All World All Sports Blog

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-Digger's Daily-

Time flies! The 2012 baseball season is nearly 25% complete. Plenty of surprises (Baltimore, Washington, Cleveland). A few disappointments (Minnesota, Arizona, Milwaukee). Sensational hitters (Josh Hamilton, David Wright, Rafael Furcal, Bryan LaHair). Slumping sluggers (Albert Pujols, Eric Hosmer). Injury bug stinging in full force derailing the likes of Mariano Rivera, Jacoby Ellsbury and a handful of other contributors.

How does it all shake out? Time for another edition of All World All Sports Baseball Power Rankings (thru day games of 5/17/12).

MLB Top 10
1 - Texas Rangers
2 - St. Louis Cardinals
3 - Los Angeles Dodgers
4 - Tampa Bay Rays
5 - Washington Nationals
6 - Baltimore Orioles
7 - Atlanta Braves
8 - Cleveland Indians
9 - New York Yankees
10- New York Mets

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-Digger's Daily-

Another tremendous baseball season is well underway. Texas Rangers Josh Hamilton's chasing baseball's coveted triple crown (leader in home runs, runs batted in and batting average). Baseball's are jumping off his bat.

Speaking of baseball's jumping off bats - Hamilton's Texas Rangers teammates compose the game's most feared lineup. They lead all of baseball with a .292 team average, 212 runs, 386 hits, 634 total bases, .480 slugging%, .828 OPS, and +75 run differential. Rangers are hungry for their first World Series title after back to back close calls. Texas is a much stronger team than the one which came within a strike of winning it all in 2011. Their loss to St. Louis made this squad more determined than ever to fulfill childhood dreams of glory.

Speaking of St. Louis - the defending Albert Pujol-less champions haven't missed a beat this season leading the NL Central with a 21-15 record. They've over come early season injuries to key players (Wainwright, Carpenter, Beltran, Berkman, Craig, Jay & Schumacker). Replacement players have excelled. Cardinals remain a very determined team. All players are chipping in admirably.

Time to pay tribute to a few successful clubs considered longshots before this season began. Washington Nationals 1/2 game off NL East lead (24-12). Another injury riddled club playing good baseball. Manager Davey Johnson has these guys ready to go every night....
New York Mets (20-16) showing the baseball world they're not dead yet despite plenty of spring training epitaph's. It's been a mixture of young and old getting it done through injuries, slumps and lack of over all team power....
Al East leading Baltimore Orioles (23-14) players and fans finally holding their heads high for the first time in ages. Adam Jones and Matt Wieters are real deal Baltimore fixtures for years to come. It'll be a long haul and big challenge for Oriole hurlers to keep down tough AL lineups. So far so good...
Los Angeles Dodgers (24-12) own baseball's best record. Don Mattingly has won over the trust and respect of Dodger players. LA is a talented team from top to bottom. Time is ripe for them to make a run for the NL crown.

MLB just named the New York Mets (CitiField) as hosts for the 2013 All Star Game. Mets haven't hosted an All Star Game since 1964 (a travesty). It's about time baseball recognized New York's other team. It's been a long time coming for the Mets to host another ASG. I was terribly disappointed only one ASG was played in Shea Stadium.

Stay tuned... more to follow.

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-Digger's Daily-

Where to begin when there's so much to discuss?

NBA Playoffs
2011-12 NBA season will crown a new champion after Oklahoma City destroyed an over matched Dallas Mavericks. Mark Cuban's expression towards the end of Game 4 showed signs of knowing his Mavs roster needs attention. Dallas collapsed in 4th quarter during 3 of 4 losses. OKC has the talent and mindset to go all the way.

San Antonio Spurs made a statement in their demolition sweep against Utah. Spurs barely broke a sweat in the first 3 games decided by double digits. Great basketball awaits in the conference finals if SA squares up vs OKC.

