Baseball: Little Leagues vs Big Leagues
Baseball: Little Leagues vs Big Leagues
While the guys in the big leagues are watching to see what color uniform they will be wearing tomorrow, the little guys are packing up their gear. Some of these youngsters are only temporarily storing the gear and will hit the field again in a couple of weeks. Fall leagues and travel leagues are the norm these days and that makes for baseball year round. These are not the Little Leagues of yore though.
The Dizzy Dean World Series have all finished up and the winners crowned. Some of the winners more obvious than others but either way, a nice set of trophies went home with a lot of little guys in the last few weeks. Moreover, at least one kid in each age group went home with a Most Valuable Trophy and it was not too shabby either. These are the Little Leagues the guys in the Big Leagues are built upon.
Many fans are preparing to cheer their big league teams into the fall and hoping to help guide them into the playoffs. The Yankees have become a staple when it comes to the fall classic and for now, that seems to be the case for this year as well. Either way, if you are a pitcher, a catcher, a manager or a fan, there is a lot of baseball left in the Major Leagues so don’t quit watching just yet. The youngsters jumping into the fall schedule in the Little Leagues deserve a little round of applause too.
Johnny Banks is the 2011 World Handicapping Champion! Johnny is also on an EPIC 21-9 NFL Run! Check out all of Johnny Banks' expert NFL Super Bowl XLVI picks!
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Kerry Wood: From Indian to Yankee
Kerry Wood: From Indian to Yankee
The World Series Champion New York Yankees appear to be stacking the lineup as they head into the homestretch of the season. The Yankees have made three trades in less than 24 hours while others are busily doing much the same. The difference is, this is the Yankees and they are offering another guy a chance to take part in a big time team. Kerry Wood offers the Yankees another setup option along with Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera.
The trade between the Indians and the Yankees involved several players. The Indians got a player to be named later or $500,000 while the Indians gave New York the pitcher and $2,172,131. That will leave New York to pay $1.5 million of the new guys salary this year. Kerry Wood appears to be worth a large sum of money including a $11 million team option for 2011.
If the guy can produce numbers equivalent to the amount of money he is getting, he may just find himself wearing a championship ring in just a few months. In addition to that, big hitting Lance Berkman is headed to New York from Houston and reliever Mark Melancon and a minor league infielder Jimmy Paredes will make their way to the Yankees organization as well. Cleveland has several options with this trade which include either choosing a player for a designated list or taking the cash. In the meantime, Kerry Wood will suiting up in the stripes just as he returned from the DL for a blister on his finger.
Johnny Banks is the 2011 World Handicapping Champion! Johnny is also on an EPIC 21-9 NFL Run! Check out all of Johnny Banks' expert NFL Super Bowl XLVI picks!
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Sam Bradford: Rookie With $50 Million Guaranteed
Today at 4 PM the non-waiver deadline in the NFL will come and players everywhere will be looking down a different pipe. For the guys drafted in round one, deals have been made and the top five draft picks are all set now. The Rams took the number 1 overall draft pick and have now come to a deal that looks really nice no matter who you are. Sam Bradford is the man who came out of the draft at number one and now has a pocket full of change.
The big picture for the Rams and this quarterback is reportedly worth $78 million. The guaranteed money is $50 million which tops the charts in history as the most ever for a single contract for rookies and veterans. The only person who made a deal that was close to that was last year when the Lions and Matthew Stafford inked a similar deal. Matthew Stafford’s deal was worth $78 million but compared to Sam Bradford, the deal had a guarantee of $8.3 million less.
The former Oklahoma quarterback signed his deal with the Rams on Friday night and now he can be part of the first full workout set for today. The amount of money on the line in this one gets the quarterback the highest deal ever in the NFL. Now it’s time to sit back and see who else can make deals today in time to make it through to get start with training camp on time. Sam Bradford will need to pull out all the stops after signing that kind of deal.
Johnny Banks is the 2011 World Handicapping Champion! Johnny is also on an EPIC 21-9 NFL Run! Check out all of Johnny Banks' expert NFL Super Bowl XLVI picks!
