Justin Verlander Shouldn't Win The AL MVP Award

Justin Verlander is having one of the best pitching seasons in recent memory. He leads the league in nearly every pitching category including wins, innings pitched, strikeouts, and WHIP. Not surprisingly, he has been the ace of the AL Central leading Detroit Tigers. After beginning the season with a 2-3 record, he is an incredible 18-2 and has not recorded a loss in the months of May, June, and August. To go along with his 20-5 record and 218 strikeouts, Verlander has also thrown a no hitter, which he did on May 7th against the Blue Jays. Verlander is no doubt the clear front-runner to win the AL Cy Young, but he shouldn't win the AL MVP award ahead of guys like Adrian Gonzalez and Curtis Granderson.

In order for a pitcher to win an MVP award there has to be a combination of two things. First, the pitcher has to be having an incredible, record-breaking season. Second, and most important, there has to be no position player who has had a season worthy enough to deserve the award. Although Justin Verlander is having a great pitching year, there are definitely position players who have had seasons worthy of the MVP. Adrian Gonzalez is having an outstanding first season with the Red Sox and has been on a tear lately. He is in the top 5 in nearly every batting category in the AL. He is 1st in hits, 3rd in on base percentage, 4th in slugging percentage, 4th in runs, 4th in doubles, and 4th in on base plus slugging percentage. Gonzalez also leads the MLB with a .345 batting average and is tied with Curtis Granderson for the league lead in RBIs with 103. Often times, the MVP race comes down to the last 2 months of the season. Gonzalez is stating his case that he deserves to win the award as he has led the Red Sox to a two game lead in the AL East over the Yankees. In his last 7 games, Gonzalez is 12-31 (.387) and has 5 home runs and 10 RBIs. Curtis Granderson is another position player who has had an MVP season. Granderson is second in the league with 36 home runs and he is tied for the league lead in RBIs with 103. Granderson's 119 runs scored lead the league, and he has scored 24 more runs than any other player in the league this season. The Yanks centerfielder has also caused havoc on the base paths with his 24 stolen bases. Gonzalez and Granderson have both had seasons that are worthy of an MVP.

It is extremely rare for pitchers to win an MVP award. Since 1931, only 11 pitchers have ever won the AL MVP award, and just 4 have won the award since 1972. The pitchers who have won the award have had an all-time, great season and they have also been in a year where there was no position player who was a clear-cut MVP candidate. In 1971, Vida Blue won the AL MVP as a starting pitcher for the Oakland Athletics. Vida had an incredible season, as he was 24-8 with an astonishing 1.82 ERA, 24 complete games, and 8 shutouts. None of the players that finished in the top 20 of the MVP voting in 1971 had over 35 home runs or more than 100 RBIs. Sal Bando, who finished in 2nd that year, had just 24 home runs, 94 RBIs, and batted only .271. In 1992, Dennis Eckersley won the AL MVP award as the closer for the Oakland Athletics. Eckersley had a record-breaking season as he had 51 saves, an MLB record for the most in a single season at the time, and he also had an ERA of 1.91 in 69 appearances. That same year, Kirby Puckett was the runner-up for the MVP, but he had only 19 homers. Joe Carter, who finished third, had 34 home runs, but batted just .264. Verlander is having a great season, but it is not like Vida Blue’s year in 1971 or Dennis Eckersley’s in 1992 where they were the only dominating performer in all of baseball. 

Many pitchers have had great seasons, even better than Verlander's, and have not won the MVP award because there were position players who deserved it. In 1989, Bret Saberhagen of the Kansas City Royals had one of the best single seasons in AL history and won the AL Cy Young award. Saberhagen led the major leagues with 23 wins and only one pitcher since then, Bob Welch in 1990, has had more than 23 wins in a single season in the AL. Saberhagen also led the league with a 2.16 ERA, but didn't win the AL MVP because guys like Robin Yount and Ruben Sierra had terrific seasons.  In 2000, Pedro Martinez had one of the greatest pitching seasons in American League history. The Red Sox pitcher was 18-6 with a 1.74 ERA, which was the lowest in the AL since Ron Guidry of the New York Yankees had a 1.74 ERA in 1978. Pedro's finished 2000 with a WHIP of 0.737, which was the lowest single season WHIP in MLB history. However, Pedro didn't win the AL MVP because there were position players who had great seasons. Jason Giambi, Frank Thomas, Alex Rodriguez, and Carlos Delgado all had over 40 home runs, 130 RBIs, and batted over .315 and all received more votes than Pedro for MVP. By the way, Jason Giambi, who later admitted to using steroids, won the award. 

Verlander's season is easy to compare to Roger Clemens's year in 1997 with the Toronto Blue Jays. Like Verlander, Clemens won his 20th game before the end of August and was the clear cut AL Cy Young favorite. If you put their numbers next to each other they are very similar. Clemens pitched 264 innings and was 21-7 with a 2.05 ERA and 292 strikeouts. With about 6 starts remaining, Verlander has pitched 215.2 innings and is currently 20-5 with a higher ERA than Clemens at 2.38 and 218 strikeouts. Verlander's innings and strikeouts will look much more like Clemens's after his final 6 starts. When the AL MVP voting was tallied in 1997, Clemens finished in 10th place. 

