Good week in sports. The end of April spells some good times for many baseball players. The second round of the NBA playoffs is also underway with the Cavs getting a big win over the Celtics in game 1 of that series last night. And at home Dad is all excited about the T20/20 World Cup currently underway in the West Indies.
The Mets have moved Jose Reyes from leadoff to hitting third. Reyes is known for his speed, and is an ideal leadoff hitter, and not much a third hitter. However, the Mets had won eight straight games with him hitting third before losing to the Phillies yesterday. I think Reyes is better hitting leadoff, as he is always a threat to steal a base. In the long run, the Mets will win many more games with him hitting leadoff.
Do you bunt in the 9th innnings with 2 out and a runner on 3rd? That is exactly what Howie Kendrick decided to do. He bunt hit to win the game for the Angels. With two outs and the go ahead run on third, players generally swing away. Kendrick is a solid hitter, and had a shot of getting a knock to the outfield. However, he opted to bunt in the run. The Angels are known for being an aggressive small ball team, so this play would not have been so surprising had it been in an earlier inning. Kendrick called that play himself, and it worked. If it didn’t work and the Indians won the game, he would have looked like an idiot, especially if the Angels were to finish one game out of a playoff birth.
Something I find disturbing is that the second round of the NBA playoffs started before the first round ended. The Cavs and Celtics played game 1 of their second round series on Saturday, while the Bucs and Hawks played game 7 of their first round series on today. It makes little different for those two teams, but it has a big impact of the other team left in the East, the Magic. They get extra days of rest, for doing nothing extra. They swept the Bobcats, and have had a very long time to rest before their series with the Hawks gets underway. It gives them a different playing field with the other teams in the East. The only determining factors of these series should be the seeding, and how they are able to finish off their opponents, not how the other teams are doing. The playoffs should be planned out before the season, so that all of the first round series end before the second round starts.
What about the Bucs. On paper, they ‘re no match for the Hawks. But that’s why you play the game. They put up an admirable effort by taking the Hawks to 7 games. It reminds me a lot of the Bulls team last year that took the Celtics to 7 games. If you draw similarities between those two teams, they both had a rookie point guard (Derrick Rose and Brandon Jennings), and they also had a common starter: John Salmons. I don’t think you saw that coming. But he has been a good scorer over the last couple of years, and was a big part of both of those teams. He did a good job by getting traded midseason twice, and taking both of those teams on good runs.
I also want to congratulate the Sharks as the only good Bay Area team. They moved on to the second round and beat the Red Wings in game 1. Good job.
And Dad got all excited when Australia lost 5 wickets in an over in international cricket. He thought it was hilarious and funny. Unfortunately I don't know the game and cannot comment.
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