Free Throws

Just some quick notes from around sports:

-Derrick Rose won the MVP award, becoming the youngest in the history of the NBA to win the award. He averaged 25 PPG, 7.7 APG, and 4.1 RPG. There is no doubt he is one of the brightest young stars in the NBA.

-Evan Longoria was activated from the 15-day DL by the Tampa Bay Rays. Longoria is one of the best hitters in the game and there is no doubt that Tampa's offense suffered in his absence.

-Shin-Soo Choo was arrested for drunken driving early Monday morning in Sheffield Lake, Ohio. This hasn't been the best season so far for the man many consider the Indians best player. This season, Choo is hitting 44 points below his career average of .294. The last three seasons, Choo has hit at least .300 while increasing his home run total each year as well.

-Phil Hughes's shoulder checked out in the battery of tests he underwent over the past week. That is excellent news for the young Yankee right-hander. However, his diminished velocity is still an absolute mystery and that is not good news. I think, if I were Hughes, I would want something found so I know what it is. This HAS to be weighing on him.

-The escapades of Milton Bradley continue as he was suspended for one game and fined an undisclosed amount after his ejection last weekend in a game against the Red Sox. Bradley has always had the talent but has never been able to translate it on the field because he could never control himself. Bradley does lead the league in career ejections and his record of hurting himself during an outburst at an umpire's call is still something to behold. I am not sure why any team would take a chance on him anymore. He is just too unpredictable.

-Rex Ryan won the Horrigan Award which is given out by the media for being the best non-player helping the media do their jobs. This is how you are rewarded for giving the media fodder on an almost weekly basis. I am not looking forward to listening to Rex Ryan this season. He just doesn't know when to be quiet and I am sure this award will fuel his hubris.

-Former NFL safety, Dave Duerson, was found to have moderately advanced brain damage when he committed suicide in February of this year. Duerson's condition was a result of blows to the head. I remember Duerson from the 1990 Super Bowl Champion New York Giants team where he provided veteran leadership to the Giants secondary. He made 4 Pro Bowls and was never afraid to put his body out there. Hopefully, Duerson's condition won't go unnoticed by coaches from grade school to the NFL and head trauma will finally be taken a lot more seriously than it is now.

-One reason for the Detroit Tigers struggles this year, aside from Victor Martinez being sidelined with an injured groin, has been the utter disappointment Magglio Ordonez has been this year. Through 19 games, Ordonez is hitting .151 with only 1 RBI and 1 extra base hit. The RBI, in case you were wondering, came as the result of a groundout. When one of three best hitters is performing as poorly as Ordonez is, and you combine it with Austin Jackson's pace to tie Mark Reynolds' record for most strikeouts in a season and Ryan Raburn's attempt to beat Jackson you are going to struggle on the offense. This Tigers team is a shell of the one that went to the World Series a few years ago and was considered a team on the rise. This Tigers team is on the way down and with Cleveland and Kansas City developing young talent I don't think we will be seeing this team in contention anytime soon.

-Andre Ethier extended his streak to 28 games. He is halfway to Joe DiMaggio.

-Yesterday, I mentioned Alfonso Soriano leading the major leagues in home runs with 11. Eleven also happens to be the total number of homers the rest of his teammates have hit this year.

-A lot was made about the Brewers acquisition of Zack Greinke this past offseason. However, the real surprise might be Shaun Marcum who is currently 3-1 and is currently 4th in the NL in ERA with a 2.21 average and owns a 1.06 WHIP, all below his career norms.

-The Yankees signed Brad Halsey to a minor league contract today. You might remember Halsey from his previous stint with the Yankees in 2004 when he appeared in 8 games. Halsey, 30, has been playing in the independent leagues for the past two seasons and has not appeared in the majors since 2004 when he was with the A's. This move is nothing more than adding pitching depth. The guy throws left-handed so of course he was going to get another shot.

-Mike Axisa put together an excellent graph over at Riveraveblues.com that charts the Yankees offense by inning. You can check it out here. IF you don't already read this blog, you should. These guys are good at covering the Yankees.

-The Nashville Predators are injecting life into hockey in the South. Their playoff run is filling seats and injecting life into a franchise and area once thought to be not hockey-friendly enough. The Pirates, Royals, and other small market teams that have not spent money on getting players to bring success to the field should take note.

-The Angels Jared Weaver was handed his first loss of the year last night by the Red Sox. The Red Sox just flat out own the Angels, winning 14 of their 15 matchups.

-I have been having a hard time getting into the NBA Playoffs this year. The reason? The ref's. Some of the calls these refs make have me believing some of these games are fixed. Calling fouls where none exist and not calling fouls on others that are blatantly obvious just angers me to no end. I understand the NBA is a stars league but this is getting ridiculous. The NBA needs to do something about these refs before they rip the heart out of the game.

-Speaking of the NBA playoffs...I don't think it is too early to announce that there is a changing of the guard taking place in the NBA right now. The Lakers and Celtics have huge warts this year and other teams might have found the answers to beating them. Sure, the Lakers and Celts can still put it together and make a run but age is definitely catching up to them as it has the Spurs.

