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Bar Chat

08/15/2013

Talkin' Baseball

Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers Quiz: 1) Joe McGinnity won 28 in 1900 and Dazzy Vance did the same in 1924. Who are the only two to win 27 since? [Not a trick question.] 2) Who is the Dodgers’ all-time leader in career strikeouts? 3) Who am I? In my only season with the Dodgers, 1942, I was 15-4 with a 1.83 ERA in 147 innings, my last season in baseball. My initials are L.F. [Sorry, got a couple of readers who are old enough to remember this guy....right, Stu Baby?] Answers below.

Ball Bits

--In defeating the Mets on Monday and Tuesday, the Dodgers ran their record streak to 39-8, the best such run since the 1951 New York Giants (and we know how that one ended).

--Angels superstar outfielder Mike Trout created a stir on Monday when in an interview with WFAN, he said that those using performance-enhancing drugs “should be out of the game [for life] if you get caught.” He continued, “It takes away from the guys that are working hard every day and doing it all natural.”

Hours later, prior to the Angels’ game against the Yankees in the Bronx, Trout clearly realized he had probably said too much. “I’m not going to talk about (the topic) anymore.”

Now we all know the players association would never approve a one-and-done policy, but two strikes and you’re out, a la world track and field, is certainly a worthy goal for the sport. Maybe 100 games or a full season for the first offense, though a good appeal process because there are false positives, after all. [Track has a two-year ban for the first offense. That would never fly in baseball.]

One reason why Trout clammed up is the realization on his part, I imagine, that teammate Albert Pujols just vehemently called into question Jack Clark’s claim Pujols has been a juicer.

“Albert Pujols needs to come through in the clutch, and we’re not talking home runs or RBIs here.

“Clark, in his first week on the show on WGNU in St. Louis, was fired by the station. That action seemed to give backing to Pujols’ adamant denials. Do you think that, had Clark shown documented evidence to the station manager, that he would have lost his job? He’d be the new Woodward and Bernstein of sports journalism.

“There is much at stake here. If Pujols now thinks that Clark’s firing ends this, he is mistaken. This is bigger on several fronts, and if Pujols doesn’t see the significance, his lawyers, friends and family need to open his eyes.

“This is the ultimate put your money where your mouth is.

“To be clear, this is not meant as a defense of Pujols or a vendetta against Clark. The real truth is known by few. If Pujols did, indeed, take PEDs and proof of that turns up, then we might all just turn off the TV forever and take up knitting. But Pujols’ angry and immediate reaction and denial provide the foundation for a key moment in our current world of cheating jocks.

“We live in the Lance Armstrong/A-Rod era, and it ain’t pretty. Deny and lie until you are caught. And when you are, be proud that all those lies have still left you with a hefty balance in your Swiss bank account....

“If Pujols took PEDs, his reputation should be ruined. With Clark’s statement, it already is, somewhat. If Pujols didn’t take any, he should fight with every ounce of energy and all the resources he has. Anything less leaves us wondering.

“The benefit is that the public gets to see the fight and the conclusions. No private monetary settlements, please, Albert. Make it go to court. Make Clark squirm. Make his bosses squirm. If they want to opt out and before jurors take seats, make them read statements of wrongdoing in front of ESPN’s cameras.

“A few years back, boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. accused Manny Pacquiao, clearly without documented basis, of enhancing his size and performance with drugs. Pacquiao sued for slander and Mayweather eventually had to pay him $3 million. The only mistake was that Pacquiao didn’t make the entire proceeding public.

“Were Pujols to do so, we could pause over the next drug-cheat story amid our everybody-does-it shrug, and think:

“Pete Rose has never met the man, but he might want to send a gift basket of champagne and caviar to Tony Bosch.

“Bosch, head of the now-shuttered Biogenesis anti-aging clinic that allegedly distributed performance-enhancing drugs to ballplayers, is the best thing to happen to Rose in 25 years.

“For the first time since being banned for life from Major League Baseball on Aug. 25, 1989, for gambling on games, Rose is looking like a sympathetic figure, changing his image as a pathetic and compulsive liar.

“It seems everywhere you turn baseball fans want players involved in the Biogenesis scandal to be punished, disgraced and even permanently suspended themselves. And then they ask how Rose is still on the outside when Ryan Braun, Alex Rodriguez and others will only be temporarily suspended.

“Joe Morgan, the Hall of Fame second baseman who’s also vice chairman of the Hall of Fame, doesn’t want anyone associated with doping to ever set foot in the museum. Yet, Morgan says Rose deserves to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

“ ‘I think if you’re going to allow guys with PEDs on the ballot,’ Morgan told USA TODAY Sports, ‘then we have to allow him to be on the ballot. Let’s face it, he’s been punished for 24 years. I think they have to take a second look at Pete now that this has come out.’”

