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07/24/2017

Jordan Spieth and a Performance for the Ages

[Posted Sun. p.m.]

Phillies Quiz: 1) In their long history, name the seven to hit 40 home runs in a season; four did it multiple times. [Two are pre-1950.]  2) Since 1920, name the only four to win 20 games in a season; two did it multiple times. Answers below.

The Open Championship

Round 2

Spieth -6
Kuchar -4
Poulter -3
Koepka -3

Round 3

Spieth -11
Kuchar -8
Connelly -5
Koepka -5
Grace -4
Matsuyama -4

Round 4

After 9 holes....

Spieth -8...four bogeys, one birdie on front
Kuchar -8...two bogeys, two birdies
Haotong Li -6...after a 63!

After 13....

Kuchar -8
Spieth -7
Li -6

After 16....

Spieth -11
Kuchar -9

After 18....

Spieth -12
Kuchar -9
Haotong -6
McIlroy -5
Cabrera-Bello -5

As any fan of the sport knows, it was going to be tough to match the drama of last year’s duel between Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson, but today’s action bested it.

In an incredible performance that will echo forever through golf history, Jordan Spieth, after a miraculous ‘bogey’ on No. 13, birded 14, eagled 15, birdied 16 and birdied 17, 5-under in four holes.

Spieth had been shaky the entire round and was tied with Matt Kuchar after 12 at -8, Kooch playing far more consistently, when disaster struck Jordan on his tee shot at 13, easily the worst drive any of us have ever seen in major tournament golf. 

Somehow they found Spieth’s ball, miracle number one, and it took 25 minutes from the time of his tee shot until he finally straightened out a ruling for what was now his third, over a dune to a green far in the distance at the par-4.

At the time Johnny Miller and a lot of us were thinking, ‘you should have gone back and re-teed it for your third, but what happened next is part of the genius, and amazing guts, of Jordan Spieth.

His third over the hill landed short of the green, but he was in far better shape than if he had re-teed it and Spieth then executed the chip and bogey-saving putt to perfection to be just one back, rather than 2 or 3.

But you’re thinking he’s still rattled, and instead he hits his tee shot at the par-3 14th so pure, he misses an ace by an inch or two, birdies it, then roars on from there, leaving Kuchar stupefied in Spieth’s exhaust.

Peter Jacobsen had a perfect description for Spieth’s late flurry after the near catastrophe.  He’s a “bagful of savvy and guts.”

Johnny Miller called it the “greatest finish I have seen in championship golf.”

Jordan Spieth is now a true superstar, a legendary figure at just 23.

Spieth has three majors and 11 PGA Tour victories before age 24, with only Jack Nicklaus having also captured three majors at that age, but Nicklaus only had 8 wins. Tiger Woods had 15 wins before 24, but only two majors.

Jordan now moves on to the PGA in Charlotte in less than three weeks, looking to become just the sixth in history to win the career Grand Slam.

If you want a face of the sport, you want it to be Jordan Spieth, who is pure class, exhibited again today in his praise for Matt Kuchar, as well as being so gracious to his caddie, Michael Greller.  You hope he never changes and with his strong family behind him, there is no reason to believe he will.

--Just two winners in the past 40 years had led wire-to-wire prior to this week; Spieth also being a first-round co-leader with Kuchar and Koepka.  So make it three in the past 41.

And not for nothing, but Spieth has led the last eight rounds he’s played, including at Hartford.

--It really is amazing to think no one had ever shot better than 63 in a major, 31 with that score, the first being Johnny Miller’s 63 at Oakmont in the 1973 U.S. Open.

Miller had jealously guarded this record, and so it was funny to watch him react to Branden Grace’s 62 on Saturday in perfect conditions.  While Miller was at first gracious, he couldn’t help but add, “The course was set up awfully easy today, folks.” [It was, but the record is all Grace’s now.]

Haotong Li, the 21-year-old from China who I sure had never heard of, is the 32nd with a 63.

--The cut was at +5 and among the biggies failing to make it to the weekend were Patrick Reed, +8, and Phil Mickelson, +10.

But kudos to 50-year-old Steve Stricker, who was +2 the first 36, and that’s where he finished, +2, T-37.

--I love Royal Birkdale as a television participant, and 18 of the top-20 in the world made the cut, which tells you something.

--On Thursday, Rory McIlroy was off to a nightmare start, bogeying five of his first six holes, continuing a pattern that had seen him miss the cut at the U.S. Open, and then in the prior two weeks, the Irish and Scottish Opens.  It was amazing to think he’d miss the cut at Royal Birkdale as well.

But on the sixth tee his longtime caddie, J.P. Fitzgerald, went for his tool kit, trying to help Rory regain the confidence that led to four major championships at such a young age.

You’re Rory McIlroy,” J.P. said. “What the f--- are you doing?

Rory said after that while at the time he muttered only “whatever” in response, he said Fitzgerald’s prod “helped, it definitely helped. It kept me positive.”

Rory bogeyed that hole, but then he got his act together, finishing +1, 71, and followed that up with 68 to handily make it to the weekend, where he finished -5, T-4.  Rory should definitely be a factor in Charlotte for the PGA, having won on the course before (Quail Hollow).

--Defending champion Henrik Stenson put forth a noble defense, finishing -3, T-11.

--Hometown boy Tommy Fleetwood, who I stupidly touted to win the tournament, giving into the hype, nonetheless had a gutty performance in making the cut after an opening round, 76, +6.

Fleetwood went 69-66-70 to finish +1, T-27, so I don’t have total egg on my face by any stretch. There was just way too much media-generated pressure on the lad, even though he has soared in the world rankings of late.

--Just have to mention there was another PGA Tour event taking place this week, the Barbasol Championship in Alabama, won by Grayson Murray, his first title.  [Your editor shaves with Barbasol, available for $1 at Dollar Tree.]

MLB

--Friday night in Seattle, the Yankees won 5-1 as Aaron Judge, who had gone 4-for-29 since his performance in the Home Run Derby, with no homers, finally connected in the fifth inning against Mariners starter Andrew Moore, a mammoth shot that MLB’s Statcast tool, designed to measure home run distance, came up empty on, though one ‘official’ measurement that put it at 440 feet was woefully short.

Judge ended up with 4 RBI, and CC Sabathia threw five scoreless to run his mark to 9-3, 3.44.   Gotta hand it to CC. He’s given his team exactly what they needed from him all year, and then some.

But New York, as has been its wont in this crappy, lengthy stretch of theirs*, then failed to beat the Mariners Sat. night, losing 6-5 in 10 innings.  The Yanks’ had rallied from a 4-1 deficit to take a 5-4 lead, but the revamped pen didn’t get it done (David Robertson and Adam Warren the culprits).

*12-23 since a 38-23 start as of Sat.

