Friday 25 June 2010

Another One?

Tonight, the FOURTH (but really, it should be the fifth) no hitter in the 2010 MLB season was tossed by Edwin Jackson of the Arizona Diamondbacks, who went the distance against the Tampa Bay Rays but walked 8 batters along the way. This marks the 3rd time that the Rays have been no hit in 140 games. That's pretty ridiculous! Jackson needed 149 pitches, that's right, 149 pitches to get it done. Pretty crazy night at Tropicana Field. Still though, it is not a good feeling to see your team get no-hit for the 3rd time in less than a year.

Well, after his 11 hour 5 minute marathon, John Isner expectedly crashed out at Wimbledon in second round action today. Seriously, how do you play 4 straight days of tennis at one of the world's premier tournament totalling more than 12 and a half hours and not get tired. Still though, Isner's name will go down in the history books for sure and people will be talking about his first rounder at 2010 Wimby for a LONG time to come!

Halladay shut down the Blue Jays today over 7 scoreless innings. His Phillies, who were the VISITORS in this game IN Philadelphia (you can thank the G20), broke out the bats to smash up Jesse Litsch and the bullpen 9-0. Halladay's performance, let's be honest, is not surprising. I don't mind losing to him but let's hope Toronto captures the last 2 games of this series!

-D

Wednesday 23 June 2010

Crazy Day

Well, all in all, it has been a pretty crazy day. Sports and otherwise.

Let's start with the otherwise. Usually, the city of Toronto, my current resident city, is pretty calm in terms of seismic activity. However, a noticeable earthquake rumbled through the city this afternoon at around 1:45. I was walking downtown, buying lunch after playing a couple hours of beach volleyball, so I didn't feel it at all. But afterwards, we got a couple calls from our friends and my dad saying they felt swaying. It turned out to be a 5.0 magnitude trembler, centred about 50 km north of Ottawa. Nothing major, but a jolting experience perhaps for most.

In politics, big tremors were also registered around the world. President Obama fired his Afghanistan commander for inappropriate comments and Australia got its first female Prime Minister in Julia Gillard.

To sports. Stephen Strasburg collected 9 more strikeouts to up his career total to 41, another record for the most K's in a pitcher's first 4 outings. England qualified for the Round of 16 at the World Cup, but perhaps still not performing as well as they'd like or should be. USA qualified along with them, as did the sole African nation remaining in Ghana.

I saved the craziest feat of all for last. Today at Wimbledon, John Isner and Nicolas Mahut faced off in what will go down as the most epic tennis match of all time. On Tuesday night, after 4 gruelling sets, the score was tied 2-2, with the line of 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-7. They had to suspend play because of darkness. More than 24 hours later, the match was still going. Play had to be suspended again at 9:12 PM, with the fifth set tied at 59-59. The crowd gave the two warriors an amazing standing ovation as they departed from Court 18.

The fifth set it self has already taken 7 hours and 3 minutes, longer than the previous record length for any professional tennis match. The most amazing thing is that the two will be back on the court tomorrow at 3:30 British Daylight Time to continue their match. I will definitely be tuning in to see this game, though I have a feeling that it won't last as long as some people wish it will.

By the way, John Isner has served up 98 aces, with Mahut not far behind at 95. Incredible service games and that's why it has gotten to this point.

Her Majesty is attending Wimbledon tomorrow as well. Bet she'll make her way to Court 18 sometime during the day.

-D

Monday 21 June 2010

On the Diamond and the Grass

The Wimbledon Championships have commenced in London! And boy did it commence with high drama. Roger Federer's opponent Alejandro Falla had match point on the Swiss Maestro in the fourth set before Federer returned to form and righted the ship in 5 sets. It would have been perhaps the most shocking upset ever at a Grand Slam tournament and hopefully, Federer can shake off the rust and cruise on in from here.

Novak Djokovic also needed 5 marathon sets to get through his first round match. Seventh seed Nikolay Davydenko needed just as many, eventually winning 9-7 in the fifth against Kevin Anderson. That match took 4 and a half hours. Last year's semi finalist Marin Cilic couldn't repeat his performance in 2010 as he was sent packing on Day 1. Women's French Open champ Francesca Schiavone lost her first round match in a shocker today but otherwise, the women's bracket moved on as expected with Venus Williams, Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin, and Elena Dementieva all won their opening matches.

