YAO-ZER!

Today, the Houston Rockets found out that Yao Ming's hairline fracture of the tarsal navicular bone of his left foot pretty much hasn't healed at all since it occurred on May 8th. With this in mind, many options are on the table (placing a pin, bone grafting, realigning the entire foot) but all come with a serious chance that he will miss at least the beginning of next season, if not the entire season (as was hinted at by team physician Tom Clanton). This is crushing news for the Rockets as they were hoping to put the final touches on an already top tier roster in order to have a team capable of making a serious run at the title next year. I was really curious to see what moves they would make especially with so many big name players already having been on the move this offseason (it's like 'GMs Gone Wild' thus far). Anyway, the Rockets are going to have to make a major decision relatively soon as to whether they are going to stay committed to Yao or attempt to bring in a new superstar (If Yao's carrer is over, the Rockets could attempt to collect forced-retirement relief from the league, which would help defray the cost of the rest of his contract). If it were me, here's what I'd do:

1) First, whether Yao returns or not, get rid of Tracy McGrady. He costs way too much ($23 million) for a guy who is seemingly always hurt and is already going to miss half of next season due to microfracture surgery on his knee. Even if the only offer you get for him is a free bowl of soup, give him away.
2) Don't give up on Yao. There are enough options left on the table to fix his foot that you have to give it a shot because he is a game changer. Also, he's only 28 now but even as his age advances, he's 7'6''. With that kind of height, he'll be able to shoot over the top and can adapt his game as he loses some of his quickness.
3) Go out and get someone who can play the 5 but won't cost you an arm and a leg. Specifically, I'm looking at Glen 'Big Baby' Davis who is a restricted free agent and demonstrated this past post season that he can flat out play. He is a good free throw shooter and can finish around the basket. Or, if they really want to take a chance, they could sign 34 year old Rasheed Wallace. Wallace is not the producer he once was but he doesn't need to be with the talent around him. He is still a fiery player who can play both inside and outside.

Overall, the Rockets already have a good nucleus with Artest, Scolar, Alston, Wafer, Landry, and Battier. They just need (1) someone to plug into center who will fight for boards and (2) not allow Artest to become the first option on offense. I think the Rockets have the potential to be a solid, but not dominating team, without Yao. It sure will be interesting to see what happens.

Finding a silver lining

As I am gearing up to depart for South America tomorrow (sorry to all my fans, but you will have to endure a month without me), I realize how much I will enjoy/regret a month without consistent access to sporting news. It seems every time the Cubs win a couple games, and draw us back in, they then proceed to get shutout by a lowly team like the Braves. I am very excited not to have to witness the NBA draft coverage, but I do hope the Bulls take advantage of two first round picks in bolstering the wing position and if possible, finding a big man. I am interested to see how the month preceding the Bears training camp plays out, and how much more attention can be paid to Cutler's influence on the team (and also whether or not Angelo will take a chance on Plaxico). I'm a little sad I won't get to see the finals of Wimbledon, but then again looking out from the top of the Andes is pretty cool on its own. No matter what happens in the next month, I know I will sucked back into it all upon my return, so I guess the only thing to say is happy June, enjoy the Fourth of July, and let's get some runs!!

Props to Jose Contreras

I would just like to give major props to Jose Contreras. He started off the year with 5 starts that were Major League 3 worthy. After being sent down to the minors he has pitched two fantastic games.

I believe in the 2 starts it is 16 innings, 0 runs, 5 hits.

It just goes to show how a player who goes to the minors can rejuvenate their career if only for a year with the right attitude.

I can only hope he continues his pace

What I think the Cubs should do

As the cubs are struggling to score runs ever since the injury of aramis ramirez, the only move that they have made is bringing in Ryan Freel. While the Cubs starting pitching is well above average, their shaky bullpen leaves the late innings an adventure for all cubs fan, especially when the score is a 1 or 2 run game. I believe the Cubs are 6-11 in 1-run games this season.

So what should the cubs do? I think they need to get a big time hitter. With the Milton Bradley experience not working, I think the Cubs should get Adam Dunn, no relation to the Summer Catch star Ryan Dunn.

He's hitting .263, 17 HR, 45 RBIs this year. He has hit 40 HRs every year since 2004. And while his average is low and strike outs high, he is soooo good at Wrigley and against the Cubs.


A problem is that he plays Left Field which is already taken. But i'm sure he could move to Right and take over for the horrendous milton bradley. He can also play some first base as Derrek lee gets up in age. Or dare I say, Alfonson Soriano to second and adam dunn to left.

The line-up with Soriano at second could be:
1. Soriano 2B
2. Fukudome CF
3. D Lee 1B
4. A-Ram 3B
5. Dunn LF
6. Bradley RF
7. Soto C
8. Theriot SS
9. Pitcher

Pretty good, huh?

Filling the Time Capsule

Soak it in baseball fans. Randy Johnson just became the 24th pitcher to win 300 games. In an era in which offense, namely home runs, dominates the focus of the public, it might be a long time before we see another pitcher reach the milestone. While I am not ready to say it will never happen again (Steven Strausberg anyone?), it is safe to say that this writer will be approaching middle age the next time it happens. 

