NFL:  LIONS & BRONCOS //  WORLD SERIES, GAME SIX

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            Sports Notebook posts new every Tuesday and Friday. Editor, Marvin Leibstone. Comments to: mlresources1@aol.com

NFL ---   A Denver Broncos cornerback might now be thinking, “Oops! Why us?” In a few days, his team will be facing a franchise that’s having a super season, the 5-2 Detroit Lions. The Broncos are at 2-4, winning its first game after a month of losses last week. More specifically, on Sunday the Broncos uncertain defense will be challenged by a Lions offense that includes quarterback, Matthew Stafford, whose successful passing yards for the year are greater than the yardage obtained by Denver’s QB Tim Tebow and Kyle Orton combined, 1,912 vs. 1,219. Add that the Lions will be fronting the NFL’s 2011 leading wide receiver, Calvin Johnson, who, in seven games, has already had 10 touchdown catches. Denver’s cornerbacks and safeties will be tested by this WR who seems to travel faster than Usain Bolt while intuiting where, what and how an opposition will be when hoping to undo his per-play intentions---Johnson’s a high-caliber escape and evasion artist.

More than likely, Denver’s QB Tim Tebow will be running the ball a lot more than passing, not only because it’s what he does best but that he’ll likely be forced to by one of the NFL’s best defense squads, and if Tebow hasn’t in a week’s time corrected his radar and speed for knowing which close-in receiver to connect to, he may be sacked over and over. But---if Tebow’s made the siting and handoff corrections and has the necessary protection to complete his improv, well, he’s large, powerful and fast enough to evade capture for handing off or short-passing the football successfully.

A downside is that Denver’s effective running back Willis McGahee has been injured and won’t be afield for a Tebow connect on Sunday. A saving attribute, however, is that, with helpers drawing heat away, Tebow can bore his way through any defense quickly enough for those three yard gains that add toward a first down.

Yet whatever points Tebow can put on the board, if the Broncos defense can’t get in between QB Stafford and WR Johnson, those Tebow-earned points may be returned to the Lions.

If Denver loses by a TD, it’ll be because they will have played well and better than in past weeks.

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WORLD SERIES  ---   AS far as entertainment and suspense go, game six of the 2011 World Series was not only one of the best WS games forcing a seventh challenge in a decade; it was one of the more improbable WS games among the 107 held since the first in 1903.  From the initial pitch to a Texas Ranger in the first inning until bottom of the 11^th when the St. Louis Cardinals topped the Rangers, the game sizzled with unexpected hits, missed catches, intentional and unintentional walks, some strikeouts ending punishing runs, others killing opportunities for a team to score from bases loaded but two outs against them.

As soon as Texas believed it was winning and would take the WS away from St. Louis 4-2, a turnover followed and the game went to a tie. Then quite suddenly, St. Louis owned the night by two runs, in time for the Rangers to take it back again by two. Soon enough there was another tie score, then the same two-run exchange and extra innings, the Rangers suddenly under for good from David Freeze’s walk-off HR in the 11^th, final score 11-9.

Hope alone isn’t a hit, neither is tenacity by itself a hit, and you can cross fingers all you want and get down on bended knees through several innings straight and pray, but the Gods are too respectful of baseball players to allow that to translate into hits and runs. However, a team bugged by hopelessness and lacking drive and that doesn't believe in the phrase “to labor is to pray” risks being hitless. In other words, the Cards wouldn’t let go of winning game six before they won, they were indeed the intrepid ballclub, the brand of franchise that never quits and becomes bats striking balls that land where nobody can glove them and cause outs. But the Rangers functioned from the same mind-set, the outcome being those two-run exchanges at the tail-end of the competition---Freeze ended the cycle.

Which team will win game seven of the WS? If game six is our indicator, it’s anyone’s guess.

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NFL: BRONCOS & DOLPHINS  //  WORLD SERIES, GAMES THREE THROUGH FIVE

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NFL ---   SUNDAY’s NFL Denver/Miami game went from an expected C- in the first three periods to an A+ event in the fourth, with more good than bad marks for Broncos starter Tim Tebow, who, with few minutes to go in the game, helped push the Broncos to .500 at two wins and four losses for the season thus far.

In the fourth period, the Broncos and the Dolphins proved capable of team recovery in that their defense squads functioned with fewer serious gaps than earlier in the game, with desired redemption sharpest for Broncos kicker, Matt Prater, who had missed two field goals and made up for it with a 52 yard FG that placed Denver in position for dominance. The real upswing, however, came from a Tebow drive that, with seconds left to play, became a touchdown and two-point conversion that put the Broncos ahead, 18-15.

We could argue safely that the Broncos played two games and not one, the second comprising an offense that was missing in periods one through three, essentially the introduction of a dynamic offense that included consecutive first downs from short passes and then the touchdown hustled forward by the tenacious Tebow. Yet in those first three periods, the Broncos deserved to be losing; the QB-receiver disconnects were many and there were dropped and missed catches that shouldn’t have been, and the Broncos defense, though improved, allowed the opposition to drive the ball via standard tactics that should have been spoiled at the outset.

What were the key lessons for the Broncos offense? First, Broncos head coach John Fox allowed for an improvisational Tebow in the last period versus a defense that hadn’t expected such, so perhaps a Tebow freed completely for situational choices, for exploiting opportunities in his own way, is itself a successful strategy, therefore should be implemented during the 10 games left to the NFL season. Second, Willis McGahee, Demaryius Thomas and Eddie Royal could be the better go-to-guys for Tebow’s style of play, for working those short passes through the narrowest of corridors. Third, and noted during the first three periods vs. Miami and in earlier season games, Tebow needs better skills in the pocket; he appeared slow to identify receivers even in his revitalized fourth Q. And, he’ll need better pass protection when facing Detroit next Sunday and vs. Oakland the following week, teams that are proficient when it comes to sacking QB’s. Fourth, versatility is the strong QB suit in today’s NFL, a weakness that in Tebow’s predecessor, Kyle Orton, was a major reason for Tebow becoming Denver’s starting QB. Orton could pass long and well but he has lacked that higher gear and the cunning for rushing the ball in winning ways once inside the red zone. Tebow’s issue is the reverse; he needs to improve his deep pass accuracy and his timing for all type passes if he’s to be Denver’s hope for a consistently winning QB. No QB can rely entirely on a rush-the-ball offense, which is a lot easier for an opposing defense to combat after a few experiences with the way it is executed, than combatting other offense maneuvers.

