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Bar Chat

09/14/2017

Cleveland's Streak Now 20!

[Posted early Wednesday morning.]

NFL Quiz: Name the top two active in career receptions. Answer below.

MLB

--The Indians stretched their near-record winning streak to 19 on Monday with an 11-0 pasting of the Tigers; Cleveland thus one shy of the modern American League record of 20 by the 2002 Oakland A’s of Moneyball fame.  During the streak, Cleveland has outscored the opposition 132-32, with double-digit runs in six of the 19, while shutting out their opponent six times.

The 1906 Chicago White Sox and 1947 New York Yankees also won 19 in a row.

The 1935 Chicago Cubs won 21 games in a row, the longest streak since 1900 that does not include a tie. The 1916 New York Giants won 26 consecutive games, but that streak does include a tie.

So Tuesday the Indians sent out Cy Young Award contender Corey Kluber (15-4, 2.56) for No. 20 and Kluber threw a shutout (the seventh of the streak), 2-0, as shortstop Francisco Lindor slammed his 30th home run, the first Cleveland shortstop to do so.  Kluber improved to 8-1 in his last nine starts and lowered his ERA to an A.L.-best 2.45.

Cleveland’s starters have a 1.71 ERA during the streak, while the offense has scored 6.7 runs per game.

The Indians go for No. 21 this afternoon.

--The Dodgers lost their 11th straight Monday night in San Francisco, 8-6, the longest losing streak since the team moved out to Los Angeles (the franchise record is 16 straight by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1944).  So for the Dodgers it was now 16 of 17 losses after hitting 91-36 on Aug. 25.

L.A. then sent Clayton Kershaw to the mound on Tuesday and the Dodgers’ streak is over, 5-3 winners over the Giants, Kershaw improving to 17-3, 2.12.  In the process, L.A. clinched a playoff spot for a fifth consecutive season.

After closing out the series against the Giants on Wednesday, the Dodgers travel to Washington for a weekend set that is suddenly about who finishes with a better record in the National League and thus home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, L.A. with a 4 ½-game lead over the Nationals.

--The Yankees lost to the Rays at Citi Field on Tuesday, 2-1, as Sonny Gray continues to pitch in bad luck for New York, while Boston whipped the A’s 11-1.  So the Red Sox’ lead is four in the A.L. East.

--Johnny Mac sent me a note the other day on the paucity of triples in baseball.  Thru Monday’s play, the Toronto Blue Jays had 5...5...for the season!

Last year, Baltimore had six for the entire year, along with just 19 stolen bases.  Eegads.

For comparison I picked two seasons totally at random in the modern era.

1981...National League...every team had 20+ triples.

1974...American League...every team had 19+.

Yup, all about the long ball.  If you’re a parent, start giving junior lots of steroids at age 12 to begin to draw the attention of local experts (formal scouts will enter the picture at age 15).

Then make sure your local school board doesn’t have a strict drug-testing policy for athletes.

Then junior will get a college scholarship, or, perhaps, get drafted out of high school.

It’s at this point you have to tell junior to cut ties with his (your) distributor, and then rely on the college’s or MLB’s strength conditioning program to keep junior’s muscle tone so he can hit the long ball; if he stays on the ‘roids he will get caught...I hope you know that.

And that’s how you try to beat the system, sports fans.

Meanwhile, one or two Billy Hamilton’s are allowed to apply for the professional level each year.  No more.

NFL Bits

--Yes, sweeping generalizations after just one week in the NFL are absurd (ditto college football), but while the Los Angeles Rams whipped the Andrew Luck-less Colts 46-9, you do have to be highly encouraged if you’re a Rams fan about quarterback Jared Goff.  In his rookie season last year he was 4 of 17 on targets that were 20 yards or more down the field.

Sunday, he had 4 on 29 total attempts, vs. 4 on 205 total attempts last season during his 0-7 (W/L) dreadful rookie campaign.

--So after the Giants’ dismal 19-3 loss to the Cowboys on Sunday night, with Odell Beckham Jr. missing it due to his ankle injury, that pregame film showed may linger another week or two, one thing is abundantly clear.  The Giants desperately need him on the field and his leverage is increasing as his initial four-year contract expires this season.

He can play under a fifth-year option next year for $8 million, but the Giants will back up the truck to keep him, so more than double that.

But even if he does return to action soon and goes on to have another great season, the Giants, as every fan of the team has known since last year, desperately needs better play from its offensive line and there are no quick fixes.

--Arizona star running back David Johnson suffered a dislocated wrist in the Cardinals’ 35-23 loss to the Lions, though Johnson sought a second opinion because if it dislocated, that will require surgery.  In terms of how long he’d be out, Arizona running back T.J. Logan suffered the same injury and will miss 8 to 12 weeks.

Arizona then announced yesterday that Johnson will have surgery and it’s looking like Thanksgiving at the earliest.

The Cardinals are signing running back D.J. Foster off the Patriots’ practice squad.

