Last night there was a sports rarity as there were rematches of last season’s championship round in both Major League Baseball and in the NFL.
Of course one was a pre-season football game, the other featured a current world’s champion that has given up on the current season.
In baseball, the St.Louis Cardinals completed a three game sweep of the current champion Boston Red Sox and the three wins keep the Cards in strong contention for both the NL Central crown and failing that, a wild card berth.
The Red Sox are out of contention and have given up on this season. However, they won 3 World Series in 10 seasons (2004-2013) which is not quite their 4 in 7 seasons from (1912-1918) and certainly not as great as 3 titles in 4 seasons (1915-1918) with Babe Ruth pitching. Yet, it is a great feat, especially after an 86 year title drought.
For the Denver Broncos their “pre” win vs their Super Bowl conquerors, the Seattle Seahawks, is of little solace though it seemed Denver’s attitude was more intense than for just any pre-season game. Both Denver and Seattle are the top choices to win their conference.
The Houston Astros vs Philadelphia Phillies series this past week evoked memories of the great 1980 National League Championship Series between the two franchises.
Both teams are out of contention this year and are no longer even in the the same league.
Back to 1980:
The Phillies won that best of five NLCS in five games, four going into extra innings including the 10 inning game 5 win by Philadelphia.
Gary Maddox drove in the winning run and caught the last out of that epic series. We lost Ralph Kiner this year, who once said “two thirds of the earth is covered by water and the other third by Garry Maddox.” He was a great fielder.
Del Unser and Manny Trillo also were big heroes for the Phils, with big hits in game 5.
The Phillies would go on to win their first World Series ever.
Philadelphia also won it all in 2008 but a supposed great era with the likes of Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard and “bought pitching” has come up short of great. However, they did win a World Series.
The Astros have never made a World Series. They were switched to the American League and are improved, but still way out of contention.
Oh, but the memories of that 1980 NLCS still resonate as it was arguably one of the most competitive post season series ever.
Click this link for some great moments
Last Monday night, Detroit Tigers’ outfielder Ezequiel Carrera made one of the best catches in a long time in the game between the Tigers and New York Yankees.
Carrera is by all accounts a good guy, who was promoted to the Tigers from Triple A baseball when Austin Jackson was dealt in the trade that brought David Price to Detroit.
Certainly his great catch shows the defensive potential he has. It will be fun to follow this young player, who likely is headed to some serious action down the stretch and into post season with the Detroit Tigers.
It is so hard to get the right perspective on the career of Eli Manning and for that matter, the New York Giants of his era.
The most important plus for the Manning/Giants is that the team won Super Bowls following not so stellar 2007 and 2011 regular seasons.
That is really the telling factor as Eli Manning, far from a great quarterback, never the less, has to be considered for the Football Hall of Fame on that accomplishment alone.
He has some good years left. This year likely will be one of them. The Giants should improve and certainly could win the NFC East.
The schedule has games against all four NFC West teams, going in, the best division in football but also four games vs the AFC South, quite likely the worst division in football.
My early prediction is the Giants will go (9-7) and battle for the NFC East crown.
The dominance of the CFL West over the CFL East continued with two more inter conference wins by West teams.
In one of those games, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers raised their record to a league best (5-1) winning as 4 point road underdogs, in Hamilton, vs the Tiger-Cats.
The other Western Conference win vs the East was favored Saskatchewan RoughRiders ripping the expansion Ottawa REDBLACKS (their nickname, perhaps in rude fashion, is all capital letters). The Western Conference is now (13-2) vs the Eastern Conference.
Last week, I picked the British Columbia Lions to at least stay close vs the unbeaten Calgary Stampeders and they won outright.
This week let’s say the Montreal Alouettes of the East will play well vs the Edmonton Eskimos.
The Detroit Tigers have the best chance to win this year’s World Series not because they are the best team nor because they picked up David Price.
The reason they have the best chance is that unlike the Oakland A’s and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, they are very likely division winners.
The A’s and Angels, American League teams with better records than Detroit, are in the same division and but one game apart. The winner of their battle for the A.L. West crown will avoid a one game “play in,” and likely be at least the two seed.
Further reason for Detroit optimism is the fact the American League has the home advantage in the World Series.
Thus for that reason and the likely division title I rate Detroit’s chances as best.
However the race to be baseball’s champion surely is wide open. It is almost any year given the vicissitudes of at least three short series that any champion to be must win.
Do not be shocked if a real long shot takes home the crown.
Finally, justice, as the great punter, Ray Guy, was enshrined in The Football Hall of Fame.
As Mr. Guy said in his induction speech, now every football position is recognized by the Hall of Fame.
It is long overdue that this great performer, whom Raiders’ owner Al Davis made a first round draft pick, got the credit he deserved.
Punting is very important and Guy stood out as no other punter did and is the first player who was only a punter to make the Hall.
Other greats punted, among them quarterbacks Sammy Baugh and Norm Van Brocklin. It is comforting to know that Guy is now in the Hall of Fame with such greats.
Sometimes the Hall gets it right, but it sure took a long time–way too long. Congratulations to the great punter, Ray Guy.
Last week Bobby Cox was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. His record of getting into the playoffs is incredible and though his teams could claim but one world title, I can accept his choice though he was not exactly Joe McCarthy or Casey Stengel in the “alchemy” of converting post season appearances into World titles.
I met Mr. Cox once at Citi Field and conducted a TV interview with him as batting practice ended.
Cox won 4 true, “one quarter of the pie” divisional titles and I asked about his first one, the lone one not managing the Atlanta Braves, when he was with the 1985 Toronto Blue Jays.
Playing on the final weekend of the season in a Friday night game, Cox and the Jays were one out away from the divisional title.
However, Butch Wynegar of the New York Yankees hit a game tying solo home run and the Yankees eventually won the game.
I said to Bobby a few years back how that must have caused a sleepless night but also recalled his calling the ABC studio where I worked that Saturday, confident in his team.
Then in 1985 and in the interview with me Cox talked of “letting it go” and the fact “no one is going to feel sorry for you and do it yourself.”
Those words still resonate with me and can with all of us. “Congrats” Bobby on a stellar managerial career and imagine how proud your 1968 Yankees’ teammate, friend, and fellow Oklahoman, Mickey Mantle is of your achievements.
The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox play their third Sunday game against each other and all three were made night games so ESPN could televise them nationally.
This has been the case involving the two teams for well over half the 25 years that the all powerful Disney entity (owner of ESPN) has shown Sunday night baseball.
It truly irks me that these games have been given such high status. Tonight’s game pits the third place Yankees, 5 games out of first place vs the Red Sox, who have given up on the season.
There are so many more meaningful games including the Brewers/Cardinals, two of three NL Central teams separated by one game in the loss column.
It is too bad the far less important Yankees/Red Sox game will be piped into all those subscriber’s homes tonight.
Last year, the Boston Red Sox clinched a World Series title at home for the first time in 95 years. The winning pitcher in the game was John Lackey.
Nine months later, John Lackey has been dealt away from the Red Sox. Another reality of today’s sports and baseball in particular–fans are rooting for laundry.
Not even one completed season later, and the pitching star of that historic Red Sox victory is no longer with the team.
The so called experts analyze the trades as if they have an idea about the future, especially the prospects. The arrogant, continual, virtually useless, never accounted for “hot air” of these talking heads continues.
With all this “business stuff,” I often curse the fact, and genius, of 90 feet from home to first base and baseball’s inherent beauty because that makes it hard to get completely away from it.
Sadly, I do get further away from baseball and its beauty each day.
John Lackey
