Baseball Quiz: 1) Name the six teams with current playoff droughts of at least 10 years. 2) Since the 1962 Mets lost 120 games, name the only other two franchises to lose at least 111. Answers below.
Simpson Ascends Olympic!!!
Gee, do you think Wake Forest got some good late publicity Sunday evening? Alum Webb Simpson’s superb win at the U.S. Open, firing 68-68 on the weekend in what is always the most pressure-packed major of the year has me reaching for the Deaconwear again! I already had my shirts picked out for my upcoming days in Eugene, Oregon, but now it’s going to be mostly Wake gear.
I love how Simpson told Bob Costas before he was assured of the win that “I had a peace all day” and “I prayed more the last three holes than I ever did in my life.”
I’m not the most religious person in the world myself these days, but I’ve heard and read nothing but good things about Webb and I love how he relied on his faith.
And the Arnold Palmer tie-in couldn’t be better for us Demon Deacons.
You all know I’m a golf fanatic and I obviously follow Webb and Bill Haas’ careers as closely as anyone, week by week, and Simpson has had a disappointing year by his elevated standards off his superb 2011. Then he took care of business.
But it’s late here Sunday evening and I need to post this column so just a few random musings.
Yes, that was truly an unbelievably hideous tee shot by Jim Furyk at No. 16 and it will take a long time for him to recover from that one. It sucks getting old.
I don’t know why, but I like Jason Dufner more and more with each week. I mean it’s not like the guy is charismatic. He’s just cool.
Beau Hossler learned a thing or two on Sunday. Jordan Spieth will have a better career but here’s hoping Beau is a fixture in a few years.
I love Graeme McDowell…I really thought beginning of the round he was a lock to win.
And I really wish that Clint Eastwood, aka “Dirty Harry,” was allowed to roam the course, Olympic being in his neighborhood, after all, to target the a-holes who insist on shouting incredibly stupid things after each shout.
BOOOMMM!!! [You’d never have that problem again…golf vigilantes…we need President Obama to sign an executive order authorizing same to speed things along, which shouldn’t be a problem, seeing as he loves the sport himself and is also fond of executive orders.]
Meanwhile, my local pro, 49-year-old Mark McCormick, chronicled his Open experience in some blogs for the New York Post. He would shoot 82-77, +19. But he had his moments. Heck, he parred the first seven par-3s he played, finally bogeying the last one. He only hit 7 of 28 fairways, though, and consequently just 13 of 36 greens in regulation. That’s how you shoot 19-over.
Mark did get “four or five roars” as he put it. He had three birdies (Nos. 10, 12 and 17). And his 20-year-old son, Ryan, the kid who had just won the New Jersey State Amateur at Baltusrol, had a tremendous learning experience of his own in walking 36 holes at a U.S. Open with his father. Ryan certainly has a better sense now of what it takes to be a successful pro, Dad also having practice rounds with Phil Mickelson and Matt Kuchar.
But going back to the first round, I was following Mark’s performance online and there he was, just five-over after 15 holes…very solid. Mark then got tired, though, and tripled No. 16, bogeyed 17, and tripled 18 to finish with the 82.
Understand, Mark has a terrific sense of humor which us members get to see in his daily notes, and for the Post he wrote the following of his first round.
“The only birdie I made was on No. 12. I joked with my wife [Linda] before I started, ‘If I make birdie today I’m getting lucky tonight, right?’ Then, I said to her on the 18th tee, after I’d made a mess of 16 and 17, ‘You know I did make a birdie today.’”
So with Mark turning 50, he said this was his last attempt at making the Open and next year he would try to make the field for the Senior Open and Senior PGA Championship.
As for Rory McIlroy, he started out the year with the following performances, worldwide.
2
T-5
2
1 [Honda Classic]
3
T-40 [Masters]
2
But after missing the cut at the Open, that’s four of his last five he hasn’t advanced to the weekend.
Another who failed to make the cut, No. 1-ranked Luke Donald, has now not finished higher than 45th at the Open since 2006. So will Donald ever win a major?
Speaking of not advancing to the weekend, I saw in Golfweek that Michelle Wie has now missed six consecutive cuts in stroke-play events. Her teacher is David Leadbetter.
