March Madness in April

Posted by on April 7th, 2015  •  0 Comments  • 

Royalty won again in the NCAA tournament last night, as Duke claimed another basketball title for legendary coach Mike Kryzewski, his fifth ring.
 
It wasn’t easy, this come from behind victory over the Wisconsin Badgers, but it was typical old school basketball by the Devils.  They turned the corner with defense, and came back thanks to outside shots and gutsy drives to the basket.
 
The things that made Wisconsin so good this year, went away from them in the final 15-minutes of the season.  Their vaunted three point shots disappeared, and 7-foot-center Frank Kaminsky was pushed far away from his spot on the block, and he hit just 1-basket over the final 15-minutes.
 
It was a Wisconsin team that had scoring spurts of (9-2) early and then (16-6) late, and then had its offense go MIA at the end.  Was it them, or was it the enemy wearing white?
 
The young guys saved old school Duke.  Freshmen guards Tyus Jones and Grayson Allen went wild in the second half.  Allen, a bruiser of a big guard, fired away at will, reeling off 6-points in a row when things looked darkest for Duke.  Then Jones, his fellow rookie running mate, slashed to the basket, stood outfront and buried shots, and put 19-points more in the books in the final 20-minutes to help the Devils pull away.
 
If you would have said before the game, Duke would go 26-minutes without a basket from 6-11 Jahlil Okafor, you would have thought they would have lost.  If you had said Okafor and Justise Winslow would be bench-ridden by personal fouls, you would not have thought it possible the ACC team would be there at the end to put on the championship shirts and hats.
 
But the kids rallied the team back when the bigs got in trouble, and Coach K’s relentless defense just would not back down, in helping the team climb up the hill, and out of the hole they were in.
 
Wisconsin took out (38-0) Kentucky, but the things that got them the victory, were never really part of the Monday night game.  Maybe fatigue.  Maybe just too much Blue Devil, but over the final 20-minutes, Wisconsin looked like Michigan State looked in the semi-final game on Saturday, just ordinary.  
 
Nothing to be ashamed of though, a 34-win season in spectacular, and the Badgers did it with a very different type of kid, not many McDonald All Americans.
 
Duke has always been class.  Coach K has always been great.  And for a program that got knocked out of the tourney a year ago, and lost a game to somebody called Mercer, this was quite a turnaround..  
 
They grew together, peaked at the right time, and did all the right things at the end.  Raise the trophy, cut the nets down, and prepare to party at the Cameron Indoor Arena.
 
Duke did it.  The best team won.

Play Ball!

Posted by on April 6th, 2015  •  0 Comments  • 

It’s here, opening day for the Padres, and the Dodgers and Giants and the rest of the National League West too.
 
There is so much anticipation and now expectation for this Padres franchise, after years of penny-pinching, front office discord, bad draft picks and injuries-surgeries.  It’s been replaced by bold trades and an exploding payroll that is close to 110M-as of this morning.
 
The franchise hasn’t really been the same since the spectacular run they had with Tony Gwynn and Ken Caminiti, both now deceased, both whose lives were taken from us by disease.  Gwynn to cancer, Cammy to substance abuse.  It is odd to walk up the tunnel from the Padres dugout, to see pictures of both side-by-side.
 
It is indeed a new year, with new faces in new places, and new expectations in the Padres clubhouse.  It may be a different-and-difficult year for Dodgers and Giants fans too, with the erosion of some of the core players.
 
And if December, and the Winter Baseball Meetings did not create enough excitement with all the AJ Preller trades, then the Easter Sunday gift, the 7-player Braves trade that brought closer Craig Kimbrel here, may put the team over the top.  San Diego got an ace in the bullpen, and moved contracts they really did not want, Carlos Quentin-Cam Maybin.  
 
Hail Matt Kemp and Justin Upton and their big bats to the middle of the Padres lineup.  It will be better, has to be better than the team that set the disgraceful all time record, by hitting (.177) in July last season.
 
Kemp, Upton, Wil Myers and Will Middlebrooks have hit, and hit well in the past.  They should make Jed Gyorko and Yonder Alonso and others better in this lineup.
 
Good pitching beats good hitting most times, and San Diego is loaded.  Might be as good a starting rotation as anybody in baseball, from the Washington Nationals to the Detroit Tigers.  And the bullpen, based on how they have pitched last year, is a Gold Star combo of power arms, surpassing everything dating back to the ‘Hells-Bells’ Trevor Hoffman days.
 
