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Bar Chat

07/08/2024

Talkin' Baseball...Wimbledon, Euro 24 and more....

[Posted early Sunday p.m.]

Add-on posted early Tuesday a.m.

MLB

--The Yankees lost another Sunday night after I posted, 3-0 to the Red Sox at the Stadium, another series loss, the Yanks having lost 16 of 22, a total nosedive.

Luis Gil had a good comeback outing for New York, 6 2/3, one earned, 9 strikeouts, but he takes the loss, now 9-5, 3.27.

But Yankee killer Rafael Devers had two solo homers for Boston, Ceddanne Rafaela added another solo shot, and Kutter Crawford threw seven innings of 4-hit ball.  [Devers now has 28 home runs against the Yankees]

New York finished Sunday 3 behind Baltimore in the AL East and only six games clear of the final wild card spot...as in you can no longer say the Yanks (55-37) are a playoff certainty.

Boston, on the other hand, is playing great, 49-40, in the third WC position currently, and they are exciting, versus the incredibly unexciting Yankees, save for Judge and Soto.

--Monday, after a terrific win Sunday, the Mets completed their 4-game series in Pittsburgh and it was another crappy loss.  Down 2-0, Brandon Nimmo tied it with a 2-run homer in the top of the sixth, only to have the Mets bullpen give up five runs in the bottom of the inning, the Pirates going on to roll, 8-2.  Disheartening for us fans.

But it was more than that. Before the game, the Mets, and announcer Gary Cohen, stated that starter Christian Scott, pitching on four days rest for the first time in his career, and slated to pitch in another four days this weekend, was going to be limited to about 75 pitches.

Move to the bottom of the sixth, 2-2, Scott gets the first two Pirates out after allowing just one hit in 5 2/3 (a 2-run homer from Oneil Cruz), and his pitch count is at 77.  Out comes manager Carlos Mendoza to take Scott out.  In comes Eric Orze in his major league debut.

Orze gives up a walk, two hits, he exits, and he finishes the day with an ERA of INF for his career.

Let the second-guessing begin.

If the Mets were 35-50, no one would care.  It’s about the future and protecting the arm of the promising Scott.  But we’re now 44-45, in the wild card hunt, and the move could come back to haunt the Metsies come late September.

--Paul Skenes made the All-Star team, after just ten starts.  He becomes the first player to be taken No. 1 overall in the draft and then be named to the following year’s All-Star team.

Chicago Cubs pitcher Shota Imanaga joined Skenes and San Diego outfielder Jackson Merrill as the only rookie All-Stars for the July 16 game at Arlington, Texas.

The Phillies have seven players, with starters Zack Wheeler and Ranger Suarez getting the nod Sunday.  It’s the first time the team has had seven All-Stars, though Bryce Harper’s availability depends on when he returns from a hamstring strain.

Cleveland topped the AL with five All-Stars, and the Padres have five.

Atlanta pitcher Chris Sales earned his eighth All-Star selection, the first since seven straight 2012-2018.

But it was an outrage the Mets’ Pete Alonso was their selection and not Francisco Lindor or Brandon Nimmo.

Alonso has 18 home runs, 48 RBIs, on track for less than 35 HR and 90 RBIs, which considering how limited he is in other facets of the game, is hardly worthy of the massive contract he is looking for in free agency.  He is also not even the team leader. 

But as Tony Soprano would have said, ‘Whaddya gonna do...’  More on Alonso next BC.

--Back to Skenes, his girlfriend, Livvy Dunne, is returning to LSU for a fifth year.  Road trip....

Wimbledon

Americans Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz moved to the quarterfinals...the first time since 2000 that multiple American men made it this far!

12 Paul goes up against 3 Carlos Alcaraz in a few hours, today, Tues.

13 Fritz faces 25 Lorenzo Musetti, Wednesday.

Also today, 5 Daniil Medvedev squares off against 1 Jannik Sinner.

Tomorrow, 2 Novak Djokovic faces 9 Alex De Minaur.

The only American woman left in the quarterfinals, 19 Emma Navarro, squares off against 7 Jasmine Paolini today.

Stuff

--Euro 24 and Copa America semis today and tomorrow.

