Ok, now that my heart rate has finally returned to normal, I can write about Game 1 of the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals, and what a game it was.
First off, there were more missed chances and strange bounces in this game than in any other game I've watched this postseason. Even the Devils goal was an oddity. After looking at the replays multiple times, it sure looks like the puck glanced off of Voynov's shoulder and past Quick. Whatever happened, it was a strange play and it tied the game. The first goal of the series was a clean one though. Fraser snapped a quick shot past Brodeur and the Kings were out to a 1-0 lead. LA had plenty more opportunities, but after that Brodeur was locked in. I thought for sure the Kings were going to score on at least 2 chances, but it just didn't happen. Both goaltenders carried their teams into the 3rd period with the score tied.
The 3rd period was very different from the first two. The Devils looked like they were on a mission, and nothing was going to stop them. Somehow the Kings survived. After looking fairly dominant in the first 2 periods, they looked tired in the 3rd. Luckily Quick was able to come up with some HUGE saves and the bounces went LA's way. I was so sure the Kings were going to give up a goal, but they didn't and forced OT.
Then, sure enough, in overtime, the Devils continued pouring on the offense. But Quick stood strong, as did Brodeur when the Kings got their chances. All of sudden though, on a broken play, and thanks to a strong behind the back pass, Anze Kopitar found himself with the puck and only Brodeur between him and the goal. He put those quick hands to work, deked Marty out of his pads, and slipped the puck under his leg and into the goal. Game over. Nothing against Brodeur, the guy has had an amazing career, but Kopitar made him look bad. It was a gorgeous goal, and one that could really give the Kings a lot of momentum.
The Kings confidence should be very high after winning yet another road playoff game. They still haven't lost away from the Staples Center in the playoffs, and Game 1 proved they aren't slowing down now. While it wasn't the prettiest of wins, it was a win nonetheless, and that's what matter. Quite a few analysts thought the week-long layoff was going to be a problem for the Kings, and to be honest, it looked like it was in the 3rd period. But they fought back and survived long enough to get the game winner. Hopefully they won't be as nervous on Saturday when the puck drops for Game 2, and they'll play all three periods in dominant fashion.
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Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Lets See That Again
Seeing as the subject of instant replay in baseball just won't go away, I figured why not throw my 2 cents out there. But first there is one thing you must know about me and my baseball addiction.
I'm a baseball purist. I hate pitch counts, ties in the All-Star Game, and interleague play. There isn't much about the game that I would change. I think it's pretty much perfect the way it is.
That being said, it's time for baseball to introduce expanded instant replay. I don't want the game taken over by robots, I just want calls to be made correctly. I realize that human error is a part of the game, that's fine. I don't want to see balls and strikes be a part of instant replay. But safe/out and fair/foul are both easily reviewable and potentially game changing.
Don't give me any garbage about how instant replay would make the games even longer. How hard would it be to add one more umpire to each crew, and his job was to sit in the press box or some other dedicated area and have the game on TV? For that matter, he doesn't even have to be in the stadium. With the amount of cameras trained on each game, there could be a crew of 6-10 guys in a room somewhere and their sole job was to wait for a page to come in and then look at the replay. Actually, this could probably be accomplished with 2 or 3 trained umpires. As for the time it would take, I sure would be willing to sacrifice 3-5 minutes (and it wouldn't take that long in probably 99% of the cases) in order to get the call correct. In most cases, it would take maybe 1-2 minutes.
As for how it would be decided when instant replay would be used, I suggest giving each manager 3 "challenges" to an umpire's call. Not only would this apply instant replay, but it would also significantly cut down on long drawn out, and utterly pointless arguments and in turn ejections. So the manager comes out, he tells the umpire he wants to challenge the ruling on the field, the crew chief radios the replay umpire, he reviews the call, radios back his decision, and the game resumes. I know it's much easier said than done, but I just don't see how a system like this would be difficult to implement.
Here is my biggest gripe when it comes to umpires. They aren't required to acknowledge their mistakes. Most, if not all umpires review the game after it has been played. Very few umpires who have blatantly blown calls have ever addressed it. That's what made Jim Joyce's apology when he totally tanked what would've been the final out of Armando Galarraga's perfect game that wasn't, such a big deal. He owned it. This is such a rarity in baseball, and it's embarrassing. We all make mistakes, it happens. But for these umpires to never have to answer or address anything that happens during the game is just ridiculous.
Some people think instituting replay for safe/out and fair/foul calls will just make umpires lazy. While this is an understandable notion, I don't agree. Would you call any of the NFL or NHL refs lazy? I sure wouldn't. Those guys have a reputation to uphold, and if their job is to get every call correct, wouldn't they want to prove themselves right? Now I'm sure umpires are also hesitant to back instant replay because they don't want to eventually be replaced by technology. That's a perfectly logical thought, I just don't see that ever happening.
If we learned anything from last season from watching the Braves and the Red Sox, we learned that every game truly matters. If either of those teams had won just one more game, they would've made the playoffs. For the Sox, who knows what that could've meant. For the Braves, it would have kept the Cardinals out of the playoffs and therefore out of the World Series. So when one blown call leads to a run in a game that ends up being a one-run ballgame, it's a pretty big deal. It's time for baseball to step into modern times and adopt an expanded instant replay system.
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I'm a baseball purist. I hate pitch counts, ties in the All-Star Game, and interleague play. There isn't much about the game that I would change. I think it's pretty much perfect the way it is.
That being said, it's time for baseball to introduce expanded instant replay. I don't want the game taken over by robots, I just want calls to be made correctly. I realize that human error is a part of the game, that's fine. I don't want to see balls and strikes be a part of instant replay. But safe/out and fair/foul are both easily reviewable and potentially game changing.
Don't give me any garbage about how instant replay would make the games even longer. How hard would it be to add one more umpire to each crew, and his job was to sit in the press box or some other dedicated area and have the game on TV? For that matter, he doesn't even have to be in the stadium. With the amount of cameras trained on each game, there could be a crew of 6-10 guys in a room somewhere and their sole job was to wait for a page to come in and then look at the replay. Actually, this could probably be accomplished with 2 or 3 trained umpires. As for the time it would take, I sure would be willing to sacrifice 3-5 minutes (and it wouldn't take that long in probably 99% of the cases) in order to get the call correct. In most cases, it would take maybe 1-2 minutes.
As for how it would be decided when instant replay would be used, I suggest giving each manager 3 "challenges" to an umpire's call. Not only would this apply instant replay, but it would also significantly cut down on long drawn out, and utterly pointless arguments and in turn ejections. So the manager comes out, he tells the umpire he wants to challenge the ruling on the field, the crew chief radios the replay umpire, he reviews the call, radios back his decision, and the game resumes. I know it's much easier said than done, but I just don't see how a system like this would be difficult to implement.
Here is my biggest gripe when it comes to umpires. They aren't required to acknowledge their mistakes. Most, if not all umpires review the game after it has been played. Very few umpires who have blatantly blown calls have ever addressed it. That's what made Jim Joyce's apology when he totally tanked what would've been the final out of Armando Galarraga's perfect game that wasn't, such a big deal. He owned it. This is such a rarity in baseball, and it's embarrassing. We all make mistakes, it happens. But for these umpires to never have to answer or address anything that happens during the game is just ridiculous.
Some people think instituting replay for safe/out and fair/foul calls will just make umpires lazy. While this is an understandable notion, I don't agree. Would you call any of the NFL or NHL refs lazy? I sure wouldn't. Those guys have a reputation to uphold, and if their job is to get every call correct, wouldn't they want to prove themselves right? Now I'm sure umpires are also hesitant to back instant replay because they don't want to eventually be replaced by technology. That's a perfectly logical thought, I just don't see that ever happening.
If we learned anything from last season from watching the Braves and the Red Sox, we learned that every game truly matters. If either of those teams had won just one more game, they would've made the playoffs. For the Sox, who knows what that could've meant. For the Braves, it would have kept the Cardinals out of the playoffs and therefore out of the World Series. So when one blown call leads to a run in a game that ends up being a one-run ballgame, it's a pretty big deal. It's time for baseball to step into modern times and adopt an expanded instant replay system.
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Monday, May 28, 2012
Kings Devils Stanley Cup Preview And Predictions
Well it all comes down to this. 4 wins stand between the Devils and the Kings for the coveted Lord Stanley's Cup. There has been no hotter team in the playoffs than the Kings, but the Devils haven't been cold either. Let's take a look at the stats and see if they can shed a little light on who has the advantage in this championship series.
Regular Season-New Jersey finished 7th overall in the NHL for the regular season with a record of 48-28-6 while the Kings ended up 17th with a 40-27-15 record. So right away, we can see the Kings lost one fewer game than the Devils, but won 5 fewer as well. This comes from the ridiculous amount of overtime games Los Angeles played in, which they were actually tied for 3rd most in the league. To me, this says the Kings are used to playing in very tight, close, pressure packed games, so I'm giving them the edge in the mental toughness area.
I've already gone over how inefficient the offense functioned for the Kings in the regular season. They were 2nd to last in goals per game throughout the regular season with a rate of 2.29. The Devils were in the middle of the pack, literally, they were 15th in the league in goals per game at 2.63. So not a huge disparity, but the Devils were obviously better goal scorers over the course of the regular season. Goals against is a different story though. Again, I've gone over how good the Kings goaltending was this season, 2nd best in the league, 2.02 goals against per game. The Devils weren't bad by anyone's standards, 2.50 goals per game, good for 9th best in the NHL.
But to be perfectly honest, the regular season means nothing at this point. Yes it's nice to look back at statistics and hope they can tell you something, but really, it's the past few weeks that truly matter.
Post Season Stats-Unless you've been living under a rock somewhere, you know how good the Kings have been. They're 12-2 in the postseason so far, they're scoring 2.93 goals per game, and only allowing 1.93. The Devils are scoring 2.83 goals per game on average, so not much less than the Kings, but they're also allowing 2.33 goals per game. Yes Brodeur is a great goalie, but he's also 40 years old. The Kings goalie, Jonathan Quick is 26. While he may not have the experience, he's got age on his side. Father time is undefeated, and Quick has him in his corner.
