Summer of Scum

[thechad]

http://sports.ign.com/articles/817/817270p1.html

High and Tight: Summer of Scum
Can a slew of divisional races redeem the summer?
by Dan Phillips

August 31, 2007 - There was the famous Summer of '49, where Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier and Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio led the Red Sox and Yankees through one of the greatest pennant races of all time; there was the Summer of '61, where Yankee teammates Mantle and Maris thrilled fans in New York and all over the country as they raced to break Babe Ruth's single season homerun record.

1998 gave us the Summer of Steriods, where fans, the press and major league baseball turned a blind eye towards rampant steroid use in hopes that Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire's homerun race would erase the memory of the 1994 season-ending strike.

Now, 2007 gave us the Summer of Scum, where a juiced-up power-hitter broke the most hallowed record in sports, one of the biggest names in football pleaded guilty to murdering innocent dogs and a corrupt basketball referee got nabbed for fixing games - a dark two months that reminded fans throughout the country that there's little, if any innocence left in professional sports. As Labor Day marks the end of this black summer and Major League Baseball rumbles into September, I can't help but ask myself if the excitement of six tooth-and-nail September divisional races could possibly be enough to wash the rotten taste that Barry Bonds, Michael Vick, Tim Donaghy and these disconcerting past two months have left in the mouths of fans everywhere.

Though it's difficult to imagine any singular storyline or group of storylines making up for the foul and troublesome scandals that shook the sports world this summer, this past week in baseball came pretty darn close to at least offering a momentary reprieve from the negativity and loss of innocence, with no less than five series' taking place between first and second place interdivisional rivals. There was the Yankees sweeping the Sox in a hard-fought three game series that saw New York shorten the Sox's AL East lead to a somewhat manageable five games (the two teams play one more series against each other in Boston later this season); the Angels sweeping the Mariners - widening their lead in the AL West to five and half games and knocking the M's into second place behind the Yanks for the AL Wild Card; the Padres stealing two of three from the then-first-place Diamondbacks to assume sole leadership of the NL West; the Cubs taking two of three from the deflating Brewers and knocking Milwaukee out of first place in the NL Central; and most excitingly, the perpetually late-surging Phillies sweeping the Mets in four nail-biting games that saw the Mets' lead in the NL East dwindle down to only two games. What a week.

First, let's look at the Philadelphia/New York series, one of the craziest four games of this or any other long season. Whether it was yesterday's extra-inning 11-10 victory, where Billy Wagner blew a two-run Mets lead over the course of the eighth and ninth innings, Wednesday's whirlwind of a game that ended on Marlon Anderson being called out for interference on a double play ball that otherwise would have led to the Mets tying the game, or Pat Burrell - who has always killed the Mets while doing little against other, less formidable teams - adding to his reputation as a New York-killer with two homeruns in one game, there was plenty of action to keep fans glued to their televisions. And how can you discount the instant karma of Burrell launching a homerun into the leftfield stands and into the hands of a fan who - get this - was standing directly next to the Philly Phanatic - Philadelphia's beloved mascot? With just these four games, Philadelphia announced themselves as viable contenders for the playoffs and the NL East crown, and with the Mets stumbling into Atlanta this weekend for three games and returning to Shea later in the week for another three-game stint against the Braves (the Mets are a horrible 4-8 against their division rivals this year), its easy to imagine a scenario where the Phillies sit alone atop the NL East as soon as Labor Day.
And how about the hotly contested three-game stint between divisional rivals the Brewers and Cubs for sole contention of the NL Central lead, a series that saw more than its fair share of lead changes and Ben Sheets' Willis Reed-like victorious return to the mound on Wednesday, where Milwaukee ace temporary righted the Brewers' ship? Despite Sheets' gutsy six-inning performance, however, the Brewers are clearly in the midst of a serious nose-dive, and this series was pretty much all about the Cubs, who seem poised to make a substantial claim to the NL Central crown. I still wouldn't discount the Cardinals (who, if you remember correctly from two columns back, I picked to win the NL Central), who sit only two and a half games back from the Cubbies and are riding high on the backs of pitcher-turned-outfielder (and feel-good story of the year) Rick Ankiel and the young, power-hitting outfielder Chris Duncan.

And what would any discussion of September playoff races be without the Yanks/Red Sox, who clashed heads in a three-game stint in the Bronx that saw more than a few hit batsmen and three absolute gems from the Yankee's Roger Clemens, Ching-Ming Wang and Andy Pettite? Even if New York triumphed over a Red Sox team that was without star Manny Ramirez for two and a half of the games (he left Tuesday's game in the 6th inning with a strained oblique), their dominance of the Sox's bullpen should be enough to give the team and New York fans reason to believe the NL East divisional title is at least a distant possibility.

With such exciting, competitive baseball being played so late in the season, and almost all six divisions still up for grabs, it's almost easy to forget the black stain that was the last few months in American sports. That said, it's going to take a lot more than a little September playoff fever to make this fan forget how utterly miserable this summer has been. Perhaps in a few years, after A-Rod breaks Bond's record and returns baseball's most famous record from the land of skepticism, after Michael Vick has served his time in prison and the NFL has cleaned up its image problem, and after the NBA gets a handle on its horrible officiating problems and policy, I'll have an easier time dismissing the Summer of Scum entirely. For now, it'll remain in the back of my mind, even as I enjoy the exuberance of September and October baseball.

Quick Hits:

# Any Met fan that expects Pedro Martinez to return atop a White Horse and fix New York's many problems is in for a reality check. Coming off of major shoulder surgery, Martinez will be an aging, stale pitcher returning during the most important stretch of the entire season. I know it's Pedro we're talking about, but do you really want a pitcher in April or May mode hurling in a do or die game in September or October? And starting pitching hasn't exactly been a problem for the Mets this year, with Oliver Perez, Orlando Hernandez, Tom Glavine, John Maine, and Jorge Sosa all enjoying relatively successful seasons. So who gets bumped to the Mets bullpen in favor of Pedro? Obviously not veterans Glavine or Hernandez (arguably the most clutch post-season pitcher of all-time), and it would be equally tough to demote Main and Perez, arguably the Mets' two most reliable hurlers this year. That leaves Sosa, who might not have the resume of Pedro, but is still in September - and not May - form. Pedro to the bullpen? Might not be as crazy as it sounds.

# Yankees 21 year-old rookie reliever Joba Chamberlain has now pitched 11 and 1/3 scorless innings, with a WHIP (walks plus hits to innings pitched) of under 1.000. I think it's time to stop calling the buzz around this young stud unwarranted hype. Just ask the Red Sox' Kevin Youkalis if the kid's stuff is for real; the Sox' first basemen had two of Chamberlain's 98 MPH fastballs thrown at his head in the ninth inning of yesterday's game, resulting in Joba's ejection from the game. Welcome to Yankees/Red Sox, Joba.

# The Mariners - in the midst of a ridiculously difficult stretch of their season I talked about in last week's column - need some big wins desperately if they want to stay close to the Yankees in the AL Wild Card Race. The Yankees have three games against the horrible Tampa Bay Devil Rays while the M's are in Detroit to face the Tigers.

[August]

Is this guy supposed to be credible?
a

[thechad]

He works as a sports writer for a video game website, I'll let you make that call.

[antelope19]

He works as a sports writer for a video game website, I'll let you make that call.

:roll: :lol: