If there's one thing we've learned about 49er players retiring, it's that they do so in droves. At least this year they have. After the sudden retirement of linebackers Patrick Willis and Chris Borland, it was learned on Monday afternoon that the team would be without 5-time Pro Bowl defensive end Justin Smith who informed the team of his decision to retire as the Niners prepare for the 2015 season without yet another key cog on defense. Unlike the retirements of Willis and Borland which caught many by surprise considering Willis just recently celebrated his 30th birthday and Borland had only one season under his belt coming off his rookie campaign, there has been speculation regarding Smith possibly stepping away from the game of football since the start of the offseason. Smith, a former first round pick selected fourth overall out of the University of Missouri in 2001, even gave the team a date which he would announce his decision by. The front-office allowed the 35-year old Smith to take as much time as he needed and while it wasn't the answer they were hoping to hear, it was one they had anticipated.
That proof lies in the team's draft habits which saw the 49ers select 10 defensive linemen in the draft since 2011, including 2015 first round pick Arik Armstead out of Oregon. Not to mention the signing of free-agent Darnell Dockett this offseason. Though it was an injury which ultimately led to Smith's decision to hang 'em up, describing his left shoulder as unresponsive, Smith brought his lunch pail and tools to the yard every day and came ready to play while missing only three games throughout a 14 year career split between the 49ers and Cincinnati Bengals. Like Willis, Smith was a defensive leader for the 49er defense which has ranked among the top defenses in the league over the past several seasons. First year head coach Jim Tomsula who built quite the relationship with Smith while serving as the team's defensive line coach for all of Smith's seven seasons with the team, hopes the rebuilding process will be a swift one now that a number of the team's key contributors on defense from the past few years are gone. Something that may be worth keeping an eye on with Smith now out the door, is how his absence will effect Aldon Smith.
When on the field playing side by side, the tandem of Aldon and Justin who were often referred to as "the Smith brothers" were a dominant force in San Francisco's D-Line. Their productivity often depended on one another and with the elder Smith no longer in the picture, it'll be interesting to see if there's any drop off in Aldon's numbers. Defensive coordinator Eric Mangini who's in his first year at the helm of the defense, surely hopes that won't be the case. Smith joins the ever-expanding list of players from last year's 49er defense which won't be back with the team in 2015. Among those players are -- Perrish Cox, Ray McDonald, Chris Culliver, Dan Skuta, the aforementioned Chris Borland and Patrick Willis and now the one they call "Cowboy." And like any cowboy, this one will ride off into the sunset, bidding a farewell to the game he loved and the game we all enjoyed watching him play, even if his helmet and pads were two sizes too small.
Smith was a 5-time Pro Bowler who totaled 880 tackles and 87 career sacks while being named an All-Pro three times over an impressive 14-year career. Whether or not he'll garner enough votes to be enshrined into the Football Hall of Fame is a crapshoot at this point, but I won't be surprised in the least bit if the 49ers honor him this upcoming season, albeit a banner or plaque with his name and number on it to hang at the team's shiny new home of Levi's Stadium.
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Since the 2010 MLB Postseason, the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals have flip flopped representing the National League in the World Series with the Giants making their appearance in each of the past three even numbered years and St. Louis going during the odd numbered years. Though the 2015 season is still very young, the Cardinals are off to an amazing start as they look to continue that pattern. The formula took a major hit just two weeks ago, however, when it was learned that Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright would miss the remainder of the season with a torn Achilles tendon, suffered during an at-bat on April 25.
While an injury of this magnitude to a player as significant to his team as Waino is would normally crumble a franchise for the season moving forward, it's almost as if the injury inspired the ball club. Since the injury to their ace occurred, the Cardinals have gone 9-3 and are coming off their first nine-win homestand since 2002, helping them jump out to a 6 1/2 game lead in the NL Central standings. After posting a record of 19-6 which set a mark for the best start in franchise history through the first 25 games of the season, the Red Birds now stand at a league-best record of 21-7 following Thursday's 5-1 win over the archrival Chicago Cubs. Since 2009, Wainwright has been one of the premier pitchers in all of baseball, placing in the top three of NL Cy Young voting four times in his career. And through his first four starts of 2015, Wainwright was off to another stellar start to the season, boasting a record of 2-1 and an ERA of 1.44.
With the game of baseball now without one of its best pitchers for the remainder of the season, it's that time of year to bring up the annual discussion of, "should the National League adopt the designated-hitter rule" like their American League counterpart. Any time a pitcher gets injured either at the plate or on the base paths by way of a freak injury as was the case with Wainwright, you can bet your bottom dollar those in favor of the DH will come out of the woodwork with lit torches and pitchforks in hand in support of the National League adopting the designated-hitter. While most teams are afraid to lose their multi-million dollar pitching investment to an injury while at the plate which doesn't quite pertain to what they were initially signed for, the small-ball strategy which goes into the National League's game is the last remaining component separating the two leagues.
