Hockeytown Quick Hits
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Hockeytown Quick Hits
A cool baseball story
[I apologize for the lack of posts in July. As you all are pretty well aware, it has been a ridiculously slow summer for hockey/Red Wings news, leaving me with a handful of baseball subjects I could talk about but laziness quickly takes over. I love baseball—it's right up there with hockey in terms of my favorite sports—so I figure I can pass the time by writing about another sport I love.]
In today's Detroit Free Press, I came across a very cool article in the sports section briefly profiling some people who were fortunate enough to catch a foul ball at Comerica Park on July 22.
The reason I link to it, besides the fact that it's a unique project that tackled an aspect of the game that I love (a likely once in a lifetime opportunity to catch a foul ball at a game), is that it reminded me of the time I got a foul ball at a Tigers game.
I was sitting down the third base line on May 30, 2003, a game in which the Tigers lost to the New York Yankees 6-0. Bobby Higginson was at the plate. (Remember him? The guy who Detroit management paid $11,850,000 in 2003 for an OPS+ of 88 and a .320 OBP? He now is a partner in a limo company located in Michigan. Brings me back to the dark days of Tigers baseball.) He hit a high fly ball toward my section, and just happened to be coming right at me. Unfortunately, I didn't catch it on the fly (I was nine or ten, give me a break), but it landed right behind me, and a Japanese man, who didn't speak English, picked it up and handed it to me.
After the game, a security guard probably risked losing his job by stopping Higginson as he was pulling out of the garage in his Jaguar, and asked him if he could sign the ball. He did, "casually" rolling down his passenger window and without saying a word, signed the souvenir. Then he drove off in his career 113 OPS+ lore.
It was incredible luck I guess, considering the attendance that day was 28,003, that I was able to walk out of the stadium with a foul ball. The Elias Sports Bureau says that there are around 5o foul balls every game, so to be one of the approximately 50 fans that snagged one that day is certainly something I will remember for a long time.
Joe Morgan hasn't changed
Hi there. Just a real quick thought. While Joe Morgan conducted this chat on July 13, it doesn't change the fact that he probably should be fired. This is what I'm talking about:
Tito (Brooklyn): Joe, who do you think is the best overall CF in the NL?
Joe Morgan: Well, I guess the question would be defensively or offensively? CF in the NL, you have Shane Victorino is a good defensive OF. Matt Kemp as well. That's an interesting question, because I don't think there are a lot of great CFs in the NL. Those are two that are exceptional. Drew Stubbs has a chance to be a good CF.
First, Joe gets off to a good start, and by good start I mean he doesn't really answer the question that well. Tito's question was: who is the best overall center fielder in the National League, to which Joe responds by asking if he means defensively or offensively. The answer to that is right in the question.
Second, he throws out two names, Victorino and Kemp, but doesn't even mention Chicago Cubs CF Marlon Byrd, who is (and I'm assuming we're talking about who is the best right now) probably the correct answer to the question.
Byrd: .320, .378, .487, .846, 122 OPS+
Victorino: .253, .317, .453, .770, 103 OPS+
Kemp: .258, .314, .460, .774, 110 OPS+
Byrd's 61 and 64 point OBP lead over Victorino and Kemp, respectively, is probably enough to give Byrd the edge. And while I don't really like batting average, Byrd is batting at a .320 clip, which is good enough for second in the NL and tenth in all of baseball.
Since we're talking about best overall, defense should be taken into account as well. Byrd has the lead in that as well...
UZR / UZR/150
Byrd: 8.6 / 15.8
Victorino: -2.2 / -4.1
Kemp: -16.0 / -29.9
Just for fun, here are their RC27 numbers too:
RC27
Byrd: 7.08
Victorino: 5.42
Kemp: 4.62
A team of nine Maron Byrds would outscore nine Shane Victorinos by nearly 1.7 runs per game and nine Matt Kemps by 2.5 runs per game.
Perhaps the craziest thing is that Joe doesn't even mention other NL center fielders like Colorado's Carlos Gonzalez (who you could make a case for instead of Byrd) and St. Louis' Colby Rasmus.
Meech, Lebda, and more
We are currently in the midst of one of the most thrilling, exciting, mind-blowing, gripping, riveting, and dramatic off-seasons in recent memory. Every day, I can't wait to flip open the MacBook Pro and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz (face hits keyboard).
Right now I am looking at antonyms for the first word in that list, "thrilling": boring; uneventful; lackluster. One could use those words to describe this off-season for the Red Wings.
