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Jury Duty, More Kay Stupidity, Winning 30, WFAN Bench


By Mike Silva ~ July 6th, 2011. Filed under: Morning Digest.

The jury for the Roger Clemens case will be selected today. I wonder how you could get kicked off jury duty in this scenario. Think if Clemens lawyer Rusty Hardin read this site I would be allowed on the jury? Especially this post.

***

Michael Kay has been on a roll with his stupidity lately. This gem tweeted last night by SI’s Jimmy Traina is great


Kay: “How do you as a father explain to your son, when he says, ‘Daddy, how is CC 13-4 not on the All-Star team?’ What do you say to him?”less than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet ReplyJimmy Traina
JimmyTraina

First, I hate comments by people that start out with “how do I tell my kid.” If you are afraid to tell your kid something, then maybe you should have not become a parent. It’s one of those things that come with the job. If you didn’t want difficult conversations, then get a dog; don’t conceive.

I would tell the kid this:

“If CC Sabathia not making the All Star Team ruins your day, then be prepared for what comes next in your life. The schools and universities will take thousands of dollars from you that will take years to pay back. Your degree is essentially worthless since a generation of hacks destroyed the economic system in this country. You will be underpaid, overworked, exploited, and generally treated like garbage by Corporate America. Even if you remain a Yankees fan, you will be disappointed 75% of the time when they don’t win the World Series. Any other team winning will be an event, just as it should be, not an entitlement. Oh, and when you have a wife and kids, maybe you will be better prepared to have this stupid conversation that Michael Kay thinks is difficult”

How does that sound?

***

CC Sabathia deserves to be on the All Star Team. If he wants to look at the issues with the All Star process just take a walk down to The Captain’s locker. Derek Jeter is the starting shortstop this year when clearly the only way he should be at Chase Field next Tuesday is with a ticket. Nobody cares about the game. Notice I haven’t even talked about it on this site- until now because of the stupidity of Kay.

Another reader of the site said John Flaherty didn’t know how to respond to that gem.

Glad to see Flash didn’t enable Kay’s stupidity.

***

Back in 1968, Denny McLain won 31 games for the Detroit Tigers. Since then the closest to come to winning 30 games was Steve Carlton with the Phillies in 1972 and Bob Welch with Oakland in 1990.

CC Sabathia is 12-4 after last night’s 9-2 win over the Indians. If he can win on Sunday, his 13 wins at the break will match Welch’s total (13-3) in ’90. Carlton, who played for a 59 win Phillies team, was 14-6 at the break.

Can Sabathia equal the 27 win mark?  If he does, he could break the Yankees single season win total of 25, set by Ron Guidry in 1978.

UDPATE: 7/9/11 – As a commentator pointed out I made an error. Instead of saying modern record for Yankees single season wins by a pitcher (which was my intent), I said the Yankees record. That is incorrect as Jack Chesbro, Carl Mays, Al Orth, Lefty Gomez, Bullet Joe Bush, Carl Mays, Russ Ford, and Joe McGinnity all had more wins than Guidry. Chesbro had the record at 41.

Can he do it? He gives length so middle relievers aren’t necessary during his starts. If Rivera is healthy, that locks up the game 99.9% of the time. I think 25 is somewhat attainable.

Above that is a stretch. He might not have enough starts as Sabathia has never started more than 34 times with the Yankees. If he won every decision going forward that would put him at 28 wins. The most starts he made in his career were 35 in 2008. A good roll should get him around Guidry’s total.

In case you are wondering, Welch started 35 games in his 27-6 1990. Carlton started 41 during his 27-10 1972. He also had 30 complete games that season. Yes, that number is correct. Welch completed only 2 of his starts in ’90.

Like Sabathia, Welch had the most dominate closer in the league helping him out. Dennis Eckersley put up an obscene 0.61 ERA and walked only 4 batters in 73.1 innings. One was intentional.

With the modern era of pitching we probably will never see a 30 game winner again.

