Message from WAY Back Sports

Dear Readers,

From all of us here at WAY Back Sports we would like to wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving.

Over the past week we have been experiencing some technical problems with the site. We will be addressing these issues over the next few days. We ask that you bare with us as we update the site. Everything should be up and running again soon!

Again, thank you all for visiting WAY Back Sports. We look forward to once again bringing you the latest daily sports news.

Sincerely,

The WAY Back Sports Staff

Crisp Headed to KC

The Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals have completed a trade that will send speedy centerfielder Coco Crisp to the Royals in exchange for right handed relief pitcher Ramon Ramirez. The trade fills a need for both teams as Kansas City has been looking for a speedy leadoff hitter while Boston, with the departure of Mike Timlin and probable move of Justin Masterson back to the starting rotation, was in need of a dependable set up man.

The switch hitting Crisp hit .283 with 7 homers and 41 RBIs in 98 games this season with the Red Sox . He also was 20 for 27 is stolen base attempts. Crisp, who is best known for his spectacular defense, split time in center with rookie Jacoby Ellsbury last season. The trade allows both to assume full time starting roles next season.

Ramirez was 3-2 with a 2.64 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 71 2/3 innings last season for KC. He will solidify the set up role for closer Jonathan Papelbon that the Red Sox struggled to fill before moving Masterson there for the playoff run. The twenty-seven year old righty had been the setup man for Joakim Soria the past two seasons and was on of the more reliable ones in the game over that period.

Pedroia Wins AL MVP

Boston Red Sox 2B Dustin Pedroia has been named the American League's Most Valuable Player. He took 16 of 28 first-place votes edging out Minnesota Twin's 1B Dustin Morneau. Pedroia finished 2008 with .376 on-base percentage and .326 batting average, while posting 17 home runs and 83 RBIs in 157 games. Pedroia is the first 2B to win the award since 1959.

Pujols NL MVP

Albert Pujols was named the National League's Most Valuable Player on Monday. This year's award marks the second time Pujols has taken home the honor (2005 was the other). The St. Louis Cardinals power hitting first basemen hit .357 with 37 home runs and 116 RBIs in 148 game this season.

Ryan Howard, Ryan Braun and Manny Rameriez finished 2-4 in voting. Pujols received 18 of 32 first place votes.

Welcome to NY, CC

It has been reported by several sources that today, on the first that that free agents can sign with other teams, that the New York Yankees have offered pitcher CC Sabathia a reported 6 year $140 million dollar contract. The Yankees promised to make a big splash this off season and they seem to be living up to their word. While it has been reported that Sabathia would prefer to stay in the National League, where he can also hit, $140 million will change people's minds pretty quick.

Melrose Out In Tampa

It is just 16 games into the NHL season but already the have the first coaching casualty of the year. Tampa Bay Lightning first year head coach Barry Melrose was fired Friday after seeing his team get out to a 5-7-4 start, good for 4th place in the Southeast Division. The Lightning, who signed several big name veterans over the offseason on top of drafting Steve Stamkos #1 overall in the 2008 draft, had very high expectations coming into the season. Just 14 points in 16 games is not exactly living up to the hype.

Its too bad to see something like this happen to one of the good guys in sports. Melrose was a very well known, well respected analyst for ESPN prior to the Tampa job. With any luck that position will still be his for the taking now that he is unemployed. The bottom line is that while Melrose is well liked and probably did not get a fair chance to turn the team around, something needed to be done to shake things up and unfortunately it was Melrose who fell victim to the chopping block. It will be interesting to see how the Lightning respond to the move. Rick Tocchet will take over as head coach, for the time being.

Yanks Acquire Swisher

The New York Yankees have completed a deal with the Chicago White Sox that will send 1B/OF Nick Swisher to New York in exchange for INF Wilison Betemit and two minor league pitchers: Jeff Marquez and Jhonny Nunez.

Swisher is a candidate to fill the void left at first base left by free agaent Jason Giambi. Should the Yankees sign a player such as Mark Teixeria, Swisher would then add outfield depth.

Cubs-Marlins Make A Deal

The Chicago Cubs have acquired closer Kevin Gregg form the Florida Marlins for minor league pitcher Jose Ceda. Gregg was 7-8 with a 3.41 ERA and 29 saves last season for Florida, but was bothered for a large portion of the season by a knee injury. His nine blown saves were tied for the league lead.

Following the deal the Cubs announced that they will not make an attempt to re-sign now former closer Kerry Wood, meaning that the job is Gregg's to lose. Should he falter the Cubs do have star set-up man Carlos Marmol waiting in the wings.

This trade once again was an example of the Marlins cost cutting. Gregg was Florida's highest-paid player in 2008 at $2.5 million and was eligible for arbitration coming into this season.

