DoolittleBrothers

I nailed it! Well, that may be a huge exaggeration, but it was most likely the best show that I have produced so far. I feel that the progress I’ve made in three months is ok, especially considering my lack of any formal broadcasting training. Though if you consider how much I’ve spent consuming talk radio and other sports-related commentary over the past 30 years, perhaps I have been subconsciously training for this all along.

The stunning reality of LeBron James leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers was not only the biggest story of last week, it was the biggest free agent decision in NBA history and really struck a nerve for me, as an NBA fan. I broke down this landmark decision in the show’s opening, and then followed up with an enlightening interview in segment two with Cavaliers writer Mark Cameron, who runs numbersdont.com and is active with the Cavaliers fan site realcavsfans.com as well.

The third segment touched on how I am shifting my day-to-day devotion now to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and I interviewed the talented and well-informed OKC Thunder writer Royce Young, of the dailythunder.com. We spoke in great detail about how awesome and refreshing Kevin Durant is, including how he handled his five-year free agent extension with such grace and loyalty. It is such an enormous contrast to the James fiasco. You can listen to this show by visiting the audio archives right here.

Quick Cardinals Thought

Now that we have reached the All-Star Break, I’ll attempt to write about the Cardinals every once in awhile. Something that I came across yesterday was very interesting. As most Cards fans have noticed, Albert Pujols has been swinging at more balls, and swinging and missing more in general. Or, so it seems based on raw observation.

Research done through fangraphs.com indicates that Pujols has a chase rate of 28.5% this season (28.5% of his swings have been on pitches out of the strike zone). His previous career high was 22.9 percent last season, and before that 22.8 percent in 2003.

A further look at his plate discipline indicates that Pujols’ O-Swing% rating (Percentage of pitches a batter swings at outside the strike zone) has roughly approximated the league average for the past 10 years. What stood out to me from this message board post is that the league-wide O-Swing% rating is 12% higher this season than in ‘04.

Not sure if the strike zone has changed, umpiring has changed or if batters are over-adjusting to better pitching.

Pujols also is always well above the league average in O-Contact% numbers (Percentage of times a batter makes contact with the ball when swinging at pitches thrown outside the strike zone). As this article states, “This might explain his spectacular success with RISP this year and last, though he gets little to hit in such situations.”

I very much enjoy the free Extra Innings package preview on DirecTV the first  week of the season. Today I am able to track both the Royals and Cardinals games, which makes for a nice backdrop for a Thursday afternoon. However, I did miss the first 4 innings of the Cardinals-Reds as the 11:35 start combined with watching my one-year-old threw my sports focus off. And just as I snuck in 15 or 20 minutes of some quality baseball watching during nap time, my brief window of sports euphoria slammed shut. Jason Mott gave up a game-winning HR to Johnny Gomes … and moments later I heard some impressive crying in our baby monitor.

The final three innings of the Royals-Tigers are on DVR, so maybe that game worked out well. KC’s starting pitching has been awesome and even Ricky Ankiel came through big on Wednesday!

I still have not locked into any type of regular employment, but am on the verge of, hopefully, hosting my own NBA Radio show in St. Louis. I actually hope to have a broadcast launch date by Friday, so stay tuned. At least I’ll have zero direct competition. I am excited about this possibility and ultimately hope this show can grow and prosper in an organic manner, with all local sponsorships and live broadcasts from local sites. I believe there is a niche basketball audience to tap into, so we’ll see. Much more coming soon …

I do think the Jazz-Thunder showdown on Tuesday night was this season’s best game. Kevin Durant was definitely fouled at the end of overtime, but it is impressive how he’s handled that in the media. He was revved up at the time, but did not make a scene and was calm and collected in subsequent interviews. Very classy and likable player. His tweets are also enjoyable to follow. For Utah, it blew an 11-point lead in the final three minutes. But Deron Williams was clutch through to the end; he scored those 42 points on just 23 shots while KD went 13-for-29 for his 45. Williams had just 1 turnover in 43 minutes.