***

Jason Bay could become the feel good story of 2011. Yes, there is Bartolo Colon, Jason Isringhausen, Terry Collins, and Derek Jeter‘s quest for 3,000; but is there a player you want to root for more than Bay?

No one has ever come back to succeed after New York knocked them down like Bay. He was entering Eddie Whitson, Carl Pavano, and Vince Coleman territory. Sure, Bobby Bonilla was hated, but he wasn’t injured.

If Bay can somehow become a viable power hitting corner outfielder, he might be the first individual to conquer New York when they were in the midst of it swallowing them up.

There is still a long way to go, but the two home run game in cavernous Dodger Stadium is a great sign. All that was missing was him flipping the outfield wall that concussed him the bird.

***

I gave Kevin Kernan of the NY Post an interesting comparison on Twitter last night: Daniel  Murphy reminds me of Gregg Jefferies. No, not with the off the field stuff, Murph is a good teammate. But when you look at their profile it’s very similar.

To date, Murphy has a career OPS of .770 and OPS+ of 107. A typical Murphy year could be .290, 11 HR. 65 RBI.

Now take a look at Jefferies:

His career OPS is .765, OPS+ of 107, and a typical season for him was .290, 14, and 75.

Both don’t really have an offensive position. Both were terrible outfielders. Strat-O-Matic fans might appreciate how the Philly fans yelled “you’re a 5″ to Jefferies when he played outfield at the Vet.

A Jefferies-type offensive career at second base for Murphy would make for a very valuable player. Perhaps the Mets need to give him every chance to succeed at the position when Ike Davis returns; whenever that is.

***

What a great week for sports talk in New York. The three overpaid/underperforming “stars” of WFAN (Esiason, Carton, and Francesa) are on vacation. This forces the station to use their bench and move others up in the lineup. Marc Malusis is doing morning’s, Sid Rosenberg is back doing the midday, Joe and Evan are taking Francesa’s shift, and Adam the Bull is doing evenings before the Mets game.

No shtick, no self absorbed narcissism, no yelling at producers, no controversies over Play Girl. They just talk sports. And, here is the kicker, they know what they are talking about. They interact with their fans, and don’t berate the callers (aka their customers).

You haven’t heard me complain once all week. Does that tell you something?

If you are a CBS executive and you see the amount of money you spend for the aforementioned trio, and you listen to what you get with the “WFAN bench,” maybe it’s time to assess your value equation.

Call it radio moneyball.

I guarantee losing those 3 guys wouldn’t hurt the ratings in this town (no competition), and it would allow the station to procure talent. I bet it would improve the atmosphere around it as well.

Put Francesa on ESPN and he becomes Mad Dog. Esiason and Carton are just in right place/right time.

FAN didn’t have the guts to remove Imus, they were forced, and haven’t they survived?

This week should be an eye opening experience for the suits. You don’t need the baggage that comes with that trio. When contract time comes, think about that when they ask for raises.

Tell them to shove their ratings book where the sun doesn’t shine. Those ratings are real estate, not people produced.

Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host since March of 2007. This website is his own personal "digest" of New York Baseball He's also hosts NYBD Radio on Blog Talk Radio and 1240 AM WGBB. Check out his sports media commentary at www.sportsmediawatchdog.com. Check out his official website, www.mikesilvamedia.com
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14 Responses to Jury Duty, More Kay Stupidity, Winning 30, WFAN Bench

  1. Phil Privitera
    July 6th, 2011 at 8:44 am

    Mike Silva you are on a roll this morning. CC wasn’t selected because of a managers (Washington)decision not the fans. He chose Wilson over CC and he has to do that. If they meet in the playoffs (possible) that is the first game matchup. The all star game has always left off some good players and even if the managers picked all the players they would leave off some stars.

    One thing that I will like to see remain is the fact that all teams are represented. I remember as a kid seeing Bobby Murcer among the stars and saying that is our guy. As silly as it may sound it gave me pride that one of our own was out there.

