Posted: Wednesday a.m.
Baseball Quiz: Who are the only two to hit .420 in a single season since 1920? Answer below.
College Basketball
AP Poll [records thru Sunday]
1. Gonzaga 29-2 (51 first-place votes)
2. Indiana 25-4 (7)…then lost on Tuesday, at home, to No. 14 Ohio State 67-58
3. Duke 25-4 (5)
4. Kansas 25-4
5. Georgetown 23-4 (2)
6. Miami 23-5
7. Michigan 24-5
8. Louisville 24-5
9. Kansas State 24-5
10. Michigan State 22-7
12. New Mexico 25-4
16. Saint Louis 23-5
21. VCU 23-6
–With Gonzaga’s first No. 1 ranking in school history, I still find it amazing that Maryland has never been ranked No. 1, let alone it far and away holds the record with 23 weeks in the AP poll being ranked No. 2. Purdue is next with 10 (also without reaching No. 1).
–So I’m worried about San Diego State, but CBSSports.com’s bracketology “expert,” Jerry Palm, has the Aztecs as an 8-seed with the Mountain West getting five teams.
–Good lord. I didn’t realize Grambling finished 0-27, the only men’s b-ball team in Division I to finish the regular season without a victory. And as Mike Tierney of the New York Times reported:
“Nineteen of the Tigers’ 27 losses came by 20 points or more. They have not lost a game by less than 10. They heard only one halftime speech from (Coach Joseph) Price on the finer points of holding onto a lead.
“They rate last among 345 Division I teams in offense, the only one with an average below 50 points a game (49.6) and 340th in defense, having allowed 77 points a game. They struggle to score when the clock is running, shooting a 342nd-best 36.3 percent, and when it is stopped, hitting a 343rd-best 58.5 percent of their free throws. Shots are hardly plentiful to begin with; they have been outrebounded by 7.2 a game, making the Tigers better than only three teams in the country.”
A big reason for the abysmal performance is that after going 4-24 last season, Grambling was hit with sanctions for their low academic progress rate, with the maximum number of scholarships lowered to 10 from 13 while practice hours and the number of scheduled games was curbed. Just five players ended up carrying scholarships into this season. Get this…seven walk-ons came from the intramural leagues.
Ball Bits
“The Angels screwed Mike Trout for the most ridiculous reason there is: because they could. That’s why they renewed his contract for $510,000, a fortune to most of us, but a joke for the best all-around player in baseball.
“That’s absolutely who Mike Trout is: the best all-around player in baseball.
“And that’s absolutely what the Angels did: screwed him. Because they could.
“Again, it was within the Angels’ rights. Do me a favor and spare me the lecture on the economics of baseball, and how the rules allow teams to control a player’s salary for the first three years. The Angels renewed Trout at $510,000, just $20,000 above the Major League minimum salary. That was their right, but it doesn’t make them right.”
The thing is, as Doyel points out, it’s not as if the Angels are cheap. They gave Albert Pujols $240 million for 10 years, and then handed Josh Hamilton $125 million for five. And that all-time stiff, Vernon Wells, is going to be paid $24.6 million this season.
Trout hit .326 with 30 home runs, 49 steals, 129 runs, a .564 slugging percentage, .399 on-base average and .963 OPS.
So the Angels gave him a 6.25% raise on his $480,000 rookie salary. Or as Doyel concludes, “don’t be that pompous jerk who strolls into the fancy restaurant and orders the biggest steak and finest bottle of wine and then stiffs the waiter because he can.”
–Mets manager Terry Collins said of pitcher Johan Santana, “He’s pissed off. He has every right to be.”
The subject of Santana’s wrath was GM Sandy Alderson for questioning the shape Santana came to camp in. Alderson said Santana wasn’t ready to pitch, so the next day Santana threw a surprise bullpen session. Afterward, Santana asked reporters surrounding his locker if they could spell “spring training.”
“What’s spring training for?” he said a moment later. “What’s practice? To get you better. That’s what I’m doing right now. That’s what I’m here for, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
–So like every time us Mets fans want to get faintly optimistic we just may be playing meaningful games in August (September? No way), reality hits us on the side of the head.
