Posts Tagged ‘MLB’

White Sox still on track

Posted: February 25, 2019 by Daniel Kupres in baseball, sports
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As we all know by now Manny Machado signed with the San Diego Padres for 10 years at $300,000. The White Sox were allegedly the “runner up” until Manny came out and said that he always intended to go to San Diego. Was I surprised that he went there? No. Was I surprised he did not end up in Chicago? No.

The Big Jack and I had discussed in several occasions that Manny fit with both of these teams but we also had no reservations that he could fit with every team in the MLB with the exception of the Dodgers and Baltimore. The Dodgers have a young superstar short stop in Corey Seager and third base is locked with Justin Turner. I think it was plain fully obvious that he wasn’t returning to the Orioles.

Like I said, he would have fit well on the south side of Chicago, whether it was at short or third. The White Sox “did all the right things” with signing and trading family and friends that are in his inner circle. However, I think that was the bigger mistake rather than not signing Machado. Saturday morning as I listened to Chicago’s, the Score and Inside the Clubhouse, Bruce Levine, who covers the Sox & Cubs for the station, alleged that the White Sox offers was for 8 years at roughly $250,000.00 with options for the following two years and with incentives that could get him up to $350,000.00. He of course went with the guaranteed $300,000.00 that has an opt out after 5 years, which to me, the Padres better hope that he performs at high level where he chooses to opt out, otherwise they’ll be in the same boat as the Angels, Tigers and Mariners.

I unlike most White Sox fans and media, do not think the Sox dropped the ball one bit. Did they miss out? Currently, yes. But I have been a proponent of incentive based contracts. After watching what the Yankees had gone through and even now with the Tigers and Miggy’s contract, I have been a big believer in incentive based contracts. I’m all for players getting what they are worth but when a player is getting payed $20 million plus a year to essentially come off the bench, how does that help the team? It is a TEAM sport. It’s not tennis. It’s not Greco Roman wrestling. Even if the team just lets the player go, the team is still responsible for that contract.

I know what I am saying is not popular but I truly believe that the White Sox made the right decision. I know that this decision wasn’t easy to take but if you want to hear it directly from Rick Hahn himself, give his interview a listen from The Score.

@DanZeeeMan

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No Big Time Signing

Posted: January 22, 2019 by Daniel Kupres in baseball, fantasy, sports
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Okay, I am a day late but wasn’t a dollar short for parking on my commute this weekend. I was really hoping that by this weekend we would have the contracts/signings for Harper and Machado. But noooo!
My prediction is that he will go or stay in DC. Under Armour is headquartered there. I don’t think any team is going to match the supposed 10 year $300 million offer and if they get close, I’m positive the Nationals will counter to keep him. I know, I know but he’s posted on Instagram once a picture of he and Kris Bryant with #backtoback or what about the picture with him wearing a Chicago Bulls hat. He’s not coming to Chicago. I of course would like to see it just like everyone else here but it’s not happening. Tom Ricketts, despite the cancellation of the owners panel at the Cubs Convention shut down that topic as well as Joe Maddon. Cubs fans I ask, who gets left off this roster to make room for Harper? There’s a thousand different scenarios but he’s still not coming here. The one thing I found most interesting is the lack of positioning on behalf of the Scott Boras agency this year as opposed to last years off season. There has not been reports of Boras handing out a 75 page document on why you should sign Harper. The one team aside from the Nationals to be in position to sign Harper, the Dodgers. They opened up right field with the trade that sent Matt Kemp and Yasiel Puig to the Reds.
For me personally, his performance in the postseason was a real turnoff. What i saw was a guy swinging for his next contract and not looking at winning a World Series. Of course, I don’t know him, so I could be wrong. He obviously not going back to Baltimore and with the Dodgers already having their short stop, he’s not going there either. With all the buzz surrounding him and what information we have, I think it is narrowed down to the White Sox and the Phillies. I am not a fan of a Mystery Team because every team should be looking at themselves and trying to figure how he works in their system. I would be surprised if a Florida team signed him, but that’s a whole other topic. The Phillies have come out and said they are willing to spend “stupid money.” Which would make it really interesting if in the next two weeks they signed Harper then Machado. They have a relatively young staff and after last year, they look like they are ready for a post season run over the next few seasons. The White Sox are almost their mirror image on the AL side with the hitting being a little subpar. For either team, I think 7 years would be ideal, but then again I don’t think a 10 year contract makes much sense. Options could be added to the end of the 7 years that are incentive based and of course you’ll have to have at minimum one opt out. With the financial position both teams are in, i can see them front loading as much of his contract as possible, especially in this upcoming season, to the tune of minimum $35 million because entering the 2021 season is when both teams will have to re-evaluate team and their contracts going forward. This would also make it slightly easier toward the end of the contract to be able to move him if necessary.
What do I know though, maybe the Tampa Bay Rays will sign Machado and the Miami Marlins will sign Harper.

