Baseball Quiz: Name the top team for pitching (ERA) and batting average in both leagues this year. Answer below.
Andrew Beyer / Washington Post
“Rachel Alexandra has become America’s most celebrated thoroughbred with her raw speed and superior talent, but today she had to win the toughest race of her life with sheer guts.
“From the moment the gate opened for the Woodward Stakes, seven older male rivals subjected the 3-year-old filly to intense pressure. In the stretch, they bore down on her, and jockey Calvin Borel had to crack her with the whip more than 20 times. The stretch-runner Macho Again drew almost abreast of her a few strides from the wire. But Rachel Alexandra fought off the challenge, winning by a head – the climactic moment in one of the greatest seasons ever by an American filly.”
Boy, I was so fired up for the season and it could not have gotten off to a worse start for us Wake Forest fans, let alone fans of the ACC. But at least we aren’t matriculating at Oklahoma.
The Deacons were humiliated in losing to Baylor at home, 24-21. So much for the 7-1 start I thought we would get off to. But it wasn’t the inexperienced defense that let us down…it was senior QB Riley Skinner and his three interceptions. It’s as if the guy peaked late freshman year. [Wake is 7-9 in games in which Skinner throws an INT; 20-3 when he doesn’t.]
But when it comes to the ACC, try William & Mary 26, Virginia 14. William & Mary?! Virginia committed seven turnovers. Plus Maryland got their butts kicked by Cal, Duke lost to Richmond, and No. 7 Virginia Tech blew it in losing to No. 5 Alabama. Of course the tone was set on Thursday night when a listless North Carolina State squad, supposedly much improved, lost to South Carolina at home, 7-3. Ughh.
That same evening, No. 14 Boise State defeated No. 16 Oregon, 19-8. I had a rooting interest in this one because I’m going to the Oregon-USC game late October and was hoping both would be undefeated heading into the contest. Alas, not only did the Ducks lose, but their star running back lost his head. Senior LeGarrette Blount sucker punched Boise State’s Byron Hout, as you’ve all undoubtedly seen by now, and LeGarrette had to be restrained from going into the stands to go after Boise State fans. Blount apologized profusely afterwards but it was too late. Oregon first-year coach Chip Kelly suspended Blount for the season, though he keeps his scholarship…all around the right thing to do.
Then you had poor Oklahoma, No. 3, which lost superstar quarterback Sam Bradford to a shoulder injury in its 14-13 loss to No. 20 BYU. Goodbye dreams of a national title. OU was already without star tight end Jermaine Gresham, who had suffered a knee injury in the last week of practice. Both had bypassed the NFL draft for the title shot. As of this writing, there is no word on how long Bradford will be out.
On a different topic, a word about paydays, as reported by Jack Carey of USA TODAY.
This Saturday, Western Kentucky received $700,000 for playing at Tennessee, Montana State made $650,000 playing at Michigan State, Charleston Southern got $450,000 for the right to get crushed by Florida (though they beat the spread!), and Liberty earned $365,000 at West Virginia. Plus, Navy earned a cool $1 million for traveling to Columbus, OH and almost upset the No. 6 Buckeyes to boot.
Of course for these schools it’s about filling holes in their budgets. Later in October, for example, Delaware State travels to Michigan to face the Wolverines and they’ll earn $550,000…nice when you consider the entire budget for the football team is about $3 million. Michigan’s athletics budget, on the other hand, is over $85 million.
Finally, kudos to Syracuse quarterback Greg Paulus, the former Duke backcourt star, who successfully made the transition to the gridiron in going 19-for-31 for 167 yards while leading Syracuse to within a hair of a major upset, as the ‘Cuse lost to Minnesota in OT, 23-20. Yeah, Paulus screwed up in the end but at least Syracuse fans have a reason to tune in this year compared to the disaster of the past few.
Sally Jenkins / Washington Post…on the sideline beauty.
“One of the really likable things about Erin Andrews is that she handles her beauty better than everyone around her. When the frat boys scream inarticulate devotions, or puritan critics scold her for dressing too pretty on the job, or the creeps fixate, she shows just the right amount of cool….
“The audience’s preoccupation with Andrews’ appearance has long presented her with a series of professional complications, a matrix of trip wires. She works in a visual medium that tolerates Tony Siragusa but not an unattractive woman, and requires both to wear makeup. She has to take advantage of her appearance, yet can’t appear to use it or she’ll be accused of manipulation. She has to be appealing enough so that the participants on the sidelines will respond to her, and yet sharply knowledgeable enough to ask them tough questions in the important moment. [And the other night she had] to reassert that she’s a professional in control of her own image, while acknowledging that she was victimized by voyeurism.”
