Daisuke Matzusaka All-Stars Part III: The Pacific Coast League

Pacific Coast League Daisuke Matzusaka All-Stars

Starting Rotation

LHP Nate Robertson

RHP Armando Galarraga

LHP Jonathan Sanchez

LHP Aaron Laffey

LHP Dontrelle Willis

            The rotation features four lefthanders and a single righthander. Willis won the 2003 NL Rookie of the Year award and was the runner up for the Cy Young in 2005, but declined soon after and has not pitched consistently in the majors since 2007. Robertson and Sanchez carved out careers as back of the rotation lefties who couldn’t strike anyone out (Robertson) or walked too many batters (Sanchez). Laffey began his career as a starter in Cleveland and then shifted to the bullpen. Homeruns and low strikeout rates plagued him as a starter and reliever. Galarraga, most famous for his near perfect game in 2010 on a blown call by umpire Jim Joyce, also had a problem with gopher-itis, allowing 94 homeruns in 542 career innings.  

Bullpen

RHP Chad Cordero

RHP Peter Moylan

RHP Fernando Salas

LHP Hideki Okajima

RHP Manny Corpas

RHP Evan Meek

RHP Shawn Camp

            From 2005-2007, Cordero racked up 113 saves for the Washington Nationals and was one of the best relievers in baseball. Injuries, starting with a labrum tear in April 2008, have prevented Cordero from regaining his form. Okajima came over from Japan in 2006 and was a key piece in the Red Sox bullpen from 2007-2009. By 2010, Okijama’s K rate declined and so did his effectiveness. Moylan, from Australia, pitched for the Braves from 2006-2012, serving as a ROOGY (righty one out guy). He held right-handers to a .218/.279/.318 line. Like Cordero, injuries have plagued Moylan. Meek pitched from 2008-2012 out of the Pirates bullpen, but injuries and ineffectiveness have kept Meek from returning to the majors. Camp, a widely inconsistent pitcher, reached the majors in 2004 at the age of 28. He bounced around as a back of the bullpen reliever for some of the worst teams of the late 2000s: the Royals, Rays, Blue Jays, and Cubs. After a successful 2011 pitching for the Cardinals, Salas’s walk rate went up and the Cardinals soon sent him back down to the minors. Corpas closed for the Rockies in the second half of the 2007 season and through the postseason. He benefited from a .256 BABIP and a 84.9% strand rate in 2007. In 2008, his BABIP ballooned to .326 and his strand rate fell to 71.2%. In other words, more of his pitches fell in for hits and he was not successfully able to work out of as many jams with runners on base as the year before. 

Daisuke Matzusaka All-Stars Part II: International League Hitters

In part II, we will look at the International League hitters:

C Kelly Shoppach, Indianapolis Indians (Pittsburgh Pirates)   

            Shoppach, a 2^nd round pick of the Red Sox in 2001, caught Matt Garza’s no hitter for the Tampa Bay Rays on July 26, 2010. He has played for the Red Sox, Indians, Rays, Mets, and Mariners. The Red Sox traded Shoppach in 2006 in a trade that brought Coco Crisp to Boston. Shoppach has a .224/.312/.413 career batting line. High strikeout rates have plagued him throughout his major league career. He has struck out in 33.6% of his major league at-bats.

1B Dan Johnson, Scranton-Wilkes Barre Railriders (New York Yankees)

            Dan Johnson was a 7^th round pick of the Oakland As in 2001. Red Sox fans will most remember Johnson from his game tying home run in the bottom of the 9th inning while playing for the Rays against the Yankees in the last game of the 2011 season. The home run pushed the game to extra innings and the Rays took the Wild Card ahead of the collapsing Red Sox. Johnson has played for the As, Rays, Yokohama Baystars, and the White Sox. A career .237/.338/.412 hitter, Johnson epitomizes the Quad-A player. Too good for the minors, but not good enough to play everyday in the majors.

2B Danny Espinosa, Syracuse Chiefs (Washington Nationals)

            The Washington Nationals selected Espinosa in the 3^rd round of the 2008 draft. In 2011 and 2012, Espinosa started at 2B for the Nationals. He earned 3.2 WAR and 3.4 WAR, but most of his contributions came on defense. He has a career strikeout rate of 27.1% and a career walk rate of 7.3%. Even good defense could not offset his career batting line of .230/.303/.396.

SS Mike Fotenot, Durham Bulls (Tampa Bay Rays)

            The Orioles drafted Fotenot 19^th overall in the 2001 draft. The 2001 draft featured Joe Mauer and Mark Prior as the top two picks and produced a number of major leaguers. Fotenot has played for the Cubs, Giants, and Phillies. In 2005, Baseball America named him the #7 prospect in the Orioles system. He has a career batting line of .265/.332/.401. Fotenot had his best season in 2008, when a .353 BABIP drove his batting average to.305/.395/.514 in 284 plate appearances.

