Bounceback Season for Detroit Tigers

In the 2006 World Series, Tigers starting pitchers set the baseball record for errors combined in the World Series. Remember, they only got five games to do it. In 2007, the Tigers were winning as Gary Sheffield joined the team, and all looked well until the Indians behind Travis Hafner, C.C. Sabathia, and Victor Martinez won 96 games and took the division by eight. I remember the projections for 2008 and I couldn't believe what was going on. I thought it was only possible for the Cubs to do what they did. After being projected to score 1000 runs for the first time, they lost the first six games of the season at home thanks to the Royals and the White Sox. They never recovered and went 74-82 the rest of the way.
However, in 2009, everyone is getting a glipse of the Tigers of old. Brandon Inge, expected to play tremendous defense and hit maybe 20 homeruns with around 60 RBI, has not only done the defense part like always, but he already has 17 homeruns and 49 RBI! And we're not even halfway through the season. Miguel Cabrera has shown a little less power than last year but should be on par with his season averages, like low to mid 30's in homeruns. Curtis Granderson plays great defense-as does Ramon Santiago and Placido Polanco at second and Adam Everett at short-and has 17 home runs with 13 steals this season. He will certainly make 20-20 this season and I would consider him for 30-30. The Tigers are 41-31, first place, leading the Twins by 5 games. They have done all of this without Sheffield and without a productive Magglio Ordonez. Maggs has lost his power stroke this season. Man, the pitching in the Motor City! One of the best rotations around has the luxury of giving way to the hardest-throwing and best bullpen in baseball. Justin Verlander (8-3), Edwin Jackson (6-4), and rookie Rick Porcello (8-4) all have ERA's under 3.60. Jackson has been a big surprise coming up in big games thus far this season. Joel Zumaya, Fernando Rodney, and Ryan Perry highlight the hardthrowers in the pen. Rodney is 16-for-16 in save opportunities.
Overall, I love the Tigers although they do play in a pitcher's park. I think the Twins will challenge the Tigers in September but never get first back, as the Tigers will win 93 games and take the AL Central. The Twins could take the Wild Card, I'm not sure though. In the playoffs, I think they are good enough to get to the ALCS, and possibly the World Series. No guarantees, though.

Cubs Earn Their Dreams in the Wishing Wells

Randy Wells, right hander out of Belleville, Illinois, is now one of the best lower rotation starters in Major League Baseball. Wells has a 2.57 ERA in eight major league starts in 2009, but has just one win to show for it. He has been the most consistent starter in the last month or so. Wells and his patented teeth-clenching-during-the-pitch has gone 13-4 in the last two seasons combined at AAA, not playing much in 2009. I think he is certainly showing that he has adjusted to the major league level much better than Sean Marshall. That is why the Cubs rotation should go like this for the rest of the season: Zambrano, Dempster, Lilly, Harden, Wells. I know the Cubs need the lefty in Marshall, but his reported dominance in the minors has never shown here. In fact, I don't believe we have seen Marshall make eight starts as consistent as Randy Wells has in a row. Marshall owns a 2.70 career ERA in the minors, while in the majors that number is 4.57. His K/9 rate is just 6.2 in the majors, 8.6 in the minors. I've noticed that his game relies on the strikeout a little too much considering 6.2 isn't the figure necessary for a successful southpaw who throws a huge curveball that should be keeping hitters off balance. The Cubs struggled with what to do about Marshall's stalling until Wells arrived. Although he has been getting no run support, I would count him in the league's top five number five starters, along the names of guys like Livan Hernandez.

