While I was watching the Cowboy's game last night, I was flipping back and forth between that and the Braves-Rockies game. It was good to see the Braves pull out that intense 1-0 victory. Mark Minor had a great game for the Braves. He only allowed 1 hit in 7 innings. It seems the Braves liked their 1-0 shutout victory so much that they had another one today. They again beat the Rockies 1-0. Those two victories create a little more room between them and the Cardinals in the NL Wild Card chase. Atlanta is now 3.5 games ahead of the Cardinals. St. Louis doesn't play today.
Meanwhile I knew the Dodgers were in trouble last night once they gave up that fourth run. Predictably enough they ended up losing 4-3. The offensively anemic Dodgers are a team of consistency. They seem to score 3 runs every game. After losing 2 of 3 to the below average Padres at Chavez Ravine, the Dodgers now go on the road to play NL West leading San Francisco. The same Giants who are 77-60 and have a 90.7% chance to make the playoffs. The same Giants that lead LA by 4.5 games. I don't think the Dodgers are going to make the playoffs anyway, but this weekend will probably ensure that.
Josh Beckett will be pitching for the Dodgers Friday night, heaven help us all. The Giants are playing without suspended Melky Cabrera for the rest of the season. Honestly I thought the Giants would be the team that was done. But if anything they seemed to have played better since his suspension.
The Pirates have been able to string together two straight victories, although they have only won 4 of their last 10 games. I'm on the record saying that I don't think they'll make the playoffs either. But it's good to see them playing relatively well this season. If they don't make the playoffs I hope they actually finish above .500. That would be another good solid step forward to the future.
I predict the two NL Wild Card teams will be the Braves and Cardinals. I expect the Braves to finish with the better record and be the home team in the one Wild Card playoff.
There are only 5 MLB games today. The one that is most interesting to me, besides the Braves game, is the Orioles-Yankees game. New York leads Baltimore by 1 game in the AL East and are in Baltimore for the start of a 4 game series. I'd love to see the Orioles win at least 3 games in this series and further continue New York's collapse. Since the Yankees and Red Sox are so intertwined, I suggest that either both make the playoffs or neither make the playoffs. And maybe that's what fate has in store.
I'm not sure why Red Sox brass allows Bobby Valentine to get in front of a microphone. When he has his press conference about getting fired, it would be good for him to get some help on how to present himself. The man is clueless when it comes to public relations, he has no idea how to present himself favorably. I'm all for keeping it real and saying what you think. But one can do that without coming off as an asshole. I've not heard one interview of Valentine's where he has come off favorably. Yesterday he had a complete and utter meltdown, which was bizarre even by his standards. This was just one of the insane things he said when Glenn Ordway asked him if he had checked out on this season.
“What an embarrassing thing to say. If I were there right now, I’d punch you right in the mouth. Ha, ha. How’s that sound? Is that like I checked out? What an embarrassing thing,” said Valentine. “Why would somebody even, that’s stuff that a comic strip person would write. If someone’s here, watching me go out at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, watching me put in the right relief pitchers to get a win, putting on a hit-and-run when it was necessary, talking to the guys after the game in the food room — how could someone in real life say that?”
I also loved how he explained about getting to the A's stadium late. He claims he picked up his son at the airport and ran into a traffic jam. He then showed up later than he usually does to the ballpark for a game. And that due to a traffic jam, he wasn't late to the ballpark. Huh? So yes he was late, but he wasn't late? Valentine should have just explained his situation, which most people would understand. No, instead he got defensive and made up a really lame excuse. I've noticed when a person gets defensive that's usually an unconscious way of admitting they are wrong.
When I get defensive I basically stop thinking. I start thinking up excuses, and sometimes lies, while whatever happened wasn't my fault. Thankfully I was able to go see a counselor who explained how best to handle situations where I messed up. That's to own up to my mistake, apologize and see what I can do to make sure it doesn't happen again. People have reacted much more favorably to me since I implemented her advice. It has made my life a lot easier. Mainly because of this one common sense change I've been able to hold the same job for over two years and still going. Before I was averaging a new job about every year.
Bobby was defensive about something that he didn't need to be either. Just say he was picking up his kid and he had arranged everything with his coaches so the Red Sox would be fine.
His terrible interview comes the same time as the above cover. The Red Sox need to be careful who they hire as their next manager. With the way they treated Terry Francona, some of their terrible personnel moves they made and the hiring of Bobby Valentine they could be the next Dallas Cowboys. And in spite of their victory last night, the Cowboys have been a mess the last few years. At least John Henry is wise enough not to use any excuse to get on TV. There's also been no video of Henry having a relative cleaning his glasses for him.
themusicaddict
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