Thursday, September 14, 2006

Thursday A.M. Wrap: Liria-NO!!!

Liriano done for season: Did the Twins rush the phenom back? Did the fans pile on the pressure? Whatever the underlying reasons, Liriano obviously returned prematurely, because his elbow couldn't hold up to the game pressure, and now he's done for the season – you have to wonder if there will be any longer-lasting issues to his career. Anything less than a Twins World Series title this season, and you have to ask: Was it worth the rush to get him back?

Update: As pointed out in the Comments section, I may be WAY off here, and I defer to the best Twins expert of any baseball writer out there: Aaron Gleeman. Here's his post.

CFB Story of the Year, Cont'd: That Northern Colorado backup punter was freed on bail yesterday after being arrested for allegedly stabbing the starting punter.

This is college football's version of the old Texas mom puts out a hit on her daughter's cheerleading rival. Where's the made-for-TV movie, and how do we get James Van Der Beek as the psychotic backup punter?

Trent Green hit legit: The NFL had no problems with Geathers' hit on the KC QB, mainly (a) blaming the victim for a late slide and (b) blaming his teammates for pushing Geathers into him. I'm sure KC fans will be thrilled.

Freaky NFL Trade of the Day: Samkon Gado for Vernand Morency. Forget the talents involved; this may very well be the greatest "all-name" trade in NFL history.

So here's the spin-off question: Which player will end the season with more wins? It's a total toss-up: Anyone who thinks the Packers are a lock to win more than the Texans is fooling themselves.

Gamecocks QB suspended: If you're Steve Spurrier's QB, you don't waste the opportunity by getting into a stupid bar fight and getting suspended. Or, alternatively, maybe playing for Spurrier is so bad that a bar fight and suspension look good in comparison.

Lance defends himself (again): I'm still trying to decide if there's a direct correlation between the level, intensity and responsiveness of Lance Armstrong's full-court press defensive p.r. strategy and his level of... what's the technical term? Oh, yes: "Hiding shit."

Gary Matthews Jr hits for cycle: Has any player made a reputation off of less? He's had all of TWO great games this season: That first one, which got him on the All-Star team and now this one. Both on slow news days. Good timing.

Seems like a slow news day today. What am I missing?

-- D.S.

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

You forgot to mention that the guy who won Rockstar:Supernova sucks balls. Any of the other three finalists would have been fine, but that Canadian ass clown is terrible.

T-Mill said...

I'm still wanting to hear what you think about the Florida Marlins and how, if they can get teh Wild Card this year, have literally turned into the Cleveland Indians from major League. My wife grew up in South Florida and has been a big Marlins fan from day one. We were at their home opener this year and they were TERRIBLE!!! Yet all this news about Girardi against Loria, you have to think he doesn't like the "direction" the team is going in because he wanted them to suck so bad he could move them to Vegas.

Go Fish!

Anonymous said...

I got to see Emmitt dance last night...he did look good! I was shocked.

DWTS might make my must-see tv watch now.

Though I admit...I spent more time looking at his partner. yowza!

Jake C said...

One note of mention...ESPN jinxed a no-hitter (actually a perfect game this time) AGAIN! This is the second time in a few weeks (3rd overall) that they have cut in to "history in the making" only to see the batter AT THE PLATE break up the no-hitter. At this point, they need to stop...3 times they've jinxed someone, and each time JUST as they broke in for a highlight.

As for Lance, I hope he is clean! However, did he really need to even say anything? Continually saying "It wasn't me" when no one is talking about you just raises suspicion even more.

Done less? I would say hitting over 300 with 70 something RBIs for a leadoff hitter (not to mention his great glove) is doing plenty!

Lastly, with Liriano, it doesn't matter when they tried to bring him back this season (now or later), it would have likely happened no matter what. Once your arm reaches that point, you will eventually need surgery to permanently fix it. If they waited until the last week, it would have just happened then, and it would have only delayed his return a year later even more.

Anonymous said...

Liriano....

Biggest.Pitching-Prospect-Bust.Ever

jhawkjjm said...

Liriano=Shanoff Curse still alive!

Anonymous said...

1. Doings in AL Central beg the question- does anybody want this title? Tigers have been in bad shape since All-Star break. Twins pushed Liriano too much, then shut him down. Chisox are upanddown. Odd that what had been the game's most competitive division has been like a version of 'Survivor: Wild Card.'

2. Fun reading in NY Post today about the rift between Eric Mangini and Bill Belichick. Post reports that after Mangini and his administrative assistant, Erin O' Brien, returned to the Patriots' offices after the Jets' interview, they were locked out of the complex. Will be fun for the Jets to read on the bulletin board- after they figured out that the dude might really know what he's doing after gutting out the win over the Titans. Too much like Belichick's split with Parcells. Great to pursue a head coaching job- just don't do it in your mentor's lifetime, is the message.

