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Bar Chat

08/12/2019

Baseball Fever

[Posted early Sunday p.m.]

NFL Quiz: Name the last five quarterbacks to lead the NFL in passing TDs (five different, all still active).  Answer below.

MLB

--What an exciting weekend for Mets fans as Washington came to town, a true test for the streaking Metropolitans, and in Friday night’s opener, the Mets had as dramatic a win as they’ve had in years, scoring four in the bottom of the ninth off closer Sean Doolittle, three on a game-tying home run off the bat of Todd Frazier, and the winning run batters later on a hit from Michael Conforto, Mets winning 7-6.  Citi Field was delirious.

Saturday night, the Mets trailed 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth when light-hitting Luis Guillorme shocked the Mets faithful with a pinch-hit home run, the first of his career, and batters later, J.D. Davis got the clutch sacrifice fly for what proved to be the decider, Seth Lugo closing it out in the top of the ninth, 4-3, making it 15 of 16, eight in a row.

So this afternoon ace Jacob deGrom hit the mound for New York...deGrom the “Sun King” for his best in baseball history 24-11, 1.86 ERA in 52 starts in day games.

But Jake yielded three runs in the first, though all unearned, and the Mets were in an immediate 3-0 hole.  Yet back they came again, tying it with three in the bottom of the second, a key moment a surprise bunt single for deGrom, loading the bases, whereupon Jeff McNeil laced a two-run double down the right-field line.

But the magic ran out, as closer Edwin Diaz entered the game in the ninth, Mets down 5-4, and he proceeded to give up a 2-run homer to Victor Robles, the 11th home run Diaz has yielded in just 45 innings, his ERA up to 5.60, having been scored on in five of his last six outings, as the nightmare continues.  The guy has been beyond atrocious. 

The Mets now head to Atlanta for three with the first-place Braves...another big test.

Wild Card Standings...with Philadelphia-San Fran. to be played.

Washington 62-55... +0.5
St. Louis 61-55... ---
Milwaukee 62-57... 0.5
Mets 61-57... 1
Philadelphia 60-57... 1.5
Arizona 59-58... 2.5

As for Washington, they need Max Scherzer to return to action, Scherzer having thrown only five innings since July 6, as he deals with back issues.  He threw a successful bullpen session Saturday and Scherzer should be back this coming week.

--The Yankees have been in Toronto for a four-game set and on Thursday, while the Yanks beat the Blue Jays 12-6, Toronto rookie Bo Bichette captured the headlines in setting a major league record of having at least one double in nine consecutive games*, having hit successfully in his first 11, before he was held hitless Friday and Saturday.

[*Derrek Lee had the previous record of eight games, 2007, and St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina matched it in 2016.  But, again, we’re talking Bichette did this in the first 11 games of his career! Ted Williams had an extra-base hit in nine straight, but it wasn’t at least one double in each.]

The Yanks lost those two games, 8-2 and 5-4, however, and on Friday, we had an incident when umpire Chris Segal, a Triple-A official who receives frequent call-ups to cover for major-league umps, was calling the balls and strikes and suddenly threw out Brett Gardner, who was in the dugout, when it was teammate Cameron Maybin who was complaining a strike call on batter Mike Tauchman.

Gardner, and manager Aaron Boone, went ballistic, as video clearly showed Maybin yelling from his seat in the dugout.  When Boone inquired who had been tossed, Segal replied: “Gardner.  He just told me I’m f---ing terrible.”

The tape doesn’t lie, and MLB has by now seen everything...as in Segal may not be getting too many more call-ups the rest of this season.

But the Yanks bounced back today, 1-0, as Masahiro Tanaka threw eight innings of 3-hit ball, his best start since June 17, and Aroldis Chapman earned his 31st save.  An important game for Tanaka’s confidence, and the Yanks’, as the postseason is really just around the corner.

Separately, General Manager Brian Cashman was swarmed by Connecticut police on Friday, officers drawing their firearms when he was apparently mistaken for an armed car thief.  Cashman was driving his white Jeep Wrangler from Yankee Stadium to Connecticut after it was reported stolen last Saturday.  The NYPD found his vehicle abandoned in the Bronx and returned it to him earlier last week. 

