Joe The Binder Returns In Yankee Loss
Joe Girardi is noted for playing it by the book, his infamous binder. While I understand that it is important to know the history of matchups but as I have said before sometimes you have to go with your gut. Well there is no way that Joe "The Binder" Girardi will ever do that. In a move that I still find baffling, he decides to have CC Sabathia walk Sean Rodriguez and pitch to Carlos Pena with the bases loaded who then proceeds to hit a grand slam home run to give the Tampa Rays a 4-0 lead. While the Yankees came back to take the lead, the move tells us that we are in for another season of The Binder.
This is one game out of 162 so I'm not ready to push the panic button particularly since Sabathia has a terrible record on opening days: an ERA of 7.47 as the Yankee opening day pitcher and a career record of 5.66 on opening day. I'm not even upset about Mariano Rivera blowing a save. He is a human being and I'm confident he will bounce back.
But what is bothering me is that just like in last year's playoffs, the Yankees could not get a big hit to drive in runs. One of the big culprits once again was Mark Teixiera. Batting behind ARod he is going to have plenty of opportunities. I'm going to say this for the one thousandth time: he needs to go the opposite way. Speaking of ARod, he looked good yesterday both in the field and at the plate. If he can stay healthy, this could be a big year for him. It will be up to The Binder to make sure ARod gets the rest that he needs.
Tonight Hiroki Kuroda makes his Yankee debut against David Price. I'm sure The Binder has everything mapped out. The Rays bullpen was used up yesterday as Joe Maddon was also at his overmanaging best. The Yankees big 3 in the bullpen also made appearances yesterday for an inning each. Should be an interesting game with The Binder and Maddon matching wits.
Baseball 2012 Predictions
It's that time of year when hope springs eternal for all major league baseball teams. It's also time for my fearless 2012 Baseball predictions.
NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST - While Arizona won the division last year, I don't see it happening again as I'm picking the San Francisco Giants to win the NL West. The Giants starting rotation, particularly its top 3 of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner, is the best in the division. The key will be their ability to score runs which should be improved with Buster Posey being back. A surprise team could be the Los Angeles Dodgers if the rest of the rotation behind Clayton Kershaw could get their act together.
NATIONAL LEAGUE CENTRAL - This may be the weakest division in all of baseball. All of these teams have flaws with Cincinnati, Milwaukee and St.Louis vying for the division title. I'm going to go with the defending World Champion Cardinals. If Adam Wainwright bounces back, the Redbirds will have more than enough pitching to win the division. Offensively, the key will be Carlos Beltran being healthy, Lance Berkman not falling backwards and David Freese playing a full season. The Reds and Brewers will be in the hunt all the way down to the wire.
NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST - It's hard to pick against the Philadelphia Phillies so I won't. Despite Ryan Howard being out for awhile and Chase Utley having physical issues, the Phillies top 3 in their starting rotation may be the best in baseball. However, this division will be the best in the National League as the Marlins, Nationals and Braves will all be in the hunt. It's quite possible that both wild card teams could come from this division. By the way, the New York Mets are a disgrace.
AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST - Two of the American League's heavyweights reside in this division. Between Texas and Los Angeles, I'm going with the Angels to win the division. L.A's starting rotation may be the best in the American League headed up by Jered Weaver, Dan Haren and newly-acquired CJ Wilson. With the addition of Albert Pujols and Kendry Morales coming back, the Angels will be able to score runs. The Rangers are not going to go away as their offense is very potent. Pitching will be the key for the two-time defending AL Champs.
AMERICAN LEAGUE CENTRAL - This division will be the least competitive in all of baseball as the Detroit Tigers are head and shoulders above the rest. With the acquisition of Prince Fielder, the Tiger offense has a tough one-two punch with Fielder and Miguel Cabrera. Throw in Justin Verlander and the Tigers should cruise to the division title.
AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST - What has been acknowledged as the toughest division in baseball, 2012 will be no different. The Yankees, Rays and Red Sox will be competing for the title and the Toronto Blue Jays may surprise. I can see this one coming down to the end of September and I'm going to go with New York. The key for the Yankees will be keeping their older players healthy. It's quite possible that this division could have two wild cards.
