You'll Shoot Your Eye Out, Kid

Here we are in the first week of December and those of you who know me best know that I am a Christmas addict.  Yes, I am addicted to Christmas and I am not afraid, nor ashamed, to admit it.  That should come as a surprise to no one.  So, in this season of yuletide splendor, I want to share with you my list of essential Christmas comedies to watch.  And what better way to do it than in a countdown.

10) Christmas with the Kranks-Based on the best-selling John Grisham novel, Skipping Christmas, Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis star as parents whose daughter won’t be home for Christmas because she is on a mission trip in South America.  Feeling some Christmas blues, Luther Krank (Allen) decides that the two of them should skip Christmas altogether and take the money they usually spend on Christmas and go on cruise.  Their decision to ignore all Christmas traditions rankles their festive neighbors and friends and puts the two in many an awkward situation.  Of course, their plan is ruined at the last minute when they get a surprise call from their daughter saying she is coming home for Christmas and is looking forward to the annual family Christmas party. 

9) National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation-Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold; need I say  more?  From the hunt for the perfect Christmas tree to the post-light acceptance speech to the fuming Christmas bonus rant, who could imagine Christmas being any more dysfunctional?  But the real star of the show is Randy Quaid as Cousin Eddie and his unexpected arrival in his RV to spend Christmas with the Griswolds.  (Cousin Eddie’s RV even makes an appearance on my Christmas tree, complete with classic lines delivered by Quaid from the movie.)

8) The Santa Clause-Tim Allen makes his second appearance on the list as a divorced dad who is desperately trying to connect with his young son.  After the real Santa falls off the roof of his house, Scott Calvin (Allen) takes up the mantle by putting on the red coat putting into effect the Santa Clause.  At times hilarious and at times tender, this film explores the depths a father will go to in order to win the heart of his child.

7) Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas-Dr. Seuss, Jim Carrey, and Ron Howard.  It doesn't get much better than that trio.  This live-action version of Dr. Seuss's classic Christmas tale expands on the good docs story and provides some insight on why the Grinch is the way he is.  While it doesn't match the original cartoon version's timeless charm, Jim Carrey is delivers his usual solid performance as the hater of all things Christmas. 

6) Home Alone and Home Alone 2-I realize that I have listed two movies as one here but it is hard to separate the two.  Who could forget how Macaulay Culkin splashed onto the scene with this breakout holiday hit?  He stars as Kevin McAllister, the kid managed to get left behind at Christmas not once but twice.  Kevin's mischievous nature helps him defend his turf from the Wet Bandits, played by the side-splitting pair of Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern.

5) Four Christmases-Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon star as a couple with issues about getting married because both of their parents are divorced.  Their nightmare comes to life when their flight is canceled and they are not able to go away for Christmas and must spend the holiday visiting four houses to see all of the family.  The supporting cast of Robert Duvall, Jon Favreau, Tim McGraw, Kristin Chenowith, Dwight Yoakam, and Jon Voight are stellar as the quirky, dysfunctional family members. 

4) Deck the Halls-Danny DeVito and Matthew Broderick are dueling neighbors as they compete to be the Christmas guy in town.  Buddy Hall (DeVito) is new in town and is looking to make a splash by making his house visible from outer space by decorating it with lights.  Jealous of his new neighbor and wanting to retain all of his family's Christmas traditions, Steve Finch (Broderick) pushes things too far and the rivalry almost ruins Christmas for both families.  Deck the Halls is overlooked by many people but in recent years it has moved up on my list.

3)Fred Claus-Does it get any better than Vince Vaughn as Santa’s upstaged, older brother Fred?  Or Paul Giamatti as Saint Nicholas?  Or Kevin Spacey as the miserly quality control inspector who holds a grudge against Santa?  And who could forget the scene-stealing support group of neglected brothers that features Frank Stallone, Roger Clinton, and Stephen Baldwin. 

2)Elf-Will Ferrell shines in his performance as Buddy the Elf, an orphaned child who makes his way into Santa's sack one Christmas Eve and is raised by an elf (played by Bob Newhart) at the North Pole.  Eventually, Buddy discovers he is really a human and heads off to New York City to find his biological father (James Caan) who never knew he existed.  Buddy's appearance causes quite a stir with his father's family.  He drinks Coke by the 2-liter, guzzles syrup out of a bottle, and can throw a snowball like Nolan Ryan.  And who could forget lines like "Cotton-headed ninny muggins" and "Son of a nutcracker!"

1) A Christmas Story-Christmas is not complete unless you catch this classic tale about a boy named Ralphie who wants a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas and will stop at nothing to get it.  Thanks to Ted Turner, you can catch it on a 24-hour loop every year running from late on Christmas Eve through Christmas night.  This timeless classic can be watched a scene at a time or in whole.  (I think I have only seen the movie from beginning to end in a single sitting only twice.  I usually catch it somewhere in the middle and finish watching it and then watch the beginning when it comes back on.  Thanks Ted Turner.)  Holiday pop culture has made a living off of the leg lamp ("It's a major award!"), the pink bunny suit, sticking your tongue to a flagpole, being a soap tasting connoisseur ("Oh, fudge!"), and the classic line, "You'll shoot your eye out, kid."  But the thing that makes this movie hit home with me is the blonde-haired, blue-eyed Ralphie (played by Peter Billingsley) looked a lot like my brother Greg when we were young kids. 

