Mike Trout Quiz: Trout turned 24 on Friday and celebrated with his 33rd home run of the season (131 for his career). The Los Angeles Times’ Bill Dwyre is the source of the following “before age 24” achievements. 1) Trout’s career No. 130 homer tied Frank Robinson for fourth all-time before a 24th birthday. Name the other three. 2) Name the five who had more than Trout’s 288 extra base hits, pre-age 24. 3) Name the only three aside from Trout to have four seasons of 25 or more home runs before turning 24. Answers below.
–As I noted the other day, anyone who follows baseball knows two things…the Nationals need a new manager and this incredibly underperforming team has been lacking team chemistry.
So as the team continues to struggle, I need to go back to something the New York Post’s Joel Sherman wrote, an example of the kinds of changes the Nats make without perhaps any regard to the others on the team, the loyal soldiers, as it were.
“The (Drew) Storen / (Jonathan) Papelbon dynamic accentuates one of the theories that abound about what is wrong temperamentally with the Nationals – that they are kinder to outsiders than they are to their players. The camps of homegrown Jordan Zimmermann and Ian Desmond both seemed to think they were being low-balled in long-term contract talks, essentially being told the money was not there to go higher.
“Then, for example, Washington found $210 million for Max Scherzer. The Nats also are known as a team willing to fight relentlessly in arbitration – a process that has created bad blood in many places because players essentially have to be run down by their own management.
“The brilliant Scherzer deepened an already excellent roster on paper. But he came aboard as the Nationals let four vital players – Desmond, Zimmermann, Denard Span and Doug Fister – play in their walk year without long-term security. It is business. But it is personal if the players feel they are not treated correctly, and soon you have a dynamic in which players shift their priorities to protecting future earnings.
“Is that what is happening in Washington? Who knows? It is one of many theories about why this group hasn’t won a playoff series…”
Friday night, Drew Storen gave up a grand slam to Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez in the eighth in a 5-4 Nats loss.
But Saturday, Stephen Strasburg returned from his latest injury to throw seven brilliant shutout innings, striking out 12 (and going 3-for-3 at the plate) in a 6-1 bounceback win.
Then Sunday, the Nats lost, 6-4, as Drew Storen blew it again in the eighth, giving up two earned for the loss.
But Max Scherzer earlier gave up 4 earned in 6 innings, including 3 home runs. He’s 11-8, with a 2.31 ERA, but he’s been coming up small recently.
—As for the Mets, they won the first game of a 3-game series in Tampa, defeating the Rays 4-3 in a truly great ball game…the first time in Mets history they came back in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings to tie and then win.
But they then lost two not so great games, despite the scores, 5-4 and 4-3. Both times the Mets scored 3 early for 3-0 leads, and then failed to put the hammer down and scored just one in the other 15 innings.
Mets 59-52
Nationals 57-53…1 ½ back
–The Mets have missed left-handed relief specialist Jerry Blevins since he broke his arm on April 19 after a terrific start to the season. It was taking forever for the arm to heal but he was finally beginning to throw again, with the hope of coming up in September, when he slipped stepping off a curb on Monday and was forced to undergo surgery to repair the same bone.
But David Wright finally starts his rehab assignment on Monday…real games at Class A St. Lucie. Who the hell knows? The Mets have said they aren’t bringing him up until he proves he can play 3-4 games in a row. And then he better hit.
–There is a lot of talk in New York about the Mets’ sterling pitching, but the fact is the St. Louis Cardinals have far and away the best staff in baseball. Through Saturday’s play…
St. Louis 2.58 ERA
Pittsburgh 3.20
Mets 3.24
Oakland 3.41
Dodgers 3.43
Cubs 3.45
In terms of the starters….
St. Louis 2.75
Oakland 3.06
Dodgers 3.20
Mets 3.33 (though this is largely because of Bartolo Colon’s hefty 4.72 ERA…now 4.76 after Sunday’s loss)
–Regarding the Dodgers’ sensational duo of Kevin Greinke and Clayton Kershaw, they’ve done better than their last two outings. Thursday, Greinke got the win to move to 11-2 but in the Dodgers’ 10-8 victory over the Phillies, Greinke gave up 6 earned in 6 innings as his ERA soared (cough cough) to 1.71. Greinke was 3-for-3 at the plate, though, upping his batting average to .220.