--NASCAR races this year have been ending after I post on Sundays, and the other day was no exception, Alex Bowman breaking an 80-race Cup Series winless streak, outlasting the rain and the field to win the Grant Park 165 on the streets of downtown Chicago.

Bowman earned his eighth career win, holding off Tyler Reddick and Ty Gibbs in the rain-shortened race that ended with a countdown clock.  When the clock hit zero, Bowman needed to maintain his lead for two laps – taking the white flag and the checkered flag.

Bowman, who suffered a concussion in September of 2022 and then broke his back in April of 2023, hadn’t won since March 6, 2022, at Las Vegas.

“Man, I broke my back, I had a brain injury, and we’ve kind of sucked ever since,” Bowman said in an interview after.  “You kind of second guess if you are ever going to win a race again.  Last one we won, we didn’t really get to celebrate.

“We’re going to drink so much damn bourbon tonight.  It’s going to be a bad deal.  I’m probably going to wake up naked on the bathroom floor again.”

My head hurts just writing this.

--I forgot to note Sunday a significant milestone in Formula One...Lewis Hamilton ended a 945-day wait for a win with a record ninth British Grand Prix victory in front of his home fans, a fairytale Sunday at Silverstone.

Mercedes’ seven-time Formula One world champion was overcome with emotion as he took the checkered flag for the first time since Dec. 5, 2021 – 56 races ago.

Red Bull’s triple world champion Max Verstappen finished second, and McLaren’s Lando Norris took third.

Hamilton extended his record with his 104th career win in setting new benchmarks – the first F1 driver to win a race in 16 different seasons and first to win nine times at the same circuit.

--Tiger Woods turned down the offer to become captain of the U.S. Ryder Cup team that will square off against Europe at the 2025 event at Bethpage Black on Long Island, Woods citing other demands on his time.

In a surprising move, the PGA of America then said Keegan Bradley will get the honor, not Stewart Cink, Fred Couples or David Love III, as initially reported.

No one is more passionate about the sport than Bradley and he should be a terrific captain.  The rabid crowd that will be there will embrace him as he fires them up.

Bradley has always felt like an outsider when it comes to the selection of the Ryder Cup (not being part of the JT, Jordan Spieth clique), with Keegan being snubbed once or twice, but no longer.  He’s in!  He also had a record of 4-3-0 in the 2012 and 2014 events.

Woods had continually expressed his interest in the duty but among other items on his plate these days is the important role of being a key to negotiations with the Saudis and the hoped for ending to the dispute between the Tour and LIV.

Next Bar Chat, Sunday p.m.

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Brief Add-on up top by noon, Tues.

Olympic Swimming Quiz: In Paris there will be a major focus on this competition with known cheaters in the field, as described below.  But... 1) Name the 12 male swimmers who have won five or more gold medals in the Olympics, only one of whom is non-U.S.  You get the initials...M.P., M.S., M.B., C.D., R.L., G.H., I.T., A.P., N.A., T.J., D.S., J.W.  2) Name the eight female swimmers with five or more gold medals (five from the U.S.) ...J.T., K.L., K.O., A.V.D., E.M., K.E., D.V., M.F.  Answers below.

MLB

--New York Baseball fans have been fretting....

The Mets had a terrific start to their 4-game series in Washington last week, winning Monday and Tuesday in extra-inning thrillers, New York then 42-41 after being 24-35.

But then they blew a 5-0 lead on Wednesday to fall 7-5, and on Thursday were one-hit by Jake Irvin (7-6, 2.80) over eight innings, the Mets falling 1-0. [At least this last one was quick...an hour and 58 minutes.  Kind of like the warden giving you a choice of firing squad vs. intravenous and flopping on a gurney for 3 hours.  Always take the former, sports fans.]

So New York moved on to Pittsburgh for another 4-game set, facing rookie sensation Paul Skenes, Friday, and after getting to Skenes early for a 2-0 lead heading to the bottom of the fourth, Pittsburgh exploded for a franchise record seven home runs, two each by Bryan Reynolds and Rowdy Tellez, who became the first teammates in major league history to each hit multiple homers with a grand slam in the same game. Reynolds tied a career high with six RBIs.

Pittsburgh would win 14-2, with everything coming from the long ball.

“We hit so many home runs that we ran out of fireworks,” the Pirates posted on X.  “We’re being serious.”

