Baseball Quiz: There are now 115 pitchers who have won 200 games in their career, with the recent addition of Bartolo Colon to the list. Mark Buehrle, 197, will be next. Who is the only modern-day, post-1920, hurler to win 200 but have a losing record? Answer below. [J. Mac, you’re ineligible.]
Ball Bits
—Rob Manfred, Bud Selig’s long-time assistant, is baseball’s new commissioner, “with the game enjoying unprecedented economic success with close to $9 billion in annual revenue, labor stability and lucrative TV deals that should carry it into the next decade. Franchise values have reached new heights with the Los Angeles Dodgers (thanks to a regional TV deal) carrying a $2.15 billion price tag. ‘I think if you’re an owner today,’ former commissioner Fay Vincent told HardballTimes.com, ‘you want things to go just about the way they are.’” [Cindy Boren / Washington Post]
But as Boren points out, while it seems the sport can run on autopilot, there are major challenges facing Manfred. For example, a Harris Poll released in January showed that 35% of adults said football was their favorite sport and just 14% named baseball. The median age of viewers for the 2013 World Series was also 53.8, according to Sports Media Watch (vs. 40.9 for the 2013 NBA Finals).
Attendance has plateaued since its peak in 2007. And you have the gnawing issue of performance-enhancing drugs, or PEDs.
But one thing Bud Selig can be proud of is that 2016 will represent the 22nd straight season of baseball. 22 years of labor peace. Already, though, there are rumblings that the owners won’t just roll over when the current collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1, 2016. After all, Manfred needed a few ballots before getting the required 23 of 30 owners to vote for him. [In the end the vote was unanimous to give the appearance of unity.]
“It was not as if millions of baseball fans were turning their lonely eyes to Manfred on Thursday. The game is healthy, judging by its revenue, attendance figures, local television ratings, strong drug program and two decades of labor peace. And the record will show that on the day of Manfred’s election, in the heat of a late-summer pennant race, teams in Oakland, Kansas City, Milwaukee and Pittsburgh were in line for playoff berths.
“But there are problems, to be sure, storm clouds that demand a plan. Many in baseball spoke of the need to appeal to the next generation through technology, a brisker pace of play, more diversity on the field and so on. Manfred could have articulated some of his thoughts on those and other issues, but he mostly held back….
“Manfred did allow that competitive balance was the ‘bedrock of the product we sell’ – a nice line, for sure, but nothing new. He said the owners were passionate about the way the game was played….
“Instant replay has been an imperfect but welcome innovation this season, and was overdue by a decade or two. Still, Manfred was said to have presented a broad-based agenda to the owners, stressing the importance of engaging youth, modernizing the game and further developing Major League Baseball Advanced Media, the league’s Internet arm….
“Manfred is no doubt sincere about working with players to help the game grow and about making the sport more appealing to fans. Yet not once did he name an actual player. There was nothing about how wonderful the game is because of Felix Hernandez or Andrew McCutchen or Mike Trout.
“We must trust that Manfred’s track record, with his pivotal role in the success of the second half of Selig’s tenure, spells a bright future for the game. But a few actual ideas on Thursday – hopes and goals and plans, all good stuff – should not have been too much to ask.”
—David Ortiz joined Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski as the only players to hit 44 homers while playing with the Red Sox. Ortiz hit Nos. 400 and 401 Saturday night, in the process tying a career high with six RBI in a 10-7 win over the Astros. He now has 459 in his career, which began in Minnesota.
—David Price outdueled Felix Hernandez in Detroit’s 4-2 victory over Seattle on Saturday. King Felix allowed two runs and seven hits in just five innings, thus ending his record streak of 16 consecutive starts with at least seven innings pitched and two or fewer runs allowed.
—Clayton Kershaw’s streak of 11 straight victories ended on Saturday as the Brewers and Yovani Gallardo defeated the Dodgers 3-2. Kershaw, 14-3, nonetheless pitched a complete game, striking out 11 with no walks. Over his previous 13 starts Kershaw’s ERA was 1.16.
–St. Louis’ Adam Wainwright moved to 15-7 on Sunday. Friday, Cincy’s Johnny Cueto won his 15th, now 15-6.