Andrews did just fine, falling back on her “I am who I am” mantra. “She happens to be 5 feet 10 with a great shape and long tumble of blond hair, and she never apologized for that, and why should she now?…
“Andrews was victimized, but she’s not a victim. Few American women have enjoyed as much opportunity or equality at work as she has. My guess is that she understands the complexities and contradictions of that, just as she appears to understand that beauty has as much to do with intelligence, congeniality and grace as it does with form.”
Arnie Turns 80, part II
“Lasting popularity of this magnitude cannot be simply explained, but if at gunpoint you had to point to one source, it would probably be his go-for-broke approach to playing the game. ‘The style you are referring to, I know what you mean and I know what it meant to me, but I’m not sure how to explain it without coming across as cocky,’ Mr. Palmer told me in a telephone interview this week. ‘If I said just one thing about it, I’d say I played that way because I was afraid of losing. I was playing to win.’
“Mr. Palmer’s style resonated hugely with golf fans in the late 1950s and 1960s, as well as with the then-newly enfranchised television public at large. Various sociological reasons for this have been suggested. Mr. Palmer’s brio represented a kind of break-through athletic id to a population still shaken by the Great Depression and World War II (both still recent in the 1950s) and awash in anxiety about the Cold War. However valid such conceptualizing may be, Mr. Palmer’s appeal worked only because his style and its sponsoring personality were irrepressibly genuine, as thousands of testimonials over the ensuing years, from fellow pros, celebrities and everyday people he encountered and continues to encounter, have confirmed. The small-town boy from Pennsylvania, son of a lowly course superintendent, succeeded by dash and daring beyond all expectation, thrilling the world because he was so obviously thrilling himself.”
“Records speak for themselves, but Arnold Palmer’s splendid record speaks too softly. As he turns 80 on September 10, how important he is has obscured how great he was.
“Palmer didn’t invent golf, just grace and golf, just television and golf. Raymond Floyd says, ‘Arnold was the epitome of a superstar,’ even before that word was coined. ‘He set the standard for how superstars in every sport ought to be, in the way he has always signed autographs, in the way he has always made time for everyone.’ In his patience. In his decency.
“ ‘On the golf course,’ Floyd says, ‘all I ever saw was a mass of people. I saw, but I didn’t see. He was able to focus in on everyone in the gallery individually. It wasn’t fake.’ He was able to make eye contact with the entire world….
“In ’62, Palmer lost the U.S. Open playoff to Jack Nicklaus at Oakmont between Masters and British triumphs. From ’60 to ’63, Arnold won 29 tournaments and finished second 10 times. During that blitz, he had 66 top 10s on the PGA Tour. Tiger Woods isn’t the first golfer who ever dominated.
“A smaller moment in ’62 has stayed with Nicklaus. ‘It was at the Phoenix Open,’ he says, ‘the first time we played as pros in the same group. I needed a birdie on the last hole to finish second to him in the tournament. I’ll never forget coming to the 18th tee.’
“ ‘I did birdie it,’ Jack says, ‘finishing second, making a whopping $2,300. Oh, by the way, he nipped me that week by 12 shots.’”
What’s amazing is that Arnie stopped winning majors at age 34! But because he remained in contention at both Augusta and in U.S. Opens, no one seemed to notice.
Gary Player: “Jack won majors for 25 years; I won them for 20; Arnold won them for six [1958-64]. But because he was so charismatic, because he did so much for golf, because the people loved him so dearly, they thought he was still winning. And, you know what? He was.” He was winning hearts, as Tom Callahan writes.
Ichiro became the second-fastest to reach 2,000 hits…1,402 games compared to Al Simmons’ 1,390. Ichiro is also on the verge of his record 9th consecutive 200-hit season. But, alas, his baseball card is ruined because he is unlikely to score 100 runs for the first time during this stretch.
Meanwhile, Derek Jeter is just four hits shy of breaking Lou Gehrig’s Yankee record of 2,721. Tickets for the next few home games are selling for as much as $2,000. It’s a terrific achievement for the one Yankee that even Mets fans respect.
The Wall Street Journal had a blurb the other day on the “chattiest TV announcers.” And how would you go about measuring this? The Journal listened to the first scoreless inning of every team’s home broadcast one particular Friday – tally counter in hand – and calculated how many words they uttered per minute. The winner? Vin Scully of the Dodgers, 143.5 words per minute. But…understand he is the only announcer in the league who works the booth without a partner. Thus, Dan McLaughlin of the Cardinals, at 109.9 should probably be recognized as the true chattiest announcer. The Mets’ Gary Cohen and the Yankees’ Michael Kay are in the middle of the pack.
