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
MLB General

The Full Count: Brawlin’ in Arlington


1. A good ol’ fashioned basebrawl: The Texas Rangers and LA Angels actually played yesterday, but few will remember this game for Texas’ 9-3 victory or 8-run third inning. That’s because in the bottom of the 9th with two outs, Adam Kennedy was hit by a pitch and charged the mound, setting off a benches-clearing brawl. Two Rangers had been hit the inning before, leading to the ejection of Angels manager Mike Scioscia. Rangers manager Buck Showalter was tossed after the fight as well as Kennedy. This type of thing can only be explained by watching, so watch it here.

2. Closing in: Watch out, St. Louis. Your usual huge lead in the NL Central division has all but disappeared this season. Now, after a defeat to the Reds, Cincy is closing in on the defending division champs. Yesterday they mauled the Cardinals at the New Busch by hitting 5 homers in a 7-2 win. Third baseman Edwin Encarnacion hit two big flys in the first three innings to give the Reds a 4-0 lead. That was followed by Adam Dunn (36), Ken Griffey Jr. (24), and Rich Aurilla (17) homeruns. Bronson Arroyo, who had been winless since June, finally emerged victorious by holding St. Louis to 1 earned run. Now the Reds are just 1.5 games out in the division, and they could possibly lower that to a half-game by tomorrow.

3. Reaching 70: Only one team in the National League, the Mets, has reached 70 wins. The AL East and West combined feature one 70-win team as well, the Yankees. Amazingly, the AL Central has three teams that have reached that plateau after the Twins did it last night. Minnesota beat up on Cleveland 7-2 last night for the win. Joe Mauer had 2 RBIs, Jason Bartlett went 4-4, and Michael Cuddyer drove in three runs to lead the team. Carlos Sliva got the win and is 4-1 with a 4.73 ERA since the All Star break, good considering his horrendous first half. Now Minnesota is just 1 game away from the Wild Card leading White Sox, who lost again last night to the pitiful Royals. The teams will play in a weekend series that will give one of them bragging rights in this tight race.

4. Cabrera’s day: Though Miguel Cabrera doesn’t really get mentioned among some of he elite hitters in the game, his all-around play over his short career has been truly extraordinary. Yesterday he led the Marlins to a surprising 15-4 crushing of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who had won 17 of 18 coming into the game. Cabrera hit two homers, his 19th and 20th on the season, while compiling 5 RBIs, 3 hits, and 3 runs. His performance raised his average to an outstanding .337, which ranks second in the NL. He also ranks second in on-base percentage and sixth in OPS. He is having the best of his 3 standout seasons, with career highs in each of the above percentage categories. Cabrera is truly a young stud, and incredibly is only 23. He is the leader of a young, surprising Marlins team that is only 8 games below .500 despite a minute payroll.

5. We’ll play anyone but Oakland: The Seattle Mariners have just slightly struggled against the A’s on the year. Make that mightily struggled. The team lost their 15th consecutive game against Oakland last night as they fell 4-0. That means Seattle is 55-49 against every team but the A’s and 1-15 against them this year. This is the longest streak since 1974 by any team against a divisional opponent, Elias Sports says. Dan Haren won and struck out 8 while the bullpen held their ground. Now Oakland, after sweeping the Mariners, has won 6 games in a row and 10 of 11 overall. Their streak is similar to the Dodgers’ but has received much less acclaim.

Categories
Cleveland Indians

August 17 in Sports History


In 1920: Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians died from being hit by a pitch in a game against the New York Yankees at the Polo Grounds the day before. Crowding the plate as usual, the popular shortstop was struck in the temple (players did not start wearing helmets until the 1950’s) by a fastball from submariner (a distinct sidearm pitching style) Carl Mays. Chapman never regained consciousness and died 12 hours later. It was the only on-field fatality in Major League history. Baseball historians have suggested that in terms of popularity, Chapman’s death would be the modern equivalent of a player like Derek Jeter being killed on the field. Joe Sewell would replace Chapman in the lineup and would go on to have a Hall of Fame career himself. The Indians would rally, however, and win their first World Series in October.

