Controversy dominates sports
By: Larry Fitzgerald
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 08/19/2010
Kevin Slowey will never forget Sunday, August 15, when despite winning his 11th game of the year 4-2 over Oakland he lost a chance to throw his first career no-hitter.
The 2010 season has been highlighted as the year of the pitcher in Major League Baseball. Six times so far this year, pitchers have thrown no-hitters. Actually seven if you’re counting at home, but an umpire blew a call at first base on the final play that cost Detroit pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game.
Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire refused to allow Slowey to continue his no-hit masterpiece by replacing him in the top of the eighth inning. His pitch count was around 100, and Gardenhire told him his day was done.
Forget about pitch counts. No-hitters are rare, but over the last 20 years or so Major League teams have started babying starting pitchers by putting them on pitch counts.
Usually, 100 pitches is about all most starters get these days. Back in the day when Bob Gibson, Bert Blyleven, Wilbur Wood, Catfish Hunter, Jim Kaat, Tom Seaver, Steve Carlton and many others pitched, no way would a manager take a starter out of a game in the eighth inning while throwing a no-hit shutout.
Times have changed, particularly with the designated hitter rule in the American League. That’s one extra tough out, and that more than anything is why managers have the quick hook on pitch counts.
Costly mistake!
Long-hitting Dustin Johnson will never forget what happened to him on Sunday. He had battled all day and had a one-shot lead on the 18th and final hole of the 92nd PGA Championship in Kohler, Wisconsin when he hit his drive into a bunker. The course, Whistling Straits, a links-style course, has a thousand or so bunkers on the 7,500-yard layout on the banks of Lake Michigan.
Johnson only needed par to win. His ball lay in the bunker when he arrived where fans were standing and had walked in the bunker. For some reason, Johnson assumed that the bunker was a waste bunker, so he grounded his club before he hit his second shot. You are permitted to ground your club in a waste bunker only.
Bunkers are called hazards that are filled with sand. If you hit your ball in a sand bunker or water hazard, you cannot ground your club if you attempt to hit your ball. If you do, you incur a two-shot penalty. That is what happened to Johnson; in the heat of the moment, with the pressure mounting, he assumed he could ground his club because spectators were standing in the bunker. Which is crazy when you think about it.
It was a very unusual situation. Johnson went on, played the hole out, and missed his par putt on 18. He thought he was tied with Bubba Watson and Martin Kaymer of Germany at -11 and would be in the three-hole playoff mix to determine the winner.
As he was about to sign his score card, an official told Johnson that based on what he saw, he (Johnson) had grounded his club and would be assessed a two-stroke penalty. Golf, unlike other sports, is a game of honor, and players are expected to know the rules of golf. If you don’t, you still must adhere to them.
Kaymer beat Watson in the playoff to win his first Major Championship.
Fitz Notes & Quotes
Tiger Woods finished in a tie for 28th at -2, and for the second year in a row he failed to win a Major Championship. He is still sitting on 14. There has been much debate by many that Woods should not be on the 2010 U.S. Ryder Cup team October 1 when they play Europe in Wales because he has not qualified.
Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson did qualify for the team after the PGA Championship. Woods has not won a tournament this year; last year he won six times.
To qualify for the Ryder Cup, you accumulate points over a two-year period, and Woods is currently 12th. Eight players have qualified so far.
Corey Pavin is the U.S. captain, and I feel he has to select Woods among his four captain picks for several reasons. Woods is still number one in the world rankings, and if that ranking means anything, he clearly deserves to be on the U.S team. He is among only 12 players to make the cut in all four 2010 Majors, and he finished fourth in the Masters and U.S. Open.
The U.S. won only one of the four Majors this year, Phil Mickelson at the Masters, a U.S.-born player who has won only three of the last eight Majors. Woods is still number one in the world, and for the U.S. to not select the number-one player in the world is not only stupid, it’s un-American and would be unprecedented.
Larry Fitzgerald can be heard weekday mornings on KMOJ Radio 89.9 FM at 8:20 am, and on WDGY-AM 740 Monday & Saturday mornings at 7:50 am and Fridays at 3:50 pm; he also commentates on sports 7-8 pm on Almanac (TPT channel 2). Larry welcomes reader responses to lfitzgerald@spokesman-recorder.com , or visit www.Larry-Fitzgerald.com .
