All Sport Report

No sooner had I mentioned that Barry Bonds was in a major slump that he had to go and show me up. So, he was 0 in 21 at bats, which is a pretty bad record for someone who is trying to attain the status of Homerun King. Then he decided to go and get two homers in one game at Wrigley Field in Chicago. These were homers 752 and 753 on his quest to beat Hank Aaron’s record for the most career home runs in the history of baseball.

I have to repeat myself when I say that I think Bonds is highly overrated. I’m not overly thrilled at the implications of what he’s done to become so great and yet I feel that making him the new man to beat over Aaron is a slap in the face to those who were genuine and true to baseball for so many years. Color me imperfect for my view of Bonds, but that’s just how I feel.

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The Minnesota Twins didn’t have a chance with Magglio Ordoñez in the game tonight. The Venezuelan batting wonder is responsible for all three RBIs for the evening (It’s truly no wonder he’s batting .419 against Twins pitcher Santana). Without him, the Tigers would not have won their second game at the Metrodome in Minneapolis with a score of 3-2. In this series, the scores have been close, with just two games played against the Twins. In fact, yesterday’s game was also just one point apart, with the Tigers winning 1-0.

Marcus Thames made an amazing catch which saved the game in the 8th inning. Had Thames not caught the ball, the Tigers might be looking at a different outcome for the game. Of course, nothing comes without sacrifice. Thames was immediately taken out of the game due to an unspecified injury to his left hamstring. Though it is being said it was nothing more than a cramp, there has been no official confirmation on that. Curtis Granderson, baseball’s triple king (he’s got 16 this year, leading all of baseball by six), took over for Rayburn in center who took over for Thames in left field in the 9th inning.

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This is a new feature I hope to write every day. Each evening, late at night, I plan to run through the top stories in the Sports World. In the Run Down, you’ll get a crash course through the hottest stories, latest scandals, and most exciting news on all of your favorite sports. If you want to know what is going on in Sports, then the Run Down will offer all of the information you need to keep you wanting more!

In this week’s Run Down:

Baseball

Bonds Bombs in Entire Dodgers Series, Losing Streak Continues Onward– Barry Bonds, just five home runs away from beating the home run record of Henry “Hank” Aaron (a true ball player who didn’t have to use steroids to hit 756 home runs – but don’t get me started on how unfair I think this is), is in a slump. Fellow Giants short-stop, Omar Vizquel, said the slugger just hasn’t been the same since he had an All Star Game party, playing host until the wee hours of the morning, a week and a half ago.

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In what has become quite a bizarre turn of events, in less than a week the New York Yankess have not only gotten dissed (by former NY Yankees slugger Gary “Chef” Sheffield, they did a little dissing of their own, to one of their own, Alex “A-Rod” Rodriguez. The dissing all started when Gary Sheffield made an appearance on HBO’s Real Sports and it exploded from there.

The interview, which occurred last Friday, July 13, will air in a forthcoming episode of the show. Chef, who has become one of the top power hitters of the season for the Detroit Tigers, had quite a bit to say about the former ball team he played on from 2004-2006. It was reported by multiple media sources that Sheffield stated that famed Yankees manager Joe Torre treated his black players differently than he did his white players. Chef, who is black, was asked whether his then teammate Derek Jeter was treated differently, to which he responded that Jeter wasn’t “all the way black”. Jeter is in fact of mixed heritage with an African American father and Caucasian mother.

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Two teams are gonna do it again, and two men are gonna meet about how it all fell apart.

The North Carolina Tar Heels defeated Rice 7-4 last night to advance to a second consecutive meeting in the College World Series against Oregon State, beginning on Saturday. The match-up will be only the second rematch in the Series’ 61-year history.

It a shame UC-Irvine was not able to advance, as the 2007 version of the cardiac kids would’ve been a great college version of the Boston Red Sox… Minus the generations of losing and loathing from their fans.

In other baseball news, Yankees first baseman and new face of steroids Jason Giambi has agreed to speak with Sen. George Mitchell and his steroids investigation, becoming the first active player to do so. Seems like Bud Selig’s threats ran deep, as Giambi also used the word “steroids” in the classification of his involvement for the first time.

Selig may want the public to know that the league has an interest in solving the mystery about steroids, but its a dangerous gamble to force players to talk about issues that were deep in the gray area just five seasons ago. If Giambi comes out and says teams were turning a blind eye to steroid usage, that’s a bigger can of worms than the sport may be able to recover from.

One move has yet to be made, and the other one is all but official. The Baltimore Orioles have publicly stated that embattled Florida Marlins manager Joe Girardi is the front runner for its managerial job, just one day after firing Sam Perlozzo.

