I hate draft grades, the idea of watching the draft and the next day deciding who did better than who is ridiculous. You have no idea who did better than who. We can make jokes and remark on draft picks but we have no clue what that player will mean for the franchise in the coming years. When I do these and I go on Wikipedia and look at the entire draft list, there is always a highlighted player in the 4th or 5th round from a team that wins the Super Bowl in the next couple years. This draft has a few of them teams, New Orleans, Green Bay, Baltimore, and New England all made picks in 2008 that helped them win Super Bowls. So yeah it's fun to read who won last week, but I don't think you can grade a trade until players reach that 2nd contract, IF they reach that 2nd contract. The top 10 of the 2008 draft is full of big time players from college, but the picks from 11-30 had more success in the NFL and made bigger impacts. Not sure how the top 10 got graded but I assume very well, because I know most of these guys and they were all dynamite in college.
Pick 1 Miami Dolphins: Jake Long OT, Michigan. The Dolphins had their hearts set on Jake Long or not, I know some other guys were bigger names Long was the guy they wanted. Jake Long was a great pick and did some good things in Miami before leaving in 2013. The Dolphins however never found a QB for Long to protect, so kind of like Joe Thomas he was a wasted stud. He fought the injury bug the 2nd half of his career and never reached his entire potential but he was named to 3 straight Pro Bowls in Miami.
Pick 2 St. Louis Rams: Chris Long DE, Virginia. I think Chris Long has made a name for himself even having a hall of famer for a father. He was never the elite player his dad was but he was consistent. But when you're taken 2nd overall consistent isn't what teams want. He did lead the Rams in sacks in 2012, but that was about it. He never made a Pro Bowl, after the Rams released him after 2015, he went to New England and then Philly to win some Super Bowls. He retired after 2018 with 70 career sacks in 11 seasons. He's a much bigger presence on social media, being a vocal voice for his college town in Charlottesville, and all around a decent dude.
Pick 3 Atlanta Falcons: Matt Ryan QB, Boston College. Dude Boston College used to be a factory, what happened? Anyway, Matt Ryan was the prototype coming out of college. Checked every box that a 2008 offense would want, who could say otherwise. He has been great in Atlanta, reached a Super Bowl and has mostly lived up to this draft position. Great pick by Atlanta and he's still doing all these years later.
Pick 4 Oakland Raiders: Darren McFadden RB, Arkansas. Run DMC had 3 1,000 rushing yard seasons in 3 years and only had 2 1,000 rushing yard seasons in 9 NFL seasons. He was the next greatest thing coming out of Arkansas and of course he went to Oakland where it seemed all talent of the late 2000's went to die. He never played an entire season in Oakland, missing a few games each season, which for a RB is expected. His 3rd year was his best but the other years for the Raiders left a lot to be desired. Run DMC eventually ended up in Dallas had a decent season in 2015, but was done with football by 2017.
Pick 5 Kansas City Chiefs: Glenn Dorsey DT, LSU. I remember thinking Dorsey was can't miss. He was awesome at LSU, 2 time All-American awesome. Well that didn't happen. He never found his game in Kansas City, totaling 4 sacks in 5 years and getting a little over 50 tackles a year. Dorsey tried again in San Francisco but didn't find much success there either. He tore his ACL in 2015 and ended his career, he missed, damn it.
Pick 6 New York Jets: Vernon Gholston DE, Ohio State. When you take a 4-3 DE and then stand him up to be a 3-4 LB, things sometimes don't work out. For Vernon Gholston, nothing worked out, the Jets switched his position, he never played his rookie year, or his 2nd season, or even his 3rd season. Then he was gone from the Jets and never played again. 3 years 42 tackles 0 sacks, and the Jets made the AFC championship game a couple years in a row after whiffing that bad on him.
Pick 7 New Orleans Saints: Sedrick Ellis DT, USC. Ellis ended up being a cog in the Saints defense, he was never a monster but he was solid. He started every game he played in and helped the Saints on their run to the Super Bowl. He made it 5 years with the Saints, signed with the Bears in 2013 and retired before camp started.
Pick 8 Jacksonville Jaguars: Derrick Harvey DE, Florida. I swear Jacksonville is in the top 10 of every one of these I do, and every guy they take is in contention for bust of the top 10. Derrick Harvey is no different, 3 years in Jacksonville then 1 year in Denver and he's gone. Harvey fared a little better than Vernon Gholston but not much. Now you know why Jacksonville plays a game in London every year, they suck at drafting.
Pick 9 Cincinnati Bengals: Keith Rivers LB, USC. Rivers was on his way to making a difference his rookie year, until Hines Ward broke his jaw with a helmet block to the face. Rivers had 2 more decent years with the Bengals before being traded to the Giants for a draft pick. He didn't do as well in New York and much like other guys was out of the league after 2013. This top 10 has a few 5 year or less careers.
Pick 10 New England Patriots: Jerod Mayo LB, Tennessee. Here's the thing, when New England takes a guy this high you know he's good. They are the kings of moving back in the draft and still getting their guys. In fact New England had traded off of 7 (who they got from San Francisco) to New Orleans to move back to 10. Mayo was very good for the Pats, he won defensive rookie of the year. Mayo was a force the Patriots defense for 8 seasons before hanging it up, this was a good pick.
11-20 if full of studs, Ryan Clady went to Denver at 12, he was a top tackle in the league and played for a decade. Jonathan Stewart went at 13 to Carolina, he was on my fantasy team many times. Kansas City double dipped in the 1st round with tackle Branden Albert at 15. Arizona selected Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie at 16. Joe Flacco went to Baltimore at 18, that worked out for them. Finally at 20 Aqib Talib went to Tampa, he worked out alright for a few teams.
Rashard Mendenhall and Chris Johnson went back to back at 23 and 24.
The Patirots forfeited their pick at #31, believe that was spygate. This was coming off the perfect season for them, so they were in full FU mode.
The Giants took Kenny Phillips at 31, he turned out alright.
2nd round Green Bay took Jordy Nelson, he was a very good player for them.
Bears got Matt Forte in the 2nd round, this turned out to be an ok RB class with Stewart, Mendenhall, Forte, Ray Rice (2nd Baltimore), Jamaal Charles (3rd round Kansas City), and Justin Forsett (7th Seattle)
More 2nd round gold, DeSean Jackson to Philly and Calais Campbell to Arizona.
Green Bay in the moving on from Brett Favre faze selected 2 QBs, Brian Brohm in the 2nd and Matt Flynn in the 7th.
Cliff Avril was picked by Detroit in the 3rd, I remember more for his damage done in Seattle.
With the last pick of the 4th round Green Bay took Josh Sitton, he was an anchor on the line for a few seasons.
Saints got Carl Nicks in the 5th, Nicks was an all pro for the Saints and started on the Super Bowl winning team.
I think Matt Ryan and Ryan Clady were the best 2 guys in this draft.
Vernon Gholston is for sure the bust.
New Orleans probably had the best draft, but New England and Green Bay also did well.
This was a fun one, that top 10 reminds me a lot of 2006, where there were a lot of studs from college in the top 10 who just flamed out. I'll get to 2007 next and then I'll work my way forward with 2011.
Tuesday, April 28, 2020
Monday, April 27, 2020
Draft Revisited 2009
When I do these draft recaps I'm usually floored by the talent taken.
My first one was 2004, one of the better drafts, especially the college
talent, then the 2010 draft has 3 slam dunk Hall of Famers and maybe a
couple more. Well the 2009 draft has none of that. I often look for
where mistakes were made, well unless you traded all your picks from
2009 you made a mistake. That said this may be the greatest punter draft
ever.
Pick 1 Detroit Lions: Matthew Stafford QB, Georgia. Stafford is by far the best pick in the top 10. He was the consensus #1 pick and has had probably the best career of anyone in this draft. He's been good at Detroit and paired with Calvin Johnson they were lethal. Never got to far in the playoffs but they did make it a few times. Stafford is still playing, one of the few from this draft, and I'm sure he's got a few more years left in him.
Pick 2 St. Louis Rams: Jason Smith OT, Baylor. Now it begins, who doesn't love it when the guy who you take to solidify your offensive line for the next 10 seasons loses his job to a rookie in his 2nd season. That's what happened to Jason Smith, started his rookie year until a concussion then lost his job the 2nd season. He made it a couple more years before being traded to the Jets, hung with them for 2012, got a shot with the Saints and Jets in 2013, but didn't pan out and was done with football before 2013 started.
Pick 3 Kansas City Chiefs: Tyson Jackson DE, LSU. Here's the thing about taking a pass rusher in the top 10, you want him to rush the quarterback. Well Tyson Jackson didn't do that very well, he had a combined 2 sacks his first 3 seasons. Jackson made it 5 years with the Chiefs and a couple years with Atlanta before being out of football after the 2016 season.
Pick 4 Seattle Seahawks: Aaron Curry LB, Wake Forest. This was 2009, I was pretty plugged into college football at the time, I can't remember any of these guys, except for Stafford. Curry made it a few years in Seattle but was out of the league after 2012, Here's the thing though, there isn't a lot of glaring guys who could've been taken here and made the teams better, this draft class is bad.
Pick 5 New York Jets: Mark Sanchez QB, USC. What if I told you Mark Sanchez lead the Jets to the AFC Championship game in his rookie season. Then he did it again in 2010. What a career trajectory right? Welp, it didn't last long, a career with so much promise was thwarted when the defense wasn't so good. Then in 2012 Sanchez made the most infamous play in Jets history with the butt fumble. He never recovered in New York, he bounced around from 2013-2019, before announcing his retirement.
Pick 6 Cincinnati Bengals: Andre Smith OT, Alabama. Andre Smith was at least solid for the Bengals, he struggled wit injuries early in his career but eventually got healthy and played a solid right tackle. He left Cinncy after 2015 and has since bounced around a little, he most recently signed with Baltimore and will try to play for them in 2020.
Pick 7 Oakland Raiders: Darrius Heyward-Bey WR, Maryland. The Raiders gonna Raider. I distinctly remember them getting killed for the pick, Heyward-Bey barely belonged in the 1st round, let alone the top 10. Michael Crabtree, Jeremy Maclin, Percy Harvin, Hakeem Nicks, and Kenny Britt were the other WRs taken in the 1st round, and they were all better than DHB. Now he did better than I thought he would, I was certain at the time he would be a bust and out of the league before his 2nd contract. Instead he had a nice 10 year career split between Oakland and Pittsburgh, but man they could've gotten him later.
Pick 8 Jacksonville Jaguars: Eugene Monroe OT, Virginia. Are these guys even real? Did the 2009 draft actually happen or was all just a prank? Monroe was solid for the Jags, started right out of the gate. But again only made it a few years before being traded to Baltimore, where I think half of these guys stopped at least once. After being traded Monroe signed a deal with Baltimore but didn't finish it out and retired in 2016.
Pick 9 Green Bay Packers: B.J. Raji DT, Boston College. Raji was a pretty good player for a short amount of time. He made it 6 seasons in the league before retiring, but those first 3 years were pretty good. His 2nd season was by his best with 6.5 sacks and 39 tackles, which for a Nose are decent numbers. Raji also got to star in a State Farm commercial with Aaron Rodgers, what else could you want. Oddly Raji is probably the 2nd or 3rd best player taken in the top 10, even with a 6 year career.
Pick 10 San Francisco 49ers: Michael Crabtree WR, Texas Tech. This was a smart pick by the team across the bay from Oakland. Crabtree was the best WR in this class coming out of college, he had put up some good numbers and was a beast physically. He was the first ever 2X Biletnikoff winner as the best receiver in college football. Well Crabtree didn't help himself out his rookie year, he held out until October (no rookie wage scale like we have today), so he got off on the wrong foot with the 49ers. He was fine for San Francisco before going to Oakland for his 2nd contract, and eventually got to the Ravens, seriously the Ravens had half of these guys. He got cut before the 2019 season by the Cardinals, not sure he still wants to play. He did end up with 54 TDs and 7,499 receiving yards for his 10 year career, not terrible.
