[SPOOKY]

Wrapping up a memorable Memorial Day in Florida and catching up with everything in case anyone missed some unbelievable comebacks


13) Padres came off a 9-0 homestand but had lost eleven road games in a row; they trailed 7-1 in 8th inning, then rallied to win 9-7 in 10 innings at Arizona, another demoralizing day for the Diamondbacks.

12) Tampa Bay led 10-0 at Cleveland and lost 11-10, with Indians scoring seven runs in the bottom of the ninth. Prize rookie Price had his second major league start, walking five, striking out six in 3.2 IP. He was removed after throwing 95 pitches.

11) More bad news for Rays is that 2B Iwamura is out for year with a torn ACL-- he was hitting .310, so thats a big blow for Tampa.

10) Russell Martin stole second for Dodgers when they led 7-0, and you're thinking, whats he doing? Then Colorado cuts lead to 7-6 and you realize that all is fair at Coors Field. LA wound up pulling away for a 16-6 win, as they improved to 10-7 without Manny Ramirez.

9) All in all, seven teams scored double figure runs on Monday.

8) Then there was Milwaukee, where Carpenter was perfect for six innings, but Cardinals still lost 1-0 in 10 innings at Miller Park.

7) Boston-Minnesota game was first major league game in 12 days with no walks by either side-- there were 18 strikeouts, as Red Sox shredded Liriano for 11 hits in four innings in their 6-5 win.

6) Astros-Reds game was first big league game in nine days where both starting pitchers gave up 10+ hits; oddly, the last one was the southpaw matchup between Santana and Randy Johnson May 16.

5) Freddy Sanchez had six hits in Pirates 10-8 win at Wrigley; he is first Pirate since Wally Backman in 1990 to get six hits in a game.

4) White Sox had 16 hits Monday at Anaheim....in first four innings.

3) Hard to believe teams that led 10-2 and 7-1 in 8th inning both got beat Monday, but they did.

2) Right now, Jason Bohn is 125th on the PGA Tour money list with $284,935 in earnings this year-- 37 golfers have earned $1M+ in '09.

1) Nuggets had 20 offensive rebounds, were +18 on boards in their Game 4 win over Lakers, evening series 2-2. If you like watching a bunch of guys shooting foul shots, the NBA is for you-- 84 charity tosses were attempted, 49 by Denver, 35 by the Lakers. Terrific.

[SPOOKY]

SPOOKY'S FAB FIVE FOLLOWING THE HOLIDAY


1. Quick Hits

Nuggets even series with Lakers at 2 games apiece after 120-101 winin Denver.

At the NASCAR race in North Carolina a wonderful scene. The race came to a halt at 3pm for a moment of silence on Memorial Day.

At French Open, Maria Sharapova ranked 102nd in the world returns from shoulder surgery after 9 month absence. Wins first round match.

Syracuse beats Cornell in overtime to win their 2nd straight national lacrosse title. Now all we need at Syracuse is a football team.

Mr. T leads singing of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" at Wrigley Field on monday. His version: "For it's one, two, three strikes you out at da old ball game."

2. Mystique and Aura

Yankee Stadium was a special place. The history, the monuments, that roar of the crowd that was distinctly New York. "Was" is the operative word. The new Stadium is an overpriced band-box with home runs routinely flying out, even on a broken bat. (Mark Teixeira Sunday) Some day you won't see kids at the ballpark. It's too expensive. Here's the ultimate insult. Over the weekend there were tons of Phillies fans on hand. All those empty seats make it easy to get tickets. So forget about a real "home field
edge." As Curt Schilling famously sniped about the old Stadium, "mystique and aura are dancers at a nightclub." It's now true more than ever.

3. Dogfight

It's a raging debate. Now that quarterback Michael Vick is out of prison should he be allowed to resume his football career? What kind of role model would he be? My response is simple. He did the crime, he paid his time. He's perfectly free to get on with his life any way that he chooses.

4. The Customer always Comes First

How about golfer D.A. Points. He finished a career best third at the Byron Nelson Sunday. After his birdie on 18 he yelled to the crowd "thanks for coming, thanks for supporting us." Compare that with the Yankees who drive right into the Stadium so they won't have to come face to face with the riff-raff.