One other golf note. Jack Nicklaus is getting his own wing, the “Jack Nicklaus Room,” at the USGA Museum at its Far Hills, N.J. headquarters. I wrote of going there for the first time in ages last year and it’s really a great spot that too many in my area forget is even there. Personally, I should go once a year. It’s in a beautiful part of my state and the museum itself is terrific.
So Jack joins Bobby Jones, Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan and Mickey Wright as players with their own room.
And starting this year, the U.S. Open champion will receive the “Jack Nicklaus Medal,” which has been awarded to every winner since the Open began in 1895 but has never had a name.
Miami 2-1
Sorry, I was glued to the golf and didn’t give a flying [burrito] about the Heat-Thunder contest on Sunday, though I did catch the final two minutes, only to see Russell Westbrook do his thing; which can be incredibly frustrating.
I’ll refocus on Tuesday, with the Thunder now being down 2-1 in the series.
Lance Armstrong
The United States Anti-Doping Agency formally charged Lance Armstrong with doping in a fifteen page letter to him, alleging doping involving EPO, blood transfusions, testosterone and masking agent activities between 1998 and 2011. Until he answers the charges he must discontinue his comeback as a triathlete. Eventually he could be stripped of his seven Tour de France titles.
USADA continued to investigate Armstrong even as the U.S. Attorney’s Office decided against bringing charges against him in February in the investigation looking into misuse of Federal funds for doping by Armstrong and the U.S. Postal team.
“I have never doped, and, unlike many of my accusers, I have competed as an endurance athlete for 25 years with no spike in performance, passed more than 500 drug tests and never failed one. That USADA ignores this fundamental distinction and charges me instead of the admitted dopers says far more about USADA, its lack of fairness and this vendetta than it does about my guilt or innocence.”
Mike Lupica / New York Daily News…having started his column talking about two different superstars, different kinds of “cheaters,” Tiger Woods and LeBron James; the former cheating on his wife and the latter getting grief for cheating on a whole city and its fans.
“That brings us to Lance Armstrong, another sporting icon, international star and inspiration to millions of Livestrong-wearing yellow bracelets. Armstrong is a different kind of cheater, a world-class liar and cheat according to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which now officially charges him with doping and is fully prepared to strip him of his seven Tour de France titles.
“And if it is true, if the USADA has the goods on him, with former teammates testifying against him and blood samples from even 2009 and 2010 that the agency says are ‘fully consistent with blood manipulation including EPO use and/or blood transfusions’ – if science finally gets this guy the way the other riders never could – then Armstrong has done something more than destroy his own mythology.
“He has effectively destroyed the sport that made him rich and famous.
“Cycling now makes pro wrestling look serious, and should be banned from the Olympics immediately. It is clear now, and just because of Armstrong, the biggest star in the history of the sport, that systematic doping has gone on for generations in this sport, and made a complete mockery of the idea of a level playing field….
“Armstrong has said in the past that he is done fighting the ruling bodies of his sport and these accusations. Only it is hard to see him not fighting this as hard as he can, maybe ignoring the charges against him and suing the USADA. How dare they come after a beloved global icon like him? Don’t they know how many people he’s helped?”
“As Armstrong copes with the enormity of this news…he would be wise to remember one important fact:
“He asked for the USADA investigation that has brought formal doping charges against him, could cost him his seven Tour de France titles and has resulted in his first banishment from sport – an immediate suspension from competition in triathlon, a sport he turned to after he retired from cycling in 2011.
“After Sports Illustrated published a story in January 2011 alleging that Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs, he tweeted that he looked forward to being vindicated by USADA.
“In hindsight, Armstrong should have been more careful what he wished for.”
Ball Bits
–So was San Francisco Giants hurler Matt Cain’s perfect game on Wednesday against the Houston Astros the best pitching performance ever? Certainly it is the best perfect game ever, along with Sandy Koufax’s 1965 gem. Both struck out 14. And according to one way of calculating a performance, “Game Score,” which I won’t get into the details of because I get sick of some of baseball’s new stats, Cain’s performance was, nonetheless, the best since Kerry Wood’s 20-strikeout effort in 1998. No argument here on that.
