Is This What You Had in Mind?

I was trying to think of other great right-handers similar in style and stuff to Justin Verlander, who is closing in on a five-year, $80 million deal with the Tigers. Verlander is tall and angular, so he really isn't like the diminutive Pedro Martinez, and he really has a very different repertoire (and command) than Greg Maddux, and he isn't a massive power guy like a Roger Clemens or Curt Schilling.

And then this name came to mind: Dwight Gooden.


Doc was lithe at the outset of his career, 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds, and could consistently throw in the mid-to-high 90s, and he'd mix that fastball with his stunning curveball. He was the most dominant pitcher in the majors for a couple of years -- and then we know the rest of the story.

Verlander, 6-foot-5 and 200 pounds, is evolving in a way that Gooden did not, it seems. His ability to focus game to game, inning to inning and pitch-to-pitch improved dramatically last year. In the second and third seasons of his career, he would seem to drift through some starts, throwing out some inconsistent outings.

But last year, he appeared to pitch with such purpose. After compiling 163 strikeouts and 87 walks in 2008, Verlander had 269 strikeouts and only 63 walks in 2009. He was the Tigers' plow horse, throwing 240 innings, but he was also dominant in big moments, working fast, attacking hitters relentlessly; watching his innings play out, it felt like he was a boxer who had his opponent in a corner and he intended to just continue throwing punches until the other guy hit the canvas. Last year, in two-out situations, opposing batters compiled an OPS of .591, with a slugging percentage of .322.

There is no better finisher than Verlander in the majors right now. The inning-to-inning OPS against him is as follows.

1: .761
2: .521
3: .538
4: .582
5: .664
6: .858
7: .604
8: .919
9: .606


And so the Tigers are right to commit an enormous contract to a guy who won't be 27 for another couple of weeks, and who has established a nice base for what might turn out to be a Hall of Fame career.

These are the most wins in the first five seasons for Tigers pitchers, since 1961:

Mickey Lolich: 66
Justin Verlander: 65
Dan Petry: 60
Denny McLain: 59
Jeremy Bonderman: 56
Jack Morris: 51


It turned out that the sixth year that was talked about in the negotiations wasn't a deal-breaker, Tom Gage writes. The signing of Verlander is good for the Tigers, writes Drew Sharp.

Some stuff on Verlander from Mark Simon and Katie Sharp of ESPN Stats & Information:

Here's Verlander's average fastball rank among MLB pitchers with 20-plus starts (courtesy FanGraphs.com):

Bringing the Heat
Year MPH Rank
2009 95.6 2nd out of 117
2008 93.6 11th out of 128
2007 94.8 3rd out of 122
2006 95.1 2nd out of 115


And here's a list of guys who have the highest overall average fastball velocity since 2007:

Ubaldo Jimenez: 95.5
Justin Verlander: 94.7
Felix Hernandez: 94.6
A.J. Burnett: 94.5
Josh Beckett: 94.3

About his contract: Verlander's five-year, $80 million contract is the second-largest signed by a player to avoid arbitration since 2007, according to BizofBaseball.com:

I'm Not Thinkin' Arby's
Year Player $M Years
2007 Chase Utley 85.0 7
2010 Justin Verlander 80.0 5
2010 Felix Hernandez 78.0 5
2009 Nick Markakis 66.1 6
2009 Ryan Howard 54.0 3



Fightin' words

You can bet this column is going to draw some attention in New York: The owner of the Ravens had some harsh words for the way the Yankees have operated, and suggested that the GM of the Yankees should be fired for not running away with the division, given the team's payroll advantages.

Said Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti within the Peter Schmuck piece: The payroll advantage "certainly doesn't show up in the standings. If I'm a Yankees fan, I'm upset we're not winning 130 games with the roster that they have and the money that they pay out. I think it's a disgrace they only beat the average team by 10 games in the standings with three times the money. I'd fire that GM. You don't need a GM. All you have to do is buy the last Cy Young Award winner every year."

It's a little more complicated than that, of course. He might not have noticed, but Zack Greinke, Tim Lincecum, Felix Hernandez and Verlander, among others, aren't available every year.


Moves, deals and decisions

1. As Orlando Hudson makes his choice between the Twins, Indians and Nationals, you wonder what goes into this kind of decision. For example: If Hudson signs with the Twins, he would seemingly have a shot to hit in front of Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau -- and you'd think this would mean he would see more fastballs, given that pitchers will not want to mess around and risk walking him.

