Who Should Win the Cy Young Awards? Who Will?

With the regular season ending on Sunday and most of the playoff spots locked up, there’s really only one big thing left to argue about: postseason awards. So let’s spend some time looking at who should win each of the four major awards and who will win them. Which are often totally different things. Next up: The Cy Young Awards.

 

The Cy Young races are easily the least clear-cut of them all. Neither league has a perfect candidate. Or for that matter, imperfect candidates who nonetheless look like Cy Young winners past of present. As such, the Cy Young Awards will likely be the least predictable honor handed out in November. Not that we won’t guess now.

 

Who should win the AL Cy Young Award?

There were so few overwhelmingly obvious candidates during the bulk of the season that people started entertaining the notion of giving the award to a closer, Zach Britton. Maybe even giving him the MVP Award. The world wouldn’t end if that happened, but that’s all a bit too much for us. Since that discussion peaked, three starting pitchers have emerged as favorites, at least to the extent there is anything close to a favorite in this race: Rick Porcello, Corey Kluber and Justin Verlander.

Porcello’s basic line looks the most like a Cy Young winner’s: he’s 22-4 with a 3.11 ERA. Kluber has fewer wins — he’s 18-9 — but his ERA is about the same. More importantly, he has struck out 44 more batters in two fewer innings and has given up fewer hits and has an edge in Fielding Independent Pitching stats. Verlander’s case has, somehow, flown under the radar, but the former AL MVP and Cy Young Award winner has put up an outstanding campaign as well, pitching more innings and striking out more batters than either Porcello or Kluber. WAR is sort of all over the place, with Baseball-Reference.com’s WAR putting Kluber ahead of Verlander at the top with Porcello a distant sixth, while Fangraphs’ version of it has Chris Sale in the top spot with Porcello at two, Kluber at three and Verlander fourth. So, eh.

Ultimately, we tend to favor guys who strike batters out, even if that’s fascist, so the three of us are leaning this way:

Craig: Kluber
Bill: Kluber
Ashley: Verlander

Who will win the AL Cy Young Award?

I feel like it’ll go to Porcello. As explained above, he won’t be some empty, wins-heavy candidate — his walk rate, a fantastic 1.24 per nine innings, is the second lowest in the AL and his FIP is second best in the league — but the wins will help. As will his story, having put together his best season ever in a year when the Red Sox had all kinds of questions about their rotation heading into the season. He’s a fine choice and, if he wins, no one should get bent out of shape about it.

Who should win the NL Cy Young Award?

For the first half of the season there was no suspense to this whatsoever. It was Clayton Kershaw‘s award to lose and he was on his way to winning it unanimously. Then he got hurt and missed a couple of months and will finish the season with only 21 starts and fewer than 150 innings. They’ve been fantastic innings — he’s got a 1.65 ERA and one of the lowest walk rates you’ll ever see — but to win a Cy Young award with only 2/3 of a season is a tough trick even if your rate stats are two or three times better than the next guy’s. Half of life is showing up, as they say, and Kershaw was physically unable to show up for a good chunk of the year.

That leaves two or three others. Kyle Hendricks has gotten the most heat of late, having pushed his ERA below the magical 2.00 level, which awards voters tend to think of as some sort of reverse Mendoza line for pitchers. A Maddux line? Sure, why not. He’s pitched far fewer innings than some of the other leaders — 185, with one more start scheduled — and much lower than your typical Cy Young winner, even in this modern age.

Max Scherzer has a big edge in bWAR, but is only third over at Fangraphs. He has a commanding lead in total strikeouts. He doesn’t lead in strikeout rate, however, as the late Jose Fernandez was more dominant in that regard (Fernandez, incidentally, is second in FIP and second in fWAR, and will likely get a good number of Cy Young votes based on both merit and sentiment). Jon Lester‘s 19 wins, matching Scherzer’s, will get him some consideration. Noah Syndergaard and Madison Bumgarner will get some votes too, as the aces for a couple of teams that should be in the playoffs, though the Giants’ second half slide will hurt MadBum’s chances.

Another split decision:

Craig: Scherzer
Bill: Hendricks
Ashley: Scherzer

Who will win the NL Cy Young Award?

Hendricks, we suspect. As long as he doesn’t get blown up in his final start, I suppose. If he keeps the ERA under 2.00, I figure he’ll win it by a comfortable margin. The voters are better than they used to be, but sometimes it’s hard to avert one’s gaze from shiny things.

Cubs notes: Hammel out for NLDS? Coghlan, Soler updates

The Cubs aren’t ready to say it. But the elbow tightness that sidelined right-hander Jason Hammel for Friday’s final start of the season has suddenly – and ironically – made it less painful to leave the 15-game winner off the playoff roster.

“Always draw your own conclusions, no question,” manager Joe Maddon said, declining, again, to divulge the team’s playoff rotation plans, in part because he said the pitchers haven’t all been told. “I don’t want to jump the gun. Obviously, he’s got a little bit of a problem going on, but, actually, it’s not so bad right now, either.”

Hammel (15-10) on Thursday was scratched from his Friday start because of tightness he had pitched through in recent weeks. He felt good playing catch as recently as Wednesday, and the decision was considered precautionary, with tentative plans to have him throw during the team’s scheduled simulated game Tuesday.

What’s certain is that he finished his regular season with a career-high in victories, a 3.83 ERA in 30 starts and a sense that his more vigorous nutrition and fitness regimen last winter paid off with second-half strength he didn’t have in recent seasons.

“Obviously, I’m not happy with the way things ended, but I would say for nine-tenths of the season it was very good,” he said. “I’ll take that into the offseason and add on to what I added to [last] offseason.”

When Hammel struggled this year, he struggled big – allowing 30 of his earned runs in 15 1/3 innings across four starts against the Mets, Rockies, Brewers and Cardinals. He’s 15-6 with a 2.44 ERA in the 26 other starts – including a 6-0, 0.95 stretch out of the All-Star break.

“Overall, my body feels good,” he said. “I accomplished what I wanted to accomplish, which is to be able to make 30-plus starts and be competitive.”

Where he goes from here is the big question, regardless of the elbow issue he said played a role in some of the most recent struggles.

