Sports Blog

This is how I would rank the top teams (record wise) taking into account how they have been playing recently:

1. Los Angeles Angels 63-40
The Angels won 17 of their last 20 games. They have just been tearing the cover off the ball, leading the Majors in July with a .316 team average and 185 runs scored. That is with out their two best hitters Torii Hunter and Vladimir Guerrero who have been on the DL with injuries. Looking at their line up they have 7 guys batting over .290 and if you add Hunter and Vlad it makes 9. They have been hitting so well that it has masked their starting pitching woes and overall team ERA being near the bottom of the league. Their pitching needs to improve if they want to win in the playoffs, but they have a good shot at the AL best record and home field advantage.

2. New York Yankees 63-42
The Yankees have been going good since A-Rod returned. Since July 1st they have gone 19-10, 3 loses though came at the hand of the Angels and is why they aren’t #1. They have a good chance to win the AL East and the best record overall if they keep playing this way but its going to be tough with Red Sox, who the play this week and have not beaten this season, only a half a game behind them. This weeks series with the Sox will go a long way to determine the race in the East.

3. Los Angeles Dodgers 65-40
The Dodgers still have the best record in baseball and big 7 game lead in the NL West, but their play of late has been just mediocre. Maybe being at home will help them beak out of their stale play as they return from a long road trip. This team still has everything (pitching, hitting and defense) to end the season with the best record and compete for the Championship.

4. Philadelphia Phillies 59-44
The defending champs just got better in making the trade for Cliff Lee. Now, with their pitching and heavy hitting lineup, they are strong contenders to repeat. They should also be able to cruise to the playoffs in the week NL East, something that could hurt them in the end.

5. Boston Red Sox 62-42
The Red Sox improved their lineup greatly by adding Victor Martinez. This should give them the fire power they need to battle the Yankees in the AL East. Big series this week with the Yankees as Boston tries to regain first place.

The rest of the top 10 goes as follows:

6. Texas Rangers 59-44
7. St. Louis Cardinals 58-50
8. Tampa Bay Rays 57-48
9. Detroit Tigers 54-49
10. Colorado Rockies 58-47

Honorable Mention: San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox

Image Source:  AP Photo

N.L. EAST
1. Philadelphia 48 - 38
2. Florida 46 - 44
3. Atlanta 43 - 45
4. NY Mets 42 - 45
5. Washington 26 - 61

Supposedly, one of the strongest divisions going into the season, the N.L. East has been a big disappointment.  Philadelphia coming off a championship season has had a potent offense but have struggled to find consistent pitching.  Look for them to make a big deal at the trade deadline, possibly Roy Holliday, to further separate themselves from the rest of the division.  The Mets have been loaded with injuries and have been forced to play with many people out of position.  Good news could be on the way, however, because Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado might be back to start the second half of the season.  That will give them a chance to compete for the division in the second half.  Florida has been solid all season but the question is: will management make a move to help them seriously compete for the division?   It doesn’t look like it going to happen.  Atlanta’s close too but I don’t see them staying there in the second half.

Predicted Finish: Philadelphia, NY Mets, Florida, Atlanta, Washington

N.L. CENTRAL
1. St. Louis 49 - 42
2. Milwaukee 45 - 43
3. Chicago 43 - 43
4. Houston 44 - 44
5. Cincinnati 42 - 45
6. Pittsburgh 38 - 50

St. Louis has been the class of the division, with Albert Pujols, for the first half.  Its been sort of a surprise that they have been this good.  They are going to have to keep playing good baseball if they want to stay in first because four other teams are within striking distance to start the second half.  Milwaukee and the disappointing Cubs have the best shot at catching them for the division and could make a big deal to put them ahead in the race.  I think it will be a fun race to watch with the second place team possibly winning the Wild Card.  Houston and Cincinnati are close but a bad start to the second half could make them both sellers at the trade deadline.

Predicted Finish: Chicago, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Houston, Pittsburgh

N.L. WEST
1. LA Dodgers 56 - 32
2. San Francisco 49 - 39
3. Colorado 47 - 41
4. Arizona 38 - 51
5. San Diego 36 - 52

The Dodgers have been the best team in baseball, with or without Manny Ramirez, for the first half.  Good news is that they will have Manny for the whole second half.  Their pitching has been surprisingly solid so far, as it was looked upon as a weakness to start the season.  If they keep playing the way they are, the second place team in the division can only hope for the Wild Card.  Speaking of the Wild Card, San Francisco and Colorado are first in second in that race at the break.  San Francisco’s pitching has been unbelievable and they are a bat away from becoming a very dangerous team for the playoffs.  Colorado has a solid all around team that is capable of going on long wining streaks.  It will be a fun race till the end.

