That's Nasty

The BBTN segment "That's Nasty" applied to many different pitchers on Friday around Major League baseball…but I would like to focus on two, one apiece from the teams I picked to appear in the Fall Classic - the Yanks' Joba Chamberlain and the Cubs' Jeff Samardzija.

The Yanks were heavily criticized for their decision to throw Chamberlain in the rotation mid-season. I think it is working. Joba still did not get any run support, but it didn't matter. Throughout his seven inning, nine strikeout performance in a 1-0 win at Fenway Park that moved the Yanks to 7-0 since the break, he made Boston hitters look bad. He has not given up more than three runs in any of his 10 starts, has 63 Ks in 54.2 innings, and has lowered his season ERA to 2.30. If not for a lack of run support, his record as a starter would be much better than 2-1. Sorry Evan, he may not have deserved the attention before, but he certainly does now.

Using extremely quick judgement after the most encouraging blown save in the history of Wrigley Field, Samardzija may be heading to a similar impact on a playoff race that Joba had last year. Yes, the former Notre Dame receiver blew the lead and tossed one of the worst pitch outs I have ever seen, but he was, like Joba, nasty. As Buster Olney pointed out on BBTN, the fact that Lou Pinella put him in the situation he did on the day he was called up points to one of two things, either Pinella has lost his mind or this kid is for real. My guess is both are true. If Samardzija has the impact I think he might and claims the position in front of Kerry Wood in the Cubs' pen, the Joba comparisons will continue, the Cubs will hold off the charging Brew Crew, and my World Series prediction is looking very good. Next year, we will look for another overanalyzed move from the pen to the rotation.

I was going to write about my observations on USA Basketball's first exhibition game and stateside sendoff tonight, but after watching the boys in red, white, and blue dismiss our Northside neighbors 120-65 (including 90-41 after the first quarter) in Vegas, I decided to stick with the phrase "What happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas. To be honest, the blowout did not generate many thoughts. I am a huge fan of the Olympics, specifically USA Basketball, so rest assured you get updates, analysis, predictions and more as we approach Beijing.

A couple of quick notes:
- Jerry Colangelo did a good job putting this team together and sorry to you UK fans, but I think in picking a coach as well.
- Even without 'Bron, USA is really good, balanced, and deep. Canada is quite the opposite.
- The USA uniforms are pretty hideous, they should also Stay in Vegas.
- I think ESPN found their play-by-play guy at the Mirage after an afternoon of slots and Martinis. The guy actually said, "Kobe Bryant is too cool for school." Possibly a late reference to his decision in 1996 to skip college, but pretty bad nonetheless.