Injury-Mangled Cubs Team Continues to Fight

The week in late May when the Cubs played a 6 game road trip with 3 against St. Louis and then 3 against San Diego was my hardest week as a Cub fan. It was terrible, and I thought it had been going on for a month. The first game was a complete game shutout by Joel Piñiero, just another ugly loss to the Cards. The second game saw the return of Chris Carpenter, the Cardinals' best pitcher on the staff who hasn't gone a full healthy season since who knows when. Carpenter was held to a pitch count allowing him to go five innings, three hits, no runs. The bullpen shut down the Cubs until the ninth, when Micah Hoffpauir hit an RBI single. The final score was 2-1 Cards, the first game was 3-0. In the last game, Adam Wainwright came an out from a complete game, but Ryan Franklin picked up the save in the 3-1 loss to the Cardinals. In San Diego, I thought they could turn a corner playing a bad despite hot team. The Padres came in and out of the series rolling. In the first game, Carlos Zambrano struggled in his return to the rotation and Jake Peavy handled the Cubs lineup finely. Their next loss was 3-1 with the first homer on the whole road trip belonging to Derrek Lee. It was progress, but only one run. In the next game, Reed Johnson hit a two-run shot, but that was it. The score was 7-2. Road trip totals: Cubs scored 5 runs in 6 games, or .83 runs per game. The opponents: The Cardinals scored 8 in 3 games, and the Padres scored 14 in the 3 games.
Thankfully, the Cubs actually did make it out of there. Back at home, of course, the pitching stopped working just as a tease on Monday night against the Pirates. A 10-8 loss was an offensive win, though. The Cubs did end up win 4 of the 7 on the homestand against Pittsburgh and the LA Dodgers. In June, the Cubs split two extra inning games with the Braves, then went to Cincy where Zambrano threw a gem and started talking retirement. Big Z may be crazy, but he never fails to entertain people. He says he'll retire at the end of his contract, in the 2012 or 2013, at the age of 32 or 33. It was his 100th win Friday, and he got that milestone three years ahead of when Randy Johnson did, who just got his 300th. It's a shame because I know he has the stuff to win 300. People don't believe me, but he just has to get consistent. He had five walks against the Reds because his stuff was so good it surprised him. Oh yeah, he also hit a home run. Here's my opinion: Big Z, we love ya. We'd love to see you pitch for us until around 2020, but if you really want to retire, then that is best for you. Just one thing: Get us a ring first. GO CUBS GO!!! (Cubs 27-25)

New Hope for Rising MLB Teams

Like how Kleenex has branded tissues, the Tampa Bay Rays have branded surprise success stories in baseball. The teams I'm thinking about mainly are the Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners, Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Dodgers, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, and San Francisco Giants.
(above, Marlon Byrd celebretes his April 9 home run with Andruw Jones and Nelson Cruz)
-TEX: The offensive beast learned how to pitch. Thanks to Kevin Millwood (2.93 ERA), Frank Francisco (9-for-9 in saves without yet allowing an earned run), and Matt Harrison (4-2 record), these Rangers have won seven in a row and have a big lead in the AL West. I'd like to see them make the playoffs for the first time in a long time this year.
-TOR: Picked by most to be 4th or 5th in the tough AL East, the team sits up at first. Huge surprise Aaron Hill leads the offense, and Adam Lind drives him in. Roy Halladay is the best pitcher in baseball now, and Brian Tallet has got talent. People have counted out this team for the entire decade due to the Red Sox, Yankees, and now the Rays, so I'm glad to see them fight back.
-SEA: The abbrevation, 'SEA' means 'See Ya!' as in a homer for Russell Branyan. Although a recent slump has put them back at 18-20, the Mariners lost 100 games last year and saw no reason to get better this year. Felix Hernandez (53 K's in 51 innings), and Erik Bedard (2.53 ERA) lead the surprising pitching staff in suddenly sunny Seattle.
-CIN: Much like the Rangers, they couldn't pitch. For a while, they couldn't hit. Edinson Volquez and Jonny Cueto, hardthrowing young arms, are leading the pitching staff. I like this team although they will fall short of the playoffs.
-LAD: Although they're not really a surprise, it is surprising that they are the NL's best team even without Manny Ramirez. I like how Andre Ethier is having a breakout season. In 2006 and 2007, there was much debate about whether to play the young guys coming up like Ethier, Matt Kemp, Chad Billingsley. There's no debate now.
-DET: I actually love the Tigers and the best part of the deal is that Justin Verlander is back (finally). After some mediocre starts, he's dominating while getting run support from Miguel Cabrera, Curtis Granderson, and Brandon Inge. Pretty sweet! They should win the division if they can stay healthy.
-KC: This is the best story in the big leagues. Zach Greinke is dominating. Alberto Callaspo is hitting. Joakim Soria is shutting it down. They've got the winning formula in Missouri, so expect them to make a run at the wild card.
-SF: Bengie Molina is hitting the ball hard and now Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum, and Barry Zito can pitch without worrying about run support. It could be tough to keep it going due to the spotty offensive streaks, but keep an eye on them.

Although some of these won't really come too close to making the playoffs, keep an eye on them this year and in future years for what they bring in their division. I could see the Dodgers, Tigers, and Rangers making the playoffs this season. Maybe the Reds, but they would need some help from the rest of the NL teams to take the Wild Card, because I don't think there is a chance that they win the whole NL Central.