NHL Playoffs
The New Jersey Devils are alive and well. 2012 Devils playoff hockey features something past championships lacked - a high powered scoring attack. New Jersey stunned Philadelphia in 5. If the Rangers (leading 3-2) can finish off Washington then don't miss a single second of action in the Conference Finals. New York vs New Jersey will feature some of the best hockey of this season. I'll be rooting for the Devils every step of the way. These two represent the best of the Eastern Conference.

Western Conference Finals feature two teams barely challenged in opening rounds. Los Angeles vs Phoenix will showcase transition hockey. Neither team light up red lights too often during the regular season but they've suddenly awaken. LA Kings playing their best hockey in years. It's all coming together at just the right moment. Phoenix won the Pacific. LA finished only 2 points behind. These teams split their head to head season series with most games decided in final seconds.

MLB
How dumb can a baseball player be? Suspended: Guillermo Mota with a 100-game ban Monday after the San Francisco Giants player tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs - failed test for a second time!!! Obviously Mota didn't learn his lesson after a 50 game suspension.

Speaking of suspensions... Manny Ramirez is due to return to Major League Baseball soon after his latest suspension. Oakland A's will take their chances on Mannyball. Should be interesting. Wondering if he can still hit major league pitching after barely playing live ball in 95 games since 2010.

Way to go Josh Hamilton. By now everyone should have heard Josh slammed 4 home runs and a doubled in one game vs Baltimore. That's right, FOUR home runs... all crushed. Texas slugger is the American League's first true Triple Crown threat in years. Entering Wednesday's games he leads all major leaguers with a .406 batting average, 15 home runs & 36 RBI. Glad he's on my fantasy team! Here's a guy everyone can rally around. His past drug problems have been well documented. He's in full recovery and ressurrected his career and personal life. He's was part of a horrific tragedy attempting to throw a ball to a fan who ended up dying after falling trying to catch Hamilton's soft toss. This is a man who easily could have crumbled from tough breaks. Yet, he's fought through severe emotions and tough life challenges. Let's go Josh Hamilton!!!

Poor Ryan Dempster. The Cubs starting pitcher hasn't received any run support. Dempster leads the majors with a 1.02 ERA. His record? 0-1. How can a pitcher with a 1.02 ERA not have a victory? Simply put... he plays for the Chicago Cubs!

Heeeeeeeeere's Andy. And just in time for the Yankees struggling starting rotation. Andy Pettitte returns Sunday. One of the most loved by Yankees fans in team history... Pettitte makes his comeback attempt official when he takes on the Seattle Mariners in the friendly surroundings of a sold out Yankee Stadium. Welcome back Andy. The Yankees need you.

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-Digger's Daily-

Say it ain't so Mo! New York Yankees living legend Mariano Rivera slipped during Thurday's pre-game warmups and is done for the season. 2012 was hinted to be Rivera's final season. The greatest closer in the history of Major League Baseball may not return, ever!

Baseball's all time saves leader may have made his last pitch. A torn ACL shelves Rivera. Players, coaches and fans are stunned at the sudden news.

“That’s about as bad as it gets,” Girardi said. “You lose a Hall of Famer it changes [the bullpen] a lot. We like the depth of our bullpen and it just got a little bit shorter. We’ll have to find a way to get through it.”

Rivera was shagging fly balls in the outfield before Thursday's game. It's something he's done for years as a pre-game ritual. Mo's knee gave out tracking down a fly off recent call-up Jason Nix. Mo went down hard and crashed into the outfield wall. I've read reports of Alex Rodriguez and other Yankees teammates completely in a state of shock watching their fallen friend.

What a shame if this is how Rivera's career ends. It's been 9 seasons since Rivera needed a disabled list stint. Let's all hope Mariano Rivera is able to return to active duty. Depending upon how serious of a tear... he may never pitch again. Don't forget this was rumored to be his unofficial farewell season.

A word to the wise. Enjoy every moment to the fullest extent possible. Life changes on a dime without warning.

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-Digger's Daily-

Back by popular demand - another installment of "All World All Sports" Random Rumblings. A few strange but true stories coming from the world of sports.

