2008 July

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Angels Acquire Teixera From Atlanta, Look Towards October

July 30, 2008 on 6:12 am | In Uncategorized | No Comments

Realizing their season is quickly becoming an afterthought, the Atlanta Braves fired a big shot heard ’round baseball Tuesday as they sent 28-year old Mark Teixera to the first place Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for first baseman Casey Kotchman and a minor league pitcher. Teixera’s .283 average and 20 home runs looks to pump some life into a somewhat stale Angels offense often noted as the team’s Achilles’ heal. The Braves ‘08 campaign has soured of late with stars Tim Hudson and Chipper Jones both heading for the DL over the weekend and staff ace John Smoltz already lost for this season and maybe for good. After losing their fourth in a row last evening, Atlanta finds itself in fourth place and eight and a half games behind the National League East-leading New York Mets. Teixera leaves sinking Atlanta for a date with October in Anaheim. After John Lackey came within two outs of a no-hitter last night at Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox, the Angels are an MLB-best 66-40 and 11 and a half games ahead of the Texas Rangers in the AL West. After taking six consecutive contests from the World Champion Red Sox, the Angels look like the team to beat in not only the American League but all of baseball. Adding the dynamic, potent bat of Teixera only further solidifies their campaign.

The Long Road Back

July 29, 2008 on 6:30 pm | In Uncategorized | No Comments

St. Louis Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter’s long road back to the Major Leagues comes full circle as the 2005 National League Cy Young Award winner takes the hill tonight against the Atlanta Braves. Carpenter hasn’t pitched since Opening Day of last season and after undergoing Tommy John Surgery last July looks to return as the same force that dominated the National League since joining St. Louis in 2004. In three full seasons with the Cardinals, Carpenter has a combined 3.12 ERA and 549 strikeouts. Despite division rivals Milwaukee and Chicago adding impact pitchers to their staff, if Carpenter is anything resembling that same power pitcher he’s been during his career, he is without a doubt the best mid-season addition possible for any team this season.

Webb Continues Standout Season, Records 1,000th Strikeout

July 28, 2008 on 1:14 pm | In Uncategorized | 2 Comments

On Sunday Arizona Diamondbacks ace Brandon Webb claimed his 14th win of the season while becoming the 57th active player to reach 1,000 career strikeouts. Webb is now 14-4 with a 3.14 ERA, he has struck out 124 batters while walking only 38. The Diamondbacks are in first place in the National League West and ride a three-game winning streak into San Diego to face the slumping Padres.

Rodney Replaces Jones At End Of Tigers’ Pen

July 28, 2008 on 1:05 pm | In Uncategorized | No Comments

Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland has pulled the plug on veteran pitcher Todd Jones and replaced him with fireballer Fernando Rodney as the team’s new closer. The move comes as Jones has blown three of his last seven save opportunities and as opponents are hitting an insane .375 off of him in the month of July. Rodney has been better than his numbers appear. The 30-year old veteran enters the end of the bullpen with an 0-2 record and a bloated 5.17 ERA. I’m surprised this move hadn’t come earlier. Jones has been struggling with command for the better part of the past two months. If Detroit fans have any finger nails left to chew on they may be doing just that as Thursday’s trade deadline nears. The Tigers loaded up to win this year this past offseason, they should finish the job and make a run at Baltimore Orioles closer George Sherrill.

American League East Has Five Contenders

July 28, 2008 on 12:56 pm | In Baseball | No Comments

Every legitimate baseball fan knows that the American League East, with its powerhouse residents the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, is the best division in baseball. However in celebration of the Baltimore Orioles winning their first Sunday game since early spring, I’ve decided it’s time to take a closer look at how well those other three teams, the Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays and the Orioles, have performed against the rest of the American League. The results speak volumes about the talent of the latter three teams. Against the entire American League East, the American League Central is a whopping 47-65. The West is not much better at 52-61. Now while obviously many of those losses come at the hands of the juggernauts, Tampa Bay, Toronto and Baltimore are a combined 36-27 against the Central and an admirable 35-37 against the West. This leads me to believe that if a team like basement-dwelling Baltimore had the opportunity to play teams like Seattle and Oakland 18 times a year as opposed to the Sox and Yanks 18 times each, they’d be a ball club with a winning percentage around .600 and challenging the Los Angeles Angels for the American League West.

