The Sully Baseball Show... part of the Seamheads Podcasting Network

Hey Sully Baseball fans... every Monday night I will be recording a new podcast as part of The Seamheads Podcasting Network.

I am part of their two hour block of baseball talk. The first hour is The What's On Second Show which features some terrific baseball talk courtesy of Steve Lenox and Jess Coleman.


Then I come on to host The Sully Baseball Show where each week I bring on people from the world of TV and comedy to talk baseball.

This past show featured Chris DeLuca talking Yankees, Wes Hoffmann talking A's and Clayton Fletcher loving his Orioles (someone has to.)


Listen to the show on the player below or check out the link I have on the bottom of the page.

And be sure the catch the show each week.

It's all part of the Sully Baseball empire.





Whats on Second The Seamheads.com Radio Hour/The Sully Baseball Show 2/7/2011 - Seamheads.com | Internet Radio | Blog Talk Radio

Listen to internet radio with Seamheads.com on Blog Talk Radio

We interrupt Sully Baseball to blather a little about American Idol

Yeah I watch American Idol.

What are you going to do about it? It's not like I'm alone.

Plus it's a show my wife and I and my two kids all watch together. It's what The Love Boat and Lawrence Welk used to be, so get off of my back

So I don't think I am alone when I say "The Hell?" based on last night's show.

You have one guy who oozes charisma, stage prescience, knocks every song out of the park and can walk down a stair with smoke billowing everywhere better than Bela Lugosi. And let's see Lugosi do that while singing Mad World.

Yeah he wore make up and was a little bit flaming.

Did that prevent people from loving Elton John? David Bowie? Prince? ANYONE besides Springsteen in the 1980s?

So who gets voted in. The nondescript white guy. A guy who I can't remember a single one of his performances.

He seems like a nice enough guy (at least it wasn't the jaw droppingly obnoxious Danny Gokey) but if someone else had to win, why not Allison? The sweet 16 year old with the pink hair who got her start singing to furniture.

I hope it isn't homophobia. I mean I am sure that is part of it, but I think most of the people who vote are either teen age girls (or my wife.) And I also think that they vote based on who they fall in love with.

And maybe the teenage girls all realized that "Hey, I don't really have a shot with Adam."

As the brilliant Chris DeLuca pointed out, it takes a very bad Gay-dar to think any woman is going to perk Adam's attention.

Family Guy writer and fellow member of the Weston Mass. little league Alec Sulkin equated America picking Kris Allen over Adam with the Trailblazers picking Sam Bowie over Jordan.

And my lunatic friend Nick Stevens, creator of Townie News, compared Kris' win over Adam to Crash winning the Best Picture Oscar over Brokeback Mountain.

That's a little harsh because Crash was a steaming pile of crap and Kris is just forgettable, but I can see where he was coming from.

Oh well. At least Adam won't have to sing that crappy song Kara wrote.

Either way, Kris has shown all future Idol contenders how to play it in a way that would make Machiavelli proud:

Lay low the first few rounds and let the people who are in over their head weed themselves out.

(Sayonara Anoop, Miguel and the blonde girl with all the tattoos.)

Then let the feel good stories wear out. (Adios blind guy, Anoop and the leather neck guy.)

And don't make any stupid decisions when the front runners stub their toes. (Lil Rounds, Allison and Gokey all peaked too early.) 

Then bust out your A game and suddenly you are the new fun person to root for. 

Either way, my wife has sworn off of the show now. She tried to use a baseball analogy with me.

"Remember how I followed the Red Sox the first year we got married? (2003.) Remember what happened how they fell apart? It's like that! I don't need to go through that again."

I reminded her that they won the World Series the very next year.

I'll be there for the auditions when the next season begins.

It's how I am built.

OK, I promise I'll refrain from Reality TV talk... at least until Project Runway starts up!

"><$BlogItemTitle$>

Sully Baseball Endorses MOCAP, LLC

MoCap, LLC | | SPIKE.com

Spike TV is premiering a new series called MoCap LLC tonight and will air Thursdays at midnight.

