Rox Talk

The Week That Was

A 4-2 week against the Angels and A's. The Roxs currently stand at 40-35. Seven and half games back from division leading Los Angeles in third place. Currently 17-15 at home and 23-20 on the road, the Roxs have outscored its opponents 387-356 (expected wins is 40 versus historical wins at 35). On pace for 86 wins with 829 runs scored and 767 runs against.

An impressive mid-season run! That just keep on going. They have moved into the Wild Card talk with this improbable run. With a Dodger series looming a chance does exist to move within striking distance of the division but let's be serious...the Dodgers get Manny back on Friday and the Rox barely gained on them when he was gone for 50 games. Unless team chemistry suddenly explodes I think the Dodgers will win 100 games easy. If the Rox can keep at it I think the Wild Card is within reach. With the D-backs and Padres going nowhere those are some easy wins compared to what the Central and East has to deal with. I think 85 - 90 wins is possible. The Rox road schedule has been brutal having played the most road games of any team. That means post All Star break we will be home rather than doing the road trip death spiral. If our starter's arms don't fall off I think we have a chance.

By the way sweeping Holliday away was especially sweet for me. I wonder what Boras has got to say to him now. Think he will even come close to the 85 million we offered up? NOT...good luck Matt, greedy bastard!

Twenty Years Ago...

Twenty years ago today I journeyed up that ramp (I believe figuratively as I can't distinctly remember actually marching up it, but then again that day was a blur in my memory, followed by days of fog!). Today the language is no longer there with higher ups thinking it was sexist and anti-women. Personally I think it is a shame because the language was from a poem and any poetry can take on a greater meaning. Is it a crime to think that men can't include both male and female? Either way I digress, the Academy being a federal institution has to grow and change with the times. For a young school it is unfortunate that folklore and tradition can be erased simply because of public image but having spent four years there I can say that times change. When I arrive the pay phone was my weekend savior, computer hard drives were a fantasy, CDs were still "new", VCRs were the thing to have, and Super Mario was still fun to play. How things must be different today with social networking and what not. Do freshman still feel isolated?

It was a beautiful place to go to school, in retrospect. I remember waking up on weekend mornings after a winter storm and looking out at the mountains and thinking how peaceful it looked. An awe inspiring place. But also bittersweet looking back...often times I think I wasted time there while other times I feel content that I made it through, that it didn't get the best of me. It wasn't pretty but not everything can be. A momentous day arriving, getting of the bus, getting yelled at, having my head shaved, and realizing that my life had certainly taken a new path...

Andy Warhol Museum

In Pittsburgh and who knew that Warhol was born there and went to college there! I certainly didn't. Great exhibit for a truly iconic artist. Sometimes I think artist can become more that they truly are but I think after seeing Warhol and his art that he truly deserves the credit he receives. His work is expansive and impressive. I think a truly magnificent artist is one who is copied repeatedly. Warhol probably invented today's modern design. Good stuff!

Souls Moving On....

I missed Farrah and puberty by a few years so the poster to the left did not grace my walls but all the same I think Farrah is one of those women that much like Marilyn became a part of Americana. Her soul moved on today and in some unfortunate timing Michael Jackson's did as well. Again Jackson's Thriller came out right before music began to mean much to me so while I enjoy and respect his music he will always remain an Americana enigma. Bizarre life filled with inconsistencies and contradictions. It is too bad that Farrah's passing was eclipsed. Why our musician's like Elvis and Michael so incredibly adorned but peculiar?

Haiku Wednesday

Bing

Yum...ripe, succulent
Refreshing burst of summer
Just avoid the Pits!

Rox Talk

The Week That Was

A 5-1 week against the Rays and Pirates. The Roxs currently stand at 36-33. Nine and half games back from division leading Los Angeles in third place. Currently 17-15 at home and 19-18 on the road, the Roxs have outscored its opponents 352-328 (expected wins is 37 versus historical wins at 32). On pace for 85 wins with 826 runs scored and 770 runs against.

