Today we experienced just about everything except the NFL, which of course, is saved for Sundays at this point in the season. Some of the exciting headlines
MLB:
Texas showed no hangover from the heartbreaking loss in game one, dominated game two with a 7-2 victory. The series heads to New York, with Cliff Lee set to pitch...it's getting interesting. Series even at 1-1
Surprisingly enough, this game went over the six runs predicted by the odds makers. More surprisingly, San Francisco came away with a huge upset victory in Philly to take away home-field advantage. San Fran leads 1-0
NCAAF:
1 Ohio State knocked off by 18 Wisconsin. Second consecutive week the No. 1 ranked team has lost.
Un-ranked Kentucky upset 10 South Carolina, un-ranked Mississippi State upset 22 Florida, un-ranked San Diego State upset 23 Air Force
5 Nebraska get completely outplayed and throws away their National Championship hopes with a loss to un-ranked Texas.
Will 3 Boise State jump to No. 1?
NHL:
Caps have early season magic, come back from 2-0 to win 3-2 in OT.
Blackhawks show no sign of slowing with 4-3 win over Sabres.
NFL:
Get ready for some crazy week six action tomorrow.
This is just a quickie to give some respect to MLB. My New York Yankees came back from five runs down last night to beat the Texas Rangers, in Texas, 6-5.
It was an unbelievable win for the Yanks and a crushing loss for the Rangers. C.J. Wilson threw a great game and was taken out when OF Brett Gardner beat out a ground ball to the first baseman. After that, the next six Yankees got basehits, totaling five runs in the eighth inning off of a combined five Texas pitchers.
Mariano Rivera came in, and we all know when he's in the game is as good as over. Game 1: Yankees win. Game 2: Today, should be interesting to see how the Rangers respond to the loss.
The NLCS is what everyone will be paying attention to today though because it is a phenomenal pitching duel. Probable Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay looks to teach a lesson to young phenom Tim Lincecum. Philly is hoping to continue their dominance in the post-season as the favorite to win the NL Pennant.
The Giants typically don't score a ton of runs and will be going against someone who threw a no-hitter in his first career post-season start. If the Giants can steal this one, Philly should get nervous, but I don't see it happening.
It's late and I'm tired, but this is too good to not mention.
On Wednesday Oct. 6, 2010, Roy Halladay joined former Yankees pitcher Don Larson as the only two pitchers in MLB history to throw no-hitters in the post-season. Of course, Larson's was a perfecto in the 1956 World Series and Halladay's was only a no-no in the ALDS. I am not trying to take anything away from Halladay by any means.
Roy Halladay is the most ridiculous pitcher of my generation. **Correction: starting pitcher. Doc got screwed for the first 12 seasons of his career because he had to pitch for the Blue Jays. No disrespect to the Jays, but they were mediocre in the best division in baseball that boasts an AL East representative in the World Series nine of the 12 seasons he was there.
Roy is unreal and I couldn't have more respect for him. He is a phenomenal pitcher, far above anyone right now. He has been great and deserves a ring, but I'm just hoping it won't come at the expense of my Yankees.
Good luck to him and if only his pinstripes were blue instead of red.
Atlanta Braves: Behind one of the best pitching staffs in the league and rookie phenom Jason Heyward, the Braves look darn good.The middle of the lineup still doesn’t have as much punch as you’d like to see in a possible world series team, but Bobby Cox’s rotation is top to bottom one of the three best in the league.Who would be looking forward to facing Derek Lowe, Tim Hudson, and Tommy Hanson in the playoffs?No one, that’s who.If the lineup can keep up its timely hitting, Cox will have to do his best to not be ejected from a World Series game.
Philadelphia Phillies:This was not supposed to happen.The Phillies are a much better team than their record, but with a rotation that can’t seem to just get it’s finger on the right spot and a lineup that’s struggles have gone on for too long, they’ll be pushing for the wild-card/division heading into the last week of the season.Roy Halladay was still a great pickup, but the Phils must be kicking themselves for not keeping Cliff around to put them in a far more secure position.This is an underperforming ball-club that just needs to get a few hitters hot to make a run at the postseason.The wild-card looks like a dogfight.
New York Mets:Speaking of underperforming ball-club’s, this one was at least expected.The Mets consistently have a competitive team on paper, but this year, much like the last two, looks to end in early disappointment.Apart from Johan, the rotation is an absolute mess.David Wright has absolutely no supporting cast this season. The Mets should really suck it in and just accept this as a lost season at .500 baseball, but they’ll probably make ill advised trade runs before the deadline.Short of an Atlanta-esque Troy Glaus style turnaround, the Mets are sunk.
