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Sep 19 in Sports History: Better Times for the Cubs and Mariners



2001 AL MVP

In 1906 and in 2001: The Chicago Cubs and Seattle Mariners, who are tied for the ML record for wins in a season, both clinched on the same day. The Cubs were the earliest team to ever clinch a pennant and the Mariners led the AL West Division wire to wire (the Detroit Tigers were the last to do it, and they also clinched their division on this day in 1984. While both franchises won 116 regular season games, each failed to win the World Series.

In 1994: Stan Humphries and Tony Martin of the San Diego Chargers hooked up for an NFL record-tying 99 yard touchdown reception in a win over the Seattle Seahawks. Also, in 2005, Ladanian Tomlinson of the Chargers broke the NFL record by scoring a touchdown in 18 consecutive games.

In 1968: The day after the Cardinals were no-hit by Gaylord Perry of the Giants, St. Louis pitcher Ray Washburn returned the favor and tossed a 2-0 no-hitter against San Francisco. It was the only time in baseball history there were no-hitters in consecutive games in the same park.

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Pete Rose will do anything for money



from baseball-almanac.com

Just like the Black Eyed Peas, Pete Rose will absolutely do anything for money. His latest shameless exploitation of baseball are a bunch of autographed baseballs that have the inscription “I’m sorry I bet on baseball – Pete Rose”.

The balls will be sold by Robert Edwards Auctions at $1000 each. We wonder what Rose is getting for signing 30 balls. But we also have to wonder who are these collectors who are buying up this stuff. If there is no demand for such cheap merchandise then Pete wouldn’t get a dime.

Let’s stop the insanity people. Next thing you know, OJ will be signing footballs with “I’m sorry I killed those people”.

Links:
[MSNBC]: Report: Rose signed balls apologizing for bets

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The Full Count: Padres take the division lead


1. Overtaken: The San Diego Padres were finally able to pass the Los Angeles Dodgers for the NL West division lead. The Dodgers had been in first since August 10, when they passed the Padres after a huge winning streak. Now the Padres have returned the favor with two straight wins against their divisional rivals. They won 2-1 yesterday behind six innings of shutout, one-hit pitching by Chris Young. Young has surrendered just a .217 opponents’ batting average, ranking him third in the league. But Young didn’t get the win, as this game wasn’t decided until the ninth inning. Pinch-hitter Terrmel Sledge hit a run-scoring single to gain a 2-1 lead, and then Trevor Hoffman closed the door. Hoffman’s 39 saves lead the NL and have brought him to within 4 of Lee Smith’s all-time record of 478. He’ll need to slightly increase his pace to get the record.

2. Right on their heels: The Dodgers lead the Wild Card now, but they have a team right behind them. That would be the Philadelphia Phillies, who have won 5 of their last 6 and swept the Astros over the weekend. All of this winning puts them at 77-72, just one game back of the Wild Card lead. Yesterday’s 6-4 win over the `Stros was powered by four Phillies homers, including one by slugger Ryan Howard. That gave him 57 on the year and ended a week-long power drought. He’s currently on pace for 62 shots this season. A more unlikely player, catcher Mike Lieberthal, hit two solo blasts himself in the Phillies win. The Phillies have got fire at the right time and seemed destined for a playoff berth. If they get that far, who knows what could happen in the postseason.

3. 10th-inning antics: In a game between the Marlins and the Braves, you know some crazy relief pitching may occur. That was the case yesterday, when 9 combined runs were scored in the 10th inning. The Marlins were first to strike, when Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla each drove in two runs in the top of the tenth to make the score 7-3. At this point it seemed like Chad Paronto was going to give the Braves bullpen another horrific memory from this season. But then that was all forgotten when Joe Borowski, the usual Marlins closer, got leveled. First Matt Diaz hit a two-run double. Then the Braves scored three more runs off two Marlins errors. That gave them an 8-7 victory and an overall series win over the Marlins, who are desperate to stay alive in the loaded NL Wild Card race.

