On The Baseball Season Thus Far

The June 1st Report

AL Central:
They Showed Me:
“4. Detroit Tigers-The Tigers are good enough to play .500 ball in 2006, but it is doubtful that they will. David Dombrowski did a good job in the off season by hiring Jim Leyland, a manager that deserves more credit than he gets, and bolstering the pitching staff. This team will be a force in the Central for years to come, and glances of that will be flashed at times in 2006.”
-Dieter Kurtenbach 3.22.06 “2006 Major League Preview”
In my defense, I was only a year off. And I was not really writing them off, I just figured that they needed a year to get there. Now they are the best team in the Majors and it appears that they are there to stay. But not so fast! The pitching staff is coming apart slowly, and a recent series against the Yankees in which they lost 3 of 4 show that their bullpen lacks depth, and their hitting does not show up sometimes. The scary part: they came back to tie or lead the game in every single on of their losses. As their schedule becomes a little more daunting, we will see if these Tigers are last years White Sox, or this years Cincinnati

The White Sox meanwhile have had glimpses of a team that could be in the all time greats of baseball, but have been brutally inconsistent at other times. They truly need to lock it up. A recent 2 of 5-road trip let them gain no ground on a Tigers loosing streak. The true test will come with a three game series at home against those Tigers, where the division lead will be up for grabs. Jose Contreras, after showing Cy Young form for the first month of the season needs to bounce back from his sciatic nerve injury (therefore proving that he is 45 years old) to get this rotation that is the best in the league. This is really not an issue of whether or not the White Sox can win the division, it is rather will they go out there and do it. They are better than the Tigers, and the Tigers are the best team in the league. If the White Sox can endure this regular season, like they did last year with the Indians, they will find the playoffs excruciatingly easy.

Called It:
“This team has no offense, but a pitching staff that will be near the top of the league. Francisco Liriano will run away with rookie of the year, and be a second Johan Santana in the Twinkie dome. Those two might be able to get 35 for the Twins this year. The rest of the staff is solid, and the Nathan led bullpen is dangerous as always. The twins just will not be able to score enough runs to contend, and the though their pitching is good, it is not flawless.”
Called It:
“While Dombrowski was doing a fantastic job resurrecting the Tigers in Detroit, Allan Baird ran the Royals into the ground so far, that they are better off digging down some more, as it is closer to land. The team is in disarray, and being run like a AA team. Speaking of which, most of the Royals players are of that caliber, so maybe it isn’t so awful after all.”
Baird was fired yesterday. Funny article from the Onion: Royals Hire Tom Emanski To Teach Them Fundamentals Of Baseball
NL Central:
1.Albert Pujols
2.Cincinatti
3. Wait, Cincinnati?
They Showed Me (Thus Far) + Called It:
“6. Cincinnati Reds-Ken Griffey Jr. is back in town, and is fully expected to have a pre-trade year. Griffey truly deserves this, after enduring injury after injury, he had been put back, by default, on the podium of great power hitters. The Reds though, might never arrive in town. They might be able to score 10 runs a game, but they would give up 15 in the process.”
I am not a stubborn person, but I’m standing my ground on the Reds. Sure, I like the Reds, but second in the Central. That is a fluke that the Reds like to do once every few years until Griffey goes down. But this year, Griffey doesn’t look like he is going down. I probably should have noted that when I did the preview.

By the way, Albert Pujols…

CALLED IT!

Not to brag or anything.

Houston is right on track on what they need to do to win the Wild Card. They also did their best job in the Rocket race, and came up victorious, if 22 mil rationed for three months of work is winning. In this case, it might be.

Called It:
“3. Milwaukee Brewers-This team is on the upstart, but they have an over achieving pitching staff that is nothing less than suspect. Their bullpen might not be able to hold games, and they have no dominant pitcher to hand the ball off to in the 9th to save the game. This team also has the best group of young players in the league, and will be a dominant force and possibly contend for a crown…next year.”
I should really do this stuff for a living. I’m that good.

Called It:
4. Chicago Cubs- The Cubs made some great off-season acquisitions (Juan Pierre), and retained some solid players (Murton, Rusch) and, if healthy, would win the Central, but when have you ever known the Cubs to be in full health?
Actually they are worse than I expected. Way to be the Cubs…

And for some reason, I really like the Pirates. Their pitching is awful, but they are fun to watch and when your team is so inferior, that is what you need. I really hope that they keep the core of this team together, because with a few arms, they could be pretty good.

AL East

Everything is going to plan. Check it here. http://southsidepride.blogspot.com/2006_03_01_southsidepride_archive.html
But the Devil Rays need to pick it up. They are better than 22 wins. Seriously, do better. I’m really close to picking a perfect division.

NL East:
The Mets need to fade faster. The Braves and Phillies are holding up their end of my bargain, but Tom Glavine looks like he is going to die, and yet is still pitching out of his mind. 8-2? I thought that was his age. It appears as if he will get 300 wins, which he deserves, but seriously, this man looks like he is going to die!


Decrepit old man?

I think the real kicker is that they tried to sure up their rotation with El Duque, who might be the only person older than Tom Glavine in this league. Oh, wait; they have Julio Franco, who was literally born in the ‘50s. Julio Franco is actually older than my father, and only a few years away from Social Security and a 3.50 matinee movie ticket. My God is that man old. The question is how can David Wright have a conversation with these guys. It would probably go like this.

Wright: Hey, Tom great job today.
Lastings Milledge (greatest baseball name ever): Did you see D5’s pick at 3rd? It was off the hook!
Franco: Back in my day we used to play without gloves!
Glavine: When I played with Frank Robinson, he would go 25 feet to his left and still throw the guy out while throwing from the stands. Now where is my Serialized Fitzgerald’s?
Franco: Oh crap, I’m late for a phosphate!

They need to fade like the days of youth from their memory.

The Nationals will be selling soon, and that means good news for anyone who wants Livan Hernandez, one of the most underrated pitchers in the game. I just hope the Mets don’t get them. The geezers.

The Marlins are going to be something. In five years. Then they can sell all their talent again. But this really is the way to rebuild a team. It works. They kept their best players under 25, gave them the money and built up with A+ prospects getting valuable experience. You hear that Kansas City? The right way!