Hank Aaron wants those who enter the Hall that used steroids to have an asterisk, though he wants Rose enshrined.

Rose also apparently helped himself the other day when he said of the likes of Braun and A-Rod, “We have to get these people to understand that if you make mistakes, people will forgive you if you come forward. Don’t do like I did. Don’t do like Braun did. Don’t do like A-Rod did. I wish I had come forward a long time ago.”

Former Commissioner Fay Vincent responded, “It’s the first time I’ve ever heard him recognize the reality of the situation. If he had done this 25 years ago, or was better advised, it might be different for him. But he handled it as badly as a person can handle it. He kept talking about how we mistreated him and how his rights were violated. But never once did he say, ‘I did it.’

“A-Rod is making the same mistake. If he just said he did it, if he just said, ‘I’m sorry,’ it might be different for him. But he’s following the same pattern as Rose. Ten years from now, he’ll have an entirely different story.”

Thus far, however, Commissioner Bud Selig remains adamant Rose won’t get into the Hall.

I am on record countless times as saying I believe Rose should be allowed in, and told so, but only when he is dead.

Of course that is cruel, but then re-read Fay Vincent’s comments as to how Rose has treated the situation for nearly 25 years. He spit in baseball’s face.

Today, though, I am changing my stance. Rose should be enshrined while he’s still alive. Heck, can you imagine the crowd that would descend on Cooperstown?

Can you imagine what would be the most emotional speech of any human being in our era?

Selig obviously respects the opinions of the likes of Morgan, Aaron and Vincent. But will he listen to them?

--Detroit’s Max Scherzer may be 17-1, but as the Wall Street Journal’s Steve Moyer points out, he lacks a complete-game shutout this season. In fact, he has now gone 157 starts (thru Tues.) without one, fourth most among active starters. [Mike Pelfrey has 170 career starts without throwing a shutout.]

Johnny Mac points out that while Scherzer is 17-1, 2.85 ERA, 181 strikeouts in 164 innings, Chicago’s Chris Sale is 8-11, 2.73, 167 Ks in 158 innings. Just sayin’.

--The Angels are trying to convince themselves that next season Josh Hamilton will bounce back in a big way. Having signed him to a horrendous five-year, $125 million contract, he is hitting .223 with an atrocious .279 on-base percentage.

The thing is, Hamilton hit only .245 the final four months of 2012. He’s an old 32, especially given what he did to his body before sobering up.

--I forgot to mention last time that Washington’s Stephen Strasburg hurled his first complete-game shutout of his career on Sunday, 6-0 over the Phillies at Nationals Park.

What was great is he did it on only 99 pitches and fanned 10 while twirling his four-hitter. On the year, though, Strasburg epitomizes the struggles of the team overall. He has a sterling 2.83 ERA, but is just 6-9.

--Texas’ Yu Darvish for the second time this season gave up only one hit to the Houston Astros and fanned a career-high 15 in a 2-1 win. Darvish, 12-5, also now has five games this season with 14 of more strikeouts, while the rest of baseball has just three...Jose Fernandez, Chris Sale and Anibal Sanchez.

--Prior to the All-Star break, I wrote how the Mets’ Jeremy Hefner was the best pitcher in baseball over eight outings, with a 1.76 ERA during that period.

But after the break, Hefner ballooned to a 9.13 ERA in five starts and it was ‘bye-bye’ Jeremy. To the minors he went, with a possible arm injury to boot.

--Aug. 14, 1933...Jimmie Foxx, the Philadelphia A’s first baseman, has one of the great individual performances in baseball history, going 5-for-5 in hitting for the cycle and driving in a then A.L. record nine runs in an 11-5 victory over the Indians.

--Baltimore outfielder Adam Jones, who is black, was the victim of a racist attack at AT&T Park in San Francisco the other day when a ‘fan’ threw a banana at him. The Giants, as yet, have not identified the offending a-hole but are reviewing security cameras and attempting to track down witnesses.

College Football

And now...your EXCLUSIVE Pick to Click for the 2013 college football season.

Your Oregon Ducks! Quack quack!

And this year I’m doing something different...giving you the BCS title game matchup so you don’t have to spend any extra time worrying about it.

Oregon vs. Louisville!

I mean have you looked at Louisville’s schedule?  Goodness gracious. Cupcake city. They’ll run the table.

As to how an SEC team won’t find its way into the title game? Needless to say there will be an upset along the way, a key injury...you know, that sort of thing.

--Meanwhile, in the Johnny Manziel debacle, two people with knowledge of the events told ESPN’s ‘Outside the Lines’ on Monday that Manziel signed memorabilia for autograph dealers in two January sessions, though it was unclear whether he was paid to do so.

