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Atlanta Braves pitcher Tommy Hanson pitches against the San Fransisco Giants

Wow, this kid’s good.  As a Braves fan since 1995 (the year I moved to Atlanta), Tommy Hanson is just the type of pitcher to help carry on the Braves tradition of great pitching — only he can carry it to another level.  Atlanta has not had this kind of power pitching since John Smoltz in his heyday. 

Last night against the San Fransisco Giants and their fresh off the no-hitter pitcher, Jonathan Sanchez, Tommy Hanson put on a pitching clinic.  After a rough first inning in which he allowed two runs, Hanson settled nicely and cruised to an 11-3 Atlanta victory. 

Hanson retired 14 straight batters until the seventh, when Nate McClouth misjudged a fly ball that eventually led to another San Fransisco run.  Hanson struck out 11 Giants, the most by a Braves rookie since 1963 (thanks to Elias Sports Bureau, c/o espn.com), and he did it with three great pitches. 

Hanson’s fastball averaged 94 mph for the night.  That’s simply overpowering dominance.  Hanson was on both sides of the plate all night, and threw with calm and confidence. 

The Braves rookie is making a strong case for Rookie of the Year honors with the way he’s throwing.  He likely will not have accumulated enough stats to merit the honor, but clearly he is proving himself as a force to be reckoned with. 

If the Braves are to try and make a play at the Wild-Card and division this year, their going to need Hanson the rest of the way. 

Through his first eight starts, Hanson is sporting a 5-0 record, with a 3.00 ERA, while holding opponents to a .216 batting average.  Take away his major league debut, in which he allowed six earned runs over six innings, and his ERA is well below 3.00. 

But looking beyond this year, the future looks bright for the Braves.  Top prospect Jason Heyward has made a case for a September call-up, and he will likely have every chance at securing right field next season. 

Jordan Schafer, who began the season as the starting center fielder, should be back starting again next season as well, in either left or center.  Throw in first baseman Freddie Freeman, who may also have a shot, and the future is bright indeed.

So while the Braves look to make things interesting the rest of the way, vying for athe Wild Card, also remember that the future is bright. 

*Thanks to espn.com for statistical data*

Lamar Odom in the NBA Finals

This is an open-letter to Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss.  It is written by an unapologetic, lifelong Lakers fan who is basking in the glory of his team recently winning the NBA Championship, and signing free agent Ron Artest.

Dear Dr. Buss,

Last week it was reported that you angrily pulled your team’s 3-year, $27 million offer to free agent Lamar Odom because he did not respond to the offer in time – even though Odom’s camp claims there was no deadline to respond.  Yes, it was a very solid offer, and clearly the best one Odom can be offered.  But Dr. Buss, do all of Lakerland a favor – stay out of your team’s “cheese.” 

What has helped make the Lakers one of the most successful franchises in all of sports is your willingness to stay out of management.  Your track record does also prove, however, that when you do step in, things go bad – quickly.  You stepped in after the infamous season where the Lakers were beaten by the Pistons, clearly creating an enormous gap between Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant.  What you could have done instead, as team owner, is sit both players down together, tell them to shut their damn mouths, and go out and win three or four more titles. 

Instead, you decided to trade Shaq, let Kobe take all the blame for him leaving, and then creep back up to your owner’s box.  Then Mitch Kupchak gets blasted and blasted by Kobe, and you say nothing, except that you would listen to all offers for Kobe.  WHAT?!?!?!

Thankfully you went back to your box, and let it be.  Then, your Lakers were handed Pau Gasol gift-wrapped, your team made a triumphant return back to the top of the Western Conference, and one season later you stand as NBA World Champions.  Very few things were constant during all the turbulence between Shaq leaving and the Lakers winning: Kobe, Phil Jackson (less one season during the Rudy experiment), Mitch Kupchak, you, and guess who: Lamar Odom (who came to L.A. from Miami in the Shaq trade). 

Lamar did what his team asked of him this past season: he came off the bench, and morphed himself into the league’s ultimate super-sub.  Lamar creates the league’s ultimate mismatch any given night: a 6′10″ power-forward who can rebound, and run the break. 

