Major League Baseball Playoffs Recap

Twenty-seven games ago, 8 teams kicked off baseball’s second season.

The Division playoffs promised to be hard fought and exciting, but that promise certainly wasn’t kept.

The Milwaukee Brewers entered the playoffs on the back of CC Sabathia and were ready to take on the Philadelphia Phillies.

Cole Hamels proved to be the ace of the series with a gem in Game 1. Hamels pitched 8 innings and allowed only 2 hits while striking out 9 batters. He didn’t allow a run.

Sabathia was roughed up in Game 2, possibly due to the amount of pitches he threw in the last week of the regular season. He was pulled in the 4^th inning after surrendering 6 hits, 5 runs and 4 walks.

The Phillies went on the win the series, 4-1.

In the other National League series, the Chicago Cubs were set to play host to Manny and the Dodgers in what was supposed to be the least exciting of the 4 series.

It certainly wasn’t exciting, if you’re a Cubs fan.

Ryan Dempster, Carlos Zambrano and Rich Harden were lit up during the Dodgers sweep. Chicago was embarrassed at home and were outscored 20-6 for the series.

On the American League side, the Tampa Bay Rays cinderella story wasn’t finished just yet as they welcomed the Chicago White Sox to Florida.

Ozzie was able to guide his boys into the postseason in grand fashion and the White Sox were poised to used their playoff experience to end the Rays season.

Someone forgot to tell the Rays about that plan. James Shields, Scott Kazmir and Andy Sonnanstine all picked up victories for Tampa Bay, while BJ Upton and Evan Longoria proved the offense as Tampa went on to finish off Chicago in 4 games.

The Los Angeles Angels hadn’t had anything to play for in close to a month, so they were happy to get started when the Boston Red Sox came to town.

Jon Lester proved to be too much for the Angels as he hurled 14 innings of shutout ball and led the Sox to 2 victories. This was probably the most exciting series of the first round, as Games 2, 3 and 4 were hard fought contests.

So the Championship round was set. The Philadelphia Phillies would face the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Tampa Bay Rays would host their hated rivals from Boston.

In the Phillies-Dodgers series, it came down to Cole Hamels vs. Chad Billingsley. Hamels won the series MVP by notching 2 wins, going 14 innings and allowing just 3 runs. Billingsley on the other hand failed to escape the 3^rd inning in Games 1 and 5. He allowed 11 runs and the series was never in doubt. The Phillies are headed to the World Series courtesy of a 4-1 series win.

The American League Championship couldn’t have been much different.

In what was sure to be a series of emotional swings, Boston went into St. Petersburg and took Game 1 by shutting out the red hot Rays. Tampa battled back in Game 2 and won the game in extra innings. Boston still had the advantage, having split on the road, and now they were headed back to the friendly confines of Fenway Park.

The Rays showed the baseball world that they weren’t intimidated as they took Games 3 and 4 by a combined score of 22-5. They were well on their way to wrapping up the series when they led 7-0 after 6 innings in Game 5, but the Sox mounted one of the greatest comebacks in playoff history when they scored 8 runs over the next 3 innings to win 8-7.

The series swung back to Florida and Boston proceeded to win Game 6 and force the pivotal Game 7.

Tampa Bay wasn’t about to let the dream die on their home turf and rookie phenom David Price stole the show and earned the save by striking out 3 of 4 batters to close out the game.

So here we are…The Philadelphia Phillies will open up the World Series in Florida as they take on the Tampa Bay Rays.

Final Week Review In Major League Baseball

The Los Angeles Angels were the first to clinch a playoff spot and the first to clinch their division. They rounded out their regular season accomplishments by securing the best record in baseball, going 100-62 this season.

The Angels will play host to the American League Wild Card winners, the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox were able to capture their playoff berth with ease and hope to play the spoiler role over an Angels team that many people predict will win the World Series.

The first team to clinch their post-season berth in the National League was the Chicago Cubs. Wrigley Field will be the site of the first two Cubs games as they welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers to town. The Dodgers were the 2^nd team in the National League to claim their spot in the second season.

The rest of the National League playoff picture didn’t settle into place without heartbreak and drama.

With the season drawing to a close, we knew that either the New York Mets or the Philadelphia Phillies would clinch the division and the loser was left to battle the slumping Milwaukee Brewers for the Wild Card berth.

Ryan Howard kept the Phillies winning when it mattered and they clinched the division with a game to spare.

That left the Mets and Brewers tied for the last spot with just one day left in the season. Mets fans were left with the reality that lightning can strike twice and the Mets had collapsed for the 2^nd time in two years and would miss the playoffs after a 4-2 loss following a Brewers win.

These 2 teams will now face off as Ryan Braun and CC Sabathia head to Philadelphia to take on Chase Utley and Cole Hamels.

The American League didn’t settle on a playoff lineup without some drama either.

The Twins were able to sweep the White Sox and claim a slight edge in the division race late in the week. The Sox and Twins both dropped 2 of 3 games in the last series of the year, which made it necessary for Detroit to head to U.S. Cellular Field on Monday for a makeup game.