Playoffs - NL WILD CARDS: Miami vs Arizona Arizona wins
AL WILD CARDS: Tampa vs Texas Texas wins
ALDS
Yankees vs Rangers Yankees win
Detroit vs Angels Angels win
ALCS : Angels win in 6
NLDS
Diamondbacks vs Phillies Phillies win
Cardinals vs Giants Giants win
NLCS : Giants win in 7
World Series: Angels in 7
Tuesday’s Thoughts
While wondering what it would be like to win the Mega Millions, here is what's on my mind this morning:
* The Maple Leafs roll into the First Niagara Center tonight to take on the Buffalo Sabres in the back end of a home and home. The Leafs won Saturday night at the ACC 4-3 and as a result dealt a blow to the Sabres playoff chances. This will be the Sabres last home game of the regular season, with their remaining two games at Philadelphia and at Boston. This is a must win for Buffalo. It might be a long night for the Leafs.
* Joe Colborne has been called up from the Marlies to fill in for the injured Mikhail Grabovski. I'm lookiing forward to seeing the kid play as he could be a big piece to the puzzle next season.
* Leaf fans should check out the following article about the team's farm system and re-think all of the venom directed at Brian Burke. http://www.torontosun.com/2012/04/02/leafs-hoping-help-is-on-the-way
* What was no surprise to me, the Kentucky Wildcats defeated the Kansas Jayhawks to become NCAA Basketball National Champions. Too bad it started so late to watch.
* Sean Payton is suppose to meet with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to appeal his year long suspension for BountyGate. Many believe that Payton really wants to clearly understand what his restrictions are under the suspension. It is extremely unlikely that there will be any kind of appeal. My question to Goodell is this: are there any other teams that have had a bounty system??
* If the Cleveland Browns take Ryan Tannehill with the fourth overall pick of the draft, Tom Heckert and Mike Holmgren should be run out of town.
* With the injury to Michael Pineda, the New York Yankees starting rotation is set for the start of the season until Andy Pettitte is ready which will be sometime in May. I like the fact that Pettitte is getting ready as it will provide some insurance if Ivan Nova or Phil Hughes hits a speed bump.
* I am really looking forward to the Flyers-Penguins series. Sunday's brawl was old-time hockey and I loved it. Peter Laviolette trying to get at Dan Bylsma reminded me of the time when Pat Burns tried to get at Barry Melrose during the Western Conference Finals during the 1992-93 Playoffs.
* Thoroughly enjoyed an interview that Brian Hayes of TSN Radio Toronto had with Flyer forward Scott Hartnell. I remember when Hartnell was heading into free agency a few years ago when Bill Watters was advocating for the Leafs to get him. They never had a chance when Nashville moved the big guy to Philly.
* The gasbags at WGR 550 are at it again as they are blaming the Sabres lost weekend on goaltender Ryan Miller. If it wasn't for Miller, the Sabres wouldn't be in the hunt right now. He has been honored by the NHL as one of the three stars for the month of March. I suppose it was Miller's fault that Sekera misplayed the puck at the blue line while on the power play that led to the Leafs shorthanded goal. I suppose it was Miller's fault that the Sabres defense allowed the Leafs to crash the net before the end of the second period that resulted in the Leafs second goal. The anti-Miller sentiment on GR550 is incredible. What really needs to happen is that Miller walks out when his contract is up. Better yet, why can't the gasbags rally up all the Louies and Chesters and get Miller traded. How about the Leafs number one pick and Nazem Kadri for Miller??? What do you say Jeremy??? It would be two number ones for Miller. If I were Brian Burke, I would do it in a second.
* And finally, I'll have my MLB Baseball predictions for the 2012 season prior to the Yankees season opener which is Friday.
NCAA Basketball Final at 9:23pm. Really??
Yesterday in looking at the "Sports on TV" column in the local Sunday Sports section, I saw that this evening's Kentucky-Kansas national championship game is scheduled to start at 9:23pm. Really??? How many youngsters who may be basketball fans are going to be able to stay up and watch this game?? Probably not many.