But out of nowhere, in defeating the Dodgers on Sunday, Milwaukee’s Wily Peralta improved his record to 15-7. Wily who?
–You know who’s a good story? Seattle’s 35-year-old hurler, Chris Young, who is now 12-6, 3.07…a career year.
Just understand this guy has gone through two major shoulder surgeries that, prior to Young, only Johan Santana had come back from…but, again, Young has now done it twice!
–White Sox slugger Jose Abreu has hit the rookie wall. He hasn’t homered since July 29 (62 ABs). Abreu was used to playing 90-game seasons in Cuba, from where he defected last August. This year he has played in 109.
Abreu told USA TODAY Sports, “We play so many games, you get to a point you want (the season) to end. It’s too much, but that’s what you have to deal with and you’ve got to be strong.”
Evidently, he misses his family, who made it stateside in May.
One thing hurting the slugger is pitchers now know his weaknesses, or they’re simply pitching around him.
–On Thursday, the Washington Nationals established a new franchise record for consecutive road wins (11) against one team, in this case the Mets. It’s also the Mets’ longest-ever home losing streak against one team.
In fact, the Nationals are now 25-4 in their past 29 road games against my Metsies. They have four more games at Citi Field in September.
“One of these days, Matt Harvey needs to remember – and that probably means before he hurts his arm again – that his job is to be a star young baseball pitcher, not some sort of needy celebrity who acts as if he gets the bends when he is out of the spotlight for very long.
“Understand something: The Mets need Harvey a lot more than he needs them, as long as he comes all the way back from Tommy John surgery and pitches for them the way Stephen Strasburg is now pitching for the Washington Nationals, a team in the NL East that treats the Mets like they’re a farm team.”
You see, last time I told you Mets pitcher Jeremy Hefner suffered a setback in his recovery from TJ surgery, which probably mandates Hefner will have a second operation, and it was thought Harvey had learned from this and would back off on his declaration he was going to pitch before the season was over.
But Harvey is acting up again, even though we all just want him to be healthy for spring training, not September. He went on a New York radio station to say he had thrown in the mid-90s during his mound session at the team’s facilities in Port S. Lucie, Fla. Neither Manager Terry Collins nor the organization as a whole want him throwing that hard.
–The Mets have 15 hits, total, in their last four games. Is that good?
–Many in New York have been clamoring for both the Mets and Yankees to make a play for Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki in the offseason, and I’ve been thinking, why? The guy is always injured.
But now I doubt any team will go hard after the guy as we learned he had hip surgery and will be out the rest of the year.
Hip surgery for a ballplayer can be a killer and Tulowitzki had a torn labrum. Recovery is listed as five months. But this is the guy I wrote of recently who said he has never fully recovered from a torn quadriceps muscle in 2008.
–A water main break outside Coors Field in Denver forced the postponement of Saturday’s Rockies-Reds contest. No restrooms were working. No concessions. What an embarrassment.
–Congratulations to Mo’ne Davis, the first girl in Little League World Series history to earn a win when she pitched six innings of two-hit ball in Philadelphia’s (Taney’s) 4-0 win over Nashville.
Out of nearly 9,000 players who have participated in the LLWS, only 18 were girls, Davis being the fourth American girl.
College Football…the countdown continues
Sports Illustrated’s Top Ten
1. Florida State
2. Alabama
3. Oklahoma
4. Ohio State
5. UCLA
6. Michigan State
7. Auburn
8. Oregon
9. Stanford
10. Baylor
AP Top Ten
1. Florida State
2. Alabama
3. Oregon
4. Oklahoma
5. Ohio State
6. Auburn
7. UCLA
8. Michigan State
9. South Carolina
10. Baylor
Of course under the new playoff system, No. 1 plays No. 4, and No. 2 plays No. 3 in semifinals on New Year’s Day. The winners then face off for the national title on Monday, Jan. 12.
Starting on Oct. 28, a 13-person committee will issue the first of seven rankings, with the top four decided on Dec. 7. Strength of schedule is supposed to be a major component of the rankings.