You also have to blame Masahiro Tanaka, who allowed 4 earned in six innings last night, his ERA now 5.37; hardly the ace and key cog the Yankees need him to be, especially at $22 million ($67 million more 2018-20).

Aaron Judge did homer again, No. 32, so talk of his post-Derby slump should be officially over.

Well, the Yanks won today, 6-4, as the bullpen rebounded in a big way.

--The Mets won their fourth straight Sat. night at Citi Field behind a ninth inning, two-out, walk-off home run by Wilmer Flores.  Most of us hope the Mets never trade him.  He may not be an everyday player, but he’s been productive in his career as a Met, and he desperately wants to stay here as once again the trade rumors swirl.

The Metsies lost today, 3-2, not that it matters one iota.

Meanwhile, Yoenis Cespedes pissed off some of us fans when he told a Bay Area reporter, with Oakland in town, that he wanted to finish his career in Oakland and how he thought A’s manager Bob Melvin was the best he had played under, thus throwing his own team and manager, Terry Collins, under the bus.

Cespedes walked the comments back after, and I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt that he was perhaps somewhat misinterpreted as he did a favor to the reporter, plus Cespedes, who doesn’t speak English to the New York press, did the interview in English (which is screwed up, frankly).  [The reporter later said that in no way did Cespedes intend to diss Terry Collins.]

But the real bottom line is the Mets handed Cespedes a whopping $109.5 million, four-year contract in the offseason ($87 million the next three) and he has now gone 0-for-84 without a home run, after missing six weeks with a hamstring injury.

Regardless of the guy’s true intent in the comments, us fans are souring on Yoenis rapidly and that could make for a toxic mixture not only the rest of this year, but into next year and beyond.  The guy never hustles, he’s surly with the press, he’s got endless injury issues, and he’s overrated for what he’s being paid.

That said I, like all Mets fans, was happy to see the team give him the new deal. It’s complicated.

--I do have to go back to Wednesday and the Mets’ 7-3 win over the Cardinals at Citi Field.  Jacob deGrom won his seventh straight start, 1.51 ERA over that stretch, to move to 11-3, 3.37.  As Ronald Reagan would have said to Nancy, ‘Not bad, not bad at all.’

--Friday night, the Red Sox beat the Angels 6-2 in Anaheim, Boston star hurler Chris Sale moving to 12-4, 2.48, striking out nine.

But the story was that Sale got his 200th strikeout of the season in his 20th start, thus putting himself in rarefied air, along with Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez, as the only pitchers to fan 200 in 20 or fewer starts.

Sale, though, reached 200 in only 141 1/3 innings, fewer than any American League pitcher in a season, according to Elias Sports Bureau.  He has completed at least seven innings 15 times in those 20 starts and the Red Sox are very aware they need to save his arm for the playoffs.

--The Braves defeated the Dodgers in L.A. on Thursday, 6-3, thus ending the Dodgers’ 11-game win streak.  Atlanta then won again on Friday, 12-3, as Dodgers starter Alex Wood (11-1, 2.17) suffered his first defeat, allowing 7 earned in 4 2/3.

But today, Clayton Kershaw had to exit after two innings with lower back tightness, Kershaw having been out 2 ½ months last season with a herniated disk in his lower back.  No word on how long he might be shelved this time.

Kenley Jansen also blew a save in the game, but the Dodgers won 5-4 in 10.

--I have to note a game played Wed. night, after I last posted. The Rockies beat the Padres 18-4 in Colorado and Nolan Arenado was 5-for-5, 3 HR, 7 RBI.  A pretty fair effort. 

Entering Sunday’s play, Arenado, though, was .337 at home, .291 on the road, basically the same as his career splits, in terms of the gap, and while this may be unfair to bring up, it’s just a fact of playing in the Mile High City.  That said Arenado is indeed a superstar.  [He had 3 more RBIs in a 13-3 win over the Pirates on Sunday.  So he has 22 home runs and 86 RBIs.]

--White Sox phenom Yoan Moncada, the consensus No. 1 prospect in baseball, made his major league debut on Wednesday and after Sunday’s play was 1-for-13...but with 4 RBIs!  In his second game he had a bases-loaded triple and a sac fly.  If his career ended tonight, that would be an interesting Baseballreference.com card.

--I forgot to note that the Diamondbacks had acquired J.D. Martinez from the Tigers, a super pickup. He was hitting .305 this season, 16 homers, and at 29 had established himself as one of the better outfielders in the league.  But he’s a free agent at the end of this season and no doubt will receive a big offer from someone so this could be viewed as a rental for the stretch drive.

Only in his first game Wednesday night, Martinez was hit on the side of the left hand while batting in the fourth inning and he’s been out since, day-to-day.

NBA

--Tim Bontemps / Washington Post

More than a month has passed since the NBA’s last competitive game, but a funny thing is taking place: The league is as relevant in July as it was when the Warriors were cutting down the Cavaliers in June.

“The NBA offseason has taken over the slowest month on the sports calendar, the one that falls between the end of the league’s championship round and the start of NFL training camp. And it’s happened in a way that, only a few years ago, would’ve seemed impossible to just about everyone within the sport.

“ ‘I am a little surprised by the growth  in interest, specifically in free agency and the Las Vegas Summer League, but it’s really just an extension of the remarkable growth in interest in the NBA we’ve seen over the last decade,’ NBA Commissioner Adam Silver wrote in an email interview on Wednesday.  ‘The whole game experience has never been more compelling or entertaining, and each summer a fresh set of story lines emerge that keep our fans engaged.’....

“ ‘For the most part, the NBA had conceded the summer – not for the most part, all of it – to baseball,’ said Warren LeGarie, a longtime NBA agent and co-founder of the Las Vegas Summer League.  ‘For them, once the draft was finished, they went dark until the October camps started.’....

“Now, the NBA not only doesn’t cede ground during the offseason, it gains it.  From the moment the NBA Finals end, the focus immediately shifts to the NBA draft (and a new NBA Awards show), followed by breathless coverage of free agency that coincides with summer league...with one flowing into another to keep interest in the sport at a fever pitch for weeks after the season ends.”

Well, I don’t know about a “fever pitch,” and I have doubts about Commissioner Silver’s comment that “The whole game experience has never been more compelling or entertaining,” seeing as there is zero competitive balance in the NBA, vs. that of the NFL, NHL and MLB.  That’s obvious to any sports fan....

....But an example of what Silver is referring is the case of Kyrie Irving, the star, verging on superstar, guard of the Cavaliers, LeBron’s running mate, who suddenly announced he was tired of playing with King James and has asked to be traded.

Irving is a four-time All-Star who just had his best season, 25.2 points per game, 25.9 in the playoffs, and he’s under contract for two more seasons, with a player option in 2020.

So why would he want to leave LeBron?  While James has been tough on him at times, following Cleveland’s Game 5 loss in the Finals last month, Irving credited James for leading the way.

