Anmeldung neuer User » Lehtonen said of Dallas position in the standings

Perhaps you saw the final out of the World Series Wednesday night when San Francisco defeated Kansas City by a 3-2 score in Game 7 to win their third title in five years. Austin Gomber Cardinals Jersey . Or perhaps, like a lot of people, you went to bed before it was over. Thats because the game was not just the seventh game of the series. It was the seventh game of the series that eclipsed the three-hour mark. And while three-hour baseball games arent at all unusual these days, they shouldnt be the rule. Especially not in a 3-2 game where there was just one run scored after the second inning... and exactly three hits – combined – after the fourth. By comparison, the 1985 World Series, which also involved the Kansas City Royals in a seven-game series, had not a single game that eclipsed the three-hour mark. But in todays age, where highlights and information are available to everyone, where our phones are going off at all hours of the day and evening and demands of the workplace and life in general seem limitless, theres no way the average post-season baseball game should be three-and-a-half hours. Theres a reason things like Twitter have taken off in this day and age... because it gives us what we want instantly. Baseball needs to take a lesson from the world of 140 characters. Another comparison, if you will. San Franciscos Game 1 win over Kansas City featured just 14 hits and seven walks. There were just three runs scored by both teams after the fourth inning and, of the five pitching changes, only two occurred in the middle of an inning. The game took three hours and 32 minutes. Game 1 of the 1985 series had one more hit and the same number of walks as this years opener between the Royals and Giants, but somehow managed to wrap-up in 44 minutes less. None of this should come as a surprise since this past season, the average length of a major league game crossed the three-hour mark for the very first time. Its one thing to ask football fans to invest three-plus hours per week to follow their favourite team. But since Major League Baseball teams play six or seven games per week, shorter games are a must. One of the beautiful things about baseball has been its timelessness, the idea that the length of a game in time is completely subject to what occurs in it. But the problem is not that extraordinary baseball games are taking a long time to play, its that dead-ordinary games have turned into marathons as well. Some of the lengthening of baseball games comes from changes in tactics, such as the frequency of managers changing pitchers or the tendency of hitters to take more pitches, especially at the start of a count. And then there are the advertisements, as in more of them, which are contributing to the mess. In fact, if you want to see a window into baseballs future, dont look at the World Series. Look at whats happening right now in the Arizona Fall League, which is being used as a laboratory for ways to shorten the length of games. Thats where they are setting time limits between pitches, between innings and for pitching changes. Batters are required to keep a foot in the batters box between pitches, and the occurrence of intentional walks happens automatically. No one wants to see a clock in baseball but horrendous TV ratings for this World Series will be the catalyst to bring change. Because baseball needs to adapt and understand that, when youre competing for peoples attention in this day and age, less is more. Bobby Tolan Cardinals Jersey . Goins is the early favourite to win the starting job at second base. Pillar is an outsider to secure a role off the bench, which becomes an even more difficult spot to win if the number of back up jobs is reduced by one. That happens if the Blue Jays decide to start the season with an eight man bullpen. St. Louis Cardinals Gear . - Maynor Figueroa headed in a late goal to give Honduras a 1-1 draw with the United States in an international friendly Tuesday. https://www.cheapcardinalsonline.com/464t-austin-gomber-jersey-cardinals.html . Canada wasnt in the game from the outset. Head coach Dan Church left Calgary in the morning without addressing the players. He told The Canadian Press he felt the organization lacked confidence in his ability to defend the Olympic gold medal in February.DALLAS -- The Dallas Stars three Olympians sent their team into the Olympic break on a high note Saturday night. Finlands Kari Lehtonen made 26 saves to lead Dallas over the Phoenix Coyotes 2-1 Saturday night. He received plenty of help from the Stars defence and got goals from Ray Whitney and Russias Valeri Nichushkin. Canadas Jamie Benn assisted on Whitneys goal. The victory moved Dallas into the eighth and final playoff position in the Western Conference for the first time this season. "Weve come from a long way," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said. "Youve got to give the guys credit for digging in. "I thought if we got within three or four points at the break, we could be a serious contender. Weve exceeded that." The Stars and Coyotes have identical 27-21-10 records for 64 points, but Dallas holds a tiebreaker over Phoenix, which fell to ninth. Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said his teams position at the break is "probably about where we should be. I think were better than that, but thats where we are." "Im not worrying about that too much yet," Lehtonen said of Dallas position in the standings. "Its good that were moving to the right direction. We just have to keep going." He was more impressed by defeating Phoenix twice in five days to make up four points on the Coyotes. "They were huge games both times. I really like it when we play well as a team." Dallas limited Phoenix to 27 shots, 13 in the third period. Lehtonen shut them out until Radim Vrbata scored on a power play with 15 seconds remaining. The Coyotes had six skaters to the Stars four because Tippett had pulled goalie Mike Smith, who had 31 saves. "Again (Lehtonen) was rock solid," said Ruff, an assistant coach for Canadas Olympic team. "He came up with some big saves. One when we were killing a penalty he went down low and made a glove save. He made a big stop on their breakaway when they were short-handed. "The only thing I would like to have seen was for him to get the shutout." "We couldnt generate too much offensively," Vrbata said. "But I think (Smiths) playing the way we know he can play. Gussie Busch Jersey. Hopefully, hes going to stay like that and we can do a little better for him." Whitney scored just 2:10 into the game. Nichushkin scored at 19:26 of the second period, deflecting in a shot by Trevor Daley. Dallas took the early lead when Whitney carried the puck into the Phoenix zone along the left side, skated into the slot and sent a wrist shot past Smith into the upper right corner of the net. "It was kind of not much happening in the first period until we decided we didnt want to back check on a play and give them the first goal," Tippett said. "That was something we talked about as a group, if we get behind its going to be much tougher on us." The Stars ended the first period a man up and put three shots on Smith for a 7-4 edge in shots. One of Dallas shots was short-handed, as the Stars made it difficult for the Coyotes to get out of their end. Midway through the second period, Dallas had two good scoring chances, but Smith gloved a high drive by Sergei Gonchar and stopped a tip-in attempt by Benn in front of the goal. Nichushkin deflected Daleys slap shot from the blue line for the rookies 13th goal with 34 seconds left in the second period for a 1-0 lead. The goal was reviewed to see whether Nichushkins deflection was on a high stick. NOTES: Whitney has seven points (four goals, three assists) in his last seven games against Phoenix. ... Coyotes D Derek Morris (upper-body injury) was inactive. He was hurt during Phoenixs victory over Chicago Friday. C Martin Hanzal, who missed that game because of illness, returned against Dallas. ... The Stars have not allowed more than 28 shots in any of their last 11 games. ... Vrbata has scored three goals in the last four games. ... Saturdays game was delayed briefly in the second period when linesman Ryan Galloway was upended in a collision with Whitney along the boards. Galloway stayed in the game. ... The public address announcer saluted the five Coyotes and three Stars who will be competing in the Olympics. Smith, a former Stars goalie, received almost as strong an ovation as the Dallas players. ' ' '