Grand Slam Loss

Posted: July 9, 2016 by Daniel Kupres in baseball, fantasy, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The Cubs have just dropped five games and the first the series against division rival Pittsburgh Pirates.  Jon Lester gets the nod looking for his first win since June 18th with the Pirates in Chicago.  He’s also looking to have a better start since July 3 when he only went 1 & 1/3 innings.   With just his third start for the Bucs, Chad Kuhl is looking for his second win of his young career but it would not start off smoothly with a one out walk to Kris Bryant who would score on Ben Zobrist putting the Cubs up by 2 in the first.  

Lester would get through the the 1st with a walk to David Freese but gets out of it quick with a ground out double play.  He would then start the 2cd off with a walk to Jung Ho Kang, then a single to Starling Marte, then another walk to Sean Rodriguez.  He give the Bucs their first run by hitting Josh Harrison.  Eric Fryer would send a fly ball to center, scored as a sac fly scoring Marte.  With Kuhl in the box, Wilson Contreras would attempt a pick off a throwin error would allow Sean to score the third run of the inning, Bucs up by 1.  

Anthony Rizzo starts off the 3rd with a triple.  Wilson would make up for the run he gave to the Bucs by driving Rizzo home on a ground ball between short and third.  Jason Heyward bumps him up to second as he singles to left.  With an early pitching change, Juan Nicasio enters the game and it would be Javier Baez with two outs drives in Wilson to take the lead by 1.  

Lester starts the 3rd off by giving up a lead off home run to Andrew McCutchen to tie the game.  Sean Rodriguez with two outs, also smacks a solo shot to left center but he gets out of the inning.  Pirates 5-4.

Juan gives up a leadoff double to Bryant that scores on Rizzo’s line drive double to right.  Arauimedes Caminero would enter the game to close out the top half.  Lester would be pulled for Adam Warren ho gives up a single and a walk and it would be McCuthen’s single that brings in both base runners to put the Bucs up by 2.  

Caminero strikes out the side in the 5th.  In the bottom half, Warren would load the bases walking Marte, intentionally walking Matt Joyce and a single to Eric Fryer.  Josh Bell Would enter the game pinch hitting for Caminero.  On a 1-1 count, Bell would take Warren out of the park and into the Alleghany River for a Grand Slam for his first major league home run.  Jody Mercer would follow with a solo shot to add to the lead, 12-5 Bucs.  

A.J. Schugel would enter the game waking Bryant who advances to third on Rizzo’s single and scores on Zo’s double play ground ball. Bucs 12-6.  

Spencer Patton, Justin Grimm and Hector Rondon each take an inning each seeing three batters with Rondon striking out the side.  

The Cubs would get a base runner in each of the last three innings but no one crosses the plate or brings them within reach to winning.  The Pirates move to second place putting themselves within 6.5 games.  The Cubs need a W on Sunday and to be honest, need the All Star break off to gather themselves but maybe the festivities can be a good change of pace for them breaking up the recent string of losses this month.   

Go Cubs Go!

Dan the Man

The Podcast now on Tunein.com, Download the app today and follow us or Apple users can download us in the Podcast app today!

How was your Week?

