They will go down as the most thrilling 129 minutes in baseball history. Never before and likely never again -- if we even dare to assume anything else can be likely ever again -- will baseball captivate and exhilarate on so many fronts in so small a window the way it did September 28, 2011.
Starting at 9:56 p.m. Eastern, the grand old game, said to suffer by comparison from football's siren sisters of gambling and violence, and said to suffer from America's shrinking attention span and capacity to contemplate, rose up and fairly screamed, "Watch this!"
At that minute, the Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves clung to twin 3-2 leads and the belief that they would avoid the completion of the greatest September collapses in the history of the sport, even if, in Atlanta's case -- the Braves appeared headed for a tiebreaker game with St. Louis -- it meant a 24-hour stay of execution. Boston seemed home free to October, seeing that Tampa Bay, its competitor for the wild card spot, was getting blown out by the Yankees, 7-0.
But what happened at that moment was the beginning of the end: With the Braves two outs from victory, Chase Utley of Philadelphia tied the game in Atlanta with a sacrifice fly against Craig Kimbrel, the baby-faced rookie closer for the Braves who was pitching with the earnestness of youth, but more obviously with the toll of overuse and stress from a grueling stretch run. Red-cheeked and flustered, he invited pity more than scorn.
Nothing would be the same in the next 129 minutes. Fortunes were reversed. Reputations were made and destroyed. Careers were altered.
[When I saw the Yankees with a big lead, I figured it was over and assumed the Red Sox were in. Only later did I find out they weren't. I did hear the end of the Atlanta game though.]
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Handsome Johnny Barend
Sometimes he would saunter out for a Friday night locker-room interview on "50th State Big Time Wrestling" with his face turned away from the TV cameras. Other times, he would emerge from a coffin, his cigar smoke blowing into the air.
With a recording of "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines" blaring in the background, the image of the large man with the trademark cape, top hat and slicked-back jet black hair was unmistakably the persona of "Handsome" Johnny Barend.
Barend, one of the most iconic characters from Hawaii's golden age of professional wrestling in the 1960s and '70s, died Tuesday of natural causes at his home in Avon, N.Y. He was 82.
Barend's career spanned nearly 25 years, and he wrestled everywhere from Japan to New York's famed Madison Square Garden.
But family, friends and fans said one of his favorite places was Hawaii.
A fixture in Hawaii during much of the 1960s when Ed Francis and Lord James "Tally Ho" Blears were the promoters, Barend was known for edgy interviews that amused some and terrified others.
"He was such a colorful man, and he carried his uniqueness in real life, also," said Laura Blears, Tally Ho's daughter and a family friend. "He'd get right up in my dad's face with his cape and his top hat."
She said her father and Barend spoke about a month ago, and the two were planning to have reunion in Hawaii soon.
Old-time wrestling fans' most vivid memory of Barend might be his in-the-ring wedding to the former Anita Lum at the Honolulu International Center, now known as the Blaisdell Center Arena, in 1967, just before a championship match.
Barend met his bride-to-be on Kuhio Beach one day when she was still a senior at McKinley High School. He was 38 and she was 18, said Yvette Lum, Annie's younger sister.
She became one of the few nonwrestlers who was known to the audience, and even had her own nickname — "Transistor Annie" — because she always had a transistor radio against her ear, Blears said.
Johnny Barend retired from wrestling in 1972, and the couple moved to New York where he built and managed a small motel, Lum said.
Blears recalls that when she and her siblings were children, Barend would alternately delight them and scare them by widening his eyes at them whenever he would visit their house.
But Barend's sister-in-law remembers a different man.
"Outside of his wrestling career, Johnny was a very down-to-earth kind of guy who enjoyed living an ordinary, anonymous life," Lum said.
The couple had no children, but had a menagerie of cats, dogs, chickens, peacock and turtle. "He usually avoided media attention and was totally unlike his wrestling persona."
He did attend an occasional autograph show and agreed to one interview with a Canadian wrestling magazine several years ago which can be found on the Internet.
"He was a good role model for me during my teen years while my sister dated him and after they married," Lum said. "Although his height and stature sometimes overwhelmed me, I learned that I could count on him for good advice or guidance."
Memorial services in New York and Honolulu are to be announced at a later date.
With a recording of "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines" blaring in the background, the image of the large man with the trademark cape, top hat and slicked-back jet black hair was unmistakably the persona of "Handsome" Johnny Barend.
Barend, one of the most iconic characters from Hawaii's golden age of professional wrestling in the 1960s and '70s, died Tuesday of natural causes at his home in Avon, N.Y. He was 82.
Barend's career spanned nearly 25 years, and he wrestled everywhere from Japan to New York's famed Madison Square Garden.
