Chargers the NFL equivalent of the Colorado Rockies

Last month, when the Colorado Rockies won 10 straight to temporarily move into the NL West and wild card chase, there was talk from everyone that the Rox were at it again... The Rockies were red-hot in September 2007 and went all the way to the World Series. They made it back to the postseason in 2009, after being all but left for dead early on.

(Of course, the Rockies ultimately fell short in 2010, losing 13 of their last 14 and finished third in the division.)

Thanks to the 2007 and 2009 runs, the Rockies were widely seen as a September team. In '07, they won 14 of their final 15 games in the regular season, including 11 in a row. After sweeping both the Phillies in the NLDS and the Diamondbacks in the NLCS, Colorado had an incredible 21-1 record in games played after September 15th. In 2009, it was a rebound from a 20-29 start and the Rockies won 10 of their first 11 games in September, and wound up with the Wild Card.

Those efforts definitely helped a lot of baseball followers believe Colorado to be a so-called 'September team.' What if Colorado could start out every year the way they play in those two Septembers? The Rockies could very well shatter the all-time record of 116 wins set by the 1906 Cubs and matched by the 2001 Mariners.

And the NFL equivalent of the Rockies, the San Diego Chargers, could very well join the 2007 New England Patriots as the only 16-0 team, if they started every year the way they played come December.

The Chargers lost to the hapless Oakland Raiders 35-27 on Sunday, snapping a 13-game winning streak against their long-time AFC West rivals. San Diego lost to Oakland for the first time since 2003, when Jerry Rice (?!!) was playing for the Raiders.

It's yet another "slow" start to the season for San Diego, which is now 2-3. The Chargers have alternated wins and losses so far this year. In the first five weeks, they have gone L-W-L-W-L. That pattern will probably continue the next couple weeks, when they face the lowly Rams (should be a W) and then the powerful Patriots (should be an L) in back-to-back games.

But what if the Chargers played every game like it's a December game?

Last season, they won their final 11 games of the regular season, and finished with a 13-3 record and the AFC West title. They were the AFC's No. 2 seed, but lost in their first playoff game to the No. 5 New York Jets. (The Indianapolis Colts, who started the year 14-0 before losing their final two regular season games, clinched the AFC's top seed and went on to play in the Super Bowl.)

In 2008, the Chargers started the year 4-8, but thanks to the Denver Broncos' historic collapse and their own 4-0 December, won the AFC West with a mediocre 8-8 record. They beat the Colts before losing to the Steelers in the AFC divisional round. Sure, they became the first NFL team to ever start a year 4-8 and still make the playoffs, and sure, they were burned by referee Ed Hochuli in Week 2, and sure, they lost five games in the last 24 seconds that year, but again... If the Chargers had played each game like they normally do in December, they wouldn't have been an 8-8 team.

2007: They won their final six games, after beginning 1-3 and 5-5. (In their first four games, they lost three in a row, 38-14, 31-24, and 30-16, to the Patriots, Packers, and.... the 4-12 Chiefs?!?!) Their 11-5 record gave them the AFC's No. 3 seed, but of course, they were no match for the 16-0 Patriots in the AFC Title Game. Sure, they'd knocked off the No. 2 seed Colts in the divisional round, but their slow start ensured they had to play in the wild card round and had no bye week for the last 13 weeks.

2006: They won their final 10 games in what turned out to be Marty Schottenheimer's final season as head coach. The Chargers were 14-2, with their only losses by three points to the Ravens and by three to the Chiefs. After getting a first-round bye in the playoffs, the Chargers lost in their first playoff game, 24-21 to the Patriots. The biggest irony of that loss came in the first quarter, when Schottenheimer decided to go for it on 4th-and-11 instead of trying for a 47-yard field goal. QB Philip Rivers lost a fumble while getting sacked, setting up a 51-yard field goal by the Pats' Stephen Gostkowski. Of course, the Chargers lost by three, and it was Nate Kaeding whose 54-yard FG attempt that fell short with three seconds left that handed San Diego the loss. Hey, they lost to the Patriots, but if they won those games against the Ravens and Chiefs early on... at least they would have been 16-0, right?

Schottenheimer would be fired less than a month after that playoff loss, on February 12, 2007.

Anyway, the point is, in those years, the Chargers, had they been as good all year long as their December records, the NFL might have seen a couple more 16-0 teams.

Just like the Rockies could have hosted a few more postseason and World Series contests.

Halladay > Lee

When the Philadelphia Phillies decided to bring in Roy Halladay from Toronto and ship Cliff Lee to the Mariners, there were all kinds of "experts" saying it was a mistake. Lee was 4-0 in the postseason in 2009, and Halladay had never pitched October baseball. Lee's numbers in the regular season were better than Halladay because he had more wins, and so on.

