| Year |
AP-Record |
W% |
NYY-Record |
W% |
Difference |
| 1995 |
12-9 |
.571 |
79-65 |
.549 |
+ .022 |
| 1996 |
21-8 |
.724 |
92-70 |
.568 |
+ .156 |
| 1997 |
18-7 |
.720 |
96-66 |
.605 |
+ .115 |
| 1998 |
16-11 |
.593 |
114-48 |
.704 |
- .111 |
| 1999 |
14-11 |
.560 |
98-64 |
.605 |
- .045 |
| 2000 |
19-9 |
.679 |
87-74 |
.540 |
+ .139 |
| 2001 |
15-10 |
.600 |
95-65 |
.594 |
+ .006 |
| 2002 |
13-5 |
.722 |
103-58 |
.640 |
+ .082 |
| 2003 |
21-8 |
.724 |
101-61 |
.623 |
+ .101 |
| Totals |
149-78 |
.656 |
865-571 |
.602 |
+ .021 |
Ok, well I guess I just disproved my theory from above. The Astros invested smarter than I thought. I guess that he's not a dominator, but he's a workhorse and he's quite consistent, meaning that the Astros know what they're going to get each year for the next 3 years....
....I'd still take Prior, Wood, and whoever emerges as their #3 over Pettitte, Roy-O, and Miller....
Thursday December 11th, 2003
1:34am
The Brew Crew
I'd be mad if my team traded last year's team leader in HRs and RBIs.
I'd be mad if my team's "ace" was 11-13 with a 4.45 ERA last year.
I'd be mad if the highlight of each home game was a race featuring 4 people dressed up in giant sausage costumes.
I'd be mad if my team's best player was going to be entering his second season.
And I'd sure as heck be mad if my team promised a competitive team if they were handed a brand new $400,000,000 tax-paid stadium only to watch the team, a mere 3 seasons after the opening of the stadium, slash their already 3rd lowest in the major league player salary by a quarter.
Good thing I'm not from Milwaukee.
Even though I'm really not a Brewer's fan or a Milwaukee resident, I'm furious at what the Brewers are doing to their fans. They've already traded All-Star 1Bman, Richie Sexon, to the Diamondbacks for a few utility players and a couple of prospects and now they're trying to dump Brett Favre look-a-like, Geoff Jenkins.
They claim that they want to follow the Oakland A's and the Minnesota Twins formula for success with talented, young, cheap players. That's a load of crap. They already had cheap players in their prime and according to their records since joining the NL in 1998 (413-558; they haven't finished closer than 20 games out of first place) that doesn't seem to be working out for them. The reason Minnesota and Oakland contend is because Oakland has the best starting rotation in the AL and the Twins play in one of the weakest divisions in baseball....although so do the Brewers.
Their highest paid player last year who is still on their roster was Jenkins who got just under $5.2M. They declined the options of LHP Glendon Rusch ($4.25M) and SS Royce Clayton ($1.5M), leaving only Craig Counsell (who they just acquired in the Sexon trade; $2.5M) and Todd Richie ($1.15M) the only two players who made over $575,000 (not including Jenkins’s salary). I know those are last season's $s but I don't know of too many guys who would take a CUT in salary to stay with Milwaukee...unless he had his throwing arm mangled in a farm accident or something.
Don't they know that the A's and the Twins had guys making over $1M (14 players & 12 players, respectively)? In fact the Twins had 7 players making over $3.4M and the A's had 7 guys making more than $3.1M. Minnesota's total salary was just under $68M last year (#15 in the majors) and Oakland's was just over $49M (#20 in the majors)....almost $10M and $30M over the Brewers $40M
I know that I've been harping on revenues and league policies a lot lately, but this is exactly what is wrong with baseball. If the teams at the top of the revenue list have to pay money to these bottom-feeding teams, they should be required to spend that money and not pocket it. The entire purpose of the revenue sharing is to help out the small teams, not to watch them take the money and slash payroll.
