Lidge Named Comeback Player of the Year in the NL

by John Ryan

Named on 22 of the 30 ballots cast by the writer’s of MLB.com, Brad Lidge earned Comeback Player of the Year for the National League, defeating Kerry Wood by 19 votes, 53 to 34. The win marks a dramatic comeback that capped off a downward spiral that started 3 seasons ago versus Albert Pujols. While many fans and media members alike never forgot the at-bat by Pujols, Lidge spent the next three seasons trying to forget. He lost his job as Astros closer twice, blew 14 save chances in 2 years and finally was traded to Philadelphia for a bunch of spare parts. That’s when Lidge’s luck turned. After earning his first save April 7, Lidge never looked back. He didn’t surrender his first run until his 18th appearance, and finished the season a perfect 41 of 41 in save opportunities. “This season’s been a grind,” the 31-year-old Lidge said as he stood in the Phillies’ clubhouse, soaked with champagne and wearing a gray T-shirt that proclaimed Philadelphia champion of the NL East. “Nothing’s been easy.” While that may be true of late, since Lidge has looked a bit shaky since being sat down for a few days mid season to rest his arm, he has made it look easy most of the time. Lidge did appear to wear down a bit in August after a much-hyped story in the all-star game where he warmed up on six different occasions and estimates he did a week’s worth of warming up for an exhibition game. Cliff Lee was named the American League winner, edging out Mike Mussina.

Pat Burrell Injured At Batting Practice

Kevin Roberts of the Courier Post is reporting that Philadelphia Phillies left fielder Pat Burrell left batting practice prematurely on Tuesday, suffering a back injury during the afternoon workout at Citizens Bank Park. According to Roberts, “Burrell limped off about 20 minutes into the workout, heading for the clubhouse and walking gingerly down the steps. The clubhouse was closed to the media following the workout, and Burrell was unavailable for comment.”

The Phils will have Burrell checked out. Charlie Manuel’s thoughts on the injury, “I think he’ll live.”

Breaking News: Raiders Finally Fire Kiffin

 

by John Ryan

After weeks, then days, then hours, the Raiders finally fired Lane Kiffin Tuesday morning, ending the teams relationship with the youngest head coach in NFL history at the time of his hiring.

NFL Power Rankings – Week 5

by Michael DeLuca

I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a better start to an NFL season.  Week four featured upsets galore, some key injuries, and much much more.  Without further ado, I present the week 5 NFL Power Rankings.

1.  New York Giants (3-0) – Sure they ascended to the top spot by virtue of a bye, but they are undefeated and are defending Super Bowl Champions.  They haven’t seemed to miss a beat on defense despite the losses of Michael Strahan to retirement and Osi Umenyiora to a season ending injury.  They coasted to wins in their first two games, but were just barely able to get past the lowly Cincinnati Bengals in week 3, winning by a field goal in overtime.  They’ll be without Plaxico Burress (suspended) in week 5 in what should be an interesting matchup with the Seattle Seahawks, who may have their top two receivers returning from injury.

2.  Tennessee Titans (4-0) – Best defense in the league thus far, hands down.  Albert Haynesworth is a beast and Cortland Finnegan is gaining prominence as one of the league’s top cover corners.  Chris Johnson is a lightning bolt.  Kerry “Cocktail” Collins makes this offense more stable, allowing the defense to do what it do.

3.  Dallas Cowboys (3-1) – Their dominating performance in Cleveland in week 1 was followed up by a week 2 shootout victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.  In week three they traveled to Green Bay, where they had never won a game, and took it to the Packers for an impressive victory.  Rookie Felix Jones has proven to be a dynamic playmaker, but inexplicably didn’t receive a single touch in the week 4 loss to the Washington Redskins.  Some knuckleheads will argue that the Redskins should be above the Cowboys since they have the same record and Washington beat Dallas, but you can’t forget that Dallas has scored victories over both Philadelphia and Green Bay.

Phillies vs. Brewers – Infield

The Phillies and the Brewers are very similar teams this is the first of a five part series that will look at these two teams and this five game series.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lets start with the infielders:

Phillies Set Their Playoff Rotation

King Cole is the Phillies Ace.