This isn't something that's surprising, though. There wasn't going to be a lot of cap space after Nick Lidstrom (one-year, $6.2 million), Todd Bertuzzi (two-years, $3.875 million) and Tomas Holmstrom (two-years, 3.75 million) re-signed, and after that all Ken Holland had on his summer checklist was to lock-up the restricted free agents and explore the possibility of bringing on a veteran sixth defenseman.
Even with Mike Modano possibly coming into the fold, his waiting game is taking almost as long as a Monopoly game. Add all this up, and you get a relatively quiet summer. There still are some subjects that can be talked about:
Mike Modano
Earlier, I mentioned that I would refuse to write about Modano, but it looks like I lied. I only said that because this "situation" has been beaten to death so many times that if something could be beaten to death twice, this would fall into that category. (Also falling into that category: LeBron James, Brett Favre, Ilya Kovalchuk, and Beards of War favorite, J*stin B*eber.)
But if everyone jumped off a bridge, I think I would too, so I may as well throw in my opinion. To be completely honest, I think that the team will be fine with or without the American hockey legend, but if I had to pick a side, I'm like, 51/49 on the side of not wanting him to come to Hockeytown. The extra one percent is in there because if Modano does sign here, like Mike Babcock expects, and if it's a two-year contract, that means Justin Abdelkader would likely not get off the fourth line until he's 25 or 26.
While the Detroit Red Wings obviously value player development, holding Abdelkader back for one or possibly two years of Mike Modano isn't really something I'm interested in.
Reportedly the deal could be worth $1.25 million—way too high in my opinion. And while I've never been that high on Mattias Ritola, it looks like he would be the odd man out if Modano does sign. I'd like to see what he can offer to the big club before he gets shipped off somewhere.
In addition to losing Ritola (while I don't think this would hurt us as much as others do), signing Modano would also leave Detroit unable to sign either Lilja or a veteran defenseman, leaving Jakub Kindl, Doug Janik, Derek Meech, and possibly Brendan Smith to battle for the already unstable (if Jonathan Ericsson can't rebound after last year) third D pairing.
All in all, I just don't think it's worth it.
Brett Lebda
Gone is the player who provided, quite possibly, one of the greatest videos ever.
But it's okay, because gone is a player who scored one goal and seven assists in 63 games last season. And because Brian Burke likes giving money away, apparently, Brett Lebda is now making $1.45 million US next season for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Here now is a list of some defenseman who are paid less than or equal to $1.45 million and got more points than Lebda last season:
Matt Hunwick
Kris Russell
Jack Johnson
Josh Gorges
Andy Greene
Keith Yandle
The point is: Brett Lebda making $1.45 million is insane. I do wish him well, and I don't think he was that bad, he just didn't apply his skills to the fullest extent, which is why he now has a chance to play more minutes and perhaps some power play time in Toronto.
Derek Meech
Despite getting a 3% raise, Derek Meech is still only making $500,000, which is the lowest a player can make under the collective bargaining agreement. Meech has his sights set on making our top six this year. If he is able to accomplish that, I will delete this blog, delete my Twitter accounts, delete my Facebook, and go into hiding. Luckily, I don't think that will be the case. It certainly looks like Meech will be traded after the exhibition games or perhaps sooner than that, so similar to Lebda, I hope he does well if he does in fact get traded. Just even getting a shot to play regular minutes might help him become a full-time starter, but, unfortunately for him, Detroit isn't the place to get that chance.
It was a good move by Holland to get this deal done before they were scheduled to go to arbitration, because who knows how that could have turned out. (The "judge" could be the same person who gave me a 3 on my AP US History exam, and Meech could have walked away making more than $500k.)
Oh...Chicago
I just wanted to give a quick update on Chicago's situation. After matching San Jose's offer sheet to D Niklas Hjalmarsson, the Blackhawks have approximately $.03 to sign 218 players.
There is a downside to this, however. With Tomas Kopecky playing on the second line now, the rivalry between Chicago and Detroit will now be depleted again and it will possibly hu—
Oh. I don't have to be objective here? Okay.
Who am I kidding? Watching this play out is absolutely hilarious.
We should know more answers soon. In Ken Holland We Trust. Is it October yet?
All-Star Stupidity
I will divert from the sport of hockey here occasionally—this is, after all, my site—and while this is a viewpoint that has been shared so many times since the inception of the rule back in 2003, I am going to go ahead and share it one more time.
The fact that whatever National League team that participates in the World Series this year will have home-field advantage because of a win by the NL in the All-Star Game is, in my opinion, the stupidest rule in sports.
