Oh “WOE” not well, as usual, I did not predict here that much maligned Mets’ pitcher Matt Harvey would win yesterday, which he did, pitching 7 shutout innings vs a slumping Chicago White Sox team that did the Mets a favor by pitching Chris Sele the day before, in what turned into another blown lead loss at Kansas City, vs the World Champion Royals.
Speaking of the Royals and also back to Harvey, it was vs them in game 5 of the World Series last year in which he pitched a fine game, taking a shutout into the 9th inning. Of course the fact the Royals won that game and “titled” that night is significant, but that was Harvey’s last important start.
The sickening media especially the talk shows, which were a precursor to the horrible and far more dangerous 24 hour news cycle, were talking of Harvey’s slump as though it affected world peace. It does not even affect baseball.
Now they will laud him disproportionately for his effort yesterday. He is a fine pitcher. Nobody knows how he will perform and baseball sans real pennant races, already slow, is beyond boring.
Que lastima (what a shame!) especially for me, as I really will not watch it!
If you love it, as I still do on some level do, even if you must watch or listen to it, please ignore the hype both ways. Trust me it is late, likely too late to curb this horrible madness.
The Songwriter’s Hall of Fame has its annual dinner and ceremony this Thursday and with apologies to one of the best, Paul Simon—Hello windmills, my old and perpetual non friends, I come to fight you again.
The actions of the media are preposterous and dangerous yet for one to fight its overwhelming power is on a self level even more dangerous and preposterous.
The less said and the less research the better, concerning game 7 of the NBA Western Conference finals between Oklahoma City (Thunder) and Golden State (Warriors) tonight in Oakland.
As with the NHL, the NBA got 13 of a possible 14 semi-final games and as someone who does not root for mega giants, that is not pleasing.
That said this is a good series, Marv Albert is on the broadcast so I will try to watch game 7 tonight.
Oh, I will offer a prediction, 7 point underdog Oklahoma City will play well, perhaps win and should at least cover the spread.
Marv Albert, pictured above.
The city of Pittsburgh has enjoyed great success in major North American sports league finals since the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 4 game loss to the great 1927 New York Yankees.
Pittsburgh teams, the NFL Steelers, baseball Pirates and NHL Penguins have gone (12-3) in finals since 1927. That is quite impressive!
Sans even a real post season appearance for nearly 40 years, the Steelers (6-2) in Super Bowls have more such wins that any other NFL team.
While having many bad seasons, some in the 1950’s yielding a self-depracating remark from former New York Governor, Mario Cuomo, who downplayed his baseball acumen though being in the Pirates’ organization because it was the 1950’s Pirates, they (the Pirates) won the last 3 World Series in which they appeared, all as underdogs, beating a great New York Yankees’ team in 1960 and a great Baltimore Orioles’ squad in 1971. Their 1979 triumph was also vs the Orioles, a team not quite as good as the other two, but a truly fine team.
Meanwhile the Penguins are (3-1) in Stanley Cup finals play. They are about 7 to 5 faves in the upcoming series (starts tonight at Pittsburgh) vs the San Jose Sharks. I do not know who the favorite was in the 1903 World Series but I do know that other than that possibility, no Pittsburgh team has ever lost a final in which they were favored.
The Steelers won all six of the “Supes” in which they were favored, losing the two in which they were the underdog. The Pirates (3-0) in World Series after 1927 are (5-2) in World Series play and surely were underdogs in the 1927 World Series.
Meanwhile the Penguins, who won both Stanley Cup finals as favorites in 1991 and 1992, while splitting the two most recent ones as underdogs vs the Detroit Red Wings.
The team from the “Motor City” won in 2008 while the Pittsburgh/”Steel City” team won in 2009.
As the story goes, the Pittsburgh Pirates watched the awesome New York Yankees of 1927 take batting practice before the World Series and the sight of such greats as Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig hitting home run after home run intimidated them.
What the Pirates did not know is that the pitched balls were being grooved for the Yankees’ batters to hit out of sight. Whether that helped or not as the Yankees won the 1927 World Series in 4 straight games, we do not know.
However, with the upcoming Stanley Cup Final being the first in San Jose major North American sports league history, our history in finals turns to Pittsburgh in my next post.
Readers will see the 1927 Pittsburgh World Series loss to some say baseball’s greatest team, as a line in Pittsburgh finals history.
The great Lou Gehrig pictured above.
I am currently reading “Delta Lady” a memoir by the great singer, beautiful and nice Rita Coolidge with author, Michael Walker.
Reading about half, I must tell you and go get this revealing, honest and interesting book about Rita’s life.
There is so much music history to devour, interesting personal stories to be read all one gets the feeling from Ms. Coolidge’s heart. Music greats such as Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker and others fill the pages but most of all there is Rita Coolidge and she did and continues to do so much in the world of music.
She is classy in telling the story, which does not surprise me.
I had the good fortune to meet Rita some time back and she took ample time to engage in conversation and take photos with her fans and friends.
Click below to read a previous post about the spectacular Rita Coolidge
From time to time, I will cite a baseball game during the long but not as important baseball regular season.
Surely the games on a broad level are not that important but even their limited importance is diminished with the presence of wild card teams.
Yesterday the defending NBA champion, Golden State Warriors, in an exponentially more important game entered the final quarter trailing at Oklahoma City vs the Thunder by 8 points, a tough situation.
However, again in a game so much less important, that situation paled in comparison to the Warriors’ baseball champion, counterparts, the Kansas City Royals’ situation, earlier in the day.
K.C. trailed (7-1) entering the bottom of the ninth inning but rallied for 7 runs to win (8-7). Among other manifestations, the games yesterday resulted in the Cleveland Indians, sans a World Series win since 1948, into first place in the A.L. Central.