Also, everyone knows that the Kings powerplay scoring percentage is atrocious, and the Devils is pretty good. But the Kings penalty kill has also been amazing, killing off 91.2 percent of penalties, and the Devils only kill off 74.2 percent. I think this favors the Kings. All three of the Kings earlier playoff opponents had a much better penalty kill unit than the Devils do. So I wouldn't be surprised if they Kings raise their powerplay goal count in this series and for the Devils to have their powerplay goal scoring dip.
The Kings are more rested, their younger, and they've been the hotter team. I just can't pick against those 3 things. They're peaking at the perfect time, and they aren't tired. I'm not suggesting the Devils are hot as well, but they've had to play 4 more games than the Kings to get to this point. That's 4 more games of taking hits, skating, practicing, and traveling that the Kings haven't had to endure. When it's all said and done, I'm predicting the Kings will win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history in 5 games. I know the popular pick is Kings in 6, but I don't think they'll lose twice in this series. If they show up like they did in Games 1 and 2 of their first 3 playoff series, and they should come back to LA with a 2 game lead, and be in familiar territory.
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Regular Season-New Jersey finished 7th overall in the NHL for the regular season with a record of 48-28-6 while the Kings ended up 17th with a 40-27-15 record. So right away, we can see the Kings lost one fewer game than the Devils, but won 5 fewer as well. This comes from the ridiculous amount of overtime games Los Angeles played in, which they were actually tied for 3rd most in the league. To me, this says the Kings are used to playing in very tight, close, pressure packed games, so I'm giving them the edge in the mental toughness area.
I've already gone over how inefficient the offense functioned for the Kings in the regular season. They were 2nd to last in goals per game throughout the regular season with a rate of 2.29. The Devils were in the middle of the pack, literally, they were 15th in the league in goals per game at 2.63. So not a huge disparity, but the Devils were obviously better goal scorers over the course of the regular season. Goals against is a different story though. Again, I've gone over how good the Kings goaltending was this season, 2nd best in the league, 2.02 goals against per game. The Devils weren't bad by anyone's standards, 2.50 goals per game, good for 9th best in the NHL.
But to be perfectly honest, the regular season means nothing at this point. Yes it's nice to look back at statistics and hope they can tell you something, but really, it's the past few weeks that truly matter.
Post Season Stats-Unless you've been living under a rock somewhere, you know how good the Kings have been. They're 12-2 in the postseason so far, they're scoring 2.93 goals per game, and only allowing 1.93. The Devils are scoring 2.83 goals per game on average, so not much less than the Kings, but they're also allowing 2.33 goals per game. Yes Brodeur is a great goalie, but he's also 40 years old. The Kings goalie, Jonathan Quick is 26. While he may not have the experience, he's got age on his side. Father time is undefeated, and Quick has him in his corner.
Also, everyone knows that the Kings powerplay scoring percentage is atrocious, and the Devils is pretty good. But the Kings penalty kill has also been amazing, killing off 91.2 percent of penalties, and the Devils only kill off 74.2 percent. I think this favors the Kings. All three of the Kings earlier playoff opponents had a much better penalty kill unit than the Devils do. So I wouldn't be surprised if they Kings raise their powerplay goal count in this series and for the Devils to have their powerplay goal scoring dip.
The Kings are more rested, their younger, and they've been the hotter team. I just can't pick against those 3 things. They're peaking at the perfect time, and they aren't tired. I'm not suggesting the Devils are hot as well, but they've had to play 4 more games than the Kings to get to this point. That's 4 more games of taking hits, skating, practicing, and traveling that the Kings haven't had to endure. When it's all said and done, I'm predicting the Kings will win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history in 5 games. I know the popular pick is Kings in 6, but I don't think they'll lose twice in this series. If they show up like they did in Games 1 and 2 of their first 3 playoff series, and they should come back to LA with a 2 game lead, and be in familiar territory.
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Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Red Sox Gaining Momentum
While it's tough to say a team like the Red Sox who had such high pre-season expectations are gaining momentum when their record is .500 it's not completely untrue. They've won 10 of their last 13 and have taken the series against two different division leaders in the process. Are they where they need to be? No, but at least it looks like they're on the right track now.
The Sox are currently 3rd in team batting average and 2nd in runs scored in all of baseball. Granted their on-base percentage isn't that high, 8th overall, but if they keep hitting the way they are, there is no doubt that is going to rise. But to be honest, the offense isn't high on my list of concerns.
You can probably tell where this is going, I'm still concerned about the pitching staff. I already went over my issues with Buchholz, so I won't rehash that. And I know I've written about Daniel Bard and how I don't think he's a starter, but Wednesday's game proved it even further. Yes he picked up the win, but he's just not efficient enough. Especially with the way Buchholz has come to rely on the bullpen. Bard threw 90 pitches in 5.1 innings on Wednesday, 49 of which went for strikes. He walked 4, struck out 2, and gave up 2 earned runs. These just aren't starting pitching numbers. Between Bard and Buchholz, the bullpen is getting worked to death.
The starting staff has an ERA of 5.10, which is 3rd worst in all of baseball. Thankfully the bullpen has an ERA of 3.80, which while it isn't great, considering it was 5.54 during the month of April, it's definitely an improvement. I still think it would benefit the Red Sox if they moved Bard to the closer's spot, Aceves to the set up, and Padilla to the 5th spot in the rotation. Even keeping Aceves as the closer and putting Bard back into his 8th inning role would be beneficial.
All in all, I'm cautiously optimistic about the Red Sox right now. Lester and Beckett are pitching much better, the offense is firing as we thought it would, and the bullpen has drastically improved. Also, at some point, the Sox are going to get Ellsbury, Crawford, Ross, Bailey, and Dice-K back. Hopefully they can continue to build on this momentum, and be within striking distance of the division lead when the team gets healthy.
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The Sox are currently 3rd in team batting average and 2nd in runs scored in all of baseball. Granted their on-base percentage isn't that high, 8th overall, but if they keep hitting the way they are, there is no doubt that is going to rise. But to be honest, the offense isn't high on my list of concerns.
You can probably tell where this is going, I'm still concerned about the pitching staff. I already went over my issues with Buchholz, so I won't rehash that. And I know I've written about Daniel Bard and how I don't think he's a starter, but Wednesday's game proved it even further. Yes he picked up the win, but he's just not efficient enough. Especially with the way Buchholz has come to rely on the bullpen. Bard threw 90 pitches in 5.1 innings on Wednesday, 49 of which went for strikes. He walked 4, struck out 2, and gave up 2 earned runs. These just aren't starting pitching numbers. Between Bard and Buchholz, the bullpen is getting worked to death.
The starting staff has an ERA of 5.10, which is 3rd worst in all of baseball. Thankfully the bullpen has an ERA of 3.80, which while it isn't great, considering it was 5.54 during the month of April, it's definitely an improvement. I still think it would benefit the Red Sox if they moved Bard to the closer's spot, Aceves to the set up, and Padilla to the 5th spot in the rotation. Even keeping Aceves as the closer and putting Bard back into his 8th inning role would be beneficial.
All in all, I'm cautiously optimistic about the Red Sox right now. Lester and Beckett are pitching much better, the offense is firing as we thought it would, and the bullpen has drastically improved. Also, at some point, the Sox are going to get Ellsbury, Crawford, Ross, Bailey, and Dice-K back. Hopefully they can continue to build on this momentum, and be within striking distance of the division lead when the team gets healthy.
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Kingdom Come- Kings Advance To Stanley Cup Finals
For just the 2nd time in the 44 year history of the Los Angeles Kings, they will be playing for Lord Stanely's Cup. LA defeated the Phoenix Coyotes 4-3 in overtime on Tuesday night to clinch the series 4 games to 1. It was undoubtedly one of the most exciting and stressful hockey games I've ever watched.
The Kings looked terrible to start the game. I was legitimately worried the series was turning to favor the Coyotes. Phoenix was outworking LA and getting all of the fortuitous bounces. Then Drew Doughty cranked a shot in that Anze Kopitar deflected past Mike Smith. It looked like things were turning around. Then the Kings got unlucky and had two goals slip past Quick that Phoenix didn't really earn. What I mean by that is they didn't set up a play or anything. The Kings just kind of "derped" and the Coyotes were able to capitalize. At the end of regulation, which consisted of 3 of the hardest fought periods I've seen all year, the score was tied at 3.
By far the biggest story that will come out of the game will be Dustin Brown's hit on Michal Rozsival just before Penner buried the series-clinching goal. Did he absolutely clobber him? Yes, no argument. But for those who are saying he meant to drive the top of his knee into the side of Rozsival's knee, I ask you this. Do you really think in the 2 seconds before they came together, Brown had enough time to think, "Hey, if I come in at this angle I'll be able to take out his knee"? It's just not possible, the play happened too fast. Also, if you watch the replay, it looks pretty clear that he was leading with his shoulder, not his knee. It was an unfortunate occurrence, but hey, that's hockey. Coyotes goalie Mike Smith was quoted as saying, "if Raffi Torres gets 25 game then he ought to be out forever." This really illustrates how dumb Smith must be. Headhunting a defenseless goalie behind the net is nowhere near the same as an open ice check. I understand that Smith is emotional and everything, but come on man. Think about how ridiculous that statement is. But then again, he flops like crazy and whacks guys in the back of their knees with his stick, so I'm not really surprised. Have fun golfing tomorrow Mike.
The Kings will face either the Rangers or the Devils for the Stanley Cup which will start on May 30th. Currently their series is tied at 2 games apiece. Whoever LA faces, they are going to have to play better than they did tonight. If they can play like they did against the Canucks, Blues, or even the first 2 games of the Western Conference Finals, they have a very serious chance of bringing home the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history.