Posted: July 9, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, baseball, NASCAR, sports, Uncategorized
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For the second weekend in a row the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will race on Saturday night. This week the drivers go to the Kentucky Speedway for the Quaker State 400 Due to inclement weather qualifying was cancelled so the field was set according to owners points. That puts Kevin Harvick on the pole with Brad Keslowski joining him in the front row. In the row behind them Kurt Busch will start 3rd and Keslowdki’s teammate Joey Logano will start 4th. Carl Edwards rounds out the Top 5 as he’ll start the race 5th. In the 4th and final practice Edwards posted the fastest time at 187.448 MPH, he was followed by Martin Truex Jr. at  186.528 MPH Kyle Larson was third fastest at 186/387 MPH while Dale Earhardt Jr. 186.091 MPH and Kyle Busch 185.989 MPH rounded out the Top 5 fastest times in practice. Counting tonight’s race in Kentucky there are 9 races left before The Chase starts. There are 11 drivers with a win this season and an automatic spot in The Chase and that includes Tony Stewart who is currently 30th in driver points, but has his win to get into The Chase. Remember now that Stewart has a win he has to stay in the Top 30 in driver points to qualify for The Chase. This is no lock for Stewart as he finds himself 31 points behind 29th place David Ragan, but just 3 points ahead of 31st place Brian Scott. Ryan Blaney is currently holding on to the last spot in The Chase. Blaney has a 4 point lead on Jamie McMurray for that last spot. Right now McMurray would be the driver would make The Chase if Stewart was to fall below that 30th place spot. Can a driver pick up their 1st win of the season tonight in Kentucky and punch there ticket into The Chase or will it be a driver who already has a win heading to victory lane at the end of the night?

It looks like the Boston Red Sox are getting a jump on the July 31st trading deadline as they’ve made three deals in the last three days. On Thursday the Red Sox sent two minor league players, pitcher Aaron Wilkerson and second baseman Wendell Rijo to the Milwaukee Brewers for infielder Aaron Hill. To make room for Hill on there 40-man roster the Red Sox designated outfielder Ryan LaMarre for assignment.

Milwaukee picked up Hill this off season in a deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Hill was having a bounce back season for the Brewers. Hill was hitting .283 with 8 homers and 29 RBI’s for Milwaukee. His slugging percentage was .421 and his on base percentage was .780. Hill is capable of playing all the infield spots, but it looks like the Red Sox acquired him for help at 3rd base. It’s doubtful that Hill would take over as Boston’s everyday 3rd baseman, but could end up in a platoon with Travis Shaw. 

On Friday, the Red Sox started the day by picking up utility man Michael Martinez from the Cleveland Indians for cash considerations. Martinez has played 2nd, 3rd and all three outfield positions for the Indians this season.  In 32 games for Cleveland this season Martinez was hitting .283 with 1 home run and 3 RBI’s.  His slugging percentage was .383 and his on base plus slugging was .690 for Cleveland. Martinez is 33 years old and it’s a little unclear what his role with the Red Sox will be. 

Then a little later on Friday the Red Sox sent minor league pitcher Jose Almonte and minor league middle infielder Luis Alejandro Basabe to the Arizona Diamondbacks for closer Brad Ziegler. The big rumor was that the Red Sox would make a deal for a starting pitcher and they still might, but with Craig Kimbrell unavailable for Friday’s game because of knee soreness, Ziegler would be a quality fill in. 

With Kimbrell unavailable, former closer Koji Uehara recieved the save chance. Don’t forget that Boston lost Carson Smith to Tommy John surgery after he pitched just 2 2/3rd innings this season. Also the Red Sox main set up man Junichi Tazawa  was unavailable Friday due to shoulder discomfort.  Ziegler has appeared in 36 games for the Diamondbacks this season covering 38 1/3rd innings. His ERA is 2.82 and he’s saved 18 games. Ziegler has set up man experience; so while Kimbrell is the full time closer in Boston Ziegler should have no trouble at all slotting into a 7th or 8th inning role.

Now being a baseball fan I am a fan of stats. As a young baseball fan I learned to do multiplication and division by figuring out batting averages and ERA’s along with any other baseball stat I could find. Sabermetrics have a stat for just about everything and I really think things have gotten out of control. Here’s my example and you’ll have to let me know f you agree or disagree. I was listening to the local Chicago sports talk station and the host was explaining how RBI’s are meaningless because you’re just driving in your teammates who got themselves into scoring position. He then went on to explain that there’s no such thing as clutch hitting in baseball. 