White Sox Stumbling

I won't cover the White Sox too much, but this is worth writing about. The Sox just can't get the hitting going. When things get ugly, Ozzie Guillen makes things about 20 times worse with all of this sarcastic argument business and uncanny ways of getting the team out of hitting slumps. When the Sox win, Ozzie is having a party. There is the problem. That is why I think that if the Sox aren't close to .500 by mid-June, Ozzie should be fired as Sox manager. After a 3 game set with the Twins, interleague play lurks ahead starting with the Pirates at home. This homestand needs to be strong to make a statement about the direction this team wants to go this year. If the team starts losing, I have no doubt Ken Williams will pull the plug on Jermaine Dye and trade him. Williams is one of the best GMs in Major League Baseball, but he'll need to rebuild again like in 2007 unless the Sox can get something going here. If the Sox can pull off a good road trip after that homestand, going to play the Angels and then the Royals, they should be fantasy favorites heading into June playing 4 against Oakland, 3 against Cleveland, and 4 against Detroit all at home.
Hey, Sox fans, keep an eye on:
-Jayson Nix, the young hitter could get good at hitting in the big leagues soon.
-Scott Podsednik, because I think once he is finished getting the feel for things he will be very productive again, although he has lost some speed.
-Paul Konerko, because he might be back as a great run production man again.

Cubs On Fire

"The way I see it, we've just only begun," Adam Sandler from Happy Gilmore. That's how the Cubs have taken this season so far. After a frustrating bullpen nightmare worse than Chernobyl on Thursday, April 30, the Cubs have the majors' best record in May. In that game, a 2-2 tie was opened to make it 8-2 at the end of the top of the 10th. They fell to 10-11 after that game, the first and only time this season that they have fallen below .500. Since then, they've enjoyed much success against those Marlins, the Giants, the Astros, and the Padres. I still don't like this Cub team right now in that we're without Carlos Zambrano and Aramis Ramirez. Once they return, who knows where we're going? The offense has really come around nicely, too. The Cubs have scored 2 or more runs every game this month.

Bulls Eliminated From Playoffs

It's been forever since I last made a post, and I couldn't have chosen a worse time. The Bulls just played the best NBA playoff series in history, but the Bulls were eliminated in Game 7.
-I talked about Game 1, but Game 2 was all about Ben Gordon and Ray Allen. Gordon wouldn't stop scoring, and there he gained his clutch reputation in this series. Amazingly, this game didn't go into OT. Ray Allen was left unguarded for the 1st of a million times the Bulls failed that play. His big 3-pointer won the game 118-115.
-Game 3 was the worst effort in the series by the Bulls, because they seemed dead. Although it was 107-86 the final, that was only because of a late rally. Having seized home court advantage by splitting the first two games, I was very dissapointed they couldn't defend their home court.
-Game 4 went into 2OT but the Bulls prevailed at home thanks to the biggest Bulls shot since decade. Ben Gordon sent the game to 2OT with a crazy 3 pointer from no man's land to send the United Center into a frenzy.
-Game 5 saw just single OT but the Celtics took it because of a Paul Pierce turnaround fadeaway jumper to give Boston the lead at 106-104. That was the final, and the Celtics took the lead 3-2.
-Game 6 was the best game of the series. Fighting elimination, the Bulls forced the game into 3OT this time. Rajon Rondo, who all of Chicago hates by now, was given a flagrant foul for slamming Kirk Hinrich into the scorer's table. Hinrich pushed back, resulting in a technical, but it was so exciting as the United Center crowd rose to their seats in anticipation. I think they put the wrong floor out there, because this is turning into a hockey ice rink fighting thing. Anyway, a late rally in the 4th Quarter included a Brad Miller 3-pointer, the last guy you'd expect to do that. He made the same layup to tie the game right after that as the one that he missed in Game 5, partly costing the Bulls the game. Ray Allen was ridiculous again, scoring over 50. Paul Pierce and Ben Gordon could have won the game there but both missed their shots. Pierce missed another one at the end of OT, so time for 2OT tied at 109. Brad Miller lost the ball and so we went to 3OT tied at 119. Joakim Noah had an amazing breakaway dunk with the and1. Then, the hated Rondo was trying to tie the game. He was blocked by Rose, and although Rose missed his free throws, he still put them in for the win. 128-127 the final.
-Game 7 was frustrating. The Bulls started so well and fell short on a ridiculous 20-2 run for the Celtics to end the first half. The Celtics won 109-99 and the Bulls came close but they couldn't finish the deal. Down six, a Gordon three that was missed would have put them right back in the game with about a minute left.

