Throwbackz: Ken Griffey, Jr. Presents Major League Baseball

Posted on the All Day E'ry Day Sportz Facebook page 11/21/12...

 

Few were better.  None did it with more swagger.

I would like to give a big S/O to ADEDS legendary All-Star, and future MLB HOFer, George Kenneth Griffey, Jr. on his 43rd birthday. JUNIOR is to baseball what JERRY RICE is to football--you will be hard-pressed to find someone that says they didn't like him or the way he played the game. Swagger just dripped off THE KID in every facet imaginable...from the sway in his batting stance, and subsequent silky smooth swing, to the gazelle like grace he ran with in the outfield, right before he leapt in the air at the centerfield wall to calmly rob a home run...no question, Griffey was slicker than a Cadillac on ice...not to mention, he came out with possibly THE BEST baseball video game of all-time and had a dope a$$ movie cameo...no one nowaday is really fckn with that...SALUTE!
-Mr. AllDayEryDay

 

 

'Trout Fishing For Records'

Is Mike Trout the next Barry Bonds (pre-steroids)?

Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout isn't just having the best statistical rookie season for a position player in Major League Baseball history; he's also on pace to have one of the best speed/power single seasons of all-time. 
Trout recently became the first player to ever have 20+ homeruns and 40+ stolen bases in his rookie season.  Quite an accomplishment when you consider some of the great young phenoms to grace the field in a pastime that has lasted over a century long and counting.  But if Trout reaches the 30 homerun mark and maintains his 1.011 OPS for the season, he will join Barry Bonds (1996) as the only players in MLB history to have 30 HRs, 40 stolen bases, and an OPS over 1.000 in a single season. 
Remarkably, Bonds had two other seasons where he came very close to achieving this feat.  In 1992 with the Pittsburgh Pirates he had 34 HRs, 39 SB, and a 1.080 OPS, and in 1997 he had 40 HRs, 37 SB, and a 1.047 OPS with the San Francisco Giants.  Only two other players have come close: Ken Williams (1922) - 39 HRs, 37 SB, 1.040 and Willie Mays (1957) - 35 HRs, 38 SB, 1.033.

'No Ring . . . No Love?'

LeBron still searching for that first ring.

Hate is a strong word . . . unless of course, you're talking about LeBron James.  Many basketball fans use that term loosely when referring to him, and there are legitimate reasons as to why James, once one of the most beloved players in the NBA, has gradually turned into the league's top villain.  His biggest and most flagrant PR mistake: the sanctimonious departure from his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers in order to join forces with superstars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in South Beach.  The knock ever since is that James will never be as great as his idol, Michael Jordan, because of his inability/unwillingness to close in crunch time and carry a team to an NBA title. 
Last year, James' contribution in the Finals was considered marginal at best for a player of his caliber, and much of the blame for the Miami Heat failure to finish once again fell on his shoulders.  But in this 2012 postseason, James has been the clear-cut catalyst for the Heat, who are two wins away from a championship for the second year in a row.  LeBron put in two career performances in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics in Game 6 and 7 when facing elimination that for most players would be career defining.  Even in the Finals against the ever-so-likeable Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder, James has carried MIA on both ends of the floor and has not disappeared in crunch time, and the Heat hold a 2-1 series lead. 
But for most LeBron critics, it all won't mean a thing unless he gets two more wins.  It's probably unfair the amount of pressure put on James to win a ring --pressure from the media and pressure he put on himself -- because the longer it takes to get that ring, the greater a burden it becomes on a player who is not yet 30 years old and is a 3-time league MVP.  And then there is the possibility that he won't get love until he wins more than one championship (since LeBron was the one that promised Heat fans multiple championships).  Nowhere in sports history has a player needed to win more than one title to validate an already Hall of Fame career . . . but of course, we are talking about LeBron James.

'Who's Next?'

I don't think anyone outside of the state of Texas had the Dallas Mavericks winning it all this year and certainly no one could've predicted the absolute clinic Finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki put on along the way to said championship.  You probably won't get very accurate predictions (atleast I called that the Heat wouldn't win a championship though) out of me but nevertheless, my list of players who I think have what it takes to be the 2012 Dirk, but still need work on certain aspects of their games.

Rondo can drive and dish, but his J is AWOL.

Derrick Rose - Chicago Bulls

MVP or not, Rose still needs work on his perimeter jumper.  He shot 33-percent from 3-point during the 2010-11 season and a wretched 25-percent during the playoffs.  The guy is unstoppable off the drive already, imagine what will open up for himself and his teammates once a few more J's start falling.

 

Rajon Rondo - Boston Celtics
It's pretty clear that if Rondo could shoot the basketball worth a ball of yarn, we would all be looking at the second coming of Isiah Thomas.  Rondo has played four years in the NBA and is a two-time All-Star, the starting point guard on NBA Championship team, and boasts some historical individual playoff performances (29 points, 18 rebounds, 13 assists against Cleveland in the 2010 Eastern Conference semis), despite being a career 24-percent 3-point shooter and 62-percent from the free throw line.

Time for Melo to show he's more than just a scorer.

Carmelo Anthony - New York Knicks
We know he can score, but what can he do to make his teammates better?  Melo needs to take a cue from what Kobe Bryant went through in the post-Shaq L.A. years and save the offense for down the stretch.  Get the teammates involved and their confidence up because they are the ones you are going to have to rely on to make shots when the double and tripple teams come.  Also, Anthony is a physical guy on offense but doesn't really translate that mentality on the defensive end.  He needs to be more assertive on that end of the floor, it will go a long way in showing your teammates that you are sold out to doing anything it takes to win.

Russell Westbrook - Oklahoma City Thunder
Very talented and athletic point guard that needs to better understand his role as Kevin Durant's teammate in this current Thunder offensive system.  A first time NBA All-Star in 2011, Westbrook has elevated his offensive game to the point where he commands double teams now.  But what killed Westbrook and the Thunder in the playoffs against the Dallas Mavericks was poor shot selection down the stretch and lack of ball movement.  Westbrook was benched for the whole fourth quarter in Game 2 of the Western Conference Semis for being the main contributor to the two aformentioned maladies.  Westbrook's main job is to help get Durant going by creating space for him by penetrating and kicking out and continue to find K.D. when he's hot.  His offensive game is most effective when he is under control in the half court and when pushing the ball in transition.

Griffin is the second best player in L.A. already. 

Blake Griffin - Los Angeles Clippers
There is no way the Clippers find a way to screw this one up.  Griffin is two post-up moves and one face-up move away from being a player who is perennially in the conversation for league MVP.  All the hype is not an exaggeration either; not when you win Rookie of the Year honors by averaging 22.5 points per game and 12.1 rebounds per game in 82 games after missing the entire 2009-10 season from a knee injury that required surgery.  Who knows if Griffin will end  up staying in Los Angeles though as the Clippers are a franchise known for everything in the world that is the opposite of 'good'.  The Clip roster is pretty young and talented (see DeAndre Jordan, Eric Gordon and Al-Farouq Aminu) but who is to say that they can't make strides like the OKC Thunder have over the past few seasons?

Dwight Howard - Orlando Magic
In a league that is known historically for dominant big men equalling playoff success and championships, Howard has experienced very little of the former and none of the latter in his career which began in 2004.  Rumors are swirling that Orlando might not be the right fit for the three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year and four-time All-NBA First Teamer.  No matter what team he plays for though, Howard needs to develop as a playmaker when he has the rock with his back to the basket, a-la Hakeem Olajuwon.  When the ball goes inside to him, defenses know that he is probably going to put up a shot since his post game is not smooth enough yet to find open teammates off the double team with any sort of consistency.