My Two Cents on the World Cup

U.S. sports media, you're kind of pissing me off. I will explain, but first let's get a couple things straight. Soccer is not the Americans thing. Can we just admit that it will never be anywhere near as popular here as it is in the rest of the world? Can we agree that we have inferior talent on the field (or pitch if you prefer. Why the hell to they call it a pitch anyway? My guess is the origins of the great divide start there somewhere.) and that the Libertarians have a better chance of fielding a legit presidential nominee than the Americans have at winning the World Cup? Agreed. Good. It's cultural and that's okay.

My issue with the sports media is that it has been using every available chance it gets to bitch about soccer and the World Cup. All the talk centers around how boring it is and that nobody cares and no one ever will. You think it's boring? Baseball is freakin' boring. That is unless you understand the nuances of the game. And there in lies my beef.

Instead of the ESPN etc. talking heads defecating at the mouth like frat boy ignoramuses, they could have shown us some programing that could teach the casual observers the finer points of the game. Not everyone needs to be converted into a rabid football hooligan, but I think some education, history and X's and O's would have been nice. But then again, that might not have worked for the nacho scarfing masses.

Soccer is a game not easily encapsulated in a box score. You actually have to *gasp* watch the entire game to fully understand what went on. There's no passer rating, VORP or ERA+ to just tell you who the best players are. The action on the field tells you. Spain won each match on the way to the championship 1-0. Yet their play was so dominant the outcome of each contest was hardly in doubt. Soccer requires a devotion and attention to detail from the fan that the American ADD culture has no patience for. I am no Soccer fanatic or expert but I've watched enough to know that I love the World Cup. It's a great event and a great game.

Sox Hurtin' at the Break

I was optimistic a week or so ago when the Sox pulled within two games of the Yanks and were a game ahead of the Rays. It was the perfect time for the Sox to assert themselves especially with three games against said Rays right before the All-Star break. Well, all that mojo is gone. They lost three in a row to the Rays and four in a row overall. In addition the roster looks like a MASH unit. I don't even recognize half of these fill-in guys. Now the Sox lie mired 4.5 games out of first behind both the Yanks and Rays.

4.5 games out is certainly not insurmountable, not in the least at this point. The Sox will get their cracks at both division rivals down the stretch with 17 games against them combined. It's important not to panic. Fortunately, other than Pedroia's broken foot the injuries are not that serious. My questions for the second half include: Josh Beckett, are you going to be a factor at all this year? What moves are the Sox going to make to make their playoff push? Can Lester and Buchholz keep up their Cy Young level pitching? Will the Sox win 95+ games and miss the playoffs?

But first... can we please just sweep the Jays on the way to the break?!

Cano Joining the Home Run Derby

It looks like Robinson Cano is going to be the first Yankee to participate in the All-Star Game Home Run Derby. Cano is the first Yankee in the Derby since Jason Giambi failed to defend his crown in 2003.

The Home run Derby is pretty pointless and most of the time it disappoints, but Cano in the derby will be pretty entertaining. The guy has a great swing and the clips the YES Network shows of his batting practice bombs are pretty impressive.

I actually hope that this starts a trend and perhaps MLB will stop asking just sluggers to participate. They should try thinking outside the box for once. I think a player like Ichiro would be great to watch in the Derby as well since he is also known for hitting bombs in batting practice whenever he feels like it.

Sure he might so no in order to protect his swing, but what's the harm in asking?

Update: Oh and by the way, who else saw that sick goal by Giovanni Van Bronckhorst for the Dutch against Uruguay in the World Cup semis? Are you kidding me?!?! That was just plain ridiculous. I can't even do that in FIFA '10.

Here's hoping Germany vs. Spain is just as exciting.

The Lack of Evolution from Phil Hughes

As I watch the Yankees and Phil Hughes take on the Mariners in Yankee Stadium I can't ignore the one thought that continually screams through my head with Hughes on the mound: THROW A DAMN CURVEBALL!!!

I have intently watched Hughes since his arrival in the big leagues and when he came up I often complained that the Yankees called far too many fastballs for him to be effective. Now I long for those days.

It seems that Hughes fell in love with his fastball last year when he came out of the bullpen firing darts past hitters and he began racking up Ks at an impressive rate. Now however, as a starter he seems to think that he only has two pitches in his repertoire. The first is his fastball, which has been a good pitch and the second has been his cutter, which has been great for him. The only problem is you can't go through an order three-plus times with only two pitches.

Hughes fails to use his curveball or his changeup. While I understand that Hughes would be wary of using his changeup in high leverage situations, I can only wonder why he refuses to throw the curveball.