The rest of the 1st round had a little more talent than the top 10. Picks 10-20 had 4 eventual Pro Bowlers. The Redskins took Brian Orakpo at 13, Saints took Malcolm Jenkins at 14, Texans took Brian Cushing (and his PEDs) at 15, and the Eagles got Jeremy Maclin at 19. How any of the defenders in the top 10 got taken before that trio at 13-15 is beyond me. Orakpo was pretty good, Jenkins was good, and Cushing won defensive rookie of the year.
The back end of the first round had Cleveland who traded back a few times getting Alex Mack, a pro bowl center. Minnesota took Percy Harvin, who I believe was in between a RB and WR and that's why he fell. Miami got Vontae Davis, a corner who had a decent career. Green Bay got Clay Matthews at 26, he was a big piece for them for many years, including their Super Bowl run. Lastly Buffalo got Eric Wood, another center who eventually made the Pro Bowl.
2nd round had some dudes, Patrick Chung for New England. Ray Maualuga was the 3rd USC linebacker taken. I remember in college thinking Maualuga was the best of the 3 (Cushing and Matthews), but Matthews ended up the best with Cushing, and then Maualuga. For pro bowlers in the 2nd you had Jarius Byrd (Buffalo), Connor Barwin (Houston), Max Unger (Seattle) (also with Unger another center, that's 3 pro bowlers in the first 50 picks, this is a center/punter draft) LeSean (Shady) McCoy (Philadelphia), and William Moore (Atlanta) I don't remember him.
3rd round had 2 Hawkeyes taken with Shonn Greene (Jets) and Bradley Fletcher (Rams) going. Mike Wallace went to Pittsburgh, and Jared Cook went to the Titans.
The Packers got T.J. Lang in the 4th round, they did ok with how shitty this draft was, that's 3 pro bowlers in 4 rounds.
In the 5th round it begins, the Bengals take Kevin Huber at pick 142. The Saints took Thomas Moorstead at 164. 7th round the Colts got the dude Pat McAfee at pick 222. That's 3 stud punters taken, I have nothing to back this up, but that might be the best punter class ever.
It's hard to select a bust for the draft because it was like half the top ten. You can't pick many guys who should've gone higher, maybe some of the RBs but who knows on those guys. I think Stafford is the best player in the draft so Detroit got something right for once.
The best draft would have to be Green Bay, they got 3 studs that helped them win in 2010.
This draft sucked, I'll try to get 2008 done so I don't scare all my readers away with this garbage ass class.
Pick 1 Detroit Lions: Matthew Stafford QB, Georgia. Stafford is by far the best pick in the top 10. He was the consensus #1 pick and has had probably the best career of anyone in this draft. He's been good at Detroit and paired with Calvin Johnson they were lethal. Never got to far in the playoffs but they did make it a few times. Stafford is still playing, one of the few from this draft, and I'm sure he's got a few more years left in him.
Pick 2 St. Louis Rams: Jason Smith OT, Baylor. Now it begins, who doesn't love it when the guy who you take to solidify your offensive line for the next 10 seasons loses his job to a rookie in his 2nd season. That's what happened to Jason Smith, started his rookie year until a concussion then lost his job the 2nd season. He made it a couple more years before being traded to the Jets, hung with them for 2012, got a shot with the Saints and Jets in 2013, but didn't pan out and was done with football before 2013 started.
Pick 3 Kansas City Chiefs: Tyson Jackson DE, LSU. Here's the thing about taking a pass rusher in the top 10, you want him to rush the quarterback. Well Tyson Jackson didn't do that very well, he had a combined 2 sacks his first 3 seasons. Jackson made it 5 years with the Chiefs and a couple years with Atlanta before being out of football after the 2016 season.
Pick 4 Seattle Seahawks: Aaron Curry LB, Wake Forest. This was 2009, I was pretty plugged into college football at the time, I can't remember any of these guys, except for Stafford. Curry made it a few years in Seattle but was out of the league after 2012, Here's the thing though, there isn't a lot of glaring guys who could've been taken here and made the teams better, this draft class is bad.
Pick 5 New York Jets: Mark Sanchez QB, USC. What if I told you Mark Sanchez lead the Jets to the AFC Championship game in his rookie season. Then he did it again in 2010. What a career trajectory right? Welp, it didn't last long, a career with so much promise was thwarted when the defense wasn't so good. Then in 2012 Sanchez made the most infamous play in Jets history with the butt fumble. He never recovered in New York, he bounced around from 2013-2019, before announcing his retirement.
Pick 6 Cincinnati Bengals: Andre Smith OT, Alabama. Andre Smith was at least solid for the Bengals, he struggled wit injuries early in his career but eventually got healthy and played a solid right tackle. He left Cinncy after 2015 and has since bounced around a little, he most recently signed with Baltimore and will try to play for them in 2020.
Pick 7 Oakland Raiders: Darrius Heyward-Bey WR, Maryland. The Raiders gonna Raider. I distinctly remember them getting killed for the pick, Heyward-Bey barely belonged in the 1st round, let alone the top 10. Michael Crabtree, Jeremy Maclin, Percy Harvin, Hakeem Nicks, and Kenny Britt were the other WRs taken in the 1st round, and they were all better than DHB. Now he did better than I thought he would, I was certain at the time he would be a bust and out of the league before his 2nd contract. Instead he had a nice 10 year career split between Oakland and Pittsburgh, but man they could've gotten him later.
Pick 8 Jacksonville Jaguars: Eugene Monroe OT, Virginia. Are these guys even real? Did the 2009 draft actually happen or was all just a prank? Monroe was solid for the Jags, started right out of the gate. But again only made it a few years before being traded to Baltimore, where I think half of these guys stopped at least once. After being traded Monroe signed a deal with Baltimore but didn't finish it out and retired in 2016.
Pick 9 Green Bay Packers: B.J. Raji DT, Boston College. Raji was a pretty good player for a short amount of time. He made it 6 seasons in the league before retiring, but those first 3 years were pretty good. His 2nd season was by his best with 6.5 sacks and 39 tackles, which for a Nose are decent numbers. Raji also got to star in a State Farm commercial with Aaron Rodgers, what else could you want. Oddly Raji is probably the 2nd or 3rd best player taken in the top 10, even with a 6 year career.
Pick 10 San Francisco 49ers: Michael Crabtree WR, Texas Tech. This was a smart pick by the team across the bay from Oakland. Crabtree was the best WR in this class coming out of college, he had put up some good numbers and was a beast physically. He was the first ever 2X Biletnikoff winner as the best receiver in college football. Well Crabtree didn't help himself out his rookie year, he held out until October (no rookie wage scale like we have today), so he got off on the wrong foot with the 49ers. He was fine for San Francisco before going to Oakland for his 2nd contract, and eventually got to the Ravens, seriously the Ravens had half of these guys. He got cut before the 2019 season by the Cardinals, not sure he still wants to play. He did end up with 54 TDs and 7,499 receiving yards for his 10 year career, not terrible.
The rest of the 1st round had a little more talent than the top 10. Picks 10-20 had 4 eventual Pro Bowlers. The Redskins took Brian Orakpo at 13, Saints took Malcolm Jenkins at 14, Texans took Brian Cushing (and his PEDs) at 15, and the Eagles got Jeremy Maclin at 19. How any of the defenders in the top 10 got taken before that trio at 13-15 is beyond me. Orakpo was pretty good, Jenkins was good, and Cushing won defensive rookie of the year.
The back end of the first round had Cleveland who traded back a few times getting Alex Mack, a pro bowl center. Minnesota took Percy Harvin, who I believe was in between a RB and WR and that's why he fell. Miami got Vontae Davis, a corner who had a decent career. Green Bay got Clay Matthews at 26, he was a big piece for them for many years, including their Super Bowl run. Lastly Buffalo got Eric Wood, another center who eventually made the Pro Bowl.
2nd round had some dudes, Patrick Chung for New England. Ray Maualuga was the 3rd USC linebacker taken. I remember in college thinking Maualuga was the best of the 3 (Cushing and Matthews), but Matthews ended up the best with Cushing, and then Maualuga. For pro bowlers in the 2nd you had Jarius Byrd (Buffalo), Connor Barwin (Houston), Max Unger (Seattle) (also with Unger another center, that's 3 pro bowlers in the first 50 picks, this is a center/punter draft) LeSean (Shady) McCoy (Philadelphia), and William Moore (Atlanta) I don't remember him.
3rd round had 2 Hawkeyes taken with Shonn Greene (Jets) and Bradley Fletcher (Rams) going. Mike Wallace went to Pittsburgh, and Jared Cook went to the Titans.
The Packers got T.J. Lang in the 4th round, they did ok with how shitty this draft was, that's 3 pro bowlers in 4 rounds.
In the 5th round it begins, the Bengals take Kevin Huber at pick 142. The Saints took Thomas Moorstead at 164. 7th round the Colts got the dude Pat McAfee at pick 222. That's 3 stud punters taken, I have nothing to back this up, but that might be the best punter class ever.
It's hard to select a bust for the draft because it was like half the top ten. You can't pick many guys who should've gone higher, maybe some of the RBs but who knows on those guys. I think Stafford is the best player in the draft so Detroit got something right for once.
The best draft would have to be Green Bay, they got 3 studs that helped them win in 2010.
This draft sucked, I'll try to get 2008 done so I don't scare all my readers away with this garbage ass class.
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
NFL Draft Revisited 2010
The NFL Draft is happening this week, it's one of the marquee dates on the calendar. Every year the pundits line up to share what they think teams need and don't need. Every year those guys are wrong and sound like idiots. I did this a few years ago where I went through the top 10 and talked about the picks, and some more notable picks in the later rounds. Seems like I'll have some time on my hands so I think I'll do a series on these, starting 10 years ago I'll work my way backwards to where I left off all those years ago, believe I got to 2006. The 2010 draft was the 75th NFL draft and was the last year without the rookie pay scale, where teams had to negotiate the salary. The top 10 oddly had no trades.
Pick 1 St. Louis Rams: Sam Bradford QB, Oklahoma. Bradford was the consensus top pick coming into the draft, the Rams were hoping he would help bring them back to the promised land. Bradford had won the Heisman as a sophomore at Oklahoma, but decided to go back for another year, and that year showed a glimpse of what his future would be. He got hurt twice and missed significant time. He never got any real traction in St. Louis after having a decent rookie campaign the injuries started his 2nd season and never really panned out. Bradford was always the great what it.
Pick 2 Detroit Lions: Ndamukong Suh DT, Nebraska. Suh was an absolute beast at Nebraska, probably the last great player to come through Lincoln. What he had in talent he also had in nastiness. Suh is one of the roughest, toughest, and dirtiest players the league has ever seen. I would love to talk about his dominance at the point of attack, but with Suh it always comes back to his antics. Though Suh dominated, he never got Detroit to the next level. They did make the playoffs but with the talent that team had, if Suh could've kept his head they could've gone farther. He's still in the league, bouncing around last couple years, even making the Super Bowl with the Rams. Suh turned out just fine, he was named to the 2010 All Decade team, and will probably find his way to Canton.
Pick 3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Gerald McCoy DT, Oklahoma. McCoy was a great player at Oklahoma, the 2nd best defensive lineman in the conference behind the guy taken a pick before him. He struggled with injuries his first 2 seasons, but then took off. He made 6 straight Pro Bowls from 2012-2017, before leaving Tampa for Carolina. McCoy is now with the Cowboys and is still playing strong.
Pick 4 Washington Redskins: Trent Williams OT, Oklahoma. 4 picks in and 3 of them are Sooners, kind of crazy. I remember the Redskins having the choice between Williams and Russell Okung from Ok. State (we'll seem him in the next couple picks). If I remember correctly there was lots of talk that they messed this pick up by not taking Okung. Williams was a stud for many years for the Redskins, they won a couple of division titles with him anchoring the left side. He has a little nasty streak in him and I always liked his toughness. Things got a little weird with him last couple years, but he's still around and trying to find a new home.
