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Bar Chat

07/18/2013

Baseball's Second Half

Posted: Wednesday a.m.

Chicago Cubs Quiz: Hitting: Ex-Sammy Sosa, name the 3 Cubs to hit 48 home runs in a season. Pitching: 1) Post-1900, who is the single-season leader in strikeouts? 2) Post-1920, who is the Cubs’ leader in wins? Answers below.

Ball Bits

--Biogenesis loomed over the All-Star Game, with three players, San Diego shortstop Everth Cabrera, Oakland right-hander Bartolo Colon and Texas right fielder Nelson Cruz, being among the 20 linked thus far to the clinic.

But...it now appears that even if MLB levies scores of suspensions, due to the appeals process, hearings, and arbitrator rulings, nothing is likely to happen until after the World Series.

--Fox did a terrific job with Mariano Rivera’s appearance on Tuesday...as one writer put it, it was like a movie production.

--Scott Miller of CBSSports.com wrote the ‘Best no-decision of first half’ was the Dodgers’ decision not to fire Don Mattingly. “Kudos to president Stan Kasten and general manager Ned Colletti for doing what few folks actually do in this instant-gratification, poll-driven, which-way-is-the-wind-blowing society. They exercised patience and restraint.” Now the guy has an outside shot of being manager of the year.

The Dodgers were 30-42 on June 21, but have gone 17-5 since to even their mark at 47-47, putting themselves right back in the weak N.L. West race.

And forget Yasiel Puig, who has come back to Earth recently, though still hitting .391 (.422 OBP) in 151 at-bats. Hanley Ramirez is scorching hot, 8 HR 25 RBI, .386 in 127 ABs, .444 OBP. Certainly these two have made up for Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp, both of whom blow.

And how ‘bout Zack Greinke? Last time I mentioned how he was earning (in relative terms) his contract, but I didn’t realize the guy is also 11-for-30 at the plate!

--At one point the Houston Astros were 11-31 and the Miami Marlins 13-41. As we all thought before the season started, the two were looking like they would challenge the 1962 Mets and their 40-120 modern-day record for futility. Alas, Houston is 33-61, and Miami 35-58. Both should finish with around 60 wins, maybe even avoid losing 100, which would be quite a feat.

Boston  58-39...not bad, not bad at all.
Cleveland 51-44...surprisingly competitive
Chicago White Sox 37-55...thud
Oakland 56-39...how good is Billy Beane?!
Los Angeles Angels 44-49...yuck
Washington 48-47...just suck all around except for Jordan Zimmermann
Pittsburgh  56-37...good for them...playoffs in the bag
Cincinnati 53-42...disappointing

--The Cubbies’ Matt Garza is 5-0 with a 1.24 ERA over his past six starts, i.e., clubs are falling all over each other to obtain him before the July 31 trade deadline. 

--Amazing how things have changed in basically 1 ½ years. It seems as though the Mets have as many potential big arms, particularly starters, in the minors as anyone. Coupled with Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler (plus Jonathan Niese, 26; Jeremy Hefner, 27; and Dillon Gee, 27), the Mets have at least five hurlers in the minors getting major attention.

Yes, Mets fans, there is hope. We have some arms we can trade for a power-hitting outfielder, plus I’m in the camp that thinks we should go after the Reds’ Shin-Soo Choo in the off-season (as long as it’s for just three years).

Johnny Mac and I have been musing that it’s kind of funny how the Mets’ announcers say zero about our lone minor league outfield stud, Cesar Puello (.329, 15 HR 59 RBI), a 22-year-old Dominican. Why no talk? He’s a Biogenesis boy, sports fans! Bye-bye, Cesar! [At least for 50 games.]

And Phil W. and I (and C.K.), Wake alums, have an interest in Mets first baseman Allan Dykstra, a star with the Deacs, who is breaking out at AA this season, .302 (but .468 OBP!), 15 HR 59 RBI.

Geezuz, dump Ike Davis and platoon Dykstra with Josh Satin, some of us Metniks say.

OK, sorry...the preceding probably interested all of five of you. Yes, got a little too deep into farmland.

--But wait....there’s more!!! Reason No. 58 why I, and 98% of other Mets fans, are sick of Ike Davis.

After being sent down to AAA to work on his swing, returning, and then going 5-for-26, Ike Davis said, “I’m closer than I was. I’m putting the ball in play. I’m not far off.”

Please...just go away. You are hitting .165 in 212 at-bats, a rather large sample.

--Baltimore slugger Chris Davis said 61 is the record, referring to Roger Maris, “and I think most fans agree with me on that.”

