Baseball players say the dumbest things

Two months after Cole Hamels played along with a radio bit and declared that the Mets did in fact choke the last two years, the Mets continue to flap their gums. Carlos Beltran took it to a new low this week:

The only thing that I know is he will be watched every time he faces us. Hopefully we kill him, and then he'll have to deal with the situation.

I wonder if that is "gangsta" enough for his manager, Jerry Manuel. What kind of thugs do they have up there? If someone associated with Philadelphia advocated killing an opponent, he would be vilified more than any other athlete not named Alex Rodriguez this week.

Oh, and speaker of A-Roid ... teammate Johnny Damon made a public service announcement, saying there are worse things Slappy could have done:

Murdering someone, you know there's plenty of other things that could be worse than what he did... Yeah, he did some bad things. He took a steroid, definitely do not condone that, at all. But there are a lot worse things he could have been doing out there. He hasn't done a crime.

Oh yes, taking illegal drugs purchased in a foreign country is definitely not a crime, Johnny. He has always reminded me of Saturday Night Live's Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer, but Phil Hartman presented much better defense arguments than Damon.

While New Yorkers did their city proud this week, we had a good ol' Sox and Phils feud across the coasts. Apparently, Larry Bowa isn't Brad Penny's favorite coach and vice versa.

"A lot of stuff went on last year," Penny told Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports. "There were a few people I didn't get along with on the coaching staff that don't respect people. I mean, me and Joe [Torre] got along fine. I just feel like nobody had my back there. You're in the clubhouse and you have players coming up to you saying coaches are saying this to them about you. And that's just not a good situation to be in."

When asked which of the coaches Penny had issues with, Penny replied. "Your boy, Larry Bowa."

Asked for a reaction, Bowa fired right back without waiting to hear what Penny said:

"You mean the same guy who was never on time, out of shape and has one complete game? He has more stuff to worry about in the A.L. East than me. He has to worry about getting people out. He was never on time, was out of shape and never helped the kids out. Put that on the (expletive) dot-com. Put it in the headline," Bowa told Tony Jackson of Inside The Dodgers.

Christine said this exchange speaks poorly of Penny's character. I think it was just a symptom of poor coaching. He will flourish with the championship-caliber coaching staff in Boston.

Spring surprises

There were mild surprises from each camp yesterday - not that they were unexpected given the histories of the players involved, but surprising in that they happened so quickly.

J.D. Drew's back is hurting, and Kyle Kendrick is the front-runner to be the Phillies fifth starter.

Drew, a hero of the 2007 ALCS and last year's All-Star game, which made it possible for Christine and me to attend the World Series clincher {J.D. Drew is not a hero, I don't care what he did in any All-Star game}, says his stiff back will be fine:

"I'm not concerned that I won't be at full capacity to play," Drew said. "If we had to go out there and play a game today I could do that. It wouldn't be a problem. That being said, I have battled with this the entire offseason, just as far as stiffness goes. Not really mobility as much. You wake up ... you move around, you do a few things, you sit down for a while, you get stiff."

Let's hope so. I like Rocco Baldelli, but given his health concerns, I'm not prepared to pencil him in for 140 starts in right field.

Kyle Kendrick has no health issues, but he struggled toward the end of last season and was regulated to the bottom of the pitching depth chart and eventually to cheerleader during the Phillies playoff run. Despite that, pitching coach Rich Dubee said he has an edge over J.A. Happ, Carlos Carrasco and Chan Ho Park to be the Phillies fifth starter.

"I can't walk away from 21 wins," Dubee said, referring to Kendrick's 21-13 record over the past two seasons. "To me, he's the leading candidate going in as the fifth starter because of what he's done."

Trashy last word: Everyone is making a big deal of Francisco Rodriguez proclaiming the Mets the team to beat. Yawn. Jimmy Rollins did this in 2007. Carlos Beltran did this in 2008. And even K-Rod already did this two months ago.

The Mets can't top the Phillies on, or off, the field. Phil Sheridan easily dismisses this latest volley:

It was fun while it lasted, but the war of words between the Phillies and Mets won't have quite the same spirit this year. The Phillies' World Series championship kind of makes boasts like Rodriguez's sound even more hollow than usual.

New York arrogance

I was twice reminded of New York arrogance today. At work, I saw that a colleague had a newspaper clipping hanging up of when the Yankees swept a five-game set at Fenway in 2006, essentially knocking the Red Sox out of the playoffs for the only time in a six-year span.

Actually, that's not so arrogant. It's almost sad that that's the only success a Yankees fan can point to in recent memory.

