[Posted: Wednesday a.m.]
Baseball Quiz: Five active pitchers have winning percentages of .650 or better, minimum 100 wins. Name ‘em. Answer below.
More on Adam Scott’s Triumph
I didn’t have a chance to note a few things last time, like how much Adam Scott relied on caddie Steve Williams to sink his putt on the second hole of the playoff.
“I could hardly see the green in the darkness,” Scott said. So he called Williams over.
“It’s at least two cups,” Williams said. “It’s going to break more than you think.”
This is the fourth major in the past six won by someone using a long putter; the first in the history of the Masters.
“In steady rain that at times turned into a downpour, in the dying light of a Sunday evening in April, Adam Scott and Angel Cabrera gave their sport a new standard for both grace and glorious golf under the greatest Masters pressure. Golf loves such moments that illustrate its greatest virtues – gracious respectful sportsmanship and the ability to endure stress while performing utterly alone, not just five hours at a time, but for days. Now we have a fresh example that can stand alongside any from the past….
“All factors considered – facing defeat, the skies ripped open as if Scott’s putt had split them – I’ve never seen as amazing a shot from the fairway on the 72nd hole of a major tournament as Cabrera’s, certainly not in the Masters or the U.S. Open in the last 40 years.
“Once in their playoff, both continued to surpass themselves and ennoble each other….
“The Masters may never have produced a more dignified ‘loser’ than Cabrera, who has overcome physical problems, including wrist and stomach issues and the removal of 10 teeth in the last two seasons. As he stood in the 72nd fairway, with his son Angel Jr. as his caddie, the rain became its most torrential of the entire day. Few players have faced a do-or-die shot under tougher circumstances.
“For decades, the Masters has specialized in ugly playoffs in which at least one man either bungled the 18th hole to blow the lead or hashed up the playoff itself. At the least, there’s never been a Masters playoff that was forced by magnificent play by multiple masters of the game. Never have two men made incredibly difficult shots on the tough 72nd hole to create birdies and force a fabulously beautiful playoff between two deserving winners.
“The final holes of the Masters have produced so many more folders than champions like Charl Schwartzel, who two years ago finished with four straight birdies, that it is said here that ‘Bobby Jones has won every Masters’ because his course design has tormented so many. But not this time.
“Now, Scott and Cabrera, a past winner of both the Masters (’09) and the U.S. Open (’07), have given us a memory that may almost surpass mere victory. Two thumbs up, they gave to each other in the 10th fairway.
“That gesture, in their honor, will be multiplied by millions in the coming days. And then for years.”
“The vacuums were humming in an empty Augusta National clubhouse when the man on the wrong side of the most thrilling Masters finish in decades finally left the building.
“Angel Cabrera waddled through the door with a plastic Masters cup in his hands – contents unknown, but beer was a safe bet – and out into a light drizzle toward a waiting Mercedes.
“Then, very suddenly, he stopped in the dark parking lot. Did he want to reflect on a tournament that nearly cemented his legacy as an all-time champion? To take one last look at the site of an incredible finish in which Adam Scott had ripped a green jacket off his back?
“Nope. He lit a cigarette.
“ ‘Angel said, ‘You finish second, you’re just the first loser,’ ‘ his coach Charlie Epps had said a few moments earlier, but it was hard to feel like anyone lost Sunday as the sun set on this famous course.
“This was everything good about golf after a week spent railing about the bad stuff. No penalties for slow play. No moralizing about illegal drops. Just one man with the weight of a continent on his shoulders in a playoff against a grandfather who played like he hadn’t a care in the world.
“History rarely remembers the loser, but that won’t be the case with the 43-year-old Cabrera. The man they call ‘El Pato’ (the duck) was standing in the 18th fairway when Scott sank one of the clutch putts in golf history, a 20-footer that set off a raucous celebration around the green.
“Everyone, it seemed, was suddenly Australian, and the familiar chant – ‘Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi!’ – rang across the course as Scott high-fived the rain-drenched fans.
“The scene would have been enough to shake any player, even a two-time major champion like Cabrera. But he answered with a 7-iron that rolled to within three feet of the cup….
