KC wins Super Bowl LIV, 31-20.

The San Francisco 49ers had a 20-10 lead heading into the fourth quarter, but the comeback kids, the Kansas City Chiefs, outscored the 49ers 21-0 in the fourth quarter to win Super Bowl LIV (54 for those of you who hate the roman numerals), 31-20.

The Chiefs overcame 10 point deficits in each of their postseason victories.

It is the second Super Bowl win for the Chiefs, who were playing in their first Super Bowl in 50 years. They lost Super Bowl I 35-10 to Green Bay, and won Super Bowl IV 23-7 over Minnesota.

KC QB Patrick Mahomes was named the Super Bowl MVP. He was OK, 26 for 42, 286 yards, 2 TDs but also 2 picks. I think Damien Williams (17 carries, 104 yards) or Tyreek Hill (9 catches, 105 yards) may have been a better choice, though.

For Andy Reid, a Super Bowl title after 21 years of being a NFL head coach (14 years with the Eagles, 7 with the Chiefs).

Boston evens ALCS at 1 game each, Sale hospitalized.

Boston won Game 2, 7-5 over Houston, to even the ALCS at one game each.

Boston does have a new concern. From mlb.com:

Red Sox ace Chris Sale was sent to Massachusetts General Hospital with a stomach illness on Sunday, and he didn’t travel with the team to Houston, where the American League Championship Series against the Astros will resume on Tuesday.

The Red Sox are hopeful he will be ok to start Game 5 on Thursday.

Game 3 of the NLCS between Milwaukee and the Dodgers is today. That series is also tied.

NFL great Jim Taylor, fullback for the Lombardi Packers of the 1960s, died Saturday morning at the age of 83. #31 for those teams, he was on the 1961, 1962, 1965 NFL champs as well as the Super Bowl I (1966) champs. He scored the first TD in Super Bowl history. He was the one Chuck Bednarik tackled at the 9-yd. line when the Eagles beat the Packers 17-13 for the NFL Championship, and Taylor also won the NFL rushing title in 1962—the only year Jim Brown (1957-1965) did NOT lead the league in rushing.

 

Astros get Cole. Do Yanks counteract?

Forget about Gerrit Cole.

The Houston Astros traded four players to the Pirates for Cole last night. Do the Yanks now counteract, and how?

The addition of Cole gives the Astros a formidable rotation headed by Keuchel, Verlander and Cole.

Keuchel does become a free agent after 2018 and could be a Yankees target then (of course, he’d have to shave off that hideous beard of his).

But how do the Yanks counteract that now? Can they?

For the time being, Clint Frazier, Chance Adams, Miguel Andujar and anyone else who may have been discussed as trade bait for Cole are still Yankees. That may prove to be a good thing.

There isn’t much space left under the cap that the Yanks have adamantly said they want to stay under. Depending on what numbers you want to go by, probably $16-$20MM.

Do the Yanks want to spend that on one guy or two? How close to that cap do they want to go?

Alex Cobb and Lance Lynn are still on the free agent market, but what is their price and will it drop?

Can the Yanks still make a deal for Michael Fulmer, Patrick Corbin (just agreed to $7.5MM in arbitration), or can they entice the Rays to trade Chris Archer ($6.416MM) within the division? If the Rays are trading Archer within the division, you can imagine what they might want back.

If the Yanks are able to get someone like Corbin at $7.5MM, do they then go after infield insurance in a Jed Lowrie or Eduardo Nunez at $7MM? Do the math and those two additions, a pitcher at $7.5 and the infielder at $7MM and you are so close to that cap with barely any wiggle room.

Some move by Houston. Your move, Yanks. Meanwhile, Boston hasn’t done anything of significance yet. You know they will.

There is still talk of the Yanks waiting for Darvish’s price to drop. Even so, they probably would have to make a deal to shed salary. Ideally, it would be Ellsbury, and the Yanks would accept paying 1/2 his salary, but as has been mentioned before, Ellsbury has a full no-trade and no desire to go anywhere. Shedding 1/2 of Ellsbury’s salary may enable the Yanks to sign Darvish, but no one else.

The postseason chess games continue.

