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