Posts Tagged ‘Chicago Cubs’

WCUB in Cincinnati!

Posted: April 21, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, sports, Sports Time Radio
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Jake Arreita comes into this game trying to preserve his lossless record and the boys “Trying not to Suck” would help him tremendously against left hander Brandon Finnegan.  Dexter Fowler would lead off the game continuing his hot streak with a double. Heyward would would strikeout but Kris Bryant would send a line drive to left knocking in his third home run of the season.  Finnegan would get through the first but would give up a lead off home run to Ben Zobrist. David Ross and Jake Arrieta would single but Ross would score on a force out by Fowler. The second inning would end with the Cubs up 4-0.

In the fourth, David Ross would walk and reach third on an Arrieta single up the middle.  The throw to third would be backed up by Finnegan but his wild throw to first trying to catch Arrieta would score Ross putting the Cubs up 5-0.

David Ross would lead off the top of the sixth with a line drive to right field for his first homer of the season.  Fowler would reach on a walk and move over to second on a single by Kris Bryant.  Anthony Rizzo would step to the plate belting his fifth home run of the season!  Reds pitcher Tim Melville would end up making it through the sixth but not with out giving up four runs, putting the Cubs up 9-0.

Drew Hayes would come into the seventh getting Ross to ground out but he’d end walking Arrieta.  Fowler would single, then Heyward would walk ,setting up Kris Bryant with the bases loaded.  He would do exactly what every Cubs fan wanted… Grand Slam to right field or as the MLB would refer to it this season, “Papa Slam!” Tyler Holt would come into the eighth getting the only 1-2-3 inning for the Reds.  Blake Wood started off the ninth with two groundouts to Jake & Dexter but would give up singles to Heyward & Bryant.  Rizzo would reach first on a pass ball, dropped third strike.  Matt Szczur would come into the ninth and send a line drive to right scoring Jason Heyward.  Zobrist would smack his fourth double of the season, scoring both Bryant and Rizzo!  Russell would end the inning and be the only one to go hitless.

Saving the best for last, Jake Arrieta would walk Jay Bruce in the second, Eugenio Suarez in the fourth, Scott Schebler in the sixth and to lead off the ninth.  On his 119 pitch he would get Suarez to pop up to second base, throwing his second no hitter in 11 months!

According to Jake it was “Business as usual!”

@DanZeeeMan

 

 

 

 

Rivalry tied @1

Posted: April 19, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, sports, Sports Time Radio
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Game two features 1-0 Jason Hammel vs Jamie Garcia who is also 1-0.   Jamie would open the game with a walk to Dexter Fowler who would be forced out on a ground ball to Ruben Tejada.  He would the. Give up a single to Kris Bryant but would get out of the inning.  Hammel would start with a 1-2-3 inning but would give up a lead off single to Matt Adams to start the second and one to Randal Grichuk.  Adams would be caught stealing third with Yadier Molina at bat.  He would end up launching what would appear to be a home run to Soler, who would run into the wall missing the catch, giving Molina a triple, scoring Grichuk.  Both men would have easy third innings.

Top of the fourth, Garcia would load the bases, walking Soler and giving singles to Ben Zobrist and Miguel Montero.  With two outs and bases loaded, Hammel would get to the plate, smacking a ground ball in between short and third, scoring two runs but he’d get Jason Heyward out on a called third strike.  Seung Hwan Oh would come into the sixth getting a 1-2-3 inning.  Hammel would have a perfect bottom half of the sixth.

Kevin Siegrist would come into the seventh hitting Javier Baez but would be overturned after managers review. He would then strike out. Dexter Fowler would double but both Heyward and Kris Bryant would fly out.  Adam Warren would come into the botaztom half of the seventh

Former Red, Jonathan Broxton would get into a littl trouble but would get out of the inning.  Travis Wood would give up a lead off single in the bottom of the eighth and that would be all she wrote and Pedro Strop would face Jeremy Hazelbaker and the next two batters to get out of the eighth.

#67 Matt Bowman would come into the top of the ninth and get the Cubbies out 1-2-3.  Hector Rondon would come into the bottom of the ninth for his possible to third save of the season. He would give up a lead off single to Yadier Molina and would get th next two batters to fly out and then get a huge strikeout to close out the series and make this a 1-1 series.

@danzeeeman

NLCS:  Giants v Cubs?