But the NYPD hadn’t taken his vehicle off the stolen car list, and somewhere along the drive, probably when he stopped for gas in Darien, Conn., video captured his license plate and Darien police sprang into action.  Cashman said “They executed a very tactful interception” of his vehicle.  It was truly a scary moment, as he was asked to “ not make any rash movements” as he exited his Jeep.

Cashman said he knew what was going on because he had just received a call from Westchester County policy about his stolen car.  “They called my cell while I was driving and I tripped up something on my drive up,” he said.  “They asked me if I was driving my vehicle because they got a hit on my stolen car driving up the Hudson.”

His Jeep is now officially off the stolen car list.

--There were some amazing performances Saturday.  Houston destroyed the Orioles 23-2, a franchise record for runs, as the Astros hit six home runs, three off the bat of Yordan Alvarez, who had a career high seven RBIs, giving the amazing rookie 51 ribbies through his first 45 career games, the most in major league history over that stretch, surpassing Ted Williams’ record of 47 RBI in his first 45 games in 1939.

And what a run for Jose Altuve, who after a lengthy stint on the IL was batting just .235 on June 20.  He’s now up to .305, after hitting .388 in July, and .343 thus far in August, entering Sunday’s contest.

Speaking of which, shockingly, today the Orioles knocked out Justin Verlander, the superstar yielding 4 runs on 9 hits in five innings, though he struck out 11.  Verlander threw 109 pitches in those five frames, as the Orioles ended up winning a crazy game, 8-7.

It was 5-4 Baltimore heading to the top of the ninth, Houston scored three times to go up 7-5, but the Astros’ closer, Roberto Osuna, gave his best Edwin Diaz impersonation, allowing a game-winning, two-run homer to Rio Ruiz, as Baltimore answered with three of its own for the victory.

Osuna has now blown five saves this season.

--In Cincinnati, you have the story of Reds rookie outfielder Aristides Aquino.  Aquino came up Aug. 1, replacing Yasiel Puig, who had been traded to Cleveland, and all Aquino has done is homer in seven of his first ten games, including three on Saturday in the Reds’ 10-1 win over the Cubs.  The seven in ten matched the start of Trevor Story of the Rockies, who accomplished this in 2016.

Today, in the Reds’ 6-3 loss to the Cubs, Aquino had an RBI single but no dinger.

--Many have criticized the Los Angeles Dodgers for not getting bullpen help at the trade deadline.  Friday, closer Kenley Jansen blew his fifth save, as the Diamondbacks beat the Dodgers 3-2 in 11 innings.

--Dr. W. and I were discussing a Wall Street Journal piece by Jared Diamond and Amanda Christovich detailing the home run explosion in Triple-A this season.  As in:

“If there was any lingering doubt about the cause of the unprecedented power surge across Major League Baseball, the highest level of the minor leagues is erasing it.

“This season, the two Triple-A leagues switched to the same baseball used in the majors, rather than a cheaper ball used elsewhere in the minors.  The results have been stunning.  Triple-A teams are on pace to hit more than 2,000 additional home runs from last year – a ridiculous increase of about 60%.

“In other words, the debate over why so many home runs are being hit is over.  It’s not launch angle.  It’s not increased pitcher velocity.  It isn’t the bats.  It’s the ball.

“One man who should know is Cody Decker, a real-life Crash Davis who retired last month after hitting his 204th career home run in the minors.  He calls the current ball ‘a joke.’

“ ‘The fact that the balls don’t say ‘Pro V1’ on them is laughable,’ said Decker, referring to the popular Titleist golf ball.  ‘I don’t think having these balls in Triple-A is helping anybody.’

“Late last month, the Las Vegas Aviators, the Oakland Athletics’ Triple-A affiliate, launched a record 11 home runs in one game against the El Paso Chihuahuas, the San Diego Padres’ affiliate. The final score was 20-11....

“MLB commissioner Rob Manfred acknowledges that the current baseballs have less air resistance and are more aerodynamic than the previous ones.  He denies that they have changed at the direction of MLB, attributing the difference to quirks in the manufacturing process, which is done largely by hand.

“The majors and minors have long used different balls.  The MLB ball, which is manufactured in a factory in Costa Rica, has tighter specifications and uses slightly different materials than its minor-league counterpart, which is made in China and costs about half as much.  Players say the MLB ball has lower seams.  Both balls are produced by Rawlings, which has been owned by MLB since last year.”