Then Friday, Kershaw and Pittsburgh Cy Young candidate Gerritt Cole hooked up, but both went just six, Kershaw giving up 4 earned, Cole 3 earned, and both ended up with no decisions in the Pirates’ eventual 5-4 win in ten.
–So it was last time I mentioned the Yankees had scored 90 runs in their last ten games. That was before Wednesday’s debut of 21-year-old rookie hurler Luis Severino, who went a strong five, allowing just one earned while striking out 7 and walking none. But the Yankees lost, 2-1 to the Red Sox. In fact, here are the Yanks last four results prior to Sunday.
Wed. L 2-1
Thurs. W 2-1 Boston
Fri. L 2-1 Toronto
Sat. L 6-0 Toronto and David Price
Hey, what happened to all the hitting? Four runs in four games. And suddenly the Yankees lead over the surging Blue Jays is just 2 ½.
So on to Sunday…and the Yanks were shut out, again, 2-0*…four runs in five games! It was the first time in 2,066 games the Yankees were shut out in back-to-back contests.
Yankees 61-49
Blue Jays 61-52
And these two teams have a whopping ten games left between them, including three in Toronto next weekend.
–Not for nothing but the Cubs’ Jake Arrieta is in the Cy Young conversation in a big way. Arrieta threw 7 2/3 of shutout ball on Sunday in the 62-48 Cubs’ 2-0 win over the Giants. Arrieta is now 13-6, 2.38 ERA.
–Marlins fans were holding their breath as Jose Fernandez felt stiffness in his right shoulder following Friday night’s no decision against the Braves. In his comeback from Tommy John surgery, Fernandez is 4-0 with a 2.30 ERA in six starts.
Prior to his throwing 76 pitches over five innings in Miami’s eventual 6-3 loss to Atlanta, he threw 112 pitches in six shutout innings against San Diego. Was that too many, this early?
Well, late word on Sunday is that he has a strained right bicep tendon and is headed for the DL. If I’m the Marlins, that’s it for 2015. They need a healthy ace next year.
–NJ.com first broke the story on Thursday that John Dowd, the chief investigator for MLB whose work led to Pete Rose’s ban in 1989 by former commissioner Bart Giamatti, “claims he was told by former Rose associate Michael Bertolini that Rose committed statutory rape on young girls during his playing and/or managerial career.
“In a July 13 interview with WCHE in West Chester, Pa., that hadn’t surfaced until now, the former federal organized crime investigator said, ‘Michael Bertolini told us that not only did he run bets, but he ran young girls for him down in spring training. Ages 12-14. Isn’t that lovely? So that’s statutory rape every time you do that.” [Randy Miller / NJ.com]
“Rose was floored when told of the allegations in a phone interview Thursday with NJ Advance Media. He vehemently denied the accusations.
“ ‘Oh, my god!’ the 73-year-old Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies great said… ‘Where was my family all of this time in spring training? I never went to spring training without my family except for first year when I was a rookie. It’s shocking.’”
Well, when NJ Advance Media reported on the Dowd allegations, John Dowd said they were “blown out of proportion.” A lawyer for Rose, Ray Genco, said they are considering a lawsuit.
Now the above is a reason why I have long had my 24-hour rule. I’m passing this along, days later, because it is a serious allegation at a time Commissioner Rob Manfred is contemplating what to do concerning baseball’s ban on Rose. With Dowd backing off, what does this say about him?
Steve Politi / NJ Advance Media (formerly Star-Ledger)
“The interview is outrageous on so many levels it’s hard to know where to begin, and if you haven’t listened to it, fast-forward to the nine-minute mark of the WCHE podcast to hear for yourself.
“John Dowd makes the most abhorrent allegation you can make against another human being in a oh-hey-by-the-way manner. Pete Rose, he said, had young girls, ages 12 to 14, delivered to him during spring training to rape like some horrible medieval dictator….
“The interview would have vanished into the abyss had NJ Advance Media reporter Randy Miller not uncovered it.
“Now that it’s out there – surprise, surprise – Dowd isn’t interested in revisiting the details….