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Babe Ruth Baseball: Youth Leagues
Many stories surrounding the various World Series events in the last month have garnered some attention and now it’s time for another league to show case their own guys. When leagues are run correctly and the adults can maintain some form of maturity, the children have a great time on the field. That is definitely the key to making a good league better, unfortunately a lot of adults just don’t seem to understand. The 15-year-old team from Appleton are involved in the Babe Ruth tournament West Virginia starting Saturday.
The trip to Virginia for these families runs about 13 hours via bus so the players and families have plenty of time to get to know one another. That is if they haven’t already learned everything about one another over the course of a long season. Either way, the players are excited and the parents are busy cheering their team to victory. The Appleton Babe Ruth baseball team heads into the tournament with a 25-3 record.
A big win over Eau Claire was the win that put them into the West Virginia tournament. Many of the families cite camaraderie as one of the most important aspects of their team. The players have to bond and mesh to make the team work but so do the parents. Parents can make or break a really good team so if you are in the West Virginia area on Saturday, try to catch at least one game of the Babe Ruth league and see for yourself the benefits of team sports.
Johnny Banks is the 2011 World Handicapping Champion! Johnny is also on an EPIC 21-9 NFL Run! Check out all of Johnny Banks' expert NFL Super Bowl XLVI picks!
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Matt Capps: Closing for the Twins
More players are on the move and will be dressed in another teams colors over the next few days. Thursday’s talks of Roy Oswalt basically dominated the media but other big players were on the move too. Teams often use the last run of the regular season to see either add to a squad that’s lagging or to tune up their already strong team. For the Minnesota Twins, Matt Capps was the guy they were looking to get and they got him.
With the prospect of facing the best hitters in the league still on tap, no one really expects this move to make a huge impact. Except for maybe the Twins and naturally they wouldn’t have went after another pitcher if they didn’t think they needed him. The acquisition of the closer came with a trade from the minor league system which sent Wilson Ramos and Joe Testa to Washington. Matt Capps will head to the bullpen for the Twins and join Jon Rauch who already has 21 saves to his name.
The move comes on the heels of an All Star appearance and a 2.80 ERA. Adding to that is 25 saves which should make him a hot prospect, assuming he lives up to his numbers. However, many scouts don’t think those numbers are really indicative of what this guy brings to the table. All in all, no matter what the personal opinions are, numbers don’t lie and Matt Capps may be ready to move on to bigger and better numbers in Minnesota.
Johnny Banks is the 2011 World Handicapping Champion! Johnny is also on an EPIC 21-9 NFL Run! Check out all of Johnny Banks' expert NFL Super Bowl XLVI picks!
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Brett Wallace: More Astros & Blue Jays News
Brett Wallace: More Astros & Blue Jays News
While the baseball fans across the major leagues have been watching the Astros and the Phillies to see what color uniform Roy Oswalt is going to be wearing, other players have made some big moves as well. For one, the Astros grabbed Anthony Gose and then almost immediately shipped him off to Toronto. That seemed to be ok with everyone as the Jays seem to be happy to have Gose. That move enabled Brett Wallace to join the Astros when the day was done.
He was originally traded from the Cardinals to the A’s and then the A’s sent him packing to Toronto in the off season. The first baseman is known for being a big hitter in the minors but his defensive play has bothered teams a bit. His defense was the reason why he moved from third base to first base. Moving from one corner of the diamond to the other shouldn’t make that much difference but obviously some managers think it does. Brett Wallace totes some hefty stats with twenty homeruns last year and eighteen this season.
The only problem anyone can find with this big minor league star is that he just hasn’t been a consistent hitter and his skills on first base aren’t the grandest either. Moreover, the park in Las Vegas is known as a hitters park so it may be tough for him when he makes the move to a larger park. No one should see the many moves this guy has made as unintentional especially considering the issues defensively. Brett Wallace could very well hit twenty home runs in the big leagues but in reality, that’s not that big of a deal anymore.
