Category: MLB (Page 238 of 448)

      Which position is the safest bet in the first round?

      April 17, 2009 /

      I was watching one of the many Mel Kiper and Todd McShay arguments on ESPN the other day [video], and Kiper was arguing that if McShay has Matthew Stafford ranked so high (McShay currently has Stafford ranked #8), then he should almost be a no-brainer for the Detroit Lions, who have the #1 overall pick and need a quarterback. McShay isn’t convinced that he’s a so-called “franchise” quarterback, so he says he would go another direction. (For the record, at the time Kiper called McShay “crazy” for having Stafford that high, but now he has the QB ranked #3 on his big board. It’s clear that Kiper’s pure hatred for McShay is causing him to slowly lose his mind.)

      Anyway, the debate piqued my interest and got me wondering – when it comes to the first round of the NFL Draft, is one position safer than another? For example, if the Lions have three holes to fill (they have more, but bear with me) – quarterback, linebacker and tackle – and they can’t decide amongst the three players, is one position a safer pick than the other two?

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      Fantasy Football, MLB, NFL, NFL Draft

      Couch Potato Alert: 4/17

      April 17, 2009 /

      John Madden was, um, colorful in the color analyst role on a NFL telecast. His catch phrases were the sound effects from the old Batman television series. After every play, you were guaranteed a “boom” or a “bam” from Madden in his description. He brought fun to the no fun league (NFL), and his name is synonymous in the gaming community for playing video football. And Madden was a maverick in another way; he left on top in two professions. He will be missed.

      The NBA and NHL postseasons start this weekend, and there are a few good baseball games on the tube as well.

      All times ET…

      NBA Playoffs
      Sat, 12:30 PM: Chicago Bulls @ Boston Celtics (ESPN)
      Sat, 3 PM: Detroit Pistons @ Cleveland Cavaliers (ABC)
      Sat, 8 PM: Dallas Mavericks @ San Antonio Spurs (ESPN)
      Sat, 10:30 PM: Houston Rockets @ Portland Trail Blazers (ESPN)
      Sun, 3 PM: Utah Jazz @ Los Angeles Lakers (ABC)
      Sun, 5:30 PM: Philadelphia 76ers @ Orlando Magic (TNT)
      Sun, 8 PM: Miami Heat @ Atlanta Hawks (TNT)
      Sun, 10:30 PM: New Orleans Hornets @ Denver Nuggets (TNT)

      NHL Playoffs
      Fri, 7 PM: Philadelphia Flyers @ Pittsburgh Penguins (Versus)
      Fri, 10 PM: St. Louis Blues @ Vancouver Canucks (Versus)
      Sat, 1 PM: New York Rangers @ Washington Capitals (NBC)
      Sat, 8 PM: Montreal Canadiens @ Boston Bruins (Versus)
      Sun, 3 PM: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Philadelphia Flyers (NBC)
      Sun, 7 PM: Vancouver Canucks @ St. Louis Blues (Versus)
      Sun, 10 PM: Anaheim Ducks @ San Jose Sharks (Versus)

      MLB
      Sat, 3:40 PM: St. Louis Cardinals @ Chicago Cubs (Fox)
      Sun., 1 PM: Cleveland Indians @ New York Yankees (TBS)
      Sun., 8 PM: St. Louis Cardinals @ Chicago Cubs (ESPN)

      Couch Potato Alert, MLB, NBA, NHL, Television

      Tribe spoil Yankees’ stadium opener

      April 16, 2009 /

      The New York Yankees built one of the most expensive and state-of-the-art stadiums in Major League Baseball and to celebrate its opening, the Cleveland Indians took a dump all over it.

      Reliever Damaso Marte apparently thought he was pitching a batting practice session, because he was lit up like Jon Daly on a Saturday night. The Tribe tagged Marte for six runs on six hits as Grady Sizemore blasted a grand slam in the seventh inning to break the game wide open. By the time the damage was complete, the Indians had scored nine runs in the inning and eventually cruised to a 10-2 victory.

