David Ortiz Quiz, part deux: Through Tuesday, Ortiz has 48 extra-base hits this season (29 doubles, 1 triple and 18 home runs in 70 games), so he’s on track for 100 extra-base hits for the year, a rare feat, save for the five times it was achieved during the prime steroid years, 2000-2001, 2001 being the last year a hitter has reached 100. Name the four players to have 107 or more in a single season. Answer below.
*With Sunday night’s late sports news, I have to add some final thoughts on the great achievements of LeBron and Dustin that time didn’t allow me to before.
LeBron…bringin’ it home…
“I’m true to the game, and I know what I bring to the table,” James said. “I came back for a reason. I came back to bring a championship to our city. I knew what I was capable of doing. I knew what I learned in the last couple years that I was gone, and when I came back, I knew I had the right ingredients and the right blueprint to help this franchise get back to a place that we’ve never been. That’s what it was all about.
Jarrett Bell / USA TODAY
“It’s snowing in Egypt. Pigs are flying. Hell has frozen over.
“And Cleveland has a champion.
“Of all the crazy things that can be imagined, one seemingly improbable occurrence actually happened in Oracle Arena when LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, straight out of Believeland, came for the NBA title and left with a storybook ending….
“It has been 52 years since a major sports team from Cleveland won a championship, which means that the majority of the crowd that watched and celebrated back home at the Cavs’ home arena was not alive when Jim Brown led the Browns to the 1964 NFL title.
“Yet with an ultra-determined James producing a triple-double (27 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists) to go with one timely, thunderous, fourth-quarter block, and co-star Kyrie Irving performing all sorts of wizardry amid a 26-point outburst, the Cavaliers robbed the Golden State Warriors of a repeat NBA crown and made history.
“Finally, with the Cavs also becoming the first team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 deficit to win the crown, the heartbreak belongs to someone else.
“James, who grew up in Akron, realizes what it means as much as anyone.
“ ‘Absolutely,’ said James, named NBA Finals MVP for the third time. ‘Just knowing what our city has been through, Northeast Ohio has been through as far as our sports and everything for the last 50-plus years. You could go back to the Earnest Byner fumble, (John) Elway going 99 yards, to Jose Mesa not being able to close out in the bottom of the ninth, to the Cavs going to the Finals in 2007 – I was on that team – and getting swept. And then last year.
“ ‘Our fans, they ride or die, no matter what. The Browns, the Indians, the Cavs…they continue to support us. For us to be able to end this drought, they deserve it.’
“Exhale, Cleveland.”
What else did we learn in this series?
Steph Curry may have won back-to-back regular season MVPs, but LeBron remains the best player on the planet.
And the Cavs were not only the first team to come back from down 3-1 in the Finals, they were also the first team since the Washington Bullets in 1978 to win a Game 7 on the road for a title.
Mike Vaccaro / New York Post
“LeBron wept.
“He had no legs left. He barely had a wrist left. One final ball from Stephen Curry had clanged harmlessly away, the final few seconds of a 52-year journey through the wilderness were grinding to dust. And this is all the greatest basketball player on the planet could do, now that this 93-89 victory was frozen on the scoreboard, locked in the record books, forever:
“Collapse. Close his eyes. And cry, the enormity of the moment, and the accomplishment, suddenly filling him, and spilling from him.
“ ‘This,’ LeBron James would say later, ‘is why I came home.’
“But now there were no words, only sobs. He wasn’t alone. Kyrie Irving, James’ brilliant wingman, fell into Tyronn Lue’s arms at game’s end, and neither coach nor point guard had dry eyes. Neither did J.R. Smith or Iman Shumpert, once teammates on the Knicks, now freshly crowned champions.”
—James was named Finals MVP for the third time in his career, averaging 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, 8.9 assists, 2.6 steals and 2.3 blocks. He led all players on both teams in all categories, the first time this has ever been accomplished in a Finals.