Posted: April 17, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, post season, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Hey there, Chicago!
I relish the opportunity to wax on about the San Francisco Giants here on SportsTimeRadio because simply put, the Giants and your Chicago Cubs are destined to meet in October. At least put it this way, the Giants will be there and I expect you’d back that up with a resounding, “Don’t you worry about our Cubs.”
First off, I’m sorry to see Kyle Schwarber go down especially the way the whole play unfolded. San Francisco lost Hunter Pence the first week of spring training last year and the team never fully recovered. Of course, Pence means much to the soul of the Giants but still, here’s hoping that Schwarber is back on the diamond in the most timely of manners. No team nor its fans wants to get a leg up on another club through injury.
Looking at the Cubs’ complete roster though, with its depth, leaves me to believe that my opening statement is accurate: The Giants and Cubs will compete against one another in the 2016 playoffs. The last time that happened was in 1989, when San Francisco prevailed four games to one, only to lose to the Oakland A’s in the infamous Earthquake Series.
I first appeared on this show in November of 2014, when Dan called to ask about my “Dynasty” piece on the Giants. I had written that three titles in five years, while stellar, did not make a dynasty because the rule of thumb is continuous success over a decade. That’s ten years, not five.
Since then I have appeared every few weeks when there are some lively topics to bat around, not so often when there isn’t much going on. When Pablo Sandoval was in the news only a year ago in December, with all of his palaver about wanting a new challenge in Boston, I was chiming in with my nickel’s worth routinely. I see now that the rotund one is back in the news with his recent disharmony with Boston management.
I feel bad for The Panda because he was so easy to like, but like the tragic hero, he has a flaw. His flaw is not so much the excess weight he carries around, but the fact that he refuses to acknowledge that the weight is the albatross that keeps him so locked into his decline.
For the Giants, of course, it meant that Matt Duffy was able to step right into the slot and not only make fans forget Pablo, but introduce us to “The DuffMan!” Duffy is now in his second season and fits in well with the all home-grown Giants infield.
Most recently, the decision to keep the red-hot Trevor Brown over Andrew Susac as Buster Posey’s back-up behind the dish, has paid off handsomely. The UCLA grad from Newhall, California has produced an early line of .385/1.154/1.538; in thirteen at-bats, the rookie has five hits, three of them big flies. 
The Giants like Posey’s offensive numbers much more when he is playing first, but they also like those three world series rings that Posey has delivered. Buster wasn’t playing first base when his three-time underdog Giants beat some pretty impressive American League powers to acquire their three rings.
I imagine there are Cubs fans who are keeping an eye on Jeff Samardzija for a variety of reasons. Though The Shark may have worn out his welcome in the home town, he has been embraced by the Giants, who have a reputation for rolling out the red carpet for new arrivals. It doesn’t hurt that Samardzija will be pitching half his games at AT&T Park, with one of the best pitching coaches in the game in Dave Righetti.
The Cubs have been ranked number one amongst MLB’s elite since the first preseason power polls were released. Nothing has occurred to change that. The Giants have hovered somewhere in the middle of the top-ten so far.
I imagine both teams are exactly where they would like to be. I know the Giants relish being the underdog and it still amazes/amuses me that they frequently get so little respect. 
Respect is a commodity that must be earned and the Giants have three recent titles in their resume that assures me they have the necessary credentials. Recent success does not guarantee continued success, but it is better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. 
See you next time.
Mark 

John 2.21; Not enough!

Posted: April 17, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, sports, Sports Time Radio
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PIn the series finale between the Chicago Cubs and the Colorado Rockies, John Lester would take on Tyler Chatwood, a strikeout pitcher.  Lester would start off the game, striking out former Cub, DJ LeMahieu but would give up an early single tomTrevor Story.  He would get caught stealing and Carlos Gonzalez would ground out to Rizzo.  Chatwood would retire the top three hitters for the Cubs, 1-2-3. Both pictures would make it through three innings, including Chatwood being able to strikeout the side in the bottom of the ninth, striking out the side.   Lester would answer that by striking out the first two batters in the top of the fourth but would give up a two out home run to Nolan Arenado.  He would make it through 7 1/3 innings before getting pulled after giving up a walk to Tony Wolters.  Adam Warren would replace Lester and would close out the eighth.  Justin Grimm would come into the ninth striking out Story and Cargo but just like Lester in the fourth, he’d give up a solo home run to Nolan Arenado, except he would strikeout Gerardo Parra to close the ninth.  For the Rockies, former Tampa Bay Ray, Jake McGee would come into the game, for a save.  Dexter Fowler would ground out but Jason Heyward would knock a double to right.  With two outs, McGee would hit Anthony Rizzo, putting two man on and Kris Bryant up to the plate.  Of course, everyone at Wrigleyville is thinking walk off Home Run!  The first pitch sends a rocket foul to left.  With a 1-2 count, pitchers count, McGee would get Bryant to go down swinging and the Rockies would take the series 2 – 1.

