|
|
Here are the 3 NFL games today and where to watch them:
Time: Thursday, Nov. 23, 12:30 p.m. ET
TV: FOX
(more…)
Tags: Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Thanksgiving from TSP, indians, it's always sunny, Pilgrims, sunny 2017
Is this good for Baseball??
Yesterday the Florida Marlins agreed to trade Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, John Buck and Emiio Bonifacio to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for Yunel Escobar, Henderson Alvarez, Jeff Mathis, Jake Marisnick, Adeniy Hechavarria, Justin Nicolino and Anothny DeSClafani.
This is bad for the Phillies and bad for baseball. In the days when you have billionaire owners coming into professional sports more and more of them are going to want to spend money to win championships.
The Phillies owners are a partnership which means that they only put in a certain amount of money each year and all have to agree to spend that money. So the likely hood that the Phillies would ever make such a blockbuster deal is very unlikely. Any team that ends up with Mark Cuban as their owner will try to make trades like this and will tip the imbalance in baseball even more. More and more sports are becoming a business and it is hurting the purity of the game. Teams like the Astros, Indians, Twins Reds and even the Phillies with their current ownership structure would never have a chance to win a world series again.
Baseball owners in general should be outraged that this happened as well. Jeffrey Loria just built a brand new stadium in Miami a city that struggles to draw fans to their games even with names like Reyes, Johnson and Buehrle, so there is no way they are going to fill more than 8,000 seats a game with a AAA team at best on the field. The next team that is going to try to build a stadium is going to have that much harder of a time getting money from their state and city because of Loria and his stupidity. (more…)
Tags: Astros, bud selig, Chris Pierce, Cincinatti, Cleveland, Houston, indians, Jeffrey Loria. Baseball, marlins, Miami, MLB, philadelphia, Phillies, Reds, TSP
Who Cares?
So Manuel “Manny” Aristides Ramírez Onelcida has retired from Major League Baseball. He went out without celebration, without a goodbye, without a parade, and most importantly, without a fan base (Tampa Bay cannot be considered a fan base by any stretch of the imagination). That is sad. In Manny’s illustrious career, he has accumulated 555 HRs, 2574 Hits, 1831 RBI, and maintained a 312 BA. Simply. This guy was good.
As I watched this Shakespearean tragedy play out last week, I heard rhetoric and hyperbole from many of the baseball puritans, sportswriters, anal-lyst, and talking heads who have banished Manny from the Hall of Fame. How his legacy is ruined. How it’s one of the worst endings of a baseball career in history. And more. Even worst was the writers who stated that they would never vote Manny Ramirez into the Hall of Fame.
Well, let’s discuss The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum for a minute. Because I’m going to guess that Manny Ramirez has never been there, even for a visit and I would place a very heavy bet on the odds of him ever attending in the future. Any takers? I’m also going to take a wild guess that only 1 out of 25 of you who read this post has ever been to the The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. So, why would Manny, Barry, Pete or whoever else has been verbally banished from this Holy Shrine really care if they’re in it or not? I live in upstate New York, about 65 miles from Cooperstown, NY. I have been to the Hall numerous times. Even ate a Hot Dog on the Holy front steps with an orange soda, as only a Philadelphian would do (It wasn’t a Frank’s, Thanks). And I will tell you; I wasn’t that damned impressed. The Hall gets about 350,000 visitors a year. A very small sample of MLB’s fan base. You would think that because of all the emphasis on who gets in and who is kept out, they could at least draw a million fans there per year. But they can’t and they won’t! You know why? Because, everybody who has meant anything to this recent era of baseball is being kept out; Starting with Pete Rose to Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmiero, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGuire, and Manny Ramirez. A-Rod might get in there, but he will be very old or dead before “they” let him in. So our children and our children’s children might travel hundreds of miles to Cooperstown to look at plaques and paraphernalia belonging to Andre Dawson and Bert Blyleven. Big whup.