Tiger's manager Jim Leyland recently said, "I don't think a pitcher should be the Most Valuable Player. I'm not looking for arguments or controversy. I just think when a guy goes out there 158 times or 155 times and has a big year, an MVP type year, I don't think the guy that goes out there 35 times should be named over that guy. To me right now if you really wanted to look at it who is our Most Valuable Player? Is it Verlander or at this point today under all circumstances is it Alex Avila? You can make a case for what this kid has gone through. I'm certainly not taking anything away from Verlander and I'm not trying to change the voting.”

Men's Notable US Open First Round Matches

#32 Ivan Dodig vs Nikolay Davydenko: After being seeded 6th at last year's US Open, Nikolay Davydenko has taken a nose drive. After a horrible 2010 summer, where didn't win more than two matches at any tournament, he fell out of the top 20. By the end of January 2011, he had dropped to 35. Davydenko has not had a great summer and his ranking is now 39. Davydenko never won more than a match at any tournament this summer and didn't win a set off of Mardy Fish, Novak Djokovic, or Fernando Verdasco in three matches. Despite his rough summer and recent play, Davydenko shouldn't be totally dismissed in the early rounds as he has had past success at the US Open. He made the semifinals of the US Open in 2006 and 2007, and has made it past the second round of the tournament every year but once since 2006. While Davydenko has really struggled recently, Ivan Dodig has played very well. Last August, Dodig was ranked in the 140's, and now he is number 33. Dodig's best surface by far is the hard courts, as it is the only surface he has a winning record on. Dodig has a 14-8 record on hard courts this year including a 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5) win over Rafael Nadal in Montreal earlier this month. Dodig looks like the favorite to win the first round match because he has played well recently and Davydenko doesn't look like the same player that was in the top 10 for more than 5 years.

Prediction: 32. Ivan Dodig over Nikolay Davydenko in four sets.

# 27 Marin Cilic vs Ryan Harrison: United States tennis fans are hoping that Ryan Harrison can be the next great American tennis player. With just one American in the top 20, the struggling Andy Roddick, and Sam Querrey still recovering from an arm injury, Harrison has a lot of pressure on him to perform well at the US Open. Last year he beat Ivan Ljubicic in the first round. However, it may be a lot to ask of Harrison to do it again this year because he has a very difficult first round match with the big Croatian, Marin Cilic. After falling outside of the top 30, Cilic had a nice run in Montreal to pick his ranking back up to 27. Cilic beat Andreas Seppi and had a big win over Juan Martin Del Potro in Montreal before losing to world number 1 Novak Djokovic. Harrison will have to return very well because Cilic is in the top 15 in both st and 2nd service points won. Harrison has a good shot of winning if he can play like he did earlier in the summer when he reached the semifinals of both Atlanta and Los Angeles before falling to Mardy Fish both times. Ryan has shown he can beat some of the top players in the world, like when he beat Juan Ignacio Chela in the first round of Cincinnati in straight sets.

Prediction: Marin Cilic over Ryan Harrison in four sets.

#23 Radek Stepanek vs Philipp Kohlschreiber: Radek Stepanek was ranked in the top 20 last May, but he fell to as low as number 70 in April of this year. However, Stepanek made a huge comeback this summer and found himself ranked in the top 30. He made an outstanding run in Washington to win 6 matches and the 500-point tournament. Stepanek knocked out Fernando Verdasco in straight sets in the quarterfinals, and then ended up beating Gael Monfils in the final 6-4, 6-4. A few weeks later, Stepanek beat John Isner and Andrey Golubev enroute to a round of 16 finish in Cincinnati. Stepanek's two big summer tournaments enabled his rank to go from 54 to 23. He has a chance at making a run in the US Open as long as he can get by his tricky first round match against the German Philipp Kohlschreiber. Although Kohlschreiber can play some bad matches like he did when he lost to Sergiy Stakhovsky in straight sets in Montreal, he has shown that he can beat the best in the world. The German beat top 25 players Andy Roddick and Feliciano Lopez in Cincinnati this summer. Stepanek and Kohlschreiber met at the US Open in 2009, and Stepanek won that match in four sets.
Prediction: Radek Stepanek over Philipp Kohlschreiber in four sets.

28. John Isner vs Marcos Baghdatis: Marcos Baghdatis and John Isner have played twice recently, and the they will meet for a third time in three weeks when they play in the first round of the US Open. Their first encounter came in the first round of Montreal when Isner beat Baghdatis in straight sets 6-3, 6-4. Although Isner had just 8 aces, his big serve still caused a lot of problems for Baghdatis. Isner won 84% of his 1st serve points, and didn't allow Baghdatis to have one break point chance during the entire match. The two met again in the Winston-Salem quarterfinals just two weeks later. Although Baghdatis looked much better and returned Isner's big serve much more effectively, he fell in three sets 6-1, 3-6, 4-6. Isner won just 43% of his 2nd serve points and was broken three times by Baghdatis. Marcos won 37% of his return points, which is much better than when he won just 22% of his return points in Montreal. Although Isner has beaten Baghdatis twice this summer, it is extremely difficult to beat an opponent three times in a row, and Marcos has shown that he can return Isner's big serve as he did in Winston-Salem.
Prediction: Marcos Baghdatis over John Isner in five sets.