Today, was a pitchers duel, from the starters to the bullpens.  The Rockies would strikeout fourteen times, where the Cubs only nine times.  Between both teams there were only eight hits.  This duel in front of 41,678 only lasted two hours and thirty eight minutes.  Of course not that great as a Cubs fan but a baseball enthusiasts dream game.  Tomorrow the Cubs head to St Louis for a three game series, for the season opener of one of the top three biggest rivalries in the MLB.

@danzeeeman

The Podcast

Scoring not Lackey-ing in Wrigleyville

Posted: April 13, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, Minor League Baseball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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What can I say, other than I haven’t seen the Cubs this good in April since ever in my life??? 

John Lackey gets off to a rough start with a leadoff double to Billy  Hamilton, he would move over to third and then score on a sac fly by Jay Bruce to put the Reds up 1-0.  He would settle down and hold the Reds through six but would be broken up by a leadoff triple to center that Fowler completely miss judged to be a homer run by Scott Schebler who would score on a ground out by Ivan De Jesus. 

Dexter Fowler would lead off the Cubs hitting with his 3rd double of the season, Zobrist would walk.  While Rizzo stood at the plate, both men would advance with stolen bases.  Rizzo would reach on a base on balls as well as Bryant, getting the Cubs first run of the night.  Montero would single to left, bringing in Zobrist.  Rizzo would score on a sac fly by Soler to left.  Addison Russell would bring in Bryant on a soft hit to right.  Lackey would help himself with a RBI single. Alfredo Simon would be pulled after a 49 pitch first inning with 2 outs.  Dan Straily would come in and load the bases by hiting Fowler but would get out of the first with Heyward’s second strikeout of the night.  Straily would have a 1-2-3 second but would start the third by walking Montero.  Soler would single and the bases would get loaded with a walk to Russell.  Lackey & Fowler would strikeout but Heyward would get his first hit with two RBI’s. 7-1 at the end of three.  Chris Brysnt would get his first home run of the season in the eighth by the third pitcher of the night, Keyvius Sampson, who would walk Montero and allow him to score on a wild pitch.  At the end of four, the Cubs up 9-1. 

After 6 2/3 innings he would be replaced Trevor Cahill, who would end the inning. Clayton Richard would step into the eighth give up one hit but with no runs, maintains a 0 ERA. Neil Ramirez would come into the ninth to close out the Reds with two outs, he walks De Jesus, making this interesting but with a fly out to Fowler by catcher Tucker Barnhart,  would be all she wrote for Cincinatti and the Cubs win 9-2. 

The series will wrap up tommorow evening and then the Rockies will be in town for the weekend before the Cubs head to St Louis to start a seven games road series ending in Cincinatti.  

#AnyoneAnytime

#ItsOnlyApril

@danzeeeman
@sportstimeradio

Cubs heat up the desert!

Posted: April 8, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The Cubs open a four game series in the valley of the sun with John Lackey getting the nod in game 3 of 162.  He doesn’t get off to the best start of the season or donning the Cubbie Blue with a first pitch leadoff home run to former Milwaukee Brewer Jean Segura.  He’s able to strikeout Nick Ahmed but walked Paul Goldschmidt and gave up a double to David Peralta.  It was Jake Lamb’s single to center that put them up 3-0.  In the bottom of the second, the Cubs would suffer their first injury with Kyle Schwarber and Dexter Fowler colliding in center allowing Segura his second home run of the night but this one scored as inside the park.  In the third, he would find himself in trouble again, giving up a triple to Peralta that scores Goldschmidt.  Peralta would then score on a sac fly to left by Lamb.  Lackey would make it through the 4th, 5th & 6th with out anymore damage. He would end up with a W but also a 9.00.  My two biggest questions coming into this season were Lackey and the bullpen.  The seven-eight-nine, Pedro Strop, Travis Wood & Hector Rondon would combine for six strikeouts giving up no runs.  I think the biggest question mark will remain with Lackey, but maybe he just needs time to catch s groove.  