Categories
New Orleans Saints

Odds and Ends: Adidas should thank the NFL for the free advertising



Golden cleats

Reggie Bush was fined for wearing Adidas cleats in his first preseason game by the NFL because they have a marketing deal with Nike and Reebok. Well Adidas is covering the fine for Bush and we suspect they would do it every week if need be because of the free publicity the NFL is giving them. Sponsorship dollars is one thing but players should be able to wear whatever equipment they want as long as it fits within the color scheme and is a matter of personal preference.

In other news…

[MSNBC]: Koren Robinson arrested for DWI

[Sportsline]: Clarett may get gag order on robbery charges

[Reuters]: Michele Wie to shill for Sony

[Morisato’s blog]: The Worst Trades In Baseball History

[Chicago Tribune]: These days, ‘I had a bad day’ isn’t good enough for an athlete to explain his failures

[Yahoo]: Landis’ former cycling team to cease operations

Categories
Charlotte Bobcats

Tip: Do not bust any caps near the White House


Former Charlotte Bobcat (and Maryland Terrapin) Lonny Baxter was arrested with another man around 2:30 in the morning. A witness flagged down a secret service agent to report shots fired and seeing a white SUV in the area. The officer then pulled over Lonny Baxter and saw spent shells in the vehicle. Baxter and his passenger were arrested and charged with carrying a pistol without a license and having an unregistered firearm and unregistered ammunition.

The press is playing this up like it’s some kind of threat against the White House. The shots were fired five blocks away from the White House. If Baxter had that good of an aim, he wouldn’t have been a career 4 ppg NBA player.

Links:
[Reuters]: Ex-NBA player Baxter arrested near White House

Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: Can Johan Santana pull off the Pitching Triple Crown?


1. After-break ace: Johan Santana, always an ace after the All Star break, is at it again. He improved to 5-0 after the break this year with a win last night over the Indians. He had a fantastic game, tossing 8 innings of shutout ball against one of the league’s toughest offenses. Santana struck out 9 to elevate his major league-leading total to 187. With a 14-5 record and 3.10 ERA to go along with those strikeouts, Johan has a realistic shot at the Pitching Triple Crown. He is 3rd in ERA (with two rookies ahead of him) and trails only Roy Halladay in wins. He helped the Twins roll along to 20 games above .500.

2. Detroit wins Duels: With the Tigers’ outstanding pitching and efficient offense, they can win just about any game in a pitchers’ duel. That remained true last night, when they ousted the Red Sox 3-2. Jeremy Bonderman and Curt Schilling each pitched very well for their teams. Strikeout specialist Bonderman mowed down 8 Sox in seven innings while only allowing 2 runs. Schilling didn’t walk anybody but allowed 9 hits and 2 runs in seven. The game wasn’t decided until the ninth inning, when Mike Timlin–who was oddly in the game instead of closer Jonathan Papelbon–allowed an RBI single to Craig Monroe. Then Todd Jones was able to save his 16th save chance in a row without blowing one. He has 33 on the year. The Tigers moved to 6.5 games ahead of the White Sox (who lost), while the BoSox fell to 3 games back of the Yankees (who won). Both teams will play their main rivals later this week.

3. Enough of 18: You could call the Houston Astros the most worn-out team in baseball, or you could call them the most dramatic. Whatever the case is, they always seem to be playing in extremely long games. Yesterday they went 18 innings against the Cubs, their third game of such length in the past year. Houston’s Roger Clemens, who has been an automatic quality start so far this year, allowed a season-high 5 runs but still almost got a win. The only reason he didn’t was because of the Cubs’ Matt Murton, whose homerun in the ninth tied the game at 6. it stayed there for a while, for 8 more innings in fact. The tie was finally broken in the 18th, when it was Murton who drove in the winning runs. So the Cubs won, but it is Houston and their sense to play in extremely long games that has us puzzled. Their pitching staff has now thrown an MLB-high 1081 innings on the year, about thirty more than most teams. Could this wear and tear affect them as they try to make another run down the stretch? We’ll see.

