The answer is not Tampa Bay, as evidenced by their 2008 uniforms:
Congratulations, D-Ray fan, your team is dropping the "Devil" from their name, which was the part that they should have kept. Enjoy looking just like the Dodgers, Padres, Rangers, etc.
Kevin Hench's Douchebaggery Hitting Lupicaesque Levels
Jesus. I just want to warn you, this blog post is going to be a train wreck.
Thanks to reader Steve V. for the submission of this article where Hench goes off on Steve Phillips for saying the Yankees won't make the playoffs. Yes, this is the same Kevin Hench who not only said the exact same thing, but made a huge deal about why it wouldn't happen, and in this article, berates Steve Phillips for making the same prediction two months later.
On Aug. 15, Steve "Kazmir for Zambrano" Phillips announced on television — in his ever-surprising capacity as a paid talking head on the subject of baseball — that neither the Yankees nor the Mets would make the playoffs.
I pinpointed the date by going into my e-mail outbox and tracking down the incredulous missives I fired off after the absurd proclamation.
At the time of Phillips' prognostication — and wouldn't you really trust Bijou Phillips more on these matters at this point? — the Yankees and Mariners were tied for the wild-card lead while the Mets led the Braves and Phillies by four in the loss column.
Though I disagreed with it, I could sort of see his Mets logic. After all, it was Phillips himself who was responsible for the Mets being a starter short and looking to Pedro Martinez's surgically-repaired rotator cuff for help down the stretch.
Do you really want to know how much of an uneducated moron Kevin Hench is? Whether you do or not, I'm going to tell you.
His first sentence - the opening "zing" of the article - mocks Phillips for trading wünderkind Scott Kazmir to Tampa Bay for Victor Zambrano. Here are some easily checkable facts that even a 4th grader writing a book report on Steve Phillips' autobiography would have looked up:
This trade took place at the trading deadline in 2004, on July 30th.
Steve Phillips was fired as General Manager of the New York Metropolitan Baseball Club on June 12, 2004.
Jim Duquette replaced Phillips, and was the one who organized and executed said trade in July.
So... Hench's two major bones to pick with Phillips - who is a douchebag of collossal proportions in his own right - are completely without merit. Hench slams Phillips for making the exact same argument he made even earlier, and then wrongly assumes Phillips made that awful trade.
Once again, can someone - anyone - tell me how these morons keep their jobs? They're so monumentally bad at them, that if they were employed in any other profession they would be fired or in jail by now.
Imagine Dr. Kevin Hench, neurosurgeon, Lt. Kevin Hench, LAPD, Kevin Hench, Attorney-at-Law, Senator Kevin Hench, bookstore clerk Kevin Hench or American Airlines pilot Kevin Hench being as mind-numbingly awful at their profession and the resulting consequences: malpractice, indicted for corruption, disbarred, recalled, fired and dead.
However sportswriter Kevin Hench - the one who exists in our plane of reality - still collects checks from FOX Sports.
The whole world is crazy, my friends. Try and carve out a little piece of sanity for yourselves and don't read sports columns.
Sorry Yankees fans ... this isn't 1978 Kevin Hench Special to FOXSports.com
It is not 1978.
Repeat after me, it is not 1978. Okay, now as if you're Matt Damon and Robin Williams is hugging you, "It is not 1978."
Red Sox studio analyst Dennis Eckersley may still be rocking the sweet 'stache and long hair, but other than that, 2007 looks nothing like that fateful annum 29 years back.
Yankee fans would like Red Sox fans to believe that it is 1978, of course, only they don't believe it themselves.
The Yankees will not erase a 14-game deficit and reel in the Red Sox, nor will they catch the runner-up in the A.L. Central for the wild card. In what seems certain to be his last season as manager in New York, Joe Torre will miss the playoffs for the first time.
Why? The reasons are manifold.
The Yankees are old, injury-prone and, in some cases, shadows of their former selves. Ron Guidry is a 56-year-old pitching coach, not a 27-year-old phenom in the midst of one of the greatest seasons in baseball history.
But the main reason the Yanks won't catch the Red Sox is Boston is built for the long haul in 2007, a perfect blend of starting pitching, relief pitching, hitting and defense.
The 1978 team was lopsided. They could mash, but on the nights they didn't — which were far too frequent in the second half — they had a very hard time winning.
For starters, look at the starters.
After Eck, who went 20-8 with a 2.99 E.R.A., things got dicey.