Battle for AFC EAST Crown

When the New England Patriots and New York Jets get together you know it is going to be a rock fight. Simply put, the two teams would like nothing better than to beat the pants off their opposition. This time around the rivalry has a little more at stake as both teams stand at 6-3, tied atop a tight AFC East. In a league when every game is tough, being able to get a game in hand on a division opponent is crucial. That is what each team will strive for tonight as they kick off at 8:15 in Foxboro.

The last time these two met was week two in New York. Both were vastly different teams, both with serious question marks at several positions. The most notable question mark was at the quarterback position. It was the first game of the Matt Cassel era for New England. He was efficient in his first game as starter, but certainly far from impressive. Now some eight weeks later Cassel has grown comfterble with the offense and the pressure that goes a long with being a starting quarterback in the NFL. Cassel was not the only quarterback under question in that week two meeting. It was just the second game of the Bret Favre era for New York. Like Cassel, he too was still getting acclimated with a new offense. Unlike Cassel, however, Favre brought with him his track record and winning reputation greater than any other quarterback in the NFL. Favre, however, was less than impressive in that week two match-up, but once again, like Cassel has grown much more comfortable under center in the weeks since and now leads one of the more explosive offenses in the AFC. The Jets are averaging 32.1 points per game since that week two loss, and their 255 points lead the AFC.

While the quarterback position certainly will be an important one in tonight's match-up, perhaps the biggest difference maker for each team could be the running game. For the Jets it will be Thomas Jones and his AFC leading 750 rushing yards. Jones has been unstoppable as of late. He racked up 149 rushing yards including three touchdowns in last week's showdown with the St.Louis Rams. His counterpart this week will be BenJarvus Green-Ellis who has gone from the practice squad (6th) on the New England depth chart all the way to #1 thanks to injuries to pretty much every player to line up in the Patriots backfield this season. Once again the Pats have found a diamond in the ruff in Green-Ellis who last week rushed for 105 yards and a touchdown in New England's victory over the Buffalo Bills.

By the way, did I mention that these two teams hate eachother? Countless numbers of personnel have jumped ship from one side to the other over the years. Whether it be stealing a coach from the other side (Pats with Belichick, Jets with Mangini) or simply other players (the Jets signed former Patriots CB Ty Law this week), no two teams in the NFL want to beat eachother more. And don't forget the SpyGate saga that was created last year, which all began when Jets coach Eric Mangini accused the Patriots of stealing signal calls. It resulted in months of controversy and has to have left a sour taste in the mouths of Patriots coaches and players alike.

Tonight will certainly be a game to watch. After this game one team will have sole possession of first place in the AFC East for the first time in weeks. Who will it be? In just a few hours we will find out...

Lee Wins Cy Young

The American league Cy Young Award winner for 2008 has been announced and to nobody's surprise the winner this year is Cleveland Indians ace Cliff Lee. Lee was a major league best 22-3 with a 2.54 ERA in 31 starts this season for the Indians. Lee received 24 of a possible 28 votes (the other 4 went to Roy Holiday) en route to his first career Cy Young. What a difference a year makes for Lee who in 2007 struggled mightily before being demoted to AAA for much of the season.

An interesting side note: this is the second consecutive year a Cleveland pitcher has won the Cy Young. CC Sabathia edged out Josh Beckett for the award in 2007.

Game Of the Year!

Ok, maybe labeling this the game of the year already is a little extreme, but those of you who missed the Detroit Red Wings vs. Pittsburgh Penguins game last night missed one of the more exciting hockey games you will see all season.

There were plenty of story lines going into last night's match up. It was the first time these two teams faced off since last year's Stanley Cup Final (won by Detroit 4 games to 2). It was also the first time that former Penguin Marian Hossa, who played a vital role in Pittsburgh's playoff run a year ago, would be playing against his former team since leaving via free agency during the off season.

The game started out just as many of last season's finals game had; the Penguins committed several early penalties and the Red Wings capitalized on their mistakes. Detroit took leads of 3-1, 5-2 and 6-4, but Pittsburgh battled back in the third period. Thanks to a hat trick by Jordan Staal the Penguins were able to tie it late in the third and force overtime. After weathering shot after shot from an early Penguins power play, it appeared that the Red Wings were going to regain the momentum in the final frame. That all changed however as an errant Pavel Datsyuk pass was picked off by Staal who thread the the needle to Ruslan Fedotenko for a beautiful goal to end the game.

It was a very gutsy win for a Penguins team that was without their top two defensemen: Sergi Gongar and Ryan Whitney. Both are expected to be out until January due to injuries. Hossa recorded a pair of assist in a losing effort against his former team. The star filled lineups did not disappoint on this night as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk, among others, all scored.