While I don’t agree with either of these arguments I’ve heard them enough now to just kind of let it go. There was no reason to call into his show as anyone who didn’t agree with the host was called “stupid” and hung up on. Now the thing that really got me and just pushed me over the edge is when the host used fielding independent pitching stats to say that Jose Quintana was the best pitcher in the American League. Quintana has an ERA of 3.06 in 17 starts this season and has a record of 6-8, but they’ll tell you to throw the record out, so we won’t look at that. I do think that Quintana is a top of the rotation starter for any team in baseball but the best in the American League is a little much for me to believe.  There are quite a few people who will tell you he’s not even the best pitcher on his team, the Chicago White Sox. If you had your choice of starting pitchers off of the White Sox roster wouldn’t you take Chris Sale before Quintana?  

I understand that no matter what I think or try to do, Sabermetrics are the way baseball is going and teams are even using them to build their rosters. Again I have no problem with stats as a whole. I just have a problem with stats that lead me and or my favorite team down the wrong path.

The Big Jack Follow me on Twitter!

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Bucs Beat Cubs

Posted: July 8, 2016 by Daniel Kupres in baseball, Minor League Baseball, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio
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The Cubs are not starting the month of July very well losing six out of the last seven games and hope to break the streak with a trip to Pittsburgh.  Jake Arrieta takes on the Pirates Ace, Francisco Liriano.

Jake would start off great striking out the first two batters and getting it out of the first 1-2-3 but the not so lucky in the 2cd giving up a lead off home run to David Freese.  Starling Marte would reach on a single and score on Sean Rodriguez’s eighth home run of the season.  Pirates 3-0.

Through 3 innings, the Cubs would have 5 base runners but it’s not until the 4th when Jason Heyward would smack his first triple of the year and scores on Javier Baez’s ground out.  It wouldn’t be until the 6th,when Heyward would reach again on a single.  He would score again but this time on Miguel Montero’s 5th home run of the season to tie the game at 3.  Anthony Rizzo would put the Cubs in the lead in the top of the 7th with his 21st dinger of the year.  Cubs 4-3.

But Jake would tie the game back up in the bottom of the 7th with John Jaso’s single to left scoring Adam Frazier.  Travis Wood enters the game.  Gregory Polanco would send a grounder to Rizzo who throws a wild won to Wood that gets passed him allowing Josh Bell to score and the Bucs to take the lead.  Carl Edwards, Jr would enter the game giving up a single to Andrew McCutchen adding another one to the board.  Starling Marte would add another run scoring Eric Fryer.  Edwards gets out of the inning.   Pirates 7, Cubs 4.

Trevor Cahill enters the 8thand walks the first 2 batters to load them by hitting Andrew McCutchen.  With David Freese at the plate, Cahill throws a wild one allowing Matt Joyce to score.  Pirates 8-4.

A.J. Schugel enters the game to get the first two outs but Bryant reaches on a single and moves to 2cd.  Rizzo would reach on a walk.  With two out and and two on, Wilson Contreras up at the plate to give the Cubs a chance to rally but he’d go down swinging to end the game.

Tonight would be the first time since June 17 for him to go passed 5 innings.  With 6 innings, he gives up 6 earned runs on 9 hits.  He gives up only 1 walk but strikes out 6 for his 4th loss of the year.

Go Cubs Go!

Dan the Man

The Podcast now on Tunein.com, Download the app today and follow us or Apple users can download us in the Podcast app today!

Make up Day

Posted: July 8, 2016 by Daniel Kupres in baseball, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio
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Today’s make up game between the Cubs and Atlanta Braves starts late due to rain.  The game gets under way with Jason Hammel taking to the mound against 31 year-old Lucas Harrell making his second start of the season looking for his second win of the year.

Well I wrote everything last night and I didn’t save which is very disappointing to say the least.  So here’s a quick recap.  The Cubs would be held to no runs and four hits by Lucas who makes it 7 and 2/3 innings but after hitting Kris Bryant would be pulled from the game.  Hunter Cevenka comes and hits Anthony Rizzo the Zobrist doubles driving in Kris.  Jim Johnson enters the game to give up a two RBI triple to Wilson Contreras to put the Cubs up by 1.  

