Good Luck Ducks, Week 7: Stagger or Swagger?

Following its first loss, cracks are starting to become crevasses.

Let's face it: Oregon is just not a very good team right now. Despite the fact that Oregon got completely hosed by officials against Arizona, the reasons the Ducks couldn't find a way to win against the Wildcats go far beyond some horrible (and rather vindictive feeling if you ask me) calls. The O-line can't protect anyone. They can't open any holes for their backs to get through. The Ducks simply can't play football the way they're accustomed to if this happens. Two straight games where Marcus Mariota has been repeatedly flattened and where the backs have had nowhere to run but straight into the backs of their own teammates (as well as the arms of their opponents) have proven that something is seriously wrong with the Green and Yellow (and Silver, Black, occasionally Pink... etc.)

The Ducks face a UCLA team with similarly lofty expectations, a highly touted quarterback (Brett Hundley) and heaps of protection problems of their own. It's almost like looking into a mirror, except that it's an ugly mirror of gold and powder blue and entitlement. I have no idea what to expect today, but I wouldn't be surprised if it somehow involves backup quarterbacks before the clock runs out.

With upsets happening en masse last week, the door is still wide open for both of these teams to climb back into playoff consideration. For that to happen, something big will need to change, and it will need to start today.

Oregon was dominant in last year's meeting. That seems like a long time ago.

Game time is 12:30 PDT with national coverage on FOX. Go Ducks!

Series Preview: NLCS (Giants vs. Cardinals)

The Giants/Cardinals NLCS series at a glance.

The playoffs resume this weekend, with the Cardinals having beaten Clayton Kershaw twice en route to a 4 game Divisional Series win. I'm not surprised at the Cardinals continued success against Kershaw, as they have proven over the years that they have his number in a way that no other team generally manages to do. Had it been Zack Greinke who got two starts instead of this year's (inevitable) Cy Young Award winner (and possible MVP), it could have been a very different series. And now, it's the series almost no one wanted -- the winners of three of the last four World Series crowns, facing off in the NLCS. It's hard for me to get much of a read on this series as it is a matchup I certainly did not expect, but I'll break it down anyway.

2014 Season Series: Giants won 4-3
The Giants actually won 3 of 4 at Busch this year before the Cardinals salvaged a series win in San Francisco at the beginning of July. These two teams also met in the 2012 NLCS, with the Giants rebounding from a 3-1 series deficit to claim the series and, eventually, the World Series as well.

Starting Pitching: Madison Bumgarner / Jake Peavy / Tim Hudson / Ryan Vogelsong vs. Adam Wainwright / Lance Lynn / John Lackey / Shelby Miller
Not much is known yet about the order of the Giants starters beyond tomorrow night's opening game (Bumgarner vs. Wainwright), but it's likely that all four of these pitchers will get a start at some point.  Like Kershaw, Bumgarner has struggled against St. Louis quite a bit. Wainwright, the Cardinals' ace, may actually be the weak link in the bunch right now as he struggled mightily against the Dodgers and the health of his arm has been called into question. Wainwright aside, both team's starters have fared very well in the playoffs so far. ADVANTAGE: PUSH

Bullpen: Santiago Casilla vs. Trevor Rosenthal
Casilla took over the closer's role for a struggling Sergio Romo in the middle of the season, which is basically the opposite of what happened in 2012. Rosenthal has been walking on thin ice in steel toed boots all season as he's had virtually no outings that didn't involve baserunners, if not runs. The rest of the bullpen for each team has been fairly solid, but the Giants seemingly have no weak spots. Left handed relief has been somewhat of an adventure for St. Louis. If things get wild, the Giants have two serviceable longmen in Yusmeiro Petit (who pitched a good deal of their 18 inning win over the Nats) and Tim Lincecum. The Cardinals have Michael Wacha presumably in this role, though his health and status are a bit of a mystery. ADVANTAGE: GIANTS

Catcher: Buster Posey vs. Yadier Molina
Posey is the Giants' offensive linchpin, and he's at least serviceable behind the plate. Molina's offense has lagged a bit behind his usual output since he returned from a thumb injury that knocked out a significant portion of his season, but his defense and game management remain otherworldly. It's hard to quantify how much a bat helps a team versus defense, but if Yadi's bat is at peak form, there aren't any better catchers around. ADVANTAGE: PUSH

