When major league baseball’s Houston Colt .45s moved into the first domed stadium ever built, the Astrodome, in 1965, owner Judge Roy Hofheinz renamed the team the Astros, and this was their inaugural logo, used from ’65 until 1974. The club had entered the National League as an expansion team in 1962, and, typical of expansion clubs, did a lot of losing. The new stadium and name breathed some life into the team, and attendance soared, although mostly because of curiosity for the new building. Shortly after play started in the dome, groundskeepers realized that grass wouldn’t grow indoors, and that resulted in the first artificial turf, AstroTurf, being installed. The team was full of young talent including Joe Morgan, Sonny Jackson, Jesus Alou and Jim Wynn, known as “The Toy Cannon” for his diminutive stature and impressive home run power. Also, the club had outstanding young pitching prospects, including Larry Dierker, Don Wilson – who had 2 career no-hitters – J.R. Richard and Mike Cuellar. Veterans Rusty Staub and Eddie Mathews were also Astros in the early years, and Mathews hit his 500th career home run while playing there.
Archive for October, 2010
Classic Sports Card of The Day
1970 Topps baseball card of former major league pitcher Nolan Ryan. Ryan is currently in the headlines as a majority owner of the surprising Texas Rangers, who advanced to the first World Series in franchise history over the weekend. Ryan broke into the majors with the New York Mets in 1966, and his playing career spanned 27 seasons. He was part of The Amazin’ Mets 1969 World Series winning team early in his career, although he battled blister problems on his throwing hand that limited his appearances. Ryan threw more no-hitters – seven – than any pitcher in major league history, and also tossed 12 one-hitters. “The Ryan Express”, one of the hardest throwing right-handers ever, is baseball’s all-time career strikeout leader. Ryan also spent time with the California Angels, Houston Astros and the Rangers, and despite the quality of his stuff, had a career won-loss record that was just above .500, and never won a Cy Young Award. He was an eight-time All Star, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999.
NFL – Bills Game Review
It was easily their best effort this season, but the bottom line is the Buffalo Bills fell to 0-6 on Sunday in Baltimore, losing a 37-34 overtime heartbreaker to the Ravens. Let’s get the negatives out of the way first. The Bills lost mostly because they did what losing teams do – turned the ball over too many times, made mistakes at the worst possible times, and couldn’t get stops on defense when they needed them. The secondary was completely fooled on a flea flicker play, and still can’t figure out how to cover an opposing tight end to save their lives. However, there were two plays in the game in which the Bills got really bad breaks. An end zone interception by Reggie Corner late in the first half was negated when he was ruled out of bounds. On the play, Corner had perfect coverage and made an outstanding one-handed catch while the Raven receiver held his other arm. Corner came down clearly inbounds, but one foot was on the ground, the other on the receiver’s ankle. He landed on top of the receiver, who then rolled him over out of bounds. The ruling was that Corner never got the second foot down. The play was technically a correct call according to the NFL rule book, and all I’ll say is that the NFL rule book needs an infusion of some common sense. So, the Bills don’t get the interception, don’t get the blatant offensive interference call, and the Ravens not only get a field goal, but C.J. Spiller fumbles the ensuing kickoff and the Ravens get a touchdown on the next play. The 24-10 lead the Bills built up is cut to 24-20 at halftime, and the Ravens now have the momentum. The other play was the fumble by tight end Shawn Nelson in overtime. Nelson, playing for the first time since coming off suspension, was stripped of the ball around midfield by Ray Lewis on a play that was a classic case of a player’s forward progress being stopped. The whistle wasn’t blown, of course, and then to compound the mistake, center Geoff Hangartner took off his helmet and slammed it to the ground, drawing an automatic personal foul penalty that handed the Ravens their winning field goal position. Another case of doing what losing teams do – finding a way to do whatever it takes to give the game away. Once the Bills correct that problem, they’ll start winning. There’s no doubt that their offense is gradually improving each week. Surprisingly, they shredded a solid Baltimore defense for over 500 yards, including Ryan Fitzpatrick’s 374 passing yards, the first Bill to throw for over 300 in 65 games. The running game, using both Spiller and Fred Jackson, was effective, although the game plan obviously was to throw on the Ravens. Lee Evans and Stevie Johnson had monster games, and Roscoe Parrish and David Nelson made plays also. Fitzpatrick is spreading the ball around nicely, and if he can clean up the interceptions, this team will win some games before the season’s over. Even the defense showed some progress coming out of the bye. They forced a couple of turnovers, got at least some pressure on Joe Flacco and kept their team in the game for the most part, despite being put in bad field position situations by the turnovers throughout the game, including overtime. Sunday’s game should at least be a confidence builder for the Bills, who now realize they can compete with anybody and win as long as they don’t get beat by their toughest opponent, themselves.