#16 Mikhail Youzhny vs Ernests Gulbis: In 2007, at the age of 18, Ernests Gulbis made a thrilling run in his first ever US Open. He beat two seeded players to make it to the round of 16. The Latvian teen was labeled the next great up-and-coming tennis star, but all of his immense talent has never led too much success on the tour. However, his recent success is a good sign that he can make a run in this year's US Open. Gulbis won his second ever ATP tour event when he won Los Angeles this summer. He knocked off Juan Martin Del Potro in the quarterfinals 6-2, 6-4 and then came back from a set down to beat Mardy Fish 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Gulbis will have a lot to deal with in the first round of the US Open though because he will play an experienced Mikhail Youzhny. Youzhny made it to the semifinals of the US Open in 2006, and again last year. Youzhny loves playing in front of the NYC crowd.
Prediction: Mikhail Youzhny over Ernests Gulbis in five sets.

Duke Is Lucky That They Landed Austin Rivers

Brian Kelly Made The Right Decision By Naming Dayne Crist The Notre Dame Starting Quarterback Over Tommy Rees

Notre Dame has had a difficult 18-year stretch. Since the Fighting Irish finished 2nd in the coaches poll in 1993, they have not finished a season ranked in the top 10. In the last four years they have had a record of 24-26 and have made just 2 bowl games. It's been a tough run for a program that has 11 National Championships. This year however there is reason for optimism with Notre Dame being ranked as high as number 16 in the AP poll, their highest preseason ranking since they were number 16 in 2006. The biggest question mark behind how successful the Fighting Irish will be this season will be the play of their quarterback. Brian Kelly had to make a huge decision on who would open the season at that position. It took Kelly all of spring football and nearly all of training camp to make the decision, but he chose to name senior Dayne Crist the starter over sophomore Tommy Rees. Brain Kelly said about Crist, "He is a much better football player [than a year ago], he's a much better quarterback and quite frankly and honestly he's the kind of guy I want to coach. He's tougher mentally. He handles himself in a leadership position the way I want our quarterbacks to handle it. Dayne will be the starter and I expect him to be the starter for 13 weeks. We have great confidence in his ability to lead us to a championship." Although neither Crist nor Rees were head and shoulders above the other, Crist was the better option for the Irish than Rees.

Crist's ability to sling the ball all around the field and to make difficult throws is something that Rees's can't quite do yet. Crist threw for more than 200 yards in every game he played in besides the Navy game. He also threw for over 300 yards on the road at Michigan St. and again in South Bend against Stanford. Crist threw 7 picks in 8 games, and had just one 2-interception game. With Rees, the Irish were much more limited in their passing attack. Rees only threw for more than 215 yards once, and he had the same number of interceptions as Crist in three less games. Rees threw three picks against Tulsa in a horrible loss at home 28-27, and he also had three interceptions on the road at USC. Notre Dame's star wide receiver, Michael Floyd, the only wideout with over 415 yards last season, averaged about 10 more yards per game with Crist as his quarterback.

Although last year Dayne Crist was 4-4 in games where he played the majority of the game and Tommy Rees was 4-1 in games where he played the majority of the game, Rees got a lot of help from his defense and from his running game. In the 8 games Crist played, the Notre Dame defense allowed an average of 24.5 points per game. The Notre Dame rushing attack averaged just 112 yards per game, including less than 100 yards in the big games against Michigan St., Stanford, and Pittsburgh, which left most of the responsibility on Crist to put together scoring drives for the Irish. In the 5 games Rees played, the Notre Dame defense was significantly better as they allowed an average of just 13.4 points per game. The Irish rushing attack averaged about 150 yards per game when Rees was playing, which was nearly 40 more yards than the rushing attack averaged with Crist. Obviously, it wasn't entirely on Crist for the 4-4 record, and it wasn't entirely Rees's great play that gave the Irish a 4-1 record to end the season.

If Crist can get some help from his running game and the defense can hold down the fort, then the Irish have a chance to once again become an elite college football team. They play just three ranked teams, and two of them are at home against #17 Michigan St. and #25 USC. Let's see if they can win one for the Gipper!

