Thursday Five-Spot

• Novak Djokovic the new king of tennis

He's done it!

Federer what?  Nadal who?  There’s a newly-crowned champion of tennis, and it’s the fresh-faced former imitation artist who hails from Serbia and is 5 days younger than the writer of this blog.  The way Novak Djokovic pushed around the 2-time defending champion of tennis’ crown jewel tournament, the former #1 player in the world, was incredible.  His movement was extremely impressive, he seemed to make fewer errors than Nadal (which is no small feat), took charge at net when he had to, and gave Rafael Nadal next to nothing on his service games for 3 of the 4 sets.

The one thing I noticed as I was following Djokovic’s ascent up the points this year was how much different he looked physically.  He always seemed to break down toward the end of matches as recently as last year; no longer.  And not only that, he seems to have a newfound mental strength that he’s never had before, digging deep to find the positive belief that separates the good tennis players from the immortals. 

Against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semifinals, Djokovic cruised to the first 2 sets and broke early in the 3^rd, poised for a straight-sets win.  But Novak’s serve was broken midway through the set, and he lost an extremely hard-fought tiebreaker 11-9.  How did he respond? By breaking Tsonga’s first service game in the next set (the same Tsonga who lost just 1 service game, his 1^st, in his comeback-from-2-sets-down quarterfinal triumph over 6-time champion Roger Federer), and taking care of business the rest of the way.

Against Nadal, he won the 1^st 2 sets convincingly – and then appeared to mail in the 3^rd set (he lost 6-1).  His response: immediately breaking Nadal in the 4^th set, just like against Tsonga.  And just like the previous, he took care of business, serving out his 1^st Wimbledon championship and the 3^rd major of his young career.

At age 24, Djokovic’s dream has finally be realized: he is the #1 tennis player in the world; and unlike the fraudulent rankings on the women’s side in which players without a single major to her name can be #1 (*ahem* Wozniacki *ahem*), it actually means something in men’s tennis.  Mad props to you sir, but don’t rest on your laurels: Nadal, Federer and company will be waiting for you all summer long right into the final Grand Slam of the summer, the U.S. Open at Flushing Meadows.

• Fausto Carmona injury running the bases

Fail.

Heading into his start in Houston on June 15, 2008, Yankees ace right-hander Chien-Ming Wang was one of the best pitchers in baseball.  He was 7-2 with a 4.30 ERA, and his 45 wins to that point since the start of the 2006 season were the most in baseball.  That night he went out and fired 5 shutout innings against the Astros and picked up his eventual 8^th win.

But that night would end Wang’s career as we knew it.

After reaching on a fielder’s choice in the top of the 6^th, Wang went to 2^nd on an error, and scored on a single by SS Derek Jeter.  But as he was coming in from 3^rd, he hobbled across the plate and had to be helped off the field.  He was later diagnosed with a torn tendon and sprained right ankle, and needed a walking boot for six weeks.

Tragically for Wang, that ended his 2008 season, and he was never the same pitcher again.  He posted a 1-6 record and 9.64 ERA in 12 starts in 2009, and wasn’t retained after that season by New York.  He’s currently toiling in the low minors of the Washington Nationals system, and has thrown just 14 innings so far in 2011.

Fast-forward to this past Saturday night.  In the 3^rd inning of their game in Cincinnati, Cleveland pitcher Fausto Carmona squares and lays down a less-than-quality bunt, causing the catcher to throw to 2^nd to attempt to force the lead runner.  But thanks to a questionable umpiring call, all runners are safe.  However, unbeknownst to Reds SS Paul Janish, who had begun arguing to no avail with the umpire, Carmona had toppled over the 1^st base bag and fallen belly-first to the ground and was briefly writhing in pain.  Had Janish thrown back to first, Carmona may have been out.

After the game, Carmona landed on the disabled list with an injured quad (check out the video in that link; as insensitive as it may be since a player gets hurt, the video is still quite comical, with the commentator stating “Humpty Dumpty just had a great fall”). 

Immediately following the Wang injury, Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner crushed the National League for making their pitchers bat and run the bases, claiming “they have enough to do without having to do that.”  Another starting pitcher, Mike Mussina, also complained that AL pitchers only have maybe four or five at-bats per year, so injuries like Wang’s are not exactly surprising.

