Second thoughts

Former Hog shows 'love' to a heckler

Houston Astros starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel reacts to giving up two runs during the third inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Saturday, July 19, 2014. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Houston Astros starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel reacts to giving up two runs during the third inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, Saturday, July 19, 2014. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

Look at what Brandon Phillips started when he gave a signed ball to a drunken heckler in Pittsburgh last month, telling him to "shut up."

Former Arkansas Razorbacks and current Houston Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel responded to a heckling fan last week during a game in Oakland, but he didn't do it with his mouth. He gave him a baseball instead.

"Thanks for helping pay my salary for today," the ball read.

Keuchel signed the ball by drawing a heart beside his number 60, and Nick Wong, who was sitting next to the heckler, tweeted out a photo of the souvenir.

For the record, Kuechel -- who didn't actually pitch in the series -- is making $508,000 this season. That works out to $3,135 per game.

Eyes of Texsa

The University of Texas athletic department misspelled Texas several times in its 2014 football media guide, and the unfortunate typo already has become fodder for one rival.

Sports Illustrated reported the footer of several pages in the Longhorns' media guide, specifically in the player biography portion of the publication, had the letters "a" and "s" switched around, reading "www.TexsaSports.com."

"In most situations people would quickly concede that someone had made a minor typo," Sports Illustrated said. "In the heated rivalries of college football though, this will likely prove to be fodder for thousands of Internet memes, message board posts and, most importantly, clever College Gameday signs."

The Texas typo was discovered this week when Dallas played host to the annual Big 12 media days.

One creative Oklahoma fan quickly picked up on the mistake by scooping up the domain name and writing on the homepage: "TexSASports. For the Best in OU sports. OU IS BETTER THAN TEXAS. LEARN TO SPELL PLEASE, HRONS."

In 2012, the university had to issue an apology for leaving out the "l" in "public" on a commencement pamphlet for the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs.

Anchor's ace

ESPN SportsCenter anchor Jay Harris took part in the Michael Woodson Las Vegas Invitational on Tuesday at Southern Highlands Golf Club and left the course with his first ever hole in one and a brand new car.

"My reaction was shock -- my team yelled and jumped on me -- I was speechless," Harris said.

Hitting a 6-iron on the par-3, 190-yard 17th hole at Southern Highlands Golf Club, Harris' shot hit the hill to the left of the green, rolled on and rolled in.

When Harris returned to the clubhouse, Woodson, a former NBA player and current Clippers assistant coach, decided to have a bit of fun with the new car owner.

"I got a standing ovation when I walked into the clubhouse," Harris said. "Then Coach Woodson presented me with a $550,000 bar tab" to celebrate the time-honored tradition of buying the clubhouse drinks after hitting an ace.

"Thankfully, it was a joke," Harris said. "[Former NBA player] Reggie Theus told me at the party that his ball on 17 landed about 14 inches from the cup. I told him mine went in the cup. Then he said something to me that I can't repeat."

QUIZ

Who did Dallas Keuchel pitch against in his major-league debut?

ANSWER

Keuchel made his first major-league start against the Texas Rangers on June 17, 2012.

Sports on 07/26/2014

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