“What does it mean for Rose’s battle for reinstatement to baseball? Maybe nothing. But it certainly casts a different light on the man who built the case against him all those years ago.”
–Finally, my buddy Jimbo was the guest at a dinner sponsored for his company by a large corporation at one of those buildings on North Sheffield Ave. across from Wrigley Field. The hosts had signed up for the box years ago but the owners of the building didn’t go along with Cubs ownership to request to buy out their locations and then enhance them, like extensions to the stadium seating, as many of the adjoining properties agreed to. So as some of you have seen, the Cubs and Budweiser then agreed to place a five-story scoreboard in the outfield completely obstructing any view from the building Jim was at (3627). As he put it, “We drank beer, watched the game on TV and listened to the noise from the crowd.”
NFL Bits
–The great Frank Gifford passed away on Sunday morning. A statement from his family summed it up best:
“We rejoice in the extraordinary life he was privileged to live, and we feel grateful and blessed to have been loved by such an amazing human being.”
Frank Gifford was all Southern California…the incredible talent and those Hollywood good looks. Born in Santa Monica, he was an All-American at USC (though he needed a year of JUCO to get the grades for admittance) and then was selected by the New York Giants, where he played from 1952-64.
Gifford was an eight-time Pro Bowler, but at three positions; defensive back, halfback and wide receiver.
His greatest season was 1956, when he was the NFL’s MVP and led the Giants to the title, rushing for 819 yards and catching 51 passes for another 603. In the championship game against the Chicago Bears, a 47-7 pasting, Gifford caught four passes for 131 yards, while rushing for an additional 30.
But midway through the 1960 season, the Eagles’ Chuck Bednarik laid Gifford out in one of the most famous tackles of all time and Frank missed the next 18 months with a severe head injury, sitting out the entire 1961 season before making a comeback in ’62 and becoming an All-Pro at wide receiver. He then retired after the ’64 campaign, with 3,609 yards rushing and another 5,434 receiving. He even had 14 touchdown passes on the halfback option in just 63 career attempts.
For many another generation, however, Frank Gifford is better known for his 26 years doing play-by-play and commentary on Monday Night Football, during that broadcast’s true heyday….the time of Frank, Dandy Don Meredith and Howard Cosell. Gifford was the voice of sanity in a wild and wacky booth that hooked us all. “MNF” was truly must-see television and the ratings in those days were mammoth…consistently the #1 prime-time program each season.
Our sympathies go out to Frank Gifford’s family, including his wife, NBC’s Kathie Lee Gifford.
Yes, Frank Gifford lived a truly extraordinary life. He was a superstar in so many ways and will be forever remembered fondly.
–In an intra-squad practice open to the public at MetLife Stadium Saturday night, Jets fans mercilessly booed quarterback Geno Smith when Calvin Pace strip-sacked him for a fumble.
I’ve long said Jets fans (of which I am one) are the worst of any kind in the country (we’re largely disgusting pigs…the guys, that is, I hasten to add in this era of Donald Trump…) and how can you boo a guy for an early-August fumble at a practice?
Smith said he smiled. “You’d think we were on the road today.”
Smith is the quarterback, Jets fans. If he gets off to a poor start in the regular season, I’ll be as venomous as anyone, but c’mon.
At least one weapon the Jets have this season they didn’t have last year is receiver Brandon Marshall, who looked great Saturday.
Meanwhile, Jets cornerback Dee Milliner, a 2013 first-round pick out of Alabama who has played in just 16 games through the first two seasons, is going to miss the first 3 or 4 this year due to an injury that requires surgery on his wrist. He is actually up to seven surgeries in college and the NFL.
But more importantly for Jets fans, at least I think so, we lost a very valuable reserve for the secondary, Antonio Allen, for the season with a torn Achilles tendon. Allen can play both safety and corner and did so very ably last year.
–The San Francisco 49ers released linebacker Aldon Smith on Friday after his arrest for driving under the influence and vandalism, as well as hit and run. The release of the star continues an awful stretch for the organization, going back to the departure of Coach Jim Harbaugh.
Smith had been suspended for nine games last season for violating the NFL’s policy on substance abuse and personal conduct. In 2013 he missed five games after a DUI arrest.