3B Andy LaRoche, Buffalo Bisons (Toronto Blue Jays)

            LaRoche, the brother of Nationals 1B Adam LaRoche, was drafted by the Dodgers in the 39^th round of the 2003 draft. His draft stock fell due to signability concerns. Baseball America ranked LaRoche as the 19^th best prospect in baseball in 2005 and 2006. In 2007, LaRoche fell to 31^st overall. LaRoche has played for the Dodgers, Pirates, As, and Blue Jays. Injuries hindered LaRoche early in his career and he has never regained his top-flight status.

LF Jason Michaels, Syracuse Chiefs (Washington Nationals)

            Michaels, a 4^th round pick of the Phillies in the 1998 draft, has played for Philadelphia, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Houston. Philadelphia traded Michaels to Cleveland in 2006 for reliever Arthur Rhodes. The acquisition of Michaels freed up the Indians to send Coco Crisp to the Red Sox in the Kelly Shoppach trade. In 2629 career plate appearances, Michaels has 59 home runs. A .344 BABIP in 2005 helped him have the best hitting year of his career; .304/.399/.415. Playing center field for the Phillies in 2005, he was worth 15.7 defensive runs above replacement according to UZR.

CF Corey Patterson, Scranton-Wilkes Barre Railriders (New York Yankees)

            The Cubs selected Patterson 3^rd overall in the 1998 draft. After the 1998 and 2000 seasons, Baseball America named him the best prospect in the Cubs system. BA also named him the 16^th best prospect in all of baseball in 1998, 3^rd in 1999, and 2^nd in 2000. Patterson’s talent, however, never translated to the majors. His 20.7% K rate and 4.6% walk rate and .252/.290/.400 career numbers are all mediocre at best. He has played for the Cubs, Orioles, Reds, Nationals, Brewers, Blue Jays, and Cardinals.

RF Jeremy Hermida, Columbus Clippers (Cleveland Indians)  

            Hermida, the 11^th overall pick of the 2002 draft, has played for the Marlins, Red Sox, As, Reds, and Padres. BA ranked him the #1 Marlins prospect from 2003-2005. BA named him the fourth best prospect in all of baseball in 2005. In 2008, Hermida played in 142 games and posted a .249/.323/.406 batting line, earning a total of 0.1 WAR. He hit 17 home runs, but also struck out in nearly 25% (24.7%) of his plate appearances. 

DH Matt LaPorta, Columbus Clippers (Cleveland Indians)

            The Brewers selected LaPorta with the 7^th overall pick in the 2007 draft. The Brewers traded him to the Indians before he reached the majors. Baseball America ranked him the best prospect in the Brewers system in 2007 and the 23^rd best prospect in baseball. In 2008, after the trade to the Indians, LaPorta was the second best prospect in the Indians farm system and #27 overall. He has hit .238/.301/.393, as this article from FanGraphs argues http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/is-matt-laporta-quad-a/ that LaPorta’s major league struggles stem from an inability to hit curveballs, a necessary component to major league success.

C Bobby Wilson, Scranton-Wilkes Barre Railriders (New York Yankees)

            Wilson, an Angels draft pick in the 48^th round in 2002, has caught a no-hitter. Wilson was behind the plate for Ervin Santana’s no-hitter in 2011. Wilson played for the Angels from 2008-2012. He played primarily as a backup catcher, hitting .208/.272/.321 in 447 plate appearances over his career. He has 34 career walks and 76 strikeouts. His defensive statistics suggest that Wilson is a serviceable catcher.

IF Alberto Gonzalez, Scranton-Wilkes Barre Railriders (New York Yankees)

            Gonzalez went undrafted and signed as a free agent with the Diamondbacks in 2002. He has played for the Yankees, Nationals, Padres, Rangers, and Cubs. The owner of a .239/.275/.315 batting line. Gonzalez has 4 career home runs. He has played every defensive position except pitcher or catcher, but his poor hitting has prevented him from settling at a single position.

1B/OF Shelley Duncan, Durham Bulls (Tampa Bay Rays)

            The son of famed Cardinals pitching coach, Dave Duncan, Shelley was drafted 61^st overall by the Yankees in the 2001 draft (a common draft among the Daisuke All-Stars). Duncan has hit .226/.305/.419 over the course of his career, while playing for the Yankees, Indians, and Rays. He has 43 home runs in 997 plate appearances and a 24.4% K rate. Like Dan Johnson, Duncan has settled into a role as a Quad-A player.

OF Chris Dickerson, Norfolk Tides (Baltimore Orioles)

            The Reds drafted Dickerson in the 16^th round in 2003. Baseball America named him the best athlete in the Reds system from 2005-2007, the defensive outfielder from 2004-6, and fastest baserunner 2006-2007. Dickerson has earned 4.1 WAR with a career line of .263/.340/.408 playing for the Reds, Brewers, Yankees, and Orioles. Since his .275/.370/.373 performance in 2009, Dickerson’s walk rate has plummeted and his strikeout rate has increased.  