There you have it.  Let me know which ones you agree with, disagree with, or would have liked to have seen on the list. 

In a Stoop-or

The inevitable came on November 4th when University of Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart released an open letter to fans announcing that after three seasons, Joker Phillips was going to be let go as head football coach.  I was one of the last Joker supporters left standing at that point and up until the announcement was made, I was hopeful that the passionate UK alum could get things turned around at his alma mater.  But even Ray Charles could see what was coming when less than 20,000 people rolled through the gates of Commonwealth Stadium to watch the Wildcats get completely obliterated by the Vanderbilt Commodores for the second consecutive season.  Even though I knew it was coming, I was still not thrilled with the prospects of watching my beloved Cats start a coaching search that I was not convinced would land someone that could truly excite the fan base (a fan base that at times is so misguided that they actually think UK is dream job for elite  coaches).

Well, twenty-three days after the process began, color me stunned and amazed.  The much (mostly unfairly) maligned Barnhart was able to pull off the coup.  By getting Mark Stoops to come to Kentucky, the UK AD was able to get one of the most sought after coaching commodities to commit to Big Blue Nation and the best part of the whole matter is that Stoops approached Barnhart about the job and presented a plan for why and how the Wildcats could win consistently in the brutal SEC.  Yes, the coordinator of the #2 defense in the nation wanted to come to the Bluegrass!  How amazing is that? 

As a lifelong fan of UK football, I could not be more excited about the hire.  While Stoops does not meet some of the criteria that I would have thought essential in the new coach (he has no head coaching or SEC experience),  he more than makes up for it with his resume.  Here are five reasons that I believe that Stoops has the potential to be the perfect fit for the UK football program.

1) He wants to be in Lexington.  As mentioned earlier, he approached Barnhart about the job and he did so with a PLAN.  If he holds true to his brothers' style (brother Bob is the head coach at Oklahoma and brother Mike was the former head coach at Arizona and now is Bob's D-Coordinator) he will be a defensive coach who brings in a talented offensive coordinator with an explosive offense.  The cupboard is not bare at UK like it was in 2002 when Rich Brooks came to town.  The Cats return three QBs with playing experience, a stable of four experienced running backs, and a bevy of nice young receivers.  The rumors that keep swirling is that UK alum and current OC at Texas Tech, Neal Brown, may possibly return to his roots and orchestrate Stoops's offense.

2) He is a defensive coach.  This was very high on my lists of musts (not that Mitch contacted me and asked for my opinion in the matter) but I think it is imperative for the Cats to improve their defense in order to have any kind of success in the treacherous SEC waters.  Stoops, like his brothers (and even his mother if you ask former UK signal caller, Dusty Bonner), has proven that he knows how to orchestrate a defense.  He improved a terrible defense at Arizona when he was brother Mike's DC and turned Florida State's atrocious defense from a laughing stock to the second best in the nation (on paper).  His defensive units are also known for forcing turnovers , which a team like Kentucky must have in order to compete with the elite in the conference. 

3) He has ties all over the country and may be able to tap into some new recruiting markets that have not been open to the Wildcats in the past.  Stoops was born in the football savvy city of Youngstown, Ohio and played his college ball in the Big 10 at Iowa.  He went on to have assistant coaching stints at South Florida, Wyoming, and Houston before landing on Larry Coker's staff at Miami in 2001.  In his three years at the U coaching defensive backs, Stoops was able to win a national championship in 2001 and play for another the following year.  From there, he moved on to Arizona when his brother, Mike, was hired and became a D-coordinator for the first time.  After the 2009 season, he moved on to Tallahassee where he has helped rebuild the Seminoles into a contender.  The point of all of this is that he has ties to certain hotbeds in the recruiting world.  He may be able to get players out of Florida, Ohio, Texas, and the west coast that otherwise never would have considered coming to Kentucky.  He has a reputation as a tireless recruiter which should pay dividends.

4)He has a championship ring.  As mentioned in the previous section, he was the DB coach when Miami won the National Championship in 2001.  He is used to the spotlight and having expectations.  While he has never coached a full season in the SEC, he has a winning record as a coordinator against the SEC (3-1) and his defenses have only allowed 17 points per game and 317 yards per game (two of those wins coming against Florida).  In other words, while he may not have head coaching experience like fellow candidates for the job Mike MacIntyre, Gary Andersen, or Butch Jones, he has coached at high profile universities in high profile games and that means something.

5) He's not Bobby Petrino.  Nuff said.

And for those who were dogging Mitch Barnhart for doing his job in a professional manner and not listening to the rabid fan base, he once again has proven his worth to the university.  While only time will tell if Stoops is a homerun, keep in mind that most rallies are started  not by hitting a long ball but by getting runners on base and getting them over.  So if he isn't a homerun (which can sometimes be a rally killer), maybe he will be a rally starter, which in the long run may prove to be even better.

Changing Focus

As many of you have noticed, I have been on hiatus.  Well, what better day to get back in the groove than Thanksgiving.  Nothing gets me excited like stuffing myself to the gills and wallowing in misery the rest of the day.  Of course, that was in years past.  The days of gorging myself and living in gluttony have come to a screeching halt.  As you will notice, the focus of my blog is going to shift slightly.  I am still going to comment on the goings on in the world of sports (I have missed so much in the last six weeks that has been worthy of discussion) but I will also be discussing recent developments in my life and with the holidays upon us I will have some holiday-themed items as well.