The New York Times’ Tyler Kepner has a piece on the Pittsburgh Pirates, who as I’ve noted before are headed for their 17th consecutive losing season, setting a new standard for futility. But as Kepner writes, take a look at some of the Pirates’ top draft picks vs. players they could have had.
1993 – Charles Peterson, OF, 22nd pick…could have had Scott Rolen who went 46th
1994 – Mark Farris, SS, 11th…could have had Nomar Garciaparra who went 12th
1995 – Chad Hermansen, SS, 10th…could have had Roy Halladay who went 17th
1996 – Kris Benson, P, 1st…could have had Jimmy Rollins who went 46th
1997 – J.J. Davis, 1B, 8th…could have had Lance Berkman who went 16th
1998 – Clint Johnston, P, 15th…could have had C.C. Sabathia who went 20th
1999 – Bobby Bradley, P, 8th…could have had Barry Zito who went 9th
2000 – Sean Burnett, P, 19th…could have had Adam Wainwright who went 29th
2001 – John Van Benschoten, P, 8th…could have had David Wright who went 38th
2002 – Bryan Bullington, P, 1st…could have had Prince Fielder who went 7th
Well, at least the Bucs are now spending good-sized money in their scouting program, particularly in the Dominican Republic.
From James Fanelli / New York Post
“The Mets’ new $850 million stadium is breaking down at about the same rate as its beleaguered lineup, the Post has learned.
“Less than a season old, Citi Field has been plagued by water damage to several luxury suites – including Jerry Seinfeld’s – as well as mold, falling signs and concrete, flooding in outfield seats, faulty electrical wiring and shoddy tile work, sources said.
“ ‘Yankees fans must have built the place,’ an insider scoffed.
“Perhaps the biggest bungle is a water leak that sprang in early August, the source said, creating mold in Seinfeld’s lavish suite and three others nearby.
“The problem was so bad that repairmen were forced to tear down walls in the suites on Aug. 9 to search for the source of the leak while the Mets were on a seven-game road trip, a source said.”
And there was the non-working elevator that forced owner Fred Wilpon to climb four flights of stairs to his office; a rainstorm that caused 20 feet of pipe to collapse in the bullpen, flooding it; a 4-by-6-foot illuminated sign falling in the field level promenade, luckily during an off day; improperly installed electrical outlets…all quite fitting for this sorry franchise with the Third World medical staff.
Meanwhile, ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark had a piece titled “Mets in impossible spot going forward,” wherein one A.L. executive told him, “You look at their team and think, ‘What does the next three or four years hold?’ and it’s not real pretty.”
One N.L. exec commented, “There’s no quick fix out there for them. They’ve got to rebuild half the team on the field and the whole damn starting pitching staff.”
[If you’re thinking the Mets have help down on the farm, the AAA and AA franchises were a combined 60 games under .500 this year.]
And because of key injuries this year, if they wanted to shake things up and trade, say, Jose Reyes, they can’t. He’s damaged goods until he proves otherwise next spring.
From the above story on Sh—y Field, sounds like the Mets should blow up the ballpark, collect insurance money, and maybe move the franchise to Des Moines.
Lastly, at this awful time for the Mets, it doesn’t help to see former star hurler Jerry Koosman head off to prison for six months for income tax evasion. Alas, Kooz is getting what he deserved.
–So I’m reading The Weekly Standard and a story by Fred Barnes on columnist Robert Novak, who just died, and out of nowhere there’s bar chat. It seems that Novak, who while an Illini alum became a big Maryland fan, being in Washington all those years, also had season tickets to the Washington Bullets / Wizards and he convinced his friend, fellow columnist Barnes, to join him. For 35 years the two sat beside each other at midcourt. Barnes writes, “His understanding of basketball was as keen as his knowledge of politics.”
“The Bullets are a notoriously mediocre team, but there has always been hope. In 1985, that hope was named Karl Malone, a power forward from Louisiana Tech nicknamed the Mailman because he had a part-time job delivering mail. The Bullets had the 12th pick in the NBA draft, which gave them a shot at acquiring Malone.”
[The 1985 draft is the one with Patrick Ewing, #1; Wayman Tisdale, #2; Benoit Benjamin, #3; Xavier McDaniel, #4; Chris Mullin, #7, and other future stars such as Charles Oakley, Joe Dumars, and A.C. Green from the first round.]
“Bob and I went to the Capital Centre, where the Bullets played then, on draft day. The team had invited season ticket holders to a party. When the 12th pick arrived, Bob began to yell, ‘Take the Mailman, take the Mailman, take the Mailman,’ at the top of his lungs. I yelled too. The crowd joined in.
