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How was your Week

Posted: September 10, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in sports, baseball, NASCAR
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The Los Angeles Dodgers are in 1st place in the National League West. This may still come as a bit of a surprise to some people as the San Francisco Giants had the best record in all of baseball at the All-Star break. The Dodgers have capitalized on the terrible second half of a season the Giants are having and have built a 4 game lead in the division over the Giants. I think a lot of people thought the Giants would right their ship and over take the Dodgers for 1st place, but that hasn’t happened yet and with around 20 games to go it’s looking more and more like it won’t.

On Friday night the Dodgers got some much needed help for their starting as Clayton Kershaw return. Kershaw hadn’t pitched for Los Angeles since June 26th. Kershaw threw 66 pitches over 5 innings giving up 5 hits and 2 runs (both earned) while striking out 8 against the Miami Marlins. Kershaw did take the loss as the Marlins took the game 4-1, but more importantly for the Dodgers there where no after effects from Kershaw’s outing and he should be in the starting rotation for the rest of the regular season and of course the playoffs. Kershaw should make 4 starts the rest of the season with his next one being September 13th or 214th against the New York Yankees. There’s talk of the Dodgers going to a 6-man rotation down the stretch.

Kershaw return became even more important for the Dodgers as Scott Kazmir who was also close to returning from injury had a set back and has had to go back on the disabled list. The Dodgers are also waiting for Brett Anderson and Brandon McCarthy to return from injury. With all their injuries the Dodgers have used 15 different starting pitchers this season. Will Kershaw’s return and the acquisition of Rich Hill along with Kenta Maeda be enough to help the Dodgers make a playoff run?

After Teddy Bridgewater was injured the Minnesota Vikings season was in a bit of turmoil. Minnesota went out and traded a 2017 1st round draft choice and a conditional 2018 draft pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for quarterback Sam Bradford. Minnesota kicks off it’s season on Sunday against the Tennessee Titans. That meant Bradford had a little over a week to get the Vikings offense down and be able to make audible calls. Minnesota’s head coach Mike Zimmer had kept it quit on who the Vikings starter would be for Week 1. Zimmer even said yesterday he had made a decision on who would start, but wasn’t going to announce it. There are now reports out there that Shaun Hill will make the start Week 1 against Tennessee with Bradford as the #2 quarterback. During practices this week it looked like Hill would get the start. Hill took the majority of the first team snaps on Monday and Wednesday with both quarterbacks getting an equal share of snaps at Tuesday’s practice. Do to the timetable of the trade Hill getting the start shouldn’t be a big surprise. The question should be; how long will Hill be the starter? I would think that Bradford is the starter for the Week 2 Sunday night game against the Green Bay Packers.

Tonight is the last night for a driver outside the Top 16 to punch his or maybe her ticket to The Chase with a win. Denny Hamlin starts on the pole tonight for the Federated Auto Parts 400 from Richmond International Raceway. Kyle Larsen starts 2nd with Matt Kenseth 3rd. Jamie McMurray goes off 4th with Kurt Busch rounding out the Top 5. McMurray is the first driver in the starting line up who doesn’t have a win this season, but  McMurray is currently hanging on to a spot in the Top 16. Chase Elliott and Austin Dillion are the other two drivers who would qualify for The Chase on points right now. Elliott starts tonight’s race 34th while Dillion starts 8th. McMurray has a 22 point lead over 17th place Ryan Newman while Dillion is 31 points ahead of Newman and Elliott has a 39 point lead on Newman. Kasey Kahne is the 18th place driver 44 points out of The Chase and it’s looking like Kahne will need a win to get in. Kahne has won a race at Richmond before, but it was back in 2005. Could Kahne or another driver without a win on the season pick one up tonight and grab a spot in The Chase?

Kyle Busch starts the defense of his Sprint Cup title as The Chase starts September 18th at the Chicagoland Speedway with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400.

You can listen to Sports Time Radio at BlogTalkRadio.com you can also find the podcast anytime you want at TuneIn.com

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Let’s Call it Wednesday

Posted: September 7, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in sports
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I hope you’re ready for it; because it starts tomorrow. That’s right the Carolina Panthers are at the Denver Broncos in a rematch from last seasons Super Bowl to kick off the NFL season.

Now both teams should bring top defenses to the game, but the offenses from each team will look a little bit different. The biggest change for the Broncos is under Center. Peyton Manning did retire after the Super Bowl win and it looked like Mark Sanchez was going to take over at quarterback. The Broncos signed Sanchez as a free agent, but he didn’t play all that well in the pre-season and ended up being released. Now the Broncos did draft Paxton Lynch in the 1st round of the draft, but he’s not the starter either. Denver is going with Trevor Siemian. Siemian is in his 2nd season with the Broncos; he took 1 snap last season, but it was a kneel down. Siemian is making his 1st career NFL start against one of the toughest defensive in the leagues. Siemian still has a pair of top wide receivers to work with in Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders. Virgil Green is the starting tight end, but he hasn’t really broken though in the passing game. C.J. Anderson was resigned in the off season and should get the majority of the carries when the Broncos run the football. Now there has been a lot of talk that the Broncos like rookie Devontae Booker; so expect him to get some carries as head coach Gary Kubiak is known to use more than one running back. As a new quarterback Siemian will have some weapons to work with; so as he goes so should the Broncos offense.

Now the biggest change for the Carolina offense is health. They’ll get wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin back after missing all of last season with a knee injury. Tight end Greg Olsen was dinged up pretty much all of pre-season and may start the regular season injured. Olsen produced as the feature receiver in Carolina’s offense last season and they need him to be healthy to start the season. Ted Ginn Jr. looks like the receiver teams thought he would be years ago and Devin Funchess will also catch some passes for quarterback Cam Newton. Newton should be an MVP contender this season. Jonathan Stewart is the #1 running back for the Panthers, but Mike Tolbert is still on the roster to get those tough yards and short touchdowns. If Newton continues to mature as a quarterback and if his legs are good to go the Panthers look to have one of the top offenses in the NFL and should be the NFC front runner to got to the Super Bowl.

