Draft Results and some more football ramblings

First things first. How the draft went.

**If you want to read about the Chiefs and Royals, skip to the end. That way you miss the nonsensical ramblings about fantasy football.**

Well, let me give you some background first. 12 team league. 5 points for QB TD's, everything else is standard scoring. QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, TE, K, DEF/ST with 6 Bench spots. Yahoo service because I could just renew the league from last year (they offer free live scoring this year though), so we get randomized 30 minutes prior to the draft for position. I get 11th.

In discussions with Mark, my crazy accountant brother, he and I decided that in a 12 team league, the first 2 picks for everyone are about even. The first 25 picks of the draft are pretty even. Then there is some drop off. So I couldn't do too bad to start. What I didn't realize is that there is a pretty big drop off at about pick 30. All the running backs in the second tier that I liked were gone before I got a third pick. I will narrate more as the list continues.

Round 1: Steve Slaton
I was picking one of the Houston studs (Slaton or Andre Johnson) and I had to be sure to grab what I thought was an elite RB, so I took Slaton. I didn't wanted pick 12 or 13 to be him. I could settle for one of the 3 WR's still on the board (Moss, Johson and Calvin Johnson)

Round 2: Calvin Johnson
Moss and Andre went with 12 and 13. Made this pick pretty simple.

Round 3: Marques Colston
All the QB's I liked (top 7) went before I could pick here. Also, there were a ton of RB's off the board, so I knew that I could wait for my next set of picks to get my number 2.

Round 4: Tony Gonzalez
All the QB's are gone. I knew I could wait for a RB. I had 2 WR. So I took an impact TE. They would be gone by the next time I picked (the next 4 TE's went in round 4) and I knew I could wait on an RB. QB's I could have drafted here: Big Ben, Jay Cutler or Matt Schaub. I decided against it.

Round 5: Jonathon Stewart
How many RB's went between the second pick in Round 4 and 11th in Round 5. One. It was Kevin Smith. Good gamble by taking a TE.

Round 6: Darren McFadden
Good running back depth now for the team. DMac may start. I could still have taken Cutler, which may have been a mistake not to, but I like my RB trio.

Round 7: New York Jets
Not a sexy pick at all. I could have waited again for this, but there were 10 defenses off the board already and I decided this was the best one left and took it. It could have waited 3 picks cause the guy after me took the Vikings, but I knew I wanted this and took it.

Round 8: Matt Hasselbeck
Time for a QB. Good value pick I think, could be a very servicable QB in a relativley weak division. Now I have a full lineup (other than a Kicker, which is not what I really need until late) and can work on some depth.

Round 9: Kevin Walter
Like it a lot!

Round 10: Ahmad Bradshaw
Totally great here. If Brandon Jacobs gets hurt, this guy comes in and scores 15+ a week.

Round 11: Donald Brown
Drafting for upside here. Again the injury deal. If Joseph Addai gets hurt, Brown is the guy and does well in a Colts high powered offense.

Round 12: Joe Flacco
This was the mistake of the draft. I wanted a good backup QB for Hasselbeck, but I didnt realize they have the same bye week. I will definitely have to shop this pick. Ugh.

Round 13: Nate Kaeding
I know I know. A kicker before the last round. But I wanted Kaeding. So there.

Round 14: Nate Burleson
QB to WR hookup will be great on my #1 and #2 bye weeks. Burleson will get a lot of looks with TJ Housh on the other side drawing a lot of attention.

So my full lineup to start

QB: Matt Hasselbeck
RB: Steve Slaton
RB: Jonathon Stewart or Darren McFadden
WR: Calvin Johnson
WR: Marques Colston
TE: Tony G
K: Nate Kaeding
D/ST: NYJ

Bench: JS or D-Mac, Kevin Walter, Ahmad Bradshaw, Donald Brown, Joe Flacco, Nate Burleson.

Overall, I am happy with this. I have my doubts at QB, but am excited at the possibility. I have studs at WR and TE as well as a great RB in Slaton.

I dont really think there is a favorite in the league, because everyone has a question mark somewhere.

