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By Jordan Lauterbach  July 28, 2009, at 11:43 pm  From Yahoo! via the AP:
Phil Mickelson will return to the PGA Tour at the Bridgestone Invitational next week, his first tournament since he tied for second at the U.S. Open.
Mickelson has been away for nearly two months because his wife, Amy, has breast cancer. She had surgery July 1. At about that time, Mickelson learned his mother has breast cancer and is being treated.
Mickelson’s decision was announced Tuesday by tournament organizers and suggests he also will play the following week in the PGA Championship at Hazeltine. Bridgestone is the third of the four World Golf Championship events of 2009.
The article goes on to say that Tiger Woods is expected to commit to the Bridgestone later this week.
I have to say, I’m pleasantly surprised by the Mickelson news. If for nothing else but precautionary reasons, I did not think we would see Phil for the remainder of the season. Hopefully this means that his wife and mother are doing well in their battles with cancer. Having had first hand experience with relatives battling this disease, I understand the extreme mental and physical tole it can take on everyone involved.
The Phil story doesn’t end with sentimental value either. The last time we saw Mickelson, he was in heavy contention for a major championship at Bethpage Black. So on top of seeing Phil play at all,its perfectly feasible to expect him to play well. Maybe it won’t come at the Bridgestone, but don’t be surprised to see him in serious contention at the PGA. Remember, his almost-perfect showing at the U.S Open came after a very average weekend at the St Judes….
…The other interesting nugget from today involves Tiger. He was a bit of a surprise entry in this weeks Buick Open field. If he indeed commits to the Bridgestone, he will be playing three consecutive weeks. It would also be the first time this season that Tiger will be playing the weekend before a major championship. I’d imagine that this stems from the fact that Tiger has been a non-factor by 3pm on any of the last three major Sundays. In the case of the missed cut at the British, he was not only a non-factor, but a non-player as well. He’s looking to turn his luck around by not taking that “prep-week” before a major.
This says to me that Tiger isn’t taking the missed cut at the British lightly. Nor should he. Because of the magic carpet ride that Tom Watson took us on, Tiger’s British disaster was swept under the rug. But it was no less troubling.
Prior to the British, I wrote a number of pieces defending Tiger Woods’ performances in Majors. No matter how hard you look, their was no defense for the way Tiger played at Turnberry. He was dreadful. He looked so frustrated that I believe his mechanics suffered as such. It’s hard to criticize the mechanics of the worlds greatest, but their is no ignoring the stark difference between his first 31 holes and his last five. For the first time in ages, it looked like something might have been legitimately wrong with Tiger Woods. That had to concern Tiger. I just don’t buy the theory that his performance can be ignored because of who he is. It was a major disappointment…pardon the pun.
Maybe he saw the mechanical flaw. Maybe that’s why he plans on turning the PGA preparation dial to 11 and gunning it. He did consult the guidance of his swing coach, Hank Haney, last week.
Any other player, you might be worried about this kind of all-out approach. Not Tiger. He’s used to playing with this kind of frequency. Until his leg injury sidelined his last year, Tiger had played three weeks in a row in every season of his career. In his 2007 triple stretch, he came out a winner twice and finished second once.
He’s obviously angry about the British. He’ll begin his revenge mission at 12:54 on Thursday.
And if there’s one thing to be weary of, its an angry Tiger.
It should be a fantastic three weeks of golf…..
By Jason Comack July 28, 2009, at 3:00 pm It seems to have become popular to rip A’s GM Billy Beane. I can see why he’s an easy target. He’s more recognizable than 99% of GM’s, he’s had a book written about him (Moneyball) and soon it will be a motion picture. Stats in baseball, more so than other sports, seem to be polarizing. There seems to be very little in between either you are a SABERmatrcian or you are a fan of outdated illogical baseball (less than subtle jab.) But the argument against Beane and Moneyball (as highlighted by Howard Bryant on the front page of ESPN) seems to be missing a few key things.
