Morning.
From the "Talks too much" studios, postseason baseball > regular baseball, and it's not really close.
Value of an ace
Dallas Keuchel delivered six near-perfect innings as Houston bounced New York 3-0 in the AL Wildcard game.
Keuchel likely will win the AL Cy Young and his presence in Tuesday's win-or-pack-the-equipment game in NYC gave us pause about the most important positions in sports.
We all agree the NFL QB is No. 1. Right? Right.
We'll put NHL goalie as No. 2. Think how many Stanley Cups have been won by the team with the hottest keeper come the postseason.
We think three is the NBA alpha dog. You have to have one to win it all, but you can cast-of-characters it too. Ask the Pistons or to a lesser-extent the Spurs.
Then No. 4 is now likely the MLB ace. You have to have one to make a postseason run. And not all aces are created the same. There are Tom Glavine-types like Keuchel.
Amid Hall of Fame induction weekend festivities, Tom Glavine smiles while answering a question during the electees' news conference in Cooperstown, N.Y., in this July 26, 2014, file photo.Then there are the overpowering guys like Kershaw and Co.
But you have to have one - and it really helps to have more than one - to make a postseason run.
And that should make tonight's NL Wildcard game even more fun, since the Cubs and the Pirates are going to to send Jake Arrieta and Gerrit Cole, respectively. Here's a great breakdown of those two, each of whom is a full blown ace.
Stats that matter:
Arrieta is 22-6 with a 1.77 ERA, a 0.87 WHIP and 236 Ks in 229 innings. The Pirates position players are 29-for-171 (.170) against Arrieta with one homer, six RBIs and six walks while fanning 45 times. The only Pirates player to hit better than .235 against Arrieta is Andrew McCutchen, who is 8-of-23 (.348).
Cole is 19-8 with a 2.60 ERA, a 1.09 WHIP and 202 Ks in 208 innings. The Cubs position players are 34-for-132 (.258) with one homer, 12 RBIs and 10 walks while fanning 44 times. Anthony Rizzo, Starlin Castro and Kris Bryant each has had success against Cole and hit better than .333 against him.
Should be a good one.
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In depth analysis
Jessica Mendoza made history as the first woman TV baseball analyst on a postseason game.
The former Olympic softball gold medalist by all accounts did a fine job. Other than the change of tone, we did not really notice that a woman was doing the game.
And that should be the second-best compliment an analyst can get. Very few analysts out there fall into the Chris Collingsworth category of adding actual value to the viewing experience. Most simply add an observation or two and come and go without a lot of notice, and that's OK. Call it the offensive lineman version of a TV analyst.
There are five levels of TV analyst.
Jon Gruden (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)There are the Hall of Famers: Guys like Dandy Don and Madden, who actually would cause you to watch to see what they had to say.
There are the stars: Current guys like Collingsworth and more often than not Jon Gruden that deliver. Sneaky on that list because of his knowledge is Orel Hershiser
There are the middle of the road folks - the O-linemen category we mentioned above - that has a lot of folks in it.
There are the homer analysts: And that's fine for college football radio broadcasts but on TV - even like the regional Braves games - it makes it tough to watch.
And there are the stinkers: The guys and gals who actually force you to find other viewing options. Joe Morgan and Joe Theissman are the all-timers here.
Hey, after doing some sports talk radio, talking sports in the moment is harder than it looks, so we have a greater appreciation for it now than we once did.
That does not apply to Atlanta sports radio host Mike Bell, who stepped in a pile on Twitter when he called Mendoza "Tits McGhee" last night.
His Tweet: "Yes, tell us Tits McGhee when you're up there hitting the softball you see a lot of 95 mile an hour cutters?"
Of course there was a social media tsunami of outrage, which is the by-product of our politically-correct culture. That said, if he had called Aaron Boone "Aaron Ba-Boone" or made fun of John Kruk's weight, it would have floated into the Twittersphere with the rest of the stupid jokes out there.
And that's where this should reside: In the land of bad jokes and 1990s movie references since Ms. McGhee was a Ron Burgandy rant.
The real mistake here should be Bell's hypocrisy. He has spent a long time talking sports in the A-T-L with a nice blend of comedy and slapstick.
But if athletic skills are needed to be any type of sports media personality - we're pretty sure Bell has never seen a 95-mph cutter either, and in truth we're not sure how many people on the planet actual have - then Mendoza is far from the only one who needs to polish up her resume.
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Difference in being great and average
The Miami Dolphins are a dumpster fire.
They fired their coach. They have players revolting. They are forced to start over. Again.
Former Miami Dolphins tight ends coach Dan Campbell gestures as he speaks during a news conference after being promoted to interim head coach, Monday, Oct. 5, 2015 in Davie, Fla. Joe Philbin has been fired four games into his fourth season as coach of the Dolphins, and one day after a flop on an international stage that helped to seal his fate. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee) There were reports that former coach Joe Philbin had to tell practice squad players to go easy on starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill to help the young QBs confidence. Tannehill also reportedly got into trash-talking squabbles with the back-ups, even saying thinks like, "Enjoy your practice squad paycheck and enjoy your practice squad trophy."
Now juxtapose that to the report that came from New England about Tom Brady.
Brady would offer practice squad players cash out of his pocket for intercepting him in practice. He thought it promoted teamwork and helped to make him better.
Add to that the stat we threw out earlier this week about the three teams in the AFC East not-named the Patriots have had 21 coaches - and soon to be 22 when Philbin's full-time replacement is named - in the time Bill Belichick has been in Foxboro. It makes it very easy to figure out why the Patriots have dominated that division for a generation.
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This and that
- Well played Miami, well played indeed. In an effort to redirect the social media hate from rival FSU fans, the Miami Twitter feed offers options.
- This is a group of little kid football players getting distracted and doing the whip and the nae-nae in the middle of a scrimmage. And it's pretty awesome.
Vantrel McMillan- UTC defensive end Vantrel McMillian was re-instated to the football team. He had been suspended for a run-in with the law while drunk and with a gun on his person. Here's a column from last month saying McMillian is a pretty lucky individual, all things considered.
- UTC is No. 6 in the country, the highest ranking in school history. Kudos and some pats on the back from TFP ace columnist Mark Wiedmer here.
- UT passing game is in shambles as TFP UT ace Downtown Patrick Brown writes. Awesome stat in his story: "Of the 37 passes the Vols threw, only 11 were thrown 10 or more yards beyond the line of scrimmage, and only three were completed."
- The daily fantasy sites better button down their BID-ness practices because this is the first of many official inquiries. We seldom believe more governmental involvement is the answer, but those sites need to be examined thoroughly.
- This is dumb. Dude taking a swing in an NBA preseason game. Really?
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Today's question
Have you sent in your mailbag entry? If not why not?
That said, today is Simon Cowell's 56th birthday. Dude has made nine figures because of the success of American Idol and then X-Factor.
In his honor, who is on the Rushmore of reality TV?
Go.