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Bar Chat

07/10/2023

MLB Bits...lots of Golf, US Women's Open...

Add-on posted 6:00 PM ET Tuesday

Folks, once again, wanted to clear the table of a few issues while I had the chance.

MLB

--At yesterday’s informal press session with the players at the All-Star Game, Shohei Ohtani made it clear “It sucks to lose,” and added that his desire to win grows every year, further fueling speculation he wants out of Anaheim.  All about the Aug. 1 trade deadline.

--The Yankees dismissed hitting coach Dillon Lawson, for good reason, as the Yankee bats have sucked, and a day later hired former 3-time All-Star Sean Casey, with a .302 batting average over 12 major league seasons.  He retired at an early age, 33, and was known for being a popular figure around the clubhouse.  He has never coached for a major league team and has been working at MLB Network for the past 15 years.  I like the move.  An outside voice with new ideas.

Before firing Lawson, GM Brian Cashman had gone 25 campaigns without dismissing a coach during the middle of a season.

Cashman pointed to the performance against Chicago Cubs starter Jameson Taillon the other day, who I mentioned entered the contest with a 6.93 ERA and then one-hit the Yanks over eight innings.

Entering the All-Star break, the Yankees have the second-lowest batting average in all of baseball (.231), tied with Detroit, Oakland last at .221.

The Top Two

Texas .274 (.801 OPS)
Atlanta .271 (.831 OPS)

--I watched the full first round of the Home Run Derby and then turned it off.  But for the record, Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. mashed 25 home runs in the final round, a helluva tally, edging Tampa Bay’s Randy Arozarena who fell just short with 23.  Guerrero watched his father hoist the Home Run Derby trophy as a child, and now has one of his own. 

--The MLB Draft took place Sunday evening and for the archives, Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews became the first teammates (LSU) in draft history to go 1-2; pitcher Skenes selected by the Pirates, and the Nationals following with outfielder Crews.

Detroit selected high school outfielder Max Clark from Franklin, Indiana, at No. 3.  Florida outfielder Wyatt Langford went No. 4 to the Texas Rangers, and high school outfielder Walker Jenkins, from Oak Island, North Carolina, went fifth to the Twins.

Wake Forest right-hander Rhett Lowder went No. 7 to the Reds.

Wake Forest had three players overall selected in the first two rounds (Brock Wilkin No. 18 to Milwaukee, pitcher Sean Sullivan, 46, to Colorado, the others), and five others in rounds 3 thru 6.*  All of whom I assume will sign and move on with their professional careers. 

*The eight in the first six rounds were more than any other school, and three more than the next ACC school. So it will be hard for Wake to replicate this past season’s success in 2024.

A local kid, pitcher Steven Echavarria from Millburn High School (10 minutes away) was taken in the third round by the A’s. 

Because of Covid and the lost 2020 season, collegiate players had an extra season, and high school seniors in 2020 went to college rather than the draft (which was shortened to five rounds that year), and so whereas one year ago, four of the first five picks were high school players; Sunday, six of the top nine chosen were college players.  It’s just a fact, and a consequence of the pandemic, that the college talent pool this year was loaded and many of these guys could be in the majors in two seasons, vs. the normal 3-5 for top high school prospects.

Golf Balls

--I posted my column Sunday prior to the conclusion of the U.S. Women’s Open and for the record, winner Allisen Corpuz of Hawaii received a record $2 million, part of the biggest purse in women’s golf history.  For perspective this week’s Dana Open has a total purse of $1,750,000.

--Before the PGA Tour heads to Royal Liverpool/Hoylake for the 151st Open Championship, we have the Genesis Scottish Open, where last year Xander Schauffele outlasted Kurt Kitayama for a one-stroke victory.

The field is loaded, with Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Max Homa, Jordan Spieth, Matt Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland, Rickie Fowler, Patrick Cantlay and, of course, Schauffele.  The event is at the Renaissance Club.

The Tour is also holding an opposite-field event in Kentucky this weekend.

--A longtime PGA Tour Policy Board member, Randall Stephenson, a former CEO at AT&T and policy board member since 2012, resigned Sunday over concerns about the tour’s deal to merge business operations with Saudi-backed LIV Golf.

In a resignation letter obtained by the Washington Post, Stephenson said he “had serious concerns” with the deal, and it “is not one that I can objectively evaluate or in good conscience support.”

“I joined this board 12 years ago to serve the best players in the world and to expand the virtues of sportsmanship instilled through the game of golf,” Stephenson wrote.  “I hope, as this board moves forward, it will comprehensively rethink its governance model and keep its options open to evaluate alternative sources of capital beyond the current framework agreement.”

At Tuesday’s Senate investigative subcommittee hearing on the PGA Tour-Saudi Public Investment Fund partnership, a trove of documents and emails were released that discussed a variety of dramatic measures that were proposed as the deal, the outlines of it, came together, including LIV Golf continuing to operate as an independent tour with its schedule confined to the fall season; Greg Norman being sidelined; Tiger and Rory McIlroy being given ownership of LIV Golf teams; and many more.

The thing is, there is no deal yet…and going through all the proposals for yours truly is a waste of time.  We’re at the point where all of us, especially the LIV and PGA Tour players, just want details as to where they stand and how they benefit.  Negotiations are, it seems, just really beginning on how all this is formalized, and then put to a vote.

