Matthews: The Time Has Come For Nationals

THE TIME FINALLY HAS ARRIVED FOR THE NATIONALS

WASHINGTON: FIRST IN WAR, FIRST IN PEACE, FIRST IN THE NATIONAL LEAGUE

No excuses -- yet -- for the 2018 Washington Nationals.

The Nats have a loaded lineup, with a potent blend of power and speed. They have baseball’s best 1-2 starting pitchers in Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg. The bullpen has been upgraded. Left fielder Adam Eaton is healthy again and will be an all-around upgrade over Jayson Werth. Eaton and Trea Turner are ideal table-setters for Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman, Daniel Murphy and Anthony Rendon (the best third baseman hardly anyone knows).

Here is my 2018 National League Forecast. The season starts Thursday:

EAST

Washington -- 102-60.

New York Mets -- 87-75...The starting rotation could be every good if it is healthier than last season. Thor Syndergaard is my Cy Young Award pick. The underrated lineup is good enough to contend for a wild-card berth if the pitching holds up.

Philadelphia – 76-86. The Phillies are getting better. Adding Jake Arietta and Carlos Santana shows they mean business. Rhys Hoskins should be good for at least 30 HRs.

Atlanta – 74-88. The Braves also are on the rise. Some young veterans figure to keep improving and the minor-league system is loaded.

Miami – 59-103. Derek Jeter: from Bronx hero to South Beach zero.

CENTRAL

Chicago Cubs – 95-67. They looked like an overconfident bunch last season and slightly regressed. They might get their mojo back but they’ll miss Arrieta, maybe a lot.

Milwaukee – 88-74. They surprised last season. Now they’re genuinely good. Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich bolster the outfield. It would help if Ryan Braun adjusts smoothly to a switch to first base.

St. Louis – 88-74. Marcell Ozuna makes an underrated lineup even better. The starting rotation is the big question mark.

Cincinnati – 70-92. Joey Votto deserves better.

Pittsburgh – 69-93. The city’s sports fans are more eager than ever for the NFL season to start for the Steelers.

WEST

Los Angeles Dodgers – 94-68. Clayton Kershaw has to carry an otherwise suspect rotation. Will miss Justin Turner (wrist) early. Was Chris Taylor a one-year wonder? Can Yasiel Puig take another step forward or will he start to burn out? Could go either way.

Arizona – 86-76. They’ll miss J.D. Martinez’s power and who’ll be the bullpen closer?

Colorado – 84-78. Same old problem: arms not nearly as good as the bats. They’ll score a lot and give up almost as many.

San Diego – 77-85. The farm system is loaded and Eric Hosmer was a great signing. He’s a winner and will take pressure off Wil Myers.

San Francisco – 76-86. The Giants are an aging and slow team that looks better on paper than on the field. Ace pitcher Madison Bumgarner will miss at least two months after hand surgery.

Wednesday: Bob’s American League Forecast.

NOW SYRACUSE FANS CAN SWEAT OUT 2018 NBA DRAFT

After the gritty run by undermanned Syracuse U. in the NCAA men’s Tournament, Orange fans should be enjoying thoughts of NEXT season. It could be a great one.

But first, they’ll need to worry about possible defections in the 2018 NBA draft.

Sophomore guard Tyus Battle has been mentioned as a prospective late-first or early second round-round pick in the assorted mock drafts. Freshman forward Oshae Brissett is likely to get some draft consideration after his strong play in the tournament. His size, strength and work ethic are impressive.

In a perfect Orange World, how’s this for a roster for the 2018-19 season:

Guards – Tyus Battle, Frank Howard, Howard Washington, East Carolina transfer Elijah Hughes and incoming freshmen combo guard Jalen Carey and shooting guard Buddy Boeheim.

Forwards – Oshae Brissett, Marek Dolezaj, Matthew Moyer and freshman McDonald’s All-American 6-foot-9 Darius Bazley.

Centers – Paschal Chukwu and Bourama Sidibe.

Washington will be coming off knee surgery and Sidibe will have surgery to correct knee tendinitis.

If all goes well, that’s an impressive 12-man roster.

A few questions: How much would Battle’s draft stock improve if he returns to a much-improved SU team for his junior year?...Could Frank Howard go from playing the second-most minutes per game this season to maybe not starting next season?...Will Moyer consider a transfer?...How much more effective will Sidibe be without knee pain?...Can Chukwu put on 10 pounds of muscle?

HUGE WIN FOR THE K-HAWKS IN SASKATCHEWAN

Nearly everyone who follows the National Lacrosse League thinks the Saskatchewan Rush are by far the class of the nine-team circuit.

The Rochester Knighthawks aren’t buying the prevailing opinion.

