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What a GREAT Time for Sports Fans
Intriguing match ups make for good week in sports
It’s true. There truly are so many good things happening right now in the sports world. Just thinking off the top of my head, here is what’s going on:
MLB Playoffs
ALCS: New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Angels
This series of offensive goliaths begins Oct. 16 and perhaps the most interesting statistic: The Angels set a franchise record for runs scored during the 2009 season, scoring 883 runs; but the Yankees were even better.
Scoring 118 runs more than their 2008 campaign, the Angels have all the right mixtures to make a run at the World Series. But they face a Yankees team that added two lethal starting pitchers and a potent bat during the off season. CC Sabathia will take the hill in Friday night’s opening game, followed in a possible three-man rotation by A.J. Burnett, both of whom were added over the winter. Top these stellar arms with the big bat of Mark Teixeira (who will be facing his former team) and the Yankees are in their first Championship Series since the 2004 season.
Despite the big additions the team with the highest payroll for the 2009 season made during the off season, the Yankees' biggest producer is someone who has been so quiet throughout the playoffs during his tenure in the Bronx, Alex Rodriguez. Rodriguez went an eye-blistering 5-for-11 with two home runs and 6 RBIs in the ALDS vs. the Minnesota Twins. Throw in the five home runs he hit in 24 at-bats against the Angels during the regular season, and Rodriguez will be a force to be reckoned with during the ALCS. Keep in mind: A-Rod had only one RBI in his previous 16 postseason games before Game 1 against the Twins. A-Rod’s latest feat: the game-tying home run off Twins closer Joe Nathan in the ninth inning, saving and eventually winning Game 2.
But don’t count the Angels out! While power might come to mind when thinking about the Yankees offense, something different might surface when you are thinking about the Angels: relentless. This word says a lot for a team, but they are the only team in history with 11 players with 50-plus RBIs, and they also tied the record for most players with 100 hits (10) and tied the record for the most players (nine) with 60-plus runs scored. The addition of Bobby Abreu (who will also play his former team) helped in the patience of the Angels bats; in 2008, they were last in the league in pitches seen, but improved to fifth this season. The key to a series division and a World Series bid for the L.A. Angels: run, run, run. No team went first to third on singles more effectively than the Angels in 2009.
Friday’s ALCS pitching match up will be CC Sabathia (19-8, 3.37 era, 197 strikeouts) against John Lackey (11-8, 3.83 era, 139 strikeouts).
NLCS: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Philadelphia Phillies
In quite a different match up than the ALCS, and a rematch of last season’s NLCS, the Philadelphia Phillies look to defend their World Series Championship against a tough Dodgers team, beginning Oct 15. The feature in this dogfight will be the Dodger bullpen, which was the best in the National League in 2009, against a very explosive Phillies offense.
Last season the Dodgers headed into this series coming off a convincing sweep of an NL Central team, the Cubs, but this season it was the Cardinals, again in convincing fashion. Last season, the Phillies won the series in five games, but the Dodgers took four of the seven games in the regular season.
The Phillies punched their ticket in typical form, by eek-ing out runs from the seventh inning on, but this time it was in the top of the ninth inning at Coors Field, which led to the end of the Colorado Rockies season.
Here are the facts: the Dodgers’ bullpen is good…wait, no they are GREAT. During the 2009 regular season, it ranked first among the majors in ERA, batting average against WHIP, plus second in wins. One downfall was their 26 blown saves, tied for most in the NL with the Houston Astros. Among some of the terrific arms in the ‘pen include closer Jonathan Broxton and left-handers George Sherrill and Hong-Chih Kuo.
The left-handed arms of the Dodgers’ bullpen will play an integral role in trying to diminish the power the Phillies possess from the left side of the plate. Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez combined to all hit 30-plus home runs, only the second team in major league history to have three left-handed batters accomplish this feat (the 1929 Phillies being the other team). Still, the question remains.
The pitching match ups will be interesting throughout this NLCS, with Randy Wolf (11-7, 3.23 era, 160 strikeouts) taking on Cole Hamels (10-11, 4.32 era, 168 strikeouts) in Game 1 Thursday night. Wolf will be facing his former team; and Hamels, making the start because of Cliff Lee pitching in Colorado Monday night, gave up one earned run in 16 innings in last season’s NLCS against the Dodgers.
College Football
Associated Press Top 25
1. Florida
2. Alabama
3. Texas
4. Virginia Tech
5. Boise State
6. USC
7. Ohio State
8. Cincinnati
9. Miama (FL)
10. LSU
Last weekend landed a showdown in the Bayou with No. 1 Florida traveling to Death Valley to take on then No. 4 LSU. The biggest story heading into the game was if former Heisman Trophy winner and leader Tim Tebow would be medically cleared to play. In one of the most talked about concussions for a college football player, Tebow would eventually be cleared and lead the Gators to victory over LSU, winning 13-3. A low-scoring game overshadowed Florida’s dominance of the undefeated LSU Tigers, and Florida’s defense, ranking top in the country, held LSU to only 162 total yards and three points, dwarfing their 7.1 PPG against. Tebow knows the offense played mediocre, but played tough.
“On offense, we didn’t execute the best but we played really hard,” Tebow said.
Florida (5-0, 3-0) will take on Arkansas (1-2, 3-2) in the Swamp on Saturday at 3:30 p.m., who is coming off an impressive upset of No. 17 Auburn last week, 44-23.
The SEC owns the top two spots in the AP poll, with Alabama currently sitting at No. 2, and three teams in the top 10 with LSU at No. 10. Alabama leaped Texas this week in the rankings after Texas struggled with Colorado early on, but eventually won the game 38-14.
A good game to watch will be No. 8 Cincinnati at No. 21 South Florida Thursday night on ESPN. The Cincinnati Bearcats and former Flagler Palm Coast High School standout Marshawn Gilyard look to remain undefeated on the season and remain on course for the Big East Conference championship, with hopes of a bid to the BCS National Championship Game on the line.
NFL
Undefeated teams include: New York Giants, Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, Indianapolis Colts, Denver Broncos
The most intriguing game of Week 6 includes a showdown at the Superdome, where the Giants will take on the Saints. Giants quarterback Eli Manning (111.7) and Saints quarterback Drew Brees (108.5) rank second and third respectively for quarterback passer rating. Both trail Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning.
Of course, there are other sports going on right now, including NHL and NBA preseason. But I more or less wanted to highlight on the most-watched right now.
Information from ESPN.com was used in this article.