The promos are hilarious, the talent is tremendous and at the heart of the show is Chris DeLuca, the creator of "What Sucks", the funniest blog on the internet, and occasionally disagrees with the staff here at Sully Baseball.

Tune in.

Program it to your tivo or DVR.

And now!
Back to baseball!

While I am eating this crow, I have a question for Yankee fans

I know as a Red Sox fan and one who has taken too much glee from Yankee losses and was a smidge hard on them during my HBO appearances that when I start to talk about the Yankees and dispense advice, I need to walk carefully.

In fact I need to watch every step like Indiana Jones walking in that temple at the beginning of Raiders where stepping on the wrong rock meant a dart in the ankle.

Even my constructive criticism of the handling of Joba Chamberlain was attacked by one of my good friends.

But I am going to proceed with caution anyhow.

I thought last year that Mike Mussina was toast, and I made my opinion clear.

He was in his late 30s, 3 of the previous 4 seasons were disappointing and 2007 was a disaster. He pitched his way out of the rotation and finished with an ERA in the 5's.

He was old, expensive and fading. He was worthless.

And now with today's win in Houston he has run up a 10-4 record with a respectable sub 4 ERA. He's pitched well his last 4 games and has been surprisingly effective and durable since the disastrous 2/3 of an inning start against Baltimore on May 20th.

He has value.
And his contract is up at the end of the year.

Here's what I think the Yankees should do with him... and I say this as a baseball observer and not a Red Sox fan.

They should trade him... right now.

(Sully prepares for the flurry of angry posts calling me a classless Boston fan.)

Seriously... think about it.
This is supposedly a transition year for the Yankees.
Why else would they not make a trade for Johan Santana?
Why else would the regular season be treated as Joba Chamberlain's private spring training?

Yeah yeah yeah I know... the Yankees never rebuild... they go for it every year... Prince Hank Steinbrenner wouldn't allow it to happen... not in the last year of the Stadium.

I'm not talking about trading away Jeter, A-Rod, Rivera, Johnny Damon or some other keystone of the team.

I'm not even talking about trading away Phil Hughes and his fake injury.

I'm talking about dealing a guy who was nearly booed out of town last season.
I'm talking about taking advantage of a small window of opportunity where a guy who had a terrific career could yield a potentially usable part.

If this is a transition year, then make a transition!
Mussina isn't coming back next year. That's a given. So clearly he isn't a part of any long term solution.

And if it looks like he has recaptured a little magic, why not sell high when any Yankee fan knows another 2/3 of an inning performance might be around the corner.

Pettite and Wang are pitching well and between Rasner, Joba and a guy off the scrap heap like Freddie Garcia, the Yankees could have a 5 man rotation for the transition.

The National League is all bunched together and the Phillies, Dodgers, Cardinals, Brewers and yes even the Mets all could be a starting pitcher away from a pennant winner.

Imagine prying loose a young player from them. A player that might be a year or two away but comes up big when called up.

Players like John Smoltz, Jeff Bagwell, Jay Buhner, Curt Schilling, Sammy Sosa, Randy Johnson, Jason Varitek, Derek Lowe, David Ortiz, Ryne Sandberg, Grady Sizemore and Dontrelle Willis were all toss ins in trades by teams betting on here and now.

Imagine its 2010 and a dynamic new outfielder, or first baseman, or reliever is up from Scranton and sparking excitement in the new Yankee Stadium.

And all of you Yankee fans are asking "Where did THIS guy come from?" And someone replies "They got him for Mike Mussina back in 2008!"

And everyone would laugh and say "What a steal! Cashman is a genius! Too bad Hank fired him right after the 2008 All Star Break."

I say it is all reward and no risk.
This is the last moment of value for him, and if this is a one step back to take two steps forward than dealing Mussina makes all the sense in the world.

So I ask you, Kat O'Brien and my friends at the Newsday blog... would you try and entice a National League team now?

