The day after the World Series and I’m a bit bitter. After watching Colorado’s incredible run of 21 wins in 22 games, I jumped on the bandwagon hoping they could tap the Rockies for a little more magic. And they got swept hard, getting outscored 29-10 during the four game series. Here are some parting thoughts on the 2007 World Series:
The best team won, period. I read a report that concluded the American League was treating its National counterpart like a minor league (see AL treating NL like minor league). That’s plain garbage. Sure, the AL has collected a staggering 291 wins in interleague play the past two years and won 10 consecutive All-star games. But that hasn’t helped with World Series titles, almost a dead heat. This year the Boston Red Sox were the best team all season, finishing with 96 wins, and they capped their great season yesterday with a title.
Boston needs to grow up. Boston won in ’04, but throughout this postseason the Red Sox acted like the curse hadn’t been broken. Between Manny’s incessant helmet flips, David Ortiz putting victory goggles on in the 8th inning of the ALCS finale and Jonathan Papelbon’s chicken dance the Sox were exceptionally immature. It’s time for Boston to start acting like the champions they are. Clean it up, Boston!
MLB must fix the playoff layoff problem. Colorado was crippled by their eight day layoff. Last year, the Detroit Tigers endured a six day layoff between the Championship and World Series before they lost to St. Louis in five games. It may be a touch disrespectful to use the layoff as an excuse, but nowhere else during the 162 game season does a team sit for so long. MLB needs to trim the off-days during the postseason, so they don’t have to play into November.
Fox’s television coverage was deplorable. I’m not even going to touch the television start times, which were rancid. But Joe Buck, Tim McCarver and Jeanne Zelasko formed the perfect storm of bad commentators. Buck ought to think about sticking to football, after showing he doesn’t understand baseball by continually talking about bunting down the first base line. McCarver just needs to be retired for being stupid (No, I still haven’t forgiven him: see In Remembrance...). And Zelasko should probably be hosting TMZ not Fox Sports pregame.
The postseason was mostly enjoyable and while the Red Sox seem poised to become the new Yankees, anything can happen next year.
UPDATE: The numbers are in and Fox's coverage of the Boston Red Sox's four-game World Series sweep finished with an average rating of 10.6 percent of TV households, according to USA Today. The four games average was the second-lowest ever, ahead of only the 10.1 average in 2006 for the St. Louis Cardinals' five-game win over the Detroit Tigers. In fact, Fox's NFL coverage of Washington-New England outdrew Game 4 with a 14.5 rating. Not shocking news at all. (10/30/07)
Monday, October 29, 2007
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
US Soccer | Ryan gets the boot
NEWS: SEARCH BEGINS FOR NEW COACHGreg Ryan is finished as the U.S. women's soccer coach.
U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati said on Monday that Ryan's contract will not be renewed when it expires at the end of the year.
"I'm not going to point to any one factor or one individual decision," Gulati said. "Obviously, coaches' decisions impact games. All that was weighed in."
Gulati, U.S. Soccer secretary general Dan Flynn and retired star Mia Hamm will form the search committee. Gulati expects to a hire Ryan’s replacement in the next month-and-half.
The squad will not play any more matches in 2007 and is set to resume training in January, with the 2008 Beijing Olympics on the horizon.
Ryan was 45-1-9 since taking over in early 2005, but that one loss — in his only major tournament — overshadowed the rest of his tenure.
(Compiled from AP and Chicago Trib reports)
FPS ANALYSIS: Greg Ryan’s problem was that his only loss as head coach was not only on the World stage, but was memorable. The Americans were favored to with their third World Cup and had advanced to the semifinals. Then things went awry for Ryan.
Before their match with Brazil, Ryan decided to make a change in goal, replacing Hope Solo with veteran Briana Scurry. Solo had a shutout string of nearly 300 minutes going, Scurry had previous successes against Brazil but hadn’t played a full match in three months. The rest is history. The Americans had to settle for third place.
U.S. soccer is making the right move. FPS said this should have happened after the semifinal match. Now, if Scurry and the U.S. team won the Brazil match, Ryan would not be in this position. Instead of looking like a genius, the coach looked like a bonehead. There’s no room for mistakes in a sport that has one big event every four years. Justice has been served.
Blogger’s Note: United States women's national soccer team coach Greg Ryan answers questions during a press conference in this Sept. 28, 2007 file photo from Shanghai, China. Ryan is out as the U.S. women's soccer coach. Photo courtesy of AP Photo – Julie Jacobson
Monday, October 22, 2007
Top Gator Bruised
NEWS: FLORIDA QB TEBOW LIMITED IN PRACTICE
Florida coach Urban Meyer has talked the talk all season, now Meyer will need to walk the walk and limit the number of carries for star quarterback Tim Tebow.
Tebow sustained a bruised right (non-throwing) shoulder injury in the second-half of the Gators' 45-37 win at Kentucky on Saturday. Tebow played through the pain and sealed the victory for Florida with a late 2-yard touchdown run.
Meyer announced Tebow wouldn’t have any contact in practice this week.
Limiting Tebow would be an adjustment for the Gators considering the quarterback has accounted for 73 percent of their offense. Tebow is the leading rusher for Florida accounting for 578 yards and 10 touchdowns on 125 carriers, and leads the nation in passer rating (177.5).
Against Kentucky, Tebow carried the ball 20 times for 78 yards and a touchdown. However, only ten of those carries were designed runs according to Meyer.
(Compiled from Gator Sports and AP reports)
FPS ANALYSIS: I’m surprised that Tim Tebow has not broken down sooner. Coach Urban Meyer’s unique spread-option attack relies on a mobile quarterback. Tebow fits the bill and has carried the load so far this season. He is really a fullback, who happens to be able to pass. But carrying the ball 125 times in the SEC will take a tool on any player.
This could impact Florida’s game plan heading into their showdown with rival Georgia. A bruised non-throwing shoulder isn’t a big deal and I really don’t expect the injury to slow Tebow down. It certainly won’t impact his ridiculous looking and patented fake-run jump-flick foward pass in goal line situations.
Florida coach Urban Meyer has talked the talk all season, now Meyer will need to walk the walk and limit the number of carries for star quarterback Tim Tebow.
Tebow sustained a bruised right (non-throwing) shoulder injury in the second-half of the Gators' 45-37 win at Kentucky on Saturday. Tebow played through the pain and sealed the victory for Florida with a late 2-yard touchdown run.
Meyer announced Tebow wouldn’t have any contact in practice this week.
Limiting Tebow would be an adjustment for the Gators considering the quarterback has accounted for 73 percent of their offense. Tebow is the leading rusher for Florida accounting for 578 yards and 10 touchdowns on 125 carriers, and leads the nation in passer rating (177.5).
Against Kentucky, Tebow carried the ball 20 times for 78 yards and a touchdown. However, only ten of those carries were designed runs according to Meyer.
(Compiled from Gator Sports and AP reports)
FPS ANALYSIS: I’m surprised that Tim Tebow has not broken down sooner. Coach Urban Meyer’s unique spread-option attack relies on a mobile quarterback. Tebow fits the bill and has carried the load so far this season. He is really a fullback, who happens to be able to pass. But carrying the ball 125 times in the SEC will take a tool on any player.
This could impact Florida’s game plan heading into their showdown with rival Georgia. A bruised non-throwing shoulder isn’t a big deal and I really don’t expect the injury to slow Tebow down. It certainly won’t impact his ridiculous looking and patented fake-run jump-flick foward pass in goal line situations.
