Yesterday’s (5-4) win by the Detroit Tigers vs the St.Louis Cardinals was the eighth straight home/Lakeland, Florida win for the Tigers.
Two other teams playing very well in the spring exhibition games are the Toronto Blue Jays, who once played at Exhibition Stadium and the Washington Nationals under new manager Dusty Baker.
Last year the Blue Jays were far better than expected and roared to the AL East title and won a round in the baseball tournament.
Conversely, last year the Nationals were a horrible disappointment, although still finishing second. They fired Matt Williams and replaced him with Baker as their manager.
Note to the outstanding reporter Richard Hake of WNYC and staff: The Florida Gulf Coast/Fairleigh Dickinson, (A Gulf Coast rout win) game was not in the first full round of the NCAA Tournament.
It was a “play in” game or for a few years, in annoying fashion called a first round game by the NCAA.
By either standard it was not a “full first round game.”
This year the NCAA has properly called the 32 games cutting the field from 64 to 32, first round games.It also is the first full round.
Two teams that won in the “play in” round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament, Michigan and Holy Cross, have each won the title once in their team history.
The Crusaders of Holy Cross took the title led by the great Bob Cousy in 1947. “The Cooz” went on to play on six NBA title teams with the Boston Celtics.
Rumeal Robinson’s incredibly clutch free throws lifted Michigan to the national title in 1989.
The schools whose teams Holy Cross and Michigan won the title against are also in the field of 64.
Oklahoma beaten by Holy Cross in 1947 scored 47 points in the finals game loss.
Seton Hall which lost a heartbreaking game to Michigan in by the score of (80-79) in 1989.
Rumeal Robinson sank two free throws in the waning seconds of overtime lifting Michigan to an NCAA Basketball title in 1989.
The National League West has two teams that have never won the World Series which is second to the American League West which houses three such teams.
Neither the San Diego Padres entering their 48th season, nor the Colorado Rockies beginning their 24th, (ah a 2 to 1 ratio) have ever won it all. The teams are a combined (1-12) in World Series games, the Rockies (0-4) having been swept by the Boston Red Sox in the 2007 World Series.
On the flip side of the proverbial coin, the San Francisco Giants have won the last three even year World Series (2010, 2012 and 2014).
Also while the L.A. dodgers have not titled since 1988, their longest drought other than the far longer one until their first, (glorious John Podres led) World Series win in 1955, they did win in their last two World Series appearances in 1981 and 1988.
Add the Arizona Diamondbacks win in their lone World Series, keyed by Tony Womack’s all-time type clutch hit in the bottom of the ninth inning of game 7 and the Giants,Dodgers and Diamondbacks have combined to win in their last 6 World Series appearances.
There will be predictions here during this tournament season.
Other than the Super Bowl, this is the biggest sports betting item. Please if you must bet, do so for fun and do not make money a big factor. Easier said than done, be careful.
I feel if one does predict the outcome of games as I do from time to time, it should be vs the spread or one can predict both. It is not meaningful to say huge favorite Oklahoma will beat Cal Bakersfield. Will they cover the spread?
So one prediction is Oklahoma will win big enough vs Cal Bakersfield.
The other for now, Temple, not all that far from Brooklyn, will “get there” in two ways, to the arena by bus and for their bettors, Iowa 58 Temple 55.
I have nice recollections of listening to exhibition baseball on the radio.
One venue I have always liked is the Detroit Tigers’ “winter home” of Lakeland, Florida.
Detroit, down last year, after winning 4 straight divisional titles, is exerting itself in spring games, at least home in Lakeland.
After losing their first game in Lakeland, the Tigers have won 7 straight.
Teams in their situation, a down year after much success, I believe are determined, more determined than usual and this play at home may augur well for the Tigers.
More previews will follow but I do think Detroit will be a solid team, at least in 2016.
Fifty years ago, the NCAA Final Four (was not called the Final Four) was held at Cole Field House in College Park, Maryland and was in another stratosphere as a publicized/non publicized event.
The national semi-finals were played on a Friday night with the final the next night, a Saturday night game certainly not televised by a major network.
Now the event has grown to where each game, all 67 in the tournament are televised. Some of it is on over the air CBS, but most is not. Those games are on cable television, mostly Turner Sports but also True T.V.
Much has changed and I applauded when the tournament grew and actually even liked the announcers, Curt Gowdy and Al McGuire, to name two, while NBC telecast some of the tournament.
This year I will watch almost none but I will follow it, I suppose.
Curt Gowdy pictured above.
It likely is a “stretch,” but there is a link between Austin Peay and their first round, NCAA Basketball Tournament opponent, “all powerful” Kansas.
Before the “all powerful,” clearly “A Wizard Of Oz” reference, note that Austin Peay, the Tennessee governor for whom the school is named signed the law prohibiting teaching Charles Darwin’s evolution theories in Tennessee Schools.
This led to The Scopes Monkey Trials. William Jennings Bryan, fairly likely part of L. Frank Baum’s Kansas set book, “The Wizard Of Oz” defended the backward position prohibiting teaching Darwin’s theories.
Yet he was a brilliant man. So “Oz,” Kansas, a stretch and it will take an “Oz” type miracle for 26 point underdog, Peay to beat Kansas. Wonder what that is on the silver standard Bryan suggested and likely was an “Oz” theme.
Austin Peay University made the NCAA Basketball Tournament as upset winners in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.
Their nickname is the Governors and the “Y” in Peay, named for 19th century Tennessee Governor, Austin Peay ( more on him in my next post) is silent.
Forgive the upcoming perhaps scatological, but I think this works.
The fans of Austin Peay, pronounced pea or dare I say pee, chant “let’s go Peay” and is a rallying cry for the team. It has been for some time.
I recall fondly the school’s greatest player, but did not realize or had forgotten “the association” with the chant.
His name is James “Fly” Williams, who played with Austin Peay (1972-1974) and now works at a recreation center in Brooklyn, New York.
My not that early read on the American League West is that the division will be down this season at least opposed to expectations.
The Texas Rangers and Houston Astros overachieved last season and I expect neither will do as well this season.
I thought the Astros would be a factor last season as they like the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets had impressive young players and all three improved to make the playoffs a year ahead of schedule last season.
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim sooner or later will realize manager Mike Scioscia does not walk on water (Who does other than Jerzy Kosinski’s “Chauncey Gardner,” in “Being There,” about whom Mr. Kosinski said maybe) and likely will not improve much.
Seattle (Mariners) and Oakland (A’s) might surprise, somebody usually does, but I say no.
Final predictions are ahead, as the season is still nearly three weeks away.