I think it’s fair to say those teams would put on a great show in the first round. In the West, I’m hoping for: Lakers-Spurs, Nuggets-Blazers, Mavericks-Jazz,  and Suns-Thunder. I just do not want OKC to finish in the No. 8 spot as that would be awful. I want the Spurs gone, but at least they could beat up on LA for 5 or 6 games.

The Thunder announcers were out of line on Wednesday night for acting as if Carmelo Anthony was “playing possum” and just lying on the floor to exaggerate a foul non-call. He was obviously KNOCKED OUT! They did not even apologize or soften their point of view afterward. Why was J.R. Smith trying to drive around his unconscious body? Oh, because he’s J.R. Smith.

I suppose everyone is just waiting for the bottom to fall out of this Cardinals season, but I plan to enjoy it while it lasts. Sure, Albert Pujols is out for 3 weeks. But it looked much worse, so even that is not bad news at this point. Just flipped the game on the radio at work, and BOOM! HR for Ricky Ankiel … then BOOM! HR for Jason LaRue. I liked Mike Shannon’s comment: “That will make you feel better Albert. Just sit back, relax and let these boys take care of things for awhile.” So far so good. Twelve games over, chance to sweep the Reds and an eye-popping 18-14 mark on the road. Who needs Chris Carpenter, Albert Pujols, Mark Mulder, Adam Wainwright, Jason isringhausen, Matt Clement, Joel Pineiro . … well, we need them. But not quite yet. But soon, I’m sure … hopefully the Cubs will hit a slump while the Cards are healing. I expect Ricky Ankiel to catch fire, which would help the middle of the order in the short term.

When Game 1 finally arrives, I hope that ABC has the foresight and wisdom to have Brent Musburger anchor an 80s-themed intro full of melodrama and footage, leading to a penultimate “You are looking live at Boston …” In fact, now I have set myself up for great disappointment … I did pay a quick visit to You Tube today and saw Kevin McHale clothesline Kurt Rambis in 1987, I rememeber the play, but had never noticed how Larry Bird helped Rambis up shortly afterward … No matter what occurs in the Finals, it will do little to calm this Doolittle’s eagerness for LeBron James to play another regular season game, which is less than 150 days away! … Kyle McClellan has been great for the STL Redbirds, and to think he was in A ball in 2007 … When the forecast calls for storms, and I see a clear radar, I get very, very disappointed. And when a brilliant thunder-blaster does storm though, I find myself morose once the glory passes … Carole King looks good for her age. So does Punky Brewster!

As the Cubs and Cardinals remain atop the NL Central, one theme is clear: they take walks. STL continues to lead the NL in walks (240) with CHI second at 225 – third in the NL is 201. The Cards lead the NL with a .365 on-base; the Cubs are at .365. CHI has scored 52 more runs, though, and leaving runners on base has been troubling for the Redbirds, especially with Albert Pujols batting so poorly with RISP. However, the trend with Pujols will not last, which is just one more reason to believe that the Cardinals can stay in the race. The primary reason is clearly the surprising consistency from the starting pitching: Todd Wellemeyer’s six innings, three earned runs outing on Sunday was the seventh straight game in which St. Louis’ starter allowed three earned runs or fewer. It was the 12th game in a row in which the starting pitcher allowed four or fewer earnies, and the 16th consecutive game where the starter lasted at least five innings (according to Mathew Leach) … the other eye-popper is Ryan Ludwick is up to a .723 slugging pct, second in the NL! Chris Duncan will be hard-pressed for ABs with Ludwick, Ankiel and Schumacher getting the job done, but that is ok. Duncan cannot play LF worth a hoot, though spot starting will not help this much, nor his trade value. I suppose we’ll have to hear rumors of a Duncan/Anthony Reyes package deal all season … I’d like to have Matt Holiday!

I sure was hoping for a trio of Game 7s, but at least we have two. As disappointing as Utah’s exit is, I will feel revitalized about the West if NO can get rid of intolerable San Antonio on Monday. I think Utah is just as good as any team in the NBA, but it is just a matter of another year or two for them to ascend to the top. Carlos Boozer needed to play better offensively as well, but they are headed in the right direction. Meanwhile, Monday represents the final stand, most likely, for the old version of the Spurs – and I’m ready for them to dismantle and just go away already. But this will not be another rout for the Hornets, so Peka Stojakovich and David West need to shoot 45 percent-plus and score at least a combined 40 points for a win. I desperately want NO to win!

