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| Tuesday, February 20, 2007 |
As reported in the Baltimore Sun today:
Orioles pitcher Kris Benson will put off surgery to repair his torn right rotator cuff and instead undergo a rehabilitation process, which could last a month, in a final attempt to pitch in 2007, a baseball source said last night.
Dr. James Andrews examined Benson’s shoulder yesterday in Birmingham, Ala. It was the third opinion sought by the Orioles’ pitcher. A member of the New York Mets’ medical staff recently recommended that Benson have surgery, but Andrews provided a small glimmer of hope.
If the rehab doesn’t change the condition of Benson’s shoulder, he will have the surgery and most likely miss the season. Waiting a few more weeks wouldn’t delay his return.
Benson’s desperation to pitch in 2007 is in an effort to either get his option for 2008 picked up or to get a free agent contract at season’s end when his current deal expires. The temptation is to call it guts or heart or courage. In reality if his salary for 2008 was guaranteed, Benson would heed the sagacious opinions of the previous two doctor’s who said get it fixed surgically and then rehabbed at his leisure. Other pitchers have tried to baby shoulders with comparable damage, including Benson’s former teammate Pedro Martinez. While with the Red Sox, the damage to Martinez’ shoulder was first detected, and rather than sit and have surgery, he opted for rehab and a lighter workload. That decision caught up with him last season. Martinez’ torn labrum required surgery late last season, and he is currently rehabbing in the hopes of returning this season.
Dr. Andrews is not ruling out surgery, just suggesting that rehab might heal Benson’s arm sufficiently to pitch this season. The question Benson must answer is whether he feels it is wise to forgo a more certain course of recovery for the short term gain of possibly pitching this season. It is not as if the loss of Benson doomed Baltimore’s AL East Title chances. His injury meant more innings at a little below league average than slightly above league average. Therefore the only people who stand to gain or lose with Benson’s attempts to pitch this season are Benson himself and his family. The decision to pitch is choosing short term gain and long term loss.
Benson has often found the center of attention because of the outrageous behavior of his wife, Anna. Anna Benson, who spends most of her time involved in her modeling career and humanitarian activities, sparked controversy by comments made to Howard Stern about how she would repay her husband if he ever cheated on her.
Framed in light of the contract set to expire at season’s end and the turmoil that has been a near constant distraction during his professional playing career, Benson’s actions appear more and more like a man struggling to stay in a game that might pass him by if he has surgery and takes the four to five months necessary to rehab. It is a stark contrast to the decision made by Octavio Dotel who in 2005 decided to undergo Tommy John surgery to repair his injured elbow and risk free agency coming off major arm surgery the following season. Dotel this offseason signed a lucrative contract with the Kansas City Royals.
Via David Pinto at Baseball Musings.
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| Tuesday, February 20, 2007 |
Tony Dungy has decided retirement will have to wait.
Tony Dungy is coming back for another season with the Super Bowl champs. Dungy made it clear Monday that he will return to the Indianapolis Colts sideline, quashing any talk that he might step down after becoming the first black coach to win a Super Bowl ring. “Obviously, you want to come back. You want to defend the title. We’ve got such a great group of guys, that that’s eventually what draws you back every year,” Dungy said in advance of the NFL Scouting Combine. “I wouldn’t say it was an easy decision, but it was the right one, and it didn’t take overly long to make.”
While there had been speculation concerning Dungy’s return for the 2007 season, the suspense didn’t trouble team president Bill Polian. “I wasn’t terribly concerned,” he said.
And with that out of the way, the Colts can focus on next season.
Indeed. While one couldn’t blame Dungy for wanting a break after all he’s been through, he’s got a great situation with the Colts. Not only is his team intact but so is his coaching staff. They’ll be favorites to return to the AFC Championship game next year.
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| Tuesday, February 20, 2007 |
Norv Turner has been hired as the new head coach of the Chargers.
Considered by some to be the safe pick to take over the San Diego Chargers, Norv Turner at least is starting in much better position than he did in his previous two NFL head coaching jobs.
