Baseball Needs More Nyjer Morgan

Nyjer Morgan. You may also know him as Tony Plush. Or maybe he's Tony Gumbo. T-Plush perhaps? If you're a stuffy old baseball codger, you probably know him as "everything that's wrong with the game."

Maybe that's why I like him so much.

He gets into fights. The announcers hate him. He does strange things during post-game interviews. Make sure you're all caught up on your Plushdamentals. And even stranger things yet. Is he crazy? Probably.  But, you know, baseball really needs that kind of crazy.

He's been around the league. Clubs usually get tired of his antics. For you stuffy, old baseball codgers, that's "what's wrong with the game." Baseball has no tolerance for personality. Everyone is supposed to show up, spout the same lines (one game at a time, long season, it's a team effort, etc.), and act like they're as thrilled to be a Major Leaguer as they would be to visit the dentist.

Nyjer Morgan is among the MLB leaders in tobacco consumption.

I'm supposed to watch a 162 games at 4 hours each and just simply be entertained? Maybe for some, that works. For me, it has to actually be entertaining. Nyjer Morgan is just that. He's the bowl of spiked punch in a warehouse of un-labeled, bottled water.

For the record, I like Giants closer Brian Wilson for exactly the same reason.

He's also a remarkably clutch hitter. You'll notice in the second video, the interviewer mentions how he always comes up in the big moment. He just did it again, sending the Brewers to the NLCS with his 10th-inning single that beat the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Hate all you want, baseball. The guy can play. In traditional Nyjer fashion, he promptly dropped two big F's in the post-game interview on TBS.

No, he's not a perennial All-Star. He won't ever hit 30 homers or 120 RBI. What he does is chew massive wads of tobacco, show up in the clutch, win the game, and knock the post-game interview out of the park.

His act may not always be productive, but it's always good for a laugh. Laughs are something baseball could certainly use more of. I sincerely hope Tony Gumbo aka Tony Plush aka T-Plush aka Tony Clutch sticks around for awhile. He gives me something to do in the summer.

By the way. Did you know he also played hockey? Guess that explains the fighting...

A Look at Boston's Miraculous Failure

A lot of analysts are eating crow this morning. 42 of the 45 baseball experts at ESPN predicted the Red Sox to at least reach the World Series. All 45 had Beantown winning the East. Every single one.

My question: Whose collapse was more disturbing?

You couldn't have predicted all the injuries for Boston. You couldn't have predicted that Jonathan Papelbon, who converted 31 of 33 save opportunities, would blow #34. You wouldn't have predicted that it would be a loss to Orioles keeping the Red Sox out of the playoffs.

But, that loss to the Orioles is just a microcosm of the last month for Boston.

 September 5th. It was a Monday in Toronto. Blue Jays rookie Brett Lawrie hit an 11th-inning, walk-off home run to beat Boston 1-0.  Two days later, leading 8-6, Boston gave up 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th. They managed 2 in the 9th, but ultimately fell to Toronto 11-10. Win those two games and you're in.

September 10th. Red Sox vs. Rays. Evan Longoria, last night's hero, knocked an RBI single in the 11th to beat Boston 6-5. Win that game and the Rays are home for Halloween.

And there are more. A 5-4 loss to Toronto, 4-3 loss to Tampa Bay, and a 6-5 loss to Baltimore. All of these crucial September games were winnable, just as game #162 was winnable. But in each one, like last night they came up one run short. The season came down to one run.

Ahh, but lest we forget. The Red Sox also began the season with six consecutive losses. Win any two of those games and it's a story of how Boston almost collapsed.

People like to say that the regular season in baseball doesn't matter. The Red Sox beg to differ. They lost 72 games this season. If they'd only lost 70, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

What makes the collapse so much crazier is looking at Boston's team statistics. The Red Sox led the majors in  runs scored (875), on-base percentage (.349), and slugging percentage (.461). Their team batting average of .280 was second only to Texas.

Boston's team ERA in September was 7.08

How could a team with so much offensive firepower fail so hard down the stretch? Again, we only need look at the last inning of the final game against the Orioles. Pitching.

The Red Sox finished 22nd in team ERA(4.20). Playoff teams do not pitch that poorly. Of the eight playoff teams, only one is ranked lower than 13th in team ERA, the Detroit Tigers. The difference there is Justin Verlander, who is easily the best pitcher in the American League this season. The Tigers may be 18th in team ERA, but they threw Verlander every fifth day and got eight innings and win. Boston didn't have anyone like that down the stretch. Boston didn't have anyone like that at all.

Boston was 28th in quality starts(starting pitcher goes at least 6 innings, allowing three or less earned runs). Only 71 times in 162 games did a Boston pitcher get a quality start. The Phillies had 108. Houston, which finished with the worst record in baseball, had 80 quality starts.

Pitching is what let Boston down all season, and it's what let them down in the end.

 Maybe the curse wasn't lifted. Maybe it was just under rain delay.