First Tier Sports

MLB regular season awards: AL MVP.

2009-10-06T12:07:00.001-07:00

Winner:

Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer. .364 BA .586 slugging .442 OBP 28 HR 96 RBI.
Mauer has a better batting average than Jeter by 30 points a better slugging percentage than Texiera and a better on base percentage than anyone else on this list by 36 points. His offensive numbers are impressive leading the league in batting average, slugging, on base percentage and OPS. Considering he did this all while playing Gold Glove caliber catcher makes this pick easy. The real question in the MVP race is where would the Twins be without Joe Mauer.

Runners up:
2. Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter. .334 BA .406 On base 30 stolen bases 107 runs.
Jeter had the best year of his career putting up impressive offensive numbers while having the best fielding percentage of his career. Yet again he falls short in the MVP race. He might get the MVP vote out of pity, I mean career achievements but he doesn't quite earn it this year.

3. Los Angeles Angels 1st baseman Kendry Morales. .306 BA .569 Slugging 34 Home runs 108 RBI.
Somehow the Angels managed to get to the playoffs again and in his first full season Morales put up big numbers on a offense that needed every run he produced.

4. New York Yankees 1st baseman Mark Texiera. .292 BA .565 Slugging .383 OBA 39 Home runs 122 RBI.
Texiera lived up to the big contract helping the Yankees to the best record in the league. He had a great season and put up big numbers but wasn't even the most valuable player on his team.

10 things I've learned from the first quarter of the NFL season.

2009-10-06T12:06:00.003-07:00

This season has had many surprises. The Broncos starting out 4-0 against the Bengals, Browns, Raiders and Cowboys. The Titans starting 0-4, Drew Brees throwing 6 TD's in week one and the Raiders playing terrible (OK so that one isn't surprising). Somethings have stood out and hit me like a brick while enjoying fall football.

1. The Jets defense is great. The Jets D was very underrated last season in the shadow of Favre. This season they have stepped out of the shadows and into the sunlight. The have played 3 top tier offenses (Patriots, Texans and Saints) and have yet to allow more than 343 total yards in a game. The Texans scored only once while rushing for 38 yards. The Patriots couldn't even score a touchdown. They forced 4 turnovers against the Titans and held Uber Quarterback Drew Brees to one touchdown and 190 passing yards.

2. Frank Gore is the Most Valuable Player. Not that he's going to win the MVP but without Gore the 49ers offense is terrible. The Niners ran for 256 yards against the Seahawks in week 2. In week 3 Gore went out and they have yet to eclipse 100 yards since.

3. Tony Romo misses a number 1 receiver. I doubt he misses TO but he misses a receiver that can get open. Teams are keying in on Witten and Roy Williams isn't the player they thought he would be.

4. Chad Johnson's focus is back. It helps that Carson Palmer is getting back to form and TJ Houshmandzadeh is in the emerald city, but Chad Johnson has rededicated himself to football. He is already more than half way to his 2008 season totals in yards and touchdowns.

5. Peyton Manning is the man. This isn't exactly a new idea but Peyton has asserted himself at the top of the QB heap. He lost Marvin Harrison and Anthony Gonzalez and is still leading the league in passing. The true sign of a good player is that he makes others around him better. Peyton has elevated Pierre Garcon a 6th round pick last year into a pro bowl worthy receiver.

6. Eli Manning is not far behind. Comparisons between the two Manning's is unfair. Two completely different Quarterbacks on two completely teams. It's like comparing Montana to Marino. None the less Eli has elevated all his receivers. Steve Smith went from a 3rd down receiver to leading the league in receptions. Eli's QB rating this year is 104.

7. Ladainian Tomlinson isn't healthy. He has 70 total yards and 1 touchdown threw 4 games this year. He is also averaging a career low 3.5 yards per carry. Quite the drop off for the best running back in the league.

8. Philip Rivers is top level Quarterback. Last year he led the league in Quarterback rating last year. He is doing better this year. Maybe not statistically but as a leader. With one of the worst Defenses in the league so far and their star running back on the mend Phillip Rivers is keeping the Chargers in contention.

9. Jon Gruden is great on Monday Night Football. ESPN finally got the mix right. Mike Tirico is one of the best play by play guys out there and they have surrounded him with two great football minds. The Kornheiser/trying to get women to watch football experiment failed and they made the right choice by appealing to football fans again.