This raises two questions: First, do the No. 2 hitters in the Twins' lineup -- the guys who hit in front of Mauer -- actually see more fastballs than most No. 2 hitters?

The answer, according to Sharp, is yes.

For the first question, here's the percentage of fastballs seen by No. 2 hitters for all 30 teams, ranked high to low. The Twins' No. 2 hitters last year saw fastballs 68.7 percent of the time, which was fifth-most in the majors. Also, related to Mark's note, the Twins' No. 2 hitters last year hit .290 versus fastballs, 18th in the majors, and had an OPS of .788 versus fastballs, 19th in the majors.

Mets: 73.9 percent
Padres: 73.7 percent
Tigers: 69.8 percent
Yankees: 69.1 percent
Twins: 68.7 percent
Angels: 68.1 percent
Royals: 68.0 percent
Red Sox: 68.0 percent
Rays: 66.3 percent
Indians: 66.3 percent
Athletics: 65.5 percent
Diamondbacks: 65.2 percent
Astros: 65.2 percent
Rangers: 64.8 percent
Brewers: 64.6 percent
Phillies: 64.5 percent
Dodgers: 64.3 percent
Orioles: 64.1 percent
Mariners: 64.0 percent
Marlins: 64.0 percent
Reds: 63.5 percent
Pirates: 63.1 percent
Giants: 63.0 percent
Nationals: 62.8 percent
Cubs: 62.8 percent
Braves: 62.5 percent
Rockies: 62.5 percent
Cardinals: 60.6 percent
Blue Jays: 60.2 percent
White Sox: 60.1 percent


The second question: Does Hudson do well against fastballs? The answer, according to Mark Simon, is yes. He dug out these numbers from Inside Edge. In 2009, Hudson hit .321 against fastballs, compared to the MLB average of .290, and had an .856 OPS, better than a league average of .839. One area that Inside Edge rates him very high in: He's 20th-best in MLB on fastballs away with a .353 BA (MLB average is .273).

2. The series of dominoes that will lead to the Padres' trading Adrian Gonzalez continues to fall; Padres CEO Jeff Moorad, who understands it will be tough for San Diego to re-sign Gonzalez, tells Tim Sullivan that no player is untouchable. I wrote here last month that the Padres have already had discussions about a possible extension, and the early indications are that Gonzalez will be in line to ask for a Mark Teixeira-like contract after he becomes a free agent in 2011 -- and that's something that San Diego is almost certainly not going to do. The Red Sox will be all over this conversation whenever it takes place.

3. Joe Mauer will have to accept less money from the Twins than he would get from other teams, writes John Shipley.

4. Casey Kotchman avoided arbitration with the Mariners, writes Larry Stone.

5. Erik Bedard and Jarrod Washburn remain options for the Mariners, writes Larry LaRue. The big question on both guys is how healthy they are, and how much they can contribute.

6. The Tim Lincecum's negotiations are a window into the reality that this is a new era in the Giants' organization, writes Andrew Baggarly.

7. The Rays claimed a pitcher on waivers, Marc Topkin writes.

8. The Dodgers' No. 5 starter could come from outside the organization, says Joe Torre.

9. Kevin Gregg's signing signals change, writes Morgan Campbell.

10. The Brewers claimed a pitcher on waivers, writes Tom Haudricourt.

11. The so-called Manny Ramirez provision has been banned, writes Bill Shaikin.

12. The Mets brought back a ticket plan. It'll be interesting to see what happens with their season tickets.


Other stuff

• Grady Sizemore says the pictures of him that wound up on the Internet have made for a tough situation, and he apologized, Tom Withers writes.

• At the right price, signing Johnny Damon would be a good idea for the Tigers, writes Jamie Samuelsen.

• Daniel Bard has found a comfortable place in the Boston bullpen, writes Daniel Barbarisi.

• One of the Mets' top prospects isn't sure he'll make it with the team.

• The naming rights to the Rays' ballpark in Port Charlotte were sold.

• The White Sox are working on an ad campaign aimed at Hispanics, writes Lewis Lazare.

• A Vanderbilt guy was at an awards banquet in Cleveland.

• Vanderbilt hung on to beat Mississippi State, Jeff Lockridge writes. Whew.

• Vanderbilt football signed a bunch of guys who were really good high school players. What does that mean? How good will they be? I have no idea.

And today will be better than yesterday.

Brady Done for Seasons, Career

And so ends the era of dominance in Beantown.

