I’m Miles Miller!

Sorry it’s been a while.  You know how it goes: term projects, final exams, moving apartments… blogging takes a back seat sometimes.  Then I spend an hour on a post and it gets erased. 

A lot has happened in the last couple weeks, things are starting to fall into place.  The good are getting better and the bad are settling into the bottom.  There are a few slumpers still, but overall my prognostications are taking shape as they should.

Highlights and Trivialities

• The Good:
  • Brandon Webb: 6 starts, 6 wins. 
  • Cliff Lee: 0.28 ERA
  • Arizona Diamondbacks: most runs scored, best team ERA, best record in baseball.
  • Chien-Ming Wang is 5-0, including dominating performances over the Red Sox and Indians this month (last year’s ALCS).  A pitcher with a reputation for striking out nobody, yesterday he had 9 Ks against the Cleveland team.  Already a league-famous sinker, now he’s got a knockout slider.  I love him.  (By the way, Beckett, Felix Hernandez, and Sabathia have a combined 5 wins.)
  • Joba Chamberlain, in his young career, now has 48 Ks, only 20 hits, 3 earned runs, in 35 innings.  Keep him in the bullpen for now.  He’s the most dominating pitcher in the game.  And he is only 22.
• The Bad:
  • Remember when Oakland had the Big 3, Zito, Mulder, and Matt Morris:
    • Barry Zito: 6 starts, 6 losses.  Now moved to the bullpen.  $126M contract.  5 more years…
    • Matt Morris: 9.67 ERA.  Sent to the minors by the Pirates.
    • Mark Mulder: DL, hasn’t pitched this year.  Last year went 0-3.
    • Meanwhile, the A’s, with Dana Eveland, Chad Gaudin, and Greg Smith have the ERA in the AL.
  • Tom Gorzelanny, Matt Morris’ teammate with the Pirates, is sporting an 8.46 ERA, and he hasn’t been cut. 
  • Matt Chico: 0-5.
  • Speaking of Chico’s team, the Nationals started 3-0.  Then, a 10th inning loss started a 6-17 run.
  • Here’s an All-Star lineup for you: Troy Tulowizki .157, Robinson Cano .158, Andruw Jones .159, Gary Sheffield .159, Ryan Howard .174, Alfonso Soriano .175, David Ortiz .177, Jason Giambi .177, Adam Dunn .192.
• Scorecard line of the week:  April 18th, Red Sox vs. Rangers, 4th inning: Red Sox got a single, double, triple, home run, walk, hit by pitch, and sac fly… all in the same INNING!  Have you ever seen anything like that?!
• Let’s Play 3:  April 17th, Rockies and Padres played 22 innings (with a 7th inning stretch, 14th inning stretch, and 21st inning stretch).  But how did the Rockies win?  With two outs, Willy Taveras reached on an error by the shortstop.  Stole 2nd.  Went to 3rd on an error by the catcher.  Scored on a hit by Troy Tulowizki.  (Seems like they could have put that together 19 innings earlier!)  Meanwhile, the two catchers Torrealba and Bard caught every inning.  Fortunately, they were both given a much-deserved game off the next day.
• Power Alley: aren’t middle infielders supposed to be scrappy, light-hitting, bottom of the lineup guys?  Leading the majors in home runs are 2B Chase Utley (10) and SS Hanley Ramirez (8).  Meanwhile, there are 9 guys in the National League with at least 7 dingers (Ryan Howard, Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder not on the list).  The American League has zero guys with more than six.

It’s the end of an era for me as Steve McNair decided to retire this week.  Air NcNair is one of my favorite NFL players of the last 10 years.  He is the most successful quarterback to combine running and passing since Steve Young, and he was an incredible leader.

Air McNair was the toughest player I have ever seen.  He may have the reputation of most beat-up player to play.  He was always hurt!!  Back in 2002, ESPN had charts updating all the injuries to McNair, and they covered every part of his body.  He spent the week in the trainer’s room, too hurt to practice.  But come gameday he started every game!  You never heard him complain!  Most remarkable in his career was the stretch at the end of that season where he carried the Titans to 5 straight tough wins and to the AFC Championship.  He was the epitome of toughness and leadership because even though he was continually sore, it had no negative effect in the games and he would do whatever it takes to win.  “You name the injury and Steve had it and he still showed up. Not only did he show up, but he showed up and played extremely well,” said long-time teammate Eddie George.  “For most of his days in Tennessee he played like that. In his MVP year (in 2003) he played most of the year hurt. It is a testament to his willingness to win and how he sacrificed his body for the team.”  His willingness to fight through pain made him one of the league’s most respected players.