In Sacramento, the Kings will name former NBA guard and New Mexico State head coach Reggie Theus its new head coach in an afternoon press conference today. Theus was a part of the 1985 inaugural Kings roster, and turned around the Lobos program in just two years, leading them to a berth in last season’s NCAA tournament.

Girardi’s candidacy comes with baggage, as he was fired from the Marlins last season after a very public rift with owner Jeff Loria. Shortly thereafter, he was named the National League Manager of the Year despite finishing the season with a 78-84 record.

Having lived in Baltimore for the better part of eight years and having close ties to the Orioles for double that amount of time, I can tell you Girardi can possibly squeeze 10-15 more wins out of a team destined to lose under the dreadful ownership of Peter Angelos. In case you hadn’t heard, local Orioles fans staged a walk-out last season to protest his running the franchise into the ground.

As for Theus, he should be a steady leader for an underachieving Kings team. He’s regarded as a player friendly coach with great charisma and above average teaching ability. He should connect right away with Kings cornerstone Mike Bibby and other young guards like Francisco Garcia and Kevin Martin.

Kings ownership is a stark contrast to that of the Orioles. They are fan friendly and cognizant of the pulse of their following. Theus should have a successful run in Sacramento, and loyalty from fans and ownership from his previous ties to the city.

Fellow bloggers, meet the NCAA, today’s public enemy #1.

Brian Bennett, a reporter with the Courier-Journal in Louisville, KY was ejected from last Sunday’s NCAA baseball regional tournament game between the University of Louisville and University of Miami (FL) for blogging the results of the game. What was the big deal? The following memo from the NCAA office that was sent to the press box earlier in the day:

The College World Series Media Coordination staff along with the NCAA Broadcasting group needs to remind all media coordinators that any statistical or other live representation of the Super Regional games falls under the exclusive broadcasting and Internet rights granted to the NCAA’s official rights holders and therefore is not allowed by any other entity. Since blogs are considered a live representation of the game, any blog that has action photos or game reports, including play-by-play, scores or any in-game updates, is specifically prohibited. In essence, no blog entries are permitted between the first pitch and the final out of each game.

The link highlighted above is an actual transcript of Bennett’s blog, and an accompanying piece with his thoughts on the ejection. The newspaper is considering legal action against the NCAA, and classifies the ejection as a violation of First Amendment rights.

It’s understandable why the NCAA would feel pressure to eliminate blogging from press boxes, because they wouldn’t want to offer an alternative to watching the game outside of what ESPN paid good money for. At the same time, there’s not a lot of comp from bloggers to cut ESPN or the NCAA’s money that short. as this particular blogger feels.

A disparaging rant? We’re never short on those. A multimedia financial meltdown? Not likely from your friendly neighborhood blogger.

It’s no secret how Red Sox ace Curt Schilling feels about Barry Bonds and the slugger’s chase to break Hank Aaron’s all time home run record. In an appearance a local radio show and to reporters of the Boston Globe, Schill openly states that Barry is a cheater, “he admitted to cheating on his wife, cheating on his taxes and cheating in the game.”

To my recollection Barry never actually admitted to using illegal substances or “cheating in the game” as Schilling put it. There does seem to be a lot of evidence pointing to the fact that he might have taken part, but I don’t believe anyone’s got a smoking gun.

I’ve said that if Barry had used performance enhancing drugs, then I’d rather have Hank Aaron’s record remain intact, but Curt Schilling seems to be both judge and jury in the Bond’s case, proclaiming that Barry “doesn’t deserve to break the record.”

I’m a Curt Schilling fan, I was crushed when the Phillies let him go, but isn’t there a saying - “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone”

I’m as big a Phillies fan as there is, but even I suspect several of the guys from the ‘93 Phils (perhaps even Mr. Schilling himself) to have been using some performance enhancing drugs.

I think before you go blatantly accusing someone of wrong doing, you might want to have some concrete proof, especially if you could be accused of the very same thing.

Curt Schilling, Barry Bonds, steroids, Hank Aaron, homerun record

Seven time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens and the Yankees announced at a press conference on Sunday that they have come to an agreement for the remainder of the 2007 season.

Clemens and the Yankees couldn’t get a deal together last season, the money was there, but Roger wanted stipulations in the contract stating that he did not have to travel with the team if he was not scheduled to pitch. Yankee manager Joe Torre simply wouldn’t make that concession so Clemens went to play ball in his home town of Houston.

