5 Decades of San Francisco Giants - The Seventies

Part One is here.

Things took a bad turn in the 70s.  I blame myself.

1970 (Pythag 81-81)
C Dietz WARP 5.4/WAR 4.2
1B McCovey 8.1/6.2
2B Hunt 1.9/.9
SS Lanier -.7/-2.2
3B Gallagher .2/.6
LF Henderson 4.1/3.8
CF Mays 4.6/4.9
RF Bonds 6.5/5.1
P Perry 7.9/6.6
   Marichal 2.4/1.8
   Robertson .8/.8
   Pitlock 1/.5
Cl McMahon 4.4/2.9

-I was born at the close of what was, to that point, our worst ever season.  Gaylord's best ever SFG year was '70 - and this is going to hold up as not just our best pitching season of the decade - but this is the top overall season by any 70s Giant. Another top year belonged to Dietz; this is the best catching season, not just of the 70s, but he passed Haller to be the best catching year for SFG from '58-'79.  Mays rebounded a bit from '69; McCovey held his value - putting up what would remain the best season for a first baseman in the decade and our fourth best season overall in the 70s.  Lanier/Gallagher were replacement value. 

1971 (88-74)
C Dietz 4.2/3.5
1B McCovey 3.6/2.8
2B Fuentes 3/1.3
SS Speier 3.9/2.3
3B Gallagher .9/2
LF Henderson 4/4
CF Mays 6.5/6
RF Bonds 6.1/6.4
OF Kingman .9/1
P Perry 3.4/.5
   Marichal 4.1/2.2
   Bryant .6/.1
   Stone -.1/-.5
   Carrithers -.6/-.8
   Cumberland 3/2.3
Cl Johnson 2.2/.7

-A moment about Willie Mays.  This was Mays's last season as a full time Giant regular; he was 40 years old.  Every time a guy hangs on too long, Mays is used as an example of how you don't want to tarnish your legacy by doing so.  40 year old Wille Mays not only was the best San Francico Giant in 1971 - his season holds up as the best by a CF in the decade.  Ken Henderson had his best ever SFG season - and it also will hold up for the rest of the decade.  Not a lot from the arms in '71, 3/5 of the rotation was replacement value.

1972 (79-76)
C Rader -.6/1.4
1B McCovey -.4/-.6
2B Fuentes 2.2/.9
SS Speier 8.5/5.9
3B Gallagher -.1/-.8
LF Henderson 2.7/2.8
CF Maddox 1.2/1.7
RF Bonds 5/5
OF Kingman 1.9/1.4
P Bryant 4/2.6
   Marichal .7/.1
   McDowell .2/-.8
   Stone 2.1/1.3
   Reberger .6/.3
   Barr 3.6/2.9
   Willoughby 3/2.7
Cl Johnson -1/-1.3

-Chris Speier's 1972 was the best season for a SFG shortstop from '58-79 and by a wide margin; in fact, it was the second best overall season for any Giant in the decade.  He needed it to be - just a handful of ABs from Mays; replacement value from McCovey and Marichal - the heroes of the 60s fell hard in '72.

1973 (85-77)
C Rader 1/-.3
1B McCovey 4.9/3
2B Fuentes 3.4/2.5
SS Speier 4.9/.9
3B Goodson 1.9/1.3
LF Matthews 2.9/3.2
CF Maddox 3.2/4.5
RF Bonds 8.6/7.7
OF Kingman 1.3/1.5
P Bryant 3.9/3.3
   Barr 3.4/2.7
   Bradley 2.7/2.1
   Marichal 2.3/1.2
   Moffitt 3/2.7
   McMahon 2.1/1.4
Cl Sosa 2.5/1.7

-Bobby Bonds's best SFG season; the best for any RF from '58-79, and our 3rd best overall season of the 70s.  Other than Rader, no one is terrible, and '73 trailed just '71 as our best campaigns of the decade.