Top 5 College Football Games In Weeks 1 and 2

#3 Oregon vs #4 LSU in Week 1: Only once last season did two teams that were ranked in the top 5 play each other, and that was in week 10 when number 3 TCU beat number 5 Utah 47 to 7. Therefore, when you have a non-conference game between two top 5 teams in the first week of the season, there is obviously going to be a ton of hype. Oregon was a field goal miss away from winning the National Championship last season and starting quarterback Darron Thomas and Heisman Trophy runner-up LaMichael James have returned to school to win that title. Their quest will begin right away when the Ducks play LSU at Cowboys Stadium in week 1. James will have to carry the Oregon offense once again this season, as he did last year when he led the FBS in rushing yards with 1,731. He will have to come up big against the Tigers defense, which held great running teams like Alabama to just 102 years last season. Darron Thomas will have to find a new target on the outside as star wide receiver Jeff Maehl graduated. LSU head coach Les Miles said about containing the Ducks offense, "We're going to do the things that we've done, and done well on defense. I don't know that we'll have a lot of changes." If the LSU defense has difficulty stopping the Duck's attack, it will be imperative that Jordan Jefferson leads the LSU offense to some scores. The dual threat quarterback will have to improve upon last season when the Tigers averaged just 155 passing yards per game.

#5 Boise St. vs #19 Georgia in Week 1: The last four years Boise St. has had to go out and play a difficult non-conference schedule to try and validate their case that they are good enough to make a BCS Bowl, and even a National Championship game. In 2008, Boise St. beat number 12 Oregon in week 3 in a high scoring game 37-32. The next year the Broncos beat number 14 Oregon once again 19-8 and went on to finish with an undefeated record of 14-0, concluding with a Fiesta Bowl victory over TCU. Last year the Broncos beat number 6 Virginia Tech at FedEx Field 33-30 in week 1. Boise St. is hoping that Georgia can be their next non-conference victim when the two preseason top 20 teams square off in Atlanta in week 1. The Broncos have their Heisman Trophy candidate Kellen Moore back at quarterback, but he will have to adjust without his great wide receivers Titus Young and Austin Pettis. The Georgia defensive will still have a lot to handle with the Broncos offense that scored the second most points in the FBS last season. Georgia will be expecting their sophomore quarterback Aaron Murray to build upon his performance from last year when he set a Georgia freshman passing record by throwing for 3,049 yards. If the Bulldogs lose to the Broncos, they could be in grave danger of falling to 0-2 as they play number 12 South Carolina the following week in a big SEC East game.

#20 Mississippi St. at #23 Auburn in Week 2: Auburn is just the second defending National Champion to be ranked outside the top 15 in the preseason rankings. In 1961, Minnesota was unranked in the preseason poll after winning the National Championship in 1960. Auburn is missing a whole lot from their National Championship team last season. The Tigers can no longer rely on Heisman winning quarterback Cam Newton, or wide out Darvin Adam, or Vince Lombardi award winning defensive tackle Nick Fairley, all of whom have left for the NFL. The Tigers will look a lot different this season and they won't have a long time to adjust to each other because right out of the gates in week two they play their first top 25 opponent, Mississippi St., at home. A lot of pressure will be on sophomore running back Michael Dyer to run well against the Bulldogs because Cam Newton's successor, Barrett Trotter, threw just 9 passes last season and is very inexperienced. That might be a tough ask though because Mississippi St. held Auburn to their second fewest yards rushing last season. The Bulldogs were one of the biggest surprises in the country last season. After going 5-7 in 2009, the Bulldogs improved their record to 9-4 last year and had one of the best running games in college football. Their running combination of quarterback Chris Relf and running back Vick Ballard is going to cause an Auburn defense that lost 9 starters from last year's team havoc.

#16 Notre Dame at Michigan in Week 2: The Big House will be packed to its capacity in week 2 when the beloved Michigan Wolverines take on Notre Dame in the first ever night game at Michigan Stadium. Michigan athletic director David Brandon said, "This also adds a new chapter to the storied rivalry between our two great programs." The rivalry, which Michigan leads 22-15-1, has been won by Michigan the last two years, but Notre Dame will be motivated to get a statement win on the road. With Brady Hoke replacing Rich Rodriguez as the new head coach at Michigan, there will be changes on both sides of the ball for the Wolverines. Quarterback Denard Robinson was worked a lot last year, as he was in the top 20 in the FBS with 256 rushes. Although he was second in the FBS with 1,702 rushing yards, Michigan offensive coordinator Al Borges has said he will not run as much this season because he wants to keep him healthy for the entire year. He said, "[We'll] try not to [get him] beat up...Because we’re trying to get to more of a power-offense style, we’re trying to take some of the burden off him as a runner and more than anything, try to keep him in one piece.” However, we will see if Borges isn't tempted to let Denard run wild if Michigan begins to struggle offensively, especially after last season when Robinson ran for 258 yards in a 28-24 victory over the Fighting Irish. After a solid 8-5 season in Brian Kelly's first year at the helm in South Bend, the Irish will be looking for even more success this year. The biggest question mark for the Irish is at the quarterback position. Brian Kelly has still not named a starter, although the season is right around the corner. How it all works out for Kelly remains to be seen. If Kelly chooses Dayne Crist for example, Crist could feel pressure to perform knowing that Tommy Rees is right behind him ready to play. Either way, the Michigan defense that allowed an average of 35 points per game last season will be ready. Brady Hoke said about the new look defense, "They’re getting more comfortable. We've made really good strides from practice 7 to 14."

