Revis the Stiff

Dear Mr. Darelle Revis,

You are a stiff.

Stop faking injuries when you get burned.

Sincerely,

S.O.T.W. Staff

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Revis Island: Beware of Stiffs

WEEI reported the following earlier today:

"Revis, who played his first game back Monday night after missing all of training camp in a contract dispute, was limited on Thursday in practice by hamstring tightness and his availability for Sunday is unknown."

I am just going to say it now:

If Darrelle Revis does not play this Sunday, he is automatically the stiff of the YEAR.

As long as he is alive and his thigh bone isn't sticking through his skin, he better being playing.

It seems way too much like an excuse for when he gets burned by Randy Moss because he isn't in football condition or is hurt.

After all his trash talk, contract hold out and hype about "Revis Island" how lame is it to lean on the excuse of hamstring tightness.

Either sit out until you are ready to play at NFL speed, admit you are scared of Moss or don't hold out in the first place.

Revis should have been running parachute assisted wind sprints 24-7 or at least sit ups in his driveway (the T.O. workout) while waiting for his contract. What was he doing all day, eating Twinkies and playing Madden '11?

But in all fairness... injury, out of shape or whatever, as long as Moss burns him for at least a couple touchdowns and the Patriots beat the Jets, I will be very happy.

Ochocinco is a Liar.

Last week Chad Ochocinco of the Cincinnati Bengals said that if he scored a touchdown vs. the New England Patriots that he would grab a musket from one of the Minuteman Mascots.

Well Chad, you just scored a TD and immediately walked away to your sideline...

What a stiff!

As much as I love the Patriots, I was hoping you would score.... and then get gun punched by one of those revolutionary rebels.

Chad you talked the talk but didn't walk the walk - so you are the stiff of the week.

Oh, and ochenta y cinco is how you say 85 in spanish, not ocho cinco.

Boston Red Sox Fair Weather Fans

Front Running Red Sox "Fans," you are all the stiffs of the week.

Everywhere I go in Boston I hear the following, "The Red Sox suck this year."

Since when is Boston full of a bunch of front running, show up in the fourth inning, pink hat wearing fans?

Sometimes I think reversing the curse did more harm than good for the Fenway faithful.

Before 2004 and 2007 - Fenway Park was real. The fans were for the most part knowledgeable about baseball or their hometown team at the very least. People brought their kids because their kids wanted to go see their favorite players play.

Now when I head to Fenway it is a crap shoot.

Sure, in the bleachers and less expensive seating areas you have mostly true fans. They show up on time, drink way too much and talk baseball with the other drunkards around them.

However, the closer you get to the Loge seating (and don't even getting me started on the skyboxes) you still find die hard fans, but more commonly you find these fair weather folk that I speak of. Half of them are doing business on their cell phone while their kid is playing on his/her Game Boy. They are at Fenway to be seen; to be the envy of those fans in the obstructed grandstand seats.

They pay ridiculous prices for the tickets, and if the sox are playing a team like the Orioles, they don't bother going at all.

They don't remember what Fenway looked like before the Green Monster seats and they never saw the Marlborough man billboard above the center field bleachers.

They might remember Fisk, Clemens, Mo Vaughn, Nomar, Pedro, Manny and Papi...

But they sure as hell don't remember Jodi Reed, Tom Brunansky, Brian Daubach, Mike Greenwell, Troy O'Leary and Oil Can Boyd.

They never stayed up on a school night and watched the ball go through Buckner's legs.

They think Aaron Boone is some sort of famous hunter or Civil War general.

They became fans in 2004 and not until the Sox evened up the series. They only saw Dave Roberts steal 2nd base on replays and highlight reels.

The problem now is that even some of the true Fenway Faithful are being influenced by these fake fans and becoming front runners themselves.

HERE IS YOUR WAKE UP CALL.

The sox will not make the playoffs this year. Their pitching has been less than outstanding.

But...

(say it with me) THE RED SOX DO NOT SUCK THIS YEAR.

They are either 1st or 2nd in the American League in the following categories: runs, doubles, home runs, RBIs, slugging and total bases. They are 4th in on-base percentage and 5th in hits.

And for such a "dismal" year of pitching, they are still 2nd in the AL in strikeouts.

AS OF TODAY, 9/6, THE RED SOX HAVE 76 WINS. THIS WOULD MAKE THEM...

-1st in AL West (Texas = 75 wins)
-1st in NL West (Tied with San Deigo = 76 wins)
-3 games back in NL East & NL Central

They would be pretty much guaranteed AT LEAST the wild card in the National League.

The 4th place team in the AL East - The Toronto Blue Jays - even has 71 wins!!!

(say it with me again) THE RED SOX DO NOT SUCK THIS YEAR.

Did I forget to mention injuries? Ah, yes. I forgot to mention that such a productive offensive year has been done without the likes of (for short and long periods of time) Pedroia, Youk, VMart, Varitek, Lowrie, Lowell, Ellsbury, Cameron etc.

So lets see... thats an MVP, consistent .300+ hitter, 40+ stolen base guy & 2007 World Series MVP that the Sox had on the DL this year - not to mention two members of their starting rotation...

On the pitching side of things, Beckett and Dice-K haven't been 100% this year. That is obvious.

Things could have been so much worse.

Any true Red Sox fan will look back on this year and say, "Wow a lot of guys really stepped up and played well. I can't believe we came as close as we did to making the playoffs. Hopefully we get healthy next year. And at the very least we now have a ton of options and proven prospects to use in trades or fill gaps in the future."

WILL THE REAL RED SOX FANS PLEASE STAND UP?

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.

Anahein Angels Panic in AL West Race

I am very surprised to see such a laid back organization push the panic button in July and make a trade that makes no sense, short term or long term. They are getting Dan Haren, whose past is much better than his present, a guy who has been oft-injured and a guy who is coming back to the AL from the much less talented National League. He is 7-8 this year with a 4.60 earned rin average and hitters are batting .285 vs. him. Remember, every ninth hitter is the pitcher's spot in the NL and there's always a guy in the lineup whose job is to bunt or hit little punch-and-judy dribblers. The AL is a bunch of bangers up and down the lineup for the majority of teams.

In return, the Angels give up Joe Saunders, who is 6-10 this year with an ERA of 4.62 and hitters batting .290 vs. him. This is against AL teams, so the numbers for Haren and Saunders are a wash. They are virtually the same guy.

But that's not the end of the trade. The Angels gave up 25 year old pitcher Rafael Rodriguez, who is 5-3 with an ERA of 3.04 in AAA this year. He has 2-1 strikeouts to walks ratio and has a lot of upside.

They also gave up Patrick Corbin, 21 year old pitcher who in A ball has been 17-5 over the past 2 years. He has 152 strikeouts and 39 walks during that time.

The Angels will also give up a player to be named later.

This is a terrible trade for the Angels. They are banking on a guy whose best days are behind him, who has been out of the AL for years and they gave away an innings-eater in Saunders and 2 really good prospects.

This was a panic move for sure. There is no rhyme or reason to this. This team is just not good enough to stay with the Rangers this year and this trade won't close the gap unless the Rangers stop playing well and that'as not likely.

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!