The St. Louis Cardinals, who won the World Series last year, never say die.
The San Francisco Giants, who won the World Series the year before that, never back down.
The St. Louis Cardinals, going back to last postseason, have won five consecutive games in which they would have ended their season if they had lost.
The San Francisco Giants have won five consecutive games in which their season would have ended if they’d lost.
The St. Louis Cardinals have painted themselves into a corner.
The San Francisco Giants have their backs against the wall.
It’s baseball, not football, but call this the Karma Bowl, this Game 7 of the NL Championship Series between not one but two teams that can’t be killed — except that Monday night, one of them will be.
So, who’s got mo’ mojo?
The Giants, who came from 0-2 down and won three straight games against the Cincinnati Reds in an NL Division Series?
Or the Cardinals, who were down to their last strike – twice – in a Game 5 come-from-the-coffin victory against the Washington Nationals in the other NLDS?
This, of course, was a performance the Cardinals had first acted in Game 6 of last year’s World Series, when they were down to their last strike – twice – in a preposterous victory over the Texas Rangers that propelled them to a title.
Find out tonight, once and for all.
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Japanese high school pitcher Shohei Otani says he will pursue a career in Major League Baseball instead of turning professional in Japan.
Otani, a 6-foot-4 right-hander who has thrown a fastball between 99 and 100 mph, has been scouted by several major league teams including the Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox.
The 18-year-old Otani said “I think I will start in the minor leagues but I want to challenge in the majors. It’s been my dream since entering high school.”
Otani was expected to go in the first round of Thursday’s amateur draft in Japan.
If he signs with a major league team, Otani would become the first potential top draft pick to make the direct jump from a Japanese high school to the U.S.
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I don’t think calling out your coaches is a good idea.
Cam Newton questioned his coaches following the Carolina Panthers’ 19-14 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
“The past couple of games has been the same script, by the same director … it’s kind of getting boring,” Newton said. “This taste, this vibe … I’m not buying it. And I don’t know what it is, but something’s gotta change. Something’s going to have to change real fast,” he vented.
Newton went 21/37 for 233 yards a touchdown and an interception. He also rushed for 64 yards on six carries. He was critical of himself for throwing an interception in the end zone in the second quarter, and spoke about the offense needing more balance.
“I’m not the playcaller. If I’m speaking for [offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski], you gotta keep a balanced offense,” he said when a reporter asked about the pass-heavy game. “When we run the football, it hasn’t been exciting like we’ve wanted it to be, but you gotta call the plays. We gotta be more balanced. It’s evident.”
Newton really vented about the team playing too many close games.
“We just find a way to keep a game close and wait to see what happens at the end. I’m getting tired of it. That’s not a formula to win; domination is a formula to win.
“Everybody’s looking at it, it’s just not me. I feel like the Carolina Panthers are in a situation where we find a way to keep it close. Whether it’s me, I don’t know. Whether it’s the coordinator, I don’t know. Whether it’s the players overall, I don’t know. But we gotta change that. I’m looking forward to a game where we put up 35 points. Everybody does.”
The Panthers quarterback seemed to question his coaches once again.
“Whether it’s the execution, you can point out a lot of things that can come to us being defeated, but this is not it. This is not it. I’m not going to accept it. But I’m only going to control what I can control, and that is myself.”
Newton is so lost he said he was willing to take suggestions from reporters on how they can fix things and get better. He even called a female reporter “sweetheart,” when answering a question about what they need to change. It may not have been said maliciously, but that does not come across to me as professional athlete-reporter conduct.
Newton’s postgame body language and behavior has been so bad that even his father says he needs to change. Guess that’s not something he worked on over the bye week while he was busy discovering his inner child.
You can watch his entire postgame press conference here.
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Need to get rid of some land mines?
Shaking hands really does seal the deal.
Don’t ask Ryan Lochte to predict any football games.
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Have a great Monday folks, thanks for reading the blog!
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