Truly obnoxious is a column penned by Filip Bondy in the New York Daily News. He's trying to put forth the theory that New York's true rival is Philadelphia, not Boston. Um, a city as loathsome as New York can have more than one true enemy. Besides, it has multiple teams in different leagues, so what's so hard to grasp that the Phillies are rivals with the Mets and the Red Sox are rivals with the Yankees?

What really gets me is the stupidity of sports writers. I know we've seen it this week, with the 28 people who didn't vote for Rickey Henderson and somehow convinced themselves that the greatest base stealer and leadoff hitter in history isn't a Hall of Famer. {Plus, anything by Bill Conlin.}

But check out this stroke of brilliance:

Boston? Boston is so yesterday around here, and far too Yankee-centric. The Red Sox were a wild-card team last season, nothing more. They've lost Manny, the poster child for anti-pinstriped imagery.

Besides, the Yanks killed them in the offseason. Brad Penny for one year? That's not even trying.

Um, yes, the Red Sox didn't let their team get old and overrated so that it needed to spend hundreds of millions to rebuild its roster. Oh yeah, the Yankees really got us there. And, as far as the Red Sox being nothing more than a wild card team ... I correctly said all season that the real threat to repeating was the Rays, not the Empire. I expect that trend to continue despite the Yankees offseason "victory."

A new foe

We spend a lot of time here at SoxandPhils analyzing the ridiculous or offensive statements made toward our teams by the Yankees and Mets.

Today emerged a new trash-talking enemy to both of our teams: Collin Balester, a rookie who pitched in 15 games last year - including three losses against the Phillies. He said no other team, including the last two World Champions, should bother showing up for the playoffs should Mark Teixeira sign with the Nationals - a likely scenario given his top suitors claim they have dropped out of the bidding.

{Yeah right. He's going to end up in Boston. Too bad he won't help them get past the Rays.}

Teixeira, Balester said, would transform the Nationals from losing 102 games to sweeping the World Series.

"That guy is a great player and if he comes to the nation's capitol, watch out, we're going to the World Series and we are winning it all. I'm calling it right now. We're playing four games in the World Series, sweep, see ya!"

Now Teixeira, although probably overrated, is a good player, but he's not that good. At best, Mr. Balester, Tex could elevate you past riffraff like the Mets.

Get ready

It hasn't been the best opening week for the Red Sox or Phillies. Both Eastern Division champs stand 3-4; the world champs opened today in last place for the first time in three years.

That all changes tomorrow. Both teams will be reminded of their 2007 greatness. The Red Sox, after their three-country opening week marathon, finally come home to play the Tigers and get their rings - a token reminder of how they felt last October.

The Phillies will go to their home-away-from-home, New York, to see their favorite whipping boys and rekindle last year's magic against the Mets.

It sounds like they're ready:

Pat Burrell:

I enjoy going to New York and playing. There's always a little extra excitement there. Especially with what happened last year, I'm sure they're gunning for us. And that's the way it should be.

Charlie Manuel:

When we play them, it's always kind of like a rivalry to us. Them, too. They make a big deal out of it. As long as we put the whip on them, we'll let them make a big deal out of it. They'll talk, we'll hit. That's how I see it.

Game on, season on.

This wouldn't be a problem if we lived in Boston: With several early-season games in the afternoon or on CN8, Christine notes the Phillies are 3-0 when she's unable to watch them and 0-4 when she can.

Baseball Mogul update: In my fourth season, I finally have built the Phillies into a 104-win powerhouse heading into the playoffs. My lineup has four guys with 30+ homers, two others with more than 25. Brad Lidge has 40 saves anchoring a shut-down bullpen. The big story is atop the rotation where Brett Myers and Cole Hamels went 29-8. I think my computer is broken - young Cole (who is now pining to be a Rockie) only has six of those wins and all eight losses.

Happy birthday: Bobby Doerr.

Cole Hamels speaks

I like Cole Hamels. In less than two years he has established himself as one of the best pitchers in the game; he is just 24 years old.

But I question his attitude toward the team. Last season, as the Phils were trying to make history, he said he would come back from injury in September only if the Phillies remained in playoff hunt. Later, he said he wouldn't pitch if the Phillies forced a Game 4 against the Rockies.

Both of those views were justifiable. I agree with them. (Starting pitchers on short rest in the playoffs is a pet peeve.) But let team management make those pronouncements. A player making such statements looks like he doesn't want to play, doesn't want to compete. Not exactly the mindset of an ace.