Real men play Rugby
Over the weekend, England’s little known World Cup defense ended as South Africa claimed the rugby’s biggest prize for the second time.The Springboks ended England’s remarkable defense of their world-title glory by landing the Webb Ellis Trophy for a second time in 12 years with a 15-6 victory in the tournament final.
England was given 80-1 odds in the match after losing 36-0 to South Africa in the pool stages 36 days earlier. The English made the Springboks fight every inch of the way.
South Africa’s full-back Percy Montgomery kicked four penalties, while
England’s Jonny Wilkinson booted a double for his sqad.
South Africa’s renowned power game surfaced as half-time approached and they laid siege to England’s line. The defending champions epitomized the collective spirit of the sport as they came up short.
To honor the end of sports least watched tournament and the real men who don those short-shorts and clobber each other, here's a rugby haiku:
Head to head, ruck, scrum
Eighty mintues, run, pass, win
The better football.
The Bane of Baseball
MLB's revenue is catching up to the NFL's. With a record 79.5 million fans attending games this year, hundreds of millions of dollars coming due to television and radio broadcasts and MLB's Internet division generating income above expectations, the game is doing business like never before.
Commissioner Bud Selig said the MLB's revenues are expected to be more than $6 billion this year.
"Imagine that," Selig said. "When you think back to where we were 10, 15 years ago, it's stunning.”
Stunning indeed that MLB revenue has grown so rapidly that the sport is on the verge of catching the NFL, which is expected to gross about $6.3 billion in 2007-08.
"Make no mistake about it. Our sport is more popular than ever and it is still the national pastime," Selig said.
But that’s where I disagree. The evidence shows that baseball is thriving. For only the second time in major league history, the season ended with no club playing .600 ball or better and no team with lower than a .400 winning percentage.* Some call it parity others call it mediocrity, but in any case the league is doing well.
However, to make baseball matter again they league must deal with two problems: terrible television start times, evident during the playoffs, and inconsistent umpiring.
Roughly 40 percent of the U.S. population lives in the Eastern Time Zone. When MLB starts games at 8:30 p.m. ET and it takes 3 hours 30 minutes plus to finish a game, it’s Midnight or later in the East. Only diehard fans are going to stay up and watch the whole game. Baseball is not building the next-generation of fans, because they can’t stay up and watch. It’s a trap and baseball has fallen into it.
Inconsistent umpiring can undo some of baseball gains and the Commissioner’s office needs to step up.
Take Game 6 of the ALCS. Cleveland’s Fausto Carmona struggled through two official innings of work. Of Carmona’s 63 pitches only half got over the plate as strikes.
On the other side Boston’s Curt Schilling, known as a big game pitcher, went seven strong innings striking out five and walking none. Of Schilling’s 90 pitches nearly two-thirds were strikes. I watched the game and Schilling got his marginal pitches called strikes and Carmona did not.
The Strike Zone is clearly defined in MLB’s rules. Selig and his office must monitor how umpires call balls and strikes. Umpires who are inconsistent or who do not use the entire strike zone should be relieved from their home plate duties. Bad officiating drives average fans away from any sport and baseball umpires do a lot more than most other officials.
It’s great that Major League Baseball is making gains. But the league has a way to go to regain its status as the national pastime.
*Blogger’s Note: Boston and Cleveland tied at the top with a .593 winning-percentage and Tampa Bay had the lowest winning percentage at .407. The 600-400 winning percentage spread also occurred in 2000.
The Strike Zone is that area over home plate the upper limit of which is a horizontal line at the midpoint between the top of the shoulders and the top of the uniform pants, and the lower level is a line at the hollow beneath the kneecap. The Strike Zone shall be determined from the batter’s stance as the batter is prepared to swing at a pitched ball. (from MLB Rule 2.00 -- Definitions of Terms)
Commissioner Bud Selig said the MLB's revenues are expected to be more than $6 billion this year.
"Imagine that," Selig said. "When you think back to where we were 10, 15 years ago, it's stunning.”
Stunning indeed that MLB revenue has grown so rapidly that the sport is on the verge of catching the NFL, which is expected to gross about $6.3 billion in 2007-08.
"Make no mistake about it. Our sport is more popular than ever and it is still the national pastime," Selig said.
But that’s where I disagree. The evidence shows that baseball is thriving. For only the second time in major league history, the season ended with no club playing .600 ball or better and no team with lower than a .400 winning percentage.* Some call it parity others call it mediocrity, but in any case the league is doing well.
However, to make baseball matter again they league must deal with two problems: terrible television start times, evident during the playoffs, and inconsistent umpiring.
Roughly 40 percent of the U.S. population lives in the Eastern Time Zone. When MLB starts games at 8:30 p.m. ET and it takes 3 hours 30 minutes plus to finish a game, it’s Midnight or later in the East. Only diehard fans are going to stay up and watch the whole game. Baseball is not building the next-generation of fans, because they can’t stay up and watch. It’s a trap and baseball has fallen into it.
Inconsistent umpiring can undo some of baseball gains and the Commissioner’s office needs to step up.
Take Game 6 of the ALCS. Cleveland’s Fausto Carmona struggled through two official innings of work. Of Carmona’s 63 pitches only half got over the plate as strikes.
On the other side Boston’s Curt Schilling, known as a big game pitcher, went seven strong innings striking out five and walking none. Of Schilling’s 90 pitches nearly two-thirds were strikes. I watched the game and Schilling got his marginal pitches called strikes and Carmona did not.
The Strike Zone is clearly defined in MLB’s rules. Selig and his office must monitor how umpires call balls and strikes. Umpires who are inconsistent or who do not use the entire strike zone should be relieved from their home plate duties. Bad officiating drives average fans away from any sport and baseball umpires do a lot more than most other officials.
It’s great that Major League Baseball is making gains. But the league has a way to go to regain its status as the national pastime.
*Blogger’s Note: Boston and Cleveland tied at the top with a .593 winning-percentage and Tampa Bay had the lowest winning percentage at .407. The 600-400 winning percentage spread also occurred in 2000.
The Strike Zone is that area over home plate the upper limit of which is a horizontal line at the midpoint between the top of the shoulders and the top of the uniform pants, and the lower level is a line at the hollow beneath the kneecap. The Strike Zone shall be determined from the batter’s stance as the batter is prepared to swing at a pitched ball. (from MLB Rule 2.00 -- Definitions of Terms)
Sunday, October 14, 2007
In Remembrance…
Oct. 14 is a black day in Pittsburgh sports history. On this day in 1992, the Pittsburgh Pirates were on the brink of winning the National League pennant. The Pirates had lost the 1990 NLCS in six games to Cincinnati and held a 3-2 series lead in the 1991 NLCS before Atlanta shut them out twice.
But 1992 looked like the Pirates’ year. After forcing Game 7 by whipping the Braves 13-4, the Pirates held one run lead with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Manager Bobby Cox called to his bench and rest is history.
The oft-used infielder Francisco Cabrera, who only 10 at-bats in the regular season, came to the plate as a pinch hitter and singled into left field off Pirates’ closer Stan Belinda. Atlanta’s David Justice scored easily from third base and the sluggish Sid Bream hobbled home from second beating out the throw from Pirates’ leftfielder Barry Bonds. The Braves won and the Pirates have never been the same.
As a franchise the Pirates have suffered 15-consecutive losing seasons since 1992. They haven’t had more than 79 wins in a season. The Braves went on to become the team of the 1990s winning five NL pennants and one World Series.
As a Pittsburgh-native it’s still hard to listen to announcer Sean McDonough who called the 1992 NLCS. However, McDonough’s become more palatable since switching to doing play-by-play for college sports. Color commentator Tim McCarver and Barry Bonds remain unforgiven for being terrible during the 1992 NLCS and since.