AL West:
Called It:
“4.Texas Rangers-The pitchers stink, they lost good solid position players, and the bullpen is absolutely putrid. It is a shame too, because they have Teixeira, one of the best players in the major league, stuck in the cellar in Arlington. Mark might hit .330 with 55 and 150, but no one on his team will come even remotely close to any numbers similar, and the other teams hitters will average about the same against Ranger pitching.”
The sad thing is I did call it, all of those things are true, but Texas? First place? What the hell? Looking at their stats I ask how in God’s name could they be winning the division, and for the first time ever, I have no explanation. They are an enigma of baseball. Their best pitcher has a 4.85 ERA. What are they, the Rockies? Their hitting has always been exceptional, but this year seems to be down. Wait, I might have an explanation, could the Rangers success be that, all the other teams in their division suck?

It is! This division is worse than the old American Association. Oakland is the only team that could possibly put up a fight against the Rangers. (It feels funny every time I type it.) And they are going out there and apparently not trying to win. They are far more talented than they play, but their bullpen in horrendous. They need all their starters to go 8 and leave to 9th to Huston Street, who is having a little sophomore slump himself.

He Showed Me:
“The A’s were decimated by injuries last year, and will get MVP candidate and all underrated team captain Bobby Crosby back for hopefully an entire year… AL MVP:Crosby”
I love Peter Gammons, but you have served my wrong sir. Let’s just pretend that I said Joe Crede.

He Showed Me:
“Adrian Beltre will respond to an awful year by performing at a higher level. It will not be MVP, but enough to win a few games, and deserve some of the money he gets paid.”
Yeah, he’s batting .230, but that is a higher level for him. This is just another reason why you should trust your instincts:
“Expect a down year from Beltre, he gave 150 percent for the Dodgers in his contract year, and carried them to the playoffs. Chances are he will go back to his normal slacker self.”
-Dieter Kurtenbach 3.5.05 “2005 Major League Preview”

NL West:
Called It:
“4. San Francisco Giants-A team this good does not deserve to have a player like Barry Bonds on it, bringing nothing but adversary towards it. They will never be able to shake his stigma off the team in general, and will underachieve under the spotlight of shame.”
Apparently They Read The Article (But still called the standings):
“5. Colorado Rockies-Now is the time to clear house, as the Rockies will sink into another vile season at altitude. Instead of going out and getting a tough and battle tested pitching staff, they decided, if you can’t beat them, emulate them, not realizing that they were emulating teams pounding awful pitching for 20 runs a game. The Rockies don’t have the talent to go out and score 20 consistently, and until they decide to play real baseball, they will be perpetually in the cellar.”

Ok, so the NL west isn’t brutal, as it was last year, but it is not exceptional either, it is a strong mediocre, with the cellar dwellers above 500 and 4 games back, (ok, it might be bad) the division is really competitive, and the most entertaining in baseball. Now the question is, are all these teams just 500, or is the competition equally matched and better than their record. Answer: inconclusive. To this point, teams are all playing roughly 500 ball in the division, and some are playing better out of the division, some floating at 500. So, it cannot yet be decided.

What has been decided though is that Brandon Webb is a beast. Then again I thought that this was going to happen three years ago. But let’s not forget that this happens rather frequently, that is a sinkerballer going 8-0 and then coasting to a better than truth record. JON GARLAND! Sorry, just had a tickle in my throat.

They Showed Me:
“3. Arizona Diamondbacks-This team is young, and short on starting pitching. They might have enough offense to make 2006 a respectable looking season, but in reality it will be lost, just like their rotation.”
Correction: Brandon Webb showed me that he could hold an entire rotation up for the first part of the season. So, when his incumbent downfall happens there will be a fat Called It next to him and the D-Backs early season predication.

Season Awards and Wild Cards

“Season AwardsMVP:AL:CrosbyNL:PujolsCY Young:AL:Zito NL:PeaveyRookie of the YearAL: Francisco LirianoNL: Ryan Zimmerman”

We already touched on my Crosby predication, but seriously, Joe Crede. (Batting .296 with 8 dingers and 33 ribis while slugging 484 and playing beyond gold glove caliber third base.) Considering that the favorite at this point is Jim Thome, I don’ t think Crede is that far removed, he plays the field. Other candidates: Maglio Ordonez, Paul Konerko, and Derrek Jeter.

If anyone argues with the NL MVP, they should die. That is why I am for capital punishment.

Al Cy Young is really up in the air at this point. It seemed a lock for Contreras at the beginning of the year, but he has struggled as of late. Zito has put it on recently, and right now I believe he is the front-runner. Other candidates: Josh Beckett, Curt Shilling, Jose Contreras, Mark Buehrle, and Scott Kazmir.

My NL prediction was not as wise; I say that right now the Winner would be Pedro Martinez, with Webb and Glavine following up.

Liriano: Called it. There are no other candidates.

I’m going to give the pole position to Prince Fielder, who is having a strong rookie campaign in Milwaukee, which of course is Algonquin for “the good land” Zimmerman needs to boost the average a bit more in order to take the cake, but he is in a strong position to do so. Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla are also making a good push at this award. This should be a good one to follow.

Yeah, About That…
“2. Los Angeles Angels-This team though is strong enough to go deep into the playoffs…The team is solid, but built up for a downfall, and will just be plain overmatched by the A’s down the stretch, and will squeak into the playoffs.”

E-1 on the journalist. This team is not going to make the playoffs. Right now, the White Sox hold the Wild Card, and it will be the team that does not win the AL central division that goes to the playoffs, barring a massive Detroit collapse.

I feel pretty confident in my NL pick. The Fightin’ ‘Fills are just hitting their stride. Right now LA is in the lead for that category, but I believe that they will likely win the West. I hope the Padres do, so I can save face, but I can accept the Dodgers. And even though the Wild Card is always fun in the NL, this year should be nothing less than zany.