As for the days of gorging myself and wallowing in my own gut-busting misery, there is a reason they have ended and I wish it were just because I had finally decided to whip my tail into shape.  The real reason for this lifestyle change is a negative doctor report.  Suffice it to say I have never felt so miserable in my life as I did when I left the doctor's office on the days of October  10 and 18.  By the time it was all over, I had to deal with certain facts that I was not ready to deal with.  I have been diagnosed as a diabetic with high cholesterol and a messed up thyroid.  Not great news but better than the initial thought that I had heart problems according to an EKG that I failed with flying colors.  (Thankfully, after a stress test, we discovered that the ticker was just fine).  My newly discovered ailments left me feeling out of sorts and struggling to grapple with my own mortality.  I was glad that I was not as bad off as originally thought but I still had major issues to face and daunting obstacles ahead. 

It was at this moment that I decided to turn things over to a higher power and pray for my health to improve but more importantly to find the resolve to face the challenges that lay before me.  I have been guilty in the past of not putting God first in my life and only turning to him in times of desperate need.  Well, this was a time of desperation and my daily life was going to have to undergo a major overhaul so what better time to rededicate my spiritual life as well. 

On this day of thanks, I am very thankful for my health and that I was able to discover these problems before they became too serious.  I am proud to say that in the 43 days since I initially went to the doctor, I have now lost 30 pounds.  I hope to be able to lose another 20 before going back to the doctor in January.  I am also pleased to say that after eating my (paltry but satisfying meal, complete with pumpkin pie), my blood sugar checked in at a cool 98, well within the parameters that the diabetic specialist laid out for me.  Today was a great success in my book.

This ordeal, while difficult, has been a great life lesson for me.  I have played with fire for too long when it comes to my eating habits and now it is time to pay the piper.  I know where the responsibility lays for what has happened and I am well prepared to do whatever it takes to take care of myself so that I can be there for my wife and kids.  And when things get tough, I know that I have a Savior that can lighten my load; and for that I am truly thankful.

So, for those of you who look forward to my sports posts, I am not finished opining on the day-to-day of the ball and stick games, but I hope you will stick around to read about other happenings also.  I really enjoy writing and various topics and I appreciate each and everyone who take time out of your days to read about what I see through my four eyes.  God bless you all and take care of yourself at this most wonderful time of the year.

From Triumph to Tragedy

I am sure most of you have never heard of Pat Neshek and have never had a reason to know who he is.  He is one many great stories on the Oakland A's AL West championship team.  He is a relief pitcher who arrived on the scene with the Minnesota Twins in 2006 and had a great start to his career.  After a not so good year in 2008, he was sidelined with Tommy John surgery the following season.  Since that time, he has bounced from Minnesota to San Diego to Baltimore's AAA club in Norfolk to Oakland the last three seasons.  Since arriving in Oakland, Neshek seemed to have finally found his groove in the majors and was a lock to be on the A's postseason roster.  When the A's clinched a playoff spot, he could not believe his good fortune.  A few days later, he was called away from his club to be a part of the birth of his first child.  The following day the A's finish a sweep of the Texas Rangers and clinch the AL West, one of the most dramatic and exciting comebacks to win a division in years.  How could life get any better?

Just hours after watching his team make a miraculous (in a sports context)comeback, Pat Neshek's world came crashing down.  His son, only 23 hours old, passed away.  There was no rhyme, no reason for what happened.  In a matter of hours, the elation and joy that Neshek was experiencing in both his professional and personal lives had come to a screeching halt.  I can't even begin to imagine what going through such a horrific event would be like.  I am a father of three and to think of the unthinkable happening to them is excruciating.  Neshek and his wife, Stefanee, have gone from being on top of the world to having to pull themselves up from the most devastating of tragedies.  Instead of asking how life can get any better, they have to be wondering when life will get better.

For the foreseeable future, I am sure they will feel like it will never get any better.  They will have to deal with their grief, with the people who mean well but aren't really helping, and the awkward silences from people who don't know what to say.  Inevitably, someone who has never lost a child at birth or shortly after will tell them they know what they are going through, yet don't.  And in all of that, Pat Neshek will have to make a decision about when is the right time to return to baseball.  If he doesn't this year, who could blame him?  It would have to be virtually impossible to stay focused on a game when you are dealing with tragedy.  On the other hand, many athletes find the best way to deal with tragedy is to get back to the their team and make a contribution.  If he does that, who could blame him?  After all, everyone is different and deals with loss in their own way.  Whatever decision he makes should be met with support and well wishes.

Just writing this, I still can't fathom the hell he and his wife must be going through.  I had intended to work on a different blog today but when I read this story, I had to write about it and do what little I could to pass on prayers for Pat and Stefanee.  Before you go to bed to night, please remember this family in your prayers.  Hug your sons and daughters.  Tell them that you love them.  Show them how much they mean to you and don't ever take it for granted.    And if the baseball world has any justice, maybe Pat Neshek will be pitching in the late innings of the final game of the World Series, mowing down hitters, and helping the Oakland A's win a championship.  I know, winning a baseball game could never replace his son, but if winning on the field helps him and his wife heal from their loss off of it, then it wouldn't just be a game for them.  So, here's to you, Pat and Stafanee Neshek.  Surely brighter days are ahead.

