The day that was: June 11th

My predictions for the day fell short by one in the 13th, then by one in the bottom of the 9th, then by a half a run, then again in extra innings, and then after a rain delay; a day late a dollar short. Brutal was the name of the game and that is the life of a baseball handicapper. The Mets had chances to blow the Phillies out but they couldn't capitalize. The Cubbies, and their 100 million dollars worth of baseball talent failed to put up 2 runs on Russ Ortiz and the Houston bullpen. Thank goodness for the one constant, The Sox beating up on the Yanks.

Sticking with that theme, today was a day of tightly contested battles, the best of which took place in Boston. Staked to a 3-1 lead in the 7th, CC Sabathia did his best to get the ball to Mariano Rivera, but he had simply run out of gas at that point. The big righty had two strikes on a couple batters, but he could no longer reach back for his put-away stuff and Boston was off and running. Once CC was removed, and Rivera was left in the pen, Yankee and Boston fans alike new what they were about to see. Predictably, the Sox found away to beat the NY Celebs and a team that came to Fenway in first, packed their bags two games back.

Meanwhile, another battle between first and second was taking place just a couple hundred miles away and that game too was a battle from start to finish. Through the first few innings, the game felt like one that was about to be busted open at any time, you could feel the Mets rally coming, but time after time they failed to get the clutch hit and that cost them. After tying the game up with a single run in the 7th, the Phillies pen shut the Mets offense down until, the NLs best bat to date, got a hold of a 2 out, 1-1, pitch in the 10th. Raul Ibanez effectively ended the game with that three run shot and helped his team get out of town with a four game lead over the now struggling Mets.

Around the rest of the league, Oakland came back from down three late to beat the twins, Greinke took a step back in the Cy Young race giving up 3 in a no decision against the Indians, Kevin Millwood tossed a gem in a victory over the Jays, and the suddenly hot Rockies extended their win streak to eight games as they beat Gallardo and the Brewers.

In College Football today the Crimson Tide have formally been placed on Probation. This probation probably sounds a bit worse than it is. The school will be placed on restriction for three years do to the intentional wrong doing of seven former student athletes, I use the term 'student' loosely here. In actuality there were 125 athletes found to have accepted improper benefits in one form or another, but just seven were members of the football team. The fact that Alabama reported themselves for the infractions is something that the NCAA looked on kindly, but the school was already in the process of serving a 5 year probation from 2002. The football team will be forced to forfeit a few games and be given a slap on the wrist. This is nothing but ammunition for rivals, the Tide will still, most likely, be seen both in a New Years Day bowl game and atop the Recruiting rankings this year and the next several to follow.

Oklahoma fans also recieved some negative news as it has been announced that former 4 star, LB, recruit Justin Johnson is going to be leaving the school. Johnson is a very talented player, but there were a few bumps in his transition to the college life and he will be playing his ball next year at Div II Abilene Christian.

Touching on a few recent verbal commitments:

• Georgia Tech landed a stud defensive back by the name of Barry Bostic. This 4 Star recruit holds offers from UCLA, Stanford, Maryland, WVU, and others.
• Miami landed 3 star FB Maurice Hagens
• 3 star QB Nash Nance committed to Vanderbilt over offers from Harvard, Miss St, and UCF
• UGA continued to load up with wide outs as 4 star Da'Rick Rogers gave a verbal to the Bulldogs a couple days ago over LSU, Alabama, Florida, and a host of others

The most hyped event of the day was NBA Finals game 4 in Orlando. The Lakers and Orlando played a close game, but not one you'll soon see on ESPN classic. Kobe's legend will grow significantly in the coming days, which isn't shocking, but what is surprising is how its going to grow. Kobe, for the third game in a row, was a disaster in the games final stanza and Orlando had every chance in the world to win the game. In fact, at one point, I was about to call the series 2-2. Little did I know how badly Orlando would choke as badly as they did and the Lakers would end the night needing to send thank you cards to coach Stan Van Gundy and star center Dwight Howard.

