All Sport Report

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.

Reports out of Baltimore are the Orioles’ open manager job is still just that - open.

Joe Girardi, the 2006 NL Manager of the Year with the Florida Marlins and front runner for the vacant position with the AL’s worst team, has reportedly turned down an offer from the Orioles. His agent told ESPN that Girardi will not return to the league as a manager and will remain as a television analyst for the Yankees’ YES Network.

Can’t say that I blame Girardi. After such an acrimonious split with ownership in Florida, I’m sure he didn’t have to hear too many horror stories to know what he was potentially walking into in B-More.

A report in USA Today says that Bud Selig will suspend New York Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi if he does not cooperate with Sen. George Mitchell’s independent investigation of steroids in baseball.

Giambi, who stated he was “wrong for doing that stuff” in a May interview with USA Today, drew the ire of the commissioner with his comments. Selig publicly recommended that Giambi cooperate with the investigation, and be spared from disciplinary action as a result. Neither Giambi or his agent, Arm Tellem, have disclosed whether or not he will cooperate with the investigation.

Giambi has all but admitted his usage and the gravity of steroids several times over the last few years. Even if he talks to Mitchell, at best it would produce Giambi’s own story, and no real leads on how far steroids reached into clubhouses around the league. You can best believe that if any action comes down for a lack of cooperation, the MLB players’ union will go Jedi on Selig’s empire.

In a sport where home runs have drawn ire and speculation for the last several seasons, the early stages of the 2007 Major League Baseball season will be remembered for a pitching jewel delivered last night in Detroit’s Comerica Park.

Justin Verlander, the 2006 AL Rookie of the Year threw a 12 strikeout no-hitter to blank the Milwaukee Brewers 4-0 yesterday evening in Chicago. It was Verlander’s seventh win of the season and the first no-hitter thrown by a Tiger pitcher since 1984. The win was also Detroit’s third consecutive, and drew them even with Cleveland for the lead in the AL Central Division.

With so many conflicting emotions concerning Barry Bonds’ approach of the all-time home run record, and the league’s best team trying to climb out of a Bronx nightmare, Verlander’s spectacular outing will be a much needed breather in a season of high anxiety.