Phelps, Not NBA-ers, Is Face Of American Olympians

July 28, 2008 on 12:14 pm | In Uncategorized | No Comments

While I absolutely love the confidence permeating from Team USA leader LeBron James, the true face of the American effort in Beijing this summer shall be no other than swimmer Michael Phelps. While I believe that the American basketball squad featuring the likes of James, NBA MVP Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd will absolutely tear down teams before seizing their rightful gold medal, a champion is truly defined by the level of his or her competition. The Phelps-led American swimmers will have plenty of competition in a few weeks, especially from the Australian national team led by internationally-recognized athletes Libby Trickett and Leisel Jones. The Americans and Aussies are the Olympic equivalent of the NBA’s Celtics and Lakers, two powerhouse organizations where gold is the only option. For the Americans, the talk is about Phelps and rewriting the Olympic record book. Phelps took home six gold and two bronze medals in the 2004 Athens Games and looks to catch Mark Spitz’s 1972 record of seven golds in a single Olympiad. The swimming superstar will dive in for five individual competitions, four of which: the 200m freestyle and 200m butterfly and the 200m and 400m medleys, Phelps is the outright World Record holder.

Johnson Laments Chicago Finish

July 22, 2008 on 11:15 am | In NASCAR | No Comments

After leading the field to a restart with two laps to go at last Saturday night’s LifeLock 400 at the Chicagoland Speedway, Jimmie Johnson gave the top of the race track to eventual winner Kyle Busch and has spent the past week kicking himself over it. “On that last restart, I should have given him the inside”, Johnson commented on ducking to the bottom trying to hold off the hard charging Busch. Then again that’s just the way this season’s been for everyone except Busch all year. Busch marked the halfway point of the Sprint Cup season by notching his seventh win in the most dramatic fashion thus far by passing Johnson coming to the white flag last Saturday night. Although failing to grab the checkers in Chicago, the reigning two-time Cup Champ is putting together another solid season. While his one victory may be lower than preseason expectations, Johnson has nine top-tens and has finished worse than tenth only twice in his last seven starts.

2008: One To Remember

July 22, 2008 on 10:47 am | In Uncategorized | 1 Comment

After Greg Norman’s incredible run in the Open Championship this past weekend, it crossed my mind that 2008 is the greatest year to be a sports’ addict in quite some time. Take a moment to consider the New York Giants‘ unbelievable defeat of the undefeated New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. Eli Manning’s almost being sacked four times before launching a 35-yard strike to David Tyree’s hand and helmet is the greatest play I’ve seen in any play in any sport. What racing fan could forget Penske Racing teammates Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch outslugging powerhouses Gibbs Motorsports and Hendrick Motorsports to sweep the top two spots in the Daytona 500? How about the NCAA Tournament and Cinderella Davidson College from tiny Davidson, North Carolina? Who among us will ever forget Kansas guard Mario Chalmers’ three-pointer to force overtime against Memphis in the NCAA Championship game? We could move on to the NBA Finals that saw NBA Most Valuable Player Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers take on Boston’s new Big Three in every true basketball fan’s dream matchup? Ofcourse the NBA Finals overshadowed the perennial powerhouse Detroit Red Wings‘ Stanley Cup battle with the superstar Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. If you were able to find the NHL Finals on television you probably did enjoy them. There’s young slugger Josh Hamilton’s amazing story of recovering from drug addiction to become one of the most dynamic players in the Major Leagues. Boston Red Sox pitcher and cancer survivor Jon Lester tossed an unforgettable and awe-inspiring no-hitter against the Kansas City Royals in front of a packed Fenway Park on May 19th. There’s Tiger Woods legendary comeback victory in the U.S. Open only to reveal the very next day that he needed reconstructive knee surgery. With Kyle Busch having a NASCAR season for the ages and teams like the Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays and Florida Marlins all in the thick of their division races, something tells me 2008 still has a lot left to offer.

