the mad sports man

early this morning, Japan qualified for the world cup finishing first in their group with one game left in qualification.  they are the 4th team to qualify for the world cup. congrats.

Nik Lewis of the Montreal Alouettes is now the all time CFL reception leader, passing Geroy Simon on the list.  his 9th catch of the game gave him 1030.  he finished tonight's game with 10 catches.  Simon with 1029.  Winnipeg beat Montreal in overtime 34-31.

Rich Hill of the L.A. Dodgers carried a perfect game into the ninth inning.  first batter of the ninth - Jordy Mercer - grounded to third baseman Logan Forsythe, only to have Forsythe boot the ball (i saw the replay and to me it looked like the ball hit Forsythe's palm and bounced away). Hill managed to retired the next two batters with a no hitter still intact going into the 10th with the score at 0-0.  Dodgers get nothing in the top half.  Pirates come up.  first batter ends up the only one. Josh Harrison breaks up the no hitter with a game winning home run for the Pirates.  Hill became the first pitcher to lose a perfect game in the 9th by an error (Forsythe booting the ball).  he also became the first pitcher to lose a no hitter with a walk off home run.  (would have been the second, but that is another story). so that happened

today in 1951, in the bottom of the first inning between the St. Louis Browns and Detroit Tigers, 3'7" Eddie Gaedel makes his only plate appearance pinch hitting for Frank Saucier.  Bill Veeck had found him at booking agency and wanted to used him for a publicity stunt.  him and manager Zach Taylor had a copy of Gaedel's contract on hand.  the contract had been filed late on the 17th and it would not be looked at until the 20th (now a contract has to be approved by the Commisioners' office).  Gaedel was walked on 4 pitches - all high.  pitcher Bob Cain was almost laughing on the mound and Bob Swift was catching.  Gaedel was replaced by pinch runner Jim Delsing.

tonight was game 5 of the Western Major Baseball League championship series and the Swift Current 57's beat the Edmonton Prospects 4-0 to win the WMBL championship three games to two. was a good season.  i even went to a couple of Prospects games.  some good baseball played.  Swift Current are back to back champs.  congrats

Bob Gibson throws Three Rivers Stadium's first no hitter as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-0.  Gibson waled three and struck out 10.  Bob Johnson of the Pirates took the loss, lasting only 1/3rd of an inning giving up 5 runs, 4 hits and a walk.  Three Rivers Stadium opened July 16, 1970 with the Pirates losing to the Cincinnati Reds 3-2.  it was also the first no hitter thrown in Pittsburgh thrown in Pittsburgh in 64 years. Nick Maddox threw the last one in Pittsburgh with the Pirates beating the Brooklyn Superbas 2-1. (although Cliff Chambers threw a no hitter in 1951 against the Boston Braves in Boston)

1. in 1976, the Chicago White Sox play the first game of a double header against the Kansas City Royals wearing shorts with their jerseys.  they stole 5 bases with the shorts and won 5-2.  they play the second game in regular pants and lost 7-1.  that was the last of a 5 game series.  they had also played a double header two days prior. 2. in 1988 the Chicago Cubs attempted to play their first ever night game at Wrigley Field.  they had turned on the lights, but Mother Nature had other plans.  with the Cubs up 3-1 and the Philadelphia Phillies finished the top of the 4th, it started to rain as a thunderstorm rolled in.  it was first suspended, then called off.  as the game did not reach the 5th inning, it was not an official game.  the Cubs played their first official game the next night against the N.Y. Mets and won 6-4.

Justin Gatlin of the U.S. dethroning Bolt by winning the 100m final. Christian Coleman came second and Bolt finished 3rd.  holy guacamole folks.  this just happened.  Bolt will be in the 4x100m with his last chance.  we will see how that turns out.

in 1972 Nate Colbert hit 5 home runs and drove in 13 runs as the San Diego Padres swept the Atlanta Braves in both ends of a double header (9-0 and 11-7).  the 5 home runs tied a record for most home runs in a double header (Stan Musial in 1954) and broke an RBI  record (11).  Musial and Colbert are the only two players to have hit 5 homers in a double header.