Sports Blog

After grinding out 162 regular season games and nine playoff games, the New York Yankees finally punched their ticket to the World Series Sunday night with a 5-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. It will be the Yankees first trip to the big dance since 2003 when they lost to the Florida Marlins in six games. Although they have struggled sealing the deal this decade, the Yankees history is quite illustrious. This marks the 40th time they have won the American League pennant and a win over the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series would be their 27th time winning it all.

Of course, the Phillies will more than put up a fight to defend their World Series crown. The match up features some of the best pitchers in the game (Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, CC Sabathia, Mariano Rivera, etc.) as well as some of the leagues’ premier hitters in Ryan Howard and Alex Rodriguez. Game one is scheduled Wednesday in New York at a time to be determined.

Other baseball news: The Yankees victory over the Angels and subsequent berth in to the World Series was not the only piece of interesting baseball news over the weekend. After much debate in St. Louis over whether or not manager Tony La Russa would return to the club next year, it was announced that he and management agreed to a one year deal for 2010 that includes a mutual option for 2011. However, the real buzz surrounding the agreement was word that the Cardinals will be replacing hitting coach Hal McRae with a former slugger most recently known for his refusal to speak about the past during a Congressional hearing on steroids. That slugger is none other than Mark McGwire, who was coached by La Russa during his time with the Cardinals and Oakland Athletics.

College football: For those of you (like me) who do not like the BCS and desperately want to see a playoff system implemented, the storm clouds have started to brew with the most recent set of BCS rankings. The top four teams in the current standings — Florida, Alabama, Texas and Iowa — are all undefeated and barring an upset, three of those teams will likely end the season that way. A one-loss USC team comes in at number five and is followed by another set of undefeated teams in TCU, Boise State and Cincinnati. Even if only half of these top-eight teams win out we are looking at plenty of BCS drama and will hopefully move one step closer to a playoff system.

NFL: After seven weeks of play there are still three undefeated teams (Indianapolis Colts, Denver Broncos, and New Orleans Saints) attempting to join the 1972 Miami Dolphins in the NFL history books. The Dolphins ran the table that year and remain the only team to have ever completed a perfect season. The field was nearly trimmed down to two teams this week as the Saints struggled against, ironically, the Dolphins. The Saints found themselves down 34-24 at the end of the third quarter but scored 22 unanswered points in the fourth to secure the victory.

What do you think was the biggest story of the weekend? What are you looking forward to the most this week? Let us know in the comments section below.

Baseball’s Championship Series are finally upon us. This year there are 4 legit teams that can win the World Series, so it should make for some exciting games. Here’s how they match up head to head.

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Philadelphia Phillies
Starting Pitching: The Phillies have two aces in Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee that can dominate any series. There is a bit of a mystery of who else will start for the Phillies, but they have some solid capable guys. The Dodgers though they don’t have a clear cut ace pitcher have some great depth. Their Game 1 starter, Clayton Kershaw, is only 21 years but has excellent stuff. The Dodgers’ pitchers are going to have to step up if they want to win the series.

Advantage: Phillies
Lineup: Both lineups are very good but in a head-to-head match up there aren’t very many line ups better than the Phillies. They have power and speed through out and not to mention some MVP’s. The Dodgers are also strong 1-8 but they are a little young and haven’t proved it on this stage yet

Advantage: Phillies
Defense: Like the line ups both are very solid defensively. They are solid around the infield and behind the plate. The key will be the weak links in left, Manny Ramirez and Raul Ibanez. This is a tossup but I will give it to Manny at least hasn’t made any errors.

Advantage: Dodgers
Bullpen: This is the easiest one to call. The Phillies struggles in the Bullpen have been well documented. The Dodgers on the other hand have arm after arm that they can throw at you. This is a huge advantage for the Dodgers.

Advantage: Dodgers
Bench: When you have Orlando Hudson, Juan Pierre, Mark Loretta and Jim Thome I’d say you have a pretty strong bench. Phillies have some solid players too but can’t compare to Dodgers bench.