10. The Packers made the right choice at Quarterback. The Packers had a very difficult decision to make when Favre unretired the first time. They made the right choice by thinking with their heads and not their hearts. Aaron Rodgers is playing his heart out behind an injured terrible O-line with a below average running game. Luckily for Rodgers he will be able to step out of Favre's now tarnished shadow.

MLB regular season awards: NL MVP.

2009-10-06T12:06:00.001-07:00

Winner:

St Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols. .327 BA .658 Slugging .443 OBP 47 Home Runs 135 RBI 16 Stolen Bases
Pujols is the clear cut best player in the bigs and he proved it again this year. He was in the top three in the NL in batting average, RBI and home runs. He led all of baseball in on base percentage, slugging, OPS, runs and total bases. Oh yeah he stole 16 bases.

Runners up:

2. Florida Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez. .342 BA .410 OBP 24 home runs 106 RBI 27 stolen bases.
Hanley was mister do everything for the Marlins this year. The Marlins were in the postseason race up until the last week of the season due in large part to Mr. Ramirez. He led the National league with a .342 batting average. The Marlins moved him to the number three spot in the lineup and he delivered with 106 RBI. He also stole 27 bases and impoved his fielding percentage by 16 points this year.

3. Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder. .299 BA .602 slugging 46 home runs 141 RBI.
Fielder was second in home runs and tied for first in RBI in the national league this year. Along with Ryan Braun he led the Brewers into contention for most of the year even after losing CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets.

4. Philadelphia Phillis fist baseman Ryan Howard. 279 BA 45 home runs 141 RBI.
He has very similar numbers to Prince Fielder, but Prince gets the nod because his on base percentage is 52 points higher and Howard struck out 48 more times than Fielder. He did however power the Phillies to another division title and upped his batting average by 28 points from last year.

Brett Favre: the poor man's Kerry Collins.

2009-09-30T10:08:00.001-07:00

I was real excited when Brett Favre announced that he would be coming back to the NFL. I was even more excited when I learned he would be signing with the Vikings. I'm not a Vikings fan, I'm a football fan. I quickly ran to my computer to see when the Vikings and Packers would be playing this year, so the Packers could get their pound of flesh. Luckily for me the first game was going to be on Monday Night Football.

Last week Brett Favre led the Vikings to a last second victory over the 49ers throwing a 32 yard bullet into the back of the end zone for the game winning TD with two seconds left. That throw is exactly why the Vikings brought him in. There are a few really good teams that have great players but don't have a quarterback that can get them six points in two minutes. The Dolphins are one of them and proved it against the Colts, they had the ball for 3 quarters and still lost when Peyton Manning single-handedly did whatever it took to get the win, while Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington couldn't get the ball more than 15 yards down the field.

What happened next was what I have been afraid of since Favre put on the purple and yellow. Sports "experts" went crazy saying the old gunslinger is back and Favre is still a top 5 quarterback. I sure hope Favre wasn't listening. At his best he is a game manager with a strong arm. At his worst he sets more franchises back than Terrell Owens. If Brett Favre wants to leave his now destroyed legacy somewhat intact he needs to kill the gunslinger, shut his mouth and move the ball down the field in the 4th quarter.

The Vikings have a top 1 running back, Defensive Tackle combination and a top 25 quarterback. All of Favre's likability is gone. He is no longer the good old boy just chucking the ball around the yard in his Wranglers. He is now a selfish prima donna who torpedoed the Jets and Packers (who are now much better without him), a poor decision maker who led the NFL in interceptions last year. He has become the very man that Americans usually despise: poor intentions and poor executions.

Who is the best catcher in baseball? A statistical and rational analysis.

2009-09-21T10:45:00.001-07:00

This article was meant to determine who is the ultimate all around catcher. I took 5 statistical categories from the past 3 seasons including this season. The five categories are: batting average, OPS (On base plus slugging), All star selections, Fielding percentage and runners caught stealing percentage. The categories I choose not to use were Runs/RBI because that has a lot to do with the quality of lineup you are in. I also didn't include Gold Glove selections because that honor has become completely subjective and a popularity contest.

The top 8 catchers in the bigs are:

8. Bengie Molina. Molina was the only catcher on this list with 0 all star selections he also had the second worst OPS amongst this group.

7. Ivan Rodriguez. Arguably the best catcher ever Rodriguez is in the twilight of his career although he is still remarkably productive ranking second in runners caught stealing, but his bat let him down.

6. Geovany Soto. Soto only had two seasons to go on and would have ranked higher if this season wasn't such a let down from last seasons rookie of the year campaign.