Mike Torrez gave up 272 hits, including a certain pop-fly home run, and 99 walks in 250 fairly typical innings for the workhorse journeyman. (Torrez would finish his career with 1,404 strikeouts and 1,371 walks.)
In his final season with the Red Sox, aging Luis Tiant (listed then at 37) was 7-0 on June 30 when Don Zimmer inexplicably sent him out for his 11th inning of work against the Orioles. He lost that game, part of his 6-8 stagger to the finish line.
On July 15 Bill Lee pitched into the ninth, beat the Twins and improved to 10-3 with a 2.94 ERA. It would be his last win of the season. He hit the wall head-on and finished 10-10 with a 4.28 E.R.A.
Rookie Jim Wright (8-4, 3.57) was outstanding in his 16 starts, but fellow rookies Allen Ripley (2-5, 5.55) and Bobby Sprowl (0-2, 6.39) made 14 combined starts and were complete busts.
The '07 Sox rotation features two World Series MVPs (Curt Schilling and Josh Beckett), a World Baseball Classic MVP (Daisuke Matsuzaka) and a guy who by all rights should have been a two-time League Championship Series MVP (Tim Wakefield). The Sox are 5-4 in games started by fifth starter Julian Tavarez, who has been merely keeping Jon Lester's spot in the rotation warm. Lester went 7-2 as a rookie last year and is nearing his return to the bigs after beating cancer.
Then there's the pen.
The Red Sox lost the first game of the 1978 season 5-4 when Dick Drago gave up a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth and then lost the second game 6-5 when Bill Campbell gave up four runs in two-thirds of an inning. Eventually second-year man Bob Stanley would take over the closer role, but it became increasingly hard over the summer to cobble together 27 outs.
The Red Sox won 97 games and finished two and a half back of the Yankees in 1977, but the desperate, futile pursuit would ultimately hurt the Sox chances in '78 too. Red Sox skipper Don Zimmer called on Bill Campbell for multi-inning duty over and over during the '77 season and "Soup" finished with 140 innings out of the pen in 69 appearances. The year before, Campbell had thrown 167.2 innings in relief for Gene Mauch and the Twins. So over two seasons the gutty screwballer piled up 307.2 relief innings in 147 appearances. Was it any surprise that Campbell broke down completely in 1978?
This time around, Don Zimmer isn'trunning things on the Boston bench.
Compare the abuse Campbell endured to the TLC with which the '07 Sox have coddled Jonathan Papelbon. So far this year, Terry Francona has used his closer judiciously, carefully avoiding multi-inning assignments and rarely using him on back-to-back days. As a result, Francona has gotten saves from Hideki Okajima (four), Mike Timlin, and even the fairly useless J.C. Romero rather than give in to the temptation to overuse Papelbon.
In '78 the Yankees had defending A.L Cy Young winner Sparky Lyle setting up for Goose Gossage. The '07 Red Sox have the 21st century version of that pairing with the lefty Okajima (1.05 E.R.A., 26 K's in 25.2 IP) setting up for the flame-throwing Papelbon (1.86, 28 K's in 19.1 IP).
As for the defense, in many respects the 1978 Red Sox were superior defensively to the 2007 edition. Whereas Julio Lugo is merely serviceable at shortstop, Rick Burleson was a spectacular defender who would end Mark Belanger's monopoly on the Gold Glove award the following year. Coco Crisp is vastly improved in center and J.D. Drew is solid in right, but they don't measure up to perennial Gold Glovers Fred Lynn and Dwight Evans. (Carl Yastrzemski was a seven-time Gold Glove outfielder but he played only 63 games in left in 1978.)
But there is one spot where the disparity between the two teams so favors the '07 edition it erases any edge the '78ers might have had elsewhere. Third base.
In 1978, battling bone chips in his throwing elbow, Butch Hobson made 43 errors. With no confidence in his arm he would crow-hop almost all the way to the mound before firing the ball into the dugout. His fielding percentage for the year was .899. Since they started wearing mitts in pro baseball you just don't see fielding percentages below .900. He made an error on one in every ten balls hit to him.
The combustible combination of a sinkerballer for a closer and a butcher for a third baseman reared its ugly head on Aug. 30 when Hobson made errors 31 and 32 and Stanley allowed two unearned runs (and three earned) in a 7-6 loss to the lowly Blue Jays.
Conversely, Mike Lowell is the all-time Major League leader at third base with a .975 fielding percentage.
