Baltimore Orioles Quiz: [Since 1954…no St. Louis Browns stuff…sorry, you Kenny Williams fans…] 1) Who is the single season hits leader with 214? 2) What three Orioles hit 37 or more home runs in the 60s? 3) Who is the single season leader in RBI with 150? Answers below.
Orb Upset
Every single race fan, and non-race fans, watching the Preakness on Saturday had the same thought. ‘What an awful ride’ for Orb. And so it’s another year of disappointment for the sport of horse racing. The badly needed shot in the arm that a Triple Crown would have brought doesn’t come. The sport is slowly dying. Saturday’s show didn’t help.
“Dashing the hopes that Kentucky Derby winner Orb would head back to New York with a chance at the Triple Crown, 15-1 shot Oxbow led gate-to-wire under Hall-of-Fame jockey Gary Stevens to win yesterday’s 138th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on a chilly, cloudy day in Baltimore before a crowd of 117,203.
“The victory was the third in the Preakness for Stevens, who came out of retirement in January at age 50, and the sixth for Hall-of-Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who is 77. It also was Lukas’ record 14th win in a Triple Crown race, breaking a tie he held with the legendary ‘Sunny Jim’ Fitzsimmons.
“ ‘I get paid to spoil dreams,’ said Lukas, who hadn’t won a classic race since Commendable’s upset in the Belmont Stakes in 2000.”
Oxbow had finished sixth at the Derby. Yesterday’s pace was the slowest since 1961.
“Orb, racing in traffic much of the way after breaking from post 1 under Joel Rosario, never was a threat. After backing up when he should have made his rally on the far turn, he just got up for fourth in a disheartening effort as the 3-5 favorite in a field of nine.”
What’s so depressing is that this was really setting up to be the year. Orb would win the Preakness and then go ‘home’ to the Belmont, Orb’s home track. It just sucks.
Knicks’ Season Goes Down in Flames
What a frustrating Game 6 in Indianapolis on Saturday night for us Knicks fans. We played awful defense in stretches, made some inexcusable errors, like J.R. Smith failing to hustle after a rebound and having it swiped away by the Indy player, yet there it was, 92-90, with 4:30 to play thanks to New York going on a tear from downtown in the third quarter, when 7-feet-2 Roy Hibbert denied a driving Carmelo Anthony on a spectacular block at the basket. Anthony had a brilliant game, 39 points on 15-29 shooting from the field, that is, brilliant for three quarters, but was just 2-of-7 in the fourth and committed two ghastly turnovers down the stretch.
Of course it didn’t help that Raymond Felton was 0-for-7 from the field and J.R. was 4-of-15, let alone the play of Tyson Chandler, the smallest looking 7-footer on the planet in the series as he was dominated by Hibbert.
“In a game the Knicks had to have, Raymond Felton and Tyson Chandler came up small as ants, and while Iman Shumpert’s brilliant third quarter does whet the appetite for what may lay ahead for him in the years to come, and J.R. Smith did try to keep New York City on his side with his final few minutes, the fact is the Knicks allowed this game to get away early, then couldn’t build on a three-point fourth quarter lead that had all of Indianapolis petrified.
Melo, by the way, is now 23-43 in the postseason.
Oh well, at least the Knicks provided some solid entertainment most of the season for their fans. Now they need to find some muscle, and a consistent scorer to go along with Anthony.
–In the eight games following his Game 4 suspension in the Celtics series, J.R. Smith shot 34-of-117 from the field (.290), including 13-of-50 (.260) from downtown.
—Jason Kidd, who only played six minutes without taking a shot on Saturday, nonetheless missed his last 17 field goal attempts in the playoffs. He had played so brilliantly down the stretch of the regular season, but once the playoffs hit, you could just see the 40-year-old run out of gas.
Kidd actually set an NBA playoff record by going scoreless in eight consecutive games where he played at least 15 minutes in each contest before being limited to 5 and 6 minutes in his last two.
–The Maloof family that owns the Sacramento Kings reached an agreement with a group led by software magnate Vivek Ranadive that will keep the franchise in town, after the NBA Board of Governors voted down by 22-8 the bid to relocate the Kings to Seattle.