Advantage: Dodgers
Manager: Who would you rather have Joe Torre or Charlie Manual? Exactly.

Advantage: Dodgers
Verdict: Dodgers in 6 games

ALCS
Los Angeles Angels vs. New York Yankees
Starting Pitching: Yankees paid top dollar for their starting pitching this off-season but only trust 3 for this series. The Angels have quality from top to bottom. This is very close but I give the advantage to the Angels with their depth.

Advantage: Angels
Lineup: Everyone knows the power of the Yankees lineup and from top to bottom it is one of the best ever. The Angels are no slouch either. They are also solid from top to bottom but with a lot less power. Their advantage though is in speed but it isn’t enough to overtake the Yanks line up.

Advantage: Yankees
Defense: Both are great defensively but all around the Angels are slightly better. They have strong arms in the outfield and great range in the infield. I give them the slight advantage.

Advantage: Angels
Bullpen: When you have Mariano Rivera closing out games you are in good hands. The Yankees also have good people in front of him to get the game to Rivera. Angels are pretty good too, but not as solid as the Yanks.

Advantage: Yankees
Bench: The Yankees will have an advantage here when Posada is there for two games during this series other than that it is a tossup. I’m giving to the Yanks based off that

Advantage: Yankees
Manager: Soccia has more experience managing in the playoffs.
Advantage: Angels
Verdict: Angels in 6

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It happens every year in Fantasy sports. You draft a player high, he struggles badly and you just keep on hoping that he will turn it around even though the evidence shows he won‘t. It’s probable one of the biggest mistakes you can make and could cost you the championship. Here are some players that you can finally say ‘good-bye’ too and pick up some one productive:

Vladimir Guerrero, OF, Angels (95 percent owned):
I love Vladdy, but the injuries have caught up to him and he is not the same player he used to be. He can still hit for a good average but his home runs are way down and I don’t ever see him stealing bases anymore. All of that comes with the injury risk because he has been hurt all season and is still not fully healthy. You can find plenty of other outfielders that will give you more than what Vladdy will give you this year. Drop him now and if he happens to heat up later, pick him up cause he should still be there.

Vernon Wells, OF, Blue Jays (92 percent owned):
Like Guerrero, Wells is a big name that has given little production this season. There are plenty of other more productive outfielders on the waiver wire so find them. In the whole month of July, Wells had an astonishing 3 RBIs. I think almost every starter in baseball had more than him. Yes, he has stolen a few more bases this season, but he still has lacked production in every other place. Drop him now because I don’t see him turning it around this season.

Matt Wieters, C, Orioles (73 percent owned):
This ultra-hyped prospect has not lived up to it in the Majors. Drafted very early in most drafts based on the hype, he hasn’t done anything to justify it. In 46 games he only has 3 home runs and is batting a poor .265. There is no reason to own this player because he is just not productive. ESPN has him as the 35 ranked catcher right now. That means that there are 34 other catchers that you can find that are more worthy to own than him. So make it happen; drop him and pick up one of the 34.

Magglio Ordonez, OF, Tigers (82 percent owned):
What happened to this guy? A couple years ago he was the batting champ and now he can’t hit anything. He’s done so bad this season that he is no longer the starter in Detroit. And because he is no longer playing everyday there is really no reason to own him. So drop him now because even when he does play, he’s not producing.

Johnny Cueto, P, Reds (84 percent owned):
Cueto started out the season on fire but now he is just struggling. I think fatigue has caught up to him. In his last 10 starts he is 2-6 with an ERA of 7.24. There is no reason to own a player like that especially in the most crucial stretch in fantasy baseball. He could absolutely kill your team ERA so drop him now.

Russell Bryanyan, 1B, Mariners (81 percent owned):
The supposed star player to start the season has suddenly hit a road block. I knew his average couldn’t stay where it was, but didn’t think it could get this bad. A .171 average since July 1, he has just 12 walks in his past 27 games. That will just kill your team average. Let him go and thank him for the ride up to this point. Time to find someone new.

Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

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

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