World Series Breakdown

The case for Philadelphia....

The Philadelphia Phillies caught and passed the New York Mets for the second year in a row en route to the NL East crown. This time around they are making the most of their playoff appearance. 

With the hopes of an entire championship-starved city on their shoulders, the Phillies look to bring a title home to the City of Brotherly Love for the first time in a quarter century. Here's how they will make that dream a reality.

Cole Hamels  - The NLCS MVP has been unhittable this postseason. With a 3-0 record and 1.23 ERA in the playoffs, he has clearly been the Phillies ace.

He has 22 strikeouts in as many innings and is the one guy who can win this series almost single-handedly. The San Diego native will start Game 1 and could make two more starts if the series goes the full seven games. 

While the rest of the rotation behind him and Brett Myers are unreliable if Hamels can keep the Rays at bay with his breathtaking change-up he could set-up the Phillies to only need one win when he is not on the bump.

The big bats - The powerful lineup that propelled the Phillies all season has yet to really break out. A World Series 

championship could be theirs if they finally do. 

Behind Long Beach Poly and UCLA grad Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell loom. The trio belted 114 homers during the regular season but has just four - three from Burrell and one from Utley - through the first two rounds. 

Howard, the 2006 NL MVP and leading candidate for the award again after a torrid September, is streaky. If he can get hot again, the Rays will be in trouble. 

At the top of the lineup, the reigning NL MVP Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino set the table for the sluggers behind them. If both speedsters can get on and wreak havoc on the basepaths, the Phillies can put up a ton of runs - especially at home in Citizens Bank Park.

The bullpen - One thing you need to win in October, or even early November, is a great bullpen. Closer Brad Lidge is perfect 46-for-46 in converting save opportunities this season.

Long Beach native Ryan Madson has given up just one run in nine innings of work and the Phillies haven't blown a lead after eight innings all year, with a record of 86-0 headed to the final frame on top. With Madson's emergence they are lights out after seven innings. 

On the other side of the field Tampa's David Price has only been in the big leagues a month and Grant Balfour has a shaky psyche. The Rays lack a proven closer and that should be a big key. 

If Hamels and Myers can get the ball to Madson and Lidge with a lead the duo can shut the door and get Philadelphia a win. That will be the recipe for success.

Prediction: Phillies in 7

Tracy McDannald's take

The case for Tampa Bay...

Tampa Bay Rays rookie third baseman Evan Longoria was still in disbelief after defeating the Boston Red Sox to advance to the World Series.

“I’m sure nobody picked us to go to the World Series,” the former Long Beach State Dirtbag said after Sunday’s 3-1 win in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series. “For me to be in this situation, I really can’t believe it.”

He’s right — nobody picked them to play in the Fall Classic at the beginning of the season. The team started the season as an 80-to-1 longshot to win the World Series, and the franchise hadn’t made the playoffs in its previous 10 years of existence.

But, I’m giving them a shot to win it all.

Youth trumps experience - Everyone can stop saying that the Rays are too inexperienced to perform in the postseason.

How about this for experience? Manager Joe Maddon was on the coaching staff when the team formerly known as the Anaheim Angels won the World Series in 2002.

Maddon has done an excellent job guiding the young, talented Rays to the AL East title, AL pennant, and now, a shot at the big prize.

Longoria and center fielder B.J. Upton — 23 and 24 years old, respectively — have powered the offense in the middle of the lineup, combining to hit 13 home runs in the postseason.

There’s also that unknown fireballer who emerged from the bullpen in Game 7 …

Price is right for Tampa Bay - David Price was thrust into the national spotlight Sunday night and responded well.

The former No. 1 overall draft pick was called up in September and appeared in just five regular season games. But, Price struck out J.D. Drew with the bases loaded to end the eighth inning and preserve the 3-1 lead. 

The rookie left-hander continued to baffle Boston in the ninth, fanning Mark Kotsay and Jason Varitek before inducing the series-ending grounder to eliminate the defending champions.

With questions swirling about Tampa Bay’s arms in the bullpen — particularly the closer role — Maddon should think back to an electric Francisco Rodriguez mowing through lineups in the Angels’ 2002 run.

