In 1918, World War I shortened the baseball season to the point where the final World Series game was played on September 11. On that day, the Boston Red Sox defeated the Chicago Cubs to win the world championship at Fenway Park, with a guy named Babe Ruth on the roster. They would not win another Series for 86 years.
Nearly a century later, months removed from the bombing at the Boston Marathon, the Red Sox have won their third Series in a decade. This time they did it at Fenway, defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 6-1 in Game 6. John Lackey pitched nearly seven innings, and Koji Uehara closed out the game.
This World Series was notable for the weird finishes: An obstruction call in the bottom of the ninth gave the Cardinals a Game 3 victory. A pickoff play at first base the following night in the ninth ended the game in Boston's favor.
The Red Sox won 97 games during the regular season, winning the American League East division. Most of the players, including David Ortiz, Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia, starred wearing beards that reached "Duck Dynasty" proportions, "borrowing" the idea from hockey.
This was a good World Series, with plenty of close games and fine performances between two of the most storied franchises baseball had to offer. It may not take another century for the Red Sox to win another title at Fenway Park, but future fans might be wondering about the fascination over the song "Sweet Caroline".
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We should mention the fact that Tim McCarver has analyzed his last baseball game for Fox Sports. He holds the distinction of having called games for local teams and four broadcast networks for a quarter century, and had no problem saying what he thought about the action down there. Now who will be sitting next to Joe Buck next season? Will he have as much impact on the sport as McCarver did?
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Wolves 2013-14: 25 Years of Ineptitude, and Counting
The Minnesota Timberwolves, now in their 25th NBA season, have been picked by most reputable basketball pundits as the team most likely to squeeze into the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Then they would have the honor of having been sent packing by whoever is the Number One seed.
Since the Wolves have disappointed their fans so often over the past quarter century, there is reason for skepticism over whether it's necessary to start printing playoff tickets. The Wolves haven't had to do that since 2004, when Kevin Garnett (now with the Brooklyn Nets) once roamed Target Center.
There are already too many question marks concerning the Wolves to make anyone think they deserve a place at the playoff table. For starters:
Why should this year be any different?
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In the rest of the NBA, David Stern is retiring as commissioner, the New Orleans Hornets are now the Pelicans, the Kings are still in Sacramento, and Dwight Howard is a Houston Rocket. Otherwise, it's all about LeBron James. Will he win a third consecutive NBA title with the Miami Heat? Where does he go after that, when he becomes a free agent? Boston? New York? Philadelphia? Does LeBron stay in South Beach? Or will he come home to Cleveland? It's time for another Decision.
It's also time to drag out our picks for who will make the playoffs.
Eastern Conference: Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers, Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Atlanta Hawks, Washington Wizards.
Western Conference: San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers and Lakers, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Memphis Grizzlies, Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks.
Since the Wolves have disappointed their fans so often over the past quarter century, there is reason for skepticism over whether it's necessary to start printing playoff tickets. The Wolves haven't had to do that since 2004, when Kevin Garnett (now with the Brooklyn Nets) once roamed Target Center.
There are already too many question marks concerning the Wolves to make anyone think they deserve a place at the playoff table. For starters:
- Can Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love stay healthy? If one or both go down, any interest in the Wolves quickly dries up.
- Will Chase Budinger be as effective on the court after knee surgery?
- Can Love go through an entire season without whining and demanding a trade? Isn't this also the last season before he can legitimately make noises about becoming a free agent?
- Is recently-acquired Kevin Martin an answer or just another question mark?
- How committed is Rick Adelman to his job as Wolves coach? He had to take time off last season because of his wife's health, and never really said when he'd return. So Jerry Kill, the University of Minnesota football coach, isn't the only local sports coach with health issues.
- Does Flip Saunders really know what he's doing as the Wolves' president of basketball operations, or is he just marking time until Adelman steps aside?
Why should this year be any different?
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In the rest of the NBA, David Stern is retiring as commissioner, the New Orleans Hornets are now the Pelicans, the Kings are still in Sacramento, and Dwight Howard is a Houston Rocket. Otherwise, it's all about LeBron James. Will he win a third consecutive NBA title with the Miami Heat? Where does he go after that, when he becomes a free agent? Boston? New York? Philadelphia? Does LeBron stay in South Beach? Or will he come home to Cleveland? It's time for another Decision.
It's also time to drag out our picks for who will make the playoffs.
Eastern Conference: Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers, Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Atlanta Hawks, Washington Wizards.
Western Conference: San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers and Lakers, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Memphis Grizzlies, Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks.
Friday, October 11, 2013
Lynx 2013: Two Titles Out of Three Ain't Bad
In a season where the WNBA promoted shiny new objects such as Brittney Griner and Elena Delle Donne, the comparatively unheralded Minnesota Lynx swept their way to a second league title in three years.
The Lynx crushed Atlanta's Dream 86-77 to take the WNBA championship series 3-0 in Duluth, GA (the Dream's temporary home, since their real one was booked for "Disney on Ice") Thursday night. The two previous games, held on the Lynx' Target Center home court, were 25-point blowouts.
The Lynx dominated during the regular season, too, by amassing the best record in the WNBA. That enabled them to have home court advantage during the playoffs, a factor in defeating the Seattle Storm and Phoenix Mercury in straight sets.
It has been a dominant performance all season long for Seimoine Augustus, Maya Moore (who was named playoff MVP) and Lindsay Whalen, reflecting the experience and professionalism that comes through winning championships and Olympic gold medals. And help from Rebekkah Brunson, Monica Wright and Janel McCarville didn't hurt either.
