Daniel Murphy Breaks MLB Post Season World Record

               In the top of the eighth inning at Wrigley Field last Wednesday night, Daniel Murphy hit home run No. 7 of this post season. As a result, Murphy became the first player to homer in six consecutive playoff games, breaking the record of five set by Carlos Beltran of  the Houston Astros in 2004. Murphy is now in a four way tie for first in baseball history with only 39 appearances to the plate. The other contenders for first have appearances ranging from 42 to 77, which makes Murphy's contributions so remarkable. Even more surprising, Murphy is not even a home run hitter at all, with only a career high of 14 homers the past regular season.        

                   

(The Mets' Daniel Murphy hits a two-run home run in the eighth inning off Cubs relief pitcher Fernando Rodney on Wednesday night to become the first player to homer in six straight playoff games, breaking Carlos Beltran’s record of five set with the Houston Astros in 2004.)

                   

                Sandy Alderson has been pondering what to do with Daniel Murphy next. Murphy, who is 30 years old, is proposed to command a three- or four-year contract worth about $10-$12 million a year. That is not a desirable investment to New York owners. Murphy is not an elite slugger, with a decent batting average of .288, it is tough to say whether he has grown into a consistent home run hitter, or his latest achievements were just pure luck. Frank Messina, the Mets long time friend, further reinstated the possibility of luck when stating, “Murphy’s ‘Ruthian’ accomplishment thus far can only be attributed to one thing: the four leaf clover he found at his Aunt Rosie O’Malley’s front lawn. That, and an incredible eye. He sees everything and has incredible intuition with regard to pitch sequence. In short, he’s on fire!” The Mets also hold younger, and faster players at their fingertips: Wilmer Flores, 24 years old, and has nice power. 21-year-old Dilson Herrera, a top-50 prospect with a nice track record of minor-league hitting, as well as  Ruben Tejada, who is sharp on ground balls, and scrappy at the plate.                           
               Initially, the Mets selected Murphy in the 13th round (394th overall) of the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft. After countless injuries, Murphy faced his first major league baseball game as the backup to starter Chase Utley in 2014.  Overall, he never really stood out, and had faced major cold streaks. Murphy explains his hot streak this season as the result of him stepping closer to the plate, and starting to pull the ball a little more, so he’s striking, grounding and flying out less. Although, we can assume that Murphy has possibly been a darn good hitter all along, and now has suddenly come into his own. In all, the Mets face a very hard decision whether to resign the man who no one knew was capable of hitting home run after home run, Daniel Murphy. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQQvMmiUooY

(All homers of Murphy in post season games)

Sources:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Murphy_(baseball)

http://themoderatevoice.com/209985/david-murphy-is-hotter-than-hades-no-one-knows-why/

Norton High School Football, Players Inside

               Norton High School football is division 4, in the Tri Valley league, with two wins and two losses. Their overall national rank is 6765, and their state(MA) rank is 121.  Norton football is 1-1 in the Tri Valley- Small football standings, and has 106 points for them, and 103 points against them. The football team is in 21st place out of 25 in the playoff predictions that anticipate who is going to take home the division 4 football title, so it is safe to say they have to prove themselves they are able to achieve a championship, but it will not be hard due to the many talented players on the team. During there first game against Medway, on September 11th, the Lancers were a little nervous to face a larger team, since Medway's in the Tri Valley- Large league. In the end, the score was 29 - 7 Norton. Norton fans were satisfied on the good start of the season, and the boys were more than ecstatic. Touchdowns were made by Justin Ireland, and Jack Ledbetter, who nicely caught the perfect throw from quarter back, Zach Feeney, and swiftly ran to the end zone. When some of the Lancers were asked what went right in the game, Zach Feeney (#9, QB) stated that "we moved the ball nicely on offense, and didn't make many mistakes." Captain, Jack Ledbetter (#33, RB) agreed with Zach stating that they "continuously executed plays well." Captain, Luke Kane (#59, MLB) also commented on the things the team did well; "we showed physical superiority over Medway, as they could not capitalize on any of our mistakes. Our offense was high powered, and our defense was solid, only letting up one score in the entire game."
http://www.maxpreps.com/m/video/watch.aspx?videoid=8f1f6bd8-a78f-46d9-b47f-1ca185afe457
(Highlights of Jack Ledbetter (#33, RB) against Medway, including his touchdown assisted by ZFeen)

              The Lancers moved on to their second game, against the Hopkinton Hillers, at home on September 19th. The ending result was a loss, 35-14, and presumably, one could add, ego got in the way of the Lancers that night, as the great win against Medway still lingered their thoughts. Jack Ledbetter stated the mistakes were due to the lack of starting players they had, but he says "that was no excuse for not executing our plays and doing our job on defense." Kane claimed the loss was due to the total of five turn overs that took place of the Lancers, allowing Hopkinton to score on all those occasions. Zach Feeney blaims how lacking Lancer offense was during that night, which overall led to their demise. The loss only provoked more eager for another win the following week, and fortunate enough, that's exactly what the Norton Football team got. Their third game of the season against Ashland ended in a victory with a score of 42-27. Zach Feeney commented the achievement was due to the team's great comeback during the second half of the game, where they finally "put the mind to the money." Jack Ledbetter agreeing with Zfeen also added that the confidence buildup during the second half of the Lancers helped achieve the victory.  Luke Kane reminisced on the game stating, "our defense had a couple of key stops early in the game which truly showed what our defense is about. Plagued by injuries, a lot of people stepped up and proved the strength of our depth chart."
               Although the nice win against Ashland was a good boost for Lancer self esteem, the next game on October 2nd, against Millis, the best team Norton plays all year, was definitely going to be a challenge. Apparently, it was too big of a challenge to conquer for the Lancers, and the ending score was 34-21, Millis. Justin Ireland (#42, RB) was responsible for the Norton touchdowns, as always, due to his incredible speed. The Lancers were about to make a great comeback, says Luke Kane, but ran out of time to follow through with their great plan. Luke also adds an explanation for their loss by saying, "we let up three easy scores in the first half due to gap breakdowns on the defensive interior." Jack Ledbetter eloquently states "we lost simply because we didn't make the plays we needed to." While Zach Feeney adds "the huge, monstrous players on Millis kept destroying our lives." With the loss of this game, and the TVL championship now out of Norton's hands, the team remains positive as they fight for a playoff spot. Norton High School Football needs to win two out of the next three games to get a bottom seed, or all three to get a first or second seed.

 http://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/zach-feeney/x-lhRrn4EeO00gAmVebEWg/videos.htm?videoid=af504cf8-b98c-4a0a-8885-c1b55338e16e
(Zach Feeney's highlights against Millis (#9, QB))

          Captain Luke Kane, or otherwise known as LK59, summarizes the current postition Norton High Football team is: "In the first four games, we've made countless mistakes and been plagued by injuries. With all the starters healthy and a good week of practice, we are looking to show Division 4 how good this squad really is. This is a Bellingham team we've never seen before, with a new coach and what seems to be an unstoppable offense. They're looking to give us a challenge. We've got a great defense game plan that will pressure their quarterback, and hopefully confuse their lineman. Playing on a turf field with the speed of our team should also be an advantage."

The next game for the Norton High School Lancers is October 9th, at Bellingham. Show your support and be there for 7pm. Hope you can make it:)

LK59 bodying opponent