Just a quick post today.
Stephen Strasburg struggled giving up two earned runs yesterday leading to a San Diego State showing that he is in fact human and can actually lose a gam. Also, it shows that he may in fact need the minor leagues so he can face some better competition.
Andy Roddick advanced to the fourth round of the French Open for the first time in his career. Roddick is playing great tennis and could be a real contender for the title this year.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
College World Series 5/29/09
Sorry for the absence. My apologies.
So the NCAA baseball regionals have started again. For college baseball fans this is the best time of year. (Yes i like college baseball even though I didn't go to one St. Mary's baseball game while I was there.) The beauty of college baseball is it the ultimate college team sport. In the first round it is best of 3. The reason I like this so much is because it makes teams have more than one player who can beat you. The best example of this is San Diego State. There team is one of the top 25 in the country but they are only a number three seed. They need to win at least 1 game in the first round series that their ace (Stephen Strasburg, the best pitcher in the country). Let's compare that to other sports. In other sports you don't get to see other players have to step up and be the difference maker. This is not a knock on other sports I'm only trying to show that the beauty of baseball especially college baseball is there is so much strategy involved that other sports don't have. While the actual baseball might be boring, the strategy is thrilling. The coach has to make a decision for every batter, every pitcher and in every situation. Because of this, baseball's strategy is excilerating and if you understand it, can make it the most enjoyable sport to watch in the world.
Also, the hotel I'm staying at has ESPNU which is definitely my new favorite channel. For the last two days they've constantly been talking about college baseball and that is awesome!
P.S. Stephen Strasburg starts today. If anyone wants to watch a pitcher who is the most dominant college athlete in any sport, you should tune in to the game.
So the NCAA baseball regionals have started again. For college baseball fans this is the best time of year. (Yes i like college baseball even though I didn't go to one St. Mary's baseball game while I was there.) The beauty of college baseball is it the ultimate college team sport. In the first round it is best of 3. The reason I like this so much is because it makes teams have more than one player who can beat you. The best example of this is San Diego State. There team is one of the top 25 in the country but they are only a number three seed. They need to win at least 1 game in the first round series that their ace (Stephen Strasburg, the best pitcher in the country). Let's compare that to other sports. In other sports you don't get to see other players have to step up and be the difference maker. This is not a knock on other sports I'm only trying to show that the beauty of baseball especially college baseball is there is so much strategy involved that other sports don't have. While the actual baseball might be boring, the strategy is thrilling. The coach has to make a decision for every batter, every pitcher and in every situation. Because of this, baseball's strategy is excilerating and if you understand it, can make it the most enjoyable sport to watch in the world.
Also, the hotel I'm staying at has ESPNU which is definitely my new favorite channel. For the last two days they've constantly been talking about college baseball and that is awesome!
P.S. Stephen Strasburg starts today. If anyone wants to watch a pitcher who is the most dominant college athlete in any sport, you should tune in to the game.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Oakland A's Game 5/6/09
Went to the Oakland Athletics game 5/6/09. Listened to the director of finance speak, she was interesting and then took a quick tour of the stadium with their stadium operations manager who was also really interesting.
In a couple years the Athletics will no longer be located in Oakland. There could not have been more than 10,000 people at the game today which is absolutely terrible for a professional baseball team.
Game Summary: Dan Geise pitched had a solid start for the A's giving up just a couple runs and Feldman pitched well for the Rangers. Matt Holiday played terribly. He had one good at bat the entire game and in the 9th against Texas' closer Francisco (who threw fastballs on every single pitch in the 9th inning) had a terrible at bat and struck out. The A's lineup is horrendous. When you have your 2-3-4-5-6 hitters all coming up to the plate and your #2 hitter gets a leadoff hit, someone should be able to advance him at least one base. Holliday and Giambi both got out then Jack Cust hit a single to advance Cabrera to third. Kurt Suzuki then flied out to deep left field to end the game. Now, out of your 3-4-5-6 hitters Kurt Suzuki should not be the one who hits the ball to the warning track.
