The way the Red Sox 2014 season has progressed, it seems like ages ago that the Olde Towne Team was in the World Series [despite being defending World Series Champions- NANESB!]. And if one season feels like an eternity, imagine the anguish Red Sox fans [before there was a Red Sox Nation- NANESB!] felt during that 86 year wait.
That's not to say the organization didn't have their moments in those 86 years. Despite the lopsided deal that sent Babe Ruth to New York, the Red Sox could boast the game's all time best hitter in Ted Williams. Outfielder Carl Yastrzemski would go on to be baseball's only Triple Crown batting winner for 45 seasons until Detroit's Miguel Cabrera won those honors in 2012.
However, it was During the 1975 World Series against Cincinnati's Big Red Machine, a native son of New England managed to provide even more dramatic flair to what some baseball historians consider the best-ever World Series.
I'm talking, of course, about Bellows Falls, VT native Carlton Fisk's walkoff extra-inning homer in Game 6 of the '75 World Series that was made even more memorable by the Red Sox catcher's copious body English caught on camera. Fisk took Cincinnati reliever Pat Darcy's second pitch into the netting of the Green Monster to end the game with a 7-6 win in the bottom of the 12th for Boston and tied the series up at 3-3.
Unfortunately, that would be as close as the Red Sox got to a World Series title for nine years. The Big Red Machine would later go on to win Game 7 after trailing early 3-0. Interestingly, both Fisk's iconic homer and the Reds win took place on the same day, as Game 6 started on October 21st but went beyond midnight due to extra innings.
Years later, Fisk would joke that he liked to tell people the Red Sox won the Series that year 3 games to four.
NHL- Bruins rookie Matt Frasier of Red Deer, Alberta is living the dream and more importantly, the Bruins are still in the thick of it after Thursday night's game in Montreal.
With Montreal leading the series between their Original Six rivals in Boston 2 game to 1, regulation went by without a single goal given up by either Rask or Price [Rask stopped 30 in regulation while Price stopped 28 shots faced- NANESB!]. This set up overtime and an opportunity for a very unlikely hero called up from Providence.
Fraser, who arrived courtesy of last offseason's trade that sent Seguin to Dallas, had appeared in 14 games for the Bruins this season and was on the shuttle between Boston and Providence. However, recalling him from the Pruins looked like a master stroke as he buried the puck in the net behind Price just 1:17 into OT.
Frasier's goal ties the series up at 2-2 and Game 5 is set to take place from the TD Garden on Saturday, with the puck scheduled to drop at 7:00 ET and the game televised on NBC Sports and the CBC.
ELSEWHERE IN THE NHL- The Los Angeles Kings became the 5th team in North American professional sport to rally from behind an 0-3 deficit to win a postseason series last week when they won four straight games against in-state rival San Jose. The comeback was made final when Los Angeles was trailing 1-0 in the second period of Game 7 of their first round series against the Sharks, only to score five unanswered goals and go on to win by a 5-1 final on April 30th.
The win set up a first-ever postseason matchup between the Kings and their cross-town rivals Anaheim after Anaheim knocked off Dallas during a furious rally in the 6th and deciding game. Although the Kings took the first two games at Anaheim's Honda Center, the Ducks beat Los Angeles 3-2 on Thursday night to make it a 2-1 series.
Curiously, teams from Boston have been on both sides of the 'rallying down from an 0-3 deficit' scenarios- during the 2009-2010 season, the Bruins gave up four straight games to Philadelphia. More famously, the Boston Red Sox were trailing the New York Yankees by a run in the bottom of the 9th in Game 4 of the 2004 American League Championship Series- the Yankees were three outs away from advancing to the World Series when first baseman Kevin Millar drew a leadoff walk from New York closer Mariano Rivera before Red Sox manager Terry Francona lifted Millar for pinch-runner Dave Roberts. Roberts successfully stole second base, despite Rivera and catcher Jorge Posada knowing full well Roberts was going to run on them. With a base runner now in scoring position, the Red Sox third baseman Bill Mueller then hit a game-tying RBI single. Not only did the Red Sox go on to win that game in extra innings, they would win the next three games against the Yankees and sweep the St Louis Cardinals to win the 2004 World Series. It also stands as the only time a team has come back from an 0-3 defecit to win a series in Major League Baseball. Such a scenario has never happened in the NBA, but it has happened twice in the NHL prior to the Bruins 2010 postseason collapse- in just their 3rd year of existence, the New York Islanders came from behind to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1975 and in the Original Six era, the Toronto Maple Leafs staged a similar rally against the Detroit Red Wings in the 1942 Stanley Cup final.
RED SOX- The Boston Red Sox are now a .500 team, which I guess means we can start talking pennant once again.
Of course, despite the lackluster start and shoddy record against most AL East opponents, the Red Sox were never really more than two games out of first place in the AL East [although the NL East has been ridiculously close as well- NANESB!].
Thursday night's game wrapped up a quick two game series against the Reds [they'll play two more at Cincinnati in August- NANESB!] and Cincy got on the board early thanks to a 1-out Skip Schumaker homer to give the Reds a 1-0 lead. The Red Sox rallied in the bottom of the 6th when with one away and two on, Big Papi had an RBI single to right and Napoli followed that up with an RBI double to tie the game up at 2-2.
The Reds re-took the lead in the 7th when Todd Frazier led off with a booming double to left and Brayan Pena followed up with a single. Ryan Ludwick- acting as the DH for Cincinnati- then drew a walk to load the bases and Chris Capuano came out of the bullpen in relief of starter Jake Peavy. Reds outfielder Roger Bernardina would ground out to second, but it was enough to get the go-ahead run home and give the Reds a 4-3 lead. Burke Badenhop then came on the relieve Capuano and got Chris Heisey to hit into a fielder's choice- Pena was gunned down at home plate- and Zach Cosart grounded out to end the inning.
In the bottom of the 8th, Reds reliever Manny Parra got David Ortiz to strike out before walking Napoli and Gomes came into the game as a pinch hitter for Grady Sizemore as Parra was pulled for JJ Hoover. Gomes worked a walk from Hoover before AJ Pierzynski belted a ground-rule double to bring Napoli home for the tying run. Jackie Bradley Jr was then intentionally walked so Hoover could face Middlebrooks. Middlebrooks took a 3-2 pitch and put it up the middle to bring the go-ahead run home, making it a 3-4 game. Hoover would then get pinch-hitter Mike Carp and Dustin Pedroia to strike out.
It was up to Koji Uehara in the 9th inning to preserve the Boston lead, and he got Pena, Frazier and Ludwick to strike out in order, preserving Boston's 4-3 lead for the win and the sweep of the brief 2-game interleague series. The Red Sox wrap up the homestand by winning four out of their last five games.
Thursday was a travel day- Boston will now embark on a weeklong road trip where they'll face the Rangers in Arlington, TX before heading to the Twin Cities for a 3-game series against Minnesota. Friday night's scheduled starters Clay Buchholz [2-2; 5.63 ERA] against Yu Darvish [2-1; 2.87 ERA]. First pitch is scheduled for 8:05 PM ET and the game will be televised on NESN.
NBA- What a week it's been for Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant. Less than a week after The Oklahoman dubbed him Mr Unreliable after a poor showing in their first round series against the Memphis Grizzlies, Durant garnered the NBA's Most Valuable Player honors.
In an emotional speech, Durant thanked his mother for making sure that he and his siblings would have food on the table while she would often go to bed hungry when they were growing up in Washington DC.
