G.W. Meets "The Rocket"

To say this weekend was anything short of incredible, or incredibly lucky, would be an understatement. It's not often your 10-year-old self gets an opportunity to emerge from your current reality and experience something you could only dream of at that age. Mine got to do just that when I lucked into a situation that put me in a luxury box for the Friday and Saturday games of the Texas Tech UT baseball series, along with the likes of one William Roger Clemens.

Last Thursday, I became the default recipient of some tickets to the Friday night game of the Tech UT series, which had sold out two weeks before, when one of my Rec Center training regulars couldn't track down his originally intended benefactor that afternoon. Having previously talked ball with me and knowing my love of the game, he asked if I'd be interested in taking the tickets instead. Um... is water wet? This guy, Mark Griffin, also just happens to be one of the bigwigs at Rip Griffin Companies which has the naming rights to Texas Tech's baseball stadium. Not putting two and two together, I rolled up to the game on Friday night drenched in sweat from having played basketball at the rec all day only to find these tickets got me into his private luxury box---should've dawned on me when the price on the ticket read "VIP." Needless to say, I was mortified when I met his family and friends, who were all dressed in business attire. But in my defense, I had no idea what I was walking into.

Despite looking something similar to Oscar Madison, Mr. Griffin's family treated me better than I could've imagined, graciously offering me beer, sunflower seeds, pretty much anything I wanted, and we all enjoyed a 13-6 comeback win for the Red Raiders. During the game, I had the pleasure of getting to know Mark's brother David, and after the game he invited me to come out again on Saturday, so of course I took him up on his offer. That's where the fun begins.

I showed up to the game on Saturday---having made sure to dress appropriately this time---and met up with David to get the ticket and be escorted up to his box. As we approached the door, he turns to me and says, "Ok, try and be cool about this when you go in. We're not sure why he's in here because we don't really know him, but Roger Clemens is in our box for today's game." Before I could even process what I just heard, David pulls the door open, and not more than 10 feet from me stands Roger F'n Clemens. "The Rocket." In the flesh.

Before I go any further, let me explain something. Yes, I am 24 years old. Is it time for me to move past becoming a total fanboy when I see a guy who made a living playing a game for a profession? Yes, it is. But growing up, I was the kid who ditched the Nintendo for a baseball card collection and a fantasy team, mailed players cards for autographs---which has brought back a pretty sick list of returns, by the way---played wiffle ball in the yard all day imagining he was a pro, and showed up to Ranger games with his glove and a pair of Pop's binoculars. I absolutely ate the pro game up as a kid and watched as much of it as I could when I wasn't playing.

Me stepping into that room probably looked something similar to when Ralphie sat on Santa's lap in 'A Christmas Story.' Seriously, I stood there and just stared at him for at least a minute or more. As I'm standing there trying to determine if this is real life or if the Ambien is kicking in, this dude is literally walking around the room shaking people's hands and saying, "Hi, I'm Roger," like everyone in there doesn't already know who the hell he is. By this point he's already looked at me more than once. Still dumbfounded, I can see this look on his face that screams, "oh, God, another one..." Dude gets to me, extends his hand, and before he can introduce himself I just say, "I know exactly who you are, Mr. Clemens," then proceeded to pour my heart out to him, ultimately thanking him for giving me someone to look up to and want to strive to be as a young, aspiring player, despite being five plus years removed from the game.

After 10-year-old G said what he needed to say, Roger was surprisingly really cool about it and posed for a picture with me. And I say "surprisingly" because "The Rocket" doesn't come without a controversial past, or a reputation for not always being the most personable pro athlete---my Aunt was paired with Clemens as a bridesmaid for a wedding in the 80's and has her own interesting story about him. But after that it was like he was just one of the guys. There were four of us in the box that

sat around him during the game talking ball as if we had all been friends for a long time, despite not knowing any of these people 30 minutes ago. Not to mention that I was the only person participating in the conversation that was under the age of 53. However, what was undoubtedly the best part about this collection of individuals was that Roger and I shared one thing that these business guys didn't; we had pitching backgrounds.

So as this game is going on and I'm listening to a living Baseball legend analyze what he's seeing on the field, there were points in time where I was the only person completely following what he was saying and contributing to the conversation. We talked some sequencing, approach, and then I got to listen to him go into this really deep explanation of how the winds in Lubbock reminded him of his starts in Wrigley. He explained in vivid detail the intricacies of not only how he had to adjust his in-game approach to fit the conditions, but how he'd harness the conditions to enhance his arsenal of breaking pitches. I mean, we're talking serious Baseball Porn at this point. As he's sharing his knowledge with all of us, I can't help but watch replays in my mind of that patented Clemens split-finger fastball, "Mr. Splitty," make even All-Star caliber hitters look like washed-up high school heroes.

