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Bar Chat

06/07/2012

Playoffs? Someone Say Playoffs?

Houston Astros Quiz: 1) Name the four with 200 home runs in an Astros uniform. 2) Who am I? In 2000, I had 122 RBI and my initials are R.H. 3) Who is the only Astro to hit at least .330 two separate seasons? Answers below.

NBA Mayhem

I’ve been watching the Spurs-Thunder but not much of Celtics-Heat, though caught the end of Game 5 of the latter on Tuesday.

It’s amazing how both San Antonio and Miami got off to 2-0 starts and both now trail 3-2 as the Spurs attempt to stave off elimination on Wednesday, after I’ve gone to post.

Yes, San Antonio, after winning 20 straight, suddenly looks very old when matched up against the youthful and athletic Thunder.

Your Los Angeles Kings

Confession time…I haven’t watched a minute of Devils-Kings and instead on Monday watched the entire Spurs-Thunder contest as the Kings were romping in Game 3 of their series, 4-0, to take a 3-0 lead.

But for my California readers…and the archives…this is in honor of an old franchise that deserves its own moment in the California sun.

“It was the night when a population that has spent 45 years begging and pleading for sports’ most enduring trophy felt comfortable enough to loudly demand it.

“ ‘We…want…the…Cup,’ rang the chant at Staples Center, washing over nearly 20,000 black sweaters, rising into rafters stocked with the silver streamers that would soon engulf them….

“ ‘It was one of those lifetime moments that you never forget,’ said the Kings’ Dustin Penner. ‘I never heard it like this here before.’

“Never heard it. Never felt it. Never seen it. Never, never, never has there been anything like this in the history of Los Angeles’ rich and entitled sports franchises, a team that won fewer than half its regular-season games storming to within one victory of its first title.

“This is the 2001 Lakers if they were an eighth-seeded team that didn’t make the playoffs until the final week. This is the 1988 Dodgers if they had swept the New York Mets and the Oakland Athletics. This is the 1990 Loyola Marymount basketball team if they had won it all.”

“Since the Stanley Cup finals went to a best-of-seven format in 1939, 24 teams have won the first three games of the series. Of them, 20 won the series in a sweep. Three teams bounced back in Game 4 to nab one victory and lose the series in five games.”

And as you all know by now, only the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs came all the way back from a 3-0 deficit.

--From Jerry Bossert, Kenneth Lovett and Tracy Connor / New York Daily News

“A down-to-the-wire labor dispute is threatening to stop I’ll Have Another’s Triple Crown chances at the Belmont Stakes.

“The union representing the maintenance crew and starters at the famed track could go on strike Friday – a day before the Thoroughbred attempts what no horse has done since 1978.”

Can you imagine this? The sport desperately needs a good show on Saturday, preferably a win by I’ll Have Another, to continue to barely survive and these total jerks, the members of IBEW Local 3, have chosen now to potentially scuttle the Belmont? How freakin’ stupid can you be?

“(The New York Racing Association) issued an angry statement Monday night denouncing the strike threat. ‘It is extremely self-serving for Local 3 to use the attention and excitement of a Triple Crown attempt to further its own agenda,’ the statement said.”

Hell, I’ll go clean up s--- on the track, without pay, if they’ll just let me stand along the rail for the race.

“The main sticking points in the talks covering 150 workers at Belmont, Aqueduct and Saratoga are overtime and the structure of the workweek, sources told the Daily News.

“NYRA conducts live racing Wednesday through Sundays, but the contract covers a Monday-through-Friday week.

“That means union members earn overtime for Saturdays and Sundays.”

How damn ludicrous is that?! As of last month, supposedly 18 union members made $100,000 a year.

But this late word…a union official has just announced the race will go on regardless of the negotiations.   Seems he and his members got religion.

As to the race itself, Norman Chad / Washington Post:

“Since Affirmed achieved the (Triple Crown) in 1978, 11 horses have won the first two legs but failed to win the Belmont. Now, I don’t have an advanced degree in math or statistics, nor in anything for that matter, but I do recognize – as an amateur meteorologist – that if a set of conditions produce a similar result 11 times out of 11, there is a 100 percent chance the 12th time will yield the same outcome.

