Bleacher Report - Articles by TJ Washington

A Reason for Yankee Fans to Care about the Playoffs

TJ Washington — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 07:02:43 -0400

Let’s put the upcoming ALCS in the perspective of a typical Yankee fan.

On the one hand, you have Tampa Bay Rays, the former Yankee battering ram that decided the best way to assimilate to Major League Baseball was to play like an expansion team for the first 11 years of its existence.

Usually playing the role of guppy to a hungry pinstriped shark trying to gobble up wins, the Rays have been more pavement than road block for the Yanks in their franchise’s history. Now they are on the cusp of the World Series.

On the other hand, there are the evil and dreaded Boston Red Sox. Since 2004, the Sox have gone from being the butt of Yankee fan’s jokes to supreme annoyance. A team that couldn’t win one championship in 86 years is now looking for its third in five years.

So where does a Yankee fan turn? To Los Angeles of course.

It’s almost impossible to root for a winner in the ALCS because inevitably it would become a catch-22.

Root for the Rays and accept the facts that the Yankees now fit in third in the AL East totem pole. Cheer for the Red Sox and you might as well hand in your membership in the Evil Empire. Let alone risk the chance of a bleacher creature beating you up if you’re within two mile radius of Yankee Stadium (new or old).

But out on the West coast rests a team that can be the answer to all those problems.

The Dodgers are the new bandwagon team. They were a team that looked like it would spend October lamenting over the fact that its strong pitching staff would once again be made irrelevant by its anemic offense.

Then at 3:59 p.m. on July 31, Manny Ramirez changed everything.

Since the trading deadline, "Manny being Manny" has taken the Dodgers to a new level. An NL West championship level, an NLCS level, maybe even a World Series level.

But it has also changed the complexion of the playoffs for those Yankee fans not too apathetic to care. It has given them a team to root for.

Rooting for the Dodgers means rooting for Joe Torre. Torre, who was systematically kicked out of the Bronx last winter and figuratively spit on by the new Yankee owners, is the manager of the Dodgers.

He has done just as masterful a job in leading the team to this stage of the playoffs as he had in almost any of the years with the Yankees.

Torre has had to deal with an injury to the team’s best player, pre-Manny era, Rafael Furcal, that left him out of the lineup for the majority of the year. He has had to overcome the loss of his stud closer, Takashi Saito, and dealt with the bullpen in a competent manner that belied his troubles doing the same in New York in his last few years.

Most importantly, the way Torre dealt with Hurricane Manny proved once again that while he may not be the game’s best manager, he is the best psychologist.

Torre managed to incorporate Ramirez into a clubhouse that fell apart last year after a lack of chemistry and in-house mumbling and grumbling. One that was already divided due to a schism between the team’s aging superstars and the youth movement on which the Dodgers had become predicated on.

And if that is not enough to make Yankee fans root for the Dodgers, then there is one final factor—the Manny factor.

Almost unequivocally, there is no more appealing story line than seeing the Red Sox make it back to the World Series, trying to prove that it won its first two titles despite Ramirez and not because of him. But the only force in between them and the ring was Ramirez himself.

Talk about irony.

Ask Yankee fans to raise their hands if they would find it sweet to see Boston fall short because of the revenge of Manny, and they would raise both hands at once. Feet too, if they counted in the voting.

So sure, this October maybe a little more boring than usual for Yankee fans. But if they need to find a way to follow the playoffs, they know exactly where to look.

In the words of Horace Greeley, “Look west Yankee fan.”

Rutgers' Big Win Is Not That Big

TJ Washington — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 15:42:35 -0400

Maybe it speaks about the way that Rutgers' football season has gone so far, or to the nature of the Scarlet Knights' fans that a loud, sarcastic sigh of relief could be heard from Piscataway following the team’s 38-0 win over Morgan State.

But that’s about all that could be taken from the victory.

It does not reflect the quality of team that this Rutgers squad could be. It was a game they were supposed to win, and it would look immeasurably worse than ever if they lost. Sure, they didn’t have to rely on a last-minute touchdown to defeat a Football Championship Subdivision team like Arkansas did earlier this.

And yes, it can be assumed that this team is still better than some of the bottom barrel BCS teams like Minnesota or Iowa State, but that’s about it. It just confirms that Rutgers can still pound a cupcake team when given the chance.

Don’t look too far into those stats. Mike Teel’s line looked mighty impressive, including those eight consecutive completions to start his day. But so what. That only means he could complete just three of his final 10 throws.

And for the second-straight game, his last pass of the game was an interception. Not exactly a confidence builder, and a questionable decision by Greg Schiano to not let his senior leader back on the field for an opportunity to end the game on a high.

That running game didn’t look too impressive either. Yes, Mason Robinson and Jourdan Brooks combined for four touchdowns, but they also combined for a 3.46 yards-per-carry average. It may be nitpicking the small stuff in a largely irrelevant game, but when a team loses their first three to start the season, isn’t that what can help it build itself back up?

