June 20 - Open Snore and Big Shot Bob

There are some pundits out this morning saying that this year’s US Open is an Instant Classic, but such pundits either have very short memories, little appreciation for past open’s or editors who won’t take sublime for an answer. This weekend’s open was simply not a classic. I am not going to sit here and say Michael Campbell’s win wasn’t a nice story and Reteif Goosen’s collapse wasn’t memorable, but can’t we just leave it at that. After all, how can you have a classic if the winner just needs to make six on 18. Sorry, what makes the US Open terrific is drama and we didn’t have a whole lot of it yesterday. Sure, Goosen’s collapse was a bit Shakespearean and Tiger’s charge (and eventual COLLAPSE) was a bit Hollywood, but this wasn’t a nail biter. Not even close. If you want nailbiters, go back to Congressional in 1997 where the four players in the final two groups were chasing each other all day. If you want drama, go back to last year where Phil and Reteif battled each other all day until Phil inexplicably lost his lunch on 17. And if that isn’t enough, try pulling out the tape from 1999 when Phil, Payne and Tiger went at it all afternoon at the Deuce. As for yesterday, the big moment happened at about 5:45 PM when Tiger made a birdie at 15 and Campbell responded with a splendid approach to 14. That doesn’t make for a classic. In fact, that doesn’t make for much at all. Opens are just not supposed to be decided before six o’clock on Fathers Day, and unfortunately, that is pretty what happened yesterday. Hell,.I like Campbell and I was glad to see him stand up to Tiger and face him down, but lets not go crazy here. It was nice to see the underdog come through, but for sheer drama, this year’s Open was a bit of a snooze.

Speaking of letdowns, Reteif Goosen attempted to corner the disappointment mark yesterday. What went wrong with the Goose? He didn’t merely crap himself. A 76 would have been crap. No, he took it to a whole new level of excrement. What the Goose pulled yesterday was totally historic. You just don’t see players with his skill, his experience and his cool blow up like that and throw away an Open Championship. The Shark’s legendary collapse at Augusta was probably worse since he led the entire field by seven lengths coming off the final turn, but Goosen’s 81 at the 05 Open is going to be remembered and lampooned for a long time. The big question I have is whether Goose can ever get his mystique back. I guess if he comes back next year and wins at Winged Foot, yesterday will be chalked up as an anomaly, and the mystique will be restored. But if he pulls this again at Winged Foot or Torrey Pines, he may become known as the guy who almost coughed one up at Southern Hills and may have just gotten lucky at Shinecock.

If you do it once, you are Rex Chapman. If you do it twice, you are in there with Steve Kerr. When you do it as many times as Robert Horry has done it in big NBA playoff games, you are in a club that only has one other totally exempt member. Horry’s legacy as perhaps the greatest role player in NBA history was secure well before he hit a monstrous three to win game five of the NBA Finals last night. But last night, Bob earned my vote for the Basketball hall of Fame. I agree with ESPN Radio’s Colin Cowher on this one: Bob Horry’s playoff exploits deserve to be immortalized at that ugly shrine up there in Springfield. There is now just too large a body of work to ignore and for those of you who point to Robert’s tame regular exploits as a reason for disbarment, I say go fuck yourself. If you missed last night’s game, you missed a classic and one of Horry’s best. In the fourth quarter and overtime, Bob was singlehandedly keeping his team in the game, nailing threes, driving hard and grabbing offensive rebounds. This guy is just uncanny. He is simply the second deadliest shooter in NBA Finals history. PERIOD. (Sorry Larry) For years now, Big Shot Bob has been nailing huge shots with NBA championship and semi-final games on the line. I don’t care that the guy sports modest career numbers. I don’t care that he hasn’t scored 20,000 points or collected 8000 rebounds. I don’t care that he hasn’t made many (any) all-star games. I don’t care that he has never averaged more then a dozen points a game. All I care is this guy is a specialist and his specialty is nailing threes when huge games are on the line. That is like specializing in hitting three run bombs in championship series when your team is a run down or hitting game winning field goals from fifty with the wind in your face. Bob Horry’s specialty is something worth memorializing. This guy is becoming synonymous with winning games in the NBA Finals like Whitey Ford became known for winning World Series games. This guy has just done it too much and for too long. Hell, if Adam Vinaterri is going into Canton for nailing all those kicks, I think we can clear some space for Bob in Springfield. And for those of you who say allowing Bob entry into Springfield would cheapen the honor, I say that honor was cheapened long ago. Hell, we trip over ourselves honoring longevity so why not honor brilliance for a change.

[Editors Note - Robert Horry stands no chance of being elected to the Hall of Fame.]

