Bombin' In The Bronx and Defeated In Denver

The New York baseball teams haven't started off well. The Yankees are 23-25 and the Mets are 22-24. One of them is heading in the right direction. The Mets are on a 5 game losing streak and the Yankees are on a 3 game winning streak. The Yankees will come back and be in the race but I don't know about the Mets. The Yankees are showing signs of getting better after they destroyed Seattle 13-2 while the Mets lost in 13 after a Matt Holliday homer. Rumor has it that Mets manager, Willie Randolph, could be fired as soon as Monday when the Mets come home. The Yanks are in some trouble but expect a run to start now. They have a very easy schedule. They play Seattle, Baltimore, and Minnesota this month. They could leave May with an 11 winning streak. The Bronx Bombers have gained A-Rod back and Ian Kennedy is pitching well.Could 1 New York team make the playoffs? At the most.

Survived Cancer, Won the Clinching Game of the World Series, and Now This:The Jon Lester No-Hit Story

Taking the mound last night for the Red Sox for the first time this season since being declared free of cancer is the 23 year old lefty Jon Lester. Lester was diagnosed with anaplastic large cell lymphoma this past September. Lester was declared cancer free in December and has been working very hard in the minors to return to the majors. This is a very impressive accomplishment and one that can truly inspire so many.

Taking on the Cleveland Indians, Lester threw the first no-hitter of the season. It was the 18th in Red Sox history. Catcher and captain Jason Varitek set a major league record with Lester for catching the most no-hitters, 4. He shut out the Kansas City Royals for his first ever complete game.

Supposedly while Lester warmed up he "left his stuff at home". Lester later said, "If you all saw my bullpen [session] today, it wasn't pretty," said Lester. "You would have thought I wouldn't have gotten out of the first inning. It was terrible. I got out in the game and I've always been a slow starter. If I can get through the first, second, third, sometimes the fourth inning and be doing all right, then usually I can do all right into the game and get stronger. That was the case. I just felt more comfortable with my delivery, more comfortable with the stuff I was throwing." He persevered and had 2 walks and 9 strikeouts. It all came to a true when Lester blew a 94-mph heater -- his 130th pitch of the night -- by Alberto Callaspo. Though he's just 24 years old, Lester has already experienced more highs and lows than most 15-year veterans. A cancer recovery followed by a World Series clincher and a no-hitter?

Red Sox no-hitters
Jon Lester became the 18th pitcher in Red Sox history -- and just the fifth left-hander -- to throw a no-hitter on Monday vs. the Royals. It was also the first complete game of his career.
Date	Pitcher	Opponent
May 19, 2008	Jon Lester	Kansas City
Sept. 1, 2007	Clay Buchholz	Baltimore
April 27, 2002	Derek Lowe	Tampa Bay
April 4, 2001	Hideo Nomo	Baltimore
Sept. 16, 1965	Dave Morehead	Cleveland
Aug. 1, 1962	Bill Monbouquette	Chicago
June 26, 1962	Earl Wilson	Los Angeles
July 14, 1956	Mel Parnell	Chicago
Sept. 7, 1923	Howard Ehmke	Philadelphia
June 3, 1918	Dutch Leonard	Detroit
June 23, 1917	Ernie Shore	Washington
Aug. 30, 1916	Dutch Leonard	St. Louis
June 21, 1916	George Foster	New York
July 29, 1911	Smokey Joe Wood	St. Louis
June 30, 1908	Cy Young	New York
Sept. 27, 1905	William Dinneen	Chicago
Aug. 17, 1904	Jesse Tannehill	Chicago
May 5, 1904	Cy Young	Philadelphia

The Road to the Finals

4 teams left and the intensity level rises. My NBA Final 4 projections were right. I knew the match-ups would be Celtics-Pistons and Lakers-Spurs. 4 players, 4 leaders, 4 Hall of Famers meet. Chauncey Billups, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, and Tim Duncan with their sidekicks Richard Hamilton Tayshaun Prince, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, and of course the posse of Bruce Bowen, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker. The 4 top teams meet well deserving of this opportunity and I’ll take you into what these four have to do to stop each other and win the NBA Finals.

Los Angeles Lakers

How To Score On Them: Don’t allow the blocking of Parker and Ginobili affect you. Drive as hard on them and take it strong. Also if you watch Kobe Bryant doesn’t put all his effort into defense. Make him work on D with his injured back.

How To Stop Them: Obviously you have to shut down Kobe. Double team him with Manu and Bowen and get the ball out of his hands. You also have to pressure Derek Fisher and Lamar Odom to hit clutch shots. You also have to box out Pau Gasol and get offensive rebounds.

San Antonio Spurs

How To Score On Them: The Spurs are a wonderful defensive team which will give any remaining team a tough time. The Spurs also aren’t the youngest of the bunch so make quickness their disadvantage.

How To Stop Them: You have to make sure Parker and Ginobili can’t drive because if they do they each score at least 15 points and put you in trouble. Get the ball out of Duncan’s hands to increase 3 point tries and make Parker slow down the tempo a notch.

Boston Celtics

How To Score On Them: Just like Kobe make Ray Allen work on defense so his old legs need rest and put him out of the game. Also get guys like Pierce and KG in foul trouble and wear them down.

How To Stop Them: The Celtics have 3 weapons with 3 different styles of play which makes it tough to defend. Start by keeping Pierce calm and under control and keep KG and Perkins off the offensive boards.

