It's 3-1 heading to the bottom of the seventh inning, with Mets "ace" Mike Pelfrey on the mound have lived up to that moniker so far in the game. With the Yankees' seven, eight and nine hitters due up in the seventh, it's looking like Pelfrey will have a good opportunity to cruise through the inning. Then, Brett Gardner stepped up and delivered a grounder right through Pelfrey's legs for a base hit. Shaking his head knowing he should have made the play, Pelfrey geared up for the next batter. He never recovered.
A quick walk, then a hit batter on what was going to be a sacrifice bunt attempt had the bases loaded with nobody out and the top of the vaunted Yankee order coming up. Even an aging, awful Derek Jeter knows how to handle that situation. One swing of the bat, and it was a tie game.
The Yankees went on to score six more runs in that inning, which ended up providing the final score of 9-3. It was the ultimate example of the difference between the two clubs from New York.
For some reason the Mets just don't seem to enjoy winning very much. They are certainly the less talented of the teams, and would be expected to lose more often than not against the Yankees. But with a two-run lead in the seventh inning and your starter still out there, just a couple innings away from passing the ball to your red hot closer? Should be a W every time. But with the Mets, that lead-off ground ball always seems to make it between the legs for a base hit, and no Yankees pitcher would throw into a bunting batter's shoulder on the first pitch. They just wouldn't lose control like that.
What the Yankees do do, and do very well, is capitalize on those types of boneheaded plays. You want to hand them the bases loaded with no outs? They'll turn it into a four run rally at least. The Mets? A 3-2-3 double play followed by a foul out is just as likely as any other outcome.
Why is that? What is the huge difference? Both teams have outlandish payrolls and talented players. So what is it about that Yankee culture that instills winning? What are the Mets missing? If they ever figure it out, they'll be a force to be reckoned with. Maybe then they'll take some games off the Phillies during the season, too.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
NBA Conference Finals
Two games have passed in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals and, as is always the case with the NBA, there are some things from those games worth paying attention to and others that aren't. So what have we learned so far?
In the Eastern Conference Finals between the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat, the two games have been extremely different in the second halves. The first halves in each game were almost identical scorewise (tied at 48 in game one, 48-46 Miami in game two). The difference in game one was a dominant Bulls second half, in which they held Miami to just 34 points. The Bulls offensive output in the second half of game two? 29 points. Clearly defense has been the key in the first two games of the series. But I'm not convinced it's just defense that's making that difference.
In game one, Derrick Rose went 10-22 from the field and scored 28 points, Luol Deng added 21 on 7-15 shooting, and Taj Gibson came of the bench to be the spark plug, scoring nine points and grabbing seven boards, with some emphatic dunks to boot. On the other side, only Chris Bosh had a good game for Miami. His 30 points were big, but Lebron James and Dwyane Wade only combined for 33 points (15 and 18, respectively). I think it's safe to say Miami is going to struggle if those two put up anemic offensive numbers like that.
Flash forward to game two. In a Miami win, James and Wade went for a combined 53 points and 19 rebounds. Udonis Haslem came off the bench and provided 13 big points and 5 rebounds, along with some emphatic dunks. For the Bulls, things didn't go so well. Rose scored 23 points, but on 7-23 shooting. Deng had only 13 after scoring nine in the first quarter, and Gibson wasn't so big off the bench, with eight points and one board. Sound familiar?
Basically, the script was flipped between games. I don't think Chicago's defense changed much, James and Wade just made more shots in game two. Miami's defense did change a bit, with their two stars manning up on Rose more often, but it's not likely that will result in a 7-23 performance every night. He's just too good for something like that. Who knows if Haslem and Gibson will be big off the bench ever again in this series as well.
So what have we learned through two games of the Eastern Conference Finals? Damn, not as much as we thought. Chicago was extremely impressive in game one's second half, and then Lebron was extremely impressive in game two's fourth quarter. Hopefully we'll be treated to a game three in which both teams play well: Rose going for 25-plus, and three of Chicago's role players going for 15 or more, while James and Wade complete another 50-plus point performance, while both team's benches contribute, but Chicago's bench is a bit better. I think coming into the series that is what a prototype game would have looked like, and until we see one, it's going to be hard to say what'll happen from here on out.
In the Eastern Conference Finals between the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat, the two games have been extremely different in the second halves. The first halves in each game were almost identical scorewise (tied at 48 in game one, 48-46 Miami in game two). The difference in game one was a dominant Bulls second half, in which they held Miami to just 34 points. The Bulls offensive output in the second half of game two? 29 points. Clearly defense has been the key in the first two games of the series. But I'm not convinced it's just defense that's making that difference.
In game one, Derrick Rose went 10-22 from the field and scored 28 points, Luol Deng added 21 on 7-15 shooting, and Taj Gibson came of the bench to be the spark plug, scoring nine points and grabbing seven boards, with some emphatic dunks to boot. On the other side, only Chris Bosh had a good game for Miami. His 30 points were big, but Lebron James and Dwyane Wade only combined for 33 points (15 and 18, respectively). I think it's safe to say Miami is going to struggle if those two put up anemic offensive numbers like that.