5. Russel Martin. Surprisingly Martin's caught stealing percentage is only 29% and his fielding percentage was 2nd worst on this list. Martin's bat has been steady and has been elected to two all star games.

4. Jorge Posada. Posada's bat carried him to this position. He ranked second in batting average and OPS. His caught steeling percentage was dead last at an abysmal 23%.

3. Brian McCann. McCann is the only player on this list to be elected to all of the past 3 all star teams. His bat is very potent but his fielding percentage was dead last and his caught stealing percentage was 2nd worst.

2. Victor Martinez. Martinez rakes and has a great fielding percentage coming in second. He also made 2 all star teams. This year he is playing about half his time at first base and has a 13% caught stealing percentage so he is fast becoming a defensive liabilty.

1. Joe Mauer. Mauer destroyed the competition. He came in first in all statistical categories. He was first in batting average by 30 points, won OPS by 22 points and caught stealing by 10 points. Truly a man among boys.

10 sure fire predictions for the 2009 NFL season.

2009-09-21T10:44:00.003-07:00

The NFL season is only a few weeks away. Every season has many surprises but I'm here to brace you for the unpredictability's that is the NFL.

My ten Fearless (and by fearless I mean totally guessing) predictions for the 09 season:

1) The Vikings, Falcons, Dolphins and Cardinals don't make the playoffs. All four of these teams made the postseason last year and none of them will this year. The Cardinals still don't have a defense, the Dolphins and Falcons won't surprise anyone this year and the Vikings will have a problem because:

2) Adrian Peterson won't rush for over 1,000 yards. Whether teams finally wise up this year and realize they don't have to guard against the pass (that means you Brett) or AP gets hurt, which has happened before and his running style (trucking linebackers) will wear down his body. Also loosing Matt Birk is gonna hurt the O-line a ton.

3) The Seahawks, Texans and 49ers make the playoffs. The Seahawks had pretty much everyone on their roster hurt last year, but lets not forget they went to the Super Bowl a few years ago with this roster. The Texans and 49ers both finished strong last season and will benefit from retaining most of their players and coaches.

4) Jets coach Rex Ryan will win coach of the year. The Jets are stacked, barring a monumental collapse last year they had a legitimate chance at winning the division. Now that Favre has moved on (notice they didn't try at all to resign him) the Jets are ready to make the playoff push. The media already loves Ryan and he is in high profile New York all he will have to do is take a Super Bowl talented team to the playoffs.

5) LaDainian Tomlinson comes back. Tonlinson had a off year last season battling injuries. Still he managed to rush for 1110 yards and score 12 touchdowns. He's healthy this year and has a chip on his shoulder. Also the Chargers have a QB who lead the league in passer rating last season, no longer can teams stack the box and wait for LT.

6) Michael Vick will start at quarterback for the Eagles. Donovan McNabb has been on thin ice with Eagles fans since the day he was booed when they drafted him. Last season he was benched and they had no backup quarterback. He is also very injury prone. Michael Vick is a very appealing choice at Quarterback for the Eagles and they will be looking for any excuse to put him in.

7) Terrell Owens blows up. TO will explode on and off the field. He signed a one year contract with the Bills so he will rededicate himself to being the best he can so he can get paid this off season. He also has a good quarterback with good receivers and a strong running game so teams won't be able to key in on him. He will also torpedo the team by running his mouth sometime in November.

8) Eli Manning earns his paycheck. Eli just signed a contract making him the highest paid player in the NFL. While Eli hasn't put up Tom Brady, Peyton Manning numbers he has won a Super Bowl. He also has the ear of his team. The Giants don't have any big name receivers but they do have a few solid ones that Eli will make into Pro Bowlers.

9) Brett Favre loses to the Packers, twice. Green Bay is gonna be fired up for this one. Last season the Packers were a disappointment, but the truth is their defense is loaded and the offense can put points up on the board. Expect the Packers to force Favre to beat them with his arm by taking Adrian Peterson out of the game. Favre will answer by throwing 3 interceptions in both games.

10) Cowboys vs the Chargers in the Super Bowl. The Cowboys finally got rid of TO but still have a ton of talent and what looks like a pretty good team chemistry. Romo has a chip on his shoulder and the weight of Texas on his back. The Chargers are loaded with a leader at Quarterback and now that LT and Shawn Merriman are healthy its go time!

NFL fans are dirt bags.