The K-hawks upset the Rush 13-10 before 14,811 fans Saturday night in Saskatoon’s Sasktel Centre.

Saskatchewan has an NLL-best 11-3 record and two of the losses were to Rochester. The K-hawks beat the visiting Rush, 16-11, February 17 at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial.

Rochester’s three first-round 2018 draft picks out of Ohio State continue to make management look smart for the unorthodox gamble: Austin Shanks scored five goals and was selected First Star of Saturday night’s game. Eric Fannell had three goals and Jake Withers padded his NLL-best faceoff mark to 196-for-305.

Joe Resetarits had two goals and five assists and Cody Jamieson had five assists. Kyle Jackson, Cory Vitarelli and Scott Campbell also scored goals for Rochester. Matt Vinc had 43 saves and chipped in with two assists.

The Eastern Division remains incredibly tight with the 18-game regular season winding down. The top three teams will make the playoffs:

Toronto Rock 7-6 (+28 goal differential)

Rochester Knighthawks 7-7 (+24)...started the season 2-0...then lost six games in a row...5-1 in the six games since.

Buffalo Bandits 7-7 (+3)

Georgia Swarm 7-7 (-2)

New England Black Wolves 6-7 (-50).

Rochester’s four remaining games: Home Saturday, 7:30 p.m., against the Colorado Mammoth...at the Toronto Rock April 13...home against the New England Black Wolves April 21...at the Buffalo Bandits April 28.

ROCHESTER HOCKEY FANS WERE FORTUNATE DICK GAMBLE ARRIVED AND STAYED

The majority of Rochester sports fans never saw Dick Gamble play hockey for the Amerks.

That’s good and bad. It’s good because it means you are relatively young. It’s bad because you missed seeing arguably one of the great dynasties in Rochester’s pro sports history.

The 1964-65 through 1967-68 Amerks won three Calder Cups in a four-year span. They lost to the NHL-bound Pittsburgh Hornets in the 1967 Finals and bounced back to win the Cup in 1968.

Very few AHL teams have had run like that. The Buffalo Bisons also won three Calder Cups in a four-year span (1942-43, 1943-44 and 1945-46). Eddie Shore’s great Springfield Indians won three straight Calder Cups from 1959-60 through 1961-62.

Coach Joe Crozier’s Rochester dynasty came when there were only six teams in the National Hockey League. There were nine teams in the AHL in 1964-65 through 1966-67. The NHL expanded to 12 teams for the 1967-68 season – including Pittsburgh.

Obviously, the AHL was loaded with excellent hockey players who weren’t in the NHL simply because there was no room for them. Crozier’s Amerks were the strongest example of that. Players such as Gamble, Al Arbour, Bronco Horvath, Gerry Ehman, Stan Smrke, Darryl Sly, Don Cherry and Bobby Perreault (to name a few) would’ve had long careers in the NHL in even a 12-team league. Now there are 31 NHL teams.

Many hockey observers said the 1964-65 and 1965-66 Amerks – probably the two-best teams in franchise history, could’ve given the NHL bottom-feeder New York Rangers and Boston Bruins all they could handle – or more.

Gamble was a star for the AHL Buffalo Bisons (168 goals in five seasons) and wanted a pay raise after scoring 40 goals in the 1960-61 season. The Bisons refused and traded him to Rochester for veteran center Dave Creighton. Toronto’s Punch Imlach begged Gamble to report to the Amerks and Dick said he’d try it for one year. He never left.

I’ll remember Dick Gamble for having a three-year run as impressive as any athlete in Rochester pro sports history. In consecutive seasons, he scored 48, 47 and 46 goals. In 1966, he became the oldest player (37) bo be selected AHL MVP.

Gamble was a big reason why the Amerks were so special and why they made Rochester a hockey town.

A few other exceptional three seasons by pro athletes for Rochester: Estel Crabtree, Russ Derry and Steve Demeter for the Red Wings...Bobby Davies, Bobby Wanzer and Arnie Risen for the NBA Royals...Al Arbour and Jody Gage for the Amerks...Carlos Metidieri for the Lancers...Larry Fogle and Glenn Hagan for the Zeniths...Doug Miller for the Rhinos. Who did I miss?

A final note on Gamble as a great hockey player: In 2009, a distinguished three-man panel for the Society for International Hockey Research selected an All-Time Minor League All-Star Team:

First Team – center Guyle Fielder...right wing Fred Glover...left wing Dick Gamble...defensemen Steve Kraftcheck and Fred Hucul...goalie Johnny Bower...coach Fred “Bun” Cook.

Second Team – center Willie Marshall...right wing Jody Gage...left wing Dave Michayluk...defensemen Connie Madigan and Jim Morrison...goalie Gil Mayer...coach Fred Shero.