4. Dark Horse: No one is really giving the Oakland A’s much attention in the American League, but this team has an excellent shot at going to the World Series. They swept the Chicago White Sox over the weekend, putting the Sox four games behind the Wild Card-leading Twins. Oakland edged them 5-4 yesterday, with Frank Thomas continuing his streak of dominance. He hit a homer and 3 RBIs, and already has 10 and 26 for the month. Though he looked terrible in April, Thomas’ batting average has increased each month of the season. He is now the A’s most dominant hitter. Their pitching is in good shape too, as Joe Blanton improved to 16-11 with a win. He is one of four Oakland pitchers with more than 10 wins this season. They are 7 games up in their division.

5. The homering pitcher: Carlos Zambrano is an excellent pitcher, and he’s also one of the best-hitting hurlers as well. He hit his fifth homer of the year yesterday and also has 10 RBIs. His homer came in the first inning, his second shot in the first this year. According to Elias Sports, that equals the total of first inning homers by every pitcher the last 21 years. By the way, Zambrano also pitched seven shutout innings to improve to 15-6.

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Sep 18 in Sports History: Dodgers outfielder goes nuts on flight



20 K day

In 1935 Brooklyn Dodgers outfielder Len Koenecke was dismissed from the team by new manager Casey Stengel for erratic play and strange behavior. After being kicked off the flight home for being drunk and threatening the airline crew and passengers, Koenecke, a .297 career hitter, decided to charter his own plane home to Buffalo. On board that plane, he tried to grab the controls and fought with the pilots During the scuffle, the co-pilot reportedly hit Koenecke on the head with a fire extinguisher and killed him. He was 31 years old. (courtesy of baseballlibrary.com)

In 1996: For the second time in his career, Roger Clemens of the Boston Red Sox struck out 20 batters in a 9 inning game. Clemens fanned 20 Detroit Tigers and walked none in a 4-0 Boston vicrory at Tiger Stadium. Clemens also accomplished the feat against the Seattle Mariners in 1986.

In 1986: On the same day they tied the ML record for losses in a season in 1962, the New York Mets clinched the NL East Division crown with a 4-2 win over the Chicago Cubs at Shea Stadium. It was their first division title since 1973, and their 108 victories was the most in the NL since the 1975 Reds. Jubilant Mets’ fans stormed the field in celebration, nearly destroying the playing surface. The Mets went on to defeat Houston in the NLCS and the Red Sox in the World Series.

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The Full Count: Padres eyeing division title


1. The Battle for the West: Are you ready for a defining series? Just like the five-game Yankees-Red Sox melee a month ago, it could decide a division. That division is the NL West, and the teams are the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers. The Padres will enter this four-game weekend set on a roll, having won 7 of their last 10 games. They finished off the Reds last night with a 4-2 victory, with all runs for both teams being scored in the 7th inning. San Diego will enter that series just a half-game back of the Dodgers for the division lead, as Los Angeles has been crumbling lately. They’ve gone 4-6 in their last 10, and they lost to the pitiful Cubs yesterday. It looks like the Padres have all the momentum going into this duel, and if they can sweep it they might virtually clinch the NL West division title.

2. Still going: When will the Giants run out of steam? They’ve been great the entire month, with an 8-4 record in September and a 19-9 record since August 14. Yesterday they shut down the Rockies 5-0, with Matt Cain having a fantastic start. Cain allowed no earned runs for his 4th consecutive start and has lowered his ERA from 4.89 to 3.75 since August 12. Yesterday, Cain gave up just two hits and struck out seven. He led the 74-72 Giants to another victory to keep them 2.5 games back of the Wild Card leader, the Padres.

3. What an offense: The Yankees offense this season has been truly great, and now they are boosted by the return of Hideki Matsui from injury. Matsui homered yesterday for the first time since May 9 as the Yanks destroyed the Devil Rays 7-4 to bring out the brooms. The sweep was won by a combined 27-12 in three games, with the D-Rays notching exactly four runs in each game and the Yankees simply outscoring them. Derek Jeter went 2-4 to extend his hit streak to 23 games, and .339 hitter Robinson Cano went 2-4 with 3 RBIs. New York leads the entire majors in runs scored, with 32 more than the second-place White Sox. They also lead the league in batting average (.285), OBP (.365), and OPS (.825). They’ll probably get Gary Sheffield back in time for the playoffs as well.

