Swish: Helio Castroneves
(Don't you love headlines that don't make any sense?) We said all month that Sunday's 93rd running of the Indianapolis 500 was Castroneves' to lose. His focus and determination was something that couldn't be matched by the competition. So when Helio drove the #3 Penske machine to Victory Lane, it was hardly a surprise. We love feel-good stories in sports, and what Castroneves has been through over the past few weeks has enough material for a 600-page novel. From his tax evasion trial just a few weeks ago to chugging milk in the winner's circle, this Indy 500 win was major redemption for Helio. Now that he has three Borg-Warner Trophies in tow, there's already talk about Castroneves joining the legends of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Only three other drivers - Rick Mears, AJ Foyt, and Al Unser - have ever won four 500's, and no driver has ever won five. Helio just turned 34 earlier this month. To put it in perspective, Unser won his fourth Indy 500 five days before his 48th birthday. It's entirely within the realm of possibility for Castroneves to be the stand-alone King of the Speedway when it's all said and done. As a side note, Helio's team owner Roger Penske has a knack for taking home hardware at this track. His latest win was his 15th Indianapolis 500 victory.
With his third Indy 500 win in his pocket, Castroneves could climb to new heights
Brick: Chicago Cubs
Even with the injury issues, this team is way too talented to be floundering right now. Monday’s 10-8 loss to the Pirates was their eighth straight and dropped Chicago to 4th place in the NL Central at 21-23. The Cubs have gotten great contributions from their starting pitching and defense, each of which rank in the top three in the league. However, for the first time since 2006, this offense is really struggling. Entering Tuesday, the Cubs were batting just .244 as a team (third-worst in MLB) with a meager .400 slugging percentage. Kosuke Fukudome is the only starter hitting over .300 and Alfonso Soriano is the only regular with more than five home runs. Big free-agent signee Milton Bradley is under the Mendoza line and has drive in just 13 runs – and that’s after a 4 RBI Memorial Day. This team really misses Aramis Ramirez (dislocated shoulder) because they have nobody to step into his place. The platoon of Bobby Scales/Ryan Freel/Mike Fontenot just hasn’t gotten the job done. I said before the start of the season (ALERT: I was right about something) that letting the versatile Mark DeRosa go was a bad move and the Cubs are paying for it now. While the Cardinals and Brewers are both out to strong starts, I don’t expect either of those teams to run away with the NL Central. This stretch is eerily similar to what the Cubs went through in late May of 2007. The team was nine games out following a Lou Piniella tirade and subsequent ejection. Following that game on June 2nd, the Cubs went 63-46 and clinched the NL Central crown. Don’t count them out just yet.
Air Ball: Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
I think it’s time for everyone to admit that Dale Jr. is by far the most overrated athlete in sports today. Earnhardt Jr.’s 40th place finish in Monday’s rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 was the latest flop in what has been a disastrous start to the 2009 season. It was Dale’s third-straight finish outside of the top 25, and the fifth time in six races that he’s been 20th or worse. In the last three years and twenty days, Dale Jr. has driven his car into Victory Lane once. He’s won just three races since 2004. In that same time frame his teammate Jimmie Johnson has won 28 times. Kyle Busch, the driver that Earnhardt Jr. replaced at Hendrick, has won 15 times since then. Hell, even 50-year old Mark Martin has won twice this season as the supposed fourth car on the Hendrick team. Dale Jr., who sits 18th in the points standings, will turn 35 in October and will likely never live up to his father’s legacy. Seven points championships may be asking a bit much out of Earnhardt Jr., but top five and top tens should be commonplace. I guess the apple has fallen pretty far from the tree.
It's doubtful that Dale Jr. will ever come within shouting distance of his father's legacy
Swish: Alex Tagliani
The Month of May was quite the rollercoaster for Alex Tagliani and the Conquest Racing team. Tagliani's #32 car was bumped out of the field at the final gun by Ryan Hunter-Reay. Luckily for Conquest (and for Alex), the team funded a #36 car for Bruno Junqueira, a machine which he qualified on the final weekend. Due to a team agreement, Junqueira relinquished his spot so Tagliani could make his first Indianapolis 500 start. The Canadian and Champ Car veteran took advantage of his opportunity. Tag captured Rookie of the Year honors for the '09 Indy 500, climbing 22 spots from his last-place start to finish 11th. The 11th-place finish was as good as a win for the people over at Conquest and their only driver. The one-car team is currently 18th in the points standings, with finishes of 10th (St. Pete), 10th (Long Beach), and 11th (Indy). If Tagliani can put some more determined runs together, the 2009 IndyCar season can be a big success.