Today is a black day.
But 1992 looked like the Pirates’ year. After forcing Game 7 by whipping the Braves 13-4, the Pirates held one run lead with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Manager Bobby Cox called to his bench and rest is history.
The oft-used infielder Francisco Cabrera, who only 10 at-bats in the regular season, came to the plate as a pinch hitter and singled into left field off Pirates’ closer Stan Belinda. Atlanta’s David Justice scored easily from third base and the sluggish Sid Bream hobbled home from second beating out the throw from Pirates’ leftfielder Barry Bonds. The Braves won and the Pirates have never been the same.
As a franchise the Pirates have suffered 15-consecutive losing seasons since 1992. They haven’t had more than 79 wins in a season. The Braves went on to become the team of the 1990s winning five NL pennants and one World Series.
As a Pittsburgh-native it’s still hard to listen to announcer Sean McDonough who called the 1992 NLCS. However, McDonough’s become more palatable since switching to doing play-by-play for college sports. Color commentator Tim McCarver and Barry Bonds remain unforgiven for being terrible during the 1992 NLCS and since.
Today is a black day.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
First round flops
While we wait for MLB Championship Series’ to begin, here is a look at the five biggest flops from the Divisional Round.
5. Derek Jeter | NY Yankees – Jeter, Captain Clutch himself, was anything but clutch in the 2007 playoffs. Jeter grounded into three double plays in the last two games while batting a measly .176 with one RBI and no extra base hits.
4. Vladimir Guerrero | LA Angels – Although he was not 100-percent healthy, Guerrero failed to deliver in the postseason again. In the 2005 ALCS, Vlad was just 1-for-20. In this year’s ALDS he went 2-for-10 with zero RBIs in the sweep by the Red Sox.
3. Alfonso Soriano | Cubs – Chicago won the free agent sweepstakes last year when they landed Soriano. The leftfielder belted 14 home runs and 25 extra-base hits in September. Soriano, who was terrible against Arizona this season (just 1-for-11), continued to struggle as he went 2-for-14 with four Ks and zero extra-base hits as the Cubs were swept.
2. Philadelphia | Phillies – Philly flopped hard in the NLDS, as they failed to win against Colorado. Chase Utley, the All-Star second baseman, went 2-for-11 with five strikeouts, no home runs and zero RBIs. Outfielder Aaron Rowand went 1-for-12 with one solo home run after hitting a career-high 27 home runs and batting .309 in the regular season. And first baseman Ryan Howard faired only slightly better batting 3-for-12 with one home run, but also striking out seven times.
1. Alex Rodriguez | NY Yankees – A-Rod stopped his postseason hitless streak at 18 at-bats with a second-inning single in Game 3. Then in Game 4, Rodriguez drove in his first postseason run since 2004 with a meaningless seventh inning solo home run. A-Rod went just 4-for-15 and failed to help the Yankees win a playoff series, again.
5. Derek Jeter | NY Yankees – Jeter, Captain Clutch himself, was anything but clutch in the 2007 playoffs. Jeter grounded into three double plays in the last two games while batting a measly .176 with one RBI and no extra base hits.
4. Vladimir Guerrero | LA Angels – Although he was not 100-percent healthy, Guerrero failed to deliver in the postseason again. In the 2005 ALCS, Vlad was just 1-for-20. In this year’s ALDS he went 2-for-10 with zero RBIs in the sweep by the Red Sox.
3. Alfonso Soriano | Cubs – Chicago won the free agent sweepstakes last year when they landed Soriano. The leftfielder belted 14 home runs and 25 extra-base hits in September. Soriano, who was terrible against Arizona this season (just 1-for-11), continued to struggle as he went 2-for-14 with four Ks and zero extra-base hits as the Cubs were swept.
2. Philadelphia | Phillies – Philly flopped hard in the NLDS, as they failed to win against Colorado. Chase Utley, the All-Star second baseman, went 2-for-11 with five strikeouts, no home runs and zero RBIs. Outfielder Aaron Rowand went 1-for-12 with one solo home run after hitting a career-high 27 home runs and batting .309 in the regular season. And first baseman Ryan Howard faired only slightly better batting 3-for-12 with one home run, but also striking out seven times.
1. Alex Rodriguez | NY Yankees – A-Rod stopped his postseason hitless streak at 18 at-bats with a second-inning single in Game 3. Then in Game 4, Rodriguez drove in his first postseason run since 2004 with a meaningless seventh inning solo home run. A-Rod went just 4-for-15 and failed to help the Yankees win a playoff series, again.
Monday, October 8, 2007
FPS: MLB Awards 2007
NL MVP
Matt Holliday | Rockies – The leftfielder was unconscious in September belting 12 home runs, 30 RBIs and batting with a .367 average. Holliday claimed the NL batting crown outright (.340) and his two RBIs in the Rockies one-game playoff made him the NL RBI-leader as well with 137. To go along with his 36 home runs, Holliday led the NL in doubles (50) and finished sixth in OBP (.405). The fact that Holliday plays at Coors Field, with a large outfield and thin air, certainly detracts from his numbers. But you can’t take away the fact that the man can hit. Finally, Holliday’s aura was dramatically increased when he scored the controversial winning run to slide the Rocks into the playoffs.
Runner-up: Jimmy Rollins | Phillies – Rollins blew away the modern NL record for runs scored (139) and extra-base hits (88) by a shortstop. On the final day of the season he became the first NL shortstop in 34 years to start all 162 games and his triple in the sixth inning of the same game made him a member of the 20-20-20-20 Club (home runs, triples, doubles, stolen bases).
AL MVP
Magglio Ordonez | Tigers – Some of you might be in shock that FPS is crowning Magglio the AL MVP. But Ordonez had a season worthy of the title, including winning the batting title by 12 points, becoming just the second Tiger to win the batting title since 1961.
As you break down the numbers Ordonez had a huge year: first in the majors in batting (.363), second in the league in RBIs (139) and hits (216), tied for second in the league in OBP (.434), fifth in the AL in runs scored (117) and seventh in the AL in home runs (28). When you consider that Gary Sheffield, Placido Polanco and Ivan Rodriguez all missed substantial time for Detroit, Ordonez really carried his team. The same can't be said for the runner-up.
Runner-up: Alex Rodriguez | Yankees – Only two players in the history of the American League have had this many homers (54), RBIs (156) and runs scored (143) in a season -- and they are both baseball legends, Babe Ruth and Jimmie Foxx. So how can you possibly justify passing A-Rod up on the MVP award? Simply put, when the Yankees made their late season charge almost everyone's bat was hot, with one exception: Rodriguez. A-Rod was 1-for-18 in a five game stretch when New York won all five games. Plus his average was good not great, OBP was second best on his team and he struck out 120 times. A-Rod will win the real MVP award, but here he's the first loser.
NL CY YOUNG
Jake Peavy | Padres – This is the most slam-dunk case for any of the awards. Peavy won the National League's pitching Triple Crown, which means he led the league in wins, strikeouts and ERA. Here's the thing with Peavy, he pitched better than his 2.36 ERA and 19-6 record shows. While Peavy was in the game he had zero or one run scored for him in nine different starts. Could he have won 25 games? Maybe, but he will win some new hardware.
Runner-up: Not worth mentioning
AL CY YOUNG
C.C. Sabathia | Indians – Sabathia was clutch for the Indians all year. He finished fifth in the AL in ERA (3.21) and strikeouts (209), tied-for-second in wins (19) and pitched the most innings in the league with 241. Plus the Indians-ace had the best strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.65) by any left-handed pitcher in AL history. Here’s the kicker, when you compare Sabathia to the other AL Cy Young contenders Josh Beckett of Boston and John Lackey of the LA Angels, Sabathia is light outs the top pitcher. In both starts of seven innings-plus and starts allowing no more than two earned runs in six-plus innings, Sabathia is tops.