Turner was given a four-year contract Monday to take over a team that went an NFL-best 14-2 before melting down in the playoffs and then in the front office. “This isn’t a team where you’re rebuilding,” said Turner, who had been San Francisco’s offensive coordinator. “We should start fast. We should be good early and we should be good late. Not having to go through the normal things you have to go through when you make a coaching change is going to help the players more than anyone.”
The hiring came a week after the surprise firing of Marty Schottenheimer and less than 24 hours after the Chargers finished interviewing the last of six candidates. Turner was the only one with NFL head coaching experience and the only one from the offensive side of the ball.
The Chargers also signed Ted Cottrell to a two-year contract as defensive coordinator, then added Ron Rivera as linebackers coach just hours after the Chicago Bears said he wouldn’t be back as their defensive coordinator. Rivera, a linebacker on the Super Bowl champion 1985 Bears, had interviewed for the job that went to Turner.
I’m happy for Turner, especially after the disappointment he must have felt after not getting hired by the Dallas Cowboys after having been thought the frontrunner. Still, it’s hard to argue that the Chargers have upgraded by firing Schottenheimer and replacing him with Turner. Their career records speak for themselves.
And this must be a bitter pill for Rivera as well. He went from the defensive coordinator on a Super Bowl team to two head coaching interviews to position coach in a week. It’s simply bizarre for the Bears to hold his desire for a promotion and pay raise against him.
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| Saturday, February 17, 2007 |
Scottie Pippin is tired of being retired.
Scottie Pippen is tired of retirement. He wants to return to the NBA for a chance to win his seventh championship ring.
With most of the league’s stars and decision-makers gathering at the All-Star weekend festivities in Las Vegas, the 41-year-old Pippen announced he’s hoping for a late-season return to a contending team — preferably in a warm-weather city — nearly 2 1/2 years after he left the league.
“I know that I have the skills,” Pippen said. “I think it’s sort of been on my mind the last couple of months. It’s just about me going out and polishing my skills.”
The forward hasn’t played since his retirement on Oct. 5, 2004, following a 17-season career with Chicago, Houston and Portland. He won six titles in his famed role as Michael Jordan’s wingman with the Bulls, and was part of two gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic teams.
It’s a shame these guys can’t stay retired. He’ll certainly never be able to live up to his former greatness. Still, it’s easy to understand why it happens. Going from being a household name pulling in millions a year to a semi-ordinary life has to be one huge letdown.
Previous Installments: C – 1B/DH – 2B/SS – 3B
How old can an outfield be? The San Francisco Giants trotted out a creaky-kneed trio aged 39, 41 and 41 last season and lost 85 games.
This year, the Kansas City Royals might feature a 39 year old veteran roaming the grass at Kauffman Stadium along side a 25 year old converted third baseman.
A couple of twenty-something speedsters could provide great defense one day, while men who will never get closer to a Gold Glove than Mark Grudzielanek’s locker could be chasing down doubles the next.
Playing time at first and third base will come at a premium this season, with the gentlemen below feeling the squeeze.
David DeJesus
295/364/446
OPS+ 103
Generally speaking, baseball players improve over their first few years in the league, peak at age 27 and slowly decline after that.
Here is how DeJesus has tracked since becoming a full time player in 2004.
Year Age Games AVG OBP SLG
2004 24 96 287 360 402
2005 25 122 293 359 445
2006 26 119 295 364 446
Last March, he signed an extension through his age 30 season in 2010 for an average of $2.76 million per year. If he can manage to stay injury free and make the leap in production many expect this season, the Royals will have made a very good deal.
Assuming Buddy Bell doesn’t take any blows to the head this Spring, David will be leading off for the Royals on April 2nd. He’s had some pop in the one hole, hitting six home runs to lead off a game in his career.
Last year, DeJesus was moved to left field when Joey Gathright came over from the Devil Rays.
According the research done by John Walsh at The Hardball Times, DeJesus was one of the best defensive outfielders in both center and left field in 2006.
Emil Brown
287/358/457
OPS+ 104
Emil Brown was not one of the better defensive outfielders in 2006 or any year for that matter.
However, he has managed to carve out a nice career for himself after toiling away in the minors for many years.
