Monthly Archives: May 2017

Houston has everything else in place.

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We saw what happened last year. Tom Savage could be Houston’s Week 1 starter if they fail to land Romo. The Texans could win the AFC South again and win a playoff game. Houston, however, would still be a long shot to take that next step. You can only watch that movie so many times.

Like four teams. Houston has made the playoffs four of the last six seasons with four different quarterbacks in T.J. Yates, Matt Schaub, Brian Hoyer and Osweiler. Was there ever a moment where you seriously thought any of those quarterbacks would beat eventual AFC champions such as New England, Baltimore or Denver?

Houston has everything else in place. Lamar Miller and DeAndre Hopkins are playmakers on offense, and three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt could return and join Jadeveon Clowney and Whitney Mercilus on defense. Bill O’Brien took this team to the AFC Divisional playoffs last season with an offense that ranked 28th in the NFL with 17.4 points per game.

Today, we know that batting average does not paint a clear picture, rather Basketball Jerseys Cheap on-base percentage is a much more vivid portrait of a batter’s production. However, it did not become an official statistic until 1984, and even then was not lauded by the masses for another 15-20 years.

We are privy to a lot of information and data that was not previously available. Using it, we can determine that the 1954 formula for on-base percentage ([H + BB + HBP] / [AB + BB + HBP + SF]) is outdated and in fact the formula that pre-dates it ([H + BB + HBP] / [AB + BB + HBP]) is probably a better representation.

It’s clearly time for a change. Don’t punish a ballplayer for successful execution.

Pittsburgh RB Le’Veon Bell ropes himself into prom date with Twitter follower

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Pittsburgh running back Le’Veon Bell on Saturday became the latest athlete to rope himself into a prom date.

Bell was mighty generous when one of his Twitter followers, Ava Tarantino, asked him to take her to prom.

Bell has 804,000 followers on Twitter. Six-hundred retweets might have been lowballing it a little bit.

Regardless, a deal is a deal, as Bell said, and it looks like prom is a go. Guess he has to go tux shopping — but judging how big a Steelers fan Tarantino is (her Twitter bio says “leveon bell is bae”), she might be just as happy if he showed up in full uniform.

Regardless, a deal is a deal, as Bell said, and it looks like prom is a go. Guess he has to go tux shopping — but judging how big a Steelers fan Tarantino is (her Twitter bio says “leveon bell is bae”), she might be just as happy if he showed up in full uniform.

Now, the real question: Can they get prom king and queen?

Marlins right-hander Jose Ure?a had an impressive first start of the season with six scoreless innings, and just one hit allowed, ina 7-0 win over the Mets.

Eric Thames did it again Sunday. Not only did the Brewers slugger smash his 12th homer of the season in Milwaukee’s 6-2 win over the Pirates, he added a double and drove in two runs on a 3-for-4 day.

Recall, too, that McCutchen’s offense took a hit last year (career-low .766 OPS), although the home runs were still there (24).

This year’s early stats are unexceptional. In 13 games as a New England Patriots Cheap Jerseys center fielder, McCutchen has posted a .220/.365/.415 slash line (inflated by 10 walks), with two home runs and six RBIs. Overall, he is at .237/.327/.419, with four homers and 13 RBIs, in 26 games. That latter set projects out to 25 and 81, which is right around his standard, if he plays a full 162-game season. He hasn’t missed a game this year.

Terrelle Pryor says QB situation with Redskins won’t get as bad as Browns

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Terrelle Pryor joined the Redskins during the free agency frenzy, and he’s excited to play with an actual quarterback … maybe.

The receiver was asked about Kirk Cousins’ current situation and how the QB had asked for a trade before Pryor’s arrival. The new wideout says he’s expecting to play with Cousins, but even if he doesn’t come back, he’s happy to be in Washington.

“I don’t want to say [playing with Cousins] was my first priority because, at the end of the day, you want to be wanted. You want to be with a team that wants you on the team,” Pryor told reporters on a conference call Monday. “Washington was very aggressive in terms of wanting me to be on the team. I played with six quarterbacks last year, so I don’t think it will get that bad. Obviously, I would like to play with Kirk. I’d be an idiot if I didn’t believe that. He’s a great quarterback, and, hopefully, that happens.”

He was one of the more reliable starters in the majors during the early part of his career, so the Mariners will hope that he’s healthy and able to recapture the form that once made him an All-Star for the Brewers. If that happens, then they’ll have a veteran arm they can count on behind Mitchell And Ness Cheap Jerseys Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma.

Gallardo is guaranteed $13 million — $11 million this season and a $2 million buyout of his 2018 option — while Smith will make $7 million in the final year of his deal. The Baltimore Sun reported the Orioles will save about $4 million in the trade, which means they will be sending $2 million to Seattle to help offset Gallardo’s salary.

Smith, 34, joins his fourth team in five seasons. He figures to continue getting corner outfield starts against right-handed pitching, providing some power and getting on base. Smith has a .272/.355/.472 career slash line against right-handers compared to .202/.282/.312 against lefties, so don’t expect Buck Showalter to let him see too many southpaws.

