My good buddy Chip returns with some helpful advice on the best way to spend $36 in a Masters pool plus our picks for Sunday’s final pairing at Augusta. (And yes, we were recording.)
Round Tripping: A Monday Jaunt Around the Bases
With all these aces like Stephen Strausburg and Matt Cain getting knocked around Sunday afternoon the question is who has the April advantage: pitchers or hitters? Yesterday aside, I would still take the hitters because most starting pitchers have yet to build up enough arm strength to either max out on the radar gun or throw their entire repertoire pitches. Plus, pitch counts are kept intentionally low so as to maximize productivity over the course of a 162 game season. Hitters can get their timing back during the lengthy spring training and the only real adversity they’ll need to deal with up north is the colder weather, which, if you’ve ever closed a window on you’re finger than you know exactly how it feels to get jammed with a wooden bat in 45 degree temps. It’s the kinda dull, numbing pain that comes back again and again like when you’re trying to take the top off a tub of vanilla ice cream. Regardless, by May the playing field should be even and David Price will go back to being David Prive and R.A. Dickey..well, we will see.
Round Tripping
1B) R.A. Dickey won the NL Cy Young last season and was really the only reason to visit Citi Field during the dog days. The Mets traded him to Toronto for prospects and he was supposed to anchor a Blue Jays rotation that was amongst the leagues best. But after getting knocked around in his first two starts is Canada starting to get a little worried about how many knuckleballs the 38 year old has left in that Star Wars loving right arm of his? Will Middlebrooks isn’t complaining after belting 3 home runs off the Blue Jays ace(?) on Sunday.
2B) Don’t expect Josh Hamilton and his family to be vacationing in central Texas any time soon after Rangers fans were supposedly serenading his wife with a few poorly conceived profanities. (Stay classy Arlington.) Although, the more I think about it, why was Hamilton’s family there in the first place? Didn’t they have to know they were going to face a certain amount of verbal abuse from Rangers fans still stinging after Hamilton took the money and ran to Orange County? I’m actually surprised to hear that so many Texas fans know what Josh Hamilton’s wife looks like. Was she wearing a “Hamilton 32” replica Angels jersey?
3B) The Marlins, yes the Marlins, may have found a future ace in 20 year old Jose Fernandez who took the no decision yesterday after tossing 5 innings of 1 run ball, striking out 8. The Mets came back to win on a Marlon Byrd single and Marlins rookie manager has egg on his face after bringing his infield in up one with runners on 2nd and 3rd. (Ron Gardenhire does not approve.) Look for Miami owner Jeffrey Loria to get as much out of Fernandez this year before packaging he and Giancarlo Stanton together in a package to the New York Yankees in return for 10 AA prospects.
HR) Chris Davis has now gone two games without a home run which shouldn’t minimize his historic start to the season but if the Orioles pitching continues to struggle like it did Opening Week then the Hulk will need to keep up his torrid pace.
Instant Bracketification: National Championship
For starters, those were two incredibly entertaining national semifinal games Saturday night and it’s a shame that we’re still fixating on those two blown calls. Both the charge against Syracuse’s Brandon Triche and the jump ball that worked against Wichita St. were judgement calls made by the officials which over the course of the long season have a way of balancing out. True, the timing with both calls was unfortunate and maybe it’s time to eliminate the possession all together to avoid falling prey to a referee’s discretion. Plus, as far as the charge/block call, eliminating the charge circle would only add to the confusion but officials should be much more aware of how easy it is for a defensive player to sneak in late and sell a questionable charge call.
Wichita St surprised pretty much everyone on the planet when they came out and fought the heavily favored Louisville Cardinals all the way to that final controversial jump ball. The Shockers did not allow Louisville to get to the basket while initiating an all out assault on the offensive glass, converting multiple three point plays. Reserve guard Luke Hancock hit a few key threes down the stretch saving the day for head coach Rick Pitino, who had a pretty spectacular weekend when you consider that he was elected into the hall of fame and had a horse qualify for the the Kentucky Derby.
Having the few extra days to prepare for the Syracuse 2-3 zone was a huge benefit to Michigan head coach John Beilein who also had the luxury of a sure handed, smart passing big man in Mitch McGary. McGary was able to occupy the high post, creating plenty of space in the paint for Tim Hardaway Jr. and Caris LeVert to slash to the rim for a few easy buckets. And Trey Burke didn’t even play all that well. The Wooden Award winner is going to need to step up his game tonight as the Cardinals continue their all out assault on the Michigan ball handlers travelling across the timeline.
In the end, I worry about Louisville’s depth tonight because they’re prone to early foul trouble and with the absence of Kevin Ware star guards Peyton Siva and Russ Smith will be under even more pressure to play smart basketball and keep themselves on the court. Also, will Gorgui Deng be able to neutralize McGary on the low post or will the Michigan frosh continue his improbable run through the tournament? If McGary can draw a few early fouls on the shot blocker Deng then that will really help to open up the interior for Burke, Hardaway, and co.
