Play Ball! I promise...this is NOT an April Fools joke. The MLB season opened yesterday in Houston, as the Astros made their debut in the American League. Tough way to start the season, as they took on the Texas Rangers. No problem for the bargain basement Astros, as they beat up on the Rangers 8-2. The Astros' 4,000th win in franchise history comes in their first game as a member of the American League. Rick Ankiel connected long distance with two men on. Justin Maxwell drove in two runs, while Jose Altuve and former Marlin Matt Dominguez had an RBI each. Bud Norris got the win for the Astros.
The official opening day is today, when many of the teams open their season. Hope springs eternal in a lot of cities, although not in Miami. No one expects the Marlins to be anything close to a .500 team, with most experts picking them to lose 100 games. Even to the most optimistic fan in Miami, this season looms to be one of heartbreak and despair. The Marlins and their $31 million on-field payroll open in Washington, DC this afternoon at 1:05 pm against the Nationals. Ricky Nolasco will be on the hill for the Marlins, while Stephen Strasburg will toe the rubber for the Nats. This could be an April Fools joke.
To add injury to insult, the Fish placed starting pitchers Nathan Eovaldi and Henderson Alvarez on the 15-day disabled list. Alvarez’ DL stint is retroactive to March 27, Eovaldi to March 24. The team called up top prospect Jose Fernandez and Alex Sanabia for the time being. Sanabia will follow Nolasco, Kevin Slowey, and Wade LeBlanc in the rotation and will face the Mets on Friday night. Nolasco will start Saturday, and Fernandez is scheduled to make his major league debut in New York against the Mets on Sunday, April 7. Something to look forward to.
Here is the complete schedule for today. In the National League:
Marlins @ Nationals 1:05 pm
Ricky Nolasco vs Stephen Strasburg
Padres @ Mets 1:10 pm
Edinson Volquez vs Jon Niese
Cubs @ Pirates 1:35 pm
Jeff Samardzija vs AJ Burnett
Rockies @ Brewers 2:10 pm
Jhoulys Chacin vs Yovani Gallardo
Giants @ Dodgers 4:10 pm
Matt Cain vs Clayton Kershaw
Phillies @ Braves 7:10 pm
Cole Hamels vs Tim Hudson
Cardinals vs D-Backs 10:10 pm
Adam Wainwright vs Ian Kennedy
In the American League:
Red Sox @ Yankees 1:05 pm
Jon Lester vs CC Sabathia
Tigers @ Minnesota 4:10 pm
Justin Verlander vs Vance Worley
Royals @ White Sox 4:10 pm
James Shields vs Chris Sale
Mariners @ Athletics 10:05 pm
Felix Hernandez vs Brett Anderson
Interleague:
Angels @ Reds 4:10 pm
Jered Weaver vs Johnny Cueto
In honor of my childhood hero, the great number 7, Mickey Mantle, here are seven “take it to the bank” predictions for the 2013 season:
1) The Miami Marlins will finish in last place in the NL East, and will struggle not to lose 100 games this season. The team will not trade the man-child, Giancarlo Stanton, but Ricky Nolasco and Steve Chisek will be pitching elsewhere before the season is done. The Braves and the Nationals will fight for supremacy in the division, with the Braves taking it in a close race.
2) My New York Yankees will not finish last in the AL East, however, they will not finish over .500. This year, the AL East will be represented in the post season by Rays and the Jays.
3) The Pittsburgh Pirates will finish over .500 for the first time since 1992. Unfortunately, they will not win the NL Central. The Cardinals and the Reds will be in a “mano a mano” all season long and both of those teams will advance to the post season.
4) The AL Central is the easiest to guess at, as the Detroit Tigers will win this division hands-down. Look out for the KC Royals as they continue to improve, but not enough to challenge this season.
5) Out west, in the National League, the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers will fight to the death all year, with the Dodgers eventually coming out on top. Keep your eyes on the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Diego Padres, who will both improve and keep the second place team out of the postseason.
6) In the AL West, the Angels and the A’s will fight it out all year with the Texas Rangers, thanks to the fact that both the Seattle Mariners and the Houston Astros play in that division, and the Angels will finish ahead of the A’s, who will also advance to the postseason.
7) My other guesses for this season
AL NL
MVP Jose Bautista TOR Joey Votto CIN
Cy Young David Price TB Gio Gonzalez WAS
RoY Aaron Hicks MIN Rob Brantly MIA
MoY Joe Maddon TB Fredi Gonzalez ATL
AL NL
Wild Card game Jays over A’s Nats over Cards
AL Div. Series Tigers over Jays Braves over Dodgers
NL Div. Series Rays over Angels Nats over Reds
ALCS / NLCS Rays over Tigers Braves over Nats
World Series Braves over Rays
Remember, no wagering!
On Wednesday, I will list my hopes and dreams for this MLB season.
DJ Gallo, funny man of ESPNSports.com, has a season calendar of his predictions. Some of these are just hilarious. Enjoy!
TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: Just as a “what if and what could have been”, who are the top five in career home runs for the Marlins? Tell you later, alligator.
