Baseball Quiz: 1) Who was the last N.L. pitcher to throw 300 innings in a season? 2) Who were the last two to do it in the A.L., both accomplishing the feat the same season? Answers below.
Ball Bits
–Mets fans have Matt Harvey. Cardinals fans now have Shelby Miller.
What an historic Friday night in baseball. Miller allowed a single to the leadoff hitter, then retired the next 27 Colorado batters for his one-hitter, fanning 13 and walking none. The 22-year-old is 5-2 with a 1.58 ERA.
By the way, the Cards, at 23-13, and falling one win short of a National League pennant last year, have hardly missed Albert Pujols, who is hitting .239 this season.
At the same time, though, Boston’s Jon Lester was firing a one-hitter of his own (no walks, five Ks), in a defeat of the Blue Jays. It was the first time in baseball history that two pitchers had thrown one-hitters with zero walks on the same day.
And then there was Tampa Bay’s Alex Cobb. Also on Friday, the pitcher did something no one else has done, strike out 13 while failing to get out of the fifth.
Lasting just 4 2/3, Cobb registered 12 of 14 outs on strikeouts – four of them in the third, when a wild pitch on strike three allowed Will Venable to reach base. By the time he left, he was trailing 3-2, having allowed three runs on five hits while walking two, throwing 117 pitches, though the Rays would eventually defeat the Padres, who fanned a total of 18 times.
And then the next day, Cards pitcher Adam Wainwright pitched a no-hitter into the eighth inning before finishing with a two-hit shutout. The Rockies were thus hitless in 49 consecutive at-bats, the longest hitless stretch since Sept. 25-27, 1981, when the Dodgers went 50 at-bats without a hit, according to STATS.
–Back to the Mets’ Harvey, check out how awful the team’s starters are when Harvey isn’t on the mound.
Jeremy Hefner…4.24 ERA…5.2 avg. innings per start (ERA as a starter)
Jon Niese…5.93…5.1
Dillon Gee…5.55…5.1
Shaun Marcum…8.31…4.1
Niese, who is supposed to be a solid No. 2, has a 7.62 ERA his last six starts, but a drop-dead gorgeous wife… and at the end of the day…
Meanwhile, Harvey started against the Pirates on Sunday, went 7 innings, his average per start, allowed two runs, his ERA rose to 1.44…and the Mets’ bullpen (and lack of hitting) lost the game, Harvey’s fourth straight no decision.
–The Red Sox suffered a big blow when it was learned closer Joel Hanrahan needs season-ending surgery on his right forearm (flexor tendon).
–As Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News asks, “When do you think we’re going to start hearing that the great Mo Rivera, who looks pretty much as great as ever this season, is having second thoughts about this being his last season? Or does he stick to his guns and go out on top?’
[After Sunday’s action, Mo has 15 saves, zero blown, and a 1.65 ERA.]
–Update since last Bar Chat…Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay will undergo surgery to repair a partially torn rotator cuff.
According to Fangraphs.com, players over the age of 35 (Halladay’s age) that went on the DL for any sort of shoulder injury only averaged 59 innings over the course of the rest of their career.
—David Ortiz maintains he has not used performance-enhancing drugs, as rumors of such use resurface with his hot start since his return from injury (.333 in 19 games). But in 2009, the New York Times reported Ortiz tested positive during the 2003 season. Ortiz later said a combination of then-legal supplements and vitamins likely caused a positive test.
–After an 8-2 loss to the Cubs on Saturday, the Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg is 1-5, though with a fine 3.10 ERA.
–The Dodgers have a massive payroll of about $220 million, but they are 15-21, last in the N.L. West. Manager Don Mattingly is well-loved, but he could become an early victim.
–The Mets’ Mike Baxter is an extraordinary 16-for-33 as a pinch-hitter with the Mets.
“In a week in which umpires twice became the story of games because of high-profile mistakes, Major League Baseball took action on Friday, handing a two-game suspension to Fieldin Culbreth, the umpire who on Thursday incorrectly allowed an illegal pitching change in a game between the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers.