By the way, with Philip Humber’s perfect game in April, it’s just the third time in MLB history there have been two perfect games in the same season. Roy Halladay and Dallas Braden in 2010, and Monte Ward and Lee Richmong in 1880.
As for the rash of no-hitters this year, now five, the record is seven in the modern era since 1900, occurring in both 1990 and 1991. There were six in 2010. Of baseball’s 22 perfect games, five have come in the last two-plus seasons. Consider that when Don Larsen threw his perfect game in the 1956 World Series, it was the first in the majors in more than 34 years.
Pitching great Gaylord Perry was asked by the AP’s Ben Walker about the proliferation of no-hitters (14 since 2010).
“I’ll tell you what, every college team has about 12 pitchers, high schools have about four and most schools are playing baseball. So there are a lot of players out there. Because of all the football concussions you’re going to see a lot more kids go to baseball.”
Excellent point. The fact is there are also better techniques and better training for pitchers these days. And it’s not just the crackdown on steroids that is helping the pitching side of the equation, some note the absence of amphetamines as being equally important since hitters wear down more easily compared to starting pitchers who are going out there only every fifth day.
—Carlos Beltran became the first switch hitter in major-league history to record 300 home runs and 300 steals. Thru Saturday’s play he now has 321 career homers to go with 300 steals in 343 attempts. [3rd best percentage in baseball history.]
–The Pirates’ A.J. Burnett became the first Pittsburgh pitcher to win six straight starts since 1990 as he moved his record to 7-2.
–In defeating the Washington Nationals 5-3 in 14 innings on Saturday, the Yankees won for the first time in 13 games in which they did not hit a home run.
–Speaking of the Nationals, pitcher Gio Gonzalez has now allowed just one home run in 78 2/3 innings, or 0.11 per nine innings, which would be the fewest home runs allowed per nine since 1967 (minimum 20 starts) if he keeps it up. [Nolan Ryan, HOU, 1981…149 innings, 2 HR]
–Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey is an astounding 10-1, 2.20 ERA, and now holds the team record for consecutive scoreless innings, 32 2/3, besting Jerry Koosman’s club mark of 31 2/3 set in 1973. But in the ninth inning of Dickey’s last start, a one-hitter, an error and two passed balls led to an unearned run or his streak would still be going on at 33 2/3.
Remember, Dickey ended last season with 12 consecutive quality starts (six innings allowing no more than three earned runs) and he’s now 12 of 13 for this year, or 24 of 25!
In his last six starts, he has also struck out 58 while walking just 4. Remarkable. Even Phil Niekro, the Hall of Fame knuckleballer who won 318 games in his career, commented the other day, “I had a few streaks, but nothing like he’s going through….He is just dynamite right now.”
No other knuckleballer has been able to change speeds on the pitch like R.A. can. To state the obvious, he’s just been getting better and better as he seeks perfection. For Mets fans it’s been terrific fun watching this guy progress.
And consider that Niekro retired at 48. Dickey is still ‘just’ 37. He’s an untouchable. Who could have said that even the first half of last season before he got into this incredible groove?
[By the way, Niekro was 16-12 with the Yankees at age 46.]
–The Mets’ Jason Bay is on the disabled list for the fourth time in his 2 ½ years with the Mets; this time another concussion. He could be out a very long time after once again crashing into the wall in an attempt to corral a Jay Bruce drive that ended up as an inside-the-park home run.
–The great Johnny Bench was interviewed by the New York Times and was asked the following.
Q: The Mets’ Ike Davis has valley fever, a fungal disease for which you once had surgery. What advice do you have for him?
Bench: Get the surgery done if he needs it. Even though it’s a benign lesion, it still can fester. Bob Uecker’s son, Steve, died from it. I couldn’t believe it. In my case, I told the doctor we could have treated it with medicine. He said, no, we couldn’t have. That had to come out.
I found this kind of startling. Davis’ valley fever story has been around since spring training and he’s obviously struggled mightily at the plate, but I didn’t realize surgery was an option.
