Baseball finally nails Ryan Braun.
Major League Baseball has suspended Brewer Ryan Braun without pay for the remainder of the 2013 season (65 games) and any possible postseason games this year. Braun will not contend with the suspension and accept his punishment.
Braun is one of several players being investigated for their connections to the Biogenesis of America. Braun also had beaten a positive drug test on appeal in 2012 which would've cost him a 50 game suspension.
The Truth is Now on baseball's side.
While doling out suspensions for any player that violates baseball's drug policy is significant news, getting Braun suspended, finally, was huge for baseball. Braun humiliated them last year with that beaten drug test and getting him suspended now removes that blemish left by Braun.
Of course Braun could've tried to fight this suspension but due to the fact that he didn't and took this deal says that the evidence collected against him was just too much to fight successfully. Braun probably saw that he was going to lose this case and instead of fighting it and have the suspension applied predominantly next season, he decided to accept his fate this year seeing how the Brewers aren't likely going to make the postseason anyway currently being last in the NL Central. This way he'll be available for all of 2014.
Now what about the rest of the players being investigated for their involvement with Biogenesis. This suspension tells me that more are on the way and that they could happen this year. It's important to note, however, that Braun is not fighting this suspension. Other players might fight just to stay on their team that could be contending for the a playoff spot.
I'm still not completely sold that teams need to trade for players to possibly replace those being investigated in this scandal. If the players involved exhaust the appeals process, it still might go into the off season to sort out. However, I would not be surprised now if teams start making those kind of moves.
Monday, July 22, 2013
Monday, July 15, 2013
Cespedes Out Slams Harper to Win Home Run Derby
He wasn't even supposed to be there. Instead, he's the Home Run Derby Champion.
Yoenis Cespedes wins the 2013 Home Run Derby at Citi Field in New York City. Cespedes batted against Bryce Harper for the derby crown in the final. Harper hit a respectable eight home runs in ten outs. Cespedes crushed nine in five outs with the clincher being a deep shot to center.
The derby win for Cespedes marks the first time an Athletic has won the Home Run Derby since 1992 when Mark McGwire won it.
Yoenis was crushing balls from the start with many of them getting up to that third deck in left field. Cespedes would hit 17 homers in the first round and didn't even need to hit another big fly to advance to the final still being ahead of 2nd place Bryce Harper by one. The 27 year old Cuban born slugger would tack on 6 more, however, for good measure and have a total of 23 over the first two rounds.
Certainly a good night of home run hitting. It was fun to see so many big flies hit by all the contestants and great to see the guy with the most homers on the night win the derby. Congrats to Cespedes.
P.S. Now time for me to see if I can get a triple decker myself.
Yoenis Cespedes wins the 2013 Home Run Derby at Citi Field in New York City. Cespedes batted against Bryce Harper for the derby crown in the final. Harper hit a respectable eight home runs in ten outs. Cespedes crushed nine in five outs with the clincher being a deep shot to center.
The derby win for Cespedes marks the first time an Athletic has won the Home Run Derby since 1992 when Mark McGwire won it.
Yoenis was crushing balls from the start with many of them getting up to that third deck in left field. Cespedes would hit 17 homers in the first round and didn't even need to hit another big fly to advance to the final still being ahead of 2nd place Bryce Harper by one. The 27 year old Cuban born slugger would tack on 6 more, however, for good measure and have a total of 23 over the first two rounds.
Certainly a good night of home run hitting. It was fun to see so many big flies hit by all the contestants and great to see the guy with the most homers on the night win the derby. Congrats to Cespedes.
P.S. Now time for me to see if I can get a triple decker myself.
Friday, July 5, 2013
Dwight Howard Going to Houston
Looks like Texas just got a little bigger.
As first reported by USA Today, Dwight Howard has chosen to join the Houston Rockets. Howard had met with the Rockets earlier this week and also several other teams vying for the affection of Dwight. Howard now joins James Harden and Jeremy Lin in hopes of bringing a championship back to Houston.