—Notre Dame Coach Brian Kelly said he experienced “shock” and “disappointment” when he first heard allegations of academic misconduct on the part of four of his players. All four were expected to be key contributors this fall. ND’s season opener is Aug. 30 against Rice.
It seems the students submitted papers and classwork that had been written for them by others, which was detected at the end of the summer session.
It was back in 2013 that starting quarterback Everett Golson was suspended for what he called poor academic judgment.
Jerian Grant, the leading scorer on the basketball team at the time, was suspended in December for the spring semester for an academic violation.
If Notre Dame determines the misconduct would have made the students ineligible to play in previous seasons, the school said it would vacate wins from those seasons, which is stupid. All “forfeits” in these situations are stupid.
–The No. 1 running back recruit in the nation, according to Rivals.com, Oklahoma freshman Joe Mixon, was charged with misdemeanor assault when he allegedly punched a woman in the face, knocking her unconscious. The school has yet to make a decision on his eligibility.
–The other day I noted Marshall QB Rakeem Cato. Great story in Sports Illustrated on him this week. He’s definitely a guy to root for. Rough upbringing in Miami’s Liberty City. Father was jailed for second-degree murder and armed robbery and has spent most of Rakeem’s life in prison. His mother died of pneumonia at 39. Yet, despite a few personal stumbles along the way, Rakeem has kept it together and is a definite Heisman Trophy candidate, though admittedly it is a big-time long shot.
–Story in USA TODAY says Michael Sam is being outplayed by undrafted free agent Ethan Westbrooks, though Sam did have a sack on Saturday. Westbrooks, however, made tackles on consecutive running plays for little or no gain and added a sack. It seems the two are competing for the last of nine defensive line spots.
–A month or so ago, I was getting optimistic about the Jets’ prospects this season, until I realized just how awful their cornerback situation was, what with injuries and simple lack of talent. Now I’m very pessimistic. Plus they have a brutal early schedule.
But Giants fans should be feeling even worse. Eli Manning, for one, has looked absolutely dreadful thus far in the preseason.
Golf Balls
–Tiger Woods announced he won’t play in the Ryder Cup in order to give his ailing back proper time to heal.
“I’ve been told by my doctors and trainer that my back muscles need to be rehabilitated and healed,” Woods said in a statement. “They’ve advised me not to play or practice now. I was fortunate that my recent back injury was not related to my surgery and was muscular only.”
Mickelson, Zach Johnson, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Fowler, Furyk, Jimmy Walker, Kuchar and Spieth have qualified.
Who will be the other three? Most assume Keegan Bradley is a lock, Keegan having a 5-1-1 record in Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup play when partnered with Phil Mickelson.
Tom Watson has until Sept. 2 to make his selections, after the critical first two rounds of the FedEx Cup.
—Camilo Villegas, who seemingly disappeared from the leaderboard the past few years, won his first Tour event since 2010, fourth overall, in taking the Wyndham Championship over Bill Haas and Freddie Jacobson.
—50-year-old Kevin Sutherland became the first Champions Tour player to card a 59 during the second round of the Dick’s Sporting Good Open in upstate New York. He had 12 birdies and an eagle, but would have had a 58 had he not missed a 6-foot par putt on 18. Imagine, Sutherland began his round with seven birdies and an eagle in the first eight holes. Six players have had 59s on the PGA Tour, while Annika Sorenstam shot the LPGA’s lone 59 in 2001.
But Sutherland ballooned to 74 on Sunday and finished T-7. Once again, Bernhard Langer took the title.
Langer deserves to be on the European Ryder Cup team at age 56, but it’s not going to happen. [Hope it does, though. Actually, he turns 57, Aug. 27.]
–Finally, Cameron Tringale, a week after the PGA Championship in which he finished T-33, disqualified himself for signing an incorrect scorecard.
As reported by Brentley Romine of Golfweek, “Tringale contacted the PGA of America rules committee Friday to reveal that he signed for a bogey at the par-3 11th hole during the final round at Valhalla when in fact he made double bogey….
“ ‘While approaching the hole to tap in my 3-inch bogey putt, the putter swung over the ball prior to tapping in,’ Tringale said in a release. ‘Realizing that there could be the slightest doubt that the swing over the ball should have been recorded as a stroke, I spoke with the PGA of America and shared with them my conclusion that the stroke should have been recorded.
