The Morning Rundown - September 3, 2010

Here’s what happened while you were sleeping:

Opening Day for College Football

The college football season started to moderate fanfare as it was a series of mostly blowouts with the exception of one nail biter: Utah at home against No.15 Pitt. While the game itself was not the model of perfection, there was certainly a lot of excitement in its final moments. With Pitt trailing by 3, 24-21, the ball inside the 25, and 3 seconds left on the clock the Pitt kicker sets up for the tying field goal and buries it. Only it seems that Utah coach Kyle Whittingham called the timeout before the kick went up and the Utah kicker has to try the kick again. Unfortunately the second time around the kick goes wide left and it looks like the Utes are going home with the W. But wait, it seems that coach Whittingham has outsmarted himself and called a second timeout to freeze the kicker so Pitt kicker Dan Hutchins had one final chance which he shaved inside the left upright tying the game at 24. With such a thrilling ending to regulation the game probably deserved a better overtime but one poorly-thrown Pitt pass later and Utah took a chip shot field goal within the 10 to seal the game, upsetting a ranked opponent and keeping their 18 game home streak alive: 27-24.

Steelers down another Quarterback

Pittsburgh is just not having a good night as they lose quarterback Byron Leftwich to a left knee sprain. Leftwich will have an MRI done to check of the severity of the strain but early reports don’t look good. Hopefully Big Ben can have Commissioner Goodell reduces his suspension because the Steelers are down to only two active quarterbacks left: the unproven Dennis Dixon and 35 year old Charlie Batch. Roethlisberger will meet today with Goodell to learn if his suspension for off-field behavior will be reduced to four games, as expected, or remain at six games.

Phillies rally past the Rockies to stay in the wildcard hunt

As we know, no lead in baseball is truly safe. The Phillies beat the Rockies on last night, 12-11, wrapping up a 6-1 road trip that reduces the Braves lead in the NL East to only two games. Philadelphia drove in a nine-run seventh inning that erased a four-run deficit, and then endured a four-run Rockies rally that ended with the tying run being forced out at third base to end the game.  Chase Utley drove in six runs and hit a grand slam in the seventh to lead the Phillies comeback.

AL Playoff Picture as of August 30

Pardon the time between posts. Been tying up a few loose ends with another job. September is almost upon us and it's the month where playoff dreams are made and broken. The American League appears to be a bit less chaotic but I'll take a hack at picking who will be there in the end.

East

The Yankees and Rays are deadlocked once again with my Red Sox a solid 6.5 games back. It could've very easily been a three team race for two playoff spots but injuries pretty much ruined Boston's chances at postseason play. The Sox had their shot at catching both of their rivals and failed to do so, most recently by dropping 2 out of 3 in Tampa in a series that was winable. At one point, it looked like another surefire division title for the Yanks, but now the Rays have stated their case and it could come down to the final series of the season for both teams. Look for the Sox (or what's left of them) to play the spoiler in that final series in October.

Prediction: Rays

Central

The Twins have added some solid arms to their bullpen in acquiring lefties Brian Fuentes and Randy Flores after the non-waiver trade deadline. The only thing missing is a healthy Justin Morneau in their lineup and that may prevent them from getting past a first round opponent in October. The White Sox are on the verge of acquiring Manny Ramirez from the Dodgers, but at 4.5 games back it may be too little too late. There will be no one game playoff this year.

photo by Brian Peterson of the Associated Press

Prediction: Twins

West

Texas has pretty much run away with this division. They currently hold a 7.5 game lead on Oakland and have a deadly combination of hitting (Josh Hamilton, Vlad Guerrero and Michael Young) and pitching (Cliff Lee, Rich Harden and Neftali Feliz). I would expect them to rest a lot of their regulars down the stretch once the rosters expand tomorrow. Hopefully Ron Washington will know when to get his players back into game mode in time for the playoffs. I would some day like to see Houston added to this division so that the NL Central will no longer have six teams and the AL West would have five. Call me OCD if you like. I have nothing good to say about the rest of the AL West except that Dallas Braden threw a no-hitter and Ichiro is having one of his worst second halves ever (which isn't really a good thing for anybody, especially the Mariners).