2009-09-21T10:44:00.001-07:00

CNBC just released the list of the top 20 selling NFL jerseys from April 1st to August 28th. The list has the usual Manning's, Romo's and Brady's, but whats really surprising is who else is on the list.

We will start at the top. The number one selling jersey is the Brett Favre Vikings #4 jersey. He attempted to torpedo the Packers season last year and successfully ruined the Jets season in 08. To follow that up he went to the Packers hated rival the Vikings a la Roger Clemmens (how is his legacy?). Yet some how he has managed to appeal to the bottom feeders of this society who have coughed up their hard earned money to support this man.

The Jay Cutler Bears jersey is number 2. Cutler cried and moaned that he didn't want to play for the Broncos this year so loudly that the Broncos were forced to trade him to the Bears for Kyle Orton and two first round picks. Now he is being embraced by the Chicago community as their savior. This was shocking to me until I saw that:

Michael Vick's jersey is #4! I don't need to tell you the Vick story. Vick's jersey sold more than Peyton or Brady. The other amazing thing about this is that Vick wasn't signed with the Eagles until August 13th. Everyone else on this list was having their jerseys on sale for 5 months, Vick's was on sale for 15 days.

Michael Crabtree is #20. This is the funniest of all. Crabtree might not even ever play for the 49ers, making this jersey the worst investment of all. Unless you consider your dignity an investment.

If Tim Lincecum doesn't win the Cy Young, his teammates owe him an apology.

2009-09-21T10:43:00.001-07:00

Tim Lincecum is looking at his second straight CY Young season. He has a 13-5 record is first in strikeouts, first in complete games, first in shutouts, second and ERA and 7th in Wins. One of those stats just doesn't belong.

How can the most dominant starter in baseball have less wins then Derek Lowe? Lowe's ERA is 4.36, Lincecum's is 2.34. How can Lowe have as many wins as Lincecum while giving up 2 more runs per game? Here is how:

All 5 of his losses he has given up 4 earned runs or less.

He has gotten a no decision in 6 games where he gave up less than 2 runs.

He has left the game 4 times with the lead and didn't get the win.

He has left the game 5 times tied and got a no decision.

Only twice all year has he left the game with the Giants down more than 1 run.

Lincecum is pitching his heart out and no one, not the organization, not his teammates pick him up. Lincecum will be a free agent in 2011 and I can't wait to see him pile up 25 wins in a season with a team that wins.

Derek Anderson vs Brady Quinn.

2009-09-21T10:42:00.000-07:00

Cleveland Browns head coach Eric Mangini has finally announced who his starting Quarterback is going to be, and the winner is: Brady Quinn.

Is anybody surprised by this decision? Everyone has known who the starting Quarterback is going to be since last season. Last year the Browns struggled with Anderson at the helm. The Browns also have millions of dollars and jobs tied up in Quinn. Of course he's gonna get a chance to play.

Not that Mangini had much of a choice in this, I'm sure he was pretty much pressured into this decision from the organization who wants to see the pretty boy face of the franchise from Ohio sling the ball around.

There isn't a good choice to make anyway, both Quarterbacks have done absolutely nothing to prove that they should lead the Browns into the future. Anderson has struggled after having a promising 2007 season. Quinn hasn't completed more than half of his passes and only has two touchdowns.

Mangini waited this long to announce his Quarterback because he said it gave his team a competitive advantage. What? Who does this help? Not the starting Quarterback who isn't sure if the team has his back. Not the players who don't know who is going to be the Quarterback, and it certainly doesn't help them against apposing teams because both Quarterbacks are similar pocket passers that aren't that good anyway.

While were at it lets rethink this Mangenious nickname. He burst onto the scene in 2006 coaching the Jets to a 10-6 record. He has sense gone 13-19 including a horrendous 2007 season where the Jets went 4-12. Hardly worthy of the genius moniker.

Maybe Goodell can put the nickname on a 1 year suspension with a possibility of reinstatement if the Browns win 8 games this year.

Now I'm done.

Is Ichiro Suzuki the best player of our time?

2009-09-21T10:22:00.000-07:00

On the heals of Ichiro breaking the 108 year old record of having 200 hits in 9 consecutive seasons the question has to be asked: Is Ichiro the best player of our time?

This may not be the most popular claim because Ichiro has had only 2 seasons in the playoffs and his power numbers are nothing to get excited about. But before you judge him on those two items lets keep in mind what Ichiro's role on the team is.