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Destination G-Rate Field?

Posted: January 14, 2019 by Daniel Kupres in sports
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In 1981, Bill Veeck sold the Chicago White Sox to Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn. Shortly after they commissioned studies on renovations to Old Comiskey Park or build a new stadium. What I found most interesting was that the City of Chicago, offers up land by the Chicago River to build a 50,000 seat stadium. I’m still researching but would love to sees where that plot of land is/was and why it was turned down by Reinsdorf.

Around 1991, the White Sox felt the remodeling the park to give it a more retro look would attract more fans. To me this statement doesn’t necessarily to attract more White Sox fans but baseball fans in general. To be honest, this is where they completely failed. I live in the Chicagoland Area, am a Cubs fan but as far south as I am, Sox games are easier to get to and much more affordable these days. But I try to put my self in the mindset of a fan from out of state and is GRate Field high on the priority list. A few years back on Derek Jeter’s farewell tour, there was tons of Yankees fans but, it’s the Yankees and it was Jeter’s last trip to Chicago. Last season, I attended a game against the A’s. If it were not for Sean Manea’s friends and family, there wouldn’t have been that many people besides me in A’s gear.

When the Sox had a nationally televised game last year, the commentators got on the topic of why the stadium faces the Dan Ryan Expressway and not the City Skyline. That really got me thinking. When you enter the ballpark and head up to the top bowl, as they call it, and once you reach the top of the ramp, you get this beautiful shot of the Skyline. Everybody including locals stops, admires and takes pix.

Why didn’t the build the park that way? Does it have to do with the sun? Wind conditions? Does it give the White Sox an advantage? Why?

If I were a billionaire and was able to pry the White Sox away from Reinsdorf, I would immediately build a new stadium and try to redevelop the surrounding area. By no means would I make it anything live Wrigleyville.

Now of course this is fantasy land but humor me for a moment and try to visualize. My new stadium would be a retractable dome the likes of Chase Field in Phoenix or Miller Park in Milwaukee.

At new Comiskey, the walls in left field would have to be clear so that in April, with 30-40 degree cold rainy 6:50 start, everyone is inside in a cool, comfortable 75 degrees, our background would be a spectacular backdrop of the City skyline that visiting teams and national broadcasters would rave about. And With clear dome panels, we would maintain the infamous fireworks scoreboard but our new scoreboard would be the largest video board in the MLB blasting off fireworks every Friday night as well as every Sox home run, no matter the weather.

Bullpens would be moved, opening up both left and right field. Bleacher seating would remain from foul pole to the center field batters eye. However, the right field patio would extend from the foul pole to the batters eye. In left field, the five rows would be the premium bleacher seats with bar top tables with app enabled food and drink ordering.

The bullpens would be moved underground with access to the dugouts allowing relief pitchers to sit in the dugout but quickly able to get warmed up. This would even align with Rob Manfred’s Pace of Play initiative. I was one of those “Old School” baseball guys who was not happy/excited about the Cubs moving the bullpens off the field and out of sight. At the time, if it were up to me, every ballpark would be set up that way. After the move at Wrigley, I can see that removing the bullpen from out sight, it doesn’t take away from the game but enhances the fan experience.

From foul pole to foul pole including the premium scout seats behind home plate, overall would have the same appearance.

GRate Field would be torn down as soon as New Comiskey is open and turned into a parking garage. The entire side facing 35th Street would be available for commercial use, ideally for bars and food in hopes to create an area fans would love to be at before and after games. Of course, we would have to keep the outside parking lot for tailgating and would make it even more tailgate friendly.

What I envision, would benefit the City and the team but most importantly the experience for the fans with the anticipation that the new stadium would attract more fans from around the country from all teams.