I do like Mrs. DDSF's team too:
Jay Cutler
Adrian Peterson (yes, she got the first pick)
Marion Barber III
Roddy White
Chad 85
Owen Daniels
Jason Elam
San Deigo



Now a couple other things before I close for the day.

Grienke just pitched a one hitter in Seattle, helping his case for the Cy Young. He now leads the majors with 6 complete games, 3 shutouts and is tops in the AL with a 2.32 ERA. He has 13 wins to go with 8 losses, but has atleast 3 no decisions when giving up 1 run or less. If there will be an injustice in postseason awards, it will be for the AL Cy Young. Grienke should win it, but because he has so few losses, he probably won't. He has dominated this year, even though he is on the worst team in the AL. This comes after a 15 strikeout performance earlier in the week against the Indians. That's a franchise record for you folks scoring at home.

More on the Royals later this week.


The Chiefs, meanwhile, have equaled the Royals in awfulnessocity. They just lost their "franchise" QB in Matt Cassel for 2-4 weeks with no defined backup. Todd Haley must be pulling his hair out trying to figure out this one because the offensive line is so terrible. Tyler Thigpen can move more than any QB, but Brodie Croyle is the better pocket passer (as brittle as he is) and would fit better for Haley's system. If Croyle will start (which I think he will), look for him to get hurt in 3 quarters or less.

On another offensive offensive note, the Chiefs have relieved Chan Gailey of his duties as offensive coordinator. I can't imagine why.

He has not lasted in the league with any team or coaching position for more than 2 years (Cowboys Head Coach in 98-99). He went to Georgia Tech from 2002-2007 where he coached Calvin Johnson to an incredible year, though never finished in the Top 25 or beat rival Georgia. And, he led one of the worst offenses in football last year to a pathetic 4-12 record. And he had a stud Wide out (he was a former wide reciever coach with the Steelers) and the games best Tight End.

He was hired under Herm Edwards, who is a run first, defense first coach, and didn't fit in. Why would his plan work under a pass first offense first coach? It wouldn't. I think after the awful preseason (and completey pathetic offensive line play, especially the first team), Haley realized he could not work with this guy. I like the move simply because the Chiefs really needed a fresh start from the old regime.

I just wish it would have come sooner. And we could have had some young hot shot take the reigns and be creative.

Until next time,

DDSF

Football part 2

So now that you have insight into my head about running backs and wide recievers, let me introduce you to my QB, TE, Def and K rankings/sleepers.


QB's
This could potentially be the highest scoring player on your team. Two years ago Tom Brady racked up 378 points during his 50 TD season outscoring Tony Romo's second place effort of 283.

So, who do I think is going to be that consistent force destroying all of your opponents?

1 a. Drew Brees
1 b. Tom Brady
3. Aaron Rodgers
4. Peyton Manning
5. Tony Romo
6. Phillip Rivers
7. Kurt Warner
8. Donovan McNabb

I know... a cop out on the first pick. Do you want someone with the potential to throw 50 Td's (Brady) but could also be awful or hurt, or someone who has thrown for over 4400 yards the last 3 seasons with at least 26 TD's? Either one is perfect.

Moving down the list, Green Bay will be great and Rodgers will only improve on last year's (4038 yards and 28 TD tosses and 4 TD runs) numbers. Peyton down just a bit because of Rodgers, and Romo will have a bounce back year after breaking up with Jessica "Chicken of the Sea" Simpson.

Warner is ranked higher, but I think is too much of an injury risk and McNabb was originally higher on my list, but Michael Vick's presence will take some points away.


Sleepers (or just guys you can get later and still get good points from)
Matt Schaub
Ben Roethlisberger
Matt Hasselbeck
Joe Flacco
David Garrard

If you don't get one of those top guys on the list, try to get a couple sleepers. Schaub and Jay Cutler in the Top 10 on most preseason lists, so not really sleepers, but the reason Schaub is here is because he has Andre Johnson, Kevin Walter and (if healthy) the potential to be a Top 5 QB.
In 2007, Big Ben had 32 TD's.
Garrard was a Top 10 QB last year and has waaaaaay better recievers (meaning they are not doing drugs this year).
Hasselbeck is on a Seattle team that is going to be good (see 9-7 competing for the division).
Flacco threw for about 3000 yards and 14 td's on a run first team as a rookie.