Detroit Pistons

How To Score On Them: The way to score on the Pistons is to move the ball around and be patient on shot selection. Only take good shots. They do a good job on defense so you have to be careful. Make them move because they have 6 guys who have played 8 or more seasons already,

How To Stop Them: You can’t relax when Billups while he’s bringing the ball down and trap him. That’s when he is most dangerous. He just pulls up and hits a game tying 3. Also guard Hamilton well and you’ll be in good shape.

Series Projections: Boston Celtics .vs. Detroit Pistons

Outcome: Boston in 7

Detroit has been in the NBA Final Four for the last 6 years and Boston has had trouble winning on the road especially in Detroit. Detroit will put up a great fight but Pierce and the Celtics will pull it out.

San Antonio Spurs .vs. Los Angeles Lakers

Outcome: Spurs in 7

You can’t pick against the defending champs. The Spurs have so many weapons and they will show one again as the defeat LA in their 2^nd game 7 in a row.

NBA Finals: Spurs .vs. Celtics

If this was a 5 on 5 game I wouldn’t take my eyes of the screen. Duncan, Parker, Ginobili, Finley, Bowen .vs. Rondo, Perkins, Allen, Garnett, Pierce. WOW!

Outcome: Spurs in 6

The TV companies would rather have Kobe .vs. KG but instead it’s Duncan. The Spurs, defending champs will carry that over to next year. Boston will struggle and lose 4-2 falling short of the goal.

Enough Money Spent?

The Boston Celtics had the best record in the NBA at 66-16. WOW! Kevin Garnett was an MVP candidate. WOW! The Boston Celtics are in their 2nd game 7 of the playoffs. WOW!

Boston destroyed the the 37-45 Hawks in their last game 7. Everyone expected an easy road to the finals for the Celtics where they would meet Kobe and the Lakers. Well Kobe is 4 wins away and KG needs to win 1 at the most.

The Celtics brought in a new roster to start the year and got some more as the year went on. Some names that the Celtics picked up include James Posey, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Glen "Big Baby" Davis, Eddie House, and Sam Cassell. Boston also found their point guard for a couple of years, Rajon Rondo. Rondo averaged 10 points and 5 assist and a lot of intensity.

Boston now takes on a horrible Cavs team. The Cavs don't have one player that would start on any of the remaining playoff teams except for Lebron James and maybe Ilgauskas. James has been sensational this series. The Celtics went up 2-0 and then continued to lose on the road allowing Cleveland to force a game 7 which will be on ABC at 3:30 ET.

Boston I would guess will win tomorrow but for all the money they spent on rebuilding a terrible team into a wonderful dynasty makes me not that impressed. They should be destroying Cleveland everyday. It is truly embarrassing.

If I'm Doc Rivers I'm telling KG to be very intense and Rondo and Allen to feed him the ball so he could back in the giant Ilgauskas. I would also want Pierce to be clutch at the perimeter and score at least 20 so they could meet Detroit after winning 103-92.

The Baseball Check-up

Carlos Gomez hits for the cycle, Gavin Floyd pitches a no-hitter but then Joe Mauer got a hit in the 9th, and the Red hot Reds are hitting the heck out of the ball. Joey Votto hit 3 dingers and Adam Dunn has hit 6 home runs with 16 RBI's in the last 16 games.

The Reds may be in last place in the central at 16-21 but have wonderful young kids and and good veterans. Edwin Encarcion and Joey Votto who are both 25 years old lead the Reds in homers with 7. If the Reds keep hitting and pitching well they could be contenders.

And for Floyd and Gomez great job. Gomez has been on and off this season and the same for Floyd. These are two guys who could be good players down the stretch. Gomez is a good young prospect and Floyd pitches great at 25 and has a ton of potential. It may be possible that in 5 years we hear that Gavin Floyd wins the Cy Young and Carlos Gomez wins MVP. But don't count on it.

Kentucky Derby

To alert you now I have now clue about horse racing and the Kentucky Derby. I've only heard of Barbaro and Seabiscuit. I do know that the NBA and NHL Playoffs are heating up.

The Rangers are making a run to be like the '04 Red Sox and 1 series done in hockey town. Speaking of Boston, the Celtics have gotten embarrassed in the past week. They go in as the 1 seed with almost the best starting 5 ever, KG, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce, and the HAWKS forced a game 7. The Cavs and Jazz stroll by in the other game 6's over Houston and Washington. The 2nd round is on fire.

In the NBA you have Duncan and the Spurs, the defending champs going up against Chris Paul and the red hot Hornets (Spurs in 6). Then you have Superman Howard vs Crazy Rasheed (Pistons in a heck of a series in 7). We also have Kobe vs Deron but we all know the turnout (Lakers whenever they are ready) and we have the last series the sloppy Cavs with beat up Lebron could take on Boston or Atlanta. I can't believe I said Atlanta at this time of the week.

Now lets go to hockey where the 2nd round is coming to an end unless the Rangers get hot. Montreal, the 1 seed played Philly, the 7 and as of now the Philadelphia Flyers are on the verge of beating the 1 and the 2 seed because they are up 3-1. Pittsburgh is up 3-1 in a Ranger series where the should have won at least Game 1 and San Jose is down to Dallas 3-2.

Take your picks! Leave them as a comment!

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