If you need another example of the difference the ball is making in Triple-A, in the PCL, an always offensive friendly league to begin with, Kevin Cron of the Reno Aces, the younger brother of Minnesota Twins first baseman C.J. Cron, led the PCL in homers through Wednesday, with 31 in 231 at-bats.  He hit 22 in 392 ABs last season.

And the Journal adds:

“Despite the emphasis on hitting the ball in the air sweeping across the sport, the other minor-league levels – using the old minor-league ball – are actually seeing a home run decline in 2019. Double-A is on pace to see around a 9% decrease in total home runs this season.  The South Atlantic and Midwest Leagues, both classified as Single-A, are on pace to see a 4% to 5% decrease.”

--Speaking of home runs, I have to go back to Wednesday night, after I last posted, and the Yankees’ 14-2 win over the Orioles in Baltimore.  They hit five more homers, giving them 52 against the Orioles, breaking the record for most by a team against a single opponent in one major league season....and they still have four more remaining against the Orioles, all this coming week in New York.

The Yankees finished 10-0 at Camden Yards.  [A record 43 homers there as well.]

--I love that MLB is going to play a game in Iowa next year, Yankees vs. White Sox, at an 8,000-seat stadium on the Dyersville farm site where the movie “Field of Dreams” was filmed.  It will be the first-ever major league game in Iowa.

In all my trips to the state, I’ve never made it to Dyersville because it has been too much of a hike from my base in Des Moines but this Aug. 13, 2020 contest is going to be way cool.  Good  job, baseball.

Golf Balls

--Patrick Reed had not won a tournament since the 2018 Masters, and had just three top tens in the 2018/19 season, but he’s been showing signs of late of coming out of his funk and he captured the first leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs today in Jersey City, N.J., win No. 7 in his career and a big one.  From what I saw, the surly one was appreciated in these parts.  The tour needs one or two villains to spice things up.

Abraham Ancer finished second, a shot behind.

--Among those missing the cut this week were Jason Day, Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele, and Matt Kuchar, though all are comfortably in the top 70 for next week, and only Jason will now need a strong performance at Medinah to qualify for the final 30 and the Tour Championship.

Bubba Watson and Sergio Garcia played themselves out of the second round of the playoffs in failing the make the cut.  Boy, Sergio was trashed bigly in one of the major golf publications this week.  Despite signs from time to time over the years that he might be finally maturing, his true jerkdom reemerges and this year there have been countless episodes of bad behavior.

--The issue of slow play, simmering all this tour season, exploded this week at the Northern Trust, and the number one target has been Bryson DeChambeau.

Now I’m on record as saying I couldn’t stand the guy from day one, his slow play being a key factor in my opinion, as well as his on-course demeanor.

But in his second round Friday, a video of him on the par-4 16th hole went viral as he paced off a 70-yard shot.  On the broadcast the announcer said it’s “a pretty straightforward shot,” but it still took DeChambeau more than three minutes to execute it.

Then on the eighth (he started on the back nine), DeChambeau had an eight-foot putt for birdie.  After 90 seconds of checking his yardage book and reading the putt, DeChambeau then called his caddie over to take a look.  While examining the putt – that he went on to miss – the broadcaster joked about how he would love to see DeChambeau play nine holes with his friends with some beers to see how he would do “without all the analytical stuff” that goes into his pre-shot routine.

Fellow players have been harsh, with Eddie Pepperell (who is one of my favorites these days) calling DeChambeau an “unaffected single-minded twit.”

Former Open winner Paul Lawrie tweeted: “Can’t believe there are people who defend this guy’s pace of play and how many examples will it take for him to get penalty shots!!  Total joke and feel sorry for his playing partners.”

So Saturday, after the third round, DeChambeau entered the interview room and said, “I’ll introduce this and talk about it.”

As Karen Crouse of the New York Times described, “What followed amounted to an impassioned 16-minute character defense.”

“When people start talking to me about slow play and how I’m killing the game, I’m doing this and that to the game, that is complete and utter you-know-what,” DeChambeau said.

Referencing Pepperell’s comment, Bryson said, “I would love to speak to him personally and talk about it.”