I believe that the phrase that is commonly used is “Paybacks are a bitch”. Miami Heat head coach Erik Spolstra may have had that in the back of his mind when he rested three of his starters against the San Antonio Spurs, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Mario Chalmers all sat due to what he called “nagging injuries”. If you recall, back in November, the Spurs came into Miami and rested their starters, an act that cost the Spurs and their head coach Gregg Popovich, some $$$. Miami has already clinched the top seed in the east, so this game meant absolutely nothing. It still went down to the final second of the game, when Chris Bosh connected on a three-pointer to send the Heat to a hard-earned victory over the Spurs, 88-86. Bosh finished with 23 points and nine rebounds. Good game for the “little 12”, as Mike Miller contributed with 12 points and five assists. Norris Cole played 43 minutes with Chalmers out, and played suffocating defense against all-pro Tony Parker, who missed 10 of his 14 shots. The Heat return home to take on the Knicks on Tuesday, the Charlotte Bobcats on Friday, and the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday.
In the NBA yesterday,
Washington 109 Toronto 92
Bradley Beal scored 24 ponts off the bench, Emeka Okefor had 19 points and 10 rebounds, John Wall finished with 18 points and 1o assists.
New Orleans 112 Cleveland 92
Greivis Vazquez had 25 points and nine assists.
Chicago 95 Detroit 94
Luol Deng scored 28 points, including 14 in the final quarter. Jimmy Butler and Nate Robinson pitched in with 16 points apiece.
New York 108 Boston 89
Carmelo Anthony led the way with 24 points and 10 rebounds., JR Smith had 15 points and 12 rebounds.
TONIGHT’S PRO HOOPS SCHEDULE:
Detroit @ Toronto 7:00 pm
Cleveland @ Atlanta 7:30 pm
Charlotte @ Milwaukee 8:00 pm
San Antonio @ Memphis 8:00 pm
Orlando @ Houston 8:00 pm
Boston @ Minnesota 8:00 pm
Portland @ Utah 9:00 pm
Indiana @ LA Clippers 10:30 pm
In college hoops, the Final Four have been determined. Michigan beat the University of Florida Gators 79-59, and Wichita State lived up to their nickname, “shocking” the Ohio State Buckeyes, 70-66. Syracuse overwhelmed Marquette, 55-39, and Louisville beat Duke, 85-63. The Final Four contests will be next Saturday, with Louisville taking on Wichita State at 6:09 pm, and Michigan will face Syracuse at 8:49 pm. Both games will be telecast on CBS, Channel 4 in South Florida.
Here’s the complete Bracket, so you can see what yours and mine DID NOT look like:
Here is what is left of my bracket, my worst bracket EVER...... At least, my selection for National Championship is still playing.
Final Four
Louisville vs Ohio State Wichita State
Miami Syracuse vs Florida Michigan
National Championship game
Louisville vs Miami
National Champions
Louisville
In Miami Dolphin news, Ben Volin of the Palm Beach Post shares who he feels are five Dolphins in danger of losing their jobs:
In NFL news, the Buffalo Bills signed free agent QB Kevin Kolb to a two-year deal worth a maximum of $13 million. The Dallas Cowboys gave QB Tony Romo a six-year, $108 million contract extension. Good day to be a quarterback.
In college baseball, FIU swept their weekend series from Sun Belt rival Arkansas State. The Panthers will take on Florida A&M in a midweek series here at FIU Stadium, and they will then head to Mobile, Alabama to take on South Alabama in a three-game series beginning on Friday. Meanwhile, the University of Miami took two out of three from the #9-ranked Virginia Cavaliers up in Charlottesville, Virginia. The Canes will be home all week, taking on Bethune Cookman on Wednesday, and hosting Florida State for three games this weekend.
I want to thank my good friend “O.D.” Villavicencio for sharing this next story with us. A couple of years ago, St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny wrote what he called “The Matheny Manifesto”, intended for youth baseball coaches and, especially, parents. It is one of the most thought provoking and incredibly accurate collection of thoughts that I have ever come across on the subject of youth sports. You really have to read this and share it with anyone you think would benefit from it:
High School Sports coverage, especially during baseball season, seems to have disappeared from the Miami Herald. Here is the web site for all the latest in High School Baseball -
My thanks go out to LaSalle head coach Oscar Benitez for sharing the web site with me.
Don’t miss my two “Descarga Deportiva” segments (for the Spanish-challenged, “Sports Jam Session”) every day, Monday through Friday, at 9:25 am and 12:15 pm on Radio Esperanza, 1550 AM or on the internet on www.miradioesperanza.com.
THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: Just as a “what if and what could have been”, who are the top five in career home runs for the Marlins?
Dan Uggla 154
Hanley Ramirez 148
Mike Lowell 143
Miguel Cabrera 138
Derek Lee 129
Giancarlo Stanton is 10th on the all-time Marlins list, with 93. Let’s hope he is around to set all kinds of HR records for the Fish.
IF YOU OR ANYONE YOU KNOW WANT TO ADVERTISE YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE ON MY RADIO SEGMENTS, PLEASE E-MAIL ME FOR ALL THE DETAILS - jerry@descargadeportiva.com
Behave yourselves, and always remember that tomorrow will bring us a brand new day.
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