In 2006 the Toronto Blue Jays signed Left-Handed Closer BJ Ryan to a monster deal (47 million over 5 years). At the time it appeared the then 31 year old deserved every penny of it due to recent performance. Over the two seasons prior to signing with the Jays he struck out 222 batters walked only 61, while holding an ERA below 2.50. BJ put in one good season with the Blue Jays before getting injured and sitting out almost all of 2007. 2008 was a good year for Ryan again but he was injured late in the season and has clearly not returned to form for the 2009 campaign. 

Now according to the Fan590’s Radio Jockey Brian Douchey-Bignose. BJ Ryan only ever threw at a velocity of 91 MPH, he really relied on his quirky technique and excellent command. As a Blue Jays viewer I whole heartedly disagree with him . Last season BJ Ryan constantly hit 93 MPH and was rarely near the strike zone with his ridiculous looking slider, this season BJ has maxed out at 88 MPH but has mostly thrown 87MPH. Now as I listened to the radio show Brian informed me that his velocity is not an issue because its only a a difference of 2MPH. WAIT! WHAT?! 91-87=2? and if you use what he actually used to throw 93-87=2? man this guys numbers rock! The reality is BJ has lost a good 5-6MPH which may not seem like much, but it can be the difference between a foul ball and a crushing home run hit by Michael Young.

Now onto what this post is really about, BJ Ryan getting thrown down to the minors at minimum. BJ is a two pitch pitcher who now throws an 87 MPH “Fastball” and an 84 MPH Slide type thing. He has almost no change in speed and his slider has the most obvious looping action in the Bigs. The Blue Jays are an organization chalked full of young pitching that can come in and fill in a missing spot. Now I am not saying the Blue Jays bring up Wolfe or Bullington to be the Closer, BUT you could bring up one of those guys to fill out the bullpen while lets say Scott Downs or Jason Frasor takes over spot as closer, OR even better yet bring Jeremy Accardo back up tomorrow and let him do the job again. At least Accardo hasn’t blown a save in less than 5 opportunities this year, mind you it is at AAA Las Vegas, but with closers it’s not about where you are pitching but how you are pitching and let me tell you Accardo is getting the job done. And before everyone gets on me about being a “Frasor-Lover” just watch the guy pitch this year, he is 100% the best there is in the Blue Jays bullpen right now since he added the Change-up to his pitching repertoire. 

After last nights ball game it was announced that BJ has been moved to the disabled list. The official injury as quoted by Cito Gaston is, “BJ sucks so much right now and he is making me look bad, plus he is a big white guy from the south, I don’t like him, never had, and I think he and Lyle Overbay should make terribly ugly kids together.” The actual reason is an upper shoulder strain, it is pretty vague and no one, not even BJ is buying into it.

I will leave you with this. BJ Ryan successfully blew his second save of the season and it all started by walking the number 8 hitter for Texas, don’t be like BJ, walking is never and option.

Welcome to Baseball Central(ish). 

This is the hottest spot on the site for our huge viewing crowd (5). 

Growing up in Peterborough, Ontario I should have been huge on four things in life; Hockey, Lacrosse, Women, and either pot or beer. So 2 for 4 ain’t bad right (no I don’t like men or fruity cocktails[unless they rock!]). I played baseball from tee-ball straight up to the present, with a brief stop at softball. Now why can I give the insider information that you won’t find anywhere else? Well I didn’t say I could so I am not answering that question. You will find however that I know almost nothing about hockey in terms of actual info (See Sports section in The Brett-O-File) and even less about football. Baseball is my glory of all knowing information and I can prove it. I knew everyone that was on steroids was on steroids. See there I proved it, now read my section it is actually full of info you are probably maybe even possibly wanting to discuss, and as always walking a batter is never an option.

Batter Stats

PA - Plate Appearance, Any time a batter has finished an at-bat (via out, hit, walk, error, sacrifice hit)

AB - At Bats, A finished at-bat but Does not include walks or sacrifice hits 

H - Hits, When a batter contacts the ball and makes it to at least first base safely

2b - Doubles, a hit resulting in the batter getting to second

3b - Triples, a hit resulting in the batter getting to third

HR - Home Runs, a hit resulting in the batter scoring

R - Runs, When the batter has crossed home plated for a run

RBI - Runs Batted in, When teammates have crossed home plate for a run due to a hit or walk by the batter

TB - Total bases,  the total amount of bases achieved by the batter (1b=1, 2b=2, 3b=3, HR=4)

BB - Bases on balls, “Walks”, the batter has taken 4 “balls” to get to first base without a hit

SO - Strike out,  the batter has allowed 3 strikes to get him out

SB - Stolen bases,  the runner moves one base up during a pitch without a passed ball, wild pitch, walk, or ball coming into play.