Take a look at these names:
Aaron, Ashburn, Averill, Bell, Brock, Brown, Burkett, Carey, Charleston, Clarke, Clemente, Cobb, Combs, Crawford, Cuyler, Dawson, Delahanty, DiMaggio, Doby, Duffy, Flick, Goslin, Gwynn, Hafey, Hamilton, Heilmann, Henderson, Hill, Hooper, Irvin, Jackson Kaline, Keeler, Kelley, Kelly, Kiner, Klein, Mantle, Manush, Mays, McCarthy, Medwick, Musial, O’Rourke, Ott, Puckett, J. Rice, S. Rice, Robinson, Roush, Ruth, Simmons, Slaughter, Snider, Speaker, Stargell, Stearnes, Thompson,Torriente, L. Waner, P. Waner, Wheat, B. Williams, T. Williams, Wilson, Winfield, Yastrzemski, Youngs.
Tags: cooperstown, indians, manny, manny ramirez, manny ramirez hall of famer, Rays, Red Sox, Yankees
1. Tampa Bay Rays (1) (40-23)- The Rays almost get bounced from the top spot in this week’s rankings, but ultimately their consistency gives them the benefit of the doubt. After taking two of three from the Blue Jays, the Rays dropped two of three from their in-state rivals, the Marlins. The starting pitching has shown some signs of weakness but Carlos Pena is really starting to heat up. Pena homered in six consecutive games at one point and BJ Upton’s average has been on the rise, as well. The Rays are finally dealing with a little bit of adversity. Let’s see how they deal with it before removing them from the top spot.
2. New York Yankees (2) (40-23)- I wish I could list the Yankees right next to the Rays this week, but that is not an option. The Yankees have dealt with their fair share of injuries to this point and continue to win games at a consistent pace. That is a testament to Joe Girardi and the job Brian Cashman has done to give this organization some depth in the minor leagues. It seems like every week I say the same thing but Robinson Cano is really coming into his own. We are looking at a perennial MVP candidate, perennial batting title contender, and a tremendous defensive second basemen. With Chase Utley slumping, Cano is the best second basemen in the game.
3. Atlanta Braves (4) (37-27)- The Braves end week 11 fresh off a series win over the Twins and continue to lead the pack in the NL East. Martin Prado leads the league in hits with 90 and Troy Glaus has his average up to .290 with 13 long-balls after hitting under .200 in April. Tim Hudson and Tommy Hanson have been a tremendous duo atop the rotation and Billy Wagner has been lights out in the back end of the bullpen.
4. Boston Red Sox (5) (37-28)- Here we are, more than 60 games into the season, and we have three teams in the AL East in the top four spots in these power rankings. Looking back at my pre-season rankings, I was pretty close, with all three of these squads in the top five. Adrian Beltre’s season has flown under the radar for some reason. Beltre is hitting .335 with 9 homeruns and 44 RBI’s. Jon Lester and Clay Bucholz continue to lock down this Red Sox rotation as John Lackey and the rest of the bunch search for some consistency. If the back end of this rotation does find their stuff, the sky is the limit for the Bosox.
5. Los Angeles Dodgers (6) (36-27)- The Dodgers impressed me early in the week with a sweep of the Cardinals and then severely disappointed me by getting swept by the Angels. Clayton Kershaw is starting to go deeper in the games along with Chad Billingsley. That is the recipe for success for this Dodgers team. The offense is doing more than enough to keep the wins coming but there has to be some concern for Manny Ramirez. He only has five homeruns so far but he is getting on base at a very good clip. Same old same old for Jonathan Broxton in the ninth inning. He has a 0.95 ERA with 42 strikeouts and only 3 walks. Amazing.
Tags: Angels, Astros, Athletics, blue jays, Braves, brewers, Cardinals, Cubs, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Giants, indians, Mariners, marlins, Mets, Nationals, orioles, Padres, Phillies, Pirates, Rangers, Rays, Red Sox, Reds, Rockies, Royals, Tigers, Twins, White Sox, Yankees
1. Tampa Bay Rays (1) (37-20)- The Rays starting rotation came back to earth, as expected, but the team as a whole continues to plug along. No matter what the issue has been this season they have battled through it. John Jaso hitting leadoff? No problem. Carlos Pena hitting well below .200? No problem. Ben Zobrist has come on strong and has his average over .300 with some decent power after going homer-less for the first month of the season. As long as this young staff can keep going deep into games, the Rays have a playoff spot waiting for them.