It has not been a good spring for the Dodgers, as they take the field in LA today against the Friars.  The starting rotation is shaky with health issues to Hyun Jin-Ryu, the concern over the elbow issues to Zach Greinke, and a terrible siege of injuries to a shaky bullpen.   Clayton Kershaw cannot pitch every day, and the add-on starters from the offseason, Brandon McCarthy-Brett Anderson drag injury baggage with them in their careers.
 
Of course, LA is sales pitching Jimmy Rollins and Howie Kendrick, 1-year rentals,s both with great credentials, and age.  But I believe they will miss Matt Kemp, Hanley Ramirez and Dee Gordon’s bats, and explosiveness, as the seasons goes on.
 
The Giants have won those rings, and great credit to Brian Sabean and Bruce Bochy, both who got 4-year contract extensions over the weekend.  But San Francisco’s starting staff, aside from Madison Bumgarner, does not look the same as in years past.  
 
The lefty threw (270-innings) last year, and one wonders if that will take a toll on him.  Tim Lincecum is no longer trust-worthy in the rotation, and Matt Cain, coming off elbow surgery, is trying to work his way back from minor setbacks, and has piled up lots of innings in his career..  
 
And the once proud bullpen, started to spring leaks last year, and you have to consider the wear and tear on Sergio Romo, the closer.
 
The Panda Bear is gone, and though much was made of Pablo Sandoval’s battle with weight over the years, you cannot argue productivity and leadership, and power.  Hunter Pence will be out for a couple of months after getting beaned.  There is no Mike Morse home run power off the bench.  San Francisco just is not the same time.
 
Feel bad for Rockies superstar Troy Tulowitzki, the last man standing from their playoff days.  He is healthy, coming off hip surgery, but not much else is good in that lineup.  Yes, Justin Morneau is worth watching swing the stick, but Carlos Gonzalez has had all types of hand-knee issues, two years running.  It’s always been tough to pitch at Coors Field, and now it’s even worse, when you look at the rag-tag rotation the Rockies will send out.
 
Arizona has new leadership and will need time to develop arms.  They do have bats in Paul Goldschmidt and the return to health of Mark Trumbo, but Cuban rookie Yasmani Tomas, who got a 60M payday coming off the island, is starting the season in Reno.  GM-Dave Stewart comes with a great resume, but he cannot pitch for them, and it will take time to find enough arms.
 
Once upon a time, this was a team that had Justin Upton, Steven Drew, Mark Reynolds and Chris Young as their cornerstone players.  All are gone, and so is the Snake’s ability to challenge for a pennant.  The Randy Johnson-World Series ring era seems a long time  ago.
 
So the stage is set.  Predictions?  
 
San Diego (90-72) with the new leaders and fiery personalities of James Shields and Matt Kemp.  The Dodgers to finish second, missing some bats, and lots of questionable arms.  The Giants come home third because they have not replaced whom they lost.  The Rockies and Diamondbacks, might combine to lose 170-games without arms in the rotation.
 
Everyone starts even on opening day, but the truth is there is a big difference in San Diego than in years gone by, and the others are not what they used to be.
 
Can you say Dodgers-Giants, “Good Night now”.
 
Play ball.

Welcoming and Remembering Opening Day

Posted by on April 3rd, 2015  •  0 Comments  • 

Baseball. It’s back.   It’s here.  The green grass, blue skies, color, pageantry and all kinds of hopes.

It’s the Presidents, Truman-Ike-Nixon-JFK, and Obama throwing out the lst pitch.

It’s a Bob Feller in Cleveland with an opening day no-hitter.

It’s the Babe and Gehrig, the Yankee Clipper, Yogi, Scooter and the M&M Boys in the House that Ruth built.

It’s Catfish and Steinbrenner, Reggie Bar and the Goose.

It’s D’em Bums and the Jints…Dodgers vs. Giants.

It’s Koufax and Drysdale, Spahn and Sain and Pray for Rain.

It’s the Whiz Kids and the Running Redbirds.

It’s the Gashouse Gang, the Go Go Sox, the Big Red Machine and the Lumber Company.

It’s the Green Monster and the green ivy at Wrigley Field.

It’s Mel Allen, Bob Prince, Vin Scully, Ernie Harwell, Harry Caray and Jack Buck.

