Baily's Sports & Stuff

This year, many big trades have been made. Miguel Tejada switched teams, Jorge Cantu headed south, and Matt Capps was sent north. Now, it's time to cover all the big moves, and break them down. July 9; Cliff Lee trade Cliff Lee was traded from the Seattle Mariners to division rival Texas. Texas also got reliever Mark Lowe, while Seattle got 1B Justin Smoak and 3 prospects. Both teams win the deal. Texas acquired a great arm to go with 8-0 Tommy Hunter, Colby Lewis and Rich Harden. The struggling Mariners got a good 1B and 3 prospects for the future. Lee is 1-1 with 2 9 inning games pitched. In his last start, he pitching a 9 inning no-decision in an extra-inning win over Oakland. July 29; Miguel Tejada trade The San Diego Padres acquired Miguel Tejada from the Baltimore Orioles to add another strong bat to the lineup that leads the NL West by 3.5 games. San Diego gave up Double-A pitcher Wynn Pelzer to make the deal. Both teams win, but San Diego gets the better end...

Terrell Owens signed a two-year deal with the Cincinnati Bengals yesterday, who will be his fifth team. Owens is 36. Owens will team up with Ochocinco to try to create a dominating passing attack, and 2 targets to throw to. However, the Bengals will have many off the field issues. The 2 players may have arguments over being the superstar, and it might carry onto the field. However, there are stronger teams then the Bengals, so they needed to take a chance. Owens started his career in San Francisco, where he broke some records, then he reached the Super Bowl with Philadelphia. He got traded to Dallas, who released him, then he signed a 1 year deal with the Bills, who struggled once again. Prediction: Bengals go 10-6, take Wild Card. Cal Bears football preview Offense This year's Cal quarterbacks and runningbacks should be dominant. Shane Vereen rushed for 992 yards last year, despite only starting 4 games. Against Stanford, he ran for 193 yards and scored 3 touchdowns. H...

Tampa Bay Rays vs Detroit Tigers Another no-hitter. Another no-hitter with the Rays involved. How does Tampa Bay keep going hitless? They didn't. This time they were on the right side of a no-no. Matt Garza fired the season's fifth no-no Monday night as Tampa Bay beat Detroit 5-0. Garza faced the minimum 27 batters, allowing only a second inning walk to Brennan Boesch. The Rays turned a double-play next batter, and he retired the next 21 batters. Ben Zobrist made a spectacular running catch on Danny Worth to end the third, and to keep Garza's gem alive. In the ninth, after his 6th strikeout, Garza got Ramon Santiago to fly out to Zobrist to end the game. Garza dominated Detroit with the high fastball. Although he only got 6 K's, Detroit had the hardest time against the high fastball. The defense also helped. Zobrist had a great catch, but other than that, no spectacular catches or ground ball stops were made. Garza, who tossed a one-hitter against Flo...

College football Preseason Top 25 1 Alabama 2 Boise State 3 Ohio State 4 Nebraska 5 Texas 6 Virginia Tech 7 Florida 8 TCU 9 Oregon 10 Iowa 11 Miami (FL) 12 Oklahoma 13 North Carolina 14 Wisconsin 15 Florida State 16 Arkansas 17 Auburn 18 Missouri 19 Connecticut 20 Stanford 21 Georgia 22 Utah 23 Washington 24 Michigan State 25 Oregon State Others USC, LSU, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Nevada, Notre Dame, Navy, Texas A&M, Boston College, West Virginia, Houston, Cal, Penn State Tour de France Alberto Contador clinched the Tour de France title yesterday, racing well and playing in the Top 5. The Spainiard won his second straight title, and his 3rd in 4 years. Oakland Athletics vs. Chicago White Sox Jack Cust had a multi-homer game, Vin Mazzaro threw a 3 hitter through 6 innings as the A's beat the Chicago White Sox 10-2 to improve to 49-48. Kurt Suzuki hit a homer that would have been a ground-rule double if it had landed 2 feet in front of where it di...