Jimmy Dunne, a member of the tour’s policy board and a key architect of the agreement, admitted to the senators that the parties did a poor job of explaining their alliance, calling the initial rollout “very misleading and inaccurate, which was everyone’s fault. There is no merger…there is simply an agreement to try and get to an agreement and settle the lawsuit.”

Settling the lawsuit was a huge, and desperately needed, first step and now the real negotiations take place.  It’s not clear if any of the proposals from the documents and emails are still on the table.

Just wake me up when it’s over.

--LIV Golf announced Monday it was moving its season-ending team championship to Trump National Doral Golf Club in Miami for the second straight year.  The team championship will be played Oct. 20-22, rather than the previously scheduled Nov. 3-5 at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.  The Jeddah event, now scheduled for Oct. 13-15, will be the final regular-season tournament.

LIV Golf CEO and commissioner Greg Norman said in a statement: “We’re thrilled to return to the Blue Monster at Doral to celebrate a historic year and crown the 2023 LIV Golf League team champion.  The team concept has come to life this year in exciting new ways as our players and fans embrace the launch of team golf. We’re building up for an action-packed weekend with headline entertainment that will put an exclamation point on another can’t-miss LIV Golf event.”

Whatever.  Of course there are political implications, and Donald Trump will be all over this one. He also has another LIV event in August at his Bedminster, N.J., club.

--I mentioned that in the U.S. Women’s Open, Lahinch Golf Club (County Clare, Ireland) had a top amateur in the event, Aine Donegan, but she struggled the final round and missed out on being top amateur by one stroke.  She had health issues, but just terrific she made the cut.

Monday, Lahinch bagged a big event, the 2026 Walker Cup, the match between Great Britain & Ireland vs. the USA.  Lahinch will now follow St. Andrews (2023) and Cypress Point (2025) as host venue. The move to staging the event on even years will commence in 2026.  Us members are very proud.

[I started going there in 1989, joined in 1996, and the last of my 21 trips was 2019. God willing, I’m back in 2025.  It’s so popular these days, it’s basically already booked through 2024, though of course I can get on anytime I want.  It’s just that it ain’t cheap to go over there these days, boys and girls.]

Wimbledon

--In Wimbledon quarterfinal action Tuesday, top-seeded Iga Swiatek was ousted by unseeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine.  Svitolina just returned to the tour in April after giving birth to her daughter last October, but she prevailed against the world’s best, 7-5, 6-7, 6-2, to reach the semifinals for the second time in four years.

During her on-court interview after defeating Swiatek, Svitolina said, “First of all I’m going to have a beer, probably.  At the beginning of the tournament, if someone would tell me that I will be in the semifinal and beating world No. 1, I would just say that they’re crazy.” 

But it was her seventh career victory against a world No. 1 player.

American Jessica Pegula, the 4-seed, lost to Marketa Vondrousova in her quarterfinal.  Pegula is now 0-6 in Grand Slam quarterfinals.

On the men’s side, 2-seed Novak Djokovic overcame a slow start to defeat 7 Andrey Rublev of Russia in four sets.

No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz plays tomorrow, as well as American upstart Christopher Eubanks, who takes on 3-seed Daniil Medvedev in another quarterfinal.

Stuff

--It didn’t take long.  Northwestern University President Michael Schill said on Sunday he needed to rethink the penalty handed down to football coach Pat Fitzgerald after new evidence emerged in the alleged hazing within the Wildcats program.  Monday, Fitzgerald was dismissed.

“The head coach is ultimately responsible for the culture of his team,” Schill said in a memo he shared on why Fitzgerald was being let go.  “The hazing we investigated was widespread and clearly not a secret within the program, providing Coach Fitzgerald with the opportunity to learn what was happening.  Either way, the culture in Northwestern Football, while incredible in some ways, was broken in others.”

Fitzgerald, as I noted last time, was initially suspended for two weeks without pay last Friday, after the school commissioned an independent investigation into allegations of hazing reported by an anonymous football player.

A day later, a Daily Northwestern report detailed additional allegations, and Schill wrote a letter to the school’s community late Saturday that he “may have erred in weighing appropriate sanction” for Fitzgerald.  The former player, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to the student publication, said sexualized hazing activities took place in the locker room, including an activity known as “running,” which involved restraining a younger player while eight to 10 older ones took part in a sexualized act.  The story got worse.

“It’s done under this smoke and mirror of, ‘Oh, this is team bonding,’ but no, this is sexual abuse,” the former player said in the report.  A second player told the paper that he also saw the occurrences.

The former player, again granted anonymity, then spoke with ESPN on Sunday, and said he told Schill about the hazing.  “Fitz absolutely knew about hazing in this program,” he said.  “Fitz knew, and he should have made it stop; and if he truly did not know, he should not be the head coach.  Either way, he should not be the head coach, because he is not monitoring and protecting the safety and well-being of student-athletes.”

But a current player told ESPN that the former player whose allegations sparked the investigation told him of a plan to take down Fitzgerald, and “the sole goal was to see Coach Fitz rot in jail.”  According to the current player, “none of that stuff happened in our locker room.”