CS - CS,  the runner has been caught trying to “Steal a base”

SH - Sacrifice hit, With less than 2 outs, a batter intentionally gets himself out to allow the base runner to get to the next base 

OBP - On Base Percentage, the number of walks plus hits divided by the number of plate appearances (AB does not include walks or sacrifice hits)

SLG - Slugging Percent, The players total number of bases divided by his amount of at-bats

AVG - Average (Batting Average), The number of hits the player has divided by his amount of at-bats

Pitching Stats

W - Wins,  the pitcher has produced a win by either finishing the game or leaving with a lead.

L - Losses,  pitcher has produced a loss by either finishing the game or leaving with a deficit

S - Saves, A pitcher has, by coming into a game with a 3 or less run lead and pitching the equivalent number of outs or more to run lead to finish a game (3 runs = 3 or more outs recorded 1 run = 1 or more out recorded to achieve a save)

SVO - Save Opportunities, When a pitcher had the opportunity to achieve a save in a game

HLD - Holds, the pitcher comes into the game with a 3 or less run lead and produces at least one out and does not cause his team to lose the lead. If a pitcher leaves the game but has allowed a runner on base, that runner is still his responsibility despite being out of the game.

GS - Games Started, A pitcher is the starting pitcher (yay)

CG - Complete Games, A pitcher has started and finished a game regardless of the amount of innings the game may take (less or more)

SHO - Shut outs, A complete game PLUS the pitcher has not allowed a run

IP - Innings pitched, The amount of innings the pitcher has pitched. Innings are counted by outs so 1.1 = 1 and 1/3 of and inning, 1.2 = 1 and 2/3 of an inning

H - Hits allowed, When a pitcher allows a batter to get on base via a “hit”

R - Runs allowed, the number of batters the pitcher has allowed to score

ER - Earned Runs, the number of batters the pitcher has allowed to score. Earned runs only count when there is no error involved for the player scoring

HR - Home Runs allowed, The amount of “home runs” the pitcher has given up

HBP - Hit By Pitch, When a pitcher hits the batter with a pitch and the batter does not swing at the ball

BB - Bases on balls, When a pitcher throws 4 balls to a batter

K or SO - Strike Out, When a pitcher throws 3 strikes to a batter and the batter does not make contact

WHIP - Walks and Hits per innings pitched, Add BB to H and divide it by innings pitched ( A good WHIP is around 1.00)

ERA - Earned Run Average, ER divided by IP 

Pitchers have stats for everything that hitters have as well. For instance doubles given up, slugging percentage against, on base percentage against. These however are the main ones. 

If the internet had balloons and streamers, this post would be full of them. Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to the first of many MorethenmaN sports reports. Sports, Sports, Sports. This is basically the reason I pushed for a website; an enjoyable forum for me to rant about sports and try to predict things like I have some special insight into the game. I do however have a unique view since growing up in the hometown of Toronto Maple Leaf great Tim Horton, I spent my nights skating on a homemade rink. How does this make me any different than most every other Canadian? Well, I haven’t told you that I lived next door to a 24 hour Tim Hortons. That’s right people. Growing up in the hometown of a hockey great + skating on an outdoor rink x living a few hundred feet from the restaurant the hometown hockey great created = ability to predict sports like no-one else.

Do I really need to prove myself more? The first year I started predicting seriously, playing against myself (a theme that stayed constant throughout my youth) I correctly predicted the Calgary Flames would be in the cup finals the year they lost to Tampa Bay. If you were in my high school TA, you would remember this since I predicted it loudly to the 5 other people sitting in the classroom. (I also predicted the NY Islanders would go to the east finals, and I think they were swept out in the first round)

What I really wish to accomplish with NHL preview is showcase not only my superior knowledge of all things frozen ice, but take down one TV personality in particular. Pierre McGuire, it’s on. I am dedicating 2009 to taking you down several pegs. You’re like an unfunny George Costanza whose one claim to fame is sucking too much as the coach of Hartford that they moved the team to Carolina, and “won” two Stanley Cups as an assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991 and 1992. I’m pretty sure I could have played the role of HEAD coach in the situation. “Okay Mario….pass to Jagr…or shoot”. To showcase that anyone can beat you at hockey picks, I have enlisted the help of a good friend, who will go be the name OralB. He knows of sports and of the existence of the hometown Senators and as he says, “I recently learnt what icing meant.” His picks will of course be the OralB Advantage. It’s on McGuire; bring on that big body presence.