Pick 5 Kansas City Chiefs: Eric Berry S, Tennessee. Of all the picks in this draft, Eric Berry is probably the most well known guy in the NFL. He has beaten cancer while being one of the better safeties in the league. Eric Berry seems like a good dude, and a hell of a football player. He was named to the NFL All-Decade team, and even though he didn't play in 2019, he's still looking for another shot. He may find himself in Canton some day.
Pick 6 Seattle Seahawks: Russell Okung OT, Oklahoma State. I think this draft was going exactly how the experts were thinking it would go. Okung was no different, it was whomever the Redskins left for Seattle was going to be their pick. Okung is huge human, and he has made a nice living for himself pushing people around. He has a few little injury bugs, but he's been a very good pro, won a Super Bowl with Seattle and has since bounced a round a little, recently being traded to Carolina. This top 10 is very solid and Okung was no exception.
Pick 7 Cleveland Browns: Joe Haden CB, Florida. Haden is an absolute stud, he's been one of the top corners in the league since being drafted. Now of course he went to Cleveland and never got to use his skills for good, but the dude has been awesome. He probably isn't the best player selected in this draft but he's in the discussion. He's still in the league, playing with Pittsburgh after Cleveland released him a couple years ago.
Pick 8 Oakland Raiders: Rolando McClain LB, Alabama. You know those guys who are your guys. You don't see flaws, you just see what you want, well McClain is that guy for me. After this draft I swore he would be a beast, well good thing I'm not a talent evaluator because McClain was a swing and a miss for Oakland. He made it 3 years in Oakland before being released, retired for a season, then went to Dallas. He then got suspended for testing positive for illegal substances and has been out of the league since 2016.
Pick 9 Buffalo Bills: CJ Spiller RB, Clemson. I was Spiller guy as well, thought he had the speed and moves for the NFL. I was wrong. He got over 1,000 yards rushing once. Was a dynamic kick returner but never more than that. He made it a few years but was done after 2017. Spiller can beat out by Fred Jackson for the starting spot in Buffalo and just never got his legs.
Pick 10 Jacksonville Jaguars: Tyson Alualu DT, California. I like to think I was pretty plugged in in 2010, I didn't have kids yet so I knew my sports. I can't remember this dude for nothing. He's even still in the league. Going to Jacksonville probably didn't help his cause. He did alright, a solid starter for most of his career. I still have no idea who he is, he's currently a back up in Pittsburgh.
That's the top 10, lots of talent in those picks. 7 of the 10 have made the Pro Bowl, there are at least 2 hall of famers if not more. I think McClain is the biggest bust of the group, with Bradford behind him. I think Suh is the best player, with Berry and Haden right behind him. Now some notable picks.
11-20 had guys like Ryan Matthews (San Diego), Earl Thomas (Seattle), Jason Pierre-Paul (New York Giants), Mike Iupati (San Francisco), and Markice Pouncey (Pittsburgh). Lots of talent there, especially Thomas, Seattle was laying the ground work for their good teams of the decade.
Dez Bryant went 24, and Devin McCourty went 27.
2nd round the Patriots got this tight end named Rob Gronkowski out of Arizona with the 42nd pick. He did some damage for them.
If you read last week's blog, Jimmy Clausen went 48th to Carolina.
Sean Lee went to Dallas in the 2nd round, he turned out alright.
Seattle crushed it again getting Golden Tate at pick 60
3rd round highlights are Navarro Bowman to San Francisco and Jimmy Graham to New Orleans.
The Bengals snatched up Geno Atkins in the 4th round, I like him on my Madden 2012 game.
5th round Seattle got their other safety Kam Chancellor, damn they were on it.
Greg Hardy went in the 6th round, that dude had an interesting road.
Antonio Brown is the diamond in the rough, going in the 6th round, I don't care what baggage he had in 2019, he was an absolute steal for the first 8 years.
Best draft goes to Seattle, they got so many pro bowl players plus solid starters in this draft.
That's if for this one, come back soon, I'll do 2009 next.
Pick 1 St. Louis Rams: Sam Bradford QB, Oklahoma. Bradford was the consensus top pick coming into the draft, the Rams were hoping he would help bring them back to the promised land. Bradford had won the Heisman as a sophomore at Oklahoma, but decided to go back for another year, and that year showed a glimpse of what his future would be. He got hurt twice and missed significant time. He never got any real traction in St. Louis after having a decent rookie campaign the injuries started his 2nd season and never really panned out. Bradford was always the great what it.
Pick 2 Detroit Lions: Ndamukong Suh DT, Nebraska. Suh was an absolute beast at Nebraska, probably the last great player to come through Lincoln. What he had in talent he also had in nastiness. Suh is one of the roughest, toughest, and dirtiest players the league has ever seen. I would love to talk about his dominance at the point of attack, but with Suh it always comes back to his antics. Though Suh dominated, he never got Detroit to the next level. They did make the playoffs but with the talent that team had, if Suh could've kept his head they could've gone farther. He's still in the league, bouncing around last couple years, even making the Super Bowl with the Rams. Suh turned out just fine, he was named to the 2010 All Decade team, and will probably find his way to Canton.
Pick 3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Gerald McCoy DT, Oklahoma. McCoy was a great player at Oklahoma, the 2nd best defensive lineman in the conference behind the guy taken a pick before him. He struggled with injuries his first 2 seasons, but then took off. He made 6 straight Pro Bowls from 2012-2017, before leaving Tampa for Carolina. McCoy is now with the Cowboys and is still playing strong.
Pick 4 Washington Redskins: Trent Williams OT, Oklahoma. 4 picks in and 3 of them are Sooners, kind of crazy. I remember the Redskins having the choice between Williams and Russell Okung from Ok. State (we'll seem him in the next couple picks). If I remember correctly there was lots of talk that they messed this pick up by not taking Okung. Williams was a stud for many years for the Redskins, they won a couple of division titles with him anchoring the left side. He has a little nasty streak in him and I always liked his toughness. Things got a little weird with him last couple years, but he's still around and trying to find a new home.
Pick 5 Kansas City Chiefs: Eric Berry S, Tennessee. Of all the picks in this draft, Eric Berry is probably the most well known guy in the NFL. He has beaten cancer while being one of the better safeties in the league. Eric Berry seems like a good dude, and a hell of a football player. He was named to the NFL All-Decade team, and even though he didn't play in 2019, he's still looking for another shot. He may find himself in Canton some day.
Pick 6 Seattle Seahawks: Russell Okung OT, Oklahoma State. I think this draft was going exactly how the experts were thinking it would go. Okung was no different, it was whomever the Redskins left for Seattle was going to be their pick. Okung is huge human, and he has made a nice living for himself pushing people around. He has a few little injury bugs, but he's been a very good pro, won a Super Bowl with Seattle and has since bounced a round a little, recently being traded to Carolina. This top 10 is very solid and Okung was no exception.
Pick 7 Cleveland Browns: Joe Haden CB, Florida. Haden is an absolute stud, he's been one of the top corners in the league since being drafted. Now of course he went to Cleveland and never got to use his skills for good, but the dude has been awesome. He probably isn't the best player selected in this draft but he's in the discussion. He's still in the league, playing with Pittsburgh after Cleveland released him a couple years ago.
Pick 8 Oakland Raiders: Rolando McClain LB, Alabama. You know those guys who are your guys. You don't see flaws, you just see what you want, well McClain is that guy for me. After this draft I swore he would be a beast, well good thing I'm not a talent evaluator because McClain was a swing and a miss for Oakland. He made it 3 years in Oakland before being released, retired for a season, then went to Dallas. He then got suspended for testing positive for illegal substances and has been out of the league since 2016.
Pick 9 Buffalo Bills: CJ Spiller RB, Clemson. I was Spiller guy as well, thought he had the speed and moves for the NFL. I was wrong. He got over 1,000 yards rushing once. Was a dynamic kick returner but never more than that. He made it a few years but was done after 2017. Spiller can beat out by Fred Jackson for the starting spot in Buffalo and just never got his legs.
Pick 10 Jacksonville Jaguars: Tyson Alualu DT, California. I like to think I was pretty plugged in in 2010, I didn't have kids yet so I knew my sports. I can't remember this dude for nothing. He's even still in the league. Going to Jacksonville probably didn't help his cause. He did alright, a solid starter for most of his career. I still have no idea who he is, he's currently a back up in Pittsburgh.
That's the top 10, lots of talent in those picks. 7 of the 10 have made the Pro Bowl, there are at least 2 hall of famers if not more. I think McClain is the biggest bust of the group, with Bradford behind him. I think Suh is the best player, with Berry and Haden right behind him. Now some notable picks.
11-20 had guys like Ryan Matthews (San Diego), Earl Thomas (Seattle), Jason Pierre-Paul (New York Giants), Mike Iupati (San Francisco), and Markice Pouncey (Pittsburgh). Lots of talent there, especially Thomas, Seattle was laying the ground work for their good teams of the decade.
Dez Bryant went 24, and Devin McCourty went 27.
2nd round the Patriots got this tight end named Rob Gronkowski out of Arizona with the 42nd pick. He did some damage for them.
If you read last week's blog, Jimmy Clausen went 48th to Carolina.
Sean Lee went to Dallas in the 2nd round, he turned out alright.
Seattle crushed it again getting Golden Tate at pick 60
3rd round highlights are Navarro Bowman to San Francisco and Jimmy Graham to New Orleans.
The Bengals snatched up Geno Atkins in the 4th round, I like him on my Madden 2012 game.
5th round Seattle got their other safety Kam Chancellor, damn they were on it.
Greg Hardy went in the 6th round, that dude had an interesting road.
Antonio Brown is the diamond in the rough, going in the 6th round, I don't care what baggage he had in 2019, he was an absolute steal for the first 8 years.
Best draft goes to Seattle, they got so many pro bowl players plus solid starters in this draft.
That's if for this one, come back soon, I'll do 2009 next.
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
The Mount Rushmore of..............
It's the crutch, the fun topic of conversation, the social media chatter, the fodder for sports talk radio, it's about to be used by some dude in Iowa for his blog post for the week, it's a simple question. Who is on the Mt. Rushmore of (blank)? You can pick anything, Mt. Rushmore of this or that is something that can be talked about and debated for hours on end. I'm going to do a post about the Mt. Rushmore of things, but not the normal schtick, like the Mt. Rushmore of baseball, (Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Walter Johnson, and Willie Mays). No let's have a little fun and get into some deep cuts of sports Mt. Rushmore's, four guys who maybe you don't think of that often.
The Mount Rushmore of Brett Favre's back-ups: Ty Detmer, Doug Pederson, Mark Brunell, and Matt Hasselbeck. Apologies to Aaron Rodgers, but he was drafted as the replacement, not the back up. These 4 stallions were brought in to hold a clipboard as Brett worked his magic on the field for 12 of Brett's 16 years as a starter in Green Bay, 16 years where he didn't miss a start. This is one of my favorite things of Brett's career, he was so good, and had such a bevy of back-ups who watched his crazy play and then left and had success in other places. 2 of these guys played for the Eagles (Detmer and Pederson) and 2 of them followed coaches who were with the Packers to new places (Hasselbeck/Holmgren and Pederson/Reid). After hearing how Rodgers was treated by Brett in Green Bay I doubt he taught any of these guys a thing, it was probably more the coaches, but either way it's a fun list. Detmer didn't have much success, started for a couple years in Philly. Brunell was pretty good in Jacksonville, made the AFC Championship game once, and was a lefty so that's noteworthy. Pederson in typical back up QB fashion is a much better coach than QB, he won a Super Bowl while using a back up QB to win it. Hasselbeck had great years in Seattle, lost a Super Bowl also put his foot in his mouth in a playoff game in Green Bay once.