WORLD SERIES: GAMES THREE THROUGH FIVE

AFTER watching games three and four of the St. Louis Cardinals/Texas Rangers World Series, observers may have wondered how a major league ballclub could win a game 16-7 one night, then lose next night to the same team, 4-0. Was it that the Cardinals were up against Ranger Derek Holland’s superior pitching in game four, those 8+ scoreless innings? Or, were the Cards trying too hard to repeat what they achieved during the night before? Or, had the team been tired from its game three effort? What about the Cards bullpen going awry in late innings of its loss? Were the two walks allowed by Cards pitcher Edwin Jackson the real cause of the 4-0 demise, for they became the RBI’s off of Texas batter Mike Napoli’s big bang, or was the real downslide sent from Cards reliever Mitchell Boggs’ pitch that Napoli had exploited? Was the Cards manager wrong taking starting pitcher Jackson out of the game after five innings and choosing Boggs as reliever? The logical take, of course, is that all-of-the-above combined to keep the Cards beneath the heels of the Rangers, though a greater degree of cause belongs to Holland’s ability to prevent the Cards heavy hitters Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman from damaging Texas.   

Another way to touch the win/loss question is to turn it around and ask, “How come the team that lost 4-0 was able to beat the same team the night before, 16-7?” From examining game three’s big win, we can note the key contribution from Cards batter, Albert Pujols—his hits/home runs resulted in numerous RBI’s. Not all of the Cards batting order provided new numbers the way Pujols had, and for whatever reason the Rangers infield and outfield were sloppy during game three, unable to offset the marginal Rangers pitching that continued from the mound. We cannot say that the Cards won game three entirely as a team, the Rangers helped.  .  .  As for game five, which put the Rangers ahead in the WS, 3-2, the Cardinals infield was slipping and sliding, just as error-prone as the Rangers fielders had been in game three.

Among factors favoring the Rangers in game five was the Cards inability to take advantage of opportunities that might have brought them many more runs. Several innings saw two Cards players on base or bases loaded, which the Cards couldn’t convert to runs. Also, the Rangers bullpen outpitched the Cards, ironically from manager Ron Washington replicating the Cards method of shaking out a bullpen until last guy who could throw, Rangers closer Neftali Feliz picking up his sixth post-season save. Add, of course, the batting prowess exhibited by Rangers catcher Mike Napoli facing a pitcher he could probably overtake any day of the week while thinking about a beer and a burger after the game, a pitcher meant to be replaced and wasn’t, and Adrian Beltre, their hits delivering numbers Texas needed to prevail.    

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WORLD SERIES  // NFL  // NHL  

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           Sports Notebook will appear with new posts every Tuesday and Friday. Editor, Marvin Leibstone // Comments are welcome --- mlresources1@aol.com

WORLD SERIES, GAMES ONE AND TWO  .  .  .  SOME World Series games have been studies in how baseball should be when baseball is perfect and they are as rare as games so filled with errors and sloppiness that observers wonder how the teams playing ever got to the post-season. Most WS games range along a spectrum between the two types, closer from the center to the finer example. Games One and Two of the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals/Texas Rangers WS were surely contests above the margin. Both sides showed that, as in most baseball games, no matter how tight and effective a defense posture is, an imperfection will surface eventually for an offense to exploit, which happened for the Cards in the fourth inning of Game One when Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday became base runners and Lance Berkman’s single sent them home for a 2-0 ballgame. It happened for the Rangers top of the fifth when Mike Napoli punched a home run with a man already on base, score now 2-2. It happened again for the Cards bottom of the sixth when Cards manager Tony La Russa outsmarted Rangers boss Ron Washington by sending Alan Craig to pinch hit for starter Chris Carpenter. Washington countered with hurler Alexi Ogando on the mound, who, with Cards runners at first and third, threw the pitch that gave Craig the single that sent in the Cards game-winning run. The Cards bull pen then held the Rangers from scoring during the next three innings, endgame: 3-2, Cards. Game Two continued the pitcher dominance from both sides, the Cards holding a slight hitter’s edge, then came the ninth inning when La Russa’s bullpen choices couldn’t hold, opening opportunities that the Rangers were able to exploit, hits and base runners reaching home plate, Rangers 2-1, the series at one game apiece.    

Numbers certainly underscore the big role that hitting has played in bringing the Cards and Rangers together for the WS, but when competing teams have averaged, like the Cards, around 4.7 runs per game, and the Rangers around 5.4 per game, either has the power to put more runs on the board if pitchers begin to lose their mojo. This means that pitchers delivering outs consistently will prevail over hitters until, and if, arm control is lost, which is the midgame turnabout that managers fear greatly, it’s baseball’s witching moment, especially when a midgame component of an opposing team’s batting order comprises heavies such as the Card’s Pujols and Holliday, or the Rangers Josh Hamilton and Mike Young, translation: bull pen hurlers and closers picking up the slack at midgame could turn out to be the real heroes of this year’s WS if Rangers manager Washington adopts the bull pen/closer tactics that Cards manager La Russa has pursued throughout the post-season in order to compensate for having an essentially marginal starter-rotation. The trick here is that a bull pen has to remain strong and focused, for which there isn’t a guarantee. La Russa will probably pull starters out at the earliest sign of trouble in each upcoming WS game, no matter if it’s bottom of the third or top of the fourth, with no score yet or even if the Cards are ahead by one or two runs, though Game Two’s final inning showed that the ploy has its limits, that from any bull pen comes uncertainty---risk in a uniform jogs to the mound, and players, managers, coaches and fans can only cross their fingers.    