In another Daily Northwestern report published Monday, three men who played for the team in the late 2000s corroborated that hazing existed within the program and recalled multiple racist actions and remarks made by coaches and players.

In his statement Monday, Schill noted that, thanks in part to “new media reporting,” at least a dozen current and former Wildcats have acknowledged that “systemic” hazing has been going on for years in the program.

Schill, a legal scholar who has been in his position since September after previously serving for seven years as the president of the University of Oregon, said:

“Over the last two days, I have received hundreds and hundreds of emails describing how [Fitzgerald] has transformed the lives of current and former student-athletes.  However, as much as Coach Fitzgerald has meant to our institution and our student-athletes, we have an obligation – in fact a responsibility – to live by our values, even when it means making difficult and painful decisions such as this one. We must move forward.”

Saturday, current players rallied around Fitzgerald in a statement attributed to “The ENTIRE Northwestern football team.”  They denied the former player’s allegations, calling them “exaggerated and twisted into lies” made “with the intention of harming our program and [to] tarnish the reputation of our dedicated players and coaching staff.”

“It is crucial to note that our Head Coach, Pat Fitzgerald, was not involved in any of the alleged incidents in any way, shape, or form,” the statement read.

Fitzgerald compiled a 110-101 record in 17 seasons as head coach, leading the Wildcats to 10 bowl games, after appearing in only six bowl games in its history before Fitzgerald’s tenure began in 2006.  In 2021, he signed a 10-year contract extension that ran through 2030.  [Cindy Boren and Des Bieler / Washington Post]

Fitzgerald then issued his first in-depth public comments in the wake of his firing.

“Attorney Maggie Hickey conducted a thorough investigation spanning several months into the allegations that led to my termination,” Fitzgerald said in a statement to ESPN.  “Her investigation reaffirmed what I have always maintained – that I had no knowledge whatsoever of any form of hazing within the Northwestern Football Program.

“Last Friday, Northwestern and I came to a mutual agreement regarding the appropriate resolution following the thorough investigation conducted by Ms. Hickey.  This agreement stipulated a two-week suspension.  Therefore I was surprised when I learned that the president of Northwestern unilaterally revoked our agreement without any prior notification and subsequently terminated my employment.”

Fitzgerald said he hired legal counsel “to take the necessary steps to protect my rights in accordance with the law.”

--The New York Times is closing its sports desk, sending its readers to the Athletic, the subscription sports website it purchased last year.

The Times’ sports coverage has been abysmal the past few years, even before the Athletic acquisition, but it still produced good work on topics like golf, the Premier League and horse racing.  It’s the day-to-day big four sports coverage that was so lacking, and that’s what the Athletic offers.

As a subscriber to both, I’m curious how the Times incorporates the Athletic’s coverage into its sports page.  Current sports staffers will be offered jobs elsewhere in the newsroom and plans to start a new team on its financial-news staff focused on the business of sports.

Members of the New York Times Guild were outraged, calling it a “flagrant attempt at union-busting with every tool we have.”  The Athletic newsroom is not unionized.

The Times bought the Athletic last year for $550 million in an effort to boost its subscription business and add to its noncore news offerings, such as cooking and games.  The Athletic, a start-up launched in 2016, brought with it around 1 million paid subscribers, thanks to around $140 million in venture-capital funding.  It now has 3 million subscribers, but lost nearly $8 million in the first quarter this year, according to the Times’ most recent public filings.

--I couldn’t help but note this news item from the Winston-Salem Journal:

“Winston-Salem police arrested a bank robbery suspect in the parking lot of a Jonestown Road fast-food restaurant on Monday.

“Police said a man came into the Wells Fargo bank at the corner of Country Club and Jonestown roads about 3:30 p.m. Monday and passed a note to a teller demanding money.

“The man showed no weapon, but was given an undisclosed amount of money and ran away.

“While officers investigated, a man whose description matched that of the robbery suspect was seen leaving a Subway restaurant in the 300 block of Jonestown Road nearby. When the man saw police he tried to run away, but he was caught in the parking lot of the Burger King nearby.”

Well, as my father always taught me, if you’re going to rob a bank, buy your Subway sandwich before the heist so that you have sustenance for the great escape.

Next Bar Chat, Sunday p.m.

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[Posted early Sun. p.m., prior to late baseball, Women's Open, and MLB Draft]

No midweek Add-on. 

Baseball Quiz: Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post had a piece on the dearth of .300 hitters these days, eleven thru Friday’s action.  From 2010 to 2019, baseball averaged 22.1 .300 hitters per season.  The prior decade, 39.7 .300 hitters, with 53 in 2000.  But in the Year of the Pitcher, 1968, there were just six.  How many of the six can you name? Answer below.

MLB

--The Yankees lost a key reliever, Jimmy Cordero (3-2, 3.86 in 31 games) to a suspension for the remainder of the 2023 regular season and postseason due to violation of MLB’s Joint Domestic Violence policy.

“It definitely came as a surprise to a lot of us,” Yankee captain Aaron Judge said Wednesday, shortly after the league’s announcement.

Cordero approached Judge prior to the announcement, as well as manager Aaron Boone, apprising them of the investigation.  Boone said after Cordero’s explanation was “all over the place.”