Dieter Kurtenbach
6.2.2006

On Bonds' Steriod Use

Bonds allegedly started taking steroids in 1998, during the Mark McGuire Sammy Sosa home run chase, out of jealousy of the players. At age 35, he knew that he was in the final stages of his career, as his father had to retire from the league at the exact same age. He ‘allegedly’ took numerous steroids including Human Growth Hormone, Insulin, and Windsol. Stupidly, he had his weight trainer, a notable steroid dealer; chronicle all the steroid use, ‘allegedly’. (I repeatedly must say allegedly because nothing has been proven, yet, and if all the evidence I have seen in the book Game of Shadows is false, that makes it overly detailed and hard to make up fiction. But I digress.) Of course what happened next is history; Bonds puts up the five greatest seasons anyone besides Babe Ruth hasn’t even gotten close to touching, sets the single season home run record, and inches ever closer to Henry Aaron’s record, the most illustrious record in all of sport, the career home run record. Mind you, Bonds did all of this from the age of 38 on, a time that players are dragging out their careers ungraciously, not putting together an unparalleled streak of seasons and calling it a ‘late prime.’

Of course Bonds has been ousted, but the process of outcry has been slow to spread, and very little progress has been made. The die-hard baseball fans, like myself, feel as if not only Bonds, but also anyone who has tarnished the history of baseball by juicing have scammed them. But Bonds strikes harder. Not only is he a genuinely mean and classless man, he is a fraud who is nearing ever closer to a record he does not deserve, held by seemingly the exact opposite of him, the classy Henry Aaron. Mark McGuire, Rafael Palmeiro, and Sammy Sosa are dead to us, whisked away into a dark land of animosity, émigrés shunned by Baseball, unwanted by teams and despised by fans. None of us would have a problem with Barry Bonds getting the same fate, sooner, rather than when it is too late. I am a key member of the school of thought regarding Bonds, and any other player with substantial evidence against them should face the same fate as Shoeless Joe Jackson and Pete Rose, banishment from baseball. In contemplation, I don’t think that Shoeless Joe, illiterate, or Pete Rose, never gambled while a player, deserve an equal fate as these cheats.

Corked bats, spitballs, sandpaper, that is all part of the game, finding advantages to help your team win. Steroids are not. And while all are technically cheating, Steroids are not in the best interests of anyone except the user. They are all selfish players who shouldn’t have their names in the same sentence with baseball. I said before that these guys were worse cheats than Jackson and Rose, both banned from the game they loved, it is my opinion that the frauds should be subjected to the harshest punishment deemed appropriate and constitutional.

The stanza of To an Athlete Dying Young is in regards a man who used to be decorated and now has sunk below the level of a girl. The book claims that Bonds took a pill for women to cover up his steroid use, making the body’s testosterone amount reach its normal level so that he could pass his drug tests. I won’t go as far as to say Bonds wanted to be a girl, but he has certainly was on the right regimen, and has sunk in the public eye to be far below any of us could have imagined.

On The Past Four Years @ Fenwick

Another chapter of your lives have been written, and I suppose that’s a good thing, because the last four years were as formative and eventful as we will ever have, and now is no time to stop writing. I’ve been told that the great things is life go fast, and that you don’t really understand what they mean until they are long since past. I suppose the only reason I remember that is because it rhymed, but that should not take away from its overall message. What I am trying to get at is that ending high school is a major crossroad of our lives. Now, I am not going to go on and tell you that it is the grandest event our lives will ever experience, or that it will even crack the top 10 on the list, but take that as a good thing. The future holds many things for us, and that should make you both anxious and full of anxiety. This whole high school thing was kind of a tease. It’s as if someone put you here and said, ‘Ok, now go and work hard, have fun, make the best of yourself, and the best of friends, and when it seems to be hitting its pinnacle-we are going to send you off to repeat the same process. Hell, we might do it another few times after that.’ Yet we still made the most of it, and ended up doing alright for ourselves in the end.

I have said repeatedly that the class of 2006 is the great class to go through Fenwick High School. We set records on tests, have a stellar track record (but an ironic lack of outstanding success in track & field -go figure!) and the caliber of colleges and universities we will be attending next year, unparalleled. There has never been another class more decorated with honors. We’re like an admiral or something… When most previous classes are looking for one person to go to Harvard, we come in and overflow the system with a kid who not only gets in, but also gets damn near a full ride, (and a rousing applause at an assembly, which he so deservingly…deserved) which seems unprecedented by modern standards. But this is not Joe Edmonds’ class, (say that three times fast,) it seems that every single person in the class of 2006 has already done amazing things, and there is not a single person that does not have a bright future ahead of them. The overall character and class of the seniors is as remarkable as our accolades. Sure, not everyone rises to the podium of academic excellence (myself included, begrudgingly) but it seems that those people do not have the preverbal ‘drop off’ in excellence that the top tiered students do. The class of 2006 is possibly the most ubiquitous class in terms of sociology, so much so that there were a few prom groups with greater populations than Tokyo (and their transportation were apparently a sardine cans on wheels.) Seriously though, trying to chronicle all the good things about this class is a daunting task that would take several rolls of parchment to impart upon you, so let me tell you all about the bad things…Just kidding, but I had you there for a second didn’t I?

