Baseball Quiz: The other day the New York Times was talking
about Chipper Jones and his quest to hit .400, which is fading
away after a fantastic start, and they had a list of those who have
hit .375 or better since Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941. Six have
done so; three in each league…name ‘em. Answer below.
George Carlin dies, 71. I learned too late of his passing to do it
justice before posting this column. Next chat.
Tiger Woods’ Future
Since the news of his latest surgery hit as I was posting my last
column, I need to include the following thoughts.
Christine Brennan / USA Today
“He is four major victories from tying Jack Nicklaus’ record of
18. One would guess he’ll still reach and pass Nicklaus. But
doesn’t his wounded knee now call into question the inevitability
of that quest? For those who would scoff at this notion, here’s
the logical reply: How can we know? Tiger might have hurt
himself in his rush to return, understandably anxious to get back.
Who will hold him back next time when he’s champing at the
bit?
“Perhaps Tiger will get patched up and keep on going without
missing a beat, considering he did accomplish his Open heroics
on one leg with all that trouble jangling around in the other.
Tiger clearly adapts to knee problems….
“Then again, there’s also a chance that Tiger will become Ken
Griffey Jr., his Windemere, Fla., neighbor who could have been
on his way to 756 home runs until he was reined in by leg
injuries.”
Mike Lupica / New York Daily News
“When he is hurt like this it is big news, same as it is big news
when he misses majors for the first time in his professional
career. In the process, he finds out that even the strongest and
fittest golfer in history can get hurt, and maybe wonder about his
athletic mortality in the process.
“You know that great opponent we want Tiger to have? It may
turn out to be his own left knee.”
George Willis / New York Post
“The announcement yesterday he was undergoing surgery on a
torn anterior cruciate ligament and is also suffering from a
double stress fracture in his left tibia confirmed winning the U.S.
Open will go down as one of the greatest athletic achievements
of our time. Other athletes – Michael Jordan (flu), Emmitt Smith
(dislocated shoulder), Lawrence Taylor (broken leg) – have
played games with severe ailments, but Woods had to perform at
a high level for five consecutive days. Remarkable.
“ ‘By all rights, he doesn’t look like he should have been there
with what has happened to him,’ Nicklaus said during the
weekend….
“Incredibly, there were whispers in the media center at Torrey
Pines suggesting Woods was milking his injury and being overly
dramatic with his pained expressions. Whether they were
skeptics or haters, any doubts about the severity of Woods’
injuries are put to rest now that he is out for the rest of the
season.”
Thomas Boswell / Washington Post
“To fathom what Woods did at the U.S. Open, winning his
national title over five days while playing on a left leg that had a
ruptured anterior cruciate ligament and two stress fractures in the
tibia, in addition to recovering from surgery to remove cartilage
eight weeks earlier, we have to go back in time 10 months.
“To understand the challenges and perils, many running to the
core of Woods’ personality, that will face him as he tries to
resume his place as the greatest golfer who ever lived, we must
also look at the entire progression of decisions that Woods has
made for almost the past year.
“Then, perhaps, you’ll agree with two conclusions. First, given
his lose-lose options once he learned of his stress fractures,
Woods made the right decision to gut out the U.S. Open – a win
that produces even more chills now, in retrospect, than it did in
real time.
“Second, however, we will see how a whole sequence of
decisions has demolished Woods’ left knee – the one that
absorbs the torque of his ferocious swing – the point where, in
the words of swing coach Hank Haney, ‘by last week there
wasn’t much left to damage, frankly.’
“The lesson Woods should, perhaps, take from this episode is
that, while his U.S. Open courage was magnificent, his attitude
toward preserving and protecting his body must change or the
rest of his career may be half of what it should be.
“As Woods walked the fifth hole Sunday, a fan yelled, ‘No pain,
no gain.’ Sounds romantic. But remember Seve Ballesteros’
back. By 35, he was history.
“The red flag that began this magnificent melodramatic mess was
waved in Woods’ face last summer.
“For the first time in his career, his body offered up a menacing
challenge to his own sense of limitless destiny. His ACL had a
‘spontaneous rupture.’ It didn’t snap in an accident. ‘Ping,’ it
just wore out, as he was running near his home in Orlando. Yet
the injury wasn’t a surprise. Woods was told 10 years ago that
he had a ‘deficient ACL.’ He could have exercised less
stressfully – swim, stationary bike. But he liked to run. So he
did.
