Step aside, Cy Young

Greg Maddux sets mark in San Diego Padres' 14-3 win over Philadelphia Phillies

By The Associated Press
August 25, 2007

Not even Cy Young accomplished what Greg Maddux has now done over the past 20 years.

The 40-year-old Maddux became the first pitcher to earn 10 victories in 20 consecutive seasons, tossing seven solid innings in the San Diego Padres' 14-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night.

Cy Young had 19 straight seasons with double-digit wins from 1891-1909. Maddux is tied with Nolan Ryan for second behind Don Sutton for most seasons with 10 wins. Sutton had 21, but not consecutively.

"I didn't know that. That's cool," Maddux said, shrugging off his latest accomplishment.

Milton Bradley hit a pair of three-run homers and Adrian Gonzalez also connected twice for the Padres, who moved three games ahead of the Phillies in the NL wild-card race. Josh Bard had five of the Padres' season-high 22 hits.

San Diego also gained a game on first-place Arizona in the West and are two back. Philadelphia fell to six behind the New York Mets in the East and into a tie for second with Atlanta.

In other NL games, it was: Cincinnati 5, Florida 3; New York 5, Los Angeles 2; Pittsburgh 8, Houston 3, 15 innings; Atlanta 7, St. Louis 2; Colorado 6, Washington 5; Chicago 6, Arizona 2; and San Francisco 11, Milwaukee 6.

Maddux (10-9) allowed three runs and seven hits, outpitching Jamie Moyer in a matchup of 40-something hurlers with a combined 570 wins.

Benches emptied in the fourth inning when Carlos Ruiz slid hard into Padres second baseman Marcus Giles trying to break up a double play on a grounder by Abraham Nunez. Giles got up after his late relay throw to first base and immediately got in Ruiz's face, but no punches were thrown.

Ruiz's late slide into Giles' knees cost the Phillies a run. Umpires ruled interference so Nunez was out at first and Shane Victorino returned to third base, even though he scored easily on the play.

"There's playing hard and playing dirty," Maddux said.

After seeing the replay, Ruiz said he understood why Giles was angry.

"It was a little high," Ruiz said. "I was just thinking about breaking up the double play. I was just playing hard."

Giles led off the next inning and Ruiz glared in his direction, but home plate umpire Wally Bell stepped between the players to ensure nothing happened. Giles singled and left the game later in the inning with a right hip pointer.

With two outs, Bradley broke his bat and still homered to left to give the Padres a 5-3 lead. Gonzalez followed with a drive to straightaway center for his third homer in four at-bats and 23rd this season. Gonzalez hit a solo shot in the 10th inning to give San Diego a 9-8 win over the New York Mets on Thursday night.

A fielding error on third baseman Nunez kept the inning going and Bard added a two-run double to make it 8-3.

Moyer (11-10) gave up eight runs -- six earned -- and 10 hits in 4 2-3 innings. The 44-year-old left-hander has allowed 13 earned runs in his last two starts, raising his ERA from 4.68 to 5.16.

The injury-depleted Phillies have lost three of four to start an important 10-game homestand.

"It was a good game for four innings and then it got ugly," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.

Bradley went deep off Jose Mesa in the ninth to make it 13-3.



***This was a pretty exciting game to watch. Maddux had some trouble in the first but settled in and pitched another quality start (7 innings/3 runs). Over his last several starts, Maddux has really been on it and has been blessed here recently with some good offensive support. Maddux also takes over sole position of ninth place on the all time wins list...he now has 343 wins.

The article makes mention of the bench clearing incident in the fourth and that was pretty wild situation. It was first and third with no outs...and after the interference call...instead of it being 4-2, with the Phillies winning, and a runner at first with one out...it remained 3-2 with a runner at third and two outs. That's a huge difference. I was watching the game with the Phillies feed on MLB.tv. I 'm not sure who was calling the game (it was not the legendary Harry Kalas--he was doing radio at the time of the play). Anyway...the given announcer was making me livid by being completely adamant that the hard slide was just hard nosed baseball and that there wasn't anything dirty about it. I'm not saying that I completely buy the interference call but there is no way one could argue that the slide was just a good clean, hard slide. If that would have been Josh Bard barreling into Chase Utley (the Phillies all-star second basemen) than this particular announcer would have been crying for an interference call.

Hats off to the umpiring crew for not letting the situation get out of hand. The second base umpire immediately stepped in between Giles and Ruiz and prevented a situation from getting out of control.

But there are two games left in this series so the craziness might not be over.

Good bye Mate!

Ben Allen leaving IU basketball after 2 seasons
From Staff Reports, Indiana Daily Student
August 24, 2007

(CSTV U-WIRE) BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Junior center Ben Allen will transfer from the IU men's basketball team, coach Kelvin Sampson said in an IU Athletics Department statement.