The Yankees figure to make a run this year, but there will be no Boston Massacre like 1978 (or its five-game redux in 2006). The rotation is too deep and the pen is too good. And oh by the way, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz haven't really started to hit yet. Ramirez is on pace for 25 home runs. Big Papi is on pace for 28, barely half of the 54 he hit last year when he set a club record.
Once those two get hot, the '07 Red Sox might really take off. And there will be no catching them.
This is not 1978.
Besides the fact that he was wrong about nearly everything, I love the cherry-picked stats. "The Red Sox will win because they have a guy who was the WBC MVP! ... And, and another guy who might have won TWO LCS MVP awards (but didn't) and a guy who won an (undeserved) (co-)World Series MVP!"
The whole thing is just laughable. He made outlandish predictions on May 31st, and now of course doesn't have to answer for them. This is the same type of guy who, if the prediction turns out right, is the first with the "See? Told ya so!" article, but if the reverse comes true? Crickets.
Unfortunately FOX doesn't list an email address for him or I'd suggest another mail-bomb attack. The guy must hate New York teams and have an inability to learn from his mistakes, because in his latest article:
How appropriate that on the same day we bury the Sopranos with their final Emmy victory, the two teams that play in the Meadowlands are essentially buried too.
With the Jets and Giants winless and looking up at teams in their divisions that appear to be the class of their conferences, it's safe to say there won't be any playoff football played in Jersey this winter.
FIRST TWO paragraphs, and the article is about the week in the NFL wrapup.
Amazing.
UPDATE:February 6th, 2008: So I wonder how Hench feels now that thsoe "winless" Giants beat his beloved Patriots in the Super Bowl? Probably still crying his eyes out.
Following Michael Kay's contention that Mientkiewicz is "beating out" Wilson Betemit for a postseason roster spot (Kay must think Eyechart can play third and second and short) it's about time to start figuring out who should make the squad.
First, the no-brainers on offense (in no order): 1. Jeter 2. Rodriguez 3. Cano 4. Posada 5. Molina 6. Cabrera 7. Damon 8. Giambi 9. Matsui 10. Abreu
And from the rotation: 11. Clemens 12. Wang 13. Pettitte
And the bullpen: 14. Rivera 15. Chamberlain 16. Vizcaino 17. Farnsworth
So, that leaves 8 spots. Obviously, you need a minimum of one two more starting pitchers, one for the rotation and one to be the "long" man. This is where it gets interesting. The way Mussina is pitching now, there's no reason Torre would remove him from his Circle of Trust, so he's in. 18. Mussina
That leaves Hughes and Kennedy - but we'll come back to them. The more pressing need would be the bench. Betemit is your utility man - he has to be included. 19. Betemit
There's one "extra" outfielder on the roster in that there are four, but Torre would be likely to DH Matsui or Damon to start a game, so you must have a backup. The most obvious choice would be Shelley Duncan. While he can't play CF, either Matsui or Damon could shift over in a pinch. 20. Duncan
Five spots left, and we need to address the bullpen. You'd have to assume Edwar Ramirez would make it, and for our long man, probably Phil Hughes. Ian Kennedy has been great though, so for now let's assume both Hughes and Kennedy make it. 21. Ramirez 22. Hughes 23. Kennedy Now knowing Torre would be starting Giambi at 1B a few times, he's going to want to sub him out for defense in the late innings. He could use Betemit. He could use Duncan. Of course, he wont. Welcome to the team as the 4th 1st baseman, Eyechart. 24. Mientkiewicz
This is where I'm sure I diverge from the Yankees' thinking. For the 25th man, I pick a reliever - most likely taking a chance on Ross Ohlendorf or Chris Britton. Bruney and Villone have gotten lit up lately, but we all know that Villone is in the Circle of Trust, and he'd be the only lefty in the bullpen. So most likely, the choice is Ron Villone. 25. Ron Villone
Today, on his sports radio program, on ESPN sports radio, sports radio host Colin Cowherd devoted over 1/2 hour of his program to the sports-related subject of "is Batman a Superhero, or just a crimefighter?"
He had calls and emails which said that Batman has no powers so he's not "super," he's just a guy who fights crime, and people who said that Batman is in fact a bigger hero because he has no powers.
Cowherd then, in summary, says that uneqivocably Batman is a Superhero because of the following reason:
"What's the thing he has around his belt? The batarang? (voice in background says 'Yes.'). Ok, so the batarang. Batman can do things that I can't. He can throw that batarang into the sky, and make that big bat symbol. I couldn't do that. That, in my mind, makes Batman a superhero."