–The Charlotte Bobcats are looking to change their name back to Hornets, the moniker the team bore for 14 seasons before moving to New Orleans. New Orleans is now the Pelicans. No one gives a damn about either.
–It was a lost weekend in New York as the Rangers went down 2-0 to the Bruins following Sunday’s 5-2 loss in Beantown.
Ball Bits
–The Mets are 17-24 and Terry Collins is still manager. Ike Davis is also still on the roster.
The Wall Street Journal had a comparison after Thursday’s game showing Davis after his first 126 at-bats last season and this one.
2012…5 home runs, 14 RBI, .167 BA, .222 on-base %, .310 slugging
And he’s gotten even worse, mired in a 1-for-30 super duper slump that has dropped him to .156. Mets fans are beyond being tired waiting for this bum to start producing.
As for Matt Harvey, he is 5-0 with a 1.55 ERA. The Mets are 7-2 in his starts and 0-9 in games after he throws. It’s beyond pathetic.
–So us Mutts fans sulk, while Yankees fans cannot be more pleased with the way their boys are playing, 27-17, sans Curtis Granderson (until recently), Mark Teixeira and Derek Jeter. But the crowds are shrinking. Some are calling it Yankee fatigue.
–Friday night, Chicago’s Chris Sale, who had pitched a one-hitter last Sunday against the Angels, threw another 7 2/3 of shutout ball versus Los Angeles. He is now 5-2, 2.53.
—Cleveland upped their record to 24-17, as slugger Mark Reynolds is hitting .261, with 12 homers and 37 RBI. Justin Masterson moved his mark to 7-2, 2.83, on Sunday.
–Cincinnati’s Joey Votto is batting .349, having appeared in each of Cincy’s 44 games, but his power numbers are unimpressive. 6 homers, 20 RBI. However, this is obviously not Votto’s fault. He has 33 runs scored and a .473 OBP.
—Tampa Bay was 14-18, but has now won 9 of 11 to finish the week at 23-20 as Matt Moore improved his record to 8-0, 2.29.
–Who the heck is shortstop Jean Segura of Milwaukee? Man, I never heard of the 23-year-old Dominican, but here he is, leading the N.L. in hitting at .361 with 7 HR 20 RBI.
–Incredibly, it took Stephen Strasburg 54 starts before he finally went more than seven innings, as he tossed eight the other day and is now 2-5, but with an excellent 2.83 ERA.
Ken Venturi, RIP
As a youth growing up in San Francisco, Ken Venturi stuttered so badly, doctors told his mother he would never speak, never be able to say his own name, and as his close friend and broadcast partner, Jim Nantz, said, “That’s what drove him to golf, to sit on a range, beating balls, hearing himself in total clarity in his head.”
Venturi, who died Friday at the age of 82, went on to win the 1964 U.S. Open and then spend 35 years as an analyst for CBS from 1968-2002, the longest run for a lead analyst in the history of sports television.
As an amateur, Venturi was the 54-hole leader in the 1956 Masters until closing with an 80, and he was runner-up at Augusta in 1960 to Arnold Palmer.
Venturi turned pro after the ‘56 Masters and would win eight times over the next three years, before injuries started to affect his game. He hurt his back in 1961 and badly injured his wrist in a car accident the next year.
Venturi had missed the U.S. Open three straight years until he narrowly qualified for Congressional in ’64. The rest is history.
It was the last year that the Open was decided with a 36-hole final round and after Venturi shot 66 in the third, on a brutally hot (temps near 100) and humid day outside Washington, D.C., he was feeling weak during the break before the final round. John Everett, a doctor and member at Congressional, checked on him and found a normal pulse but symptoms of dehydration.
“Dr. Everett told me…I was lying next to my locker and he says, ‘I suggest that you don’t go out. It could be fatal,’” Venturi said in 2011 when he returned to Congressional for the Open. “I looked up at him and I said, ‘Well, it’s better than the way I’ve been living.’ And I got off the floor, and I do not remember walking to the first tee. I don’t remember the front nine until I started coming into it.”