“He’s freaking awesome,” Irving said.  “As a student of the game, it would be a disservice to myself if I didn’t try to learn as much as possible while I’m playing with this guy.  Every single day demanding more out of himself, demanding more out of us, the true testament of a consummate professional.”

But LeBron has been beyond a jerk this offseason, seemingly not giving a hoot what the Cavs do with the roster, as he eyes another big payday after next season when no doubt he’ll head to the team that gives him the best chance of one more ring.

The story broke Friday night that the Knicks might have a shot at getting Irving, a Jersey boy, but Cleveland will ask for more than Carmelo Anthony and a first-rounder or two.  They would want Kristaps Porzingis and no way the Knicks do that.  So forget New York if Irving is indeed dealt.

--The Washington Wizards and star point guard John Wall reached an agreement on a four-year, $170 million extension starting in 2019 that will keep Wall in D.C. through the 2022-23 season.  That’s a good statement to make for one’s fan base and future free agents.

Down Goes Freeze!...Down Goes Freeze!

Mississippi football coach Hugh Freeze was forced to resign the other day after five seasons at Ole Miss.  The school announced it had discovered a one-minute phone call the coach made to an escort service last January, and the information was reportedly given to Ole Miss by the legal counsel of former Rebels coach Houston Nutt, who has a federal lawsuit open against the school regarding a violation of his severance agreement, Freeze having replaced Nutt.

Ole Miss chancellor Jeffrey Vitter said Freeze showed ‘a pattern of personal misconduct’ and that information leading to his resignation is ‘totally unrelated’ to the NCAA investigations into the program.

Under Freeze, the Rebels had a quick rise, culminating in a 2015 Sugar Bowl victory over Oklahoma State following the 2015 season.

But then an NCAA investigation into the program – alleging 21 charges of academic, booster, and recruiting misconduct – has placed the program under a cloud, the school already self-imposing several penalties, including a ban on postseason play for the upcoming season.

Dan Wolken / USA TODAY

“There is a certain way coaches like to talk about each other, about the things that have to happen to secure top recruits for their programs, about the gray areas they have to navigate in the NCAA rulebook.  Often the details are left to the imagination.  Sometimes the stories come with a punchline.

“In the end, there’s an omerta in recruiting: If the other guy did something you couldn’t or wouldn’t do, best to tip your cap and try to get the next one.

But with Hugh Freeze, it was different.  It was always different.

“Whatever Freeze was doing to make enemies across the Southeast, it was often hard to distinguish what rival coaches saw as the greater transgression – the programs’ loose relationship with the NCAA rulebook or his in-your-face piety.

“Coaches who recruited against Freeze didn’t merely roll their eyes at him, and they certainly didn’t laugh, except when it came to the nickname a few called him behind his back: Jimmy Swag.

“That his tenure actually ended in a Jimmy Swaggert-esque scandal, with Ole Miss discovering a pattern of embarrassing personal conduct, came as little surprise to those who long suspected that his act was disingenuous.

“But just like the defrocking of Baylor’s Art Briles, Penn State’s Joe Paterno, Ohio State’s Jim Tressel and countless others, the lesson doesn’t seem to get learned by the adoring masses until forced to confront it through scandal and embarrassment.

“At some point, can we please stop turning these guys into demigods and treat them like what they actually are?”

Chuck Culpepper / Washington Post

He maketh mistakes.

“For example, one night as he walketh through the valley of the shadow of Death Valley of Baton Rouge in 2014, he haveth an unbeaten team and three-point deficit in the part of the game where the seconds do waneth.  His team conducteth a fiasco. It lineth uppeth for two field goals that never came, and it addeth the unforgivable sin of a delay-of-game penalty, and it threw an interception with two seconds left which showeth the frailty of man and the hardship and pestilence of the Southeastern Conference.

“Just last autumn, his team loseth seven times in 12 games.

“In five years, he goeth 39-25, and he beateth Alabama twice, and many saw that it was good, yet it is written in the ancient texts that had he gone 49-15 or even 59-5, and beateth Alabama thrice, it wouldeth been a more curious test case for the eternal power of routinely beating the hell out of thy neighbor from down the highway.

The Hugh Freeze saga at Ole Miss haveth everything. It haveth the alleged recruiting violations, the former player on the holy dreaft night of 2016 who telleth of the cash payments, the aggrieved former coach (Houston Nutt), the disciples from the NCAA Committee on Infractions, the lawyers, the escort service, the ‘misdial’ to the escort service, the suggestion from the athletic director that perhaps the ‘misdial’ was part of a ‘pattern.’  It harks back through the ancient history of college football, through the fields and the hopes and the Saturdays of the game’s 148 years, all laced with subterfuge, the whole way....

“A retweet of a favorite pastor: ‘Jesus’ work for you and me is sufficient and complete he doesn’t need us to fake anything in order to protect his reputation.’”

Yes, Hugh Freeze was a total fraud.  Jimmy Swaggert-esque is the perfect description of him.

NASCAR

Kyle Busch had gone 35 races without a win, his last victory at the 2016 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but he took the pole for Sunday’s event at the same venue, desperately needing a win to punch his ticket into the season-ending Chase for the Cup.

Alas, it wasn’t to be, Busch crashing out in a mishap with teammate Martin Truex Jr., Truex admitting after it was his fault.

But then on a restart with 8 laps to go, Kyle Larson and others crashed out and, frankly, I need to move on as I approach “Game of Thrones” time.

Oh, what the hell, they are now in an “Overtime” restart.  [I’ve had four of my six DraftKings drivers crash out...a first for me.]

And there is another wreck!  They can’t even run two laps to have a finish.

Stuff

--I saw at week’s end that the world’s No. 1 horse these days, Arrogate, was running Saturday at Del Mar and then forgot to do a post-it reminder to catch it later, so it wasn’t until Sunday and reading the Los Angeles Times that I saw the horse was upset!

Bryce Miller / L.A. Times

“This was Miracle on Ice, on hooves. This was Buster Douglas KO’ing Mike Tyson, on dirt.  This was mouths collectively agape, faces stunned and eyes drained of answers.

“As Arrogate, the No. 1 ranked horse in the world, entered the starting gate Saturday at Del Mar in the San Diego Handicap, it was so ridiculously favored that the 1-20 odds produced too many digits to show on the track’s big board.

“The sport’s biggest star didn’t win.  Or finish second. Or third.

“Accelerate, who beat Arrogate during his rookie debut last April before the celebrity in waiting piled up a record $17 million and change, roared to the front, never surrendered an inch and delivered the unthinkable....

“ ‘I’m dumbfounded,’ said jockey Mike Smith, who rode Arrogate when he battered Saratoga’s record in the Travers, humbled California Chrome not once but twice and showed Gun Runner that no lead is safe in Dubai.

“ ‘I have no idea.  Your guess is as good as mine, to be honest with you. I’m at a loss for words.’....