NFL: BRONCOS VS. THE DOLPHINS  ---   Make no mistake, those observing the Denver Broncos and Miami Dolphins battle on Sunday will be watching three events. First, whether the 1-4 Denver team can start winning again, even if it is against a bottom of the NFL 0-5 franchise. Second, tested will be whether the two teams can deliver an exciting and instructive football game in spite of their low standings. Third, viewed will be another chapter in the Tim Tebow saga, for Tebow is now the Broncos starting quarterback, in his immediate wake two questions: One, can he steer a win for the Broncos? Two, will Tebow prove to be the NFL QB that his having been a Heisman trophy winner has pointed to? Known right now is that Tebow excels at the running game; he can drive an offense forward mostly up the middle as good as, and sometimes better than many other NFL QB’s, but his expertise does not include the wider offense, plays based on horizontal, then angular movement. Unfortunately, denying Tebow the opportunity to do what he does best is something even the Dolphins could pull off if not repeatedly, forcing Tebow to lean on his weaker attribute, passing. As a passer, Tebow is beneath standards set by the NFL’s top QB’s. So, if the Broncos offense is to succeed with Tebow in charge, then the Broncos pocket and pass protection will need faster reaction time. And, with wide receiver Brandon Lloyd suddenly gone, there will be added pressure on running back/receiver Willis McGahee and WR Demaryius Thomas for the better Tebow/receiver connects. Crucial to a Broncos win, then, will be (a) the protection that Tebow needs to continue emphasis on a running game and not have to convert quickly and often to deep passing, and (b) the lightning-fast sack capacity vs. Miami’s QB, which Denver is now capable of.

NHL:   THE Avalanche returned to Denver from a triumphant trip, 5-0, but on Thursday, October 20, the Chicago Blackhawks, drawn for the Av’s second home game of the NHL season, cut them, 3-1, a reminder to the Av’s that a hold on first place in the Northwest Division of the league’s Western Conference, and second place in the WC, are indeed tenuous positions. Further, the vs. Blackhawks game pointed out that the Av’s Semyon Varlamov, like all NHL goalies, is vulnerable before opposing players that can gain sufficient initiative for shots that a goalie can’t block because he hasn’t recovered in time from a complex and successful save.

Possibly too eager to chase down and dominate the puck for an assault against the Blackhawk’s net, the Av’s seemed to avoid setting up hasty lines of defense half-circling their goalie, which is when the Blackhawks regained the puck, sustained direction and scored. In other words, the Av’s lost their own game; they weren’t victimized by canny Blackhawk plays. Fact: the best goalie on ice is often a second line of defense. By no means had Varlamov wimped out; it appeared that his territory was penetrated because a mobile Av’s barrier hadn’t encircled it, i.e., the Av’s goalie wasn’t screened quickly eough. Were points awarded to a hockey team for a goalie’s number of successful saves, the Av’s would have left the ice with NBA instead of NHL numbers when added to the high number of Av shots that almost penetrated the Blackhawk's net from fast escapes for the clear attempt.

But neither the Av’s nor the Blackhawks seemed to be running plays as much as they were being responsive to unexpected occurrences, the game belonging mostly to the man finding himself closest to the puck by chance, not by design, hard to avoid in a sport where plans go awry a lot sooner than during other sports. During their recent road trip, territorial control all sides of the rink seemed to be the Av’s advantage during each game won.     

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WORLD SERIES  //  NFL  // NBA

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Our new posts appear every Tuesday & Friday. Comments are welcome. Editor, Marvin Leibstone, E: mlresources1@aol.com.

WORLD SERIES, CARDS VS. RANGERS ---  IT was believed back in April that the Colorado Rockies would enter the post-season, next the World Series. It didn’t happen. The Rockies went down in May, recovered only slightly and tanked again. Also in April, few analysts thought that the St. Louis Cardinals could make it to the post-season, become National League champs and compete in the World Series. Now the Cards are tall for the WS shootout versus the American League’s best, the Texas Rangers, a team April’s pundits thought could be a post-season contender but would fail to reach the WS.

Over the weekend, the Rangers became the first AL champion of the past 10 years to be appearing at the WS two years running. So, is this an unusual outcome relative to April’s predictions? Not really. Were the MLB season of less than half its games, predictions about MLB franchises would probably hold up, but they rarely do in that baseball’s season of more than 160 games leaves lots of room for mishaps and also for the positive turnabouts that happened for the Cardinals, a team that months ago was expected to finish the 2011 regular season where the Rockies ended up, below .500.

From April through August and into early September, the Cards went up and down from marginal to lackluster, yet hardly ever into zones of the pathetic, staying at that line where a few new wins could propel a team toward wild card status. Thanks to other NL franchises suddenly on the skids in late August and after, the Cards 18-8 September record took on meaning, the team was quickly post-season bound, soon playing well enough to make the Atlanta Braves irrelevant and face the Milwaukee Brewers for the NL-LC.

Crucial during the LC series was manager Tony La Russa’s astute leadership regarding the Card’s limitations. Aware of the vulnerabilities among his starting pitchers, La Russa replaced them at the earliest signs of trouble. The Cards post-season relievers averaged a 3.55 ERA, forcing outs from the Brewers and edging the Cards toward a 6-game LC championship.

The Texas Rangers also won its 2011 LC in six games, from a well balanced combo of effective hurlers and competent hitters, much in evidence during game six, which the Rangers won, 15-5. From hitting prowess, the Rangers overcame a two game deficit in the LC series, with Texas batter Nelson Cruz finishing the LC series having hit six home runs and attaining 13 RBI’s. The Cards rotation and relievers will have to outsmart Cruz and also Texas sluggers Josh Hamilton and Michael Young, and Cards batter Albert Pujols will need to upgrade his post-season hitting so as to offset the Texas RBI’s. Too, La Russa is the more experienced manager when compared with most other MLB leaders; his ability to choose and order up the unexpected yet right action can make a huge difference for the Cards---such will certainly contribute to the WS avoiding boredom.

NFL  ---   A game to watch at mid-season when the Denver Broncos play Oakland after challenging the Miami Dolphins and the Detroit Lions will be the currently undefeated Green Bay Packers vs. the now 4-1 San Diego Chargers. If the Broncos should happen to beat Miami and Detroit and then the now 4-2 Oakland, and the Chargers lose to Green Bay, then the currently 1-4 Denver team won’t be looking uglier than ugly in the AFC-West, it’ll be a 4-4 franchise with seven weeks of the season left to rise above .500. Does this put pressure on new Denver starting quarterback, Tim Tebow? He might as well be chained to a chair underneath an elephant hanging by hooks from a low ceiling that lowers an inch every half-hour.

The above said and regarding any hopes for the Broncos finishing the NFL season among top teams, the possibility of it is there but way south of it actually happening. Right now, the competition for top positions in the NFL is high with the Packers at 6-0 and both the Lions and the San Francisco 49ers at 5-1, the Baltimore Ravens at 4-1, plus the New York Giants, the Buffalo Bills and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers each at 4-2. Of the eight remaining season games that the Broncos will play starting November 13, most will be against teams already in the year’s top half of NFL franchises, and, according to most NFL analysts, the likelihood of the Broncos beating Detroit and Oakland in November is slim. As of today, only three teams are in worse shape than the Broncos---the Minnesota Vikings and the Carolina Panthers, each at 1-5, and the Miami Dolphins, 0-5.     

