Oscar Gamble Society

A: Beating up *pregnant* women.

Ugh. Guess this will give the NFL a chance to break out the new code of conduct.

Can anyone - Bueller, Bueller - explain to me why the exclusive deal MLB and DTV have brokered to broadcast out-of-market games is causing such an uproar, when the NFL has the exact same deal with DTV and no says a peep about it?

Then again, this double standard is evident in the whole steriod issue, when you have the US Senate taking time out of their apparently not-so-busy schedules to hold hearings on the use of steriods in baseball, yet guys in the NFL are caught red-handed - with big names such as Shawn Merriman - and no one in Congress seems to raise an eyebrow.

And still again, the double standard is evident in the fact that MLB still enjoys their anti-trust exemption, yet other sports do not.

I guess I’ve answered my own question - the only conclusion I can draw is there remains continued delusion of some that baseball is still considered (wrongly, IMO) to be the “national pastime”, and they are somehow held to a higher standard.

What a freakin’ joke…

In a separate post, Gonzo noted that in 2006, the Mets were 74-4 when leading after six innings.  But how does that compare to the rest of MLB?  Well, that is the fewest losses and best winning percentage (0.949) in that scenario.  But one other team also had only 4 losses when leading after six innings (and with a record of 67-4, was 0.944 in those situations).  Name that team.

Let’s take this a little farther…

Which team had the fewest losses (and best winning percentage, as it happens) when leading after *seven* innings?

And finally, two teams had *zero* losses when leading after eight innings.  Name those two teams.

I wasn’t sure how to update in my post below, so I’m adding another post - so sue me for taking up additional bandwith…

Anyway, Mets announced their roster today and surprise - Sele is not on it, Burgos is.  This is good news, for a number of reasons:

1. Sele is not on the roster!
2. Park moves to the long man role, and more importantly - will NOT be the 7th inning guy
3. Sele is not on the roster!
4. Sele did not demand a “I must be on the big league roster” clause in his contract, they can send him to AAA.  However, he has gone on record as saying he won’t accept a demotion, so the Mets will probably release him, and he’ll be gone forever!

In other pitching news - they will go with 11 on the team, Pelfrey will start in AAA and be recalled on approx 4/15, when they will need 5th starter for the first time.

Green “wins” the RF job (Willie LOVES his veterans) - for now, anyway. 

With opening day around the corner, most teams have trimmed rosters signficantly, if not set it outright, and my Mets are no exception.  In an attempt to stem the tide of incessant Red Sox/Yankee posts, I thought I would represent the “other” team in NY; Al “Money” Reba can certainly do a better job than myself, but he’s far too busy, so I will do my best….

The good news - Omar and Willie are giving the kids a shot in the rotation; Maine, Perez and Pelfrey are penciled in as #3,4 and 5 in the rotation.  Meaning, of course, Aaron Sele and Chan Ho Park are thankfully nowhere to be found in the rotation.  However, that leads to the bad news…..

Sele and Park are nowhere near the rotation becuase not one but BOTH are in the ‘pen.  Some of this is due to the fact Sanchez is hurt again, but it appears that Omar and Willie had this in mind before the injury, and Joe Smith made the team due to Sanchez being out.

Now according to the conventional logic that starters are more valuable, they should do less harm in the ‘pen then they would pitching every 5th day.  However, it appears they might ask Park to be the 7th inning guy. Sele appears to be the long man, though, so he can’t really do too much damage in that role.

I’m not really a fan of these moves, though - they are asking TWO guys to peform a role they are not really used to, with Park apparently going to get a fair amount of responsibility.  And with so many kids in the rotation, the ‘pen figures to play a big role for the Mets, in an attempt to keep them from throwing 180-200 innings, something that Maine and Pelfrey have never done, and Perez hasn’t done in 4 years.

All that said, it’s almost April, where optimism reigns supreme; the Mets offense figures to be even better than last year, so here’s to hoping they score bunches of runs early and hold on until they can get the ball to Heilman and Wagner in the 8th and 9th….

Ugueth Urbina has finalized a long term deal to spend the remainder of his career with the Venezuela Penal League. Given that Urbina previously did a stint in Detroit, at least this won’t be the worst place he has played.

Curt Schilling is an unusual ballplayer - insightful, articulate, and with a sense of the history of the game. It burns me that he plays for Boston. He really should be a Yankee. Now he has a blog, 38 Pitches, that looks worth checking out.

As I wrote earlier, Ameriquest has formally asked to be released from the final two years of its three-year deal to sponsor Greg Biffle’s #16 Ford Fusion. I guess we can infer that they’re on board for the rest of 2007 - maybe they paid up front, otherwise presumably they would bail now and save the incremental cash. Anyway, Biffle’s sponsors seem to have the life expectancy of Spinal Tap drummers, so prospective replacements, consider yourselves warned. And Biffle’s other main sponsor is Subway, so let’s none of us be shocked the morning we read about Jared dying in a bizarre gardening accident.

So, ESPN has announced that they’re replacing Joe Theismann in the Monday Night Football booth with Ron Jaworski.  Okay.  To me, this is about as meaningful as when Aaron Spelling replaced Shannon Doherty with Rose McGowan on “Charmed”.  In other words, is anybody really going to notice?  Sure, ESPN would like this to be far more momentous - akin to changes on another Aaron Spelling production, for example, when Farah Fawcett-Majors was replaced by Cheryl Ladd on “Charlie’s Angels”.  Sorry ESPN, the MNF franchise is far closer to “Charmed” than “Charlie’s Angels” these days.

(more…)

New Orleans continues to struggle to rebuild itself, with a significantly smaller population (and tax base). Crime-ridden before Katrina hit, the Big Easy is even more lawless now. The condition of the public school system is shambolic, though blame for that can’t be pinned on the weather. With so many pressing needs and limited resources, the government is understandably forced to make difficult decisions in triage. Does the incremental dollar go to infrastructure, or the police, or the schools… or the Saints? The Louisiana state government is actually making direct cash payments to the Saints, in an attempt to induce the team to continue to play in New Orleans. Clearly more desirable than safe streets or literate children. Is there any way we can sell Louisiana back to France?