On the defensive side of the football Denver did lose defensive tackle Malik Jackson in free agency this off season, but they where able to work out a long term deal with Super Bowl MVP Von Miller. Miller will man the strong side linebacker spot and cause havoc for quarterbacks league wide. DeMarcus Ware is going to start the season on a play count, but you can bet he’ll be on the field in all passing situations. The other key for the Broncos last season was the defensive backfield. Aqib Talib, Chris Harris Jr. and T.J. Ward all return in the secondary where they’ll be joined by Darian Stewart. Denver’s defense should be one of the better ones in the NFL and with a young quarterback it may be counted on to keep them in games early in the season.

Josh Norman was the top cornerback in the NFL last season as part of this Panthers defense. He signed a big money deal with the Washington Redskins; so the Panthers will have to replace him. James Bradberry, Daryl Worley, Robert McClain, Teddy Williams and Bene Benwikre will be the guys looking to fill that role. Luckily the secondary may be working with the best group of linebackers in the NFL. Luke Kuechely is the top linebacker in the NFL and Thomas Davis is very good as well. Shaq Thompson fills out this trio of linebackers and his play will dictate how this group is ranked. Kony Early played well in the Super Bowl, but will that carry over into this season. It’s a good group and should be one of the top defenses in the NFL.

The Miami Marlins entered play last night 5 games out of the 2nd wild card spot in the National League. Before last nights 4-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies the Marlins activated 1st baseman Justin Bour and outfielder Giancarlo Stanton from the disabled list. Both player pinch hit in last nights game. Bour drew a walk on 4 pitches while Stanton single in his at bat. The loss last night did drop the Marlins to 6 games back in the wild card race and with just 23 games left in the regular season and three teams to get past; is there enough time for the Marlins to get into a wild card spot? I don’t think the Marlins can get there. Here’s the rest of their schedule and you can tell me what you think. They wrap up their series with the Phillies today then the Los Angeles Dodgers are in Miami for 3 games. Then it’s on the road for 3 against the Atlanta Braves and then 3 in Philadelphia. The Marlins return home for 3 against the Washington Nationals,3 against the Braves and 3 against the New York Mets. The finish the season with 3 games in Washington against the Nationals. I don’t think they have a very favorable schedule and they are still dealing with some pitching injuries. Don’t forget that Wei-Yon Chen, Adam Conley and David Phelps are all still on the disabled list. They do still have Jose Fernandez in the rotation, but he can’t pitch everyday. Can Andrew Cashner, Tom Koehler and Jose Urena support Fernandez enough to get the Marlins in the playoffs; sorry I just don’t see it.

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How was your week

Posted: September 3, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in NASCAR, sports
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We had the first of two Sports Time Radio fantasy football drafts last night. This was the traditional snake style draft. Dan the Man got the 1st pick in the draft and used it to select Antonio Brown the Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver. Brown has pretty much been the #1 ranked player; so it was a good choice by Dan. I ended up with the 16th pick and Mr. Fantasy ended up picking 19th out of 20 teams. It’s always fun to get that first draft out of the way. Now tonight we have out suction style draft. It took a while, but I’ve gotten the hang of these auction drafts. When we first started doing them I would end up with quite a bit of money left over. There are still times I look at the prices and just can’t believe that someone is paying that for whatever player is on the board. So we had a Friday draft, a Saturday draft and then Mr. Fantasy and I have a draft on Monday morning. Yes you read that right we’re doing a fantasy football draft on Labor Day.

In case you where wondering how the 1st round fell for me I took Dez Bryant the Dallas Cowboys wide receiver with the 16th pick. I had to decide between Bryant and New Orleans Saints wide receiver Brandin Cooks. It was a tougher choice than I thought it would be. I think Bryant is still one of the top receivers in the NFL and I know he might suffer a little bit without Tony Romo, but I think he was the better choice. Cooks is a good receiver as well, but I think he’s more a function of the Saints offense. I know there where a lot of people who liked Dak Prescott. I just hope he throws the football to Bryant.

It was announced yesterday that Dale Earnhardt Jr. will miss the remainder of the NASCAR season. Earnhardt Jr. has missed the last 6 races and will skip the final 12 as well due to the concussion like symptoms he’s suffering from. It’s believed that Earnhardt Jr. suffered the concussion when he was involved in a crash June 12th at the Michigan International Speedway. Hendrick Motorsports announced that Jeff Gordon will drive the #88 car this week at Darlington. Gordon along with Alex Bowman will finish the season behind the wheel for Earnhardt Jr.In addition to Sunday’s race, Gordon will be behind the wheel of the No. 88 for races at Richmond (Sept. 10), Dover (Oct. 2) and Martinsville (Oct. 30). Bowman will drive at Chicagoland (Sept. 18), New Hampshire (Sept. 25), Charlotte (Oct. 8), Kansas (Oct. 16), Talladega (Oct. 23), Texas (Nov. 6), Phoenix (Nov. 13) and the series finale at Homestead (Nov. 20). With the missed races Earnhardt Jr. fell out of the Top 16 in points and even if he was to return for this weeks race at Darlington or next weeks race at Richmond he’d have to win one of those two races to get into The Chase. Earnhardt Jr. has been undergoing regular evaluations at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Concussion Program and is being treated for issues related to balance and focusing on objects that are at a distance while moving his head. On August 5th at the Watkins Glen race Earnhardt Jr. spoke with the media and said he wants to continue racing. Earnhardt Jr. is under contract with Hemdrick Motorsports for the 2017 NASCAR season. He is son of seven-time Sprint Cup champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt, Earnhardt Jr. has never won a Sprint Cup title, with a best finish in the season standings of third in 2003. After missing The Chase for two consecutive seasons, he has enjoyed a career resurgence with five consecutive Chase appearances from 2011 to 2015.