But in the meantime, NL pitcher's continue to hit and the Cardinals continue to win. Prior to Wainwright's injury, St. Louis was struggling on offense as runs were at a minimum. But since then, the Cardinals have averaged nearly six runs per game as the bats have awoken, backed by some stout pitching from veteran pitcher John Lackey who has registered several gems this season as well as a bullpen which has been nails during their most recent homestand which saw a combined ERA of 1.01 over 44 1/3 innings. If there's one team in all of baseball who can overcome the absence of a 3-time All-Star like Wainwright and still contend for a title as we've learned over the years, it's the Red Birds. After all, this isn't their first go-around without their workhorse as the Cardinals went on to win the 2011 World Series with Wainwright sidelined for the entire season. The only surprise this time around would be if St. Louis can continue at their current pace all season long in an NL Central division which features two teams that are young and hungry in the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates, both of whom weren't even a blip on the radar in 2011.
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With baseball season officially in full swing as the San Francisco Giants kiss the opening month of April goodbye, the reigning World Series champs haven't quite resembled a team that had just won it all several months prior. Last year the Giants got off to one of the hottest starts in franchise history through the first two months when they won 32 of their first 50 games. And while the G-Men still have another month to go to determine whether or not they can match last year's blazing start, duplicating or surpassing that mark is unlikely given the slow start they got off to in April.
Following a 3-1 start to the season after taking two of three in Arizona and the first of four games in San Diego, the Giants ran into a brick wall, dropping 8 straight including a three game sweep at the hands of the Colorado Rockies in San Francisco's home opening series. They wouldn't fair much better in their second series at AT&T as the D-Backs came in to take three of four in the city by the bay. The Giants would finally see their 8-game skid come to an end as the team celebrated their 2014 Championship run with a victory on the night in which the team was awarded their championship bling prior the team's Ring Ceremony game, only to lose the following day. The homestand wasn't all negative, however, as the Giants benefited from a much needed day off with a three-game sweep of the archrival Los Angeles Dodgers at Home which included walk-off wins in games two and three.
The Giants then took to the road where they split two games in Denver before the series finale at Coors Field was postponed due to inclement weather. A three game set at Dodger Stadium would witness one of the classic pitchers duels between the two hated rivals when World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner out-dueled 2014 NL MVP Clayton Kershaw in a 2-1 victory. However, the Dodgers would wind up winning the series finale the following day to take the series win, two games to one. The highlight of the month, though, has to be the surprising contribution of rookie pitcher Chris Heston who has done everything and then some since being asked to fill in for the injured Matt Cain. Called up from Triple-A Sacramento prior to his start on April 8, to fill the void of Cain who was placed on the DL with a flexor tendon strain in his right forearm, Heston dazzled in his season debut, pitching six innings in which he gave up 2 runs (both unearned), while allowing three hits, walking a pair and striking out five to earn the win. Aside from a minor bump in the road at the hitter-friendly Coors Field in Denver in which he was tagged for 11 hits and 6 earned runs in 5.1 innings pitched, Heston hasn't skipped a beat, allowing 1 or 0 runs in each of his other four starts.
Despite the lone shaky outing, the 27-year old has been a glowing bright spot for the Giants in the early going, boasting an ERA of 2.51 in 5 starts and a record of 2-2. With Matt Cain and Jake Peavy serving time on the disabled-list, manager Bruce Bochy is going to have a difficult decision to make regarding his pitching rotation if Heston's success continues. With little help from the injury bug in April as Brandon Belt, Casey McGehee and the aforementioned Matt Cain and Jake Peavy all saw time missed, the month of May figures to be bit brighter for the Giants as their offense looks to get a boost from 2014 All-Star outfielder Hunter Pence. The Giants' lanky outfielder suffered a left forearm fracture during Spring Training which has caused him to watch from the dugout. With Pence absent from the lineup, it's been shortstop Brandon Crawford who's led the team in home runs (5) and RBI's (14) thus far, two categories Pence will surely help out in when he makes his return later this month following a Minor League rehab assignment.
With a 9-13 record in the month of April, things are already looking up for the Giants in the month of May as they flipped the page on their calendar with a three game sweep of the visiting Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim over the weekend to improve to 12-13 on the year, inching closer to the .500 mark. San Francisco completed the sweep thanks to a superb outing from hurler Tim Lincecum who registered his best performance of the season by scattering three hits (all singles) over 8 scoreless frames as the Giants awarded him with the 5-0 victory. The home team wasted no time to back their starting pitcher with some run support as Nori Aoki and Joe Panik led the game off with back-to-back home runs in the first inning, something the Giants haven't done since 1964. Next up, the Giants will host the San Diego Padres for a three game set before closing out their 10-game home stand with a four-game series versus Giancarlo Stanton and the Miami Marlins.
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