You'd think that by staying away from sports for a while, Cowherd would be able to talk about something which he understands and is able to discuss with some level of knowedge. Obviously, he's as clueless on non-sports as he is about sports.
Batman's "batarang" is like a boomerang. This is why it is called a "batarang."
The bat signal is what makes the bat symbol. Everyone who has ever seen any Batman movie, TV show or read a comic knows this.
These same people would also tell you that the bat symbol is used to summon Batman. In Cowherd's mind, it is something Batman throws from his pocket in order to either summon himself or announce his presense: "Hey, fuckers! You're all screwed! It's me, the muthafuckin' Batman!" This is odd behavior for "The Dark Knight" who is known to stay to the shadows.
I don't give a shit one way or another about this ridiculous argument, but Cowherd could have simply said that Batman is sold under the "Superheroes" line by DC Comics (as listed on Batman's wikipedia page) and thus is a superhero. Argument over, move on to sports.
I swear the more you listen to Cowherd the more you have to question why ESPN hires these people.
Looking back at the Fenway series, here are 10 things we've learned or confirmed this weekend:
Other than Josh Beckett, the starting pitching really isn't very good. Schilling had a nice performance most of Sunday and Matsuzaka constantly worked out of trouble on Friday, but do either of them put any fear into a playoff team?
Terry Francona has no faith in Eric Gagne. If he did, Papelbon never would have been asked for a 6 out save. That's why they got Gagne in the first place. At first I thought Tito was a genius in that he was going to use his best reliever in the highest leverage situation and then use Gagne to start the 9th, but that's not what he was planning to do.
The Red Sox bullpen is not nearly as good as people think. Papelbon has been beaten twice by the Yankees this year (both final blows delivered by the amazingly un-clutch bat of Alex Rodriguez). The freefall of Hideki Okajima continues. Perhaps it's just a regression to the mean, as nobody expected him to be as good as he was in the first half. Still, going into the playoffs is a poor time to have your bullpen implode.
Umpires are not good at their jobs. Despite clearly being safe, Johnny Damon was called out at first, which cost the Yankees at minimum one run on Sunday. On Friday, nothing Pettitte or Matsuzaka threw was being called consistantly a strike or a ball, and the zone seemed to shrink whenever men were on base. The umpiring for the entire series was disgraceful. Bud Selig absolutely needs to address the umpiring situation in MLB in teh off-season. Of course, he won't.
80% of Derek Jeter is still probably better than your team's shortstop. I hate to agree with Jon Miller, but it's true.
Jason Giambi can be the most impactful presense on any bench of the playoff contenders. he really should be in the starting lineup, but Giambi has kept his mouth shut and produced when asked to pinch hit.
Joba can handle the pressure. Sunday was really the first "big game" Chamberlain has been in, and he handled himself well. Yes, he gave up his first earned run, but it was on a 98 MPH fastball up above the strikezone. You can't do anything but tip your cap to Lowell and move on, and that's what he did.
Sean Henn is a disaster. Even in a mopup role. Blech.
The Red Sox need Manny Ramirez to return, and be Manny Ramirez again. Look, the Jacoby Ellsbury experiment is working out so far, but let's face facts - he had an unerwhelming minor league career and wasn't ever projected for superstardom. Ortiz needs protection in that lineup and in the postseason teams can completely pitch around him and nullify his power. Without Manny, the Sox offense is a lot less scary.
Alex Rodriguez is a good ballplayer. It would be nice to see Posada hitting behind him more often though, but the Yankees have proven that you can't walk Rodriguez and beat New York. It's a recipe for disaster.
It's too bad we don't all live in Cowherd-world. If we did, we could all just do zero research for our jobs, show up and not even read the information we were handed and then start going off on tangents about it.
Case in point: this morning, Cowherd was talking about this story, which of course the Boston media will blow out of proportion, because that's what they do.
It was fairly obvious that Cowherd was reading from time to time, and attempted to be a big expert on this Shelley Duncan character. Of course, he called him a Yankee pitcher. Twice.
Upon further reading, he had the amazing realization that Duncan is the son of Cardinals' pitching coach Dave Duncan, and presented that as if it were breaking news.
Finally he was reading the end of the story, and I'll give it to you word for word. You can tell the exact moment that Cowherd realizes he's a fool. Of course immediately after, he just changes the subject:
"Duncan has become a fan favorite in the Bronx after hitting... what does that say?.... Duncan has become a fan favorite in the Bronx.