Happy Trails to the 2012 MLB Season

The Major League Baseball regular season is almost over and for the players and managers of twenty teams, it will be time to put a bow on things and head home for a little bit of normal life.  The playoffs will sustain us for the next month, weaning us off of our  baseball fix until February.  While the closing of the season is always sad for me, baseball has experienced a resurgence over the past two seasons and that makes me feel pretty good about the future of the game.   This season, just like any other, was packed with spectacular happenings; some good, some not so good.  The following is a list of things that I will take away from this season (in no particular order).

*This season may (and hopefully will) mark the first Triple Crown winner in MBL since 1967 when Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox was able to pull of the magnificent feat.  Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers enters play tonight in sole possession of the lead in all three TC categories (batting average, homeruns, RBIs).  I have never been a big Miggy fan but it would be great if he were able to achieve the accomplishment since it has never happened in my lifetime.  (Heck, it's never happened in my sister's lifetime and that's saying something).

*While looking at some career numbers on Cabrera, which are absolutely unworldly, I was impressed to note that since the beginning of the 2004 season (his first full season in the show) Cabrera has never played less than 150 games in a season and has averaged 158 over that span.  The only thing more impressive is the guy holding down the other corner of the Tiger infield, Prince Fielder.  Since the start of his first full season in 2006, Fielder has missed only 13 ballgames, and 12 of those came in his first three years. 

*The no-hitter lives and can strike at any moment.  With two days left to play, there have already been seven no-nos this season.  Jered Weaver, Matt Cain, Philip Humber, Homer Bailey, Johan Santana, Felix Hernandez, and a combined effort by the Mariners achieved this amazing feat.  In the past three years, there have been 16 no-hitters, five of which were perfect games and one was the second ever postseason no-no. 

*Kris Medlen and Craig Kimbrel have become household names.  Medlen has been the second coming of Greg Maddux since being moved into the starting rotation for the Atlanta Braves.  The Braves have won Medlen's last 23 starts (dating back to 2010) setting a major league record and he has been named NL Pitcher of the Month for August and September.  Kimbrel has been nearly unhittable out of the pen this season, saving 42 games while dominating hitters.  He has struck out 113 of the 227 batters he has faced this season and has an 8:1 strikeout to walk ratio.  Kimbrel has put himself in position to get several votes for the NL Cy Young award.

*Mike Trout and Bryce Harper have proven that they belong with the big boys.  Trout has had such a great season that he will get several votes for AL MVP and may get enough to win.  If he was 30 years old and had ten years experience in the league, his numbers  would be ridiculous but when you consider he is only a 20- year-old rookie, they are almost hard to fathom.  Try this on for size: 30 HR, 83 RBI, .325 AVG, 48 SB (only been caught four times), .910 OPS, and 129 runs scored.  Harper has had a nice rookie season as well, one that could get consideration for the greatest teenage season ever.  Don't be surprised if he puts up Trout-like numbers next year when he's a seasoned 20-year-old.

*R.A. Dickey is an amazing story.  I won't go into his back story here but it is nothing short of amazing.  He finished the season with a 20-6 record, a 2.73 ERA and a chance to lead the league in strikeouts and innings pitched.  Hopefully he can pull down a Cy Young this year to add a final chapter to his amazing tale.

*Three teams have come out of nowhere this season to make the playoffs.  The Nationals, Orioles, and A's have had unbelievable seasons and find themselves playing October baseball.  The Nationals have been the whipping boys of the NL East ever since moving to the nation's capital, but not this season.  They have won 97 games and will probably be the top seed in the NL.  The Orioles are neck and neck with the Yankees for the AL East crown and make their first playoff appearance since 1997.  The A's have played a little moneyball this season and find themselves tied with the Rangers with onehead-to-head matchup left.  All three teams have won with largely unknown players even though the Nationals do have Harper and Stephen Strasburg to boost their name recognition.

*In a storyline fitting of Charles Dickens, Boston and Atlanta are indeed a Tale of Two Cities.  After both historically collapsed last September, many wondered how the two teams would respond.  Boston responded by cleaning house and trying to start over with the controversial Bobby Valentine at the helm.  Needless to say, this year has been a continuation of last September with the Red Sox losing 91 games and dumping much of their roster.  The Braves decided to not make any administrative changes and only slight changes on the field, including hiring a new hitting coach.  Manager Fredi Gonzalez adjusted the way he uses his bullpen and had great results.  As a result, last September is a long-forgotten memory as the Braves have won 93 games this season and will play in the wild card game on Friday.

*Joe Maddon is a great manager.  He has taken a Tampa Bay team that was a laughing stock for their first decade of existence and has led them to five consecutive winning seasons and three playoff appearances.  He has accomplished this feat with largely anonymous players and great young pitching.  He seems like a guy who genuinely enjoys being around the game.  With the job he has done, the Rays deserve much better fan support than they get. 

*Adam Greenberg finally got his first official major league at bat.  If you haven't heard this story, it is truly amazing and inspirational.  Greenberg made his MLB debut with the Cubs in 2005 when he was asked to pinch hit against the Marlins.  The first pitch hit Greenberg in the back of the head and he suffered from post-concussion syndrome for a long time after.  Since he was hit, he never recorded an official at bat.  A campaign was recently started for a major league team to sign Greenberg to a one-day contract to let him get his official at bat.  The Marlins agreed to take him up on the offer and seven years later Greenberg got an official at bat against knuckleball king, R.A. Dickey.  Greenberg struck out but I am willing to bet that it never felt so good to get whiffed.

