Baseball Quiz: First, a correction. Last time I asked who the three switch-hitters are that homered from both sides of the plate, lifetime, ten times and gave the answer as Mantle, Swisher, and Caminiti. But in a major mistake on my part (and my source is the “2011 Elias Book of Baseball Records”), that is the answer for most games with switch-hitting home runs in a “league.” Eddie Murray and Chili Davis both did it 11 times, though in two leagues…Murray for Baltimore, Cleveland and Los Angeles; Davis for San Francisco, California, Minnesota and Kansas City. My apologies for this carelessness, especially to reader E.C. For today, name the two in the American League to hit six grand slams in a season. Answer below.
1978 and counting…
With the win by Shackleford in the Preakness over Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom, racing fans have to wait yet another year for the elusive Triple Crown as it’s now 33 and counting since Affirmed accomplished the feat in 1978. What was rather amazing is that Shackleford didn’t want to even be saddled and was a royal pain in the ass for its handlers in the moments leading up to the race. As for Kingdom, it mounted a furious charge down the stretch but fell short by half a length.
But on a different topic, the use of drugs in the racing industry, Claire Novak had a piece in ESPN The Magazine on the issue of whether horses should be permitted to run on race-day medication. All major venues in Europe, Australia, Japan and Hong Kong ban drugs on race day.
“In America, though, use of ‘therapeutic’ drugs has become the norm. The most common one, Furosemide, also known as Lasix or Salix, was given to 95% of Thoroughbred race horses last year, up from 45% in 1991. Lasix reduces the risk of exercise-inducing bleeding in the lungs, but experts in Hong Kong say that less than 2% of their runners are forced to retire annually because of the condition. So why is the drug really used? Many believe in its performance-enhancing qualities. It works as a diuretic; runners can urinate 10 to 20 pounds before a race, and the lighter the horse, the faster he runs. Another widely used drug is Phenylbutazone, or Bute, an anti-inflammatory that may provide an edge by masking the pain that otherwise limits a horse’s ability to compete.
“ ‘The reputation of North American runners has been reduced internationally because people realize performances here have been enhanced,’ says Lincoln Collins, an international bloodstock agent with many years of experience in both his native England and in the U.S. ‘The widespread belief that racing here is rife with drugs – both legal and illegal – makes our racing a joke. Not only does this affect our credibility, but it also affects the marketability of our horses abroad.’
“As race-day meds increase, long-term productivity seems to decrease. In 1960, an average racehorse in the States made 11.31 starts per year; today, that figure stands at 6.11. The average number of lifetime starts made by U.S. Thoroughbreds born from 2003 to 2007 was 12.97. In 1950 that number was 45.2.”
“Horse racing will remain a peripheral sport in the U.S. until it presents a product that is pure. We should all know that when a race is run, the horses are performing on the basis of their merits, not their meds. As one top trainer says, ‘I don’t mind my horse getting beat, but I want it to get beat by a better horse, not by a horse that just had better drugs.’”
Lance Armstrong
Speaking of performance-enhancing drugs, American cyclist Tyler Hamilton, who rode on the U.S. Postal Service team with Armstrong from 1995 to 2001, told CBS’ 60 Minutes that he saw Armstrong inject EPO, a banned drug that boosts the number of red blood cells, more than once. Hamilton’s own career was short-circuited by two positive tests. Armstrong won the Tour de France from 1999-2005.
A lawyer for Armstrong, Mark Fabiani, said, “Tyler Hamilton is a confessed liar in search of a book – and he managed to dupe 60 Minutes. Most people, though, will see this for exactly what it is: More washed-up cyclists talking trash for cash.”
It was a year ago that Floyd Landis first claimed he and Armstrong participated in doping and Landis’ 2006 Tour de France triumph was nullified by a positive test.
But wait…there’s more! A longtime member of Armstrong’s inner circle, George Hincapie, also told 60 Minutes he saw Lance use PEDs.
Ball Bits
–As baseball looks to increase the number of teams eligible for the playoffs from eight to ten as early as next season, columnist George Will is one of 14 members of a committee that took a secret vote on the idea for the commissioner’s office and it was unanimous. Add more teams.
Part of the reason for the move (not yet official), as the Wall Street Journal’s Matthew Futterman put it, is because “Much of the drama of the season is pretty much over after 50 games – by June 1. By then, about one-third of the teams are out of it; another half dozen will join them if they don’t get hot quickly.”
“I usually give up by my birthday, which is May 4,” said the Cubs fan. “It’s important for baseball to take back September [from the NFL]. You do that by making more fans and more cities feel like they are in the scramble.”
“Since 1996, just 9% of teams with a losing record on June 1 wound up with 90 wins, the number teams usually shoot for to make the playoffs.”
