One of the deals was I could actually write just about anything I wanted to when I signed on to write about fishing on the blog site.
Constructive reporting is one thing, whether its politics, traffic or sports. But when a reporter writes nothing but the same negative drivel, day after day, the guy or gal needs a new job or good ol’ fashion attitude adjustment.
I like reading the Detroit News sports section in the morning, they have some quality writers and they seem to carry the scores of later games than that of the Free Press. Besides Mitch Albom is with the Freep, and thats a good enough reason to avoid that paper.
So I am reading the paper this morning, and this guy named Henning is at it again. Like I said constructive criticism is one thing, but this guy likes (really enjoys) beating dead horses, and making issues out of non-issues.
I think he has a thing for Sean Casey, the Tiger’s first baseman. It seems like from day one, the attacks on the infielders power numbers began in earnest. Only during the playoffs when Casey was knocking the snot out of the ball did the writer back off a little bit and acknowledge the player’s contributions to the team’s overall success.
Why not look at the big picture, and analyze the needs of this particular team. Hitting is the one problem this year’s team does not have, ok, thats if you forget about the horrid start in April/May that the whole team had. Why did the Detroit team trade for Casey? They needed a left handed bat that did not strike out. Ok, that they got in Casey. He gets on base, moves runners around the bases and drives people in.
Is first base a traditional power position, yep, cannot argue with that. Is a power first baseman needed on this team, no. Looking up and down the lineup, there are three guys who most likely will not hit 20 home runs, Casey, Polanco and Pudge. Pudge could, but dont be too optimistic about the other two. So the lineup has plenty of power.
So what do the Tigers get from Casey. Stability in the club house. This is a guy that anyone would like, on a personal level, guess thats why they call him “the mayor”. Ok so they get a .300 hitter with a really good on base percentage, but what do they really get that Henning is totally overlooking?
A gold glove performance at first base. The guy not only hits, but he makes the other infielders and pitchers on this team look really good. Kind of amazes me that there hasn’t been more talk about Casey’s excellence in the field. On this year’s team, they don’t need another 30 home run guy to be successful. Lets face it, they are one middle reliever, and a steady performance from Todd Jones away from being up four or five games over their closest rival in the Central Division. Jones looked pretty good the last two times out.
I guess some writers just don’t have anything good to say, so they sensationalize the negative to get their pay checks.