Jan. 24, 2010, Superdome: Favre and the MinnesotaVikings are a few yards away from a field-goal attempt to beat New Orleans forthe NFC title. But Favre throws an interception, the game goes to overtime, theSaints get the field goal and another great Favre story is over. At 40 he mustthink of retirement again, but he'll think of the interception, too. More dramais certain, but first the Observers discuss what may be—no, really—Favre's lastgame.
Frank: So, Mr. Packer fan, didyou enjoy yourself?
Artie: Hey, Minnesota fans, how do you like the BrettFavre Experience now? The Super Bowl in your hands and, surprise, an INT!
Frank: Another of those"gunslinger" throws that were ecstasy andagony for Green Bay.But how about Favre's courage in staying on the field despite a ton of brutalhits? Surely you feel a little admiration?
Artie: None! He was playing upthat ankle injury, like he already knew that it was gonna go bad for the Vikes.So he hobbles to the sideline, gets re-taped and hobbles back out. Betweenplays he looks like Walter Brennan in "The Real McCoys," but once theball is snapped he's running all over the place.
Frank: So you're saying...
Artie: He knew he'd have an"out" when Minnesotalost. Not that he would say anything about it, but his fans and handlers wouldsay, "If only Brett wasn't so banged up."
Frank: Well, he was banged up, right?Unlike the Packers, who never got near him in two games, the Saints mauled him.
Artie: Banged up but not badlyhurt. I ain't buying it.
Frank: Gee, Favre used to beMr. Gutsy.
Artie: That was different. Hewas wearing green and gold.
Frank: Well, I was impressedthat he kept on flingin'. The ankle injury was in the third quarter but he tookthem to a tying touchdown and almost the winning field goal.
Artie: Big deal. He didn'tfinish the job, just like two years ago.
Frank: He does have a historyof playing coy with injuries. Late last season with the Jets he had a tornbiceps tendon but never left a game, and the team eventually got fined fornever putting him on injury reports.
Artie: But then last summer,it was all, "I was hurt with the Jets."
Frank: So do you believe thisfinal interception was really the finalone?
Artie: He might say he's done,but who'll believe him until August? Everyone knows he doesn't want to dotraining camp, and the Vikes prostrated themselves for him this season. Andmaybe Roger Clemens still has stuff in his medicine cabinet that can, um,enhance conditions for a plus-40 athlete.
Frank: Wow, no residual goodwill toward Brett at all! Well, we've got a while until his next cue for the"Hamlet" soliloquy. In the meantime, it's nice for the Saints tosucceed after all their terrible years. And I'm glad Peyton Manning got the Coltsback to the Super Bowl in his fourth MVP season. He's a classy guy.
Artie: It was bizarre that theJets probably wouldn't even have been in the playoffs if the Colts hadn'tpulled their starters during Game No. 15.
Frank: I know the Jets had twogreat playoff games, but I don't think a team that went 14-2 should have to getpast a team that went 9-7.
Artie: But watch out for thoseyoung Jets next season!
Frank: Let's spare people twoweeks of TV gas-bagging and declare who'll win the Super Bowl. Namely, theColts.
Artie: I say the Saints.Readers, if you've got a kid with a college fund, put it all on one of those.
‘Quality’: What a Concept
Artie: In October, generalmanager Doug Melvin said he wanted to add two starting pitchers for theBrewers.
Frank: Now he has, with DougDavis returning from Arizonato join Randy Wolf and Yovani Gallardo at the top of the rotation.
Artie: "Mission Accomplished!" I hope that goesbetter for Melvin than it did for former President Dub-ya. The new pitchers areboth lefties, and Manny Parra would make three, which I guess could be good.
Frank: Maybe not so good as itrelates to the Cardinals and Cubs. St. Louis' big power is in two righty hitters, AlbertPujols and Matt Holliday, and the Cubs have a righty core in Derrek Lee, AramisRamirez and Alfonso Soriano.
Artie: But Wolf and Davis,I've heard, aren't all that bad against righties for their careers.
Frank: Let's fire up baseball-reference.com... Davis has allowed a lower batting average torighties (.268) than lefties (.282). Facing Wolf, righties are .260 and lefties.222.
Artie: Wolf has a winningrecord (101-85), but Davis?He's 90-97, and in his three full seasons here the first time, he was theessence of mediocrity: 12-12, 11-11, 11-11.
Frank: Suppan-esque, as youwould say—at least before Jeff Suppan got worse last year, helping create therotation crisis.
Artie: Davis should start the first exhibition gamein March, because if he does there's a chance—just a chance—it might be over byopening day. I don't want to say the guy takes a long time to pitch, but...
Frank: Amen to that. AndMelvin gave the main reason when he said of Davis, "He's always been an ‘innings’guy. His walks are high and he puts men on base, but he usually finds a way toget out of it."
Artie: His walks are highindeed. He led the majors last year with 103 in 203 innings.
Frank: Melvin went on to say,"He can be bad at times, but he knows how to go deep in games."
Artie: That was a quote fromthe Jan. 21 Journal Sentinel. Butfive days earlier in the same paper, Melvin said, "Our new thing is thatwe're not just looking for innings. We're looking for quality innings."Apparently with Davis,we're back to "an innings guy" with no mention of quality. Hey, Icould give you innings for half the price!
Frank: "Our new thingis... quality innings." I can almost see some lowly Brewer employeesending an e-mail: "Mr. Melvin, I was just wondering, shouldn't we try toget innings out of pitchers who are good?"
Artie: Let's not forget thathot stat, the WHIP, for Davis.Walks and hits per inning—a Goldman Sachs figure of 1.492. Not exactly whatyou’d call "quality," ain’a?
Frank: And once these men geton base, he works even slower.
Artie: If it's a day game,pack lunch and dinner.
Frank: Still, the way the gameis played these days the Brewers could succeed with a mediocre rotation. Going"deep into the game" just means lasting six innings. And if a teamhas a strong bullpen and good offense, that could be enough to win a lot ofgames.
Artie: If the 2010 rotationcuts a half-run off last year's 5.37 ERA, it could be a fun season.
Frank: On paper, Davis is a step up fromBraden Looper. He gave up 25 homers last year, but that's way under the 39 thatearned Looper a ticket out of town.
Artie: And Davis has gotta bebetter than Suppan, who has a good shot at becoming the baseball version of DanGadzuric—"Oh, is he still on the team?"
Frank: Davis'career stats at Miller Park are prettygood—19-14 with a 3.37 ERA and a WHIP of 1.29. Wolf has a 5.95 ERA at Miller Park,but over only eight games.
Artie: Hey, I know a rightywhose career stats in Milwaukeeare 14-6, 2.26 and a WHIP of 0.97. And he's an "innings guy"—4,970worth.
Frank: Could his name be...
Artie: That's right, BertBlyleven! He won't even turn 60 until next year.
