Sports Then and Now

Lee May

The June Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month is one of the forgotten sluggers of baseball history.

For more than a decade, Lee May was one of the most feared sluggers in baseball.  He blasted 20 or more home runs and drove in 80 or more runs for 11 straight seasons while playing for the Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros and Baltimore Orioles. Read the rest of this entry →

The Steve Bartman foul ball is just one of many unlucky moments for the Chicago Cubs and their fans.

Today is Friday, the 13th, a date that superstitious people believe is unlucky.

With that in mind, here is a list of the 13 most unlucky teams in professional sports.

These are teams that have not won championships in the past few decades, have suffered numerous devastating losses, and fan bases that believe that their team is cursed.

13. Phoenix Suns (NBA)
The Suns have more regular season wins than any other NBA franchise without an NBA championship, as there have 19 seasons where the team won at least 50 games, three of those of at least 60 wins, and been to the NBA Finals twice, only to lose both times.

Suns fans believe the reason for their bad luck stems for the 1969 NBA Draft where the Suns and Milwaukee Bucks were up for the number one pick, which would be decided by a coin flip.

The winner of the coin toss would get the #1 pick and would select Lew Alcindor, now Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Suns executive Jerry Colangelo called “heads”, but the coin landed “tails” and the Bucks won the rights for the #1 pick and of course picked Alcindor, who led Milwaukee to a NBA title just two years later.

12. Philadelphia Eagles (NFL)
The Eagles have gone over a half a century without a NFL title, their last championship coming in 1960.

Most of the Eagles’ heartbreak has come in the 21st century as the team has made five appearances in the NFC Championship Game, only winning once in 2004, where they advance to Super Bowl XXXIX and lost to the New England Patriots 24-21.

Philadelphia also appeared in Super Bowl XV but lost to the Oakland Raiders and lost the famous “Fog Bowl” to the Chicago Bears in a loss that many Eagle fans feel cost them another appearance in the Super Bowl. Read the rest of this entry →

Happy 86th Birthday to Yogi Berra.

Today marks the 86th birthday for one of the true iconic sports figures of the 20th Century. While Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra was a Hall of Fame player, what has made him part of the American lexicon is the array of statements, some of which he really said and others that just sound like he probably said them, that are quoted by people and attributed to Berra all the time.

Here are just a few of the “best of the best” Yogi-isms.

“I want to thank you for making this day necessary”

“It’s like déjà vu all over again.”

“When you get to a fork in the road, take it”

“Nobody goes there anymore because it’s too crowded.”

“We have a good time together, even when we’re not together”

“Our similarities are different”

“We make too many wrong mistakes”

“Slump? I ain’t in no slump… I just ain’t hitting”

“You can observe a lot by watching”

“It gets late early around here…”

“A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore”

“If I didn’t wake up I’d still be sleeping”

“Always go to other people’s funerals otherwise they won’t go to yours”

“You have to give 100 percent in the first half of the game. If that isn’t enough, in the second half, you have to give what is left.”

“Never answer an anonymous letter”

And perhaps his most famous saying:

“It ain’t over ’til it’s over”

Here’s hoping that it won’t be over for Yogi Berra for many years to come. Happy 86th Birthday Yogi!

Justin Verlander tossed the second no-hitter of the season last Saturday.

The Major League Baseball season is barely a month old and it is already clear that the pitching dominance that was evident a year ago is going to stick around for a while. In fact, if 2010 was known as the “Year of the Pitcher”, 2011 looks to be “Year of the Pitcher – Part 2” and unlike most movie sequels where the second attempt usually falls short of the original, this sequel might be even greater than the first one.

The no-hitters thrown during the last week by Francisco Liriano and Justin Verlander offer just a taste of what could be an unlimited amount of pitching excellence.

When analyzing the numbers, it really is amazing how drastic offensive performance has declined across major league baseball over the last five years and is now more in line with what was seen 20 years ago and in some cases as far back as the pre-designated hitter era.

That leads to the question of whether what is being experienced is really a case of the quality of pitching rising to greater heights or merely a re-balancing of the game to where it would have always been had it not been for the performance enhancing drug era.

But whatever the reason, there is no denying that the statistics for pitchers are improving and those for hitters are declining.