Predicted Finish: LA Dodgers, San Francisco(Wild Card), Colorado, Arizona, San Diego

Image Source: AP Photo

It was a very busy weekend full of fireworks all over the sports world.  We’ll start with tennis: Roger Federer and American Andy Roddick played one of the best matches in the history of Wimbledon.  Tied at 2 sets apiece going into the final set, both players played an epic 5th set that was the longest in Wimbledon history.  It was back and forth all the way until Federer finally got the win in the set 16-14.  With this win Federer became the greatest champion in tennis history as he passed Pete Sampras for first all-time Grand Slam victories at 15.  Even Pete, who was on hand to watch, had to give him props saying,” I have to give it to him. He’s won all the majors.  He’s won 15 now.  He’s going to win a few more here.  So in my book he is (the greatest).”  I would have to agree.  On the women’s side Serena made quick work of her sister Venus.  The win gave her three of the four major tournament wins this year.  Even with that she was still disappointed that she couldn’t win them all saying, “I’m really disappointed because I think this is the year I could have done it.  And I didn’t.”

In baseball, He’s BACK!!!!  Manny Ramirez returned to the Dodgers to a cores of both cheers and boos.  Though he was quiet for most of his at-bats, he did go deep in one bringing the crowd up to make noise.  It’s safe to say that its going to be a circus every time he comes up for the rest of the season, especially on the road.  Also the All-Star team rosters were announced on Sunday with the fans getting the starters right for the most part.  I don’t see how Josh Hamilton was an all-star this season, I’m sure fans voted for him based on his Homerun Derby performance last year.  Even he didn’t agree with the selection saying, “I don’t feel I personally deserve to go, but at the same time the fans voted me in so I’m more than happy about that.”  Overall that was the only questionable starter so that was good and it should be an excellent game.  Notably Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez, caught up in steroid stories, were not among the selected.  For more on the rosters go here.

In the NBA, free agents were on the move.  With Friday being the first day to meet with teams.  The biggest splash so far is by the Lakers as they picked up Ron Artest.  Some thing that both sides have wanted for a while.  This move and keeping Lamar Odom will make the Lakers a heavy favorite to repeat.  While gaining Artest they did have to part ways with a very key contributor Trevor Ariza.  Ariza’s agent tried to play hardball with the Lakers to get more money and it back fired.  He ended up taking the same deal with Rockets, trading places with Artest, that the Lakers offered to him.  I have a feeling he will be kicking himself for years after this.  Other free agents will be making their choices this week so keep watch.

Image Source: AP Photo

It was an interesting weekend for sports.  The marquee event the U.S. Open had rain and bad weather all weekend so it needed to end today.  Tune in if you can as big names like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are still lurking for the win.  It has been a surprising tournament so far as two unknown players (Lucas Glover and Ricky Barnes) have been pacing the field.  The first two rounds they were playing unbelievably well, but they started to fade back toward the field in the 3rd round leaving an opening for others to win on the final round Monday.  I would say that its all up in the air right now and the player that shoots best today will win the U.S. Open.

In soccer, Team U.S.A. pulled off one of the most improbable runs to the Semifinals in the Confederations Cup with help from Brazil. Needing just about a miracle to happen, it just did.  The only way the U.S. could advance to the next round after losing the first two games to Italy and Brazil was with a win over Egypt and an Italy lose to Brazil.  Not only that they needed to make up the 6 goal differential tie-breaker.  Brazil did their part beating the Italians 3-0 giving way for the U.S. to advance if they won 3-0 also.  And they did, playing their best game of the tournament.  It was very exciting to watch as both games were going on simultaneously, but you could tell that the players on each field knew the score on the other.  When the U.S. game went final there was pure jubilation amongst the players as they knew they pulled off the improbable.  They’ll take on number one in world Spain on Wednesday in the semis.  It will be a very tough game and I don’t see the U.S. advancing, but we will see.  In the other semifinal Brazil will take on the host South Africa.

In baseball, the College World Series has its two final teams as LSU will take on Texas in the Final series.  It will be a good match up between two college baseball powers.  Keep an eye on it during the week.  In the MLB, there were some good inter-league series with my personal favorite, the Freeway Series between the Angels and Dodgers.  The series concluded on Sunday night with the Dodgers pulling the 5-3 victory and World Champion Kobe Bryant was in attendance enjoying the game.

Image Source: Getty

Monday was a very slow day in sports.  The NBA and NHL just ended their seasons,  Baseball had only two games on in the MLB and the NFL is still at least a month away. There was some good news as the College World Series was getting into elimination games and an international soccer tournament was just getting under way.  The rest of the week should get a lot better in sports.  Here’s the list of top 5 sports related events to watch this week.

