Win or lose, every team has a “player of the game.” Thursday, it was Quinn Ahern going six strong innings, and Friday, it was Jermaine Terry’s 3 for 4 night that included an RBI triple. Saturday, it was shortstop Logan Fleener going a perfect 3 for 3 with a run scored.
What made his superb night better than it already looked is that he was able to get two hits off of Vikings starting pitcher Evan Nietfeldt who had an excellent outing going six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out eight.
According to Fleener, Admirals manager Jorge Garza made an emphasis of driving the ball to the opposite field during batting practice which contributed to his success at the plate.
“I started to feel my swing again during [batting practice],” Fleener said. “I got a couple good fastballs to hit, and in my third at-bat, I got a changeup up and just threw my hands. It’s nice to see live pitching the last couple of days and get back on the field after a couple of weeks off.”
Fleener, who plays at Roane State Community College, will build off his three-hit night as he continues to emphasize his Midwest Collegiate League (MCL) reps to improve his offense.
“I want to get stronger at the plate,” he said. “Hopefully, turn those singles into doubles, and mainly just perfect my hands so that it’s an easy day.”
Despite his success offensively, the Admirals fell to 0-3 in the young MCL regular season after losing to the Vikings 7-4. They were able to cut into a 5-0 deficit by scoring four runs in the eighth inning after Robby Nunn relieved Nietfeldt. However, a costly Admirals fielding error in the ninth hurt their momentum as it led to two insurance runs for the Vikings.
“Really, sometimes when things are going good, you just have to keep it up, but sometimes the wheels will fall off which they did. We just have to respond in a better manner,” said coach Garza in an interview with Ryan Neiman.
The Admirals were able to score as many runs Saturday as they did their first two games combined. They were better at manufacturing runs this time around which is a good sign for the offense down the road.
Jermaine Terry continued his hot start to the season going 2 for 4 with a run scored. Michael Diviesti went 1 for 4 and drove home a pair of runs on a double. Also, Jeff Evak went 1 for 4 with three stolen bases and a run scored.
Fleener said he’s looking forward to have his former teammate James Roberts, outfielder Ryan Kent and pitcher Brenden Miller, who Fleener said is a “top-line arm,” to come back from injury and add depth to the roster. But as they nurse their injuries, the Admirals will have two chances to get into the win column Sunday as they host a doubleheader against the Chicago Zephyrs. First pitch at Wayne L. King Jr. Field is expected to start at 5 pm.
The Joliet Admirals lost their home opener Thursday night against the Southland Vikings 6-2.
After talking with Admirals manager Jorge Garza, the story for the Admirals’ defeat could be summed up into two words: timely hitting.
The Admirals were only able to get three hits off of Vikings pitching and had five more runners on base via walk and errors, however, they weren’t able to capitalize on those opportunities to score. They were able to score their first run by way of an error made by Vikings’ catcher Nate Ruzich when he threw the ball over the first baseman’s head on a failed pick-off attempt. Admirals’ lead-off man Jermaine Terry was able to score from first as the overthrow rolled all the way to the right-field fence. Their second run was scored a few innings later on an RBI groundout.
The Admirals were able to keep their 2-0 lead up until the seventh inning when the Vikings scored five runs and tacked on an insurance run in the ninth.
“We started off strong, but unfortunately it’s a nine-inning game, so we didn’t end up so strong,” said Garza.
One of the main factors into the Admirals’ strong start in the game was due to their starting pitcher Quinn Ahern. He was able to go six scoreless innings before things unraveled in the seventh inning when the bullpen struggled. Garza was proud of Ahern who he considers his ace “as of right now.”
“He’s the no.1, no. 2 starter at his junior college so I knew coming into the season I could rely on him,” said Garza. “He did a great job today. I was really proud of him.”
Coach Garza would like the team to improve on its timely hitting, as well as the pitching which he says “is going to come along with time.”
The Joliet Admirals play again Friday at home at Wayne L. King Jr. Stadium at Joliet Junior College. First pitch is expected at 5pm.