At first it didn’t look like the Los Angeles Dodgers would be bringing Yasiel Puig back to the majors as a September call up. Now they did decide to add Puig to the roster when it expanded to 40 players. Puig got the start in right field for the Dodgers and hit 5th last night against the San Diego Padres. Puig spent a month at Triple-A Oklahoma City before returning to the Dodgers line up last night. Now the Dodgers did end up losing the game 4-2 to the Padres, but Puig went 2 for 4 and upped his batting average to .263 on the season. Puig was placed on revocable waivers last month by the Dodgers. One team claimed Puig on waivers, but it was never reported who that team was. It is being reported that the team was the Milwaukee Brewers and they where interested in sending the Dodgers Ryan Braun as part of a Puig trade. The Dodgers decided to hang onto Puig and have said that if they do trade him they would wait until the off season so they could talk to all the teams interested in him.

http://m.mlb.com/gameday/padres-vs-dodgers/2016/09/02/448874?#game_tab=box,game=448874,game_state=final

In other Dodgers news Clayton Kershaw is schedule to make a rehab start today for the Class-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes today. Kershaw is scheduled to throw 50 pitches in this minor league rehab outing. Kershaw has been out since June 26 with a lower-back injury, and it is possible he could return to the  Dodgers on the club’s next road trip. While Kershaw is the big name pitching at Rancho Cucamonga today Brett Anderson is also going to pitch in their game today following Kershaw to the mound. Rancho Cucamonga has been a popular landing spot for rehabbing Dodgers players this season. Los Angeles has put a record tying 27 players on the disabled list this season. Now depending on when Kershaw actually returns he could make up to four starts for the Dodgers. The Dodgers are currently in 1st place in the National League West. They’re holding a 2 game lead over the San Francisco Giants coming into Saturday’s action. Just imagine what adding a pitcher like Kershaw would do for your stretch run and playoffs.

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Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: August 31, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in NASCAR, sports, Uncategorized
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Did the Minnesota Vikings season end yesterday at practice? During a non-contact drill at practice yesterday quarterback Teddy Bridgewater went down. Bridgewater dropped back to pass during a drill, planted his foot and immediately went down. Trainers rushed to his side and began inflating an aircast. After an examination and an MRI Bridgewater was diagnosed with a dislocated knee and a torn ACL. The Vikings reported it as complete tear to his ACL and other structural damage, but there appears to be no nerve or arterial damage. As I’m sure you can guess that this injury ends Bridgewater’s season before it even officially started. Bridgewater was headed into his 3rd season as the Vikings quarterback and with the improvement he made last season there was talk that he’d break out this season. With Bridgewater as there starting quarterback the Vikings where expected to challenge the Green Bay Packers for the top spot in the NFC North. Now you just have to wonder if Minnesota can be a playoff team.

What do the Vikings do at the quarterback position. 36 year old Shaun Hill was Bridgewater’s primary back up. Hill appeared in 3 games for the Vikings last season, but has played in just 46 games over his 10 year career. Hill has been a back up through most of his career, but he did play in 9 games for the then St, Louis Rams in 2014. Hill’s best season was 2010 when he played in 11 games for the Detroit Lions. Hill threw for 2686 yards and 16 touchdowns in those 11 games. Is Hill the guy that the Vikings want as their starting quarterback for 16 games this season? Minnesota us expected to resign quarterback Brad Sorensen if he clears waivers. Sorensen and Joel Stave would play quarterback in the Vikings final pre-season game this Thursday against the Los Angeles Rams. If Hill isn’t going to be the starter for the Vikings who is out there.

Could the Vikings reach out to someone like Michael Vick; who isn’t currently on a NFL roster. There are some teams with depth at the quarterback position; so maybe there’s a trade the Vikings could make. Minnesota attempted to sign Nick Foles, but he chose to sign with the Kansas City Chiefs. Would the Chiefs be willing to deal Foles or their other back up Aaron Murray. Even if the Chiefs moved a quarterback they would still have some depth as they drafted Kevin Hogan from Stanford in the 5th round and he could serve as the 3rd quarterback. The Cleveland Browns are reshaping there roster; so maybe Josh McCown is available. Maybe Josh isn’t the McCown the Vikings go after, but could it be Luke McCown of the New Orleans Saints. The very first name that came up when the injury happen was Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers. I’m not sure if the Vikings would want to bring in that kind of a distraction to a contending team and don’t forget Kaepernick has quite a few years left on his deal; so what would you do with him when Bridgewater returns next season. Now the name I haven’t heard that was actually brought up on the Tuesday edition of Sports Time Radio was Mark Sanchez. The Denver Broncos named Trevor Siemian there starer this week, but would they be willing to deal Sanchez. He’s a quality back up quarterback and the Broncos may hold on t him since this is Siemian’s first go round as a starter. So there are some options for the Vikings depending on which way they want to go. It’s just a little disappointing that they have to go this route at all.

If you’ve ever listened to the NASCAR segment on the Sunday edition of Sports Time Radio you’ve heard Chris Olmstead (BeyondtheFlag.com) and I discuss Kyle Larson just about ever week. He always seemed to be a threat to win, but never quite got there. It was getting to the point that people where starting to change there thinking from when will Kyle Larson get his first win to if Kyle Larson will get a win. Well Sunday at the Michigan International Speedway Larson won the Pure Michigan 400 for the 1st win of his Sprint Cup career. On a restart with 9 laps to go Larsen was on the inside of leader Chase Elliott. Both drivers where looking for their first win and both drivers spun their tires on the restart. Larsen got a little more help from veteran Brad Keslowski behind him than Elliott did from Sprint Cup series rookie Ryan Blaney and was able to take the lead. The race stayed green for the final 9 laps and even though Elliott was able to get himself into the 2nd place spot he was unable to challenge Larsen for the win.