This might not be the only star player the Rockets get. Houston and Atlanta might make a sign-and-trade deal involving sending Josh Smith to the Rockets in exchange for Omer Asik who doesn't want to play with Dwight Howard.
A huge day for the Rockets as their bar has been raised to championship highs and instantly with this news. It's probably fair to expect a championship now that Howard is on the team but unless they can get Josh Smith as well, I'm not sure whether they are the best team in the West. OKC is still strong with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, San Antonio has proven to never count them out, and even Golden State can surprise you.
As for the Lakers, they are apparently still in denial. It's a first that an all time great player has walked away from the Lakers. Though to be fair, the Lakers sort of drove Howard away. While Dwight and Kobe might've never gotten along anyway, the Lakers hurt their chances of keeping Howard long term when they hired Mike D'Antoni as head coach. Combine that with how everything else went in LA during Howard's one year there and how do you expect him stay?
The Rockets now look like title contenders while the Lakers just look like another borderline playoff team at best. Oh what a difference a year makes.
As first reported by USA Today, Dwight Howard has chosen to join the Houston Rockets. Howard had met with the Rockets earlier this week and also several other teams vying for the affection of Dwight. Howard now joins James Harden and Jeremy Lin in hopes of bringing a championship back to Houston.
This might not be the only star player the Rockets get. Houston and Atlanta might make a sign-and-trade deal involving sending Josh Smith to the Rockets in exchange for Omer Asik who doesn't want to play with Dwight Howard.
A huge day for the Rockets as their bar has been raised to championship highs and instantly with this news. It's probably fair to expect a championship now that Howard is on the team but unless they can get Josh Smith as well, I'm not sure whether they are the best team in the West. OKC is still strong with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, San Antonio has proven to never count them out, and even Golden State can surprise you.
As for the Lakers, they are apparently still in denial. It's a first that an all time great player has walked away from the Lakers. Though to be fair, the Lakers sort of drove Howard away. While Dwight and Kobe might've never gotten along anyway, the Lakers hurt their chances of keeping Howard long term when they hired Mike D'Antoni as head coach. Combine that with how everything else went in LA during Howard's one year there and how do you expect him stay?
The Rockets now look like title contenders while the Lakers just look like another borderline playoff team at best. Oh what a difference a year makes.
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Celtics Name Brad Stevens as Head Coach
Big move coming out of Boston.
The Celtics have found their next head coach and it's Brad Stevens from Butler. Stevens has been head coach of the Bulldogs men's basketball team for the last six years and is most noted for getting Butler to the National Title game twice. Stevens has no coaching experience in the NBA as he takes over for Doc Rivers who lead the team to an NBA title.
It's ironic but not surprising that the Celtics get another coach to leave their team to coach for them. It is surprising it turned out to be Brad Stevens of Butler. Good for Stevens getting his shot in the NBA but I wonder if this move will work out long term. Stevens won't be expected to make an impact immediately but regardless where the team stands in a few years, he will be expected to lead the Celtics deep into the postseason.
Overall, this is a win-win for Stevens. He gets his shot as an NBA head coach and if he fails, he's free to choose any university team that wants him, guilt free.
The Celtics have found their next head coach and it's Brad Stevens from Butler. Stevens has been head coach of the Bulldogs men's basketball team for the last six years and is most noted for getting Butler to the National Title game twice. Stevens has no coaching experience in the NBA as he takes over for Doc Rivers who lead the team to an NBA title.
It's ironic but not surprising that the Celtics get another coach to leave their team to coach for them. It is surprising it turned out to be Brad Stevens of Butler. Good for Stevens getting his shot in the NBA but I wonder if this move will work out long term. Stevens won't be expected to make an impact immediately but regardless where the team stands in a few years, he will be expected to lead the Celtics deep into the postseason.
Overall, this is a win-win for Stevens. He gets his shot as an NBA head coach and if he fails, he's free to choose any university team that wants him, guilt free.
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