    For the younger readers it was a day when the Yankees were a horrible team. Late 60′s early 70′s.

  2. Mike Silva
    July 6th, 2011 at 9:14 am

    Phil

    I understand the fans vs. manager, but its just an overall “I don’t care” about the All Star Game feeling I have. Impossible to make everyone happy, and the game itself really doesn’t mean much (of course Selig changed that).

    Having a representative from each team is fair. Perhaps the best way to pick these rosters is to take the vote away from the fans

  3. Ceetar
    July 6th, 2011 at 10:06 am

    Not to quilbble, but even if CC went 8 everytime, Rivera only locks it up 89% of the time, (87 last year, and 84 this year) Plus you usually need an 8th inning guy too in most starts, and while Robertson has been good, no guarentees there either.

    Factor in that he’s been facing some crap pitching lately and the Yankees won’t always give him big leads, or any leads, and It’s probably still a crap shoot that he gets much above 20.

  4. Erica.S
    July 6th, 2011 at 11:45 am

    The whole YES broadcasting team is a problem because it’s not consistent. What I mean is that on SNY, it is always Gary with either Keith or Ron and of course Kevin. Gary Cohen is there for every regular season game that is broadcast on either SNY or WPIX. Michael Kay is not present for every regular season game on YES or UPN. In my opinion, that makes him less credible as a broadcaster. Part of what creates fan loyalty and trust in any broadcasting team is the feeling that they are really a team. Also, the fact that Kay has what seems like 50 other shows both on YES and ESPN, makes one feel like calling the actually Yankee games is not that important to him.
    As far as the issue of parents who are not really up to actual task of parenting is concerned, I completely agree with your point of view. I am not someone who likes to judge other people (especially when it involves something with which I have no experience). However, it is fair to say that a lot of people have kids just because it seems like “normal” thing to do. I also feel at times like its a narcissistic impulse to want to have another human being that can basically be molded into what one wants them to be (Okay, I’ll stop with this and save it for a Psychology blog).
    Finally, over the past couple of weeks I was more annoyed than I usually am with Francesa’s know-it-all attitude. He has no respect for anyone’s opinions (unless its someone like Jon Heyman or Peter Gammons). When listening to other popular radio hosts, notice that they are not condescending and rude to every single caller. In my opinion, Francesa is clearly out of touch with the current world in which we live. That is why he is so bitter.

  5. Russ Cress
    July 6th, 2011 at 11:04 pm

    Kay is right on the CC thing. Yes, he is ineligible to pitch in the ASG because he is starting on Sunday, but why not just name him to the team and replace him? Isn’t that the spirit that the rule is based on?

    That said, I’d love to hear an explanation from any fan over the age of 18 on how they can justify voting for Jeter this year.

    The WFAN bench is an embarrassment. Remember the days when they were loaded with talent and people like Steve Levy and Ian Eagle among others who have since gone on to bigger and better things were the bench guys? I still don’t get the Sid Rosenberg loyalty. What’s the upside to WFAN for using him? There is none, only negative can come from it, he’s been given multiple chances and ruined every one. I’m all for 2nd chances, but I fail to grasp why this guy, with his track record there deserves the benefit of the doubt.

    Then there are the other issues with him. His voice sounds terrible now. He’ working full time in Miami and yet is oddly, and irrationally obsessed with WFAN. He can’t need the PT money or the exposure as he has a big time job in a major market (and his wife is a lawyer). What’s the point, other than, if you’ve read his book, the guy has an uncomfortable, borderline insane obsession with WFAN. Also, how can this make his bosses in Miami happy? His running to do fill in shifts in NY, when he should be concerned with his real job there is kind of a slap in the face. I don’t get it.

    BTW — Highlight of the day, radio wise, had to be listening to the Michelle Beadle Podcast and hearing Linda Cohn rip Evan Roberts a new one regarding his comments about finding Casey Anthony attractive. She called him “disgusting” (the comments can be found in WFAN’s podcast of Joe & Evan’s interview with Peter Gammons yesterday). She’s 100% right, his comments were completely inappropriate and rather creepy considering he was discussing a woman who most likely murdered her child and is clearly insane and evil. Hopefully, he was called on it by management.