I remember a few great things from my tenure here at Bishop Edward Fenwick Dominican College Prepatory School. I recall the first day in school when I was fortunate enough to prepare myself on how a lock worked, and then showing the technique to a small gathering of kids trying their locker doors off the hinges. I remember the ungodly long and hot honors convocation at the end of freshman year- when I asked myself when hell became elevated, full of bleachers and in the Fenwick Auditorium- and when a mere two years later when we were in uproar on how they split the marathon up and that we all had to go back to classes. The memory of Ms. Speer strikes vividly in my mind; she made me hate and love English, sometimes at the same time, during third period freshman year, while recruiting me to join the forensics team every time I had a question. I remember how easy it was to make friends, the majority of which I will have for the rest of my life, after being scared to death I wouldn’t be able to do it. I remember the stares of confusion the first day of sophomore year when I arrived nearly a foot taller then I had left the year before. I remember the camaraderie of the gym and caf during finals week, and declaring war against my mortal enemy Herff Jones. I remember seeing the legend of Daddy first hand in Speech, which is the exact same legend every class had seen before us and will see after us. I remember Ms. Senese’s 11th period fine arts class, all the great people, and, well, I’ll refrain from commenting on the class. I forgot the boring classes, but not how to get through them. On that note, I will not forget to make the play list that I will listen to through a protruding white headphone in my shirtsleeve. I suppose I remember Poms winning state…I remember learning life lessons, the hard way. I remember all the little secrets I had on how to make a paper appear longer that it actually was. Thank god that I have forgotten all the papers I have written. I remember Dr. B’s off kilter comments, and working my way up on the Wick, and Internet radio. I remember a really delicious grilled cheese sandwich I made junior year. Man was that some fine eating. I remember the ninjas, and the bat that threatened to bring them down. I remember Kyle Hope turning on the TVs to watch “Shock and Awe” and the impromptu and premature celebration that the war was over during lunch. I remember Banuas and power naps during prayer experiences. I remember great assemblies (Pep Rallies, Christian rock music videos and Matt Kelly) and disasters (like being yelled at the end of the SADD presentation a few weeks ago and the class of 2006 abstinence day, which I was forced to attend despite the fact that I gave my word to stop at third.) I’ll remember Kairos, twice. I won’t forget the White Sox winning it all and the month of Ross Gloading around the school.  I remember watching the Pope be elected Papam in the library and Fr. Saucier telling me he would take the name Benedict a mere minute before Ratzinger shattered his dream. I won’t forget the first day when we were told to look to our left, and our right, and write one off those people off the final graduation list, and then this year being told that those words were never said. (We showed them!) I will always remember how fast word can get around about anything. The social networking skills at our school, staggering. I’ll remember the dances and the technical difficulties that you could count on. The characters that this school has produced, I remember every last one of them to a T. I will never be able to forget the Laity. (If you didn’t catch that one, its what we in journalism call a ‘shout-out’.) I remember loosing my voice and banging on buckets at hockey games. Complaining about lack of school sprit only to be happily proven wrong. I’ll never forget any of those things and so many more, and though there were some bad times here, the great times are what really matter, and those are manifest in number.

We will all remember a million things that happened in these last four years; they were pretty confusing, yet amazing times. And sure, we might say that we should have done this, or that, in retrospect, but you should never regret the last four years of your lives, because every last one of you has more than a handful of things to be extremely proud of. That is something that all of you need to remember.

-Dieter Kurtenbach
5-4-2006

On Vince Young

The NFL draft is all about numbers, and all the future NFL studs or duds could tell you this first hand. The breaking point between a first round signing bonus equal to the net gross product of many countries, or exile to the second day and later a practice squad can be the difference of a few tenths of a second in the 40 yard dash. Talk about pressure.

But with all the stats and figures, one number stands out in the crowd: 6. Six, as in the alleged score of Vince Young’s wonderlic test, and also as in the amount of yards he ran on fourth down, for six points, in the greatest football game ever played. That is the dilemma that NFL executives are pondering above the concerns of Brian Calhoun’s poor 40 time, Jay Cuttler’s arm angle, and Matt Leinart’s mobility. All that matters is six.

Wikipedia defines: The Wonderlic Personnel Test (often referred to as Wunderlich) is an intelligence test primarily known for being administered to prospective players in the National Football League since the 1970s. The Wonderlic is a twelve-minute, fifty-question exam to assess aptitude for learning a job and adapting to solve problems for employees in a wide range of occupations. The score is calculated as the number of correct answers given in the allotted time. A score of 20 is intended to indicate average intelligence (corresponding to an intelligence quotient of 100). It is rumored that at least one player has scored a 1 on the test.

Young’s agent has adamantly denied claims that his client had scored so low, and contrary reports suggest that Young retook the test and received a 16 for his troubles. The question is, does the suggested 6 on the test suggest that he would be a bad player in the NFL, absolutely not. People like Akili Smith have scored a 37, and gone on to be utter and complete busts. So let some of Vince’s other numbers paint you a picture of future NFL success: 30-2, 81, and 2. That is VY’s career record at Texas, his total touchdowns in three years, and the number of Rose Bowl MVP trophies Mr. Young has received. The true number is 1, as in the kind of a player he is, one of a kind.

All I know is that Vince Young might be the best player to come out of the Draft since Peyton Manning, and if I was an NFL GM in the mid region of picks, I would hope this talk of Young’s intelligence never ends. Maybe you could have a great face of your franchise fall into your lap. What has the NFL turned into? The Wonderlic test, which the average joe on the street could not do correctly with the time constraints, is now more important than anything you have done on the field? I don’t know about you, but that is the sign that enough is enough, and in the end, all that matters is how you go out and play football. That’s how it was back in the hey-day of football, and for all of the hullabaloo about this being the NFL’s golden age; I see nothing golden about it. TO and the CBA have made the league greater than itself, and that is why it needs to get back to basics. The only six that matters is that six on the board after your team scores a touchdown. That’s the glory of football. This is not. Six…

With Chris Creamer

Call him what you want, but Chris Creamer has over 5 thousand people flock to his temple every day. And no, this is not a cult, though the subject matter and the level of conversation might seem erroneous, the Chris Creamer Sports Logos Community is a one of a kind Internet world, where the topic is sports branding.

Man Law: Talk of Sports Uniforms may not exceed 30 seconds, unless discussing the awesomeness of throwbacks.

When Miller Light came up with their Man Law marketing slogan, featuring the Men of the Square Table, documenting the unwritten rules of manhood, this was one of the ‘rules.’ Obviously, the thirty second boundary is far exceeded in the sports logos community, and so far, no one’s manhood as been questioned.

I interviewed the mastermind who created the Sports Logos community (boards.sportslogos.net) and found out many interesting facts about the formation of this public domain. First off, it seemed that the entire ordeal seemed to surprise Mr. Creamer, 23.

“About seven years ago I was browsing the net and found a place that offered free message boards. I put it on the site not expecting any traffic, and well, there wasn't really that much at the beginning... It just kept evolving and getting bigger and bigger until it became the empire you see today... It all really started out of personal curiosity on how a board was run and wanting to do one myself.”

When in 1997, Chris created a website called sportslogos.net to be a personal database for himself to access sports logos easily. Soon, it received some traffic from people searching the term. He was not sure if he wanted to continue on with the upkeep of this steadily growing website. Creamer, trained in many internet languages, with a degree in web design, decided to take the sight to the next level, at the behest of his father, making it the most comprehensive and well kept sports logos database on the net. The boards came later, and in the past few years have experienced a boom and some noted credibility from graphic design studios and pro leagues.

