For the third time in his career, Toronto native Joey Votto, the first baseman slugger for the Cincinnati Reds has been named the National League player of the week.
Votto batted .583, had two home runs, five runs batted in, a .655 on base percentage, and a .917 slugging percentage this past week.
On the season, the Reds slugger is second in batting average at .349, fifteen points back of Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Juan Segura at .364. He is also third in runs scored with 33, behind Carlos Gonzalez of the Colorado Rockies at 36 and Shin-Soo Choo of the Cincinnati Reds at 35.Votto also has six home runs and 20 runs batted in for the year.
Speaking about red hot, so too is Detroit Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera. The Tigers slugger and reigning American League MVP is trying to become the first player in Major League Baseball history to win the triple crown in back-to-back years. He currently leads the American League with a .387 batting average and 47 runs batted in, and his 11 home runs are only one back of Edwin Encarnacion of the Toronto Blue Jays, Robinson Cano of the New York Yankees, Mark Reynolds of the Cleveland Indians and Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles, who each have 12.
This week on the show we’re talking NHL CBA talks, players speaking out about the situation, GSP’s triumphant return at UFC 154, an exciting week for the Toronto Blue Jays and we make our Grey Cup predictions!
In the GABBYs: Stanford basketball, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Buster Posey, Miguel Cabrera, Nik Lewis, Drew Tate and Draymond Green. The Punchline this week is a basketball conspiracy theory in Minnesota!
Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers and Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants have won baseball’s Most Valuable Player Awards for 2012.
Cabrera’s AL MVP win should come as no surprise. That is what happen when you become the first player in over forty years to win the triple crown. Posey meanwhile hit .336 and became the first catcher in the National League to win the batting title since Ernie Lombardi of the Boston Braves led the National League in 1942.
Outfielder Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim won the AL rookie of the year in a landslide. Trout led the AL in runs and stolen bases. Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals won the NL rookie of the year. He was fifth in the senior circuit in runs.
Another National to win an award was Davey Johnson who won the NL manager of the year. He was the AL manager of the year with Baltimore in 1997. Also for the second time in his career, Bob Melvin has won the manager of the year award. Nobody expected him to lead Oakland to the AL West title, but Oakland did just that getting by the sexier teams such as Texas and the Angels.
The Detroit Tigers have advanced to the 2012 World Series.
On Thursday afternoon at Comerica Park, Tigers shortstop Jhonny Peralta homered twice as Detroit pounded New York 8-1.
The Tigers swept the American League Championship Series 4-0.
Other Tigers to hit home runs were Miguel Cabrera and Austin Jackson. Max Scherzer also pitched brilliantly for the Tigers, as he struck out ten Yankees in only five and two thirds innings pitched.
The Tigers pounded out 16 hits on Yankees pitching. They surprisingly got eleven hits in only the first three and two thirds innings on Yankees ace C.C. Sabathia, who was excellent in the American League Divisional Series.
This week on 15 Minutes of Fame we discuss the latest NHL lockout news, a rough couple of weeks on the Edmonton arena front, the KHL signing with ESPN and the potential for replacement players. As well, we take a look at a big win for the Edmonton Eskimos on the weekend, which launched them back into a playoff spot.
In the GABBYs: Miguel Cabrera, Adam Greenberg, Michael Phelps, Zinedine Zidane, Roger Federer and Michael Vick. The Punchline this week is US track celebrity Lolo Jones.
This is currently one of the most exciting times in Canadian tennis. Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ontario achieved greatness again Friday night when he defeated U.S. Open and Olympic champion Andy Murray of Great Britain in three sets, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6 at the Japan Open in Tokyo.
Raonic saved off two match points in the third set and was able to break Murray back after being down 4-1 in the final set.
Raonic also performed admirably while not serving in the third set, something he has struggled with in his career. He will now face Japan’s Kei Nishikori in tonight’s final (11pm, Sportsnet One). Raonic is also seeking his third title of the season, having won in Chennai and San Jose earlier in the year.
Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers is in the history books.
Last night, the Tigers third baseman went zero for two with a strikeout against the Kansas City Royals, but was able to make history by becoming the first player in Major League Baseball history to win the triple crown since 1967.
In 2012, Cabrera led the American League in batting average at .330, home runs at 44, and runs batted in 139.
Cabrera had one more home run and eleven more runs batted in than Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers and was four percentage points better than Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Cabrera is the hands on favourite to be the American League Most Valuable Player and Trout, who led the American League with 129 runs, is the favourite to be the American League Rookie of the Year.
The last player to win the triple crown was left fielder Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox.
Team Canada will have a chance to build off of their tight 3-2 victory over Slovakia yesterday when they face their American archrival nemesis this morning at the World Hockey Championships in Helsinki (TSN, 10am).
The Americans are coming off a commanding opening victory over France yesterday where they won 7-2.
