Long Live Frank Fixaris!

Ok... so I don't expect a weekend show in Portland Maine to be manned by Dan Patrick, but would you take a job in sports talk radio if you had a below average understanding of sports in general ? I don't know who the two guys on Saturday (9/12) were , but in less than 15 minutes I heard :

1. Carl Yastrzemski was NEVER the best player in the AL, because even in 1967 when he won the Triple Crown, he only hit .302.

Really? Try .326. If a guy wins the Triple Crown and a gold glove in the same year, I'd say he's the best player in the league.

2. The Washington Redskins are traveling to NY to play the NY Giants in the Meadowlands....oh wait... to play the Giants in their NEW STADIUM.

Uhhhh..... still playing at Giants Stadium. The new place is under construction and will be ready NEXT YEAR.

3. Finally, they presented the argument to a Steeler fan that the Pats had a huge advantage over the Steelers this year because Brady is back, and the Steelers did such a poor job of protecting Rothlesberger last season and in the opener, there was no way he would survive to play in the postseason.

Well, he survived last season, and in the last 2 meaningful games that Brady played he was mauled by the Giants (SB42) and knocked out for the season by the Chiefs. I'm not a fan of the Pats or the Steelers, but I'd say that Ben is just as likely to be standing in January as Brady.

I don't listen to Shoe & Joe because they know less than casual sports fans. Whoever was on Saturday AM makes Shoe & Joe look like The Schwab.

Didn't stop Joe Palmieri.


Basically a couple of bloggers. (No offense, Matty.)

Matty did a good job of owning up to the stadium mistake at the top of the show today, and you had some solid guests.

But you're still wrong about Ben.

Basically a couple of bloggers. (No offense, Matty.)[/quote]


That's kind of what I figured. A couple guys that think if they just catch a break, they'll be the next Jim Rome. Interesting that one of them owned up to one of the glaring misstatements from the 15 minutes I listened the week before. I think JAB would be better off just running with SNR, rather than having Sports Radio Karaoke.

That's kind of what I figured. A couple guys that think if they just catch a break, they'll be the next Jim Rome. Interesting that one of them owned up to one of the glaring misstatements from the 15 minutes I listened the week before. I think JAB would be better off just running with SNR, rather than having Sports Radio Karaoke.[/quote]

Am I ok to change the name of the show to that?

"Hi Coach Edwards and welcome to Sports Radio Karaoke on the Big Jab."

It's a little catchier than "Weekend Warmup," that's for sure. And it might make for a nice new alias for your partner.

In their defense, they are amatuers. Everyone starts out that way, it's all about aptitude. Perhaps they could do a little more to prepare, however.

The Yaz comment is silly. As are the people who knock his HoF credentials. IMO, he's one of the top 25 positional players of all time. Probably for a 10 year stretch he was one of the best players in the AL. I guess it's all in how you rate 'best'. How about, from 1963 to 1970 he was amoung the, or was the, top OPS guys and was winning gold gloves. IMO, that means you are pretty good.

he Roethlesburger comment is silly too. If you consider the offenses of both teams, and the tendancies of the two players being compared, I think the opposite of what they were saying is true.

You're right, everyone has to start somewhere. I guess that I heard a few comments in a short period of time which were factually incorrect, and wondered why one would show up to do a talk show and present something as a 'fact' ...ie winning the Triple Crown with an average of 301 or that a team was playing in a new stadium which is still a year away. Opinions are certainly up for debate, but facts are facts. If I was doing a talk show on radio, I'd speak my mind and encourage debate and discussion, but I'd only interject facts of which I was certain. Maybe this could be part of the learning curve as they work their way to national syndication.

In regards to Yastrzemski, in my opinion he was the best all-around player that the Red Sox have had since I started watching in 1969. Evans had a better OF arm, and there have been outfielders that could cover more ground, but Yaz positioned himself very well, used the wall as a weapon to deke baserunners, always threw to the right base etc . I remember Sports Illustrated calling him the best all-around player in the game prior to the 1971 season. There have been many more talented players, but none got more out of their ability. His numbers as a hitter speak for themselves.

I'd be more critical if these guys were getting paid to do this. Paid as in a livable wage. I think, at the moment, it's just a hobby, and if that's not good enough for you (it's certainly not for me) I would just tune in to WEEI. I do like the local angle, but I don't follow local sports enough to care.

You can't expect guys like Palmieri to spend time checking facts when he has hotdogs to sell, and you can't expect Jeff to check facts when he has people to yell at, and I'm sure Matty has a job as well. Other than shoe who probably doesn't work otherwise, and Chris who maybe does this full time (though I can't imagine the pay is worth spending more time researching than what is absolutely required), the other guys must have other stuff to do.