This is the first MVP honor for the number two draft pick in the 2007 NBA draft [Durant was drafted by a team that technically doesn't exist anymore, the Seattle Supersonics- NANESB!] but he did garner Rookie of the Year honors in 2008 and has been a 5 time All Star. This season, Durant has averaged 32 points, five assists and 7 rebounds per game.
The Thunder did end up getting past the Memphis Grizzlies in 7 games in the first round of the NBA playoffs and are currently playing the Los Angeles Clippers- that series is tied at 1 game apiece with game 3 set to take place at Friday night in LA's Staples Center.
HORSE RACING- Mint juleps and gorgeous southern women with big.......hats. What's not to love?
Yep- it was Kentucky Derby time this past weekend and all the assorted owners, big hats, horses, jockeys, trainers and celebs descended on Louisville's Churchill Downs [NASDAQ- CHDN] for all manner of revelry that just happened to be bookended by a horse race.
Owned by Boston-based Centennial farms, Wicked Strong was named in honor of the post-marathon bombings 'Boston Strong' rallying cry.
According to Centennial Farms, the name 'Boston Strong' was taken, so they decided on the "wicked" prefix, which is a new England colloquialism for 'Very' or 'Extremely'. Heading into Saturday's race, Wicked Strong was tied with Danza Closest at 8:1 odds for the colt, who had won New York's Wood Memorial Stakes at the Aqueduct in Queens a few weeks prior.
However, it would be California Chrome who would win the 140th running of the Kentucky Derby going away, finishing several lengths ahead of the pack. Wicked Strong ended up finishing fourth, 5¾ lengths behind California Chrome.
Wicked Strong will reportedly skip the Preakness to focus on training for the Belmont stakes. Meanwhile, California Chrome will run in the Preakness in an attempt to become the first Triple Crown winner in horse racing since Affirmed in 1978.
RED SOX- After dropping the final game of last weeken's 3-game series against Oakland, the Red Sox were set to host the Cincinnati Reds in a 1975 World Series rematch for a quick 2-game series before heading on the road.
With the game tied at 1-1, it looked as though the Red Sox were set to chase Reds starter Homer Bailey from the mound in the bottom of the 3rd when Mike Napoli drew a bases-loaded walk and Grady Sizemore hit an RBI single. However, Bailey was able to limit the damage done and get through without coughing up any more runs- despite the Red Sox getting baserunners with a 3-1 lead.
Boston starter Felix Doubront, however, was only able to get through the first 5⅓ innings before the Red Sox had to get to the bullpen. This would come back to haunt Boston as Tazawa would allow a pair of runs to come home in the top of the 8th- a Todd Frasier RBI single that plated Joey Votto and a Ryan Ludwick sac fly that brought Brandon Phillips home to tie the contest up at 3-3.
Uehara, Andrew Miller and Craig Breslow would come out of the bullpen, and while getting some of those outs looked like they might be an adventure, the game remained tied at 3-3 heading into extras. Meanwhile, the Cincinnati relievers seemed to be pretty efficient in getting Red Sox batters out- at least until the bottom of the 12th when Logan Ondrusek came out of the bullpen and promptly gave up a leadoff single to Big Papi followed by a Mike Napoli single. The game ended when Grady Sizemore hit a wall-ball to deep left center [that was scored a single for some reason- NANESB!] that brought Big Papi home and gave the Red Sox the 4-3 win. Sizemore had the most productive night out of all the Red Sox, going 3 for 6 with two RBI- including the game-winner
The quick two game series wraps up later on Wednesday night at Fenway when Jake Peavy [1-1; 2.87 ERA] takes on Mike Leake [2-3; 3.53 ERA]. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 ET and the game will be televised on NESN.
NHL- Turns out falling behind by two goals doesn't always guarantee a 3rd quarter come-from-behind win.
On Tuesday night's game 3 of the series between Montreal and Boston, the Habs jumped out to an early 2-0 lead midway through the first with goals by Tomas Plekanec and PK Subban. In the 3rd, Dale Weise make it a 3-0 Montreal lead before Patrice Bergeron got Boston on the board with just over two minutes to go in the 2nd.
It remained a 3-1 game until late in the 3rd when Jarome Iginla scored to make it 3-2 Montreal with just over 2 minutes to go in regulation. Tukka Rask was pulled for the extra attacker, but that only translated to an empty-net goal from Lars Eller with less than 10 seconds left in the game.
Montreal goes on to win by a 4-2 final and takes a 2-1 series lead over the Bruins.
Game 4 is scheduled for Thursday night from Montreal and will be televised on NBC sports and CBC, with the puck scheduled to drop at 7:30 ET.
And 28 years before they put seats on the Green Monster.
To be fair, Game 6 of the 1975 World Series between the Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds actually began on October 21st, 1975 but went into extras.
While the timekeeping may not have been as detailed or meticulous back then, it's well known that it was past midnight when Reds reliever Pat Darcy took to the mound in the bottom of the 12th to face leadoff hitter Carlton Fisk.
The thing is that as much as Fisk's walkoff homer propelled him into Red Sox lore, Boston still lost the series in 7 games, the fleeting triumph doing nothing to stem the rise of a cottage industry of 'curse' folklore that persisted until 2004.
In 1975, the NFL was only a few seasons into their merger with the nascent American Football League and this whole 'Super Bowl' thing. There was real concern at the time that football's meteoric rise would marginalize baseball and replace it in a number of markets once considered safe. The 1975 World Series, put those concerns to rest pitting the upstart Red Sox against what many say was the best baseball team in the postwar years- Cincinnati's Big Red Machine.
It will be another National League powerhouse in the Midwest that the Red Sox will face tomorrow- a somewhat familiar one, as Boston and St Louis have already met three times in the World Series since the end of WWII. In fact, out of all the current members of the National League Central, the only club Boston hasn't faced in the World Series is Milwaukee.
Yet, to look at the 2013 Boston Red Sox, with their 12 walkoff wins and defiant bravado in the face of the carnage that was wrought on another Boston sports institution one fateful April afternoon, one can't help but sense that this may very well be only the beginning of something special.
NEW POLL UP- With about 10 days to go until Major League Baseball's All Star Break, look to the left for a new poll to vote in. Feel free to weigh in on what you think is the most difficult division in MLB this season. For some reason, Blogspot will only let me put in four possible answers (instead of being able to list all six divisions), so looks like you can only choose from those four.
Jim Rogash, Getty Images
BOSTON RED SOX- The Red Sox second interleague series of the season got off to a pretty good start on Tuesday night when John Lackey allowed just one unearned run during eight innings of work against the Padres during Boston's 4-1 win. Lackey allowed six hits- including a solo homer to San Diego 1B Jesus Guzman in the 7th- and struck out six while recent Paw Sox callup Brandon Snyder continues to impress, breaking a scoreless deadlock in the bottom of the fourth by hitting a 1-out bases-clearing double off the Monster towards deep center to give Boston a 3-0 lead [although he got greedy attempting to and was thrown out at third attempting to stretch it out into a triple- NANESB!].
Wednesday night's matchup was more of a pitcher's duel with Lester getting the start against San Diego's Edinson Volquez. Playing in an American League park, the Padres slotted OF Kyle Blanks into the DH spot and it paid immediate dividends as he drove in a two out RBI in the first inning to give San Diego the early lead.
Although the Red Sox were able to get runners on board in the bottom of the first thanks to a ground-rule double by Victorino, an infield hit by Dustin Pedroia followed by a stolen base, a familiar face put the kibosh on any further attempts at bringing a run home when Padres SS Pedro Ciriaco caught a line drive off the bat of Big Papi and stepped on second to get Pedroia out and end the threat.
