[Posted Sunday PM…Friends, today did not start out well, a family medical emergency, but all is good now. I just didn’t have a chance to get to everything I wanted to. I’ll fill in some blanks next time, such as the death of Hurricane Carter.]
Baseball Quiz: What two Seattle Mariners led the A.L. in RBI in 2000 and 2001? Answer below.
Ball Bits
–Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig continues to be a major story following the Los Angeles Magazine piece I detailed the other day describing his escape from Cuba. Puig issued a statement:
“I’m aware of the recent articles and news accounts. I understand that people are curious and have questions, but I will have no comment on this subject. I’m represented on this matter, and I’m only focused on being a productive teammate and helping the Dodgers win games.”
Puig, as I noted before, has never commented on the departure from his homeland.
It has thus fallen on Manager Don Mattingly to comment instead, which as the Los Angeles Times’ Steve Dilbeck noted is almost unfair.
“We’ve talked baseball, we’ve talked everything we need to talk about with him. Everything is where it should be between me and him, the baseball side of it.”
‘Donnie Baseball’ then tried to pass the rest of the story off on the team president and GM. Neither chose to comment either.
No doubt the Dodgers’ organization is concerned. If the reports are true, including an ESPN The Magazine investigation, Puig has received death threats from human traffickers who orchestrated his 2012 defection.
–Dodgers hurler Zack Greinke has 16 consecutive starts where he has pitched at least five innings without giving up more than two runs, the longest such streak in team history since 1914, or as far back as the Dodgers can check. [Steve Dilbeck / Los Angeles Times] More on Greinke below.
–The Yanks ended their four-game series in Tampa at 11-8 after a split, but on Wednesday, they shut out the Cubs in a day-night doubleheader, 3-0 and 2-0, behind Masahiro Tanaka and Michael Pineda. Tanaka is everything he was cranked up to be, 2-0, 2.05 in his first three starts, 28 strikeouts and just two walks in 22 innings; while Pineda, after being out of the game for two years owing to serious shoulder surgery, is 2-1 with a 1.00 ERA.
But then the Yanks lost 11-5 and 16-1, and in Saturday’s contest, pitcher Ivan Nova went down with a serious arm issue after pitching to a 8.27 ERA in four starts thus far this season. Tommy John surgery seems to be in the cards.
–Leading off the sixth inning of Saturday’s Nationals-Cardinals game, Bryce Harper tapped a fastball back to Cards pitcher Lance Lynn and Harper jogged out of the batter’s box, peeling off halfway to first base as he returned to the dugout. Once he got there, manager Matt Williams informed Harper, “Kevin’s (Frandsen) going to left.”
Afterwards Williams said, “(Harper’s) an exciting player. People come to pay money and watch him play and watch him play the way he can play. And it’s pretty exciting. It’s pretty dynamic. But there’s another side to it. The other side is, regardless of how the ball comes off the bat or regardless of how he’s feeling about an at-bat, he must maintain that intensity and that aggressiveness. And that means running all the way to first base and touching the bases.
“There’s a million reasons why. The transfer rules that we’ve seen lately. What if that guy bobbles the ball as he’s throwing it around? If he doesn’t touch the base, he’s out. If he’s in the dugout, he’s automatically out. Beyond all the just-run-90-feet stuff, there’s a real, tangible rule behind it now. So we must do that. And he understands that.”
Bryce was back in the lineup on Sunday, going 1-for-4 in a Nats win.
–I don’t think Bryce Harper is a concern for the Nats, but Stephen Strasburg has to be. I didn’t realize until reading a piece by Thomas Boswell in the Washington Post that Strasburg’s velocity has dropped each of his first five seasons:
97.6, 96.0, 95.8, 95.2 and 94.0. There’s nothing special about 94.0, sports fans. Nothing at all.
[Strasburg did pitch six effective innings on Sunday, striking out nine, in a no-decision in the Nats’ win over the Cards.]
–Early surprises…Brewers 14-5 (Ryan Braun, 6 HR 14 RBI…Booo! Boooo!). A’s are 13-5…how the hell do they do it?!
Not surprises…Astros 5-14 (hitting like .150 with runners in scoring position…really), Diamondbacks 5-16.