Well that was then and this is now.., So far in ‘07 virtually all of the Yankees pitching staff, with the exception of Andy Petite, has been injured. The struggling Yanks sit 5.5 games behind the Red Sox and have been under some serious fire from the media and the fans.

Torre and the Yankees needed to do something, so they made the travel concessions and offered the Rocket 28 million dollars for the remainder of the season. So with more than thirty games already gone, that means Roger will probably start about 22 or 23 games during the regular season if he can manage to stay healthy - for those of us who aren’t into doing the math, that’s more than a million dollars per start…

If the Yankees pull it all together once Clemens comes into the fold, if he wins 17 games and leads them to yet another World Series Championship then I suppose this will have been worth it. But if they continue to falter, if Roger begins to show signs of his age and only manages three or four wins, if the pinstripes fail to make the playoffs - then this will be the biggest waste of money in Yankee history, and that is saying a lot.

Rocket, Yankess, baseball, pinstripes, Roger Clemens

The defending World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals had begun the season with a less than impressive fashion.

The team currently sits with a record of 10-14, five and a half games out of the division lead, in a three way tie for last place. The ace of their pitching staff, Chris Carpenter, is on the disabled list as is another big arm from the starting rotation - Mark Mulder.

At the outset of the weekend a two word headline appeared in a St. Louis newspaper “No Chance”, speaking of the Chicago Cubs and their World Series hopes. The struggling Cubs were coming into town for a three game weekend series, and they now had extra motivation in the form of a newspaper article.

Cardinals’ manager Tony Larussa lashed out at the media before the series began, and in a story straight from a movie script - the jilted, insulted Cubs won the first two of the scheduled three meetings. The teams didn’t make it onto the field for the third.

Early sunday morning Cardinal’s relief pitcher Josh Hancock was involved in a fatal car accident. The twenty-nine year old’s SUV struck the back of a tow truck and Hancock was presumably killed on impact. Police reported that Hancock was driving at or very close to the speed limit, and there were no open containers in the vehicle. It appears Hancock just didn’t see the truck until it was too late.

This is the second time the Cardinals’ have lost a player in the last five years - in 2002, 33 year old pitcher Darryl Kile was found dead in a hotel room from heart failure.

In 2002 the Cards coped with the difficult loss and went on to win the central division and were later beaten by the Giants in the National League Championship Series.

The Cardinals were picked by many, as defending World Series Champions, to have another strong season in 2007 but they’ve got a long and difficult road ahead of them. After postponing the final game of their series against the Cubs on Sunday, the Cards dropped the first of a 3 game series agains the division leading Brewers.

The Cardinals will wear Hancock’s number 32 on their arms for the rest of the season to pay homage to a young man who will be remembered as a great friend, a great teammate and an integral part of their 2006 success.

St Louis Cardinals, Josh Hancock, World Series Champions, Darryl Kile

The baseball season is almost twenty games old and right at the moment, there isn’t anyone hotter that the Yankee’s Alex Rodriguez, despite the fact that the Yankees are on a six game losing streak A-Rod is on fire. In my humble opinion, the secong hottest team in baseball is the red hot Philadelphia Phillies - who are riding a streak where they’ve won five of their last six. No surprises there, on another site, I predicted A-Rod to shine as this years AL MVP, and, much like the Phils animated shortstop, I predicted the Phils to run rampant in the east.

The surprise comes at who is the next hottest:

Forty-two year old Barry Bonds has seven homeruns over the course of the Giants first 17 games putting him at 741 for his incredible career, just fourteen away from tying Hank Aarons all-time record.

Bonds has homered three times in his last six games and has led the Giants to eight straight wins, making them the hottest team in the game right now, in either league.

Honestly I thought Barry was through, after missing virtually all of the 2005 season, and managing only 26 home runs last season, which was his lowest total since 1991, I thought maybe he didn’t have anything left in the tank. But if you’ve learned anything from coming to this site, it’s that I can most certainly be wrong. (I predicted the Phoenix Coyotes to make the playoffs for God sakes)

Bonds has been on an offensive tiraid, along with his seven homers, he has 15 RBIs and is batting .346. If Barry’s body can sustain this pace, he’ll have the all-time homerun crown all to himself by the end of May.

Barry Bonds, baseball, Phillies, Giants, A-Rod

The Philadelphia Phillies have begun the season in a dismal fashion - a 3-9 record with only one win at home. The ace of their pitching staff, Brett Myers, has been shelled in his last two starts; their runners LOB is in double digits nearly every game, they are barely hitting above .200 with runners in scoring position and they have the worst bullpen in baseball.

The only thing the Phillies seem to be fighting for is to keep their head above water, and they are losing that battle.