And what about the two players who had no effect on today’s game? What did Anthony Davis and Kenny Britt have to do to get themselves suspended. It better have been more egregious than maliciously hitting a teammate on national television. And what does it say about their frame of mind to do it when your team is winless?

The only good thing that came out of a day where Rutgers could do no right was the results of the other games on the docket. Last week’s loss to Navy looks more impressive now that the Midshipmen walked into Winston-Salem, ran all over No. 16 Wake Forest, and left with a 24-17 victory.

The fact that Eric Kettani trampled all over the RU defense can now be seen in a different light after he topped himself against the Deamon Decons, and ran for 175 yards.

North Carolina hit the road as well, going to Miami to take on the frisky team from the U. They stole a win on a last-second interception in the end zone. But a win is a win, no matter how you get it, and Rutgers would undoubtedly agree.

Fresno State feels the same way after taking down UCLA in Pasadena. It’s still more than supposed SEC big dog Tennessee can say.

All that really matters for Rutgers, after today, is that the 2008 team finally put a crooked number in their win column. The first one is supposed to be the hardest, so that can only be positive foreshadowing for the rest of the season, because that first win seemed impossible after last Saturday.

Now they will have a few days to pat themselves on the back, maybe take a sigh of relief of their own. But they shouldn’t harp on it for too long. West Virginia is next, and they’ve had a pretty tough season, too. I bet they would like to take out some of that anxiety on someone.

Down the Stretch They Come

TJ Washington — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 06:10:55 -0400

There is a reason baseball has the best playoff races, and days like today back it up. Three games to go until the end of the regular season and three teams in the NL still don’t know what their plans will look like in a week.

Will it be playoff baseball under the bright lights of October or drinking fruity drinks with umbrellas under the hot sun?

The National League has three teams that have been unable to lock up their playoff spots, despite numerous chances, and now are forced to tough it out in what will certainly be a hectic final weekend. The Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets, and Philadelphia Phillies will be battling it out for two spots: the NL East crown and the wild card.

And if you have passed third grade math class, you can see that one team won’t make it.
One month ago, everyone thought the Brewers would be where the Cubs are right now: resting their starters, lining up the playoff rotation, and putting Bernie Brewer on bodyguard duty to make sure nothing happens to CC Sabathia and his golden left arm.

Almost no one thought that the Brew Crew would be playing Chicago the final weekend, trying to lock down their first playoff appearance since 1982.

Practically everything that could have gone wrong for Milwaukee has in that time span. Their bats shut it down. They went on a drastic dry spell, losing 16 of 19 games, starting Sept. 1. Ben Sheets finally got hurt. Ned Yost was fired and replaced by a guy who is most famous for being one of the worst third-base coaches in recent history. And Sabathia still couldn’t beat the Cubs.

If it wasn’t for Prince Fielder’s bat and late-inning heroics, they might actually be out of the race right now. Shocking for a team that was four games up as of late August.

Now they face a crucial three-game series for their season. Since Milwaukee got hot in May, they have played at times like the best team in the NL. Their only kryptonite has been the Cubs, the actual best in the league. Their inability to beat Chicago has been drastically apparent, something even a 5-8 record cannot attest to.

The Cubs just have their number. Look no further than Sabathia. Since joining the team, against the Cubs he is 0-1 with a 4.61 ERA in two starts, against everyone else, he is 10-1 with a 1.42 ERA.

If the Brewers are going to make it, then they will have to overcome their arch-nemesis.

If not, expect a large spike in beer sales in the greater Milwaukee area.

But those fans won’t be the only ones in a drunken stupor; Mets fans have been that way for weeks already. That is the only way to make sense of what has been happening to the Metropolitans. In the middle of September, it seemed the Mets were ready to overcome their epic failures of last year.

Jerry Manuel was the new boss and brought with him a more care-free attitude that livened up the clubhouse and brought Jose Reyes back from his Willie-Randolph-induced coma. They had even overcome their atrocious (and that is an understatement) bullpen to take a three-and-a-half game lead. Yet, if 2007 taught the Mets anything, it’s that the first 145 games don’t really matter.

That lead lasted for five games before the Phillies once again overtook them. This time, New York did not melt down. The team pulled themselves up, led by the bats of Carlos Delgado and Reyes and the arm of Johan Santana. And if it wasn’t for those three, who knows where they would be today.

Santana has pitched masterfully in September, throwing himself into the Cy Young and MVP races. His start against the Cubs probably saved their season. Monday was a blowout loss to a team that fielded half of it’s AAA lineup that could have deflated any postseason hopeful, and Wednesday’s loss saw the bullpen once again blow a lead, while the offense could not bail them out, despite having a runner on third with no one out and the heart of the order up to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning.

If not for Santana winning the game in between those two, the Mets would have lost three-out-of-four to a team that looked more like the Iowa Cubs and put them a game back heading into the weekend.