-Even though the Knicks got knocked out of the first round and the Nets failed to make the playoffs, I can't help but feel excited for basketball in the NYC metro area. With Carmelo Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire, Deron Williams, and Brook Lopez, there is more talent around now than I ever remember. And what is better, the best basketball is yet to come.

-If you don't know the story of Boston College linebacker Mark Herzlich you are missing a truly feel good story in sports. Herzlich was diagnosed with a from of bone cancer in 2009 after an excellent year in 2008. That would stop most people in their tracks. Not Herzlich. He was back on the field in 2010 and produced. His girlfriend is also in Army ROTC and will soon embark on a stint in the Army. He went undrafted in last weekends draft but he hasn't let that stop him. He has been working out and readying himself in case some NFL team comes with a free-agent contract once the lockout is lifted. If the lockout isn't lifted, Herzlich can sign with the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League who took him in the 10th round of their draft. If I were an NFL GM I would be on the phone with Herzlich first thing. Character goes a long way in my book.

That's all for now. Enjoy the sports tonight.

Line Drives

A few quick hits on some baseball happenings around the leagues.

-It appears as if top Mets pitching prospect Jenrry Mejia is going to undergo Tommy John surgery after suffering a complete tear in his medial collateral ligament in his right elbow. If he does have the surgery, the 21 year-old will be out until next year. He is going to head down to Alabama and get a second opinion from leading Tommy John surgeon Dr. James Andrews before opting for surgery.

-The Phil Hughes saga continues. He is slated to see more specialists.

- Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell was fined an undisclosed amount and was suspended two weeks after making threatening remarks and making threatening gestures towards fans while in San Francisco on April 23rd. McDowell, apparently, did something similar last season. This time, he made homophobic remarks about three men while making sexual gestures with a baseball bat and his hips. When McDowell was rebuked for his behavior by Justin Quinn, who was attending the game with his wife and kids, McDowell asked Quinn, "How much are your teeth worth," while making a gesture with the bat. Real class act that Roger McDowell.

-The Cleveland Indians are 19-8 going into Monday's action. They are, by far, the surprise of baseball. The question is, can they sustain this over a season? Well, no. Winning at a .704 clip is hard on the best of teams, in fact almost impossible. What the Indians can do is build confidence, and cushion a lead that currently sits at 4.5 games over second place Kansas City. Yeah, you read that right. The Royals are in second place with a15-13 record. It is doubtful the Royals will be able to sustain over the season, much less into June, so the Indians, who are doing everything right on the field and are bolstered by a healthy and productive return from Grady Sizemore, should be able to build up enough of a lead to push them as the season progresses. It would not be surprising if the Indians made the playoffs at this point. The White Sox have been putting up no offense and when their offense scores a few runs their pitching burns them and the Twins are a shell because of injuries.

-What is with all the O's in Colorad-O? Ubald-O. Tul-O, and CarG-O. Last week's SI had a great story on the three O's. It also dawned on me that Colorad-O was also home to Carmel-O before he was traded, and the Broncos starting QB is now Tim TebOw. Weird.

-Minnesota is having one of the worst seasons I can remember. They have a run differential of -64. No other team is even in the negative 40's.

-Last season the Pirates only won 4 series on the road. They already have won 4 this year.

-Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays leads the American League in batting average and home runs but is 24th in RBI's. Adam Lind, on the other hand, is tied for second in the AL with 22 RBI's. Bautista also leads MLB in walks and OBP. In fact he has almost twice as many walks as K's, 30-16. Go figure. Maybe the dude is for real.

-Vladimir Guerrero has not walked at all this year. It's May.

-Josh Johnson of the Marlins, has an ERA of 0.88, a WHIP of 0.77, is 3-0, and has allowed only 18 hits in 41.0 IP. That is just ridiculous.

-Dustin Moseley, former Yankee, now has a win to go with his 1.63 ERA. Yeah, the same Dustin Moseley.

-Matt Garza of the Cubs is leading the Majors in K's with 51. Seems he likes Wrigley.

-Rafael Soriano is tied for the MLB lead in holds with 8, but sports a 6.57 ERA. Hmmm. No other relievers in the Top 10 have an ERA over 2.61.

-Alfonso Soriano leads MLB with 10 homers. But he only has 20 RBI's.

-Lance Berkman has a .398 AVG, is tied for 4th in MLB with 8 homers and is tied for 4th in RBI's with 23. I can only imagine what the Yankees record would be with him hitting from the DH spot instead of Jorge Posada.

-Peter Bourjos of the Angels leads MLB with 4 triples but has been caught stealing more often than he has been successful, 4-2.

-Two Detroit Tigers lead the majors in strikeouts, Austin Jackson is leading MLB with 37 with teammate Ryan Raburn nipping at his heels with 36. Mark Reynolds only has 25 so far so...WOW.

-Adrian Gonzalez of the Red Sox only has 1 home run so far, but is tied for second in doubles in MLB with 10.

That's it for now. Be safe out there and enjoy your nightly games.