In September 2019, Yankees pitcher Domingo German was placed on administrative leave by the commissioner’s office.  In January 2020 he accepted an 81-game suspension for violating the same policy.

Before making his Yankees debut in 2016, closer Aroldis Chapman accepted a 30-game MLB suspension following an incident of domestic violence (before baseball came up with harsher penalties).

Serious stuff…not good.

On the field, Friday night, the Yanks lost to the Cubs 3-0 at the Stadium, the first time the Cubbies in their history ever won a game in the Bronx, as Jameson Taillon threw eight innings of one-hit ball, after entering the game with an ERA of 6.93.  Now that’s embarrassing.

For the Yanks it was their third straight loss, failing to take advantage of Tampa Bay’s 6-game losing streak.

Anthony Rizzo, relied on heavily since the Aaron Judge injury, is homerless in 36 games and has hit .170 since Judge went on the IL.

At least Carlos Rodon finally made his 2023 debut for New York Friday, going a decent 5 1/3, 2 earned.

Saturday, the Yankees rebounded, 6-3, behind Gerrit Cole’s 7 1/3, 3 earned, and Giancarlo Stanton’s two home runs.  Cole is 9-2, 2.85, as he heads to the All-Star Game.

Josh Donaldson also homered for New York, continuing his remarkably weird, and godawful, season.  He is 14-for-96, .146, but ten of his 14 hits are home runs.

Today, the Yanks suffered a bad loss, 7-4, after Domingo German gave them six innings of 2-run (one earned), on one hit ball.  Rizzo’s homerless streak is up to 38.

--The Mets beat the Padres Friday night in San Diego, 7-5 in 10 innings, extending their winning streak to six, including a sweep of the first-place Diamondbacks in Arizona.  Not bad.  They were suddenly 42-46 and still ‘in touch’ in the wild-card chase…sort of.

But Blake Snell of the Pads shut them down Saturday, 3-1, Snell going six innings, one hit, 11 strikeouts, as he continued his outrageously good stretch, the fifth time in his last seven starts he did not allow an earned run.

For the Mets, rookie Francisco Alvarez accounted for the lone run, his 17th homer, fifth in his last seven games.

But entering Sunday’s game, Pete Alonso is in a horrendous 15-for-99 slump, .152, that has seen his average fall from .243 to .213, and despite 26 home runs, he’s an All-Star?  As every team gets a representative, in reality it should have been Brandon Nimmo or David Robertson, when the selection was made, though Nimmo is now in his own 4-for-32 skid that has seen his average fall to .268.

--Atlanta is on a phenomenal streak of 20 of 22 to get to 60-28, taking the first two in Tampa Bay this weekend, 2-1 and 6-1.  In Saturday’s contest, Spencer Strider went 6 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out 11, moving his record to 11-2, 3.44, with an MLB-leading 166 strikeouts.  Atlanta has also hit 168 home runs, most ever by a team heading into the All-Star break.

Just give them their rings now.

But the Rays won Sunday, 10-4.

--The Phillies and Marlins are playing a big series down in Miami with early playoff implications, the teams splitting the first two, 4-3 Philadelphia Friday, Miami taking yesterday’s game 5-3.   Luis Arraez is at .388.

But the Marlins won today, 7-3, Arraez 0-for-4, now .383.

NL East (thru Sat.)

Atlanta 60-28
Miami 52-39…9.5
Philadelphia 48-40…12

Wild Card (thru Sat.)

Los Angeles 51-38…+2.5
Miami 52-39…+2.5
Philadelphia 48-40…---
San Francisco 48-41…0.5
Milwaukee 48-42…1

--The poor Angels.  Mike Trout underwent surgery on his fractured hamate bone in his left hand and will miss four to eight weeks.

The future first ballot Hall of Famer has had a series of injuries that have had him playing at least 140 games just once since 2017.  Last season his back cost him a month, he missed almost all of 2021 with a calf injury and he had a foot issue in 2019.

But coupled with all the other Angels injuries and after Friday’s 11-4 loss to the Dodgers, they were 45-45.  The Angels then lost 10-5 Saturday, to fall below .500, though Shohei Ohtani hit his MLB-leading 32nd home run, as well as a triple, taking his RBI total to 71.

They have to trade Ohtani, unless they are convinced they can re-sign him at the end of the season…which means they would have had to receive a sign of some kind from the Ohtani team…and I can’t imagine that has happened.

So in Sunday’s Los Angeles Times, longtime, and influential, sportswriter Bill Plaschke, did what many of us have been waiting for him to do…call for a trade.

“For all the glitz and glam found within the rosters of Southern California’s successful sports teams, there is only one bit of bling that truly interests them.

“They play for rings.  They build for rings.  They’re irrelevant without rings.

“They know these championships are not about style, they’re about substance, and they win more than the gleam of stars, but also the grit of role players, of depth, of team.

“Which brings us to the Angels, whose last championship win 21 years ago came from the arm of a rookie named John Lackey.

“These current Angels currently have the biggest star in Major League Baseball, a far bigger star than anyone on the 2002 team, quite possibly the best player in baseball history, but he will probably walk away at the end of the season, and they are faced with a widely publicized choice.

“Do they keep Shohei Ohtani until October and risk losing him for virtually nothing? Or do they trade him before the Aug. 1 deadline and bolster their roster with at least two starting players and a passel of prospects in building a team that can eventually win one of those rings?