Jason Hammel would give up a two run homer in the first to Nick Markakis but would only make it 5 innings.  Wood, Hendricks and Grimm would help preserve it to 2 runs for the Braves but it would be Hector Rondon who blows the save giving up a solo home run to Markakis in the top of the 9th.  He’d close out the 9th and Spencer Patton would enter for extra innings receiving the loss after 11 innings.  With two men on he gives up a single to Tyler Flowers that scores Freddie Freeman for the win.  We wrap up the first half with the Pirates.  

Go Cubs Go!

Dan the Man

The Podcast now on Tunein.com, Download the app today and follow us or Apple users can download us in the Podcast app today!

Reds Take The Series

Posted: July 6, 2016 by Daniel Kupres in baseball, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio
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It hasn’t been the greatest series for the Cubs.  Adam Warren moves out of the bullpen and gets his first start of the season and for the Cubs despite having a couple wins.  He would be going against Anthony DeSclafani.

Adam Warren would perform greatly but be taken out after 5 innings.  He would give up only 1 run and it comes in the 1st inning as Zach Cozart would start the game with a lead off home run.  He would give up only two more hits that came in the second inning with singles to Brandon Phillips and Jose Peraza.  The next 3 innings would be lights out for the Reds.

Addison Russell would start the Cubs scoring off in the 2cd driving in Tommy La Stella on a double.  He would score the 2cd run off of Miguel Montero’s single.  The 5th inning would see Ben Zobrist smacking his 12th home run of the year.

The Cubs would only see 3 more base runners after the 5th inning but no more runs.  Through 5, it would be Cubs 3, Reds 1.

Trevor Cahill would enter the 6th almost striking out the side but walks Joey Votto in between.  He would get the first out in the 7th but gives up singles to Brandon Phillips and Jose Peraza who steals 2cd base with Tucker Barnhart at the plate.  Tucker launches his 3rd home run for 3 runs putting the Red sup by 1.  Cahill gets out of the inning but is pulled in the 8th for Carl Edwards, Jr.

Carl starts the 8th off getting the 1st out but walks Adam Duvall. He gets the 2cd out but gives up a single to Brandon Phillips pushing Duvall up to 3rd.  Carl would have the unfortunate luck of throwing a wild pitch scoring Duvall.

There would be no more runs passed this inning and the Cubs would lose the series to the Reds.

Thursday will see the Braves in town for a make up game.  Then it’s off to Pittsburgh before the All Star break.

Go Cubs Go!

Dan the Man

The Podcast now on Tunein.com, Download the app today and follow us or Apple users can download us in the Podcast app today!

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: July 6, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, football, sports, Uncategorized
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Did Kevin Durant signing with the Golden State Warriors ruin the upcoming NBA season? I’ll be the first to say that I don’t like what Durant did, but in the end it was his choice. I’m not a fan of players chasing a championship and I like to see them earn them where they’re playing at. Now I’ve seen a lot of experts and just other people I know that are saying let’s just skip the NBA season and get right to the finals of Warriors vs. Cleveland Cavaliers. Now the Warriors are coming off the best regular season in the history of the NBA, but a failure to win the title more or less makes the season an asterisk. Now Golden State has added Durant to a line up of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. Now Golden State did have to trade Andrew Bogut to get Durant’s contract under the salary cap. This Golden State team could end up being the highest scoring team in NBA history and I actually heard one expert say they wouldn’t lose a regular season game next season and sadly he wasn’t kidding.