“The Braves’ outfield has taken a couple of Uptons, the Mets’ more downturns.
“The evidence was overt yesterday at Tradition Field as the Braves travelled with their newly configured starting unit of Jason Heyward, B.J. Upton and Justin Upton.
“Meanwhile, there was Lucas Duda in left, Matt Den Dekker in center and Marlon Byrd in right, which might have the distinction of being the starting unit for both the 2013 Mets and the 2014 Long Island Ducks.
“But how could anyone pinpoint the Mets’ starting outfield when even their manager, Terry Collins said, ‘I don’t know who it is’ four weeks before the season opener. He could close his eyes and pick the names out of a hat or, well, he could just close his eyes. Because it is possible the Met outfield will be the worst unit of any type – outfield, infield, starting pitching, etc. – in the majors.”
–But wait…there’s more! In 2010, the Mets took in $143.9 million in revenue, but in 2012 it was down to $121.5 million, as just reported.
–The Yankees’ Robinson Cano is in the walk year of his contract and management is smart enough to know they must lock him up with a big extension. And as the Wall Street Journal’s Daniel Barbarisi notes:
“Since 2007, 13 men have played out their contract year and then gone on to sign a $100 million-plus deal. Of those 13, 10 posted an OPS or ERA that was superior to their career mark in the contract year – in most cases, significantly. And of those 10, five put up the best year of their careers, with a sixth, Mark Teixeira, missing his best OPS figure by only .001.
“ ‘You can make it a positive, or you can make it a negative,’ Teixeira said. ‘I had one of the best years of my career – because you focus. You have a lot of outside distractions, so if you decide to completely block them out, and focus more on baseball, then it can be a positive. If you allow those distractions to seep in and consume you, it can be a negative.’”
The Yankees are trying like hell to wrap up a deal the next month before the season starts. They know that otherwise Cano will probably hit free agency, at which point other teams will throw gobs at him. As Barbarisi notes:
“If and when that happens, don’t expect Cano back. Of the 13 $100 million free agents since 2007, only one went on to re-sign with the team he started the season with. Alex Rodriguez, after his phenomenal 2007, re-signed with the Yankees on what is now considered one of the worst contracts in the history of baseball.”
–From Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal comes this startling statistic.
“Since 1876, there have been just 56 position players listed as throwing left-handed and batting exclusively right-handed. Only three of them are playing today, including the Mets’ Collin Cowgill.” [Cody Ross and Ryan Ludwick being the others.]
I guess I was startled because I grew up watching the great Cleon Jones, who threw lefty and batted righty.
The most famous player of this kind was Rickey Henderson. But I’m surprised Diamond didn’t even mention Cleon!
Rory’s Big Screw-up, continued…
Rory McIlroy, speaking of his withdrawal at the Honda, told Sports Illustrated’s Michael Bamberger Sunday evening that “What I should have done is take my drop, chip it on, try to make a five and play my hardest on the back nine, even if I shot 85. What I did was not good for the tournament, not good for the kids and the fans who were out there watching me – it was not the right thing to do.”
Ernie Els, McIlroy’s playing partner when he walked off.
“When I shook his hand on 18, I wanted to say something to him, but I didn’t, and I kind of regret that. It was obviously a heat of the moment thing. He is who he is. You’ve got to respect what the individual at that moment is like, and he wanted to get off.
“It’s hard to say to the guy, ‘hey, why don’t you stay out here, just think about it a little bit,’ when the guy is actually struggling with something. So at first, I thought that’s what I should have said, and then we heard that it was a toothache, and then I was kind of happy I didn’t. But I probably should have said something.”
Golfer Martin Kaymer, on being No. 1 in the world, which he was for two months in 2011.
“It’s cool to be in that position and be that famous. But you have to watch out. It’s very tough to trust people. Then you meet a lot of new people, and you really don’t know what they want or what they are after, and you become very guarded. You aren’t you anymore.
“Especially when you are young, it is very difficult to handle. In Tiger’s case, he grew up with the media so he had experience in handling it. I’m not saying it was easy for him, but I think it was easier for him to handle all the media and the lifestyle that comes with being No. 1. For someone like Rory now, who is 23, or for me when I was 25, it’s not easy. I’m open about it. There are difficulties that you are not expecting.”
