Curry a Big Mistake

New York Knicks center Eddy Curry continues to show that it was a mistake for the Knicks to bring him to New York.
First, he shows up with a heart condition and the Knicks didn’t even know if he was going to be able to play or not.
Then, he underachieves, hurts his knee, gets fat, shows up to training camp out of shape, hurts the OTHER knee, and NOW he seems that he has gotten himself into a legal dispute.
It appears that his personal driver is suing him, first, for about $90,000 in unpaid wages (c’mon, Eddy), and to add insult to injury, it seems that Curry is a homosexual - not that there’s anything wrong with that.
But the embarrassing part is that he sexually harrassed his driver, and allegedly exposed himself to him.
This type of conduct is totally unacceptable. Curry, not the first person in the Knicks’ organization in recent years to be slapped with a sexual harrassment suit (see Isiah Thomas), continues to add to New York’s problems.
This player has been a complete bust since he first arrived at the Garden. Not only has his playing not met expectations, but his lackadaisical attitude is not endearing himself to head coach Mike D’Antoni, either. To show up to training camp fat and out of shape simply shows that Curry doesn’t care.
He doesn’t care about his career, his teammates, his coaches, or perhaps worse, the people who pay his salary, the fans.
Knicks fans have had enough heartache since Willis Reed and Clyde Frazier raised the roof of Madison Square Garden with their second championship back in 1973.
First, there was Jordan, Jordan, and more Jordan, who consistently crushed New Yorker’s dreams of a title in the 80’s.
Then, there was the missed finger roll as well as the missed free throw (see Patrick Ewing)- both times costing New York a banner.
Now, since Ewing left, the Knicks have been in worse shape then ever. They don’t ever make the playoffs, Isiah put his dismal signature on the organization by running them even further into the ground, his scandal which finally got him out of the front office, a trade that cost the Knicks their top two scorers, bad draft picks, and now the Knicks expect their fans to put the next two seasons on hold in hopes of LeBron James gracing the Garden’s floor after the 2010 season.
Other than David Lee, this organization has very little to smile about. D’Antoni, once he makes this team his own with the roster that he will build, will bring New York back to respectability.
It is even obvious that he has earned the respect of his current team. This team will not make the playoffs, but they are not going down without a fight. Game after game, the Knicks may not be winning, but they are not giving up. And that is because of D’Antoni. After a trade like they made, if D’Antoni can still sell his system to the remaining roster, it is clear that they have bought into his philosophy, and they are fighting each and every night.
So, now this. Bringing Curry to New York was a bad move, and it appears that Curry is solidifying that belief with his latest shenanigans.
Curry needs to be unloaded by this club. It won’t be easy, because he makes a lot of money and nobody wants damaged goods, but the Knicks have got to do something about it.
This is a situation that was ugly from the start, and it’s only getting uglier.
Come on, Eddy, pay your driver and keep it in your pants. These are not the types of headlines that the Knicks expected to see about you when they acquired you. Grow up, show some respect for ALL of the people around you, and pay your bills.

Lee Most Underrated PLayer In NBA

New York Knicks power forward David Lee is beginning to take the NBA by storm, so you may want to keep your eye on him.
Lee, who came on last year off of the bench for the Knicks, has proven himself worthy of a starting position on the club.
On a team that shows little fire or intensity most of the time, Lee is the furnace that’s burning in Madison Square Garden’s cellar.
With the trades that the Knicks made earlier in the year, it may have been an easier decision for New York head coack Mike D’Antoni to play Lee more, or maybe it was just the enthusiasm and intensity that Lee plays with that earned him a starting position, but whatever the reason, you can’t deny that Lee belongs there.
With all of the fancy playmakers that this league has to offer, all of the high-flying dunks, alley-oops and amazing three-point jump shots, Lee simply goes out there night after night and fights for every loose ball, will take a two-handed slam if the defense is passive, and continues to throw up double-doubles night in and night out.
Lee’s numbers over the last six games are more than impressive. In his last six, Lee is averaging over 18 points per game and 12 rebounds.
Over the course of the season, his average is 15.2 ppg and 11.3 boards.
It would be easy for Lee to mail it in like management did on hopes that King James is coming to New York to save the franchise. But he hasn’t. Instead, Lee is playing as if two years away is two years away, and he’s not willing to sacrifice those two years by just going through the motions until (and if) LeBron comes to town.
His game is an example that several of his teammates can learn from. When you watch David Lee play, you tend to forget that you’re watching a team that has sacrificed the now for the future, a team that on paper has no business even thinking about such a thing as the playoffs. By watching Lee, you would think that he was defending a league championship.
You simply see a player that wants to grab every rebound and wants desperately to win every game that he plays, no matter who the comptetition is.
Lee could be a huge teammate for Lebron James, if he arrives in two years as projected. The two of them together could be quite a tandem to watch.
Knicks fans just better pray that management doesn’t decide to trade him, as well.

Islanders Establish Themselves

The New York Islanders have established themselves. Not in a positive way, mind you, but they are perhaps in the worst position as they ever have been as a National Hockey League team - the league's worst.

Before you try to say that I'm wrong - I know that the Islanders have 12 wins and that the Tampa Bay Lightning have just 11 - but look a little further in the stats and you will see why I am correct.

New York has 26 losses in regulation, which is the most in the NHL. Tampa has just 19 because they have lost 10 games in overtime.

Also, New York has only 28 points. It is the only team in the league that has not topped to 30 mark for points.

If you look at goals scored, the Islanders have 109 to their credit. Six teams have less goals than the Islanders, but the difference is that the Islanders have allowed 154 goals, compared to those other six clubs where just one of them, the Lightning, has allowed more than 120 goals - 124 to be exact.

Next, let's take a look at the flaming-hot hockey that New York has played over its last 21 games.

The Islanders have lost four straight games, six of their last seven, 16 of 18, and 18 of 21. That's miserable hockey, no matter who is on the injured list.

I know that preseason is preseason, but it's amazing how a team can win four of seven games in training camp, but can then go on to the regular season and win four of TWENTY-TWO! - including a 10-game losing streak.

A couple of years ago, it seemed as though perhaps the Islanders were on a road to being a contending team once again, but the last two seasons have been a joke.

They changed coaches again before this season, but it certainly hasn't seemed to help at all.

I don't know what GM Garth Snow is doing, and personally I don't think that he has a clue, either.

It sure doesn't appear that New York is in a winning direction, and this ship is sinking fast.

Something needs to be done, and quickly.

D'Antoni Making Things Happen

When the New York Knicks announced this past summer that they were signing former Phoenix Suns head coach Mike D'Antoni, many speculated that although D'Antoni was a very good coach, the contention was that his running style of play would not work with the current Knickerbockers' personnel.

Although it is certainly too soon to be making room for any banners in the Madison Square Garden rafters, the Knicks have made a statement by getting off to a 6-3 record, their finest start in a decade.

The Knicks are actually still in the playoff hunt, which sadly enough hasn't been much of an option nine games into the season in recent seasons, as New York typically has proven itself to be a roster of overpaid underachievers by the end of the first month of play.

Instead, the Knicks find themselves in second place in the Atlantic Division, just two games behind the World Champion Celtics, who are off to a hot start of their own at 9-2.

They are 4-1 at the Garden and 2-2 on the road. That is generally what you ask of your team, to win at home and to play .500 on the road. That normally qualifies as a recipe for success, especially in the NBA, where half of the league makes it to the post season. And anything can happen once the playoffs begin.

13.3 million-dollar-man Zach Randolph has begun to earn his paycheck, as he is both scoring and averaging 12.3 rebounds per game, third in the NBA.