Duncan, son of St. Louis Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan, has become a fan favorite in the Bronx for hitting mammoth home runs since he was called up from the minors in July.
Former major leaguer Mel Hall indicted on child sex charges September 13, 2007
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- Former major league outfielder Mel Hall was indicted Wednesday on charges that he sexually assaulted two girls -- ages 12 and 14 -- who played on elite basketball teams he coached in the 1990s.
The 46-year-old Hall could face life in prison if convicted, said Tarrant County Assistant District Attorney Kim D'Avignon.
Hall was indicted on three counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child, two counts of sexual assault of a child and two counts of indecency/fondling.
Hall's attorney, Bob Hultkrantz, didn't immediately return a call seeking comment Thursday.
A woman came forward in May, saying Hall assaulted her in 1999 at his apartment when she went to baby-sit his child, according to records filed in the case. She said Hall raped her again a week later after picking her up for basketball practice. Another woman said Hall assaulted her when she was 12 at her home and at his apartment.
Hall's 13-year major league career ended in 1996. He played for the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants.
Hall has been free on $55,000 bail since his June arrest.
Also after having read about men who got off incredibly easy after taking sexual advantage of the impressionable and helpless, it's pretty comfoting to see that Hall could get life in prison. I'll never forget being there for that game winning walk-off homer against Boston on Memorial Day years ago, but really who cares at this point? If the guy is found guilty, throw the book at him.
Well, he wrote an article for SI last year full of hate and vitrol for the Yankees and I thought it would be fun to pretend that his 10 points were written today and see if any of them now apply. Ok? K.
By the way if you haven't ever read/seen the original, I strongly suggest you do so now. G'head, I'll wait for you.
Nothing has changed. The Mets haven't gained in popularity since last September.
I still don't understand why he hated bandwagon fans when the team hadn't won in 6 years. Now it's 7. Probably not a whole bunch of bandwagon jumpers, chief.
Some fans will still have a second favorite team or could enjoy a historic post-season matchup. Yes, I still do root for franchises other than the Yankees. I guess I'm still an asshole.
Not all of New York but unless you live in Queens or Long Island or are in high school and trying to be "different" most of the tri-state metropolitan (heh) area couldn't really give a huge flying fuck about the Mets. They're the second-class citizens. The step children. Learn form that and grow. Move on.
A-Rod has pretty much shut up most of the "Brosius is better" crowd. So maybe now there's only 9 things you hate about the Yankees, Pete.
The Mets have their own network and share the market with the Yankees. I am still amazed when Mets fans complain about Yankees payroll, especially Mets fans who just made the comments that the Yankees and Mets have an equal fanbase.
I do love that he called the Yankees ability to homegrow and draft players a "myth" in teh very same season the Yankees drafted Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy, and Phil Hughes made his professional debut. I would really love to see Peter McEntegart's take on the "free agent" Yankee farm system now, but my guess is Peter McEntegart is no longer writing articles for Sports Illustrated (or anyone) and that I would have to write him at his home address to get his opinion. So - if anyone has Peter McEntegart's home address, please email it to me at the contact address at the right. Much appreciated.
I still don't know if he was complimenting or chiding Torre, but either way my opinion of Joe hasn't changed. Joe is a great PR director and rah-rah guy who should leave all in-game decisions, especially those involving the bullpen, to his bench and pitching coaches.
Yankee Stadium is a historic place. It remains such and it should be celebrated before it is torn down. The fact that nobody gives two shits about tearing down Shea is not the issue.
This team was not all about winning, then they were all about winning. It is very easy to say that a team that is 30-10 is "all about winning" and a team that is 10-30 is "not all about winning." It is also a very simplistic and idiotic position to take.
So after a year, not much has changed. Unless someone can help me track down Peter McEntegart, my guess is nothing else will.
I'm planning to continue the "looks back, a year later" format every now and then because it's amazing the absolute garbage that some sportswriters will put out there, especially when viewed with the help of some history.
Also, heck, I think that article was the first time anyone ever made a joke involving masturbating to Danny Heep.
Way back in April and May, there was plenty of talk about Alex Rodriguez breaking Barry Bonds' single-season home run record. That's what happens when projections show a guy on pace to hit 108 HR and a season is fresh and new. We've since moved past such speculation and realize that's now very likely to happen anymore.