He bats lead off and his job is to get hits, steal bases and score runs. He rarely ever is given the chance to drive in runs and his job isn't to hit home runs. Anyone who has seen Ichiro take batting practice knows that he is very capable at driving the ball over the fence he simply choses not to. Ichiro is the rare player who shows up every game and does what his manager tells him to do. Ichiro does his job and does it better than anyone in baseball.

Even in the grand space that is baseball history Ichiro stands out. The record for the most 200 hit seasons is held by the hit king Pete Rose. Rose had 200 hits in 10 seasons, Rose also played 24 seasons. Ichiro has nine 200 hit seasons in nine years. Pete Rose's career batting average was .303, Ichiro's is .333.

Ichiro is the best contact hitter in baseball. He has the record for most hits in a season with 262. He lead the league in hits six times and in the two he didn't lead he came in second. He is also hitting .421 for his career in the postseason. His .333 career batting average is second among active players only behind the great Albert Pujols who is currently hitting .334. Pujols is great but not better than Ichiro but I will get to that later.

Ichiro also has numerous accolades in baseball. In his nine seasons he has been to nine all star games. In his eight full seasons he has eight gold gloves. In 2001 he won the rookie of the year, MVP and the gold glove award, the only player ever to win all 3. The league also fears Ichiro, he has lead baseball in intentional walks in 3 of his seasons, unheard of for a leadoff hitter that is a nightmare for opposing teams on the bases.

Ichiro is also the best in the league at defense. He has 8 gold gloves in his 8 full seasons. His arm is so feared runners don't even bother trying to advance a base on him anymore. Ichiro also won 7 gold gloves in his 7 full seasons while playing pro ball in Japan. That's 15 straight seasons and counting.

The only current player in the bigs that matches up to Ichiro's production is Albert Pujols. Clearly Pujols is the better power hitter and possibly the best hitter of all time if he keeps up his production. Where Ichiro gets him is in every other category. Ichiro has the better glove winning the gold glove in every season he has played. Pujols has only won one in 2006. Ichiro also has the better arm, arguably the best arm in the bigs. Ichiro also has the better speed. He has averaged 39 steals a year. Pujols has averaged 5. To recap Pujols is the better power hitter and as good as Ichiro in batting average. Ichiro has the better glove, range, arm and speed.

Ichiro has said that he wants to play into his 40's. Considering Ichiro hasn't missed more than 5 games in a season it doesn't sound so far fetched. If Ichiro does play until he is 40 and continues to average 226 hits per year he will have 2,935 MLB hits at the end of the 2013 season.

I say MLB hits because Ichiro also spent nine seasons playing pro ball in Japan for the Orix Blue Wave. Ichiro has 1278 professional Japanese hits . While playing for the Blue Wave Ichiro also showed that he can hit for power when his manager tells him to. While having 200 less at bats per season in Japan Ichiro managed to hit an average of 17 home runs per year.

If you include Ichiro's Japanese and American hits he would be looking at 4213 hits before his 40th birthday. That would be 43 short of Pete Rose's record. Even if you don't include Ichiro's hits in Japan he could break Pete Rose's hits record at age 45 if he continues to average 226 hits per year. Being 40 and having 200 hits per season seems far fetched but everything Ichiro does has been.

Ichiro's legacy in America might ultimately not get the credit it deserves because he spent his first nine seasons playing in Japan, but Ichiro's legacy in Japan isn't challenged. If you want to send him fan mail from the United States to Japan all you have to do is put Ichiro on the envelope and he will get it.

Charles Rogers bid for loser of the decade.

2009-09-21T10:21:00.000-07:00

In case you forgot who Charles Rogers is (and I can't blame you if you do) he was the #2 overall pick of the Detroit Lions in 2003. Being a first round pick of the Lions usually guarantees you will fail (Mike Williams, Harrington, Backus, Mcdougal) but Rogers is attempting to take it to a whole new level.

Rogers was found passed out at the wheel of his 03 Benz Wednesday afternoon. He was charged this morning with operating a vehicle while intoxicated and not having a valid drivers license. If convicted he's looking at 3 months of jail time.

For starters he is passed out on a Wednesday afternoon in a 03 Benz. He clearly spent that draft contract bonus on a new car and hasn't been able to buy anything new since then. So if you are keeping score at home Rogers pro career has entailed:

2003: #2 overall draft pick.
2006: Cut by the Lions
2008: Charged with assault and battery by a woman
2009: Violated probation by testing positive for Vicodin while in rehab
2009: Sued by Lions for $6.1 million for breach of contract
This morning: Charged with DWI