Wednesday Trends and Indexes 8/5 (MLB, WNBA, CFL, Misc.)

[pm530]

Len’s Top Five


Wednesday, August 5

Len's Top 5


Happy Wednesday everyone, here's my Top 5 for August 5, 2009 from Len Berman Sports.

1. Quick Hits

We'll never know. 270 pound Prince Fielder of Milwaukee was stopped by security trying to charge the Dodgers clubhouse after a beanball war in L.A. (Manny was the first one hit.) Dodgers won the game 17-4.

The San Diego Chargers have fined Antonio Cromartie $25-hundred for twittering about the lousy food at the Chargers training camp. (See # 2 below.)

Wouldn't you rather drive a Buick? I guess not. Buick is ending its sponsorship of all PGA golf tournaments. They once sponsored 4 tournaments the same year.

Mystery solved. Since so many of you care, the word is CBS announcer David Feherty "dealt it" in Tiger Woods fartgate.

2. Tweet Tweet

Message to NFL players, "no more tweeting." Teams are telling their players to knock it off. The NFL, of course, is the most secretive of leagues. Injuries are state secrets. Coaches clandestinely videotape the signals of other teams. But players telling their fans stuff? Heresy. Jets Center Nick Mangold twittered the other day that he had a great Sunday. Two-a-day practice and at night he watched Entourage. What? He was watching Ari abuse Lloyd instead of studying his playbook? Fine his ass!

3. R.I.P A.F.L

The Arena Football League, on a year's vacation, is apparently going on permanent hiatus. Belly up. Some hilites. Quarterback Kurt Warner went from the the Iowa Barnstormers to Super Bowl champion. Jon Bon Jovi owns the Philadelphia Soul. And best of all, the league's fan friendly policy. The fans really did come first. Players had to stay on the field after the game, mingling with the fans, signing autographs. It was in their contracts. How about adopting a version of that in other sports?

4. Launched

The Subway Series rivalry has gone to new heights. An astronaut from New Jersey carried dirt from the old Yankee Stadium on a space shuttle flight. So to top that, astronaut Mike Massimino, a Long Island native, took home plate from Shea Stadium aboard Atlantis to the Hubble Space Telescope as they successfully overhauled the aging observatory. Which cheap shot is appropriate here? Maybe next they can fix the crippled Mets? Or, too bad they didn't take some of the Mets with them?

5. Hooked on Sports

Terry Moberly of Berea Kentucky won a million dollars in a fishing contest. He never left his house. He won a "fantasy fishing" contest by guessing which fisherman would be the most successful in tournaments around the country. That's what the world has come to. Next they'll have a contest to determine which "fantasy contestants" are the most successful. Just do it!

Happy Birthday: Former Knicks center Patrick Ewing. 47.
Bonus Birthday: The first moonwalker, no not Michael Jackson. Neil Armstrong. 79.

Today in Sports: At the Berlin Olympics, Jesse Owens wins the third of his 4 gold medals in the 200 meters. He beat out Mack Robinson, Jackie's older brother. 1936.
Bonus Event: Actress Marilyn Monroe died from a drug overdose in Los Angeles. She was just 36 years old. Mystery still surrounds her death. 1962.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

[Kaptain]

From ANOTHER Site

From another site....

Starting pitcher rankings for Aug. 5, 2009

Rk Team Name T W-L ERA WHIP K/9 OPSA Opp OPS CT%
1 Rich Harden R 7-6 4.50 1.35 10.56 .773 @CIN .697 79.9%
2 Edwin Jackson R 7-5 2.64 1.15 7.02 .658 BAL .750 82.4%
3 Tommy Hanson R 5-2 3.25 1.33 6.05 .712 @SD .690 78.6%
4 Gavin Floyd R 8-6 4.07 1.24 7.62 .662 LAA .805 82.0%
5 John Lannan L 7-8 3.41 1.31 3.66 .742 FLA .731 76.9%
6 Kyle Davies R 3-7 5.76 1.53 6.10 .811 SEA .712 81.5%
7 Doug Davis L 5-10 3.73 1.50 7.11 .758 @PIT .719 79.5%
8 Jorge De La Rosa L 9-7 4.68 1.35 8.97 .737 @PHI .784 79.3%
9 Aaron Laffey L 4-3 4.08 1.48 5.02 .688 MIN .761 80.6%
10 Kyle Lohse R 4-6 4.14 1.28 5.86 .728 @NYM .731 83.8%
11 Rick VandenHurk R 1-0 2.65 1.18 8.47 .756 @WAS .757 77.8%
12 Jonathon Niese L 1-1 4.50 1.42 6.00 .747 STL .739 81.1%
13 J.A. Happ L 7-2 2.97 1.16 6.45 .664 COL .778 77.4%
14 Jason Schmidt R 2-1 4.50 1.43 3.86 .747 MIL .760 77.1%
15 Francisco Liriano L 4-10 5.56 1.50 8.10 .824 @CLE .776 78.0%
16 Ross Ohlendorf R 9-8 4.43 1.31 4.94 .789 ARI .744 77.4%
17 Vicente Padilla R 8-5 4.66 1.50 4.84 .758 @OAK .700 81.6%
18 Chad Gaudin R 4-9 4.76 1.47 9.00 .711 ATL .741 81.7%
19 Brad Penny R 7-5 5.07 1.49 5.89 .814 @TB .799 77.2%
20 David Price L 4-4 5.10 1.63 8.55 .826 BOS .798 79.7%
21 Jeremy Guthrie R 7-10 5.37 1.39 5.37 .839 @DET .742 79.6%
22 Sean O'Sullivan R 3-0 3.72 1.38 4.97 .829 @CHW .755 81.3%
23 Dallas Braden L 8-9 3.89 1.36 5.33 .718 TEX .769 76.6%
24 Marc Rzepczynski L 1-2 3.25 1.30 9.76 .609 NYY .831 82.5%
25 Luke French L 1-2 3.38 1.50 5.83 .772 @KC .701 80.1%
26 Joe Martinez R 1-0 6.75 1.88 6.75 .916 @HOU .735 82.9%
27 Brian Moehler R 7-6 4.99 1.48 5.83 .844 SF .689 78.5%
28 Braden Looper R 9-5 5.03 1.45 4.95 .837 @LAD .767 81.4%
29 Justin Lehr R 0-0 5.40 2.00 0.00 .678 CHC .742 78.1%
30 Sergio Mitre R 1-0 7.90 1.98 3.95 .924 @TOR .768 83.5%
Rk.: The author's ranking of that pitcher for that day only. T: Pitcher throws left-handed or right-handed. W-L: Pitcher's win-loss record. ERA: Pitcher's earned run average. WHIP: Pitcher's average number of walks plus hits surrendered per inning. K/9: Pitcher's average number of strikeouts per nine innings. OPSA: Pitcher's on-base plus slugging percentage surrendered to opponents. OPS: Pitcher's opponent's composite team on-base plus slugging percentage. CT%: Pitcher's opponent's success rate putting the ball in play (versus striking out).

[Dennis14072]

Thanks guys, good luck today/tonight!