Dunce Cap Awards: Sam Holbrook & Atlanta Braves "fans"

In Major League Baseball's quest to maximize profit margins, ad revenues, and ratings points in the postseason, they've added a Wild Card round in each league in what amounts to a play-in game, as if this were college basketball. Now, I know Commissioner Allan "Bud" Selig isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed (he's in the dull tray with President Bush II), but not even he had any idea of what kind of chaos could come out of this Pandora's Box.

The first Wild Card game had some controversy late, and it soiled the reputation of Atlanta Braves fans, who are normally some of the classiest in sports.

Here's the deal. Home 8th, Atlanta down, 6-3 to St. Louis. Runners on 1st & 2nd, one out. Rookie Andrelton Simmons lifts a fly ball to left. Another rookie, St. Louis shortstop Pete Kozma, ventures out to shallow left to make a play. Suddenly, he veers to his left, and the ball drops behind him. Everyone's safe, right?

Wrong. For all the wrong reasons.

Umpire Sam Holbrook, manning the left field line in this game (extra umps are deployed in the postseason), signalled that he was invoking the "infield fly" rule, which meant that Simmons was out. However, Holbrook's call was so late, the runners advanced to 2nd & 3rd. Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez came out to argue, and ultimately filed a protest. Meanwhile, irate Braves fans, obviously over-intoxicated by this point, began pelting the field with debris, forcing a delay of 18 minutes. Atlanta ultimately lost the game, an ignominious end to Chipper Jones' career after 19 seasons.

After the game, Major League Baseball denied the protest, claiming Holbrook made the correct call, and not only that, but the "infield fly" is a judgment call and cannot be protested. St. Louis now moves on to play NL East champ Washington in the Division Series.

Holbrook gets a Dunce Cap for making a poor judgment at precisely the wrong time. There will be conspiracy theorists, especially wearing Braves colors, who might think there was something screwy about the timing of the call. Dunce Caps also are being handed out to those anonymous, excessively soused Braves fans for exacerbating the situation with their show of immaturity and disrespect. They gave their team a black eye, but Holbrook gave MLB another for his brain fart. The rulebook clearly states that an "infield fly" must be called immediately. Holbrook didn't do that. There was at least a time lapse of a few seconds before Holbrook made his call. Fellow ump Jeff Kellogg, working home plate, was struck by a bottle while in a conference with Gonzalez and the other umpires during the delay.

Well, I said I could be wrong in my postseason predictions. How was I to know I'd be wrong right off the bat? Oy..........

2012 MLB Playoff preview & predictions

And, now, the real fun begins.

The regular season is over for Major League Baseball. We are down to 10 teams as the playoff chase begins with the new 1-game Wild Card playoff round, which essentially is a play-in game to reach the final eight. Let's take a look at the field.

American League:

Wild Card round: Baltimore at Texas. For Ron Washington & the Rangers to reach the World Series for a 3rd straight year---they would be the first AL club since---who else?---the Yankees to pull off this feat---they have to go as a wild card after losing the AL West to Oakland on Wednesday. On Friday, they send Japan's Yu Darvish to the hill against the upstart Baltimore Orioles, who dropped two of three to Tampa Bay, enabling the Yankees to win the AL East.

Baltimore's been a nice little feel-good story all season, mirroring the rise of their neighbors across the Potomac, the Washington Nationals. In fact, I'd not be surprised to see Buck Showalter cop Manager of the Year honors in the AL (see below) while Davey Johnson does the same in the NL. It's been 15 years since the O's were last in the post-season, and at that time, they lost to eventual AL champ Cleveland. The bad news is that regardless of who wins on Friday, the Yankees await on Sunday in the Division Series.

The Rangers have run the gauntlet two years running, and I can't see them going one-&-done.

Division Series:

Texas vs. New York: It used to be that the Rangers would roll over and play dead for the Bombers, but not anymore. They eliminated the Yankees two years ago en route to the World Series, for example. Offensively, it is almost a perfect match. Pitching, however, is a different story. The Yanks have question marks outside of CC Sabathia & Hiroki Kuroda, as Ivan Nova & Phil Hughes faded in the stretch. I'd not be too surprised if Derek Lowe and/or Freddy Garcia were promoted from the bullpen for a spot start, as I don't think rookie David Phelps is ready to accept this mission. The Rangers have Darvish, and traded for Ryan Dempster in July. It's going to come down to the bullpens during this series, but, sorry to say, there will not be a 3rd trip to the Series for the Rangers. Pick--Yankees in six.

Detroit vs. Oakland: You've heard all the cliches already about Oakland slipping in the back door to take the West on the final day of the regular season. Supposedly, we never saw it coming. We expected Detroit to dominate the Central, but they had to rally to overtake Chicago in the final month. It wasn't that easy. Oakland has 5 rookie starters, including Tom Milone, who came over from Washington in the Gio Gonzalez trade. Detroit has Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, and Doug Fister, who came of age a year ago. Detroit also has Triple Crown winner and likely MVP Miguel Cabrera to complement Prince Fielder. Enough said. Pick---Tigers in five.