Phillies Manager Charlie Manuel has been criticized in the media for not cutting loose on his players when they don’t perform up to expectations and for the fact that he’s too nice, too laid back. Well all that came to a head in a press conference after a 8-1 loss to the division rival Mets Tuesday night.

The verbal altercation began during the press conference when Eskin suggested Manuel rip into the players in the clubhouse to shake things up. Charlie responded first by saying that he did throw the occasional clubhouse fit, then by challenging his long time critic to a fit. Fightin’ Charlie asked Eskin to stop by his office, said that he would be waiting for him.

The two later met up in the Phillies clubhouse, where Manuel actually had to be restrained by two of his coaches.

I, for one, would like to see Charlie Manuel beat up on Howard Eskin. I think that would fire up the team more than yelling at them after a pitiful on field performance. A manager that’s willing to fight for his team is someone who get’s respect. plus there could be an added benefit - if Charlie breaks Eskin’s jaw in the fight, Howard will have no choice but to keep his damn mouth shut!

Phillies, Charlie Manuel, Howard Eskin, Phillies manager fight, Philies fight

After a diving attempt to snag a fly ball, then slipping while trying to throw the ball back to the infield, Cubs center fielder Alfonso Soriano suffered a three to four inch strain in his hamstring that will likely have him spending some time on the disabled list.

Soriano, who was the Cubs major off-season aquisition and the reason many people pick Chicago to be competitive in 2007 hasn’t really gotten off to the start that many people had expected. The Cubs signed Soriano to an eight year contract worth more than 130 million dollars, in part because of the monster year he had with the otherwise less than entertaining Washington Nationals last season. In 159 games in ‘06, Alfonso hit .277 with 46 homeruns and 95 RBI in one of the larger, more pitcher friendly stadiums in Major League Baseball, he also managed 41 doubles and 41 stolen bases making him one of the most potent offensive threats in the National League last year.

So far this season, in twelve games with the Cubs, Soriano is batting only .245 with no homeruns and only one RBI. Probably not the numbers the Cubs expected from the player with the biggest paycheck on the roster and now he’s heading to the DL with a bad wheel. That means he’ll likely miss at least ten days, and he probably won’t be nearly as much of a threat on the base paths for a few weeks while he fully recovers from the injury.

There’s a good chance that Soriano will be his old self again - pounding homeruns and stealing bases with the best of them, but right now I’m happy the Phillies didn’t shell out 136 million on him.

Cubs, Alfonso Soriano, free agent signings, baseball injuries

April second marked baseball’s opening day for many Major League clubs, and there were some great matchups, some unlikely occurances and even some tears.

The Yankees trampled the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, no surprises there. Jason Giambi knocked in three runs and Alex Rodriguez got his season off to a bang with a two run home run. But the real story here happened before the game got underway. The Yankees paid tribute to Cory Lidle, who died flying his plane in the offseason. Lidle’s family was on hand to throw out the first pitch in a very emotional kick off to the season.

In the National League, the Dodgers, who are picked by many to win the West, were shocked by Milwaukee. Brewers ace Ben Sheets pitched a two hit gem, it was the first opening day complete game in the last decade and a half.

Adam Dunn crushed two homeruns to power the Cincinnati Reds over the new look Cubs.

It took and extra frame, but the Pirates shocked the Houston Astros taking a win by way of Jason Bay’s two run homer in the tenth.

Boston Red Sox ace Curt Schilling had a rough outing, giving up a bases loaded walk in the first and hitting the showers in the fourth. This was the first time Schilling hasn’t made it to the fifth inning in a decade and the Sox take the loss 7-1.

And the biggest opening day shock of all - The Phils lose to the Braves in ten.

Edgar Renteria quickly became the Phils opening day nemesis as he pounded a Brett Myers fastball into the seats in the eighth inning to tie the game at three. As if that weren’t enough, Edgar came up to the plate in the tenth and after failing to lay down a bunt to advance a baserunner, not once, but twice - Renteria pounded a Ryan Madsen curveball into the stands giving the Braves a lead they wouldn’t give up. Myers pitched well, only giving up four hits and striking out nine over eight innings, he made a few mistakes and the Braves capitalized. Braves take the opener 5-3.

My beloved Philadelphia Phillies are currently tied for last place in the National League East with the Washington Nationals, but mark my words, this will be the one and only time this season that the Phils will occupy the basement!

Baesball opening day, Ben Sheets, Jason Giambi, Alex Rodriguez, Curt Schilling, Edgar Renteria, Brett Myers, Phillies, Braves, Cory Lidle tribute