Price can dart the outside corner with a 97 mph fastball or jelly-leg batters with an 88 mph slider, and hitters can’t hit what they can’t see. As the least experienced member of the Rays, Price surely hasn’t been seen by any of the Philadelphia Phillies’ hitters.

Depth in the starting rotation - Cole Hamels and Brett Myers have delivered for Philadelphia, combining to win five of the team’s seven postseason games to reach the World Series.

There really isn’t much beyond the Phillies’ No. 1 and 2 starters, however.

In two postseason starts, 45-year-old Jamie Moyer is 0-2 with a 13.50 ERA in just 5 1/3 innings. It’s a struggle for him just to hit 88 mph on the radar gun with his fastball, and the Tampa Bay lineup is more than capable of turning the game into a home run derby.

In Game 4 of the ALCS against Boston knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, the Rays scored five runs on six hits — three homers — in just 2 2/3 innings.

Meanwhile, Tampa Bay will throw four quality starters: ALCS MVP Matt Garza, Andy Sonnanstine, Scott Kazmir and James Shields.

Prediction: Rays in six

(Cole Hamels and Evan Longoria, Photos Courtesy of MLB.com)

Champion of the past

The story of Jack Johnson

Long before there were “Banana Pancakes” or you were humming the tune to “Upside Down” the name Jack Johnson was synonymous with one thing, boxing.

One hundred years ago he was the heavyweight champion of the world and the baddest dude around. But there was a problem, Johnson was black.

In a time still filled with racial oppression Johnson’s color and even worse his brash personality and blatant disregard for a manner in which he was supposed to conduct himself clashed with white authorities.

A century later efforts are underway to right an egregious wrong.

A bi-partisan effort includes two bills, one in the House and another led by Republican Presidential Nominee John McCain is in the Senate. Both are awaiting approval.

In a letter to the President McCain wrote "Johnson’s conviction was motivated by nothing more than the color of his skin. As such, it injured not only Mr. Johnson but also our nation as a whole."

If the bills go through the dream of a posthumous presidential pardon for Jack Johnson, a great American champion could finally be realized.

While Governor in Texas Bush tabbed Johnson’s birthday as Jack Johnson Day in the state for five consecutive years.

Legendary American filmmaker Ken Burns produced a documentary entitled “Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson” that aired on PBS back in January.

This movie has only furthered the effort to clear Johnson’s name.

Johnson was a larger-than-life American pop icon in the early 1900s.

Born in 1878 to former slaves in Galveston, Texas Johnson’s meteoric rise and fall from failed Reconstruction America to heavyweight champion of the world does not have a happy ending.

In 1913 Johnson was convicted of taking a woman across interstate lines as a violation of the Mann Act.

Officially the White Slave Traffic Act the obscure and controversial measure was passed to combat prostitution at the turn of the 19th century.

The Progressive Era bill was being so broadly interpreted for anything other than spousal relations that any interstate travel, especially for “undesirables” could mean prosecution.

After authorities were unsuccessful in nabbing Johnson on two occasions they accused him a third time despite the consensual nature of his relationship.

These first two occasions, marriages to white women, sparked anger amongst a Jim Crow era America.

Under law, once married, the women the authorities sought to testify against Johnson were no longer permitted to do so.

After sentencing Johnson posted bail and fled overseas to Europe.

He tried to continue fighting while living in Paris but the marquee fights eluded him. The war was going on and Johnson was not the celebrity he was back in the states.

A convoluted title fight took place in Havana, Cuba in 1915 where Johnson lost a 26-round fight. Johnson’s loss meant the return of the title belt to a white man.

It would take 22 years for an African-American to have a chance to capture the title of heavyweight champion of the world again.

Jack Johnson returned to the United States in 1920 and served his sentence.

Once out of prison he tried to resume his boxing career but he was never the same man, or the same fighter upon release.

He spent the rest of his days trying to live off his fading celebrity status. From exhibitions to entrepreneurship he continued on.