5. That Elusive Ace

Did you just golf your way through another holiday weekend without your first hole in one? Just like me? We still have plenty of chances left. Dean Gorman scored an ace recently in Lexington Kentucky. His eyesight ain't what it used to be. In fact he can't see what happens when the ball reaches the green. But he heard the shouts from the guys on the next tee. Dean Gorman is 97 years old. He was asked if this was a big thrill? He said. "At my age, getting out of bed each day is a pretty good thrill."

[SPOOKY]

Wednesday six-pack

-- Mets finally put Jose Reyes on DL, called up prize OF prospect Martinez from Buffalo, and got another win from Livan Hernandez.

-- Joe Blanton struck out 11 Marlins in a 5-3 Philadelphia win.

-- Zack Greinke won his 8th game, got his 5th complete game for the 23-23 Royals, who rallied late to beat Detroit, 6-1.

-- Toronto is now 0-8 on their current road trip-- not good.

-- San Diego's long win streak ended 6-5 in Arizona; Kouzmanoff flied out to wall for last out with tying run on third base.

-- Oakland has a new closer in Andrew Bailey, who looked lot like Goose Gossage last night, mowing down Mariners-- all he has to do now is do it about 200 more times, to be just like Gossage.

[SPOOKY]

Wednesday's List of 13: Random thoughts on a rainy night after being stuck at the West Palm Beach airport in a downpour. Nothing new in Florida


13) Orlando beats the Cavaliers in OT, goes up 3-1 in Eastern finals; only eight NBA teams have won a series after being down 3-1.

12) Does anyone wish NBA playoffs had shorter series; imagine the drama if the series were best-of-3 or best-of-5? Would be like March Madness. I still like the longer series.

11) Illinois hoop coach Bruce Weber got a 50% raise and a three-year extension, so he'll make $1.5M a year now; he was getting paid a lot less than many of his peers. Seeing as he has gotten Illini to national title game and has shown loyalty to team that saw previous coaches Lon Kruger, Bill Self skip town, the raise seems justified.

10) Red Sox scored 10+ runs in four of last seven Wakefield starts.

9) Alarming news from Las Vegas, where Jeremy Shockey was at a party at Hard Rock, but got taken out on a stretcher, unconscious. Hopefully he's OK and just got dehydrated from all that sun......

8) Former Florida Gator Nick Calathes is apparently blowing off the NBA Draft to play pro ball in Greece, despite fact Dallas seems to be interested in drafting him. Rumor mill has Calathes' dad behind this very curious decision.

7) A young lady in Maryland is about to graduate high school- she has never missed a single day of school, from K-Grade 12, for total of 2,340 straight days, and she is also a straight-A student, who will be going to Maryland this fall-- she wants to be a doctor. Just hope she doesn't have a nervous breakdown if she gets a B in college.

6) Best commercials on TV right now are the Dos Equus spots with the guy who is "....the most interesting man in the world." They just never get old. Sometimes, unintentional comedy is the best.

5) You know your team is in the soup when your starting pitcher on Opening Day is in the minor leagues before Memorial Day-- ladies and gentlemen, your 2009 Florida Marlins........

4) I've been killing Jason Giambi all spring for crawling back to the A's after he blew them off eight years ago at the peak of his career, but he just got a huge hit to put A's up 4-3 in 7th inning, so credit is given where it is due. He's still hitting only .218, but it was a big hit.

3) Three nights in a row, I've seen umpire Adrian Johnson involved in a big argument, a red flag that he might be a bad umpire.

2) Orioles are bringing star catching prospect Matt Weiters up this Friday-- he and David Price were the two best prospects in minors.

1) Pat on the back to Manhattan basketball coach Barry Rohrssen; he gave a 6-10 kid from California a basketball scholarship, despite fact kid doesn't have a left hand. He runs well, blocks shots well, and had a 10-point scoring average at Fork Union prep school last year. The coach feels his team needs to work harder, so he's bringing in kid who has overcome a real big obstacle to become a scholarship player. This is a good story-- congrats to the player and kudos to the coach for having some guts to give a hard-working player a chance. By the way,
JR Smith's brother Chris plays at Manhattan and his parents told me he is better than his brother. And I coached his brother for a number of years........in baseball.

Stay thirsty, my friends........