”We actually have some of the top sports logos designers as members, Todd Radom, Joe Bosack, Keith Flynn (of flynnagain), Studio Simon... all of these people are responsible for 90% of the new sports logos coming out every year... oddly enough we actually had to ban a big time sports designer recently. I won't reveal his name because that would be embarrassing to him, but I will say he was responsible for creating a few NBA logos still in use”

But it was not until 2002 when the community was first recognized,

“There was an incident in the fall of 2001 where I was given every new baseball logo for the upcoming 2002 season... that was pretty huge... major league baseball knows me by name after that one. We got them in October and they weren't unveiled until January, so a good 3 months. Of course when they unveiled them everyone knew what they were going to look like. The big one was the Anaheim Angels’ complete redesign, but the Royals and Texas Rangers also had new ones”

But for a man who could make or break an entire the entire industry of Sports branding by leaking logos, Chris Creamer is a remarkably simple man. He is only 23 years old, he lives in his parent’s basement, has had a girlfriend for four years, and his a huge Blue Jays fan, attending roughly 25 games a year. And he knows he is normal too. Comments such as “did I put you to sleep yet?” were common in our conversation. But this ordinary man does not have small aspirations. He has started his own design company that has worked for both the Toronto Raptors and Maple Leafs. While this was going on, his sportslogos page was booming, getting thousands of hits a day, and the board was beginning to pick up speed. The conversations had then branched from the Chiefs throwbacks to politics, fantasy leagues, and concepts, an area unique to the web, where fledging designers can create team identities. Large design corporations have hired many designers there and some designs have even been sold, such as the new logo for the AHL’s Manitoba Moose.

Chris does enjoy partaking in some of the conversations on the board. It is widely known that his favorite logo was that of the Hartford Whalers, now the Carolina Hurricanes for its simple complexity.

There are many debates on the boards, as there are bound to be in a community of over 5,000, with a few tourists here and there. Two of the major ones are between a retro jersey movement, and the anti-retro jersey movement. Another regards the ball and glove logo of the Milwaukee Brewers, which is polar in opinions, it is either the greatest or worse logo ever created. Creamer moderates these discussions with the help of his moderating team, but steers clear of opinionating.
“I’m in the middle on both issues... I like seeing teams modernizing old looks... it's 2006, if you want to use the ball-in-glove bring it to the 21st century... darken the blue, change the yellow to gold, etc.”
Chris Creamer and his sportslogos.net site and board are certainly doing just that. He single-handedly brought the once taboo conversation of sportslogos to new frontiers, modernizing it, and allowing it to adapt to new frontiers that seemed inconceivable only a few years ago. And he is doing all of this from his parent’s basement in Toronto.

Postscript: the Brewers Ball in Glove logo, which was brought back this year for a Sunday home uniform, much to the joy and behest of many CCSLC members.
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On Albert Pujols

In the age we live in, we should all feel blessed that we have Albert Pujols playing professional baseball. Overshadowed by Barry Bonds his entire career, he has put up some of the greatest offensive seasons in the history of baseball as quietly as anyone could, and has never ever complained about not getting his due. That is because he embodies the true spirit of a baseball player, a person who gets paid to play on the field and then feel grateful that he is getting to play a game for a job, and can make more with a high school diploma, or less, than the CEOs of some companies. Now putting up unparalleled seasons, leading your team to the summit of baseball success, and receiving no accolades for these endeavors could leave some irked, but it seems that that is the way that Albert likes it. By not being in the ESPN spotlight 24-7, he is able to go along his merry way, which right now appears to be a path that, in this media age, no one has ever traveled before.

Albert Pujols should have been the NL MVP every season he has played at the major league level. His numbers dictate that much, regardless of team success, which in his case, only strengthens his candidacy. But Albert has one only one MVP award, and it was a highly contested battle. Last year Pujols should have been voted MVP by a unanimous decision. And though Derrek Lee and Andruw Jones had career years, they were nothing in comparison to an average Pujols campaign. While Lee hit .335 with over 40 home runs for a average Cubs team, and Jones hit 50 bombs and was the veteran leadership to a division winning team that was playing in Richmond, VA a few months prior, he hit in the low .270s. Pujols single-handedly was the offense for a team whose lineup was decimated by injuries, and yet still won 100 games. People barely noticed, and essentially gave Albert the MVP by default, feeling that the other two candidates did not have résumés worthy of the award, and they were right, but, somehow, the vote was still close.  

People take Pujols for granted. Like in the case of last years voting for MVP, people just assumed that Pujols would always have seasons that were career years for some of the best players in the major leagues. The voters figured that Jones and Lee might never be considered for the award again, and that Pujols, who did nothing extraordinary, by his standards, would have a room dedicated to all his MVP trophies later on in his career. No other great player has been treated this way, ever. Barry Bonds won the MVP ward over Pujols three straight years, and no one ever claimed that they should give the kid the award because Bonds already had his fair share. Pujols didn’t even have the fair share when people started taking him for granted, and that is just not fair to the game or to him, though he is such a class act that he would never even comment on the topic, much less bring it up.

I suppose what irks me most is that no one has noticed that Albert Pujols is possibly the greatest hitter baseball has ever seen, and all the people at ESPN and others care about is Barry Bonds, a cheater. Bonds doesn’t deserve even a glimpse of the spotlight after what he did to the game, but the major sports media outlets play right into his little charade. Bonds on Bonds, and the chasing Ruth segments every 10 minutes on sportSCenter seem to give credence to Bonds’ selfish, juvenile, and self-pitying lifestyle. That whole fiasco where he wept, trying to convince the American public who watch his show, which, forgive my stereotype, are already suckers, that he was being mistreated was a complete farce of the situation, where the game of baseball and its fans have been mistreated, and in my opinion defecated upon by Bonds, the Balco situation and the entire steroid era. No one deserves that from a game that people are getting paid an extraordinary amount of money to play, and fans are paying more than a nickel for seats.

There is hope in baseball, and it lies in Barry Bonds knees, and Albert Pujols bat. If Bonds were ever to pass Aaron, it will become nearly improbable that baseball’s image would be able to recover. Albert Pujols is the final hope. He can do for baseball what it needed less than ten years ago: a home run chase. Pujols could shatter the inflated records naturally, a feat that is more inconceivable than it is perceived. Pujols would knock Bonds off the top, and restore dignity and honor to the single season record, and if Bonds were to somehow pass Aaron, well, maybe Pujols will clean that mess up as well.