Career Highlights

• 1999: Led the (previously 8-8) Titans to a 13-3 record into the playoffs.  They beat the Bills with the “Music City Miracle”, welcomed Peyton Manning to the postseason with a loss, and then beat the best team in the NFL, 14-2 Jaguars for the 3rd time (that’s right, Jacksonville only lost to Tennessee and lost 3 times).  And then, in one of the most exciting Super Bowls in NFL history, McNair led his team to within a yard short of victory, losing a tight one to the Greatest Show on Turf, the 1999 Rams.
• 2002: After starting 1-4, McNair led the Titans 10-1 the rest of the way to a 11-5 division championship.  That doesn’t tell the story.  Air was on the serious injury list every game.  At 6-5, they went on to win 5 in a row at New York Giants (playoff team), Indianapolis Colts (playoff team), New England Patriots (reigning SB champs), at Jacksonville Jaguars, and at the hapless Houston Oilers.  In the playoffs, Steve threw for a career-high 338 yards in an overtime win over Pittsburgh.  They fell to the Raiders in the AFC Championship due to a lot of tough breaks and bad luck.
• 2003: Steve wins Co-MVP with Peyton Manning after throwing for 3,215 yards, 24 TDs and only 7 INTs, with a QB rating over 100, proving he was as valuable with his arm as he was with his legs.
• 2006: In his first year with the Baltimore Ravens, Steve led that team to their franchise-best 13-3 record.

Toughness, leadership, and respect: he deserves to be in the elite class of athletes who can claim the name “Air”.

This has been a memorable NBA season. Some highlights:

• Atlanta Hawks make the playoffs for the first time since 1999 (that’s 9 seasons). That wouldn’t be completely crazy in MLB or NFL where the playoff teams are few. That means that the Hawks have been one of the 6 worst teams in the pathetic East for 9 years. Kudos to them. However, they only won 37 games (5 under .500), they got blown out by the lowly Miami Heat to finish things off, and they win a trip against the Boston Celtics. Celebrate while you can…
• Golden State Warriors, who last year made the playoffs for the first time in like 13 (?) seasons, won 48 games (11 better than the Hawks, 3 more than the East #4 seed Cavaliers, 6 more than last year’s team) and get to stay home.
• The Celtics went from 24 wins last year to 66 wins this year. That’s a 42 game improvement.
• Apparently improvement isn’t a universal aspiration. Memphis lost 60 games for the second year in a row, Seattle took the #2 pick from the draft, digress 12 games, and get kicked out of town. The Heat went from Champions to laughingstock in two seasons. The Knicks are the most confused organization in the world.
• Don’t the Trailblazers know their #1 draft pick didn’t play the whole season? Yet they still finish .500 in the very competitive Western Conference.

Playoff Predictions:
East
Celtics 4, Hawks 0.
Pistons 4, 76ers 0.
Orlando 4, Raptors 1.
Cavaliers 4, Wizards 3.

Celitcs 4, Cavs 1.
Pistons 4, Magic 0.

Celtics 4, Pistons 2.

West
Lakers 4, Nuggets 0.
Mavericks 4, Hornets 2.
Suns 4, Spurs 2.
Jazz 4, Rockets 1.

Lakers 4, Jazz 3.
Mavericks 4, Suns 2.

Lakers 4, Mavericks 1.

NBA Finals
Celtics 4, Lakers 1.

Celtics finish off where the Patriots got left behind.

It doesn’t quite feel like spring yet with snow falling today for the 3rd day in April this year, but baseball season is well under way.

5 Early Season Surprises
1.  The team with the most runs scored, lowest ERA, and (not coincidentally) the best record is……… the Arizona Diamondbacks.
2.  The team with the worst ERA, 2nd fewest runs scored (before Friday), and the worst record is……. the Detroit Tigers.
3.  The #1 player in fantasy baseball so far is……….. Mark Reynolds.  Anybody even heard of him?
4.  Pitchers that are 3-0: Chien-Ming Wang, Brandon Webb, Jake Peavy, and……………. Livan Hernandez??
5.  Division leaders, along with Arizona: Baltimore, Kansas City, Oakland, Florida, and St Louis.
6.  Basement teams in the American League: Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners.
7.  David Ortiz’ listed weight: 230 lbs.    Batting average:  .077