“ ‘I regret any inconvenience this has caused the PGA of America and my fellow competitors.’”
Tringale forfeited the $53,000 he earned in prize money.
One can see that Mr. Tringale had a few sleepless nights over this.
As Kerry Haigh, PGA of America chief championships officer, said, “It yet again shows the great values and traditions of the game and the honesty and integrity of its competitors.”
OK, confession time. Last week, in firing a 97 of my own, my playing partner allowed me to replace a ball that was clearly lost in the fairway (owing to a super bright morning sun) without a penalty. Steve paid for my BLT sandwich after. I am not going to the PGA on this, and Steve understands I am also not now paying for the late breakfast. [We play fast and were off the first tee at 7:00.]
Alas, you don’t shoot 97 without taking other penalties, however. Not a good tune-up for where I’m headed this week.
In the wake of the death of driver Kevin Ward Jr., officials announced a new rule on Friday: Drivers must remain in their cars after being sidelined by an accident.
The investigation into Tony Stewart’s incident with Ward is still ongoing. Stewart pulled out of his second Sprint Cup race this weekend at Michigan International Speedway.
Ward’s father, in his first comments following his son’s death, said:
“Tony Stewart was the best damn driver by far on the track that night. Why he had to go up as high as he did and hog my son, there’s’ no reason for it.”
Ward Sr., who was at the Canandaigua track that tragic night, didn’t see the moment when his son was hit by Stewart after exiting his car, but the father wondered how other cars saw and avoided hitting Kevin.
“Apparently, Tony Stewart was the only one driving out there who didn’t see him. The only person that knows what happened that night is possibly facing 10 years in prison. Is he going to say what he done?”
—Jeff Gordon won his third race of the year at Michigan International Speedway, besting Kevin Harvick. It was Gordon’s 91st win, and his first three-win season since 2011.
Premier League
Another season is underway and as the New York Times’ Sam Border put it, one of the concerns is it’s “not a stretch to posit that none of the top 10 players in the world are currently playing in England.”
Louis van Gaal’s debut as manager of Manchester United was not a good one, losing to Swansea, 2-1.
But my Tottenham Spurs opened with a 1-0 win at West Ham, a nice debut for new Argentine coach Mauricio Pachettino.
Robin Williams
Q: Is being funny sometimes a hindrance to social interaction?
Williams: People expect you to be wacky. They want you to take a picture with their family, and they say, ‘Smile,’ and you say, ‘I am smiling.’ They expect you to be on and crazy. No.”
Q: We see a lot of celebrities with substance-abuse issues. Why?
Williams: I think celebrity itself is a drug. There’s that whole thing – it comes and goes. And now with tweeting and Facebook, it’s like cybercrack.
“Robin Williams will not be the last cherished performer to be snatched from our midst by depression and suicide.
“It’s a melancholy fact that what a musician friend calls the real blues and Winston Churchill called the black dog seems to have much too close an affinity to the performer’s life….
“Booze is the favored self-treatment. Not surprising, because you will feel a little better, for a bit – a brief and costly reprieve, since alcohol is a depressant of the central nervous system….
“(You) may have thought, ‘How could he do this to his wife and kids?’ Easy. Because what’s been called the worst agony devised for man doesn’t allow you to feel any emotion for kids, spouse, lover, parents…even your beloved dog. And least of all for yourself.”
“Everything he did looked effortless. When Mr. Williams was young and warned his father, an automobile executive, that he wanted to act professionally, his father replied: ‘Wonderful, just have a back-up profession, like welding.’….
“(Williams) occasionally upset people. In one monologue, he imagined Osama bin Laden arriving at the gates of Heaven, where he meets George Washington and 70 members of the Continental Congress. They beat the stuffing out of him. Bin Laden protests that he was expecting a gentler welcome from 71 virgins; Washington replies that it’s actually ‘71 Virginians, you asshole!’ Jihadists on Twitter were torn between crowing that Mr. Williams would burn in Hell for insulting Islam and admitting that they really enjoyed ‘Jumanji.’”