This season, the Bay Area baseball teams have been surprisingly good. The A's are 48-48, and the Giants are in the lead for the Wild Card race. Now, let's recap what both teams have done. A's This year, the A's have improved. Their young players have stepped up, and the extra year of experience has helped them improve. Andrew Bailey has been great with 20 saves, All-Star Trevor Cahill has been fantastic, going 8-2 in his last 10 decisions. However, the offense has been quiet, with the RBI leader Kevin Kouzmanoff (49) and the home run leader Kurt Suzuki (10). A pitcher only throws about once every 5 games, so even a 35-0 pitcher or something can't change a team. The A's pitching has been good, with Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez, and Vin Mazzaro combining for a 23-12 record, and Dallas Braden threw a perfect game. But the batting has been a problem. The A's have to pick up runs at the plate if they want to win their games and come back in their divisio...

Rays vs Orioles Julio Lugo hit the game-winning single in the bottom of the 13th as the Orioles beat the Rays 11-10. The Orioles were down by 4 late in the game, but they came back. Miguel Tejada hit 2 2 run doubles, including the tying one in the ninth. He had 4 RBI's. Baltimore improved to 30-63, while Tampa Bay fell to 56-37. Luke Scott hit 2 homers for the Orioles, while Ty Wiggington and Adam Jones went deep early. Astros vs Cubs Aramis Ramirez hit 3 homers and knocked in 7 RBI's as the Cubs rallied from down 6-0 to beat the Astros 14-7. Houston scored the first 6 runs, but Chicago came back. They cut the deficit to 7-3, then Ramirez made it 7-6 with a 3 run blast. In the sixth, Geovany Soto tied it up with a homer, while Derrek Lee and Alfonso Soriano gave Chicago a 9-7 lead after 7. In the eighth, Ramirez got a good pitch and knocked it deep. Carlos Marmol pitched 1 perfect inning for the save, and the Cubs improved to 43-52. A's vs Red Sox ...

Now that the Major League Baseball Season is about halfway done, it's time to look at what every team has done and make predictions. AL East Right now, the Yankees have been dominating. Nick Swisher has been very clutch for New York, and he has had a big year. The Rays struggled in June, and that cost them the AL lead. The Boston Red Sox struggled early, got back into the race in May, but injures doomed Boston as they fell 6 games out of first place. Toronto fell out of the race in June, while the Orioles cannot win. Prediction: 1 Yankees 2 Rays 3 Red Sox 4 Blue Jays 5 Orioles AL Central Another tight race is going on in the AL Central, but the Twins aren't right in the middle of that.Led by Paul Konkero, the White Sox have won 27 of their last 31 games, while the Tigers have come back to take second (by one game). Minnesota is only 2 and a half games back, but they will need to step it up if they want to win the division. Kansas City and Cleveland are bot...

Since the MLB season is about halfway over, it's time to give out some outstanding performance awards. This year, we have had many great performances. Let's go! MVP's 1st base: Miguel Cabrera, DET, Albert Pujous, STL 2nd base: Robinson Cano, NYY, Dan Uggla, FLA Shortstop: Derek Jeter, NYY, Hanley Ramirez, FLA 3rd base: Evan Longoria, TAM, David Wright, NYM Left Field: Aubrey Huff, SFO, Delmon Young, MIN Right Field: Chris Young, ARI, Jose Bautista, TOR Center Field: Torii Hunter, LAA, Carlos Gonzalez, COL Catcher: Joe Mauer, MIN, Brian McCann, ATL Designated Hitter-Vladimir Guerrero, TEX Cy Young: Ubaldo Jiminez, COL, David Price, TAM Top 5 Most MVP Awards 1 New York Yankees-2 1 Minnesota Twins-2 1 Colorado Rockies-2 1 Florida Marlins-2 1 Tampa Bay Rays-2 Gold Glove Awards 1st base: Kevin Youkillis, BOS, Derrek Lee, CUBS 2nd base: Brandon Phillps, CIN, Robinson Cano, NYY Shortstop: Hanley Ramirez, FLA, Derek Jeter, NYY 3rd bas...