*Melky Cabrera took a sharp fall from grace; going from All-Star Game MVP to humiliated cheater after testing positive for PEDs.  I have nothing for Melky after spending an uneventful year in Atlanta but he did win some points by asking that a loophole that would have allowed him to win the NL batting title not be put to use.  The Giants also won some points by saying they were not going to add Cabrera to the postseason roster even though he would be eligible after five playoff games.

*The game is better for having Chipper Jones be a part of it the past 18 years.  There are not many like him left in the game.

*Just a few days away from the debut of the Wild Card game and I already don't like it.  There is too much at stake for this to be a one game situation.  Should the team that loses the Wild Card game actually be able to claim they made the playoffs?  It certainly won't feel like they did.

Hopefully October 2012 will be as interesting and fulfilling as October 2011 was and with a little bit of luck, great pitching, and timely hitting, the Braves will send Chipper Jones into the sunset with a second World Series championship.

 

The Knuckleball King

The biggest story in the world of sports yesterday was the return of the unionized officials to the world of the NFL.  And while that was big news, in my opinion, it pails in comparison to the accomplishment achieved by journeyman pitcher Robert Allen Dickey, better known as R.A.  For those of you who are not familiar with the story of R.A. Dickey, it is nothing short of amazing.  It is a story of determination, redemption, adversity, and faith. 

Dickey recounts the horrors of his childhood and his odyssey through professional baseball in his memoir Wherever I Wind Up.  If you like inspiring, faith-based stories, Dickey’s certainly qualifies.  I won’t run through all of the details that he shares in his book, hopefully you will take the time to read it, but he takes the reader on a journey through his darkest secrets, secrets that no child should have to keep, and the liberation he has felt in opening up about them.  In his memoir, Dickey discusses being sexually abused by a babysitter the summer he was 8 years old and later in that horrific summer, being sexually assaulted by a 16 year old boy who lived by his grandparents’ neighborhood.  The fact that Dickey was able to open up about these events and share them with a therapist and later write them down in a book for the entire world to read is nothing short of courageous. 

While nothing else so violating ever happened to Dickey after that summer, his tragic tale was far from over.  Upon having a successful college career at the University of Tennessee and winning a bronze medal in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Dickey was drafted in the first round of the MLB draft by the Texas Rangers, where he was to receive a signing bonus of just over $800,000.  But in a true Shakespearean twist, a team physical performed just before signing that contract revealed that Dickey did not have an ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching arm.  (For those of you who don’t know, that is the ligament that gets replaced in the Tommy John procedure and provides the stability the arm needs to control pitches thrown at a high velocity.)  When that news was received, the big bonus dropped all the way to $75,000.

Dickey spent the next ten years trying to prove his worth in the Rangers’ organization, bouncing back and forth between AAA and the big league club.  Just when it seemed his hopes for a major league career were all but over, pitching coach Orel Hershiser and manager Buck Showalter approached Dickey with the idea of learning to be a knuckleball pitcher.  Dickey was not eager to give up on being a traditional pitcher but realized that heeding the advice of these two men was his last chance to achieve his lifelong dream.  To make a long story short, and to encourage you to read the book, Dickey leaned on famous knuckleballers of the past to persevere through several more seasons before getting his big break with the New York Mets.

The Mets took a chance on Dickey at the beginning of the 2010 season at the age of 35 and he pitched well enough that year to finally get the security blanket he had always wanted: a multiyear, multimillion dollar contract.  With financial security for his family finally attained and being able to unburden his past in hopes of inspiring people to overcome their greatest adversity, Dickey is putting a wrap on one of the most unbelievable seasons any pitcher his age has ever had; and no one deserves it more than R.A. Dickey.

That brings me back to what Dickey was able to accomplish yesterday (virtually unnoticed because a group of part-time workers returned to their jobs); his 20^th win of the season.  Dickey became the first knuckleball pitcher to hit that milestone since Joe Niekro in 1979, and it put him in line to become the first knuckleballer ever to win the Cy Young award.  What made his performance even more amazing is that he was able to do it in front of the home crowd while throwing nearly 130 pitches and striking out a career high 13.  To put his season in perspective, let’s take a look at the best season marks for some of the most well known knuckleballers of all time.

PITCHER	RECORD	ERA	K	IP	WHIP	BB
R.A. Dickey	20-6(2012)	2.69	222	227.2	1.05	54
Phil Niekro	23-13('69)	1.87('68)	262('77)	342(79)	1.03(’69)	81('86)
Joe Niekro	21-11('79)	2.47('82)	152('83)	270('82)	1.07(’82)	51('69)
Tim Wakefield	17-8('98)	2.81('02)	169('03)	225.1('05)	1.05(’02)	51('02)
Charlie Hough	18-13('87)	3.18('83)	223('87)	285.1(87)	1.12(’85)	71('93)
Tom Candiotti	16-12('86)	2.65('91)	167('86,'91)	252.1('86)	1.16(’91)	53('88)
Wilbur Wood	24-17('72)	1.91('71)	210('71)	376.2('72)	1.00(’71)	62('71)
Hoyt Wilhelm*	15-11('59)	2.19	139	226	1.13	77

*Wilhelm was primarily a reliever.  The only year he was used primarily as a starting pitcher was 1959.  All of his numbers in the chart are from that year. (Numbers in parentheses denote year accomplishment took place.)

