Let’s Go Rockies!
Good
Monday morning everyone and welcome back to the work (or school) week!
Well,
I guess we (and Fox) don’t have to worry about a Cleveland/Colorado World
Series. It’s too bad really. It is unfortunate that Joel Skinner apparently saw
something that no one else in the world saw and held up Kenny Lofton. You just
never know how the game would have turned out if Lofton scores the tying run.
Of course, if Casey Blake waits for a pitch up in the zone and hits a fly ball,
Lofton still scores. Instead, he swings at a bad pitch, down in the zone, and
grounds into an easy double play, ending the inning. It was all down hill from
there. A Blake error allowed Jacoby Ellsbury to
reach, and Dustin Pedroia showed off the overall game
that makes him the easy choice for AL Rookie of the Year (if it isn’t
unanimous, those who don’t vote for him should lose voting privileges!). And
yes, I know that his post season exploits don’t count in that. Kevin Youklis is awesome to watch. Manny proved himself right. All they could do was going out and play and
see what happens. They did, and they dominated. The other thing that I can’t
help but wonder is how this series would have turned out had Game 5 been played
right away on Wednesday rather than the unnecessary day off in between games
four and five in Cleveland. Makes no sense. But then
again, when both CC Sabathia and Fausto
Carmona were horrible in the four games they started, it’s amazing that the
series went seven games at all. The decision to start Josh Beckett in Game 5
doesn’t seem like such a mistake now, does it? He’s set up to pitch Game 1 of
the World Series on Wednesday night. I feel bad for Cleveland. If Travis Hafner could hit a fastball, maybe things are different.
But that is a great team and they will be difficult to surpass in the AL
Central for several years because they determined their core players and will
keep them around for the next few years.
Unfortunate
news came out yesterday. The San Francisco duo decided that yesterday was the
right time to announce that Paul Byrd had purchased about $25,000 worth of HgH between 2002 and 2005. Byrd
has explained that doctors found a tumor in his head and that his pituitary glands
were not producing enough hormones, so doctors prescribed the medication for
him. It will be coming out in Byrd’s book. He says that he has not hidden this
from anyone. He bought it with his credit card and had some shipped to the
Braves clubhouse (where I’m guessing such things didn’t look out of place in
2002!). If he was trying to hide it, he would have gone about it differently.
Of course, my advice for others who have been prescribed HgH… come out now, bring the doctor that prescribed
it for you, Don’t let it come out through an investigation!
· Arizona Fall League
Update – On Saturday, Anthony Swarzak made another
start. One hit, no walks, no runs, two strikeouts in three innings. Matt Macri went 2-4 with his third double. There were no games
on Sunday.
· Venezuela Update – On
Saturday, Aragua won 10-3 over Ryan Rowland-Smith and Lara. The real Alex
Romero appeared again as he went 2-3 with two walks. Jose Mijares
got the one batter he faced out, then Frank Mata
pitched a scoreless inning.
·
The Vikings lost
to the Dallas Cowboys by a score of 24-14. Adrian Peterson rushed for 63 yards
and a 20 yard touchdown against a solid Cowboys defense. Why is that
mention-able? Well, because Tavaris Jackson looked a
lot like Spurgeon Wynn in the game. He was 6-19 passing. Now, I thought he was
adequate the week before when his numbers weren’t great because there were
several dropped passes and more long passes that just missed. In this game,
Jackson has not even close. That was horrible. The Vikings defense is terrific
though and has to be talked about. They play quite a few players and each seems
to understand his role, particularly the guys on the defensive line. This team
has a chance to be solid, middle-of-the-road this year and should improve
throughout the season. But Jackson is going to have to show a lot more!
Any
chance you watched the Minnesota Gophers football game against North Dakota
State on Saturday morning? The Bison won the game 27-21. They were by far the
better team. They ran all over the Gophers defense. The score is not at all
indicative of how much NDSU dominated. And listening to some post-game calls,
it was frustrating because people were calling it the low point of the season
for the Gophers. In reality, the Gophers may have played alright. Believe me, NDSU is better than a few of the teams that the Gophers
lost to already. NDSU is ranked #1 in what used to be Division I-AA. Remember
when #5 Michigan lost to Appalachian State the first week of the season? Well,
NDSU is the best team in that division, ranked well
above Appalachian State. NDSU beat Central Michigan, a Division I-A team. The
Central Michigan coaches said that NDSU had the best team they had played. And
they played Purdue. In my mind, if NDSU was a Big 10 team, I think they would
be middle of the pack in the league, right around .500.
· Anything
else on your mind. I will have more World Series thoughts in the coming days,
including my thoughts on who will win. Hopefully I can get some others to share
their thoughts as well. Please feel free to e-mail me, or use the Comments
below. Have a great day!