A reliable “source” informed me that “The Fan,” a long time baseball Giants’ fan dating back to their days as the New York Giants, attended the first two games of the Giants’ series at Yankee Stadium.
The teams exchanged one run wins and I realized things have changed regarding the Fan, who will not attend today’s rubber game of the series.
See in addition to 3 Giants’ titles all since 2010, the Fan has been blessed with grandchildren, all born since I attended a Giants at Yankees game with him in 2002, and that takes priority.
He is family “orientated” (of course the word is oriented!) said the source, as an explanation as to why the Bellman has not helped the source.
Somehow the gods/God/the force that controls these things, has blessed the very selfish Fan and his wife.
I might question this and much else as “Tevya” does in “Fiddler On The Roof,” but maybe the answer is beyond God’s “press kit.” My parents, if they were here, might say, keep my eyes on myself and I will do that, hoping and working and good things might just manifest.
Mr. Hemingway, I believe would be amused by all this, and perhaps surprised (“bells and whistles was said on the radio as I wrote and thought “bell”) that at times the bell tolls in ballparks, subways and other not so obvious places.
There is some trouble in the sports psyches in the Bay Area right about now.
First neither the San Jose Sharks nor Golden State Warriors brought home their league’s title in the NHL and NBA respectively.
Now after the “even year Kings” the San Francisco Giants roared to the best record in baseball before the All-Star break, they have lost six straight games since play resumed after the All-Star Game which also was not a good result for S.F.
The American League win in that tilt means the World Series will open in the A.L. city. The team with that advantage has won 23 of the last 30 World Series.
The Los Angeles Sparks bounced back from two consecutive road losses and won at Washington vs the Mystics.
In what was the last game before the Olympic break for both teams, L.A. an 8 point favorite won by 20 points to raise their record to (21-3). The Mystics fell to (9-15).
The Sparks lead the defending champion, Minnesota Lynx by a half game in the battle for the top mark in the WNBA.
They probably will be all right by the season’s end, but the Washington Nationals continue to lose far too many games they should not.
With respect to the Miami Marlins, the Nationals have done very well vs their principal division rival, the New York Mets winning 9 of 13 games but that accounts for their entire lead over the Mets.
The Marlins managed by Don Mattingly, who in the famous words of “Howie Schtunk” said always seems to find the losing dugout, at least in big games, are 4 and a half games behind Washington.
What follows is still an opinion both mine and that of a fine established writer, Sally Jenkins.
I truly dislike (to a pretty high power), NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and doubly so the in my opinion, horrific power play decision, to suspend New England Patriots’ quarterback, Tom Brady for the first 4 games of the 2016 “pig” season.
In not only far more, but in truly eloquent terms, Ms. Jenkins gives her assessment. The link to her column is below, ah but actually a true cut “above.”
Why Roger Goodell, not Tom Brady, is Deflategate’s real loser .
Pictured above: “pigs in a blanket”
I may “invade” your territory of watching “pig” but never your enjoyment of eating. Moderation suggested.
Last week someone other than Phil Mickelson won a final round duel in The British Open.
This intends no disrespect to the game of golf, though it is for the most part elitist, and certainly not to the British Open winner, Henrik Stenson, but my primary “concern” was that Mikkelson not win.
Admittedly I am contrarian by nature and actually never embraced Tiger Woods, but if Mickelson was the “golden boy”/anti Tiger Woods choice of a certain population, I was not going to like him either.
It “really hurt him” as he is rich beyond words and a skillful golfer. I think he had trouble recently but I know not what really happened.
Yet, I do know he had to pay money back and as with Joe Paterno and many others in sports and life, too numerous to name, my original feelings though fueled largely by being a natural contrarian, seem worth sticking to regarding Mickelson.
In fact, a much publicized athlete who constantly annoys me, Charles Barkley, did get it right concerning sports and heroes–you may find a few, but other fields, less lucrative ones are more likely to produce them.
Alas why not your parents, and most of all yourself?!!
Henrik Stenson of Sweden, pictured above, won the 2016 British Open
Today is the last day there will be WNBA action until after the break for the Olympic Games. Play will begin again on August 24th.
Yesterday, the Indiana Fever won a second straight game, each vs a division leader, as they came into New York for a morning game vs the Liberty and prevailed.
Below is a link to a fine WNBA overview written by Michelle Smith.
Inside The W with Michelle Smith: The Olympic Break
Think of the great voice introducing “Father Knows Best” and take it up many notches and years.
Here are Robert Young, Jimi Hendrix and Ralph Nader on The Dick Cavett Show airing tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on Decades.
I saw snippets with the brilliant, thankfully still going and fighting for most of us, Mr. Nader, in an earlier viewing today, but will watch all now.
If you miss this classic at 8, try again at 2 a.m.—it will be well worth the effort and even the drowsiness.
This could be a situation in which I am giving the just completed Chicago Cubs/New York Mets series more publicity than ESPN perpetrated. Not quite, however.
First of all, it was not a great, but certainly correct prediction on my part that neither team would sweep the series.
Surely the Cubs, who won 2 of 3, with their loss occurring in by far the most competitive game, came close to sweeping the series.
However after a 9 game Cubs winning streak vs the Mets was followed by an 8 game Mets’ win skein vs the Cubs, that included a 4 game 2015 NLCS sweep, the Cubs 1 game winning streak vs the Mets, is the current (win) streak in games involving the two teams.
It is still the Cleveland Indians in the American League Central. They have come out in the first week after the All-Star break and played very well.
Almost anything can happen especially in baseball but minimum I expect the Indians, who interest the great Cleveland broadcaster, Joe Tait more than the NBA champion, Cavaliers to at least win the American League Central Division.
After that, it is truly anything can happen mode in the baseball tournament. Cleveland, sans a title nearly 52 years until the Cavaliers won one on June 19th, has not been in the World Series since 1997 and not won the event, no longer “classic,” since 1948.
Andy B Sports 