He did get his first win of the season but had huge help from his offense. Ruby De La Rosa would get out of the first but wouldn’t make it passed  4 innings giving up 6 hits and 6 earned runs.  First he hit Rizzo, gave up a double to Bryant, walked Kyle and with one out gives up a 2 RBI single to Addison Russell.  After the collision in center, Bryant would move to left and Tommy La Stella would take over at third.  

In the third Heyward would reach on a single to right and would end scoring due to Rizzo’s sharp ground ball to center putting Zobrist at third.  He would end up scoring after Bryant popped out to Wellington Castillo and a bad throw to second allowing Rizzo to move to third.  Russell would start off the fourth with a double to right and scored on a triple by Fowler to right.  Ruby would walk Heyward and that would be all she wrote.  Jake Barrett would replace him with no more luck.  Fowler would score on a wild pitch.  After walking Zobrist, Rizzo would triple bringing in two more runs.  Bryant would single to third and then try to advance on a throwing error by Yasmani Thomas.  He was called out at second but it was overturned with a challenge by Maddon.  Rizzo would score.  After 4 it was 9-6 Cubs!

Kyle Drabek would come into the game for Arizona in the 5th would get into a little trouble but was able to make it through 6 only to be pulled in the seventh after walking Russell and giving up a single to pinch hitter Matt Szczur. Fowler would lay down a bunt to score Matt but Andrew Chafin would make it through the 7th.  

Strop would replace Lackey in the seventh, putting Bryant back at third and benching La Stella, with Szczur staying in left.  Randall Delgado would make it through the eighth unscathed for the Diamondbacks but wouldn’t get so lucky in the ninth.  He would walk Fowler, give up a single to Heyward, Zobrist would smack an rbi double to set up Rizzo for a three-run homer to right field.  He was able to close out the ninth but not before giving up a single to Bryant.  The Cubs continue thier domination at the plate and go 3-0 on the season. 

Schwarber’s x-Ray’s would come back with a sprained ankle.  Just waiting to hear back on his MRI.  

@DanZeeeMan

Cubs Wins! Cubs Win!

Posted: April 5, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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For anyone not paying attention, Major League Baseball had its season premiere Sunday April 3 and it didn’t start in Cinncinatti.  This year it was in Pittsburgh, who started off strong, just like the division rivals and everyone’s favorite to win the World Series, the Chicago Cubs.  

They started off strong in Anahiem  with a Dexter Fowler double to right, who scored on a ground ball to Mike Trout by Anthony Rizzo. Fowler would go on to collect two more singles and another run on a ground ball to short in the top of the 7th by Kris Bryant, while Rizzo would round the bases in the fourth, scoring on a single by Jorge Soler. 

The biggest surprise of the night, especially for me would have to be Miguel Montero.  If you were listening today on Sports Time Radio, I told the Big Jack that I loved the lineup put together by Joel Maddon besides the Catcher spot and to chalk it up as outs.  Now he must have been listening because he made me eat my words. He went 2 for 5 with a single in the fourth, scoring Kris Bryant, whose patience paid off by reaching first on a walk.  Miguel would go on to send a two run blast to right field in the sixth, giving Soler his second Run of the night and taking the honor as the first Cub to hit a home run for the 2016 season.  

The last of the action came in the top of the ninth with the top of the order.  Fowler would reach on a walk and then pushed over to third on a Ben Zobrist single to right. He would move over to second on another walk by Bryant.  Matt Szczur, who was a defensive substitution for Kyle Shwarber, who went 0-4 with two strikeouts, in the bottom of the seventh came up to bat in the ninth, clearing the bases with a double to left.  This secured the win for the Cubs at 9-0.  

Jake Arrieta showed why he was the 2015 Cy Young Award recipient, holding the Los Angeles Angels of Anahiem to two hits and no runs through 7 striking out 6 with only 1 base on balls.  Solid outing for Jake but we would see Justin Grimm come into the game in the eighth, giving up a lead off double to C. J. Cron but with the help of some great defense by Heyward, Rizzo, Chris Bryant & Addison Russell, the side is retired with no damage.  Travis Wood came into the game in the bottom of the ninth with a huge lead but was able to retire the Angels in order, giving the Cubss they’re first W of the year.  

They were able to score a lot of runs last night, which secured the win but for me, I’d like to see less than 12 strikeouts per game but as long as they win, no one is going to care how often they strikeout.  Game 1 of 162 and it started off strong!