Now that Cole has been dealt, don’t be surprised if Josh Harrison and/or Andrew McCutchen are the next Pirates to go.

This, the Cole deal, could be the domino that warms up a “hot” stove league that has been very cold so far.

I am rooting for my Steelers today, but once again, it looks like the road to any Super Bowl trophy goes through New England. Whether it’s the Steelers or Jaguars up in New England next week, or the NFC team beating New England in the Super Bowl if the Steelers or Jags can’t take out New England in the AFC title game, to be the best, you’d have to beat the best and as of now, the best is still the Patriots.

This will be the seventh consecutive year that the Patriots are in the AFC title game.

As for the rest of the NFL who aren’t Patriots fans (like me), we are all waiting for Brady to finally show his age. Until then….

Game 156. Yanks win 11-3. Judge sets new rookie record for HR with 50.

Ok, there will be a lot of history in this post. A lot of it.

The Yanks (87-69) won 11-3 in a makeup game against the Royals Monday afternoon (game rained out in May) to reduce their magic # for hosting the wild card game to 1.

First off, Aaron Judge hit 2 HR, giving him 50 for the season, and it sets the all-time record for HR in a season by a rookie.

He is the fifth Yankee to hit 50 in a season, following Babe Ruth (who did it 4x), Mickey Mantle (2x), Roger Maris, and A-Rod.

In addition, CC Sabathia got the win, and #236 of his career ties Whitey Ford on the all-time list.

In the first, Gardner singled, and after Judge flied out, Sanchez doubled. Didi got the run home with an RBI groundout.

Gardner walked and Judge hit his first HR of the game, #49, to tie McGwire’s 1987 mark for a rookie and make it 3-0.

In the sixth, Didi singled and Holliday doubled him home. Bird hit a 2-run HR (7) to make it 6-0. Do not discount how hot Bird is getting and how important he can be.

The Royals hit back-to-back HR off of CC in the seventh to cut it to 6–3.

The Yanks came right back on back-to-back HR by Judge (the record-setting 50th HR by a rookie) and Sanchez (#33).

In the eighth, Torreyes doubled and went to third on an error. Gardner doubled in a run to make it 9-3. Judge walked, and was replaced by PR Clint Frazier. Sanchez singled to load the bases. Didi singled to make it 10-3 and Holliday hit a SF.

Gardner 2 hits, RBI.
Judge 2 HR, setting a rookie HR record of 50. 3 RBI.
Sanchez 3 hits, RBI, HR #33. (27 as catcher, 5 DH, 1 1B)
Gregorius 3 hits, 2 RBI.
Holliday 2 Rbi.
Bird, HR, 2 RBI.
Torreyes 3 hits.

Sabathia (W, 13-5, 3.84) 6+ Ip, 3 r, 6 H, 1 W, 4 K. Gave up back-to-back HR in the 7th.
Green (H, 8) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K. 1.87
Robertson 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K. 1.93. Struck out the side.
Kahnle 1 Ip, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 2 K. 2.48

Just an aside. I am SO SICK and DISGUSTED of the NFL (and others) right now.

NLCS: Dodgers even series at 1 each.

In a game that featured just five hits, Adrian Gonzalez got the big one, a second inning HR that was the only run of the game as the Dodgers beat the Cubs 1-0 to even the series at one game apiece.

Clayton Kershaw pitched seven innings of 2-hit ball. Kenley Jansen pitched 2 innings of no-hit ball for the save.

Today is an off day for the NLCS.

The ALCS Game 3 is tonight. Cleveland is up 2 games to none over Toronto.  The series switches to Toronto.

One of these years my Steelers will draft a decent backup QB to Big Ben. After the upset loss to the Dolphins yesterday, it was discovered that he has a torn meniscus that will require surgery. No word from what I’ve seen as to how long he’ll be out, but now the 4-2 Steelers face New England next week with Landry Jones at QB. Yuk.

Game 129. Yanks blanked, 5-0.

Maybe I should go away for the weekend more often.

Or take more time off of work and stay longer. (Actually, it’s a weekend retreat, so I couldn’t stay longer).