“Tiger could have had surgery quickly, requiring the same six to
eight months of rehab that he will face now. But despite constant
discomfort-to-pain, he didn’t. Instead, he won five of his next
six events, including the PGA Championship, his 13th major. His
concession to the injury was to skip a customary trip to play in
Asia and rest his knee more before the 2008 season. ‘The hope
was to have the ACL done after the ’08 season,’ Mark Steinberg,
Woods’ agent, said yesterday.
“For Woods, sports history has always bent to his will….Why
mess up ’08? Why risk missing the Open on your favorite
boyhood course, Torrey Pines, a track you own? Or bypass a
chance for revenge against Europe in the 2008 Ryder Cup?
“But the knee disagreed. It hurt more often, probably, though
not unequivocally, because of the ACL damage, according to
Steinberg. Yet Woods won four of his first six events to start
2008, despite the pain.
“Still, Tiger got the message. The knee was getting worse. It
had to be scoped, washed out, immediately after the Masters.
‘The date for the surgery was set well before the Masters,’
Steinberg said. ‘Nothing new happened at Augusta.’
“After surgery on April 15, Woods had six weeks before Jack
Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament and eight weeks before the U.S.
Open. You’re allowed one guess at how Woods did his rehab….
“Before the Memorial, Woods felt a sharp and different pain.
‘Pretty soon it became excruciating,’ Steinberg said. An MRI
exam showed the double stress fracture. The cure: three weeks
on crutches, three weeks of inactivity, then rehab.
“Add up those weeks. Woods would miss the Memorial, the
U.S. Open, the Buick, his own AT&T National in Washington
and presumably the British Open. Then, with luck, he’d return,
with four months of accumulated rust, to defend his PGA title.
And, having ‘come back,’ he couldn’t skip the patriotic Ryder
Cup. So that ACL surgery, which still had to be done sometime,
might jeopardize the 2009 Masters.
“What a disaster. A ruptured ACL that goes unfixed probably
leads to cartilage damage, which leads to surgery, which leads to
(probably excessive) rehab, which leads to a fresh bend-you-
over-in-pain double stress fracture. What do you do?
“ ‘The doctor wasn’t too encouraged about him playing in the
Open,’ Steinberg said. ‘It wasn’t that he could do extensive new
damage to the knee. The doctor just doubted anybody could
stand the pain.’
“To which Tiger said – cue the Greek chorus – ‘I’m playing in
the Open. And I’m going to win.’
“Not only did Woods win but, with a sense of honor worthy of
Bobby Jones or Nicklaus, he kept his secrets. He didn’t upstage
the USGA or his two-day playing partner Phil Mickelson by
making headlines. Instead, he just threw a 30 at Phil on their last
nine together.
“He didn’t steal Rocco Mediate’s one great hour of a lifetime by
making himself an even bigger underdog. What vicious but
effective gamesmanship that would have been. Oh, Tiger limped
and grimaced and, at least twice, looked like he might not take
another step. He knew some players were calling him ‘Oscar’
for his performance and that some in the media doubted that a
simple arthroscopic procedure could be so painful after two
months. But he kept mum.
“Until yesterday. Now, the sports world wrings its hands.
Should Tiger have played the Open? Will Woods ever be the
same?
“There’s no reason this saga can’t have a happy ending….Stress
fractures heal. NFL players recover from ACL surgery routinely.
So, by next year, there’s no reason on earth that Woods’ left leg
shouldn’t be good enough to play great golf.
“That is, if he reworks his swing a bit so there’s less insane
torque on his left knee. And if he swings slightly less hard so
he’s merely monstrously long, rather than epic. Can Tiger
Woods, at 32, after punishing golf balls – and his body – since he
was a toddler, accept that he’s not indestructible?
“Why not? It’s the right shot to play….
“Did Woods just hand us the greatest performance in U.S. Open
history – all 91 holes of it, including a playoff after a playoff?
Absolutely. Thanks, Tiger. We’ll never forget it.
“But please, promise you’ll never do anything like that again.”
Wayne Drehs / ESPN.com
“When the golf cart departed the seventh green at Torrey Pines
on Monday afternoon, carrying Tiger Woods, Steve Williams
and both of their wives to the U.S. Open trophy presentation, the
caddie knew his season was over.
“ ‘I kind of had a premonition that might be it,’ Williams told
ESPN.com Wednesday night. ‘I had an inclination that a certain
surgery might be required. And then Tiger told me, ‘We’re done
for the year.’….
“ ‘When we stood on that first tee on Thursday, my biggest
question was how he was going to walk these holes,’ Williams
said. ‘He couldn’t walk nine holes. And now he was going to
walk four days of 18 holes? I just didn’t see how that was going
to happen.
“ ‘But Tiger is the toughest mental character I’ve ever come
across. If he stands on that first tee, I know we’re going to
complete that tournament no matter what. The word quit doesn’t
even cross his mind. That’s just the way he is. It’s remarkable.’