1974 (71-91)
C Rader .9/1
1B Kingman .1/.4
2B Fuentes 0/-.6
SS Speier 5.1/2.7
3B Ontiveros .6/.6
LF Matthews 3.4/2.9
CF Maddox .7/1.1
RF Bonds 4.8/4.4
P Barr 6.4/6.2
   D'Acquisto 2/2.5
   Caldwell 3.2/3.2
   Bradley -1.7/-1.5
   Bryant -2.3/2.3
Cl Moffitt .9/.1

-And now it gets ugly - we're drawing half a million, last in the NL and looking to move to Denver or Toronto; the only guy in the entire infield who isn't lousy is Speier.  I'm glad I was only three years old.

1975 (79-82)
C Rader 1.2/.8
1B Montanez .7/.4
2B Thomas 2.4/1.6
SS Speier 5.3/4
3B Ontiveros 1.6/1.1
LF Matthews 2.9/3
CF Joshua 3.2/2
RF Murcer 1.8/1.1
IF Miller -1.3/-1.1
P Barr 5.2/5.6
   Montefusco 5.3/6.2
   Falcone .7/.6
   Caldwell -.5/-.9
   Halicki 1.3/2.3
   Lavelle 2.1/1.9
   Williams 1.7/1.5
   Heaverlo 1.7/1.9
Cl Moffitt 1/.7

-This looks like an expansion team, right?  Steve Ontiveros and Von Joshua and Dave Rader and Willie Montanez?  The arms keep us near .500.  Bobby Bonds was underappreciated, he was our best player from '68-'74, solid every single season.  Gone in '75. 

1976 (71-91)
C Rader .4/-.1
1B Evans .8/.2
2B Perez 1.3/.3
SS Speier 1.2/-.3
3B Reitz -1.3/-.5
LF Matthews 1.8/2
CF Herndon .5/.5
RF Murcer 3.9/1.9
CF Joshua -1.3/-1.4
P Montefusco 7.5/6.2
   Barr 6.2/5.1
   Halicki 3.4/2.1
   Dressler -.5/-.9
   D'Acquisto -.3/-1
   Lavelle 4.2/2.6
   Williams 1.2/1.4
Cl Moffitt 3.4/2.3

-Wow that is a bad, bad, bad offensive baseball team.  If not for Montefusco (the fifth best overall season of the decade) and Barr we lose a hundred games.  Look at that infield.  Everyone replacement level.  Evans with his .6 WARP3 has the best year - that might be as bad an infield as you'll find. 

1977 (75-87)
C Hill .5/1.1
1B McCovey 1.3/1.1
2B Andrews .4/-.3
SS Foli .4/-1
3B Madlock 1.1/.9
LF Evans 1.5/1.2
CF Thomas 1.7/1
RF Clark 1.5/2.4
Uti Thomasson 2.2/2.6
P Halicki 7.1/5.4
   Barr 2.5/.4
   Knepper 4.1/3.1
   Montefusco 2.2/1.1
   Heaverlo 2.2/1.7
Cl Lavelle 5.3/3.7

-I don't specifically recall any baseball games until the '77 Series, but this is the first season I recall self-identifying as a Giants fan - I think McCovey's return created enough of a ripple that it connected in my head - but it wouldn't be until '78 that I'd go to Candlestick and really start to feel an emotional connection on a daily, continuous basis with the Giants - this year, I think (2010) is the year that circumstance has sort of caused my following the lightest amount, maybe ever since I was seven years old.  Lavelle's year was the best for a Giants closer from '58-79.

1978 (83-79)
C Hill 1.9/.8
1B McCovey -.3/-.8
2B Madlock 6/4.6
SS LeMaster 0.4/.7
3B Evans 4.5/3.6
LF Whitfield 1.5/1.6
CF Herndon 0/.6
RF Clark 6.6/5.7
1B Ivie 2/2.4
SS Metzger -.2/-1
P Knepper 7.4/5.5
   Blue 7.3/6
   Montefusco 2.2/1.2
   Halicki 4.3/3.1
   Barr 2.4/1.1
Cl Lavelle 1.7/.6