It’s Casey Stengel, Sparky Anderson and Smokey Alston.

It’s Veeck as in Wreck, Charley O and Walter O’Malley.

It’s Pete Rose’s dash for home, Mantle’s home run trot and Brooks Robinson’s diving stops.

It’s Tony Gwynn in the 5 1/2 hole, Ripken at short and Yogi behind the plate.

It’s Connie Mack and his scorecard, Tommy LaSorda clapping, Billy Martin yelling and Earl Weaver fuming.

It’s Puddinhead Jones, Teddy Ballgame, Satch, Yaz, the Monster and the Oil Can.

It’s Say Hey and the Duke of Flatbush, Stan the Man, Jackie Robinson, Sal the Barber and Hammerin’ Hank.

It’s Pete Gray, the one-armed St-Louis Brown and Jim Abbott, the Angel, pitching with one hand.

It’s a Big Mac attack, a Bonds blast, A-Rod’s A-bombs, Maury Wills and Ricky Henderson stealing sacks.

It’s Gaylord’s greaseball, Wilhelm’s knuckleball and Bob Gibson’s gas.

It’s Big Train Walter Johnson, Aches & Pains Appling, and the Georgia Peach Ty Cobb.

It’s the Washington Senators, first in war, first in peace and last in the American  League.

It’s the Curse of the Cubs, the Sultan of Swat, the Curse of the Bambino.

It’s the Red Sox Nation, the Evil Empire, Dodgers Blue and the Black Sox.

It’s knockdown pitches, going yard, the 5-4-3 double play and day-night doubleheaders.

It’s the magic numbers you remember 56-.406-61-714.

It’s the Baseball Encyclopedia, keeping score, listening on radio, playing catch with your dad and eating hot dogs.

Baseball is back.  It’s home runs and no-hitters and all that history.

Baseball is back for 2015.  Welcome back old friend.

Padres Painful Roster Cuts

Posted by on April 2nd, 2015  •  0 Comments  • 

These are strange days across the Cactus League and Grapefruit Circuit spring training road maps.
 
Teams are preparing to pull up stakes and head home to start the 2015 MLB season, Sunday with the National League opener, then Monday when the Padres-Dodgers and virtually everybody else starts the season.
 
Strange and tough days, from Peoria to West Palm Beach, from HoHo Kam Park in Mesa  to Legends Field in Tampa..
 
Veteran players, fighting to keep their careers going, get cut.  Just ask ex-Twins pitching anchor Scott Baker, just let go from maybe his final opportunity with the pitcher poor Yankees; or Kevin Correia, chopped by Seattle; or reliever Heath Bell, released, and admitting time to retire after leaving Washington..
 
Tough too for young guys, who had good springs, but get caught up in the numbers game, sent back to Triple A, whether your name is Tommy Medica in San Diego, or Kris Bryant, embroiled in a firestorm around Wrigley Field with the Cubs.
 
Age and injury catch up to veterans.  Guys with options get shipped out in paper-work moves.  And then there are those who earned the right to play, but get a plane ticket to the minors because teams don’t want to start their arbitration or free agency clocks.
 
Medica, who can hit home runs, batted an amazing (.421) over 23-games, but was caught in a traffic jam at lst base with the Friars..  Bryant, the former USD star, and minor league phenom, hit (.425-9HR), but was sent to Des Moines so his Cubs arbitration clock won’t start running yet, robbing him of a year towards free agency.
 
The Padres are down to 28-veteran players in camp with three more cuts to make.  And they won’t be easy.
 
They have 13-pitchers for 11-slots.  Odri Despaigne, the Cuban sensation, had an ERA of just over 2.20 this spring.  Keep him, or use an option to hide him in El Paso for the start of the season.  They traded for reliever Brandon Mauer; does he wind up in AAA with options, or on the disabled list?  They gave decent money to ex-Blue Jay Brandon Morrow, who has loads of experience.  What do you do with kid southpaw reliever Frank Garces, who has thrown zeroes much of the spring?  A couple of them have to leave.
 
There are 7-infielders left, following Medica’s shipment out.  Does Corey Spangenberg’s versatility make him valuable?
 
In the outfield, Cam Maybin had a great spring (.302); Carlos Quentin, with the big contract, seems healthier now than in years, but he becomes an off the bench guy; and what to do with multi-position guy Will Venable?.
 
