With the month of June right around the corner, the Pittsburgh Pirates are rolling and stand at 34-20, good enough for the second best record in all of baseball, trailing only the St. Louis Cardinals (35-17) who lead the NL Central division by 2 games over the streaking Pirates. With a 16-4 record in their last 20 games including 3 out of 4 wins against the reigning American League champion Detroit Tigers, Clint Hurdle's Pittsburgh ball club is the hottest team in all of baseball and figures to make a habit out of their recent winning ways. But no matter how hot the Bucs may be out of the gates or even at the All-Star break, Pirate fans won't hold their breath until the final out of game no. 162 as they've grown all too familiar with disappointment in the past.
While most franchises and their fans would complain about missing the playoffs for two decades, the Pirates haven't even finished a season above .500 in that span. Not only have the Buccos endured one of the most crucial playoff droughts in all of sports, but they own the distinction of having the longest streak in North American sports history with 20 consecutive losing seasons. To put that into perspective, the Pirates haven't made the postseason since the George H.W. Bush administration back in 1992. Andrew McCutchen, who is the catalyst of the Pirates offense and is be the best player to don the black and yellow since Barry Bonds did so from the mid to late 80's to the early 90's, was six years old when Pittsburgh last made a trip to the postseason. A dry-spell he's now being counted on to help end. And after coming within just four games of the .500 mark in 2012 before finishing the year 79-83, a year in which the McCutchen-led Pirates were sixteen games above .500 as late into the season as August 8th before much of that same disappointment came crashing down on Pittsburgh, McCutchen and company look to ensure a collapse of that magnitude doesn't happen again.
Led by a surprisingly good pitching staff which boasts a 3.12 ERA, second in the bigs to only the division-rival Cardinals and is second in the NL in strikeouts behind Cincinnati, Pittsburgh's bullpen has stolen the show up to this point. Anchored by reliever Jason Grilli who has yet to blow a save this year, has converted on a perfect 22 of 22 save opportunities to lead the Majors. Ace A.J. Burnett who was acquired during the off-season and knows a thing or two about winning having won a World Series in 2009 while with the Yankees, leads the NL in punchouts, trailing only Texas' Yu Darvish for the Major League lead. But whether or not the Pirates' pitching staff can continue their early dominance on into All-Star break and more importantly beyond it, is worth keeping an eye on.
Though McCutchen will most likely be in the MVP race come seasons end like he was last year, the Bucs will only go as far as their pitching takes them. If the rotation and bullpen holds up, Pittsburgh just might see their losing ways come to an end. But if their pitching staff begins to fold down the stretch and the ball club is forced to lean on their offense, the Pirates' hopes of making it over .500 and into the postseason might sink along with their ship.
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Don't look now but the Cleveland Indians are baseball's hottest team. Winners of 18 of their last 22 games including five in a row, the Tribe stand alone atop the American League Central division at 26-17, 2.5 games ahead of the Detroit Tigers after completing a four-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners on Monday with a 10-8 victory in extra innings. While most of the baseball world has begun to take notice of the Cinderella story that is the Cleveland Indians' blazing start, unfortunately their fan base hasn't quite gotten the memo. At least not yet. Despite their red-hot month and a half, the Indians are struggling to attract a packed house. The empty stands have even caught the attention of some of the players who've begun giving out free tickets to lucky fans on Twitter and other social media networks.
Though Cleveland fans have seen a similar beginning to the season in each of the past two years only to witness their beloved Tribe return to earth with a mediocre second half following the All-Star break, this year's Indians squad appears to be different. Of coarse having an ace in Justin Masterson who took home AL Player of the Week honors this week after going 2-0 with 20 strikeouts and a flawless ERA of 0.00 in 16 innings is nice as well as hitting a league-best 60 home runs, but this year's Indians squad has something they've lacked the last two years -- a proven manager who knows quite a bit about winning in first year skipper Terry Francona. With the acquisitions of Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn creating some buzz during the offseason, it was the addition of Tito which garnered the most attention prior to Spring Training. Having managed a team to a pair of World Series titles while at the helm in Boston, Francona serves as the hope to help turn things around for an Indians franchise that hasn't made it to the postseason since 2007.
Francona's ball club has been no fluke up to this point, as they've knocked around some of the game's best, handing losses to such pitchers as Felix Hernandez, R.A. Dickey, David Price, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Bartolo Colon and Justin Verlander, all of whom are former Cy Young Award winners. Jake Peavy of the Chicago White Sox was the only former pitcher to take home the hardware that Cleveland faltered to this season, preventing them from making it a perfect 8-0. They've also had a flair for the dramatic, logging six walk-off wins already with their most recent coming on Monday in a wild, back and forth affair that ended on a 3-run home run from Yan Gomes to give Cleveland the 10-8 victory. If there's one thing we've learned about this ball club thus far it's that they refuse to give up. And while the Indians most likely have more naysayers than believers, whether or not their third time will be a charm will be one of the many storylines worth keeping an eye on this MLB season.