--It wasn’t exactly how J.J. Watt drew it up. After raising a staggering $31 million for Hurricane Harvey victims, the Texans then lost to the Jaguars 29-7 as Watt had just one tackle and dislocated his finger late in the first half.

“Just busted the bone through the skin,” Watt said after.  “Nothing bad.  Just tape it up.”

Yuck.

Meanwhile, Texans coach Bill O’Brien has a decision to make between quarterbacks Tom Savage and rookie Deshaun Watson, with a game on Thursday in Cincinnati. Savage was 7of 13 for 62 yards, while being sacked six times and losing two fumbles in just the first half.  Watson was 12 for 23 for 102 yards with two turnovers of his own, an interception and fumble.  [As of Wed. morning, while O’Brien hadn’t made it official, it’s looking like Watson.]

Jacksonville’s Calais Campbell had four of the Jags’ 10 sacks.

I didn’t see until after I posted last time that Wake Forest fullback Tommy Bohanon had a one-yard TD reception for the Jags.  It’s slim pickings on offense for us Demon Deacon fans in terms of the NFL, with just Bohanon and Baltimore’s Michael Campanaro currently playing; Campanaro being used primarily as a kick returner, though I just saw Danny Woodhead is out 6-8 weeks for the Ravens, ergo, Campanaro will definitely see more PT.

--Pittsburgh’s Le’Veon Bell acted like he didn’t need training camp in holding out as long as he did, but it turns out he did need it as he had only 47 yards on 13 touches. 

But the Steelers had T.J. Watt (J.J.’s brother), a first-round rookie linebacker out of Wisconsin, who became the first rookie in three decades to record two sacks and one interception in an NFL debut.

--Speaking of practice, by all accounts, the overall level of play in Week One was mediocre at best.  It’s just a fact the players aren’t getting enough real practice under the new rules, and Collective Bargaining Agreement, governing contact in both offseason drills and training camp.  And in the exhibition games, the starters are hardly playing with each other...like about 3-6 quarters worth, total, with few playing in the final exhibition game.

--I’m thinking the Colts, even with Andrew Luck, could rival the Jets for the number one pick in the 2018 draft.

But no one has a worse coach than the Jets’ Todd Bowles, who inexplicably punted with four minutes left in the game, the team trailing by two scores.  The second straight season he has made such a move.

--There were various protests by NFL players during the national anthem on Sunday.  Seattle defensive end Michael Bennett, who accused the Las Vegas police of excessive force and racially profiling him, sat during it before a game against the Packers in Green Bay.

Other players, such as Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins, raised their fists during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

It goes back to Colin Kaepernick’s protest last season, and then his ongoing unemployment this year.  Commissioner Roger Goodell declared his support for the anthem, but said players have the right to voice their opinions.  He also said there was no coordinated effort to block Kaepernick from a job.

[By the way, the quarterback still hasn’t spoken on the topic of his employment in months. We don’t even know if he wants to play.]

But for the other side....

Howard Bryant / ESPN The Magazine

“Cincinnati’s Eric Winston, the NFL Players Association president....cautioned the owners not to underestimate them, either by locking them out in 2021 or by dismissing their hardiness to endure a strike....

“Instead of intimidating players, ownership pressure is creating a budding group of motivated players.  Winston’s comments were rooted not only in the brazenness of the richest sport in the country apparently threatening a lockout four years early but also in the recent devastating Boston University CTE study that felt as if it were reaching a tobacco-level conclusion: Football will kill you.

“Management by muscle has its limits, and the NFL is treating that obvious truth few industries consider before the fall: There are other things to do. The NFL is daring its loyal black fans to boycott its games, daring the toughest guys from the toughest sport to display the heart required to fight them.  Players are discovering the limits of money, which won’t buy disciplinary fairness when Goodell holds power over suspension and appeal.  If the players want that power, they must take it.  Money will not fix the brains of the NFL players discovered to have CTE in the BU study or reduce the need of players in a volatile time to express their feelings about their country.  Nor will it assuage the rifts that are transforming a sport that once unified Sundays into yet another source of division in a country defined by them.”

Back to Kaepernick, he did emerge on Tuesday to support ESPN “SportsCenter” host Jemele Hill.

Hill had tweeted that President Trump was a “white supremacist.”  Kaepernick tweeted “We are with you @jemelehill.”

ESPN, under fire from the right for being too openly liberal with its politics, issued a statement on Hill:

“The comments on Twitter from Jemele Hill regarding the President do not represent the position of ESPN. We have addressed this with Jemele and she recognizes her actions were inappropriate.”

College Football

--On paper, this is a lousy Saturday coming up.  17 Miami and 11 Florida State was going to be entertaining, but it was postponed ‘til Oct. 14 due to Irma.

The big one is 3 Clemson at 14 Louisville and whether the Clemson ‘D’ can handle Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson, who is off to another other-worldly start.

I’m also kind of interested in Army at 8 Ohio State.  And 12 LSU at Mississippi State could be solid.

But that’s about it.

Which means one thing.  We’ll get a big upset or two.

Golf Balls

--The FedEx Cup Playoffs resume Thursday with the BMW Championship in Lake Forest, Illinois, as the field will be reduced from 70 to 30 for the Tour Championship the following week.