The Daisuke Matsuzaka All-Stars

            While watching the Red Sox last week, I wondered what had happened to Daisuke Matsuzaka. Matsuzaka signed six year 52 million dollar contract with the Red Sox in 2007. Matsuzaka pitched Japan to victory in the 2006 World Baseball Classic and at age 26, leaving Japanese baseball behind, seemed poised to enter his pitching prime in the Major Leagues. Matsuzaka’s pitched effectively in 2007 and 2008. Injuries and his penchant for racking up high pitch counts and walks, however, proved his downfall. He pitched horribly over the next four seasons, starting only 56 games from 2009-2012. He became a free agent at the end of last season and the Red Sox expressed no interest in resigning him.

            I remembered that the Cleveland Indians had signed him, but he did not make the club out of Spring Training. I wondered whether he had returned to Japan or had been signed by another team. Matsuzaka made 19 starts for the Indians’ Triple-A affiliate, the Columbus Clippers. He struck out 95 batters in 103^1/3 innings and walked 39. The Indians released him earlier this week and he has since signed with the New York Mets.

            After finding Matsuzaka pitching for Columbus, a far cry from his heydays of winning the MVP award at both the 2006 and 2009 World Baseball Classic and winning a World Series with the Red Sox in 2007, I wondered how many other similar players were still playing in Triple-A. I investigated the rosters of each Triple-A team and constructed a 25 man team for each of the two Triple-A leagues: the International League and the Pacific Coast League. This will be a four part series. I will unveil the pitchers and hitters for each team in separate posts. In honor of Matsuzaka, I have named this series of posts, the Daisuke Matsuzaka All-Stars.

First up: The International League Pitching Staff

All stats come from FanGraphs, unless otherwise noted.

SP Chien-Ming Wang, Buffalo Bisons (Toronto Blue Jays)

The Yankees signed Wang as a international free agent in 2000 and he reached the majors in 2005. His best years for the Yankees were in 2006 and 2007. In 2006, he posted a WAR* of 4.1 and pitched 218 innings. He followed up with an equally impressive 2007 where he pitched 199 1/3 innings and generated 4 WAR. Injuries, however, soon derailed his career.

SP Dave Bush, Buffalo Bisons (Toronto Blue Jays)

            Drafted by the Blue Jays in the second round of the 2002 draft, Bush made his major league debut in 2004. In 2006, the Jays traded Bush to the Brewers in a trade for Lyle Overbay.** Bush had the best season of his career in 2006 as he had 7.11 K/9, threw 210 innings, and a 3.6 WAR. Bush, however, never struck enough batters out and as his ability to induce ground balls declined, he allowed more fly balls and homeruns.

SP Ricky Romero, Buffalo Bisons (Toronto Blue Jays)

            The Blue Jays drafted Romero sixth overall in the 2005 MLB draft, right between Ryan Braun and Troy Tulowitzki.*** Romero premiered in 2009 and started 29 games for the Blue Jays. In 2010, he posted a 3.6 WAR, starting 32 games, and striking out 174 batters in 210 innings. Romero, however, could never get his walk rate under control. In each season in the majors, Romero has averaged over 3 BB/9.

SP Jair Jurrjens, Toledo Mudhens (Detroit Tigers)

            The first pitcher from Curaçao to reach the majors, Jurrjens signed with the Tigers as an undrafted free agent in 2003. In 2007, the Tigers traded him to the Braves in a deal for Edgar Renteria. In 2009, Jurrjens tossed 215 innings with a K/9 rate of 6.36 and earned 3.7 WAR. Injuries and ineffectiveness have hindered his ability to stay in the majors and pitch effectively.   

SP Alfredo Aceves, Pawtucket Red Sox (Boston Red Sox)

            Aceves has pitched for the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. He posted his best season in 2009 where he appeared in 43 games as a reliever, striking out 69 batters in 84 innings. He has become more known for his eccentricities than his pitching acumen, He has drawn the ire of two widely different Red Sox managers. In 2012, he showed up Bobby Valentine when Valentine removed him from a game, refusing to hand the ball to Valentine and meandered his way off the mound. In Spring Training in 2013, with new manager John Farrell, Aceves blew off Farrell’s instructions during a pitching drill, drawing Farrell’s ire.

RP Matt Capps, Columbus Clippers (Cleveland Indians)

            The Pirates drafted Capps in the 7^th round of the 2002 draft. In his best season by WAR, Capps produced 1.7 wins above replacement for the Pirates in 2007. In 2010, he saved 47 games combined for the Nationals and Twins. Like most relievers, he only was effective for a few years. In 2011, the gopher ball did him in as Capps allowed 10 homeruns in 65 2/3 innings.

