All World All Sports

-Digger's Daily-

Baseball 2009 has been full of surprises from teams to invidual players. MLB.com is hosting its' annual fan balloting for this summer's All Star Game. I've put together my list of early season MLB All Stars & All Flops teams.

All Stars
1B Albert Pujols (STL) (majors top player, .326, 13 HR)
2B Aaron Hill (TOR) (career year, 11 HR, .344)
3B Ryan Zimmerman (WAS) (30 game hit streak, .355, 10 HR)
SS Jason Bartlett (TB) (career year, .379, 5 HR, 12 SB)
LF Raul Ibanez (PHI) (early season MVP candidate, .349, 15 HR)
CF Carlos Beltran (NYM) (.370, 1.051 OPS)
RF Nick Markakis (BAL) (.318, 34 RBI)
C Victor Martinez (CLE) (.400, 14 2B, 30 RBI)
DH Adam Lind (TOR) (.311, 14 2B, 35 RBI)
SP Zack Greinke (KC) (7-1, 0.82)
CL Heath Bell (SD) (1-0, 11/11 Saves)
MGR Cito Gaston (TOR) (27-16)

All Flops
1B Jason Giambi (.198, 3 HR, AL 1B low .658 OPS)
2B Dan Uggla (FLA) (.204 BA, .394 SLG)
3B Garrett Atkins (COL) (.194, 3 HR)
SS Jimmy Rollins (PHI) (.234 BA, .275 OBA, career low 3.81 RF)
LF Chase Headley (SD) (.237, 3 HR)
CF Chris Young (AZ) (.171, .219 OBA, 38 K)
RF Brian Giles (SD) (.166, 2 HR)
C Geovany Soto (CHI) (.202, 1 HR)
DH David Ortiz (BOS) (.210, 1 HR)
SP Jose Contreras (CHI) (0-5, 8.19)
CL BJ Ryan (TOR) (continues to be a bust, 7.27 ERA, 2 blown saves)
MGR Clint Hurdle (COL) (15-24)

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All World All Sports

-Digger's Daily-

Another news filled week in sports. Alex Rodriguez made his Yankee Stadium debut. NBA/NHL Playoffs heating up. Michael Vick released from prison. David Ortiz hit his first home run of the year. Ryan Church missed third base. Tragedy strikes the families of Scott Schoeneweiss and Phil Mickelson.

News Makers
Baseball injuries mounting... A few big name players struggle to remain injury free. NY Mets 1B Carlos Delgado has a career threatening hip injury. Bad news for the Mets as their slugging 1B was red hot before opting for surgery. Cubs SP Carlos Zambrano should be returning from the DL (hamstring) this weekend. Rick Ankiel (STL) & always injured Nomar Garciaparra (Oak) should have been ready to play by now but remain days away from returning. Baseball's injury list continues to put pressure on teams to compensate for big losses.
Football... Michael Vick was released from prison this week. Let the debate continue... let him play or not? Seems like bloggers and NFL experts have varying opinions. My two cents are simply put. Vick has paid his debt to society. Let him play!
Detroit's new Mayor... former NBA star Dave Bing won a special election to finish out the term of scandal ridden Kwane Kilpatrick. Only 15% of the registered electorate voted but Bing won 52%. He's already facing a tough test in limited time. Spiraling unemployment and lack of government trust are just two things on his to do list.
NBA Lottery... Knicks and Nets continue their lack of draft lottery luck. NBA draft order (top 10): 1- Clippers, 2- Grizzlies, 3- Thunder, 4- Kings, 5- Wizards, 6- T'Wolves, 7- Warriors, 8- Knicks, 9- Raptors, 10- Bucks. All sorts of draft rumors will be hitting local headlines in days to come. I think Knicks/Nets are on the outside looking in. Not good draft positions for teams in need... especially when neither have 2nd round picks.