—LeBron never forgets anything…never forgets those who dissed him. As an example, he told ESPN.com on Sunday night: “When I decided to leave Miami – I’m not going to name any names, I can’t do that – but there were some people that I trusted and built relationships with in those four years [who] told me I was making the biggest mistake of my career. And that s— hurt me. And I know it was an emotional time that they told me that because I was leaving. They just told me it was the biggest mistake I was making in my career. And that right there was my motivation.”
He is supposedly referring to Pat Riley, who told him he would never be able to surround himself with a supporting cast like he had in Miami.
This is the side of LeBron a lot of us can’t stand. He’s a vindictive type. Just let it go.
—Steph Curry was asked after the game if he’d need off-season surgery on his shoulder or knees and he said no.
“I have three months to get ready for next season,” he said. “I won’t get injured celebrating tonight. It’s going to be a long three months. That’s for sure.”
–As Joon Lee of the Washington Post reports, the Golden State Warriors are far from the first regular season record-holder to come up short in the playoffs:
NHL: 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings, 62-13-7, lost in Western Conference finals
NFL: 2007-08 New England Patriots, 16-0, lost in Super Bowl
MLB: 2001 Seattle Mariners, 116-46, lost in ALCS
Joon Lee also points out, “In the championship games, a handful of dramatic plays ultimately changed the course of history, with LeBron James’ LeBlock on Andre Iguodala taking his rightful place alongside the Giants’ David Tyree’s helmet catch against the Patriots.”
–So now that Cleveland has won a championship, which city can claim it is the most cursed sports city? There are different ways of measuring this, but most who write of such matters just focus on the big four sports – MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL. So you have the likes of….
Milwaukee: last major title the 1971 Bucks.
Washington: 1991 Redskins
Minneapolis: 1991 Twins
San Diego: None.
Cincinnati: 1990 Reds
Buffalo: 1965 Bills (AFL)
If it’s a battle between San Diego and Buffalo, I’m giving it to Buffalo.
–On to the NBA Draft, Thursday. The Philadelphia 76ers with the No. 1 pick have told Ben Simmons that he will be their choice. What is really stupid on Simmons’ and his agent’s part is that until this week, he had not consented to a workout with the Sixers. [Yeah, I know there might be a minor medical issue and they did provide his records, but what the heck are they worried about? Simmons and rep don’t want to expose the fact his game is limited, is my guess.]
Picking second, the Lakers are going for Brandon Ingram and he’ll shine in L.A.
Meanwhile, the Boston Celtics have an astounding 8 picks in the two rounds (3, 16, 23, 31, 35, 45, 51, 58). My sources (two Celts fans from way back) and everything I’ve read says that GM Danny Ainge loves Providence’s Kris Dunn, but Philly likes him too and might be trying to package Nerlens Noel or Jahlil Okafor in return, the Celts wanting an immediate impact player. If I’m Boston, as is being reported, I definitely take Noel over Okafor. [But late word has Boston wanting Utah’s Gordon Hayward, among others.]
As for the Knicks, with zero picks and zero to offer in return, Arron Afflalo and Derrick Williams informed the team they will decline their 2016-17 player options of $8m and $4.6m, respectively, and instead test free agency. This was expected. Afflalo is an idiot. Williams is smart. [Meaning Afflalo just isn’t that good, while Williams should be earning more than the option would have paid him.]
Separately, the Knicks are having discussions internally about trying to pick up Chicago’s Derrick Rose via a trade, but, again, they have nothing to offer in return. They do now have a lot of cap space, however.
Personally, I won’t watch the draft because assuming the Knicks don’t do anything before, I couldn’t give a flying [fish] about it. I am mildly interested to see where Wichita State’s backcourt of Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet go, if at all. USA TODAY Sports Weekly has them rated 77 and 81, so they would make for interesting free agent signees. VanVleet in particular should be able to stick on a team. Baker? I’d peg him for a long European career, if he wants that.
Dustin, Oakmont and the USGA, cont’d….
Alex Miceli / Golfweek
“By now the world knows that Dustin Johnson won the 116th U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club.