Davis also reiterated that while he understands why some fans might question whether he is using PEDs, he is not.

--The Yankees headed into the break with a .243 batting average and they’ve averaged 3.93 runs per game. Since the American League adopted the DH in 1973, only the 1990 Yankees, who finished 67-95, had a poorer batting average (.241) and scoring average (3.72). The Yanks are at least 51-44 this time and still very much in the wildcard hunt.

--So you think Tim Lincecum’s pitch count for his no-hitter was high? 148?

Andrew Keh and Jay Schreiber had a piece in the New York Times saying Lincecum’s effort, at least in terms of the 148, is nothing.

I forgot that Sandy Koufax once threw 205 pitches against the Cubs in a 13-inning, 3-2 victory, and 193 pitches against the Cubbies in another 13-inning contest.

Koufax had other games of 175, 165, 164, 162 and 160. No wonder he had to retire at age 30.

[Above Koufax’ total the numbers are kind of all over the place. Tom Cheney in 1962 is reported to have thrown 228 pitches in a 16-inning effort for the Washington Senators against the Orioles, one in which he struck out 21. You have the 16-inning matchup in 1963 between Juan Marichal and Warren Spahn, where Marichal is estimated to have thrown 227. Nolan Ryan once threw a reported 240 pitches in a game. But let’s just say these days, Lincecum’s 148 may not be exceeded for a while.]

--July 17, 1974...Bob Gibson becomes just the second pitcher to strikeout 3,000, fanning Cesar Geronimo of the Reds. It was 51 years after Walter Johnson became the first to achieve the feat in July of 1923.

There are still just 16 pitchers with 3,000 strikeouts, the most recent being John Smoltz.

And not for nothing, but you younger folk might be interested to know, Gibson was one helluva hitting pitching...24 home runs, .206 average. Twice he hit five home runs in a season. And he stole 13 bases.

As if that’s not enough to prove his athleticism, Gibby, who went to Creighton on a basketball scholarship, played a year with the Harlem Globetrotters before joining the Cardinals organization.

The British Open...err, The Open Championship

Well, I’ll go with Ian Poulter in this one. Just thinking he breaks through like Adam Scott and Justin Rose before him this year. And if I was over there, putting down a few quid with the bookmakers (something that is big time on my bucket list, going to an Open and having fun with all the different bets you can make), I’d go with American Ken Duke as a sleeper, totally out of nowhere choice. Kind of see him having a game suited for this one.

But, as always, all eyes (or at least a lot of them), will be on Tiger Woods. He hasn’t won a major since 2008. He’s back on top, but can’t come through at the big ones.

Woods, with his 14 majors, trails Jack Nicklaus’ 18. It’s all Woods cares about. 

But David Wharton of the Los Angeles Times asks the question, “If he never wins another major – or, at least, falls short of Nicklaus’ mark – where will that leave him in golf’s all-time pecking order?”

“People might forget that, in addition to his wins, Nicklaus finished second in majors a remarkable 19 times, losing out to the likes of (Gary) Player, Tom Watson, Arnold Palmer and Lee Trevino.

“ ‘He was competing against Hall of Fame types,’ (historian Geoff) Shackelford said. ‘We knew we were watching somebody that was doing something special.’

“But should majors be the only measure of greatness? Golf keeps all sorts of records, many of which Woods will own by the time he retires.

“At 37, he already has 78 victories on the PGA Tour – five more than Nicklaus – and seems certain to eclipse Sam Snead’s record of 82.

“Even more impressive, Woods has won at a 26% clip over 17-plus years on the tour, which means he has finished atop the leaderboard in one of every four tournaments. By comparison, Nicklaus won 12% of the time and Snead finished with a 15% rate.

“Need more? Woods has received the Vardon Trophy eight times as the golfer with the season’s lowest scoring average. Trevino and Billy Casper come next at five, with Snead and Palmer at four.

“ ‘Tiger has done all this at a time when the equipment has brought people closer to his level,’ Shackelford said. ‘That makes his achievements pretty remarkable.’

“Here’s another argument in his favor: No one denies that from 2000 through mid-2001, he played some of the most dominant golf in history.

“His run included a victory at the 2000 U.S. Open in which he outdistanced the field by 15 strokes. Next came victories at the British and PGA, followed by a Masters title to start 2001.

“Overall, Woods won 14 of the 39 PGA Tour events he entered in those two seasons.”

But, as historian Shackelford says, “The majors are just the best mark. To me, Jack Nicklaus is still the greatest and will continue to be until somebody breaks that record.”