[manong36]

funny comment on "dos xx". my neighbour's cat is more interesting than him.lol
welcome back, spooky. gl to tonight's games.

[SPOOKY]

Thanks manong!!!

Hope all is well.

SPOOKY'S FAB FIVE FOR WEDNESDAY, MAY 27TH


Happy hump day everyone from the express

1. Quick Hits

Orlando beat the Cavs 116-114 in overtime and now leads 3 games to 1. The city of Cleveland has been used to this kind of heartache for nearly half a century.

In hockey, Pittsburgh sweeps Carolina and makes it to the Stanley Cup finals for the second straight year. If they win it they'll become the first team to ever win the Super Bowl and Stanley Cup the same year.

Mike Tyson's 4 year old daughter died a day after her neck accidentally was caught in a treadmill cord while she was playing at home.

It's Christmas Day for soccer fans. Manchester United takes on Barcelona in the Champions League final in Rome today.

2. Armed and Dangerous

A great story from college basketball. Already posted it on my other thread, but it is a great story. Kevin Laue, who played high school ball in a San Francisco suburb, has accepted a scholarship from Manhattan College. Kevin has one hand, his left arm ends at the elbow. He a good shot blocker and at 6-foot-10 he’s the tallest player on the team. You can’t help but think of pitcher Jim Abbott who not only made the big leagues with one hand, he pitched a no-hitter for the Yankees in 1993 against Manny Ramirez and Cleveland. Of course Pete Gray played outfield for the St. Louis Browns in 1945 with only one arm. Talk about overcoming adversity.

3. Second Base Comes After First

The Dodgers are beginning a series of "female friendly" broadcasts on their web site. There will be lots of explaining and instruction about the game of baseball. I remember a someone bringint up a similar broadcast to the New England Patriots back in the 70's. Rather than announcing "first and ten," they would explain 4 downs and ten yards, etc. The late Pats owner Billy Sullivan thought it was a great idea, butI dont think it quite got off the ground. I still think it has a good deal of merit especially in football.

4. For the Good of the Game

Just thought you'd like to know that 17-year old Romanian tennis player, Simona Halep is talking about having breast reduction surgery. In tennis, her assets are a hindrance.

5. A Little Traveling Music

Here's my non-sports story of the week. A funeral director in Oxford England is getting lots of flak. He wants to save money. So say goodbye to the organist who plays during crematorium services. He's being replaced by a karaoke machine. I guess it gives the mourners a chance to sing along. Maybe "Killing Me Softly?" Or something by the Grateful Dead.

Today's Birthday: 1987 Wimbledon Winner Pat Cash. 44.
Bonus Birthday: Henry Kissinger. 86.
By the way, Sam Snead, Hubert Humphrey and Wild Bill Hickok were all born on this date.

Today in Sports: San Diego and Montreal are awarded National League franchises. Neither team has ever won the World Series. 1968.

Bonus Event: The Bubonic Plague breaks out in San Francisco. (Other than the 49ers, their sports teams never recover.) 1907.

[SPOOKY]

Going to go easy as we get roling again.

MLB

NEW YORK YANKEES -139


Been riding Pitt and Detroit in the NHL and
it worked out well with Pitt. Lets hope for the same tonight with Detroit. It should be a relatively high scoring game as well.

In the NBA, well didnt think the Lakers would lose and it
probably will end up that way. Although the Cavs have been
an awful disappointment. I like the Lakers tonight but going to watch it and not wager it with a series wager pending.

GL

[SPOOKY]

Last night was a real nice way to start back after the holiday.

Thursday six-pack

Top six college baseball teams in America, heading into the NCAA tournament that begins this weekend.......

6) Florida State Seminoles, 42-16

5) Texas Longhorns, 41-13

4) Cal State-Fullerton Titans, 42-14

3) Arizona State Sun Devils, 44-12

2) LSU Tigers, 46-16

1) Cal-Irvine Anteaters, 43-13

[SPOOKY]

Thursday's List of 13: Nobody asked me, but........


13) Horrific loss for Toronto, blowing Halladay's 8-3 lead in 8th, and then blowing 10-8 lead in 11th-- they lose 12-10 at Camden Yards, as they conclude a dismal 0-9 road trip.

12) Padres won for 11th time in last 12 games, as bullpen got the last eight outs in Peavy's 8-5 win against the Snakes in the desert.