–We note the passing of Eroni Kumana, 96, who lived his entire life on a tiny island 900 miles east of New Guinea, with no electricity, telephone service or running water.
So how does he find his way into the New York Times and other big papers? Because back on Aug. 5 and 6, 1943, Kumana “and a fellow boatman, Biuku Gasa, were credited with spotting and rescuing Navy Lt. John F. Kennedy and members of his PT-109 crew, nearly a week after their boat had been destroyed by a Japanese warship in the Solomon Islands.
“The future 35th president of the United States and his men were exhausted and starving. Mr. Kumana and Mr. Gasa gave them what food they had. Then Mr. Kumana built them a fire, the way he usually did – by rubbing two sticks together.” [Paul Vitello / New York Times]
–I was reading an obituary of Lauren Bacall by Leonard Greene in the New York Post and talk about a good investment. In 1961 she bought an apartment in The Dakota, on Central Park West (think John Lennon), for $48,000. Bacall continued to live there until her death Tuesday.
That two-bedroom apartment – configured as a bedroom and a library – was recently appraised at $9 million.
Bacall broke her hip in a 2011 fall, and she talked about leaving The Dakota one day to walk to physical therapy without being recognized.
“ ‘People don’t pay any attention to me or the walker,’ she told Vanity Fair.
“ ‘The other night I was going into a doctor’s office, and some son of a bitch came out of the building, almost knocked me over. I said, ‘You’re a f—ing ape!’ – screaming at him. He never even turned around. Couldn’t care less.’”
Bacall also had this observation about her home town.
“I spent my childhood in New York, riding on subways and buses. And you know what you learn if you’re a New Yorker? The world doesn’t owe you a damn thing.”
–A Georgia high school football player died last week of exercise-associated hyponatremia, a condition that occurs when people drink too much fluid after exercise and excess water causes seizures, comas and, in this case, death.
The 17-year-old teen complained of cramping during football practice at Douglas County High School, west of Atlanta. The boy’s aunt says the teen then drank two gallons of water and two more gallons of Gatorade. He later collapsed at home and doctors told relatives he suffered from massive swelling around the brain from over-hydration. [Marissa Payne / Washington Post]
I’ve written in this space before about drinking too much after, or in the case of marathoners, during exercise or races.
The bottom line is, drink when you’re thirsty. And hydrate during the day, regularly, which I admit I forget to do and then wonder why I feel so lousy after jogging a few miles.
–Tragic day last week in the French Alps as six French climbers, aged 27 to 45, went missing in bad weather and then were found by a rescue team in the Mont Blanc range, with evidence suggesting the group died instantly after falling 250m.
The Mont Blanc range includes Europe’s highest and best known summit of the same name.
But here’s something I didn’t know. According to an association that provides safety information for the area, Chamoniarde, “An average of 59 people are killed each year in accidents on (the Mont Blanc range’s) slopes.” 8 others have died there since mid-July. [BBC News]
–Talk about a nightmare, as reported by Joseph De Avila of the Wall Street Journal, there is a major issue with bats in Westchester County, New York, with officials putting out a health advisory and encouraging residents to “catch a bat.”
The bat population appears to be exploding (reversing a well-publicized trend) and officials are concerned about rabies.
“Professional pest-control companies have been swamped with work, too…
“Many clients have bats that come in through tiny holes in shingles, chimneys and vents that aren’t properly sealed, said (Jim) Horton (who runs a pest service in Tarrytown).
“Recently, clients of his from Brewster, N.Y., found two bats flying around their bedroom during their first night in a new home.
“Mr. Horton said he inspected their attic and found a 2-foot pile of guano, or bat excrement, along with hundreds of bats roosting in the rafters”!!!
Yikes! I’m now afraid to look in the attic where my parents live because I know they haven’t been up there in years.
By the way, “Mr. Horton retrofitted the attic spaces where the bats got in so they could fly out during the evening to feed, but not get back inside. The bats are now gone and only the cleanup remains, he said.
–Brad K. passed along this ABC News/AP story from Anchorage…another bear attack in Alaska.