NFL Bytes
–Don Van Natta Jr. in ESPN The Magazine writes the following of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
“One of (Goodell’s) greatest fears: An NFL player is going to die on the field.”
Well, that should sound familiar to long-time readers of this space, like going back three years or more.
“Within the past year, Goodell has told friends privately that he believes if the game’s hard-knocks culture doesn’t change, it could happen again (Lions receiver Chuck Hughes died of a heart attack in a 1971 game). ‘He’s terrified of it,’ says a Hall of Fame player who speaks regularly with Goodell. ‘It wouldn’t just be a tragedy. It would be awfully bad for business.’”
My scenario has always been that you have a player on the field who has suffered a bunch of concussions in the past, is playing again despite having symptoms but either he has convinced the medical staff he’s fine, or the staff doesn’t pick up on it, and then he gets a Jack Tatum-type shot that kills him.
It would be the disgusting scene of the actual hit that would cripple the sport.
–The guaranteed portion of Joe Flacco’s six-year, $120.6 million contract is $52 million. The $120.6 mil bests Drew Brees’ six-year, $120 million deal.
–At the University of Minnesota’s pro day, Northern Iowa wide receiver Terrell Sinkfield manually clocked a 4.19 40-yard-dash on his second try at the sprint, a time that would have surpassed Chris Johnson’s NFL combine record (at least, since electronic timing was implemented in 1999) 4.24 in 2008.
–I didn’t have all the details on Sunday to write of this, but in one of the truly stupidest stories of all time, some girl, Lauren Silberman, managed to milk fifteen minutes of fame out of an actual NFL tryout. I saw the video on the local news Sunday and thought, ‘I can’t believe this is even on.’ But Silberman ended up making every sports outlet, and many news ones. So for the record, here was the deal.
“Lauren Silberman steadied the football on the tee, took a practice kick and brushed away some of the brown hair dangling in front of her face.
“Moments before, Silberman, the first female to ever try out at an NFL Regional Combine, watched as her first kickoff attempt dribbled roughly 16 yards in front of her and corkscrewed off toward the sideline.
“With more than two dozen cameras, more than 35 other prospective kickers and punters, and a handful of coaches and scouts watching, her attempt at proving this was a legitimate endeavor was already going awry.
“A week of televised interviews preceded this moment. Silberman, who is listed by MIT as a graduate and is former club soccer player at Wisconsin, discussed her thesis and her sports consultancy firm. She said she was working on hitting 60-yard field goals in practice and hoped to inspire others. She provided grainy cell phone video footage as proof.
“So, she lined up again. After brushing the hair away, she took eight steps backward and lined the kick up like a field goal. She took four steps to her left then approached the ball. The second attempt went 14 yards and she ambled off to the athletic trainer waiting on the sideline. Her day was over because of an injury.”
Here’s the thing. The girl was a total fraud. Everyone knows that. Conor Orr said she was “the only kicking prospect to not attempt a single warm-up kick all afternoon. She took more than 20 seconds to set up a ball on a tee. She did not know, even vaguely, how far she’d kicked a football in the past.
“ ‘Um, you know, it’s still hard to exactly say,’ she said. ‘But you know, I’ve gotten better day by day.’”
The thing is, these regional combines are a big deal. As Conor Orr pointed out, Greg Zuerlein, kicker for the St. Louis Rams, was discovered at one. 40 players who made 53-man rosters last year were discovered at them. But anyone paying the $275 audition fee can participate…that is until all the slots fill up. There is no screening.
Stephen Austen, the NFL’s director of regional combines, was asked if he thought Silberman’s appearance was a publicity stunt. “Certainly not by us, I have no idea. Like I said – we’re committed to providing a platform on which our teams have the opportunity to see talent they might not otherwise see.”
“On Sunday, (Austen) got Silberman and camera crews from E! Entertainment, FOX News and CNN. He got a brief moment in time that presented far more questions than answers. Perhaps he had an honest-to-goodness dreamer who just wanted to play in the NFL but was rattled by nerves. Maybe he had something else.