“Dan Smith, Del Mar’s senior media coordinator who’s been around the track for 54 years, said he’d never seen money lean like this: Of the $2,671,938 bet in the win, place and show pools, an astounding $2,457,472 was wagered on the horse that finished fourth.

“Donworth [second] crushed records for place and show prizes that had stood since 1955, at $119.80 and $67.40 respectively....

“Arrogate was so regally regarded that the trumpeting lungs of Del Mar’s Les Kepics belted out the theme from ‘Superman’ before the call to the post and Charlie Rose of ’60 Minutes’ shadowed trainer Bob Baffert’s every move.  [Ed. well, we know the new season of ’60 Minutes’ will have a story on Baffert!]

“The streak of seven consecutive wins, never to reach eight....

“Arrogate, astonishingly, lumbered to the line a staggering 15 ¼ lengths off the pace.

“ ‘He just laid an egg,’ Baffert said....

“Sports, at its most glorious and blood-pumping, crumples truths and certainties before running them through the wood chipper.  It’s why we watch.  It’s why we wiggle to the edge of our chairs.”

Arrogate is still slated to run in the Breeders’ Cup Classic later in the fall.  This result makes that one all the more interesting.

--Dallas police suspended their investigation of an alleged assault involving Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, citing a lack of witnesses and an inability to contact the victim.

Elliott remains under investigation by the NFL stemming from a 2016 domestic violence accusation against him.

--The CONCACAF Gold Cup has nothing to do with the World Cup and the U.S. men’s team’s position in it, but if you can win it, you still want to and Team USA had a nice 2-0 semifinal win over Costa Rica on Saturday in Arlington, Texas in front of 45,516, as the American advanced to the final for a record 10th time and will play reigning champion Mexico or Jamaica [playing after I post tonight in Pasadena] on Wednesday in Santa Clara, Calif.

The U.S. was led by Joey Altidore, who put the Americans ahead in the 72nd minute, on a nice assist by Clint Dempsey, and then Dempsey followed with the second goal, this one tying Landon Donovan’s U.S. men’s scoring record, his 57th international goal.

The two teams square off again Sept. 1 in Harrison, N.J., for a more important match: a 2018 World Cup qualifier, so Saturday’s result was important psychologically.

--We note the passing of actor John Heard, 71, with no cause of death of as yet, Heard found dead at a Palo Alto hotel, where apparently he was staying while recovering from back surgery at Stanford University Medical Center.

Heard played Peter McCallister, the father of Kevin, played by Macaulay Culkin, in “Home Alone” and “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.”  He said in later interviews that after the first edition became a big hit, he was reluctant to sign up for another because he didn’t want to be typecast, but his agent convinced him the money was too good to pass up.

He appeared in numerous other flicks, including “Big,” “Beaches,” “The Pelican Brief,” and “Gladiator,” but some of us will remember him as the corrupt detective in “The Sopranos.”

--I see that Katie Ledecky won her first two golds at the World Swimming Championships today...400-meter and 4X100 relay.  She is attempting to win six golds in Budapest.

Girl Power!!!

--Good lord.  A 12-foot great white shark has been detected off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland, experts said.  The shark, named Hilton, is one of those tagged and followed by Ocearch, but it is not known exactly how close it was / is to the beach.

As the Washington Post’s Dana Hedgpeth reported, Hilton appears headed towards Delaware.

Note to Ocean City resident, and boat owner, Mark R., Hilton is armed and dangerous.  It can circle back on you when you least expect it, i.e. Jaws.

[“Shark Week” starts tonight, with Michael Phelps.]

--O.J. Simpson, according to ESPN’s Darren Rovell, leaves Lovelock Prison with $600,000 in NFL pension money, which can’t be touched, as in for the $33.5 million he owes the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.  But any income he now makes from memorabilia sales or appearances is subject to the settlement with them.  And no doubt he could make a small fortune selling his autograph if he so chose.

--Scott Blumstein of New Jersey won $8.1 million in the World Series of Poker, his first appearance in the event.

--I supposed I have to mention Chris Froome of Britain won the Tour de France a third straight year, fourth overall.

--I have to admit I never listened to Linkin Park, the hard rock-rap band that suffered tragedy the other day when Chester Bennington, the lead singer, was found dead in his home near Los Angeles.  He was 41.

We later learned he hung himself, which is the way that friend and singer Chris Cornell died back in May when he committed suicide.

Bennington had been open with his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction, which fueled some of Linkin Park’s biggest hits.

Bennington was known for his piercing scream and free-flowing anguish, and the group’s most recent of seven albums, “One More Light,” arrived in May and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart.  The band has canceled the rest of a tour it had been on.

So I went to YouTube and listened to the 2001 hit, “In the End,” and it’s great.

RIP, Mr. Bennington, and condolences to his legions of fans.

--My friend Steve G., he of the sweet rainbow jumper from the street (to the basket hanging over his garage) in my youth, is currently at his second home of Colombia (his second vacation there in a year...hmmm...) and he said the other day he grabbed a cold can of Aguila from a cooler at a local market, and after a 10-minute walk in brutal high temps with steaming humidity, he was back at his hotel.  The can said “sin alcohol,” which his translator then told him means no alcohol. Steve said he “almost caused an international incident.”  You’re reading Bar Chat....

Top 3 songs for the week 7/27/63:  #1 “Surf City” (Jan & Dean)  #2 “So Much In Love” (The Tymes)  #3 “Fingertips – Pt. 2” (Little Stevie Wonder)...and...#4 “Easier Said Than Done” (The Essex)  #5 “Wipe Out” (The Surfaris)  #6 “Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport” (Rolf Harris) #7 “(You’re the) Devil In Disguise” (Elvis Presley)  #8 “Blowin In The Wind” (Peter, Paul & Mary) #9 “Memphis” (Lonnie Mack)   #10 “Just One Look” (Doris Troy)

Phillies Quiz Answers: 1) 40 home runs: Ryan Howard, 56, 2006; Howard, 48, 2008; Mike Schmidt, 48, 1980; Howard, 47, 2007; Jim Thome, 47, 2003; Howard, 45, 2009; Schmidt, 45, 1979; Chuck Klein, 43, 1929; Thome, 42, 2004; Cy Williams, 41, 1923; Dick Allen, 40, 1966; Klein, 40, 1930.  [Greg Luzinski peaked at 39.]  2) 20 wins, since 1920: Robin Roberts, 28, 1952 (6-time, 20-game winner in Phils uniform); Steve Carlton, 27, 1972 (5-time, 20-game winner in Phils uniform); Roy Halladay, 21, 2010; Chris Short, 20, 1966.

It’s easy to forget how awesome Howard was from 2006-09, one of the great 4-year power stretches in baseball history.  And Dick Allen was one of my all-time faves.

Next Bar Chat, Thursday.