Nate Robinson continues to electrify the crowd, sitting at fifth in the league with 2.4 steals per game.

The Knicks also have balanced scoring. You won't find a Knickerbocker in the top 10, or even the top 15 of the league in points per game, but both Jamal Crawford and Randolph are averaging more than 20 points per contest, with Crawford leading the team at 21.9 and Randolph at 20.1, and the Knicks have three other players averaging double digits.

And don't forget Chris Duhon, who has done a fine job of running D'Antoni's offense and dishing out nearly seven assists per game.

And all of this is being done without perhaps the most selfish, unhappy, overpaid player in the league: Stephon Marbury.

The Knicks have begun talks with Starbury about a buyout, because they are in such a tough situation due to the astronomical salary that Marbury brings to the table, and his being somewhat of a distraction, or better said, a cancer, in the locker room. It's a lot of baggage, and with every team in the league knowing that, a trade is nearly impossible. So, the Knicks are left with the option of buying him out, since he has not played a minute yet this season, and is making a quarter of a million dollars per game to be a spectator.

Although Duhon has served the Knicks well thus far, D'Antoni is still shopping for a point guard, so who knows what the future will bring.

They may not win 50 games this year, but the 2008-09 Knicks are making things interesting, and after several years they are finally giving the Madison Square Garden crowd something to cheer for, and some hope for the future of the organization.

Giants Still the Team to Beat in NFC

At 7-1 after eight games this season, the World Champion New York Giants have picked up where they left off this past February...winning games.
There was a bit of controversy in Giants' camp coming into this season, such as the loss of Michael Strahan, and how New York was planning on filling that void.
Was the end of last year just a fluke for Eli Manning, or had he finally come into his own?
Manning has thrown for more than 3,000 yards in each of the past three seasons, including over 3,700 in '05, and this year is no different. Through eight games played, Manning has thrown for 1,735 yards, which projects to nearly 3,500 for the season.
He is also enjoying his most accurate season, completing over 61 percent of his passes. Manning has never completed 60 percent in a season.
Manning has also thrown 24, 24, and 23 touchdowns over the past three seasons. This year he has 12, which is right on pace for 24.
And, finally, Manning is throwing less interceptions than ever. Again, since 2005, he threw 17, 18, and 20 picks, respectively. This year Manning has thrown just five, which would put him on a pace for 10 on the season. Quite a step up from the previous three seasons.
The loss of Strahan was bad enough, but when New York's other defensive end, Osi Umenyiora, went down in week 1, the doubters were out again.
Hence, the arrival of Justin Tuck. Although Tuck had a fine season last year as the G-Men's third DE, there were questions as to how he would play as a starter.
As he has shown , Tuck has had no problem settling in as a regular, posting 8.5 sacks, 36 tackles, an interception, and a TD, and the Giants' defense has been outstanding this season, even without Strahan and Umenyiora.
The Giants are at 7-1 on the 2008 campaign, and it seems as if they are making it look easy (tossing out the Cleveland game) by routing teams, as they did to the Dallas Cowboys this past Sunday.
New York may not have the best record in the NFL (see Tennessee's undefeated 8-0 mark), but they do seem to be the best in the NFC, and ready to not just defend their crown, but to annihilate anyone that stands in their way.

Islanders Continue to Take Steps Back

Watching the changes that the New York Islanders make to their personnel each year is reminiscent of the old song: "take one step forward and two steps back."
Each year, New York adds interesting pieces to their puzzle (and believe me, this team is puzzling), but also loses key elements. If you take a look at the roster of players that the Islanders have let go over this past decade, you find the makings of what would be a pretty good hockey team.
This year, the Isles do not have Miro Satan. Although Satan's numbers declined over his three seasons in New York (66 in his first year, 2005-06, 59 in '06-'07, and 41 in '07-'08), he still finished last year as a 40-point player, which is more than many others on this roster can claim.
After the '07 campaign, Jason Blake departed. Blake was a fan favorite, a shorthanded specialist, and a huge spark plug for the team. They lost a lot of intensity and fire when he left.
The year before, Mark Parrish was wished farewell. Parrish was perhaps the best and most consistent scorer that the Islanders have had in the past decade. He was terrific in front of the net and on the power play, and New York lost a lot of goals when they lost Parrish.
Other players that were sent packing since the turn of the century include team captain, fan favorite, and All-Star Michael Peca. Peca is perhaps the best two-way player in the NHL, and is fantastic on the penalty kill. Enough said.
In addition, Alexei Zhitnik, Roman Hamrlik, Adrian Aucoin, Chris Osgood, Tim Connolly, and Zdeno Chara were all bid adieu.
If you take all of these players, and if the Islanders would have kept them, this is quite a formidable roster. But as they did with Zigmund Palffy, Todd Bertuzzi, and a host of other young talent, the Islanders let them go, mostly to save money.
In this day of free-agency and high-priced contracts, it has been proven (mostly by the Detroit Red Wings) that you need to spend money to put a decent product on the ice.
The Islanders, apparently, do not see it that way. Each year they add some exciting players, like a Doug Weight, but they offset that acquisition by letting other integral parts of the team go.
How good would New York be this season if they boasted a lineup of Weight, Peca, Parrish, and Blake at the forwards, to go with a defense corps of Hamrlik, Aucoin, Connolly, and Chara? Not to mention a goaltending tandem of Osgood and Rick DiPietro?
I know that you can't pay all of the players all of the time, and sometimes you have to give up some quality to get quality back in return, but if most of these players would have been kept on the Island, this team would be winning right now, and they would have been winning for the past several seasons.
It wouldn't be the same old one step forward and two steps back.