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The Kings looked terrible to start the game. I was legitimately worried the series was turning to favor the Coyotes. Phoenix was outworking LA and getting all of the fortuitous bounces. Then Drew Doughty cranked a shot in that Anze Kopitar deflected past Mike Smith. It looked like things were turning around. Then the Kings got unlucky and had two goals slip past Quick that Phoenix didn't really earn. What I mean by that is they didn't set up a play or anything. The Kings just kind of "derped" and the Coyotes were able to capitalize. At the end of regulation, which consisted of 3 of the hardest fought periods I've seen all year, the score was tied at 3.
By far the biggest story that will come out of the game will be Dustin Brown's hit on Michal Rozsival just before Penner buried the series-clinching goal. Did he absolutely clobber him? Yes, no argument. But for those who are saying he meant to drive the top of his knee into the side of Rozsival's knee, I ask you this. Do you really think in the 2 seconds before they came together, Brown had enough time to think, "Hey, if I come in at this angle I'll be able to take out his knee"? It's just not possible, the play happened too fast. Also, if you watch the replay, it looks pretty clear that he was leading with his shoulder, not his knee. It was an unfortunate occurrence, but hey, that's hockey. Coyotes goalie Mike Smith was quoted as saying, "if Raffi Torres gets 25 game then he ought to be out forever." This really illustrates how dumb Smith must be. Headhunting a defenseless goalie behind the net is nowhere near the same as an open ice check. I understand that Smith is emotional and everything, but come on man. Think about how ridiculous that statement is. But then again, he flops like crazy and whacks guys in the back of their knees with his stick, so I'm not really surprised. Have fun golfing tomorrow Mike.
The Kings will face either the Rangers or the Devils for the Stanley Cup which will start on May 30th. Currently their series is tied at 2 games apiece. Whoever LA faces, they are going to have to play better than they did tonight. If they can play like they did against the Canucks, Blues, or even the first 2 games of the Western Conference Finals, they have a very serious chance of bringing home the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history.
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Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Not Sure What To Do About Clay Buchholz
Every year it seems there is a pitcher who just doesn't get the job done, yet somehow ends up with a decent record. Right now, that pitcher is Clay Buchholz. His ERA is 7.84 yet his record is 4-2. This is thanks to the massive amount of run support he's received, which is actually the most of any starting pitcher in baseball to this point. But obviously, something isn't right.
In 2010 Buchholz threw 173.2 innings, finished with a 17-7 record, and had an ERA of 2.33. It's obvious why the Red Sox saw him as an emerging star and rewarded him with a 4-year contract extension worth nearly $30 million. He had what many thought was that special quality you only see in a few young pitchers. But then, 2011 wasn't so kind to him. He only threw 82.2 innings as his season was cut short due to injury. What was even more alarming than his injury, was that his ERA ballooned to 3.48, more than a full run higher than the previous year. Obviously the injury played into this, but something just was off. He gave up 9 home runs in all of 2010, in his very short 2011 season, he gave up 10. The 2012 season has pretty much continued where he left off in 2011, which isn't a good thing obviously.
So far in 2012, Buchholz has already given up 11 home runs, 43 earned runs, walked 27 batters, and struck out 27. As it sits right now, opponents are hitting .330 against him. This is all in 49.1 innings pitched. It's a miracle he's won 4 games. He's pitched in 9 games so far this season, and has only one outing in which he gave up less than 3 earned runs. He's only made it to the 7 innings mark once. He just isn't right. I don't know what exactly it is, but his command is just gone. In 2010 he had a strikeout to walk ratio of nearly 1.8, that ratio is now 1/1. It doesn't take a genius or a baseball nerd (yes, like me) to figure out there is something wrong.
The only major change, other than his injury, has been the departure of John Farrell. Farrell left his post as the Red Sox pitching coach to become the manager of Blue Jays. Whatever magic he worked with Buchholz apparently left as well. As it sits right now, I dread seeing Buchholz's name as the starter. You know instantly that not only will the offense have to carry him, but the bullpen is going to be worked hard. He's just not a viable option at this point, especially seeing as he's supposed to be the number 3 starter. With the rumors of Roy Oswalt working out for Boston and Dice-K seemingly on his way back, Buchholz's spot in the rotation may be in serious jeopardy. Do I like the idea of keeping Bard in the starting rotation and having to move Buchholz to the bullpen or even worse, down to the minors? Absolutely not, but right now, he just isn't helping the team.
It really sucks too, I like Buchholz, a lot. I will never forget where I was when he threw his no-hitter, and I remember thinking, man, this kid is going to be an ace. Then in 2010 it really looked like it was his time to shine. But 2011 just didn't work out, I wasn't worried though. Injuries are a part of baseball, he had a ton of time to recover and regain his form, or so I thought. Maybe he's still feeling the effects from that stress fracture in his back, who knows. Either way, he isn't really helping the team right now, and something is going to have to be done about it. It's not fair to the bullpen or the rest of the team to have to constantly be picking up his slack.
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In 2010 Buchholz threw 173.2 innings, finished with a 17-7 record, and had an ERA of 2.33. It's obvious why the Red Sox saw him as an emerging star and rewarded him with a 4-year contract extension worth nearly $30 million. He had what many thought was that special quality you only see in a few young pitchers. But then, 2011 wasn't so kind to him. He only threw 82.2 innings as his season was cut short due to injury. What was even more alarming than his injury, was that his ERA ballooned to 3.48, more than a full run higher than the previous year. Obviously the injury played into this, but something just was off. He gave up 9 home runs in all of 2010, in his very short 2011 season, he gave up 10. The 2012 season has pretty much continued where he left off in 2011, which isn't a good thing obviously.
So far in 2012, Buchholz has already given up 11 home runs, 43 earned runs, walked 27 batters, and struck out 27. As it sits right now, opponents are hitting .330 against him. This is all in 49.1 innings pitched. It's a miracle he's won 4 games. He's pitched in 9 games so far this season, and has only one outing in which he gave up less than 3 earned runs. He's only made it to the 7 innings mark once. He just isn't right. I don't know what exactly it is, but his command is just gone. In 2010 he had a strikeout to walk ratio of nearly 1.8, that ratio is now 1/1. It doesn't take a genius or a baseball nerd (yes, like me) to figure out there is something wrong.
The only major change, other than his injury, has been the departure of John Farrell. Farrell left his post as the Red Sox pitching coach to become the manager of Blue Jays. Whatever magic he worked with Buchholz apparently left as well. As it sits right now, I dread seeing Buchholz's name as the starter. You know instantly that not only will the offense have to carry him, but the bullpen is going to be worked hard. He's just not a viable option at this point, especially seeing as he's supposed to be the number 3 starter. With the rumors of Roy Oswalt working out for Boston and Dice-K seemingly on his way back, Buchholz's spot in the rotation may be in serious jeopardy. Do I like the idea of keeping Bard in the starting rotation and having to move Buchholz to the bullpen or even worse, down to the minors? Absolutely not, but right now, he just isn't helping the team.
It really sucks too, I like Buchholz, a lot. I will never forget where I was when he threw his no-hitter, and I remember thinking, man, this kid is going to be an ace. Then in 2010 it really looked like it was his time to shine. But 2011 just didn't work out, I wasn't worried though. Injuries are a part of baseball, he had a ton of time to recover and regain his form, or so I thought. Maybe he's still feeling the effects from that stress fracture in his back, who knows. Either way, he isn't really helping the team right now, and something is going to have to be done about it. It's not fair to the bullpen or the rest of the team to have to constantly be picking up his slack.
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Thursday, May 17, 2012
Kings Take Another 3-0 Series Lead
Stop me if you've heard this one before. The LA Kings are up 3 games to zero in a playoff series. It sounds familiar because it's happened in every series so far for the Kings in the playoffs this year. They beat the Phoenix Coyotes 2-1 on Thursday night, and don't show any signs of slowing down now.
To be honest, I was a little worried after the first period in Thursday's game. The Kings looked sluggish, weren't passing well, and looked very nervous when they had the puck in the Phoenix zone. Then when the Coyotes took a lead shortly after the 2nd period started, I really became worried. But Anze Kopitar put those worries to bed rather quickly. He tied the game on a breakaway and the momentum clearly swung in the Kings favor. They absolutely dominated the 3rd period, with Phoenix barely being able to cross into the Kings zone. They played good disciplined hockey, and just like it has for the whole playoffs, it payed off.
Sunday the Kings go for the sweep. Think about that. If the Kings win Sunday, they'll be in the Stanley Cup Finals having only lost 1 game so far in the playoffs. While there were some ESPN analysts who predicted they would make it that far before the season started, no one would have guessed they would be this dominant in the postseason. They're peaking at the absolute perfect time, and everyone is contributing. Quick is standing on his head, the defense is playing great, and the offense is clicking. They're just playing really, really good hockey, and I'm enjoying every minute of it.
It's worth noting that Hanzal will be back for the Coyotes on Sunday, and since it's literally do or die for them, I expect a crazy game. Hopefully I'll have some good pictures to post.
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To be honest, I was a little worried after the first period in Thursday's game. The Kings looked sluggish, weren't passing well, and looked very nervous when they had the puck in the Phoenix zone. Then when the Coyotes took a lead shortly after the 2nd period started, I really became worried. But Anze Kopitar put those worries to bed rather quickly. He tied the game on a breakaway and the momentum clearly swung in the Kings favor. They absolutely dominated the 3rd period, with Phoenix barely being able to cross into the Kings zone. They played good disciplined hockey, and just like it has for the whole playoffs, it payed off.
Sunday the Kings go for the sweep. Think about that. If the Kings win Sunday, they'll be in the Stanley Cup Finals having only lost 1 game so far in the playoffs. While there were some ESPN analysts who predicted they would make it that far before the season started, no one would have guessed they would be this dominant in the postseason. They're peaking at the absolute perfect time, and everyone is contributing. Quick is standing on his head, the defense is playing great, and the offense is clicking. They're just playing really, really good hockey, and I'm enjoying every minute of it.