He has a $12 million club option for 2017 ($2 million buyout), and it seems as likely as not he’ll be shopped in a pitching-thin market this winter if the team picks up the option.

His status for the postseason no more certain, regardless how far the Cubs advance. Barring injury involving someone else in the rotation, he was the odd man out of the four-man playoff rotation.

“That’s a decision that lies in their hands,” he said. “Health-wise, I’m not stressing about it. Collectively, we talked about [the shutdown], and it’s just [about] being available through October.”

 

Coghlan, Soler updates

Outfielder Chris Coghlan, who left Wednesday’s game with a mild ankle spring, said he felt much improved Thursday and hoped to return to action this weekend in Cincinnati.

Jorge Soler (sore right side), rejoined the team after a second MRI in Chicago revealed “no abnormalities,” and the club is just awaiting the young outfielder’s assent that he feels as game ready as the medical indicators suggest.

“I don’t think it’s dire,” said Maddon, who wouldn’t rule out a spot on the playoff roster for Soler even if he doesn’t return by Sunday’s finale. He has just four at-bats since Sept. 16, when he left a game with the soreness.

“You want to test it, but if you test too soon then it could totally take him out of the entire postseason,” Maddon said. “He felt pretty good today from what I was told. It’s just once in a while he feels it in a very, very, very minor way.”

 

RBI value?

Coghlan said teammate Kris Bryant finally paid him the week’s worth of meal money he promised for Coghlan becoming his 100^th RBI of the season Monday.

“But I gave it back to him,” Coghlan said. “I just wanted to make sure he pulled it out. I was like, `Nay, I can’t take it from you man.’ I’m just glad I’m part of the KB history, part of the legacy. I’ll be claiming it for years.”

Sixers say Ben Simmons rolls ankle in practice, turns out it was much worse than that

UPDATE 6:41 PM: So the rolled ankle turned out to be a cover story — Ben Simmons has a Jones Fracture in his right foot. He will miss at least the start of the season.

 

4:18 PM If you’ve been impatiently waiting to see No. 1 pick Ben Simmons in a Philadelphia 76ers uniform, you likely will have to wait a little longer.

Simmons rolled his ankle at practice Friday, reports Jessica Camerato of CSNPhilly.com. While not considered serious, the Sixers took Simmons in to have an MRI and get a better look at what happened. They also may rest him next week when the Sixers first take the court, reports Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

	Keith Pompey @PompeyOnSixers
It's unlikely that #Sixers rookie Ben Simmons (rolled ankle) will play in Tuesday's preseason opener vs.#BostonCeltics at #UMass. 11:05 AM - 30 Sep 2016

Cautious is the right move by the Sixers here. Ankles, once sprained and the ligaments are stretched out, are easy to re-injure if not fully healed. The last thing the Sixers want is for this to be a running issue Simmons’ rookie season.

Sorry fans, but maybe you at least get to see Joel Embiid.

Bills passing game takes a huge hit with Sammy Watkins to IR

Apparently, Rex Ryan wasn’t exaggerating when he said the Buffalo Bills had “major concerns” about Watkins’ foot injury.

Watkins was placed on injured reserve, according to the team. That means Watkins will miss the next eight weeks, at least. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said there’s no surgery scheduled for Watkins’ injured foot at the moment, just rest.

Losing Watkins is a huge blow. The Bills don’t have a lot of options at receiver other than Watkins, who scored nine touchdowns last season. The Bills are last in the NFL with just 163.7 passing yards per game. Watkins had just 63 yards in the first three games, struggling to get through two games before missing last week. With Watkins a shell of himself the first two games this season, the Bills generated very little through the air. Buffalo simply doesn’t have anyone else in the passing game who defenses have to worry about.

The Bills fired offensive coordinator Greg Roman after two weeks. The offensive struggles seemed to be related to Watkins’ issues as much as any play calls. Now the Bills will definitely be without Watkins for eight games. It’s hard to see how their offense improves much without him.

Maddon fires back after players criticize spring-like managing

Joe Maddon’s job is an endlessly complex maze of egos and insecurities. His players want to make history and know they will be judged in October. His boss just signed a five-year extension in the neighborhood of $50 million, making Theo Epstein perhaps the highest-paid personnel executive in the game. Reporters covering this team will consider this season a failure if the Cubs don’t win the World Series.

But moments like this are why Maddon has his own $25 million deal, three Manager of the Year awards and the platform to become a multimedia star, liquor-store pitchman and T-shirt tycoon (for charity).

Maddon fired back after star pitcher Jake Arrieta and veteran catcher Miguel Montero questioned the manager’s in-game strategy during Wednesday night’s 8-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates – wondering why rookie Willson Contreras showed up behind the plate at PNC Park in the fifth inning – and overall spring-training philosophy since the Cubs clinched a National League Central title two weeks ago.

“My answer to that is we’re 7-2 in our last nine games,” Maddon said during Thursday’s pregame media session. “I don’t see any kind of real negative patterns right there. They all knew what was going to happen before that game. There were no surprises. And there has been no surprises.”

Except Arrieta had already done his paid weekly radio appearance on WMVP-AM 1000, telling “Waddle and Silvy” this: “Going into the game, I was really unaware we were going to go with a catching change.”

Still think this is entirely a media creation or something beat writers imagined while two established players made unsolicited comments?

The spring-training feel continued as the rain kept pouring down on PNC Park, with Thursday night’s game suspended and ending after five innings in a 1-1 tie. Major League Baseball considered this an official game – its first tie since it happened to the Cincinnati Reds and Houston Astros on June 30, 2005 – and stats will still count after an 83-minute delay.

But there is no need to make it up with the Cubs having already clinched the NL’s No. 1 seed and the Pirates eliminated from wild-card contention. The last time the Cubs finished in a tie – a 2-2 draw with the Montreal Expos on May 28, 1993 at Wrigley Field.

“Anything that changes your routine a little bit is a little frustrating,” said Ben Zobrist, who sat while Munenori Kawasaki started at second base in a Cactus League lineup. “Because this is such a routine-oriented game.

“Obviously, it’s frustrating at times. But I get it. I understand the overall goal of these games is not the same as it’s been the last six months of the year.”

