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.

What Say You? Jason Heyward or Giancarlo Stanton?

When you score a young, prototypical corner outfielder who you project to be the cornerstone of your lineup for years to come, you have done something worth bragging about.  Knowing that you have just drafted a guy that will make it to majors quickly and not spend time trying to figure it out at the lower levels and knowing that you can pencil him in at the 3 or 4 hole everyday for 10-12 years or longer after he arrives is surely a comforting and satisfying feeling.  But, I am also sure that feeling is felt few and far between by big league executives because not all sure things pan out.

One such talent that did pan out at the major league level was Dave Winfield.  Winfield holds the distinction of being drafted professionally in football (Minnesota Vikings), basketball (Atlanta Hawks and Utah Stars), and baseball (San Diego Padres) when he came out of the University of Minnesota in 1973.  (What makes that even more impressive is that he never played football while at UM.)  As a matter of fact, the Padres were so enamored with him that he played in 56 ballgames for them the year they drafted him.  In his first full season with the club in 1974, Winfield hit 20 homers and drove in 75 runs, all at the age of 22.  Winfield played for several years with the Padres before moving on to the Big Apple and spending the 1980s with the Yankees, all the while proving to be one of the most consistent players in the game.  In 1992, while with the Toronto Blue Jays, Winfield was finally able to obtain the long awaited World Series ring that he was so sure would come to him while with the Yankees.  He finished his career with 3,110 hits, 1669 runs scored, 465 HRs, 1833 RBI, and a .283 AVG.  He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2001.

Before Dave Winfield, when the only draft available was to the military, not the major leagues, there was a young corner outfielder who was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals named Stan Musial.  In his first full season with the club in 1942, Musial hit .315 and drove in 72 runs.  Although hit took him a few years to find his power stroke (he never hit more than 19 homers in his first five full seasons) it eventually came to him and over the next ten years of his career, he only hit less than 27 homeruns one time (21 in 1952).  He never hit below .310 until his 18^th season in the big leagues at the age of 38.  Musial played for St. Louis for 22 seasons, missing only the 1945 season to serve in the military, and amassed one of the greatest careers in the history of the game.  He finished his Hall of Fame career with 3,630 career hits, over 1,300 extra-base hits, 475 homers, 1,951 RBI, and a .331 AVG.  And perhaps the most amazing statistic to the 21^st century fan, Musial walked 1,599 times in his career and struck out only 696.  (To put that in perspective, Mark Reynolds accumulated 638 Ks in three seasons from 2008-10.)  As a 22 year-old in 1943, Musial had more triples (20) than strikeouts (18).  Simply amazing!

In 2010, two 20 year-old outfielders with lofty expectations emerged in the National League East.  Both were stationed in right field for their respective teams and both showed they were not ordinary youngsters.  One made the opening day roster out of spring training and the other was up by early June.  One is a lefty, one a righty.  But both have proven in three seasons that they will be forces to contend with for years to come.  The lefty is Jason Heyward of the Atlanta Braves and the righty is Giancarlo (formerly Mike) Stanton of the Miami Marlins.

Jason Heyward

Once Jason Heyward was drafted by Atlanta in the first round of the draft in 2007, they knew they had something special.  Like many other Braves who had come before him, Jason was a local Georgia product.   He rocketed through the Braves system and was named Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America and USA Today in 2009.  After making the roster out of spring training the following year, Heyward hit a monstrous three-run homerun in his first major league at bat off of Carlos Zambrano.  He went on to hit 18 homers and drove in 72 in his rookie campaign.  In his second season, Heyward battled several nagging injuries and a little stubbornness and watched his numbers decrease; hitting only 14 homers, driving in 42, and hitting 50 points lower.  He has bounced back and proven to a reliable cog in the Braves offense this season.  Here is a look at his 2012 numbers so far:

 GP    AB  R     HR  RBI   AVG  OBP  SLG   OPS  SB/ATT 

147   546   87   27     75     .273    .340  .491    .831   19/27

Giancarlo Stanton

Mike Stanton was also drafted in 2007, and like Heyward, he was just 17 years old at the time.  But unlike Heyward, he managed to fall to the second round of the draft where he was scooped up by the Marlins.  He, too, soared through the Marlins system.  He began the 2010 season in AA ball in Jacksonville where in 52 games he hit 21 HR, had 52 RBI, and a mind boggling 1.167 OPS.  He leapfrogged AAA and made his MLB debut on June 8 of that year, going 3-5 and scoring two runs.  He finished the big league season with 22 HR and 59 RBI.  In his second year, he did not suffer from any slumps, blasting 34 bombs and knocking in 87 runs.  Before is third season, Stanton decided to return to being called by his given first name, Giancarlo.  Giancarlo has been limited this season due to some injuries but his production is still evident.  Here is a look at his season thus far:
 
GP    AB  R   HR RBI   AVG   OBP    SLG   OPS   SB/ATT 
117   471  71  34   81     .283    .354   .595   .949   6/8

Verdict

Of all of the comparisons I have done, this one is by far the most difficult in my mind.  Both of these guys appear poised to be a factor in the NL for many years to come.  Both have the prototypical power that you want from a corner outfielder who hits in the middle of the lineup.  Both are mature on the field and have a pretty even keel demeanor.  Both play good defense and have cannon arms.  This season, Heyward has shown that he can steal bases and has added that facet to his game.  Stanton, however, has over 200 fewer plate appearances in his career than Heyward but has over 30 more homers and nearly 40 more RBI.  The margin between the two is really razor thin.  But, if I have to make a decision (which I do, otherwise I would be copping out), I would have to take Stanton.  While Heyward has shown that he can bounce back from a down year and he has improved his running game, the power and run production of Stanton are too impressive to ignore.  Honestly, I don't think you can go wrong with either, but since I have to choose one, I did.  So, what say you, folks.  Jason Heyward or Giancarlo Stanton?

 *This brings an end to my young player comparisons but What Say You? will be back in a few weeks with an awards edition as I will be taking a look at all of the major MLB awards.

Pick 'em, Dan-O

We are nearly a month into the college football season and we have already had some amazing upsets, some teams emerge from nowhere, some show they aren't who we think they are (shout out to Denny Green on that one), and some who have just confused us.  A few weeks ago, I even attempted to pick a few games myself and managed a decent showing for the opening weekend with a 3-3 record.  Now that I have seen several of these teams, I have expanded by horizons for week 4 and have added 11 games to the pick 'em slate; and this time I am going to leave my heart out of the pick and try to give an honest assessment (which will be hard for one game in particular).

SEC GotW

Missouri vs. (7) South Carolina

Missouri is coming off a nice home win against Arizona St. but they are still looking for their first conference win as a member of the SEC.  This could be the one they have been waiting for since announcing they were switching conferences.  But dual-threat QB James Franklin (not to be confused with Vandy's head coach) will have his work cut out for him going into a hostile SEC environment for the first time.  South Carolina received good news today when it was announced that QB Connor Shaw, who has been nursing a shoulder injury, will start against the Tigers.  Look for workhorse, stud RB Marcus Lattimore to have a heavy workload.  South Carolina will be without safety D.J. Swearinger who is suspended by the SEC for an illegal hit in last week's game. Even so, I am afraid the Ol' Ball Coach will notch another win this week.

Score: South Carolina 31  Missouri 21

SEC GotW Runner-up

Vanderbilt vs. (5) Georgia

Vanderbilt is once again trying to prove they can matchup with the big dogs in the SEC.  Although they handed it to Presbyterian last week, James Franklin's (not to be confused with the Mizzou QB) Vandy is a hard team to get a read on so far this season.  Jordan Rodgers will have to be flawless against a swarming UGA defense.  Georgia, on the other hand, is looking to prove that they are worthy of a top five ranking.  Georgia's biggest problem so far this season has been with disciplinary issues.  They have had a multitude of players, mostly on defense, who have run amok off the field and had to pay the piper.  As they keep getting these guys back on the field, the defense should perform at a higher level taking the pressure off of the offense to carry the load.  Look for Vandy to still be looking for their first SEC win after the game.