“Finally he broke through from a 0 for 28 drought that included various heartaches, some self-imposed and some just bad luck along the way.
“The win would not be without its difficulties, but no one expected a three-act Shakespearian play, that would make even the Bard turn in his grave.
“Dustin Johnson was on the 5th green trying to make a 6-foot putt for par. He took two or three practice strokes and then went to address the ball, but never soled the club behind the ball before it moved slightly.
“Johnson stepped back and called one of the two rules officials following the group to notify him the ball moved.
“ ‘I called him over and told him what happened,’ Johnson said of the initial discussion with the official. ‘Lee (Westwood) was standing right there. He saw it. So we both agreed that I didn’t cause the ball to move. So I just played on from there with no penalty.’
“Rule 18-2 of the Rules of Golf addresses this issue specifically.
“If a player or caddie causes a ball to move that’s at rest, the player incurs a one-stroke penalty.
“The rule was amended at the beginning of this year.
“Under the old rule if the ball moved for any reason (i.e. wind) or another outside agency, when a player addressed the ball, the movement was deemed to be caused by the player and a one-shot penalty was assessed.
“Addressing the ball is when the player soles their club on the ground behind the ball.
“In this particular situation, Johnson never addressed the ball, only made practice strokes to the side of the ball and was in the process of addressing the ball when it moved.
“ ‘I was pretty sure he hadn’t caused it to move,’ Westwood said after the round. ‘You can see the TV pictures sees the side of the ball and the ball moves and the greens are running at 16 on the Stimpmeter, they put that pin in a stupid place, as it stands, so, occasionally the ball is going to move.’”
When Johnson arrived at the 12th hole, he was met by USGA officials, Jeff Hall, Director of Rules and Open Championship for the USGA and Thomas Pagel, Senior Director, Rules of Golf and Amateur Status.
Hall said, “We told him that what we saw was a concern, but we also asked him a couple of questions. Was there something else that could have caused the ball to move? As we had that discussion (with Johnson), it became very apparent that we weren’t going to get to a resolution there.”
Johnson was adamant he had not grounded or addressed the club behind the ball, but the USGA, after video review, was convinced Johnson’s actions on the green had caused the ball to move; specifically the two times he grounded the putter during the practice strokes.
Jim McCabe / Golfweek
“You want improbable, ludicrous, unbelievable, incomprehensible? Just pencil Dustin Johnson into the mix at a major championship.
“That he is a brilliant talent – maybe the best in the game – is inarguable. That he’s easy-going and seemingly unflappable is widely accepted, too.
“So why is there a curse of some sort?
“Try to explain how it is that when all he does is show up, play splendid golf and toss his name on the leaderboard at the biggest championships, bunkers miraculously materialize where before they didn’t exist, three-putts from 12 feet change the course of history, balls move for no reason and players compete over the final stretch of holes without knowing what the score of the game is.
“That he finally is a major champion is part poetic justice and part undeniable talent, but with a storyline written by Shakespeare himself.
The USGA issued an apology on Monday:
“Upon reflection, we regret the distraction caused by our decision to wait until the end of the round to decide on the ruling….
“While our focus on getting the ruling correct was appropriate, we created uncertainty about where players stood on the leader board after we informed Dustin on the 12th tee that his actions on the fifth green might lead to a penalty. This created unnecessary ambiguity for Dustin and the other players, as well as spectators on-site, and those watching and listening on television and digital channels.”
Embarrassing.
Ron Sirak / Golf World
“The venerable old course flirted, winked and even submitted a bit. That’s what 2.3 inches of rain on the first day of a championship will do to even the most difficult of layouts. But Sunday at the U.S. Open, it was Oakmont Country Club that got the last laugh.
“Well, Oakmont and Dustin Johnson.
“Almost lost in the confusion of the final round, had Johnson been penalized or not, was the fact that the venue embracing its ninth U.S. Open showed its glory and its brutality when it mattered most. This place is as hard to crack as that acorn the squirrel is holding on the club’s logo.
