Stat of the Day

40 - Kobe Bryant scored 53 points in a losing effort on Friday night, as his Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Houston Rockets in overtime, 107-104. So what’s with the 40, you ask? Well, Bryant is the only player in the last 40 years to average at least 40 points in a month, with a minimum of five games played. Kobe finished off March averaging 40.4 ppg, actually doing it for the fourth time in his career. Oh, and did you know there are four letters in Bryant’s first name? 

Of course, Wilt Chamberlain holds the record for scoring average in a month with 53.2 ppg in March of 1962 – granted he played just 5 games, scoring 266 points.

Ruffin Throws Game Away, Literally

By Bryan Jeon

Little-used Michael Ruffin played a season-high 26 minutes Friday against the Toronto Raptors. Maybe Washington Wizards head coach Eddie Jordan should’ve reconsidered sitting Ruffin for the final minute.

The Wizards committed just eight turnovers all game, but the last one cost them the game. With 3.8 seconds left and down by three, the Raptors had to go the lengths of the floor so they went for the inbounds heave down the court. Ruffin intercepted the ball, then immediately threw it up in celebration, only to have the ball fall into Morris Peterson’s hands to make a game-tying, double-pump, 31-foot three pointer in his only field goal attempt in 55 seconds of playing time.

Of course, the momentum had the Raptors and Chris Bosh take over the game in overtime, as they defeated the Wizards 123-118. Bosh finished with 37 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists in the come-from-behind win.

Does the final play in regulation sound ridiculously unbelievable? It’s a whole lot worse when you see it.

Mixed Day For Pavano

By Bryan Jeon

All the latest talk in regards to the New York Yankees and its injury-filled pitching staff has been about their opening day starter, Carl Pavano. The oft-injured right-hander has some fans on the edge of their seat, who fear he might incur an injury as he walks onto the field to take the mound for the first time. It is only with the injuries to Chien-Ming Wang and Andy Pettitte and a mandatory five days rest Mike Mussina needs in between starts that has only the fourth pitcher in major league history take the mound on opening day who hadn’t thrown a single pitch the year before.

Pavano has had a very tumultuous past two years, battling various injuries and even breaking two ribs during last season in a car accident (which he has just recently been sued for injuries sustained to the other driver). What I find to be the biggest loss in a huge disappointment after the first two years of Pavano’s 4-year, $39.95 million contract came on the same day that manager Joe Torre named Pavano the opening day starter – the split with his signifcant other.

For those of you that don’t know, the 31-year old pitcher had been dating 23-year old model Gia Allemand for a rocky one-year, ending any fantasy as the next Anna Benson.

All eyes will be on the career losing pitcher Monday afternoon, as he takes on Scott Kazmir, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and very possibly some boos in the Yankee stands, as Pavano has been criticized for his desire to pitch. But as excited as he says he is and as hyped and overrated as being the Opening Day starter is, he’ll get roughed up by Rocco Baldelli, Delmon Young and Carl Crawford early with his inability to focus away from his private life.

And I don’t blame him. Hell, I’d be the fifth starter in the rotation, break two more ribs and give my entire year’s salary to the truck driver who broke my previous two ribs to keep Allemand, but maybe I’m just a sucker for models – or anything hot, for that matter.

Well, unlike Mussina who would have just three days of rest were he to start on opening day, Pavano has 643 days of rest. But then again, there’s an entire weekend between now and Monday that Pavano needs to overcome.

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Image courtesy of cosmictribune.org

Stat of the Day

3 - Yes, Michael Phelps won his fourth gold in as many events yet it’s the number of records he’s broken that is the amazing feat, and to do it in consecutive events places him on the ultimate pedestal. Phelps won the 200-meter individual medley Thursday and also set world records in the 200 freestyle and 200 butterfly, halfway there to his goal of eight gold medals in the World Swimming Championships. The latest gold set a record 14th world championship medal for the 21-year old. Phelps is without a doubt, the Tiger Woods and Roger Federer of swimming.

Lidle’s Widow, Son To Throw First Pitch On Opening Day

By Bryan Jeon

On October 11, Cory Lidle had wanted to take an ordinary Wednesday in the offseason to tour the city of New York. With a final cause after investigation citing light wind, Lidle and his flight instructor never touched base again, as their small plane crashed into a Manhattan high-rise. Lidle, 34, had 12 wins last season and made a postseason appearance in relief against the Detroit Tigers in a 3-1 division series loss.

The New York Yankees will wear black armbands on the left sleeves of their uniforms this season to honor the pitcher, as they did not assign Lidle’s No. 30 to anyone this spring training.

