Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Could the Dodgers and Astros World Series Be the Best Since 1986?

Hey, I get it.  Last years world series was really good.  And the Cubs broke its 500 year world series drought.  2014 was also good as the San Francisco Giants beat the Kansas City Royals in 7 games.  The 1997 World Series and the 1992 World Series had exciting back and forth games. Kirk Gibson gave us one of the most iconic moments in World Series history with his Game 1 walk off home run off Dennis Eckersley that everyone keeps talking about 30 years later.  John Lackey, Edgar Renteria, Kirby Puckett, Joe Carter and Jack Morris are all World Series heroes.

Verlander looking distraught.
But if the 2017 World Series goes to 7 games, The Dodgers and the Astros may have the best combination of Game 7 heroics, back and forth games and heroes since the 1986 World Series. They may also have the most slicked up, juiced baseballs in history. Bruce Hurst was the best pitcher outshining Roger Clemens and Dwight Gooden.  The Mets came back from 2 runs down in Game 6 and 3 runs down in Game 7 to win the Series.  While I am partial to Red Sox World Series, the 1986 World Series is my favorite Series of all time, perhaps until this year.

Game 1 finally saw Clayton Kershaw break out of his "David Prician" post season slump.  What does "David Prician" mean?  What if I told you it means the same thing as "Chris Salian" and "Rick Porcellian."

Game 2 featured 4 home runs from the 9th inning on as Carlos Correia, Jose Altuve, George Springer and Yasiel Puig all connected to tie the game or take the lead.

Game 3 was not the most memorable game...well unless you count the questionable racial epithet thrown at Yu Darvish by Yuli Garriel (See you Game 6 net year Yuli!!)

Game 4 Saw the Dodgers break away in the 6th inning with an extra base hit barrage in the 9th inning while Dodgers' pitcher Ale Wood was taken out of the game after giving up one hit (Home Run) in 5 and two thirds innings.

Game 5 was considered one of the best games ever played.  The Astros came back from a 4-0 deficit against Clayton Kershaw.  The Astros also came back from a 7-4 deficit later in the game.  Not to be outdone, The Dodgers came back with 3 runs to tie the game 12-12 in the 9th inning.

What will Game 6 bring tonight on Halloween (DLG requires me to bring up Halloween and I'm writing this blog).  Verlander is going for his first World Series title to go with his Hall of Fame Career.  The Dodgers counter with curveball specialist (and Red Sox cast off) Rich Hill, who is trying to make the ultimate comeback.

And the home runs shall fly.  Dodgers 7, Astros 5.  See you tomorrow for Game 7.

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

The Kyrie Irving Era Has Begun and LeBron James Can't Stand It

Of course LeBron James had to make it about himself during the Kyrie story.

"Oh my knee!" James weasels as the camera shutters are furiously fighting for his attention.  "Oh I don't think I can play until I decide that the attention is squarely focused on me, then I can play."  James can't fool me with his inside voice.  This is not Irving's homecoming as much as it is James'

Who cares if its Kyrie Irving's first game in Cleveland since the big trade?  LeBron still wants to show Irving the car keys that he's missing out on.  And just to make a loss a little more plausible, James' faking of an injury is such a LeBron move.  I'm just surprised it wasn't "cramps."  Nevertheless, James wants Irving to know that he is still the little brother on the Cavs' Court.   

But let's get back to Kyrie.  Is Boston demonstrably better after the trade?  The answer is no, unless you count the fact that Isaiah Thomas is out until January with his hip pain so we wouldn't have had a point guard for the first 4 months of the season.  Imagine Derrick Rose in a Celtics uniform?  I know I'm glad I don't have to.  In a star-driven league, though, the Celtics have risen to the top of the Eastern Conference - hurdling over the Cavs because of the trade.  While the Celtics bench was blown up in order to sign Gordon Hayward and make room for Kyrie Irving, and Tyrion had many highlights in the past two years, the starting 5 has markedly improved and, at the end of the day, that is what matters when its not about the team, it's about how well your best three players can share the rock.  Let's face it, an imp and a deep bench was not going to get the Celtics anywhere except a blowout in Game 4, 5, 6 or 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals.  Something had to be done and Danny fished out a gold mine in what would have been a lost year.

But now with the resurgent Big 3 (Trademark pending), the Celtics are poised to jump over the LeBrons and fight the Western Conference Champions.  And tonight is the start of the new Era in Celtics' basketball.  Let's go the live blog.

Kyrie with First 2 points of the season?
And of course Kyrie scores the first two points of the season (although you wouldn't know it by the TNT scorekeeper who had the following scores in the first 2 minutes of the game.

Cavs 2-0
Celtics 6-0
Tied 4-4
Celtics 4-3

What? I don't know what's going on.  The announcers have it right.  This seems like the start of an All Star Game.

And just like that, the Celtics' season is all but over.  I hope Gordon Hayward is OK.  That sucks.