-Our pythag is much lower than the actual win total, which had us looking like contenders into September; the play of McCovey (which wasn't good, but he was in the lineup - I recall a "who should get the At Bats - McCovey or Ivie" debate on which I was solidly in the McCovey camp - kicking it old school like all seven year old kids do.  I was wrong, Ivie was better) and more importantly, the resurgent Vida Blue, who has been a Strassburgian level Bay Area phenom just a few years previous - led to some electricity around the bacllclub (demonstrated by the huge attendance jump) and that probably connected with my 7 year old brain (and I first went to the ballpark in '78 - I recall using my grandfather's binoculors to find Vida in the dugout, as he was not pitching) in exactly the right way.  Madlock's season is the best second base year for the entire period thusfar, '58-'79 - so it made all the sense in the world to deal him the following season.  Evans had the best season for a third baseman in the decade. 

1979 (73-89)
C Littlejohn-.9/-.3
1B McCovey -.1/0
2B Strain .1/0
SS LeMaster .6/.7
3B Evans 3.6/2.3
LF Whitfield 1.5/1.6
CF North 3.2/2.3
RF Clark 2.4/3.3
1B Ivie 3.3/2.7
P Blue -.1/-1.1
   Knepper 1.4/.5
   Montefusco 2/1.3
   Halicki -.6/-1.1
   Minton 2.6/1.6
Cl Lavelle 4.8/2.8

1970s 25 Man Roster 
C Dietz '70
    Dietz '71
1B McCovey '70
     McCovey '73
2B Madlock '78
     Fuentes '73
SS Speier '72
     Speier '74
3B Evans '78
      Evans '79
LF Henderson '71
      Henderson '70
CF Mays '71
      Mays '70
RF Bonds '73
      Bonds '71
P Perry '70
   Montefusco '76
   Blue '78
   Knepper '78
   Barr '74   
   Halicki '77
   Montefusco '75
Cl Lavelle '77
     Lavelle '79

1st and Ten - The Weekly Tendown June 27-July 3 2010

Dear Internet:

Can't really complain about a week that saw the ends of both Mel Gibson's  and Michael Steele's careers.   All it will take is one leak of the Gibson tape and he moves to a hole from which he'll never climb; and Steele - Steele finally got something right - the United States isn't going to win the war in Afghanistan, and, one assumes it's going to cost him his job.  Telling the truth = not the best idea for a Republican in 2010. 

Lets do some Tendown 33

First: I Gave At the Office

I've written multiple times this week; here was my final selection for the 2010 MLB All Star Game; here was the first part of my five part look at the history of the San Francisco Giants (by WARP3 and WAR), and from the other place here was the final chapter in the road to counterfactual Summer Slam 2009.

Which means that's all the writing I do for the week.  Oh, sure, I could slap some links up - making fun of the right wing - talking about the four star wrestling matches I saw (From Big Japan in May - Takashi Sasaki & Yuko Miyamoto vs. Daisuke Sekimoto & Yoshihito Sasaki 4 1/4) and then I shut it down.  You don't want to read my baseball lists or the largest piece of wrestling fan fiction ever written in the history of the world - I got nothing for you this week.

I got nothing else!  Go away!  I gave at the office!

The other thing that happened was I finished my move; my Lady Type Friend and I are out of our old houses and now the 7 of us (5 of us are four-legged) are cohabitating.  Were I, in a Joan Didion type of way, to ever write a book about my 2010, I might entitle it ...And then My Glasses Snapped Clean in Half as that happened this week; in a year where I've already lost both my house and a parent; and had to increase my course load to 7 days a week to pay the monthly bills while my average class size doubled - I finished off a multi-month search for a house, and a back breaking move by simply pushing my glasses back from the bridge of my nose and watching them snap into pieces in my hands.  I stared disbelieving at my Lady Type Friend, "this is not a real thing that just happened, right - it just can't be that I'm holding my glasses right now."

But here we sit Sunday morning.  Move done.  Glasses fixed.  I've got to finish my preparation for the new academic quarter (starting online in 12 and a half hours - and in the classroom Tuesday) and the combination of all of the above factors is the most important thing that happened this week. 

Fine.  You're not gonna leave.  Fine. After the jump - the rest of the Tendown.