NBA  ---  IT’s nearly that time of year when professional baseball beds down and pro-basketball appears on the horizon. But there may not be an NBA season for some time, so if you’re an NBA fan and can’t cotton to college basketball or to a hoop video game, then, while NBA billionaires (team owners) and millionaires (players) argue over revenue and percentiles during their lockout, you can gain enrichment from a good basketball DVD and some reading. Here are choices---DVD: The FIRST BASKET. It’s about the early days of basketball that led to what would be the NBA, a happening occurring less from business choices and more from pure athleticism as if basketball prowess was, like baseball, central to the nation’s evolution, with player and coaching smarts instilling among fans and promoters the idea of a national league. Though basketball began in Massachusetts many generations ago, it first seeded deeply in New York City by Jewish players who took to it from the streets, dominating the sport the way that African-Americans illuminate and strengthen basketball today. The FIRST BASKET tells this story with vivid glimpses of the game’s early greats, among them, Red Auerbach, who became one of basketball’s most winning and most esteemed head coaches (Boston Celtics) .  .  .   BOOKS:  I’d recommend two books year after year, for they bring back and reinforce those game essentials that we tend to shift onto back-burners when life’s other necessities distract. Sacred Hoops, first published in the mid-1990’s and written by legendary Chicago Bulls and L.A. Lakers head coach, Phil Jackson, has been re-issued, reminding that basketball is a game of mind and spirit joined, not just of rote-learned skills. Sacred Hoops also reminds that basketball is an opportunity for five men and their reserves to become a perfect force of one inside a domain of possibilities, each player preventing the invasion of ego-driven objectives. Yes, Jackson-led basketball is about teamwork through players able to balance and fuse their individual skills and contributions harmoniously .  .  .   At first, Sacred Hoops can seem old hat, but as you read on it stops being another kowtow to the primacy of teamwork---you meet up with Jackson’s insistence on meditation, self-understanding and centering, which became an extra edge enabling Michael Jordan, Scotty Pippen and other Bulls players to dominate basketball several years straight. According to Jackson, winning includes spiritual content, which allows aggression to expand coolly and actually improve player and team performances, no anger, no venom, no non-basketball thoughts getting in the way.

Published last year, Sports Illustrated writer Chris Ballard’s THE ART OF A BEAUTIFUL GAME addresses the numerous tactical skills that basketball players must master to compete effectively in the NBA, among them, and in addition to general shooting and the dunk, Ballard lists and discusses rebounding, passing, free throws, blocking, point guard leadership, one-on-one defense and double-teaming. Read this book and you will fathom basketball in a new way, you’ll enjoy the game with greater understanding of its challenges and of that which helps differentiate its winners from its losers.

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BRONCOS //  MLB

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BRONCOS & QUARTERBACK TIM TEBOW     ---   LOTS of athletes with national attention have managed to reach and sometimes surpass their potential. We don’t know yet if the Denver Broncos new starting quarterback, Tim Tebow, can be one of them. We do know this: if a Heisman trophy, already observed skills on NFL playing fields, the determination to win and devotion to practice mean anything, Tebow could be joining the elite among active NFL QB’s, even if he fails to light up on Sunday, October 23, when the 1-4 Broncos challenge the currently 0-4 Miami Dolphins, even if in the next 11 Broncos games he fails to be behind the seven that Denver needs to be a .500 team (2011 would be his first nearly complete go get it year, a forgivable period).

No way to hide it: the pressure to shine brightly during the Broncos/Dolphins game could keep Tebow from being what a top NFL QB should be. Yet if he does what he’s supposed to do instead of trying his utmost to meet the probably embellished expectations of his fans, then surely Denver running back Knowshon Moreno, receivers Brandon Lloyd and Willis McGahee, and Tebow’s pass protectors, they will be sharing the spotlight, spreading the stardust that should not mean much to Tebow if he’s the real thing and not taken by notions that all is his show and no-one else’s.

On the subject of expectations surrounding Tebow, while he is ranked number 28 among the all-time best college QB’s hurling touchdown passes with a total of 88 while at Florida U., there’s a Broncos supporting QB listed as number 18, having accrued 95 TD passes when at Notre Dame---Denver’s choice for back-up QB Brady Quinn, who within the top 25 college QB’s for greatest number of passing yards also ranks 18th, a list where Tebow is not to be found, though countering this is that Tebow leads Quinn in TD’s achieved directly with 57 TD’s, ranked 21 of 25 for all-time. In other words, Tebow is in the top percentage of America’s QB’s but he isn’t among the top 12, he isn’t a super-special gift to Denver from the football Gods (not yet, anyway), he hasn’t compared with 4-1 San Diego’s Philip Rivers or 5-0 Green Bay’s Aaron Rogers, QB's that helped tear the Broncos apart this season.

Enter Broncos head coach, John Fox, surely doing his utmost to see that it is never just a QB’s show, knowing that the rest of the Broncos offense must be the right match-ups for Tebow’s handoffs and throws. And, should Tebow reach his promise versus Miami by driving his offense for lots of points on the board, it’ll be up to the Broncos defense to keep from giving those points away, which has been a lot more of a problem for the Broncos in their 2011 plight than starting QB Kyle Orton has been. By the way, in no way should what happens in Miami after Bye week be a referendum on Orton. The Broncos have been losing as a team + coaches, not as the result of a single player’s spotty record.

MLB & WHAT THE POST-SEASON HAS TO SAY

WITHIN professional baseball there are big rays of envy that reach out from the post-season, invading those teams that stopped short in September, today wondering, “Why not us? Why didn’t we make it?” As always, the answers show up in the AL and NL LCS competitions, sometimes old news, other times new info and refreshing. Here’s what I mean: the four teams competing for LC’s (the Brewers, Cardinals, Rangers and the Tigers) are not the big market teams of the MLB that usually show up in the post season and get to the World Series---that’s new and indicative of greater balance in professional baseball, good for the sport nationally. Both the Yankees and the Red Sox, and last year’s WS winning team the SF Giants, they’ve been blown away by smaller market/smaller budget teams comprising low ERA rotation depth, plus relievers to be counted on, and closers that usually close triumphant, which offsets any weaknesses among fielders, except there are no field weaknesses of the continuing variety in the four teams that made it to the top.

