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Just The Tip - Volume 1 |
| Posted by fragnoli on
Sunday, July 25, 2010 at
9:44:50 PM |
Hello Gabbers! It has been quite a while, too long perhaps. I’ve been a relatively busy man for the past two months, having started a new job which seemingly came along at just the right time, as well as juggling the normally hectic summer months chalked full of family activities and household projects. Needless to say, I’ve been sometimes lacking time, energy, or both.
Alas, here I am today, stepping into the exclusive shoes of the Beezer as he enjoys an earned vacation with the family. I had to try on the slip on ones though, as the laces on the sneakers were coated in what I can only hope was hand lotion and needless to say, I didn’t want to go much further with those. Still, I’m going to try my best to hold his spot in line for the next couple of weeks and my great brainstorm would be to cover for Monday Moanings with a post I call, “Just The Tip.”
- When we talk about just the tip, its usually the start of something, and it wouldn’t be fair to start off talks of this weekend without paying homage to Andre Dawson and Whitey Herzog, who walked the magic carpet into Cooperstown this weekend. Dawson was a class act as a player and a consummate team guy whose body failed him before his skills did. Herzog meanwhile was a tremendous manager, a no-nonsense type of guy you just don’t see in today’s game because the players need to be coddled. Congratulations to the both of them on an achievement well earned.
- Just the tip of the iceberg started to show today when the Angels picked up Diamondbacks pitcher Dan Haren in a four-player trade. Haren has struggled like a hooker without legs trying to win games and pitch well for the awful D-Backs this season, but being under club control for two more years after this made it a lot easier to part with Joe Saunders and two other prospects as well. And while this trade shores up their rotation, the Angels badly need a power bat in the middle of the line-up to take the place of Kendry Morales or they have no hope to pass the Rangers in the West.
- Just the tip goes over about as well as Alex Rodriguez’s recent quest to crest the 600 home-run plateau. Even before A-Rod got plunked on the wrist and left today’s game stuck on 599, people just weren’t paying attention. Maybe that’s because A-Rod is an admitted steroid user. Maybe it is because the 600 home-run club meant a whole lot more when it only included Mays, Ruth, and Aaron, back before Bonds, Griffey, and Sosa crossed that line. Or maybe again, the fans have gotten over the long-ball and moved on to the game mattering again instead of the statistics.
- Just the tip can tend to be uncomfortable for one of the partners involved, just ask Dan Gilbert. But at least Gilbert has company now, as LeBron James’s grand idea of forming a super team in Miami has worked against another small-market club, as Chris Paul is now telling the New Orleans Hornets that he wants out and word is he wants to jump ship to New York. Sure, James didn’t want to rescue the Knicks ship, but CP3 sees the big picture, as well as the alley-oop, pick-and-roll possibilities of playing with Amare Stoudamire in New York. In reality though, David Stern needs to step in here and do something before the players make all the decisions and the league consists of five teams vying for the title. Hey David, see Baseball, Major League for an example of how that works out for the little guys.
Alright gents. That’s where Just The Tip ends for this week, because let’s face it, if you push too much, you’ve already gone too far.
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Remembering George Steinbrenner Through Quotes |
| Posted by fragnoli on
Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at
4:40:03 PM |
Many fans of baseball may have loved to hate him, but few of us can really fault the man for his passion for winning and the contributions he made to the game and the legacy of the New York Yankees. With that said, and despite any personal misgivings toward George Steinbrenner, those same baseball fans are united in mourning after learning that Steinbrenner had passed away earlier today at the age of 80.
George Steinbrenner achieved a level of success that few sports owners ever have, parlaying a struggling team he purchased for $8.8 million into a franchise worth an estimated $1.6 billion, winning seven world championships during his tenure. Steinbrenner was also known as much for his antics with the media, managers, and players as he was for his dedication to putting together the best team’s money could buy.
But George left a completely different legacy as well, as he was one of the greatest sound bites that sports reporters could dream of. The following is just a small collection of some of the greatest George Steinbrenner quotes ever captured.
“I am dead set against free agency. It can ruin baseball.”
- Given that the Yankees have made a living off of the free agent market since its inception, one could argue that George was a little hypocritical here. But then again, there are very few fans of small market teams that would disagree with this quote either.
“I will never have a heart attack. I give them.”
- George gave his fair share of heart attacks during his reign atop the Yankees. From managers to general managers to players and fellow owners, Steinbrenner was a force to be reckoned with. Fitting though that a man who fired on all cylinders would eventually succumb to just such an attack.
“Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing. Breathing first, winning next.”
- If there was one mantra that Steinbrenner lived by, it was winning. Winning was everything and the fans of New York always knew if George was steering the ship, he would make sure they had the best chance to do it.
“He pushed me to strive for excellence. If I competed in five races and won four, we talked about the one I lost.”
- This was part of a quote about how George’s father pushed him in athletics, but it personifies what he stood for as an owner, especially in regards to the Yankees. Steinbrenner didn’t want to hear about how much was achieved unless it was completed with a world championship.
“When you're entrusted with a tradition, you've got to protect it.”
- Steinbrenner certainly recognized the tradition that the Yankees had and made it a point to protect and expand it. He made them the most recognizable franchise in all of sports, establishing them more as a name brand than a team. He also instilled the same mentality in his children, who he’s now entrusted to carry on that tradition.
George Steinbrenner will always be remembered as one of the most recognizable owners that American sports have even seen. He will be missed by all, fans and detractors alike. Rest in peace Boss.
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Wimbledon Match Stretches Into Days |
| Posted by fragnoli on
Wednesday, June 23, 2010 at
4:33:59 PM |
History has been made at Wimbledon ... and there's more to come.
American John Isner and France's Nicolas Mahut have played exactly 10 hours of tennis in their ongoing first-round match, with the match being called due to darkness Wednesday in the fifth set with the incredible score of 59-59, making it the longest match in Open era tennis history.
The players began the match Tuesday, splitting the first four sets before being stopped due to darkness that night. They will finish the match — hopefully — on Thursday. There are no fifth-set tiebreakers at Wimbledon.
At 7 hours, 6 minutes, the amazing fifth set is, by itself, longer than any match in recorded history. The previous record was 6 hours, 33 minutes set in a 2004 French Open match between Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clement. Isner and Mahut's fifth set passed the 6 hour, 33 minute mark in the 111th game.
Even after 118 games, the fans weren't tired of the match. The crowd chanted, "We want more!" as the players and officials discussed calling the match.
It was supposed to be a quick completion, but Wednesday's fifth set has lasted over five hours with the match itself going over eight hours, smashing all sorts of records along the way — longest time, most games and most aces in a match to name a few.
Their dominant serves working to full effect, 23rd-seeded Isner and Mahut have rarely sniffed an opportunity on the other's racket. Isner came the closest, losing two match points on Mahut's serve at 32-33 and another at 58-59 to extend the drama. Mahut has had just one break point in the match, all the way back in the second set.
The match is wearing out more than just the players. The official scoreboard on the Wimbledon web site, apparently ill-equipped to handle such a marathon, reset the fifth-set score to 0-0 once the players hit 50-50.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Frag's Take:
I know we don't talk much tennis here because, well, tennis sucks. Still, anytime two guys can step up the line and go head-to-head for ten hours without being in South Beach is an accomplishment that deserves some attention, even here at the Gab. Damn, I mean, my arm would have fallen off by now, but the only thing to stop these two guys was the sun. That's about as hardcore as tennis can get.
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Time For Selig To Make Right Call On Perfect Game |
| Posted by fragnoli on
Sunday, June 06, 2010 at
9:15:21 AM |
On July 24, 1981, an umpire that had a direct implication on the outcome of the game played made an egregious call.
Baseball enthusiasts will note that this is the date of the infamous Pine Tar Incident, in which Royals third baseman George Brett had a go-ahead home run nullified by then-Rookie umpire Tim McClelland. McClelland ruled that Brett’s bat had an illegal amount of pine tar on the bat, making it illegal. He reversed the home run call and called Brett out, thus ending the game.
After protesting the outcome of the game and the call, then American League commissioner Lee McPhail ruled that McClelland had misinterpreted the rule in regards to the amount of pine tar on the bat and should have simply removed the bat from the game and not called Brett out. The ruling allowed the home run to stand and required that both the Royals and Yankees had to make up the final half of the inning that would have been played had the home run stood.
Ladies and gentlemen, that incident alone shows precedence for a commissioner overturning a call on the field for the sake of the game.
Now let’s take it back to the present, or at the very least, the very recent past, when on Wednesday June 2, 2010, Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers was robbed of a perfect game when, on the twenty-seventh out, umpire Jim Joyce botched a call at first base, ruling the runner safe when replay shows that the throw and tag beat the runner to first base handedly. The error was so pronounced, that Joyce himself admitted to making it just seconds later and was moved to tears upon completion of the game. The twenty-first perfect game in Major League history, and third in 2010, was denied by an admittedly bad call on the field.
