Thursday, October 9, 2008

Post Season Baseball and an Early Look at the Clippers

After enjoying some bagels and cream cheese, some kugel and some dessert, I sat down to watch the end of the Dodgers-Phillies game. I was extremely excited by the end result: a 3-2 win by the Phillies. It took almost six innings for the Phillies to get to Derek Lowe. A huge error by Rafael Furcal was followed by a huge home run by Chase "Mr. April" Utley. It was only Utley's 2nd home run in 38 games but it came at a perfect time. Two batters later, Pat Burrell hit a solo shot to put the Phillies up for good.

Besides for Andre Ethier and Manny Ramirez, the Dodgers looked awful. The rest of the team will be happy to know that they won't be seeing Cole Hamels again until Game 5. Give credit to the Phillies fans for sticking in there and rooting on their team for more than one inning. I don't think there is any way Chad Billingsley loses tomorrow afternoon to Brett Myers, so I am predicting a 5-2 Dodgers victory. As my friend Jason says, "Billingsley will have a very similar run as Josh Beckett when he was a Florida Marlin."

After I watched the Phillies win, I decided to watch my Los Angeles Clippers against the Los Angeles Lakers in a pre-season game. I only caught the end, but I have a few thoughts on what I saw in a short time period from the Clippers rookies.
1. The Clippers draft picks from this year are going to end up being VERY good. I didn't get a chance to see Eric Gordon play but I have heard good things and I think his shooting will be a very valuable asset to this squad.
2. Also, DeAndre Jordan is for real. This kid looks good. He somehow ended up slipping to the Clippers in the 2nd round even though he was one of the top 25 guys in the draft. He is 6 foot 11 but he has a huge wingspan and will be very similar to another Clipper player...Marcus Camby. Both are long, athletic rebounders. Jordan should learn from Camby this year, which will help Jordan and the Clippers a lot. I expect big things from this kid.
3. The Clippers got a kid by the name of Mike Taylor in the late 2nd round. The Clippers got the pick from the Houston Rockets and it might be one of the best quiet moves the Clippers have ever made. The Clippers will need a point guard after Davis leaves town and hopefully Taylor is the guy. He definitely impressed today by making 9 of 12 shots for 20 points. He did have five turnovers but I will turn my head on that one and give the rookie a break.
4. Baron Davis looks great in a Clippers uniform.....FINE, he's not a rookie but he still looks like he belongs in the red and blue.

I will be blogging all year on the Clippers so look forward to it!

Until next time, goodnight from the press box.

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