@DanZeeeMan

How was your week

Posted: April 2, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Even though it is currently snowing where I live the Major League Baseball season starts tomorrow (Sunday) for 6 teams. The season starts with the St. Louis Cardinals at the Pittsburgh Pirates. Adam Wainwright starts for St. Louis while Francisco Liriano gets the opening day start for Pittsburgh. The 2nd game features the Toronto Blue Jays at the Tampa Bay Rays. Marcus Stroman makes the start for the Blue Jays and it will be Chris Archer starting for Tampa Bay. The final game of the day is a World Series rematch as the New York Mets visit the Kansas City Royals. Matt Harvey is starting for the Mets while Edison Volquez is the Royals opening day stater.

As we always do, we’ve made our selection on which teams and player will have success this season. Here’s what we’ve picked for the 2016 baseball season.

We’ll start in the American League East. I have 1st New York Yankees 2nd Toronto Blue Jays 3rd Boston Red Sox 4th Tampa Bay Rays 5th Baltimore Orioles.

Dan the Man has 1st Blue Jays 2nd Yankees 3rd Red Sox 4th Rays 5th Orioles.

Mr. Fantasy has 1st Blue Jays 2nd Red Sox 3rd Yankees 4th Orioles 5th Rays

Schuamburg Stu has 1st Blue Jays 2nd Yankees 3rd Rays 4th Red Sox 5th Orioles.

In the A.L. Central I have 1st Kansas City Royals 2nd Chicago White Sox 3rd Detroit Tigers 4th Cleveland Indians 5th Minnesota Twins.

Dan the Man has 1st Royals 2nd White Sox 3rd Tigers 4th Twins 5th Indians.

Mr. Fantasy has 1st White Sox 2nd Tigers 3rd Royals 4th Indians 5th Twins.

Schaumburg Stu has 1st Royals 2nd Indians 3rd Twins 4th Tigers 5th White Sox.

In the A.L. West I have 1st Texas Rangers 2nd Seattle Mariners 3rd Houston Astros 4th Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 5th Oakland A’s.

Dan the Man has 1st Rangers 2nd Asttos 3rd Mariners 4th Angels 5th A’s.

Mr. Fantasy has 1st Astros 2nd Rangers 3rd Mariners 4th Angels 5th A’s

Schaumburg Stu has 1st Astros 2nd Rangers 3rd Angels 4th Mariners 5th A’s.

My A.L. wild card teams are the White Sox and the Mariners. Dan the Man has the Astros and the Yankees. Mr, Fantasy has the Red Sox and the rangers while Schaumburg Stu is going with the Yankees and the Rangers.

We’ll move into the National League starting in the East. I have 1st Washington nationals 2nd New York Mets 3rd Miami Marlins 4th Atlanta Braves 5th Philadelphia Phillies.

Dan the Man has 1st Nationals 2nd Mets 3rd Marlins 4th Braves 5th Phillies.

Mr. Fantasy has 1st Mets 2nd nationals 3rd Marlins 4th Braves 5th Phillies.

Schaumburg Stu has 1st Mets 2nd Nationals 3rd Marlins 4th Braves 5th Phillies.

In the N.L. Central I have 1st St. Louis cardinals 2nd Chicago Cubs 3rd Pittsburgh Pirates 4th Cincinnati Reds 5th Milwaukee Brewers.

Dan the Man has 1st Cubs 2nd Cardinals 3rd Pirates 4th Brewers 5th Reds.

Mr. Fantasy has 1st Cardinals 2nd Pirates 3rd Cubs 4th Reds 5th Brewers.

Schaumburg Stu has 1st Cubs 2nd Pirates 3rd Cardinals 4th Reds 5th Brewers.

In the N.L. West I have 1st San Francisco Giants 2nd Arizona Diamondbacks 3rd Los Angeles Dodgers 4th Colorado Rockies 5th San Diego Padres.

Dan the Man has 1st Giants 2nd Diamondbacks 3rd Dodgers 4th Padres 5th Rockies.

Mr. Fantasy has 1st Giants 2nd Dodgers 3rd Diamondbacks 4th Rockies 5th Padres.

Schaumburg Stu has 1st Giants 2nd Diamondbacks 3rd Dodgers 4th Padres 5th Rockies.

My N.L. wild card teams are the Mets and the Cubs. Dan the Man has the Mets and the Diamondbacks. Mr Fantasy has the Pirates and the Diamondbacks and Schaumburg Stu has the Pirates and the Nationals.

