Why there will never be another 30 game winner

The last pitcher in Major League Baseball to win 30 games in a season was one Denny McLain, of the Detroit Tigers. He went 31-6 way back in 1968, For the record, he got shelled in his two starts against the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series that year. Southpaw Mickey Lolich wound up being the unlikely hero as the Motowners captured the title in a thrilling 7 game series.

But it will never happen again.

It's simply a matter of numbers.

Back in those days, team had 4-man starting pitching rotations. Given the same 162 game regular season, that meant -- if they stayed healthy throughout -- they'd get about about 40 starts.

Over time, and burnt out arms, MLB has evolved into 5-man rotations, with a 6th getting an occasional start.

Do the math. That means instead of 40 starts, they'll get maybe 31-32, at most.

And nobody's gonna win em all. Even the best don't always have their "best stuff", or maybe they get out-dueled by an opposing pitcher having a particularly good day. Or their own team doesn't give them much if any run support. Losing a 1-0 or 2-1 game is rough, but it happens.

To boot, there will be a few, perhaps several games where the starter gets no decision at all. Pitch counts being what they are, a complete game is a rarity these days. Maybe an ace starter is cruising along into the 7th or 8th inning with a slim lead, but whoops, now he's up to 130 pitches. They'll yank him. How many times have we seen bullpens implode and blow a lead? That happens too.

So who's the best pitcher in the game these days? Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers? Justin Verlander of the Astros? Max Scherzer of the Nationals?

Even if those guys are dominant every time out, the BEST they can likely do is rack up 25 Ws.

Which is a far cry from 30.

It's just a matter of numbers.

Milwaukee Bucks, The collapse is complete

A scant few days ago it would have been hard to believe. The Milwaukee Bucks had trounced the Toronto Raptors the first two games of the NBA's Eastern Conference finals, and it had taken the Raptors two overtimes, at home, to barely pull out Game Three.

Wasn't Milwaukee the same team that had posted the best regular season record in the whole league? The team that had only lost back to back games once all season? And therefore had home court advantage, where they're formidable, to boot?

No way they were going to lose this series.

Until they did.

In one the the biggest collapses in recent memory, the Bucks were taken down three more times in a row after their narrow Game Three loss.

There will be no joy in Beerville USA. Only finger pointing. How could this happen, and who's fault was it?

Or -- it might just be the Raptors are pretty damn good themselves. The "Greek Freak" Giannis Antetokoumpos was thoroughly stymied by the smothering defense of one Kawhi Leonard. And Milwaukee's so-called "depth" didn't step up and produce when it mattered most.

So now the Raptors move on to face the defending champion Golden State Warriors. The "north of the border" team will even have home court advantage.

Could they pull off another "upset"?

Maybe.

But I wouldn't count on it.

The Dubs, with or without one Kevin Durant, who remains a "maybe", are a whole different animal than the Bucks.

Yours truly hasn't seen the early line yet, but I'd bet when it does come out, the champs will be highly favored to three-peat.

But ya never know.

Wouldn't it be something if the Raptors could pull off another improbable series upset -- this time capturing an NBA title?

The hosers would go wild in the streets, ay?

But I'll believe THAT when I see it.

Nonetheless, bring it on.

Milwaukee/Toronto The worm has turned

OK, so I'm an idiot. It wouldn't be the first time, and likely not the last.

Yep, I had the Milwaukee Bucks easily getting past the Toronto Raptors in the NBA's Eastern Conference finals.

Hey, didn't the Bucks have the best regular season record in the entire league? And would therefore enjoy home court advantage in this series?

And aren't the same team that had cruised through the playoffs so far?

Yes, the opening round against the gawd-awful Detroit Pistons, who had no business -- NONE -- being in the playoffs was a predictable romp.

And after they mysteriously lost the first game, at home, no less, against the Boston Celtics, in the conference semis -- didn't they come roaring back to blister the Beaners four in a row?

And didn't they easily win the first two games against the Raptors?

And take them to double-overtime in Game 3 in Toronto before just falling short?

But then the wheels seemed to fall off for the Bucks.

The worm has definitely turned.

They were themselves routed by the Raptors in Game 4, and the Toronto defense, notably one Kawhi Leonard, put the clamps on alleged super-star Giannis Antetokoumpo. He was shut down, befuddled, and even harassed by a Drake at courtside.

True, yours truly has never understood the fascination so many people have over a dude that named himself after a duck -- but what do I know?  It seemed to work out for that insurance company -- Aflac -- right? Quacks, I tell ya. Sorry.

Still, the series was only tied 2-2, and would be heading back to beer city. Surely, they would right their ship?

Nope, they got beat again, semi-handily, and those pesky visitors from north of the border, the only non-American NBA team, appear to be firmly in control.

Game 6 is back in Toronto, which will be a hoser madhouse. After the last three games, it's mighty hard to believe the Bucks can go into Toronto and win such a big game.

And I don't think they will. Look for another blow out, and the Raptors moving on to face the defending champs Golden State in the Finals.

Maybe the Dubs will be happy with that, or maybe not.

They'll still have to cede home court advantage in the Finals, but gone is the worry about trying to negate the "Greek Freak" mentioned above without a healthy Kevin Durant, who remains out with a lingering calf injury.

Sure, home court or not, the Warriors would have been a heavy favorite against either the Bucks or Raptors. They travel well. Ask the Houston Rockets how Game 6 of their series worked out. Or the Portland Trail Blazers that got taken to the woodshed on their home court while being swept.

It's starting to shape up like a three-peat for the Dubs and another parade in Oakland.

Or I could be wrong.

After all, I'm an idiot.

And I think that's where I came in.

