Cinco
While we wait for Suzyn Waldman to reveal that she, too, had an illicit, repulsive affair with Roger Clemens, how about we crank out a few Random Lists of Five . . .
Five best ERA+ seasons in baseball history:
1. Tim Keefe, 1880, 294 ERA+. I have no freakin' idea who Tim Keefe is, but I assume he probably played with Mike Timlin at some point.
2. Pedro Martinez, 2000, 291 ERA+. Pedro also has the ninth-, 18th-, 27th-, and 32d-best seasons. Sandy Koufax's best season, 1966, ranks 56th all-time in ERA+. There's something to be said for dominating during the steroid era.
3. Dutch Leonard, 1914, 279 ERA+
4. Greg Maddux, 1994, 271 ERA+
5. Greg Maddux, 1995, 262 ERA+
Five early surprises this baseball season:
1. Philip Hughes's injury/incompetence. I thought this kid would emerge as the No. 2 starter the Yankees need. Instead, he's giving Yankees fans Sam Militello flashbacks.
2. That Miguel Tejada can still play. He looked cooked last year, and that he skipped age 32 entirely didn't bode well for a comeback.
3. That the Arizona Diamondbacks are this good. Webb, Haren, Owings, Johnson, Scherzer. That could be a championship rotation.
4. Papi's struggles. But he's coming around. (Crossing fingers.)
5. Nate McLouth. Um . . . who?
Five 1985 Tidewater Tides, who were notorious for trashing the hotel next to my family's summer house every damn time they visited Old Orchard Beach, Me.:
1. Kevin Mitchell. He terrified me.
2. Billy Beane. Mitchell probably terrified him, too.
3. Lenny Dykstra. Too dumb to be terrified.
4. Randy Myers. Too busy carving up the latest woodchuck he trapped to be terrified.
5. Calvin Schiraldi. You could see the terror in his eyes.
. . . and five more:
1. LaSchelle Tarver. Got a cameo with the Sox in '86, and came to Jim Rice's aid armed with a Louisville Slugger during an incident at Yankee Stadium that season.
2. John Gibbons. Soon to be the Toronto Blue Jays' former manager.
3. Rick Lancellotti. Minor league slugger from the mean streets of Concord, N.H.
4. Wes Gardner. Straightest fastball ever, though John Wasdin might dispute that.
5. Rodney "Buckethead" Craig, TATB Ombudsman.
Five songs my ears are always happy to hear:
1. "California Stars," Billy Bragg and Wilco. I think it's been on the last seven or eight CDs I've burned.
2. "You Could Be Mine," Guns 'N' Roses.
3. "Please Forgive Me," David Gray. "White Ladder" is probably my favorite album of all time, for sentimental reasons mostly.
4. "Friends in Low Places," Garth Brooks. Reminds me of my favorite bar in college, $1.50 pitchers of Schaefer on Thursday nights . . . and some Friday mornings full of regret.
5. "No Woman, No Cry," Bob Marley. His charisma was hypnotizing.
Five "True Yankees" of the new millennium:
1. Kevin Brown
2. Javier Vazquez
3. Kyle Farnsworth
4. Karim Garcia
5. Randy Johnson
Five players selected immediately after Chicago high schooler Kevin Garnett in the 1995 NBA draft:
1. Bryant "Big Country" Reeves, C, Vancouver. He's gotta weigh four bills these days.
2. Damon Stoudamire, PG, Toronto. One thing Isiah Thomas got right.
3. Shawn Respert, SG, Portland. He's long since out of the league, but his unsung former Michigan State backcourt partner, Eric Snow, has carved out a decent career.
4. Ed O'Bannon, F, New Jersey. Didn't pan out due to bad knees and mess of a shot.
5. Kurt Thomas, F/C Miami. A pro's pro.
Five favorite venues I've seen a sporting event:
1. Fenway. Of course.
2. Wrigley Field. For a day, it was fun to part of Lee Elia's 15 percent.
3. The old Garden.
4. Montreal Forum. The only time I went was for Patrick Roy's infamous final game. What a scene.
5. Alfond Arena, Orono, Me. The place where I realized how much fun hockey could be live.
Five players in the starting lineup during Tim Wakefield's Red Sox debut, May 27, 1995:
1. Mike MacFarlane. At least he wasn't Dave Valle.
2. Troy O'Leary. Leading off, no less.
3. Luis Alicea.
4. Reggie Jefferson.
5. Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes. Found his niche in Japan.
Five players most similar to Derek Jeter, according to baseballreference.com:
1. Barry Larkin. The perfect comparison, and in my mind a Hall of Famer.
2. Alan Trammell. Should be in Cooperstown. Didn't get close, and neither did Whitaker.
3. Ray Durham. Doesn't seem to fit, does he?
4. Ryne Sandberg. But how was his fist pump?
5. Arky Vaughn. No relation to Mo.
Five favorite Topps baseball card sets:
1. 1987. Yup, with the weird wood paneling. And thanks to mass overproduction, they're about as valuable as my socks. You can probably still get packs of them at Grand City.