5 Decades of San Francisco Giants - The Sixties

I'm going through every San Francisco Giants club ever.  By WARP/WAR (B-Ref version) here's the first decade of Giants baseball (including the 2 years from the 50s).  I guess the idea would be to see who had the best positional seasons ever and select the all time Giants by position.  I made a run at this a couple of years ago.

Edit - it's 2012, time for an update.  I'm going to use the Davenport WARP numbers. 

1958 (Pythag Wins Normalized for 162 game season: 84)
C Schmidt WARP 1.5/WAR 1.4
1B Cepeda 3.8/2.7
2B O'Connell 1.5/.9
SS Spencer 4.7/3
3B Davenport .7/1.1
LF Sauer 0/.5
CF Mays 9.1/10(8 wins is an MVPQuality season)
RF Kirkland .2/.4
OF Wagner 1.3/1.8
OF F Alou .7/1.1
P Antonelli 5.4/3.7(4.6 win season)
   Gomez 2/1.1
   McCormick .7/-.3
   Miller 4.7/4.8(4.6 win season)
   Worthington 2.1/1.2
Cl Grissom .3/-.3

-Modest though it is, that initial campaign by Spencer will remain the Giants best season from a shortstop throughout the rest of this look at the 60s.  This Mays season is the 4th best overall by a Giant in the 60s (guess who has the top three?)



1959 (91)
C Landrith 2.3/1.3
1B Cepeda 5.6/3.4(4.5 wins)
2B Spencer 3.1/2
SS Bressoud 1/2.6
3B Davenport -.5/1.5
LF Brandt 2/1.2
CF Mays 6.5/7.4(7 wins)
RF Kirkland 2/2.9
1B McCovey 4.1/3
SS Rodgers .9/1.1
LF Wagner .8/.5
RF F Alou .6/1
P Antonelli 6.1/4.5(5.3 win season)
   Jones 6.9/4.9(5.9 wins, our best pitched season to that date)
   McCormick 1/.2
   Sanford 4.2/2.9
Cl Miller 2.8/2

-Sam Jones and Antonelli are a solid 1-2 in McCovey's rookie year - and it'll be a decade before someone has a better second base season than Spencer.  Hell of a pythag - 20 games over .500

1960 (85)
C Schmidt 1.1/.4
1B McCovey 1.6/1.6
2B Blasingame .9/1.2
SS Bressoud .9/1.5
3B Davenport .7/.9
LF Cepeda 3.9/3.9
CF Mays 7.6/9.2(Mays's second MVPQ season in SFG)
RF Kirkland 1.7/2.9
2B Amalfitano 1.2/1.6
LF F Alou .1/1.2
P McCormick 7.4/5(6.2 wins)
   Jones 2.8/1.1
   Sanford 1.8/.6
   O'Dell 4.2/3
   Marichal 2/1.7
Cl Antonelli 1.8/.7

-Until '63, this McCormick season was the best pitched year in SFG history. 

1961 (93)
C Bailey 1.2/1.5
1B McCovey 2.2/2.4
2B Amalfitano .5/.2
SS Pagan -.5/.8
3B Davenport 3.1/2.6
LF Kuenn .6/.5
CF Mays 8.1/8.4(Third MVPQ season)
RF F Alou 2.3/2.6
LF Cepeda 6.6/5.4(6 win season)
P  McCormick 5.6/4.1(4.9 wins)
    Sanford 2.2/1.3
    Marichal 2.2/1.1
    Loes .6/-.3
 Cl Miller 4.4/3.2

-Cepeda split his time between left and first in that "how can we have a team with both he and McCovey - just too many bats!" conundrum the Giants were in.  But for these purposes we'll call him a left fielder and say this was the best LF season of the Giants in the 60s. 