If Mark Teahen gets moved to the outfield to make room for third base prospect Alex Gordon, then Brown could find himself in the thick of a mean battle for the remaining corner outfield spot.
Reggie Sanders
246/304/425
OPS+ 81
The other highly-paid option to man right field, Sanders has always been an above average hitter, and a bit of a nomad.
Since leaving Cincinnati in 1998, he has never signed more than a one or two year deal with any team.
While Sanders has managed to put up highly productive seasons despite being on the wrong side of the age curve, the following trend is of concern:
Age Games
34 140
35 130
36 135
37 93
38 88
39 year olds who aren’t pitchers don’t have much history contributing at the major league level.
A highly comparable player to Sanders is Ron Gant (who the Royals could have had once).
Gant also bounced around at the end of his career, put up his last useful season at 37 and saw injuries end his career.
Joey Gathright
262/332/328
OPS+ 68
Yes, the batting line is atrocious, but he is fast, or so I’m told whenever I see his name mentioned in any story ever written about him.
Gathwright hit for average and got on base at a respectable clip in the minors (315/391/360 in five seasons), but has yet to see that translate in the bigs. He will never be a power hitter, but if he can start getting on base and stealing at a 75% clip, he will be a valuable fourth outfielder.
Shane Costa
274/304/405
OPS+ 77
Costa beat out Aaron Guiel for the fourth outfielder spot out of spring training last year, and I was none to happy about it.
Costa is another player who put up good but not great numbers in the minors. After being sent down last season, he put up his best line yet going 342/398/593 in 52 games with Omaha, bouncing back and forth with the big club all year.
He’s a Cal State Fullerton Titan, so my wife likes him; though she hates baseball, so I don’t think Shane is gleaning much positive karma from his time in southern California.
Pitcher previews next week.
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| Friday, February 16, 2007 |
A radio report out of Cleveland gives no reason why Foulke is deciding to retire and abandon a $5 million salary.
Pitchers and catchers reported to Winter Haven today, all but one of them that is. Keith Foulke will announce his retirement, ending the closer competition before the first practice session even took place. Joe Borowski will be the Tribe 9th inning man after Foulke decided to call it quits. Even though it was called a competition, Foulke was the guy most expected to win the job and be the team’s stopper, the role he had with the Boston Red Sox when they won the World Series in 2004.
Foulke had three rocky years in Boston, highlighted by his remarkable playoff performance in the 2004 ALCS and World Series. As powerful as Manny Ramirez’ bat was, Foulke’s gutty performances were truly the most valuable for the Red Sox as they won that season’s World Series. The following two injury riddled seasons seemed to deflate Keith Foulke, and some quarters of Red Sox fandom soured on the one time hero of the team.
In ten major league seasons Foulke had a 41-34 record with 190 saves and a ERA of 3.30. He didn’t do it with power, instead relying on a deceptive change up to fool batters.
Previous Installments: C – 1B/DH – 2B/SS
A quick look at all of the Hall of Famers who have played for the Kansas City Royals will leave you with two lingering thoughts:
1.) Orlando Cepeda and Harmon Killebrew played for the Royals? Really?
2.) Thank God for George Brett.
With a breakout performer and a sure-fire prospect competing for a spot on the hot corner, this may be the most interesting position battle since Ken Harvey and Calvin Pickering went head-to-head over the buffet table in 2005.
Mark Teahen
290/357/517
OPS+ 117
Perhaps the last great thing Allard Baird did as general manager of the Kansas City Royals was send Mark Teahen down to Omaha after his horrid start to the 2006 season.
Team AVG OBP SLG
KC 195 241 351
OMA 380 500 658
KC 313 384 557
Faced with fading away or fighting back, Teahen did the latter. He got angry at our little white friends with the red stitching and began thumping whenever one came across the plate.
Dayton Moore brought Teahen back up to the big league team to see if his hot streak would hold, and it did until a labrum tear ended his season in early September.
What remains to be seen is how the shoulder surgery will affect Teahen’s ability to progress this season. Mark is already a candidate to decline – his minor league stats show a lot of patience, but not as much power.