Well, after last Wednesday, when Halladay pitched a no-hitter, the second ever post-season no-no, hours after Lee beat the Rays in Game One, there can no longer be any debate.

And now, you have the Phillies already dispatching the Reds in three straight, and Texas having to go to a fifth game against Tampa Bay (this Tuesday), there really is no more debate.

Halladay's no-hitter set the tone for the Phils-Reds series and now the ace right-hander can come back to start Game One of the NLCS against either the Braves or Giants. He'll be well-rested going into the Championship Series.

Meanwhile, because the Lee, the Texas "ace," didn't pitch Game Four on short rest--and the Rangers lost--the series with the Rays is now 2-2. Think about that for a moment. A few days ago, the Rangers were up 2-0, and they were going home for the next two games with a chance to win their first postseason series ever.

In Game Three, the Rangers were five outs away from clinching, but collapsed. Then they lost Game Four, when the Rangers decided not to have Lee pitch. Now, Texas is 0-6 all-time in home postseason games. Wow. (They lost twice at home in the 1996 Division Series, once in 1998, once in 1999, all against the Yankees, and now twice in 2010.)

Sure, management didn't want Lee to pitch on short rest because he apparently has never done it in his career. But shouldn't an ace pitcher volunteer to pitch anyway, and say, "Give me the ball," the way a Jack Morris would?

By that definition, Cliff Lee is not an ace pitcher. He may have a lot of money, he may get a huge contract this off-season, but he's not a money pitcher, not a big-game pitcher.

And if Lee falters on regular rest on Tuesday and the Rangers lose, it'll be history for sure. The 2010 Rays will be the second team ever, following the 2001 Yankees, to lose the first two games of a division series at home and bounce back to win the series.

Hey, even if Lee goes out there and dominates the Rays and gives the Rangers the series victory, there's just no way Texas will beat the Yankees in the ALCS. He won't even be available for the first two games of the ALCS against New York, and sure, he'll probably beat Phil Hughes in a Game Three matchup... but do you really think C.J. Wilson and Colby Lewis will beat the Yankees? Or Tommy Hunter over the Yankees? Didn't think so...

So, when is Phillips getting fired?

There were plenty of upsets in the NFL on Sunday, with the Chargers falling to the Raiders and the Packers losing to the Redskins, among others. The 49ers dropped to 0-5 after losing to the Michael Vick-less Eagles on Sunday Night Football...

But the biggest one is probably the Dallas Cowboys losing at home to the Tennessee Titans, 34-27. The Cowboys, picked by many to be a force in the NFC this year, are dead last in the East with their 1-3 record.

They are winless at home. Sure, there's still plenty of time to turn it around, but take a look at their schedule. They've got the Vikings coming up next week, at Minnesota. Who knows which Brett Favre will show up?

Then at Green Bay in Week 9. The Super Bowl champion Saints come to town in Week 12. Then the Cowboys have to play in Indianapolis the week after. They still have the Eagles and Giants twice.

A pretty tough schedule.

So, when will head coach Wade Phillips take the fall? Shouldn't he get fired for such a lousy 1-3 start? It took him three years in Dallas before he actually won a playoff game, when the Cowboys beat the Eagles last year. Heck, it took him eight full seasons as an NFL head coach before he finally got his team a playoff win. He should have won at least one playoff game with the Buffalo Bills in 1999 but of course, he benched Doug Flutie in favor of Rob Johnson.

So, one playoff win in eight full years as a head football coach.

Sure, that might be good for teams such as the Texans or Titans or Lions. But we're talking about the Dallas Cowboys, one of the most successful franchises in NFL history. They might not even make the playoffs this year.

Shouldn't Phillips be responsible?

Really an ace?

Is Cliff Lee really an ace? Not when he won't pitch on three days' rest when his team needs him.

Last season for the Phillies in the World Series, he didn't say 'Give me the ball' the way a Jack Morris would. Though Lee won two games against the Yankees, the Bombers went on to win the Series.

This year, the Rangers decided before their Division Series against Tampa Bay that they wouldn't ask Lee to pitch on three days' rest. So, the lefty was dominant against the Rays in Game One. Texas won Game Two, and was just one win away from winning the first postseason series ever, in club history.

Game Three on Saturday saw the Rangers have a 2-1 lead, and they were just five outs away from advancing, before the Rays rallied.

Now, Game Four on Sunday isn't going to be Cliff Lee. It's going to be Tommy Hunter.

So, suppose Hunter doesn't beat the Rays. Then it's going to be 2-2 in the series going back to Tampa, with Cy Young candidate David Price going for the Rays in the finale.

No pressure on you, Tommy Hunter.

The bigger pressure is going to be on Cliff Lee, who doesn't want to pitch on three days' rest. If it goes to a fifth game, you better hope you bring your "A" game, or you'll be letting the whole franchise down. Might as well pitch a no-hitter, Cliff, to show your worth. Otherwise, it's going to be ugly...

