« Wedge-stache, NL East and Gibsonburg High »
By Suss
In the classic "well our hitting is bad so we can't blame the players," the four-runs-per-game Indians fired their hitting coach Eddie Murray. While the .240 average could be attributed to the Hall of Fame outfielder-turned-coach, one Web site disagrees.
A grassroots movement in Cleveland, ShaveEricWedge.com, is trying to petition the Indians skipper to shave the 'stache off, which apparently has cursed the offense this year. Last year when they made a playoff run, Wedge was clean shaven. This correlation was reason enough to register the domain name and post pictures of other moustached losers in history, including Mr. T., Popeye's rival Bluto and Hitler.
So if this firing a Hall of Famer thing doesn't work, maybe he'll go shopping for a new razor. (Murray will find another coaching job.)
Today I was asked by fellow BG grad Cullen Gatten who my playoff predictions were. My wild card teams were Texas and Florida. While I forgot the Twins are a game ahead of Texas, I stuck to my guns as I'm a stubborn son of a gun. But it makes sense. While Minnesota is probably a better team (and if the two played a one-game playoff I'm taking the Twins and the points) Texas has a much easier road:
Minnesota is in the same division with the White Sox (the best team), the Royals (the worst team), Detroit and Cleveland (two .500 teams). Texas plays Anaheim (a very good team), Seattle and Oakland (two horrible teams). Also, a short tenure of history is on my side, as the AL Central is the only division of the current six never to have a team win the wild card.
I said Florida would win the NL wild card out of the East because they're the next best team in that division. But three teams in that division -- Washington, New York and Florida -- are all coming off weekend sweeps. And the current standings go as follows:
And to break new ground on the Futon Report, we will discuss Ohio high school baseball, namely the historic championship by Division IV Gibsonburg. The Golden Bears beat Lancaster Fisher Catholic 5-4 to win the title, but the remarkable thing here is that Gibsonburg went 6-17 in the regular season and a 3-11 conference record, making them the first Ohio team to win a state baseball title with a losing record. Ain't nobody gonna break that record anytime soon.
Analyzing the record further, a 6-17 record is a .261 winning percentage. By comparison, the 2003 Detroit Tigers went 43-119, a .265 mark.
A grassroots movement in Cleveland, ShaveEricWedge.com, is trying to petition the Indians skipper to shave the 'stache off, which apparently has cursed the offense this year. Last year when they made a playoff run, Wedge was clean shaven. This correlation was reason enough to register the domain name and post pictures of other moustached losers in history, including Mr. T., Popeye's rival Bluto and Hitler.So if this firing a Hall of Famer thing doesn't work, maybe he'll go shopping for a new razor. (Murray will find another coaching job.)
Today I was asked by fellow BG grad Cullen Gatten who my playoff predictions were. My wild card teams were Texas and Florida. While I forgot the Twins are a game ahead of Texas, I stuck to my guns as I'm a stubborn son of a gun. But it makes sense. While Minnesota is probably a better team (and if the two played a one-game playoff I'm taking the Twins and the points) Texas has a much easier road:
Minnesota is in the same division with the White Sox (the best team), the Royals (the worst team), Detroit and Cleveland (two .500 teams). Texas plays Anaheim (a very good team), Seattle and Oakland (two horrible teams). Also, a short tenure of history is on my side, as the AL Central is the only division of the current six never to have a team win the wild card.
I said Florida would win the NL wild card out of the East because they're the next best team in that division. But three teams in that division -- Washington, New York and Florida -- are all coming off weekend sweeps. And the current standings go as follows:
Washington .... 31-26All have winning records. Suffice to say, it's anybody's race. It will probably come down to divisional games to decide who doesn't have a chance and, from there, records in one-run games may decide who will have a chance. Right now, Philadelphia looks to be the odd team out with a 12-18 record against divisional opponents. And the early June award for best one-run game record in that division goes to ... Washington?!? Wow. (Keep in mind the Nationals are really just the Expos with special guests Jose Guillen and Esteban Loaiza.)
Atlanta ....... 30-26, 1/2 back
Philadelphia .. 30-27, 1 back
NY Mets ....... 30-27, 1 back
Florida ....... 28-26, 1-1/2 back
And to break new ground on the Futon Report, we will discuss Ohio high school baseball, namely the historic championship by Division IV Gibsonburg. The Golden Bears beat Lancaster Fisher Catholic 5-4 to win the title, but the remarkable thing here is that Gibsonburg went 6-17 in the regular season and a 3-11 conference record, making them the first Ohio team to win a state baseball title with a losing record. Ain't nobody gonna break that record anytime soon.
Analyzing the record further, a 6-17 record is a .261 winning percentage. By comparison, the 2003 Detroit Tigers went 43-119, a .265 mark.
—posted by Suss at 6/06/2005 02:30:00 AM . . . make a comment
1 Comments:
Wedge is a victim of his own ego. He won't shave the Ned Flanders thing, and also can't admit that despite Eddie's best efforts, the talent just isn't there.
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