FALCON POINT
Fred Faour: This is about Tiger Woods, so you will probably click on it
Aug 13, 2018, 7:17 am
Tiger Woods might officially be back. Andrew Redington/Getty Images
Tiger Woods will never win another major.
-- Me, sometime after he got hit over the head by a golf club and before every major since.
Well, Tiger Woods came really close to finally proving me wrong on Sunday, finishing second in the PGA Championship, two shots behind Brooks Koepka.
Brooks Koepka, winner of two majors this year and back to back U.S. Opens. Who knew? Well, hardcore golf fan. The general public has no idea how good he is, because Tiger's shadow continues to dominate golf coverage.
USA Today might as well be Tiger Today as much as it is a PR tool for Woods. Every story on every golf tournament is about what Tiger did. The headline on their main story Monday? "Even Tiger haters should appreciate his results in this year's majors."
Um, no. That is a wee bit over the top. If you hate Tiger, you aren't going to appreciate anything. Nice try.
But USA Today is merely overdoing what any media outlet would do -- focus on the guy who gets clicks.
Even now, Tiger moves the meter unlike few athletes in any sport. When he started making his move Sunday, my phone blew up. Twitter blew up. The sports world stopped to see what would happen.
Not a single person outside the Koepka family (and those alleged Tiger haters) was rooting for anyone but Tiger, including me. The energy down the stretch was palpable. For a moment, I had hope that my tongue-in-cheek prediction was about to come crashing down.
Instead, as good as Tiger was, the winner was better. But Tiger brings ratings. Page views. Interest. So every story is about Tiger, including this one. Sorry, Brooks, but Tiger brings in people who don't watch golf.
The greatest ever?
Woods, by his own standard, remains well short of Jack Nicklaus' record for majors (18 to 14). He will be 43 next year, presumably healthy, and if his injuries hold off could have 3-4 more years of competitive play. I am no longer willing to joke that he won't win another. Four, though, seems highly unlikely.
But judging the greatest needs to come at the end of a career, and Tiger is not there yet. He still has a shot to take that title.
One thing he definitly is -- the most relevant golfer to ever play the game. When he is in contention, the world watches. He became a star -- and a fallen one -- during the social media age. We love to see excellence, then revel in failure, but love it even more when someone rises again. Tiger has been the perfect example of that, which is why we all watch. It's why we all tuned in Sunday, and will do it again if he is in the hunt for any majors next year.
Would I have tuned in if it was Koepka and Adam Scott dueling down the stretch? Nope. I have Netflix. It may have been amazing to watch, but to quote Pulp Fiction, "Sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie but I will never know since I wouldn't eat the ------."
But with Tiger? Absolutely. Count me in. Koepka may have the trophy, but Woods beings the viewers. And if he keeps playing like this, he always will. And maybe that prediction of mine will come crashing down.
I really hope it does.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.