The comedy of mistakes, or choke jobs, whatever you want to call them, began with Dwight missing two FTs in the final minute. All superman had to do was sink one to make it a two possession game and he simply couldn't do it. He let his team down badly, but what happened next, in my opinion, was even less forgivable. Coach Van Gundy, in a 3 point game, with under 10 seconds left, opted not to foul the Lakers and it may have cost his team a championship. You know the rest; Fisher nails a three, Orlando fails to call an effective play, we go to OT, Fisher bangs down another huge tre and the Lakers now lead the series by two games.

The Lakers, a team that could easily be down 3-1 themselves, is one game away from another world title. If ever a team backed into a championship, this is it. Kobe scored but four points in the 4th and really wasn't even a factor as the game was being decided. He showed nothing of a legend, nothing of greatness, nothing of being a closer. He'll get all the credit, but he has been a complete disaster, in the 4th quarter, in each of the last 3 games. Turnovers, missed shots, and simply disappearing has been his contributions and even still, his team is about to close out the Magic. Credit then goes to whom? Phil Jackson. Truly one of the greatest of all time. He is the closer, not Kobe Bryant. Orlando's choke jobs will be forgotten mere days after the Lakers win this series and Kobe will be anointed as one of the greatest ever. He is deserving of that title, but he wont deserve any of the accolades that he'll receive when LA finishes of Orlando. Orlando has blown the chances that Kobe has given them, but that will all be forgotten and Kobe will be crowned the king of an era. Perhaps he can win without Shaq, but he could not without the choking of a Mr. Van Gundy.

So, we'll sit back and watch our love of legends cloud reality one more time, as Kobe Bryant travels his way to ring number four.

What we will see on June 11th 2009

Joy of Joys, for some reason Vegas will allow us to wager against Russ Ortiz to lose without having to risk and arm and a leg to bring back a few bucks; there's a mistake. Russ, someone stole my treadmill and replaced it with an all you can eat gift card to Dunkin Donuts, Ortiz has not fared all that well over his career against these Cubbies. The injury to Aramis Ramirez, who kills Ortiz, is a significant subtraction from the lineup, but not one that justfies a line of just -138. The other day we saw CC Sabathia around -200 over the Rays and David Price, this is a larger mismatch than that was. Granted the Cubs are not playing great ball right now, but at a time like this I'm quite thankful because it allows me to get a line like this against a team as flawed as the Astros.

I've been out of school for a while now, but I still haven't forgotten this very basic rule: Tim Redding + Jayme Moyer = over 9.5. I recall watching Tim Redding shut down the Phills, in philly, just a year ago as the home team pounded outs right at fielders inning after inning, I'm not going to role the dice expecting the same tomorrow. The Phills are one of the best offenses in the league and they are going to see a Mets squad that is hoping to stretch Tim Redding a bit after their pen got a decent amount of work in this evening. Flipping the table for a moment, I'm not sure that Jayme Moyer has recorded an out against the Mets in his career. This lineup as an OPS of greater than 1.000 against the aging lefty (granted plenty of damage has been done by Carlos Delgado who will be out tomorrow) and the Phills, like the Mets, will hope to get their starter through at least 6 tomorrow. I like the chances of the Mets scoring early and scoring often, give me two plays in this battle of the cream of the AL East, NYM -101 and the over.

What is there to like about Gavin Floyd? Nothing at all, is the answer. What is there to like about the White Sox lineup? Less than nothing, is the answer to that question. So, why, may I ask, are the first place Tigers only a -115 favorite tomorrow with Edwin Jackson on the hill? Hell, who knows, but why ask so many questions when there is money to be made. Edwin Jackson was at one point considered the best pitching prospect in all of baseball and slowly but surely he is showing us why. Young Jackson has the 4th hardest fastball of any starter in baseball ahead of guys like Beckett, AJ Burnett, and Felix Hernandez. This young flame thrower has also learned how to keep the ball in the yard allowing just 0.54 HR per nine and, as we discussed a day ago, the long ball is how the White Sox get on the board. There just isn't any reason to believe that the roster Chicago is currently working with should be able to get to Edwin Jackson for more than a couple runs. This price is far too good to pass on. The Runline at +142 is tempting but I won't push my luck; Tigers moneyline it is.

