Okay, so this post is going to a be a short description letting you know how the world works as of December 2010. Ready, go.
Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera are Yankees
Red Sox trade for Adrian Gonzalez in attempt to keep up with Yankees
Troy Tulowitzki overrated? No sir, best shortstop in the big leagues
Virginia Tech Hokies are ACC Champs having won 11 straight
Oregon and Auburn stay unbeaten and head to BCS National Championship, sorry TCU - not this year...better luck next year in the Big East
Cam Newton is a lock for the Heisman Trophy
Jets and Pats battle Monday night for AFC East supremacy
Ravens and Steelers battle Sunday night for AFC North supremacy
The whole NFC is a complete mess and a .500 or sub-.500 team may win their division
UNC Men's BBall is a joke even though they beat Kentucky by two at home
On the other hand, Duke is playing at the level they are ranked, No. 1
The Heat don't look too hot with their "Big 3"
Why is the Western Conference so much better than the Eastern?
Anyone surprised by New Orleans(13-6) and Utah(15-6), I sure am...
Caps, Pens tied for most points in NHL - surprise surprise...
Why is the Eastern Conference so much better than the Western?
As you can tell, quite a bit is going on in the sports world. Some eyebrow-raising, some not. The point is, it's unpredictable. I love it and I love that Jeter and Mo re-signed. It's no surprise that the Sox gone Gonzalez, but I was hoping SD would keep him. The NFL is beyond nuts and don't get me started on NCAA Basketball. The NHL seems to be the most predictable with the NBA being somewhat surprising. We'll see where we're at in a month or so.
It’s been a long hiatus, but thankfully baseball is a long season. Looking back on the first part of the season has offered a lot of incredible story lines. There’s the incredible performances of Ubaldo Jimenez, the deaths of The Boss and The Voice, and a complete dominance of big league pitchers. There are potential triple crowns and pitchers throwing their brains out and more than likely not breaking ten wins on the year. So with that, let’s take a look at how each team stacks up at the half way point of the season.
AL East Let’s start things at the top, and by the top, I mean with three of the four best teams in baseball, who all happen to be playing in the same division.
New York Yankees: They lead the majors in runs. They’re deadly from top to bottom in the lineup. And as though that's not enough, they have a lot to play for. What better way for the Bombers to send off Steinbrenner than taking a championship home in his honor. Really, there’s no reason apart from injuries or their own division to keep the Yanks from putting up another banner come next season.
Tampa Bay Rays: Always the brides maid, never the bride. And this season looks to be playing out similarly. Behind a top 5 pitching staff and a very solid middle of the lineup the Rays are a dangerous team, and probably the best shot at knocking New York off their pre-made pedestal come postseason.
Boston Red Sox: Injuries, injuries, injuries. With an all-star lineup sitting on the DL, it’s impressive that the Sox have hung on as long as they have. As great as it is to have a gritty underdog, an August swoon looks inevitable for this club. The bullpen has been atrocious, and apart from surprising contributions from minor leaguers like Bill Hall, this season has turned into a feel-good wash.
Toronto Blue Jays: They’re leading baseball in homers, but that doesn’t do much when no one is on base for them. They’re probably the best .500 team in baseball, and in a weaker division may be making a playoff push. They’re starting to look like the Rays from a few years back when they showed flashes of promise but ultimately were left without a helpful result. Look for them to make a one and done attempt akin to what the Marlins do in the next year or two.
Baltimore Orioles: Anyone who saw this team going somewhere at the start of the season was either a season ticket holder or thought Matt Wieters could magically play every position. Neither happened, although the latter was probably for the best. Wieters is having a porous sophomore season after all the hype from tearing up the minors. This is a team that reeks of rebuilding, and probably should get used to their spot as division bottom feeders for the foreseeable future.
AL Central
Chicago White Sox: There is absolutely nothing special about this ball-club, and I’d be shocked to see them do anything come playoff time, assuming they’re still in position to even make the post season. Literally middle of the pack in every offensive and defensive category, this team is a testament to all that is good about Ozzie Guillen. Apart from being a great sound bite, he can coach a team. They make playoffs and this is a coach of the year candidate.
