[Posted Sunday p.m.]
New York Yankees Quiz: 1) Name the six to score 1,300 runs in a Yankees uniform. 2) Name the three to have 220 hits in a single season. Answers below.
MLB…Ball Bits
—What will the Yankees do with A-Rod? Alex Rodriguez was 0-for-5 on Saturday to drop his average to .100…a 3-for-30 start (0 for his last 19). Remember, the guy’s production plummeted the second half of last year, hitting just .191 after Aug. 1.
But the Yankees, in losing 7-1 and 3-2 to the Mariners on Friday and Saturday, were 0 for 12 with runners in scoring position both games, 3 for 46 their last five.
So what happens on Sunday? The Yanks dropped A-Rod in the order and he homered in the bottom of the second, though finished the day at .118, the Yankees winning 4-3 to move to 5-6.
—The Nationals, by virtue of their 9-1 win over the Phillies on Friday, improved to 8-1, the best start for any D.C. baseball team ever. They say spring training doesn’t matter but the Nats were also a baseball best 19-4.
Washington then won on Saturday but lost Sunday, 3-2 in 10, to finish the week at 9-2.
—The Mets came into the season with a much ballyhooed starting staff of wunderkinds Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz and, by mid-season, Zack Wheeler, with Bartolo Colon holding down the fort until Wheeler’s return.
But now Harvey is 0-3, 5.71 ERA after his first three starts, including Saturday’s 7-5 loss to the Indians; deGrom is possibly headed to the disabled list with a lat issue (after dealing with a family emergency), and Matz got shelled his first start.
Mets fans have seen this before with young starting staffs, only to see them crumble. But this one truly seems special and they are under control, contract wise, for years to come so there was a reason to be optimistic.
So Sunday, Matz threw seven shutout innings, striking out 9, and the Metsies won 6-0 to advance to 5-6.
–Both the Braves and Twins won their first of the season Friday night after 0-9 starts; Atlanta 6-3 over Miami, Minnesota 5-4 over the L.A. Angels. They both won Saturday and Sunday as well! Now 3-9!
—Clayton Kershaw and Madison Bumgarner faced off for a second time in a week, Friday, with Kershaw winning this one 7-3 (7 innings, 2 earned) behind Enrique Hernandez’ two home runs off Bumgarner in Los Angeles. Nice crowd…53,449…as this rivalry has heated up the last few seasons.
Hernandez is 10-for-16 off Bumgarner for his career. As Ronald Reagan would have said, ‘Not bad, not bad at all.’
53,049 then turned out on Saturday as the Giants won 4-3, with Johnny Cueto moving to 3-0, 3.38. I watched it on MLB Network to get a dose of Vin Scully. He’s still got it.
–The Padres became the first team in MLB history to get shut out five times in their first 10 games.
Thursday, the man doing the honors was Philadelphia’s 23-year-old Vince Velasquez, who tossed a complete game shutout in just his ninth career start, striking out 16 and with no walks. As good as it gets. This guy is the real deal.
–The Cubs’ Jake Arrieta is 3-0, 1.23, after throwing eight shutout innings against the Rockies on Saturday, Chicago winning 6-2. But what’s most remarkable is that Arrieta has now thrown a staggering 48 2/3 scoreless innings at Wrigley.
–Colorado’s Trevor Story had a major league record 7 home runs in his first six games. He is now 0 for his last 6.
–The Mets made a real mess of a memorabilia item…the jersey that Mike Piazza wore when he hit a dramatic game-winning home run in the first game played in New York after the attacks on 9/11.
Several years ago, the Mets (specifically owner Fred Wilpon and son Jeff) sold the jersey to a private owner, who, in turn, allowed the Mets to display it in their museum at Citi Field, until the still unidentified guy decided he wanted to sell it off himself in an open auction.
At that point, when the story got out, it was a PR nightmare as Piazza, who is entering the Hall of Fame this summer as a Met and is going to have his uniform number retired by the team, was rather upset, and rightfully so.
But then three individuals (two of whom are minority owners of the Mets)* bought the jersey back for $365,000, with plans to rotate it on display at Citi Field, the 9/11 Memorial Museum and the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. A perfect solution.