Milwaukee’s attendance has dropped 60.5% since the inaugural season of Miller Park, and finished up 25th out of 30 teams last year (based on average/game). I can't blame the folks for not showing up. I know that if the Astros or the Cubs did that, I'd want someone's head on the end of a long pole (Rob Roy style....that must be my Scottish side showing through).
Here is what the Brewers have accomplished so far this off-season:
| Signed |
Players Lost |
| RHP Travis Phelps |
LHP Glendon Rusch* |
| C Mark Johnson** |
SS Royce Clayton* |
| OF Jon Nunnally** |
|
| RHP Victor Santos** |
|
| RHP Dave Burba** |
|
| Acquired Via Trade |
Traded |
| INF Craig Cousell |
1B Richie Sexon |
| 2B Junior Spivey |
RHP Shane Nance |
| 1B Lyle Overbay |
Player to be Named Later |
| C Chad Moeller |
|
| LHP Chris Capuano |
|
| LHP Jorge De La Rosa |
|
*declined option
**minor league deal
Don't recognize any All-Stars on that Signed list do ya?
One thing I will hand Milwaukee is that they do have some young guys in their minor league system. Names like Anthony Gwynn, Prince Fielder, and Rickie Weeks probably jump out at you, and they should. Two former All-Star player's kids and the NCAA Career Batting Champ are definitely a very good foundation. The only problem is that none of those 3 played a single game higher than A-ball last year. Not that they didn't tear it up in A-ball (Weeks hit .349, Gwynn hit .280, & Fielder hit .313 with 27 HRs), but they most likely won't see a major league fastball until 2005. Of course in 2005 they will have been rushed to the major league level and they won't actually perform up to potential so it'll take until 2007 or 2008 until they start producing. That is another 3-4 years away. In AAA they had only 2 guys hitting over .300 who had more than 100 ABs (Rich Paz, .351 in 131 ABs & Jim Rushford, .311 in 373 ABs). On the mound, the lowest ERA by a starter with more than 10 starts was 4.33 by the old veteran, Dave Burba. They had only one player with double digit wins (Pasqual Coco with a 10-9 record and a 4.80 ERA in a team high 27 starts...who was also the only pitcher with more than 17 starts).
AA wasn't much better. The Brewers had only 2 guys at AA hit over .300 and one of the two had only 3 ABs. Corey Hart (.303 in 493 ABs) was the other. 2001 Draft 2nd Round pick, J.J. Hardy was in AA last year and he posted a .279 BA to go with 12 HRs, 62 RBI, and 67 R in 416 ABs. Thank goodness for that '01 Draft and the Brewers being able to sign RHP Mike Jones. While I'm not big on taking HS pitchers high in the draft (especially #12 Overall, as Jones was), he has proceeded to put up good numbers. In 2003, at the age of 20, he dropped his ERA to 2.40 and went 7-2 in 17 starts. He also only gave up 4 HRs in 97.2 innings pitched, which isn't too bad for a youngster. In addition to Jones, the Brewers also saw "strong...to quite strong" (Ben Stiller; Meet the Parents) seasons out of 4 other starters at AA.
- Ben Hendrickson was 7-6 with a 3.45 ERA in 16 starts (78.1 IP, 56:28 K/BB Ratio)
- Derek Lee was 11-3 with a 3.30 ERA in 13 starts (87.1 IP, 59:28 K/BB Ratio)
Pedro Liriano was 9-13 with a 3.79 ERA in 26 starts (142.2 IP, 116:62 K/BB Ratio)- Luis Martinez was 8-5 with a 2.58 ERA in 20 starts (115.0 IP, 116:54 K/BB Ratio)
That is at least somewhat promising, right? Well, it's something to possibly hold the fort for a couple years until those studs from A-ball get to the show.....I still wouldn't pay $5 to see Craig Cousell and Scott Podsednik lead a bunch of AAAA players (no offense Kieschnick, ya know I've still got your back) against real major league players.