Hopefully, I’ve implanted some sort of vision for the future of the White Sox and their stadium but unfortunately, none of this can take place until after 2029 and/or they finally get new owners.

Go check out Ball Parks of Baseball. It’s a must!

Dan The Man

The Sports Time Radio Awards (Baseball)

Posted: October 15, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The top hitter in the American League is:

Mookie Betts (33) of the Boston Red Sox. Betts hit .318 in 158 games with 31 home runs and 113 RBI’s. He had 42 doubles, 5 triples and 26 stolen bases and an OPS of .892.

2nd was Jose Altuve (31) of the Houston Astros. 3rd was David Ortiz (29) of the Boston Red Sox. 4th was Miguel Cabrera (21) of the Detroit Tigers. 5th was Mike Trout (15) of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. 6th was Robinson Cano (13) of the Seattle Mariners. 7th was Dustin Pedroia (12) of the Boston Red Sox. Adrian Beltre (10) of the Texas Rangers finished 8th and Nelson Cruz (9) of the Seattle Mariners and Mark Trumbo (9) of the Baltimore Orioles tied for the final spot.

The top hitter in the National League is:

Nolan Arenado (34) of the Colorado Rockies. Arenado hit .294 in 160 games with 41 home runs and 133 RBI’s. He had 35 doubles, 6 triples and 2 stolen bases and an OPS of .932

2nd was Kris Bryant (30) of the Chicago Cubs. 3rd was Daniel Murphy (27) of the Washington Nationals. 4th was Anthony Rizzo (20) of the Chicago Cubs. 5th was Charlie Blackmon (18) of the Colorado Rockies. 6th was Joey Votto (14) of the Cincinnati Reds. 7th was D.J. LeMahieu (11) of the Colorado Rockies. 8th was Freddie Freeman (10) of the Atlanta Braves. 9th was Ryan Braun (8) of the Milwaukee Brewers and in 10th was Corey Seager (7) of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The top starting pitcher in the American League is:

Rick Porcello (39) of the Boston Red Sox. Porcello was 22-4 in 33 starts with an ERA of 3.15. He had 3 complete games, 223 innings and 189 strikeouts.

2nd was J.A. Happ (33) of the Toronto Blue Jays. There was a tie for 3rd between Justin Verlander (21) of the Detroit Tigers and Aaron Sanchez (21) of the Toronto Blue Jays. There was a 3-way tie for 5th between Corey Kluber (14) of the Cleveland Indians, Masahiro Tanaka (14) of the New York Yankees and Cole Hamels (14) of the Texas Rangers. 8th place went to Chris Sale (11) of the Chicago White Sox. 9th was Danny Duffy (9) of the Kansas City Royals and 10 was Jose Quintana (4) of the Chicago White Sox.

The top starting pitcher in the National League is:

Jon Lester (37) of the Chicago Cubs. Lester was 19-5 in 32 starts with an ERA of 2.44. He had 2 complete games, 202 2/3rd innings and 197 strikeouts.

2nd was Max Schrezer (31) of the Washington Nationals. 3rd was Kyle Hendricks of the Chicago Cubs. There was a tie for 4th between teammates as San Francisco Giants Johnny Cueto (19) and Madison Bumgarner (19) took that spot. 6th was Jake Arrieta (16) of the Chicago Cubs. Noah Syndergaard (15) of the New York Mets was 7th. 8th went to Jose Fernandez (9) of the Miami Marlins. In 9th was Kenta Maeda (7) of the Los Angeles Dodgers and in 10th was Tanner Roark (6) of the Washington Nationals.

The top set up man in the American League is:

Nate jones (17 of the Chicago White Sox. Jones appeared in 71 games and recorded 28 holds. He had a 5-3 record with an ERA of 2.29 and picked up 3 saves.

2nd was Kelvin Herrera (14) of the Kansas City Royals. 3rd was Will Harris (13) of the Houston Astros.th ) )of the was Dellin Betances ( 7) of the New York Yankees and  5th was Jake Diekman (3) of the Texas Rangers.

The top set up man in the National League is:

Addison Reed (21) of the New York Mets. Reed appeared in 80 games and recorded 40 holds. He had a 4-2 record with an ERA of 1.97 and picked up 1 save.