TE
This will go quick. Get one of the Top 4, and you are already a favorite to make the playoffs in your fantasy league (unless you are a complete idiot).

1. Tony Gonzalez
2. Jason Witten
3. Antonio Gates
4. Dallas Clark (with less proven Wide Outs, he will play a bigger role in the passing game if healthy)

The other guys
5. Chris Cooley (lots of looks, catches and yards last year, but not many TD's)
6. Owen Daniels (again, if Schaub is healthy all year, he sky rockets)
7. John Carlson (awesome as a rookie and Apple Juice Seneca Wallace as his QB)
8. Greg Olsen (He is with Culter, who like Tony Scheffleer in Denver, but is better than Scheff)
9. Zach Miller (Jamarcus Russell's only target with reliable hands)
10. Visanthe Shiancoe (Remember when Bubba Franks was good with Favre? This guy is better than Bubba and Minnesota likes to throw it in the red zone)
11. Anthony Fasano (Had 7 TD's for the 'Fins last year. Who knew?)


If you want to reach, reach on these guys
Kellen Winslow (He is playing in TB, one of the worst teams this year)
Heath Miller (Only a year removed from 566 yards and 7 TD's)
Brandon Pettigrew - Rookie for Detroit (Culpepper and Stafford can't throw to Calvin Johnson on every play.... or can they?)



Kickers.

Here is the deal. I will rank these guys the way I want them, but if you draft a kicker before the last round you are an idiot. Period. The difference between first and 10th place (10th!) is 24 points over the last 2 years. That is 1.5 points per week in a 16 week season. You can find that much value at another position earlier.

That said, I am only going to put 10 names down and you will have to rank them. Because I don't care about kickers that much!

David Akers
Lawrence Tynes
Jason Elam
Stephen Gostkowski
Mason Crosby
Ryan Longwell
Rob Bironas
Nate Kaeding
Whoever is kicking for New Orleans that week (Garret Hartley got suspended 4 games)
Kris Brown
Neil Rackers
Nick Folk
Robbie Gould

And that is how much I care about kickers. I did more than 10 to confuse you!

IT

WILL

NOT

MATTER!!!!!



Defense/Special Teams

These guys are a little harder to predict, but they are a better bet than the kickers. It also depends upon your leagues scoring system. I am in a league where yardage matters, so it is even more important to get a stud D.

1. Pittsburgh
2. New York Giants
3. San Diego (They play the Chiefs, Broncos and Raiders a total of 6 times!)
4. Minnesota Vikings
5. New York Jets
6. Baltimore Ravens
7. Chicago Bears
8. Tennessee Titans
9. Philadelphia Eagles
10. Washington Redskins

Some other teams that might be worth it.
Houston Texans (probably better as a matchup pick, but have some good young talent)
San Fransisco (Mike Singletary = Defense. Maybe they should move Vernon Davis to Linebacker)
Oakland Raiders (They have a great secondary and play in the AFC West)
Green Bay (Their corners take chances, which is bad for points against, but great when they score TD's)
Seattle Seahawks (a team on the rise)



Now that you have seen everything that I am thinking, give me feedback and comments. And I will give frequent (although completely unimportant updates) on the fantasy season all year long.

Peace and I will let you know how tomorrow's draft goes.

DDSF.

PS. Mark (my brother) would not let me put his sleeper WR on this blog, so I didn't. But I wanted to. So I will after the draft.

FOOTBALL SEASON!!!

Before I fully get into the nitty gritty of my join for the start of football season (college, pro and fantasy) I have to preface this by saying I will still catch you up on the Royals. I have lately come in to possession of some crazy stats that I have to share with you. However, being as I have a draft for fantasy football this weekend, I thought I would do a quick rundown on some of my personal player rankings and also try to give you some sleepers.

So here goes.

I am going to do some rankings by position because not all leagues are built the same. With a QB getting 6 points I would take one of my Top 2 QB's, but in most other leagues I would lead off with a RB/WR depending upon location in the draft order. There are only a few WR's that I feel like you need and there is a TON of running back depth in this draft.

Hopefully, someone will learn something from this post.