“It says here, trade him.

“If Arte Moreno truly wants to own a Los Angeles team in more than first name only, he will prioritize winning above all else, and attempting to keep Ohtani beyond Aug. 1 is a losing proposition.

“Trade him.  Swallow hard and trade him. Sacrifice all the marketing revenue and trade him. Anger your fans and trade him.

“Use him to build that championship and trade him. Change the face of your losing franchise and trade him. Sacrifice style for substance and trade him.

“Ohtani already has one foot out of the door.  Don’t let him slam that door in your face.”

The Angels had their little run to wild-card relevance, but then Mike Trout got hurt, the team is back below .500 and the season is over.

Yes, Ohtani must be traded.  But to whom?  All of baseball seems to know he’s going to sign with either the Dodgers or Giants because he wants to stay on the West Coast, maybe Seattle.

But those three teams then have a lot of leverage…and as for all the other clubs, like the Mets and Yankees, why would they give up a king’s ransom if there is no guarantee they can then sign him?

It’s extremely complicated, and I’m guessing the Angels do not get a massive return.  But they’ve gotta do it or they’ll get back nothing.

This is all baseball will be talking about the next few weeks…and rightfully so. It’s monumental.

--Is Christian Yelich back?  I gotta say it looks like it…thru Friday, .286 batting average, .837 OPS, 11 home runs, 45 RBIs, 21 stolen bases, and a whopping 65 runs scored.  He changed things around in May, eliminating his big leg kick and adapting a toe-tap and, bingo, he’s been on fire, with a .912 OPS and .320 BA in June.

This is the guy who had an OPS of .736 and .738 in 2021-2022, respectively, after being arguably the best player in the game in 2018-19. [An MVP award and a runner-up those two campaigns.]

The Brewers sure pray Yelich is back…owing him $130 million ($26m per) for 2024-2028.  They’d be very happy if he just replicates his 2017 season…when he batted .282, 18 homers, 81 RBIs, 36 doubles, 100 runs scored and an .807 OPS for Miami before the big trade to Milwaukee.

Meanwhile, the Brewers (48-41) beat the Reds Friday, 7-3, as Cincinnati (49-40) came in on an historic role, 23 of 29, as good a stretch as any in franchise history.

So, the Reds had a one-game lead in the NL Central over the Brew Crew, with the headquarters of Usinger’s Sausages nearby, and a fabulous German restaurant, Mader’s, where Gerald Ford once ate (I sat in his booth…along with Reagan, Sinatra, countless others), but I digress, though I drool over this menu.

https://madersrestaurant.com/menu/dinner-menu/

Anyway, on Saturday, the Reds bounced back, 8-5, lead back to two.  In this one, Cincy’s budding superstar Elly De La Cruz stole second, third and home in the seventh inning, becoming the first player to steal three bases in one plate appearance since Rod Carew* in 1969.  The first Red since Greasy Neale in 1919!

*Carew only stole 19 bases that entire season.  Greasy Neale (1916-1924, out 1923), the pride of Parkersburg, West Virginia, played mostly with the Reds and had a career .259 batting average.  Ken P., road trip to see his grave…or maybe not…Ken and I failing miserably in our attempt to find Smoky Joe Wood’s grave in Shohola, PA, a few years ago.  We were lucky we weren’t shot as it was private property.

Sunday, Milwaukee won 1-0, lead back to one.

--Detroit starter Matt Manning and two relievers threw a combined no-hitter Saturday, 2-0 over Toronto, Manning pitching 6 2/3.  It was the ninth no-hitter in Tigers history, first since Spencer Turnbull* no-hit Seattle on May 18, 2021.

It was also the second no-no this season, next to Domingo German’s perfecto on June 28.

*Turnbull is 12-29 in his career.

--They held the first round of the Major League Baseball draft tonight, with LSU teammates pitcher Paul Skenes and outfielder Dylan Crews slated to go 1-2.

Since 1965, when the modern version of the MLB draft began, 11 teammates have been drafted in the top 10.    There have been two separate years when players from the same school were taken first and third, but never first and second.  [2011: Gerrit Cole (1) and Trevor Bauer (3), UCLA; 1978, Bob Horner (1) and Hubie Brooks (3), Arizona State.]

Wemby

--We’re all just living in Victor Wembanyama’s world, you understand, and Britney Spears found herself in it when she accidentally hit herself in the face as she was blocked by security while approaching the hoops star, as Las Vegas police said Friday.

Spears had alleged Wemby’s security guard struck her when she tapped him on the shoulder in the hopes of a photo.  Spears said she was “backhanded in the face” by the man, calling the incident a “traumatic experience.”

But a police report noted: “Detectives and I were able to review surveillance footage of the event which showed Britney going to tap the Spurs player on the shoulder.

“When she touched the player [the security guard] pushes her hand off the player without looking which causes Britney’s hand to hit herself in the face.”

Las Vegas police confirmed they had concluded their investigation into the alleged battery at the Aria hotel.  The police report said the security member went to Spears to apologize while she was eating dinner.  A member of Spears’ security told police that both sides said sorry for the misunderstanding.

Wemby said he “didn’t see what happened.”