Arrieta described himself as “a little bitter” on ESPN Radio and also admitted that he “let my emotions get away from me” and could have handled the situation differently. But this has been building, from the awkwardness of three catchers to the six-man rotation concept to starting pitchers getting pulled early to relievers now working on a set schedule and players wanting to stay in a rhythm.

“You probably heard some things last night – I think if they had more time to think about it, they probably would not have said those same things,” Maddon said. “Up until (John Jaso’s three-run homer), I thought (Jake) was throwing the ball really well.

“And with the catching situation, we didn’t change that until they had four runs. So there’s really not a whole lot of credence to that, as far as I’m concerned.

“I don’t think it was attributable to a spring-training attitude as much as the Pirates had a good approach.”

Maddon isn’t going to alter his big-picture outlook after hearing about some of the clubhouse grumbling and manage Games 160, 161 and 162 any differently against the last-place Reds this weekend at Great American Ball Park.

“No, why would I do that?” Maddon said. “I utilized the word ‘spring training’ on several occasions, just to indicate the context regarding getting guys in and out of the game, not from the perspective of not trying to win.

“It’s still going to be scripted. They’re going to get their at-bats. Again, when you talk about recreating a ‘feel,’ that would be individualistic. It’s hard to replicate fighting for a playoff spot if you’ve already clinched it and you’re playing against a team that is not playing for anything either.

“These are all mind games you have to play with yourself in order to replicate what you want.”

Of course, any portraits of frustration and miscommunication will be swept aside by those fun-loving Cubs posting photos on their social-media accounts of the football-jersey-themed road trip to Cincinnati. But this is a real issue for professionals who care about their craft and want to perform on the biggest stage of their lives.

“It’s a different kind of ‘on’ you have to be as a player,” Zobrist said. “That’s just weird for everybody right now to be experiencing that kind of feeling.”

Zobrist – who spent parts of nine seasons with Maddon’s Tampa Bay Rays, knows the manager as well as any player in the clubhouse and won a World Series ring with the Kansas City Royals last year – admitted the Cubs are getting a little stir crazy before their first postseason game at Wrigley Field.

“We’re all looking so forward to next Friday, but that’s over a week away still,” Zobrist said. “So we have to try to stay in the moment, even though our minds want to go in the future.

“That’s the tough thing right now – staying in the moment. It’s even tougher now than it is when you’re in the playoffs and everybody’s talking and there’s a lot of stuff going on off the field. It’s even tougher now, I think, because there’s not enough going on.”

Joakim Noah skips Knicks dinner with West Point cadets due to anti-war stance

The Knicks have held training camp at West Point the last few years, and last night, the team dined with Army cadets:

The #Knicks eat with the cadets & listen to a memorable speech @WestPoint_USMA. #KnicksCamp pres. by @SAPSports pic.twitter.com/f9vMX7rXAZ

— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) September 30, 2016

But Joakim Noah didn’t participate.

Noah, via Marc Berman of the New York Post:

“It’s hard for me a little bit – I have a lot of respect for the kids here fighting — but it’s hard for me to understand why we go to war and why kids have to kill kids all around the world,’’ Noah said. “I have mixed feeling about being here. I’m very proud of this country. I love America. I don’t understand kids killing kids around the world.’’

Noah received permission from Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek to skip the team function. He was the only member of the team not in attendance. Noah said his decision to skip the dinner and speech was not intended as a form of protest.

“It’s not my way of saying anything – I was not comfortable,’’ Noah said.

Noah has dual citizenship in the United States and France, the home of his father, Yannick Noah, the former tennis star. Noah admitted he’s “not very patriotic,’’ believing people should respect people more than “flags.’’

Noah’s view will be unpopular, but he has every right to hold it. There’s a growing current of people asking for more athlete activism, but people better realize: You might not always like the stance players take. For those who claim to value politically minded players, this is part of what you get.

Personally, I disagree with Noah. The Revolutionary War helped him secure the right to speak out on this. World War II kept his beloved France from being run by a tyrannical Nazi regime. Just because some wars are unjust doesn’t make all wars unjust. I also believe in honoring American soldiers who put their lives on the line to protect our freedoms.

But I also respect Noah’s right to seek a comfortable situation for himself. Some people can be anti-war and easily separate the soldiers as individuals. For others, apparently including Noah, all war machinery is intertwined.

Keep in mind, Noah didn’t actively disparage any soldiers. He’s not seeking supporters for a cause. He just chose not participate in an event he never asked to be apart of.

Cubs make it official: Jed Hoyer, Jason McLeod extended

It was no secret after Theo Epstein's contract extension on Wednesday, but the Cubs officially announced extensions for general manager Jed Hoyer and senior vice president of scouting and player development Jason McLeod on Friday.

The new contracts run through the 2021 season.

Both Hoyer and McLeod joined the Cubs on Nov. 1, 2011. The team is set for its second straight postseason appearance this October.

CSN Chicago's Cubs Insider Patrick Mooney had more on Epstein keeping the band together when Epstein's deal was first announced on Wednesday.

David Stern changes tune, comes out in favor of legalized sports gambling

Former NBA Commissioner David Stern (left) discusses sports gambling with American Gaming Association CEO Geoff Freeman at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas. (Getty Images)

 

If you’ve ever been to a casino, you’ve noted the ample retirees on the floor, dropping their pensions one penny at a time into the slot machines. You just didn’t expect to see David Stern among them.

In a reversal from his previous stance on the matter, the former NBA commissioner came out in favor of state-sponsored gambling at the American Gaming Association’s Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas.

“You wind up with a proposition that says there is this legal gaming, but there’s also an enormous amount that is wagered,” Stern told ESPN.com’s David Purdum on Thursday. “That amount is not regulated, not taxed, and the profits go to unsavory causes, and that’s a good thing to take a look at.”

After supporting the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, which limited the vast majority of government-regulated sports gambling to Nevada, and arguing as recently as 2012 that, “The NBA cannot be compensated in damages for the harm that sports gambling poses to the fundamental bonds of loyalty and devotion between fans and teams,” Stern told ESPN.com he’s come around on allowing states and professional sports leagues the option of participating in legalized gambling, especially given the increased popularity of daily fantasy sports across the country.

 “Whatever barrier perhaps existed is gone,” he added. “So, to me, if they’re going to be doing daily fantasy, you might as well legalize gambling.”

