Baily's Sports & Stuff

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1236060-denver-broncos-4-players-that-must-step-up-in-2012

When the Broncos picked Ronnie Hillman in the 2012 NFL Draft, some people were happy. Others didn't like the pick at all. Denver had some problems on defense last year, and a lot of people wanted a cornerback or even a wide receiver. However, the team decided to add another fast running back. And soon, the pick will pay off. Hillman is a fast, explosive running back who has great vision. While he is small, he can break tackles, and he dominated while playing at San Diego State. San Diego State isn't anything like the NFL, but while playing at SDSU, Hillman showed why he can play in the NFL despite his size. He sprinted through every hole and broke tackles, and he used his great vision to find the best place to run. Usually, that wasn't good for the defense. The Broncos had a good running game last year, but Willis McGahee, Denver's starting running back, fumbled six times and scored five touchdowns. Denver wants more production in the backfield, so they draf...

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As I sat in the stands of AT&T Park on a fine afternoon, I witnessed a great play by an unknown outfielder for the Giants. Well, Giants fans knew him. I knew him. And after what he did Wednesday night, I'm sure everyone knows him. On that day I was at the ballpark, the Giants played the Texas Rangers. It was Saturday, June 9, and there were runners on first and third base with one out in the bottom of the third inning. Ryan Theriot hit a sharp ground ball right to Ian Kinsler, the Texas second baseman. Gregor Blanco, who was on first base, had attempted to steal the base, so all Kinsler had to do was tag him or step on the base and throw to first. Blanco stopped and looked like he was ready to play a game of pickle. Kinsler just had to touch the base, but Blanco had fooled him. Kinsler, realizing that he wasn't going to get Blanco and Theriot out, threw the ball to first to try to get Theriot out. It was an errant throw. 1-0 Giants. San Francisco went on to win ...

As a Giants fan, I am aware of the situation in San Francisco. So far, the team is off to a good start. Matt Cain is off to the best start of his career. He is 8-2 with a 2.18 ERA, and he is coming off of the 22nd perfect game in MLB history. Madison Bumgarner and Ryan Vogelsong have both been amazing too. Barry Zito has started the season well, although he seems to be cooling off (Zito is 5-4 with a 3.61 ERA, but he's lost his last two starts). However, the guy you wouldn't expect to be struggling is the guy struggling. Tim Lincecum has a terrible record and ERA, and when he pitches, the Giants are 2-11 (the team is 34-17 when he doesn't pitch). He hasn't been throwing the ball as hard as he used to, and he isn't hitting his spots. And because of that, he has a 2-7 record and a 6.00 ERA. Lincecum has hurt the Giants every time he takes the mound, and most fans are sick of it. Lincecum could be sent to the bullpen or the minor leagues, but what the Giants ...

Matt Cain has put up with a lot in his career. His offense has struggled to support him, and he usually ends up with a loss in games that he should be winning. Then, he won a World Series title. And now, he has a perfect game. Cain threw the 22nd perfect game in MLB history as the Giants routed the Astros 10-0. Cain struck out 14 batters and was dominant all night long. Usually, the Giants offense doesn't give Cain much run support. However, when he needed it most, his offense was on fire. Melky Cabrera and Brandon Belt each homered and knocked in three runs, as the Giants knocked out Astros starter J.A Happ after 3.1 innings. While San Francisco's offense was great, the main storyline was Cain. He was dominant throughout the game, hitting his spots and throwing the ball where he wanted. His nasty slider got a lot of Astros watching strike three, as seven Astros struck out looking. Oh, and another seven went down swinging. Every Astro struck out at least once exce...

The San Francisco Giants have started the season well, as they are in second place in the NL West at 34-27. However, they still have one gaping hole: shortstop. While you could argue that they have a hole in the rotation because of Tim Lincecum's slow start, Brandon Crawford's inconsistent play at shortstop has hurt the Giants. He has a .219 batting average and a 24.5 percent strikeout rate. Oh, and his defense hasn't been too great either (as you may have noticed from the picture above). Crawford is an above-average defensive shortstop, and he makes a lot of hard plays. However, he has struggled to field easy grounders, and he's even dropped pop-ups (again, see above). Overall, Crawford has been a disappointment for the Giants. Here are three reasons why they must trade for another shortstop as soon as possible. Lack of a Good Offensive and Consistent Defensive Shortstop This one is pretty obvious. Crawford has struggled at the plate all year and has mo...