But family, friends and fans said one of his favorite places was Hawaii.
A fixture in Hawaii during much of the 1960s when Ed Francis and Lord James "Tally Ho" Blears were the promoters, Barend was known for edgy interviews that amused some and terrified others.
"He was such a colorful man, and he carried his uniqueness in real life, also," said Laura Blears, Tally Ho's daughter and a family friend. "He'd get right up in my dad's face with his cape and his top hat."
She said her father and Barend spoke about a month ago, and the two were planning to have reunion in Hawaii soon.
Old-time wrestling fans' most vivid memory of Barend might be his in-the-ring wedding to the former Anita Lum at the Honolulu International Center, now known as the Blaisdell Center Arena, in 1967, just before a championship match.
Barend met his bride-to-be on Kuhio Beach one day when she was still a senior at McKinley High School. He was 38 and she was 18, said Yvette Lum, Annie's younger sister.
She became one of the few nonwrestlers who was known to the audience, and even had her own nickname — "Transistor Annie" — because she always had a transistor radio against her ear, Blears said.
Johnny Barend retired from wrestling in 1972, and the couple moved to New York where he built and managed a small motel, Lum said.
Blears recalls that when she and her siblings were children, Barend would alternately delight them and scare them by widening his eyes at them whenever he would visit their house.
But Barend's sister-in-law remembers a different man.
"Outside of his wrestling career, Johnny was a very down-to-earth kind of guy who enjoyed living an ordinary, anonymous life," Lum said.
The couple had no children, but had a menagerie of cats, dogs, chickens, peacock and turtle. "He usually avoided media attention and was totally unlike his wrestling persona."
He did attend an occasional autograph show and agreed to one interview with a Canadian wrestling magazine several years ago which can be found on the Internet.
"He was a good role model for me during my teen years while my sister dated him and after they married," Lum said. "Although his height and stature sometimes overwhelmed me, I learned that I could count on him for good advice or guidance."
Memorial services in New York and Honolulu are to be announced at a later date.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Jerome Williams gets first win in six years
ANAHEIM, Calif. » It'd been a long time since former Waipahu High star Jerome Williams started a game in the major leagues, even longer since he'd won one.
Williams pitched seven stellar innings to get his first big league victory in almost six years, Peter Bourjos homered for the third straight game and Howie Kendrick also connected, leading the Los Angeles Angels over the Baltimore Orioles 7-1 on Sunday for a three-game sweep.
"I feel like crying," Williams said while his 2-year-old son, Ty, sat perched in a folding chair next to him with the game ball in his hands. "It's been a long road. I'm just speechless. There was so much emotion out there. Being away from the game for a long time, I dedicated this to my mother and my family."
Williams, a first-round draft pick by San Francisco in 1999, hadn't started a game in the majors since May 15, 2007, with Washington. He began this season with the Lancaster Barnstormers of the independent Atlantic League before signing a free-agent contract with the Angels on June 16. He spent last season playing in Taiwan after leaving the Oakland Athletics.
"When I was in Taiwan last year, I never thought I would be here right now playing here," said Williams, who uses a pink glove to honor his late mother, who died of breast cancer. "I was thinking about quitting, but I forced myself not to. My family helped me out and told me to just keep on going and never give up. And it paid off.
"The difference was trusting myself and learning everything that I was supposed to learn back in the day," he added. "I was the type of guy that would nitpick everywhere, but now I'm just going after hitters."
Williams (1-0) posted his first victory in the majors since Sept. 25, 2005, with the Chicago Cubs.
***
The sixth-highest draft pick ever from a local high school, Williams made his major league debut at age 21.
That same year, he helped pitch the Giants to a division title and made a start in the divisional series against the Florida Marlins.
Things couldn't seem to be going any better.
"I was on top of the world," Williams said. "I had anything and everything I wanted. Shoot, I was 21 in the big leagues and I thought nobody could take my spot …
"Then somebody did."
FIVE OTHER pro teams involving multiple minor-league stints later, Williams found himself playing in Puerto Rico.
Two years after that, he was wearing the jersey of the Uni-President Lions in Taiwan, playing in a league with a whopping four teams.
WILLIAMS DIDN'T receive an offer to return to Taiwan this year.
With a wife and three kids to support, he had to somehow find a way back in the states.
"(My wife) told me, ‘Hey, without baseball you'll amount to nothing,' which is true," he said. "I've never had a 9 to 5 (job), baseball is all I have. I never went to college, never had any college offers or nothing, so it's true, this is all I know."