The obvious obstacle for a pitcher today is the decreased amount of starts compared to the rubber arms of Cy Young and Tom Seaver. Consider that the number of 20 game winners in a given year now is rarely more than one or two pitchers, it will take extreme longevity to reach 300 wins.  Pitchers rarely get more than 30-35 starts, which makes 20 wins achievable but unlikely. In 1969, 15 different pitchers won 20 games. In 2006, not a single pitcher won 20 games. If that doesn't paint the picture,  consider Cy Young won 511 games. A pitcher could win 20 games every year for 25 years and still be 11 wins short of that! 

Next, lets see who has a chance to reach the milestone sooner rather than later. Randy Johnson just reached the 300 plateau at the age of 45. The active pitcher with the most wins under 300 is Jamie Moyer who has 250 wins. Jamie is also 46 years old. I do not expect to read a headline in 2015 stating, "Ageless wonder, Moyer, wins 300 at age 52!" Despite my love for crafty left-handed pitchers (the anti-Matt Thortons), I will just assume Mr. Moyer will be broadcasting by then. Andy Pettite has 219 wins, he's 37. John Smoltz has 210 wins, he's 42. You get the idea. If anyone is going to win 300 games, he is going to be over 40 years old and pitching to players half his age. 

So what does this all mean? It means that we all have to sit back and wait to see if Roy Halladay (32 yrs, 140 wins), Roy Oswalt (31 yrs, 130 wins), or maybe even Big Z (28 yrs, 100 wins) can bring us another great pitching milestone. Or maybe Big Z will hit 500 home runs first. Who knows? What I do know is that baseball purists, like myself, who enjoy a 2-1 game a hundred times more than slugfests with scores like 14-13, need to appreciate what Randy just accomplished, because we will be stuck with offensive records for a while. 

Chicago Sunday Baseball

Thoughts regarding the Cubs and White Sox games today:
- Randy Wells is awesome. He's got a 1.86 ERA in 6 starters this season filling in for Rich Harden. He, once again, had a great outing Sunday, spreading 7 hits over 6 2/3 innings and only giving up 2 runs. And, once again, the Cubs bullpen (Marmol) blew it for him. Even though my allegiances lie on the other side of town, I hope that the Cubs finally give this guy some solid support because his stats deserve it. Oh, he also went 1-2 from the plate and scored a run today to boot. (Also, a great story on how he made it to this point by Buster Olney)

- Carlos Marmol should be demoted not to the minor leagues but to a park district league. The guy has been absolutely aweful. He walked the only 2 batters he faced today and one of those runners scored to tie the ball game. This was the 4th time in the last 7 games that he has walked 2 batters in an appearance (none of which have lasted more than an inning).

- The Cubs had a runner on 2nd base with 1 out in the 8th, 9th, and 10th innings and failed to score on any of those opportunities. Timely hitting is going to be necessary if the Cubs decide to make a run for the division this year.

- The Bartolo Colon Experiment should really be over by now on the South Side. Colon (3-5 this year) gave up 8 hits and 5 earned runs in 5 innings of work. The more important stat though is that only 4 of those 8 hits stayed in the park. While we all hoped that he would return to his 2002 form when he went 20-8, this is just plain not the case. It also doesn't help that his career ERA is 4.08. Thus, he clearly needs get decent run support (4/5 runs) to be in line for a win. And with the atrocious offensive numbers for the White Sox this year, this doesn't really seem like its going to happen.

- One of the lone bright spots of the day was Alexei Ramirez's 3-run homerun in the 5th inning. He was expected to be a major contributor to the White Sox offensively this year and has been pretty inconsistent. Maybe this will be a turnaround game for him? We can only wait and see.

- Gordon Beckham still remains hitless in his major league career, going 0-4 today. Many touted him as the savior of the White Sox. That is ridiculous. The guys is still really young, and while it's great that he has had much success to this point in this career, he is now seeing the best talent he has ever faced. Thus, it's clearly going to take time to adjust to that. I'm happy to see that he is at least getting up to the plate aggresively and looking to put the bat on the ball (not just watching himself strike out (only 2K's in 10 ABs)). He put good wood on the ball in the 8th and nearly got his first career hit and RBI but was robbed by a nice diving catch by Indian's CF Trevor Crowe.

Quick Follow Up

This is just a quick follow up to the post below. The White Sox once again could not handle a rookie pitcher. Oakland's Brett Anderson gave up 6 hits, 0 runs over 7 innings in today's 7-0 rout of the White Sox. The 21-year-old Anderson is 3-5 this year with a 4.97 ERA and yet handcuffed the White Sox offensively. Clearly, Billy Beane has been reading this blog, saw my post from yesterday, and acted on it. I hope other MLB execs havent been reading this blog (but that plenty of other people are).

Roughed Up by a Rook... Again

Two nights ago, the White Sox were beaten 5-0 by Oakland A's 22 year old rookie pitcher Vin Mazzaro, who earned his first major league win. While Mazzaro did a good job of spreading out only 3 hits over 6 1/3 innings, he only had 1 strikeout and walked 4 batters. The White Sox also continued their trend of shooting themselves in the foot by grounding into 3 double plays and wasting opportunities in the 1st and 2nd with runners on first and second.

