By Jim Coffman

The best thing about taking a 2-0 lead in a best-of-seven series is the task that then faces your foe – four wins in five games or bust.
The smart bet is on bust.
The Kings must win four before the Hawks win two after Los Angeles suffered a 4-2 loss last night in the Madhouse. A far more likely potential outcome: the Blackhawks split in LA and return home for Game 5 with a great chance to put this series away quickly.
Of course, going to LA requires actual travel to the West Coast, an experience the Hawks had avoided until now in these Western Conference playoffs. This team caught a huge break with its travel schedule when its first-round showdown with Minnesota was followed by a match-up with the Red Wings, teams that are otherwise known as two of the eastern-most members of said conference.

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Posted on June 3, 2013

By Steve Rhodes

“When Albert Almora was made the sixth pick in last year’s First-Year Player Draft, it was significant, because the high school outfielder would always have the additional tag of being Theo Epstein’s first selection since taking over as the Cubs’ president of baseball operations,” Carrie Muskat writes at Cubs.com.
“The emphasis since Epstein arrived in October 2011 was to build a foundation for sustained success. The focus, he said, would be on developing homegrown talent and to find impact players through the Draft and international signings.
“On Thursday, the stakes are even higher for Epstein and the Cubs, who have the second pick overall in the Draft.”
While most of the draft focus is on pitchers Mark Appel and Jonathan Gray, and third basemen Kris Bryant and Colin Moran, we here at The Cub Factor have our own ideas about who the Cubs should draft. On our board:

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Posted on June 3, 2013

By Roger Wallenstein

When Phil Lucas’s daddy jumped a train in Alabama in October of 1946 heading to St. Louis for the National League playoff between the Cardinals and Dodgers, he couldn’t have known that his escapade would have long-term repercussions for his unborn son.
The Cardinals beat the Dodgers 4-2 that fall afternoon, and two days later they wrapped up the NL pennant by thumping Brooklyn 8-4 in the best two-of-three playoff.
Although Lucas, a history professor at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, grew up outside of Philadelphia, listening to his father talk about that 1946 playoff resulted in Phil becoming a lifelong Cardinal fan.
Not only that, Lucas has had a passion for the game’s origins, history and role in American society almost as long as he’s cheered for the Redbirds. Lucas’s expertise is American history from colonial times through Reconstruction, but he’s managed to share his love of baseball by offering a course, Baseball: The American Game, once every three years since 1984.

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Posted on June 3, 2013