The Vault

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Nice work editors at the Washington Post....this photo is from 2012.

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2014 NL Wildcard Betting Preview

Awesome Photo by The City Graphics

No matter what happens in tonight's NL Wildcard game, it won't match the craziness that ensued in last night's instant classic. However given the way the SF Giants have played playoff games in the past (Torture as their fans call it), tonight's matchup will probably be just as entertaining.

While I do not expect 17 runs tonight, all the numbers do point to the game going over the current line of 6.5...especially early in the game. Mainly due to Bumgarner and Volquez's ability to give up the big inning. For Bumgarner, the danger lies very early, as in the 1st inning. His ERA in the first this season is a whopping 5.73, which is almost 3 points higher than this season average. Madison also struggles early in the counts, opponents are hitting .280+ against him on the 1st and 2nd pitch of an at bat this season.

Volquez is prone to the big inning due to his lack of control. He is walking 3.3 batters per 9 innings and leads the majors with 15 wild pitches & 14 hit-batters. His 3.3 walks per game is actually on the low end of his career, his BB9 was as high as 5.4 in 2011. The cardinal rule in baseball at almost any level is that walks always score and that is definitely the case for Edinson, where he has walked just 30 batters in his 13 victories vs. 60 in his losses or no decisions.

A couple wildcards to look for tonight:

Preparation The Giants have known this game was coming for a long time and will definitely be well prepared (as evident by Bumgarner and Peavy being well rested). The Pirates on the other hand were in the thick of a division race until the final weekend so their game plan was probably more focused on a 5 game NLDS series than a one game winner take all.

Big Contributions from Small Time Players Injuries have really hurt the Giants down the stretch and they will be without two thirds of their Opening Day Outfield (Morse and Pagan). Travis Ishikawa will get the start in LF tonight and be very motivated to do some damage against his former team (he was the Opening Day 1B for the Pirates). In the other dugout, Josh Harrison has jumped on the scene this season hitting .319 with 13 HRs and 52 RBIs and took Bumgarner deep in their series in May.

Score Early, Score Often This game will probably be won in the 1st 3 innings. The Pirates will look to swing early and often to take advantage of Bumgarner's aforementioned 1st inning struggles. If they do, the odds are on their side, as they are 58-23 this season when scoring first. For the Giants, they must score...when they score 4+ they are an incredible 73-13 on the season and when they score 2 or less, 5-54.

Closing Notes: I don't think Volquez was the right choice to start this game. With his very limited postseason experience (1 game, 21.60 ERA) combined with Giant's familiarity with him (165 ABs) vs. Cole (46), Liriano (68) or even Worley (61) is a recipe for disaster.

Prediction: Giants win 6-3 Good Bets: SF ML -110, OV 6.5

--Matt Zuvella, SportsVault Founder 

Stats via the Onside Sports App and Baseball Reference.

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A Royal Comeback

The Royals are 1st to ever come back from 4+ runs in 8th or later to win winner-take-all playoff game.

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Violence in the NFL is just beginning

With more and more NFL players getting into off field trouble, many football fans are asking 'When are these players going to learn to behave themselves?' and the simple answer is never.

You have a sport that is as popular as ever and its players are as wealthy as they have ever been. Take those two combined with the violent nature of the sport and off the field problems are not going away, they are just beginning.

NFL players are taught day in and day out to be tough, take punishment and hit other people (Professional instruction is also starting much earlier in athletes lives than before with the massive success/growth of NCAA football - revenue at the top programs have grown over 150% since 2000).1 The harder you hit, the more attention you get. That mentality simply transfers over to their personal lives. Just like other highly demanding jobs, people have a hard time controlling the work to personal life spill over. This is intensified in the NFL where sponsors/brands are looking for originality they can market, which in turn means players can never 'turn it off' or risk damaging their image.

Now I am not saying that violence is acceptable just because of a person's occupation, but to say NFL players just need to 'clean up their act' is not going to cut it. Unfortunately off the field violence is becoming a side effect of the modern day NFL and an immediate fix is no where in sight.

-- Matt Zuvella SportsVault Founder

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-09-26/the-amazing-growth-in-college-football-revenues ↩

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The sports world isn't looking too hot this week.

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Banning Ray Rice for life? Not so fast...

We have been hearing a lot of talk from the sports media, current players and fans calling for Ray Rice to be banned for life and never allowed to play football again, after the video surfaced of him hitting his fiancé in an elevator. This is Ray Rice’s first incident of domestic violence and if he should be ‘banned for life’ then all of the following players should be as well.

Here is a list of current NFL players (and their current teams) that have been charged with domestic violence:

1. DT Ray McDonald - San Francisco 49ers - Arrested on suspicion of felony domestic violence in San Jose in August 2014.

2. DE Greg Hardy - Carolina Panthers - Arrested on 2 misdemeanor charges after he allegedly assaulted and threatened to kill his ex-girlfriend in May 2014. 

3. CB A.J. Jefferson - Seattle Seahawks - Arrested and charged with one count of felony domestic assault following a fight with his girlfriend in 2013.

4. RB Chris Rainey - Free Agent (Ex. Pittsburgh Steeler) - Accused of slapping girlfriend in face in dispute over cell phone in 2013.

