OFF THE TOP OF MY BALD HED
Barry Warner: On the Rockets postseason failures, Jackie Robinson, Colin Kaepernick, Johnny Football to Canada and more
Apr 17, 2018, 5:24 am
James Harden was awesome in Game 1, but past postseason failures will haunt him until they win it all. Kevin C. Cox
Playoffs are when legacies are made, not the regular season. James Harden may be the MVP and scoring leader, but his playoffs have been thought of as dismal. Three years ago, again in the final game at Golden State, he had 13 turnovers. No one will ever forget Game 6 here against the Spurs last year when he looked and played like he was from outer space.
CP3 has been a perennial All-Defense first teamer, has one of the best mid-range jumpers and will break your ankles dribbling. His rap? He never won with the talented Clippers, a team that choked after being up 3-1 few seasons ago. Great player but no ring.
Coach Mike D’Antoni, with the Phoenix Suns, with back to back MVP Steve Nash, Amare Stoudmire and Shawn Marion, got beat in back-to-back years by a pair of Texas teams. The Spurs won in 2005, the following year the Suns lost to Dallas.
Another Rocket season with no bling? Anything other than a Western Conference Final is a bad year, regardless of how management wants to spin it.
We have already seen mediocre Texans teams fly a banner because they were a regular season champ.
Around the diamond
Astros: Just because the Stros lost back-to-back nationally televised extra innings games to the Rangers, do not panic. Too many men left on base, plus paltry batting averages will change.
A-Rod reinvents himself: For both networks, A-Rod the fraud was in the booth -- the same ex-Yankee who sued everyone except the groundskeeper over his steroid use. He was banned one year for his lying. Now he is treated like a conquering hero. It’s either the greatest comeback story in the court of public opinion, or a huge con by his PR firm.
Ohtani watch: Shohei Ohtani did not pitch Sunday, as weather in Kansas City postponed the game. There is a chance he might start next Monday night when the Angels come here.
Jackie Robinson: April 15, 1947 was the 71st anniversary of the day when Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier at Ebbetts Field
Not only did it change baseball forever, and make it better forever, but made America better. Long before Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the Dodger became a Civil Rights leader in America. Jackie Robinson became that kind of leader first, followed by fans integrating the stands
It also opened the door for the Latin players. The sad part is so many of today’s generation of millionaire players don’t know of this great man.
I had the good fortune to twice have dinner with Jackie and his wife Rachael. Those moments are forever treasured.
Around the NFL
Poor decisions: Now let me get this straight, Texans’ management gave Derek Newton a two-year contract extension after his serious knee injuries. He showed his gratitude by filing a grievance for $ 500,000. But he is not as dumb as former teammate and bust Xavier Su’a filo. This genius turned down a $5-million-dollar deal at mid-season, preferring to test the market. He signed with the Titans for the league vet minimum.
Guess he forgot to take any business courses at UCLA.
Draft dodging: If their lips are moving then they are lying. That is the term used by coaches, GM’s and scouts regarding the draft. With less than two weeks before the draft, there are so many rumors floating, trying to confuse other franchises, that its absurd.
If I were Cleveland, Sam Darnold from USC would solve the quarterback problem. That would leave the Giants on the clock. It won’t be a shock for them to take Penn State’s superb running back Saquon Barkley.
Time to move on: Now that Colin Kaepernick made his stand, many feel it’s time to move on. There are rules in every job, unless you work for yourself. After the controversial ex-Forty Niner refused to say he would not stand for the anthem, Seattle chose to sign another backup.
But there is yet another way to approach this hot topic about players rights that will not go away. Forget about the kneeling. Once again this is more about owners discriminating against players, refusing to consider them for a roster spot.
By the way, this is the same league that took millions from the Pentagon for the made-for-video-boards and television displays of patriotism.
Once again hypocrisy rears its head. Remember this is not about politics or dissent, which is part of this great nation. It’s about money and fear. Then, again, the NFL has let druggies and many who have been mug shots return to play.
Adios, Dez: No surprise when Jerry Jones cut Dez Bryant. The controversial owner has waived Tony Romo (after he retired), Emmitt Smith and DeMarcus Ware, three franchise players.
The emotional receiver told his teammates “I will see you twice a year.” Sorry Dez, but no team in the division has cap space, nor wants a receiver who has slowed down.
Johnny football fail: With the two-game spring league over, former Heisman winner Johnny Manziel, has a month to report to the CFL where he must play two years before trying to get an NFL gig. He will be coached by well-respected June Jones
Another former Heisman winner, RG3, is now a Raven. Out of the NFL last season, he appears to be somewhat changed, no longer referring to himself in the third person.
Spare me, then show it on the field.
Ex-con gives back: Last Friday, my godson Damon West spoke to the UH football team about his seven years in prison. The son of retired Port Arthur News columnist Bob West has spoken to programs like Alabama, Clemson, Michigan State just to name a few.