RP J.C. Romero, Columbus Clippers (Cleveland Indians)

            Romero, a 21^st round pick of the Twins in 1997, has been in the majors since 1999. He has pitched for the Twins, Angels, Phillies, Red Sox, Rockies, and Cardinals. A left-handed reliever, Romero is the epitome of a LOOGY. LOOGY, an acronym for “lefty one out guy” means that Romero typically only faced one left handed batter per game.  Left-handed hitters have hit a career .210/.312/.288 against him in his career. Righties have hit a much more respectable .256/.389/.408.

RP Mike MacDougal, Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Philadelphia Phillies)

            MacDougal, the 25^th overall pick by the Royals in the 1999 draft, reached the majors in 2001. Other players drafted in the 1^st round who made it to the majors included Josh Hamilton, Josh Beckett, Barry Zito, and Alex Rios. He has pitched for the Royals, White Sox, Nationals, Cardinals, and Dodgers. In 2003, MacDougal went to the All-Star game and saved 27 games for the Royals. Walks have always been a problem for MacDougal, even in 2003 he threw 64 innings and issued 32 walks. MacDougal only made the All-Star team due to his saves and MLB’s one player from every team must make the All-Star Game rule. His selection demonstrates the ridiculousness of the save as a meaningful statistic and the stupidity of MLB’s rules.

RP Kyle Farnsworth, Indianapolis Indians (Pittsburgh Pirates)

            Farnsworth was drafted by the Cubs in the 47^th round of the 1994 draft. He has played for the Cubs, Tigers, Braves, Yankees, Royals, and Rays over the course of his career. He reached the majors in 1999 with the Cubs. He saved 25 games for the Rays in 2011 as part of Tampa’s recent successful trend of transforming average relievers into closers. In 2001, he struck out 107 batters in 82 innings. The rest of his relieving career never lived up to that remarkable season. According to Baseball Reference, Farnsworth has an ERA+ of 101 (with 100 being average).

RP Manny Delcarmen, Norfolk Tides (Baltimore Orioles)

            Declarmen, “The Pride of Hyde Park” debuted for his hometown team the Red Sox in 2005. The Sox selected him in the 2^nd round of the 2000 draft. Delcarmen had impressive K/9 rates of 7.59 and 8.72 in 2006 and 2008. By 2009, however, his groundball rate had dropped to 42.5%, down from the previous year’s 51.8% and his walk rate per nine increased to 5.13 from 3.39, the previous year. He has not pitched in the majors since 2010.

RP Joe Beimel, Gwinnet Braves (Atlanta Braves)

            Another LOOGY, Beimel has pitched for the Pirates, Twins, Rays, Dodgers, Nationals, and Rockies. He was drafted in the 18^th round by the Pirates in 1988. In 587 2/3 innings, Beimel has produced exactly 1 WAR. Beimel’s career numbers against lefties are .254/.319/.396. Righties meanwhile have hit .280/.365/.435 off him. The difference between Beimel against a left handed batter and a right handed one is the difference, this season, between Lyle Overbay.254/.304/.421 and  Matt Holliday .282/.366/.456.

RP Kameron Loe, Gwinnet Braves (Atlanta Braves)

            Loe has pitched for the Rangers, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, the Brewers, Mariners, Cubs, and Braves. He was drafted by the Rangers in the 20^th round of the 2002 draft. Loe is six foot nine, making him one of the taller pitchers in baseball. In 560 innings in the majors, Loe has allowed 623 hits. And he allows 1 homerun every nine innings. 

*Wins above replacement, a measurement of how many wins a player added to his team

** Yes, that Lyle Overbay.

*** As much as the Jays would like to have Tulowitzki, the Mariners did worse. Drafting 3^rd, they chose Jeff Clement, passing on Ryan Zimmerman, Braun, Tulowitzki, Andrew McCutchen, Jay Bruce, and Jacoby Ellsbury.   

Orange is the New Black

            When historians write and present their own work, they frequently grapple with the “so what?” problem. This “so what?” problem boils down to a question of what makes this research different from everything that has come before it? What about the research is new and worth paying attention to?  Unfortunately, finding something new or different is rare. I had a history professor who highlighted this problem when he said, “Most books should be articles and most articles should never be written.”

            Because I can rarely turn off the critical thinking part of my brain anymore (thank you, grad school), I have begun to apply the “so what?” question to other areas. This has mostly led to me to become much more particular about what I watch or eat (these particularities sometimes lead my mother to jokingly call me a snob).* Orange is the New Black, the newest Netflix original series, represents something new and different in the television landscape. It investigates the ecosystem of a women’s prison and explores how the people within that ecosystem—prisoners, their loved ones, guards, and administrators—exist together.

 Orange is the New Black ostensibly tells the story of Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling), a yuppie white woman, who winds up in prison as a result of a prior lesbian relationship with heroin smuggler, Alex Vause (Laura Prepon). Piper’s story foregrounds the first season of the show and introduces the viewer to the broader world of the prison. The world of the prison includes a primarily female cast of white, black, and Latina actresses. If the creative team of OITNB had pitched the show to Netflix as a show about this group of women in Federal prison, I doubt it would have made it to air. The idea of building a television show around a group of largely poor, and non-white female felons does not adhere to what most television executives and viewers would consider a successful  or entertaining television. Yet this focus on the prisoners and the world they inhabit makes the show appointment television.