While I was away, the Yanks beat the Orioles 13-5 on Friday night and 14-4 on Saturday afternoon. Gary Sanchez homered in both games to become the fastest player to hit 11 homers. Starlin Castro homered, Mark Teixeira got one (#405 career), Hicks, even Headley, who must have seen my criticism of him the other day when he complained about playing time and I basically said shut up and produce.

Then I come home Sunday afternoon and the Yanks lose 5-0. Sanchez did have a single and double, and is hitting .405. Ronald Torreyes, who has for now taken Headley’s job, had two more hits.

With Sanchez and Torreyes hot, McCann and Headley’s playing time has decreased.

Before the loss, the Yanks had hit their high water mark of the year, six over .500. They are presently 67-62 with 33 games left. 4th in AL East, 6 1/2 out. As for making the playoffs, they are 3 1/2 out of the second wild card spot, but the problem is the logjam. They have to jump five teams.

As Al Davis, former Raiders’ owner would say, “Just Win, Baby.”

Steve Pearce had 3 hits, inc. a HR, and 3 RBI for the Orioles yesterday. A few years ago, he was doing well for SWB and I thought he should be brought up by the Yanks to platoon. A certain NY sportswriter criticized me. Let’s just say that I don’t care for the reporter or his rag of a paper, and have been proven right. Pearce has proven to be a decent platoon player. (.301-12-33 this year so far between the Rays and O’s, 21 HR as a part-timer in 2014 for the O’s).

CC pitched well, made one mistake, a HR to Pearce, left with some runners on, and instead of shutting down Baltimore and getting out of the inning, Adam Warren gave up a hit that let the inherited runners score. Ballgame over.

Sabathia (L, 8-11, 4.31) 6 2/3 IP, 3 R, 6 H, 2 walks, 8 K. Gave up 1 HR.
Warren 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 walks, 0 K. 5.11 (Cubs/NYY)
Heller 2/3 IP, 2 R, 3 hits, 1 walk, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR. 2nd MLB game. 10.80
Parker 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 walks, 0 K. 1.17 (Sea/NYY)

To the NFL for a bit.

I see Tony Romo of the Cowboys got hurt AGAIN. He didn’t play in the first two preseason games, and on the third play of the third preseason game—and first one he plays in—he gets a broken bone in his back. This after a couple of broken collarbones, one of which cost him 12 games last year (in which Dallas went 1-11). Now he is out for 2 months.  Maybe he  should just retire.

… and a big resounding BOO to Colin Kaepernick for refusing to stand for the National Anthem. In what other country can you earn $19MM per year for doing what you do? And not too well lately, I may add. Spoiled brat.

Finally, back to baseball. Steve Arlin, a pitcher for the Padres in the early 1970s, in the first years of the Padres’ existence, passed away recently.

 

 

Game 69. Twins top Yanks, 7-4.

Nathan Eovaldi makes you scratch your head. So much potential, then why is his ERA 5.02?

He looked good for four innings yesterday, then it fell apart. The Yanks got a run in the second on a Brian McCann HR (9) and another in the fourth on an A-Rod single. Up 2-0.

Eovaldi gave one run back in the fifth, then fell apart in the sixth, as the Twins scored four runs.

Dellin Betances, coming in for Eovaldi, couldn’t slam the door. Neither could the relievers who followed.

The Yanks lost 7-4, and dropped to 34-35.

Mark Teixeira is going to SWB Tuesday on rehab.

McCann did hit another HR in the 9th. (10).

Eovaldi (L, 6-4, 5.02) 5 1/3 IP, 4 R, 6 H, 2 walks, 2 K. 1 HR given up.
Betances 2/3 IP 1 R, 2 H, 0 walks, 0 K. 3.24
Yates 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 walks, 2 K. 4.97  Gave up 1 HR.
Goody 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 walks, 0 K. 4.35

The Yanks are off today (Monday) and Thursday this week.

What an NBA game and season. Golden State, the defending champs, goes 73-9, has to come back from 3-1 down in the Western finals to make the finals, THEN, in the Finals, becomes the first team to blow a 3-1 lead. Cleveland wins the NBA title, giving Cleveland their first title since the Browns beat the Colts 27-0 for the NFL Title on 12/26/1964.