“So the Masters came down to a playoff between one golfer with six-pack abs and one who’s had a few six packs. That they both made par on the first extra hole from nearly the exact same spot off the green seemed perfect.
“Then, on the second playoff hole, Scott hit a booming drive that Cabrera countered with a line-drive 3-iron that rolled to a perfect spot. As they walked down the 10th fairway, Cabrera turned to the younger man and gave him a thumbs up. Scott, who had choked away the British Open on the final four holes last summer, smiled back.
As Cabrera left the grounds at Augusta, his coach, Charlie Epps, was asked the menu for the night?
As for the long putter, yes, Scott is the fourth winner in the last six majors to use an anchored putting stroke. Fred Couples and Bernhard Langer used them and played well. The 14-year-old from China used one.
I’m a traditionalist, but I’m rapidly changing my mind.
The last thing golf should want to do is turn off those who play the sport…the 15-, 20-, 25-handicappers who may want to use the belly putter. Who really gives a damn if they do?
And it’s not as if Webb Simpson and Keegan Bradley (past major winners with the long stick) did well at Augusta this go ‘round. You still have to get the ball to the green in regulation if you want to have a chance to score. And Scott, as we all know, blew a four-shot lead with four holes to go last year at The Open…using the same belly putter.
But the USGA and the R&A are going to issue a final ruling soon on their proposed ban of the anchored putting stroke.
NFL Draft
CBSSports.com’s Mike Freeman broke down the history of No. 1 overall picks since 1970 and Terry Bradshaw. The “bust” ratio is astoundingly high. Such as…
1972: Walt Patulski
1977: Ricky Bell
1979: Tom Cousineau
1982: Ken Sims
1988: Aundray Bruce
1990: Jeff George
1991: Russell Maryland
1992: Steve Emtman
1994: Dan Wilkinson
1995: Ki-Jana Carter
1999: Tim Couch
2000: Courtney Brown
2002: David Carr
2007: JaMarcus Russell
Meanwhile, on Monday I drove past the New York Jets’ training facility in Florham Park and from a distance saw the parking lot was filled. Among those in attendance was Darrelle Revis, forced by the team to come in and do his rehab in front of management.
But everyone knows Revis is gone. He’ll be traded before the draft, seemingly to Tampa Bay for their 13th pick.
Everyone can also see Rex Ryan is a Dead Coach Walking, stripped of any power to have a say in personnel decisions as the new GM John Idzik takes charge with the support of the useless owner, Woody Johnson.
Rex is going to be a pathetic case this coming season. Once Revis leaves, virtually his entire defensive backfield is gone. Three starting linebackers (now two…Calvin Pace is returning)…two solid defensive linemen…the top running back…the tight end…two off the offensive line…
Pat Summerall
“Pat Summerall should forever be remembered in New York as the man who, in the wind and driving snow in December 1958, kicked a golden 49-yard field goal at Yankee Stadium to beat the Browns and launch the Giants’ journey toward an NFL championship game against the Colts that forever changed the face of professional football.
“Even as Summerall reached for his helmet, the man in charge of the Giants’ offense – Vince Lombardi – vehemently argued with head coach Jim Lee Howell against the decision. Lombardi said the kicker had already missed from about 31 yards out.
“When Summerall reached the huddle, quarterback Charlie Conerly looked up in surprise. The Giants needed to beat the Browns that day and again a week later just to make the title game.
“ ‘What the hell are you doing out here?’ Conerly said.
“ ‘I am going to kick a field goal and win this game,’ Summerall retorted.
“On the sidelines, Lombardi reached toward him for what Summerall thought would be a victory hug. Instead, he shouted, ‘Damn it, Summerall, you know you can’t kick a ball that far.’”
So one day, as Izenberg describes it, “Conerly was in the shower after practice when the guy from WCBS called. Conerly was Summerall’s roommate for as long as the two played for the football Giants. ‘Tell Charlie to be ready,’ the guy from WCBS said.