It’s not as though the NBA and Vegas have never crossed paths. The city hosted the 2007 NBA All-Star Game and continues to be the site of the league’s highest-profile summer league. But the gambling scandal involving NBA referee Tim Donaghy probably didn’t help soften Stern’s stance on the issue.

Perhaps some of Stern’s newfound philosophy can be attributed to the man who replaced him as NBA commissioner. Soon after taking over the position in 2014, Adam Silver told a crowd at New York’s Bloomberg Sports Business Summit, “It’s inevitable that, if all these states are broke, that there will be legalized sports betting in more states than Nevada and we will ultimately participate in that.”

In 2015, Silver penned a New York Times op-ed entitled, “Legalize and Regulate Sports Betting,” in which he argued, “Congress should adopt a federal framework that allows states to authorize betting on professional sports, subject to strict regulatory requirements and technological safeguards.”

Essentially, Stern outlined the same argument at the Global Gaming Expo, estimating sports gambling will be legalized in the U.S. within 5-10 years. Although, he didn’t say how much he would bet on that.

LeBron James urges Cavs to re-sign J.R. Smith

LeBron James’ block of Andre Iguodala in the final minutes of Game 7 of the NBA Finals will remain the most iconic image of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ improbable, curse-crushing comeback against the Golden State Warriors. The most overlooked aspect of that play was the defense of J.R. Smith, who forced Iguodala to double pump on his layup attempt and gave James those necessary fractions of a second to pin the ball against the backboard. Aside from the incredible display of speed, athleticism and last-gasp desperation, the play also revealed something else about James – he had Smith’s back.

Three months later, Smith has had an eventful summer: his shirtless appearances throughout the Cavaliers’ parade and everywhere else gained the attention of President Obama, he got married, and he jumped in a mosh pit at a Kanye West concert at Madison Square Garden. But Smith still remains an unrestricted free agent.

James again came out in support of his good friend – whom he called this week “the most liked player on the team” – on Friday to get a deal done with the Cavaliers. He also expressed his disappointment that the team isn’t whole during training camp, only a year after Tristan Thompson had a lengthy holdout before signing before the start of last season.

“I hate coming into another season – two years in a row – with one of my big guns not here. So, for a leader of a team and for me personally, I just hate to deal with this [expletive] again,” James said. “It’s just too big of a piece to our team to have to deal with in another training camp. Hopefully things get resolved fast, because you know how big and important he is to our team.”

Cavaliers general manager David Griffin said the organization made “an incredibly competitive and aggressive offer” to bring back Smith, who established himself as an effective and complementary starting shooting guard alongside James and Kyrie Irving during Cleveland’s championship run. Smith added discipline and patience to his shot selection, became a more than serviceable defensive player and expected to be rewarded with a contract that reportedly would triple the $5 million he earned last season.

“Negotiations are always two sides, but J.R. did his part,” James said. “J.R. did his part. He showed up every day. Worked his ass off every day. Became a two-way player, a model citizen in Cleveland and he’s a fan favorite, obviously, we all know that. All of a sudden now he’s a season-ticket holder at the Indians’ games. You know, so. … But we just miss him. We miss having him around. He’s a big piece of our team and they just need to get it done.”

James and Smith both share the same agent, Rich Paul, who also represents Thompson. The Cavaliers have the league’s second-highest payroll at nearly $118 million and don’t have many options to find a viable replacement for Smith, aside from a $10 million trade exception. Iman Shumpert, who arrived with Smith from New York during a trade-deadline deal in February 2015, is slated to start at shooting guard.

“We’re still missing a huge piece of our team. So we’re not all the way comfortable yet. Once that is resolved, hopefully soon, we can really get into what we need to do,” James said. “We still have enough talent. But we can’t become full until he’s here. But that doesn’t deter anybody or any of the guys that’s coming in to show up every day. We’re still working our tails off and everybody who is filling in has been working extremely hard through this camp so far, and we’re going to continue to do that.”

Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue sounded confident that Smith would eventually return and wouldn’t fall behind much after being in the system for the past two years. Smith hasn’t aggressively sought a deal from anywhere except Cleveland, and the five teams that have the ability to meet his salary demands – Brooklyn, Denver, Philadelphia, Phoenix and Utah – haven’t showed much, or any, interest.

“It’s like you’re buying a house. You can go find a house, you do all the negotiations and all that, but you never got the house until it’s closed and you got the keys. Last minute someone can step in. Escrow could fall through or something. Then it ain’t your house no more,” James said. “So, J.R. is a free agent. He’s not ours. He’s still my brother right now. And I feel like when I play 2K17, he’s still on the Cavs, so he’s on my roster there, but it wouldn’t be good if he was not here. It wouldn’t be good for any side.”

Alex Rodriguez makes it back to postseason with familiar team

With the Yankees teetering on the brink of elimination, at least one former Yankee is preparing for his return trip to the postseason.

Alex Rodriguez, awkwardly released by the team in August amid one of the worst seasons of his career, will join the FOX Sports broadcasting team as a studio analyst throughout the playoffs.

The move back to the broadcast booth probably was inevitable for Rodriguez, who served in the same role last year after the Yankees were bounced with a loss to the Astros in the wild-card game.

“I had a really good time last year, and I’d be watching every game anyway,” Rodriguez told The New York Times. “I love the game, and I see it as my responsibility to convey what I am seeing in the simplest way.”

He earned mostly positive reviews for his commentary, more than could be said for his on-field performance in 2016, which included career worsts in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage, as well as 67 strikeouts in a mere 225 at-bats.

Those numbers contributed to Rodriguez’s cringe-inducing final weeks with the team, when manager Joe Girardi was loathe to play his fading star, essentially reducing his roster to 24 players.

It culminated in the Yankees’ decision to release A-Rod – while keeping him on as a special adviser to the team – and a clumsy, rain-shortened farewell to the former three-time AL MVP.

That goodbye was among the first steps in the Yankees’ nascent youth movement, which spurred the Bombers into playoff contention and to which Rodriguez has been nothing more than a bystander.

“I wanted to be a part of it when they were doing well,” he told the Times. “And I cheer them on every night.”