Jack Morris wasn't perfect, and I'm not a fan of his, but you have to admit, the former Tigers and Twins World Series hero was one of the gutsiest pitchers of his era.

Seriously? No one noticed for three innings?

Now, the Pirates are the worst team in baseball. Worst-run franchise, worst team this year, worst team for the last 18 years. They can't seem to get anything right. Can't pitch. Can't field. Can't hit. Can't win.

And now they can't even get their uniforms right?

#100 for Seattle

Remember the beginning of the season, when the Seattle Mariners were supposed to challenge the Angels for the AL West title?

Well, they lost 5-3 to the A's at SAFECO Field on Saturday, giving them a 61-100 record. Weren't they supposed to be the team to beat in the division? After all, they were talking about having their two aces, Cliff Lee and Felix Hernandez, putting on pitching clinics every fifth day (as their promotional ads claimed). They just picked up Chone Figgins to join forces with Ichiro and Griffey. While Ichiro did his job by reaching 200+ hits for a major-league record 10th straight season, Figgins has been a bust with .259 average and lack of hustle. Griffey Jr. was a distraction from day one and decided to take a nap in the clubhouse, as a couple anonymous Mariners players told the media. He wisely retired soon after, but not before Mike Sweeney wanted to create a whole lot more drama by challenging the teammates that went to the media. Yawn.

Hernandez held up his end of the bargain and has an undeserving won-loss record (13-12, 2.27), but it's Doug Fister who's been screwed (6-14, 4.11) thanks to the poor run support he's gotten.

And Brandon League, brought to Seattle from Toronto in the Brandon Morrow deal, has been a disaster. It's funny hearing how the Blue Jays GM was saying on Fan 590 once that the Mariners got a good season out of League, probably because the reliever had a lot of wins. But if you actually listen to the Mariners' radio announcers, they don't like League because all he does is give up runs or let inherited runners score whenever he comes into a game. His record of 9-7 and a 3.46 ERA is totally misleading. (Shows how intelligent that Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos is by making that idiotic remark.)

Well, the M's have lost 100 games again, the second time in three years. Maybe Anthopoulos thinks League will help them be a better team next year. At least they don't have Griffey Jr. sucking out of the DH spot any more.

What Cy Young?

There was a time this year when Tim Hudson was in the 2010 NL Cy Young discussion... put PUL-LEASE!

Hudson has been one of the luckiest pitchers in all of baseball. Back in his second year in 2000, he posted a 4.14 ERA for the A's, but won 20 games. He finished second in the AL Cy Young voting... incredible, given third-place finisher David Wells (20-8, 4.11, 166 Ks, 229.2) arguably had better numbers. (And for those who like to talk about East Coast bias, fourth-place finisher Andy Pettitte of the Yankees was 19-9 with a 4.36 ERA... and finished behind this Hudson kid from Oakland.)

(On a side note, it must have been an awful year for pitchers in 2000, as Todd Jones--Todd Jones!!!--was fifth, followed by Clemens--13-8--and Mussina--11-15--tied for sixth.)

Anyway, this year, he is 16-9 with a 2.76 ERA in 33 starts, but don't let the numbers fool you. If the Braves miss the postseason--can you believe they were seven games up on the Phillies in August but are now battling San Diego for the wild card?--it will be all on him.

Yes yes, he was 15-5 with a 2.24 ERA on August 28th, after beating the Marlins 12-3 with 13 strikeouts. (Anyone can beat the Marlins though...)

But the right-hander choked in September, as did the Braves, as he posted a 5.35 ERA with a 1-4 record in the month. Some of the 'highlights':
*losing to a Mets team trying to get to .500;
*losing 5-0 to Pittsburgh, a team that now has a record 18 straight seasons with a sub .500 record. (Not easy to win when you're not getting that run support, huh, Tim?)
*losing 7-3 at home to the Cardinals, who were pitching Kyle Lohse with his silly 2-7 record and 7.13 ERA... and Tim had the following beautiful line: 5 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 HR;
*losing 8-3 to the pathetic Washington Nationals (HAHA!) and featuring the following numbers: 5.2 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 HR... These are the NATIONALS, not the Phillies or Yankees!

So, a Cy Young contender loses to the Mets, Pirates, and Nationals. He loses to Kyle Lohse and a slumping Cardinals team. And his own team fades from contention.

It's safe to say Hudson is now out of the Cy Young talks... but you know a goofy voter or two will look at his 16 wins and give him votes.

Just like in 2000 with his silly 4.00+ ERA.

Hard-luck Pitchers

Which Giants pitcher started the season 5-0 with a 1.49 ERA through his first six starts? No, not Matt Cain, who went winless in April. No, not Tim Lincecum. (Yes, yes, Lincecum started the year well but was "only" 4-0 through six starts with a slighly higher 1.70 ERA.)

