10 Awesome Things That Happened This Weekend (10/18-10/20)

10. A Bunch of People I Didn’t Know Croak on “The Walking Dead”
            But who cares, there was the usual amount of gratuitous violence.

9. Auburn Batters Johnny Manziel, Pulls Off Upset at Texas A&M

            You can kiss any chance of a second straight Heisman for Johnny Football.

8. Grambling Football Players Refuse to Play

            Good for them, as it has been reported that there is mold in their practice facility, their weight training room is outdated even by high school standards, and the school forces the team to travel a ridiculous amount of miles on buses the night before road games.

7. Cardinals Spank Dodgers, Earn World Series Berth
            I’m trying to figure out if it’s fairer to compare the Cardinals to Jason Voorhees or the San Antonio Spurs. In the spirit of Halloween, I’ll vote for Jason.

6. Late Caution Seals Jamie McMurray Win at Talladega

            My wife really enjoys it when McMurray starts bawling in victory lane, so it was good to see McMurray snap his 3-year losing streak. Even more important was The Chase being reduced to a two-man show. Jimmie Johnson leads Matt Kenseth by four points with four races to go.

5. Florida State Demolishes Clemson
            College football blowouts don’t normally make it into this space, but when it involves the #5 team in the country destroy the third ranked team, we pay attention. It’s been a long time since Florida St. has been relevant, but they’ve debuted at #2 in the initial BCS rankings. 

4. Redskins Win Wild 45-41 Thriller Over Chicago

            Chicago losing Jay Cutler in the second quarter had a lot to do with Washington being able to steal this one. If Cutler is out for an extended period of time, you can write the Bears off the list of NFC playoff teams.

3. Brand New, Little Known Rule Gives Jets Upset Over New England

            Everyone will focus on the penalty that gave Nick Folk a second chance at winning the game in overtime, but the bottom line is the Jets outplayed the Patriots Sunday and deserved to win.

2. Colts Thank Peyton Manning, Then Beat Him

            It’s important not to overreact to a regular season game, but this did feel like a coming of age moment for Andrew Luck. Unfortunately, it came at a very high price, as future Hall of Famer Reggie Wayne is done for the year.

1. Shane Victorino Grand Slam Lifts Red Sox Into World Series

            Not since the $14 million grand slam hit by J.D. Drew in the 2007 ALCS has a less likely home run been hit for the Red Sox. Drew’s was still the most improbable moment (for those that don’t remember, he was atrocious during the 2007 season), but Victorino’s was the go-ahead slam to put the Red Sox into their third world series in 10 seasons.

Sunday Draft (2-27-11) Fantasy Baseball Mock Draft Rounds 6 and 7

6-61 = Carlos Marmol, RP, Cubs – I hate using any pick before the 10^th round on a closer. Saves always pop up during the season, so it seems pointless to use such a high pick on a guy who will pitch only 80 innings over an everyday player or a starter that can give you 200 innings. However, for the integrity of the mock, I’ll select Marmol here. At least Marmol has a shot to give you over 100 strikeouts, so this makes him the only reliever that I would realistically take at this point in the draft.

6-62 = Mat Latos, SP, Padres – Latos will have no innings limitations this season. The ballpark gives him a chance to be a dark horse candidate for the NL Cy Young.

6-63 = Alexei Ramirez, SS, White Sox – I would hate drafting a guy who at best will give you 20 home runs and 15 steals with a 6^th round pick, but the shortstop position falls of a cliff from this point. Depending on where Ramirez ends up in the lineup, he could have a shot at cracking 100 runs for the first time in his career.

6-64 = Mariano Rivera, RP, Yankees – “The Hammer of God” (as named by Tony Kornheiser) is still rolling at age 41. He’s shown no signs of decline.

6-65 = Tommy Hanson, SP, Braves – Hanson struggled during the first half of the season in 2010, but rallied to finish the year with a 1.17 WHIP.

6-66 = Andre Ethier, OF-RF, Dodgers – Ethier was superman during the first two months of last season until a stint on the DL robbed him of his mojo. With a bounce back season from Matt Kemp, Ethier’s RBI totals could increase.

6-67 = Joakim Soria, RP, Royals – A guy who has gone by the nickname “The Mexicutioner” deserves to be the 3^rd closer taken in the mock (sadly, he wants to give up this nickname, which is a damn shame, because before looking him up to make sure he wasn’t undergoing season-ending surgery or something, I did not know he was called The Mexicutioner. Apparently I’ve missed out on three years of using a quality nickname).

6-68 = Jered Weaver, SP, Angels – Weaver has improved his ERA and WHIP each of the last three seasons. While it’s unrealistic to expect him to improve on a 1.07 WHIP, Weaver is a great option to anchor your fantasy rotation as either your ace or number two.

6-69 = Kendry Morales, 1B, Angels – Morales is best known for blowing his knee out while celebrating a walk-off homerun (click here for a fantastic home video of this event. Good times). If you get a repeat of his 2009 season (.306 BA, 34 HRs, 108 RBIs) from a dude you draft in the 6^th round, this is the sort of pick that can win your league.

6-70 = Billy Butler, 1B, Royals – Butler has smacked 96 doubles between 2009 and 2010. Let’s say he can turn 15 of those doubles into home runs (which is optimistic, but hey, we can dream), we could be looking at a .315-30-100 line.

6-71 = Jay Bruce, OF-RF, Reds – Bruce is only 23 years old, but already has three 20+ homer seasons. It’s not out of the realm of possibility for Bruce to crack the 30-homer club this season.