“Williams said he and Woods were helped considerably by their
tee times. An early-morning tee time on Thursday followed by a
midafternoon tee time on Friday allowed Woods ample time to
elevate and stay off his throbbing knee.
“Once on the course, Williams said he spent most of his time
encouraging Woods who, despite grimacing, not once
complained to Williams that he was in pain….
“On the 72nd hole on Sunday, needing a birdie to force a playoff,
Woods hit his tee shot in the bunker and left his second shot in
thick rough 101 yards from the pin. It was there that Williams
believes he had one of the greatest calls of his career,
encouraging an exhausted Woods to use his 60-degree wedge, a
club he usually hits 85 yards, for his approach from 101.
“ ‘While he was standing over that ball, my heart was beating
pretty hard,’ Williams said. ‘But I figured he only had one
chance – to hit that 60-degree club as hard as he could and
squeeze a little more distance out of it. And that’s exactly what
he did. It landed just beyond the pin, had some spin on it and
came right back towards the hole.’
“From there, Woods drained a 12-foot putt, forcing Monday’s
playoff against Rocco Mediate, which he won on the sudden-
death 19th hole. Afterward, as Williams and his wife raced to
catch a flight, Woods called his caddie’s cell phone to voice his
appreciation.
“ ‘He told me a few words that I will never, ever forget,’
Williams said. ‘It’s something that I’m going to forever keep
between me and Tiger, but it meant the world. What he said will
always stick in my mind.’”
As for the time off he now faces, Williams said “We just had
eight weeks off, and I didn’t miss the golf tour one bit….And, in
the long run, this is something that will help Tiger enhance his
career and get him going healthy again.”
John Paul Newport / Wall Street Journal
[Mr. Newport has had the same knee surgeries Tiger has had, and
faces.]
“Assuming Mr. Woods doesn’t have his surgery done at a walk-
in clinic by a discount doctor (unlikely), and that he rehabs the
knee vigorously (a given) but not too vigorously (the hard part,
for him), there’s every reason to think he will resume his
phenomenal career next year right where he left off, without
much encumbrance from the knee. Probably he’ll be even better.
Since tearing his ACL last summer, he’s won only 10 of the 13
tournaments he entered….With two good wheels instead of one,
there’s lots of room for improvement.
“In middle age Mr. Woods is likely to develop arthritis in the
joint, but barring a significant reinjury, he shouldn’t ever again
have to suffer the searing pain he did in the Open. The knee is an
amazing joint given all that it’s called upon to do – walking,
turning, jumping, twisting – while bearing the full weight of a
human being. But when it’s out of whack, the pain can be like
fire and is often unpredictable. That unpredictability was, for
me, what made Mr. Woods’ struggles last week so awe-inspiring.
….
“Two moments at Torrey Pines stand out for me. The first was
during the playoff Monday, near the green of the short par-four
14th hole, after Mr. Woods failed to convert a relatively easy up-
and-down and took par and Mr. Mediate birdied to pull even in
the match. I was standing inside the ropes near the exit from the
hole when Mr. Woods passed by, slightly limping, within arm’s
reach.
“I’m helpless to describe what I sensed without invoking quasi-
mystical language, but certainly the word ‘aura’ applies here if it
ever did. There was an odd kind of heaviness to him, an
earthbound rootedness, as if he alone would remain standing if
suddenly a 200-mph wind came sweeping over the Pacific cliffs
and blew the rest of us away. And his face was a void, as bland
as a Buddha’s, completely lacking in any emotion I could detect,
whereas I expected anger over the missed putt, or anxiety, or
excitement.
“The other moment came an hour later, at his news conference
after his win. The question had been raised earlier whether he
might have been better off, for his own long-term health, not to
have competed in this Open on his bad knee. He explained what
the Torrey Pines course meant to him and told a poignant story
about his late father, Earl, bringing him to the course when he
was 10 years old to play his first round of golf on a ‘real’ course.
‘I’ve won here as a junior golfer and as a professional and now
the ultimate in the U.S. Open,’ he said. And it struck me how the
heart of a champion is so much more than simple grit and
determination.”
Bye-Bye Willie
And just a bit more on the firing of Mets manager Willie
Randolph.
Jay Greenberg / New York Post
“Willie Randolph, distrustful of Tony Bernazard, didn’t trust
anyone talking to Bernazard within the deposed Mets manager’s
eyesight, either. Therefore, Randolph grew leery of Jerry
Manuel, who, as the walls closed in last Friday night, was on the
field simply having a conversation with the Mets Vice President
of Development (of Suspicions).
