Jacoby Ellsbury burst onto the scene as a 24 year-old September call-up back in 2007. Coco Crisp was marred in the midst of another disappointing season and Manny Ramirez wasn't quite being Manny that year, so Boston figured it could use a little help in the outfield as it battled the hard-charging Yankees for the AL East crown. Ellsbury had just seven games of major league experience under his belt, but once he received consistent playing time he made the team for good and hasn't looked back since.
Jacoby started off his career with a bang by torching American League pitchers at a .361/.390/.536 clip across 26 September games. He notched ten multi-hit games, showed some pop with ten extra base hits and suffered only three hitless games the whole month. Ellsbury's contributions as AL Rookie of the Month certainly helped Boston capture its first AL East flag since Derek Jeter's rookie season, but the fleet outfielder found himself riding the pine for most of the ALDS and LCS. Faced with a 3-2 series deficit, a struggling Crisp and intense scrutiny from the Fenway Faithful, Terry Francona finally inserted Ellsbury into the starting lineup for the pivotal Game Six. He batted eighth, slapped an RBI single to left and scored on a Julio Lugo (of all people) double in the third inning of a series-tying 11-2 pasting of the stunned Indians. Satisfied with the rookie's poise under postseason pressure, Francona kept him in the lineup, a move that, in retrospect, makes him look smarter than Will Hunting.
Boston polished off the Indians and, with Ellsbury batting leadoff for Game Three and Game Four in Denver, swept the Rockies to win their second World Series championship in four years. Tacoby Bellsbury won millions of Red Sox Nation inhabitants free tacos with a stolen base in Game Two, stroked three doubles and a single in Game Three (becoming the first rookie to drill a pair of doubles in the same inning of a World Series game) and got the scoring started in Game Four by poking a double down the leftfield line to lead off the game before scoring on a David Ortiz single through the hole. The postseason hero, who had been an afterthought two weeks earlier, wrapped up his first Fall Classic with an unreal .438/.500/.638 line. A star had been born, a surefire bet for Rookie of the Year heading into 2008 and I remember thinking at the time Man, it's going to be a blast watching this kid play for the next ten or fifteen years.
And while Ellsbury was good in 2008 and 2009, you got that BJ Upton feeling that he wasn't really playing up to his unlimited potential. Here was a guy with all the tools, an electric player who could take your breath away, yet by advanced statistical measures he was average at best in every facet of the game except for baserunning (at which he is probably the best in Red Sox history). Sure, he stole a ton of bases and made some flashy catches in center field, but where was the power? He finished both seasons with single digit home run totals, and it wasn't like he was finding gaps with lots of doubles either. Reporters gushed about how he would cream the ball in batting practice and urged us to be patient, that the power would come if we just gave him time.
Unfortunately, Boston is not a patient town in any sense of the word, and the city soon soured on him. His once bright star faded rapidly. He went oh-for-the-friggin-ALCS against the Rays in '08 as the Sox lost in seven, and then failed to do much against the Angels when LA swept us in '09. In the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately? sports climate, Ellsbury came up short, even though he was earning less than half a million dollars each year and was the definition of an incredible bargain.
In 2010 he changed his uniform number and moved to left field for the aging Mike Cameron, but Ellsbury suffered through a lost season when he collided with Adrian Beltre in April and fractured four ribs. His injury was misdiagnosed, he came back a few times before promptly returning to Boston's crowded Disabled List (joining teammates Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, and Josh Beckett, among others). He tried to play through the pain, but team doctors wanted to play it safe and shut him down in mid-August just as the Sox were slipping out of the wild card race.
And then a funny thing happened; Boston turned on him. It was like this injury was the straw that broke the camel's back, and his name suddenly became as good as mud. Fans and writers questioned his toughness, called him "soft," said he didn't want to play and was getting revenge on the organization for making him switch positions for someone ten years older than him. None of these criticisms were true or fair (this guy had four fractured ribs! it wasn't like he was faking the injury like Manny used to), yet Ellsbury's stock tumbled last year. Talk radio crucified him and Bostonians no longer remembered him stealing home against the Yankees; he was now perceived as a pouting star who couldn't bite the bullet for the good of the team.