The Los Angeles Angels took a chance on Williams, signing him as a free agent in June. After posting a 7-2 record with Triple-A affiliate Salt Lake City, Williams pitched in the majors for the first time in four years in August. Four days later, he picked up his first win exactly 2,156 days after his last one with the Chicago Cubs.
"With second chances in life you want to make it right," he said. "Fortunately, I got a chance to do it right again."
WILLIAMS RETURNED to Hawaii for the first time in six years on Thanksgiving Day.
Williams pitched seven stellar innings to get his first big league victory in almost six years, Peter Bourjos homered for the third straight game and Howie Kendrick also connected, leading the Los Angeles Angels over the Baltimore Orioles 7-1 on Sunday for a three-game sweep.
"I feel like crying," Williams said while his 2-year-old son, Ty, sat perched in a folding chair next to him with the game ball in his hands. "It's been a long road. I'm just speechless. There was so much emotion out there. Being away from the game for a long time, I dedicated this to my mother and my family."
Williams, a first-round draft pick by San Francisco in 1999, hadn't started a game in the majors since May 15, 2007, with Washington. He began this season with the Lancaster Barnstormers of the independent Atlantic League before signing a free-agent contract with the Angels on June 16. He spent last season playing in Taiwan after leaving the Oakland Athletics.
"When I was in Taiwan last year, I never thought I would be here right now playing here," said Williams, who uses a pink glove to honor his late mother, who died of breast cancer. "I was thinking about quitting, but I forced myself not to. My family helped me out and told me to just keep on going and never give up. And it paid off.
"The difference was trusting myself and learning everything that I was supposed to learn back in the day," he added. "I was the type of guy that would nitpick everywhere, but now I'm just going after hitters."
Williams (1-0) posted his first victory in the majors since Sept. 25, 2005, with the Chicago Cubs.
***
The sixth-highest draft pick ever from a local high school, Williams made his major league debut at age 21.
That same year, he helped pitch the Giants to a division title and made a start in the divisional series against the Florida Marlins.
Things couldn't seem to be going any better.
"I was on top of the world," Williams said. "I had anything and everything I wanted. Shoot, I was 21 in the big leagues and I thought nobody could take my spot …
"Then somebody did."
FIVE OTHER pro teams involving multiple minor-league stints later, Williams found himself playing in Puerto Rico.
Two years after that, he was wearing the jersey of the Uni-President Lions in Taiwan, playing in a league with a whopping four teams.
WILLIAMS DIDN'T receive an offer to return to Taiwan this year.
With a wife and three kids to support, he had to somehow find a way back in the states.
"(My wife) told me, ‘Hey, without baseball you'll amount to nothing,' which is true," he said. "I've never had a 9 to 5 (job), baseball is all I have. I never went to college, never had any college offers or nothing, so it's true, this is all I know."
The Los Angeles Angels took a chance on Williams, signing him as a free agent in June. After posting a 7-2 record with Triple-A affiliate Salt Lake City, Williams pitched in the majors for the first time in four years in August. Four days later, he picked up his first win exactly 2,156 days after his last one with the Chicago Cubs.
"With second chances in life you want to make it right," he said. "Fortunately, I got a chance to do it right again."
WILLIAMS RETURNED to Hawaii for the first time in six years on Thanksgiving Day.
Monday, September 05, 2011
Lee Roy Selmon
Two days after he was hospitalized following a massive stroke, Lee Roy Selmon, the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end and University of South Florida official, passed away in Tampa at the age of 56. He was admitted to Tampa's St. Joseph Hospital on Friday.
Selmon's wife Claybra released the following statement after his passing: "For all his accomplishments on and off the field, to us Lee Roy was the rock of our family. This has been a sudden and shocking event and we are devastated by this unexpected loss,"
Following a standout career at the University of Oklahoma, Selmon became the Buccaneers' first draft pick in the franchise's history in 1976. The team lost its first 26 games, but by 1979, head coach John McKay had turned things around to the point that the Buccaneers made it all the way to the NFC Championship game, where they lost to the Los Angeles Rams. Selmon made six Pro Bowls and picked up a First-Team All-Pro selection in 1979. He was also named the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year in 1979. He also played with his brother Dewey from 1976 through 1980.
Then as now, the Bucs were led by defense. And back then, Lee Roy Selmon was their leader. He played until 1984, which means that he only has official sack totals for three seasons (the NFL started officially tabulating sacks in 1982), but he amassed 23 all the same. The 6-foot-3, 256-pound Selmon was a terror to opposing quarterbacks, and he was also an excellent run-stopper. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1995.