Too, (not new) the batting orders of the four teams keep exploiting that rare opportunity that appears when scores are low due to the effective pitching, with just enough heavy hitters for those extra base hits and the now and then home run. Then there’s the intangible, that unseen attribute that can make a big difference in critical moments, this: for whatever reason, situational factors appear to be looked upon by the four LC contending teams as chances to prevail against their opponents, not as impenetrable obstacles, example: bases are loaded, there are two outs, and the hurler on the mound says to himself, “Here’s my chance to show what I’ve got, I’ll strike the next dude out in three throws.”

Ideally, in baseball each new batter adopts a new and appropriate strategy, based on number of outs and if any bases are manned, but this is extremely difficult to sustain when coming toward batters are balls thrown faster than 90 MPH. Immediate batter-improvisation is what usually happens after a batter’s first swing, he makes things up as the minutes pass, unless special moves are signaled to him by a manager or coach. The players of those teams now vying for LC’s seem to follow set courses of action a lot longer than those players of most teams that failed to make the post-season this year.

Whichever two of the four teams get to be in the WS this year, it’s an informed guess that their WS iterations will be fiercely controlled inning after inning---a seven game 2011 WS is quite possible.

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BRONCOS  // WORLD SERIES

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ANY NFL head coach worth his salary will prefer the safer player option. But he will go for the cautious risk when there’s a fair chance of success. Too, the good head coach won’t mess with ideas that have shown little or no success. Broncos field boss John Fox seems to fit this category of leader, and analysts are saying that his keeping Kyle Orton as the Broncos starting quarterback is no longer the safer option, instead it's become the cautious risk and could soon be the bad idea---Orton’s been on the downward side of the win pole, in spite of significant gains in yardage in the majority of games played since the NFL lockout ended.

And from a game vs. the San Diego Chargers on Sunday, the use of Tim Tebow as a starter has gone from bad idea to cautious risk, the latter because there’s no Tebow guarantee of a swift Broncos climb toward the winner’s circle during the season’s remaining games. Uncertainty is still the bane of the Broncos, and usually is of any team filled with talent yet of talent that can’t seem to rise up from inconsistency, from yo-yoing from superb performances in a single game to the embarrassing, then up and down again.

Orton can pass the ball well but he has had trouble exploiting third and fourth down red zone opportunities for the successful TD rush, and in many a game his passes have been amazingly deep and would have been more accurate if the timing for connectivity with an open receiver wasn’t off. Yes, Tebow needs to pass better and there’s no evidence that he’s any more proficient and more consistent than Orton is at maintaining well-timed QB/receiver connections, though the evidence of Tebow's skills for such came through in the last quarter of the vs. San Diego game. Even so, the better passer, Orton, threw for only 34 yards in the first half against the Chargers and he was but six for 13, while Tebow passed for 79 yards in the second half, finishing 4 for 10.

Starting Tebow against Miami after Bye week would surely reflect cautious risk taking, but why not? There’s no safe option when it comes to Orton, not anymore. The Broncos are 1-4, a place where a team has to put imagination and risk to work. Sunday included two Tebow TD’s, one from Tebow rushing. Fox giving Tebow the green light for starting in Miami could no longer be listed among flaky rushes to judgment. 

Important is that Coach Fox makes sure that his QB options won’t mask the weaker Broncos segments, which are the components of a defense that need empowerment, that still allow responses to an effective offense to be far too reactive. Broncos defenders aren’t commanding and directive enough, causing the defense to lack sufficient chase and block speed, unable to force the opposing offense into positions where it could only gain minor yardage or none at all. Not that the Broncos defense was completely without shining moments on Sunday---a fine interception came as quick revenge for a Charger intercept, becoming a TD, and there were more Broncos interferences than in previous games, except during those tight situations that led to the 29-24 loss..

WORLD SERIES ---  IT’s been going on since 1903, when the American League’s Boston Red Sox beat the National League’s Pittsburgh Pirates. That’s an entire century of World Series games plus seven (no WS in 1904). Of these competitions, the AL has won more WS than the NL, and the NYY have had the most and longest streaks, winning the WS in 1927 and 1928, then each year 1936 through 1939, and each year from 1949 through 1953, again in 1961 and 1962, next 1977 and 1978, once more 1998 through year 2000.

But since year 2000 there have been no streaks, it’s been an 11 year period during which teams much younger than the NYY have been WS victors, among them, the Diamondbacks, the Marlins and the Angels, an era during which the Red Sox have won two WS after not having won since 1918. Between 1903 and 1918, Boston won the WS five times.

Which team has had the most WS wins since 1903? The NYY---26 wins. Another sign of change in the years since 2000 is that no team has repeated as a WS winner consecutively or otherwise. Last year, it was the NL’s San Francisco Giants, eliminated from the LC series this year. The 2009 WS winner? The NYY, eliminated from the opportunity this year by the Detroit Tigers.

Good news is that of the last 10 WS, the NL and AL have each won five, a good balance for MLB.

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ROCKIES // BRONCOS

(For more sports analysis there's Mile High Sports Radio @ AM1510, and Denver's best sports bloggers, milehighsports.com)

FROM hanging with hopelessness instead of hope, a city’s sports teams can seem like shards of broken glass in different corners of a deserted alley, example: the Rockies, Broncos, Nuggets and Avalanche being way distant from the near-invincibility shown in past seasons. Fans in Detroit, Michigan, may have experienced this sense of loss when the Detroit Lions went a season without having won a game, when neither the Detroit Tigers nor the Detroit Pistons fulfilled expectations. However, the Lions recently rose to 4-0 in the NFL, while the Tigers made it to the post-season. Last night they beat the NYY and won a division title; they can be the year’s National League championship team. As for the Pistons, well, in many an American city the NBA is now a bad dream.

A point being made is that hopelessness need not exist because the Colorado Rockies tanked in 2011 and the Denver Broncos are at 1-3 after Sunday’s crushing blow from the Green Bay Packers. While hopelessness underscores the past and dwells on mistakes of recent games, hope addresses the near and distant future. Crazy though it may seem, hope shouts that the Rockies can take the National League-West in 2012 and be in the NL precisely where the Tigers are today in the American League; and, the Broncos can finish 2011 as a winning franchise. If the Lions could get to 4-0, the Rockies and the Broncos can improve greatly providing, of course, that the right things happen to change current conditions. As for the Denver Nuggets, it’s likely that they’ll be storming Europe and China for quite awhile. The Avalanche? Too early in the NHL season for comment.

