Congrats to the Atlanta Braves on winning the World Series! Congrats to Freddie Freeman! That man deserves everything. Congrats to Ozzie Albies, Mike Fiers, Jeff Mathis, Austin Riley, Will Smith, and especially congratulations to Drew Smyly! Why am I pointing out Drew Smyly specifically? He didn’t even pitch well in this series, surrendering three earned runs on seven hits in just four innings, so why am I congratulating him? Well, Smyly has been to a World Series before, as a rookie on the 2012 Detroit Tigers. In fact, Smyly made two appearances in that Series against the Giants in Games 2 and 4. Smyly remained on that Tigers team for two and a half seasons, joining the Tampa Bay Rays midway through 2014 in a trade involving former Cy Young Award winner David Price. That year, the Tigers had several big names on their pitching staff: Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, David Price, Aníbal Sánchez, and Rick Porcello. Along with Smyly, that makes six pitchers on that 2014 Tigers team who have gone on to win a World Series title — with another team. That has become the legacy of the 2014 Tigers — a team with immense talent that couldn’t win it all, then lost all those talented players only to see them thrive elsewhere. The Tigers haven’t won a World Series since that magical year of 1984. Yet somehow some of the best players of the last 12 or so years have come from the Tigers’ organization. Not only were they part of the Tigers’ organization, they were all part of those early 2010s teams that could never win it all. I still haven’t named every big-name pitcher on that 2014 Tigers squad. Toronto Blue Jays’ ace, Robbie Ray, spent his rookie season in the Motor City. Ray appeared in just nine games and posted a 1-4 record and an 8.16 ERA. Ray was promptly shipped to Arizona in a three-team trade. While the Tigers did acquire reliever Shane Greene in the trade, who wound up being an All-Star for the team in 2019, Ray has gone on to become arguably the most prolific strikeout pitcher in MLB history. He made an All-Star team in 2017 and finished 7th in NL Cy Young voting. Now, in 2021, as a member of the Blue Jays, Ray is in contention for the AL Cy Young Award. If he wins, that would make five members of the 2014 Detroit Tigers pitching staff to have won the Cy Young for a different team. I haven’t even gotten to the hitters on that 2014 squad yet. There are three members of the lineup who went on to earn All-Star nods with other teams: J.D. Martinez, Nicholas Castellanos, and Eugenio Suárez. To be fair, Martinez did earn an All-Star invite with the Tigers in 2015, but that’s still three of the best players of the late 2010s all on the 2014 Detroit Tigers, as well as a pitching staff with four (potentially five if Robbie Ray wins the Cy Young this year) Cy Young winners. That’s potentially a whole rotation filled with Cy Young winners. Oh, and not to mention, the bullpen consisted of several future and former All-Stars as well: Joakim Soria, Joe Nathan, Corey Knebel, and Jim Johnson were all in that 2014 Tigers’ bullpen. They all have All-Star selections to their name, yet none were named All-Stars as a member of the Detroit Tigers. That was a metric fucking ton of talent on that team. And they were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Baltimore Orioles. That’s heartbreaking on its own. Seeing those same players experience immense success on different teams though… that’s hurt on a whole ‘nother level. Relatedbetting payout calculatorparlay calculatormoneyline odds calculatorsports betting half pointskelly forumula calculatorsports betting hedge calculatorspread betting explainedover and under bettingsports betting parlaysround robin betting explainedpositive ev sports bettingwhat does hedge mean in betting
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Edin Terzic breathed a sigh of relief after Youssoufa Moukoko s late winner guided Borussia Dortmund past Union Berlin, keeping them in touch with Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich.
Moukoko came off the bench to net the decisive goal after Donyell Malen s opener was cancelled out by Kevin Behrens, as BVB edged a battle between Bayern s two closest challengers 2-1.
The victory ensures Dortmund – who were beaten 4-2 by Bayern last week – remain two points adrift of Thomas Tuchel s league leaders with seven games still to play this term.
Terzic now has 32 wins from his first 50 league games in charge of Dortmund – more than any other Dortmund coach has posted in their first 50 matches at the helm – and the importance of their latest victory was not lost on th…
Manchester United s pursuit of a new centre-back sounds like it is becoming quite expensive.