It's worth noting that Hanzal will be back for the Coyotes on Sunday, and since it's literally do or die for them, I expect a crazy game. Hopefully I'll have some good pictures to post.
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Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Kings Take 2-0 Lead Over Coyotes
The LA Kings are road warriors. They beat the Phoenix Coyotes 4-0 Tuesday night to once again take a 2-0 lead in the series. They have won all 7 of their road playoff games, which ties an NHL record.
Other than Jeff Carter's hat trick, which pretty much makes every Kings fan out there forget the name Jack Johnson, the story of the game was the penalties by Phoenix. Shane Doan was ejected for boarding Trevor Lewis, and although the hit was nasty, it was mostly because of the timing. So I don't think he should or will be suspended. Martin Hanzal is another story though. He absolutely crushed Dustin Brown who was completely defenseless. Somehow Brown was unhurt, but Hanzal was tossed and should be suspended at least 1 game.
The other Phoenix player who I think should face discipline is goaltender Mike Smith. He hacked the back of Brown's knee with his stick when Brown wasn't even in the crease. He was given a minor penalty, and somehow the refs gave Brown an embellishment penalty, but the league needs to do something. I'm all for protecting the goalies, but plays like that can cause permanent damage to a player. It was completely uncalled for and Smith should be sat down for Game 3 by the league.
I know I sound like a total homer in this post. But I promise you I live physical hockey. The thing I hate are the cheap shots. Both Hanzal and Smith took cheap shots on Kings players that very easily could've ended their playoffs. It's totally understandable that these guys were playing frustrated and wanted to send a message. But the NHL can't let these kind of plays go unpunished.
Going back to the Kings, they really are playing well. Quick is incredible right now, Kopitar seems to always be in the right place at the right time, and Brown is filling his role as captain. Game 3 in LA is on Thursday followed by Game 4 on Sunday, which I will be at!!!
UPDATE- The NHL has handed Hanzal a 1 game suspension for his hit but Mike Smith has not received any additional punishment.
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Other than Jeff Carter's hat trick, which pretty much makes every Kings fan out there forget the name Jack Johnson, the story of the game was the penalties by Phoenix. Shane Doan was ejected for boarding Trevor Lewis, and although the hit was nasty, it was mostly because of the timing. So I don't think he should or will be suspended. Martin Hanzal is another story though. He absolutely crushed Dustin Brown who was completely defenseless. Somehow Brown was unhurt, but Hanzal was tossed and should be suspended at least 1 game.
The other Phoenix player who I think should face discipline is goaltender Mike Smith. He hacked the back of Brown's knee with his stick when Brown wasn't even in the crease. He was given a minor penalty, and somehow the refs gave Brown an embellishment penalty, but the league needs to do something. I'm all for protecting the goalies, but plays like that can cause permanent damage to a player. It was completely uncalled for and Smith should be sat down for Game 3 by the league.
I know I sound like a total homer in this post. But I promise you I live physical hockey. The thing I hate are the cheap shots. Both Hanzal and Smith took cheap shots on Kings players that very easily could've ended their playoffs. It's totally understandable that these guys were playing frustrated and wanted to send a message. But the NHL can't let these kind of plays go unpunished.
Going back to the Kings, they really are playing well. Quick is incredible right now, Kopitar seems to always be in the right place at the right time, and Brown is filling his role as captain. Game 3 in LA is on Thursday followed by Game 4 on Sunday, which I will be at!!!
UPDATE- The NHL has handed Hanzal a 1 game suspension for his hit but Mike Smith has not received any additional punishment.
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Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Matt Kemp Lands On The Disabled List
In what can fairly easily be described as a Dodgers fan's worst nightmare, Matt Kemp was placed on the disabled list after Monday night's game with a strained hamstring. Kemp did not play Monday, snapping his 399 consecutive games played streak which was the active leader in all of MLB. Jerry Sands, whom Dodger fans will remember from last summer, has been called up to take his place.
I can't help but feel like I jinxed Kemp just a little bit. I've already gone over how I somehow jinx baseball players, and last month I was singing Kemp's praises as loudly as anyone with a voice. Do I really think I had something to do with this? Of course not, but it's pretty weird. The guy hasn't been on the DL since 2007, and now, shortly after writing a few posts about how he's easily one of the top 3 players in the game, he's hurt. Ugh.
This is going to be a real test for the Dodgers. Everyone knows how hot Kemp was last month, and he leaves a large hole in centerfield as well as the batting order. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said the primary centerfielder for the time being will be Tony Gwynn Jr. but Andre Ethier could see some time there as well. Sands is primarily a left fielder, so I'm not quite sure how he's going to fit in. He can play first base as well, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him start in place of James Loney when there's a lefty on the hill for the other team.
There was more news concerning the Dodgers and the disabled list on Monday too, which made me much happier than the Kemp news. Juan Uribe has also been placed on the DL, with a sore wrist. Now I've never rooted for a player to be injured, but I sure don't mind Uribe being out of commission for awhile. Hopefully someone can step up and take his place permanently. What is scary though, is how many LA players are on the DL right now. Kemp, Uribe, Rivera, and Hairston have all been placed on the disabled list in the past week. Not exactly what you want when you own the best record in baseball.
While the timing isn't great, it isn't terrible either. The only stiff competition the Dodgers will face in the next two weeks is the Cardinals. Other than St. Louis, they'll square off against the Diamondbacks, Padres, and Astros, so this is definitely survivable. But the pitching staff is going to to have to continue being lights out, and guys like Ethier, Abreu, AJ and Mark Ellis, and Dee Gordon are really going to have to step up in the hitting department. Beast Mode may never sleep, but it does need to recuperate for a little while.
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I can't help but feel like I jinxed Kemp just a little bit. I've already gone over how I somehow jinx baseball players, and last month I was singing Kemp's praises as loudly as anyone with a voice. Do I really think I had something to do with this? Of course not, but it's pretty weird. The guy hasn't been on the DL since 2007, and now, shortly after writing a few posts about how he's easily one of the top 3 players in the game, he's hurt. Ugh.
This is going to be a real test for the Dodgers. Everyone knows how hot Kemp was last month, and he leaves a large hole in centerfield as well as the batting order. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said the primary centerfielder for the time being will be Tony Gwynn Jr. but Andre Ethier could see some time there as well. Sands is primarily a left fielder, so I'm not quite sure how he's going to fit in. He can play first base as well, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him start in place of James Loney when there's a lefty on the hill for the other team.
There was more news concerning the Dodgers and the disabled list on Monday too, which made me much happier than the Kemp news. Juan Uribe has also been placed on the DL, with a sore wrist. Now I've never rooted for a player to be injured, but I sure don't mind Uribe being out of commission for awhile. Hopefully someone can step up and take his place permanently. What is scary though, is how many LA players are on the DL right now. Kemp, Uribe, Rivera, and Hairston have all been placed on the disabled list in the past week. Not exactly what you want when you own the best record in baseball.
While the timing isn't great, it isn't terrible either. The only stiff competition the Dodgers will face in the next two weeks is the Cardinals. Other than St. Louis, they'll square off against the Diamondbacks, Padres, and Astros, so this is definitely survivable. But the pitching staff is going to to have to continue being lights out, and guys like Ethier, Abreu, AJ and Mark Ellis, and Dee Gordon are really going to have to step up in the hitting department. Beast Mode may never sleep, but it does need to recuperate for a little while.
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Monday, May 14, 2012
Still Not Buying The Red Sox
Call me a pessimist if you must, but I just don't think the weekend series win over the Indians by the Red Sox means all that much. Sure Cleveland is leading the AL Central at the moment, but there is no reason to think they'll be in that position at the end of this month. So taking 3 out of the 4 games from the Indians shouldn't be seen as that big of an accomplishment.
Did the Sox play better against Cleveland than they have in the past few weeks? Absolutely. But that doesn't mean they've turned the season around. The Indians are not a strong team, although they are leading their division, they only have 18 wins. They are the only division leading team in all of baseball that doesn't have at least 20 wins. Right now, it's pretty safe to say that division is the worst in baseball, so I'm not getting my hopes up just yet.
The Sox did manage to get back to their high-scoring ways, combining for a total of 26 runs in the 4 games, and the pitching staff was much better giving up a total of 10 runs. So while on paper this may look like a sign of things turning around in Boston, I'm just not convinced yet.
Thursday's game saw Josh Beckett get absolutely shelled and subsequently booed off the mound, and while Clay Buccholz did look better in his outing on Friday, he didn't strike out a single batter in his 6 and 1/3 innings pitched. He once again benefited from the offense scoring a lot of runs for him. Felix Doubront continued to improve with his performance on Saturday, but his ERA is still nearly 4.50. He did only give up 1 run on 3 hits while striking out 5, so I won't complain too much about him.
All of this brings me to Daniel Bard. He picked up the win on Sunday and only gave up 1 run, but he still doesn't look like he has the confidence to be a starting pitcher. In his 6 innings he threw 97 pitches, gave up 6 hits, walked 4, and struck out 2. These just aren't the numbers anyone expected to see out of Bard. He even admitted that Sunday's start was step back for him. This sets up Bard's return to the bullpen when Daisuke Matsuzaka returns this summer. While I don't think anyone was expecting Bard to be an ace starting pitcher this year, the expectations were certainly greater than a 3-4 record with a 4.30 ERA. Someone in the rotation is going to get bumped when Dice-K is healthy, and right now it sure looks like the axe is going to fall on Bard.
All in all, I'm very happy the Sox took 3 out of 4 games against a weak team like the Indians, and I'm even happier the Mariners are in Boston for a quick 2 game series and Felix Hernandez won't be pitching. The Red Sox head down to Tampa for 2 against the Rays and then to Philly for their first interleague matchup of the season. Facing both of those teams after winning 5 of their last 6 games would be a huge confidence boost for them. I'm just saying I'm not ready to call this a turning point yet. It does give me hope that things are headed in the right direction, but we'll see how they fair this week.