"We appreciate Ben's efforts at Indiana, and we wish him nothing but the best in the future," Sampson said in the release.

Allen averaged 0.8 points and 1.5 rebounds in 24 games last season as he struggled to adjust to playing more in the post. Allen played inside more often last season as the tallest player on the team, and even gained 36 pounds of muscle to become more of a post presence.

During his freshman season, Allen saw action in all 31 games, displaying good three-point range.

Allen's best game came early in his freshman season against Indiana State. The Melbourne, Australia, native scored 21 points on 8-10 shooting, including 5-6 from beyond the arc in a road loss to the Sycamores.

Allen missed several games last season fighting mononucleosis. He returned to action Dec. 22 against IU Purdue University Indianapolis to score four points in 11 minutes.

Incoming freshman Eli Holman, a 6-foot-9-inch center from Richmond, Calif., and transfer DeAndre Thomas, a 6-foot-8-inch forward from Florida's Chipola Junior College, are expected to play significant minutes in the Hoosiers' frontcourt.

Holman was the 80th-ranked prospect in the incoming class of 2007, according to recruiting Web site www.rivals.com.

Thomas helped lead Chipola to a runner-up finish in the NJCAA tournament last season with fellow Hoosier Jamarcus Ellis. Thomas was ranked a three-star recruit in the same class on www.rivals.com.




My take...not to surprising. With the talent IU has coming in, Allen's playing time was going to be almost non-existent. I don't want to rag on the guy...but for whatever reason (or reasons) he wasn't getting it done at IU. He had that one game against Indiana State that showed a lot of potential but in retrospect that game was just an anomaly. Granted he did bulk up and he tried to play in the post but that didn't work out to well as he normally just got into foul trouble. Maybe it will work out for him somewhere else. At the very least...he could return to his native country of Australia and slam some VB beer (since you can't buy it in the states).

Now the Government is involved

I'm not always for government poking their noses where it doesn't belong but in this case I support anything that will get the Big Ten Network on my cable provider.

Something similar to this happened on a national level earlier this year involving MLB's season ticket program on satellite TV. Senator John Kerry had to intervene to allow cable subscribers to have the same access as satellite subscribers.


Here's an article from today's Indy Star:


Lawmaker seeks solution to Big 10 TV flap
Lafayette Journal & Courier
August 23, 2007

Rep. Dave Crooks, D-Washington, attempted to enlist the help of the Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor (OUCC) this week to make sure the majority of fans could see Indiana and Purdue sports on television.
Comcast is now at an impasse in negotiations over how to offer the Big Ten Network.
Crooks sent a letter to Susan Macey of the OUCC requesting that the OUCC step in and "bring the appropriate parties to the table."
He said he got a call back from Macey Wednesday.
"She said she had no statutory authority to be involved in this," Crooks said.
Anthony Swinger, an OUCC spokesman, said Macey received the letter but had not had a chance to review it yet.
Crooks said Macey recommended that mediators be hired in the dispute, but he doesn't believe that's adequate. He thinks legislators will get many impassioned calls from constituents once constituents find out that they might have to pay extra to watch IU and Purdue sports.

creationism vs. evolution

I was late to church the other day but did see something in the church announcements about the Creation Museum (in Petersburg, KY). I know that there is some curiosity with some of my friends about visiting the museum. I'm just kind of indifferent about it.

My main concern is not so much the museum but this never ending argument in our culture over evolution vs. creationism.

I'm over it.

I feel that that I've moved beyond it and I wish both parties would do the same. It doesn't do either side any good to keep arguing over and over about it. For one the issue is extremely divisive to most people and secondly, the arguments don't go anywhere because both sides (and maybe one side more than the other) gets bogged down with their rhetoric. Every time I see this played out on a cable news show it just nauseates me. If anything it is nothing more than a loaded question that does nothing but spurn negativity.

Look I'm a Christian and as I Christian I don't feel that the issue of creationism vs. evolution is at the heart of my spiritual believes. I don't have to jusifiy how this planet started to buy my believes in Jesus Christ. It frustrates me when I see other Christians talking about the issue with such passion that they think if they aren't arguing for the merits of creationism than they are not going to go to heaven. I'm under the impression that is not how it works.

When I said that I moved beyond the argument what I mean is that I don't look at the Adam and Eve story as being true or not. To me it is inconsequential. What does have relevance are the truths that I can take away from the story---God loves man, that man was created in the image of God, that marriage is two becoming one in flesh, that we are not accidents.

Maybe it is a wishy-washy stance...and if people want to say that than that's fine. As a historian and (what I would like to think) somewhat of intellectual it is hard to buy the creation story as being literal fact. It just is. Do I believe that the divine had a hand in us being here and getting things started in the universe? Yes, I do truly believe that but I am not going to presume to know the scope of what that means.