Detroit Tigers: Miguel Cabrera is putting together an MVP season and willing this team to stay in the division. Currently he’s sitting either second or first in all three of the triple crown categories, and the Tigers need every bit of it if they’re going to hope to hang in there until the end. This is a three team race, and they’re probably on the short end of the stick when it comes to a supporting cast for their star players.
Minnesota Twins: Probably the best team in the Central to seize control of the division, Minnesota is only just out of first despite losing their closer to start the season and having Joe Mauer play through quite the slump this season. They’ve found a diamond in the rough in Carl Pavano, and Francisco Liriano is showing some of the flash that made him so great a few years back. Once they start clicking they’ll be repping the division come playoff time.
Kansas City Royals: They have the best batting average in baseball. They have a top of the line starting pitcher. They’re everything you’d want in a sleeper team, but they just haven’t clicked quite yet. Still a year or two off, this is a team on the rise in a winnable division, just not quite ready to break over the hump. Get Billy Butler another season under his belt, and get some run support for Zack Greinke (who may not break ten wins despite a great statistical season), and this team can make some noise at the top of this division. A second place spot next year isn’t out of the question by a long shot.
Cleveland Indians: The Cleveland Indians are a shell of the team they were just three seasons ago. Fausto Carmona is the only player on this team even worth mentioning by name. Like the Orioles, they are in clear rebuilding mode, but don’t seem to have the depth of talent to make that a quick transition. Get used to the basement fellas.
We have reached the midway point in the Major League Baseball season. The all-star break is approaching and every team has played about 80 or so games. The all-star lineups were listed today, but I will write another post on that closer to all-star weekend.
This post is for predictions the rest of the way.
AL EAST 1. New York (1 seed) 2. Boston / Tampa Bay (tiebreaker for 3 seed) 4. Toronto 5. Baltimore
AL CENTRAL 1. Minnesota (4 seed) 2. Detroit 3. Chicago 4. Kansas City 5. Cleveland
AL WEST 1. Texas (2 seed) 2. Los Angeles 3. Seattle 4. Oakland
NL EAST 1. New York (2 seed) 2. Atlanta (3 seed) 3. Philadelphia 4. Washington 5. Florida
NL CENTRAL 1. Cincinnati (4 seed) 2. St. Louis 3. Milwaukee 4. Chicago 5. Houston 6. Pittsburgh
NL WEST 1. Los Angeles (1 seed) 2. San Diego 3. San Francisco 4. Colorado 5. Arizona
Divisional Round New York (AL) over Minnesota Tampa Bay over Texas Los Angeles over Cincinnati New York (NL) over Atlanta
Championship Round New York (AL) over Tampa Bay Los Angeles over New York (NL)
World Series New York (AL) over Los Angeles ^Six game series in a rematch of the classic New York Yankee/Brooklyn Dodger series.
A weekly feature on the good, the bad, and the ugly happening around the diamond.
Single: A nice little win streak, mostly the sweep of the Rays, have the Red Sox dreaming of a turnaround.Yes, they’re better than .500.But no, they’re not good enough to sweep the Rays all year round.Look for a regress to the norm, but way to stave off selling the farm boys!
Double: The Cincinnati Reds are in sole possession of first place.This is not a misprint.The loveable losers (sorry, not you Cubs fans), are atop the NL Central podium for what feels like the first time in years, and they’re celebrating.And why not?It’s been 20 years since a World Series ring and they haven’t made the playoffs since ’95.With Phat Albert doing his best disappearing act (and still hitting over .300), the big boy at first has torn things up.The Central is going to be won on sheer power, and with Pujols struggling, there’s no power outage for the Reds.
Triple: Even though he can’t leg ‘em out anymore, and he was considered a wash-up and the odd man out in a very crowded outfield, Vlad The Impaler is back and doing what he does best for the not surprisingly AL West front running Rangers: raking.Leading baseball in RBI’s and amongst the leaders in homers, Vlad is taking a nice little victory lap in Arlington, giving the league a friendly reminder of why he’s so, so good.
Home Run: Ozzie Guillen, no matter what you do in your career as a manager (now that you have that ring, of course), you will always be quotable and entertaining.This little tirade following your ejection just goes to show your passion, drive, and really, just how funny it is to watch you blow up.No matter how relevant the state of your team, you, Mr. Guillen, will always hold a place in our hearts.