Prediction: Rangers

Wild Card

As previously stated, the AL East and Wild Card are intertwined. At the current rate, the Rays and Yanks will most likely decide who wins what some time during the last week of the season. The Red Sox are 6.5 games back and that number will most likely continue to fluctuate but I see no feasible way that a team of rookies and backups can put together a run against two superior teams. Both Tampa and New York deserve to make the postseason up to this point and I think the Sox may spoil the Yanks' chances at their 17th division title.

Prediction: Yankees

NL Playoff Picture as of August 20th

I figured I'd get my feet wet with this new gig. Uh, hi. Hope you read my posts.

-JohnnyC

For many teams in Major League Baseball, their records August and September usually determine whether or not they make the postseason. That being said, here's my take on who will be there in October based on the current standings in the National League Divisional and Wild Card Races.

East

The Braves hold a 2.5 game lead over the Phillies. Ryan Howard began a rehab assignment this weekend and reinserting him into the Philadelphia lineup will definitely give the Phillies a shot in the arm even though they have scored the second-most runs in the NL. But with the acquisition of Derrek Lee, the Braves are starting to look like one of the mid-90s editions. Their pitching has been superb, and the young talent of sluggerJason Heyward and fireballer Tommy Hanson give the team a strong nucleus to build around for years to come.

Prediction: Braves

Central

While the Cardinals have become the perennial power in the division, a new team has risen from the ashes. The Reds have a 3.5 game lead and look more legit this year than in years past. They've crashed and burned at the All-Star break a few times before but they finally have put it all together with MVP candidate Joey Votto leading them in almost every offensive category. Ace Aaron Harang is on the disabled list but their pitching has been paced by solid performances from Bronson Arroyo, Johnny Cueto and rookie Mike Leake. Nothing against the Cardinals, but it's time for the Big Red Machine to march back into October.

Prediction: Reds

West

The Padres are quietly the best team in the NL to this point with a .608 winning percentage. They've won 5 in a row and 9 of 10. Granted, they play in the NL West, once known as baseball's weakest division (I believe that the torch has since been past and it's a toss-up between the AL and NL Central), but they have really put together an impressive run thus far. Their bullpen is the best in baseball, hands down. There isn't much to their lineup after Adrian Gonzalez, but adding Miguel Tejada was a smart move by General Manager Jed Hoyer. They have the best team earned run average in the bigs at 3.18. I don't think there is much that the Giants can do to catch them.

Prediction: Padres

Wild Card

The Fightin Phils currently hold a 1 game lead over the Giants and are 2 up on the Cards. As much as I would love to see the Giants make it with their excellent pitching staff, the games down the stretch against their division opponents will probably knock them out of the race. The Rockies at 6 games out and the Dodgers at 7 will both try to close the gap and in doing so, the three will beat the hell out of each other while the Padres run away with the division. That leaves the Phillies and Cards to duke it out. I think the keys to these two teams are their pitching (as is the case with most NL teams). Doc Halladay hasn't been the lights-out ace that the Phillies thought they acquired and he'll need to be if he wants to play in October. The Cardinals know what it takes to make the postseason and Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday can lead them offensively while Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright have been one of the best 1-2 pitching combos this season. As much as I like the Phils, I gotta give this one to the Cards based on a coin flip. It wouldn't surprise me if it takes a one game playoff to decide the Wild Card winner. I realized earlier even though I bashed on the NL Central they might have two teams playing in October. Go figure.

Prediction: Cardinals

There you have it. The current division leaders will make the postseason and the Cardinals will make a push at the end and defeat the Phillies in a single elimination game. We'll see how it ends. Next time I'll tackle the American League.