The Red Sox were able to tie the game up at 1-1 after Mike Carp led off the bottom of the 4th with a single and came home on a Saltalamacchia RBI double. The Padres looked like they were in trouble in the bottom of the 7th after Nick Vincent led off the inning by giving up a double to Dustin Pedroia and then intentionally walking David Ortiz, but Luke Gregerson came out of the bullpen and struck out Daniel Nava, got Carp to fly out to shallow center before striking out Saltalamacchia to end the Red Sox threat.
After Junichi Tazawa struck out the side in the top of the 8th, Koji Uehara came on in the top of the 9th and got the first two batters out before walking Guzman. However, he got Yasmani Grandal to fly out and end the inning for the Padres.
For the bottom of the 9th, John Farrell decided to lead off the inning with Johnny Gomes coming on as a pinch-hitter. That paid off handsomely, as this happened after working the count to 2-2:
Red Sox win it in walkoff fashion for the 8th time this season, with Gomes' pinch hit solo homer giving Boston the 2-1 win in the bottom of the 9th. The Red Sox will wrap up their homestand with a 4th of July day game at Fenway- Eric Stults [6-6; 3.51 ERA] gets the start against Allen Webster [0-2; 9.50 ERA]. The game gets underway at 1:35 PM ET, 10:35 AM Pacific and will be televised on NESN.
After the Independence Day game at Fenway, the Red Sox will take off for a 10-game west coast road trip, starting with the Angels in Orange County on Friday night before moving on to Seattle for a four-game series and then a 3-game set against Oakland before the All-Star break.
AP Photo/Al Behrman
OTHER MLB NEWS- Cincinnati's Homer Bailey threw a complete game no-hitter against the defending World series champion San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night. This is the first no-hitter of the 2013 and second of Bailey's career- the first of which was the second most recent no-hitter in MLB, dating back to September 28, 2012 when Bailey no-hit the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park towards the end of the regular season.
Bailey's no hitter was in jeopardy in the top of the 7th- after a leadoff walk to San Francisco outfielder Gregor Blanco, former Red Sox and Blue Jays SS Marco Scutaro grounded out to third as Blanco advanced to second. Giants catcher Buster Posey then hit a broken-bat ground ball towards first with Reds 1B Joey Votto shaded about midway towards second. Bailey broke late from the mound to first and it looked like Posey would reach first and break up the no-no until Votto threw to third base where Blanco was caught in the rundown.
The Reds got runs on a Votto sac-fly in the first off of Giants starter Tim Linceum and a 2-run Brandon Phillips homer in the bottom of the 6th for the 3-0 win. While there have been a couple of flirtations with no-hitters, the closest anyone came prior to Tuesday night was Texas' Yu Darvish, who was one out away from a perfect game against Houston when Astros SS Marwin Gonzalez singled the first week of the regular season.
ELSEWHERE IN MLB- The Dallas Morning News is reporting that former Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians outfielder Manny Ramirez has signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers. The controversial slugger tested positive twice for banned performance enhancing drugs- the most recent of which took place in 2011 before the outfielder abruptly announced his retirement rather than face a 2nd suspension.
In 2012, the Oakland A's signed Manny to a minor league contract where he batted .302 with 19 hits and 14 RBI in 17 games with the AAA Sacramento River Cats. The deal called for a $500,000 bonus if he was called up from the minors, but within two weeks of his reinstatement, he requested (and was granted) an outright release from Oakland.
Since then, he has been playing ball for Águilas Cibaeñas of the Dominican Winter League and the EDA Rhinos of the Chinese professional league over in Taiwan. Since the 2008 trade that sent him from Boston to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Manny has played for the Chicago White Sox and Tampa Bay Rays.
Manny is expected to start as a DH for the AAA Rangers affiliate, the Round Rock Express. Manny will report to Round Rock on July 4th and participate in team exercises before being activated.
The Rangers have a history of giving second chances to players long suspected of using performance enhancing drugs. Texas was the last MLB team Sammy Sosa played for in 2007- two years after his English-speaking abilities seemed to abandon him while being questioned about steroid use in Major League Baseball. Sosa reportedly tested positive for performance enhancing drugs as far back as 2003- the findings were uncovered as part of a federal investigation of the infamous BALCo labs.
Police say 33-year-old Thaddeus Singleton III of Bristol was killed when the car he was driving slammed into the Farmington Country Club early Sunday morning. The Hartford Courant reported that investigators wanted to speak to Singleton because of his relationship with Hernandez.
Singleton is married to Hernandez's cousin, and police say the car involved was registered to Hernandez's uncle. Their home has been searched several times by Massachusetts police investigating a 2012 double homicide linked to the former NFL star.
Police seized a vehicle from that home on Friday.
The cause of the accident has not been determined. Police said a woman in the car was in the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Her name has not been released.
Meanwhile, investigators continue to gather and search for more evidence as Hernandez remains in a jail cell charged in the murder of 27-year-old Odin Lloyd, of Dorchester
Police documents show that police located a white hooded-sweatshirt and a baseball cap allegedly worn by Hernandez the night Lloyd was murdered at an apartment Hernandez rented in Franklin.
Investigators said they also found a valet parking ticket from the W Hotel, which is within walking distance of the Rumor nightclub.
Investigators initially believe that Hernandez had Odin Lloyd killed after the semipro player was seen talking to people at the Rumor nightclub that Hernandez had a falling out with. However, police are also looking at Hernandez's involvement in a 2012 double homicide in South Boston and believe that the former Patriots TE orchestrated Odin's death because they thought he knew too much about the South Boston killings.
BOSTON CELTICS- With the Doc Rivers era over for barely a week, the Celtics made an early and highly unexpected move to fill their coaching vacancy on Wednesday.
On Wednesday afternoon, Celtics GM Danny Ainge announced the hiring of Butler University head coach Brad Stephens to replace Doc Rivers as head coach of the Boston Celtics. Stephens led the Butler Bulldogs to back to back NCAA Men's title games in 2010 and 2011 (where they lost to Duke and UConn, respectively). Most recently, Butler lost to Marquette in the third round of the 2013 NCAA tournament.
The Celtics and the 36 year old head coach agreed to terms on a 6 year, $22 million contract. This would not be the first time the C's had hired a coach out of the NCAA- in 1997, the Celtics hired Rick Pitino away from the Kentucky Wildcats. However, this would be the first time since 1948 that the Celtics would hire a collegiate coach with no professional experience when the NBA's predecessor- the Basketball Association of America- was only two years old.
Meanwhile, the Butler basketball program made official their move from the Atlantic-10 to the Big East effective July 1st.
Before the 2004 and 2007 World Series and historic comeback in the 2004 ALCS, this was the closest the Red Sox came to World Series triumph since the roaring twenties: The iconic image of Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk using all the body english he could muster to wave fair a fly ball he hit off of Cincinnati reliver Pat Darcy in the bottom of the 12th inning of Game 6 in the 1975 World Series.
So engrained is the image in the psyche of Red Sox Nation [before they even started selling plastic cards- NANESB!] that the fact that the Cincinnati Reds would win the deciding Game 7 the following night was almost an afterthought. Fisk himself joked that he liked to tell people that the Red Sox won the World Series that year 3 games to 4.
It would be another 11 seasons before the Red Sox got anywhere near a deciding game in the World Series, and that too would evaporate with a ground ball rolling between the wickets of one Bill Buckner- at which point certain Boston sportswriters began what amounted to a cottage industry with talk of a curse.
Whether or not there was some otherworldy voodoo or hexes at work, all that came to an end 8 years ago with the Red Sox advancing to the World Series on an improbable comeback when they were three outs away from getting swept in the best-of-7 ALCS by their hated archrival, the New York Yankees. From there, Boston swept the St Louis Cardinals for their first World Series title in 86 years. The curse was gone- but one look at the animated Fisk makes one wonder if there ever was a curse to start off with.
