By Rich Funk
After taking a few weeks off, I'm back with my patented West Coast Musings for all to enjoy. Let's see what's going on in your world, today.
- Can someone please come in and save Greg Maddux from the Padres? The last time he won a game was on May 10th. That was win number 350 in his career. Since then? 5 losses and 9 no decisions. Between May 20th and June 20th, he had seven consecutive starts of giving up 2 runs or less. He won none of those games. This tells us 2 things: First, the Padres offense sucks cock. Second, I have no second point.
- How the hell do the Angels have the best record in all of baseball? They're seriously doing it with smoke and mirrors, also known as HGH and The Clear. Is there any one team in baseball that would fall apart quicker than the Angels if any 2 or 3 of their guys got hurt?
- At the time of this writing, the Giants are 43-58...and only 7 games out of first in the NL West. That's the third worst record IN ALL OF BASEBALL! You know what? I'm all for them making it to the playoffs. Yes we can! Yes we can!
- The Gov continues his Dodgers "boycott" and the team continues to "roll". They're only 1 game out of first. Proving again how awful the NL West is? The fact that trading for Jack Wilson or Bobby Crosby might put the Dodgers over the top.
That's all I got. Go Giants!
By Rich Funk
Another Friday, another lazy, throwaway post from myself. Let's get a-rollin'!
- As the Gov. pointed out yesterday, the M's are suddenly interesting, just because they've had no problem slicing limbs off of their coaching staff. It seems like part of the reason they're so willing to fire their off the field employees (aside from being a truly terrible team) is because they can't do much else. Most of the guys on their roster can't be traded because they are either fan favorites (Ichiro, King Felix), too expensive for anyone to want (Adrian Beltre) or just plain suck balls (Jarrod Washburn, Riche Sexson). So guess what, Seattle? You're looking at pretty much the same team next year! Between that and the whole business with the Sonics, God must hate Seattle. Probably because of the whole Starbucks thing.
- Every week, I rag on the Angels for not being interesting at all. Instead of just complaining about this, I decided that I'll give them some advice. First up? Hire Charlie Manuel, the Mets' interim manager. Manuel tried to take Jose Reyes out of a game this week and Reyes didn't want to come out of the game. He made this clear to Manuel, and after the game, Manuel had this to say: "I told him next time he does that I'm going to get my blade out and cut him. I'm a gangster. You go gangster on me, I'm going to have to get you. You do that again, I'm going to cut you right on the field."
- The A's had a case of deja-vu this week, facing 2 of their former aces in Dan Haren and Barry Zito. Both were good in Oakland, but Haren is thriving in the NL while Zito has been terrible and I have no idea why. Oh wait, Barry Zito is terrible. That's what it is.
- Lakers = joke. Kobe being a "great" teammate all the sudden = joke. Doc Rivers actually outcoaching Phil Jackson = surprisingly not a joke. Andrew Bynum is supposed to put these guys back over the top next season? That's just going to be one more young teammate for Kobe to yell at.
- It's hot here today. Really hot. It sucks. Just like the Padres (Didn't think I'd be able to work them in there, did you?).
- Califonia is now allowing gay marriages. And yet I still can't find PBR in a can at any supermarket I wander into. What a crazy state.
That's all I got. Don't take any line drives off the face.
By Rich Funk
These guys also got kicked out of Safeco Field for making out.
It's Friday. You know what that means? Another edition of West Coast Musings, your weekly* roundup of bits and pieces of news from the Left Coast!
- We're just finishing up week 11 of the baseball season, and there's still nothing interesting to say about the Angels. Did you know that recently they won 7 games in a row? No? I don't blame you. I don't think a team has had a quieter 7 game winning streak in the history of baseball.
- Oh, the Dodgers...so sad. You look at their lineup and just about everyone seems like they could hit between .290 and .320, and yet they continue to struggle scoring runs. Remember a few years ago when they had the same problem and decided to bring in Jeromy Burnitz? Is a Barry Bonds signing far behind?
- The Dodgers are also planning on playing Nomar at shortstop when he comes back from the DL. I can only imagine that this is because the Dodgers hate Nomar as much as the rest of us do and want him injured as quickly as possible.
- The Padres? What is up with teams that we here at SFWH deem the "worst in baseball" suddenly becoming...decent. First it was the Giants, now the Padres are showing signs of life. Does this mean that you can expect the Mariners to string together a few wins and make a move soon?