6-72 = Hunter Pence, OF-RF, Astros – Pence is the Honda Civic of fantasy baseball. He’s not very sexy, but he’s reliable. Pence has hit 25 home runs each of the last three seasons. Even creepier, he hit .282 each of the last two seasons. Don’t expect a ton of upside here, but he’s a safe pick.

7-73 = Brian Wilson, RP, Giants – I was concerned when I read a few days ago that Wilson had spent some time with Charlie Sheen (yikes!), but I’ll bank on Wilson’s craziness not messing with his pitching for at least another season or two.

            Team 1 Roster = Albert Pujols, Dustin Pedroia, Clayton Kershaw, Justin Verlander, Ichiro, Hunter Pence, Brian Wilson

7-74 = Roy Oswalt, SP, Phillies – With this pick, the “Philtastic Four” is now completely off the board. To put it in perspective, no other team has more than one starting pitcher taken at this point. If Oswalt repeats his 2010 ERA and WHIP (2.76 and 1.03), expect his win total to be much higher than 13.

            Team 2 Roster = Miguel Cabrera, Tim Lincecum, Jose Reyes, Brandon Phillips, Adrian Beltre, Jay Bruce, Roy Oswalt

7-75 = Shane Victorino, OF-CF, Phillies – Call me crazy, but I want to buy stock in Victorino this year. His batting average in 2010 was 22 points lower than it was in any of his previous full season in the major leagues. If he bumps that average back to .280, expect 15 home runs, 40 steals, and over 100 runs scored.

            Team 3 Roster = Robinson Cano, Matt Kemp, Kevin Youkilis, Jimmy Rollins, David Price, Billy Butler, Shane Victorino

7-76 = Yovani Gallardo, SP, Brewers – Gallardo’s career WHIP of 1.32 is a littler higher than I would like from a pitcher I would spend a 7^th round pick on, but the quality of the team he’s pitching for and his strikeout totals justify Gallardo being picked at this juncture.

            Team 4 Roster = Troy Tulowitzki, Ryan Zimmerman, Shin Soo Choo, Josh Johnson, Rickie Weeks, Kendry Morales, Yovani Gallardo

7-77 = Mike Stanton, OF-RF, Marlins – Stanton has as much pure power as any hitter in baseball. As soon as he gets a better grip of the strike zone (which could take a few years since he’s only 21 years old), he could be a real threat for 50 home runs at some point down the line. Expect someone to reach on Stanton much earlier than this in your draft.

            Team 5 Roster = Hanley Ramirez, Felix Hernandez, Ian Kinsler, Jose Bautista, Justin Morneau, Jered Weaver, Mike Stanton

7-78 = Alex Rios, OF-CF, White Sox – This pick isn’t as good if Rios is hitting lower in the lineup like he has been in Spring Training so far. If he’s hitting 2^nd, he has a shot at 20 homers and 30 steals.

            Team 6 Roster = Evan Longoria, Ryan Howard, Zack Greinke, Justin Upton, Derek Jeter, Joakim Soria, Alex Rios

7-79 = Matt Cain, SP, Giants – If Hunter Pence is a Honda Civic, than Cain is a Ford F-150. If innings is a stat category in your league, do yourself a favor and grab Cain 10 picks higher than this.

            Team 7 Roster = Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Hamilton, Cliff Lee, Victor Martinez, Jayson Werth, Andre Ethier, Matt Cain

7-80 = Pedro Alvarez, 3B, Pirates – Alvarez is essentially the same player as Mike Stanton, except he plays third base.

            Team 8 Roster = Joey Votto, Carlos Gonzalez, Matt Holiday, Dan Uggla, Cole Hamels, Tommy Hanson, Pedro Alvarez

7-81 = Delmon Young, OF-LF, Twins – It feels like Delmon Young has been around for years, but amazingly he’s only 25 years old. I wouldn’t be shocked if Young ups his power numbers in 2011.

            Team 9 Roster = Roy Halladay, Mark Teixeira, Andrew McCutchen, Ubaldo Jimenez, Brian McCann, Mariano Rivera, Delmon Young

7-82 = Martin Prado, 2B-3B, Braves – Prado is a solid fall-back option if you miss out on Robinson Cano and Chase Utley at the top of the draft. 3B eligibility is also a nice bonus to have for roster flexibility.

            Team 10 Roster = Carl Crawford, Prince Fielder, Joe Mauer, Jason Heyward, Aramis Ramirez, Alexei Ramirez, Martin Prado

7-83 = B.J. Upton, CF, Rays – Even if Upton’s batting average is stuck around .240 like he has been the past two seasons, he’s a lock for 40 steals. If Upton can up the batting average to .270, you could be looking at a top-10 player at the end of the season.

            Team 11 Roster = Ryan Braun, Alex Rodriguez, Jon Lester, Buster Posey, Adam Dunn, Mat Latos, B.J. Upton

7-84 = Paul Konerko, 1B, White Sox – For those of you patient enough to wait on a first basemen, this could be your reward. I don’t expect Konerko to duplicate his 2010 production (.312 BA, 39 HRs, 111 RBIs, .977 OPS), but even if he settles in at .265-28-100, you’re getting a great bargain at the end of the 7^th round.

            Team 12 Roster = David Wright, Chase Utley, Nelson Cruz, C.C. Sabathia, Carlos Santana, Carlos Marmol, Paul Konerko