Ex-Yankee Dineen dead at 63

You have to be a really good Yankees’ fan to remember Kerry Dineen. He was one of those players who had a “cup of tea” in the majors. I remember Dineen, though.

In 1975, while playing at Shea while Yankee Stadium was being renovated, the Yankees’ outfielders had trouble with Shea’s outfield, and eventually Roy White, Bobby Bonds and Elliott Maddox all came up with knee injuries. Maddox missed about 100 games that season and never was the same after hitting .303 and (according to WAR, Wins Above Replacement) being the Yanks best player in 1974.

On top of those injuries, Lou Piniella had an inner ear infection which affected his balance and he wound up hitting .196 that season. He missed about half the year.

Things were so bad that I remember a game in which Ed Herrmann was catching, and the corner outfielders were Thurman Munson and Rick Dempsey.

Between them, in CF, was a slight rookie OF named Kerry Dineen. Dineen had no power, and in seven games for the Yanks in 1975, went 8 for 22 with a double and an RBI.

The next season he played in four games for the Yanks, going 2 for 7, both singles, with an RBI. He was out of the majors in 1977 and resurfaced with the 1978 Phillies, for whom he went 2 for 8, 1 double, in five games.

For his MLB career, he played in just 16 games, going 12 for 37 (.324) with 2 doubles and 2 RBI.

Dineen passed away about two months ago at the age of 63.

You may ask how or why I remember him. Probably because of that strange day when two top catchers (Munson and Dempsey) had to play LF and RF while a third catcher, Ed Herrmann, was behind the plate, and with Munson and Dempsey in the outfield, the trivia question would be “who was playing CF between Munson and Dempsey?”.

Well, Conference Championship Sunday is set. Brady/Manning again in the AFC. My Steelers put up a good fight without Williams or Brown and an injured Big Ben (and if you recall, Bell and Pouncey were lost very early on in the preseason and regular season). Brown’s absence wasn’t only felt in the receiving aspect of the game, but also in the punt return aspect also. I can’t stand the Patriots, and the thought of Denver in the Super Bowl fills me with dread. I mean, outside of the two Super Bowls Elway won at the end of his career (Thank You, Terrell Davis), the Broncos history in the big game is one of being blown out (43-8, 55-10, 42-10, 39-20….). Not looking forward to another one of those.

One heck of an ending to Arizona/Green Bay this weekend, now Arizona travels to Carolina. I’ll probably be rooting for the winner of this game to win it all. The Cardinals have only won one title—in 1947 when they beat the Eagles for the NFL title. Oh yeah, the Cardinals were the CHICAGO Cardinals at that time.

Irvin, NFL news….

Hall 0f Famer Monte Irvin passed away at the age of 96. Irvin couldn’t break into the majors until the age of 30 in 1949 but was, for a while, considered to maybe be what Jackie Robinson was—the man to break the color barrier.

Because of his late start, most of Irvin’s accomplishments came in the Negro Leagues, but in 1951, Irvin finished 3rd in the MVP balloting after a season where he hit .312-24-121 (leading the NL in RBI) and helped to lead the NY Giants to their improbable come from behind pennant.

Irvin had an excellent WS against the Yanks in the Giants’ loss to the Bronx Bombers. He went 11 for 24 (.458) with two RBI and even stole home in Game 1.

He was an All-Star for the only time in 1952 and finished 31st in MVP voting despite playing just 46 games because of a broken ankle.

He hit .329-21-97 in 1953, finishing 15th in the MVP voting and was a member of the 1954 WS Champion NY Giants, going 2 for 9 in that WS—the last WS Champion NY Giant team.

He played for the Giants from 1949-1955 and finished his career with the Cubs in 1956.  He hit .293 with an OPS+ of  125 in his shortened career.

After his career ended, Irvin worked in baseball for many years in the commissioners’ office.

Big news in the NFL. The St. Louis Rams are headed backed to LA, where they played from 1946-1994 (winning the NFL title in 1951 and losing Super Bowl XIV), and the San Diego Chargers may follow. The Chargers started out in the AFL in Los Angeles, playing there in 1960 before moving to San Diego. The 1960 Los Angeles Chargers lost the AFL title game to the Houston Oilers, 24-16.

