Posted: Wednesday AM…
Edition 1690
Baseball Quiz: USA TODAY Sports always publishes a listing of major league leaders by position come All-Star time…specifically July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014. So for that 12-month period… 1) Who is the only major league pitcher with 20 wins? 2) Who is the only second baseman with 100 RBI? 3) Who is the leading shortstop in RBI at 85? Answers below.
LeBron and NBA Free Agency, part quattre
–As Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert told USA TODAY Sports’ Mitch Albom, since LeBron’s departure in 2010 and Gilbert’s angry letter that same evening, the two had not spoken in the interim four years until Gilbert flew out to Las Vegas to meet with James the other day.
They’d seen each other a few times, when Miami came to Cleveland and LeBron would see Gilbert sitting on the baseline. As Gilbert said: “He’d look at me from the free-throw line. Not good. Not bad. Just look.”
Gilbert told Albom that as he flew out for the secret rendezvous, and as he glanced out the window, Gilbert didn’t feel like a billionaire businessman or an NBA owner. “He was every guy seeing his ex-wife after the divorce, every teen guitarist seeing a former friend who broke up the band.”
Gilbert said: “I had told LeBron’s guys, whether he comes back or not, I really want to clear the air. It shouldn’t be like this.”
“First thing I said to him was, ‘LeBron, you know this is true. We had five good years and one bad night. Like a marriage that’s good and then one bad thing happens and you never talk to each other again. I’m just glad we’re here, whether you come or not, LeBron. This has been hanging over my head.’”
The two only talked about the past about 15 minutes and then started talking about the future.
–I missed when I went to post last time that the Heat essentially replaced LeBron with Luol Deng, two years, $20 million, with a player option after this coming season. Deng was second in the league in minutes played to Kevin Durant (LeBron being third). He’s not a bad player. Call him James Light.
Dwyane Wade re-upped for two years with Miami, $31.1 million, an $11 million pay cut over two years from the deal he opted out of.
So the Heat have Bosh, Deng, Wade, Chris Andersen, Josh McRoberts, Mario Chalmers and Danny Granger.
“Carmelo Anthony declared himself a ‘Knick at heart’ a day after LeBron James said, ‘I’m coming home.’ It was a copycat narrative only in programmed exclamation, not so much in practical execution.
“Beyond the relative quality of these talented individuals with very different career credentials, there is also a clear distinction in how they have balanced the art of playing a team sport with the equally tricky but more desensitized business of professional basketball.
“In accepting the most lucrative offer on the free-agent table, Anthony quickly embraced the role of loyalty to the Knicks organization and New York, the city of his birth.
“In leaving Miami and his fading co-star Dwyane Wade after two championships and four consecutive runs to the NBA finals, James left no doubt that self-interest will invariably trump the needs of any friend, franchise, fan or frontier.
“But the great news for the Cleveland Cavaliers is that for however long the Akron King remains committed to them and to his native northeast Ohio the second time around, what is most important to him will likewise be to the maximum benefit of those who play alongside him.
“James’ brand of collectivism is far more valuable than the typically overstated fealty of a good company man. James may be liable to switch uniforms faster than a Marvel superhero, but no matter which one he wears, the indisputable claim he can make – and Anthony cannot – is that he, the consensus best of the best, is also an ultimate team player.”
Anthony will make $5 million less than the maximum, or $124 million over five years, as he took a slight home-team discount for the purposes of opening up a little more cap space for 2015 and the team’s probable chase for free-agent center Marc Gasol.
–The Houston Rockets not only lost out on Chris Bosh, but they just let Chandler Parsons walk to Dallas in an incredibly stupid move, opting for Trevor Ariza instead because Ariza makes less money. But Parsons is a superior player.
–NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has had to concede that Donald Sterling could still be the owner of the Clippers when the 2014-15 season begins. There is no guarantee the $2 billion sale of the team to Steve Ballmer will go through in time if a Los Angeles Superior Court judge eventually rules that Sterling’s wife did not act properly in finding a buyer for the franchise.
The league never took a vote officially to end Donald’s ownership because of the speed of Shelly Sterling’s sale to Ballmer.
“ ‘If this is being a loser, everyone should be the loser I am. It has been an incredible life.’ –Red Klotz
“Louis ‘Red’ Klotz, the player, coach and owner of the Washington Generals – the Harlem Globetrotters’ victims for more than 60 years – died Saturday…..
“Globetrotters CEO Kurt Schneider said in a statement: ‘The Harlem Globetrotters organization is extremely saddened by the passing of Red Klotz… Red was truly an ambassador of the sport and as much a part of the Globetrotters’ legacy as anyone ever associated with the organization. …His love of the game – and his love of people – will certainly be missed.’”