*Anthony Scaramucci and Tony Lauto, two Wall Streeters, and an unidentified female friend.
That’s not the end of the story, though. How could the Mets be so greedy as to sell the jersey years ago in the first place?
Friday, the Mets issued a statement: “We admit that we made a mistake and have instituted new processes with internal controls to prevent something like this from happening in the future.”
The Mets are one franchise that for whatever reason doesn’t seem to want to embrace their history. When they first opened Citi Field in 2009, there was no Mets museum or wall of fame, only a tribute to Jackie Robinson in a park built to resemble Ebbets Field. Only after fans complained did the team open what many now consider a terrific museum. But the items in it are almost solely donated items.
Piazza’s #31 will be only the second Met so honored; the other being Tom Seaver’s #41. In 54 years!
–A former trainer for Boston third baseman Pablo Sandoval, Ethan Banning, told the Boston Herald Pablo needs “a babysitter” when it comes to his overeating.
“It’s like the alcoholic that won’t admit he’s an alcoholic: well, you can’t address that you’re an alcoholic if you don’t ever admit there’s a problem.
“He’s proven to me and shown consistently that he’s got to have somebody like me holding his hand.”
Banning told the Herald that when Sandoval went home to Venezuela for Christmas in 2011, he gained 21 pounds in 21 days. When Sandoval returned to the Phoenix area, Banning worked hard to keep the Giants – who were negotiating a new contract with him – from seeing the All-Star as the pair worked to shed pounds.
Of course this was when Venezuela actually had food. Now the cupboards are bare.
So Banning tells the Herald: “I think that he’s embarrassed right now. I think there’s going to come this moment that he’s going to show everybody that this is not who he is… I don’t know that it’s going to be with me, but he’s going to hire somebody like that. I think he’s likely going to figure it out. But it’s not going to be this season, and likely not with the Red Sox, the way it looks.”
Sandoval was sent to the 15-day DL for a shoulder injury but they never sent him to a doctor for an MRI. The guy is 140 lbs. overweight (seemingly) and Boston has to figure out what to do with the guy, seeing as they still owe him $75 million on his five-year, $95 million deal he signed in 2014.
NBA
–I posted Wednesday morning so have to note the Warriors’ breaking the all-time 72-10 record of the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, as Golden State whipped Memphis 125-104 to finish 73-9.
Steph Curry had 10 three-pointers on his way to 46 points, finishing the regular season with 402 three-pointers, when the record was 286, set last season by Curry. In the three-point era (1979-80 through the present), a team failed to tally a combined 400 three-pointers over the course of an entire season 559 times.
During the past two seasons, Curry’s 688 threes are more than Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas each had during their entire careers. They all played 13 seasons. [Josh Planos]
So this sets up the playoffs.
Saturday….
I’ve always been intrigued by the Toronto Raptors because they are generally a fun team to watch, with a terrific backcourt, and they have the single best fan base of any professional sports club in North America. If you disagree, just look at the tens of thousands they draw to watch their games outside!
But these poor folks are never, ever rewarded no matter what the talent level is. Incredibly, the Raptors lost Game 1 to the Indiana Pacers 100-90 in Toronto, meaning the franchise is 0-8 in opening round playoff games, and, going back to 2014, they have now lost seven straight playoff contests. It doesn’t matter what kind of regular season success they’ve had, this team turns into choke city.
The backcourt of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan was a combined 8 of 32 from the field (1-10 from three); just 25 points and nine turnovers when they combined for nearly 45 points in the regular season. That’s all you need to know. For Indiana, Paul George was superb in the second half and finished with 33.
Next up on the television schedule was Golden State hosting Houston and the Warriors rolled, 104-78, even though Steph Curry was forced out with an ankle issue, though he vows he’ll be back for Game 2.
I watched all of Boston at Atlanta, and after the Hawks opened up a 51-34 halftime lead, with Boston shooting a putrid 12 of 52 from the field (23.1%), the Celtics roared back in the second and Atlanta barely held on behind the play of former Wake Forest Demon Deacon Jeff Teague, 102-101, with Teague having a terrific all-around game, 23 points and 12 assists, with just two turnovers manning the point.
