My Spring Training Voyage Part One

My Spring Training Voyage:

The Grapefruit League Edition

Preamble

It started as a simple idea, floated into the ether out of the mouth of my father. “Let’s go to Spring Training this season.” I am paraphrasing of course, as the literal vocabulary is neither memorable nor important. It was the proposal that mattered. So out of the blue the thought came that I at first assumed this was impossible. There was not enough time to plan such a venture. This was, after all, just a few weeks from now. We both were healthily employed, albeit in circumstances easily maneuverable to act on such an endeavor. After my initial hesitation, paraphrasing myself now, I said something along the lines of, “Okay.”

The plan was in motion. I would fly in to Tampa Airport on Thursday night, the 15^th of March. Spring Training would be in full bloom by now but it would feel like the very start of it for us, neither man having ventured into the world of Grapefruit League action before. We would see five games in four days, culminating with a return flight home on Monday night, March 19^th.

March 16

Washington Nationals at New York Yankees

George M. Steinbrenner Field, Tampa, Florida

Walking in to George M. Steinbrenner Field, the home away from home of the fabled New York Yankees, it is hard not to see the correlation. Having a professional vibe in an amateur setting is not easy to pull off. Yet, a Yankees’ Spring Training site cannot be second class. The seating is limited but the façade is here; the concession prices are in line and the unmistakable air of superiority flows through the fences as if George himself were sitting up in the press box.

With Spring Training games though, as with any exhibition, you never know what type of team you will see. Not everyone is going to suit up; this is a given. Brett Gardner was seen taking some swings on the practice field next door, leaving the strong implication that he would not see any game time this afternoon. In regards to Gardner, the Yankees’ punch-less leadoff man, a player with 15 career home runs to his name, he sure was ripping the ball in batting practice. Not to say that this should be a surprise. He is a Major League ballplayer after all. And yet, it was still surprising to see a man of Gardner’s known skills tearing frozen ropes to the fences. It was equally as perplexing to see that same man, perhaps the 20^th most popular current Yankee, have a line of seemingly sane adults line up at the field edge to get his autograph and picture. But to each his own.

So knowing the roster may be Spring-ish, we were crossing our fingers for a Yankees lineup that resembled anything close to what April would deliver. In fine fashion, the baseball gods complied. Granderson would start, as would Robbie Cano and Alex Rodriguez. Teixeira would bat cleanup, followed by some notable bench players in Andruw Jones, Raul Ibanez and Francisco Cervelli. Throwing in starting shortstop Doug Berneir, a man no one outside of the Berneir family was familiar with, was just the exception that tied the lineup together. It couldn’t be perfect and we knew that going in. On the other side, it was exciting to see what the Washington Nationals would serve us. Really the other eight batters were irrelevant as long as Mr. Bryce Harper had his knee-highs on. Being the number one prospect in the world yet not being of legal drinking age and destined to start the year in the minors, Bryce Harper is the future of the Nats. He, along with Stephen Strasburg, makes the future Nationals one of the more compelling teams to follow.

As we took our seats, fortunately in some shade, Washington was taking batting practice and the afternoon’s starting pitchers were making their way onto the field for some light running. On the visitor’s side, new Nat Gio Gonzalez would be manning the rubber, an exciting option if Strasburg was not to start. And in pinstripes, the man on the mound would be one CC Sabathia. Listed at 6’7”, 290 pounds in the game program, CC came out looking rather svelte if I do say so myself. Add him to the list of players coming into Spring Training “in the best shape they’ve ever been in.”

The game progressed as many other games have, with starters struggling out of the gate. This specific game continued as only a Spring Training game could though. Nearly every batter took three hacks and made way for a replacement somewhere in the middle innings. Each starter was yanked just as unceremoniously. The swapping became so hurried that, to start the 6^th inning, Curtis Granderson ran out to center field only to find Justin Maxwell already there. Curtis had been taken out of the game, only it seemed no one had told him about it. We also had another Melky sighting. Yankee fans will remember Melky Cabrera fondly from past seasons, as The Melk Man always delivered! Now, there is another Melky in Yankee pinstripes this season: Melky Mesa. I can safely say I never expected there to be two separate sets of parents to name their child that, but one can never predict the wayward feelings of people who have just brought a living creature into the world…or something.

The end of Game One came. Bryce Harper played and managed nothing of note; A-Rod cranked a huge home run over the left field fence in the bottom of the fifth; and the star of the game was none other than Nats’ third baseman Steve Lambardozzi! The young infielder went 3-3 with a home run, 2 runs scored and a nice glove stab on the defensive side of things as well. We would be back to Steinbrenner Field tomorrow to continue our journey.

