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How many managers
have the Cubs had in the last 20 years?
Has any
professional sports franchise in any sport had this much turnover?
Good luck to Bruce
Kimm!
The Cards may be in
first place and have certainly had to deal with lots of adversity.
But have you ever seen a first-place team tank as many games as this
team has?
In the last week,
three come to mind. The way they lost that last game to the Reds
just stinks to high heaven!
The White Sox
continue to be up and down. But are you surprised? With that
pitching staff it may be impossible to contend with the Twinkies.
Speaking of pitching,
I don’t think I‘ll ever get used to the pitching philosophy of the
modern era. You know… the starter goes six innings, the setup man
goes two, and the closer pitches the ninth.
What if the starter
is mowing them down? What if your closer is tired and run down? What
if your setup man is baffling the heck out of your opponents?
Take Saturday’s
Cards-Dodgers game for instance. Williams pitched great until he
felt some tightness. In comes Veres and he simply shuts the Dodgers
down… 12 in a row, I think, but nobody but me was counting! Izzy has
really been struggling of late, so maybe a couple of extra days
added to the All-Star break could really help him? No. Tony brings
him in and the Cardinals lose.
I know there are more
important things in the world to worry about. I know that baseball
is only a game. But I just don’t understand why when you have a guy
in a groove, totally baffling the other team…why on earth you would
ever want to take him out of the game? Why not let him start the
ninth? If he gets in trouble, then can’t you go to your closer at
that point? I just don’t get it.
I know 162 games is a
long season, but I also know when you let some slip away they can
always come back to haunt. I just wish someone in Major League
Baseball would acknowledge that!
Can you believe that Bud Selig and
Major League Baseball are trying to block them from getting Cliff
Floyd? If they really want to help Montreal, how ’bout getting some
stiffs in the seats?
How is Albert Pujols not an All-Star?
How is Jim Edmunds
not an All-Star?
What about Jim Thome?
Is every shortstop in
the American League an All-Star?
If there is a minimum
number of players taken from each team, why isn’t there a maximum?
Where would the Cubs
and Cardinals be in the standings if it weren’t for the Brewers?
Why all the buzz
about drug and steroid testing? Yes, I know we have First Amendment
rights. But I also know that people that are clean have nothing to
fear. Come on out to the LDN, and I promise you that I’ll be first
to be tested! Sometimes the things that we fight for are amazing.
[to top of second column in
this article]
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You don’t think the
ball is juiced? How do you explain the 62 homers that were hit one
day last week? I do think that it makes for a more entertaining
game. But it is a little weird seeing guys like Placido Polanco, who
has five round-trippers, hit balls out of the park. Anyway the great
pitchers seem to get guys out anytime, anyplace, anywhere!
We have not received
many summer sports reports. Thank you to the baseball, softball and
swimming people who continue to submit reports. Any golf stories out
there?
My son thinks that
golf is just off-season training for hockey!
He doesn’t know that
my worm-burning performances are not the way the game is
supposed to be played!
U.S. Women’s Open was
pretty entertaining. There is a big gap between the haves and the
have-nots. I was hoping that Laura Diaz and Jill McGill would stay
atop the leader board, but they folded under the pressure. Heck, I
can fold even without the pressure! Juli Inkster had the tournament
in hand while I was writing this. Let’s put it like this… it was her
major to lose. Not bad for a mother of two!
Wow! Is the Lincoln Elks golf course in
beautiful playing condition or what? I think I would enjoy it even
more if I knew how to play golf!
Tennis is not my strong suit (so I
usually rely on former Lincoln great Joe Totten), but it looked to
me like Lleyton Hewitt just dominated the field.
Speaking of domination. Are any
women dominating their sport like Serena and Venus Williams are in
tennis? I attended the U.S. Open a couple of years ago, and I
remarked to Joe then that as athletic as these two ladies are that
they might have a long run. Wish my stock leanings turned out as
well!
Volleyball camps are in full swing. Can
you believe that volleyball, soccer, college and pro football, and a
host of other sports are just a few weeks away?
That’s why sports are so wonderful (and
so aggravating to my wife). There’s never a letup. When one finishes
another starts. Don’t you just love it?
Finally, thanks to EVERYONE who
protects our great country in the armed forces. Also, thanks to
anyone who has ever served. I wanted to enlist but felt I could best
serve my country in the Lord’s army. To anyone who has shed blood, a
special thanks to you. The loss of Ted Williams over the weekend
reminded me of what a great ballplayer he was. He may have been an
even better man. He flew as a wingman in both World War II and in
Korea. My dad also served two stints in Korea as well and took a
Purple Heart for the team as well. Hopefully with the events of the
last year, we are no longer taking our freedoms lightly. Thanks
again to everyone who helps protect our way of life!
Hopefully
there are cooler days in our immediate future. With that in mind,
have a super week, everybody, and always be a good sport!
[Jeff
Mayfield]
[July 1 Mutterings: "Dog
days already here"] |
