Catching Up With Sir Sidney Ponson

Could this actually be the end of the line for Aruba’s favorite son? The pitching-starved Rangers tired of Sid’s shenanigans and sent him packing Friday night.

Texas general manager Jon Daniels was vague about the reasons for the decision, saying Ponson had been dumped “for disrespecting teammates and club personnel.”

“I’m not going to get into details other than to say that we’re clearly trying to put together a team here in the true sense of the word … and based on recent comments and other such things, it was pretty clear that he didn’t want to be part of that,” Daniels said. “That’s not something we’re going to tolerate. We want guys who want to be here, guys who are going to pull for their teammates and be proud of the organization.”

Ponson had actually been one of the bright spots in the Rangers rotation this year, ending his run there with a 3.88 era and 1.56 whip. The Rangers staff leads the league with a 5.05 team era this year, effectively offsetting the 5.55 runs a game Josh Hamilton, Ian Kinsler, Milton Bradley and Co. are putting on the board.

Sid has spent most of his career teetering back and forth between ineffectiveness and douchiness, at times a perfect balance of the two. Take a moment to think about some of the dbags you know at your place of employment. Now imagine that one of those particular dbags is one of the company’s top performers in a department that is understaffed and lacking talent. Now imagine that in spite of the company’s need for this employee they decided to cut him loose, simply because he was douche embodied. Can man even comprehend that level of douchitude?

Sid the Kid’s numbers have been good enough that there may be a chance he catches on with someone yet this year. Hell, he caught on with the Rangers this year after his diarrhea inducing stint with the Twins.

Rock Me, Sexy Sidney

There was much ado last year about the Twins implementing the unconventional “3-Headed Suck Monster” theory into their starting rotation starring Sir Sidney, Ramon Ortiz and Carlos Silva. It did not go as terribly as many assumed it would, especially for Mr. Silva ($48 million/4 years courtesy of the M’s). However, it still seemed like a safe bet that Ponson and Ortiz were destined to hit the long dusty trail to the Far East. Not so fast. Sid looked like a fat Gavin Floyd tonight, tossing his first complete game since April 24, 2005 while holding the Twins to 1 run on 9 hits with 5 strikeouts. He also produced this headline that could fuck with even the surliest of baseball fan. Alexi Casilla, now starting at 2b because Gardy is pissed off at Brendan Harris’ D, dropped a toss from Adam Everett in the 6th that should have started a double play but instead opened the door for 7 Rangers runs. That finished the Twins off for the night. Wherever he may be, I’m sure Luis Rivas is just loving this.

(And yeah, Archuleta got robbed tonight. This is why democracy doesn’t work.)

The Day That Was

Well folks, it looks like David Archuleta is going to be your 2008 American Idol World Champion. Both contestants did a marvelous job this evening looking like they could burst into tears at the drop of a hat while they performed, but in the end the other David just seemed a bit overmatched on all of his numbers. Simon has already called it “a knockout” for Archuleta but i guess we will have to wait and see if the fans agree. This doesn’t feel right. Oops, wrong blog. Oh well.

In other news tonight the Twins ran the Rangers out of the Dome by the 4th inning. Perkins was solid, Gardy looks like he may be following up on his threat to put Harris’ ass on the pine for his shitty defense and the Twins showed they are the only team in the league that can have an 11 run offense-a-plosion without hitting a ball over the fence. This all sets the Twins up for one of my personally most anticipated games of the season, and that is THE RETURN OF SIR SIDNEY “I EAT WHAT I WANT” PONSON. Thats right boys and girls, Sid takes the hill in the dome tomorrow night for the Rangers, and he is actually rocking a 3.52 era and a 1.47 whip. I honestly thought we had seen the last of Sid last season, but the dude is resilient or something. Should be good TV.

Hmmm, what am I missing. Celts beat Pistons in Boston of course. Something else……

Oh Bease Nuts!

Chicago and their 1.7% chance of landing the #1 are going to be adding something sexy to their lineup. In retrospect Chicago makes a lot of sense with the 1 because you look at their roster and it is hard to fathom why they suck so hard. DRose at the helm should make them legit in the East next fall, though the early word is they like Beastley. TWolves of course land in the Brook Lopez zone.

Interesting side not on the draft, Chad Ford of espn.com commented in his post-draft lottery piece that the NBAers in attendance tonight (DWade, Durant, Gayster) were “absolutely mesmerized” by the presence of Shawn “Jay to the Z” Carter. He believes that Jigger’s involvement with the Nets may seduce Lebron into moving to Jersey when his contract comes up in 2 years. If I’m Cavs owner Dan Gilbert I’m introducing James to Drew Carey tomorrow.

(Ed. So I watched American Idol tonight to get over the heartbreak that was pick #3, big deal. Hearing later tonight that Beasley is drawing Derrick Coleman comparisons has me feeling much better about the whole situation. But seriously you guys, Archuleta has got this thing wrapped up.)