“ ‘Tell him and Alex (Webster) and Kyle (Rote) that the audition is at 2 p.m.’
“ ‘And, hey, you’ve got a pretty good voice, yourself. You come, too. What did you say your name was?’
“Of course, Summerall got the job – the first fortuitous step on the way toward a second career that would make him even more famous. Not only was he part of the franchise that had taken New York by storm beginning in the mid-50s, he was also on a five-minute radio show in Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island, too, along with everyone in Queens, Brooklyn and North Jersey all season.”
After his playing career was over, Summerall began his new life as the color man for Chris Schenkel’s play-by-play of the Giants games.
Summerall loved everything about New York…a little too much, as it turned out, but you can read that stuff elsewhere.
As Izenberg notes, “(Later on), the time he spent sharing the game microphone with John Madden was a partnership made in 100-yard heaven. Together they were superb and never better than at the Super Bowl.”
Summerall, ever the professional, also left Fox with no bitterness after they opted not to renew his contract because they wanted to go in a new direction.
Izenberg: “He simply was right to the end, very good at what he did. He showcased his laid-back-never-lose-perspective approach throughout a 50-year association with the NFL as a player and broadcaster. He worked a record 16 Super Bowls for television.”
Summerall was also the voice of the Masters (1968-94) and the U.S. Open tennis tournament. When CBS lost their NFL deal, Summerall and Madden switched to Fox, though Summerall was hoping to keep the Masters gig. Fox wouldn’t let him. Jim Nantz, who succeeded him at CBS, said, “Pat Summerall was a hero to me. I treasured the gift of friendship that I had with him. I was his understudy for 10 years. He could not have been more generous or kind to a young broadcaster.”
John Madden said of his long-time partner, he was “more than that, he was my friend for all of these years. Pat Summerall is the voice of football and always will be.”
CBS Sports broadcaster Verne Lundqvist said, “Pat was a friend of nearly 40 years. He was a master of restraint in his commentary, an example for all of us.”
Ball Bits
Boy, if you are a Mets fan, these last few days have been brutal. They played two in Minnesota in brutally cold weather and snow, before the third contest was snowed out. They then moved to Denver, were snowed out the first game and proceeded to lose a doubleheader on Tuesday where the game time temperature for the first one was 35 and it was in the 20s by the time it was all over. The forecast for today, Wednesday, is for more snow. This isn’t baseball the way it’s supposed to be and I totally lost interest Tuesday.
The cold, snow, consecutive postponements, some pitchers just not able to perform (others stepping up). I’m ready for normal weather so I can get back in the flow…and you can be sure the Mets are ready too.
But understand on Tuesday, Coors Field was covered in a foot of snow. The entire Rockies organization was enlisted to shovel it off because to use snow clearing equipment could have torn up the field. Nearly 150 helped out….sharing 75 shovels (some of which they borrowed from the Broncos).
–Maryland sophomore center Alex Len added his name to the list of those going out early for the NBA draft, with Len a potential lottery pick. And Georgetown’s Otto Porter Jr. announced he would go, with Porter saying, “I feel I’m ready to make this next step.”
Someone tell Porter he wasn’t ready to play in the NCAAs…not that he cares.
Kentucky’s Nerlens Noel made it official, too. The freshman could very well be the overall No. 1, despite his season-ending knee injury.
Noel also said, “I feel that I’m ready to take the next step to the NBA.”
And one more. UCLA’s Shabazz Muhammad is leaving after one season. Whatever.
–Interesting piece in the Journal on shooting percentages in the playoffs. As in for the Knicks, Tyson Chandler and J.R. Smith have huge drop-offs from the regular season.
Chandler’s regular season FG percentage is .647, but .552 in 30 career playoff games.
Smith’s is .420 in the regular season, .343 in the playoffs (16 games).
Needless to say, the Knicks need these two to step up.
–The University of Oregon acknowledged it committed a number of major NCAA violations in its football program, specifically in using recruiting services. The school has proposed a self-imposed two year probation with the loss of one scholarship in each of the next three years.