Nope. It was Barry Zito.

It looked like Zito was finally going to be a productive member of the Giants starting rotation. With a win against the Astros on May 16th, the left-hander improved to 6-1 with a 2.15 ERA. He didn't get his seventh win until a month later, when San Francisco beat Oakland 5-4 on June 12th. At that point, Zito was 7-2 with a respectable 3.10 ERA.

And then the wheels fell off.

He was winless in his next five starts with an ERA of 5.79, going 0-2. He could have beaten the Blue Jays in Toronto, when he tossed a complete-game four-hitter. He could have beaten the Dodgers when he pitched six innings of two-run ball. But the Giants offense didn't come through.

Zito then turned it around with a two-hit, 10-strikeout performance against the Mets to win 1-0 on July 16th, ending the five-start winless streak. His numbers were still respectable: 8-4, 3.51.

He was poised for his first winning season in a Giants uniform (he was 11-13, 10-17, and 10-13 in his first three seasons with 'Frisco)... but the offense completely fell apart.

To wit:

July 21st: 7.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 4 SO... but a 2-0 loss in Los Angeles to the Dodgers.
July 26th: 6.1 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 3 SO... but a 4-3 loss to the Marlins.
July 31st: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 6 SO... but a no-decision as the Giants beat the Dodgers 2-1.
August 6th: 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 10 SO... but another no-decision as the Giants beat the Braves 3-2 in Atlanta.

Five straight quality starts (6+ IP, 3 ER or fewer), including the 1-0 win over the Mets, but four straight games without a win! So in the first week of August, Zito's ERA was 3.35 but he was only 8-6.

Six straight rough outings ensued--including a relief appearance against the Reds--as well as an 0-7 record (with a 6.88 ERA) in his next eight appearances, dropping Zito's season record to 8-13!

In the last two losses, he deserved a better fate:

September 8th: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 7 SO - but a 3-1 loss in Arizona.
September 14th: 6.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 SO - but a 1-0 loss to the Dodgers.

So, 8-13 with a 4.02 ERA on the season.

This afternoon, with the Giants one win away from winning the NL West, they gave the ball to Zito against the second-place Padres in San Fran. The lefty, however, gave up consecutive bases-loaded walks in the first inning and was booed off the field when he left after three innings, as the Giants lost 4-2.

With one game left in the regular season, Zito will not pitch again and will thus finish a disappointing 9-14 with a 4.15 ERA. In his last 11 games, he was 1-8 with a 6.72 ERA.

Who would have thought, after such a promising 5-0 start?

But if you want to talk about hard luck, how about Colorado Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez?

At the All-Star break, Jimenez was the front-runner for the National League Cy Young with a 15-1 record and earned the start for the NL in the Midsummer Classic. When he was 10-1 with a 0.78 ERA after a 4-0 shutout over the Giants on May 31st, there was talk he was the second coming of Bob Gibson. (By then, he'd had six scoreless outings out of 11 starts.) He then gave up six runs, four runs, and seven runs, in three straight outings and his ERA went up to 2.27. Still, when he improved to 15-1 on July 8th, there was talk of 30 wins by season's end.

But Jimenez's season ended one win short of 20, as the Rockies lost 1-0 in St. Louis in 11 innings on Saturday. With the no-decision, he will finish 19-8 with a 2.88 ERA. Incredible. Only four wins in the second half?

As Jimenez himself said on Saturday, "Sometimes I pitched good and didn't get the runs and sometimes I got the runs and didn't pitch good. So it was kind of a crazy second half."

The Rockies pitcher, who pitched eight scoreless innings against the Cards, wanted to pitch the ninth, but manager Jim Tracy said no, according to Jimenez. "He [Tracy] was like, 'No, we're going to take care of you and it's not worth it,'" said Jimenez, referring to the fact his skipper didn't want to risk an injury. (Also, Felix Hernandez will not be pitching in the regular season finale for the Mariners on Sunday even though it will be his turn, because the Seattle management also doesn't want to risk their ace hurting his arm. Wonder what the old-school pitchers think about that, with teams babying their pitchers these days...)

Saturday's start was Jimenez's third attempt at win No. 20. He did his best, but the Rockies just couldn't score a run for him.

But what happened in the second half? If I told you Colorado would have a 10-game winning streak and Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez would enter the NL MVP discussion, you'd think Ubaldo would have at least 25 wins going into Saturday, right?

Sure, Ubaldo improved to 17-2 on August 4th win another win over San Francisco with the following line--7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 9 SO--but endured some hard luck after that:

August 10th: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 4 BB, 8 SO. Almost an identical linescore, but he actually lost 1-0 to the Mets in New York. Record: 17-3, despite his ERA dropping to 2.55.

