Thursday
October 23, 2003
ALEX GONE-ZALEZ PLAYS HERO
First let me note that I did not win the $162 million Powerball Jackpot last night. I am a little disappointed by this, as I’m sure you can understand. I really thought that this was my time. I’m due! But, nevertheless, I am still here, poor as ever. So, let me also apologize beforehand if my writing comes off as a little saddened.
OK, enough negative talk. Let’s talk sports instead. It’ll keep my mind off of the disappointment. It will be therapeutic.
And for those that missed it yesterday, I wrote about Marlins ace, Josh Beckett, using Beckett magazines as the focal point. Check it out here.
WORLD SERIES GAME 4 (Marlins 4, Yankees 3 - 12 innings)
I’m sure you want to remind me of my Game 4 predictions, so I will just remind you what I wrote.
· Prediction - Yankees 11, Marlins 3. Look for the Yankees to jump all over the Marlins and starter Carl Pavano early in the game, and for Roger Clemens to pitch well in what will be his final start in a big league uniform. Here’s how lopsided I think this game will be. I think that even Jeff Weaver might make an appearance.
I know, I know. I was way off! But, I did say that Jeff Weaver would pitch! Unfortunately, after pitching a great 11th inning, he gave up the leadoff game-winning home run to Marlins SS Alex Gonzalez, and that is what people in New York will remember. Considering he hasn’t pitched for over a month, I don’t know how anything could have been expected of him. Gonzalez had struggled mightily during the playoffs after really having a strong regular season. I’m sure the game-winning homer took a lot off his shoulders. It was a line drive down the left-field line that just cleared the wall.
No, the Yankees most definitely did not “jump all over the Marlins and starter Carl Pavano.” Far from it. Pavano pitched so well. Pavano went 8 strong innings, giving up just one run on 7 hits, walking no one, while striking out 4 Yankee batters.
Roger Clemens did pitch very well. He gave up 5 hits in the first inning after recording two outs. A single to Pudge Rodriguez, followed by a Miguel Cabrera home run. Then three straight singles (by Jeff Conine, Mike Lowell and Derek Lee) followed, the latest scoring Conine to give the Marlins the 3-0 lead. But after that point, Clemens was on! His game totals 7 innings, 8 hits, 3 runs, no walks and 5 strikeouts. Pretty impressive. After striking out Luis Castillo to end the 7th inning, Clemens came off the field to a standing ovation, by his teammates, by the Florida fans, and most impressively the Florida players! It was a pretty surreal moment. Even in an intense game, everything took a momentary back seat to history at hand. There are not a lot of 300 game winners in the history of baseball. Roger Clemens is the only 6-time Cy Young Winner. He is definitely one of the greatest pitchers of all time! It was good to see him get the recognition for that! For a great article on Clemens, be sure to check out today’s Patrick Reusse article in the Star-Tribune on Clemens.
The Yankees got four combined great relief innings from Jeff Nelson, Jose Contreras (who looked dominant!) and Jeff Weaver. But again, Weaver will be remembered for giving up the game-ending homer to Alex Gonzalez.
It almost didn’t get to that. With runners on 1st and 3rd, with 2 strikes and 2 outs in the top of the 9th inning, Ugueth Urbina made a mistake and threw pinch hitter Ruben Sierra a fastball on the inner part of the plate, which Sierra drilled down the right field line for a triple, scoring both runs and tying the game at 3 a piece.
The Yankees had chances in extra innings to take the lead. The biggest opportunity was with the bases loaded and one out. Chad Fox was lifted for Braden Looper. Aaron Boone came to the plate and after a long at bat, Looper won, striking out Boone. He then got catcher John Flaherty to pop out to end the inning.GAME 5 - Tonight, in Florida, 7:24 p.m. Central
· Pitching Matchup - David Wells vs. Brad Penny
· What will happen - This is a rematch of Game 1, when Penny out dueled Wells and the Marlins won 3-2. I would predict another low-scoring game. Both starters will go at least 7, and whichever team’s starter lasts longer, that team will win. That probably sounds simple, but with the game being played under National League rules, that’s not as definitive as you might think. He hasn’t done anything yet this postseason, but I will predict a big game from Alfonso Soriano. He looks absolutely lost at the plate, but it just takes one game to break out of it. He’s a hacker, and all it takes is the pitches being thrown at the hack. I don’t think that Penny will make many mistakes, but one or two to Soriano will be the difference in the game.
