Teammate takes care of the tab
Scott Carroll made his major league debut for the Chicago White Sox on Sunday afternoon after seven arduous seasons in the minor leagues.
Such an event would be cause enough for celebration.
Then Carroll pitched pretty good and was rewarded for it by a teammate.
After Carroll, 29, held the Tampa Bay Rays to 1 earned run over 7 1/3 innings of a 9-2 White Sox victory, he and a large group of family and friends went out to celebrate over dinner. Carroll asked veteran teammate Adam Dunn where he could take a group of 35, and Dunn suggested Chicago restaurant Timothy O’Toole’s.
Even better: Dunn took care of the tab.
“I just thought he was reserving an area for me, but he put it on his tab and that was the coolest thing ever,” Carroll told reporters Monday. “To top it off, my mom and dad were just like crying. They were like, ‘This is so cool.’ It was awesome.”
Dunn told reporters that he repaid a gesture that someone made for him when he was a rookie.
“The kid pitched great. I know how special it is to kind of remember your first time,” Dunn said. “It’s just something that was done for me. Hopefully he’ll be able to do it for somebody else.
That’s one cool part of the game, where hopefully one day he’ll be in position where he’s able to do it.”
Sound blast
How loud was it at Nationwide Arena in Columbia, Ohio, last week? So loud the Columbus Blue Jackets are having to fit a new speaker bill.
Crowd noise was so loud during the Blue Jackets’ two NHL playoff games against the Pittsburgh Penguins last week that the speakers for the arena’s public address system eventually blew out. According to the Columbus Dispatch, players couldn’t hear referees’ whistles because of the crowds at Games 4 and 5.
Because of the noise, arena personnel kept turning up the volume on the speakers so the public address system could be heard over crowd noise that was measured at 160 decibels. Then the speakers blew out.
“There are limiters that automatically protect the system from [blowing out],” Jonathan Parker, sales director of Danley, the company that made the speakers, told the newspaper.
“That shouldn’t be able to happen.”
Some Blue Jackets players said they welcome the noise, no matter how it affects the games.
“Even the buzzer at the end of periods, we don’t hear,” defenseman David Savard told the newspaper. “You just kind of keep going until everybody stops.”
Loophole
The NFL announced this off season the banning of a touchdown celebration in which players dunk a football over the cross-bar of the goalposts after touchdowns.
The rule was put in place when New Orleans Saints tight end Jimmy Graham did it with such force at one point last season that the goal post became a bit crooked.
Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson, a frequent goal post-dunker, said he has a plan to continue the celebration and avoid a penalty flag.
“I’m still going to dunk,” he told the Detroit Free Press. “I just won’t touch the rim.”
Quote of the day
“This is my best chance to have a shot at a dream.” Jockey Joe Bravo, who will ride Arkansas Derby winner Danza in the Kentucky Derby
Sports, Pages 22 on 04/30/2014