“ ‘The distance wasn’t there,’ she said afterward. ‘But hopefully the scouts noticed my technique.’”
Congratulations, Lauren Silberman! You have just been thrown in our December file for consideration for “Jerk of the Year”!!!
The Ledger’s Conor Orr, on the other hand, is duly noted for his fine reporting.
–The Chicago Blackhawks extended their record season-opening streak without a loss to 23, 20-0-3 in defeating the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night. They have outscored their opponents 75-44.
—Oregon State has unveiled snappy new uniforms, complete with an updated beaver logo; a streamlined beaver, I must say. Aerodynamically pure for better mileage.
The beaver itself, incidentally, remains on double-secret probation when it comes to the All-Species List, though it could come off in April.
–As you watch Doral this weekend, the WGC-Cadillac event, understand Donald Trump, who purchased the resort, is blowing the course up next week and making extensive, and badly needed, changes. Trump doesn’t do anything half-ass. I expect the finished product will be awesome.
–The other week we saw how cold it was at the WGC-Match Play event in Arizona, when play was snowed out one day. So Golf World had a piece on the impact cold weather has on a golf ball. Former USGA technical director Frank Thomas has said the difference is about two yards of carry for every 10 degrees change in temperature, or if it’s 42 degrees, six yards vs. the norm of 72 degrees.
In a 1980 Golf Digest article, Dr. Cary Middlecoff pointed out, “At the Crosby, where it is almost always cold, I used to put a dozen balls under the radiator in my room to warm them up, then I’d alternate balls every other hole.”
–This just in…Ireland’s endangered red squirrel is making a comeback. And the reason why? The return of the pine marten to Irish forests, as the cat-sized carnivore feeds on the less agile, grey counterparts.
Now I’ve been to Ireland 20 times and have seen a few red squirrels, but didn’t realize the more common grey one arrived from the U.S. about 100 years ago.
As for the pine marten, seems like a good reason to lock your hotel room door when visiting the Emerald Isle.
—Bobby Rogers, an original member of the Miracles, died. He was 73. Rogers collaborated with lead vocalist and songwriter Smokey Robinson on the Temptations’ “The Way You Do the Things You Do” and the Miracles’ “Going to a Go-Go.”
The Miracles were formed in 1956 by Rogers, Robinson, Claudette Rogers, Pete Moore and Ronnie White.
Incredibly, Rogers and Robinson were born the same day – Feb. 19, 1940 – in the same Detroit hospital.
–And Jewel Akens died at the age of 79. Akens is known for the No. 3 Billboard pop hit “The Birds and the Bees” from 1965.
Back in ’65, Akens was singing with a group called the Turnarounds when record producer Herb Newman brought them “The Birds and the Bees,” written by his teenage son. The Turnarounds hated it. Akens decided to record it solo.
Some have named this tune among the top ten “one-hit wonders” of all time.
Top 3 songs for the week of 3/5/77: #1 “Love Theme From ‘A Star Is Born’ (Evergreen)” (Barbra Streisand) #2 “New Kid Town” (Eagles…mailed it in…) #3 “Fly Like An Eagle” (Steve Miller…do do dooo….do do do dooo…) …and…#4 “I Like Dreamin’” (Kenny Nolan) #5 “Blinded By The Light” (Manfred Mann’s Earth Band) #6 “Night Moves” (Bob Seger…or as Marvin “Bad News” Barnes once said… “Men move at night.”) #7 “Dancing Queen” (Abba) #8 “Year Of The Cat” (Al Stewart) #9 “Torn Between Two Lovers” (Mary MacGregor) #10 “Weekend In New England” (Barry Manilow)
Baseball Quiz Answer: .420 since 1920 – Rogers Hornsby hit .424 in 1924 for the Cardinals, and George Sisler hit .420 for the St. Louis Browns in 1922. Sisler struck out just 14 times in 586 at-bats that year.
Of course the modern-era leader in fewest strikeouts per season is Joe Sewell. Like try 3 times in 503 ABs (1932) and 4 times in 608 (1925). And you can look it up.