· Final Score Guess - Yankees 3, Marlins 1.
JD Durbin has pitched a couple of games in relief for Team USA. He actually is now 2-0. He has pitched 9 innings and given up 5 earned runs, for an ERA of 5.00. He has 10 strikeouts in those 9 innings. He has been keeping a journal for mlb.com, and here is his new entry. Be sure to check it out. Again, he has answered a number of e-mailer’s questions, which are very interesting, and also discusses his thoughts on Team USA as the roster will soon be cut down.
By the way, Joe Mauer had 3 hits yesterday, including two doubles for Team USA. Jesse Crain pitched another scoreless inning.
The Wolves played again last night. They played the Antoine Walker-less Boston Celtics in yet another preseason matchup. The Celtics won by a score of 96-80. The big news for Wolves fans is that Wally Szczerbiak finally got his first game action of the year. Sure, it was just 9 minutes. I know he shot 0-5 from the field. But, just getting him on the court was a big step. Maybe by the next preseason tilt, Wally will be able to play more minutes.
Latrell Sprewell, in just his second game played, played 30 minutes and scored 12 points. Kevin Garnett scored 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. A big surprise for the Wolves this preseason has been Gary Trent. He contributed 14 points and 7 boards.
Note, I have discussed the Celtics/Mavericks trade in depth the past two days, so be sure to look back (here) and (here) if you are interested.
The Seau/Tomlinson “Controversy?”
Junior Seau: "You give him watermelon and load him up with fried chicken and tell him to keep eating."
Ladanian Tomlinson: "I wasn't offended at all. You just have to know Junior."
The Dolphins linebacker was asked how to stop his former teammate, Chargers RB Ladanian Tomlinson. He replied with the chicken and watermelon comment. Honestly, I don’t even see the hint of racial overtone in those comments. All he’s saying is that Tomlinson is a really great RB. To borrow an old Sports Center comment, “You don’t stop Ladanian Tomlinson. You only hope to contain him.” Well, basically, that’s what Seau was saying. However, the fact that the two had a personal relationship, he was able to interject something more personal (personal as in ‘between friends’, not personal as in ‘offensive’). They used to eat chicken every Friday during the season.
Why does everything have to be a political correct or incorrect statement? I’m 100% against anyone using a slur that is offensive to a group based on race, religion, orientation, belief system, anything. That said, a little common sense needs to take over in a situation like this. This is completely different from the Fuzzy Zoeller comments after Tiger Woods won The Masters. He said, "Tell him not to serve fried chicken next year ... or collard greens, or whatever the hell they serve."
That has racial overtone written all over it!
The fact that Junior Seau and Ladanian Tomlinson are even answering these questions is ridiculous!
Am I wrong? Am I oversimplifying the whole situation? Let me know what you think. E-mail me.
American Idol Runner-Up, Clay Aiken’s CD, Measure of a Man, sold 613,000 copies in its first week. (Click here to go to the Official Clay Aiken website) That was good for #1 in the country! Actually, the distributor sent out 2 million copies already, which means that his album has already gone double-platinum. For those that aren’t sure… that’s good! And yes, I own it. I admit it. I like his singles that get air-time on the radio, Invisible and This is the Night. Most of the CD sounds about the same as those two songs. That’s not a bad thing, but from the sounds of it, Ruben Studdard’s album will at least have some diversity to it. Here is a quick look at the American Idol winners and runners-up in the show’s two seasons, and how their debut albums did in their first week:
|
Artist |
Title |
Release Date |
Copies Sold, first week |
American Idol Place |
|
Kelly Clarkson |
Thankful |
April-03 |
297,000 |
Winner |
|
Justin Guarini |
Justin Guarini |
June-03 |
57,000 |
Runner-Up |
|
Clay Aiken |
Measure of a Man |
October-03 |
613,000 |
Runner-Up |
|
Ruben Studdard |
Soulful |
11/25/03 |
?? |
Winner |
That’s it for today. I’d love your input on the website. Any thoughts? Ideas for topics? Comments? Constructive Criticism? Let me have it! Send me an e-mail.