2nd was joe Blanton (15) of the Los Angeles Dodgers. 3rd was Kyle Barraclough ((9) of the Miami Marlins. 4th was Neftali Feliz (6) of the Pittsburgh Pirates and 5th went to Felipe Rivero (3) of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The top closer in the American League is:

Zach Britton (21) of the Baltimore Orioles. Britton was 47 out of 47 in saves chances. He was 2-1 with an ERA of 0.54 in 69 games.

2nd was Alex Colome (15) of the Tampa Bay Rays. There was a tie for 3rd between Wade Davis (7) of the Kansas City Royals and San Dyson (7) of the Texas Rangers. 5th went to Francisco Rodriguez (4) of the Detroit Tigers.

The top closer in the National league is:

Mark Melancon (17) of the Washington Nationals/Pittsburgh Pirates. Melancon was 47 for 51 in save chances. He was 2-2 with an ERA of 1.64 in 75 games.

2nd was Kenley Jansen (15) of the Los Angeles Dodgers. 3rd was Jeurys Familia (13) of the New York Mets. 4th went to A.J. Ramos (6) of the Miami Marlins and 5th went to Jeanmar Gomez (3) of the Philadelphia Phillies.

The top rookie hitter in the American League is:

Gary Sanchez (19) of the New York Yankees. Sanchez hit .299 with 20 home runs and 42 RBI’s in 53 games. He added 12 doubles a stolen base and an OPS of 1.032.

2nd was Nomar Mazara (14) of the Texas Rangers. 3rd was Tyler Naquin (11) of the Cleveland Indians. 4th was Ryon Healy (7) of the Oakland A’s and 5th went to Tim Anderson (3) of the Chicago White Sox.

The top rookie hitter in the National League is:

Corey Seager (16) of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Seager hit .309 with 26 home runs and 72 RBI’s in 157 games. He added 40 doubles, 5 triples and 3 stolen bases with an OPS of .877.

2nd was Trevor Story (15) of the Colorado Rockies. 3rd was Aledmys Diaz (9) of the St. Louis Cardinals. There was a tie for 4th between Brandon Drury (7) of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Trea Turner of the Washington Nationals.

The top rookie pitcher in the American League is:

Michael Fulmer (21) of the Detroit Tigers. Fulmer started 26 games and had a record of 11-7 with an ERA of 3.06. He had 1 shutout and 1 complete game and totaled 132 strikeouts in 159 innings.

2nd was Tony Barnette (12) of the Texas Rangers. 3rd was Chris Devenski (10) of the Houston Astros. 4th went to Ryan Dull (6) of the Oakland A’s while 5th went to Edwin Diaz (5) of the Seattle Mariners.

The top rookie pitcher in the National League is:

Seung Hwan Oh (17) of the St. Louis Cardinals. Oh had 19 saves in 23 chances. He pitched in 76 games and had a record of 6-3 with an ERA of 1.92. Oh recorded 103 strikeouts in 79 2/3rd innings.

There was a tie for 2nd between Kenta Maeda ( 13) of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Junior Guerra (13) of the Milwaukee Brewers. 4th went to Kyle Barraclough (5) of the Miami Marlins and 5th went to Ryan Buchter (4) of the San Diego Padres.

Cubs Loss at Coors

Posted: August 20, 2016 by Daniel Kupres in baseball, fantasy, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio
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It appears to start off great with a leadoff home run to Dexter Fowler.  But just as quickly as the inning is over, like Tyler Anderson, Kyle Hendricks gives up a leadoff home run in the bottom half of the first to David Dahl.  In the top of the third, Kyle grabs a one out single and with two outs, Kris Bryant also singles.  Anthony Rizzo also singles to score Kyle to put the Cubs up by one.  The Cubs score again in the fifth as Bryant singles in Baez who walked, advanced on a sac bunt and stole third.  Addison Russell drives Rizzo on his 15th home run of the year.  Cubs are now up 5-1.  

Travis Wood joins the Cubs in the seventh, he gives up a two out double to Daniel Descalo who scores on a fielding error by Bryant on Nick Hundley’s ground ball.  In the eighth, after giving up a walk and a single, wood is out and Carl Edwards, Jr enters the game and gives up a ground ball to DJ LeMahieu that goes down the line that is ruled as a ground rule double due to fan interference.  Carlos Gonzalez ground out but another run scores.  Nolan Arenado flys out to left and DJ would attempt to score but is gunned down by Matt Szczur.  The Rockies challenge and it’s overturned for a tie game.  