The last one on Saturday, Dallas at Oklahoma City, thankfully I watched zero of as the Thunder destroyed the Mavs, 108-70, Dallas shooting a playoff franchise worst .298 from the field.
Sunday….
Cleveland defeated Detroit 106-101; L:eBron having 22 points and 11 assists.
Miami whipped Charlotte 123-91. And then I posted before the other two.
—Washington, Sacramento and Minnesota all fired their coaches – Randy Wittman, George Karl and Sam Mitchell, respectively.
Plus you have four interim coaches out there in New York, Brooklyn, Phoenix and Houston.
Ergo, former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau should have his choice of jobs. I’d go with Minnesota and its young core that includes Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine and Ricky Rubio, plus a top-five pick this year.
–NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said a North Carolina law eliminating antidiscrimination protections for lesbian, gay and transgender people “is problematic for the league,” but as yet there are no plans to move the 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte.
The new law requires transgender people to use public bathrooms matching the sex on their birth certificate.
–Alex Raskin of the Wall Street Journal had a piece on the Brooklyn Nets. For those of us living in the area, there was zero…ZERO…reason to watch a single minute of action as the Nets finished a dreadful 21-61. At least the 32-50 Knicks had Kristaps Porzingis and I caught an occasional game.
The Nets’ .256 winning percentage was the worst for a Brooklyn professional team since the football Dodgers went 3-9 in 1932. This became the Brooklyn Tigers, who were 0-10 in 1944, but that franchise was disbanded so not sure how you treat them.
Bottom line, the Brooklyn Nets sucked.
–Finally, we bid adieu to Kobe Bryant. According to ESPN’s Darren Rovell, the Staples Center made $1.2 million off of Bryant-related merchandise during the last game, apparently a record for any single day at a like facility, exceeding the $1 million of Led Zeppelin garb sold during a 2007 concert at London’s O2 Arena. Given about 19,000 fans in L.A., this worked out to a little over $60 per person.
Bryant took 50 shots in a beyond meaningless game, hitting 22, 6 of 21 from three, 10 of 12 from the line, as he scored 60 points in a 101-96 win over the Utah Jazz that ended the Lakers’ worst season in franchise history at 17-65.
This whole final year for Kobe has been a bad joke. He fleeced the team for another $23.5 million, continued to take away playing time from the younger players who need to develop, and yet he was celebrated.
This isn’t a situation where he led the Lakers to the playoffs the last two seasons and then the team hit a bump in the road.
No, for the last time I have to set the record straight…again.
Kobe’s final years
2015-16…17-65…Kobe scarfs up $23.5 million
2014-15…21-61…$30.4m
2013-14…27-55…$27.8m
Tim Duncan
2015-16…Spurs’ 67-15…Duncan was paid $10.5m
2014-15…55-27…$10.0m
2013-14…62-20…$10.3m
2012-13…58-24…$9.6m
In 2011-12, Duncan earned $21.1 million, befitting the superstar he was. Then he began accepting less, largely for the betterment of the team.
But not selfish Kobe. Give up some pay so that the Lakers could have a better shot at a good free agent? No way.
Kobe shot .358 from the field his final season, .285 from three. You have but one word to describe such a performance…#KobeBlows.
Nonetheless we had this hagiography of Kobe’s last game.
Bill Plaschke / Los Angeles Times
“He didn’t walk away, he flew away, on the wings of legend, through the clouds of Hollywood, with a final act unmatched in Los Angeles sports history.
“In a retirement party for the ages Wednesday night, Kobe Bryant just wouldn’t quit.
“He shot. He shot some more. He kept shooting. Shots from the courtside seats, from underneath the basket, on wild drives, off crazy dribbles, back to the basket, feet in the air, hands in his face, shooting forever…
“Sixty points. Not a misprint. Fifty shots. Seriously. Twenty-three points in the fourth quarter to lead the Lakers back from a 14-point deficit in the final 10 minutes. Are you kidding me?
“ ‘I gave my soul to this game,’ an exhausted Bryant said afterward. ‘There’s nothing else I can give.’
“Were you watching? At any point, did you find yourself brought from amazement to chills to tears? You were not alone….
“He was putting on a show for fans who had paid thousands for their tickets, just like he’s always done, and if you were here, you know the prices were worth it.”