By looking at the Spaniards, you would think that they would be a power soccer country like Italy or Brazil. Come to think of it, you would think that they would have at least a championship. But they didn't. Until now. Andres Iniesta scored in the 116th minute as Spain won their first ever World Cup final. The Netherlands lost their 3rd World Cup final. Spain had a chance early on, but Dutch goalie Maarten Steklenberg made a diving save. After that, a flurry of yellow cards began to come on, but no players were thrown out. No one got a good chance for the rest of the first half, and the score was 0-0. Then, early in the second half, Holland got a breakaway. However, Iker Casillas deflected Arjen Robben's shot, and the score stayed 0-0. About 8 minutes later, Spain got a good chance. But they put themselves in a tough hole, and David Villa's shot went over the net. Spain had control of the ball for the rest of regular time, but they couldn't score. The game ...

A king arrives in... Miami. LeBron James announced last night that he was heading to South Beach to create a "super-team". LeBron will become the next member of the Miami Heat. During the 2010-2011 season, all the attention will be on the Miami Heat. The Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks will get attention, but everyone will be foucsed on how LeBron plays with D-Wade and C-Bosh. LeBron made his announcement at about 9:30 PM ET. The announcement was made at the Boys and Girls Club in Greenwich, Connecticut. The announcement rocked the bars in Miami, but it crushed Cleveland. The only problem for LeBron is that he will be hated in his hometown. Cavs fans were even burning their LeBron jerseys. On the other hand, he will be a favorite in Miami. He will probably win some titles in his time in South Beach. Prediction: LeBron wins 3 titles in South Beach. Paul the Octopus In a German aquarium, in a tank, an amazing octopus lies. Paul the Octopus has put on a show for ...

Spain vs. Germany Carles Puyol scored on a header in the 72nd minute to give Spain a 1-0 win over Germany to give Spain a berth in the World Cup Final against the Netherlands. The Germans were expected to dominate the game, but Spain got more shots. Germany had trouble getting the ball past midfield. However, the score was still tied 0-0 at the half. In the second half, Spain came out on fire. Even though Spain got about 5 chances for every Germany chance, they still couldn't score. Then Spain got a corner kick in the 72nd minute. The ball was kicked straight to Puyol, and he headed it in past the German goalie. Although Germany got some chances, Spain's defense was great. The Spaniards had made their first World Cup Final ever! Germany will play Uruguay Saturday in the third place game, while Spain will play Netherlands Sunday in the title game. Reports: LeBron leaning towards joining D-Wade, Chris Bosh in Miami. Carlos Boozer agrees to deal with Bulls. Tour de F...

Netherlands vs. Uruguay Netherlands has always had a great soccer team, but this wasn't expected. At least not by the world. But the World Cup brings surprises that the world doesn't expect. Arjen Robben and Wesley Snejider scored late goals, and Giovanni Van Bronckhorst scored a fantastic goal early as Holland beat Uruguay 3-2. In the 18th minute, Van Bronckhorst got the ball, and he fired a hard long shot. It deflected off the Uruguay's goalie's hand, banked off the post and in. However, Diego Forlan hit a hard shot that deflected off the Holland goalie's hands and into the top of the net. Both teams had chances early in the second half, but midway through, Holland had a chance. Welsey Sneijder took a shot, and it deflected off of Uruguay defender Maxi Periera, off the post and into the goal. Just 4 minutes late, the Dutch had another chance. Arjen Robben put a perfect header off the post and into the goal. Netherlands had a 3-1 lead. However, ...

NBA Free Agency It's here. The day NBA teams had circled on their calendar for so long is finally here. LeBron James Dwyane Wade. Chris Bosh. Joe Johnson. Dirk Nowitzki Well, the summit's finally here. So let's make our predictions. #5: Joe Johnson Johnson is a great 2 guard who has done a lot in Atlanta, and he would bring that same quality to another team. Unless LeBron leaves for New York or Newark, those options wouldn't be reasonable for Johnson. Atlanta has done a lot of rebuilding, and Johnson would have to go through that in 2010 to at least 2012. The best option for him is to stay in Atlanta, but I think be will go to New York. Prediction: New York Knicks #4 Dirk Nowitzki Many people believe that Nowitzki has opted out to sign in Dallas for more money, and if he intends to go somewhere else then he hasn't said much about it. I believe it is down to Dallas and Chicago for Dirk. Dirk isn't following LeBron around, and I think he loves it everythi...