With a log jam in the outfield and golden boy Alex Gordon standing on third base in the minors, Teahen cannot afford to have another April like last year.
Alex Gordon
325/427/588 (AA)
Ahh, the golden child.
Gordon has pretty much raked the ball as far back as the stats go.
Check out his splits while at Wichita last year and you’ll see that the only time he didn’t really produce was in twelve at bats as a first baseman. (Note to the Royals, Alex Gordon is NOT a first baseman)
Most observers assume that Gordon will be the starting third baseman coming out of Spring Training, forcing Mark Teahen to the outfield.
Ideally, the two players will push each other to greatness and force the Royals to trade away some of the excess baggage in the outfield.
Realistically, the 23 year old Gordon will have a few struggles against his first taste of MLB quality competition. How few are up for debate.
2007 Projections
AVG OBP SLG OPS AB
PECOTA 282 364 511 875 541
ZIPS 275 361 473 834 491
CHONE 273 353 465 818 485
A 21 year old George Brett put up a 282/312/363 line in 457 at bats in his first major league season and finished second in the MVP voting at age 23.
Can the chosen one keep up?
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| Thursday, February 15, 2007 |
Dave Solomon of the New Haven Register discusses the strange plight of Tony Sparano, the Dallas Cowboys offensive assistant who is simultaneously too valuable to the team to let interview for coordinator positions elsewhere and yet apparently going to suffer a de facto demotion.
The process is unfolding by slow drip, with frustrating ambiguity for Dallas Cowboys assistant head coach Tony Sparano. At least that was his title three weeks ago before the resignation of Bill Parcells left an aftermath of disparate components and new choices for owner Jerry Jones.
Sparano, in his first public comments since Parcells’ decision to retire, says he is flattered by the strong vote of confidence from Jones, who Sparano feels he owes much in his four seasons in Dallas. Yet the process is also maddening in the sense that his role is undefined and, with the addition of Jason Garrett, reports have reasonably concluded that Sparano’s role will be diminished as well.
[...]
New Orleans coach Sean Payton wanted Sparano to fill the same role — in full title — with the Saints in 2006. Moreover, reports are that two other NFL clubs requested permission to talk with Sparano following the season. All Sparano would say is that because Jones denied permission, it’s only hearsay.
But now, three weeks after becoming one of 10 men to interview for the Cowboys head coaching job — that has since gone to defensive specialist Wade Phillips — Sparano has been given a public vote of support by Jones … and little definition as to his exact role. “It’s obviously been a long process, from obviously the delay with Bill making a decision, and then of course, the hiring process,” said Sparano. “Jerry, obviously, was very thorough, and me, being one of the first to go in there (for an interview) … it seems like dog years after that. Now, it’s still going on, kind of. We’re just waiting for some closure.”
Asked if his role specifically, Sparano could only say he’ll be with the Cowboys (he has one more year left on his contract) and other than coaching the offensive line, he doesn’t know the full extent of his responsibilities.
Garrett, of course, is the wildcard, a bright Princeton grad who played for the Cowboys behind Troy Aikman. Aikman is said to have strongly encouraged Jones to hire Garrett two weeks ago. It is widely assumed that Garrett, who was a quarterback coach in Miami for two years and has never called plays, will fill that role in Dallas. And that means Sparano won’t.
Regardless of the flattering words Jones said of Sparano, the perception will be that Sparano was demoted, whether or not that is fact. “From my standpoint, it’s flattering that the Cowboys want me to stay here and be a part of this thing,” said Sparano. “I’m the only coach left on that side of the ball (from the Parcells regime), which tells me everything I need to know about how they feel about me. Mr. Jones has treated me great. Coach Parcells was tremendous to me. But like anybody else out there, you always want the ability to advance professionally if you can. It’s been a little bit hard that way, with the situation last year and (the situation the last three weeks).”
While interviewing for the head coaching job may have boosted Sparano’s profile league-wide and media-wide, “at the end of the day, I’m not the head coach and I may not be the coordinator. So the perception is that it’s a demotion,” he said. “That’s a concern of mine. because that’s now where I see this. Nonetheless, it is what it is.”