–We note the passing of former pitcher, Dave Boswell. He was 67. Boswell was 68-56 in an 8-year career, including a 20-12 season for Minnesota in 1969.
But as Richard Goldstein of the New York Times noted, he is most remembered for his role in one of Billy Martin’s greatest fights.
Martin was Boswell’s manager in that same ’69 season when there was a fight on Aug. 6 at a Detroit bar after a Twins game against the Tigers.
“Accounts differed. Martin said he had confronted Boswell at the bar after the Twins’ pitching coach, Art Fowler, reported to him that Boswell had refused to run his customary laps before the game that evening.
“Boswell then got into a fight outside the bar with Bob Allison, a Twins outfielder, who, as Martin told it, was trying to calm him. Martin said that when he got outside, Boswell hit him as well, at which point Martin’s peacemaking efforts collapsed, as did Boswell.
“Martin retaliated by landing ‘about five or six punches to the stomach, a couple to the head, and when he came off the wall, I hit him again,’ he told the Associated Press, adding, ‘He was out before he hit the ground.’”
Boswell received numerous stitches in his face, and Martin had his right hand stitched up. He came back a few weeks later and went on to win 20 for the year as the Twins captured the A.L. West title. But in the ALCS against the Orioles, Boswell hurt his shoulder pitching in the 11th-inning of a scoreless duel against Dave McNally and Boswell would win only four more games the rest of his career.
–What a huge win for Greece in defeating Russia on Saturday, 1-0, in the Euro 2012 competition. Everything I read before the tournament started had Russia winning the whole thing and every time I’ve watched the Russkies, they seem superior, especially their dribbling and ball control, but now they’re out, shockingly failing to make the quarterfinals while Greece and Czech Republic advanced out of Group A.
Needless to say it was a real shot in the arm for the suffering Greeks and Athens saw an outpouring of patriotism following the result. Revelers broke into chants of “bring on the Germans,” that nation being Greece’s prime critic.
–Speaking of big football games, I saw this bit in BBC History Magazine.
June 2, 1962…The ‘battle of Santiago.’ Chile beat Italy 2-0 in an ill-tempered World Cup group match, which saw numerous fights, police intervention and two Italian players sent off. The British referee, Ken Alston, is said to have later observed: “I wasn’t reffing a football match. I was acting as an umpire in military maneuvers.” Introducing the match highlights, BBC commentator David Coleman said: “The game you are about to see is the most stupid, appalling, disgusting and disgraceful exhibition of football, possibly in the history of the game.”
–The International Olympic Committee has launched an investigation into allegations Olympic officials and agents have been offering tickets to prime events at the London Games on the black market. The Sunday Times (of London) presented evidence on 27 officials controlling the tickets for 54 countries.
Talk about a bunch of bastards, remember how I said a few weeks ago that tickets to the men’s 100-meter final (think Usain Bolt) were going for over $1,000? It seems various national Olympic committee members put thousands of tickets up for sale at such prices. The Sunday Times said its undercover reporters, “posing as envoys of a Middle Eastern ticket dealer, found 27 agents willing to sell tickets for up to $9,430 to a variety of high profile events.” [AP]
There has never been anything good about the IOC…period.
–College football fans are going to get their playoff. This summer the BCS is going to settle on a four-team format for January 2015. There’s a big meeting coming up Wednesday when the 11 conference commissioners and Notre Dame’s AD gather in Chicago to come up with recommendations to present to university presidents who are meeting the following week in Washington. The presidents have the final say.
How the four teams are to be picked will be determined later, but for now the presidents have to agree on the four figure, first. They’ll have to decide whether there will be four teams placed in a bracket, or whether all the bowl games will be played out as currently constituted and then a “plus-one” game is held. Or will two bowl games serve as the semifinals? And will a team have to win its conference to be considered?
Once those decisions are reached, then, as USA TODAY reports, ESPN will be given a 30-day window to negotiate a price to broadcast the games. If the parties can’t agree, it goes to open bidding.
Some say the playoff system will start with four teams, but eventually reach 8, which would allow each champion from the Big Six conferences to get in (Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, Pac-12, ACC, Big East) plus two at-large teams.
But at least by end of this summer we should have a plan in place.