Florida Marlins:If a team can feel good about playing awful baseball, it’s the Marlins.After all, they’re only supposed to make World Series runs every seven years anyways.The great young rotation, highlighted by soon to be Cy Young award winner Josh Johnson, will be well in its prime by the time they have that seven year run ready for them.Dan Uggla is a beast, and it’s only a matter of time until the pieces fit around him.Two more years til the right crew gets to bring their talents to South beach.
Washington Nationals:This is the kind of team local fans love to get behind.They’re not ready yet, but when you watch them get together you can see it all taking shape.Jordan Zimmermann is going to be an absolute stud in that rotation, as he readies to return from injury after what started last season as a stellar career.He’d be an excellent number one in most big league rotations, but apparently he’s taking a back seat to some Strasburg kid.It’d be great for them to keep Adam Dunn around, as a tutor of the long ball to whoever comes in after him, but this is a team that wasn’t expected to do much but is slowly shaping up to be great.
NL Central
This division was always going to be won and lost on the first basemen, it just didn’t shape up the way some of us, namely me, predicted.
Cincinnati Reds:Assuming he stays healthy, Joey Votto is the league MVP, and he’s needed every bit of this breakthrough season in order to keep the Reds fending off the Cardinals in this division.Scott Rolen has dipped into the fountain of youth just enough to give this team a shot at playoff glory, and Bronson Arroyo, Mike Leake, and Johnny Cueto have put together a surprisingly stable top of the rotation.IF they can hold of Phat Albert and the gang, this team can do damage.
St. Louis Cardinals:Albert Pujols is having an off year.Which is saying a lot when you realize that he’s still hitting .301 with a .962 OPS.Yeah, off year.Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter are pitching well, but this is just a really average team with one great player in a division with two of the worst clubs in baseball.If the Cards keep beating up on the little guys, they can keep making a push for the division.Look for this race to be decided with about four days to go in the season.
Milwaukee Brewers:Again, a very average team, much like the Cardinals (or really the Reds for that matter), but they can prey on the weak links in the division.Prince Fielder should be moved by the end of the trading deadline, and if not him than future all-star Corey Hart.This team has been meddling at .500 for what seems like an eternity.They should really take the opportunity to rebuild while they have meaningful pieces.
Chicago Cubs:Sweet Lou made the right decision in running away from this team.The Cubs have been backsliding for awhile now, and this season proves it.They have very few quality players, they’re just top to bottom not as awful as the Pirates or Astros.It’ll be some time until this team is a legitimate threat to do much in the division again, short of a lightning in a bottle season.
Houston Astros:Much like the Cubs, this team really has no talent on it.Roy Oswalt is a dish best served elsewhere, and would make a lot of sense in bolstering the Phillies rotation or maybe even the Nationals as a tutor for the young guns they have coming up.But more likely the Angels will make a gamble on Roy for a farm system that, in about three season, will make people pay attention to Houston.This club may not get a pitcher more than 11 wins all season, and even that would seem like a miracle with this lineup.Triple A club here, might as well build the farm.
Pittsburgh Pirates:I’m a big Zach Duke fan, but that doesn’t mean much.McCutchen is an animal and will continue to grow, but this club is, much like the previous two teams mentioned, just a triple A club at best.A team constantly in rebuild mode, they need a few good drafts to shape into a competitive team.
This weekend there have been all kinds of exciting things happening in the NHL, NBA, and MLB. We'll start with hockey and work our way down the list.
NHL:
The Stanley Cup series is underway as the Chicago Blackhawks return to the Cup finals for the first time since '91-'92 and look for their first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history. The Flyers return to the Cup finals for the first time since '96-'97 and look for their first championship since '73-'74.
The Flyers have been a big surprise as they first upset the number two-seeded New Jersey Devils four games to one. Then, shocked everyone again and made history by coming down from being down three games to none against the Bruins and winning the series. The Flyers then only needed six games to cool down the very hot eight-seeded Montreal Canadiens in order to advance to the Cup.
The Blackhawks have been on fire and have just cruised through the playoffs as they have improved each series. They won the first series in six games, the second in five, before sweeping the number one-seeded Sharks. Game one took place on Saturday night and it was a fun one for the fans as it was full of offense. The Blackhawks gave the home team fans something to cheer about as they kept pace with the Flyers and won the always important game one 6-5.
NBA:
On Friday night, which is the weekend in my book, the Boston Celtics unfortunately closed out their series against the second-seeded Orlando Magic. The Celtics won the first three games before dropping the following two. They definitely didn't want to be the second Boston team in the past month to blow a three games to none lead so they just went ahead and won game six. They now advance to their second NBA Finals appearance in three years.
On Saturday night, which is most obviously the weekend, the L.A. Lakers went into Phoenix and beat the Suns with yet another 30+ point performance by Kobe Bryant. The L.A. Lakers advance to their third consecutive finals appearance and for a chance to defend their title. We will be witnessing a rematch of the 2008 NBA Finals when the Celtics defeated the Lakers in six games.
