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Bar Chat

06/03/2019

Potpourri for $600

[Posted Sunday P.M., prior to Yankees-Red Sox, Bucks-Raptors]

PGA Tour Quiz: With Tiger Woods unable to catch Sam Snead’s 82 official career Tour titles this weekend, name the other eight to have 40 wins in their careers.  Answer below.

MLB

--As I go to post Sunday, the Yankees are on the verge of burying the Red Sox on June 2, having taken the first two games of what was to be a 4-game series, except Thursday’s was rained out, to be made up in August.

Friday, New York beat Chris Sale 4-1, Sale falling to 1-7, 4.35, though he has pitched much better since a horrendous start.  The Yankees’ pen threw four scoreless in relief of J.A. Happ.

Saturday, the Red Sox knocked out Domingo German with 3 runs on 6 hits in 3 2/3, but then the bullpen once again slammed the door, six pitchers this time, 5 1/3 scoreless, the Yankees winning 5-3.

So New York is 38-19, 9 ½ ahead of third-place Boston (29-29) heading into tonight, Tampa Bay 2 ½ back at 35-21.

Meanwhile, the Yankees are said to be in the running for free-agent starter Dallas Keuchel, though Milwaukee, Minnesota, and Philadelphia, as well as Tampa Bay, could be in the mix.

[The other big target, closer Craig Kimbrel, could also be signing somewhere soon, perhaps Atlanta.]

How long would Keuchel need before he could pitch at the major-league level, this late in the season?  It’s said both Keuchel and Kimbrel have been keeping to regular throwing schedules, with Keuchel throwing simulated games of around 100 pitches every five days to build up his arm strength.

--The other team in Gotham, the Mets, had Jacob deGrom on the mound Saturday night, New York up 4-0 as we headed to the bottom of the seventh in Arizona, and deGrom had a cramp in his hip.  He said he was fine.  The Mets, under an abundance of caution, took him out after 6 2/3, and the bullpen imploded for the second time in a week when protecting a four-run lead, the Mets eventually losing to the Diamondbacks 6-5 in 11, New York having knocked out Zack Greinke early.

Us Mets fans know what we are; a hopelessly mediocre (28-31 after a dismal 7-1 loss this afternoon to the D’Backs) club with a beyond atrocious bullpen, No. 23 in baseball entering today with a 4.87 ERA, the Yankees, by contrast, No. 3 at 3.47 (behind Houston and Cleveland).

I do have to note that Thursday night in Los Angeles, a man I have written often of this season, the Dodgers’ Hyun-Jin Ryu, threw 7 2/3 shutout innings against the Mets, New York falling 2-0, as Ryu lowered his ERA to 1.48.  [The Mets wasting a seven-inning, one-run effort by the much-maligned Jason Vargas.]

Ryu did walk a batter, though...his fifth in 73 innings vs. 69 strikeouts as he improved to 8-1.  For the month of May he was 5-0 in six starts with a 0.59 ERA, 36 strikeouts, three walks.

--Speaking of spectacular pitching performances, while it’s been long decided just make a plaque for Justin Verlander in Cooperstown now.  The 36-year-old has found the fountain of youth in Houston after being acquired Aug. 31, 2017, from the Tigers.  Since then, all Verlander has done is go 30-11, 2.31, including Saturday night’s 5-1 win over the A’s, Verlander going 8 strong to improve to 9-2, 2.27, on the season.

Verlander is now 213-125 overall, a superb .630 winning percentage, and he’s on his way to his eighth top-5 finish in the Cy Young Award race, which is my key metric when rating starting pitchers’ careers these days.  Let’s just say eight is damn good.

Plus he’s 13-7 in the postseason, though 0-4 in the World Series, which is a bit deceiving.

--Speaking of elderly pitchers getting their second wind, how about Tampa Bay’s Charlie Morton.  The 38-year-old is 6-0 this season to improve to 81-81 for his career, but the reason why the Rays signed him to a three-year contract this winter is because, despite his age, Morton went 14-7 and 15-3 his two years with the Astros (2017-18...as well as being a World Series hero in ‘17) and he really doesn’t have a lot of innings on his arm.

Looks like Tampa Bay knew what they were doing.

And this isn’t the only smart move Rays management has pulled off in recent years, in case you were wondering how this club with the godawful stadium and puny payroll can manage to stay competitive more often than not.