To Be Continued...

March Madness: South Region Game Breakdown

Courtesy of College Sports Madness

#1 Kentucky vs. #16 Mississippi Valley State/Western Kentucky

No matter which 16 seed wins their first round match, Kentucky should throttle them in the round of 64. Not only does Kentucky have the huge talent advantage, they will also be playing the game in Kentucky: one of the perks of having the overall number one seed. A 16 seed has never beaten a 1 seed and they sure don’t make it easy. If this game is closer than people expect, do not read too much into it and just assume a young and inexperienced Wildcats squad may be looking ahead to Iowa State or Connecticut.

#8 Iowa State vs. #9 Connecticut

Iowa State should be kind of upset about this. Last year’s National Champions, the Connecticut Huskies, are conceivably even more talented this year. They struggled with consistency and acclimating new players, as well as coaching vacancies and player suspensions. Yet despite UConn’s trouble in the regular season, they were playing well coming into the NCAA Tournament and are quite terrifying as a 9 seed. Iowa State has had a very pleasantly surprising year under new coach Fred Hoiberg. However, they have to be upset with this draw. It’s not that the Huskies deserved a better seed as they did lose 13 games this season. But that is no consolation to the Cyclones as UConn just might be the most talented 9 seed in tournament history.

#5 Wichita State vs. #12 VCU

Touched on in the South Region Overview, each of these teams has something going for them. The underdog Rams are one of the hottest teams in the country. Winners of 25 of their last 28 games, VCU has gone on a tear all the way through the CAA conference title. They also come into March Madness off the incredible run their school made a season ago. No team has higher confidence in themselves right now than the Rams of VCU. However, their opponent is so efficient on offense it might not matter. There are very few schools who use possessions more effectively than the Wichita State Shockers. With such great shooting numbers, opponents have a hard time playing within themselves when any spurt of mistakes could put the Shockers out of reach. Although State does a good job of spreading the scoring around, two of their best offensive weapons are Joe Ragland and Garrett Stutz. Both men score more than 13 points a game while shooting above 55% from the floor. Ragland’s shooting splits are something to behold by themselves, as he also shoots 49.5% from three and 82% from the line.

#4 Indiana vs. #13 New Mexico State

Indiana has faced some intimidating front lines this season, including Kentucky, Notre Dame, Michigan State and Minnesota. And yet, the New Mexico State Aggies may be the biggest team Indiana has had to battle all year long. With three rotation players standing 6’10” or taller, New Mexico State sucks up rebounds like a vacuum. And the team’s best player and leading rebounder is none of the three. Wendell McKines averages a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds per contest, standing at just 6’6” tall. Of course Indiana has some bodies to match the Aggies, including freshman sensation Cody Zeller. The younger brother of ACC Player of the Year Tyler Zeller, Cody looks to be even better than Tyler was as an underclassman. Teamed with sharpshooters Christian Watford and Jordan Hulls, New Mexico State may be able to control the boards and little else in this game.

#6 UNLV vs. #11 Colorado

If this game was played in January, here would be the game reset: Colorado stinks and UNLV does not. If this game had taken place even just two short weeks ago, the story would have been much the same: Colorado is barely an NIT team; UNLV is comfortably in the NCAA picture. Yet in mid-March, after Colorado’s impressive conference tournament run, and UNLV having taken a bit of a slide since their early 2012 heyday, the story reads a bit differently: Colorado could beat UNLV. It probably won’t happen but there is something to be said for momentum. Colorado won the Pac-12 title. The team that won the Pac-12 regular season, Washington, was the first ever power conference team to have won their regular season and not made the NCAA Tournament. So…the Pac-12 was kind of down this season, in an understatement to rival saying the Big Dance is sort of popular. Yet this should not take away from Colorado’s accomplishment. They still went out and won their conference, playing in do-or-die games every step of the way. UNLV will have to have some smooth practices and come out sharp to avoid the upset.

#3 Baylor vs. #14 South Dakota State

Some fun facts about South Dakota State: (1) they are nicknamed the Jackrabbits; (2) they won the Summit League title for the first time this season, ending Oakland’s attempt at a three-peat; (3) their best player is junior guard Nate Wolters. (4) Wolters led the team in minutes, points, rebounds, assists and steals this season. (5) Wolters will not be enough to prevent South Dakota State from being swallowed up by Baylor’s massive size and length.