ROUND 1

EASTERN CONFERENCE

BOSTON BRUINS VS MONTREAL CANADIANS

This is an easy one. Boston is just a far and away better team and as we know, defence wins championships. The goalie tandem of Thomas/Fernandez gave up a league low 120 goals (5 on 5) while Montreal and Price let in 151 goals. Add that with the fact that Boston is ranked second in the league in scoring and poor Montreal seems to be screwed this time. Boston played the Canadians to the brink of elimination last year and Boston has a far and away better team this year while Montreal did everything they could to miss the playoffs.

Boston it is.

Pierre McGuire: Boston.
The OralB Advantage: Montreal, “..because they are Canadian”

WASHINGTON CAPITALS VS NEW YORK RANGERS

Ovechkin had his first taste of the playoffs last year and this year followed up a Heart Trophy year with 54 goals and 56 assists. The Rangers took in Sean Avery. Enough said. New York may have the better goaltender, Theodore has never given anyone much confidence and Lundqvist is the goalie I would pick if I started a franchise today. Washington also has more firepower to throw at Lundqvist, with 4 players scoring more points than the top New York player. However, that one player is Scott Gomez and if I’ve learnt anything from the NHL, it’s that Scott Gomez scores about 200 goals in the playoffs.

I’ve almost talked myself out of it, but Washington wins.

Pierre McGuire: Washington
The OralB Advantage: New York, “Much better city than Washington, DC.”

CAROLINA HURRICANES VS NEW JERSEY DEVILS

There is no rhyme or reason why I’m picking the way I am for this series. I’m not using stats, a player’s nationality or ability to grow a playoff beard.  Carolina has been on a roll as of late and I know that is supposed to mean nothing but….I don’t care. I’m picking against the logic and memory that Buffalo did this year ago when Hasek brought them into the playoffs and then they lost in the first round. In every other sport, momentum is supposed to carry over into the playoffs. Devils have one, if not the, greatest goalie’s in NHL history. He’s fully rested and didn’t need to carry the team and they still finished third in the conference. Cam Ward will come up huge these playoffs and I have a feeling about this team.

Carolina wins it.

Pierre McGuire: New Jersey (Hartford still hates you too)
The OralB Advantage: Carolina, “Weren’t they good a couple years ago?”

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS VS PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

The Flyers allowed 1 fewer goal and scored two more then the Penguins did this season. What does this mean? Very little, but I’m taking this and saying that this combination will lead the Flyers to many victories this post-season. Also this will break the long-standing debate about which sport has the greatest carry-over luck. You see, the Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series, but the Pittsburgh Steelers won the Super Bowl.  One city will go on a roll and win for a while. (look at Boston, except the Bruins. Is that a sign that this year it’s the Bruins turn? Probably that this whole picking sports is bullshit)

Flyers win this series and a couple more.

Pierre McGuire: Pittsburgh (dance with who brung yah)
The OralB Advantage: Pittsburgh, “Crosby plays for them. He’s whiny”
 

WESTERN CONFERENCE

ANAHEIM DUCKS VS SAN JOSE SHARKS

The Ducks got on a roll late to make the playoffs. San Jose has the best record in the league, which can sometimes curse a team, or they win the Stanley Cup. No room in between really.  Let’s hope that Cheechoo and Thornton light it up and really, who can cheer against Rob Blake? He’s so delightfully old and looks like an old pet.

San Jose win

Pierre McGuire: Sharks
The OralB Advantage: Anaheim, “They beat the Sens that one time so they must be decent”

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS VS DETROIT RED WINGS

Really? Columbus? Don’t worry, next year will Rick Nash go somewhere like Toronto and Ohio can continue forgetting about their NHL team and can go back to watching the Cavs and Browns play.

Detroit wins, even if they start me in goal.

Pierre McGuire: Detroit
The OralB Advantage: Detroit, “Who the hell are they? What’s a Blue Jacket”

ST. LOUIS BLUES VS VANCOUVER CANUCKS

Blues barely made the playoffs, but they are like Carolina and are entering on a roll. Vancouver has the second best goalie in the league in Luongo…..but I don’t care. Vancouver always chokes and this season will be no different.

St Louis starts a roll for the city which will end in the Rams and Cardinals being awesome this season.