However, one long-standing record is within A-Rod's grasp: the American League single-season home run record. While McGwire and Sosa and Bonds were using their juiced up arms to taint home run records across the board, all of their actions came in the National League. The American League record still belongs to one Roger Eugene Maris, at 61. With 19 games left to play, A-Rod on a hot streak, and only 9 homers to go to tie the record, it's entirely possible that Alex can tie or break it.
This season, Rodriguez is hitting a homer every 9.98 ABs. You figure he should get about 4 at bats - not plate appearances - per game for the rest of the year and you're looking at 76 more for the season. (Four ABs chosen for easy math - he's averaging about 3.7 per game.) That would see him hit about 7-8 more this year, putting him at 59 or 60.
However if we just look at the month of September, A-Rod is ridiculously jacking one every 3.75 ABs. By that pace, he'd hit another 20 homers and wind up with 72. Sorry, but that's probably not going to happen.
It's highly unlikely he would sustain that September pace for the rest of the season, but his hot streak should continue long enough to push his HR/AB ratio for the remainder under his season average of 9.98.
It sounds almost crazy to say it, but based on that it makes 62-65 homers a very realistic possibility.
It would be nice for once to see a guy achieve a homer record who hasn't been dogged by steroid/HGH allegations. A nice clean record everyone can get behind as legitimite would be a refreshing change, and would be very good for the game as a whole.
Just imagine how exciting this would all be if Maris' record hadn't become counterfitted by Barry, Faux, and Burly.
Hey if A-Rod hits 62+ homers, would he then be a "True Yankee™"?
After many serious debates, it has been decided. The right-field foul poul Squirrel's name is now Scooter. Call him by name, and watch him bring the Yankees good luck. He just may be here for a reason.
Edit: Check out today's Daily News back page, with both a mention and photo of our new friend:
Sixth inning, same spot as before, on the foul pole netting.
Forget the Rally Monkey. I'm declaring the Squirrel the official Yankees mascot.
Edit: He's lucky already. 2 seconds after I hit submit anointing the new mascot, A-Rod hits a massive upper deck shot. Man that ball got outta here in a hurry. I mean anything travels that far ought to have a damn stewardess on it.
Edit: Abreu just crushed that homer right past The Squirrel. That's it, he's officially the good luck charm.
In a rambling, nonsensical diatribe today, Colin Cowherd described on his show "The Herd" on ESPN radio about how the Padres are the best team in the National League but would only be the fifth best team in the AL.
Ok, that's fine, a fair statement and a fair argument, although I don't 100% agree with it. It's defensible though, right?
Cowherd then goes on to blast the NL for being inferior. Ok, again, a fair statement. I'm sure he can back that up.
Cowherd's supporting argument:
"Just look at the All-Star Games. The AL owns them. Look at interleague play. Look at the last 5 World Series champions. The AL is just plain better all around, and it's not even close."
Man, that sure sounds compelling! Except:
The All-Star Game is a terrible example of "league vs. league" supremacy when comparing entire leagues. The All-Star game is, by its very definition, a collection of superstars from both leagues pitted in a game against each other in which almost all of them play. The game is not managed or played like a regular game. The fact that a bunch of superstars from one league have repeatedly won an exhibition against a bunch of superstars from another league is meaningless - it has no bearing whatsoever on the strength of the teams in those leagues. There are 750 Major Leaguers on active rosters for most of the season. Roughly 8% of those are on the All-Star rosters. I am of the belief that the 92% remaining of players have a far greater effect on pennant races and quality of teams and leagues than do the 8%.
All time in interleague play, the AL leads the NL 1,387- 1,317 (.513). That is not a significant difference. a .513 winning percentage is not dramatic. This season the AL beat the NL by a .544 clip. Again, not overly definitive. However, this is the best and only example cited by Cowherd that could even remotely back up his statement.
Last 5 WS champs: Cardinals (NL) White Sox (AL) Red Sox (AL) Marlins (NL) Angels (AL) The Al leads 3-2. This is of course not significant as the leagues have traded off every year. The closest a 5 year stretch could be is 3-2. This would be better used to support an argument that both leagues are fairly matched. I assume Cowherd chose "5" because if he'd chosen "4" they'd be dead even. If we go 6, add in Arizona (NL). Even. 7? Yankees (AL). 4-3.
Is there a point to all of this? Yes. Cowherd is an idiot. Also he doesn't research any facts and I assume most of his audience just takes what he says at face value. I actually agree with him on the premise, but his argument is backed up by mirrors and gorilla dust.
He's not different from most radio hosts, though. Why are these guys on the air again?