Stampede Nips Trumbull in Final At-Bat

Trumbull Post 141 decided to intentionally walk Erich Lange to load the bases in the bottom of the seventh, but it came back to bite them as pitcher Brett Blueweiss hit Ben Cook on the first pitch to force home Tyler Prehoda and give the Saratoga Stampede a 6-5 win on Friday night at Saratoga’s East Side Rec.
Trumbull showed off their offensive prowess right from the start, as shortstop Daren Micalizzi belted a line drive to the left-center field gap for a leadoff triple. Tim Zubrinsky then got his job done, hitting a ground ball to the right side of the infield to knock in Micalizzi for a 1-0 Trumbull lead.
Saratoga starting pitcher Levi Washburn settled down after that, and yielded just a harmless single before retiring the side.
The Stampede tied the game in the bottom of the inning. Lee Jay Pollachi singled and stole second base. Justin Wilock flied out to right field, and Pollachi alertly tagged up and went to third. Mike Allen followed with a fly ball to medium depth left field, and Pollachi came home to tie the game at one.
Neil Callahan and Scott Hladik then smacked base hits, but Kyle Baldani struck out to end the inning.
Trumbull would jump back out ahead in the top of the second. With one out, Washburn walked Anthony Vinci, and then Kurt Sieier doubled, putting runners on second and third. Colin Moore grounded out to Wilock at second, scoring Vinci to make it a 2-1 game. Sieier, now at third, then tried to steal home, but Baldani was waiting for him to apply the tag.
Saratoga was sent down in order by Trumbull starting pitcher Brett Blueweiss in order in the bottom of the inning, but Trumbull continued to build their picket fence with another run in the third.
Zubrinsky drew a walk to start the inning, and then stole second. Lou Tarantino then doubled to make it 3-1. Washburn then received a little luck, and Ben Benigno cracked a line drive right to Allen at short, and with Tarantino leaning off the base, Allen flipped to Wilock to complete the 6-6-4 double play. Washburn then got Ben Walkley to fly out to left field to end the inning.
The Stampede again were sent down in order in the third, but then mounted a serious threat in the bottom of the fourth. Three straight two-out walks would load the bases, but Blueweiss got Chris Curcio to ground out to second to end the threat.
Both teams would find some offense in the fifth. Micalizzi struck out to begin the inning for Trumbull, and a walk and an infield single put two base runners on. After Washburn struck out Benigno for the second out, Walkley ripped a double to drive in a pair of runs to give Trumbull a 5-1 lead. An error on Pollachi in center field allowed Walkley to advance to third, but Washburn stranded him there when he got Chris Bove to pop out to Allen at short.
Saratoga began their rally with two outs and Allen on first. Callahan doubled, driving in Allen and cutting the deficit to 5-2. Hladik singled to left field, holding Callahan at third, but then a wild pitch scored Callahan to make it 5-3, and sent Hladik to third. Baldani then grounded to short to retire the side.
Washburn was very sharp in the sixth, sandwiching two strikeouts around a ground ball to short.
In the bottom of the frame, the Stampede would tie the game. Lange opened the inning with a base hit to left, and then Cook followed with a double. An error on the play on shortstop Micalizzi allowed Lange to score and sent Cook to third. After Curcio popped out to shallow right, Pollachi laid down a beautiful bunt just as Cook was racing towards home for a perfect suicide squeeze to tie the game at 5-5. Blueweiss settled down after that and he got both Wilock and Allen to foul out to Walkley, the catcher, for the final two outs.
Things got very interesting in the top of the seventh. With one out, Washburn walked Zubrinsky before getting Tarantino to ground out to Lange at third. With two outs and first base open, the Stampede decided to intentionally walk Benigno to set up the force out. But instead, Washburn walked Walkley, and the bases were loaded.
The tension mounted as Washburn went to a full count on Bove, but then Bove fouled out to Baldani behind the plate to end the inning.
The base-on-balls would play a major part in the bottom of the inning as well. Callahan drew a free pass to start the inning, and then he moved to second when Hladik grounded out to first baseman Bove. A base hit by Baldani sent Callahan to third, and then Prehoda was sent in to replace him as a pinch runner.
With runners on the corners and one out, the Trumbull coaching staff then decided to intentionally walk Lange to set up a force at any base. That strategy would backfire, however, as Cook was then hit by the first pitch, forcing home Prehoda and giving the Stampede a 6-5 win.
Trumbull, the defending Connecticut State Champions, had come into the game with a 26-2 overall record, which is very impressive. With a veteran roster like they have, it made it all the more impressive that this young Stampede club came away with the win for their fifth straight in the tournament.
The Stampede will face Saugerties on Saturday afternoon, and if they win, they will go to the semi final game on Saturday night, which will determine who will play in the championship game on Sunday at East Field in Glens Falls.

Saratoga Tops Rondout in Extras

It took eight innings, but the Saratoga Stampede pulled out a win against the Rondout Royals on Thursday night for their fourth straight win in the 13th Annual Cooper’s Cave Tournament at Saratoga’s East Side Rec.
During the tournament, there is a coin flip to determine the home team. Saratoga lost the flip and was playing as the visiting team on its home field.
Both starting pitchers put on terrific displays of working into, and mostly out of, trouble over the first five innings, as just one run was scored during that time frame.
After a scoreless first inning, the Stampede would pick up the game’s first run in the top of the second.
Scott Hladik drew a walk to lead off the inning, but then Rondout starting pitcher Jackson Quinn got Erich Lange to foul out to catcher Nick Mason, and then he struck out Steve Brennan for the second out.
Ben Cook came up next, and he lined a double to left field, scoring Hladik and giving Saratoga starter Matt Coleman a 1-0 lead.
The Stampede continued to get runners on base over the next few innings, but could not get the clutch hit to bring runners home.
Meanwhile, Coleman breezed through the second inning, walked a pair of batters after striking out the first two in the third, and then got the final out without any damage done.
In the bottom of the fourth, he again got the first two batters out, and then gave up a single to Craig Gilliland. Gilliland went to second on a wild pitch, but then Ryan Layton popped out to Tyler Shattuck at second for the final out.
Saratoga made it a 3-0 ball game in the top of the sixth when Cook drove his second and third runs of the game when he knocked in Justin Wilock on a two-run blast over the left field wall.
The Royals would respond in a big way in the bottom of the inning. Nick Mason led off with a base hit to left field, and then Coleman went to 2-0 on Joe Dennin before he was relieved by Ryan White.
White went on to walk Dennin, and then gave up a three-run shot to left field off of the bat of Freddie Moore, and the game was tied at three. That apparently sparked a competitive fire inside of White, because he went to strike out the next three batters, and then struck out the side in order in the seventh.
The Stampede had been sent down quietly in the top half of the frame, so the game went into the eighth.
Leading off for Saratoga in the top of the eighth inning was Neil Callahan, who was 0-for-1 on the night with a pair of walks. Rondout starter Jackson Quinn had been very careful with Callahan all night, and he hadn’t let Callahan beat him to this point.
But Jackson got cute on the first pitch, trying to sneak the first strike in, and Callahan made him pay, crushing it over the left field wall for a 4-3 lead. Cook singled two batters later for his third hit of the night, but was stranded at first.
White came out to close the game, and if he felt any pressure, it would soon be relieved as Mason led off the inning by grounding out to Wilock at second. Dennin followed with a base hit to right field, and then once again White settled down. He was facing Moore, who had taken him deep just two innings before, but this time White struck him out on four pitches. He then fanned Joe Viviani on three pitches to end the ball game and lift Saratoga’s record to 4-0 in pool play.
Their next game will be on Friday night against Trumbull, Connecticut. Trumbull has looked very impressive so far in the tournament, and most of the team is comprised of scholarship ball players. It shows, because that team can hit from top to bottom in the batting order, and it’s going to take some very good pitching to keep them off of the scoreboard.