Now we move on to the biggest rivalry in the world, how many times can you beat a team and still wake up the following day and be an underdog against them? The Yanks aren't going to win in Boston. We have been over this more than enough, I would have settled for a cocker spaniel, but the books are offering me a doberman. I'll take the bigger dog any time and offer my kind regards.

Finally we have the Orioles against their former teammate Garrett Olson. If ever there was an example of a pitcher who made you wish you too were left handed, this is the guy. Garrett Olson speaks to the dreamer inside of all of us, the dreamer that says, what are you kidding me? I can do whatever it is that guy is doing. Give me a week to train and I'm trying out for the Mariners. The line does take into account the fact that Olson is terrible, and Seattle does have a talented Pen, but Uehara is well rested and the Os are a very solid home team. They have a lot of young bats who are over matched at times, but they should feast tomorrow. The Orioles rookie starter did not pitch every 5 days over in Japan so there has been some thought to moving him into the pen, but he will give you an excellent 5 innings almost every time out and for the reasons listed I will be taking the Orioles first five tomorrow. I will be doing so because after five innings of baseball, the Orioles will have more runs than the Mariners.

The Day that was: June 10th

Just Verlander is the name of the day. The hard throwing soon to be All Star completed his start today and notched his 7th win of the season. Verlander struck out nine and really had control throughout the game as the White Sox looked off balanced and over matched from the first inning on. This start keeps the right hander toward the top of the Cy Young race and, more importantly, keeps his team four games up on the Twins who also managed a win this evening.

Kevin Corria, SP San Diego Padres, provided us with the most unexpected outing of the day as he limited the Dodgers to just one over six innings of work allowing his outstanding pen to work with a lead. The Pads came in as huge underdogs and, as it turned out, they took the lead in the first inning and never looked back. Almost as surprising was the game Jeff Karstens threw against the Braves after starter Charlie Morton was forced out of action 13 pitches into his initial appearance with the Pirates. Morton experienced some tightness in his right hamstring and the Pittsburgh bullpen took care of business for eight innings as the visitors improved to 12-21 on the road this season.

The game of the night took place under the bright lights of New York between the Phillies and the Mets. Down the road baseball most storied rivalry was having its latest chapter play out, but this contest was the more entertaining of the two. I'm not sure when the Mets and the Phillies will officially become a rivalry, but I hope that it's soon. These two teams are going to be battling it out all year, but there is not much animosity between these towns; something just seems to be missing which doesn't allow us to classify it as a rivalry quite yet. No matter, the game on the field was full of dramatics as pitchers found ways out of one jam after another until Chase Utley finally gave the Phills the lead in the 11th; a one run lead that was plenty for interim closer Ryan Madson who has dominated from the get go.

ESPN and the two baseball nations had their eyes on another game. Yes there are only two nations in the world of baseball and those are the Red Sox and the Yankees nations. These teams actually hate each other, but the Yanks may want to beat the Sox a time or four or this series is going to lose a bit of its luster for the time being. In what can't be classified as anything but predictable, the Yanks tossed Chien-Ming Wang to the Wolves and he was promptly devoured. Wang failed to make it out of the third inning and before this one had truly started it was over. The Bombers made a bit of a rally, as most expected, but it was another case of too little, too late, for the Yanks who still haven't unlocked the secret to beating the Bo-sox in 2009. Perhaps, and this is nothing more than a suggestion, but perhaps they ought to find themselves a new GM. You know, someone who knows a bit about the game of baseball. Hell, who couldn't wait untill every big name free agents has been offered by every team and then come and outbid them all? That takes no talent, that isn't how you build a team. Develop your own player, build some chemistry, find some character guys, let them bond together, let them become true Yankees, allow them to build a true distaste for their rivals. Simply overpaying celebrities that happen to be great at baseball just isn't working. It doesn't work for Dallas or the Redskins in the NFL and it aint working for the Yanks. Teams win championships; the Yankes used to field teams, now they field a group a players. There is a big a difference.