Strikin’ them out: Josh Johnson, the unheralded pitcher on the we-only-win-every-7-years Florida Marlins, is trying to bring some peace to the OTHER team from the sunshine state.Sitting pretty at 5-1 with an ERA under 2.50, Johnson is reminding us all of why the Marlins are able to go on the little tears that they do.With the Phillies recent struggles, the NL East is more open then ever (the Marlins are in LAST and still above .500 and down in the standings by under 5 games).If the fish are going to make a swim for the division title, look for JJ to be reelin’ um in (ok, I get it, too many fish jokes).
Popping Up: It’s not shocking that the Toronto Blue Jays are having trouble keeping pace in the 3-legged race that is the AL East.They’re still clobbering the ball like nobody’s business, leading the league in team homers, but the average is tinkering near the bottom.It was a nice little run from our Canadian friends, but without a truly stable pitching rotation and so many free swingers at the plate, it’ll take a bat and another arm for them to stay within striking distance as summer rolls in.
Caught Looking: If you missed baseball’s night games this week, you’re hardly at fault.With series finales of great shows like Lost and 24, there was plenty going on to excuse yourself.I mean, that’s what the Cubs did.Just a few days after celebrating the anniversary of the night time baseball game, the folks at Wrigley reminded us of why we couldn’t do so in the first place, treating us to a lovely blackout on the ivy.Of course, Wrigley wasn’t at fault, but this may be the most exciting thing to happen to the Cubs all year.
The Orlando Magic have made the Eastern Conference finals a bit more interesting now that they've won two in a row. The series heads back to Boston with the Celtics looking to close out the series up three games to two. The Magic seemed to have found their way offensively, after struggling in the first three games and only breaking 90 points just once. They have since scored 96 points in their game four win and exploded last night with 113 points in their game five win.
I don't really have much to say until the Magic win game six. However, I do want to bring to everyone's attention that we in the sports world have already experienced a historic 3-0 comeback involving a Boston team. As a New York fan, it would be sweet revenge to witness two Boston collapses in one year. All that would make it even better, is if the Red Sox participated in it as well in October.
Boston/Orlando Game 6: Tomorrow
Okay, now on to the Western Conference finals. The Lakers seemed to dominate to the first two games, winning by 21 points in the first and 12 points in the second. However, the Suns have recorded back-to-back nine point victories to tie the series at two games apiece. The series heads back to L.A. and the Lakers all of the sudden don't seem to have an answer for Amar'e Stoudemire. Pau Gasol seems to be way too soft to take care of Amar'e, and since Andrew Bynum is still not 100% it should be interesting to see what the Lakers try to do to neutralize Stoudemire.
This post is going to simply and clearly explain why this year's NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs prove why sports are great.
The eight-seeded Montreal (Habs) Canadiens beat Sidney Crosby and the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games. The Habs absolutely owned game seven, winning 5-2 on the road. The team from up north now looks to take on either the (7) Philadelphia Flyers or the (6) Boston Bruins.
This series is another great story because the Bruins were up three games to none and now the Flyers have won three in a row. Coming back from three down in a series is an almost unprecedented feat in the sports realm. (I would know, my Yanks blew it to the Sox in '04)
No one should care about the other conference right now. The Sharks beat the Red Wings four games to one, and the Blackhawks overtook the Canucks in six games.
The reason the West doesn't matter is because it's one vs. two in the conference finals. In the East, it's eight vs. six/seven.
That's awesome and it's awesome that the Flyers came back in the series. This is when random people pay attention. I'm not a Flyers/Bruins fan by any means, in fact, I strongly dislike both those sports cities to say the least. However, I will definitely at least be semi-watching the game because of how awesome the story is. Maybe it's just the journalist in me, who knows.
All I know is that I'm rooting hard for the Habs to go all the way, preferably against the Blackhawks. I think if Montreal plays the way they've been playing, they have a legitimate shot to win the Cup.
A look at the good, the bad, and the ugly to this point in the season.
