Droopy Dog Watch 2

Gammons comes through with a blog post that writes itself.

1. OK, shocking that he spends the majority of the article analyzing the Red Sox. I understand that he came up a Boston writer. I think he fails as a national correspondent. I think he overdoes the local flavor. I won't get into it too much because they are the defending champs, but he'd have written tons about 'em regardless.

2. "Arroyo hit Rodriguez with a pitch everyone but Britney Spears knew wasn't intentional..." C'mon Pedro. The kids are so past Britney. If you want to sound young and hip, try Ashlee Simpson or Paris Hilton.

3. Griffey was "baseball's Michael Jordan before the injuries." I think that's a bit revisionist. Griffey was excellent. Griffey had the media behind him. Griffey didn't win a single title. Griffey didn't sell any shoes. Griffey didn't change the way highlights were shown. And obviously, I'm not one to deify Jordan. But Griffey just wasn't that far ahead of the rest of the league, as good as he was. Check the OPS (using Griffey's best 4 years):

________________1996_____1997_____1998_______1999
Griffey:__________1.020____1.028_____.976________.960
Bonds:___________1.076____1.031_____1.047_______1.006
J. Gonzalez:_______1.011____.924______.996________.979
Sosa:____________.887_____.780______1.024_______1.002
Thome:__________1.062____1.002_____.997________.966
Sheffield:_________1.089____.870______.952________.930

Sosa and Sheffield were way over 1.000 the next two years. Griffey was great. Not dominant. I mean, his numbers aren't better than Juan Gone, and he's no Hall of Famer. And might I add that he never played in a world series, let alone won 6 titles.

4. "His son Trey is 11, and if he doesn't go to college to be a premier running back, he will be the first pick in the 2012 draft. His other son, 10-year-old Tarin, is a great basketball player." Gammons consumes Bilas, Kiper and Jamie Newburg, creating the most deadly sports pundit: Pompositor.

5. Nice how Gammons gives uncritical, free space for Griffey to say he's clean. I'm not saying he's used, but I don't think anyone is above suspicion. Even guys who pal around with sportswriters and wear their hats backward in the batting cage.

6. Like how Petey gives a shout out to 3 comrades in print. Gotta get his items from someone. However I do like the bit on George Lombard. The General once played football against him in a summer league when Lombard was at Lovett.

So in general, a pretty predictable article. Interesting how he didn't mention the rookies he's excited to see, as promised in last week's entry. Also missing was any mention of the FBI's advising MLB of its steroid problem.

I'll have to figure out how to use a tab button in HTML. Sorry about the chart.

(Previously)