Running Backs:
1. Adrian Peterson
2. Matt Forte
3. Michael Turner
4. DeAngelo Williams
5. LaDainian Tomlinson
6. Maurice Jones-Drew
7. Steve Slaton
8. Brandon Jacobs
9. Chris Johnson
10. Steven Jackson

Some notes before I move on. Basically, those Top 5 backs will all be freakin awesome. There is some question with MJD because he hasn't had that workload and the Jaguars may be terrible and have to pass the ball alot. All of these guys are going to produce this year. All of them. If you pick one, you will not go wrong.

11. Brian Westbrook
12. Clinton Portis
13. Pierre Thomas
14. Frank Gore
15. Ryan Grant
16. Marion Barber III
17. Thomas Jones
18. Kevin Smith
19. Marshawn Lynch
20. Jonathan Stewart

These are guys who start and are potentially awesome. Westbrook has had atleast 11 TD's in the last 3 years and is 11th. Portis had over 1500 total yards the last 2 seasons, including 1487 rushing last year. Thomas Jones has averaged 1094 yards and 8 TD's in the last 3 years and is 17th! Talk about depth.

Other people I like:
Felix Jones
Willie Parker
LenDale White (can you say Touchdowns?)
Ray Rice (he catches and runs)
Darren McFadden
Derrick Ward (just barely... I have no idea what he is going to produce on a terrible team)

Running Back Sleepers
-Leon Washington (he will be a good 3rd running back with about 900 total yards and 7 TD's)
-Ahmad Bradshaw (Derrick Ward had over 1000 yards last year as Brandon Jacobs backup and he is gone. Enter the Bradshaw)
-Cedric Benson (He starts and there is no one else. He could easily get to 1000 yards and 8 TD)
- Fred Jackson (He will start the first 3 weeks of the season for Buffalo with Lynch suspended and is good. And Lynch might get hurt.)
- Peyton Hillis (He was GREAT before he got hurt last year)
- Greg Jones (MJD's backup and would steal some goal line carries)

Wide Recievers
1. Larry Fitzgerald
2. Andre Johnson
3. Calvin Johnson
4. Randy Moss
5. Greg Jennings
6. Anquan Boldin
7. Marques Colston
8. Roddy White
9. Reggie Wayne
10. Steve Smith

That is my list of WR's that you MUST have in order to succeed in your league. Too many guys are so inconsistent, but these guys will produce (assuming good health). The order after 6 is just whatever to me. Take one, take another, no big deal.

Other guys I like:
- Wes Welker
- Dwayne Bowe (could reach new levels, but the Chiefs line is so bad that he won't be in the upper eschelon this year)
- TO will be ok. Just OK.
- Desean Jackson
- OchoCinco
- Steve Breaston
- Donald Driver
- Lance Moore (if any other NO reciever has a huge game, pick them up immediately and hope they keep producing)
- TJ Housh (new place, he's the #1, and the Seahawks could be great)
- Kevin Walter
- Josh Morgan (SF's only good option)


Sleepers (just a couple)
- Limas Sweed (Nate Washington's numbers from last year)
- James Jones (GB is good)
- Earl Bennett (Jay Cutler's favorite target from Vanderbilt, now on the same Pro team)



So.... I have to go to work now, but will definitly get the rest of my picks later. It may be Saturday, but I will get to them. Promise.

Enjoy.

DDSF

Royals sticking true to form

Just thought I would give an update on some thoughts I had about the last 3 games.

Saturday was a great game. Ended a 10 game losing streak. Beating Texas (always good) and getting Soria some work.

Lukkkkkkkke Hochever pitched great. He did give up 3 runs in 7 innings, but struck out 13 (notice all the k's in his name!!) and didn't walk a single batter. Hoch left with a 6-3 lead too. I would say that is quality start (generally defined as 3 runs or fewer and atleast 6 innings of work).

To finish the game, the Royals went to the bullpen and got Soria to close with a 6 out save. Very very good in my eyes, because he seems to be the only person in the 'pen who can get people out. It was nice to see our bullpen (albeit the Mexicutioner, who I have come to expect great things from) pick up a good starting performance.

Sunday was not a good game.