Utah at #25 USC in Week 2: When Utah officially joined the Pac 12 on July 1st, Utah athletic director Chris Hill said, "We're not afraid of the high expectations. It's not easy, but at the same time our fans expect us to do well... We didn't win a game today, but I feel like we won our future at the University of Utah." Utah's dream move to the Pac 12 will begin with a splash when they travel to the Coliseum to take on the 11-time National Champion USC Trojans. Utah has 7 returning starters on the offensive side of the ball, including quarterback Jordan Wynn and his two top receivers DeVonte Christopher and Jereme Brooks. The Utah secondary will be a key to watch against USC because of the Trojans ability to throw the ball around the field with quarterback Matt Barkley. Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said, "Defensively we are on track. We've done a lot of good things, particularly the secondary. That has been a pleasant surprise, the way the secondary has performed through the first half of camp. We felt all along the line was strong and it has been." If you look ahead at Utah's schedule, they don't play another ranked team all season because they don't play number 3 Oregon or number 7 Stanford this year. If Utah can come away from the Coliseum with a victory, who knows what could happen. This is the final season of USC's two-year postseason ban, so they will be looking to finish with a great record, despite not being able to play in the Pac 12 championship game or a bowl game.

If Arsenal Wants To Contend In The Premier League, They Will Have To Spend Some Money

The last time Arsenal finished out of the top four in the Premier League was more than 15 years ago in 1995-1996 when they finished in 5th place. Arsenal has not looked like a top four team this season. They have just 1 point in two games and have not scored a goal in their first two games for the first time in 42 years. The Gunners lost to Liverpool at home for the first time in more than ten years, and their next premier league fixture is against the defending league champion Manchester United. If Arsenal isn't willing to spend any money to bring in some new players, they will likely be watching the Champions League next season instead of playing in it.

Arsenal has had a thin roster for their last two games because guys have left their team or are on loan. On July 4th, Arsenal lost their starting defender Gael Clichy to Manchester City as he signed a four-year deal worth 7 million dollars. He was tied for the team led with 33 starts at outside back last year. On August 16th, Arsenal lost another defender, Emmanuel Eboue, to the Turkish club Galatasaray for 3.5 million dollars. Without Clichy and Eboue, Arsenal has been struggling to find a solid defender. They have experimented with both Kieran Gibbs and Carl Jenkinson, but they are both very young and unproven. The Gunners have also been troubled with whom to pair in the middle with Laurent Koscielny, as they have gone away from Sebastien Squillaci and they have begun to use the inexperienced Thomas Vermaelen. 

Considering that last season with Clichy the Gunners let up 43 goals, 10 more than Chelsea and Manchester City, they will be conceding much more this season with unproven guys in the back. Arsenal needs to some cash and bring in some fresh faces to play in the back, and even Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admitted that. "Certainly, we will have to find one more defender. We are working on it." Arsenal's 12 million dollar bid for center defender Phil Jagielka was turned down by Everton and it will most likely take an offer around 18 million for the English defender to come to Emirates Stadium. Although 18 million is a lot for a defender, Jagielka would be a great pairing with Koscielny in the middle and it would please many of the very unhappy Arsenal fans who want the team to spend some money in the market. If Arsenal is reluctant to spend that much on Jagielka, they could also look at Gary Cahill of Bolton, Chris Samba of Blackburn, or Scott Dann of Birmingham City, all of whom would cost less than Everton is asking for Jagielka. 

Although bringing in a defender should be Arsenal's first prior, they also need some help in the midfield and up front. Arsenal no longer has their captain, Cesc Fabregas, in the mix. The Spanish midfielder returned to his former club Barcelona on August 15th after years of speculation if he would go back to play for them. He was signed for a fee that could be worth as much as 39 million, which would obviously give Arsenal a lot of room to make some moves. More money should be available to Arsenal as their French midfielder, Samri Nasri, is reportedly close to going to Manchester City for around 25 million. 

Without Fabreags or Nasri in the middle, Arsenal will need to bring in a quality player in the midfield. Jack Wilshere is still out with an ankle injury and Andrei Arshavin has really struggled with the club since his great start in 2009. Mathieu Valbuena of Marseille and Eden Hazard of Lille are the two most likely targets for Arsenal. Although Marseille said that they would listen to offers for Valbuena, they are unlikely to deal him at this time. The more likely option is Eden Hazard, but it will definitely cost the Gunners a lot of cash. Arsenal will have to be willing to pay Lille 30 million for the Belgian winger. It's more likely that Arsenal signs a defender before they would spend 30 million on Hazard, but the French League One Player of the Year would be a great threat to a depleted Arsenal side.