Consider the trade the Rays made with the Pirates, July 31, 2018.  Outfielder Austin Meadows and pitcher Tyler Glasnow to Tampa Bay for pitcher Chris Archer.

Archer, who was a dependable starter for the Rays from 2013-17, with flashes of brilliance, is 5-8 in his 1 ½ seasons in Pittsburgh, including 2-5, 5.66 this year, while Austin Meadows, given his first chance to play every day, is lighting it up, batting .354 with 12 home runs, 35 RBIs, and a 1.105 OPS.

As for Tyler Glasnow, the 25-year-old is 6-1, 1.86 ERA, though he’s currently on the shelf with a forearm strain that could keep him out until July. 

I’d say the Rays fleeced the Pirates, which gives pirates a bad name.

--So how is Vladimir Guerrero Jr. doing in Toronto?  The “next superstar” in the game had six home runs in his first 113 at-bats since the Blue Jays called him up, a .248 batting average entering today’s play.  I’d say that’s just fine.

--The Nationals have been dreadful this year and no one epitomizes that more than star Max Scherzer, in a weird way.  Scherzer entered today’s start against the Reds with just a 2-5 record, but a fine 3.26 ERA.

But get this, the Nats were 2-10 in his first 12 starts, despite 9 of the 12 being ‘quality starts,’ and another of five innings, one run.  Only two bad outings out of the dozen.  And Washington was 2-10.

It hasn’t helped that going into today the Nationals’ bullpen had an ERA of 6.85!!!!  A full run+ worse than No. 29 in baseball, Baltimore, 5.78.

So what happened today?

I was following it online the entire time and the Nationals won it, 4-1, the amazing Scherzer pitching eight innings, one run, and 15 strikeouts!  But also 120 pitches!  Sean Doolittle then closed it out in the ninth.

No one in baseball can be counted on to give you an effort every time out like Max Scherzer.

So now Washington is 3-10 in his starts, despite the fact he lowered his ERA to 3.06.  Very deGrom-like, circa 2018.

--More home runs were hit this May than in any other month in Major League Baseball history... 1,135, exceeding the previous mark set in August 2017...1,119.

Hitters needed to slug 25 home runs on Friday for the record and ended up hitting 40.  There was a homer every 25.0 at-bats in the month, the highest in a month in MLB history as well, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Pittsburgh’s Josh Bell, Houston’s Alex Bregman and Cincinnati’s Derek Dietrich all hit 12 homers in May to lead the way.  Bell’s dozen are as many as he had all of last season.

The Twins (56), Cubs (51) and Red Sox (51) all hit the 50 mark, the first time in MLB history that three teams have reached that level in the same month.

The record for a month by any team is 58, set by the 1987 Orioles and 1999 Mariners.

Through Friday, MLB is on pace for 6,510 homers, which would easily surpass the single-season record of 6,105 set two years ago.

--But if fans dig the long ball, as we’ve been told, it isn’t being reflected in the stands.  MLB’s overall average attendance of 26,854 through last Wednesday is 1.4% below the 27,242 avg. through a similar point last season; a fourth straight seasonal drop.

Nineteen of the 30 teams have seen their average fall from a similar point last year, with the largest drops in Toronto (6,963), San Francisco (6,463), Baltimore (3,839) and Detroit (3,686).

But there have been large increases in Philadelphia (10,383), the Bryce Harper effect, Oakland (4,027) and San Diego (3,465), the Padres adding Manny Machado.

MLB’s average peaked at 32,785 in 2007 – the last year before the Great Recession and the next-to-last season before the Yankees and Mets moved to smaller stadiums.

Last season’s final figure was 28,830.

On the other hand, baseball tops prime-top cable ratings in 24 of 25 markets and MLB.tv streaming is up 8.5%.

As for the two Florida teams, the Marlins are averaging 9,554, while Tampa Bay drew the smallest home crowd since they started playing at Tropicana Field, 5,786, on Tuesday against the Blue Jays.

--In college baseball, the national championship tournament is underway with the 16 regionals.

Saturday, Baylor’s Shea Langeliers set an NCAA tournament record with 11 RBIs as the Bears defeated Omaha 24-6 to eliminate the Mavericks from the Los Angeles Regional.

Langeliers, a junior catcher, went 5-for-6, including three home runs.  He is the No. 12 overall prospect for next week’s MLB draft, according to ESPN’s Keith Law.

As Ronald Reagan would have told Nancy while reading the Sunday sports section, ‘Not bad, not bad at all.’

