What is Up at Fox Sports Baseball?

I figured Fox would have the Dodgers vs. the Nationals as their Saturday game.  What better qualifications does any of today's games have over this contest?  The two best records in the NL, Billingsley vs. Strasburg, Bryce Harper making his Major League debut for the Nationals and Matt Kemp, the best all-round player in the majors, should be enough to catch someone's attention at Fox Sports.

Instead they offer Brewers-Cardinals, Angels-Indians and Royals-Twins.  We're talking a combined record of 49-69 for these six teams with only one having more than ten wins.  Both the Dodgers and the Nationals are 14-6.  Riveting baseball!

A little preview of the Dodger-Nationals game is in order.  Billingsley is 2-1 with a 3.04 ERA, a WHIP of 0.93 with 19 strikeouts in four starts.  Strasburg is 2-0 with a 1.08 ERA, a WHIP of 0.92 with 25 strikeouts in four starts.  Matt Kemp has 10 home runs, 23 RBI (note to Mike Greenburg: no "s" after RBI) with a .453 batting average for the Doders while Andre Ethier has a .299 BA with 5 HR and a league-leading 24 RBI. Adam La Roche is leading Washington's offense with a .333 BA.  He has 3 HR, one of which was a two-run blast of Kershaw last night, and 16 RBI.  Bryce Harper, 19 year old LF for the Nationals, has been called up from Triple-A Syracuse, where he has hit .250, to take the roster spot of Ryan Zimmerman, who has been placed on the DL and will make his Major League debut tonight.

Kershaw

ESPN MLB Clayton Kershaw leaves start early

Not such a good start of the season for Kershaw.  Not feeling well he was pulled early by Dodger manager, Don Mattingly.  He did manage to get the Dodger's first hit of the season before exiting the game.   The important thing is the Dodgers got the win.  Kershaw should be back as it was flu-like symptoms.

In the interim the Dodgers have jumped to a three and O start.  Granted it is against the Padres.  They did their best trying to blow last night's game.  Walk in three runs in a row?  My goodness.  They came back to get the win in the eleventh.

How Good is Kershaw?

Clayton Kershaw won his career high fourteenth game last night versus the Houston Astros. (Click on the link to view his highlights from last night.) This makes him 14-5 on the season. This with a team ten games under .500 at 54 wins. Some interesting stats: 2.72ERA, 193 SO in 175.2 innings pitched with 46BB, a walks + hits per inning pitched of 1.03, and opponents batting average of only .212.

I knew when he came up in 2008 he was going to be good. He has more than lived up to that expectation. For his career he is 40-28 with an ERA of 3.05, 690SO in 658.2 innings pitched with 270BB, opponents BA of .219 and a WHIP of 1.20. And he's only twenty three years old!

Lindsay Is Getting Married

Lindsay Tarbell and Dan Edlich are being joined in matrimony this Saturday. The wedding is at five in the afternoon at the Ardmore Mansion at Mountain View in Glen Spey, New York. They make a great couple and I am extremely happy for them.

Debbie called Patti Monday night: Dan has a wicked ear infection and Lindsay is showing indications for a kidney stone! What is up with that?!? I'm sure all will pass (pun intended).

Bruce cut some old barn boards for signs for the wedding and Patti painted them. They are to announce the wedding and point the way to the ceremony and the reception. Another says "Thank You" of which they will have a photo taken while holding the sign to make thank you cards.

Jessie is driving home Friday and we will all ride down together Saturday and stay over after the reception. Lindsay and Dan invited us to a Sunday brunch at the Mountain View. There is shuttle service between our hotel and the reception, so it will be paartaay time!

No Asomugha

I saw on the Sportscenter crawl this morning that Philadelphia won the Nnamdi Asomugha pursuit. I never even heard of them being in the running. Especially after getting Cromartie in the Kolb trade from Arizona. I figured if the Jets didn't get him the Cowboys would end up with him.

This will free up some money for the Jets to get a player who can get to the QB. They didn't fare too well in that category last year. Bryan Thomas led with 6 sacks last year. There's talk of Kris Jenkins coming back to the Jets, but he's not much of a pass rusher. Jevon Kearse was released by the Eagles but how much does he have left? Justin Smith is durable but only had two sacks with Cincinnati last year, but is available.

Brad Smith is signing with the Buffalo Bills. It's sad to see him go. He's very valuable as a return guy with two TD returns last year. Perhaps Joe McKnight can fill those shoes.

Stay tuned.

Football in the News

The NFL is going to have a season after all. The only game to be cancelled is the Hall of Fame game. Preparation time was too short for the Bears and Rams to be ready to compete on August 7th.

The New York Jets have signed Santonio Holmes (left). Many thought they would lose him to free agency. Santonio Holmes has been a clutch performer for the Jets and a favored target for Mark Sanchez. No word on whether the Jets will re-sign Braylon Edwards. Of the two Holmes is the preferred signing. Edwards makes some good catches, but has a few crucial drops in his resume. Braylon tweeted his love for the Jets while saying he doesn't feel it returned by Jets management. He did take that tweet down , however.

The Jets are said, by some, to have the inside track on signing free agent cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha. Can you imagine Darrelle Revis on one side and Asomugha on the other side? What a combination. How often do you think Ryan would blitz with those two in man-to-man coverage?

Bring on the season...it's time for football.

I Told You So

Manny Ramirez proved himself to be a self-centered overpaid athlete once again by quitting on the Dodgers. Does that sound familiar Red Sox Fans? As a Dodger fan I am happy to see him go. When the Dodgers picked him up in '08 I predicted this very scenario.

Darelle Revis has reportedly signed with the Jets and is supposed to arrive in New Jersey today. It is hopeful he can come back to the team and fit in as a team player. He certainly does not come across as a team player. $10,000,000 is not enough for him? Oh, Asomugha makes more! Check the ego at the door. You had a signed contract. Honor it. When it is up then you negotiate. If you're half as good as you seem to think you are, you will be rewarded. I was hoping the Jets would let him sit out the year. You don't want to be a part of the team stay home.