Friday, June 27, 2014

TGIF!  The Friday blog is here.

We begin with Major League Baseball, and, of course, the trivia question of the day.

TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  In the modern era, only two players have had three hits in one inning.  Gene Stephens did it for the Boston Red Sox in 1953.  Who was the other player?  HINT:  It was another Red Sox player.  The answer comes later, alligator.

The Marlins lost a heartbreaker last night, falling to the Philadelphia Phillies in 14 innings 6-4.  Chase Utley ended the game with a two-run dinger against reliever Chris Hatcher.  BTW, how much longer do I have to put up with watching Hatcher?  This guy has given up 21 hits, including three home runs, in 18 ⅓ innings of work this season.  His career number?  52 innings, 65 hits, 16 walks, and 9 homers, with a lifetime ERA of 6.06.  He doesn’t qualify to even be called a journeyman pitcher.  Yeech.

There is a silver lining to this black cloud.  They are still only 2 ½ games behind first place, in third place, behind the Washington Nats and the Atlanta Braves.

The Marlins are back in Miami for a six-game homestand.  First, it will be three games against the best team in the AL, the Oakland A’s, who come in with a 48-30 record.  Then, the Phillies will invade Marlins Park on Tuesday, July 1, for another three-game series, before the Fish leave town for nine games, three each with the Cardinals, the Diamondbacks, and the Metropolitans.  After the All Star break, the Fish will be back at home for a three-game weekend series against the San Francisco Giants on July 18th.
  
Here are the probable pitchers for the A’s series this week:

Friday Jesse Chavez vs Anthony DeSclafani  7:10 pm
Saturday Sonny Gray vs Nathan Eovaldi 4:10 pm
Sunday            Tommy Milone vs Andrew Heaney           1:10 pm

Click below for yesterday’s recaps and results in the major leagues:



Here are the standings in MLB:


Today’s complete schedule in the major leagues:


Here are the individual leaders in the majors:


Some other things I’m keeping my eye on around the diamonds:

Another no hitter in the books, this time it was the Freak, Tim Lincecum, with his second no-no in the past calendar year, both against the woeful offensive team better known as the San Diego Padres.  

The Yankees’ starters are 21st in the major leagues in staff ERA, yet the team is staying close in the AL East (three games back) and the AL wild card race (one game back).  This weekend, all eyes will be on the series between the Yankees and the Red Sox in the Bronx.  The Yankees will send Vidal Nuño, Masahiro Tanaka, and Chase Whitley to the mound this weekend against the Sox.

A pair of great comeback stories this season are former Marlins  Josh Beckett, now with the Dodgers, and Logan Morrison, now playing in Seattle.  

Beckett is 5-4, but with a glowing 2.11 ERA, including a no-hitter this season.  He has pitched at least 7 innings in his last three starts, and hasn’t given up any runs in his last two.  Not bad for a guy who had an operation last year to remove a rib.

Up in the Pacific Northwest, after a very slow start recovering from all sorts of injuries, Morrison is on a tear over the last seven games, with 8 hits in his last 22 at bats, including a 4-4 night on Monday, which included two homers and four RBI.  I really hope that LoMo keeps it up.  
  
After getting released by the Houston Astros this spring, JD (Julio Daniel) Martinez has found a home with the Detroit Tigers.    The South Florida product (Flanagan High School and Nova Southeastern University) is hitting .310 this season with Detroit, with 9 home runs and 32 RBI in just 126 AB (39 games) so far this season.  He was named the AL player of the week last week, after batting .444 (12-27) with three doubles, four homers, 11 RBI, and six runs scored.  I was rooting for the Marlins to pick him up this spring, but they obviously didn’t listen to me.  By the way, JD, who grew up a big Marlins fan, blasted the first home run at Marlins Park in 2012, while with the Astros.

The Milwaukee Brewers are 49-32 at the halfway point (81 games) of the regular season.  I didn’t see the Brewers winning 98 games this season, did you?

I still believe that the Tampa Bay Rays are going to trade David Price, and I still think that the St. Louis Cardinals will make a big push to get him.  They're going to need help if they want to catch the Brewers in the NL Central.

In the market for Price, look at the Atlanta Braves to also try and get their hands on the former Cy Young award winner, or negotiate with the Cubs for Jeff Samardzija or Hammel. I don’t see the Cubs being very eager to help the Cardinals (their division rivals) with Samardzija or Hammel.  I’m still looking for the Cubs to at least deal Hammel in the next seven to ten days. 

Some hitters that will probably be traded before the July 31st deadline include Seth Smith, Carlos Quentin, and Chase Headley of the Padres.

The LA Dodgers may be forced to trade one of their outfielders not named Yasiel Puig, in order to acquire a shortstop.  Hanley Ramirez’ shoulder injury continues to linger.

The Vanderbilt Commodores won the College World Series.


More from MLB:



Let's go to the NBA and the Miami Heat:

What’s the latest with the Heat and the NBA?

The Miami Heat traded up two picks and got their man: point guard Shabazz Napier.  Just who is this guy?

A two-time NCAA champion with the University of Connecticut, Napier appeared in a school-record 143 career games (98 starts) for the Huskies and averaged 13.7 points, 4.5 assists, 4.0 rebounds, 1.76 steals and 32.3 minutes while shooting 41.1 percent from the field, 37.5 percent from three-point range and 81.3 percent from the foul line. He totaled 1,959 points while dishing out 646 assists, becoming the only player in school history to total at least 1,500 points and 500 assists.

During his senior season, Napier helped lead U-Conn to the 2014 NCAA Championship after appearing in 40 games (all starts) and averaging 18.0 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 1.83 steals and 35.1 minutes while shooting 42.9 percent from the field, 40.5 percent from three-point range and 87 percent from the foul line. 