But those observations are just staving off what is really on my mind: Game 7 between the Cavaliers and Celtics. My analysis is simple: If LeBron James shoots well and scores 30-plus, the Cavs might win. Otherwise, they will not. I do hope Damon Jones can catch fire at some point to offset the absence of Daniel Gibson. I suppose a flurry of scoring from Sasha Pavlovis would help, but the bulk of the pressure falls on Wally Szczerbiak and Zydrunas Ilgauskus. I do hope that Ben Wallace and Anderson Varejao go all out in trying to frustrate the Boston frontcourt, rattling them into mental mistakes. So, what will we get? James scores 40 and the Cavs win? James shoots 6-for-19 and they lose? Man, I am nervous for this one.

Which brings us to Todd Wellemeyer. He has a 1.13 WHIP, is allowing opponents only a .650 OPS (career is .750) and is less than 40 innings from setting a career high in IP already. He has been the team’s best SP – and as he enters uncharted waters for him, who knows to expect. But his performance will be crucial to staying in the race with none of the injured starters on the verge of helping out soon. Another key to the rest of May and beyond is clear: Chris Perez. He is almost 23 years old, and seems ready for the big time. I would prefer to use him as a setup man for Ryan Franklin for now, and if that falters then go to Perez to close. Many think the opposite, but it is not that important. Obviously, in many games the 8^th is more important than the 9^th so this scrutiny is being over done.

I feel very frustrated by my lack of posting, primarily because I actually have much to say. It is always the things that one does not have to do that tend to go by the wayside, and that has been the case for our site of late. How can that change? By writing! Something I need to do more of now that I semi-retired from sports writing as a source of income. Writing is still fun, even more so when there is no deadline and subsequent invoice involved.

The past two nights will long be remembered, no matter how the 2008 season ends up. Albert Pujols’ mad dash from second base on Monday night to win the game (on an infield grounder!) and Ricky “The Natural” Ankiel’s two incredible throws from the warning track to mow down two potential game-tying runs (as it turned out) is already legendary and part of Cardinals lore. I mean what he did last night was just unbelievable! And he hit a HR. I hope all baseball fans are aware of what occurred on Tuesday. Pure wow.

During Sunday’s broadcast, ESPN’s Joe Morgan said Todd Wellemeyer wasn’t a strikeout pitcher. He is 6th among NL pitchers (and ninth in MLB) in strikeouts per batters faced … On April 12, Adam Kennedy’s batting average was .214. Since then, he has an OPS of over .900 … Another item I noticed was that STL is ranked very high in defensive zone rankings, and all def. metrics that I’ve seen …

Mizzou’s Max Scherzer was called up last week! He had an unreal debut in relief, but struggled in start No. 1. Still very nice to see him in Arizona …

Another event from Tuesday happened at 6:30am. Another earthquake! A 2.7, with its epicenter only 30 miles from our house. We felt it for 10 seconds, again with the house feeling as if it was rolling. So cool …

Which brings me to LeBron. What the fuck was that? The worst game ever, I guess. So much anticipation, so much buildup … than that?! Horrific. Disastrous. Apocalyptic. Despite shooting 2-for-18 (just many close misses) the Cavs barely lost, but I have no idea what that means. I could hardly watch, and FF’ed through much of the torture. I can’t wait to see Game 2 though.

Look for Ricky Ankiel to go off for the next few days. He has been zeroed in on nearly ever pitch over his past 10 plate appearances, and it is clear he has regained his groove. With Troy Glaus pounding the ball behind Albert Pujols, this development is very thrilling. Because after 27 games, I do not see the Cardinals’ overall success as a fluke, nor do I see heir offensive prowess as lucky. They have played like a 16-11 team. They are fifth in runs in the NL, 6th in OPS and 7th in total bases. But what stands out are the lengthy at-bats. STL has 136 walks, which is 23 more than the next NL team (Cubs at 113). Contrasting this with their being 13th in the NL in strikeouts and you have great plate discipline up and down the lineup. Albert Pujols has reached base in all 27 of the Cardinals’ games this year.