Before moving on to my larger point, ProFootballTalk.com is speculating that there is a chance New England's most beloved star (oh if only Big Papi were less Dominican) could miss all of next year and quite possibly all of 2010. Apparently post surgical knee infections are no joke. You can read about all the gory details here but the long and short of it is this - if the current treatment does not rid Brady's knee of infection, the surgery will have to be performed all over again. With new screws and a new dead guy's ACL. This new surgery could not take place until the infection has been completely cleaned out and the recovery from a second procedure is not nearly as routine as recovery from the first.

I always was a little suspicious about the short timetable on Brady's recovery. He tore both major knee ligaments in the most severe way possible. It takes most players longer than 12 months to recover from an injury like that yet we were to believe it would take the great Tom Brady a mere 8? Now you go throwing this crazy, extremely rare infection (occurs in less than 0.05% of patients) into the mix and we are clearly looking at early 2010 before the knee is 100%, best case scenario.

In just 9 months, the Red Sox and Patriots have choked away chances to cement their place in history. The Patriots lost to an inferior team in a game they took too lightly. The Sox failed to complete an unlikely comeback in a game that was more than winnable. While all this was going on, something was happening that may have gone unnoticed, at least in the City of Champions; everybody else got better.

Ok, that is not totally fair, plenty of teams got worse. However, as we sit almost halfway through an NFL season and as we look ahead to a new Red Sox season some six months away, both teams are staring down the barrel of mediocrity. The Patriots find themselves outside the top 10 for the first time since god knows how when. Above them are teams that couldn't beat their reserves but a few years ago. Teams like Buffalo, Tennessee, New York (Giants), Carolina, and yes, even the Arizona Cardinals.

While the Sox may have finished second in the AL this season, making the playoffs next season is no sure thing. Tampa Bay will be that much better with one more year of experience and plenty of new blood added to the mix. The rest of the AL East will be a dog fight with the Yankees new 300 million dollar payroll and the Blue Jays picking up where they left off 2008. The other divisions on the junior circuit will be no cake walk either. Anaheim is not getting any worse, neither is Texas, Chicago or Minnesota, and Detroit can't possibly suck as much as this past season.

Only time will tell whether these dire predictions come to fruition but facts are facts and I'm no stranger to twisting them to support whatever story I concoct. Whether Tom Terrific ever returns to form remains to be seen. I say no way. Whether the Sox find a way to replace the Manny, Ortiz 1-2 punch remains to be seen. I say forget about it. Whether any New England team can win a championship before I have grandchildren remains to be seen. I say don't count on it.

Craig Sager is the Tits

That there is Craig Sager. Prior to making his acquaintance after last night's debacle at Fenway, I always thought he was a little odd with those blazers. Maybe one loving of a little too much attention. Not necessarily a bad sideline guy but not my favorite either. I couldn't have been more wrong.

I ran into Mr. Sager at the Cask shortly after the last out and he was mobbed upon his arrival. He never seemed annoyed by this and greeted each fan as enthusiastically as the one before. Quite refreshing when you consider the percentage of primadonna's in the sports journalism business (looking at you Joe Buck).

I waited for the crowd to clear out around him before making my way over and was glad he was still friendly when I got there. A five minute conversation is what I ended up with and that was a solid 4 minutes longer than I imagined so I was quite thrilled. Here's a brief summary -

ME: Baseball different than working Basketball?
Sager: Different is the key word. The fans are different, the game is different, its a lot different

Me: Did that shit with Papelbon piss you off or were you cool with that?
Sager: ARE YOU KIDDING ME? That was awesome, one of the coolest things ever. I was just pissed because I had to come here that night soaked in booze.

Me: How about that thing with Garnett was that planned?
Sager: Hold on one second I need a beer.
Me: I got plenty in the pitcher right here for you, give me your cup...
Sager: Is it Bud Light? I only drink Bud Light.
Me: Is there any other beer worth drinking? (Suck on that More Taste League)
Me: So Garnett, you know that question was coming?
Sager: Oh God no. That is the best part of this thing, the unexpected that comes when talking to athletes. Its great.

And that was that. I said thanks for the time and walked off to continue my journey to blackout land. Another successful journey I should add...its really miraculous I remember this conversation at all.

The best sideline interview ever? I think so. (Start around the 1:15 mark)

Absolutely Refreshing

Misty May and Kerri Walsh wrapped up their second consecutive gold tonight and it was nothing short of amazing. Perhaps I'll have some more on this in the morning but the night cannot end without commenting on the post-match interview conducted by NBC's Heather Cox.