After the tragic accident, Melanie Lidle has not had time to mourn; instead, she has been on both ends of a couple of lawsuits stemming from the accident:

• Last month, Lawrence Rosenthal, a dentist to the rich and famous, filed a $7 million lawsuit against the Lidle estate, claiming his home was destroyed in the crash.
• Last month, Lidle’s and his instructor’s families filed wrongful-death lawsuits against Cirrus Design Corp., the maker of the airplane. The lawsuits allege product liability, negligence among other complaints.
• Melanie has recently sued MetLife Inc., claiming she is owed $1.05 million under the benefit plan of Major League Baseball and its players’ association for accidental deaths.

A very interesting case the last one is, as MetLife already paid Melanie the $450,000 life insurance benefit. In defense, they have that the plan excludes “any incident related to travel in an aircraft … while acting in any capacity other than as a passenger,” as they’ll try to prove that Lidle was acting in the role of pilot, crew member or another role not as a passenger. However, the National Transportation Safety Board did not reach any conclusions as to who was at the controls at the time of the accident. A status conference hearing is set for July 31.

Gagne To Start the Season On the DL

By Bryan Jeon

The Texas Rangers placed closer Eric Gagne on the disabled list to begin the season to give him more time to get some work in before the regular season. Gagne, who is coming off of elbow and back surgeries, has pitched only 15 1-3 innings in the last two seasons combined. The 2003 NL Cy Young Award winner will make way for Akinori Otsuka to relieve him of the closing duties until he returns, as Otsuka converted 32 of 36 saves last season with a solid 2.11 ERA and 1.07 WHIP.

The move will be retroactive to Wednesday, making it possible that Gagne could rejoin the Rangers on April 13 for the series opener against the Seattle Mariners. In spring training thus far, Gagne has a 15.00 ERA (five earned runs in three innings) with six strikeouts and six walks.

Fantasy Advice: Despite Otsuka’s role as a setup man, he is a valuable handcuff to Gagne this year with Gagne’s questionable durability and most definitely deserves to be drafted in the later rounds. Make sure to drop Gagne a few spots, as he has not shown any consistency in regards to his health.

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Image courtesy of AP Photo.

Stat of the Day

35,440 - The number of square-feet of Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star LeBron James‘  mansion in Akron, Ohio. The ‘castle fit for a king’ will hold true, as it will include a theater, bowling alley, casino and barber shop. The two-story walk-in closet alone will be bigger than half the houses in Bath Township, as the house is being built on 5.6 acres of land purchased in 2003 along with an 11-bedroom house for $2.1 million, that was razed to make way for the King’s home. The house is expected to be finished next year.

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Image courtesy of AP Photo.

Fantasy Baseball: Couch Copy

Preseason Ranks: Overall

The following list comprises the fantasy baseball top 100 overall player rankings by Jason Fukao. The list is ordered by the overall top 100 composite ranking from each SportsCouch fantasy expert for the ‘07 season along with the Yahoo! Sports Ranking, with the remaining players of the top 100 in Yahoo! Sports rounding out the bottom of the list.