The Mount Rushmore of Guys who were in college for 8 years: Donovan McNabb, Aaron Craft, Luke Recker, and Greg Paulus. Sorry Jess Settles, this category if for guys who "felt" like they were in college for 8 years, not literally in college for 8 years. McNabb was the first guy I remember thinking, damn that dude is still playing. He threw passes to Marvin Harrison in college and then played another 3 years. McNabb also walked onto the hoops team for 2 years, which only made his time seem longer. Aaron Craft is the king of basketball players who seem like they play forever, he is probably the most hated hoops player in recent Big Ten history, he wasn't good, but he was good enough to piss you off. Not a tremendous athlete, but he had a good mind for the game, and played hella good defense. Was a pain in the ass. When Luke Recker was at Iowa I admired him from afar, I wasn't an Iowa fan but he was my favorite player to watch, dude was amazing. Those couple years he was a force at Iowa seemed longer. You could pick any white guy from Duke and put him on this list, but I decided on Paulus because, he sucked so much at basketball, he quit the game and spent a year at Syracuse to play football. He wasn't good at either thing but the fact he got to do it shows how entitled he was.
The Mount Rushmore of great hopes: Brien Taylor, Jimmy Clausen, Daisuke Matsuzaka, and Jake Locker. All sports are hard to gauge how successful a young person is going to be at them, however once people nail a couple they get a feeling like we have to keep doing this. I found this diamond and showed how smart I am, I'm going to dig a little deeper and find another one. Brien Taylor was the first great hope of my youth, taken #1 by the Yankees who obviously weren't very good, he was the arm that was going to turn it around in the Bronx. Well he never panned out, he hurt his shoulder in a fight, had surgery and never fulfilled the prophecies about his talent. When I was a kid Taylor and Todd Van Poppel were the 2 cards we were trying to get, neither was any good. I read about Jimmy Clause when he was in high school, he was heading to Notre Dame to win National Championships and Heisman Trophies. He had 2 brothers who played at Tennessee and he was better than both and had a QB guru that he trained with. Well he was alright, never got close to winning anything. Notre Dame sucked when he was there, but Clausen left early anyway, which lead to this. Still think Mel Kiper should pay us back and retire. Daisuke Matsuzaka came from Japan with 8 pitches including the gyro ball, Major League hitters didn't stanch a chance. He had 2 decent years to start, then he fell apart. Hardly the hype train he was billed as. Jake Locker is bad at football, that's probably why he returned for his senior year after being projected as the #1 pick after his junior year. When Locker finally made the league he didn't do well, drafted by the Titans at pick 8, he was out of the league in 3 years. Not bad for a bigger taller right handed Steve Young.
The Mount Rushmore of side arm/submarine pitchers: Terry Leach, Dan Quisenberry, Darren O'Day, and Byung-Hyun Kim. When I was kid we would emulate hitters and pitchers stances. I loved doing my Griffey or Bonds impression, and when we played catch I would drop down low and throw like Terry Leach of the Twins until after about 2 throws and my arm would hurt. Dan Quisenberry was of the same time frame and was better than Leach. BYK stared for the Diamondbacks in the World Series where they beat the Yankees, he was unhittable that season. Darren O'Day is the best sidearmer around right now, he's had mild success for a few years. I've heard Walter Johnson and Satchel Paige threw side arm, but these guys were true drop down throwers.
The Mount Rushmore of knee injuries ruined my NBA career: Derrick Rose, Grant Hill, Amar'e Stoudamire, and Brandon Roy. I really just wanted to talk about Derrick Rose and Grant Hill. Those 2 were poised to be the best players in the league. Rose was electric, probably the best point guard since Iverson. He could take you off the bounce, dish to anyone, and was amazing. Hill was poised to take the mantle from Jordan and carry the league for 10 years, instead both of these guys knees let them down, and one injury lead to another injury and another and so on. They both had very high highs in the league but their full talent was never seen. Amar'e Stoudamire was a dunking machine, his Suns teams were so fun to watch, then his knee went and so did his explosiveness. Brandon Roy was a good college player and was ready to take his talent to the next level and again never got to fully blossom. Damn shame.
The Mount Rushmore of baseball manager mustaches: Phil Garner, Cito Gasten, Eric Wedge, and Jim Leyland. Baseball players, especially relief pitchers had the best facial hair but these guys crush it in the lip work department. Just look at these glorious men Phil Garner, Cito Gasten, Eric Wedge, and Jim Leyland just beautiful.
That's it, have some fun and come up with your own.
The Mount Rushmore of Brett Favre's back-ups: Ty Detmer, Doug Pederson, Mark Brunell, and Matt Hasselbeck. Apologies to Aaron Rodgers, but he was drafted as the replacement, not the back up. These 4 stallions were brought in to hold a clipboard as Brett worked his magic on the field for 12 of Brett's 16 years as a starter in Green Bay, 16 years where he didn't miss a start. This is one of my favorite things of Brett's career, he was so good, and had such a bevy of back-ups who watched his crazy play and then left and had success in other places. 2 of these guys played for the Eagles (Detmer and Pederson) and 2 of them followed coaches who were with the Packers to new places (Hasselbeck/Holmgren and Pederson/Reid). After hearing how Rodgers was treated by Brett in Green Bay I doubt he taught any of these guys a thing, it was probably more the coaches, but either way it's a fun list. Detmer didn't have much success, started for a couple years in Philly. Brunell was pretty good in Jacksonville, made the AFC Championship game once, and was a lefty so that's noteworthy. Pederson in typical back up QB fashion is a much better coach than QB, he won a Super Bowl while using a back up QB to win it. Hasselbeck had great years in Seattle, lost a Super Bowl also put his foot in his mouth in a playoff game in Green Bay once.
The Mount Rushmore of Guys who were in college for 8 years: Donovan McNabb, Aaron Craft, Luke Recker, and Greg Paulus. Sorry Jess Settles, this category if for guys who "felt" like they were in college for 8 years, not literally in college for 8 years. McNabb was the first guy I remember thinking, damn that dude is still playing. He threw passes to Marvin Harrison in college and then played another 3 years. McNabb also walked onto the hoops team for 2 years, which only made his time seem longer. Aaron Craft is the king of basketball players who seem like they play forever, he is probably the most hated hoops player in recent Big Ten history, he wasn't good, but he was good enough to piss you off. Not a tremendous athlete, but he had a good mind for the game, and played hella good defense. Was a pain in the ass. When Luke Recker was at Iowa I admired him from afar, I wasn't an Iowa fan but he was my favorite player to watch, dude was amazing. Those couple years he was a force at Iowa seemed longer. You could pick any white guy from Duke and put him on this list, but I decided on Paulus because, he sucked so much at basketball, he quit the game and spent a year at Syracuse to play football. He wasn't good at either thing but the fact he got to do it shows how entitled he was.
The Mount Rushmore of great hopes: Brien Taylor, Jimmy Clausen, Daisuke Matsuzaka, and Jake Locker. All sports are hard to gauge how successful a young person is going to be at them, however once people nail a couple they get a feeling like we have to keep doing this. I found this diamond and showed how smart I am, I'm going to dig a little deeper and find another one. Brien Taylor was the first great hope of my youth, taken #1 by the Yankees who obviously weren't very good, he was the arm that was going to turn it around in the Bronx. Well he never panned out, he hurt his shoulder in a fight, had surgery and never fulfilled the prophecies about his talent. When I was a kid Taylor and Todd Van Poppel were the 2 cards we were trying to get, neither was any good. I read about Jimmy Clause when he was in high school, he was heading to Notre Dame to win National Championships and Heisman Trophies. He had 2 brothers who played at Tennessee and he was better than both and had a QB guru that he trained with. Well he was alright, never got close to winning anything. Notre Dame sucked when he was there, but Clausen left early anyway, which lead to this. Still think Mel Kiper should pay us back and retire. Daisuke Matsuzaka came from Japan with 8 pitches including the gyro ball, Major League hitters didn't stanch a chance. He had 2 decent years to start, then he fell apart. Hardly the hype train he was billed as. Jake Locker is bad at football, that's probably why he returned for his senior year after being projected as the #1 pick after his junior year. When Locker finally made the league he didn't do well, drafted by the Titans at pick 8, he was out of the league in 3 years. Not bad for a bigger taller right handed Steve Young.
The Mount Rushmore of side arm/submarine pitchers: Terry Leach, Dan Quisenberry, Darren O'Day, and Byung-Hyun Kim. When I was kid we would emulate hitters and pitchers stances. I loved doing my Griffey or Bonds impression, and when we played catch I would drop down low and throw like Terry Leach of the Twins until after about 2 throws and my arm would hurt. Dan Quisenberry was of the same time frame and was better than Leach. BYK stared for the Diamondbacks in the World Series where they beat the Yankees, he was unhittable that season. Darren O'Day is the best sidearmer around right now, he's had mild success for a few years. I've heard Walter Johnson and Satchel Paige threw side arm, but these guys were true drop down throwers.
The Mount Rushmore of knee injuries ruined my NBA career: Derrick Rose, Grant Hill, Amar'e Stoudamire, and Brandon Roy. I really just wanted to talk about Derrick Rose and Grant Hill. Those 2 were poised to be the best players in the league. Rose was electric, probably the best point guard since Iverson. He could take you off the bounce, dish to anyone, and was amazing. Hill was poised to take the mantle from Jordan and carry the league for 10 years, instead both of these guys knees let them down, and one injury lead to another injury and another and so on. They both had very high highs in the league but their full talent was never seen. Amar'e Stoudamire was a dunking machine, his Suns teams were so fun to watch, then his knee went and so did his explosiveness. Brandon Roy was a good college player and was ready to take his talent to the next level and again never got to fully blossom. Damn shame.
The Mount Rushmore of baseball manager mustaches: Phil Garner, Cito Gasten, Eric Wedge, and Jim Leyland. Baseball players, especially relief pitchers had the best facial hair but these guys crush it in the lip work department. Just look at these glorious men Phil Garner, Cito Gasten, Eric Wedge, and Jim Leyland just beautiful.
That's it, have some fun and come up with your own.
Tuesday, April 7, 2020
The Fictional Baseball Players Game
Good evening friends of the feathered, welcome to Dyersville, Iowa, home to the historic Field of Dreams. I'm your play by play announcer Harry Doyle and I'm joined in the booth by my co-host Scott Smalls. Scott we'll get to you in a second. But first let's talk about what we're about to witness. We have 22 of the greatest fictional baseball players assembled here to take part in a once in a lifetime game. These are the elite fake baseball players and we have quite the range of players. We've got men, women, some children, and even a cartoon rabbit, can you believe Scotty a cartoon rabbit?
Yeah Harry that's hard to believe, almost like a kid raised in the 60's not knowing who Babe Ruth is.
Not sure what that's supposed to mean Scott, but based on that stupid hat you're wearing I got a feeling you aren't the biggest baseball fan. The players are strange and so are the managers, for Erb's team we got a 12 year old kid from Minnesota, we'll get to Billy Haywood's line up in a second. For Brady's team it's former Major League star turned manager Jimmy Dugan, some say Jimmy has a drinking problem but I don't see it. First the line up for Haywood's band of misfits. Batting lead off and playing center field it's Willie Mays Hayes, in the 2 hole and playing SS Bennie Rodriguez, batting 3rd and playing left field is T-Rex Pennebaker, hitting clean up and playing first is Clu Haywood, up 5th and catching is Jack Parkman, hitting 6th and in right field is Alejandro Heddo, the 7th man and on the hot corner is Ray Mitchell, hitting 8th and playing 2nd is Mickey Scales, and finally the pitcher Billy Chapel. What you like about that line up Scott?
Lots of speed Harry, and enough power, Chapel was strong on the mound his last outing throwing a perfect game, this team will be formidable.
Alright and for Jimmy Dugan his line up card looks like this, Leading off and playing short is Bugs Bunny, 2nd up and playing 2nd base is Marla Hooch, in the 3 hole and playing left field is Bobby Rayburn, cleaning up and playing right field is Roy Hobbs, batting 5th and playing 1st is Jack Elliot, up 6th and pitching is Steve Nebraska, the 7th hitter and catching is Dottie Hinson, in the 8 hole and playing 3rd is Roger Dorn, and finally Lonnie Ritter bats 9th and plays center field. This line up has a little of everything, what you like here Scott?