But now the 27 year-old MVP candidate is having the last laugh, and all is forgiven after his resurrection. He's the total package enjoying a career year right now, and his season has been nothing short of extraordinary thus far. The first time All-Star has finally put it all together in his fifth season and is hitting .317/.373/.513 and is on pace for career highs with 122 runs, 211 hits, 45 doubles, 27 home runs, 97 RBI, 46 stolen bases (on the low side for him, considering he swiped 70 in '09) and, most importantly, 161 games played. That's Hanley Ramirez production right there, and according to baseball-reference WAR calculations, he's the third most valuable position player in the AL this season. On Tuesday he enjoyed his first career walk-off hit with an RBI single against the Indians, and wasted no time in getting his second by lashing a line drive home run to center field last night. By providing back to back thrilling conclusions, he's single-handedly preserved Boston's hold on first place by doing his best Big Papi impression.
Unfortunately his contract is up at the end of the season, and Boston might have to let him walk after last winter's spending spree. Looking back, Theo shouldn't have bothered with Crawford and should have saved some of that dough to resign Ellsbury, but in fairness Jacoby's value was at rock bottom after playing only 18 games last season. He'll be looking for a big payday and lenty of teams will be looking to add an offensive catalyst like him to the top of their lineups, so Boston will have to pay full market value if they want to retain his services. Inking him to a long term deal should be the team's top priority this offseason, but he might follow the money and make like Johnny Damon and Jason Bay before him. He'd be foolish to leave Fenway's friendly confines, where his OPS is 87 points higher than it is everywhere else, but departing free agents seem to lack appreciation for the park's beneficial impact for hitters and Ellsbury would not be the first (nor the last) to think he could replicate his success elsewhere.
It will be a shame if he's playing somewhere else in 2012, but the greater tragedy may be that far too many Red Sox fans didn't appreciate his greatness until it was too late.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
25 Bold(ish) Predictions for the Rest of the Season
Two-thirds of the 2011 baseball season is in the books, and in the spirit of Talented Mr. Roto aka Matthew Berry, I have compiled my own list of bold(ish) predictions for the season's final two months. These are not ranked in any particular order. Some of them seem guaranteed, whereas others are nearly impossible, but I'll check back in October and see where I was right and wrong.
One disclaimer; I am assuming, of course, that all players mentioned remain healthy for the remainder of the season. If Joey Bats takes a heater in the ear and is knocked into a coma because David Price wanted to bust him inside, then prediction #6 is off
1.The Red Sox and Phillies will both win at least 100 games
2. The Diamondbacks will overtake the pitching-rich Giants and win the NL West
3. Cleveland and Pittsburgh will both finish below .500 despite their trade deadline efforts and hot starts
4. Washington, Cincinatti, Colorado and the White Sox will finish above .500 despite disappointing first halves
5. Mike Stanton will finish with at least 40 big flies in just his second big league season
6. Jose Bautista will surpass 50 (again) assuming he actually gets a decent pitch to hit every now and then
7. Excluding Carlos Beltran, the Giants will not have any players with more than fifteen home runs but will still make the playoffs thanks to Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Ryan Vogelsong and Brian Wilson
8. Multiple teams will lose 90+ games, but none will match Houston's exceptional futility or 100 defeats
9. Ryan Howard's typically impressive power numbers will help mask his continued regression
10. Jim Thome will hit his 600th career blast before the end of August
11. Jacoby Ellsbury will reach 30 bombs and 100 RBI out of the leadoff spot for Boston
12. Curtis Granderson will threaten to score 150 runs (it's always nice hitting in front of Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano on a daily basis)
13. Albert Pujols and Carlos Gonzalez will pull their averages up over .300
14. Todd Helton and Melky Cabrera will watch theirs slip below .300
15. Matt Kemp will become the fifth player ever to go 40/40 (The others? Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds, A-Rod, and Alfonso Soriano) but few will notice because the Dodgers are playing worse than the Clippers this year
16. Clayton Kershaw (sorry Roy Halladay) will win the NL Cy Young without the national recognition he deserves. See Kemp, Matt
17. CC Sabathia will win 24 games exactly
18. None of the Pirates' starting pitchers finish with 15 wins or a sub three ERA
19. John Lackey will record as many or more wins from this point forward than Josh Beckett despite finishing with an ERA over five
20. The Red Sox will have three players (Adrian Gonzalez, Dustin Pedroia, amd Jacoby Ellsbury) eclipse 200 hits
21. Kyle Farnsworth will finish with more saves than stud closers Neftali Feliz and Joakim Soria
22. Alex Rodriguez will not be suspended for his poker antics, but will hit .300 with 30 doubles, 25 longballs and a .500 slugging percentage