We go to 11 innings and Aroldis Chapman enters the game getting the first out.  He then gives up a single to Nick Hundley who ends the game scoring on Ryan Raburn’s walk off double.  Not a great start for this trip out west but it’s only one game.   

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 Sweep the Brew Crew

Posted: August 18, 2016 by Daniel Kupres in baseball, Minor League Baseball, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio
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In the series finale with the Brew Crew, Jake Arrieta takes to the mound searching for his 15th win of the season.  He is 1 – 0 against the Brewers seeing them last in April.  He takes on Zach Davies who faced the Cubs last on July 23 and took the W.

Today would see another great start at the plate for the Cubs but not so great for Davies as he only goes four innings.  In the first inning, he gives up a single to Kris Bryant, then a double to Anthony Rizzo.  Bryant scores on Ben Zobrist’s ground out to first.  Rizzo scores on Addison Russell’s single to center.  The third inning would start with Matt Szczur leading off with a single and then being brought home Byrant’s 29th home run of the season.  With two outs and two men on, Wilson Contreras doubles to right bringing in Zo for the fifth run of the day.  In the fourth, Szczur leads off with a double and scores on Bryants double.  Bryant then scores on Rizzo’s double.  The Cubs have earned 7 runs after four innings.

Jake would get through the first three innings with only one walk.  In the top of the fourth he would give up two, two out walks then gives up a three run homer to Kirk Nieuwenhuis, his 11th of the year.  He gets out of the fourth but  after four innings the Cubs are up 7 – 3.  Jake gives up two more walks in the fifth inning but retires the next three batters to get out of the inning.  He does however give up a leadoff home run to Hernan Perez in the top of the sixth and walks Chris Carter for the second time.  He gets the next two outs but then gives up back to back walks to Ramon Flores and Keon Broxton.  With the bases loaded, Maddon decides to bring in Spencer Patton who gives up an RBI base on balls to Jonathan Villar but gets out of the inning.

The bottom of the sixth, Craig Counsel decides to bring in Blaine Boyer who gets out of the inning but not before giving up a solo homerun to Kris Bryant for his second of the day and his 30th on the year.  The Cubs are now up, 8 – 5.  Spencer Patton remains in the game for the seventh and makes it a five pitch inning as does Carlos Torres in the bottom half of the inning.

Patton remains in for the top of the eighth and gives up a leadoff double to Kirk Nieuwenhuis who scores on Ramon Flores’s one out ground out.  Patton walks pinch hitter Manny Pina and that would be enough as Justin Grimm enters the game.  He gives up a single to Villar but gets Scooter Gennett to ground out to Rizzo to end the inning and we go to the bottom half of the eighth.  Corey Knebel joins the game and his first batter is Javier Baez who grabs a single to leadoff.  With one out, Matt Szczur walks to bring up Kris Bryant who has two homeruns today.  He sends a line drive to left field driving in Baez and going 5 for 5 today picking up his 78th RBI.  Rizzo and Zobrist fly out to end the inning.

We go to the top of the ninth with Aroldis Chapman taking to the mound for another save opportunity.  He strikes out Ryan Braun for the first out.  Hernan Perez next up and he singles.  Chapman gets Chris Carter to strike out for out number two.  Nieuwenhuis grounds out to end the game giving Chapman his 27th save of the year and the Cubs get their 13th sweep of the 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!

Double Header

Posted: August 16, 2016 by Daniel Kupres in baseball, fantasy, Minor League Baseball, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Game 1.

The first game of a day night double header and Trevor Cahill gets his first start of the year against the Milwaukee Brewers.  Former Cub, Matt Garza gets the nod for the Brew Crew in his first start of the season against his former team.

Cahill goes five solid innings only allowing four base runners on two hits and two walks.  He strikes out three batters and gives up no runs.  Matt Garza would counters with five full innings also.  Garza strikes out two batters and walks three batters.  He gives up five hits and that starts in the first inning with a leadoff single to Dexter Fowler.  Kris Bryant reaches but forces Fowler out.  Anthony Rizzo sends him to third on his single.  Garza then loads the bases with his first walk of the game to Ben Zobrist.  Addison Russell drives in the first run of the game with a sac fly to left.

Garza scores his second walk in the bottom of the third to Fowler.  With one out, Rizzo grabs another single and each runner advances on Zo’s force out.  With Russell at the plate, Garza throws a wild pitch and Fowler scores the second run of the game.