MLB- After falling into an 0-2 hole at home, the San Francisco Giants capped off a 3-game rally on Thursday afternoon at Cincinnati's Great American Ballpark.
The Giants broke a scoreless tie in the top of the 5th inning with a Brandon Crawford RBI-triple followed by Crawford coming home on a throwing error by Reds shortstop Zack Cozart to give them a 2-0 lead. Before the Reds could get out of the inning with no further damage, Giants catcher Buster Posey belted a grand slam to put the Giants up 6-0.
Although the Reds would chip away at the San Francisco lead thanks to 2 RBI's each from Brandon Phillips and Ryan Ludwick, Giants reliever Sergio Romo was able to close out the game despite giving up an RBI single to Ludwick.
Despite no starting pitcher for the Giants making it as far as the fifth inning through the first three games, the Giants won three in a row on the road to advance to the NLCS where they'll await the winner of the NLDS matchup between the Cardinals and Nationals.
NLDS- Speaking of the Cardinals and Nationals, one day after St Louis absolutely dominated the Nats in Game 3 by a final of 8-0, the Nationals forced a decicive Game 5 in dramatic fashion.
With the game tied at 1-1 heading into the bottom of the 9th at Nationals Park, Nats outfielder Jayson Werth led off the inning and fought off a dozen pitches from Lance Lynn before this happened:
For those of you who can't view the embedded video above, you're missing out on Werth belting a solo homer to deep left for the 2-1 win in Game 4 [What is it about hair and the MLB postsseason? There was the '04 Red Sox 'idiots' and now Jayson Werth bearing more than a passing resemblance to the GEICO caveman- NANESB!].
The walk-off win, which ties the series at 2-2, is also notable in that it is the first postseason baseball win in the nation's capital in nearly 79 years. Game five gets underway on Friday night at 8:37 PM ET and will be televised on TBS.
ALDS- One night after the Oakland A's rallied in the bottom of the 9th against Detroit to force a Game 5, Tiger's starter Justin Verlander pitched a complete game 4-hit shutout of the A's to advance to the ALCS. Detroit Center fielder Austin Jackson put the Tigers on the scoreboard in the top of the 3rd with an RBI double before coming home himself on a wild pitch by A's starter Jarrod Parker.
Although that would be all the Tigers needed, they blew the game open in the top of the 7th starting off with another Jackson RBI base hit before getting 3 more runs on a bases-loaded walk, a hit and a throwing error.
Verlander didn't need alot in the way of run support, but he got it anyways in the Tiger's 6-0 win over Oakland. The Tigers will now await the winner of Game 5 between the Yankees and Orioles.
AL EAST- Over in the all-AL East playoff series, Yankees manager Joe Girardi's decision to bench 3B Alex Rodriguez for pinch hitter Raul Ibañez in the bottom of the 9th paid immediate dividends as the outfielder tied Game 3 up at 2-2 before going on to win it in the bottom of the 12th with another solo homer and give the Yankees the 2-1 series edge.
However, Baltimore came back on Thursday night and drew first blood, getting out to a 1-0 lead on a Nate McClouth solo homer in the 5th. The Yankees would eventually tie on a Robinson Cano RBI groundout and the game would head into extra innings where Baltimore's JJ Hardy belted an RBI double to deep center to give the O's the 2-1 lead. Jim Johnson got the Yankees out in order in the bottom of the 13th to preserve the Baltimore win, forcing a decisive Game 5 on Friday which is scheduled to start from Yankee Stadium at 5:07 ET and will be broadcast on TBS.
Girardi has again courted controversey by announcing that he is benching high salaried slugger Alex Rodriguez for Game 5.
CLEVELAND INDIANS- Former Red Sox manager and ESPN analyst Terry Francona was announced as the Tribe's new manager on Monday. Francona and the Indians had agreed to terms on a 4 year contract, although he hinted at staying longer during Monday's press conference where he was formally introduced as Cleveland's newest manager.
After contending for the first four months of the season, the Indians dropped out of contention late and manager Manny Acta was fired on September 27th. Francona was selected over Bench coach Sandy Alomar Jr- whose name has been brought up as a possibility in the Red Sox manager sweepstakes- took over as acting manager for the remainder of the season in Cleveland.
The Francona family has ties with the Indians that go back nearly 50 years. Francona's father, Tito Francona spent 6 seasons of his 15 year baseball career with the Indians, narrowly missing out on the AL Batting title during the 1959 season. After starting out with the Montreal Expos as an outfielder in 1981, son Terry played a single season for the Tribe in 1988. The younger Francona also spent time in the Cleveland front office before arriving in Boston.
AP Photo/Steven Senne
NFL- The New England Patriots got their first look at the post-Indianapolis Peyton Manning over the weekend and one would guess that for three quarters they liked what they saw.
New England headed into the locker rooms at halftime with a 17-7 lead and only added onto that with a productive 3rd quarter including Brady rushing to a TD on 3rd and goal followed immediately by Pats DE Rod Ninkovitch sacking Peyton Manning on the Broncos 14 yard line. The sack resulted in a fumble that was recovered by big Vince Wilfork. On the very next play, Stevan Ridley punched in in for the TD on an 8 yard run to put New England up 31-7.
However, with a little over a quarter to go, Manning appeared to rally his team, starting with a TD pass inside the Patriots Red Zone with just 1:08 to go in the 3rd.
After a sack of Brady mid-field with just over 8 minutes to go in the 4th, the Broncos recovered the ball mid-field and were able to hit paydirt six plays later to make it 10 point game. On the Patriots' next possession Stevan Ridley coughed up the ball on the Broncos 37 yard line. The Broncos were able to get the ball as far as the New England 11 yard line and threatened to make it a three point game with just under four minutes to go, but RB Willis McGahee fumbled and the ball was recovered by Pats linebacker Jermaine Cunningham with 3:42 remaining. The Patriots were then able to get a first down and wind down the clock from there, preserving the 31-21 lead and giving New England a 3-2 record.
This Sunday, the Patriots will travel to the Pacific Northwest to take on the Seattle Seahawks- also sporting a 3-2 record. Kickoff is at 4:05 PM ET, 1:05 PM PT, and the game will be televised on CBS.
ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL- Tennessee Titans kicker Rob Bironas knocked the Pittsburgh Steelers into 3rd place in the AFC North thanks to a last-second field goal in the Titans'26-23 win over Pittsburgh on Thursday night.
Titans QB Matt Hasselbeck went 25-44 with 290 yards along with a TD and an interception and was sacked three times while Steelers starting QB Roethlisberger also had 1 TD pass and an itnerception to his name while going 24-40 with 363 yards in the losing effort.
The Titans got the ball back from Pittburgh at mid-field with 48 seconds remaining and the game tied at 23-23 after a missed Shaun Suisham FG attempt from 54 yards. Hasselbeck then completed a pass to TE Jared Cook on 3rd and 5 before Cook tightroped along the sidelines for a total gain of 25 yards, the first down, getting Bironas in FG range and stopping the clock with 39 seconds to go.
Bironas was 4 for 4 on the night while Suisham went 3 for 4 in FG attempts, with the critical miss from mid-field coming late in the 4th and giving the Titans excellent field position.