“The Culbreth controversy erupted when Houston’s rookie manager, Bo Porter, tried to remove a pitcher, Wesley Wright, who had yet to pitch to a batter. Porter, reacting to a pinch-hitter announcement, wanted to bring in Hector Ambriz instead.
“The switch was questioned by Angels Manager Mike Scioscia, who cited Official baseball rule 3.05(b), which states a pitcher who has yet to face a batter can only be removed because of illness or injury. But Culbreth ruled against Scioscia, and the Angels said they would play the remainder of the game under protest. They went on to win, 6-5.”
M.L.B. then ruled Culbreth’s decision was a clear violation of 3.05(b).
This came two days after Angel Hernandez, the second base umpire and crew chief in a game between Cleveland and Oakland, “incorrectly said a game-tying home run by Adam Rosales of the Athletics had not cleared the wall, instead ruling it a double. Asked to review the play, in which the ball appeared to ricochet off a railing high above the outfield wall, Hernandez and his crew chose to uphold the call. The Athletics, like the Angels, protested, and went on to lose the game by one run.
“On Thursday, M.L.B. confirmed the ruling was made in error, but said no action would be taken.” [Hoffman]
The crew chief has the sole discretion to reverse a call by use of instant replay. Judgment calls also cannot be grounds for protesting a game, either.
–The Marlins, 11-27, and Astros, 10-28, could not suck more…as advertised.
—Cleveland is 20-15?! Zut alors!
–I really, really hate to do this…but Joe Girardi has done a darn good job with the Yankees, 23-13 despite all their injuries.
–The Pirates, 21-16, are teasing their fans again…but if Pedro Alvarez can finally break out, as he showed signs of doing against the Mets this weekend, well maybe they do finally finish over .500.
NBA Action
–So I was at a fun party Saturday night at the local firehouse (they know how to throw a good one…if you catch my drift…and thankfully there were no fires to respond to) when I looked at my watch and realized I needed to get home to watch the second half of the Knicks-Pacers game.
Yup, should have stayed at the party (filet mignon sandwiches and cold beer…oh baby). The Knicks could not have sucked more, totally outplayed by Indiana, 82-71, as the Pacers took a 2-1 series lead. Indiana’s Roy Hibbert dominated in the paint.
Note to Tyson Chandler…how the heck were you ever once defensive player of the year?! [Last season] Chandler has a whopping 12 rebounds, total, in the first three games.
And then there is J.R. Smith. Ever since his suspension in the Celtics series, he is shooting .275 from the field (you’re reading that right), 19 of 69, 7 of 27 from downtown.
“This is no longer about Derrick Rose’s knee. It’s not about his heart or his head, either. Not anymore. The Derrick Rose Watch, pretty much the leading storyline of the 2013 NBA playoffs, is about his eyes.
“As in, how can he look at his teammates?
“Seriously, how can he do it? Only Rose knows how he can look at Nate Robinson, puking into trashcans during timeouts, wiping his mouth and returning to the floor.
“Only Rose knows how he can look at Joakim Noah, playing on a sore foot, an affliction called plantar fasciitis, the kind of thing that sounds manageable until you’ve actually had it, and then you know the only way to heal it is to stay off it. Noah stays off it a good 12 minutes per game. The other 36? He’s playing.
“Only Rose knows how he can look at Taj Gibson and Luol Deng, who had been playing with flu-like conditions. Turns out Deng was suffering from a lot worse than that. He was sent to the hospital with symptoms so bad – symptoms that had doctors wondering about meningitis – that he had to have a spinal tap….
“At some point, pride has to take over. Or humiliation. Whatever it takes to get Rose to acknowledge that what is happening around him – what is happening to him – is the erosion of a reputation. Rose has always been one of the more likeable players in the NBA, star or otherwise, but this is different. This isn’t about him being humble or gracious. This is about him still not playing, a year after surgery on a torn ACL and months after doctors cleared him, even as all hell breaks loose on the Chicago Bulls’ roster….
“As it happens, Rose has been playing five-on-five basketball since February, more than 2 ½ months ago. It has been reported that Rose has been the best player on the court. Nobody has disputed those reports, by the way, not even Rose’s mouthy, media-friendly brother….
“He does have a lot at stake. I’ll give him that….This is a Hall of Fame career he’s having, and there are hundreds of millions of dollars to be earned.