Matthew B. Novak said...

It wasn't a rest issue with Liriano. The Twins did not rush him back, and you should definitely not question their commitment to this kid's health. He was plenty rested. If he hadn't been, he never would have made it through his rehab starts, or even the first two innings of yesterday's game (and did he look marvelous!)

From www.aarongleeman.com (one of the best Twins bloggers out there):

"...it seems unlikely to me that this injury is something that will go away with rest. Liriano has tried that twice already, first by skipping a start and then by taking a month off, and each return to the mound only served to make the situation worse. I wouldn't be surprised to learn soon that Liriano needs Tommy John elbow surgery."

Being a huge Twins fan, I've read as much as I possibly can about this injury in the past 20 some hours. The talk out of MN is that it had nothing to do with rest - he was completely rested and back to 100%. It has more to do with the torque he puts on his arm throwing a slider. (In fact, he had strict orders to limit the number of sliders he threw.) The preliminary analysis is looking like Tommy John surgery will be the end result, though we'll obviously find out more later.

In related Twins news, Radke's comeback seems more likely now. Jim Souhan at the Star Trib (http://www.startribune.com/150/story/675787.html) has an quality piece about the ability of the Twins to stay in the race, despite the set back. From that piece:

"Radke, whose left shoulder must feel like hot dish, played catch from 125 feet, throwing changeups and sliders, hoping to rejoin baseball's only 10-man rotation. "It felt good," he said. "I really want to get back out there. I want to help.""

And finally, most of the Liriano stories seemed to mention a "quiet confidence" in the Twins clubhouse, despite the injury. This is that "quiet confidence". Anything but "quiet":(http://www.kare11.com/video/player.aspx?aid=33656&bw=).

Ok, that's a huge post. Sorry.

Oh, and again, please do not question the Twins commitment to Liriano's health. That's just wrong.

Christian Thoma said...

Lance can't win. If he denies something, he's accused of protesting too much. If he doesn't say anything, he'll be accused of keeping mum because he knows he's caught. Give him credit for one thing: he's adopted one method and he has stuck with it throughout. And he's still undefeated.
Christian (High Point, NC)

Christian Thoma said...

One More Thing (tm):

How about Favre to the Chiefs?

Christian (High Point, NC)

MP said...

Watching the video of the late hit on Green, even I think the guy was pushed into Green...but it is hard to tell.

And how are the Marlins jumping into the Wild Card chase? I hope, unlike Major League, there is no cardboard cut-out of Loria that gets a strip of clothing taken off after every win. (shudders)

And while, as an Indians AND Cubs fan, I cannot bring myself to cheer for the Marlins, I encourage Girardi to keep on winning, and remind him that if this spat with Loria keeps up, there's a warm clubhouse seat waiting for him in Chicago.

Anonymous said...

Does this injury mean Liriano is going to play for the Cubs? They loves them some tommy john reclamation projects.

And boilermaker football blogger, does the Marlins=Indians from "Major League" comparison mean that Girardi has a full-size naked photo cut-out of Loria that he takes a post-it off of for every 'W'? Shudder to think...

Anonymous said...

Damn, and mark beats me to the cut-out reference...

well played, sir. *golf clap*

Anonymous said...

Liriano = Kerry Woods

Anonymous said...

I agree with those that say Geather's hit on Green wasn't finable or suspendable (I'm a Chiefs fan), but I was pissed that there wasn't a flag. I mean, what were the refs watching? On first watch, live, at full speed how can not one single ref not pull a flag out of their pockets?

Anonymous said...

Yankees magic number: 7

Anonymous said...

The Liriano situation reminds me a bit of Jaret Wright with Cleveland. In 1997, as rookie late season callup, Wright produced pretty well considering none of Cleveland's starters were remarkable. So Cleveland rode him into the playoffs and to the World Series where he started games 4 and 7. The Tribe lost Game 7 (fucking Jose Mesa), and the rest of Wright's career has been riddled with injuries.

Did the Twins risk Lariano's career by bringing him back to soon, or letting him throw too many sliders? I hope not, but time will tell.

ToddTheJackass said...

How come no one is mentioning that Liriano pitched in the WBC?

Not saying that has anything specific to do with it, but it certainly should be pointed out given the bumps in the road a lot of WBC pitchers have had this year.

Liriano also did have some injury issues when he was younger, which was part of the reason the Twins were able to get him as a throw-in in the Pierzynski deal.

-Todd (Boston)

Brien said...

The Liriano situation is very unfortunate for Twins fans but, as long as they're still in the hunt, there is still hope. As a Phillies fan, every day my guys hang within two games of the Padres is another day we still have hope.