We just have one favor if this plan is somehow approved by the Players Association in the next few years

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That’s the thing, Joe: It’s not baseball. The first nine innings don’t automatically start with a runner on second. Bad enough the leagues already play under two sets of rules (DH vs. no DH); playing under two sets of rules within a game is worse.

And, let’s be real: Watching a Wilson Valdez or a Chris Davis hold it Cheap USA Hockey Jerseys down on the mound every few months is not going to kill the sport. Besides, those guys don’t need to be on the mound if managers were willing to let a long reliever or a starter pitch until the game is over. Torre played when pitchers often went seven, eight, nine innings in extras. (UPDATE: Actually, kind of like this game in 2013.)

If baseball is worried that people will get bored watching the most dramatic innings of a game or a season, it should just adopt Japan’s rules and call the game a tie if there’s no winner after 12 innings, but still play the game the same way throughout. That would uphold baseball’s integrity a lot better that what Torre and Co. are plotting.

We just have one favor if this plan is somehow approved by the Players Association in the next few years: Go back to real baseball for the postseason, kind of the way the NHL does for its postseason. Playoff overtime hockey — teams skating five-on-five — is one of the most dramatic things in sports. The NHL, at least, gets that right.

Tigers may have fixed CF puzzle with unlikely piece

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The Detroit Tigers enter spring training with a glaring hole at centerfield.

Tigers fans have bemoaned the organization for dropping Cameron Maybin with no back-up plan in place. Options like JaCoby Jones, Tyler Collins and Mikie Mahtook aren’t really impressing anyone in Detroit. But a new option may have just surfaced.

Omar Infante, a 35-year-old second baseman who spent the better part of eight seasons with the Tigers, has returned. Because second base is occupied by Ian Kinsler and the infield utility role will go to Andrew Romine, Infante has searched for other options to make the roster.

But don’t expect NFL games to become significantly shorter. The average NFL game lasted 3 hours, 7 minutes this past season, but Goodell only expects a few minutes to knocked off 2017’s game times.

“What we’re looking to do is take that down time out, which is not entertaining,” Goodell said. “And in our research, we had biofeedback, so we could see what they were watching and you could tell when they’re not as interested in what’s happening in the broadcast.”

Going forward, there will be about four commercial breaks per quarter, rather than five or six. But the breaks will be about thirty seconds longer. According to NFL research, people tend to notice more breaks, not longer ones.

Networks will be allowed to go to commercial during official Custom Cheap Jerseys reviews, as well. Commercials could also be replaced with a break advertising one specific brand, as opposed to having it promoted within the game.

“We have seen commercialization maybe creep into the game in areas that we don’t think is appropriate,” Goodell said, “and we’re going to work with our network partners to try to pull that back, to make sure that we can create that compelling experience for our fans.”

Can the Dodgers afford to send Cody Bellinger back to minor leagues?

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The Dodgers are struggling to find the right answer when it comes to young star Cody Bellinger. Do they send him back to the minors, or let him start his MLB career early?

Clearly ready for “The Show,” Bellinger has a .345/.406/.655 slash line with two home runs, five RBIs and seven runs scored in eight games since getting called up late last month.

Heading into Wednesday’s game against the Giants, Bellinger had multiple hits in four of his last five games, including a two-home run game against the Phillies on April 29.

“Two of them went to Rebecca’s side and helped her get out of the car and off the road. They stayed with her and took care of her,” Quade told the Star Tribune. “Two came over to me and said, ‘Sir, are you OK?’ Yeah, I think so. So they went to the car in front of me. There were two kids in there, but they were both belted in, thank God, and the mother was OK.”

“The kids did one hell of a job,” Quade, a former Cubs manager, added. “They handled themselves so well, kept their heads, were so helpful. They could not have been better. We’re as lucky as you can be.”

Quade, who will turn 60 on March 12, was still shaken up a day later, but he did offer a small bit of comic relief. From the Star Tribune.

As police gathered information from Quade, he mentioned he was in Fort Myers for spring training with the Twins. “And one of the kids says, ‘We play for the Twins!’ I said, ‘You haven’t played for me — I’m the Triple-A manager.’ “
It’s unlikely any of the four players will join Quade in Rochester, N.Y., this season. All of them made their professional debuts in rookie ball last year.

The Star Tribune reported Quade’s right shoulder was sore Direct Cheap Jerseys Sunday. Kraus was bleeding from her mouth and nose after the crash and was suffering soreness a day later.

Padres reach one-year deal with Jered Weaver

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The San Diego Padres have reportedly reached a contract agreement with veteran right-hander Jered Weaver, according to USA Today.

The one-year deal, reportedly worth $3 million, is contingent on Weaver passing a physical.

MORE: Summer’s superstars: Ranking baseball’s 50 best

Weaver, who has been with the Angels for more than a decade, is only a couple of years removed from being one of the most dominating pitchers in the American League. He was a three-time All Star and finished in the top five in AL Cy Young balloting each year between 2010-2012.

