Happy Wednesday everyone, here's my Top 5 for November 17, 2010 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com. 1. Quick Hits
* The Phillies' Roy Halladay easily wins the National League Cy Young Award. * The Atlanta Braves get Dan Uggla, the power hitting second baseman, from Florida. * Spoken like an agent. Cliff Lee's representative says there are a "multitude of teams" interested in his client. Translation: "Spend even more money, Yankees." * The Mets announce their finalists for their managerial position. Terry Collins, Bob Melvin, Chip Hale, Wally Backman, and in a surprise Bristol Palin made the final cut.
2. Meet Me In St. Louis I was in St. Louis yesterday to talk about my book, The 25 Greatest Baseball Players Of All Time. There are 3 Cardinals in the book -- Stan Musial, Bob Gibson and Rogers Hornsby. If the fine people of St. Louis had their way, Albert Pujols would make it 4. And still the first question I got when I walked off the plane was "how come the Dean brothers (Dizzy and Daffy) aren't in your book?" Wherever I go, they can't figure out why their heroes are missing. The hardest to defend is Sandy Koufax, although I now have some ammunition. I found out that St. Louis native Ken Holtzman holds the record for most wins by a Jewish pitcher (174). And Holtzman never made it to Cooperstown. Take that Koufax fans! 3.. You Betcha The British are a little ticked. WBA Heavyweight champ David Haye polished off fellow countryman Audley Harrison in the third round. For one, 700,000 ponied up $24 for the mismatch. For another, Haye boasted that he and some family members bet big bucks that he'd win in the third round. British boxers aren't allowed to bet on themselves. And you have to wonder if the loser got a piece of the action? He landed exactly one punch in the entire fight.
4. Ballot Box My subscribers have spoken. You guys think the Chilean miners deserve to be Time Magazine's "Person of the Year," and not LeBron James. Subscriber Stuart S. has a good idea. Let's have a Top 5 vote for Sportsperson of the year, and the team of the year. He suggests the Butler Bulldogs for team. Your turn.
5. Cover-Up
The mayor of Oklahoma City says he will oppose the new expansion team of the Lingerie Football League. He doesn't want scantily clad women running around in his city. Then again if you Google "Oklahoma City strip clubs," you get 156,000 results. Can you say DD-ouble standard?
Happy Birthday: The Franchise. Mets pitcher Tom Seaver. 66.Bonus Birthday: Same day, same year. Live from New York... it's Lorne Michael's 66th birthday as well. Today In Sports: the famed "Heidi Game" on NBC. Viewers didn't get to see the Raiders miraculous comeback against the Jets. Here's David Brinkley's report the next day. 1968.
Bonus Event: Not a great date in NBC history. Dateline NBC airs footage of GM trucks blowing up on impact. It was later revealed the tests were rigged. 1992. Attention Holiday Shoppers It's that time of year when you need to get Chanukah gifts and stocking stuffers. Have I got an idea for you! An autographed copy of my kids (of all ages) books, The Greatest Moments in Sports (with a free CD of many of the great moments), and The 25 Greatest Baseball Players Of All Time. Just call the Dolphin Bookshop to reserve your autographed copies at 516-767-2650. Easy, right?