First Base: Brandon Belt vs. Matt Adams
Both of these players are powerful lefties whose careers still feel a bit underdeveloped. Both guys had dramatic home runs in the Divisional round that decided big games. With no lefty starters in either team's rotations, you can expect both players to see plenty of action. ADVANTAGE: PUSH

Second Base: Joe Panik vs. Kolten Wong
Panik took over at second base midway through the season and has hit for average but little power. After being benched in favorite of small sample size hero Pete Kozma for Game 1 against Kershaw, Wong came through with some timely hitting to solidify his role as a starter. The Cardinals rookie continues to pull the occasional boneheaded maneuver, recalling his infamous World Series mistake, but his strengths outweigh his blunders at this point. ADVANTAGE: PUSH

Third Base: Pablo Sandoval vs. Matt Carpenter
The Panda is one of the Giants top run producers, but he's performed at a pretty pedestrian level for several seasons in a row now and can no longer be considered one of the premier players in the league. Carpenter, despite an MVP-caliber season last year, is still being confused with former pitcher Chris Carpenter at this point. Nevertheless, the third baseman is on fire right now, hitting home runs in 3 consecutive games against the Dodgers. ADVANTAGE: CARDINALS

Shortstop: Brandon Crawford vs. Jhonny Peralta
Crawford is a defensive wizard (but not The Wizard, of course) who doesn't do a whole lot with his bat. He does have that grand slam that won the Wild Card going for him, however. Peralta was the Cardinals offensive rock this season, and he even acquitted himself nicely in the field by playing passable defense. ADVANTAGE: CARDINALS

Right Field: Hunter Pence vs. Randal Grichuk
Pence is simply one of the most awkward players in the history of the game, but he's accumulated a pretty solid resume in his eight seasons in MLB. Whatever path he takes to the ball, in the field or with the bat in hand, he continues to get positive results, even if they're not pretty to look at. Grichuk got the start in right field in every game in the playoffs so far, but with right handed starters all around, someone else could take a turn. The rookie has looked good in the field so far and homered off Kershaw in Game 1 of their NLDS series. ADVANTAGE: GIANTS

Center Field: Gregor Blanco vs. Jon Jay
Blanco is a speedy, rangy outfielder but is a serious downgrade at the plate from what Angel Pagan would provide were he healthy. Jay doesn't have much pop in his bat, but he hits for high average and is good for a timely run or two. His arm can be a bit lacking, but he covers center field as well as most. ADVANTAGE: CARDINALS

Left Field: Travis Ishikawa vs. Matt Holliday
Ishikawa is Plan C, with both Pagan and Michael Morse down. Morse may or may not be available in this series, but the expectation is that we'll see more of Ishikawa in left this series, which can't be a good thing when the guy can't hit his way out of a wet paper bag. Holliday is one of the strongest men in baseball, and his bat is cooking right now. ADVANTAGE: CARDINALS

Bench: Joaquin Arias vs. Daniel Descalso / Oscar Taveras / Peter Bourjos / A.J. Pierzynski
San Francisco's bench could be better represented by this image. If Morse is able to contribute, it helps the Giants greatly, as no one other than Arias had accumulated any meaningful at bats prior to these playoffs. Pierzynski was added to the playoff roster on the Cardinals side after sitting out the NLDS round. The Cards bench isn't really a strength, either, but the Giants situation makes them look otherworldly. ADVANTAGE: CARDINALS

Manager: Bruce Bochy vs. Mike Matheny
This one is fairly straight forward. Bochy has been at the helm of two World Series winners in just the last four years. Matheny took over the Cardinals in 2012 and led them to an NLCS loss to the Giants and a World Series loss to the Red Sox. Futher time will tell what Matheny's legacy will be. ADVANTAGE: GIANTS

Prediction: CARDINALS in 6



The Secret Weapon roughed up Atlee Hammaker back in Game 7 of the 1987 NLCS. Will we see another amazing series like this one?

Game 1 game time is 7:00 CDT Saturday night at Busch Stadium with national coverage on FOX. Go Cards!

Airbrushed Fridays: 1976 Topps Traded #44T

Baseball is back tonight! It seems like it's been forever. And it has...