So far through April, Billy Beane is once again looking like a mediocre general manager. The A's have no offense and a bunch of young inexperienced starters and relievers. This is not a good strategy by any stretch of the imagination. They tried to go out and sign some free agents by signing Holliday and Giambi, but so far neither one of them has delivered.
In a couple years the Athletics will no longer be located in Oakland. There could not have been more than 10,000 people at the game today which is absolutely terrible for a professional baseball team.
Game Summary: Dan Geise pitched had a solid start for the A's giving up just a couple runs and Feldman pitched well for the Rangers. Matt Holiday played terribly. He had one good at bat the entire game and in the 9th against Texas' closer Francisco (who threw fastballs on every single pitch in the 9th inning) had a terrible at bat and struck out. The A's lineup is horrendous. When you have your 2-3-4-5-6 hitters all coming up to the plate and your #2 hitter gets a leadoff hit, someone should be able to advance him at least one base. Holliday and Giambi both got out then Jack Cust hit a single to advance Cabrera to third. Kurt Suzuki then flied out to deep left field to end the game. Now, out of your 3-4-5-6 hitters Kurt Suzuki should not be the one who hits the ball to the warning track.
So far through April, Billy Beane is once again looking like a mediocre general manager. The A's have no offense and a bunch of young inexperienced starters and relievers. This is not a good strategy by any stretch of the imagination. They tried to go out and sign some free agents by signing Holliday and Giambi, but so far neither one of them has delivered.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby
Although I didn't get a chance to watch either the Kentucky Oaks or Kentucky Derby live I did get to watch replays of both of them today and I thought I should share my thoughts.
Kentucky Oaks - Like everyone else I was incredibly impressed with Rachel Alexandra. How could you not be. She dominated the end of the race and it wasn't even close. What's more impressive is that some analyst's believe that she should run in the Belmont Stakes or Preakness against the boys because they believe she is THAT good. This would be an incredibly impressive feat if she were able to race against and beat the best male horses in the world.
Kentucky Derby - It was a sad start to the day with the news that I Want Revenge would not be able to race in the Derby because of an injury. This must have been a major letdown for the owner, trainer, and 19 year old jockey. However, they handled it with class and I'm especially impressed with the owners answer about whether or not I Want Revenge would race in the Derby. To sum up his answer, it was that as soon as he heard from the doctors that racing the horse might put it in some sort of danger of injuring himself further he said there was no question that I Want Revenge would not race in the Derby. To me, this was a great answer. The owner may have cost himself thousands of dollars but he knew that the horse's health was more important than the money and that is something to be commended.
On a brighter note let's talk for a second about the awesome ride by jockey Calvin Borel. Calvin Borel who won the Kentucky Oaks as well, took a horse Mine That Bird who wasn't even supposed to be able to contend and raced him amazingly with pinpoint precision. Guiding the horse along the rail he pulled off the miracle and Mine That Bird went to easily win the Kentucky Derby. This race shows how important the talent of a jockey is in horse racing. Without Borel's brilliant ride there was no way Mine That Bird would have pulled off the historic upset and win the 2009 Kentucky Derby.
Kentucky Oaks - Like everyone else I was incredibly impressed with Rachel Alexandra. How could you not be. She dominated the end of the race and it wasn't even close. What's more impressive is that some analyst's believe that she should run in the Belmont Stakes or Preakness against the boys because they believe she is THAT good. This would be an incredibly impressive feat if she were able to race against and beat the best male horses in the world.
Kentucky Derby - It was a sad start to the day with the news that I Want Revenge would not be able to race in the Derby because of an injury. This must have been a major letdown for the owner, trainer, and 19 year old jockey. However, they handled it with class and I'm especially impressed with the owners answer about whether or not I Want Revenge would race in the Derby. To sum up his answer, it was that as soon as he heard from the doctors that racing the horse might put it in some sort of danger of injuring himself further he said there was no question that I Want Revenge would not race in the Derby. To me, this was a great answer. The owner may have cost himself thousands of dollars but he knew that the horse's health was more important than the money and that is something to be commended.
