How to toss a better than perfect game
It’s one thing to throw a perfect game. It’s another entirely to do so in the manner that Michael Strem did.
As reported by the San Jose Mercury News, Strem tossed a perfect game in a 2-0 victory against Monta Vista (Calif.) High, leading Mountain View (Calif.) St. Francis School to the second round of the California Interscholastic Federation Central Coast Section Division I playoffs.
Incredibly, Strem retired the 21 batters he faced on just 66 pitches, an average of just more than three pitches per batter. According to the Mercury News, 48 of Strem’s offerings were strikes, with the St. Francis ace finishing the game with a total of eight strikeouts.
As it turns out, it’s an awfully good thing that Strem was so effective. The game remained a 0-0 stalemate until the sixth inning, when a single by St.
Francis batter Mark Cardinalli drove in the game’s two runs with a single through the infield.
Naturally, Strem isn’t the first high school ace to toss a perfect game. Still, to spin the gem he did in the playoffs, with the efficiency of his pitch count is some achievement.
Different kind of change
The Charlotte Bobcats have begun the process of changing their name back to the Charlotte Hornets.
Wrote Reggie Hayes of The News-Sentinel of Fort Wayne, Ind.: “Fans are overwhelmingly in favor of the move. They would also like to change owner Michael Jordan back into a player.”
Flight plans
Texas Rangers Manager Ron Washington, to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, after the Detroit Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera hit three home runs in their series finale: “I’m very happy that he’s headed to the airport.”
That’s bad
Michael Rosenberg of SI.com, on baseball’s all-time worst teams: “Being that bad is almost an art.
The 2003 Tigers (43-119) had as many six-game losing streaks as two-game winning streaks. Ponder that one for a moment.”
For sale
When baseball legend and St. Louis icon Stan Musial died in January at 92, he left behind a legion of fans and a long list of honors, including having the fourth-most hits in major league history. He also left behind a 5,286-square-foot house on a three-acre estate in St. Louis. The house, built in 1962, is now on the market for $1.795 million.
It has four bedrooms, seven bathrooms, a pool and a midcentury style you’d expect from someone born in 1920 - like a checkered marble floor in the entry way and a decent amount of pastel in the living room.
We’ve heard of people buying old cars owned by famous people, but how about Musial’s house? For a hardcore Cardinals fan, that’s a one-of-a-kind souvenir, definitely something to talk about at dinner. And at a modest price when you consider what some houses sell for.
Quote of the day
“I felt very sick about it and feel really bad, and just hope to settle things down and move on.” Golfer Sergio Garcia, apologizing for insensitive comments he made about Tiger Woods during an awards dinner Tuesday
Sports, Pages 20 on 05/23/2013