Armchair Weekend in Review (June 15-17, 2007)
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by user JB82
Lots to talk about, especially from baseball, so let's get going!
Subway Series from the Armchair
- When last New York's baseball teams faced each other, the New York Mets were riding high, while the New York Yankees were struggling mightily. This time around, the roles were reversed as the Mets lost four series in a row and the Yanks entered this last NYC matchup on a nine-game win streak.
- Friday saw Roger Clemens go up against the Mets for the only time this year and while he gave up only two runs, his teammates couldn't get him off the hook in a 2-0 shutout loss. Mets pitcher Oliver Perez pitched the goose egg, BTW...
- Saturday was the more dramatic of the three games, with the lead changing hands about four times in the early innings via the longball. But, the Yanks managed to withstand even an aborted ninth-inning rally as the Bombers took game 2, 11-8.
- Sunday saw Chien-Ming Wang continue his dominant ways as he gave up only two runs in his longest outing of the year – a whopping 8 2/3 innings – in a dominant 8-2 series finale. But, for the third year in a row, the season series was a stalemate.
Some Other Diamond Notes
- While the San Francisco Giants were paying their first visit to Fenway Park since 1912, the Boston Red Sox fans had fun razzing Giants slugger Barry Bonds. However, not a peep was heard from Mr. BALCO until Sunday afternoon, when he clubbed his 748th career home run into his own team's bullpen in a 9-5 loss to the Sox. At least for one moment, Bonds didn't let the Fenway Faithful get to him...
- Another asterisk also neared a lesser milestone over the weekend; Texas Rangers slugger Sammy Sosa came within a tater of 600 lifetime, which pushed the Rangers over the hump in a 7-6 win over the Cincinnati Reds.
- Frank Thomas also made history, doing so on Saturday as The Big Hurt put the hurt on his 244th career dinger. The significance of this: the Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter passed Edgar Martinez for most home runs by a player in that position. Maybe when the American League came up with the DH back in 1973, they had Thomas in mind...
- Atlanta Braves outfielder Chipper Jones also achieved a milestone, spraying his 2,000th career hit on Sunday in a 5-2 loss to the Cleveland Indians. Supposedly the wasted effort of the weekend...
- It is also this reporter's opinion that the Chicago Cubs' karma has gotten so bad in the past few weeks, it is indescribable. While Friday's fan interference brought back horrible memories of the Steve Bartman incident in 2003 (though the Cubbies won this game 4-1), it was Saturday's events that prove the above:
- In the bottom of the fourth inning, San Diego Padres pitcher Chris Young hit Cubs outfielder Derrek Lee with a pitch. Lee got so PO'd at Young, he confronted him, whiffed a roundhouse right by him, and the fight was on. Both combattants were given the gate, as the umpires were not impressed with their Lidell-Jackson fight re-enactment (UFC/MMA reference). Oddly enough, how did Lou Piniella get in the middle of the brawl? Just wondering...
- Anyway, if the brawl wasn't bad enough, Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano (remember that fight with Barrett he had two weeks ago?) had a no-hitter going, which was lost in the top of the eighth inning. Worse still, the Padres' Russell Branyan clubbed a ninth-inning homer, thus elminiating the shutout and sending the Cubs to defeat, 1-0.
- On to the minors for this bit of history: Brandon Watson of the International League's Columbus Clippers broke the league's longest hitting streak record on Sunday. Watson hit safely in his 43rd consecutive game against the Ottawa Lynx. The history maker was Watson's only hit of the game...
US Open: Who Dat?
- Australian Darren Baddeley woke up Sunday morning at Oakmont Country Club southeast of Pittsburgh with a two-stroke lead over Tiger Woods and a chance to win the 107th US Open. However, a triple bogey on the first hole sent his day downhill, and it was up to Woods, Jim Furyk and an unknown, unheralded duffer to battle it out. In the end, Argentian Angel Cabrera (that's the "Who Dat?") clinched his first PGA TOUR win by one stroke over Woods. Between Cabrera and Manu Ginobili, who's the bigger star in Argentina nowadays?
- Intersting sidenote: One look at Cabrera and this reporter said to himself, "If John Daly and Diego Maradona had a kid, this is what he'd look like."
Can't this yutz make up his mind?!
Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant has flipped and flopped between staying with the organization and demanding a trade from it so much, it has begun to boggle the mind. On Sunday, Kobe's website said revived hints at a trade, after Bryant said he wanted to remain with the Lakers. The above header echoes my feelings RE: Bryant at this point...
Gentlemen, Start Your Engines
- Whatever Carl Edwards has been doing a lot of in the NASCAR Busch Series hadn't been seen by NEXTEL Cup fans in 58 races, until Sunday. Edwards clinched his first win of the 2007 campaign in the Citizens Bank 400 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.
- Meanwhile, some 150-200 miles away, Formula 1 made its annual Stateside visit for the 2007 US Grand Prix. The hallowed Brickyard (Indianapolis Motor Speedway, for the uninitiated) saw British rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton go back-to-back and belly-to-belly in checkered flags. Hamilton retained his points lead, while former top-spot holder Fernando Alonso finished right behind him.
Odds and Sods
- David Beckham's last game at Real Madrid was memorable for one reason. It was the game that clinched his soon-to-be-former club's 30th La Liga championship. Becks, who his headed for MLS side Los Angeles Galaxy in a few weeks, was taken out in the 66th minute of Real's 3-1 clincher against Mallorca. Sorry, Barça supporters, better luck next year...
- A sign that the San Antonio Spurs' "dynasty" is boring even fans in San Antonio: over 10,000 people showed up on the Riverwalk for the team's championship parade, their fourth in nine years. Just my opinion...
Hope everyone had a grat Father's Day
Until next week, let's all be good sports...
Congrats to David Beckham. Congrats to Frank Thomas. Congrats to Chipper Jones.
Congrats to Carl Edwards.