Stampede Holds off Saugerties for Third Tourney Win

The Saratoga Stampede took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the second inning, and then spent the rest of the night fending off a solid Saugerties Post 72 club for a 10-6 win, their third in the 13th Annual Cooper’s Cave Tournament, on Thursday afternoon at Saratoga’s East Side Rec.
There was plenty of offense early on, and Saugerties wasted no time against Stampede starting pitcher Travis Wilson. Jon Perrin led off the game with a base hit to left field, and then Joe Riccio moved him to second on a sacrifice bunt. Riccio’s twin brother Nick followed with a double, and Saugerties took a 1-0 lead. Wilson came back to strike out Kevin Casey, but then walked Mike Gunn. Sean Wachtel then smacked a swinging bunt that was near the mound, but Wilson fumbled the ball for the error and the bases were loaded.
Wilson then made up for his error, as he buckled down to go ahead on B.J. Doyle 0-2 before inducing Doyle to smack a grounder to Allen at short, and he flipped to Wilock at second to escape any further damage.
Saratoga would take advantage of several mistakes by Saugerties in the bottom of the inning to take a 2-1 lead.
LeeJay Pollachi tried to start the game off with a bunt base hit, but Saugerties starter Will Weissburg fielded it and fired to first for the first out. Levi Washburn followed with a double, and when Mike Allen reached on an error on Casey at first, the Stampede had runners on first and third with just one out. Walks to Neil Callahan and Scott Hladik and a pair of wild pitches plated two runs, and Saratoga had a 2-1 edge.
With runners on first and second with just one out, the Stampede could not take advantage of the situation, as Kyle Baldani struck out and Steve Brennan flied out to right field to end the inning.
In the second, a walk and back-to-back singles scored a run for Saugerties, and the game was tied at two.
In the bottom of the frame, Saratoga had some luck and did some damage to take the lead with two away. Wilock and Phil Dilorenzo struck out to start the inning, but then Pollachi reached on an error and stole second. Washburn’s base hit scored Pollachi to make it a 3-2 game, but he was thrown out trying to advance to second on the throw home to end the inning.
Saratoga extended its lead to 4-2 in the bottom of the third, when Allen was safe for an infield single, Callahan reached on an error, and after Hladik grounded into a double play, Baldani drove in Allen on a base hit.
Saugerties, however, would get the run back in the top of the fourth. After Ryan Hastie led off with a single to right-center field, Gabe Depoalla tapped one back to the box, and Wilson threw to first for the out. Depoalla, who advanced to second, took a shot at third, and Callahan gunned him down to complete the unconventional 1-3-5 double play.
The inning wasn’t over, however, and Perrin re-started the rally with a single to left. After Joe Riccio drew a walk, Nick Riccio drilled a base hit up the middle to knock in Perrin and pull Saugerties to within 4-3.
Wilock led off the fourth with a base hit to left field, and he was sent to second on Dilorenzo’s sacrifice bunt. But he would be stranded there as Pollachi and Washburn both struck out to end the inning.
Saugerties was sent down quietly by Wilson in the top of the fifth, but Saratoga would pad its lead in the bottom half.
With one out, the Stampede then received four consecutive singles by Callahan, Hladik, Baldani, and Dan Brennan. Baldani’s shot drove in Callahan, and Brennan’s plated Hladik and Baldani to raise Saratoga’s lead to 7-3.
Trailing by five runs, Post 72 would show its resiliency in the final two at-bats. With one out in the sixth, Depoalla singled to left, but Wilson picked him off for the second out. Then Wilson surrendered back-to-back walks to Perrin and Joe Riccio. Nick Riccio reached safely on an infield single, and Perrin came around to score from second to make it a 7-4 game. A stolen base, an error, and a wild pitch brought home Joe Riccio and made the score 7-5.
Wilson was then pulled in favor of southpaw Ryan White, and he got Casey to ground out to Allen at short for the final out.
The Stampede would put the game out of reach in the bottom of the inning. Pollachi led off by using his lightning-fast speed to leg out an infield single, and then he promptly stole second. Pollachi is so quick that just about any time he lands safely on first base, you might as well pencil him in at second, because he’s usually there before too long.
Washburn then slapped a 3-0 pitch to third base, and Nick Riccio threw to first for the out. Pollachi was then caught straying off of second, and Casey threw over to Gunn for the unlikely 5-3-6 double play.
Allen then drew a walk, and back-to-back singles by Callahan and Hladik made it an 8-5 affair. Baldani then crushed a double, driving in both Callahan and Hladik to give Saratoga a 10-5 lead.
The trio of Callahan, Hladik, and Baldani had a tremendous day at the plate, as they combined to go 7-for-10, with five runs scored and five runs batted in, four of them by Baldani. Out of 12 total plate appearances, the three amigos reached base safely 10 times.
Saugerties was obviously disappointed to fall further behind, but they would not give up. With one out and Wachtel at the plate, Callahan dropped a pop up in foul territory that gave Wachtel new life. He ended up walking, and then a passed ball moved him over to second. White came back and struck out Doyle, but then Hastie drilled a double to score Wachtel and pull Saugerties to within 10-6.
But White again showed his mental toughness, and he struck out Depoalla to end the game.
The Stampede improves to 3-0 in pool play in the tournament, and it looks good for them to make the playoff round this weekend.

Callahan Drives in Two in Seventh for Dramatic Win

Neil Callahan drove in two runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Saratoga Stampede a come-from-behind, 5-4 win over South Kingston, Rhode Island Post 39 in their second game of the 13th Annual Cooper’s Cave Tournament at East Side Rec on Wednesday night.
After a scoreless first inning, Post 39 opened the scoring in the second.
With one out, designated hitter Anthony Tortalano took Saratoga starting pitcher Tyler Prehoda’s 1-1 pitch and drilled it into center field for a base hit. A wild pitch moved Tortalano to second base, and then he went to third on Ryan Stone’s ground out. Will Frost then smacked a single to drive in Tortalano, and South Kingston held a 1-0 lead.
Meanwhile, South Kingston starter Brian Lessard had faced the minimum amount of batters through the first three innings, erasing a leadoff single by Lee Jay Pollachi in the first by getting Justin Wilock to ground into a double play.
That would change in the bottom of the fourth, as Saratoga sent six batters to the plate. With one away, Wilock drew a walk. After Mike Allen struck out for the second out, back-to-back hits by Callahan and Scott Hladik scored Wilock to tie the game at one apiece.
South Kingston, however, would answer back in the fifth with a pair of runs. Ryan Stone led off with a base hit to right field and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Frost. Jay Romano was then sent in to pinch run for Stone, and he stole third. Kevin Carey then smacked a sacrifice fly to score Romano to give Post 39 the lead back at 2-1.
Chris Cocci came up next and he lined a base hit to right, and then stole second. The inning turned ugly after that for Saratoga, as a single, a walk, and another wild pitch ended Prehoda’s night and he was replaced by Chris Curcio.
Curcio’s night started out rough, as he issued a free pass to J.P. Stone. Tyler Shattuck then misplayed a ball hit to short, and by the time Curcio got Graham Manning to look at a third strike, it was a 3-1 ball game.
The Stampede offense would bail out the defense in the bottom of the fifth, and they did it with two outs. Erich Lange began the inning by reaching on an error. Ben Cook then grounded to Cocci, and he threw over to second base for the force. After Levi Washburn, pinch hitting for Tyler Shattuck, struck out, Pollachi came up with a clutch hit, a double to left-center field that would plate Cook to pull the Stampede to within 3-2. Wilock was then hit by a pitch, and then a throwing error by Frost scored Pollachi all the way from second to tie the game at 3-3. Saratoga had a chance to take the lead with runners on first and second, but Callahan popped out to second to retire the side.
Callahan would replace Curcio to start the sixth, and he had major control issues. After hitting Tortalano on the first pitch, he walked Romano on four pitches. He then threw two hard fastballs to Frost to go ahead in the count 0-2. Frost desperately wanted to bunt the runners over with no outs, but when he still attempted to lay one down with two strikes, his bunt went foul and he was called out. Callahan then walked Carey and Cocci, plating Tortalano to put Post 39 up by a 4-3 margin.
With the bases still loaded, Callahan was relieved by Levi Washburn, who would stop the bleeding. Washburn would first get James McKinney to hit a ground ball to second, and Wilock fired home to Baldani for out number two. After that, he went to a 2-2 count before getting J.P. Stone to hit a dribbler towards first. Callahan fielded the ball and flipped to Washburn, who was covering first, and the inning was over.
In the bottom of the inning, Saratoga again had an opportunity to tie the game but could not. Hladik led off with a double, and the inning looked promising. But then Baldani struck out, and Lange bounced a ball that was fielded by pitcher Brian Lessard, and Hladik took off for third. Lessard’s only play was to first base for the second out. Ben Cook then pushed the count to 3-1, but he just got under the next pitch and fouled out to Lessard, stranding Hladik at third and wasting a leadoff double. But that would only add to the drama that was to come.
South Kingston led off the seventh with a single and a stolen base by Forest Dwyer. After Manning looked at a curve ball with two strikes for the third time in the ball game, there was one out. Tortalano grounded out to second, and that moved Dwyer to third.
Not wanting to fall behind any further, Washburn did a terrific job of striking out Romano on three pitches to retire the side.
Washburn led off the Stampede’s final at-bat, and he worked the count full before finally drawing the walk to get the leadoff batter aboard. Pollachi then legged out an infield single, and Saratoga had the tying run in scoring position, the winning run on first, and still nobody out.
Wilock then laid down a sacrifice bunt, and the runners advanced to second and third.
That’s when the tension began to mount. Mike Allen went to a 3-2 count before looking at a called third strike, and Saratoga was down to its last out of the game with Callahan coming up.
Callahan’s at-bat was equally dramatic, as he also worked a full count. Down to his final strike, the ball park was electric with anticipation and cheering for both sides, with the Rhode Island crew rooting for the final out, and the Saratoga faithful looking for a big hit out of their biggest bat.
Callahan would not let the home crowd down, and with the runners taking off on contact, he lined a bullet to left field, scoring both runners for the walk-off base hit and a Stampede victory.
It was a hard-earned win for the Stampede, and they are now 2-0 in pool play of the tournament. Their next game is tomorrow against Saugerties.