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Did the Sox play better against Cleveland than they have in the past few weeks? Absolutely. But that doesn't mean they've turned the season around. The Indians are not a strong team, although they are leading their division, they only have 18 wins. They are the only division leading team in all of baseball that doesn't have at least 20 wins. Right now, it's pretty safe to say that division is the worst in baseball, so I'm not getting my hopes up just yet.
The Sox did manage to get back to their high-scoring ways, combining for a total of 26 runs in the 4 games, and the pitching staff was much better giving up a total of 10 runs. So while on paper this may look like a sign of things turning around in Boston, I'm just not convinced yet.
Thursday's game saw Josh Beckett get absolutely shelled and subsequently booed off the mound, and while Clay Buccholz did look better in his outing on Friday, he didn't strike out a single batter in his 6 and 1/3 innings pitched. He once again benefited from the offense scoring a lot of runs for him. Felix Doubront continued to improve with his performance on Saturday, but his ERA is still nearly 4.50. He did only give up 1 run on 3 hits while striking out 5, so I won't complain too much about him.
All of this brings me to Daniel Bard. He picked up the win on Sunday and only gave up 1 run, but he still doesn't look like he has the confidence to be a starting pitcher. In his 6 innings he threw 97 pitches, gave up 6 hits, walked 4, and struck out 2. These just aren't the numbers anyone expected to see out of Bard. He even admitted that Sunday's start was step back for him. This sets up Bard's return to the bullpen when Daisuke Matsuzaka returns this summer. While I don't think anyone was expecting Bard to be an ace starting pitcher this year, the expectations were certainly greater than a 3-4 record with a 4.30 ERA. Someone in the rotation is going to get bumped when Dice-K is healthy, and right now it sure looks like the axe is going to fall on Bard.
All in all, I'm very happy the Sox took 3 out of 4 games against a weak team like the Indians, and I'm even happier the Mariners are in Boston for a quick 2 game series and Felix Hernandez won't be pitching. The Red Sox head down to Tampa for 2 against the Rays and then to Philly for their first interleague matchup of the season. Facing both of those teams after winning 5 of their last 6 games would be a huge confidence boost for them. I'm just saying I'm not ready to call this a turning point yet. It does give me hope that things are headed in the right direction, but we'll see how they fair this week.
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Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Historical Hamilton
By now you've probably heard that Josh Hamilton belted 4 home runs in the Rangers vs. Orioles game on Tuesday night. By doing so, he put himself in rare company.
Overall Hamilton went 5-5 with a double, 4 home runs, 8 RBI, and 18 total bases. The 4 dingers ties a major league record, and the 18 total bases sets a new AL record. Yeah, this is kind of a big deal. Think about it this way; if you read my post on why I love baseball so much, you're familiar with how rare a perfect game is. There have been 21 perfect games in MLB history, BUT THERE HAVE ONLY BEEN 15 GAMES IN WHICH A PLAYER HAS HIT 4 HOME RUNS!!!!! (Prior to Tuesday that is, it's now 16.) The last player to crank 4 homers was Carlos Delgado back in September of 2003 and before that Shawn Green in 2002. Think about that for a second. Major League Baseball has been around for over a century, and this has only happened 16 times. It has to be the most difficult/impressive feat a baseball player can accomplish in a single game. I sure can't think of another one.
The biggest continuing story with Hamilton this season is his impending free agency. Supposedly there are talks going on with the Rangers, Hamilton, and his agent, but there is nothing concrete on the horizon. While I'm not a Rangers fan, I do think Hamilton and Texas are the perfect match for each other. The fans love him and the team gave him a second and third chance at baseball after all of his drug and alcohol issues. He's a good defensive outfielder, he's got a cannon for an arm, and obviously he's got a bat. What worries me is that if the Rangers don't sign him before the end of the season, is he'll end up a Yankee. If he's available, they're going to throw a ton of cash at him. I don't want him to go to New York for two reasons; one, I hate the Yankees and I like Josh Hamilton. But secondly, and more importantly, the pressure, and therefore temptations, for him would be much higher in NYC than they are in Arlington. The other club I could see making a serious push for him is the Dodgers. While the new ownership has said they are going to spend money, and I think he'd be great fit in LA, I don't think he's going to want to play in the National League.
Hamilton's main concern going forward should be his health. He's never played all 162 games in a season and he does seem to be bit injury prone. Yes this comes from his all out play in the outfield, but at the same time, if you're going to spend money on a guy you think is going to produce, you need him on the field. All in all, Tuesday was a historical night for baseball, and one that Josh Hamilton will never forget. Not only that, but we've now had a perfect game and a player his 4 home runs in a game, and it's not even Memorial Day. The 2012 season is shaping up to be quite exciting.
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ESPN Dallas story and video of Hamilton's 4 home runs.
Overall Hamilton went 5-5 with a double, 4 home runs, 8 RBI, and 18 total bases. The 4 dingers ties a major league record, and the 18 total bases sets a new AL record. Yeah, this is kind of a big deal. Think about it this way; if you read my post on why I love baseball so much, you're familiar with how rare a perfect game is. There have been 21 perfect games in MLB history, BUT THERE HAVE ONLY BEEN 15 GAMES IN WHICH A PLAYER HAS HIT 4 HOME RUNS!!!!! (Prior to Tuesday that is, it's now 16.) The last player to crank 4 homers was Carlos Delgado back in September of 2003 and before that Shawn Green in 2002. Think about that for a second. Major League Baseball has been around for over a century, and this has only happened 16 times. It has to be the most difficult/impressive feat a baseball player can accomplish in a single game. I sure can't think of another one.
The biggest continuing story with Hamilton this season is his impending free agency. Supposedly there are talks going on with the Rangers, Hamilton, and his agent, but there is nothing concrete on the horizon. While I'm not a Rangers fan, I do think Hamilton and Texas are the perfect match for each other. The fans love him and the team gave him a second and third chance at baseball after all of his drug and alcohol issues. He's a good defensive outfielder, he's got a cannon for an arm, and obviously he's got a bat. What worries me is that if the Rangers don't sign him before the end of the season, is he'll end up a Yankee. If he's available, they're going to throw a ton of cash at him. I don't want him to go to New York for two reasons; one, I hate the Yankees and I like Josh Hamilton. But secondly, and more importantly, the pressure, and therefore temptations, for him would be much higher in NYC than they are in Arlington. The other club I could see making a serious push for him is the Dodgers. While the new ownership has said they are going to spend money, and I think he'd be great fit in LA, I don't think he's going to want to play in the National League.
Hamilton's main concern going forward should be his health. He's never played all 162 games in a season and he does seem to be bit injury prone. Yes this comes from his all out play in the outfield, but at the same time, if you're going to spend money on a guy you think is going to produce, you need him on the field. All in all, Tuesday was a historical night for baseball, and one that Josh Hamilton will never forget. Not only that, but we've now had a perfect game and a player his 4 home runs in a game, and it's not even Memorial Day. The 2012 season is shaping up to be quite exciting.
Follow me on Twitter- @TwittinSports
ESPN Dallas story and video of Hamilton's 4 home runs.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Kings To Face Coyotes In Western Conference Finals
Not sure Los Angeles and Phoenix are what anyone would consider to be classic hockey cities, but a team from one of them will be playing for the Stanley Cup.
The Kings, a team that it would be tough to argue as anything less than the hottest in the playoffs, punched their ticket to the Western Conference Finals by sweeping the St. Louis Blues on Sunday. The Phoenix Coyotes became the other half of the equation when the beat the Predators Monday night to take the series 4 games to 1. How in Nashville is considered part of the Western Conference is beyond me, but that's a discussion for another time and place.
The Kings and Coyotes played each other 6 times during the regular season, with LA coming away with a slight advantage. The Kings record versus the Coyotes was 3-1-2 with three of the games going past regulation. It's very easy to see these teams are quite evenly matched. In fact, Coyotes netminder Mike Smith might be the only goalie playing near the level Kings goalie Jonathan Quick has been so far.
After looking at the postseason statistics for both teams, it would be tough to see this series being anything less than 6 games. The Kings are allowing 1.56 goals per game, the best in the playoffs, and Phoenix is allowing 1.91 which is second best. LA is scoring 3.00 goals for game, tied for 3rd best, Phoenix is scoring 2.64, which 4 best. The Kings are averaging nearly 6 more minor penalty minutes per game, but they also have the best penalty kill percentage. The Coyotes do convert on powerplays 16.1 percent of the time and the Kings are only scoring with an advantage 8.5 percent of the time, 2nd to last of all the teams that made the playoffs.
The keys for LA in this series are simple. They need to be a bit more disciplined than they were when they were facing the Blues, which really shouldn't be an issue. At the same time, they still need to play physical hockey. They can't back down, they need to stay in the same frame of mind they have since game 1 in Vancouver. The biggest thing, and this goes without saying I think, is going to be goaltending. If Quick plays the way he has and Smith keeps up his stinginess, this is going to be a very low scoring series. My prediction (complete with a whole lot of Kings bias thrown in) is Kings in 6. The schedule for the series has yet to be announced.
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The Kings, a team that it would be tough to argue as anything less than the hottest in the playoffs, punched their ticket to the Western Conference Finals by sweeping the St. Louis Blues on Sunday. The Phoenix Coyotes became the other half of the equation when the beat the Predators Monday night to take the series 4 games to 1. How in Nashville is considered part of the Western Conference is beyond me, but that's a discussion for another time and place.
The Kings and Coyotes played each other 6 times during the regular season, with LA coming away with a slight advantage. The Kings record versus the Coyotes was 3-1-2 with three of the games going past regulation. It's very easy to see these teams are quite evenly matched. In fact, Coyotes netminder Mike Smith might be the only goalie playing near the level Kings goalie Jonathan Quick has been so far.