In March, linebacker Chris Borland, after a standout rookie season, suddenly announced his retirement over concerns about his safety. This was days after Patrick Willis, 30, a seven-time All-Pro linebacker, said he would retire rather than risk further injury. Then in May, 14-year defensive lineman Justin Smith retired because of injuries.
Plus they lost offensive standouts Frank Gore and Michael Crabtree to free agency. New Coach Jim Tomsula has his work cut out for him.
–The Rams gave quarterback Nick Foles a two-year contract extension worth $24.5 million, giving him three years, total, and $26 million when combined with this season.
–I’m very tired of DeflateGate, but I do have to note for the archives a statement by the Ravens released after I last posted.
In response to new reports that the Ravens “tipped off” the Colts about deflated footballs before the AFC Championship:
“Prior to the AFC Championship game, no one from the Ravens talked to the Colts about deflated footballs. We knew nothing of deflated footballs. John Harbaugh has been consistent in his answers to reporters about this since he was first asked on NBC-TV at the Super Bowl.”
But John Harbaugh said he just learned that kicking consultant, Randy Brown, “sent a text to Coach Pagano on Jan. 16 suggesting to the Colts that they pay attention to how the officials rotate the kicking balls into the game. Coach Brown’s text did not mention the Patriots and did not complain about anything the Patriots did. The Colts never responded to Randy’s text and he had no further communications with the Colts on this matter.”
“Make sure the refs rotate the kicking balls cause last week they wouldn’t let our ball in the game. Their ball was done so poorly that it was nearly impossible to kick off deep…It was hard and not worked in well at all…Let Tom (McMahon, Colts special teams coordinator) know he can call me at any time.” [Baltimore Sun]
Sure sounds like Randy Brown was referring to the Patriots and was, indeed, complaining.
Meanwhile, Phil Taylor, writing in Sports Illustrated, had this thought for Tom Brady:
“Giving up the fight wouldn’t bring Brady, a four-time Super Bowl champion, the kind of clear-cut victory he’s used to, but he would still come out ahead. He should know, from having ended so many games this way, that sometimes the best way to secure a win is to take a knee.”
–I’ve been meaning to read a piece from the 7/20 issue of ESPN The Magazine by Peter Keating on Joe Namath and just got around to it. Those of us of a certain age that were big-time Jets fans in the time of Namath knew just how badly Joe Willie hurt from all his injuries. With modern sports medicine, the guy would have had a far better career than he ended up having, but it’s still amazing to think the awful shape he was in when the Jets first signed him in 1965.
“For those who watched Joe Namath’s career up close, it wasn’t just his Super Bowl win or his swinging lifestyle that made him a hero but also the staggering pain he endured without complaint. Namath’s right knee first gave out while he was still in college. In 1965, the Jets introduced him to the New York media at a news conference at the legendary Toots Shor’s. The team orthopedist took Namath into the bathroom to examine him and was horrified at the damage: He thought Namath might never play again even with surgery. Ultimately, Namath had an operation and gritted through more than five seasons without missing a game, but he began seriously breaking down in 1970. Namath battled through torn ligaments and three more knee surgeries, a broken wrist and a separated shoulder, playing a full season just once after the age of 26.
“Doctors routinely treated his pain with Percocet and Butazolidin, an anti-inflammatory typically used on horses. They told him to take the medications on a full stomach; concerned about staying in shape, Namath washed them down with Johnnie Walker Red instead. (Later, he switched to vodka.) Many narrative strands are tangled in his tortured relationship with alcohol: a guy out of the steel-mill town of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, enjoying the perks of superstardom; a heavy drinker losing his grip on sobriety; a man living like there’s no tomorrow because he can’t imagine what new hurt the next day will bring.”
–The Pro Football Hall of Fame inducted six players Saturday in Canton, Ohio.
Junior Seau, Jerome Bettis, Tim Brown, Charles Haley, Will Shields and Mick Tingelhoff.
Contributors Ron Wolf and Bill Polian were also enshrined.
I’m not into Hall of Fame speeches and am tired of the Seau issue. Just glad his daughter got to share her thoughts.