The Bears then faced top-seeded UCLA on Sunday, but this one is after I go to post, ditto most other games.

[Ed. just saw UCLA eliminated Baylor 11-6.]

NBA Playoffs

--Thursday, the Raptors registered Canada’s first-ever win in the NBA Finals, 118-109, in Toronto and it wasn’t Kawhi Leonard who was the star, though Leonard had 23 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists.  No, it was Pascal Siakam, who had 32 on 14 of 17 from the field.

The third-year pro out of Cameroon, Siakam has burst on the scene this season, and been better in the playoffs, averaging 19 points and 7 rebounds.

As for Golden State as they approach Game 2, again without Kevin Durant, yes, it’s official; the Warriors need Durant if they are to win another title.  Steph Curry and Klay Thompson combined for 55 points in Game 1, and Draymond Green had a triple-double (10-10-10), but they need another weapon on offense and there was none Thursday.

--With the NBA Draft fast approaching, we learned that the presumed No. 2 overall pick, Murray State point guard Ja Morant, will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee to remove loose bone fragments or cartilage.  He will be fully recovered in a month or so, according to ESPN, and this isn’t considered serious in the least.

But ESPN is also saying Memphis, which has the second pick, may not be as locked into Morant as everyone has assumed.  They have requested a workout for RJ Barrett, but Barrett wants to be selected third by the Knicks or fourth by the Lakers.

I still believe the Grizzlies will take Morant, but us Knicks fans who like the guy a little more than Barrett have been given a shred of hope.

--In college hoops, Seton Hall received an unexpected, huge gift when Myles Powell, who had announced he was foregoing his senior year for the pros, suddenly said he was returning.  Powell had signed with an agent, and worked out for five teams, but under the rules he was allowed to opt to go back to school, as long as he did so by Wednesday’s deadline for college players to either stay in the draft or retain their college eligibility.

I mean this is a sure-fire first- or second-team All-American this coming season, and suddenly Seton Hall can harbor dreams of a top-ten ranking, top-15 at worst.  Plus because of graduations, transfers, and such, Marquette and Villanova are losing some of their best players, meaning The Hall may be the team to beat in the Big East.

Powell said among his considerations in making the decision to stay was that he wanted to become the first member of his family to graduate from college.  Good on him!

Stanley Cup Finals

After St. Louis shocked the Bruins in Game 2 in Boston, Thursday, to even their series at 1-1 with a 3-2 overtime win, the Bruins traveled to St. Louis for Game 3 last night and blitzed the Blues 7-2, Boston going 4-for-4 on the power play.  You just don’t see this kind of perfection with the man advantage, Boston now having won eight of their last nine playoff games, with Game 4 Monday in St. Louis.

Defenseman Torey Krug was one of the stars for the Bruins with a goal and three assists, each point coming in his role as a power-play point man.

--Separately, after reviewing the circumstances of a video of Washington Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov sitting next to two lines of a mysterious white power that circulated on social media Monday, both the team and the NHL issued statements Friday accepting Kuznetsov’s explanation and deemed the matter “formally closed.”

“In addition to doing our own due diligence, we met with Evgeny to discuss the video circulated on social media,” the Capitals said in a statement.  “While we are disappointed by his presence in the video, we accept his explanation and apology for putting himself in an unfortunate situation.  Evgeny has been a terrific player and an active member of our community, and we expect him to learn from this experience and uphold both the standards the organization has for him as well as his own.”

Kuznetsov first confused the timeline somewhat, but it seems it was from a trip Washington took to Vegas in December.

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement:

“While we certainly do not condone or endorse some of the decisions he made on the night in question, Mr. Kuznetsov’s account of the events that transpire aligns with other information we have been able to gather, and we have found no basis to question his representations with respect to what he did – and what did not – occur.  We consider the matter formally closed.”

Shocker In Boxing

In the biggest upset in the heavyweight division since Buster Douglas defeated Mike Tyson, Andy Ruiz Jr., a replacement opponent from the gritty border farming town of Imperial, Calif., ruined the U.S. debut of England’s three-belt heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua by seventh-round technical knockout.

Ruiz (33-1, 22 knockouts) became the first heavyweight champion of Mexican descent by knocking down Joshua four times – twice each in the third and seventh rounds – to strip away the World Boxing Assn., World Boxing Organization and International Boxing Federation belts from the Brit, now 22-1.