In the World Series I have the Rangers beating the Nationals. Dam the Man has the Giants beating the Astros. Mr. Fantasy also has the Giants beating the Adtros and Schaumburg Stu has the Cubs beating the Astros.

We also made our picks for some individual awards. For Manager of the Year I have Robin Ventura (White Sox) in the A.L. and Bruce Bochy (Giants) in the N.L. Dan the Man has Jeff Bannister (Rangers) in the A.L. and Terry Collins (Mets) in the N.L. Mr. Fantasy has John Farrell (Red Sox) in the A.L. and Bruce Bochy (Giants) in the N.L. Schaumburg Stu has A.J. Hinch (Astros) in the A.L. and Joe Maddon (Cubs) in the N.L.

For Rookie of the Yaer I went with Jose Berrios (Twins) in the A.L. and Orlando Arcia (Brewers) in the N.L. Dan the Man has Alex Bregman (Astros) in the A.L. and Corey Seager (Dodgers) in the N.L. Mr. Fantasy has Byron Buxton (Twins) in the A.L. and Steven Matz (Mets) in the N.L. Schaumburg Stu has Blake Snell (Rays) in the A.L> and Corey Seager (Dodgers) in the N.l.

For the Cy Young I have Chris Sale (White Sox) in the A.L. and Adam Wainwright (St. Louis) in the N.L. Dan the Man has Dallas Keuchel (Astros) in the A.L. and Zack Greinke (Diamondbacks) in the N.L. Mr. Fantasy has Chris Sale (White Sox) A.L. and Michael Wacha (St. Louis) in the N.L. Schaumburg Stu has David Price (Red Sox) in the A.L. and Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers) in the N.L.

To wrap this up our Most Valuable Player picks are. You’ll see a bit of a theme with the N.l. pick. I have Lorenzo Cain (Royals) in the A.L. and Hunter Pence (Giants) N.L. Dan the Man has Nelson Cruz (Mariners) in the A.l. and Paul Goldschmidt (Diamondbacks) in the N.L. Mr. Fantasy has Carlos Correa (Astros) in the A.L. and Paul Goldschmidt (Diamondbacks) in the N.L. Schaumburg Stu is going with Mike Trout (Angels) in the A.L. and yes you guessed right Paul Goldschmidt (Diamondbacks) in the N.L.

There you go; good, bad or indifferent our picks for the 2016 baseball season. Do you agree? Disagree? or did we clearly miss a player or a team that you think we should’ve had winning an award or a division or even the World Series let us know. You can leave a comment here or on Twitter @SportsTimeRadio or go over to SportsTimeRadio.com and let us know what you think.

You can listen to Sports Time Radio on BlogTalkRadio.com You can also find me on Twitter @Burketime as well as Dan the Man @DanZeeeMan along with Mr. Fantasy @MrFanofSports

How was your week

Posted: March 26, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, College Basketball, sports, Uncategorized
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If you’re a fan of the NBA or maybe just a basketball fan or how about just a fan of the Cleveland Cavaliers. I have to ask you; is this LeBron James media circus good for your team? There have been the passive aggressive tweets that James has sent out that makes it seem like he doesn’t want to play for the Cavaliers after this season. Then there was more social media drama when James stopped following the Cavaliers on there Twitter and Instagram accounts. James used the excuse that he was getting into “playoff mode’ as his reasoning for doing this. Then James came out and said that he’d like to put a “Super team” together wit his friends Carmelo Anthony, Dwayne Wade and Chris Paul. And then the worst one of all to me is the Cavaliers went out on Thursday night and lost to the Brooklyn Nets 104-95. Yes you read that right the Brooklyn Nets. Now James actually had a very good game against the Nets. James shot 13 for 16 from the field on the night. He made 1 of the 2 3-pointers he took; while making 3 of his 4 free throws he took for a total of 30 points. James also had 6 rebounds; handed out 5 assists and had a steal in the game. If you take James shooting totals away from the rest of the Cavaliers that night they where 23 of 73 (31.5%) from the field. Now even with that loss to the Nets the Cavaliers are 52-21 and barring a complete collapse in their final 10 games they’ll be the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference. 4 of the Cavaliers remaining games are at home; so that means there’s 6 games on the road, but none of the games are against what you’d describe as top tier competition. The Cavaliers face the New York Knicks tonight in New York, but the only teams they’ll face that are in the playoffs right now are the Houston Rockets on March 29th, the Atlanta Hawks twice on April 1st and April 11th and they play the Indiana Pacers on April 6th. So with the schedule the Cavaliers have they should be able to get their players rest if they decide to and still coast into the playoffs. While there might be a team that the Cavaliers run into in the Eastern Conference playoffs that might win a game or two in that series. Even with all of the LeBron James stuff going on. Is there really a team out there that could be a threat of actually winning a 7 game series against them? What would be interesting to me to find out is how the other Cavaliers feel about some of the stuff that James has been saying or doing, but none of them are going to say anything right now. Maybe will catch a break and when the season is over someone like J.R. Smith will come out and let the media know how he feels about what happened. Is there another player on the Cavaliers besides Smith that might actual come out and say something?

