September 30th update

MLB Playoffs start today


Now that the field is set after the unbelievable events of Wednesday's regular season finales, we're finally ready to start baseball's second season. Here's a preview of the 4 series:

Phillies vs. Cardinals: Cardinals fans were big fans of Philadelphia as recently as Wednesday as the Phillies sweep of the Braves enabled the Cardinals to make the playoffs. But now they need to find a way to score runs off one of the best rotations in MLB history. Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels were #2, #3 and #6 respectively in ERA and all have won either the Cy Young award or the World Series MVP before. Roy Oswalt is no slouch either, especially as the fourth starter. The question will be whether or not the Cardinals can find a way to score some runs and shut down the Phillies talented but inconsistent hitters.

Diamondbacks vs. Brewers: On paper this looks one-sided. The D-Backs have exactly one elite hitter (Justin Upton) and one elite pitcher (Ian Kennedy) while the Brewers look like a video game team with Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, Rickie Weeks, Zack Greinke, Yovani Gallardo and John Axford. But Arizona has been scorching hot (literally and figuratively) and will look to continue their great play into October.

Yankees vs Tigers: New York had the best team in the American League and has a team full of stars including 3 of the top 4 RBI leaders in the A.L. but they'll probably have to go up at least twice against a guy having one of the best pitching seasons in recent memory, Sportico favorite Justin Verlander. It will be tough to beat Detroit if they lose twice to Verlander and Detroit also has masher Miguel Cabrera and a consistent group of veterans around him in the lineup.

Rangers vs. Rays: A rematch of last year's ALDS, both teams have actually lost key contributors but return here nonetheless for much different reasons. The Rangers have
had one of the best offenses in baseball all year and have 3 young hard throwing left-handed pitchers who have seemed to get better and better as the year has progressed. The Rays led the majors in multiple pitching categories, had the second lowest starters ERA of any team in the past 20 years (The 2010 Oakland A's were 1st) and benefited from sizzling hot streaks from Sam Fuld, Desmond Jennings, Evan Longoria, B.J. Upton and Matt Joyce among others. The series may simply depend on which team has more guys get hot.


Big early season matchups in Week 4 of NFL


• It's been quite a few years since the Detroit Lions were pegged as part of the game of the week. However, when the upstart Lions play the Cowboys Sunday in matchup of first place teams, the winner will be on a good pace to make the playoffs. The teams are a combined 5-1 with the only loss being a late Dallas collapse against the Jets in a game they led by 14 in the 4th quarter.

• In other games, the Houston Texans high-octane offense will get a boost from the probable return of Arian Foster as they meet the Steelers intimidating defense in a matchup of 2-1 teams.

• Tom Brady and the high-flying Patriots passing game invades Oakland where the Raiders are playing football again for the first time in years... (Oh wait, they never stopped? I guess it just seemed like it). Oakland sports the #1 rushing offense in the NFL and would be undefeated if they'd managed to hold onto a big lead in Week 2 against Buffalo.

• Last but not least, on Sunday night, the Jets and Ravens will be sure to do a lot of trash talking and hard hitting in a solid matchup of playoff regulars.

Red Sox, Braves in shock after completing horrific collapses

In what can only be called a fitting ending to the epic September swoons of the Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves, both teams lost leads in the 9th inning and then lost their games, only to see the teams that they were tied with in the standings (Tampa and St. Louis respectively) win their games to win the wild-card spots outright. The Rays set an MLB record for the largest comeback in September to make the playoffs (9 games) and the Cardinals tied the NL record (8 1/2 games). ESPN's David Schoenfield called it the "most shocking, unbelievable, thrilling night in baseball history." It's hard to disagree with him.

• St. Louis won an easy game 8-0 after scoring 5 first run innings over the Houston Astros but the other 3 relevant games were nail-biting thrillers.

• The Red Sox were beating the Orioles 3-2 in the 7th inning when a rain delay stopped the game for the time being. However the Red Sox had to feel comfortable as they'd dodged a few good scoring opportunities by the Orioles and more importantly, the Rays were getting clobbered 7-0 by the Yankees.

• However, in the 8th inning the Rays used a combination of walks, hit batsmen and a home run be superstar Evan Longoria to pull within 1. In the 9th the Rays still trailed 7-6 and with 2 outs, 2 strikes and no runners on base when little-used 1B Dan Johnson hit a ball down the right field line for a home run to tie the game. The Red Sox began playing again, after seeing their security cushion hundreds of miles to the south completely disappear.

• The Red Sox took their 3-2 lead to the bottom of the 9th but with 2 outs, star closer Jonathan Papelbon gave up a double followed by another double which tied the game, followed by a liner that Carl Crawford slid for but missed, allowing the winning run to score.

• Exactly 3 minutes later in Tampa, Evan Longoria hit his 2nd home run (the first being the one in the 8th inning) down the left field line. The ball only traveled about 320 feet but was hit to the shortest part of the park and just barely fair and the Rays, who already knew that Boston had lost, mobbed Longoria at home plate, celebrating their 3rd playoff appearance in 4 years.