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Bar Chat

07/24/2017

Jordan Spieth and a Performance for the Ages

[Posted Sun. p.m.]

Phillies Quiz: 1) In their long history, name the seven to hit 40 home runs in a season; four did it multiple times. [Two are pre-1950.]  2) Since 1920, name the only four to win 20 games in a season; two did it multiple times. Answers below.

The Open Championship

Round 2

Spieth -6
Kuchar -4
Poulter -3
Koepka -3

Round 3

Spieth -11
Kuchar -8
Connelly -5
Koepka -5
Grace -4
Matsuyama -4

Round 4

After 9 holes....

Spieth -8...four bogeys, one birdie on front
Kuchar -8...two bogeys, two birdies
Haotong Li -6...after a 63!

After 13....

Kuchar -8
Spieth -7
Li -6

After 16....

Spieth -11
Kuchar -9

After 18....

Spieth -12
Kuchar -9
Haotong -6
McIlroy -5
Cabrera-Bello -5

As any fan of the sport knows, it was going to be tough to match the drama of last year’s duel between Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson, but today’s action bested it.

In an incredible performance that will echo forever through golf history, Jordan Spieth, after a miraculous ‘bogey’ on No. 13, birded 14, eagled 15, birdied 16 and birdied 17, 5-under in four holes.

Spieth had been shaky the entire round and was tied with Matt Kuchar after 12 at -8, Kooch playing far more consistently, when disaster struck Jordan on his tee shot at 13, easily the worst drive any of us have ever seen in major tournament golf. 

Somehow they found Spieth’s ball, miracle number one, and it took 25 minutes from the time of his tee shot until he finally straightened out a ruling for what was now his third, over a dune to a green far in the distance at the par-4.

At the time Johnny Miller and a lot of us were thinking, ‘you should have gone back and re-teed it for your third, but what happened next is part of the genius, and amazing guts, of Jordan Spieth.

His third over the hill landed short of the green, but he was in far better shape than if he had re-teed it and Spieth then executed the chip and bogey-saving putt to perfection to be just one back, rather than 2 or 3.

But you’re thinking he’s still rattled, and instead he hits his tee shot at the par-3 14th so pure, he misses an ace by an inch or two, birdies it, then roars on from there, leaving Kuchar stupefied in Spieth’s exhaust.

Peter Jacobsen had a perfect description for Spieth’s late flurry after the near catastrophe.  He’s a “bagful of savvy and guts.”

Johnny Miller called it the “greatest finish I have seen in championship golf.”

Jordan Spieth is now a true superstar, a legendary figure at just 23.

Spieth has three majors and 11 PGA Tour victories before age 24, with only Jack Nicklaus having also captured three majors at that age, but Nicklaus only had 8 wins. Tiger Woods had 15 wins before 24, but only two majors.

Jordan now moves on to the PGA in Charlotte in less than three weeks, looking to become just the sixth in history to win the career Grand Slam.

If you want a face of the sport, you want it to be Jordan Spieth, who is pure class, exhibited again today in his praise for Matt Kuchar, as well as being so gracious to his caddie, Michael Greller.  You hope he never changes and with his strong family behind him, there is no reason to believe he will.

--Just two winners in the past 40 years had led wire-to-wire prior to this week; Spieth also being a first-round co-leader with Kuchar and Koepka.  So make it three in the past 41.

And not for nothing, but Spieth has led the last eight rounds he’s played, including at Hartford.

--It really is amazing to think no one had ever shot better than 63 in a major, 31 with that score, the first being Johnny Miller’s 63 at Oakmont in the 1973 U.S. Open.

Miller had jealously guarded this record, and so it was funny to watch him react to Branden Grace’s 62 on Saturday in perfect conditions.  While Miller was at first gracious, he couldn’t help but add, “The course was set up awfully easy today, folks.” [It was, but the record is all Grace’s now.]

Haotong Li, the 21-year-old from China who I sure had never heard of, is the 32nd with a 63.

--The cut was at +5 and among the biggies failing to make it to the weekend were Patrick Reed, +8, and Phil Mickelson, +10.

But kudos to 50-year-old Steve Stricker, who was +2 the first 36, and that’s where he finished, +2, T-37.

--I love Royal Birkdale as a television participant, and 18 of the top-20 in the world made the cut, which tells you something.

--On Thursday, Rory McIlroy was off to a nightmare start, bogeying five of his first six holes, continuing a pattern that had seen him miss the cut at the U.S. Open, and then in the prior two weeks, the Irish and Scottish Opens.  It was amazing to think he’d miss the cut at Royal Birkdale as well.

But on the sixth tee his longtime caddie, J.P. Fitzgerald, went for his tool kit, trying to help Rory regain the confidence that led to four major championships at such a young age.

You’re Rory McIlroy,” J.P. said. “What the f--- are you doing?

Rory said after that while at the time he muttered only “whatever” in response, he said Fitzgerald’s prod “helped, it definitely helped. It kept me positive.”

Rory bogeyed that hole, but then he got his act together, finishing +1, 71, and followed that up with 68 to handily make it to the weekend, where he finished -5, T-4.  Rory should definitely be a factor in Charlotte for the PGA, having won on the course before (Quail Hollow).

--Defending champion Henrik Stenson put forth a noble defense, finishing -3, T-11.

--Hometown boy Tommy Fleetwood, who I stupidly touted to win the tournament, giving into the hype, nonetheless had a gutty performance in making the cut after an opening round, 76, +6.

Fleetwood went 69-66-70 to finish +1, T-27, so I don’t have total egg on my face by any stretch. There was just way too much media-generated pressure on the lad, even though he has soared in the world rankings of late.

--Just have to mention there was another PGA Tour event taking place this week, the Barbasol Championship in Alabama, won by Grayson Murray, his first title.  [Your editor shaves with Barbasol, available for $1 at Dollar Tree.]

MLB

--Friday night in Seattle, the Yankees won 5-1 as Aaron Judge, who had gone 4-for-29 since his performance in the Home Run Derby, with no homers, finally connected in the fifth inning against Mariners starter Andrew Moore, a mammoth shot that MLB’s Statcast tool, designed to measure home run distance, came up empty on, though one ‘official’ measurement that put it at 440 feet was woefully short.

Judge ended up with 4 RBI, and CC Sabathia threw five scoreless to run his mark to 9-3, 3.44.   Gotta hand it to CC. He’s given his team exactly what they needed from him all year, and then some.

But New York, as has been its wont in this crappy, lengthy stretch of theirs*, then failed to beat the Mariners Sat. night, losing 6-5 in 10 innings.  The Yanks’ had rallied from a 4-1 deficit to take a 5-4 lead, but the revamped pen didn’t get it done (David Robertson and Adam Warren the culprits).

*12-23 since a 38-23 start as of Sat.