How about you, Pride of the Yankees? Are you willing to bet that Mussina's last 3 1/2 months as a Yankee will be at this level and the Yanks are truly a championship level team?

Would the folks at Bronx Banter see the long term advantages of trying to fleece an NL team taking advantage of parity?

Does Charlie at the brilliantly named Chuck Knoblog think that the Yankees could benefit from a complete focus on the future the way my Red Sox didn't trade away youth in 2006 to have it benefit in 2007 and beyond?

I know the folks at Piss and Wynager, Scott Proctor's Arm, Lo Hud Yankees, Bronx Cheer, Pinstripe Alley, Yankees Chick, the very brave Yankee Fan in Boston and the Purist Bleeding Pinstripes all think I am just a Red Sox fan trying to derail a Yankee playoff push.

Well you are not 100% wrong there. (Although I did say the Yankees ARE making the playoffs.)

But I also say as an objective baseball fan that maybe... just maybe... there is a chance to inject a new young Yankee star into the mix.

Let me ask you, Chris DeLuca... wouldn't you like to erase the Jay Buhner for Ken Phelps deal?

WRONG AGAIN, CHRIS DELUCA!

Chris DeLuca, the writer of What Sucks which is possibly the funniest blog on the internet, is at it again. And, like John McCain, is wrong for America.

Earlier he tried to get under my skin by saying Curt Schilling was an a -hole.
I had to set him straight.

Now DeLuca commented on my thoughts that the Yankees were handling Joba all wrong
(he's neither a starter nor a reliever and he sits while the Yankees blow leads in the 8th left and right)

His response, true to form of post 2004 Yankee fans, is emotional and irrational.

"spoken like a true Sox fan! The goodwill of the Lester no-hitter is officially ended!

Screw you buddy- Joba will be this team's ace- he's an exciting pitcher with 4 pitches, (mo only had 2, really one)."

Now as he rescinds his good will towards a cancer survivor, he also makes three curious statements.

1) My point of view is that of a Red Sox fan... I'm sorry... a Defending World
Champion Red Sox fan... ergo blind of any objectivity.

2) Joba will be not only a good starter but an ace

3) He's an exciting pitcher.


Nobody can debate #3.
He is a dynamic talent with great potential. We already know he is a terrific reliever and solves a major problem for the Yankees. Moving him to the rotation simply shifts a problem from the early innings to the late innings.

And if they knew they were going to make him a starter, why not have him lengthen his innings during SPRING TRAINING???


Point #2 is debatable.
Remember, Hughes was supposed to be the ace of the team. And before he got his fake
injury he was bombing. Same with Kennedy.

Now young pitchers tend to have growing pains when they join the rotation. But what happens if Joba becomes one of those pitchers? Suddenly they have a struggling starter and Farnsworth pitching the 8th?

I ask YOU, Chris DeLuca... what then?

Now point #1... I am actually analyzing this NOT as a fan of the defending Champs but as a baseball fan. It's mindboggling that a team that built an actual dynasty in the free agent era based not on big budget free agents but on pitching depth would forget where they came from.

The argument about what was more important in the 1998-2000 titles... the starting depth or the bullpen depth... the answer is "Yes."

The Yankees didn't have the dominating CyYoung ace in those years but their pitching went toe to toe with the others

The best ace in that stretch was Pedro and the Yankees lost to Pedro... and won the other 4 games in 1999

So having Pettite, Cone, El Duque, Wells, Clemens etc didn't result in any Cy Youngs, but it meant they had a good pitcher throwing every night while the Rangers threw Rick Helling and Aaron Sele, the Red Sox threw Kent Mercker and Bret Saberhagen and the Indians threw the 14th caller.

But... I... am... telling... you... Chris... DeLuca

you never never NEVER in that stretch worried about late leads because you knew that
Nelson was good for an inning,
Lloyd was good for an inning,
Stanton was good for an inning,
Mendoza was good for an inning...