As for Skenes, he gave up two runs on four hits with eight strikeouts in seven innings to move to 5-0, 2.12.

In striking out eight, he set the record for most outings of seven or more strikeouts within his first 10 appearances in Major League history with nine, according to the Pirates.  Yup, he’s as advertised.

So the Mets were suddenly reeling at 42-44, after nine consecutive games scoring at least five runs, they had just two over their last 22 innings.

Time to right the ship Saturday afternoon...and in the top of the first against the Pirates’ Bailey Falter, the Mets immediately had second and third, no outs, but didn’t score.  I wrote J. Mac for the sword, not wanting to wait to see how Wake Forest would do in hoops next season (we’re going to be good, boys and girls), nor wait to see how the Jets do and if Aaron Rodgers makes it to Week 3 before reinjuring his Achilles.

But the Metsies ended up with a nice 5-2 win, the bullpen with 4 2/3 scoreless, topped off by Edwin Diaz’ with the save.

Yes, after a 10-game suspension, during which the Mets went 5-5, Diaz had returned. His absence legitimately probably cost us two wins.

So today, Sunday, we had another pitching duel, scoreless until the Mets’ Brandon Nimmo had another clutch hit to put the Mets up 1-0 going to the bottom of the eighth.  Manager Carlos Mendoza then made a rare mistake, not leaving reliever Dedniel Nunez in for one more batter, first and second, two outs.  He brought in Diaz, who issued a walk and gave up a 2-run single, suddenly 2-1 Pirates heading to the top of the ninth.

Pittsburgh brought in Aroldis Chapman, who the Mets have always had some success with, and New York quickly had first and second, no outs.

But Vientos and Torrens struck out.  Game over...maybe.

Except, then Jose Iglesias worked out a terrific walk, and Francisco Lindor got a massive 2-run single.

Diaz, after not throwing a pitch in 28 minutes, came back for a quick save, 3-2.  Mets 44-44, Pirates 42-47, with one more tomorrow in this great city, with some of the best Slovak and Italian food in the world.  [And some of the best people.]

--And then there are the Yankees.  After getting swept by the Reds at the Stadium this week, Friday night they hosted the surging Red Sox.

Boston was trailing 3-1 in the top of the ninth when Yankees closer Clay Holmes gave up a two-out game-tying home run to Masataka Yoshida, the game heading to extra innings.

Then in the 10th, the Red Sox jumped in front, another two-run homer from No. 9 hitter Ceddanne Rafaela off Tommy Kahnle – the Yankees couldn’t battle back – and New York suffered a catastrophic 5-3 loss, Boston only 3 ½ back of the Yanks for second in the AL East, the Yanks 3 ½ back of first-place Baltimore.

New York had now lost 15 of 20!  Good lord!  Panic City.

After going 3-for-4 with home run No. 32 on Tuesday, Aaron Judge was 0-for-11.

The Yankees had shaken up the lineup as they demoted leadoff hitter Anthony Volpe on Thursday to the No. 6 and 7 slot after he had been leading off for three months, slashing just .242/.293/.358 as the No. 1 hitter ahead of Juan Soto and Judge, which doesn’t cut it.

But the Yanks roared back Saturday behind rookie first baseman Ben Rice’s three home runs, 7 RBIs, the first-ever Yankee rookie to accomplish the feat, Yanks winning 14-4.  Rice, out of Dartmouth, seems like a great kid and now he’s an instant fan favorite, taking over the leadoff spot from Volpe.

Gerrit Cole, however, in his fourth start back, yielded 4 earned in 4 1/3, with 8 Ks...his ERA now 6.75.

Red Sox-Yankees is the ESPN Sunday night game....of course....

--Will Smith became the fourth Dodgers catcher to hit three home runs in a game in Friday’s 8-5 win against the Brewers in L.A.  Smith joined Yasmani Grandal (2016) and Hall of Famers Mike Piazza (1996) and Roy Campanella (1950).  All three were solo shots (Nos. 12-14), as Smith also walked twice and scored four runs.

Earlier in the week, Arizona’s Christian Walker continued to have the Dodgers’ number.  Wednesday and Thursday, Walker hit two home runs to lead the D’backs to 12-4 and 9-3 wins in L.A., Walker with five homers in the 3-game series, giving him 19 home runs at Dodger Stadium, tied for most by any visiting player, matching Paul Goldschmidt.