Classic Team Logo of The Day
Logo of the Chicago Cougars of the World Hockey Association, one of the league’s original franchises. They existed from 1972 until 1975, and in their second season advanced to the WHA playoffs final round, but lost the battle for the Avco Cup to Gordie Howe’s Houston Aeros. In an earlier playoff round that same year, the Cougars were forced to play 2 home games at a skating rink in a local shopping center, due to their home arena being booked for a production of Peter Pan, starring gymnast Cathy Rigby. When the team’s owners encountered financial difficulties prior to the Cougars’ third and final season, the club was sold to Cougar players Ralph Backstrom, Dave Dryden and player-coach Pat Stapleton, but they wound up folding after the ’75 season.
Classic Sports Card of The Day
1982 O-pee-chee hockey card of former NHL defenseman Barry Melrose. Melrose had a mediocre career in pro hockey, playing for the Cincinnati Stingers of the old WHA, then moving on to the Winnipeg Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings. His playing career amounted to 300 games, in which he totaled 10 goals and 728 penalty minutes. Melrose had some success as an NHL head coach, with his four years at the helm of the Los Angeles Kings being his best. He led the Kings, with Wayne Gretzky on the roster, to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1993, losing to Montreal. Melrose is probably most recognizable for his current job as a hockey analyst for ESPN.
NFL – Week Seven Picks
It was a much better week predicting NFL games last week, as I got back on the plus side by picking 9 of 14 games correctly. The overall record for the year, after 6 weeks, stands at 51 right and 38 wrong. Here are the choices for week seven:
Buffalo at Baltimore – the Ravens’ overtime loss at New England last week will have them in a foul mood going into this game. I agree with Ray Lewis, who said he feels sorry for the Bills this week. Baltimore wins a game that will be effectively over by halftime.
Cincinnati at Atlanta – Atlanta is still a contender in the NFC South, despite being trampled by the Eagles last week. The Bengals are just too inconsistent to win a game against a quality opponent, especially on the road. Carson Palmer’s game has gone south for some reason, so I see Atlanta winning this one.
Pittsburgh at Miami – this is going to be a hard-fought game, and I suspect the Dolphins defense is going to make it a lot harder on Ben Roethlisberger than the Browns did last week. However, the Steelers have an even better defense, so they’ll win a close, low scoring game.
Jacksonville at Kansas City – the Jaguars were awful on Monday night, and should play better this week whether David Garrard or Trent Edwards is at quarterback. The Chiefs are also coming off a loss, a heartbreaker in Houston, and at this point they are headed in a positive direction as a team, while the Jags are going nowhere. Kansas City wins at home to stay in the hunt for the AFC West title.
Cleveland at New Orleans – the Saints rebooted their season last week with a big win over Tampa Bay, and will dominate the young Browns at home. Young back Chris Ivory picked up the slack in the running game for the Saints with both Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas out with injuries.
Washington at Chicago – both of these teams have had their ups and downs this year and both are struggling to establish an identity, the Redskins with a new head coach and QB, and the Bears with a new, aggressive offensive coordinator. Chicago’s defense will be the difference at home, as Donovan McNabb spends the day running for his life from Julius Peppers.
San Francisco at Carolina – the 49ers did just enough right to pull out their first win last week, while Carolina is now playing musical quarterbacks, going back to Matt Moore for this week. I’ll pick San Francisco to make it 2 in a row, starting them on the road to getting back into the NFC West race.
St. Louis at Tampa Bay – both of these teams are on the rise, although the Buccaneers were brought back to earth by the Saints last week. The Rams are going to be a force in their division this season, but I’ll take the Bucs to get back on track with a win in this game.
Philadelphia at Tennessee – I would normally go with the Titans at home, but their QB situation worries me. The Eagles will miss DeSean Jackson but Kevin Kolb has gotten the job done at quarterback, and Philly seems to find ways to win. The Eagles are motivated to keep pace in the wild NFC East race, and I see them winning this game.
Arizona at Seattle – the Seahawks were impressive winning in Chicago last week, but they are inconsistent, like every other team in the NFC West. Arizona’s rookie QB, Max Hall, will struggle in the loud road atmosphere, and the Seahawks will win. Despite their inconsistency the Hawks got a positive jolt from acquiring Marshawn Lynch, and the difference in the game will be the home field advantage.
New England at San Diego – the Chargers lost to the Rams last week so it’s difficult to pick them over New England. The Bolts are usually better at home, but the Patriots are in a tough race in their division and need to keep pace with the Jets, so I see them sneaking out a win on the road.
Oakland at Denver – normally I would pick the Raiders in this AFC West matchup but they are having QB issues and it looks like they’ll be starting Kyle Boller at the position in this game. I like Denver to win but the Raiders’ defense will keep the game competitive.