This is powerful line up Harry, all these hitters have the power to launch one into the corn tonight, they might be a little slow on the basepaths so we'll have to see if that has an effect on the game.
Well Scott, it looks like the opening ceremonies have ended with the National Anthem being played and noted baseball fan Annie Savoy has thrown out the first pitch, she was quickly rushed off the field since it appeared she was trying to give pitching advice to Steve Nebraska. Stepping in is Willie Mayes Hayes, strike 1, strike 2, and strike 3, Hayes goes down quickly. Stepping up next is Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez, what can you tell us about the Jet Scott, says you were friends in the past.
The Jet is a Legend Harry, he is a do it all player, and is the guy who got me interested in baseball. Can you believe he wouldn't let me wear this hat when we played together?
Well apparently he's a fashion designer as well, and while you were going on Scott, the Jet goes down on three straight pitches. Next up is T-Rex, and he's down on three straight pitches as well, Nebraska looks locked in early. After a half inning it's still zero's on the board. Now stepping in for the home team is lead off man Bugs Bunny, Chapel winds and throws, Bugs hits a 2 hopper to short and Benny fires over to 1st to get him by a hare. Next up is Marla Hooch, she's looks like a great hitter and that's about it, anything to add Scott?
ummmmm
He's not the best color man in the business for nothing folks, Hooch looks at strike 1, then on the 2nd pitch hits a line shot into center but Hayes makes the running catch. In steps Bobby Rayburn, he's struggled a little since leaving Atlanta but he's got a great swing. Rayburn quickly works the count 2-1, and then pops out to Mitchell in foul territory. After 1 still 0-0. The top of the 2nd looks like the 1st as Nebraska mows down Haywood in 3 straight pitches, in steps Parkman who does that little shimmy that makes all the women here in Iowa puke. Nebraska serves him 3 straight strikes as well. Next up is Butch Heddo, and he's quickly out, again on 3 straight pitches, that 6 K's for Nebraska on 18 pitches. To the bottom of the 2nd still zeros. Bottom of the 2nd, and Roy Hobbs strolls up to the plate, he gives the 2nd pitch he sees a ride but again Hayes chases it down. Jack Elliot is up next and he quickly rolls over one to his counterpart at first, and Haywood steps on the bag. Nebraska steps in hoping to help his own cause, but instead he becomes Chapel's first strikeout victim and after 2 innings it's 0-0. Top of the 3rd and Mitchell is set to lead it off for team Erb, what would you do to disrupt Nebraska's timing here Scott?
I think trying to foul one off would be a good idea, you can't take any pitches, he's too locked in. I've hit one homer in my live and know that feeling when you get a good swing but it doesn't look like Nebraska is letting them get one of those swings.
Thanks Scott, while you were babbling Mitchell went down in 3 straight pitches and Scales is down 0-2 already, Nebraska works fast, and called strike 3, Scales is out. Chapel is next to hit, and again 3 straight strikes from Nebraska. Nebraska is perfect through 3. Bottom of the 3rd inning and Dottie Hinson steps in to take her cuts, she hits a screamer to short and Rodriguez gloves it. Dorn steps in, saw him talking to Annie Savoy pregame in the locker room, and Dorn tries to get hit by the first pitch he sees but the ball breaks over the plate for a called strike, 2nd pitch Dorn lifts into left and T-Rex makes the catch. Last up is Ritter, and looks like Billy Haywood his former manager had some words for Lonnie after he rolled over to 2nd base and didn't run it out. After 3 innings it's still 0-0 and both pitchers are perfect. You trying to tell me with both of these great offenses nobody can get a fucking hit?
You can't say fucking on the air Harry!!!!
Ahhh who gives a shit nobodies listening anyway, this entire premise is made up. It's a little silly if you ask me, not as silly as your hat, but almost. In steps Hayes to lead off the 4th, and he lays down a beautiful bunt towards, even if Dorn were an average fielder it would've been a tough play but Dorn almost spiked himself trying to pick up the ball. So finally we have a base runner following the bunt single, now let's see what the Jet does. Nebraska checks on Hayes twice at first, finally he goes home and it's a called strike but Hayes steals 2nd. Next pitch Benny swings like he's trying to knock the cover off the ball and misses again, strike 3 is called down he goes. T-Rex steps in and after missing strike 1, he puts a charge into the 2nd pitch and deposits it in the corn long over the left field wall and out of the stadium, and suddenly it's 2-0. Clu Haywood steps in, still leads the league in nose hairs, he hits the first pitch he sees into the glove of Roy Hobbs and it's the first put out that isn't a K for Nebraska. Parkman steps in again, does that little shimmy that drives the women here in Iowa crazy. Parkman swings and misses at strike 3, appeared Nebraska said something about letting him name the pitch if he touched it and Parkman missed. Here comes Bugs Bunny to face Chapel to start the 4th, he hits a chopper over Rodriguez, the ball almost took a cartoonish hop. Then Marla Hooch hits a line shot between Scales and Haywood, and the home team is in business with runners on 1st and 3rd and nobody out. Chapel is a bit flustered here, looks to be favoring his pitching arm after he walks Rayburn on 5 pitches. So here comes Hobbs with the bases loaded and nobody out. On the 2nd pitch Hobbs does the unthinkable, he hits a drive over the right field wall, over the corn and the ball lands on home plate of the original Field of Dreams, how far is that home run Scotty?
Looks to be about 800 feet Harry, might want to check his bat and make sure it's legal. He put a real whammer on that ball.
"Whammer" what the hell is that supposed to mean? Any way now stepping up is Jack Elliot, who once homered in 7 straight games in the Japanese League. Let's see if Chapel settles down after the huge grand slam. Elliot hits a slow roller to second and Scales scoops it and tosses to Haywood for the out. Steve Nebraska comes to the plate with the lead now. Chapel looks in, shakes off Parkman a couple times, here's the pitch Nebraska hits a screamer right over Chapel's head. He'll get to 1st, with 1 out for Dottie. Dottie hits the 3rd pitch past a diving Rodriguez and Dugan is in business again with runners on 1st and 2nd and 1 out. Dorn will try to create more separation here. He hits a slow roller towards, Mitchell charges at an unbelievable rate to field it throw to 2nd and Scales sends it on to 1st for the double play. Looked like Mitchell got a push behind there even though there was nobody around him, pretty strange. Either way Brady's team gets 4 runs and after 4 innings it's 4-2. Heddo leads off the 5th for Haywood, he looks pretty scary up there, like an oversized John Kruk. Nebraska sends in his offering, and Heddo lifts one into the gap in left, he's chugging for 2 and slides just before the throw from Rayburn. Give Heddo credit for sacrificing the body, he's got a family to think about. Mitchell is next, after making that great play on defense. Still think he had help.
It appeared so Harry, on the replay he's moving closer to the ball but his legs aren't moving. Very strange.
Now that the mystery is solved, Mitchell hits a pitch 6 inches outside that goes down the right field line, and the ball appears to carom off of something in midair and lands in fair territory, man this guy is the luckiest hitter on the field tonight. Heddo comes around to score and Mitchell is at 3rd with a triple after Hobbs thought that ball was going foul and didn't chase it down right away. They walk Scales to get to Chapel, so runners on the corners nobody out for Billy Haywood, who has come out of the dugout and is coaching third base this inning. It's a suicide squeeze, Dottie got the ball but was too far up 1st baseline to make a play at so she throws to 1st to get Chapel, and a run scores as Scales moves up to 2nd. Hayes steps in, he lifts the 2nd pitch towards Rayburn in left and instantly drops down and starts doing push-ups. Rayburn makes the catch and Hayes is retired. Now Rodriguez will bat, trying to tie the game. Looks at strike 1, now on the 2nd pitch he smashes a drive to deep right center, and as the ball is flying it splits into 2, I think The Jet just hit the guts out of the baseball.
That's the second time I've seen him do that Harry, incredible feat.
Well let's see what the ruling is from the umpires, appears they're ruling a ground rule double, so the run scores and we're tied at 4. Now it'll be T-Rex trying to get the lead for the visitors. His last homer was longer than Scott's baseball career. Nebraska though digs deep and gets T-Rex on 3 straight pitches, it's feast or famine for this guy. After 4 1/2 innings we're all tied up at 4. Ritter leads off the 5th for the home team. 1st pitch, Ritter fouls it straight back at us, Scott that one is yours, (POP).
OW OW OW, right in the eye.
You alright there Scotty?
Not again!
Here Scott put this ice cold Busch Light on there, should help the swelling, I'd offer you some of my drink but I'm not sure your old enough. Thought for sure nothing could get past that big ass brim on your hat but it did. While Scott icing his eye Ritter lined out to right, Bugs Bunny hit a bases empty grand slam, and Marla Hooch hit a double. That brings up Rayburn who looks at strike 3, he isn't having a good night the plate. Hobbs now digs in to face Chapel who has struggled since the 3rd inning. Hobbs drives it deep to right again but this time Heddo leaps at the wall and robs him of the homer, stranding Hooch at 2nd. After 5 it's 8-4. Scott is now resting in the back of the press box, think I'll be alone the rest of the game.
Clu Heywood starts us off in the 6th, he promptly hits a double to right center, bringing up Parkman. He does that little shimmy getting in the box. He's yelling at Nebraska on the mound again. This time he crushes it deep to right. Parkman makes it 8-6 with a 2 run homer and is making some obscene gestures towards Nebraska, that doesn't seem necessary. Next is Heddo, another gapper leads to another double. Mitchell squibs one down the line, so runners on the corners for Scales. He looks into the dugout wondering if Haywood wants him to hit, not sure why it's not like these teams have any bench bats. Scales gets one right on the screws it gets over the left field wall by a 3 inches, it's now 9-8 in favor of the visitor's. Chapel goes down quickly on 3 pitches, Willie Mays Hayes pops out to short this time and again is doing push ups in the batters box. Bennie goes down on 3 pitches again and Nebraska halts any further damage, after 5 1/2 innings it's 9-8. Bottom of the 6th hasn't started well for Chaple, Elliot took him deep, then Nebraska knocked a triple down the right field line, and Dottie hit a double, giving the home team the lead 10-9. Dorn strikes out for the first out of the innings. Ritter hits one into left scoring Hinson but he gets caught trying to stretch it into a double. Bugs Bunny strikes out on one pitch and inning is over. It's 10-9 after 6.
Top 7 and T-Rex starts it with a base hit to left. Haywood then smashes a double, scoring T-Rex to tie the game. Parkman hits a single, so it's runners on the corners with nobody out and Heddo up. Jimmy Dugan is looking at the bullpen and decides to go to his closer, Henry Rowengartner. Rotary gurder is young man who broke his arm and has a ferocious fastball. Rosenbagger and Heddo have some history let's see how this plays out. First pitch is 103 MPH fastball right down the middle, strike 1, next pitch 104, strike 2. Now Rowengartner winds up and throws the ball underhand? I'm being told he calls it the floater, Heddo waits on it and crushes this thing into the corn out of the stadium. It's a 3 run homer and Erb's team takes a 13-10 lead. Rowengartner learns his lesson and feeds fastballs to the next 3 hitters ending the damage and gets out of the inning. It's time to stretch with Erb's team leading 13-10. Now trailing by 3 Brady's team will have to get by Jim Bowers. Leading off the 7th is Marla Hooch who again laces a single to right. Rayburn gets booed as he comes to the plate, then he doubles to left, but Hooch stops at 3rd. Bowers is now squeezing his glove before facing Hobbs. He gets Hobbs to strike out on 3 breaking pitches. Elliot is up next and they walk him to Rowengartner. The diminutive Rowengartner draws four straight balls and walks a run in. Now he's at first base taunting Bowers about the size of his ass. This game has a little of everything doesn't is Scott. (soft mumbles from the back of the room) So now it's Dottie Hinson's turn, down 2 with the bases loaded. She gets a hold of this one, and it's over the wall for the 3rd Grand Slam for Brady's team tonight. Making the score 15-13. Dorn leans into one and gets plunked. But Ritter grounds into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning, after 7 it's 15-13.