Ozzie Guillen suspended by Miami Marlins. I guess freedom of speech and expression doesn't exist in Major League Baseball. Guillen was suspended for comments he made about Fidel Castro. His comments didn't sit well with the Cuban-American crowd in South Florida which erupted into a frenzy following Guillen's praise of Castro's ability to remain free of assassination. In case you missed it, he said: "I respect Fidel Castro. You know why? A lot of people have wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years, but that son of a bitch is still there."
Obviously, his comments touched a nerve in South Florida. However, Miami suspending their new manager during the first week of baseball season is a bit much. No one can blame folks who get upset over controversial comments. However, this stinks. If Marlins ownership was truly disturbed Guillen would be gone. Marlins brass was clearly trying to avoid losing ticket sales. This isn't a pretty picture no matter how you slice and dice the situation.

Former NFL washout Ryan Leaf charged with two counts of burglary and two counts of criminal possession of a dangerous drug. Leaf could arguably be the #1 draft pick bust in NFL history. Legal troubles continue to mount. A brief description via Wikipedia.com: "In May 2009, Leaf was indicted on burglary and controlled substance charges in Texas. He was undergoing drug rehab in British Columbia at the time of the indictment and was arrested by customs agents as he returned to the United States. On June 17, 2009, he posted $45,000 bond in Washington state for the criminal charges in Texas. In April 2010, Leaf pled guilty in Amarillo, Texas to seven counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and one count of delivery of a simulated controlled substance, all felonies. State District Judge John B. Board sentenced Leaf to 10 years of probation and fined him $20,000. - On March 30, 2012 Leaf was arrested on burglary, theft, and drug charges in his hometown of Great Falls, Montana. Four days later, Leaf was arrested again on burglary, theft, and two counts of criminal possession of dangerous drugs."
Leaf's violation of parole and back to back arrests signal doom and gloom for the pain pill addicted idiot. He's been a complete washout since his college football playing days. NFL players/teammates hated his lack of work ethic. He was fired from college coaching career due to pain pills too. I guess leading a life of crime was easier than going to rehab? There's no doubt Leaf will be in jail for a few years. Over/under <1.5 character witnesses testify on Leaf's behalf.

New York Knicks climb into 2nd place in Atlantic Division - trail Boston by 3 games. Coach Mike Woodson helped turn around the Atlanta Hawks. Now he's working miracles on Broadway. The Knicks are 13-4 under his leadership and have climbed into 2nd in the Atlantic and 7th overall in Eastern Conference action. Deja vu from the shot season of 1998-99 season when the went to the NBA Finals as the 8th seed? We'll soon find out. Amazing what a mid-season coaching change can do to wake up a team. Knicks have been playing great basketball lately. Sleeper pick for sure. So was the 98-99 squad. Keep an eye on these guys.

New York Mets begin 4-0. Much has been written of Mets failures in recent years from ownership to players. New York opened their season at home and delighted fans with 4 consecutive victories to begin the new season. They swept arch rival Atlanta Braves in 3 games. Johan Santana is back. Niese pitched a 1-hitter. Duda is the new fan favorite. Wright is off to a quick start. Bullpen didn't blow any games. A solid beginning for a team trying to put turmoil in their rear view mirror. Enjoy it while it lasts.

"Rangers Fans" - Shannon and Cooper Stone statue unveiled in Arlington. Nine months after a Texas Rangers fan & father (Shannon) died trying to catch a baseball thrown by Josh Hamilton, his 7-year-old son (Cooper) helped unveil a statue honoring his father and others who love America’s pastime. Last season, Shannon Stone reached too far to catch a baseball for his son and died from injuries sustained after falling from the upper deck in front of a stunned Texas crowd. How many times have we (fans) lunged for baseball's at games? How many times have we witnessed fellow fans scramble and fight to retrieve baseball's? This time it was tragic as a father fell to his death right before his sons eyes. Texas Rangers management honored the father and son. Shannon and Cooper Stone statue is a tremendous (and heart breaking) dedication. Nolan Ryan & Rangers ownership represent baseball's best. This is a tremendous tribute - not only to the Stone's - but, for fans everywhere.