The blog coming to you from the beautiful North Georgia mountains:
The World Series begins tonight in Boston, as the Red Sox host the St. Louis Cardinals. This World Series promises to be a good one. Both teams come in relatively healthy, and well rested. The Cardinals will be at full strength, with first baseman Allen Craig coming back. Craig hasn’t been able to play since the beginning of September due to a foot injury. Craig re-defined clutch hitting this season, hitting a major-league best .454 with runners in scoring position. Both teams will have their aces on the mound for game one tonight as Jon Lester will toe the rubber for the Red Sox, while Adam Wainwright will be on the mound for the Cardinals. First pitch will be at 8:07 pm, and you can watch all the games on FOX.
These teams meet for the fourth time in the Fall Classic. In 1946, Stan Musial and the Cards beat Ted Williams and the Sox in seven games. In 1967, the Cards did it again in seven games, behind Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, and Roger Maris. In 2004, the Red Sox avenged those two losses and erased the memory of the curse of the Bambino by sweeping the Cardinals in four games, with Manny Ramirez leading the way against Albert Pujols.
The Sox have the home field advantage in this series, and they were a major-league best 53-28 at home in 2013, while the Cards were 54-27 at Busch Stadium. Both teams can play at home, so it may come down to the Cardinals being able to win at Fenway. The fact that they will have the DH in Boston should help the Cardinals, while the fact that the Sox will not have the DH in St. Louis could be a problem for the Red Sox. That may be a very important factor in this series. No team was better than the Cardinals in the clutch, as they hit .305 with two outs and runners in scoring position. Adam Wainwright and the young Cardinals starters, Lance Lynn, Joe Kelly and Michael Wacha, have been outstanding, while the Red Sox bullpen has been virtually untouchable. The young Cardinal bullpen, led by Carlos Martinez, Kevin Siegrist, Seth Maness, Edward Mujica, and new closer Trevor Rosenthal has also been very good all year, so this will not be the mismatch that the Sox enjoyed against both Tampa and Detroit. Both teams know what it takes to win, with a nice blend of young talent and crafty veterans. Again, it should be a great world series.
My pick in the series: The St. Louis Cardinals
World Series Schedule:
TONIGHT GAME 1
Cardinals @ Red Sox Adam Wainwright vs Jon Lester 8:07 pm FOX
THURSDAY GAME 2
Cardinals @ Red Sox Michael Wacha vs Clay Buchholz 8:07 pm FOX
To again quote the legendary Babe Ruth:
“Baseball was, is, and always will be, the best game in the world.”
TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: A relatively easy question today. What three teams have the most World Series Championships? The answer comes later, alligator.
Jayson Stark of ESPN picks the Cardinals:
Gordon Edes is going with the Red Sox:
Here’s yet another reason why politicians should keep their mouths shut:
The Dodgers and Don Mattingly may be headed for a nasty divorce:
The Dodgers did find time to sign a highly-touted Cuban free agent
The Dan Uggla to Cincinnati for Brandon Phillips rumor is getting louder:
Tim Lincecum and the Giants agreed to a new two-year contract for $35 million.
Will this story ever end???
Let’s go to the gridiron:
The Dolphins signed offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie to try and shore up what has been an awful offensive line:
My take: The fact that the Dolphins had to go out and sign McKinnie says a lot about the inefficiencies of upper management to bring in quality players for the offensive line, either in the draft, or via free agency. Not a good sign. However, if the Fins are lucky enough to get the Bryant McKinnie I knew while he was at UM, this could work.
Here’s Armando Salguero:
The Dolphins travel to Foxboro for a meeting with the Patriots this Sunday. Kickoff will be at 1:00 pm, and you can watch the game on CBS.
A HORRIBLE Sunday in my NFL picks. That’ll teach me to not stay home and watch the Red Zone and coach from my recliner. It was so bad, that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended me for a day yesterday after my 1-6 record last week My record so far this season: 24-23-2 against the spread, and 30-19 straight up.
Here is this week’s complete schedule:
Here’s ESPN’s NFL Nation Blog, with more news from all around the league:
Of course, we can all continue to sleep at night, knowing full well that Aaron Hernandez remains in jail, where he belongs.
In college football, The University of Miami Hurricanes moved up from #10 to #7 this week, and Miami is 6-0 for the first time since 2004. They return to the field next Saturday, October 26, here at home at the Seven Names Stadium, against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Kickoff will be at 12 noon, and you can watch it on ESPN-U.
The big news out of Coral Gables is that the NCAA witch hunt is officially over, and the Canes football team lost nine scholarships over the next three seasons as punishment for their indiscretions in the scandal with convicted weasel and all-around ass-wipe Nevin Shapiro.
My take: I’m glad it is finally over. The University of Miami was able to end this with no further sanctions, and it only cost them nine scholarships over the next three years. Although that number of suspensions is nothing to be sneezed at, especially at a private university, the Canes football program got off relatively easy. The NCAA dragged this on way too long and it probably helped Miami in the long run. Let’s hope they’ve all learned from this. If I never hear the name Nevin Shapiro again, it will be too soon.
Manny Navarro and Susan Miller Degnan have all the latest from Coral Gables:
The FIU Panthers return to the field on Saturday, here at home, against the Bulldogs from Louisiana Tech. Game time at FIU Stadium is 6:00 pm. Indianapolis Colts wide receiver TY Hilton will serve as honorary captain for FIU this week.
Here’s the latest from FIU, courtesy of David J. Neal:
Here’s the latest from Tallahassee and #2-ranked FSU:
From Gainesville and the University of Florida, who fell from the top-25 after losing to Missouri on Saturday:
Here are the NCAA Football rankings for this week, including the first BCS poll of the season:
Here is the complete schedule in College Football for week 9, including TV listings:
Let’s talk hoops.
Here is the Heat’s complete preseason schedule:
Today’s NBA scoreboard:
On the NHL ice, George Richards has all the latest on the Panthers:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I’m selling three lots totaling a little over five acres in the beautiful North Carolina mountains, overlooking the New River, a quick 35-minute drive from Boone and Blowing Rock. Click here to see some photos and feel free to contact me if you have any questions:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: A relatively easy question today. What three teams have the most World Series Championships?
The New York Yankees have 27 world championships, followed by the Cardinals with 11, and the Red Sox with 7. If you include teams that have played in multiple cities, the Philadelphia/Oakland Athletics have 7, and the New York/San Francisco Giants have also won 7.
Behave yourselves, and always remember that tomorrow will bring us a brand new day.
No comments:
Post a Comment