Over the course of his first six starts Hughes overwhelmed the opposition, winning five games to the tune of a 1.38 ERA with 39 strike outs in 39 innings. Over his next eight, including tonight versus the Mariners, Hughes has a 5.33 ERA and has struck out 42 in 49 innings.

Now the problem with Hughes isn't stuff or location, it's that the opposition has now seen Hughes, and those that haven't have plenty of tape to work off of. Hitters have been fouling off Hughes' best pitches and hammering his cutter when they are looking for it. Take for instance this start against the Mariners, the second worst offensive team in baseball. Hughes threw 85 pitches during his start with 62 of those being cutters and fastballs for 73 percent of his pitches. That is simply too frequent to keep hitters from getting their timing and squaring him up.

Maybe now that Dave Eiland is back somebody can smack Hughes upside the head and tell him to throw a damn curveball or, God forbid, a changeup. But I wont be holding my breath. Maybe when he gets jacked up a few more times he will finally learn his lesson that the name of the game is locating you pitches and changing speeds (See Jamie Moyer).

Pedroia Out for Six Weeks

Just as the Sox start playing well and put themselves in a position to increase their lead on the Rays with the mini series that starts tonight, Dustin Pedroia breaks his foot. Make no mistake about it, this is not good. I can see the Sox rallying around this injury and doing well in the next couple of weeks, but six weeks without their catalyst is going to be tough to weather.

At least Clay Buchholz and Victor Martinez won't be out long. Martinez is on the 15-day DL, while Buchholz was scheduled to miss his next start anyway.

Lester Outlasts Lincecum

Much to the chagrin of our friend Dennis, Jon Lester pitched a gem yesterday and the normally nasty Tim Lincecum managed just three innings against the Red Sox. Still I was surprised the Giants yanked him when they did. Even though Lincecum needed 78 pitches to get through his three innings of work he only gave up four runs. That's not great, especially if you're a two time Cy Young winner, but the Giants weren't out of the game by any means.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Lester was dominant again. He pitched his second complete game of the season while striking out nine. He even helped his own cause giving a Lincecum fast ball a long ride to the 420 sign and driving in a run with a sac fly.

Lester is emerging as a legit Cy Young candidate. Since his first couple of starts when he was pretty poor he is 9-1. His ERA on the season is 2.86 and he has turned into an overpowering strikeout machine. It's enough to make you forget about the oft injured and lately ineffectual Josh Beckett.

This road trip hasn't been all sunshine and blueberry lollipops for the Sox, however. It has produced some key injuries that they must weather if they are going to keep pace in the division. Dustin Pedroia has a broken foot after fouling a ball off himself Friday. He is now on the 15 day DL. Most maddening of all is Clay Buchholz hyperextending his knee while running the bases on Saturday. Every year in stupid interleague play some AL pitcher sustains a significant injury while running the bases. A professional athlete should be able to run 90 feet without hurting himself, but there's always this thought, this never would have happened if... Now the big fat cherry on top of this this crap sundae happened yesterday when Victor Martinez broke his thumb. Fortunately the All-Star Break is around the corner.

Yankees Take 2 From D-Backs; Head to LA

So yea it has been quite some time since I have been able to post something about the Yankees. That tends to happen when you start a new job and the World Cup starts at the same time.

My attention has been drawn away from the Bombers a bit, but during my absence they have done me proud and taken a tenuous hold of first place. Well I shouldn't say they have done me proud. That entire series against the Diamondbacks was a joke, especially last night when the Yankees decided to hand three outs to Dontrelle Willis with boneheaded plays on the basepaths and a moronic bunt attempt from Fransisco Cervelli.

Sure Willis is slow to the plate, and perhaps Nick Swisher was antsy to get his first stolen base since 2008. Mark Teixeira however, has no business ever running unless it's a full-count with two outs.

Willis clearly was not going to throw strikes and they Yankees needed to exploit that by drawing ever walk they could and getting into the D-Back's bullpen as soon as possible, but by running and bunting, they essentially gave Willis one inning where he did not have to record an out.

Luckily enough the Yankee bats came alive enough to save Javier Vasquez who pitched fine, except when he faced Adam LaRoche, who went 2 for 4 while driving in all five of the Arizona runs.

Now the Yankees will travel to LA for a three game set that will be overblown because of the Joe Torre factor. Really though, New York should take this series too. Vincente Padilla and Hiroki Kuroda are very beatable pitchers for the Yankees, while Clayton Kershaw presents the biggest challenge for the Yankee bats.

The Yanks will be throwing two of their best as well, but they will also be throwing their worst when Burnett takes the ball for the second game of the series.

Really my biggest problem with this series is that afterwards the Yankees will fly home to face the Mariners and the Blue Jays, before the fly back across the country to play the Mariners again. Seriously who is making this schedule? It's just plan ridiculous.