Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: The Cardinals pull one out

Pujols for MVP?

1. A season-saving homerun?: The Cardinals looked like they were done. They came into yesterday’s game having lost seven in row, and it looked like they were going to end up losers once again. San Diego starter Chris Young had pitched excellently and the Padres got out to a 2-1 lead through seven innings. But no lead is safe when your opponent has Albert Pujols in the lineup. Pujols jacked a three-run homerun in the eighth to lift the Cardinals 4-3. Not only did this win the game, it might have saved the season for the previously reeling Cardinals. Now St. Louis has kept their 1.5 game lead with 5 games left to play. The Padres gave up some ground in the division to the Dodgers.
 

2. Untouchable: The Houston Astros, who seemed all but out of the playoff hunt a week ago, seemingly decided to start winning. There is no other explanation for their incredible 8 game winning streak. Though the Cardinals finally won, the `Stros kept their streak going yesterday. They defeated the hapless Pirates in 15 innings. Somehow Houston has a knack for playing (and winning) long games like these. They did it again, though even getting to extras was difficult this time around. Houston was down 6-1 after five innings but then rallied back to tie up the game. Brad Ausmus’ sac fly in the 15th sealed the deal. There is a negative consequence to playing all these long games like the Astros have. Their pitching staff has pitched the most innings among every major league team, meaning they might seem more fatigued than some of the other teams as Houston heads down the stretch.
 

3. Extra! Extra!: The Houston game wasn’t the only extra-inning game involving playoff contenders yesterday. The Phillies and Nationals couldn’t decide their game after nine innings either. They ended up going a whopping 14 innings, and Philly ended up winning. The Wild Card contenders won 8-7 as their offense looked excellent. Jimmy Rollins, perhaps the most underrated shortstop in baseball, went 3-8 with 4 RBIs, including the game winner. Chase Utley hit a homerun early on, and leads all second basemen with 32 homers and 102 RBIs on the year. The Phils currently stand one game behind the Wild Card-leading Dodgers.
 

4. Central Supremacy: The race for the Central between the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins is the only important thing going on in the AL. Detroit was one game back heading into Wednesday, and they remain that way after both teams lost yesterday. The Tigers lost to the Blue Jays 7-4 in a game that featured seven combined homers by both teams. Meanwhile, the Twins fell to the pitiful Royals, who barely avoided their 100th loss of the season. The second and third best teams in baseball by record won’t play each other the rest of the season. The Tigers have one game left against the Blue Jays and a three-game set with the Royals. The Twins will face the Royals again and then the White Sox for three. And all of this, by the way, is just a race to see who will play the Yankees (wild card winner) or the A’s (division winner).
 

5. Bonds will be back: To the surprise of few, Barry Bonds announced that he’ll play in the 2007 season. Bonds has hit 26 homeruns this season to move him within 21 of Hank Aaron’s prestigious record. He should break that record next year if he could avoid a major injury. The big question is which team Bonds will play for. Of course right now Bonds is acting like he’ll stay with the Giants, but everyone thinks that he’ll end up as a DH for an American League team, likely the A’s or Angels.

Categories
Boston Red Sox

Sep 28 in Sports History: Ted Williams is the last person to hit .400

In 1941: Ignoring his manager’s suggestion that he sit to preserve a .400 average, Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox decided to play both games of a doubleheader in Philadelphia on the final day of the season. Williams went for 6 for 8 in the two games, and finished the season with a .406 mark, the last player to hit .400 in the major leagues.

and in 1960: In the final at-bat of his career, Williams hit his 521st career homer, a towering, 450-foot drive to the right-centerfield seats at Fenway Park. (baseballlibrary.com)

In 1951: In the opening Friday night game of the season, Norm Van Brocklin of the Los Angeles Rams threw for a record 554 yards in a 54-14 win over the New York Yankees. The record still stands today (Warren Moon  is second with 527 yards in a game). Van Brocklin –subbing for the injured starter– was 27 of 42 with five touchdowns and three interceptions. The Rams also boasted three 100-plus yard receivers, including hall-of-famer Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch (who caught four TD‘s). Van Brocklin later led the Rams to the 1951 NFL title. (The 2006 ESPN Pro Football Encyclopedia)

Categories
San Francisco Giants

Odds and Ends: Barry Bonds to play in ’07

Barry Bonds’ agent told the Los Angeles Times that Bonds will play in 2007 and is expecting a call from the San Francisco Giants.  Many expect that the Giants would have to sign Bonds at whatever price he demands because they don’t want him breaking Hank Aaron’s home run record in another uniform.  However, we have said it before and we say it again — we hope that Bonds doesn’t get signed anywhere next year so that he can’t break Hank’s record. If Bonds gets to 756, baseball should be ashamed of itself.