In what has been a disturbing trend that has been happening since the mid 70's, championship games are scheduled later and later in order to accommodate prime time television. Let's take baseball for example. When I was a kid, World Series games were played in the afternoon. I can remember racing home to watch the remaining innings left in the game. As we got older, depending upon the teacher, we were allowed to listen to the game on the radio. Great memories. But all of that is ancient history as World Series games begin around 8:37pm and usually end well after 11pm. Hmmmmm....how many 10 year olds are watching???
The NFL kind of has it right as the Super Bowl begins sometime around 6:30pm. However, with the mega-halftime show, the game usually ends sometime after 10. Kind of makes it tough on a little boy or girl to watch the big game. But the league moguls and television big-wigs could care less if little Johnny and Suzie can watch the big game. It's all about the big advertising dollars.
The NCAA which is suppose to be about student-athletes could also careless about whether or not their future athletes can stay up and watch their championship games. But then again, you have to be dreaming if you think the NCAA gives a damn about anything but the long green. And you want to know why kids turn to X-Box.
Leafs Break Losing Streak With 4-3 Win
The Toronto Maple Leafs entered last night's game with an 11 game losing streak at the Air Canada Centre. They were facing a long-time nemesis in the Buffalo Sabres, a team that is in a battle for the 8th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. There was uncertainty as to who would be starting in goal for the Leafs as they called up Ben Scrivens and they had just come off one of their worst losses of the season where their professionalism and effort was called into question. So what do they do??? They win 4-3 in a game that they were better than the Sabres and played with some intensity that has been lacking for weeks.
The young U.S. college free agent goalie, Ben Scrivens, was solid in goal for the Leafs. Scrivens made some big saves when he needed to particularly when the Sabres were on the power play and in the third period. He gave the Leafs the type of goaltending that they haven't had in weeks. While it's only one game, Scrivens shows some promise as he has been a stalwart for the Marlies down the stretch. Hopefully, the kid can gain some valuable experience in the AHL playoffs. By the way, for all of the naysayers who reacted to the Leafs signing of US college free agent Spencer Abbott, Scrivens is an example of the benefits in taking a chance on a college free agent.
Phil Kessel scored his 37th goal that gave the Leafs a 2-1 lead. Kessel also played one of his best games defensively as evidenced by his efforts in the last 2 minutes of the game. Both he and Matt Frattin were aggressive on the forecheck and Kessel made an effort on the back check to prevent a Sabre scoring chance in the closing seconds. Frattin scored what proved to be the game winner as he played probably his best game as a Maple Leaf. If this kid can develop his game offensively he could be a significant piece to the future of this team. He certainly is not afraid to use his body and has great speed. Kudos to Randy Carlyle for putting him on the top line with Kessel and Tyler Bozak.
It was a nice win for the Leafs as they have been under fire big time. Hopefully, the Leafs will learn something from last night's game. Hard work and intensity can pay off. Paying attention to the defensive side of the game can result in scoring and ultimately winning. This has been the message that Carlyle has been preaching since he has taken over as head coach. The key will be how this team follows up with last night's win. They will face a Sabres team on Tuesday that will be desperate for a win. It will be a tough task but winning that game may not be as important as seeing if this team works hard and plays with some purpose and intensity. As Leafs fans, that is what we want to see. We want to see if they care as much as we do. That's what this season has amounted to, seeing if their is a will and desire to win.
Trouble In Yankeeland???
In January, the New York Yankees sent Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi to the Seattle Mariners for Michael Pineda and Jose Campos. As a Yankee fan, while I really liked Montero, I thought it was a good move getting Pineda because he would help to solidify a shaky pitching staff. Last night, Pineda got rocked by the Philadelphia Phillies. I had seen Pineda pitch one other time this exhibition season and the kid looked good. Against the Tigers last weekend, his off speed pitches were fooling the hitters and his fastball was reaching 92-93 mph. While this was below where he was at last year (96-98mph), I was believing what we all were being told that the kid was building up his arm strength.
