What's the Buzz? 3/12/06
Ok, it's Sunday....normally my poker night, so it's a little difficult to do a full recap. But here's what's going on down on the street.....
Round 2 started up in the WBC and ooh...what a shocker. The U.S. beat Japan 4-3 as, once again, Chipper Jones and Derek Lee hit HRs to lead the charge. On the mound, Jake Peavy looked less than spectacular giving up 3 runs in 5 innings. Peavy will fare well this year. He has definitely improved over the last 2 or 3 seasons, but listen....he's good....he's not a stud though.....he's not winning 20 games with 220 Ks. I understand that fanatsy leaguers covet the top tier pitchers, but you can easily build a top flight pitching staff without breaking the bank on a guy like Peavy....as a matter of fact, this is setting up one of my most typical rants....join me later for that one...you'll know when it happens. As for Jones, see my rant on the shelf life of players and the WBC. On the Japanese side, only Ichiro stood out, hitting a home run, stealing a base, and just being the overall catalyst for his team; but we already knew what he could do.
Korea maintained its unbeaten play in the tournament as they beat Mexico in a real snoozer. While the Koreans won the game 2-1, the only highlight for me was watching Jorge Cantu's ineffective and not so pleasing 1-4 at the plate.
In the other pool, Puerto Rico surprised the Dominican Republic as Javier Vazquez outdueled Bartolo "Chubbs" Colon and the P.R. squad found their offense in the form of Javy Lopez and Jose Cruz, Jr. Lopez should fare well as the DH in Baltimore as he awaits a trade that makes him a full time catcher again, but Cruz is always a disappointment. He's unbelievably streaky, and is really only good for around 20 dingers coupled with a .260 average. Nothing special.
And finally, Cuba pounded Venezuela as their "date with destiny and the U.S. remains a viable possibility. Venezuealan manager Luis Sojo pulled Johan Santana before his 80 pitch limit to avoid a fight with the Twins again and was punished by a typically awful performance by Giovanni Carrara. Those feisty Cubans are going to be a major thorn in the side of the MLB loaded Latino teams in their division.
That's all I have for you right now, but stay tuned....I promised rants and that's what I'll deliver.
Catch you next time....
Round 2 started up in the WBC and ooh...what a shocker. The U.S. beat Japan 4-3 as, once again, Chipper Jones and Derek Lee hit HRs to lead the charge. On the mound, Jake Peavy looked less than spectacular giving up 3 runs in 5 innings. Peavy will fare well this year. He has definitely improved over the last 2 or 3 seasons, but listen....he's good....he's not a stud though.....he's not winning 20 games with 220 Ks. I understand that fanatsy leaguers covet the top tier pitchers, but you can easily build a top flight pitching staff without breaking the bank on a guy like Peavy....as a matter of fact, this is setting up one of my most typical rants....join me later for that one...you'll know when it happens. As for Jones, see my rant on the shelf life of players and the WBC. On the Japanese side, only Ichiro stood out, hitting a home run, stealing a base, and just being the overall catalyst for his team; but we already knew what he could do.
Korea maintained its unbeaten play in the tournament as they beat Mexico in a real snoozer. While the Koreans won the game 2-1, the only highlight for me was watching Jorge Cantu's ineffective and not so pleasing 1-4 at the plate.
In the other pool, Puerto Rico surprised the Dominican Republic as Javier Vazquez outdueled Bartolo "Chubbs" Colon and the P.R. squad found their offense in the form of Javy Lopez and Jose Cruz, Jr. Lopez should fare well as the DH in Baltimore as he awaits a trade that makes him a full time catcher again, but Cruz is always a disappointment. He's unbelievably streaky, and is really only good for around 20 dingers coupled with a .260 average. Nothing special.
And finally, Cuba pounded Venezuela as their "date with destiny and the U.S. remains a viable possibility. Venezuealan manager Luis Sojo pulled Johan Santana before his 80 pitch limit to avoid a fight with the Twins again and was punished by a typically awful performance by Giovanni Carrara. Those feisty Cubans are going to be a major thorn in the side of the MLB loaded Latino teams in their division.
That's all I have for you right now, but stay tuned....I promised rants and that's what I'll deliver.
Catch you next time....
posted by Howard Bender at
11:56 PM