The truly stunning and remarkable fight happened at Madison Square Garden before 19,000.  Joshua was a 1-25 favorite.

“I got beaten by a good fighter,” the 29-year-old Joshua said on Sky Sports.  “It will be interesting to see how far he goes, but this is all part of the journey.  He’s a champion for now.  I shall return.”

As those in attendance wrote, this was no fluke, no punch for the ages.  Ruiz totally broke down Joshua, who looked shattered early.

And this from a guy who wasn’t supposed to be there.  Ruiz, also 29, took the bout with six weeks’ notice, with tickets 24 hours before still having the name of Jarrell Miller – Joshua’s original opponent – printed on them.

According to promoter Eddie Hearn, Joshua will get his rematch in London, in November or December.

So this really screws up any immediate thought of a bout between Joshua and Tyson Fury or WBC champion Deontay Wilder, which is what the sport desperately needed.

But what a great night for Ruiz.  He achieved some financial security for his wife and five children, and will receive even more of it in a rematch.

Champions League Final

An estimated 70,000 fans of Liverpool and Tottenham descended on Madrid for Saturday’s Champions League final.  Seeing as the stadium only seated 68,000, and each side was granted about 17,000 tickets apiece, that meant a lot of fans were watching, and partying, from outside.

Liverpool was a decided favorite, having won the two Premier League regular-season contests against the Spurs, but Tottenham had Harry Kane back from injury and this is one Spurs fan who hoped for another superb CL effort out of my boys, but it wasn’t to be.

In the first all-English Champions League final since 2008, Liverpool cruised to its sixth CL title, 2-0.

Shockingly, just 30 seconds in, Tottenham’s Sissoko was nailed for a handball in the penalty area and Mohamed Salah converted the PK at 1:30, 1-0, before everyone had sat down.

In an uninspiring first half, the Spurs at least kept it at 1-0.  And after the intermission, they came out hot, with much crisper passing resulting in a number of opportunities to tie things up, but it just wasn’t to be, Liverpool’s Origi with a superb score on the other end at the 87-minute mark to clinch it.

Good on Reds manager Jurgen Klopp,  the German having arrived in 2015, immediately turning the team around with his infectious enthusiasm, but he had yet to bring home a title of any kind, having lost his six finals in his career, including the Champions League final in 2013 with Borussia Dortmund and last year with Liverpool.

As for Tottenham, they advanced farther than anyone expected them to, especially after a poor final third of the Premier League season, and manager Mauricio Pochettino got the most out of his club on the ultimate stage.  But having followed this team for years now, they need to shake the roster up a bit.

The only good thing about the loss is it might encourage Pochettino to stay another season, he having said he might go back to his native Argentina if the Spurs had won Saturday.

There was, however, one decision Spurs fans will question Pochettino on and that was starting Harry Kane, who hadn’t played in weeks due to his latest injury, in place of Lucas Moura, who had the hat-trick in Tottenham’s spectacular semifinal comeback against Ajax.  Kane was ineffective against Liverpool...but it was a totally understandable decision.

--In Wednesday’s Europa League final, Chelsea whipped Arsenal 4-1, meaning Arsenal did not qualify for next season’s Champions League competition, Chelsea having already punched its ticket by way of its top-four Premier League finish.

The Blues’ Eden Hazard scored twice in what was undoubtedly his last game in a Chelsea uniform, the 28-year-old superstar headed to Real Madrid...by all accounts.

Hazard was the key player in Chelsea’s Premier League titles for 2014-15 and 2016-17.

Chelsea fan Dr. W. is very distraught, but he’s seen this coming for the better part of the last year.  Hang in there, Doc.

French Open

It was upset Saturday at Roland Garros, with top-seed Naomi Osaka, who had won the last two majors – the U.S. and Australian Opens – and 10-seed Serena Williams both exiting.

Osaka lost 6-4, 6-2, to Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic, while Williams lost to fellow American Sofia Kenin 6-2 and 7-5 in a dramatic contest.

Williams hasn’t played much since an ankle injury ended her Australian Open in a quarterfinal defeat.

For her part, Osaka admitted the French Open was too much to handle as she attempted to become the first female player since her idol Williams in 2015 to claim three straight majors.

One other among the women...2-seed Karolina Pliskova lost Friday to No. 31 Petra Martic, Pliskova having just won the Italian Open this month.

Today, 7-seed Sloane Stephens of the U.S. advanced to the quarterfinals.