--The Phillies are in Atlanta this weekend for three with the disappointing, though still playoff bound Braves, Philadelphia taking Friday’s opener 8-6, Trea Turner with two, 2-run homers.

Philadelphia has infielders Bryce Harper (1B), Turner (SS) and Alec Bohm (3B) as starters for the NL in the upcoming All-Star Game, well deserved by all three, even though Turner missed about 30 games with injury.

But Atlanta got to the Phils’ Ranger Suarez on Saturday, Suarez with his second straight lousy start after his sterling first three months, giving up five earned in five innings, ERA up to 2.58, the Braves taking it 5-1.

Sunday, Reynaldo Lopez and three relievers shut out the Phillies 6-0, Lopez 7-2, 1.71.  This is a guy who hasn’t done squat in his career.

Atlanta (49-39) now trails Philadelphia (58-32) by eight games.

--Minnesota designated hitter Jose Miranda tied a great MLB mark on Saturday, getting hits his first two at-bats to extend his streak to hits in 12 consecutive plate appearances.

Miranda thus became just the fourth in history with 12 straight hits, the other three Walt Dropo (1952), Pinky Higgins (1938) and the Cubs’ Johnny Kling (1902).  Miranda then flied out, but his batting average is up to .328, after hitting .211 in 142 ABs last season.

Minnesota (50-39) beat the Astros (46-43) 9-3.

Miranda then had a pinch-single today, Sunday, the Twins winning 3-2. [BA .331]

--Washington phenom James Wood hit his first major league home run on Saturday in the Nats’ 14-6 win over the Cardinals, Wood 7-for-23, .304, to start his career.

The kid clearly has all the tools, but he sure doesn’t hustle in the outfield, at least that’s what Mets fans saw watching the games in Washington this week.

--The Marlins DFA’d two-time All-Star shortstop Tim Anderson, after Anderson signed a one-year, $5 million deal with Miami in February, hoping for a bounce-back season that failed to materialize.

His decline is shocking.  After hitting .335, .322, .309, and .301, 2019-2022, for the White Sox, Anderson fell to .245 last season, with a pathetic .582 OPS, and the team allowed him to walk.

Miami gave him a shot, which I thought was a good gamble.  He played in 65 games, 234 ABs, 0 HR, 9 RBI, .214 BA, .463 OPS. [Three extra-base hits in 234 ABs!]

--Finally, the Washington Post’s Scott Allen had a terrific piece on former reliever Mike Marshall.  It was back on June 18, 1974, pitching for the Dodgers, that the right-hander pitched in the first of what would be 13 consecutive games, a record streak that culminated in “Iron Mike” becoming the first reliever to win the Cy Young Award.

Marshall pitched in 106 games that season, 12 more than any pitcher in a single season since 1901. He threw a staggering 208 1/3 innings, was 15-12, 21 saves, and a 2.42 ERA.

Marshall had a doctorate in exercise physiology from Michigan State “and claimed all pitchers could appear as often as he did as long as they applied science to their mechanics and conditioning.”

Iron Mike, who died at 78 in 2021, was often the smartest person in the clubhouse and he let you know it.  His confidence, many interpreting as arrogance, was part of a reason why he played on nine teams over his 14-year career.

“I’m afraid Mike’s problem is that he’s too intelligent and has had too much education,” Marshall’s former teammate Jim Bouton wrote in his 1970 classic “Ball Four.”

Marshall made his major league debut in 1967 with Detroit and would appear in 37 games with a 1.98 ERA, but he spent the entire 1968 season in the minors, where he worked to perfect a screwball.

But his managers and pitching coaches in Detroit, Seattle and Houston effectively banned him from throwing the pitch, and in June 1970, Marshall was traded to Montreal, where manager Gene Mauch was watching Marshall play catch before a game, experimenting with his screwball, and as Marshall described it in an interview with the Montreal Gazette, “leaped out of the dugout and said, ‘What’s that?’ I told him.  ‘Show me more,’ he said. I did. From then on I was invited to develop the screwball and use it.”