About five and a half innings go by, Roger decides he wants to say hi to some folks one box down, and he wouldn't return after that. But a few knowledge bombs and some hardball talk wouldn't be the only parting gift I'd receive from "The Rocket." Apparently before the game, Roger did a private autograph signing for some people in another luxury box. He might have signed 15 or 20 of these really unique pictures that list all of his credentials, awards, and feature an action shot of him with each of the four teams that he played for during his 24 year career. The crazy thing is, people left them! How in the hell do you leave something like that as if it has no value? I mean, even if you don't want it, you're not going to try and shop that thing on eBay? I saw people grabbing them so I ran and snagged the very last two I saw laying around before the stadium crew locked up all of the luxury boxes. From there, I immediately bolted to Walmart to get those bad boys framed. It still baffles me that I even found one laying around, let alone two of them.

So like I said, I cashed in on quite a bit of luck this weekend. I went to a game I wasn't supposed to go to, sat in a luxury box I wasn't supposed to sit in, got invited back for another game the next day, talked ball with a Mount Rushmorian Major League pitcher who was also in a luxury box that he wasn't supposed to be in---although I'm sure they'd have made an exception for him---and snagged two priceless pieces of memorabilia that I wasn't supposed to have. When you put my weekend into that kind of perspective, I think I need to stop writing this and go buy a Powerball ticket. 

@GeraldWWhite

G.W.'s 2016 MLB Preview: Predictions, Awards, & My 16 Thoughts for 2016

In a rare act of courtesy, I decided to revive my underutilized blog for my 2016 MLB predictions and spare my many victims of the Facebook newsfeed pollution I create every year just before Opening Day. If you're reading this, you're likely a friend that I share some sort of bond with through baseball, and sadly many of our mutual friends don't share the same passion for this authentic, unifying, and eloquent expression of American tradition. If you think about it though, it's probably best we keep those folks out. Because let's be honest, if you don't like baseball, you probably like communism. That said, because I've found the kindness in my heart to keep my thoughts off of Facebook, you can expect this to be a long piece. Don't be mad though. I wasn't the glutton for punishment who subjected himself to this, and chances are if you've read this far, this isn't the first time you've subjected yourself to one of Gerald's long-winded rants. At the most, I hope this generates some pretty solid hardball talk among friends, and in the process arms you with a couple of knowledge bombs to drop on that one self-proclaimed baseball expert that we all know in our personal lives---absolutely no irony in that statement as I write this. And let's face it, deep-rooted baseball fandom has unfortunately become a cult following. How we've reached that point is incomprehensible, but we members need to do all we can to stick together. At the very least, I'm hoping this gets "bad movie treatment." You know...you're 15 minutes in, you know it sucks, but you aren't getting those 15 minutes back so you might as well watch the whole damn thing just to see what happens. Anyway, here are my 2016 MLB predictions, awards and 16 thoughts for 2016.
Read'em and rip'em...

  

AL/NL

East: Blue Jays/Mets

Central: Royals/Cubs 

West: Rangers/Diamondbacks

Wild Cards: Astros/Indians, Pirates/Nationals

ALCS: Rangers over Astros

NLCS: Cubs over Diamondbacks

WS: Cubs over Rangers

·       Were the Rangers a homer pick to make the WS? You could argue that, but the AL is wide open this year and I’m buying their chances. People are sleeping on the Ian Desmond signing, something I think benefits the team for at least three separate reasons. Additionally, I think Martin Perez has a bounce back year. So after Darvish returns, 1-4 in the rotation is going to be solid. That said, this year sucks for any fan of an AL team that makes a run to the WS because it’s impossible to be disappointed if the Cubs win. I don’t care about the postseason heartbreak I’ve endured as a Ranger fan. There are just some things in this world that need to happen, and Steve Bartman being able to show his face at Wrigley Field and be forgiven by an entire fan base is one of them---go watch that replay, every moron sitting around Bartman, with the exception of one, should name their kids after him because they reached for that ball too. I mean if there was one reason to root against the Cubs, it would be for how that incident played out among the fans, but we won't go there. Would a third WS loss in the last six years make the Rangers the “Buffalo Bills of Baseball”? No, and stop acting like the Bills were losers. Ask a Browns fan if he’d have rather lived through four straight Super Bowl losses instead of draft bust after draft bust and see what he says. The Cubs are the best team in baseball, and are going to have this core for at least another five years. Believe the hype, and just accept the fact that they deserve this more than your team.