Runner-up: Josh Beckett | Red Sox – It’s hard to deny the Red Sox ace who was the majors only 20-game winner and was an instrumental in Boston’s division title. Despite Beckett’s 20 wins, he was just sixth in the AL in ERA and seventh in strikeouts. Plus Beckett trailed Sabathia by 40 innings pitched. The numbers are there, but all the stats put Beckett in oh-so-close second place.
WORST-BEST AWARD*
Ryan Howard | Phillies – The reigning NL MVP was supposed to have another monster season. And in a way Howard did. Howard batted .268 considerably worse than his .313 average in 2006. But he cracked 47 home runs and 136 RBIs, good enough for second in the NL in both categories. So why does Howard win the FPS Worst-Best award? Because of his strikeout numbers. The Phillies slugger broke the MLB record with his 196th strikeout of the season and added three more before the end of the year. In his 529 at-bats, Howard sat down 199 times due to Ks, a remarkable 37 percent of the time.
Runner-up: Matt Cain | Giants – The Giants righty was the leading contender for the Worst-Best award all year, but got bumped to the runner-up spot. While Cain improved his ERA, lowering it from 4.15 to 3.65, he never lived up to the pre-season hype. Cain’s strikeout total dropped by 16 and his 7-16 record was dramatically worse. San Francisco did not help Cain’s cause by scoring zero runs in four of his starts and averaging an anemic 2.8 runs/game if you discount their May 13th 15-run outburst.
Blogger’s Note: *An FPS award given to the player who's good but did something amazingly bad. Photos – TOP: Detroit Tigers' Magglio Ordonez hits a two-run home run against the Minnesota Twins on Sept. 25. The homer was one of Ordonez’s 28 during a monster year for Detroit. Photo courtesy of AP Photo - Duane Burleson. BOTTOM: Ryan Howard argues with homeplate umpire Dale Scott after striking out during Game One of the NLDS on Oct. 3. Howard struck out seven times in the playoffs to go with his 199 Ks in the regular season. Photo courtesy of Getty Images – Drew Hallowell.
Matt Holliday | Rockies – The leftfielder was unconscious in September belting 12 home runs, 30 RBIs and batting with a .367 average. Holliday claimed the NL batting crown outright (.340) and his two RBIs in the Rockies one-game playoff made him the NL RBI-leader as well with 137. To go along with his 36 home runs, Holliday led the NL in doubles (50) and finished sixth in OBP (.405). The fact that Holliday plays at Coors Field, with a large outfield and thin air, certainly detracts from his numbers. But you can’t take away the fact that the man can hit. Finally, Holliday’s aura was dramatically increased when he scored the controversial winning run to slide the Rocks into the playoffs.
Runner-up: Jimmy Rollins | Phillies – Rollins blew away the modern NL record for runs scored (139) and extra-base hits (88) by a shortstop. On the final day of the season he became the first NL shortstop in 34 years to start all 162 games and his triple in the sixth inning of the same game made him a member of the 20-20-20-20 Club (home runs, triples, doubles, stolen bases).
AL MVP
Magglio Ordonez | Tigers – Some of you might be in shock that FPS is crowning Magglio the AL MVP. But Ordonez had a season worthy of the title, including winning the batting title by 12 points, becoming just the second Tiger to win the batting title since 1961.
As you break down the numbers Ordonez had a huge year: first in the majors in batting (.363), second in the league in RBIs (139) and hits (216), tied for second in the league in OBP (.434), fifth in the AL in runs scored (117) and seventh in the AL in home runs (28). When you consider that Gary Sheffield, Placido Polanco and Ivan Rodriguez all missed substantial time for Detroit, Ordonez really carried his team. The same can't be said for the runner-up.Runner-up: Alex Rodriguez | Yankees – Only two players in the history of the American League have had this many homers (54), RBIs (156) and runs scored (143) in a season -- and they are both baseball legends, Babe Ruth and Jimmie Foxx. So how can you possibly justify passing A-Rod up on the MVP award? Simply put, when the Yankees made their late season charge almost everyone's bat was hot, with one exception: Rodriguez. A-Rod was 1-for-18 in a five game stretch when New York won all five games. Plus his average was good not great, OBP was second best on his team and he struck out 120 times. A-Rod will win the real MVP award, but here he's the first loser.
NL CY YOUNG
Jake Peavy | Padres – This is the most slam-dunk case for any of the awards. Peavy won the National League's pitching Triple Crown, which means he led the league in wins, strikeouts and ERA. Here's the thing with Peavy, he pitched better than his 2.36 ERA and 19-6 record shows. While Peavy was in the game he had zero or one run scored for him in nine different starts. Could he have won 25 games? Maybe, but he will win some new hardware.
Runner-up: Not worth mentioning
AL CY YOUNG
C.C. Sabathia | Indians – Sabathia was clutch for the Indians all year. He finished fifth in the AL in ERA (3.21) and strikeouts (209), tied-for-second in wins (19) and pitched the most innings in the league with 241. Plus the Indians-ace had the best strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.65) by any left-handed pitcher in AL history. Here’s the kicker, when you compare Sabathia to the other AL Cy Young contenders Josh Beckett of Boston and John Lackey of the LA Angels, Sabathia is light outs the top pitcher. In both starts of seven innings-plus and starts allowing no more than two earned runs in six-plus innings, Sabathia is tops.
Runner-up: Josh Beckett | Red Sox – It’s hard to deny the Red Sox ace who was the majors only 20-game winner and was an instrumental in Boston’s division title. Despite Beckett’s 20 wins, he was just sixth in the AL in ERA and seventh in strikeouts. Plus Beckett trailed Sabathia by 40 innings pitched. The numbers are there, but all the stats put Beckett in oh-so-close second place.
WORST-BEST AWARD*
Ryan Howard | Phillies – The reigning NL MVP was supposed to have another monster season. And in a way Howard did. Howard batted .268 considerably worse than his .313 average in 2006. But he cracked 47 home runs and 136 RBIs, good enough for second in the NL in both categories. So why does Howard win the FPS Worst-Best award? Because of his strikeout numbers. The Phillies slugger broke the MLB record with his 196th strikeout of the season and added three more before the end of the year. In his 529 at-bats, Howard sat down 199 times due to Ks, a remarkable 37 percent of the time.Runner-up: Matt Cain | Giants – The Giants righty was the leading contender for the Worst-Best award all year, but got bumped to the runner-up spot. While Cain improved his ERA, lowering it from 4.15 to 3.65, he never lived up to the pre-season hype. Cain’s strikeout total dropped by 16 and his 7-16 record was dramatically worse. San Francisco did not help Cain’s cause by scoring zero runs in four of his starts and averaging an anemic 2.8 runs/game if you discount their May 13th 15-run outburst.
Blogger’s Note: *An FPS award given to the player who's good but did something amazingly bad. Photos – TOP: Detroit Tigers' Magglio Ordonez hits a two-run home run against the Minnesota Twins on Sept. 25. The homer was one of Ordonez’s 28 during a monster year for Detroit. Photo courtesy of AP Photo - Duane Burleson. BOTTOM: Ryan Howard argues with homeplate umpire Dale Scott after striking out during Game One of the NLDS on Oct. 3. Howard struck out seven times in the playoffs to go with his 199 Ks in the regular season. Photo courtesy of Getty Images – Drew Hallowell.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Why they kick it off...