“But there are hundreds of millions of dollars already earned. Rose’s $95 million contract with the Bulls, good through 2017, is guaranteed….
“And Rose has earned more than that. He has a $260 million lifetime contract with Adidas, and while I have no idea if that contract is guaranteed, the word ‘lifetime’ makes me think that it is….
“Thing is, Rose has been scrimmaging for almost three months. Full court. And dominating. Doesn’t matter what the doctors are telling him, not anymore. What matters now is what he had seen from himself – and what his teammates have seen. And they’ve seen Derrick Rose kicking their rear end in practice, and then sitting on the bench in a suit while they’re puking and limping and scrapping their way through the playoffs.
–The Hawks are reportedly after Stan Van Gundy, once they let go of Larry Drew.
–Wow…Spurs-Warriors knotted at 2….didn’t see a minute of this one today.
–Jets fans note the passing of former All-Pro wide receiver George Sauer, who died at the age of 69 of complications from Alzheimer’s. Sauer played six seasons for the Jets, catching 309 passes for a 16.1 avg. and 28 TDs. From 1966-68, he had the following (14-game schedule):
’66…63 rec. 1079 yards
’67…75 – 1189
’68…66 – 1141
And then in the 1969 Super Bowl triumph over Baltimore, Sauer caught 8 passes for 133 yards, a performance often lost in the story.
But Sauer was a rebel and after not missing a game in his six seasons, he walked away from the sport after 1970, still in his prime, because he said he was unhappy with the way players were treated.
In a 1971 interview, Sauer said: “When you get to the college and professional levels, the coaches still treat you as an adolescent. They know damn well that you were never given a chance to become responsible or self-disciplined. Even in the pros, you were told when to go to bed, when to turn your lights off, when to wake up, when to eat and what to eat. You even have to live and eat together like you were in a boys’ camp.”
Ten years later, he called football “a grotesque business” designed to “mold you into someone easy to manipulate.”
In 1983, he would write in the New York Times: “My passion for the game was not sufficient. (Football) glorifies and destroys bodies.”
Jets owner Woody Johnson said: “We will always remember George Sauer for his role in the New York Jets’ run that culminated with a historic victory in Super Bowl III as well as the strength of his convictions off the field.”
–So as a Wake Forest alum, I’m hoping Tommy Bohanon makes the Jets squad as a fullback and special teams player after being drafted in the seventh round, and then I learned that linebacker Aaron Curry, the No. 4 overall selection in the 2009 NFL Draft by Seattle, and also a Demon Deacon, was signed by the Giants.
Of course Curry has been a bust thus far with Seattle and Oakland, and he’s been hurt, but the Giants have given him a huge opportunity. GM Jerry Reese said, “Sometimes a guy can go to a new environment and reinvent himself. We’re hoping that’s what happens.”
Golf Balls
–I was furiously flipping back and forth Sunday afternoon between The Players Championship and the Rangers-Capitals Game 6 (won by New York, 1-0, behind spectacular goaltending by Henrik Lundqvist to force a Game 7 on Monday).
So Tiger Woods won his first TPC in 12 years, win No. 78 on the PGA Tour, and he now stands just four behind Sam Snead’s 82.
But it wasn’t easy, as Tiger doubled No. 14 to drop back into a four-way tie for the lead, but then after No. 16, it was just Tiger and nemesis Sergio Garcia. All Garcia then did was go quadruple/double on his last two (dropping six shots) to finish T-8. A collapse for the ages.
Sweden’s David Lingmerth, now out of Arkansas (he was a Razorback in college), finished in a tie for second with 49-year-old Jeff Maggert and Kevin Streelman.
–Among the many remarkable Tiger Woods stats, as good as any of them is his making 280 cuts out of 300 PGA Tour events.
—Vijay Singh filed suit against the PGA Tour for “violating its duty of care and good faith” in the controversy surrounding his use of deer-antler spray.
Singh, in a statement, said: “I am proud of my achievements, my work ethic, and the way I live my life. The PGA Tour not only treated me unfairly, but displayed a lack of professionalism that should concern every professional golfer and fan of the game.”