“In other words – in layman’s terms – I have a better chance of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro on roller skates than I’ll Have Another does of winning the Belmont.”

I’ll Have Another is listed at 4-5 to win on Saturday.

College World Series

Once again the ACC has choked. With seven in the field of 64, only the SEC had more with eight. But the SEC has four left after the regionals and the ACC has only two, while the Pac-12 has four of five remaining.

So the following matchups for play from this coming Friday thru Monday are best of 3 with the eight winners advancing to Omaha.

Florida vs. North Carolina State
South Carolina vs. Oklahoma

Oregon vs. Kent State
Baylor vs. Arkansas

UCLA vs. TCU
LSU vs. Stony Brook!...only #4 seed in regionals to advance; in fact only the third #4 to win a regional since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 2001. Stony Brook had a Division I-best 2.79 ERA during the regular season.

Arizona vs. St. John’s
Florida State vs. Stanford

Ball Bits…stats thru Tuesday’s play

--Last time I mentioned it was the twentieth anniversary of the Yankees selecting Derek Jeter with the sixth pick in the Major League Baseball draft, Houston having passed on him with the top spot, so this year the Astros once again had the first pick and went with 17-year-old shortstop Carlos Correa from Puerto Rico.

While you never know about these things, Correa is already drawing comparisons to Troy Tulowitzki as the kid is 6-foot-4, 190 lbs. Correa had signed to play at the University of Miami, but the Astros can offer him a signing bonus of $7.2 million. As Houston GM Jeff Luhnow told MLB.com, “I suspect Miami will not see him, unless he’s visiting some friends.”

This is interesting, for baseball junkies. Previously, the highest a player from Puerto Rico had been drafted was Ramon Castro, who went 17th to the Astros in 1994. The catcher is in his 13th season in the major leagues but has hardly had an All-Star career.

I’m just surprised there wasn’t another player from there that went higher until now.

--The Chicago Cubs’ Starlin Castro (no relation to Ramon) is no doubt a budding star, but boy is he also developing a reputation for being brainless. As Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY reports, the Cubs won’t trade him “unless they get overwhelmed by an offer.”

But…“If Castro keeps pulling bone-headed plays like he did again Monday, that offer won’t have to be too inspiring, considering Castro will be riding the bench.

“ ‘It’s the last straw,’ Cubs manager Dale Sveum said after Castro’s latest mental blunder Monday in the Cubs’ 3-2 defeat to the San Francisco Giants. ‘He better start getting his head in the game. Period.’

“Castro’s latest faux pas occurred in the fifth inning when he forgot how many outs there were after taking a throw at second base from Darwin Barney. It was the start of a potential double play. Inexplicably, Castro jogged off the field, and never threw to first to double-up Brandon Crawford. The Giants tied the game, and the Cubs were done.”

It’s been one bonehead play after another for the kid and at some point, no matter how flashy he is, and how well he hits, as Bob Nightengale puts it, “The Cubs know that if they hang onto him too long, and these mistakes keep happening, once he starts making big money in arbitration, his value will plummet.

“This is the same guy who stopped running on a steal attempt Friday, believing play was stopped. He had his back turned to the infield during a pitch last August against the Mets. And, please, don’t bring up his lack of patience at the plate, drawing six walks in 228 plate appearances….

“ ‘The problem is winning baseball games and scoring runs,’ Sveum said (of his 19-36 team). ‘That’s the problem.’

“ ‘These kind of things are things my son does in high school,’ Sveum says. ‘Maybe.’”

--We note the passing of former Cincinnati Reds reliever Pedro Borbon who died of cancer at the age of 65. Borbon was a reliever for the Reds for 10 years and was a key member of the 1975-76 World Series titleholders. 

Borbon holds the Reds club record with 531 career appearances and was in 20 postseason games with a 2.42 ERA. Overall, he was 69-39 with 80 saves to go along with a 3.52 ERA. Borbon was a control pitcher who was also known to go multiple innings, such as in 1974 when he tossed 139 innings in 73 appearances. His son said his father was proud he never had a sore arm.

Pedro Borbon is also known for his mention in the movie “Airplane!” The main character, pilot Ted Striker, is trying to concentrate and hears a public address announcer’s voice in his head: “Pinch hitting for Pedro Borbon…Manny Mota.”