By this measure, fans in Houston, Minnesota, Seattle, Arizona, San Diego, Pittsburgh and both sides of Chicago can start waiting ‘til next year (barring a dramatic turnaround in the next week and a half).
Mets outfielder Carlos Beltran said, “You need 50 games to know who you are.”
“Dennis Eckersley, the Hall of Fame pitcher, said no matter what players say about putting losses behind them and taking the season one game at a time, poor starts have a debilitating effect, especially if a team within the division scorches the first two months.
“ ‘It affects the guys who play every day,’ Mr. Eckersley said. ‘They get disheartened.’ Mr. Eckersley was on the Boston Red Sox in 1984 when the Detroit Tigers started the season 35-5 and had an eight-game lead by May 23. ‘You just knew no one was going to catch that,’ he said.”
–Last Thursday, Colorado’s Jason Giambi became the second-oldest player in baseball history to hit three home runs in a game, driving in all seven runs in a 7-1 win for the Rockies over the Phils. Stan Musial is the oldest to do so when he hit three against the ’62 Mets at the age of 41.
–Update: Regarding Jim Crane’s $680 million bid for the Houston Astros, Mr. Crane could have a problem in the form of a 2000 EEOC investigation into hiring practices at his Texas freight company, Eagle Global Logistics. As reported by the New York Times’ Richard Sandomir:
“Eagle…had failed to promote blacks, Hispanics and women into managerial positions, the agency, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found. Eagle had also demoted women from managerial positions, maintained a hostile workplace, paid blacks, Hispanics and women less than male and white counterparts, and shredded important documents, the agency said.
“The report cited an accusation that Crane told his managers not to hire blacks because ‘once you hire blacks, you can never fire them.’ Witnesses said Crane did not permit Eagle to advertise job openings because he did not want to build up files of applications by qualified minority job-seekers.
“Crane and his company aggressively fought the E.E.O.C. and similar allegations in a civil lawsuit brought by some former employees. But Crane, without admitting wrongdoing, eventually signed a consent decree that settled the charges for $8.5 million.”
Needless to say, given baseball’s past (see Jackie Robinson), this could be a deal breaker. The NAACP issued a statement noting Crane’s “dismal record in the area of discrimination,” and saying that he should be closely monitored.
Frankly, MLB should not approve the sale. The guy had also backed out of a purchase of the Astros three years earlier when he got cold feet due to the financial crisis. He’ll be a problem for the sport.
–Since the Mets began play as a franchise in 1962, there have been 128 no-hitters and every Mets fan knows that of the over 7,850 games the team has played, no Mets pitcher has thrown one. It’s still stunning.
–One day the defending champion San Francisco Giants are off to a desultory 13-15 start, the next they are 27-19 and back on top. Nice turnaround.
–The Washington Nationals announced that despite his spectacular start in professional baseball, 18-year-old Bryce Harper will not be called up by the big league club this year.
“Practicality says the Nats don’t want to start Harper’s free agent clock any sooner than necessary. But there are many other reasons as well for keeping him down on the farm for the entire season.
“The Nats need to turn him into a top-flight outfielder. They need to see how he handles pitching at any level above Class A. They need to see how he handles a slump or adversity of any kind, for that matter. Because Harper hasn’t had a lot of setbacks in his baseball life. He’s nearly always been the best player on the field. Somewhere along the way, that will change. The Nats need to be sure Harper can handle that.”
–Back on April 7, I said the Angels’ Jered Weaver would go 29-1 with a 0.59 ERA after his fast start. Johnny Mac wanted to remind me that after Weaver did indeed go 6-0 with a 0.99 ERA in April, but May has been a different story…0-4, 5.25.
—Joe DiMaggio’s 1941 hitting streak, continued
Game 6…May 20…St. Louis…1 for 5…1 RBI
Game 7…May 21…Detroit…2 for 5…1 RBI
Game 8…May 22…Detroit…1 for 4…1 RBI
Game 9…May 23…Boston…1 for 5…2 RBI
–Bob Kimball of USA TODAY Sports Weekly had a piece on the great Robert Moses “Lefty” Grove. The Hall of Famer threw from 1925-41, was 300-141, and won an astounding nine league ERA crowns. Sabermetrics wiz Bill James calls Grove “the greatest pitcher of all time, period.” He won 20, 28 and 31 (79-15) as the Philadelphia A’s reached the World Series in 1929, 1930 and 1931, winning it all in ‘29 and ‘30.
But there was the other side of Lefty. He was nuts. A’s teammate Jimmy Dykes once said, “If he lost a close game, he’d come in and tear the clubhouse apart…Stools and equipment would be flying and lockers kicked in.”
Bob Kimball writes: “He once allowed a double to a rookie, then hit him with a pitch his next time up – in an intrasquad game.