The Royals got 6 shutout innings from Sidney Ponson.

Let me repeat that....

THE ROYALS GOT 6 SHUTOUT INNINGS FROM SIDNEY PONSON!!!!!!

Ok, so if the Royals don't win this game it means we blew a terrific start from a terrible starter (Ponson's ERA is 6.79 after those 6 scoreless innings). So naturally, the bullpen comes in a just blows it up.

Mahay comes in, gives up 2 hits to the first two batters he faces (on 3 pitches) and gets pulled. The Royals go on (due to an error I know) give up 3 runs in the 7th and 4 more in the 8th.


Monday, against the Orioles, the boys in blue came back and got a decent start from Bruce Chen (who has not won a game since October 2, 2005 - almost 4 years ago). Robinson Tejeda came in and threw 3 innings of shutout ball, while allowing the Royals to take the lead and handed the ball off to Soria for another save.

Just to emphasize what happened to the bullpen over the weekend:
- Soria is awesome
- Tejeda pitched great
- On Sunday Mahay, Wright and Cruz all gave up runs, and Roman Colon did not

So if you check out my last blog, you will see that the two guys with the lowest percentage of inherited runners scored (Tejeda and Colon) did better. Not science, but I'm just sayin.



On another note, Billy Butler has quietly done a pretty good job for the Royals. I have to give props when props are due. He is not the power hitter we had hoped he would be, but he has a ton of doubles (on pace for over 50 this year and an outside chance at the club record) and is hitting about .300 (only one guy is over and that is Callaspo) and leads the team in OPS (on base + slugging percentage). He has become a quality starter and one that looks like a decent draft pick (for once).

Now if we could only get Alex Gordon to do the same...

DDSF

To be a fan....

Oh to be a Royals fan.

Sometimes it gets to be extremely difficult. Like now.

During a 9 game losing streak that has spanned before the all-star break, the Royals have had some of the worst relief pitching that I can remember. During the streak, the bullpen is 0-4 with an ERA of 10.05 and 4 blown saves. An ERA of 10.05!!! 10.05!!! That is more than 1 run per inning.

Which is pretty much awful. But expected at the same time.

Why is it expected?

Because of inherited runners.

Baseball-reference.com keeps an awesome list of MLB stats that includes relief pitching and many other mind blowing stats. The one that I was curious about was inherited runners. It seems like every time a relief pitcher comes in with men on base, those men score. I thought I would be wrong about this (or at least hoped I would be wrong) because up until recently our bullpen's ERA has not been terrible. Just bad. And they were supposed to be a strength to start the year.

So inherited runners... How do the Royals compare to the rest of the league and how many inherited runners score?

Answers: They are the worst in the league and as of today 46% of inherited runners score!

The league average is 33%. The leaders in the league are the St. Louis Cardinals, who only allow 22% of inherited runners to score. Half as many as the Royals.

Well, so percentages are ok, but what about hard numbers? Maybe the Royals just don't get that many inherited runners.

Wrong... The Royals have given up the highest number to score (73 and second place has 67) and have seen the 6th most inherited runners in MLB. On top of that, 3 teams who have seen more runners (Tampa Bay, STL and the Dodgers) have allowed less than 30% to score.

But it really can't be that bad can it? Maybe the Royals bullpen comes in with the bases juiced all the time with a 1 run lead in the 8th inning (high pressure). You can't quantify that can you?

Yes you can.

There is an average leverage index (aLi)which describes how much pressure a pitcher sees when they enter the game. Numbers greater than 1 mean high pressure and less than 1 is low pressure. The Royals score is 0.963. The league average is 1.017. They have the 4th easiest pressure when they take the mound.

Royals Relievers, their aLi, and the percentage of inherited runners scored:
Soria, 2.028, 67% (6 of 9, 3 of 3 in his last outing)
Bale, 1.414, 59% (10 of 17)
Mahay, 0.674, 57% (13 of 23)
Farnsworth, 0.514, 56% (5 of 9)
Cruz, 1.127, 54% (7 of 13)
Wright, 0.978, 52% (15 of 29)
Tejeda, 0.688 37% (7 of 19)
Colon, 0.765 27% (6 of 22)


So Soria comes in to the game in the highest pressure (8th highest in the majors) and gives up the most inherited runners. But the problem is the Royals keep sending out players (Mahay, Wright and Bale) who consistently give up runs with people on base, in easy situations.

