Ice, Cactus and Palm Trees

Strange days indeed. Tomorrow night marks the start of the NHL Western Conference Finals and stage is set for some great hockey. In the desert. And Hollywood. Who would've thunk it.

I don't even consider myself a hockey fan, but I've been drawn to this year's playoffs. The story of the Phoenix Coyotes is remarkable. From near bankruptcy, to being owned by the NHL, almost being moved out of Glendale and so on. Now they have a chance to shock the world and make it to the NHL Stanley Cup Finals. That is what they call the NHL Finals, right?

The LA Kings share similar, rise from the ashes, Phoenix-like, story. Their push at the end of the regular season got them into the playoffs, where they ho hum, just simply destroyed both the #1 and #2 seeds in the Western Conference. 

I encourage you, even if you are not a hockey fan (like me), to watch this series. It is going to be fun.

And go Coyotes. White out, baby!

The Bryce Harper Show

My boy TBone runs the DC, 202, 703 area. But there is a new cat in town and his name is Bryce. Mr. Harper single handeledly beat my AZ D'Backs on Wednesday night with T in attendance. I asked him to write a post about it. He respectfully declined. Shame.

What he would have said was B. Harper owned the D'Backs, with a 3/4, 2 run, 1 RBI performance. He also tried to score from second base on a routine ground out by one of his team-mates. That's called balls. And confidence. At 19. Sick.

So how does Harp follow that up? How about a game winning double the next night, also against the D'Backs. He's now batting .375 with 3 RBI in just 4 games. And he's made incredible plays defensively, throwing 300ft, no bounce, darts to homeplate to nearly retire baserunners.

He's batting 3rd in the line-up in his 4th ever big league game. Dude is legit. TBone is proud.

6 Runs: 6 Reasons to Take the Under

I'd choose the under in tonight's Washington Nationals v Los Angeles Dodgers game. Let me tell you a few reasons why.

#1: Detweiler v Kershaw. They have a combined 2.17 ERA. Thats insane. 

#2: The game is at Dodger Stadium at night, a place where night games are not known for offensive explosions.

#3: It's in LA. Sea level is not kind to distance traveled for baseballs.

#4: Combined, the over/under record for these two clubs is 14/22 in favor of the under.

#5: Combined, these two teams average 6.2 runs per game.

#6: It's been cold and rainy in Southern California. Cold and wet baseballs also don't travel far. (Plus, you've got a slight edge, where if the game is stopped after 5 innings due to rain, it still counts. Less innings means less runs.)

All in all, this is going to be an awesome game and an incredible series. The two best teams in the National League doing battle all weekend long.  Make sure you tune in!

50/50 v. 100 MPH

First, let’s get the obvious out of the way. I am super pissed Stephen Strasburg is not pitching in his hometown of San Diego this week. #FAIL Nats. Should’ve lined that rotation up better. Yet, where there is failure, there is opportunity. And so we shall look at the glass half full and see that out of San Diego’s loss comes Los Angeles’ gain.

Strasburg will now start in a prime time, Saturday night matchup with the Dodgers and Matty Kemp. He likes it when I call him Matty. Now, I suppose since I do REALLY want to see Strasburg pitch and LA is not that far from SD, I could drive up the 5 to check that ish out. But then, you consider traffic and yeah, no. Not happening. So, I’ll pull up a stool at a nearby local brewery house, pub, eatery type thing and watch the heavy-weight fight. Kemp v Strasburg. 50/50 v 100mph.

Let’s do some analysis (don’t worry, no WAR reports… grrrr…. grumble grumble):

2012 MLB Stat-Leaders (HITTING)

HR: 9 – Matt Kemp -1st

RBI: 22- Matt Kemp -1st

AVG: .474 Matt Kemp -1st

Hits: 27 Matt Kemp -1st

Runs: 17 Matt Kemp -1st

Note: I could go on, but you get the point. He predicted 50/50 (50 HR/50 SB) this season. He’s on pace for about 90HR currently. He’ll need to start hitting singles doubles and triples if he wants to get to 50 SBs. Currently on pace for 12. Run Matt, Run.

2012 MLB Stat-Leaders (PITCHING)

ERA: 1.08 Strasburg -5th

K: 25 Strasburg -4th

IP: 25 Strasburg -9th

Note: He could easily be first in both IP and K, but the Nats have Strasburg on a serious pitch count. 95 pitches and or the 6th inning seems to be about it.

Oh and by the way, this match up will also feature currently the two best teams in the National League, with the Dodgers leading the NL West at a 12-3 record and Washington leading the NL East at 12-4. It looks like it will be Chad Billingsly opposing Strasburg, but don’t rule out a possible Clayton Kershaw v Strasburg match up.

And poop on my Diamondbacks who are now below .500 and without Daniel Hudson and Chris Young for a few weeks.  Not good.

Is Rain the Only Thing That Can Slow Down Arizona?

Looking across the harbor today at a brisk, breezy, cloudy downtown San Diego, I see the majestic stadium lights of Petco Park shining brightly for a day game. An unusual sight indeed. Rain has made it's way into the forecast and is likely the only thing that can stop the Arizona Diamondbacks from beating up on the San Diego Padres.

Yesterday, a sore thumb kept Justin Upton out of the line-up. No bother, Paul Goldschmidt and Chris Young picked up the slack. Young had the game winning 2-run home run in the top of the 11th to keep the D'Backs perfect season in tact.

Today, with arguably the D'Backs worst (yet most veteran) pitcher on the hill, there is a chance this game is postponed. And looking at the weather forecast for tomorrow, more rain is expected. So with 2 games to be played in the next two days and rain possible for both, what will the outcome be?

Part of me hopes for a double-header tomorrow as I already have tickets to the night game and have never attended a double-header. Another part of me says let's just get these games in because the D'Backs are Sedona-Red hot. I mean really, is Corey Luebke going to be able to shut down this Arizona line-up? Doubtful. Anthony Bass on Thursday? Who? And Thursday's game would be against Ian Kennedy. No chance there for the Friars. So rain, rain, go away, come back another day, when the D'Backs leave Padres. 6-0 baby.

As a side note, I've finally realized what my mind does when ever I hear and or see the name Corey Luebke. First let me preface this by saying, much like the grey skies of SD today, you are entering my brain, which can be a dark, mysterious place. So with that being said, Luebke. Whenever I see it, I think brakes, cars, struts, suspension, etc., and I just went to google a few keywords to try to answer why. See, it is a combination of Jiffy Lube and Meineke. Get it, Lube-ke?

I warned you.