Time Out for Sports Talk: One Week Left in the Baseball Season
Todd: Does that headline grab your attention?
Next week at this time Patriots players will be at training camp, Pats fans will be dissecting the schedule to determine wins and losses, and fantasy geeks will begin their research to decide which receiver to draft first in their PPR league.
That doesn’t mean Mike and I will immediately immerse ourselves in non-stop gridiron talk. But the impending start of two-a-days serves as a reminder that MLB only has a few more days on the sports stage all to themselves. Given the potential upside of the 2014 Patriots and the current downside of the 2014 Red Sox, it won’t take long for New Englanders to have helmets instead of caps dancing in their heads.
So a few thoughts on what is likely our final all-baseball column of the year. I managed to watch some of the All-Star Game earlier this week, and kudos to John Farrell for using the Twins’ battery to close out the AL’s 5-3 win in front of the home crowd at Target Field.
Call me a sentimental sap, but I thought the recording of the late Yankees PA legend Bob Sheppard introducing Derek Jeter in his final ASG was a nice touch. Didn’t even mind that most of the night’s broadcast was devoted to the soon-to-be retiring shortstop.
But for MLB or the television announcers to not make a single reference during the game to Tony Gwynn, a 15-time All-Star who just passed away last month, was a glaring omission that deserves criticism.
Then there was the game itself. Between the advent of interleague play and living in an era where every second of every MLB game is recorded for viewing at one’s convenience, the novelty of the midsummer classic (despite the fact it counts) doesn’t have the hold on me and many people in my age group the way it once did.
Even worse for MLB’s long-term prospects, the younger demographic finds the pace of the sport too slow and the games too long. Evidence of that doesn’t get more damning than hearing those exact words uttered by 24-year old All-Star snub Anthony Rendon of the Washington Nationals earlier this week.
Forecasting gloom and doom feels like the perfect segue to bring up the Red Sox. As they embark on the final 67 games of their season, perhaps the foremost question regarding the club’s future rests with one Jonathan Tyler Lester.
We all know the veteran southpaw is in the final year of his contract, apparent not only by how well he’s pitched, but also if you’re a masochist and have tried listening to sports radio (sadly, I have). It’s been even more excruciating on the ears this week, with no Sox games and all the mediots trying their best to rile up the masses.
While I hate sounding like those Chicken Littles who work behind a mic, I think it’s important the Sox re-sign Lester, even if at this point management is going to have to overpay considerably to do it.
As I try to rationally assess this situation, the 30-year old has stated that his family likes Boston and he enjoys playing for the Sox. He has also proven that, unlike some players that have called Fenway their home, he not only doesn’t shy away from the pressure, but has thrived performing under it.
Lester may not have the flash or sizzle of former Sox aces Roger Clemens or Pedro Martinez. He doesn’t even possess the pitching arsenal of his teammate, Clay Buchholz. But the Tacoma, Wash. native has beaten cancer and proven year after year to be consistent and durable. Add in what he accomplished last postseason, and there’s no question the 2013 Sox wouldn’t have won it all without him.
Whether I like it or not, a nine-figure contract is the going rate for a pitcher of Lester’s caliber. While history shows most pitchers start breaking down past age 30, Lester may prove to be the exception. At this stage of his career, his numbers compare favorably to another recent lefty hurler who pitched effectively well into his thirties, Andy Pettitte.
Think the team that plays in the Bronx, prints their own currency and has watched their current starting rotation fall to pieces isn’t aware of these comparisons? Bet Brian Cashman is already licking his chops at the prospect of Lester testing the free agent waters. John Henry and pals need to lock up Lester sooner rather than later.
Mike: I have a confession to make.
For the first time that I can remember, I really didn't care about the baseball All-Star Game. I tried to watch it, and I even got through four innings, just to see the part where the entire world kissed Jeter's butt, but then I started to tune out, and eventually I realized I simply didn't care and shut the TV off to read.
But that did get me wondering, why didn't I care? I usually look forward to the All-Star Game, and all the surrounding festivities, but not this year. I pretty much skipped the Home Run Derby to watch the finale of 24 (though a rain delay in the Derby allowed me to see some of it) and I just wasn't hyped up about the game itself.
Then it hit me, I didn't care because the Red Sox barely had a presence in it. Sure, they had Jon Lester and Koji Uehara and the coaching staff, but it still wasn't enough for me. And after watching Lester get hit all around the park in his inning of work, I REALLY lost interest.
I think in past years, part of the fun for me was rooting for the Boston players in this game, and that was missing this season, and I really didn't care about Jeter's farewell (though when he hit that first-inning double and the Fox announcers just about killed themselves praising him, I said to myself "that pitch looked grooved," turns out I was right), so what reason was there to watch?
And that gets me to the final half of the baseball season. I don't want to rush summer, but I find myself really looking forward to football season right now, since there seems to be no hope for the Sox to make any noise down the stretch.
Maybe we've been spoiled, but outside of 2012, it's hard to remember a Red Sox season that has seemed this hopeless this early. I could care about the trading deadline, and the possible re-signing of Lester, but I can't. The Sox will still be my background soundtrack of summer, that won't change, but I find myself caring a bit less this time.
Bring on the Pats.
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