This Finals should be even better than 2008 as Kobe has been on a 30-point tear this post-season and is as hungry as ever for another ring. I have been watching more basketball than usual because I find the things Kobe does to be absolutely ridiculous. The guy makes some of the most amazing shots I've ever seen; ones LeBron couldn't make if he had 10 chances. Kobe is clearly the best basketball player of our era, and so far above LeBron it doesn't even seem fair. I understand they play different positions and I don't want to get into this right now, but Kobe is such a better offensive player and is a solid defender. He will win NBA Finals MVP...
MLB:
Ah, baseball...my first love. I know that most people don't give baseball any credit, but the people from Philadelphia got to see something very special on Saturday. Personally, I don't think they deserve it considering they way they have acted this season and in previous seasons.
Okay, I have beat around the bush long enough...if you didn't catch any ESPN this weekend, you didn't hear that Doc Halladay threw a perfect game against the Florida Marlins. That's right...absolute perfection (sounds like a good name for a brand of vodka). For me, there is no prettier thing in baseball...I mean just the sound of it...PERFECTION. It is impossible to acheive anything close in any other sport. A shutout in hockey? 20/20 in save chances...impressive but nothing out of the ordinary. Shooting 10/10 from the field in a basketball game...damn impressive, but still nothing too special. A perfect 158.3 QB rating in football...not too likely but still...just doesn't sound as good.
The reason I say that Phillies fans might not deserve it is because they have acted as bad this year as any other year. It is unbelieveable how they act, just click the link above. For them to behave the way they do, and then have the pleasure of watching a perfect game doesn't seem fair. I will speak for Yankee Nation, our fans might be obnoxious but we certainly don't act that bad. In fact, I will go as far as to lightly speak for Red Sox fans, or the few I know at least...
Not to mention, they have the pleasure of being graced by one of the greatest pitchers of our era... Harry Leroy Halladay III. Doc, as many call him, has been incredibly dominant this season...nothing out of the norm for him. The guy definitely deserves it more than anybody I can remember. He has owned the Yankees for as long as I can remember, formerly being a member of the Blue Jays, and I was more than overjoyed for him the leave not only my division but the American League all together. Regardless...this guy is incredible, a Hall of Famer if he retired tomorrow, and a classy guy. I hate him because he's so good but you've got to love him.
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.
A weekly feature on the good, the bad, and the ugly happening around the diamond.
Single:Ichiro Suzuki is the most overlooked future hall of famer in major league baseball.The most consistent hitter of our generation is once again doing just fine, thank you for noticing.He currently sports the 4th highest batting average in baseball and leads the league in hits.Just another day at the ballpark for Ichiro.
Double: A double is what you expect off the bat of a power hitter.Consistent, nothing special, but you’re just where you thought you would be.Your 2010 Philadelphia Phillies, baseballs most average great team.They give you nothing special, and they’re a no-nonsense club that just comes in every day and delivers.No glaring holes, just great talent.This team has nothing to write about, other than run of the mill dominance.Like the late ‘90’s Yankees, this is a phenomenal club.
Triple:As in triple play.Like the one started by the New York Mets Angel Pagan (take a minute and soak in how great a name that is) against the Nationals and Livan Hernandez.Not only did he start the triple play, he also homered in the game.But his unconventional inside the park round-tripper made him the first big leaguer since 1955 to accomplish both feats in the same game.It’s nice to see someone on that team still showing up.
Home Run:The San Diego Padres were no ones pick to do well this year.With a lineup with no feared hitter besides Adrian Gonzalez, they looked like they’d be lucky to finish any higher than 3rd in the NL West.But behind their absolute dominance of the Giants, the Pads are just a half game shy of the best record in the entire league.They’re doing all of this despite hitting an abysmal .240 as a team, thanks to their out-of-this-world 2.74 team ERA.The chances of keeping up that kind of a stat line are slim, but for now, the Padres are putting together an impressive run heading into the summer.
Strikin’ them out:Looks like Justin Verlander has gotten himself back on track in a hurry, putting together back to back wins against the Yankees and A’s, including 4-hitting the Athletics in a complete game against last week’s talk of the down Dallas Braden.The Tigers will need Verlander to keep this up if they’re going to stick with the Twins again in the AL Central.
Popping Up: Closers everywhere.Specifically, three of the biggest names in the game with Jonathan Papelbon, Mariano Rivera, and Trevor Hoffman all struggling tremendously.First an uncharacteristic grand slam given up by the Sandman himself, then Papelbon giving up four runs of his own to the tune of two two-run homers.Then Mo coming back the next night and blowing it.Meanwhile, the formerly ageless wonder Trevor Hoffman has now allowed more runs this season than he did all of last year.Yikes.