At least one person told the program that Manziel had signed his name more than 4,400 times. Of course earlier OTL reported Manziel agreed to a “five-figure flat fee” with an autograph broker named Drew Tieman.

--Here in the New York area, one of the intriguing stories out of training camp is that of Jets receiver Santonio Holmes, who they desperately need but has yet to run following a Lisfranc injury, with two surgeries in the past 11 months.

ESPN is reporting, however, that Holmes is just milking his injury to avoid contact in training camp and will declare himself fit when the season opens.

--Every now and then you see a little move that just makes so much sense. When he was at Oregon, I was always impressed by possession receiver Jeff Maehl, but he spent all but three games the past two seasons on the Texans’ practice squad.

Maehl was just picked up by the Eagles in a trade, reunited with coach Chip Kelly in Philadelphia...the fifth Oregon product on the Eagles’ roster, by the way. I’ll say that Maehl will become a solid contributor, even if he starts the season on the practice squad.

“Except for only the franchise’s most valuable commodity, the makeover from the painful end to last season is almost complete.

“Mike Shanahan, ol’ blood and guts on Jan. 6 who basically sent a strained ligament back on the field until it popped, is today Mr. Safety First. He won’t let a gimpy Robert Griffin III ever talk him into putting him on the field again.

“James Andrews, the orthopedist who stood on the sidelines of the Seattle playoff game, has washed his hands of any faulty decision-making that led to the reconstruction of Griffin’s right knee. He merely cleared Griffin to play a week before training camp and hasn’t been heard from since.

“The last holdout is a hypercompetitive 23-year-old who is inexplicably lobbying his coach to play in a meaningless exhibition game. Other than ego, pride and foolishness, what gives?

“ ‘You know me too well,’ Griffin said Monday when asked whether he would try to convince Shanahan to play in the preseason. He added: ‘I’m going to, definitely. I want to play, let’s get that straight. I want to play in the preseason...I’m definitely going to push for it. I feel ready to go. I’ll definitely push for that third game, but we’ll see what happens.’

“How about nothing? How about rest up for Sept. 9 against the Eagles when it matters? How about shelving the whole mentality of a special teamer who needs to crack the wedge in order to make the team and start taking on the mid-set of: I’m the one guy on the roster who absolutely cannot get hurt or it’s over.”

This time Shanahan is saying there is no chance Griffin plays in the preseason.

“It’s time Robert Griffin III sees himself as most sane observers see him – the indispensable key to Washington’s returning to a Super Bowl.

“Not a practice-squad gamer who desperately needs to get back on the field with his teammates before he’s cut and never gets a chance again.”

Golf Balls

Golf Magazine released its rankings of the Top 100 Courses in the U.S. and the World, the 30th anniversary of same (updated every two years).

Top 10 in the U.S.

1. Pine Valley
2. Cypress Point
3. Augusta National
4. Shinnecock Hills
5. Pebble Beach
6. Oakmont
7. Merion (East)
8. National Golf Links of America (Southampton, N.Y.)
9. Sand Hills (Mullen, Neb.)
10. Pinehurst (No. 2)

Top 10 in the World

1. Pine Valley
2. Cypress Point
3. Augusta National
4. St. Andrews (Old Course)
5. Shinnecock Hills
6. Royal County Down (Newcastle, N. Ireland)
7. Pebble Beach
8. Oakmont
9. Merion (East)
10. Muirfield

My course of Lahinch (Lahinch, Ireland) is No. 40, up two. Pretty cool.

I do have to note that Trump International Golf Links (Aberdeen, Scotland) debuted at No. 50 in the world, which is very strong.

Another course I’d love to play, Cabot Links in Inverness, Nova Scotia, debuted at No. 82.

Golf Magazine looked at how the game has changed in 30 years, 1983-2013. To wit:

Rounds played in the U.S. have grown from 358.1 million to 463 million.

Total holes in the U.S. (approx..) have risen from 177,345 to 264,087.

PGA Tour’s longest hitter...1983: Curt Byrum, 276 yards. 2013: Nicolas Colsaerts, 307 yards

Fred Couple’s driving distance...1983: 271 yards (age 23). 2013: 287 yards (53). Pretty telling.

--Tiger Woods can take heart in the fact that Ben Hogan won five majors after turning 38 and Jack Nicklaus four. Tiger is 38 next year.

Nicklaus won his 15th major in his 67th start in a major as a pro. Tiger just played his 64th as a professional as he remains stuck on 14.

