Author Danny Vinik

MLB All Star Starters

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The Major League Baseball season is nearing its midpoint and with that comes the 2008 All Star game in Yankee Stadium. With fans voting for the All Star starters, the game many times turns into a popularity contest with deserving players not voted in as starters. Here are those American League players who should be starting at the 2008 All Star game:

Designated Hitter: I find it funny this year that there are no designated hitters have good years. I will give the nod to David Ortiz (though he is injured) with his 13 home runs and 43 RBI, but his .252 batting average makes him a non-ideal candidate. Of the 6 players qualifying for DH, only Hideki Matsui has a batting average above .265, but Matsui has only 7 home runs and 34 RBI, hardly an All Star caliber season. No DH is slugging above .500, so with the lack of talent at DH this year, I select Ortiz as he is the most balanced player amongst designated hitters.

Catcher: There aren’t very many candidates in the AL for starting catcher, but it has to go to someone. With a .332 batting average and .417 on base percentage, Joe Mauer is my choice to start at catcher. He has only 2 home runs and 27 RBI, but no other American League catcher stands out. Mauer has made only 2 errors at catcher all season and has thrown out 34% of runners. Continue reading “MLB All Star Starters” →

2008 NBA Champions: Boston Celtics

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What a night for the Celtics. You could not have imagined a victory more dominant or more emotional than the Celtics’ 131-92 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers yesterday to win the NBA Championship. The Celtics dominated every facet of the game, out-rebounding the Lakers 48 to 29 and forcing 19 turnovers. The Big 3 had their greatest performance of the year. Kevin Garnett returned to regular season form with 26 points and 14 rebounds. Paul Pierce may not have had one of his greatest shooting performance (4 of 13 from the field), but he still ended with 18 points and 10 assists. Ray Allen completed his dominating Finals with 7 three pointers and 26 points, setting an NBA record of 22 three pointers made in an NBA Finals’ series. Rajon Rondo played the best game of his career, taking the ball to the hoop and forcing the Lakers to guard him. He had 21 points (8 of 20 from the field), 7 rebounds, 8 assists, and 6 steals. The Celtics best bench player, James Posey, had 11 points, making all four of his shots including three 3 pointers, 3 rebounds, and 3 steals. That is just on the offensive end.

As the final seconds ticked off the clock in the 2008 NBA season, everyone on the court, in the Garden, and in the NBA had learned a valuable lesson from these NBA Finals: Defense wins championships. The Celtics just overpowered the Lakers defensively and Kobe looked lost the entire series. The Lakers did score 92 points in the game, but that was only with a 32 point fourth quarter when the Celtics were no longer focusing on defense, but rather the seconds remaining in the game. Boston’s defense shined through in the first half where they held the Lakers to 35 points (15 in the second quarter), 30% shooting, and had a halftime lead of 23 points. The rest of the game was just one big party for Boston fans. Continue reading “2008 NBA Champions: Boston Celtics” →

Euro 2008 and World Cup Qualifying

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If you haven’t been following soccer lately, then you have missed out on some great action:

Euro 2008 is in full swing as the Group Round finishes up tomorrow with two great matches, Russia vs Sweden and Greece vs Spain. Those four teams are in Group D, the fourth of four groups in Euro 2008. Spain has already guaranteed itself a spot in the quarterfinals and Greece has already been eliminated. If Sweden beats or ties Russia tomorrow, they advance, but if Russia wNew York Timesins, then they move on to the quarterfinals. If you don’t find a do-or-die game like that enticing, then you are not a sports fan.

That is just one of four groups in Euro 2008, though the other three have completed all their matches. In Group A, Portugal and Turkey advanced with 6 points each while Switzerland and the Czech Republic were sent home early. In a similar do-or-die game between the Czech Republic and Turkey earlier this week, Turkey scored 3 goals in the last 15 minutes, including two goals by Nihat Kahveci in the final three minutes of the game, to beat the Czech Republic 3-2 and advance to the quarterfinals. Lead by Christiano Ronaldo, Portugal sailed through the Group Round with easy wins over Turkey and the Czech Republic. In their final game against Switzerland, Portugal sat most of their starters as they had already ensured themselves a spot in the next round. Playing a sub-par team, Switzerland defeated Portugal 2-0 in the game and captured their only victory of the tournament. Continue reading “Euro 2008 and World Cup Qualifying” →