Tag: MLB

Categories
San Francisco Giants

You know what they say about big feet… Yup – steroids


In a new epilogue to Game of Shadows, the authors dropped a little nugget on us about the incredible growing Barry Bonds:


Since joining the Giants, Bonds had gone from a size 42 to a size 52 jersey; from size 10 ½ to size 13 cleats; and from a size 7 1/8 to size 7 ¼ cap, even though he had taken to shaving his head. The changes in his foot and head size were of special interest: medical experts said overuse of Human Growth Hormone could cause an adult’s extremities to begin growing, aping the symptoms of the glandular disorder acromegly.

Now we understand that as you get older, your face might round out and give the illusion that your head is growing. So when folks say that Barry’s head isn’t that big, we don’t believe it but we can see the argument. However, has anyone you ever known grown 2 1/2 shoe sizes after the age of 30? Is there anyone left who still thinks Barry is innocent? Anyone? Oh wait, Bonds defenders now go to the “but it wasn’t illegal back then” argument. Oh it’s going to be a sad sad day when Barry breaks Hank Aaron’s record.

Links:
[SI]: Game of Shadows: The Aftermath

Categories
MLB General

Jan 23 in Sports History: Jackie Robinson elected to HOF


In 1962: Dodgers second baseman Jackie Robinson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. In an ironic twist, Cleveland pitcher Bob Feller was also elected. Feller, who is an outspoken critic of baseball’s controversies to this day, openly questioned that Robinson even belonged in the major leagues. When Robinson was breaking in, Feller said, “He’s all tied up in the shoulders and can’t hit an inside pitch to save his neck. If he were a white man, I doubt if they would even consider him big league material.” Feller was, however, very much in favor of integrating baseball. He was just dead wrong on Robinson, who obviously showed that he belonged in baseball. Feller is spouting off even today. As the oldest living hall of famer, he is still railing against the likes of Pete Rose and Barry Bonds getting into the hall, once called Jim Thome a “journeyman first baseman” and said that Latin players “don’t know the rules of the game.”

In 2000: The St. Louis Rams defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 11-6 in the NFC Championship game. In a matchup of contrasting styles, Tampa’s defense shut down St. Louis’ “Greatest Show on Turf” for much of the day. Trailing 6-5 in the fourth quarter (still sounds weird), Rams’ quarterback Kurt Warner hit seldom-used wideout Ricky Proehl for a 30-yard touchdown. It was the Rams first Super Bowl appearance since 1979, as they were set to play the Tennessee Titans, who defeated Jacksonville earlier in the day. It was the first Super Bowl matchup of two franchises that had relocated.

Categories
Boston Red Sox

Jan 5 in Sports History: Ruth sold to the Yankees


In 1920 This was the day that the Boston Red Sox and their fans were given an 86-year excuse for losing pennants and World Series’ in unbelievable fashion. Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold George Herman Ruth to the New York Yankees for $125,000 in cash. Some believe it was so Frazee could finance a Broadway play called “No No Nanette,” others believe it was because The Babe had become absolutely insufferable as a superstar for the Red Sox, and the huge amount of money at that time was too good to pass up (Frazee had intended to buy other players with the money, not finance the play, but was entangled with legal problems with the American League). Either way, the fortunes of two franchises completely reversed. Boston, which had won four titles in eight years, did not win for another 86, The Yankees, meanwhile, won 26 during that time.

In 1927: Public hearings began on the most forgotten scandal in sports history. Baseball hall of famers Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker, two of the greatest players of all time, were implicated in an alleged fixing of a game in 1919. Former Tigers’ pitcher Dutch Leonard made accusations that Speaker and Cobb, along with “Smokey” Joe Wood (another hall of fame pitcher), wrote letters to him that Cobb and Speaker planned to throw a Tigers-Athletics game at the end of the 1919 season. At first, Cobb and Wood admitted to the letters (Speaker denied everything) but claimed it was a horse racing bet and that Leonard was angry that Cobb (who was also a manager by then) had sent him to the minor leagues. Cobb and Speaker were to privately resign their managerial posts and accept a lifetime ban. In the end, however, Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis cleared all players because Leonard was unable to convince him (or the public) that the players actually threw the game.

Categories
Texas Rangers

Dec 12 in Sports History: A-Rod’s big payday



Broke the bank

In 2000: Free agent shortstop Alex Rodriguez cashed in big time, with a 10-year, $252 million dollar contract from the Texas Rangers. Of course, it broke every conceivable record for amount of money paid to any athlete in any sport. In 2004, he was traded to the Yankees, and A-Rod is still waiting for his first World Series ring. According to our sources, the money never bought him a hug, either.

In 1981: Wayne Gretzky set another of his untouchable records, this one the fastest to reach 50 goals. The Great One’s goal going into the year was to score 50 in 50 games, but he was way off. It only took him 39, and he accomplished it at the old Auditorium in Buffalo. Gretzky went on to smash Phil Esposito’s mark of 76 goals in a season and ended up with a mind-boggling 92.