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While the NBA season is still in full swing for those teams still battling it out in the playoffs, the biggest storyline coming into the year has already reached an early climax. Entering the 2012-2013 NBA season, expectations were at an all-time high for the Los Angeles Lakers who added future Hall of Fame players Steve Nash and Dwight Howard to a roster that already included All-Stars Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. On paper the team seemed virtually unstoppable and had the potential to be one of the greatest squads ever put together in Laker land. Little did they know that everything that could go wrong would. With injuries plaguing the team all season long, it was their defense that was often criticized.
Entering the final month of the NBA schedule, the Lakers found themselves in and out of the playoff picture leading to a playoff promise by their team captain Kobe Bryant. And though the Lakers would deliver on Kobe's guarantee on the final day of the regular season by defeating the Houston Rockets in an overtime thriller to lock up the No. 7 seed, the man himself was unable to help his team reach their ultimate goal in the NBA Finals as L.A. was swept in the first round for only the second time in franchise history by the San Antonio Spurs. But to say the Lakers were short-handed would be an understatement. Nash, Gasol and Howard all missed games due to injury and were joined by teammates Jordan Hill, Metta World Peace, Jodie Meeks, Antawn Jamison and Steve Blake as those who fell victim to the injury bug. But what happened to Kobe Bryant seemed almost unreal.
For many fans of the Lakers and basketball alike, Kobe has virtually evolved into this superhero-like character that nobody thought was capable of falling to an injury of this magnitude. The moment Kobe went down with a torn Achilles tendon, it seemed as their championship hopes were destined to soon follow. And while many were quick to point the finger at Lakers head coach Mike D'Antoni as the reason Kobe had played more than 40+ minutes for seven consecutive games, D'Antoni deserves as much blame as I do. Kobe and his teammates know that had they played more consistently all season long and not just won games down the stretch with their backs against the wall, Bryant wouldn't have needed to play so many minutes that late in the season in hopes of securing a playoff position. Besides, Kobe's been around long enough to demand some time on the bench to catch his breath if need be.
Now that the nightmare that was the Lakers' 2012-2013 season is over as Dwight Howard described it, the three biggest questions and concerns entering next year are as followed:
1. Is Dwight Howard the future of the Lakers franchise and will they re-sign him?
The Lakers made it no surprise that they've wanted to add Dwight Howard to their team for years and last offseason they finally got their wish. And though his first campaign with the purple & gold didn't end the way Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak had in mind, it's unlikely Howard was at full strength at any time this year while recovering from back surgery during the offseason. It's also important to look at what's available at center and what other options the Lakers can go with. When at 100% Dwight Howard is the best center in all of basketball. When limited as he was this year, he's still in the top 3. And though Howard's first impression in L.A. wasn't a very good one, the Lakers can offer him a max contract of $118 Million over 5 years where as he can make a max of just $87.6 Million if he were to sign elsewhere. While Dallas, Houston and Atlanta are all rumored to be interested in his services, who in their right mind would leave $30 Million on the table to play for another team? Neither of the mentioned teams have a brighter future with their current roster than the Lakers do with Houston maybe being the only exception.
2. Is Mike D'Antoni the man for the job?
With every Laker fan in the world including me going to say no in favor of bringing back Phil Jackson, it appears as if that ship has sailed for good. The Lakers had their chance to bring in Phil for a third stint as head coach before the hiring of D'Antoni and decided to move on. After signing D'Antoni to a 3-year, $12 Million deal in November, it's unlikely the team will cut ties with him a year into his contract. Then again, that's exactly what they did with the man D'Antoni replaced in Mike Brown who was relieved of his duties just a year and 5 games into his 4-year deal signed in 2011. And considering he took over a team trying to find its identity as well as plug in two All-Star players in Dwight Howard and Steve Nash who struggled to get on the same page offensively as Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, he deserves a full year at the helm to try and right this ship.
3. Have we seen the end of the Kobe Bryant era in L.A.?
The answer to this question relies more so on the decision of the Lakers' front-office than it does on Kobe. We all know Kobe is as hard headed and stubborn as they come and no player in the league wants to win another title more than Bryant does. The question is, what is he willing to sacrifice in order to get that sixth ring? While the possibility of the Lakers amnestying Kobe has been a popular topic of discussion this season, the smartest thing to do would be for Kobe to take a pay-cut. Maybe I'm reaching when I say this but what better way to help your team add talent in hopes of winning a title than to show you're a team player by taking less money. But say there is no pay-cut, Bryant who will be 35 years old at the start of next season and most likely won't be cleared to play until mid-season, is scheduled to make $30.5 Million in salary next year. That total could climb to $80 Million for the Lakers franchise after factoring in the luxury tax. But as smart of a move as that sounds, it's hard to think a premiere franchise with such class as the Lakers would let a 17-year run which saw 5 championship banners get raised go down the drain with arguably the greatest player to ever don a Laker uniform. Not to mention how big a blow the franchise would endure in the PR department. So if you asked me, I'd say no. The Kobe era in Tinseltown is not over and the Black Mamba will be that much hungrier to prove the critics wrong and add another title to his resume.
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