Pirates and Dimondbacks Drama

Hey All,

I know I haven't been on here much this year with my blog, and for the I apologize. Just been busy with a bunch of other stuff. But never fear, I'm back and better than ever, and boy do I have a good one for you folks tonight. Late last week the Pirates took on the Diamondback's in Arizona, and boy did sparks start to fly. It all got started on Friday and then got worse from there. There was late game missed calls, players being beamed, and managers getting tossed. This isn't enough for me though. I feel that more fines should be held to the Diamondbacks organization for what they did in Saturday's game.

To be fair in the matter at hand, this case started on Friday night in the 9th inning of the game. Pirate Pitcher Ernesto Frieri plunked D-backs All-Star Paul Goldschmidt on the hand fracturing it. This only becomes significant because he is behind Andrew McCutchen in the NL MVP race. Goldschmidt is more than likely going to miss the rest of the regular season because of his hand and is about 95% chance he is out of the race for NL MVP.

Now let's flash to Saturday's game all the way to the 9th inning, yet again. This time D-Backs pitcher Randall Delgado drills Andrew McCutchen in the small of his back with a 95 MPH Fastball. Now most would think it's retaliation, and you would be right. But, there is a bit of principle here. Now, if McCutchen would have just gotten hit by a pitch, I'd be okay with this and wouldn't be writing this. That wasn't the case on Saturday. Now had this beaming happen in the first inning, the second inning, hell I'd even take the third inning there would be no problem. This happened in the 9th inning, they waited the entire game, and that's not right. Not only that, but the sign that was given to Delgado was really obvious as to what was going to happen.

Delgado got a sign that was a middle finger pointed down, and then pointed right to McCutchen. This was after the Catcher looked at the coach for the call. So this came from the Manager. Now, the Manager had been tossed earlier in the game for making a big scene with Martin after Friday's night game, and then getting into it with the Umps after a questionable call in Saturday's game. So it came from back up Manager, or was called in from the club house. Either way this call came from the bench, and wasn't just the players doing this on their own.  

The one major problem that I have with these actions is NOTHING was done about it. Even McCutchen, who typically keeps his cool had something to say. “They had all game to retaliate. They had the first inning to retaliate. They had the first pitch (of the ninth inning at-bat) to retaliate. They missed. You throw a slider on the second pitch and then you throw up and in on the next pitch. Are you trying to hurt me too? That’s the question…. We understand that retaliation is going to happen in this game. But you know, there’s a right way to do it. If you’re going to hit me, hit me. He hit me square in the spine. If I get hurt, what happens then?”

I couldn't have said this better myself. Something needs to happen to the Diamondbacks origination. Fines, suspensions, or a combination of the two, no matter what, something needs to be done by MLB. This is getting out of hand. Someone is going to get hurt, and this late in the season, it could case a team to miss the postseason. If I had my way, the Pitcher Delgado, the Catcher who put the sign up, and both Manager, and acting Manager at the time should all be fined, and all be suspend for their actions. Not only was it classless, but it was uncalled for. This could have very well ended Cutchen's season as well as his career. The ball did hit him right in the spin. The league needs to do something and it needs to do something quick. I mean hell, it's already Tuesday night, and nothing has happened yet. How long do we have to wait for a punishment? Sure shouldn't be this long, and I won't rest until something is done.

Until Next Time,
You keep doing what you do, and I'll keep you up to date with everything sports. 

Try to Control Johnny Football

Hey All,

Today the Browns said no to the media being at the first practice the team held. They did this to keep the hype down from Johnny Manziel and him being drafted to the team.

All I can say to the Browns is good luck.

To read more check out the link from my good friends at ESPN at the bottom of the page.

Johnny Manziel on field with Browns http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10946080/johnny-manziel-field-cleveland-browns-first-being-drafted?ex_cid=null -via SportsCenter http://bit.ly/zzSpRY

Until next time,
You keep doing what you do, and I'll keep you up to date with everything sports

Punches in Pittsburgh Punishment

Hey All,

I'm sure If you've watched Sports Center you've seen the bench clearing brawl between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Pittsbugh Pirates. This all started after Gomez and Cole had words after Gomez hit a triple off of Cole.

Today the league handed out the punishment. There were four players involved, and ESPN has more on this story.

Carlos Gomez suspended 3 games http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/10822556/major-league-baseball-issues-penalties-milwaukee-brewers-pittsburgh-pirates-scuffle?ex_cid=null -via SportsCenter http://bit.ly/zzSpRY

After these suspensions were handed out, Gomez, Snider, and Martin are appealing their suspensions. I think this is a great move for Snider and Martin, not so much Gomez. I feel this way because Snider and Martin were sticking up for their pitcher Cole. Not to mention that Snyder got drilled by a Brewer defending Cole, Martin was just out there to support his teammates, but Gomez started the whole thing by being cocky. 