Today, he outlines his goals to the Inky. Among them: winning 20 games, winning a Cy Young, pitching a no-hitter, going to the Hall of Fame. All lofty goals a player should have but shouldn't talk about, especially when said player has yet to complete a full season.

Cole Hamels, and the rest of the Phillies, should be focused solely on winning. Did J-Roll say he was the man to beat for MVP? No, he said the Phillies were the team to beat.

Hamels makes has no problem expressing his personal quests:

"Everyone in this room has aspirations," he said in the Phillies' spring-training clubhouse one recent morning. "Everyone strives for certain goals.

"Some guys might shy away from talking about them out of fear of failure. If you state something publicly and don't achieve it, you might be looked at as a failure.

"I'm not afraid to fail. If I don't achieve a certain goal, I'll go after it next year. I'm not scared of not achieving one of my goals."

Nor is Hamels afraid of stirring resentment from those in the game who may believe personal goals are better left unspoken.

"I try to be up-front and truthful," he said. "I'm not going to whisper in the shadows. If someone ever said anything to me, it would just give me more reason to prove something."

Well, I guess it's better than Adam Eaton who, after being shelled in his first appearance of the spring yesterday, sounded like he still doesn't know he sucks:

"I haven't read you guys this spring, so I don't know what my standing is."
...
"I think I've established myself as a big-leaguer. I'm getting paid extremely handsomely, probably more than I'm worth. But everyone is not worth what they're getting paid. It's fun. If you don't like the competition, what are you doing here? Everyone should thrive on competition."

Over in Red Sox camp: Perhaps Jonathan Papelbon would have remembered his uniform if he weren't so preoccupied with dancing ...

{And Greg has the nerve to rag on my ace pitcher??? Please.}

[Photo credit, Cole Hamels: Jerry Lodriguss, Philadelphia Inquirer]

The new face of evil

It seems that much of Red Sox Nation is in a tizzy over our new foil, Hank Steinbrenner, profiled in the New York Times magazine this week.

Why? Yes, he is obnoxious, speaks out-of-turn and has little regard for reality or humility. But I love him.

Who cares if he's dismissive of the Sox success in recent years or the Empire's futility? It'll be fun to watch him eat his pompous words. At least he speaks directly, not through crafted statements that his father dealt, prompting me to wonder whether the elder Steinbrenner is truly alive or propped up like some bad Weekend at Bernie's sequel. And Hank will remind people that, in baseball, true evil resides in New York, not Boston.

{Ha! I'm sure that's what Red Sox Nation is hoping for, but it won't happen. This latest barb seems so contrived and orchestrated. It seems like both teams want to have the mindset of 10 years ago, with the Yankees as the evil overlords and the Red Sox as the battling underlings. But, as Greg points out below, it's not like that anymore. You can't pretend it's like that anymore.

I think the majority of baseball is bored by these teams, and really, who cares about these rivalries anyway? No one outside of the fans. No one gets psyched about the Phillies-Mets or Cardinals-Cubs except for their fans. And I wouldn't expect anyone else to care about them. Hopefully ESPN and other national news outlets realize this as well and stop hyping the New York-Boston rivalry. Because guess what -- no one cares.}

Other than A-Rod, who's scorned by both Yankee haters and lovers, individually there's not much to hate about this version of the Empire. Cue Hank:

For his part, Hank betrays no worry about the competition in the American League, whether it’s the Cleveland Indians, who eliminated the Yankees last year; the Detroit Tigers, who added Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis this winter; or, above all, the Red Sox, who have not only won the World Series twice in the last four years but are arguably becoming a national phenomenon. “Red Sox Nation?” Hank says. “What a bunch of [expletive] that is. That was a creation of the Red Sox and ESPN, which is filled with Red Sox fans. Go anywhere in America and you won’t see Red Sox hats and jackets, you’ll see Yankee hats and jackets. This is a Yankee country. We’re going to put the Yankees back on top and restore the universe to order.

I guess ol' Hank never watched Sportscenter before 2004 when you couldn't see a Red Sox highlight without a gratuitous shot of Babe Ruth, Billy Buckner or Bucky Dent. And as the Dirt Dogs reminded us, the nation first appeared in the Boston Globe during the 1986 World Series when the Sox weren't hated as they are now.

Here are two key points from the New York Times profile that Sox fans, and Hank, should remember:

--The Yankees are eight years removed from their last world championship, but it’s hard not to regard the new stadium, with its over-the-top evocation of Yankee mythology, as an in-your-face assertion of Yankee might, a pointed and — depending on your perspective — either desperate or reassuring reminder that the team is less a baseball club than an American institution.