Oh brother. The Lakers were 65-181 his last three seasons. He was healthy enough to play in only 107 of them, with that albatross of a contract dragging the franchise down.
Kobe in his prime was a terrific competitor, a great scorer. The Lakers had a lot of success with him, though it helped rather immensely having Shaq and Pau Gasol around.
Lakers fans have their memories. As a Knick fan I’m jealous.
But these last three seasons demeaned the sport. Unless you like shelling out big bucks to see a losing team with the league’s most selfish player.
College Basketball
—Former Arkansas-Little Rock coach Chris Beard accepted the head coaching job at UNLV about three weeks ago, but on Friday he left the gig to become the coach at Texas Tech – a job that opened when Tubby Smith went to Memphis. Beard had been an assistant at Texas Tech for a decade from 2001-2011.
Needless to say, UNLV is ticked off. A public humiliation.
But recently fired Sacramento Kings coach George Karl is making a push to land the UNLV job. That would make up for it.
–We have us a new figure to rip in the ACC; Georgia Tech’s just-hired basketball coach, Josh Pastner. Pastner said he won’t hire assistants who like to play golf, specifically they “can’t work for me.”
Pastner told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “My first question to anyone I [might] hire is, ‘Do you golf?’ If they say, ‘Yes,’ you can’t work for me, because that means five hours on a Sunday or on a Saturday. Can’t. Don’t want it. That’s for my assistant coaches. Any of my assistant coaches, if they’re golfers, not working for me.”
Cue Jeff Spicoli.
Pastner describes himself as “a driven guy.” He was hired by Tech after spending the past seven seasons at Memphis, where he replaced John Calipari.
Pastner later told CBS Sports: “It’s not as much that it’s golf. It’s that, if you’re going to be here, you’re going to have to work like crazy. We’re rebuilding. It’s going to be a seven-day-a-week job.” [Absurd. It’s college basketball. Not the National Security Agency.]
Here’s the thing about this 38-year-old punk. He had a nice 167-73 mark in his seven years leading the Tigers, but in only one season did Memphis finish in the AP Top 25 (19 in 2012-13), and despite lots of talent they didn’t even make the NCAA tournament the last two seasons.
This was just a stupid hire.
NFL
–The Los Angeles Rams shook things up in a big way when they traded for the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming draft, with Tennessee sending the Rams the top selection, plus a fourth- and sixth-round pick this year, while Los Angeles sent Tennessee their first-round pick (No. 15), two second-round selections and a third-round pick in 2016. The Titans will also get the Rams’ first- and third-round picks in 2017. That’s a lot to give up, boys and girls.
The Rams want either Cal quarterback Jared Goff or North Dakota State quarterback Carson Wentz. Wentz probably has higher upside, but Goff might be more NFL-ready.
Then again, it’s a total crapshoot.
–Looking at the schedule for my New York Jets next season, we are going 8-8 at best. I’d sign up for that today. It doesn’t help that aside from the division road games, we travel to San Francisco, Arizona, Kansas City and Pittsburgh.
Giants fans, I like your schedule. But then who the hell knows in April which teams take a step forward and which ones take a step back.
—Jets owner Woody Johnson isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer as, invariably, a couple times a year he says something really stupid. So on Thursday the team celebrated the retirement of left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson at headquarters and the talk turned to the quarterback situation. What will the Jets do about free agent QB Ryan Fitzpatrick?
Asked if it was an “imperative” to re-sign him, Johnson said: “No, I think this is a big team. We’ve made our statements regarding Ryan Fitzpatrick well known, and I’ll stick with those that we’ve made.”
So if you’re Fitzpatrick, who personally I don’t care if we re-sign him or not but he deserves to be treated fairly, you’re like, ‘Screw these guys.’
Only the Jets know he doesn’t have another deal imminent. There’s just a way to be diplomatic about it, and word gets around the owner is an idiot.
NHL
Sorry, guys. Only following the Stanley Cup playoffs thus far because of the Rangers, who had an awful 5-2 loss to Pittsburgh in Game 1 of their series Wednesday night. It’s the third straight year these two have faced off with the Rangers prevailing the first two.