In the bottom of the fourth, Chris Coghlan leads off with a double and advances to third on Miguel Montero’s single.  Coghlan is able to reach home and scores the third run of the game as Cahill helps himself out with a sac bunt.  Dexter walks again but Garza gets out of the inning.  Garza has a 1-2-3 ground out fifth and that would be all for him.  The Cubs score the fourth run of the game in the eighth after Damien Magnifico walks Zo then hits Russell and let’s both runners advance on a wild pitch and Zo scores on Coghlan’s sac fly.

To finish off  the Brew Crew, Mike Montgomery grabs his fourth hold of the year in two innings gives up a hit, a walk and strikes out three.  Hector Rondon takes one inning and only walks one and also gets a hold.  Joe Smith gets one out in the ninth and walks two but is pulled for Aroldis Chapman who strikes out one and ends the game for his 25th save of the year.

Game 2.

Jason Hammel gets the nod for game 2 as he takes on Chase Anderson.  Hammel must have been eating his Sea Salt Chips as he goes seven innings only giving up two hits, three walks and strikes out seven.  He has definitely broke his old ways of declining after the All Star break.

Chase Anderson for the Brew Crew leaves the game after two batters with an injury.  Jhan Marinez takes over him going 2 & 2/3 innings.  He walks three and and gives up four hits but the Cubs only score one run in the third on Kris Bryant’s single to left that brings in David Ross.

Rob Scahill enters the game in the sixth for the Brewers and gives up a leadoff double to Zo who scores on Wilson Contreras line to right.  Javier Baez steps in the box and launches his 13th home run of the year putting the Cubs up again by four.

Justin Grimm takes on the eighth and giving up only one hit and strikes out one.  Top of the ninth and the Cubs are up by four and Joel Maddon decides to go with Travis Wood.  He gets the first out on a bouncer to third.  Chapman is up in the pen just in case as Wood gets the second out of the inning.  The Cubs have a chance to pull off the first double header shut out sweep as Len and JD brought up but almost as quickly as they said it, Wood gives up a solo home run to left to Hernan Perez.  Chris Carter gets a bloop single to to center just out of range for Zo.

That would be it for Wood as Maddon decides to bring in Chapman for the final out but allows Carter to advance on a high fast ball off the back stop.  Jake Elmore takes eight pitches and walks.  Keon Broxton steps in the box and sends a slow bouncer just out of reach of Chapman halting Bryant from picking it up.  Bases Loaded for Maldonado and he gets called out on strikes as Chapman saves both games today not with out making it an exciting ending.  Jason Hammel gets his career high 13th win of the 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!

Cubs split with the Cards

Posted: August 14, 2016 by Daniel Kupres in baseball, fantasy, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The Cubs wrap up their four game series Sunday night prime time on National TV.  John Lackey takes to the mound looking for his 10th win of the season.  John is 1-1 in three starts against the Cardinals and Mike Leake looking to get to .500 with his ninth win of the season.  His last start against the Cubs was April 18th against Lackey which was a loss.

Lackey makes it a quick top half of the first with a 1-2-3 inning.  Leake is not so lucky as he starts off by walking Dexter Fowler then gives up a single to Kris Bryant.  Anthony Rizzo sends a ground ball to right scoring Fowler for the first run of the game pushing Bryant to third.  Ben Zobrist sends a fly ball to left scoring Bryant for a sac fly.  In the first, the Cubs are up by two.

Lackey gives up a single and a walk in the 2cd but gives up no runs and strikes out two.  In the top of the third he gives up a one out single to Greg Garcia, then hits Stephen Piscotty.  Matt Carpenter sends a ground ball to short, Addison Russell throws to second getting the force out but Zo’s throw to first is wild and Garcia scores.

After the first, the Cubs bats wouldn’t be able to get to Leake until the bottom of the sixth inning with Bryant sending a one out fly ball to center for a his first triple of the year.  Rizzo then drives him in for the Cubs third round of the game.  After six the Cubbies are up 3 – 1 .

In the top of the 7th, Lackey gives up a leadoff single to Yadier Molina but gets the next two outs but that would be enough for Maddon as he brings in Justin Grimm to strike out Randal Grichuk to end the inning.  Leake starts off the bottom half by giving up a double to Chris Coghlan and makes it to third on Jason Heyward’s infield single.  Cardinals skipper, Mike Mathena decides to pull Leake for Matt Bowman who loads the bases by walking Wilson Contrearas but gets the next three batters out to end the inning.