4. Another 18: In one of most coincidental twists in the entire MLB this year, another 18-inning game was played yesterday. It was the first time that two games of this length had ever been played on the same day. The other victims were the Diamondbacks and Rockies, who played the longest game in the history of Coors Field. It lasted almost 5 and a half hours and featured 15 pitchers (still short of the Astros-Cubs’ whopping 18). This one was lower scoring from the get-go. The Rockies’ Jason Jennings had another great start with 8 innings pitched and just one run allowed. Miguel Bautista of the D-Backs pitched 6 and also allowed one. That set the stage for an enormous drought in scoring. For a mind-blowing 12 straight innings, neither team put a single run on the board. The 1-1 tie was finally broken in the 18th, when Luis Gonzalez delivered his only hit in 8 at-bats: a single that drove in the winning run. So that was the second 18-inning game on the same day! This might never happen again.

5. LA Law: Los Angeles is “laying down the law” on opposing teams, with 17 wins in their last 18 games. The streak is now reaching the historic. They are only one of two teams in the last 100 National League seasons to have a streak of such magnitude. According to baseball-reference.com, the streak is better than any in Dodgers history over an 18-game period. It is better than any run since the A’s magical 20-game win streak in 2002, a record that might never be broken. LA now leads by 3.5 games in the NL West, and they have the best home record (39-25) in the National League. Can they keep it up? Considering their weak division, yes.

Categories
General Sports

Aug 15 2006 episode of Poor Man’s PTI

Welcome to another episode of Poor Man’s PTI. This week we have Matt Marlin and Billy Fellin joining us to talk sports.

You can download this week’s podcast directly (running time 42 mins) or subscribe to the feed.  

If you use iTunes, just click here and then click subscribe and iTunes will take care of the rest.

This week’s topics include:

  • Paul Lo Duca’s two 19-year-old mistresses
  • NFL talk
  • Week 1 games
  • USA hoops
  • Fantasy Football Draft

Hope you guys enjoy the podcast.  If you did enjoy it, please give us a good rating below so we can rise up in the rankings. If you didn’t, send us an email ([email protected]) and give us some suggestions. Thanks for listening.

Categories
MLB General

August 16 in Sports History: Sports Illustrated first issue


In 1954: Sports Illustrated appeared on newsstands for the first time. The first issue was titled “Night Baseball” and it featured Milwaukee Braves slugger Eddie Mathews on the cover. There were 146 pages and it also featured trading cards of baseball All-Stars including Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays and Ted Williams. The first swimsuit model would appear on the cover two weeks later. Many subsequent issues in those early days featured yachting, hunting, golf and rodeo.

In 1948: Baseball legend and Hall of Fame slugger Babe Ruth died at the age of 53 of throat cancer. Ruth is considered by many the greatest player of all time. The one-time orphan hit 714 career home runs, fashioned a .342 lifetime average, was a dominant pitcher early in his career and reached almost mythical status worldwide. His body would lay in state at Yankee Stadium for the next two days, and more than 100,000 people passed by to pay their respects.

Categories
Dallas Cowboys

Dancing with Emmitt Smith


So it looks like Dancing with the Stars has made “retired football star” as part of their casting list. After Jerry Rice last year, we get Emmitt Smith this year. We can see it now. In a critical dance off vs Jerry Springer, Emmitt pretends to have a career ending injury and has to be carried off the stage by his dance partner and trainers. Then, in a stunning turn of events, he miraculously makes it back onto the stage and wins the event. What a hero. What a fighter…

Other “celebrities” will be Vivica A. Fox, harry Hamlin, Willa Ford, Joe (not Joey) Lawrence, and AC Slater from Saved by the Bell.