“In 1931, Grove had what his biographer, Jim Kaplan, called ‘the most complete clubhouse demolition in baseball history’ after a teammate misjudged a liner, costing him a chance at the record for consecutive wins (16); he shares the mark with four others.”
–Just one week ago, 44-year-old golfer David Toms lost a heartbreaker, a sudden death playoff to K.J. Choi at The Players Championship. But talk about bouncing back, this week at Colonial, Toms started out firing 62-62, tying the 36-hole Tour record, built a seven-stroke lead, blew the lead, but then prevailed on Sunday and beat Charlie Wi for his 13th career title and first since 2006. Very cool.
–Wrestling legend Randy (Macho Man) Savage died on Friday when his Jeep crashed head-on into a tree near Largo, Fla. Savage’s wife was a passenger in the car and suffered only minor injuries after it seems Savage suffered a heart attack.
Savage was at the center of wrestling’s explosion in popularity in the mid-1980s. As Larry McShane wrote in the New York Daily News, “His larger-than-life persona helped move the choreographed contests from smoke-filled gyms into America’s living rooms.
“The wrestler christened Randy Mario Poffo battled contemporaries like Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper (Ed. my favorite) and Ric Flair, combining his rippling physique with theatrical style.
“He was equally at ease as both heel and babyface – bad guy or good guy – during his long ring career.”
–Follow-up: An autopsy on former New York Ranger Derek Boogard revealed the cause of death for the 28-year-old about ten days ago was an accident due to a toxic mix of alcohol and the painkiller oxycodone.
–Oklahoma linebacker Austin Box, projected to be a key starter on defense this upcoming season, died of an apparent overdose. He was 22. It was a week ago that Alabama offensive lineman Aaron Douglas died and no cause of death in this one has been announced yet.
—Bernard Hopkins, 46, became the oldest fighter to win a major world championship in taking the WBC light heavyweight title Saturday night from 28-year-old Canadian Jean Pascal who was making his fifth defense before a hometown crowd in Montreal. It was a rematch of their Dec. 18 draw in Quebec City. Hopkins is the oldest to take a major world belt since George Foreman bested Michael Moorer for the heavyweight crown in 1994.
–Not that I really care who the network sports producer is but it was kind of interesting that NBC’s Dick Ebersol resigned suddenly after negotiations on a new four-year contract fell apart. Ebersol is best known for NBC’s Olympics coverage and in two weeks was to be the main man for the network during an auction for the 2014 and 2016 Games. No longer.
“If I wasn’t going to produce them, I wasn’t going to be part of the process,” he said last week.
Ebersol expanded on mentor Roone Arledge’s use of tape-delay to save the big events for prime time. While he was heavily criticized for this, Ebersol said he didn’t care because it was good business.
As for the upcoming auctions, ESPN and Fox Sports will be bidding along with NBC and NBC’s new parent, Comcast, is not real thrilled that NBC lost $223 million on the Vancouver broadcast after bidding $2.2 billion for the Games.
Ebersol suffered a family tragedy in 2004 when his youngest son, Teddy, 14, was killed in a plane crash in Colorado that almost cost Ebersol his life as well, leaving him seriously injured.
–In another correction for the record, fellow Wake alum Chris K. believes that the reason former hoops coach Dino Gaudio lost his job was not just the Cleveland State game from 2009 (after which two of Wake’s players allegedly were involved in a situation with a woman though were later absolved by the school and Miami police…the NCAA tournament game having taken place down there), but underperformance the following year, specifically the loss to Miami in the ACC tournament, did in Dino. It was a combination of factors over the two seasons but I should have mentioned how the Deacs flamed out in 2010 as well.
–Dr. John said the Ron Sexsmith LP, Long Player Late Bloomer, is the best he’s heard in the last ten years. The good doctor, who knows a thing or two about music, told me it’s “a case of an artist finally working with the right producer.” Well, I just ordered one for myself.
Top 3 songs for the week 5/19/79: #1 “Reunited” (Peaches & Herb) #2 “Hot Stuff” (Donna Summer) #3 “In The Navy” (Village People)…and…#4 “Stumblin’ In” (Suzi Quatro & Chris Norman) #5 “Goodnight Tonight” (Wings) #6 “Love You Inside Out” (Bee Gees) #7 “Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)” (The Jacksons) #8 “Take Me Home” (Cher) #9 “He’s The Greatest Dancer” (Sister Sledge) #10 “Heart Of Glass” (Blondie…I break out in hives every time I hear one of hers)
Baseball Quiz Answer: Six grand slams in a season…Don Mattingly, Yankees, 1987; Travis Hafner, Cleveland, 2006. [Ernie Banks, Chicago, 1955, and Albert Pujols, St. Louis, 2009, hold the N.L. mark with five slams in a season.]