August 15th: 8 IP, 10 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 10 SO against the Brewers. Not a great outing, but at least a quality start... but not good enough for a win. He got a no-decision.

August 21st: 6 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 3 SO against the last-place D'Backs in Arizona. A great start, but also a loss as Colorado went down to a 3-1 defeat. Record: 17-4, 2.66 ERA.

August 27th: 7 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 4 SO against the Dodgers. Another quality start, but another loss, with the Rockies dropping a 6-2 decision. Record: 17-5, 2.71.

September 1st: 8 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 10 SO against the Giants in San Fran. A complete game, a quality start, 10 strikeouts... but a 2-1 loss to Tim Lincecum. Record: 17-6, 2.69.

Sept. 6th: 6 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 6 BB, 8 SO against the first-place Reds... ugly numbers against the NL Central leaders... but surprisingly, a win! 10-5 over Cincinnati. Record: 18-6, 2.79.

Sept. 11th: 6 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 8 SO against the D'Backs - but a no-decision as the Rockies won 2-1.

Sept. 17th: 6.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 6 SO in L.A. against the Dodgers - a bad start, but another win, as Colorado was victorious, 7-5. Record: 19-6, 2.84.

Sept. 22nd: 4 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 BB, 6 SO in Arizona. Loss. Record: 19-7, 3.00.

Sept. 27th: 7 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 6 SO against the Dodgers. Another quality start that ended up as a loss, with the Rockies losing 3-1. Record: 19-8, 2.99. Joe Torre and the Dodgers players said they wanted Ubaldo to win 20 games...but just not against them.

And then the tough no-decision Saturday in St. Louis, despite eight shutout innings. So, a 4-7 second half after that 15-1 beginning. He had 10 quality starts in the second half, enough to get him to 25 wins.

He didn't get there. He didn't even get to 20 wins, but he still broke the Rockies' single-season wins and strikeout records in 2010... small consolation prizes. He still pitched the first no-hitter in Colorado history, a 4-0 gem in Atlanta in April... but Roy Halladay, the probable Cy Young winner, topped him with a perfect game right after.

Jimenez had seven straight quality starts from July 29th to September 1st, but was only 2-4 in that span despite his 2.52 ERA. That's tough luck for you.

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NFL

NFL

NFL

NFL

What East Coast Bias?

History and Milestones

The Blue Jays' Jose Bautista hit his 48th home run of the season to break a club record held by George Bell (1987), as Toronto won a slugfest, 11-9, over the Red Sox at Fenway Park on Friday night.

Bautista wasn't the only one to make history on the field; Boston pitcher Tim Wakefield set yet another Red Sox record when he made an appearance in the seventh inning.

According to the Associated Press, Wakefield became the oldest player to appear for the Boston franchise in 102 years. The knuckleball pitcher, at 44 years and 46 days old, surpassed Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski (44 years and 41 days). Deacon McGuire, who made his last appearance for the Red Sox on August 24, 1908, was 44 years and 280 days old.

Wakefield isn't going to surpass McGuire until next season, assuming the Red Sox decide to re-sign him. But loyalty and history aside, there's no reason to continue bringing him back year after year. The knuckleballer is 4-10 with a 5.17 ERA. He is certainly not an innings-eater (with only 134 IP this season).

If the Red Sox want to be serious about making the postseason next year, it's time to cut ties with Wakefield and give that roster spot to another pitcher. A younger one.

Bautista of the Blue Jays isn't exactly young (he will turn 30 in October), but he sure has established himself as one of the best power hitters in baseball. From April to August 2009, Bautista was a horrible utility player: .225, 3 HRs, 19 RBIs, in 227 at-bats. He then hit 10 home runs after September 1st to finish the year with 13 dingers.

Including his final month in '09, Bautista has now hit 58 home runs in the last 6+ months.

Is he going to have another monster year in 2011? There are some skeptics in baseball circles. Keith Law of ESPN, for one, doesn't appear to think Bautista can duplicate his 2010 success and should have traded him earlier this year, feeling his trade value will never be higher. Law cited the name Davey Johnson on an interview on FAN 590 over a month ago, saying some players will have a fluke year and then come back to earth the following season. (Johnson, whose previous high in HRs was 18, slugged 43 for the '73 Braves as a 30-year-old, and then hit only 27 home runs total the rest of his career.)

I am leaning toward Keith Law, thinking Bautista will not be able to have another 40-homer season. I think the Blue Jays should have dealt him to a contending team before the trade deadline.

As for Wakefield? Time to get rid of him, if you are the Red Sox.

Enough of the King-Felix-for-Cy-Young talk already

Felix Hernandez of the Mariners was hammered for seven runs--four earned--and six hits in 6.1 innings, as Seattle fell 7-4 to the LA Angels. The loss for King Felix dropped him to 11-11 on the season despite his 2.39 ERA.

