Dodger Sets Dubious Records

It was 70 years ago Ted Williams set a baseball record that has been untouched by any professional since, hitting .400 for a season. The Boston great actually hit .406 in 1941.

As the 2011 season ended, another record was set that probably won't be broken for a while. LA Dodgers infielder Eugenio Velez set a two dubious marks for futility.

Velez grounded out to second as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning of Dodgers forgettable regular-season finale.

That meant he finished the season with a .000 batting average. That's right.

The LA infielder went 0-for-37 for the year, the most at-bats in a hitless season by a non-pitcher.

But Velez also broke the modern-day major league record for a non-pitcher by going hitless in 46 consecutive at-bats.

Ouch!

Actually, he hasn't recorded a hit since May 2010.

The previous record of 45 straight hit-less at-bats belonged to Pittsburgh's Bill Bergen (1909), Dave Campbell who played for San Diego and St. Louis (1973) and Milwaukee's Craig Counsell (this season).

Velez hasn't always been horrible at the plate. In his first three season with San Francisco, he batted a respectable .264.

So I suggest admiring this recording setting bad season, since the chances are good we won't see a swing do so little for a long time.

A Not So Wild Idea

Even in Major League Baseball's long, arduous season every game matters.

In what will likely go down as one of the wildest endings to a regular season ever, two teams popped champagne, while two picked up the pieces from their epic September collapses.

It all transpired simultaneously, in minutes, and much like March Madness was spectacular nail biting drama.

And to think it could all be naught if MLB gets its way and adds another wild-card. Before we get there here's how it played out in real time:

9:56 p.m. (EDT): Atlanta Braves rookie sensation Craig Kimbrel wilts under the pressure. Three walks to Phillie batters results in a game-tying sac fly from Chase Utley. Free baseball in Hotlanta.

10:23: Evan Longoria caps a six run inning with one swing of the bat. His three-run homer cuts the New York Yankees seven-run lead to one.

10:26: The St. Louis Cardinals finish off a 8-0 thrashing of the Houston Astros and tune into to watch the Braves games.

10:47: Tampa's down to its last strike, when Dan Johnson (batting .108) smacks a pinch-hit game-tying home run. The Rays are heading to extra innings.

10:58: The Boston Red Sox resume their game against the Orioles after a popup Baltimore thunderstorm.

11:17: BoSox's Carl Crawford, who hasn't lived up to his mega contract, doubles, but Macro Scutaro hesitates as he runs to third and is gunned out at the plate. Red Sox still lead 3-2, but an insurance run is lost.

11:28: Philly's Hunter Pence squibs a broken-bat single in the unlucky 13th inning in Atlanta. Phillies lead 4-3.

11:40: At the start of September, Atlanta led the NL wild-card by 8 1/2 games. Braves Freddie Freeman grounds into a double play. Game over, season over -- St. Louis is October bound.

11:59: Orioles Nolan Reimold is down to his last strike, but ties the game with the second of back-to-back doubles off Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon.

12:02: The wheels fall off in Baltimore. O's Robert Andino smacks a single to left field. Crawford can't make the sliding grab and his throw to the plate is off the mark. Red Sox await their fate that hinges in St. Petersburg.

12:05: Tampa's Evan Longoria hits another home run just feet from the foul pole that just clears the fence. Tampa Bay completes two improbable comebacks -- winning 8-7 after trailing 7-0 and catching Boston in the standings who once held a 9 game wild-card lead on Sept. 3.

The Red Sox collapse was the biggest blown lead in the final month ever, and the Braves weren't too far behind.

But all of Wednesday's drama wouldn't have mattered if Bud Selig's proposed plan to add a fifth wild-card team was in effect.

All four teams vying for the final playoff spots would have mirrored the Yankees pre-playoff mode, playing the next best guy on their 40-man roster.

The idea of a second runner-up making the baseball's postseason is ludicrous. The Red Sox don't deserve another chance after a 7-20 September. Neither does a team that finishes 6 games behind the first wild-card participant (like the same Red Sox did last year in missing the playoffs).

Baseball should not be trying to emulate the NBA. The Association plays a way too long season, followed by even longer playoffs which half the teams make. What's the point?

A 162-game season is designed to reward the winners and punish the teams that don't deserve to play in October. Wednesday night proved just that.

Cy Young, MVP Hinge on Winning

The MLB season is drawing to an end, which means awards season is right around the corner.

Voters, of which I am not, will face their typical dilemma, how much does winning matter?

You can basically chalk up that college football's Heisman award will be given to the best player on the best team.

Looking at past MLB award winners, playing on a winning team does matter. That's unfortunate, because two of the players who are having the best seasons this year play for the dreadful LA Dodgers.

Southpaw Clayton Kershaw picked up his 20th win of the year Tuesday night. Kershaw, by himself accounts for 25 percent of all LA's wins and has beaten San Francisco ace Tim Lincecum four times.

His numbers are off the charts this year, 2.27 ERA (1st in the NL), 20 wins (tied for 1st), 242 strikeouts (again 1st). But his team is third the NL West, 7th best in the NL and barely pushing .500.

Kershaw's competition for the award, Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee of the Phillies and Ian Kennedy of the Diamondbacks, are all on playoff bound teams.