After looking at the postseason statistics for both teams, it would be tough to see this series being anything less than 6 games. The Kings are allowing 1.56 goals per game, the best in the playoffs, and Phoenix is allowing 1.91 which is second best. LA is scoring 3.00 goals for game, tied for 3rd best, Phoenix is scoring 2.64, which 4 best. The Kings are averaging nearly 6 more minor penalty minutes per game, but they also have the best penalty kill percentage. The Coyotes do convert on powerplays 16.1 percent of the time and the Kings are only scoring with an advantage 8.5 percent of the time, 2nd to last of all the teams that made the playoffs.
The keys for LA in this series are simple. They need to be a bit more disciplined than they were when they were facing the Blues, which really shouldn't be an issue. At the same time, they still need to play physical hockey. They can't back down, they need to stay in the same frame of mind they have since game 1 in Vancouver. The biggest thing, and this goes without saying I think, is going to be goaltending. If Quick plays the way he has and Smith keeps up his stinginess, this is going to be a very low scoring series. My prediction (complete with a whole lot of Kings bias thrown in) is Kings in 6. The schedule for the series has yet to be announced.
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MLB "Suspends" Cole Hamels
Cole Hamels admitted to intentionally plunking Bryce Harper in Sunday night's Phillies vs. Nationals game. He said it was a "welcome to the big leagues" moment. Monday, MLB announced that Hamels would be fined an undisclosed amount and suspended for 5 games. Awesome.
Oh wait, not awesome. Because Hamels is a starting pitcher, and due to the way the Phillies schedule works out, he probably won't miss a single start. While he is scheduled to start on Saturday, the team has Thursday off, and Roy Halladay is pitching tonight. So Halladay could pitch Saturday on regular rest and Hamels can take his regular turn in the rotation on Sunday. This is ridiculous.
But what about the fine you may ask. Hamels base salary this year is $15 million. So unless MLB slaps down an insane amount like $5 million, which they won't, he will relatively go unpunished. While I'm all for pitching inside, protecting your teammates, and backing guys off the plate, this is just stupid. Basically what MLB is saying is, go ahead and hit whoever you want, it's only going to cost you a few thousand dollars. Thanks for nothing MLB.
Whoever is in charge of issuing suspension needs to seriously reconsider the policy on suspending starting pitchers for things like this. Instead of 5 games, make 3 scheduled starts. I'm sure teams would find a way around this as well, but at least it wouldn't be as insulting to the fans intelligence.
*UPDATE* Now being reported the total fine will come to $409,835. While this is a big number, when it's all said and done, it doesn't really effect the team or Hamels.
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Oh wait, not awesome. Because Hamels is a starting pitcher, and due to the way the Phillies schedule works out, he probably won't miss a single start. While he is scheduled to start on Saturday, the team has Thursday off, and Roy Halladay is pitching tonight. So Halladay could pitch Saturday on regular rest and Hamels can take his regular turn in the rotation on Sunday. This is ridiculous.
But what about the fine you may ask. Hamels base salary this year is $15 million. So unless MLB slaps down an insane amount like $5 million, which they won't, he will relatively go unpunished. While I'm all for pitching inside, protecting your teammates, and backing guys off the plate, this is just stupid. Basically what MLB is saying is, go ahead and hit whoever you want, it's only going to cost you a few thousand dollars. Thanks for nothing MLB.
Whoever is in charge of issuing suspension needs to seriously reconsider the policy on suspending starting pitchers for things like this. Instead of 5 games, make 3 scheduled starts. I'm sure teams would find a way around this as well, but at least it wouldn't be as insulting to the fans intelligence.
*UPDATE* Now being reported the total fine will come to $409,835. While this is a big number, when it's all said and done, it doesn't really effect the team or Hamels.
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Saturday, May 5, 2012
Red Sox Struggling Again
A few years ago my buddy and I were talking about baseball and him being a Cardinals fan talked about Dave Duncan and the wonders he worked as the pitching coach. I couldn't disagree with him, and actually lamented at the job that then Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell was doing. I totally take all of that back now.
The ERA for Red Sox starting pitchers so far this year are- Bard 4.38, Beckett 4.45, Lester 4.62, Doubront 5.19, Buchholz 8.69, and Cook at 20.25. This has to be more than just a coincidence. I could understand 1 or 2 guys having a high ERA at this point in the season. But for the entire staff to be over 4 is completely inexcusable. Considering how poorly the starting pitchers performed at the end of last season, one would think there would be special emphasis on getting off on the right foot this season. So far, this hasn't happened.
Jon Lester is a notorious slow starter, so I guess his poor ERA isn't all that surprising. But for the lowest ERA of a starting pitcher on the team to be 4.38 is just ridiculous. I realize that this is Bob McClure's first year as the Sox pitching coach, but he sure seems to be continuing what Curt Young went through in his one season in the same position last year. I also will fully admit that McClure isn't the one out there serving up meatballs to opposing hitters. But his job is to make sure the staff is well-prepared for competition. I just haven't seen that yet on a consistent basis. Granted it doesn't help that the Sox have only scored 11 runs in the past four games, but Red Sox pitching hasn't given up less than 4 runs in a week.
It would be unfair to place all of the blame on the Red Sox struggling pitching staff. However it's tough to win games when the starting staff has a combined ERA of 7.93 and the bullpen's combined ERA is 5.21. Again, I'm not saying Bob McClure should be the only under fire right now, the entire team is playing poorly. But McClure's methods obviously aren't working, and you can't win many games if your starting pitchers continue to give up almost 8 runs per game.
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The ERA for Red Sox starting pitchers so far this year are- Bard 4.38, Beckett 4.45, Lester 4.62, Doubront 5.19, Buchholz 8.69, and Cook at 20.25. This has to be more than just a coincidence. I could understand 1 or 2 guys having a high ERA at this point in the season. But for the entire staff to be over 4 is completely inexcusable. Considering how poorly the starting pitchers performed at the end of last season, one would think there would be special emphasis on getting off on the right foot this season. So far, this hasn't happened.
Jon Lester is a notorious slow starter, so I guess his poor ERA isn't all that surprising. But for the lowest ERA of a starting pitcher on the team to be 4.38 is just ridiculous. I realize that this is Bob McClure's first year as the Sox pitching coach, but he sure seems to be continuing what Curt Young went through in his one season in the same position last year. I also will fully admit that McClure isn't the one out there serving up meatballs to opposing hitters. But his job is to make sure the staff is well-prepared for competition. I just haven't seen that yet on a consistent basis. Granted it doesn't help that the Sox have only scored 11 runs in the past four games, but Red Sox pitching hasn't given up less than 4 runs in a week.
It would be unfair to place all of the blame on the Red Sox struggling pitching staff. However it's tough to win games when the starting staff has a combined ERA of 7.93 and the bullpen's combined ERA is 5.21. Again, I'm not saying Bob McClure should be the only under fire right now, the entire team is playing poorly. But McClure's methods obviously aren't working, and you can't win many games if your starting pitchers continue to give up almost 8 runs per game.
Follow me on Twitter- @TwittinSports
Thursday, May 3, 2012
For The Love Of The Game
I realize that there are quite a few people who don't enjoy baseball. It's not the fastest game in the world (although it's pretty easy to argue that football is just as slow), and well, not to sound too pompous, it's a thinking man's game. Baseball is the epitome of one on one competition and a team sport all rolled into one. Don't believe me? Just look at Jered Weaver's no-hitter on Wednesday.
There is no doubt that for a pitcher to throw a no-hitter, or for that matter win a game, he needs his defense behind him. But, that defense also relies on him to throw pitches that aren't meatballs that get cranked over the fences. Baseball is an individual battle for a split second. Pitcher versus hitter. Both men have the power to win or lose a game for his team. But like the pitcher and his defense, the batter has teammates too. This is what makes me love baseball so much. While it is a team sport, there is a sense of individuality to it. Look at the Braves vs. Phillies game yesterday. Chipper Jones hit a walkoff home run. One guy, one swing, game over. Did it help that there was a man on base? Yes and no. The game would've been over even if he hadn't been there. But that guy on base may have made the pitcher tip a pitch or give something away that Jones caught while in the on-deck circle. That Braves game didn't just end on a walkoff home run mind you. The final score was 15-13 and it took 11 innings to complete. So again, Chipper Jones may be the hero, the guy who "won the game" but it was a team effort that put him in that situation.
Another thing I love about baseball, there are no ties. Well except for that stupid All-Star Game in 2002, thank you very much Joe Torre. But in the regular season, there is a winner and a loser for every single game. The NFL has ties, just ask Donovan McNabb. Soccer games end in a tie, or draw, whatever, and hockey has this weird thing were if you lose in overtime you still get a point. Which isn't really a tie, but it's awkward, kind of like a consolation prize. By now it should be obvious that I'm not much of an NBA fan, but I'll give them credit for not letting games end in tie. It's just dumb. Like Herm Edwards said, "You play to win the game." Also, baseball doesn't seem to have the divas that football and basketball have. You can't accuse a baseball player of being a ball hog, and when was the last time you heard a baseball player act like Terrell Owens at a press conference? It doesn't happen. Sure there are guys who say and/or do things that make them look stupid. But the degree in which superstar baseball players seem to have an ego pales in comparison to that of the superstar NFL and NBA players.
Lastly, the thing that really puts baseball over the top for me is the ability to achieve perfection. There have been 21 perfect games in MLB history, 19 of which have come since the year 1900. Think about that for a second. In the last 112 years or so, there have been 19 games in which no batter reached base. 27 guys came to the plate, and 27 guys went back to the bench. I can't think of another sport where anything similar to this would be possible. Maybe tennis, not letting your opponent score a single point? But that's an individual sport. Just like with a no-hitter, the pitcher is the star, but his defense is just as important as he is. You're never going to see an NFL game when one team gains zero yards, and no NBA team will ever even get shutout, although it sure looked like the Bobcats were going to challenge that one this year. Oh, and just because you threw a perfect game, it doesn't mean squat in your next start. The last perfect game was few weeks ago, thrown by Phil Humber. He set down all 27 Seattle Mariners he faced. His very next start? He went 5 innings and gave up 9 earned runs. Not exactly what you would expect from a guy who just etched his name in the history books.