Stampede Opens Tourney With Win

Mike Allen, Scott Hladik, and Justin Wilock all doubled and scored, and starting pitcher Kyle Baldani gave up just two runs and worked into the sixth inning as the Saratoga Stampede defeated Helmuth-Ingalls Post 232 in their opening game of the 13th Annual Cooper’s Cave Tournament at East Side Rec on Tuesday night.
After a scoreless first inning, Helmuth posed the first scoring threat in the bottom of the second.
Baldani walked Justin Corney to start the inning, but then Cory Gogola bounced a 0-1 pitch to Allen at short, and he flipped to Matt Coleman for the force. Tyler White drew a walk, and Helmuth had runners on first and second.
But Baldani fought back and worked out of the inning by striking out Jeff Ostrander and Wes Roberts.
Saratoga took the lead in the top of the third. After a walk to Erich Lange, Wilock doubled, and when the return throw from the outfield went wild, Lange scored on the error for a 1-0 lead. Coleman then laid down a sacrifice bunt, moving Wilock to third. Lee Jay Pollachi followed with a ground ball to short, but Helmuth shortstop Matt Martin threw the ball away, and Wilock scored to put Saratoga on top by a 2-0 margin.
The Stampede doubled their lead in the fourth. Allen opened the inning with a double, but then Neil Callahan popped out to Martin for the first out. Hladik then doubled, plating Allen to make it a 3-0 game. After Baldani reached on an infield single, putting runners on the corners, Lange popped out to Corney at first for the second out. Wilock then came up with the big hit, a two-out single to right-center field to score Hladik and give Saratoga a 4-0 advantage.
Helmuth put together its second serious threat in the bottom of the frame, but again Baldani worked out of it. Martin led off by reaching on an infield single, and was advanced to second and then third on a pair of ground outs. But Baldani enticed White to swing at a 1-2 pitch, and it was grounded to Coleman for the final out.
Saratoga went quietly in the top of the fifth, but Helmuth finally broke through in the bottom of the inning. Ostrander led off by smacking a single to right, but Baldani struck out Wes Roberts on four pitches, his fifth K of the game. Tyler Heck drew a walk, and then Chris Hughes moved the runners up when he grounded out to third baseman Levi Washburn. A passed ball brought Ostrander home to cut the deficit to 4-1, and then a wild pitch plated Heck to reduce Saratoga’s lead to 4-2. Baldani walked Lee Foxton next, but Foxton was gunned down by Hladik trying to steal second to end the inning.
In the sixth, the Stampede threatened, but couldn’t extend their lead. Callahan drew a walk to start the inning, and then after Hladik flied out and Baldani struck out, Lange doubled to put two runners in scoring position. But Wilock struck out on a 2-2 pitch, and Helmuth was out of the jam.
The bottom of the inning would be Baldani’s last. Martin led off with a scorching line drive to right field, but Wilock chased it down before hauling it in on a full-extension dive while running backwards for the first out. Baldani was showing signs of wear, and when he walked Corney, he was pulled in favor of Callahan.
Callahan got Gogola to chop a 1-0 pitch in front of home plate, and Callahan threw to first for the out, advancing Corney to second. A wild pitch moved Corney up to third, but then Callahan got Jordan Doroshenko to look at a called third strike on a 2-2 pitch to retire the side.
In the top of the seventh, Saratoga tried to bring home an insurance run, but didn’t get it done. With one out, Lee Jay Pollachi reached on an error, and made it all the way around to third on a wild pitch. With a 1-2 count on Washburn, the Stampede let Pollachi attempt to steal home, but he was tagged out just before his foot hit the plate.
The Helmuth Post proved that they had some fight left in them, but Saratoga held them off. Ostrander led off the inning by smacking a grounder to deep short, but Allen’s throw got past Hladik, who had replaced Callahan at first. Ostrander then took off for second, but Hladik recovered and threw over to Allen and the run-down was on. Allen threw back to Hladik, who placed the tag for the first out of the inning. Roberts then slapped a single up the middle, but Callahan got Heck to smack a ground ball to short, and Allen stepped on second and fired to first for the game-ending double play.
Next up for the Stampede in the tournament will be South Kingston, Rhode Island on Wednesday.

Junior Stampede Wins Under the Lights

The Saratoga Junior Stampede team got its opportunity to play under the lights at East Side Rec on Monday night, and they made the most of it, coming away with a 6-5 win over the Tri-County Bees.
Dylan Anderson was Saratoga’s starting pitcher, and he was quite impressive, going the distance and surrendering just two earned runs on two base hits, while walking five batters and striking out six.
Catcher Jack Keller and second baseman Sam Maxwell each helped to provide the offense, as Keller was 2-for-3, including a two-RBI double, and Maxwell singled twice and scored a run.
After a scoreless first inning, the Stampede opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning on Matt Angelini’s RBI single.
With one out, Luke Fauler looked at a called third strike, but the catcher dropped the pitch, and Fauler hustled to first ahead of the throw. Dylan Anderson’s ground out to first baseman Matt Gage moved Fauler to second, and then with two away, Angelini gave Saratoga a 1-0 lead with a base hit on the first pitch that he saw to drive in Fauler, who was running on contact.
The Bees answered with a pair of runs in the top of the third inning to take a 2-1 lead, thanks to a pair of Stampede errors.
Tri-County added to its 2-1 lead in the fourth, when a leadoff error, the fourth of the game by Saratoga, a stolen base, and a wild pitch led to a 3-1 Bees lead.
The Stampede cut the lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the frame, as they took advantage of Tri-County’s second miscue of the contest.
With Chris Davis on first base, Ryan Coseo singled up the middle to put runners on first and second. Two batters later, Dylan Anderson helped his own cause, driving home Davis on a ground ball to make it a 3-2 game.
Saratoga would take the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth. Maxwell led off with a base hit, and then pinch hitter Nate Foster drew a walk, and the runners were on first and second. Jordan Stubblebine also walked to load the bases, and then Dale Long smacked a sacrifice fly to left field, plating Maxwell to tie the game at three. Keller followed with a double that scored both Foster and Stubblebine, and the Stampede held a 5-3 lead.
In the sixth, the Bees would pull to within a run. With one out, Tri-County played small ball, and a walk and a two-base error on Davis landed D.J. Hoagboon on third base. A beautifully placed bunt by Kurt Kowalcyzk brought Hoagboon home to make it a 5-4 affair.
The Stampede would get the run back in the bottom of the sixth. Fauler led off and ended up on second due to an error by shortstop Brandon Eutermarks. A sacrifice bunt moved him to third, but first baseman Matt Gage tried to throw Fauler out at third, and when the throw went awry Fauler cruised home for a 6-4 lead.
Angellini then reached on a two-base error, but Maxwell slapped a hard line drive to second, and R.J. Pingitore made the grab and then stepped on second to double-up Angelini and retire the side.
Two more miscues by the Stampede would make the game interesting in Tri-County’s final at-bat.
A Ryan Coseo error opened the inning, and then Anderson fought back and struck out Owen Chizek to take a little of the pressure off. The count then ran full on Pingitore, but Anderson lost him, putting a runner on second, and more importantly, the tying run on first and the go-ahead run at the plate.
Anderson then tried to pick Steve Dygon off of second, but the throw went wild and Dygon advanced to third. Jordan Kaplan then slapped a grounder to short, and Coseo flipped to Maxwell to get Pingitore, but the run scored and the Bees were within 6-5. Anderson then took things into his own hands, striking out Eutermarks to end the ball game.
Anderson pitched a fantastic ball game, surrendering just two base hits and overcoming seven of his defense’s errors to earn the win.
Now the younger guys in the Stampede program have a little taste of what it’s like to play at the East Side under the lights, and they have something to look forward to once they make it to the American Legion squad.