In other news…

[AZ Central]: University of Phoenix gets naming rights to new Cardinals stadium but it’ll always be The Pink Taco to us

[dBusiness News]: Budweiser.com signs deal wtih STATS Inc to beef up it’s football stats

[Sports Pad]: Rugby: The Most Unsafe Professional Sport

[Indy Star]: Jack Del Rio says Colts are a dirty team

[NFL.com]: Simms out of intensive care

[The Hater Nation]: ESPN Rewrites History

Categories
San Diego Chargers

Chargers safety arrested for selling cough syrup

Update: The controlled substance that Kiel is accused of posessing with intent to sell is codeine-based cough syrup. Kiel admitted to shipping two parcels of prescription cough syrup to Texas.

SS Terrence Kiel was arrested after practice on Tuesday on drug chargers.  According to reports, federal DEA agents searched Kiel’s locker and car and left with the player.  Kiel has been charged with possession, possession for sale and transportation of a controlled substance. Kiel was then released on a $150k bond. The involvement of the DEA means that Kiel is screwed.

This reminds us of Dennis McKinley from the Cardinals who was caught with 1,500 lbs of pot and was arrested for being a criminal mastermind who imported drugs from Mexico and distributed it via tractor trailer to multiple states.

Kiel makes about $500,000k a year if you prorate his $1.25M signing bonus. You can’t maintain an NFL player’s lifestyle on half a mil.  Gas and rims for those SUVs cost money.  Kiel is just trying to make ends meet.  

Links:
[SignOnSanDiego]:  Chargers safety Kiel arrested at practice

Categories
Boxing

Mike Tyson’s World Tour


It looks like Mike Tyson has found another way to make money. After being reduced to “training” in front of a Vegas buffet for money, we didn’t think there was much left for Tyson to do embarass himself. Tyson will announce in a press conference today that he’s returning to the ring with “Mike Tyson’s World Tour”.

Tyson said that he was through with boxing after his last fight in June but the call of the money was too much.
Is there any question that this is just a traveling freak show? Imagine the opponents on this world tour: a sumo wrestler, a russian wrestler, an indian guy with extending arms…

Links:
[USA Today]: Tyson to fight in ‘World Tour’

Categories
Dallas Cowboys

Report: TO tried to kill himself


Update: Deion Sanders is reporting that he has spoken to TO and that Owens laughed off the reports of a suicide attempt and that it was simply a bad reaction to the pain medication.

Last night, the news was that TO was rushed to the hospital to induce vomiting because he had an allergic reaction to pain pills. Well, today, a very different story is coming out of Dallas. According to various reports, TO actually tried to kill himself by taking 35 pills.

TO’s publicist was the one who made the phone call to the police but now she is saying that it was not as serious as reported and that his answer of “yes” when asked whether he had tried to hurt himself was taken out of context and that TO was still groggy. We’ll see how the spin on this thing is going to go.

The Dallas Police Department just had a news conference where they stated that the incident they responded to was not a criminal act but a medical one therefore no more information would be forthcoming from the DPD. However, the Smoking Gun has released a copy of the police report from last night.

Links:
[Star-Telegram]: T.O. tried suicide, report says
[CBS11 TV]: DPD Report Says Owens Attempts Suicide

Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: A’s finally clinch


1. All in: In the National League only one team has clinched a playoff berth. But in the AL, all four playoff teams are already in. They are the Yankees, Tigers, Twins, and after last night, the A’s. Oakland won 12-3 against Seattle to finally clinch the AL West after four days of trying. Rich Harden pitched well and improved to 4-0 this year. Harden, who has been injured most of the year, will certainly help the A’s in the playoffs. So the A’s, at 91-66, are in. That means that the Angels are outta here. Anaheim/LA had made a remarkable comeback after starting off the year in last place. They were just unable to hold off the superior A’s.