Dr. Buss, imagine a starting five of: Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol, Ron Artest, Kobe Bryant, and Derek Fisher.  Then Phil Jackson can bring Lamar off the bench, having Andrew, Pau, Lamar, Ron and Kobe on the floor?!?  Defensively, the Lakers could become one of the league’s top defenses on length alone.  But no, you’re worried because Lamar had not yet decided whether or not to accept.

Now Miami Heat star Dwayne Wade is openly vying for Lamar.  Yes, your team can offer the most money, but Florida offers no state tax.  We all know how Governor Schwarzenegger is managing the state budget – by raising taxes.  Yet Lamar has maintained that he wishes to stay with the purple-and-gold.  This is a man who wants to win; not to mention that his best friend is now a member of the team, Ron Artest. 

So, in closing, Mr. Buss, I offer this plea: go back up to your owners box, sign the checks, and let Mitch Kupchak bring Lamar back.  Whether you believe it or not, he is the X-Factor to your team, to our team, repeating as NBA champions this upcoming season.

A-Rod against Seattle

Did you ever think you would see such a title?  Alex Rodriguez, the game’s best 3B since moving there in 2004; the shoe-in at the corner to start in the midsummer classic each year.  Could it be that he has been snubbed from this year’s all-star festivities?  The argument could be made, and in researching, it’s a pretty valid case.  But before I begin, a couple disclaimers -

1) Evan Longoria has been the best third baseman in baseball  this year, and deserves to be starting in this years game. 

2) A-Rod missed the first month of the season, therefore hurting his chances of being picked up as a reserve (most reserves have not missed significant time due to injury). 

And 3) Yes, there is the whole PED’s (Performance Enhancing Drugs) issue; but honestly, how can we hold only his feet to the fire…just ask Manny Ramirez how he’s doing in ‘Mannywood.’

The two, and possibly three third-basemen who are all-stars this year have all had solid seasons.  The aforementioned Longoria is batting .290 with16 HR and 64 RBI.  He’s projected out to have 32 HR and 129 RBI, and also has a .914 OPS (On-base + Slugging Percentage – the new “it” stat in baseball).  Michael Young, who moved over from SS this year (as A-Rod did in ‘04), is batting .315 with10 HR and 33 RBI.  This translates to roughly 20 HR and 67 RBI, withan OPS of .872.  Then there is Brandon Inge, having a career year already with 19 HR and 54 RBI (previous season high’sare 27 HR and 83 RBI, bothin 2006, respectively), while batting .266 with a .867 OPS.  Inge is projected for 38 HR and 107 RBI this season. 

Now to the man with 567 career HR.  Rodriguez, who’s played 26 games fewer than Longoria and Young, and 29 fewer than Inge, is batting .244 so far, well below his career average of .305, but also has 14 HR and 43 RBI.  Projecting out the rest of the season, A-Rod ends up with 36 HR and 109 RBI – and it is safe to assume the batting average will rise - the man isn’t a lifetime .305 hitter for nothing.  Also factoring in his OPS for this season, and A-Rod leads all AL third basemen in OPS, and trails only San Fransisco’s Pablo Sandoval (.954 OPS) in all of baseball.  Comparing Rodriguez’s numbers this season to his two worst previous seasons, he still hits 36 HR (he hit 23 in ‘97, his second full MLB season, and 36 in ‘04 - his first season in NY), and drives in more runs than ‘97 (84) and ‘04 (106).   

The simple fact is, even when A-Rod is at his worst, he is still among baseball’s best.  The truth is we are witnessing greatness every night when he takes the field.  Yes, Bud Selig is likely breathing a huge sigh of relief for not having Rodriguez at the game this year answering all the questions, and having all the other players be asked all the questions about Rodriguez and his use of PED’s. 

Yes, this may be the year in which Inge, a career utility man who caught more games at catcher in 2008 (60), than he played at 3B (51).  It’s a great story – but, in the theme of keeping interest in the game (i.e. Ratings), ask yourself this: Who would you want to see come up to bat in the 8th inning, with the AL trailing by 1.  Rodriguez, Inge, or Young?

*Writer’s Note: Inge is currently in the running for MLB’s Final Vote,in which fans vote for the final All-Star.  Inge is runnign against Ian Kinsler, Chone Figgins, Adam Lind, and Carlos Pena.