The NCAA men’s basketball tournament is down to the Elite 8. Now if you’ve listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast I did a bracket, but I also admitted I don’t know a whole lot about college basketball. If you remember I had Michigan State winning the tournament and they got beat in the 1st round. There’s always talk going into the tournament about the best conference and from the looks of the final eight teams left you’d have to say it’s the ACC. Out of the 8 teams left the ACC has 4 of them. You have long time conference members North Carolina and Virginia along with conference new comers Syracuse and Notre Dame. Now with the way the bracket happens to be set up this year only one of these teams can end up in the championship game. On Sunday out of the East bracket North Carolina who was a #1 seed faces #6 seeded Notre Dame. Also this Sunday out of the Midwest bracket Virginia who was also a #1 seed faces #10 seeded Syracuse. Now the winners of these games will meet in a Final 4 game for the right to play for the national championship. The ACC or Atlantic Coast Conference will set a record for money earned in a tournament. According to Darren Rovell each game played in this year’s tournament is worth $265,791. Through Friday night, ACC teams have earned 23 units, counting their Elite Eight games. They’ll earn another two from the Final Four, putting the total at 25 units. That’s where the conference will finish, because no units are awarded for the title game. The previous record for the most units earned in a single NCAA tournament was 24 by the Big East in 2009. The 25 units are worth at least $39.9 million. The ACC guaranteed itself at least $32.8 million from the 21 units it brought home in last year’s tournament. I’d have to guess as this information gets out we’ll start talking about players being paid again. While the ACC has dominated one side of the bracket; there are 4 other teams left. The South bracket and the West bracket went just as they where seeded. In the South bracket it will be #1 seeded Kansas against #2 seeded Villanova. Over in the West bracket we’ll see #1 seeded Oregon against #2 seeded Oklahoma. These two brackets may actually be the bigger surprise with the way they played out. Didn’t we hear at the start of the tournament about the parity in college basketball and none of the experts expected any bracket to go as it was seeded. How’s your bracket?

The Chicago Cubs got their first scare of spring training when Cy Young award winner Jake Arrieta had to leave his last start after just 1/3rd of an inning due to a blister. Arrieta left his Thursday start against the San Francisco Giants after giving up 5 runs and throwing 34 pitches. The Cubs have come out and said they’d be “cautious” with Arrieta, but Arrieta himself has come out and said he’d be ready for opening day on April 4th. The difficulty may be that Thursday was planned to be Arrieta’s long start of spring training. It was reported he’d throw 80 plus pitches in that game. Now with the blister issue will he be able to get himself stretched out for his opening day start. The Cubs seem to be just about everybody’s pick this season. If you don;t have them winning the World Series you probably at least have them there as the National League representative. If this blister is a recurring issue and Arrieta has to continue to leave starts early or possible miss some starts as the blister heals that Cubs pick might be in some trouble. Can the Cubs find Arrieta some extra work and get him ready for his opening day start or will that start and maybe another be his stretching out period for the season. It will be important to see if the blister issue happens again to Arrieta because he’s the best pitcher on the Cubs and not many teams go far when their best pitcher is having injury issues.