–In another week or so we’ll have to mention Miguel Cabrera’s performance, 15 games thus far, .220, 1 home run, 7 RBI…but like I said, we’ll talk about it in another week or so.
–Ditto Robinson Cano….18 games, .268, 1 HR 8 RBI…but we’ll chat later…
Atlanta’s Aaron Harang, the ultimate journeyman…3-1, 0.70 ERA, 9 hits in 25 2/3. [He threw seven no-hit innings against the Mets on Friday but had to leave after 121 pitches.]
Cincinnati’s Alfredo Simon, previously a reliever…3 starts, 2-1, 0.86 ERA.
Chicago Cubs pitcher (former ND wide receiver) Jeff Samardzija…4 starts, 28 innings, 1.29 ERA, but 0-2…cuz it’s the freakin’ Cubbies!
–The Mets’ Curtis Granderson, he of the four-year, $60 million contract, is off to a .127 start at the plate. Yes, .127. But he did have the game-winning sac fly in the 14th inning Sunday against the Braves as the Metsies went to 9-9.
–The Mets traded Ike Davis over the weekend to Pittsburgh, thus giving Ike a second-chance. Mets fans liked the guy but it was clear he just couldn’t do it in New York. No problem from any of us if he thrives in Pittsburgh.
In return the Mets got a minor-league reliever and a bag of donuts to be named later…hoping they are chocolate frosted with sprinkles. [One hour in the fridge….primo….]
–New York has been buzzing over the memoirs of AJ Mass, the man inside the Mr. Met costume from 1994-97. In his book, “Yes, It’s Hot in Here – Adventures in the Weird, Wooly World of Sports Mascots,” Mass describes how when President Bill Clinton was attending a game at Shea Stadium in 1997, a Secret Service agent got in the way of Mr. Met’s attempt to have his picture taken with the prez.
“We have snipers all around the stadium, just in case something were to happen,” the agent warned. “Like I said, do whatever it is you normally do. But approach the President, and we go for the kill shot. Are we clear?”
AJ Mass recalled the agent staring directly into the mouth of his huge faux leather head to deliver the warning that sent chills through all eight of Mr. Met’s fingers.
Clinton was in the park that April 15, 1997, by the way, because it was the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s historic debut.
Thankfully, Mr. Met’s head wasn’t plastered all over the field. There would be no Bonnie & Clyde ending. Cooler heads prevailed.
–My preseason “Pick to Click,” the Brooklyn Nets, at least in their playoff opener up in Toronto looked exactly like the team some of us thought they would be come postseason. It was a solid 94-87 win, shutting the Toronto fans up for one day at least, as well as shutting down All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan, who missed his first eight shots and finished 3-of-13 from the field, just 14 points in all.
What’s even more encouraging for Nets fans is Brooklyn shot just 4-of-24 from downtown, which you know they’ll improve on, while committing only eight turnovers, compared to Toronto’s 17.
And note to the Toronto Sun. Don’t try to match New York tabloids when it comes to clever back-page material. The Sun ran the headline “RAPTORS VS. DINOSAURS…Garnett & Pierce are so old the Raptor had to ask his dad about them.”
Good gawd…talk about amateur hour. Plus Raptors’ GM Masai Juiri told a rabid crowd watching the game from outside the arena (which indeed was an impressive showing by the Toronto fans), “F— Brooklyn.” Not smart.
–On Saturday night, Wake Forest alum Jeff Teague toyed with No. 1 seed Indiana’s defense in time after time driving the lane as he went off for a playoff best 28 in the Hawks’ shocking 101-93 win over the collapsing Pacers, who were 35-6 at home in the regular season to boot.
–And on Sunday, another Demon Deacon, the ageless Tim Duncan, had 27 points and 7 rebounds in the Spurs’ opening 90-85 win over the Mavs.
Bazooka Joe says: “Timmy D stayed in school all four years!”
–It is pretty amazing that for the first time in NBA history, the Knicks, Celtics and Lakers are all missing the playoffs in the same season.