In 1973, Marshall appeared in 92 games, was 14-11, 31 saves, and a 2.66 ERA in 179 innings.  He was runner-up in the Cy Young voting that year (to Tom Seaver).

But about a month after the season, he trashed the Expos’ infield defense, and specifically the play of second baseman Ron Hunt and third baseman Bob Bailey, who he called “terrible.”  The comments to the reporter were supposed to be off-the-record.  Marshall called Hunt and Bailey to apologize, but a few weeks later, he was traded to the Dodgers for Willie Davis.

Iron Mike then had his big 1974 season, helping lead the Dodgers to their first division or league title since 1966.  But while he made the Dodgers better, as Scott Allen writes “he had little apparent interest in making friends.”

“Knowing him is like knowing the water cooler,” a teammate once said.

“We respect him for what he does,” said Dodgers first baseman and 1974 NL MVP Steve Garvey.

In his 13-game streak, Marshall pitched 26 2/3, posting a 1.69 ERA, a 6-0 record and two saves.  Nine of the 13 appearances were 2+ innings.

That season Marshall was nearly as effective with no days of rest as he was with at least one day of rest, but the Washington Post’s Thomas Boswell noted that his ERA ballooned to 3.66 in nine appearances the day after he threw at least three innings.

In the World Series against the A’s, though, Marshall did give up the go-ahead homer to Joe Rudi in the seventh inning of Oakland’s title-clinching win in Game 5.  Rudi later told reporters he was sitting on a fastball because Marshall, despite his teammates’ encouragement to stay loose, didn’t throw a single warmup pitch during a several-minute stoppage after fans in Oakland threw debris at Dodgers left fielder Bill Buckner (poor Bill...as history would show, he had a tough time).

Marshall began to get a few injuries and he missed the start of the 1976 season to fight trespassing and destruction of property charges related to his use of the intramural building at Michigan State. The ordeal, coupled with Marshall’s declining effectiveness, turned Dodgers fans against him, and there were reports that his teammates celebrated after he was traded to the Braves in June 1976.

Iron Mike would eventually get a call from Mauch, now managing the Twins.  “I was tired of all that B.S. from managers who didn’t know a thing,” Marshall told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, having had problems in Atlanta with manager Dave Bristol, and in 1979, he appeared in 90 games for the Twins, 142 2/3 innings, 32 saves (though he was 10-15), and a 2.65 ERA. The 90 appearances remain an American League record.

Marshall finished his career with the Mets in 1981.  After coaching at three colleges, he opened a pitching academy in Florida.

But consider this...since 2021, only five MLB starters have pitched as many innings in a season as Marshall did in 1974.

NBA

As expected, LeBron James agreed to a new two-year, $104 million max contract to return to the Lakers, which includes a no-trade clause and a player option.

Son Bronny signed a fully guaranteed contract the same day, four years, $7.9 million, about $1.2 million the first year. The final year of the contract is a $2.48 million team option for the 2027-28 season.

The No. 55 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, Isaiah Wong, signed a two-way contract worth $559,782, which was only partially guaranteed if he secured a regular-season roster spot. [Wong played in just one game for Indiana and is not on the Pacers’ summer league roster.]

Yup, it helps to be LeBron’s kid.

But does Bronny deserve the pressure?

“For sure, an amplified amount of pressure,” the 19-year-old said at his press conference the other day.  “I’ve already seen it on social media...and the internet...talking about that I might not deserve an opportunity.  But I’ve been dealing with stuff like this my whole life. So it’s nothing different.”

He sighed. “But it’s more amplified for sure. But I’ll get through it.”

Bill Plaschke / Los Angeles Times

“Imagine attending your first NBA news conference and already talking about enduring the pressure.  How fair is that?  But that is the position in which LeBron and the Lakers have put this young man by drafting him 55th when nobody else was going to take him, making him a pro when he should have stayed in college.

“Threw him to the wolves and now he must fend for himself, and it might not be pretty.

“ ‘Living by the days, trying not to care about what other people think about me because there’s a lot of people that, you know, have something to say,’ Bronny said.  ‘I’m just taking it by the day and staying sane while doing it.’

“Imagine celebrating one of the highlights of your young life – these debut pressers are supposed to be fun! – by feeling a need to remind everyone that you are staying sane.  How fair is that? Thanks again to LeBron and the Lakers for creating hysteria in an attempt to make history....