The victory gives Larsen not only his first career win, but a spot in The Chase. There are 13 drivers locked into The Chase as long as Chris Buescher can stay in the Top 30 in points. Right now Buescher is just 7 points ahead of 31st place David Ragan. If 13 drivers are locked into The Chase with wins that means there are only three spots for drivers to get in on points. That is of course if we don;t get a first time winner in one of the final two races and that driver grabs a spot in The Chase. As of right now Elliott, Austin Dillion and Jamie McMurray would be the 3 drivers to make The Chase on points. McMurray has a 15 point lead on Ryan Newman for the 16th and final spot in The Chase.

There are just two races left for a driver to win his way into The Chase. This week the Sprint Cup series is at Darlington Raceway for the Bojangles Southern 500. Then on Saturday September 10th the regular season wraps up at Richmond International Raceway for the Federated Auto Parts 400. Could we actually get two more first time winners or will three guys find a way to point themselves into The Chase. The Chase itself actually starts close to home for me. They’ll be at the Chicagoland Speedway for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 400 on Sunday September 18th.

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How was Your Week

Posted: August 27, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in NASCAR, sports
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Is Baltimore Orioles closer Zach Britton a serious candidate for the AL Cy Young? The last relief pitcher to win the AL Cy Young was Dennis Eckersely back in 1992. If you’re not taking Britton as a serious contender than who are you looking at for the award. Detroit Tigers rookie Michael Fulmer and Kansas City Royals lefty Danny Duffy have probably been the two best starting pitchers in the AL, but are they Cy Young worthy? Fulmer is 10-4 with a 2.58 ERA in 20 starts as of right now. He will probably win the AL Rookie of the Year award, but could he claim the Cy Young as well. Duffy has made 19 starts, but has appeared in 35 games since he started the year pitching out of the Kansas City bullpen. Duffy is 11-1 with a 2.66 ERA going into today’s schedule start against the Boston Red Sox. J.A. Happ of the Toronto Blue Jays is 17-4 in 25 starts with an ERA of 3.19 while Rock Porcello of the Red Sox is 17-3 in 26 starts with an ERA of 3.23 and will receive consideration for the award. The fact that Porcello is having a good year and wears a Red Sox uniform may actually make him the front runner for the award. All 4 of these pitchers have had good seasons to this points and there starts down the stretch will impact where they finish in the Cy Young voting, but I don;t think any of them has had a better year than Britton. Britton has appeared in 55 games for Baltimore. He is 2-1 with an 0.69 ERA and is 38 for 38 in save opportunities this season. Britton has pitched 52 innings, allowed 27 hits and allowed 7 runs to score, but just 4 of then where earned. He’s struck out 61 batters while walking 16 and has allowed just 1 home run. Opponents are hitting .150 against him and his WHIP is 0.83. Baltimore has 34 games left and since they’re in the pennant race there’s a chance Britton gets close to 80 appearances. I’m sure Fulmer, Duffy, Happ and Porcello’s teams all have close to the sane number of games so they should each get 4 or 5 starts depending on where they are in their rotations; so they’ll have some chances to show they deserve the award. The Orioles are currently 70-58 in the AL East. They are 2 games behind Happ and the Blue Jays for the division lead and 1 game behind Porcello and the Red Sox for 2nd place. Baltimore is holding onto the 2nd AL wild card spot right now as they have a 1 game lead over Fulmer’s Tigers. Duffy’s Royals are 67-61 and are currently 3 games out of the wild card spot. So as you can see each guy is pitching for a playoff contender. That means the choice should come down to who the best pitcher is.

I can understand if you don’t recognize the name Kerry Hyder. It took me a little while t figure who he was and who he played for. Hyder is a defensive lineman for the Detroit Lions. In the Lions August 18th game against the Cincinnati Bengals Hyder put a hit on Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton that the NFL decided was roughing the passer. Hyder was fined $18,231 for this hit. This happens pretty much every week in the NFL, but this one is interesting because Hyder has yet to earn an “accredited” season in the NFL he is only making $1000 a week during pre-season. So basically the NFL just fined Hyder about three times what he’ll make. Now Hyder can appeal this fine and the players Collective Bargining Agreement has provisions for this situation. “On appeal, a player may assert, among other defenses, that any fine should be reduced because it is excessive when compared to the player’s expected earnings for the season in question,” the CBA also states; “However, a fine may be reduced on this basis only if it exceeds 25 percent of one week of a player’s salary for a first offense, and 50 percent of one week of a player’s salary for a second offense. The rule also says: “A player may also argue on appeal that the circumstances do not warrant his receiving a fine above the amount stated in the schedule of fines.” You’ll have to think that Hyder will go the appeal route and use these CBA provisions to get his fine reduced.

Hyder was on the New York Jets practice squad in the 2014 season and was with the Lions on their practice squad during 2015 before being signed for the final game of the 2016 season with Detroit. Hyder is 25 years old and played in his college ball at Texas Tech is trying to make the Lions and add some depth at their defensive tackle position.

There are just 3 races left until The Chase; so any driver looking for a win to get in is running out of time. This week the NASCAR Sprint Cup series is at the Michigan International Speedway for the Pure Michigan 400. Joey Logano won the pole with a speed of 201.698 m.p.h. Jimmie Johnson will start 2nd with Denny Hamlin 3rd, last weeks winner Kevin Harvick will start 4th and Chase Elliott rounds out the Top 5 starting the race in the 5th spot. Elliott is the only driver in the Top 5 without a win this season, but he is currently in The Chase on points. Elliott along with Austin Dillion, Ryan Newman and Jamie McMurray are the 4 drivers that would qualify for The Chase without a win right now. If any driver not currently in the Top 16 finds his or her way into victory lane they would bump one of these drivers out of The Chase. Newman is the driver in 16th place right now and he has a 35 point lead on 17th place Trevor Bayne and a 39 point lead on 18th place Kyle Larson. With just 3 races to go that’s a pretty sizeable points margin to make up unless Newman has difficulties in all 3 races. Chris Buescher picked up a win in the rain shortened Pocano race and has moved into the Top 30 in points; so he’s in The Chase. Will we see a driver outside the Top 16 get a win and move into The Chase or will someone already in start to look like a serious cup contender and grab another victory. On a side note Alex Bowman who is driving the #88 car this week for Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a good qualifying run and will start 6th tomorrow.