–Speaking of the Knicks, it is obvious that coach Mike Woodson is gone, possibly Monday, and while most agree you can’t blame him for the Knicks’ awful 37-45 season, it’s Phil Jackson’s team now and every single story has him naming Steve Kerr, who has no coaching experience, as the head coach, while Jim Cleamons, now an assistant at Milwaukee but long-time associate of Jackson’s, lobbies for a role of some kind in the new regime.
But the Knicks have little talent returning and all are in agreement next season will be awful as they wait for the 2015 free agent class and the assumption they can sign a high-profile player, let alone start drafting again,. Of course you have the issue of Carmelo Anthony, who wants to stay but only if the Knicks are committed to winning, and not two years from now.
Actually, the more you think about it, just why would Phil Jackson want to upend his great life (save for his medical issues) to take over a godawful franchise?
Or as the New York Daily News’ Mike Lupica put it, “it has to end badly someday, just on the basis of history alone. The only question is where you want to put the over-under number on how long this union will last, and how much money Phil will have made before he goes back to Southern California for good.”
–Regarding Melo, the Knicks can offer the max at five years, $129 million, substantially more than Anthony will get elsewhere, though he has said he’ll sacrifice money for the good of the whole if the Knicks prove to him they want to win next season.
But one option I loved hearing about was a sign-and-trade with Houston that would involve Chandler Parsons…perhaps my favorite non-Wake player in the league. The odds of this happening, though, don’t seem good.
College Basketball
–Duke’s Jabari Parker surprised some of us in declaring for the NBA draft. I thought the longer he waited to make his decision, the more likely it was he’d stay for his sophomore season but I was wrong. Teammate Rodney Hood also announced he was heading out early, though this was no surprise.
Duke is getting quite a reputation for one-and-dones…Parker joins Corey Maggette, Luol Deng, Kyrie Irving and Austin Rivers in entering the draft after one year.
Some have Parker as going No. 2, behind one-and-done Kansas guard Andrew Wiggins. I say Parker falls further down.
–Kentucky freshman forward Marcus Lee will return for his sophomore season, joining soph center Willie Cauley-Stein. Guard James Young declared he is entering the draft, but Julius Randle and the Harrison twins have yet to make their announcements. Randle is a lock to go out. The Harrison twins? I’m not so sure.
–What’s going on in the SEC? Missouri coach Frank Haith left to take the head coaching job at Tulsa, after Danny Manning left the Golden Hurricane to take the job at Wake Forest. The move by Haith makes no sense, but then Cuonzo Martin left Tennessee to take the head job at California days earlier.
Tulsa is moving to the American Athletic Conference next season, which features UConn.
–Johnny Mac’s pet peeve is how the NCAA insisted on calling the play-in games the first round of the tournament, which is indeed beyond bogus.
So I’m reading a piece on ESPN.com by C.L. Brown on how the ACC’s realignment didn’t pan out according to plan this year and we have this.
“North Carolina and Duke both failed to advance into the NCAA tournament’s second weekend for the first time since 1979. [Ed. OK…nothing wrong with how that was written. Just stop, C.L. Brown…but noooo!] The Blue Devils were upset by Mercer in the second round. The Tar Heels lost to Iowa State in the third round.”
STOP!!!! Geezuz. Seriously, 20 years from now someone reading a history of the event will think Duke won a first-round game!
Yet another reason why America is overrated. It’s rewriting history, for crying out loud. Which in case you haven’t noticed is what Vlad the Impaler is doing in Moscow with his propaganda campaign. But I digress….
–NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said he is making it a priority to set the league’s minimum age to 20, which has the support of the owners, though it wouldn’t go into effect until probably the 2016 draft.
But as Silver noted following a meeting between NBA owners and NCAA president Mark Emmert:
“If we’re going to be successful in raising the age from 19 to 20, part and parcel in those negotiations goes to the treatment of players on those college campuses and closing the gap between what their scholarships cover and their expenses. We haven’t looked specifically at creating a financial incentive for them to stay in college. That’s been an option that has been raised over the years but that’s not something that is on the table right now.”
This would be terrific. A perfect compromise between the NBA and NCAA. The current NBA players’ collective bargaining agreement does allow the one-and-done rule to be revised at any time.
–Separately, student-athletes who seek transfers due to “difficult life circumstances” will have to sit out a season at their new schools, according to a proposal by the NCAA Division I Leadership Council. I totally concur with this. The system has been abused. If you’re that homesick, then focus on your academics for a year and take care of your family issues first.
