Armchair Weekend in Review (June 23-25, 2006)
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by user JB82
Very different now that the NBA and NHL Stanley Cup Finals are over, dont'cha think? Just a thought...
Interleague, Part 3
Some of the interleague matchups featured rematches of World Series gone by.
2005 World Series: Houston Astros vs. Chicago White Sox
With their manager in sensitivity training after his homophobic remarks, the White Sox took two of thre from the Astros, but couldn't polish them off on Sunday night in an extra-innings affair.
2003 World Series: Florida Marlins vs. New York Yankees
There may have been many new faces on the Marlins this year, but the Fish came in on a tear, only to get torn up. On Friday night, Chien-Ming Wang rebounded from giving up a walk-off tater his previous outing by pitching seven innings despite giving up four earned runs on nine hits. With the rain-out on Old Timers' Day, the Yanks were forced to play a day-night doubleheader on Sunday. The Bronx Bombers won the first game 2-1, but their inability to wield the broom reared its ugly head again in the nightcap, a 5-0 loss.
1989 World Series: Oakland Athletics vs. San Francisco Giants
This rematch of the earthquake-interrupted series, also known as the Battle of the Bay was highlighted by Barry Bonds clubbing his 719th career home run and getting overshadowed by Ray Durham, who got his only hit of the game on a 9th-inning walk-off shot. You could also say that this was a rematch of the 1913 World Series, when the teams were based in Philadelphia and New York, respectively,
1968 World Series: St. Louis Cardinals vs. Detroit Tigers
Another one of five walk-offs on Saturday occurred in this series, when we were provided further edification that the Tigers are scary good this year. In the bottom of the ninth, Placido Polanco doubled home Curtis Granderson, who scored all the way from first.
World Cup Update
If you're an American, skip this section. Anyone else interested, read on.
- After Germany shut out Sweden 2-0, Argentina provided the thriller of the tournament in a 2-1 win over Mexico.
- England haven't been posed a real challenge in the whole tournament, but they went through a cupacke called Ecuador on Sunday with a 1-0 win on a goal scored – bent, rather – by David Beckham.
- Russian referee Valentin Ivanov hepled make World Cup history, but Sunday's match between Portugal and the Netherlands was anything he won't be taking pride in anytime soon. The Portuguese's 1-0 win over the Oranje featured the expulsions of four players (two a side), a first in World Cup history. In all, 13 players were cautioned. Portuguese striker Maniche called it a "tasty win", but it sure left a foul taste in FIFA's mouth. Sepp Blatter, the governing body's head honcho, wanted to give Ivanov a yellow card himself for the farcical job he did. In short, Ishtar, Gigli, Swept Away, Leonard: Part 6 and even Howard the Duck got better reviews than Ivanov's refereeing.
Odds & Sods
- Jeff Gordon had himself a weekend he won't soon forget. He won the Dodge SaveMart 350k at Infineon Raceway, but the Northern California native lost his bachelorhood. He got engaged to model and starlet Ingrid Vandebosch the day before.
- Americans led the way in the first round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver (hello to our friends north of the border, by the by), led by Erik Johnson, drafted by the St. Louis Blues. In fact, 11 of the first round picks came from the States.
- Speaking of Canada-U.S. relations, I will not be taking next week off, so expect a special post-Canada Day pre-US Independence Day edition of the AWIR then.
- Lou Piniella, Earl Weaver, Billy Martin, Bob Knight. They've all had memorable meltdowns in the past (I know Knight isn't a manager, so sue me.) However, on Sunday, Asheville Tourists manager Joe Mikulik put on a tirade that will go down as the biggest of all time. Mikulik was ejected in the bottom of the fifth inning of a game against the Lexington Legends for arguing a pick-off call where Koby Clemens (son of Roger) was called safe. Here's what he did, in some chronological order:
- Demonstrated a slide into second base
- Picked up second base
- Threw the latter into the outfield
- Threw the rosin bag en route back to the dugout
- Buried home plate and poured water on it
- Threw bats out of said dugout
I guess we've covered it all here. So until next week, let's all be good sports, in spite of that episode.
Date
Mon 06/26/06, 2:45 pm EST