Minnesota at Green Bay – Brett Favre got his revenge last year by leading the Vikes to a season sweep of his old team, but he isn’t playing at the same level now. I like the Packers at home, even though they’re banged up and lost at home to Miami last week.
New York Giants at Dallas – the Cowboys have one of the most talented rosters in the NFL but continue to lose games because of stupidity. The fact that they got an excessive celebration penalty in the next game after the same penalty cost them a game tells me that Wade Phillips has no control over the massive egos in his locker room. Those egos will get knocked down yet another peg this week as the improving Giants continue to march toward a division title with a big win, which will eliminate the Cowboys from any serious playoff contention.
Classic Team Logo of The Day
In 1993 the Canadian Football League decided to add 2 teams from U.S. cities, San Antonio and Sacramento, but the San Antonio team, the Texans, folded before ever playing a game. This is their logo. In 1995, the Sacramento team moved to San Antonio and the Texans were reborn, but played only the one year in the Alamodome before folding. In their lone season in San Antonio, the team reached the CFL “South” Divison final, losing to eventual the Grey Cup winning Baltimore Stallions. The team’s coach was former Buffalo Bills’ quarterback and coach Kay Stephenson, and they had the league’s second highest scoring offense. Their backup QBs were Joe Ferguson, former Bills’ signal caller, and Jimmy Kemp, son of another Bills’ QB of the past, Jack Kemp.
Classic Sports Card of The Day
1986 Topps football card, from www.CheckOutMyCards.com , of the late Reggie White, one of the premier pass rushers of all time. This was White’s “rookie” card, as he signed with the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL after playing in the USFL. After eight seasons in Philadelphia, White signed with the Green Bay Packers as a free agent in 1993 and helped lead that historic franchise back to glory, playing on 2 consecutive Super Bowl teams, winning Super Bowl XXXI. White was an ordained Evangelical minister, and was nicknamed “The Minister of Defense” when he played. He was a 13-time Pro Bowler, was named to the NFL All-Decade teams for both the 1980s and ’90s, and was also named to the league’s 75th Anniversary All-Time team. When White retired, he was number one in NFL history in quarterback sacks, and now ranks second behind Bruce Smith. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006, 2 years after he passed away.
MLB – Championship Series Surprises
There’s a cliche in sports that says that any team good enough to make it to a championship is capable of winning it also, but I’m betting there are a lot of people who are surprised at the results of both League Championship Series in baseball this year. The last 2 World Series winners are being handled by unsung, unproven teams through the first 4 games in both leagues so far. In the National League, the Philadelphia Phillies came into the LCS having swept Cincinnati, with their superior pitching shutting down the Reds’ offense, which was the most potent in baseball in the regular season. At the same time, the San Francisco Giants had to battle to eliminate an Atlanta team that was riddled by injuries, so the Phils were considered heavy favorites. The difference so far in this series is that the Giants’ pitching, starters and bullpen, are trumping the Phils’ outstanding three starters, while the Giants’ lineup, which on paper is nowhere near what Philly brings to the table, is finding ways to score runs while the Phillies’ big hitters struggle.
In the American League, the New York Yankees staved off elimination by winning game 5 over Texas, but the Yanks were outplayed in all phases of the game through the first four. Cliff Lee was outstanding in his start, as expected, but the other young Ranger pitchers have gotten the job done also. Josh Hamilton, Texas’ biggest regular season offensive threat who has been slowed by injury and wasn’t a factor in the division series, has managed to supply timely hits in almost every game of this series. The Rangers are doing a great job of taking extra bases and doing all the little things to manufacture runs. Manager Ron Washington’s team has also blown games open with big innings late in games, rendering one of New York’s biggest weapons, closer Mariano Rivera, a non-factor.
Both series are far from over, despite the early success of the Giants and Rangers. The Yankees already showed in game 5 that they aren’t going to go down quietly, and Philadelphia’s bats, which have been silent, came alive last night in game 4, and despite the fact that the Giants have a big edge, if the Phillies can turn it around and start scoring, they certainly have the pitching to win 3 straight games.
Classic Team Logo of The Day
Logo of an old National Basketball Association franchise, the Rochester Royals, who played in the league from 1945 until 1957, when they were relocated to Cincinnati. In the team’s early pre-NBA years, Otto Graham played for them, before moving on to his true calling as an NFL quarterback. Some of the notable players from the Rochester years, besides Graham, include Red Holzman, Maurice Stokes, Jack Twyman, Alex Hannum, Al Cervi and Chuck Connors, who went on to television fame as “The Rifleman”. The Royals won the NBA championship in 1951, the only title in franchise history for the team that still exists today, as the Sacramento Kings.