Who is he? Doug Rader, the Red Rooster, was a five-time Gold Glover at the hot corner. He also had several short stints as an MLB manager in the '80s, and his name sounds like a passable TV detective.

How did he get here? After his Gold Glove days with the Astros, Rader was dealt to San Diego for Larry Hardy and Joe McIntosh. His time in San Diego was fairly brief, and he would finish his career up in Toronto.

Repeat offender? Yes

Other versions of this card: Here's the non-Traded version.

Airbrushed Score: 7

Comments: I always appreciate an old Padres cap, but this was mangled a bit. The sky is pretty, though!

Most Wanted No More

Another team set is complete.

While it might have been more topical to scan a Kolten Wong or Matt Carpenter card tonight, I thought I'd focus on a guy that pitched in 12 games for the Cardinals 6 years ago, and returned to relative obscurity soon after that. Mike Parisi was called to the rotation in desperation during a season in which little went right.

Yes, Cardinals haters, there once was a time not long ago where the Cardinals missed the playoffs in back to back seasons and didn't exactly inspire anyone. Adam Kennedy got significant playing time. Todd Wellemeyer led the team in ERA. And back in 2008, Parisi made a couple of sloppy starts before retreating to the bullpen, and eventually a couple of other professional organizations in a minor league role. He last pitched in independent ball in 2013.

His card was also the last card I needed to complete my team set in the frustrating 2008 Upper Deck Timeline set. The ratio of David Ortiz (card #30) to Parisi cards must be somewhere near 7000 to 1, so it took me awhile to track this down. Fortunately, a Listia auction came through for me and I can sleep just a tad bit more soundly at night. A new contender has replaced Parisi in the Most Wanted charts. Let me know if you can help out.

Airbrushed Fridays: 2012 Topps Opening Day #43

The only thing missing from the Wild Card Game is a devilish game show host. Anyway, playoffs -- go!

Who is he? Angel Pagan is an outfielder with a strangely self-contradictory name. After finally breaking in with the Cubs as a part timer, he became a fixture for the Mets (who originally drafted him) who relied on his speed.

How did he get here? After a lackluster 2011 season, the Mets traded Pagan to the Giants, which would prove to be the biggest boost to his career yet. The Giants went on to win the World Series with Pagan having a career season at age 31. While Pagan still remains a key piece of the team to this day, a back injury will keep him out of the playoffs this time around.

Repeat offender? No

Other versions of this card: Here's a non-airbrushed version from the later produced Update Series.

Airbrushed Score: 4

Comments: This isn't bad, but it isn't real, either.

Series Preview: NLDS (Cardinals vs. Dodgers)

The Cardinals/Dodgers series at a glance.

For the third time in six years, the Cardinals face the Dodgers in the playoffs, this time in the divisional round. Both St. Louis and Los Angeles won their respective divisions, leaving each side out of the foolishness that is the Wild Card Game. Last season, the two teams met in the NLCS with the Cardinals defeating the Dodgers in six games.

2014 Season Series: Dodgers won 4-3
The Cardinals dropped three games in LA, salvaging a lone win in a four game series. Back in St. Louis, the Cards took two of three from the boys in blue. The two series were played within a few weeks of each other. I don't think there's a lot to take away from these games aside from the fact that Clayton Kershaw was his dominant self and not the occasionally mortal pitcher that the Cardinals have seen over the years.

Starting Pitching: Adam Wainwright / Lance Lynn / John Lackey / Shelby Miller vs. Clayton Kershaw / Zack Greinke / TBD
Starting pitching has been key for both of these ballclubs. After suffering an early season injury in Japan, Kershaw has put together a historically great season. Wainwright, meanwhile, was in lockstep with Kershaw until he labored through a second half swoon that coincided with Yadier Molina's absence from the lineup due to injury. Wainwright rebounded to win all five of his starts in September and was a late scratch for a chance at six when the Reds eliminated the Pirates from division title hopes prior to what would have been his final regular season start. Lance Lynn has quiet put together the most consistently great season of his young career, while trade deadline acquisition John Lackey has struggled to find that consistency in a Cardinals uniform. Shelby Miller was put in a timeout corner for the playoffs last year, but after struggling with his control for much of this season he's been in a really nice groove of late. On the Dodgers side, Zack Geinke continues to be one of the best #2 starters in the game. LA is counting on the return of Hyun-Jin Ryu in time to take the mound in Game 3, while Dan Haren has been serviceable this season and could take one of the starts. Health (or lack thereof) could swing this in either direction, but for now it's too close to call. ADVANTAGE: PUSH

