The Atlantic magazine has come out against the Nobel Peace Prize itself
"The record of achievement of the peace laureates is so spotty, and the rationales for their awards so eclectic, that the committee should take a long break to consider whether peace is a category coherent enough to be worth recognizing," @gcaw writes: https://t.co/kMGZGzTaki
If Donald Trump is for the Peace Prize they’re agan it!
Can we now assume that the Nobel Peace prize for Barack Obama was an affirmative action award?
I think it’s been really something to see the left go on a full defense of what objectively is child porn in their defense of Netflix “Cuties”
If I was Donald Trump I’d direct the AG to investigate if the movies violates US child porn laws as written.
The whole: ” If Donald Trump is against Child Porn then I’m for it” reaction from will be something to see, of course in fairness they’re already all defending it. I wonder how fast they would condemn the movie Fatima about the miracles there if Trump came out for it?
Well at least the new peace deal between Barain and Israel is something that Democrats can celebrate. Right?
Asked on @CNNSitRoom if Trump deserves credit for Bahrain-Israel deal, Pelosi questions his ties to Saudi and says: “Good for him for having a distraction on a day when the numbers of people who are affected and the numbers of people who are dying from this virus only increases”
There has been another ambush of law enforcement and the Joe Biden Voters are acting like…Joe Biden voters
Protesters are chanting “WE HOPE THEY DIE” & blocking emergency room entrance as 2 Los Angeles cops are fighting for their lives following ambush in Compton.
“After watching Thursday’s game and also watching the Dolphins players’ video, it shows that it is not about who is standing or who is kneeling for the anthem,” Mayfield said. “But instead, coming together and taking action to create real change. Also after reading many letters and messages over the past few weeks, I have been showed (sic) that a gesture such as kneeling will only create more division or discussion about the gesture, rather than be a solution towards our country’s problems at hand. With that being said, I am choosing to stand for both anthems to show respect, love, and unity to everybody involved.”
Trump will obviously be for this so as you might guess the left is agan it but I suspect those who have invested in him as an advertising spokesman are for it. The real question is this: Given that the Ravens are expected to be blitzing a lot will his offensive line be for it or agan it?
This week’s DaTechGuy off DaRadio no frills livestream podcast comes via a new laptop (Thanks to all of you) and some new topics:
Goodyear Goodbye & fighting back
Netflix & the Weinstein / Epstein Culture
Bannon and the big lie
We’ll be talking about these and more on DaTechGuy off DaRadio today at 3 PM EST. You can watch the live stream here (the embedded placeholder of last week’s show will be replaced 5 or ten min before we start)
Looking forward to our time together.
FYI remember this podcast exists to do two things.
Boost the readership of the blog
Bring in an extra $180 or so a month.
If you like what we do here please share the podcast or consider kicking into DaTipJar. Of course there is the problem of us getting big and effective enough for google, youtube and twitter to ban but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
There is a big fuss about President Trump being only four points down on Biden in the latest CNN poll just before the Democrat convention.
Does it not occur to anyone that this is deliberate so that they can show a convention “bump” for Joe Biden at the end of the week?
After all, if we presume they are manipulating the polls why would they suddenly stop now?
Was slightly surprised to see Biden hit piece in Politico with a lot of stuff coming from Team Obama.
But the more I thought about it the less it was surprising. Biden is a losing candidate. This stuff coming out now is about Obama being able to say “well yeah I had to be pro-forma for Joe but I thought his nomination was a bad idea.”
This is about being able to make the case that when voters reject Biden they weren’t rejecting Obama’s 3rd term. I think that is the reason why Susan Rice wasn’t the VP pick. If she was on the ticket then it would be the Obama ticket.
I had never heard of Millie Weaver before Sunday Morning. When I heard about her arrest I followed a link and starting watching the shadowgate piece on youtube before I went to work.
When I got home it had been pulled for “hate speech” after over 1 million views. I did some searching and found it elsewhere and watched the rest before I hit the sack, still didn’t see any “hate speech” that Youtube cried.
This thing screams Streisand Effect and the idea that this arrest is over an old fight with her mom a few hours before her documentary was released is not credible.
If you want to see it the link to the video is here.
While I’m not watching any sports I have still been listening to sports radio stations when I am out. On Monday while running errands they were talking about the crashing ratings for the NBA.