Photo of the Day: Baby's Beer Bottle

This photo taken from a Phillies game Sunday, captures a unidentified baby no more than 4 years old drinking from a plastic beer bottle. Phillies fans are gaining quite a rep this season making this the 3rd time that their unconventional fan base has made national news. "Phillies fans are an illustrious bunch. In the past year, they have vomite, prostituted and been tasered. Now it appears that childhood drinking can be added to the list," said the Huffington Post blog. They sure do know how to raise them in Philly.

Phillies Fan Gets Tasered

( Steven M. Falk / Staff Photographer )

A Philadelphia police officer - with taser in hand - chases a fan who ran on the field during the 8th inning on Monday night. This overzealous fan was able to make several loops around center field at Citizens Bank Park. The security personnel was in full pursuit and shot the several times before hitting the fan. The man then fell and was helped off the field. The Phillies ended up losing the game to the Cardinals 6-3. It is the first time that a taser has been used by the Phillies security staff.

Friday Faceoff: Jay-Z vs. Ortiz

Hip Hop mogul Jay-Z is suing David Ortiz from the Boston Red Sox for stealing the name of his infamous nightclubs. Ortiz recently opened a club in Puerto Rico, named "Forty/Forty", which oddly resembles Jay-Z's nightclubs in New York, Las Vegas, and Atlantic City all named The "40/40" Club. Coincidence? Jay-Z and his team think otherwise. In the suit they are claiming that there is no way that Ortiz didn't know about the name or the existence of the Jay-Z clubs, because he has visited them on several occasions.

There may be some underline baseball beef at play in this name game. The 40-40 club is a term used by sportswriters to distinguish MLB players that accumulate 40 homeruns and 40 stolen bases in a single season. This is by far one of the most exclusive professional sports "clubs" to be a part of considering there are currently only 3 members. Now, Ortiz (also known as Big Papi) as the DH for the Red Sox has been known to put up some big numbers in the homerun column, but he is not known for his ability to steal bases. On the other hand Jay-Z is an avid New York Yankees fan both in and out of the stadium. In fact one of his closest personal friends is Yankees star, Alex Rodriguez, who actually IS a member of the exclusive 40-40 club with 42 home runs and 46 stolen bases in 1998.

Photo of the Day: I'm Sorry Mama

STEVE NESIUS / Reuters

Uh Oh! Denard Span's mom was sitting in the stands watching her son lead off for the Minnesota Twins. One second she is her son's biggest fan the next second, Span hits a hard foul that comes zipping towards her and hits her in the chest. "As the ball was in the air, I realized that it was going after my mom" Span said in after the game interviews. "When I saw her go down, I just couldn't do nothing but go after her." He stayed with his mom until she finished receiving treatment by the paramedics. She suffered no major injuries.

The Six Finger Glove

Diamond season is quickly approaching and just when you think that the Yankees can't have any more tricks (or overpaid all-star players) up their sleeve, during a spring training game against the Braves, Girardi brings in the only ambidextrous pitcher in professional baseball, Pat Venditte. Venditte, age 24, known as the "Switch Pitcher" pitched for 1 1/3 innings allowing one run, two hits, and a walk. Now, I've seen ambidextrous people before but never any that could throw 90mph pitches with both hands. In the past 100 years Greg Harris is the only other pitcher to pitch from both sides. The difference is that Harris was a righty for the majority of his career and only pitched from the left side for 2 batters in his second to last game. His unique gift make him fascinating to watch and make even more interesting to see how the MLB is having to adjust.

QUICK FACTS:

• He was a walk-on at Creighton University.
• He as a specially designed 6 finger glove, with two webs and two thumb slots.
• After his Minor League debut* the Umpire Association had to establish the "Venditte Rules" which state that the pitcher must indicate to the umpire-in-chief, the batter and any runners which hand he intends to pitch with. Once the first pitch is thrown, the pitcher and the batter may change sides only one time per at bat.
• He's not perfect but he is far from just a side show act, he compiled a 1.87 ERA and a 1.069 WHIP last summer, striking out 87 while walking only 11 in 67.1 innings.

*Video of the 1st showdown between a switch pitcher and a switch hitter.