Overall, this series was amazing. That's the best basketball I have ever seen. It was so competitive, I couldn't focus on anything but the game all night when it was on. Also, it got so much faith in the Bulls around here. Everywhere people had Bulls jerseys, shirts, hats, whatever, and everyone wouldn't stop talking about them. It was really awesome. In the future, we could have a string of big seasons coming up with Rose, Gordon, Tyrus Thomas, Noah, and more. GO BULLS!

It's All Competitive Now, Chicago

I don't believe what has happened with Chicago sports.  I'll put it out there now: All of our teams are good!  I think about this often.  Where are the best sports cities this year?  In the fall of 2007, for instance, I thought the defending AL champion Detroit Tigers, surprising Detroit 
Lions (6-2 through 8 games), and the two teams that never lose in that town (Pistons, Red Wings) made up maybe the best sports city in the country back then.  Chicago has always competed, but the Blackhawks have held the city back, especially when combined with another bad team (2006 Cubs, 2007 White Sox, 2007-08 Bulls).  New York always thinks they're the best at everything anyway, but that's because they have double the teams.  Two football franchises, in the same stadium?  Are you kidding me?  This isn't the Staples Center.  Anyway, the playoff warriors on the Bulls and Blackhawks have vaulted Chicago to leads in the first round of their respective playoff series.  

An amazing note for Bulls fans from the Game 1 OT win over Boston: Derrick Rose has done something Michael Jordan didn't.  He did something Magic Johnson didn't.  He also did something Wilt Chamberlain didn't.  He scored 36 points as a rookie in his first playoff game, tying Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.  Throw in 11 assists, and he's got ESPN raving about the Bulls and not the Celtics who were supposedly dominating at home.  So dominating, in fact, that coach Doc Rivers got really angry after the game.  "Guys, Kevin is not playing in these playoffs.  I'm not answering any Kevin Garnett questions," he barked.  I think the Bulls have to be the favorites to win the series now.  After getting the one necessary road win to win the series (assuming they win all of the games at home), the Bulls have a lot of confidence built up.  The experts were saying the series would go 6 or 7 anyway, but they didn't expect this.  I predict the Bulls will lose Game 2, win Games 3 and 4, lose Game 5 on the road, and then take the series at home in Game 6.

The Blackhawks are alive and well.  Another big home win has Comcast SportsNet Chicago drawing comparisons to Chicago Stadium.  The place was crazy in Game 1, with Martin Havlat being the big hero.  You'd think this was the 1970's, because everyone is absolutely insane with hockey.  Is this Detroit?  Is this Pittsburgh?  It's bigger than that.  Game 2 saw a big comeback led by the captain Jonathon Toews.  I love this Blackhawks team because of the youth, faith, passion, and dedication in what they do.

Aramis Ramirez, thank you.  Ramirez is helping me stay competitive in my league despite an absolutely terrible week on my fantasy team.  Ramirez hit a 2-run walk-off homer, making it three years in a row he has hit one.  Down, dumb Redbirds.  The Cardinals are slipping with the division lead after the Cubs have taken 2 of 3 thus far heading into Sunday night's ESPN finale.  

So, New York, move over.  It's our time to shine.  Let's hope that a Chicago team the majority of the city actually likes gets the championship this time.

 

ESPNChicago.com, Chicago Sports News

For all sports fans, a first has been made. ESPN has launched the website espnchicago.com, the first local sports website ever made by them. I was just on the website, it's great. That's right, we got it first, not New York. I was really surprised because ESPN is severely biased for the East Coast teams, like the only hockey games they ever show involve the New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, or the Boston Bruins. Some headlines you might read from ESPN:

All of the NBA playoffs spots have been clinched. The Bulls and the Pistons are both in while shaking off Charlotte. The Bulls play tonight at Detroit and can clinch at least the 7th seed with a win. That's really good because the 8th seed has to play Cleveland, and they have only lost once at home this season. In the 7th seed you will likely play Boston, and 6th will play Orlando. I'm not really sure why, but I would think the Bulls would do better as the 7th seed against Boston. Kevin Garnett is banged up and we could stop him, like we did earlier in the season in our home victory over them. Meanwhile, we have no answer for the young Dwight Howard. Our perimeter D is not good enough to keep up with their three-point snipers J.J Reddick and Hedo Torkoglu. We might get the 6th seed anyway, because we're now tied with the 76ers for the 6th seed. They have lost 5 in a row, and the Bulls have won 4 in a row to tie them at 40-40. The Bulls are at .500 again!!! Philly plays Boston at home and then they are the last chance to stop Cleveland from going 40-1 at home. I think they might lose both games, and so the Bulls could walk into 6th place.