For Michigan, how are they going to react to that second half run we’ve come to expect from Louisville during this 15 game winning streak? If they’re able to recover from a string of Russdiculous threes then the national championship is headed to Ann Arbor. Michigan wins with a timeout to spare.
Round Tripping: A Quick Loop Around The MLB Diamond
A few Opening Week observations from around Major League Baseball
1) Three games into the 2013 season and it’s pretty clear that there are 3, maybe 4, teams in serious jeopardy of losing 100 games.
Locks: Marlins and Astros
With the lineup that surrounds him Giancarlo Stanton should lead the league in intentional walks while Houston hitters may strike out more in one season than Don Draper has in his entire fictional lifetime.
Outside Shot: Twins and Padres
I watched some of San Diego’s series against the Mets and granted they were without leading RBI man Chase Headley but even still there are a whole slew of outs up and down that lineup. And the Twinkies, I better be careful what I say before they help my Orioles open Camden Yards this weekend.
2) The current Red Sox and Yankees lineups reminds me of the lean SNL season of 1985-86. Ask Simmons or Seth Meyers but Travis Hafner may as well be Randy Quaid and Will Middlebrooks is a dead ringer for Anthony Michael Hall.
3) Interleague play feels like a total drag now that they are scheduling a constant stream of interleague series throughout the season. At least when it was a few weeks blocked off you could mentally prepare but now it has made scheduling incredibly hard to follow. Take the Reds/Angels during Opening Week. Great series, potential World Series preview, but the Reds should open with a division rival like the Cubs or Pirates. This is one tradition that didn’t need to change.
4) I agree with Jose Bautista. Some MLB umpires are ‘mediocre’. Still, if I were him I’d keep my mouth shut. You never know how many Ed F Rush’s there are lurking around those umpire locker rooms.
5) Hard not to feel terrible for Baltimore 2B Brian Roberts who had to be carried off the field Thursday in Tampa after an awkward slide into second. A scheduled MRI will likely lead to a stint on the 15 day DL. Fans tend to forget that it wasn’t too along ago that many were calling Roberts the best 2B in the game. A few concussions later and the 35 year old is now just trying to stay healthy and contribute to a lineup that would really benefit from his production.
6) Don’t sleep on the Athletics who may once again have the moxie and pitching to unseat one of the AL West’s big budget behemoths the Angels or Rangers. And Josh Reddick, that beard of yours belongs in the Smithsonian right beside Abraham Lincoln’s top hat and Dorothy’s red slippers.
7) Matt Harvey looks like he could be the real deal but Mets fans ought to start pumping the breaks a bit on all those Tom Seaver comparisons. It wasn’t too long ago that Bill Pulsipher was going to be the next Jerry Koosman and we all know how that went.
8) Vladimir Guerrero has signed on to play with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League which makes me sad especially because it wasn’t that long ago that he was golfing home runs out of Olympic Stadium in Montreal.
Instant Bracketification: Final Four Edition
I remember when Tim Krumrie broke his ankle in Super Bowl XXIII and as horrifying as the slow motion of his dangling appendage was, it pails in comparison to the stomach turning agony of what happened to Louisville’s Kevin Ware on Sunday night. To watch the scene unfold after Ware crumpled awkwardly to the ground, his shin shattered at a near 60 degree angle, was to witness both the pain and beauty of athletic competition.
The reason many of us play organized sports is because of the camaraderie that develops with teammates and the self sacrifice involved in achieving a collective goal. To be clear we are not talking about war, there is no comparison between the beaches of Normandy and the hardwood of Indianapolis, but the scene in Lucas Oil Stadium after Ware’s injury, with his teammates huddling around him holding his arms as he was lifted onto a flat board stretcher, was as touching and inspring a moment as I can remember witnessing. If this overly sentimental hyperbole makes you nauseous I apologize. But be honest, upon hearing that all Ware could say to his Louisville teammates as he was lying flat on his back with a compound fracture, an injury that he may never fully recover from, was ‘Just win the game’ it’s impossible not to be overwhelmed by this simple act of selflessness.
Back to business, Wichita St plays angry but the Cardinals play fast and unlike the Ohio State Buckeyes, the Shockers elite 8 opponent, Louisville can fill it up. Siva and Smith are as good as any guards in the country at getting to the basket and Deng is a human eraser around the rim. Sometimes teams will experience an emotional letdown following a traumatic event but Louisville didn’t show any signs of being distracted during their second half demolition of Duke so it’ll be best not bet against them in Atlanta.
On the other side of the bracket, Syracuse and Michigan are two incredibly long, athletic teams riding a couple of impressive win streaks. In theory the Wolverines shouldn’t have as much of an issue as Indiana di in trying to navigate Syracuse’s 2-3 zone. John Beilein is a master technician of the zone defense and has years of experience taking on the Orange back during his days with West Virginia. If anything this game will come down to the Michigan defense being able to pester rangy tweeners like Southerland and Fair. Michigan in a mild upset.
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