Hector Rondon enters the game in the top of the eighth and gives up back to back singles to Kolten Wong and Garcia.  Both runners ate driven in by Stephen Piscotty when he takes Rondon deep to the center field bleachers.  He does get the next out but then gives up a solo homer to Brandon Moss.  Joel Maddon decides to bring in Travis Wood who gets the second out of the inning but walks Jhonny Peralta and gives up a single to Jedd Gyorko.  Grichuk comes in and doubles driving in Peralta putting the Cards up 6-3.  Kolten Wong back up again for the second time this inning flys out to end the inning.

Kevin Siegrist enters the game in the bottom of the eighth for the Cards to face Rizzo who takes the first pitch then drives the next fast ball off the right field score board.  Zo strikes out but Siegrist would have some unannounced injury and be replace by Seung Hwan Oh.  Oh comes in and strikes out Russell in three strikes.  Baez grabs himself a single.  Jason Heyward flys out to end the inning.

Top of the ninth.  Aroldis Chapman enters the game and strikes out the first two batters and gets Matt Carpenter to ground out.  Cardinals closer as of late, Oh stays in for the ninth.  He only sees Contrearas, Soler and Fowler and strikes out all three batters to end the game to help split the series between the Cubs and Cardinals.

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!

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

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

11 in A Row

Posted: August 12, 2016 by Daniel Kupres in baseball, fantasy, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio
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The Cubs are coming off a late night defeating the Cardinals in 11 innings for 10 in a row.  Jake Arrieta takes to the mound today looking for win number 14 and the Cubs 11 win in a row.  This year Jake is 1-1 against the Cards and hopes to make it 2-1 against Adam Wainwright who is looking for his 10th win of the season as he is 1-0 against the Cubs.

Jake would go just 5 & 2/3 innings today giving up only 4 hits, one of them a home run to Stephen Piscotty in the 5th with one out.  Jake strikes out six batters today while only walking two batters.  Today he really has no need going passed the 6th inning with the run support he was provided.

Matt Szczur fills in for Fowler leading off the Cubs half of the 1st with his seventh double of the year.  Kris Bryant decides to second that with a double of his own driving in Matt.  Anthony Rizzo walks on five pitches.  With one out Addison Russell would also smack a double scoring Bryant.  Montero walks to load the bases but Wainwright gets out of the first with just 2 earned runs.  Adam starts the second inning off by striking out Jake but then hits Szczur.  Bryant decides to double again and again drives in Matt for another RBI.  Jorge Soler only hits a single but its enough to score Kris.  Russell gets into a full count reaching on a walk.  Wilson Contreras steps in the box and takes the first pitch to left field for his seventh home run of the year.  Montero ends the inning with a ground out but the Cubs are now up by 7.  That would be all for Wainwright just two innings.  Seth Manness takes the 3rd and Jonathon Broxton takes the 4th and 5th each only allowing one hit and holding the Cubs at 7.

The bottom of the sixth sees former Cubs, Jerome Williams join the game giving up a lead off home run to Szczur.  He does get the next two outs but gives up another solo home run, this time to Jorge Soler.  He does get out the 6th but doesn’t have any better luck in the 7th starting with a single to Wilson, he gets an out but then gives up a two run home run to Javier Baez.  Chris Coghlan joins as a pinch hitter for Jake’s replacement Justin Grimm, and reaches on a walk.  Matt Szczur then launches his second home run of the day scoring Wilson and the Cubs are up by 13.  Williams gets out of the 7th, settles down and makes it a 1-2-3 inning in the 8th.

Joe Smith takes the top of the 8th inning for the Cubs and grabs the first two outs on eight pitches but gives up a home run to Jedd Gyorko to give the Cards their second run of the game.  He gets out of the inning and it would be Travis Wood taking the 9th.  He quickly gets the first two outs but then walks Tommy Pham.  Jhonny Peralta makes a pinch hit appearance and singles on the first strike he sees.  Stephen Piscotty swings on the first pitch he sees and sends it to Kris Bryant who throws it to Javier Baez for the force and the Cubs win, with an 11 game win streak.

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!

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