Author: Vin

Vin is a Philly boy who shouldn't be invited into your house because he'll judge you on your book and music collection. He owns Dawkins, Utley, Iverson, and Lindros jerseys, which is all you really need to know about him. He can be reached at [email protected].

Categories
New York Yankees

August 23 in Sports History: Ruth jacks em one last time


In 1942: While it is known that Babe Ruth hit his final three home runs in Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field, it wasn’t the last time he thrilled fans with a few long balls. Batting against fellow Hall of Famer and legendary pitcher Walter Johnson, Ruth hit two into the stands to thrill the Yankee Stadium crowd one more time. The at-bats were part of pre-game festivities for charity; and Ruth, Johnson and 69,000 fans helped contribute $80,000 for Army-Navy relief during the war. The Yankees and Senators then split a doubleheader.

In 2005 (on August 20): San Francisco 49er’s offensive lineman Thomas Herrion collapsed and died in the locker room following a preseason game in Denver against the Broncos. The 330-pound rookie from Utah was on the field for the 49ers final drive of the game (14 plays), and was administered oxygen immediately afterward. During a team prayer in the locker room, Herrion slumped over and was immediately given first-aid. He was pronounced dead three hours later. An autopsy later determined that the cause of death was heart disease. He was 23.

Categories
MLB General

Slapping some sense into those f%$@ing kids

Staten Island manager Nick Doscher and one of his players have been reprimanded by the Little League World Series organizers after the kid was caught cursing on live TV and Doscher responded by slapping him. The video is no longer available on YouTube but in it, the kid clearly said “let’s score one fucking run” and was immediately shushed by his teammates because the mics were still on. However, the clip did not show Doscher striking the player.

ESPN will now use a 5 second delay so that kids around the country will not be subjected to another kid saying fuck on television. Thank God someone is looking out for the children.

Links:

[MSNBC]: Little Leaguer cusses, manager hits him

Categories
Video Games

Madden 07 is out today



Aaron Brooks about to throw an INT

Well, here it is kids, launch day for Madden 2007. We don’t even have an xbox 360 and we’re salivating over the screenshots. By all accounts, Madden 2007 for the xbox 360 is a giant leap over last year’s rushed release. It looks like Madden 2007 will guarantee two things: increase in xbox 360 sales and a season ending injury for Shaun Alexander (sorry Fantasy owners).

Here are a bunch of articles if you’re still wondering whether to buy it or not. (Of course you’re going to buy it.)

[IGN]: Madden NFL 07 Review

[EA Sports]: Official Madden Site

[XBOX.com]: Madden 2007 Page

[SI]: Madden 07 Review

[Game Zone]: Madden 07 Review

[Team Xbox]: Madden 07 Review

[QJ.net]: Residents of Madden, MS create a holiday and get free xbox 360s

Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: This ship is sinking


1. A great game…: If you like scoring, comebacks, and a little controversy (see next story), then you would have loved the Blue Jays-A’s game yesterday. The Blue Jays developed an 8-0 lead after two innings that featured Alex Rios (16) and Troy Glaus (31) homeruns. But then the A’s stormed back with 7 runs in the third, all off Ted Lilly. They tacked on four more in the sixth to make it a 11-8 Oakland lead, and despite a few more runs by the Blue Jays they held them off 12-10. Jason Kendall had 4 hits while Bobby Kielty had 4 RBIs. Oakland’s win was their 71st of the season, and they have built a five-game lead over the Angels in their division. But the real story from this game was a rare player-manager fight:

2. …leads to another fight: What is it about Blue Jays manager John Gibbons that leads to so many confrontations? Gibbons, who infamously challenged Shea Hillenbrand to a fight earlier this year, got into a scrap with pitcher Ted Lilly. When he went to the mound to take Lilly out after he allowed seven runs, the two exchanged heated words in a face-to-face argument. Then when Lilly went from the dugout to the locker room, Gibbons followed him and they scrapped. Unfortunately there is no clear video of the fight, though both involved said they did not exchange punches. However, several reports claimed that Gibbons had a bloody nose resulting from the fight. Whatever happened, things like this are embarrassments to the organization. With all the money the Jays front office poured into the team this offseason, they should expect a little more discipline from the players and managers. Don’t be surprised if a new manager takes over before next season.

3. 80 is here: The Detroit Tigers were the first team to 50 wins, the first to 60, the first to 70, and yesterday they won the big 8-0. Playing the White Sox in the first game of a four-game series, they easily ousted their rivals in a surprisingly one-sided pitching matchup. Jose Contreras was pitching against Justin Verlander, but he was no match for the rookie. Verlander won his 15th game of the season by allowing one run in seven innings. Meanwhile, Contreras has played terribly since his win streak ended and had one of his worst starts of the season. The Tigers tagged him for 7 runs in just 5 innings, his second consecutive seven-run start. The Tigers got 3 RBIs from Sean Casey and a homerun by Craig Monroe to lead their 7-1 blowout. They now lead Chicago by 6.5 games in the division, though the White Sox are honestly more worried about their Wild Card lead right now.