It was hilarious to hear the excuses:
People got used to not watching
These games didn’t mean anything
It will change with the playoffs
etc etc etc…
The one thing that was never mentioned was going all in on BLM and social justice. That it was never brought up speaks volumes, apparently stating the obvious is completely VERBOTEN.
Finally the most amazing thing I’ve noticed lately is this entire COVID shutdown business, while designed to hurt Trump, has pretty much been liberal suicide.
Universities, Hollywood, public schools, Broadway, and big liberal cities are all falling apart while a good chunk of the rest of the country seems to be carrying on.
The number of liberal institutions that are crumbling under this is astounding. This deserves a longer post and I’ll likely write one later, but I’ll just note that if your goal was to destroy the infrastructure that supports Democrat memes and messages, I can’t see what you’d do differently
Last week Stacy McCain noted a young lady named Alison Young doing a Buddy Holly Song on youtube and marveled how the technology allows her follow her dream (and build a large following of 50k youtube followers (aprox 49.3 k more than mine without the following hassle and expense:
Back in 1957, Buddy Holly had to travel to Clovis, New Mexico, to record in Norman Petty‘s studio, where “Everyday” was recorded as the B-side of “Peggy Sue.” You couldn’t just program a synthesizer (or use an Omnichord) for your backup track, either. You had to have an actual band to accompany you, or else pay studio musicians at union scale. Because the equipment needed for recording — what Marx would call “the means of production” — was so expensive, getting access to studio time usually required the support of a manager or a record company. Young musicians would generally spend years playing bar gigs and such before they could hope to get a shot at a recording contract. By the time the Beatles signed with EMI in 1962, they had been together five years, played every dance hall in northern England and done four stints as a house band in bars in Hamburg, Germany.
What the advent of cheap high-quality recording technology has done is to topple the barriers between musical talent and the audience. You don’t need a manager or an agent, you don’t need a record company, a studio, a producer, a contract — no lawyers, no paperwork, nothing — to be able to record a song, produce a video and upload it to YouTube where, potentially, you could become an instant superstar.
This is cause for celebration as it allows the audience access to potential articles that they might never hear. There is however one other aspect of this technological revolution that Stacy is missing and it’s a significant one. This young lady has gained a modicum of fame (and hopefully a small living) without having to subject herself to what would have been called in Hollywood the “casting couch”
Imagine if Miss Young was coming up in the 50-90’s. Imagine the groups of executives, agents, studio folks who were all empowered by their ability to give access , equipment or introductions necessary to give you a shot at the audience she now commands. How many might have demanded a less than honorable price for said access?
Think of how many names, big names, paid Harvey Weinstein’s price, or Bill Cosby’s price or Matt Lauer’s price or the prices of the hundreds if not thousands of other Weinstein, Cosby or Lauer wannabees of a lower level that if they couldn’t get you to the top of the ladder demanded their fee to get to the next rung?
Because of this technology Alison and many like her is able to bypass everyone one of those Weinstein wannabees and just make her music. In fact if she proves popular enough they might have to come to HER rather than vice versa.
This is an actual victory for the right of a woman to make the most of her life based on her talents outside of the bed and the real joy of it is thanks to the ability to produce this on her own she will not only avoid being their prey but might be able to happily produce her music without every knowing such people even exist.
Baldrick: My mother told me to stand up to homicidal maniacs
Black Adder the 3rd Duel and Duality 1987
One of the most pleasant surprises of this TV season has been the DC series Stargirl a well written comic book series about a character I had never heard of as she was introduced a full 10 years after I closed my comic store.
Over the past 10 weeks or so it’s become a Sunday ritual in the house that my wife gets home from work just before midnight, I get home 30 minutes later and we watch the newest episode which goes live at 11 PM EST each Sunday on the DC network together. It is well acted, well plotted and very well written, likely due to the fact the actual creator of the characters involved is the writer. Furthermore because of the DC multiverse concept (introduced way back in 1961 ) there is complete flexibility as to if a character lives or dies as was amply demonstrated in last week’s show the penultimate episode of this 1st season. (a spoiler from said episode 12 follows)
To set the stage, Injustice Society of America members Sportsmaster (Neil Hopkins) & his wife Tigress (Joy Osmanski) have just failed to killed Stargirl & her family as assigned. So the leader of the ISA Icicle (Neil Jackson) sends the Fiddler (Hinda Kahn) to assist them in a 2nd murder attempt with this result:
Now this scene struck me in several ways. First of all even in normal everyday circumstances it’s rather impolite to go into a couple’s home, insult their daughter and declare them unfit parents, but it’s downright suicidal to do so when:
You know said people are psychopathic killers
You, as the principal of the high school their daughter attends, know that said psychopathic killers have already killed three of your school’s football coaches for disciplining said daughter on the field.