Heck, Woods agrees. He knew that from the days of his youth, with a poster of Jack in his bedroom.

And I do believe that while Jack won his 18 against a remarkable foursome, along with Billy Casper, you have to be an idiot not to understand there is far, far more depth in the major fields these days than in Jack’s time.

Just look at the international players. In Jack’s day, very few foreign golfers came over to the States for the three majors. Few could afford it. Plus there just weren’t that many real good foreign players.

My bottom line, though, is that of course, Jack is No. 1, unless Tiger passes him.

But consider this. Does anyone believe there is a player out there today who will win 10 majors? I hope for the good of the sport one of the current crop of 20-somethings does. That only adds to the excitement.

Except there are so many of these guys these days. To win 5 would be awesome.

Ergo, regardless of where Tiger goes from here...and we all know he’ll smash Snead’s record, he’ll be 1A if he falls short of Jack. End of discussion.

--Golf Digest’s Dan Jenkins, in his 52nd or so year covering golf’s majors, had a few of the following tidbits concerning his years covering the British Open:

“Jack Newton, asked what he planned to do the night before his playoff with Tom Watson at Carnoustie in 1975: ‘Get drunk again.’”

“Rod Pampling led the 1999 Open at Carnoustie with a first-round 71. After a second-round 86, he missed the cut.”

“At 59, Tom Watson missed a putt to win the 2009 Open at Turnberry before losing a playoff to Stewart Cink. I’ve been to funerals that have been more uplifting.”

[Editor: Many of us are still deeply depressed over this one...what would have been the greatest sports story of our lifetimes.]

“Gene Sarazen, then 71, aced the Postage Stamp with a 5-iron in the first round at Troon in 1973, almost 50 years after his first Open, and finished with a 79. (After the round, Sarazen got a wire from Howard Hughes, who was waiting for email and Twitter to be invented.) In the second round, Sarazen holed out of a bunker for a birdie on the same hole. So the geezer in plus fours played the hole in three under par and never had to putt.”

“When Jack Nicklaus shot a woeful 83 in the first round at Sandwich in 1981, the great Jim Murray put it this way: ‘When Hemingway found he could no longer write, he got up the next day and shot himself. When Jack Nicklaus found he could shoot an 83, he got up the next day and shot a 66.’”

--If I was the Open on Thursday, the one group I’d follow all 18 would be the threesome of Nick Faldo, Tom Watson and Fred Couples. 

Track’s Dark Days

“Hey, pro cycling: Move over on that trash heap so there is some room for track and field.

“Almost exactly a decade after the BALCO scandal all but destroyed track’s credibility, the sport is facing another legitimacy crisis.

“Sunday, leading U.S. sprinter Tyson Gay and Jamaica’s Asafa Powell, Olympic gold medalist and former world-record holder in the 100 meters, confirmed they had tested positive for banned substances. There were news reports saying Powell was among five Olympic gold medalists from Jamaica who tested positive for stimulants at their national championships last month.

“Add that to the doping mess in Turkish track and field, with charges brought against the 2012 women’s Olympic 1,500-meter champion and a two-time European hurdles champion, and the only thing worse for the sport would be if Usain Bolt tested positive. (Bolt’s agent, Ricky Simms, wrote in an email that none of the athletes he represents had tested positive.)....

“The surprising part of the Gay case is his willingness to take full responsibility for having the banned substance turn up in a May 16 out-of-competition drug test, even though he told reporters on a Sunday conference call there is an explanation that would suggest it was not his intention to dope.

“Gay always has been a stand-up guy. ‘I don’t have a sabotage story. I don’t have any lies,’ Gay was quoted as saying. ‘I don’t have any of those stories. I basically put my trust in someone, and I was let down.’...

“Tyson Gay is no Machiavellian liar like Armstrong. Gay’s doping violation may have been as inadvertent as it seems.

“Yet that does not change how suspicious Gay’s stunning comeback this season suddenly feels, no matter how likable a person he is.

“In track and field, as in cycling, it is sadly no longer possible to give the benefit of the doubt to anyone.

“For track and field, that can only hasten the death of a sport that already is on life support in the United States.”

Meanwhile, Italian police raided the Jamaican sprinters’ hotel. Rooms of the athletes, like Powell’s, as well as physical trainer Christopher Xuereb of Canada, were searched and drugs and supplements seized. The agent for Powell and fellow Jamaican sprinter Sherone Simpson, said he believed Xuereb’s combination of about 20 supplements and injections was responsible for the positive tests.