Klotz was born in Philadelphia and played two seasons at Villanova. He later won a championship with the Bullets of 1947-48, the second season of what would evolve into the NBA.
“John Branch of the New York Times had a piece on Red Klotz…..Klotz founded the Generals in 1952 in honor of Dwight Eisenhower, a little factoid I didn’t know.
“It is pretty funny to think Klotz is the owner (and former player/coach) of a team with the worst record of any in history.
“Klotz said that never has his team been asked to lose. They are also two totally separate organizations, tied together by a contract. ‘I’ve been against the Harlem Globetrotters for 50-some years, and I know nothing about their business,’ Red said.
“Klotz won an NBA championship as a 5’ 7” guard for the Baltimore Bullets in 1948. And back in 1962, the Generals actually won, at least the scorer’s book said they did, but the scoreboard read differently and no one was in a mood to argue about it.
“Then in 1971, the Generals – playing as the New Jersey Reds – won in overtime. The Generals celebrated in the locker room by spraying soda on each other. ‘To fans, though, Klotz said it was as if his team ‘killed Santa Claus.’’”
In 2006, the Star-Ledger did a piece on Klotz, then 85 and living in Margate, New Jersey. It was estimated he lost in 117 countries, perhaps 1,500 U.S. cities. “He has been beaten in front of popes, princes, dictators, lepers and itchy-fingered soldiers with anti-assault rifles.”
At one point there were 8,829 consecutive losses, before he won in Austria in 1995 with ringers that included former NBA stars Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Artis Gilmore and Nate Archibald.”
Ball Bits
–I’m like so many of you, at least of my age or thereabouts, who used to look forward to the Baseball All-Star Game. It just hasn’t been the same in years, though, but at least Tuesday’s 5-3 A.L. win, its 13th in the last 17 (9 of 12 since the winner decided home-field advantage in the World Series) was entertaining and a classy sendoff for Derek Jeter.
But there was a stupid controversy in that initially N.L. starter Adam Wainwright said he grooved a pitch over the plate to leadoff hitter Jeter, who delivered a double in his final All-Star appearance.
“This was not a crime against baseball, but a chance for us to celebrate it.
“But Wainwright’s reward was getting torched on social media, more for admitting that he grooved the pitch than actually throwing it, in the latest (but certainly not the last) overblown baseball controversy.
“This is what Wainwright said shortly after leaving the game, the quotes that turned the Jeter party into a Twitter firestorm:
“ ‘I was going to give him a couple pipe shots. I just thought he deserved it. I didn’t know he was going to hit a double or I was going to change my mind. I thought he was going to hit something hard to the right side for a single or an out. I probably should’ve pitched him a little better.’
“After the game in the clubhouse, aware that he was getting roasted, he was forced to backtrack and apologize and even call himself an idiot, all because he did the right thing and then had the audacity to be honest about it.
“Let’s remember: This game is nothing more than a glorified exhibition. Yes, it decides home-field advantage in the World Series now, but the fans still vote the starting lineup for a reason. They wanted to see Jeter one more time….
“ ‘(The pitch) was a 98-(mph) two-seamer that stayed on pretty good,’ Jeter deadpanned before laughing. ‘No, I don’t know, man. If he grooved it, thank you. You still gotta hit it. I appreciate it if that’s what he did.’
Jeter was 2-for-2 and finishes his All-Star Game career, 13-for-27, .481. Mike Trout, the new face of baseball, was MVP with a double, triple, and two RBI.
Separately, the New York Times’ Richard Sandomir noted, “The All-Star Game attracted 22 million viewers 20 years ago. Last year, it attracted 10.95 million…the second fewest recorded by Nielsen….
“Somehow, in the past four years, the NFL’s Pro Bowl has had more viewers than baseball’s All-Star Game.”
Goodness gracious. Now that’s embarrassing. I haven’t watched a second of the Pro Bowl in at least 25 years.
Actually, the NBA All-Star Game, which I also avoid, picked up only 7.5 million viewers last February.
–CBS News tweeted Tuesday, “Michael Jeter takes bow at his final All-Star game.”
—Miguel Cabrera, despite having 75 RBI at the break, said the groin tear he suffered last September still bothers him and it’s impacted his power numbers. Just 14 homers in 90 games vs. the 44 he hit in each of the last two seasons. [But a shot in the All-Star Game.]
–Pretty funny how the Mets are 45-50, yet have a run differential of +19, or fifth out of 15 in the National League, and better than the 52-43 Braves, who are at +12.