Single: The Athletics are off to a good start in the most up-for-grabs division in baseball.If Ben Sheets keeps his arm the rest of the season they may be able to hang in there for a bit.But that’s asking a lot.
Double: The Minnesota Twins are proving that they don’t need Nathan.But when he does come back around, they’ll be looking to shop a closer.Jon Rauch is a rock in the back of that bullpen right now, and he’ll be worth a hefty price when they go shopping next year.
Triple: The Tampa Bay Rays looked to be third fiddle behind big boys in Boston and New York this year.Apparently, no one told Tampa.Matt Garza looks legit, and this team is flying through a tough early schedule.
Home Run: Jason Heyward is all that and a bag of chips.The slick hitting rookie came into Tuesday tied for the league lead in RBI’s batting in the middle of the order for a team stocked in its rotation.Bobby Cox has to be loving the possibility of another division crown awaiting his sendoff at the end of the season.
Strikin’ them out: All reports of the demise of Tim Lincecum are incredibly premature.The quirky delivery is posting an ERA under 1 thus far in the season, as well as tying for the league lead in wins and leading the strikeouts category.So much for an off year.
Popping up:The Red Sox spent the offseason trying to improve on defense and run prevention.All that’s great, but without a feared middle of the order, there’s not much that’s going to happen.Victor Martinez needs to get his stroke back, and upper management needs to make up their minds on Big Papi.
Caught Looking: The New York Mets are used to being fine on paper and miserable on the field.Well, this year they don’t even have the added bonus of looking good on paper.This team is going nowhere until its roster hops off of the DL.JasonBay isn’t enjoying the big apple, and neither are the fans.
Just so you know, I will be heading off this weekend to a retreat with my fraternity brothers of Alpha Epsilon Pi.
I hope everyone has a great weekend, and have no worry that we will crank out some posts as soon as I return on Sunday. Here are some things you might want to think about over the weekend:
The Rangers battle the Flyers for the eight seed in the NHL Playoff Race. The two teams also play each other for their final two games. Should be a great end to the season.
The NFL Draft continues to creep up on us...
The MLB season completes week one...gotta love my Yankees taking two out of three in Boston to open the season
The NBA season heads to the final stretch and the playoff race tightens. Look out for the Bulls and Raptors to battle for the eight seed in the East.
Many people, especially non-baseball fans, think that the game is way too long and there should be time constraints. The Yankees/Red Sox opening weekend series took nearly 12 hours to complete. Umpire Joe West felt the need to openly complain about the series, calling the two teams "pathetic and embarrassing" for needing so long to play the game.
Personally, I feel like this is ridiculous. West should be fined and/or suspended just like a player. Not to mention, the two teams he insulted are arguably the two best teams in the Major Leagues who will die to win. He has no right to call these teams out when his job is to sit back and call balls and strikes. They take their time and are careful because it is a part of strategy. I have great respect for teams who find every aspect of the game as part of their strategy. Every pitch, mound visit, time out, and substitution matters.
Somebody with authority needs to tell these umps to shut up. This is baseball, sit back and enjoy the beautiful weather...and the game of course.
Oh my how time flies...it's finally April and that means....the start of the MLB season!
Tonight, my New York Yankees re-enter the biggest rivalry in sports and take the field in Boston against the Red Sox.
This game is one of over a dozen that these two rivals will play this year. Last year the Yanks lost the first eight in a row against the Sox before winning nine of the last 10. The Bombers have shown that they have developed chemistry and the additions of Curtis Granderson, Javier Vasquez, Nick Johnson will add plenty of depth and experience to the powerful Yankee lineup. Vasquez and Johnson will both be entering their second stint with the Yanks and Granderson brings a good bat and a great glove in the outfield.
Boston made major renovations to both their lineup and rotation. The Sox added Adrian Beltre, Marco Scutaro, and Mike Cameron to the starting lineup. They also picked up Jeremy Hermida and Bill Hall to provide some depth off the bench.
The rotation, however, is the most impressive in the big leagues. Yes, even more so than the Yankees and the Phillies. The rotation headlines with Josh Beckett of course, but there is no drop off to the number two in Jon Lester. Not to mention the fact that John Lackey is the number three. All three of those pitchers have the potential to be 20-game winners. Oh, by the way, Dice-K is the fourth and he has already won 19 games in a season. Youngster Clay Buchholz and veteran Tim Wakefield round out the staff.
