Roto Baseball Guru

After dominating the sports media waves for the past few weeks, the Brett Favre vs. Green Bay Packers saga has finally drawn to a conclusion.  The end result was a best case scenario for both sides with Brett Favre getting his chance to play again, albeit sporting a different shade of green of the New York Jets as opposed to the familiarity of the green and yellow of Green Bay.  The Packers on the other hand, got rid of their publicity nightmare and on-field distraction of arguably the best and most admired player to ever to don a Green Bay uniform.  So how did the former icon, future first ballot hall of famer and player most synonymous with the Packers get to this state where the relationship with his team soured to a point that it became irrecoverable?  The single and most concise answer to that is - ego.  Although there were elements of ego in play on both sides, I am going to take the undiplomatic approach and put the ultimate blame of this on the player, Brett Favre.

Perhaps it is my cynicism of athletes of this age that has lead me to this bias.  The cynicism stems from the fact that most athletes of this era, especially the superstars, have such a larger than life persona and ego that they seriously do believe that everything revolves around them, both on and off the field.  It maybe because of how they dominate the on-field predicaments that they feel that they are entitled to the same treatment and results off the field.  The fact that Brett Favre felt that he was a victim of this whole self-inflicted soap opera is something that I find quite disturbing.  It is this “me first” and “the world revolves around my needs attitude” of these cry baby athletes making multi-million dollar salaries that really turns me off and gives a negative stigma to professional athletes.  What ever happened to playing for the love of the game and there is no “I” in team?  Players like Brett Favre and Roger Clemens should take a lesson from Toronto Maple Leafs own Mats Sundin on how to handle retirement.  If you’re not sure, then say you’re not sure and don’t hold a team hostage by flip-flopping back and forth and expect the team to be accommodating each time you change your mind.

Thank goodness the Olympics are on.  After a few weeks of this ugly soap opera between Favre and the Packers dominating every sports news headline, it’s refreshing to see some real athletes that compete for the sake of competition, for the sport they love and of course, a lot national pride.  Now that’s something that you can cheer for.

One of the more exciting stories that has been developing this year in Major League Baseball is Chipper Jones’ ongoing chase of .400.  Not since Boston Red Sox legend, Ted Williams, who hit .406 in 1941, has there been another hitter able to repeat this incredible feat in a full season.  There have been a few players that have come close, the closest would have been George Brett in 1980 when he ended up the year hitting .390.  In more recent years, we have seen other great hitters flirt with this baseball landmark, including Ichiro Suzuki who hit .372 in 2004, and Joe Mauer who kept the .400 pace up to the all-star break in 2006 until he cooled off in the second half and ended the year with a .347 batting average.  As a Blue Jays fan, I also remember good old John Olerud flirting with that mystical .400 mark in the magical season of 1993 when the Jays repeated as World Series champs (oh the good ole days!).  Johnny “O” ended up batting .363 that year, and if my memory serves me correctly, I believe he was still above the .400 mark in August of that year.  It just shows how difficult the feat is … which also probably explains why it hasn’t been accomplished in over 65 years!

Which goes back to the developing story of this year, Chipper Jones’ ongoing quest to inscribe himself into the history books, and with that most likely securing his place into baseball’s hall of fame.  As of July 6th, Chipper is batting at .390 and has recently cooled down a bit since his torrid pace he was having in May and early June.  In fact, the last time he was hitting over .400 was on June 18th, and since then he has dipped as low as .389.  However, he’s just another hot streak from getting over .400 and I’m sure that will get all the talk started again about the likelihood of whether or not this will be the year it actually happens. 

But regardless of whether or not Chipper makes history this year, has the 15 year legacy of his career and arguably the best player to ever put on an Atlanta Braves uniform, qualified him for Baseball’s Hall of Fame?  Speak your mind or forever hold your peace!

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Last year’s NL MVP, Jimmy Rollins, has been on abit of a cold streak of late.  In the last 7 days, he’s batting a measly 0.120 with 0 HRs, 0 runs, and only 2 RBIs.  Very un-MVP like and the Phillies are suffering because of that.  However, given Rollins history, it’s not something to worry too much about as I’m sure he’ll back back to his old self of hitting HRs, driving in RBIs, hitting for average and stealing bases in short order.

On the pitching side, Randy Johnson of the Arizona Diamondbacks is showing his age.  He hasn’t won a game since mid-May and has been on the wrong side of a 5 game losing streak.  He’s carrying an ERA over 6 during that time and has given up 4 HRs.  One thing that he’s still consistent with is strikeouts, but you can get strikeouts from other pitchers that won’t kill your ERA and get you some wins.  I think Johnson is at the end of the line … on the fantasy side, you would want to trade him away to someone who may still hold some sentimental connection to the future hall of famer!

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