5. WR Chad Johnson - Free Agent (Ex. Miami Dolphin) - Arrested on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge for allegedly head-butting his wife during an argument in 2012.

6. DB Robert Sands - Free Agent (Ex. Cincinnati Bengal) - Charged with assault in the fourth degree, domestic violence after an altercation with his wife in their Florence, Ky., home in 2013.

7. CB Chris Cook - San Francisco 49ers - Arrested on charge of domestic assault in 2011.

8. CB Brandon Underwood - Free Agent (Ex-Green Bay Packer) - Police called to his house in domestic incident in 2011. He was charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct after pushing wife to the ground and ripping necklace from her neck in Green Bay.

9. LB Kevin Alexander - Free Agent (Ex-Denver Bronco) - Arrested on suspicion of assault and battery in domestic incident with girlfriend in 2010.

10. DE Will Smith - New England Patriots - Arrested, charged with domestic abuse battery after allegedly grabbing his wife by hair and pulling her down the street.

11. LB Leroy Hill - Free Agent (Ex-Seattle Seahawk) - Arrested on suspicion of domestic violence. Police say they noticed "obvious injuries" on Hill's girlfriend in 2010.

12. CB Will Billingsley - New York Jets - Arrested, charged with misdemeanor domestic battery and resisting arrest after scratches found on girlfriend's arm and neck in 2009.

13. WR Brandon Marshall - Chicago Bears - Arrested in Atlanta on disorderly conduct charge after fight with fiance, spent five hours in jail in 2009.

14. LB Bryan Thomas - Free Agent (Ex-New York Jet) - Charged with assault on wife at their New Jersey home. He allegedly punched her in stomach.

15.  WR Dez Bryant - Dallas Cowboys - Charged with assault. Allegedly Hit Mom in Face, Ripped Her Bra.

16. LB Erik Walden - Indianapolis Colts - Jailed after complaint of felony assault against live-in girlfriend.

17. DE Phillip Merling - Free Agent (Ex-Washington Redskin) - Charged with aggravated battery against his pregnant girlfriend in Weston, Fla.

18. DT Tony McDaniel - Seattle Seahawks - Charged with misdemeanor battery at Davie, Fla., home, after shoving his girlfriend, whose head hit the pavement.

19. DE James Harrison - Free Agent (Ex- Pittsburgh Steeler) - Accused of hitting his girlfriend during argument about whether to baptize his son, simple assault, mischief in 2008.

Data was pulled from the USA Today NFL Arrest database and the The San Diego Union-Tribune arrest database.

[24seconds]

9th Annual ELITE 24 Game

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Amazing shot of tip off. 

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Are you in Love yet Cavs fans?

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Nolan Ryan after taking a ball to the face from the great Bo Jackson (September 8th, 1990)...he refused to come out of the game.

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Are you drafting Jamaal Charles this year?

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Superb Thomas Muller painting - via Dave Choate

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New Jabari Parker Bucks Shirt

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This sums up today in the world of Sports.

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Oh boy, Cleveland really thinks this is happening.

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The Home Run derby selections seem pretty weak so far. Where's Goldschmidt or Trout? What do you think? 

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Beer will be available via self-serve at Target Field for the All Star game next week. 

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Biogenesis Hammer Comes Down, 12 Players Suspended

Major League Baseball's waffling regarding the Biogenesis scandal that has wrought the sport with unnecessary controversy over the past few weeks is over.

Today is being called PED-Day, Biogenesis Day, and other similarly-worded phrases indicative of the immense media swirl surrounding which players will be suspended, which (if any) will appeal, and so on.

With MLB's official announcement forthcoming, reports are circulating that the following players will accept 50-game suspensions in lieu of any appealing:

Nelson Cruz, Texas Rangers: One of the most crucial players on the list was Cruz, who leads the Rangers in home runs and RBIs. He switched agencies just in time for the Biogenesis suspension news, and will opt to serve the 50 games now rather than next season (when he's a free agent). This could severely hamper the Rangers' chances at a playoff spot. At present, they're within a game of a Wild Card spot and trail the Oakland A's by 2.5 in the A.L. West - but Cruz's absence creates a major hole in the team's lineup.

Jhonny Peralta, Detroit Tigers: The Tigers had suspicions that 2013 All-Star shortstop Peralta would be suspended, hence their trade deadline pick-up of Jose Iglesias from the Boston Red Sox. Peralta, also a free agent after 2013, has a .305/.361/.461 line thus far this season.

Besides Cruz and Peralta (the two players from potential playoff teams), the rest of the suspended players include:

Everth Cabrera, San Diego Padres

Francisco Cervelli, New York Yankees

Jesus Montero, Seattle Mariners

Antonio Bastardo, Philadelphia Phillies

Jordany Valdespin, New York Mets

Sergio Escalona, Houston Astros

Jordan Norberto, Fernando Martinez, Fautino De Los Santos & Cesar Puello (minor leaguers)

Previously suspended players Bartolo Colon (A's), Melky Cabrera (Toronto Blue Jays) and Yasmani Grandal (Padres) will not be suspended a second time. 

Alex Rodriguez, meanwhile, plans to appeal the suspension (for some reason). That will supposedly allow him to play with the Yankees while the appeal process drags on and on and on, so expect this to be in the news interminably.

Stay tuned for any further updates...

Follow @adriangarro on Twitter for more news & notes.