Another death has taken place in baseball, this time a broadcaster. Harry Kalas, the longtime voice of the Phillies, passed away at 12:20 PM CT in a hospital after collapsing in the press booth before the Phillies-Nationals game. Cause of death has not yet been released. He was known for uniting Philly and his slow talking style was remarkable. He was also known for going, "Outta Here!" after a Phillies home run. He was a fan and an amazing broadcaster, RIP.

The Cubs have been bitten by the injury bug. Ouch! There goes the $30 million dollar man Milton Bradley, 3B Aramis Ramirez, and Rookie of the Year Geovany Soto. Bradley strained his groin and was replaced by Reed Johnson last night in an 8-5 win over Milwaukee. It turned out to be a good thing, as Johnson might have saved the game when he robbed Prince Fielder of his first career grand slam with a catch over the wall. It would have tied the game at 6. Ramirez showed up to the Cubs home opener with a stiff back, and so he won't play today. Soto had a shoulder injury and will return Wednesday. How will Lou Pinella compensate? He said that he plans to put Fukudome in the 3rd spot, moving Lee to cleanup, and boosting Fontenot up to 5th. A very interesting move, this will give the Cubs a chance to test a little.
Soriano stole into an exclusive club Sunday night, becoming the 19th player in MLB history to have 250 home runs and 250 steals. He assisted their win with a first-pitch homer (which I called, by saying "That's gone" before the pitch was thrown) but it wasn't enough to get 1st place back yet. The Cardinals completed their sweep of the Astros and are 5-2 while the Cubs are 4-2.

NBA Playoffs: Spots Filling Up

Well, the Western Conference is all wrapped up.  As if there was any real competition.  The Suns will miss the playoffs for the first time in a while.  The Mavericks are the 8th seed.  Meanwhile in the East, the Bulls win over the 76ers earlier tonight lowers the Bulls' magic number to 1 for a playoff spot.  A win on Saturday for the Bulls means the playoffs for the 4th time in 5 years.  They could also clinch if the Bobcats lose to the Thunder on Friday night.  My hat is off to John Paxson who went dealing for John Salmons, Brad Miller, and Tim Thomas.  These guys have shaped the postseason berth in a way that Gooden and Nocioni couldn't have, although it was really hard for me to watch Drew Gooden go.  He was an excellent shooter in my opinion and played very well.  With this new lineup, everyone is contributing and the Bulls have been nearly unbeatable at home.  They have been able to beat every team in the Eastern Conference including the Cavaliers, Celtics, and Magic (a good sign for the postseason) as well as the Rockets, Hornets, and Nuggets at the United Center.  There's just another reason to come on down to a Bulls game in the city, along with good food, great seats, music, halftime and timeout entertainment, and more.  

-Loul Deng (Forward) is out for the season for the Bulls.  Rookie guard DeMarcus Nelson was signed for the stretch run.  There is a slight hope Deng could return for the playoffs, but it's unlikely and the way the Bulls have been playing, do we want him back?

-Believe it or not, the Indiana Pacers have hung in there one more night.  They have stayed alive although they are now only eligible for the 8th spot in the East.  The Pistons, sitting at 38-40, are 4 games ahead of Indiana with 4 to go.

-The Bulls have the Eastern Conference's 5th best home record at 27-12.  However, their 12-28 road record ranks 12th.  It all adds up to 39-40.

-Many NBA teams are making active efforts to go green.  The Mavericks held a drive where you could recycle old TV's, PDAs, computers, keyboards, and mice.  The Minnesota T'Wolves are giving an upper level ticket away for free if you ride public transit on April 5th.  The Hornets are giving free parking to the first 100 cars to show up to the game with 4 or more people in the car.  Find more of these examples at nba.com and click on NBA Green Week.

-Michael Jordan was among five elected in the Hall of Fame, although he wasn't too happy about it.  Like his style, he admitted that he always wanted to keep it where he could come back one day.  Now in the Hall, he can't.  "I don't like being up here for the hall of fame because at that time your basketball career is completely over.  I was hoping this day would be 20 more years, or actually go in when I'm dead and gone." -Jordan, courtesy of the Washington Post.