St. Johan Day

Johan Santana makes his first start for the Mets today. He’s probably limited to 45 pitches, but we hope each and every one is a nasty sucker.

Stray baseball thoughts:

If you haven’t looked at the Obama of Dreams site lately you need to check out their new designs. The St. Louis Cardinals shirt is excellent, as is the New York Yankees one. I like them a lot more than the Mets shirt, but of course I cannot wear those. Religious reasons, you understand.

I also received a comment from the founder of the site, who wrote:

Hi, This is Morris Levin. I started the website, obamaofdreams.com. I would like to donate to the Obama campaign and I am discovering that there are strict laws around running a business and using the proceeds to donate to a political campaign. The answer is that I do hope to donate, and want to everything 100% legally.

I looked up some information on campaign contributions and found this, Federal Election Commission - Contributions. It looks like the only way for a company to make a contribution is to form a PAC. The rules seem to favor big business — their big legal departments being able to help funnel business dollars into a campaign.

Sandy Koufax visited the Mets’ spring training complex and after reading about it I scurried to Baseball Reference to look up his stats. Koufax retired in 1966, a few years before I got interested in baseball, and I’ve never seen him pitch, not even on videotape. 200 innings (IP in the table below) is considered a lot for pitchers these days, and hardly anyone pitches a complete game (CG) anymore. Koufax’s numbers are astounding:

I also looked up some quotes by Koufax and read this:

The game has a cleanness. If you do a good job, the numbers say so. You don’t have to ask anyone or play politics. You don’t have to wait for the reviews.

This reminded me of what Barb and Hawaii wrote about Hillary Clinton in Ieeww …:

Barb: This is the last stand and she was in attack mode last night. But it might be too late. And since Obama is ahead he just needs to stay on-message and not go negative. If the race was closer would he match her negative campaigning with some of his own?

Hawaii: Clinton is beginning to annoy me as her tactics, and seemingly personality too, keep on changing. I realize some of this is infighting within her own campaign with one group trying to be presidential and the other going on the attack to make one last stand. But if she cannot control the tenor of her own campaign, how can she get control of the multitude of forces visited upon a president? Our current president certainly has been blown around by forces that wish to control him, the country, the power structure, and possibly the world. A president needs to be calm and in control, and sadly, she doesn’t appear to be either right now.

I find sports appealing because when you come down to it all that matters is what happens on the field of play. It doesn’t matter what players or coaches or fans say, or who has the best endorsement deal, or who might have the hottest supermodel girlfriend. It’s the game that counts. There is a cleanness to it, very much unlike politics. Which is why I think people are upset with the issue of performance enhancing drugs in sports.

Clinton has needed to change her strategy and while going negative has worked in other campaigns it never works for me. There is a way to be critical without being nasty. Personally, I have felt a little sorry for Clinton as Obama has come from out of nowhere to take the lead and maybe even win the game. But when she said during the debate in Texas “I am honored to be here with Barack Obama. Absolutely honored” it sounded so phony to me. It’s hard to feel sympathy for someone who is snippy, negative, and a fake.

“It’s like walking across the desert step by step and today we finally got to the oasis.”

To borrow a metaphor from Rick Peterson, the Mets’ pitching coach.

The Mets are playing a pre-season game against the Michigan Wolverines and the game is being streamed by Michigan. Sweet. I feel like I’m in heaven.

Especially since we got a wet, heavy snow yesterday which froze overnight. There’s a glacier in the backyard right now. The weather is forecast to warm up tomorrow, so we’ll be dealing with bailing snowmelt in the usual attempt to keep water from getting into the backporch. It’s Man vs. Nature here when the poorly-drained backyard gets saturated.

But the Mets are playing spring season games and all is right with the world.

Ieeww …

“This is tight as a tick.”

    — Harold Ickes on the race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton

Great. Thanks for the image, Harold. Now when I see Hillary Clinton during Tuesday’s debate I’m going to think about a bloodsucking invertebrate.