Orange is the New Black effectively uses flashbacks and brief character building scenes to transform prison caricatures into fully fledged people. The characters of Suzanne, known as “Crazy Eyes,” and Miss Claudette exemplify the strength of this approach. In Piper’s first days at the prison, she realizes that Crazy Eyes has taken a liking to her and begun to refer to her as her “prison wife.” Piper does not want to engage in a lesbian relationship with Crazy Eyes and breaks up with her. Piper’s refusal prompts Crazy Eyes to pee on the floor of Piper’s cell, incurring the wrath of her cellmate, the fastidious Miss Claudette. Over the first season, the show reveals how Miss Claudette arrived in America and worked for and then ran a cleaning service that exploited Haitian girls. This places her in a morally questionable position, rising from the exploited to the exploiter. Then the viewer discovers that Miss Claudette murdered one of the cleaning company’s clients who sexually abused one of the girls—Miss Claudette leaves the house spotless, except for the man surrounded by a pool of his own blood. Crazy Eyes receives similar character shading as we meet her well-to-do white parents during one visiting day at the prison. She performs Shakespeare in an attempt to scare a group of juvenile delinquents. She also describes to Piper that the tic that earned her the derogatory “Crazy Eyes” moniker actually serves as a signal to her parents and the guards that she has control of her mental faculties.

            The show also highlights the dark and dehumanizing aspects of the prison system. Having a group of people trapped within a confined space and having to adapt to that ecosystem reminds me of CBS’s new show Under the Dome about a small Maine town that becomes trapped under a mysterious dome. Yet where Under the Dome has the consistently relied on absurd characterizations (see: Junior, the annoying teenage psychopath) and having its characters treat being incarcerated as the third or fourth worst part of any given day, the prisoners, guards, administrators, and family members are constantly aware and reminded of their places within the prison ecosystem. Piper’s fiancé, Larry (Jason Biggs) always hears an automated message stating that he is receiving a phone call from a prisoner. Prisoners are subject to strip searches after visiting hours. Red (Kate Mulgrew), the prisoner in charge of the kitchen, tries to cobble together a Thanksgiving dinner for the inmates within the regular kitchen budget because the prisoners don’t warrant extra money for a holiday meal. One of the prison administrators tells a new female prison guard that it is best to treat the inmates as cattle and to refer to them coldly as “Inmate.”  After the death of a prisoner, Piper tries to organize a traditional remembrance service in the chapel. She pouts when no one attends, only to discover that the inmates have their own way of grieving. The inmates gather in the dead woman’s cell, drink prison made alcohol, tell stories, and mourn the loss of their friend.

            The dark side of the prison administration and Piper’s relationships play crucial roles in the (dys)function of this ecosystem. A guard nicknamed “Pornstache” smuggles drugs into the prison and takes sexual advantage of the inmates. Yet his experience as a prison guard and the way that women treat him governs his relationships with all women. Out at a bar, Pornstache reveals how women at the bar treat him much the way the prisoners do, as someone who can get them something without caring at all about him. Healy, Piper’s case officer, begins as a sympathetic character, trying to help Piper. Healy’s failures in his own mail-order marriage and his hatred of lesbians lead him to try and win Piper’s affection. When that fails, he attempts to resolve his personal frustrations by stamping out lesbian activity in the prison.  Larry, Piper’s fiancé, takes advantage of Piper’s imprisonment to jumpstart his fledgling writing career. In relying Piper’s original impressions of inmates like Miss Claudette and Crazy Eyes to an NPR audience, Larry endangers her standing in the prison. 

            Orange is the New Black has a few problematic plotlines and characters. The storyline of a young guard who fell in love and impregnated a young Latina inmate serves as an important impetus to the plot, but the storyline itself pales when compared to the other more compelling characters in the prison. Piper’s antagonist in the prison, a former meth addict nicknamed “Pennsatucky” is a one dimensional villain. Pennsatucky, a self proclaimed religious prophet, hates Piper immediately because of her privileged background. This hatred, driven by Pennsatucky’s religious beliefs, lead to a confrontation in the finale between her and Piper. The show attempts to give Pennsatucky some shading by demonstrating how she murdered a nurse at an abortion clinic who had insulted her and how she allowed herself to become a spokeswoman for the anti-abortion movement. This character development, while it provides some background for Pennsatucky, does not provide the same depth that the show gave to so many other characters and relies on stock characterizations of evangelicals and the anti-abortion movement.

            Go watch Orange is the New Black.  Go now.

*Hi Mom!