--It’s been a long time since I received more notes on a topic than from the revelation the other day that comedian Bill Maher had acquired a minority interest in the New York Mets. While neither the Mets nor Maher are giving details, it is assumed he picked up a share for as much as $20 million.

A lot of things bother me these days, big picture stuff, but this isn’t one of them, as much as I’m not a fan of Maher’s. I’ve long said Mets and Jets fans are two peas in a pod. We’re kind of on the jerk side. Make that Big Jerk side, especially Jets fans.

Maher said he thought taking a share in the Mets would be a great investment.

“Especially after I’ve seen some of the ways money can disappear in recent years. I had my money in Lehman Brothers in 2008, so this looked pretty good,” Maher said. 

Last weekend was his first appearance to Citi Field and he was asked if he would be a hands-on owner?

“Look, I have enough stress in my real job. I don’t need to worry about that. I’m just a fan. I think my role is to bring luck to the team, like I did this weekend. I mean, let’s be honest. They did not have a no-hitter for 50 years, I buy in and I come to town and there’s a no-hitter. Draw your own conclusions.”

When I saw that he purchased a share, I just assumed Jerry Seinfeld, a very public long-time fan, would do the same. Maher said, “Why he didn’t, I have no idea. He’s sure got more money than I do.”

--Gotta hand it to the Yankees’ Andy Pettitte. After a 19-month layoff, he’s 3-2 with a 2.78 ERA.

The Yankees are 30-24 despite being 27th out of 30 teams in hitting with runners in scoring position, .220. [Boston is first, .295…the Metsies 3rd, .274] And when it comes to hitting with the bases loaded, the Bronx Bombers are tied for 26th at .167. Detroit is last in the majors at .108! [Tampa Bay is first, .405. Boston second, .366]

--The Mets’ Ike Davis is batting .160 (.102 at home!) as fans are growing increasingly impatient…soon to be outright surly. I don’t know one fan who doesn’t want Davis to be jettisoned, perhaps placed on the next SpaceX cargo flight to the international space station. “Here, experiment on him and see if you can find his swing. We’ll take him back next season.”

--The Mets played perhaps the worst five innings of defense in baseball history, Tuesday, in losing to the first-place Washington Nationals, 7-6 in 12 innings, blowing three leads and booting numerous double-play balls, only to be done in by 19-year-old Bryce Harper’s walk-off single in the bottom of the 12th. 

The Mets not only have the worst bullpen in baseball, it’s not even close. The pen’s ERA is 5.39 and 29th is Milwaukee’s at 4.49. [Cincinnati is first at 2.39]

Golf Ball Bits

“Tiger Woods has long been known for dominating at certain venues. But as he climbs the all-time win list…Woods’ wins are overwhelming coming from the same places.

“Of Woods’ past 10 Tour wins, nine occurred at courses where he already had multiple victories. The latest was at Muirfield Village, where Woods won the Memorial Tournament on Sunday – his fifth career victory at that course. His other win this year, at Bay Hill, was his seventh at that venue.

“Nearly half (48%) of Woods’ (73) Tour victories have come at six courses: Bay Hill, Torrey Pines, Firestone, Cog Hill, Muirfield and Augusta National.”

Bay Hill…7 wins
Firestone…7
Torrey Pines…7
Cog Hill…5
Muirfield Village…5
Augusta National…4

--Gotta hand it to Davis Love III. The 48-year-old finished T-16 at the Memorial on Sunday and could have gone home to watch the U.S. Open on television in a few weeks, but instead he qualified for it by finishing 2-under in 36 holes at Scioto Country Club and Ohio State’s Scarlet Course on Monday. So Love will be making his 23rd appearance in the national open. Of course he is also the U.S. Ryder Cup captain for this fall’s matches.

--But I have to give it up for a man I know personally, Mark McCormick. Mark is the head pro at the golf course I belong to in New Jersey, Suburban, and at the age of 49, he made the U.S. Open field in his Monday qualifier at Canoe Brook Country Club, which is in my home town of Summit.

Pretty darn good, I think you would agree. It’s been Mark’s dream to qualify for the Open and he was just one of four to do so in a field of 73 by shooting a 4-under 138 over the grueling 36 holes (plus it rained much of Monday in these parts).