--There are rumors the PGA Tour is looking to take over or bail out the financially strapped European Tour. A good example of the disparity is in the No. 100 player on the Euro money list, Richard Bland, has earned $270,000, while No. 100 on the PGA Tour, Martin Kaymer, is at $785,000.

--It’s kind of depressing knowing it’s 8 months before golf’s next major.  Oh, I’ll watch the FedEx Cup playoffs, but it’s really more about football now, and the World Series. As a Mets fan I have nothing to look forward to, but I’ll root for the Pirates.

And by January, aside from the NFL, you begin to get into college basketball, while the coming NBA season is going to be very interesting in these parts with the growing New York-Brooklyn rivalry, and then come next March, you have March Madness and the normally interesting Florida golf swing...and before you know it, we’re back at The Masters...a tradition unlike any other...on CBS....

--It took the Philadelphia 76ers long enough but they finally hired a new head coach, longtime San Antonio assistant Brett Brown, 52, who was with Gregg Popovich since 2002.

--At the World Track and Field Championships in Moscow, Britain’s Christine Ohuruogu surprised favorite Amantle Montsho of Botswana in the women’s 400, 49.404 to 49.408. I’d say that’s close.

Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce dominated the women’s 100. America’s Carmelita Jeter took the bronze. Fraser-Pryce doesn’t get the press countrymen Usain Bolt does, but she now has two Olympic gold medals in the 100 and has won two world outdoor titles, same as Bolt.

And David Oliver of the U.S. won the men’s 110 hurdles, with teammate Ryan Wilson taking the silver.

Then on Tuesday, Nick Symmonds gained his first world medal taking silver in the 800, while LeShawn Merritt and Tony McQuay of the U.S. finished one-two in the 400. Not bad...not bad at all.

Finally, 17-year-old Bronxville, New York high school student Mary Cain qualified for the finals of the 1500 on Thursday, an awesome achievement.

--A local teenager was wading in waters off Sanibel Island, Fla., when he was bitten on his legs and feet by a bull shark. Director of Shark Attacks and Senior Vice President for Bar Chat, Bob S., is on the case and will be journeying down to the area on Friday. [Actually, he’ll be off the New Jersey coast to see if the offending shark is making its way up to Cape Cod.]

As for the boy, he’ll live; the shark missed major arteries.

--The Star-Ledger’s Tris McCall mused the other day about the 2014 Super Bowl halftime show. Seeing as it’s in New Jersey, a lot of folks are thinking it has to be Jersey boys Bon Jovi (Bruuuce having already done one). Bon Jovi knows how to play big stadiums, for example.

But McCall reminds those thinking Bon Jovi is a lock of a couple of things. The Super Bowl is a worldwide broadcast, the blimp shots are going to be of New York City, not the Jersey Meadowlands, and in a lot of parts of the world, Bon Jovi just isn’t that big a name compared to some other more contemporary artists.

McCall notes that Lady Gaga and Katy Perry are both coming out with new albums this fall. And Taylor Swift rocked MetLife Stadium recently.

So I like his idea it could easily end up being one of these three. [He also mentions Pink as a possibility, but that will never happen, though my brother would be thrilled at her selection.]

--Nice interview in USA TODAY by Edna Gundersen with Glen Campbell, whose “See You There” album is now out. Of course these are the final days for him as he battles Alzheimer’s. But I loved seeing that he is able to play golf six days a week. He says he watches the Golf Channel and shows like “The Voice,” but he can’t watch a movie, his wife, Kim, observes  because he can’t follow a story line.

Thankfully his musical skills have been the slowest to deteriorate. He can still pick it with the best.

Top 3 songs for the week 8/15/70: #1 “(They Long To Be) Close To You” (Carpenters) #2 “Make It With You” (Bread...schmaltz week...) #3 “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours” (Stevie Wonder)...and....#4 “Spill The Wine” (Eric Burdon and War) #5 “In The Summertime” (Mungo Jerry) #6 “War” (Edwin Starr) #7 “Band Of Gold” (Freda Payne) #8 “Mama Told Me (Not To Come)” (Three Dog Night) #9 “Tighter, Tighter” (Alive & Kicking) #10 “Ball Of Confusion” (The Temptations)

Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers Quiz Answers: 1) Since Dazzy Vance won 28 in 1924, the two to win 27 are Sandy Koufax, 1966, and Don Newcombe, 1956. Newcombe was both the Cy Young award winner and MVP that season. And he was a helluva hitter, batting .271 lifetime with 15 home runs, including a 1955 season in which he hit .359 with 7 home runs in 117 ABs. 2) Don Sutton is the career leader in strikeouts with 2,696. 3) Larry French was 197-171 in a career that spanned from 1929-42. In 1942 for Brooklyn, he was 15-4 in his last season in baseball.

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