The Joliet Admirals lost their home opener Thursday night against the Southland Vikings 6-2.
After talking with Admirals manager Jorge Garza, the story for the Admirals’ defeat could be summed up into two words: timely hitting.
The Admirals were only able to get three hits off of Vikings pitching and had five more runners on base via walk and errors, however, they weren’t able to capitalize on those opportunities to score. They were able to score their first run by way of an error made by Vikings’ catcher Nate Ruzich when he threw the ball over the first baseman’s head on a failed pick-off attempt. Admirals’ lead-off man Jermaine Terry was able to score from first as the overthrow rolled all the way to the right-field fence. Their second run was scored a few innings later on an RBI groundout.
The Admirals were able to keep their 2-0 lead up until the seventh inning when the Vikings scored five runs and tacked on an insurance run in the ninth.
“We started off strong, but unfortunately it’s a nine-inning game, so we didn’t end up so strong,” said Garza.
One of the main factors into the Admirals’ strong start in the game was due to their starting pitcher Quinn Ahern. He was able to go six scoreless innings before things unraveled in the seventh inning when the bullpen struggled. Garza was proud of Ahern who he considers his ace “as of right now.”
“He’s the no.1, no. 2 starter at his junior college so I knew coming into the season I could rely on him,” said Garza. “He did a great job today. I was really proud of him.”
Coach Garza would like the team to improve on its timely hitting, as well as the pitching which he says “is going to come along with time.”
The Joliet Admirals play again Friday at home at Wayne L. King Jr. Stadium at Joliet Junior College. First pitch is expected at 5pm.
I appeared on Sports District Radio hosted by Ryan Neiman to talk about the NBA draft lottery aftermath, and we also give our own NBA mock draft. Listen in on who we think will be taken where and why here:
First, it was Russell Westbrook tearing his meniscus in last year’s playoffs. Now, Serge Ibaka is out for the remainder of this go-around with a calf strain. What horrible luck for Oklahoma City and the league’s MVP who were primed for another year of title hopes. It’s time for Stephen Adams and Nick Collison to fill the void against San Antonio–which they won’t.
Serge Ibaka’s improvement in his offensive game is an integral part to the Thunder’s success this season, particularly against the San Antonio in which they’ve swept them this year. The 24-year-old Congo native added a much needed mid-range jumper into his arsenal which transformed the potency of OKC’s offense. On top of that, he’s still making shots at high clip despite the major increase in the volume of shots outside the paint, finishing the regular season at nearly a 54 percent field-goal percentage
Ibaka was the X-factor to beat the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals. He’s the team’s paint protector, and the one who wasn’t going to give Tony Parker easy shots when he penetrates. Also, he’d be the one locking down Tim Duncan. In OKC’s four-game sweep against them, Ibaka averaged four blocks a game, and the team held Duncan at a 41.5 field goal percentage.
While on the offensive side of the ball, Ibaka’s ability as a shooter will command the respect of defenders, whether if its Tiago Splitter, Boris Diaw or Duncan, to not play off him which will open up lanes for Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Reggie Jackson when they penetrate. There’s no respect offensively for the rest of the Thunder bigs, and that will make San Antonio more aggressive when it comes to help defense.
Durant had his way against the Los Angeles Clippers because they had no answer for him defensively. They had a whole rotation of guys to guard him, but Chris Paul’s too small, Blake Griffin couldn’t defend the perimeter, and Matt Barnes is too old and slow. Kahwi Leonard will man up Durant all series, and he’ll bring the type of effort Tony Allen brought that frustrated Durant during the first round.
Without Ibaka, look for the Spurs to easily take this series in five games, but with how the NBA runs things, it could be six or seven. Ideally, they’ll want to finish this as soon as possible and hope the Miami Heat/Indiana Pacers series will go all the way to a seventh game. They don’t want to meet a well-rested Heat team in the finals. Side note: Yes, the Heat will down the Pacers. Stylistically, Indiana matches up very well against them, but they aren’t in sync like they were last year.
