Someone get us started with a topic.

Sit back and let Casey be your guide. Find yourself an article or two of your fancy. Don’t forget to tell ‘em who sent ya.

NY Times: 1968: A Different Era, a lower E.R.A
BRibas: Strange Connections

Sox and Dawgs: Paw Sox & Sea Dogs Well Represented at Respective All-Star Games

Sox and Pinstripes: Joba silencing the critics one gem at a time

Boston Sports Rants: PEDs in Sports: Why Bonds and Clemens Should Both Be in The Hall of Fame

Home Run Derby: Jersey of the Week FUKUTHOME

Babes Love Baseball: #756 In Hall After All

Center Field: Top 5 Reasons To Vote For the All-Stars

Shut Up Tim McCarver

Extra! Extra! Read all about it - Tuesdays with Smitty is back for a 4th of July Edition!! Yes, after a week hiatus, Tuesdays with Smitty is back for some ramblings and hopefully some rational thoughts.. So without further ado, here we go:

- Props to Roger Goodell for calling the current NFL rookie salaries what they are - ridiculous. With the way the current salary cap is set, high paid rookies that busts can set a NFL franchise back years with tied up cap space. I for one am in favor of seeing incoming players having to earn that big contract . But that being said - this is hand the owners dealt themselves. In the end, they have no one to blame but themselves. Can have your cake and eat it too..

- Is anyone else a little perplexed by the Shawn Chacon situation? The media has done a number on Chacon and there is definitely no excuse for what he did. But what about GM Ed Wade in this situation? Has he done that before - marching into the team dining room and verbally accost a player? Doesn’t the GM have some culpability for the situation?

- Two weekends ago, I had the opportunity to spend 4 days at Locust Hill C.C. in Rochester, NY watching the Wegman’s LPGA tournament. I went away impressed at the level of play by the women golfers. It served only as confirmation that it doesn’t matter how strong you are in the game of golf - it really is all about form.

- Baron Davis signing with the Clippers? The Clippers spending money? Ummm, is hell freezing over? Does anyone think this might influence Elton Brand and Corey Maggette’s thoughts about whether to re-sign with the Clippers? It is good to see that the Celtics are making it a priority to re-sign James Posey. Outside of the Boston Three Party, he may have been the Celtics unsung MVP - if there is such a thing.

- Has there been a more justified extension then the contract extension Chris Paul just received?

- Does anyone ever wonder why a NBA would allow Chris Wallace to be the GM of their team?

- I am just going to come out and say what every Red Sox fan is thinking. Get healthy David Ortiz and get back soon!!

- Is Michael Phelps the best athlete in the world no one has heard of?

- Am I the only one, or does anyone else think that we are watching the final 2 seasons of LeBron James in Cleveland? Could 2010 be the year James becomes a Brooklyn Net?

- As old Tiger Stadium is being demolished and we are in the final year of Yankee stadium - it is sad to see a couple of pieces of baseball history be on their last legs. I am thankful that I had the chance to see several games in Yankee Stadium and I ashamed to say that I passed up several opportunities to see games in Old Tiger Stadium. Furthermore, it makes me appreciate the fact that Wrigley Field and Fenway Park are still around. On the other hand, will anyone bat an eye when Shea Stadium goes?

- Did anyone really care that Floyd Landis lost his “final” appeal to reclaim his Tour De France title?

Lastly, I want to take a second and congratulate all high school seniors on graduating from high school. Much continue success to all of them - especially Abigail Gotham and Sarah Watzke. Congrats to both!!!

Happy 4ht of July to all. Be safe and enjoy the holiday weekend.

The Webster Yankee pitching corps lost one of its best foot soldiers on Sunday.

Believe it or not, everyone was happy to see one of the troop get a chance to move on.

Webster Yankee and Monroe Community College standout reliever, Pat Urckfitz, has inked a deal with the Houston Astros.

Urckfitz, who spent the month of May helping MCC advance to the NJCAA DII World Series in Millington, Tennessee, will return, later this week, to the Volunteer State.

This time instead of wearing the Tribunes’ jersey, the southpaw will don a Greenville Astros uniform – the Houston Astros Appalachian Rookie League affiliate.

Urckfitz spent his Sunday morning meeting with Houston Astros’ officials firming up his contract as a free agent in the MLB supplementary draft.

The Penfield, N.Y. native worked 64 and a third innings for the Tribunes over the last two seasons. He struck out 91 and held opponents to a .219 batting average.

Urckfitz’s best work came in the last two months.

“Pat really defined his career in the last six weeks,” commented MCC Head Coach, Mike Kelly, referring to Urckfitz’s work with MCC and the Webster Yankees.

In 11 1/3 innings of relief during the JUCO World Series Urckfitz allowed just one run on four hits while fanning 15.