You also have to blame Masahiro Tanaka, who allowed 4 earned in six innings last night, his ERA now 5.37; hardly the ace and key cog the Yankees need him to be, especially at $22 million ($67 million more 2018-20).

Aaron Judge did homer again, No. 32, so talk of his post-Derby slump should be officially over.

Well, the Yanks won today, 6-4, as the bullpen rebounded in a big way.

--The Mets won their fourth straight Sat. night at Citi Field behind a ninth inning, two-out, walk-off home run by Wilmer Flores.  Most of us hope the Mets never trade him.  He may not be an everyday player, but he’s been productive in his career as a Met, and he desperately wants to stay here as once again the trade rumors swirl.

The Metsies lost today, 3-2, not that it matters one iota.

Meanwhile, Yoenis Cespedes pissed off some of us fans when he told a Bay Area reporter, with Oakland in town, that he wanted to finish his career in Oakland and how he thought A’s manager Bob Melvin was the best he had played under, thus throwing his own team and manager, Terry Collins, under the bus.

Cespedes walked the comments back after, and I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt that he was perhaps somewhat misinterpreted as he did a favor to the reporter, plus Cespedes, who doesn’t speak English to the New York press, did the interview in English (which is screwed up, frankly).  [The reporter later said that in no way did Cespedes intend to diss Terry Collins.]

But the real bottom line is the Mets handed Cespedes a whopping $109.5 million, four-year contract in the offseason ($87 million the next three) and he has now gone 0-for-84 without a home run, after missing six weeks with a hamstring injury.

Regardless of the guy’s true intent in the comments, us fans are souring on Yoenis rapidly and that could make for a toxic mixture not only the rest of this year, but into next year and beyond.  The guy never hustles, he’s surly with the press, he’s got endless injury issues, and he’s overrated for what he’s being paid.

That said I, like all Mets fans, was happy to see the team give him the new deal. It’s complicated.

--I do have to go back to Wednesday and the Mets’ 7-3 win over the Cardinals at Citi Field.  Jacob deGrom won his seventh straight start, 1.51 ERA over that stretch, to move to 11-3, 3.37.  As Ronald Reagan would have said to Nancy, ‘Not bad, not bad at all.’

--Friday night, the Red Sox beat the Angels 6-2 in Anaheim, Boston star hurler Chris Sale moving to 12-4, 2.48, striking out nine.

But the story was that Sale got his 200th strikeout of the season in his 20th start, thus putting himself in rarefied air, along with Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez, as the only pitchers to fan 200 in 20 or fewer starts.

Sale, though, reached 200 in only 141 1/3 innings, fewer than any American League pitcher in a season, according to Elias Sports Bureau.  He has completed at least seven innings 15 times in those 20 starts and the Red Sox are very aware they need to save his arm for the playoffs.

--The Braves defeated the Dodgers in L.A. on Thursday, 6-3, thus ending the Dodgers’ 11-game win streak.  Atlanta then won again on Friday, 12-3, as Dodgers starter Alex Wood (11-1, 2.17) suffered his first defeat, allowing 7 earned in 4 2/3.

But today, Clayton Kershaw had to exit after two innings with lower back tightness, Kershaw having been out 2 ½ months last season with a herniated disk in his lower back.  No word on how long he might be shelved this time.

Kenley Jansen also blew a save in the game, but the Dodgers won 5-4 in 10.

--I have to note a game played Wed. night, after I last posted. The Rockies beat the Padres 18-4 in Colorado and Nolan Arenado was 5-for-5, 3 HR, 7 RBI.  A pretty fair effort. 

Entering Sunday’s play, Arenado, though, was .337 at home, .291 on the road, basically the same as his career splits, in terms of the gap, and while this may be unfair to bring up, it’s just a fact of playing in the Mile High City.  That said Arenado is indeed a superstar.  [He had 3 more RBIs in a 13-3 win over the Pirates on Sunday.  So he has 22 home runs and 86 RBIs.]

--White Sox phenom Yoan Moncada, the consensus No. 1 prospect in baseball, made his major league debut on Wednesday and after Sunday’s play was 1-for-13...but with 4 RBIs!  In his second game he had a bases-loaded triple and a sac fly.  If his career ended tonight, that would be an interesting Baseballreference.com card.

--I forgot to note that the Diamondbacks had acquired J.D. Martinez from the Tigers, a super pickup. He was hitting .305 this season, 16 homers, and at 29 had established himself as one of the better outfielders in the league.  But he’s a free agent at the end of this season and no doubt will receive a big offer from someone so this could be viewed as a rental for the stretch drive.

Only in his first game Wednesday night, Martinez was hit on the side of the left hand while batting in the fourth inning and he’s been out since, day-to-day.

NBA

--Tim Bontemps / Washington Post

More than a month has passed since the NBA’s last competitive game, but a funny thing is taking place: The league is as relevant in July as it was when the Warriors were cutting down the Cavaliers in June.

“The NBA offseason has taken over the slowest month on the sports calendar, the one that falls between the end of the league’s championship round and the start of NFL training camp. And it’s happened in a way that, only a few years ago, would’ve seemed impossible to just about everyone within the sport.

“ ‘I am a little surprised by the growth  in interest, specifically in free agency and the Las Vegas Summer League, but it’s really just an extension of the remarkable growth in interest in the NBA we’ve seen over the last decade,’ NBA Commissioner Adam Silver wrote in an email interview on Wednesday.  ‘The whole game experience has never been more compelling or entertaining, and each summer a fresh set of story lines emerge that keep our fans engaged.’....

“ ‘For the most part, the NBA had conceded the summer – not for the most part, all of it – to baseball,’ said Warren LeGarie, a longtime NBA agent and co-founder of the Las Vegas Summer League.  ‘For them, once the draft was finished, they went dark until the October camps started.’....

“Now, the NBA not only doesn’t cede ground during the offseason, it gains it.  From the moment the NBA Finals end, the focus immediately shifts to the NBA draft (and a new NBA Awards show), followed by breathless coverage of free agency that coincides with summer league...with one flowing into another to keep interest in the sport at a fever pitch for weeks after the season ends.”

Well, I don’t know about a “fever pitch,” and I have doubts about Commissioner Silver’s comment that “The whole game experience has never been more compelling or entertaining,” seeing as there is zero competitive balance in the NBA, vs. that of the NFL, NHL and MLB.  That’s obvious to any sports fan....

....But an example of what Silver is referring is the case of Kyrie Irving, the star, verging on superstar, guard of the Cavaliers, LeBron’s running mate, who suddenly announced he was tired of playing with King James and has asked to be traded.

Irving is a four-time All-Star who just had his best season, 25.2 points per game, 25.9 in the playoffs, and he’s under contract for two more seasons, with a player option in 2020.

So why would he want to leave LeBron?  While James has been tough on him at times, following Cleveland’s Game 5 loss in the Finals last month, Irving credited James for leading the way.

