At long last, the road trip comes to an end. Twelve days is a long time but I think it's good that everyone experienced this because trips like this are likely to occur every year as the players continue with their careers. The trip got off to a slow start, losing three in a row to Billings before squeaking out the finale. It was nice to finish the trip with a 6-5 record and a share of first place in North. Exciting baseball is coming up but the Voyagers need to take advantage of the upcoming homestand of seven games.
Too much occurred throughout the trip but here are some highlights...
-On the bus, we watched a total of ten different movies, while finishing nine of them
-On my own, I watched an extra four movies and watched the entire final season of Friday Night Lights.
-I listened to over 20 hours of audio, whether it was listening back to my own games or listening to recordings or live broadcasts.
-I, along with everyone else (I hope) had their bed made and room cleaned every day...definitely missing this
-As far as I know (knock on wood) I did not lose anything
-The trip included the first no-hitter in the Pioneer League in almost a year as Scott Snodgress (6ip), Blake Drake (1ip), and Joe Dvorsky (2ip) turned the trick against the Casper Ghosts in the finale
-Mark Haddow doubled seven times in the final seven games of the road trip
-Kyle Eveland homered twice
-The Voyagers set a season high with 15 runs and set a season high with 19 hits in a game against Casper, only to tie the hit mark in the final game against Idaho Falls
-In the first game in Casper, the Voyagers participated in a game that featured winds as strong as 45 mph
-Kevan Smith came to life, collecting ten hits in the final four games
Final numbers over the course of the 11-game road trip and how they compare to season numbers...
BA: .284 (+.010)
R/G: 7.8 (+2.2)
OBP: .364 (+.008)
BB/G: 4.5 (+.8)
ERA: 5.26 (+0.60ish...in a bad way)
K/G: 10.5 (+2ish)
Final numbers over the course of the 7-games against South division opponents and how they compare to season numbers
BA: .320 (+.045...wow)
R/G: 7.3 (+1.7)
OBP: .396 (+.040)
BB/G: 4.8 (+1.1)
ERA: 4.65 (same)
K/G: 8.7 (around the same)
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This is a funny video of Joe Maddon...One of my favorite managers
http://tampabay.rays.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=18297313&c_id=tb
Pretty funny argument
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Ok so I haven't used the blog this summer to voice my own sports opinions nearly as much as I did last summer...
While we were away, there were a few noteworthy occurrences in the sporting world...
Let's start with Carlos Zambrano walking out on his team and threatening to retire. Through all of his antics, I still somehow have a soft spot for "Big Z." Regardless, what he did was inexcusable. I don't care about his own personal agenda or why he decided to walk out, whether it was an argument with a coach, an individual player, an umpire, or maybe even a combination of the above. Whatever the case, in the time he woke up that day to the time he decided to pack up and leave in the middle of the game, I can promise you that not all of his teammates and coaches wronged him. I can promise you that not every front office member wronged him. I can promise you that not every person who is employed by the Cubs, be it as an usher, a beer salesman, or a janitor, wronged him. And I can definitely promise you that not every fan--the same people who stuck with Zambrano through his outbursts and inconsistencies, wronged him. By walking out like he did, regardless of who he intended to prove a point to, Zambrano walked out on all of those people, among others. They didn't deserve that.
I don't like to voice strong opinions regarding players and contract situations because I feel like their money is their business, and while I might think a player is being ridiculous at times, or a GM is being stingy for not paying a deserving athlete, I tend to keep quiet on those issues. But a player walking out on a team? Yeah, I've never been a professional athlete, but that is wrong.
Let's just focus on the 24 other players that wear the Cubs uniform every night. What does that tell your teammates? When the going get's tough, quit? Why is he so special that he can do that?
I will continue to pull for Carlos Zambrano to turn his life around, but I would never want Carlos Zambrano on my team...and I wonder how many baseball players now share that same sentiment.
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I am a proud USC Trojan. They recently suffered some pretty harsh penalties for actions of those not connected to the University. Am I oblivious? No. I am sure those who represent the University broke a rule or two or three or more than I care to know over the years. So does every school. Whatever. USC punishment's were more extreme than they should have been, especially since other programs, namely Ohio State, have merely gotten a slap on the wrist for infractions since.
The University of Miami, however, stands to face even harsher punishment for the various infractions involving their athletic programs that have recently come to light. Two things that come to mind on this issue for me...
First, comments made by former Miami AD, Paul Dee, are really disturbing. The same guy who was on the board that oversaw USC's case suggested that the Trojans should be responsible for the dealings of their own players without people outside of the University. He said that USC should have been aware of what each on of its athletes was doing or with whom they were interacting. Weird, but now that Miami has been implicated, the man who was running the ship during the years most of these illegalities took place, is now defending Miami saying that, "How were we supposed to know what our players were doing?"...
Talk about hypocrisy.
Second, and more importantly, is that the term "Death Penalty" has been thrown around for potential punishment. I am all for punishing Miami but I feel the death penalty does way more bad than it does good. Think of something incredibly jaw-dropping and extreme and maybe the death penalty is appropriate. And by extreme, I am talking about lives or well-beings being put in danger.
I grew up in Dallas, Texas and I often forget that I lived down the street from a D1 Athletics Program at SMU. Ya, most of their programs were in good shape but the program that puts you on the map, football, was abysmal and never talked about. The death penalty set SMU back a couple of decades. I think the Miami brand might prevent such a lengthy setback, but it will cause major long term damage. I feel like the death penalty effects an umbrella of people and that umbrella includes too many people that do not deserve to be punished.
Whether right or wrong, Miami got caught doing something or taking part in something that several other universities do. I would like to think that the NCAA knows this stuff goes on. Make an example of Miami? If it makes you sleep better at night, then do it. But don't do it to such an extreme degree that they are effected for a larger span of time than which the infractions occurred.
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