Honestly, I’m a little perplexed this isn’t a bigger story.  Granted, Cleveland isn’t exactly New York, and Carmona’s injury is likely far less serious and career-threatening than Wang’s proved to be.  But shouldn’t there be a bigger stink over whether pitchers should bat at all?  It seems like this could serve as a referendum on interleague play as a whole, which is particularly impactful now, as Major League Baseball approaches the end of its current Collective Bargaining Agreement (there’s that ugly “CBA” acronym again, that most fans are probably sick of seeing at this point thanks to the NFL’s and NBA’s simultaneous lockouts).  Baseball is already talking about realignment, with Houston expected to switch to the American League.  This would even out the two leagues at 15 teams apiece, and create one perpetual interleague matchup throughout the entire season (cut to baseball purists screaming their discontent and horror over this proposition).  So what happens then?  Are the rules kept the same, with American League teams potentially risking the health of their pitchers in late-season interleague series with the postseason on the line?  Or are the rules changed, removing the Designated Hitter completely or making it league-wide?

There will likely be a great deal of pushback to either potential rule change, given the DH’s staying power since 1973.  The players union in particular will probably never agree to the abolition of the position, given the extension of players’ careers in the role after their in-the-field playing days are over (Vladimir Guerrero and Jim Thome come to mind), and when entire careers can be made playing this position (think Edgar Martinez and David “Big Papi” Ortiz).  But if realignment takes place and interleague is played every night, how can this issue not be addressed?  It should be a fascinating discussion following the conclusion of the 2011 campaign.

• Ron Gardenhire orders an intentional walk in the 4^th inning

If baseball had a segment like Monday Night Football's "Come on, man!", this decision would make the list.

This past Sunday afternoon, in a tie game at 1-1 in the 4^th inning, Twins pitcher Nick Blackburn was facing a runner-on-3^rd, 1-out situation.  All-Star 1B Prince Fielder was coming to the plate, with backup 1B Mat Gamel waiting on deck.  Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire made the decision to intentionally walk the slugger to set up the double play.  The move backfired badly, as the next four Brewers reached base en route to a 5-run inning that put Milwaukee ahead 6-1.

Look, I understand the logic behind the move: great hitter, open base at 1^st, sets up the double play, yada yada yada.  My counter: it’s the 4^th inning!  You really don’t trust your starting pitcher to get this guy out?  I know Blackburn is very hittable (.291 career batting average against), but Prince is 2-for-13 against him for his career!  Even if you give up a home run, or a sacrifice fly, so what?  The bases are clear, you’re only down one or two runs, Blackburn starts fresh from the wind up, and maybe the inning is different.  And moreover, you still have SIX more innings worth of at-bats!  Heck, maybe you even retire Fielder without the run scoring.  But instead, you put an extra baserunner on, distracting Blackburn, enabling the Brewers to be more aggressive, giving Gamel an extra RBI opportunity, and decreasing your chances at limited the damage the Milwaukee offense can create.

In the 8^th inning, I would it; in the 4^th inning, no.

So in the immortal words of ESPN’s Tony Cornheiser: Ron Gardenhire, go to your room.

• Mauer to play 1^st on Thursday

Now this just looks weird.

Yep, this is really happening.  And I must say I’m stunned.  I really didn’t expect the Minnesota Twins organization to be swayed so thoroughly by the media and blogosphere.  Yet here we are: catcher Joe Mauer, the $184-million man, is expected to take the field not at his usual catching position, but at first base, a position which he has not played since the minor leagues in 2003.

This all seems very odd because, well, the Twins have told us for the last FIVE YEARS that they had no plans to move him from behind the plate.  Mauer was their catcher, they said.  And that makes sense; why pay a player $23 million per year if he didn’t play a premium position, wasn’t one of the best hitters in the entire league, and wasn’t expected to be over the duration of the contract? 

Yet here we are.  He didn’t play the position while rehabbing his injuries this year or in years past, and has only taken ground balls there over the past 2 weeks or so.  Now we’re going to throw him right into the fire, against a division rival in Chicago no less?!

It all seems a little crazy to me.  But it really does seem the franchise is resigned to the fact that the only way Mauer will be able to stay healthy is if he plays catcher only part-time, at most, and that perhaps a position switch is in his long-term future.  And besides, Mauer’s injury history is well-documented.