While many may write this off as just a bad loss, this was in actuality another eerie demonstration of the White Sox inability to hit against rookie pitchers, especially those making their first ever big league start. But don't just take my word for it. Look a little earlier this season when the ChiSox played the Orioles on April 21st. 23 year old Brad Bergesen pitched 5 2/3 innings, gave up of 4 hits and 3 runs (only 1 of which was earned), and earned his first major league victory.

Once again, people may say, "Oh, this is just an isolated incident." Alas, this is not the case. Since 2004, a rookie starting pitcher has earned his first MLB victory 8 times against the White Sox (Daniel Cabrera 5/13/04, Kason Gabbard 9/5/06, Garrett Olson 7/15/07, Greg Smith 4/14/08, Nick Adenhart 5/12/08, Michael Bowden 8/30/08, plus the 2 instances listed above). (NOTE: This list does not include rookie pitchers at other points during their first season or pitchers that the White Sox have simply never faced before) Notice that in 2005 (the year the Good Guys in Black won the World Series for those of you who may not remember), they didn't allow this lovely feat to happen even once. What is truly scary about this list, though, is the increasing frequency that this is occurring recently ('08 and '09).

In this opinion of this writer, this is absurd. The White Sox hitters are professional athletes who should be salivating at the opportunity to give these pitchers a true welcoming to the big leagues by roughing them up. Instead, they seem to lose all patience at the plate, swinging at balls in the dirt and doing a lot of first pitch swinging. Overall, they just can't seem to figure these guys out. It's almost as if they have to watch film of who they are facing in order to have any idea as to how to even step into the batters box.

This is a major concern for fans and management because who knows when opposing GMs or managers are going to catch on to this trend. If I were an opposing GM or manager and had some good (not even great) young talent in the minors, I'd be looking to spot start these guys in case of injury or any other circumstance that would preclude my normal starters from playing against the White Sox.

Keep in mind, this list and conversation only considers rookie starting pitchers earning their first major league W. This doesn't include other starters who are in the midst of their rookie season. These pitchers too have fared well against the White Sox. For example, how about last night's performance by Oakland's Josh Outman. He is a rookie who got his 3rd win of the season earlier this evening by allowing 7 hits and 3 runs (only 2 earned) over 6 2/3 innings. While this is not a shutout or super dominating performance, it is another example of a young, unproven arm defeating the White Sox because they didn't bring their bats.

ASIDE - I'm just getting word from the TV, as I type this, that the White Sox are calling up Gordon Beckham. Thank god. Those of us loyal to the Black Sox are heaving a major sigh of relief. While not expecting him to single handedly right the ship, hopefully this kid can supply some energy and some sort of hitting during his first stint in the majors. (see pic above)

Anyway, the White Sox desperately need to figure out a way to hit against young pitching. Maybe that's changing the hitter's approach. Maybe that's infusing new hitters (Beckham, Beckham, Beckham, Beckham). Whatever it is, this is going to be key to the White Sox making a run at the AL Central crown this year and in the future.

A Summer Make-Over

Da Superfans has received a facelift just in time for beach season! Keep looking for your treatment team to provide you with their takes on the latest Chicago Sports issues!

A change in seasons (and a demonstration in my use of parentheses)

Today started one of my favorite months of the year (and no it's not just because of my birthday), and even though we have had a fair amount of rain here in Chicago, things are definitely on the bright side. Sports in June include the NBA Finals, interleague play, the US Open, Wimbledon, and of course the annual Turkish Grand Prix. The NFL finally starts meriting coverage again as teams begin to piece together all the off-season moves. Hockey matters to more than the diehards with national attention on the Stanley Cup finals (I only list this last because the stupid Red Wings hold a 2-0 lead in the series). The TV schedule even favors June sports as only TNT would dare show new episodes in this hallowed month. As the weather moves toward summer, but leaves the humidity for July, people are out and about more, spaghetti straps adorn the fine ladies of this great city, and drinking a beer on my back deck at 2pm is a display of enjoying the climate rather than a possible warning sign of alcoholism (although I think the clinical marker is 1pm anyway...). As we look back on the first five months of 2009, we have seen the Bulls showing signs of life and Derrick Rose (SAT score aside) bring back a level of excitement to the UC, the young guns on a rejuvenated Hawks team putting a scare into every other NHL team, Jay Cutler sparking talk about the Bears having a real quarterback, and most importantly the Cubs/Sox continuing to meet fans' expectations and play wildly inconsistent baseball. Who knows what the month has in store for us. Will Dwight defeat Kobe? Will Tiger be Tiger on Strong Island? Will the Cubs beat the Sox? Will my girlfriend realize that I may be a little too into American Idol (absolute hose job for Adam by the way)? No matter what happens, it will be exciting to tune in and find out. With summer just weeks away (the solstice is June 21 this year), now is the time to get in shape for those long days at the beach or poolside by watching some sports and sipping a nice, cold beer (or Michelob Ultra for those who like showering with their clothes on). Happy June.