Some of the supplements were just vitamins C and D, as well as Aleve, but there were other “exotic substances like Actovegin, a drug used by Lance Armstrong’s U.S. Postal cycling team that is made from calves’ blood extract and is said to enhance stamina.” [Mary Pilon and Gaia Pianigiani / New York Times]

I’ve invested a lot of time and money in the sport, myself, but I’m reserving judgment in the case of Tyson Gay until I see the B sample results and hear a fuller explanation from him.

NBA Fever

Then again, I didn’t want the Knicks to sign J.R. Smith and I sort of came to like him...until Bad J.R. reemerged against the Celtics. And now we’ve learned J.R. had surgery to repair a patellar tendon and torn meniscus, which is rather serious, putting him out of action three to four months. The Knicks knew about this before signing him to a four-year, $24.7 million package.

Dogs of War

The July/August issue of Smithsonian has a piece by Joshua Levine on “The Education of a Bomb Dog.”

MSA Security trains what are known as explosive detection canines, or EDCs (bomb dogs).

“Strictly speaking, the dog doesn’t smell the bomb. It deconstructs an odor into its components, picking out just the culprit chemicals it has been trained to detect. (Trainer Zane) Roberts likes to use the spaghetti sauce analogy. ‘When you walk into a kitchen where someone is cooking spaghetti sauce, your nose says aha, spaghetti sauce. A dog’s nose doesn’t say that. Instinctively, it says tomatoes, garlic, rosemary, onion, oregano.’ It’s the handler who says tomato sauce, or, as it happens, bomb....

“In a contest for best all-around nose in the animal kingdom, however, dogs might not take top prize... The elephant is a walking dictionary of odors. Rats and mice smell at least as well as dogs, and jackals are simply uncanny. For obvious reasons, none of these animals are serious candidates for a bomb-detection job. Where dogs ace the competition is attitude. ‘No other animal comes so well prepared for us to do what we need them to do,’ says (Paul) Waggoner (an expert in this field). ‘They want to please us.’

“Among dogs, the best breeds for finding bombs may be German shepherds, Belgian Malinoises and Labrador retrievers, more for their tireless work ethic than any special olfactory prowess. Shepherds are so-called ‘play reward’ dogs.”

“Labs, perpetually hungry, are ‘food reward’ dogs. Shepherds will accept criticism; Labs won’t – the stress of not measuring up takes the starch right out of them.”

“True, a bloodhound will follow a straight-line scent – an escaping convict, say – as if it’s being pulled by a string. ‘But they’re way down on the intelligence scale,’ (says one trainer). ‘Also, they stink like livestock.’

“Golden retrievers can outsmell everybody, but it’s tough to get them to buy into the system. ‘They’re so intelligent that if they don’t want to do something, they just don’t do it,’ says the trainer.”

Well, it’s safe to say “Bomb dogs may be the most overlooked troops in the hazy, undeclared war on terror,” as Levine writes.

“It is hard to imagine a more high-hearted warrior. Dogs work for love, they work for praise, they work for food, but mostly they work for the fun of it. ‘It’s all just a big game to them,’ says Mike Wynn. ‘The best bomb dogs are the dogs that really like to play.’”

But the daily grind of war has increasingly taken a toll on dogs, too. In 2007, Army veterinarians began to see signs of canine post-traumatic stress disorder. Sometimes, the dogs just shut down. Other times they became jumpy.

So why haven’t dogs been replaced by a machine that can outsmell a dog? It turns out they’ve been trying for years, to no avail.

Aimee Rose, a director at FLIR Systems, which develops expensive technology, some of which tracks smells, said, “I don’t think we’ll ever beat a dog, because (the device FLIR sells) doesn’t have a brain. What we do is more complementary to dogs. Dogs are just awesome!”

And so it should be no surprise that Dog maintains its No. 1 position on the All-Species List. Elephant has replaced the Gibbon in the No. 2 slot.

‘Rat,’ incidentally, is No. 345, or about 53 places ahead of ‘Man.’

--Former Devils’ star Ilya Kovalchuk wasted no time in walking away from his humongous contract with New Jersey just a few days ago, signing with the team he had played for during the NHL lockout, SKA St. Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League.

“(This is) why a lot of people are afraid to draft Russians – they do what they want to do and we can cater to them. Kovalchuk is just laughing all the way to the bank.”

--Texas A&M star QB Johnny Manziel pleaded guilty to a charge of using a fake ID stemming from an incident last summer. He will pay a $2,000 fine and $232 in court costs. He was to serve two days in jail as well but already had following the arrest in June 2012. Manziel was involved in a bar fight.

While that was a year ago, Manziel has been way too active of late. The dude needs to cool it. It doesn’t help that he walked out as a counselor at the Manning Passing Academy.

