Could the Dodgers biggest offseason acquisition be their hitting coach?

             With all of the news around the LA Dodgers past offseason, little was talked about the hiring of Mark McGwire as their new hitting coach.

             We all know about McGwire’s career with the Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals and his 70 HRs in 1998, which is second all time behind Barry Bonds for most HRs in a single season. McGwire currently ranks 10^th all time with 583 HRs but has been no stranger to controversy as he was listed in former major league player Jose Canseco’s book that McGwire knowingly used steroids. In January 2010, McGwire admitted that he did use steroids during his career, most likely dashing his chances of entering the hall of fame.

            After leaving the game for eight years, McGwire was hired as hitting coach of the St. Louis Cardinals in October of 2009. McGwire’s coaching was a big part of the Cardinals 2011 World Series Title as the Cardinals ranked 5^th in the league in batting average, slugging percentage, RBIs, and runs scored. In his three years as hitting coach for the Cards, their offense thrived under McGwire’s leadership as they led the National League in batting average and on-base percentage and were second in runs scored. Former Cardinals 1B Albert Pujols had his best season in his career in 2009 when he had 47 HRs and 135 RBIs and McGwire’s coaching was a huge reason why. McGwire headed west this offseason as he took the same job with the Dodgers. Could McGwire be the most important part of the team this year?

            The Dodgers offense was not what they expected last year as they featured tons of explosive players with CF Matt Kemp, RF Andre Either, SS Hanley Ramirez, and 1B Adrian Gonzalez but were only together for half the year. The Dodgers were 25^th in runs per game last year and ranked below the league average in most of the key batting categories. Head coach Don Mattingly felt that his team needed a new hitting coach entering this season if they wanted to contend in the league. I believe that McGwire’s addition to the team filled with explosive players could put up offensive numbers that could lead the league.

            The Dodgers enter this season with the idea of “World Series or Bust” as many Dodger fans are expecting the World Series Title to come back to LA for the first time since 1988. Their lineup features tons of power with Kemp, Either, Gonzalez, and Ramirez but also good contact hitters with 2B Mark Ellis, 3B Luis Cruz, and SS Dee Gordon coming off of the bench. McGwire’s knowledge of the game and how to be a power hitter will dramatically improve the Dodgers offense this season and will give some players their career highs in numerous categories this year.

            Although it wasn’t as covered as much as the signing of SP Zack Greinke or how all of the trades would fit with the team in their first full season together, McGwire’s signing was the most important offseason move the Dodgers made.

            With the National League being so tough with the Nationals, Reds, Phillies, Giants, and Cardinals among others, the Dodgers are going to have to score a ton of runs to be able to compete with these teams.

            With spring training games starting this weekend, it will be interesting to see how McGwire has done so far and if there are any differences already that we can credit him with.

            McGwire will bring a much needed spark to a team with huge expectations.

            

             image was used from insidesocal.com

Dr. Jerry Buss: A great owner with a great mind

Some people don’t realize the value of an owner in professional sports. The entire behind the scenes work that they do, the risks that they take to make their team a contender, and the money that they spend, are just some of the things that owners do. Growing up in Southern California and watching the Los Angeles Lakers win five titles has been amazing to watch. But today, the man that made all of this happen lost his life as Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss died this morning at 5:55 AM.

            In 1979, Dr. Buss bought the Lakers, the LA Kings, and the Forum for an estimated $ 67.5 million, which at that time was the largest transaction in sports history. With his first pick in the 1979 NBA Draft, Buss drafted a player by the name of Magic Johnson and Johnson became the first rookie to ever win an NBA Finals MVP after the Lakers beat the Philadelphia 76ers in six games. The Lakers won just six titles before Buss became owner, but in his first 9 years with the team, they won five. The 80s Lakers were known as “Showtime” because of their fast paced offense led by Johnson that also featured hall of famers F James Worthy and C Kareem Abdul-Jabaar.

            In 1999, Buss built STAPLES Center and on October 17, the arena was opened. There was something special about playing in that arena as the Lakers won three straight titles from 2000-2002 with the Kobe/Shaq dynamic duo leading the team. Buss also wanted the arena to be used for other events besides the Lakers as the LA Kings and Clippers currently play there, former Arena Football team LA Avengers played there, and there have been hundreds of concerts at STAPLES.

            Buss also brought in the idea of cheerleaders as entertainment in professional basketball when he brought in the Laker Girls in 1979. Buss wanted the cheerleaders to bring a different type of entertainment to the games and Buss brought in the Laker Girls when there weren’t a lot of teams with cheerleaders at the time. Now, the Laker Girls are one of the most popular cheerleading squads in sports.