Think about this.
The Yankees bullpen didn't blow a lead for even one single inning in the entire 1996 postseason... the 1998 post season... 1999 post season... 2000 post season... 2001 Division Series and ALCS.

The lone blemishes between 1996 and 2001 were the Alomar homer in 1997, the Chuck Knoblauch game in 1998 (which was a tie game, not a blown lead) and the end of the 2001 World Series

Over 14 playoff series the bullpen blew a grand total of zero leads.

That's mindboggling.

Christ, I think Rod Beck blew 14 leads in the 1999 post season alone!

You needed a solid pitcher to start the game and you need to make sure the late innings are secure.

Without the bullpen depth... when the Mendoza/Nelson/Stanton team was broken up, guess what happened?

Blown leads in the 2002 playoffs... blown leads in the 2003 playoffs... the disaster of 2004.

Without the rotation depth, you have Kevin Brown pitching game 7, the artist formerly known as Randy Johnson and Ching Mein Wang's horrific 2007 playoffs.

You need BOTH.
And moving Joba is solving a problem while creating a problem

So I say this not as a smug Defending World Champion Boston Red Sox fan... but as someone analyzing the game.

But, dear Chris DeLuca, if you want to sacrifice the bullpen for 2008... BY ALL MEANS!



But I will not let you besmirch my character

(Sully slaps DeLuca with a glove and challenges him to a duel)

Yeah DeLuca, I know Curt Schilling is a blow hard

I need to answer one of my blog's critics head on...

Mr. Chris DeLuca (left), the creator of What Sucks, possibly the funniest blog in blogdom, and yet another Yankee fan struggling with the notion that his baseball team is as unreliable as his football team (the Jets), has asked me to address the fact that Curt Schilling is an a-hole.

Duh.

We all know that.
We also know water is wet.

Yes, Curt Schilling is a bombastic, "Where's the spotlight?", overly dramatic ham who is probably insufferable in person.

Yes, Curt Schilling let's his opinions known (including his conservative Christian views that have done irreparable damage to the country, the state of health care and science) and is quick to think that everyone gives a crap.

Yes he is obviously angling for a second career (which for the sake of the nation I hope is in broadcasting and not politics... or medicine for that matter.)

And his biggest moment on the stage, the bloody sock game (yes DeLuca, it was blood) was shamelessly played up for the camera.

So as a Red Sox fan, what would I change?
Absolutely nothing.

If being a full of himself blowhard is what he needs to have a 6-1 postseason record with the Red Sox (including 2-0 in games where the Sox were on the brink of elimination and 2-0 in World Series starts) then by all means, tell us your thoughts about Iraq.

If showing off the bloody sock is what you need to beat the Yankees and the Cardinals in 2004, then put up a neon sign pointing to it.

When Theo went to Arizona to pretend to like Shonda's mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving 2003, he was trying to woo a big game pitcher to throw along side Pedro and put the Sox over the top.

I think it kinda sorta worked.
He brought in one of the few people to win a post season MVP award for two different teams (the 1993 Phillies and the 2001 Diamondbacks) and I think it is safe to say the fans there didn't mind his act either.

It's all good as long as the production is there in October.

Let me put it in terms a Yankee fan can understand.
In 1976 the Yankees were desperate for a title (they hadn't won since 1962) and were just humiliated in the World Series by the Reds.

In came Reggie.
Was he a blowhard?
You bet.
Was he beloved in the clubhouse?
Only if by "the clubhouse" you mean "Fran Healy."

Why did they bring him in?
Because he showed up big in the big games. (Ask the 1973 Mets how much they liked facing him.)

Did Reggie show up for the Yankees?
You bet...

Will Yankee fans always love him?
They should. In fact they should still sell Reggie bars at the stadium.

Now what is the difference between Reggie Jackson and Curt Schilling?
One helped the Yankees and the other brought down the Yankees... twice.

So yeah, he's a jerk.
But he's OUR jerk!
You had yours...