Armchair Weekend in Review (June 22-24, 2007)

by user JB82

Top heavy with baseball highlights this week, so let's start the fun!

Home run history

We lead off with, who else, Barry Bonds. Mr. BALCO clubbed his 749th career home run on Friday night in a 7-3 loss to the New York Yankees. Early on, when the Yanks were struggling royally, this author pondered the possibility of giving up #756 by this time. Yanks reliever Scott Proctor got the dubious honor of serving up said gopherball.

While San Fran played host to a 1962 San Francisco Giants reunion, there was also a wave of nostalgia in Seattle, where the Mariners praised returning hero Ken Griffey, Jr. on his return to the Pacific Northwest. Griff hit a total of three taters on the weekend, the last of which was the 584th of his career, good enough to pass Mark McGwire for seventh on the all-time list. BTW, the Mariners won the finale, 3-2.

Frank Thomas is now a home run shy of 500, hitting #499 in the Toronto Blue Jays' 5-0 shutout of the Colorado Rockies same game where pitcher Dustin McGowan came within an out of being the third pitcher to throw a no-hitter this season. McGowan ended up with a one-hit, one-walk shutout.

Bobby Cox also made history over the past three days, but it is unclear whether or not he takes pride in this one. Cox got the boot for the 131st time in his long managerial career, tying New York (baseball) Giants manager John McGraw's all-time mark in the Atlanta Braves' 2-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers Saturday. Cox wasn't the only manager and/or player to be ejected from a game over the weekend. Boston Red Sox skipper Terry Francona, the Giants' Bruce Bochy, Minnesota Twins outfielder Michael Cuddyer, Rockies catcher Yorvit Torrealba and his New York Mets counterpart Paul Lo Duca were also sent off.

Josh Beckett became the majors' leader in wins, notching his 11th in the Boston Red Sox' 5-2 win over the San Diego Padres on Sunday.

However, all this excitement was tempered by the untimely passing of an ex-reliever. Rod Beck, who played 13 seasons in the majors, was found dead in his suburban Phoenix, Arizona home on Saturday at the age of 38. Beck's cause of death is still undetermined as we go to press. This reporter remembers seeing a report on the pitcher with long hair and Fu Manchu-type moustache when he was with the Chicago Cubs' AAA affiliate. He showed viewers his motor home behind the ballpark, where he lived during his time in Iowa. Condolences to family, friends, and others associated with him...

Juan Pablo Montoya once made his living on road courses, as he was a popular Formula 1 driver. So it seemed natural that he take the checkered flag at the Toyota/SaveMart 350k at Infineon Raceway in the heart of California's Napa Valley wine country. Montoya took to the road course like a duck to water, holding off Jamie McMurray to become the NEXTEL Cup's first foreign-born driver to win a series race in over thirty years.

Decades from now, there will be a trivia question, and it will ask, "Who was the first driver ever to win a race at Iowa Speedway?" The answer: Dario Franchitti; the win was his second on the IRL IndyCar Series season.

The ChampCar World Series held the most unique race on any series' schedule. The Grand Prix of Cleveland, part of whose race course is a runway at the Burke Lakefront Airport, saw Canadian Paul Tracy taxi down the runway to break Frenchman Sébastien Bourdais' three-race winning streak.

Across the pond, it was rather apropos that with MotoGP in the UK over the weekend that a racer from one of the motherland's ex-colonies take the win at Donington Park. Casey Stoner scored his fifth win of the year (and the sixth for Australia) in Merry Olde England.

Kudos to:

Oregon State's baseball team for winning the College World Series back-to-back (and belly-to-belly)

Hunter Mahan for winning the Travelers Championship while on a sponsorship exemption

Nate Diaz for winning the Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale. Diaz won the match (as well as a six-figure contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship) when challenger Manvel Gamburyan injured his shoulder twenty seconds into the second round.

The US men's soccer team for clinching their fourth Gold Cup with a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Mexico on Sunday

The Hamburg Sea Devils, who won their first World Bowl on Saturday with a 38-27 win over the Frankfurt Galaxy. Devils QB Casey Bramlet took home MVP honors...

And, of course, you for reading. Until next week, as always, let's all be good sports...

This page was last modified 23:45, 26 June 2007. Content is available under the GFDL.