Shank Memory

Now that Cam Newton crapped the bed in Super Bowl 50, then ducked out of the press conference after, Hanley Ramirez is suddenly become a good guy.

Confused? If so, you're not alone, since The CHB has apparently lost his last marble trying to connect the wayward Boston outfielder to the NFL MVP. (Think it's because they are both black? Nah!!!)

Regarding Ramirez, The CHB today says "The Red Sox have had bigger busts."

Have they? On a WAR basis, Hanley was worth -1.3 wins, which was about half-a-game worse than Pablo Sandoval. So for 2015 at least, he was.

Just looking at recent history, Edgar Renteria, he of the million or so E-6s in 2005, was actually 1.4 games above replacement, and was easily jettisoned in the off-season. Julio Lugo put up an aggregate half-win over the course of 266 games in 3 seasons, all for the cost of $36 million. Matt Young completely shit the bed in 1991 but eked out a positive WAR.

In 2011, Mike Cameron was -1.0 in just 38 games. He sustained a major head injury in 2005 and it's unclear whether the effects still lingered six years later. On a per game basis, he was actually worse than Hanley. For the price, however, it's hard to say any player has been worse, at least in Year 1.

This strikes me as more about Shank being contrarian than him really thinking -- let alone believing -- what he writes to be true. Nothing new there.

The CHB only writes a couple of more lines to prove my thesis: "Folks around here pile on LeBron James and Peyton Manning. Neither ever embarrassed himself in a big game like Newton."

Hahaha. Really? What about the AFC Championship in 2004, when Manning threw 4 INTs in a 24-14 loss to the Patriots? Heck, just a week ago he passed for all of 141 yards, no TDs, 1 pick and a rating of 56.6 in Super Bowl 50. That's the 46th worst performance among the 50 winning Super Bowl QBs. Pathetic.

Manning actually posted perhaps the all-time worst QB game score in history in a division matchup against the Chiefs this year: 20 attempts, 5 completions, 3 INTs. Studly.

Let's not even mention the two suits he has lost (to date) -- and sorry, but when the accused party pays out hundreds of thousands of dollars, that's a loss -- for harassing and possibly assaulting a female trainer at UT. Oops!

The CHB's Peyton love is starting to remind me of his similar feting of Barry Bonds. Let's keep in mind how that one turned out, shall we?

Finally, it's clear no one remembers how LeBron did against the Mavericks in his first NBA Finals. No one, except me, I suppose. After averaging 26.7 ppg in the regular season, which was second in the league, and leading the NBA in field goals, he dropped to 17.8 in the finals that year, good for third on the team. Moreover, he scored all of 8 (not a typo) points in the crucial Game 4, an 86-83 Mavs win to tie the series 2-2. The Mavs swept the final two games for the NBA crown.

Nice memories there, Shank. Maybe it's time to ask Cameron for his neurologist's phone number.