The 19-year-old was in Vegas for his first Summer League game, Friday night, and it was a mixed performance…nine points, three assists and five blocks in a San Antonio win.  Wemby was just 2-of-13 from the field.

But what drew everyone’s attention was he was posterized by Hornets forward Kai Jones, Jones catching a lob pass and dunking over Wembanyama.

Actually, it’s unreal how much some people made of this…a summer league game…and the kid’s first time on the court.  But such will be the scrutiny involving Wemby.

--Meanwhile, Portland’s Damian Lillard, rather his agent, Aaron Goodwin, laid it out there: “Truthfully, he wants to play in Miami.  Period.” Goodwin also indicated that other teams trying to get Lillard, who recently requested a trade, would be acquiring an unhappy player.

Poor Portland.  They were loyal to the guy for 11 seasons, arguably the best player in franchise history, and now his agent’s words have hurt Lillard’s value in the trade market.  Goodwin faces a hefty fine. He should be suspended.

Golf Balls

--I’m leading off with the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach, because I have kind of a vested interest in it.  Participant Aine Donegan hails from the golf club I belong to, Lahinch, in County Clare, Ireland.  Some of us have been waiting for decades for a player from here to bust through on the international scene and we finally have someone to root for.

Lahinch is an Old Tom Morris links course (redesigned by Alister Mackenzie of Augusta fame), one of the best in the world, and it’s cool that Aine, who plays at LSU and is still an amateur, not only made the cut, but was T11 heading into Saturday’s third round.

But first she had to play in an Open qualifier in San Francisco just to get into the field.

So at the start of round three, Saturday, Donegan was -3 on her round, up to a tie for fifth, five strokes behind the leader, when she hit the historic par-4 8th…and that’s when disaster struck, as big a mess as you’ve ever seen, when she hit two approach shots out of bounds…the second one beyond inexplicable when she had a good shot at salvaging a double-bogey, maybe bogey, and instead ended up with a ‘9’!  NINE!  Five-over. Eegads.

But Aine recovered and was just +1 over her final ten holes of the round to finish +4, T19.  Us fans would be happy to see her finish right there, but a top ten would be sweet.

The leaderboard after three….

Nasa Hataoka (Japan) -7
Allisen Corpuz (U.S.) -6
Hyo Joo Kim (South Korea) -4
Bailey Tardy (U.S.) -4

Rose Zhang +1

Donegan +4

--The PGA Tour’s stop this week was at the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Illinois.  Cameron Young (Go Deacs!), still trying to bag his first Tour title, held a 2-shot lead after two rounds.

But after three rounds….

Brendon Todd -16…seeking his fourth Tour win
Alex Smalley -15…after a 62 Saturday
Denny McCarthy -15…sweetest putter on the planet
Adam Schenk -15

[The last three all seeking their first win]

Young -13…after a poor even-par 71

So in the fourth round, it became the Sepp Straka show. Straka, four back to start today, was 11-under after 14, needing to go -1 the last four for a 59.  He then parred the next three and inexplicably put his approach from the fairway on the par-4 18th in the water!  At the time he had a 4-stroke lead.

It’s a double-bogey…a 62, and the lead down to two over Todd, who has five holes to play!

Todd then birdied 14, -20, one back, but on the par-3 16th, he freakin’ 3-putted from like 20 feet, to fall back to -19.  It was his first 3-putt in 131 holes!  And then he hit a [crappy] drive on No. 17…good Lord.

Tournament goes to Straka, his second win.  Go Austria.  I recommend Figlmuller’s in Vienna for the best wiener schnitzel in the world.

In two weeks we have The Open Championship at Royal Liverpool. Can’t wait.

--Jay Monahan is returning to work July 17, according to a memo that went out to the Tour’s Policy Board.  Ever since the Tour announced on June 14 he was taking a leave of address to address an unspecified “medical situation,” there has been no further information on his health.

But in his memo to the board, Monahan stated in part: “The last two years have been grueling for us all.  I experienced that toll personally in the days following the announcement of our framework agreement and encountered adverse impacts on my health. With the support of my family and thanks to world class medical care, my health has improved dramatically.”

--Brooks Koepka accused LIV Golf teammate Matthew Wolff of quitting on the course, telling Sports Illustrated he has “basically given up on him.”

Wolff is talented, no doubt, having won in his third start on the PGA Tour in 2019, but since he joined LIV last year, playing for a team captained by Koepka, he has finished out of the top 30 against 48-man fields in his past five events, including a WD.

“I mean, when you quit on your round, you give up and stuff like that, that’s not competing,” Koepka told SI.  “I’m not a big fan of that. You don’t work hard.  It’s very tough.  It’s very tough to have even like a team dynamic when you’ve got one guy that won’t work, one guy is not going to give any effort, he’s going to quit on the course, break clubs, gets down, bad body language, it’s very tough.”

“I’ve basically given up on him,” Koepka said.  “A lot of talent, but I mean the talent’s wasted.”

Koepka is right…Wolff is a waste.

Of course, Wolff said he was rather surprised by Koepka’s remarks, and then fell back on his mental health issues, which I’m really sick of hearing.  We all have issues.  I have some serious ones…but at a certain point I’m tired (and Brooks was obviously tired) of all the excuses people like Wolff throw out.