Klay Thompson, the son of Mychal Thompson who played on 2 straight Los Angeles Lakers’ title teams (1987 and 1988), scored 41 points, hitting a playoffs record 11 three point shots, as the Warriors kept their hopes alive for a second straight NBA title, winning by 7–(koing “OKC” (minus 3 and a half) ten point “weasers”), in game 6, at Oklahoma City, vs the Thunder.
Steph Curry scored 31 points hitting key shots, as the Warriors forced a deciding game on Monday night, which will conflict, if you will, with game 1 of the NHL finals, also involving a Northern California team, the San Jose Sharks, though that tilt will be in Pittsburgh.
Golden State hopes this series and for that matter the finals, resembles 1975, not 1976.
In 1975, an upstart Warriors’ team led by Rick Barry and a rookie then known as Keith Wilkes soon after, Jamaal Wilkes, won at Chicago vs the Bulls in game 6 and then at home in a late night CBS telecast in game 7.
They went on to shock the favored Washington Bullets in 4 straight games in the finals, a truly great feat, albeit one aided by the unusual finals home/away configuration, which enabled the underdog Warriors to play games 2 and 3 at home, in that case a former home was used, the legendary Cow Palace.
However, as big semi-final series favorites vs the Phoenix Suns and with the best record in the regular season, they lost at home in a game 7 “dark match” (a professional wrestling term for something/an exhibition not seen or at least televised), think about that, on a Sunday afternoon, no less!
Golden State is a seven and a half point favorite in game 7 and while I offer no prediction, (pretty sure the game will be reasonably close), the game will be televised on TNT and the great play by play announcer, Marv Albert will be there.
One other certainty, this one unfortunate, two former players, the great Reggie Miller and very good Chris Webber, though neither ever titled in the pros nor college, (Webber was part of the vastly over rated, so called “Fab 5,” at Michigan University, a team that lost 2 straight NCAA finals, no real shame, but considering their hype, perhaps more than that result normally yields. The second loss was considerably aided by Webber calling a timeout his team did not have, resulting in a technical foul), will talk non stop and take away much of the joy in hearing Albert’s last broadcast of this season.
That is because Mike Breen, at best a serviceable announcer, will be on the NBA finals for the 11th straight season and though his being “drowned out” is no big loss, what manifests–two more “never a title, non stop talkers,” Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson almost never being silent, mean(s) no sound for me!
Klay Thompson, pictured above.
Sorry Mets’ fans and I need not apologize on this celebration day THERE of the 1986 Mets and their title, as that post-season I “willed,” in the last year before their bad associations, but it was Chase Utley’s incredibly clutch game tying extra base hit that stands out most, save the final result, concerning last night’s Mets’ win vs the L.A. Dodgers.
A distinguished Mets’ affiliate, their long time broadcaster, Ralph Kiner talked often of the tying hit being more important than the winning hit.
In fairness, Utley’s team lost, as they did after all the catcalls on him in last year’s division series.
Yet “loose” and tied and at home, I do not do cartwheels over Curtis Granderson’s home run, though it won the game.
That type hit is not unusual (break out the Tom Jones and condolences to him on the loss of his wife) but for a player to produce a 3 run extra base hit, even forgetting the “extra cirriculars,” on the road, that to me is the greater story and feat.
Tom Jones, pictured above.
The hit last night by Chase Utley, in that situation, was unusual.
Click below to view Tom Jones sing “It’s Not Unusual.”
Tom Jones – “It’s Not Unusual” on The Ed Sullivan Show
Tonight, perhaps surprisingly, the Oklahoma City Thunder have been bet from 2 to 3 point favorites vs the 73 win, defending NBA champion, Golden State Warriors, as they hope to earn a spot vs the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals which will begin next Thursday, June 2nd.
Huge underdogs when the series began, the Thunder were slight underdogs in their two easy home wins vs the Warriors in games 3 and 4.
There is much one can say about this game, the odds, such machinations about the insidious subculture of gambling but more than anything as one who once loved sports and as with too many people in this society fell victim to the title means all or way too much attitude, it is the glaring difference in the road to the finals Cleveland took and the Thunder/Warriors winner will have taken when the NBA finals begin—that truly irks and consumes me.
The Warriors won 73 games and have to deal with a team as good as the Thunder, the alternative was a 67 win San Antonio Spurs team.
“OKC” (which won 55 games in the mighty West two less than the Cavaliers managed in the woeful NBA East thus Cleveland, in a bid for the city’s first title since a true great Jim Brown and the Cleveland Browns won it all in 1964, would have home advantage vs the Thunder) had to beat the Spurs and still need one more win against the record setting Warriors to reach the finals.
Meanwhile the Cavaliers started their season knowing a finals berth was theirs. James, as stated here before, a magnificent player one hyped far too much both good and bad in his ballyhooed career, knew the East was weak and the Cavaliers a team he left years back were a good choice for him.
They were a blue chip stock, virtual certainty to win the NBA East and for the second straight season the Cleveland Cavaliers did so, finishing off the Toronto Raptors with a resounding win at Toronto, in game 6 last night.
All four Cleveland wins in the series were by huge margins, and the oddsmakers and even the know it all, often wrong, on air commentators were correct, in giving the Raptors virtually no chance to win the series.
LeBron James, a truly great basketball player, led the Cavs with 33 points, in the clinching win, that sends James to his 6th straight NBA Finals series, the first four with the Miami Heat.
Kyrie Irving had 30 points while Kevin Love added 20 points and 12 rebounds.
The city of Toronto has now lost in all 5 of its semi-finals appearances since the baseball Blue Jays won its “semi”/ALCS vs the Chicago White Sox en route to a second straight World Series win in 1993.
LeBron James
