Lights Out Pitching, Blind Umpires, and Willie
Sports by the Numbers MLB Stat of the Week
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130 Jon Lester threw (130) pitches against the Kansas City Royals last Monday - but gave up no hits in tossing the majors first no-hitter of the season. It was the first major league complete game for the cancer survivor who also clinched the final game of the 2007 World Series. Lester received a congratulatory embrace from manager Terry Francona, and said afterwards about his manager, that, "I've been through a lot the last couple of years - he's been like a second dad to me. It was a special moment right there."
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130 Jon Lester threw (130) pitches against the Kansas City Royals last Monday - but gave up no hits in tossing the majors first no-hitter of the season. It was the first major league complete game for the cancer survivor who also clinched the final game of the 2007 World Series. Lester received a congratulatory embrace from manager Terry Francona, and said afterwards about his manager, that, "I've been through a lot the last couple of years - he's been like a second dad to me. It was a special moment right there."
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Honorable Mentions
1 Barry Zito is on fire - time to drop Brandon Webb from your Fantasy Team and add Zito while he is still available. Zito is now (1)-8, while Webb fell to 9-(1) this week. Seriously, in my Yahoo! league there is an owner who has started Zito every game he has pitched this season - good for him though, he finally got a W.
4 It was not a good week to be an umpire. Jerry Crawford got hit in the head by the bat of Astros slugger Carlos Lee - but reportedly is okay. Injuries aside, umpires blew (4) homerun calls this week - taking away blasts from Carlos Delgado, Geovany Soto (who legged out an inside-the-parker anyway), Alex Rodriguez, and Ben Francisco.
10 John Odom can at least say he is a professional baseball player - what he might not want to say is what he got traded for this past week: (10) Prairie Sticks Maple Bats, 34-inch, C243 style, retail value of $69 each. Odom was signed last month by the Calgary Vipers, but couldn't get into Canada because of problems with his passport - so after a month of delays the club traded him to the Laredo Broncos of the United League. Odom, who spent three years in the San Francisco Giants organization, reportedly said, "I don't really care - it will make a better story if I make it to the big leagues."
370 Jeff Francoeur got the night off last Tuesday for the second game of the Braves double-header sweep of the Mets - ending his streak of (370) consecutive games played that began on October 1, 2005. It was the longest active streak in the majors. He responded by hitting a homerun and picking up four RBI the next night - and then Saturday he hit a walk-off homerun against the Diamondbacks.
370 Jeff Francoeur got the night off last Tuesday for the second game of the Braves double-header sweep of the Mets - ending his streak of (370) consecutive games played that began on October 1, 2005. It was the longest active streak in the majors. He responded by hitting a homerun and picking up four RBI the next night - and then Saturday he hit a walk-off homerun against the Diamondbacks. 
470 The Mets are 23-25 through 48 games for a (.470) winning percentage - just ahead of the Nationals in the N.L. East, but trailing the Marlins by five and a half games - and manager Willie Randolph is on the hot seat. The Mets getting swept by the Braves this past week, losing seven out of their last ten, and Randolph's recent comments to, and about, the media, have only made matters worse for the suddenly embattled manager, who is expected to meet with the Mets ownership on Monday.
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