“Yes, Johnson’s winning score of four-under-par 276 was nine strokes lower than Angel Cabrera’s effort in 2007. Blame that on how the rain softened the course. But the final nine holes on Sunday were littered with bogeys by those clinging to the leader board – especially down the stretch.
“By sunset, Shane Lowry, Jim Furyk, Branden Grace, Sergio Garcia, Kevin Na, Scott Piercy, Jason Day and Johnson combined to make 15 bogeys and a double bogey over the last five holes.
‘Buried lies in the thick rough, plugged balls in bunkers and greens running at a speed that might have played a role in Johnson’s ball moving on the fifth green turned the last two hours of play into a grind that reminded you that winning the U.S. Open is hard work.
“ ‘It’s fun when it’s over,’ Fox commentator Paul Azinger, who played in this tournament 18 times, said during the broadcast.
“The U.S. Open is almost always that way, but Oakmont is something special, quite simply one of the most difficult golf courses on the planet. Even its new look, with about 15,000 trees removed, is intimidating….
“Oakmont reflects how Western Pennsylvania once was. The course is hard work, as it was in the mills when steel was king here. Like the heat of the blast furnaces, Oakmont suffocates. As the players walked off, there was no hiding the exhaustion in their faces….
“Come Sunday, Johnson stepped into the blast furnace and, by day’s end, emerged, soot-covered but standing as others melted away. DJ was the winner, and yet so was Oakmont.”
–Dustin Johnson after the final round: “I couldn’t be happier or prouder of myself, especially with the things that happened to me on the 18th hole last year when I couldn’t get it done. It was a lot of fun.
“I’ve been so close so many times. It’s just an unbelievable feeling,” he said. “To finally get it done on Sunday in a major is a huge monkey off my back….It’s a start toward becoming a great player.”
–I forgot to note last time that D.J.’s win was his tenth on the PGA Tour, making it nine consecutive seasons with at least one victory. He has also now risen to No. 3 in the world (behind Jason Day and Jordan Spieth, and ahead of Rory McIlroy).
–Speaking of McIlroy, he announced Wednesday that he has decided not to compete at the Olympics due to fears over the Zika virus; joining the likes of Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel and Vijay Singh. Rickie Fowler is also considering not going.
—Oakmont’s U.S. Open champions:
1927 Tommy Armour Jr.
1935 Sam Parks
1953 Ben Hogan
1962 Jack Nicklaus
1973 Johnny Miller
1983 Larry Nelson
1994 Ernie Els
2007 Angel Cabrera
2016 Dustin Johnson
Pretty, pretty good list.
–As noted, D.J. snapped an 0 for 28 in majors streak. Phil Mickelson, by the way, was 33, and 0 for 46, before he won the first of his five majors; some seeing a similarity in the trajectory of Johnson’s and Mickelson’s careers. No one will be surprised if D.J. wins five. [He turns 32 next month.]
Meanwhile, Sergio Garcia is now 0 for 71 in majors and fellow European great Lee Westwood is 0 for 73.
MLB
–There was going to be a terrific pitching matchup Monday night…the Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg vs. the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw in Los Angeles. Many said it was one of the best June matchups in major league history, until it wasn’t. About 90 minutes before the game was to start, Strasburg was scratched “with an upper back strain,” so read part of a tweet from the Nationals’ public relations account.
Yup, almost. It would have been 10-0 vs. 10-1. One of the most dominant right-handers in the game against the No. 1 lefty. “Sucks for ESPN,” Bryce Harper summed up after the game.
Strasburg said he felt a twinge in his upper back during a workout Saturday, but by late Monday afternoon, he still felt off.
If you bought a ticket just because of the matchup, you were pissed, but at least the hometown Dodgers and Kershaw prevailed over Yusmeiro Petit, 4-1.
Kershaw allowed a run in seven innings, walking none, striking out 8, while lowering his ERA to 1.57. He now has 141 strikeouts and just seven walks; not having walked more than one in a single outing this year. This is other-worldly stuff, sports fans.
