A Grip on Sports: This time of year it is imperative to tap into the wide world of competition to fill out our daily report
A GRIP ON SPORTS • The long days of summer are finally ready to turn into the blistering hot days of the season in these parts. Which means we have to plan a little better each morning. After all, no one wants to be exercising or yard-working or car-washing in the afternoon sun. Or trying to fill a daily sports column without a plan.
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• As I wandered the desert that is the Interweb this morning, the realization that interesting stories have flown north for the summer became clear. Like so many honking geese.
At least migrating geese force you to stop and look up once in a while. Can we say the same about Wimbledon previews or the M’s-offense-stalled-again stories or features on a former local athlete do that? Maybe. But there is no guarantee. Hoping a theme will arrive magically like a Dave Parker throw from rightfield is not a strategy. A strategy for failure, sure, but not one that will allow us to entertain, enlighten and engage you every morning.
We had no theme when we woke up today. No hope, actually. And the dearth of stories to pass along – check the short links sections below if you don’t believe me – cemented the view summer’s doggedly boring days are here.
And yet, we are not deterred. After a decade-and-half of doing this more than 350 times a year, we have a fall back. And, no, it’s not some story about the kid next door – though anytime we can write about former Mariner pitcher Matt Young, it is good day – or that time when the Cougars or Zags or the local high school star did something amazing.
Our strategy? Hit you with a bunch of pithy comments on the news of the day, no matter how lean or bereft of importance. Just like …
• Wonder why the M’s offense can kill it one day and be impotent the next? We have. More than once, though last evening, as we told the dog he would have to wait until we saw if Andrés Muñoz could wiggle off the hook in the 10th (spoiler alert: he didn’t), that question hit us again.
It’s not as if the Rangers’ starter Saturday, Kumar Rocker, has been lights out or anything. His earned run average entering his ninth start was a bloated 6.68. And he limited Seattle to two runs over six innings.
Our conclusion? The fanbase’s offseason whining and moaning about adding another bat was not only expected, it was appropriate. And prescient. The M’s lineup is deli-slice thin. Neutralize Cal Raleigh and it is even thinner. A couple more high-contact, high-RBI guys and the M’s fatten up more often.
• One of the things we were anticipating later this month will have a little less joy involved after Parker’s death was announced Saturday. The soon-to-be inducted Hall of Famer – the Cooperstown ceremony is July 27 – had been battling Parkinson’s Disease and was out-of-sight much of the past few years.
What excited us about this ceremony is two of the best throwing arms we had seen in our life, Parker and Ichiro Suzuki, we going into the Hall on the same day.
Say what you want about the long ball – and chicks still dig it, don’t they Greg Maddux? – the most impressive play in baseball is a powerful throw. Especially from rightfield to third base. And few, if any, did it better in baseball history than Parker and Ichiro. YouTube and the like are littered with videos of their strong-arm antics, with Parker’s most-memorable coming in Seattle. In the Kingdome. In the 1979 All-Star Game. Then there is Ichiro announcing his presence in 2001 by unleashing a laser from rightfield to third, gunning down the A’s Terrence Long.
Parker. Ichiro. Roberto Clemente. Ollie Brown. Dale Bunn. These are the cannon-armed rightfielders of my life.
• Wimbledon begins Monday. There is little chance an American male will make the semifinals, let alone win the championship. It makes us long for the days … OK, nostalgia in sports is as bad as presentism. “The game was better back then” is as silly as saying 17 times a year “that’s the best game I’ve ever seen.” But longing for a time when, say, Pete Sampras and Jim Courier would lock up in an All-American Wimbledon final (1993) or Sampras and Andre Agassi would do the same again (1999), is fine. Mainly because it may never happen again.
By the way, Sampras won seven Wimbledon titles in eight years back then. In fact, his 1996 straight-set quarterfinal loss to the Netherlands’ Richard Krajicek is still one of the most mystifying defeats we remember. And cost Sampras what would have been a record eight consecutive Wimbledon titles.
We also miss the irony of the men’s singles final being held on July 4, as it was in 1982. That was the five-set Jimmy Connors/John McEnroe final, the only Wimbledon men’s title won by the fading Connors.
• If you are wondering about that final two names on my best-rightfield-arms list, we can clear that up for you.
Brown played for the Giants and the Padres in the 1960s. I can remember sitting in Dodger Stadium one night in 1966 and watching him toss a pea from rightfield to home, resulting in one of his 12 assists that season. But that wasn’t his best year. In 1969, he had a major-league-leading 16 while holding down rightfield for San Diego. His arm strength stuck with me for years.