Consider that so far in 2011 the average number of runs scored per team per game is 4.19 and the league-wide batting average is .249. The last time the league-wide average for runs per game was comparable was in 1992 when the average was 4.12 and the league-wide batting average was .256. The league-wide Earned Run Average (ERA) was 3.75.

Just two years later, in what is considered to be the start of the steroid era in 1994, the league-wide average jumped to 4.92 runs per team per game and the league-wide batting average was .270. The ERA for the league also jumped to 4.51.

Just as recently as 2006, teams were averaging 4.86 runs per game with a .269 average while the league-wide ERA was 4.53.

After a league-wide ERA of 4.08 a year ago, the best in the league for a season since 1992, hurlers across baseball are on pace this season for an ERA of 3.82.

If the current league-wide batting average of .249 continues for the entire season, it will be the first time since 1972 when the league had an average below .250. During that season, the league hit .244 while teams averaged 3.69 runs per game and .65 home runs per game. Read the rest of this entry →

Happy 80th birthday to the "Say Hey Kid".

The beauty of sports is that even though his birth certificate tells us that Willie Mays turns 80 years old today, our minds can still remember the “Say Hey Kid” as the young superstar with a smile and personality that could light up New York and who possessed enough talent to fill up a baseball stadium.

You can argue about who was the greatest baseball player of all-time, but there is little doubt that Mays is on the short list for any discussion.

Mays was the rare player who could win games with his bat, glove and legs.

After earning Rookie of the Year honors in 1951, Mays missed most of the 1952 season and all of the 1953 season while serving in the military.

When he returned in 1954, Mays began a streak of 19 straight years earning an All-Star spot as he won the first of his two National League MVP Awards.

During his career, Mays led the league in runs, hits, triples, home runs, stolen bases, batting average, on base percentage and slugging percentage.  He was the first player in baseball history to steal 30 bases and hit 30 home runs in the same season. Read the rest of this entry →

Just days after spending time in the hospital, Jeremy Guthrie allowed just one run in six innings against the Rangers.

Less than 24 hours after the two best teams in the American League split a Saturday doubleheader, the defending American League Champion Texas Rangers returned to Camden Yards for the rubber and final game of the three game series and proved that they deserve to be considered the best team in the American League after the first full week of the season.

The matchup between lefty Derek Holland (1-0, 4.50 ERA) and the Orioles opening starter, right hander Jeremy Guthrie (1-0, 0.00 ERA) made for an interesting story line.

Guthrie, getting his second start of the season after battling pneumonia like symptoms a few days prior, looked healthy walking around the clubhouse during the pregame routine.  Guthrie in his only start of the year against the Tampa Bay Rays, allowed only 2 hits, striking out 3 and walking 1. But this time he was facing a much more potent lineup with the Rangers.  In the second game of the Saturday doubleheader Texas tagged Oriole pitching for 13 hits including 3 home runs.

The Rangers have a team batting average of .306 against right-handers in this young season.  Josh Hamilton (.381) and Mitch Moreland (.333) are the offensive leaders.  The Orioles were hoping that Guthrie’s history of success against the Rangers would hold as he entered the game with a 3-0 record against Texas and the O’s were 4-3 against the Rangers when Guthrie has the hill.

The Orioles were facing southpaw Derek Holland who in his only start this season went 6 innings giving up 3 earned runs on 7 hits and striking out 5.  In 2010 Holland averaged 5 and 2/3 innings in his 10 games he started.  Holland previously hadn’t enjoyed much success against the Orioles with an 0-2 record.

However, so far this season the Orioles are batting just .180 as a team against left-handers with only has 2 players in the lineup batting over .300, Matt Wieters (.333) and J.J. Hardy (.333). Unfortunately, Hardy missed the Sunday game after leaving Saturday’s game with a strained left oblique muscle.  He will have an MRI Monday to diagnose the injury.  Replacing him at shortstop was Robert Andino, who was getting his first playing time of the season.

As it would turn out, Holland and the Rangers proved to be too much for the Orioles to overcome. The struggles against left-handed pitching continued as the Orioles were unable to capitalize on a number of chances. Read the rest of this entry →