I’m Sorry

Anonymous commented in Virgins of the World, Unite!:

u guys have no life and get a proper name for your website!!!!

I’m thinking Anonymous is a KO hater and was elated to find a blog called “Keith Olbermann is Evil” only to have his/her hopes dashed by this eclectic collection of posts on Dan Patrick, the New York Mets, politics, history, birdwatching, etc., and very little on Mr. Olbermann. Other blogs and sites do a much better job of keeping up on Keith News; this is just the little bastard KO blog. I apologize for the deceptive blog name and sincerely hope I did not ruin your online experience. For the record, I do have a life, but it doesn’t include writing a single-themed blog. I’m interested in too many things and don’t have the discipline to blog on one topic.

OK, I hope everyone feels better now.

I read this last night: Clinton Offers Regrets for Spouse’s Remarks. At first I thought “Hey, that’s decent of her. Bill’s comments after the South Carolina primary were a thinly-veiled insult.” But then I read her statement:

“If anyone was offended about anything that was said, whether it was meant or not, whether it was misinterpreted or not, then obviously I regret that.”

Yikes! It’s the classic Non-apology Apology that Keith and Dan love to deride. I hope KO brings this up on “Countdown” tomorrow night.

Further news in the Department of Contrition, I saw this on the Sports Illustrated site (which I read a little more often than before but I still like the ESPN site better): Sorry state of affairs: Most players’ mea culpas rate low on apology meter.

The secret to a perfect apology, according to perfectapology.com, is “asking to be forgiven in the right way and at the right time.”

I agree that the apologies coming from players mentioned in the Mitchell Report are pretty weak. Eric Gagné should also apologize for taking $4 million from the Red Sox last season (he blew a bunch of saves down the stretch and I recall reading that he helped the Yankees get back into the wildcard race). Gagné signed with the Brewers this season for $10 million. Who said cheaters never win? Gagné has a World Series ring and has made millions of dollars. You can’t say the same thing for Ted Williams.

Hardball with Barack Obama

We like baseball, Barack Obama, and wearing cool t-shirts. Show your support for Obama with our baseball-inspired t-shirts! Our Ts are top quality and made of 100% cotton.

– Obama of Dreams

Some of these are pretty cool. I hope the entrepreneurs are donating a few bucks per shirt to the campaign. I mean, if they like him so much ….

I think the Cubs, White Sox, and Dodgers shirts are the best.

The New Dan Patrick Show: If Mike and the Mad Dog mated …

Hawaii informed us in The New Dan Patrick Show: APB for Dan Bernstein:

The two guys are from KLAC. They are part of the loose Cannons show there. At the beginning their arguing sort of reminded me of KO and DP but then it got old. Keith and Dan did not argue every second of the Big Show.

Dan Bernstein will be here today and tomorrow too I believe, and then the fighting boys are back. It is a good time for a break from the show for Dan (and for me too) being in between football and Spring Training baseball and March Madness.

I enjoyed listening to Bernstein yesterday and Tuesday, but the Illegitimate Sons of Mike and the Mad Dog were back on today and all I could tolerate was 15 minutes. Holy smokes! I think I prefer Stephen A. Smith to the Loose Cannons.

Speaking of M&MD, I think I know why DP stated that “Johan Santana doesn’t want to play in the National League.” Mike and the Mad Dog (that would be Mike Francesa and Chris Russo for those of you who don’t listen to NYC sports talk radio; Russo has been on the DP Show a couple of times) have the afternoon show on WFAN. Mets fans complain constantly about how the two are anti-Mets and pro-Yankees; right before Santana signed with the Mets there was chatter on Mets fans’ blogs and message boards about M&MD saying that Santana doesn’t want to play for the Mets and that he doesn’t want to be in the NL. It’s OK with me if DP listens to M&MD, but he needs to do a little bit better research on news stories before reporting them on his show. Rule #1 should be “Do not use Mike and the Mad Dog as a primary source.” For any and all baseball news DP needs to check in with KO first. Even as a Yankee Apologist, KO is pretty darn fair and balanced when it comes to baseball.