Absent the coordinator title and/or keeping the assistant head coach title, I can’t imagine Sparano stays around after his contract expires. It’s truly a bizarre situation to be in. There’s no complaint about his performance last year and the offense should only get better, since Tony Romo now has several games as a starter under his belt. Yet he’s losing play calling responsibilities to someone who’s never done it.
Previous Installments: C / 1B/DH
The Kansas City Royals have had five different leaders in games played at second base in the last five years, and only one guy manning the other side of the bag (forgive me if I pretend the Neifi Perez year never happened.).
Yes, it has been a long time since Frank White was racking up Gold Gloves in the powder blue, but last year saw the Royals get a nice trophy and nearly-adequate production from their second sacker.
Angel Berroa continued to suck wind, but we’ll get to him in a second.
Mark Grudzielanek
297/331/409
OPS+ 85
If Grudzielanek doesn’t put up a 295/330/400 line with solid defense this year, then something has probably gone horribly wrong with the space/time continuum and we’ll all have bigger things to worry about than baseball.
A contact hitter, Grudzie doesn’t walk much, strike out much or really do much of anything except put the ball in play.
See these nifty charts from Fan Graphs, if you want the proof.
With a good defensive reputation, the Royals had Grudzielanek move over to shortstop at the end of four games last year. He hasn’t played the position regularly since 2000, but I wonder if he won’t see a little more time over there this season if Angel Berroa can’t get his act together.
Angel Berroa
234/259/333
OPS+ 48
Excuse me for a minute while I shake my head and sigh. Those ugly numbers you see were produced over 500 plate appearances in 132 games last year.
By the end of the season, the Royals were regularly pinch-hitting for Berroa at the end of close games, which was a good idea because his lifetime OPS in the ninth inning is .504. (He hits like Babe Ruth in extra innings, but that is more a product of small sample size than actual clutch talent)
The team is on the hook for another $8.5 million, but it appears Dayton Moore has the flexibility to consider those sunk costs if Berroa doesn’t show improvement early in the season.
Estaban German
326/422/459
OPS+ 122
Aside from getting hit in the face by what most observers considered a routine fly ball, German exceeded every reasonable expectation for the Royals last season.
With a strong history of getting on base in the minors, German led the team with a .422 OBP in 2006.
At 28, German is too old to be considered a prospect anymore, and one would guess that his production will slip after a career year, but he appears to be a solid back up for Grudzilanek.
In my perfect world, German would be moved to the other side of the bag and take over for Angel Berroa at short stop, providing patience and power and probably a few more errors. General Manager Dayton Moore has hinted at this possibility in recent radio interviews.
The Ladies pro golf tour kicks off in Hawaii.
KAHUKU, Oahu, Hawaii – For the third straight year, the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) begins its official season in the beautiful state of Hawaii. Defending champion Joo Mi Kim is among 138 golfers who will compete from Feb. 15-17 on the Palmer Course at the SBS Open at Turtle Bay.
Kim became a Rolex First-Time Winner at this event last year, after outlasting Lorena Ochoa (after one hole) and Soo Young Moon with two birdies in a two-hole, sudden-death playoff. Kim joins a deep field that includes nine of the top-10 players from the 2006 season-ending LPGA Official Money List.
Leading that charge is Ochoa, who was the 2006 Rolex Player of the Year. The 25-year-old enters her fifth year on tour after coming off the strongest season of her career. Ochoa won six tournaments to claim her first Rolex Player of the Year title, the Vare Trophy and the ADT Official Money List title. With $2,592,872 in season earnings, Ochoa was the second player in LPGA Tour history to surpass the $2 million mark in season earnings. She added six runner-up finishes and ended last season with 20 top-10 finishes in 25 starts.
Ochoa is not the only player looking to continue where she left off. LPGA Tour and World Golf Halls of Fame member Karrie Webb re-emerged as a top player on tour in 2006. The Australian’s back-to-back victories at the Australian Women’s Open (Feb. 1-4) and ANZ Ladies Masters (Feb. 8-11) proved she is back to her winning ways in 2007. Webb won five LPGA tournaments, including her unforgettable second win at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, where she holed a pitching wedge from 116 yards to eagle and force a playoff, which she later won. Webb also became the third player in LPGA history to earn more than $2 million in one season (joining Annika Sorenstam and Ochoa). Webb has accumulated more than $12 million career earnings and has 35 career LPGA Tour wins, which includes seven major championship victories.