On a brighter note let's talk for a second about the awesome ride by jockey Calvin Borel. Calvin Borel who won the Kentucky Oaks as well, took a horse Mine That Bird who wasn't even supposed to be able to contend and raced him amazingly with pinpoint precision. Guiding the horse along the rail he pulled off the miracle and Mine That Bird went to easily win the Kentucky Derby. This race shows how important the talent of a jockey is in horse racing. Without Borel's brilliant ride there was no way Mine That Bird would have pulled off the historic upset and win the 2009 Kentucky Derby.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
San Diego St. vs Santa Clara 5/1/09
San Diego St. vs. Santa Clara 5/1/09 - Game Recap
Today was my first chance to see Stephen Strasburg pitch. For anyone who doesn't know, Stephen Strasburg is a starting pitcher for San Diego St. and is the #1 ranked amateur pitcher in the country, and is unquestionably going to be the first pick in the 2009 MLB Draft. Strasburg did not have his best stuff today and his control was shaky at times, but he was still dominant and had 12 strikeouts in eight innings of shutout baseball. Watching him live his stuff is absolutely filthy and he is probably the best pitcher I have ever seen live (that includes the major leagues). Even with his shaky control he was missing the strike zone by mere inches every pitch. San Diego State's lineup played decently, they were able to take advantage of Santa Clara's ace Nate Garcia's struggles. I didn't notice anything special about anyone in the lineup but they played an overall strong game.
Santa Clara on the other hand struggled mightily. Starter Nate Garcia had some impressive stuff at times and looked unhittable with some of his pitches; however, he struggled with his command. Many of the hits he gave up were caused when he would take a little off his pitches and throw them down the middle so he could get strikes. Santa Clara's lineup were able to draw some walks against Strasburg but whenever Strasburg was in trouble he would step up, rear back and get the strikeout or the groundout that he needed.
The one thing that this game did for me was reinforce my point about Stephen Strasburg needing the minor leagues. The reason is that whenever he would get into trouble he would just throw his nasty curve or his incredible fastball. Although this worked in this game I think he will have a lot more trouble getting professional hitters out using this method. If Santa Clara was better this could have easily been a 5-3 or 5-4 game instead of 5-0.
Today was my first chance to see Stephen Strasburg pitch. For anyone who doesn't know, Stephen Strasburg is a starting pitcher for San Diego St. and is the #1 ranked amateur pitcher in the country, and is unquestionably going to be the first pick in the 2009 MLB Draft. Strasburg did not have his best stuff today and his control was shaky at times, but he was still dominant and had 12 strikeouts in eight innings of shutout baseball. Watching him live his stuff is absolutely filthy and he is probably the best pitcher I have ever seen live (that includes the major leagues). Even with his shaky control he was missing the strike zone by mere inches every pitch. San Diego State's lineup played decently, they were able to take advantage of Santa Clara's ace Nate Garcia's struggles. I didn't notice anything special about anyone in the lineup but they played an overall strong game.
Santa Clara on the other hand struggled mightily. Starter Nate Garcia had some impressive stuff at times and looked unhittable with some of his pitches; however, he struggled with his command. Many of the hits he gave up were caused when he would take a little off his pitches and throw them down the middle so he could get strikes. Santa Clara's lineup were able to draw some walks against Strasburg but whenever Strasburg was in trouble he would step up, rear back and get the strikeout or the groundout that he needed.
The one thing that this game did for me was reinforce my point about Stephen Strasburg needing the minor leagues. The reason is that whenever he would get into trouble he would just throw his nasty curve or his incredible fastball. Although this worked in this game I think he will have a lot more trouble getting professional hitters out using this method. If Santa Clara was better this could have easily been a 5-3 or 5-4 game instead of 5-0.
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