Well, so much for that story. Pineda told members of the media after the game that he was experiencing soreness in his shoulder which sent major red flags up in Yankeeland. The kid said he was trying to crank up his fastball last night but just couldn't do it. He didn't feel right. It appears the reason why he couldn't reach 96-98mph may be that there is something wrong with his right shoulder. If that is the case, there is the chance that it may be awhile before you see Pineda pitching in the Bronx.
Pineda came into camp overweight and out of shape. In an age when athletes don't have to work second jobs in the winter because of the salaries that they make as athletes, it is inexcusable to me that they can't come into camp in shape. Granted, Pineda is only 23 years old but it really is no excuse. Think about last spring training. Phil Hughes was overweight and out of shape and what kind of season did he have??? He lost something on his fastball last year too if my memory serves me right.
The naysayers will immediately begin to jump on Yankee General Manager Brian Cashman for making the trade that brought Pineda to New York. It's too early to judge whether it was a mistake or not. What is more important right now is getting Pineda back on track. Hopefully, surgery of any kind will not be required.
This whole situation shows how tricky it is acquiring a pitcher through a trade or in free agency. The one good thing for the Yanks is that they have plenty of young arms in the wings and one veteran in Andy Pettitte who will be ready sometime in May. Ivan Nova and Phil Hughes are going to be key factors for this starting rotation behind CC Sabathia and Hiroki Kuroda. If Pineda was the pitcher that he was the first half of last season, the Yankee rotation would be really impressive. It would also have had 3 good under 30-somethings in it which would bode well for the future.
The results of Pineda's MRI will be awaited by many in Yankeeland with eager anticipation. A major problem to his right shoulder will be a huge setback to Cashman and the organization. It will also raise the voices of the critics who thought it was ridiculous to move your best young hitting prospect to get a young pitcher when you have so many good young arms in the system. They will also point to the fact that the Yankee lineup is aging and Montero would bring to it some youthful promise. Ah, baseball season in the Bronx. It wouldn't be right if there wasn't some controversy surrounding the Pinstripers and the regular season begins on Friday.
Rock Bottom: Leafs Lose 3-0
For the 10th straight time on home ice, the Toronto Maple Leafs lost a hockey game this time to the Carolina Hurricanes by the score of 3-0. While losses to the Rangers and Flyers in a shoot out at least showed some determination and desire on the part of the team in Blue & White, last night's display was a total disgrace. This was a team that paid no attention to Coach Randy Carlyle's message earlier in the day when he stated that the Leafs needed to be better at home.
This season cannot end fast enough as the current edition of the Toronto Maple Leafs have mailed it in. The situation in goal has gone beyond critical and should be considered fatal. Without any question, Jonas Gustavsson should not be a Toronto Maple Leaf next year. But for his stretch of games this past January, his career with the Leafs has been mediocre at best. Of bigger concern is the status of James Reimer. Reimer was scratched from last night's game with an upper body injury. What has been reported is that the 24 year old netminder took a puck to the head during practice on Monday and was not feeling well. Reimer has not been the same since the hit by Brian Gionta on October 22. No matter what the Leafs want to say, he probably had a concussion and now with these recent developments one has to wonder if this kid will ever be the same.
As a result of all of this, I think that the off-season needs to address two areas: goaltending and defense. I know that they need a number one center and another big forward who has some offensive capability. But under the Carlyle system, the Leafs could win a lot of games 2-1 or 3-2. Before the bottom fell out in February, this team was scoring goals. The problem has been keeping the other team from scoring.
Brian Burke will need to acquire a goalie via trade. There also needs to be some critical review of the work of Francois Allaire. Burke's defense of Allaire rings hollow. As many of you know, I believe that Burke can turn this around. But I think Allaire is not part of the solution. Bringing in an established NHL goalie should not be hampered by a goalie coach who demands a certain style of play. A coach should try to accentuate a player's strengths. Somehow I don't see Allaire doing that.
Along with getting an established goalie, I think the Leafs should make a run at Ryan Suter. I would open up the check book big time. The Leafs would have a true shut down defenseman who is big and not afraid to throw his body around. Adding Suter to a defense corp of Dion Phaneuf, Jake Gardiner and Carl Gunnarsson would provide the Leafs with a legitimate top 4. Decisions would have to be made on Luke Schenn, Cody Franson, John-Michael Liles and Mike Komisarek.