Even though, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Devan Dubnyk and Jordan Eberle missed the playoffs for the Edmonton Oilers, this tournament could be valuable experience for them.
An American Oilers fans would be familiar with is defenceman Jeff Petry, who is joined on the American blueline with Jack Johnson, Alex Goligoski and Cam Fowler.
Here are the other events I’ll be watching this weekend:
Saturday–NHL Eastern Conference Semi-Final Game 4–New York Rangers @ Washington Capitals–10:30am–NBC–After coming off the longest game of the playoffs Wednesday night (game went into triple overtime), the Capitals will try to tie the series at two games apiece. Brad Richards continues to produce in the playoffs. The former Conn Smythe Trophy winner leads the Rangers in playoff scoring with nine points. For the Rangers to get by Washington however, they will need more from Artem Anisimov and Ruslan Fedotenko. They combined for 25 regular season goals, but only have a combined total of one goal in the playoffs.
Saturday–MLB–Arizona Diamondacks @ New York Mets–1:30pm–FOX–Despite only hitting .254 last season, Mets third baseman David Wright has got off to a great start in 2012, batting .395 with eight extra base hits. Last night J.J. Putz recorded his sixth save of the season as Arizona defeated the New York Mets 5-4. Arizona is 14-13 while the NY Mets are 13-13.
If the Detroit Tigers are going to beat the Texas Rangers in the American League Championship Series they will have to do it without the services of outfielder Delmon Young.
He injured his oblique muscle in game five of the American League Divisional Series against the New York Yankees
The loss of Young (.316, 3 HR, 3 RBIs in ALDS) is huge for Detroit, who will now have to rely on theservices significantly more on first baseman Miguel Cabrera (.344, 30 HR, 105 RBIs in regular season), designated hitter Victor Martinez (.330, 12 HR, 103 RBIs) and veteran Magglio Ordonez who hit a sizzling .455 against the Yankees.
Texas, in my opinion, has the better nucleus of pitching and power. Justin Verlander is the Tigers’ ace, but they lack depth at the position afterwards. I really like what center fielder Josh Hamilton (.298, 25 HR, 94 RBIs), designated hitter Michael Young (.338, 11 HR, 106 RBIs) and third baseman Adrian Beltre (.296, 32 HR, 105 RBIs) bring to the table every night.
A major trend in the Major League Baseball playoffs so far has been the key home runs hit at key times during games that have ended up being the major turning point.
So far we have seen an outstanding performance by Tampa Rays’ catcher Kelly Shoppach who hit two home runs and five runs batted in during a 9-0 win over the Texas Rangers on Friday. We have also seen key home runs by Rays’ outfielder Johnny Damon, Milwaukee Brewers’ first baseman Prince Fielder, a grand slam by New York Yankees’ second baseman Robinson Cano, a three-run home run by Philadelphia Phillies’ first baseman Ryan Howard, a solo home run by Raul Ibanez, a key eighth inning insurance home run by Texas Rangers’ first baseman Mitch Moreland, and home runs yesterday by Milwaukee Brewer left fielder Ryan Braun and Detroit Tiger first baseman Miguel Cabrera.
The power seems to be back in baseball, and those that benefit the most are simply the fans.
The greatest auto race of the year takes place Sunday afternoon in Indianapolis.
It is the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500. (The race was not held for two years during World War One and for four years during World War Two). In 1911, Ray Harroun of the United States was the first winner. Over that time, drivers from ten separate nations have won the coveted race including Canada’s own Jacques Villeneuve in 1995.
Well in 2011, Montreal’s Alex Tagliani has a great chance in joining Villeneuve in making Canadian history. He will be on the pole representing Sam Schmidt Motorsports.
James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, Ontario, an IndyCar rookie will start 13th, and Paul Tracy of West Hill, Ontario will start 24th.
There are also four women in the race. Joining American Danica Patrick, are Switzerland’s Simona de Silvestro, Brazil’s Ana Beatriz, and Great Britain’s Pippa Mann.
Despite being considered by many as a middle to low market team, the Minnesota Twins have found ways to increase their overall revenue so they can contend on an annual basis. They moved into a brand new ball park, Target Field, and now have the thirteenth highest payroll in baseball.
The biggest question mark for the AL Central Champion Twins will come from first baseman Justin Morneau of New Westminster, British Columbia and closer Joe Nathan. The 2006 American League MVP had a Major League leading .437 on base percentage and an American League leading .345 batting average (at the time of his injury) when he suffered a season ending concussion after colliding with Toronto Blue Jays’s shortstop John McDonald at second base. If Morneau can rebound and put his concussion problems behind him, he will be a huge force in the Twins lineup. Nathan meanwhile, is one of the best closers in the game, but missed the 2010 season with Tommy John Surgery. The four time all-star has the Twins’ single season save record with 47.
Loading ...