Then he added: “Look, I am not really that sensitive of a guy.  I don’t get hurt by a lot of things.  It’s not like I’m throwing clubs and slamming clubs, you know.  This is a conversation about playing golf in a certain time.”

The thing is, he does slam clubs from time to time!  He’s just a freakin’ jerk.

But the Tour has to enforce their own rules and they seem loathe to even put the group DeChambeau is playing in ‘on the clock.’  Once on the clock, all the players in the group have 40 seconds to complete a shot unless they are the first to hit in the group.  A player has to exceed the time limit twice for a one-stroke penalty to be assessed.

DeChambeau said the criticism was on his mind during Saturday’s round.  “It was stressful,” he said.  He also said he’s not as slow as people think; and he’s being unfairly targeted, even as the problem persists beyond him.

“There’s a deeper issue here, and I’m somehow being singled out,” DeChambeau said.

“We are all trying to do our best to play well and make our livelihoods and win tournaments, right,” DeChambeau said.  “But when you start attacking people on Twitter, it’s like, come on, dude.  Let’s have some more balls to come and speak to my face about that.”

Justin Thomas, who was one of DeChambeau’s playing partners on Friday, appeared visibly irritated during the round.  Thomas said it’s about his process.  DeChambeau claims that he counters the time he takes over shots by moving quicker to his ball, sometimes even jogging.  Thomas said that argument doesn’t hold up since he still doesn’t begin preparing for his shot until it’s his turn.

“If you walk faster than anyone to your ball but are still a hole-and-a-half behind, it’s not working,” Thomas said.

Well, this afternoon the PGA Tour put out a press release announcing it would take a deeper look at its current pace-of-play policies.  The release outlined both DeChambeau incidents and quoted his defense, as well as Justin Thomas’ comments.  More to come, no doubt.

--After an opening round 4-over 75 Thursday, Tiger Woods withdrew Friday morning, citing a “mild oblique strain that led to pain and stiffness.”  He clearly, going back to The Open at Royal Portrush, has been hurting.  It’s been painful watching him.

But Tiger expressed optimism he would be able to play next week at Medinah, where he has had great success.  The thing is he enters the event, should he tee it up, at No. 38, meaning he’ll have to play all four rounds, and well, to advance to East Lake.

--Not for nothing but I won for a fourth consecutive week with my DraftKings lineup.  Pretty damn proud of this.  But if Patton Kizzire hadn’t gone +5 over his final three holes on Friday to miss the cut, this week could have been truly special for me....if you catch my drift.

Premier League

I’m not going to make much of the first few weeks of the Premier League, though any fleeting chances for a title, for, say, a Tottenham, Chelsea or Arsenal, can be thrown away with one or two bad losses, due to the pure dominance of Manchester City and Liverpool.

In their openers, Liverpool whipped Norwich 4-1, while Man City manhandled West Ham 5-0 behind Raheem Sterling’s hat-trick.

Next up in the Big Six was my Tottenham Spurs, hosting Aston Villa, and goodness gracious, I’m watching it in horror, as AV had a 1-0 lead midway through the second half, before new signee Tanguy Ndombele scored a sweet one from outside the box to even it at 1-1, and then the great Harry Kane scored twice in the final minutes, 3-1 Spurs.  Phew.  There is a little dissension on Tottenham, mainly in the form of Christian Eriksen, who has expressed his desire to play out his contract and move on elsewhere, perhaps Real Madrid.  He didn’t start, but then injected some needed creativity when he entered in the second half.

Today, Arsenal held off Newcastle 1-0 on the road, while in the weekend’s biggie, Manchester United was most impressive in blanking Chelsea 4-0.  The sport is simply better when Man U, with its huge fan base, is near the top and in contention.

Leicester and Wolverhampton played to a 0-0 draw.

Finally, BBC’s Phil McNulty released his predicted order of finish for the 2019/20 season.  He’s normally pretty good, not that it is that hard to project the top six these days.

1. Man City
2. Liverpool
3. Tottenham
4. Chelsea ...Champions League line
5. Man U
6. Arsenal
7. Everton
8. Leicester City
9. Wolverhampton
10. West Ham

Relegated

18. Brighton
19. Norwich
20. Newcastle...I disagree with this one.  I’d stick them around 12.

College Football

--Sports Illustrated unveiled its top 25 and as we all know, this season will once again have no surprises.  It’s going to be Alabama and Clemson in the title game again, with SI picking ‘Bama.  Georgia and Oklahoma will round out the playoffs.