On the men’s side, 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer reached the fourth round Friday, along with 11-time champion Rafael Nadal, the two reaching the last 16 in Paris for a record 14th time.

Federer also became the first man or woman to play 400 Grand Slam matches, improving his career record at the biggest tournaments to 345-55.

So today...both Federer and Nadal won their matches in straight sets to advance to the quarterfinals.  They are one match from facing each other for a 39th time in the semis.

Golf Balls

--Patrick Cantlay won his second PGA Tour victory at Jack’s Place, The Memorial, by two strokes over Adam Scott, as third-round leader Martin Kaymer, whose last win was at the 2014 U.S. Open, blew up on the back nine due to a blister issue (at least that is the word as I go to post), Kaymer finishing third.

Tiger finished T-9 with a fine 67 today, but he disturbingly kind of blew it coming in.

--Meanwhile, the women held their U.S. Open in Charleston, S.C., and, given the story that follows, it’s almost too funny.

South Korea’s Jeong-eun Lee6 (sic) won her first LPGA Tour event.

Maria Fassi, the NCAA individual title winner just weeks ago, finished T-12 in her professional debut.  Wake Forest’s Jennifer Kupcho, also in her debut, finished T-62.

For a variety of reasons, I think Ms. Fassi could be a huge key to the LPGA gaining some popularity.

But I saw a story about Saturday’s slow play in round three.  Like try the final threesome took three hours to play the front nine!  And overall the slowest group took 5 hours and 45 minutes!  Good lord!

Amateur Andrea Lee was assessed a penalty for slow play – yet this was the only penalty dished out for the day.  So many golf fans were wondering why she was singled out.

Understand there were no interruptions in play.  5 hours and 45 minutes!!!

I would have committed hari kari around Hole No. 13 if I was behind that group.  [Or launched a SAM missile.]

--Swing coach Hank Haney was suspended from the SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio channel for saying on his show that a Korean would probably win the U.S. Women’s Open and that he couldn’t name six players on the LPGA Tour.

He then said he would go with “Lee” and if he didn’t have to mention a first name, “I’d get a bunch of them right.”  [Well, not bad, as it turned out...but dumb, Mr. Haney.]

Haney, who coached Tiger Woods for six of his majors from 2004 to 2010, apologized on Twitter.  A statement from the PGA Tour and SiriusXM said Haney has been suspended “at the PGA Tour’s instruction.”

Tiger normally shies away from such controversial topics but after his second round at the Memorial on Friday, Woods hammered Haney, who recently wrote some less than complementary things about Tiger in a tell-all book.

“He deserved it,” Woods said flatly. “[You] just can’t look at life like that.  He obviously said what he meant, and he got what he deserved.”

Meanwhile, Michelle Wie also lit into Haney in a tweet: “As a Korean American female golfer, these comments that @HankHaney made disappoint and anger me on so many different levels.  Racism and sexism are no laughing matter Hank...shame on you. I don’t ever do this, but this must be called out.”

--On the USGA controversy I wrote of last time with Golf Digest’s damning story, Phil Mickelson said after his opening round this week, when asked about how the USGA sets up the golf courses for its biggest annual event:

“I’ve played, what, 29 U.S. Opens.  One hundred percent of the time they have messed it up if it doesn’t rain.  Rain is the governor.  That’s the only governor they have.  If they don’t have a governor, they don’t know how to control themselves.”

“So I think we’re all pulling for a little rain,” Mickelson told reporters.

Wednesday, Rory McIlroy said, “If they can’t redeem themselves at Pebble Beach, then there could be a problem.”

The Golf Digest story confirmed that a few years ago a player boycott of the U.S. Open had been considered.

--On the Champions Tour, Kevin Sutherland started today eight shots back of Scott Parel at the Principal Charity Classic in Des Moines, only to shoot 62 and catch Parel; Sutherland then winning on the second hole of a playoff, Sutherland’s third career Champions Tour win.

--Finally, Stanford defeated Texas for the men’s national championship on Wednesday in Arkansas, 3-2.  It was the program’s first national title at match play, first overall since 2007, ninth in school history.

Stanford closed with a rush this season, claiming the Pac-12, NCAA Stanford Regional and NCAA titles.

Texas finished runner-up for the second time in four years.

At least Wake Forest, in the quarterfinals, lost to the eventual national champ, and on the final hole.