This game should be exciting as Sabathia battles Beckett in a game I think the Yankees will take. The Bombers developed a ton of chemistry last year during their World Series run. That was something they had been lacking in previous years. It is also the reason the Yanks win tonight and take the division. The Sox made a lot of changes this off-season and it will take time to develop the chemistry the Yankees now have.
Ah, spring training.A time of high hopes and dreams, where everyone in the Major Leagues is convinced that this could just be the year.After a five month hiatus, baseball is ready to get back in full swing.The sight of the bright lights in the stadium, the scent of freshly trimmed grass, and the sound of Ozzie Guillen enhancing the Spanish to English vocabulary of every boy and girl.
But most importantly, a time for looking into crystal balls and knowing exactly how this season will unfold.Just a quick side bit, order of appearance is order of division standing.So, without further ado:
AL EAST
The Yankees consistently find ways to upgrade what is consistently the most talented roster in baseball, and barring a slew of freak injuries look to be playing postseason baseball once again.Upgrading with Curtis Granderson and letting a struggling Johnny Damon walk.Letting Wang walk after this past season may come back to hurt the Yankees on pitching depth, but let’s be honest, as long as Mariano Rivera is closing things out, there won’t be much to fear.
The Red Sox bring arguably the strongest starting rotation in the majors to the mound, with an All-Star ageless wonder in Tim Wakefield even battling it out for a roster spot.But the hits on David Ortiz over the past two seasons have to make you wonder if a team in such a strong offensive ballpark is going to be able to keep pace with the Bombers.
The Tampa Bay Rays are one of those teams you just consistently feel sorry for.With one of the youngest and most talented teams in the league, it’s got to be frustrating being consistently stuck behind big spenders in Boston and New York.Look for Evan Longoria and Carl Crawford to go off, as well as David Price to have a great season.But in this division, you need to be stacked top to bottom.Heart says they deserve a shot at the division, crystal ball says they fade all but out of the wildcard by August.
Things in Baltimore haven’t been this hopeful since Ripken Jr. retired, but unless Matt Weiters can pitch and bat for all nine roster spots, this team is still a year or two from being in contention.
As for the Blue Jays, at least they still have Roy Halladay… er, I mean hockey.Yeah, they still have hockey…
AL Central
Apart from Minnesota, there really isn’t a terribly strong team in this division.And by Minnesota, I mean assuming Joe Nathan is either able to go or they find someone else (John Smoltz anyone?) to solidify the back end of the bullpen.You can’t go against the League MVP in a division this week.Unless of course…
Detroit can find someone, ANYONE, in that lineup to hit.The Tigers have a pretty solid front side of their rotation between Justin Verlander, Rick Porcello, and Max Scherzer, but they’re a bat or two short.
Chicago sits in a similar boat as Detroit, and both will be paddling upstream without a decent set of batting gloves.
Meanwhile, Zack Greinke mops in more sympathy votes after the Royals fail to put together anything impressive over the offseason.Alex Gordon isn’t ready to carry this team to anything other than a third place finish in the division at best.
Which leaves Cleveland staring up at everyone.With all of their pitching traded away, this is looking like a clear cut rebuild.
AL West
Folks in Seattle are about to see the best team this city has put together since the 2001, 116 win team.Ignoring the additions of Chone Figgins and Casey Kotchman, putting Cliff Lee at the top of the order with King Felix Hernandez is a lethal one-two punch in this suddenly lackluster division.
The fact that the Rangers look to finish second in this division is more a testament to the bleeding out of their California rivals than anything remarkable that they’ve done.
And on the topic of those Angels, so long Chone, Vlad, and Johny Lackey.Staples from this team’s success have all departed the golden state, and the man to replace them?Hideki Matsui. Yeah, good luck with that.The saddest part is that with enough injuries to Seattle’s pitching staff, they could still make a push for the division.
Money Ball hasn’t been worth a dime in quite a few years, and it still looks to be another solid year for coming to fruition.A healthy Ben Sheets makes this an average team, but without him they could be looking at one of the poorer records in the league.