4. Making up for lost time: The Angels were battling with a .500 record for most of July and early August. Now, their focus is on the Oakland A’s after a 17-9 run the past month. The Angels are 9-4 so far in September, and they control their own destiny down the stretch. Though they are five games behind Oakland, Los Angeles plays them 7 times over the next two weeks. They also have 6 more games against division rival Texas, who they defeated 2-1 last night. Could they make an improbable run at the playoffs? That’s one of the more interesting occurrences as we head down the stretch.

5. The Amazing Races: What’s the status of each major race in baseball? Let’s start with the AL East, where the Yankees have things wrapped up. They lead by 11.5 games over Boston, who has little to no shot of catching them. the AL Central race is far more interesting. The Tigers still lead, but only by a measly game over the smokin’ Twins. The White Sox lurk at three games back, so don’t count them out either. We’ve already given you the AL West, so let’s move on to the NL. The biggest divisional lead in baseball, as it has been for a while, is the Mets over the Phillies in the NL East. They lead by 16.5 games and have a magic number of 3. In the Central, the Cardinals lead by 5.5 games, though the Reds have faded. St. Louis should have the division in their pocket by next week. Houston is six games back and should finish the year in second place. So there you have it.

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Sep 15 in Sports History: Screw the Mannings



Alou brothers

In 1938, Lloyd and Paul Waner of the Pittsburgh Pirates became the first brothers to hit back-to-back home runs in a major league game. It was Lloyd’s last career homer.

In 1963, All three Alou brothers – Felipe, Matty and Jesus started in the same outfield for the San Francisco Giants in a 13-5 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Matty was pulled before his first at-bat and Felipe and Jesus went a combined 1 for 7 with an RBI and three runs scored.

In 1985, pitcher Joe Niekro is traded to the Yankees, reuniting him with brother Phil in the rotation for for the first time since 1974, when they both pitched for the Braves.

In 1990, Brothers Cal and Billy Ripken both hit solo home runs off David Wells in the 5th inning of a 4-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.

In another strange theme today, several baseball games were cancelled or forfeited for a variety of off-the-wall reasons.

In 1946, A game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Chicago Cubs at Ebbets Field was called in the fifth inning because a swarm of gnats was attacking players, umpires and the fans.

In 1977, despite being in a heated division battle with the Red Sox and Yankees, manager Earl Weaver of the Baltimore Orioles pulled his team off the field because of what he felt was a hazardous condition in the visitors bullpen in Toronto. There was a small tarp being held down on the mound by bricks. When Weaver refused to return his players to the field, the game was forfeited to the Blue Jays. The O’s finished tied for second with Boston at 97-64.

and in 1907, a game was called in St. Louis between the Browns and Detroit Tigers when a fan threw a soda bottle and knocked out home plate umpire Billy Evans. The crowd began beating up the fan, and police had to restore order. Evans was hospitalized with minor injuries.

(courtesy of baseball-almanac.com and baseballlibrary.com)

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The Full Count: Liriano down and out



Liriano out for the season

1. Double Blow: Yesterday was a big day for the Minnesota Twins; it marked the return of Francisco Liriano. While the day started out hopeful, it soon turned towards the negative. Liriano, though he pitched two great innings, left with elbow problems again. He hadn’t pitched for more than a month due to his elbow, and now Liriano will be out for the rest of the year. This will be a huge blow to the Twins, who need a pitcher down the stretch that can complement Johan Santana. The Twins lost to the A’s 1-0, with Oakland’s Dan Haren throwing eight innings of shutout ball. They still lead the White Sox by one-and-a-half in the Wild Card standings.

