Sports Page Atlanta

The Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft is always held in June and this year two Georgia athletes could play prominently towards the top of the draft.

The Tampa Bay Rays have the first pick in the 2008 draft and according to Kiley McDaniel of Saber-Scouting, both UGA shortstop Gordon Beckham and Griffin High School shortstop Tim Beckham are on the short list to be taken with that first pick.

The Rays own the first pick in this draft this June and one source with knowledge of the Rays thinking noted that the club is intent on taking a position player with the first overall pick. Granted, it’s still early and things could very well change as the draft approaches, but the candidates under consideration are Georgia prep SS Tim Beckham, Vanderbilt 3B Pedro Alvarez, and Georgia SS Gordon Beckham, with the latter Beckham being a clear third amongst these three.

That being said, if there’s a bat with some serious helium this spring, UGA’s offensive powerhouse Gordon Beckham is the man. (He’s the Beckham on the left in the graphic above, for those who are already confused.) He began the season with some momentum after a stellar showing in the Cape Cod League this summer, but has really shot up draft boards with a .427/.513/.855 line through 131 at-bats, with 15 HR, 10 for 11 in stolen bases, and 18 walks to 11 strikeouts. He’s gotten the token mention as longshot choice at #1 overall but his momentum, premium position, potentially quick-moving bat, and low-risk profile add up to the buzz that he could hit his way into the top 5.

Covering all of our Beckham bases, Tim Beckham (the one on the right in the graphic above) has emerged as the near-consensus top prospect thus far. Phrases like “franchise shortstop,” “Edgar Renteria, at least,” and “B.J. Upton, but in the infield” have been tossed around, and he seems like a perfect fit for the Rays with a glut of young pitching and corner talent.

Later tonight the Final Four will began as North Carolina, Kansas, UCLA and Memphis take the court. The only Georgia connection I can find there is that Memphis’s Robert Dozier orginally signed with the University of Georgia back in April of 2004 (his SAT scores were later flagged and he changed schools and the rest is history.)

But that’s not my stat of the day…

Do you know that Atlanta is 1 of 7 cities that have hosted Final Fours in 2 different venues?

The 1977 games were held at the Omni and saw Marquette defeat North Carolina in the finals, while in 2002 and 2007 the games were held at the Georgia Dome with Maryland and Florida taking those honors respectively.

Here are all 7 cities that have accomplished this feat…

• Atlanta, Georgia
• Evanston, Illinois
• Indianapolis, Indiana
• Kansas City, Missouri
• Minneapolis, Minnesota
• St. Louis, Missouri
• Seattle, Washington

With Jock’s and Jill’s Sports Grill closing soon, what are Atlanta sports fans going to do for pre-game food and drink at Philips Arena? It looks like Dantanna’s Surf & Turf will be opening up a 2nd Atlanta location to replace Jock’s and Jill’s. Reports say this could happen by the end of the year.

There’s been a lot of talk around town lately concerning the city of Atlanta and how good of a sports city Atlanta is. In fact, I’ve heard on many occasions that Atlanta is the worst sports city in the country. It’s true that Atlanta sports hasn’t experienced a whole lot of prosperity as of late. The Braves aren’t winning pennants anymore. One of the few things the Falcons have won lately is a coin flip to give them the third pick in the upcoming NFL draft, following a dismal season. And it’s safe to say that the Hawks and Thrashers aren’t looking forward to championship runs anytime soon. But is it accurate to say that Atlanta is the worst sports city in America?

To examine this topic, let’s look at every city in the country that has all four major sports; football, basketball, baseball and hockey. Giving a little bit of geographical latitude to cities like Boston (the Patriots play in Foxboro, not Boston) and Dallas (the Rangers are in Arlington, not Dallas), there are 12 cities that meet the criteria of having all four major sports. By comparing Atlanta, Miami, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston, Dallas, Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, Denver and Phoenix using their teams’ winning percentage, we can take a look at where Atlanta stands. We can answer the question, statistically speaking, of whether or not Atlanta is the worst sports city in the country.

Winning percentage was calculated for every team in each of these cities for the last three seasons. The 2007 season for the NBA and NHL hasn’t been completed yet, so their current standings were used. Take a look at the standings for 2007 and for the last three years combined.

2007 (Team - Winning Percentage)

1. Boston - .651
2. Detroit - .609
3. Phoenix - .577
4. Dallas - .559
5. Denver - .553
6. Philadelphia - .526
7. New York City - .515
8. Chicago - .476
9. Atlanta - .476
10. D.C. - .474
11. Minneapolis - .457
12. Miami - .379

2005 - 2007 (Team - Winning Percentage)

1. Detroit - .604
2. Dallas - .592
3. Boston - .538
4. Phoenix - .534
5. New York City - .530
6. Denver - .523
7. Philadelphia - .506
8. Chicago - .501
9. Minneapolis - .498
10. Atlanta - .484
11. Miami - .479
12. D.C. - .469

The numbers look bleak. For the last three years, Atlanta has suffered through a sub .500 record. Overall, the four teams combined are 463-494 and have only made it to post season play twice (the 2005 Braves and the 2006-07 Thrashers). With that kind of three year history, you can see why Atlanta sports fans are a little on edge.

However, Atlanta fans can take solace in the fact that they don’t live in Miami or Washington D.C.