I agree with Hawaii that this is a good time to take a break from the show. I am drowning in Spring Training news and election coverage. We’re also looking forward to March Madness, but don’t have a favorite team. Maybe we’ll cheer for Tennessee (because their coach painted himself orange to support the Lady Vols last season) or UCLA (because it would be cool for John Wooden’s school to win another one).

Hillary Clinton channels the 2007 New York Mets

Which shouldn’t bother me, I guess, since I’m for Barack Obama. But it is kind of weird how the Clinton campaign continues to plod along acting like she is the inevitable nominee, just as the Mets sleepwalked through last season — .500 ball after June, followed by The Collapse in September. We were the favorites and supposed to win the division and make it all the way to the World Series. This was supposed to make up for 2006, when we lost game 7 of the NLCS. Now we have to make up for 2006 AND 2007.

Memo to Hillary and the 2008 Mets: There is no “inevitable.”

I hope the Mets don’t fall into the same trap this season. The team is confident, as all teams are in February, which is fine. But they’d better not get over-confident. The “We’re the team to beat” talk has already begun. Me, I’m the old-fashioned type who believes that talk is cheap. I hope that our guys won’t be eating humble pie come October.

Having Johan Santana (“the best pitcher on the planet”) has given the Mets the chance to do very well this season, but the adoration being heaped upon him is obsessive. Kind of like what Obama has been experiencing:

Many talented politicians attract devoted throngs — but with Obama, the fervency of his following borders on the messianic …

– Obamamania verges on obsession, by Lisa Lerer

I like having Johan on the Mets and I’d like for Obama to be president, but I know that neither can walk on water. It’ll be interesting to see how Mets fans react when Johan stumbles. (Hey, he’s human. He’s going to stumble.) Ditto Obama. How will his fans/supporters react when he doesn’t live up to the image that they have created?

The New Dan Patrick Show: APB for Dan Bernstein

Yikes.

Who were those two guys subbing for DP today? All I really remember of the show is that the two guys yelled a lot. Come on, DP. You can do better than this. If Dan Bernstein was busy you could have just let Pabst and Seton take the helm.

And I must have missed the memo last week that DP would be on vacation this week. The Yelling Guys on today’s show said they’d be back on Thursday and Friday. I hope Bernstein will be on tomorrow and Wednesday.

Hi, Hi Birdie

The Great Backyard Bird Count

The Great Backyard Bird Count is an annual four-day event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts. It takes as little as 15 minutes. It’s free, fun, and easy—and it helps the birds. …

Scientists and bird enthusiasts can learn a lot by knowing where the birds are. Bird populations are dynamic; they are constantly in flux. No single scientist or team of scientists could hope to document the complex distribution and movements of so many species in such a short time.

How to Participate

Lucky for us, the weather is forecast to be nice this weekend. In past years we’ve stood outside in the backyard counting the little buggers when it was between 0 and 10 degrees. I know they’re wild animals, but it’s amazing to me that wee creatures like birds and squirrels survive through the winter.

Sorry, Cleveland

Sabathia, Tribe put off extension talks

Scoop wrote in Waiting for the Puff of White Smoke:

And as an Indians fan, am I sorry Johan was scooped away from the Twins? Er….that would be a no. Ha ha.

As for this explanation of white vs. black Pope-smoke: KOIE, were you around when the new Pope was being chosen and Countdown featured a demonstration of how white smoke vs. black smoke is actually made? It was the #1 story one night. Of course, the demonstration was not done in studio but on a field somewhere.

I will never forget Keith’s signoff to the correspondent at the demo, either: he told him he was “en fuego.”

I didn’t see that Countdown demo, dang it. When the heck will KO reunite with DP on the radio? The Yankees play the Red Sox in Grapefruit League action on 17 March. Maybe KO will take a break from saving the democracy and be down at spring training to report on it.