He’s also 11-1 on the season, with the Dodgers winning 14 of his 15 starts, which means at 40-33 overall (after Tues.), the Dodgers are 26-32 when Kershaw isn’t on the mound.
One more item on the game. Closer Kenley Jansen, in picking up his 20th save of the season, hit 162 for his L.A. career, making him the franchise leader.
Tuesday, L.A. beat the Nats again, 3-2, Washington’s fourth loss in a row….
–….Which is helping save the Mets, who have been playing miserably but after a 2-1 win over Kansas City Tuesday night are just 4 ½ back. It is nonetheless Panic City in Metsland.
–Talk about two teams going in opposite directions, try the Phillies and the Astros.
Philadelphia was the talk of baseball when they got off to a 24-17 start, but after losing their eighth in a row last night to Minnesota, 14-10, the Phils are now 30-42…a 6-25 skid! Yuck.
On the other hand, Houston, favored by many in spring training to go all the way to the World Series this year, got off to a putrid 17-28 start but after a 3-2 win over the Angels on Tuesday, the Astros are at .500, 36-36.
–The White Sox’ Chris Sale became baseball’s first 12-game winner as Chicago beat the Red Sox 3-1 last night; Sale now 12-2, 2.83. But the White Sox are 23-34 when he is not on the mound.
–Monday, the slumping Pirates beat Madison Bumgarner (8-3, 1.85) and the Giants 1-0 in Pittsburgh, but then on Tuesday, San Francisco’s Johnny Cueto moved his record to 11-1, 2.06, with 6 2/3 of one-run ball as the Giants whipped the Bucs 15-4.
—David Ortiz said he regrets announcing that this will be his final season because he feels overwhelmed by all the attention he has been receiving, which he says affects his preparation time before each game.
Ortiz said he has terrific pain in his feet, which he needs to tend to before a game, and this is the main reason he guarantees he will never change his mind and come back for another season.
“Everything hurts,” he said. “It even hurts to think….I can barely run because my feet hurt so much. I am in severe pain.”
–In the College World Series, through Tuesday’s play, Miami and Florida had been eliminated. It’s interesting to note the final USA TODAY Coaches poll rankings prior to the start of the NCAA tournament and the eight who made it to Omaha.
2. Florida…out
3. Miami…out
9. TCU
11. Texas Tech
16. Coastal Carolina
20. Oklahoma State
23. UC-Santa Barbara
UR. Arizona
Euro 2016
Group play finally winds up today and then the field is reduced to 16 for the knockout stage.
Among games of import since last chat….
Germany 1 Northern Ireland 0…but N. IRL advances.
Slovakia 0 England 0
Croatia 2 Spain 1…Croatia finishing atop Group D in an upset. Spain will meet Italy in the round of 16 – a repeat of the 2012 final, which Spain won by 4-0. Croatia will play a third-place team.
Wales 3 Russia 0…bye bye, Russkies
Copa America
In what was touted as the biggest soccer game in U.S. history, the Americans got their butts kicked by Argentina 4-0 last night as Lionel Messi shined. Argentina now plays tonight’s winner between Chile and Colombia in the finals next Sunday night in the Meadowlands. The Americans play in the third-place game Saturday that I probably won’t watch a second of.
Messi scored the second goal for Argentina on a spectacular free kick He also assisted on two others and he was clearly a Man among boys. Just ridiculously good (and, sorry, Ronaldo, but Messi is superior to you).
Argentina will be attempting to win its first major championship in 23 years on Sunday. I’m guessing Pope Francis is stoked.
Stuff
–Wednesday afternoon, it is expected the NHL will formally welcome Las Vegas as a new franchise for the 2017-18 season. It’s complicated, but if you are an NHL fan, to me the two bottom lines are this in terms of the expansion draft.
Las Vegas will be required to draft one player from every existing team and will have to select three goaltenders, nine defensemen and 14 forwards.