In football we see Joe Montana's name back in the news. He's not making a comeback, but his son has made a verbal commitment to play for the University of Washington next fall. Nick Montana held offers from the likes of Florida State, Notre Dame, LSU and many others, but at the end he saw what he wanted to see in Washington and it looks as if the Huskies have their QB of the future locked in. Then again, the young signal caller will continue to be recruited until he officially signs in February. Around the recruiting scene Arizona and Michigan also got some good news today. The Wolverines picked up a commitment from a three star linebacker and the Wildcats added a three star Wide Receiver to their class of 2010.

Ah and to the world of college basketball for a moment. Just as we had digested the embarrassment that is Coach Calipari, we're slapped upside the head with more recruiting scandal at USC. Apparently Coach Tim Floyd forgot that you are not allowed to pay for recruits and once he was reminded, he decided that perhaps he had better step down. Playing by the rules isn't as easy as cheating, so he's tucking his tail and leaving behind another program that is likely to face suspensions as the actually culprit walks away without any penalty at all. These gutless scumbags, who we hope are mentoring our young student athletes, are instead finding new ways to bend the rules and cheat their way to national prominence. It wasn't all that long ago that Coach Kelvin Sampson left the University of Oklahoma in disarray due to his cheating and what happened to him? Oh, nothing. He just took a boat load of money and went to Indiana where he cheated again. What happened to him after that? Oh, yeah, nothing. What a fine influence on our impressionable youths. The one and done system has to go. Either you go to college for three years, or you leave right out of high school. The system we currently have makes it too easy for both the coach and the student to go unpunished following a violation of the rules and, more obviously, this system seems to beg for the less scrupulous to push the envelope. Then, you get away with something once, and you're back at it the following year as your star Freshman leaves for the league and you're back at square one trying to lure some young 17 year old, and of course his posse of 'advisers' into signing with your program.

Finally, in recapping the predictions of today, we fared well hitting all 4 of our predictions.
Phillies 5-4
Tigers 2-1
Reds 4-2
Giants 6-4

What we will see on June 10th

Baseball, baseball, and more baseball will dominate the action as the pundits stage a few debates about who will win the NBA finals and the Stanley Cup. They all think history has been written and they all 'know' that the Magic and Penguins will be forgotten soon enough, but time will tell. Tomorrow, however, won't tell us anything about it so we focus on the game of baseball.

The initial game on our bet card tomorrow features Shairon Martis as a pick'em. Its hard to find a positive thing to say about what young Mr. Martis brings to the mound. His fastball could be mistaken for a change up and he hits the glove slightly less frequently than Mark Reynolds hits the baseball. Aaron Harang won't soon be mistaken for Cy Young, but he has shown the ability to win in the majors and the Nationals lineup still is not at 100%. The Reds are no longer much of a machine, but Martis is like Nodoz for bats; they shuold look alive tomorrow.

Starting at nearly the same time, weather permitting of course, Mike Pelfrey looks to bounce back. That sounds fine, Mike Pelfrey finds ways to get people out sometimes. I'm not exactly sure as to how, but I've witnessed it first hand. Sadly for the Pelfrey Nation, the tall righty will walk out on to the field only to see the world Champions. Not just that, but he will also have to pitch to them. Only a few hours ago, The Champs pounded Johan Santana around, I can not imagine how fat Mike Pelfrey's pitchers are likely to one of just two National League teams who have topped the 300 run mark this early in the season. The news doesn't get a lot better, the once again locked in Cole Hamels will be his counterpart on the mound. A few of the Mets have had decent success against the stud lefty, but the one guy who has owned Cole is Carlos Delgado and he is still out. Look for the Phills to get back the game they let slip away on Tuesday.

Our third gambling gift from the heavens is one that should erase all doubt that there is, indeed, a God. The Giants, a pathetic team in their own right, have absolutely demolished gas can Doug Davis and still this last place team opens as a -135 favorite. How, you might ask? God is good; god is great. Don't expect the Diamond backs to turn around that 12-20 home record just yet.