The two teams will meet one more time this season on February 8th, this time in Pittsburgh. Circle that date on your calenders; its bound to be one heck of a game.

Free Tickets!

The New Jersey Nets have devised a new strategy to get people at their games: FREE TICKETS!

The following is from the Newark Star-Ledger:

In a nod to current economic conditions, the basketball team will give unemployed fans who submit their resumes to the Nets Job Bank up to four free tickets, plus access to a Nov. 22 career fair at their home arena, team president and chief executive Brett Yormark said yesterday. The team also will distribute applicants' resumes to its sponsors.

"Hopefully they'll come out and experience the Nets, and then when times get better they'll invest in us, because we invested in them," Yormark said. "No other team is doing that, and I think it's the appropriate thing to do, because times are tough."

To those who register for the program, the team will make 300 tickets available for each of five selected games at Izod Center in East Rutherford.

I like this move by the Nets. The team is struggling, the economy is struggling, why not try to help out both by doing a little something for the fans. Lets face it, a lot of people cannot afford to go to professional sporting events these days. Many times those people who cannot afford a ticket are some of the team's biggest fans. If you are not going to sell out anyway, why not give away a few tickets to people who deserve to and want to go see these games. Who knows, maybe a little extra energy at Izod Center is just what the team needs to win a few close games at home. It will be interesting to see if other teams around the sports world try to adopt this idea.

Managers of the Year Announced

When you take a team from dead last in your division one year all the way to the World Series the following year you are going to get noticed. That is just what the Baseball Writers Association did on Wednesday when they named Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon AL Manager of the Year. Maddon received 27 of a possible 28 first place votes, the lone other vote went to Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire.

Over in the National League Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella was given the same honor. Piniella edged out Phillies manager Charlie Manuel by 7 first place votes. Pineiella's Cubs were a NL best 97-64 this season before being ousted by the LA Dodgers in the NLDS.

The two great managers do have ties to each other; Maddon replaced Piniella as Rays skipper in 2006. At the time the Tampa coaching job was considered by many to be the worst job in baseball. Things have certainly taken a turn for the better since.

Division Rivals Strike a Deal

The Florida Marlins and Washington Nationals announced a trade on Tuesday that will send outfielder Josh Willingham and lefty starter Scott Olsen to Washington in exchange for three minor leaguers; second baseman Emilio Bonifacio, right-hander P.J. Dean and infielder Jake Smolinski.

The trade marks yet another cost cutting move for the Marlins who recently shipped Mike Jacobs to Kansas City for the very same reason; all are arbitration eligible, making them unfordable. The move very likely will not be the last for Florida. The addition of Bonifacio, a speedy young second basemen, makes all star second basemen Dan Uggla now expendable.

For the Nationals, the addition of Willingham creates a log jam in the outfield where they already have Austin Kearns, Elijah Dukes and Lastings Milledge. It is likely that Washington will move one of those three before the season starts. The addition of Olsen is a nice fit for a rotation that struggled mightily last season. Olsen was 8-11 with a 4.20 ERA in 33 starts in 2008. The most impressive stat is his 201 1/3 innings pitched last season, the first time in his career that he surpassed the 200 inning plateau. No Nationals pitcher recorded more that 182 inning last season.

Future Star Close to Signing with White Sox

Meet Dayan Viciedo—He is a 19-year-old Cuban born 3B who defected from Cuba this past May, and will soon be coming to a ballpark near you. After playing on the Cuban national team since he was 14-years old, Viciedo was cleared to become an MLB free agent.

According to MLB.com, Dayan’s agent Jamie Torres (who also represents fellow Cuban-born players Jose Contreras and Alexi Ramirez) has already received numerous offers for the young 3B’s services. The 6’2’ 230-pound 3B is rumored to be close to signing a deal to join Contreras and Ramirez in Chicago.

With the recent MLB success of Alexi Ramirez, many teams have become interested in the young Cuban, as many say he could be a better MLB player than Ramirez. If the predictions are true, we may have the opportunity to see a rising star on the fast track to success as early as April.

Lincecum Named NL Cy Young

San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Tim Lincecum was named the NL CY Young award winner on Tuesday. Lincecum was 18-5 with a 2.62 ERA with a major league-best 265 strikeouts this season. Those numbers are very impressive considering he played for a forth place team. The 24-year-old righty received 24 of a possible 32 first place votes. Others receiving first place votes were Brandon Webb (4), Johan Santana (4), and CC Sabathia (1).

A's Land Holiday

According to several media sources the Oakland A's have acquired all star outfielder Matt Holiday from the Colorado Rockies. While the deal has not yet been made official, it has been said they they have agreed in principle to send Holiday for a package of players that reportedly includes closer Huston Street, outfielder Carlos Gonzalez, and starting pitcher Greg Smith.

