July 27, 2005
Rogers Finally Suspended
Good for Bud Selig. He did not reduce Kenny Rogers' suspension. Even better, the arbitrator who is going to hear the grievance of the union (over whether Bud should make the decision) won't issue a stay. Rogers suspension starts tonight.
This really hurts the Rangers:
That team will now have 24 active players instead of the customary 25.
"We've got some options. None of them are going to be as good as Kenny," Showalter said. "But that's the cards that we're dealt, and it looks like we'll be playing with 24 players for a while. It puts a lot of emphasis on nobody getting kicked out of a game, that's for sure."
The team is falling, the pitching staff is in disarray, and now because of the idiocy of their ace, they're down a man for almost three weeks. Good job sinking your team's chances, Kenny.
question for David ... I notice Johnny Estrada's 3 game suspension got dropped to 2 games without him going through the appeals process. Just curious about what you think that means. Should the ump who was involved, Doug Eddings, consider it as a rebuke of sorts?
Rogers is a selfish idiot. He deserved at least a month, to be honest.
I'm glad to see that Rogers' suspension was not reduced. I agree that he deserved a longer suspension, especially when you see some of the others that have been given - 5 games to Brad Penny for throwing a helmet (not at anyone) and 10 games (reduced to 8) for Brendan Donnelly for pine tar on his glove.
The thing that really gets me about the whole Kenny Rogers fiasco is just how unrepentant and, well, retarded Kenny is being about the whole thing. This is not a guy who has historically been prone to insane violence against the media or against fans. Now, however, the lefty will most likely never be able to live this down. And he's making it worse on himself!
Funny thought: the Rangers' record may well IMPROVE with Rogers out. Of course, that won't be difficult: the team is 4-10 since the All-Star break.
And the team's chances are hardly sunk. They're 4 1/2 out in the wild card despite their recent stretch of stinking. If they reverse that record over their next fourteen games, the team will look good enough for the final run.
It comes down to the bats. The Rangers usually have to outbash their opposition, as they did last night with Baltimore. If the bats are hot, Rogers' absence will have little if any effect.
As for all the hyperventilating over a couple million-dollar shoves, I've already had my say. But I never thought I'd see the day when David Pinto wrote: "Good for Bud Selig." :-)
Casey, I didn't think I'd see that either. You know it's pretty bad when the union makes Bud look good.