Comparing Kitchen Nightmares

            Gordon Ramsay, a Michelin star chef, has a burgeoning American television career. He currently stars on four different programs for the Fox network including: Kitchen Nightmares, Hell’s Kitchen, Masterchef, and Hotel Hell. Ramsay’s personality on these shows exhibits itself most often in explosions of profanity and verbal abuse directed at incompetent restaurant owners, employees, and chefs. I would not be surprised to one day hear that Ramsay has impaled a chef with a sauté pan. Ramsay’s ascendency in television began in 2004 with the British version of Kitchen Nightmares. Yet the Ramsay that first appeared on that program greatly differs from the more recent savagely brutal incarnation seen on television today.

            After watching the British version of Kitchen Nightmares, Ramsay’s love of food and cooking becomes eminently apparent. He frequently cooks with the chefs of the restaurants, helping out during dinner services, going with the chefs to local vendors or farmers markets to discuss the importance of simple and local cooking. Some of the best segments of the show featured Ramsay providing the chefs with a small collection of ingredients and demonstrating how they could transform those simple and generally cheap ingredients into flavorful dishes. Additionally Ramsay devotes a significant amount of time to discussing with the chefs where their cooking went wrong. In some cases, the chefs were incompetent, lazy, lacking inspiration, or cooking above their abilities. He then works with them to improve their skills and prepare a menu consummate with their skill level. In some cases, Ramsay simplifies the menu to where many of the dishes were prepared beforehand, leaving the chefs to plate and serve the dishes. He takes the time to instruct waiters and owners on the finer arts of service, including how to take orders, how to turn tables over so that customers do not have to wait, and how to stagger service as to not overwhelm the kitchen with orders. Ramsay investigated the reputation of the restaurants within their communities to uncover why diners avoided these establishments. This insider’s perspective into restaurant management gave the show a unique hook. It offered insight into how and why restaurants succeed or fail. Ultimately the British version of the show was about the food.

            The American version abandons this focus on the food and emphasizes the manufactured drama that epitomizes so much of the American reality TV landscape. Delusional owners, startling incompetent chefs, and familial dysfunction rule the day—the show sensationalizes the worst parts of a show about failing restaurants could offer.  Episodes open with Ramsay cursing and swearing about the disgustingly low quality of the food. The food at these establishments is often frozen or poorly prepared. He then investigates the kitchen and “shockingly” discovers the restaurants’ unhygienic conditions. Ramsay confronts the owners with these problems. The owners, who themselves have a tenuous connection to reality, deny the problems exist or shift the blame to others. After fits of screaming and cursing, Ramsay compels the owners to admit the failures of the restaurant. The owners’ problems are often familial or psychological in nature and the show excessively hypes them in “Coming Up On” segments. With the restaurants’ problems seemingly resolved, the transformation of the restaurant begins. It relaunches with a new menu and rides off into a hopefully happy sunset. The emphasis on food and the restaurant industry that Ramsay articulated in the British version of Kitchen Nightmares disappear under a veneer of vulgarity and falsely produced emotional catharsis.

The British Kitchen Nightmares offered a provocative insider’s investigation into the ups and downs of the restaurant industry, while the American version exemplifies mediocre reality show fare. 

The New Golden Age of Television

The Revolution Was Televised: The Cops, Crooks, Slingers, and Slayers Who Changed TV Drama Forever by Alan Sepinwall

Difficult Men: Behind the Scenes of a Creative Revolution: From The Sopranos and The Wire to Mad Men and Breaking Bad by Brett Martin

            The Wire. The Sopranos. Mad Men. Deadwood. The Shield. Breaking Bad. These shows and many others have redefined television in the last fifteen years. They have offered increasingly damaged, flawed, or downright evil protagonists for audiences to watch. They have done this to critical acclaim. Not since Lost in 2006 has a show from a major network won the Emmy Award for Best Drama. Bryan Cranston, who before Breaking Bad was most famous for his role as the frequently pants-less Hal on Malcolm in the Middle, has won three Emmys for best actor in a drama series. The emergence of serialized drama has placed a special emphasis on the all-powerful showrunner, in the mold of David Chase of The Sopranos or Matthew Weiner of Mad Men.  The power of the showrunner has grown so much that promos for upcoming episodes of Mad Men seem to delight into telling the viewer absolutely nothing about the future of Sterling Cooper.

This creative renaissance in television serves as the subject of two recently released books that reflect their authors’ approaches to television. The Revolution Was Televised, by television critic Alan Sepinwall, details the transformation in television storytelling from HBO’s Oz to Breaking Bad. Sepinwall casts a wide net, including network shows like 24, Friday Night Lights, and Lost alongside HBO staples like The Wire, The Sopranos, and Deadwood. He also tracks the emergence of networks like FX with The Shield and AMC with Mad Men and Breaking Bad. Sepinwall devotes a chapter to the development of each show, proceeding in chronological order apart from a small diversion to include Buffy: The Vampire Slayer.  Most importantly Sepinwall offers a detailed critical analysis of each show. He interviews the major players in each show; showrunners, producers, network executives etc. They tell the story of what drove them to create their shows and talk about important episodes or themes. The showrunners of Battlestar Galactica detail their decision making process in briefly turning the show into an allegory on the Iraq War. Then Sepinwall sets the show in the context of television at the time and generally how it relates to the shows that preceded it. The chapters work as part of a larger story, but can also stand alone or be read in any order.  