“He’s freaking awesome,” Irving said.  “As a student of the game, it would be a disservice to myself if I didn’t try to learn as much as possible while I’m playing with this guy.  Every single day demanding more out of himself, demanding more out of us, the true testament of a consummate professional.”

But LeBron has been beyond a jerk this offseason, seemingly not giving a hoot what the Cavs do with the roster, as he eyes another big payday after next season when no doubt he’ll head to the team that gives him the best chance of one more ring.

The story broke Friday night that the Knicks might have a shot at getting Irving, a Jersey boy, but Cleveland will ask for more than Carmelo Anthony and a first-rounder or two.  They would want Kristaps Porzingis and no way the Knicks do that.  So forget New York if Irving is indeed dealt.

--The Washington Wizards and star point guard John Wall reached an agreement on a four-year, $170 million extension starting in 2019 that will keep Wall in D.C. through the 2022-23 season.  That’s a good statement to make for one’s fan base and future free agents.

Down Goes Freeze!...Down Goes Freeze!

Mississippi football coach Hugh Freeze was forced to resign the other day after five seasons at Ole Miss.  The school announced it had discovered a one-minute phone call the coach made to an escort service last January, and the information was reportedly given to Ole Miss by the legal counsel of former Rebels coach Houston Nutt, who has a federal lawsuit open against the school regarding a violation of his severance agreement, Freeze having replaced Nutt.

Ole Miss chancellor Jeffrey Vitter said Freeze showed ‘a pattern of personal misconduct’ and that information leading to his resignation is ‘totally unrelated’ to the NCAA investigations into the program.

Under Freeze, the Rebels had a quick rise, culminating in a 2015 Sugar Bowl victory over Oklahoma State following the 2015 season.

But then an NCAA investigation into the program – alleging 21 charges of academic, booster, and recruiting misconduct – has placed the program under a cloud, the school already self-imposing several penalties, including a ban on postseason play for the upcoming season.

Dan Wolken / USA TODAY

“There is a certain way coaches like to talk about each other, about the things that have to happen to secure top recruits for their programs, about the gray areas they have to navigate in the NCAA rulebook.  Often the details are left to the imagination.  Sometimes the stories come with a punchline.

“In the end, there’s an omerta in recruiting: If the other guy did something you couldn’t or wouldn’t do, best to tip your cap and try to get the next one.

But with Hugh Freeze, it was different.  It was always different.

“Whatever Freeze was doing to make enemies across the Southeast, it was often hard to distinguish what rival coaches saw as the greater transgression – the programs’ loose relationship with the NCAA rulebook or his in-your-face piety.

“Coaches who recruited against Freeze didn’t merely roll their eyes at him, and they certainly didn’t laugh, except when it came to the nickname a few called him behind his back: Jimmy Swag.

“That his tenure actually ended in a Jimmy Swaggert-esque scandal, with Ole Miss discovering a pattern of embarrassing personal conduct, came as little surprise to those who long suspected that his act was disingenuous.

“But just like the defrocking of Baylor’s Art Briles, Penn State’s Joe Paterno, Ohio State’s Jim Tressel and countless others, the lesson doesn’t seem to get learned by the adoring masses until forced to confront it through scandal and embarrassment.

“At some point, can we please stop turning these guys into demigods and treat them like what they actually are?”

Chuck Culpepper / Washington Post

He maketh mistakes.

“For example, one night as he walketh through the valley of the shadow of Death Valley of Baton Rouge in 2014, he haveth an unbeaten team and three-point deficit in the part of the game where the seconds do waneth.  His team conducteth a fiasco. It lineth uppeth for two field goals that never came, and it addeth the unforgivable sin of a delay-of-game penalty, and it threw an interception with two seconds left which showeth the frailty of man and the hardship and pestilence of the Southeastern Conference.

“Just last autumn, his team loseth seven times in 12 games.

“In five years, he goeth 39-25, and he beateth Alabama twice, and many saw that it was good, yet it is written in the ancient texts that had he gone 49-15 or even 59-5, and beateth Alabama thrice, it wouldeth been a more curious test case for the eternal power of routinely beating the hell out of thy neighbor from down the highway.

The Hugh Freeze saga at Ole Miss haveth everything. It haveth the alleged recruiting violations, the former player on the holy dreaft night of 2016 who telleth of the cash payments, the aggrieved former coach (Houston Nutt), the disciples from the NCAA Committee on Infractions, the lawyers, the escort service, the ‘misdial’ to the escort service, the suggestion from the athletic director that perhaps the ‘misdial’ was part of a ‘pattern.’  It harks back through the ancient history of college football, through the fields and the hopes and the Saturdays of the game’s 148 years, all laced with subterfuge, the whole way....

“A retweet of a favorite pastor: ‘Jesus’ work for you and me is sufficient and complete he doesn’t need us to fake anything in order to protect his reputation.’”

Yes, Hugh Freeze was a total fraud.  Jimmy Swaggert-esque is the perfect description of him.

NASCAR

Kyle Busch had gone 35 races without a win, his last victory at the 2016 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but he took the pole for Sunday’s event at the same venue, desperately needing a win to punch his ticket into the season-ending Chase for the Cup.

Alas, it wasn’t to be, Busch crashing out in a mishap with teammate Martin Truex Jr., Truex admitting after it was his fault.

But then on a restart with 8 laps to go, Kyle Larson and others crashed out and, frankly, I need to move on as I approach “Game of Thrones” time.

Oh, what the hell, they are now in an “Overtime” restart.  [I’ve had four of my six DraftKings drivers crash out...a first for me.]

And there is another wreck!  They can’t even run two laps to have a finish.

Stuff

--I saw at week’s end that the world’s No. 1 horse these days, Arrogate, was running Saturday at Del Mar and then forgot to do a post-it reminder to catch it later, so it wasn’t until Sunday and reading the Los Angeles Times that I saw the horse was upset!

Bryce Miller / L.A. Times

“This was Miracle on Ice, on hooves. This was Buster Douglas KO’ing Mike Tyson, on dirt.  This was mouths collectively agape, faces stunned and eyes drained of answers.

“As Arrogate, the No. 1 ranked horse in the world, entered the starting gate Saturday at Del Mar in the San Diego Handicap, it was so ridiculously favored that the 1-20 odds produced too many digits to show on the track’s big board.

“The sport’s biggest star didn’t win.  Or finish second. Or third.

“Accelerate, who beat Arrogate during his rookie debut last April before the celebrity in waiting piled up a record $17 million and change, roared to the front, never surrendered an inch and delivered the unthinkable....

“ ‘I’m dumbfounded,’ said jockey Mike Smith, who rode Arrogate when he battered Saratoga’s record in the Travers, humbled California Chrome not once but twice and showed Gun Runner that no lead is safe in Dubai.

“ ‘I have no idea.  Your guess is as good as mine, to be honest with you. I’m at a loss for words.’....