With about four starts left, even if he were to go 4-0 the rest of the way, he'd still end up with 15 wins. (The Angels pitcher who beat the M's on Saturday, by the way, was Ervin Santana, who is 16-9 with an ERA of 4.00.) There's been talk by some in the media, some of his teammates, many in the Seattle media, and quite a few bloggers that Hernandez deserves to win the AL Cy Young because he has the best ERA in the AL and the most strikeouts in the big leagues.

But come on. He's a .500 pitcher. Tim Lincecum won the NL Cy Young with only 15 wins last year, but other than that, the lowest win total for a starting pitcher to win the Cy Young is 16--a feat shared by five pitchers: Zack Greinke (2009 AL), Brandon Webb (2006 NL), David Cone (1994 AL), Greg Maddux (1994 NL), and Rick Sutcliffe (1984 NL).

For Maddux and Cone, the 1994 players' strike hurt their chances to win any more games because the season ended on August 12th. For Sutcliffe, he was traded from Cleveland to the Cubs and was dominant in his 3 1/2-month stay in the NL. In 2006, Webb was tied with several other pitchers for the league lead in wins in a year where nobody really stood out.

Last season, Greinke (16-8, 2.16, 242 K's) and Lincecum (15-7, 2.48 ERA, 261 K's) won the AL and NL awards, respectively, despite lower win totals as there seems to be a shift from traditional thinking by the voters that big win totals are more important than overall numbers. Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter of the Cardinals, for example, would have won the NL award back in the day. (Ironically, Hernandez was runner-up to Greinke last year even though he had 19 wins.)

But the thing is, Hernandez is 11-11. If the Mariners try to get him to pitch deep into ballgames the last four starts of the year to try and give him a shot to win each game and get into the Cy Young discussion, they're only going to hurt his arm for the long term.

18 wins? So what?

Roy Halladay won his 18th game for the Phillies on Friday night, as Philadelphia beat the Mets 8-4 at Citi Field to stay one game ahead of the Braves in the NL East.

It wasn't exactly his best outing--but then again, he did pitch a perfect game earlier this year, so nothing can top that--but it was good enough for a Phillies team that gave him all that run support. Four runs, eight hits, in 7.2 innings isn't exactly Cy Young numbers, but he'll probably win it anyway because there's no clear-cut favorite thanks to the collapses of Tim Lincecum, Chris Carpenter, Josh Johnson, Ubaldo Jimenez, and Adam Wainwright. (Please don't add Atlanta's Tim Hudson to the Cy Young discussion; he lost to the PIRATES in his last start.)

And in his last start before beating the Mets, Halladay gave up four runs against the Brewers, trailed when he departed, but still got the win when the Phils scored in the next inning and Doc was the pitcher of record.

Amazingly, he also became the first Philadelphia pitcher since John Denny in 1983 to win 18 games in a single season, which is hard to believe since every team except for the Rockies and Rays have had at least one 18-game winner in that span. (Jimenez became the first Colorado pitcher to ever win 18, and he just did it last week for the Rockies.)

Hey, Doc might win 20 games this year. He might win the Cy Young. But to me, it's been a disappointing year. Yes, he's 18-10 with a 2.44 ERA. He has 201 strikeouts. He leads the majors with 228.2 innings.

But remember before the season started when all the Fan 590 people were saying Roy Halladay was going to win 25 games? They were all saying Halladay was far and away the best pitcher in baseball, and after going from the tough AL East to the 'easier' National League, with inferior competition and no DH, this guy was supposed to dominate? Win 25-27 games? Wasn't he supposed to make the Phils run away with the division? Wasn't he supposed to be far superior than Cliff Lee?

Well, check the standings. As of tonight, the Phillies have just a one-game lead. Yes, he had a perfect game earlier in the year, but that was against the Marlins. And whenever he's faced the AL in interleague play, he's been brutal: 1-3 with a 5.06 ERA in four starts, getting bombed by the Yankees and Red Sox. (His only win against AL teams was versus the Blue Jays, when he tossed seven shutout innings against them.)

If he's THAT good, why does he have 10 losses? Why isn't he giving the Phillies a 10-game lead? Why isn't he approaching 30 wins?

All I can say is, he can win 20 this year, and it'll be a disappointing year. Heck, they might not even make the playoffs if the Braves, Giants, and Padres all get on hot streaks... We shall see.

Colby isn't exactly Kobe

On Thursday in Atlanta, Colby Rasmus went 4-for-4 with two home runs as the Cardinals dumped the Braves 11-4. His four hits and four RBIs matched his career highs in both categories, and the Cards got a much-needed victory to move to within five games of the Central-leading Cincinnati Reds.

