The NBA and NHL Playoffs

    This year's NBA and NHL playoffs have been loaded with excitement. In the NHL, the Stanley Cup Finals are set with Chicago vs. Philadelphia. Philadelphia had a tough and historic time of making it to the Finals. The Flyers were down in their series against Boston 3-0, but came back. This feat has only been accomplished 3 times previous, the most recent being the Boston Red Sox vs. the New York Yankees. The Stanley Cup Finals are going to be full of excitement and suspense, because both of these teams are very good.

    The NBA playoffs have been exciting, although most of the series have been sweeps. In the East, Boston and Orlando have actually made a series of what was a 3-0 series lead for Boston. Orlando has won 2 strong games in a row. The series returns to Boston for a pivotal game 6. If Orlando wins these next 2 games, they become the fifth team in history to come back from a 3-0 series deficit. Switching leagues, in the West, LA and Phoenix are locked in a 2-2 battle. This series is shaping up to be very thrilling, because Phoenix, which was down 2-0 in the series, has battled back by winning a couple of high scoring affairs.

    My playoff predictions are as follows...


NHL - Chicago over Philadelphia

            Boston over Orlando
NBA -                                             -----   Los Angeles over Boston
            Los Angeles over Phoenix

Surprises In Motown

  The Detroit Tigers are playing some good baseball right now. They just recently finished a 7 game stretch against the Yankees and Red Sox. Detroit won 5 of those games. Hopefully, this great play against two great teams will be a continuing trend in the 2010 season. One main reason the Tigers have performed so well is their bullpen pitching and their rookies. 

     I'll start with the bullpen. Detroit leads the AL in bullpen era, (2.17), while the Minnesota Twins hold the next best mark at 2.86. Tiger's closer Jose Valverde has allowed only one run in 15 2/3 innings. On Monday, he became the fifth pitcher since 1969 to protect a one-run lead against the Yankees in the ninth inning by striking out the side. I thought that was a really cool stat. In the off season, Detroit picked up some new names such as... Phil Coke, in his last game, he threw 96! Brad Thomas, who has been invaluable because of the spot starts he has had to make. He performed fairly well in those also. Jose Valverde, The Big Potato, Papa Grande, what else can you say about this guy other than, WOW! He leads the AL in saves, and, as I stated earlier, never gives up runs. Those three off season pick ups are really paying dividends now.

     To the rookies. I was always aware of the fact that Detroit had good pitchers in its farm system. Now, the hitters are coming up. At the start of the year, Austin Jackson and Scott Sizemore were the big stories in Detroit. Jackson replaced Curtis Granderson splendidly, and Scott Sizemore did fine, until a week ago. The game just got a little fast. Last night in Oakland, the Tiger's starting lineup contained 4 rookies. Even with Sizemore in AAA. Austin Jackson, I mentioned, Casper Wells, he had 2 RBI's in the game, Brennan Boesch, I don't think anything else can be said about this guy(!), and Danny Worth, he's only going to be here until Carlos Guillen returns from his injury, but he seems like a very good hitter. All of those rookies have helped the Tigers win a game this year. Another rookie is Alex Avila. If he can start hitting, he should become the everyday catcher. That's because Gerald Laird, the out of two legs, can't hit very well. AT ALL! 

     Either way, it's shaping up to be a very entertaining summer!

GO TIGERS

Ernie Harwell Classic Calls

The Detroit Red Wings

The NHL playoffs have already started, and the first round is complete. The Red Wings had all of us scared for a little while Sunday, when Detroit was crushed in their Game 6 against the Cyote's. The Red Wings are the Red Wings though, and they had their own rout in Game 7. A 6-1 victory. This performance was a great way to make it into the next round because it will give Detroit some momentum. Their next series is on the West coast again vs. San Jose. The past couple of years have been a joke for San Jose. They get the #1 seed, and blow it in the first or second round. Hopefully, the San Jose Sharks will choke against the Red Wings, the team that nobody wants to play.

     Jimmy Howard had a very mixed up series. That series was his first playoff series ever, and at least he won it. Some of the games were horrible, some were not. He will need to step it up in the second round and on because the competition only gets tougher. I know he is only a rookie, but he plays for the Red Wings!

Joel Zumaya

Joel Zumaya has started off the 2010 season great. I'm really happy for him because the past couple of years, he has been injured over and over again. This year, he looks like the Joel Zumaya of the 2006 dream season. The back of the Tigers bullpen is very strong and very fast. Almost all of them throw in the upper nineties. This will probably be one of the strong points for the Tigers this season. Joel Zumaya, Ryan Perry, and Jose Valverde will lead the way for a very strong bullpen this season. Hopefully, the starting rotation will catch up because they are doing horribly. Although Jeremy Bonderman had a good start in last night's 8-6 Tigers victory.

Here are Joel Zumaya's great stats so far in this season.


record - 2-0
era - 1.42 (all last night)
games - 9
innings pitched - 12.2
runs - 3
earned runs - 2
home runs - 0
walks - 0
strikeouts - 14
average against - .240
whip - 0.95


GO TIGERS!!!!

Baseball

     Well, baseball season is under way, and I can't wait for a whole summer of it! The Tigers have started the season with their best start since 1985. Miguel Cabrera and Magglio Ordonez are tearing the cover off of the ball, and the two rookies are doing very well. Austin Jackson has been showing all the Tigers fans why the Tigers traded him for Curtis Granderson. Justin Verlander started off this year slow, although that is what he did last year, and look how he ended up. Hopefully, he will start pitching like the ace he is.

     Also, the Whitecaps have started their season. They have not started as well as some people might have hoped. 1-4, but Jacob Turner, the Tiger's first draft pick last year, had a great start the other day. He struck out 8 in five innings, and only let 3 men reach base. Turner could make the Tiger's team late this year or next year. It will be very interesting to watch him progress in his career.

Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers are looking good this spring. Austin Jackson and Scott Sizemore have already done better than anyone could have expected. Dontrelle Willis looks like he's back to his old form. Brandon Inge has come back from his knee surgeries in a big way, and so many more things. This year, the Tigers will have a great shot at winning the AL Central because their division foe, Minnesota, lost their clutch closer Joe Nathan. Nathan, in his career against the Tigers, is 30 for 30 in saves opportunities. It's a good thing for the Tigers that he is out for an entire season. Although I do give Nathan my best wishes for a "save" recovery. If the Tigers can still beat the Twins, the Central is theirs. There is not really a chance for the other teams. Cleveland is rebuilding, the White Sox lost a lot of players, and the Royals are just... the Royals. With Justin Verlander, Rick Porcello, Max Scherzer, Jeremy Bonderman, and Dontrelle Willis in the starting rotation, and a very strong bullpen, the Tigers look to be in a great position heading into the 2010 season. Plus, they have great hitters with power and speed. Miguel Cabrera thinks he will win the MVP, and I wouldn't be surprised if that happened.


6 DAYS, 1 HOUR, 21 MINUTES
until opening day!