“Now that’s paranoia. And it summed up Randolph’s reign, not
that the for-me-or-against-me checklist that Willie meticulously
kept was without some justification. This was a manager who
had Rick Down, the only member on his staff who was truly
Randolph’s guy, taken from him at mid-season a year ago. He
was mindlessly replaced by Ricky Henderson, who was not of a
mind to do the job of hitting coach or any job at all.
“Such change, made strictly for change’s sake, can alter a man’s
thinking as to his friends in high places. And Randolph correctly
concluded he didn’t really have any….
“Randolph, endangered by the collapse, of course, ultimately
nailed himself with insane allegations of racism in SNY’s
coverage. You don’t rip the network partly owned by the team
owner and earn any benefit of the doubt.
“In one spectacular act of self-immolation, Randolph
unflatteringly and incontestably demonstrated the paranoia he
had demonstrated with the media going back to his third-base
coaching decisions with the Yankees.
“Then again, the insecure man’s first managing job was with an
insecure organization, not a good mix from Day One….
“Generally for an organization to succeed, key decision-makers
have to be on the same page. The only same page the Mets have
been on is ripped from the pages of Machiavelli’s ‘The Prince.’”
Willie himself admitted he screwed up, in a first-person piece
with the Daily News.
“And you know what’s also on me? The dumb, and horribly
timed, remarks I made to a New Jersey reporter after we took
two straight from the Yankees last month, when what I thought
were private remarks became very public.
“The bottom line is that by suggesting that the color of my skin
had something to do with how I was judged, I did nothing but
sow the seeds of my demise. I kick myself about that every day.
It makes me angry – and really sad.”
But Randolph also said after being fired he was “still in disbelief,
still not quite accepting that my dream of winning with the Mets
was over.”
Yoh, Willie…you were 88-91 since last May 31st. Enough said.
[Replacement Jerry Manuel is 3-2 thus far as of Sunday.]
Stuff
–According to a story in the London Times, eight matches at last
year’s Wimbledon, at least four involving men’s singles, are
under suspicion for being fixed….part of an investigation
involving eight matches in total. All involve foreign players who
it is suspected were paid out sums more than they would have
earned for a first round loss.
“It is believed Russian and eastern European gamblers are behind
much of the illegal betting, although the dossier also names a
gang of Austrian gamblers.”
One official familiar with the investigation said: “If you look at a
tournament, you might see one match for 23,000 (pounds), one
for 27,000, one for 36,000 and one for 4.5 million. It doesn’t
take a genius to work out that something is going on in the last
one.”
All the losers singled out from Wimbledon are also suspected of
tanking matches at other tournaments. One, who is ranked in the
top 150, was the loser in eight games on the full list. Those
listed on the dossier include players from Argentina, Russia,
Italy, Spain and Austria. Needless to say, this is a rather
important developing story.
–Former New York Giants lineman George Martin just
completed a cross-country walk to raise awareness of the plight
of some of the first responders on 9/11 and their medical bills.
Martin walked 3,003 miles, starting last Sept. 16 in New York
and ending in San Diego. He averaged 22 miles per day and
went through 27 pairs of sneakers and 80 pairs of socks. Martin,
55, also lost 41 pounds and consumed 1,860 bottles of water.
Most importantly, he raised $2 million. Now that’s the best of
America right there.
–I watched the entire last two rounds of the U.S. Open and the
playoff and didn’t think twice about any comments analyst
Johnny Miller made concerning Rocco Mediate, but others felt
differently.
You see, during Sunday’s round, Miller said that Mediate “looks
like the guy who cleans Tiger’s swimming pool.” Later, while
discussing the unlikely prospect that Mediate might win, he said
that “guys with the name of Rocco don’t get on the trophy, do
they?”
Miller, in apologizing, said “I chose my words poorly and in the
future will be more careful.” He added that his intention was to
“convey my affection and admiration for Rocco’s everyman
qualities and had absolutely nothing to do with his heritage.”
You see, two Italian-American groups protested the remarks,
with one demanding NBC suspend Miller. Give me a freakin’
break.
–Bad knee and all, Tiger Woods was the second-longest driver at
the U.S. Open, 321 yards to Dustin Johnson’s 325.
–The Open generated over $100 million in revenue for the
USGA, including $20 million for ticket sales, $15 million for
merchandise, $5 million for food and drink, $20 million for
corporate hospitality and $40 million for television rights. The
profit is over $50 million, which then goes to subsidize the other
13 USGA championships, all of which lose money.
–Bert Shepard died the other day, 87. Back on 11/9/06 in this
column I wrote the following.