“Bronny handled Tuesday’s show at the Lakers’ training facility smartly and maturely, and thank goodness, because this is a child who is not going to be given much room to grow up.

“When he was asked if hanging around his father would make his transition to the NBA easier, he bristled.

“ ‘I had my own basketball stuff going on, so I wasn’t really, you know, in my dad’s pocket all day, you know, following him around the Lakers facility,’ he said.  ‘Yeah, I’ve had some stories, but...I don’t know what, you know, exactly is to come.’

“What’s to come is madness. Each of his minutes in the summer league will be analyzed as if he’s playing in the NBA Finals. Derisive chants from overserved Las Vegas patrons are likely to be shouted as if he’s a villain....

“But he didn’t ask for any of this....

“He didn’t ask for his father to publicly profess a desire to play on the same team with him.

“He didn’t ask for the cardiac arrest event that cost him any meaningful time at USC.

“He didn’t ask to be drafted by the Lakers, even as his agent Rich Paul was steering him in that direction.

“Everybody in Bronny’s circle seemed very open about wanting him to be teammates with LeBron...everyone except Bronny.”

In his first summer league appearance for the Lakers Saturday, Bronny was 2-for-9 from the field, 0-for-3 from 3, and 0-for-2 from the free-throw line...4 points.  He added two assists, two rebounds and one steal in 21 minutes of play.

--I forgot to note in my Add-on Tuesday that the day before, the Celtics’ majority owners announced they wanted to sell the franchise for estate purposes.  The price is expected to beat the $4 billion paid for the Phoenix Suns and WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury.

Boston Basketball Partners LLC, which is led by Wyc Grousbeck, said it intends to sell all the team’s shares and a majority interest in the team this year or in early 2025, with the balance of the transaction closing in 2028.  Grousbeck would stay as team governor until 2028.

Grousbeck headed the group that bought the Celtics for $360 million in 2002.

Forbes ranked the Celtics the fourth most valuable team in 2023, at around $4.7 billion before the latest NBA title.  It comes after the Golden State Warriors ($7.7 billion), New York Knicks ($6.6 billion), and the Lakers ($6.4 billion).

--In the WNBA, Caitlin Clark became the first rookie to record a triple-double...19 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists, in the Fever’s upset win over the New York Liberty (17-4), 83-78, in Indianapolis, the Fever 9-13.

Wimbledon

--Friday, in Round 3 action, No. 2 Coco Gauff moved on, while on the men’s side, No. 1 Jannik Sinner did as well, and No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz needed five sets to defeat No. 29 Frances Tiafoe.

--But Saturday, Top-seeded Iga Swiatek lost to unseeded Yulia Putintseva (sic) of Kazakhstan, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 in her third-round match, snapping her 21-match winning streak.

Swiatek was hot off her fourth French Open title in June, but Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam at which she has not advanced past the quarterfinals.

Only Gauff and fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina, also of Khazakhstan, who won the Wimbledon title in 2022, remain among the top five seeds.

Putintseva, by the way, is actually from Moscow....Hmmm...add a second ‘t’ to the name to throw off those finding this a wee bit coincidental. [Vlad the Impaler known to have many a ‘love’ child.]

--On the men’s side Saturday, No 2 Novak Djokovic, 4 Alexander Zverev and 5 Daniil Medvedev all advanced.

--Andy Murray bid an emotional farewell to his fellow countrymen following a doubles defeat, Andy teamed with brother Jamie.

--Sunday, 1 Jannik Sinner and 3 Carlos Alcaraz advanced in their Round 4 matches against 14 Ben Shelton and 16 Ugo Humbert, respectively.

5-seed Daniil Medvedev also advanced today as 10 Grigor Dimitrov retired due to injury in the first.

And then 2 Coco Gauff was upset by 19 Emma Navarro, 6-4, 6-3, though Navarro, the billionaire’s daughter, has been playing pretty well coming in.  That said, the women’s bracket is entirely blown up and doesn’t interest me in the least.  The men’s side, on the other hand, is potentially electric when we get to the semis and final.

Golf Balls

--At the John Deere Classic, TPC Deere Run, Silvis, Illinois, three looking for their first PGA Tour win topped the leaderboard after three rounds....