Everett trailed Venturi and playing partner Raymond Floyd, Venturi two behind third-round leader Tommy Jacobs, giving Venturi ice cubes, iced tea and salt pills as he played on.
Venturi was so shaken, so weak, that he couldn’t read the numbers on his scorecard when he went to sign it, but he had ended up besting Jacobs by four shots.
Sports Illustrated honored him as its “Sportsman of the Year” in 1964. He ended up winning 14 times on the PGA Tour before retiring in 1967 and hitting the broadcast booth, where he was a soothing presence. His friendships ranged from Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson, to Frank Sinatra.
Venturi was involved in numerous charities, but the one he was most proud of raised money for guide dogs. In 2004, he told Golf Digest how a dog from the program saved his owner, a man named Omar Rivera, in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, leading him down 71 floors of the World Trade Center’s North Tower.
As Venturi recalled it: “At a Guiding Eyes gala at Rockefeller Plaza, Omar came forward and told his story. Toward the end, he said, ‘This dog came from Ken Venturi.’ I cry easily enough as it is, but I cried buckets that day.”
Sadly, Ken Venturi wasn’t able to attend his enshrinement into the World Golf Hall of Fame, May 6, days before his death.
Golf Balls
The controversy surrounding Tiger Woods at the TPC doesn’t die. Some marshals are now coming out and defending Tiger for his actions in the third round while playing with Sergio Garcia. At first, two marshals said no one told Tiger that Sergio had hit his approach on the second hole, as Woods claimed, but two other marshals told Jacksonville.com that they were within 10-12 yards of Woods, with Brian Nedrich saying, “I was the one Tiger heard say that Sergio had hit.”
And back to Venturi, he was involved in a famous incident with Arnold Palmer at the 1958 Masters. Bob Harig of ESPN.com has a good retelling of it.
“It is a story that remains interesting, given the recent rules issues endured by Tiger Woods at the Masters, where he was deemed to have received a favorable ruling that kept him from disqualification last month.
“Palmer also received a favorable Masters ruling that helped him win the 1958 tournament – somewhat at Venturi’s expense.
“Palmer, who was 28 at the time and recently had won his eighth PGA Tour title, shot a third-round 68 to tie for the lead with Sam Snead. Palmer and Venturi, who was 3 strokes back, were paired for the final round, and Venturi trailed by just 1 stroke when they reached the 12th hole, the par-3 that is in the middle of Amen Corner.
“And that is where a controversial rules incident occurred, one that is still the subject of debate today. Palmer’s tee shot landed behind the green and plugged. Palmer believed he was entitled to relief – under a local rule in effect that week – because the ball was embedded. And Venturi agreed.
“But the rules official on the scene, Arthur Lacey – a former president of the British PGA and a member of the 1933 and 1937 Great Britain and Ireland Ryder Cup teams – did not.
“He ruled Palmer had to play without relief. An argument ensued, and Palmer eventually played the ball, gouging it out of the turf, hitting a poor chip past the hole, then two-putting for a double-bogey 5. Venturi had made par and assumed the lead.
“Feeling he had gotten a bad ruling, Palmer announced he was playing a second ball. This time, with a drop to a clean lie, he chipped up near the hole and made par. The twosome played on, waiting for a rules committee to decide Palmer’s fate.
“Years later, Venturi believed that Palmer played the second ball incorrectly. He should have played the two balls concurrently and declared it at the time, Venturi said in his 2004 autobiography, ‘Getting Up and Down,’ and again in a 2008 interview from his Palm Desert, Calif., home.
“ ‘It could never happen today,’ Venturi said in the interview. ‘There were only five of us there and no cameras. I told Arnold he should get a drop, and that’s when Arthur Lacey said it was half embedded. Well, that’s like being half pregnant. It either is embedded or it isn’t.
“ ‘But that’s what he ruled, and when Palmer played the second ball, I told him you can’t do that. You have to declare it before you hit it. Suppose he had chipped in the embedded ball?’