–Hey, Steve G. You see the new book by Thomas Errol Wasdin, an assistant on the Jacksonville Dolphins’ 1970 NCAA finalist team that lost to UCLA and John Wooden 80-69?
Titled “Once a Coach, Always a Coach,” Wasdin says in his memoir that the game against UCLA was rigged.
Wasdin claims that “the message we got was that we weren’t going to win because the officials weren’t going to let us. The Establishment didn’t want it. Our chances were very thin.”
Wasdin says the NCAA had it out for Jacksonville because it was considered a renegade program. Even I remember that aspect. I was just getting into college basketball in a big way and knew all about Jacksonville and their twin towers of Artis Gilmore and Pembrook Burrows III. In fact I’ve written quite a bit about them over the years.
Wasdin cites the fact UCLA was 24-35 from the free throw line, while Jacksonville attempted only 8 free throws (making 7). The 27-shot differential remains the largest for a title game.
Well, the fact is UCLA was also very good. A frontline of Curtis Rowe, Sidney Wicks and Steve Patterson, with guard play from Henry Bibby and John Vallely. All five Bruin starters, incidentally, played 38 minutes in the game. Artis Gilmore was just 9-of-29 from the field.
–Word on the street, err, LSU and NFL scouts, is that quarterback Zach Mettenberger is recovering nicely after blowing out his knee on Nov. 29, 2013…ACL surgery.
There he was at LSU pro day, throwing 125 passes! New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton said, “It says a lot about him and his doctor. It’s pretty impressive. Ten years ago, you couldn’t do that. I thought he did a real good job.”
Mettenberger was rolling out and doing multistep drops that he didn’t do while playing at LSU, he looked that good.
I loved what I saw of the guy last season and there’s no reason now why he won’t go in the second round. This guy is a pro-style QB. You wouldn’t expect, nor probably want him, to play much if at all this coming season. But for him to be in camp, and then on the sidelines learning a system for a year, in essence you’d then have a high first-rounder for 2015 already in the fold. Mettenberger was going to be a first-round selection before he got hurt.
I wish my Jets would take him but of course they won’t after signing Michael Vick, but Mettenberger would fit well in Pittsburgh, taking over for Big Ben in 2 or 3 years.
–You know who is soaring up the draft board? Former Rutgers/Pitt quarterback Tom Savage. I have to give my brother major props on this. He told me early last week that Savage was going to be the surprise of the draft and now the experts seem to be confirming this.
Savage has pro size, 6-foot-5, 230, with a solid arm, and is seen as a good leader. After a shaky start at Pitt last fall (after having sat out a year due to his transfer from Rutgers), Savage completed 61.2% of his passes with 21 touchdowns and nine picks, though only three in his last nine games.
So suddenly Savage is being projected by some as a second rounder.
–Just as Savage is rocketing up the board, Louisville QB Teddy Bridgewater seems to be plummeting, which is a shock to me. The scouts keep returning to his poor pro day workout.
No one doubts Bridgewater’s character and leadership ability, there just seem to be questions about his arm, plus he’s not that big. Some now have him dropping from what had been a consensus top-five pick to possibly early second rounder.
–Long-time readers know me well. I hate change. I hated the idea of moving the point-after touchdown kicks from the traditional 2 to the 25-yard line as was discussed because extra-point kicks were converted at a 99.6% rate last season. I just see zero reason to do this. Yes, it’s automatic…until it isn’t.
But, I see where the competition committee is undergoing a two-game experiment in the exhibition season kicking extra points from the 20 (or a 38-yard extra point), with a two-point conversion still remaining from the 2-yard line.
That’s actually a pretty good compromise and all 32 teams approved of the experiment.
–I’m fired up the Jets signed running back Chris Johnson, especially as it’s not an outrageous deal, $8 million over two years. I’m convinced Johnson still has enough in the tank, though ESPN says he has developed arthritis in his surgically repaired right knee, which Johnson and the Jets deny.
–The Giants signed quarterback Josh Freeman to a one-year contract in another solid move, Freeman backing up Eli Manning in case Eli’s surgically repaired ankle isn’t ready.
