Chat Session – Eric Wedgie

Many news in the world of sports this week. The NBA playoffs begin with great fanfare. The NHL playoffs continue without anyone noticing. The NFL draft is only a week away.

But nothing caught my eye like what happened at Yankee Stadium last Thursday.

Cleveland manager Eric Wedge is officially living on borrowed time. He already led a smorgasbord of underperforming players to the playoffs no contest in 2006 despite a chock-full roster of young talent at Wahoo Warrior. Now this. He wanted to get his former closer, Joe Borowski, to work a 6-2 game, because Borowski hadn’t worked in four days. Okay. And I’m even fine leaving the kid in after he allowed a two-out solo home run to Josh Phelps, a single to Jorge Posada and a walkport to Johnny Damon. Hell, give him the benefit of the doubt and let him take on Derek Jeter (gulp).

But after Jeter singled at Posada to make it 6-4, maybe it was time to start thinking about a different pitcher. And after Bobby Abreu singled off Damon to make it 6-5, it was really time to start thinking about a different pitcher. And after Borowski threw a wild pitch that allowed Jeter and Abreu to advance to second and third, their blind, deaf, and heavy-hitting grandmother would have known to switch pitchers. Unbelievably, Wedge left Borowski in. To face Alex Rodríguez. Who hit nine home runs in his first 13 games. With open first base.

This is the kind of logic that leads Sanjaya to stay alive too long on American Idol. (Speaking of which, how perfect is it for Sanjaya to have dinner next time with President George W. Bush? Talk about two unfairly rewarded symbols of mediocrity.)

You know what happened next. A-Rod made yards while Wedge fiddled. The Indians lost 2.5 games of the first in the AL Central. And the Yankees got to dance all over the Tribe. If these two teams meet in the playoffs, don’t think this albatross won’t weigh heavily on Cleveland’s neck. Could Wedge have given Rodriguez a passport to face Jason Giambi with a force at stake at each base? Yep. Could I (even better) have done something radical like, oh, I don’t know, switch launchers? Yep.

But it did not. He stood up and watched, then justified himself to reporters. Time to go, Eric.

The Yankees already had what I considered a suspicious starting rotation as of 2007, and now they can’t keep more than one or two healthy starters. Do you think they’ll end up in trouble this year, or is it just early season stuff that will go away?

BoDog Bookmakers, BoDog.com: This is not looking good for the Yankees; Other than Andy Pettitte and Chien-Ming Wang, the Yankees don’t have pitchers in the prime of their careers. Mike Mussina has been a rock his entire career, but his age and 477 starts have caught up with him. Carl Pavano has pitched just 111 innings since 2005. The Yankees pitching staff is in trouble, but they still have enough offense to keep them going in any game.

The NBA playoffs are beginning to take shape and the West promises to be incredible. So what will it be? Dallas? San Antonio? Phoenix? Someone else?

BDB, BoDog.com: Dallas, San Antonio and Phoenix are way ahead of the rest of the NBA. Dallas finished with the best record and has the likely MVP leading the way. In San Antonio, Gregg Popovich appears to have the Spurs peaking at the right time. However, the consequences of Tim Duncan’s expulsion and Joey Crawford’s subsequent suspension could have umpires nervous calling Spurs games. Phoenix has more to prove; They need to prove once and for all that their fast-paced offense translates well into the playoffs. For the Suns, anything other than a final appearance will be a huge disappointment. The only other team in the West that has a chance is Houston. McGrady and Yao are two of the most dominant players in the game when healthy. They have a chance if both players warm up at the same time.

I asked him about Kevin Durant last week and he got poetic. Now it looks like Greg Oden will also be declaring for the NBA Draft. Do you think he’s a franchise player, like Durant? Which boy would you pick first in the general classification?

BDB, BoDog.com: This discussion will continue in bars, locker rooms, internet forums, and anywhere else where people love basketball. Greg Oden will be a franchise player in the same mold as David Robinson; will come and go to work. Large dominant centers are rare, so when you get a chance to pick one in the draft, you don’t think twice unless someone like Kevin Durant is on the board. I would still choose KD over Oden; They will both win games and trade their franchise, but from a business perspective, Durant will fill more seats and sell more merchandise.

One week after the NHL playoffs, what are your biggest stories?

BDB, BoDog.com: So far it has been Sidney Crosby’s swift exit at the hands of the Ottawa Senators, who are putting up a consistent goal and could quickly become favorites to come out of the East. I’m also surprised by Atlanta’s apparent lack of effort; It is quite surprising to see that a team of this level is not ready to play. Bob Hartley clearly didn’t have his team ready to play, and he made some very puzzling decisions about goal. The abstract logic of replacing Kari Lehtonen after it was clearly not her fault the Thrashers lost Game 1, and then returning to him after Johan Hedberg was brilliant in Game 2, is nothing short of mind-blowing.

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