Leading baseball is 59-36 Oakland, with a staggering run differential of +145 (466 / 321). I’ve said it before…kind of wish I was an A’s fan…they’ve been fun the last few years in particular.
But noooo! I’m a Mets fan, which takes 2.2 years off one’s life, according to an extensive study released by the National Institutes of Health. [Or maybe not.]
–Speaking of the Mets, rookie pitcher Jacob deGrom has had an historic first half. As reported by Michael Salfino of the Wall Street Journal, deGrom became the 11th rookie starting pitcher since 1933 to reach the All-Star break with a strikeout rate over 8.5 per nine innings, a strikeout-to-walk ratio over 2.5 and an ERA under 3.50 in 70-plus innings. Just 11 since 1933! As my grandfather used to say, “Gee willickers!” [Grandpa Editor was very old-fashioned….and a diehard Phillies fan. I also got some Marilyn Monroe playing cards from him…very racy…but I digress.]
DeGrom has pitched 73 2/3, 8.8 SO/9, 2.57 SO/bb, 3.18 ERA.
Hideo Nomo LAD 1995
Dontrelle Willis FLA 2003
Gary Nolan CIN 1967*
Masahiro Tanaka NYY 2014
Jose Fernandez MIA 2013
Dwight Gooden NYM 1984
Shelby Miller STL 2013
Michael Pineda SEA 2011
Collin McHugh HOU 2014
Kerry Wood CHC 1998
*Nolan was just 19 years old that rookie campaign when he went 14-8. He had some super seasons, but was oft-injured and was yet another classic case of someone who would have benefited mightily from modern sports medicine. His career was essentially over at age 28, but he was 110-70. Today he would have been a 200-game winner and made a $gazillion.
Ed. note…Salfino said it was 13 pitchers, but then listed only 11. I’m going with 11.
–The Kansas City Royals were off to a good start, but after losing 14 of their last 23 are 6 ½ back of Detroit in the A.L. Central, though just 2 ½ behind for a wildcard spot. Should they miss the playoffs, it would be for the 29th consecutive season, the “longest streak in the four major professional sports without a postseason appearance,” as noted by the Wall Street Journal’s Kevin Helliker.
The St. Louis Browns hold the baseball record at 41 seasons, 1903-43.
–So Commissioner Bud Selig plans on retiring in January, though he’s said that before and he could always remain another year or two.
But what will he do with Pete Rose? It’s all up to him, until a new commissioner takes over. Selig is already saying Rose can play a role in the 2015 All-Star Game next July, played in Cincinnati, assuming the Reds’ organization wants that…which of course they will.
“On July 19, 1920 – the Great Bambino hit his 30th home run of the season, breaking his own single-season record of 29, which he had set the previous year….
“The 1920 season saw Ruth finish with 54 home runs, a record that would not remain for long, as he broke it with 59 in 1921, and again with 60 in 1927….
“The 29 home runs that Ruth hit in 1919 broke Ned Williamson’s 1884 record of 27. Williamson set his record playing in Lake Park, the Chicago White Stocking’s home field that featured a right field wall just 196-feet from home plate. Ruth’s home field was Fenway Park, which was a notoriously difficult home run park during that time. Of his 29 home runs in 1919, only nine came in Boston.”
British Open
It’s the third major of the year and once again the sport is crying for either Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson to find themselves near the top of the leaderboard heading into the weekend, especially Sunday.
This week’s Open Championship is at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, site of Tiger’s 2006 triumph. Tiger said he feels confident, his strength is returning after back surgery, and while he missed the cut at Congressional the other week in his first event, he learned he could play without pain for the first time in a long time and that his body recovered well, round to round.
But what if Martin Kaymer wins? And can Rory McIlroy play four solid rounds and avoid a blow up?
Back to Tiger, the Journal’s John Paul Newport reminds us of Tiger’s dominance. From August 1999 through June 2008, he won 13 out of 35 majors, 37%. Plus he won the 1997 Masters for his 14 total.
“But that was an aberration. Of the 56 majors won by someone not named Woods since 1997, nearly half (27) were claimed by one-time champions, several of whom didn’t remain in the spotlight for long: Shaun Micheel, Rich Beem, Todd Hamilton, Michael Campbell, Y.E. Yang. Only five other major champions since 1997 have won more than two in their careers, led by Mickelson with five and Ernie Els with four. Payne Stewart, Vijay Singh and Padraig Harrington each won three.”
Owing to wins in his last two starts, Justin Rose is the betting favorite for this week.