Yell on, Jack. Yell on.

Ummm, where have you been all this time?  I knew that this Denver series was going to be tough, expecting a 7-game set.  But if L.A. plays like this, they’ll sail through Game 6, even in Denver.  I don’t know how much candy Lamar ate before the game, but he played like the beast he was in the first series against Utah, when he averaged 18 points and 11 boards.  Lamar manhandled Chris Andersen, Pau ran the break like Magic in ‘88, and Kobe looked like he didn’t spend a lot of energy despite playing 45 minutes. 

Kobe took only 13 shots – 6 of which were 3’s; so he was 5-7 inside the line – and he’s averaging 12 free throws a game, which means he’s getting in the paint and keeping Denver’s big men in foul trouble.  And the 8 assists is a great stat line, but if you watched the game, it was seeing how he got them.  Driving the paint and kicking out to Sasha “I can’t hit air right now” Vujacic for a 3 before halftime, driving and dropping off to Lamar for the flush, and the last, which was probably the best, and somewhat most surprising, when Kobe saw a wide open 3 but passed it up to Lamar again, who made the lay-in and got the foul.  He played beautifully last night, setting up, or “facilitating,” as everyone loves to say.  Derek Fisher also showed up, hitting 4 of 9 and along with his solid D, threw up a beautiful alley-oop to Kobe. 

These are the Lakers I think we all expected when the playoffs began.  But Lamar Odom’s back, along with everyone besides Kobe, Pau, and Trevor (most nights) forgot to make any shots.  The team shot 49% from the floor, spread it out and took their time on offense.  This was a different Lakers team from the previous 4 games this series.  They had a swagger about them – that aura the Bulls used to have. 

A key difference I saw in attitudes last night: every one of Nene’s fouls were argued and wined over.  The Nuggets could not seem to keep their cool.  On the other hand, Kobe was hit hard down the face by ‘Melo in the fourth – a borderline flagrant (a good hard foul in my opinion).  What does Kobe do?  Land on his feet, swish his free throws, and head down the other end for some ‘D.  I think the Lakers did something to the psyche of the Nuggets last night – they have the chance to close out the Nuggets and get some rest (hopefully) over the weekend before the Finals. 

Then comes the final test.

Don't mess with Texas!

Well hello there, blogosphere!  Welcome to my blog – a place where hopefully I’ll keep you interested in what you’re reading.  Obviously, I’m a huge sports fan, otherwise I wouldn’t have begun this site.  But, first things first, let me write a little something about myself before I get to the “nitty gritty” of sports life.

My name is Stephen Ramirez, but you can call me Steve.  I’m a 28 year old in the United States Air Force – I’ve proudly served since 2001, and hope to continue to do so for the foreseeable future.  I live in Las Vegas with my wife, and we are expecting our first child this October.  I was born in Southern California, and also lived in Phoenix, Mexico, Albuquerque, and Atlanta, among other places.  I call Atlanta home, and am a huge Braves and Falcons fan.  I was raised as a Dodgers fan, and still hold a little spot in my heart for them; I’m also a huge Lakers fan.  Always have been, always will be.

My obsession with sports began when I was about 3, when my older brother was playing little league baseball.  I love baseball – obsessively.  I loathe the Celtics, the Panthers & Buccaneers, and especially the Mets.  I think M.J. and Magic are like Kobe & LeBron – who’s better?  The debate can go on and on.

I like to think of myself as a sports buff; someone who’s willing and able to have a clear, non-partisan sports conversation regardless of the topic.  I love what the Tampa Bay Rays did last year, and disappointed in my Atlanta Braves.  Last year’s Olympics basketball was probably the purest ball I’ve seen in my lifetime.  Boston fans are beginning to get that “annoying” stigma Yankees fans had for so long.  I wonder if the Cubbies will ever win one in my lifetime.  Did anyone think Matt Ryan would be this good, this fast? 

So there it is – a tiny little preview of what to expect.  I’ll cover the three major sports; no reporting, strictly commentary.  I have no credentials, and will not pretend to – aside from that Marketing Degree I’ll be receiving June 6.  Otherwise, see you tomorrow – thanks for stopping by!