Playing under the roof on opening night, Djokovic finished his match at 10:58 PM-that's a record for Wimbledon and it will be interesting to see whether they'll top that later this fortnight, now that it seems they're more inclined to use the retractable now.

On the baseball diamond, the Jays are off today after an emotional Father's Day game against the San Fran Giants. John McDonald, whose father passed away last week, hit a round tripper as a PH in the 9th, just the 14th home run in his journeyman career. It was an emotional moment for him, an emotional moment for the team, and really, an emotional moment for me as a baseball fan. Such is the power of sports to affect such human feeling with one moment in time.

Saw a really good piece on the pros and cons of interleague play on MLB.com today: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100620&content_id=11408314&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb.

Really hoping to see a Jays-Cards game this week. Just a matter of rounding up some friends.

-D

Friday 18 June 2010

Strasburg

Well, it's been a long time since I last posted. A lot of things have happened. I had to make an urgent trip to China last week due to a family emergency and I'm now in the midst of final exams for this semester. So it's been a roller coaster ride lately and I haven't been on the blog for a while now.

First things first. Rafael Nadal's 5th French Open title-what a dandy! The man (yes, the man, Rafa's no longer a kid now) captured the championship at Roland Garros wihout dropping a set. The Queen of Spain was there to see him hoist the trophy and you know what, I was cheering for him. He looks like he's back to his pre-injury self. Wimbledon should be a REALLY fun one to watch. Fingers crossed for a repeat of 2008. Federer-Nadal final? Looking forward to THAT!

Last Tuesday night, before I had to catch my flight to China, I had a chance to watch some highlights of Stephen Strasburg's much hyped Major League debut. The atmosphere in Nationals Park felt more electric than Opening Day, the All Star Game and the World Series combined. Mr. Strasburg, at 21 years young, fanned 14 batters with his MASSIVE curve and triple digit heater. I was truly impressed and just by watching his delivery and his poise, I think Strasburg IS the real deal!

His next start out, he faced Cleveland and fanned another 8 batters. Earlier tonight, with President Barack Obama in attendance, Strasburg whiffed another 10 White Sox, to set a record for most K's in the first 3 major league starts. His pitches are just so mind boggling to watch and I definitely would like to see him in person some time.

Here's to an exciting few months of tennis and baseball...

CHEERS!

-D

Thursday 3 June 2010

Reinstate

When you know you've made such a blatant mistake, when you know your action has so deeply affected an entire sport, when you know you've blown the most important call of your career, there is no question that you should do the right thing and reinstate what could have been.

Armando Galarraga's perfect game, and yes, it was a perfect game, last night, was ruined by a missed call by veteran umpire Jim Joyce. On the 27th batter of a perfect night, Galarraga allowed a soft grounder to the right side, and as he ran to cover first base on a throw from Miguel Cabrera, probably experienced the thrill of being on the doorstep of history only to see the door slammed in his face by Mr. Joyce. I saw the condensed game today and to be honest, it was one of the most emotional baseball moments I've ever watched. To see the look on Galarraga's face, I just felt soooo terrible for him.

There is no argument that Galarraga's name should be in the history books of Major League Baseball. There's no argument that he did in fact pitch the 21st perfect game in Major League history last night. And though I do feel for Jim Joyce too, I feel it's the right decision to reinstate that perfecto. Galarraga deserves it. Joyce deserves it. Baseball deserves it.

This would have been the 3rd perfect game in less than a month and the 4th no hitter of the 2010 season. It should have been a historical night at Comerica Park. But to lose it on a call that was SO OBVIOUSLY WRONG (out by at least half a step), it really is a shame.

At the French Open, boy is it ever interesting! Federer's streak of 21 consecutive GS quarters has been snapped. Both Williams Sisters have been sent packing. Djokovic is down. Justin Hein is down. It's going to be a very interseting four days to the final!

My pick to win it all are Nadal and Dementieva. We'll see. Roland Garros is a mysterious place these days!

-D