2. New York Yankees (2) (35-22)- How good is Robbie Cano? .363 batting average along with 45 RBI’s and 41 runs scored and a 1.013 OPS. That is absolutely incredible. The struggles for Mark Teixeira have continued, though. That has to be concerning as it is starting to get too late in the season to use the excuse that “it’s early yet”. Make no mistake about it, if the Yankees want to win, Tex has to hit.
3. Minnesota Twins (3) (33-24)- Justin Morneau continues to absolutely carry this offense and leads the Twins in just about every category. He has a .370 average, 13 homeruns, 40 RBI’s, a .483 OBP, 71 hits, and 43 walks, all best on the team. The other part of this two-headed monster, Joe Mauer, has been in a bit of a slump, seeing his average drop to a human .313. Even with the injuries the Twins have dealt with, they still hold a comfortable 3.5 game lead in the division and look like they could improve.
4. Atlanta Braves (13) (33-24)- Wow, what a roll this team is currently on. Finally this offense has come around and what a difference it has made. Suddenly Troy Glaus is a middle of the order threat and Martin Prado has continued to rake. Chipper Jones was starting to come around before yet another nagging hand injury and Eric Hinske has taken advantage of his increase in at-bats. The Braves currently hold a two game lead in the NL East. How great of a story would it be to see Bobby Cox go out a winner? This team has the talent to make that happen.
5. Boston Red Sox (8) (33-25)- Where are all those people who said “this isn’t the Red Sox year”, “the Red Sox just aren’t good this year”, “you are biased because you are on the East Coast”. Let’s break this down simply. When you build a team with strong pitching (check), phenomenal defense (check), a phenomenal bullpen (check), and a very solid lineup (check), that team is probably going to win its fair share of games. I realize everybody hates the Red Sox but why don’t we all get a clue and sit back and learn something about the game of baseball. Like I said in week one and every week thereafter, pitching wins and this team has one of the best pitching staffs in the majors.
Tags: Angels, Astros, Athletics, blue jays, Braves, brewers, Cardinals, Cubs, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Giants, indians, Mariners, marlins, Mets, Nationals, orioles, Padres, Phillies, Pirates, Rangers, Rays, Red Sox, Reds, Rockies, Royals, Tigers, Twins, White Sox, Yankees
1. Tampa Bay Rays (1) (32-12)- The Rays continue to cruise and as they stretch their lead in the AL East, they are beginning to approach some modern day records. This is the 4th best start in American league history and they have outscored their opponents by over 100 runs through only 44 games. Ben Zobrist is now hitting over .300 with his first two homeruns of the season this week. This squad is going to get very scary to play against if you can add Ben Zobrist to the mix playing like he did in 2009.
2. New York Yankees (2) (26-18)- The Yankees are really struggling with some injuries right now but they better be careful. After being swept in a mini two game set by the Rays, they now sit six games back of the division. Jorge Posada is on the DL, along with Curtis Granderson and Nick Johnson. Whenever a team of the Yankees caliber drops a series to a team like the Mets, there is always room for concern.
3.Philadelphia Phillies (3) (26-17)- The Phillies start inter-league play off with some less than stellar play, as they do every year. Jimmy Rollins and Brad Lidge are both back on the DL and Rollins absence in the lineup is really starting to show at this point. Carlos Ruiz’ hot start is a distant memory, as his plate approach and pitch selection has reverted back to the old Carlos Ruiz. Roy Halladay was roughed up by the Red Sox on Sunday, which will bring all of the questions out of the wood work about whether or not Manuel has overworked Doc. Everybody Relax. He will be fine.