Ultimately being a Christian is believing in Jesus and also believing in how he lived. Sometimes people get swayed away from that thought when they get fixated on issues that divide and not unite. The discourse (the idea of Christianity versus Science) would be better served with finding common ground.

This subject has been on my mind for the last several days and I feel better about letting it out. I figure there is nothing wrong with throwing in a (more) serious post every now and then.

No BW3 in Greensburg

For several weeks we have been hearing that Greensburg is getting a BW3 in the old Prime Time building.

Not happening...although it is going to be a wing's place. A Buffalo Wings and Rings is set to open in September. Click here to see their website.

I'm thinking that this was the chain that used to be on Lincoln Street in the late '80's/early 90's. ???????

Regardless...I'm kind of bummed that it isn't going to a BW3. (It would be nice if Greensburg would have a place to watch "the big game" even if it would be a generic bar like BW3.)

Maybe this new place will fill the void.

Big Ten Network Update

This is spiraling out of control. I think much of the fault lies with the Big Ten Network. They want to be part of a cable company's classic package (hence more money for them). If cable provider's do this than they are going to jack their prices up because sports-themed channels demand lucrative licensing rights (which stinks for consumers...especially those that don't care about sports).

If you are an Insight customer click here for their stance with the Big Ten Network. You will also be able to send an email to the Big Ten Network.

I think they are making a good point in that the channel should be part of their sports package--like the NFL network and ESPU.

Here are some more points that Insight is making with regard to the Big Ten Network:

* Insight will still have a lot of Big Ten sporting events - including football. In fact, the top football match-ups involving Big Ten schools will continue to be available on ABC, ESPN & ESPN2 (which we carry on Classic cable for all of our customers). Those contracts and existing agreements mean that the marquee games—and postseason action—won’t be on the Big Ten Network. The network’s own Web site acknowledges that it will not have first choice of football games during any week in the season. They’ll have the second pick only three times, and the third pick in another three weeks. That means that in most weeks, Big Ten Network will air games that ESPN and ESPN2 have chosen not to carry. We understand that diehard fans want to see every game in which their team plays. That’s why we are so upset that the Big Ten Network is refusing to let us launch their channel alongside other college sports networks.
* The Big Ten Network is pushing the limit by asking for more money than almost any other channel despite having one of the weakest Big Ten schedules. Make no mistake about it, the Big Ten Network is looking for customers to pay a whole lot more than they currently pay to watch college sports, while at Insight we are trying to keep the cost of sports programming in line for our customers. That is what this disagreement is about.
* Sports Networks are expensive and we don’t want our customers who are not sports fans to have to pay for them. Although we have offered the BTN a substantial payment for each Digital customer who would receive the network, they have continued to holdout. We are guessing that our offer simply isn’t enough to satisfy their greed.
* Insight has made an offer to launch the Big Ten Network (BTN) on digital. The BTN has not yet accepted our offer, and unless they do we will probably not be carrying the Big Ten games on the BTN. At this point the ball is in BTN’s court. We are ready to flip the switch when they are ready to give customers a choice.
* BTN has decided that rather than accept our offer to put them on Insight Digital 2.0 with the other college sports networks (ESPN U and CSTV) they would hold out for Classic carriage. By doing this they are attempting to extract a very large license fee for every Classic customer, not just those interested in college sports programming.
* We understand that are customers are disappointed. We are too. We serve many college towns, and understand the passion of college sports fans. We are also a leader in delivering sports programming from the top sports networks. Insight was one of the first (and few) cable companies that agreed to carry ESPN U, College Sports Television, and the NFL Network all as part of Insight Digital 2.0. So we are puzzled that the BTN has refused to accept our offer.
* We are aware that some customers of other cable companies are receiving the games. The Big Ten Network likes to talk about the large number of cable companies that they have already signed up. All of these companies combined have fewer customers than Insight has digital customers. The BTN has continued to reject the digital carriage offers from all of the major cable companies.
* We would love to bring the Big Ten Network and these extra games to our customers, and if the BTN accepts our offer we will carry the games.

It looks like the Big Ten Network is going to have to be the first to blink...and I think they should be the first to do so.

Maddux now tied for Ninth

Greg Maddux picked up career win #342 on Sunday afternoon moving him into a tie with Tim Keefe for ninth place on the career win's list. Maddux went 6 innings and gave up only one run on a Lance Berkman solo homerun in the first. The Padres won 5-3 and still maintain a slim one game lead for the NL wild card spot. Maddux also had two hits and looked like he might have hurt himself when sliding hard into third base in the third inning. After a short visit from the trainer, Maddux declared himself all right (by giving a thumbs up) and went on to pitch three more innings. I'm guessing he's all right.

The Padres go out east this week with three games (each) against the Mets and Phillies. Those games against the Phillies are going to be super important since it is the Phillies who are only one game behind the Padres.

Photo courtesy of (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)