23. Iron Man Prince Fielder will miss a game at some point
24. Brett Gardner beats Derek Jeter in every significant offensive category (runs, hits, doubles, obp, etc.)
25. There will be another no-hitter before season's end
One disclaimer; I am assuming, of course, that all players mentioned remain healthy for the remainder of the season. If Joey Bats takes a heater in the ear and is knocked into a coma because David Price wanted to bust him inside, then prediction #6 is off
1.The Red Sox and Phillies will both win at least 100 games
2. The Diamondbacks will overtake the pitching-rich Giants and win the NL West
3. Cleveland and Pittsburgh will both finish below .500 despite their trade deadline efforts and hot starts
4. Washington, Cincinatti, Colorado and the White Sox will finish above .500 despite disappointing first halves
5. Mike Stanton will finish with at least 40 big flies in just his second big league season
6. Jose Bautista will surpass 50 (again) assuming he actually gets a decent pitch to hit every now and then
7. Excluding Carlos Beltran, the Giants will not have any players with more than fifteen home runs but will still make the playoffs thanks to Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Ryan Vogelsong and Brian Wilson
8. Multiple teams will lose 90+ games, but none will match Houston's exceptional futility or 100 defeats
9. Ryan Howard's typically impressive power numbers will help mask his continued regression
10. Jim Thome will hit his 600th career blast before the end of August
11. Jacoby Ellsbury will reach 30 bombs and 100 RBI out of the leadoff spot for Boston
12. Curtis Granderson will threaten to score 150 runs (it's always nice hitting in front of Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano on a daily basis)
13. Albert Pujols and Carlos Gonzalez will pull their averages up over .300
14. Todd Helton and Melky Cabrera will watch theirs slip below .300
15. Matt Kemp will become the fifth player ever to go 40/40 (The others? Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds, A-Rod, and Alfonso Soriano) but few will notice because the Dodgers are playing worse than the Clippers this year
16. Clayton Kershaw (sorry Roy Halladay) will win the NL Cy Young without the national recognition he deserves. See Kemp, Matt
17. CC Sabathia will win 24 games exactly
18. None of the Pirates' starting pitchers finish with 15 wins or a sub three ERA
19. John Lackey will record as many or more wins from this point forward than Josh Beckett despite finishing with an ERA over five
20. The Red Sox will have three players (Adrian Gonzalez, Dustin Pedroia, amd Jacoby Ellsbury) eclipse 200 hits
21. Kyle Farnsworth will finish with more saves than stud closers Neftali Feliz and Joakim Soria
22. Alex Rodriguez will not be suspended for his poker antics, but will hit .300 with 30 doubles, 25 longballs and a .500 slugging percentage
23. Iron Man Prince Fielder will miss a game at some point
24. Brett Gardner beats Derek Jeter in every significant offensive category (runs, hits, doubles, obp, etc.)
25. There will be another no-hitter before season's end
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
To Bedard or Not to Bedard?
The Red Sox did not get All-Stars Hunter Pence, Michael Bourn or Carlos Beltran to fill in for rightfielder J.D. Drew (15 Day DL with left shoulder impingement). Theo didn't trade for Colorado ace Ubaldo Jimenez to replace ailing starting pitcher Clay Buchholz (60 Day DL with stress fracture in lower back, likely done for the season). Boston didn't acquire Rafael Furcal to stabilize its perpetual revolving door at shortstop, nor did it obtain the services of Colby Rasmus (future star) or Derrek Lee (former star).
But unlike the Yankees (how in the world did they not get a starting pitcher? Crippling mistake, Mr. Cashman), the Sox did make some moves at the deadline. They brought in Mike Aviles, a 30 year-old middle infielder who quietly eclipsed a .300 batting average for the Royals in 2008 and 2010, and shipped out backup Yamaico Navarro and minor league reliever Kendal Volz. This move is minor and unlikely to affect the team's success, but I like it because it adds some infield depth and insurance for the aging Marco Scutaro. Volz wasn't doing anything special down on the farm and Navarro didn't help with his glove or bat, so Aviles looks like a small upgrade for the stretch run and should see some action when Scoots needs a breather.