Finally we have one more small gift from the great beyond. Moments ago we, duly, sent our thanks to the appropriate parties for making Doug Davis a -135 favorite, someone you don't think of as being in the same realm as a Doug Davis is Justin Verlander. However, he too is a -135 favorite. Just as unjustifiable as Davis being a favorite tomorrow is Verlander being such a small favorite over the fourth worst offense in the American League. Cy Young award front runner Justin Verlander enters tomorrow sporting a 6-2 record and has been the hardest pitcher to hit in all of baseball. Against just 67 hits allowed, the Tigers ace has punched out 97 opposing batters. John Danks was a nice little story for about a season, but his ERA is back in the 5.00 range and the lineup supporting him resembles a random group of parts more than it does a team. You have the old guys who used to slug but are past their prime and then a few youngsters who don't seem to come to the plate with much idea at all. Justin is giving up just 0.47 home runs per 9 and, disappointingly for CWS fans, the HR is how the Sox try and win games. There is little reason to believe they'll pose much resistance to Just Verlander posting his 7th win of the 2009 season.


So, what will we see? The Reds take another step towards a sweep in Washington, Pelfrey praying for rain, an underdog to prevail in Arizona, and Verlander to keep pace with Halladay and Greinke in the Cy Young race. Oh yeah, and people who all think the Red Wings will win it all pretending to disagree for your viewing pleasure.

What Was: June 9th 2009

June 9th had several highlights, but the top belongs to young Steven Strasburg who was selected first overall by the Washington Nationals in this years MLB player draft. Anyone who follows baseball even a bit is familiar with the name Strasburg at this point. He has been on multiple magizine covers and been a feature story on ESPN more than once. His now legendary 103 mph heater is headed for the Nations capital, or so Nats fans hope. Linked up with agent Scott Boras, this saga is one likely to be filled with a touch of drama before the young righty is officially a professional. It's safe to assume there will be times when a deal seems looming and other where there looks to be no hope; in the end I expect the jewel of the 2009 draft to sign just prior to the deadline in mid August.

On the hardwood tonight King Kobe left his scowl at home and, seemingly, left his cape in the locker room at halftime. Following a first quarter that had fans ready to see a performance for the ages, Kobe Bryant failed to complete the show. In reality, Kobe has now hurt his team down the stretch in two games in a row; the pressure of LA, a championship, Shaq, and the Orlando defense has gotten the best of the future hall of famer. With plenty of talent around him, Kobe seems to feel that he needs to take the team on his shoulders to close games out, and that is exactly what The Magic have prepared for. The Eastern Conference representatives are extremely athletic and just too good to beat one on five. As a fan of the game you have to admire his willingness to put it all on himself, but if he doesn't start trusting the other guys on his team, he will find himself still one title behind Shaq when this season comes to its conclusion.

Our night of sports entertainment was supposed to be a three headed monster, but the Yankees put Johnathan Papelbon, and most who tuned in donning their Yankees gear, to sleep. AJ Burnett is either really feeling the pressure of New York or, just not all that good at baseball. Certainly the big righty is talented, but maybe not 80 million dollars talented. I've got an idea for the Yanks, try scouting a bit instead of treating the rest of the league as your farm system. Find yourself a Joe Saunders, draft yourself a Josh Johnson. Perhaps, and this is just a suggestion, figure out before the season starts whether or not Joba or Hughes or any of your other pitchers are actually starters or relievers. Then, and this is just a suggestion, address the other areas instead of having your pitchers left to wonder if they are going to be closing or starting every day as they come to the park.

The Pitching matchup of the day was decent, but it didn't really live up to its potential. Granted it may have been easier to pitch if there was a little atmosphere to the stadium down in Florida, but even without the adrenaline boost of a decent crowd, I expected each Josh Johnson and Chris Carpenter to put on more of a show than they were able to.

From there a couple former cy young winners got knocked around with Lee giving up over 10 hits to the slugging Royals and Johan managing a win while despite throwing a few pitches that ended up as souvenirs.

Todays top surprise performances came to us from a couple American League starters. Brian Tallet used his extremely underwhelming arsenal to blank the Rangers for seven innings and a few hours later, future MLB journeyman, Scott Baker managed to shut down the hot Oakland athletics as a bit of an underdog. The mighty As tried to make it interesting with a five run 9th which did cut the lead in half, but still failed to make the game interesting. Perhaps a few of those runs helped a fantasy team or two. Then again, if you have an Oakland Athletic bat starting on your fantasy team, you're most likely getting started with your draft prep for 2010.