2. They just can’t win: The Cardinals have looked absolutely horrendous this past week. While all they’ve needed to do is just cruise and win half their games to make the playoffs, the Cards have lost 7 in a row. Yesterday was seemingly a good situation for a St. Louis victory, with Cy Young candidate Chris Carpenter on the mound. But Carpenter blew a three-run lead in the seventh in what was his worst outing of the month. The opposing Padres took advantage by winning 7-5 and keeping their two-game lead in the NL West. If the Cardinals can’t win, the Astros will be more than happy to take their division title. Houston has won seven in a row.

3. Chase for the title: The Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers are both in the playoffs already. But they both are continuing to win in the quest for the AL Central title. Each team has won 4 games in a row, including yesterday. The Tigers handled the Blue Jays by a count of 4-3, with Jeremy Bonderman earning his 14th victory. Detroit stands at 95-62. Meanwhile, the Twins edged the Royals 3-2. Johan Santana went eight innings to advance to 19-6. He maintains the lead in each Pitching Triple Crown category, and currently would be leading the National League as well. The Twins are just one game back at 94-63.

4. Great player, extraordinary season: David Ortiz is having one of the best unaided seasons of our era. Ortiz, despite the Red Sox’s elimination from playoff contention, is still mashing the ball. He has 5 homers in the past week alone, and 54 on the season. He leads the AL in homers and RBIs, with 137. He manages to get on-base at a .407 clip despite the infamous “Ortiz shift” by the opposing team. Just so you know, he’s recorded the 18th-most homers of any player ever in a single-season, though taking out the clear roiders he’s in the top 10. Will this be enough for an MVP? Somehow, probably not.

Categories
Baltimore Orioles

Sep 27 in Sports History: Robbie Alomar spits on an ump


In 1996: Roberto Alomar of the Orioles proved that yes, most professional baseball players are out-of-touch douche bags when he spit in the face of umpire John Hirschbeck following an argument over balls and strikes in Toronto. If that wasn’t bad enough, Alomar remarked after the game, “I used to respect him a lot. He had problems with his family when his son died (of a rare brain disease) — I know that’s something real tough in life — but after that he just changed. He became real bitter.” When hearing Alomar’s words the next day, Hirschbeck charged into the Orioles’ clubhouse and confronted Alomar, but was restrained. More controversy was created when acting commissioner Bud Selig allowed Alomar to play in the postseason and not have to serve a paltry five-game suspension until the beginning of the 1997 season. (baseball library.com)

In 1999: The Detroit Tigers played their final game at Tiger Stadium (also referred to as Griffin Stadium in the early days) with each player wearing the number of a retired great from Detroit. Gabe Kaplar represented Ty Cobb in centerfield and wore no number. The Tigers defeated the Royals 8-2. The stadium opened in 1912 in downtown Detroit and some great moments included the feats of Ty Cobb, Hank Greenberg, Denny McClain’s 31 pitching wins in 1968 and World Series titles in 1935, 1945, 1968 and 1984. (baseballlibrary.com)

In 1984: Jon Facenda, the legendary voice of NFL Films, died at the age of 72. Facenda, who also worked as a Philadelphia anchor, was there at the beginning, narrating the first NFL Films feature “They Call It Pro Football.” His deep, rich voice — revered as “the Voice of God” by football fans — was often mimicked by the likes of Chris Berman (who actually made up “the frozen tundra” — Facenda never said it). He was replaced by Harry Kalas. (wnbc.com)

Categories
All Other Sports

Photo of the Year: Attack athletes foot

All we can say is ouch.

Categories
Cincinnati Bengals

Attention Identity Thieves: Here’s Odell Thurman’s Social Security Number


The Cincinnati Enquirer released the police video of the Odell Thurman arrest today. It’s long and uneventful except for one thing — you can get Odell Thurman’s social security number from it. From his player page, you know he was born on 7/9/1983. Now you figure out his mother’s maiden name and you’re good to go. Better hurry up though, there’s speculation that Thurman will be suspended a full year by the NFL for this latest infraction since he was already serving a 4 game suspension. That money is going to dry up fast.

You’d think the police or the Cinci Enquirer would have the good sense to bleep out his social security number when releasing the video. But you know, maybe those annoying Visa commercials have squashed identify theft already.

Links:
[Cincinnati Enquirer]: Video: Thurman’s arrest

[Cincinnati Post]: Thurman faces new suspension