2. Perfect? Almost: After Anibal Sanchez’s no-hitter last week, we almost saw two perfectos last night. Ben Sheets and Freddy Garcia each took a perfect game into the seventh inning last night, with Garcia recording 23 straight outs to start his ballgame. Garcia and his White Sox faced the Angels, and he didn’t allow a baserunner until there were two outs in the eighth. Then Adam Kennedy, who is hitting .266 on the year, broke it up with the Angels’ only hit of the night. Garcia improved to 14-9 and his ERA dipped under 5 to 4.82. Meanwhile, Ben Sheets of the Brewers allowed nothing until a leadoff single in the seventh and a homerun to Pirates backup catcher Ryan Doumit. Otherwise he was perfect, finishing with eight innings pitched and 10 strikeouts.

3. Changing of the Guard: The San Diego Padres played the Cincinnati Reds yesterday in a matchup of current and past Wild Card leaders. The team currently on top, the Padres, stormed through the Reds, winning 10-0. Jake Peavy pitched 6 innings, allowing just 3 hits and no runs while extending his NL lead in strikeouts. Peavy has looked like the ace he is in three September starts, with a 1.66 ERA and .171 opponents’ batting average. Mike Piazza also hit his 22nd homer of the season, as he remarkably leads all catchers once again. The Padres Wild Card lead actually shrunk on the day, as the Philadelphia Phillies won both games of a doubleheader to move to 1.5 games back.

4. Ninety: The New York Mets became the first major league team to win 90 games on the season yesterday, improving to 90-55. They defeated the Florida Marlins 7-4, though they were trailing leading into the ninth inning. The Mets needed a pinch-hit RBI single by Carlos Delgado to send the game into extras, where they excelled. New York put up three runs in the 11th to beat the Florida Marlins, who got another great game from Josh Willingham. Willingham homered for his third straight game, and has 6 RBIs and 8 hits during that span. But that wasn’t enough to take down the mighty Mets, who have scored the second-most runs in the NL and allowed the second-fewest. They have the league’s best home record and its best road record, and should absolutely represent the NL in the World Series. Only a catastrophic injury or just poor playoff performance could keep them from that.

5. Penny’s worth to the Dodgers: Who is the most valuable player on the Dodgers? What player has propelled them from no-show to leader in the division? This is not a team loaded with stars. There are two players that have been particularly good though–and that made the All Star team. They are Brad Penny and Nomar Garciaparra, who each contributed yesterday in LA’s 6-0 victory. Nomar had two hits and two RBIs. He leads the team in batting average, homers, and RBIs among other things. Penny meanwhile, was in shutout form through seven inning to win his NL-leading 16th game. The 77-68 Dodgers are just 61-60 in games Penny has not recorded a decision. Both are valuable, but we’d take the player that started the All Star game and hasn’t looked back.

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The Full Count: sneaky Giants in postseason chase


1. A Giant comeback: The San Francisco Giants have sat toward the back of the NL West division throughout most of this season. However, via a recent winning streak they’ve snuck up on the class of the division, the Padres and Dodgers. After beating the Rockies 10-6 yesterday for their 7th win in 10 games, the Giants are just 3 games back of the leading Dodgers and 1.5 games out from the Wild Card-leading Padres. Yesterday Pedro Feliz drove in three RBIs in the win, giving him a team-leading 91. Despite being a quiet team throughout most of the year, the Giants have a serious shot at the postseason.

2. The Greatest Show on Grass: The St. Louis Cardinals appear to have the division title wrapped up once again. They’ve won two straight games and lead the pretending Reds by just five games, but they are the vastly superior team. Their record is 77-67 after winning last night, while the Reds are stuck at 72-72. The Cards slipped away with a late win due to the usual suspect: Albert Pujols. He hit a two-run double in the ninth that provided the difference in their 6-5 win over the Astros. Pujols, who has 45 homers and 120 RBIs, has a good shot at his second straight MVP award. However, our vote would still go to Ryan Howard of the Phillies, who was rained out again yesterday but leads Pujols in most categories.