Rick Ankiel: A Story of a Changed Career

For those who may not be familiar with the story, Rick Ankiel is a center fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals. But that has only been for the past two seasons of his nine year Major League career.
Ankiel broke into the major leagues in 1999 as a left-handed starting pitcher for the Redbirds.
At age 19, Ankiel was brought up by the Cardinals and appeared in 19 games, and did a pretty good job, as he gave up 26 hits, 12 earned runs, walked 13 while striking out 39, and had a 3.27 earned run average in 33 innings.
He followed that up in 2000 with a strong campaign, as he went 11-7, and his ERA was 3.50 and he struck out 194 batters while walking just 90.
Suddenly, in 2001, Ankiel began to break down. He couldn’t find the plate any more, and he totally lost his command and his control.
He only pitched 24 innings in the 2001 season, and threw five wild pitches and walked 25 batters while striking out 27. Ankiel also surrendered 25 hits, 21 runs, 19 of them earned, seven home runs, and hit three batters as his ERA ballooned to 7.13.
Ankiel was having problems and the Cardinals didn’t know what to do about it. The harder that they worked on his control, the worse it got. Dave Duncan and Tony LaRussa were completely befuddled.
They decided to send Ankiel down to the minor leagues, and they took a different approach. As the many attempts to straighten him out proved futile, the Cardinals decided not to give up on Ankiel, but to instead have him change positions, no longer being a pitcher. Ankiel has completely turned his career around after that decision was made.
Ankiel slowly worked his way through the minor leagues after that, and he was even out of baseball for the entire 2006 season.
But he came back strong in 2007, as he was playing for AAA Memphis, where he played 102 games, and he clubbed 32 home runs, drove in 89, had over 100 hits on the season, and boasted a slugging percentage of .568. Not bad for a guy who was on the pitcher’s mound just three years earlier.
Although he didn’t even finish the season in the minor leagues, he would go on to be named the 2007 Minor League Player of the Year.
Ankiel was brought up to the Cardinals for the final 47 games of the 2007 season, and he made the most of the opportunity. In 172 at-bats, he smacked 49 hits, cracked 11 homers, and drove in 39 runs while maintaining a .285 batting average as well as a slugging percentage of .535.
He now continues to tear up the National League, as he has been with the Cardinals since the start of the 2008 campaign, and already this season he has 18 home runs, which makes him tied for 11th in the league, driven in 45 runs, and scored 49 runs himself, and his batting average is a respectable .265, but he has an on-base percentage of .339, and a slugging percentage of .523. Ankiel’s batting average over the past two seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals currently stands at .275. Those are pretty good stats for a guy who thought that his major league career was in jeopardy just a few seasons ago.
And he has also shown that he has more than just an offensive game. Several times this season Ankiel’s acrobatic catches have ended up on Sports Center, and a few of them have been top-10 highlights.
Ankiel has done an incredible job of not just getting back to the majors, but excelling, as he is now the starting center fielder for the Cards.
Ankiel’s story is an amazing one, and it also sends a message about weighing your options, not giving up, and finding out that through perseverance, there is more than one road that leads to the major leagues.

Stampede Slips Past Waterford

In a game that had just eight base hits, it came down to a bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly to give the Saratoga Stampede a 2-0 victory over Waterford at Geyser Park on Thursday.
Stampede starting pitcher Ed Reilly remained perfect, as his record improved to 4-0 on the season, and he was quite impressive in the process, needing just 80 pitches to earn his fourth win and fourth complete game in four starts.
“Reilly has been lights out…unhittable,” Stampede head coach Paul Mound said after the game.
While Reilly was cruising, his counterpart, Waterford starter Chris Burns, was matching him inning after scoreless inning, until Saratoga broke through with the game’s only two runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Stampede catcher Noah Poissant led off the home fifth with a walk. After Reilly was hit by a pitch, shortstop Andy Brown laid down a perfect bunt for an infield single to load the bases.
Kenny Recore then battled through a 12-pitch at-bat, and when it was over, he earned the free pass, picking up the RBI as Poissant scored and giving the Stampede a 1-0 lead.
With the bases still loaded two batters later, third baseman Matt Kelley drove a pitch to deep left field, scoring Reilly on the sacrifice for a 2-0 Saratoga advantage.
That was all the Reilly needed, as he scattered five hits while helping his club lift its record to 22-4 on the year.

Triple the Teams, Triple the Success

The summer baseball is under way, and that means that it’s time for the Saratoga Stampede to make their bid for a New York State Championship.
This year is a little different than previous seasons, as the Stampede organization is fielding not just one, not two, but three different teams for the summer of 2008.
As if Manager Paul Mound, one of Saratoga’s busiest men to begin with, doesn’t have enough on his plate, he has kicked it up a notch this year by adding two brand new clubs.
In addition to the 19-and-under American Legion squad, Mound has added a 16-and-under junior Stampede team as well as a 22-and-under wood-bat club.
The Stampede has a unique support system, as several of the players play on the Legion team as well as the wood-bat team, and several players from both squads can be found supporting their organizational mates from the other Stampede clubs by attending their games.
All three teams have found success in the early going this year, as the college team holds a record of 16-2, the Legion club boasts an undefeated record of 9-0, and the junior team’s record is 9-3.
Mound spoke of why he decided to expand his workload threefold.
“Essentially, I felt that there was a two-fold need in our community to give younger players in Saratoga a chance to play legion baseball, which was requested of us by the American legion organization itself. They’re trying to get all of their senior legion franchises to establish junior legion franchises,” said Mound.
That wasn’t what motivated him, though.
“What principally motivated me to begin a junior legion team was my involvement coaching young players at Spa Catholic,” said the Saints’ junior varsity coach. “The talent that I have seen at Spa Catholic, coupled with the talent that I knew existed at Saratoga high school made establishing a junior legion program a natural because it gives us a true legion feeder program to our very successful senior legion team.
The senior team is currently ranked sixth in New York State.
Mound is also using the junior team to gauge his expectations for when they move up to the senior squad.
“I’m very anxious to see outfielder Kyle Willmott, shortstop/pitcher Billy McDonough, infielder/pitcher Dylan Anderson, left handed pitcher Jordan Stubblebine, catcher Jack Keller, who was a freshman starting catcher for the Spa Catholic varsity team, as well a infielder Dale Long, and many, many others whose future makes the senior Stampede program very, very bright.”
Mound is excited for his teams’ success, but is possibly more excited about the opportunity that the new clubs allow for the youths of Saratoga Springs.
“Although the workload is intense, it allows 50-plus players to participate in Stampede baseball in 2008, with a record of achievement as dictated by their combined 36 win, 5 loss season so far,” said Mound.
With all of the Stampede teams having stellar seasons, it makes Mound’s labor of love that much easier, and the overall future of the program looks very, very bright.