Selmon's wife Claybra released the following statement after his passing: "For all his accomplishments on and off the field, to us Lee Roy was the rock of our family. This has been a sudden and shocking event and we are devastated by this unexpected loss,"
Following a standout career at the University of Oklahoma, Selmon became the Buccaneers' first draft pick in the franchise's history in 1976. The team lost its first 26 games, but by 1979, head coach John McKay had turned things around to the point that the Buccaneers made it all the way to the NFC Championship game, where they lost to the Los Angeles Rams. Selmon made six Pro Bowls and picked up a First-Team All-Pro selection in 1979. He was also named the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year in 1979. He also played with his brother Dewey from 1976 through 1980.
Then as now, the Bucs were led by defense. And back then, Lee Roy Selmon was their leader. He played until 1984, which means that he only has official sack totals for three seasons (the NFL started officially tabulating sacks in 1982), but he amassed 23 all the same. The 6-foot-3, 256-pound Selmon was a terror to opposing quarterbacks, and he was also an excellent run-stopper. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1995.
Jim Thome hits 600th Home Run
DETROIT (AP) -- Jim Thome's back was aching, his toe was throbbing and his quad was cramping, turning his pursuit of 600 home runs into a painful endeavor that made him wonder if he would even reach the milestone before season's end.
On Monday night, Thome finally harnessed the power again in that pure left-handed swing of his, sending two home runs sailing over the fence at spacious Comerica Park. When No. 600 disappeared over left fielder Delmon Young's head in the seventh inning, Thome raised his right fist while rounding first base.
His quiet chase, which seemed to vanish from baseball's consciousness as injuries slowed him down, was finally complete.
"You dream about it but when it finally happens it's kind of surreal," Thome said. "It's a neat thing, it really is."
The 40-year-old Thome became the eighth player to reach 600, hitting a two-run homer in the sixth inning for No. 599, then a three-run shot in the seventh. The milestone came on a 2-1 pitch from Daniel Schlereth.
Only seven hitters have hit more home runs than the burley Thome: Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez and Sammy Sosa. Rodriguez joined the 600-homer club last August.
"Welcome to the club," Mays said in a video shown on the Twins' television broadcast.
Unlike Bonds, Rodriguez and Sosa, Thome has eluded suspicion of using performance-enhancing drugs. His country-strong physique was never chiseled like some of the hulking sluggers who proliferated his generation.
Thome is the oldest person to hit his 600th homer. Sosa previously held that mark at 38 years, 220 days. He reached the milestone in 2007.
***
The Minnesota Twins said they decided to trade Jim Thome, their designated hitter, to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for a player to be named later.
The Thursday trade reunites Thome with the team he broke in with and hit 334 home runs for over 12 seasons.
"It's a bittersweet deal," Twins General Manager Bill Smith told the Minneapolis Star Tribune, "but there's no question that this is the right thing to do for Jim Thome.
"He is all the superlative things we knew we were getting two years ago when he came here. At this point in his Hall of Fame career, this is the right thing for him."
As he heads back to Cleveland, Thome has 601 career homers, eighth on the all-time list.
On Monday night, Thome finally harnessed the power again in that pure left-handed swing of his, sending two home runs sailing over the fence at spacious Comerica Park. When No. 600 disappeared over left fielder Delmon Young's head in the seventh inning, Thome raised his right fist while rounding first base.
His quiet chase, which seemed to vanish from baseball's consciousness as injuries slowed him down, was finally complete.
"You dream about it but when it finally happens it's kind of surreal," Thome said. "It's a neat thing, it really is."
The 40-year-old Thome became the eighth player to reach 600, hitting a two-run homer in the sixth inning for No. 599, then a three-run shot in the seventh. The milestone came on a 2-1 pitch from Daniel Schlereth.
Only seven hitters have hit more home runs than the burley Thome: Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez and Sammy Sosa. Rodriguez joined the 600-homer club last August.
"Welcome to the club," Mays said in a video shown on the Twins' television broadcast.
Unlike Bonds, Rodriguez and Sosa, Thome has eluded suspicion of using performance-enhancing drugs. His country-strong physique was never chiseled like some of the hulking sluggers who proliferated his generation.
Thome is the oldest person to hit his 600th homer. Sosa previously held that mark at 38 years, 220 days. He reached the milestone in 2007.
***
The Minnesota Twins said they decided to trade Jim Thome, their designated hitter, to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for a player to be named later.
The Thursday trade reunites Thome with the team he broke in with and hit 334 home runs for over 12 seasons.
"It's a bittersweet deal," Twins General Manager Bill Smith told the Minneapolis Star Tribune, "but there's no question that this is the right thing to do for Jim Thome.
"He is all the superlative things we knew we were getting two years ago when he came here. At this point in his Hall of Fame career, this is the right thing for him."
As he heads back to Cleveland, Thome has 601 career homers, eighth on the all-time list.
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