1962 (100-65)
C Haller 4/3.4
1B Cepeda 5.8/2.9
2B Hiller 2.6/2.5
SS Pagan .8/2.2
3B Davenport 3.4/4.6
LF Kuenn 2.5/2.2
CF Mays 10.7/10.2
RF F. Alou 4/5
C Bailey 2/1.8
LF McCovey 2.9/1.8
RF M Alou .4/.9
P O'Dell 3.5/2.6
   Sanford 4.5/2.9
   Marichal 4.5/4
   Pierce 3.2/2.5
   McCormick -.7/-1
   Perry -.4/-.5
Cl Miller .2/-.3

Through the first 5 years in San Francisco - here's the all time team.
C Haller ('62)
1B Cepeda ('59)
2B Hiller ('62)
SS Spencer ('58)
3B Davenport ('62)
LF Cepeda ('61)
CF Mays ('62)
RF Alou ('62)
P McCormick ('60)

-Mays' 5th best season of the decade led the pace for the best Giants team of the time period; a hundred pythag wins and the first of only three pennants we've won to the date of this writing. 

1963 (90-62)
C Bailey 3.2/3.2
1B Cepeda 7/5.2(new best 1B season)
2B Hiller -.4/-.9
SS Pagan -.4/.5
3B Davenport -.4/.5
LF McCovey 6.1/6(new best LF season)
CF Mays 11.3/10.2(new best CF season)
RF F Alou 4.6/4.8(new best RF season)
C Haller 2.7/2.6
P Marichal 9.1/7.8(new best pitching season)
   Sanford 3.7/2.5
   O'Dell 3.8/2.9
   Larsen 1.5/1
   Duffalo 1.4/1
Cl Pierce 0/0

-The 3rd best overall season of the 60s, it's Mays in '63 - this is a real stars/scrubs team, look at all the production from Cepeda/McCovey/Marichal and then look at the rest of the infield - Hiller is sub replacement level and Pagan/Davenport aren't any better.  Not hard to see where upgrades could have been made in '63.  This is all time frustrating "why didn't they fill those holes" team.

1964 (89-73)
C Haller 3.2/2.8
1B Cepeda 4.1/4.2
2B Lanier 2.7/.7
SS Pagan -1.4/-1.3
3B Hart 5.1/4.9(new best 3B season)
LF McCovey .5/-.3
CF Mays 11.2/10.7(new best CF season)
RF J Alou -.3/0
LF Kuenn -1/-.4
CF Snider -.6/-.7
RF M Alou -.1/.5
P Marichal 7/5.8
   Bolin 2.7/2.4
   Hendley 2.2/1.5
   Herbel 2.2/1.5
   Sanford 1.8/1.5
   Perry 5.6/4.8
   Duffalo 1.6/1.3
   Pierce 1.4/1.6
Cl Shaw .5/.2

-Best season of the decade for Mays; the best third base season until Hart passes it himself in '66; the best pitching season as of this point was Marichal's the year before - this was second.  Pagan and Jesus Alou both below replacement. 

1965 (91-71)
C Haller 2.9/2.3
1B McCovey 5.4/5.5
2B Lanier -.4/-1.1
SS Schofield -.4/-.5
3B Hart 3/3.2
LF Gabrielson 1.5/1.3
CF Mays 10.9/10.9
RF J. Alou 1.2/2
RF M Alou -.9/-1.1
P Marichal 11.4/10.1(new best pitched season)
   Shaw 5/4.7
   Perry .5/-.2
   Sanford .1/-.4
   Spahn .7/.5
   Bolin 5.1/4.3
   Herbel 1.1/.7
   Murakami 1.1/1
Cl Linzy 4.6/3.9

-19 bleeping 65.  91 pythag wins is really good - but look what happened here, the second best season overall in the decade (Mays) the best pitching season of the decade (Marichal) - add in the best season for a closer in the decade (Linzy) and you'd like to play in the postseason.  But Schofield's sub replacement, Lanier is at the line, the two Alou's continue to most pointless of all sports dynasties.  But Cepeda got hurt and there's Gabrielson/Peterson giving us nothing in left (while the Alou's give us less than that in right).  Hard not to look in hindsight at '65 as one that got away.