Score: Georgia 34  Vanderbilt 17

Pac 12 GotW

(22) Arizona vs. (3) Oregon

When Rich Rodriguez was named the new Arizona Wildcat coach in the offseason, many wondered how quickly he would have them winning ballgames.  The answer seems to be rather quickly.  Rich Rod’s spread offense is perfectly suited for the Pac 12 conference.  Senior QB Matt Scott has winged the ball for nearly 1,000 yards with 7 TDs and only one INT thus far.  But can Rich Rod's spread out gun that of Chip Kelly’s Ducks.  Oregon finds itself in a familiar spot, ranked solidly in the top 5.  While the Ducks have not faced a BCS opponent, they have handled the teams they have played the way they should.  Oregon freshman QB Marcus Mariota has proven to be more than capable so far and they have a two-headed monster at RB with Kenjon Barner and De'Anthony Thomas.  Look for a few light bulbs to need replacing on the scoreboard after this one. 

Score: Oregon 48  Arizona 33

Pac 12 GotW Runner-up

Oregon St. vs. (19) UCLA

The Pac 12 has settled in nicely as the number two conference in the country after three weeks of play.  This matchup is huge for both teams.  The Beavers had a week off after their dominant defensive performance against Wisconsin and look to be challenged by Jim Mora, Jr.’s new look Bruins.  With a win in this game, UCLA would be sending a message that the Trojans don’t have the only game in town.  Freshman QB Brett Hundley has played like a veteran and RB Jonathan Franklin (not to be confused with either James in the SEC) has already rushed for over 500 yards in just three games.  Don't be surprised if this turns out to be the best game of the week.

Score: UCLA 27  Oregon St. 23

ACC GotW
(10) Clemson vs. (4) Florida St.

The ACC really needs this game to live up to the hype that a top ten matchup on primetime, national TV implies.  Clemson defeated Auburn in the first game of the season for a solid win against an SEC school.  The Tigers have many weapons (Tajh Boyd, Sammy Watkins, DeAndre Hopkins, Andre Ellington, etc.) and hope to utilize them all to gain an advantage in the Atlantic division.  Florida St. is looking to prove that they are back, even though coach Jimbo Fisher says he doesn't know what that means.  The Seminoles played Cream Puff U and Cupcake Community College to open the season before dominating Wake Forest last week.  FSU QB E.J. Manuel (who seems as if he has been there long enough to be tenured faculty) provides a steady hand at the helm of the Seminole offense.  Maybe Coach Fisher will have a better understanding of what it means to be back after the Noles take this one.

Score: Florida St. 41  Clemson 34

Big 12 GotW

(15) Kansas St. vs. (6) Oklahoma

Very few coaches are as synonymous with their football programs as is Bill Snyder at Kansas State.  If Coach Snyder can lead his team to a tough road victory over Oklahoma this weekend, it may just catapult them all the way to the Big 12 Championship.  Leading the way for the Wildcats is Heisman hopeful QB Collin Klein, who can run and pass.  Sooners coach Bob Stoops knows better than to underestimate a Snyder coached team and will have his guys ready to play.  The Sooners are led by QB Landry Jones, who seems like he has been at Oklahoma since they became a state in 1907.  The winner will grab the driver's seat for the conference title.

Score: Kansas St. 31  Oklahoma 28

Validation GotW

(18) Michigan vs. (11) Notre Dame

This is a game that makes me wish that ties were still allowed in college football because at the end of the day I don't want to pick a winner.  In this classic rivalry, Michigan has gotten the best of Notre Dame the past three seasons, winning all three games by four points and scoring a touchdown in the last minute of the game.  Michigan is led by senior QB Denard "Shoelace" Robinson who should prove to be a more difficult match for the Notre Dame defense than Michigan State did last week.  Speaking of the Notre Dame D, how about last week?  They absolutely stymied Michigan State, led by gutsy senior LB Manti Te'o.  No matter how you feel about Notre Dame, and I think I have made clear my opinion, you have to be inspired by Te'o's performance a few days after the passing of both his grandmother and girlfriend.  Don't expect the same kind of performance this week from the Irish D but they will get the job done.