Twenty-year-old Julieta Granada is also a player to beat this week. Granada not only became the first player in women’s professional golf to win a $1 million first-place paycheck at the season-ending ADT Championship in November, she also is coming off a victory at the Women’s World Cup of Golf. An unofficial event on the LPGA Tour schedule, she teamed with Celeste Troche to represent Paraguay and the team won by seven strokes over Team USA. Granada set an LPGA Tour record in 2006 for the most money earned by a rookie ($1,633,586), which broke Paula Creamer’s 2005 mark of $1,531,780.
Other players who will challenge for the title this week include 2006 tournament winners Cristie Kerr, Mi Hyun Kim, Juli Inkster, Jeong Jang, Hee-Won Han, Seon Hwa Lee, Se Ri Pak, Brittany Lincicome, Sherri Steinhauer and Meena Lee.
Creamer is eager for her third-career victory while LPGA Tour stars Natalie Gulbis, Morgan Pressel, Brittany Lang and Ai Miyazato look for their first win on the LPGA Tour.
The tournament has an excellent field despite the abscence of both Michelle Wie and Annika Sorenstam. Michelle is out with a wrist injury, Annika is not starting her LPGA season till the tour season till March in Mexico. The Honolulu Advertiser is deluding itself when it says Annika is obligated to play the SBS in 2008. The Swedish golf superstar doesn’t think LPGA golf rules apply to her.
Another player in the field is Kimberly Kim, the defending US Amateur Champion. The 15-year-old some call K2, got a sponsor’s exemption into this week’s field.
What can we expect for the LPGA season? Ron Sirak of Golf World magazine poses some questions.
* Was Lorena Ochoa’s six-win season a breakthrough year or a career year she won’t repeat again?
* Did we see the beginning of the end of Sorenstam as No. 1 in the world last year, or will she bounce back from the distractions of outside business affairs?
* Is Karrie Webb really back, and does she have the desire to be No. 1 in women’s golf once again?
* Who is the best of the Americans, Paula Creamer or Cristie Kerr?
* Is Julieta Granada, No. 4 on the money list last year after winning $1 million at the ADT Championship, the real deal?
* Will Ai Miyazato, a disappointment as a highly touted rookie, get her first LPGA victory this year to go with 14 wins in Japan.
* Which is the real Se Ri Pak, the one who captured the 2006 McDonald’s LPGA Championship or the one who missed five cuts last year?
* Will Natalie Gulbis end her 0-for-135 streak in LPGA events?
* Will Morgan Pressel bounce back from a disappointing rookie year?
* Speaking of rookies, who will be the best this year?
* And will Michelle Wie, who turns 18 on Oct. 11, become the youngest winner in the history of the LPGA by grabbing a title this year?
Here are my answers.
1- Ochoa is for real. Her 69.236 stroke average for 2006 was the second best in LPGA history. 2007 could be a letdown, only because it is tough to win 6 tournaments on this tour with as much competition as there is.
2- Sorenstam will win more often than in 2006 but nothing like her 10-win season of 2005. As to outside influences, heck almost everyone on the men’s or ladies tour has those. It is called a spouse and for some children aka a family.
So save the excuses Ron.
3- Webb is back without question.
4- I have to give it to Kerr based on win records theirs. The Pink Panther trails 8 to 2. Paula had an off 2006, but I expect both these players to win in 2007.
5- Julieta Granada is a good player, but her ADT win bloated her position on the money list. She played well last year, but no one including Sirak put this golfer as one of the top 10 players on tour.