            Watching former Laker legends F Kurt Rambis and Magic talk about their time with Buss on ESPN’s SportsCenter this morning and how he was such a caring guy just shows how amazing of a man Buss was. Buss was a winner as the Lakers won 10 titles in his 34 years of ownership. Some people question whether the Buss family will sell the Lakers but I doubt it because Buss had been preparing his son Jim and daughter Jeanie for years.

            No one can ever compare to what Dr. Buss did for the Lakers and I would say it was an absolute privilege to have him as an owner of my favorite team. Thank you for everything that you have done and may your legacy live on. Rest In Peace Dr. Buss.

image was used from espn.com

Kobe or LeBron?

        Michael Jordan came out with quite the statement today saying that he would take Lakers G Kobe Bryant over Heat F LeBron James. MJ, who turns 50 on Sunday said that, “ five beats one every time I look at it,” in reference to Kobe’s five titles and King James’ one. A big reason why Kobe has more rings than James is because he has been in the league seven more years than LeBron. But if you compare the numbers at the time of Kobe’s 10^th season, who was better statistically?

            By the time Kobe was in his 10^th year in the league, he had already won three rings. His 10^th year was in 2005-2006 when he led the league in scoring with 35.4 points per game. Kobe single handling carried that team into the playoffs, as the next highest scoring player on the team was F Lamar Odom with 14.8 per game. He had 29 games where he scored over 30, 21 over 40, and 6 over 50. That season Kobe also scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors on January 22^nd, 2006 which is the 2^nd most points in a single game behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 100.

            LeBron James is the first of his kind: a player that is built so strong that can also move quickly. LeBron has Kobe beat in the stat of NBA MVP as he already has three and Kobe didn’t get his first until 2008. He is in the midst of an NBA record for consecutive games where he scores 30 or more points and shoots 60% from the field. Like Kobe and Shaq, LeBron felt that Cleveland wasn’t the team where he could win a championship so three years ago he teamed up with F Chris Bosh and G Dwyane Wade and joined the Miami in the 2010 offseason. After falling to the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals, James finally won his first ring last year when the Heat beat the Oklahoma City Thunder. Last year, James perhaps had the best season a single NBA player could have as he won an NBA MVP award, Finals MVP award, became an NBA Champion, and won an Olympic gold for Team USA in the London Olympics.

            James is widely regarded as the most criticized athlete in the league something that Kobe is used to but has never had as much pressure to win a title like James. The numbers are so close but these players are different than each other because Kobe is more of a pure shooter while James drives more to the basket.

            Jordan’s statement means a lot to the media but nothing to these players. Kobe and LeBron will easily go down as one of the top 10 NBA players of all time. As James said during shootaround this morning, “If you take Kobe one and I go second, it doesn’t matter.”

            Lets see where James compares to Kobe in seven years to see who is better. But for now, it’s too close to decide on who is better.

            

            image was used from bleacherreport.com

Rise of the Hurricanes

            When look at the NCAA Men’s Basketball latest AP Poll, you see the usual suspects in the top 10 with Indiana being #1, Duke #2, and Syracuse #6. But has anyone noticed that #3 team is Miami (FL), a team that destroyed Duke 90-63 and beat Michigan St. 67-59.

            The Hurricanes are flying under the radar right now as nobody is really talking about the success of this team, who was projected to finish in the middle of their conference at the beginning of the season.

            Miami is known for being a football powerhouse but basketball has never been a success for the Hurricanes. Miami has made the NCAA Tournament five times and only once made it to the Sweet-16, back in 2000. Off to the best start in school history and currently the highest the school has ever been in an AP Poll, the Hurricanes are not a team that flashes you with star players as their leading scorer, Senior guard Durand Scott, only averages 14.0 points per game. The Hurricanes are currently 105^th in the nation in scoring at 70.4 points per game. No that is not a typo… the team that is currently ranked #3 in the nation is 105^th in scoring.

            A huge reason why the Hurricanes are #3 is their defense. They allow only 59 points per game but their most important stat is that they hold opposing teams to 37% from the field, which is 13^th in the nation. We all know head coach Jim Larranaga’s name because of his 2005-06 season with George Mason, when he led the Patriots to the final four. But Larranaga should be in the running for national coach of the year for the job that he has done at Miami. In 1.5 seasons with the Canes, he is 39-16 and will most likely make the tournament for the first time since 2008.

            When you watch the Hurricanes play, you won’t see flashy plays because they are so successful at playing traditional basketball in which they play team basketball and thrive on the mindset that defenses win championships.

            Currently in 1^st place in the ACC, the Hurricanes, whom are undefeated in ACC play, return to action Sunday against the Clemson Tigers.

image was used from miamiherald.com