Not only have Leicester City reportedly quoted them £90million plus for Harry Maguire, the Red Devils are also being expected to make the England man their third-highest-paid player.
Little wonder Manchester City have apparently stepped away from the race to sign him.
TOP STORY UNITED TO OFFER MAGUIRE HUGE WAGE
The Daily Star claim Manchester United are to offer Harry Maguire a wage of £250,000 a week to tempt him to Old Trafford.
That is said to be three times as much as he earns at Leicester City and would make him the third-highest earner at the Red Devils, behind Paul Pogba and Alexis Sanchez.
Perhaps he is worth the money, th…
Prediction: Atletico Madrid win
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As English football prepares for a brief detour in the name of the FA Cup third round, the Spanish La Liga continues to move through its fixture list in what is rapidly turning out to be one of the most exciting top flight campaigns in recent history over in Spain. Today, we re going to take a look at what can easily be described as one of the most intriguing games of the season so far title race leaders Atletico Madrid and the historic Athletic Bilbao.
Atletico Madrid
Barcelona and Real Madrid were always going to have their fair share of troubles this season, but few could ve imagined Atletico Madrid would take advantage quite as effectively as they have. It s going to be tough for them to main…
There are numerous clubs keeping a close eye on the development of Olympique Lyon s Bradley Barcola at the moment, according to Fabrizio Romano. One of them is Liverpool, though the Italian transfer expert claims the race is fully open at this point.
Liverpool fans will be glad to hear anything about their club working on recruiting new players following the disappointment of dropping out of the race to sign Borussia Dortmund star Jude Bellingham. Barcola, however, is not quite at the same development stage as the England international, even if he is several months older.
Further more, 20-year-old Barcola is not a midfielder, but a winger. Preferring to play on the left flank, he s quite a versatile attacker, fully capable of causing defences problems from the right or …
Wigan manager Roberto Martinez has confirmed his interest in signing Hamburg defender Paul Scharner.
The 32-year-old has made just four appearances for the Bundesliga outfit this season, having left West Bromwich Albion on a free transfer in June.
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Over the next 48 hours I m hoping to bring one or two players in and Paul is one of them, but I can t speak about that because he is a player attached to another football club, Martinez told reporters following the 2-2 draw against Stoke City.
We have the…
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And Willian is hopeful the move will benefit him as he looks to become a member of Luiz Felipe Scolari s Brazil squad, at his home World Cup, having previously featured just twice for the national team, in two friendlies in November 2011.
That is definitely an aim of mine, to win my place in the …
Serie A high-flyers Milan are eager to boost their squad during the January transfer window in order to remain in the running for top places in the league.
Backed by the club’s new owners, Milan coach Vincenzo Montella will reportedly be given enough transfer funds to make his wishes come true.
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Rosonerri are believed to be keen on Fenerbahce defender Simon Kjaer, who has long been linked with a move away from Turkey. The experienced 27-year-old former Roma centre back has been with Fenerbahce since 2015 and could be a natural fit given that he would require no time to adapt to …
Vincenzo Montella must bring enthusiasm and entertainment back to AC Milan if the club are to recover their standing in Italian football, says Marco Simone.
Milan have finished eighth, 10th and seventh in the past three Serie A seasons and, following 15 campaigns in Europe between 1999 and 2014, this will be their third successive term without featuring on the continent.
Simone, who won two European Cups and four Scudetti with the San Siro club, believes Montella s immediate target having taken the helm in June should be to qualify for European competition.
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Market: Real Madrid win
Odds: 2/3 @
Looking to make it back-to-back La Liga wins this weekend, Real Madrid will make the trip to the Ciutat de València when they face off against Levante on Sunday night.
Starting with the hosts, despite opening the 2021/22 campaign tipped as a leading pick to land maximum points against Cadiz, Levante found themselves hit with last-gasp heartbreak on the road. Suffering a 97-minute equalizer and knowing that they threw away a golden chance, Granotes will know they face a huge task this weekend. Spending the majority of last season stuck in La Liga limbo, Head Coach Paco López will be desperate for his side to find some stability this time around. Coming under some scrutiny after ending last year s campaign by failing to win a…
Market: Over 1.5 goals
Odds: 4/11 @
Two sides who should find the moods in their camp at a real high, Cardiff will welcome Premier League outfit Brighton to South Wales on Tuesday night.
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