By Mike Gill

With the Phillies and the Brewers all set to meet on Wednesday at Citizens Bank Park, there was a little chess match about who the starting pitchers will be.  The Phillies made the first move by announcing that lefty Cole Hamels will get the game one nod.  Hamels was certainly the ace of the staff, but was somewhat ordinary in the final month of the season. 

Meanwhile, the Brewers will counter with Yovani Gallardo who is 0-0 this season.  He missed most of the season with a torn ACL that he suffered back in spring training.  Gallardo did come back to pitch in September and threw four innings and struck out seven on September 25, allowing one run on three hits in four innings before leaving after 67 pitches. The Phillies have seen Gallardo before, once last season, when he held them to one run on four hits in 6 2/3 innings on August 3rd.

A Wild Weekend, Indeed: JR’s Ramblings

by John Ryan

I feel like Lawrence Taylor during a football game in the 80’s right now. That’s right: I’m jacked up because this weekend was one of the wildest I can remember in ages, and it featured a roller coaster ride of emotions matched only by a Britney Spears’ weekend bender. There was playoff-caliber baseball, college football upsets, NFL upsets, foolish contract extensions, firings, last game ever’s at more than one legendary venue, and much, much more. Without further ado, here’s my first ever Weekend Ramblings:

1.) Fred Wilpon gave Omar Minaya a contact extension! I’m delighted. Ok, so it’s not all that bad. As discussed in my article last week, Minaya has made some great moves and brought the Mets back to respectability. Only problem is, he has also presided over two major collapses. Ladies and gentlemen of the Metropolitan area of New York: Your 2008-2012 GM of the Mets!

Week 4: NFL Ramblings

by Michael DeLuca

Talk about parity!  Two major upsets, even more see-saw battles, and lot’s of late game meltdowns.  Here’s your rambling rundown of week four in the NFL…

NY Jets (56) over Arizona Cardinals (35) – The New York Jets might want to make a permanant switch to their throwback New York Titans AFL jerseys. Six touchdowns for Brett Favre.  Wow!  And it wasn’t against a cracker jack defense, Arizona can bring it.  My guess is Ken Whisenhunt’s brilliant idea to stay on the road won’t be employed EVER again.  Kurt Warner lost his longtime battle with fubmlitis, coughing up the pigskin four times, three of which were recovered by the Jets.  He also threw three interceptions, one of which was returned for paydirt by Darrelle Revis.  Anquan Boldin was carted off the field after suffereing a brutal helmet-to-helmet hit in garbage time. Boldin was immobile and, initially, onlookers couldn’t help but fear the worst. Luckily, Boldin did not suffer a neck injury and should regain his senses sometime before the New Year.

What My Eyes are Watching – Eagles vs. Bears

By Mike Gill

Here are some of the keys to the Eagles – Bears game on Sunday night.

1. Health– Are the Eagles going to be healthy enough to compete throughout the game with a tough, physical Bears defense.  Donovan McNabb should play, but could aggravate his injury at anytime.  Brian Westbrook, if he goes, will be less then 100% and probably will be more of a decoy then a factor.  Shawn Andrews will miss the game barring a miracle and Max Jean Gillies was disappointing in extended time verses Dallas.  LJ Smith doesnt look good right now, meaning Brett Celek will have his role increased.  Can they win under these conditions, sure, but it will make for a game that will much closer then it should be.

2. Pressure on Orton– The Eagles blitzed the heck out of the Steelers last Sunday and knocked Big Ben Roethlisberger out of the game.  On Sunday, a QB with much less composure and game-experience will jump under center and if the Eagles can get to him like they got to Big Ben, it could be a laugher. 

The Duke’s Picks – Week 4

by Michael DeLuca

The Duke’s Picks is off to an amazing 14-8 start, with three consecutive winning weeks to start off this year’s slate of NFL Football Games!  I’m still stewing over Denver’s inability to polish off a potential blowout of the Saints last week, but hey…you can’t win them all.  Let’s see if we can keep the ball rolling.  Home teams are in caps, Duke’s picks are in bold.  Away we go…

NEW ORLEANS -6 San Francisco – No Colston, no Shockey….ouch.  Now let’s add in to that the suspension of starting left guard Jamar Nesbit for violation of the league’s policy on anabolic steroids and related substances. Oh, and Pro Bowl left tackle Jammal Brown’s hip has limited him in practice this week. Get the point? Take the 49ers, their relatively healthy and not half bad.