What I am wondering now is if the way to beat the Warriors is to beat the Warriors up. Physical play isn’t really something you see in the NBA anymore, but Golden State is going to be a small team and you have to wonder if teams will see that and try to go that route. While Bogut wasn’t any type of offensive force with the way the Warriors play he was a true rim protector on defense. Now Durant is a 7-footer he now that type of a defender. Can Festus Ezeli fill that role of rim protector or will Golden State need to try and resign Marreese Speights or Anderson Varejao to try and do that job. It wouldn’t be a big surprise to see either Speights or Varejao brought back as Ezeli is the only center currently listed on the Warriors roster. There really isn’t a big time center left on the free agent market.It is possible that a veteran like Kendrick Perkins would take a low dollar contract to play with the Warriors and have a chance at another title, but how much help would he be?  I’m sure there are NBA head coaches especially in the Western Conference that are already looking at ways to beat Golden State. Would physical play be the answer and would the referees allow a tam to play physical enough against Golden State to beat them. Right now the only thing I’m looking forward to this coming NBA season is to see how a team beats Golden State. Is there anything else to look forward to?

After sitting out the last two NBA seasons there are reports that Ray Allen could be interested in returning to the league. The report said that Allen’s representatives reached out to two teams; the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Allen turns 41 on July 20th and while he’s not absolutely sure he wants to return he is intrigued by the possibility of playing for another championship. While the Warriors and Cavaliers have been contacted to see if they are interested in Allen’s services the report said that Allen would also consider joining the Los Angeles Clippers or San Antonio Spurs. Allen averaged 9.6 points per game for the Miami Heat in 2013-14, his final season. For his career Allen averaged 18.9 points per game and shot 40 percent from the 3-point line. Allen is a 10-time All-Star and won championships with Boston in 2008 and Miami in 2013.

Can the Denver Broncos and Von Miller come to a contract agreement before the July 15th deadline for franchise players to come to terms on long-term deals. Broncos General Manager John Elway reached out to Miller over the 4th of July holiday weekend and the two had a 10-15 minute conversation on the phone. Elway wanted to let his franchise player know that the Broncos still love him and still want to re-sign him, league sources said. Elway told Miller that Denver would reach out to his agents this week in an effort to jump start talks and procure a long-term deal, a source said. Until this weekend, the last time the two sides spoke was June 7. About a month ago Miller stated that he would not play this season under the franchise tag, and all contact between the sides had ceased. The Broncos placed the exclusive franchise tag on Miller March 1st. Unless Miller and Denver can reach agreement on a long term deal by July 15, Miller will make the average of the top-five salaries of his position for this year. And since it’s an exclusive tag, that will prohibit Miller from talking to any other teams. Miller had 11 sacks, 35 tackles and four forced fumbles and was elected to his fourth Pro Bowl selection in 2015. He has 60 career regular-season sacks. Miller was the MVP of the Super Bowl 50 as the Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers. Miller had 2.5 sacks and two forced fumbles in the Super Bowl. Miller also recorded also had 2.5 sacks and an interception in the Broncos’ win over the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game.

The Major League Baseball All-Star teams where announced yesterday. As always there where players that belong on the team that didn’t make it, but when you use fan voting like baseball does you’re going to get that. There is still one open spot on each roster and there are five players in each league up for it. In the American League it’s between Ian Kinsler of the Detroit Tigers, Evan Longoria of the Tampa Bay Rays, Dustin Pedroia of the Boston Red Sox, Michael Saunders of the Toronto Blue Jays and George Springer of the Houston Astros. Over in the National League the five are Brandon Belt of the San Francisco Giants, Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers, Jake Lamb of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Starling Marte of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Trevor Story of the Colorado Rockies. Who do you got for the last spot in each league?

The Big Jack Follow me on Twitter!

The Podcast Now on Tune In Radio!  Apple users can download us straight to the Podcast App!

Reds win

Posted: July 5, 2016 by Daniel Kupres in baseball, Minor League Baseball, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio
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The Cubs bounced back after being swept by the Mets, coming back to dominate the Reds yesterday, 10 to 4.  John Lackey heads to the mound hoping to improve to 8 and 4 against southpaw Brandon Finnegan.  However, it wouldn’t be that kind of day for Lackey as he’d get the loss in 6 full innings.  