There is a reason why the term home run and/or grand slam are used in every other sport. Because baseball illustrates life. You have to go at it alone sometimes, but there is always a team behind you supporting you. Don't get me wrong, I love football and I love hockey. But baseball is my passion. A lot of people can throw spiral, make a tackle, shoot a three, dunk, ice skate, handle a puck, or shoot a soccer ball. Very few can hit a 100 mph fastball or a nasty curve ball over a wall that's 400 feet away.
Follow me on Twitter- @TwittinSports
There is no doubt that for a pitcher to throw a no-hitter, or for that matter win a game, he needs his defense behind him. But, that defense also relies on him to throw pitches that aren't meatballs that get cranked over the fences. Baseball is an individual battle for a split second. Pitcher versus hitter. Both men have the power to win or lose a game for his team. But like the pitcher and his defense, the batter has teammates too. This is what makes me love baseball so much. While it is a team sport, there is a sense of individuality to it. Look at the Braves vs. Phillies game yesterday. Chipper Jones hit a walkoff home run. One guy, one swing, game over. Did it help that there was a man on base? Yes and no. The game would've been over even if he hadn't been there. But that guy on base may have made the pitcher tip a pitch or give something away that Jones caught while in the on-deck circle. That Braves game didn't just end on a walkoff home run mind you. The final score was 15-13 and it took 11 innings to complete. So again, Chipper Jones may be the hero, the guy who "won the game" but it was a team effort that put him in that situation.
Another thing I love about baseball, there are no ties. Well except for that stupid All-Star Game in 2002, thank you very much Joe Torre. But in the regular season, there is a winner and a loser for every single game. The NFL has ties, just ask Donovan McNabb. Soccer games end in a tie, or draw, whatever, and hockey has this weird thing were if you lose in overtime you still get a point. Which isn't really a tie, but it's awkward, kind of like a consolation prize. By now it should be obvious that I'm not much of an NBA fan, but I'll give them credit for not letting games end in tie. It's just dumb. Like Herm Edwards said, "You play to win the game." Also, baseball doesn't seem to have the divas that football and basketball have. You can't accuse a baseball player of being a ball hog, and when was the last time you heard a baseball player act like Terrell Owens at a press conference? It doesn't happen. Sure there are guys who say and/or do things that make them look stupid. But the degree in which superstar baseball players seem to have an ego pales in comparison to that of the superstar NFL and NBA players.
Lastly, the thing that really puts baseball over the top for me is the ability to achieve perfection. There have been 21 perfect games in MLB history, 19 of which have come since the year 1900. Think about that for a second. In the last 112 years or so, there have been 19 games in which no batter reached base. 27 guys came to the plate, and 27 guys went back to the bench. I can't think of another sport where anything similar to this would be possible. Maybe tennis, not letting your opponent score a single point? But that's an individual sport. Just like with a no-hitter, the pitcher is the star, but his defense is just as important as he is. You're never going to see an NFL game when one team gains zero yards, and no NBA team will ever even get shutout, although it sure looked like the Bobcats were going to challenge that one this year. Oh, and just because you threw a perfect game, it doesn't mean squat in your next start. The last perfect game was few weeks ago, thrown by Phil Humber. He set down all 27 Seattle Mariners he faced. His very next start? He went 5 innings and gave up 9 earned runs. Not exactly what you would expect from a guy who just etched his name in the history books.
There is a reason why the term home run and/or grand slam are used in every other sport. Because baseball illustrates life. You have to go at it alone sometimes, but there is always a team behind you supporting you. Don't get me wrong, I love football and I love hockey. But baseball is my passion. A lot of people can throw spiral, make a tackle, shoot a three, dunk, ice skate, handle a puck, or shoot a soccer ball. Very few can hit a 100 mph fastball or a nasty curve ball over a wall that's 400 feet away.
Follow me on Twitter- @TwittinSports
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
I Even Jinx Myself Sometimes
So in my last blog post I went on a big long tirade about how I can't pick winners in fantasy baseball. Well I guess there is nothing like proving yourself wrong. For Wednesday's SBNation Pick 6 I chose Jered Weaver as my starting pitcher. So I don't even know what to think anymore about my fantasy baseball jinxing abilities.
If you somehow haven't heard by now, Weaver no-hit the Twins on Wednesday night. Now I knew how bad the Twins have been so far this season, so it's not like I chose Weaver on a total whim. I mean there is no way I expected a no-hitter, but I did think he fair well enough to garner a decent amount of points. Although to be perfectly honest, earlier in the day I was kicking myself for not starting Justin Verlander. But right now, I'm pretty glad I didn't.
The day wasn't all roses for my fantasy squad though. I had Derek Jeter as my middle infielder, y'know, the guy who is hitting .400 and was facing the Orioles in Yankee Stadium? Yeah, 0-4 and was worth -4 points. Super. AJ Ellis was another superb choice by yours truly. He's hitting over .300 and his OBP is almost .450 plus he homered on Tuesday and drove in three runs. Wednesday however he went 1-3 and netted me 5.6 points. I also figured since the Red Sox haven't been scoring a ton of runs lately, Aceves would get a save opportunity versus the A's. Nope. The Sox never led, Aceves never stepped foot on the field, a big fat goose egg for me. Super.
I didn't totally derp on Wednesday though. I had Matt Kemp again, and while he isn't killing the ball like he has been in the past few weeks, he did get me 12.6 points, so that was alright. I also started Howie Kendrick, which was my second best decision of the day. Kendrick went off for 27.8 points. While I admit I didn't expect anything over 13 from him, but he did have a big game on Tuesday, and again, the Angels were facing the Twins, so I picked him and hoped he'd continue his little hot streak. He did, and I'm grateful. When it was all said and done I ended the day with a total of 72 points.
So my first entry into this Pick 6 thing didn't go as planned, however Wednesday worked out quite a bit better. In fact, I finished in 76th place out of the total entries of 2,142 and was first in my group of 22. I realize Wednesday was just one day. But it's such a stark contrast to Tuesday's effort, I couldn't help but write about it again. Here's to hoping Thursday goes more like Wednesday rather than Tuesday.
Did any of you enter the SBNation Pick 6? If you did, let me know how you did. So far I'm really enjoying this set up (especially when the actual teams I root for lose), and hopefully more and more people will start playing.
Follow me on Twitter- @TwittinSports Like the blog on Facebook- facebook.com/abloopandablast
If you somehow haven't heard by now, Weaver no-hit the Twins on Wednesday night. Now I knew how bad the Twins have been so far this season, so it's not like I chose Weaver on a total whim. I mean there is no way I expected a no-hitter, but I did think he fair well enough to garner a decent amount of points. Although to be perfectly honest, earlier in the day I was kicking myself for not starting Justin Verlander. But right now, I'm pretty glad I didn't.
The day wasn't all roses for my fantasy squad though. I had Derek Jeter as my middle infielder, y'know, the guy who is hitting .400 and was facing the Orioles in Yankee Stadium? Yeah, 0-4 and was worth -4 points. Super. AJ Ellis was another superb choice by yours truly. He's hitting over .300 and his OBP is almost .450 plus he homered on Tuesday and drove in three runs. Wednesday however he went 1-3 and netted me 5.6 points. I also figured since the Red Sox haven't been scoring a ton of runs lately, Aceves would get a save opportunity versus the A's. Nope. The Sox never led, Aceves never stepped foot on the field, a big fat goose egg for me. Super.
I didn't totally derp on Wednesday though. I had Matt Kemp again, and while he isn't killing the ball like he has been in the past few weeks, he did get me 12.6 points, so that was alright. I also started Howie Kendrick, which was my second best decision of the day. Kendrick went off for 27.8 points. While I admit I didn't expect anything over 13 from him, but he did have a big game on Tuesday, and again, the Angels were facing the Twins, so I picked him and hoped he'd continue his little hot streak. He did, and I'm grateful. When it was all said and done I ended the day with a total of 72 points.
So my first entry into this Pick 6 thing didn't go as planned, however Wednesday worked out quite a bit better. In fact, I finished in 76th place out of the total entries of 2,142 and was first in my group of 22. I realize Wednesday was just one day. But it's such a stark contrast to Tuesday's effort, I couldn't help but write about it again. Here's to hoping Thursday goes more like Wednesday rather than Tuesday.
Did any of you enter the SBNation Pick 6? If you did, let me know how you did. So far I'm really enjoying this set up (especially when the actual teams I root for lose), and hopefully more and more people will start playing.
Follow me on Twitter- @TwittinSports Like the blog on Facebook- facebook.com/abloopandablast
I Have Strange Fantasy Baseball Powers
As you may or may not know, I've been quite successful the past few seasons in fantasy football, although I'm pretty sure I've just jinxed myself for the upcoming season. Either way, for the better part of the last 7 seasons, I have either won or finished 2nd in at least one of the fantasy football leagues I've been in. I don't want to sound like I'm bragging, but I enjoy winning, and I'm pretty proud of fantasy football success. I only wish it were the same for fantasy baseball.
I think it's pretty obvious that I'm a baseball freak. I watch and/or listen to at least 9 innings a day, usually it's 18 or more, it all depends on who is playing and at what time. But for whatever reason, I've never won a fantasy baseball league. The closest I came was 3 years when I lost on the last day of the season by 1.5 points in the game to make it to the championship. I've come to realize, I have a very strange power of jinxing players. So last season I decided for the first time in 8 years, I wasn't going to play fantasy baseball. It was strange not having to set a lineup either weekly or daily, but I found myself enjoying games more. This year, I tried to set up a league a few times, but for a few reasons, I could never fill a league and just decided to skip it again. That was until today.