In the National League the Braves had a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the 9th as well but star closer Craig Kimbrel allowed the tying run and they went on to lose in heartbreaking fashion 4-3 in 13 innings after Hunter Pence singled in the winning run.

A few notes:

1. Crawford, who failed to make the catch on the final play of the Red Sox season, left Tampa for Boston after getting a $142 million deal from the Red Sox. Now he'll get to watch his old teammates play in the playoffs.
2. Boston had been 77-0 when winning after 8 innings.
3. David Ortiz said tonight's loss was 'much worse' than the loss to the Yankees in the ALCS on Aaron Boone's famed home run.
4. Ryan Lavarnway, the hero of Tuesday's game for the Red Sox, went 0 for 5 and left 9 runners stranded on base.
5. Dan Johnson, who hit the game-tying HR for the Rays in the 9th, was hitting .108 with 1 HR on the season.
6. The Braves lost their final 5 games, and all nine games against the Cardinals and Phillies in the second half of the season.
7. Former MVP and baseball analyst Barry Larkin said that Wednesday's baseball games were the most exciting he'd ever seen and fellow ESPN employee Stuart Scott came just short of that, saying that tonight and the night that Mark McGwire broke Roger Maris's single-season home run record in 1998 were the two greatest baseball nights he'd witnessed.
8. Houston finished with 106 losses which is the most in baseball since the 2005 Royals.
9. Longoria is only the second player in MLB history to hit a home run in the final at-bat of his team's final game to put them into the playoffs. The other? Bobby Thomson and the famous 'Shot Heard 'Round the World.'
10. The Red Sox lost 20 games in September, the most they'd lost in September since 1952.
11. The Rays will begin their postseason journey in Texas against the Rangers while the Yankees will return home to play Justin Verlander and the Tigers.

September 28th update

Both wild cards tied going into final day of MLB season
• Hollywood recently tried their hand at a baseball movie inspired by a true story but even the best screenwriters couldn't come up with a script better than this. The Atlanta Braves lost to the Phillies 7-1 on Tuesday night completing a collapse that saw them drop 8 1/2 games in 3 weeks. They had held the Wild Card lead since June 20th.

• Atlanta's collapse was eerily mirrored by the Red Sox in the American League who dropped into a tie the night before and had to scrap and claw to avoid facing a deficit on the final day of play. Rookie catcher Ryan Lavarnway hit his first 2 Home Runs. Lavarnway didn't even have much power in the minors but picked a great night to surpass expectations as Boston stopped a late rally just short, winning 8-7.

• The Tampa Bay Rays actually held a half game lead in the wild card for a few minutes before Boston finished their win after the Rays beat the Yankees 5-3. Tampa looked to be in dire straits, giving up an early lead when the Yankees loaded the bases with 0 outs in the 6th, already up 3-2. But Russell Martin grounded into a triple play (only the third in Rays team history) and Matt Joyce hit a 3-run home run in the next half-inning which accounted for the final scoring margin. Two batters before Martin's triple play, Mark Teixeira failed to score from on a double that hit the wall in center field.


• And last but not least, the only team facing a standings deficit on the day, the St. Louis Cardinals, came back from a surprising 5-0 hole early on against the worst team in baseball, the woeful Houston Astros, to win 13-6 and finally allow them to control their own destiny.


All 4 teams are basically in the playoffs already; as long as they win the know they will continue playing. Looks like MLB can start broadcasting those "Only in October" playoff commercials a bit early in 2011. To read more on the Rays-Sox drama read here or just go here for more wild card coverage





Wednesday Spotlight: Jesse Holley

In the past we have used this spot to discuss household names, well established stars, or uber-hyped prospects. This week we will do none of the above.

• Jesse Holley was a college athlete at the University of North Carolina. A starting Wide Receiver on the football team and an important bench player on the basketball team that won a National Championship in 2005. Holley was not drafted but signed as a free agent by the Cincinnati Bengals. He failed to make their team instead making the practice squad, but was cut less than a month later.

• Holley was working as a security guard and cell phone salesman in North Carolina when he heard about a reality show being hosted by NFL Hall of Famer Michael Irvin. The former Dallas Cowboy superstar convinced the team to allow him to award the winner of his show a shot at making the team. Holley beat out 11 other contestants (and a number of others who didn’t make the show) to make the preseason roster of the Cowboys.

• Holley was relegated to the Cowboys practice squad for much of the past two years. This season though, a number of injuries at wide receiver forced the Cowboys to have Holley on their team for a game against the San Francisco 49ers on September 18th. Holley, who had never had a catch in the NFL prior to this game, caught 3 balls for 96 yards. The biggest of these was a 77-yard reception in overtime that gave the Cowboys the ball on the 1 yard-line and allowed them to win the game on the subsequent play with a field goal. Holley is a true rags to riches story proving that hard work and perseverance still pays off.

September 16th update

Beantown Meltdown in progress?