1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Georgia
4. Oklahoma
5. Texas
6. Ohio State
7. Notre Dame
8. LSU
9. Oregon...hoping cheerleaders get major airtime. 
10. Florida

But even with the same players at the top, I’m pumped for the season.  We’ll get our share of upsets for sure.

Waiting on the AP poll.

NFL

--Oakland Raiders receiver Antonio Brown is threatening to leave football forever, because his helmet of choice is prohibited for use in the NFL.

Brown participated in a two-hour conference call on Friday, as first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, as part of a grievance that he hopes will provide an exception to wear his old helmet.

The NFL has a longstanding policy that requires all players to wear helmets that have been certified by the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE), and NOCSAE won’t certify the helmet because it is more than 10 years old, according to the league source.  Helmets, like all other products, are frequently updated.  The players know this and Brown had to have known his preferred helmet would be disallowed.

What I didn’t know is that the NFL and NFL Players Association released an updated evaluation of 40 helmet models back in April, 34 of which are approved for use in 2019.  When I first read the Brown headlines, I was under the impression there was a highly limited selection but Brown has a choice.  There are a number of models that would be appropriate for a receiver.

Any team found to have known about a player wearing a banned helmet, or to have facilitated the use of one, would be subject to league discipline, a policy announced in April.

ESPN doesn’t believe Brown would be disciplined directly  by the NFL if he continues to use his old helmet, but the Raiders could discipline him, and because NFL policy prevents Brown from playing in the old helmet, he would be in breach of his contract.

One thing we know, Antonio Brown is not leaving the game because he would be walking away from $30.125 million...the remaining portion of his contract that is fully guaranteed for the next two seasons.

But this isn’t Brown’s only issue.  He is dealing with frostbitten feet suffered in a cryotherapy mishap last month in France.  Raiders coach Jon Gruden defended Brown, saying the “foot injury wasn’t his fault.  This was a total accident.  It really wasn’t his fault, and it’s a serious injury.  I know that some people are [joking about] it, but it’s really not a laughing matter.  The guy is hurt, he didn’t do anything wrong, and the helmet thing is a personal matter to him.”

The soles of Brown’s feet are cracked and healing, and he has not been at the Raiders’ training camp as he gathered information on his injury and stewed about his helmet.

As Mark R. suggested, yes, Brown’s name has been placed in the December file for “Idiot of the Year” consideration.

--President Trump responded to a question on whether Colin Kaepernick should get an opportunity to play in the NFL, and Trump said he thought owners would sign the QB if they thought he could play.

“Only if he’s good enough,” Trump said.  “If he’s good enough. Why wouldn’t he play?  If he’s good enough – I know the owners.  I know [Patriots owner] Bob Kraft.  I know so many of the owners.  If he’s good enough, they’d sign him... They would sign him in a heartbeat.  They will do anything they can to win games.  So I’d like to see it.”

So a major about-face for Trump, who has called for players who demonstrated during the anthem to be fired and has used the issue, and Kaepernick by name, to fire up supporters at campaign rallies.

But the timing of the president’s comments was interesting because Kaepernick had just released a video to show he’s “still ready” to play – and a prominent team is already down a quarterback.

The Eagles, who lost backup Nate Sudfeld to a broken left wrist that required surgery.  Hmmm.

--Giants fans are getting the quarterback controversy they want.  Rookie Daniel Jones performed very well in his debut against the Jets and Eli Manning already received a smattering of boos after the team went three-and-out prior to Jones’ arrival on the field.

--Wake Forest fans...former Demon Deacon receiver Greg Dortch had a highly successful debut in the Jets-Giants exhibition opener.  Dortch is getting a look as the primary punt returner and had three for 42 yards, including a 32-yard scamper, plus he caught four balls for 20, including a two-yard TD reception.  As a fan, and follower of the Jets, we just want him making the practice squad, at worst, knowing with inevitable injuries he’d get a shot during the season.  But he’s in position to make the squad outright.

