Odds and Sods

Any Boston Team: Since there has been a New England, it has been universally disliked.  People have an active hatred for the education, the conceit and the image of the snobbish Boston Brahmin.  There has been an upsurge of disquietude with Boston teams since they’ve been successful.  The Red Sox have a large payroll.  The Patriots have Bill Belichick and Spygate.  But the hatred of Boston teams is time and success specific, not a general trait.

New York Yankees: This one requires no thought.  Every casual fan not of Yankee ilk hates the Yankees.  True baseball fans hate them even more passionately.

Los Angeles Lakers: People do despise the Lakers.  They are successful.  They are from Los Angeles.  Kobe Bryant eludes likability for numerous reasons.  But it is a passive rather than an active hatred.  When thrust into their face, people root against them.  But no one actively checks scores and cheers when the Lakers lose.

Ohio State Unviersity: Ohio State does not belong on this list, and this is coming from a Michigan fan.  They aren’t the most hated school regionally, Notre Dame.  Michigan are more maligned in the Big Ten (see the 1973 Big Ten Title Decision).  Notre Dame football and Duke basketball are far more universally disliked.

Chelsea: Chelsea is an incongruous choice because they are English-based.  English  fans dislike the arrogance, the money, the knuckle dragging football and the baby Bentley sense of entitlement.  But, I am not sure the hatred is really of the same magnitude as in American sports.  Chelsea doesn’t have a major rival.  The other successful clubs Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal also have their detractors.  There are also clubs like Newcastle and Leeds that are often maligned.  It just seems out of place.

Omissions: I mentioned two before, Duke Basketball and Notre Dame football.  I would throw the Dallas Cowboys in there as well.  My general critique is that there should be a tradition of hatred and it should transcend rivalry.  Only the Yankees, the Cowboys, Duke and Notre Dame really fulfill that.

Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka has had an exceedingly strange statistical season so far, as seen last night in his two hit, one earned run, one strikeout, eight walk five-inning victory.

By many measures, he has been dominant. His record is 5-0 (with a two-hit seven inning shutout performance counted as a no-decision). His ERA is spectacular (2.43) and he has held opponents to just 22 hits in 40.2 innings pitched (.158 BAA). His pitching has been all but unhittable.

At the same time, however, he has lacked consistent control. He has more walks allowed than hits (27-22). His strikeout-walk ratio 33-27 is nearly 1-1, when his career numbers in Japan and his first season were closer to 3-1. He has thrown so many pitches that he has pitched seven innings once. He also has managed just 11 strikeouts in his past four starts (22 1/3 innings).

Matsuzaka has been effective, but, at the same time, quite worrisome, with his success masking serious control issues. Over the long season, they will need him to hit seven innings consistently to save the bullpen, something that will require a more direct approach.

The problem may be mechanical, but it seems more likely to be one of confidence. Control issues were a problem for Matsuzaka during his first two seasons in Japan. He initially posted strikeout-walk ratios around 7-5 in his first two seasons, before escalating to the nearly 10-1 ratio in 2006, his last season–a feat Sox fans will hope he can replicate.

With his fastball and array of breaking pitches, Dice-K has always been difficult to hit. But to be dominant, he needs to regain control and confidence.

The Top Five

1. Boston Red Sox (21-13): The Red Sox pitching has carried them in spite of their patchy production with the bats. The Sox have allowed three runs or fewer in eight of the last nine.

2. Arizona Diamondbacks (21-10): Arizona still has room to grow offensively. Young, Stephen Drew and Reynolds are putting up high on base percentages for their batting averages. If those guys push into the .270 range rather than the .240 range, they will be really lethal.

3. Los Angeles Angels (21-13): A soft schedule should help Anderson, Matthews and Guerrero get back on track. The rotation could falter if Saunders and Santana slide even slightly.

4. St. Louis Cardinals (20-12): They have played 2/3 games at home so far this season which may account for their unexpected run of form.

5. Oakland Athletics (19-14): They still need Rich Harden healthy to do some damage and win the division.

The Bottom Five

26. San Diego Padres (12-20): The pitching has been decent. The offense has been anemic, with Adrian Gonzalez the notable exception. As much as it pains my OPS soul, they may need to run in that ballpark to shake things up, only six steals in 32 games.

27. Texas Rangers (13-19): They have the same pitching weakness every year, and this time they lack the lineup to mask it.

28. Cincinnati Reds (13-20): They should start shedding excess baggage soon.

29. Colorado Rockies (12-19): Manny Corpas already has four blown saves. Four of the starters have above a 5.25 ERA.

30. Pittsburgh Pirates (12-19) Stink! Stank! Stunk!

Attendance was light in this week’s power poll forum, but we were able to reach a quorum.

The Top Five

1. Arizona Diamondbacks (18-7) Brandon Webb is already 6-0 and it’s not even May yet.

2. Chicago Cubs (16-9) All seven players with more than 70 at bats have higher than a .382 OBP.

3. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (16-10) Who is Casey Kotchman all of a sudden?

4. Oakland Athletics (16-10) Michael Lewis is already writing his next book about how Billy Beane is smarter than you.

5. Boston Red Sox (15-12) Five losses in a row and still squeaking in.

The Bottom Five

26. Cincinatti Reds (11-15) Good thing they are in the hands of an astute baseball mind like Dusty Baker at the helm.

27. Colorado Rockies (10-15) Duh Duh Duh Duh DuhDuhDuhDuh Tu Low! (.470 OPS)

28. Pittsburgh Pirates (10-15) How is that Matt Morris trade working out?

29. Kansas City Royals (11-14) It’s in DeJesus’ hands.

30. Washington Nationals (9-17) Five regulars with a sub-.700 OPS

Roger Clemens was on the golden road to unlimited devotion a year ago, but he will now be singing the Mexicali Blues after a ten-year affair with country singer Mindy McCready–begun when she was just fifteen–became public.

The New York Daily News, citing an anonymous source, claims that Clemens carried on a clandestine relationship with the country starlet that spanned through stints in Boston, Toronto, New York and Houston.

Clemens reportedly became infatuated with the singer–when he was 28 and married with two children–when she performed at a Fort Myers bar, throwing a shirt on stage with the autographs of himself and some of his teammates.  The two were introduced and it was “love at first sight,” according to the source.

Roger neglected to inform McCredy of his marriage, a fact she discovered after reading his bio in a game program at Fenway Park.

Clemens allegedly took McCready on party-fueled jaunts to Las Vegas and New York.  He also allegedly sent her Fed-Ex packages filled with cash to cope with her legal woes.  Former trainer Brian McNamee confirmed that he saw the two together “on many occasions” including his apartment at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

McCready also allegedly sat near the Yankees dugout during Roger’s game and jokingly donned a catcher’s mask.

In a statement as believable as previous ones, Clemens confirms that McCready is a family friend, but denies that any “inappropriate” activities occurred.

The source seems likely to have some relationship to Brian McNamee, the target of Clemens’ defamation suit regarding allegations made in the Mitchell Report.  It is unclear whether this information can be useful in a legal defense, but it is clear that the parties will not be adhering to Marquess of Queensbury rules.

Caught in a search for one more Saturday night, Clemens will hope to convince his wife to turn on her lovelight and will likely get told to keep on truckin.