Last year at this time, commentators were predicting that the Rockies could make it to the World Series in 2011, a speculation based on the Rockies seeming to have a strong per position team, which included starting pitcher Jorge De La Rosa, 2010 ace hurler Ubaldo Jiminez (19 wins) and competent closer, Huston Street (31 season saves, career best), plus top NL batters Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki, and highly praised manager, Jim Tracy. Looking back at the regular 2011 season, Gonzalez and Tulowitzki came through for the Rockies after a slow start, but De La Rosa flipped onto the DL, Jimenez went belly-up and Street slipped beneath his potential.

Looking at the current post-season, seen is that each team battling for supremacy is ace-hurler dominant, each of a pitching staff comprising starters, relievers and closers of exceptional merit. It’s no myth, the pendulum has swung back from batters dominating professional baseball to pitchers being at the forefront of those teams that get to be in October’s coveted races, a truth that the Rockies need to exploit favorably---in other words, if it appears that the current Rockies starters and closers cannot be in a class that includes Roy Halliday, Zack Greinke, Ian Kennedy, Justin Verlander, CC Sabathia and Mariano Rivera, then the Rockies GM and owners need to go shopping if that October berth is still of their hopes and dreams (it has to be a pitching staff with enough depth to ride out the possibility of a top starter and/or closer suddenly on the DL).

In recent years, baseball has seen fewer super hitters the likes of Williams, Dimagio, Aaron, Mays, Mantle, Maris, Rose, today’s Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols. Seeing Detroit pitchers strike out Yankee slugger Rodriguez twice last night underscores the mound’s high end value. Throughout MLB season after season since year 2000, there’s been an increase in strikeouts, plus fewer walks. But---“only hits that result in runs produce the win.” Batters still matter (last night, Detroit’s powerful hits gave them a 3-2 win and their division championship). So, the Rockies need more power at the back end of the line-up, in effect, catcher Chris Iannetta, fielder Ian Stewart and others increasing their on-base percentages, closing the gap between consistency of hits that put them on base and hits that become outs.

BRONCOS  ---  When an NFL team is 1-3 as a 16 game season moves on, a head coach can’t just concentrate on the next game, he has to reshape his season strategy for several games beyond the next. The nearest contest has to be used, in part, as a vehicle of preparation for the tougher competition scheduled further ahead. Broncos coach, John Fox, is in that tasking position right now, with San Diego the challenge on Sunday, followed by Bye week’s opportunity for restoration and game plan refinements, then comes Miami, Detroit and Oakland. Except for Miami, neither of these contests will be an easy ride. The San Diego Chargers are now a 3-1 team, Oakland 2-2, the Lions, 4-0.

A Broncos defense of the potential shown in games one through three of the season, and an offense capable of third and fourth down TD’s from inside the opposition’s red zone, can go a long way toward preventing another 4-12 season finish. This requires the sudden appearance of a Broncos defense that remains immediately aware of opposition plays as each play begins, a defense that has the speed and strength forcing those opposition plays into the ground without significant Denver territory being lost; translation: sacks, pass interferences, interceptions.  

Needed, too, is an offense where the Denver quarterback/receiver connectivity creates a high sum of first downs resulting in TD’s and, when necessary, in field goals. This asks for Denver receivers savvy and quick enough to cause an opposition to break ranks, thereby freeing other receivers for an effective catch or handoff. Asked for is an offense neither hellbent for only a running game or for a passing game but instead for running the ball or passing the ball based on situational factors of the moment. Yes, the closer that a team is to a possible TD the more important running the ball becomes, but a Broncos offense acting upon the best option available, either passing long or short or running the ball the moment that a chosen play is interfered with is probably the best course for Denver QB Kyle Orton to follow.   .  .  All of this aside, should the Broncos lose to San Diego, next lose to the Lions and again lose to Oakland, even from beating Miami such will leave the Denver team at 2-6 with half the season over. Repeating this record in the second half of the season, get it? Another 4-12 finish for the Broncos (ugh!).

             

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DENVER BRONCOS // WORLD SERIES

            ---Want more sports analysis, go to Mile High Sports Radio AM 1510, and to Colorado’s best sports blogging team: milehighsports.com---

BRONCOS --- AGAINST the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, October 2, 2011, the Denver Broncos showed what it takes to fail. From mid-first quarter on, the Broncos defense spun out flakily and stayed behind the power curve, aggressive and alert only too late as the Packers offense humiliated the Denver franchise, 49-23. Slow to identify and respond to plays connecting Packers QB Aaron Rodgers to his fast receivers, the Denver defense defeated itself. Direction of the game went to Rodgers and company. The Packers scored during each Q, and from every which way that a TD can happen---interception, long throw, short pass, handoff, Rodgers as dynamic rush-artist up the middle.

From comparison with the Broncos defense, the Broncos offense played just above the margin, scoring during each Q, completing 165 passing yards and 119 rushing yards. Orton threw for 273 yards and completed 22 of 32 passes, was responsible for three TD’s, one less than Rodgers. From their rushing, the top three Broncos receivers accrued 115 yards, while the Packers top three gained 110, and the Broncos top three pass receivers accumulated 221 yards, close to the Packers top three gaining 232. Also, the Broncos average in yards gained per play was 6.9, just under the Packers 7.3. Another upside is that Orton was sacked only once, clearly an improvement in the pocket over previous weeks.

Still, three interceptions and a fumble have their price, and the Broncos offense paid, unable to offset the weaknesses of the Broncos defense with what makes the difference when the clock signs off---points accumulated from drives across that white line for a TD or field goal. Note that the Broncos number of first downs gained was far inferior to that of the Packers, 18 under 26, certainly TD susceptible for the Packers.

Would Coach John Fox placing Tim Tebow back in the game during the last half have made a positive difference? An answer based on recent experiences of Tebow as QB afield would surely be “Probably not,” while an answer built from Tebow’s college football days would lean in the direction of “Damn right it would have.” But no matter, the Broncos defense had unraveled, unable to inflict serious spoilage upon savvy and swift Green Bay receivers of a football hurled speedily and accurately by Rodgers.