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Let’s Call it Wednesday

Posted: August 24, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, sports
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I’m not sure how you feel about it, but I think that the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants just opened a big 3-game series yesterday in Los Angeles. The Dodgers came into Tuesday nights game with a 1 game lead in the NL West. It appeared that the Giants had the advantage in the starting pitching match up last night as San Francisco had their ace Madison Bumgarner on the mound. The Dodgers countered with NL Rookie of the Year candidate Kenta Maeda. Looking at the starting pitching match up you might think that it would be a low scoring pitchers duel to start the series. That’s not what these two teams gave everyone last night. Bumgarner gave up a run in each of the first 3 innings and only lasted 5 innings. In total Bumgarner gave up 5 runs; all earned on 9 hits. He struck out 7 while walking 1 and giving up 1 home run. Bumgarner took the loss. Maeda picked up the win, but only lasted 5 innings himself. Maeda gave up 3 runs; all earned on 6 hits while walking 4 and striking out 4. San Francisco’s bullpen had it’s issues over the final four innings as they gave up 4 runs. Corey Gearin pitched just 1/3rd of an inning, but gave up 3 hits and 2 runs; both earned while striking out 1 batter. Will Smith came in and settled things down for the Giants pitching 1 1/3rd scoreless innings striking out 2 batters. George Kontos came in to pitch a 1/3rd of an inning and while he didn’t give up a hit he did walk a batter and allowed a run to score. Javier Lopez came in to pitch the final inning and gave up 2 hits with one of them being a solo home run. Lopez did strikeout 2 and walked 1 in that inning while giving up the 1 earned run. Jesse Chavez was the first call out of the Dodgers bullpen and he had some issues. Chavez lasted just 1/3rd of an inning giving up 2 hits and 1 run. Adam Liberatore (2/3rd) and Joe Blanton (1 2/3rd)didn’t give up any hits and Blanton struck out 2 over their 2 1/3rd innings of relief to get the ball to Kenley Jansen. Jansen did pick up a four out save his 36th of the season, but not without a little trouble. He gave up 1 run on a solo home run before closing the game out. Jansen also recorded a strikeout over his 1 1/3rd innings of work.

The Dodgers took the early lead putting up a run an inning in the first three innings off Bumgarner. The Giants did get 2 back in the top of the 3rd and where able to tie it up with a run in the top of the 5th. The tie didn’t last long as the Dodgers added 2 runs in the bottom of the 5th inning. San Francisco got 1 run back in the top of the 6th, but Los Angeles turned right around and added 2 more runs in the bottom of the 6th. The Dodgers topped off their scoring by adding 2 runs in the bottom of the 8th and while the Giants did add a run in the top of the 9th all it did was change the number of runs the Dodgers would win by. In this case it was a 9-5 victory for Los Angeles. The win improves the Dodgers record to 70-55 and gives them a 2 game division lead over the Giants who fall to 68-57 with the loss.

Corey Seager and Justin Turner both went 3 for 4 for the Dodgers. Seager scored 3 runs while Turner drove in a run. Adrian Gonzalez went 2 for 4 while driving in 3 runs while Andrew Toles pinch hit and then stayed in the game going 2 for 2 with a home run 3 RBI’s and 2 runs scored. Enrique Hernandez also went 2 for 4 with an RBI and a stolen base.

Denard Span and Angel Pagan each had 2 hits for the Giants. Span was 2 for 4 with a home run an RBI and 2 runs scored while Pagan was 2 for 5 with an RBI and a run scored. Brandon Belt and Buster Posey both went 1 for 4 and each drove in a run. Joe Panik and Eduardo Nunez where both 1 for 3 and Nunez added a stolen base. Ehire Adrianza picked up a pinch hit and an RBI as well.

Johnny Cueto takes the mound for the Giants tonight. Cueto is 14-4 with an ERA of 2.90 on the season. He is also 2-0 with an ERA of 3.63 against the Dodgers this season. The Dodgers are going wit Rich Hill who was 9-3 with a 2.25 ERA for the Oakland A’s before being traded to the Dodgers. Hill spent the past month on the disabled list with blisters on his middle pitching finger; so this will be his 1st start for the Dodgers. Hill hasn’t faced the Giants since August 22nd of 2007 when he was a member of the Chicago Cubs. Hill didn’t factor in the decision, but he did pitch 7 innings giving up 2 runs on 6 hist while striking out 10. There’s really not much you could learn from that outing, but I knew that Schaumburg Stu would enjoy seeing that.

There are still 37 games left in the season for the Giants; so you can’t really say that these games are must wins, but I’m sure they would like to win 2 of 3 games in this series. Again they seem to have the advantage on the mound, but can they turn that into a win tonight?

While I am still in baseball mode I am slowly trying to start getting things ready for my upcoming fantasy football drafts. I’m noticing more and more that in one order or another Antonio Brown of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Odell Beckham Jr. of the New York Giants and Julio Jones of the Atlanta Falcons are ranked 1, 2 and 3. I’m trying to figure out if I end up with a top 3 pick in my drafts if I would be comfortable taking one of these wide receivers with that pick. Would it be a safer pick to take what would be your top running back on the board or grab one of these receivers. Workhorse running backs are few and far between in today’s NFL and while there is a gap between these three receiver and the next one you could get would it make more sense to grab that running back. As it gets closer and closer these are the things that will have to be figured out. Of course I know exactly what will happen. I’ll decide what more I want to make and then I won;t end up with a pick anywhere near the top 3, but that’s just how things go for me.