Wow what another awesome week! But you know they played 5 - 1 baseball and only gained one game on the Dodgers! Certainly the Wild Card is in play. What do the Rox do? I think the Rox are going to try and unload Atkins for maybe a bullpen arm especially with Corpas going down.

Amazing what some positive energy can do for a team psyche. This team looks entirely different from what we saw for the first 50 or so games. I mean this team has an attitude and a swagger. I was at the game against Pittsburgh on Friday night and they truly never look like they were going to lose. They just get tacking on runs and at no time during the evening did I think they were going to lose. Amazing....

Frank Deford - The Entitled

Great little baseball book. My youngest son gave it to me for Father's Day. Honestly I had never heard of Frank Deford. After I read the book I thought it was a decent read. The ending was a bit murky and not for sure if I really agreed with it. I thought it was a little too much playing into the athlete is the victim versus their entitlement...

Great line though below:

"Pitchers were sort of like ordinary girls who got by because they had big boobs."

Haiku Wednesday

Summer

Best season ever
Vacations, movies, baseball
Can we bottle it?

Rox Talk

The Week That Was

A 7-0 week against the Brewers and Mariners. The Roxs currently stand at 31-32. Ten and half games back from division leading Los Angeles in third place. Currently 12-14 at home and 19-18 on the road, the Roxs have outscored its opponents 310-304 (expected wins is 32 versus historical wins at 29). On pace for 80 wins with 815 runs scored and 780 runs against.

Wow what a week! Really it isn't too much of a surprise especially when you consider that for most of the year the Rox's offense run total has been greater than what the pitcher's have allowed the opponents to score (granted Rox have scored a lot of runs in blow outs and have been held to some low run totals in their losses but it still indicates that the Rox can score runs). Up until this point they simply were playing below the mean. Now I expect that they will probably play .500 ball for the rest of the season. I don't think they are as good as they were over the last 11 games nor do I think they are as bad as the first 7 weeks of the season. The real question will be what happens after the All Star Break...

As a Rox fan I think it is fantastic that they have clawed back to some respectability and are almost back to five hundred baseball. As a baseball fan I have to be realistic and look at their 11 game win streak and after winning eleven games in a row all they gained on LA was a pathetic 4 games (? WTF). They still stand 10.5 out! Whoopee they inched closer to a Wild Card but will they be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline. I mean realistically if they stayed bad you could rid yourself of Atkins, Marquis, and Street and get some decent payback. Now if the Rox sell and they are sort of in contention with the Wild Card they'd get tremendous backlash from the fans. But what good is keeping these guys? Build for the future. This ain't your year...LA is running away with it.

Malcolm Gladwell - Outliers

Gladwell's trilogy is complete. Of the three books this is probably his weakest. Not an ideals but in that the book is more anecdote than research. I mean Gates wasn't so much an outlier has he was simply in the right place at the right time. I think it is easy to look at history of individuals and find why they were successful but in reality I think it by in large it is a matter of luck. If it hadn't been Gates then it would have been someone else. I think it is natural for humans to try and find connections while most of the time that connection is randomness. It was a good book and I enjoyed it.

I thought the chapter on Asians and math was especially insightful.

Haiku Wednesday

Papas

Rock solid figure
Stalwart but tender with love
One to look up to

Placebo - Battle for the Sun

Just can't get into this album. Nothing jumping out at me...so disappointed

Rox Talk

The Week That Was

A 4-3 week against the Astros and Cardinals. The Roxs currently stand at 24-32. Thirteen and half games back from division leading Los Angeles in fifth place. Currently 9-14 at home and 15-18 on the road, the Roxs have outscored its opponents 283-278 (expected wins is 28 versus historical wins at 26). On pace for 69 wins with 819 runs scored and 804 runs against.