I simply don't listen. I prefer hosts that are professional hosts and who don't hide behind the context of a 'call in' or 'caller driven' show. But that's just me. To each their own.

since we are on the subject of "sports knowledge on wjab" i want to mention something that has been driving me nuts for like two weeks. chris keeps saying, over and over, that if the yankees choose the eight day scenario "verlander gets to pitch twice on normal rest." in the other scenario, he actually most likely pitches on extra rest forcing the #2 pitcher who would be pitching on normal rest on that day to get bumped, unless werlander pitches on short rest in game 3. the key difference is that both of them get to pitch twice and pitch on normal rest not that verlander gets to pitch on normal rest. while assume chris knows that, the way he keeps saying it doesn't really get to that point at all.

Yeah, that's kind of silly. He's also ignoring the fact that CC will be pitching the same schedule, i.e. two starts on normal rest. And more importantly, he's ignoring the fact that CC is a better pitcher this year - lower WHIP and ERA - and much more so in the last two months (2.04 ERA vs. 3.93 for Verlander).

I suppose Chris could simply be making the foregone conclusion that Sabathia will pitch poorly in the bullpen. Then again, Verlander's playoff record (5.82 ERA, 1.66 WHIP) isn't exactly stellar.

I think the key to the long series vis-a-vis Verlander is that he pitches two of the first four games in that scenario. That's really the only difference. No matter what, if the series goes the distance, they HAVE to face Verlander twice. The advantage to the short series (and I personally don't think it's enough to choose it) is to conceivably win the series without having to face Verlander twice, unless they bring him back on short rest.

Which reminds me of the folly I listened to this morning on ESPN. Greenberg was rambling on and on about how the Yankees decision might be influenced by whether the Tigers clinch before Sunday. Because if they don't clinch sooner, the Tigers would be forced to pitch Verlander on Sunday. And Greenie said that if Verlander had to pitch, then the Yankees could choose the short series and only have to deal with Verlander once. Of course, that was completely wrong since, other than the first game, both series' schedules are exactly the same. Meaning Verlander can and probably would pitch on regular rest in Game 2 AND Game 5 no matter which schedule was chosen. And I'd argue that might prove better for the Tigers IF they can sneak a win out of Edwin Jackson or Rick Porcello in Games 1, 3, or 4 since Verlander would not be matched up with CC at all.

Sometimes even the "professional" guys can't get things right.

i am assuming that because of joba's inconsistency the yankees will definitely go with the 8 game scenario. the remainiing question is whether pettitte goes in game 2 or burnett. pettitte has been better on the road and burnett better at home but if it goes 5 who do you want in the 5th game pettitte or burnett? i'd have to say pettitte because burnett is too inconsistent to choose to put a one game takes all game in his hands.

as for the tigers setting up their rotation, i think where it really gets favorable to the yankees is if by chance there is a tie and a one game play-off. because of the "brett farve bowl" on monday night the game would apparently actually be played on tuesday which could cause the winning team to start the post-season without a day-off before it. sure, they'd get the day off after the first game, but i would definitely think that would favor the yankees in game one.

Seriously? They'd schedule that game around the NFL? That's lame.

Normally, the MLB would take precedence. At least, that's what I was led to understand about the agreement between the Twins and Vikings in sharing the building. But it's ESPN that forced the issue because MNF is such a production, they didn't want to get stuck having to truck everything somewhere else if they flipped the Vikings game to Sunday. Apparently it's 8 tractor trailer trucks worth of equipment they need to unload and set up for the broadcast. They start on Sunday night, if not earlier if they can. So even the option of playing the baseball game at, like 10AM, and pushing the football game to 8PM wasn't viable for them.

F-in' ESPN.

Oh, right. I didn't connect the dots to the "same venue" part of the story.

Fortunately, it will be the final time sharing a venue will be an issue for the Twins or the Vikings. The Gophers already have opened their new stadium, so they no longer use the Dome either, and they were known to cause a conflict with the Twins once in a while too.

it has already been announced that the mnf won't be moved and any play-off would be played on tuesday. so, not only no day-off but the winner would have to fly to new york after the game. advantage new york.

You'd think it would be enough that they have better players, now they get this, too?

Very likely to be moot, though.

the twins are still trying to make it happen. they've got to face greinke tomorrow. he's pitching in a game that matters, even if not for his team.

Nice job by Matty and Jeff getting Jayson Stark to come on their show yesterday. It was a pretty good interview and it even got a mention on MLBTradeRumors.com.