Eight years after the establishment of the rule, it still blows my mind. I just have never been able to understand what Bud Selig was thinking after the infamous tie in 2002. An exhibition game decides whether or not a team plays at home or on the road in a (potential) Game 7 of the World Series. Instead of, you know, deciding which team gets home-field advantage by basing it off of their regular season records, which might actually make September games meaningful for some ball clubs. (Perhaps even crazier(!), Joe Morgan once said that home-field advantage should be alternated year-by-year. This is why he should be fired.)
Just think about it. I know it's not that likely—and in all honestly I'd be shocked if this were to happen—but let's say that the Detroit Tigers magically make the World Series this season. The series goes seven games, and while Detroit had a better record in the regular season, the National League team gets to play in the friendly confines of their home ballpark in the must-win Game 7. This is all because Brian McCann happened to hit a bases-clearing double in an exhibition game. (A little side-note: McCann's double was the first bases-clearing double in All-Star Game history.)
I know that I'm throwing around a lot of hypotheticals and "what if?" statements, but I don't think it's too farfetched to ask these hypotheticals.
Nineteen of the last 24 World Series' have been won by the team with home-field advantage. The last eight World Series Game 7s have been won by the team with home-field advantage. Now, I've never been big on stats like that because each team and each year is different, but I do think that they have at least some tangibility in this type of situation.
I really, truly hope that someone in the upper tier of the Major League Baseball hierarchy finally comes around and tells Bud, a former used car salesman, that the rule needs to be changed. It's incredibly obvious that it has to be.
A couple of updates
A couple of days ago I made a post similar to this over at the site (that did not transfer over), which was hosted on Blogger. Since then, I've made a couple of changes, as you might have noticed.
First, I'd like to welcome you to the new site. I had previously been running this on Blogger's software, and while that was more customizable and easier to use, I like what Go Daddy's Quick Blogcast offers. Quick Blogcast seems to be flexible in terms of not only posting, but with podcasts and even video blogs (vlogs). With these options at my hands, I may look into doing some podcasts and although I won't ever be able to compete with The Obstructed View, I think it would be kind of cool to expand on my mediums a bit and possibly snag guests sometime down the road.
At the moment I'm thinking of making intro video to the site to post on YouTube and my Facebook page because unfortunately this software doesn't allow me to add an about me page or contact page (at least not that I know of). In addition to the (possible) video I'll throw up a couple of posts for an about me and contact page that I can link to in the mean time.
As you can see, the site is pretty plain but I'm still learning the ropes with this client. I fixed that white space next to the banner earlier today and while the design won't blow anyone away, I think I'm pretty happy with it.
If those of you who have so graciously linked to Hockeytown Quick Hits in your blog roll could switch the URL of this site to hockeytownquickhits.com because the BlogSpot address is—while still working—pretty much obsolete. Speaking of which, if you have a Red Wings, or even just hockey, themed blog, don't be afraid to shoot me the link and I'll throw it up on the blog roll.
You can contact me via e-mail, through my personal Twitter account or the one I have set up for the blog. I've also set up a Facebook page, so in the category of shameless self-promotion, if you could Become a Fan or Like it or whatever it is now it would be much appreciated. This afternoon I created a YouTube channel for the blog, although I'm not sure how often I'll use it or what I'll use it for.
RIP, Bob Probert
Ian Laperriere probably said it best in a text he sent to Denver Post columnist Adrian Dater: “Scariest player to ever play against, for sure.”
At only sixteen I can only fondly remember watching him don the red and white. But you didn’t need to actually see him play to remember Bob Probert. Legendary YouTube videos and comments from rival players are all you need.
By now you all know that Probert died Monday boating on Lake St. Clair. His father-in-law performed CPR but wasn’t able to revive him. He was only 45.
I was devastated when I learned of his passing Monday afternoon. I had a similar feeling back in May when Ernie Harwell died—crushed because a piece, no matter the size, of Detroit sports, even sports in general, was gone. These were feelings that were unique and new to me, considering no one close to me has died. It was weird because they were two people I really didn't have a emotional connection with. I didn't grow up listening to Harwell call Tigers games on the radio, and I didn't grow up watching Probert destroy people on the ice at the Joe.
But maybe that's what made Probert such a large hockey icon. The fact that people (well, kids I guess) like me can spend an hour or so looking back on his career shows what kind of hockey player and guy he was. Sometimes we get lost in his fighting ability, but he actually was a really good player and makes you wonder how much better he could have been if not for the drugs and constant alcohol abuse. (Which reminds me, I played pick-up with a friend of his I believe. Someone that knew him pretty well. In the locker room he mentioned that Probert would drink heavily before pick-up games and did drugs, cocaine I'm guessing, in between periods. Really unfortunate.) Look at his 1987-88 stats with Detroit: 29 goals, 33 assists for 62 points in 74 games. All while committing 398 minutes worth of penalties. He did that plus tallying 21 points in the playoffs that year.