I hope Al Arbor and Bobby Perreault received serious consideration.

BOEHEIM HAD A BETTER NCAA TOURNAMENT THAN COACH K

Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s Duke Blue Devils defeated Syracuse Orange 69-65 last Friday night in the NCAA’s Sweet 16 but I thought Boeheim had a better overall tournament than Coach K.

Boeheim’s undermanned team overachieved. Reaching the Sweet 16 was a neat feat.

Duke lost 85-81 in overtime to Kansas Sunday in an excellent Elite 8 showdown.

I saw every team in the 68-team NCAA Tournament field and I thought Duke had the most talent by far. All five starters could be first-round picks in the 2018 NBA draft.

But shed no tears for Krzyzewski, the new King of One-And-Done Players. He has four super freshmen coming in, including instant stars R.J. Barrett, Cam Reddish and Tre Jones.

Duke-Syracuse games in the next few seasons should be lots of fun.

SHORT SHOTS

Men’s NCAA Tournament Final Four odds from Westgate SuperBook: Michigan favored by 5 ½ points over Loyola-Chicago over/under 128 ½ points...Villanova favored by 5 points over Kansas, over/under 155 ½ points...Odds to win the Championship: Villanova EVEN, Michigan 5-to-2, Kansas 3-to-1, Loyola-Chicago 12-to-1.

Final Four oddsGive the Rochester RazorSharks credit for hanging in there in a long-shot chance to make the North American Premier League playoffs. They swept the first-place Albany Patroons 115-100 Saturday in Albany and 129-125 Sunday at Blue Cross Arena. The Sharks are 10-16 and trail fourth-place Kansas City by three games with four games remaining. Rochester plays two games at Kansas City Wednesday and Thursday.

The Red Wings were off to a 6-2-3 record in spring training. They look strong on paper but the International League North Division figures to be customarily strong. Minnesota reclaimed switch-hitting slugger Kennys Vargas off waivers Saturday from Cincinnati, just two days after the Reds claimed him from the Twins. Minnesota could assign him to Rochester, where he’d make a strong lineup even bette.

Jose Flores, the all-time winningest jockey at Parx Racing (formerly Philadelphia Park), died last Thursday. He was taken off life support after a spill three days earlier. He suffered massive head and spinal injuries and never regained consciousness. He was 56. Flores won 4,650 career races in nearly 29,000 starts and his mounts earned $64 million He was chosen to the Parx Hall of Fame five years ago.

ON THIS DATE IN SPORTS...

March 26 – 101 years ago (1917), the Seattle Metropolitans became the first team from the United States to win the Stanley Cup, 3 games to 1 over the Montreal Canadiens...46 years ago (1972), the Los Angeles Lakers broke the NBA regular-season mark with a 69-13 record...45 years ago (1973), UCLA won its sixth straight NCAA basketball championship, 81-76 over Memphis...44 years ago (1974), George Foreman TKOd Ken Norton in 2 for the heavyweight boxing title...26 years ago (1992), the New York Rangers clinched their first NFL regular-season championship in 50 years.

March 27 – 87 years ago (1931), John McGraw said night baseball would never be accepted by the fans...79 years ago (1939), Oregon beat Ohio State 46-33 in the first men’s NCAA basketball championship game...56 years ago (1962), Montreal’s Jacques Plante won his sixth Vezina Trophy...30 years ago (1988), Katarina Witt won the ladies’ figure skating championship in Budapest.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Monday, March 26

Justice Winslow (22)...Connor Murphy (25)...Michael Taylor (27)...Kyle Van Noy (27)...Kyle O’Quinn (28)...Von Miller (29)...Rashad Jennings (33)...Doug Janik (38)...Roberto Garza (39)...Michael Peca (44)...Marshall Faulk (45)...Trevor Kidd (46)...Luke Richardson (48)...Jose Vizcaino (50)...Ulf Samuelsson (54)...John Stockton (56)...Kevin Seitzer (56)...Mickey Weston (57)...Joe Binion (57)...Marcus Allen (58). Keira Knightley (33)...Kenny McChesney (50)...Martin Short (68)...Diana Ross (74) and James Caan (78) are invited to the birthday party.

Tuesday, March 27

Brandon Nimmo (25)...Jake Odorizzi (28)...Matt Harvey (29)...Buster Posey (31)...Michael Cuddyer (39)...Chike Okeafor (42)...irby Dar Dar (46)...Randall Cunningham (55)...Ed Pinckney (55)...Bart Connor (60)...Cliff Stoudt (63)...Bobby Lalonde (67)...Mike Curtis (75). Fergie (43), Mariah Carey (47) and Quentin Tarantino (55) are invited to the birthday party.


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