But anyway…
As for the Thunder, it’s a shame that this had to happen because Westbrook and Durant deserve to be back in the NBA Finals. They’re one more major injury away from being cursed. Lets hope that doesn’t happen next season.
Juan Manuel Marquez seeks to become the first Mexican fighter to be a world champion in five different weight classes. He’ll face off against Mike Alvarado Saturday on HBO. Also, UFC 173 is on the following week. I break down the boxing match and the fight card for next week’s UFC pay-per-view. Listen Here:
Adam Scott leans back and raises his arms in excitement. One hand is grasping his long putter and the other in a vice grip while closing his eyes and expressing a deafening shout. He just sank a 12-foot birdie putt in a playoff to win the 2013 Masters, the long-awaited first major tournament victory for the highly touted golfer.
The anchored stroke is where the end of the putter or the hand gripping it is intentionally secured to the body, creating a hinge effect when making a putting stroke. The United States Golf Association (USGA) believes it’s a “substantial” difference compared to the traditional style of putting where the club or the hand isn’t attached to the torso, creating a free swing of the putter.
Long and belly putters, which are the clubs used to create the anchored stroke, have been a part of golf for over 40 years. In 1991, Rocco Mediate became the first player to win a PGA event with a putter anchored to his body. It became a debated topic, however, when an influx of junior golfers and young professionals ditched the conventional putter and adopted the method. The issue gained steam in 2011 when Keegan Bradley won the PGA Championship, becoming the first player to win a major tournament using a non-traditional putter.
USGA executive director Mike Davis didn’t believe anchored putting was worthy of banishment saying the anchored stroke isn’t “detrimental” to the game, but his stance started to slowly change after the outcome of the 2011 PGA Championship.
“To date there’s no evidence they [long and belly putters] are giving anybody an undue advantage,” Davis said after Bradley’s win in a golfchannel.com report. “But could we become concerned some day? The answer is, yes.”
A month later, Bill Haas won the last tournament of the season, the Tour Championship, using a belly putter. The win also catapulted him atop the FedEx Cup points list which earned him over $11 million over that weekend. The following year, two more belly-putter users won major tournaments. Webb Simpson won the U.S. Open, and Ernie Els won the Open Championship with Scott finishing runner-up. Three months later, golf organizations proposed to have the technique banned.
USGA President Glen Nager is in favor of the ruling because of its mechanical advantages.
“Anchoring creates potential advantages, such as making the stroke simpler and more repeatable, restricting the movement and rotation of the hands, arms and clubface, creating a fixed pivot point, and creating extra support and stability that may diminish the effects of nerves and pressure,” Nager said, according to a PGAtour.com report.
Nerves are a big challenge of the game, and using the anchored technique is a solution to better control them. Players’ overwhelming nerves and pressure over putts may cause them to have the “yips,” which is golf vernacular for players’ nervous affliction when putting that inhibits them to make an ideal putting stroke. If you see a golfer miss a makeable, short putt, it’s either because of a misread or the “yips.”
This is one of the reasons why players, like Scott, adopt the anchoring technique to bring consistency in the putting stroke and counteract those hindrances.
In 2010, the last full year Scott used a traditional stroke, he finished 186th on the PGA Tour in strokes- gained putting. Currently in his third year into his transition to anchoring, he ranks 13th in that same category.
So, the argument is whether those who use an anchored stroke face the same challenges as a player with a traditional stroke. Fourteen-time major winner Tiger Woods thinks they don’t. Woods believes the motion made with an anchored putter isn’t considered a putting stroke. Before the ruling was finalized, he was in contact with golf’s organizers for years to tackle the issue. As a purist, he strongly believes the art of putting is controlling the nerves and swinging the club, according to an ESPN.com report.
[It’s] something that’s not in the traditions of the game,” Woods said. “We swing all other 13 clubs. I think the putter should be the same. It should be a swinging motion throughout the bag.”