--It’s worth noting that the foundation of Joe Torre’s dynasty was built during the years of Steinbrenner’s ban, from 1990 to 1993. And today’s team, which includes a good deal of young, homegrown talent, was put together over the past few years, while Cashman was in charge.

So let the son pipe off now, for soon he'll be just like his old man, paying a team $200 million to go out in the first round of the playoffs every year.

Etc: Dan Shaughnessy has a surprisingly good take on this situation today.

Game on: Christine's psyched for the first televised spring training game today. {Who are they playing? The Yankees. Who is pitching? Adam Eaton. Ugh.}

They're losing their minds

Things aren't starting out too well for last year's uncrowned NL East champs. You would figure signing Johan would do something to overcome the fact that they crumbled last year, couldn't even beat the Marlins on the last day of the season to force a tie for the division and were basically whiny little bitches as the Phils took care of business.

Now, the Mets can't even beat a college team. And they can't even do that without Billy Wagner threatening a kid who tried to bunt off him. Apparently, you don't make B-Wags field during the first spring training game - especially if you play for the University of Michigan.

Wagner, clearly annoyed, shook his head a number of times, and Cislo wisely swung away, grounding out. Wagner said he couldn't believe that Cislo, a junior, bunted.

"If he got that bunt down, I would have drilled the next guy," Wagner said. "Play to win against Villanova."

Even Willie Randolph - one of the few Yankees who doesn't sicken me - didn't have a problem with his ace reliever's threat.

Asked about Wagner's reaction, manager Willie Randolph laughed.

"He couldn't bring himself to drill the kid," Randolph said. "Nolan Ryan might have. Nolan or Roger [Clemens] may have done it, kid or not."

But then again, maybe Willie also remains shell-shocked from last year:

While the Mets viewed the game as their preseason tuneup, Michigan was fired up, and Randolph mentioned that all the Wolverines' chatter "-- me off a little bit."

The Mets are clearly a wounded, demoralized animal, the wrong mix when people are already predicting a Phillies-Mets brawl. Ironically, when that talk was going good, Wagner was complaining about a young Phillie taking him on, but he has no problems threatening to put a fastball in some young kid's gut.

"I have all the respect in the world for those guys," Billy Wagner said [of the Phillies]. "I don't have any ill will against them. But if they want to come out and fight, then bring it on. That's their prerogative -- fine. I'm too old to be worrying about fighting somebody. I'm having enough trouble getting somebody out as it is.

"If one of their little 25-year-olds wants to come out and whip my ass, they can brag that they whipped a 37-year-old man's ass. Well, good for them. It's always good to play that underdog role.

"If they come out there, though, there's two things that could happen. I'm pretty sure they're going to whip my ass. But what if I get a shot in? What if? Then you just got your ass whipped on national TV by the littlest guy in baseball, so think of that 'What if?'"

Our first tiff of the season

After railing against Carlos Beltran yesterday, Christine saw this nugget from Jonathan Papelbon:

If we're not the team to beat, I'd like to know who is. I think that our No. 1 thing is to stay healthy. If we do that, I don't know who can really compete with us.

Truth be told, I had read that quote before I saw Beltran's and didn't give it a second thought when I wrote:

Carlos Beltran has made a bold prediction: The Mets, with the league's highest payroll and probably the best team on paper, will win the division this year. The team that should win has no right making that pronouncement.

Clearly, the Sox have a higher payroll than any team except the Empire and possibly the Mets. And since the Sox won last year and have suffered no major losses in the off-season, it qualifies as a team that should win it this year.

So the question becomes: should Papelbon be talking like that, and is it hypocritical of me to have glossed over it? My gut reaction is that Papelbon has earned the right to say his team is the best until it's proved otherwise.

I disagree, on two levels.

1. I think Greg is being a hypocrite. He is willing to call out one player for being classless but not willing to do the same when that player is on his own team. What I think it boils down to is, and I have said this before, he is an apologist for his team. That’s not always a bad thing. I make excuses for the Phillies. I try to justify most of the things that they do. But I’m also willing to criticize and be upset with them when they say or do something stupid.

If my team won last year, I know I would be more critical of them and the things they say and do. I would hold them to a higher standard because they would be the standard that everyone else is trying to achieve. There would be no need for them to proclaim themselves the team to beat. Which leads into my next point.

2. What Papelbon said is not necessary. Greg has said that he thinks the Beltran statement is newsworthy because of last year’s choke.