Johnson was killed in an automobile accident in 1946.

Intelligent but flashy, charismatic and proud. Johnson was a victim of circumstance, torn-down by the times.

Amendments have been made to the Mann Act in recent years most notably in 1978 and 1986 but the bill has never been repealed.

Notable stars like Black rock-n-roller Chuck Berry, actor Charlie Chaplain and architect Frank Lloyd Wright were all prosecuted under its auspicious umbrella.

Florida vs Arkansas

I went to Arkansas this past weekend to catch the Florida Gators take on the Arkansas Razorbacks. For a complete rundown of the trip and to see a photo slideshow here's the link. New post coming soon!

Gambling and fantasy, making the NFL what it is

NFL football is far and away the most popular sport in America right now, but it's less about the players and the game itself then it is the gambling and fantasy aspects that go with it.

Case in point, the injury to New England Patriots QB Tom Brady. With one of its big stars sidelined the NFL barely skips a beat. New stars are born, new fantasy football greats emerge and the Patriots give less points in Las Vegas.

In the NFL stars are not only marketed differently but they just plain don't mean as much. In a sport where players were helmets on the field and the average career is shorter than a presidential race, it really is "the name on the front of the jersey that matters."

This issue of being recognizable can't be ignored. NBA stars like LeBron James and Kobe Bryant are not only easier to market but their faces are more familiar due to their non-intrusive apparel. Even baseball players just wear hats. Hidden inside that helmet is not a star but the key to hitting that "over" bet or getting enough points to beat out your old college buddy in your fantasy league that week.

None of this is to say that there are no true NFL fans, who root hard for their team win or lose and don't play fantasy football or bet on the games each week. It's just that they are in the minority.

"Americans like to wager," John McCain said with a sheepish grin and a laugh earlier this week to ESPN cameras. The answer was in response to his failed legislation to ban gambling on college sports. For all the wagering American sports fans do on college sports or professional ones like baseball and basketball, NFL football is king.

According to the Las Vegas Sun, Nevada sportsbooks took in more than $92 million in bets for last year's Super Bowl alone - a figure that doesn't even include all the money wagered online.

With pro football, though, there is more than just betting on the Super Bowl. Every week millions of eager Americans pour over the lines hoping to find that right combination to hit it big. The anticipation and betting action builds all week until Sunday finally arrives.

I can sum it up best with this story. Late last Sunday night I got two expletive-laced text messages from friends that in essence said, "Why didn't the Steelers kick that field goal?" Up four points with 30 seconds to go, the Pittsburgh Steelers had elected to go for it on fourth down in Cleveland territory due to the windy conditions instead of attempting a tough field goal try.

Considering the situation, it was a logical move. For the people who bet money on the Steelers, this was not a sufficient argument. See, according to the sportsbooks Pittsburgh needed to cover a 6.5 point spread - win by seven points - if you chose them. A field goal would have filled this void.

Instead, Pittsburgh won by four. It was a nice, hard-fought road win on a brutal night in Ohio. For those, including two of my friends who had laid money on them to win by seven or more this reasoning meant a lighter wallet.

In other words in an arena where even a half of a point can mean the difference between winning and losing, the way football games are watched even when the outcome is set, means a whole different standard of rules.

In addition to the gambling the other vice is fantasy football. This is where the NFL really distances itself from the college game. Because of the roster turnover in college football, fantasy is not nearly as feasible as it is for the pro game.

Fantasy football started as an archaic exercise for diehards in small underground circles. With the internet it has exploded as a full-fledged phenomenon and everyone is in at least one league.

Most major sports sites like yahoo! offer the game for free, but most people ante up an entry fee that goes to the top couple finishers. Like the gambling and the TV contracts that make football what it is, fantasy football is a business too.

It also hinders business. Chicago-based employment consultant, Challenger, Gray & Christmas concluded in a recent study that fantasy players are costing employers as much as $1.1 billion per week during the NFL season.

In other words in floundering economic times, plenty of time from 9-5 Monday through Friday is spent scouring the waiver wire, reading up on injuries and talking trash to next week's opponent - all from guys who won't get within one hundred yards of the field on Sunday.