NHL teams will have a choice between protecting seven forwards, three defensemen and one goaltender, or eight skaters of any kind and one goaltender (nine players). Each team can lose only one player to the draft.
There are salary cap rules and such, but that’s for GMs to worry about. One other, the teams must expose at least two forwards and one defenseman who played a decent number of games the previous season (or two). So like they can’t sign me and then expose me, seeing as I never really learned how to skate.
–From the Irish Independent: “A female marathon runner was attacked by a black bear while running a marathon in a national preserve in northern New Mexico.
“The unnamed woman was attacked on Saturday by the adult female bear while participating in a marathon event on the Valles Caldera National Preserve near Los Alamos.
“She suffered several bites and scratches and had injuries to her head, neck and upper body that weren’t life-threatening.
“New Mexico’s department of game and fish officers are now searching for the bear.”
As you can guess the attack occurred when the runner surprised the bear and its cub.
–Let’s just say the Rio Olympics have already been a disaster on a number of levels; Zika, economic depression, impeachment proceedings against the president, soaring street violence, and now this:
“A jaguar has been shot dead shortly after it was used in an Olympic torch relay at a zoo in the Brazilian city of Manaus, the army said.
“The female jaguar escaped its handlers after the ceremony on Monday and attacked a soldier, a spokesman said.
“Four tranquilizer darts failed to stop it and a soldier shot it with a pistol.
“Organizers for the Rio Games said it had been a mistake to exhibit the Olympic torch next to a chained wild animal.” [BBC News]
–There were two shark attacks on the east coast yesterday. Brevard County Ocean Rescue is investigating an incident involving a surfer who was apparently bitten by a shark while wading in the water just off of Pelican Beach Park in Satellite Beach, Fla. (near Melbourne). The surfer turned down an offer to go to the hospital as it was a small bite, according to Brevard County officials.
In South Carolina, North Myrtle Beach officials said a man had to be treated at the hospital after a shark up to five feet in length bit him. It actually swallowed his foot but he was able to free himself.
–The death toll in massive lightning strikes across three states in India on Tuesday is at least 79, most of them farm workers. It’s monsoon season.
According to national statistics, at least 2,000 people have died from lightning strikes in India every year since 2005.
–I knew of actor Anton Yelchin’s death when I went to post last time but all the facts weren’t in so I waited 24 hours, as I’m wont to do. We knew he was killed by his own car at his home in Los Angeles, his SUV rolling backwards down a steep drive, pinning him against a brick postbox pillar and a security fence.
What we didn’t know until later, though, was that the car was under recall for a confusing gearshift. Some drivers think they have put the car in park when they haven’t.
The 27-year-old Russian-born actor played Chekhov in the new Star Trek films, the role originally made famous by Walter Koenig (now 79). Yelchin will be in the next installment that is being released soon.
Top 3 songs for the week 6/23/73: #1 “My Love” (Paul McCartney & Wings) #2 “Playground In My Mind” (Clint Holmes) #3 “I’m Gonna Love You Just A Little More Baby” (Barry White)…and…#4 “Will It Go Round In Circles” (Billy Preston) #5 “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)” (George Harrison) #6 “Pillow Talk” (Sylvia…aie…aie…yai yai yai yaiiii…) #7 “Kodachrome” (Paul Simon) #8 “Daniel” (Elton John) #9 “Long Train Runnin’” (The Doobie Brothers) #10 “Right Place Wrong Time” (Dr. John)
David Ortiz Quiz Answer: All-time single-season leaders in extra-base hits.
Babe Ruth, 119, 1921
Lou Gehrig, 117, 1927
Check Klein, 107, 1930
Barry Bonds, 107, 2001….booo, booo
In 2000, Colorado’s Todd Helton had 103, then in 2001, Bonds had his 107, Helton had 105, Sammy Sosa 103, and Luis Gonzalez 100.
There have been only 15 times a player has had 100 XBH in a season; Gehrig, Klein and Helton doing it twice.
Next Bar Chat, Monday.