Napier was named the 2014 American Athletic Conference Player of the Year and earned the 2014 Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award. Additionally, he was a unanimous All-Conference First Team selection and named to the AP All-American First Team. He led his team in points (720), rebounds (196), assists (195), steals (73), field goals made (213), three-point field goals made (87) and free throws made (207) while capping his senior season averaging 21.2 points during the NCAA tournament, earning the Final Four and East Regional Most Outstanding Player honors.

Former Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun, who coached Napier his first two seasons, in April called him one of the “greatest players in college basketball in the last 10 to 12 years” and told The New York Times that “his swagger, his positive arrogance about how good we are translates to every single guy.  He’s just a very special player.”

 What does Pat Riley have to say?  

 “Shabazz Napier is a winner, he’s a two-time NCAA champion and he’s one of the elite players in college basketball.”“We feel very fortunate we were able to acquire him and we feel like he fits in extremely well. He has a high motor, high basketball IQ, is a great shooter and has great character.”

 How does LeBron James feel about Napier?

 During the NCAA tournament, LeBron tweeted that there is “No way you take another point guard in the lottery before Napier.”
After the Heat got Napier in Thursday’s draft, LeBron tweeted that Napier is “my favorite player in the draft”.
My take:
It is usually hard to think that a #24 pick in the draft is going to make a huge impact.  However, the selection of a point guard with this pedigree is a positive move for the Heat, especially after Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole under-performed during the NBA finals.  Having watched Napier play with U-Conn the last four years, he is one of those players who make his teammates better.  A good shooter, rebounder, and distributor, this guy can just flat-out play.  He is definitely Pat Riley’s type of player, one who played four years in college, and the fact that LeBron James loves the guy can’t hurt.  

 Chad Ford of ESPN brings us all the picks and his analysis:


Let us move on to the Miami Dolphins and the NFL.

Miami Dolphins blog from Armando Salguero:


Chris Perkins and Omar Kelly bring us their Dolphin blog:


The countdown is on until the Dolphins take the field.  Their first preseason game is just over two months away.  Here are both the Preseason and Regular Season schedules:

2014 MIAMI DOLPHINS Preseason schedule: 

Aug. 8         at Atlanta Falcons             (Fri)    7:00 pm
Aug. 16       at Tampa Bay Bucs           (Sat)     7:00 pm
Aug. 23       Dallas Cowboys                (Sat)     7:00 pm
Aug. 28       St. Louis Rams                 (Thu)    7:00 pm

2014 MIAMI DOLPHINS Regular Season schedule:

Sep. 7         New England Patriots                    1:00 pm
Sep. 14       at Buffalo Bills                              1:00 pm
Sep. 21       Kansas City Chiefs                         4:25 pm
Sep. 28       at Oakland Raiders  (London)         6:00 pm
Oct. 5         BYE
Oct. 12       Green Bay Packers                         1:00 pm
Oct. 19       at Chicago Bears                            1:00 pm
Oct. 26       at Jacksonville Jaguars                  1:00 pm
Nov. 2        San Diego Chargers                         1:00 pm
Nov. 9        at Detroit Lions                              1:00 pm
Nov. 13      Buffalo Bills              (Thu)              8:25 pm
Nov. 23      at Denver Broncos                           4:25 pm
Dec. 1        at New York Jets      (Mon)              8:30 pm
Dec. 7        Baltimore Ravens                           1:00 pm
Dec. 14      at New England Patriots                  1:00 pm
Dec. 21      Minnesota Vikings                           1:00 pm
Dec. 28      New York Jets                                 1:00 pm

For more from around the NFL, here is NFL NATION:


Of course, we can all continue to sleep at night, knowing full well that Aaron Hernandez remains in jail, where he belongs. 

From around the universities,


Manny Navarro and Susan Miller Degnan have more from the University of Miami.


From FIU, David J. Neal of the Herald has the latest in his blog:


Here’s the latest from Tallahassee and the Seminoles:


From Gainesville and the University of Florida:


The Central Florida Knights are in the house:


In other sports,

There is some sort of soccer thing going on in the jungles of Brazil.  The US team lost to Germany, 1-0, on Thursday, but still managed to advance to the Final 16 knockout stage, thanks to Portugal’s 2-1 win over Ghana.  Next up for the Americans is a match against Belgium on Tuesday.  Here is the latest from Brazil:



Just a reminder:  South Florida does have a team in the NHL, and the Florida Panthers will have the number one pick in the NHL draft on Friday.  George Richards of the Herald previews the options for the Cats:


In boxing, Cuban boxer Yuriorkis Gamboa is fighting for the lightweight championship against Terence Crawford on Saturday, in Omaha, against Terence Crawford.  You can catch the fight on HBO’s “Boxing after Dark” starting at 10:00 pm.  Not an easy task for Gamboa, who fought only once in 2012, and once in 2013.  

Another Cuban fighter will be on the main stage, when Erislandy Lara faces Canelo Alvarez on July 12th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in a non-title bout.

Here is Santos Perez’ weekly boxing column in the Miami Herald:


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  In the modern era, only two players have had three hits in one inning.  Gene Stephens did it for the Boston Red Sox in 1953.  Who was the other player?  

It was a Red Sox player, it was in 2003, and it happened against the Marlins, eleven years ago today.  Johnny Damon had three hits in the first inning of a game against the Fish, a game in which the Red Sox scored 14 runs in the opening frame, on their way to a 25-8 win.  In that game, Carl Pavano gave up six hits and six runs, facing only six batters.  Michael Tejera followed Pavano by giving up four hits, a walk and five runs, facing only those five hitters.  Hard to believe that Marlins team won the World Series that season.


Behave yourselves, and always remember that tomorrow will bring us a brand new day.  HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!
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