You gotta see DeWayne Wise make the 9th-inning catch that saved Mark Buehrle’s perfect game today. 48 second video.
Only the 16th perfect game in major-league history.
BTW “Ian Kinsler accomplished a feat so rare on Sunday, it only happened four times previously in major-league history.”
If you don’t know about Erin Andrews and what has happened, this will get you started.
100º F. at game time, but a chilly 84º by the ninth inning. With the humidity around 10% it was actually quite comfortable.
The New Orleans Zephyrs took an early 2-1 lead, but Closser had a grand slam in the sixth to put the ‘Topes ahead 5-2. The Zephyrs got another, then fell apart in the 7th as the homeboys scored 7 and went on to win 12-3.
The taco won the red-green-salsa-taco race from first to third.
And I took home an Orbit bobblehead.
I honestly think that all around, watching the Isotopes on a great Albuquerque night is equal to anything in the major leagues for its entertainment value.
“The ‘golf is a real sport’ argument is getting brutally murdered by Mark Calvecchia & Tom Watson right now.”
Bill Simmons (sportsguy33) on Twitter
Calvecchia is 49 and, one could say, fat. Watson is 59. They are currently near the top of the leaderboard in the British Open.
Joe DiMaggio did not get a hit on this date in 1941. Too bad, if he had his consecutive game hitting streak would have been 73. As it was, he hit safely in 56 consecutive games up to this date — and 16 after. (44 is the best by anyone else.)
At AmericanHeritage.com a couple years ago, John Steele Gordon told a famous good DiMaggio story:
[This story] story concerns his brief, disastrous marriage to Marilyn Monroe. Monroe was a film actress, used to working in front of cameras and technicians, not audiences. After their wedding, DiMaggio and Monroe went to Korea to entertain the American troops fighting there against the Chinese communists. There were perhaps 5,000 soldiers on the air-base runways waiting to greet them, and when they stepped out of the plane, the soldiers started cheering. Monroe, startled by the ovation, turned to her husband and said, “I bet you’ve never heard such cheering, Joe.” DiMaggio, who had brought a sold-out Yankee Stadium screaming to its collective feet more times than he could count, just said quietly, “Oh, yes I have.”
Then he beat her.
Tom Watson almost shot his age in the first round of the British Open today. He’s 59. He shot a 65.
Deadspin has three experts analyze the President’s throwing mechanics. Interesting.
George Herman “Babe” Ruth made his Major League debut, pitching for the Boston Red Sox at Fenway 95 years ago today.
Ruth held Cleveland to five hits in six innings and got the win. He was 0 for 2 at the plate.
He was 19-years-old.
Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Satchel Paige was born 103 years ago today. A huge star in the Negro Leagues, Paige began pitching in 1926 and was the oldest major league rookie ever when he joined the Cleveland Indians at age 42. Paige pitched in his last major league game in 1965 (at age 59). He died in 1982.
In the barnstorming days, he pitched perhaps 2,500 games, completed 55 no-hitters and performed before crowds estimated at 10 million persons in the United States, the Caribbean and Central America. He once started 29 games in one month in Bismarck, N.D., and he said later that he won 104 of the 105 games he pitched in 1934.
By the time Jackie Robinson signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 as the first black player in the majors, Mr. Paige was past 40. But Bill Veeck, the impresario of the Cleveland club, signed him to a contract the following summer, and he promptly drew crowds of 72,000 in his first game and 78,000 in his third game. (The New York Times)
Paige first published his Rules for Staying Young in 1953. This version is from his autobiography published in 1962, Maybe I’ll Pitch Forever.
“My wife also used a female fertility drug. Manny got suspended, but we got twins!”
“Well, it seems that Manny Ramirez is back with the Los Angeles Dodgers, having done his time both under suspension and in Albuquerque, N.M., which seems just a touch redundant.”
The rest of the essay is as good as any Manny analysis I’ve seen, though.
“And I noticed that all players in MLB were paying tribute to Michael Jackson by wearing one glove.”
Flip Flop Fly Ball, which is a great site, full of odd, but interesting graphics about baseball.
I have a copy and love this book. “The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book”.
Manny Ramirez’s assignment with the Albuquerque Isotopes amounted to two games, eight innings total, four appearances at bat — two ground outs, a strike out and a walk. Big deal.
… for the Albuquerque Isotopes, Manny Ramirez.
Manny will be Manny tonight as he begins a “rehab” assignment with the Albuquerque Isotopes vs. the Nashville Sounds.
Needless to say, this is the talk of our sometimes delightfully small town.
UPDATE: Ramirez struck out on a foul tip first time up.
“Tiger made two double bogeys in the first round last year at Torrey Pines and still won.”
Dan Jenkins on Tiger’s two double bogeys in round one this year (+4 for the first round).
The great, great sports writer Dan Jenkins is on Twitter for the U.S. Open, his 200th major golf tournament.
Even more insight into the NBA Finals from Bill Simmons, this from The New Yorker website.
This is good reading, too — Who has the better life philosophy, Phil Jackson or Stan Van Gundy?
“Two machines went to work today on the what remains of the old stadium. One tore through the stadium structure, and the other picked up the falling debris and moved it to the side.”
Freep.com | Detroit Free Press
It’s appropriate that they tear it down, but I can’t say I’m happy about it. I went to a lot of Tigers or Lions games at Briggs/Tiger Stadium — with Dad, with Mom, with Grandpa, with Grandma and Grandpa and my sister, with my uncle, with Dad and my uncles, with my then fiancé and with my then father-in-law. I saw Mickey Mantle’s first career grand slam, and was there one of the times the Mick put it out of the park onto Trumbull Street. I was present when Denny McLain won his 29th game (of 30) in 1968. (The only time since 1938 a pitcher has won 30 games in a season.)
Good memories.
Bill Simmons with the best insight into the NBA that I’ve ever read. This is a must read for anyone watching the NBA conference championships.
“Lord, I’ve been a Rockets/Nuggets addict since I was 9, and I keep trying to picture my lovable, dog-butt Nuggets winning it all. This state would come unglued. People would paint the Front Range powder blue. Half a million fans would clog the streets. People would stand on John Elway to get a view.”
Rick Reilly praying for a Denver win.
Dick Bavetta, one of the referees in last night’s game between the Lakers and Nuggets, is 69-years-old.
Just sayin’.
“The life expectancy for former NFL players is 20 years lower than it is for the general public.”
From Bill Simmons: A back-and-forth with best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell.
An intelligent exchange that includes talk of Larry Holmes, Nick Faldo, Tiger, Michael, Jennifer Anniston, the press (basketball), etc. Good stuff.
Best line: “You can become great without the help of someone else, but you can’t stay great without someone pushing you. Golf excepted, of course.”
And: “And in any case, if the reverse-order draft is such a great leveler, then why are the same teams at the bottom of both the NFL and NBA year after year? The current system perpetuates the myth that access to top picks is the primary determinant of competitiveness in pro sports, and that’s simply not true. Success is a function of the quality of the organization.”
Bill Simmons: A back-and-forth with best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell.
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