College Football…more preseason polls
—Sports Illustrated’s Top Ten
1. Ohio State
2. Auburn
3. TCU
4. Notre Dame! Mark R., I demand 45 points in the game against Wake.
5. Alabama
6. Baylor
7. Michigan State
8. USC
9. Florida State
10. Oregon
—ESPN Top Ten
1. Ohio State
2. TCU
3. Auburn
4. Baylor
5. Alabama
6. Oregon
7. USC
8. Michigan State
9. Florida State
10. Georgia
12. Notre Dame
—SI’s five favorites to win the Heisman…Connor Cook, QB, Mich. St.; Leonard Fournette, RB, LSU; Derrick Henry, RB, Alabama; Jeremy Johnson, QB, Auburn; Dak Prescott, QB, Miss. St.*
You have others, like running backs Nick Chubb (Georgia) and Ezekiel Elliott (Ohio State), as well as whoever emerges as the No. 1 QB at Ohio State – J.T. Barrett or Cardale Jones.
–I know nothing about my Wake Forest Demon Deacons and their prospects, except after last year I’d have to be an idiot to be hopeful. [Remember the worst rushing game in the history of college football? It’s baaack….]
That said, I deferred to Chris K., who is intimately involved in the sports program down there, and he said we’re still awfully young and 4-8 is the best to expect.
I’ll take 4-8, but only if we’re competitive in most of the losses. [Last season we were 3-9, 1-7.]
Golf Balls
–Ireland’s Shane Lowry won the WGC Bridgestone event, his first PGA Tour victory, but this is no fluke. The lad has major game and we’ll be talking about him for years.
–Sure looks like Rory McIlroy is playing in the PGA Championship after all, seeing as he’s been at Whistling Straits a few days, playing a practice round Saturday morning. This would be quite startling. He will be paired with Jordan Spieth and Zach Johnson for the opening two rounds.
–We note the passing of golf pioneer Louise Suggs, who founded the women’s professional tour. She was 91.
Suggs turned professional in 1948, when she was the reigning United States and British amateur champion. Two years later, she was one of 13 players who formed the LPGA.
In 1950, the women played 14 tournaments, with purses totaling $50,000. This year, the LPGA Tour encompasses 32 tournaments with purses totaling $60 million.
Suggs won 50 events on tour, including 11 majors. She won the 1949 U.S. Women’s Open by 14 strokes, the most lopsided win ever on Tour until Laura Davies won one by 16 in 1995.
Suggs also became the first to win the career Grand Slam in 1957, but with all her success, her career earnings totaled less than $200,000.
Back in 1957, Suggs, who always contended women could beat men with their short games, defeated Sam Snead, Lew Worsham, Tommy Armour and others in a 54-hole tournament over a par-3 course in Palm Beach, Fla.
Snead was so annoyed at losing, Suggs told the A.P., that he stormed off and peeled out of the parking lot.
But Ben Hogan said Suggs had the best swing to emulate for any woman who wanted to be a golfer.
Suggs was later the first woman to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. She long decided to leave her estate to the LPGA. [Frank Litsky / New York Times]
Premier League Opening Weekend
I caught the second half of Manchester United vs. Tottenham and except for a flurry late by the Spurs, it was dullsville, the only score in a 1-0 Man U win being Tottenham’s own goal in the first half.
I did watch virtually all of defending champion Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Swansea City. Great action in this one. [That Chelsea penalty reducing them to ten players was warranted.]
But then you had little Bournemouth making its Premier League debut and suffering a tough 1-0 loss to Aston Villa (who was 17th last season).
AFC Bournemouth is a tiny club that started the 2008/09 season almost at the very bottom of England’s 92-club professional league system. Vitality Arena stadium holds only 11,700 fans. The Premier League is about money and generating revenue so you can buy players and while the “Cherries” will pick up some points along the way, it seems a bit unrealistic to believe they can avoid relegation.
Sunday, West Ham (12 last season) upset Arsenal (3) 2-0.
This is going to be a key year for the Premier League. The most famous players, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Luis Suarez, and Robert Lewandowski all play in Spain or at Bayern Munich. But the Premier League is the richest, thanks to a TV package that allows every club to earn around $80 million from it this year.
