TUESDAY TIDBITS
FROM THE BILL CHUCK FILES
A LOOK AT THE BASEBALL CALENDAR
Most teams have now played 54 games, which is the one-third mark of the season. We are no longer at the point where we can say “it’s too early,” we have reached the point in the season where we declare that “it’s still early.” The next phase, which will be coming up very soon, is “it’s still early, but….” That precedes the two halfway points in the season. The first halfway point is when we actually reach 81 games. The next halfway point is the All-Star break, which is around the 97-game mark. Most members of the media get pretty lazy calling pre-All-Star action as “the first half.” They do that, simply to piss me off. Then comes “it’s decision time” in the season, when teams have to decide whether to buy or sell. That moment will come at the August 3 trade deadline, about 112 games into the season. By the end of August, and as we move into September, we are “in the home stretch.” Then, quickly, it’s “life or death.” Finally, we reach the postseason. That’s when we are reminded that “every team starts off with a 0-0 record.” Then comes, “it’s win or go home.” Finally, we reach “the Fall Classic.” We are then reminded that “every odd game in the Series means so much.” Finally, Joe Davis will tell us that this “has been a wonderful season and amazing World Series.” And then it will be Rogers Hornsby time, in which we hear, “People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.” Through it all, Billy-Ball will be there.
SPEAKING OF DATES…
Happy anniversary, Jose Canseco.
A COMBINO
Billy-Ball has just created the word “combino.” It means a combined shutout in which multiple pitchers allowed no hits. The legendary Bob Ryan and I have agreed that when a group of relievers tosses a game like this, it does a disservice to the pitchers who actually throw a complete game to call it a “no-hitter.” So, congratulations to the Astros on their combino. Houston used three pitchers: starter Tatsuya Imai and two relievers, Steven Okert and Alimber Santa. The highlight for me is that Santa was making his MLB debut. In the future, I will always ask if there is a first-time pitcher involved in the combino and I will call that the “Santa clause.”
THE PERFECT GAME THAT WASN’T
On May 26, 1959, the Pirates’ Harvey Haddix retired every Milwaukee Braves batter through perfect 12 innings. In the bottom of the 13th, Felix Mantilla became the first Brave to reach when third baseman Don Hoak threw the ball away. Eddie Mathews successfully laid down a sac bunt. Haddix intentionally walked Hank Aaron, and Joe Adcock ended the no-hitter, the shutout, and the game with a line drive over the wall in right-center field. Aaron thought it was grounds rule double and left the basepath after Mantilla crossed the plate, and Adcock’s hit was scored as a game-winning double, and the Braves won 1-0. Haddix had thrown 12.2 innings, giving up one unearned run on one hit, walking one (intentionally), and striking out eight. He was charged with the loss. And you want to call what the Astros did a “no-hitter?” Give me a break.
WHO ARE THE CUBS?
The Cubs are the team with two 10-game winning streaks this season. Now they have a nine-game losing streak. The Cubs have not won a game since May 15th, the day that Billy Goat Tavern owner Sam Sianis died.
They are 35 for 184 (.190) with runners in scoring position this month, which ranks 29th in MLB. They are also the team that won 15-straight games at home. They’re now the team that has lost its last six at Wrigley. This manic-depressive team must be off their meds.