Example: John Bale (not picking on anyone, just found a good example, even though every time Bale comes into a game with any lead I do think the Royals will lose the game) comes into the game Wednesday night against the Angels in the 7th inning with 2 out, man on first. Bannister has done a great job of keeping a lead and going relatively deep into a game (I say relatively because my memory of the Royals does not include a lot of 7+ inning starting pitchers other than Grienke and sometimes Meche). The Royals lead 6-3. Pretty comfortable, get one out, hand it off to the setup man and then the Mexicutioner to close it out.

So what does Bale do? First batter gets a single. Now 1st and 3rd. Next batter, single. Run scores. Then, he is able to get an out. In my book, if a reliever comes in with a man on 1st and more than a 1 run lead, he should get charged for that earned run. In this case Banny gets an earned run and the Royals are on their way to a loss.

Our starting pitchers have lost 11 wins becuase our bullpen has blown it (thank you baseball-reference.com). They also have 12 "tough losses" (losses in quality starts).

Now it is not all pitching seeing as how the Royals get the second least run support of any team in the majors, but today was about pitching.




That said, I am still going to watch the games on gamecast (I work evenings) and still mutter under my breath every time something goes wrong and get extremely excited when someone hits a home run or gets a timely hit. I know no other way.

Let me know your thoughts on being a fan.

Posting again soon,

DDSF

Royals make a comeback?

So it took something great from the Boys in Blue to get a brand new post.

3 game sweep of the Cincinnati Red-in-the-faces. Due mostly to some hot bats, some poor opposition, some great starting pitching and a Giant Blue Surfboard, 3 in a row has put some life back in the team that was 18-11 in May with a 3 game lead in the division.

A quick breakdown of the stats from the last three games to give some encouragement to you the fans:

Friday:
Luke Hocheaver: 9 IP (complete game), 3 hits, 1 ER, 1BB, 1 K, 80 pitches. He got a complete game with only 80 pitches!!! Are you kidding me?!?!? That's less than 9 pitches an inning. Thats less than 3 pitches a batter if you only face the minimum 27 hitters! If you want some good perspective on it read this article by Joe Posnanski (probably my favorite all around sports writer, Bill Simmons is hilarious, but needs to broaden his repitoure to reach JoePa). Just a quick glance of the article:
"First, let’s talk about rarity: Only five pitchers this decade have thrown a complete game in 80 pitches or less. It hasn’t happened in the American League since 2005. Pitch-count numbers are sketchy and unreliable, but it does appear that the complete-game-in-80-pitches-or-less trick has been pulled only five times in the American league the last 20 years."

If this somehow catapults "Hoch" into the Grienke/Meche catagory, the Royals will definitely make a run at the Central. But its too early to tell that.

Hitting: It doesn't really matter with a gem like that, but 4 runs off 6 hits. 2 RBI from Callaspo and 2 HR in the game.


Saturday:
Kyle Davies: 5 IP, 2 hits, 3 ER, 5BB, 1 K
This is important because he had lost a career high 5 in a row, despite a complete game which he gave up 4 against the Blue Jays in his last outing. He lost because the Royals couldn't hit anything against the Cy Young favorite (it really hurts to say that with Zac getting no support) Roy Halladay.
Roman Colon (I dont really know who he is either): 2 IP, 1 H, 1 K, 0 ER, and the most important stat for me Inherited runners 1, Inherited runners scored 0. The Royals pen has been terrible at allowing inherited runners. See John Bale's (I can't stand it when he comes in the game. After the Royals released H. Ramirez, he has taken the cake for the pitcher I never ever ever want to see enter the game) stat line from Thursday.

Grienke, pitches a gem, but has a high pitch count after 7 and 1/3. Bale comes in, gets a ground ball, to force a double play. Great, except he falls over at first base commits an error, allows 1 run to score (counts against Grienke) and extends the inning. So, 1/3 IP because he got an out amazingly, 1 Error (credited to TJ, but it was Bale I dont care who you are he fell down!!!!!!), Inherited runners 2, Inherited runners scored 1. Some how he got the Hold because the lead was not relinquished, only got to a tie. And we eventually lost the game. Bad story, but I am so infuriated at how poorly the situation was handled that I can hardly contain myself.