You know they kill for sheer pleasure.
That a highly intelligent professional cold blooded calculating murderer would not see the danger in this and instead presume that because they were all working toward the same master plan about to come to fruition they’d just take being scolded and insulted on a personal family level without complaint, surprised me completely.
I mean, it’s a comic show so you have to suspend disbelief to a degree but C’mon!
And THAT brings us to Antifa and the Democrats.
There seems to be some surprise online that the Democrats who turned up for Senator Cruz’s hearing on ANTIFA were unwilling to criticize them
@SenTedCruz has a hearing on Antifa, and gets killer witnesses. Of all the GOP in the Senate, only Lee and Graham bothered to show up—and just for half of it.
But SEVEN DEMOCRATS rushed to the hearing room to be counted as supporting Antifa.
"I have worked undercover for months and I’ve seen with my own eyes how hundreds of so-called protesters work together to carry out acts of organized criminality against government and civilians."
.@HomelandKen says that out of 277 injuries to law enforcement officers from rioters, 113 have been eye injuries from lasers. pic.twitter.com/ez2MC0YmTr
Some are surprised, even shocked that Senators are defending people who are either burning down or attempting to burn down federal courthouses and attacking federal officers and police.
I’m not, this is a perfectly rational reaction on their part.
Public stances not withstanding they know they are dealing with homicidal maniacs, who have enlisted useful idiots to commit violence, they also know that said homicidal maniacs & their useful idiots have gone after political allies including the Mayors of Seattle, Portland and Oakland, even to their own homes in order to intimidate them and keep them in line in they deviate even one bit from their desired memes.
Given those facts it’s completely rational that Senators and Governors and Mayors would make it a point to not to say a bad word about the homicidal maniacs and useful idiots of ANTIFA. It makes even more sense when said Senators, Governors and Mayors have been using the same police and law enforcement whose job it would be to protect them from said homicidal maniacs and useful idiots, as punching bags for the last three months or more.
In fact it’s even more rational for MSM reporters to kowtow to the homicidal maniacs and useful idiots of antifa because unlike the Senators Governors and Mayors trying to defund and handcuff law enforcement, they do not have said police protection at their beck and call.
So while their actions might be despicable and dishonorable, they are entirely rational when dealing with such folks. You could ask Principal Bowen’s character from Stargirl about that but, alas she is no longer available for comment.
Note: The final episode of season 1 of Stargirl will be unlocked Sunday at 11 PM EST on the DC Universe livestream site and will be broadcast on air on the CW the following day. If you have an interest in the show this would be an excellent time to binge watch the 1st 12 episodes before the season finale. I suspect you’ll enjoy it.
When I compare the authorities of Minneapolis who put out this notice
Minneapolis City Government tells residents to be ready to give up their phones and wallets and to always cooperate with criminals: pic.twitter.com/qQhw4YLRSY
One must conclude that the later (albeit for political reasons) is more interested in the safety of the citizens then the former .
If you told me six months ago that the city of Minneapolis would be better off & safer under a parody pol created by Mel Brooks vs their current government I wouldn’t have believed you.
The NFL commissioner made a big fuss recently about Colin Kaepernick stating perhaps they were wrong on his stance against kneeling because perhaps it wasn’t about the flag after all:
Colin Kaepernick rips 4th of July as ‘celebration of white supremacy’
But but we were told by everyone this is all about police brutality and not about hating the flag or the country and anyone who things otherwise is just twisting his words.
I’m sure that the NFL is absolutely DELIGHTED with this headline along with every single TV & Radio host who suddenly (or always) decided they were on Kaepernick’s side after all.