• On September 3rd the Red Sox had the best record in the American League and were already looking forward to the playoffs and possibly winning their 3rd World Series since 2004. But with a 9-2 loss in the opener of a 4 game series against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Red Sox dropped to 3-11 in September to fall 4½ games behind the New York Yankees and into a race with the once-dismissed Rays for the wild card. The Rays (who we had basically written off in our AL East playoff preview less than a month ago) have beaten the Red Sox 6 times in a row including 4 in the past week and are only 3 games back now.
• The LA Angels are additionally only 3½ and feature Jared Weaver, who will likely finish second in the American League Cy Young award (given to the best pitcher in each league) behind Justin Verlander.
• If such a talented team were to squander such a large lead and miss the playoffs, it would likely be considered one of the most incredible and demoralizing collapses for a Boston fanbase that has infamously suffered numerous heartbreaks with their beloved Red Sox.


LSU Continue Rolling to kick off week 3

• The #3 ranked LSU Tigers won their third game in as many tries, two of which came against ranked opponents. This victory was against 25th ranked Mississippi State. An extremely stingy defense (which had 5 sacks and caused 2 turnovers) was key as the Tigers frustrated the Bulldogs all night. Experienced starter Jarrett Lee lead the LSU offense to 19 points, not an overwhelming total, but enough as his defense only allowed 6 for Mississippi State.
• Saturday Night will see the second matchup of two top-5 teams this season. Number one ranked Oklahoma will travel to Tallahassee, Florida to take on #5 Florida State. Oklahoma, led by star quarterback Landry Jones looks to keep their top ranking against the dynamic EJ Manuel and his Seminole running mates.
• There are no other matchups of two top-25 teams, but #10 South Carolina hosts the perennially pesky Naval Academy, #23 Texas hosts UCLA, and #15 Michigan State travels to Notre Dame, who suffered a heartbreaking last second loss this past weekend to Michigan.

Vick in ATL headlines NFL's Week 2

• The marquee game of the second week of the NFL season is the Philadelphia Eagles traveling to Atlanta to play the Falcons. This Sunday night game will show two teams that came into the season with sky high expectations. The Eagles won last week (against the St Louis Rams) but did not look as impressive as they would have hoped. The Falcons look to bounce back after falling short, in embarrassing fashion, against the Chicago Bears last week. It also marks the first time Michael Vick has played in Atlanta since being arrested and cut from the team before the 2007 season. When asked about his return Vick said: "That’s Matt Ryan’s (Atlanta's current quarterback) house. I’m just a visitor.”
• The other big game of the weekend features two of the best quarterbacks in football as Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers travel to New England to face off against Tom Brady's Patriots. The Patriots’ record setting performance on Monday Night Football and the Chargers impressive win against the Minnesota Vikings last weekend have raised expectations that this will be an entertaining game.
• Other games of interest this weekend include the Bears trying to win an emotional game for star LB Brian Urlacher whose mother died this week in New Orleans against the Saints, the Arizona Cardinals traveling to play the Washington Redskins (the winner of which will be a very surprising 2-0) and the Rams traveling to New York to play the Giants on Monday Night Football.

August 26th update

Yankees Set Grand Record

• The New York Yankees set a record on Thursday night by hitting three grand slams in their victory over the Oakland Athletics.
• With the Yankees down 7-2 to the A's in the 5th inning, Robinson Cano, the Yankees second baseman, came up with the bases loaded against Athletics starting pitcher Rich Harden. He hit a ball into the right field stands to bring the Yankees to within one run, 7-6. In the 6th inning, Russell Martin, the Yankees catcher, hit his grand slam off of Athletics reliever Fautino De Los Santos to give the Yankees a 10-7 lead that would only continue to grow.
• Already up 17-8 Curtis Granderson, the Yankees center fielder and one of the breakout stars in the baseball this season, came up and hit his grand slam to put the Yankees up 21-8. Each side scored another run making the final score 22-9. As MLB nears the end of its 136th year the fact that this feat hasn’t happened yet was surprising to even those who were in the game. The 22 runs are the most the Athletics have given up since 1955.
*On a related note, Fernando Tatis of the St. Louis Cardinals hit two grand slams in one inning on April 23, 1999 but neither he nor any of his teammates hit another for the rest of the game.

Beasts of the American League Reside in the East

*Note: This is part 1 of a 6 part series that will break down the division races in each of baseball's 6 divisions over the next 2 weeks.

• Major League Baseball’s playoffs start in about a month at which point the winner of the three divisions per league and the remaining team with the best record (who gets in as a “wild card") play one another to determine who will face off in the World Series. This year’s wild card looks like it will go to whichever team does not win the second place team in the loaded AL East.
• The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are the cream of the AL East crop. At the time of posting, the Red Sox have a half game lead over the Yankees (half games are due to the fact that the Red Sox have played one more game to date). This lead is far from safe, and this race looks like it will come down to the end of the season as these two bitter rivals aim for a championship.
• Whichever team does not win has an 8-game lead in the wild-card race, a pretty safe margin at this point in the season.
• Both teams have benefited from an expected drop in production from the Tampa Bay Rays, who won the division in 2 of the past 3 years but due to cost-cutting reasons have fielded a less competitive team this year. As can be seen here, the Rays have a 2011 salary that is about 4 times less than the Red Sox and 5 times less than that of the Yankees.