Payments to the services included $25,000 to one in 2010, Will Lyles, who provided a “meaningful recruitment advantage.” “Players he mentored ended up at Oregon, whether coerced or not,” as the New York Times’ Greg Bishop reported.
The university released 515 pages of documents on Monday night, though they were heavily redacted.
Of course Chip Kelly was coach for the past four season, leading the Ducks to a 46-7 record and four straight BCS bowl games, but now he’s head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. How conveeenient.
–The NHL is looking to hold six “Winter Classic” games next season, including two at Yankee Stadium. Seems like overkill to me. But the two at the Yankees’ little bandbox would showcase the Rangers vs. the Devils in one, and then Rangers-Islanders a few days later, both games preceding the Super Bowl at MetLife Stadium on Feb. 3. [Winter Storm warning currently in effect for that one.]
–We note the passing of Carl “The Truth” Williams, a former heavyweight champion who died at the age of just 53, the victim of throat cancer.
Carl Williams didn’t back away from a fight, that’s for sure, going up against the likes of Larry Holmes and Mike Tyson.
I remember Williams well. Hell of a jab, a fighter who went 15 against Holmes, with Holmes gaining a controversial decision to win the IBF title in May 1985.
Williams entered the bout 16-0, having defeated a solid boxer in James Tillis before he stepped in the ring with Holmes.
Holmes would say in an interview on Monday from his home in Easton, Pa., “I was fortunate enough to wear him down late with a few hard body blows – but not before he gave me a black eye. He really had my number.”
Williams would win six of his next seven, including wins over Jesse Ferguson and Bert Cooper in 1987 to capture the vacant USBA title.
He then defended it three times – including a victory over Trevor Berbick – before meeting Tyson in Atlantic City in July, 1989, for the undisputed heavyweight championship.
But just 93 seconds into the bout, Tyson dropped Williams with a left hook…fight over.
Roy Jones Jr. said of Williams, “He was a phenomenal fighter with a big heart. What earned him the greatest amount of respect was the fact that he never ducked anyone.”
I’m tellin’ ya, sports fans. I haven’t followed the fight game at all the last ten years or so, but I knew the sport in Williams prime and all of his opponents I noted above were solid.
— “42,” the Jackie Robinson story, was not only surprisingly strong at the box office in its first weekend, taking in $27.3 million, but according to market research firm CinemaScore, the flick received a rare perfect average grade of A+ among those who saw it.
-Finally, we note the passing of Frank Bank, “Lumpy” from “Leave It to Beaver” fame. He was 71.
Clarence “Lumpy” Rutherford, dim-witted foil to Beav and brother Wally. Jerry Mathers said of his friend’s passing, “Lumpy was the ultimate bully, but Frank was a very, very kind and gentle person and a very good actor to play it so well.”
After “Beaver,” Bank, not wanting to get typecast, became a stock broker in Los Angeles and among his clients were Mathers and Barbara Billingsley. By all accounts, he was a good one.
Top 3 songs for the week 4/13/63: #1 “He’s So Fine” (The Chiffons) #2 “Can’t Get Used To Losing You” (Andy Williams…my favorite of his…) #3 “South Street” (The Orlons)…and…#4 “The End Of The World” (Skeeter Davis) #5 “Baby Workout” (Jackie Wilson) #6 “Our Day Will Come” (Ruby and The Romantics) #7 “I Will Follow Him” (Little Peggy March) #8 “Puff The Magic Dragon” (Peter, Paul & Mary…different from the dragons on “Game of Thrones”….that’s for sure…) #9 “Young Lovers” (Paul & Paula) #10 “Do The Bird” (Dee Dee Sharp)
Baseball Quiz Answers: Five active with winning percentages of .650 or better.
Roy Halladay, .662 [200-102]
Jered Weaver, .658 [102-53]
Tim Hudson, .657 [199-104]
Justin Verlander, .656 [126-66]
CC Sabathia, .652 [193-103]
In the modern era, Spud Chandler has the No. 1 winning percentage, .717. He was 109-43, pitching for the Yankees from 1937-47.
Next is Whitey Ford, .690, 236-106.