I have a funny feeling they will not have a comment on this subject. After all plausible deniability doesn’t work when deniability is not longer plausible
They damn well better hope they play without fans this year due to covid because with the exception of Tampa Bay excited about Brady and KC excited about a repeat I suspect the paying customer will not be anxious to give these clowns their money.
Update: Steven Miller notes that before he was Benched Kaepernick’s opinions on the 4th of July were….different
Public business my son, must always be done by somebody.— it will be done by somebody or other— If wise men decline it others will not: if honest men refuse it, others will not. A young man should well weigh his plans. Integrity should be preserved in all events, as essential to his happiness, thro every stage of his existence. His first maxim then, should be to place his honor out of the reach of all men
John Adams to his son Thomas Sept 2 1789
Because of it’s nature Television has an over-sized ability to influence culture to the good or to ill. It is no coincidence that many of the cultural changes that have had negative connotations for society have been pushed by the celebrity culture for the sake of their own justification over the years for example: Sex in the City
I do wonder what my life would have looked like if “Sex and the City” had never come across my consciousness. Perhaps I’d be married with children now? Who knows, but I can say for sure that, as clever and aesthetically pleasing as the show was — and, as much as I agree with its value of female friendships — it showed too much consumerism and fear of intimacy disguised as empowerment.
It’s like candy: In the moment it feels good to eat it, but afterward, you feel sick. Whom you’re dating, what you’re wearing, or how good you look at that premiere — none of that s–t matters unless you genuinely love yourself. Solid relationships are what really matter.
Truth be told, I wish I had never heard of “SATC.” I’m sure there are worse role models but, for me, it did permanent and measurable damage to my psyche that I’m still cleaning up.
Sure, I could have been a dating columnist for the rest of my life but, honestly, I gave really bad dating advice — and so did Carrie Bradshaw.
Many women fell for this fantasy and are regretting it now. It’s worth noting that Sarah Jessica Parker got married in 1997 at age 32 and has been married to Matthew Broadrick ever since. She knew it was just a show.
However there were and are plenty of shows that can influence for the good. How many people became engineers because they wanted to Scotty from Star Trek or got into science because they wanted to be the Professor from Gilligan’s Island?
Cop shows are like this. I suspect there are plenty of people who became cops because they wanted shows about police as a kid and decided they wanted to be the honest cop the person of integrity and honor , who serves and protects others from the dangers of the world. Even shows like Barney Miller, which highlighted the monotony of the job, featured good people doing good things.
Now I ask you. If you decide to teach that the police are evil and to be rejected and you remove that image of the honest cop from the culture what will replace it? And more importantly WHO will replace it when it comes time to seek people to actually do one of the most thankless jobs of society.
Let me remind you again of John Adams’ quote that started this piece
Public business my son, must always be done by somebody.— it will be done by somebody or other— If wise men decline it others will not: if honest men refuse it, others will not.
This is being demonstrated in Seattle today. If the Police don’t do the policing others will who just might not be wise or honest or worried about serving and protecting.
The Demonetization of Police by the media/left for their political purposes is going to have great damage to our society in the short term. But the removal of the image of the honest cop and policeman who protects and serves from our cultural stream will do even more damage, not now but 20 years from now, because when you don’t inspire people to be honest men and women with integrity, with no other agenda than to make their living serving the public to be cops, then those looking to exploit such a job for it’s perks while hanging back from it’s responsibilities will be the ones who fill those positions and you and your children and grandchildren who follow won’t like the result.
The latest in our series of write-ups of the various leagues I am running. If you wish to inquire about future openings (all current spots are filled) contact me via the Dynasty system or leave a request in comments.
This weekend the All Futility 100 loss league West divisions. These results and standings were all current at the time of this writing
American League West
2008 Seattle Mariners 86-65 1st place
With three games to go and a two game lead Seattle has control of their own destiny. Will they be able to hold off the final late surge?
Heroes: Jose Lopez in addition to leading the league in hits & doubles is 4th in batting. Ichrio Suzuki is 3rd in runs and stolen bases and is top ten in the league in hits & triples with 9 OF assists thrown in. Seattle Closer Brandon Morrow is 3rd is saves (25) but more importantly has only blown 5 in 30 chances which makes all the difference.
