Sports Notes, One Can Only Get Here
First of all, the Lakers and Lightning from Los Angeles and Tampa respectively, copped the NBA and NHL crowns.
Meanwhile the league top seeds, Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays, the latter after a Diego Castillo win in the decisive 5th vs the Yankees and a 5 out save in the ALCS opener vs the ‘Stros, are each over 2 to 1 favorites to advance to the World Series.
Really esoteric: The “L”akers and “L”ightning winning respective NBA and NHL crowns marks the 13th time in 73 possibilities (the NBA, then the B.A.A. began in 1947 and there was no NHL season in 2005), that teams with the same first letter in their nickname took the crown.
Nine times it was the Boston “C”eltics (they have just 1 title in the last 34 sesons, after accounting for an incredible 40 percent (16) of the loop’s first 40 titles (’47-’86) and Montreal “C”anadiens (they have but 2 titles in the last 40 completed NHL seasons, none in the last 26, after an also incredible 15 in 24 seasons (5 of every 8= 62 and a half percent) from 1956-1979) winning titles together.
The other 3 are the Miami “H”eat and Carolina “H”urricanes in 2006, the San Antonio “S”purs/ Dallas “S”tars in 1999 and the Houston “R”ockets/New York “R”angers in 1994. Of course the Lakers beat the Heat and Lightning took the Stars to win it all this year.
On Friday October 2nd, first the San Diego Padres won a decisive third game to eliminate the St. Louis Cardinals from this year’s 16 team field ‘offs, followed by news that a great Cards’ pitcher, Bob Gibson had died.
A week later on Friday October 9th, first news came that a great New York Yankees’ pitcher, Edward “Whitey” Ford had died and then the Rays won the aforementioned (2-1) tilt (Mike Brosseau’s decisive B8, home run and all it entails, including the fact the Yankees, still easily major North American professional sports league’s greatest record,— guess what the Lakers are now in the “mix” and I do not mean Steve Mix—, who played well in defeat the night the Lakers won the ’80 crown, now have just one more title (27) than failures to title, despite ‘offs appearances (26), that eliminated the Yankees from post-season play.
Click below to view a recent post about great pitchers on a day in May, 1963, in which there were losses exponentially less significant for Gibson/Cards and Ford/Yankees.
Andy B Sports 