And like everyone else watching the Yankees this September, he has been impressed by the sensational performance of rookie catcher Gary Sanchez – so much so he switches from saying “they” and “them” to “we” and “our” when talking about the franchise star.

“I love the way we’ve handled Gary,” Rodriguez told the Times. “If he were on any other franchise, he might have been forced up to the team two and a half years ago. But with our depth, it’s allowed him to mature. I see a kid who’s full of talent and confidence and calmness.”

While Sanchez will attempt to nurture those traits in an offseason that could arrive sooner than later – the Yankees are one game from elimination heading into Thursday night’s games with four teams ahead of them for the final wild-card spot – Rodriguez will practice his confidence and calmness on TV screens across America throughout the playoffs.

Chris Archer could lose his 20th game tonight

That’s a pretty negative way to put a headline, but the fact is, a starting pitcher losing 20 games is a rare and notable feat these days. But Tampa Bay Rays starter Chris Archer could pull it off against the White Sox this evening. He’s 8-19 with a 4.02 ERA in 194.2 innings across 32 starts in 2016.

That’s a big fall from 2015, when he was considered one of the rising aces in the game. Archer was an All-Star last year, and finished fifth in the Cy Young voting, finishing fifth in pitcher WAR, sixth in ERA, second in strikeouts, second in strikeouts per nine innings, fourth in fielding independent pitching and allowing the fourth lowest number of hits per nine innings pitched among AL starters.

To be fair, he still should be considered one of the best pitchers in the game. Yes, it has been a bad year for Archer, but he still strikes out a lot of guys. Overall, it takes a pretty good pitcher to lose 20 games in the big leagues. You don’t get the opportunities to do such a dubious thing unless you’re healthy and you have the confidence of your manager to take the ball every fifth day. And to be fair to Archer, he’s had bad defense and awful run support this year. Make no mistake, he has pitched worse than he did a year ago, but not so much worse that he deserves to reach a milestone no one has reached since 2003.

The guy who did that in 2003: Mike Maroth of a 119-loss Tigers team. Maroth won nine games that year and now gets referenced every time someone approaches 20 losses. If Archer avoids his 20th loss, he might match Maroth’s 2003 win total himself tonight. If not, well, everyone will cite Archer’s name, and not Maroth’s, whenever someone get to 19 losses in a season.

TODAY IN HISTORY - SEPTEMBER 30TH

1832 – Ann Jarvis, American activist, co-founded Mother's Day (d. 1905) is born.

1861 – William Wrigley, Jr., American businessman, founded Wrigley Company (d. 1932) is born.

1882 – Thomas Edison's first commercial hydroelectric power plant (later known as Appleton Edison Light Company) begins operation on the Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States.

1888 – Jack the Ripper kills his third and fourth victims, Elizabeth Stride, Swedish victim (b. 1843) and Catherine Eddowes, English victim (b. 1842).

1907 – McKinley National Memorial, the final resting place of assassinated U.S. President William McKinley and his family, is dedicated in Canton, Ohio.

1927 – Babe Ruth becomes the first baseball player to hit 60 home runs in a season.

1935 – The Hoover Dam, astride the border between the U.S. states of Arizona and Nevada, is dedicated.

1939 – NBC broadcasts the first televised American football game between the Waynesburg Yellow Jackets and the Fordham Rams. Fordham won the game 34–7.

1943 – The United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) at Kings Point, New York was dedicated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1947 – The World Series, featuring the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers, is televised for the first time.

1954 – The U.S. Navy submarine USS Nautilus is commissioned as the world's first nuclear reactor powered vessel.

1955 – Film star James Dean dies in a road accident aged 24.

1962 – James Meredith enters the University of Mississippi, defying segregation.

1968 – The Boeing 747 is rolled out and shown to the public for the first time at the Boeing Everett Factory.

1972 – Roberto Clemente records the 3,000th and final hit of his career.

1982 – Cyanide-laced Tylenol kills six people in the Chicago area. Seven are killed in all.

1988 – Al Holbert was fatally injured when his privately owned propeller driven Piper PA-60 aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff near Columbus, Ohio when a clamshell door was not closed.

1994 – Ongar railway station, the furthest London Underground from Central London, closes.

Pete Rose petitions Hall of Fame for inclusion on ballots in lengthy letter

Disgraced hit king Pete Rose has asked National Baseball Hall of Fame officials to reconsider the bylaw that blocks his candidacy for enshrinement, petitioning Hall president Jeff Idelson in a seven-page letter that argues for his inclusion on future ballots.

The letter, obtained by Yahoo Sports, contends the terms of Rose’s lifetime ban for gambling – drawn by then-commissioner Bart Giamatti – intentionally excluded language that would have barred Rose from Cooperstown and that, 27 years later, Rose has been unjustly kept from consideration.

Nine months after commissioner Rob Manfred denied his bid for reinstatement in Major League Baseball, Rose uses conclusions from Manfred’s ruling – specifically that Rose’s place on baseball’s Ineligible List was separate from his Hall of Fame eligibility – to build a case for his inclusion on a ballot.

Written and signed by Rose’s longtime attorney, Raymond Genco, and former ACLU lawyer Mark Rosenbaum, the letter is the first step in Rose’s latest attempt at enshrinement after his ban for betting on baseball. Whether it is a precursor to a potential lawsuit is unclear and seems unlikely, though at 75 years old, Rose feels a sense of urgency and believes the Baseball Writers Association of America is his best chance at joining the Hall.

According to the letter, “At the time Pete agreed to the settlement, the consequences of being placed on the ineligible list were clear and specific – and did not include a Hall of Fame prohibition.”

Rose accepted terms of the agreement on Aug. 24, 1989. Giamatti died eight days later. In February 1991, approximately a year before Rose would have appeared on the ballot, the Hall of Fame established Rule 3(e), which barred permanently ineligible players from enshrinement. Rose has not appeared on a ballot put before the BBWAA or subsequent committees (the Expansion Era committee, for one) intended to further consider the candidacies of players who fell short on BBWAA ballots.

Attorneys Genco and Rosenbaum contend, “… No one associated with the game other than Pete has ever been categorically denied eligibility from day one after the conclusion of his career for actions having nothing to do with the way they played baseball.”

They note the case of “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, who was banned for life in 1921 and appeared on subsequent Hall of Fame ballots.