Ryan Dunne is in to relieve Rowengartner, as Dugan is going to the bullpen again. Dunne is a young pitcher with not much experience at this level. Dunne gets Hayes to strikeout, and Rodriguez to ground out to Hooch. T-Rex skies one into foul territory and Rayburn strides over and make the catch to end the 8th, Dunne looked real good there. Bowers not to be outdone gets Bugs to strike out, and Haywood shifts on Hooch and Scales is right there to make the catch. Here comes Rayburn, and he hits a massive homer to straight away center, making it 16-13. Bowers gets Hobbs in 3 pitches, to the 9th inning we go it's 16-13.
Clu Haywood lines out to center on the 2nd pitch from Dunne, and then Dunne gets Parkman to strikeout. Now Dunne is looking into the stands, is he watching Annie Savoy leave? Why is Annie Savoy leaving the game, and why is Ryan Dunne watching her when he's 1 out away from closing the biggest game in fictional baseball history. Now he's running after her, what is Dugan gonna do, Dunne is leaving the game, what an idiot. What in the hell is going on down there. Well Dugan conferences with the team, looks like he wants to try Hobbs to get the last out, I believe Hobbs was a pitcher in the past. So now he moves Dorn to right leaving Bugs Bunny with the entire left side of the infield to himself. Hobbs walks Heddo, then Mitchell hits a ball that goes right at Ritter but then stops suddenly and drops to the ground, putting runners on 2nd and 3rd and Scales is the tying run. They walk Scales again to face the pitcher. Bowers stands in, he's holding the bat upside down, but again Hobbs can't throw a strike and walks a run in. It's 16-14, and in steps Willie Mays Hayes, but before he bats, Dugan is taking Hobbs off the mound and going to Marla Hooch to pitch. Her first offering is crushed by Hayes, who yells "TOLD YOU SKIP I'M A POWER HITTER NOW", and it's 18-16. And Dugan regrets his choice immediately, he now turns to Bugs to pitch, and Bugs gets Benny on 1 pitch. To the bottom of the 9th and it looks like Wild Thing Ricky Vaughn is coming in to close it down. Wild Thing gets Elliot on 3 pitches 95/97/98 on the radar gun. Brady's team has to take the 2nd out since Ryan Dunne has apparently left the stadium and is chasing Annie Savoy to Cedar Rapids. Down 2 runs, Dottie Hinson hits a double, bringing up Roger Dorn. And Wild Thing delivers him a fastball at 99 mph strike one, next pitch is 101, strike 2, Vaughn winds up and throws, STRIKE 3 he got em, 103 MILES PER HOUR!!!! Vaughn walks up to Dorn and says some expletives before punching him in the face. Erb's team win 16-14, and that's all folks. What a game, what an atmosphere. Thanks for tuning in, we'll catch you next time.
Yeah Harry that's hard to believe, almost like a kid raised in the 60's not knowing who Babe Ruth is.
Not sure what that's supposed to mean Scott, but based on that stupid hat you're wearing I got a feeling you aren't the biggest baseball fan. The players are strange and so are the managers, for Erb's team we got a 12 year old kid from Minnesota, we'll get to Billy Haywood's line up in a second. For Brady's team it's former Major League star turned manager Jimmy Dugan, some say Jimmy has a drinking problem but I don't see it. First the line up for Haywood's band of misfits. Batting lead off and playing center field it's Willie Mays Hayes, in the 2 hole and playing SS Bennie Rodriguez, batting 3rd and playing left field is T-Rex Pennebaker, hitting clean up and playing first is Clu Haywood, up 5th and catching is Jack Parkman, hitting 6th and in right field is Alejandro Heddo, the 7th man and on the hot corner is Ray Mitchell, hitting 8th and playing 2nd is Mickey Scales, and finally the pitcher Billy Chapel. What you like about that line up Scott?
Lots of speed Harry, and enough power, Chapel was strong on the mound his last outing throwing a perfect game, this team will be formidable.
Alright and for Jimmy Dugan his line up card looks like this, Leading off and playing short is Bugs Bunny, 2nd up and playing 2nd base is Marla Hooch, in the 3 hole and playing left field is Bobby Rayburn, cleaning up and playing right field is Roy Hobbs, batting 5th and playing 1st is Jack Elliot, up 6th and pitching is Steve Nebraska, the 7th hitter and catching is Dottie Hinson, in the 8 hole and playing 3rd is Roger Dorn, and finally Lonnie Ritter bats 9th and plays center field. This line up has a little of everything, what you like here Scott?
This is powerful line up Harry, all these hitters have the power to launch one into the corn tonight, they might be a little slow on the basepaths so we'll have to see if that has an effect on the game.
Well Scott, it looks like the opening ceremonies have ended with the National Anthem being played and noted baseball fan Annie Savoy has thrown out the first pitch, she was quickly rushed off the field since it appeared she was trying to give pitching advice to Steve Nebraska. Stepping in is Willie Mayes Hayes, strike 1, strike 2, and strike 3, Hayes goes down quickly. Stepping up next is Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez, what can you tell us about the Jet Scott, says you were friends in the past.
The Jet is a Legend Harry, he is a do it all player, and is the guy who got me interested in baseball. Can you believe he wouldn't let me wear this hat when we played together?
Well apparently he's a fashion designer as well, and while you were going on Scott, the Jet goes down on three straight pitches. Next up is T-Rex, and he's down on three straight pitches as well, Nebraska looks locked in early. After a half inning it's still zero's on the board. Now stepping in for the home team is lead off man Bugs Bunny, Chapel winds and throws, Bugs hits a 2 hopper to short and Benny fires over to 1st to get him by a hare. Next up is Marla Hooch, she's looks like a great hitter and that's about it, anything to add Scott?
ummmmm
He's not the best color man in the business for nothing folks, Hooch looks at strike 1, then on the 2nd pitch hits a line shot into center but Hayes makes the running catch. In steps Bobby Rayburn, he's struggled a little since leaving Atlanta but he's got a great swing. Rayburn quickly works the count 2-1, and then pops out to Mitchell in foul territory. After 1 still 0-0. The top of the 2nd looks like the 1st as Nebraska mows down Haywood in 3 straight pitches, in steps Parkman who does that little shimmy that makes all the women here in Iowa puke. Nebraska serves him 3 straight strikes as well. Next up is Butch Heddo, and he's quickly out, again on 3 straight pitches, that 6 K's for Nebraska on 18 pitches. To the bottom of the 2nd still zeros. Bottom of the 2nd, and Roy Hobbs strolls up to the plate, he gives the 2nd pitch he sees a ride but again Hayes chases it down. Jack Elliot is up next and he quickly rolls over one to his counterpart at first, and Haywood steps on the bag. Nebraska steps in hoping to help his own cause, but instead he becomes Chapel's first strikeout victim and after 2 innings it's 0-0. Top of the 3rd and Mitchell is set to lead it off for team Erb, what would you do to disrupt Nebraska's timing here Scott?
I think trying to foul one off would be a good idea, you can't take any pitches, he's too locked in. I've hit one homer in my live and know that feeling when you get a good swing but it doesn't look like Nebraska is letting them get one of those swings.
Thanks Scott, while you were babbling Mitchell went down in 3 straight pitches and Scales is down 0-2 already, Nebraska works fast, and called strike 3, Scales is out. Chapel is next to hit, and again 3 straight strikes from Nebraska. Nebraska is perfect through 3. Bottom of the 3rd inning and Dottie Hinson steps in to take her cuts, she hits a screamer to short and Rodriguez gloves it. Dorn steps in, saw him talking to Annie Savoy pregame in the locker room, and Dorn tries to get hit by the first pitch he sees but the ball breaks over the plate for a called strike, 2nd pitch Dorn lifts into left and T-Rex makes the catch. Last up is Ritter, and looks like Billy Haywood his former manager had some words for Lonnie after he rolled over to 2nd base and didn't run it out. After 3 innings it's still 0-0 and both pitchers are perfect. You trying to tell me with both of these great offenses nobody can get a fucking hit?
You can't say fucking on the air Harry!!!!
Ahhh who gives a shit nobodies listening anyway, this entire premise is made up. It's a little silly if you ask me, not as silly as your hat, but almost. In steps Hayes to lead off the 4th, and he lays down a beautiful bunt towards, even if Dorn were an average fielder it would've been a tough play but Dorn almost spiked himself trying to pick up the ball. So finally we have a base runner following the bunt single, now let's see what the Jet does. Nebraska checks on Hayes twice at first, finally he goes home and it's a called strike but Hayes steals 2nd. Next pitch Benny swings like he's trying to knock the cover off the ball and misses again, strike 3 is called down he goes. T-Rex steps in and after missing strike 1, he puts a charge into the 2nd pitch and deposits it in the corn long over the left field wall and out of the stadium, and suddenly it's 2-0. Clu Haywood steps in, still leads the league in nose hairs, he hits the first pitch he sees into the glove of Roy Hobbs and it's the first put out that isn't a K for Nebraska. Parkman steps in again, does that little shimmy that drives the women here in Iowa crazy. Parkman swings and misses at strike 3, appeared Nebraska said something about letting him name the pitch if he touched it and Parkman missed. Here comes Bugs Bunny to face Chapel to start the 4th, he hits a chopper over Rodriguez, the ball almost took a cartoonish hop. Then Marla Hooch hits a line shot between Scales and Haywood, and the home team is in business with runners on 1st and 3rd and nobody out. Chapel is a bit flustered here, looks to be favoring his pitching arm after he walks Rayburn on 5 pitches. So here comes Hobbs with the bases loaded and nobody out. On the 2nd pitch Hobbs does the unthinkable, he hits a drive over the right field wall, over the corn and the ball lands on home plate of the original Field of Dreams, how far is that home run Scotty?
Looks to be about 800 feet Harry, might want to check his bat and make sure it's legal. He put a real whammer on that ball.
"Whammer" what the hell is that supposed to mean? Any way now stepping up is Jack Elliot, who once homered in 7 straight games in the Japanese League. Let's see if Chapel settles down after the huge grand slam. Elliot hits a slow roller to second and Scales scoops it and tosses to Haywood for the out. Steve Nebraska comes to the plate with the lead now. Chapel looks in, shakes off Parkman a couple times, here's the pitch Nebraska hits a screamer right over Chapel's head. He'll get to 1st, with 1 out for Dottie. Dottie hits the 3rd pitch past a diving Rodriguez and Dugan is in business again with runners on 1st and 2nd and 1 out. Dorn will try to create more separation here. He hits a slow roller towards, Mitchell charges at an unbelievable rate to field it throw to 2nd and Scales sends it on to 1st for the double play. Looked like Mitchell got a push behind there even though there was nobody around him, pretty strange. Either way Brady's team gets 4 runs and after 4 innings it's 4-2. Heddo leads off the 5th for Haywood, he looks pretty scary up there, like an oversized John Kruk. Nebraska sends in his offering, and Heddo lifts one into the gap in left, he's chugging for 2 and slides just before the throw from Rayburn. Give Heddo credit for sacrificing the body, he's got a family to think about. Mitchell is next, after making that great play on defense. Still think he had help.
It appeared so Harry, on the replay he's moving closer to the ball but his legs aren't moving. Very strange.
Now that the mystery is solved, Mitchell hits a pitch 6 inches outside that goes down the right field line, and the ball appears to carom off of something in midair and lands in fair territory, man this guy is the luckiest hitter on the field tonight. Heddo comes around to score and Mitchell is at 3rd with a triple after Hobbs thought that ball was going foul and didn't chase it down right away. They walk Scales to get to Chapel, so runners on the corners nobody out for Billy Haywood, who has come out of the dugout and is coaching third base this inning. It's a suicide squeeze, Dottie got the ball but was too far up 1st baseline to make a play at so she throws to 1st to get Chapel, and a run scores as Scales moves up to 2nd. Hayes steps in, he lifts the 2nd pitch towards Rayburn in left and instantly drops down and starts doing push-ups. Rayburn makes the catch and Hayes is retired. Now Rodriguez will bat, trying to tie the game. Looks at strike 1, now on the 2nd pitch he smashes a drive to deep right center, and as the ball is flying it splits into 2, I think The Jet just hit the guts out of the baseball.