In an age when so many musicians, celebrities and athletes are quick to put down the US and more specifically, the US Government, it was refreshing to see Misty & Kerri go out of their way to thank the President. Instead of the mind numbing shout-outs to baby-momma's, illegitimate kids and entourage pals we are forced to uncomfortably sit through after touchdowns, home runs and Grammy's we actually got to witness a couple of world class, two time gold medal athletes paying tribute to what matters - Country.

Let's not confuse the issue either; this is not about support for a President, Government or political party. I have no idea which way Misty or Kerri voted in the past two elections, nor should I. Both were simply honored to play for the greatest country on earth and could not hide the pride they felt in bringing home the gold again. Good for them and hopefully it will rub off on some other high profile athletes we love to cheer for (looking at you, Lebron).

Oh Canada

What a place.

They say you learn something new everyday and today is no exception as I got me some education on our friends to the North. You see, Canada is not all that different than Russia or China. They give off this vibe like they are totally free (decriminalizing weed, graciously hosting draft dodgers and military AWOLs, etc..) but it's a bunch of bullshit. Don't believe me? Try moving up there and starting a radio station focused on 1990's American Hip Hop. Can't do it.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has these silly laws in place that require all radio stations to play 35% Canadian content. That guarantees that every third song you hear on the radio will be either by Broken Social Scene or Nickelback. It's really hit or miss up there and even Bryan Adams once complained that Can-con promoted mediocre content. Coming from Bryan Adams, that's saying a lot.

Naturally, these China-esque laws don't stop with radio waves. They extend right on through to television and the internet which is where things start to get interesting. From today's National Post:

An Edmonton-based adult film producer has won federal government approval for a new pornography channel with an unusual twist: half of the content is to be Canadian.

Shaun Donnelly's Real Productions received the OK from the CRTC on Wednesday to operate a digital cable channel -- called Northern Peaks -- that is billed as "Canada's first adult video channel programming significant Canadian content."

At first this might seem like a bad thing - you know with the whole government telling you what you can air and what you cannot thing - but for Donnelly, when life gives you lemons...

"I've always found there's a real turn-on to watching and knowing it's people you could run into in the grocery store,"

So there you have it. Although, I'm still a little confused as to the intent of the law. Toronto has an enormous Asian population, more than a couple probably nationalized. Which side of the 50% would some girl on girl Torontasion content fall on? This is something that will need to be cleared up, pronto.

Tek's Struggles Finally Over

Several media outlets (if you want to call them that) are reporting that Sox Captain Jason Varitek is FINALLLLY filing for divorce from his lovely wife Karen. He's only about 8 years late to this party but hey, better now than 10 years from now when he's managing some single A squad down in Kentucky.

I'm sure his wife is a very lovely lady but she was never really bringing it in the looks department and it would appear as though the post game party with Erin Andrews and Heidi Watney finally pushed him over the edge.

The only question I have is, will this positively affect the Sox stretch run and will it be enough to get JV over the .230 line? I would have to say yes. I can't imagine that waking up next to someone with more back hair than you has a positive affect on your daily output regardless of what your occupation is. Now, the term contract year takes on a whole new meaning for The Cap. He's playing for money AND pussy.

Sadly, I don't think he will have a problem getting either. Mediocre catching is at a premium these days and there are enough pink hats in this city to help him break Wilt Chamberlain's record if that's what he wants.

Freakish

The average NFL player consumes a 5000 calorie/day diet. This breaks out to about 18 calories per pound. Compared to the average American diet of 2500 calories/day, this makes plenty of sense. The NFL is arguably the most physically demanding of all the major sports and when you factor in the diet of the lineman, the only real suprise is that the gap is not larger.

How then, would you explain this -

Michael Phelps consumes upwards of 10,000 calories per day. Check this dude's daily diet:

Phelps lends a new spin to the phrase "Breakfast of Champions" by starting off his day by eating three fried-egg sandwiches loaded with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise.

He follows that up with two cups of coffee, a five-egg omelet, a bowl of grits, three slices of French toast topped with powdered sugar and three chocolate-chip pancakes.

At lunch, Phelps gobbles up a pound of enriched pasta and two large ham and cheese sandwiches slathered with mayo on white bread - capping off the meal by chugging about 1,000 calories worth of energy drinks.

For dinner, Phelps really loads up on the carbs - what he needs to give him plenty of energy for his five-hours-a-day, six-days-a-week regimen - with a pound of pasta and an entire pizza. He washes all that down with another 1,000 calories worth of energy drinks.

Can you even begin to imagine what an average shit for this guy looks like? He eats twice as much as Ty Warren yet he is as cut up as Floyd Mayweather. I don't get it.