Not only is Albert Pujols a magnificent, 1 of a kind player, who is never recognized for what he has done thus far. The question is, will Albert be recognized when he saves baseball?

First Two Weeks

The first two weeks of the Major League Season are over and there are the typical suspects on the top, and a few teams getting the preverbal cup of coffee at the top of the division. Needless to say, there are few teams going out and showing that they have the stuff to contend in October, namely the Mets, Detroit, and the Cubs. But at this point it seems apparent who will be playing in the later months for something other than pride.

The Boston Red Sox are a team that has hit their stride, and that should strike fear into the hearts of the White Sox and Yankees, their only real challenges in a top heavy AL. The way that off season acquisition Josh Beckett is pitching, and the way Curt Shilling has regained his form puts the Red Sox starting rotation in a club of few teams that can rely on strong pitching to win games, and apparently it is pitching that wins playoff games. Who knew?

It has somehow become a fact that Boston is an offensive machine that should not be reckoned with, one that is unparalleled by all the other teams in the league; and there is some clout to that stereotype. Obviously the Red Sox offense is the most potent due to Big Papi and Manny, but the South Side of Chicago might oppose that with their own 1-2 punch, the American versions of the Dominicans, Jim Thome and Paul Konerko. Now obviously Thome and Konerko are not going to put up Manny and Papi numbers, because those two are pound for pound the best rakers in the league. But what Papi and Manny do not have is a totally balanced lineup both in front of them and behind them. When Scott Podsednik gets out of his slump, the White Sox will be an unstoppable offensive force. With Tadahito Iguchi, the league’s premier #2 hitter, moving Podsednik over, or in, the Thome and Konerko will seem to constantly find themselves in keen RBI situations. The man who used to hold the distinction of the premier #2 plays for Boston, Mark Loretta, but their leadoff man, Kevin Youkilis, who is a fine young ballplayer, is no Scott Podsednik, and on top of that, Manny does not have last year’s best home run hitting RF in Jermaine Dye cleaning him up. Needless to say, the White Sox might be able to shatter some of the preconceived notions of the Red Sox offensive dominance of the AL. This is incredibly revolutionary for this team who last year were knocked late in the year and at the beginning of the playoffs, never given a chance against the Beantown Boys in the ALDS, because of their lack of offensive production. Then again, the White Sox were one of only three teams who hit over 200 team homeruns last year, so it those notions seemed somewhat unwarranted. Then again, who cares what experts say when you set records, added another two aces to an already STACKED starting rotation, and win the World Series.

But the North side of Chicago is also going gung-ho for their beloved Cubbies, who, without their two stud fireballers, have managed to flirt with the division lead for the beginning of the 2006 season. There is lots of hope and optimism north of Madison these days, and the same stigmas that have been ‘holding down’ the Cubs for so long seem to be playing right into their game. Obviously, two of the three baseball ‘curses’ have been broken in the past two Fall Classics, and Cubs fans, if not for anything else, feel that they are only rightfully entitled to finish out the triumvirate of ‘curse’ breakers.

Nonetheless, the Cubs are playing good baseball, and a recent sweep of the Cardinals shows their potential for beating good teams, but the team truly has no shot at a crown until they can get back a healthy Prior and until they can start to score runs behind Juan Pierre and a small ball mentality, they will be slaves to the long ball, as they have relied on it to score the vast majority of their runs. The Cubs did do a good job revamping their bullpen, but the rotation is the missing piece preventing this team from being a .500 floating glimpses of greatness team to a true title contender who is defined by their pitching. The absence of Prior truly is detrimental to this teams rotation and its chemistry. While Zambrano might shave filthy stuff, he is far too emotional, and puts too much pressure on himself to be the leader of the staff, and while Greg Maddox might still be doing his job and getting people out, he stresses the Cub bullpen even more by not going anything more than 6 innings. Glendon Rusch Jerome Williams are just not rotation material, but continue to tease Cubs fans with stellar outings just frequently enough to whet the Dusty Baker’s appetite and keep them in the rotation. In addition, the lack of a rotation has Sean Marshall, a young man who never played above class A before now penciled in as the number 5 starter. Marshall has potential, but should be spot starting for the Cubs and regularing the AAA Iowa rotation to polish his skills. Lunging him into the majors so quickly might stunt his development, but so far he has done adequately enough for the team, keeping him at the big league level.
The addition of Prior would nearly sure up the rotation, and if Kerry Wood is healthy enough to get back into the starting 5 as well, those two healthy pitchers will launch the Cubs rotation into orbit as one of the league’s best, and reassure the future success of the team and its prospects.

And now everyone is going Shea about the New York Mets, who for some reason are considered the league’s best team. For a team with an aged rotation and an injury prone lineup, it would be wise to delay one’s judgment until they beat a team other than the Marlins and Nationals.

Detroit has gotten off to a hot start, thanks to the, for lack of a better term, lucky bat of Chris Shelton, who was truly due for a break out season, but has done more than that thus far, hitting eight home runs in twelve games. The commissioner’s office will be sending him a random test in the next couple of days as well. The Tigers might just have figured it out though, as the young arms the team has been bringing up for years have finally matured into bonafide starters. Mike Maroth, the ML’s last 20 game looser, is 2-0 with a .73 ERA, and that is no fluke. The ego of the team might have taken a strong jab from a sweep from the World Champions, but they are still strong enough to contend for a wild card, and if they get Chris Shelton lucky at the right time, possibly a division. What a far cry from a team that contended with the worst record ever no less than three years ago.

2006 Major League Preview

Ok, It has been a while, but here is the dealio, we all know about my highly successful baseball preview, and I have finally taken he time to write it.

The major leagues in 2006 will be a large changing of the guard in a few situations, but in many ways, it will be incredibly similar to the 2005 season. On the individual player front, we may be on the verge of a baseball renaissance, as teams will be adapting to the fundamental baseball styles of pitching and timely hitting that lead the Chicago White Sox to their first world series since 1917. But as I said before, it will very much be the same contenders in the hunt for a division crown when September rears its brisk head, and only the elite will be playing in October.