Life ain’t easy.  It often sucks…try living in Ukraine today.  So it’s hard to feel sorry for a guy who is stealing $millions from LIV, literally, and then talks about his struggles.

Cam Smith won the LIV tournament this weekend at Centurion Club outside London, by one over Patrick Reed and Marc Leishman.

Wolff finished 47th of 48, only because Paul Casey withdrew mid-round.

Wolff is very troubled.  Oh, poor guy.  So very sad, typed the editor with dripping sarcasm.

Wimbledon

Rain has hampered the schedule here as tournament officials attempted to cram in a ton of action in a short period of time.  Saturday, they were just playing the third-round matches.

Earlier, Novak Djokovic captured his 350th singles victory in a Grand Slam tournament, joining Serena Williams and Roger Federer as the only players in tennis history to win at least 350…Williams with 367, Federer 369.  Djokovic is seeking his eighth Wimbledon title, which would tie him with Federer.

Well, today, American Jessica Pegula, the 4-seed, advanced to the quarterfinals, while 1-seed Iga Swiatek battled back to defeat 14 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, a match I watched a lot of, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3.  Go Poland!  Good people…generous to a fault, great food and beer.

Stuff

--At the USA Track and Field championships in Eugene, Oregon, Sha’Carri Richardson made an emphatic statement in winning the women’s 100 at Hayward Field in 10.82, finishing strong despite a slow start.

Richardson ran a personal best – and then-world leading, for about 24 hours – 10.71 in the first round, and easily won her semi earlier Friday with a time of 10.75.  With the win, she qualifies for the World Championships in Budapest, Aug. 19-27.

Just four years ago, Richardson burst onto the track and field scene after running a 10.75 at the 2019 NCAA championships.  Two years later she dazzled spectators at the 2021 Olympic trials, winning the 100 and putting her charismatic, bombastic personality on center stage.

But she never made it to Tokyo, suspended for one month after testing positive for marijuana, a suspension that drew criticism for both Richardson and the sport’s draconian recreational drug rules.

Last summer, though, she bombed out at the national championships in the first round, running just a 11.31.

Friday night after the final, Richardson told NBC’s Lewis Johnson, “I’m not back, I’m better.”

Brittany Brown (10.90) and Tamari Davi (10.99) join Richardson in Budapest.

On the men’s side, Cravont Charleston edged Christian Coleman, 9.95 to 9.96, with Noah Lyles making Team USA by finishing third in 10 seconds flat.  The hardest part is always just making the team, and Lyles is fresh off his second battle with Covid (yes, it’s still out there), exacerbated because he has asthma, so he was psyched with the finish.

So Saturday night, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, the local Jersey girl from nearby Union Catholic High School and Olympic and world record-holder in the 400 meter hurdles, beat the field in the 400 meters, the event she has picked up this season.  Asked which event she will run at the world championships, she said after, “I have no idea.”

McLaughlin-Levrone, 23, may be new to the event but already she is claiming titles and cruising to times rarely seen.

Saturday, she won the 400 in 48.74 seconds to clock history’s 10th-fastest time – just behind Sanya Richards-Ross’ U.S. record of 48.70 set in 2006.

Sydney finished more than a second ahead of the formidable Britton Wilson, who entered Saturday with six of the world’s 20 times under 50 seconds this season, Wilson finishing in 49.79.

This is remarkable, but McLaughlin-Levrone is under the tutelage of the great coach Bobby Kersee. 

McLauglin-Levrone didn’t need to run the 400 hurdles in Eugene to make the U.S. team bound for the world championships because as a reigning world champion, she receives a bye into the field.  It was in winning that 2022 world championship that she lowered her own world record for the fourth time in less than two years until it was barely recognizable – her time of 50.68 making her the first woman under 51.

She has until Aug. 7 to decide what event she’ll run in Budapest.

--Northwestern suspended football coach Pat Fitzgerald for two weeks after an investigation found evidence to support a claim of problematic conduct as part of an inquiry into hazing.

But the investigation itself appears to be a bit, err, hazy, as the university found that one claim from an anonymous whistleblower was supported, even though player accounts varied and there was not sufficient evidence that coaches knew about the conduct.

Dan Wolken / USA TODAY…put it better.

“The only way Pat Fitzgerald is coaching Northwestern when the 2023 season begins is if one of America’s elite academic institutions has decided that a guy who calls football plays is worth more than the pain and suffering of young men who weren’t just hazed when they arrived in his program but were reportedly violated, defiled and humiliated as part of a twisted so-called culture that is 100% his responsibility and now 100% his shame.

“Even if you are naïve enough to believe that the person who has been leading Northwestern’s football program for the last 17 seasons didn’t know the exact ways that his upperclassmen were allegedly indoctrinating newcomers – or, as others may call it, sexual assault – Fitzgerald has utterly failed….

“On Friday, Northwestern suspended Fitzgerald for two weeks this summer during a time when nothing much is happening in college football, expecting the cloud would pass by the time the real important work begins to make the Wildcats something other than the 1-11 embarrassment they were last season.

“They dropped the news in a vague press release announcing the vague results of a vague investigation into a whistleblower’s accusations of hazing within the program….

“But Northwestern’s student journalists found more.  A lot more. A sickening amount more.