Following Jason Giambi’s walk off home run Wednesday night, I direly predicted the Yanks would go on a roll and look what happened. Four wins later, the Yanks are four games over .500 and headed into a cupcake series with the Devil rays. Could we be looking at a ten game winning streak by the time this club opens with the Mets on Friday? It is definitely possible, although a Senn Henn start could be a loss. Kevin Brown is now on the DL for the 28th time of his career which is a record for pitchers. Kerry Wood and Jaret Wright both have shots at that record, that is if either can ever get healthy. If the Yanks truly get ths turned around, the guys to blame are Jose Mesa, who gave up that charity to Giambolic, and that first base umpire who inexplicably gave the Yanks an extra out. I am not going to panic because the last time I checked, Carl Pavano, Tanyon and Tom Gordon still pitch for the Yanks and Bernie, Jason and Tino are still around, but things look a lot worse today then they did a week ago.

Does this Cleveland run have legs? Don’t look now, but the Tribe has won nine in a row after sweeping San Francisco, Colorado and Arizona. That isn’t exactly sweeping Murderers Row, the Gas House Gang, and the Big Red Machine, but a nine win streak is nothing to quibble with. These guys have pitched great of late although some of it is a bit misleading since San Diego can’t hit at home and Colorado can’t hit on the road. Nonetheless, the Tribe are back in the Central hunt with the Red Sox coming in for three this week. I am still not sold that a bullpen comprised of guys like Rhodes, Sauerbeck, Howry and Wickman can hold up. Riding these guys is like riding 10,000 mile Bridgestones for an extra 5,000 miles .Those beat up tires may last for a little while longer, but a blowout looms.

The Red Sox took two out of three this weekend off the Pirates, although Saturday’s loss exposed their short bullpen once again. Foulke seems to be improving, Timlin has been rock solid, and Mike Meyers has been effective, but the rest of that crew has been atrocious. Matt Mantei and John Halama are digging their own graves, while an order for Alan Embree’s oak coffin was placed Saturday night. Mantei is particularly hard to figure out - he has high octane gas and a solid hook yet there may not be a more hittable guy in the American League. With that bullpen a mess, Theo may have to give first round pick Craig Hansen his dough in order to have him available by September. On the plus side for Boston, Billy Mueller is white hot, while Kevin Millar is finding his stroke. It comes at an important time for the Sox who play 16 of their next 19 against winning teams. 12-7 is probably a stretch, but I’d love 11-8 and could live with 10-9.

Both the Mets and the Dodgers had miserable weeks as LA dropped six at KC and Comisky, while the Mets took five body blows out West in Oakland and Seattle. The Dodgers lost two late inning leads this weekend and they now find themselves two games under .500 as they head into a series with Los Madres this week. You take that hot start away from LA and they are basically Houston. With all those injuries, its hard to see this team hanging tough. And what the hell is Jeff Weaver doing complaining about lack of run support - his ERA is close to five. The 2nd Armored Division would have trouble giving him the firepower he needs. The Mets, meanwhile, are starting to look a little like the 2004 Mets. You know things are bad when Pedro Martinez actually loses a game to Seattle - a franchise which has been his little bitch since 1998. Petey was something like 14-0 against the Mariners going into Saturday night, but the M’s evidently got tired of playing the submissive. I am not sure what the Mets can do at this point, but dumping Kaz Ishii is a given and perhaps its time to trade Mike Cameron and begin thinking about 2006. I think it’s a forgone conclusion at this point that the Mets are not going to let Glavine pitch enough to guarantee that 2006 contract. I think I could make a few bucks around Shea selling shirts that say "Free Aaron."

The Twins suddenly look pretty ordinary while the White sox just may put away the AL Central by Mid-August. This weekend, the Twins lost another series to a team from the pitiful NL West, which makes it three series in a row. Mr. Santana was the loser yesterday and for some reason, he is having trouble keeping the ball in play at the Metrodome. He is still fanning people all over the place, but he has given up 10 bombs at home and only two away. Another problem for Minnesota has been Brad Radke who has had a miserable month and may miss his next start with a neck injury. While the Twinkies have been lethargic, the White Sox keep chugging along. Its unlikely the Sox will get a single everyday player on the all-star team, but pitchers Jon Garland, Mark Buehrle, Dustin Hermanson and Cliff Politte all stand a decent shot to be selected. Politte, in particular, has been spectacular. The guy is 5-0 with seven holds while striking out 30 in 27 innings. Oh, by the way, he hasn’t given up a bomb since Matt Stairs tagged him in April. He is so far from himself that it would take an Eric Milton type second half for him to truly revert back to his historical norm. If Chicago weren’t hot enough, they now get Kansas City for three. That would have sounded cushier three weeks ago but since Buddy Bell has taken over, the Royals are 12-6 with sweeps over both the Yanks and the Dodgers. Bell took over when the Royals were 13-37. I say give him manager of the year if he can somehow coax 70 wins out of this horrific club. That would leave Bell’s Royals at 57-58. I don’t think Ozzie has anything to worry about.

There has been an awful lot of talk this year about how the Yanks made a huge mistake letting Jon Lieber go and I tend to agree that it was a mistake, but it is not as though Lieber is having any kind of year whatsoever. He does have eight wins, but that 4.6 ERA is not exactly mint. And while its true he has been hammered at that bandbox in Philly, it is not as if he has been Steve Carlton on the road. Part of Lieber’s problem is lefties are killing him and that wouldn’t have served the Yanks well against Boston’s southpaws.