Here Comes the West

In the 19^th century, American author Horace Greeley advised the young men of the world to experience the bountiful goodness offered west of the Mississippi.  The fullest quote reads, “Washington is not a place to live in.  The rents are high, the food is bad, the dust is disgusting, and the morals are deplorable.  Go West, young man, go West and grow up with the country.”

That statement may have never been truer than Tuesday, the baseball trading deadline.  For many years, we as sports fans have followed a sport dominated by the Northeast.  The Yankees, Red Sox, and Phillies have not only won championships but also garner most of the attention from sports outlets all over the country.  Many forget a team exists in Milwaukee, much less Kansas City or Houston, all despite the incredible competitiveness of the Western divisions in both the AL and NL.  The Rangers advanced to the last two World Series, engaged in a bitter divisional rivalry with the Los Angeles Angels.  The NL West remains perhaps the most competitive (and worst overall) division in baseball, with three different winners each of the past three seasons.  Both divisions might very well lay claim to the best teams in the leagues, a truly shocking change.

Before the season began, I used this forum to proclaim the AL West the most competitive divisional race in baseball, and up to now it has lived up to its billing.  And why? Because the Rangers and Angels are willing to spend money, not unlike their counterparts in New York and Boston.

The massive deal given to Albert Pujols certainly upped the stakes out west.  The Angels, a team with World Series pedigree and talent, stole the most prized free agent in a decade, adding his bat to an already loaded lineup.  Throw in stud youngsters Mark Trumbo and Mike Trout and the Angels have long-term competitor written all over their clubhouse. After two straight years of Texas division titles by 10 games, the Angels added massive firepower to the lineup.  For the Rangers, their bats continue to chug along with the highest batting average in the AL.

But pitching has truly dominated the AL West.  The Rangers surprised many with their pursuit of Yu Darvish, the next great Japanese player to make the jump to the majors.  Landing him gave them a rotation surrounding the possibly dominant Darvish with young guns Derek Holland and Matt Harrison.  The Angels responded in kind, signing ace C.J. Wilson away from the Rangers, upping the ante in a tight divisional race.

But the pitchers haven’t really worked out as planned.  Yu Darvish boasts an ERA north of 4.00 and Wilson holds a pedestrian 9-7 record.  Whereas many might expect these teams to wilt under such circumstances, both the Angels and Rangers have added pitching talent.  Texas’ signing of Roy Oswalt, an older guy but still with skill, represented not just a search for rotation consistency but a desire to keep the pedal down on Los Angeles.  Like many teams with that strategy, patience wears thin.  As of now, Oswalt will pitch from the bullpen thanks to the trade deadline.

And that’s where our chronicle ends: July 31, 2012.  Last week, the Angels took the plunge on Zack Greinke, the Milwaukee ace and former Cy Young winner.  Their rotation will scare opposition, with 14-1 Jered Weaver, Wilson, Greinke, and Dan Haren should he return.  We should not, then, be too surprised to hear Texas pursued talks for Phillies stalwart Cliff Lee, a former Ranger who can be lights out in October.  Nor should we question their acquisition of Ryan Dempster, a middle-of-the-rotation guy who has provided the only bright spot for the Cubs.  These teams have all their chips on the table, especially now that the chances of making the playoffs expand with a new wild card team.

In the end, the Angels look like the most serious contender for a championship of the two.  And no, this is not my typical Dallas bashing.  In the playoffs, where a short pitching rotation can often decide a series, the Angels can throw Weaver-Greinke-Wilson at their opponents.  Compared with the Holland-Darvish-Dempster or someone else rubric in Texas, my money bets on the Angels to advance further this year.  Then again, the thrilling comeback for the Rangers last night might be a momentum switch in the AL West battle.

On the National League side, the Dodgers might boast the most loaded lineup in baseball.  Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier have returned, talented Hanley Ramirez came over from the Marlins, and the Flyin’ Hawaiian came over to LA in a trade this week.  Religious baseball observers will remember the dubious streak of the Dodgers earlier this season, scoring two runs in six games during late June.  Since then, however, the Dodgers are right at .500, not great but much better than those anemic days of June.

The addition of Shane Victotino in left field will help in many ways.  For one, his production will eliminate the need to put aging Bobby Abreu in left field every night, allowing the Dodgers to move on from him (he has already been designated for trade or release).  Victorino also adds further protection in the batting order for Kemp because, as anyone who watched the 2009 World Series knows, Victorino can hit the ball and create space with his legs on the bases.   While in a down year this season, he adds one more piece to the Dodgers lineup that has them poised for October.

Not wanting to be outdone, the San Francisco Giants added their own former Phillies outfielder, Hunter Pence.  Pence played well for the Phillies last season, but many will know him as “the dude with the funny-looking practice swing.”  Right fielders have not been kind to the Giants this year, the highlight being Gregor Blanco’s outrageous catch to preserve the perfect game for Matt Cain.  But Blanco’s .240 batting average and .690 OPS will not cut it, and Pence brings a great throwing arm and good contact bat to the team.  The Giants have survived on pitching this year and the outstanding play of left fielder Melky Cabrera (.348 BA, .898 OPS), whose 52 RBI have added a dimension not expected from this lineup before the season.  Adding another outfield bat will help the Giants in their batting order depth as they try to stay ahead of the Dodgers going into the playoffs.  Their lead currently stands at 1 game.