In Manfred’s decision in December to uphold Rose’s lifetime ban, he stated, “It is not part of my authority of responsibility here to make any determination concerning Mr. Rose’s eligibility as a candidate for election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. In fact, in my view, the considerations that should drive a decision on whether an individual should be allowed to work in Baseball are not the same as those that should drive a decision on Hall of Fame eligibility. … Thus, any debate over Mr. Rose’s eligibility for the Hall of Fame is one that must take place in a different forum.”

Idelson, the Hall president, responded in a statement, “Pete Rose remains ineligible for Hall of Fame consideration, based on the Hall of Fame’s bylaws, which preclude any individual on baseball’s ineligible list from being considered for election.”

The first direct and official communication between the banished Rose (and his attorneys) and the Hall of Fame marks a change in strategy for the longtime Cincinnati Red whose baseball credentials clearly are Hall worthy. Previously Rose had sought reinstatement as the path to consideration and, perhaps, enshrinement. He now requests that the Hall reassess – or “[amend] in a limited way” – Rule 3(e) based on several factors:

Late in a life that held one of the great playing careers in the game’s history, his reputation soiled because of his gambling as a field manager, he asks the Hall to separate his actions as a player from those as a manager, when he is alleged to have bet on baseball and on Reds games.

He is not asking to be enshrined. He is asking for the Hall to allow for him to be considered by the BBWAA, as all players before him have.

He requests the Hall follow Manfred’s lead, and so to conduct itself independently from MLB. Unspoken, perhaps, the Hall has honored its share of scoundrels, those whose statistical superiority have outweighed their significant character flaws.

Further, he argues in the letter: “The Settlement Agreement left Pete Rose eligible for the Hall of Fame. The negotiations resulting in the Settlement Agreement were lengthy, detailed and open ended; there were no restrictions as to what the final document could include. Had Commissioner Giamatti sought to make eligibility for the Hall one of the provisions, he surely could have done so. He did not.”

Rule 3(e) was established in 1991, two years after the Rose-Giamatti Settlement Agreement.

While attorneys wrote the letter, nowhere does it threaten or hint at legal action. Instead, Rose’s attorneys sign off:

“We believe that the institution of Baseball will be strengthened by this act of grace – an act that would give Pete Rose the same treatment that every other Major League Baseball player and manager received throughout the first 55 years of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rafael Nadal stops tennis match as mother searches for lost child in crowd

There’s something about this that makes you just tear up. Maybe it’s the parent in you (if you are a parent) or maybe, in a time when the world seems to be at its own throat, you witness a moment when everyone is on the same side.

A mother looking for her child. A child desperate to find her mother. And everyone around them, including Rafael Nadal who’s supposed to be concentrating on the player on the other side of the net, realizing that their reunion is more important than anything else.

This took place Wednesday during an exhibition match in Nadal’s native Mallorca. Partnered with a teenager named Simon Solbas, and squaring off against Carlos Moya and John McEnroe, Nadal was on serve when a commotion in the crowd (that would normally halt as play resumes) didn’t stop. And rightfully so.

Nadal stopped, the crowd did too, and mother and daughter were reunited.

 

 

Jose Fernandez's high-school jersey stolen after candlelight vigil

Jose Fernandez was remembered at a candlelight vigil Wednesday at Alonso High School in Tampa, the school he attended, the school where he became a baseball star. And now, the school says, something unthinkable has happened.

Someone stole one of Fernandez’s high-school jerseys that was on display in his old dugout during the vigil. The news comes from Anastasia Dawson of the Palm Beach Post, who says the school is “unbelievably sad.”

Alonso ball coach: boggles my mind someone would tarnish what we did last night for Jose. Fernandez jersey missing pic.twitter.com/Vl0Sl7A5Wg

— Anastasia Dawson (@adawsonwrites) September 29, 2016

This happened on the same day that Fernandez was remembered at an emotional memorial service in Miami, where pallbearers wore his No. 16 Miami Marlins jersey. The 24-year-old star pitcher died early Sunday morning in a boating accident.

Fernandez was selected out of Alonso High School in the first round of the 2011 amateur draft. When he reached the big leagues, he was the first Alonso High player to do so. The school had retired his No. 16 after he was drafted. Alonso High’s principal Ken Heart called the theft of the jersey “the lowest of the low.”

According to Dawson, the school has one more of Fernandez’s No. 16 jerseys left, which was being hung up Thursday.

Matt stuewe, Alonso custodian, hangs the school's last Jose Fernandez jersey. One stolen after Wednesday vigil pic.twitter.com/IHgFShBdUg

— Anastasia Dawson (@adawsonwrites) September 29, 2016

Lovie Smith needs wins in recruiting more than on the field this year

When Illinois offensive coordinator Garrick McGee walks into a recruit's living room, he is ready with his introduction line.

"It's the opening statement when you're recruiting: 'Do you know who Lovie Smith is?'" McGee said. "And they go, 'Yes!' You sell that you're going to be playing for a proven professional football coach."

The Illini's best selling point is the man in charge.

The coaching staff hit the road during last week's open date on the schedule for the first time since getting hired in March, hampered by the NCAA's so-called "Saban Rule" that prohibits coaches from evaluating recruits in person during the spring.

"The message is the University of Illinois is a great place for an athlete to come to school," Smith said. "We flooded the country as much as we possibly could, seeing who's available and who will be available. The response was really good."

Illinois opens the Big Ten season Saturday at Nebraska (4-0) as three-touchdown underdogs. After a disappointing 1-2 start — which surely doesn't help recruiting efforts — it's hard to imagine this season ending with a winning record.

When Smith was hired, victory-starved Illini fans clamored about Big Ten championships and bowl victories. But Illinois isn't going to be a quick fix.

This season should be judged not by the victories on the field but by the commitments on the recruiting trail.

While most coaches have been targeting certain recruits for several years, the Illini staff was meeting many face to face for the first time. The 2017 class that signs in February should be graded on a curve given the late start, but it's fair to judge the direction the Illini are headed. And the 2018 class should be especially telling.

The current class of 12 players is ranked 55th nationally and 11th in the Big Ten in the recruiting service 247Sports.com's composite rankings, which aggregate the four major services. Scout.com ranks the Illini's 2017 class 46th nationally.