Two seasons ago, Freeman was a budding star at Tampa Bay, throwing for more than 4,000 yards and 27 touchdowns, but he was then released last year and spent a season in the wilderness in Minnesota.
Golf Balls
–I missed this but saw the replay…Matt Kuchar’s dramatic bunker hole-in at No. 18 of the Heritage at Hilton Head to defeat Luke Donald by one stroke, Kuchar’s seventh career PGA Tour title.
But a few sidelights. Bill Haas withdrew after one round for the first time in his career due to a wrist injury, so we wish him the best. Jordan Spieth recovered from his Masters disappointment nicely finishing T-12.
And Nick Faldo, 56, played in this event and acquitted himself well…77-76, beating Russell Henley, among others, though missing the cut. Still, pretty darn good.
Jim Nantz had the obligatory rundown of the prior week’s final round at Augusta. “Exciting Sunday showdown!” Not.
–On the Champions Tour, at the event in Duluth, Ga., Miguel Angel Jimenez won wire-to-wire in his senior debut, besting, in order, Bernhard Langer, Jay Haas and Fred Couples. Now that’s a better leaderboard than many PGA events this year.
–I tried to skirt the Kevin and Craig Stadler issue at Augusta but hinted there may have been problems between the two. That is certainly what I read before. But to be fair, in reading a piece out of Golfweek by Alex Micelli, the two were each other’s biggest fan so all appears to be good. Kevin said: “It’s been a great week having him be out here. It would be cool if he played again. I totally get it if he doesn’t want to. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s gone, but I’d prefer him to come back.”
Stadler, 60, has said this was his last Masters. Kevin will return with a tie for eighth. [The top 12 finishers earn their way back.]
–I missed that Ben Crenshaw announced next year would be his last Masters. He hit just nine of 36 greens this go ‘round and last made the cut at Augusta in 2007.
[Crenshaw, by the way, went 92-77-85 at the Champions Tour event this weekend. You are reading that right…254…Earth to Ben…]
–It’s going to be very interesting to see how Brazil handles the World Cup in a few months, especially the matches in Rio. Of concern for golf officials, though, is the fact construction on the 2016 Olympic golf course continues to be beset by all manner of problems. The hope was there would be a 2015 preliminary tournament at the venue, but that seems unlikely.
–Turning to the women…Michelle Wie rallied from four back in the final round to win the LPGA LOTTE Championship in Kapolei, Hawaii, her third career victory on the LPGA Tour and first since taking the Canadian Women’s Open in 2010. But it was also her first tour victory on American soil! That’s just hard to believe. She’s been around forever, after all, though she is still just 24!
Between Wie getting her game together and 19-year-old budding superstar Lexi Thompson, the LPGA has a chance to capture some fans…I know it has my attention.
The sport’s big opportunity is coming up in June. Remember, the men’s U.S. Open is at Pinehurst and then the following week, in a major break with tradition whose timing could suddenly be perfect, the women have their Open championship on the same course.
In other words, the entire weekend of the men’s event there will be lots of buzz and free publicity for the girls, who now have some marquee players at their best. [Throw in Paula Creamer as well.]
—Liverpool took a huge step this weekend in attaining their first Premier League title since 1990-91 in defeating Norwich City 3-2, while second place Chelsea lost to Sunderland 2-1.
Liverpool 80 points
Chelsea 75
The thing is, Chelsea is also still in the Champions League hunt, traveling to Atletico Madrid for the first of their two semis on Tuesday. That’s a tall order to focus on both chases.
–ESPN The Magazine has their fourth annual salary survey of the highest-paid athletes.
1. Floyd Mayweather Jr. $73,500,000
2. Cristiano Ronaldo $50,176,600 (Real Madrid)
3. Lionel Messi $50,055,800 (Barcelona)
4. Aaron Rodgers $40,000,000…totally forgot about this package
5. Zlatan Ibrahimovic $35,066,600 (Paris Saint Germain)
6. Matthew Stafford $31,500,000…travesty
7. Tom Brady $31,000,000
8. Kobe Bryant $30,453,000
9. Matt Ryan $30,000,000…see Stafford
9. Joe Flacco $30,000,000…eh
11. Zack Greinke $28,000,000…give him credit…19-4 since signing this deal
12. Fernando Alonso $27,503,200 (Formula One, Ferrari)
12. Lewis Hamilton $27,503,200 (Formula One, Mercedes)*
14. Tony Romo…$26,500,000
15. Wayne Rooney $25,953,400 (Manchester United…deserving of criticism)
50. Chris Bosh $19,067,500
50. LeBron James $19,067,500…shed no tears for LeBron. Aside from his mega-endorsements, he is about to sign a new contract for the max.