Stuff

--The Andy Ruiz Jr.-Anthony Joshua heavyweight rematch is on, after Ruiz upset heavy favorite Joshua in June to take his titles.

But the rematch, Ruiz’s first title defense, will be Dec. 7 in Saudi Arabia.  “The Clash on the Dunes,” as it will be called, with a temporary outdoor stadium to be built.

Joshua, a Brit, wanted to stage a rematch in London in front of 100,000 fans.  As a fallback he considered New York’s Madison Square Garden, the site of the first fight against Ruiz, but the Ruiz camp pressed for a neutral location, and the promoter, Eddie Hearn, reportedly scored a hefty site fee – $40 million.

The site is drawing harsh criticism from a variety of groups, however, such as Amnesty International, owing to Saudi Arabia’s history of human rights violations.

And then as I typed this up Sunday morning, I just saw the Ruiz team is saying ‘not so fast.’  Ruiz’ share of the purse is at issue, as well as security concerns.

--We note the passing of Sherm Poppen, 89.  Poppen helped start the snowboarding industry in the 1960s when he bolted together his older daughter’s skis to create a stand-up board that could surf the snowy sand dunes behind their lakeside cottage in Michigan.

As Richard Sandomir of the New York Times wrote:

“It was Christmas Day 1965, and (Poppen) was at home in Muskegon when his pregnant wife, Nancy, implored him to go outside and entertain their rambunctious daughters.

“ ‘You can imagine – it’s Christmas, and my wife is pretty uptight, and she said ‘Sherman, you’ve got to take these kids out of the house’...And we were having a huge snowstorm on the shores of Lake Michigan.’

“He first took a sled, but its blades cut through the snow and got stuck in the sand beneath.

“Then he spotted Wendy’s child-size skis.  Envisioning the dunes as surfable waves, he created a surfable board by bracing the skis with wooden cross bars.

“His daughters caught on quickly, and soon so did their friends, who wanted to try it themselves.  His wife – who gave birth to a third daughter three days after Christmas – thought up a name for the board: the Snurfer, a contraction of ‘snow’ and ‘surfer.’”

So Poppen began to make improvements, made a second version from a single water ski that had foot grips, added a tether to the nose of the board to help the rider steer it, and in early 1966 he filed a patent application.

He was prescient.  Granted the patent in 1968, he licensed the Snurfer’s manufacturing rights later that year to the Brunswick Corporation, which was primarily involved in bowling equipment, but had a factory in Muskegon that was expanding into consumer products.  By Christmas, Brunswick was selling Snurfers made of the same laminated wood it used for bowling alleys.

But Poppen, who collected royalties on the hundreds of thousands of Snurfers that Brunswick and then the Jem Corporation (which bought the rights from Brunswick in 1973) sold, didn’t believe Brunswick marketed the Snurfer well.

In the end, Poppen eventually became the owner of a welding supply company in Muskegon, and Lake Welding Supply became his focus the rest of his career, not the Snurfer.

--My area in New Jersey had some wicked storms Thursday, and as some of you saw on the national news, neighboring Springfield actually had a little tornado, about two miles from me.  Then we learned later that in a separate storm, in neighboring Chatham, a runner was struck by lightning while doing sprints on a field behind the middle school, two miles from me in the opposite direction.

Brendan Darby, 19, was knocked unconscious after a bolt of lightning struck a soccer goal post close to where he was running.  His father later told media, “He woke up wet and confused on the ground.  The last thing he remembered was that he needed to get off the field as the storm was approaching.”

The father said another teenager reported seeing sparks on the rubberized turf field, followed by Brendan hitting the ground.  Luckily, someone on the field called police and he was whisked to the local hospital where all was good (or I wouldn’t have listed the kid’s name).  He may not have a memory of what exactly happened, but he has something to talk about the rest of his life.

--Rosie Ruiz died. She was 66.  Ruiz famously (infamously) cheated her way to “victory” in the 1980 Boston Marathon before her scheme was uncovered.

Ruiz shot to fame after completing the marathon in what would have been a women’s record at the time of a little less than 2 hours and 32 minutes.  But officials disqualified her after asserting she skipped most of the 26.2-mile course.

While crossing the finish line in a sweat-free T-shirt, she raised her arms in celebration to reveal dry armpits, reported Runner’s World.