Posting
I wanted to warn you that posting might get a bit sparatic over the next week. My finals start this Friday and continue on through next Wednesday, so I'll be studying like a mad man until those are over. I'll try to post during "study breaks", but no promises.....
Tuesday December 9th, 2003
2:04am
This Should Help Recruiting
As some of you know, and some of you don't, I work part-time for the A&M Athletic Department....and no, I don't get any hook-ups or anything like that.
As an attendance checker I have, in my estimation, the lowest possible job on the totem-poll and the least right to say I work for the A.D., but they sign my check so I guess I do. I can't really get too much into detail on my job (due to NCAA rules), but basically I show up at the beginning and end of an assigned athlete's class and they sign in or out with me (for scholarship requirements). I am assigned a class and I go to it as if I were in it, except I don't have to sit down and stay, I just sit in the hallway until my players all come or go, then I'm free to do as I wish. I usually study, which helps clear my evening schedule up a bit.
The reason I'm explaining this is to give an explanation on how I know what I do about our new Football Complex and Academic Center. You see, my boss just moved his office from Cain Hall to the Academic Center so I now have to turn my signature sheets into him over there. My first visit was last Tuesday, but there has been so much going on that I haven't been able to give you the low down on the new crib.
I'm going to put some pics up that I got from the Facilities Master Plan and try to use those to give you a little tour.
This is obviously the outside view (the south end zone of Kyle Field is directly behind this building). The Academic Center is the last set of windows on the right.
If you go into the main doors right there in the center, you will be greeted by a room containing John David Crow's Heisman Trophy and Dat Nguyen's Lombardi Trophy. That's pretty cool. There is a staircase and an elevator in that room as well (we'll go upstairs in a minute). You can turn left or right once you walk into this "entryway" room. I chose to go left (I was lost and it was my first time to try to find my boss's new office so I picked left for no apparent reason) and I walked down hall and I really don't remember seeing too much.
This is the hallway left from the "Entryway" Room
There was an elevator at the very end to the left of that exit sign, and that's about all I remember.
I now decided it was the wrong way (mainly because the elevator wasn't in service yet) so I walked back past the "entryway" room (I didn't use the stairs in there because worker men were doing something on them and I didn't use the elevator in there because I didn't see it due to me staring at the trophies) and continued down to the right side of the building.
This is the hallway walking right from the "Entryway" Room
If you were the photographer in this picture, Coach Fran's office would be just behind you on the left hand side.
The trophy cases were being filled up with All-American plaques and Bowl trophies.
If you look past the guy who seems to be walking quite strangely, you will see those semicircles on the floor. In-between those is the player's locker-room. The doors were open when I walked by, but I didn't want to stick my head in there because I knew that I shouldn't. I kept walking down that hallway to the end, and on my right I passed a huge film room and lots of smaller rooms. The smaller rooms had labels by the doors and it seemed that there was a room for each position (there was a QB room, a LB room, a DB room, etc.).
I turned back around at the end of that hallway and went back to the "Entryway" Room and finally saw the elevator. I took it up to the second floor and I came out in a nice little reception-esqe room.
To the left was the player's lounge and to the right was the Academic Center. Obviously, I wanted to go left, but I knew better. The players have (as described to me by one of the guys I check for) 4 or 5 TVs, leather couches, video game systems, a pool table, a foosball table, etc. and the room has A&M murals on the walls as well as game pictures and pro jerseys from former Ag players. It's a pretty sweet deal.
If you choose to not go into the player's lounge, you can see straight out onto Kyle Field through a huge glass window.
The View from the "reception-esqe" room
The patio outside is completed now and it seems like it would be the sweetest place to watch a game from. Can you imagine standing out there on that patio on game day with 84,000 crazy fans going nuts? I think it would give you the "outside looking in" view but the atmosphere of being in a seat.