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How Was Your Week?

Posted: August 20, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in MMA, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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In 2013 Carlos Gomez was with the Milwaukee Brewers. He hit .284 with 24 home runs, 73 RBI’s, 10 triples and 40 stolen bases. He made his first All-Star team won his first Gold Glove and finished 9th in MVP voting. Gomez hit .284 again in 2014 he had 23 home runs and again had 73 RBI’s to go along with 34 stolen bases. He made the All-Star team again and finished 16th in MVP voting. In 2013 the Brewers finished 4th in the NL Central. In 2014 they looked to be a playoff team and led the division for quite a while before faltering and ending up in 3rd place with a record of 82-80. As the 2015 rolled around the Brewers appeared to be a struggling team and there was talk of tearing the team down and rebuilding. Gomez was seen as a great trade piece and the Brewers used him as that. Gomez was sent to the Houston Astros along with pitcher Mike Fiers and cash in exchange for at the time four minor league players; Josh Hader, Brett Phillips, Adrian Houser and Domingo Santana. The Astros where in the pennant race and Gomez looked to be the missing piece in their outfield. Gomez played 41 games for the Astros in the 2014 season. He hit .242 with 4 home runs and 13 RBI’s, but did add 10 steals. Gomez hit a solo home run in the Astros wild card victory over the New York Yankees. Gomez did homer in the ALDS against the Kansas City Royals, but that was one of just three hits Gomez had in the 5 games he played in. Houston lost that series to the eventually World Series champion Royals. Houston looked like they’re rebuild was going well and coming into the 2016 series they where ready to contend and they had a two-time All-Star centerfielder in Gomez for the entire season. Gomez battled some injuries and you have to wonder if his personality just didn’t fit with the Astros. In 85 games with the Astros Gomez was hitting .210 with 5 home runs and 29 RBI’s before being released on August 18th. Since no other team claimed Gomez and the Astros couldn’t find a deal for him after they designated him for assignment he now becomes a free agent and Houston will be on the hook for the rest of his $9 million dollar salary. Is there a playoff contender out there that might take a shot at bringing Gomez in and if they did could he help them?

Let’s see if we can find a new team for Gomez. How about the Miami Marlins. Giancarlo Stanton is out for the season with a Grade 3 hamstring strain. While Gomez could never replace the production Stanton provides he still is a solid defender and can still steal a base. The Marlins are going with Christian Yelich, Marcell Ozuna and Ichiro Suzuki as their everyday outfield. I love Ichiro, but he is 42 years old and you have to wonder if he can be a productive everyday player. Gomez and Ichiro could make a nice platoon type of situation and then the Marlins would also have a bench piece to turn to late in games.

How about the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers look to be fading in the AL Central race and they need t do something to get their team going. Cameron Maybin is on the DL and they’ve lost infielders Nick Castellanos and Jose Iglesias. Gomez would be an upgrade over the platoon their now using of Tyler Collins and Alex Presley. The Tigers are scrambling to stay in the AL Central race and the $100,000 it would cost them to bring Gomez in could be money well spent if he performs like he did back in Milwaukee.

How about the Texas Rangers. Shim-Soo Choo is lost for the season and the Rangers will have to turn to Delino DeShields, Ryan Rua and Drew Stubbs to fill the void. The Rangers have a solid lead in the AL West, but the addition of a player like Gomez could help come playoff time. Going to a team like the Rangers could give Gomez the time he needs to get back on track without the pressure of a pennant race.

How about the New York Mets. The Mets have one of the worst offenses in baseball. Remember last season they went out and picked up Yoenis Cespedes and that helped them make a playoff run that ended in a World Series lost, but they did get there. Don’t forget the Mets lost Juan Lagares for the season and with Cespedes returning from the DL soon the addition of Gomez could spark the team again.

How about the St. Louis Cardinals. Now this normally isn’t a move the Cardinals would make, but they did just lose outfielder Matt Holiday for at least the remainder of the regular season. Randall Grichuk has been back and forth to Triple-A a few times this season, but has been hot as of late. Gomez is more of a natural centerfielder than Grichuk. Then if Holiday does return for the playoffs Gomez could work into the outfield rotation or be a bat off the bench.

There are 5 possible landing spots for Carlos Gomez, but there could actual be more. Don’t be surprised if teams like the Washington Nationals, Toronto Blue Jays or even the San Francisco Giants kick the tires on Gomez. Whoever Gomez ends up with it will be interesting to see which player they get. Will they get the guy who use to get MVP votes or are they getting the .210 hitter the Astros released.

UFC 202 is tonight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main event on the card is the re-match of Nate Diaz vs. Connor McGregor. Diaz took the first fight between these two on short notice and pulled off the upset by getting McGregor to tap out to a choke hold. McGregor was on top of the world at the time of that loss and will be looking for revenge. Oddly Diaz was so disgruntled with the sport and his contract in 2014; he actually requested a release from the UFC. Now I’m not a huge UFC fan; so I have no idea who’s going to win this fight. What I do wonder is if McGregor picks up the win do we get a third fight between these two? Now if Diaz gets the win tonight you have t start wondering what this will do to McGregor’s standing in the UFC. I’ve seen both guys picked to win this fight and since I’m clueless on this I would just hope for a good fight.

There are four featured undercard bouts on UFC 202. Anthony Johnson vs. Glover Teixeira in a light-weight bout. There are two welterweight fights on the undercard. Donald Cerrone vs. Rick Story and Neil Magny vs. Lorenz Larkin. The fourth fight features bantamweights Cody Garbrandt vs. Takeya Mizugaki.

Are you buying the pay per view?

The Big Jack Follow me on Twitter!