Score: Notre Dame 24 Michigan 17

 

Hmmm GotW

Rutgers vs. Arkansas

Rutgers has started the 2012 season by winning their first three games.  Arkansas's chance for a dream season was upended by an ill-fated motorcycle ride in the offseason and has only gotten worse the past two weeks after losing to Louisiana-Monroe in a shocker and being completely dismantled by Alabama.  If Arkansas has any hopes of regaining control of this tailspin, they must beat the Scarlet Knights.  There is no word yet about whether Arkansas QB has been cleared to play after suffering a concussion two weeks ago.

Score: Rutgers 27  Arkansas 24

Mid-major GotW
Southern Mississippi vs. Western Kentucky

Southern Mississippi has shown in years past that even though they play in Conference USA, they can play with the big boys from the big conferences.  That has not carried over so far this season, though, as the Golden Eagles are looking for their first win.  They are not likely to get it against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.  The Toppers and coach Willie Taggart are coming off the biggest win they've had since moving up to the FBS series against the University of Kentucky. 

Score: WKU 35  So Miss 17

 

Trap GotW

Baylor vs. Louisiana-Monroe

What a difference a year makes.  Baylor surely misses their Heisman trophy winning QB from a year ago.  Although they have won their first two games of the season, the Bears struggled mightily early on against Sam Houston State.  Their opponent, the Warhawks of Louisiana-Monroe, have huge momentum.  They defeated (8) Arkansas in overtime two weeks ago and took Auburn to OT last week.  And Baylor is making the trip to ULM.

Score: ULM 34 Baylor 31 OT

 

Redemption GotW

BYU vs. (24) Boise St.

As is often the case, both programs really need to win this game.  BYU is coming off one of the most bizarre endings in college football history when Utah fans had to storm the field three times before finally being able to claim victory over the Cougars.  (If you haven't seen it, You Tube it).  Boise State's run against BCS schools came to halt the first weekend of the season when they lost to Michigan State. 

 

Score: Boise St. 44  BYU 26

The Curse of the Bear?

Well, I've been here before and, sadly, history tells me it won't be the last time.  After enjoying a rare five-year run where it was beginning to feel as if the University of Kentucky had been onto something and was really making strides in its football program, I'm afraid the real Kentucky is back following a 32-31 loss to Western Kentucky.  The hot seat on Coach Joker Phillips could melt steel and there is virtually no way for him to save his job barring a miracle like the one that happened on 34th Street.  And, regardless of my opinion on the matter, if Santa Claus brings Phillips another season as head coach, the faithful (and I use that term loosely) will be seething. 

So what is the problem with UK football?  Why can't they establish long-running success as a football program?  One obvious answer is they play in the most brutal conference in college football; the SEC.  But really, the true nature of Kentucky's dismal gridiron tradition has its roots firmly planted six decades in the past.   Let's take a look back at the seminal moment that forever altered two different programs within the University of Kentucky athletic department.

In 1946, a man named Paul Bryant was hired as the new football coach for the Wildcats.  He was coming from Maryland where he had only spent one year.  He was a tough-nosed, unforgiving 33 year-old coach who preferred to go by his nickname, Bear.  (Legend has it that he earned the nickname from wrestling a captive bear for a theater promotion at the age of 13.)  His success was immediate, winning seven ball games in his first season.  He led UK to eight wins the next season and their first ever bowl appearance, The Great Lakes Bowl, which the Wildcats won.  His best run came from 1949-51 when his teams won 28 games and appeared in the Orange, Sugar, and Cotton Bowls.    In the 1950 Sugar Bowl, Bryant's Wildcats defeated an Oklahoma team that had won 31 consecutive games.  According to some polls and modern computer rankings, the University of Kentucky can claim a national championship for that season.  In total, Bryant spent eight seasons at Kentucky and finished with a career record of 60-23-5 and never had a losing season.  Bryant remains the all-time leader in career victories at the University of Kentucky.