In 1965: While everyone is talking about Bears’ rookie Devin Hester’s performance last night against the Rams with two kick returns for touchdowns, his performance doesn’t quite match the great Gale Sayers. The Kansas rookie set a record with six touchdowns in a game against the San Francisco 49ers. Played on a muddy Wrigley Field surface, Sayers’ scores included an 80 yard reception, a 50 yard run and an 65 yard punt return. His 22 touchdowns in 1965 are an NFL rookie record.

Categories
MLB General

Rejoice non-Giants fans


Barry Bonds will not be tainting your hometown team with his huge melon and his syringes. Bonds has agreed to a one-year contract with the Giants for $16M. There are incentives in the deal (we wonder if “don’t get caught with steroids” is one of them) that could make the deal worth up to $20M.

While the offseason has been filled with Bonds’ agent and the Giants sniping at each other, apparently money solves everything as both sides played nice. Bonds gets his $16M-$20M and goes back to the only stadium where he isn’t booed and the Giants get to cash in on Bonds as he chases Hank Aaron’s home run record.

Longtime readers of the blog know that we hate Barry Bonds and hope he breaks his arm before he catches Hammerin’ Hank in the home run record books. He’s only got 22 to go. Don’t be suprised if he conveniently breaks the record in San Francisco.

Links:
[SF Gate]: BONDS TO STAY WITH GIANTS
[SF Gate]: Ray Ratto: Magowan’s tough talk was just blather
[Blog Critics]: Savings Bonds: The Giants Should Have Passed

Categories
Golden State Warriors

Nov 4 in Sports History: Latrell Sprewell chokes PJ Carlesimo



Damn I’d like to choke him again

In 1997: Latrell Sprewell of the Golden State Warriors was suspended for one year by the NBA for assaulting his coach, PJ Carlesimo. During a practice, Carlesimo supposedly criticized Sprewell’s passing, and after Carlesimo confronted him, Sprewell choked his head coach until he was pulled off by teammates. He later came back to practice and took a swing at Carlesimo. Not only was Sprewell suspended, but he was cut by the Warriors and his contract of four years, $32 million (that he had just signed in the offseason) was terminated. The suspension would later be reduced to 68 games (remember, he had a family to feed). Sprewell would not play a game (due to the lockout the following year) until he became a member of the New York Knicks in February of 1999. (nba.com/player file/Sprewell)

In 1968: Due to a lack of offense in Major League Baseball, the Rules Committee lowered the pitcher’s mound from 15 inches to 10 inches and the strike zone was modified from shoulders-to-knees to armpits-to-knees. In the “Year of the Pitcher,” the league batting average dipped to a paltry .236, runs scored per game were just 3.4, only three players drove in more than 100 runs, Bob Gibson of the Cardinals had a 1.12 ERA, Denny McLain won 30 games for the Tigers, and Don Drysdale of Los Angeles set a record by pitching 58.2 consecutive scoreless innings. The following year–aided by expansion, as well–saw the overall batting average increase by 20 points and scoring increased by 20 percent. (baseball-almanac.com, The Baseball Encyclopedia).

In 1956: Wilt Chamberlain made his college basketball debut for the University of Kansas as a sophomore (the rules at the time prohibited freshman from playing on the varsity). If you thought Greg Oden, the Ohio State phenom, was impressive in his debut on Saturday (14 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists), get a load of Wilt‘s numbers. He scored 52 points and grabbed 31 rebounds in a win over Northwestern. He would go on to average 30 points and 20 rebounds in his career at Kansas, and he led the Jayhawks to the 1957 NCAA title game. He also won the high jump at the Big Seven (the conference which precluded the Big 8 and Big 12) Track and Field Championships. No word on how far along the number of women (of the 20,000) the “Big Dipper”’s odometer was at this time. (www.kuconnection.org)

Categories
MLB General

Oct 26 in Sports History: A couple of game 6 meltdowns


In 1985: While everyone remembers the tremendous gag-job by the 1986 Red Sox in the World Series, the previous Fall Classic featured a similar meltdown. This one, many felt was caused by an umpire, as the name Don Denkinger will forever be cursed on the eastern side of Missouri. With the St. Louis Cardinals leading the I-70 World Series three games to two and holding a Game 6 advantage 1-0 into the bottom of the 9th inning, Royals pinch hitter Jorge Orta tapped a weak grounder to first. Pitcher Danny Cox of the Cards cleanly fielded Jack Clark’s flip and clearly had Orta beat by a step. One problem: first base ump Denkinger was the only person in America who thought Orta was safe. The Cards argued bitterly, became completely unglued in the field as Clark misplayed a popup, catcher Darrell Porter had a passed ball, and Dane Iorg drove home the winning run with a bases loaded single to send the series to a seventh game. There, the Royals promptly smacked the shell-shocked Redbirds 11-0 to win their only championship. Karma rules, though, as they haven’t sniffed October baseball since and now are as formidable a ball team as the Springfield Power Plant softball team (pre-Mr. Burns’ ringers).

