Monday, July 20, 2009

Ben Wallace back to Detroit? My thoughts

It's been widely speculated around the league that the Pistons have show interest in signing free agent Ben Wallace, bringing the former Piston star back to the city that once loved him unconditionally and is rivaled only by Steve Yzerman and Barry Sanders as Detroit sports heroes the last two decades.

I'm sort of on the fence about the possibility of Big Ben returning to the Pistons, but I'll give you some pros and cons, to present a case for either argument.

PROS:
  • He'd come cheap. Wallace, whom the Suns just bought out of his last year of his 4 year, $60 million dollar contract, would sign for the veteran's minimum salary of $1.2 million. The Pistons have just enough remaining cap room to sign him
  • Leadership. Big Ben didn't lead the 2002-2006 Pistons by emotional bravado. He lead by example. His hard work ethic and defensive tenacity could rub off on Detroit's young core of Stuckey, Gordon and Charlie Villanueva, none of whom are better than average defensively. His locker room presence could be huge for this team.
  • Retire a Piston and hang his number in the rafters. Big Ben belongs here... he IS Detroit. Nobody in the last decade represents what Detroit is all about better than Ben Wallace. He's given so much to this franchise and city that him finishing his career here only makes sense. Of the starting five on the 2004 championship team, his number is the one that deserves the most to be hung in the Palace rafters forever.
CONS:
  • Diminished body and athleticism. Ben never made it in the NBA on his skills. He made it through hard work, guts and determination. But along with that he had an incredibly fit and strong body and tremendous athleticism that helped him become one of the NBA's leading rebounders and shotblockers, despite him being well undersized. But that is all gone now. Big Ben is notacably thinner and a number of knee injuries the last couple years have robbed him of his freakish athleticism.
  • Lasting image as a player. I don't want to see Ben Wallace fall flat on his face this year and my lasting memory of him as a scrub. I wanna remember the Ben that swatted shots into the 10th row. I wanna remember "Fear the Fro" ... the guy that intimidated all who dared to drive into the Palace paint. I wanna remember the guy that out-battled four guys to come away with the offensive board. I want to remember the guy that was the true MVP of the 2004 Pistons. We won't be getting that guy... at all.
  • Last, and probably least, the state of Stuckey's jersey number. Certainly he will change his number if Big Ben is brought on board. And that will render my current Stuckey jersey worthless.
Conclusion:

My heart says yes, my gut says no. I'm going with my heart. It just makes perfect sense for Big Ben to finish his career where it really started. Sure, he won't play a major role... and he may even find himself in a business suit on some nights. But it's the chance to make ammends with the fans that adored him for 7 years. Maybe the return of Ben will spark some life back into The Palace? It just hasn't been the same since he left. Let's welcome the return of the colored afro wigs.

Ben, it's time to come home.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Red Sox-Blue Jays game 1 report

Pre-game Notes: The Red Sox finally cut ties with Julio Lugo today, designating him for assignment. The Red Sox will have 10 days to either trade, release or send him down to the minor leagues. Lugo signed a 4 year, $36 million dollar contract during the 2007 off season. Needless to say, it was not one of Theo Epstein's most savy baseball moves in his tenure as Red Sox GM.

Game Recap:

The Red Sox started the second half of their season with a bang - literally. After a leadoff full count walk to Drew, Youkilis belted a 1-0 belthigh fastball over the bullpens in left field to give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead.

Clay Buchholz, making his first major league start since August 20th, 2008, showed excellent command of his fastball early getting ahead of the Blue Jays' hitters and finishing them off with changeups. Buchholz mixed in the occasional curve ball, but the fastball-changeup combination proved to be lethal on the night.

Buchholz was helped out by some sharp defense in the third inning after a one out walk to Scutaro, as Pedrioa turned a one hop smash to second into an inning ending double play.

Toronto had a rally going in the 4th inning as Lind hit a 2-2 Buchholz changeup off the leftcenter field wall. A poor baserunning mistake by Lind ensued, as he was thrown out at third for a key fielder's choice. This proved to be key in limiting the Jays' rally as they only scored one run in the inning.

On the other side, Ricky Romero began to settle into a groove. Romero, like his counterpart Buchholz, showed a live fastball and devastating changeup, totalling 7 strikeouts through the first 3 inning (including striking out the side in the 2nd and 3rd innings). But in the 5th inning, after Pedrioa worked a walk after a 13 pitch at bat, that seemed to take something out of Romero. He proceeded to walk Youkilis and Ortiz followed with a 2 out, 2 run double off the left center field wall to knock Romero out of the game.

Perhaps the key at bat of the game came in the bottom of the 6th when the flame throwing Daniel Bard was called into the game to pickup Buchholz, who left two men on with 2 outs. Facing the light hitting Batista, Bard did what he does best, blowing a 99 mph fastball by him to end the threat.

The Red Sox bullpen, as it has for much of the year, shut the door on the opposition for the final 3 and a third innings. Clay Buchholz picks up his 6th career win. Papelbon retired the side in order in the 9th for his 24th save of the season.