The last 30-goal scorer in the Premier League, by the way, was Ronaldo, back when he was with Man U in 2008.
Only Chelsea (2012) and Man U (2008) have won the Champions League representing English soccer in the last ten years; with powerhouses Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona winning the last three.
—American Katie Ledecky, all of 18, won five golds at the world championships in Kazan, Russia, setting three world records in the process.
—Bob Timmons, the great Jim Ryun’s track coach at Kansas, died at the age of 91.
Timmons’ Kansas teams won four NCAA titles and his athletes broke 16 world records, but none was more celebrated than the kid out of Wichita, Jim Ryun.
Ryun failed to make his junior high school track squad, but in 1963, as a 16-year-old sophomore, ran a mile in 4 minutes 32 seconds in his first meet. By his fourth, the time was down to 4:21. [Ed. today that wins most state group titles.]
Timmons told the high-schooler he had the chance to be the first one to beat 4 minutes and a year later, Ryun ran 3:59.0. A year after that, he won the AAU national championship in 3:55.3, and the fastest time of his career was 3:51.1, in 1967, a world record that stood nine years.
As for Timmons, a Marine who fought in the South Pacific during World War II, Runner’s World wrote in 2009: “Bob Timmons was probably the most demanding track coach of all time, pushing his runners to the brink – propelling some to greatness and others to the scrap heap…. To succeed in his program, you had to trust that the upbeat drill sergeant knew your body better than you did.” [Frank Litsky / New York Times]
–The Wall Street Journal had a piece on New Jersey’s black bear problem over the weekend. It is estimated there are now 3,600 in just the northwestern part of the state. Good lord. The state’s Division of Fish and Wildlife is scheduled to vote this week on expanding the current hunting season.
It seems the northwestern part of Jersey is ideal habitat because of the forests of birch and oak-hickory trees that produce an abundance of acorns, which fattens up the bears ahead of winter and allows females to produce bigger litters.
Interestingly, while hunters killed 592 black bears in December 2010, only 272 were taken out last year, which officials attribute in part to “increasing bear wariness of hunters.”
I’m still waiting to encounter one on a jog through my favorite park. “Hi.” “Hi.” “I’ll just run along, OK?”
–The other day I mentioned that a horse by the name of Exceller defeated both Affirmed and Seattle Slew in 1978. YouTube “1978 Jockey Club Gold Cup,” the clip with about 1,500 hits. Johnny Mac alerted me to it…and as he put it, it is indeed one of the great races of all time; especially when you consider Slew’s game effort at the end.
—Talk about dirtballs…the National Enquirer published what is purported to be the last-known photo showing Bobbi Kristina Brown on her deathbed at the hospice in Georgia where she died.
The photo, “after a vigorous bidding battle,” was said to have been sold for six figures amidst a battle between the Houston and Brown families.
Another photo shows Bobbi Kristina lying in her coffin, with both families blaming the other for allowing an unknown guest to snap the pic.
Meanwhile, Bobbi Kristina’s boyfriend, Nick Gordon, has been accused of all manner of unspeakable stuff, as well as stealing her money. [Sydney Morning Herald]
Top 3 songs for the week of 8/14/71: #1 “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” (The Bee Gees…with lots of domestic…) #2 “Mr. Big Stuff” (Jean Knight…takes down Donald Trump…) #3 “Take Me Home, Country Roads” (John Denver…terrific tune…)…and…#4 “Draggin’ The Line” (Tommy James) #5 “You’ve Got A Friend” (James Taylor) #6 “Indian Reservation” (Raiders) #7 “Beginnings” (Chicago) #8 “What The World Needs Now Is Love/Abraham, Martin, and John” (Tom Clay) #9 “Mercy Mercy Me” (Marvin Gaye) #10 “Signs” (Five Man Electrical Band)
Mike Trout Quiz Answers: 1) Trout had 130 HR pre-24, tying with Frank Robinson. Eddie Mathews and Mel Ott had 153 and Ken Griffey Jr. had 132. 2) More than Trout’s 288 extra base hits: Ott, Griffey Jr., Ted Williams, Jimmie Foxx and Alex Rodriguez. 3) Four seasons 25 or more home runs before turning 24: Ott, Mathews and Robinson.