What makes the story even better is that his 20-year-old son Ryan, a member of the St. John’s golf team (think Keegan Bradley), was also in the field, though they teed off on different courses. Before the event, Mark was more fired up about his son’s chances of making the field than he was for his own.

Afterwards, he said, “I really didn’t think I had a chance. I thought Ryan was going to play real well and I was just going to show up and that was going to be it. I’m in fantasyland here. I’ve dreamed since I was a kid to play the U.S. Open and this year I was resigned to the fact this was going to be my last year and that it isn’t happening. But life has a way of throwing you a little curveball, man.”

Ryan finished 2-over, but Mark said had it come down to a playoff between the two for the last spot, “I was going to hit putter off the tee and putt with my driver.”

But now Ryan will be accompanying his father to Olympic Club in San Francisco next week, along with McCormick’s longtime caddie, Vini “Mad Dog” Lopez, a founding member and original drummer of Bruce Springsteen’s E-Street Band.

Mark has seen Olympic once before, in 2010, and describes it as the “hardest course I ever played.” [Mark Cannizzaro / New York Post]

--It turns out that Phil Mickelson was indeed more than a bit peeved at the rampant cellphone use last week at the Memorial. As noted by the AP’s Doug Ferguson:

“According to four people with direct knowledge, Mickelson sent a text message to PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem from the sixth fairway at Muirfield Village suggesting that a lack of policing fans with cellphones was getting out of hand.”

Mickelson may get fined for sending the text, but message has undoubtedly been received.

However, the Tour is not about to change its policy. Fans say they won’t attend if they can’t bring their phones, and attendance is up since the policy change allowing them.

“The solution is to add security or volunteers to the two or three marquee pairings and to take away phones from fans caught taking pictures (giving them a claim check to retrieve the phone at the end of the day). That’s what happened on Friday, and there were no big incidents the rest of the way.”

--As I go to post, I just learned of the passing of the great Ray Bradbury, author of “Fahrenheit 451” and so much more. Bradbury was a true visionary who anticipated things such as interactive television and electronic surveillance. Bradbury was 91.

--CBSSports.com’s Mike Freeman on the New Orleans Saints’ Bountygate.

“Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma has sued (NFL Commissioner Roger) Goodell for defamation, claiming he has never been involved in a pay-to-injure scheme. What almost everyone has forgotten is that this isn’t the first time Vilma has been accused of such a thing.

“Shapiro said he gave Vilma, when at the University of Miami, over $2,000 for bounties. One, Shapiro said, was a $1,000 hit on Florida State quarterback Chris Rix in 2002 that led to a personal foul penalty. Shapiro claimed he offered $5,000 to any Miami player who knocked Rix out of the game.

“Shapiro is a cad, liar and criminal. Believe him at your own peril, but in the Yahoo story, he offers explicit details, and comes off as believable (and bitter). There was also this from Rix himself.

“ ‘I do remember a few late hits – some of them were called, some of them weren’t,’ Rix told Larry Brown Sports. ‘I remember one specifically in the 2003 BCS Orange Bowl game, after I had thrown a pass [Vilma] came in and led with his hand. He got it inside my facemask and gave me a black eye. I don’t remember that being called as a late hit. Other ones were at the bottom of piles, yelling expletives at you and trying to get their hands in your facemask – get your eye.’”

--We note the passing of LeRoy Ellis, a former star at St. John’s and then a long-time fixture in the NBA, 1962-76. Ellis was 6-feet-10 and still holds St. John’s records for most rebounds in a season, 16.5, and most rebounds in a game, 30.

Among the teams Ellis played for was the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers championship squad that won a record 33 straight. But early the following season he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, who proceeded to set a then-record for futility in going 9-73. Ellis finished his career averaging 10 points and 8 rebounds a game.

--Congratulations to Pat Dyer, son of Steve D. out of Westfield, N.J., for being selected an Academic All-American in high school lacrosse. Steve D., of course, has been a source of free lunches recently with our Wake Forest-Boston College bets on basketball and football. Pretty funny, but we tied in golf the other day. 

“Insects with wingspans of more than two feet ruled the skies until 150 million years ago, when predatory birds evolved into skilled flying bug-zappers, according to a study.

