A Schelling For Your Thoughts

As long as J.J. Hardy is out, Craig Counsell is the most likely candidate to replace him. Personally, I think Bill Hall should get an opportunity to start at shortstop sometime this week.

Hall, who drove in the game winner today for Milwaukee, has a better arm and more range than Counsell, despite his recent hitting woes. I think, especially against a lefty, Hall deserves a look at the position.

Counsell proved today, on the first hit of the game surrendered by Yovani Gallardo, he does not have the arm to be an elite shortstop at the MLB level. If I were him, I would be glad the Cardinals managed one more hit off Gallardo, because a hit like that is not the one you want to be the only hit allowed in a ballgame.

Hall, on the other hand, has a cannon. If he had fielded that ball, just as with J.J. Hardy, there’s a good chance Gallardo’s no-hit bid could have been intact.

It’s clear manager Ken Macha and the Brewers want to keep Mat Gamel in the lineup whenever they can, so why not shift Hall to shortstop? You could even play Counsell at second base if he is preferred in the lineup over Casey McGehee.

Yes, Hall has struggled against right-handed pitching this season, but the best way for him to get out of that slump is to face more right-handers, not by riding the bench. And besides, he sure looked good today against righty Kyle McClellan.

So, what do you say Macha, can we see Billy at shortstop?’

Remember that episode of The Simpsons when Bart goes crazy and believes Major League Baseball is spying on him? And when Mark McGwire comes in an distracts everyone by hitting a few dingers? I’ve always thought that was the perfect representation of the mentality of the average baseball fan, especially in 1999 when the episode aired.

Well, personally, while a big home run does get me off my feet at the park, nothing excites me more than a game filled with excellent defense and a great pitchers’ duel. Today, the Brewers and Cardinals provided just that.

Yovani Gallardo pitched a no-hitter into the sixth inning while his counterpart, Chris Carpenter, took a perfect game into the seventh. Each pitched eight innings of shut out ball for their respective teams while allowing only two hits. Carpenter struck out 10 and Gallardo retired six on strikes. The two combined to average fewer than 15 pitches per inning.

The game went to extra innings scoreless, something rare in today’s game. In the 10th, Brewers pitcher Carlos Villanueva shut down the Cardinals in order, setting up the most exciting finish of the season in Milwaukee.

Second baseman Casey McGehee hit a hard grounder at Brian Barden (April’s NL Rookie of the Month), who couldn’t handle it, putting the go-ahead run on base for the Brew Crew. Next up for the Brewers, Ryan Braun hit a grounder off the glove of pitcher Kyle McClellan that was fielded by shortstop Brendan Ryan and thrown to first to record the first out.

McGehee advanced to second on the play and would move to third on a fielder’s choice by Mike Cameron, who grounded to first following an intentional walk issued to Prince Fielder.

Bill Hall, who entered the game as a defensive replacement in the ninth inning for rookie Mat Gamel, came through with a two-out single to the right centerfield gap to drive in McGehee for the game-winning run. And if anybody deserved that moment, it was Hall, who had been struggling.

It doesn’t get much better than a 1-0 walkoff win.

I’ll be the first to admit I don’t think I could ever watch an entire race from start to finish, but I still find the big races like the Indianapolis 500 fascinating.

Today, between watching the Red Sox beat up on the Mets (including yet another balk by a Mets pitcher) and old episodes of How I Met Your Mother (I just watched the Pineapple Incident again), I caught a few moments of the race.

The first thing I saw was the start of the race, and what a start it was. Less than 15 seconds into the race and the first crash occurs as Marco Andretti and Mario Moraes slide into the wall. Like any other non-racing enthusiast, I typically find crashes to be the most exciting part of a race, but a crash within the first 15 seconds? You have to feel terrible for Marco and Mario.

So after that happened, I tuned out for about 130 laps and nearly forgot completely about the race. When I tuned back in, I caught the most frightening part of the race.

On a lap 134 pit stop, Vitor Meira‘s crew spilled fuel and his car was engulfed in flames moments later. Fortunately, they doused the vehicle — and Meira — in water and he even managed to continue the race in 20th place. Unfortunately, he later crashed and was taken to the hospital where he was treated for two broken vertebrae.

Following the Meira car going up in flames, I tuned back to How I Met Your Mother for a couple more episodes before watching the Mets and Red Sox once again. When I tuned back in, I saw something even more remarkable than the Meira fire.

Helio Castroneves, who won back-to-back races in 2001 and 2002, took the title for a third time just over a month after facing tax evasion charges. Up until April 17 it was unclear whether the two-time Indy 500 winner would even participate in today’s race. Now, after starting in the No. 1 position, the Brazilian became just the ninth driver to win the race three times.

Watching Castroneves circle the track over the last ten laps was a truly incredible moment. While Dan Wheldon and Danica Patrick — who finished second and third, respectively — tried to catch Castroneves, it was clear they would not be able to. He continued to increase his lead, eventually winning by 1.9819 seconds, the largest margin of victory since 2000.

And when “Spiderman” made his signature climb up the fence around the track, you couldn’t help but be happy for the guy after what he’s been through.

Near the end of the game, the Denver Nuggets trapped Kobe Bryant in the corner after catching an inbounds pass. After Bryant was fouled by a pair of Nuggets, he looked as tired as any professional athlete I’ve ever seen, and with good reason.

The performance delivered by Bryant in Saturday’s Game 3 between the Nuggets and Lakers was one of his best. With his team struggling throughout, he stepped up, slicing through defenders to the hoop and draining jumpers to carry his team with a game-high 41 points.

Of those points, the biggest three came with just over a minute remaining in the game when Bryant pulled up in front of J.R. Smith to give his team a one-point lead it would not relinquish.

It may not have been as dramatic as LeBron’s game-winner Friday night, but it got the job done. Now, the Lakers have the win they needed to get in Denver, taking home court advantage back from the Nuggets. And the main reason behind that win is Bryant, who scored 13 points to Denver’s 18 in the fourth quarter.

There was a poll on ESPN.com today asking who was the best clutch shooter remaining in the playoffs. Of nearly 70,000 polled, 45% chose Kobe, 31% said LeBron. After the shots they each made in the last two nights, it’s hard to argue with either.

For my money, if I had to choose a player to take a shot in the last seconds of the game, I’d take Bryant over any player in the NBA today.

Talk about a finish!