Thursday night the Flyers are at the ACC and it could get real ugly. There were empty seats last night and one has to wonder how many more will be empty when Philadelphia rolls into town. One thing is clear, Leaf Nation is getting restless and there are some players who need to be out of here come next September.
Tuesday’s Thoughts
While wondering how long it will be before Bobby Valentine's act wears thin in Boston, here is what's on my mind this morning:
* What in the world is up with the New York Jets?? Acquiring Tim Tebow makes absolutely no football sense. Seems more like an attempt to take publicity away from the Super Bowl Champion NY Giants. Ultimately, Rex Ryan will regret the day that Tebow arrived in New York.
* Rumors abound that Sean Payton would like his former mentor, Bill Parcells, to take over the New Orleans Saints while Payton serves his one year suspension. Somehow, I don't see why the 71 year old Parcells would want to do this.
* The National Football League has a problem on its hands and that problem is Warren Sapp. Sapp's declaration on the league's television network that Jeremy Shockey was the guy who blew the whistle on Bountygate has the league in some potential hot water. Besides the fact that everyone around the investigation and Commissioner Goodell has indicated that Sapp is wrong, if Shockey does not find employment this season the league will be facing a lawsuit for sure. This country has whistleblower laws which prohibits retaliation against an employee who speaks out about an improper practice. Sapp should be taken to task for his remarks and the league needs to monitor what is said on its own network.
* The NFL Draft is a month away and there is all kinds of speculation about what the Cleveland Browns are going to do with the fourth overall pick. There is a possibility that they might trade down to acquire more picks. Bottom line for me: they better do something to bring some spark to their boring offense.
* The fascination of the New York media over the lack of velocity on Michael Pineda's fastball is amazing. This 21 year old kid seems to have developed the third pitch that the Yankees wanted him to work on and his spring stats are good. On the other end of the spectrum is Ivan Nova whose spring numbers have not been very good. Maybe the dailies ought to quit looking at the radar gun and pay more attention to earned runs given up, hits allowed and walks.
* Is there anything more boring than watching a baseball exhibition game from the sixth inning on??
* Nice to see Tiger Woods win a PGA tournament over the weekend. Woods being on his game will truly make this year's Masters more interesting to watch. A last day battle between Woods and Rory McElroy would really bring excitement back to golf the likes of which we haven't seen since Tiger bursted on to the scene many years ago.
* As predicted by many (me included), 3 number one seeds did not make it to the Final Four. Kentucky will be the only one playing next weekend and I believe they are the favorite to win it all. The best match up in the Finals would be Kentucky and Ohio State. By the way, what has happened to the ACC???
* Should be a dandy this evening as the Washington Capitals and Buffalo Sabres meet in the nation's capitol. The teams are tied for the 8th and final playoff spot. What makes this game really interesting is that Buffalo's hottest player is Ryan Miller and Washignton's hottest player is Alex Ovechkin.
* The Maple Leafs meet the Carolina Hurricanes at the ACC tonight. The Hurricanes have really been playing well as of late. The loser of this game will be in 13th place in the Eastern Conference and have a shot at a lottery pick. The way things have been going I can feel a Carolina win.
* A bright spot for Leaf Nation: what team has given up the fewest goals in the American Hockey League?? You guessed it, the Toronto Marlies.
* The guy who I think is the most underrated coach in the NHL is Barry Trotz. The Nashville Predators are not a big market team but they make the playoffs on a regular basis. They don't have any big name goal scorers but they compete every game. Might do the Maple Leafs some good to watch some Predator games.
* Sad news on Sunday when it was announced that Bert Sugar passed away at the age of 74. Sugar was Mr. Boxing as he covered the game for years and was a frequent guest on many sports talk shows throughout North America. I always enjoyed listening to him. He was a throwback sports reporter. He will be sadly missed.
* And finally, while driving home last night, I had to hear Mike Schopp tell a story about being at some event over the weekend and he couldn't remember the name of a former school mate. What made it worst was he called the guy his wrong name the whole evening. It was only until the end of the event when Schopp got the bad news. This is the state of Sports Radio in Western New York.
