http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/ Newsday's Jim Baumbach, Anthony Rieber and (sometimes) Chicago Norm bring you the best -- and the worst -- of the sports world. en Copyright 2008 Sat, 05 Jul 2008 18:50:38 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss A-Rod and Madonna should date. They have a lot in common. She hasn't had a hit in 15 years. He hasn't had a clutch hit in 15 years. Yes, I'm back. Anything happen while I was away?]]> http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/07/arod_and_madonna_update.html http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/07/arod_and_madonna_update.html Sat, 05 Jul 2008 18:50:38 -0500 You probably heard that Joey Chestnut won the Nathan's dog-biting contest Friday in overtime. He and Takeru Kobayashi finished with 59 each at the end of 10 minutes and then Chestnut finished first in a five-hot dog overtime period. I think it would have been really cool to do the overtime in shootout format. Chestnut eats one, Kobayashi eats one, Chestnut eats No. 2, Kobayashi eats No. 2 until one of them exploded or tapped out. I wish there was a Chicago version of the contest, with the contestants having to eat fully loaded dogs. That would slow 'em down. ]]> http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/07/what_would_64_hot_dogs_cost_at.html http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/07/what_would_64_hot_dogs_cost_at.html Sat, 05 Jul 2008 13:18:42 -0500 Chicago-style all-star salute. This was suggested by Isles505. And happy birthday to him on Sunday. ]]> http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/07/happy_birthday_usa.html http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/07/happy_birthday_usa.html Fri, 04 Jul 2008 21:17:33 -0500 Larry Harmon, the original Bozo, passed away Thursday and the world will miss him. Why is this a sports story, you ask? Well, it's not. Unless you consider Bozo's Ring Toss to be a sporting event. If so, Bozo's Ring Toss was the first sporting event my sister ever witnessed live - and it's directly responsible for my first trip to Wrigley Field. I must have been 10 and my sister was 7, and my mom somehow got tickets for a Bozo's Circus show. This was the Chicago version, of course. So, we went downtown to the WGN studios, which I believe were in the basement of Tribune Tower. I was too big to sit in the gallery and had to watch the show from the sidelines with the adults but my sister got in and got an up close personal look at Bob Bell, Chicago's longtime Bozo, and the ring toss, the bucket game and Grand Parade. Me, being 10, thought the whole thing was stupid and I let my mom know it. So, a week later she decided it was my turn and the three of us went to a Ladies' Day game at Wrigley Field. As we got off the bus at Clark Street, I could already hear Pat Peiper's piercing voice announce the lineups. We took a one-block walk to the park and my mom plunked down $1.20 for two kids tickets and we all walked into an empty ballpark. You have to remember that in 1960, there were no Cub fans and even on Ladies Day Wrigley was a ghost town. So we sat in the first row of the grandstand (now $100 box seats) and watched the Cubs and Dodgers. All I can remember from the game is that Ernie Banks didn't hit a home run and the attendance was about 5,000. I should mention that my dad had been taking me to White Sox games for years and I was used to much bigger crowds, especially since the Sox had won the pennant the year before and Comiskey Park had a brand-new exploding scoreboard. But even though I didn't like the Cubs (I once got into a Patrol Boy Belt fight with David Herzog over whether Banks or Looie Aparicio was the better shortstop. Apparantly, I won, as Banks was moved to first base.), I did see how easy it was to get to Wrigley and started going to games alone. Or with my sister or cousins. Imagine a 10-year-old and a 7-year-old going to ballgames on their own today. Well, if you've read this far you must be pretty bored, and I apologize. So, again, have a great Fourth and remember that fireworks are illegal in New York. UPDATE FROM JIM: I believe one of Bozo's relatives is a first-round pick of the Angels from a few years back. I know this only because I recall being in Anaheim for a Yankee series and hearing the kid interviewed by Rex Hudler. I may have just dreamed this, of course. I'll do some research later on and get back to you. Carry on.]]