Say hello to the Astro-nots
Say, where did the Houston Astros go? Weren’t they in the National League Central race a couple of weeks ago?
The Astros lost their seventh consecutive game Wednesday night and (gulp) their 16th in 19 games. After Tuesday night’s defeat, reliever Jose Valverde summed up the situation for the Houston Chronicle:
“Right now, it’s like we lose every game.”
Starting pitcher Brandon Backe expounded on that topic.
“It’s one of those things where bad stuff is happening, and we just can’t find any luck, breaks . . . The only thing we can do as ballplayers is go out there and keep playing as hard as we can, give it all we got and hope that it’s enough,” he told the Chronicle.
“It’s just one thing after another, and you can’t let it beat you up. You got to go home and think about what went wrong and come back tomorrow and do it all over again and not make the same mistakes.”
MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE
Questions to ponder while waiting for Cardinal bats to come back to life:
- Who could have possibly guessed that another Cards pitcher would end up on the disabled list?
- In the annals of All-Time Bad Superstar Performances, where will Kobe Bryant’s Game 6 rank?
- In the annals of All-Time Great Superstar Performances, where will Tiger Woods’ U.S. Open victory rank?
THE LONGEST WAIT
NHL.com notes that several NHL players and the Stanley Cup attended the premiere of Mike Myers’ “The Love Guru.” Myers is a huge hockey fan, but he shunned the Cup.
‘”My fantasy, of course, is that the actual Stanley Cup is won by the Maple Leafs and I will get the chance to hold it,” Myers said. “It is not time yet. I shall not touch that celebrated trophy until it is the Maple Leafs’. I don’t even look at it. I ignore it.”
QUIPS ‘R US
Here is what some of America’s leading sports pundits have been writing:
Bill Simmons, ESPN.com: “Boston 131, Los Angeles 92. And you know what? It wasn’t even that close. For Celtics fans, the only way Game 6 could have been more satisfying was if Kobe flipped out in the fourth quarter and punched Sasha Vujacic during a timeout, then got dragged to the locker room by five teammates screaming, ‘This isn’t over! This isn’t over!’ while Sasha sobbed into a towel. Maybe that didn’t happen, but everything else did.”
Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times: “The league MVP was AWFUL, unable to break through even the most basic of one-on-one Celtic defenses, unable to carry a team that needed carrying . . . And, so, in voices that seemingly shook the TD Banknorth Garden, with [Kobe] Bryant standing at the foul line in the third quarter, here came those chants. ‘You’re-not-Jordan!’ the fans sang, referring to Michael Jordan. No, clearly, at this point he is not.”
Jay Mariotti, Chicago Sun-Times: “In pulling off the unfathomable, Tiger’s perseverance somehow was more impressive than the memories we usually attach to sports courage: Kirk Gibson’s home run, Michael Jordan’s sick game, Willis Reed coming down the tunnel. Think of how many excruciating steps Woods took over those five days while trying to maintain his mental equilibrium and win on a tough U.S. Open layout. Gibson took one swing, Jordan was nauseous for one night, Reed returned for a sequence. Tiger experienced a marathon of pain. I’m not at all suggesting that football players, in a violent endeavor, haven’t endured more. But they, too, are done after three hours. Woods was extended from the early morning hours of Thursday to the afternoon hours of Monday.”
Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “Cubs and White Sox are both leading their divisions. Chicago hasn’t been this hot since that fire back in 1871.”
Steve Rosenbloom, ChicagoSports.com: “The Pirates are a bad baseball team. Bad, bad, bad. But they’re a good argument for a mercy rule. I mean, the Pirates ought to vote to forfeit all games against Chicago teams. But the Cubs pretty much got their NL Central lead thanks to a lot of games against the Pirates, so it’s only fair that the White Sox should get a swing at the pinata.”
MEGAPHONE
“I’m not ready to retire. Once you get a taste of managing, it’s kind of cool.”
Cashiered Mets manager Willie Randolph.
(8 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5)
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Due to circumstances beyond the control of the Post-Dispatch, the comments section was open this morning…
Anyone else tired of hearing about Boston?
I think our baseball team is missing Pujols just a little bit…