“The Bullets took Kenny Green, a forward from Wake Forest. Green was a flop. The last I heard of him, he was playing for the Istanbul team in the Turkish league. The Utah Jazz had the next pick and took Malone. He retired in 2004 after a career as one of the greatest players in the history of basketball.”
I love it. Kenny Green…Wake Forest. Oh yeah, us Demon Deacon fans remember Green. A small forward, he had the smoothest mid-range jumper around and a ton of talent, but he wasn’t a real bright guy and left a year early. That proved costly. As Fred Barnes said, Kenny Green was one of the bigger busts in NBA history.
But I can also just picture Robert Novak going absolutely nuts, and continuing to throw a fit years later, anytime the Mailman was in town and draft day was relived.
–Humorist Joe Queenan, also from The Weekly Standard, on his experience at a Mets-Phillies game; the one that ended on a triple play.
Earlier, an umpire had changed a call on a diving catch by outfielder Jeff Francoeur, initially ruled a trap.
“It was the right call, but a spineless one. An umpire cannot transmogrify a triple into an out just because the fans are booing him, since the other umps could not possibly have seen the play any better than he did.
“This cheesy decision was reached right after the public address announcer informed the crowd that all fans sitting in Section 354, who had previously been told they were eligible for free fast food because the Mets had pilfered three bases in one game, had not actually won the prize. The complimentary vittles were going to the fans in an entirely different section. The error was blamed on ‘a computer glitch.’
“So now, literally hundreds of long-suffering Mets fans were going to have to tell their starving children – smack-dab in the middle of the worst recession since 1929 – that chicken fingers for the entire family were out. And the Mets still wonder why they are not viewed with the same respect as the Yankees. I had never witnessed anything like this at a baseball game before.”
–The Miss Universe pageant’s choreographer told a Web site that Donald Trump personally picks six of the 15 finalists each year. Michael Schwandt told Guanabee.com:
“At all the shows, [Trump] pops up the day before the telecast and we line up all the girls in alphabetical order. [Trump] basically walks by and has an assistant who takes notes on all of them. And it’s just kind of common knowledge that he picks six of the top 15 single-handedly.”
“When I bought Miss Universe 12 years ago, it was a sick puppy. Now the Miss Universe contest is seen in over 180 countries around the world and the ratings are through the roof, and that’s because of beautiful women. I’m not changing a thing.”
It’s true…ratings were through the roof for the last telecast, Aug. 23.
–Check out Cate Blanchett and the accident she had while on stage in Sydney during a production of A Streetcar Named Desire. Playing Blanche DuBois, Blanchett was struck with a prop radio by her co-star Joel Edgerton, playing Stanley Kowalski. A witness told the Sydney Morning Herald that “He [Edgerton] was supposed to throw [the radio] out the window, but it sort of slipped and hit her in the head. She was so good, she just went straight on.”
Yeah, but Blanchett had “blood streaming down the back of her head” said another witness, even as Cate picked up a prop nightie to stem the flow.
Minutes later she left the stage and the production was canceled but she is fine. She did appear the next night in what was a highly anticipated run in Sydney for the Aussie actress.
–China has “quietly” approved the sale of products extracted from endangered tigers. Tiger ‘tronics,’ such as wine made from ground bones, are regarded as traditional Chinese medicines. It seems the Chinese State Forestry Administration actually approved this back in 2007 but with such little fanfare (amid fears it would damage China’s reputation before the Beijing Olympics) that it’s only now most are aware of it. Leopard skins are also allowed.
China has only 30 to 40 tigers in the wild, but has these tiger farms where up to 5,000 have been bred, though it’s widely known the owners are using the tigers to produce the expensive tiger tronics.
So it’s up to us, sports fans, to secretly enter the country and free the tigers. Hey, that would be a terrific movie, don’t you think? I’ll work on the script, including the obligatory part for Megan Fox. The rest of you start looking for investors.
[By the way, here’s another depressing tidbit. The official tiger population in India is 1,411 as of February vs. 3,642 in 2002.]
–But wait…there’s more! Richard Alleyne of the Irish Independent reports that scientists claim while the lion is the King of the Jungle, the tiger has the brains.
“Researchers have discovered that the tiger has a far bigger brain than its big cat rival, even though it is often seen as lower down the food chain….
“Academics have always thought that social species, such as lions, should have larger brains than solitary species, such as tigers, because of the need to handle a more complex social life within groups or prides.”
All of this of course will be taken into consideration when we compile the next edition of the All-Species List.