You can listen to Sports Time Radio on BlogTalkRadio.com

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: December 9, 2015 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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It’s tough for me to get to watch the Golden State Warriors with my work schedule unless they’re playing on the weekend. Luckily for me last night they had their game against the Indiana Pacers shown on NBA-TV; so I got to sit down and watch 3 quarters of the game. The Warriors actually struggled shooting the basketball early in the game before finding their shot and putting up a 44 point 1st quarter. Golden State had a 16 point lead after the 1st quarter 44-28. Golden State out scored Indiana 35-32 in the 2nd quarter for a 79-60 lead at halftime. Golden State came out after the half and added 9 points to their lead by out scoring the Pacers 32-23 in the 3rd quarter. Golden State had a 111-83 lead at the start of the 4th quarter and this is where I had to stop watching.  What I missed was the Pacers putting up a 40 point 4th quarter while Golden State only managed to score 20 points in the 4th quarter. While Indiana was able to take a big chunk out of the Warriors lead it was still an 8 point Golden State win 131-123 for their 23rd straight win to start the season.

Klay Thompson led Golden State in scoring with 39 points. Thompson went 13 of 21 from the field. Thompson picked up the bulk of his points from behind the 3-point line where he went 10 of 16 in the game. Stephen Curry had a double-double with 29 points and a team high 10 assists. Andrew Bogut also had a double-double for Golden State with 14 points and a team high 10 rebounds. Brandon Rush (13) and Festus Ezeli (12) also scored in double figures for Golden State. Golden State shot 44.4% from the 3-point line going 16-36.

Paul George led the Pacers in scoring with 33 points and also handed out a team high 6 assists. C.J. Miles added 24 points while George Hill and Chase Budinger (off the bench) scored 12 points apiece. Jordan Hill came off the Pacers bench to score 12 points while Solomon Hill grabbed 9 rebounds to lead Indiana. The Pacers also shot well from behind the 3-point line going 14 for 33 (42.4%) in the game.

Golden State is 5-0 on this road trip and 13-0 on the road which is a new record. They’re off until Friday when there road trip takes them to Boston to face the Celtics. They have a back to back over the weekend after Friday in Boston the warriors turn right around Saturday and face the Milwaukee Bucks to wrap up this road trip. Will one of these games see the end of the Golden State winning streak? Or will they return to California 25-0?

We’ve seen quite a bit of player movement during the baseball winter meetings in Nashville Tennessee and the meetings aren’t over. We’ve covered most of the teams moves on the Sports Time Radio podcast, but after we went of the air last night a couple of more deals where announced.

The Arizona Diamondbacks where finally able to work out a deal with the Atlanta Braves involving Shelby Miller. The Diamondbacks will send outfielder Ender Inciarte along with right handed pitcher Willie Blair and last years #1 overall pick shortstop Dansby Swanson to Atlanta. In return the Diamondbacks receive Miller and left handed pitcher Gabe Speier. The Braves where able to pick up and outfielder they seemed to have been looking for. They also got a couple of young prospects to work towards their goal of being a contending team when they open that new ballpark in 2017. The Diamondbacks add a young starter for their rotation that features the newly signed Zack Greinke and the returning Patrick Corbin. I’ve heard this question thrown out there a couple times after this deal was made so I’d like your answer. Are the Arizona Diamondbacks the best team in the National League West?

The other 2 deals made last night feature the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs turned out to be the surprise team in the Ben Zobrist free agent derby as he inked a 4 year $56 million dollar deal last night. Most if not all reports had the San Francisco Giants, New York Mets and the Washington Nationals being the main team interested in Zobrist services. With the signing of Zobrist the Cubs made a corresponding move by trading Starlin Castro to the New York Yankees for pitcher Adam Warren and infielder Brendan Ryan. Looking at this deal it appears that the Yankees real got the better of it and you have to wonder if the Cubs just wanted to ship Castro anywhere once they signed Zobrist. Don’t forget that I actually predicted last year that Castro would end up with the Yankees. Does it count a year late? The Yankees get a 3-time All-Star and a career .281 hitter who seems to have found his position at 2nd base. In return the Cubs get a journeyman infielder (Ryan) who’s a career .234 hitter and the right handed throwing Warren who is 13-15 over his 3 seasons in the majors, but does have a very good ERA of 3.39. Will the Cubs try to force Warren into their rotation or did they give up a quality player for a middle reliever?

There are a couple of deals we may see get done today. The Seattle Mariners are trying to make another deal as reports are they are very close to working out a deal with the Milwaukee Brewers for left handed hitting 1st baseman Adam Lind. I’ve also seen multiple reports that the Chicago White Sox are having “serious” discussions with the Oakland A’s on 3rd baseman Brett Lawrie. Maybe one or both of these deals get done or possible we get a free agent signing or two.

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast on BlogTalkRadio.com

You can also follow me on Twitter@Burketime

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