During the renaissance
It's an extraordinary time for Major League Baseball. Barry Bonds is seven home runs shy of becoming the all-time record-holder in that category. Craig Biggio needs four hits to reach 3,000 for his career. Sammy Sosa clubbed home run #600 last week, and did so against his long-time employer, the Chicago Cubs. Ken Griffey Jr. tied and passed Mark McGwire for seventh place on the all-time home run list yesterday with #'s 583 and 584, and he did so in Seattle against his first team, the Mariners. Roger Clemens' next victory will be the 350th of his career, which would make him the first pitcher since 1963 to post as many, and Greg Maddux, four years younger than Clemens, lags just 10 wins behind at 339. The six teams leading their divisions this morning have won only five World Championships between them since 1970, and none of the six have won more than one during that period.Meanwhile, the NBA Finals recently registered a record-low 6.2 television rating, the NHL pulled an infinitesimal 1.6 for their Stanley Cup Finals, and the top football headlines of the day are Adam "Pacman" Jones posting bail after his arrest in connection with a triple shooting at a Las Vegas strip club, police "tasering" a Miami Dolphins' lineman early Saturday, and Michael Vick postponing his charity golf tournament in the wake of the ongoing investigation into a dogfighting operation at his home in Virginia.
So why is Commissioner Bud Selig in hiding?
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Former big-league pitcher Rod Beck died Saturday at the age of 38. His pitching record in the majors was impressive (13 seasons, 3 All-Star nods, 286 career saves), but part of his spirit will always reside in the minor league city he touched in 2003-- Des Moines, Iowa. For part of that summer, while attempting to resurrect his career with the Iowa Cubs, he lived in a mobile home just beyond the right field fence at Sec Taylor Stadium, often inviting fans into his post-game world. In the four years since, I've run into several people who say they spent part of an evening or two with baseball's "Shooter" that summer when the RV lights came on and one of baseball's best bought the round. Wayne Drehs remembers.
posted by CM @ 2:14 PM
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