During his brief stint with Webster Urckfitz struck out 25 in 14 and 2/3 innings of work in the New York Collegiate Baseball League.

To sum up Pat Urckfitz with numbers would be telling half of the story.

“Pat is as fine a gentleman as I have ever worked with,” added Kelly. “He is really a throw back.”
Urckfitz attributes his recent development on and off the field to the coaching staff at MCC.

“I learned a lot about discipline during my two years at Monroe,” said Urckfitz. “(Pitching coach) Pete Dawes has taught me how to handle myself on and off the field.”

Urckfitz’s deal includes three years college tuition. During the offseason the 2006 Penfield graduate plans to study sports medicine at the State University at Brockport.

Urckfitz joins former Webster Yankee reliever, Bryan Gardner, in the professional ranks. Gardner was chosen by the Cincinnati Reds in the 34th round of the MLB draft and assigned to the Gulf Coast Reds.

Congratulations to Spain, who defeated Germany 1-0 to win the UEFA 2008 European Championship. I probably watched half of the games and gained a lot of knowledge on players and some new clubs to follow come August and September. Though I’m tagged as a novice, I would like to point out that I did predict the champion in my preview (I have to boast a little bit). Even so, there is a still a ton for me to learn, and starting with a major tournament like this was definitely beneficial. I look forward to finally writing about something other than Euro ’08 next week, but before I do, I figured I better reflect on what I’ve learned…

The coaching carousel in soccer is just as bad as American sports, amateur or professional. The coaches from Turkey, Portugal, Italy, Austria, France, Czech Republic, Netherlands, and even the eventual champion, Spain, were all out before the championship game. While some coaches resigned, like Portugal’s Scolari, who will coach Chelsea in England, others, like Italy’s Donadoni, were forced out. The longest tenured coach is Greece’s Otto Rehhagel, who started in 2001 and has recently extended his contract through the 2010 World Cup.

Even though goals make the game fun and entertaining, great goal keeping often creates the best suspense.

The best goal scorers are not always on the field at the end of games. Many coaches opted for fresh legs and looked like geniuses when their subs came through and scored key goals, which was often the case with Netherlands and Spain.

It is not frowned upon when a player sits due to an injury that he or the club feels will hamper the team. David Villa sitting out of the championship seemed cowardice to me at first, until I read that he felt his selfishness to play through a hamstring injury would not benefit the team. Where we Americans see athletes battle through injury and call them gutsy, the soccer world views it a bit differently. Hmm…that might explain our major problem with David Beckham’s arrival last year – cultural differences with injured athletes.

Foul calls are much, MUCH different when a player is in the box versus when a player is outside of the box.

Cristiano Ronaldo is great, but he needs to be more impressive in international play before the rest of the non-soccer world (America) cares about him. Pele, Maradona, Brazilian Ronaldo were propelled into the American lexicon by World Cup wins. Roberto Baggio may have never won a cup with Italy, but his prolific play made him popular amongst Americans.

National pride is a beautiful, poignant, and powerful thing - especially when thousands of fans join in one place for their country and sing their national anthem in unison.

Fernando Torres picked the right time to break out of a minor slump. So much was expected of him from his spectacular year with Liverpool. David Villa might have stolen his thunder to start with, but Torres carried the Spaniards to European glory.

Soccer does not need the England National Team to gain popularity in America.

While it’s hard for some national club teams to part ways with their more seasoned heroes, like Czech Republic’s Jan Koller, 35, who was shuffled quite a bit in his three games, other clubs favor a more youthful squad and seem to find more success. Spain elected to part ways with their international goal scorer Raúl González, 31, for the likes of much younger players like David Villa, David Silva, and Fernando Torres. Result: first championship in forty-four years for the Spanish. Russia, the youngest team in the tournament, made it to the semifinals.

Croatia is NOT a defensive team.

Soccer is not a perfect sport. However, to me there is currently no comparison to American sports when it comes to sportsmanship and passion. Sure the game itself is like any other sport in the world – a battle of cheap shots, flops, and plenty of words that got George Carlin arrested. But the respect displayed before and after the game is simply inspiring. Plus, elimination caused tears from fans, players, and coaches EVERY time; the dejection and joy on the pitch after a game is something missing from professional sports here. It’s not completely missing, but we also don’t see it enough.

On a similar note, playing for one’s country is still valued amongst these athletes who pull in millions with their respective clubs. Remember years ago when certain NBA players did not feel obligated to play for the U.S. National Team?

The Dutch have the sweetest looking uniforms.

Many Brazilian born players are playing with adopted European countries. Portugal, Turkey, Croatia, and Spain are all experiencing success with some of Brazil’s best talent. This is even more peculiar after seeing Brazil recently lose to some traditionally much weaker South American teams like Venezuela and Paraguay.