Other Tidbits
* Yankees 1, Red Sox 0.  17 games left to go.
* The four Yankees Young Guns so far:
-Chien-Ming Wang & Joba Chamberlain.  27+ innings, 13 hits allowed, 2 runs, 4-0.  I love these guys.  It should be no surprise that Wang is off to a great start; he won 19 each of the last two years (even with being hurt for the first month last year).  Right now he’s like Dirk Nowitski: lights out in the regular season but yet to deliver in the postseason.  As for Joba Chamberlain, he is one of the most dominating pitchers in all of baseball. 
-Phil Hughes & Ian Kennedy.  Different story here.  14+ innings, 16 hits, 11 walks, 13 runs (ERA about 8.0), 0-2.  While I think Hughes will turn around and be a quality pitcher starting in May, it appears only to be a matter of time before Joba takes Kennedy’s spot in the rotation.  Of course, as it is, Chamberlain/Rivera is the best bullpen duo in the league.
* After starting the season 1 for 22 at the plate (and dreadful in the field), I was ready to tell Coach Girardi to pull Jason Giambi out of the lineup and to the bench or down to the minors.  Then he hits the tie-breaking home run.  Funny how that happens…

* To show how bad the Tigers are so far:
Batting avg: M Cabrera .182, G Sheffield .190, P Polanco .167, I Rodriguez .211, E Renteria .238, M Ordonez .262.
ERA: Verlander 6.17, D Willis 7.20, Robertson 7.84. 
Quality starts: 1 (Kenny Rogers).  Minnesota: 6; Indians 5.
Home record: 0-6 (against the Royals and White Sox?)
I highlight some of these stats because 1) they were predicted by many “experts” to be the best scoring offense ever, and 2) because I foolishly picked them to league the majors in wins.

So the tourney ended on Monday. Sorry it’s been a while, but you know how it goes. Unfortunately, I have many more things to do than make entries.

What an exciting championship game!  Ian and I thought Memphis had this one in the books until that miracle shot in the final seconds by Kansas.  That 3 pointer, well defended, is one of the greatest plays in the March Madness college basketball tournament history!  Once that went through, it seemed obvious that Memphis wouldn’t put up much of a fight in overtime.

The ironic thing about it all is that it came down to free throws.  After the first round, I said that there was no way that any team with terrible free throw percentage (notably Memphis) could advance very far.  Yet, heading into the Finals it appeared that Memphis had put that behind them, especially Douglas-Roberts and Chris Rose.  I thought Memphis’ shooting from the line was a step above Kansas.  Yet when it came down to crunch time, the two stars for Memphis, Rose and DR, missed 5 in a row when they needed them most, while Kansas finished the game what, 9 of 10?

A truly heartbreaking finish for the Memphis Tigers, but one of the most exciting games of tournament history and one of the greatest comebacks ever in the finals. 

Phase 3 picks

Miles
UNC, Memphis, UNC = 9 pts
Final 4 from phase 2 = 27 pts

Amber
UNC, UCLA, UNC (cough) = 0 pts
Final 4 from phase 2 = 27 pts

Natalie
UNC, Memphis, UNC = 9 pts
Final 4 from phase 2 = 18 pts

Ian
UNC, Memphis, Memphis = 9 pts
Final 4 from phase 2 = 18 pts

FINAL SCORES
Miles = 109
Natalie = 92
Amber = 83
Ian = 76

So sorry for being anticlimactic about a cool ending, but here ya go a week late. If there are any disputes about points I will listen but I think I am correct. Thanks for playing!!

This is my favorite time of the year. Baseball season is underway, and there are lots of stories so far. Here are my Top 5 Observations.

1. Once the Tigers lost Justin Verlander’s start I knew there was going to be some problems but I was expecting at least one of their mediocre pitchers to get them in the W column. They aren’t hitting, they don’t have a bullpen, and 4/5 of the pitching rotation is no good. Granderson is hurt, Sheff has a torn ligament in his hand, and Miguel Cabrera is not well. How did I pick these guys to win 97 games? Sure, the hitting is bound to wake up sooner or later, but pitching is always more important than hitting (just ask the Rangers). They will be hard-pressed to win 88 games this year. Cleveland should have the best shot at the division after all.

2. Injuries, injuries, injuries. Mike Hampton is turning out to be the biggest financial bust in sports history. Pedro Martinez and Kelvim Escobar cannot be depended on. 4 out of 5 of the St Louis Cardinals’ rotation in on the DL. The Braves and Marlins also have 3 rotation guys on the DL. Medic?

3. It was an interesting day when the Royals, Rays, Nationals, and Pirates were all in 1st place on the same day. While it didn’t last long for some of them to return to their losing ways, I think the Rays and Royals have a legitimate chance at winning 80 games this year.

4. Without Escobar and John Lackey out too, the Angels are in trouble. They will find some arms to fill in, but it will be a rough first half. I don’t expect them to win more than 85 games. I still do like the Mariners to win over 90.

5. In the first five games, Carlos Gomez, Torii Hunter’s replacement in Minnesota, has 4 stolen bases already. Michael Bourn of the Astros has 3 SBs and only 2 base hits. Jose Reyes has yet to get his first.