Hitting: 7 runs off 14 hits (quite an output). Every starter had a hit. Our 6-7-8-9 hitters scored 5 of the 7 runs, meaning the Royals are getting runs from everywhere in the lineup, like they should.


Sunday:
Brian Bannister: 8 innings, 4 hits, 1 run, 0 earned runs, 1 walk, 4 KO's
Juan Cruz: 1IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1K (good because he has been off just like everyone else in Blue)

Hitting: 7 runs off 9 hits. This was accomplished without a leadoff hitter (Crisp), the best hitter power hitter on the team (Guillen) and Alex Gordon.

The Royals scored 1 in the first (with 2 out) 4 in the 3rd (3 with 2 out) and 2 in the 8th (with 1 out). The two responsible for the most damage were Miguel Olivo and Alberto Callaspo. They have been the life blood of a terrible hitting team.


Just another quip from Joe Posnanski's blog because it is too good. He wrote an article about how amazing a pitcher Kyle Farnsworth is.
- Just so you know my thoughts on Kyle Farnsworth. He has single handedly LOST 4 games for the Royals. I know they are not a great team, but he has not single handedly won any games for the Royals this year. In fact, the only game he has a W in this year is when the Royals scored 4 runs off Kerry Wood in the 9th!
Anyway, the highlight of the article is JoePa doing Chuck Norris type facts in reverse:
- Every dog has his day … except Kyle Farnsworth.
– When Kyle Farnsworth gets 21, it’s not blackjack.
– A rolling stone gathers no moss … it’s all on Kyle Farnsworth.
– A broken clock is right twice a day … which is more than Kyle Farnsworth.
– When Kyle Farnsworth lands on Free Parking in Monopoly, he has to pay.
– Two wrongs don’t make a right. They make a Kyle Farnsworth inning.
– There’s no crying in baseball, except when Kyle Farnsworth comes in.

What's next for the Royals is a series against the DiamondBacks @ home. Grienke is pitching, but it is at home so he can not hit a home run. Grienke used tape of himself hitting a home run to inspire Alex Gordon early in his career when he was in a slump. A very winnable series at home with some give away nights so there should be decent crowds.



Now on to some other Baseball thoughts (America's Pastime and the most newsworthy):
- The Rockies have now won 11 straight games to get out of the cellar in the NL West. And are still below .500. They are now 31-32, but are getting the city excited again under a new Manager. I think the way they are winning is great. They have a young nucleus of lovable players like Troy Tulowitzki, part of the 20 game streak that led the Rox to the World Series 2 years ago, and Dexter Fowler who is a rookie playing center field and has wheels (5 SB in a game in April).

- The Rox are winning without Brian Fuentes, the closer now for the Angels. He has 16 saves in 19 chances. Do you know the MLB leader?

Heath Bell.

He plays for San Diego. He has 18 saves in 19 chances, a 2-1 record and a 1.32 ERA out of the Pen for a fairly average team. Wild.

- Juan Pierre (Manny Ramirez's replacement) is batting .343 and is 5th in the Majors.

- Raul Ibanez is tied for the league lead in HR and is second to Jason Bay in RBI.

- Jason Bay is leading the league in RBI and the player the BoSox lost for him (Manny) is serving a 50 game suspension. Great move by the Sox.



Other sports thoughts:

The US is playing the in Confederations Cup in South Africa starting today and are playing Italy, Egypt and Brazil in group play. If they make it past group play they will have accomplished something. If not, they will be the same old US of A in Soccer.

Congrats to the Pittsburgh Penguins, who won the Stanley Cup, by winning Game 7 on the road in Hockey Town USA.

The Lakers won against an overmatched team in the Orlando Magic. The Finals were so un-exciting I highlighted baseball, soccer and hockey before it. Kobe is good, but how quickly we as the American people are to forgive a star athlete for crimes they have committed because of success.

Hope this gave y'all a fill for a few days. Peace.