5. Laker Championship Parade

Sport: NBA
When it’s on: Wednesday, June 17 @ 11 a.m. Pacific Time

The Lakers clinched the NBA Championship last Sunday in Orlando. The next logical step for any champion is to have a parade.  But, when you’re the Lakers, you have a victory parade that costs about $2 million.  This will be a big event for LA not so much for Lebron James (I just had to put that in there).  This event is so big that they had to have it in a football stadium to make room for all the people they are expecting.  The thing to watch for will be what Laker busts a Mark Madsen and embarrass themselves.  My money is on Pau Gasol!

4. College World Series

Sport: College Baseball
When it’s on: All week starting today @ 11 a.m. Pacific Time

I know college baseball doesn’t get all the publicity that football and basketball does, but the CWS is always fun to watch.  It’s a tournament where any team is capable of winning and many times the unexpected does happen.  The last four champions where not even ranked in the tournament.  It’s a fun event to watch even if you don’t have a team.  You can just pick a designated team and have fun watching till the end.

3. MLB
Sport: MLB
When it’s on: All week

The baseball races are starting to heat up right about now with teams finding out if they are contenders or pretenders.  This week should especially be fun to watch with many AL-NL rivalries taking place because of inter-league play.  Some interesting match ups include:  Cubs vs. White Sox, Dodgers vs. Angels, Astros vs. Rangers.  It’s always fun to watch two teams from the same state or city battle for bragging rights amongst fans.

2. Confederations Cup

Sport: International Soccer
When it’s on: All week for group play

International Soccer is one of my favorite things to watch.  The passion that the players and fans have for the game is almost unmatched.  This tournament although not that big (only 8 team) should be fun to watch because of world powers such as Spain, Brazil and Italy.  The U.S. is also in the tournament looking to make a statement, which should give the average U.S. fan something to root for.  The U.S. has a lot of work to do after losing to Italy in their first game to make it to the next round, but it should be fun to watch anyway.  Some great match-ups to watch for: U.S. vs. Brazil, Italy vs. Brazil, Spain vs. anyone.  I just love to watch the way Spain plays.

1.U.S. Open

Sport: Golf
When it’s on: Starts Thursday, June 18 @ 4 a.m. Pacific Time

This is the main event of the week.  All eyes will be on Tiger Woods to see if he can defend his Open title.  He played really well in the last tournament with his come from behind win. This year’s course is said to be very difficult.  So, it will be fun to watch these pros smack the ball around and look average.  Any one can win on a course like that, but my money is still on Tiger.  It will be exciting to watch.

Source: AP Photo

Slow starters absolutely drive fantasy owners crazy.  It puts them in a tough dilemma of whether to be patient and have confidence that the player will rebound, or react to the lower stat line by trading or dropping the player before his value is nonexistent.  The first option runs the risk of you waiting the whole season and the player never coming through.  Now you have to fill a big hole in your lineup.  The second option runs the risk of you getting rid of the player, and then the player having a monster second half of the season.  Your left kicking yourself cause you didn’t benefit from it at all.  I always go with the patient strategy.  Give talented players more time to produce cause it’s a long season.  You drafted these players high for a reason and sometimes their current stat lines can be miss leading to how they are really doing at the moment.  Here are four players where that is the case:

Chris Iannetta, C, Rockies:  Yes his only hitting for a .218 AVG, but his power numbers are still there.  He’s currently on pace for 33 homers and 74 RBIs!  Where can you find those kind of numbers from a catcher?  The only reason for the low AVG was because he started the season going 5-for-39 ( .128 AVG).  In May, before he got hurt, he hit .276 with 5 HR and 13 RBI.  So, don’t give up on him if you own him.  If you don’t try and trade for him now before owners realize the potential they are holding.

Stephen Drew, SS, Diamondbacks:  Drew, like Iannetta, started the season off really slow before he got hurt, and now he is starting to pick it up.  In June he is batting .359, and based on previous seasons, he always picks up his production in the second half.  He hit .321 with 10 homers and 38 RBIs in the last three months of 2008.  So, pick him up now before he gets too hot.

Derrek Lee, 1B, Cubs:  Normally a fast starter, Lee struggled to find his swing to start the season.  He was batting .194 into the middle of May and owners were getting fed up and dropping him.  Bad move!  Since May 16 he is hitting .377 and hit 4 HR.  I expect him to bat around .300 with more power for the rest of the season.  So, he is much better than what his numbers say right now.

Russell Martin, C, Dodgers:  Martin is still homer-less and people and owners are starting to panic.  But, he’s still on pace for 20 steals and about 60 RBI, so I wouldn’t be worried about him.  He never really was a great power hitter only averaging 15 HR a season.  But,  people still get worried about zeros.  I think he will have at least 10 by the end of the season.  So, keep him locked in your lineup.

Image Source:  AP Photo, Espn.com