2016 Awards... 

MVP: Mike Trout/Paul Goldschmidt

·        Can't you just see it now? Trout leading or in the top three of every major category and metric in the AL. Then in walks this  21 year old stud shortstop on a potential pennant winning team in the same division, only to steal the award with comparable, but not better numbers? Stop the madness. Trout is the best player in the AL, and quite possibly the entire game. The craziest thing about him finishing 2nd in the MVP race in two of the last three years is that the year he actually won it (2014) was his worst statistical year of the three. Let that sink in... 

·       Goldschmidt will approach ’09-’10 Pujols numbers. At least, that’s what I’m hoping for since I took him #2 overall in fantasy over  Trout. But seriously, he's the total package and I think he gets very close. Give me Rizzo as my dark horse, as he's looking primed to make that jump also. And for the love of all things holy, can we please bring those beautiful Arizona pinstripe vests back full-time, along with the Marlins teals? Why they were killed in the first place makes no sense considering they were both donned during both franchise's glory years. Besides, I'm a 90's kid, I grew up with them.  

Cy Young: Chris Sale/Gerrit Cole

·       I picked “Filthy Buck Fifty” when he was a less popular candidate last year---Yes, I made that up for Sale. No, I will not call him “The Condor.”---and I will maintain that he should have won the award over Keuchel based on metrics. He had a much higher K/9, lower BB/9, a much higher opponent BABIP, and a +0.68 ERA-FIP differential to Keuchel’s -0.43. Plus, I want to see him win one before his arm blows up as many have projected could happen any day now. As stated in the nickname, dude is filthy. But you know who else is just as filthy? Chris Archer. Give me Archer and Carlos Carrasco as the other two who make it a hotly contested race through September. 

·         It would be easy to take Kershaw/Scherzer/Harvey/Grienke/deGrom/, so I’m taking Cole as a dark horse despite a significantly lower K/9 than the field. This is a big-time homer pick as I've owned him in fantasy for three straight years, but he was in the race all the way through August last year. The quintessential anti-Sale with the near flawless mechanics and frame built to last, he's currently in a financial dispute with his club and out to prove his worth. Plus, I love the philosophy in Pittsburgh: Create wins by saving runs through pitch framing, up your two-seam fastball usage to induce ground balls, and constantly shift your defense within the same count to spots where you're anticipating said ground balls. You thought 'Moneyball' changed the game? What the Pirates do through real engineering makes that look like child's play.   



Rookie of The Year: Aaron Judge/Trevor Story

·       This is a long shot, as Judge may not get the call up anytime soon after struggling this spring. Everyone is taking Buxton/Berrios. While I want to show the Twins some love, my thinking is, who wouldn’t want to see a dude who’s basically the size of LeBron play the outfield and swat bombs out of that wiffle ball park known as Yankee Stadium? The only thing I’d like seeing more than that? Lew Brinson, "boy"…  

·        If he stays healthy, my money is on Steven Matz to win it, but Matz and his Mets already get enough love, so let's look at shortstop. Everyone is picking Seager/Turner, so give me Trevor Story. The glaring difference among the group that I think people are overlooking is that Story plays in Coors Field on a rebuilding team. Not to mention, he's projected to hit in the two-hole between Blackmon and CarGo. Regardless of who wins, I just hope we’re entering another Golden Age of shortstops because that’s something the game desperately needs.

 Comeback Player of the Year: Yu Darvish/Jose Fernandez

·         Need this and then some for my Rangers projection to hold true.
·         Fernandez is Pedro 2.0. Nuff said... 

My 16 thoughts heading into 2016…

1.       The Yanks and Sawks are out. New York might have the best bullpen of all-time, but it won’t matter if their rotation can’t get them a lead. As for Boston, they have some of the game’s future stars in Mookie, Bogaerts and Swihart, but they’ll be weighed down by Papi---and another egotistical "Farewell Tour"---Panda, Hanley and a subpar rotation behind Price.