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Let’s Call it Wednesday

Posted: August 17, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, baseball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Back at the baseball trade deadline the Chicago White Sox some how managed to ignore the advice of the baseball pundits and experts that said they just had to trade Chris Sale. Sale is 27 years old and is signed through 2017 with team options for 2018 and 2019.  Now if the White Sox could have recieved five or six major league ready or close to ready young players then maybe they would’ve dealt Sale. I fully supported the White Sox hanging on to Sale and there’s no way I’m moving a pitcher of this quality. What I am wondering though; is Chris Sale out of gas? Sale was 14-3 going into the All-Star break. He’s made 5 starts since the All-Star break and he is 0-3 and the White Sox have won just 1 of his 5 starts. Sale has pitched 35 2/3rd innings since the All-Star break. He’s giving up 12 earned run for a post All-Star break ERA of 3.03. Sale game log  Of course maybe Sale’s not the problem and it’s the White Sox offense that’s just not doing the job. If you consider this a struggle for Sale; do you think the White Sox will trade him in the off season? Looking at the stats it seems as though it’s a White Sox offensive thing more than it is a Sale pitching thing. It would be difficult to see the White Sox deal a perennial Cy Young award contender, but I guess stranger things have happen. Ask our friend Schaumburg Stu about the Chicago Cubs trading Lou Brock to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Are we watching the San Francisco Giants fade out of the playoffs? The Giants lost their 3rd straight last night; 4-3 to the Pittsburgh Pirates. That loss with the Los Angeles Dodgers 15-5 win over the Philadelphia Phillies gives the Dodgers the lead in the NL West by a 1/2 game. The Giants are 9-20 since July 15th and haven’t been able to win more than 2 games in a row during that stretch. Even with the struggles the Giants have had and even with the Dodgers moving into 1st place San Francisco is still the top wild card team. The Giants hold a 3 game lead on the St. Louis Cardinals who hold the second wild card spot. The Pittsburgh Pirates and the Miami Marlins are 4 games behind San Francisco. With the troubles the Giants have had is it possible we see them slide all the way out of the wild card game. I’m sure you’ve heard the it’s an even year theory and maybe that’s what you’re holding onto if you’re rooting for San Francisco, but you have to wonder why this team has been tanking and not in the NBA way. You would’ve thought the return of Hunter Pence would be enough to get the Giants back on track. Pence was looking like an MVP candidate before he got injured. Pence has played in 16 games since returning from injury. He’s hitting just .203 with 1 home run and 4 RBI’s. As Pence gets more and more at bats and should return to form; will that be enough to get the San Francisco ship righted?

Everyone including myself thought the pick up of Eduardo Nunez was a great get for the Giants. In 17 games for San Francisco Nunez is hitting .214 with 1 home run and 3 RBI’s; on the plus side he does have 2 triples. Is it possible that coming from the last place Minnesota Twins and joining a 1st place team has mounted pressure on Nunez and he’s struggling to deal with it. Nunez isn’t the only Giants trade acquisition that hasn’t really worked out. Matt Moore is 0-2 in 3 starts with an ERA of 4.50 over 18 innings. Left handed set up guy Will Smith was brought in to help settled down a bullpen that’s been missing the retired Jeremy Affeldt. Smith has appeared in 7 games covering 3 2/3rd innings. Smith is 0-1 with an ERA of 12.27 and has blown a save chance. These looked like three very good moves by the Giants and as of right now they just haven;t worked out. Now there’s no reason at all that Nunez, Smith and Moore can’t return to the form they had when they where traded for. If they could rectify their issues since coming to San Francisco there’s no reason the Giants can’t get into the playoffs as either a wild card team or even the NL West winner. Of course once your in the playoffs anything can happen.

Now the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series had last weekend off, but the X-Finity Series ran the Mid-Ohio Challenge at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Saturday. Now we Don’t talk about the X-Finity Series at all, but I wanted to bring this race up because if you didn’t see it they kept the race going even after it started to rain. The race started out under sunny conditions, but that only lasted two laps as the rain started and the drivers ended up coming to pit road to put there rain radial tires. Now the rain made for a different style of racing that we’re not use to seeing in the Sprint Cup Series. It made for an entertaining race as the cars where sliding into and around every corner and sometimes even in the straight-aways. When it was all said and done Justin Marks got his 1st career X-Finity victory. Sam Hornish Jr. finished 2nd about 4 seconds behind Marks. Ryan Blaney was 3rd, Ty Dillon was 4th and Justin Allgaier round out the Top 5 in 5th place.

The Sprint Cup drivers return to the track for the Bass Pro Shop NRA Night Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway. The Bristol Motor Speedway is a concrete shirt track as it’s just a little over a half mile. It’s 0.53 miles around to be exact. Carl Edwards won the April race at Bristol. Will Edwards get another Bristol win? Will we see someone who already has a win get to victory lane? Or will we manage to get a driver looking for his first win this season and a way into The Chase. Including Saturday nights race there are only 4 races left before The Chase starts. So drivers looking for a win to get into The Chase are quickly running out of time.

The Big Jack

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Not That Grand of a Day

Posted: August 13, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, Minor League Baseball, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio
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Kyle Hendricks as who some would refer to as the best pitcher for the Cubs right now takes the mound looking for his 12th win of the season and to continue the Cubs wining streak.  He would be taking on rookie Luke Weaver in what starts as a pitcher’s duel.

Kyle would hit Stephen Piscotty in the first but strikes out the other three batters he faces to end the inning.  Luke starts his career out by striking out Fowler and Bryant and gets Rizzo to groundout to end the inning.  Kyle then gives up a leadoff hit to Yadier Molina but strikes out the remainder of the batters he faces.  Ben Zobrist leads off the bottom half of the second with a double and Addison Russell drives him in with a deep fly ball to left for his 14th homer of the season.  Weaver then loads the bases on two outs but gets out of the inning.