And so the Broncos are now 1-3, with 3-1 San Diego a pivotal challenge come Sunday, in that a fourth of the NFL season will be over for the Denver team. Unless the Broncos defense can suit up and react smarter and faster, no longer giving away points earned by the Orton-led offense, surely the weeks that follow will be about anchoring for that respectful season finish short of a championship. Should the Broncos defense fail laterally and deep, whether it’s Orton, Quinn or Tebow leading the Broncos offense, well, such won’t matter very much.

MLB --- The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the San Francisco Giants last week, finishing as leader of the NL-West. If they win the NL championship and go to the World Series, it will be a second go at the WS for the DB’s, their first in 2001 when they beat the New York Yankees, 4-3. And should the DB’s win in 2011, excluding the 2001 win they will be the second NL-W team to do so since the L.A. Dodgers won the WS in 1988. They will also be the sixth NL team to win the WS since 2001. Far-fetched? Maybe---the money is now on Philadelphia or Milwaukee as the NL entry.

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MONEYBALL: THE MOVIE

Marvin Leibstone, MHS

THIS is about a sports flick that is NOT titled Moneyball: The Broadway Musical, though that could be in the making. After all, there was a musical several decades ago called Damn Yankees, which could have been a proper title for the original book and recent film, Moneyball,  by Michael Lewis, who also wrote The Blind Side, for it was New York Yankee dollars that got the ball rolling for the book, Yankee boss Steinbrenner’s money “blindsiding” the rest of professional baseball. The central character of Moneyball (book and movie) is Oakland Athletics General Manager Billy Beane, committed to making the Steinbrenner approach to building a winning team irrelevant, and he succeeds, transforming the constructs for MLB team development and readiness.    

But while lots of MLB GM’s, team mangers and players take Moneyball seriously and to heart, they also believe that it includes inherent dangers. For instance, seeing the game only as statistics pointing to how players should function afield and at the plate, therefore only doing what the applicable statistics advise, such could surely substitute for new information capable of making the difference between winning and losing. The statistics might say, “Next batter, he’d better bunt,” but what if that batter is Troy Tulowitzki and he’s been enjoying a hitting streak, it’s the ninth inning and an extra base hit would send in the winning run? Maybe it’s best to ignore the statistics and tell Tulowitzki to swing away.

Too, there isn’t a GM or manager in baseball who can ever have enough information, even if the spirits and minds of the three Bills (James, Gates and Beane) together built the world’s most advanced investigative software. All sports and especially baseball contain more possible actions that will appear for the first time afield, many of them forcing managers and players to decide in seconds between unfavorable options, e.g., Jim Tracy deciding if he should pull an unlucky Jhoulys Chacin out and replace him with Jason Hammel now coveting the National League’s worst ERA. That’s got to be the same as being locked by accident in a cage with a lion and a tiger---who should you fear first? Another example: statistics said that Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan was too old to continue in the game, he should buy a ranch, raise cattle; he stayed on anyway and at age 40 had an amazing year. Why? Not even Ryan can explain the uptick in his wins and the low ERA.

Yet it was the book Moneyball that shifted attention to what a lot of GM’s and managers already knew, that it is runs from base hits that usually wins games, from which higher on base percentages went to the forefront of what makes some baseball players better than others. Too, from Moneyball’s advocacy of reliance on computer software the evaluation of an upcoming player’s potential is now dominated by data configurations rather than from mostly a scout’s intuition.

Definitely an entertaining and educative film, the movie does an injustice, portraying Oakland Athletics manager Art Howe as a dufus who couldn’t possibly manage a Little League team, let alone the A’s, and the whiz kid assisting Billy Beane in the movie is not as nerdy as in the film. The film has moments when implied is that until Beane and his computer savvy partner came along, baseball owners, GM’s and managers were lacking sufficient smarts, a sort of insult to greats Branch Rickey, Casey Stengel, Joe Torre,  Tommy Lasorda, so many others. Mostly it’s a movie about a hero bucking the system, the quintessential American hero, Beane the deputy sheriff facing down the black hats, the spoilers---he wins.

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ROCKIES & 2012

            (For more sports analysis, go to Mile High Sports radio AM1510, and to Denver’s best sports blogging team: milehighsports.com)   

THE 2011 Rockies fell beneath the margin, they deep-sixed and Rockies manager Jim Tracy chose NOT to fire any of his coaches. There’ll be no pink slips, no burn notices for the Rockies coaching staff during the remainder of Tracy’s watch, which, to my thinking, deserves full respect, for it speaks to a leadership quality best expressed by the phrase that all wise bosses take to heart, “The buck stops here.” It says that Tracy and his coaches have acknowledged their role in the Rockies dismal May to September experience and that their job is to reverse course and knit together the team’s talents for a winning 2012.

IT’s not as if Tracy has to be that leader played by actor Lee Marvin in the classic war film, “The Dirty Dozen,” who turns bottom-of-the-pile misfits into expert warriors. The Rockies aren’t misfits; they are rostered talent that can rise to the occasion, having had it in them to win more than 90 of 162 games in 2011 instead of the less than 75 obtained. Yes, realistic expectations fell apart; however, the Rockies weak 2011 season occurred primarily from its potential for a winning record not being actualized, while that potential hadn’t disappeared completely. The big question is, Why the wide gap between team potential and what actually happened?

Reversing course means first noting the roadblocks, such as the Rockies pitching staff having an overall ERA bordering on the pathetic, plus the Rockies having delivered insufficient game-winning runs in spite of the team having a better than average on-base percentage, also insufficient depth of personnel for replacing players injured or in slumps or suddenly error prone, for example, unavailable all season were pitchers capable of providing the game winning consistency of injured starter Jorge De La Rosa and that of former Rockies starter, Ubaldo Jimenez, who slid surprisingly from ace status to mediocrity.

Too, injuries plus off-stride/off-swing hitting issues forced line-up changes that resulted in lack of teamwork experience, producing less than desired power at the plate and weak defense coordination, with little time available for Tracy and his coaches to observe new players and take them to optimum game readiness. Moreover, power hitters for the middle and back end of the line-up were nowhere to be found when needed urgently, which is a farm system preparedness issue that the Rockies front office needs to fix, and pronto!

But when looking at individual player performances, that of Carlos Gonzalez, Troy Tulowitzki, Todd Helton, Dexter Fowler, Seth Smith, Mark Ellis, occasionally Jhoulys Chacin, the Rockies appear to be a lot better than a team that finished far below .500, reflecting sufficient potential for a successful 2012, so it’s now the job of manager and coaches to bring that potential forward. Second big question---HOW?