2.       Staying in the East, I’m not in love with the Jays’ rotation, but it will be just enough behind a very potent lineup. No Wild Cards will come out of this division, as these five will eat each other alive. The O’s are confusing, but the Rays are an interesting sleeper that could make a run on young defensive ability---seriously, Kiermaier is in a class of his own, and everyone else is simply 1a--- run manufacturing, and the best rotation in the division headed by Chris Archer, the right-handed version of Sale.

3.       I said the wheels would come off for Detroit last year, and they did. But much like last year’s Jays, 1-5 in their lineup is a real threat. A bounceback year from Verlander could get them back to the postseason, but I’ll have to see it to believe it.

4.       I see the Indians as a poor man’s version of last year’s Mets. They’re viewed as the biggest losers of the offseason for not making any significant moves to improve offensively, and rightfully so. They won’t make the WS and they’ll struggle to score runs, but Kluber/Carrasco/Salazar are as good as it gets, especially in the AL, and what appears to be a wide open Central division.

5.       I looked foolish for picking the Royals to miss the postseason last year, and as tempting as it is to do it again, I’m taking them for the same reasons I’m not taking the Nationals (see #11).

6.       Not much separates the Astros and Rangers, but I’m giving a very slight edge to Texas based on depth, their bullpen---which Buster Olney agreed with when he read my tweet on the BBTN podcast regarding what sets these teams apart from each other, so no, I'm not a blind homer---and the fact that history says when teams make as big a jump as Houston did last year, they usually take a step back. That said, it should be a small step back, as both teams are poised to make a deep run. I'm looking forward to this potentially being the best two team race in MLB.

7.       This year’s postseason will not feature Mike Trout or Clayton Kershaw, and as a fan of the game, that upsets me…

8.       The Mariners have made some subtle moves that make them tough for me to sleep on, but I think they’re still a year away.

9.       The Diamondbacks were 2^nd in the NL in runs scored, and led all of MLB with 69 Defensive Runs Saved in 2015 (next closest team, KC with 56). Add Zack Greinke, Shelby Miller and a healthy Pat Corbin, you better believe I’m buying this team. They aren't as deep as the Cubs, but expect them to be buyers at the deadline.

10.   The Mets should build an early lead on the Nationals, and I expect them to maintain it. After facing KC to open the season, they get the Phillies, Braves, Reds and Padres. Their lineup is improved from last year, and rounding off an already dominant rotation with ROY candidate Steven Matz and a healthy Zack Wheeler set to return in July, this team could run away with the “NL Least.”

11.   I swore last year I’d never pick the Nationals to win anything again, no matter how enticing, and I’m sticking to my word… sort of. They get a WC spot only by virtue of playing in the worst division in all of baseball. I will say though, I am a fan of the Dusty Baker hire. 

12.  Looking at the NL West, with an injury riddled spring, it’s looking like the biggest payroll in baseball would be doing themselves a favor by investing in some comfortable new Lay-Z-Boys because that’s likely where they’ll be watching the postseason from. Sorry, Magic…
      As for the Giants, the buck stops here with the even year nonsense.
      [Insert Hunter Pence Joke Here]

13.  Are you like me, having trouble finding work? Let's make a road trip out of it and tryout for the Phillies, Braves, Reds, Brewers, Rockies, and Padres. My twice surgically repaired shoulder and the litany of injuries I've sustained since would make any one of these teams a lock to land the No. 1 overall pick in this year's draft.
 
14. Seamheads beware when picking the Cardinals on pedigree. The 2015 Cardinals are one of 12 teams in the Wild Card Era to allow 580 runs or fewer (528) in a single season. Each of the 11 teams before them saw an average increase in runs allowed the following year by 114, with only one team being able to stay under 600.  

15. The Pirates took a step back in the offseason, but I just can’t bring myself to pick against them. Starling Marte might be the single most underrated player in baseball, Cutch is Cutch, Gerrit Cole is a workhorse, and Ray Searage is a pitching whisperer currently working his magic on Juan Nicasio. If you haven’t read ‘Big Data Baseball’, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy… like, today. You can thank me later.

16.  The Curse of the Billy Goat will end and Steve Bartman will be vindicated in 2016. The Cubs are deep, and when I say deep, I mean they can plug an impact player in at almost any spot if injuries arise. I love the Heyward signing, as he's grossly underrated when you consider his defensive ability and age. And as much as it pains me to say it, the x-factor that will determine the Cubs postseason success is... just who everybody thought, John Lackey. All of their bullpen question marks can be fixed before the deadline, and they have the farm system to make it happen.

@GeraldWWhite