Thursday Grab Bag: Independence Day

I went out to Shiprock yesterday and checked out the actual rock.

Good views, but I think there's enough glass within a one-mile radius to employ an entire recycle plant. Is there a bar that surfaces there only at night, and doesn't come replete with trash cans?

I stopped by a random yard sale on the way home and bought some fry bread, which never disappoints. The woman started going to the flea market in Kirtland over a year ago to raise money for a family reunion and decided, heck, why not keep going back? Out of the six or so that sell every Saturday, I'm told she's the most successful.

On we go.

Independence Day is associated with several things.

1) Fireworks
2) Barbeque
3) Chilling at the lake
4) Baseball

All four will play out Saturday in Farmington, with the Hammerin' Hank - Molina Classic. Saturday will feature a quadrupleheader at Ricketts Park and a doubleheader at the Sports Complex as pool play transitions to brackets.

Red Pool

Cardinals
Yankees
Diablos (Albuquerque)
Dukes (Albuquerque)
Trinidad (Colo.)

Blue Pool

Sting
Thunder (Durango)
Thunder (Albuquerque)
Naa'taanii
Grand Junction (Colo.)

I don't know anything about the Albuquerque teams but they're bound to give the local Connie Mack teams a competitive look heading toward the city tournament in two weeks.

On July 4, I most look forward to a specific portion of No. 2 on the list. Hot dogs. In Coney Island. Nathan's hot dogs.

That's right, the 2009 Nathan's Famous, the Super Bowl of eating, will be contested for the 94th time. Last year over 1.5 million watched on ESPN. Tune in this year as the American Joey Chestnut tries to hold off Japanese legend Takeru Kobayashi for the third consecutive time.

Kobayashi has been doing well in recent contests, beating Chestnut during their most recent showdown over pizza.

While it would be hard to equal their epic battles over the past two years -- Chestnut ate 66 dogs and buns in 2007 to dethrone the six-time defending champ, an unfathomable amount of food even within competitive eating circles, and Chestnut won an eat-off last year after they tied at 59 -- this contest is sure to be historical.

Kobayashi has battled some health problems recently with his jaw and stomach and there have been rumors he'll retire after this year. I think he'll take back his crown Saturday with 61 to Chestnut's 60.5.

*****

Here's a pair of pitchers to consider picking up in your fantasy baseball league.

Flawless Floyd: Check out this line.

58.2 innings, 1.39 ERA, 46 Ks, 14 BB, 4-1 record

That's Gavin Floyd's line since May 22. Eight starts, all registering as "quality." He got 16 of 17 outs with ground balls in his last start.

He's also available in more than 50 percent of ESPN.com fantasy baseball leagues. He won't pitch this way forever -- his career ERA is 4.80 -- but he's got potential to be a top-30 fantasy starter the rest of the season.

He's 26 years old. Last year was the first time he threw more than 70 major league innings -- he threw 206 1-3, struck out 145 and walked 70. His ERA was also a solid 3.84. Halfway to that workload this year, he's striking out more and his walk rate remains consistent.

He struggled a bit early so his ERA is still an inflated 4.12, but he may end up lower than last year and is a good option as an all-around starter, not just for strikeouts.

Hamming it up: Disclaimer: Jason Hammel has a 7.18 ERA at Coors Field this season.

The Rockies pitcher has a 3.90 ERA overall, meaning he's been fairly spectacular -- OK, he's been as awesome as the Beatles on the road.

Here's his line for his last four starts away from Denver: 28.1 innings, 2.24 ERA, 19 Ks, 5 BB

The Rockies are playing as well as anyone in baseball right now. Hammel is an excellent choice especially in daily leagues for fantasy managers that are going to pay close enough attention to remove him when he pitches at home.

And unless you have a diehard Hammel fan in your league, he's a free agent (owned in 2.2 percent of ESPN.com leagues).

***** 

Justice served?: I know I'm a bit late on this one -- it belonged in last week's blog -- but I thought it was too obvious to ignore.

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Dante' Stallworth pleaded guilty to DUI manslaughter and was sentenced to 30 days in jail. He'll likely serve 24.

Lee Crider, the man who stole Lance Armstrong's $10,000 bike, faced a three-year sentence. More outrageous is the fact that he sold it on the black market to another man for $200.

First of all, if you're going through that much effort, you figure you'd get a bit more return than $2 on the $100. Second, the man that bought the bike on the cheap eventually turned it into police, but was sentenced to serve 90 days locked up himself.

So the final tally is 30 days for unintentionally running over someone with your car and killing them -- while drunk -- and 90 days for buying a stolen bike. Stallworth confessed and didn't flee the scene. The man confessed and turned the bike into police.

I'd say the injustices or discrepancies in our penal system are as much or more evident in the world of sports as any sector of society.

*****

Link of the week: It's rare that a good story escapes us in 2009. We tend to hear more than we want about an athlete before they step on the field for the first time.

That's why this article on Tony Gwynn Jr. caught me off guard. It's a terrific story about the Padres center fielder that followed in his father's footsteps after struggling with the burden of his dad's shadow growing up. I remember Gwynn's son playing for him at San Diego State, but I had no idea of some of the twists and turns his story has taken.

Noteworthy, of course, because Gwynn is one of the two best hitters of my lifetime. There's him and there's Ichiro, and that's it.

And frankly, Gwynn was better.

Ichiro is hitting .368 at age 35(!), and spent many of his best years in Japan. He hit .353 there in eight seasons and is hitting .333 here in nine years with the Seattle Mariners. That's a combined 3,195 hits. He has 197 home runs and 422 doubles combined and has stolen 530 bases.

Gwynn's numbers, courtesy of baseball-reference.com: .338 average, 3,141 hits. Keep in mind that all his stats are from MLB, and he'd have more hits (for now) had Ichiro played his entire career here. He hit 139 home runs but 543 doubles and stole 319 bases himself despite a little pudge.

For now Gywnn is better. The question is, how long will Ichiro keep going? Five more years of 200 hits, a feat he's accomplished in all nine years, and he'd be over 3,000 hits just in MLB -- a remarkable feat considering he was the first Japanese position player in the majors and didn't come until he turned 27.

So, Gwynn for now, but Ichiro likely will end his career as the best hitter of my lifetime.

*****

Farmington extra: I made an offhanded comment about the selection of young, attractive females in the Four Corners during my blog opening a few weeks ago. I'd made a trip to Durango and noticed a few more pretty girls walking around than I'd been used to seeing here.

A single, attractive girl emailed me, a bit perturbed as it were, questioning the veracity of my statement. She offered herself as an example of its falsity.

Two thoughts:

1) There are bound to be young, attractive single women in Farmington. My point was not to disparage the selection or bemoan the area, just one man's observation.

2) If you go to college and have been to Farmington three times or less in the past calendar year, you are disqualified as an example that proves me wrong.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Stay true and keep pounding,
Christopher