Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: Jered Weaver finally goes down



What losing feels like

1. Finally defeated: One of the greatest streaks this baseball season is finally over. Jered Weaver of the Angels, who had won his first 9 career decisions, lost for the first time yesterday to the Boston Red Sox. But Weaver didn’t have a bad start; in fact he allowed only one run and four hits in six innings. His only fault was allowing a David Ortiz homerun, Ortiz’s 46th of the season. But he lost due to lack of run support as the Angels put up no runs with him in the game. The broken streak left him tied with Whitney Ford as the only pitchers who won their first 9 games as a rookie. Boston’s 2-1 win gave them the series win over the Angels after their disastrous 5 game sweep against the Yankees last weekend. They stand 5.5 back from New York still in the division.

2. Showing off: In terms of talent level, the Twins might be the most solid all-around team in baseball. With their excellent starters, MLB-best bullpen, and dangerous young hitters, they can do everything well. The only thing they need is a new stadium and some fans to go along with it. Yesterday, they dismantled the Orioles 11-2 in an offensive outpour. Joe Mauer, who leads all batters with a .361 average, had 3 hits and 4 RBIs on the day to lead the charge. Justin Morneau hit his 32nd homer, while Michael Cuddyer went 4-4 and drove in 4 runs. The Twins won their second straight and 7th out of 10, though they still trail Chicago by a half-game. The White Sox won again yesterday over Detroit. The two teams will start a pivotal three-game series today.

3. Call it a draw: We now have co-division leaders in one division. That’s the NL Central, as the Reds and Cardinals are now tied with both teams going in different directions. That’s another way of saying the Reds are hot while the Cards are sucking it up. St. Louis got swept by the Mets yesterday when New York defeated them 6-2. Meanwhile, Cincy started off their series against San Fran well, with a 6-3 victory. The Cardinals will look to start winning against their rival Cubs over the weekend, while the Reds will play the Giants three more times as part of a 10-game West Coast trip.

4. Losing team, winning pitcher: Where would the Cubs be without Carlos Zambrano? Even further down the standings, most likely. They are 40-68 in games the Zambrano does not record a decision, while his record is 14-5. He got his NL-leading 14th yesterday against the Phillies, and now Zambrano is one of the leading Cy Young candidates in the league. He ranks first in wins and strikeouts in addition to innings pitched and opponent’s batting average. His 3.31 ERA isn’t in the top 5 but that doesn’t really matter in a year when no NL pitcher is below 2.90. In the end Zambrano will be a leading Cy candidate and will face off with the Diamondbacks’ Brandon Webb for the honors.

5. Back to the Past: Have you ever wondered what it would be like to play baseball in the pre-World Series era? When a walk was six balls, a foul didn’t count as a strike, a hit batter was only a ball, and the umpires were addressed as “sir?” Well, here’s your chance. Former major league pitcher Jim Bouton announced the creation of the Vintage Base Ball Federation, or VBBF. The teams will play using pre-1900’s rules and equipment. They will play games over the course of an unspecified season and will play a VBBF World Series next August. Now there’s something to get excited about!

Categories
New York Mets

August 25 in Sports History: Doc Gooden enters the record books


In 1985: Dwight Gooden of the New York Mets became the youngest pitcher ever to record 20 wins in a season with a 9-3 victory over the Padres. “Doctor K” was 20 years and nine months, one month older than Bob Feller, who previously held the record. Gooden won the pitching Triple Crown that year with a 24-4 record, 1.53 ERA and 268 strikeouts. He helped the Mets win the World Series in 1986, but substance abuse and off-the-field problems ruined what probably would have been a Hall of Fame career. He became a journeyman instead, drifting to the Yankees (where he threw a no-hitter in 1996), Indians, Astros and Devil Rays. He retired as a Yankee in 2000. (baseballlibrary.com)

In 1939: The first nationally televised Major League Baseball game took place in Cincinnati, with a doubleheader between the Dodgers and the Reds. The game was broadcast by Red Barber over W2XBS, and the teams split the doubleheader. In 1995, Windows 95 debuted, and in 1853, potato chips were invented by chef George Crum (seriously). (Magic City Morning Star)

Categories
All Other Sports

Odds and Ends: No headline could do this justice


We’re not even sure how to categorize this first entry. Normally, we don’t cover gym equipment unless some athlete is shilling it but this product (and the demo) is so bizarre it’s almost like an SNL skit. Ladies and… well ladies, if you’re tired of stairclimbers,treadmills, and simulated cross country skiing machines, Brookstone presents the OSIM iGallop. Just watch the demo. For some inexplicable reason, the marketers think a bunch of women dressed in cowboy outfits bouncing up and down in a room is appealing… hey wait a minute…

In other news…

[SFGate]: Rice signs a 1-day deal to retire as a 49er; no word on whether he’ll sign with Patriots

[Yahoo]: Lonny Baxter gets 2 months in jail for having some guns near the White House

[Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer]: an Arrested in Toronto for Impersonating a Blue Jay

[10,000 Takes]: Pistons Hire Terry Porter

[Yahoo]: Carson Palmer will play Monday night

[Maxim]: Baseball’s Fattest Slobbiest Fat Slobs

Categories
All Other Sports

Apparently you can’t trust Jamie Gold



Make that $6 million

A television exec by the name of Crispin Leyser is suing WSOP winner Jamie Gold for half of his earnings. According to the lawsuit, Leyser was promised a split of the earnings in exchange for getting a couple of celebs (Dax Shepherd and Matthew Lillard) to play for Team Bodog, which is Gold’s team.