I don't think the suspensions are just. For one, Gomez deserves more than a 5 game suspension. He is a repeat offender, who said in his statement after the game "That's how I play, if they don't like it then they don't like it." He's telling everyone he's not going to stop with his attitude on the field, and basically start more bench clearing brawls on the diamond. 

Second Martin shouldn't get a suspension for defending a fellow teammate, and Snider got blasted in the face and taken out by another Brewer, again for defending his pitcher. There is no reason for these two to have a suspension, but Gomez needs more than 5 games for this. What is 5 games? Like a series and a half, in the beginning of the season? Who cares about that? It means nothing. I say a full week of games worth of suspensions. 

Until next time,
You keep doing what you do and I'll keep you up to date with everything sports

Phelps Comes Out of Retirement

Hey All,

Today we are going to talk about one of my favorite sports, mainly because it's the one I competed at in college, and that's swimming. Yes, I know it's not the most glorious one in the sports world, but it can be very entertaining. One of the biggest figures in the sport will be coming out of retirement, Michael Phelps will be coming back to the swimming world and will be looking forward to Rio in 2016.

Phelps will be swimming on April 24-26th in the Arena Grand Prix in Mesa, Ariz. This will be the 22-time Olympic medalist's first time competing since the London Games in 2012. He will join such swimming stars as Ryan Lochte and Katie Ledecky in the Grand Prix this all according to USA TODAY sports.

"As of today, I definitely expect him to swim," Phelps' longtime coach Bob Bowman told USA TODAY Sports by phone Monday. "We're looking forward to it. I think it'll be great for the sport to have Michael compete again. We really don't have any expectations for what might happen. We just want to have some fun with it and see how it goes." Also according to coach Bowman, Phelps has entered into the 100-meter butterfly and the 100-meter freestyle.

"Those are both on the first day, and he'll probably try both of those (preliminaries) in the morning, see how it goes, and maybe do one final if he gets to the finals," Bowman said. "The next day, he's entered (in the 50 free) and will probably do a 50 butterfly. We don't know yet. After this, we can decide what he wants to do next."

All of this isn't that much of a surprise to any in the swimming world, as Michael was taking all the steps needed to compete again at swimming. He went as far, in the last year, as he rejoined the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's drug testing pool last year. Along with that he upped his training over the last year which lead most to believe he would try and make a comeback.

"It's historic, it's going to be a media spectacle," Mesa Aquatics Club CEO Paul Smith said. "No other venue has the same feel and proximity to the action as ours. It's going to be thrilling regardless of what shape he (Phelps) is in. There's something about being at pool level that is energizing."

"This meet happens to be at the right time," Bowman said. "He's eligible to swim in a meet, and he thought it might be fun to do one. We heard this was a great meet. I don't think it was something we had targeted; it came up at the right time."

I think people may look into these quotes too much. They will probably say that he (Phelps) won't even think about the Olympics in Rio in 2016, but this shouldn't not be a surprise either. Phelps and Bowman denied that Phelps was even going to swim in this meet in April, this was all said a month ago. Now I know people may change their minds, but I don't think it could happen that quick. This is something the two have been thinking about for a long time.

I'm excited to see what happens in the meet on  24-26th and will keep you up to date with everything that goes on from here on out.

Until next time,
You keep doing what you do and I'll keep you up to date with everything sports.

KD Passes MJ

Hey All,

Last night Kevin Durant passed one of the games best player. Durant past Michael Jordan's point streak for most consecutive 25+ points in a game. To read more about the game, check out the link below thanks to ESPN.

Suns hold off Thunder to take 1-game lead for West's 8th spot http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=400490029&ex_cid=null -via SportsCenter http://bit.ly/zzSpRY

Until next time,
You keep doing what you do, and I'll keep you up to date with everything sports

Two Game, Two Extra Innings Walk Offs

Hey All,

Well it's official, the baseball season is upon us, and boy did it get off to great start. A lot of teams seemed to look like there was no layoff from the Winter season. They jumped right back into things like there was no offseason. One of the teams is the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are playing some great baseball right now, like they did last season. The pitching is right where it was last season, even after losing their ace A.J. Burnett to the Phillies. The hitting is right where it was when the season ended last year, with maybe a few cobwebs that need beaten off, but who doesn't need to do that. It seems like the only way to go for the Pirates, is up.

The season got underway this past Monday March 30th with opening day against the Cubs. This game was a pitchers duel throughout the entire game, as it was 0-0 going into the 9th inning. Neither team could buy of run in this game because of the pitching. Francisco Liriano pitched a gem on opening day. He went 6 innings with only few hits and 10 K's. He is one of few Pirates who had double digit strikeouts on opening day. Though Liriano didn't get the win on opening day you still can't say that he didn't deserve a win, if only he got a little run support. The Bucs were able to get a win in the bottom of the 10th inning on a Neil Walker walk off home run. This is Walker's first walk off home run ever, and it just so happen to happen on opening day in Pittsburgh.