4. A Wild Series: Can the two-time defending NL Wild Card champion defeat the team that is leading the WC race this year? That’s the basic premise of the Reds-Astros series, which should be entertaining. But so far this season series has been one-sided: the Reds have won 8 of 10 against Houston. That was no different last night, when Cincy slipped by 4-3. Houston was leading 3-0 going into the eighth inning due in large part to Andy Pettitte’s 10 K start. Lance Berkman and Aubrey Huff had also hit homeruns. But then the Reds made their charge in the 8th, with a Rick Aurilla shot tying it up and a Royce Clayton single giving them the lead. Cincinnati’s win kept their Wild Card lead at 2 games and put them the same distance back from the Cardinals in the division. This team just won’t go away.

5. What a start: When John Smoltz is on the top of his game, it can be very hard to stop him. Just ask the Pirates, who couldn’t get anything off of him in yesterday’s game. Smoltz pitched 8 innings, allowing no runs, while sending down 10 Pirates. He held a no-hitter through 5 innings and could hardly miss the strike zone all night. He gave the Braves a 3-0 win after Bob Wickman continued his 12 inning scoreless streak since he joined the Braves. Atlanta is still struggling and is no where near a playoff spot at 59-65.

Categories
San Francisco Giants

August 22 in Sports History: Baseball’s ugliest brawl


In 1965: The ugliest brawl in baseball history took place at Candlestick Park in a game between the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers. Upset that Dodgers’ pitcher Sandy Koufax would not retaliate against Giants’ pitcher Juan Marichal for hitting two Dodgers, catcher John Roseboro took matters into his own hands. When Marichal stepped to the plate, Roseboro threw the ball back to Koufax by barely missing Marichal’s head. Marichal said something, and a 14-minute melee ensued when Marichal hit Roseboro on the head with the bat. Roseboro needed 14 stitches to close the wound. Marichal, one of the best pitchers of the sixties, was suspended eight games and fined a then-record $1750. The brawl also cost him election into the Hall of Fame on his first two ballots. Check out this story for more.

In 2000: At Coors Field, Colorado Rockies’ catcher Brett Mayne became just the third position player in history to win a game on the mound. Having already used an NL record 10 pitchers, the Rockies sent Mayne to the mound, and he worked a scoreless 11th inning. He got the win when the Rockies scored in the bottom of the inning to beat the Atlanta Braves 7-6. Also, in San Diego, Derek “Operation Shutdown” Bell of the Mets mopped up on the mound in a 16-1 loss to the Padres. He didn’t fare as well, giving up three hits, three walks and four earned runs. (baseballlibrary.com)

Categories
All Other Sports

Odds and Ends: Andy Roddick vs PONG

OK, we realize it’s just a marketing site masquerading as a game but we can’t help but get sucked into the Andy Roddick vs PONG game. It’s got the three things we look for in a flash game: 1) it’s simple to play 2) it saves high scores for all to see and 3) it’s a complete time-suckage. Sure, it’s not as fun as the Yeti swatting a penguin flash game but it’s kind of addicting. The only problem we have is that we can’t play as PONG. Cause we’d love to kick Andy Roddick’s ass. There’s something about him we don’t like but we can’t quite place a finger on it.

In other news…

[SI]: Ex Blue Jays player shoved down the stairs by his son

[USA oday]: Coach backs Marion Jones, questions positive drug test (maybe she was dehydrated)

[Philly.com]: Stephen Davis tries out with the Eagles

[AZCentral]: If only this comes to pass: New AZ Cardinals stadium could be called Pink Taco Stadium

[AP]: Police: Teen Posed As Reporter at Shea

[Reuters]: Russia declares war on NHL

Categories
All Other Sports

The Problem with Strip Poker

Look at the photo below. See how many dudes are at the table? 8. See how many women are at the table? 1 (not counting the dealer). And there is the problem with the Paddy Power’s World Strip Poker Championship. Why would anyone want to play strip poker against a bunch of dudes? In order to have a Strip Poker tournament, you have to have a ratio somewhere close to 60/40 men/women. Otherwise, even if you win, you still lose.

Now the
World Series of Strip Poker sounds like a much better event but one that you can’t get into. In the WSOSP, former playboy playmate Colleen Marie and her friends go up against the finalists from the WSOP. We’re pretty sure that anyone making the final table at the WSOP can beat a playboy playmate so this event is just so the girls have a chance to strip down. While we firmly recognize the appeal of naked women, it defeats the purpose when said women already will take off their clothes for money. See, the point of strip poker is to see chicks naked that you might not see naked otherwise — it’s the girl next door appeal — exactly the appeal of Jenna Fischer from The Office. Playboy playmates playing strip poker sounds good until you realize that they play against a bunch of ugly pro players. What happens when one of them sucks out on the river and we’re subjected to seeing someone like Greg Raymer naked? That is a scenario too horrible to imagine.

We hate to be chauvinistic but the only way that an entertainment spectacle of strip poker could succeed is if there were no dudes. Like most things in life, too many dudes always ruins the show.

Links:
[Reuters]: Strip poker championships bring mass a-peel

[Gambling 911]: World Series of Strip Poker?

Categories
MLB General

Are we sure this kid’s birth certificate is real?