Rumors
Major League Baseball is full of trade rumors. SD's Jake Peavy apparently heading to Chicago White Sox. This would be a great "now" deal for ChiSox and "future" for San Diego. If this rumored deal becomes reality then Pads will receive Chicago's top rated pitching prospects. I think adding Peavy is exactly what Sox need for an upper hand in AL Central race. Mets rumored to be looking for a 1B replacement for injured Carlos Delgado. How about trading for Padres Andrian Gonzalez? Todd Helton (Col) & Kevin Millar (Tor) would be great pickups too. Red hot Milwaukee has a hole at 2B with Weeks going down for the year. Cleveland's Mark DeRosa's name has come up in blog chatter. A solid handful of second sackers could be had from around the league. Hard to imagine the Brew Crew sitting still while leading tough NL Central.

Champs
NBA & NHL Playoffs have dwindled down to final four status. NBA will crown a new champ this season after Boston was eliminated. NHL's Detroit Red Wings attempting a repeat. My picks for Champs are Lakers & Red Wings.

Chumps
Former scrub NFLer Eric Naposki & ex-girlfriend have been charged in connection to a 1994 murder of the ex's then boyfriend. Apparently, Naposki was given a key to the man's residence where he blasted the victim with 6 bullets. Naposki's ex-girlfriend was after $1M insurance policy and $150K inheritence.

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Visit All World All Sports

-Digger's Daily-

Are Cleveland and Los Angeles on a collision course to determine the next NBA champion? Or will Orlando and Denver continue to thrive as underdogs?

NHL Eastern Conference Playoffs watched underdog teams stun top seeded teams. Surprising Pittsburgh (4) and Carolina (6) square off and will face whoever wins in the west (Detroit vs Chicago).

Predictions:

NBA:
(3) Orlando Magic vs (1) Cleveland Cavaliers: 2 great teams playing their hearts out.
Orlando needed 7 games vs an injury riddled Celtics team. Are they gassed after a physical series? Dwight Howard is the main cog. His defense is the key if Orlando's going to advance. Howard is connecting on nearly 61% of his shots, 16 rebounds and 2.75 blocks per game. Coach Stan Van Gundy has been heavily criticized throughout the playoffs for interfering more than inspiring. His style may not jive with everyone. No one can argue his team keeps winning. Can they knock off the leagues MVP to reach the finals?
Cleveland is well rested after barely being challenged (8-0) this playoff season. In 8 wins they've averaged 94.9 ppg while choking opposing offenses to 78.1 ppg. MVP LeBron James leads the way with 32.9 playoff ppg. If Orlando can't contain him then they're doomed.

Orlando will put up a fight but Cleveland is too strong. Cavs in 6.

(2) Denver Nuggets vs (1) Los Angeles Lakers: Not many outside of Denver believed the Nuggets would advance to the conference finals. Perhaps it was due to Coach Karl's less than stellar playoff history. Well, here they are... ready to challenge LA who's coach has been heavily critiqued lately.
Denver averaged 111.5 ppg thru 11 playoff games on 50.3% shooting. Carmelo Anthony (27.0) and Chauncy Billups (22.1) lead their attack. Defensively, I don't think they'll be able to slow down Kobe & Co. These will be a very high scoring series.
Los Angeles comes off a strong 7 game challenge from Yao-less Houston. Phil Jackson was heavily critiqued because it took 7 games against an opponent many thought should have been dismantled in 4. I know he'll have the Lakers extremely focused vs Denver. Kobe (27.4) leads the way. If he can spread the ball around to Gasol (18.5), Odom (12.3) and role players then they might be able to offset a quick Denver D. Shot selection and stingy D is what LA must execute to win.
LA and Denver both figure to score over 100 points each game. This series looks great on paper. Phil Jackson holds the coaching advantage and this will prove to be the biggest key of them all. Lakers in 6.

NHL

(4) Pittsburgh Penguins vs (6) Carolina Hurricanes: Nobody expected either team to be playing in the conference finals. Pittsburgh needed 6 games to dump Philly and a tough 7 gamer vs Washington. Carolina knocked off the top two seeds in full 7 game series (NJ & Boston). Both played very emotional, heavy hitting OT filled games. This series will go the distance too. Pittsburgh's offense vs Carolina's D.
Penguins in 7.

(2) Detroit Red Wings vs (4) Chicago Blackhawks: Defending Champion Detroit is no stranger to conference finals. All lines are tough, talented and deep. I read this series as a no contest Detroit blowout. They're better in all phases of the game.
Red Wings in a sweep.

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