Cleveland was 5-0 with one no-decision against Johan last season. He lost each of those games 1-0. Wow.

Johan moving to the Mets upped the ante for pitching salaries and that’s going to hurt the Indians. The Tribe offered Sabathia $17-18 million for four years and he turned them down. The Twins offered Johan $20 million a year for four years and he turned them down. Salaries for starting pitchers started to go nuts last year when the Giants gave Barry Zito $126 million for seven years. Count on the Yankees to offer up a ton of dough for Sabathia after this season, especially if they don’t make the playoffs. They’ve already chosen to not give an extension to Chien-Ming Wang, a solid righty who has won 38 games the past two season.

Johan’s a great pitcher and he seems like a nice guy (which, as an old-fashioned kind of person, is important to me) and I’m glad the Mets got him. But I know it’s not good for baseball when the rich keep getting richer.

Hawaii wrote in Sorry, Minnesota:

As a fan of one small/medium market team it is frustrating. The only way to get a Tony Gwynn is if the player himself wants to stay. The team can never raise that type of money and have other decent players on a team at the same time.

I love the Mets too, but I do sometimes wish baseball was more like a salary cap fantasy league. I know that big payrolls are no assurance of a World Series win, but there does seem to to a strong correlation between payroll and a playoff berth.

I also object to the East Coast heaviness of star players because it reinforces the “east coast bias” of ESPN sports coverage. I never really bought into that theory until two summers ago when I was at a hotel in Las Vegas and desperately trying to see in the Padres won their game (the NL West was very tight) and ESPN was on in the lobby. I stood staring at the TV screen and waited and waited and waited while the Mets, Yankees, Red Sox dominated the Baseball Tonight segment, and the Padre eventually became a 6 second mention near the end of the program with video that didn’t even match with what the host was saying. I was dumbfounded. Apparently nobody cared at all about the NL West.

I also see a bit of this about Jake Peavy. He was the NL CY Young winner yet ESPN barely picked him up on either TV or radio coverage. Why, because he is on the Padres (and he signed an extension with them when his free agency begins). Had he signed with the Yankees he would have had huge coverage. Johan Santana size coverage (btw, I think they are very similar type pitchers. It will be great to see them go head to head from a pitching duel perspective, though it drives me batty when my teams play each other).

Okay, I am done ranting on your blog. :)

Rant away. I like it when people can discuss sports in a thoughtful and civil way.

And I was hoping that Peavy wouldn’t sign that extension so that the Mets could get a crack at him ….

Mets-Padres will be great this season with your Peavy, Young, and Maddux up against Johan, Pedro, and whoever our #3 will be.

I glanced at an article somewhere about how a salary cap would not help baseball; I will post the link if I can find it. Baseball already has revenue sharing. I’m not really crazy about parity in sports. The concept reminds me of all the participation ribbons and trophies that are handed out these days in kids’ event: Nice for the Self-Esteem Industry. What is so wrong with rewarding success? Still, it’s not healthy for a sport to be financially lopsided like MLB. The Rockies, Diamondbacks, and Indians were all nice stories in last season’s playoffs, but the real question is if teams like these can sustain a run when teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, and Mets have bottomless pockets.

The one thing I will say for the Mets is that the present owners have stated they want to stay under the luxury tax threshold. (This drives some Mets fans crazy — the ones who wanted us to get A-Rod and Johan.) It’s not good business to choose to throw money away like that. Of course, the Mets have also always wanted to stay away from offering long-term contracts to pitchers, which took us out of the Zito race last year. But this year we were desperate, so Johan got six years with a club option on the seventh.

East coast teams — at least the Yanks, Sawx, and Mets — are willing to spend money because of their owners (the Sawx were more frugal before the current ownership group took over) and because of the fan base. I think the fans back east are demanding, with some to a nearly unrealistic extent. If George Steinbrenner had bought the Dodgers I’d bet they’d have an extremely high payroll.