For what seems like a long time, we will not be inundated with tweets from the phantom “Red Sox Nation” as the season winds down.  The Philly Phanatic won’t be jumping around our televisions this fall, making the cold weather much more tolerable.  We might be watching Stephen Strasburg or (gasp!) the Orioles engage in a DC sports revival.  Or perhaps the Big Red Machine II in Cincinnati, currently the holders of baseball’s best record, will shake off years of futility and bad stadium deals to bring Ohio some happiness.

But the trade deadline cemented a new reality: the most exciting races will be out West.  Heretofore unmentioned, the Oakland Athletics (the other AL West team) are tied for the Wild Card at this minute.  The AL West could become the first division with three playoff teams.  Coming into the season, how many of you would have expected that?  And the Dodgers-Giants race might be the most entertaining in the NL, especially after the infusion of Philadelphia talent to spice up the competition.  It will be a great fall out on the other coast.

Bit #1: Going back on Wild Card structure

When Bud Selig announced the new Wild Card structure for this year, I had visions of the All-Star Game decision.  I mean, who wants a game to end in a tie?  It defies the tradition of baseball!  I thought the same about adding two more Wild Card teams to the mix.  It would incentivize teams to coast and likely would not create the excitement we saw on the last day of the season last year.  So I thought.

But, the addition of two more teams makes baseball so much better.  For once, the season is actually worth following not just at the top, but also at the bottom.  In years past, there might be one or two divisional races that came down to the wire.  Now, those persevere alongside the competition for the bottom Wild Card slot.  This year might become an aberration in the future, but the long slough of baseball season needed an extra kick to increase interest not just in the last week but over the course of the last two months.  The expanded list of teams that now can smell the playoffs means more deadline deals, less sellers, and more excitement all around for fans and spectators.  I have to admit I saw this season playing out much differently in February.

Bit #2: The Badminton Scandal

It’s hard to envisage the words “badminton” and “scandal” close to one another in any English language sentence.  Yet, the oddest moment of the Olympics thus far revolves around the fairly unknown sport.  This week, doubles teams from China, South Korea, and Indonesia were disqualified from their round robin matches because the referee judged they intentionally tried to lose the match.  The players were sent home, losing a chance to compete for a gold medal.

Many have branded this “cheating” because it’s the Olympics, allegedly the biggest sports stage in the world and arguably the purest competition from a sportsmanship standpoint.  That athletes would intentionally lose games reeks to most observers, especially those who think about how many other athletes who couldn’t qualify would take full advantage of their position.

But, this is not cheating, it is gamesmanship.  The key difference between those two centers around abrogating rules (cheating) or bending them (gamesmanship).  Need I remind Americans of the “Suck for Luck” campaign in the NFL last year or the many attempts in the pre-lottery NBA to obtain the highest pick?  Why do you think the final group stage matches of the World Cup are played simultaneously?  Athletes know that there are ways to take advantage of the schedule.  Losing a round robin game to have easier competition in future rounds sounds horrible, but really doesn’t strike me as any different from the annual plunge in the NFL at the start of December.  The Olympics may be “pure,” but athletes are not.

A realistic interpretation of this would be: the schedule needs to be changed.  Round robin play works but creates the loopholes for athletes to perform this way.  Shockingly, the BWF didn’t think about this?  They deserve some criticism for not reaching a very obvious conclusion given what they know about athletes and, at a more basic level, human nature.  The badminton players might have deserved a DQ, but sending them home sets a poor example that athletes, not federations, create these kinds of embarrassments.  The relationship looks infinitely more 50/50.

Bit #3: Has NBC done this properly?

Many American audiences have taken issue with NBC during this past two weeks.  Spoilers abound, especially in the online sphere, through social media like Twitter/Facebook and blogs.  Many complain about the lack of live streaming online, the tape-delayed telecasts, and the general knowledge of most Americans before events are televised in primetime.

Yet, the approach makes complete sense for NBC.  While you might know the results, if the final vaults an American team to the top, most Americans will tune in to watch.  I knew at 2 PM on Tuesday that the American women won all-around gold, but still watched to see how the competition played out (and to get a great look at some Russian tears).  NBC has also streamed every event live online, compensating for the decision to move the biggest events to primetime well after their completion.

So, I find many of the complaints disingenuous.  The events are there to be streamed and if Team USA competes, you will watch like everyone else.  And, even then, NBC led off its coverage Wednesday night with men’s synchronized 3m diving…and ratings are still great.  Certainly, there are the big events, but the appeal of the Olympics is such that viewers tune in for almost anything in primetime.  NBC has done very little wrong in this regard, and their coverage, while delayed, makes the best of a tough situation.