–This is the 50th anniversary of Tony Lema’s Open Championship victory at St. Andrews, two years before he died in a plane crash at age 32.
While I wrote of “Champagne Tony” recently, until reading a piece in Golfweek by Adam Schupak, I didn’t realize the connection to Lema’s win with Arnold Palmer.
“Lema had never visited the British Isles or played a links course and was unsure whether to pursue the Claret Jug. Credit his then-road roommate, two-time Open champion Arnold Palmer, who skipped the championship that year, with an assist.
“ ‘He was fighting it. He didn’t want to do it,’ Palmer said. ‘One day in Mobile, Ala., he said to me, ‘I’ve been thinking about the Open. Would you give me your putter if I play there?’ It was an old Tommy Armour model I had painted black. He said, ‘If you give me that putter, I’ll win the tournament with it.’’
“Palmer lent him the putter and also arranged for Lema to use Tip Anderson, Palmer’s dour-faced Scottish caddie. With the tournament beginning Wednesday, Lema arrived in time to practice only 10 holes on Monday before playing a full round Tuesday….
“As recounted in the afterword to Lema’s fine book ‘Golfer’s Gold,’ his agent, Fred Corcoran, struck a deal for Lema to collaborate on a daily diary for a Scottish newspaper. The headline blared, ‘I’ll win the Open.’ Lema cornered Corcoran, who had approved the article but had not been privy to the headline, and told him, ‘I never said that.’
Lema went on to defeat then 24-year-old Jack Nicklaus by five. The winner’s purse? $4,200. “I spill that much in a week,” wrote Champagne Tony in his daily diary.
Lema never returned Palmer’s putter. Decades later the Lema family gave the putter to Palmer, who donated it to the R&A in 2005. It is on display at the British Golf Museum in St. Andrews.
“He was a tremendous loss for golf, for everybody,” Palmer said. “I’d have given him a great chance to be remembered as one of the real greats.”
But as Jack Nicklaus noted, “His victory in the 1964 British Open assures him of being remembered for all time.”
World Cup…final thoughts
If I had to take one word back from my last commentary it would be that I said I was “very” glad the World Cup was over. Hey, you know I enjoyed it and I really did watch a ton of it…much more than I would have thought I did. I’m just glad it’s over for the same reason…I watched a lot of it and let other stuff go unattended.
Anyway, the Irish Independent’s Sam Wallace had a column summing up some of the good and bad of the tournament.
Such as “Game of the Tournament”…clearly Germany 7 Brazil 1, “for the sheer novelty of it.”
“Best Goal”…James Rodriguez v. Uruguay…can’t disagree.
“Best Pass”…Lionel Messi to Angel di Maria v. Belgium…agree
“Best Player”…I forgot to mention last time for the archives it was Messi, but Mr. Wallace would have had a co-winner, Thomas Mueller.
“Abiding Memory”… Sam Wallace: “It is hard to imagine the pressure on the Brazil team. I had always presumed they were under a lot of expectation to win regardless of where the World Cup was played. But seeing the crowds here gathering to watch games in parks and on beaches brought home just how much pressure these boys play under.”
The New York Times’ Jere Longman noted: “When Mario Gotze settled a crossing pass with his chest and volleyed a goal that won the World Cup, German fans roared in ecstatic release. Those from Brazil were nearly as delirious, even it is was out of relief as much as celebration….
“ ‘Argentina winning would have been the worst thing I could think of,’ said Jaime Costa, 30, a Brazil fan….
“By the tens of thousands, Argentine fans had crossed into neighboring Brazil, many sleeping in tents and mobile homes and taunting their chief rivals by singing, ‘Brazil, tell me how it feels to have your daddy in the house.’ Roughly, that translates as ‘How does it feel to be bossed around in your own backyard?’….
“ ‘We hate them, and we don’t even know why,’ said Flavia Torezani, 31, a computer programmer from Brazil who cheered herself hoarse at Sunday’s outcome as Argentine fans and players faced the heartbreak of narrow defeat. ‘They’re our rivals. We don’t want them to win, ever. This was almost like Brazil winning today.’”
As for what the winner takes home, Germany earns $35 million and runner-up Argentina $25 million.
The United States earned $9 million for making it to the Round of 16. The money goes to each nation’s soccer federation and it is at the discretion of each as to how the loot is doled out. [Graham Watson / Yahoo Sports]
FIFA, by the way, is slated to take home as much as $4.5 billion thanks to broadcasting revenue, licensing, sponsorships and beach badges. [OK, not sure on beach badges.] FIFA then gives Brazil an unknown share, but it will be a drop in the bucket compared to the $14 billion total expense of building/renovating stadiums, infrastructure and security.