2. 1978. Many of my first memories as a baseball fan relate to these cards.
3. 1956. Someday, I'll get that sweet Clemente I always wanted. And a Jackie Robinson, too.
4. 1975. Color combinations only a 5-year-old could love.
5. 1985. Because that Oddibe McDowell Olympic card was going to pay for my college education, I just knew it.
Five Red Sox I really hated, and no, "hate" is not too strong a word, and yes, they all played for the reprehensible 2001 team:
1. Mike Lansing. No redeeming qualities whatsoever.
2. Carl Everett. Not the good kind of crazy.
3. Dante Bichette. Not a slugger. A slug.
4. Shea Hillenbrand. Stupid is as stupid does.
5. Ugueth Urbina. You know it's a rotten team when the guy who slashed people with machetes and tried to light them on fire might not be the most despicable person on the roster.
Five players drafted ahead of Indiana State junior-eligible forward Larry Bird in the 1978 NBA draft:
1. Mychal Thompson, F/C, Portland. Probably the only University of Minnesota player who talked more than McHale.
2. Phil Ford, G, Kansas City. Those Ford-Birdsong-Wedman KC teams were great fun, but an eye injury and booze abbreviated Ford's career.
3. Rick Robey, C, Indiana. Dealt to Phoenix for DJ. That worked out okay.
4. Micheal Ray Richardson, G, NY Knicks. He had Magic's skill set, but snorted it all away.
5. Purvis Short, F, Golden State.
Five Celtics I'm $*%&# at right now:
1. Doc Rivers. At this point, the clipboard is merely a prop.
2. Kevin Garnett. Maybe the big-game reputation isn't so unjust after all.
3. Paul Pierce. This is starting to feel a lot like the infamous Indiana series.
4. Rajon Rondo. Any point guard worth his crossover must get a better shot with 7.4 seconds remaining to play and the game up for grabs.
5. Sam Cassell. Pass. Please. Just once. Cripes.
Relax, I'm sure the Celtics will take game 7. But the whole series does make me think they're not a lock for the finals.
your assessment of the 2001 sox is right on. What a horrible year that was.
Reminiscing at that team's roster, I recall hoping that Bryce Florie would come back after that come-backer cleaned his clock the year before.
BTW I think Koufax pitched in 1966, but I might have the wrong Koufax....
Chad -- thanks for the walk down memory lane with this one. I was bracing myself for fear that I'd read the name of my favorite all-time favorite player on the list of hated 2001 players -- Dauber. Thanks for not including him.
Oh, and nothing will ever beat the walk of shame, the Friday morning trek to retrieve cars from Geddy's...
Chad, having been a huge Shawn Respert fan in college, I have to correct you. He played with Eric Snow in the backcourt, not Charlie Bell. Respert also had stomach cancer.
(Sorry if this was posted twice)
-Wow, killer stat on Pedro's 2000 season.
-'You Could Be Mine', nice choice. Serious guitar-shredding by the Slashmeister.
Server error seems to be fixed . . . as are a few of my errors.
Eric Snow. Dammit, I always mixed up those two guys, I think because they both ended up having a better pro career than their more heralded college backcourt partner (Respert and Cleaves.)
Yea I'm confident about the Celtics taking game 7. But it shouldn't haven't even gone this far. Hopefully the Celtics can get some sense talked into them. And is it just me or are layups for the Celtics just to hard?
Also I'm predicting a Boston over Arizona World Series 2008
I wish there was more of a role for Eddie House. He couldn't be worse than Cassell. I'm glad Ryan called him out today. His gunning is unacceptable.
Don't really know why I feel compelled to say this, but thank you for including the Alfond on your list of favorite venues. I grew up about 20 min. from there, and I remember the days when they had to cover the visitors entrance to the ice with tarps so the fans couldn't throw stuff at the opposing players. Great old barn.
Phil Hughes might still turn out to be a great pitcher -- and Kennedy might turn out to be a very good one -- but early-career struggles are not unusual for young pitchers. The problem is, Cashman didn't give himself a good Plan B. He went into the season with a rapidly-aging lineup whose window of opportunity won't stay open forever, and a rotation heavily dependent on young arms. That's what you call a mismatch.
It's hard to believe that, with a 200+ million-dollar payroll, the Yanks couldn't have bought themselves some cheap rotation insurance. Hell, Kyle Snyder could probably go .500 with that offense behind him. But the best the Yankees can do is bring up their second-tier prospects and hope like mad that they find another Aaron Small who can fool the league for a half-season.
Another way in which this roster is poorly constructed: If you're trying to establish young pitchers, the best way to help them is to put a good defense behind them. The Yanks are substandard at almost every position. Outfield: aside from Melky, they've got a bunch of old guys with no range. Infield: A-Rod is fine, Cano is okay, Jeter's range is below average, and Giambi is a pylon. A good defense wouldn't have kept Hughes' rib from cracking, but it would have significantly enhanced the young pitchers' chances of succeeding.