Brother Rice wide receiver Ricky Smalling, a four-star recruit according to some services, committed to Illinois in April over offers from Wisconsin, Minnesota and Syracuse. Guard Larry Boyd of St. Louis, at 6-foot-5 and 332 pounds, has the kind of size not seen lately on Illini recruits. Smith and his staff beat out Missouri for both Boyd and cornerback Tony Adams of St. Louis.

"All those doors that were closed before are open," said Jeremy Werner, publisher of Illini Inquirer, which is part of the Scout.com network.

They'll need to knock down some heavy doors for the 2018 class. Four-star Mount Carmel offensive tackle Verdis Brown — the top recruit in the state — is fielding offers from powerhouse programs such as Ohio State, Florida State and Michigan State.

"That's a litmus test," Werner said. "You have a year and a half to recruit him. You have to win those to be where you want to be eventually. Can Lovie Smith keep a kid like that in the state?"

He better get some like that. That's what counts right now. More than collecting wins, it's about collecting top recruits to build the program.

Smith hasn't been on the recruiting trail in more than 20 years, when he was last in the college ranks as an assistant at Ohio State.

"I do believe it's like riding a bike," Smith said. "It's not like I've been in a third-world country or anything like that. I've been dealing with people. I've dealt with parents before. I've talked to people before. We have a great product to sell here."

They just need buyers.

Trump calls Kaepernick protest ‘very bad for the spirit of the country’

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump hinted Wednesday that he would consider firing San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick if he owned the team.

“He’s making a tremendous amount of money. He’s making a tremendous amount of money. He is [living] the American dream. He’s trying to make a point. But I don’t think he is making it the correct way. Personally, if it was me, I would not be happy if I were the team owner,” Trump said.

Trump discussed Kaepernick, who has refused to stand for the national anthem at games, during a back and forth with Bill O’Reilly. The Fox News host repeatedly tried to get Trump, the former owner of the defunct New Jersey Generals franchise, to say how he would handle Kaepernick’s protest.

“I wouldn’t be happy, they are paying him all of this money,” Trump said. “And I think what he is doing is very bad for the spirit of the country. At the same time, he has the right to protest and that’s one of the beautiful things about the country.”

O’Reilly continued to press. “See, you are the owner,” he told Trump of the hypothetical. “It’s your stadium, all right? It’s paying customers. It’s your dime. This is right in your bailiwick, OK? So he’s protesting on your dime, doing something that offends you. Would you take action again him?

“I tell you it offends me,” Trump said. “I guess he probably lost a starting position because something happened to him. He went downhill fast. And, frankly, that’s OK. But I would not be a happy camper. I’m not going to tell you what I would do,” he continued.

After O’Reilly asked Trump again, the mogul replied: “Let’s keep the headlines down to a minimum.” (Trump had previously suggested that Kaepernick “find a country that works better for him.”)

For his part, Kaepernick also sparked headlines earlier this week by sharply criticizing both Trump and his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. The quarterback, who says his protest is against racial discrimination in the U.S., said Tuesday that the major-party candidates were both “proven liars” and that “it almost seems like they’re trying to debate who’s less racist.”

At a Wednesday event, President Obama also addressed Kaepernick’s refusal to stand during the anthem.

“As I’ve said before, I believe that us honoring our flag and our anthem is part of what binds us together as a nation,” Obama said at a CNN town hall.

“And I think that for me — for my family, for those who work in the White House, we recognize what it means to us — but also what it means to the men and women who are fighting on our behalf,” the president continued. “But I’m also always trying to remind folks that part of what makes this country special is that we respect peoples’ rights to have a different opinion.“

Obama defends Kaepernick's right to protest https://t.co/lsGTSIHeMJ via @DaniellaMicaela https://t.co/1ZqGmqTU6s

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) September 29, 2016

Browns: Josh Gordon will enter rehab facility

Josh Gordon was supposed to return to the Cleveland Browns after Week 4, when his NFL suspension was over. That plan is on hold now.

The team announced that Gordon, who has dealt with substance-abuse issues through his football career, will enter an in-patient rehab facility.

The announcement included a statement from Gordon, saying he needed to “step away from pursuing my return to the Browns and my football career.”

WR Josh Gordon is entering an in-patient rehabilitation facility. pic.twitter.com/pv7ZD5KZuB

— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) September 29, 2016

Gordon sent a vague tweet on Thursday evening about needing some time for himself.

Under some pressure & stress recently, had to take a time out for myself.Sometimes you have to do what's best for you. Thank u @nfl @Browns

— Flash Gordon (@JOSH_GORDONXII) September 29, 2016

 

Gordon has been suspended multiple times by the NFL, and had substance-abuse issues in college as well at Baylor and Utah. Gordon has played just five games since the end of the 2013 season because of NFL suspensions. He missed all of last season. The last time he played close to a full season was 2013, when he led the NFL with 1,646 yards.

Gordon was back in the news last week, when he was issued an arrest warrant for failing to respond to multiple subpoenas in a paternity case. That warrant didn’t affect the length of his NFL suspension.

Gordon is 25 years old. He has plenty of time to get his life, and maybe his football career, back on track. He appears to be taking the steps necessary to get that done.

'Fed-up' judge in Derrick Rose civil rape case gives lawyers gag order

At the final pretrial hearing before the scheduled start of the civil case alleging that Derrick Rose and two of his friends drugged a woman, broke into her apartment, and raped her while she was unconscious, the presiding judge on Thursday gave lawyers on both sides of the contentious, controversial and highly public matter a clear and concise directive: stop talking.

 

From The Associated Press:

A judge on Thursday ordered lawyers handling a rape lawsuit against Knicks guard Derrick Rose to temporarily stop talking to reporters, faulting attorneys for actions that have raised pretrial publicity about one of the NBA’s stars.

U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald said Thursday he was inclined to issue a longer gag order in light of pretrial publicity about the case, which has included interviews with Rose’s accuser and her attorneys allowing a letter confirming a police investigation of her rape allegations to become public.

Fitzgerald told the woman’s attorney, Waukeen McCoy, that his team’s filing of the letter in the public court docket was ”borderline unethical.” He also said legal filings from Rose’s attorney, Mark Baute, were tailored for the press and not to secure favorable rulings for Rose.