That's the second time I've seen him do that Harry, incredible feat.
Well let's see what the ruling is from the umpires, appears they're ruling a ground rule double, so the run scores and we're tied at 4. Now it'll be T-Rex trying to get the lead for the visitors. His last homer was longer than Scott's baseball career. Nebraska though digs deep and gets T-Rex on 3 straight pitches, it's feast or famine for this guy. After 4 1/2 innings we're all tied up at 4. Ritter leads off the 5th for the home team. 1st pitch, Ritter fouls it straight back at us, Scott that one is yours, (POP).
OW OW OW, right in the eye.
You alright there Scotty?
Not again!
Here Scott put this ice cold Busch Light on there, should help the swelling, I'd offer you some of my drink but I'm not sure your old enough. Thought for sure nothing could get past that big ass brim on your hat but it did. While Scott icing his eye Ritter lined out to right, Bugs Bunny hit a bases empty grand slam, and Marla Hooch hit a double. That brings up Rayburn who looks at strike 3, he isn't having a good night the plate. Hobbs now digs in to face Chapel who has struggled since the 3rd inning. Hobbs drives it deep to right again but this time Heddo leaps at the wall and robs him of the homer, stranding Hooch at 2nd. After 5 it's 8-4. Scott is now resting in the back of the press box, think I'll be alone the rest of the game.
Clu Heywood starts us off in the 6th, he promptly hits a double to right center, bringing up Parkman. He does that little shimmy getting in the box. He's yelling at Nebraska on the mound again. This time he crushes it deep to right. Parkman makes it 8-6 with a 2 run homer and is making some obscene gestures towards Nebraska, that doesn't seem necessary. Next is Heddo, another gapper leads to another double. Mitchell squibs one down the line, so runners on the corners for Scales. He looks into the dugout wondering if Haywood wants him to hit, not sure why it's not like these teams have any bench bats. Scales gets one right on the screws it gets over the left field wall by a 3 inches, it's now 9-8 in favor of the visitor's. Chapel goes down quickly on 3 pitches, Willie Mays Hayes pops out to short this time and again is doing push ups in the batters box. Bennie goes down on 3 pitches again and Nebraska halts any further damage, after 5 1/2 innings it's 9-8. Bottom of the 6th hasn't started well for Chaple, Elliot took him deep, then Nebraska knocked a triple down the right field line, and Dottie hit a double, giving the home team the lead 10-9. Dorn strikes out for the first out of the innings. Ritter hits one into left scoring Hinson but he gets caught trying to stretch it into a double. Bugs Bunny strikes out on one pitch and inning is over. It's 10-9 after 6.
Top 7 and T-Rex starts it with a base hit to left. Haywood then smashes a double, scoring T-Rex to tie the game. Parkman hits a single, so it's runners on the corners with nobody out and Heddo up. Jimmy Dugan is looking at the bullpen and decides to go to his closer, Henry Rowengartner. Rotary gurder is young man who broke his arm and has a ferocious fastball. Rosenbagger and Heddo have some history let's see how this plays out. First pitch is 103 MPH fastball right down the middle, strike 1, next pitch 104, strike 2. Now Rowengartner winds up and throws the ball underhand? I'm being told he calls it the floater, Heddo waits on it and crushes this thing into the corn out of the stadium. It's a 3 run homer and Erb's team takes a 13-10 lead. Rowengartner learns his lesson and feeds fastballs to the next 3 hitters ending the damage and gets out of the inning. It's time to stretch with Erb's team leading 13-10. Now trailing by 3 Brady's team will have to get by Jim Bowers. Leading off the 7th is Marla Hooch who again laces a single to right. Rayburn gets booed as he comes to the plate, then he doubles to left, but Hooch stops at 3rd. Bowers is now squeezing his glove before facing Hobbs. He gets Hobbs to strike out on 3 breaking pitches. Elliot is up next and they walk him to Rowengartner. The diminutive Rowengartner draws four straight balls and walks a run in. Now he's at first base taunting Bowers about the size of his ass. This game has a little of everything doesn't is Scott. (soft mumbles from the back of the room) So now it's Dottie Hinson's turn, down 2 with the bases loaded. She gets a hold of this one, and it's over the wall for the 3rd Grand Slam for Brady's team tonight. Making the score 15-13. Dorn leans into one and gets plunked. But Ritter grounds into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning, after 7 it's 15-13.
Ryan Dunne is in to relieve Rowengartner, as Dugan is going to the bullpen again. Dunne is a young pitcher with not much experience at this level. Dunne gets Hayes to strikeout, and Rodriguez to ground out to Hooch. T-Rex skies one into foul territory and Rayburn strides over and make the catch to end the 8th, Dunne looked real good there. Bowers not to be outdone gets Bugs to strike out, and Haywood shifts on Hooch and Scales is right there to make the catch. Here comes Rayburn, and he hits a massive homer to straight away center, making it 16-13. Bowers gets Hobbs in 3 pitches, to the 9th inning we go it's 16-13.
Clu Haywood lines out to center on the 2nd pitch from Dunne, and then Dunne gets Parkman to strikeout. Now Dunne is looking into the stands, is he watching Annie Savoy leave? Why is Annie Savoy leaving the game, and why is Ryan Dunne watching her when he's 1 out away from closing the biggest game in fictional baseball history. Now he's running after her, what is Dugan gonna do, Dunne is leaving the game, what an idiot. What in the hell is going on down there. Well Dugan conferences with the team, looks like he wants to try Hobbs to get the last out, I believe Hobbs was a pitcher in the past. So now he moves Dorn to right leaving Bugs Bunny with the entire left side of the infield to himself. Hobbs walks Heddo, then Mitchell hits a ball that goes right at Ritter but then stops suddenly and drops to the ground, putting runners on 2nd and 3rd and Scales is the tying run. They walk Scales again to face the pitcher. Bowers stands in, he's holding the bat upside down, but again Hobbs can't throw a strike and walks a run in. It's 16-14, and in steps Willie Mays Hayes, but before he bats, Dugan is taking Hobbs off the mound and going to Marla Hooch to pitch. Her first offering is crushed by Hayes, who yells "TOLD YOU SKIP I'M A POWER HITTER NOW", and it's 18-16. And Dugan regrets his choice immediately, he now turns to Bugs to pitch, and Bugs gets Benny on 1 pitch. To the bottom of the 9th and it looks like Wild Thing Ricky Vaughn is coming in to close it down. Wild Thing gets Elliot on 3 pitches 95/97/98 on the radar gun. Brady's team has to take the 2nd out since Ryan Dunne has apparently left the stadium and is chasing Annie Savoy to Cedar Rapids. Down 2 runs, Dottie Hinson hits a double, bringing up Roger Dorn. And Wild Thing delivers him a fastball at 99 mph strike one, next pitch is 101, strike 2, Vaughn winds up and throws, STRIKE 3 he got em, 103 MILES PER HOUR!!!! Vaughn walks up to Dorn and says some expletives before punching him in the face. Erb's team win 16-14, and that's all folks. What a game, what an atmosphere. Thanks for tuning in, we'll catch you next time.
Monday, April 6, 2020
The Fictional Baseball Players Draft
With the world at a stop the need for content, and creating your own content is at an all time high. We have nothing to talk about except for hypothetical situations. This week I've enlisted my friend Chris Erb to join me in a draft. The premise is simple, we're going to create 2 baseball teams, both teams will be made up entirely of fictional baseball players. After our draft the 2 teams are going to play a game and that will decide the winner. The game will be played tomorrow so be sure to come back tomorrow night to read how things turned out. The draft has a few rules. First of all it's a snake draft, since I'm the home team I've given Chris the first pick. Rule B) Whatever position is taken has to be filled by the person with the next pick, so you can't sandbag on your 1B and draft other guys after someone gets taken. The rosters will be all 8 position players, OFers can play anywhere, IFers have to play their position, we'll draft 3 pitchers, a starter, a reliever, and a closer, pitchers don't have to be relievers in the movie, you can have a SP be a RP. Finally we'll pick someone to manage our clubs and create a line up to be turned in. Finally, the game will contested right here in Dyersville at the stadium MLB is building for a game nobody is certain is going to happen. The game is a figment of our imagination so why not play it where imagination and baseball collide.
The hour is upon us and Commissioner Kevin Costner comes to the stage to welcome everyone to the draft, and announce that Chris is on the clock.
Round 1 Pick 1: Billy Chapel SP (Kevin Costner, For Love of the Game) Erb comes out swinging, picking up the commissioner, trying to buy some faith from the league offices. Chapel pitched a perfect game at age 37 and quickly retires. I'm guessing Chris is hoping he finds that magic again.
Round 1 Pick 2: Steve Nebraska SP (Brendan Fraser, The Scout) Nebraska is discovered by Yankees scout Al Percolo in Mexico. What Steve has in talent he loses with his erratic behavior, but when Nebraska has it he's unbeatable. In his most famous start (a World Series game vs St. Louis), he throws a perfect game with 27 strikeouts in 81 pitches and also hits 2 solo home runs. I'll take my chances with the mind games.
Round 2 Pick 1: Bobby Rayburn LF (Wesley Snipes, The Fan) Bobby Rayburn is my favorite movie baseball character ever. He's Barry Bonds, a 3X MVP who signs with the Giants and can't wear his favorite number. I'm putting Rayburn in LF hoping to snap my CF later in the draft.
Round 2 Pick 2: T-Rex Pennebaker LF (Brian White, Mr. 3000) T-Rex is what you want in LFer, he's got the pop to bat in the middle of the order, and the arrogance to boot. He pops 50 homers for the Crew that season and will fit nicely in the middle of the line up.
Round 3 Pick 1: Willie Mays Hayes CF (Wesley Snipes, Major League) If you look at any fictional team on the internet Willie is the CF for almost every team. He'll bat lead off and steal you 100 bases, provided his shoes are tied. He may run like Mays and hit like shit, but when he gets the ball on the ground he's almost impossible to get out. Plus he can make so many plays in the OF.
Round 3 Pick 2: Lonnie Ritter CF (Joseph Lattimer, Little Big League) Lonnie is the best fictional CF in the world but considering I have to pick my CF here, I gotta take him. He bats in the middle of the order for Billy Haywood's Twins, plays solid defense and provided his ribs are ok he'll do the job in CF for my team.
Round 4 Pick 1: Jack Elliot 1B (Tom Selleck, Mr. Baseball) When the Yankees decide it's time to move on from the aging Elliot they trade him, to Japan. Jack goes to Japan and finds great success, so much success he almost breaks the most treasured record in Japanese Baseball, held by his manager, by homering in 7 straight games. Instead of trying to break the record though Jack bunts and gets home 2 runs helping his team win the pennant.
Round 4 Pick 2: Clu Haywood 1B (Pete Vuckovich, Major League) It will be dueling Yankees 1B in this game, as Haywood led the league in every offensive category including nose hairs. Clu can also be a distraction for opposing base runners at 1B, he did get Willie picked off on Opening Day, and then hit a Grand Slam that has landed yet.
Round 5 Pick 1: Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez SS (Mike Vitar, The Sandlot) When you pickle the beast and win, you become a Legend, and as Babe Ruth teaches us, there's heroes and there's legends, heroes get remembered but legends never die. Benny had so many feats on the diamond, even a kid he was a prodigy. He knocked the guts out of the ball, hit a ball right into Smalls glove and played all 9 positions. He's the perfect SS for this game.
Round 5 Pick 2: Bugs Bunny SS (Bugs Bunny, Baseball Bugs) He can play all 9 positions, so why not Shortstop. Bugs has the versatility we need, and in a pinch he can pitch for us, he once stuck out the side in one pitch.