As you can see in the chart, Dickey’s career best numbers have all come this season, leaving one to ponder if he is not having the greatest season a knuckleballer has ever pitched.  One thing that must be remembered is that most of these men, Wakefield and Candiotti being the only other exceptions, pitched in a time when it was common to make 40 or more starts a season.  Wilbur Wood, with the White Sox, had a five year stretch from 1971-75 where he made 224 starts.  Dickey, by comparison, will make his 33^rd and final start of the season next week against the Marlins.  And, he currently has an 11 strikeout lead on Clayton Kershaw, a lead that if maintained will allow him to join Phil Niekro as the only knuckleballers to lead the league in strikeouts. 

Typically speaking, I am always one the pull for the underdog, unless they are playing one of my teams of course.  And you can’t get any more underdog than what R.A. Dickey has been in his career.  If ever a pitcher and a pitch were meant for each other, it is a baseball vagabond like R.A. Dickey and the Quasimodo knuckleball.  His magnificent tale of perseverance, determination, and faith is uplifting, inspirational, and both heart-wrenching and heartwarming.  Even a Braves fan like me can have the utmost respect for what he has overcome, even if he is a Met.  There is no pitcher in the National League more worthy of winning the Cy Young award than R.A. Dickey and the only thing more unbelievable than his season on the field is the story of how he got there.

P.S:  One final plug for Wherever I Wind Up.  Question: What does R.A. Dickey have in common with Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery?  Answer: The Missouri River.  To find out what that means, you have to read the book.  I could tell you but you probably wouldn’t believe me.

An Ode to #10

When the New York Mets roll into Turner Field this weekend, it will mark the final home series of the season for the Atlanta Braves.  While the Braves will be preparing for the playoffs, this weekend marks a bittersweet occasion for those who have grown up doing the Tomahawk Chop.  The last remaining on-the-field piece of the Braves wildly successful 15-year run from 1991 to 2005 will be playing in his final regular season games in front of the home folks at the Ted.  Larry Wayne Jones, Jr., better known to those in the baseball world as Chipper, will be honored by the home crowd for a Hall of Fame career as he takes the to the home diamond one last time in his illustrious career. 

Chipper Jones was drafted by the Atlanta Braves as an 18 year-old shortstop from the Jacksonville, Florida area with the first overall pick in 1990. The Braves were in the middle of their sixth consecutive dismal season; a stretch that saw them average only 65 wins a season from 1985-1990 and using five different managers in the process.  The last manager, Bobby Cox, moved down from his front office position as general manager.  These two moves, the drafting of Chipper Jones and the transition of Bobby Cox from front office to the field, signaled a new era in Braves baseball. 

Chipper made his major league debut just three years later at the end of the 1993 season but only played in a handful of games.  He was poised to make his run for Rookie of the Year in 1994 but a late spring training ACL injury derailed the entire season for Chipper.  As it turned out, Chipper was able to have his rookie campaign in a much more meaningful season the following year.  Jones immediately became the starting third baseman for the Braves in 1995 and immediately proved his worth, belting 23 homeruns and driving in 86 while finishing second in the ROY voting (behind 27 year-old professional Japanese pitcher turned Dodger Hideo Nomo).  But even though he finished second in that vote, the Braves finished first on the field, defeating the Cleveland Indians in six games to win the 1995 World Series. 

The Braves continued to have success and Chipper Jones continued to develop into one of the premier players in the league.  By 1999, he had emerged as perhaps the best third baseman in the game.  It was no coincidence that Jones won the MVP and led the Braves to their fifth World Series in nine years (only the third in which he played).  He began building his legacy late that season when, in a mid-week series against the second-place Mets, Jones hit four homeruns in the three game sweep to all but clinch the division and the MVP.  He went on to finish the season with 45 HR, 110 RBI, .319 AVG, 116 runs scored, and an astounding 1.074 OPS.  The only downside to the magical season was getting swept in the World Series by the Yankees.  Chipper Jones and the Braves have never been back to the WS since. 

Chipper was not finished adding to his legacy, however.  In 2002, Jones went to management and offered to move from third base to the outfield so the team could go out and sign Vinny Castilla to add depth to the lineup.  He played left field for two years and played it well.  But then funny things started to happen.  Guys that had been woven into the fabric of the Braves franchise began to leave through free agency.  Tom Glavine departed in 2003 to join their bitter rivals, the New York Mets.  Greg Maddux left in 2004, re-signing with the Chicago Cubs.    And then, the unfathomable happened in 2006.  For the first time in his career, the Braves did not win the division; they didn’t even make the playoffs. 

Through it all, Chipper continued to add to his legacy, but he was not the same player that he was before.  He began to experience injuries, especially in the legs, and it was taking longer to recuperate from nagging aches and pains.  Entering the 2007 season, a season in which he turned 35, many were beginning to wonder how much Jones had left in him.  He answered that question with ferocity, finishing second to Matt Holliday for the batting title on the last day of the season driving in over 100 runs for the final time in his career.  The following year, Jones was able to stave off all comers for the batting title, winning it for the first time in his career at the age of 36 and hitting a career best .364.  But following that season, another strange thing happened.  John Smoltz was not re-signed and he departed for Boston, leaving Chipper and manager Bobby Cox as the final two holdovers from the glory days.  (Cox would eventually retire at the end of the 2010 season leaving Jones as the last man standing.)