4. Minnesota Twins (4) (26-18)- It is absolutely insane the numbers Justin Morneau is throwing up right now. .383 batting average with 11 homeruns 24 RBI’s and 35 walks. His OBP is .497 and his OPS is a ridiculous 1.199. Joe Mauer is still plugging along with a .343 average and the rest of the offense has continued to produce. All the starter’s ERAs have come back down to earth but this is an overall solid team throughout.
5. San Diego Padres (5) (26-18)- The fairytale continues for the San Diego Padres. In a recent Sports Illustrated Heath Bell was questioned about the possibility of a fire sale, where he and Adrian Gonzalez would be traded. He said both he and Adrian discussed it during Spring Training and came to the following conclusion. “Lets just win so much that they can’t break this team up.” It really looks like the rest of this crew has taken the same attitude, because if they continue to play like this, the Padres roster might be making additions come the trade deadline.
Tags: Angels, Astros, Athletics, blue jays, Braves, brewers, Cardinals, Cubs, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Giants, indians, Mariners, marlins, Mets, Nationals, orioles, Padres, Phillies, Pirates, Rangers, Rays, Red Sox, Reds, Rockies, Royals, Tigers, Twins, White Sox, Yankees
1. Tampa Bay Rays (2) (26-11)- The Rays take over the top spot once again, as they also retain possession of the best record in baseball. You become a very difficult team to beat when you have a 2.78 ERA as a team, leading the league. Combine that with the fact they have scored the 2nd most runs in the AL and there is no mystery as to why the Rays have been dominant. On Saturday, the Rays designated former Phillie Pat Burrell for assignment, replacing him with Hank Blalock. Best wishes to Pat the Bat.
2. New York Yankees (1) (24-13)- Mariano Rivera gave up his first runs of the season on Sunday as he blew a rare save opportunity. Jason Kubel hit a Grand Slam in the 8th inning off of Mariano to give the Twins a lead they would not relinquish. After another week of play, the Yankees now sit two games back of the Rays for first place in the AL East. Robinson Cano has come back to earth slightly with a .326 average and a .975 OPS. Javier Vazquez is now being moved into the bullpen for what is said to be a “temporary” time period but it could be permanent if Sergio Mitre takes advantage of his opportunity.
3. Philadelphia Phillies (4) (23-13)- Nice 4-1 week for the Phils as they continue to play through injuries to critical pieces of the team. Brad Lidge is back on the DL and Jimmy Rollins has been out for quite some time. Rollins should be returning early this week and Jose Contreras has pitched absolutely phenomenal out of the bullpen and appears to be the closer at this point. The Phillies are first in the league in batting average, slugging, and OPS. They are also 4th in the league in ERA, which makes for a pretty solid recipe for success. They have outscored opponents by 48 runs so far and once everyone returns from injury, there is no telling how far this team can go.
4. Minnesota Twins (3) (23-14)- The Twins picked up their first win in New York since 2007 on Sunday, incredible. Overall a pretty mediocre week for the Twins, though as they struggled with the White Sox and were largely outplayed by the Yankees until Mariano had a rare hiccup. Joe Mauer finally hit his 2nd homerun of the season and Justin Morneau is having the best season of his career so far. Jon Rauch continues to pitch well in the absence of Joe Nathan as well.
5. San Diego Padres (9) (22-15)- Could this team really pull it off? I doubt it, but I will be rooting for them all the way to the end. Mat Latos came oh so close to a perfect game in his last start this week, with the lone hit being a comebacker off of his throwing hand that trickled too far away from him to retire Eli Whiteside. Latos is an immensely talented right hander that not many have discovered yet and if he continues to produce with the way Garland, Leblanc, and Correia are throwing, this team could legitimately win the West.
Tags: Angels, Astros, Athletics, blue jays, Braves, brewers, Cardinals, Cubs, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Giants, indians, Mariners, marlins, Mets, Nationals, orioles, Padres, Phillies, Pirates, Rangers, Rays, Red Sox, Reds, Rockies, Royals, Tigers, Twins, White Sox, Yankees
You are never really playing an opponent. You are playing yourself, your own highest standards, and when you reach your limits, that is real joy.
You must be logged in to post a comment.