–Uh oh…back to Megan Fox. In the September/October issue of Wonderland (can’t say I subscribe to this one), she talks of having “mental problems.”
“I basically read every book ever written about Marilyn Monroe. I could end up like that because I constantly struggle with the idea that I think I’m a borderline personality – or that I have bouts of mild schizophrenia.”
–Massachusetts officials have for the first time tagged two great white sharks and are monitoring their movements in the Atlantic. It’s rare for great whites to be in New England waters during summer and swimmers were being warned, though I’m kind of hoping that some don’t get the message…know what I’m sayin’. [It’s good for ratings.]
But what’s this? Beaches were closed in Chatham, Mass., because up to five great whites were spotted on Sunday?! Why did they close them? I have a story to write, for crying out loud.
–I am invoking my ’24-hour rule’ when commenting on the situation between San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman and his alleged choking of Tila Tequila. Some say he was trying to prevent her from driving drunk.
Golf Digest has a story on John Daly and his finances; such as the separate $10,000-a-month payments to two ex-wives, and an ongoing divorce from his fourth wife.
“It’s a lot of pressure,” he says. “Because now when I play, you know, I think about the money. Used to not have to. Now I do, and that’s tough. It’s like every shot, it means something. More than what it used to.”
But Daly still has that raw ability. Tiger Woods once told him, “If I had your talent, John, I wouldn’t have to work out.” Daly’s swing speed is third on the PGA Tour, behind only Woods and Bubba Watson.
You burn 1,442 calories walking 18 holes; 809 calories burned riding 18 holes.
Tom Watson: “I did write Tiger a note earlier in the summer about his behavior, but it’s personal. Don’t know whether he received it, and I really don’t want to go there.
—MillerCoors’ MGD 64 has seen major sales momentum, MGD 64 having just 64 calories, so now Anheuser-Busch has introduced Select 55, a 55-calorie offering touted as the world’s lowest-calorie beer.
But as one analyst told the Los Angeles Times’ Mike Hughlett, “Yes, (MGD 64) has been a success, but at what cost? Where does the MGD 64 consumer come from and what is this consumer not drinking? The answer is Miller Lite.”
MGD has 32 fewer calories than Miller Lite and 79 fewer than Miller Genuine Draft. It also has less alcohol: 2.8% compared with 4.2% for Lite. MGD 64 already has over 1% of the domestic premium beer market, so writes Hughlett. [I note this last passage because anything brewed domestically in my mind is simply “domestic,” while all beers from outside the U.S. are “premium.” Just a fact, fellow lagerheads.]
“A history buff who recreates firearms from old wars accidentally fired a 2-pound cannonball through the wall of his neighbor’s home.
“William Maser, 54, fired a cannonball outside his home in Georges Township (Pa.) that ricocheted and hit a house 400 yards away. The cannonball, about 2 inches in diameter, smashed through a window and a wall before landing in a closet. Authorities say nobody was hurt.”
“Another 4-year-old girl has been injured by a deer at Southwick’s Zoo in Massachusetts. The Telegram & Gazette reported that the child suffered a minor laceration to her right cheek after she was struck by a deer antler. She was hospitalized and was reported to be in good condition.
“Zoo president Justine Brewer did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Last month, a startled deer jumped and kicked another 4-year-old girl in the face at the zoo.”
Expect zoo attendance among 4-year-old girls, nationwide, to plummet.
–I just have to note two birthdays from Saturday…Bob Newhart, 80, and Raquel Welch, 69…both national treasures.
–And this….Country singer LeeAnn Rimes announced her divorce on her Web site, writing, “After much thoughtful mutual consideration, Deane (Sheremet) and I have agreed to move forward with dissolving our marriage.” One small problem. It’s Dean. Not Deane.
Top 3 songs for the week 9/7/74: #1 “(You’re) Having My Baby” (Paul Anka) #2 “I Shot The Sheriff” (Eric Clapton) #3 “Tell Me Something Good” (Rufus…Chaka Khan… Chaka Khan Chaka Khan)…#4 “Rock Me Gently” (Andy Kim) #5 “I’m Leaving It (All) Up To You” (Donny & Marie Osmond) #6 “Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe” (Barry White) #7 “Nothing From Nothing” (Billy Preston) #8 “The Night Chicago Died” (Paper Lace) #9 “You And Me Against The World” (Helen Reddy…Mets Fan Anthem) #10 “Then Came You” (Dionne Warwicke & Spinners)
Baseball Quiz Answer: Top team for pitching and batting in ’09.
NL batting…Los Angeles
NL pitching…Los Angeles