“A 57-year-old woman drove herself to a hospital after she was mauled by a brown bear, state troopers said Wednesday.
“Wildlife troopers were notified Tuesday afternoon that Thea Thomas of Cordova was attacked by the bear while hiking on Heney Ridge Trail in the Cordova area.
“Thomas sustained substantial injuries, but they are not believed to be life-threatening….
“ ‘The trooper told me that when she checked herself into the hospital, he said it was almost like the people who were working on her were more shocked than she was,’ said a spokeswoman. ‘The trooper said she was very pragmatic and calm about everything.’”
That’s what I always say, boys and girls. When you’re being attacked by a brown bear or grizzly, just be pragmatic. Ask the bruin about their opinion on the Iranian nuclear negotiations, for example. Get them thinking about something other than devouring you.
Anyway, it seems that “Salmon were actively spawning in a nearby stream as Thomas hiked alone with her dog and a friend’s dog.”
But get this. “The dogs ran off, then returned shortly with the bear running after them. The bear noticed Thomas and attacked her multiple times. The dogs took off again as Thomas was being mauled.”
I think the dogs were probably just being pragmatic as well.
So Thomas walked 1 ½ miles back to her truck. “She found one of the dogs while walking back and the other dog was waiting at her vehicle.”
Troopers closed the trail for a week, though there are no plans to look for the bear, which is yet another sign of pragmatism. As the spokeswoman for the troopers said:
“The thought process is that the bear was more than likely being irritated by the dogs and also protecting its food source. So it was a bear being a bear.”
—SeaWorld announced it was building new, expanded habitats for its killer whales…but said this was not in response to the documentary “Blackfish” or the criticism of the company that followed release of the film.
SeaWorld said it will double the size of some of its tanks, starting in San Diego, and that the cost would be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
–So Paul McCartney closed Candlestick Park the other night. Way back, Dr. W.W. sent me a piece on the last Beatles concert in America, Aug. 29, 1966, which was also at Candlestick.
Ticket prices were $4.50 and $6.50, and only 25,000 of 43,000 tickets to the show were sold.
The Beatles knew this would be their last show ever, but didn’t tell anyone.
As Peter King wrote in Sports Illustrated last December, the Boys played 11 songs, with the last one being “Long Tall Sally,” which looking back is a disappointment.
After the concert, they were driven to San Francisco International Airport and flew to London. The End.
Top 3 songs for the week 8/15/70: #1 “(They Long To Be) Close To You” (Carpenters) #2 “Make It With You” (Bread) #3 “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours” (Stevie Wonder)…and… #4 “Spill The Wine” (Eric Burdon and War) #5 “In The Summertime” (Mungo Jerry) #6 “War” (Edwin Starr) #7 “Band Of Gold” (Freda Payne…always kind of liked this one) #8 “Mama Told Me (Not To Come)” (Three Dog Night) #9 “Tighter, Tighter” (Alive & Kicking) #10 “Ball Of Confusion” (The Temptations)
Baseball Quiz Answer: The only 200-game winner with a losing record is J. Mac’s favorite ballplayer, Bobo Newsom, who went 211-222 in his remarkable career.
Newsom played for 9 teams, in what was then a 16-team major league, many of them multiple stints for each. He won 20 games three times, and lost 20 in a season three times.
In 1938, he was 20-16 for the St. Louis Browns, which is remarkable because the Browns overall were 55-97. Newsom threw 329 innings, had 31 complete games, walked 192!, struck out 226…imagine how many pitches he threw that season.
And at age 46*, pitching for the Philadelphia A’s, he had a complete game victory.
Newsom died in 1962, just 55, and is buried in his hometown of Hartsville, South Carolina.
*Baseball-reference makes it appear Newsom was 45, but the game was Aug. 30, 1953, and his birthday was Aug. 11, 1907.
Jack Powell, who pitched between 1897-1912, is the only other 200-game winner with a losing record….245-254.
What’s interesting is I actually asked this question in a Bar Chat in 2000, and Powell’s record then was listed as 248-255, so there was obviously a reassessment since then.
NOTE: The next two Bar Chats are going to be very brief. Heading overseas for a few days and there will be little down time for me. #GolfandPubbing