Martin, the reporter, adopts a more narrow focus on cable television and its role in the transformation of television. Difficult Men employs a more linear narrative approach. Martin first outlines the broader history of television and advancements in technology that made television production cheaper and opened up new revenue streams that encouraged networks to enter the realm of scripted television. Martin relates a humorous story of Breaking Bad cinematographer John Toll berating an Albuquerque, New Mexico Circuit City employee about the proper picture settings on flat screen televisions. Difficult Men also provides more of an inside baseball prospective into the development of these TV shows. He includes anecdotes about James Gandolfini’s increasing struggles with the character of Tony Soprano. Including once when Gandolfini disappeared from the set for four days only to call from a Brooklyn beauty salon and ask for a car come pick him up. Martin also relates the creative freedom and difficulties of working in writer’s rooms with the new all-powerful showrunners. David Chase and Matthew Weiner gather special attention for their near fanatical control over the writing process and ascribing writing credits.

            Despite their differences in approach, Sepinwall and Martin agree on the key moments in the birth of new Golden Age of Television. They pay close attention to fifth episode of the first season of The Sopranos: College. In College, Tony Soprano strangles a mob informer, Febby Petrulio, with a length of wire while taking his daughter, Meadow, on a tour of colleges in Maine. The scene stays with Tony as he chokes the life out of Petrulio. He, then, drives to pick Meadow up from her interview. Initially HBO objected to the idea of Tony strangling Petrulio, arguing that viewers would turn against Tony. David Chase argued that viewers would turn against Tony if he didn’t kill Petrulio. Chase won that argument. They similarly identify the casting of the brooding and emotionally raw Gandolfi over the more relaxed and humorous Michael Rispoli as essential for the show’s dramatic development. Sepinwall and Martin also stress the entry of networks like AMC and FX onto the scripted drama landscape. After HBO passed on Mad Men, AMC, a network that had next to nothing in terms of original programming, picked up the show. Since then AMC has premiered Breaking Bad and the commercially successful Walking Dead. FX gambled on The Shield and since has premiered Justified, The Americans, and a range dramas and comedies. While taking different approaches, Martin and Sepinwall agree on the important television touchstones along the way. 

          I am a longtime reader and admirer of Sepinwall. His passion and critical insight shine through in his writing. Martin displays a strong command of his material, guiding the reader throughout the book and never failing to include an amusing anecdote or factoid. I reviewed these books as a pair because of their shared subject matter and they play off each other well.  The Revolution Was Televised is the work of a critic, introspective and thoughtful. Difficult Men is the work of a reporter, always telling a story and bringing the reader inside the world of television. They, both, succeed in explaining how we have entered a new Golden Age of Television. 

Emperor: Film Review

Brigadier General Bonner Fellers (Matthew Fox) writes a book report about Japan. No, wait, sorry, he writes two book reports—one before the outbreak of World War II and the other following the Japanese surrender. Fellers presents one of these book reports to General Douglas MacArthur (Tommy Lee Jones). MacArthur decides not to charge Japanese Emperor Hirohito with war crimes. MacArthur and Hirohito meet, they shake hands, and take a picture. Unfortunately, that is the plot of the lifeless new film, Emperor.  

The film, directed by Peter Webber, spends nearly all of its running time telling the viewer about Japan, its traditions, and the crucially important role of the emperor in Japanese society. Emperor, however, fails to show any of these things. Instead it torments the viewer with long, tedious speeches about honor, tradition, and the longevity of Japanese culture. Fellers arrives in Japan and engages in parallel investigations—one about the role of Emperor Hirohito and the other about whether his former girlfriend, Aya, survived the war. Fellers’ parallel book reports and investigations represent one of the most blatant and mind numbing examples of dramatic parallel storytelling that I’ve ever seen. Fellers’ investigation of his girlfriend involves yelling at his Japanese assistant to find him information. In examining Hirohito’s role in prosecuting the war, Fellers drives around Japan and interviews surviving members of the Japanese government. In-between he wanders the streets of Japan or flashes back to his love affair with Aya. The film’s attempt at offering meaningful dialogue or insight about the causes of war boils down to a lecture by one of the Japanese officials about the evils of Western colonialism. Fellers answers that he does not need a history lesson. Unsurprisingly, right before he must submit his final recommendation to MacArthur, Fellers discovers that Aya died during the war. Somewhere in this bore of a film lies a good idea. The process of rebuilding a nation, war crimes prosecutions, and the need for an occupying power to respect the traditions of a defeated people resonate in today’s world and offer rich palate for crafting an important and thought provoking film. Emperor, however, fails to make use of its rich historical landscape and presents a plot that alternates between trite melodrama and a plodding police procedural.