“In Palmer’s book, ‘Playing by the Rules,’ he wrote that he told Lacey he was going to play a second ball and appeal to the rules committee. But, Palmer said, Lacey wouldn’t allow that, either. (The rules do allow for playing of a second ball.) It is possible that Venturi did not hear this conversation, as he elected to play out.
“Palmer and Venturi went to the 13th tee, with Palmer convinced he was right and Venturi convinced he was right. The ruling didn’t come until the 15th hole, and Palmer was given a 3, instead of a 5.
“ ‘There was never a question in my mind that I wasn’t right about the 12th hole,’ said Palmer, who hit his approach onto the green at No. 13 and made an eagle and went on to win by a shot over Fred Hawkins and Doug Ford and by 2 shots over Venturi. ‘I was very confident that I was right and I played with that confidence.’”
Most say the 1958 rule, as written, provided room for interpretation.
–At the HP Byron Nelson Championship, Korean Sang-Moon Bae won his first PGA Tour title, defeating Keegan Bradley.
J-E-T-S….Jets! Jets! Jets!!!
Once again, those of us who at an early age chose the New York Jets and Mets over the Giants and Yankees can only shake their heads. The incredibly dysfunctional Jets suffered another ignominious blow as new running back Mike Goodson, expected to compete for the No. 1 slot, was arrested by New Jersey State Police on Thursday and charged with possession of a loaded firearm and simple possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Goodson was the passenger in a car stopped on Route 80. Both men were also charged with possession of hollow point ammunition. Bail for Goodson was set at $50,000.
I mean it’s safe to say Goodson is now an “Idiot of the Year” candidate. He had signed a three-year contract worth $6.9 million.
In a less dramatic, though still greatly significant development, the Jets had signed quarterback David Garrard to provide competition for Mark Sanchez. Then they drafted Geno Smith, leaving Sanchez’ headband spinning. Was he now No. 3? Still No. 1? Would he be traded?
But Garrard was never able to recover from his knee issues so he decided to retire for good this week, leaving Sanchez and Smith (along with Greg McElroy and Matt Simms).
Ergo, there is virtually no chance Sanchez is moved (assuming a team could be found to eat some of his guaranteed contract). Then again, 2-14 is a lock anyway, regardless of who is at QB.
—David Beckham retired. The 38-year-old was never the best footballer in the world, but he did more than anyone in his sport to promote soccer worldwide. He played on championship teams at Manchester United, Real Madrid, the Los Angeles Galaxy and Paris St.-Germain. His glory years were with Man U, 1995-2003, where he won six Premier League titles, two F.A. Cups and the 1999 Champions League title under Manager Alex Ferguson.
—Dick Trickle, a legendary short-track driver, but a NASCAR racer with far less success, committed suicide. He was 71. Trickle, from Wisconsin, was named NASCAR’s rookie of the year in 1989 at age 48, but his only victory was in a non-points race in the 1990 Winston Open.
–Sunday would have been the 85th birthday for Lotus founder Colin Chapman. Chapman was an aircraft engineer who applied his training to build some of the greatest racing cars in history, driven by the likes of Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Jochen Rindt, Emerson Fittipaldi and Mario Andretti. Lotus won six Formula One drivers’ championships. Chapman died of a heart attack back in 1982.
—Rutgers named a woman as its new athletic director, Julie Hermann, the No. 2 at Louisville, to replace Tim Pernetti. She is thus just the third woman to hold the AD title at a BCS program; N.C. State’s Debbie Yow and California’s Sandy Barbour being the others.
–Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski earned $9.7 million in total compensation in 2011, according to the university’s federal tax return, and as reported by USA TODAY. This is the most ever total comp for a college coach since USA TODAY began tracking such stuff in 2006.
$1,978,401 in base pay.
$5,642,574 in bonus and incentive compensation.
$1,982,097 in retirement and other deferred compensation.
$59,616 in other reportable compensation such as family travel.
$19,344 in non-taxable benefits.
As Ronald Reagan would have said…not bad, not bad at all.
For 2012-2013, Kentucky coach John Calipari was paid more than $5.4 million, not including bonuses. Louisville’s Rick Pitino and Kansas’ Bill Self each made nearly $5 million. Among football coaches, Alabama’s Nick Saban earned nearly $5.5 million for the 2012 season.