Round 6 Pick 1: Roy Hobbs RF (Robert Redford, The Natural) Took long enough for the best player to get picked. Hobbs was the best prospect in the world till he was shot on a train by a psychopath. He disappeared for a while before returning to baseball later in life. Playing for the New York Knights he showcased his "light tower power" and hit one of the most famous home runs in cinematic history.
Round 6 Pick 2: Alejandro "Butch" Heddo RF (Tom Milanovich, Rookie of the Year) Heddo has some pop. He lead the league in homers while playing for the Mets. He also takes Henry deep in his first pitch. He's a little big for the OF but I think he'll be fine with WMH patrolling CF.
Round 7 Pick 1: Jack Parkman C (David Keith, Major League II) Catcher is probably the 2nd deepest fictional position in movies, and Parkman is arguably the best of them. He has tremendous power and can name pitches.
Round 7 Pick 2: Dottie Hinson C (Geena Davis, A League of Their Own) She's best player in one of the best baseball movies ever. She puts an entire league on her back and carries them to the promised land. She has what you want in a catcher, great knowledge of the sport and when her pitchers are out of gas.
Round 8 Pick 1: Marla Hooch 2B (Megan Cavanagh, A League of Their Own) What a hitter!!!
Round 8 Pick 2: Mickey Scales 2B (Antonio Lewis Todd, Little Big League) A light hitting speedy defender, looks perfect on Chris's team. Don't be shocked though, every once in a while Mickey puts a charge into the ball when he gets aggressive and be's a hitter.
Round 9 Pick 1: Ray Mitchell 3B (Stoney Jackson, Angels in the Outfield) On a team that need divine intervention to be any good, Mitchell was the only player that was good before the Angels showed up. He'll hold down probably the toughest position in movie baseball to fill.
Round 9 Pick 2: Roger Dorn 3B (Corbin Bernsen, Major League) He isn't high priced talent, can still hit the ball, just can't field it, and I'll make sure he's out of town before his wife gets jealous, but Dorn is a pro and I can trust him to what's best for the team in any situation, including getting plunked if need be.
Round 10 Pick 1: Ryan Dunne RP (Freddie Prinze Jr., Summer Catch) Dunne has a lot of potential, that's why I only want to use him in short relief. If he can keep his head on he'll help us late in the game.
Round 10 Pick 2: Jim Bowers RP (Jonathan Silverman, Little Big League) Bowers is the perfect bullpen arm, he keeps the team loose, has some quirk to himself, but also doesn't take himself too seriously.
Round 11 Pick 1: Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn Closer (Charlie Sheen, Major League) Wild Thing lives for the big moment, typically a starter, he was coming out of the bullpen in game deciding situations before it was cool. He'll dial up the fast ball when needed and throw triple digits.
Round 11 Pick 2: Henry Rowengartner Closer (Thomas Ian Nicholas, Rookie of the Year) He may be a kid, but he's got a rocket arm. If we're up late in the game and need someone to lock it down, we'll be turning to Henry so lock it down. He isn't just a one trick pony either, if he gets in a jam he's always got the floater.
Round 12 Pick 1: Jimmy Dugan Manager (Tom Hanks, A League of Their Own) Will be interesting to see what Dugan does with ballplayers and not girls. He's old school, will fight for his team and make sure nobody cries, because there is no crying in baseball.
Round 12 Pick 2: Billy Haywood Manager (Luke Edwards, Little Big League) Provided Billy doesn't watch "Night Nurses from Jersey" the night before the game he should be fine. He's 12 but demands respect from the players, and the employees of the Twins. Billy also has a few tricks up his sleeve, and one Bill Haywood has to be able to speak him mind to an umpire. This might be difficult for him since the game is National League rules and he doesn't have the DH.
The Line Ups will be:
Team Erb Team Bredeson
Willie Mays Hayes CF Bugs Bunny SS
Benny Rodriguez SS Marla Hooch 2B
T-Rex Pennebake LF Bobby Rayburn LF
Clu Haywood 1B Roy Hobbs RF
Jack Parkman C Jack Elliot 1B
Alejandro Heddo RF Steve Nebraska P
Ray Mitchell 3B Dottie Hinson C
Mickey Scales 2B Roger Dorn 3B
Billy Chapel P Lonnie Ritter CF
Reminder to come back tomorrow night for the game, let us know your thoughts on the draft, I know we left some talent out there but filling positions is tough.
The hour is upon us and Commissioner Kevin Costner comes to the stage to welcome everyone to the draft, and announce that Chris is on the clock.
Round 1 Pick 1: Billy Chapel SP (Kevin Costner, For Love of the Game) Erb comes out swinging, picking up the commissioner, trying to buy some faith from the league offices. Chapel pitched a perfect game at age 37 and quickly retires. I'm guessing Chris is hoping he finds that magic again.
Round 1 Pick 2: Steve Nebraska SP (Brendan Fraser, The Scout) Nebraska is discovered by Yankees scout Al Percolo in Mexico. What Steve has in talent he loses with his erratic behavior, but when Nebraska has it he's unbeatable. In his most famous start (a World Series game vs St. Louis), he throws a perfect game with 27 strikeouts in 81 pitches and also hits 2 solo home runs. I'll take my chances with the mind games.
Round 2 Pick 1: Bobby Rayburn LF (Wesley Snipes, The Fan) Bobby Rayburn is my favorite movie baseball character ever. He's Barry Bonds, a 3X MVP who signs with the Giants and can't wear his favorite number. I'm putting Rayburn in LF hoping to snap my CF later in the draft.
Round 2 Pick 2: T-Rex Pennebaker LF (Brian White, Mr. 3000) T-Rex is what you want in LFer, he's got the pop to bat in the middle of the order, and the arrogance to boot. He pops 50 homers for the Crew that season and will fit nicely in the middle of the line up.
Round 3 Pick 1: Willie Mays Hayes CF (Wesley Snipes, Major League) If you look at any fictional team on the internet Willie is the CF for almost every team. He'll bat lead off and steal you 100 bases, provided his shoes are tied. He may run like Mays and hit like shit, but when he gets the ball on the ground he's almost impossible to get out. Plus he can make so many plays in the OF.
Round 3 Pick 2: Lonnie Ritter CF (Joseph Lattimer, Little Big League) Lonnie is the best fictional CF in the world but considering I have to pick my CF here, I gotta take him. He bats in the middle of the order for Billy Haywood's Twins, plays solid defense and provided his ribs are ok he'll do the job in CF for my team.
Round 4 Pick 1: Jack Elliot 1B (Tom Selleck, Mr. Baseball) When the Yankees decide it's time to move on from the aging Elliot they trade him, to Japan. Jack goes to Japan and finds great success, so much success he almost breaks the most treasured record in Japanese Baseball, held by his manager, by homering in 7 straight games. Instead of trying to break the record though Jack bunts and gets home 2 runs helping his team win the pennant.
Round 4 Pick 2: Clu Haywood 1B (Pete Vuckovich, Major League) It will be dueling Yankees 1B in this game, as Haywood led the league in every offensive category including nose hairs. Clu can also be a distraction for opposing base runners at 1B, he did get Willie picked off on Opening Day, and then hit a Grand Slam that has landed yet.
Round 5 Pick 1: Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez SS (Mike Vitar, The Sandlot) When you pickle the beast and win, you become a Legend, and as Babe Ruth teaches us, there's heroes and there's legends, heroes get remembered but legends never die. Benny had so many feats on the diamond, even a kid he was a prodigy. He knocked the guts out of the ball, hit a ball right into Smalls glove and played all 9 positions. He's the perfect SS for this game.
Round 5 Pick 2: Bugs Bunny SS (Bugs Bunny, Baseball Bugs) He can play all 9 positions, so why not Shortstop. Bugs has the versatility we need, and in a pinch he can pitch for us, he once stuck out the side in one pitch.
Round 6 Pick 1: Roy Hobbs RF (Robert Redford, The Natural) Took long enough for the best player to get picked. Hobbs was the best prospect in the world till he was shot on a train by a psychopath. He disappeared for a while before returning to baseball later in life. Playing for the New York Knights he showcased his "light tower power" and hit one of the most famous home runs in cinematic history.
Round 6 Pick 2: Alejandro "Butch" Heddo RF (Tom Milanovich, Rookie of the Year) Heddo has some pop. He lead the league in homers while playing for the Mets. He also takes Henry deep in his first pitch. He's a little big for the OF but I think he'll be fine with WMH patrolling CF.
Round 7 Pick 1: Jack Parkman C (David Keith, Major League II) Catcher is probably the 2nd deepest fictional position in movies, and Parkman is arguably the best of them. He has tremendous power and can name pitches.
Round 7 Pick 2: Dottie Hinson C (Geena Davis, A League of Their Own) She's best player in one of the best baseball movies ever. She puts an entire league on her back and carries them to the promised land. She has what you want in a catcher, great knowledge of the sport and when her pitchers are out of gas.
Round 8 Pick 1: Marla Hooch 2B (Megan Cavanagh, A League of Their Own) What a hitter!!!
Round 8 Pick 2: Mickey Scales 2B (Antonio Lewis Todd, Little Big League) A light hitting speedy defender, looks perfect on Chris's team. Don't be shocked though, every once in a while Mickey puts a charge into the ball when he gets aggressive and be's a hitter.
Round 9 Pick 1: Ray Mitchell 3B (Stoney Jackson, Angels in the Outfield) On a team that need divine intervention to be any good, Mitchell was the only player that was good before the Angels showed up. He'll hold down probably the toughest position in movie baseball to fill.
Round 9 Pick 2: Roger Dorn 3B (Corbin Bernsen, Major League) He isn't high priced talent, can still hit the ball, just can't field it, and I'll make sure he's out of town before his wife gets jealous, but Dorn is a pro and I can trust him to what's best for the team in any situation, including getting plunked if need be.
Round 10 Pick 1: Ryan Dunne RP (Freddie Prinze Jr., Summer Catch) Dunne has a lot of potential, that's why I only want to use him in short relief. If he can keep his head on he'll help us late in the game.
Round 10 Pick 2: Jim Bowers RP (Jonathan Silverman, Little Big League) Bowers is the perfect bullpen arm, he keeps the team loose, has some quirk to himself, but also doesn't take himself too seriously.
Round 11 Pick 1: Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn Closer (Charlie Sheen, Major League) Wild Thing lives for the big moment, typically a starter, he was coming out of the bullpen in game deciding situations before it was cool. He'll dial up the fast ball when needed and throw triple digits.
Round 11 Pick 2: Henry Rowengartner Closer (Thomas Ian Nicholas, Rookie of the Year) He may be a kid, but he's got a rocket arm. If we're up late in the game and need someone to lock it down, we'll be turning to Henry so lock it down. He isn't just a one trick pony either, if he gets in a jam he's always got the floater.
Round 12 Pick 1: Jimmy Dugan Manager (Tom Hanks, A League of Their Own) Will be interesting to see what Dugan does with ballplayers and not girls. He's old school, will fight for his team and make sure nobody cries, because there is no crying in baseball.
Round 12 Pick 2: Billy Haywood Manager (Luke Edwards, Little Big League) Provided Billy doesn't watch "Night Nurses from Jersey" the night before the game he should be fine. He's 12 but demands respect from the players, and the employees of the Twins. Billy also has a few tricks up his sleeve, and one Bill Haywood has to be able to speak him mind to an umpire. This might be difficult for him since the game is National League rules and he doesn't have the DH.
The Line Ups will be:
Team Erb Team Bredeson
Willie Mays Hayes CF Bugs Bunny SS
Benny Rodriguez SS Marla Hooch 2B
T-Rex Pennebake LF Bobby Rayburn LF
Clu Haywood 1B Roy Hobbs RF
Jack Parkman C Jack Elliot 1B
Alejandro Heddo RF Steve Nebraska P
Ray Mitchell 3B Dottie Hinson C
Mickey Scales 2B Roger Dorn 3B
Billy Chapel P Lonnie Ritter CF
Reminder to come back tomorrow night for the game, let us know your thoughts on the draft, I know we left some talent out there but filling positions is tough.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)