Bullpen: Trevor Rosenthal vs. Kenley Jansen
Jansen has continued to be one of the game's most reliable closers, though his numbers are off just a half a tick from where he was last season. There's not a lot to complain about there. Trevor Rosenthal was second in the league in saves (next to Craig Kimbrel) in his first year as full-time closer, but he invited baserunners in nearly every outing. Jansen is joined by J.P. Howell, Pedro Baez, Brandon League and Brian Wilson. Wilson and Howell have plenty of deep playoff experience and League is a former closer, while Baez is in his first season. For the Redbirds, first time All-Star Pat Neshek leads the best of the rest, along with Seth Maness and Carlos Martinez. The Cardinals will also carry two or three lefties, with Sam Freeman, Randy Choate and prospect Marco Gonzales in the mix. The St. Louis bullpen has been adventurous at times this year (never a good thing when you're talking about relief). ADVANTAGE: DODGERS

Catcher: Yadier Molina vs. A.J. Ellis
Yadi had a down year offensively, by his standards, mostly due to a significant thumb injury that he suffered during the second half of the season. On the other hand, Molina is perhaps the game's best signal caller and has one of the best arms, while A.J. Ellis has been one of the worst backstops in all aspects of the game. ADVANTAGE: CARDINALS

First Base: Matt Adams vs. Adrian Gonzalez
Gonzalez has been a mind-bogglingly consistent run producer and power source that can sometimes be taken for granted. Adams has light tower power and hit for a high average this year, but still hasn't shown much of an ability to hit lefties, He's no guarantee to start every game of this series because of this. Unfortunately for St. Louis, they traded away their other first base option in Allen Craig, who was having a punchless season of his own. ADVANTAGE: DODGERS

Second Base: Kolten Wong vs. Dee Gordon
Gordon finally established himself as a major leaguer this season as he took over as the full-time second baseman. His 64 steals led all of MLB. He doesn't even have warning track power and his OBP won't thrill anyone, but once he does get on he's an immediate threat. Wong possesses a ton of speed and talent, but it doesn't seem like he always knows what to do with it. He's shown flashes of every tool known in the game and his improvement as a major leaguer has been noteworthy, but he's not quite there yet. ADVANTAGE: PUSH

Third Base: Matt Carpenter vs. Juan Uribe
Carpenter hasn't quite replicated his record setting All-Star season of 2013, but he's adjusted to his return to the hot corner well enough. He continues to be a table setter if not the fastest guy around and had a career high 95 walks this season. Uribe put together his second consecutive solid season and presents himself a solid example of a third baseman. Neither of these guys quite fit the mold of what you would have expected a 3B to be even 5 or 10 years ago, but they're doing alright for themselves. ADVANTAGE: PUSH

Shortstop: Jhonny Peralta vs. Hanley Ramirez
At 32, Peralta put together a season that fell in line with his career numbers as a first time Cardinal. It just so happens that those numbers were some of the best the storied club has ever seen at its traditionally offensively-challenged position. Ramirez fell off significantly from his huge (though injury shortened) 2013 season, but he's still been productive. ADVANTAGE: PUSH

Right Field: Randal Grichuk / Oscar Taveras vs. Matt Kemp
The Allen Craig/Joe Kelly for John Lackey trade was, in part, supposed to free up an everyday spot in the lineup for uber-prospect Taveras to seize. This hasn't exactly happened. Fellow rookie Grichuk, acquired in the David Freese/Peter Bourjos deal, has had some success against lefties and will likely get starts against Kershaw and Ryu. Taveras has had to settle with making an impression unlike Yasiel Puig, who exploded on to the scene the moment he put on a Dodger uniform. Kemp is still not the All-World player he was in 2011, but he's returned to the level of a power bat that you want to be worried about. ADVANTAGE: DODGERS

Center Field: Jon Jay vs. Yasiel Puig
Puig didn't exactly build on his stellar rookie season, but he's remained an extremely deadly threat both in the field and at the plate. Jon Jay was replaced as starting center fielder and once again responded by hitting for a high average and playing well enough to keep himself in the lineup for the bulk of the season. His defense seemed to rebound to an acceptable level after struggling mightily in 2013. ADVANTAGE: DODGERS

