Wah Wah Wah Anaheim Angels

Tom Hanks said it best when he said " There's no crying in baseball!" . The California Angels of Anaheim need to take a lesson from that. For the past 18 hours, they have been crying that the Boston Red Sox stole Carl Crawford away from them. I don't remember Carl saying that he wanted to go to Boston over Anaheim ( a no brainer, though ) or that he wanted to go anywhere. Carl was on the "open" market, up for the highest bidder. The Angels chose to give him a less lucrative offer and for fewer years, so he's now headed to Boston.

Torii Hunter even came out today and said that he wanted to play with Carl. Well, you should have ponied up some of your own cash there, Torii, and maybe he would have signed with your team. Of course, you could always ask to be traded to Boston and then you and Carl can be best buds on the Red Sox juggernaut for the next 6-7 years.

No one has the right to complain when they get outbid for the services of a player. The Red Sox are clearly going for it now this year and are not concerned about whether or not they make a profit for the 2011 season. Ego does that to people and it drives them to perhaps overpay for a player, so that they can keep interest high.

The Angels problem is the fan base. They show up for a game in the 3rd inning after having a few margaritas and a wheel of brie downtown, then they sit on their hands for most of the game, and leave after the 7th inning stretch, so that they can still make the buffet at Red Lobster.

Anaheim is not a baseball town. They don't deserve Carl Crawford or even Broderick Crawford ( remember him on highway Patrol? ). Joan Crawford lived nearby - so they should be happy with that.

The Angels had plenty of money to spend. After all, now they want Beltre and Soriano, neither of whom will come cheaply. But be careful, LA, you could easily lose them too if someone else throws in a few extra bats and gloves to the deal and you balk at making a move.

You are the stiff of the week - your ownership, your fan base and yes, even the city (ha-ha) of Anaheim. You have worries this year about Oakland and Seattle as well. Best of luck with that -see you on the way to the AL West basement.

Theo Theo Theo - what were you thinking????

Theo Epstein, boy genius, must have failed his college statistics classes. Stats don't lie buddy and you just cost the Red Sox 12.5 million dollars that you will never get production for. Here are the numbers you missed:

David Ortiz

2004-2006 240+ extra base hits
2008-2010 178 extra base hits

2004-2006 OPS around .400 each year
2008-2010 OPS around .325 each year

2004-2006 Consistent average at or above .300
2008-2010 Average plummets to BELOW .200 only comes back to .266

He is making more money than any full time DH on any roster for the 2011 season next year.

He hit .211 vs. left-handed pitchers this year with 2/3 of his strikeouts.

Moving the right field fence in 9 feet next year won't help him with his loss of bat speed through the hitting zone ( 15-17 mph slower than in his prime ), but it will help younger opposing lefties.... nice idea.

In April and May, he had the opportunity to drive in the tying or lead run after the 7th inning in 36 games. He did it exactly twice.

This is a horrible move since D.O. wanted long -term big contract, so besides being horrible, he will be disgruntled and the team does not have $12.5 mil to spend on " talent."

MLB and MLBPA need to sit down NOW!!!!!!

Let me preface my remarks by stating unequivocably that I am now and always have been a die-hard Boston Red Sox fan. I have been through the decades of "bad" and the decade of "good" . We all want our team to win, but let's look at what is happening in Major League Baseball. As you know, there is no salary cap in this sport, so the teams that have the financial resources are going to be more successful overall. Occasionally, a team with a low payroll, has some young up-and-coming players, who perform above and beyond the norm and the team is competitive briefly. Later on, those players leave for " greener pastures" with the rich teams.

But let's look at the big picture. The "richest" teams are clearly the Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, Dodgers and the "poorest" teams are the Royals, A's,Orioles, Astros and Pirates. Which ones do we always talk about as "winners" or "potential winners" and which ones never are in the discussion?

How would you like to be a fan of the KC Royals, knowing that the before the season started, you entire team's payroll is less than that of just Jeter and A-Rod. You have no chance, so unless you are just a fan of the game, you don't go to many or any games and attendance figures are horrible, meaning even less revenue.

During the season, teams such as the Yankees have the luxury of constant re-evaluation and additions to the roster and payroll. Their contract with the YES Network, their advertisers and huge fan base basically make it so that there is NO CEILING whatsoever to what they can spend. They are already this year at $230M, which is at least $75M more than the next team in line and more than 5 times as much as the majority of other major league teams. They have a struggling pitcher. That's OK; let's go buy another one or trade for another one. A player gets hurt; OK, let's go get a replacement player. When you look at the Yankees, you see A-Rod, Teixeira, Granderson, Sabathia, Petitte, Swisher, Burnett and realize that these guys all came to the Yankees as free agents and other teams could not afford to pay what the Yankees could. The Yankees were the highest bidder for each of them, by a mile. Paying a luxury ( overspending ) tax is of no issue to the Yankees. They could literally run their payroll to $400M and still be in the black, just with media deals. They have a city of 15M people and a new park with nice seats and expensive souvenirs and food. Tickets run up to $750 per game and they still nearly fill it. Some of the poor teams are offering 10 game blocks of tickets for $99, just to get people in the park.