“The insects originally grew in tandem with rising oxygen levels until birds developed, the research found. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests the bugs then got smaller as a way to maneuver away from the avian predators.”

As Pig Pen just tweeted me, “Kind of makes you want to treat insects with more respect!”

“Biting spiders panic northeast India, but doctors say bad wound care may have caused 2 deaths”

GAUHATI, India – “Large biting spiders have sparked panic…but health authorities fear primitive treatment of the bites’ painful swelling may be more dangerous than the spiders themselves.

“Two people died in Tinsukia district after witch doctors used razor blades to drain the wounds….

“The hairy spiders were noticed about a month ago across Tinsukia district’s grassy plains and dense jungle forests….

“Ecologist L.R. Saikia said it may be a previously unknown species of tarantula. The spiders are roughly the size of a person’s thumb….

“Villagers are keeping lamps on at night and standing guard against spiders entering their mud-and-thatch huts.”

Folks, I’ve seen the pictures….these monsters are huge and scary as hell. What if they hop on a cargo ship and make it to Port Elizabeth here in New Jersey?

--You know that new Cialis commercial where the one guy is turned on by his wife’s hopping on one foot, and the other guy seems to love getting dragged out in the rain? Really?

--Re: my 1969 Tom Seaver story of last time, Brad K., equal age to your editor, notes that back in the day he put Grape Hi-C in his slush mug, not Hawaiian Punch. Two things. Hawaiian Punch had a superior advertising campaign, and, as I told old friend Brad, I was deathly afraid of spilling a grape drink anywhere in the house. Not that I would have been handed a game misconduct penalty had I done so, but there would have been video replay had it been available then and I probably would have also faced a hefty fine of like $50,000, which, given my $2.00 allowance (which at least bought a bunch of baseball cards) would have taken me 700 years or more to repay. I mean if I had faced this situation, friends, I would have been forced to ride the rails.

--We note the passing of Herb Reed, the last surviving member of the Platters, the ‘50s group with huge hits such as “Only You,” “The Great Pretender,” “Twilight Time” and “Smoke Gets InYour Eyes.” The other original Platters were David Lynch, lead singer Tony Williams, Paul Robi and Zola Taylor.

But it was Herb Reed who stayed as the original members were replaced, singing bass on all 400 of the group’s recordings.   He was born into poverty in Kansas City, Mo., and lost both his parents when he was 13; leaving for L.A. when he was 15 and singing in church gospel choirs while working odd jobs.

--The Diamond Jubilee concert for Queen Elizabeth II on Monday evening in London looked like a blast. Regardless of what you think about the Brits, they gave us the British Invasion, simply the best music of all time. Elton John sang Your Song, I’m Still Standing and Crocodile Rock. Sir Paul sang Live and Let Die plus some Beatles classics. McCartney finished the event with Magical Mystery Tour and All My Loving.

Top 3 songs for the week 6/5/82: #1 “Ebony And Ivory” (Paul McCartney with Stevie Wonder…suicides spiked across the land as this one climbed the charts) #2 “Don’t Talk To Strangers” (Rick Springield…these days not a problem since everyone has their face in their cellphone anyway) #3 “I’ve Never Been To Me” (Charlene…I used to work in my youth as a stock boy at a local drug store named Charlene’s…not related…was paid cash under the table)…and…#4 “867-5309/Jenny” (Tommy Tutone) #5 “The Other Woman” (Ray Parker Jr.) #6 “Don’t You Want Me” (The Human League…I just want to shoot myself…this week is dreadful…) #7 “Always On My Mind” (Willie Nelson…and this one was soooo slow…and I wasn’t into pot so Willie and I didn’t always relate to one another) #8 “Heat Of The Moment” (Asia) #9 “ ’65 Love Affair” (Paul Davis…not bad…he was underrated…but needed a haircut) #10 “Rosanna” (Toto…little dog makes good in the music industry…wonderful story)

Houston Astros Quiz Answers: 1) 200 home runs: Jeff Bagwell, 449; Lance Berkman, 326; Craig Biggio, 291; Jim Wynn, 223. 2) Richard Hidalgo had 44 homers and 122 RBI in 2000. Steroids, anyone? 3) Moises Alou is the only player in Houston history to bat .330 twice. .355 in 2000 and .331 in 2001.

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