*Hamilton won the Chinese Grand Prix this weekend, his third straight win for the first time in his career.
Serena Williams, by the way, is the best paid female athlete at $12,400,000.
Priscilla Cheptoo is the highest paid female athlete in Africa at $740,000. She is a distance runner from Kenya.
–The death toll on Mt. Everest is 13 confirmed after Friday’s tragic avalanche that took out a group of Sherpas, who were preparing base camps before the crush of climbers during peak season in May and June. As you’ve all heard, it was the worst single day in the history of Everest-climbing. The toll could reach 16, even as the search for the missing (three, I believe) was called off.
A story by Ellen Barry in the New York Times notes that a Sherpa typically earns about $125 per climb per legal load, though some carry double to earn more. Between 350 and 450 Sherpas are hired during the two-month season. This is the best opportunity these men have, though it is dirty and dangerous work.
As in they do ALL the work…the wealthy clients do little that is really hard, aside from needing to be in good shape. For example, the Sherpas who were killed were not only stocking the base camps but fixing the lines for their paying clients to follow.
–A veterans group is petitioning Congress asking that the Medal of Honor be awarded to Civil War Col. Robert Gould Shaw, who commanded the first unit of free African Americans recruited into the Union army.
Shaw’s heroism is depicted in the 1989 movie “Glory,” Shaw played by Matthew Broderick. He was killed while leading the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment in an attack on Fort Wagner, S.C., on July 18, 1863. Half of the regiment was killed, wounded or missing following the failed attempt to take the fort, but the 54th’s bravery proved black units could be counted on and more were raised in the North.
Until reading a piece in Military Times by Jeff Schogol, I didn’t realize the Medal of Honor was not issued posthumously during the Civil War, thus Shaw was ineligible at the time.
[The Fort Wagner battle site, by the way, is no longer, as it was encroached on by the sea, as my brother and I saw a few years ago in our trip to Charleston.]
–From David Stringer / Bloomberg…this will gross you out.
“As bullion gains this year after the biggest annual plunge in more than three decades, there’s little that’s stopping some producers reopening shuttered mines or reviving stalled projects – not even a plague of spiders.
“For Saracen Mineral Holdings Ltd., which agreed in January to buy OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel’s mothballed Thunderbox mines in Australia, the Golden Orb weaving spiders are the first challenge before production can resume next year. While they can trap and eat small birds or bats, human bites are rare and may only occasionally cause nausea and dizziness.
“ ‘They are very large spiders, not poisonous, but scary looking things,’ said Saracen Chief Executive Officer Raleigh Finlayson. ‘There would have to be 2,000 spiders crawling all over the plant.’”
Goodness gracious! Ain’t gonna find me down there, no sirree. I mean look up these monsters on the Web…they’re huge.
Top 3 songs for the week of 4/20/63: #1 “He’s So Fine” (The Chiffons) #2 “Can’t Get Used To Losing You” (Andy Williams…love this one…) #3 “I Will Follow Him” (Peggy March)…and…#4 “Puff The Magic Dragon” (Peter, Paul & Mary…not the same as the dragons in “Game of Thrones”…just need to point this out…) #5 “Baby Workout” (Jackie Wilson) #6 “Young Lovers” (Paul & Paula) #7 “South Street” (The Orlons) #8 “Don’t Say Nothin’ Bad (About My Baby)” (The Cookies…yup, big time for girl groups…) #9 “Pipeline” (Chantay’s) #10 “Do The Bird” (Dee Dee Sharp…thankfully, British Invasion just months away)
Baseball Quiz Answer: Edgar Martinez led the A.L. in RBI in 2000 with 145. The following season teammate Bret Boone led the league with 141.