Pierre McGuire: Vancouver
The OralB Advantage: Vancouver, “They have a whale as their mascot.”

CALGARY FLAMES VS CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

All signs point to Calgary winning, especially since Chicago has a goalie that could be our father.
Could you bet on this face?

Didn’t think so. Unless they put in Huet and he does something extra special, this is Calgary’s year.

Calgary wins a good one. Not a chance I’m going with McGuire again. Chicago wins in a sweep. In Nikolai we trust.

Pierre McGuire: Calgary.
The OralB Advantage: Chicago, “Injins”

STANLEY CUP PREDICTIONS

And there you have it folks, close to 1500 words of which not even my parents will read all of. I’m riding the winner of the Philly/Pittsburgh series to the cup final however Cheechoo finally brings the Stanley Cup back to Moose Factory, where it belongs. Once again McGuire, it’s on. Do you know how hard it was to find your playoff picks? I have to go to the sports illustrated American website since you didn’t post them on TSN.ca, even though you work for them. Hmm?? Worried we might call you on your picks? Didn’t think I would have too much time on hands during exam season at university? Think again McGuire.

And that’s an NHL 2009 Playoff Preview.

I’m sure that everyone reading this has gone to church, at least once. You are either good church goin’ folk, your parents are, or their parents still are. Now this isn’t one of those preachy columns, pun intended, that tries to either explain or bash religion. I’m not that bright to even explain why religions are good/bad or have the financial power to back the onslaught of legal problems that the site would get into. This is of course assuming that more than 10 people read these things. A morethenman can dream…

What I’m going to explain is this wonderful video I found online. It’s about lent and how people are giving up things for this religious season. Here is the link: (LINK REMOVED. Wow. That’s the power of the internet. Less than 24 hours after I post this they take it down. BS-more: 1 - ABC NEWS: 0.)

I hope most of you will at least glimpse at it since it’s some pretty good unintentional funny. Well, not really unintentional since they are trying so damn hard and includes such gems as “Vatican in a Twitter”. The ABC News report introduces us to a family who is head over heels (“and I’m always gonna be”) for religion and is ever so proud that their daughter has “decided” to give up technology for lent. Well, alert the Christian fundamentalist because we found ourselves another Skywalker.  I’m still pretty sure that the parents forced her into this Lent activity, or guilted , which goes good with the whole Lent experience. Not to be outdone, her mother gave up chocolate.

The video “reports” that the girls grades have improved and so has the relationship with the family. Really? This was Facebook and a cell phone’s fault? Well actually it wasn’t since it only says that she gave up the text function on her cell phone, which means I’m sure she’s regularly having cell phone conversations and chatting on msn messenger, or AOL messenger, ICQ or whatever else. She’s still emailing and using those same distractions. The mom is so happy with her lovely Christian child. Now they are shown having wonderful conversations or playing card games and not running away to answer a text message or see pregnant pictures of classmates on the Facebook.

I really enjoy how the topic of “well the Vatican has a website” comes up as a counter-argument. Oh, that’s so wonderful. The Vatican has a website and perhaps the traffic is down for their hilarious youtube classic “man with big hat and white ropes says things like condoms won’t help the Aids crisis in Africa”. Those are always laugh a minute clips. That same brain trust has also brought us the wonderful idea that “Technology can lead to distraction and temptation”. This is an exact quote from the Vatican. I know they are just trying to help out people and this can be the case but are there not more important things to worry about? As Buddy Pope has already said, you have a website! You are part of the problem. You can’t have it both ways. It’s like saying to love your neighbour as yourselves, as long as they’re not gay or a women or being as silly as renouncing temptation and then not being able to control yourself at an Altar Boy tryout. Who would do that? Really? (Crap, I went there).

But maybe we should praise this girl. She stuck to her guns, put her mind to something and accomplished it, which is hopefully the message they were trying to achieve with this whole Lent experience. The old mind over matter trick works again; something that religions have banked on for years. So two claps for her! The video ends with a check in on the old mother figure. After all this praising of her daughter staying true to the Lent roots and sticking with something, she goes on to explain that she’s cheating on her chocolate sacrifice! Really?! Come on! Your kid can give up communication and you can’t put down a god damn candy-bar? Can you see why your kid wouldn’t want to spend time with you? You know she’s one of those mom’s who belittles her children about smoking weed and the dangers of drugs while she grows her own plants in the basement and smokes up on a daily basis. Wait, this makes complete sense. No wonder she can’t give up chocolate. (She was high/munchies/get it?)

And that’s a rant.