SportsCrack Blog

Monday, April 05, 2010

MARK BUEHRLE'S AMAZING BETWEEN THE LEGS BACKWARD FLIP



This is the beauty of baseball. Just when you think you have seen it all then something completely unfathomable happens. This Mark Buehrle backwards-between-the-legs-glovehand-flip-of-the-baseball is one of those plays you will never see again.

WELCOME TO THE SHOW JASON HEYWARD


First day of the season and I have already gotten the chills, jumped up and down, and peed a little bit on myself after Jason "The J-Hey Kid" Heyward absolutely crushed the shit out of a 2-0 fastball in his first major league at-bat.

Catch the first pitch from Hank Aaron: Check

Hit first big league home run: Check

Already a legend by crushing a 446 foot home run in first major league at bat: Priceless

I RETRACT MY BLANKET STATEMENT ON BASEBALL PLAYERS BEING SALLYS



Vanderbilt pitcher Corey Williams shattered his right kneecap from the line drive off a Florida Gators metal bat and still managed to get the out. Yeah. That guy can play for me any day.

Opening Day is upon us. The fresh air of unrealistic expectations are ready to bloom. Gotta love it though. As an avid Baltimore Orioles and Atlanta Braves fan I'm pretty f-ing excited about this season. The Orioles should be much improved with a team that will make some noise in an always rough AL East. They won't contend for a playoff spot this season but they should mature and be ready to knock off the Yankees and Red Sox in the near future with some excellent young talent blossoming (Brian Matusz, Brad Bergesen, Chris Tillman, David Hernandez, Jake Arrieta, Matt Wieters, Nolan Reimold, Felix Pie, Nick Markakis, etc.)

The Braves on the other hand have a legitimate shot at contending for a playoff spot this season. It's Bobby Cox final season and the pitching will be anchored with 4 solid starters (Lowe, Hanson, Jurrjens, Hudson) and the offense should be much better with a rebound season from Chipper Jones expected and the addition of power bats in Troy Glaus and some rookie named Jason Heyward whom you may have heard of. At the very least they should contend for a Wild Card spot.

Here are some predictions for 2010:

AL EAST: New York Yankees-Top to bottom they have the best players in the majors right now. Jeter, A-Roid, and fuckface Teixeira are all future Hall of Famers and will produce because they always do. The pitching will be excellent with C.C., Burnett, Pettitte, and Vasquez. Plus their payroll is $200 million so they can buy whatever the fuck they want.

AL CENTRAL: Detroit Tigers-I'm just going on a hunch here. I think the Tigers are going to be one of the best teams in the majors this season. Verlander will be a Cy Young contender and the bullpen should be excellent.

AL WEST: Anaheim Angels-Just because they lost Lackey to the Red Sox doesn't mean all of a sudden the Angels are going to suck. They are still the best team in the AL West and despite the Seattle Mariners making a ton of improvements the Angels still have their number.

AL WILD CARD: Tampa Bay Rays-They edge out the Red Sox if they don't trade away Carlos Pena and Carl Crawford.

NL EAST: Philadelphia Phillies-Best team in the National League. No need to argue here.

NL CENTRAL: Cincinnati Reds-They are my surprise team this season. I think they got the pitching and young hitting to put together a special season in an awful division.

NL WEST: Colorado Rockies-All of the other teams in this West got worse. The Rockies got better. I like them for 90 plus wins this year.

NL WILD CARD: Atlanta Braves-Bobby Cox's final season goes out with a bang with a World Series ring...just kidding. They will make the playoffs though.