–I was over at my parents on Saturday to watch the Preakness (yes, the Subway sandwiches and beer tradition for the first two legs of the Triple Crown…they used to go to their own Derby party but at 85 and 87, well, you understand…) and lo and behold, there on the front stoop was the first cicada. Brood II, it’s called. I have to admit, I’m anxious to see how bad it gets in the park I do most of my running in. As in I’m guessing I might be relegated to the track for a while.
–Good lord…an 18-year-old Houston-area high-school senior bagged a record 14-foot, 800-pound alligator on his first gator hunt. A picture of the monster is unreal. It was caught at Choke Canyon State Park, about 90 miles south of San Antonio. I am never going to Texas ever again. It is estimated the gator was between 30 and 50 years old.
–OK, here is your Google map assignment. Look up Cold Bay, Alaska. You see, I was reading about this eruption the other day at the Pavlof volcano and I had no idea there were mountains 8,000 feet high in the Aleutians, Pavlof being 8,262 feet to be precise. I mean this must be very cool to see.
–“A 1964 Aston Martin DB5 discovered after three decades in an old garage with a mouse nest in its engine bay sold for $486,469” at auction in the U.K. [Bloomberg]
The car had been purchased in 1972 for about $2,250. The owner drove it for 8 years until 1980, after which it was stored.
–Yeah, I played Powerball…the jackpot was an estimated $590.5 million, the largest Powerball jackpot in history and one lone ticket in Florida, sold at a Publix supermarket in Zephyrhills, Fla., is the winner. Unreal. The odds were 1 in 175.2 million.
–I post a little earlier on Sundays these days because I’ve been watching “Game of Thrones,” followed by “Mad Men.” To be honest, I have no idea what is really taking place in the former, having missed last season, but there’s some good eye-candy, if you know what I mean, and I love the scenes shot in Iceland and Croatia. I haven’t been to Croatia, but I urge all to check out Iceland. 3 days, 4 nights is all you need to get a full flavor of the place.
–So I’m reading this bit in The Weekly Standard by Geoffrey Norman on the Battle of Chancellorsville, April 1863 (forgot the anniversary for this one), and he has this bit on Union Gen. Joseph Hooker.
“Hooker was rough goods. He liked a drink and his headquarters were frequented by ladies of the evening; hence the legend that his name gave rise to the slang term for prostitute.”
Did you know this? I’m embarrassed. I was probably told this long ago, during one of my Civil War forays, but killed the brain cell responsible for it. In all seriousness, I met a direct descendant of Hooker’s in Ireland a few years ago (an American) and he wouldn’t have appreciated my bringing this up about his great-great-grandfather, or whatever the level was.
Anyway, I was last at Chancellorsville way back in 1990, this being where Robert E. Lee lost his right-hand man, Stonewall Jackson.
Jackson was hit by friendly fire in the confusion of battle, a major win for the Confederates. Geoffrey Norman writes of Jackson’s famous end:
“Jackson’s arm was amputated and he was moved to comfortable quarters and seemed to be recuperating before pneumonia struck. This was, often as not, a death sentence, and soon, Jackson’s doctors were telling him to prepare himself. In his last hours, he tried to comfort his wife. Then, he slipped into delirium and was calling to his adjutant to ‘send in and see if there is higher ground back of Chancellorsville.’
“Sunday came and Jackson said, ‘It is the Lord’s day; my wish is fulfilled. I have always desired to die on Sunday.’ A few hours later he called out, ‘Order A.P. Hill to prepare for action…Pass the infantry to the front. Tell Major Hawks—‘
“Then he seemed to let go, at last, of all that and said, ‘Let us cross over the river and rest in the shade of the trees.’”
–Denmark won the Eurovision Song Contest, specifically 20-year-old Emmelie de Forest with a folksy ballad, that handily beat the closest runners-up, Azerbaijan and Ukraine. I forgot the winner’s country then gets to host next year’s show. 120 million watch the event, more than for the Academy Awards or Super Bowl. I also forgot it was Web-streamed. Doh!