So, with no power in which to reverse the call on the field, Joyce openly petitioned Commissioner Bud Selig to make things right.
Selig, as has become his legacy, dropped the ball and as of yet, has not reversed the call. The commissioner has openly said the call was missed and that coupled with numerous other bad calls recently, Major League Baseball would look into expanding instant replay. He did not however, address any plans to change the call. The window of opportunity has seemingly passed.
Certainly, this is not an easy decision to make. Never before has a call on the field had direct impact on the record books, so it goes without saying that changing this call would make for interesting observations from both the baseball traditionalists and the current fandom that demands justice to be done. There is no doubt that such a change would require an asterisk, but even the Roger Maris home run record never truly received an asterisk despite its implication.
Galarraga, who has shown incredible poise during this controversy, has evenly openly said he would be willing to accept the perfect game through an overturned ruling. But would those feelings still hold true for Galarraga after he walks away from the game, or would he rather be known as the pitcher that threw the biggest no-no that wasn’t?
Regardless, Selig knows the history of the game, and he knows his place in it. He knows that precedence occurs for a commissioner to overturn a call on the field, and he knows when the right time to enact that ability is. Now it is just a matter of flipping the switch and doing what is right, before it goes down as another blunder by a man with a mixed legacy in the game.
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Some Nifty Perfect Game Facts |
| Posted by fragnoli on
Sunday, May 30, 2010 at
9:20:49 AM |
Roy Halladay threw the 20th perfect game in Major League Baseball history on Saturday night, blanking the Florida Marlins for his seventh win of the 2010 season. In the process, Halladay also lowered his ERA to 1.99 on the season.
Normals statistics aside, having thrown something as significant as a perfect game gives us the chance to discuss some other interesting items, mainly to compare the gem Halladay twirled to the other nineteen that came before him. Let's face it, what good are baseball statistics if you can't compare them against one another endlessly?
- Halladay's perfect game was the second of the 2010 season, succeeding Dallas Braden's masterpiece against Tampa on May 9th. This marks just the second time in Major League history that two perfect games have been tossed in the same season. The first time it occurred was during the Dead Ball Era in 1880 when Lee Richmond of the Worchester Ruby Legs and John Montgomery Ward of the Providence Grays threw the first two perfect games in the history of the game.
- Halladay struck out 11 batters in the game, which is the fourth time that the pitcher throwing the perfect game has struck out 11, joining David Wells (NYY, 1998), Len Barker (CLE, 1981), and Catfish Hunter (OAK, 1968) in achieving that feat. However, it is not the record for strike-outs for a perfect game. That belongs to Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers who struck out 14 in his perfect game on September 9, 1965. On a side note, the fewest strike-outs thrown in a perfect game was 3, done by Addie Joss of the Cleveland Indians on October 2, 1908.
- Halladay needed only 115 pitches to get through his perfect game, despite striking out 11 batters, but it is nowhere near the fewest pitches thrown in a perfect game. Of the 17 perfect games with pitch counts recorded, the undisputed champion of efficiency is Addie Joss, who in that 1908 game needed just 74 pitches to spin his gem.
- Halladay joins Jim Bunning as the second perfect game in the history of the Philadelphia Phillies, and club’s tenth no-hitter. Three other clubs, the Yankees, White Sox, and Oakland Athletics have more than one perfect game in their history. The Yankees are the only club with three, with David Cone, David Wells, and Don Larsen all twirling theirs for the game’s most storied franchise.
- For all the talk about attendance issues in Florida, Halladay’s perfect game had 25,086 fans in attendance. That more than doubled the 12,288 who paid to see Braden’s earlier this year. The smallest recorded crowd to see a perfect game was also in Oakland, when only 6,298 were on hand when Catfish Hunter threw his perfect game against Minnesota in 1968.
- Finally, this is the sixth time that a perfect game has been tossed where the game was won 1-0. The most runs scored by the winning team in a perfect game is six, done by the Phillies for Jim Bunning in 1964 and the Yankees for David Cone in 1999.
So there you are, armed with your new found knowledge of the perfect game. With plenty of baseball to be played, we still have a chance to have the first season with three perfect games, but let’s all not collectively hold out breaths waiting for it to happen. |
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