Another Saturday Night, Another Loss For The Leafs
Since I was a kid, there was nothing worse from October through April than a Leaf loss on Saturday night. I'm literally miserable Sunday morning and this year it has been extremely rough. Last night, a 4-3 shootout loss to the Eastern Division leading New York Rangers, continued the trend as the Leafs record is 9-10 on Saturday nights with four of those wins coming in October. Oh and by the way they haven't won at home since February 6th when they defeated the Edmonton Oilers. Seems like a hundred years ago.
These remaining games are really difficult to watch as you know they are playing out the string. I try to see if there are any positives in the remaining games and hope that they can be built on for next season. Nazem Kadri certainly has skills and hopefully he can blossom into a legitimate offensive threat for the Leafs next season. Ryan Hamilton is a nice story but I'm not sure if he is going to help this squad. The emergence of the Steckel line has been nice to see and certainly could be a dangerous third line. I hope that the Leafs play Cody Franson the rest of the season. They really need to see this kid in action under Randy Carlyle's system.
What makes the end of this season more aggravating is that this team on February 6 was only several points behind the 4th place Philadelphia Flyers. It is hard to imagine how and why the bottom fell out. One thing is certain, the roster will need to be changed in order to play the game that Carlyle is looking for. That game is going to be defense oriented with offense generated by cycling down low in the opponents zone. As evidence by the fact that the Steckel line scored 2 of the 3 Leaf goals last night, you don't need to be an Art Ross candidate to contribute in this system.
By the way, has any one happened to notice that Phil Kessel has 36 goals and 41 assists for a total of 77 points. That makes him 5th in the league in scoring behind Malkin, Stamkos, Giroux and Spezza. Any trade that will include Kessel better be able to make up for the loss of that offensive production. What is more amazing is that most of his points have come at even strength. I wonder how many points the four ahead of him have when their team is on the power play.
Leafs play again Tuesday at the ACC against Carolina.
Leafs Win, Why Am I Not Happy
The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the New Jersey Devils 4-3 in a shoot out last night and for some reason I wasn't all that happy about it. I want to be clear, I'm not a registered member of Tank Nation. But the victory last night was not a solid one and it illustrated the problems this team has had over the past 20-something games. The Leafs led by two goals twice last night and blew them twice. One as a result of Mike Komisarek misreading the play which left a New Jersey forward open in front of Leaf netminder James Reimer and the other as a result of Jake Gardiner not being able to tie Zach Parise up at the side of the net.
There will be endless yammering about how the Leafs should have brought Nazem Kadri up sooner. How this kid has special talent and that the Leafs have totally mishandled him. Every time that Kadri has been brought up from the Marlies he has started off with a bang only to fizzle out. What is interesting is that the same media scribes who will be pounding away at Burke & Company for not bringing up Kadri as opposed to either Carter Ashton or Matt Frattin are the same ones who are saying that Phil Kessel is not a Randy Carlyle type of player. So Nazem Kadri is a Randy Carlyle type of player?? Really???
Kadri does have offensive talent but in recent call-ups he has been out-muscled and deficient defensively. Hardly the type of player that Carlyle is supposedly looking for. As with Kessel, the hope would be that Carlyle can teach the youngster from London, Ontario how to be more defensively responsible.
I was happy to see how James Reimer played last night. He made 43 saves, some very big ones that kept the Leafs in the game. For all the angst about the Leaf goaltending situation, James Reimer is 24 years old and under contract for the next few years. Do the Leafs need to get an experienced goalie. Yes they do. But Reimer for now is their future and the best thing that can happen is if this kid can get his confidence restored.
It will be interesting to see how this team plays tonight at home against the Eastern Conference leading New York Rangers. The Leafs have not won at the ACC since February 6th against Edmonton. I'm sure will hear from Mr. Cherry how he has been right all along about Kadri and how Burke screwed this Ontario boy up. More grist for the mill. In the end, the Leafs will be in tough against the Rangers. Another Saturday night. Can't wait until this season is over.
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