The thing is, the Tour had cleared Singh days before and dropped its case against him over a potential performance-enhancing drug violation; this after the World Anti-Doping Agency ruled that Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 no longer is considered prohibited.
The AP reports the Tour had originally been planning on suspending Singh for 90 days. Singh’s admission in a Jan. 28 Sports Illustrated story was considered a positive test by the PGA Tour’s Anti-Doping Program. Singh’s attorneys now claim the Tour “rushed to judgment” and did not conduct “basic testing and research” while the matter was under consideration.
I do not like Vijay Singh. This is a guy who announced he would never, ever talk to the press again.
–Golf Magazine gave 50 PGA Tour pros anonymity and among the questions asked:
“Have you ever witnessed another Tour pro cheat?” No – 62%. Yes – 38%.” [Off the record: “Yes, and it was knowingly. Everybody knows who he is, and everybody knows he does it.”]
“Have you ever seen a Tour pro use drugs?” No – 78%. Yes – 22%. [The term ‘drugs’ is ambiguous.]
Rutgers’ Debacle, part deux
“Less than three weeks after officially being introduced as the head men’s basketball coach and hailed as the man to rescue the scandal-ridden program, Eddie Jordan and Rutgers were put on the defensive yesterday when it was revealed he had never actually received a degree from the university.
“At issue was that Jordan – who took classes over the span of 12 years while an undergraduate student and a graduate assistant – was listed as having earned a degree in health and physical education in his bio on the school’s website.
“The subject of the status of Jordan’s degree was called into question when sports website Deadspin.com published a report that included a document indicating when Jordan, now 58, took classes at Rutgers but provided no evidence of graduation.
“ ‘I went back to Rutgers in 1984-85 as a voluntary assistant to complete my studies,’ Jordan told ESPN.com. ‘I didn’t walk. I didn’t get a diploma because I wasn’t registered right. That’s it. I was 28 and didn’t take care of my business. It was never an issue.’
“Rutgers issued a statement last night saying Jordan will remain the men’s basketball coach for the school.
“ ‘While Rutgers was in error when it reported that Eddie Jordan had earned a degree from Rutgers University, neither Rutgers nor the NCAA requires a head coach to hold a baccalaureate degree,’ the statement read. ‘Eddie Jordan was a four-year letterman and was inducted into the Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame in 1980. Rutgers sought Eddie for the head coach position as a target-of-opportunity hire based on his remarkable public career.’”
Rutgers doesn’t feel it was misled during the hiring process.
“The answer is easy this time, at least. Rutgers has embarrassed itself with the basketball coach it hired who was supposed to end the embarrassment, but at least there is a clear path to a positive story line.
“Eddie Jordan needs to get his degree.
“He needs to do it now, and he needs to do it publicly. He needs to sit in the classroom with his players, work with them in weekly study hall and then proudly don his cap and gown this time next year.
“Anything less is a huge mistake. Rutgers hired its most prominent basketball alum, the leader of its Final Four team in 1976, for one reason: to change the culture around a program that had become known for flying basketballs and homophobic slurs.
“Could he recruit? Could he win? All those questions were deemed secondary when Rutgers introduced Eddie Jordan. The only thing anyone cared about was this: He would never embarrass his university the way Mike Rice did.
“Well, it took 17 days. This is not just an issue with Jordan screwing up, although his explanation for how he never received his Rutgers degree is a lame one. This is another black eye for Rutgers, which all but bragged that it was taking its sweet time to introduce its new coach as it made sure he was properly vetted….
“It wouldn’t take much, if the transcripts that Deadspin somehow acquired are accurate. He could still register for summer classes now and take a few more in the fall. This whole episode, compared with the explosiveness of the Rice story, is a minor distraction – unless it is later learned that Jordan lied about earning the degree, in which case, we’ll have another coaching search this spring.”
—Matt Kenseth won his first Southern 500 at Darlington on Saturday night.
–With the retirement of Manchester United Manager Sir Alex Ferguson, while he did win 13 Premier League titles in his 26 seasons, he only won the European Cup (or Champions League) twice. So as Michael Crick put it in the London Times, “Alex Ferguson’s supremacy in the history of British football is without doubt. But his disappointing record in Europe rankles with him and is one reason he kept going.”