While Arsenal have lost Clichy, Eboue, Fabregas, Vela, and Denilson on transfers or loans and are about to lose Nasri and Bendtner, other top premier league teams have bolstered their squads in hopes of making a run at the premier league title. Liverpool were big buyers this summer. To sure up their midfield issues, they brought in Stewart Downing and Charlie Adam. Liverpool spent about 20 million to get Downing from Aston Villa and the long suspected transfer of Adam to play in Anfield Stadium finally concluded for a cost of about 7 million. They also shored up their left back position by bringing in Jose Enrique from Newcastle for about 6 million. As always, Manchester City spent a lot of money to make a run at the title. Besides the signing of Clichy for 7 million, they also bought defender Stefan Savic for around 6 million. Their big splash came when they signed Argentinean striker, Sergio Aguero, in the second biggest Premier League transfer deal for 35 million dollars from Atletico Madrid. Chelsea signed Orio Romeu from Barcelona for 5 million and the young Belgian striker, Romelu Lukaku, for about 20 million. Manchester United spent the most money of any premier league team with their three big signings that cost a combine 54 million dollars. They bought young England defender Phil Jones for about 16 million, Atletico Madrid goalkeeper David De Gea for about 18 million, and Ashley Young from Aston Villa for about 20 million. With Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, and Manchester United all spending a lot of money to bring in quality players, Arsenal will have to bring in some new players or they will likely fall out of the top four.

Jim Thome Is A First Ballot Hall Of Famer

After hitting his 599th home run over the porch in left-center field in the 6th inning, Jim Thome wasted little time to join the exclusive club of 600 home run hitters. With a 2-1 count, and Daniel Schlereth on the mound, Thome got a breaking ball on the outside corner and crushed it over the fence in left to become the 8th player in major league history to hit 600 home runs. Thome has now joined the 600 homer club, but that is not the last club he should be joining. He should also be recognized as one of the greatest baseball players of all-time and enter Cooperstown as a first ballot hall of famer.

Only 7 other players aside from Thome have hit at least 600 home runs in their career. From April 27, 1971 until August 9, 2002, a span of over 30 years, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, and Willie Mays stood as the only three players in MLB history to have hit 600 homers. Although Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, and Sammy Sosa joined Aaron, Ruth, and Mays in the 600 home run club, all three have had connections with performance enhancing drugs. Baseball numbers, like 600 home runs, are sacred and the numbers that Bonds, Rodriguez, and Sosa have put up are tainted and inflated. In contrast, Jim Thome has never failed a steroid test and he has, by all indications, never used performance enhancing drugs. Therefore, if you take out guys like Bonds, Rodriguez, and Sosa, Thome is just the 5th player in MLB history to have hit 600 home runs. It should be noted that Ken Griffey also hit 600 homers, so he would be the fourth man to have accomplished the milestone. If you think about all the great power hitters that have played in the big leagues such as Frank Robinson, Mike Schmidt, Mickey Mantle, Jimmie Foxx, and Willie McCovey, none of them hit 600 home runs in their career, and all of them were first ballot hall of famers.

Although Thome's lifetime batting average is just under .280, he had 8 seasons where he batted over .280, including three seasons where he has batted over .300. His career average has dropped a few points as he has gotten older, but when he was in his prime, he hit for power and average. In 2002 he hit 52 home runs and had a batting average of .304. There have been many other first ballot hall of famers with similar averages as Thome. Willie McCovey was a career .270 hitter and never batted over .280 in his final 10 seasons. Johnny Bench had a .267 lifetime batting average, Joe Morgan had a .271 lifetime batting average, and Ernie Banks had a career .274 batting average. 

Thome is not a very fast guy by any stretch of the imagination, but he is a run-scoring-machine. He scored over 100 runs 8 times during his career, including 2002 when he scored over 100 runs on an Indians team that was 74-88 and finished more than 20 games out of first place. Thome's 1,553 runs scored are more than first ballot hall of famers and speedsters Rod Carew, Tony Gwynn, Ozzie Smith, and Jackie Robinson. 

Thome has also been very productive at driving guys in. He has had 9 seasons where he has driven in over 100 RBIs, including a career high of 131 in 2003. Here is an unbelievable stat - if you combine the 100 RBI years of Jackie Robinson, Kirby Puckett, Robin Yount, and Paul Molitor, it equals the amount of 100 RBI years of Jim Thome. His 1,662 RBIs are good for 27th all-time, ahead of guys like George Brett, Mike Schmidt, Al Kaline, Mickey Mantle, Tony Gwynn, and Rod Carew. Thome's on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and on-base plus slugging percentage have always been at the top of the league. His on-base percentage was in the top 5 of his league six times, with his career high at .450. Thome's career on-base percentage of .4033 is better than first ballot hall of famers Carl Yastrzemski, Willie Mays, and Frank Robinson. His ability to be very patient at the plate and take his walks has really helped his on-base percentage. He led the AL in walks three times and is eighth all-time in career walks. He led the AL in slugging in 2002 and his .558 slugging percentage is good for 20th all-time. His on-base plus slugging percentage for his career is .961, which is 17th all-time and better than hall of famers like Ty Cobb, Willie Mays, and Carl Yastrzemski.