Bryant was not the only coaching legend at Kentucky at that time, though.  Prowling the bench on the hardwood for the Wildcats was an irascible veteran coach named Adolph Rupp, who had a nickname of his own; the Baron.  Rupp had already been at Kentucky for 16 years by the time Bryant was hired and had led the basketball Cats to several conference championships and a Final Four.  It was while Bryant was at UK with Rupp that the basketball program began to assert itself as an elite program.  From 1948-51, Rupp was able to lead his teams to three NCAA championships, coinciding with the same years that Bryant was having his best run on the football field. (Even though Florida is credited with becoming the only school to ever hold the NCAA football and basketball championships in the same scholastic season, it can be argued that Kentucky did it in the 1950-51 season.) The University of Kentucky was poised to become the predominant school in all of college athletics.  So what happened?

The answer, it seems, is complicated and murky.  One legendary tale has it that Bryant was offended when the university bought Rupp a brand-new, four-door Cadillac and he was only given a fancy cigarette lighter.  While this story is rather funny and was told tongue-in-cheek by Bryant, there is nothing to corroborate its validity.  Another tale is that Bryant was upset by a scandal that had taken place with Rupp's teams involving point shaving.  In 1951, a story broke about Kentucky legends Alex Groza and Ralph Beard being involved in a points shaving event during the 1948-1949 season.  The subsequent investigation resulted in multiple NCAA rules violations and the first ever death penalty as the Wildcats were not allowed to have a basketball team for the 1952-53 season.  It is speculated that Bryant became antsy due to the increased NCAA scrutiny of all Kentucky athletic programs and decided to go elsewhere where the NCAA would not be sniffing around so much.  This theory seems to make much more sense.  But in a 1966 interview with Sports Illustrated, Bryant said, "When I try to put my finger on it I can't say exactly why I left Kentucky, but one thing I want to make clear. I never tried to get Bernie Shively's job as athletic director, and the athletic directorship had nothing to do with what you could call a clash of objectives between me and Adolph Rupp."  He also went on to say that leaving UK was one of the biggest mistakes he had ever made; this coming after winning three NCAA championships at Alabama.  To further dispel myth and legend, many accounts show that Bear Bryant and Adolph Rupp remained amiable towards each other and considered themselves to be friends until Rupp passed away in 1977.

So, to put it simply, the best guess as to what derailed the Kentucky football program was the points shaving scandal from 1951 that involved the Wildcat basketball program.  In an odd sort of way, the program that was not punished now suffers from the Curse of the Bear akin to the Red Sox' Curse of the Bambino.  In the years after Bryant left Kentucky to go to Texas A & M, the Wildcat football team has struggled to maintain any semblance of success.  UK has had ten head coaches since Bryant departed 59 seasons ago and only one (Blanton Collier) has left the university with a winning record, and he had the benefit of replacing Bryant and having some of the Bear's recruits play for him.  The only other time the football program has come close to making a splash on the national scene was under Fran Curci when his 1976 team finished 9-3 with a Peach Bowl win and followed it up with a 10-1 season in 1977.  But, as the Curse would have it, the Wildcats were ineligible for postseason play due to NCAA violations.  The UK football program was once again beset by NCAA violations during the Hall Mumme era.  It was only recently when Rich Brooks was able to lead the Wildcats to four consecutive bowls, winning three, did people begin to think that the Curse had been broken.  But as this past weekend shows us, that has not been the case after all.

In what appears to be a long season ahead for the Wildcats football program, athletic director Mitch Barnhart and the powers that be at Kentucky have a lot of tough decisions to make.  With an unsettled fan base and empty seats in the stadium, Joker Phillips's future may have as much to do with performance off the field as on it.  One thing that Barnhart and company will have to consider when deciding on whether or not to replace Coach Phillips is who can reverse this relentless curse?  So far, that question has seemed to stymie countless ADs and boosters for the past six decades.