Zeros: If Starter Miguel Batista had managed better than a 6.26 ERA and a 1.79 WHIP in 21 starts Seattle would already be resting starters for the playoffs. The same goes for Carlos Silva who with 30 starts is just under .500 thanks to a 5.58 ERA a .312 avg against plus almost 50 more hits given up than innings pitched
Wild Cards: There is no better illustration of the difference between getting good defense & run support and not than the contrast between starters Jarrod Washburn & Felix Hernandez both have a .260 avg against but Washburn is 13-7 despite a 4.63 ERA while Hernandez leads the league with a 2.96 ERA but is 10-14 with a full dozen unearned runs scored off him vs only 2 vs Washburn.
Coming Attractions. Seattle heads home to finish their season vs the 1982 Minnesota Twins. If they can win sweep the twins it’s a clinch no matter what.
Injury Report:Erik Bedard who has been out since July will not play again this season but if Seattle hangs on will be recovered in time for the playoffs.
1973 Texas Rangers 83-66 2nd place 2 GB
The Texas comeback from the bottom of the standings to within 2 games (and only one behind in the loss column) with 5 to play is one of the great stories of the season.
Heroes: Jeff Burroughs & Bill Sudakis are 1 & 3 in HR in the AL and in a 4 way tie for the RBI lead going into the final four games. Meanwhile the starting pitching duo of Jim Bibby & Jim Merritt are in a 4 way tie for the lead in wins & are sitting at 2-3 in League ERA. Bibby is also 1st in Avg against while Merritt is 2nd in WHIP.
Zeros:Jim Mason’s .212 avg with 0 HR & 18 RBI in over 200 ab isn’t impressive but if you want to know why Texas is still 2nd look no further than starter David Clyde (6-11 6.16 ERA ) in 25 starts and Charlie Hudson whose 6-4 record and 3.70 ERA in 43 appearance (4 starts) look good but six blown saves vs 7 converted saves is the difference between being 2 behind in the loss column and 0.
Wild Card: Texas has feasted off of AL East teams a full 20 games over .500 against them but they have not been so successful against left handed pitchers against whom their record is just below .500.
Coming Attractions: Texas Season is going to come down to their final two home games vs the 2005 Kansas City Royals and then a trip to Tampa Bay to finish their season with 3 games against the big bats of the 2002 Devil Rays.
Injury Report: Texas makes its dash with nobody on the DL but with a pitching staff desperately in need of a rest particularly Sonny Siebert.
1982 Minnesota Twins 79-72 3rd place 7 GB ELIMINATED
When last we left the Twins they were battling Seattle neck and neck, however a late 4-6 run has been just enough to put them five to go a single game too far back.
Heroes: There may be recriminations in Minnesota over their finish but Kent Hrbek Certainly did his part .343 (3rd) with 36 HR (6th) and 128 RBI’s (2nd) plus top 7 in Triples, Hits, Runs OBP, Slugging and OPS. On the Mound Robert Castillo is 1st in WHIP, tied for the league lead in wins 6th in ERA 3rd in Innings pitched 5th in strikeouts and 2nd in best avg against (.242) And Ron Davis’ 28 Saves vs 3 blows is pretty solid.
Zeros:Frank Viola may have a great future but his 7-11 record with a .325 avg against and 5.45 ERA is a big reason why Minnesota is eliminated today. It also doesn’t help that Terry Felton (5 saves in 9 chances) and Jeff Little (4 saves in 8 chances) couldn’t do the job when Davis wasn’t available.
Wild Cards: Nobody closed out games like Minnesota. They were 1st in the majors in saves while tied for the fewest blown saves in the AL. Unfortunately it’s a little tough to get to that save situation when you lead the league in both walks and Home Runs allowed.
Coming Attractions: Minnesota might be out of it but with their season finishing in Seattle against the 1st place 2008 Mariners they hold the destiny of the division in their hands.
2005 Kansas City Royals 76-73 4th place 8 GB ELIMINATED
Kansas City is playing for pride. One win secures at least a .500 record and they are but a single game behind Minnesota in the loss column. Can they manage to get out of the cellar in their final five games?