Everton Manager David Moyes, Ferguson’s personal choice, will take over for him.
“For much of the 1960s and the early 1970s, no suburban streetscape would have been complete without them: A squadron of kids clutching sky-high handlebars on low-slung bikes in eye-popping, hot-rod colors.
“Equipped with a curved banana seat, the Schwinn Sting-Ray was America’s most popular bicycle. Its godfather, Schwinn executive Al Fritz, became known as an industry visionary for transforming a Southern California street fad into a national phenomenon.”
In World War II, Fritz served on Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s staff in the Philippines, where he was wounded.
After the war he signed on at Schwinn, which was booming and he ended up staying 40 years.
But it was in the early 1960s, when he was research and development director, that he heard from one of his salesmen “about teenagers around Los Angeles customizing short-frame bikes to look a little Harley, a little hot rod – a little something exciting on the quietest suburban cul-de-sacs.”
Fritz came up with his prototypes, which the people around him thought were stupid, but he pushed it through.
From 1963 to 1968, Schwinn sold nearly 2 million Sting-Rays. At one point, they accounted for more than 60% of all bike sales in the U.S. Yours truly was a proud owner in the 60s…royal blue.
–Brad K. passed along this piece from The Guardian, which is a retelling of a story from way back that only now has resurfaced as the result of a series (“Experience”) The Guardian is currently running.
Guide Paul Templer “had been leading people on tours of the Zambezi River near Victoria Falls for years. Traveling in kayaks with three apprentice guides named Mike, Ben and Evans, Templer suddenly saw Evans thrown out of his kayak from the gigantic hippo rising underneath it. While he shouted for the other guides to get the clients to safety, Templer paddled furiously to rescue Evans.
“As he reached his hand out to Evans, he was swallowed from the waist up by the hippo and dragged underwater. The bull hippo punctured and bit Templer in 40 places as it hurled him into the air and then caught him and chewed again. Underwater again and holding his breath as long as he could, Templer was suddenly spit out. Mike rescued him, but his left arm was crushed, and the hippo’s tusks had ripped open his back so badly that his lung was visible.
“A medical team nearby saved him but Evans was never found. Templer lost his left arm from the attack, but still led another expedition down the Zambezi two years later. He swore he saw the same hippo, screamed, then watched the hippo dive under the water and disappear.”
–In an article for the Star-Ledger on how active the bears are in New Jersey this spring, the Department of Environmental Protection says that if you encounter a bruin: “Remain calm and do not run. Make sure the bear has an escape route. Avoid direct eye contact, back up slowly and speak with a low, assertive voice.”
—Jeff Hanneman, the guitarist for the heavy-metal band Slayer, had contracted the flesh-eating disease, necrotizing fasciitis, when he died the other day at the age of 49. [He also had cirrhosis.] The flesh-eating disease didn’t necessarily kill him, as first thought, but what’s scary is it can be brought on by a spider bite.
Top 3 songs for the week 5/16/70: #1 “American Woman” (The Guess Who) #2 “ABC” (The Jackson 5…Michael not yet a freak…) #3 “Vehicle” (The Ides of March)…and…#4 “Let It Be” (The Beatles…heard of them…) #5 “Cecilia” (Simon & Garfunkel) #6 “Spirit In The Sky” (Norman Greenbaum…dreadful…Mrs. Greenbaum not happy with her son, either…) #7 “Everything Is Beautiful” (Ray Stevens…very underrated entertainer…his version of “Misty” is brilliant…in all seriousness…1968’s “Mr. Businessman” was another good Stevens tune…) #8 “Turn Back The Hands Of Time” (Tyrone Davis) #9 “Up Around The Bend” (Creedence Clearwater Revival) #10 “Reflections Of My Life” (The Marmalade)
Baseball Quiz Answers: Last to throw 300 innings…1) Steve Carlton threw 304 in 1980 for the Phillies. 2) In 1977, Jim Palmer threw 319 for Baltimore, while Dave Goltz tossed 303 for Minnesota. [Palmer also threw 300 in 1976.] But if you had Dave Goltz, pour yourself a Shiner Bock.