The Portland Trailblazers. Alas

After a not-so-surprising opening round playoff win over the Oklahoma City Thunder -- Russell Westbrook continues to trash talk but can't seem to win anything -- the Portland Trailblazers mildly stunned many (yours truly included) by knocking off the favored Denver Nuggets.

Only those pesky Golden State Warriors stood between them and a trip to the NBA Finals.

To boot, the Warriors were without the service of Demarcus Cousins (out for the year with a torn Achilles tendon), and super-star Kevin Durant (still hobbled by a strained calf).

And in Game Three of that series, already down 2-0, the Blazers saw Andre Iguodala of the Dubs go down with another calf injury, severity unknown. They still lost, after blowing a big lead.

With the Warriors down three starters, surely the Blazers could at least win Game Four to avert a sweep, right? Especially, given they were playing on their home court, where they're very tough.

Wrong.

Once again, they built a huge lead, seventeen points, midway through the third quarter.

And then the wheels fell off -- again.

The Dubs came roaring back to send the game into overtime, and finally won it.

So given all the above advantages, Portland STILL couldn't beat those guys?  Not even once?

That's got to be disheartening.

Or maybe it just wasn't meant to be.

Or maybe Golden State is just..... that..... good.

Kudos to Steph Curry and Draymond Green, the fist teammates in NBA history to both get triple-doubles in a playoff game.

That might have had something to do with it.......

And now the Warriors get a full nine days off, so sit back and study the Milwaukee Bucks, the presumed winners of the Eastern Conference Final against the Toronto Raptors.

And rest.

And get healthy again. (Except for Cousins).

These guys are going to be their usual load in the Finals.

Golden State and the Kevin Durant enigma

No pro basketball fan would doubt Kevin Durant is a great player. The best right now? Maybe. But certainly in the top five.

But the Golden State Warriors are strange ducks. They've won championships without KD, and with him as well.

Let's not forget their regular season win record a few years back was set BEFORE Durant arrived on the scene.

Sure, any team would jump at the chance to have KD on their roster. He really is that good.

But do the Warriors "need" him? That's where things get a little bit tricky.

It's a given that Durant can "take over" a game all by himself. He might put up 40, even 50 points in any given contest. Thing is, while he's doing that, most of his teammates are just standing around watching the one man show. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

But when KD is NOT in the line-up, as he hasn't been recently due to a calf injury, it forces the other Dubs to play more like a "team". And a formidable bunch they are when things are clicking.

In the Western Conference semis, most, including yours truly, thought the Houston Rockets would knock off the Warriors in Game 6, which Houston had at home, and GS was fresh without the services of KD. But we all know it didn't work out that way. The Dubs went into Houston and polished off the Rockets -- again.

And now the Portland Trailblazers have faced a GS team without KD the first two games of the Conference Finals. Okay, no big surprise the Dubs came out and blistered the Blazers in Game One.

But the latter had the Dubs down at home throughout Game Two. Including holding a double digit lead with just a couple minutes remaining.

Then bang. GS went on an improbable 14-3 run and it was game over, just like that. It had to be demoralizing for the Blazers.

When Durant will be healthy enough to come back is unknown. Maybe Game Three in Portland. Maybe not.

But when he's in the line-up, the Warriors play an entirely different style of game.

It's almost unthinkable, yet the question needs to be asked. Are the Warriors better off with KD, or without?  A very good argument could be made either way, given the results of how they've played.

It's almost like the Warriors are in constant teaser mode. After all, the LA Clippers beat them twice, on GS's home court, in the opening round of the playoffs. Before the Dubs came roaring back to dispatch an obviously inferior opponent.

And Houston had them right where they wanted them, without Durant, until they looked up at the scoreboard when the final buzzer sounded. Oops.

Same with the Blazers in the above mentioned Game Two of the Conference Finals. They had them, they had them, they had them -- and then they didn't have them at the end.

With or without KD, no way are the Blazers going to beat the Dubs four our of five to go to the Finals. It's over.

But when they face their presumptive opponent, the Milwaukee Bucks, for all the marbles, things could get very interesting.

More on that later........

Houston, we have a problem

Well, let's see.

The Golden State Warriors were already without the services of big man Boogie Cousins (out for the year with a torn Achilles), a starter and an All-Star caliber player.

Then Kevin Durant, arguably the best player on the planet right now, went out for at least a few days with a strained calf.

The Houston Rockets were playing at home.

And normally sharp-shooting Steph Curry scored exactly zero points in the first half of the game.

And the Warriors STILL won the game 118 -- 113?

How can it be?

Are the Dubs just that good -- or did the Rockets choke (again)?

I dunno. But it's gonna be another long off-season in Houston.

Houston, we have a problem indeed.

It just doesn't appear to be in the cards.......

The idlest of thoughts

Given Kevin Durant of the Golden State Warriors suffered a calf strain and will be out for Games 6, and if necessary 7, this is make it or break it time for the Houston Rockets. If they can't beat the Dubs now without KD (and also Boogie Cousins, who was injured earlier in the season), they might as well pack it in and fuhgettaboutit. It just ain't in the cards. We'll see....

I always chuckle when I see one particular show advertised. To wit:  From the Mind of Kobe Bryant.

Never watched it and never will, but one wonders about the thought of same.

Would that be anything like From the Bottom of a MickeyD's Deep Fryer?

From the Attic of My Crazy Uncle Bob?

From the Pants of Donald Trump?

These are not exactly pleasant images to conjure.

And where did Bryant's folks get off naming him Kobe in the first place? Look it up and you'll discover it's a very expensive piece of Japanese beef. The expensive part makes sense. But naming a son after a hunk of meat?

There's a daily sports talk show on TV featuring Bomani Jones and Pablo Torres.

So somebody tell me why, pray tell, they named the show High Noon -- when it airs at 4 PM?