DETROIT LIONS- Actor and Detroit Lions defensive legend Alex Karras has passed away in a southern California hospice at the age of 77. The son of Greek immigrants, Karras grew up in northwestern Indiana and went to college at Iowa. During the 1956 season, he was on the first Hawkeyes team to earn a berth in the Rose Bowl, going on to beat Oregon State by a 35-19. That same year he was named an All American and was a runner-up in the 1957 Heisman trophy race. Shortly before being drafted by the Detroit Lions, Karras had reportedly declined an offer to play with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League.
In his 16 year NFL career, Karras had 4 interceptions and recovered 16 fumbles and was selected to the Pro Bowl 4 times. Sometimes known as 'the angry duck', Karras was suspended for the 1963 season due to his ownership of a Detroit bar known for illegal gambling.
After his NFL career, Karras went on to a reasonably successful acting and broadcast career. In 1972, he hosted a CFL pregame show on the CBC affiliate in Windsor, Ontario- just across the river from Detroit, MI. In 1974, he had a cameo as the burly and dim-witted Mongo in Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles. Later on that year he also started a two year stint in the Monday Night Football broadcast booth.
Starting in the 1980's Karras also played sports reporter George Papadopolis on the ABC sitcom Webster. Along with the dimunitive Emmanuel Lewis, Karras also starred alongside real-life wife Susan Clark. In 1991, he was named to the College Football Hall of Fame.
Karras' later life was marked by heart disease, dementia and cancer. He passed away on Wednesday, October 12.
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS- The New Orleans Saints have earned their first win since news of 'Bountygate' broke and made history in the process.
On their second possession of the night and trailing the visiting San Diego Chargers 7-0, Drew Brees completed a TD pass to WR Devery Henderson to break Johnny Unitas' record of consecutive games with at least 1 TD pass. The record has stood for 52 years until the Sunday night game.
The Saints would go on to win the Sunday night game by a final of 31-24, snapping a 4-game losing strak. Despite being suspended by the NFL over the Bountygate scandal, the league allowed Saints coach Sean Payton to attend the game in anticipation of Brees reaching the milestone.
NCAA FOOTBALL- After week after playing only half a good game against the Clemson Tigers in Chestnut Hill (losing by a 45-31 final), the BC Eagles headed to West Point to take on Army.
The Black Knights were coming off an embarassing 23-3 loss at home to Stony Brook of the FCS and still searching for their first win of the season.
With Boston College leading 31-27 and Army driving the ball late in the 4th quarter, the Black Knights decided to go for it on 4th and goal, but were stopped on the 1 yard line with just over 2 minutes remaining. Although the Eagles got the ball back, they were in the shadow of their own end zone and went 3 and out, burning just over 20 seconds off the game clock.
The ensuing punt gave Army the ball on Boston College's 38 yard line with 1:09 remaining in the game. After the Black Knights advanced the ball as far as the Eagle's 29, Boston College was hoping to come up with a stop on 3rd and 1. Instead, Black Knights QB Trent Steelman rushed 29 yards for paydirt to give Army the late 34-31 lead. Although BC would get the ball back with just under a minute to go, their last posession was more a comedy of errors than anything else and the game ended when Eagles WR Bobby Swigert coughed up the ball at the BC 33 with 11 seconds to go.
Army hangs on for the 34-31 win, their first of the season, while BC drops to 1-4. The Eagles will travel to Talahassee this weekend to take on #12 Florida State, who are coming off a stunning loss of their own, dropping a 17-16 decision to North Carolina State last weekend.
MLB- Amidst a tightening wild card race, Cincinnati starter Homer Bailey stole the baseball spotlight on Friday night by throwing the Reds' first no-hitter in nearly 24 years.
Having clinched the NL Central pennant nearly a week ago, the Reds didn't have much to play for other than postseason positioning. Despite the torrid start earlier this season, the Pittsburgh Pirates were playing to finish above .500 for the first time in 20 seasons.
Although Cincinnati jumped out to an early 1-0 lead thanks to a sac-fly from outfielder Todd Frazier, that would be all the scoring Pirate's starter AJ Burnett would allow in the early going. However, on the strength of Bailey's no-hitter, it would be all the Reds would need.
Bailey would total a relatively efficient 115 pitches in the Friday night contest. The only baserunners allowed came on an error in the bottom of the 3rd where SS Clint Barmes reached 1st and a walk to Bucs outfielder Andrew McCutchen in the bottom of the 7th. In what would be the 7th no-hitter of the 2012 MLB season, Homer Bailey matched a career high 10 strikeouts in what would turn out to be only his third complete game in the majors. Curiously, Bailey's other two complete games were against the Pirates.
The last pitcher to throw a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates was St Louis Cardinals Hall of Famer Bob Gibson on August 14, 1971. That took place back in the days when the Pirates played in the old Three Rivers Stadium- Bailey's no-hitter was the first ever to take place in PNC Park, which opened during the 2001 season.
The last Reds starter to throw a no-hitter was Tom Browning, who threw a perfect game against the Dodgers in September 1988. Prior to Friday night in Pittsburgh, the most recent no-hitter thrown in the majors was Seattle's Felix Hernandez in what would turn out to be another 1-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
AP Photo/Pat Sullivan
ELSEWHERE IN THE NL CENTRAL- Wednesday night marked the end of an era on a couple of different levels in Houston. The 2-0 shutout win over the wild card-contending St Louis Cardinals marked not only the last home game that Astros announcer Milo Hamilton called before his retirement, but also the last home game before the Astros move over the the American League. Starter Bud Norris [6-13; 4.82 ERA] threw 7 and ⅓ shutout innings and had the honor of being the last pitcher to bat at Minute Maid Park barring some sort of League-wide rule change [Remember this- it will probably be a trivia question at some point in the future- NANESB!].
Meanwhile, the 85 year old Hamilton- who is best known for calling Hank Aaron's 715th career homer as an announcer for the Braves- will reportedly make a cameo via remote during the Astros regular season finale and appear on the weekly offseason 'Astroline' show this upcoming fall and winter.
NFL- Thursday night's game between the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens marked the return of the regular NFL officiating crews to the field since the end of Superbowl XLVI- and perhaps the only time in NFL history that the officials took to the field to a standing ovation and thunderous applause.
AP Photo/Nick Wass
Unlike most of the game on Monday night in Seattle, Thursday night's game passed without incident until the 4th quarter. With the Ravens leading by 13 heading into the 4th, the Brown managed to cut the lead down to 23-13 with just over 12 minutes to go before another Browns drive into Baltimore territory netted another long FG to make it 23-16. With 1:05 remaining, the Browns got the ball back on their own 10 and managed to move the ball down the field pretty quickly, getting as far as the Ravens' 33 with 23 seconds remaining.
Although Browns QB Brandon Weeden couldn't convert on 4th down with 10 seconds to go, Baltimore drew a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty with 2 seconds on the clock giving the Browns another shot from the Baltimore 18 and setting up a situation thst was eerily similar to Monday night's debacle in Seattle. However, instead of the Hail Mary pass being fought for in a scrum of defenders and receivers, Weeden's pass sailed unambiguously beyond the end zone and out of bounds to end the game and close out the Ravens' 23-16 win over the 0-4 Browns.
For the first time since Aug 25th, the Boston College Volleyball team played a home game in Power Gym on Thursday night when they hosted the Virginia Cavaliers. While they played in the New England Challenge earlier this month, Northeastern acted as the host venue. This also marked the first home game against an ACC opponent in the 2012 season.
Virgnia Cavaliers Libero Emily Rottman
After a wild first (and third!) set that required overtime, the Eagles managed to sweep the Virginia Cavaliers 3-0 on Thursday night, winning 27-29, 25-15 and 25-27 respectively. Current ACC Freshman of the Week Katty Workman led the Eagles effort with 15 kills- her 14th match this season with 10 or more kills- while captain Krystle Higgins contributed with 10 and Melissa McTighe chipped in with 7.