It would start off bad for John in the first with a 1 out walk to Billy Hamilton who steals 2cd.  Then walks Joey Votto.  With Jay Bruce at the plate, a passed ball credited to David Ross allows Bily to score the 1st run with Votto to 3rd.  Bruce would also reach on a walk.   Both Jay’s score on Brandon Phillips 2 out line drive to left but the Cubs get Bruce out on the throw to 3rd.  Reds 2-0.

In the top of the 2cd, with Eugenio Suarez on 1st, Finnegan forces him out at 2cd but he scores on Zach Cozart’s home run to left center.  They score yet again with 2 outs in the top of the 3rd when Ramon Cabrera doubles to right scoring Suarez.  The 6th run comes in the top of the 4th after Zach Cozart scores on a sac fly by Joey Votto.  

The Cubs would score in the 3rd with 3 home runs.  2 would be solo home runs by Javier Baez and Kris Bryant.  Anthony Rizzo would walk and score on Addison Russell’s 10th home run of the year.  Russell would smack his 11th home run of the year and second of the day in the bottom of the 5th.  Finnegan wouldn’t make it to the 6th as Lackey did but he leaves with the win opportunity.  After 5, it’s Reds 6, Cubs 5.

The top of the 7th would see the Reds add to thier lead with Travis Wood at the mound.  He gives up a double to Billy and scores on Votto’s double to left.  Reds 7, Cubs 5.   

The top of the 9th, Maddon would bring in Pedro Strop enter the game and get the first out but walks Joey Votto who comes home on Jay Bruce’s 18th home run of the year.  Tony Cingrani enters the bottom of the 9th and mows through Bryant, Rizzo and Contreras to end the game with the Reds winning 9 to 5.  

Tomorrow is the rubber match, here’s to the Cubs taking the series.  

Go Cubs Go!

Dan the Man

The Podcast now on Tunein.com, Download the app today and follow us or Apple users can download us in the Podcast app today!

Cubs Bounce Back

Posted: July 4, 2016 by Daniel Kupres in baseball, fantasy, Minor League Baseball, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio
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We start the second half half of the season in Wrigley Filed with the Cubs taking on the Cincinnati Reds with Kyle Hendricks heading to the mound taking on Cody Reed looking for his first win of the season.  Kyle would go 5 and 1/3 innings giving up only  4 hits and his first and only run in the 6th inning after he is taken out out of the games with two men on.  Carl Edwards, Jr enters the game to get Adam Duvall to flyout scoring Joey Votto credited to Kyle.  Carl would close out the 6th which would end his time in the game.

The Cubs bounce back after being swept by the Mets early on Independence Day.  Kris Bryant receives a one out walk and Wilson Contreras is hit with 2 outs.  Addison Russell sends a line drive to left scoring Bryant.  Then Jason Heyward sends his own 2 out line drive to left scoring 2 more runs.  The Reds decide to intentionally walk Cubs rookie Jeimer Candelario to get to Hendricks who strikes out.  Cubs 3-0.

In the 2cd, Javier Baez would reach with 1 out on a fielding error by Brandon Phillips.  Kris Bryant drives him home with his 24th home run of the season.  Wilson Contreras launches his 5th home run of the season.  Reed gets out of the inning, but the Cubs are up 6-0.

The 4th inning would see Baez singling on 1 out and moves to second on Bryant’s walk.  Antony Rizzo would move them both up by getting hit.  Contreras’s ground ball would force Baez out at home.  With bases loaded, Addison would send a sharp ground ball to third that goes through his legs after hitting his glove for an error scoring Bryant and Rizzo.  Cubs 8-0.

Josh Smith enters the 6th inning giving up a leadoff single to Rizzo who scores on Russell’s 9th home run of the season.  Blake Wood enters the games to give up a single but gets out of the inning.