Johnny Banks is the 2011 World Handicapping Champion! Johnny is also on an EPIC 21-9 NFL Run! Check out all of Johnny Banks' expert NFL Super Bowl XLVI picks!
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Buck Showalter: Hired by the Orioles
Buck Showalter: Hired by the Orioles
Big league players like Roy Oswalt and a host of minor league players will be wearing new uniforms in less than 24 hours. In addition to making big moves to get better pitching, more depth or to feed the farm, many teams make moves as the season starts to narrow down for the playoffs. However, the Baltimore Orioles made a move today that’s not necessarily common place at this time of the season. Buck Showalter will be joining the Orioles as the manager.
The contract that the Orioles were able to nail down will be good through 2013. Moreover, interim manager Juan Samuel will be headed back to third base to coach. The change is expected to take place on Tuesday. Buck Showalter will take over the reigns against the Angels.
The hiring may have come as a surprise as Eric Wedge, Bobby Valentine, Rick Dempsey and Samuel all interviewed for the position. However, a career record of 882 – 833 and two Manager of the Year awards belong to the chosen man. The new Orioles manager has been a part of the Yankees, the Rangers and the Diamondbacks. Look out Orioles fans, here comes Buck Showalter to the rescue.
Johnny Banks is the 2011 World Handicapping Champion! Johnny is also on an EPIC 21-9 NFL Run! Check out all of Johnny Banks' expert NFL Super Bowl XLVI picks!
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PAC 10 College Football
PAC 10 College Football
As the month of August rolls in, collegiate football is also starting to make waves. The SEC Media days have come and gone and Nick Saban has made big news with his statement about sports agents resembling pimps. Other big collegiate teams are hitting the practice fields and the season openers will kick off. As for the PAC 10 they will be the PAC 12.
The media days for this group in NYC seemed to be a success and the biggest feature was the fact that these teams are embracing the social media. The big event kicked off with a branding video for the teams. In addition to the video, Commissioner Larry Scott spoke briefly explaining his perspective on adding Colorado and Utah to the group to form a full Pac-12.
Depending on who you cheer for, teams in the up and coming PAC-12 or the SEC, collegiate football fans are more loyal than any other kind of fans. The media days for almost every collegiate team are heavily visited by fans, school authorities and many media outlets. The SEC media days at Alabama were marked by Saban’s statement but the addition of teams to any conference definitely gets an enormous amount of attention. So, before you know what’s going on, the PAC 10 will actually be the PAC-12.
Johnny Banks is the 2011 World Handicapping Champion! Johnny is also on an EPIC 21-9 NFL Run! Check out all of Johnny Banks' expert NFL Super Bowl XLVI picks!
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NASCAR Owner Jack Roush Plane Crash
NASCAR Owner Jack Roush Plane Crash
Traveling is definitely an adventure that everyone should get a chance to enjoy on occasion. Many politicians, celebrities and athletes prefer to travel by air almost always. The risks associated with flying instead of driving are minimal, however, accidents do happen. NASCAR Owner Jack Roush was flying in Wisconsin when his plane went down.
Immediately the investigation began to try to determine the reason since this NASCAR owner is well known of his prowess in aviation. He is more than just owning cars and hiring drivers, he truly is a transportation expert. All reports indicate that he was planning to attend the Experimental Aircraft Association’s annual AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin this weekend. The final result was that Jack Roush and his passenger were both taken to the hospital where his condition is listed as serious but stable and the passenger as non-life threatening injuries.
Both the owner and his passenger suffered from face lacerations due to the crash. It appears also that the pilot was in the process of landing the plane when the crash occurred. Obviously more details will be released as the investigation continues. In the meantime Jack Roush’s NASCAR team will hope to rack up some big wins for their owner.
Johnny Banks is the 2011 World Handicapping Champion! Johnny is also on an EPIC 21-9 NFL Run! Check out all of Johnny Banks' expert NFL Super Bowl XLVI picks!
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