That's really all the exciting stuff I saw there (well I saw Bethel Johnson too, but I was more excited about the facilities).....
Oh one more thing.....Remember when I saw the doors to the player's locker-room open? Well, it's built like a public restroom where there's a wall right in front of you as you walk in and you go around it on either side to get in. The reason I describe this is because on this wall was two charts. I only read one of the charts (the one on the right) and what I saw excited me. It was titled "Aggie Tackle Leaders" and when I looked to see how far ahead Jaxon Appel was, I realized it must be for practices or scrimmages because the #1 player on the list was Chris Harrington (a true freshman DLman that we red shirted this year) and the #3 guy on the list was Jason Jack (a true freshman DLman that we red shirted this year). If those two guys are that high on the list, then we should be sitting pretty with our D-Line for the next 4 years....the Wrecking Crew is starting to come back to life....
That brings me to this article that I ran across.....Franchione Keeps Ship Afloat. It was written just after the Kansas game, but I saved it so I could show everyone once the season was over because it sums up my thoughts from way back in August....I didn't expect Fran to be a savior but if he can get us through this season it will be only good to come.
Monday December 8th, 2003
2:09am
BCS is Dumb
I know that this doesn't really have anything to do with Texas A&M or baseball, but I think that I'm going to throw my two cents into the mix.
The way that I understand the BCS is to work is to make sure that the National Championship is played with the #1 v. #2. It is inexcusable that the #1 ranked team in both the Coaches Poll and the AP Poll, that team being USC, is not playing in the big game.
I know that all three teams are very good, and they all are very deserving, but obviously the writers and the coaches both feel that USC is the best.
If you'd like to see one of my favorite proposals for determining the national champion, check out Eisenberg Sports and look at Dave's "ECF" model. It's really interesting and well put together.
I'm going to break down each team's season so you yourself can make you own decision....I'll go numerically by the BCS rankings:
#1 Oklahoma
OU was ranked #1 every single week of the season until this week (in the Coaches and AP polls). They are 12-1 losing only to #13 Kansas State 35-7. Here's their season schedule and the scores of the games:
| Date |
Opponent |
Result |
Score |
| 8/30 |
North Texas |
W |
37-3 |
| 9/6 |
at Alabama |
W |
30-13 |
| 9/13 |
Fresno State |
W |
52-28 |
| 9/20 |
UCLA |
W |
59-24 |
| 10/4 |
at Iowa State |
W |
53-7 |
| 10/11 |
#11 texas* |
W |
65-13 |
| 10/18 |
Missouri |
W |
34-13 |
| 10/25 |
at Colorado |
W |
34-20 |
| 11/1 |
#15 Oklahoma State |
W |
52-9 |
| 11/8 |
Texas A&M |
W |
77-0 |
| 11/15 |
Baylor |
W |
41-3 |
| 11/22 |
at texas tech |
W |
56-25 |
| 12/6 |
#13 Kansas State* |
L |
35-7 |
*Played at a neutral site
Oklahoma scored 50 points in 7 of their 13 games, outscoring their opponents 587-193 (+394). Their defense is only giving up an amazing 255.62 yards/game of total offense (#1 in the country) (145.92 passing-#1 in the nation; 109.7 rushing-#19 in the nation), while they're averaging 45.15 points/game (#1 in the country) and 461.38 yards of total offense (#11 in the nation).