--I forgot to mention last time that 19-year-old Jordan Spieth’s win at the John Deere Classic made him the youngest winner on the PGA Tour since 19-year-old Ralph Guldahl won the Santa Monica Open in 1931.

--Interesting piece in the Wall Street Journal by Josh Dawsey concerning sports museums and falling attendance. For example, the National Baseball Hall of Fame drew only 260,000 visitors last year, the lowest attendance since the mid-1980s.

“Museum professionals say the halls suffer from exhibits that aren’t interactive enough, weak online presences and image problems stemming from players’ use of performance-enhancing drugs.”

The fast-paced Twitter generation “seems less enchanted than their parents or grandparents by main exhibits that, by definition, change primarily when athletes are added to the halls.”

The NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte has been a huge disappointment. When it opened in 2010, a consultant predicted 800,000 annual visitors. Instead, it attracted 278,000 in its first year, and fell to 184,000 in 2012. 

The Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton has seen its attendance drop below 200,000, which had been the longtime average.

The basketball hall has edged up the last two years, after dropping steadily the prior decade to around the 200,000 level as well.

--Capital Brewery of Middleton, Wis., was named Grand National Champion, winning three gold, one silver and two bronze medals in the U.S. Open Beer Championships in Atlanta.

More than 2,500 beers from 20 countries in 68 different categories were evaluated by judges from England, Canada and the United States. Capital beers are sold in Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

--I’ve written of the devastating flooding in Calgary, Canada and I saw where the Saddledome, which is where the Calgary Flames play, won’t be fully operational by opening night, Oct. 6; though the plan is for the Flames to still play there. The place is essentially being gutted. 2,500 seats were impacted, all the infrastructure, utilities, food and beverage capabilities. What a mess.

Nonetheless, the city staged the Calgary Stampede on schedule...a very stripped down version.

“SAO PAULO, Brazil – A man died after a one-ton cow crashed through his roof and landed on him while he was asleep in bed, local press reported.

“Authorities said the cow wandered down a hill and onto the top of the home of Joao Maria de Souza, 45, in the small city of Caratinga before crashing through a thin asbestos roof....

“The cow, which was reportedly uninjured, narrowly missed his wife.”

--So the Washington Post’s Norman Chad has his “Ask the Slouch” segment and you can win $1.25 if your question is featured by emailing asktheslouch@aol.com.

Q: If NBA free agents are so interested in winning, then why don’t they all sign with the Globetrotters?

--The latest on Randy Travis is he’s alert, following surgery to relieve pressure in his brain after his stroke, which he suffered during treatment for his viral heart ailment. Poor guy. It turns out his family has a history of what he’s suffering from, cardiomyopathy, a scarring of the heart muscle that causes his heart to be weak and unable to support his circulation without help, like a ventilator.

Doctors anticipate it will take Travis months to recover from the stroke.

Top 3 songs for the week 7/14/62: #1 “Roses Are Red (My Love)” (Bobby Vinton...underrated artist) #2 “The Stripper” (David Rose...ah, they were different times...16 months later it would be innocence lost...) #3 “I Can’t Stop Loving You” (Ray Charles...brilliant...)...and...#4 “The Wah Watusi” (The Orlons...hasn’t aged well....) #5 “Sealed With A Kiss” (Brian Hyland...surprisingly has...) #6 “Palisades Park” (Freddy Cannon...never made it here as a kid...used to go to similar places in western PA instead during summer vacations...) #7 “Wolverton Mountain” (Claude King) #8 “It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin’” (Johnny Tillotson) #9 “Gravy (For My Mashed Potatoes)” (Dee Dee Sharp) #10 “Al Di La’” (Emilio Pericoli)

Chicago Cubs Quiz Answers: Hitting: Aside from fraud Sammy Sosa (seasons of 66, 64, 63, and 50), the three to hit 48 or more are Hack Wilson, 56 (1930); Andre Dawson, 49 (1987); Dave Kingman, 48 (1979). Dave was a great base runner, too...best from first to third I ever saw.* Pitching: 1) Post-1900, Fergie Jenkins is single-season leader in strikeouts with 274 (1970). He also had 273 in 1969. Kerry Wood had 266 in 2003. 2) Most wins, post-1920, Charlie Root, 201-156 (1926-41). Yes, that’s a hard one. Fergie Jenkins was 167-132 in his ten seasons as a Cubbie.

*Courtesy of Dave Kingman Fan Club. [OK, Willie Wilson was pretty good, first to third. The very best, say some, might have been Willie Davis.]

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