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Blackhawks go down 1-0, but Cubs and Sox roll |
While the
Cubs and Sox won Thursday night, the Blackhawks went down 1-0 in
their series against the Nashville Predators. Nashville went ahead
1-0 on a Viktor Ardvisson deflection at 7.52 of the first period and
then made the lead hold up.
The
Hawks started slow, but out shot the Predators 23-9 over the last two
periods but couldn't beat Pekka Rinne. As a long time Hawks fan, I'm
disappointed but still not terribly worried. In looking back on the
Hawks last three Stanley Cups they all had a different feel to them.
Looking back.....
With the
2010 Cup, I was cautiously optimistic, but the fact the Hawks hadn't
won a Cup since 1961 weighed o n my mind. It's amazing to me that
those Hawk teams with Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita in the 60's and 70's
didn't win a Cup after 1961.
The
2012-13 Hawks came roaring out at the beginning of the lockout
shortened season and dominated from start to end. If they hadn't won
the Cup, it would have been a disappointment. The 2015 Cup was a
gift. The Hawks seemed to be short on depth and talent but managed
to jell at the right time and display grit enough to win the Cup in
dramatic fashion
And forward.....
This
year I think the Hawks are somewhere between the 2013 and 2015 Cup
winners. I still like the Hawks in 6 games over the Predators.
So this is what it's like to root for a winner
Going
into the 2017 MLB season, the Cubs looked to be the best team in
baseball. Through their first 9 games, that still looks to be the
case. The Cubs defeated the Dodgers 4-0 to raise their record to
6-3. All the elements of a great team were in evidence Thursday.
Great pitching and fielding, power and enough offense to be
interesting make the Cubs a heavy favorite to at lest make the
playoffs.
Attention Strat-O-Matic geeks...
Brett
Anderson pitched 5 scoreless innings for the Cubs. He was aided by
two outstanding plays in center field by Albert Almora Jr. Javy Baez
later made a leaping catch of a line drive and turned it into a
double play. For those baseball geeks who've played Strat-O-Matic
baseball, I think the Cubs have five players who would be rated as a
“1” defensively. They are Rizzo, Almora, Baez, Russell and
Heyward. I don't think I can remember another team that could say
that.
Carl
Edwards Jr. pitched two scoreless innings while Koji Uehara and Wade
Davis each followed with a scoreless frame. The Cubs pen has looked
strong early on.
Anthony
Rizzo and Addison Russell each hit their first homerun of the season.
The Cubs offense has been good enough early on, but I think it will
get better. Possibly a lot better.
Am I potentially as bad a GM as Hawk Harrelson?
The
White Sox evened their record at 4-4 with a 10-4 win over the
Cleveland Indians. Tim Anderson hit a lead off homerun and Matt
Davidson added a three run blast in the 5th. In addition, the guy
I've trying to run off, Avisail Garcia, continues to swing a hot bat.
Garcia had 3 hits and 3 RBI's to give him 8 for the year.
Miguel
Gonzalez was in line to get the win, but lasted only 4.2 innings.
The Sox pen then combined for 4.1 innings and gave up only one run.
Anthony Swarzak went 1.2 scoreless innings to pick up the win. The
Sox have managed to go 8 games into the season without killing off
fan interest. Progress is being made.
More
next time.
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