AN NCAA FOOTBALL GUT CHECK
Autumn officially started Sept. 23 and top 25 teams responded by dropping like leaves.
In the first full weekend of fall football, half of the top 10 was upset and another four top 25 teams were defeated. The most shocking tumbles occurred to No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 4 Florida and No. 7 Texas.
During this unbelievably topsy-turvy season and anything can happen. So as today’s action gets started including the Gators trying to avoid back-to-back loses, No. 5 Wisconsin playing as an underdog against unranked Illinois, the Red River “fallout” and Notre Dame hoping to avoid an 0-6 start, here’s a look at a few of the story lines so far this season.
BCS-busters BUSTED – Sept. 8 was not a good Saturday potential BCS-busters. Boise State, BYU, Southern Miss and TCU all lost. The only non-BCS team that might still have an outside chance is Hawaii, which needed overtime to sneak past Louisiana Tech an didn’t look great against Idaho last week. One potential excuse for Hawaii’s poor performance against Tech is that they had to travel 4,050 miles to get to Ruston, La., the longest road trip for any NCAA team this season. However, the Warriors better start pounding on teams to impress the pollsters. Hawaii better hang on to their Haka (Maori war chant), the rest of the season.
The best team in the Big East is South Florida!?! – The Big East was supposed to be a two-team race between West Virginia and Louisville, with Rutgers possibly in the mix. Louisville’s out of the picture because they can’t stop opposing teams and Rutgers is fading quickly. That leaves the South Florida Bulls as the team to beat in the Big East. In front of a record crowd, USF defeated No. 5 West Virginia for the second time in two-years. For a program that has only existed for 11 seasons, South Florida could be heading toward unprecedented heights.
The clouds are lifting over Seattle – The Washington Huskies were a premier program in the 1990s, but recently U-Dub has fallen on hard times. The Huskies were a combined 21-38 over the past five seasons. But, third-year coach Tyrone Willingham has another Pac-10 program on the rise. Washington took No. 1 USC to the wire this past week and snapped Boise State’s 14-game winning streak. Washington is still a couple years away from competing for conference titles, but it may be a consolation for Willingham that the Huskies will finish with more wins than the team in South Bend who bounced him.
The Big Ten conference is terrible – Everyone has been dogging on the Big Ten this year, probably because of last year's BCS debacle. But the conference is better than you think. Sure Michigan fell hard at the beginning of the season, but they are probably going to win their fourth straight game since getting skunked by Oregon. Ohio State, Wisconsin and Purdue are all undefeated entering today. Watch out this conference has a chip of its collective-shoulder.
Defense is determining the Heisman race – That’s right; the Heisman race is being decided by ugly defenses. Take Louisville QB Brian Brohm, who is having a Heisman-type season. Through six games, Brohm has tossed the ball for 2,415 yards (2nd in the NCAA) and 20 touchdowns (also 2nd in the NCAA) with only four interceptions. Unfortunately, Brohm is playing on a .500-team that can’t stop the opposition when they have the ball. Louisville’s defense gave up 465 yards in a loss to Syracuse, a 36 ½ point underdog and 582 yards last night in a loss to Utah. For an award that goes to the MVP of the best team in college, Brohm and talented Arkansas back Darren McFadden might be on the outside come trophy time.
The Shame of the Golden Dome – Notre Dame football has literally become the laughing stock of the nation. Jay Leno has continued his nightly bashing of Irish football including this joke from the past week, the Roman Catholic church has recognized another miracle: “Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis still has a job.” The offense is horrible and Notre Dame is off to its worst start in history, 0-5. They haven’t even looked competitive. Things could get worse before they get better as the Irish play UCLA tonight, then host No. 6 Boston College and No. 1 USC.
Blogger's Note: Photos - TOP LEFT: USF's Jesse Hester catches the game-winning 14-yard touchdown pass to lift the Bulls to a 26-23 overtime win over No. 17 Auburn, Sept. 8. Photo courtesy of AP Photo - Dave Martin. BOTTOM RIGHT: QB Brian Brohm of Louisville celebrates during the second half against NC State Sept. 29. Brohm probably won't be celebrating when awards are passed out, due to Louisville's porous defense. Photo courtesy of Getty Images - Kevin Cox.
Autumn officially started Sept. 23 and top 25 teams responded by dropping like leaves.
In the first full weekend of fall football, half of the top 10 was upset and another four top 25 teams were defeated. The most shocking tumbles occurred to No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 4 Florida and No. 7 Texas.
During this unbelievably topsy-turvy season and anything can happen. So as today’s action gets started including the Gators trying to avoid back-to-back loses, No. 5 Wisconsin playing as an underdog against unranked Illinois, the Red River “fallout” and Notre Dame hoping to avoid an 0-6 start, here’s a look at a few of the story lines so far this season.
BCS-busters BUSTED – Sept. 8 was not a good Saturday potential BCS-busters. Boise State, BYU, Southern Miss and TCU all lost. The only non-BCS team that might still have an outside chance is Hawaii, which needed overtime to sneak past Louisiana Tech an didn’t look great against Idaho last week. One potential excuse for Hawaii’s poor performance against Tech is that they had to travel 4,050 miles to get to Ruston, La., the longest road trip for any NCAA team this season. However, the Warriors better start pounding on teams to impress the pollsters. Hawaii better hang on to their Haka (Maori war chant), the rest of the season.
The best team in the Big East is South Florida!?! – The Big East was supposed to be a two-team race between West Virginia and Louisville, with Rutgers possibly in the mix. Louisville’s out of the picture because they can’t stop opposing teams and Rutgers is fading quickly. That leaves the South Florida Bulls as the team to beat in the Big East. In front of a record crowd, USF defeated No. 5 West Virginia for the second time in two-years. For a program that has only existed for 11 seasons, South Florida could be heading toward unprecedented heights.The clouds are lifting over Seattle – The Washington Huskies were a premier program in the 1990s, but recently U-Dub has fallen on hard times. The Huskies were a combined 21-38 over the past five seasons. But, third-year coach Tyrone Willingham has another Pac-10 program on the rise. Washington took No. 1 USC to the wire this past week and snapped Boise State’s 14-game winning streak. Washington is still a couple years away from competing for conference titles, but it may be a consolation for Willingham that the Huskies will finish with more wins than the team in South Bend who bounced him.
The Big Ten conference is terrible – Everyone has been dogging on the Big Ten this year, probably because of last year's BCS debacle. But the conference is better than you think. Sure Michigan fell hard at the beginning of the season, but they are probably going to win their fourth straight game since getting skunked by Oregon. Ohio State, Wisconsin and Purdue are all undefeated entering today. Watch out this conference has a chip of its collective-shoulder.
Defense is determining the Heisman race – That’s right; the Heisman race is being decided by ugly defenses. Take Louisville QB Brian Brohm, who is having a Heisman-type season. Through six games, Brohm has tossed the ball for 2,415 yards (2nd in the NCAA) and 20 touchdowns (also 2nd in the NCAA) with only four interceptions. Unfortunately, Brohm is playing on a .500-team that can’t stop the opposition when they have the ball. Louisville’s defense gave up 465 yards in a loss to Syracuse, a 36 ½ point underdog and 582 yards last night in a loss to Utah. For an award that goes to the MVP of the best team in college, Brohm and talented Arkansas back Darren McFadden might be on the outside come trophy time.The Shame of the Golden Dome – Notre Dame football has literally become the laughing stock of the nation. Jay Leno has continued his nightly bashing of Irish football including this joke from the past week, the Roman Catholic church has recognized another miracle: “Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis still has a job.” The offense is horrible and Notre Dame is off to its worst start in history, 0-5. They haven’t even looked competitive. Things could get worse before they get better as the Irish play UCLA tonight, then host No. 6 Boston College and No. 1 USC.
