A.L. East Breakdown for 2011

This year’s baseball off-season has been filled with big trades, surprise retirements, and trade rumors. The Major League Baseball off-season activity started the day after the San Francisco Giants beat the Texas Rangers in five games to win the World Series. Winning in baseball comes down to how many great players are in the lineup which means the owners have to make big trades and open up the checkbook to sign free agent players.

The American League East always stirs things up in the off season signing players to long-term deals. The Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees watch one another closely so that they can sign and trade players to keep pace with the other team. The Tampa Bay Rays have started to sign players for long-term deals as well. The Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles do not have as much money for their payroll as the Red Sox and Yankees, so it is more difficult for these teams to be as successful as the Red Sox and Yankees.

The Red Sox started the “hot stove” (off-season positioning) with a bang signing two players and spending three-hundred million dollars in one week. They signed free agent left fielder Carl Crawford from the Tampa Bay Rays for seven years worth 142 million. Less then a week later the Red Sox scooped up Adrian Gonzalez, a free agent from the San Diego Padres and signed him for seven years also.

The Boston Red Sox missed out on the playoffs last season losing Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia for two months due to injuries and probably the top two players on the team. They managed to still win 89 games. I called them a JV team without Youkilis and Pedroia on the field. With the two new players and a healthy Youkilis and Pedroia, the Red Sox are in a good position to win the American League East.

The New York Yankees made it to the American League Championship Series last season losing to the Texas Rangers in six games. Most baseball fans thought the Yankees would go out and get some players to make their team deeper. The one area the Yankees need work is their starting pitching which anchored by all-star C.C. Sabathia. The twenty-seven time world champions did not get any big name players from the free agent market as everyone expected. The Yankees also wanted Carl Crawford, left fielder for the Tampa Bay Rays, but the Boston Red Sox won that battle. The Yankees went after Cliff Lee from Texas wanting to sign him to a five year deal, but missed out when the Phillies signed Lee. The Yankees must have expected to sign Lee and Crawford because it did not seem like they were looking for anyone else.

The Tampa Bay Rays had the best record in baseball for most of the regular season last year. They lost in the American League Divisional round in five games to the American League champion Texas Rangers. Once the baseball season was over, the Rays lost shortstop Jason Bartlett, first basemen Carlos Pena, and their closer Rafael Soriano to other teams. In the past, the Rays have been known for having minor league players who serve them well in the major leagues. A few weeks ago the Rays picked up former Red Sox star players Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez. The Rays want to be more competitive in the American League East hoping to challenge the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.

The Baltimore Orioles had the best record in the second half of the regular season last year under new manager and former ESPN analyst Buck Showalter. They have many young, talented players on their team and are expected to do very well. Brian Matusz, a rookie last season, will anchor the starting rotation for the Orioles who hope to get to the playoffs for the first time in many years. The Orioles were very active this off-season adding four new infielders and a couple big name players to their roster. Mark Reynolds, third baseman, JJ Hardy, shortstop, Derek Lee, first baseman, and Vladimir Guerrero, power hitter, will make the O’s dangerous and a legitimate contender.

The Blue Jays have a revamped bullpen. Octavio Dotel and Jon Rauch will pitch at the end of games and give them a great chance to win. This Canadian team is the weakest team in the A.L. East, but the rest of the teams must be ready to play them. The Blue Jays are a team that hits many homeruns and can beat anyone when they launch baseballs out of the ballpark. The Red Sox, Yankees, Rays, and Orioles better watch out for the Blue Jays because if they do not show up to play for a series then they could easily get swept. That is why this is the best division in baseball. It will be fun to see who comes out on top.

March Madness 2011

VCU Advances to Sweet 16 For First Time in School History

The 2011 men’s college basketball tournament has been one of the best tournaments in years. There is more parity than usual, smaller conference teams are competitive, and there have been many upsets. The outcome of many games has not been known until the final buzzer.

The Morehead State Screaming Eagles shocked Louisville in the second round of the NCAA tourney 62-61 on a three pointer with 4.2 seconds to go pulling off one of the biggest upsets in recent tournament history. Butler knocked off #1 Pittsburgh on one of the dumbest fouls in the history of the game bouncing Pitt 71-70 and advancing to the Sweet 16. The Virginia Commonwealth University Rams team is the cinderella story of this year’s tourney winning three games last week, all by double digits.

