I am sure you know it by now. Chan Ho Park has more home runs then David Ortiz. Big Papi is batting .208 with no home runs and just twelve RBI’s in 96 at bats.
Now the reason for the problem is unknown. It may be because of his wrist injury suffered last year. However watching him swing it does not look like he is in pain. It looks like he is trying to swing for the fences.
Let me just say trying to hit a home run is not a good idea. When I try to hit a home run I strikeout most of the time. When I try to hit a triple I groundout. When I try to hit a double I get a single most of the time. When I just focus to get on base and try to drive in the runner on second or third. I get on base and drive in the run.
Big Papi does not have the kind of power he had in 2006. Yes he is only like 33 but we have seen it with a ton of players. For example look at Eric Gange. Of corse it is believed that when he stopped using steroids he started doing bad.
I honestly could care less about home runs. If Big Papi doesn’t hit a single home run this season I would not care. As long as he drives in 100+ and bats .300+ I will be happy. Home runs are nothing. No one in baseball has the job of hitting home runs. If you hit a home run awesome if you do not who cares. As long as you do not strikeout looking I will be fine.
Big Papi may not have the protection with Manny in the lineup because well Manny is Manny. Manny could strikeout every time this season but pitchers would treat him like he is the guy who hit 500 home runs. Kevin Youkilis could do better but pitchers would still be afraid of Manny more then Youk.
So either until Big Papi finds his stroke or starts driving in runs and getting doubles. Here is what my line up would lock like.
1- Jacoby Ellsbury
2- Dustin Pedroia
3- Jason Bay
4- Kevin Youkilis
5- J.D. Drew
6- Mike Lowell
7- David Ortiz
8- Jason Varitek
9- Julio Lugo
Now I would rather have Jason Bay then say J.D. Drew in the third spot because I think J-Bay is just underrated. He will hit around 30 home runs a year but I love guys who can hit doubles of the Green Monster. Even though J.D. Drew has eight doubles and Bay has only five Bay also is A.) a little faster and B.) is kind of hot. He is not the hottest player but still I like J-Bay and he is still getting better.
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Now for some talk about the NBA. As many of you probably know my Boston Celtics are facing the Orlando Magic in the second round of the playoffs today.
Many say that the Magic will go on to the next round however I say it will be the Celtics. So far in the game we are down by 19 but I have faith in my team. The reason for many predicting the Magic over the Celtics is because we don’t have one of our best players, Kevin Garnett (note that I didn’t say KG is our best player).
Many believe that that is why we went to seven games against the Chicago Bulls. That is 100% not true. We didn’t go to seven games because Garnett was not on the court but rather the fact that he was on the bench. KG was a distraction to the team. I mean just imagine one of the greatest players of all-time not playing.
*Update we are now down by 14*
But we should not have went to seven games. Garnett is our best defensive player, Ray Allen is our best shooter, and Paul Pierce is the best all around player and the best player on the Boston Celtics. But even with KG on the bench we still have a big three.
Rajon Rondo has made a name for himself this season. He was nearly an all-star and turned the Big Three into the Fab Four. However many treat the team like we only have two all-stars, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.
Well those people must have an IQ of 1. Ray Allen is the best shooter of all-time. He is second on the all-time carer three pointers made and still has a ton of years left. I read an article in SI a while ago and it said that Pierce’s 34 and Garnett’s 5 would soon be up in the rafters. Well Ray Allen’s 20 and Rajon Rondo’s 9 will be up there soon.
*Update at the end of the third quarter we are down by 16*
*Update after checking my e-mail we are down by ten! I can smell the comeback!!!!!!!!!*
My second topic is the MVP voting. Today LeBron James won the MVP award. Unlike the MLB the NBA does not give awards out for both leagues.
LeBron James like Derek Jeter can be described in one word, OVERRATED! Tons of people say he is the best player on the planet. I say nice joke. Lets compare stats to Paul Pierce, Dwyane Wade, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Chauncey Billups and Kobe Bryant.
ASSIST PER GAME POINTS PER GAME REBOUNDS PER GAME
James- 7.5 (2) James- 32 (1) James- 11.3 (2)
Pierce- 2 (6) Pierce- 23.1 (6) Pierce- 6.9 (3)
Wade- 5.5 (5) Wade- 28.8 (2) Wade- 5.3 (4)
Howard- 1 (7) Howard- 24 (4) Howard- 15.8 (1)
Paul- 10.4 (1) Paul- 16.6 (7) Paul- 4.4 (6)
Billups- 7.4 (3) Billups- 22.6 (5) Billups- 4 (7)
Bryant- 5.6 (4) Bryant- 27.4 (3) Bryant- 5 (5)
So Based on my awesome, crazy formulas based on just stats the voting should have looked like this . . .
1.) James
2.) Wade
3.) Howard
3.) Bryant
5.) Paul
6.) Billups
6.) Pierce
and not this . . .
1.) James
2.) Bryant
3.) Wade
4.) Howard
5.) Paul
6.) Billups
7.) Pierce
The one problem is an MVP has to have more then stats. For example Chauncey Billups turned the Denver Nuggets around so he might be fifth and not sixth. So really I would have voted like this . . .
1.) James
2.) Wade
3.) Howard
4.) Billups
5.) Bryant
6.) Pierce
7.) Paul
Okay well I have a confession to make that may kill me. Don’t worry I have already written my will so here I go. LeBron James is the best player on Earth.
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RIP
Bob 🙂
Bostonball 