2007 Overall Player Rankings       Jason Bryan Yahoo! Sports    SportsCouch           Fukao Jeon      Ranking    Composite Ranking       Albert Pujols 1      1             1                    1       Johan Santana 2      2             5                    2       Alfonso Soriano 3      3             4                    3       Jose Reyes 4      4             2                    3       Alex Rodriguez 5      5             3                    5       Ryan Howard 6      6             8                    6       David Ortiz 7      7             10                  7       Chase Utley 11    8             7                    8       Carlos Beltran 10    9             9                    9       Miguel Cabrera 12    10           11                  10       Carl Crawford 9      19           6                    11       Vladimir Guerrero 8      16           13                  12       David Wright 14    11           12                  12       Lance Berkman 16    12           14                  14       Manny Ramirez 13    14           17                  15       Travis Hafner 15    13           16                  15       Mark Teixeira 17    17           15                  17       Derek Jeter 21    15           18                  18       Carlos Lee 18    18           19                  19       Chris Carpenter 22    22           20                  20       Miguel Tejada 19    20           28                  21       Matt Holliday 24    21           23                  22       Jimmy Rollins 23    23           26                  23       Jason Bay 25    25           24                  24       Vernon Wells 20    26           30                  25       Bobby Abreu 26    24           31                  26       Derrek Lee 27    27           27                  26       Ichiro Suzuki 29    32           22                  28       Andruw Jones 31    31           32                  29       Michael Young 34    28           33                  30       Justin Morneau 34    33           29                  31       Roy Oswalt 32    30           37                  32       Garrett Atkins 35    29           36                  33       Hanley Ramirez 40    43           25                  34       Rafael Furcal 35    39           39                  35       Carlos Zambrano 37    37           40                  36       Brandon Webb 38    34           42                  36       Jake Peavy 39    41           38                  38       Paul Konerko 33    35           51                  39       Joe Nathan 36    38           46                  40       Jermaine Dye 41    36           45                  41       Francisco Rodriguez 44    40           47                  42       Carlos Delgado 42    44           52                  43       Roy Halladay 52    45           41                  43       Mariano Rivera 46    47           58                  45       B.J. Ryan 55    46           50                  45       John Smoltz 51    49           53                  47       Troy Glaus 48    60           48                  48       Victor Martinez 53    61           43                  49       Johnny Damon 47    59           55                  50       Billy Wagner 57    50           59                  51       Brian Roberts 43    75           49                  52       C.C. Sabathia 49    48           72                  53       Brian McCann 70    56           44                  54       Ryan Zimmerman 54    64           54                  55       Ben Sheets 60    51           61                  55       Gary Sheffield 59    58           62                  57       Hideki Matsui 50    74           56                  58       Huston Street 63    55           69                  59       Juan Pierre 45    87           57                  60       J.J. Putz 73    53           68                  61       Carlos Guillen 75    63           60                  62       John Lackey 61    65           73                  63       Trevor Hoffman 77    54           70                  64       Jim Thome 76    62           65                  65       Jonathan Papelbon 95    42           66                  65       Felix Hernandez 65    79           67                  67       Richie Sexson 66    70           88                  68       Daisuke Matsuzaka 74    68           82                  68       Bill Hall 88    73           63                  68       Todd Helton 56    71           99                  71       Jered Weaver 85    52           89                  71       Robinson Cano 68    88           71                  73       Chipper Jones 72    81           78                  74       Chris Young 71    66           96                  75       Jeremy Bonderman 69    76           90                  76       Raul Ibanez 67    57           112                77       Delmon Young 80    94           64                  78       Curt Schilling 64    67           111                79       Scott Rolen 81    84           77                  79       Scott Kazmir 87    72           84                  81       Chone Figgins 58    90           97                  82       Brett Myers 79    78           92                  83       Rocco Baldelli 90    85           74                  83       Nick Swisher 82    80           93                  85       Alex Rios 86    91           80                  86       Dan Uggla 92    82           83                  86       Felipe Lopez 78    86           95                  88       Julio Lugo 94    89           76                  88       Rich Harden 62    69           144                90       Nick Markakis 91    98           101                91       Jason Schmidt 93    77           125                92       Howie Kendrick 96    99           103                93       Chad Cordero 100  93           111                94       Adrian Beltre 97    92           116                95       Brad Lidge 89    96           127                96       Dontrelle Willis 98    97           117                96       Frank Thomas 83    83           153                98       Barry Zito 84    95           171                99       John Patterson 99    100         212                100       Grady Sizemore -      –             21                  -     Aramis Ramirez -      -             33                  -       Joe Mauer -      –             36                  -       Adam Dunn -      -             75                  -     Prince Fielder -      -             79                  -       Cole Hamels -      -             81                  -       Corey Patterson -      -             85                  -       Rickie Weeks -      -             86                  -       Matt Cain -      -             87                  -       Jeff Kent -      -             91                  -       Tom Gordon -      -             94                  -       Josh Barfield -      -             96                  -       Magglio Ordonez -      -             98                  -       Aaron Harang -      –             100                -

Big apologies for excluding the three big cats in Sizemore, A. Ramirez and Mauer (please fit them in appropriately), and for the delay in publication due to a critical formatting error. Hope no one had a poor draft while waiting for the Copy. Enjoy!

 

Stat of the Day

21 - The number of consecutive times the Dallas Mavericks have beat the NO/Oklahoma City Hornets franchise, the longest active streak of one NBA team over another. The Mavs easily handled the Hornets Tuesday, 105-89.

Female Umpire To Take On Spring Training Game

By Bryan Jeon

For the first time in 18 years, a female umpire is set to work a major league exhibition game. On Thursday, that chance will come for Ria Cortesio when the Arizona Diamondbacks take on the Chicago Cubs.

No female umpire has ever worked a major league game during the regular season. Triple-A and Double-A umpires routinely join major league crews in spring training, especially when extra games fill the schedule. Cortesio, at the young age of 30, already has eight years of experience under her belt, four of them in Double-A, where she is set to begin the season. She is also next in line to be promoted to Triple-A when the next vacancy occurs.

She is the only female umpire in professional baseball and cut off her ponytail so that she wouldn’t stand out on the field. She also uses a low grunt to call strikes but to our dismay, she’ll be working the bases in Thursday’s game.

You know how much players make, but I bet you were always wondering about umpires’ salaries. There is a stark contrast in pay and amenities between big league umps and those in the minors. Last year, Cortesio made about $2,600 a month for the six-month season with a per diem of $25 and hotel expenses covered; big league umpires can earn well over $100,000 and get $357 daily to pay for their meals and hotel. Major league umpires jet around the country; a three-person crew in the minors drives itself 24,000 miles over a full season.

And with seemingly life-terms taken on by major league umpires, it’s easier for a Double-A player to make the bigs than a Double-A ump. Good luck, Cortesio.

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Image courtesy of AP Photo.