What I really want to talk about is the coming of Erik "DL" Bedard, the onetime Cy Young award candidate who has plenty of talent but lacks durability. After finishing fifth in the voting as an Oriole back in 2007, Baltimore sold high to the Mariners for five players, including current star Adam Jones. The crafty southpaw (who missed September of '07 with a strained oblique-just a harbinger of wounds to come) started only fifteen games in 2008, then fifteen more in 2009 for the Ms. He may have possessed the best curve in baseball (according to Kevin Millar), but the guy couldn't even make it into August in either campaign. Bedard missed all of 2010 rehabbing the torn labium in his pitching shoulder from the previous season, then promptly lost his first four starts in 2011 as he shook off the rust. Ebay suddenly regained ace form and pitched like his old self over the next two months, compiling a sterling 1.77 ERA and impressive 68/15 K/BB rate across a span of eleven starts. After completing his obligatory DL stint (knee injury) in July, he failed to get out of the second inning against the Rays in his return, a game played under the watchful eyes of Epstein's scouting minions.
Disregarding the shaky outing, Boston went ahead and took a chance on a Bedard rental, dumping four minor leaguers in a three team trade with the hapless Mariners and Dodgers. The Red Sox were reportedly looking at fellow free-agent-to-be Rich Harden as well, but his shaky health history scared off the team doctors (who had more faith in the brittle Bedard).
Two injury prone starters with undeniable talent; did Theo make the right move for his summer rental? Let's compare their stats, but note that Harden has only started five games wheras Bedard started sixteen, so Harden's sample size is much smaller. To compensate, I relied on rate statistics instead of counting stats.
Bedard 3.45 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 108 ERA+, 8.6 K/9, 2.9 K/BB
Harden 4.30 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 94 ERA+, 9.2 K/9, 3 K/BB
Pretty close, but a slight edge goes to Bedard based on ERA and ERA+ (adjusted for ballpark). FanGraphs indicates Bedard's numbers accurately reflect his performance thus far, while also indicating Harden may have been a tad unlucky. Harden is two and a half years younger and tends to pitch better in the second half, but on the other hand he was atrocious in his two career starts at Fenway. Bedard seems to wear down in the second half (that is, when he actually pitches) and hasn't thrown well at Fenway (historically a graveyard for lefties like him) either, so they seem to be a wash based on their stats and circumstances. Based on this season alone, I like Bedard a little bit more though and think Theo made the correct decision. Harden's been pretty brutal the past three years and has always played for teams in the offensively weaker NL Central and AL West. Bedard is AL Beast battle-tested from his years with Baltimore, so he know's a thing or two about the powerful division's deep lineups.
His first start for the Sox is Thursday against the scuffling Tribe, who shouldn't pose too much of a threat. Luckily, for him, it's almost impossible for him to do much worse than he did his last time out, but he might nieed another start or two as he looks to find his rhythm.
But unlike the Yankees (how in the world did they not get a starting pitcher? Crippling mistake, Mr. Cashman), the Sox did make some moves at the deadline. They brought in Mike Aviles, a 30 year-old middle infielder who quietly eclipsed a .300 batting average for the Royals in 2008 and 2010, and shipped out backup Yamaico Navarro and minor league reliever Kendal Volz. This move is minor and unlikely to affect the team's success, but I like it because it adds some infield depth and insurance for the aging Marco Scutaro. Volz wasn't doing anything special down on the farm and Navarro didn't help with his glove or bat, so Aviles looks like a small upgrade for the stretch run and should see some action when Scoots needs a breather.
What I really want to talk about is the coming of Erik "DL" Bedard, the onetime Cy Young award candidate who has plenty of talent but lacks durability. After finishing fifth in the voting as an Oriole back in 2007, Baltimore sold high to the Mariners for five players, including current star Adam Jones. The crafty southpaw (who missed September of '07 with a strained oblique-just a harbinger of wounds to come) started only fifteen games in 2008, then fifteen more in 2009 for the Ms. He may have possessed the best curve in baseball (according to Kevin Millar), but the guy couldn't even make it into August in either campaign. Bedard missed all of 2010 rehabbing the torn labium in his pitching shoulder from the previous season, then promptly lost his first four starts in 2011 as he shook off the rust. Ebay suddenly regained ace form and pitched like his old self over the next two months, compiling a sterling 1.77 ERA and impressive 68/15 K/BB rate across a span of eleven starts. After completing his obligatory DL stint (knee injury) in July, he failed to get out of the second inning against the Rays in his return, a game played under the watchful eyes of Epstein's scouting minions.
