Sportsman of the Week Ending 10/27/2013

It's the crunch time for baseball, and once again a Boston Red Sox hitter is our Sportsman of the Week.  David Ortiz had a week that has all of  baseball scratching their heads...how to get him out.  Over the first four games of the World Series, Big Papi was 8 out of 11 (.727), with 2 HR and a double.  He scored 5 and knocked in 5.  He also tied a World Series record by reaching base on nine straight plate appearances (counting Monday's effort, in which he was 3/4 and raised his .727 average if that's possible).  It was a very tough decision given Calvin Johnson's unbelievable effort, but it is the World Series, so David Ortiz is your Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 10/20/2013

An amazing week of League Championship Baseball ended with the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals emerging as Pennant Winners. Last week we honored a Cardinal, this week a Red Sox.  Mike Napoli pretty much single-handedly (offensively at least) won two of the four games the Red Sox needed to advance.  On Tuesday, Napoli hit a solo shot in the 7th inning for the Red Sox 1-0 win.  On Thursday, he went deep in the 2nd inning to stake the Sox to a 1-run lead, which ended up being that margin.  Over the week, he went 6-16, 2 2B, 2 HR, 2 RBI.  He was 6-12 for the 3 games in Detroit, with an O-fer the series finale in which the offense had enough without him.  But his is a worthy recipient of the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 10/13/2013

This week's sportsman has emerged from rookie obscurity to be a playoff difference-maker in a matter of months.  Michael Wacha of the St. Louis Cardinals burst onto the baseball scene with a near no-hitter on September 24 in his final regular season start, then has been occasionally tapped by manager Mike Matheny throughout these playoffs.  This week, he delivered two key wins for the Red Birds as they surge toward their second World Series in three years.  Wacha pitched brilliantly in delivering a must-have Game 4 NLDS victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates (in a Cardinals elimination game), then followed it up with a dominant NLCS Game 2 performance against the Los Angeles Dodgers.  For the week (and postseason), Wacha sits at 2-0, 14 IP, 6H, 1 ER, and 17K.  Amazing numbers and worth of the Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 10/6/2013

We turn back to Major League Baseball as the 2013 MLB playoffs begin.  This week's Sportsman of the Week is Pedro Alvarez.  He led the NL in home runs (36) and eventually set a record of most consecutive playoff games with at least 1 RBI to start a career (with six).  Pedro Alvarez went 4-13 (.306), with 2 HR and 6 RBI over the four game stretch, while lead the Pirates to a 3-1 record.  In the process, dispatching of the Cincinnati Reds and putting the St. Louis Cardinals on the brink of elimination with a 2-1 game lead (that didn't hold up).  Congratulations to Pedro Alvarez, this week's Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 9/29/2013

Playing catch up with Sportsman of the Week Blogs written but not published.  This week's winner put his team on his back, albeit in a losing effort.  Atlanta Falcons almost retired TE Tony Gonzalez had a career day, that being 149 yards (career high), 2 TD on 12 catches.  He singlehandedly almost brought the Falcons back against the New England Patriots, but fell just short (an unfortunate theme for the Falcons this season).  However, the greatest TE of all time is this week's Longhorndave Sportsman of the Week!