And as to the “Golden Ball” award given to Lionel Messi, Argentine football legend Diego Maradona accused FIFA of giving it to Messi because the award is sponsored by Adidas, and Messi has a multimillion-dollar endorsement deal with them.
Meanwhile, viewership in the U.S. was the highest ever for a men’s World Cup Final match. ABC attracted 17.3 million, Univision 9.2 million, and ESPN’s streaming service 1.8 million.
The top five TV markets were: Washington, D.C., San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Orlando, Fla.
Univision said its overall viewership of the World Cup was 30% higher than during the 2010 tournament. [Los Angeles Times]
One more…Manchester United signed a new mega-jersey deal with Adidas that will net it $1.3 billion over 10 years. The $130 million-a-year package, which begins in 2015, surpasses the $50 million-a-year that Adidas has with Real Madrid, and is more than the current Nike deal with ManU at $40 million per. Nike said it didn’t make economic sense for its shareholders to go any higher.
So why would Adidas pay this much? The company said it expects to sell $2.57 billion of ManU merchandise and other sporting goods around the world over the 10-year contract.
–Good lord…you see the Pacific halibut that California angler Jack McGuire caught off the coast of Alaska the other day? 482 pounds! The 8-foot-long good tastin’ monster was 30 pounds heavier than the record 452-pounder caught in 1996, but the International Game Fish Association won’t recognize McGuire’s catch because the boat’s captain had to shoot the behemoth in the head to keep it from flopping around and killing all onboard. It took five people to pull Moby Halibut up.
–It was kind of bizarre that on consecutive days at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, two people were killed by lightning strikes. It had been 14 years since the last one there. One strike was at 11,400 feet above sea level and injured seven more, while the next day’s fatal hit was at 10,800 feet, with three others hurt in that one.
There are signs all around the park warning storms can close in quickly.
Colorado averages three deaths a year from lightning, often second behind Florida.
— “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” opened to a strong $73 million domestically, better than 2011’s “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” which brought in $54.8 million in its opening weekend.
Separately, monkey houses at zoos across America were glued to bootleg copies and I must reissue my warning…avoid monkey houses while “Dawn” is still playing in theaters. I may have to raise this to Defcon-15 at some point…which would mean “avoid all zoos and drive-through wild animal parks.”
–Yes, I’ve covered this more extensively than I had planned, or most of you cared, but when a record 400,000 are receiving ticket refunds it’s a big deal and Garth Brooks was finally forced to pull the plug, officially, on what were to be five concert dates in Dublin end of the month.
Brooks was given a half-ass offer to hold three dates in July and two or three in October, but as this was always designed to be a five-show spectacular for his comeback kickoff, it was no go.
Garth issued a statement that read in part: “To say I am crushed is an understatement. All I see is my mother’s face and I hear her voice. She always said things happen for a reason and for the right reason. As hard as I try, I cannot see the light on this one.”
I feel for the promoter Peter Aiken, whose livelihood is finished….a broken man. It wasn’t his fault in the least.
The Dublin City Council, and the sham neighborhood group that caused the ruckus, are nothing but a bunch of idiots. Remember, 70,000 were coming from outside the country and made airline and hotel plans going back to January and February.
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary called the situation “bizarre” and added: “It wouldn’t happen in any other country in the world.” [Irish Independent]
Top 3 songs for the week 7/13/85: #1 “A View To A Kill” (Duran Duran) #2 “Sussudio” (Phil Collins) #3 “Raspberry Beret” (Prince & the Revolution)…and…#4 “The Search Is Over” (Survivor) #5 “Would I Lie To You?” (Eurythmics) #6 “Everytime You Go Away” (Paul Young) #7 “You Give Good Love” (Whitney Houston) #8 “Voices Carry” (‘til Tuesday) #9 “Glory Days” (Bruce Springsteen…saves the week …) #10 “The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough” (Cyndi Lauper… ughh…)
Baseball Quiz Answers: 1) Zack Greinke is the only pitcher to win 20 (exactly) for the 12 months, July 1, 2013-June 30, 2014. Clayton Kershaw and Rick Porcello won 19. 2) Robinson Cano led second baseman with 107 RBI. Next was Martin Prado with 91. 3) Hanley Ramirez led with 85 RBI at shortstop. Ian Desmond 81. Troy Tulowitzki had 78, but was the only shortstop to hit .300 (.319).
*By the way, that number at the top is real. 1,690 Bar Chats. Some of the early ones aren’t archived. In the early days I did three a week, but they were very brief.
