Happy Wednesday everyone, here's my Top 5 for October 14, 2009 from
www.LenBermanSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
Yankee starting pitchers for the next series take one step forward.
Not so fast Joba Chamberlain. Manager Joe Girardi says the Yankees may
stick with a 3 man pitching rotation against the Angels.
A day off from baseball. The NL Championship series starts tomorrow,
the AL begins Friday.
Could be....maybe..... Dodger manager Joe Torre could "hang 'em up
after next season." Red Sox reliever Billy Wagner told the New York
Post he's likely retiring.
Giants Super Bowl "helmet catcher" David Tyree signs with Baltimore.
We call his play the greatest Super Bowl catch of all time in my new
kids book The Greatest Moments in Sports being released next month.
(Another shameless plug, but hey, it's my Top 5.)
Stat of the day. When the Washington Redskins play Kansas City
Sunday it will mark their 6th straight game against a winless team.
(Of course the first week everyone is winless.) Despite the cupcake
schedule, Washington is 2 and 3.
2. Dead in the Water
Rush Limbaugh ain't becoming an NFL owner. Talk about a tempest in a
teapot. The NFL Commissioner said yesterday that it wouldn't be
appropriate to have an owner who makes controversial statements. Colts
owner Jim Irsay says he'd vote "Ixnay" on Limbaugh. One Top 5
subscriber suggested this was all a publicity ploy by Limbaugh. Hey,
if it would help me grow my Top 5 subscriber list I'd do the same.
3. A Booming Olympics
How's this for an idea? Build an Olympics around death. The Japanese
cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are launching a joint bid to host the
2020 games. Yes, those were the two cities that had atomic bombs
dropped on them in World War II. Maybe they could tinker with the
Olympic sports and venues. They could run the boat races on "Titanic
Lake." And in the Olympic coliseum they could stage a new fun event:
throwing Christians to lions. But I would low-key the fireworks at the
opening ceremony.
4. What are the Odds?
Next time you feel bad about your team, ponder the plight of
Washington Nationals fan Stephen Krupin. He's a season ticket holder
who went to 19 games this season. During those games, the Nats record
was 0-19. Taking into account that the Nationals home record was
33-48, what are the odds of that? The Washington Post figured 1 in
131,204. So cheer up, Mets fans. The Mets actually had a winning record
at home, 41-40.
5. Fleeting Fame
When I saw that Larry Jansen passed away the other day, I got to
thinking. Jansen was the winning pitcher when Bobby Thomson hit his
famous home run for the Giants in 1951. Few people remember Jansen.
But everyone knows Ralph Branca's name, and he was the losing pitcher.
Kinda like all those airplanes that land safely isn't it?
Happy Birthday: UCLA's legendary basketball coach John Wooden. 99!
Bonus Birthday: Singer/actor Usher. 31.
Today in Sports: Pitching on two days rest, the Dodgers Sandy Koufax
pitches a 3-hit shutout to win game 7 of the World Series against the
Twins. 1965.
Bonus Event: And Tigger Too? Winnie the Pooh hits the shelves. 1926.
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