            Tommy Lee Jones is the only actor in the film giving anything resembling a performance. He luckily has the benefit of playing a well-known historical figure that gives him (and the audience) some prior sense of MacArthur.  The films’ writers fail to create characters for Fox and the rest of the cast to play. Instead they plod along from scene to scene and words pop out of their mouths, but they have little relation to the ways that human beings speak and react to each other. They are merely vehicles for rote discourses.

Reading the Wikipedia pages about Fellers, Hirohito, and the investigation of the emperor would be more insightful than watching this dreadfully dull film.  

The Tragic Hero of Ghostbusters

            I love the movie Ghostbusters. I had a proton pack as a child. I dressed up as a Ghostbuster for Halloween. I had a replica of the Ghostbusters firehouse. I watched the movie—a lot, probably far too many times for a young kid. I have devoted much (definitely too much) thought to Ghostbusters and I know believe that the tragic hero of the film is none other than Walter Peck.

            Walter Peck, for those who don’t remember, is a bureaucrat from the Environmental Protection Agency who investigates the Ghostbusters, eventually turning off the environmental protection grid, and ends the film covered in a torrent of melted marshmallow from the recently incinerated Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. We need to examine the clues that the film provides to key us in to Walter Peck’s status as the tragic hero of our story.

The story of the Ghostbusters serves two purposes. First it details the journey of the Ghostbusters from exploited wannabe businessmen to capitalist giants. Secondly it demonstrates the folly of trying to regulate such big businesses. After the soon-to-be Ghostbusters lose their university grant, they decide to establish “the indispensable defense science of the next decade; professional paranormal investigations and eliminations.” They can only acquire the start up cash by using Ray Stantz’s house as collateral. Stantz agrees to take out a third mortgage on the house at 19% interest (a figure that Venkman does not even bargain over). The interest payments alone would amount to $95,000 over the first five years. The bank acted in its own self interest by offering a predatory mortgage to three men who should never have received on in the first place. Clearly the bank expected to profit from Stantz’s overextension of his own credit. They furthermore purchase a dilapidated firehouse, which Spengler wisely notes has, “serious metal fatigue in all the load-bearing members, the wiring is substandard, it's completely inadequate for our power needs, and the neighborhood is like a demilitarized zone.” Yet the real estate agent exploits the opportunity to unload a decrepit property, sensing the Ghostbusters’ desperate need for a place of business. After losing their university grant and before they start their business, the Ghostbusters are exploited by the greedy forces of the capitalist marketplace—forces that hope they will not succeed.  

Once they open their doors, the Ghostbusters become as predatory as those who bet on their failure. They charge the manager of the Sedgwick Hotel five thousand dollars for trapping and storing Slimer, the ghost. This price does not include the thousands of dollars of damage the Ghostbusters caused to the 12^th floor of the hotel and the main ballroom (not to mention the loss of the future business of Mrs. Van Hoffman whose event was ruined by the actions of the Ghostbusters). The Ghostbusters fame soon soars and they dart around Manhattan battling supernatural forces. They grace the covers of magazines, appear on television, and become celebrities in their own right. The exploited have become the exploiters.

            While the Ghostbusters battle it out with some pesky poltergeists, someone must look after the public interest and attempt to regulate this new industry. Enter our tragic hero, Mr. Walter Peck. Peck arrives at the Ghostbusters headquarters and asks, as a member of the Environmental Protection Agency, to view the containment facility for the ghosts. Since the Ghostbusters only trap the ghosts (and not kill them), Peck, wants to see where they are held. Peter Venkman denies Peck entry. Venkman, now a successful self-interested businessman and capitalist, recognizes that Peck represents a threat to the Ghostbusters’ growing and profitable business. So he throws Peck out. Thus Peck’s first attempt to regulate this booming industry fails.

Peck’s further attempts to regulate the paranormal investigations and eliminations business prove unintentionally disastrous. Shutting down the protection grid results in a proliferation of ghosts and other supernatural creatures that terrorize Manhattan. Walter Peck then confronts the Ghostbusters in the office of the Mayor of New York. There he suffers a series of insults from the Ghostbusters about his name and manhood. The Mayor, however, like any callous politician, acts in own self-interest, believing that the Ghostbusters plan of fighting the impending arrival of Gozer the Gozerian will lead to his own re-election. Now that the Mayor has hired the fox to guard the hen-house, Peck is left to wander the streets of New York City. He witnesses the destructive rampage of a gigantic Stay Puft Marshmallow Man (conjured from the imagination of Ray Stantz). Peck suffers one final indignity for attempting regulate the new industry. After the destruction of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, through some dubious luck of crossing the streams and the door swinging both ways, Peck endures a cavalcade of marshmallow. The Ghostbusters, due to dumb luck and their own exploitative actions, receive all the credit for saving the city. Meanwhile the man who tried to protect the public, Walter Peck, receives scorn and derision. 

So next time you watch Ghostbusters, remember the tragic story of Mr. Pecker. I mean Peck, his name is Peck.