But who is this Colby Rasmus? Is he supposed to be a big star? The first-round pick of the Cardinals in 2005 (28th overall), the centerfielder is in only his second year in the big leagues, and has 21 homers and 59 RBIs in 2010 while batting .276.

In his two seasons so far, he has 37 home runs and 111 RBIs in 269 games.

So, why was he the big story last weekend on sports pages--front-page material, in fact--when it was reported that he supposedly wanted to get out of St. Louis? Since when was Rasmus a big star?

Perhaps he wants to play more and isn't happy with manager Tony LaRussa. But seriously, this guy isn't that great of a hitter and he was getting that much attention on the weekend? Going into last Saturday, Rasmus had been hitting .202 with three homers in 99 at-bats in the second half!

Longevity does not equal greatness

The NFL season starts on Thursday with the Brett Favre-led Minnesota Vikings facing the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints in a rematch of last year's NFC Championship Game.

While the Vikings went through most of the summer wondering if Favre would return for yet another season, was there really ever any doubt he was going to come back after yet another off-season of 'Will he or won't he?' speculation?

Yes, Favre has his consecutive-games streak going and he's the all-time leader in touchdown passes and other categories, but let's not forget his INT's that cost the Packers several playoff games (including a 6-pick classic in St. Louis and the OT-loss in his final game with Green Bay), cost the Jets a playoff spot after an 8-3 beginning, and last year's NFC title game against the Saints with the Vikings vying for a game-winning field goal in the dying moments of the fourth quarter.

I've talked about Favre so much that I'm not going to bother getting into his horrendous postseason performances. Instead, I'm going to focus on another old-timer whose longevity--not his greatness--is allowing him to continue picking up milestone numbers.

That's none other than Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield.

He was giving a rare start on Wednesday night, and he beat the Tampa Bay Rays 11-5 despite a shaky performance.

In the 44-year-old knuckleball pitcher's case, he became the oldest pitcher to be credited with a victory for the Red Sox, breaking Dennis Eckersley's record. (Eck was 43 when he got his final win for Boston in 1998.)

He now has 179 career wins for Boston, 13 behind the Red Sox club record of 192 shared by Roger Clemens and Cy Young.

Wakefield, in his 16th season with Boston, wants the Red Sox wins record. "Hopefully I get an opportunity to try and do that," he told reporters. "I know how important that is to me" (Source: 44-year-old Wakefield Oldest to Win for Red Sox, Yahoo! Sports).

Well, well, well. Here we have another athlete who is hanging around for the wrong reason. The Red Sox are in third place in the AL East, nine games behind first-place New York and 6.5 games back of the wild-card leading Rays. Boston isn't going to the playoffs this season.

Whose fault is it? Yes, you can blame injuries. You can blame Josh Beckett's ineffectiveness. You can blame Dice-K.

But look at Wakefield's numbers a bit closer:
4 wins, 10 losses, and an ugly ERA of 5.26. In his 18 starts, the Red Sox are 6-12, and his ERA is 5.56. When he has appeared in a game, they are 7-22. In the first two months of the season, he was 1-4 with a 6.02 ERA in 12 games (eight starts). In his 10 losses, his ERA is 8.34 in 10 games (nine starts). At Fenway, his record is 2-6 with a 5.91 ERA.

On August 13th, the Red Sox blew a huge 8-2 lead, and the game went into extra innings. He was brought into the game to start the 11th, threw one pitch, which Nelson Cruz hit over the fence in deep left, and the Red Sox lost.

If Wakefield even pitched decent at all this season, perhaps Boston wouldn't be 6.5 games back in the wild card race. And he's hanging around so he can get that record. Nice.

Wakefield's pitching line vs Tampa Bay:
5 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO.
W, 4-10; season ERA: 5.26.

Boxscore:
T.B. 130 100 000 - 5 8 1
BOS 022 031 30x - 11 17 1

Make up your mind, Jays fans...

I had a chance to talk to a Toronto Star journalist (he's an acquaintance of mine) two weeks ago about the Toronto Blue Jays, and everything he said is consistent with what I've been hearing about the fans in that city. Or more specifically, what other Torontonians are feeling about the Blue Jays, based on what I've been hearing on the Fan 590.

According to him, he's personally feeling excitement this year toward the Blue Jays for the first time since 1992-93. He senses it's the same for many people in Toronto about the Jays. Reason? He feels, just like many many others, the young pitching staff of Morrow, Romero, Marcum, et al, has a chance to do something special, and in general, the team is moving in the right direction. And oh yeah, the Jays are going to finish above .500 this season... if they don't have a bad September.

Huh? Seriously? To me, that makes NO sense at all. Sure, the Blue Jays, as of this moment, are 71-66, good for fourth in the AL East. But don't tell me there was no excitement in, say, 2006, when the Blue Jays finished second, ahead of the Boston Red Sox, with an 87-75 record? Heck, the Jays finished above .500 for three straight seasons from 2006 to 2008, and even made a surprising run early in the 2009 season. But people haven't really been excited about the club until this year?