Travis Wood enters the game in the 7th and gets the 1st 2 outs but gives up a single to Ivan De Jesus and then a home run to Zack Cozart and a solo home run to Eugenio Suarez to redeem himself on the earlier fielding error.

Pedro Strop enters the 8th giving up a single to Jay Bruce but gets out the inning quickly.  The bottom half would see Jason Heyward called out on a ground ball but with Maddon challenging, the call would be overturned.  With 1 out, Maddon would pinch hit for Strop with Jason Hammel?  Hammel gets a single but Russ Ohlendorf who entered the game for the Reds in the 8th  gets out of the inning.

Hector Rondon would enter the top of the 9th to finish the game and close out the game and gets the first batter to ground out on the 1st pitch.  De Jesus would smack a single to get on base.  On his 5th pitch of the inning, Zack Cozart would send a ground ball to Addison Russell to Javier Baez to Rizzo for a game ending double play.

Go Cubs Go!

Dan the Man

The Podcast now on Tunein.com, Download the app today and follow us or Apple users can download us in the Podcast app today!

Mets 3. Cubs 0

Posted: July 3, 2016 by Daniel Kupres in baseball, Minor League Baseball, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio
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We are just about half way through the season and Jake Arrieta is seeking lucky number 13 against Bartolo Colon as the Cubs are looking to split the series.  Jake would not start off the he would like walking rookie Brandon Nimmo.  Neil Walker would step in the box and launch his 15th home run of the season putting the Mets up by 2 after the 1st.  Yoenis Cespedes would double but Jake gets out of the inning.  Jake bounces back striking out the first batter in the second and retiring all 3 batters.

The Cubs would get the best of Colon in the top of the 4th, with a lead off single by Kris Bryant who makes it home to tie the game at 2 with Anthony Rizzo’s 20th home run of the season.

Jake would run into trouble again in the 4th, giving up a lead off single to to Asdrubal Cabrera then walks De Aza.  Two men on, one out for Travis d’Arnaud who sends a shallow pop up to kid center that gets passed Baez and drops in between all fielders to score Cabrera and De Aza.

He would get the first batter in the top of the 6th out but gives up back to back singles to Alejandro De Aza and Travis d’Arnaud.  That would be enough for Maddon as he brings Travis Wood in to finish the inning for Arrieta.

Erik Goeddel would enter the game in the 7th and gets the first 2 batters out but gives up a solo home run to Bem Zobrist to bring the Cubs with in 1.

After the 7th, both bullpens would stop each team from adding any more runs, even worse for the Cubs, no runs.  Jeurys Familia would grab his 28th save of the season, moving the Mets closer to sweeping the Cubs, just like last years post season.

Go Cubs Go!

Dan the Man

The Podcast now on Tunein.com, Download the app today and follow us or Apple users can download us in the Podcast app today!

How Was Your Week?

Posted: July 2, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, hockey, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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NBA free agency kicked of yesterday (July 1st) and to say the least it was Lin-sanity. I meant insanity even though Jeremy Lin was one of the players to verbal agree to a contract. None of these deals can become official until July 7th and you wonder if there will be another DeAndre Jordan moment like last season. In case you forgot what happened with Jordan he agreed verbally to a contract with the Dallas Mavericks, but after a visit from former team the Los Angeles Clippers he changed his mind and ended up resigning with them.

 With the salary cap going up to close to $93 million per team it seems like everyone who got a contract yesterday was overpaid, but it just seems that’s how it’s going to go in the NBA. I believe the minimum salary total a team can have is $83 million; so there are teams scrambling just to make that number. Out of all of the signings yesterday the two biggest names to come off the board may have both ended up with the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizzlies resigned their point guard Mike Conley to a 5-year $153 million dollar deal. They also agreed with free agent Chandler Parsons formerly of the Mavericks to a 4-year $94 million dollar deal. 