Both pitchers would get into a groove making quick of their opponents through five innings.  It would be the Cardinals who strike back in the top of the sixth with Brandon Moss’s two out home run to right center putting the Cardinals within 1 run.  Hendricks then gives up another solo home run in the top of 7th to tie the game at 2 to Jedd Gyorko.   Weaver only made it through four innings as Alex Reyes would take over for him in the bottom of the fifth.  He is able to hold the Cubs through the end of the 7th.

Carl Edwards Jr, replaces Kyle in the top of the 8th and gets the first out but almost as quickly loads the bases for Yadier Molina.  Molina strikes out but the ball would get passed the Contreras to put the Cards ahead by one.  Carl then walks Peralta to load the bases again and then Gyorko gets an RBI walk for the fourth run of the game.  With two outs Joe Smith replaces Carl to face Randal Grichuk who takes Smith deep for a grand slam but he does retire the next batter to end the inning.  Cardinals now up 8-2.  Kevin Siegrist takes over in the bottom half of the 8th retiring Fowler, Bryant and Rizzo without a hitch.

Mike Montgomery takes over in the top of the 9th gives up a two out single but gets out of the inning.  Cubs have one last chance as they take on Seth Maness who gives up back to back singles to Zo and Russell.  Zo scores on Heyward’s single who’s throwing error by Maness allows Russell to reach third as Heyward goes to second.  Zack Duke looking to redeem himself for the Cards joins the game getting the next three batters out but Russell does score but the Cubs go down 8-4.

Go Cubs Go!

Dan the Man

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How Was Your Week?

Posted: August 13, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Alex Rodriquez (A-Rod) played in his 2784th career game last night as the New York Yankees defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 6-3. Now an August 12th game normally wouldn’t get this much attention, but it was A-Rod’s last one with the Yankees. After 12 seasons in Yankees pinstripes the team was parting ways with A-Rod. He was to be released right after last nights game and would then sign a one year deal with the team to be a Special Advisor. There was one year left on Rodriquez’s player contract and I guess the Yankees figured they might as well do something with him since they where paying him anyway. A-Rod went 1 for 4 in the game. He hit a double and he drove in a run. It ended up being a bit of an odd week leading up to A-Rod’s last game. At first Yankees manager Joe Girardi said A-Rod could play as much as he wanted. It was a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox and then last nights game, but when the games against the Red Sox came up there was no A-Rod in the line up. As the manager Girardi has complete control over the line up card and I have no issues with him not wanting to play A-Rod. The issue I ended up having was when he used the lame excuse of he was trying to put the best line up on the field for the team t win. Now A-Rod was having a bad year hitting right around .200, but your best line up to win with had Mark Teixera and Aaron Hicks in it. Both of these players are hitting under .200. What’s the real reason Girardi kept A-Rod out of the line up; who knows, but I’m not buying the best line up to win deal. I know I’m floating into Dan the Man territory here, but what if Yankees management wanted to keep A-Rod on the bench and out of the line up. I know that might seem weird, but the Yankees are going to pay A-Rod $21 million next season to pretty much do nothing. He was just 4 home runs away from the 700 home run mark and his contract has “Marketing Bonuses” in it for home run milestones. Is there a chance that Yankees upper management just didn’t want to give A-Rod anymore more because I’m sure there was a bonus waiting for him at 700 career home runs. Rodriquez had also asked Girardi to play 3rd base in his final game and was told no. Girardi did allow A-Rod t start the 9th inning at 3rd base before he was removed so he could get one final ovation from the home crowd.

Rodriquez has the numbers that a Hall of Fame career should have. He’s a career .295 hitter and has 3115 career hits. I mentioned the 696 home runs, but you might not remember that back in 1998 A-Rod stole 46 bases and has 329 career steals. He is a three time MVP (2003, 2005 and 2007) and finished 2nd in the voting twice (1996 and 2002) and 3rd in the voting once (2000). He is a 14 time All-Star and two time Gold Glove winner and won the AL batting title in 1996. A-Rod exceeded his rookie limits on 1995, but if he hadn’t, with the year he had in 1996 he would’ve won Rookie of the Year easily. He led the league in hits once, doubles once, runs scored 5 times, RBI’s twice and home runs 5 times. It’s easily a Hall of Fame career and then as your looking at his player card  you notice that there are no stats for the 2014 season. As we all know A-Rod was suspended that season for his use of performance enhancing drugs. So as you look back at what is statistically a great career you have t wonder when the PED use started. His numbers where great right out of the gate. In 1966 he hit .358 with 54 doubles, 36 home runs and 123 RBI’s. Those are great numbers for a 20 year old in his first full major league season, but was he clean? There have been unsubstantiated rumors that A-Rod was using PED’s all the way back to high school. Unless the voters change the way they’ve handled the Hall of Fame voting since PED’s have become an issue it looks like A-Rod will be on the outside looking in.

The NFL pre-season kicked off this week and already fans are out of control. In the Chicago area where I live fans where already on the ledge because the Chicago Bears lost their pre-season opener 22-0 to the defending Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos. Did I mention that it was the first game of pre-season. These people need to take a deep breath and relax. There are still 3 more pre-season games on the Bears schedule before they open the season for real on Sunday September 11th on the road against the Houston Texans. I understand that a fan wants his team to look good, but if they don’t the game you just went nuts about doesn’t mean anything. In Week 1 of the pre-season sometimes the most important thing is to get through the game healthy. Also let’s be fair here; if you had the Bears going to and or winning the Super Bowl this season you have another set of issues that need to be looked at. I fully understand that football is king when it comes to the 4 major sports, but if you’re giving up on your favorite team after Week 1 of the pre-season because they lost you might want to look for a new sport. With the way the NFL is now and the rules about hitting in practice tackling is so bad that even in Week 1 and Week 2 of the regular season some teams are still acting, looking or even playing like it’s still the pre-season. Again simple take a step back, take a deep breath and relax.

The Big Jack Follow me on Twitter!

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