How about 2003, when the Blue Jays were in a pennant race? Or 2000, when David Wells, with his 20-win season, led the club to within 2.5 games out (in the wild card race) going into the final week of the season? 1998, when manager Jim Fregosi led them to wild card contention in September? Even on the Fan 590, for example, there's always talk that the Blue Jays haven't played a meaningful game in September since 1993. (Wells famously trashed Toronto fans in his 2003 autobiography saying they don't know much about baseball and only know how to boo and criticize the team.)

As the Toronto Star journalist says, people weren't really interested in the Blue Jays because there was still a hangover from the 1994 players' strike. This year though, there is a sense the team is making the right moves to get better.

Hogwash, I say. Let's look at a few things that just show how fans are totally off base with this team.

With Adam Lind and Aaron Hill having subpar seasons (both struggling with batting averages in the low .200s), people are still saying they're having fluke years and will bounce back. Both have been signed to long-term contracts and are expected to lead the Jays in future seasons.

It sounds like people are saying that with Lind and Hill rebounding next year, they'll be a better club. Hey, if Lind and Hill are hitting well this year, they say, this team would be in a pennant race, perhaps.

Uhm? What about last year, when both Alex Rios and Vernon Wells were struggling with the bats? ALL the fans wanted Rios and Wells OUT of town. When both were placed on waivers, everyone wanted the Jays to just give them away. The White Sox ended up claiming Rios, but nobody wanted Wells because of his hefty price tag (he has a huge contract). So how come everyone thought both Rios and Wells were bums and needed to get out of town--and always booed them every chance they got--while this year Lind and Hill have been getting free passes? Heck, everyone's always on Lyle Overbay's case about his low batting average, but from what people are saying on the Fan, Lind and Hill should be able to bounce back and there's nothing to worry about with those two.

Then there's the love affair with Jose Bautista. Sure, he's been a great story so far in 2010. Sure, he's leading the majors with 43 homers now and is second in the big leagues with 103 RBIs (trailing Miguel Cabrera's 110). Everyone points to his hot September-October last year, when he hit 10 home runs to lead the majors, saying it's no fluke. Everyone applauded General Manager Alex Anthopoulos for not trading him at the deadline, thinking Bautista is going to be a key piece to the puzzle for the Blue Jays for years to come. Again, he's been great this year and has been a wonderful story. But let's face it: Going into July, he was hitting only .228; as late as the last week of August, he was batting in the .250s. The most number of home runs he's hit in the big leagues, before this year, was 16. He's had a terrific year in 2010, and it's been well documented that Dwayne Murphy, the Jays' hitting coach, along with manager Cito Gaston, has worked with Bautista's swing and it has paid dividends. I'm still not convinced though. He's had one monster season this year, but there's really no guarantee he can do it again.

Ricky Romero got a long-term contract from the Blue Jays this year. He was signed to a five-year, $30.1-million contract extension through the 2015 season. Romero was a rookie in 2009, posting a 13-9 record with a 4.30 ERA in 29 starts. The lefty faded from Rookie of the Year contention by going 3-5 with a 5.53 ERA in his final 12 starts. And he's worth a long-term contract, in the eyes of Anthopoulos? No one in Toronto is really criticizing this move, the way they all trashed J.P. Ricciardi for giving the long-term contracts to Rios and Wells, and for signing free agents Frank Thomas and B.J. Ryan to huge contracts so they would play for the Blue Jays.

That's double standards, if you think about it. It's been said by fans on the Fan 590 that people think Anthopoulos is going to be a great GM for the Blue Jays because he's Canadian, so he knows how to connect with Canadian baseball fans and how to make the club a winner. Seriously? Give me a break.

I think Ricciardi is right--and he's said this on record on the Fan before--in suggesting that free agents don't want to play in Toronto... unless they get way more money than they would get from other clubs. So it's hard to fault him for the Thomas or Ryan signings. He's also suggested that it's extremely difficult to compete in the AL East, with the free-spending ways of the Red Sox and Yankees. Yet a lot of Toronto fans seem to think the Jays couldn't make the postseason during Ricciardi's run because he's incompetent and a jerk as a GM.

Well, let's see how Anthopoulos will fare in the AL East. Personally, I don't think he'll do much better than Ricciardi, especially with the Blue Jays stuck in the same division as the Sox and Yanks. But then again, a certain host on the Fan insists that Anthopoulos's style--scouting, among other things--is just like Pat Gillick's. Gillick, of course, won two World Series championships with the Blue Jays as General Manager back in the early 1990s, when the fans were packing SkyDome/Rogers Centre. We'll see how Anthopoulos does, but I have a feeling he's not going to sniff anything remotely close to a championship in Toronto.