It is a chilling, gripping story of survival in the joint against the gangs, rediscovering the Bible, and becoming a jailhouse lawyer. His website is www.damonwest.org. I sat between a pair of assistant coaches who were taking detailed notes of his chilling road to recovery.
I saw a much different side of Cougar head coach Major Applewhite. He is a terrible interview, soft spoken and repeating all the clichés heard over the years. But at the end of West’s motivational talk, the former Longhorn talked with no script. He implored his team to listen, take in the knowledge like a game plan. This time, not on a field, but as a gateway to each players’ future.
It was damn hard following Tom Herman, but what I saw really gives the team a shot at several winning seasons.
Chirp!
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After finishing up with the Guardians the Astros have a rather important series for early May with the Seattle Mariners heading to town for the weekend. While it’s still too early to be an absolute must-win series for the Astros, losing the series to drop seven or eight games off the division lead would make successfully defending their American League West title that much more unlikely.
Since their own stumble out of the gate to a 6-10 record the Mariners have been racking up series wins, including one this week over the Atlanta Braves. The M’s offense is largely Mmm Mmm Bad, but their pitching is sensational. In 18 games after the 6-10 start, the Mariners gave up five runs in a game once. In the other 17 games they only gave up four runs once. Over the 18 games their starting pitchers gave up 18 earned runs total with a 1.44 earned run average. That’s absurd. Coming into the season Seattle’s starting rotation was clearly better on paper than those of the Astros and Texas Rangers, and it has crystal clearly played out as such into the second month of the schedule.
While it’s natural to focus on and fret over one’s own team's woes when they are plentiful as they have been for the Astros, a reminder that not all grass is greener elsewhere. Alex Bregman has been awful so far. So has young Mariners’ superstar Julio Rodriguez. A meager four extra base hits over his first 30 games were all Julio produced down at the ballyard. That the Mariners are well ahead of the Astros with J-Rod significantly underperforming is good news for Seattle.
Caratini comes through!
So it turns out the Astros are allowed to have a Puerto Rican-born catcher who can hit a little bit. Victor Caratini’s pedigree is not that of a quality offensive player, but he has swung the bat well thus far in his limited playing time and provided the most exciting moment of the Astros’ season with his two-out two-run 10th inning game winning home run Tuesday night. I grant that one could certainly say “Hey! Ronel Blanco finishing off his no-hitter has been the most exciting moment.” I opt for the suddenness of Caratini’s blow turning near defeat into instant victory for a team that has been lousy overall to this point. Frittering away a game the Astros had led 8-3 would have been another blow. Instead, to the Victor belong the spoils.
Pudge Rodriguez is the greatest native Puerto Rican catcher, but he was no longer a good hitter when with the Astros for the majority of the 2009 season. Then there’s Martin Maldonado.
Maldonado’s hitting stats with the Astros look Mike Piazza-ian compared to what Jose Abreu was doing this season. Finally, mercifully for all, Abreu is off the roster as he accepts a stint at rookie-level ball in Florida to see if he can perform baseball-CPR on his swing and career. Until or unless he proves otherwise, Abreu is washed up and at some point the Astros will have to accept it and swallow whatever is left on his contract that runs through next season. For now Abreu makes over $120,000 per game to not be on the roster. At his level of performance, that’s a better deal than paying him that money to be on the roster.
Abreu’s seven hits in 71 at bats for an .099 batting average with a .269 OPS is a humiliating stat line. In 2018 George Springer went to sleep the night of June 13 batting .293 after going hitless in his last four at bats in a 13-5 Astros’ win over Oakland. At the time no one could have ever envisioned that Springer had started a deep, deep funk which would have him endure a nightmarish six for 78 stretch at the plate (.077 batting average). Springer then hit .293 the rest of the season.
Abreu’s exile opened the door for Joey Loperfido to begin his Major League career. Very cool for Loperfido to smack a two-run single in his first game. He also struck out twice. Loperfido will amass whiffs by the bushel, he had 37 strikeouts in 101 at bats at AAA Sugar Land. Still, if he can hit .225 with some walks mixed in (he drew 16 with the Space Cowboys) and deliver some of his obvious power (13 homers in 25 games for the ex-Skeeters) that’s an upgrade over Abreu/Jon Singleton, as well as over Jake Meyers and the awful showing Chas McCormick has posted so far. Frankly, it seems unwise that the Astros only had Loperfido play seven games at first base in the minors this year. If McCormick doesn’t pick it up soon and with Meyers displaying limited offensive upside, the next guy worth a call-up is outfielder Pedro Leon. In January 2021 the Astros gave Leon four million dollars to sign out of Cuba and called him a “rapid mover to the Major Leagues.” Well…
Over his first three minor league seasons Leon flashed tools but definitely underwhelmed. He has been substantially better so far this year. He turns 26 May 28. Just maybe the Astros offense could be the cause of fewer Ls with Loperfido at first and Leon in center field.
Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via YouTube: stone cold stros - YouTube with the complete audio available via Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.