Blogger's Note: Photos - TOP LEFT: USF's Jesse Hester catches the game-winning 14-yard touchdown pass to lift the Bulls to a 26-23 overtime win over No. 17 Auburn, Sept. 8. Photo courtesy of AP Photo - Dave Martin. BOTTOM RIGHT: QB Brian Brohm of Louisville celebrates during the second half against NC State Sept. 29. Brohm probably won't be celebrating when awards are passed out, due to Louisville's porous defense. Photo courtesy of Getty Images - Kevin Cox.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Does anybody care?
NHL SEASON BEGINS, BUT NOBODY IS WATCHING
During the opening evening of the 2007-08 NHL season three of the four games went to overtime, one of the overtime games was decided in a shootout and the fourth “most boring” game witnessed a hat trick.
If you were an NHL executive you couldn’t ask for a better start to the season. But in early-October, did anyone really notice?
Hockey used to be one of the big four professional sports until the 2004-05 lockout. Unfortunately, the NHL has given way to more popular spectator sports like NASCAR.
Let’s be honest here, no one is paying attention to hockey right now. Major League Baseball just reached the postseason, pro football is beginning the second quarter of its season, college football is going full-throttle and heaven forbid I mention it, NASCAR is in its playoff the “Chase for the Cup.”
The NHL would be better suited if started its season in November. Usually November temperatures are colder, more like winter, which is fundamentally hockey. This is the sport of ice and snow after all.
The potential down side for franchises in cutting out the first month of the season is lost revenue. But an NHL season that went from November to March would be more than adequate. If those ten-or-so games are too precious, the league could easily spread them out throughout the remainder of the season.
It’s great the hockey is back, but I won’t be watching for a while.
During the opening evening of the 2007-08 NHL season three of the four games went to overtime, one of the overtime games was decided in a shootout and the fourth “most boring” game witnessed a hat trick.
If you were an NHL executive you couldn’t ask for a better start to the season. But in early-October, did anyone really notice?
Hockey used to be one of the big four professional sports until the 2004-05 lockout. Unfortunately, the NHL has given way to more popular spectator sports like NASCAR.
Let’s be honest here, no one is paying attention to hockey right now. Major League Baseball just reached the postseason, pro football is beginning the second quarter of its season, college football is going full-throttle and heaven forbid I mention it, NASCAR is in its playoff the “Chase for the Cup.”
The NHL would be better suited if started its season in November. Usually November temperatures are colder, more like winter, which is fundamentally hockey. This is the sport of ice and snow after all.
The potential down side for franchises in cutting out the first month of the season is lost revenue. But an NHL season that went from November to March would be more than adequate. If those ten-or-so games are too precious, the league could easily spread them out throughout the remainder of the season.
It’s great the hockey is back, but I won’t be watching for a while.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
FPS: MLB Playoff Preview
AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISIONAL SERIES
SEASON SERIES: Boston leads 6-4
RANDOM FACTS: The LA Angels late-season roster featured 19 players with less than two years of full major-league experience. Key players such as Gary Matthews, Howie Kendrick, Jeff Mathis, Jered Weaver and Reggie Willits have never been in the playoffs.
Boston's David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez will be batting 3-4 in the Sox lineup for the first time since Aug. 28. Ortiz's production was down, 35 home runs and 117 RBIs the second fewest in his five years in Boston, but he hit a career-high .332 and led the majors in on-base percentage.
KEEP YOUR EYE ON: Angels’ leadoff hitter Chone Figgins. Figgins is hitting a major-league best .381 since May 31, but he enters the ALDS against Red Sox in an 0-for-22 slump.
FPS PREDICTION: Boston enters the series a bit healthier than Los Angeles and Angels power-hitting Vlad Guerrero appears to still be affected by an inflamed triceps. The Angels continue to dominate at home, but fall short. Red Sox win in 5.
SEASON SERIES: New York leads 6-0
RANDOM FACTS: The Yankees won all six matchups with the Indians during the regular season, outscoring them 49-17. Chien-Ming Wang became the first Yankees pitcher to record consecutive 19-win seasons since 1979. The Yankees last won the wild card in 1997, but were eliminated by the Indians in the best-of-five series, 3-2.
Cleveland's potential Cy Yong winner C.C. Sabathia is 1-7 with a 7.13 ERA in his career against New York. But Sabathia outdueled other AL Central aces down the stretch, including a 3-0 record in three late-season starts against Twins' Johan Santana. The Indians have great setup men in pitchers Rafael Betancourt (1.47 ERA) and Rafael Perez (1.78 ERA) who allowed less than one baserunner per inning.
KEEP YOUR EYE ON: The likely AL MVP in pinstripes, Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod has six home runs in five games against the Indians. But in the postseason Rodriguez is hitless in his past 15 playoff at-bats with runners in scoring position and is 4-for-41 (.098) with no RBIs in his past 12 postseason games.
FPS PREDICTION: Alex Rodriguez will finally drive in a couple runs in the postseason, but not during key moments. Cleveland figures out how to beat New York as ace Fausto Carmona, not C.C. Sabathia, pitches brilliantly twice. Indians win in 5.
NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISIONAL SERIES
SEASON SERIES: Arizona leads 4-2
RANDOM FACTS: Arizona officials expect big Cubs crowds in Arizona as Chicago's spring training site is nearby Mesa. In September, the Cubs averaged a home run every 22.2 at-bats, Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez hit seven and eight homers respectively. Chicago had the fourth best team ERA in the majors.
The Diamondbacks are making the fourth playoff appearance of their 10-season history, but the first since 2001. Arizona has four rookies and a second-year player in their starting lineup and lost former All-Stars Randy Johnson, Chad Tracy and Orlando Hudson to season-ending injuries. The D-Backs' .250 team batting average was the worst in the NL.
KEEP YOUR EYE ON: Chicago's Alfonso Soriano. Soriano belted 14 home runs and 25 extra-base hits in September, but was just 1-for-11 (.091) against Arizona this season.
FPS PREDICTION: The rookies don't play like rookies and step it up big time. Arizona's superior pitching staff outduels and shutdowns Chicago. D-Backs win in 4.
SEASON SERIES: Colorado leads 4-3
RANDOM FACTS: The Rockies have stout defense and made the fewest errors in the majors this season (68). Colorado's offense exploded in the final month of the season as the team batted .298, Todd Helton and Garrett Atkins led the charge as they batted .390 for the month. The Rockies led the NL in ERA after the All-Star break.
Philadelphia's 4.73 ERA is the worst for an NL playoff team since divisional play was instituted in 1969. Ryan Howard hit 47 home runs and drove in 136 runs this season and was on a blistering pace to end the year blasting nine home runs in the past 13 games. The Phillies bench stepped up as Jayson Werth posted an OBP above .400 and Tadahito Iguchi hit over .300 when both subbed in.
KEEP YOUR EYE ON: Phillies ace Cole Hamels. Hamels returned for injury and threw an eight-inning, no-run, 13-strikeout gem against the Nationals on Friday.
FPS PREDICTION: Talk about momentum, Colorado enters the series having won 14 of 15, but Philadelphia is 13-4 in their last 17 games. Expect a slugfest as both teams finished first and second in the NL in runs and RBIs. Phillies win in 5.
FINAL PREDICTION
WINNER: CLEVELAND over Philadelphia. The Indians have enough power and pitching to navigate through October. Sabathia, Carmona, Martinez and Sizemore will lead Cleveland to the pennant. Plus the Indians are 59 years overdue.
