2007 Baseball

1. Josh Beckett: He was the ALCS MVP and helped the Red Sox to their 2^nd World Series in four seasons.

He was 4-0 with a 1.20 ERA in his four postseason starts.

Beckett dominated Cleveland in Game Five of the LCS sparking a Boston comeback from down 3-1 to take the series in seven games. He threw 8 innings and gave up one run and struck out 11.

He also won Game One of the World Series after striking out nine Rockies in seven strong frames. He gave up just one run.

The Sox ace shutout the Angels in Game One of the Division Series, ; allowing just four hits and striking out eight.

Beckett averaged 10.5 Ks/9 in his postseason starts.

During the regular year, he led the AL in wins with 20 and had the top WAR for pitchers.  His 3.27 ERA and 1.14 WHIP was 6^th in the league. His 194 strikeouts were 7^th in the AL.

He finished 2^nd in the Cy Young voting and was the winning pitcher of the All-Star game after pitching a scoreless 3rd and 4^th innings.

Boston won 96 games and the AL East by two games over the Yankees. They swept the Angels in the ALDS and eventually swept the Rockies for their 2^nd title in four years.

The Red Sox led the American League with a 3.87 ERA.

2. Matt Holiday: He led the Rockies to their first and only appearance in the World Series. He was named NLCS MVP.

Holiday’s 13^th inning triple kept his team’s season alive in a one game playoff win over San Diego.  He tied the score on a deep drive to right. His head first slide on Jamey Carroll’s sac fly put Colorado in the NLDS.

In Game Three vs. Arizona he homered in the 1st to start the scoring.

He helped Colorado complete the sweep with a 3-run homer to extend the Rockies lead to 6-1 in the 4^th of a 6-4 win.

The Rockies swept past the Phillies in three games. Holliday homered in Games 1 and 2 in the division series.

Overall in the postseason the Colorado leftfield hit .289 with 5 HR 10 RBI and 6 R in 11 games.

He was 2^nd in the MVP voting, and All-Star, Silver Slugger and player of the month in September.

Holliday led the NL in RBI (137), and the batting title as he hit .340.

He led the league in hits (216), double and total bases.

His 36 HR were 4^th in the NL.

Holliday was 3^rd in the league in runs (120), slugging and OPS.

The Rockies won 90 games and the Wild Card for their 2^nd playoff appearance.

Colorado won 14 of its final 15 games in the regular season and seven more in a row in the postseason.

3. Mike Lowell: Was the World Series MVP as he led Boston to a sweep of Colorado.

In the clinching Game Four he was 2-4 with a HR and 2 R.

In the Series Lowell was 6-15 (.400) with 4 RBI and 6 runs and had a .500 OBP

In the first two rounds of the playoffs he hit .333 with 11 RBI and 4 runs in 10 games. That included RBIs in his first five postseason games.

The Sox third baseman had a two-run double and sac fly in Boston’s 10-3 Game One win over the Indians.  

Lowell was an All-Star and finished 5^th in the MVP voting.

He was 7^th in batting (.324) and hits with 191. His 120 RBI were 5^th in the AL.

He also hit 21 HR and scored 79 times.

The Red Sox were 3^rd in the American League scoring 5.35 runs a game.

2007 NBA

1. LeBron James: He carried the Cavaliers to their first NBA Finals in franchise history.

His Game Five performance in the Eastern Conference Finals was one for the ages.

He scored 29 of Cleveland’s last 30 points in the 4^th quarter and overtime in the Cavs 109-107 extra period win. His swooping layup broke the tie with two second left.

James finished the game with 48 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in 50 minutes.

The Cavs advanced past the Pistons to the Finals behind 20-14-8 from James in Game Six.

The 22 year old forward averaged 24 PPG, 8.5 APG and 7.3 RPG in a six game series win over New Jersey.

He had back to back 30 point games as Cleveland swept past Washington in the first round of the playoffs.

LeBron was 5^th in MVP voting and 2^nd team All-NBA. He was an All-Star and had 28-6-6 in the game.

He was the player of the month in March.

James was 2^nd in FGs, 5^th in FTs made.  He was 3^rd in scoring (27.3).

He also averaged six rebounds and assists per game.

In the regular season Cleveland won 50 games and was the #2 seed in the East.

2. Tim Duncan: Led San Antonio to its 4^th title in seven years.

He was 1^st team All-NBA and 1^st team All-Defense.

Duncan finished 3^rd in the Defensive Player of the Year voting.  He was also 4^th in the MVP voting.

Duncan scored 20 PPG and finished in the top 10 in league in rebounding (10.6), blocks (2.4) and field goal % (54.6).

The Spurs finished 58-24 and #3 seed in the West.

In round 2 against #2 seed Phoenix, the 30 year old forward propelled the Spurs to a 2-1 lead with 33-17.5-3 blocks average in San Antonio’s wins to open the series.

He helped close out the Suns in Game Six with 24-13-9 blks.

Duncan averaged 22-10 and 2.8 in the five game WCF win over Utah.

During the NBA Finals in Game One 24-13-5 blks and 23-9-8 ast in Game Two. The Spurs coasted to a 4-0 sweep of Cleveland.

San Antonio allowed just 90 points a game, which was the NBA’s best defense.

3. Steve Nash: Finished 2^nd in the MVP voting (3^rd straight year in the top 2).

He was 1^st team All-NBA and an All-Star. He was the January Player of the Month (18 PPG 13 APG).

The two time MVP led the NBA in assists for 3^rd straight season with a career high 11.6 per game. He also had a career best 18.6 PPG.

Nash had 53 double-doubles, including two 20+ assist games.

 He had the rare 50-40-90 season (53% FGs, 45.5% on 3s and 90% FTs.). His FT % was 5^th best in the NBA.

Phoenix led the NBA in scoring just over 110 points a game on their way to a Pacific Division title and 61 wins (2^nd best in the West).

The Suns cooked the Lakers in five games. Nash had 23 assists and 17 points in a Game Four win.

In the 2^nd round against the eventual champion Spurs, Phoenix battled to a 2-2 series tie through four games. Nash averaged 22-15.5 in the Suns two wins.

He finished the series averaging 21.3-12.7 and hit on 52% of his 3s.

Phoenix would fall to the Spurs in six games.