But in Game 1, with the game scoreless near the end of the first period, Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist got a stick to the eye, through his mask, from teammate Marc Staal. I was watching at the time and feared the worst. After writhing on the ground for a spell, Lundqvist skated to the bench, then returned, only to give up a goal with 17.6 seconds left in the period. Lundqvist was held out the rest of the game and the Rangers lost.
But as Game 2 approached on Saturday, we got word Lundqvist was good to go and he was his usual stalwart self as New York played a terrific game and won 4-2, gaining the critical split in Pittsburgh as they now head to the Garden.
Premier League
–So I was flipping back and forth from Leicester-West Ham to my Sunday news shows and Leicester had a 1-0 lead at the 77-minute mark when I turned on “This Week “ to catch a little of George’s interview with Hillary Clinton. I then go back to the game at 86’ and West Ham had just scored its second to take a 2-1 lead! That’s the kind of season it’s been.
But wait…there’s more. Playing in extra time, Leicester was screwed on what should have been a penalty kick for the Foxes and so it looked like West Ham would pull it out, only to have Andy Carroll of West Ham commit a foul barely in the box with literally about 15 seconds left in extra time, Leicester converted, and it ended 2-2…Leicester salvaging a critical point.
Second-place Tottenham takes on Stoke, Monday.
In other games with Champions League impact, Manchester City whipped Chelsea 3-0, and Arsenal had an awful 1-1 tie at home against Crystal Palace.
Standings….
1. Leicester 34 (games of 38) – 73 (points)
2. Tottenham 33 – 65
3. Man City 33 – 60
4. Arsenal 33 – 60 [ties broken by goal differential]
5. Man U 33 – 56
6. West Ham 33 – 53
7. Southampton 34 – 51
8. Liverpool 32 – 51…not mathematically out of race for fourth and final Champions League slot
Lots of midweek action coming up as Man City, Arsenal, Man U, West Ham and Liverpool make up games.
–This was a big week on the relegation front. Aston Villa ensured its 28-year stay in the Premier League would come to an end with a 1-0 loss at Manchester United. 28 years, and these days it’s not easy just bouncing right back into the first tier from the second because of the money involved. With the new TV contract, teams are slated to receive from $142 million for the champion down to $92 million for finishing last, on a sliding scale. But that’s next season. It’s not like Aston Villa can take $92 million this year to sign players and get back to the Premier League for 2017-18.
Meanwhile, two others struggling to avoid being sent down, Sunderland and Newcastle, came up with solid 3-0 wins over Norwich and Swansea, respectively, which suddenly puts Norwich, who was elevated just last year, in a huge bind.
17. Norwich 34 games – 31 points
18. Sunderland 33 – 30
19. Newcastle 33 – 28
20. Aston Villa 34 – 16
I watched the Sunderland-Norwich game on Saturday, which was at Norwich, and you could see the agony on the faces of the Norwich fan base, while those who made the trip from Sunderland were ecstatic they had new life.
Champions League
Down to the Final Four….
April 26…Man City vs. Real Madrid
Apr. 27…Atletico Madrid vs. Bayern Munich
And then they play the second leg a week later.
Barcelona, and its star-studded lineup that includes Lionel Messi, was bounced by rival Atletico.
Golf Balls
—Branden Grace, No. 14 in the world, picked up his first PGA Tour triumph at the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links, Hilton Head, South Carolina. Just like with Danny Willett’s win the week before at Augusta, this is a huge one for Grace. The Big Three is facing immense challenges.
But for runner-up and onetime world No. 1 Luke Donald, it was another heartbreaker. Donald finished second and now has four such finishes at this event, plus two thirds, with no wins.
—Bryson DeChambeau, out of Paul P.s SMU, finished tied for fourth in his pro debut.
–Separately, Jason Bohn returned from his heart attack at the Honda, just 48 days ago, and made the cut at the Heritage, finishing T-69. Just amazing. If he hadn’t made the cut at the Honda, by his own admission he would have been dead. Because he hung around after his round to see if he’d make it, he was right there at the course with the right kind of emergency care. Otherwise, he would have been heading to the airport and he’s convinced he would have had the heart attack on his plane ride home. The “widow-maker” artery was virtually closed, they put the stent in, and here he is, back on tour.
–Why was CBS able to use Pro-Tracer at the Heritage and not at Augusta?!