ALCS: Yankees over Detroit in six.

National League:

Wild Card round: St. Louis at Atlanta. Most folks picked the Cardinals to win the Central. I picked Atlanta to take the East and end Philadelphia's 5 year run at the top. Well, I was half right. I also correctly picked Cincinnati to win the Central, so I did know something after all....! Atlanta has won 23 straight games started by Kris Medlen, a converted reliever who takes the hill on Friday night. That no longer means anything in the post-season, but this is Chipper Jones' farewell tour, and the Braves would like to send him out a winner. Of course, they tried doing that for Bobby Cox 2 years ago, and that didn't work.......! I can't see the defending champs advancing here.......

Division Series: Washington vs. Atlanta: The one thing that will prevent the Nationals from advancing is their hare-brained idea of shutting down Stephen Strasburg for the season last month, just to protect his arm from future injury. This move will come back to bite Washington on its collective tuchis. Trust me. Pick---Atlanta in five.

Cincinnati vs. San Francisco: The Reds get manager Dusty Baker back just in time for the playoffs. The Giants, looking for their 2nd title in 3 years, have to hope Tim Lincecum can find his lost form in time. Right now, the "Freak" is just another pitcher, and that's bad news for San Francisco. Offensively, the teams are about even, but if it comes down to the bullpens, well, the edge goes to the Reds. Pick---Cincinnati in six.

NLCS: Atlanta over Cincinnati in seven.

World Series: Atlanta avenges past Series losses to the Yankees and takes it in six.

Of course, I could be wrong, but we'll see.......

The last highlight of a lost season

When baseball fans cheer a strikeout, it's usually a pitcher on their team that puts the "K" on the board. Tuesday night was an exception.

The Miami Marlins had tried to duplicate the success of the NBA's Heat and form a super-team to break the Philadelphia Phillies' stranglehold on the National League East, but despite the talent lured to South Beach, including mercurial manager (and former Marlins player & coach) Ozzie Guillen, despite owner Jeffrey Loria breaking the bank, the Marlins never quite got out of the blocks the way they wanted to. On Tuesday, Loria gave a 1-day contract to a player whose career was nearly derailed permanently seven years ago. Ironically, Adam Greenberg, who was a rookie with the Chicago Cubs at the time, was struck by a pitch in a game against----wait for it---the Marlins. Loria, in a show of humanitarian compassion, reached out to Greenberg and gave him the opportunity to fully realize his dream. Greenberg had not played anywhere this season, even in the minors, and otherwise was playing for Israel's national team in a qualifying tournament for the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

So, the good news was that Greenberg was back in the majors. The bad news? He would face Cy Young Award candidate R. A. Dickey of the New York Mets. Prior to the game, on ESPN's Pardon The Interruption, co-host Tony Kornheiser predicted that Greenberg would strike out against the knuckleball specialist. In the 6th inning, Greenberg was sent up to bat for Bryan Peterson, and got a loud ovation from the fans in Miami. Three pitches later, he received another ovation as he walked away, having whiffed. Greenberg received hugs and high fives from his teammates du jour. In the 7th, Greenberg was replaced on defense by Scott Cousins, but the feel-good story of the night had been told.

Up next for Greenberg, then, would be the WBC, should Israel make it into the tournament next year. The 2009 tournament introduced American audiences to Japan's Yu Darvish, now with the Texas Rangers. In that same tournament, Pedro Martinez proved he was healthy enough to pitch, and signed at mid-season with Philadelphia, but has not toed the rubber on a major league hill since. Even if Israel doesn't make it, surely whomever is in charge of the American team can find a spot for Greenberg if he impresses enough in the qualifiers. After all, every Cinderella story deserves a happy ending.

Spook Rock: Are You Ready For Freddy? (1988)

From "Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master" comes this wacky offering from the Fat Boys, aided and abetted by the one, the only, Freddy Krueger himself (Robert Englund). The question is, "Are You Ready For Freddy?"

Uploaded by Nightmarecompanion:

Classic TV: The Addams Family (1964)

Charles Addams created his bizarre Addams Family in a series of one-panel cartoons for The New Yorker, and in 1964, Gomez, Morticia, and their brood transitioned to television, achieving icon status in the process.

Simply put, the Addamses flew in the face of common sense. Gomez (John Astin, ex-I'm Dickens, He's Fenster) was a lawyer, but we never saw him in a courtroom. However, it was a stroke of genius to have a lion on hand in lieu of a watchdog. Who'd ever try to rob a house guarded by a lion, anyway? Uncle Fester (Jackie Coogan) seemed immune to electricity, such that he could charge up a light bulb by putting it in his mouth. The Addamses seemed happy with failure, and upset with success, exactly opposite of everyone else. Go figure.