While most American sports are played at least a few times a week, football is not. It is that limited exposure, the once-a-week format that makes it so special.

While the NFL rules Sundays across living rooms and local watering holes from coast-to-coast, it is the betting and fantasy football that keeps the nation on edge from Tuesday morning until just before kickoff.

From that last-minute parlay to the decision of who to start at running back, the intrigue of the NFL for most fans goes way beyond the white lines. While ultimately the action on the field dictates the way we react to the extra curricular, the way we watch pro football, shaped by these endeavors, is unlike any other experience.

Top-10 fall baseball story lines

Top-10 Story Lines as MLB heads towards the Postseason

10. Yankee Stadium hosts its final baseball game in September (this Sunday). The Yankees failure to clinch a 14th consecutive berth means no playoffs for the most famous postseason venue in all of sports, 100 world series games in all.

9. Next year's free agents. Will Ben Sheets, CC Sabathia, Manny Ramirez or Pat Burrell to name a few have that Carlos Beltran-esque post-season that takes them from the 100 to the 200 million dollar range?

8. Do more fans show up at the Trop when postseason play begins? I'm sure they do, but why now? The Rays have been playing well since May and are a young, exciting team. They are 19-1 when playing in front of more than 30,000 fans this year in St. Pete. Now that bodes well for October.

7. Does the American League take home the trophy home again? Despite blips to the AL's dominance in South Beach, St. Louis and the desert the senior circuit is once again inferior to the AL and won't have home field either thanks to another defeat in the midsummer classic.

6. The wild cards. Wild card teams have wreaked havoc on the playoffs this decade especially in a short best-of-5 divisional series format. Could either Tampa Bay or Boston in the AL and anyone from the New York/Philadelphia/Milwaukee/Houston logjam emerge as the final entry and find its way into late October hardball? I say yes.

5. The Dodgers. With the star power of Joe Torre and Manny Ramirez the team has been hot since August and looks destined for the divisional round. Can they make it out? Does Torre really deserve the credit if they win 84 games and get bounced in the first round? Should be a very interesting offseason no matter how they finish for Ned Coletti, Frank McCourt and the blue crew.

4. The races. Will the Mets collapse again? What will the Mets look like next spring if they do? Can the Rays hold off the Red Sox? Does the NL West winner get more than 85 wins? Can the Twins make it back to the playoffs? Who gets the best record in the AL and secures that home field?

3. The hardware. Who will take home the awards from the regular season? Ryan Howard has hit 45 home runs for the 3rd year in a row and despite his paltry .250 average and 200 strikeouts his impact has been remarkable over the last 6 weeks. If the Indians finish around .500 doesnt Cliff Lee deserve MVP consideration? If A-Rod can win it for the last place Rangers then what about Lee? Cleveland loses 100 games without him.

2. The NL Central. The Brewers fired their manager and the Astros have been in a post-Ike tailspin. The Brew-Crew hasn't been to the playoffs in my lifetime and the Astros were on fire until a hurricane tore up Houston and their home series against the Cubs. There are much more important things than baseball but it looks as though the storm is taking its toll on the team as well.

1. The Cubbies. It's been a century since the North-siders captured baseball's biggest crown by beating Ty Cobb and the Tigers in the 1908 fall classic. The "lovable losers" are in ownership flux but have been one of the game's biggest spenders the last few offseasons and are knocking on the doorstep. The scene in Chicago following a Cubs championship could make a European soccer celebration look tame by comparison.

Going Back

"Get up baby! Get up!"

....

It did get up. Up and out of Busch Stadium and into the record books.

Ten years ago Mark McGwire smashed Roger Maris' home run total of 61 with a low rising liner that could have been shot out of one of those t-shirt guns.

....

It was a hectic summer. In a flash I left my entire childhood behind. Thrown into boxes while I was away at summer camp, when I did return I came home to a house I barely recognized and a life that would never be the same.