In 2002: Speaking of awesome, The-Cosmos-Are-OK, Game 6 meltdowns, who can forget the collapse of the Barry Bonds-Dusty Baker-led San Francisco Douche Giants against the Whatever Angels? The Giants built a 5-0 lead through six innings and a smug Bonds was about to wrap up his coveted, undeserved World Series ring. Funny thing was, the Baseball Gods knew stuff we didn’t at the time, and let the Angels claw their way back with a huge rally and a 6-5 win. Baker (who thought it was such a cute idea to almost get his three-year-old son mauled at home plate as a bat boy), suddenly couldn’t manage a Quick Stop let alone a baseball team, made wrong move after wrong move and the Angels eventually ripped the ring off Bonds’ puffy finger in seven games. Those thundersticks and the Rally Monkey were wicked-stupid, though. Baker quickly bailed on the Giants and went on to an even better punishment with the Cubs the following season, when he was introduced to a nerd-fan named Steve Bartman.

Categories
MLB General

No one is watching the World Series


The numbers are in and they are not good. The opening game of the World Series was the lowest rated in history. The Saturday night opener got a 8.0 rating and a 15 share. To put that in perspective, that wouldn’t even have made it into the Top 20. Game 2 fared a little better with a 11.5 share. Overall though the two games still average the 5% lower than the lowest in history.

Now, the folks at Fox will declare the Series a success because both game still won their time slots but this is the World Series folks. Shouldn’t more people be watching it than, say, Two and a Half Men? St. Louis vs Detroit? Nobody on the coasts really cares about that matchup. Meanwhile, NY vs Oakland and all of the sudden you have your east coast/west coast rivalry and tons of people tuning in to root against the Mets. When the only controversy is whether Kenny Rogers had a smudge of dog crap on his hand, you’ve got problems. Either they need to drum up some controversey or rig the playoffs somehow for a better matchup. Bud Selig, David Stern is awaiting your call.

Links:
[AZCentral]: World Series ratings down once again

Categories
Toronto Blue Jays

Oct 23 in Sports History: Joe Carter wins the World Series


In 1993: Joe Carter of the Toronto Blue Jays became only the second player to end a World Series with a walk-off homerun with a 8-6 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 6 at the Skydome in Toronto. The Jays jumped out early on the Phillies by scoring three runs in the first inning and eventually built a 5-1 advantage, only to see Philadelphia retake the lead late in the game on a Lenny Dykstra homer. Trailing 6-5 in the bottom of the ninth, Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams of the Phillies walked Rickey Henderson, gave up a single to Paul Molitor (who was named MVP), and grooved a fastball to Joe Carter which cleared the left field fence and touched off a wild celebration. It was the second straight World Series for the Blue Jays.

In 1988: Dan Marino of the Miami Dolphins had one of the best passing days in NFL history in a game against the New York Jets at Joe Robbie Stadium. Marino completed 35 of 60 passes for a third-best all time 521 yards and three touchdowns. Unfortunately for Marino and the Dolphins (as was the case for most of his career) the defense was awful and the Fish lost 44-30. They would fall to 6-10 in 1988.

Categories
Los Angeles Dodgers

Oct 16 in Sports History: Kirk Gibson’s heroics

In 1988: In one of the most amazing and downright surreal moments in baseball history, Dodgers’ manager Tommy Lasorda took “a roll of the dice’” (in the words of the great Vin Scully) and sent Kirk Gibson – who could barely walk – up to pinch hit in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Dodgers trailing the Oakland A’s 4-3 in the World Series opener. Dennis Eckersley, the most dominating closer of that era, took Gibson to a full count with a runner on second. After fouling off several pitches and barely able to hobble halfway to first, Gibson shocked everybody when he turned on an inside pitch and drove it deep into right field bleachers to win the game 5-4. Gibson limped around the bases, pumping his fist. He did not play again in the series, and the Dodgers used the momentum to bully the shell shocked A’s in five games. The red lights you see as the ball is going into the stands are a stream cars that left the game early , figuring the A’s had it won.

In 1969: The New York Mets, only seven years in the National League, shocked the sports world by defeating the Baltimore Orioles in Game 5 to win the World Series. The “Amazin‘s“, who set the record for futility just seven years ago with 120 losses in their inaugural season, turned it around behind the pitching of Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and a young Nolan Ryan, plus timely hitting and defense. Donn Clendenon, a Pittsburgh Pirates and Montreal Expos castoff, was the hero with the big homerun in the deciding game and was awarded MVP honors.

In 2003Just when Red Sox fans didn’t think it could get any worse, Grady Little decided against his better judgment and the screams of millions of Sox fans (and anybody who remotely followed baseball) that ace Pedro Martinez didn’t have enough left for one more hitter in the bottom of the eighth inning . Little left him in, Jorge Posada hit a double to tie the game at five apiece, and Aaron Boone eventually won it with a towering solo homerun to lead off the bottom of the 11th inning off Tim Wakefield, sending the New York Yankees to their 39th World Series.