3. West vs. Central: The “Big Three” AL Central teams are currently in battle with the three top teams from the AL West. The Tigers are taking on the Rangers, the Twins are playing the A’s, and the White Sox are facing the Angels. Yesterday, the Tigers, Twins, and Angels won among those three series. Detroit snapped a losing streak with a 3-2 win, with each of their runs coming off a solo homer. Kenny Rogers earned the win in that one. Meanwhile, the Twins beat the A’s 7-5 to win their fifth straight. Justin Morneau improved his average to .324 while hitting two RBIs (120). The Sox lost, however, by a 4-3 margin to LA. Chone Figgins drove in a run off Bobby Jenks in the 11th to win that one.

4. Over after the first: The Yankees displayed all their offensive power as early as the first inning in yesterday’s home game against the Devil Rays. They scored 9 runs in the first, including a remarkable 6 driven in by Bobby Abreu. Abreu hit a three-run homer his first time up and followed that up with a three-run double. His 6 RBIs in one inning tied him for the second-most in the last 30 years. Only Fernando Tatis, who hit two grand slams in one inning on April 23, 1999, has ever had more. Abreu is hitting .346 with 31 RBIs as a Yankee and has a .298 overall average. Mike Mussina pitched well for the Yanks and improved to 14-6 on the year. New York rolled 12-4 and has reopened their double digit lead over the Red Sox.

5. 14 and done: This has been a forgone conclusion for a while now, but at least now it’s official. The Braves are out of the running in the NL East, and they won’t win their 15th straight division title. Yesterday the Mets edged the Marlins, and even though the Braves were off that sealed the deal for Atlanta. The Mets, who are 89-55 and so much better than the Braves in every way, have done what they haven’t been able to do for 15 years. They even made the World Series in 2000, but they’ve hadn’t beaten the Braves since the Internet Age began. Now they have. They lead Atlanta by 19.5, and the Braves’ Wild Card hopes are all but over as they are 5 out with six teams ahead of them. RIP, Braves dynasty.

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The Full Count: Chris Carpenter for NL Cy Young



This year’s Cy Young

1. Cy to Carpenter: Who should win the NL Cy Young this year? While Johan Santana has virtually clinched the AL award, there is no clear favorite in the National League. But in our opinion, the league’s winner from last year is again its best pitcher this year. He is Chris Carpenter of the St. Louis Cardinals, and he’s been dominant recently. Carpenter, who went 21-5 last year to take home his first career Cy Young, is 14-6 this year with a 2.84 ERA. Last night he shut down the Astros with a complete game, six-hit shutout. It was his second straight complete game in a row and third in his last six games. He’s won four straight decisions, and leads the NL in both ERA and WHIP. Carpenter has also been the only consistent starter for the Cardinals this season. That should be enough to add another Cy Young to his trophy case.

2. That’s offensive: It’s been well-established that the Florida Marlins have some good young players. Last night, many of them were at their finest. The Fish stomped the Mets 16-5, and while Anibal Sanchez failed in his quest for two straight no-hitters, it was all good news for Florida. Star third baseman Miguel Cabrera drove in three RBIs, giving him 109 on the year. All Star Dan Uggla went 5-5 and scored three runs. But it was outfielder Cody Ross that had the biggest day. Ross hit three homers, seven RBIs, and went 4-5 at the plate. All in all Marlins rookies hit five homeruns, setting a major league record. They passed Philly to improve to second place in the division and in the Wild Card race. They’re just two games out of the lead in the latter.

3. Keeping pace: As the Minnesota Twins won again yesterday, the White Sox needed to stay close to them by winning themselves. And, despite only recording four hits against starter John Lackey and the LA Angels, they still managed to win 3-2. Jose Contreras has his second consecutive 8 inning, one run allowed start. He had previously allowed five or more runs for four straight starts. But he improved to 13-7 as Bobby Jenks saved his 40th game of the year. The win left the Sox 3 games back of the Tigers and 1.5 behind the Twins for the Wild Card. This should be a fantastic race down the stretch.