DDSF

We are all witnesses

As my faithful readers know, I don't regularly post on the weekend. Too busy, too much time I actually get to spend with the Mrs., too much fun stuff to do. But when something extraordinary happens, I believe it is necessary to let everyone know the impact and the sheer extraordinary-ness that has occurred.

Last night I got to see about 2 plays in the Orlando Magic vs. Cleveland Cavaliers game. But I saw the only play so far in the series that matters. Let's see if I can set the stage for y'all:

Cleveland has the best home record just about ever in the regular season. They have steamrolled through the playoffs going 8-0 in the first 2 rounds and winning every game by double digits. Cleveland has the best player in the world in Lebron James (LBJ from now on... I'm stealing from the Sports Guy, but who cares) and is not sure how long the home grown product is going to stick in town. The summer of 2010 is when LBJ is a free agent along with a slew of other young superstars waiting to go on to bigger things. If they want any chance of keeping him, they need to win; they need to win a championship.

Game 1 against Orlando was the epitome of Cleveland sports. The hype, the belief, the excitement, subsequently followed up with the disappointment, the shame and feeling of hopelessness.

How could a team with the best player in the world, the best home court record ever, and the experience of being there before lose to a team without their starting point guard, a coach who looks like Ron Jeremy and only one superstar who is too nice and can't make a shot further from 5 feet from the basket? (I'm asking the question too. I don't get it.)

The Cavs talked like they were confident after game 1. They knew what they had to do and they were determined. Game 2 comes along and in the first half it looks like it is over. Cleveland with a 23 point lead. Welcome back Cleveland, the series is yours for the taking.

Not so fast.

With a barage of 3's and hustle, the Magic pull some magic and not only come back, but take a 2 point lead with 1 second left in the fourth quarter. The air is dead in Cleveland. The bars are full of people swearing, saying how they've seen it before and there is no hope for the city. Ever. Not even Lebron, the best player alive. He's gone in 2010.

Except they didn't count on seeing something they had never seen before. The Cavs tried to run an inbounds play that isolated Lebron on an alley oop because he is a freak of an athlete and can jump over buildings.

Good move.

Too bad the Magic knew it was coming (ok, everyone did but when your coach looks like a porn star, you can never be sure) and defended it well.

It looked as though Cleveland may not even get the ball in. Lebron was figured out and Mo Williams (the 2nd best scoring option) was throwing the ball in.

Then Lebron changed direction, going away from the basket. Mo saw him because LBJ was the only option. He wasn't looking anywhere else. Mo passed it in to a fading away LBJ. With one second left his only option was to shoot. He's not the best shooter in the world. He has missed before. Plenty. Except this time, the best player in the world did something he had yet to do.

He buried the shot.

Big deal. People hit game winners all the time.

LBJ has too.

But not like this.

If he missed that shot, all hope in the city would be lost. The Cavs would not have been able to recover. The series would be over and Lebron would be lost in 2010. Guaranteed. Lebron has been dominant, but he has not truely been clutch.

That shot was so monumental, it most likely changed the outcome of the series. That shot most likely won the series for Cleveland. That shot made it possible for LBJ to go for a title. That shot made it possible for LBJ to repeat next year. That shot made it possible for LBJ to go down in history as not only one of the greatest athletes of all time, but also the most clutch player of all time.

That shot could concievable change the landscape of the NBA for the next decade. I'm not kidding. If Lebron wins the series, then wins the NBA title, he might stay in Cleveland. He might make a dynasty that we have yet to see from one player. The NBA title repeats have been about multiple greats on one team.

Shaq and Kobe.

MJ and Scottie.

Olajuwan and Robert Horry (ok, bad example).

The Lakers and Celts of the 70's and 80's had a slew of stars.

But no one has been able to dominate solo.

Is it possible that a star player takes a pay cut to go to Cleveland to be guaranteed a title with LBJ?

Absolutley.



The ramifications of one shot by one player in one game will not be able to be judged for years. But it could be the biggest shot in the history of the NBA. It could change the future beyond anyone's imagination.




LBJ took a series with one shot.



What's next?



We are all witnesses. (yes, I know its cheesy to steal that slogan but it works so well.)


DDSF