Saints Acquire Shockey From Giants

July 22, 2008 on 10:05 am | In Football | No Comments

The New York Giants rid themselves of loudmouth and oft-injured tight end Jeremy Shockey yesterday in a deal that left many of us football fans scratching our heads. The Giants shipped off the four-time Pro Bowler to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for a second and fifth round pick in next year’s NFL Draft. So let’s backtrack one day, shall we? Just yesterday the Washington Redskins acquired the ever-dominant superstar Jason Taylor from the Miami Dolphins for a second round pick and a fifth round pick. Were the Giants just blindsided by this deal for Taylor or did they just miss the boat? I can’t imagine that with Dallas loading up with Zach Thomas and Adam Jones, Philadelphia acquiring Asante Samuel and now Washington outslugging the Giants for Taylor, that New York thought Washington would take this deal. The Giants have a few questions floating around training camp, one being how to cope with the loss of future Hall of Famer Michael Strahan. Hello, Jason Taylor? While Taylor would have been a two-year “rental”, it would have been a perfect fit for Big Blue and their championship defense. Instead, Eli Manning will now face more of the best defenders in the NFL in his own division.

Yanks Lose Posada, A-Rod Heating Up

July 22, 2008 on 9:49 am | In Memorabilia, Baseball | No Comments

On the same day they won their eighth consecutive game in the Bronx, the New York Yankees placed superstar catcher Jorge Posada on the disabled list for the second time this season. Posada has suffered with right shoulder tendinitis since mid-April and will decide today whether or not to have season-ending surgery. The Yankee catcher has been completely ineffective in throwing out base runners and recently went on a tirade exclaim how badly he wants to be behind the plate and not DH-ing. Too bad, Jorge. Honestly, Posada is a veteran guy and should understand that the team is better with Jose Molina doing the catching, even if it means keeping Molina’s miniscule .220 batting average in the lineup. On the other end of the spectrum, third basemen and reigning American League Most Valuable Player Alex Rodriguez has come out of the All-Star break on absolute fire. Rodriguez homered and drove in three last night as the Bombers pounded the Minnesota Twins 12-4. After a first-half overshadowed by stories like Josh Hamilton’s breakout season and Jon Lester’s no-hitter, Rodriguez seems determined to remind all of the Major Leagues that he’s the best all-around player in the game today. A-Rod’s hitting at a torrid .400 clip since beginning baseball’s second half and it’s not just Yankee fans that are going crazy but us memorabilia collectors too. Since Rodriguez became the youngest player to ever hit 500 home runs, the demand for and value of Alex Rodriguez authentic autographed baseball bats, Alex Rodriguez authentic signed jerseys and Alex Rodriguez autographed baseballs has never been higher. Authentic memorabilia is really the ultimate keepsake for true blue sports’ fans and from one collector to another, I’d consider spending a little coin to get on a piece of what Rodriguez is doing on the field. Not one of us would be shocked if in twenty years we’re talking about Alex being amongst the top two or three players to ever step onto the diamond. Take a serious look at maybe investing in an Alex Rodriguez autographed baseball bat or check out an authentic Alex Rodriguez signed baseball. I think you guys out there would get a lot of pleasure adding such serious star power to your sports collections. Aside from A-Rod, second baseman Robinson Cano is swinging one hot bat. After his notoriously hot second half last season, Cano is hitting at a 10-19 (.526) clip since the All-Star Break this year and has two homers and five runs batted in in his last five games.