As June hits the sports calendar Tree.com will have you covered. The pennant races are just heating up in baseball, while the NBA and NHL seasons are coming to an end. The NFL will continue to grab headlines as both sides creep closer to a deal, and on the links the U.S. Open will be center stage. Great topics, big stories, and we look forward to discussing them with you on the sports channel.
Minnesota Twins' catcher Joe Mauer was placed on the 15-day disabled list with bilateral leg weakness, and has since been diagnosed with a viral infection that is thought to have played a role in his leg soreness. He is off to a slow start this season, hitting just .235 with four RBI and just one extra-base hit in 34 at-bats, perhaps a bi-product of limited playing time in spring training after undergoing surgery on his left knee last December.
Here is our weekly look at some notable stories from the world of baseball over the past week. As usual, the news items are divided by league.
American League News
- Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim SP Jered Weaver threw a complete game shutout, with 10 strikeouts and just one walk, against the Oakland A's on Monday as he improved his record to 6-0 on the season. He became the first pitcher with six wins in his team's first 23 games since Randy Johnson with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2002 and has now thrown back-to-back complete games.
Here is the latest edition of our "Rookie Report", which highlights notable stories related to and performances by rookies across baseball in recent days.
Zach Britton, SP, Baltimore Orioles- Britton extended his strong April on Tuesday night against the Boston Red Sox, as he allowed one run on five hits over six innings. He became the first rookie in Orioles' franchise history to get four wins in April, and is 4-1 with a 2.84 ERA overall this season.
West Coast Bias, as I'm known here, has griped about Dodgers owner Frank McCourt for more than a year now.
Today, I'll give Frank his due twice over: 1) He's done wonders for the image of Bud Selig, who now appears both bold and virtuous for having seized control of the Dodgers, all the more so after Frank vowed to defy Selig on Wednesday.
Day One of the NFL Draft is over--thankfully. Do Mel Kiper and Chucky Gruden ever shut up?
West Coast Bias was at Chargers Park on Thursday. Here's my breakdown on the Pacific teams. Since Arizona sends so many visitors to California, which needs the tourism money, we're including the Cardinals, too.
With the 2011 NFL Draft upon us, I thought that it would be a good time to list off a few of my “draft crushes” from this year’s class. These players are some of the guys that I fell in love with during the 2010 college football season and would love to see play on one of my favorite NFL teams (Minnesota Vikings, San Diego Chargers, Houston Texans), although I doubt that’ll happen for each of them.
West Coast Bias looks at this NFL draft and sees the end game as the endgame for the Chargers.
A defensive end who can clog the running game and bull-rush the passer is a primary need for the Chargers. Age is catching up with the team's veteran ends, the overachieving Jacques Cesaire and the overpaid Luis Castillo.
Seems like a strange way to kick off a series of blogs. But the reasoning behind the title of today's installment is just to kind of introduce myself. The phrase "sorry, I'm Cody", is just a little phrase that I said 24 times during spring training.
There’s nothing better than playoff hockey. The intensity is ramped up several notches above regular season play. Every series, no matter how it initially looks on paper, is generally hotly-contested and highly competitive. This year’s Eastern Conference playoffs are no different.
As of Sunday, only one series has been decided with the Rangers falling in five to the number one seed in the East, Washington. The other series all could easily go to seven games. In fact, with today’s OT win, Philadelphia staved off elimination and pushed their series with Buffalo to seven.
The 2011 Western Conference playoffs have had several intriguing storylines including; improbable comebacks, the first-round’s only sweep and the first series win in the history of one club. Let’s review the first-round in the West.
#1 Vancouver vs. #8 Chicago
Yes, Chicago won the Stanley Cup a year ago but this year’s edition struggled to even make it into the post-season. Yet their first-round matchup with Vancouver had all the makings of a tough series.