“With Veterans Day on Saturday, I was glancing through some
books in the old library here and picked out a story from Gary
Bloomfield’s ‘Duty, Honor, Victory: America’s Athletes in
World War II.’”
Bloomfield:
“One of the most remarkable stories surrounds Bert Shepard, a
young pitcher in the Pacific Coast and Arizona-Texas Leagues,
who joined the Army Air Corps and was assigned to the Fifty-
fifth Fighter Group in England. On May 21, 1944, Shepard
volunteered for a mission to Berlin, flying a P-38 fighter bomber.
After dropping down to tree-top level to do a strafing run on a
Nazi aerodrome seventy miles from the German capital, Shepard
saw other planes in front of him get chewed up in a crossfire of
flak. ‘I’m a mile from the field and they shot my right foot off.’
He was also hit in the chin and lost consciousness. His plane
crashed and exploded. Somehow he survived and was pulled out
of the wreckage and taken to a prisoner of war camp, where a
German doctor amputated what was left of his leg below the
knee.
“Another prisoner at the camp made him an artificial stump, and
soon Shepard was strengthening his leg, even working on his
pitching motion, intent on fulfilling his dream of someday
pitching in the major leagues.
“In January 1945 Shepard was part of an exchange of wounded
prisoners. Seven months later, his dream came true when he was
sent in as a relief pitcher for the Washington Senators against the
Red Sox. He entered the game with the score 14-1 against the
Senators, pitched five innings, and gave up just one run – a
respectable outing for any pitcher, let alone one with an artificial
leg. It would be Shepard’s only big-league appearance, but it
was an inspiring moment for thousands of other disabled
veterans. He would continue to play in exhibition games around
the country, talking to and inspiring hundreds of former
servicemen.”
–BALCO prosecutors are now going after trainer Greg
Anderson’s wife. Once Barry Bonds was indicted, you’ll recall
that Anderson was released; but prosecutors haven’t given up on
efforts to pressure him to rat on Barry and using his wife is a
common tactic. A federal conspiracy charge, should it be proved
she was involved in any cover-up, carries a sentence of up to five
years in prison.
–From Lewis Smith / London Times
“Shrieking during sex can disturb the neighbors in the jungle just
as much as in suburbia, so female chimpanzees make a conscious
effort to keep the noise down, researchers have found.
“Female chimps, much like humans, worry that they will be
overheard and interrupted. But whereas embarrassment can keep
humans quiet, it is fear that reduces chimps’ sex noises to a
whimper. This is because high-ranking females were within
earshot. Those that were unable to suppress their ‘copulation
calls,’ or were unaware that they had an audience, were more
likely to be interrupted and beaten by a higher-ranking chimp.”
Huh.
–Brad K. passed along this important story from the AP.
NEOSHO, Mo. “Missouri state biologists say a big, black cat
killed by a sheriff’s deputy has been identified as a leopard….
“A woman had reported the cat was scratching at the door of her
home near Neosho.”
No one has reported a leopard missing and as Brad observed,
“There is far more to this than simple scratching at the door for
Meow Mix. No telling how many rogue terror cats are out
there.”
Yup…yet another reason to sleep with one eye open.
–There was a sad picture of Paul Newman in the New York Post
the other day emerging from his Fifth Avenue apartment for a
brief walk with wife Joanne Woodward. You forget that
Newman is 83, and now he’s battling cancer. He looks terribly
frail.
Top 3 songs for the week of 6/21/75: #1 “Love Will Keep Us
Together” (The Captain & Tennille) #2 “When Will I Be
Loved” (Linda Ronstadt) #3 “Wildfire” (Michael Murphy…
corny song, but don’t kill me for liking it…)…and…#4 “I’m Not
Lisa” (Jessi Colter) #5 “Love Won’t Let Me Wait” (Major
Harris….uhhh…uhhh……………not the Major Harris of West
Virginia football fame, by the way) #6 “Sister Golden Hair”
(America) #7 “Hustle” (Van McCoy….started off the disco
era…but ya gotta admit, not a terrible tune) #8 “Get Down, Get
Down (Get On The Floor)” (Joe Simon……….no relation to
former Treasury Secretary William Simon) #9 “Listen To What
The Man Said” (Wings) #10 “Cut The Cake” (AWB… “Queen
Of My Soul” better)
Baseball Quiz Answer: Six who hit .375 since Ted Williams hit
.406 in 1941.
Stan Musial, 1948, .376
Ted Williams, 1957, .388
Rod Carew, 1977, .388
George Brett, 1980, .390
Tony Gwynn, 1994, .394
Larry Walker, 1999, .379
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