11) You might want to test Carlos Zambrano for steroids-- he went postal after a close call went against him at the plate, smashing stuff inside the Cub dugout after umpire Carlson ran him from Cubs' 5-2 win over the Pirates. He definitely has anger management issues.

10) Matuszaka is still winless after losing in Minnesota; Red Sox are 2-6 in their last eight road games.

9) Tampa Rays are in complete disarray; they've given up 19 runs in their last ten innings, their DP combination is on the DL, Upton has been awful. Most everything that went so right last year is not going nearly as well now, i.e. pitching, defense. Bottom half of their lineup is more reminiscent of the Montgomery Biscuits than the Rays.

8) Ichiro Suzuki has a 21-game hitting streak; am really surprised he never challenged the 56-game hitting streak record, the way he could get infield hits using his speed from left hand side of the plate.

7) Randy Johnson won his 299th game as Giants beat Atlanta, 6-3.

6) The baseball used in Japanese pro leagues is little bit smaller than the baseball used in this country. There is a difference in height of the seams between the major and minor league balls in this country.

5) Rice University has great baseball program, led by Wayne Graham who played two seasons in big leagues, for a total of 30 games with Phillies in '63, Mets in '64. Thats Gene Mauch one year and Casey Stengel the next, so I'm guessing he has a lot of interesting stories.

4) Iowa State, Colorado don't have baseball teams, so Big 12 is really ten teams when you're talking college baseball.

3) College football coaches' poll is going back to secret ballot starting in 2010, which is bad news for fans, since having transparency in the voting process made it more interesting, forcing coaches to be a little more conscienscious when filling out their ballots.

2) Lakers are now 20-0 at home in Game 5's when series is tied 2-2.

1) Red Wings eliminated Chicago in five games, move on to play the Penguins in the Stanley Cup finals. Semifinal series lasted total of just nine games- the league could use a more interesting final series.

[SPOOKY]

SPOOKY'S FAB FIVE FOR WEDNESDAY, MAY 27


Happy Thursday everyone.

1. Quick Hits

The Lakers beat Denver 103-94 to take a 3 games to 2 lead.

The Stanley Cup finals begin Saturday night with Detroit hosting Pittsburgh. Same matchup as last year won my Detroit.

Looks like rookie Fernando Martinez is a perfect fit for the Mets. In just his second game he fails to hustle and gets booed. A new team record.

In soccer, Barcelona beat Manchester United 2-0 to win the Champions League final. They celebrated back in Barcelona with hundreds of arrests and injuries.

2. Survey Says

Quick, what percentage of New York City residents follow Major League Baseball? While you ponder, I've long believed that the great myth is that everyone is a sports fan. I maintain the majority of people don't follow sports. Non-sports fans are intimidated into thinking they're in the minority what with ESPN, talk radio and the tabloids. Now the answer: New York City fancies itself as the "baseball capital of the world," but according to a new Marist poll, a whopping 61% don't follow Major League baseball. Ah, that explains the empty luxury seats, or not.

3. Gimme an "I-R-A-Q"

They held tryouts to become a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader last weekend. Sure they had to wiggle and look great, but they also had to take a quiz to show they have smarts. According to the Dallas Morning News, a sample question would be: "Name one country that borders Iraq." Yeah, Cowboy fans aren't in the stands thinking, "wait, look at the rack on that cheerleader." They're saying, "wow, she knows Kuwait is next to Iraq."

4. Protection

As the hockey playoffs wind down, The first testicular guard (cup) was used in hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974.

It took 100 years for men to realize that the brain is also important.

5. Got 'Em

A sheriff's deputy in Polk County Iowa may lose his job. It seems he went down to Casey's General Store while on duty, while in uniform, and stole packs of football cards. Of course his job's in jeopardy... any idiot knows football cards aren't as valuable as baseball!

Today's Birthday: The NBA Logo himself, Jerry West. 71.
Bonus Birthday: Rudy Giuliani. 65.


Today in Sports: The National League approves the Dodgers and Giants move to the West Coast. 1957.
Bonus Event: An ancient 15 year war ends when a solar eclipse occurs. They figure it's a sign from the Gods that enough's enough, so they declare a truce. 585 BC.