Heroes:David DeJesusis currently tied for the AL lead in doubles 4th in triples 10th in OBP & 7th in walks. Matt Stairs is 2nd in OBP 4th in Slugging and only injuries kept him out of bigger categories and Mike Sweeny’s .309 avg 33 HR & 122 RBI’s are nothing to sneeze at. Andy Sisco in 51 games out of the pen went 8-2 with 3 saves in as many chances & a 2.85 ERA
Zeros: Practically the entire Royals starting rotation can quality with only one starter managing an ERA under 5 but the worst offenders of the lot have to be Runelvys Hernandez (3-15 6.72 ERA .321 avg against & over 50 more hits than innings in 32 starts) and Jose Lima (8-12 7.03 ERA .315 avg against in 26 starts)
Wild Card: It certainly wasn’t offense that put Kansas City in last. They led the league in Runs, doubles, RBI’s OBP and OPS and led the majors in Avg and Slugging. However while they hit .290 as a team they also allowed their opponent to hit .290 against and converted the fewest saves in the AL while being near the bottom of almost every AL pitching category.
Coming Attractions: Kansas City’s offense will have a chance to decide how the division finishes as they play a pair in Texas against the 1973 Rangers before closing out their season against the AL East champion Chicago White Sox.
Injury report: The good news for KC is all of their potent bats are available for the close of the season, the good news for their opponents is so is all their pitching.
National League West
2012 Houston Astros 77-74 1st place
Houston won their two biggest games of the season sweeping Arizona for a pair giving them a 2 game lead with three to play. But with both San Diego and Arizona still alive with 3 to go they’ll have to go all out to guarantee a playdate against the 100 win Nationals.
Heroes: You won’t find a lot of Astros on the various leader boards but one is Wilson Lopezwhose 16 saves are 2nd in the league. Another is Scott Moore whose .327 avg is 2nd in the league But Justin Maxwell’s 32 HR and steady pitching from folks like starter Jordan Lyles (14-8 1 sv 3.93 ERA 1.32 WHIP) and reliever Fernando Rodriguez (10-4 3.85 ERA in relief) played their part.
Zeros: If Xavier Cedeno (52 games 1 start 4-3 2 saves in 8 chances 5.58 ERA) .292 avg vs) Fernando Abad (33 games 6 starts 3-8 1 save in 4 chances 6.64 ERA .323 avg vs) & Rhiner Cruz (43 games 3 starts 3-5 0 saves in 2 chances .7.76 ERA .327 avg vs) had been even slightly better the NL West would be sown up today.
Wild Cards: Despite a -58 run differential (No team with a record better than 25 games under .500 has worse) and the worst fielding percentage in the majors (.977) the 2nd most blown saves in the NL and more of their batters striking on than on any other team they are two wins from a division title. Perhaps being 2nd in HR & RBI, in the NL have something to do with it.
Coming Attractions: It all comes down to a three games series in Milwaukee vs the 2002 Brewers. Win two and Houston punches their ticket to a series vs the Nationals.
Injury Report: Fortunately for Houston all three zeros on their list Fernando Abad, Rhiner Cruz and Xavier Cedeno are out till next year along with Buck Travis are out for the season and playoffs although there is a Tiny chance that Cedeno could be well enough to play before the end of the World Series. Francisco Cordero won’t be available vs Milwaukee but if Houston makes the Playoffs he might be able to be activated late in the Washington series if another Astro is injured.
2004 Arizona Diamondbacks 75-76 2nd 2 GB
Arizona managed to climb all the way from last to a tie for first with five games to go only to lose 2 straight to Houston. Can they pull off one final miracle in their last series?
Heroes: The question isn’t if Randy Johnson will win the NL CY Young. With the exception of Home Runs per 9 Innings (4th in majors 2nd in NL) and Innings Pitched (1st in NL 2nd in Majors likely to be 1st soon) he leads leads the majors in every non relieving pitching Category and by a lot. His 1.88 ERA is a full run better than the #2 his 335 K’s is 85 better than the 2nd best and he’s hte only pitcher with a WHIP under 1.00 (0.80) the question is does he win MVP too? Luis Gonzalez Brandon Webb and reliever Mike Koplove did their part but Johnson is the best in the majors period!
Zeros: To say that reliever Randy Choate (58 gm 3-10 1 sv in 3 chances) and starter Edgar Gonzalez (12 starts in 13 games 3-7 6.36 ERA .301 avg against 11 HR in 58 innings) have been bad is true but Casey Fossum line of 29 starts, .337 avg against 8.38 ERA 1.82 WHIP and a 5-13 record takes the cake. If they had collectively been 2 games better over their 41 starts and 59 relief appearances the Diamondbacks would control their own destiny.