Holiday, a two time all star, is considered by many to be the prize offensive player available this offseason. The lone downside to any deal for Holiday is that he has just one season remaining on his contract. He is scheduled to make $13 million this season baring an extension.

Soto Takes Home NL ROTY

Chicago Cub's catcher Geovany Soto was named National League Rookie of the year on Monday. Soto hit .285 with 23 homers, 35 doubles and 86 RBIs in 141 games this season. The award makes Soto the first catcher to receive the award since 1993, when Mike Piazza won it . Soto's steller rookie season was also highlighted by a start in this year's all star game. He was the first rookie catcher in National League history ever to start an all star game. He was also behind the plate for Carlos Zambrano's no-hitter back in September.

Longoria Win AL ROTY

Tampa Bay Rays third basemen Evan Longoria was named the 2008 American League Rookie of the Year on Monday. The power-hitting third baseman received all 28 first-place votes, making him the the first American League player to do so since 1997 when Boston's Nomar Garciaparra accomplished the feat. Longoria, who began the year at AAA with the Durham Bulls of the International league, made the transition to the the big leagues about as smoothly as anyone could ask compiling a .272 average with 27 homeruns and 85 RBI in 122 games for the Rays this season. Longoria also played a vital role in Tampa's playoff success hitting six homeruns and racking up 18 RBI leading the Rays to their first ever World Series appearance.

This award caps off a season of firsts for the Tampa Bay Rays. First winning record, first division title, first playoff appearance, first trip to the world series, and now first major individual award. With a strong core of young players, highlighted by Longoria, the Rays are likely to add a few more first in the coming years. Perhaps a first World Series Title? Only time will tell.

2008 Gold Glove Winners Announced

The 2008 Gold Glove winners have been announced. They are as follows:

National League:

P	Greg Maddux, Dodgers
C	Yadier Molina, Cardinals
1B	Adrian Gonzalez, Padres
2B	Brandon Phillips, Reds
3B	David Wright, Mets
SS	Jimmy Rollins, Phillies
OF	Nate McLouth, Pirates; Carlos Beltran, Mets; Shane Victorino, Phillies

American League:

P	Mike Mussina, Yankees
C	Joe Mauer, Twins
1B	Carlos Pena, Rays
2B	Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox
3B	Adrian Beltre, Mariners
SS	Michael Young, Rangers
OF	Torii Hunter, Angels Grady Sizemore, Indians Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners

Not too many surprises this year. Rookie of the year winners will be announced Monday.

Devils Lose Brodeur, Season Too?

The New Jersey Devils have taken quite possibly the one blow they cannot afford as star goaltender Martin Brodeur will miss the next three to four months due to an elbow injury. The four-time Vezina Trophy winner will undergo surgery Thursday to repair the distal bicep in his left elbow.

Brodeur, who is considered by many to be the best goalie ever to play the game, was closing in on two records that would have cemented his status as the game's elite; Patrick Roy's career wins record and Terry Sawchuk's career shutout record. It appears that both will now be put on hold until next season.

This is a huge blow to any playoff chances the Devils may have had. New Jersey is a defense first team, but they just lost the backbone of that defense. It could be a short season in New Jersey.

NFL QB Shake-up

The Cleveland Browns today announced that 2007 first round pick Brady Quinn will be the starting quarterback for the Browns week 10 match-up against the Denver Broncos. Quinn will replace two year starter Derek Anderson, who threw a costly interception late in Cleveland's week 9 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

Elsewhere in the NFL, the Chicago Bears announced that starting quarterback Kyle Orton will be out 2-4 weeks due to a high ankle sprain. Rex Grossman, who led the Bears to a Superbowl appearance in 2007, will get a chance to regain the starting job this week against the undefeated Tennessee Titans.

In a minor move today the Detroit Lions signed previously retired QB Daunte Culpepper to a two year contract. The Lions lost previous starters Jon Kitna and Dan Orlovsky due to injury. Culpepper will battle Drew Stanton in practice this week for the starting job for game 10.

NBA Blockbuster!

A huge trade went down in the NBA today as the Detroit Pistons acquired former MVP guard Alan Iverson from the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess, and Cheikh Samb.

Iverson, who is in the final year of his contract, set to make $20.8 million this season, could make his debut with the Pistons on Wednesday night in Toronto. The nine time all star will add a nice scoring weapon to a team who has been known more for their defense in years past than offense.

Billups, a three time all star in his own right, will add a new dynamic to the Nuggets offense. While both Iverson and star Carmelo Anthony are great scorers, Billups ability to spread the ball around as well as score makes Denver a strong playoff contender.

This move certainly shakes things up in both conferences. It will be interesting to see how these two stars adapt to their new environments. Both will have opportunities to add a lift to each each.