Bunn never played major league baseball. He did, however, play quarterback at Cal State Fullerton. But our memories date back to Colt League baseball, when Bunn was a Monrovia High football and baseball star. And our All-Star rightfielder.
He would stand with his back against the fence at Duarte High, take one step and throw a strike – occasionally – to me at the plate. Just for fun. And to show off. There were a couple times during our all-star run – including a win over a team headlined by Jack Clark – Bunn threw guys out at the plate by such a large margin, they had plenty of time to line me up and knock me on my derriere.
Those weren’t the most impressive throws I saw him make, though. As a CIF football playoff game at Citrus College wound down, Bunn dropped into his endzone and let loose a pass that I swear landed, incomplete, inside the opponent’s 10-yard line. As a high school player.
He was truly the strongest-armed high school quarterback I ever saw in person – and I covered John Elway.
Back then I would have bet Bunn could probably have thrown a football, or a baseball, over them mountains.
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WSU: The decision to drop parts of the track and field program has broken a few hearts among the sport’s alumni. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner’s Mercury News column recounts the week that was in the West. … Arizona has reloaded its football roster. … So has Oklahoma, what with a couple of Washington State transfers (and a former assistant) ready to jumpstart the offense. … In basketball news, one Colorado men’s player has already been on a world tour. … After another College World Series appearance, Oregon State’s baseball program is dealing with some House settlement-inspired roster churn.
Idaho: The 1981-82 Idaho Vandal men’s basketball team was inducted into the Hooptown Hall of Fame this week, but members of the group attended the ceremony with some heavy hearts. Dave Boling tells us Phil Hopson, one of the team’s key contributors, was in the hospital after an auto accident a week ago and died this week.
Preps: Former Lewis and Clark High star Briann January is still in the WNBA. But now she’s always on the Indiana Fever bench. As an assistant coach.
Indians: Spokane’s winning streak finally ended though it took all of the 10 runs host Hillsboro scored to get it done. Dave Nichols has the coverage of the Indians’ 10-9 loss.
Velocity: The final USL Jagermeister Cup group stage match at Las Vegas resulted in a 2-0 victory for the Lights.
Sonics: Lenny Wilkins’ statue outside Climate Pledge Arena was revealed yesterday. And Wilkins was there to christen it.
Mariners: Bryan Woo pitched well. The two Ranger runs came after J.P. Crawford’s errant throw extended the third inning and allowed Corey Seager to hit. His two-run home run was all the damage Woo yielded in six innings. The M’s offense was pretty poor, though, and the Rangers walked off the 3-2 win in the 10th. … Matt Brash is more comfortable throwing his changeup these days. … One M’s minor league prospect is experiencing a power surge.
Kraken: Seattle decided to concentrate on defensemen during the second day of the NHL draft.
Storm: Soon Sue Bird will have a statue in the area as well. It will be unveiled on Aug. 17.
Sounders: Seattle is back at it. If by “it,” one means MLS play. The Sounders dominated Austin at Lumen Field on Saturday, winning 2-0 and moving into fifth in the MLS’ Western Conference standings. … There is a lot of soccer going on in the U.S. right now, including the knockout rounds of the Club World Cup. The only MLS team left is Inter Miami and Lionel Messi. … Mexico has moved on to the semifinals of the Gold Cup, with the U.S. trying to match that tonight.
Reign: USWNT coach Emma Hayes is revamping the roster once again as she gets more comfortable with the options.
Hoopfest: The elite tournaments roll on, with the defending champs in the men’s and women’s top classifications still alive to defend their titles. Justin Reed has that story. … Colton Clark searched out and found a story on a couple of players participating in their 35th Hoopfest. And one player who just missed the cut. … We also can pass along Tyler Tjomsland’s photo gallery.
Track and field: The 10th Iron Wood Classic took place Saturday in Rathdrum and John Blanchette was there. So was Chase Jackson, who broke her American record in the shot put.
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• We’ve been dealing with a health issue. An infected tooth in need of a difficult root canal. That won’t come until mid-July, as the endodontist wants to make sure the infection is gone. Which means antibiotics, something I’ve had a checkered history with before. My second round began this week and for some reason yesterday morning – as I was on my way to Hoopfest – they kicked in and kicked my behind. I felt so bad, I headed back home and back to bed until the afternoon. I will not skip eating some bread or crackers now when I take the rest of them. Even at midnight. Until later …