This year was the first time in history that sixty-eight teams were picked in the field instead of the usual sixty-five teams. 2011 is the first time in tournament history when all the games are being televised at the same time on channels CBS, TBS, TNT, and TRUE TV. CBS sports lost rights to broadcast all the games. Therefore, other channels have been able to pick up games to broadcast. Every team has the same goal of winning a national championship.

The Sweet 16 is all set with four double digit seeds pursuing their quest to win a national championship. The number ten seeded Florida State Seminoles beat Texas A&M in the second round and number two Notre Dame in third round to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1993. The number eleven seeds Marquette Golden Eagles from the Big East Conference and Virginia Commonwealth University from the Colonial Athletic Association punched their tickets to the Sweet 16. Marquette took down Xavier in the second round and third seeded Syracuse Orangeman 66-62 to advance to the Sweet 16. VCU beat USC in the opening round game, Georgetown 74-56 in the second round, and hammered the third seeded Purdue Boilermakers 94-76 advancing to their first Sweet 16 appearance in school history. The number twelve seeded Richmond Spiders were the final double digit seed to advance to the Sweet 16 beating Vanderbilt in the second round and Morehead State in the third round.

The other twelve teams going to the Sweet 16 are: #1 Ohio State, #1 Duke, #1 Kansas, #2 San Diego State, #2 Florida, #2 North Carolina, #3 Connecticut, #3 BYU, #4 Kentucky #4 Wisconsin, #5 Arizona and #8 Butler. The Ohio State Buckeyes are the number one overall seed in the tournament and are looking like the team to beat. Coach K’s Duke Blue Devils barely hung on to beat Michigan 73-71 after being up by fifteen points late in the second half. Bill Self’s Kansas Jayhawks won both games easy, but played down to their competition allowing their opponents to stay in the game longer then they would like. The San Diego State Aztecs have played well in both their games, but the Temple Owls took the Aztecs to double overtime before pulling out the 71-64 victory. Billy Donovan’s Florida Gators have played really well with the best guard tandem in the entire country featuring Erving Walker and Kenny Boyton. The Gators got all they could handle from the UCLA Bruins but still won by an eight point margin. Roy Williams’ North Carolina Tar Heels did not play good defense in the two tournament wins, but fortunately played really well offensively. Game one UNC beat Long Island 102-87 and needed mistakes from the Washington Huskies to win by just three 86-83 in a thriller that came down to the final buzzer.

The Connecticut Huskies have one of the best all around players in the entire country Kemba Walker who has led them to two convincing victories over Bucknell and Cincinnati. BYU’s dream season has not slowed down despite losing the teams’ best defender and rebounder Brandon Davies to school violations early this month. Jimmer Fredette, the nation’s leading scorer, averaging thirty-three points per game in the tournament and 28.8 points per game in the regular season, shooting 45 percent from the field, 89 percent from the free throw line, and a staggering 40 percent from the three-point line, led the Cougars to a big win over Gonzaga in the third round 89-67.

The Kentucky Wildcats got all they could handle from the Princeton Tigers in their opening game winning on a last second shot 59-57. Kentucky then beat West Virginia to advance to the Sweet 16. Bo Ryan’s Wisconsin Badgers coasted with an easy win over Belmont in the second round round and Kansas State gave them all they could handle to get to the Sweet 16. Sean Miller’s Arizona Wildcats won two games by a combined three points sneaking by Memphis 77-75 in a last second basket in second round. Sophomore star forward Derrick Williams scored a basket with nine seconds left and completed a three-point play to help the Wildcats stun the Texas Longhorns 70-69 in the third round advancing to the Sweet 16. Brad Stevens’ Butler Bulldogs who lost last year in the national championship redeemed that loss this winning both games by a combined three points. The Bulldogs beat Old Dominion with a rebound and put-back by center Matt Howard with 0.2 seconds left to stun the Monarchs. In the third round, Butler knocked off number one Pittsburgh in one of weirdest finishes in tournament history.

The Sweet 16 games are today and friday of this week. If the close games and surprises continue, you will not want to miss any game. This years tournament may be one that people will talk about for years to come.