NASCAR
Carl Edwards took this week’s Sprint Cup race at Bristol, Tenn., leading 276 of 500 laps on the way to his 26th career win. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was second; Kurt Busch third.
Stuff
—Southern Cal named Lynn Swann as its new athletic director to succeed Pat Haden on July 1. Swann is the third consecutive former USC football player to hold the post.
Back in 2006, the NFL Hall of Famer ran for governor of Pennsylvania as a Republican, but lost to incumbent Ed Rendell by 20 points.
–We have fun with animal attack stories here at Bar Chat, but the death of a Florida zookeeper, Stacey (omitting her last name), was a true tragedy as she was killed by a rare Malayan tiger while working with him in an area off-limits to the public.
A zoo spokeswoman told the Palm Beach Post, “She loved tigers. You don’t get into this business without the love for the animals and understanding the danger that’s involved. I kind of referred to her as a tiger whisperer.”
Compounding the tragedy, her husband is a trainer at the zoo.
There are fewer than 250 Malayan tigers left in the world and the zoo participates in a breeding program.
–The other day I mentioned that the wild tiger population had increased to 3,890, according to the latest census by the World Wildlife Fund. In reading the current issue of TIME magazine, I saw the California condor population, once down to 22 in 1982, now numbers in the hundreds. And humpback whale numbers are rising in Australia. This is good.
–Good gawd. You see that mountain lion that was making its way through the grounds of a Granada Hills (Calif.) high school Friday afternoon?
Police said the big cat was seen in the bushes at John F. Kennedy High School, triggering a campus lockdown. The cougar was eventually hit with a tranquilizer dart and was removed from a nearby yard.
Granada Hills is on the edge of a known mountain lion habitat, where it was then removed to. This cat will no doubt return, and kids engrossed in texting while outside will become victims.
–Last Tuesday was Cosmonautics Day in Russia, celebrating the anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s historic flight as the first man to orbit the Earth on April 12, 1961. So I’m reading this little story and I didn’t know that Laika, a dog that was the first animal to orbit the Earth in November 1957, was a stray from Moscow.
“Pssst, hey kid. Want to do something adventurous instead of just rummaging through trash?”
“Woof.”
Unfortunately, the internal systems on the Sputnik spacecraft failed and she died within hours from overheating, or so the story goes.
–Mark R. passed on the distressing news that the famous “Schmitter Sandwich” has been pulled from Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia because the owner of the Schmitter name said the quality control wasn’t up to snuff. Mark expects fans to riot. Time to bring in the horses.
The Schmitter, which was founded at McNally’s Tavern in Chestnut Hill, consists of seven key ingredients: thin-sliced roast beef, Hatfield salami, Kraft American cheese, thick sliced tomato, thinly shaved onions, a special sauce that includes ketchup, relish, and Worcestershire sauce, all placed on a Conshohocken Bakery Kaiser roll. I’m drooling after looking at the photos.
Top 3 songs for the week 4/14/73: #1 “The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia” (Vicki Lawrence…had a crush on her…) #2 “Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye)” (Gladys Knight & The Pips) #3 “Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree” (Dawn featuring Tony Orlando)…and…#4 “Ain’t No Woman (Like The One I’ve Got)” (Four Tops…one of their best…) #5 “Sing” (Carpenters) #6 “The Cisco Kid” (War…great car song…) #7 “Danny’s Song” (Anne Murray) #8 “Break Up To Make Up” (The Stylistics…another terrific tune from these guys…) #9 “Killing Me Softly With His Song” (Roberta Flack…genius…) #10 “Call Me” (Al Green…pretty, pretty good week…)
New York Yankees Quiz Answers: 1) 1300 runs scored: Babe Ruth 1959; Derek Jeter 1923; Lou Gehrig 1888; Mickey Mantle 1676; Joe DiMaggio 1390; Bernie Williams 1366. 7. Earle Combs 1186; 8. Yogi Berra 1174. 2) 220 hits: Don Mattingly, 238, 1986; Earle Combs, 231, 1927; Lou Gehrig, 220, 1930. Jeter’s peak was 219. [I didn’t think you’d get Bernie, or Donnie Baseball.]
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