Defensively, Lauren Fields had 10 digs while Courtney Castle had 7 of her own in the back-and-forth match with the Cavs. The hard-fought win brings the Lady Eagles back to .500 with an overall 8-8 record and 2-2 record against ACC opponents.
Their next match will be on Sunday at noontime in Power Gym against the 10-4 Virginia Tech Hokies.
NFL- Three weeks into the regular NFL season and I've apparently made little to no mention to the fact that the league is operating with replacement referees due to an NFL lockout. Rather naiively, I thought it was a non-issue that would be quietly resolved before anything substantial could take place.
However, after Monday night's game it looks as though I was wrong on both counts. The nationally televised game from the Emerald City pitted the host Seattle Seahawks against the Green Bay Packers.
It was a low-scoring affair, and Seattle's defense punished Green Bay QB Aaron Walker by saking him 8 times in the first half. Despite the relentless harrassment of Rogers, the Packers were leading 12-7 late in the 4th and pinned deep in their own territory with less to two minutes to go. After going three and out, Green Bay was forced to punt from their own 4 yard line. The ensuing kick gave the Seahawks the ball at mid-field with 46 seconds to go in the 4th quarter.
Seahawks rookie QB Russel Wilson got the ball as far as the Packers 24 yard line as the clock ticked down. As time expired, Wilson threw a Hail Mary pass to WR Golden Tate in the end zone where the ball was momentrally lost among a sea of defenders and when everybody hit the ground, one official was signalling touchdown while another had signalled interception & touchback [shown above- NANESB!].
A further review of the replay showed that Packer's safety MD Jennings had snatched the ball out of the air as Tate was pushing off, but the touchdown call was upheld and after 10 minutes, the Packers were summoned out of the locker room for the point-after attempt to seal the Seahawk's controversial 14-12 win over Green Bay.
Before the game had even technically ended, the replacement officials game-deciding call had prompted fans, coaches, players and sports columnists to demand the NFL bring the ongoing lockout with the original officials to a close. Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach John Gruden and former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young- both working as commentators for ESPN- voiced their displeasure with the in-game officiating right away both in-game and on the Monday Night Football postgame shows.
There is still a considerable gap between the NFL and the locked out referees over the issue of salary, but the call to close out Monday Night's game could prove to be the catalyst to take it off the back burner. Reportedly some of the replacement officials used by the NFL this season had been dismissed by the Lingerie Football League[a league which by rights I should probably know more about but am only marginally aware that it even exists- NANESB!] earlier this year.
It's also worth pointing out that the call on the field by the replacement referees was subject to review by NFL replay officials who weren't replacements. Earlier in the game there had been a number of penalties that kept what would turn out to be scoring drives alive.
The replacement officials issue will no doubt be revisited countless times before Thursday night's game between the Browns and Ravens.
Nick Wass/ AP Photo
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS- Should Monday Night's game proved to have been uneventful, the sports media would no doubt still be discussing New England's Sunday Night Game against the Baltimore Ravens and the officiating that was done there.
Sunday night's game between two perennial division leaders would be the Patriots' first prime-time contest of the 2012 campaign. After the Patriors got out to a 13-0 lead in the first quarter, the Ravens came back to briefly take the lead in the 2nd thanks to two lengthy, sustained drives led by QB Joe Flacco to give Baltimore a 14-13 lead with less than two minutes to go in the opening half. However, after getting the ball back on their own 19 with 1:41 left in the 2nd quarter, New England hit paydirt on a short Brady pass to WR Julian Edelman with 2 seconds left to make it 20-14 at the half.
The Ravens opened up the second half by re-taking the lead on a three and a half minute drive that was capped by a short TD rub by RB Ray Rice to make it 21-20. The Patriots replied in kind, taking nearly 5 minutes off the clock as they marched down the field thanks mostly to relatively short passes by Brady or short runs by RB Danny Woodhead who was finally able to punch it in from the Ravens three yard line and give the Patriots the 27-21 lead. Although the Patriots would make a return trip to the Ravens end zone on their next posession, they would have to settle for a short Gostkowski FG to make it 30-21. The score would remain that way until the 4:01 mark of the 4th when the Ravens managed to punch it in for a TD after starting off on their own 8 yard line, making it a 28-30 Patriots lead.
New England would get the ball back and advance as far as midfield before Brady was sacked and the Patriots had to punt right around the 2 minute warning. With just under a minute to go in the game, Patriots CB Devin McCourty was called for a pass-interference penalty, giving the Ravens the ball inside the Patriots 10 yard line with the clock ticking. After calling one timeout in an attempt to freeze Ravens rookie kicker Justin Tucker [his first kick DID unambiguously split the uprights, too- NANESB!], Tucker's next kick soared over the right upright and was ruled good, giving Baltimore the 31-30 win as time expired.
Unsurprisingly, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was unsatisfied with both the officiating and result of the game, leading him to track down an official and grab him while asking for a review of whether or not Tucker's kick was good. Much was made of the on-field confrontation until Monday Night's 'Touchdeception' in Seattle. Both Belichick or Ravens head coach John Harbaugh had made clear their displeasure with the officiating from the replacement referees during Sunday night's game as well. Belichick can reportedly expect a fine and some sort of reprimand from the league this week.
Sporting a rare losing record, the Pats will travel to Orchard Park, NY next Sunday to take on the 2-1 Buffalo Bills- their first AFC East matchup of the 2012 season. The game gets underway at 1:00 PM ET and will be televised on CBS.
ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL- Although there was one overtime game in week 1, Week 3 of the NFL season featured no less than three contests that went to overtime. The Tennesee Titans made a key stop on 4th and 1 to get their first win of the season- a 44-41 victory over the Detroit Lions at Nashville on Sunday. The Miami Dolphins scored late in the 4th to tie the game up at 20-20 before the Jets would get the Game winning FG with just over 6 minutes remaining in OT. And the Kansas City Chiefs stunned New Orleans by scoring 11 unanswered points in the 4th quarter to climb out of a 24-13 hole to beat the Saints on a 31 yard Ryan Succop FG with 6 and a half minutes to go.
This has been the first time there has been two or more overtimes since the NFL modified the rules for OT. Beginning this season, there will be no more sudden death overtime- each team will have at least one posession. If a team scores on their opening posession, the other team will have the opportunity to match or beat that score. If neither team has managed to score, then the next team to score will win [unless the clock runs out, meaning the game will end in a tie- NANESB!] making it 'sudden death' of sorts.
Charlie Niebergall/AP Photo
NCAA FOOTBALL- Saturday turned out to be a good day for much of the supposedly lowly Mid America Conference. The Central Michigan Chippewas pulled off what was easily the biggest upset of the day. Trailing the Iowa Hawkeyes 23-31 with less than a minute to go at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, the Chippewas managed to score nine unanswered points in the final 50 seconds- including a 13 yard TD pass from QB Ryan Radcliff to WR Titus Davis followed by a 47 yard FG from David Harman with 3 seconds left to give Central Michigan the narrow win over the Hawkeyes. Prior to the game, the Hawkeyes had been favored to win by as much as two touchdowns.
The Chippewas wouldn't be the only MAC team from Michigan to take down a favored oppoenent on Saturday. The narrowly-favored UConn Huskies fell to the Western Michigan Broncos thanks to a 4th quarter sack and strip of Huskies QB Chandler Whitmer. The loose ball was picked up by Broncos LB Desmond Bozeman and returned all the way for a TD to make it a 30-17 lead for Western Michigan.