So is Tracy that much better, Hurdle that much worse, or has the team finally found its identity? Hard to believe what we watched in St Louis (or is St Louis that bad?) came from the team that only one once in Houston.  The crazy thing is that this team has some offense.  It has scored 5 or more runs 26 times having won 18 times but then in the other 30 games (scoring 4 runs or less) it has won only 6 times.  It is either feast or famine for the Roxs.  

As I predicted last week it was an up week for pitching so we ended up doing well.  What will this week bring?  Who knows but consistency would be nice...

Doug Stanton - Horse Soldiers

Incredibly interesting book. When Sept 2001 happened it was such a blur. What happened half a world away was to me an unknown. Reading this book about those that choose to defend our freedoms is heartwarming and sometime mindboggling. The sacrifices our soldiers perform is awe inspiring. Having been a soldier myself, although never in the face of combat, I have a small bond with those men and women. To think a 21 century battle being fought with horses and B-52s. Interesting dichotomy.

Quote below was of interest to me, "But Rocky had discovered that the security the Taliban had brought to the country came with a heavy price. One's very freedom." That slippery slope of security and freedom. Did our country in frightening terrorism not go to far and infringe on our very freedom? Sometimes the terrorist truly do win in unconventional ways...

Haiku Wednesday

Flags

Waving in the wind

Red ripples, white fields, blue sky

More than just fabric

Rox Talk

The Week That Was

A 2-4 homestand against the Dodgers and Padres. The Roxs currently stand at 20-29. Thirteen and half games back from division leading Los Angeles in fifth place. Currently 9-14 at home and 11-15 on the road, the Roxs have been outscored by its opponents 255-238 (expected wins is 23 versus historical wins at 22). On pace for 66 wins with 787 runs scored and 843 runs against.

The Hurdle era is over.  For over 1,162 games we watched this man at least try to keep a positive spin on things.  A winning percentage of 0.461 and an average division finish of 4 pretty much speaks the truth.  I am not a Hurdle fan but I admit he was dealt a crappy hand and did the best that he could.  Had he not gone to the World Series, I am sure that in 2007 he would have been shown the door.  Only through good will was he not shown the door last season. I think after 7 years the player's just got tired of his mantras.  He did shepherd GenR into the big leagues and history will probably look and say he got what he could out of team that really didn't have much (a lot of emotion and luck got them to the Series but Boston really show them for what they were...a glorified .500 team that just got hot). Pitching was never consistent enough, still couldn't figure out the disparity between playing at Coors and winning on the road, and in 2007 I think he knew enough just to get out of the way and let the team play.  In the end we will always have September and October 2007 (which as Rox Fans we should just cherish because at the time it was awesome)!

According the graph we should have good pitching for the upcoming week.  Which is probably good because we start an eleven game road trip to Houston, St Louis, and Milawaukee.  Yikes a tough romp through the Central's best teams.  Could be ugly...

No May Flowers, a Hot June?

A 12 - 17 month and a the Rox saw the Dodgers gain 8.5 games.  Rox actually won more games on the road then at home this month.  Really think for the Rox to compete they have to blow teams out at home and steal some on the road.  Rox are on pace to win 2 more games on the road then their historic average and 13 games below their average at home.  Maybe Tracy can turn things around?

Minuses

- Beyond Marquis pitching continues to be awful.  Cook and Jimenez have been terribly inconsistent and de la Rosa and Hammel are not the answer.  Street has shown the ability to close but much like Fuentes is prone to just falling apart.  Corpas...one season wonder!

- The offense either scores or it doesn't.  Team batting average is 0.249...and you play at Coors...turn the Humidor off...please

- Atkins hitting 0.190 and Tulo at 0.226 (another one season wonder, thankfully he plays a good SS!)

Pluses

- Hawpe and Helton are the offense.

- A lot more home games are upcoming

- New manager

I think stability will be better.  When will Atkins be unloaded?  Will June's eleven game road trip put the final nail in the coffin?  Are we looking at another rebuilding year in 2010?  Will Helton remain a Rox Star?