While there isn’t a written contract, Leyser received this message from Gold just hours before the final tournament table:

I promise you — you can keep this recording on my word — there’s no possible way you’re not going to get half after taxes.

So please just be with me. I can’t imagine you’re going to have a problem with it. I just don’t want any stress about any money or any of that [expletive] going on today, or even after the end of the day.

But please just trust me. You’ve trusted me the whole way, you can trust me a little bit more. I promise you there’s no way anybody will go anywhere with your money. It’s your money.

So if he can be trusted, why the need for a lawsuit? Shouldn’t he have have just forked over half the money? If there’s one thing we know, it’s that when someone says “trust me”, you should never trust them. Along the same lines, if someone says, “to tell you the truth”, it means they’ve been lying to you.

Links:
[MSNBC]: WSOP winner sued, may have to split prize

Categories
MLB General

The Full Count: Phillies making a run


1. Here we come: One of the quietest yet most important stories lately has been the Philadelphia Phillies’ transformation from losers to contenders. Though everyone thought they were out of it after they traded Bobby Abreu for future prospects, they have suddenly rebounded and are in the NL Wild Card race. The Phils have won 5 in a row and 8 of 10 after they beat the Cubs last night. Jimmy Rollins drove in a run in the ninth to win it 2-1, while Ryan Howard’s earlier homerun gave him 44 on the year. Brett Myers pitched fantastically to win his 9th game of the year, as the Phillies improved to 16-8 since the Abreu trade. They are 1.5 back of the Wild Card after the Reds lost yesterday.

2. Two teams, a half game: That’s all that separates the Twins and the White Sox in the AL Wild Card race after both teams won yesterday. The 74-52 won their only game of the series against the Tigers by a 7-5 margin. Jermaine Dye hit a three-run homer, his 35th of the year, while Joe Crede hit two out as well. Bobby Jenks saved his league-leading 36th game of the year. Meanwhile, the 73-52 Twins beat the Orioles 4-1. Matt Garza, who is temporarily replacing Francisco Liriano in the rotation, pitched his first good start after two poor outings. He allowed no earned runs in six innings as Torii Hunter homered and Michael Cuddyer drove in 3. Both teams are still well back in the division but one looks to make the playoffs as we head down the stretch.

3. An untouchable offense: Despite scoring a combined 15 runs in their last two games, the St. Louis Cardinals have dropped both of them. That’s because the Mets offense has been even better, and they showed that yesterday in a 10-8 victory. Jose Reyes homered, drove in 3, and stole two bases to give him a league-leading 52 on the season. Slumping David Wright, who is hitting .211 on the month, had two RBIs. The Mets roughed up Mark Mulder for 9 earned runs in his first start after a lengthy stint on the DL. The Mets have the second-best record in the majors, while nine AL teams have better record than the Cards.

4. Even more scoring: If you’re one of the few who think the Mets-Cardinals series just doesn’t have enough scoring, then you would have been satisfied by the Indians-Royals game yesterday. The Indians started the scoreboard with Travis Hafner’s 39th homer of the season in the first. But in the bottom of that inning the Royals answered in a big way, with 10 runs. But the Tribe scored in each of their next 4 innings, making the score 10-9. The Royals scored three more runs then to put the margin at 4. But incredibly, Cleveland scored 4 runs in the ninth to tie the game up at 13. They won in the 10th on Hector Luna’s two-run single. The Indians’ 15-13 win showcased what their problems have been this year. While they have scored the 4th-most runs in the majors, their pitching staff has been too inconsistent. While they have shut their opponents out 12 times, second-most in the majors, they have only recorded 18 saves, by far the fewest in the majors. What a strange season for such a capable team.

5. Setback for the Yanks: The Yankees won again yesterday, 9-2 over the Mariners. Chien-Ming Wang won his 15th start as four players had multi-RBI days. While they now lead the division by 6.5 games and have scored the most runs in the league, it isn’t all good news coming from New York. Mike Mussina, the team’s ace this season, is hitting the 15-day DL. While the Yanks initially thought he would only miss one start, manager Joe Torre and Mussina decided it would be best for him to go on the DL. Admittedly the injury won’t affect the potent Yankees that much over the 15 days he is out. But if Mussina declines in any way after his return or the injury lingers, it could be a huge blow for a team that is poised to make an October run.