Still, Weaver could be very useful for the Padres, who did not have a single starter with double-digit wins last season, and were 23rd in staff ERA in baseball.

Weaver gave Angels a nice farewell via Twitter Saturday.

The Red Sox, on the other hand, came into the series having lost four out of their last five games. However, they were able to win two out of three against the Cubs to take the series.

Hanley Ramirez blasted a two-run home run off of Kyle Hendricks in the first inning Sunday. He also walked and scored another run.

Perhaps the most exciting player for the Red Sox so far this season has been rookie Andrew Benintendi. The young outfielder went 2 for 4 with two runs scored Sunday, upping his average to a cool .333 on the season.

The Cubs (13-11) and Red Sox (13-11) have both disappointed a bit to start the 2017 season, but they have the talent to rattle off wins in bunches during the coming months. It’s Cheap Mountain Bike Jerseys still a long way away, but the next time these two teams meet could be in the World Series.

Is Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish affected by travel ban?

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Put this one most likely under the “unintended consequences” category from President Trump’s executive order banning travel by citizens of certain predominantly Muslim countries.

Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish, whose father is Iranian, reportedly held duel Japanese-Iranian citizenship when he was born, The Dallas Morning News reported.

If the executive order is enforced by the letter — though it has evolved in the days since Trump signed it Friday — then Darvish could fall under the umbrella that applies to people who originally were citizens of one of the seven countries specified in the order but are traveling on passports issued by any other country, according to a statement being prepared by the U.S. State Department (via The Wall Street Journal).

It wasn’t ready.

The grounds crew painted left field green, hoping it would blend in with the rest of the turf. But left field’s true material was obvious when bloopers landed, bounced extra high, then came down with green paint stains.

Nobody was hurt on opening day, and the rest of the turf was installed before the second game of the series, according to former Portland executive Jack Cain. That year the Beavers became the first professional baseball team to play a season on an entirely synthetic outdoor surface. It saved on field maintenance costs and limited the number of rain outs.

Tim Hagerty is the broadcaster for the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas, and is on Cheap Jerseys World Twitter at @MinorsTeamNames. He is also the author of “Root for the Home Team: Minor League Baseball’s Most Off-the-Wall Team Names.”

Mets’ Noah Syndergaard eating bowls of venison to throw even harder in 2017

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Trading for Chris Sale came at a very lofty price, and now the Red Sox probably have the best 1-2 guys in the rotation in all of the American League. Boston didn’t have to make a ton Cheap USA Jerseys of moves this offseason, but the moves it did make are only going to help the Sox make a run at a World Series championship in 2017. They kept their young core intact while trading some of the excess (Travis Shaw) and clearing up a logjam or two.

Mets flamethrower Noah Syndergaard threw 1,047 pitches of 98 mph or faster last season — more than 10 teams combined.

That’s apparently not enough for the Mets phenom.

Mets pitchers and catchers officially reported to spring training Sunday morning, and Syndergaard told reporters he gained 15 to 17 pounds of muscle and hopes to throw even harder in 2017.

That’s a scary thought for opposing batters; Syndergaard’s fastball Cheap Goalkeeper Jerseys averaged 98.2 mph in 2016, which was best among qualified starters.

Syndergaard, appropriately nicknamed “Thor,” has apparently been eating bowls of deer meat to prepare for the season.

Venison, huh? It’s safe to say that’s a healthier choice than the gummy bears and “china food” Eddie Lacy romanticized in his offseason regiment. Rest assured, Eric Weddle’s ice cream fixation is on a whole ‘nother level.

It doesn’t matter how the win looks, because the Raptors were willing to take it however it came.

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Opinions varied on the Patriots’ scant, four-man draft class that saw them ship out all their original picks. New England opted for proven players over prospects, padding the final years (maybe?) of Tom Brady’s career with players like Brandin Cooks, Kony Ealy, Dwayne Allen, and Mike Gillislee. At the draft, they addressed two areas of need — pass rush and offensive line. The Patriots came away with four high-ceiling prospects but no guaranteed contributors for 2017, leading to the wide range of opinions.

In the 87-76 win, Toronto fell behind early in the first half with more Discount Yankee Jerseys seemingly uninspired basketball. Their offense, sixth best in the league this season, still hasn’t shown up in this postseason, as the team shot 41 percent from the field and only nailed five shots from behind the arc. This is, to an extent, what Milwaukee forces you into: ugly, unattractive and overly physical basketball. More often than not, they will win playing that style. In Game 4, the Raptors prevailed.

It doesn’t matter how the win looks, because the Raptors were willing to take it however it came. DeRozan steadily contributed throughout the first 24 minutes, ending the half with 21 points. Down the stretch, DeRozan’s efforts were matched by the other Raptors stars — Kyle Lowry snuck in for a couple layups, while Jonas Valanciunas even scored six points down the stretch. But it was DeRozan who made sure the Raptors reached that point, and Toronto couldn’t have survived without his 33 points, nine rebounds and five assists.