Caught Looking: Me.At Theo Epstein at a Pearl Jam show.Why worry about your .500 ballclub when you can rock out?I kid.Only a little.
Philadelphia has the best team in the league, hands down.And it’s not even that close.An absolutely lethal head of the rotation with Doc Halladay and Cole Hamels, backed up by a stud lineup.It’s almost unfair.Yet despite this, the division will probably still produce the wild card team, speaking to the strength of…
The Braves starting pitching.A top four in the rotation of Timmy Hudson, Tommy Hanson, Jair Jurrjens, and Derek Lowe is enough to keep them competitive in every game.That, and the fact that Bobby Cox is in the last year of his contract makes them a sympathetic playoff team.Sadly, sympathy won’t get them past the Phillies, and they’re still less pathetic than…
Your New York Mets.This team has everything on paper.Again.But the injury bug hasn’t looked too kindly on this team in awhile.Will David Wright return to David Wright of old?Will Carlos Beltran live up to his potential/ contract?Will Jeff Francoeur remember how to check a swing?Will Johan Santana be able to start 160+ games?The pieces are there, but the results will be puzzling.
The fish look to be in a very similar spot to their same state AL East pals.Decent starting pitching, good young talent, and a division that is nearly impossible to win based on the level of competition surrounding them.Any other division and they compete for the title.Here, they’ll be lucky to finish outside of the basement.
Well, maybe not that lucky.The Nationals aren’t a good team.Young players to build around like Stephen Strasburg make this a fun team to watch, but they won’t contend for a playoff spot.
NL Central
This division is loaded with power hitters to the point where it’s almost not fair.So ranking them based on pure slugging seems the right way to go.And if we’re going to do that, can anyone bet against Albert Pujols?Me thinks not.
Derek Lee comes sliding into second as far as pop at first goes.Last season he put up arguably his best stats since the 2005 year when he threatened for a triple crown until August.The Cubbies aren’t particularly strong, but they’re not lacking much.Which should be enough to finish just above .500 and place in second, just ahead of…
Cincinnati.A healthy Scott Rolen makes this a solid team in the infield.And that Joey Votto kid is an all-star in the making.But there’s not enough on both sides of the ball yet.
Milwaukee will be an entertaining team to watch so long as Prince and Ryan Braun keep the ball moving, but you know your pitching is week when the number one on your roster is Yovani Gallardo.
Houston and Pittsburgh tie here as teams going in opposite directions.Houston is bottoming out, with the careers of Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman fading away.Meanwhile, Pitt looks to the future with Andrew McCutchen, but that future is at least two or three years out.
NL West
This entire division is up for grabs, with four teams legitimately talented enough to make noise come playoff time.But the one team that would be the most threatening in October baseball?The Giants.Does anyone want to see Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain?That’s what I thought.
The Dodgers offer the most serious threat to the Giants hopes of a division crown, with a very different approach to victory.As good as San Fran is at pitching, the cluster of Andre Ethier, Manny, and this soon to be perennial all-star Matt Kemp are just as good at hitting, if not better.
Colorado has Ubaldo Jiminez, who could quickly become a dark horse Cy Young candidate by the summer.If this lineup stays healthy, they could threaten the division too.
Just as Arizona can.Standing toe to toe with Timmay and Cain in San Fran are Dan Haren and Brandon Webb in the desert.A healthy return for Webb suddenly makes this lackluster team a force.
Sadly, San Diego has no such magic.Apart from Adrian Gonzalez, this team is Triple A with very little hope.
So here’s to another fantastic season of baseball, of sinking line drives, sliders in the dirt, and dominating closers.Cheers.
The Philadelphia Phillies have said they have reached an agreement on a 3-year deal worth upwards of $60 million. Oh, I forgot to mention that the deal is with Toronto Blue Jays all-star Roy Halladay. The deal would send Halladay to the Phillies for prospects and in the process the Phillies would send could-have-been World Series MVP Cliff Lee to the Seattle Mariners for prospects.
This is the kind of deal that baseball fanatics, such as myself, love to see in the offseason because baseball disappears for a few months. So it is nice to see the MLB making headlines in the middle of December. However, it is even better to see that a divisional foe of my Yankees got rid of its ace/Yankee killer. Halladay was always spectacular but especially against the Yankees so I am glad to see him cross over to the NL. However, it is not nice to see that the Phils dealt Cliff Lee, who was phenomenal against the Yanks in the World Series, to the Mariners who are in the AL. Now Seattle has King Felix to go along with Lee and if you as me, that is one of the best one-two punches in the majors.
The Phillies are also looking to sign outfielder-first baseman Ross Gload to add some depth to the team. However, a more notable action is their pursuit of Fernando Rodney or John Smoltz to bolster up their bullpen.