–Give the Seattle Seahawks credit for offering a tryout to Brian Banks, the exonerated rape convict. Coach Pete Carroll said, “He exceeded my expectations. He looked much more comfortable than I thought he would. He’s not in good shape yet and he’s a ways from that, but I was really surprised that he fit in as well as he did.”
Banks participated in the Seahawks two-day minicamp but there is no assurance as yet he’ll be invited to training camp. On Monday, Banks goes to San Francisco for a workout.
The guy has the size, and he can get in football shape. I would hope some team sticks him on the taxi squad so he can be around a pro organization for a year and then get a full shot in 2013.
–I didn’t watch Nik Wallenda’s tightrope walk over Niagara Falls (Gorge) on Friday night, tuning in right after he had crossed, but when you saw the videotape, it really was remarkable, even with the tether that he was forced to wear against his wishes. What a great advertisement for the falls, too. So Wallenda thus became the first ever to walk right over them.
—Four Japanese climbers are presumed dead after an avalanche apparently consumed them on Mount McKinley. The five-man group was descending at about 11,800 feet, moving as a one-rope team, when it was swept downhill. The rope was severed. One team member, 69 years old, survived with minor injuries after being tossed into a crevasse, according to the Park Service.
Imagine the poor guy. He couldn’t find his mates amid the debris and descended 4,600 feet to a base camp where he reported the accident.
I forget that Mount McKinley is over 20,000 feet, at 20,320 the highest peak in North America. As of Saturday, 395 mountaineers were attempting routes on McKinley.
—June 18, 1812…the United States declared war on Great Britain.
A: Rivalry between ‘town’ and ‘gown’ in Oxford has long existed. Its most serious manifestation began on 10 February 1355, St. Scholastica’s Day, when two students named Walter Spryngheuse and Roger de Chesterfield, drinking in a town tavern, complained about the quality of the wine and beat up the pub’s landlord. The landlord gathered together his friends to take revenge, fellow students rallied to the support of Spryngheuse and de Chesterfield and, in the violence that followed, nearly 100 people were killed.
Although the students had started the trouble, blame was pinned on the townsfolk. An annual fine was imposed on the mayor and council of one penny for every student who had lost their life. This continued to be paid for 470 years until it was finally abolished in 1825.
–So you know that Florida tour boat captain who had his hand bit off by an alligator? As reported by Rene Lynch of the Los Angeles Times:
“Animal rights activists on Thursday denounced the decision to kill the alligator in a bid to recover the man’s hand. They said the captain, who is now under investigation for feeding the animals, is to blame for teaching the fearsome creature that people = food.”
If an investigation by Florida Fish and Wildlife officials proves the captain, Wallace Weatherholt, had been feeding the animals, he could face prison time or a fine.
–At least the Animal Kingdom is fighting back. Director of Shark and Gator Attacks, as well as Vice President of Beer Distribution for Bar Chat, Bob S., passed along a piece from Myrtle Beach, S.C., as reported by Carolina Live’s Lisa Edge:
“Horry County Fire Rescue says four people were bitten by a marine animal or animals Thursday afternoon. Firefighters cannot say if the bites were caused by a shark, but a lifeguard on the scene said he was pretty sure it was….
“The bites are not expected to be life-threatening. We’re told the victims were bitten in their feet, calves or both.”
One of the victims was in chest deep water when it happened.
“There were about five large indentations on his calf. The blood was pouring down to his ankle and he had five sets of teeth marks,” said one witness.
–Did you see the story of the foot-long cannibal shrimp now being found in the Gulf of Mexico? Holy cow. The Daily News’ Ryan Gorman reported the other day on this monster of the deep, which is incredibly ugly and threatens the native shrimp populations.
Called the Asian Tiger shrimp, the population of the invasive species has jumped tenfold and they eat almost anything in their path, including small crabs.
And how did it get here? They “are believed to have broken free from a shrimp farm in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of the Dominican Republic during a hurricane in 2005 and rode currents to the Gulf.”