National League
Central Division:
Red Birds continue division dominance.
1. St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals have a strong offense, one of the best pitching staffs in baseball, and Albert Pujols. They will be at 100 percent, something they could not say last year, on opening day, and thought they might not always be, it is fully expected that they can repeat their 100 win season, produced in an injury plagued year, easily.
2. Houston Astros
They might resign the rocket for the dog days of the Texas summer, but it will not be enough to make a big splash in the playoff picture, but this team is too talented not to win their fair share of games and challenge for the Wild Card.
3. Milwaukee Brewers
This team is on the upstart, but they have an over achieving pitching staff that is nothing less than suspect. Their bullpen might not be able to hold games, and they have no dominant pitcher to hand the ball off to in the 9th to save the game. This team also has the best group of young players in the league, and will be a dominant force and possibly contend for a crown…next year.
4. Chicago Cubs
The Cubs made some great off-season acquisitions (Juan Pierre), and retained some solid players (Murton, Rusch) and, if healthy, would win the Central, but when have you ever known the Cubs to be health?
5. Pittsburgh Pirates
Will this be the year of Pittsburgh? Sadly, no. This team has a whole lot of talent, but not an experienced pitching staff capable of supporting a winner, a bullpen that looks called up from Scranton, and a mixing pot of different players that will not blend into winning baseball by the rivers.
6. Cincinnati Reds
Ken Griffey Jr. is back in town, and is fully expected to have a pre-trade year. Griffey truly deserves this, after enduring injury after injury, he had been put back, by default, on the podium of great power hitters. The Reds though, might never arrive in town. They might be able to score 10 runs a game, but they would give up 15 in the process.

West
Automatic berth to a first round playoff exit…
1.San Diego Padres
Someone has to win this division, so why not the team that nearly pulled of the amazing feat of making the playoffs with a sub .500 record. In all reality though, it is doubtful that this team could be as brutal as it was last year. They will be no great shakes, but they will play competitive baseball behind monster years from SS Khalil Greene and Ace Jake Peavey.
2. Los Angeles Dodgers
This team has no identity, and if it wanted to make any noise in the playoff picture come the home stretch, it would require the pitching staff, right now mediocre, to be out of this world. The return of Gagne should be an emotional boost for a team that was ravaged by injuries in ‘05
3. Arizona Diamondbacks
This team is young, and short on starting pitching. They might have enough offense to make 2006 a respectable looking season, but in reality it will be lost, just like their rotation.
4. San Francisco Giants
A team this good does not deserve to have a player like Barry Bonds on it, bringing nothing but adversary towards it. They will never be able to shake his stigma off the team in general, and will underachieve under the spotlight of shame.
5. Colorado Rockies
Now is the time to clear house, as the Rockies will sink into another vile season at altitude. Instead of going out and getting a tough and battle tested pitching staff, they decided, if you can’t beat them, emulate them, not realizing that they were emulating teams pounding awful pitching for 20 runs a game. The Rockies don’t have the talent to go out and score 20 consistently, and until they decide to play real baseball, they will be perpetually in the cellar.

East
Why do you guys keep trying? Love, Atlanta
1. Atlanta Braves
Not a chance that they will not win this division this year. They won last year starting rookies, and those young players have matured. They will win the East for the 16th consecutive year.
2. Philadelphia Phillies
They are a well-balanced team that will thrive on good fundamental baseball, and Ryan Howard pounding baseballs farther than Sputnik. They field a strong group, and send to the mound a no name pitching staff that does nothing other than go out and win. This team will win the wild card silently.
3. New York Mets
Beyond all the hoopla, this is Mets team that has weak starting pitching, and an unbalanced batting order. Their bullpen is formidable, but that is the only part of the roster that is bloated on payroll and has no real theme.
4. Washington Nationals
The team will not be able to recapture the magic that it found last year in its first year in the nation’s capital. Overall the team over performed last year, and will not be able to replicate its record of the year prior. The team made some solid off-season moves, but failed to address its lack of solid starting pitching. Though the Soriano trade seems like a bust, it will be sure to self-correct itself, and brought star power to a struggling franchise. Star power that will be seen this year in the form of a young man patrolling the hot corner of RFK, Ryan Zimmerman, this rookie will blaze a path that will take over the District by June. Don’t be surprised to see Z for president signs on sportscenter this year.
5. Florida Marlins
The fire sale part deux leaves the team in a total limbo, none of this will be on the field, where the Albuquerque Isotopes will be playing the rest of the major league, and for fun, wearing a major leaguer’s uniform. Dontrelle Willis will sure have fun being the veteran leadership for this team that is destined for the cellar and greener pastures for years to come.


American League
Central Division
Old boss same as the new boss
1. Chicago White Sox
The World Champions might be the most balanced team in the history of baseball, and before you get out your stones, take into account this situation. Their lineup is perfectly built to score runs by way of either Ozzieball or the long ball, they have greatly increased their depth, and they go 6 starters deep with three of the best relievers in the game of baseball sitting in the left field bleachers of the Cell. Now, the pale hoes will not avoid all the injuries they were spared from in 2005, but that does not mean that this team is unable to match the performance of the year before. It is fully expected that AJ Pierzynski will recover from a brutal offensive year and become the leader of this team both on the field, and at the plate, solidifying the middle of the order for the power hitters at the bottom. There is a large question mark in the two rookies: starting CF Brian Anderson and Closer Bobby Jenks. While Jenks can hardly be considered a rookie, Anderson is naïve in a way to the major league game. He has literally no pressure on him from the clubhouse, where he will be one of the goons, but with Ryan Sweeney and Jerry Owens close on the prowl, Anderson will need to perform by June in order to keep his job. Jenks, on the other hand, was given the keys to the house in September by Ozzie Guillen, and performed remarkably for a rookie, while becoming the fan favorite on the South Side, and subject of many tall tales around the ballpark.  Anyone who possesses the unparalleled stuff of Jenks is bound to be dominating and successful, but the real question is whether or not he can maintain the high level of pitching for an entire season. The question remains to be solved, but even with these question marks, they are miniscule in the overall issues of other teams, and the White Sox will dominate the American League once more.
2. Cleveland Indians
For such a good team, the chief Wahoo’s bunch does not deserve the bad luck they have gotten recently. After missing the playoffs on the last day of the season in ’05, the Indians were slated to overtake the White Sox in 2006. The White Sox, meanwhile, revamped their team, and the Indians lost some good players that were key in ‘05. The loss of Coco Crisp will be difficult, but not insurmountable. The team will not be able to go on the ridiculous tear that baseball had never before seen in 2006, but the team will play solid baseball through the year and contend for a Wild Card, and possibly have division title in their grasps for a few weeks.
3. Minnesota Twins
This team has no offense, but a pitching staff that will be near the top of the league. Francisco Liriano will run away with rookie of the year, and be a second Johan Santana in the Twinkie dome. Those two might be able to get 35 for the Twins this year. The rest of the staff is solid, and the Nathan led bullpen is dangerous as always. The twins just will not be able to score enough runs to contend, and the though their pitching is good, it is not flawless.
4. Detroit Tigers
The Tigers are good enough to play .500 ball in 2006, but it is doubtful that they will. David Dombrowski did a good job in the off season by hiring Jim Leyland, a manager that deserves more credit than he gets, and bolstering the pitching staff. This team will be a force in the Central for years to come, and glances of that will be flashed at times in 2006.
5. Kansas City Royals
While Dombrowski was doing a fantastic job resurrecting the Tigers in Detroit, Allan Baird ran the Royals into the ground so far, that they are better off digging down some more, as it is closer to land. The team is in disarray, and being run like a AA team. Speaking of which, most of the Royals players are of that caliber, so maybe it isn’t so awful after all.