Through all that has changed in baseball and in Atlanta over the past two decades, one thing hasn’t and that is Chipper Jones will be suiting up for the Braves and hitting in the middle of the lineup, a rarity in today’s game.  When it was announced in spring training this season that this would be his final season, it came as a surprise to no one.  After struggling through another knee injury in 2010, Chipper was determined to make his last season memorable, and he has.  He has played at a level that very few have ever been able to achieve in their final season.   The signature moment of Chipper’s storybook season came over Labor Day weekend against the Phillies.  The Braves were trailing the Phils 7-2 in the bottom of the ninth and the way the month had started, it had eerie resemblance to September 2011.  The Braves were able to scratch out three runs and leave two men on base with Chipper Jones coming to the plate with two outs.  With a season perhaps hanging in the balance, Chipper delivered with a three-run homer off of Jonathan Papelbon; launching the Braves to 15 wins in 21 games. 

When his regular season career ends a week from now, Chipper Jones will be regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation.  He will also go down in the annals as one of the greatest third basemen of all time and one of the greatest switch hitters of all time.  Even more important, anyone who has played with the Braves over the past two decades will attest to how great of a teammate he has been and how professional he is day in and day out.  When you look at Chipper Jones on the field, you know he gave the game all he had and he played it the right way.

But for all of the accomplishments that Jones has had on the field, his significance to me runs much deeper.  His rookie season was my senior year in high school, so it is hard for me to look at him as one of my childhood heroes.  Dale Murphy, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz are the ones that hold that distinction for me.  Chipper, who is my second all-time favorite Brave behind Murphy, was more like watching a big brother play than watching a hero.  That changed for me, however, when my oldest son, Brayden, was three years old.  He was just beginning to take some interest in watching the Braves games with me and he immediately latched onto Chipper Jones as his favorite.  He would be playing, you’d think he’d been lost in his own fantasy world, and then he would stop and ask, “Is Pitcher Jones batting?”  I would laugh and say, “It’s Chipper.  No, he’s not batting yet.”  When he did come to the plate, I would let Brayden know.  He’d stop what he was doing and say, “Come on, Pitcher Jones.”

It is hard for me to describe how I felt when he would do this.  It made me remember what it was like to sit on my oldest brother’s lap in the early and mid-1980s watching the Braves play on TBS.  He would tell me, “That’s Dale Murphy.  We like him.”  I always have that connection to Murph and my brother.  Now, I have switched roles and have a similar connection like that with Chipper Jones and Brayden.  My love for the Braves has come full circle; a bond being formed at a young age and passed on to my son at a young age.  That is what Chipper Jones means to this Braves fan.  But just as my experience has come full circle, wouldn’t it be sweet if Chipper’s career also came full circle?  I am not sure how many people have ever come into the league and won a championship in their rookie year and not win another until their final season, but how great would it be for Chipper Jones to bookend his magnificent career with World Series rings? 

The Weekend That Was

As usual, this past weekend was great for a baseball enthusiast and college football nut like me. (It helped that I went 9-2 on my picks in the college game over the weekend.)   And the NFL was not too shabby either.  The extra wild card slot in MLB has added additional drama to the baseball season.  One has to go back a decade and a half to find the last time that the Baltimore Orioles and Oakland A’s were playing meaningful games this time of the year.  You have to go back to November 1998 to find the last time that Florida State, Kansas State, and Notre Dame were all ranked in the top 10 in the country.  And you have to go all the way back to 1974 to find the last time a Cardinals football team started a season 3-0.  What is going on?  Here are four things we learned this past weekend in MLB, four things in NCAA football, and four things in the NFL.

MLB

1. Miguel Cabrera now has a legitimate shot to win the American League Triple Crown, a feat that has not been accomplished since Carl Yastrzemski did it in 1967.  To put that in perspective, there has never been a Triple Crown winner in the post-moon landing era.  (It has not happened in the National League since Joe Medwick of the St. Louis Cardinals did it in 1937.)  Right now, Miggy has 42 HR (tied for first with Josh Hamilton), 131 RBI, and .331 AVG.  I am not sure if he can hang on but you can expect a player of his caliber to be locked in as the Tigers are desperately trying to win the AL Central.
2. R.A. Dickey has a legitimate chance to become the first knuckleball pitcher to win the Cy Young.  Right now, Dickey is in the top two in all three pitching Triple Crown categories (wins, ERA, strikeouts).  Dickey is second in with 19 wins, first with a 2.66 ERA, and second in strikeouts.  His main competition for the award is Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez who has 20 wins but has a slightly higher ERA and slightly fewer Ks and a significantly fewer innings pitched than Dickey.  A couple things that will hurt Dickey in the vote are that he plays on a fourth-place team (which should not hurt him but probably will) and lack of respect for the knuckleball.
3. The more you see the Orioles and A’s play, the more fun they are to watch.  The Orioles are winning on the strength of a bunch of young guys in the lineup and a slew of anonymous pitchers.  And if it goes into extra innings, they are money, winning 16 in a row this season.  The A’s have some young arms but their lineup is made up of mostly castaways and has beens, at least by baseball standards.  Raise your hand if you can name five everyday starters for Oakland without looking at a box score.  (If you raised your hand, I’m calling foul on that one.)
4. The Brewers are going to make the second wild card in the NL very interesting.  They are a hot team with some experience and they have been getting timely pitching, which never hurts this time of the year.