Important for a Rockies turnaround is emphatic understanding that the coaches that Tracy has chosen to keep on board “underperformed” in 2011. They missed their marks. It’s up to Tracy to set the coaches in new directions before much else is done in preparation for 2012 .  .  .  which brings up the matter of training and readiness, that which all hitting, pitching and bench coaches are supposed to live for, and it flourishes best under the umbrella of a theme, which from review of the Rockies poor 2011 record ought to be, “Consistency.”  WANTED: Longer hitting streaks for Chris Iannetta and Ian Stewart that combine base hits with more power for the home run, also Jhoulys Chacin and Jason Hammel extending low ERA’s while winning more games instead of their high performances followed days later by embarrassing ruination, and Dexter Fowler on base more as leadoff man, plus more successful pickups at third base for the hurl to Todd Helton at first, and Jason Giambi in more games with a better ratio of home runs per at-bats.

Okay, how can the above-cited examples of consistency come about? How does a team’s potential stretch long, and sustain? Easy to say and difficult to execute is that coaches must insure that all player flaws are noted and examined to the nth degree, that the more trusted of identified solutions are applied thoroughly after testing, from something as simple as a batter wearing new contact lenses to the complexities of a pitcher’s choice between fastball, cutter, slider or curve. Then players have to train to the max under coach supervision surely a lot harder than in any year before.

In sum, and more than just intimated by Jim Tracy this week, the Rockies won’t get to rock until coach-player teaming starts rocking, and ASAP!

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DENVER BRONCOS  //  WORLD SERIES, 2011

            (For more sports analysis go to Mile High Sports Radio, AM1510; and to best Denver region sports blogging team at milehighsports.com)

BRONCOS  ----  IT was a good football game each side of the field, and the Denver Broncos could have won had its defense stopped the Tennessee Titans from driving 95 yards in the final quarter for a TD that put the Titans ahead, 17-14; or if with minutes to go in the fourth Q and at fourth down and goal, Broncos running back Willis McGahee had gone further across the Titans one yard line for a TD, or if Broncos head coach John Fox had instead of ordering that fourth down rush had selected a field goal attempt. Anyway, the Titans won it clean and the Broncos are now one win and two losses while preparing for next Sunday’s turn against Green Bay.

With regard to John Fox’s no FG decision, such speaks to a baseball situation: bottom of the ninth, Rockies are behind the Diamondbacks by one run, Rockies are up. First to the plate, Carlos Gonzalez, who walks. Up next, heavy hitter Troy Tulowitzki. No outs. Rockies manager Jim Tracy can have Tulowitzki sacrifice with a bunt, or Tulowitzki could try sending the ball out of the park for a home run. If the latter becomes a sacrifice fly, Gonzalez could run the bases, maybe reach third. Or, Tulowitzki could play the count for a walk, still no outs and the task of RBIs going to the remainder of the line-up. Which should it be? Bunt, putting the ball in the bleachers, sacrifice fly, going for the walk? Check with a baseball manual, it’ll say, “Do the bunt.” But that’s no ordinary batter at the plate, it’s a most reliable slugger. So, Tracy opts for the long ball, green lights Tulowitzki to swing away. Then---Tulowitzki strikes out! The next two batters ground out and the DB’s win, Tracy’s proper choice collapsing like a punctured balloon.

Transfer the baseball situation to football and to John Fox setting aside the FG attempt, his having Orton and the right man for it McGahee doing what a football manual speaks against: Fox, Orton and McGahee opted for a TD and became the train that couldn’t, failure by inches. Was it the right choice? Considering the effective Orton and McGahee performances of earlier in the afternoon, the question deserves a Yes. Ask the question of many football coaches and they’ll agree, they’ll argue that sports wisdom advises a risk when the odds are better than good, though failure still looms in the near-distance. Anyone dissing Coach Fox for his decision has to get it that all sports are speculative moment-by-moment, therefore any “rational” choice is a good choice.  

And from the vs. Titans game, there’s no reason for Orton-bashing or talk about switching ASAP for QB Brady Quinn or QB Tim Tebow, especially for Sunday vs. Green Bay. Certainly justifying Orton as starting quarterback is that the Broncos offense gained 333 yards against the Titans. Tennessee’s offense obtained 231 vs. the Broncos. Yes, the Titans rushed for more yards than had the Broncos, 59 over 38---once again the Broncos kept getting into the red zone but couldn’t exploit all scoring opportunities via the extended rush; surely this is the Orton/receiver weakness that needs early on fixing.

The Broncos defense?  It’s become a heads-up defense, yet some of its plays were foiled by Titan fakes, to which the Broncos defense hadn’t recovered from fast enough, and there were Broncos defense plays where foot speed was off and so interferences that could have happened, didn’t. But if Elvis Dumervil and other injured players return on Sunday vs. Green Bay, we’ll be witnessing a different and probably better Broncos defense.

* * *

WORLD SERIES, 2011 ---  THOSE ball clubs that have won 90 or more games will compete soon for league championships and a go at the World Series: as of yesterday the NL’s Philadelphia Phillies from 99 wins, the Milwaukee Brewers from 94, the Arizona Diamondbacks, 93, the AL NYY’s from 97, the Texas Rangers, 93, the Detroit Tigers, 92, with competition from NL wild card contender the St. Louis Cardinals (88 wins) and AL wild card possible the Boston Red Sox (89 wins).

Probably the only solace that the Colorado Rockies can obtain from the above post-season list is that during the Rockies 2011 league + inter-league series with most of the listed teams, the Rockies, though now of a dismal 72/87 record, were not swept by them and in many cases had split a series. The Rockies are indeed a lot closer to .500 in games versus several of the top MLB franchises than vs. the complete spectrum of NL and AL clubs.

Of course, the eight teams currently listed for post-season play deserve the positions that they’ve achieved. Cumulatively, they represent 748 games won of the 4,860 that will be played by the 30 MLB teams as September comes to a close, definitely a huge share. Of particular note is that neither team has won the majority of its games from only a small string of baseball phenoms. Each has had a rounded-off staff of starting pitchers + relievers and closers, and they’ve had enough long ball batters interwoven and spreading power within a line-up’s OBP hitters/runners/base stealers. Too, most have had the necessary depth for replacing injured players. Surely the about-to-happen pennant races and the 2011 WS will be studies in what enables a baseball team to prevail against competition comprising extremely similar assets.

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