Does anyone think that this disparity is going to get better? It's not. The Yankees have an all-star team. One of their worst regular players is Swisher, a virtual star on any other team. With no salary cap, their potential to win World Championships increases each year as more teams fall behind.

Worse than the thought of the Yankees winning the world Series multiple years or decades in a row, is the thought that bankruptcy looms in the future for many low budget teams. It's hard to atract fans when you always lose. The Pittsburgh Pirates, once a proud franchise, is drawing under 11,000 fans per game. They won't last very much longer that way. They are on their way to their 20th consecutive losing season. It's the same for KC, Oakland, Houston and a host of other clubs. We don't need to lose baseball in major cities now and head back to only having 8 teams.

The 19-39 year olds are not that interested in baseball now, because of its lack of constant action. This is a generation that needs a reason to come back. Losing won't help that happen in the cities they reside.

Some teams should be getting better, because when the rich teams play a luxury tax, the money goes to the poorer teams, supposedly to go out and buy free agents. The last few years has shown that this isn't happening. The money is being used to pay regular bills that otherwise unpaid, would push the teams toward bankruptcy. The system is broken and it needs to be fixed.

Remember, I am a Sox fan, and I know that a salary cap would bring all the teams to the approximate same level. That's OK with me, because I like real competition.

Some people beleive that it has nothing to do with the teams, but rather it's the hiring of good managers. This is total nonsense. Look at the successful managers recently.

Terry Francona was a horrible manager in Philadelphia, when they wouldn't spend any money. He comes to Boston and wins 2 titles. Did he suddenly get smart? No, he sudden;y had money behind him to get players ( Ramirez, Ortiz,Beckett, etc ).

Is Joe Girardi some kind of brain child? Anyone could coach that team in NY right now. Just fill out the card and send them out there. Everyone thought Joe Torre was a briliant manager. That's not true. How was he before the Yankees and now with the LA Dodgers? Did he suddenly get stupid or did the money pit run dry?

Is Lou Piniella a bad manager or does he just have a bad team? Why can't anyone win in Baltimore? The answer is clear. They don't spend money for players. You can't make chicken salad out of chicken shE#$^%@.

Every fall, fans of the NFL in nearly every city really beleive that their team can make it to the Super Bowl, because there is a cap on spending. In these games, talent wins out, the talent you already have, not the talent that you can spend freely to get later on.

I am naming MLB and the MLBPA my stiffs of the week, for failing to see what is happening to baseball and what will ultimately result in its demise. No player needs to make $20M+ a year to hit a ball. The integrity of this game is in serious jeopardy and something needs to be done now.

From Hero to Zero. Jason Bay w/ the Paper Mets.

It breaks my baseball heart to post this.

I was singing this stiff's praises just last year, but that was before he left the greatest city in the world to join the New York "paper" Mets.

In case you've never heard it before - they are the "paper" Mets because on paper they are MVPs, All Stars & Cy Young winners but on the field a bunch of underperforming stiffs.

Jason Bay was a hero in Boston. In 2008 he came to Boston from the lowly Pirates and in '08 & '09 had 30+ home runs & 100+ RBIs in each year.

He had no problem playing & PERFORMING in the pressure cooker that is Fenway Park, in front of the most passionate fans in the world.

He was the man. He had everyone saying, "Manny, who?"

But then it seems JBay got cocky and sold his soul on EBay. Someone should have told him that left field in New York is a lot further than in Boston - Green Monster or not.

Now JBay is hitting .257 with just 6 home runs and only 44 RBIs. Worse, he is batting .169 in July. Even worse, he went 0 for 6 last night (July 22nd) with 4 strike outs. And to top it all off - he has now been benched.

JBay, you couldn't have made it any easier for me. The stats really don't lie...

You are my stiff of the MONTH!

Tim Wakefield Needs to Go NOW!!!!!

The knuckleball isn't knuckling; the fastball can't reach 75mph; the changeup barely makes it to the plate. Everyone has figured him out. If the pitch starts at the waist, take it because it will be low. If it starts at shoulder level, it will come down right across the plate, so be ready.

He has back problems, especially the last 3 years. Strikeouts are down, hits are up; ERA is approaching 6.00 and he is 3-8 and should be 3-13. The time has come for this Red Sox legend to step away from the game with some dignity. He no longer eats innings for the team. He can't get out of the 3rd inning anymore. His role according to Francona was always that he was an " innings eater ".

Putting him in the bullpen is not an answer. He is taking up a roster spot no matter where he is. He has been a real soldier for this team, but the time comes for everyone to leave the game and his time is now.

He has been a Red Sox pitcher for 16 years and he is 20 games over .500 for them in that time. That means each year he has one more win than loss on average. This is when he was good. Now he is terrible. Terry Francona needs to take a good hard look at the aging veterans on this team and start making some tough decisions.

The team is 8 games out now in the loss column and can't beat Oakland. This road trp could be the last straw. He does not need to pitch again. Put him on the 60-day disabled list and let that be the end of him. That's pretty much what they've done to Lowell. What's the difference?

Stats don't lie!!!!! Wakefield's stats are bad, getting worse every time he pitches and loyal Red Sox people want to dwell on the past. Thanks for the memories Tim.....it's time to go away. Tim, you are a stiff, officially.