- No...they're just that bad.
- Remember all that talk about how Kobe could be as good as Michael Jordan? Would Jordan have let his team blow a 24 point lead in the NBA Finals? Hell no! Jordan would have scored 70 a game if he had to. Kobe is not, nor will he ever be, Michael Jordan's equal.
- How many people do you think have lost money in office "How Many Starts Will Rich Harden Make?" pools? You know that one person in the office that said 20 starts that everyone laughed at? They're taking your money to Arby's at lunch, broham.
That's all. Apologies to Mariners fans, but we don't have a quality baseball team for you to watch.
*
except for last week...
By Rich Funk
Another Friday, another set of musings. West Coast Musings are the blogger who can't think of anything's best friend!
Before we get to this week's musings, there are two important pieces of info:
1. You can now simply type www.FinleyWasHere.com into your browser. No more Blogspot for us! Piss on them!
2. We have a store! Get your Finley on with our sweet shirts. Have an idea for a shirt? Send us an e-mail and request it. We can make pretty much anything.
Now, on to your regularly scheduled pointlessness.
- So how about them Padres? Lost in the wake of Albert Pujols laying waste to their team like Brittney Spears tearing through a box of Waffle Crisp is Brian Giles. Since moving the former Pirate and artificial tanning aficionado to the #3 spot in the lineup, he's 15-25 this week. Expect to see him in another uniform by the end of the month.
- Can I just say that Chris Young is a trooper? After getting his nose smashed in by Pujols, he calmly sat there on the ground next to the pitcher's mound, bleeding all over himself. He didn't even grimace...he just sat there as if he wasn't gushing out vital fluids and waited for the trainer. Although he may have had some kind of concussion...
- Has anyone had a harder time over the last few weeks than the Oakland A's? They ran into Cleveland during their crazy-hot starting pitching scoreless streak. They went straight to Atlanta (20-5 at home). Then they hosted the red-hot first place Rays, who threw James Shields (3.38 ERA), Scott Kazmir (3-1, 1.57 ERA) and Andy Sonnanstine (6-1 at the time) at them. Now they get Boston, the best team in baseball and winners of 7 straight. Did I mention that the Red Sox will trot out Josh Beckett and Mr. No-Hit Jon Lester over the weekend?
- Looking for a reason Oakland isn't scoring runs? Sure they've faced great pitching for a few weeks straight, but this season, Travis Buck, Mark Ellis, Kurt Suzuki, Rajai Davis, Jack Hannahan and Daric Barton have hit .193 out of the leadoff spot. In their 48 games this season, the A's first batter of the game has gone 7 for 47 (.149 AVG) with only one walk.
- Barry Zito just can't catch a break, and I love it. Before he got "demoted" to the bullpen, Zito was 0-6 with an ERA of 7.54. In his 3 starts after returning to the rotation, he's got 3 straight quality starts and a respectable 3.94 ERA...and he's 0-2.
- The Angels still continue to be MLB's most boring team. Where else could serious pre-Mitchell Report rumors of steroid use pop up for a player (Gary Matthews Jr.), and no one even really remembers? The government should start using Anaheim as a witness protection relocation area. Especially if they're relocating people like this brohamulus.
- With the Diamondbacks' offense starting to fade and Andruw Jones out of the lineup, the Dodgers are making a move. They're only 2.5 games out of first. But knowing the Dodgers, they'll put Andruw Jones and Nomar back in within a few weeks.
- The Mariners...still not very good. When is that breakout season by Felix Hernandez going to happen again?
That's all for today. Buy some shirts.
By Rich Funk
It's Friday, so you know what that means...right? It means that I've slacked off long enough and so now I'm bringing you the highlights of what's happening on the West Coast.*
*TRANSLATION: I can't think of anything else to write about.
Cue up the Ron Burgundy: "Here's what's happening in your world...today.
- Yesterday against the Cubs, Greg Maddux failed to deliver his much anticipated 351st career win. One has to wonder if the pressure of winning #351 is getting to Maddux. Remember how hard it was for him to get to 350 and all the media attention he got every time he took the mound? Well this one is much harder. It's...well, it's one game harder. It's one more difficult. And this amp goes up to 11.
- The Indians completed a sweep of the A's yesterday. You gotta feel for the Athletics. They hit Cleveland at the worst time. How often do starting pitchers go an entire week without giving up a run? I especially feel bad for Greg Smith. The rookie lost his third straight start yesterday. Over his last 4 starts, he's only given up 10 earned runs in 24.2 innings (a respectable ERA of 3.65) with 26 strikeouts...and he's 0-3.