A Stampede That Can't be Stopped

The Saratoga 22-and-under college wood-bat team continues to win, even though they’re not exactly burning up their wooden bats.
With a record of 16-2, the Stampede has managed to win 16 of 17 games since their opening-day road loss to the Tri-County Bees.
Even though Saratoga still hasn’t found its groove yet with the wooden clubs, manager Paul Mound has been able to guide his team to victory by enhancing other aspects of their games, such as pitching, defense, and taking advantage of the other team’s mistakes.
For example, last Tuesday night the Stampede defeated the P.N.A. Eagles by a score of 9-5, but they managed just seven base hits. The Stampede won by taking advantage of P.N.A.’s three errors, as well as the nine bases-on-balls from the Eagles’ pitching staff.
Saratoga plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning when Eagles starting pitcher Will LaRose walked two of the first three batters in the inning.
In the second, the Stampede scored their third run thanks to a leadoff error by P.N.A. second baseman Dan Conley. The error landed Saratoga catcher Kenny Recore at second base, and then he went to third on a wild pitch. He would score two batters later when Neil Callahan grounded out to third.
Saratoga added another run the following inning when it looked like they were going to be sent down in order.
After Ryan Washburn and Andy Brown struck out, back-to-back walks put runners on first and second. A passed ball moved the runners up a base, and then a wild pitch plated Bobby Murphy.
The Stampede scored five more runs over the next two innings on just four hits. Again they preyed on the weakness of their foes, as they made use of five walks, mixing them in with a couple of hits to drive home three of the walked batters.
Saratoga did get a taste of its own medicine, however, as P.N.A. scored five unearned runs in the top of the fifth inning off of two Stampede errors to take a then 5-4 lead. But Saratoga starting pitcher and Skidmore College product Ed Reilly sucked it up and held on for the complete-game win, raising his record to 3-0 on the year. Similarly, the Stampede scored nine runs on only six base hits against Ravena last Monday, they scored 14 runs on just eight hits against Niskayuna on June 7, and they plated four runs on three hits against the Tri-County Bees on June 5.
Mound is confident that his team’s batting average will improve as the season goes on.
“Early on the adjustment that is made between hitting wood and aluminum is huge,” said Mound. “No Matter what type of hitter you are, you have to make a major adjustment from metal back to wood bats.”
The Stampede is beginning to make the necessary adjustments needed to win games.
“We’re hitting the ball on the screws right now,” said Mound. “Every ball that they’re hitting, they’re hitting hard. Once they made the adjustment to where the sweet spot is, the team batting average was raised by 70 points, from .200 to .270 as a team.”
When asked if he could name one player who could help the club significantly once he got hot with the wood bats, Mound did not hesitate to answer.
“Without a doubt, when Matt Kelley makes his adjustments, he’s capable of carrying a team solely on his back,” said Mound. “We’re also getting offensive contribution right now from Kenny Recore, Andy Brown, and Bobby Murphy.
Mound also spoke of Dan Randall, who has been Saratoga’s best hitter this far.
“Dan Randall has been consistent from day one with wood in his hands. He is probably one of the most feared hitters in our league, regardless of having wood or metal in his hands,” said the coach.
However, during this “slump”, it has been the Stampede’s pitching that has kept them in the win column.
Ed Reilly, Skidmore College’s ace, is undefeated at 3-0. The southpaw did a great job of keeping his composure as he surrendered five unearned runs last Tuesday night while holding on for the complete-game win.
“We’ve had consistent performances up and down our rotation,” Mound said. “We’ve gotten some solid performances out of Kevin Gent, as well as Travis Wilson. For that matter, Matt Kelley and Ryan Washburn would be indicative of our team’s 0.85 earned run average.”
Whether they start to hit the ball or not, the Stampede is still doing all the little things right that equate to wins: good defense, solid pitching, and taking advantage of the gifts that the opposition gives you.
Maybe that’s why their record is 16-2.

Mercy Rule Needed in High School

As a sports clerk for the Saratogian newspaper here in upstate New York, one of my main duties is to collect game results, mostly high school and college sports, via the E-mail, the fax machine, or from a phone call from a coach. I gather the data that is provided, and from that data I write short stories to bring you, the reader, the best game synopsis that I can, given three or four paragraphs.

As many of you may or may not know, there are several rule differences when you compare amateur-level sports to the professional ranks. In most amateur baseball and softball leagues, there is something known as the "Mercy Rule". The mercy rule generally states that depending on how many innings a full game is, if a team is ahead by 10 or 15 runs, the game is called to spare the losers any more embarrassment.

For instance, in a little league game that is scheduled for five innings, if a team is ahead by 10 or 15 runs after the third inning, after the losing team bats, the game is called. Children need to be spared their dignity, and spectators need to be spared the boredom, and rightfully so on both counts.

With that said, I learned yet another rule in high school sports (it has been so long since I played at that level that I have forgotten many of the nuances in the rule differences).

In high school, there is a mercy rule for girls' softball. In a seven inning game, the rule would take effect after the fifth inning. There is no such rule for boys' baseball.

The county where I live is in Section II. As in many counties and Sections, there are large schools and small schools. Being a native of New York City, a large school here would be considered a small school in the Big Apple.

In a large school there are tryouts for the sports teams, and you have to earn a place on the squad. In smaller schools, it's all that the coaches can do to round up enough recruits to field a team. This was the case between two Section II teams that played baseball last Tuesday night.

Galway High School, a school so small that its baseball team consists of just 10 players, hosted Northville, a school of similar size. What happened in that game should never happen to a high school player.

The Galway Eagles defeated the Northville Falcons by a score of 38-0. Since the scheduled seven innings must be played in its entirety according to high school rules, there was no stopping the beating that Galway laid upon Northville.

The Eagles scored several runs in the first two innings, and then exploded for 12 runs in the third. That gave them a 16-0 lead, and by the fifth inning, when the lead was increased to 24-0, the game should have been called. Since Northville was the visiting team, the game sould have been stopped due to the mercy rule in the middle of the fifth inning.

However, there is no said rule, the game was required to be played in its entirety, and the Falcons of Northville were bound by rule to take a beating that no team should be forced to endure. Especially when it involves young athletes who can have their confidence severely shaken after such a lopsided affair, possibly to the extent that they never recover.

There was a second game with a similar outcome on the same night. Waterford-Halfmoon defeated Hadley-Luzerne by a score of 27-4.

Waterford opened the game with three runs in the first inning. Hadley responded with a run in the bottom of the second to make it 3-1, but then Waterford answered with a 12-run third. Four more runs in the fourth made it a 19-1 game.

In the fifth, Waterford scored 2 more to go up 21-1, and then Hadley plated three to make the score 21-4 after five innings. The game should have been stopped at that point.

What is the rationale for making these teams suffer such humiliating defeats? Is it necessary for high school kids to be ashamed of themselves, their schools, and their teammates for being beaten by 30-some-odd runs? Is that supposed to build character? I don't think so.

Put yourself in the position of being part of a baseball team that was so small that you knew, as a starting pitcher, that there was no way that you were working less than five innings, no matter how badly you were hit or how many runs you gave up.

Can you imagine surrendering 20 or 30 runs simply because there was no one else to pitch?

I spoke to the Galway coach that night. His team was the winning team, and he only had 10 players. He had no bench players to replace starters that had terrific games. He had no choice but to play all of his players until the game was over.