 

The judge has also chastised the attorneys representing Rose, who has steadfastly maintained his innocence in the incident, attorneys for continuing to imply in filings that any evidence the 30-year-old plaintiff, thus far referred to only as “Jane Doe,” had in the past been “sexually adventurous” with Rose (both parties acknowledge the two had a consensual sexual relationship in the past) or drank alcohol with Rose on the night of the alleged incident “in any way affects whether Plaintiff consented to group sex” later that night.

“The Court previously made clear to Defendant Rose that such rhetoric is unworthy of this Court,” Fitzgerald wrote in an order handed down last week. “That the Court now grants Defendant Rose’s motion to preclude Plaintiff’s use of a pseudonym at trial is in no way an invitation to continue his attempts to prejudice Plaintiff in this way. If Defendant Rose continues to utilize language that shames and blames the victims of rape either in his motion practice or before the jury, the Court will consider sanctions.”

Rose’s lawyers continued to steer in that direction in motions filed last week, though, according to Lindsey Adler of Deadspin:

In the latest filings, Rose’s lawyers argue that bringing up Doe’s past is valid because it’s necessary to refute her own version of events, which include her discussing how she was very conservative and that Rose was the aggressor in their relationship. But, as Rose’s lawyers have done in the past, they take the start of a possibly relevant legal argument and use it as a chance to sling mud at Doe as they do here with the phrase “some plaintiffs.”

[From Rose’s lawyers’ filing:

“The same is true of Ms. Doe’s efforts to present herself as ‘conservative,’ ‘prudish,’ and ‘shy’— this opposition brief is not the place to go into Ms. Doe’s past, except to say that some plaintiffs are better served by focusing on the evening in question, and avoiding any effort to present herself as a supposedly chaste and naïve and shy person.”

 

They struck a similar note in motions filed Wednesday, according to court documents obtained by Lindsay Gibbs of ThinkProgress, who sees the filings as an indication that “despite the threat of sanctions by the judge,” Rose’s team is prepared to use Doe’s “entire sexual history, before and after the alleged assault […] against her in court.”

In open and public courtrooms, the 30-year old Ms. Doe does need to recognize that if she and her lawyers are going to sue and ask for millions of dollars, by presenting herself as someone with a loss of consortium claim, she has opened the door to a cross-examination that is better left avoided. The same is true of Ms. Doe’s efforts to present herself as “conservative,” “prudish,” and “shy” — this opposition brief is not the place to go into Ms. Doe’s past, except to say that some plaintiffs are better served by focusing on the evening in question, and avoiding any effort to present herself as a supposedly chaste and naïve and shy person. […]

For this trial to go smoothly and be finished quickly, the single biggest pretrial “clean up” issue is the decision that Ms. Doe’s counsel needs to make on whether Ms. Doe is in fact seeking to pursue a loss of consortium theory, and whether Ms. Doe will seek to present herself as a naïve and sexually inexperienced 27-year-old with a conservative mindset. This declaration is not the right place to provide detailed revelations concerning Ms. Doe’s actual lifestyle and sexual experience level, both before and after August 27, 2013. Suffice it to say that Ms. Doe is three years older than Mr. Rose, Mr. Allen, and Mr. Hampton, who were 24 years old at the time, and her lifestyle was far more advanced, aggressive, and experienced than she appears to want to now present. This sort of factual information, if affirmatively put at issue by Ms. Doe, is the sort of theory that Ms. Doe could and should avoid, because it goes to her credibility.

Doe’s attorneys responded by arguing that any evidence purporting to paint her as “sexually promiscuous” — including the potential calling as witnesses former friends of Doe who would reportedly tell jurors Doe “privately admitted she had consensual group sex with Rose and two friends on Aug. 27, 2013” and that she had denied being raped a few weeks after the alleged assault — should be barred at trial. From Nancy Dillon of the New York Daily News:

“Her past sexual conduct (as alleged by defendants) does not, as defendants would argue, create emotional calluses that lessen the impact of unwelcomed sexual assault and battery,” her lawyer Brandon Anand wrote in his motion filed Wednesday.

“The fact that the Plaintiff Jane Doe may have welcomed sexual advances from Defendant Rose at some point in time before the morning of August 27, 2013 or even welcomed sexual advances from certain individuals in her past, has absolutely no bearing on the emotional trauma she may feel from sexual assault that is unwelcome,” he wrote.

Whether such testimony will be allowed remains to be seen, but even if it is, it might not necessarily constitute a “smoking gun” that dooms Doe’s case, according to sports lawyer Dan Werly of The White Bronco:

First, Doe’s attorneys will make evidentiary objections to this testimony at trial and the judge will rule on whether she is [allowed to] testify about this conversation. Second, even if it is allowed in, Doe may be able to minimize its impact at trial. For example, she may testify (and it is not unreasonable to believe) that she wasn’t comfortable sharing the truth with Chavez for a variety of reasons. Moreover, Doe has numerous witnesses saying that she did tell them that she was raped and Rose has at least one more witness (another one of Doe’s “friends”) that has testified she never called the encounter rape. Thus, it will be up to the jury to decide which witnesses are most credible.

Fitzgerald also upheld his decision to deny Jane Doe’s request to maintain her anonymity during trial. Doe’s attorneys had filed a motion for reconsideration, arguing that the revelation of a “current and open” criminal investigation into the matter constitutes new and relevant information that should make the judge reconsider his previous call.

Fitzgerald rejected that premise, standing on his belief that allowing Doe to remain anonymous at trial “might lead jurors to mistakenly conclude that her anonymity reflects an opinion [on the judge’s part] about whether Rose ought to be found liable,” according to Sports Illustrated’s Michael McCann.

“My concern is the jury,” Fitzgerald said at Thursday’s hearing, according to the New York Post.

Barring a late-breaking settlement in the case, in which Doe is seeking $21.5 million in damages, the civil trial is set to begin on Tuesday, Oct. 4. What will transpire in court remains to be seen, but what seems clear is that neither side has curried much favor with the judge.

“I am really fed up with both of you,” Fitzgerald told both sets of lawyers on Thursday, according to the Daily News.