- Question Of The Week: Are the Giants better than we thought, or is the rest of the NL West just that bad? Right now, the Giants are ahead of both the Padres and Rockies in the standings and are a surprising 11-11 at home. But their record may be deceiving; the Giants are 8-8 against the equally terrible West and 6-16 against the rest of the NL.
- There really is no in-between with the Dodgers' Chad Billingsley. He's either great or not-so-great. In 10 starts this season, Chad's given up one earned run or less 6 times and given up 4 or more runs 4 times. I guess it doesn't matter if he wins or if he loses, as long as he does whatever he does all the way. Go big or go home, right broham? I feel like a tool just typing that...
- The Lakers gotta win tonight in Utah to put their series away. I love watching the crowd whenever games are in Utah. There was a woman in a courtside seat in Game 3 that was seriously wearing an ankle-length dress. In LA, I don't think girls in courtside seats are allowed to cover more than 40% of their body.
- The Angels...still annoy the piss out of me. What a dull and boring team. In fact, the mere thought of them boils my blood so much that I can't write any more.
That's all. Apologies to Seattle, but we're all out of time.
By Rich Funk
Hailing from the midwest and now living in the paradise of San Diego, I'm still getting acclimated to baseball on the west coast. From time to time, I'll be updating on things I learn and my impressions of baseball here on the left side of the country.
I've been in California for just over 2 years, with time split between LA and San Diego. So I guess I should start with every impression and experience I have with west coast baseball.
- I've been to Dodger Stadium a few times. The first time was an interleague game against the Mariners. The matchup was Derek Lowe against Felix Hernandez. The Bad: I was cheering for the Mariners solely because King Felix was on my fantasy team. Every time I cheered for him, the Dodger fan in front of me would give me a dirty look. One time he said "If you don't like the home team, why would you come to their game?" What kind of thing is that to say? You can't go to a road game? The Good: After the game, they let us go onto the field and see some free concert by this shitty band called the Pink Spiders. They sucked, but you aren't able to go onto the field and walk around in a historic stadium every day.
- Living with an A's fan, it's easy to hate the Angels. But even before that, I never cared for them. I thought it was cool in 2002 when they beat the Yankees in the first round of the playoffs, but other than that, I never really had any strong felings when it came to the Angels. They're one of the most vanilla teams in the majors. Even their superstars (Vlad, Garret Anderson) are boring as hell.
- At first, I felt bad for Giants fans. I mean, they have to put up with a front office that employs a bunch of guys that can start collecting Social Security by the All-Star break and waste a ton of money on guys like Zito and Aaron Rowand. Now Rowand is a good player and a great guy to have in the clubhouse, but you don't spend $50 million on a player when you aren't going to compete for at least 4 of those years. But then I remembered how Giants fans annoy me because of their love for Barry Bonds. "You have to support your players no matter what!" Bullshit. I hated Sosa as soon as he became an asshole, so at least for me, that's not true.
- I have yet to go to any Padres games. I'll be there for 2 of the Cub games later this year. I hear that PETCO Park has fantastic fish tacos. I see the Padres as the NL version of the Angels: even their best players just seem...boring. Oh, and Jake Peavy will have Tommy John surgery sometime within the next 2 years. Just watch him throw the ball. That delivery is nothing but elbows and shoulders flying around in ways that no one should.
- The Padres are playing the Astros as we speak. Chris Young is a pretty tall dude. He seems like one one of those guys that will always look about 5 years older than he actually is. I have to hate the guy because he tried to punch out Derrek Lee last year, but he sure is good. Because he had such a crappy second half because of injury last year, people forget just how awesome his first half was. How many earned runs did he give up in May of 2007 in 6 starts? 5...total. How about in 5 June starts? 5 total. How about in 4 Juky starts? Just one. And he gets it done with a fastball that usually sits around the 89-91 MPH range. Being tall must be a good thing for a pitcher.
So what's next for me to immerse myself into west coast baseball? I'll be picking a favorite team first of all. I'm going to break down each team in a number of categories and see who comes out on top and that shall be my new favorite team of interest. I may not become a hard core fan per se, but they will be the main focus of my attention. So be on the lookout for that.
And again, apologies to Seattle, but I'm all out of time.