NCAA Football

1. I have said all along you can never count out a Bill Snyder-coached team.  Snyder’s Kansas State Wildcats marched into Norman, Oklahoma and gave a good Sooner team their first loss of the season.  K-State QB Collin Klein has positioned himself as the front runner for the Heisman (cause that changes weekly these days) and if you base it on nicknames alone, he is the hands down winner.  Optimus Klein, as he has become known, has put Manhattan, Kansas back on the map and has propelled them onto the national scene.  (What else would you expect from the leader of the Autobots?)
2. Wow, Florida State is really good.  I mean, really, really good.  It has been a few minutes since they have been a factor on the national scene, or even in the ACC for that matter.  Once the ACC expanded to 12 teams and created a conference championship game, it was expected that nearly every year, the Seminoles would be playing for that trophy.  (Miami was even placed in the opposite division in hopes that the two would square off more often than not.  So much for best laid plans.)  Once the Noles went down by 14 to Clemson in the second half, I think most were eager to see how Jimbo Fisher’s team would respond.  Were they going to fold like recent FSU teams may have or were they going to fight back?  They fought back, outscoring Clemson 35-9 the rest of the way.  Jimbo, I think the Noles are back.
3. What has happened to the Big 10?  I thought those guys knew how to play some football.  The two best teams thus far seem to be Northwestern and Minnesota.  With traditional powers Ohio State and Penn State ineligible to win the conference, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nebraska, and Michigan State looked poised to be the top dogs in the conference.  Then Michigan gets pummeled by Bama and loses over the weekend to Notre Dame; Wisconsin gets a taste of their own medicine against Oregon State; Nebraska gets stretched out by UCLA; and Michigan State gets dominated by Notre Dame.  Iowa has been terrible, losing this past weekend to Central Michigan and Illinois is even worse than that, losing a home game to Louisiana Tech by a score of 52-24.  Perhaps the biggest Big 10 game this week will be Indiana vs. Northwestern; not Wisconsin vs. Nebraska.
4. The SEC has some teams that aren’t very good, other than my beloved Wildcats.  Arkansas had QB Tyler Wilson back against Rutgers but lost their third in a row.  Auburn played a great game against LSU but could not win, causing the War Eagles to lose three games before the first of October for the first time in the history of the storied program.  And honestly, they could have lost to Louisiana-Monroe and been 0-4.  Vanderbilt, welcome back.  I'm not sure if you got a good look at the semi that rolled over you but it had Georgia tags.  And my beloved UK Wildcats, playing without starting QB Maxwell Smith, kept it close for a quarter (better than they could say the previous four seasons) before getting chomped by the Gators. 

NFL

1. The Saints aren't marching in this year...to the playoffs, that is.  After an ugly offseason where several key players and coaches were suspended (the players have since been reinstated) and the team received a black eye across the league for the infamous bounty scandal, the beginning of the season has not been much better.  The Saints were sitting pretty yesterday with a 24-6 lead on the lowly Chiefs before unraveling and losing for the third straight week 27-24 in overtime.  With head coach Sean Payton out for the entire season and interim coach Joe Vitt out a few more weeks (Can someone please explain to me how the players can be reinstated but the coaches still have to sit out?), the season may be getting long in New Orleans; especially considering that they are already three games back of a stout Atlanta Falcons team.
2. While many teams have been Jekyll and Hyde the first three weeks of the season, a couple have been able to separate themselves from the pack.  While everyone was busy anointing the San Francisco 49ers as the class of the NFL after two weeks, after week 3 the Niners won't have home field advantage over the Minnesota Vikings if it comes to that.  While the jury is still out on how could the Vikes can be this year, they are off to a great start and look to be much better than projected in the preseason.  The Cardinals of Arizona are off to their first 3-0 start since 1974 when they were the Cardinals of St. Louis.  This year's teams is being led by a strong defense that has allowed only 40 points in the first three games.  The aforementioned Falcons seem to be the class of the NFC thus far and the Houston Texans appear to be their counterpart in the AFC (yes, you read that correctly).
3. Playing a game every Thursday night in the NFL does not make sense to me; especially when you let a team play on Thursday one week and give them the Monday night game the following week as is the case with Green Bay this week.  It seems to me that team almost gains a second bye week.  And how about the Ravens playing a Sunday night game and then following that up with a Thursday game.  That's a pretty quick turnaround.  I'm all for doing that on Thanksgiving and later in the year but every week just seems a tad ridiculous.  Now the NFL week runs from Thursday to Monday.  Plus, several people don't even get the NFL Network, including me.  Not a big fan of this move.
4. You might as well get over the fact that replacement officials are doing the games right now.  While the NFL did lock the officials out, they have no incentive to settle the dispute.  Fans are still filling the seats, ratings are still through the roof, no games have been decided by a bad call yet, and most importantly, the players aren't giving the officials their full support.  If the players are truly tired of having replacement officials, they would threaten to not play until the issue is resolved.  But they don't have that in them.  As for the berating, belittling, and bullying of officials by players and coaches, I think they need to concentrate on things they can control instead of acting like fools.  Chasing down officials or grabbing them as they run off the field has never been acceptable.  I have seen professional NFL refs make many terrible calls but I have never seen them brow-beaten the way these guys are getting it.  I say job well done to the official last night who flagged John Harbaugh for relentlessly arguing (he claims he was trying to call a timeout) in a crucial point in the game.  And by the way, that field goal was good.  I guess the refs got one right.