Left Field: Matt Holliday vs. Carl Crawford
Heading into the All-Star Break, Holliday had 6 HRs on the season and an OPS of just .762. People were worried? Holliday finished at his usual 20 HR, 90 RBI, .800+ OPS level when all was said and done. His age dictates that he's in decline, but there was no scarier hitter in the Cardinals lineup heading down the stretch. Crawford managed a .300 average this season and stole more bases than he had since he left Tampa Bay, though his output was half of one of his average seasons with the Rays. ADVANTAGE: CARDINALS

Bench: Daniel Descalso / Peter Bourjos / Pete Kozma vs. Andre Ethier / Justin Turner / Scott Van Slyke
Ethier aside, the Dodgers bench has some serious firepower. The bearded Turner and Van Slyke the Younger have put up monstrous numbers in more than small sample sizes. Meanwhile, the Cardinals trot out the experienced but punchless Descalso and Kozma. Kozma was heroic in the 2012 playoffs but spent nearly the entire season in AAA. Bourjos could be in line to get a start and will be the first considered as a defensive replacement as he can run circles around the entire Cardinals outfield. St. Louis also has a backup catching decision to make, as they'll need to decide if they want to carry longtime backup Tony Cruz or Molina-stand-in A.J. Pierzynski. ADVANTAGE: DODGERS

Manager: Mike Matheny vs. Don Mattingly
Matheny has heaps of playoff experience for a guy in just his third year on the job, but his mismanagement of the bullpen this season and suspect late game decision making have left many scratching their heads. It's hard to argue with a first year NLCS appearance followed by a World Series appearance, however, but if he can't top it the scrutiny is going to increase. Mattingly nearly found himself out of a job last season but now finds himself in the playoffs for the second straight year. Though nearly anyone could look good with Kershaw, Greinke, a few bats and the Dodgers obscene payroll, Mattingly is starting to earn some respect.
ADVANTAGE: PUSH

Prediction: DODGERS IN 4



The Cardinals advanced to the World Series after dispatching with the Dodgers in last year's NLCS. Let's hope that the series ends with Yadi hugging someone.

Game 1 game time is 3:30 PDT at Dodger Stadium with national coverage on Fox Sports 1. Go Cards!

Good Luck Ducks, Week 6: Thirsty Thursday

After a bye week, Oregon returns to the field hungry. And thirsty.

After surviving a scare up in Eastern Washington, Oregon returns to action tonight in a weeknight late game against the Arizona Wildcats. The bye week couldn't have come at a better time, as the Ducks were less than impressive against an unrelenting Cougar air attack a couple of Saturdays ago. Marcus Mariota continued his unblemished, almost robotic season, but his offensive line let him down in the worst way. As anxious as I can get watching Mariota scramble for yards (and he's probably the best and fastest at this), I really do not like watching him get sacked over and over again by a lesser opponent. That was not fun to watch.

The Ducks had a little extra time to regroup and face Arizona tonight, a team that is also an undefeated 4-0. Their seasons could not be more dissimilar, however. Aside from a first week blowout win over UNLV, the Cats have been involved in nailbiter after nailbiter, the latest culminating in a Hail Mary victory over California -- the most nailbiting of all ways to win. I probably would have found a way to chew a whole finger off. Arizona also squeaked out wins over Nevada and something called Texas-San Antonio along the way, so it's hard to know a lot about them while analyzing their few games.

This feels like a "return to form" game for Oregon. In front of a nighttime home crowd on national TV with the students finally back in school in full force, I'd be very surprised if this isn't an emotionally charged game with a lot of points for the guys in... well, apparently they'll be wearing pink (and black). As long as the makeshift O-line can sneeze on the defense long enough for Mariota to do something with the ball without getting his brains beat around, the Ducks should win this one comfortably. It's not as if they should be lacking in motivation, either. Arizona pummeled the Ducks in embarrassing fashion last year in a game I'd like to pretend never happened.

In happier times, Oregon soundly defeated the Wildcats on their last trip to Eugene, earning a rare shutout (49-0).

Game time is 7:30 PDT with national coverage on ESPN. Go Ducks!