> http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/07/were_all_bozos_on_this_bus.html http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/07/were_all_bozos_on_this_bus.html Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:11:46 -0500 I know most people are taking a vacation from their computer today, but just in case you dropped in for a Final Score fix, here's what happens when an ambidextrous pitcher faces a switch hitter. Have a safe holiday and please be sure to come back with same number of fingers that you started off with today. ]]> http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/07/happy_fourth_of_july.html http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/07/happy_fourth_of_july.html Baseball Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:30:55 -0500 Remember how bitter the divorce between George Foster and the Mets was back in '86? It was over those comments Foster made about how the Mets promote white players over black players (he claims he was misquoted and taken out of context). Anyway, Foster and the Mets are back on good terms, so much so that Foster does work for the Mets. He is on call to go to meet-and-greets, autograph signings and softball games with team sponsors. And he even pulled down the countdown to Citi Field before a game recently. And why is back on good terms? "A lot of people that were in the organization who were instrumental in that happening are no longer there," he told me today. Here's the story.]]> http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/07/where_are_they_now_george_fost.html http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/07/where_are_they_now_george_fost.html Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:50:13 -0500 Best. Pitch. Ever. ]]> http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/07/homer_simpson_threw_first_pitc.html http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/07/homer_simpson_threw_first_pitc.html Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:57:39 -0500 This Lenny Kravitz quote comes via PerezHilton.com, a site I have Chicago Norm to blame for introducing me to. "There is absolutely no affair between Cynthia Rodriguez and myself. This is unequivocally 100% not true. Cynthia is a friend and is here with the godfather of her baby, who is also Alex's trainer, his wife and their baby girl. She came here to escape from everything happening in New York City. I opened my home to her as a friend and I find it extremely hurtful that I am now being referred to as an adulterer." Reports: A-Rod's wife runs off with Lenny Kravitz]]> http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/07/lenny_kravitz_denies_affair_wi.html http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/07/lenny_kravitz_denies_affair_wi.html Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:13:37 -0500 And I don't blame them. Two years ago when the Yankees brought Tony Pena on board, Posada became one of the best throwing catchers in all of baseball. I remember a series in Tampa Bay when he threw out Carl Crawford twice. That season Posada threw out 38 of 102 would-be basestealers, a 37.5 percent clip that ranked behind only Ivan Rodriguez and Ramon Hernandez in the AL. This year, with a shoulder that will be operated on next offseason, Posada has only thrown out six of 35. His 17.1 percentage is better than only one other regular catcher, Jarrod Saltalamacchia of Texas (he's six of 36). ]]> http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/07/opponents_keep_running_on_jorg.html http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/07/opponents_keep_running_on_jorg.html Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:06:22 -0500 Of course they do! And of course they've found a way to beat the system, just like players in every other sport. It's just a sign of the times. The drugs and the drug makers will always be ahead of the tests. That should be the lesson America learned from BALCO. Anyway... I bring this up because of this story from the Baltimore Sun: In the months before his 2005 death, former NFL offensive lineman Steve Courson wrote a 5,000-word letter expressing disappointment that more players aren't open about their steroid use and saying the league's enormous popularity relies on a "myth" of its players as drug-free heroes. "I believe the NFL is a prisoner to their own public relations myth," Courson said in the letter, which was found on the computer of his western Pennsylvania home after he was crushed to death at age 50 by a tree he was cutting down. "The level of deception and exploitation that the NFL requires to do business still amazes me." BTW, died cutting down a tree? Yikes. ]]> http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/07/do_nfl_players_use_steroids.html http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/07/do_nfl_players_use_steroids.html Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:38:41 -0500 This story is really annoying. Just pick one and go with it. ]]> http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/07/brett_favre_retiringreturning.html http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/07/brett_favre_retiringreturning.html Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:35:21 -0500 It's that Madonna and Lenny Kravitz apparently once were an item ... 