Dan, you missed mentioning (as Chris said earlier) the Champions League matches of yesterday. Some good stuff, especially Real Madrid getting waxed for a second year in a row by Lyon.

Gary Matthews, Jr.? Hardly the player that "The Sarge" was ... anyone remember '83, when Sarge literally put the Wheeze Kids on his back and carried them to the World Series (against a Dodger team that was 11-1 against the Phils that year)?

Florida? Wow. Much as I want my Phils to take the Wild Card, how can you not love what that rag-tag bunch in Miami has done? I think Lorie is an idiot for having a beef with Girardi. Lorie is another one of those hands-on guys who thinks that he's responsible for the team's performance. But we all know it's the D-Train and Company doing it with good, solid baseball.

If they hadn't stumbled out of the gate so badly, the Wild Card race would already be over.

Brien

Anonymous said...

Blake Mitchell (aforementioned Gamecocks QB) didn't just get into a barfight, he sucker punched the bouncer who gave him a hard time about his sub-drinking age girlfriend, who was reportedly with him.

The bouncer is quoted as saying he didn't like that Mitchell brought underage girls into the bar.

CMFost said...

Hey Dan,
No talk about your girl Michelle Wie teeing it up with the men again at the 84 Lumber Classic. I thought you where going to hit us with she could of beaten Tiger or Jack when they were 16 again.

Can we all agree that if she misses the cut again, which she probably will, she should really try and focus for at least a year on the LPGA?

Jingoist said...

How could you miss this?
Top Russian central banker shot to death... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14826889/

And it happened outside of a Moscow sports stadium after the guy was leaving an employee soccer match. Classic! Makes you think twice about joining that office co-ed softball team next year.

Jingoist said...

How could you miss this?
Top Russian central banker shot to death... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14826889/

And it happened outside of a Moscow sports stadium after the guy was leaving an employee soccer match. Classic! Makes you think twice about joining that office co-ed softball team next year.

rob (warwick)

Anonymous said...

1) Anyone who points to the WBC as a cause for injuries is ridiculous. It was pretty much Spring Training. Liriano is a rookie and came back too quick...this would have happened with/without the WBC.
I would attribute things to the lack of greenies as far as players breaking down. Less energy, less training and physical upkeep, more injuries.
(Obviously, I'm a fan of the WBC. It's a great every-four-years event and Puerto Rico will win next time!)

2) The PGA Tour is NOT a men's tour. It is a golf tour. If Wie keeps getting exemptions or qualifies to play, then she should play. It's HER career, not that of the fans. Noone watches the LPGA anyways.
On the other hand, it shouldn't be news anymore if Wie plays a PGA event. Make it news if she makes a cut or wins one.

Brien said...

2) The PGA Tour is NOT a men's tour. It is a golf tour. If Wie keeps getting exemptions or qualifies to play, then she should play. It's HER career, not that of the fans. Noone watches the LPGA anyways.

The PGA Tour is a men's tour. The only reason it doesn't have the word "men's" in the title is because, when it was formed in 1916, women had zero standing as professional athletes. There was no need to differentiate, because women weren't "allowed" to be professional athletes.

Brien

Anonymous said...

The world has moved on. Women are professionals now. If the PGA wants to differentiate, then it should call itself the MPGA. Until then, no...it's not a men's league.

Just my opinion though. The Master's has no probs keeping women out. If the PGA wants the same, then make it official.

Brien said...

Rafael, you're missing the point, which is that the PGA is, by default, a men's tour, because it was set up that way. Whether you call it the MPGA or not, it's the men's tour ... if not by deed, then by action (ie, men don't need to use their gender to get a sponsor's exemption).

It's like asking why universities don't offer courses in "white studies". That's because 99% of the disciplines studied at the collegiate level were developed or invented by ... white people. So, you are already taking "white studies" courses. But, we don't call them that. We call them "Physics", and "Accounting", and "Sociology", and so on.

Brien

Unknown said...

I think it's official that the real news story of the day is this Dog the Bounty Hunter guy actually being brought down by Federal Marshall's today.

Is there any comparison to this? I mean couldn't A&E have followed these guys around as they tracked him down and arrested him? and what did he say when they woke up him?

Let's also not forget about the chance to see Steve Slaton run for 400 yards in one game tonight in the WVU/Maryland game which should be entertaining if only for the chance to actually see the Super Soph on ESPN.

-Jd
Free Billy Volek

JunkCult said...

Why do you want to hate on Gary Matthews, Jr? He's a quiet, humble, hardworking and productive player at a very important position. And you diminish him.

Granted, the Rangers aren't going anywhere, but that's not his fault.