1966 (86-75)
C Haller 2.4/3.2
1B McCovey 8.4/5.7(new best 1B season)
2B Lanier .3/-.7
SS Fuentes 1.3/.6
3B Hart 4.9/6.4(best 3b season)
LF Gabrielson -1.9/-.1.1
CF Mays 8/8.8
RF Brown -2/-.9
3B Davenport .8/1.1
RF J Alou -2.9/-2
P Marichal 10.6/9.5
   Perry 6.1/4.7
   Bolin 4.8/4.3
   Herbel -.1/-.8
   Sadecki -1.4/-1.6
   McDaniel 2.3/1.4
Cl Linzy 2.2/1.2

-You cant really look at this Mays season and see slippage, but this is just an ordinary great player year as opposed to an all-time season - and '66 becomes the first year that Mays wasn't the best player on the club (Marichal). It's the second best pitching season of the era - and the best third base season, as Hart continued his solid play - it was also, to that date, the best first base year, as McCovey starts to gear up now - and so does Perry as the number two starter.  But look at the corner OF - they're sub replacement and so are their backups.  Add the replacement level middle infielders and you can really see the picture of mid 60s Giants baseball forming - MVP seasons in Mays/Marichal - really solid supporting work led by McCovey - and then some terrible baseball by most of the rest of the lineup.

1967 (93-69)
C Haller 4.3/3.7(best catching season)
1B McCovey 6.3/4.9
2B Fuentes 1.8/1.2
SS Lanier 2.4/1.7
3B Hart 4.8/5.6
LF J Alou -1.3/0.2
CF Mays 3.8/4.2
RF Brown -.3/1.5
C Dietz 1/.5
    Hiatt 1.4/1.5
3B Davenport 3.1/3.4
LF Cline .2/1.1
CF Henderson -.1/-1.1
P Perry 6.4/5.1
   McCormick 5.9/3.9
   Marichal 3.2/2
   Sadecki 4/3.1
Cl Linzy 4.5/3.2

10 years Down.  Here's the All Time SFG Team:
C Haller '67
1B McCovey '66
2B Hiller '62
SS Spencer '58
3B Hart '66
LF McCovey '63
CF Mays '64
RF Alou '63
P Marichal '65
Cl Linzy '65

-Catching has never been a SFG strong suit, but Haller had some good enough years; this was the best - the best catching season in the 60s.  More importantly - even though he finished 3rd in the MVP vote, we see the Mays decline; the best Giant in '67 was Gaylord, Jim Ray Hart was second, McCovey third and then Mays - they all had similar good, solid, but unspectacular seasons - '67 is the year Mays became just another good guy, on what was the second best Giants team of the decade.

1968  (90-72)
C Dietz 1.2/1
1B McCovey 6.9/6.9
2B Hunt 5.7/4.6(best second base season)
SS Lanier 1.3/-.2
3B Hart 2.9/2.7
LF Cline -1.6/-.1
CF Mays 6.4/6.1
RF J Alou -1.4/-.9
C Hiatt 2.1/1.7
3B Davenport -.3/.1
RF Bo. Bonds 1.9/2.8
P Marichal 7.3/5.4
   Perry 6.3/4.7
   Sadecki 3.2/2.2
   McCormick -.3/-.4
   Bolin 5.3/4.5
Cl Linzy 2.5/1.8

-Hunt joins the club - and look, a middle infielder who can actually play - this is the best second base season of the decade.  Mays rebounds a bit, but it's McCovey, who, by a narrow margin beats him out for best player - and, of course,we have sub replacement value corner outfielders in Alou and Cline - but Bobby Bonds, in part time, gives us a glimpse.

1969 (89-73)
C Dietz 2.5/1.9
1B McCovey 8.2/7.9(best 1B season)
2B Hunt 4.4/4.1
SS Lanier 1.6/.6
3B Davenport -.1/-.4
LF Marshall -1.1/-.6
CF Mays 1.9/3
RF Bonds 5.6/6.3(best RF season)
C Hiatt 2.3/1.6
SS Fuentes 1/1.4
P Perry 7.6/6.2
   Marichal 9.3/7.5
   McCormick 3.3/2.4
   Bolin -.1/-.2
   Sadecki .6/0
Cl Linzy .6/.7

-There's no doubt as the decade closes - McCovey's the best player, this is the best first base season of the decade - Mays is behind Marichal (the third best pitching season of the decade, all by him), Perry (his best season of the decade), Bonds (with the best RF season of the decade), and even Hunt.  Davenport gets back his starting job 5 years after turning it over to Hart - and he and the LF Marshall are sub replacement.

