Rants and Raves. Mark Buehrle’s Best Year. Gold Glove Frauds. Bulls Wait 10 Minutes to Find Out They Lost

Markie Mark’s Best Year?

Was 2009 Mark Buehrle’s best year? The statistics and the win numbers would say no, but I am going to say yes. The reason I say yes is not because of the way he played on the field, a solid year with lots of ups and downs, but based on everything else that happened this year.

Here is what he accomplished. While playing interleague, he hit his first career home run in Milwaukee. He pitched a perfect game and joined some elite company with 2 no hitters with 1 perfect game.

After his perfect game, he received a call from President Obama. But that really wasn’t that big a deal for him, because he had met him a week earlier in St. Louis. Before throwing out the first pitch, the President went into each team’s locker room to talk to the players. While in the AL locker room he sought out his favorite team's only player, Mark Buehrle. The All-Star game was a special one for Mark as he finally got to realize a life long dream of pitching in his home town of St. Louis. When he did pitch against fellow All-stars he threw a perfect inning, needing only 9 pitches and about 5 minutes.

As discussed yesterday, congrats to Mark Buehrle for winning his first Gold Glove. He probably should have won more, having only 15 errors in his 10 years with the Sox and always top numbers in pickoffs. So, overall I would say it was a pretty good year for Mark.

Gold Glove Winners?

Again Congrats to Mark, but I am however annoyed that Derek Jeter got the award. Jeter? Really? Alexei was about as good a fielder as he was and he was terrible. Derek Jeter has been the most over rated field since Ryne Sandberg. Jeter cannot go to his right to make a play, and often doesn’t attempt a play on the ball that is playable in order to save himself from an error.

Now, I know a lot of people say, what’s the big deal, it’s just a post season award, all I care about is wins. Well when the Hall of Fame comes calling for Jeter one day, they are going to show his achievements. This stat will pop up and leave everyone to assume, wow he was a good fielder as well. No he is not, it’s garbage.

Speaking of his defense, this famous play is so much crap. It doesn’t show how good at defense he is, or how much he gives to the game. Look how far he runs after he catches the ball. Anybody with an ounce of athleticism would have stopped and saved their face. But because Jeter can't, he goes crashing into the stands and looks like a hero. Biggest Fraud EVER!

The other Gold Glove winner I had a problem with was Torii Hunter. Tori was in a class of his own for most of the decade, deserving his gold gloves. This year, he won it on name only, and that’s not right. The Baseball Writers of America should be ashamed of themselves. Instead of doing any research, they just voted for the most recognizable names on the ballet.

Bulls Lose

I only saw the replays of Brad Miller’s game winning shot that got called back. I think the ball is out, but that’s not my call. The biggest problem with it, IT TOOK 10 MINUTES! How can anything be that conclusive to overturn the call that it takes 10 minutes to review. The 10 minutes also killed what looked like a fantastic finish. The NBA should institute a time limit like the NFL (Though it is never followed) for how long refs can look at a replay. If they have looked at it beyond that time, then clearly, the replay is not conclusive.