  6. Ralph C
    July 7th, 2011 at 12:15 am

    Agreed on Rosenberg. I don’t understand how Silva can constantly rip Carton yet defend this guy. I guess its because Rosenberg knows more about sports but he is not breaking new ground. After all, this is the same guy who has been involved in numerous disgusting controversies (check his wikipedia page), most if not all of which are worse than anything Carton’s been involved in.

  7. Mike Silva
    July 7th, 2011 at 8:28 am

    I like Sid because his problems were real, and I believe he’s worked hard at becoming a better person and fixing himself.

    Carton, to me, is the worst kind of person. Using other people to further his career. Bullying individuals, and using lowbrow gimmicks to generate ratings (which would be there without him).

    Sid knows sports, Carton doesn’t. His desire to return to the FAN may seem weird to us on the outside, but perhaps its vindication in some way. Maybe its a goal he has so he could come full circle with a recovery story.

    Sid made his mistakes. He is human. Carton is just a narcissistic individual who rides on the coattails of others to achieve national stardom.

    Something that a bald headed morning drive host can never attain.

  8. tnt1528
    July 8th, 2011 at 10:54 am

    dont know if anyone knew this but sid/craig were partners on wnew fm for a couple of yrs called the sports guys…sid was fired because he said the williams sisters had a better chance of posing for national geographic then playboy.

  9. Golfdude
    July 8th, 2011 at 10:44 pm

    You think Guidry has the Yanks single season wins record? Do some research…

  10. Stu B
    July 9th, 2011 at 12:04 am

    Great catch, Golfdude. Nobody’s ever going to match Jack Chesbro’s 41 wins in 1904.

  11. Sal D
    July 9th, 2011 at 11:13 am

    I agree totally w/your WFAN assessment, Mike F. may be overpaid, God bless him, I wish I was, he doesn’t give any respect to most of his callers(customers). If a guy knows less than you why berate the guy for his opinion? How does this make Francesa look better? A few years ago a Met fan called him to say the team should try to aquire a young 1b prospect called Adrian Gonzalez based on his 90 something at bats the year before.I figured this guy played Strat like I do cause you wouldn’t have known who Gonzalez was otherwise. Well Fatso ripped the guy and lo and behold he got traded to San Diego and the rest is history…

    As far as Yes, Ken Singleton is the BEST play by play guy on the network, no rehearsed calls or “lets do it” nonsense on the 1st pitch.
    Kay claims he’s no longer a Yankees fan because he works for them,
    well give me Rizzuto any day. Why this blow hard gas to do ALL 9 inns.
    is beyond me, I e-mailed Yes about this yrs. ago but got some nonsense replay that didn’t addres the issue.

  12. Mike Silva
    July 9th, 2011 at 2:33 pm

    Goldude

    As you obtusely pointed out, I made a syntax error. I meant to say modern record. I said Yankees record. I made the note and correction. Thanks for looking out for me.

  13. Chuck Johnson
    July 9th, 2011 at 8:31 pm

    “I figured this guy played Strat like I do cause you wouldn’t have known who Gonzalez was otherwise.”

    Possibly the most shocking comment I’ve ever read.

    You rip a talk show host for not knowing anything, then in the same paragraph claim to not have heard of a number one draft pick until you saw his Strat card is mindboggling.

    You deserve more ridicule than Francesa.

  14. Sal D
    July 10th, 2011 at 12:12 pm

    The point was Gonzalez in 2 cups of coffee w/Texas hit .229 7 hrs & 24 rbi’s. Not exactly #1 pick the Marlins were looking for before they dealt him to Texas for Ugeth Urbina.
    Apparently Fla & Texas couldn’t figure out what they had also. Texas got nothing for the guy either. Look it up.

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