In a post-marathon interview, Ruiz couldn’t answer simple racing questions and was confused by the concept of intervals.

“We knew that she had jumped in. We, who knew what the marathon was, we got it,” 1980 men’s champion Bill Rodgers told the AP last Thursday.  “She wasn’t sweating enough; she had on a heavy shirt; she didn’t know anything about running.”

Ruiz was stripped of her title eight days after the race.  Jacqueline Gareau of Canada was declared the rightful winner.

Just six months earlier, Ruiz ran the New York City Marathon in 2 hours, 56 minutes and 29 seconds, but even that time was doubted after a woman told reporters that she had met Ruiz on a subway and rode with her to the finishing area, according to the Boston Globe.

Even decades after the fraud, Ruiz never confessed to cheating.  For much of the time since her disgrace, she tried remaining anonymous.

In 1982, she was busted for allegedly embezzling about $60,000 worth of checks and cash from a real estate company where she was employed.  A year later, she was arrested again for allegedly conspiring to sell cocaine to undercover agents.

Good lord.  What a bad person.  An obituary from West Palm Beach, Florida, read, “A funeral is not scheduled due to Rosie’s final wishes.”

--German zoo officials were “shocked” after a lioness named Kigali ate two of her newborn cubs last weekend.

“The inexperienced lioness also took care of her cubs in the evening before suddenly completely eating the two cubs while grooming them,” an official at east Germany’s Leipzig Zoological Garden said.  The more than 140-year-old zoo is said to house more than 2,000 lions as well as hundreds of tigers and bears.

Officials say it’s possible the lioness ate her young because they were born with health problems.  A necropsy can’t be performed, because, err, “there are no remains of the cubs.”

Yikes.  ‘Lion’ is being put on two-week probation for the All-Species List pending further inquiry.

Top 3 songs for the week 8/16/75:  #1 “Jive Talkin’” (Bee Gees)  #2 “One Of These Nights” (Eagles)  #3 “Please Mr. Please” (Olivia Newton-John)...and...#4 “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” (Elton John)  #5 “Fallin’ In Love” (Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds)  #6 “Rhinestone Cowboy” (Glen Campbell)  #7 “Why Can’t We Be Friends” (War) #8 “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)” (James Taylor)  #9 “Midnight Blue” (Melissa Manchester)  #10 “The Rockford Files” (Mike Post...pretty good week, save for #1 and #10... ‘B’...)

NFL Quiz Answer: Last five quarterbacks to lead the NFL in passing TDs.

2018: Patrick Mahomes, 50, KAN
2017: Russell Wilson, 34, SEA
2016: Aaron Rodgers, 40, GNB
2015: Tom Brady, 36, NEW
2014: Andrew Luck, 40, IND

Last to lead the league in consecutive seasons was Drew Brees, 2011-12.

1969 Mets, cont’d....

After losing 3 of 4 in Cincinnati, the Mets headed to Atlanta for a weekend 4-game set, starting with a Friday twi-night doubleheader.

Aug. 8: The Mets took the first game, 4-1, on a Jerry Koosman (9-7) complete game.

Aug. 8: But they lost the second, 1-0, on a Felipe Alou single in the bottom of the tenth off Ron Taylor.  Gary Gentry threw the first nine scoreless for New York, while Atlanta’s Ron Reed went all the way for the 5-hit shutout.

Aug. 9: Once again after complaining of stiffness in his shoulder, Tom Seaver hit the mound and wasn’t sharp, going 7 1/3, 3 runs (2 earned), including back-to-back home runs in the third by Hank Aaron and Orlando Cepeda, while Tom Terrific also walked five, but nonetheless, he was now 16-7, 2.66, the Mets winning 5-3.  Cal Koonce picked up the save.

Aug. 10: The Mets made it 3 of 4 with a 3-0 win on Sunday, as Nolan Ryan (2 1/3), Don Cardwell (4) and Tug McGraw (2 2/3) combined on the shutout, Ryan heading out afterwards to fulfill his Army stint.

So the Mets are 62-48, 7 ½ back of the Cubs as they head to their house of horrors, the Houston Astrodome, for three.  Stay tuned...I sense it’s about to get ugly.  The Mets’ season could be over.

Next Bar Chat, Thursday.

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