Moneyballs subtitle was “the art of winning at unfair game.” What Billy Beane set out to do was exploit baseball by finding players that were undervalued by using statistics like on base percentage and slugging percentage. Remember 10 years ago talking about a pitchers BABIP would have made no sense. It’s why Scott Hatteberg and Chad Bradford were such valuable pieces of the A’s machine. They were effective, cheap and no one else wanted them. However part of Beanes problem was how influential he was. Moneyball, and Bill James work in general, launched a statistical revolution in baseball. Teams like the Padres, Red Sox, Indians, Yankees, Blue Jays, Rays, Giants all rely heavily on statistical analysis now. Beane let the secrets out of the cookie jar and it hurt him in the long run. Now Beane can’t exploit the draft like he use to because everyone is doing the same thing. Hell, even the big boys like the Yankees and Red Sox understand the value of draft picks. When teams all started to value these diamond in the rough players they in a sense became overalued. Smart teams, like the Rays, turned their attention to pitching, defense and base-running. The upstart 2008 Rays may have been the most athletic baseball team ever and it wasn’t by accident.
Now recently I wrote about Bronson Arroyo when the Yankees were apparently targeting him (although that turned out to be false.) I used two statsical mesasures, xFIP and Outside Contact% to show that Arroyo might not be as bad as most think. Mike Tramamasomethingorother of WCWP Sports took me to task in my evaluation of Arroyo.
Now I don’t like Arroyo at all, and his bloated ERA will atest to him not being very good. However, if you want to say his playing in Cincinnati is hurtful thanks to their homer friendly ballpark is a viable argument…to a point. Yet Jason begins using a stat called xFIP- or fielding independent pitching with a normalized home run rate. Hold on….WHAT?!?!
Ah, look it’s the proverbial pot calling the kettle black. “Now I don’t like Arroyo at all, and his bloated ERA will attest to him not being very good.” Wait…was that a statistic you used there Mike? Why should ERA be the measure by which you evaluate players.
ERA is a silly stat for a few reasons. 1) it doesn’t take park or league factor into effect. Pitching at Yankee Stadium is different than pitching at PETCO Park. 2) it doesn’t factor in defense. Is it a pitchers fault if Jason Giambi is playing first base as opposed to Mark Texieria? Why should the pitcher be penalized for things he can’t control? You are judging Arroyo by statistics just like I am except you’re only getting part of the picture.
Another perfect example is Ben Zobrist. Last time I checked 28 year old role players don’t become Albert Pujols overnight but if you judge Zobrist on, what I’ll call Mike T Surface Stats, his .301 average, 18 homers, 12 steals look really good. But, looking closer his .335 BABIP (or batting average on balls in play) is .35 points above league average. And an astonishing 22% of Zobrist’s fly balls are home runs (leauge average is about 12%) I’m sure these stats will back up any scouting report on Zobrist. He’s having a fluke season. And I can only hope that last paragraph made Mike’s head explode like the dude in Scanners.
It’s people like Mike Tramawhatever that perpetuate the myth that stats like Wins and RBI’s matter at all. While you can say “that xFIP is useless” I’ll say don’t be afraid of things you don’t understand. And while Beane has won “less than 1 world title” since 2000 so have the Yankees and Mets but they’ve spent a whole lot more money failing.
By Anthony De Franco July 28, 2009, at 1:48 pm Somehow, The Seattle Mariners have managed to keep their heads above water for a while now and maintained that they were contenders in the AL West. Well, They weren’t and aren’t. Now, according to Rotoworld, They are going into Fire Sale mode to prepare for next season.
A source tells FOXSports.com that the Mariners are shifting into “sell mode,” with Jarrod Washburn and potentially Mark Lowe, Sean White and Brandon Morrow available.