#2 Louisiana State
One of my best friends growing up is now at LSU (12-1), so I'm sure that he's pumped about all that has happened over the weekend.
| Date |
Opponent |
Result |
Score |
| 8/30 |
Louisiana Monroe |
W |
49-7 |
| 9/6 |
at Arizona |
W |
59-13 |
| 9/13 |
Western Illinois |
W |
35-7 |
| 9/20 |
#7 Georgia |
W |
17-10 |
| 9/27 |
at Mississippi State |
W |
41-6 |
| 10/11 |
Florida |
L |
19-7 |
| 10/18 |
at South Carolina |
W |
33-7 |
| 10/25 |
#21 Auburn |
W |
31-7 |
| 11/1 |
Louisiana Tech |
W |
49-10 |
| 11/15 |
at Alabama |
W |
27-3 |
| 11/22 |
at #15 Mississippi |
W |
17-14 |
| 11/28 |
Arkansas |
W |
55-24 |
| 12/6 |
#5 Georgia* |
W |
34-13 |
*Played at a neutral site
LSU has outscored its opponents 454 to 140 (+314). Their defense is only giving up a meager 259.4 yards per game of total offense (#2 in the nation) (191.38 passing-#24 in the nation; 68.2 rushing-#3 in the nation). They are averaging 34.92 points/game (#14 in the nation) with an average of 426.54 yards of total offense (#26 in the nation).
#3 Southern California
USC (11-1) was one of my two picks for the National Championship some 17 weeks ago...the other? #4 Michigan. It's funny that both of those teams will indeed face off, but at the Rose Bowl not the Sugar Bowl.
| Date |
Opponent |
Result |
Score |
| 8/30 |
at #6 Auburn |
W |
23-0 |
| 9/6 |
BYU |
W |
35-18 |
| 9/13 |
Hawaii |
W |
61-32 |
| 9/27 |
at California |
L |
34-31 |
| 10/4 |
at Arizona State |
W |
37-17 |
| 10/11 |
Stanford |
W |
44-21 |
| 10/18 |
at Notre Dame |
W |
45-14 |
| 10/25 |
at Washington |
W |
43-23 |
| 11/1 |
#6 Washington State |
W |
43-16 |
| 11/15 |
at Arizona |
W |
45-0 |
| 11/22 |
UCLA |
W |
27-22 |
| 12/6 |
Oregon State |
W |
52-28 |
USC has outscored its opponents 506-197 (+281). Their defense is only giving up 337.75 yards/game of total offense (#33 in the nation) (276.67 passing-#110 in the nation; 61.1 rushing-#2 in the nation). They are averaging 42.17 points/game (#6 in the nation) with an average of 450.67 yards of total offense (#16 in the nation).
Strength of Schedule
Looking at strength of schedule the three schools go in this order:
- Oklahoma-#18...Opponents records total 78-62
- LSU-#40...Opponents records total 65-64
- USC-#61...Opponents records total 68-61
By looking at the schedules listed above, each team has beaten ranked opponents but only OU lost to a ranked opponent.
- Oklahoma
- #11 texas won by 52 points (neutral site)
- #15 Ok. State won by 43 points (home)
- #13 K-State lost by 28 points (neutral site)
- LSU
- #7 Georgia won by 7 points(home)
- #21 Auburn won by 24 points (home)
- #15 'Ole Miss won by 3 points (away)
- #5 Georgia won by 21 (neutral site)
- USC
- #6 Auburn won by 23 points (away)
- #6 Washington St. won by 27 points (home)
I think that this is interesting. As I mentioned above, only OU lost to a ranked opponent, but they did not beat a Top 10 team. LSU lost to unranked Florida but defeated two Top 10 teams (I guess it was 1 Top 10 team two times). USC lost to unranked California but defeated two Top 10 teams.
The Losses
Let's look at each team's loss briefly.
- OU lost to #13 K-State at a neutral site during a conference championship game. They lost by 28 points. K-State peaked this season in the polls at #5 (weeks #1 & #2), they dropped out of the Top 10 in week 6
- LSU lost to unranked Florida AT HOME by 12 points. Florida peaked at #11 in week 15.
- USC lost to unranked Cal away by 3 points. Cal was not ranked at any point in the season.
Those are all the facts....Use those facts to decide for yourself who deserves to be in the National Championship game....
It must have been rough for all those texas fans to be rooting for OU to win, and then have OU lose forcing the longhorns out of their BCS Bowl Bid....thank you K-State!
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