Disregarding the shaky outing, Boston went ahead and took a chance on a Bedard rental, dumping four minor leaguers in a three team trade with the hapless Mariners and Dodgers. The Red Sox were reportedly looking at fellow free-agent-to-be Rich Harden as well, but his shaky health history scared off the team doctors (who had more faith in the brittle Bedard).
Two injury prone starters with undeniable talent; did Theo make the right move for his summer rental? Let's compare their stats, but note that Harden has only started five games wheras Bedard started sixteen, so Harden's sample size is much smaller. To compensate, I relied on rate statistics instead of counting stats.
Bedard 3.45 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 108 ERA+, 8.6 K/9, 2.9 K/BB
Harden 4.30 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 94 ERA+, 9.2 K/9, 3 K/BB
Pretty close, but a slight edge goes to Bedard based on ERA and ERA+ (adjusted for ballpark). FanGraphs indicates Bedard's numbers accurately reflect his performance thus far, while also indicating Harden may have been a tad unlucky. Harden is two and a half years younger and tends to pitch better in the second half, but on the other hand he was atrocious in his two career starts at Fenway. Bedard seems to wear down in the second half (that is, when he actually pitches) and hasn't thrown well at Fenway (historically a graveyard for lefties like him) either, so they seem to be a wash based on their stats and circumstances. Based on this season alone, I like Bedard a little bit more though and think Theo made the correct decision. Harden's been pretty brutal the past three years and has always played for teams in the offensively weaker NL Central and AL West. Bedard is AL Beast battle-tested from his years with Baltimore, so he know's a thing or two about the powerful division's deep lineups.
His first start for the Sox is Thursday against the scuffling Tribe, who shouldn't pose too much of a threat. Luckily, for him, it's almost impossible for him to do much worse than he did his last time out, but he might nieed another start or two as he looks to find his rhythm.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Phillies Get Pence, Sox Need Ubaldo
The tug-of-war match between the Red Sox and Phillies for baseball supremacy in 2011 spilled over into the trade deadline yesterday when Philadelphia, clinging to the best record in the majors, swapped four players, including a pair of highly touted prospects, for two-time All-Star Hunter Pence. Although this move could potentially cost them down the road if Cosart and Singleton (said prospects) pan out, the Phils received a nice offensive boost for the immediate future. Pence, squarely in his prime at 28 years of age, is coming off a fine season in which he set career highs by scoring 93 runs, stroking 25 home runs, totaling 91 ribbies and swiping 18 bases for one of the league's worst offenses in the Houston Astros. Although he's not running as much this year and his power as fallen off some (he's on pace for fewer than 20 home runs after three straight seasons of hitting 25 on the nose), he totes 26 doubles and a nice .308 batting average into the City of Brotherly Love, where he is a career .300 hitter and will join fellow All-Stars Chase Utley, Shane Victorino, Raul Ibanez, Placido Polanco, and former NL MVPs Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins in the Phillies' formidable lineup.
The Phillies may have missed out on Carlos Beltran, but Pence is an excellent consolation prize, He is, after all, six years younger and will be under team control through 2013 whereas Beltran becomes a free agent at the end of the season. They gave up a lot to get him, but trading potential for a proven commodity generally seems to work out in baseball and could put the Phillies over the top in their chase for a second World Series title in four years. We all know the Phillies have ample pitching, but their starting nine has been quite ordinary thus far. Despite trotting those aforementioned studs out there everyday, Philly doesn't rank in the top three for any major offensive category in the NL. Every regular besides right field platoon mates Domonic Brown and Ben Francisco is at least 30 years old, and this team desperately needed someone (especially a right-handed batter such as Pence to balance the lineup and step into Jayson Werth's cleats) to breathe some fresh air into it. Pence provides some youth and energy whereas Beltran just would have been another aging star.
But while the Phillies may have vaulted themselves to the top of the baseball world, the Red Sox (who also whiffed on Beltran but can't complain about Josh Reddick) can fire back by snagging Ubaldo Jimenez. Although he has struggled for a full calendar year now, he still boasts a strong 8.6 K/9 rate (nearly identical to last season, when he finished third in the NL Cy Young race) and his FIP, xFIP, and strand rate indicate he has been a bit unlucky so far. We don't know how he'll fare at Fenway because he's never pitched there before, but adding the 27 year-old hurler to a rotation that includes fellow aces Jon Lester and Josh Beckett, flanked by Clay Buchholz (still on the DL for the foreseeable future) and John Lackey (winner of four in a row), would make Boston's staff incredibly deep and nearly as good as the incomparable Roy Halladay-Cliff Lee-Cole Hamels-Roy Oswalt quadruplet. But with a better offense and more stable bullpen, the Red Sox would become the more complete team and World Series favorites once again.