Looking at those contract numbers what are players like LeBron James or Kevin Durant going to get when they sign with a team. There have also been reports that Dwayne Wade wants a contract worth $20 plus million a season and looking at the contracts that where handed out that shouldn’t be a problem; even if that contract isn’t with the Miami Heat.

 The new television contract the NBA signed with ESPN/TNT has really put more money into the game. The salary cap is due to go up over $100 million next season; so we may go through something just like this again.

 Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck just signed a new contract this week. Luck got a 6-year deal worth $140 million dollars. There where two deals signed yesterday worth more in total than Luck’s and there where  9 players signed to contract who will make more per season than Luck does. Now Luck is in the top tier of quarterbacks in the NFL; I’m not sure if some of the guys who where signed to these huge deals yesterday are in the top tier of their positions in the NBA. I’ll be very interested to see what kind of deal the Cleveland Cavaliers end up giving James and just what kind of money it’s going to take for Durant to sign with a team. I guess if you’re a parent with a young son who hasn’t found a sport he likes basketball might be the way too go.

Speaking of Durant; he has met with 3 of the 6 teams he had planned to meet with. His current or possible former team the Oklahoma City Thunder had the first meeting with him. After that meeting, there where reports that said there was a 90% chance that Durant would resign with Oklahoma City. Then Durant met with the Golden State Warriors. Golden State had there owner Joe Lacob, General Manager Bob Myers, head coach Steve Kerr as well as Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala at the meeting with Durant. Golden State’s meeting with Durant ran longer than it was scheduled to and that caused NBA insiders to report that the Warriors where now the front runner to sign Durant. 

Yesterday it was the Los Angeles Clippers turn to meet with Durant  and they made a four hour presentation to him. The Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, Coach Doc Rivers and front-office executives Lawrence Frank and Dave Wohl attended the meeting along with star players Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. Point guard Chris Paul could not make it because of a scheduling conflict with his vacation in Spain but had spoken with Durant about his hopes of becoming teammates. Durant is still scheduled to sit down with the San Antonio Spurs, Boston Celtics, Miami Heat and the Thunder a second time before reaching his decision next week.

There hasn’t been much talk or any meetings involving where LeBron may play next season. It appears as everyone is convinced that he’ll resign with Cleveland. Remember Cleveland can offer James more money than any other team can and that appears to be what James is interested in right now. The only real question coming up regarding James was a tweet he sent out congratulating Matthew Dellavedova on his new contract with the Milwaukee Bucks. Was James unaware that Dellavedova was a restricted free agent and that the Cavaliers have a right to match Milwaukee’s offer or was he implying that Cleveland won’t match the offer to Dellavedova. Of course given the fact the James is pretty much the ipso facto general manger of the Cavaliers you’d think Dellavedova will be a former James teammate.

July 1st also meant that NHL teams could begin signing unrestricted free agents and even with Steven Stamkos off the board there where sign quite a few players signing with teams. Stamkos received an 8-year deal worth $8.5 million annually from the Tampa Bay Lighting before he ever reached free agency. Besides Stamkos the Lighting also signed defenseman Victor Hedman to an 8-year $63 million dollar deal. Some of the other bigger free agent goal scores signed yesterday as well. Milan Lucic signed a 7-year $42 million dollar deal with the Edmonton Oilers. Kyle Okposo got the same contract as Lucic did, but from the Buffalo Sabres. Loui Eriksson got a 6-year $36 million dollar deal from the Vancouver Canucks while Frans Nielsen got 6 years and $31.5 million to join the Detroit Red Wings. For us locally in Chicago the Blackhawks did sign defenseman Brian Campbeel for 1-year at $2.25 million dollars, but they saw Andrew Ladd leave for the New York Islanders on a 7-year $38.5 million dollar deal.

There are still plenty of NHL and NBA free agents out there. Did you like the moves your team made? Or where they one of the teams that didn’t make any moves yet?

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