Links:
[ESPN]: Emmitt Smith to compete in ‘Dancing With the Stars’

Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: Chipper comes off the DL with a bang



3 HR night

1. Chip off the old block: Chipper Jones wasted no time returning to form after his stint on the DL for the Braves. Jones hit 3 homeruns at RFK stadium against the Nationals in just his second game back. It was his first career three-homer game and brings his career total to 350. Chipper went 4-5 to up his title-contending average to .339. Also for the Bravos, Matt Diaz went 4-5 and at one point had a hit in 10 consecutive at-bats. Diaz had gone 2-2 on Saturday and 4-4 on Sunday. His 10 hits in a row streak tied an NL record. The Braves won 10-4. They are still a whopping 16 games back in the division but trail by only 5.5 in the Wild Card race.

2. Run over by a train: We’re not sure if Pedro Martinez and the Mets were altogether ready for last night’s game against Philadelphia. While they lead the Phillies by more than a dozen games and have practically guaranteed themselves a playoff berth, the Mets still need to put on better showing than they did yesterday. They were dominated 13-0 by the Phils. Pedro Martinez only lasting the first inning, in which the Phillies scored 6 runs. According to ESPN.com, it was the first time in 10 years that Pedro had not gone at least 3 innings in any given start. Leadoff man Jimmy Rollins continued his hot streak by going 3-3 with 3 RBIs. Chas Utley added two more ribbies, while Abraham Nunez drove in three himself. The Phillies also got an excellent start from Cole Hamels, who put together his fourth consecutive quality start. He is 3-1 during those starts with 34 strikeouts.

3. Mean streak: The schedule-makers did not give the Detroit Tigers a very easy ride in August. After series last week against the Twins and White Sox, they now travel to Boston to face the Red Sox. They had lost five straight games, their longest such streak of the season, before last night’s much needed 7-4 edging of the BoSox. Sean Casey drove in two runs while Dimitri Young added three hits. Starter Nate Robinson picked up his 11th win with a quality start. For the Red Sox, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez combined to go 1-6, which is probably the reason they lost. The Tigers still lead the charging White Sox (who beat the Royals 12-2) by 5.5 games.

4. Making their run: Has there ever been a season that the A’s haven’t performed well in the second half? It’s certainly hard to remember, as there has been more of the same this year. The A’s have quietly won 9 of their last 10 games. They are now 14 games over .500 and lead their division by 5.5 games. This is all despite having narrowly outscored their opponents on the year, 530-525. in fact, the A’s offense simply stinks; that total is the second-lowest runs scored of any team in the AL. But when your pitching staff has a 4.16 ERA, you don’t need to worry about trivial matters like hitting. It looks to me like the A’s, who won 5-4 yesterday with Frank Thomas and Nick Swisher homeruns, will return to the playoffs this year.

5. Combined effort: Most shutouts might involve one or two pitchers. Not with the Giants yesterday. Starter Brad Hennessey was taken out after 5.2 innings and 70 pitches, but five relievers held up the 0. Armando Benitez, who had blown three consecutive save opportunities, held up in this one.

Categories
MLB General

August 15 in Sports History: The Other Babe Ruth


In 1915: George Sisler of the St. Louis Browns pitched a complete game, but lost 1-0 to the Cleveland Indians. Sisler came into the big leagues as a promising young pitcher in 1915. He won five games, including two against Walter Johnson. Much like Babe Ruth, however, his bat was too good to keep out of the weak Browns’ lineup, and he was converted into a first baseman. He hit .340 for his career (including over .400 twice), held the record for hits in a season with 257 (broken by Ichiro in 2004), and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1939.

In 1993: Paul Azinger won the PGA Championship at Inverness Club in Ohio with a 272. Azinger defeated Greg Norman, who once again failed to capture a major on U.S. soil, in a sudden-death playoff. After helping the U.S. win the Ryder Cup, Azinger would be diagnosed with cancer. He returned to golf quickly, but didn’t win again until 2000 in Hawaii.