Here's the SFG 25 Man Roster for the 50s/60s.
C Haller '67
    Haller '62
1B McCovey '69
     McCovey '66
2B Hunt '68
     Hunt '69
SS Spencer '58
      Lanier '67
3B Hart '66
      Hart '67
LF McCovey '63
     Cepeda '61
CF Mays '64
      Mays '65
RF Bonds '69 
    F.Alou '63
P Marichal '65
   Marichal '66
   Marichal '63
   Marichal '69
   Marichal '64
   Perry '69
   Marichal '68
Cl Linzy '65
    Linzy '67
   
         

2010 MLB All Star Rosters + Midyear Thoughts

Close enough to 81 games in - this is the third and final look at my 2010 MLB All-Star rosters.

I'll select an actual DH for the AL team, as that's how it's listed on the ballot.  21 position players for each league, 13 pitchers, every team represented.  My picks are solely based on the first half of the 2010 season; there are other approaches one could take. 

AL Starters
C J.Mauer (Min)
1B J.Morneau (Min)
2B R. Cano (NY) - MVP
SS A.Gonzalez (Tor)
3B E.Longoria (TB)
LF C.Crawford (TB)
CF F.Gutierrez (Sea)
RF J.Hamilton (Tex)
DH V.Guerrero (Tex)
P R.Romero (Tor) - Cy

Reserves
C. J.Jaso (TB) J. Molina (Tor)
1B K.Youkilis (Bos) M. Cabrera (Det)
2B D. Pedroia (Bos -Inj) (Injury Replacement - B. Zobrist TB)
SS E. Andrus (Tex) C. Pennington (Oak)
3B A.Beltre (Bos) A. Rodriguez (NY)
OF B. Boesch (Det) D.Dejesus (KC) A. Rios (Chi)

-Wells gets screwed here, given the need to get Rios on the squad. 

P C. Buchholz (Bos)
    J. Lester (Bos)
    C. Pavano (Min)
    D. Price (TB)
    S. Marcum (Tor)
    J. Verlander (Det)
    J.Weaver (LA)
    C. Lewis (Tex)
    F. Carmona (Cle)
    J. Guthrie (Balt)

RP    J. Valverde (Det)
         M. Rivera (NY)

NL Starters
C M.Olivo (Col)
1B A.Gonzalez (SD)
2B M.Prado (Atl)
SS T.Tulowitzki (Col - Inj)
3B D.Wright (NY) - MVP
LF M.Holliday (StL)
CF A.McCutcheon (Pit)
RF J.Willingham (Was)
DH A.Pujols (StL)
P U.Jimenez (Col) -Cy

Reserves
C. B.McCann (Atl) I.Rodriguez (Was)
1B A.Huff (SF) J.Votto (Cin)
2B C.Utley (Phi-injured) R.Weeks (Mil) J.Uribe (SF - Injury Replacement)
SS R.Furcal (LA - Replacement Starter) H. Ramirez (FL - Injury Replacement)
3B S.Rolen (Cin) R.Zimmerman (Was)
OF A.Pagan (NY) A.Torres (SF) M.Byrd (Chi)

-Werth and Braun are both having representative years; in fact each has jumped Byrd since I put this together two days ago, and obviously both are better players.  So, I'll take Braun now for that last spot.

P J.Johnson (FL)
   Y.Gallardo (Mil)
   T.Hudson (Atl)
   A.Wainwright (StL)
   R.Halladay (Phi)
   M. Pelfrey (NY)
   L.Hernandez (Was)
   R.Oswalt (Hou)
   R.Dempster (Chi)

RP B.Wagner (Atl)
      T.Clippard (Was)

-Garcia has jumped Oswalt and Dempster, but those are the only reps for the Astros and Cubs (now that I replaced Byrd). 