The visiting Huskies would score a late TD with just 1:15 left in regulation, but UConn would fall to Western Michigan by a 30-24 final.
Over in DeKalb County, IL the Northern Illinois Huskies staged a come-from-behind win over the Kansas Jayhawks. Kansas opened up the 4th quarter by running back a Jordan Lynch interception for 54 yards for a touchdown and a 23-13 lead over the Huskies. However, Northern Illinois would go on to score 17 unanswered points and pin the Jayhawks deep in their own end to close out the game and 30-23 win.
Of course, not all the games went so swimmingly for teams in the MAC on Saturday. While Eastern Michigan managed to keep the Michigan State Spartans out of the end zone for the first half and headed into the locker room with a 7-3 lead, the Spartnas scored 20 unanswered points in the second half to cruise to a 23-7 win over the Eagles. Meanwhile, in Knoxville, TN, the Akron Zips looked like they were too much for the Tennesee Volunteers to handle for most of Saturday night's contest, heading into the locker rooms tied 23-23 at the half before the Vols pulled away in the 4th quarter to make it a 47-26 final.
The UMass Minutemen's debut in MAC intraconference play was a little less noteworthy. They travelled to Oxford, OH to take on the Miami of Ohio Redhawks. While the final score was a bit more respectable than losing their first three games by a composite 145-19, the Minutemen still remain winless after their latest trip to the Midwest, falling to the Redhawks by a final of 16-27. This upcoming weekend, the Minutemen will host the undefeated Ohio Bobcats at Foxbourough. The Bobcats are currently favored in by as much as 24 points.
In fact, all three New England FBS teams will be playing at home this upcoming weekend. 2-2 UConn will host the 1-2 Buffalo Bulls at noon eastern time in East Hartford while Boston College comes off their weekend off to host the Clemson Tigers in ACC play. Kickoff in Chestnut Hill gets underway at 3:30 ET.
Georgia Tech Yellowjackets Librero/Defensive Specialist Nicki Meyer- Photo via Georgia Tech Volleyball on Facebook
NCAA VOLLEYBALL- After an all-New England tournament hosted at Northeastern earlier this month, most of the participating schools- UConn, Boston College, Northeastern and Harvard- began intraconference play in earnest [altho BC already has a win over Maryland from the Spring Hill Suites at Arundel Mills Invitational earlier this month- NANESB!].
Although Boston College dropped the first two contests to Northeastern and UConn, they managed to salvage a win in the New England Volleyball Challenge Tournament over Harvard on the final day.
The Eagles opened up ACC play against the Georgia Tech in Atlanta last Friday, challenging the Yellowjackets early but ultimately getting swept in 3 straight sets. BC Outisde Hitter Katty Workman- who had already garnered Freshman of the Week honors from the ACC had 13 kills in the losing effort for Boston while Ramblin' Wreck Librero Nicki Meyer (daughter of Ohio State Buckeyes head football coach Urban Meyer) was uncharachteristically quiet as Senior Bailey Hunter had 9 kills, leading the Yellowjackets. The Eagles then travelled to Clemson the following day, only to once again get swept, leaving them with a 7-8 record and 1-2 in ACC play.
This weekend, the lady Eagles will play host to Virginia (5-8) and Virginia Tech (9-4)at Chestnut Hill.
Meanwhile, the Northeastern Huskies managed to sweep the New England Volleyball Challenge Tournament defeating Harvard, Boston College and UConn before going on to face opponents from the Colonial Athletic Association. The 12-3 Huskies are 1-0 in CAA play (defeating Hofstra immediately after the New England Challenge Tournament) and will host UNC Wilmington and William & Mary at Solomon Court in Boston this upcoming weekend. Currently, only the 14-3 Towson Tigers sport a better record in CAA Volleyball.
UConn came away from the New England Classic with a 2-1 record and has gone 3-0 since then, defeating Sacred Heart, Villanova and Georgetown. Their overall record is 11-6, good for 3rd overall in the Big East behind Seton Hall and St John's- their upcoming opponent this weekend, as it turns out.
MLB- While nobody in the American League has clinched a playoff berth yet, at least two Division pennant winners came through this weekend.
Over on the West Coast, the San Francisco Giants secured the NL West pennant after taking two out of three from the San Diego Padres while the Cincinnati Reds secured the NL Central title after shutting out the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-0 at the Great American Ballpark- their only win in the 3 game weekend series against LA.
There will be no less than two playoff teams coming from the NL East as the Washington Nationals- sporting the best record in the league with 93 wins- are four games up on the Atlanta Braves who still aren't mathematically eliminated frmo winning the NL East pennant. The worst case scenario for the Braves currently is thet they'll secure the next-to-last playoff spot.
With just under a week to go in the regular season, the St Louis Cardinals currently hold the lead for the final NL Wild Card berth. With eight games to go for each team, the LA Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers are 4 and a half games behind St Louis.
With the current Red Sox in a state of disarray, I thought that the 36th anniversary of Game 6 in the 1975 World Series might be worth revisiting.
Back in 1975, it was a little unusual to be playing baseball this late in October. However, the series had been postponed by rain for three straight days in Boston and Game 6 didn't get underway until October 21st.
Although the Red Sox got out to a quick 3-0 lead that night, the Big Red Machine managed to tie things up and then take a 6-3 lead thanks to a home run by George Foster in the 7th and a solo shot from Ceasar Geronimo in the 8th.
In the bottom of the 8th, Bernie Carbo belted a 2-out, 3-run homer to tie the game up at 6-6 [Years later, Carbo would later claim he showed up to the ballpark high for Game 6- NANESB!] but the Red Sox would manage to squander a bases-loaded nobody out situation in the 9th, sending Game 6 to extra innings.
In the top of the 11th, Boston outfielder Dwight Evans would make an outstanding diving catch of Joe Morgan's line drive seemingly headed for the right field seats to begin a double play.
I wouldn't be surprised if many of the regular visitors to this blog knew what happened next, when Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk led off the bottom of the 12th inning. 'Pudge' took the first pitch for ball one off of Cincinnati's Pat Darcy. Then he took the next pitch deep where it soared into the misty night sky before ricocheting off the left-field foul pole for a walk-off home run to seal the Red Sox win for Game 6.
What stood out about Fisk's homer wasn't so much the distance or his timing. Rather, it was his body language- caught thanks to NBC cameraman Lou Gerard, who was filming from inside the Green Monster- the Vermont native wearing #27 earnestly waving the ball fair as he jumped sideways down the baseline at 12:33 AM on October 22nd, 1975.
Years later, NBC sports director Harry Coyle explained that Gerard's filming of the exhuberant Fisk making his way down the baseline was purely by accident. If the ball was hit anywhere near him, Gerard was supposed to track the ball with his camera. Well- the ball hit the right field foul pole on the Green Monster. So what happened?
Lou says to me, "Hey, Harry, there's a rat right here next to me and it's moving closer.'
"Well, it was a misty night and, with Lou looking a rat in the eye, it was tough to pick up the ball. So when Fisk swung, Lou stayed with him at the plate and got the whole bit -- Fisk frantically trying to wave the ball fair and then the home-run trot," Coyle said. "Give that rat credit, not me, for what may have been the greatest shot in televised sports."
Think the rat story is mere exaggeration or hyperbole?
WORLD SERIES: A month after barely squeaking past his former team to win the NL West pennant, Bruce Bochy's San Francisco Giants are World Series Champions.