4. Mid-field greatness: Where do the Yankees strengths lie? Well, they have many, but their greatest asset could be their middle infield. Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano have been the best offensive shortstop-second base combination this season, at least in terms of batting average. Cano is hitting .336 and Jeter .345. While Jeter is second in the league, Cano doesn’t have enough at-bats to qualify. Anyway, his three-run double in yesterday’s game put the Yankees ahead for good over the Orioles. Jeter, meanwhile, continued his 21 game hit streak, a career high for him. He has 13 homers and 91 RBIs this year; Cano has 9 and 59 in less at-bats. That’s pretty good for a double-play combo.

5. Lefty #2 returns: Francisco Liriano, who is one of two lefty aces for the Minnesota Twins, is finally coming back to the mound. After missing more than a month, Liriano is off the disabled list and is set to return to the rotation as early as Wednesday. The 12-3, 2.19 ERA Liriano will pitch against the Oakland A’s. Assuming Liriano picks up where he left off, this could be a huge boost to the Twins in their push for the playoffs.

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The Full Count: Here come the Twins


1. Closing in: We thought the Detroit Tigers had a divisional lead impossible to overcome. The Minnesota Twins thought otherwise. They just took 3 of 4 from the Tigers in dominant fashion. On Sunday, Johan Santana was able to shut down the Detroit offense once again. He threw 11 strikeouts and didn’t allow a run in Minnesota’s 12-1 blowout. Joe Mauer had two doubles and two RBIs for the offense, and Nick Punto had an excellent game with four hits. It was the Twins’ third win in a row to close out the series, and it gave them their smallest divisional deficit since April 18. The Twins are just two games back now of the Tigers. These teams don’t play for the rest of the season unless they meet in the playoffs.

2. The D-Train Returns: The Florida Marlins pitching staff got plenty of attention over the past week, but little of it went to Dontrelle Willis. He had been in the shadow of Anibal Sanchez’s no-hitter as well as some of the Marlins’ other rookies. But he showed on Sunday that he is still a very capable young pitcher. Willis pitched one of the best games the league has seen this season, going the distance for a complete-game shutout. He struck out 12 Phillies, matching a career high. The Marlins won 3-0 to salvage a series split against the Phils. The teams have identical records at 72-71 and stand 2.5 games back of the Wild Card lead.

3. Rollin’ Along: The Oakland A’s are still winning ballgames and still leading the NL West. Though they receive little attention, they have been just as good as the Yankees or White Sox, at least by record. The A’s are 82-60 after outlasting the Devil Rays 9-7 yesterday. The big news was Frank Thomas, who had a “perfect” day and homered for his fifth straight game. Thomas went 3-3 at the plate with 2 walks and now has 35 homers on the season. The A’s are still holding off the red-hot Angels in the division by 5.5 games. For the D-Rays, Delmon Young continued his incredible success since he was called up, going 3-5 to bring his average to .408.

4. Padres Power: The San Diego Padres still have the lead in the National League Wild Card. They’re going for their second straight playoff appearance, and the Padres moved to 2.5 games ahead of the streaking Giants after beating them yesterday. They won 10-2, as Woody Williams improved to 8-3 on the year and Brian Giles hit 4 RBIs. Rookie middle reliever Cla Meredith now has a 33 inning scoreless streak, as he hasn’t allowed a run since July 17 to decrease his ERA from 3.86 to 0.69. The Padres, who are off today, will take on Cincy this week before a pivotal series against the Dodgers.

5. Best in the business: The best players in the majors are performing better than ever. David Ortiz missed a week and a half in late August and early September, but he’s picked up right where he left off. Papi went 0-7 his first two games back, but then on Friday went 3-5 with 4 RBIs. Then, yesterday, Ortiz went 2-2 with three walks, three runs, and a homerun. The round-tripper gave him a career-high 48 this season, and he’s also on pace for career bests in on-base percentage, slugging, and OPS. Albert Pujols is also on pace for some career highs this year. His 45 homers are one off his best mark, set in 2004, and his 118 RBIs are nine away from his high. This is despite going on the disabled list for the first time earlier this season, and having almost 20 games left in the year. Other prominent players that are blowing up their career marks are Jermaine Dye, Travis Hafner (who is out the rest of the year with a broken hand), Derek Jeter, Alfonso Soriano, and Carlos Beltran, to name a few.