Categories
MLB General

August 24 in Sports History: Pete Rose is banned


In 1989: Pete Rose accepted a lifetime ban from baseball from then-Commissioner Bart Giamatti for betting on baseball. Although he vehemently denied gambling, Rose still signed off on the ban. Giamatti, who admitted that the decision took an awful toll on his health, died shortly afterwards. Rose, who holds the all-time career hits mark with 4,256, was also declared ineligible for the Hall of Fame. In 2004, he finally admitted to not only betting on baseball, but also on the Reds, the team he was managing at the time. In his book, “My Prison Without Bars,” Rose told current Commissioner Bud Selig that he bet because he “didn’t think he’d get caught.” No player ever declared permanently ineligible has ever been reinstated into baseball.

In 1951: Nobody could pull a PR stunt like St. Louis Browns’ owner Bill Veeck. In a game against the A’s, Veeck held “Grandstand Managers Day“, in which fans made the final decisions for the Browns. Coaches held up placards, and fans would vote yes or no. The 1,100 plus “skippers” apparently made the right ones, as a few of the players they elected to play helped the Browns defeat the A’s 5-3. They also told players when to bunt, steal, and when to change pitchers. www.baseballreliquary.org

Categories
Arizona Cardinals

Odds and Ends: No Pink Taco in Arizona


Sorry Arizona residents, the Arizona Tourism and Sports Authority has nixed the $30M proposal by the Pink Taco restaurant group for naming rights to the Cardinals’ new stadium. This shouldn’t be a suprise as there was no chance of a stadium called The Pink Taco. It just couldn’t be done. When the Eagles lost their first two games in the new home, the newspaper headlines said “Stink at the Linc”. Imagine what it would’ve been if the Cardinals lost at home to, say, the Raiders or the Giants.

In other news…

[Yahoo]: FIFA threatens all Italian clubs with ban if Juventus challenges ruling

[The Prometheus Institute]: Five lessons on politics and economics to be learned from the world of sports

[Reuters]: Remember the NHL Agent a player tried to kill? Yep. Sexual assault

[MSNBC]: Justin Gatlin gets 8 year ban

[Physorg.com]: A Russian cosmonaut will whack a golf ball from the international space station

Categories
San Francisco 49ers

Kevan Barlow compares Nolan to Hitler



Kevan’s first Photoshop project

In a phone interview with the Contra Costa Times on Tuesday, Kevan Barlow ripped into Niners head coach Mike Nolan.

Nolan just doesn’t know what he’s doing. He’s a first-time head coach with too much power. He has too much power as a first-time head coach. He walks around with a chip on his shoulder, like he’s a dictator, like he’s Hitler. People are scared of him. If it ain’t Nolan’s way, it’s the highway.

Barlow accused Nolan of lying to him because a week before he was traded to the Jets, Nolan assured him that he would not be traded.


It was dirty. He had no respect for me or the organization. He doesn’t know about the 49ers way, and that’s too bad because even his dad (Dick) was coach of the 49ers. Bill Walsh set the standard there, and he ain’t living up to it.

Barlow said that about half the team feels the way he does. Ouch. It doesn’t sound like Nolan will be getting a Christmas card from Barlow this year.

Links:
[Contra Costa Times]: Barlow lashes out at Nolan
[Sportsline]: Jets’ Barlow apologizes to former coach Nolan for ‘Hitler’ remarks

Categories
New York Mets

Happy at least 48th birthday, Julio Franco


It’s amazing that in a league where the average career spans about 7 years, Julio Franco has been at it for 24 years (with a couple of stints in Japan and Mexico). He made his debut with the Phillies on April 23rd 1982. You want to know how long ago that was? Family Ties and Cheers debuted that year.

So congratulations to Julio Franco for… living and playing baseball. (By the way, here’s a very interesting look at the average length of MLB careers.)


Links:
[Yahoo]: Being Julio Franco
[Hot Foot]: Can I Call You Dad?
[Wikipedia]: Julio Franco entry

Categories
NFL General

All the NFL Power Rankings you need: Madden style


People (ok.. we) have been known to use Madden to simulate games for predictive/gambling purposes. It never really works but it’s kind of fun to do anyway. Well, the folks at Tecmo Blog have taken things waaaaaay too far and ranked all 32 teams according to their Madden 07 ratings for players.

You can read their methodology and comments here but here is the quick list. This list does bring up the question of how good can Madden rankings be if they have the Titans ranked above the Patriots and the Eagles? Also, is it acceptable to play with a team other than your own just because your team sucks in Madden? We say no.

Madden 07 Team Rankings
1. Steelers
2. Seahawks
3. Colts
4. Giants
5. Chiefs
6. Chargers
7. Falcons
8. Panthers
9. Bengals
10. Cardinals
11. Redskins
12. Dolphins
13. Broncos
14. Titans
15. Patriots
16. Eagles
17. Saints
18. Packers
19. Rams
20. Cowboys
21. Raiders
22. Ravens
23. Texans
24. Buccaneers
25. Bears
26. Jaguars
27. Vikings
28. Browns
29. Bills
30. Jets
31. Lions
32. 49ers