–GQ’s Drew Magary has a hilarious article on a cruise that features Kid Rock, “Chillin’ the Most Cruise,” now in its fourth year. It’s a five-day deal from Miami to the Bahamas and 2,435 packed the Norwegian Pearl…1,434 returning for their second, third, even fourth time.
I love Kid Rock and he does nothing to dispel his image. Yes, this is an incredible five-day boozefest.
“As this ship’s honorary captain, Kid Rock has a number of contractual duties. He must play two shows – one as we leave Miami and a second show two days later over at Redneck Paradise (a private island in the Bahamas) – and participate in at least one nonmusical activity: beers and bingo, the belly-flop contest, etc. This will not be a problem for Kid Rock, as I quickly find out that few musicians enjoy communing with their fans, while just as s—faced as they are, more than the man christened Bob Ritchie.”
I can’t do the article justice. Look it up online, June issue. I have to admit that while I like a good time as much as anyone, I’m undecided as to whether I would partake in this in the coming years. But suffice it to say, I like the guy more after reading Magary’s piece. You will too.
Top 3 songs for the week 5/13/72: #1 “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” (Roberta Flack…think the Clint Eastwood flick, ‘Play Misty For Me’…one of the more underrated films of all time…) #2 “I Gotcha” (Joe Tex) #3 “Oh Girl” (Chi-Lites…the Philly sound…)…and…#4 “I’ll Take You There” (The Staple Singers…ughh…) #5 “Rockin’ Robin” (Michael Jackson…he had to be embarrassed he did this…and America should be ashamed of itself for buying it…) #6 “Betcha By Golly, Wow” (The Stylistics… absolutely brilliant…) #7 Look What You Done For Me” (Al Green…not his best…but still solid…) #8 “Day Dreaming” (Aretha Franklin…easily in her top three…love it….) #9 “Back Off Boogaloo” (Ringo Starr…he tried…) #10 “A Horse With No Name” (America…growing up thought this was Neil Young…I can’t be the only one who confused it with ‘Heart Of Gold’…)
Baltimore Orioles Quiz Answers: 1) Miguel Tejada had 214 hits in 2006. 2) 37 or more home runs in the 1960s…Frank Robinson, 49 (1966); Jim Gentile, 46 (1961); Boog Powell, 39 (1964), 37 (1969)…of course only big-time baseball fans have a shot at Gentile…and his out of nowhere season where he also drove in 141. 3) Miguel Tejada had 150 RBI in 2004. [Yeah, he might have been ‘roided up, but it’s still their record.]
*As to Ken Williams, he had one of the better, out of nowhere, seasons back in 1922 for the St. Louis Browns. 39 HR 155 RBI, 128 runs, .332 BA. He also had 37 steals, so Ken Williams became the first player to bat .300, hit more than 30 homers and steal more than 30 in the same season. No one would do it again until Willie Mays.
Williams was a late-bloomer, not playing his first full season in the big leagues until he was 30 in 1920. In 1929, age 39, he hit .345 for the Red Sox in 139 ABs and then retired. [He wanted to sign with the Yankees, but only on his terms, and the Yanks balked.] Overall, Williams hit .319 in 14 seasons with 196 HR and 916 RBI.
Actually, I just looked up Ken Williams in “The Biographical Encyclopedia of Baseball” and I forgot he was the first American Leaguer other than Babe Ruth to top 30 home runs in a season, accomplishing this in the 1922 season. Boy, you could win some major coin on that one.
Also in 1922, “Williams became the first player in junior circuit history to homer three times in one game and the first to hit a home run twice in one inning. He homered in six straight games in late July and early August, setting a major league record that wouldn’t be broken for 34 years.”
But Williams’ 1922 exploits were overshadowed by teammate George Sisler’s. [Sisler hit .420 with a 41-game hitting streak. He also struck out just 14 times in 586 at-bats.]
Williams served in World War in 1918, and in 1925 a beaning forced him to miss a big chunk of the season, though he still finished with 105 RBI in 102 games. [Beanings in the days of no batting helmets must have been horrific to see.]