Poor Matt Morris.

I instinctively react negatively to all trades. I do not enjoy player movement much, and getting immediately better via a trade is very challenging. When I heard Troy Glaus-for-Scott Rolen, I was unhappy because I thought Glaus was about 3 years older than he is, and I am infinitely tired of hearing about players associated with performance enhancers. We have enough of that circulating in St. Louis.

But after further investigation, I think new GM John Mozeliak deserves the benefit of the doubt. He amended an intolerable situation that was making everyone associated with it uncomfortable – to the point where it may have negatively impacted the team’s general focus and psyche. It appears to have a great chance of being an upgrade. The one thing I cannot absorb is seeing Rolen wearing a Blue Jays uniform. Seems unfathomable.

Being younger, and a better hitter over the past three seasons, than Rolen gives Glaus some cushion to not be a huge defensive liability. He also has a shorter contract, thankfully, since he has injury likelihood. A couple of Cardinals blogs pointed out how Glaus went .220 / .333 / .384 over his last 44 games in 2007 before shutting it down. That’s scary. As for defense, I’ve read that Glaus is above average – and I have heard that the difference between Glaus and Rolen’s defense is 30 runs. That seems high; I’d peg that number at around 15-18 depending on games played.

I’m glad that Tony La Russa has been commenting this week on how he will miss seeing Rolen play defense every day, and how he was key in the Redbirds advancing to the World series in 2004 (big playoff HR off of Clemens). Fans loved Rolen and it is a bitter situation to see he and Jimmy Edmonds now gone. Izturis = debacle.

Now, concerning your theme of: “The idea of just sitting down and relaxing for relaxation’s sake is not only repellent, it seems very much impossible.” I am gravitating toward the opposite. My day now tends to revolve around relaxation, or at least the illusion of prolonged relaxation at day’s end as incentive to complete all necessary tasks in timely fashion. This daily approach allows for frivolity, yet keeps priorities in line. But it also indulges my lazier tendencies, for better or worse. Sometimes I just would rather watch TV than write or work. And doing only what is necessary can compromise discipline.

But no one else in St. Louis does, so that is why I love Rototimes.com for allowing me to cover the NBA for them. Though it is a fantasy web site, I tend to work in a lot of random NBA observations and that is highly fulfilling. My latest blog entries and columns can always be found here. My latest ramblings are highlighted by my newfound interest in the Hawks (come back to St. Louis!), Brandon Roy’s surge toward stardom and these guys:

– Timberwolves star Al Jefferson has averaged 22.3 points and 15.5 rebounds over his past four games. His season averages are up to 20.2 points and 12 rebounds. Not that Boston regrets the trade, but Jefferson will soon be considered an elite player and as long as he can play center is worth keeping in many fantasy leagues for next season.

– Hornets big man Tyson Chandler had a fantasy dream game on Monday. He went 8-for-8 from the field and finished with 16 points and 19 rebounds, including 12 offensive rebounds. He added 1 steal and 1 block. In his past three games, Chandler has averaged 15 points and 16 rebounds while shooting 21-for-32.

Elsewhere: That Browns-Bills snow game was pure joy to see, and also makes this Thursday’s Rams-Steelers game much more interesting since Pittsburgh and Cleveland are each 9-5. My pick is: Rams 27, Steelers 24! … Viva El Birdos has already calculated some Cardinals offense projections (ZIPS and CHONE) for 2008. It makes little sense at this point, and I don’t fully understand them. But Brad may find them worth a glance to see what the validity factor is. Cardinals talk is so gloomy here in St. Louis that I am sick over it. David Eckstein needs to just shut up, pack his bags and head to Canada. I like him, but he had no business doing these local TV interviews. I suppose if the local media wants to fly to California to speak with him, there is high market interest but it seems he should have other things to do. Like learn to drive a car. Yes, Jimmy Edmonds leaving is every upsetting, but every historical measure points to Jimmy not doing much the rest of his career. Though one more year here seemed fine … Rick majerus has SLU playing an even more boring brand of basketball than last year. Amazing! I hope they turn this around because I do enjoy seeing them live when they can score 60-plus points.