Wild Card: If Arizona makes the playoffs Randy Johnson is the wildest card there is capable of beating any team at any time. Arizona as been a doubles machine leading the majors and it’s a good thing too because their 13 steal attempts (10 sb) are the fewest in the NL. On the mound they lead the majors in ERA (3.97) WHIP (1.33) avg against (.246) K’s (1259) fewest Runs & Earned runs (674/600) fewest hits (1282) and lead the NL in completed games. One guess why.
Coming Attractions: It comes down to a 3 game series vs the 1973 San Diego Padres. at home. Johnson will pitch once so it will come down to if the remainder of the staff can come through. Two wins forces Houston to win one. 3 forces them to win two
Injury Report:Danny Bautista will not be available for the SD series but if the team makes the playoff he’ll be recovered sufficiently to make the roster.
1973 San Diego Padres 74-77 3rd place 3 GB
It’s a credit to the relevancy of this Padres team that with a single series to play they are still in the playoff hunt but they not only need Houston to be swept they will need to beat Randy Johnson. Can they do it?
Heroes:Willie McCovery still has an excellent batters eye leading the league in walks and OBP. while hitting a solid .298 with 25 HR & 99 RBI. Young Dave Winfield has been a liability in the field (10 OF errors) & doesn’t have McCovey’s patience at the plate (31 BB vs 139K’s) but with 25 HR & 105 RBI he’ll do. On the Mound Dan Spillner has been the best of a good rotation 11-8 with a 3.78 ERA and a save in his only chance.
Zeros: Of all the teams I’ve written this is the hardest to pick out zeros because while many have performed below avg, no regulars stats have been horrible, but it’s fair to say that while their numbers aren’t horrible the inability of Padres relievers to convert saves like Bill Laxton (7 of 12 ) Lowell Palmer (4 of 8) and Mike Corkins (6 of 10) are a big reason why SD is a game away from elimination.
Wild Cards: No team has a more consistent set of starters 1-4. Spillner, Randy Jones (.261 avg 4.52 ERA) Dave Freisleben 4.72 ERA, and Bill Grief (4.91 ERA) have consistently kept SD in games. If only their manager’s health has been as consistent as their rotation.
Coming Attractions: It all comes down to the final three games against the 2004 Arizona Diamondbacks. One loss (or one Houston win) and they’re done.
Injury Report: San Diego goes into their final Do or die series with all hands healthy and on deck.
2002 Milwaukee Brewers 61-90 4th place 16 GB Eliminated
It’s been a disappointing season for Milwaukee which started strong but now could finish with the worst record in the majors. However they will play the deciding series for their division.
Heroes:Eric Young has been a runs machine scoring 104 while stealing 56 bases (3rd in the league) Despite 200 k’s Jose Hernandez 32 HR (4th in the league) & 94 runs makes him feared but not as feared as Rickie Sexton whose 25 HR 53 doubles (2nd in league) 112 RBI’s and 90 runs scored means he’s a danger both at the plate and when he’s on base.
Zeros:Ruben Quevedo’s 3-18 record in 34 starts is well earned with a 7.14 ERA a .291 avg against and a WHIP of 1.67. Nick Neugebauer 2-11 record .279 avg against 6.84 ERA & 1.86 ERA is only better because he’s had just 18 starts to do it. At the plate Ronnie Belliard at .218 2 HR 24 RBI & only 23 runs & a .281 OBP inspires little fear for a 3rd baseman.
Wild Cards: Milwaukee has earned their place in the league. They have the worst batting avg in the majors and the fewest hits which is trouble. Perhaps if they were on base more they’d be a tad more careful as they also lead the majors in being caught stealing. However in the field they don’t make such mistakes their fielding percentage of .985 leads the NL but it’s not enough to overcome NL’s worst ERA (5.07).
Coming Attractions: Milwaukee final three games at home will not only decide if they finish with the worst record in the majors but will also decide the fate of the NL West as they finish against the 2012 Houston Astros who need w wins to clinch without help.
Injury Report: Geoff Jenkins, Valerio de los Santos and Mike Matthews will all miss the final series of the season. Slugger Matt Stairs just might be healthy in time to play in the last game of the year