“Dan Smith, Del Mar’s senior media coordinator who’s been around the track for 54 years, said he’d never seen money lean like this: Of the $2,671,938 bet in the win, place and show pools, an astounding $2,457,472 was wagered on the horse that finished fourth.

“Donworth [second] crushed records for place and show prizes that had stood since 1955, at $119.80 and $67.40 respectively....

“Arrogate was so regally regarded that the trumpeting lungs of Del Mar’s Les Kepics belted out the theme from ‘Superman’ before the call to the post and Charlie Rose of ’60 Minutes’ shadowed trainer Bob Baffert’s every move.  [Ed. well, we know the new season of ’60 Minutes’ will have a story on Baffert!]

“The streak of seven consecutive wins, never to reach eight....

“Arrogate, astonishingly, lumbered to the line a staggering 15 ¼ lengths off the pace.

“ ‘He just laid an egg,’ Baffert said....

“Sports, at its most glorious and blood-pumping, crumples truths and certainties before running them through the wood chipper.  It’s why we watch.  It’s why we wiggle to the edge of our chairs.”

Arrogate is still slated to run in the Breeders’ Cup Classic later in the fall.  This result makes that one all the more interesting.

--Dallas police suspended their investigation of an alleged assault involving Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, citing a lack of witnesses and an inability to contact the victim.

Elliott remains under investigation by the NFL stemming from a 2016 domestic violence accusation against him.

--The CONCACAF Gold Cup has nothing to do with the World Cup and the U.S. men’s team’s position in it, but if you can win it, you still want to and Team USA had a nice 2-0 semifinal win over Costa Rica on Saturday in Arlington, Texas in front of 45,516, as the American advanced to the final for a record 10th time and will play reigning champion Mexico or Jamaica [playing after I post tonight in Pasadena] on Wednesday in Santa Clara, Calif.

The U.S. was led by Joey Altidore, who put the Americans ahead in the 72nd minute, on a nice assist by Clint Dempsey, and then Dempsey followed with the second goal, this one tying Landon Donovan’s U.S. men’s scoring record, his 57th international goal.

The two teams square off again Sept. 1 in Harrison, N.J., for a more important match: a 2018 World Cup qualifier, so Saturday’s result was important psychologically.

--We note the passing of actor John Heard, 71, with no cause of death of as yet, Heard found dead at a Palo Alto hotel, where apparently he was staying while recovering from back surgery at Stanford University Medical Center.

Heard played Peter McCallister, the father of Kevin, played by Macaulay Culkin, in “Home Alone” and “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.”  He said in later interviews that after the first edition became a big hit, he was reluctant to sign up for another because he didn’t want to be typecast, but his agent convinced him the money was too good to pass up.

He appeared in numerous other flicks, including “Big,” “Beaches,” “The Pelican Brief,” and “Gladiator,” but some of us will remember him as the corrupt detective in “The Sopranos.”

--I see that Katie Ledecky won her first two golds at the World Swimming Championships today...400-meter and 4X100 relay.  She is attempting to win six golds in Budapest.

Girl Power!!!

--Good lord.  A 12-foot great white shark has been detected off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland, experts said.  The shark, named Hilton, is one of those tagged and followed by Ocearch, but it is not known exactly how close it was / is to the beach.

As the Washington Post’s Dana Hedgpeth reported, Hilton appears headed towards Delaware.

Note to Ocean City resident, and boat owner, Mark R., Hilton is armed and dangerous.  It can circle back on you when you least expect it, i.e. Jaws.

[“Shark Week” starts tonight, with Michael Phelps.]

--O.J. Simpson, according to ESPN’s Darren Rovell, leaves Lovelock Prison with $600,000 in NFL pension money, which can’t be touched, as in for the $33.5 million he owes the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.  But any income he now makes from memorabilia sales or appearances is subject to the settlement with them.  And no doubt he could make a small fortune selling his autograph if he so chose.

--Scott Blumstein of New Jersey won $8.1 million in the World Series of Poker, his first appearance in the event.

--I supposed I have to mention Chris Froome of Britain won the Tour de France a third straight year, fourth overall.

--I have to admit I never listened to Linkin Park, the hard rock-rap band that suffered tragedy the other day when Chester Bennington, the lead singer, was found dead in his home near Los Angeles.  He was 41.

We later learned he hung himself, which is the way that friend and singer Chris Cornell died back in May when he committed suicide.

Bennington had been open with his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction, which fueled some of Linkin Park’s biggest hits.

Bennington was known for his piercing scream and free-flowing anguish, and the group’s most recent of seven albums, “One More Light,” arrived in May and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart.  The band has canceled the rest of a tour it had been on.

So I went to YouTube and listened to the 2001 hit, “In the End,” and it’s great.

RIP, Mr. Bennington, and condolences to his legions of fans.

--My friend Steve G., he of the sweet rainbow jumper from the street (to the basket hanging over his garage) in my youth, is currently at his second home of Colombia (his second vacation there in a year...hmmm...) and he said the other day he grabbed a cold can of Aguila from a cooler at a local market, and after a 10-minute walk in brutal high temps with steaming humidity, he was back at his hotel.  The can said “sin alcohol,” which his translator then told him means no alcohol. Steve said he “almost caused an international incident.”  You’re reading Bar Chat....

Top 3 songs for the week 7/27/63:  #1 “Surf City” (Jan & Dean)  #2 “So Much In Love” (The Tymes)  #3 “Fingertips – Pt. 2” (Little Stevie Wonder)...and...#4 “Easier Said Than Done” (The Essex)  #5 “Wipe Out” (The Surfaris)  #6 “Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport” (Rolf Harris) #7 “(You’re the) Devil In Disguise” (Elvis Presley)  #8 “Blowin In The Wind” (Peter, Paul & Mary) #9 “Memphis” (Lonnie Mack)   #10 “Just One Look” (Doris Troy)

Phillies Quiz Answers: 1) 40 home runs: Ryan Howard, 56, 2006; Howard, 48, 2008; Mike Schmidt, 48, 1980; Howard, 47, 2007; Jim Thome, 47, 2003; Howard, 45, 2009; Schmidt, 45, 1979; Chuck Klein, 43, 1929; Thome, 42, 2004; Cy Williams, 41, 1923; Dick Allen, 40, 1966; Klein, 40, 1930.  [Greg Luzinski peaked at 39.]  2) 20 wins, since 1920: Robin Roberts, 28, 1952 (6-time, 20-game winner in Phils uniform); Steve Carlton, 27, 1972 (5-time, 20-game winner in Phils uniform); Roy Halladay, 21, 2010; Chris Short, 20, 1966.

It’s easy to forget how awesome Howard was from 2006-09, one of the great 4-year power stretches in baseball history.  And Dick Allen was one of my all-time faves.

Next Bar Chat, Thursday.