Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 832 of 1503)

      Dice-K falls to 0-3 on the season, sets record for wild pitches

      May 28, 2009 /

      The 2009 season has not been kind so far to Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka, who dropped to 0-3 on the season after setting a record for wild pitches in a 4-2 loss to the Twins on Wednesday.

      Daisuke Matsuzaka and the rest of the Red Sox righties tied a modern-day record with six wild pitches while Twins starter Kevin Slowey was the picture of control in Minnesota’s 4-2 victory over Boston.

      Matsuzaka (0-3) tied a franchise record set 80 years ago with four wild pitches, while relievers Manny Delcarmen and Justin Masterson also sent Kottaras scrambling. It was just the fifth time since 1900 that a team threw six wild pitches in a game.

      Boston’s slumping slugger, David Ortiz, batted sixth again and continued to look slow with the stick. He struck out on three pitches in his first at-bat, the last an 89 mph fastball that Slowey left up and over the middle of the plate.

      It’s amazing how some of the key components that helped Boston win a World Series just two seasons ago can’t get it together this year. (Or are serving a 50-game suspension for another team.)

      Big Papi is hitting a flabbergasting .193 with just one home run and 18 RBI, Dice-K is currently 0-3 with an eye-popping 8.82 ERA and 2.33 WHIP, and Jason Varitek is only hitting…okay well, Jason Varitek could never hit.

      The good thing is that Kevin Youkilis is hitting almost .380 this year, Dustin Pedroia hasn’t cooled off since winning the AL MVP Award last season and Jason Bay is currently playing out of his mind. Still, it’ll be interesting to see if guys like Dice-K and Big Papi can turn it around at some point this year. You have to wonder if Big Papi is still hurt or if not having Manny in the lineup is killing his production. (Or as some people speculate, whether or not he’s still on the juice.)

      MLB

      Big Unit wins No. 299

      May 28, 2009 /

      With the Giants’ 6-3 win over the Braves on Wednesday night, Randy Johnson earned career victory No. 299.

      Johnson breezed through the first five innings, retiring 15 of the first 16 batters he faced, striking out five and allowing just one run and three hits. But he ran out of gas in the sixth and had to be relieved by Brandon Medders, who got out of that inning but allowed Atlanta to score two unearned runs to cut into San Fran’s lead at 4-3.

      But the Giants managed to add two runs in their half of the seventh and gave the bullpen enough of a cushion to preserve the win for the Big Unit, who will now go for career win No. 300 next Wednesday on the road against the Nationals.

      If Johnson claims victory, he’ll join amazing company in Cy Young, Warren Spahn, Nolan Ryan, Don Sutton, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine as other pitchers who have 300 career victories. It would have been nice for the home crowd in San Francisco if the Big Unit went for 300 at AT&T Park, although I think they’ve already seen a great moment or two in baseball history over the past couple years. (Even if a lot of baseball fans think that moment was tainted.)

      MLB

      Wings advance, will have Cup rematch with Pens

      May 28, 2009 /

      Thanks to a 2-1 victory in overtime against the Blackhawks on Wednesday night, the Red Wings have set up a rematch with the Penguins in the Stanley Cup Finals.

      Detroit won the Western Conference finals 4-1. The Red Wings and Penguins, coming off a four-game sweep over Carolina in the East, will open the championship series Saturday night in Detroit.

      The series will start nearly a week ahead of schedule because NBC and the NHL didn’t want a long layoff to stunt the excitement about the matchup.

      I think plenty of casual hockey fans wanted to see some new blood in the Finals, but it’s hard to beat a matchup between Sidney Crosby and the red hot Penguins vs. the defending champs. This will also be the first rematch of the Stanley Cup finals since the Islanders and Oilers battled each other in back to back years in 1983 and 1984.

      The 21-year old Crosby draws a lot of comparisons to the “Great One” Wayne Gretzky and legend Mario Lemieux, but even he’ll admit that until he wins a cup, people will always question the legitimacy of those comparisons. A Cup victory over the powerful Wings would go a long way in helping Sid Kid gain even more backers.