Yesterday, Wednesday April 2nd, the Bucs had their hands full with the Cubs yet again. Only this time, there was a lot more runs scored, and innings played. This game had a lot of excitement with run support, as well as pitching. This game was 2-1 in favor of the Bucs in the top of the 9th. This meant it was time for the closer. Jason Grilli was called in to close the game out, and I thought it was a done deal. Well, the Cubs had other plans. They were able to get a run and stop Grilli from getting his first save of the season. This meant that the Bucs were going into extras for the second time in as many games. This hasn't happened since 1964 that the Bucs had to go into extras two times in two games, and oddly enough, it was against the Cubs.

This game though, wouldn't just go 10 innings, it would go 16 innings and had just as much excitement. In the 12th inning, the Cubs were able to take the lead 3-2 and it looked like the Bucs were going to lose this game. Well, they had other plans. They were able to get another run off the bat of Marte, and no one was able to get a run until the 16th inning. The Bucs looked like they weren't going to make it out of the 16th and the game was going to go into the 17th, but Tony Sanchez had other plans. With runners on the corners and a full count, Sanchez had one pitch left to face. He was able to slap a ball into left and score Marte from third. This was just as exciting as Walkers, because this was also Sanchez's first career walk off RBI.

This is a great start for the Pirates, and lets everyone know that they are no joke and are here to contend. The bullpen has been able to hold down the fort like they did all of last season. The hitting and the defense has been there like it was last season. The only thing that I see is room for more improvement. They are only going to get better from this point on, and I can't wait to see how this season turns out.

Until next time,
You keep doing what you do, and I'll keep you up to date with everything sports. 

Pens Loss Close One

Hey All,

Last night, Thursday March 27th, the Pittsburgh Penguins took on the Los Angeles Kings, and this game had a lot riding on it. The game was nicknamed the battle for 8. If Pittsburgh won, they would have cliched a spot in the playoffs for the 8th straight year. If the Kings won, they would have won their 8th straight road game. This game didn't disappoint.

Neither team started their starting goaltender, Jeff Zatkoff for the Pens and Martin Jones for the Kings. Both goaltenders have been playing very well as of late. Zatkoff actually has the same save percentage as starting goaltender Marc Andre Fleury at .915, and giving up 2.58 goals per game.

Now I know everyone has been down on Zatkoff as of late, but what you fail to know is he's a rookie. Not only is he a rookie, he is playing just as well as any starting goaltender in the league. Most people would kill for a goaltender with a .915 save percentage. Not only that he is 11-4-2 in his last 17 games, and in that has recorded a shutout. Now all that doesn't sound like a guy "playing bad".

Okay enough of that rant, let's get to how this game went down. Unfortunately, for the Pens anyways, the Los Angeles Kings extended their winning streak to 5 games, and won their 8th straight road game. They were also able to keep the Pens for clinching a Playoff berth. Kings defenseman Drew Doughty scored the game-winner in the third to give the Kings a 3-2 win. Doughty's goal wouldn't have been possible without the assist from Dustin Brown.

Now this game had a lot of controversy, and it didn't end well for the Pens. Forward Brandon Sutter should have had the tying goal, but was called off due to "goaltender interference". All he did was cash the net after a shot, to get the rebound, he did so and was able to push the puck into the net, and then the net came off the pegs. Now by rule if you disallow the goaltender room to make the save and or get in the way of his progress it is goaltender interference. Non of that happened on this play. Sutter crashed the net and got all puck and pushed it into the net, like every player does. What the refs missed was Doughty cross checking Sutter 3 times which caused the "goaltender interference".  Therefore the goal should have been allowed, the game should have been tied, and went into overtime.

Non of the above happened, and the Pens lost the game. They weren't able to clinch a playoff spot last night, but have all the opportunity to do so tonight when they play the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Jackets aren't best team in the league, but they still will give the Pens a run for the Playoff spot. Not that they will take the spot away from the Pens, but they could stop them from not clinching again. I don't think that will happen. Then Pens are playing mad now with the events that went down last night. It showed in the last few minutes of the game after the "goaltender interference" call. They played well last night, and had a lot of speed to there game in the beginning of the game. Near the end of the game they got physical, and I expect that physical play to continue until they have the spot clinched, and well after and into the playoffs. They have something to prove. All good teams go though a phase where they struggle to make playoffs and contend for a Stanley Cup. Everyone is starting to say that about the Pens, and I don't think they like that very much. They are one of the best teams in the league, and they are slumping right now, but will get back to Stanley Cup form starting tonight.

Until next time,
You keep doing what you do, and I'll keep you up to date with everything sports.