Is that Ryan Howard?

Aaron Durley, the 13-year-old first baseman for Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, is 6’8″ and 256 lbs. In the history of Major League Baseball, only 8 players have been taller than he is. This also means that he is 6 inches taller and 10 pounds heavier than your average NFL player. Talk about a big target at first base. His entire infield could have worse aim than Dick Cheney and still be able to get the out.

The question is why isn’t he on a basketball court? He’s almost the same size as Glen “Big Baby” Davis. Could you imagine playing in the youth leagues and having to go up against this guy clogging up the middle?

Links:

[SI]: 6-foot-8 player towers over opponents at Williamsport

Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: Yankees show em who’s boss


1. One-sided rivalry: Everyone said the Yankees-Red Sox series would tell us a lot about where these two clubs stand. And it has. The Yankees are clearly much better than the Red Sox. New York over Boston was the result all weekend as the Yankees won 4 games in 3 days. This series has showed just how good the Bronx Bombers are: they have scored 47 runs in the four games, including three double-digit games to get the series rolling. Last night the result was 8-5 in 10 innings of Sunday Night Baseball, and the game was decided by their bullpens rather than the Schilling-Mussina pitching matchup. Derek Jeter hit an RBI single off Jonathan Papelbon in the 9th to tie up the game, while Jason Giambi and Jorge Posada homered in the 10th to win the game. Giambi’s homer gave him 2 on the day as he drove in 5 runs. David Ortiz hit his 44th homer of the season for the Red Sox and Manny Ramirez hit his 100th RBI. But it wasn’t enough as the Yankees extended their divisional lead to 5.5 games.

2. The wins keep on comin’: If Roy Halladay can do anything, it’s win ballgames. While no NL pitcher has even won 14 games, Halladay captured his 16th of the year yesterday. He was perfect through five innings but eventually allowed two runs as the Blue Jays defeated the Orioles. He is now 16-3 on the season, giving him a league-leading win percentage in addition to his second-best WHIP and innings pitched totals. Could Halladay win 20 games and a Cy Young? He’ll have to defeat this next guy to do that:

3. It’s easy to be dominant: Or at least it is for Johan Santana. The pitcher won his 6th consecutive decision last night as the Twins beat up on the ChiSox. It was his 15th win of the season as he allowed just one run in 7 innings. He now leads the American League in ERA, innings pitched, strikeouts, and WHIP and could capture his second career Cy Young award. It will be a great duel to the finish between him and Halladay, but as of now Johan is leading. He ranks better than Roy at everything but wins and, as described last week, is an animal down the stretch. The Twins won the 20th game in a row he started at the Metrodome, a modern record according to ESPN.com. The Twins took the series and now are just one game back from Chicago in the divisional and Wild Card races. This one could get nasty down the stretch.

4. No signs of fading: The Cincinnati Reds have held the NL Wild Card lead for a long time, and despite increased challengers they keep on winning. Yesterday they topped the Pirates 5-1 in front of their home crowd, as Aaron Harang easily shut down the opposing offense. Harang struck out 9 and allowed just a solo Jason Bay homerun to Pittsburgh while winning his 13th game of the year. That ties him with multiple players for the National League lead. Adam Dunn (37) and Scott Hatteberg (12) both homered in the third to give the home team an early cushion. Dunn is now only 3 away from his third consecutive 40-homerun season and has been a machine for the Reds in every offense category but batting average, strangely enough. Cincy now has a two-game WC lead and is only two games back of the division-leading Cardinals. The Astros, at 7.5 back, have yet to make a push.

5. Pitching problems: Pitcher after pitcher has gone down recently. The A’s and Reds will face bullpen problems over the next few weeks, as both Huston Street and Eddie Guadardo will be put on the DL. Street was feeling groin pain and will be temporarily replaced by Ron Flores, who was called up from Triple-A and has already had three stints with the A’s this season. Guadardo, who had saved 8 of 10 chances since being acquired by Cincy, was also put on the 15 day list and has forearm problems. But both those pitchers got off easily compared to Tom Glavine. He is being examined for a blood clot and could either return next week or miss the rest of the season. The Mets could be without their top two starters, Glavine and the 15-day DL Pedro Martinez, for a while.

Categories
Green Bay Packers

August 21 in Sports History: Packers join the NFL



Curly Lambeau

In 1922: The Green Bay Packers franchise gained admission into the fledgling NFL. The Packers – named for a local packing company – were owned and coached by the legendary Curly Lambeau (not Brett Favre, as he would like you to believe) and finished 4-3-3 in their first NFL season, including a 3-0 loss to the Chicago Bears (who they would play another 169 times through 2005). They have won the most championships in league history with 12. (packers.com)

In 1967: Ken Harrelson became baseball’s first free agent when he was released by the Kansas City Athletics. The “Hawk” was let go by A’s owner Charles O. Finley after he called Finley “a menace to baseball.” The Red Sox won Harrelson’s services for the rest of the season for $73,000, and he helped them win the pennant in 1967. He retired in 1971 to join the pro golf tour and went on to become the most annoying broadcaster in history with the White Sox. (baseball library.com)