Look for more Sunday excitement from the likes of Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Hideki Matsuyama, Jon Rahm and Rickie Fowler.

I’m guessing I’m watching this rather than the Jets in Oakland.

--Phil W. pointed out that in the Walker Cup competition last week, which Team USA took from Great Britain and Ireland 19-7, two members of the Wake Forest men’s golf team, senior Will Zalatoris and classmate Paul McBride faced off against each other, McBride from Ireland.

[Phil, Deacs look loaded this year.  We’re goin’ all the way!]

Men’s Division I College Soccer Poll (Coaches)...9/12

1. Indiana
2. Notre Dame
3. Maryland
4. Wake Forest
5. Stanford
6. Michigan State
7. Syracuse
8. North Carolina
9. Nebraska-Omaha
10. Clemson
21. Fairleigh Dickinson!!!! [A school near to where your editor lives]

Stuff

--Danica Patrick is losing her ride at Stewart-Haas Racing, due to a sponsorship change... Smithfield Foods moving over from Richard Petty Motorsports. Stewart-Haas has been having trouble with sponsorships for three of its four cars, including Patrick’s No. 10, and Smithfield won’t be targeting her, thus by her own statement, her time with SHR is over and potentially her career in the sport of NASCAR.

Patrick has been criticized for having such a high profile, but little actual success; as in just seven top-10 finishes in 180 career starts, and she’s currently 28th in the standings, the lowest in her Cup career.

--In the Premier League, Crystal Palace sacked its manager, Frank de Boer, after just four games in league play (five overall) and a whopping 77 days.  Former England boss Roy Hodgson is set to replace him.

Palace was shut out in each of its four PL games to start the season.  De Boer thus finishes with the shortest Premier League managerial tenure in terms of games.

--We note the passing of television executive Don Ohlmeyer, 72.  Ohlmeyer produced ABC’s “Monday Night Football” during its 1970s heyday and then guided NBC to No. 1 in prime time two decades later on the strength of programs like “Seinfeld,” “Friends,” “Frasier” and “ER.”

After a decade as a disciple to Roone Arledge, the president of ABC Sports, Ohlmeyer left to be executive producer of NBC Sports, then formed his own production company to produce sports and entertainment programs.

Bob Wright, the president of NBC,  then tabbed Ohlmeyer to evaluate the network’s assets, with “Cheers” in its final season, and as Ohlmeyer said in a 2004 interview, “When I got there, I used to say there was the smell of death.”

But with all the above-mentioned programs making their mark, including “Law & Order,” and in late night, “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno, NBC was the No. 1 network by far.

Ohlmeyer, however, clashed with Warren Littlefield, the president of NBC Entertainment, and Jack Welch, the chairman of General Electric, which owned NBC, chose Ohlmeyer.

But Ohlmeyer had serious issues and entered the Betty Ford Center for alcohol rehab, then returned to NBC.

In 1998, Ohlmeyer feuded with Norm Macdonald, the comedian who was doing “Weekend Update” on “Saturday Night Live,” with Ohlmeyer telling Lorne Michaels he needed to remove Macdonald from the segment immediately.

Macdonald said his ouster was an overreaction by Ohlmeyer to his “Weekend Update” jokes about O.J. Simpson, who was a close friend of Ohlmeyer’s.  During O.J.’s arrest and trial, Ohlmeyer stood by him, insisting that he would never abandon a friend in peril.  [Source: New York Times]

--TIME had an interview with Larry David, with the ninth season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” hitting Oct. 1 on HBO.

Bryan Cranston is part of it...Larry’s therapist. “Unfortunately for him,” said David.

I can’t wait.

--I’m also fired up for Anthony Bourdain’s new season of “Parts Unknown” on CNN which also starts Oct. 1...and at a different time than “Curb”.  Something tells me I won’t be watching Sunday Night Football, and as for the baseball playoffs it will depend on the matchup.

Top 3 songs for the week 9/17/77:  #1 “I Just Want To Be Your Everything” (Andy Gibb)  #2 “Float On” (The Floaters...great tune...)  #3 “Best Of My Love” (Emotions)...and...#4 “Handy Man” (James Taylor...mailed this in...)  #5 “Don’t Stop” (Fleetwood Mac...just slightly overplayed by some politicos...)  #6 “Keep It Comin’ Love” (KC & The Sunshine Band)  #7 “Strawberry Letter 23” (The Brothers Johnson)  #8 “Telephone Line” (Electric Light Orchestra)  #9 “Smoke From A Distant Fire” (The Sanford/Townsend Band...great beginning...then fizzles...)  #10 “Star Wars...main title” (The London Symphony...ugh...)

NFL Quiz Answer: Top two active in career receptions.  Well, your overall top six.

1. Jerry Rice 1,549
2. Tony Gonzalez 1,325
3. Larry Fitzgerald 1,131
4. Marvin Harrison 1.102
5. Cris Carter 1,101
6. Jason Witten 1,096

Next Bar Chat, Monday.

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