In case you were out living a life of leisure, here's what you missed in sports on Wednesday.
Legendary Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt has stepped down after a long and brilliant career. "I'm just glad Pat and I can both call it quits after such a great and dignified lifetime in sports," said Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino. "With eight national titles between us and the eternal love and respect of our peers." When he heard Petrino's statement, Saints coach Sean Payton said, "Hey, I'm with you guys."
Sources report that Texas catcher Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez will retire as a member of the Rangers on Monday. He'll attend the game with his wife, Elena "Fudge" Rodriguez, and his two sons, Manuel "Sludge" Rodriguez and Felipe "Fatty Cakes" Rodriguez.
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here's what you missed in sports on Tuesday.
Carmelo Anthony notched his second career triple-double (35 points, 12 boards, 10 assists) as the Knicks beat the Celtics 118-110. Evil Celtics forward Kevin Garnett told reporters he was impressed with Anthony's performance, but that it should only be another week or so before he starts to feel the weakening effects of long-term arsenic poisoning.
In an interview with GQ magazine, Derrick Rose admitted that he's uncomfortable with his fame in Chicago, and the lifestyle doesn't suit his personality. "It's time to start keeping a lower profile," he said, "and it begins today ... with this GQ interview."
Welcome to the inaugural edition of Grantland's weekly MLB Power Rankings. Every Monday we'll size up all 30 teams, evaluating each one based on a combination of recent play, overall team quality, and statistical spelunking.
On Thursday, an arbitration panel upheld Braun's appeal and threw out a pending 50-game suspension against the reigning National League MVP. It marked the first time that a major league player has ever had a positive drug test overturned.
Prince Fielder's gone. Ryan Braun might be gone for 50 games, pending his appeal of a suspension for taking a banned substance. Take that much pop out of any lineup, and you've got a team destined for meaningless baseball by August, right? In this case, not necessarily. The Brewers return plenty of offense. Even if Braun's suspension is upheld, Corey Hart is an underrated hitter with 20-plus homers in four of the past five seasons; Rickie Weeks is one of the best offensive second basemen in the game; new addition Aramis Ramirez should provide ample sock; even new first baseman Mat Gamel could surprise in his first go-round as an everyday player.
Baseball's Hot Stove season is far from over, with Prince Fielder, Edwin Jackson, Roy Oswalt, Ryan Madson, and others still lurking in free agency, and the trade market still stuffed with possibilities. But several teams will end up standing pat from here, deeming the price tags too high for what's out there.
That could force a number of contenders to turn players who've never (or rarely) played everyday into lineup and rotation and mainstays. Leaving aside superprospects like Jesus Montero who are widely expected to produce fairly quickly, here are 10 unlikely likely starters who could impact pennant races in 2012.
Shaun Marcum set the all-time record for worst ERA by a playoff starter. Starting pitchers allowed 18 earned runs allowed over 10 innings in the decisive games of the ALCS and NLCS. The starting pitchers for the NL champs posted a playoff ERA of 5.60 … trumped by a 6.34 ERA for the starting pitchers on the AL champs. Roy Hallday, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels didn't make it out of the first round. In their stead, we get the Rangers and Cardinals in the World Series, two teams with pitchers who can barely make it out of the 4th inning.
(It's Monday afternoon. Two friends, Ricky and Steve, sit on a couch playing a video game. A third friend, Mitch, bursts into the room breathlessly. They're all in their early 30s. Between the three, every possible race is represented.)
You can get big hits from unexpected sources. You can trot out the best pitcher in the league. You can even get a stolen base from the slowest athlete in the Western Hemisphere. The Tigers had all those factors in their favor in Thursday's elimination game against the Rangers. None of it may have mattered, if not for one of the greatest strokes of luck seen by any team this October.
With the score tied 2-2, Rangers starter C.J. Wilson hung a cutter to Ryan Raburn to start the sixth, and the Tigers' right fielder banged it into left field for a leadoff single. That brought Miguel Cabrera to the plate. For the Rangers, any situation where Cabrera comes to bat and there's nowhere to put him amounts to potential disaster. Ron Washington was so concerned with Cabrera's power and so unimpressed by the rest of the Tigers lineup that in the eighth inning of Game 4 he walked the big man intentionally, with one out … and nobody on base. This time, the Rangers pitched to Cabrera, and looked like they'd get the result they wanted. Ground ball hugging the third-base line, tailor-made double play. Adrian Beltre braced to make the play, looked down … and watched the ball hit third base, then rocket over his head and down the line. Tigers take the lead, 3-2, Cabrera on second, nobody out; instead of 2-2 tie, no one on, two outs. In yet another eventful game that could have gone either way, that lucky bounce saved the Tigers' season.
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here's what you missed in sports on Thursday.
Delmon Young hit two home runs and Justin Verlander lasted into the eighth as the Tigers avoided elimination with a 7-5 win over the Rangers in the ALCS. Texas will now have two chances to advance to the World Series at home, and won't have to contend with Verlander. Unfortunately, they will have to contend with Nolan Ryan's "fable hour," where the Rangers owner forces the team to gather around and listen while he tells tall tales about his days in the majors. Tomorrow's installment is about the time Ryan built a stadium by himself in a single day when the old one was wrecked by a storm, and opened it up by throwing a no-hitter that very night.
Another great Detroit starting pitching performance ruined by one inning. Another iffy bit of late-inning strategy that may have cost the Tigers the game. Another Nelson Cruz moonshot to seal the deal. Another 7-3 Rangers win in 11 innings.
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here's what you missed in sports on Wednesday.
Nelson Cruz preserved Texas' lead with an outfield assist in the eighth inning, and helped them win the game with a three-run blast in the 11th. With the 7-3 extra winnings win, the Rangers now lead the ALCS 3-1 and can earn their second-straight World Series trip Thursday afternoon in Detroit. If they succeed, it would be the first time anyone earned something in Detroit since the mid-'80s.
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here's what you missed in sports on Monday.
Nelson Cruz hit the first walk-off grand slam in postseason history as the Rangers beat the Tigers 7-3 in 11 innings. The moment was so joyous that when Cruz crossed the plate, a camera caught Texas owner Nolan Ryan almost not scowling for the briefest of moments. Then he was definitely scowling again.