Lastly, the 2010 World Cup looks like it will be as competitive as ever.

2008 NEW YORK COLLEGIATE BASEBALL LEAGUE
FLASH REPORT
AS OF JUNE 29, 2008

STANDINGS
EASTERN DIVISION W L PCT. GB
AMSTERDAM 12 6 .667 -
GLENS FALLS 11 6 .647 0.5
BENNINGTON 9 9 .500 3.0
LITTLE FALLS 8 9 .471 3.5
SARATOGA 8 11 .421 4.5
WATERTOWN 4 11 .267 6.5

WESTERN DIVISION W L PCT. GB
HORNELL 15 3 .833 -
BROCKPORT 12 7 .632 3.5
ELMIRA 10 7 .588 4.5
ALLEGANY COUNTY 9 8 .529 5.5
GENEVA 7 9 .438 7.0
WEBSTER 7 9 .438 7.0
NIAGARA 6 12 .333 9.0
BOLIVAR 5 16 .238 11.5

Webster had three up and two down since last Monday.

Adam Curynski lowered his ERA to 1.34 as he tossed 16 shutout innings leading the Pinstripes to victories over Brockport 7-0 and Niagara 8-0.

Webster dropped decisions to Bolivar 6-0 and Elmira 4-2.

Sandwiched in between was an 8-3 victory over the Pios of Elmira.

Webster travels to Scio Tuesday for a game with Allegany County and to Niagara on Wednesday before returning home to host the Geneva Red Wings on Thursday. The league takes the 4th off.

Webster plays another home and home with Elmira next weekend. Saturday’s game takes place at the venerable Dunn Field in Elmira. Sunday the two teams play a double dip at Dugan Yard on the campus of St. John Fisher.

Fans can listen to all games by going here.

For up to date stats, box scores, standings, and schedule with game times visit the league site.

In other news: Webster relief pitcher, Pat Urckfitz, penned a deal with the Houston Astros. I’ll have a more complete article on this later.

Check out Geoff Dornes who recently appeared in SI’s - Faces in the Crowd.

I’m giving Wally the lead on this one:

Anyway, this comment will also serve as my nomination for POTW. How about those Fresno State Bulldogs, the new NCAA baseball champion?!?!? What a cinderella story … their run to the NCAA title is nothing less than miraculous … possibly the most unlikely victory march in our memory. This might rank higher than Miracle on Ice, Villanova over Georgetown, Jets over Colts, etc in terms of “upsets”.

Here are the facts: Fresno State entered post-season play as a #4 regional seed … and only because they were able to win the WAC tournament. Since there are 16 regions, Fresno was essentially no higher than a March Madness equivalent of a #13 seed, but they were probably closer to a #16 given their modestly over .500 record coming in and an RPI in the 80’s. Can you imagine a 15 or 16 seed winning the NCAA basketball title??? Nope, nada, never, no way Jose!!!

They are the first #4 regional seed to reach the Elite 8 that go to Omaha for the CWS. They knocked off No. 3 national seed Arizona State in the super regionals and beat No. 6 Rice and No. 2 North Carolina twice to get to the CWS finals. They won potential elimination games 6 times, including two in a row vs Georgia to win the title. Fresno closed the season with a 47-31 record. Miami, the No. 1 national seed, brought three first-round draft picks to Omaha and left after three games. Fresno State’s highest draft pick was second-rounder Tanner Scheppers, and he missed the postseason with a shoulder injury.

Wow … does this define “rising to the occasion” or what?!?!?! Can anyone trump this with a better Cinderella Story?

Who gets your POTW?

In response to last week’s SINTC post Brother Reynell mentioned the infamous Billy Ripken card.

Got me thinking about cards of the past. While these cards didn’t create a stir as great as the four letter word scrawled on the knob of Ripken’s bat (wonder how Holden Caufield reacted to Ripken’s card), they could not have been what was intended.

Nice slacks Phil!

Espo wasn’t the only one wearing dress pants.

Did Espo borrow his line mate’s slacks?

Then there’s this one.

I had to do some research. Prior to the current Nationals franchise, Washington never had a National League team. Washington did not even have a team for the 1973 season (the year of this card). And, anyway, isn’t that a Padres’ hat on Stretch’s head? In case you were wondering - Willie played a couple of years in San Diego before returning to ‘Frisco.

Man the Warriors must have been on a low budget - check out Nate Thurmond’s uniform.

There are no Palm trees in Detroit!

Okay - so it was Spring Training. When you are eight years old, and you open a pack and find this card, it can cause a little confusion.
See you next week.

Someone please get us started with a topic. Muels has stated that he is not going to contribute until his most recent comment has been removed from the side bar list.

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