There have been rumors going around about the Heat breaking up their mighty "Big Three," which features stars LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Debates have been going on and on about this, and people have debated if the Heat should trade Wade or Bosh, or even if they should deal LeBron. And I have one thing to say about that. It can't happen. Last year, the Heat disappointed their fans by losing in the NBA Finals, although they lost a hard-fought series that went to six games. This year, fans gave up on the Heat twice during the playoffs. And both times, they responded with a bang. Down 2-1 to Indiana, most people expected the Pacers to run away with Game 4 and finish off the Heat in one of the final three games of the second round. However, LeBron and D-Wade stepped up in Chris Bosh's absence. James put up 40 points, 18 rebounds and 9 assists in Game 4 as the Heat tied the series at two. With the momentum on their side, Miami cruised in the final...

Everybody, shut up. You said the Thunder had no chance. You said the Thunder were too young and inexperienced. You said the Spurs' veterans would dominate. So please stop criticizing the Western Conference champions. Durant scored 34 points, Russell Westbrook tallied 25, and the Thunder beat the Spurs 107-99 to advance to the NBA Finals. San Antonio led by 18 in the first half, but OKC came back. Thabo Sefolosha played great defense on Tony Parker (in the last three quarters), as he continued to force turnovers and disrupt San Antonio's system. On offense, he scored points as well. Sefolosha hit a big three in the third quarter to cut the Spurs' lead to two points. In the fourth, the Thunder continued to be clutch. Derek Fisher hit a huge three from the left corner to put OKC up 96-91, then James Harden caught a pass from Durant and fired from the left wing... Oklahoma City then led 99-93. I think you know if he made or missed the shot. Westbrook made a huge l...

Every team has a lot of relievers, and all of them know their job and know how to get tough outs. However, some relievers stand head-and-shoulders above the pack. Aroldis Chapman is one of those guys. David Robertson is one of those guys. And Sergio Romo is one of those guys. Romo had his share of struggles during San Francisco's World Series season in 2010, but he was amazing in 2011. His nasty slider fools hitters and has incredible movement, and his changeup isn't too bad either. With an ERA of 0.60 and a WHIP of 0.87, you can tell Romo is dominating in 2012 as well. He has 20 strikeouts in 15 innings pitched, which gives him an average of 12 strikeouts per nine innings. His slider always fools hitters by going right down the middle and curving out of the strike zone at the last second. The ball usually goes out of the reach of the bat and into the catcher's mitt for strike three. If the hitter is lucky enough to make contact, the result is usually a weak groun...

San Francisco may be four games back of the first-place Dodgers, but they certainly have what it takes to take home the NL West crown. The Giants won the World Series two years back, and they finished second in the NL West last year. However, the D-Backs, the 2011 division champs, are well behind the Giants, and only the Dodgers stand ahead of them. Dodger star Matt Kemp is injured and will miss a minimum of four weeks, which is a huge blow to the Dodgers. Although they played well without him, his presence will sorely be missed by L.A. The Giants still need to do some things before being crowned as division champs. The Dodgers are a great team, and the Giants will have to work hard and play good baseball to secure the division's automatic playoff berth. Here are five things that must happen for the Giants to become contenders. Melky Cabrera Must Stay Hot So far, so good. Melky Cabrera has been amazing throughout the first two months of the season, posting a .373 batt...

Melky Cabrera was traded to the Giants for Jonathan Sanchez, San Francisco's inconsistent pitcher. Some wondered if the Giants would end up with the bad end of the deal. Cabrera has made those people look stupid. Cabrera has batted an amazing .373, and he is a huge threat every time he comes to the plate. In a lot of games, he gets a hit every time he steps up to the plate, and sometimes he makes a great play on defense. So far, Cabrera has had lots of games where he's looked like the MVP. He has provided a huge spark to an abysmal offense and guided the Giants to a 27-24 record, where they currently reside 5 games behind the first-place Dodgers. With Cabrera on the team, five games is definitely a deficit the Giants can overcome. Even though other guys have struggled, Cabrera's abilities to get on base, hit multiple pitches and score runs have been instrumental to the Giants' 2012 success. Whenever San Francisco scores a large amount of runs, Cabrera always...