Chicago won the game 8-2 and forced a one game playoff to decide the winner of the American League Central.

In what could be the worse rule in professional sports, the Twins were forced to play the game in Chicago based on a coin flip, despite holding a 10-8 season series edge.

John Danks and Nick Blackburn battled it out in an unlikely pitcher’s duel. The only mistake of the game came when Nick Blackburn left a pitch up to Jim Thome and he hit a 461-foot homerun for the game’s only run.

The White Sox win sends them to Tampa Bay to take on the American League East Champion Rays.

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Major League Baseball Weekly Review

The playoff landscape is starting to take shape.

The Los Angeles Angels have the advantage of setting up their rotation and resting key players before the start of the 2^nd season.

The Chicago Cubs now share a similar situation after clinching the division.

The Tampa Bay Rays have clinched a playoff spot, but have not wrapped up the division title. They lead Boston by 1.5 games.

The Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers are in the driver’s seat for their respective playoff berths. It would take a huge collapse for either not to make it in. If one of them were to fail to reach the postseason, it would be the White Sox who could see their 2.5 game lead disappear if they are swept at Minnesota this week.

The Philadelphia Phillies hold a 1.5 game edge over the New York Mets. The Phillies are 9-1 over their last 10 games while the Mets are just 4-6. Sound familiar?

If the Mets can’t catch the Phillies, they are likely to capture the wild card spot. They lead the Milwaukee Brewers by 1.5 games and the Brewers can’t seem to string anything together this month. They are 5-15 in September.

If Tampa Bay holds off the Red Sox, then Boston will take the American League wild card.

September is always a surprise as you see veterans get hot or maybe rookies get a call up and impress.

Adrian Gonzalez, Prince Fielder, Carlos Pena, Shin-Soo Choo, Jorge Cantu and David Ortiz all have at least 3 homeruns and 10 RBI this week. Only Ortiz carries a batting average under .368, but the stat of the week is Ryan Garko’s .833 batting average!

Dan Haren, Kyle Davies, Ryan Dempster, Ted Lilly, Scott Lewis, Tony Pena, Brad Ziegler and Daisuke Matsuzaka each picked up 2 wins this week. Joakim Soria and Brad Lidge closed out four games apiece for their clubs.

Is There Another Jinx That's Worse Than The Madden Curse?

The Madden Curse has a long history of claiming seasons and even a career.

There are several different opinions on how many people were actually affected by the curse.

Here is the evidence…

Garrison Heart appeared on the 1999 cover and went on to enjoy a career season, but then suffered a broken ankle in the playoffs and the Niners lost the game.

Barry Sanders graced the 2000 cover along with John Madden. Sanders retired before the season even started.

Eddie George may be an exception as he followed his 2001 appearance with a very solid year. It was a year after that in which he turned in career lows across the board and was never the same again.

Daunte Culpepper was coming off a season of nearly 4500 total yards and 40 TD. He graced the 2002 cover and threw for 14 TD and 13 INT before a back injury ended his season.

Marshall Faulk was coming off a Super Bowl appearance and was the reigning Offensive Player of the Year when he agreed to be on the cover of Madden 2003. He suffered an ankle sprain that cost him 6 games and he failed to reach 1000 yards rushing for the first time in 7 years. He never returned to his previous level of play.

Michael Vick was a rising star when he appeared on the 2004 cover. He didn’t even make it out of the preseason as he suffered a fractured fibula on a nasty tackle from behind. Vick only appeared in 5 games that season.

Ray Lewis is another questionable cursed player. He was the first defensive player to make the cover when he was on Madden 2005. He led the Ravens to a division title the prior season and had a career high 6 interceptions. After becoming a cover boy, he failed to record an INT and failed to make the playoffs. He did have a solid season though.

Madden 2006 saw Donovan McNabb on the cover. That season he suffered a sports hernia and attempted to tough it out, but Roy Williams put on hit on McNabb that worsened the injury and caused him to have season ending surgery. He played in just 9 games that year and hasn’t finished a full season since.

The 2007 curse shifted its focus to Shaun Alexander. Alexander rushed for 1880 yards and 27 TD the previous season. After appearing on the cover, he suffered a fracture in his foot and missed 6 games. He failed to reach 1000 yards and scored just 7 TD. He followed that up with a 700 and 4 campaign and is now out of football.

Madden 2008’s cover boy was Vince Young. Young appeared to be ready to step up and become a dual threat quarterback that gave opposing defenses fits. Instead he threw for just 9 TD and 17 INT and missed one game.

The curse finally seemed like it was going to skip a year when the 2009 cover featured Brett Favre, who was safely hidden away in Mississippi enjoying retirement. With his return to the New York Jets, only time will tell if the curse comes true.

What we do know for sure is that there may be another curse to watch out for as it’s already claimed its 2008 poster boy.

Tom Brady was the inspiration behind the logo for The All American Touchdown Derby at passitdeep.com after his record-breaking season last year. It seemed like a no brainer that you’d have to honor the record holder for most touchdowns thrown in one season.

And so the story begins…

The All American Touchdown Derby curse has a long history of claiming seasons.