Brick: David Ortiz
Remember two years ago when Shaun Alexander seemingly fell off a cliff and ended up being cut by the Seahawks? At that point, I was really struggling to find a player that had peaked and then crashed in such a short period of time. David Ortiz hasn’t crashed and burned as epically as Alexander did from 2006 to 2007, but he certainly isn’t far behind. Ortiz was mercilessly dropped to sixth in the batting order by Terry Francona, a final white flag and a realization that Papi’s struggles at the plate go much deeper than a normal “slump.” Ortiz is batting just .195 with one homer and 18 RBIs in 154 at-bats. His slugging percentage (.299) is 75 points lower than Jacoby Ellsbury. It’s quite a slump for a guy that had 731 RBI from 2003-08 – 2nd best in baseball over that time period. With news emerging about Manny Ramirez as well as Alex Rodriguez, this sudden statistical freefall by Ortiz doesn’t do much to quiet the steroid speculation. After all, Ortiz did come off the Twins’ scrap heap to belt 31 homers in 2003 followed by seasons of 41, 47, and 54 for the Red Sox. During the first six years of his career with Minnesota, Ortiz hit just 58 home runs in 455 major league games. To be fair, Papi has had a nagging wrist injury which has bothered him since the middle of last season. However, you have to wonder how long the Sox can last relying on 35-year old Mike Lowell, streaky JD Drew, and Kevin Youkilis to hover around the .400 mark in the middle of that lineup. The good thing for Boston is that with an outstanding starting rotation and lights-out bullpen, they don't have to rely on Papi's bat to be the centerpiece of their offense.
Ortiz's horrific slump has lasted almost two months
Air Ball: Cleveland Cavaliers
Is there worse in life more miserable than being a Cleveland sports fan? Now that the Cavs are facing a 3-1 hole, another "almost" season looks like it's about to go in the toilet. The fact is that Cleveland is fortunate to even still be alive right now. The Magic have completely outplayed the Cavs through the first four games of the Eastern Conference Finals and were a buzzer-beater away from a sweep. Of course it's tough to place the blame on LeBron James. James has been averaging 42.2 points per game for the series, but his supporting cast has been non-existent (2007 anyone?). Mo Williams suddenly can't score, Delonte West can't find his shot, and the formerly-terrific bench inhabited by Wally Szczerbiak, Daniel Gibson, and Joe Smith has barely had a pulse. Orlando's pick-and-roll and their ability to create mismatches at just about every position the Cavs searching for answers. Since 1947 teams owning a 3-1 lead are 182-8 in series. My question is has there been anything that you've seen through the first four games that makes you think the Cavs can win three straight against this Orlando team? Yeah, didn't think so. Unfortunately, it looks like David Stern's "Kobe vs. LeBron" dream matchup is out the window.
The Magic have completely overwhelmed the Cavs through the first four games of the East Finals
The Shots Fantasy Update:
Teixshredder – 61 points, 7th place
My bi-polar fantasy baseball team continued their rollercoaster of a season this past week. Here is where my team has placed in the last four Mondays: 1st, 9th, 3rd, and now 7th. Another big week for Justin Verlander, who has been absolutely filthy since I picked him off the waiver wire last month, In his last six starts Verlander is 5-0, yielding just 4 earned runs in 42 1/3 IP (0.85 ERA), and is averaging ten strikeouts per outing. My offense was helped by Freddie Sanchez (.387 AVG) and a suddenly-coming-around Jimmy Rollins. In fact, Rollins has raised his batting average 34 points in just two weeks.
Wii Golf Superstar – 146 points, 1st place
Even though five of my golfers missed the cut, I was still able to squeeze out a pretty good week from my starters. Justin Leonard overcame a 5-over opening round to shoot 13-under over the next three (42 points). An eighth-place finish from Briny Baird (11-under, 48 points) helped as well.
D**H***ingIsRacing – 224 points, 2nd place and 3rd place (two leagues)
I’ve been hanging in there despite having several mediocre weeks in a row. I’m already in full starter-conservation mode, and have had a few unorthodox combinations. This week I actually forgot to set my lineup so I was stuck picking from my lineup the week before. Everyone basically sucked except for Kasey Kahne (8th place, 78 points).
The Shots What to Watch this week:
LA Dodgers at Cubs, Friday-Sunday
This is a chance for the Cubs to prove themselves against the National League's best team and officially put their May struggles behind them. Oh, and I did I mention the fact that the Cubs were embarrassed by the Dodgers in last year's Divisional Series? That's what we call "incentive".
NBA Conference Finals, ?
Keep watching Nuggets/Lakers. I have a feeling that something special is going to happen.
The Shots YouTube Clips this week:
Sports-related -
Excuse my language, but Mr. T still totally owns sh*t.
Non-sports related -
Back by popular demand: Ghost ride the whip! NOTE: if you are going to attempt this, make sure your car is idling in a desolate area (i.e. anywhere between Kokomo and South Bend off SR 31) and not going 50 miles per hour in a residential area. Safety first, kids.
The Shots Chick Pick this week: Maggie Grace
Maybe the only attractive chick named "Maggie" on planet earth.
See you next week.
You can listen to Derek every weekday in The Zone from 3-6 PM on XL 950!