However, if the Mets won last year, that quote would not exist. The Red Sox won last year, and Papelbon still said that. Why? What are you trying to prove? You won last year. You’re expected to win again this year. You can’t play underdog and act like you’re going to upset the frontrunner when you are the frontrunner.

Jimmy Rollins said the Phillies were the team to beat in 2007, and it surprisingly turned out to be true. He has predicted 100 wins for 2008, but is anyone really taking that seriously? I don’t think so. (But I hope he’s psychic, and they cruise to an easy NL East title this year.) The only reason why that is newsworthy is because of what he said last year, and he had to try and top it. But note what he didn’t say: that they are the team to beat this year. He does not have to say that because the first-place finish shows that the title goes through Philadelphia. He has not called out other teams and said they are not competitive, like Papelbon did.

I realize that all of the back-and-forth is mostly to get the fans fired up, and the Phillies-Mets rivalry is going to be ridiculous this year – both on the field and in the stands. It will be scary fun. But come on: Do Red Sox fans need firing up? Everyone loves a ballplayer who gives good copy, but Papelbon just comes off sounding pompous.

While Christine wrote this, I sat downstairs watching the ’07 DVD. One of the first omissions I noticed was all the Manny showboating and lollygagging when it looked like we were going to lose to the Indians. I didn’t blog back then, but I was very critical of him. If the Sox didn’t come back, he would have put us fans in a tough spot of dealing not only with a playoff loss, but also the media rightfully killing Manny for poor sportsmanship. And I was very mad at management when they traded Bronson Arroyo after he took a hometown discount to stay in Boston.

Papelbon is the closer of the reigning champions; he has the right to talk a little smack. He’s not playing an underdog card. He’s basically saying “We proved our mettle last year and until someone proves otherwise, we’re top dog.”

OK, maybe he didn’t have to shoot down the whole league and say no one can even compete with the Sox.

Other pitchers talking: Today was a big day for pitchers on the squawk box. First Curt ends his silence, saying he didn’t say anything for days because he didn’t want to be a distraction. Yeah, it’s less distracting if Curt, who’s been at the center of a firestorm over his medical treatment, keeps his mouth shut.

Nationally, of course, the big story was Andy Pettitte. Give him credit for actually taking questions for an hour instead of issuing a prepared statement. But not too much since we still don’t know if he’s given the whole truth or just what he thinks is provable by others.

And old friend Eric Gagne issued one of those bogus statements, apologizing for distracting his new team and lauding baseball for cleaning up the sport – although we’re told the statement he gave to the French-speaking media may have been stronger. He should have apologized for giving me heartburn during the playoffs last year, although management deserved that tummy ache for knowingly dealing for a roider.

And which pitcher isn’t having issues today? Kyle Kendrick.

Beltran's pick and other rants

Carlos Beltran has made a bold prediction: The Mets, with the league's highest payroll and probably the best team on paper, will win the division this year. The team that should win has no right making that pronouncement.

He even called out the MVP:

Let me tell you this: Without (Johan) Santana, we felt as a team we have a chance to win in our division. With him now, I have no doubt that we’re going to win in our division. I have no doubt in that. We’ve got what it takes. We have good chemistry as a team. He fits great because he’s a great guy. He’s one of the best pitchers in the game. Who doesn’t want to have him on any ballclub? Without him last year we did good until the end of the season. So this year, to Jimmy Rollins, we are the team to beat.

Hopefully, come October, Carlos and his mates will still be wondering if the champagne is sweeter, if they will be dancing into the fall and whether the season truly starts on the last weekend in September.

Is this even worth responding to? Just like last year, the Mets are supposedly better on paper. Just like last year, preseason predictions have the Mets winning the division. Are the Phillies in the Mets heads that much? Are they that desperate and think the only way they can win is to make this prediction? Stick with what you do best, Beltran.

Maybe the Mets know they can't win on the field, so they're trying to win the preseason war of the words.

Less trivial: Good read in the Globe on Jon Lester's journey from cancer to champion.

Stop the presses: Pretty Boy Jeter's a bad fielder. Some local guy (Philly) has a new way of measuring fielding. It not only shows that the Yankees captain has been the worst shortstop in the majors the past few years, he has cost the Empire more runs than any other player at any position. That includes Manny, who is also deemed defensively-challenged.

Quandary: The Yogi Berra Museum has removed Roidger Clemens' jersey from its display of the drug-infested Empire championships. This blurb makes no mention whether Yankee hero Andy Pettitte will get similar treatment.

But it does pose an interesting dilemma: What do I do with my old No. 21?