Thome's productivity and longevity shows that he deserves to be a first ballot hall of famer. This is Thome's 21st season in the big leagues, and he has had season after season of solid hitting. From 1994 to 2010, that's 17 years, he's had more than 20 home runs every year except for 2005, when he missed over 100 games with an injury. He's had 12 seasons of 30 or more home runs, including one as recently as 2008 with the White Sox. It's pretty impressive that a guy who began his MLB career in 1991 can hit 34 home runs at the age of 37. He's also had six 40 home run seasons, the most recent in 2006, also as a member of the White Sox. To put how good Thome has been for an extended period of time in perspective, in Willie McCovey's final 10 seasons in the big leagues, he never hit more than 30 home runs and had less than 20 homers 6 times. In Brooks Robinson's final 6 seasons, he never hit more than 10 home runs and never scored more than 53 runs. The ability of Thome to be productive and consistent for more than 20 seasons, through the age of 39, is something very special. Only a very few ball players can lay claim to his accomplishments over the course of 20-plus seasons.

Some people argue that Thome shouldn't be a first ballot hall of famer because he never won an MVP. That is ridiculous! Thome has been a consistent MVP candidate although he has never won the award. In 2002 he hit 52 home runs, but finished 7th in the AL MVP voting because his Indians team finished more than 20 games out of first place in the AL Central. The next year he finished in fourth place in the NL MVP voting after he hit 47 home runs and drove in 131 runs in his first year with the Phillies. Thome was unlucky because that same year, Gary Sheffield, Albert Pujols, and Barry Bonds all hit at least 39 home runs. Barry "Steriod" Bonds won the MVP that year. Of the last 9 batters that were first ballot hall of famers, seven of them, Tony Gwynn, Wade Boggs, Paul Molitor, Eddie Murray, Ozzie Smith, Dave Winfield, and Kirby Puckett never won an MVP. All-time greats and first ballot hall of famers Al Kaline and Lou Brock never won an MVP during their careers as well. Others argue that Thome made just 5 all-star games in his career. Robin Yount made just three all-star games and was a first ballot hall of famer. Lou Brock, Willie McCovey, and Jackie Robinson made just one more all-star game than Thome and were all first ballot hall of famers. 

To keep in perspective what a prolific home run hitter Jim Thome has been, over 17,000 people have played major league baseball, and only 8 guys have hit 600 homers!

MLB Awards Watch

AL Cy Young: The AL Cy Young is a three man race between Justin Verlander, Jered Weaver, and CC Sabathia. Verlander has been the ace of the AL Central leading Detroit Tigers, and has been their horse the entire season. Verlander began the season 2-3, even though his ERA was just 3.75 at the time, but since then he has gone 15-2, including an outstanding 9-0 record in the months of May and June. Verlander's unhittable stuff has been highlighted by his 1 walk no hitter on May 7th against the Blue Jays and his two other near no hitters against the Indians on June 14th and the Angles on July 31st. Verlander leads the league in nearly every pitching category including innings pitched, strikeouts, wins, WHIP, and is also 3rd in ERA. With the inconsistency of A.J. Burnett and the injuries to Phil Hughes and Bartolo Colon, CC Sabathia has been the main cog in keeping the Yankees in reaching distance of the first place Boston Red Sox. Sabathia has eaten up innings when the bullpen has needed rest, evidenced by being second in the MLB with 190.2 innings pitched. He went 11-1 from May 19 to July 16, and kept the Yankees in the AL East race. Sabathia's 16 wins are second in the MLB, and the only thing holding him back from winning the AL Cy Young is his struggles against the Red Sox. CC is 16-3 against every team other than the Sox, but is 0-4 against the Yanks arch rivals. In his last three starts against the Red Sox he has been rocked for more than 6 runs each time. Jered Weaver has had a roller coaster season. He began the year 6-0 with a sub 1.00 ERA, but then lost his next four starts and fell to 6-4. Weaver bounced back once again and improved his record to 14-4 with an unbelievable 1.79 ERA. However, Weaver was knocked around yesterday in the shortest start of his career, as he was lit up for 8 runs in just 4.2 innings. His ERA skyrocketed from 1.78 to 2.13 and Verlander has now surpassed him as the front runner for the award.