The Rams are moving to LA next year, to play in the LA Coliseum. A new stadium is expected to be ready for 2019. I don’t know where they would play in 2017 and 2018, I’ll have to check.  The Chargers may move in 2017, if a lease agreement can be worked out with the Rams. If one can’t be worked out, then the Raiders may move from Oakland to LA, where they played from 1982-1994, winning Super Bowl XVIII.

Meanwhile, the playoffs are going on, and last week saw a couple of doozies. KC beat Houston 30-0 and Green Bay knocked out Washington 35-18 but it was the other two, the way they finished, that was shocking.

Minnesota missed a chippy 27 yd. FG at the end of the game to lose 10-9 to Seattle. The game was played in sub-zero degree weather.

Pittsburgh blew a 15-0 lead they had entering the fourth quarter, and had their QB hurt. They had to go with their 3rd and 4th string RBs in the game. With 1:50 left, Cincinnati, who had not won a playoff game since 1990, took a 16-15 lead. Pittsburgh’s backup QB threw a pick, and Cincy had the ball in Steelers’ territory, only to fumble the ball back with 1:23 left. Back onto the field came Steelers’ QB Ben Roethlisberger, who was injured. We now know he suffered a sprained AC and torn ligaments in his throwing shoulder due to a sack and dirty play (knee to the shoulder after the sack) by a Cincy LB. He couldn’t throw long but got the ball to midfield with 22 seconds left. Then Cincy got called for back to back 15 yd. personal foul penalties, one on a dirty hit by the same LB, to move the ball forward 30 yards and Pittsburgh hit the 35 yd. FG to win the game 18-16.

The behavior of both teams in the game as well as fans was disgraceful (and I am saying that as a Steelers fan who is happy Pittsburgh won, but who is not happy with the actions of coaches Munchak and Porter, even though what Porter did may have affected the outcome of the game).

So Pittsburgh at Denver in the next round, but with a RB (Williams), QB (Big Ben) and WR (Brown) all questionable.

KC at New England. Seattle at 15-1 Carolina. Green Bay at Arizona.

Lastly a minor Yankees trade regarding minor leaguers. You can check it out here on Lohud’s link.

http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2016/01/12/yankees-fill-40-man-trade-lhp-tyler-olson-inf-ronald-torreyes/

 

 

Seattle blows SB 49, 28-24.

Yes, as I mentioned before, I hate the Roman Numerals. And sorry, Patriots fans, but Seattle blew it more than the Patriots won it. I mean, 27 seconds left, you are one yard away from a SB winning touchdown and you have a beast in the backfield along the likes of a Jim Brown, Jim Taylor, Larry Csonka, Emmitt Smith, Franco Harris, John Riggins,…. you get the drift. And you THROW the ball? Really? The late Ohio State coach Woody Hayes said that three things can happen when you throw the ball, and two of them are bad. And one of the bad things happened. New England picked off the pass to preserve their 28-24 come from behind lead and win the game. The Patriots were down 24-14 at one point. But Marshawn Lynch is in your backfield, you have 2nd and goal from the one. There are three things you CANNOT do. Fumble the ball away is one, get picked off is another (the third is to get hit with a penalty, making Lynch’s job harder). But you have one of the best backs in the game, an absolute bruiser who, with 27 seconds left and your team still owning a couple of time outs, you don’t just give him the ball three times to get 36 inches? Really? The Seahawks benefitted just moments before from what looked at the time to be deja vu. David Tyree part 2 if you will. An unbelievable catch to set up Seattle to win the game in the closing seconds. Then Seattle just gave the game away. More games are lost by the losing team than won by the winners. Here is Case #1. Unbe-friggin-lievable. Pete Carroll and his offensive assistants, and some players, better buy a lot of Sominex, for there will be plenty of sleepless nights ahead. For Brady, his 3rd MVP, tying Montana. For Belichick, his 4th SB win, tying Chuck Noll. Brady ties Bradshaw with 4 SB wins. For Seattle, a whole offseason of wanting a do-over of the stupidest call in SB history.