Here's a cute little clip of Wednesday (Lisa Loring) trying to teach Lurch (Ted Cassidy) how to dance....



The series lasted just two seasons, but would be revived three times, twice in animated form (1973, 1991), and spawned a pair of feature films, with Raul Julia as Gomez. It's just too bad no one has tried to revive the series again.

Rating: A-.

Spook Rock: On Our Own (1989)

For "Ghostbusters 2", they needed a soundtrack hit that had the same kind of pop culture appeal as Ray Parker Jr.'s "Ghostbusters" in the first film. However, "On Our Own" was more of a vanity showcase for Bobby Brown, who was all over the joint. One of the movie's co-stars, Rick Moranis, appears early on, but other than that, the guest stars are rather sparse, most notably, Christopher Reeve, Jane Curtin, and Donald Trump.

Brown was a hot commodity in those days, as he was coming off a hot album, "Don't Be Cruel", which produced a handful of top ten hits, including the title track.

The WWE can carry on without its biggest star----can it?

Even though he currently isn't the WWE Champion, John Cena is the focus of WWE's flagship program, Monday Night Raw, and his merchandise (i.e. t-shirts, hats) are the biggest sellers at the souveneir stands. However, the company is taking a risk by still promoting him for a title match against the current champ, CM Punk at the Hell in a Cell PPV on October 28, when in all reality Cena might not be ready that night.

Two weeks ago, Cena suffered a minor ankle injury in a match vs. Punk at Night of Champions, then had surgery two days later to remove some bone chips from his right elbow, a procedure that would require him to be out of the ring for 4-6 weeks, meaning there's not a 100% chance he'd be ready for the next PPV. That puts the much-maligned creative team in panic mode, scrambling to find someone that would be a reasonable challenger to Punk if Cena is ruled out of the PPV.

Last Monday on Raw, they teased that Ryback (Ryan Reeves), who has mowed down every opponent put in front of him, might be the guy when he confronted Punk at the end of the show, this after Punk had given special guest Mick Foley, who was chillin' backstage, a low blow just for speaking out against him earlier in the show. There are some who say Ryback, who'd beaten Intercontinental champ Michael "The Miz" Mizanin earlier in the night, isn't ready, and that WWE would have to accelerate his rise. There are others who'd be more worthy........

The Big Show, who turned heel earlier this year, was used as a babyface challenger vs. Punk on the road the last two weekends. He has credibility as a former champion, and has feuded with Punk in the past. Miz is also a former WWE champion, and there've been teases that maybe, just maybe, the reality-TV alumnus might be moving toward the face side of the ledger as well. He's played the same obnoxious character for years, his persona created while he was on The Real World before coming to WWE in 2004. Show is locked into a match for the WWE World title vs. Sheamus on 10/28, but as of now, Miz has an empty dance card. WWE has four weeks to fill out the card and create a reasonable, legitimate substitute to be on call if Cena is not medically cleared to go.

What this requires is for Chairman/CEO Vince McMahon to swallow his pride and roll the dice, but not with Ryback. It's a certainty that Punk is meant to remain champion heading into the Royal Rumble at the end of January for a title fight with actor-wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and having Ryback lose to the champion at this juncture might kill his momentum. Saving Ryback for a later date is a better option, one more likely to be ignored due to panic.

This is exhibit A of why the creative team is in the dire straits it's in. When your creative staff is made up of failed Hollywood writers who are not being taught the basics of wrestling, and an emergency comes up like this, they're going to do whatever is needed to appease the big boss, and not do the smart thing, which is find a way to sell the audience on a more marketable matchup. Miz vs. Punk won't work because with Punk now a heel, fans will cheer for him over the more annoying IC champ. The downside with Ryback is that he rarely talks and there is no logical reason----yet----to put him forward as a challenger. If McMahon is as stubborn as I think he is, he'll stick with Cena, who will go into the match with one good arm and risking further injury to his surgically repaired elbow. Game, set, & match to Punk. What is needed is a challenger that the people can get behind and create some doubt about Punk's aura of invincibility. Doubt was cast two weeks ago, as Punk escaped with a double-pin draw vs. Cena, but he's been around the block with Cena enough times over the last year and change. He needs a fresh opponent. Ryback, as much as I like the guy, ain't the answer, and I'm sure McMahon knows that to be true.

Another solution is Smackdown Money in the Bank winner Dolph Ziggler, who's been stalking Sheamus. What would happen if he were to listen to an offer, without the advice of his parasitic manager, Vickie Guerrero, and cash in the briefcase vs. Punk, who turned back a challenge from Cena (who had the Raw MITB case) in July? There is a pocket of fans who've taken to Ziggler, and I'm sure those fans realize the widow Guerrero is holding hm down, leeching off his heat to call attention to her stale gimmick. Ziggler hasn't been tested as a babyface yet, and is overdue.

The ball's in your court, Vince. Don't dribble out of bounds. Just do the right thing.