Especially outfield defense. Just about any time a team puts together a "surprise" pitching staff, they'll have some speedy flycatchers on the lawn. The Tampa Bay (You Can Call Me) Rays are a great example.
Great post Chad. Regarding Lenny Dykstra, did you see HBO's Real Sports segment on Dykstra? You wouldn't have called him stupid if you did. Fascinating story of how he has become one of the the great stock pickers in the entire country. Good Stuff. Check it out if it is still available On Demand.
Man that 2001 team still makes my blood boil. Heck, it took me like a month into the 2002 season to get back into it since I was so disgusted with the 2001 team. Especially Carl Everett. If I recall correctly, didn't Manny buy him a cake for his birthday once and got his age wrong and Carl got all angry because he was the butt of everyone's jokes and threw it out? I'm just making sure I have my facts straight. Honestly, that may be the meanest thing for anybody to do.
1987 was a great year for topps. also like 1981 or 82 they had autographs printed on front. made me think they were more valuable than they were. like 1990 or 91 they had this weird post modern multi colored paint speckeled border.
SUPRISED Trammel and Whitaker HAVE NOT GOT MORE LOVE FROM THE baseball writers .classy players and the premier double play combo of the era especially Trammel. Celts in seven WOW. i ATTENDED many events in THE OLD GARDEN from the circus ,ice capades, many concerts ( VAN HALEN ---Meanstreets tour being the first of many) and many but not enough celtic aand Bruins game , i remember the Russians beat us up on a tour i believe in 1975 as well as Jim CRAIGS debut as a Bruin goaltender. He made an incredible save against sniper Steve Shutt(?) in the Bruins win Love the lists' formatt
Honestly, Fenway and the old Garden are AWFUL places to see a game. The seats in Fenway are too small (I am 175 lbs), there are poles in the way, and if you happen to be down the RF line, you'll need to set up 10 visits with a chiropractor to adjust the vertabrae in your neck.
At Fenway 2 years ago, I sat between home and first int he grandstand vs. the Mets. Schilling vs. Glavine. That was the game Coco Crisp made the terrific diving catch late in the game. Naturally, I didn't even see the catch because where Coco dove, was a pole in my way. I really HATE Fenway Park, America's Most Uncomfortable Ballpark.
Then again, as a long time Pats season ticket holder, I didn't mind watching games in the old Foxboro Stadium. Between my dad's season tickets when I was a kid and mine, I went to over a hundred games there. I actually liked the place. It was a helluva lot cheaper than the current stadium, where the moment you set foot on the property, the Krafts practically have security guards turn you upside down by the ankles and shake every nickel out of your pockets. Unlike GIllette, the crowd cheering didin't dissipate out of the old Foxboro Stadium. It was loud in there.
Great piece on Dykstra in the New Yorker a few months ago:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/03/24/080324fa_fact_mcgrath
Not sure that it does much to disprove the perception that he's a jackass, though.
Good heavens, that 2001 team was awful. What a friggin' nightmare of a season. Never mind that the nation was traumatized with a month to go -- Sox fans could find no solace in a bunch of whining underachieving quazillionaires arguing about playing time (Mike Lansing was perhaps the worst culprit). Let's not forget, however, how the ownership & front office was even worse. Knowing it was their last season in power, Dan Duquette made one bizarre move after another, capped by the (long-overdue, IMO) firing of Jimy Williams, only to replace him with the only person in Red Sox history who was a worse manager. Hard to believe that class guys like Wakefield, Nixon, Varitek and Daubach survived all that. That Henry & Co were able to turn that mess around and win a World Series within three years is nothing short of a miracle on the scale of the 1980 Olympic Hockey team. All I can say is, God bless the 2001 Patriots!
Oh another recollection....I hated that 2001 team so much I was pulling for Moose to through that perfect game. They deserved the humiliation more than ever. Talk about rock bottom.Who breaks it up? Jurassic Carl, of course.
Yeech
Only at Geddy's on Thursday nights could you go out with $10 in your pocket, drink beer directly from the pitcher for a couple hours, and then still stumble home with money in your pocket! Good times, Good times!
For the 175lb Fenway complainer, it really is not that bad. I am 6'2" 250 and manage just fine when I am at the games in the bleachers. If you can't fit in at 175 then you are just gonna complain about it no matter what.
As for Mike Lansing, the only fond memory I have of him was his making a diving catch in shallow center to protect a no-hitter for Nomo after 8.1 innings. My first no-no witnessed as a Red Sox fan so it was something special... beyond that catch, the man was useless.
Those mean streets made me hard, bro. HARD.
You're about as hard as that ice cream Leah had at the game the other night.
Lansing totally hot-dogged it on that catch in the Nomo game.
I always spend all my money at Geddy's - all $7 I had, usually. Those were some good days.
This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.
browse this blog
by categoryTHE SCOOP
THE BEST OF TATB
SUMMER READING
MORE WRITING FROM CHAD
links
THE FUNDAMENTALS
ROLE PLAYERS
CHICKS DIG BLOGS
THE OMBUDSMAN
INside Boston.com