–Here’s some exciting news. Writing in the Journal of Wildlife Management, researchers say the mountain lion or cougar is re-populating vast areas of the United States and that the overall population is around 30,000. Back in the 1960s and 70s, the mountain lion was confined to areas around the Black Hills, but situations like the big cat found in Connecticut last year, which genetic analysis had it traveling all the way from the Black Hills, as well as sightings as far south as Texas and as far north as the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba, confirm the extent to which the species has branched out.
—Vampire mania has come to Bulgaria. Last week, a 700-year-old skeleton with metal stakes where his heart had been stirred it up in Europe and attracted flocks of tourists to the churchyard grave site in Bulgaria’s Black Sea Port of Sozopol. Authorities, due to the crush, have since moved the display to the Bulgarian Natural History Museum in Sofia.
It turns out that modern-day archaeological excavations in the country have found 100 graves in which remains appeared to have been pinned down with iron rods or stakes.
Of course it is in neighboring Romania where the legend of 15th century ruler Vlad the Impaler became the real-life inspiration for novelist Bram Stoker’s Dracula, yet the discoveries of some of these staked skeletons in Bulgaria go back more than a century before Vlad.
–You know what is incredibly stupid? NBA players wearing lenseless oversize glasses as a fashion statement. I absolutely can’t stand that commercial for NBA.com that has been airing, showing the post-game press conferences with the league’s primo jerks as if any of what they have to say is remotely entertaining, let alone funny as the league wants us to think it is.
Of course then you have the Thunder’s James Harden and his stupid beard. Bottom line, you wouldn’t catch hockey players pulling this crap, that’s for sure.
–I’ve never had a reason not to like the Spurs’ Tony Parker, but what the heck was he doing at the New York nightclub, 4 a.m. on Thursday, when the fight broke out between Drake and Chris Brown’s posses? Parker got a shard of glass in his eye and while he should be OK, he scratched his cornea and took himself to the emergency room in Paris after a flight there following the brawl because the pain was so intense.
And talk about an ugly scene that could have easily turned deadly, it’s said Brown was hanging out in the place, SoHo hotspot W.i.P., with members of the Crips street gang. I asked Charlie Brown (no relation) for a comment. “Good grief,” was the predictable reply.
Top 3 songs for the week 6/15/85: #1 “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” (Tears For Fears…hey, a real song! These guys put together some solid albums) #2 “Heaven” (Bryan Adams…what the heck…would never have bought this but as it’s the 80s, could have been worse) #3 “Axel F” (Harold Faltermeyer…one of the crappiest songs since Shostakovich first started scoring his own work)…and…#4 “Suddenly” (Billy Ocean…drank heavily during this time) #5 “Things Can Only Get Better” (Howard Jones…talk about a creep) #6 “Sussudio” (Phil Collins…not a good person, from what we hear) #7 “In My House” (Mary Jane Girls…whatever) #8 “Everything She Wants” (Wham!…just understand I was a bigger oldies fan during this time than I am even today…hated this era!) #9 “Angel” (Madonna…eh, she did worse) #10 “Walking On Sunshine” (Katrina and the Waves…suffice it to say if I heard this one today I’d immediately have to check myself into the emergency room and the intern would be like, ‘What the heck do we do with this guy?!’)
Baseball Quiz Answers: 1) Longest current playoff droughts: Nationals/Expos 30 years; Royals 26; Pirates 19; Blue Jays 18; Orioles 14; Mariners 10. 2) Two franchises to lose at least 111 since the 1962 Mets lost 120. Detroit lost 119 in 2003 and Arizona lost 111 in 1992. The Mets also lost 112 in 1965 and 111 in 1963.
Aside from the ’62 Mets, perhaps the worst team in baseball history, since 1900, was the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics, 36-117, who featured Jack Nabors, who had a 1-20 record, but with a 3.47 ERA, and Tom Sheehan, who was 1-16 on the mound though with a respectable 3.69 ERA of his own. I imagine it wasn’t real good being Mrs. Nabors or Mrs. Sheehan that season.
Nabors finished his career with a 1-25 mark, while Sheehan was 17-39.
*No Bar Chat this week due to travel out to the west coast. Next one Monday, June 25 from Eugene, Oregon…site of the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. Actually, from a truck stop in Halsey, Oregon, but I’ll get into that later.