Davis Thompson -21
Eric Cole -19
Aaron Rai -19

Amateur Luke Clanton was -16, Jordan Spieth -14 after a 63 on Saturday.  Clanton made the cut at the U.S. Open and then was T10 at last week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic, playing on sponsor exemptions the last two weeks.

And it was Davis Thompson with the breakthrough win...good for him.  Clanton finished T2 with C.T. Pan and young Michael Thorbjornsen.

Clanton became the first amateur since 1958 with back-to-back top 10s!

Thompson is the third straight winner of the John Deere to stay in the “trophy house” with other golfers, a cool thing.

--Bill Haas made the cut...just the second of the year in six starts, Haas with very limited opportunities.  He’s now 42!  Yikes.  Local boy Ryan McCormick did not get to play on the weekend.

Haas finished T52.  It’s a start.

Olympics

--As alluded to above with the Quiz, the ratings for swimming in Paris are bound to be terrific, and now we have the added drama with the international swimming federation saying its top administrator has been ordered to testify as a witness in a U.S. criminal investigation into the case of 23 Chinese swimmers who failed doping tests in 2021 yet were allowed to continue competing.

The swim competition starts in less than three weeks and there isn’t enough time for any action to be taken at this point, but the hearing and the media’s now intense focus on this issue will shine on a light on the Chinese like they’ve never felt before and should those who failed the tests in 2021 now win gold in Paris, the outrage will sweep the global swimming community, let alone the entire world of sports.

Eleven of the Chinese swimmers who tested positive for a banned heart medication three years ago are set to compete, including three gold medalists in Tokyo, just weeks after the World Anti-Doping Agency declined to challenge Chinese authorities’ explanation of food contamination at a hotel to justify not suspending them.

Those decisions, which World Aquatics separately reached also, were not revealed until reporting in April by the New York Times and German broadcaster ARD.

Euro 24 / Copa America

--The semifinals are set for Euro 24...Spain vs. France, England vs. Netherlands.

Spain defeated host Germany Friday, 2-1, in a stirring match, having watched the second half and extra time.  Germany tied it at the 89’ mark to send it into ET, and then Spain’s Mikel Merino had a fantastic header at 119’ for the winner.

France then beat Portugal on PKs, 5-3, after a 0-0 draw.

Saturday, England trailed 1-0 to Switzerland, the Swiss goal coming at the 75’ mark, when five minutes later, Saka equaled for England, and the Three Lions went on to take it on PKs, 5-3.

England then waited to see what happened in the Turkey-Netherlands match...and Netherlands, after falling behind 1-0 at the intermission, scored two in the second half for a 2-1 win.

A terrific final four...played Tues. and Wed.

--In Copa America play, Lionel Messi shockingly missed a penalty kick in a shootout with Ecuador, but Argentina outlasted the upstarts 1-1 (4-2 in penalty kicks) in their quarterfinal match Thursday night in Houston. Emiliano Martinez, Argentina’s goalkeeper, was the star.

My good friend in the building, Luis from Ecuador, was not a happy camper the day after.

--The final four for the tournament is now set...Canada vs. Argentina, Tuesday at MetLife Stadium, so I’m assuming Messi and crew are staying nearby again, and on Wednesday, Uruguay vs. Colombia.

--Ex-USMNT stars Tim Howard and Alexei Lalas are calling for former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp to be the next head man for the U.S. men’s national team, with U.S. Soccer facing increasing pressure to dismiss coach Greg Berhalter after the team’s humiliating exit from Copa America.

Klopp hasn’t expressed any interest in the USMNT job (or any other national team post).

“If you’re not going to go big, it flies in the face of what America is – we want big, we want bold, and dare I say we want arrogant in the things that we do, in particular in terms of maximizing the summer of 2026,” Lalas told the New York Post in an interview.

Stuff

--Minnesota Vikings rookie cornerback Khyree Jackson and two former college football players were killed in a car crash overnight Friday, according to Maryland State Police.  Jackson, a fourth-round pick out of Oregon, died after a three-car crash that occurred at 3:14 a.m. Saturday in Prince George’s County, according to police.  Isaiah Hazel and Anthony Lytton Jr. – the two former players who were high school teammates of Jackson’s – were also killed in the crash, police said.

