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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)

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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MLB General

August 12 in Sports History: MLB goes on strike


On August 12, 1994: Major League baseball players went on strike. The collective bargaining agreement had expired, and the owners and players were miles apart on the issue of a salary cap, revenue sharing (why Bud Selig didn’t just show the players an NFL logo) and the owners withholding $7.8 million pension payment to the players . The strike would last 209 days and over 900 games would be washed out. Worst of all, the World Series went uncontested for the first time since 1904. It was the fourth work stoppage in 23 years, and it wiped out a possible record-setting season by Ken Griffey Jr. (41 home runs), a triple crown-type year for Jeff Bagwell (.368/39/116) and a possible .400 season for Tony Gwynn . The biggest losers might have been the Montreal Expos, who had a comfortable division lead over the Atlanta Braves and were considered a World Series contender. They haven’t had a winning season since, and moved to Washington in 2005.

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MLB General

The Full Count: The White Sox remind us who the champs are


1. Remember us?: It seemed as though Detroit had captured the AL Central division title. After all, they were leading at 10 games at one point while their main foe, the White Sox, weren’t looking too good. In fact, many thought Detroit’s main challenger would be the red-hot Minnesota Twins. Not anymore. The Sox just swept up Detroit like they were the last place team of years past. They won their 70th game by defeating the Tigers yesterday. Freddy Garcia picked up his 11th win while Bobby Jenks closed the door for the 33rd time. Now, as the Tigers have lost 5 straight, the White Sox are just 5.5 games back, their lowest deficit in about a month. Minnesota still looms 8 games back.

2. Sunday Night Duel: Last night’s Sunday Night Baseball featured one of the best pitching matchups of the season. The Giants’ Jason Schmidt took on the Dodgers’ Greg Maddux in a memorable affair. Neither pitcher allowed a run and both pitched 8 innings, though they got there in remarkably different ways. Schmidt threw 115 pitches and struck out 9. The high pitch count isn’t unusual for him; he has averaged 110 pitches per start this season. Maddux was much more efficient in achieving the same result. He threw in mere 68 in his outing, 50 for strikes. He allowed just 2 hits and no walk in his third straight gem start since being traded to LA. Both of these pitchers were so brilliant, but both walked away with no-decisions. The ninth inning didn’t decide anything either, as the shutout continued for both sides. But in the bottom of the 11th, the Dodgers’ little-known catcher Russell Martin stepped up to the plate, and ended the game with a solo shot. That gave the first-place Dodgers their 4th straight win and 15th of 16, while the Giants were sent home with their fourth-straight loss.

3. Watch out: The Cleveland Indians, the consensus most disappointing and most inconsistent team of the year, have won their 6th game in a row. They swept up the Kansas City Royals in four games, including a 13-0 demolition yesterday. The Tribe showed what their offense is capable of, putting up 11 runs in the first inning. KC starter Luke Hudson, who recorded only one out, was charged with all 11. His outing was easily the worst of the year by a starter, in fact in was the worst in over 100 years. Hudson became the first pitcher since 1897 to allow 11 runs in the first inning of a ballgame. The scoring that inning was capped off by a Travis Hafner grand slam, his 6th of the year. That ties a major-league record for most grand slams in a season. Hafner, who has the highest OPS in the American League, is on pace for 49 homers and 145 RBI.

4. How wild: The Cincinnati Reds, at least for now, are still in first place for the NL Wild Card. They escaped 7-5 yesterday over Philadelphia in an 11-inning game. Juan Castro and Ken Griffey drove in runs in the 11th to seal the deal. The Reds also got back-to-back-to-back homers in the 6th inning, including Adam Dunn’s 35th. They won despite another big-time effort from Ryan Howard, who hit his NL-best 41st homer and tied the game in the 9th with an RBI single. Still, the Reds won and are ahead of second-place San Diego by a half-game. The Phillies are just four games back.

5. What a year: Can you say 8-0? Jered Weaver can, because he has accomplished that record this year for the Angels. The only significant undefeated pitcher left in baseball, Weaver was on top of things yesterday as the Angels cruised to a 5-3 win over the Yankees. Weaver struck out 8 in six innings of work, and he has been a part of the Angels’ major league best class of rookies. Howie Kendrick is hitting .319 after a 3-5 effort yesterday. Catcher Mike Napoli has 12 homeruns on the year. Both, of course, are rookies. The Yankees, after losing their second consecutive game, now only lead the Red Sox by one game and have a worse record than the Wild Card leading White Sox.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Red Sox Swept by a AAA team?