Instead, they have a weekend series against the Florida Marlins on deck. The Marlins are the same team that ruined 2007. They blasted Tom Glavine on the final day of the season, eliminating them from the playoffs. If the Mets are still in contention Sunday, don’t bet on that happening again. Manuel has lined up his rotation perfectly with Santana going that day.

That leaves only the Phillies. Philadelphia has been the quietest team of the three this September, despite making the most noise. They have taken back the lead of the East, seen an MVP develop and almost mutely become the second-best team in the league.

Since overtaking the Mets about a weekend-and-a-half ago, Philadelphia has shown that this team is not going to give it up. Cole Hamels and Jamie Moyer have put in stellar pitching performances, one after another.

Brett Myers, despite getting roughed up recently, developed into a second ace in the latter half of the season.

Oh, and Ryan Howard might become the first MVP to hit below .250. Howard has put up huge stats once again this year. While not as good as he did in 2006, when he won the award or even last year, he leads the NL with 47 home runs and 142 RBI. Throw away his .248 average, it's not important how often he gets a hit, only that when he does, they always come at the right times.

Combine that with the fact that he has yet to miss a game, important for a team that has had to deal with injuries and disappointing results from Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins, and Howard should be at the top of most ballots.

The Phils have overcome all of that to have the best position going into tonight. They are the only one of those three teams to hold a lead in the race. The Brewers and Mets are tied for the wild card, but the Phils are a game up on NY in the East. They also have the easiest opponent, as a final series against Washington awaits.

And if Joe Blanton and Moyer can’t get it done the first two games, Hamels will be on the mound for Sunday’s game. In fact, all three teams will have their aces going the final day, with Sabathia on three day’s rest.

If Sunday does work out with all three in the mix, it should be an exciting day of baseball. I’ll be sitting in front of the television all day watching everything go down. The only question remaining is: Which team will be joining me on the couch for Game One on Wednesday?

Rutgers Football's Recipe for Disaster

TJ Washington — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 05:10:32 -0400

For three quarters it looked like the Rutgers football team brought back all of the ingredients that made for such a special recipe in 2006 and 2007, at least in a lesser form. Rutgers had a big special teams play, a great running game, a solid defense, and a quarterback who could manage the game.

Scratch those last two and cross out that win in RU's win column after a game most thought would be a gimme. The Scarlet Knights came so close, but the fourth quarter proved to be their downfall.

Rutgers took a 21-20 lead when surprise starting running back Jourdan Brooks scored on a 12-yard touchdown run. That was with 7:38 remaining. Navy did not need the entire clock to go 63 yards down the field from the ensuing kickoff and re-take the lead, a 23-21 advantage that would last.

Left with essentially a two-minute drive to win the game, it only took Rutgers quarterback Mike Teel 30 seconds to put that thought to rest.

On the second play of the drive Teel dropped back to pass, looked right, and thought he had Kenny Britt down the sideline for a first down. Instead, Navy linebacker Ross Pospisil jumped the pass and made the interception. Game over.

The interception was the sixth of the season for the senior, to only one touchdown. Once again an offense that was expected to be explosive could not make a play when it was needed most. The Knights have now been held to 13 points per game after averaging almost 33 last year. The 20 points scored are a season high.

Of course, the game-saving drive would not have been necessary if the defense, the lynchpin of previous Greg Schiano teams, and how the coach made his name, could have made a crucial stop.

Instead, the Midshipmen ran their patented triple-option to perfection. Eric Kettani picked up 40 yards on the drive, before kicker Matt Harmon nailed a 24-yard field goal through the uprights to put his team up 23-21.

More proof arose that the recipe Rutgers used so many times to win big games over the last three years may need to be torn out of the cookbook, especially if two of the ingredients go sour. Unfortunately for the Knights, this was a huge game that the team could not win, as struggling Rutgers dropped to 0-3.

This is the first time Rutgers has lost its first three games to start a season since 1999. That team went on to finish 1-10. An unfathomable thought for Rutgers fans, yet remarkable for a program that seemed to be on the rise.

The lone bright spot for Rutgers on the day came from its backfield. No, not that it took Teel over 58 minutes to make his first mistake, but the running backs. Brooks received his first career collegiate start and made the most out of it.

He rushed for 134 yards on 22 carries, a 6.1 yards-per-carry average, and twice reached the end zone. The redshirt freshman showed speed, power, and vision, adding a dynamic aspect to a stagnant offense.

Joe Martinek received time as his backup and was also impressive. New Jersey's all-time leading rusher gained 61 yards on only eight carries and scored RU's first touchdown of the game, tying the game up at seven in the first quarter.

Now Rutgers heads back to Piscataway, beaten and winless. A weekend that was supposed to include an easy win to a team that lost to Duke only a week ago, instead ended dourly.

It might be time for a new recipe.