“Accusations from former players that are so specific and perverse, it would be difficult to believe they are made up.

“There were photos, too, of so-called traditions that revolve around unquestionably abusive behavior sold as team bonding.  Simulated sexual acts.  Compulsory nudity and forcible contact with other nude teammates.  Spraying with water hoses. Sadly, much more.

“Football has largely been dragged out of the stone ages, but Northwestern under Fitzgerald was apparently all-in on hazing like it was still the 1960s….

“At this point, Fitzgerald simply cannot be retained.  This was his program, his locker room – all of it from the record to whatever was going on in the showers.

“If he doesn’t own that, if the school doesn’t own that, he isn’t the man he wanted the world to see and Northwestern isn’t a university that deserves anyone’s respect.”

Well, late Saturday, University president Michael Schill announced he was rethinking the penalty assessed Fitzgerald as more evidence came in.  In a letter sent to the Northwestern community, Schill wrote that he “may have erred in weighing the appropriate sanction” for the coach.

--We have another nightmare in the world of sports…former West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins, who has just shattered any good will he still has with the institution by having his attorney, David A. Campbell, write a letter to the university Friday that says Huggins “never signed a resignation letter and never communicated a resignation to anyone at WVU.”

This followed his drunken-driving arrest in Pittsburgh, June 16.  The letter threatens a lawsuit if Huggins isn’t reinstated.

After the DUI incident, the university announced his resignation and a week later promoted assistant coach Josh Eilert to interim head coach for the 2023-24 season.

Campbell’s letter said the university announced Huggins’ resignation “based on a text message from Coach Huggins’ wife” to Steve Uryasz, West Virginia’s athletic director.

The university responded to Campbell in a letter Saturday that read, in part: “We are frankly confused by the allegations within the letter.”

WVU said Huggins met with his players and members of the basketball staff on June 17 “to announce that he would no longer be coaching the team.” It said Huggins “clearly” communicated his resignation and retirement in writing and that “both parties have reasonably relied on that resignation and retirement notification in a number of ways since then.”

I feel for the players, who have been jerked around royally. 

--Max Verstappen has basically wrapped up the Formula One championship after just 10 of 22 races with a victory at the British Grand Prix today.  Brits Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton finished 2-3.

The victory was Red Bull’s 11th in a row, matching the record set by McLaren in 1988, Verstappen’s sixth straight, eight of ten this season (finishing second to teammate Sergio Perez in the other two).

--You know those ‘tall boy’ basketball cards from 1969-1970, the long slim ones?  A 1970 Topps Pete Maravich “tall boy” rookie card – a perfect, gem-mint 10 from card grader PSA – sold via PWCC Marketplace on Thursday for $552,000, a record for any “Pistol Pete” item, sports card or memorabilia.

The card is one of only two copies of the 1970 Topps Maravich card to receive a perfect grade from PSA.

The card becomes the fifth-most-expensive vintage (pre-1980) basketball card behind a Bowman 1948 George Mikan rookie card ($800,000), a 1961 Fleer Wilt Chamberlain rookie card ($670,000) and two Bill Russell rookie cards ($660,000 and $630,000).

--Elton John finished up his farewell tour in Stockholm Saturday night, telling his millions of fans that they would remain in his “head, heart and soul,” concluding with one of his biggest hits – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

The 76-year-old has won five Grammy awards in a spectacular career spanning 50 years and nearly 4,600 performances worldwide.

“It’s been my lifeblood to play for you guys, and you’ve been absolutely magnificent,” he told the audience at Sweden’s Tele2 Arena.

He kicked off the show with Bennie and the Jets, and performed hits such as Philadelphia Freedom, Tiny Dancer, Rocket Man and Candle in the Wind.

His Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour began in North America in 2018, and he played before more than six million fans, with one of the highlights being his headline slot at the Glastonbury Festival last month.

Billboard magazine reports that the tour’s ticket sales reached a record $900 million (which as I wrote the other day in another column I do Taylor Swift is attempting to surpass).

Elton told the audience last night he would “never be touring again,” but he may do a “one-off thing” in the future.

Good on you, Elton.

Top 3 songs for the week 7/8/78:  #1 “Shadow Dancing” (Andy Gibb)  #2 “Baker Street” (Gerry Rafferty)  #3 “Take A Chance On Me” (Abba)…and…#4 “Use Ta Be My Girl” (The O’Jays)  #5 “Still The Same” (Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band)  #6 “It’s a Heartache” (Bonnie Tyler)  #7 “Miss You” (The Rolling Stones)  #8 “Dance With Me” (Peter Brown with Betty Wright)  #9 “The Groove Line” (Heatwave) #10 “You Belong To Me” (Carly Simon…C week…music really beginning to blow…and I was in Oklahoma that summer selling books door-to-door, which really, really sucked…)

Baseball Quiz Answer: Six .300 hitters in 1968….

NL

Pete Rose / CIN, .335
Matty Alou / PIT, .332
Felipe Alou / ATL, .317
Alex Johnson / CIN, .312
Curt Flood / STL, .301

AL

Carl Yastrzemski / BOS, .301

[Next up that year was Danny Cater / OAK, .290]

No midweek Add-on…next Bar Chat Sunday, June 16.

 

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