
their big investment Bryce Harper and move
him to the outfield once they ponied up the
big bucks. Just don't forget that he could
still get really hurt running into the outfield
wall, and then they would have to consider
removing those as well.