Even if the Bosox can't get their mits on Ubaldo for the stretch run, trading for Erik Bedard (owner of a solid 3.45 ERA and 1.17 WHIP for the lowly Mariners) could help fill the hole Buchholz's back injury has created, although the 32 year-old former Cy Young candidate is notoriously injury prone and just spent a month on the shelf. Jimenez, the top prize still on the trading block, is drawing interest from other teams including the Indians, but if Boston can win this battle you can practically punch their tickets to the Fall Classic.
The Phillies may have missed out on Carlos Beltran, but Pence is an excellent consolation prize, He is, after all, six years younger and will be under team control through 2013 whereas Beltran becomes a free agent at the end of the season. They gave up a lot to get him, but trading potential for a proven commodity generally seems to work out in baseball and could put the Phillies over the top in their chase for a second World Series title in four years. We all know the Phillies have ample pitching, but their starting nine has been quite ordinary thus far. Despite trotting those aforementioned studs out there everyday, Philly doesn't rank in the top three for any major offensive category in the NL. Every regular besides right field platoon mates Domonic Brown and Ben Francisco is at least 30 years old, and this team desperately needed someone (especially a right-handed batter such as Pence to balance the lineup and step into Jayson Werth's cleats) to breathe some fresh air into it. Pence provides some youth and energy whereas Beltran just would have been another aging star.
But while the Phillies may have vaulted themselves to the top of the baseball world, the Red Sox (who also whiffed on Beltran but can't complain about Josh Reddick) can fire back by snagging Ubaldo Jimenez. Although he has struggled for a full calendar year now, he still boasts a strong 8.6 K/9 rate (nearly identical to last season, when he finished third in the NL Cy Young race) and his FIP, xFIP, and strand rate indicate he has been a bit unlucky so far. We don't know how he'll fare at Fenway because he's never pitched there before, but adding the 27 year-old hurler to a rotation that includes fellow aces Jon Lester and Josh Beckett, flanked by Clay Buchholz (still on the DL for the foreseeable future) and John Lackey (winner of four in a row), would make Boston's staff incredibly deep and nearly as good as the incomparable Roy Halladay-Cliff Lee-Cole Hamels-Roy Oswalt quadruplet. But with a better offense and more stable bullpen, the Red Sox would become the more complete team and World Series favorites once again.
Even if the Bosox can't get their mits on Ubaldo for the stretch run, trading for Erik Bedard (owner of a solid 3.45 ERA and 1.17 WHIP for the lowly Mariners) could help fill the hole Buchholz's back injury has created, although the 32 year-old former Cy Young candidate is notoriously injury prone and just spent a month on the shelf. Jimenez, the top prize still on the trading block, is drawing interest from other teams including the Indians, but if Boston can win this battle you can practically punch their tickets to the Fall Classic.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Missing Mad Men
Summer is always a down time for TV when our favorite shows go on vacation, and this year has been no exception. There hasn't been much on the tube lately, especially since "Friday Night Lights" had its series finale (I didn't watch, but understand it had quite the following), but at least we have "Entourage" (also in its final season) and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" back on HBO to help ease the pain. What we're missing, though, is AMC's "Mad Men," which has been a mainstay during the past four summers. I thought something was fishy when I didn't see any commercials or advertisements for the season premiere throughout June and early July, so I did some research a few weeks ago and came across some depressing information.
Unfortunately the show won't return until March 2012 because creator Matthew Weiner put his foot down when the network wanted to tinker with the critically acclaimed series. Apparently during recent contract negotiations, AMC and Lionsgate Television asked Weiner to incorporate more product placement, eliminate two of the supporting characters and trim two minutes out of each episode to allow for additional commcercial time, but he refused because he felt these changes would alter the dynamic of the show. Weiner ultimately signed a huge three year, $30 million contract that rivals something a professional athlete would scribble his John Hancock on. But kudos to him for not selling out and putting the show's quality in jeopardy; that takes a lot of guts and I'm sure weaker men would have followed the money and given in.