      The good news is that CC Sabathia didn’t look too bad against his former team, yielding just one run on five hits and striking out four. The bad news is that he walked five batters and Cliff Lee, who had done his best Marte impersonation in his previous two outings, essentially shut down the Yankees’ offense for six innings. (Jorge Posada did hit a solo shot off Lee in the fifth to tie the game at 1-1, but that was all the Bombers could muster until Robinson Cano signed home Melky Cabrera for a meaningless run in the ninth.)

      What was supposed to be a proud day in Yankee history turned out to be a complete disaster. Yankee haters everywhere will enjoy the fact that for at least one day, all the money they spent in the offseason went for nothing but a 10-2 shellacking, compliments of a Cleveland team that has looked brutal so far at the start the season.

      MLB

      Baseball and I: The First Few Weeks

      April 15, 2009 /

      mill

      Dedicated baseball fans throughout America realize there’s an intangible contract one signs at the beginning of April. In following one’s favorite team, the signee accepts the prospect of having 162 good days, 162 bad days, or any number in between. The season is long: a half-year jaunt whose push and pull seamlessly seeps into every corner of the fan’s life. For fantasy owners, this effect is even more intense. I’m finding that out now for the first time in my life, as a group of my buddies finally convinced me to sign up for their league. I’ve heard it described that every episode of “Seinfeld” and the “The Sopranos” can serve as a near-factual model for the way American life works, whether they exemplify the battle of the sexes, the tensions and joys of friendships, the need and dismay of romance, the absurdity of life, the power of death, or the pleasure of solitude. For myself, it’s always been baseball, as its mixture of celebration, defeat, and the bizarre seem to perfectly mirror life as a whole. As a write this, Tim Lincecum is off to a rocky start for the year while Tim Wakefield is pitching a no-hitter into the eight inning. Who would’ve thought?

      Here are five random observations about the first few weeks of the season…

      1. Fantasy Baseball

      How anyone could sign up for more than one of these leagues is beyond me. I was under the impression that I would simply have to monitor my team once a week, only having the urge to check the scoreboard every now and then. Turns out, you need to treat your team with the same love and attention you would a girlfriend or a dying pet. Throughout my day I’m checking Yahoo’s GameChannel and Stattracker, yelling at numbers and diagrams on my screen as they are updated in real time. I’m reading the columns by fantasy “pundits;” I’m about to buy the MLB Extra Innings package; I’m contemplating trades, drops, and pickups; friendships hang in the balance each week in our head to head league. And all the while I’m realizing that this at times very complicated critical thinking could be put to better use for something like, I don’t know, NASA. But then who would give J.D. Drew another chance to prove himself as a fantasy stud?

      Continue reading »

      MLB

      Dice-K DL stint proof that WBC is a bad idea

      April 15, 2009 /

      The Red Sox placed starter Daisuke Matsuzaka on the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday due to arm fatigue. Dice-K was brutal in his first two starts, yielding 14 total hits and nine runs in just 6.1 innings of work. He still struck out five, but he gave up three dingers and posted an ERA of 12.79.

      Dice-K competed for Japan in the World Baseball Classic and while he only through 14.2 innings, it was obviously enough for him to suffer some arm fatigue. I know the WBC has rules so that pitchers don’t get overworked playing in the tournament, but clearly that isn’t enough because now the Red Sox will be without one of their best pitchers for two weeks.

      The WBC is a fun tournament and it’s interesting to watch MLB players compete against each other for their countries. But it isn’t supposed to get in the way of the MLB regular season and clearly it has considering it had some affect on Matsuzaka’s arm.

      Bud Selig has to figure out a better format if he wants to continue this tournament going forward. One idea is to put it at the end of the MLB season, since all of the games are being played indoors anyway. It makes no sense for some of these pro ballplayers to be playing in a competitive tournament when they should be getting ready for spring training.

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

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