My spring training picks are here.  I had the Phils winning the NL East with the Braves taking the WC - at the halfway point Atlanta looks to be the side in the East and while the Phils still have the horses to come from the outside and take the WC - were I to pick right now it would be the Reds (about whom I wrote "they aren't a wild card contender").  Picking the Reds to win the WC means that I think St Louis wins the Central, as did I in the spring.  I liked the Rox to win my West in the spring - but now I am foresquarely in the camp of the Padres, for whom you can still get a really good price if you are interested in investing. 

In the spring I thought the 3 best teams in baseball were in the AL East (and still do) I said, largely just because you had to pick someone, that it would be the Yanks who missed the playoffs.  But now they look like the strongest team to come out - the Boston injuries have been overwhelming, and I'll say the Pedroia/Martinez combo means they stay home in October, with the Rays getting the WC (but it's still close).

I picked the Twins to edge out the Tigers in the spring - and it's a coin flip but I'll still say they will.  And I liked Texas to win the West and it's basically a lock. 

I'm currently in second place in two of my fantasy leagues, and in first in my NL only league.  I was in last in the AL league for the first month, so I'm sort of pleased with how I've played.  I'm a distant second in the mixed league, the guy in first has had a chokehold on it all season.

1st and Ten: The Weekly Tendown. June 20-26 2010, NBA Draftdown

Dear Internet:

Are you like me, Internet?

If you're like me, at 11:00 Thursday night you were watching the DVR'd 2010 NBA Draft, taking notes in order to write some version of a humorous draft blog such as I did  with the '82-91 drafts. And when the sixth pick arrived for your lifelong favorite NBA franchise, the Golden St. Warriors, you shouted from your brand new couch at your brand new television:

Take Greg Monroe.  Do not take Udoh.  Do not take Udoh.  Do not take Udoh.  Monroe is a sweet passing big man; he's Andrew Bogut; when we mistakenly sell low on Biedrins at least we'll have Monroe to fall back on.  Udoh is a 23 year old junior.  Do not take Udoh.

The Warriors are about to be sold, for those of you unaware; and it feels sort of like a foreclosure, like Cohan and Nellie are stripping the place of the copper wiring before the bank takes possession. 

If you're like me, that's the joke you wrote at 11:00 Thursday night.

Right after we took Udoh.

Let's get to Tendown 32.  NBA Draftdown!

First:  No One Enjoys Being Booed as Much as David Stern
The New York fans opened the draft by booing David Stern like he was leaving the oil soaked Gulf Coast to go check out some yacht races.  He clearly digs it; Simmons used the Vince McMahon reference in his draft blog, so I'll scratch it from my notes, but I did expect him to follow up his introduction about the draftees coming to the NBA to "compete against the best basketball players" with the coda "and also the Knicks."

Vince got sued this week, incidentally - Owen's widow apparently hasn't been getting residuals for the 30 some odd DVDs in which he's appeared since his death.  Which I'm thinking is it's less oversight than Vince saying something to the effect of - "we're never writing that woman a single check."  'Cause, instead of, you know, coming on RAW the night after WWF negligence killed her husband to shoot a Melanie Pillman angle, she took 18 million from their insurance company in an out of court wrongful death settlement.

Don't vote for Linda, Connecticut.  You'll regret it. 

I don't know what Vince's or Stern's favorability ratings would be - but they'd be higher than BP's.  This week's NBC/Wall St. Journal poll has BP being viewed favorably by 6% of Americans (Joe Barton presumably has apologized for the poll as well) .  The only lower scores in poll history were Saddam Hussein, Fidel Castro, and Yasser Arafat (Udoh has yet be similarly scrutinized). 

Meanwhile, a Republican congressman took the House floor to claim that Obama's securing a 20 billion dollar escrow account from the fourth most unpopular entity in the history of the NBC News poll was just like, wait for it, wait for it...Hitler. 

You know who else is just like Hitler?  Don Nelson.  Don Nelson and Chris Cohan and Larry Riley and the entire Golden St. franchise.  Just like Hitler.  No difference.  Exactly the same.  I'm gonna tea party that GSW ass.

After the jump, the rest of the Tendown.