Unlike Game 1, The Cliff Lee-Tim Lincecummatchup on Monday night had both starters carrying a shutout into the 7th inning. In the top of the inning, Lee gave up back to back singles to Cody Ross and Juan Uribe but appeared to be working his way out of the two on/nobody out jam he found himself in after Aubrey Huff sac-bunted to move the runners over and Pat Burrell struck out. However, Edgar Renteria belted a 2-0 Lee offering into the stands at left center field to make it a 3-0 San Francisco lead.
Texas would get a run back in the bottom of the 7th with solo homer off the bat of Nelson Cruz, but Lincecum and closer Brian Wilson would shut them down to give San Francisco the 3-1 win, giving the Giants the World Series win, 4 games to 1 over the Rangers.
The San Francisco Giants had made three prior appearances in the World Series; 1962, 1989 [the earthquake series- NANESB!] and 2002- all of them losing efforts. This is the first World Series title for the baseball Giants since 1954, 4 years before the Giants and Dodgers moved out to the West Coast.
Monday night's win snapped the longest World Series drought (56 years) in the National League outside of the Windy City.
Sparky Anderson: 1934-2010
ELSEWHERE IN MLB: Former Detroit Tigers and Cincinnati Reds manager Sparky Anderson has passed away at his Thousand Oaks, CA home on Thursday. With 1331 wins as Tiger's manager, Anderson was the all time leader in wins for Detroit and was at the helm from 1979 through 1995. Anderson also was manager for 'The Big Red Machine' in Cincinnati for their back to back World Series wins in 1975-76 and elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.
NHL: The pessimist in me knows that Tim Thomas' white-hot start in net is too good to last, but I didn't think it would be this good to start off with.
Despite allowing more than one goal for the first time this season, the veteran keeper's streak continued through Wednesday night at Buffalo's HSCB Arena. And of course, lots of offense helps as well....and that's exactly what Thomas got.
The Bruins opened up the scoring with a shorthanded goal from Brad Marchand three and a half minutes into the first and was followed up with another shorthanded tally from Patrice Bergeron and an even-strength one from Blake Wheeler to make it a 3-0 game before the end of the 1st.
Michael Ryder made it a 4-0 game about 2 minutes into the 2nd before Buffalo got on the board with a power-play goal from Drew Stafford. Buffalo managed to cut the Bruins lead in half with an even-strength, unassisted Andrej Sekera goal in the third before Milan Lucic tallies an empty-netter for the 5-2 win.
The win brings Boston's record to 7-2-0, one point behind Montreal for first in the Northeast division. The Bruins will travel to Washington DC to take on the Caps on Friday night next.
NBA: You know, I hate to say it, but apparently Kevin Garnett is kind of a dick. Yeah, I know the NBA never had the reputation of being the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen in the first place, but good God, man....
After Tuesday night's 109-86 win at Detroit [between KG and Barney Frank, the Bay State seems to have cornered the market on sore winners this month- NANESB!] the C's travelled back to the Garden to host the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night. The Bucks forced overtime, where Paul Pierce was kept busy with 12 points and breaking the 20,000 career points milestone in Boston's 105-102 OT win. Pierce has 28 points altogether along with making all 11 free throws, getting 5 rebounds on the night and a pivotal steal late in the game.
The Celtics will next host the Chicago Bulls on Friday night- the game will be broadcast on ESPN at 8PM Eastern time.
NFL: Well, Randy Moss is on his third team in less than a month. The Tennessee Titans claimed the WR off of waivers after being cut by the Minnesota Vikings earlier this week. The Vikings acquired Moss from New England in October in exchange for a 3rd round draft pick.
And there we were watching history with the sound off.
Long story short, I get together with some friends at the friendly neighborhood cantina for some Sam Adams and so I can show them the pricey and tax-free goodies I picked up while I was in New Hampshire last month. There's a flat screen over the bar that's showing the NFL network, and almost as an afterthought I ask the bartender if they can change it to the Reds/Phillies game. The barkeep obliged and we tuned in just in time to see Shane Victorino steal third and come home on a Chase Utley sac-fly in the bottom of the first.
By the time the bottom of the second rolls around, it's pretty clear that Cincinnati's EdinsonVolquez isn't long for this game as he put two runners on with two away and facing his counterpart, Roy Halliday. The Philly starter helped out his own cause with the lumber when he hit an RBI single to shallow left to make it a 2-0 game. Volquez then walked Jimmy Rollins to put the Philly ace at 2nd and load them up once again. Shane Victorino then hit a 2-RBI single in which a jacket-wearing Halliday scored from 2nd before Reds manager Dusty Baker decided to pull Volquez for Travis Wood.
For those of us at the cantina who no longer had a dog in the fight, our attention began to turn to the more mundane such as the pricey shit I purchased in New Hampshire (did I mention it was tax-free) and vacation pictures that came out alot better than I thought. With the sound off, none of us gave the game on the TV much thought....until I happened to look up and see that TBS was flashing a graphic that pointed out the last time a postseason starter threw 7 no-hit innings was the Red Sox's Jim Longborg in Game 2 of the 1967 World Series against St. Louis. We figured that they wouldn't bother pointing that out unlessHalliday was throwing a no-no.
Sure enough he was. The only runner he allowed was Reds outfielder Jay Bruce with a 5th inning walk. Halliday successfully continued mowing 'em down into the 9th, where he faced Reds 2B Brandon Phillips. Phillips chopped an 0-2 offering in front of home plate and sprinted towards first as Philly C Carlos Ruiz tore off his mask and deftly plucked the ball up from next to the bat laying down on the infield and managed to throw to 1B Ryan Howard in time for the final out of the game.
This marks the first postseason no-hitter since October 1956 when Don Larsen threw a perfect game for the Yankees against the then Brooklyn Dodgers in the '56 World Series.
OTHER MLB PLAYOFF GAMES: DJ Kitty was unable to weave his magic for Game 1 down in Tampa Bay. Cliff Lee got out of some early jams against the Rays and the Rangers win game one of that series 5-1.
The Yankees came from behind to win the first playoff game at Target Field in Minnesota by a 6-4 score.
Game one of the Division series between the San Francisco Giants and Atlanta Braves get underway tomorrow night at 9:35PM Eastern time.
ELSEWHERE IN MLB: Not surprisingly, there's been some managerial shakeups with the end of the regular season upon us. Ken Macha's been dismissed as Brewer's manager while the Pittsburgh Pirates fired manager John Russel after 3 seasons. In New York, Mets GM Omar Minaya and manager Jerry Manuel were fired on Monday.
NFL: The biggest bit of sports news before Roy Halliday got Brandon Phillips to ground out in the 9th inning was the departure of WR Randy Moss from New England. The mercurial wide receiver departed for the Minnesota Vikings on Wednesday in exchange for their 3rd round draft pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. So now he's the Viking's problem.
Moss was likely dissatisfied with his current contract status (a 3 year deal that would've finished up at the end of the year) while Brady, Banta-Cain and Gostowski among others received contract extensions. This in turn lead to all sorts of speculation about his future in New England and reportedly some loud exchanges with teammates and coaching staff. On the Minnesota end of the deal, Brett Farve was reportedly lobbying the Viking management to put in an offer for Moss.
Randy Moss is expected to start in time for the Monday Night game against the NY Jets and will return to Foxboro with the Vikings on Halloween [I used to scoff at the notion that the NFL is scripted, but nowadays, I sometimes pause- NANESB!].
Personally, I'm not glad to see him go, but if he doesn't want to stay then why bother forcing the issue. The Krafts managed to get a few relatively drama-free years from Moss, which was a few more than I anticipated when the trade from Oakland was announced in 2007.
ELSEWHERE IN THE NFL: The Buffalo Bills traded RB Marshawn Lynch to the Seattle Seahawks for a pair of undisclosed draft picks earlier this week.