The sports blog website SBNation debuted a new fantasy baseball game on Tuesday. They call it Pick 6, it's a one day contest, totally free, and you only have to choose 6 players. So I figured, why not give it a try. The game works by selecting a starting pitcher, a catcher, a middle infielder, a corner infielder, an outfielder, and a relief pitcher. You can't just choose anyone though. You have a "salary" cap of $120 that you cannot break. The scoring system is very simple, and you can even set your lineup on your iPhone. Easy enough right? Apparently not.
My Tuesday lineup was Felix Doubront, Carlos Pena, David Ortiz, Ben Zobrist, Matt Kemp, and Jonathan Papelbon. Kemp and Ortiz have been on fire lately, absolutely tearing the cover off the ball. Kemp leads all of MLB in average, on-base plus slugging percentage, and home runs. Seemed like a no-brainer. He went 1-4 with a single, a walk, and a run scored. He also struck out twice and was caught stealing. David Ortiz has been just as hot lately. He went 0-4 with an RBI and a strikeout. Combined, two of the hottest hitters in the game netted me a total of -2.2 points. Not exactly what I was looking for. Doubront had been one of the more successful starting pitchers for the Red Sox this season and he was facing the lightest hitting team in the league. Not only that, his price was cheap. He was worth 7.2 points, not great, not terrible, pretty average. The only real bright spot in my lineup was Papelbon who went for 12 points. Which is pretty good for a reliever. Overall I finished 16th out of 20 in the group I'm in and out of the 2,542 total entries, I was in 1,332nd place. I do take some solace in the fact that the guy who runs the Dodgers blog on SBNation finished Tuesday with -1.0 points though. I know that's petty but whatever, I beat him, and it's the only victory I could find, so I'll take it.
What I'm getting at, is it has become apparent to me that I have a strange power to jinx MLB players. I just don't know what other explanation there is. You can call it bad luck or whatever, I just have to laugh about it. You would think someone who pays as much attention to the game as I do would have somewhat of a clue when it came to picking successful players. You would be wrong in my case. I just can't put together a winning lineup. Either way, I enjoyed my unsuccessful return to fantasy baseball, and it seems I haven't lost my touch. I will be doing a Pick 6 probably everyday of the season, just because it's easy and fun. You should check it out at pick6.sbnation.com and see if you like it. Also, if you do decide to play and you're not a member of a blog in their network, join TrueBlueLA so it's easier for us to see each other's scores. That way you can rub it in my face on Twitter how horrible of a fantasy baseball player I am.
Follow me on Twitter- @TwittinSports Like the blog on Facebook- facebook.com/abloopandablast
I think it's pretty obvious that I'm a baseball freak. I watch and/or listen to at least 9 innings a day, usually it's 18 or more, it all depends on who is playing and at what time. But for whatever reason, I've never won a fantasy baseball league. The closest I came was 3 years when I lost on the last day of the season by 1.5 points in the game to make it to the championship. I've come to realize, I have a very strange power of jinxing players. So last season I decided for the first time in 8 years, I wasn't going to play fantasy baseball. It was strange not having to set a lineup either weekly or daily, but I found myself enjoying games more. This year, I tried to set up a league a few times, but for a few reasons, I could never fill a league and just decided to skip it again. That was until today.
The sports blog website SBNation debuted a new fantasy baseball game on Tuesday. They call it Pick 6, it's a one day contest, totally free, and you only have to choose 6 players. So I figured, why not give it a try. The game works by selecting a starting pitcher, a catcher, a middle infielder, a corner infielder, an outfielder, and a relief pitcher. You can't just choose anyone though. You have a "salary" cap of $120 that you cannot break. The scoring system is very simple, and you can even set your lineup on your iPhone. Easy enough right? Apparently not.
My Tuesday lineup was Felix Doubront, Carlos Pena, David Ortiz, Ben Zobrist, Matt Kemp, and Jonathan Papelbon. Kemp and Ortiz have been on fire lately, absolutely tearing the cover off the ball. Kemp leads all of MLB in average, on-base plus slugging percentage, and home runs. Seemed like a no-brainer. He went 1-4 with a single, a walk, and a run scored. He also struck out twice and was caught stealing. David Ortiz has been just as hot lately. He went 0-4 with an RBI and a strikeout. Combined, two of the hottest hitters in the game netted me a total of -2.2 points. Not exactly what I was looking for. Doubront had been one of the more successful starting pitchers for the Red Sox this season and he was facing the lightest hitting team in the league. Not only that, his price was cheap. He was worth 7.2 points, not great, not terrible, pretty average. The only real bright spot in my lineup was Papelbon who went for 12 points. Which is pretty good for a reliever. Overall I finished 16th out of 20 in the group I'm in and out of the 2,542 total entries, I was in 1,332nd place. I do take some solace in the fact that the guy who runs the Dodgers blog on SBNation finished Tuesday with -1.0 points though. I know that's petty but whatever, I beat him, and it's the only victory I could find, so I'll take it.
What I'm getting at, is it has become apparent to me that I have a strange power to jinx MLB players. I just don't know what other explanation there is. You can call it bad luck or whatever, I just have to laugh about it. You would think someone who pays as much attention to the game as I do would have somewhat of a clue when it came to picking successful players. You would be wrong in my case. I just can't put together a winning lineup. Either way, I enjoyed my unsuccessful return to fantasy baseball, and it seems I haven't lost my touch. I will be doing a Pick 6 probably everyday of the season, just because it's easy and fun. You should check it out at pick6.sbnation.com and see if you like it. Also, if you do decide to play and you're not a member of a blog in their network, join TrueBlueLA so it's easier for us to see each other's scores. That way you can rub it in my face on Twitter how horrible of a fantasy baseball player I am.
Follow me on Twitter- @TwittinSports Like the blog on Facebook- facebook.com/abloopandablast
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
The Kings Don't Sing The Blues, They Pound Them
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at least a little shocked with how the Kings are playing lately. I mean, I knew they could play this well, but I certainly didn't expect it. After bouncing the Canucks out of the playoffs in the first round, I figured, OK they might come back down to Earth a bit and have some trouble with the Blues. Nope.
St. Louis was a very good team during the regular season. They were tied with Vancouver for the fewest losses in the league, tied for second in point percentage, and the best in the league when it came to goals against. Mind you the Kings were second in goals against, but still, the Kings didn't exactly tear the net off the posts on the offensive side. However, since the start of the playoffs the Kings goals per game have risen to 2.86 up from 2.29 during the regular season. Couple that with Jonathan Quick who has the highest save percentage in the playoffs so far, and the Kings are downright dangerous. They simply don't look intimidated by anyone right now. Which is definitely a change from the regular season. It's not that they would get consistently bullied, but they just lacked that toughness edge. Well apparently they were just saving up all that aggression for the playoffs, because they look like pretty badass right now.
What did concern me with Monday night's game was the amount of penalties the Kings took. LA found themselves in the sin bin 16 times during Monday's game. Yes the Blues were penalized 14 times, but they were also down 4-0 after the first period. St. Louis should have been throwing their weight around, trying to do anything to get back in the game. LA didn't need to respond the way they did. I'm all for protecting yourself and your teammates, but it seemed a bit excessive. Hopefully they'll bit a bit more disciplined on Thursday when the teams face off in Game 3, the first of the series in LA.
By far what has been the most impressive part of the Kings postseason run so far has been their ability to win on the road. The one game in which they were defeated was in LA by a desperate Canucks squad. One might be inclined to think it's just a coincidence, but think about last year's Stanley Cup Finals. The Canucks and Bruins went to Game 7, neither of which having won a road game. Boston finally wins a game on the road, and it clinches the Cup for them. So yeah, being able to win a one game as the visitor is vital, especially when you're a number 8 seed. The Kings have proven they can do this, which gives me a sense of optimism. Is this series over? Not by a long shot, but the Kings are well on their way to the Western Conference Finals. If they keep scoring goals at the torrid pace they have in the first 2 games of this series and Quick keeps standing on his head, I'm not so sure anyone can beat them right now.
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St. Louis was a very good team during the regular season. They were tied with Vancouver for the fewest losses in the league, tied for second in point percentage, and the best in the league when it came to goals against. Mind you the Kings were second in goals against, but still, the Kings didn't exactly tear the net off the posts on the offensive side. However, since the start of the playoffs the Kings goals per game have risen to 2.86 up from 2.29 during the regular season. Couple that with Jonathan Quick who has the highest save percentage in the playoffs so far, and the Kings are downright dangerous. They simply don't look intimidated by anyone right now. Which is definitely a change from the regular season. It's not that they would get consistently bullied, but they just lacked that toughness edge. Well apparently they were just saving up all that aggression for the playoffs, because they look like pretty badass right now.
What did concern me with Monday night's game was the amount of penalties the Kings took. LA found themselves in the sin bin 16 times during Monday's game. Yes the Blues were penalized 14 times, but they were also down 4-0 after the first period. St. Louis should have been throwing their weight around, trying to do anything to get back in the game. LA didn't need to respond the way they did. I'm all for protecting yourself and your teammates, but it seemed a bit excessive. Hopefully they'll bit a bit more disciplined on Thursday when the teams face off in Game 3, the first of the series in LA.
By far what has been the most impressive part of the Kings postseason run so far has been their ability to win on the road. The one game in which they were defeated was in LA by a desperate Canucks squad. One might be inclined to think it's just a coincidence, but think about last year's Stanley Cup Finals. The Canucks and Bruins went to Game 7, neither of which having won a road game. Boston finally wins a game on the road, and it clinches the Cup for them. So yeah, being able to win a one game as the visitor is vital, especially when you're a number 8 seed. The Kings have proven they can do this, which gives me a sense of optimism. Is this series over? Not by a long shot, but the Kings are well on their way to the Western Conference Finals. If they keep scoring goals at the torrid pace they have in the first 2 games of this series and Quick keeps standing on his head, I'm not so sure anyone can beat them right now.
Follow me on Twitter- @TwittinSports Like the blog on Facebook- facebook.com/abloopandablast
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