If Granada is top #10, and Webb, Ochoa and Sorenstam are automatics, how do you filter down to six players from the list of Kerr, Creamer, Se Ri Pak, Wie, Jeong Jang, Hee Won Han, Seon Hwa Lee, Morgan Pressel, Natalie Gulbis, Mi Hyun “Peanut” Kim, Juli Inkster, and Ai Miyazato. Sirak was more infatuated with Pressel and Miyazato for the whole of 2006 in regards to who the best rookie was. Lee, who never got much respect, beat all of them out, Granada included, for Rookie of the year. Han and Jang have been #10 money winners or three straight years. The diminutive Peanut won twice last year, beating Gulbis head to head in a playoff and facing down Ochoa and Webb in her other victory. She also has at 7 career wins, more titles than everyone above listed except Pak, Inkster, Sorenstam, Kerr, Ochoa, and Webb. Then there is Wie is top 10 according to the world rankings.
Apparently either Sirak can’t count, has forgotten what he preached for 2006 about the tour’s youth movement, or has a racist side in him for leaving out Jang, Han, Lee and the injured 2004 Vare Trophy winner Grace Park who if healthy is probably a top #5 golfer. I don’t think Sirak is racist,(He is more likely just plain dumb. Sirak once didn’t include Kim Saiki among LPGA winners born in the US. See Kim comes from that foreign country called California.) but I think there is a resentment of the growing Korean influence on the LPGA. There are 45 players from the ROK on tour this year, plus Korean companies sponsor at least three tournaments and South Korea is biggest foreign purchaser of LPGA merchandise. These women can play, the 11 wins by them last year says it all.
The golf media needs to get over it, whether it is resentment or racism. Korea’s influence on the LPGA is here to stay. In addition to the ROK players, there is the coming Korean-American influence led by Wie, K2 and others. Christina Kim, born in California, has two LPGA wins already.
If you’re wondering who my #10 are, here it is but not necessarily in order- Sorenstam, Webb, Ochoa, Pak, Kerr, Wie, Creamer, Gr. Park, Inkster and Han. That is if all players are healthy.
6- Miyazato’s rookie year was only a disappointment to her Japanese fans and the Golf media who over hyped Ai. Her play was actually quite good, despite several Sunday collapses. Miyazato will get her first tour win soon.
7- Pak has injury problems, but there is no question her confidence is back after the LPGA win. Se Ri will be back in the top five money winners this year, and I’m sticking to my New Year’s prediction of her winning the Kraft Nabisco so to complete the Grand Slam.
Se Ri, who will be inducted into the golf Hall of Fame late in 2007, gets the same lack of respect as the rest of her Korean country women. Her fall on the money list from top 3 to barely in the top 100 was barely mentioned in any golf writer’s comebacks of 2006. Webb was almost the universal #1 pick for comeback but will all due respect to Karrie, she never fell out of the top 40 money winners. Don’t get me started on someone’s choice of Nick Faldo either…
Also Se Ri’s winning utility club shot to three inches was every bit as good as Karrie’s hole out with a wedge at the Nabisco. Any golfer or honest golf writer will tell you what was the tougher club to get close to the hole.
8- Gulbis is a good player but overrated because of her calendar girl looks. She couldn’t beat Peanut in a playoff last year despite the boisterous crowds pulling for her. That tells us more about Natalie’s ability than all the media driven hype.
That said, I think Natalie will finally win an LPGA tour event in 2007 but she is not one of the top #10 players on tour. Never will be.
9- See my Miyazato comment. Morgan was also another over hyped rookie but she is a force on tour.
10- Learning from his 2006 failure to consider the Futures tour, Sirak picks Song-Hee Kim for Rookie of the Year. I’ll agree Song-Hee is the favorite but not a cinch for the title.
11- Michelle’s recent wrist injury and poor play tell me she won’t get that first win in 2007. I still believe Michelle will be a superstar. That is if she doesn’t aggravate her wrist injuries into something far worse.
The LPGA took the birthdays out of all the player profiles online and their media guidebook. Maybe the over 40 players didn’t want their birth years listed as earlier than 1968. What woman wants to admit being over 39? Cue the sarcastic laughter.
I think that wraps things up. Oh LPGA fans like wine by the way. Then why haven’t I had a drink in over four years?
Cross Posted to The Florida Masochist and Poliblog’s Deportes
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