Granted none of these guys are a Kris Bryant caliber player, but these are tough calls to make.  Do you trade one or two for younger prospects?  Are you better served to keep Quentin’s potential big bat as a role player-insurance policy for injuries; or keep the younger Venable who can play lots, if injuries crop up?
 
Between now and 12-noon Sunday, the roster has to get to 25.  Between now and then, manager Bud Black will have to sit and tell a couple of them, there’s is no room right now, take your bat, glove, and sometime impressive stats, and go back to the minors and see if the phone rings again.
 
The excitement of opening day is everywhere, but somewhere this weekend, there will be upset players, tough decisions, disappointment, hurt and anger.  It is what roster cutdown day is, and that is part of baseball too.

Dodger$ Ba$eball Dollar$

Posted by on April 1st, 2015  •  0 Comments  • 

I don’t think I have ever seen anything like this before, but leave it to the Los Angeles Dodgers to accomplish it.
 
It’s surely not the “Dodgers Way” from back in the day of Peter O’Malley’s operation of the franchise.  It’s surely not the way of his father, Walter, whose nickname was ‘El Cheapo’ and who located the team from Brooklyn to Chavez Ravine.
 
It’s surely a different day in baseball now.  The Dodgers, sold by the O’Malley family, to Fox-TV, to the era-error that was the McCourt family, to this group, led by Mark Walter-Stan Kasten-Guggenheim Group out of Chicago.  
 
We never saw this coming, a club purchased for a record 2B out of a bankruptcy auction.  We never imagined an all time record TV contract from Time Warner Cable, that gives the team mega money a year in rights fees, though the games are still not cleared across the entire market for fans to see..
 
And now this, with opening day just around the corner, an all time record high payroll of $270M, a figure bloated by Luxury Tax penalties, and payments to players dealt away to other clubs.
 
It is indeed great to have this type of wealth.
 
Clayton Kershaw, building legendary credentials along the lines of Sandy Koufax, will earn $31M this season as part of a new contract.  Zack Greinke, the number two man in the pitching rotation, will earn $27M.  Adrian Gonzalez, playing thru the middle of a long-term money deal, takes home $21M, as does ex-Red Sox outfielder Carl Crawford. 
 
Andre Ethier will earn $18M if he remains on the roster despite trade rumors.  The double play combination of Jimmy Rollins and Howie Kendrick will get $11M and $9.7M respectively in the final years of the deals they signed with the Phillies and Angels.
 
Big name stars on big city teams in big money markets earn those paydays, but it is what else is on that ledger that just blows you away.
 
The Dodgers just spent 462M to land Cuban veteran infielder Hector Olivera, and he’s not even in camp yet.  They have written checks for $130M for 5-Cuban players in the last 3-years.  The only star of the group is Yasiel Puig, with a $6.2M-tab.  Oddly, Alex Guerrero ($6.5M) and Erisbel Arrubarrena ($4M) will make 10M between them, and likely won’t make the team.
 
The Blue took on $10M a year for ex-Rockies pitcher Brett Anderson, spent $12M this year for oft-injured pitcher Brandon McCarthy of the Rockies.
 
They’ve eaten the contracts of pitchers Brian Wilson ($9.5M) and Chad Billingsley ($3M).
 
And then there is the money paid to guys gone to other teams.  The Dodgers will pay the Padres $32M as part of the Matt Kemp contract deal.  They shipped $11M to Miami to pay Dan Haren’s deal, and another $5M for infielder Dee Gordon to become a Marlin.
 
It’s mind boggling what Los Angeles has spent on its roster, maybe disgraceful what MLB allows them to pay for players on other club’s rosters, and stunning, how much they are willing to swallow of guys gone.  All that plus the 40% luxury tax penalty for going over the limit a 3rd year in a row.
 
I’ve seen wild things in baseball in the past, from the Bronx Zoo operation that was George Steinbrenner and the Yankees, to Charley O and Finley’s Athletics, to the contracts handed out by the Red Sox Nation, and all things Bill Veeck-as-in-Wreck, but this tops it all.
 
Looking for a word to describe the new ‘Dodgers Way’…maybe it is opulent, or outrageous, or maybe obscene.
 
I wonder what word the Dodgers and their fans will use, when LA finishes 2nd in the National League West to the Padres.
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