Hazel, 23, played at Maryland and Charlotte, while Lytton, 24, played at Florida State and Penn State.

Police said Hazel was driving a Dodge Charger with Jackson in the passenger seat when their car was struck by an Infiniti Q50 attempting to change lanes at a high speed.  The Charger left the road and struck multiple tree stumps.

According to police, Jackson and Hazel were pronounced dead at the scene, while Lytton died at the hospital.

The drivers and passengers in the other two cars involved were uninjured.  Investigators believe alcohol may have played a role.

Jackson played two seasons at Alabama before transferring to Oregon where he had three interceptions last fall.  At 6’3”, 197, he was a contender to start at cornerback.

The Vikings were devastated, while Oregon head coach Dan Lanning wrote on X: “RIP Khyree...Love you @Real_Khyree at a loss for words.  I will miss your smile. Great player better person.”

--Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott was spotted using a walking boot ahead of training camp.  The boot is on the same ankle that Prescott injured in 2020, when he suffered a season-ending compound fracture and dislocation.  The extent of Prescott’s injury was not clear.

All eyes are on him because as he prepares to enter the final year of his four-year, $160 million contract, he has not signed an extension with the Cowboys, training camp beginning July 25.  Despite not receiving a new deal, Prescott said he’s only focused on “being my best for this team right now.”

--With no Joey Chestnut, Patrick Bertoletti was crowned king of the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating contest in Coney Island on Thursday, the 39-year-old from Illinois wolfing down an impressive 58 franks and buns in 10 minutes, Chestnut having won by eating 62 last year.  His record was 71 in 2021.

Chestnut, as you know, was banned from this year’s competition after he cut a deal with rival brand, Impossible Foods, famous for its meatless Impossible Burger.

On the women’s side, Miki Sudo swallowed 51 wieners and buns, a very impressive tally, bettering her own record of 48.5 from 2020.

--A shark bit three people off a southern Texas beach in what the city’s fire chief called an unprecedented incident on the Fourth of July, the same day another person was bitten by a shark in Florida, officials said.

The three were bitten off South Padre Island, a barrier island near Brownsville, and the shark was later located and “pushed out to deeper water,” the fire chief said.

One of the victims had a severe shark bite to the leg... “Beach patrol lifted her up – her calf was just gone, shredded.  Horrific,” said witness Kyle Jud.

In New Smyrna Beach, Florida, a 21-year-old man was bitten by a shark while he was playing football in knee-deep water around 4 p.m., said a Volusia County Beach Safety official.  The man, visiting from Ohio, was taken to the hospital where his injuries were described as non-life-threatening.

Top 3 songs for the week 7/10/65: #1 “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (The Rolling Stones) #2 “I Can’t Help Myself” (Four Tops)  #3 “Mr. Tambourine Man” (The Byrds)...and...#4 “Wonderful World” (Herman’s Hermits)  #5 “Wooly Bully” (Sam The Sham and The Pharaohs)  #6 “Yes, I’m Ready” (Barbara Mason)  #7 “Seventh Son” (Johnny Rivers)  #8 “Cara, Mia” (Jay & The Americans)  #9 “You Turn Me On” (Ian Whitcomb)  #10 “What The World Needs Now Is Love” (Jackie DeShannon...A week...)

Olympic Swimming Quiz Answers: 1) Male swimmers with five gold medals...Michael Phelps (23), Mark Spitz (9), Matt Biondi (8), Caeleb Dressel (7), Ryan Lochte (6), Gary Hall Jr. (5), Ian Thorpe (5), Aaron Peirsol (5), Nathan Adrian (5), Tom Jager (5), Don Schollander (5), Johnny Weissmuller (5, yes, Tarzan).  2) Female swimmers with five gold medals...Jenny Thompson (8), Katie Ledecky (7), Kristin Otto* (6, East Germany, booo boooo), Amy Van Dyken (6), Emma McKeon (5, Australia), Krisztina Egerszegi (5, Hungary), Dana Vollmer (5), Missy Franklin (5).

*Otto said later she didn’t know anything about the use of steroids in the East German program.  Now discuss amongst yourselves.

Brief Add-on up top by noon, Tues.

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