And that all makes sense too.  Except when you realize this guy is going to be making $23 million-per-year for 8 years.  The team signed him to the monster contract anyway, despite the fact that he’d missed no fewer than 22 games in all but one season, and had had FOUR major injuries and/or surgeries prior to the pact’s signing.  And that 1B Justin Morneau, despite his current injury plight, is under contract for THREE MORE YEARS.  How’s that contract looking now?

Listen, I’m as ardent a Twins fan as there is.  I absolutely hope Mauer can succeed as the 1^st baseman; he’s gotta be better than Luke Hughes, and as much as I trust Michael Cuddyer, his arm is suited for right field.  Maybe with this arrangement, Thome can get every day at-bats as the DH and everything will be just fine and dandy.

But the contract is simply too large to ignore.  The front office absolutely had to get this signing done, there’s no question about it.  But if they were so uncertain of his ability to stay healthy at catcher, why agree to the deal if it only makes sense when he plays every day at catcher?  Why only admit this now, halfway into season ONE of the eight-year deal?  What happens when Morneau comes back?

Huge contracts such as this one rarely turn out well; this one appears to be no exception, even if Mauer proves to be healthier at a different position.

• The lockout mess

Get 'er done, fellas.

And so it finally seems, after more than 100 days, that the NFL lockout is nearing its long-overdue end.  Even with all the lawyer haggling and the news that a deal is not imminent, it does seem like the owners and player representatives do have souls after all and will complete a deal ahead of next Friday’s (July 15) essentially drop-dead date before cancellations were to take place.  This will set off a free agency frenzy, as both veterans and undrafted free agents will finally learn where they will be playing in the 2011 season, and just in time, too (the first training camps begin July 22, with the Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio between St. Louis and Chicago scheduled for August 7.

Unfortunately, the NBA’s future is much murkier. Unlike in the NFL, where the owners already had a good deal and locked out the players in an attempt to rip them off and get a great deal, the NBA’s current model is failing.  Several teams are losing money, that’s undisputed.  What is unclear is just how many teams are losing money, and to what degree.  This column by Larry Coon (the guru of the NBA salary cap and creator of the NBA Salary Cap FAQ website) detailed the mess that has taken hold of the Association.   There are three main problems confronting the opposing sides of this argument: 1) the amount of money that is going to be split amongst the owners and players, including the definition of Basketball Related Income (or BRI) 2) the revenue sharing component in which richer markets (i.e. New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami) must share their income with smaller markets (Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Portland, Sacramento, Minnesota) in an effort to create competitive balance, and 3) the system that will be put in place, which likely will result in a switch from the “soft” salary cap that exists today to a hard cap without the number of exceptions that existed in the previous CBA. 

The NFL’s situation was ugly, but it never really was in great danger of missing games.  Both sides understand what’s at stake; and the ramifications of missed games, both financially and publicly from media and fans, were too great to allow.

The NBA is in completely different waters, and the fight is going to be nasty.  A precedent exists here: the NHL locked out its players during the entire 2004-05 season in an effort to instill a never-before-seen hard salary cap, and nearly lost its footing as a major North American sport as a result.  It has come back much stronger since then, but still is working out its TV deals (Versus is not available on many cable packages), and where its teams will play its games (Atlanta recently moved to Winnipeg).

I absolutely believe the entire 2011-12 season NBA season could be lost as well, given that the owners are willing to hamstring the players into getting what they want (a complete restructuring of BRI, a hard salary cap of a dramatically-reduced sum as low as $45-million, etc.).  I haven’t heard decertification of the National Basketball Players Association talked of much (Derek Fisher stated it would only happen “when your hand is forced” and if there does not exist “another option”).  But if the NFLPA is capable of decertifying and taking the league to court, so too is the NBPA.  Nothing good would come of legal battles, as we’ve seen in the NFL. 

These lockout debacles remind me a lot of divorce court.  One parent sues another, financial terms are bantered about back and forth, and custody battles often take place.  All the while, the children are left to wallow in the wind, unsure of the future, wondering if the parents care at all.  The opposing sides of these fights are the parents, and we fans are the children.  Don’t you care?  Don’t you love us at all?