      It’ll be interesting to see if the Wings get Nicklas Lindstrom and Pavel Datsyuk back on Saturday. Both players were scratched from Wednesday night’s game after expecting to play. Hopefully Detroit will be at full strength come Saturday, because this series should be a battle.

      NHL

      Zambrano goes bananas in game against Pirates, likely to be suspended

      May 27, 2009 /

      Cubs’ starter Carlos Zambrano went ape crap in a game against the Pirates on Wednesday and was ejected after bumping into umpire Mark Carlson.

      Upset with a call Carlson made at home plate, Zambrano made a huge scene, mimicking ejecting Carlson from the game, throwing a ball into left field, throwing his glove against the dugout screen and taking a bat to a Gatorade fountain.

      The Arlington Daily Herald expects that Big Z will be suspended for his actions:

      After uncorking a wild pitch, Zambrano thought he had tagged Nyjer Morgan, who was racing down from third base. Umpire Mark Carlson called Morgan safe, and Zambrano went ballistic. He got into Carlson’s face and then bumped him with his shouder or forearm, earning the heave-ho. Then, Zambrano made a show of things. He signaled that he had thrown Carlson out of the game. He tossed the ball into left field and then flung his glove against the dugout screen. He finished by taking a bat to the Gatorade fountain in the dugout. (Putting the fountain there was inviting that kind of stuff; Ryan Dempster punched it out the other day.)

      Figure Zambrano to miss at least 1 start with a suspension. Lefty Ted Lilly may get something for jumping the dugout fence the other night to take on umpire Bob Davidson, getting himself tossed. Already, Milton Bradley has been suspended for two games (reduced to one) for an argument in April with ump Larry Vanover.

      Well, nobody can ever claim that Big Z doesn’t show emotion. Maybe the tirade will breathe a little life into the recently dreadful Cubs, who have won two straight, but who had previously lost eight straight before their win Tuesday against the Bucs.

      MLB

      Steroid dealer claims he sold to Nationals, Capitals players

      May 27, 2009 /

      A central Florida man who was charged Tuesday with several counts of possession of illegal steroids and firearms is claiming that he has sold performance-enhancing drugs to Washington Nationals and Capitals players.

      Richard Thomas boasted about selling steroids to professional baseball, hockey and football players, saying, “You name the sport, and I’ve sold steroids to athletes who play it,” the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said.

      Authorities said Thomas didn’t name specific players, and they have no evidence he sold to members of those teams.

      Investigators who searched Thomas’ house in Lakeland on Tuesday recovered thousands of anabolic steroid pills, injectable liquids and syringes with an estimated wholesale value of $100,000, said Carrie Eleazer, a spokeswoman with the sheriff’s office. They also found several weapons, including loaded semiautomatic handguns.

      Capitals players passed three rounds of drug tests during each of the past two seasons, and neither the team nor officials from the National Hockey League had reason to believe Thomas’s claims, the league and the team said in a joint release Wednesday.

      A spokesman for Major League Baseball, which also randomly tests for steroids, said the organization is looking into the matter. A message seeking comment wasn’t immediately returned by the Nationals.

      Thomas told detectives he imported steroids from all around the world, including Iran, Pakistan, Slovakia, Russia, China, Turkey, Spain, Mexico and Germany. The sheriff’s office said both Thomas and his wife were semiprofessional body builders, and that he claimed to be the largest steroids dealer in central Florida.

      “He was very boastful,” Eleazer said.

      Well this certainly sounds like a fine, upstanding and trustworthy individual. There’s no way he could have made all of this up just to get his name in the paper and possibly be a part of the massive drug scandal that continues to affect professional sports now could he?

      Maybe he did sell to Nats and Caps players, but as the article notes, there’s no evidence at this point that proves that he did and until there is, he’s just a poser looking for his name in the headlines. Well he won’t fool me………..crap, I’m writing about him aren’t I?

      MLB, NHL

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