18 years ago. I admit, I read the stories today. How can you not? I wonder if A-Rod's wikipedia page has been updated yet? I wonder if C-Rod even has a wikipedia page. If not, I'd say it's officially time. Someone call Randy Johnson's love child for reaction. Just for fun.]]> http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/07/whats_especially_weird_about_a.html http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/07/whats_especially_weird_about_a.html Thu, 03 Jul 2008 09:10:27 -0500 Alex Rodriguez's next home run will be a big one. He hit his 535th Wednesday night to move within one of Mickey Mantle on the all-time home run list. But that's not what anyone but diehard baseball fans are thinking about. In his last six games, A-Rod has gone 4-for-20 (.200) with two home runs. He has also been in the spotlight and hounded by reporters over his relationship with Madonna, his wife's relationship with Lenny Kravitz and the fact that he plans to opt out of the Home Run Derby at his own ballpark. A-Rod better watch out. Roger Maris operated in a pressure cooker in 1961 as he pursued Babe Ruth's home run record and his hair started falling out in clumps. We're not sure what A-Rod and Madonna's relationship is, but if they are more than friends, and if Lenny Kravitz and Alex's wife, Cynthia, are more than friends, then A-Rod and Lenny have been doing a lot of sharing. For one, as Final Score reader Lundy pointed out, Kravitz, 44, and Madonna, 49, used to "date." For another, A-Rod, Kravitz and Madonna all all share the same manager, Guy Oseary of Untitled Entertainment. According to the latest story on Newsday.com, Oseary joined Madonna and her children in A-Rod's box seats at a Yankees-Reds game last month. He did not return Newsday partner AmNY's call to comment. As for C-Rod, all I can think about is the day that she wore a T-shirt with the ultimate obscenity emblazoned on the back at Yankee game. And Lenny Kravitz. I wonder what his late mother, actress Roxie Roker (the fine, upstanding Helen Willis on The Jeffersons) would think about all of this. ]]> http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/07/arod_madonna_lenny_kravitz_mic.html http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/07/arod_madonna_lenny_kravitz_mic.html Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:11:14 -0500 A couple of days ago, I saw this picture of Jessica Simpson and Tony Romo in connection with a story about Pamela Anderson throwing a hissy fit at Jess over her enjoying an occasional steak. You'll notice that Tony is wearing a Hickory 15 T-shirt. Even I know that's Jimmy Chitwood's number from the movie, "Hoosiers". Then, yesterday, while scouring out of town sports channels on DirectTV, I happened on San Jose Shark Jeremy Roenick guesting on a show and he was wearing a Hickory 15 T-shirt. This cannot be a coincidence. So what's the deal? When did Hickory 15 become cool? Please tell me if you know. I know it's 85 degrees out there, but should I break out my Hickory jacket? I know it's not as cool as the Hickory 15 T-shirt, but my Hickory jacket cost me, like $7, a few years ago during a sale at Steve & Barry's while a genuine replica Hickory 15 T-shirt sells for anywhere between $20 and $55 at various websites. The fact that a T shirt costs 55 bucks must mean it's trendy. Am I trendy? I must know. I have a Dillon Panthers (Friday Night Lights) sweatshirt, you know. I can't let anything even remotely related to Hoosiers go by without sharing my favorite quote from the movie: "Look, mister, there's... two kinds of dumb, uh... guy that gets naked and runs out in the snow and barks at the moon, and, uh, guy who does the same thing in my living room. First one don't matter, the second one you're kinda forced to deal with." That was George, played by Chelcie Ross, speaking. And now I'll go off on a tangent and tell you that Ross has had parts in a couple of other sports movies, playing: Dan Devine (the crabby Notre Dame coach) in "Rudy" Eddie Harris (the crabby pitcher who tries to teach Rick Vaughn how to put Vagasil on the ball) in "Major League." Hey, that sounds like it could be trendy. Maybe I'll go out and buy some.]]> http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/07/can_someone_explain_to_me_how.html http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/07/can_someone_explain_to_me_how.html Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:01:02 -0500 Celeb blogger Perez Hilton is reporting that apparently it was A-Rod's wife, Cynthia, and not Alex, who was doing the cheating. Hilton says that C-Rod had left A-Rod and the kids to go on a getaway with Lenny Kravitz. And that A-Rod and Madonna are just friends. I don't report the news; I just pass it on. ]]> http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/07/reports_say_arod_wife_had_spli.html http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/columnists/jimbaumbach/blog/2008/07/reports_say_arod_wife_had_spli.html Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:25:01 -0500