It took two weeks to drive to St. Louis. On the way we stopped in Utah and Oklahoma City. Arriving in St. Louis was like running into a wall. Not only was this place a far cry from the crowded bustle of Northern California but the August humidity was nothing short of suffocating.

Big Mac changed all of that. Major League Baseball was still pulling itself out of the shambles of the 1994 strike-shortened season that cost the game and its fans the annual Fall Classic.

Once McGwire and Sammy Sosa started lacing baseballs into bleachers all over the National League the whole sports world stood up and noticed.

As a lifelong baseball aficionado, despite my tender age of 11, this was the perfect storm and St. Louis was the eye. At one point in August with McGwire's assault on the record book a near formality my dad and I carefully mapped out the date in which number 62 would find the Busch Stadium cheap seats.

Going to games in the interim was just surreal. The energy in the ballpark, the buzz that began to rise as soon as McGwire ascended the dugout steps, was unlike any sound I have ever witnessed. The anticipation, the eagerness to explode with the crack of the bat could not possibly be measured.

Then there was the flashbulbs. If Hollywood made a movie about this event there are no manner of special effects that could possibly emulate the feeling that every person in the stadium must be holding four cameras at once and clicking them in mass confusion.

....

We missed the record breaker by a week. Sitting down the left field line on the night of September 15th we watched number 63 clear the fence and cascade into a sea of outstrectched arms that seemed to resemble a rock concert.

I will never forget the flight of that ball from my perch in left as it bounced into the crowd and after much jubilation a collective sigh was felt the whole metro-area over. The drought was done.

McGwire had been pressing. He had gone a week without homering and Sosa showed no signs of letting up. The magic snowballed from there with McGwire pounding 70 total moonshots and Sosa a remarkable 66.

Baseball was back. It seems almost sacrilegious now to consider all the allegations around that era. We were duped. But that can never change how it made you feel.

Every homer that year seemed to be hit further than the next. Like two guys repeatedly trading baskets, neither Sosa or McGwire wanted to be outdone by the other and even McGwire who had been standoffish at best for much of his career embraced the spotlight, celebrated with Sosa and genuinely seemed to be enjoying himself.

....

Baseball needed saving. We knew that and so did Selig. We will never know how much ignorance and naivety played a role compared to simply turning a blind eye but America needs baseball and we got it back with all the passion, glory and enjoyment the game has brought for more than a century.

I have never thought baseball could top the summer of 1941. On the brink of the greatest world conflict mankind has ever known Joltin' Joe Dimaggio hit in 56 straight games and Ted Williams became the last man to hit over .400 when he finished this season with a .406 clip.

1961 brought us the Mantle/Maris assault on Ruth's record. Hallowed and historic, the drama ended with a new home run king and the asterisk that accompanied the new benchmark of 61. Roger Maris overcame remarkable odds to beat out his Yankee teammate and the ghost of the Bambino.

Yet those two tremendous summers were far ahead of my time. As a bystander to that history only in a book I had a front row seat to the events of 1998.

Tainted as they may seem to some now, with the innocence of an 11-year old they were as magical then as they are still, ingrained in my memory for a lifetime.

Somewhere between those white lines and the smell of spring grass everything just makes sense and that summer brought that spirit back for generations to come.

The case for CC

School has started as September has descended upon us.

This can only mean one thing.

The baseball races are heating up.

Teams are battling for a playoff spot, with most of the usual suspects still in contention.
(At least if you swapped the Rays with the Yankees.)

It's also a great time to start thinking about the individual awards.

Of course these things are usually won or lost in the last month as a great September can spell doom or catapult a relative unknown into the thick of the race but its still fun to consider the contenders with four weeks to go.

The MVP is the award that hinges most on a playoff appearance. Player of the year is never too difficult to figure out but the most valuable player is a whole different animal.

With that in mind lets focus on the Cy Young. In the American League the debate is just about closed. Pitching in the minors at this time last season Cleveland's Cliff Lee is going to run away with this award barring a disastrous September. A 20-2 record and a league leading 2.32 era will do that for you.

His 20 wins represent a staggering 30 percent of Cleveland's total of 67 and he is having one of the most dominant seasons of recent memory that evoke recollections of Clemens, Carlton, Gibson and Koufax.