1. A Royal Sweep: What has happened to the Boston Red Sox? The team, once dominant over the AL East, has lost five straight games. They have fallen from first place to 3 games back in that span, and they are just not looking good right now. The Kansas City Royals of all teams just hammered the Sox in a three game sweep. Yesterday they prevailed 5-4, despite an incredible 8th-inning single by David Ortiz that many national columnists are calling “clutch.” Anyway, the Royals got three hits and two RBIs by vet Reggie Sanders, and a decent start by Runelvys Hernandez, who had allowed 17 runs in his previous two outings. For the Red Sox, Curt Schilling allowed an uncharacteristic 11 hits and 5 runs to one of the league’s worst offenses. Until the Red Sox can figure out what’s going on, the Yankees have a chance at dominating the division.

2. Different Sox, different story: Ready to take some more blame, Alex Rodriguez? The Yankees slugger, who had been relatively quiet for like a week, made a costly throwing error against the White Sox. His errant throw let Jermaine Dye score, and four runs total crossed the plate that inning. So with those runs and a Scott Podsednik RBI, the White Sox won to take the series of three. Javier Vasquez walked six but struck out 8 and Bobby Jenks closed the door for his AL-leading 31st save. With that Chicago was able to re-pass Minnesota for second place in the division. The 76-38 Tigers, who were off yesterday, still loom large in first.

3. Back to the normal: The Earth rotates, the sky is blue, and the Houston Astros are in Wild Card contention. Those are the facts of life these days. The `Stros, who have won the Wild Card and advanced to the NLCS for two consecutive seasons, are now two games back after sweeping the Pirates. Roger Clemens pitched last night to close out the series, with his 4th win of the year. Incredibly the Rocket has allowed three earned runs or less in each of his 10 starts. So now the Astros, despite an underwhelming record of 56-58, trail the leading Reds by just 2.5 games. In the American League, their record would put them 11.5 games out.

4. One game changes everything: San Diego had the NL West lead when they woke up on Thursday. Now, after they lost and the Dodgers won, the Padres find themselves tied for second. SD lost to El Duque Hernandez of the Mets, who after early struggles has won four straight decisions. The Dodgers, meanwhile, defeated the Rockies despite an ace performance by their starter Jason Jennings. Underrated youngster Andre Ethier hit his 11th homerun for LA. They lead both the Padres and the Diamondbacks (who were off) by a half-game. With how crazy this division is, however, the Dodgers could find themselves in third place by tomorrow.

5. Don’t believe it Phillies fans: The Fightins might be 3 games out of Wild Card contention and starting a series against the Cincinnati Reds who lead the WC race but don’t get your hopes up. This is, after all, the Phillies. They will break your hearts every time. Even worse so because they give you some hope. Just move it along. Move it along to football and the Eagles. This has been a public service announcement from Sportscolumn blog.

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Golf

August 11 in Sports History: John Daly wins PGA Championship


In 1991: An unknown rookie qualifier named John Daly shocked the golf world by winning the PGA Championship at Crooked Stick in Indiana. Daly, who only made the field when another golfer dropped out, shot a 276 and defeated Bruce Lietzke by 3 shots. Known as Long John for his booming drives off the tee (at least we think), Daly would become one of the most popular golfers on the tour despite only five wins in 15 years. He would be just as well known for his life off the golf course. Daly has battled alcoholism, a gambling addiction and a slew of ex-wives throughout his professional career.

In 1951: The New York (baseball) Giants lost to the Phillies 4-0, while the Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Braves 8-1 (in the first ever game televised in color). The loss put the Giants 13 1/2 games behind the Dodgers in the National League standings with 49 games left to play. The Giants would eventually make one of the biggest comebacks in baseball history, leaping over three teams to tie the Dodgers on the last day of the season. The rivals would play a best-of-three playoff, with the Giants winning the pennant on Bobby Thompson’s famous home run, which became known as “the shot heard ‘round the world.”

In 2005: Philadelphia Eagles’ wide receiver Terrell Owens was sent home for the week during training camp after a shouting match with Head Coach Andy Reid. Owens, who reported to camp unhappy with his current contract (“only” seven years, $49 million), supposedly told Reid to “shut up” in a team meeting. Owens returned to his home in New Jersey, where he did a bizarre series of interviews while working out in his front yard. Owens would continue his feud with Reid and quarterback Donovan McNabb throughout the regular season. He was suspended from the Eagles for the remainder of the season in November for criticizing the team for not recognizing his 100th career touchdown reception and for reportedly getting into a fist-fight with Hugh Douglas. He signed with the Dallas Cowboys in the offseason.