I'm glad the show has a stable future, but am still disappointed about its absence this summer. I miss everything about it; the cool title sequence, Slattery's quick one-liners, and enough cigarette smoke drifting through the office to suffocate the entire floor. "Mad Men," thanks to its outstanding writing, superb acting, strong production values and slick style for a period piece, is widely accepted as one of the best shows on television, now or ever. Since it's a summer show, you can take the time to sit down, watch it, and appreciate its greatness without trying to squeeze it into a busy schedule. Leaving us hanging in October, 1965, the series was finally starting to have a sixties feel to it (referring to the music, fashion, and vibrant color scheme here) and is about to cover the most turbulent events of the decade; Vietnam War escalations, race riots, anti-war protests, social turmoil and the Summer of Love. How would the writers integrate these pivotal themes into the plot? How would the characters respond to their nation abruptly changing around them? Looks like we'll have to wait another half-year to find out, but on the bright side, Weiner guaranteed two more seasons and possibly a third, which would definitely be the final season in the series and would presumably end with Don Draper and co. on the cusp of the 1970s.
And that will be a great time to stop, because there would be something profoundly weird about our favorite clean-cut advertising executives sporting shaggy hair and tight, polyester clothes. Don's kids would be teenagers, Betty would have to get a job and some major character would have to die from alcohol poisoning or lung cancer (see what I mean? the show would be way too different if it goes beyond Woodstock). In the meantime, though, I guess we'll have to settle for ABC's "Pan Am," a show about the airline company during its heyday in the 1960s. It looks like it will combine elements from "Mad Men" and "Catch Me if You Can" (you know, the parts when Leo DiCaprio poses as a Pan Am pilot when he's supposed to be a sophomore in high school) and it debuts on September 25th.
I'll give it a shot because it looks halfway decent, but I'll still wait for "Mad Men" to return because in this case, I know the wait will be worth it.
P.S. Happy 36th birthday Alex Rodriguez, who could return from the DL within two weeks
Unfortunately the show won't return until March 2012 because creator Matthew Weiner put his foot down when the network wanted to tinker with the critically acclaimed series. Apparently during recent contract negotiations, AMC and Lionsgate Television asked Weiner to incorporate more product placement, eliminate two of the supporting characters and trim two minutes out of each episode to allow for additional commcercial time, but he refused because he felt these changes would alter the dynamic of the show. Weiner ultimately signed a huge three year, $30 million contract that rivals something a professional athlete would scribble his John Hancock on. But kudos to him for not selling out and putting the show's quality in jeopardy; that takes a lot of guts and I'm sure weaker men would have followed the money and given in.
I'm glad the show has a stable future, but am still disappointed about its absence this summer. I miss everything about it; the cool title sequence, Slattery's quick one-liners, and enough cigarette smoke drifting through the office to suffocate the entire floor. "Mad Men," thanks to its outstanding writing, superb acting, strong production values and slick style for a period piece, is widely accepted as one of the best shows on television, now or ever. Since it's a summer show, you can take the time to sit down, watch it, and appreciate its greatness without trying to squeeze it into a busy schedule. Leaving us hanging in October, 1965, the series was finally starting to have a sixties feel to it (referring to the music, fashion, and vibrant color scheme here) and is about to cover the most turbulent events of the decade; Vietnam War escalations, race riots, anti-war protests, social turmoil and the Summer of Love. How would the writers integrate these pivotal themes into the plot? How would the characters respond to their nation abruptly changing around them? Looks like we'll have to wait another half-year to find out, but on the bright side, Weiner guaranteed two more seasons and possibly a third, which would definitely be the final season in the series and would presumably end with Don Draper and co. on the cusp of the 1970s.
And that will be a great time to stop, because there would be something profoundly weird about our favorite clean-cut advertising executives sporting shaggy hair and tight, polyester clothes. Don's kids would be teenagers, Betty would have to get a job and some major character would have to die from alcohol poisoning or lung cancer (see what I mean? the show would be way too different if it goes beyond Woodstock). In the meantime, though, I guess we'll have to settle for ABC's "Pan Am," a show about the airline company during its heyday in the 1960s. It looks like it will combine elements from "Mad Men" and "Catch Me if You Can" (you know, the parts when Leo DiCaprio poses as a Pan Am pilot when he's supposed to be a sophomore in high school) and it debuts on September 25th.
I'll give it a shot because it looks halfway decent, but I'll still wait for "Mad Men" to return because in this case, I know the wait will be worth it.
P.S. Happy 36th birthday Alex Rodriguez, who could return from the DL within two weeks
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