Roy Halladay and Francisco Rodriguez deserve some consideration after Lee but even 12 complete games or 65 saves for those two respectively will not be enough to unseat the tremendous turnaround of Lee.

The National League race is full of intrigue. Much like the American League there are three main candidates. The first is Arizona's Brandon Webb.

Webb could have been the first big leaguer to reach the 20-win plateau in 2008 but scuffled mightily in his last two outings. His 19 wins are still three more than anyone else and armed with his trademark sinker already has the hardware to prove his mettle on a mantle somewhere.

The Giants Tim Lincecum has been spectacular in his first full major league campaign. His 2.60 era is the lowest on the senior circuit and his 216 strikeouts are the most of anyone in baseball. He has been about the only bright spot for a dismal San Francisco team but his win total, 15, is not yet Cy Young worthy territory.

The most unique candidate for any baseball award this season is the case for recently acquired Brewers big man CC Sabathia. In 11 starts since being traded from Cleveland mid-season CC has been practically unhittable.

The Brewers, in the middle of a pennant race have won 10 of those games as Sabathia has compiled a perfect 9-0 mark. His downright stingy 1.43 era is only dwarfed by his 6 complete games, which are two more than any other NL starter has amassed over the whole season.

If CC continues to dominate, like 13-0 or 12-1 with 8 complete games and a 1.50 era, coupled with a playoff berth for the once moribund Milwaukee franchise he will have to be seriously considered for the NL Cy Young as the catalyst for their success.

Pro football in LA

Football season is almost here.

With it brings a question that hangs over the Southland like the marine layer or afternoon smog.

Why doesn't Los Angeles have a pro football team? If you ask me, they already do.

There is just one major difference. They play on Saturdays.

I give you the Southern California Trojans. Consider the following factors.

They play their home games in a stadium that used to house the local NFL franchise. Famous for hosting the Olympics twice, the L.A. Memorial Coliseum has also hosted the Super Bowl and World Series. Not your run-of-the-mill college football venue, it also holds the record for the largest crowd to ever watch an NFL game.

Their coach, Pete Carroll, came to the Trojans from the NFL's New England Patriots. He brought notoriety and fanfare back to a floundering program and, more impressively, a ton of success. He has built a powerhouse and recruiting to the sunshine and palm trees of Southern California can't hurt.

They frequently send players to the NFL Draft, including three Heisman trophy winners in four years between 2002-05 and could probably play with a handful of the NFL's worst teams.

They play in the second biggest market in the country and are covered accordingly. Like Fernando Mania, Gretzky fever, the Showtime Lakers and the arrival of David Beckham, the USC Trojans are football in L.A. despite what UCLA or Rick Neuheisel may say.

The players are treated like stars. From the press to the paparazzi, these guys are the toast of the town. They own Hollywood in the fall before the Lakers or Bruins really get going and after the Dodgers have faded again. They are celebrities in their own right, think Nick Lachey sleeping on the floor of Matt Leinart's dorm room.

They have guys that are professionals. If you count the perks heaped upon some of the players by agents-to-be and university boosters, from the well-publicized, like Reggie Bush, and more commonly unpublicized, these guys get the royal treatment.

Lastly, there are the demographics to consider. So many of Southern California's residents are not locally born. In other words, a trip to the corner tavern on a Sunday afternoon in the fall yields a collage of colors made up of jerseys from around the country. From the classic black and yellow Steelers gear to the silver and black of the Raiders, there is no lack of NFL support around.

In other words, the NFL doesn't need a team in Los Angeles to keep its product relevant here.

On Sunday, many locals root for the San Diego Chargers or even for the individual players that comprise their fantasy football teams.

Yet on crisp, fall Saturday afternoons, the red and gold Trojan horse lines chests and flies on flags waiving brazenly from Newport Beach to Ojai, sweeping the whole region in a football frenzy.

While the NFL logo departed with the Raiders and the Rams, the Trojans have brought back the professional pigskin to the hearts and minds of Southern California.