SEASON SERIES: Boston leads 6-4
RANDOM FACTS: The LA Angels late-season roster featured 19 players with less than two years of full major-league experience. Key players such as Gary Matthews, Howie Kendrick, Jeff Mathis, Jered Weaver and Reggie Willits have never been in the playoffs.
Boston's David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez will be batting 3-4 in the Sox lineup for the first time since Aug. 28. Ortiz's production was down, 35 home runs and 117 RBIs the second fewest in his five years in Boston, but he hit a career-high .332 and led the majors in on-base percentage.
KEEP YOUR EYE ON: Angels’ leadoff hitter Chone Figgins. Figgins is hitting a major-league best .381 since May 31, but he enters the ALDS against Red Sox in an 0-for-22 slump.
FPS PREDICTION: Boston enters the series a bit healthier than Los Angeles and Angels power-hitting Vlad Guerrero appears to still be affected by an inflamed triceps. The Angels continue to dominate at home, but fall short. Red Sox win in 5.
SEASON SERIES: New York leads 6-0
RANDOM FACTS: The Yankees won all six matchups with the Indians during the regular season, outscoring them 49-17. Chien-Ming Wang became the first Yankees pitcher to record consecutive 19-win seasons since 1979. The Yankees last won the wild card in 1997, but were eliminated by the Indians in the best-of-five series, 3-2.
Cleveland's potential Cy Yong winner C.C. Sabathia is 1-7 with a 7.13 ERA in his career against New York. But Sabathia outdueled other AL Central aces down the stretch, including a 3-0 record in three late-season starts against Twins' Johan Santana. The Indians have great setup men in pitchers Rafael Betancourt (1.47 ERA) and Rafael Perez (1.78 ERA) who allowed less than one baserunner per inning.
KEEP YOUR EYE ON: The likely AL MVP in pinstripes, Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod has six home runs in five games against the Indians. But in the postseason Rodriguez is hitless in his past 15 playoff at-bats with runners in scoring position and is 4-for-41 (.098) with no RBIs in his past 12 postseason games.
FPS PREDICTION: Alex Rodriguez will finally drive in a couple runs in the postseason, but not during key moments. Cleveland figures out how to beat New York as ace Fausto Carmona, not C.C. Sabathia, pitches brilliantly twice. Indians win in 5.
NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISIONAL SERIES
SEASON SERIES: Arizona leads 4-2
RANDOM FACTS: Arizona officials expect big Cubs crowds in Arizona as Chicago's spring training site is nearby Mesa. In September, the Cubs averaged a home run every 22.2 at-bats, Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez hit seven and eight homers respectively. Chicago had the fourth best team ERA in the majors.
The Diamondbacks are making the fourth playoff appearance of their 10-season history, but the first since 2001. Arizona has four rookies and a second-year player in their starting lineup and lost former All-Stars Randy Johnson, Chad Tracy and Orlando Hudson to season-ending injuries. The D-Backs' .250 team batting average was the worst in the NL.
KEEP YOUR EYE ON: Chicago's Alfonso Soriano. Soriano belted 14 home runs and 25 extra-base hits in September, but was just 1-for-11 (.091) against Arizona this season.
FPS PREDICTION: The rookies don't play like rookies and step it up big time. Arizona's superior pitching staff outduels and shutdowns Chicago. D-Backs win in 4.
SEASON SERIES: Colorado leads 4-3
RANDOM FACTS: The Rockies have stout defense and made the fewest errors in the majors this season (68). Colorado's offense exploded in the final month of the season as the team batted .298, Todd Helton and Garrett Atkins led the charge as they batted .390 for the month. The Rockies led the NL in ERA after the All-Star break.
Philadelphia's 4.73 ERA is the worst for an NL playoff team since divisional play was instituted in 1969. Ryan Howard hit 47 home runs and drove in 136 runs this season and was on a blistering pace to end the year blasting nine home runs in the past 13 games. The Phillies bench stepped up as Jayson Werth posted an OBP above .400 and Tadahito Iguchi hit over .300 when both subbed in.
KEEP YOUR EYE ON: Phillies ace Cole Hamels. Hamels returned for injury and threw an eight-inning, no-run, 13-strikeout gem against the Nationals on Friday.
FPS PREDICTION: Talk about momentum, Colorado enters the series having won 14 of 15, but Philadelphia is 13-4 in their last 17 games. Expect a slugfest as both teams finished first and second in the NL in runs and RBIs. Phillies win in 5.
FINAL PREDICTION
WINNER: CLEVELAND over Philadelphia. The Indians have enough power and pitching to navigate through October. Sabathia, Carmona, Martinez and Sizemore will lead Cleveland to the pennant. Plus the Indians are 59 years overdue.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
FPS: Final MLB Rankings
1. Red Sox – Clinched home field advantage in the American League not an easy task. David Oritz and Manny Ramirez look healthy, as the Sox are the team to beat in October.
2. NY Yankees – The Yankees closed a five-and-half game deficit to one-and-half games in a week. Unfortunately for the Yanks, Boston got it together. The pitching is still questionable, but New York is always scary in October.
3. Indians – A pair of 19-game winners have lead the Tribe all year, the most wins by any two teammates (Sabathia and Carmona). A solid offense and potent bullpen help the Indians win the AL Central for the first time since 2001.
4. LA Angels – The Angels dominated the AL West with 32-25 record against division opponents. Vlad had another great season hitting .324 with 27 home runs and 125 RBIs (good for third in the AL).
5. Phillies – The Phillies have won 13 of 17 and the NL East pennant. Ryan Howard has blasted nine home runs in the past 13 games as Philly rolls on.
6. Rockies – An improbable finish for Colorado winning 14 of 15 including a one-game playoff to make the playoffs. Can anybody say momentum?
7. Diamondbacks – Clinched home field in the National League, who would have thought? D-Backs have gotten the job done in close games all year, 32-20 in one-run games.
8. Padres – Can San Diego keep playing please? Padres’ 89 wins and epic performance in the one-game playoff is good enough to finished ranked on this list.
In the Chase: Tigers – Hard to fathom that the Tigers wouldn’t make the postseason in April. Detroit had too many injuries to keep pace with Cleveland and New York, although 88 wins is not too shabby.
Mariners – Seattle missed the playoffs for a sixth consecutive season, but won its final five games to end the season. The Mariners 10-game improvement over last season and first winning season in four years is good enough, for now.
Cubs – Cubs win! Cubs win! Yeah, Chicago won the worst division in baseball. Now can they get past the Billy Goat, the Black Cat and Steve Bartman?
Out of the Chase: NY Mets – No major-league team had failed to finish first after having at least a seven-game advantage with 17 games remaining. The Mets just made history.
2. NY Yankees – The Yankees closed a five-and-half game deficit to one-and-half games in a week. Unfortunately for the Yanks, Boston got it together. The pitching is still questionable, but New York is always scary in October.
3. Indians – A pair of 19-game winners have lead the Tribe all year, the most wins by any two teammates (Sabathia and Carmona). A solid offense and potent bullpen help the Indians win the AL Central for the first time since 2001.
4. LA Angels – The Angels dominated the AL West with 32-25 record against division opponents. Vlad had another great season hitting .324 with 27 home runs and 125 RBIs (good for third in the AL).
5. Phillies – The Phillies have won 13 of 17 and the NL East pennant. Ryan Howard has blasted nine home runs in the past 13 games as Philly rolls on.
6. Rockies – An improbable finish for Colorado winning 14 of 15 including a one-game playoff to make the playoffs. Can anybody say momentum?