Flash forward to game two. In a Miami win, James and Wade went for a combined 53 points and 19 rebounds. Udonis Haslem came off the bench and provided 13 big points and 5 rebounds, along with some emphatic dunks. For the Bulls, things didn't go so well. Rose scored 23 points, but on 7-23 shooting. Deng had only 13 after scoring nine in the first quarter, and Gibson wasn't so big off the bench, with eight points and one board. Sound familiar?
Basically, the script was flipped between games. I don't think Chicago's defense changed much, James and Wade just made more shots in game two. Miami's defense did change a bit, with their two stars manning up on Rose more often, but it's not likely that will result in a 7-23 performance every night. He's just too good for something like that. Who knows if Haslem and Gibson will be big off the bench ever again in this series as well.
So what have we learned through two games of the Eastern Conference Finals? Damn, not as much as we thought. Chicago was extremely impressive in game one's second half, and then Lebron was extremely impressive in game two's fourth quarter. Hopefully we'll be treated to a game three in which both teams play well: Rose going for 25-plus, and three of Chicago's role players going for 15 or more, while James and Wade complete another 50-plus point performance, while both team's benches contribute, but Chicago's bench is a bit better. I think coming into the series that is what a prototype game would have looked like, and until we see one, it's going to be hard to say what'll happen from here on out.
Monday, May 2, 2011
A victory, yes, but don't blow it out of proportion
As a New York Mets fan living in Dayton, Ohio, I don't get to see many of the team's games on TV. Whenever they're actually on TV here, then, I make a point to watch the Metropolitans play, even if they aren't any good. That would certainly be the case this year, as the Mets find themselves at the bottom of the NL East standings. Still, a chance to see them play the first-place Philadelphia Phillies, the Mets' chief rival these days in baseball, was too good to pass up. So last night I turned the TV on while studying for a final and watched some ESPN Sunday Night Baseball.
If you're a sports fan or watch Sportscenter ever, then you've heard about what happened during last night's Mets-Phillies game. During the ninth inning, the news of Osama bin Laden's death had spread quickly through Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, and most of the fans could be heard chanting "USA!" for a significant portion of the inning. It was a unique moment that I can't remember seeing elsewhere in all the time I've been following sports, where fans cared a lot more about what was going on outside the stadium than inside of it (in a 1-1 tie in the ninth inning, no less.)
Of course on Sportscenter the symbolism of a New York team being the team playing when the country found out about the good news was talked about, but the symbolism went a whole lot further than me. In a way, bin Laden's death and what it means for the United States' battle against terror reflects just about the same thing most baseball teams, and especially the Mets, are going through right now.
Was bin Laden's killing important? Absolutely. But that doesn't mean this thing is close to being over. Ten years after the fact, does it really matter that we finally got the guy who was supposedly the head of the 9/11 attacks? You bet. But in the grand scheme of things, it's barely a blip on the radar.
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad we finally got him, and I hope that all those who lost love ones can find some form of closure out of the news. But his death is eerily similar to the Mets' 2-1 victory over the Phillies last night: They've still got lightyears to go before they've accomplished anything truly meaningful.
At 12-16, Terry Collins and crew are still one of the doormats of the league. Did beating the best team in the NL feel good though? Hell yeah, especially with Cliff Lee on the mound. Fact of the matter is, though, there is still so much the Mets need to work on, like their starting and relief pitching, not to mention their clutch hitting.
Don't take this the wrong way. It was an awesome moment for America, and an awesome win to watch the Mets get. But just like those last-place Metropolitans, we've still got 134 games to go, a seemingly unending season in front of us. Celebrate for a little, bit, but then it's time to get back to work.
If you're a sports fan or watch Sportscenter ever, then you've heard about what happened during last night's Mets-Phillies game. During the ninth inning, the news of Osama bin Laden's death had spread quickly through Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, and most of the fans could be heard chanting "USA!" for a significant portion of the inning. It was a unique moment that I can't remember seeing elsewhere in all the time I've been following sports, where fans cared a lot more about what was going on outside the stadium than inside of it (in a 1-1 tie in the ninth inning, no less.)
Of course on Sportscenter the symbolism of a New York team being the team playing when the country found out about the good news was talked about, but the symbolism went a whole lot further than me. In a way, bin Laden's death and what it means for the United States' battle against terror reflects just about the same thing most baseball teams, and especially the Mets, are going through right now.
Was bin Laden's killing important? Absolutely. But that doesn't mean this thing is close to being over. Ten years after the fact, does it really matter that we finally got the guy who was supposedly the head of the 9/11 attacks? You bet. But in the grand scheme of things, it's barely a blip on the radar.
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad we finally got him, and I hope that all those who lost love ones can find some form of closure out of the news. But his death is eerily similar to the Mets' 2-1 victory over the Phillies last night: They've still got lightyears to go before they've accomplished anything truly meaningful.
At 12-16, Terry Collins and crew are still one of the doormats of the league. Did beating the best team in the NL feel good though? Hell yeah, especially with Cliff Lee on the mound. Fact of the matter is, though, there is still so much the Mets need to work on, like their starting and relief pitching, not to mention their clutch hitting.
Don't take this the wrong way. It was an awesome moment for America, and an awesome win to watch the Mets get. But just like those last-place Metropolitans, we've still got 134 games to go, a seemingly unending season in front of us. Celebrate for a little, bit, but then it's time to get back to work.
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