Here's the head-to-head comparison:

Kershaw: 20 Wins (1), 2.27 ERA(1), 242 K's (1), 5 Complete Games
Halladay: 18 Wins (3), 2.41 ERA (4), 217 K's (3),  8 CG
Lee: 16 Wins (5), 2.38 ERA (3), 232 K's (2), 6 CG
Kennedy: 20 Wins (1), 2.88 ERA (9), 194 K's (7) 1 CG

You can make a case for any pitcher, though Kershaw's numbers are slightly better than the rest. The determining factor for whoever takes the award the home might be team wins, advantage Phillies aces.

Same goes for the NL MVP race.

Again, outfielder Matt Kemp is having a tremendous season for a woeful team.

Kemp's leading the NL in RBI's (116), second in homers (35) and third in batting average (.322).

Still it's hard to make the argument for an MVP to come from a .500 ball club.

All of Kemp's competition in the MVP race, Brewers Prince Fielder or Ryan Braun and Diamondbacks Justin Upton, are on playoff bound teams. Who knows if the Cardinals make the postseason, you can never discount Albert Pujols.

I'm happy there's finally some baseball drama this September, but you just have to look at the individual level. Like in the pennant races, winning is everything.

19 Years and Counting ...

It was sure fun while it lasted.

The Pittsburgh Pirates managed to climb seven games above .500 in late July and even spent a few days atop the division, in July.

Then reality set in.

The Bucs soft-toss pitching staff started getting hammered. Kevin Correia, Charlie Morton and company have allowed the most runs in the NL since the All-Star break. And the offense, which was never good, couldn't buy a hit.

Since July 29, Pittsburgh is 5-11 in one-run games since the break and allowed at least 10 runs eight times in that same span.

Add a 10-game losing streak that started immediately after a controversial (to say the least) 19-inning loss in Atlanta where the Pirates got the brunt end of a blown call, and you have a recipe of the same.

The Pirates fell for the 82nd time last Wednesday, clinching the clubs 19th consecutive losing season. A streak untouched by any team in American sports.

In 19 years since the Pirates last had a winning season, Major League Baseball added four teams (Florida, Colorado, Arizona and Tampa), all have made the World Series, and two have won it.

Things are starting to look up for the Pirates.

Still there's a glimmer of hope for the faithful fans.

Instead of dumping all the players that had pseudo major league talent, the Pirates were active buyers at the trade deadline, not breaking the farm system adding two veteran bats (Derrek Lee and Ryan Ludwick).

Pittsburgh has been more aggressive during the draft, this year shelling out $13 million to sign top picks pitcher Gerrit Cole and high school outfielder Josh Bell.

The mastermind behind the Pirates new strategy, general manager Neal Huntington, has signed on for a few more years, as has outfielder Jose Tabata.

Future success might hinge on Pittsburgh going outside its comfort zone to lock up the team's only bone-fide star, Andrew McCutchen. And outside third baseman Pedro Alvarez the team still needs to find some power hitting.


There's a long way to go still.

While I doubt the streak is going to stop at 19, for the first time in two decades there's room for optimism.

A Texas Sized Mess

Texas isn't bigger than an entire conference, and could get gored.

College conference cannibalism has made a mid-season return. It's back in full fury.

So if the idea of Syracuse and Pittsburgh moving from the Big East to the ACC isn't sitting well, blame Texas.

Greed is a systemic problem in college football right now, but the University of Texas' push to create its own TV network dedicated solely to "burnt orange" caused a political earthquake in the Lone Star state, now everyone's feeling it.

Briefly here's what happened.

The Big 12 conference lost two of its members (Nebraska and Colorado) to other conferences who wanted to expand to hold a cash cow, also known as a championship football game.

Texas toyed with new Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott's idea of creating a 16-team super conference, but decided it was better off in the midwest. But they got their own prize, the OK to create their own TV network.

Already there's one red flag. Conferences have networks, not individual schools.

Equally culpable in this mess, ESPN, who got involved and brought with it a $300 million over 20 years to partner with the Longhorn Network (LHN).

Here's where things spiraled out of control.

Texas planned to use the LHN to televise high school football games, many of which would showcase its own recruits. Not only does break an NCAA rule, but it would create a glaring recruiting advantage.

So Texas A&M, always the little brother of the Longhorns, said enough is enough is jumping ship to the SEC.

Now the Big 12 conference, not only has math problems with nine members, but everyone else in the league senses it's going down and is looking to leave too.

So as the major conferences grow even larger, the fans and anyone who stills cares about college basketball are losing out.

Think it will be the same to have Syracuse playing for a basketball title in Greensboro, N.C. instead Madison Square Garden?

Think Pitt fans will travel down to Chapel Hill to watch a football game? They didn't even travel to Charlotte to watch a bowl game.

I didn't go to school that it made sense to travel to watch games, but friends I know who were at those schools talk about road trips as part of the college experience.

That's not possible with geographic sprawling conferences.

Conferences used to form based on geography, convenient for travel and for creating rivalries.

Kiss that goodbye. Right now, it's all a big money grab.

And the great conference swap happening right now is thanks to Texas and ESPN.