In 2008, a Tom Brady replica graced the front page of passitdeep.com after throwing for a record 50 TD passes in 2007. He stepped onto the field to begin his follow-up campaign and didn’t make it out of the first quarter before suffering a torn ACL and MCL that claimed his season before he could register a single touchdown.

Now this could certainly just be a coincidence, but for the sake of my fantasy football keeper league, I’d prefer if the guys at passitdeep.com didn’t look at Jay Cutler when designing the 2009 version of the game.

Fast, Being A Punk & Stupid Is No Way To Go Through Life

While most of the nation was laughing hysterically at DeSean Jackson’s blunder on TV last night. I must admit, I almost fell off my chair in disbelief and had to repeatedly wipe my eyes because I couldn’t believe what I just saw.
His actions disgusted his head coach Andy Reid & just about every fantasy football owner in the country that needed those 6 points that were taken away from them once officials confirmed that he let the ball go before entering the end zone.
How can a professional athlete get so excited about his first NFL touchdown on Monday Night Football that he completely forgets to cross the pile ons before tossing the ball like a teenager does a pack of cigarettes that he’s not suppossed to have?
DeSean’s new nickname for the rest of the season should be “Premature Jackulation” for celebrating what could have been a 61 yard touchdown strike too early!
Lucky for “D. Jackulation”, the Eagles are way to thin at receiver to bench him and it looks like the NFL’s next hybrid receiver may be Donovan McNab’s new favorite target on the team!
Regardless of talent, I think the Eagles should force DeSean Jackson to run 100 61 yard go routes in practice every day and tape every single one of them with a slow motion camera to make sure he crosses the white stripe before alowing him to go home.
If that’s not good enough, maybe he should start taking 1 pill of Ropex everyday to help him last a little longer to make sure he gets the job done!
Hopefully DeSean realizes that Fast, Being a Punk and Stupid Is No Way To Go Through Life!

Betus.Com's Radio Interview With www.passitdeep.com

Only 3 more days to sign up for The All American Touchdown Derby: www.passitdeep.com

NFL Betting Daily & Week 1 Injury Reports

Every match up, every line and every significant injury is covered every week on the BetUS NFL Betting Daily Podcast, keeping you in the know for the upcoming NFL week 1 games.

We are also paid a visit by Passitdeep.com’s Jim DeGoerge who fills us in on his NFL QB touchdown Derby fantasy game running the whole NFL season…you can win $1500 in cash and a $500 BetUS Free Play for winning this thing, go sign up!

Click on this link or cut & paste it into your browser to listen to our interview with Betus Radio Show Host Damon D!

http://radio.betus.com/2008/09/04/nfl-betting-daily-week-1-injury-reports/

Are The Saints Marching To The Cross Roads State?

My freshman Geology professor at the University of Connecticut, Robert Thorson, once wrote a piece in the Hartford Courant proclaiming that rebuilding New Orleans after Katrina was useless and that no matter what improvements they planned to make there was no way to fully protect the city. Obviously he tried to keep all emotional attachment people have to the city out of his analysis and just give an objective, safe diagnosis. Here is an excerpt from the abstract of that piece written back in 2005:

“Volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and rock avalanches are relatively easy to comprehend because only one earth process is dominant and because the energy is released dramatically. More chronic and complicated hazards, such as the one facing New Orleans today, are much more difficult to comprehend. Resorting to analogy, the so-called war to save New Orleans is less a series of pitched battles against hurricanes than a protracted siege. Four natural armies are camped outside the dikes that wall in the city: the army of the sinking land, the army of the rising sea, the army of the retreating shoreline and the army of the rising river bed. Their patience is endless. Their victory is certain. It’s only a matter of time.”

Now fast forward to today. Hurricane Gustav, originally a Category 4 storm, was downgraded to a Category 2 (out of 5) storm prior to it reaching land in New Orleans. Despite the reduction, despite the millions of dollars spent on rebuilding and fortification after Katrina, the levees of New Orleans were still tested. They passed this test, so I guess all is well that ends well, but how long can this last. If I learned one thing from Professor Thorson and his Geology 105 class, it was that you should never go to war with Mother Nature. There isn’t a weapon or a shield in existence that can withstand her wrath.

Now I’ve never been to New Orleans, regrettably. I have a strong appreciation for the culture and tradition and just the overall mystique that surrounds that city. I have a strong appreciation for the support the citizens give to the athletes that represent them, even in the wake of disaster. But is all of that worth the lives of thousands? Is the spirit of New Orleans lost if moved a few miles up the coast? What is the price in human currency of the New Orleans tradition? I can’t answer these questions, but someone should. Gustav came and went with a relative whisper, but now Hurricane Hannah, the next wave in Mother Nature’s attack on the Big Easy, will try its luck on the levees.

Not to get political, but if we are going attack the government for their handling of Hurricane Katrina, if we are going to demand that the citizens of a city that seems to be first on Aeolus the Greek God of Storm’s s*** list be protected, perhaps we should start looking to ourselves for answers. Someday we may find that we are paying too high a price for the Big Easy. Perhaps it isn’t so easy after all.

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