Stuff

--Kyle Busch won his fourth NASCAR Cup Series race of the season at Pocono today, No. 55 in his career, tying him with Rusty Wallace for ninth on the all-time list. 

-- “Jeopardy!” juggernaut James Holzhauer won Friday night’s game with $79,663, giving him $2,462,216 overall in 32 straight matches.  So he’s now $58,484 shy of Ken Jennings’ 15-year-old record for cumulative earnings during regular-season (aka non-tournament) “Jeopardy!” play.

Top 3 songs for the week 6/2/73:  #1 “My Love” (Paul McCartney & Wings)  #2 “Daniel” (Elton John)  #3 “Frankenstein” (The Edgar Winter Group)...and...#4 “Pillow Talk” (Sylvia)  #5 “Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree” (Dawn featuring Tony Orlando)  #6 “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life” (Stevie Wonder)  #7 “I’m Gonna Love You Just A Little More Baby” (Barry White)  #8 “Little Willy” (The Sweet)  #9 “Hocus Pocus” (Focus)  #10 “Playground In My Mind” (Clint Holmes)

PGA Tour Quiz Answer: Top ten career winners....

1. Sam Snead 82
2. Tiger Woods 81
3. Jack Nicklaus 73
4. Ben Hogan 64
5. Arnold Palmer 62
6. Byron Nelson 52
7. Billy Casper 51
8. Walter Hagen 45
9. Phil Mickelson 44
10. Cary Middlecoff 40

Gene Sarazen 39
Tom Watson 39

But consider this...only Tiger, Phil, Watson and Vijay Singh (34) are the only golfers born after World War II with more than 30.

When Dustin Johnson won the WGC-Mexico Championship earlier this season, he became the first golfer born after 1980 to capture 20 PGA Tour victories.

Lastly, Sam Snead’s total has vacillated over the years.  When he won the individual portion of the 1961 Canada Cup – later called the World Cup – Sports Illustrated wrote that it was his 110th tournament victory.  The Associated Press noted Snead was the winner of more than 100 events after his 1965 Greensboro Open triumph.  But those tallies include Snead’s 17 West Virginia Open victories, which were long ago discounted by the PGA Tour, which for decades put Snead’s total at 84.

Then in 1986, the tour convened a panel to analyze events played between 1934 and 1979 – when record-keeping was sometimes incomplete or wrong – to facilitate a ranking of players in different eras.  The following year Snead’s total was reduced to 81.  Then upon further analysis, was taken up to 82.

1969 Mets, cont’d....

The San Francisco Giants came to town for a weekend set against the Mets and if you are a younger fan, you have to understand that back in the day, anytime the Dodgers or Giants returned to Gotham was a big deal; there still being so many former New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers fans at the time.

And the Mets didn’t disappoint the huge throngs that turned out.

May 30: Before a Friday night crowd of 52,272 at Shea, Tom Seaver held on, with relief help from Ron Taylor, to defeat the Giants 4-3, Seaver now 7-3, 2.53 ERA.  The Mets came back late after being down 3-0.  Willie McCovey hit No. 14 for San Francisco.
May 31: 32,178 showed up to see the Mets prevail 4-2, despite McCovey’s 15th, a two-run shot off Gary Gentry (4-4) accounting for the Giants’ only runs; all four Mets runs driven in by a struggling Ed Charles.  Tug McGraw had the save after Gentry pitched the first 8.
June 1: Before a delirious crowed of 41,294, the Mets and Giants were tied at 4-4 heading to the bottom of the ninth when the Giants’ pitchers walked four batters, the final one issued to Ron Swoboda, driving in Bud Harrelson for the 5-4 win.  McCovey homered again, going 3-for-3, but it wasn’t enough, as Don Cardwell threw 6 1/3 of 2-run ball in relief of starter Jim McAndrew, Ron Taylor then getting the win.

So a tremendous sweep for the Mets, now 22-23, though they remained 9 back of the Cubs.  Each of the three wins was in come-from-behind fashion, the crowds were there, and the Mets showed a lot of spunk.

Was this the start of something special?  The Dodgers are now coming into town for three.

Next Bar Chat, Thursday...D-Day.

*I do have to add a personal note that today I had to go through a few examples of my ‘wait 24 hours’ rule regarding two non-site related issues.  I handled one beautifully, as I thought about it.  I handled the other miserably.  It’s always a test....but do your best to abide by it.  You’ll thank me for it, as some of you have over the years.

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