Golf Hall-of-Famer and two-time Masters winner Bernhard Langer believes golf’s organizers made a rushed decision to try and ban the technique due to the string of anchored users winning majors over the last three years. He wondered why the putters weren’t considered illegal decades ago when the putters were first used.
“I don’t understand that they’ve been used for 20, 30 years, and only now they say ‘we think they’re illegal,’” Langer said, according to a golfnewsnet.com story. “So for three decades, nobody won a major with one. And now because three have, they’re illegal? I’m sorry, don’t accept the argument whatsoever.”
Despite Langer’s remarks, there’s a consensus among players who are in favor or don’t care for the ruling, likely because the majority of players use a traditional putter. Yet, Billy Rosinia, who has played in two PGA events and two major tournaments on the senior PGA circuit, is one who uses a short putter but disagrees with the ban.
“I really don’t think that it’s that much of an advantage or else everybody would be doing it,” Rosinia said.
He also said that the ruling is an injustice towards the junior golfers who grew up playing with the method, and the touring professionals who invested years practicing the technique and making a living with it.
Tim Clark, winner of the 2010 Players Championship, is one of them. He’s been anchoring the long putter since he turned pro in 1998. A congenital problem with his arms that causes discomfort when holding a shorter putter closer to his body was the reason why he switched putters in college, and he never turned back. Now, the ruling puts the remainder of his golf career in question.
“I planned to play until I physically no longer could play,” he said. “Now it’s a case of I’ve been told ‘no, hang on, that might change. You’re going to change the way you putt in a few years’ time,’ and now my future is uncertain.”
Clark is irked by the notion that long and belly putters don’t constitute a stroke believing it’s a different variation of one. Also, he argues that it doesn’t diminish nervousness because he, like all players, misses putts under pressure. He sees no advantage within the method.
“If I felt I was cheating, I wouldn’t be using it,” Clark said in a PGA.com report.
As of Monday, only two anchored users, Adam Scott and Webb Simpson, rank within the top 30 in strokes-gained putting. Carl Petterson currently ranks 137th, Kevin Stadler is at a meager 162nd, and Clark is 88th, which compromises his argument that anchored putters don’t elevate their play on the course.
It comes full circle to Rosinia’s disagreement that anchored putters give an advantage to players.
“You still have to putt the ball in the hole,” he said.
The important story for the future of golf is Jordan Spieth finishing second. The 20-year-old, who already earned a win at the John Deere Classic last year, proved that he’s a superstar in the sport. He and 24-year-old Rory Mcilroy will be the future of the PGA Tour once Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson eventually call it quits.
However, the story of my weekend was the Manny Pacquiao/Timothy Bradley rematch. Two years ago, Pacquiao was robbed of what should’ve been an easy unanimous decision win against Bradley. Instead Bradley won by split-decision, which raised claims by many of the fight being fixed, or it having corrupt judges.
I was one of them.
It makes sense. Two of the judges who scored in favor of Bradley in the first fight are no longer active judges.
Fixed or not, Pacquiao got his revenge on Saturday beating Bradley by unanimous decision. It looked like an even fight through the first six rounds, and then all of a sudden, Bradley abandoned his strategy of boxing and instead, hunted for a counter-punch knockout like what Juan Manuel Marquez did to Pacquiao in 2012. The counter-attack didn’t work, and it led to Pacquiao to be the more active fighter.
“Manny did his thing, but I suffered a leg injury on my right foot, my calf. I think I pulled calf muscle,” Bradley said after the fight.
Maybe he’s indirectly asking for a rematch. I don’t blame him because a fight with Pacquiao is his version of a superfight. He won’t get a bigger payday against any other fighter unless it’s against Mayweather.
Let’s hope he doesn’t fight Bradley a third time or Marquez a fifth time. It’s time to make the Floyd Mayweather superfight happen.
I appeared on Fantasy Sports U to analyze the Saturday night’s rematch between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley. I also talk about the latest UFC news, John Calipari’s book which mentions changes the NCAA should make, and whom I think will win the no. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference to avoid a match-up against the Brooklyn Nets. Listen here:
Jay Knows Sports 