AL MVP: The AL MVP will most likely go to either Adrian Gonzalez or Curtis Granderson. When Gonzalez was acquired by the Red Sox, they knew he was a great player, but they could of never have expected him to be this good in his first season with a new team in a different league. Gonzo has exceeded expectations and has the Fenway faithful jumping with joy every time he steps up to bat. The power hitting first basemen leads the MLB in hits and has a .351 average, which is 15 points higher than any other player in the league. He also is second in the AL in RBIs and doubles. Gonzalez has never been held hitless for more than 2 games in a row, and he is also a gold glove first baseman to go along with his outstanding batting numbers. The only thing that Gonzalez is struggling with is his power numbers, especially since the all-star break when he participated in the home run derby. Before the All-Star game, Gonzalez had 17 home runs and was 10th in the AL in the category. Since the home run derby, he has just 1 home run and is now 20th in the AL in homers. Curtis Granderson has no doubt been the Yankees MVP and the surprise of that team. Coming into this season, Granderson's career high in home runs was 30 in 2009, and his career high in RBIs was 74 in 2007. With 44 games remaining, Granderson has an astonishing 33 home runs, which is tied for the most in the league, and leads the AL in RBIs with 94. Joe Girardi said about all the home runs Curtis is hitting, “The real difference is really against left-handers too, I think he has 11 home runs off left-handers, and more homers off lefties than anyone in baseball and that's not common that you see a left-handed hitter be the guy leading in that category. He just seems to make solid contact and he's got bat speed and pulls the ball, and we've seen him hit homers the other way into left-center and we've seen them all over, he just has a lot of power and when you look at his frame, that's not what you necessarily think of, but he does." Granderson also leads the league in runs scored with 107, 22 more than any other player, and leads the AL with 9 triples. If the Red Sox win the division, Gonzalez will likely win the award, but if Granderson can continue to hit well and lead the Yankees to a division win, he will likely take home the MVP.

NL Cy Young: Unlike the AL, where Verlander, Weaver, and Sabathia have been the three dominating pitchers, the NL Cy Young race is much more up for grabs. The most likely candidate is last year's winner, Roy Halladay. Doc is once again having a great season with a 15-4 record and a 2.51 ERA. There was a stretch from mid-May to early July when in 10 straight Roy Halladay starts, the Phillies were victorious. During that stretch, Doc allowed 2 runs or less 6 times. If Halladay were to win the award, he would be just the fourth pitcher to win the NL Cy Young award in back to back years. The only other contenders to Halladay are Ian Kennedy of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Kennedy has revived his career in his second season with the NL West leading Diamondbacks. He struggled mightily as a starter for the Yankees, but he has looked great in Arizona as he has a 15-3 record with a 3.12 ERA. Kennedy has made a furious charge for the award in the last month. Since July 8th, he is 7-0 and hasn't allowed more than 3 runs in any of his starts. Clayton Kershaw is 14-5 and leads the NL in strikeouts with 193 and is tied with Halladay for the most innings pitched. Clayton has had 6 games where he has struck out more than 10 batters. Kershaw began the year 2-3, but turned it around and went 6-0 in May and June, and is now 14-5. 

NL MVP: Much like the NL Cy Young, the NL MVP is still up in the air and still has many contenders for the award. The leading candidates for the award, Prince Fielder, Justin Upton, and Matt Kemp, and all have a chance to gain a stronghold on the award in their last 40 games or so. Fielder looks like the frontrunner today. His team is beginning to run away with the NL Central, and he is having a career year in all categories. Fielder has always been a big power hitter with the ability to drive in runs in a very good Brewer lineup. He is third in the NL in home runs with 27, and is second in RBIs with 89. Those kinds of numbers are expected from Fielder, but his average is also way up from last year and he has cut down on his strikeouts. Last year he batted .261, but this season his average is up 47 points to .308. In the Brewers 15-2 stretch since July 26, Fielder had 5 home runs, 16 RBIs, and his average had risen from .287 to .308. Just like how Fielder has been instrumental in helping the Brewers stretch their lead in the NL Central to 5 games over the Cardinals, Justin Upton has done the same thing for the Diamondbacks. His hot hitting has led the Diamondbacks to a 1.5 game lead over the Giants in the NL West. Upton has had an all around solid year and is in the top 10 of nearly every single NL batting category. He is batting .306, has 24 home runs to go along with his 74 RBI's, and also has scored 78 runs, which is tied for the 4th most in the NL. Like Upton, Matt Kemp has had an all around solid season. He is fifth in batting average at .318, third in home runs with 27, third in RBIs with 88, and is fourth in the NL with 30 stolen bases. Although Upton may have slightly worse numbers than Kemp, Upton probably has a leg up on him in the race because the Diamondbacks are leading the West, and the Dodgers are 12 games behind.

August 9

Today is August 9, 2011 and it's my 16th birthday. I am currently spending my last summer as a camper in Maine, and today was the culmination of our Olympic games. Senior camp is divided into two teams, the greens and the greys. There are many different kinds of sporting activities that occur during the four day competition, with the last event being the wacked-up-relay. The final event in the relay, which usually decides the entire Olympics, is the pie-eating contest. Today was the closest Olympics in my eight years at camp, and fortunately, MY TEAM WON!

Exactly 75 years ago today on August 9, 1936, Jesse Owens won his fourth gold medal in track and field at the Games of the XI Olympiad in Berlin, Germany. He became the first American to win four gold medals in one Olympiad. Owens was the most successful athlete at the games, and the victory was noteworthy as Adolf Hitler had intended the 1936 games to showcase “Aryan racial superiority.” Hitler was upset with the success of Jesse Owens, and wanted to ban Africans from partaking in future games.

On the world stage, the Olympics can bring people together from all different backgrounds and unite them in competition.

At camp, Olympics create a bond amongst the campers. Tomorrow, it will not matter if you were on the green team or the grey team because the memories will bind everyone who competed together.