Okay, you caught me. That last one is not really a fact, nor the least bit fun. However, Baylor’s front court is no joke. Led by future NBA lottery pick Perry Jones III, and surrounded by Quincys, the senior Acy and the freshman Miller, the Baylor Bears are one of the most talented teams in the country. I can see no reason why South Dakota State should trip them up.

#7 Notre Dame vs. #10 Xavier

In one of the more intriguing second round games, the underachieving, underdog Xavier Musketeers will face the overachieving favorites, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish…if that makes sense. Coming into the year, the predicted fates of these two teams would have been mirror opposites of how they turned out. If Notre Dame was going to make the tournament, it would be as a late at-large choice, garnering a double digit seed. Xavier, meanwhile, would stroll through their conference and receive a high mid-major seed. If this matchup was guaranteed in November, not only would the seeds be flipped, you could have assumed it to be a 6 v. 11 or 5 v. 12 game, with Xavier as the heavy favorite. Nevertheless, here we are. Xavier’s season was rattled by an on-court incident that left them out of sorts and behind the at-large pack. Notre Dame, on the other hand, played surprisingly well once conference play started and revealed themselves as a Big East power behind Jack Cooley and Jerian Grant. How fickle the college basketball landscape can be.

#2 Duke vs. #15 Lehigh

Duke is a weak number two seed. They do not defend well, especially in the back court. They have very spotty inside play and rely too heavily on the three point shot. What they do have though are great shooters, a talented play maker and a great coach. These should be enough to squeeze past Lehigh even if the outside shots aren’t falling. Lehigh relies almost exclusively on the playmaking of junior guard C.J. McCollum. He led the Mountain Hawks in everything this season and won his second conference Player of the Year award. Yet without much help around him, even Duke’s spotty guard defense should be able to control Lehigh. During the season, when Lehigh played any team close to the caliber of Duke, they lost. They simply do not have the bodies to stick with an ACC power like the Blue Devils even if the best player on the floor may be wearing their jersey.

March Madness: South Region Overview

Care of College Sports Madness

Kentucky has been the best team all year long, the SEC title game not withstanding. They deserved the number one overall seed and, maybe just a tad, doesn’t it seem like they got quite an easy draw? Duke has a nice resume but should be considered a weak two seed. Baylor has come on lately but has been very spotty at points this season. Even Indiana, who took down Kentucky for their lone regular season loss, seems like a weaker four seed. But, as we all know, the bracket is not played on paper.

Who can win?

Kentucky. Certainly other teams have a chance, just like there is a chance of winning a hand when hitting with 15 and the dealer is showing a face card. There is a reason Kentucky’s only loss before their conference title game came on a buzzer beater. They are loaded. Tough on the inside and tough on the outside, the only weakness of this Wildcats team is inexperience and sometimes, talent just trumps all else.

Who can surprise?

Xavier. Be leery of the double digit seed who was a preseason top 25 squad. If that is not in the bracketologist handbook, it certainly should be. Teams with talent who underachieve, for whatever reason, are scary outs in the tournament. Xavier still has all the same players that warranted that preseason ranking. They beat Vanderbilt and Purdue back to back, followed by a win versus Cincinnati early in the year. That Cincinnati game held some sort of unpleasant player gathering, perhaps you heard about it, and Xavier subsequently lost five of their next six contests. Whether they ever truly recovered was still up in the air until the Atlantic 10 conference tournament where the Musketeers made it all the way to the finals and seemed to get some of their moxie back. I know Duke plays everything one game at a time but if I were the Blue Devils, I would have a hard time not worrying about a possible matchup with Xavier.

Who’s hot?

Virginia Commonwealth. Since the 28^th of November, the Monday after Thanksgiving weekend, VCU has only lost three games, going 25-3 in the process. Since the second week of the new year, VCU has gone on a 17-1 run, which includes their drive to the CAA conference championship and their automatic NCAA berth. Many of the main contributors from last year’s Rams squad are long gone, yet a number of players with that tourney experience remain. Taking down the Wichita State Shockers will not be easy by any means. Coming into the game red hot can only help though.

Who’s cold?

UNLV. Losers of five of their last 10, the Runnin’ Rebels have had trouble regaining that early and mid-season swagger. With a number of very impressive wins on their resume, UNLV has the chops to win the Albuquerque regional, and yet they have only beaten one really good team since the first day of February. Giving up 102 points to TCU in a five point loss one day and only managing 45 points in a 20 point blowout in The Pit the very next game out is the kind of wild point swing that shouldn’t be seen from a team firing on all cylinders. That specific example of course has much to do with the opponents but Rebels star Mike Moser has also been in a bit of a lull (Wyoming games as the exception that proves the rule) and they will need him to get back to mid-season form.