East
Wait. Is that…Tampa Bay?
1. Boston Red Sox
No, they will not be dominant, but they bought enough dependable starters and can score enough runs to beat the Yankees for the first time in nearly a decade. Papelbon is a bonafide number one, and will be key in the probable Red Sox playoff run. Manny will always be Manny, and this is not the inevitable year he will be traded to the Mets.
2. New York Yankees
Now the Yankees might have an overpaid 200 Million dollar, suck on this small market line up that looks like it can crush the ball to Jersey (the one in England…) but this team is not that good, will be constantly bombarded by injuries, and has huge holes in their bullpen and starting rotation. Their offense will perform to the top of the American League, but there is no way that they can stay in the hunt with a carousel of starting pitchers, a season long audition for bullpen spots, and the high team ERA that will come with it. On top of that, the Bronx Bombers will not be able to clean up on formerly weak teams like the Devil Rays and Blue Jays, who made significant upgrades over the free agent period, and look to be competitive for the first time in a long time. Somewhere, George Steinbrenner signs away another 5 million dollar a year check, only to have that player sit on the bench injured. Karma laughs in the corner.
3. Toronto Blue Jays
The Blue Jays, looking to get out of the long slump of mediocrity did the only thing they could this off-season, overpay unproven free agents. And that they did, getting AJ Burnett and BJ Ryan, both of who have never been prone to great continual success. But nonetheless these signings are going to help boost the moral of the team, knowing that everyone has a similar goal, to win a world series, in mind. This will likely boost wins, but the team needs to overpay a few more, and better, players to contend in the near future.
4. Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Wait, do you, no way! Indeed, yes, the Devil Rays will not finish in the cellar in 2006, because of the new ownership and a winning vibe reverberating throughout the organization. This team has always had lots of talent, and now they are maturing. While the pitching situation is still dire, the rays will be able to play competitive baseball for the first time since their inception in 2006.
5. Baltimore Orioles
Yes, Baltimore gets the fine distinction of finishing behind the Devil Rays for the first of many times to come. While Baltimore boasts Miguel Tejada and Daniel Cabrera, the rest of the team is not very good, and will bring down the overall level of play in Baltimore this season. The Palmeiro and Sosa scandals are behind the team, but not by much, and low morale from the second half crash (loosing first place) and burn (Palmeiro) will stick with this team and lead to a last place finish.
West
There for the taking, except if you are Texas or Seattle…

1. Oakland A’s
The A’s were decimated by injuries last year, and will get MVP candidate and all underrated team captain Bobby Crosby back for hopefully an entire year. The pitching staff on this team is a smidge over hyped, but not by much, and run a close second to Chicago for best in the AL. Zito, will be superb this year, as will Blanton and Harden. Together they make up the most intimidating top 3 in baseball. The rest of the team is solid and balanced, poised to make a playoff run.
2. Los Angeles Angels
After dropping the Anaheim name, the Angels also dropped their cool against the White Sox in the ALCS, ironically enough, from a dropped ball. This team though is strong enough to go deep into the playoffs, if their pitching staff props them up on their backs. Bartolo Colon will have a down year, as he never has consecutive good years. The team is solid, but built up for a downfall, and will just be plain overmatched by the A’s down the stretch, and will squeak into the playoffs.
3. Seattle Mariners
This team is really unchanged from a underperfoming 69 win team last year, but many of the strong moves they made a winter prior will pay off for them. Adrian Beltre will respond to an aweful year by performing at a higher level. It will not be MVP, but enough to win a few games, and deserve some of the money he gets paid. Richie Sexon is consistently going to hit, and he isn’t bad with the glove either. This will be ther year he puts himself in the category of elite AL first basemen with Konerko, Teixeira, Ortiz, and Haftner. While Jamie Moyer is like 72 and will still go out and win13-15 games, Felix Hernandez might need another year to develop fully, and if that is true, all American League hitters should be very frightened, because he will a be truly and utterly unhittable 27Ks in 9 innings pitcher. See glimpses this year and prepare yourself for the finished product.
4.Texas Rangers
The pitchers stink, they lost good solid position players, and the bullpen is absolutely putrid. It is a shame too, because they have Teixeira, one of the best players in the major league, stuck in the cellar in Arlington. Mark might hit .330 with 55 and 150, but no one on his team will come even remotely close to any numbers similar, and the other teams hitters will average about the same against Ranger pitching.

Playoffs:
They might make a run at it

American League:
1- Chicago over 4- Los Angeles (3-1)
1- Oakland over 3- Boston (3-2)

1- Chicago over 2- Oakland (4-3)
National League
1- St. Louis over 3- Philadelphia (3-1)
2- Atlanta over 4- San Diego (3-0)

2-Atlanta over 1-St. Louis (4-2)
World Series
      Chicago over Atlanta (4-3)

Season Awards
MVP:
AL:Crosby
NL:Pujols
CY Young:
AL:Zito
NL:Peavey
Rookie of the Year
AL: Francisco Liriano
NL: Ryan Zimmerman