What was the thing I've came to like the most about Probert?
You touched Steve Yzerman, and that's what happens. Here is another one of my favorite Probert fights:
In today's game, how often do you wait for months for Round II of a fight? It just doesn't happen anymore. That's why it feels like we lost a piece of sports yesterday. Who knows when there will be another Bob Probert in the National Hockey League. Never mind his off the rink problems. Yesterday we lost one of the most popular players to lace them up for the Winged Wheel and (perhaps) the best fighter in the history of the game. And for that, we can only hope he rests in peace.
Is it October yet? Pre-season schedule announced
I don't put too much stock into the pre-season. This past season the Wings went 4-4-1 in exhibition games, and are 20-12-4 overall (including 2009-10) in the pre-season since 2006-07. Needless to say, a win or loss in the pre-season generally doesn't mean much for a team in the regular season. Just ask the Detroit Lions.
The 2010-11 pre-season does have an added incentive though: a chance to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first sporting event in their new building, the CONSOL Energy Center. What a nice way to kick-off the season that would be, eh?
I was a bit perplexed when I noticed we play back-to-back-to-back two times, but that seems normal after looking back on previous Detroit pre-season schedules.
Anyway, here is the schedule from DetroitRedWings.com
The 2010-11 pre-season does have an added incentive though: a chance to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first sporting event in their new building, the CONSOL Energy Center. What a nice way to kick-off the season that would be, eh?
I was a bit perplexed when I noticed we play back-to-back-to-back two times, but that seems normal after looking back on previous Detroit pre-season schedules.
Anyway, here is the schedule from DetroitRedWings.com
September
22 Wednesday @ Pittsburgh, CONSOL Energy Center, 7 PM EDT
24 Friday vs Chicago, Joe Louis Arena, 7 PM EDT
25 Saturday @ Chicago, United Center, TBD
26 Sunday vs New York Rangers, Joe Louis Arena, 5 PM EDT
29 Wednesday @ New York Rangers, Madison Square Garden, 7 PM EDT
October
1 Friday vs Toronto, Joe Louis Arena, 7 PM EDT
2 Saturday @ Toronto, Air Canada Centre, 7 PM EDT
3 Sunday vs Pittsburgh, Joe Louis Arena, 5 PM EDT
Don't worry, I'm still here
It may be hard to believe, but I actually am alive and do in fact plan on posting at a somewhat consistent rate this summer. I usually visit the site a couple of times a day just to stare at it and hope that a post will magically write itself, but unfortunately things don't work like that. I do realize that my last post here was on June 5, and coupled with the fact that as I write this it's June 18, gave me the motivation to put at least something up.
In retrospect, I am somewhat regretting naming this blog Hockeytown Quick Hits. Well, perhaps the name is fine, but I don't think that I'll be promoting it as exclusively a Red Wings blog from now on. Of course, that's not to say that the majority of the content will not be Red Wings based — it will — but experiments like my World Cup live chat and posts about other sports are things I'm interested in and will try to talk about every so often.
Speaking of the World Cup live chat, I'd like to quickly mention the fun time I had running (along with Andy from Fight Night at the Joe) it during the USA-England 1-1 draw. I would thank everyone who showed up, but I'm afraid that if I did, I'd miss someone and I don't want that to happen. These live chats are certainly something I will look into for future events, possibly another World Cup game and I think they could work during Red Wings games as well.
It's impossible to not use this cliche in posts like this, so I'll go ahead and post the inevitable: School is out, and I'll try my best to at least put something new up at a reasonable rate.
USA-England Live Chat
Yes, this is a hockey blog, but I'm into soccer as well. What better way to start my live blogging career than with a World Cup match? It's USA-England and should be an awesome match, and I'll enjoy talking about it with all zero of you. (At least if I screw up, no one will see it.) I'll kick this thing off at 2:00 PM ET, about a half hour before kick-off, which of course you can watch on ABC.
Update: Thanks to those who stopped by. Perhaps this is something I could explore for the upcoming Red Wings season. I'll take a draw with England. We're still in good shape to advance out of the group. You can replay the chat below.
Update: Thanks to those who stopped by. Perhaps this is something I could explore for the upcoming Red Wings season. I'll take a draw with England. We're still in good shape to advance out of the group. You can replay the chat below.