7. Diamondbacks – Clinched home field in the National League, who would have thought? D-Backs have gotten the job done in close games all year, 32-20 in one-run games.
8. Padres – Can San Diego keep playing please? Padres’ 89 wins and epic performance in the one-game playoff is good enough to finished ranked on this list.
In the Chase: Tigers – Hard to fathom that the Tigers wouldn’t make the postseason in April. Detroit had too many injuries to keep pace with Cleveland and New York, although 88 wins is not too shabby.
Mariners – Seattle missed the playoffs for a sixth consecutive season, but won its final five games to end the season. The Mariners 10-game improvement over last season and first winning season in four years is good enough, for now.
Cubs – Cubs win! Cubs win! Yeah, Chicago won the worst division in baseball. Now can they get past the Billy Goat, the Black Cat and Steve Bartman?
Out of the Chase: NY Mets – No major-league team had failed to finish first after having at least a seven-game advantage with 17 games remaining. The Mets just made history.
EL-ev-ATION!
NEWS: ROCKIES WIN WILD CARD PLAYOFF
Colorado's Matt Holliday slides into home as San Diego catcher Michael Barrett mishandles the ball during the 13th inning of the wild card tiebreaker on Monday. AP Photo - Jack Dempsey.
Baseball's career saves leader, Trevor Hoffman, had a quick outing in Monday's one-game wild card playoff. Unfortunately, it was an outing the Padres would like to forget.
After grabbing the lead in the top of the 13th inning on Scott Hairston's two-run homer, the Rockies battled back against Hoffman.
Kaz Matsui and Troy Tulowitzki hit back-to-back doubles to lead off the bottom of the inning, cutting the deficit to one. Holliday then tripled off the right field wall to tie the game 8-8. After San Diego intentionally walked Todd Helton, Jamey Carroll's shallow fly ball out allowed Holliday to tag from third.
Replays were inconclusive at best whether or not Holliday actually touched home plate, but umpire Tim McClelland called the play safe.
The Rockies 9-8 win is their 14th in 15 games. Colorado advances to play Philadelphia in the NLDS starting Wednesday.
After grabbing the lead in the top of the 13th inning on Scott Hairston's two-run homer, the Rockies battled back against Hoffman.
Kaz Matsui and Troy Tulowitzki hit back-to-back doubles to lead off the bottom of the inning, cutting the deficit to one. Holliday then tripled off the right field wall to tie the game 8-8. After San Diego intentionally walked Todd Helton, Jamey Carroll's shallow fly ball out allowed Holliday to tag from third.
Replays were inconclusive at best whether or not Holliday actually touched home plate, but umpire Tim McClelland called the play safe.
The Rockies 9-8 win is their 14th in 15 games. Colorado advances to play Philadelphia in the NLDS starting Wednesday.
Monday, October 1, 2007
A Lost "Hope"
U.S. SOCCER COACH DESERVES THE BOOT
Greg Ryan, fresh off leading the U.S to a third-place finish at the 2007 World Cup, admitted his desire to remain the coach of the United States women’s national soccer team. A day after the 4-1 defeat of Norway, Ryan said he hopes to lead the team to further success in the future.
“I want to continue on as coach. I don't feel my job is done yet with this team. We had a lot of youngsters here and this was a first World Cup for so many of our players,” Ryan said.
But the U.S. Soccer Federation should not give Ryan the chance, especially after the boneheaded coaching move he made during the closing week of the World Cup.
Hours before the U.S semifinal match with Brazil, Ryan announced he would play veteran goalkeeper Briana Scurry in place of Hope Solo, who had not conceded a goal in almost 300 minutes of Cup play.
Scurry has been a star for the national women’s team, collecting two Olympic gold medals and a World Cup title. Ryan said he picked Scurry due to her quick reflexes. Another probable factor in the decision was that Solo had never faced Brazil.
Scurry hadn’t played a full match in three months and it showed. In the seventh minute, she came out to catch a free kick and it slipped through her fingers.
Brazil did not capitalize on that mistake, but in the 20th minute lack of communication between Scurry and midfielder Leslie Osborne led to an own goal, the first score of the game. In the end, the U.S. had its 51-match unbeaten streak snapped as Brazil handed the U.S. its most lopsided defeat in World Cup history, 4-0.
After the game, a livid Solo was more than candid with the media.
“It was the wrong decision and I think anybody that knows anything about the game knows that,” Solo said. “There's no doubt in my mind I would have made those saves…You have to live in the present. And you can’t live by big names. You can’t live in the past.”
That outburst got Solo kicked off the team.
Let’s be really honest here. Ryan’s controversial move figured into the outcome of the Brazil match. The U.S. players looked dazed and flat, the same characteristics that came from their keeper. Scurry’s rust was a huge factor. As Brazil continued to pile on easy goals, the U.S. team looked confused and demoralized.
Ryan’s decision seems like something out of a Disney movie. Pull the hot goalkeeper that got you into the finals and then play the wily-veteran cold and win the game. Hum, sounds familiar, like D2: The Mighty Ducks. Expect the result wasn’t as good.
In events like the World Cup, which are played once every four years, there is no room for mistakes and no second chances. Ryan messed up and should pay the price. In some situations there are not obvious opportunities for reconciliation.
U.S. Soccer officials should give Ryan the boot.
Greg Ryan, fresh off leading the U.S to a third-place finish at the 2007 World Cup, admitted his desire to remain the coach of the United States women’s national soccer team. A day after the 4-1 defeat of Norway, Ryan said he hopes to lead the team to further success in the future.
“I want to continue on as coach. I don't feel my job is done yet with this team. We had a lot of youngsters here and this was a first World Cup for so many of our players,” Ryan said.
But the U.S. Soccer Federation should not give Ryan the chance, especially after the boneheaded coaching move he made during the closing week of the World Cup.
Hours before the U.S semifinal match with Brazil, Ryan announced he would play veteran goalkeeper Briana Scurry in place of Hope Solo, who had not conceded a goal in almost 300 minutes of Cup play.
Scurry has been a star for the national women’s team, collecting two Olympic gold medals and a World Cup title. Ryan said he picked Scurry due to her quick reflexes. Another probable factor in the decision was that Solo had never faced Brazil.
Scurry hadn’t played a full match in three months and it showed. In the seventh minute, she came out to catch a free kick and it slipped through her fingers.
Brazil did not capitalize on that mistake, but in the 20th minute lack of communication between Scurry and midfielder Leslie Osborne led to an own goal, the first score of the game. In the end, the U.S. had its 51-match unbeaten streak snapped as Brazil handed the U.S. its most lopsided defeat in World Cup history, 4-0.
After the game, a livid Solo was more than candid with the media.
“It was the wrong decision and I think anybody that knows anything about the game knows that,” Solo said. “There's no doubt in my mind I would have made those saves…You have to live in the present. And you can’t live by big names. You can’t live in the past.”
That outburst got Solo kicked off the team.
Let’s be really honest here. Ryan’s controversial move figured into the outcome of the Brazil match. The U.S. players looked dazed and flat, the same characteristics that came from their keeper. Scurry’s rust was a huge factor. As Brazil continued to pile on easy goals, the U.S. team looked confused and demoralized.
Ryan’s decision seems like something out of a Disney movie. Pull the hot goalkeeper that got you into the finals and then play the wily-veteran cold and win the game. Hum, sounds familiar, like D2: The Mighty Ducks. Expect the result wasn’t as good.
In events like the World Cup, which are played once every four years, there is no room for mistakes and no second chances. Ryan messed up and should pay the price. In some situations there are not obvious opportunities for reconciliation.
U.S. Soccer officials should give Ryan the boot.
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