As American as Apple Pie and Baseball

By notapoet - About Me - E-mail this page - Add to My Favorites - Add to Blog List - See other blogs in Sports & Leisure

Monday, August 6, 2007

Glavine, Bonds, and the slumping Detroit Tigers

Tom Glavine got victory number 300 this time, allowing only 2 runs over 6 1/3 innings in the Mets 8-3 win over the Chicago Cubs. He became just the 23rd pitcher to win 300 or more games in the 132 year history of Major League Baseball, and only the fifth lefty. With almost a third of the season left... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, August 5, 2007

756 is the One that counts

…and the last one, of course. Whether you heaved a sigh of relief, or snorted your disgust, part of the big wait is over. Barry Bonds belted home run number 755 off the San Diego Padres’ Clay Hensley to lead off the top of the second inning in a game still in progress as I type. The blast tied Hank... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, July 6, 2007

Boston is at Detroit for three before the All-Star break.

I’m looking forward to the series with high hopes that the Tigers will win the series and go into the break with some momentum. They took two out of three from Cleveland with lively bats and some good defensive work. A similar result against the Red Sox would be a great weekend for me. The series... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, July 5, 2007

Ten years ago

…the Major League home run record still belonged to Roger Maris at 61. Ruth and Maris were still the only players with 60 or more in a season. Ken Griffey Jr. seemed best positioned to eclipse Hank Aaron’s career mark of 755. Steroids were not a major issue in baseball news. My, how things have... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Barry Bonds Gets the Start in Left Field

…and I think he deserves it. The man, as usual, has the best OBPS (On Base plus Slugging) percentage in Major League Baseball, just hit his 17th home run of the season, and is now only five shy of setting a new MLB standard for career round trippers. Has he cheated by using steroids? Possibly. But... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, July 1, 2007

Detroit won 14 of 18 in interleague play.

Impressive as that is, it was a game worse than the 15 of 18 the Tigers accomplished last season. When I do the math I come up with a two year record of 29-7 against the National League. If you exclude the fiasco that was last year’s World Series. There was only one way possible for Detroit to lose... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, June 30, 2007

Biggio and Thomas Reach Milestones

Craig Biggio became the 27th player to make it to 3,000 hits and Frank Thomas is now the 21st player to make it too 500 home runs. I have a great deal more to say about both players and the elite clubs they have joined. But for now I just felt the need to jump in and say “way to go” to both of them.... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

The Gambler Comes Through Again

Detroit's Kenny Rogers pitched six strong innings in his second start of the season, a 5-2 win over the Texas Rangers. This time Rogers did yield a run, but it was the only one he has allowed in 12 innings since returning from the DL. The Tigers now have all five starters healthy and a sixth, Chad... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

“I Hate Golf”

…is the gist of my contribution to the LPGA U. S. Open coverage by the thrice weekly newspaper I submit articles to these days. The ladies’ version of the venerable classic is taking place at Pine Needles Golf Course in Southern Pines this week. I was not issued press credentials for the event,... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, January 9, 2007

41 to 14

That, of course, was the final score of the Ohio State-Florida match-up for the BCS Championship. Unfortunately for all of the OSU fans who thought this game was a lead pipe cinch, it was massive underdog Florida that ended up with the 41. If you like to bet long shots you could have cleaned up on... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, January 8, 2007

We’re #1!

If college basketball is not your thing, you can skip the rest of this post. The hell with the NFL playoffs. Who cares about the BCS Championship game tonight. Ohio State may be favored to win tonight’s football game, but the Ohio State I’m interested in already got knocked out of the #1 spot in the... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, December 31, 2006

Panthers Win Pride Game.

The Carolina Panthers beat the New Orleans Saints scrubs 31-21 to salvage a little pride out of their dismally disappointing season. The win gave Carolina a record of 8-8 in a season that started with predictions of a Super Bowl appearance. All hope of that died when the Giants won on Saturday to... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Football rules.

At least that is the way it seems around here lately. Every time I discuss football I usually get a little bit of response. Nada for anything else. Where have all the baseball and basketball fans gone? I can understand relatively little interest in baseball right now. The World Series wrapped up two... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Carolina is still alive for the playoffs.

It’s a slim chance, but it’s there. The 7-8 Panthers have to win on the road against New Orleans, of course. They also have to count on the Redskins and the Bears to knock off the New York Giants and the Green Bay Packers, two other 7-8 squads that are fortunate enough to own tiebreakers over the... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, December 25, 2006

Chris Weinke Wins One

The commentators for Sunday’s Carolina Panther’s 10-3 win over the Atlanta Hawks made much of the fact that Weinke had lost 17 straight games. This was only a half truth, Weinke has won a few games without credit since his last win as the starter. A notable one was when Weinke took over for an... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, December 22, 2006

Prejudice in the polls

One thing I’ve noticed in all my games with subjective polls, objective rating systems, and hybrids that incorporate elements of both, is the almost universal inclusion of lots of ACC teams in both the objective and hybrid rating systems while the polls seem to be giving the conference a behind the... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

who is really #1 in college basketball?

That’s an easy one, right? Undefeated UCLA sits atop all of the college basketball polls including the two that really count to most people, The AP Poll and the Coaches’ Poll. UCLA is going to sit there until they lose, if they lose. I just threw that last clause in to catch your attention. UCLA... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Pitt falls and North Carolina moves up a notch to #2 in the polls.

It hasn’t happened yet, but that’s the way it’s going to shake out when the AP and Coaches’ polls are released. UCLA will keep the top spot until they lose. The writers and coaches who vote in these polls love undefeated teams on top. They seem to think it makes them look good. Pittsburgh’s soft... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, December 15, 2006

UNC Chapel Hill vs. UNC Asheville

This is one of those mismatches that should be over early in the second half. After all, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Tar Heels are one of the three top rated teams in the country right now. The team fielded by the Asheville branch of UNC probably ranks somewhere in the middle of... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, December 14, 2006

The Top 25 tweaked:

1. UCLA 2. Arizona 3. North Carolina 4. Wichita State 5. Pittsburgh 6. Duke 7. Butler 8. Wisconsin 9. Gonzaga 10. Ohio State 11. Oklahoma State 12. Oregon 13. Clemson 14. Air Force 15. Maryland 16. Florida 17. Missouri State 18. Alabama 19. Notre Dame 20. Purdue 21. Florida State 22. Kansas 23.... Sign in to see full entry.

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