So what about the future? Augustus and Whalen both signed contract extensions with the Lynx and Moore has one year left on hers, so the window for coach Cheryl Reeve's team to claim another championship has been extended a little more. But all good things must end someday, and that's when the Griners and the Delle Donnes of the world start asserting themselves and get their hands on the same trophy Augustus, Moore and Whalen possess today.
Until then, the trophy stays in Minnesota.
The Lynx crushed Atlanta's Dream 86-77 to take the WNBA championship series 3-0 in Duluth, GA (the Dream's temporary home, since their real one was booked for "Disney on Ice") Thursday night. The two previous games, held on the Lynx' Target Center home court, were 25-point blowouts.
The Lynx dominated during the regular season, too, by amassing the best record in the WNBA. That enabled them to have home court advantage during the playoffs, a factor in defeating the Seattle Storm and Phoenix Mercury in straight sets.
It has been a dominant performance all season long for Seimoine Augustus, Maya Moore (who was named playoff MVP) and Lindsay Whalen, reflecting the experience and professionalism that comes through winning championships and Olympic gold medals. And help from Rebekkah Brunson, Monica Wright and Janel McCarville didn't hurt either.
So what about the future? Augustus and Whalen both signed contract extensions with the Lynx and Moore has one year left on hers, so the window for coach Cheryl Reeve's team to claim another championship has been extended a little more. But all good things must end someday, and that's when the Griners and the Delle Donnes of the world start asserting themselves and get their hands on the same trophy Augustus, Moore and Whalen possess today.
Until then, the trophy stays in Minnesota.
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Twins 2013: It's Not What You Know . . .
Under normal circumstances, if a baseball team loses more than 90 games in a season, it's usually an opportunity to clean house. Players are traded or let go, the manager and/or the general manager gets replaced, and fans are given at least a slight risk of hope for the future.
Not the Minnesota Twins. Despite its third consecutive season of losing more than 90 games, they have rehired manager Ron Gardenhire and his staff through 2015.
What did Gardenhire do to deserve this? On the surface, not much. On a team full of rookies, fading veterans and failed draft picks, these guys couldn't hit, field or pitch. They struck out 1430 times, a new team record. They fall behind too often. They play worse at Target Field than they do on the road.
Joe Mauer continued to have problems getting knocked around a lot behind the plate, to the point where he had to be shut down for the rest of the season due to a concussion. If you want the face of the franchise to justify his huge contract and keep him intact for the rest of his career, Mauer needs to be moved to first base. No questions asked.
The number of former Twins starring elsewhere keeps growing: Joe Nathan in Texas. Michael Cuddyer in Colorado. Francisco Liriano in Pittsburgh. And now Justin Morneau is on the playoff-bound Pirates.
The one saving grace is the bullpen, particulary Glen Perkins, who is turning into one of baseball's best closers. Unfortunately, the chance to save a game doesn't come around often on a team like this.
One major factor in Gardenhire keeping his job, in spite of the 66-96 record, is that he kept the Twins out of last place in the American League Central division. Only the Chicago White Sox and Cubs, Miami Marlins and Houston Astros finished with worse records than the Twins did. That's an accomplishment. Right?
The Pohlad family, which has owned the Twins for nearly 30 years, have shown incredible patience and loyalty to their staff. They stuck with Tom Kelly as manager through the good times and the bad. And they're doing the same thing with Gardenhire (who just finished his 12th season) and general manager Terry Ryan. You do not see much of that any more with any employer.
The Pohlads and the Twins want you to know that better days are ahead. Really. They do. But they're not going to get there if they continue to rely more on players who need more time to develop than those who have already proved themselves. And if they continue to reward those on the basis of past accomplishments rather than those who think outside the box, the Twins risk getting left behind by the rest of Major League Baseball. If they aren't already.
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Our projected matchup for the World Series? Oakland Athletics vs. Atlanta Braves.
Not the Minnesota Twins. Despite its third consecutive season of losing more than 90 games, they have rehired manager Ron Gardenhire and his staff through 2015.
What did Gardenhire do to deserve this? On the surface, not much. On a team full of rookies, fading veterans and failed draft picks, these guys couldn't hit, field or pitch. They struck out 1430 times, a new team record. They fall behind too often. They play worse at Target Field than they do on the road.
Joe Mauer continued to have problems getting knocked around a lot behind the plate, to the point where he had to be shut down for the rest of the season due to a concussion. If you want the face of the franchise to justify his huge contract and keep him intact for the rest of his career, Mauer needs to be moved to first base. No questions asked.
The number of former Twins starring elsewhere keeps growing: Joe Nathan in Texas. Michael Cuddyer in Colorado. Francisco Liriano in Pittsburgh. And now Justin Morneau is on the playoff-bound Pirates.
The one saving grace is the bullpen, particulary Glen Perkins, who is turning into one of baseball's best closers. Unfortunately, the chance to save a game doesn't come around often on a team like this.
One major factor in Gardenhire keeping his job, in spite of the 66-96 record, is that he kept the Twins out of last place in the American League Central division. Only the Chicago White Sox and Cubs, Miami Marlins and Houston Astros finished with worse records than the Twins did. That's an accomplishment. Right?
The Pohlad family, which has owned the Twins for nearly 30 years, have shown incredible patience and loyalty to their staff. They stuck with Tom Kelly as manager through the good times and the bad. And they're doing the same thing with Gardenhire (who just finished his 12th season) and general manager Terry Ryan. You do not see much of that any more with any employer.
The Pohlads and the Twins want you to know that better days are ahead. Really. They do. But they're not going to get there if they continue to rely more on players who need more time to develop than those who have already proved themselves. And if they continue to reward those on the basis of past accomplishments rather than those who think outside the box, the Twins risk getting left behind by the rest of Major League Baseball. If they aren't already.
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Our projected matchup for the World Series? Oakland Athletics vs. Atlanta Braves.
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