Upset alert!

Indiana. The Hoosiers should be careful with New Mexico State. Although Indiana has some good guards and nice shooters, their best player is center Cody Zeller. He happens to play the position New Mexico State has the best chance of slowing down. The Aggies are, after all, huge up front. With one of the very biggest front court rotations in the country, State has put up rebounding numbers that rival any team out there. They crush both the offensive and defensive glass. To make matters worse for Indiana, New Mexico State also gets to the free throw line a ton…or more accurately, half a ton. Ranking first in the country, the Aggies have attempted over one thousand freebies on the year. Talent is sometimes hard to overcome but rebounding and scoring with the clock stopped are two fantastic equalizers.

What possible matchup is interesting?

If Indiana is able to handle New Mexico State, a possible rematch with the one seeded Wildcats would be very interesting. Kentucky would be out for blood, trying to avenge their only regular season loss. As much as teams could give extra effort in the Sweet Sixteen, Kentucky would be. Also for Indiana, it would be a chance to prove to nonbelievers that the first win was no fluke and the Hoosiers are an upper echelon team. As interesting as a Duke-Baylor, outside versus inside matchup would be, the game of the region would be the one seed facing the four seed in Atlanta.

Which player will dominate?

So many good players reside in the South region. Kentucky has the probable Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year. Duke has a freshman of their own who was first team All-ACC. Baylor is loaded with lengthy forwards with NBA bodies. We have already mentioned Cody Zeller out in Indiana. Yet the player to watch out for in the South is Notre Dame junior forward Jack Cooley. Cooley is a big-bodied, gravity-challenged, next generation Luke Harangody. If Notre Dame is able to squeak by Xavier, look for Cooley to go off against Duke in round two. Front courts already give Duke trouble, as they are very outside oriented. But with Cooley’s girth and court smarts, he could singlehandedly control one aspect of the potential seven-two matchup. Shooting over 60% from the floor for the season and averaging near a double-double with 1.5 blocks per game to boot, Cooley is a matchup nightmare for the Blue Devils.

What system is tough to prepare for?

Wichita State. Although they don’t necessarily play abnormally, the Shockers are a tough team to prepare for because of their efficiency. They shoot very well from the floor at 48.5% and knock down over 75% of their free throws. A respectable three point percentage adds up to give Wichita State one of the best true shooting percentages (TS%) in the country. Their points per game and points per possession numbers are also very impressive, both ranking in the top 15 in the entire nation. To top it all off, they do a good job of taking care of the basketball. The entire product leaves opponents being overly careful knowing mistakes on even a few possessions could lead to multiple baskets and an insurmountable Shockers lead.

March Madness

I've been college basketball heavy these past few weeks, writing team tournament previews and preparing for the NCAA Tournament at College Sports Madness.

A number of recent college bball pieces include a look at the Connecticut Huskies and what may have been their problem during the regular season,

I also took a second look at a number of players previously profiled at the beginning of the season and took stock in their rise and fall as far as NBA potential goes.

CSM has recently posted up a tournament preview for every NCAA and NIT team. I wrote roughly 20 of these previews; check out my profile page or CSM's Tournament page to see your favorite team's write-up.

Coming up, starting tomorrow night, will be region by region NCAA Tournament breakdowns. I will be focusing on the SOUTH Region and updating the group as the tourney proceeds.

Happy Selection Sunday everyone!

Very Specific Story Lines That Very Few People Will Care About

After the recent signing of Prince Fielder to the Detroit Tigers and the rumors swirling that Miguel Cabrera will move to third base as a result, after gaining positional eligibility in fantasy leagues (depending on your league settings of course!), does 3B Miguel Cabrera become the number one fantasy pick in 2012 drafts?

Short Answer: Yes

Long Answer: Yes Indeed!

Follow Up: Why yes I do have Miguel Cabrera in my fantasy baseball keeper league. Thank you for noticing.

Crystal Ball Big East Standings

In our first installment of predicting the NCAA basketball conference standings, we take a look at the Big East conference (care of College Sports Madness), currently led by the Syracuse Orange. Will Syracuse be able to hold off the main competitors hot on their tail? Will an expected powerhouse be able to rebound after a slow start? Will a surprise team be able to hang on to their high standing accumulated through an impressive December and January?

First NFL Mock Draft of the New Year

Check out a mocking draft here care of College Sports Madness. Of course it is too early to predict April's NFL draft, before interviews and combines and workouts have taken place, which is why I did not really try that hard to make my predictions accurate. A great time-saver.