“They’re about ready to do some things,” an official of one contender said. With the Mariners now seven and a half games out of a playoff spot, trading Washburn would serve them well, but there is little incentive to giving up on former first-round pick Morrow, which the article acknowledges.
I have no idea why they are shopping Morrow. He’s a former first round pick with a ton of upside. His season ERA over five is a bit misleading due to a 15% home run to fly ball ratio. One of every six fly balls that is hit off him is going out of the park. That’s unlucky.
As for the rest of those guys, they are pieces that better teams might be interested in and should net some prospects. This team can desperately use some bats, and with this year’s first rounder Dustin Ackley likely on the fast track to the majors, they could be competitive sooner than later with some shrewd moves.
By Max Caster July 28, 2009, at 1:16 am Omar Minaya’s press conference was like everything the New York Mets do: full of surprises. This event included a turn from a dark alley into a darker chasm. From trying to explain the firing of “Shirtless” Tony Bernazard to accusing Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News of taking down Bernazard in hopes of getting his job, Minaya took the spotlight. This is just the latest instance where off-field occurrences have taken precedence in the media over the on-field play of the Mets ball club.
Oh, you didn’t remember? The New York Mets is a sports franchise, not a house of horrors as it often comes off as. And while I would normally accept the attention the organization is getting, this time, I find it extremely unfortunate. The New York Mets have a three-game winning streak. This is the first time they’ve won 3 in a row since late May, and no one cares.
During the melee that developed around the threesome of Minaya, Bernazard and Rubin, the Mets have put together their own trio of impressive victories over two of the National League’s hottest teams.
Rounding out the weekend, New York handled the Astros in H-Town, outscoring them 18-6 in the final two games of their series. Houston had a 4-game winning streak rolling into Saturday. The Mets saw themselves produce runs early and have two promising outings from their starters.
On Saturday, Jon Niese made his first big league start since May 13th. The 22-year old went 7 strong innings, giving up just 1 run on 4 hits. The next day, Livan Hernandez threw 7 innings, striking out 7 in the process. After a quick dip in his performance, it now looks like Hernandez is on the up-and-up.
That brings us to tonight’s game. The Colorado Rockies, winners of 7 of their last 10, stroll into Citi Field to beat up on the Mets. Not so fast…
New York got another typical start from Oliver Perez. 5 innings pitched, 3 earned runs on 5 hits and 4 walks sounds about right. But much like the phalanx-like displays the Yankees put on, the rest of the team was there to pick him up.
The Amazin’s battled back into the game in the 6th inning. Down 3-1 in the midst of another great start by Ubaldo Jimenez, Daniel Murphy hit an RBI single to bring in Luis Castillo, who hustled on an infield single to lead off the inning. Then Cory Sullivan got a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 3-3.
Then in the 8th came the final death-nail, when Fernando Tatis launched a pinch-hit grand slam to centerfield.
During this run, Brian Stokes and Pedro Feliciano threw a combined 3 innings of scoreless ball to bridge to Francisco Rodriguez. Game over.
Not only does this team seem to be coming alive at the right time, but it doesn’t appear to be the usual Mets mirage. The group has an edge – a swagger to it. Watching SNY has gone from a chore to a spectacle.
The collective, mostly comprised of young up-and-comers, career minor leaguers and journeymen, is coming together. The team is rapidly beginning to transform itself from a laughing stock to a wild card contender right as the trade deadline approaches.
I spoke with the esteemed Jordan Lauterbach on the air today. He thinks the Mets will most definitely be buyers if they walk away from this series with Colorado looking strong. I believe they’ve been dead to rights for a long time, but this recent surge cannot go unnoticed.
Either way, the person rooting the hardest for a great showing this week is Omar Minaya. That’ll take some attention off him and his spats with newspaper writers. It would also prevent him from looking like an idiot. Remember, he said last week when New York was struggling that the team would be buyers at the deadline. That seemingly outlandish statement may be justified come Friday.
Oh no… Are we on Omar again?
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