He told me that as the winning coach that the game was painful to watch.

I won't reveal exactly what he told me that he did, but let's just say that he advised a player on the other team. The player took the advice, but he still didn't make the play, scoring more runs for the winning team.

I have been involved in baseball as a player, a radio announcer, and a writer for more than 35 years. Never, in all of my experience, has a 30-run annihilation been a part of the spirit of baseball.

It leaves a bade taste in your mouth. This is not healthy competition, or even an easy game for the winners. It's hard. It's hard for the coaches, the spectators, the parents, and most of all, the winners and losers, or the players. And, after all, isn't that what the game is all about?

We need a mercy rule in high school baseball. If we, as a community, are going to support amateur sports, as we should for so many reasons, we should be advocating healthy competition.

In football, they score in seven-point increments (for the most part). To lose 38-0 in football would be an embarrassment. To lose 38-0 in baseball, where you score one run at a time, is an absolute atrocity.

If it happened at the pro level, that would be ugly enough. For it to happen to teenagers is simply unnecessary.

We need a mercy rule in high school baseball. The kids don't need to be embarrassed like this.

NHL: Detroit Tandem the Best

The National Hockey League is filled with great talent between the pipes, and you may argue who is the best goalie, whether it be Brodeur from New Jersey, DiPietro from the Islanders, Lundqvuist from the Rangers, or Miller from the Sabres in the East; or San Jose's Nabokov, Anaheim's Giguere, or Hasek from the Red Wings in the West, but theres' no doubt as to who the best goaltending tandem in the NHL is: Chris Osgood and Dominik Hasek of the Detroit Red Wings.
Since they split their playing time fairly even in Detroit, it's tough for either one of them to be on the league leader's list for wins, but they both have impressive numbers, with Osgood boasting a 23-7 record in 33 games, and Hasek's record standing at 19-7 in 30 games.
But what's even more outstanding is that the two netminders are currently ranked first and second in the league in the goals-against-average department, and that stat is a truer measuring bar because the amount of games played does not affect the statistic.
Hasek is ranked No. 1 in the league with a 2.07 goals against, while Osgood stands in the two-hole at 2.11.
Obviously they have a lot of help from their amazing defensemen, namely veterans Nicklas Lidstrom, Chris Chelios, and Brian Rafalski, but yet these stats show that Hasek and Osgood are still on top of their games.
Some people thought that Hasek may have been done when he retired a couple of years ago, and even more thought that Osgood's best days were behind him when he left the Motor City for Long Island.
Osgood has some incredibly impressive career numbers, as well. This season, he owns a GAA of 2.11, and if it holds up it would be the best of his career.
Also, Osgood, now in his 14th NHL campaign, has never had a GAA higher than 2.86 in any season he has played. His goals-against has been below 2.4 in three of his last four years, and his 23 wins this season is the most for Osgood since he won 31 for the St. Louis Blues in the 2003-'04 season.
He's been a little shaky since the All-Star break, but I would expect Chris Osgood to return to the form that he has been showing all season long.
As for Hasek, what more needs to be said about a man who has more than 380 career wins, 80 shutouts, and a career goals-against of 2.20.
And this season, with his GAA at 2.07, Hasek is making a statement that he has not lost a step and he plans to be around for a while.
There's an old saying in hockey that a goalie that gets hot in the playoffs can be ridden to a championship. Many teams have a good goalie, even a great one. Some even have a formidable backup. But no team has the 1-2 punch that the Red Wings have, and that can be scary for the rest of the NHL come April and May.

NHL: Islanders are League's Hottest Club

Earlier in the National Hockey League season I wrote about how, at the time, the Atlantic Division was the best team in the league, and I had the stats to back up my claim.
Now, not only does that statement still hold true (just check the standings), but the hottest team in the entire National Hockey League is the New York Islanders, who sit in last place in the Atlantic, and 10th overall in the Eastern Conference.
The Islanders are winners of five straight games, and going into tonight's battle against the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Nassau Collisuem, New york owns a record of 29-25-7 and they have 65 points.
Even more impressively, since their first game of the calendar year, New York lost seven games in a row, nine of 10, and 14 of 18 contests before the current five-game winning streak.
The Chicago Black Hawks, in the Central Division of the Western Conference, are the next-best cellar-dwelling team in the NHL with a 28-26-6 record and 62 points. The Hawks are off tonight.
It hasn't been pretty, as the Islanders have outscored their opponents only 19-12 during the streak, but New York is doing the little things that they need to do to win.
In goal, Rick DiPietro has allowed just five goals in his last three games, which has more than put his club in a position to win.
Mike Comrie and Bill Guerin have done the bulk of the scoring, with Comrie putting up 18 goals and Guerin with 19. Perhaps even Miro Satan, who has been dormant for much of the season, may be waking up, as he now has two goals in his last three games for 13 on the season.
There is a tie for the seventh, eighth, and ninth positions in the East, with Boston, Philadelphia, and Buffalo all sitting at 66 points.
This should be a great second half to the Eastern Conference's second half of the season, with all of these teams throwing down for the final two or three playoff spots in the conference.
The Bruins have the advantage of the four teams, as they have only played 59 games as they trail the Florida Panthers by a 1-0 score with eight minutes left in the first period. The Flyers and the Sabres have both played 60 games, and they are both playing tonight.
Buffalo is at Toronto and holds a 1-0 first-period lead, and Philly trails the Sharks at home by a 1-0 score after one. The Islanders and Tampa are scoreless after one, with New York holding a 15-10 shots advantage.
There's a lot of hockey left to be played in the regular season, and the race to the playoffs in the East should have a very entertaining finish.

MLB: One and Done is the Only Answer

If the Major League Baseball Player's Association wants anyone to take them seriously when it claims that they want to get rid of the steroid epidemic in their game, there is only one way to do it: baseball needs a policy of one strike and you're out, not three.
Under the current collective bargaining agreement, the first time a player fails a steroid test, he gets 50 games off. The next time, the penalty is more severe, 100 games. Only if a player fails the test three different times is his career then in jeopardy.
This agreement has got to go. All this did was appease the owners that there was some type of testing and consequenses in place.
Donald Fehr says that he and the players want to put an end to this problem.
I say that all of them need to put their money where their mouths are and institute a "one and done" policy.
Under the terms of this agreement, if a player fails a test for steroids or HGH JUST ONCE, he will be banned from baseball for life.
No "extra chances", no milking the system for as long as you can until you get busted a second time. You will take it seriously from the start, and you will know going into professional baseball that you only get one shot. Then, and only then, will players take each and every screening test seriously.
Of course, there will be room for error. Some people say that you can't do that because what if the test has been tampered with.
OK, I'll give you that, there is that possibility. But more than likely, that instance would only happen once. To think that a test could be botched twice on the same player is unrealistic. So, if a player's test turns up positive, he is to be called in IMMEDIATELY for another sample. If he's truly clean, the second test will reveal that result.
But, if a player comes up dirty a second time, that's it. He obviously is doing something wrong, and he should know that he tossed a multi-million dollar career out the window.
Let's face it folks, the public, the people who are paying the exorbitant ticket prices and buying all of the jerseys, T-shirts, jackets, hats, and everything else with their team's logo on it, deserve - and demand - to know that these players that they are coming out to see are not just playing by the rules, but by the law. Let's not forget that first and foremost, steroids and HGH are illegal, plain and simple. So, using them isn't just breaking a policy or a league rule, it's breaking the law.
The fans deserve better than this, and it's time that the league and the union got on the same page and showed the world that they are seriously doing something to eliminate the problem.