POINT BLANK
Joel Blank: It was hard not to root for Tiger Woods in the British Open
Jul 23, 2018, 7:05 am
Tiger Woods made a run, and it was glorious to see. Andrew Redington/Getty Images
I'm not afraid to admit it, I was pulling for Tiger Woods yesterday. I'm not saying I agree with all of his decisions in life, or off the course. I'm saying I wanted the iconic golfer to return to prominence at least one more time so the world could be reminded of just how dominant he was not too long ago.
A golfer that, if not for his off course transgressions, might already have more major championships than Jack Nickalaus and be considered the greatest golfer ever. He made the entire world take notice and had entirely new demographics suddenly interested in a game of golf. He not only was at the top of his game, he was a global icon that could sell sand in the desert with just his image and smile. When he was wearing red and in contention on a Sunday, the whole world was watching. Yesterday was as close as we have come to seeing a glimpse of those days again, if only for one day, and man was it fun!
I really think Tiger still has some fuel left in the tank. He is only 42 years old and we all know he has always prided himself on being in tip top condition. The most important thing is, he is finally healthy. After enduring back issues that caused him to undergo several surgeries and procedures, it looked like his days as a regular tour professional, let alone one of the best golfers in the world, were in the rear view mirror. The fact of the matter was, he seemed to be facing the reality that he may never pick up his kids again, let alone swing a golf club.
The decline was fast both on and off the course and the path of destruction and disappointment was on center stage and the evening news for all to see. It was a sad and bitter end to what was otherwise a meteoric rise to fame and fortune as the child protege that started playing at 2 years old and rocketed to being the only man within ear shot of catching all of Jack's records. The fact that he has righted the ship both on and off the course and has his health back, leaves me and many others hopeful that he can re-write the final chapter of his professional career and maybe improve his image along the way.
Maybe the reason I wanted him to win so badly is all the amazing memories he provided sports fans with his relentless persuit of perfection in an imperfect sport, and all the incredible, dominant performances he etched in our memory banks. It's like a fan of the Celtics dynasty or Yankees, being able to see them on top or in the hunt one last time.
In team sports it’s impossible to see a comeback or instant replay of those days of incredible success and achievement. In sports like tennis and golf it doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's amazing! Connors and McEnroe had runs late in their career that made the whole world root for them as if they were underdogs playing in their first major tournament. Even Nicklaus made a run at age 45 when he cemented his legacy with his 18th and final major by winning the Masters.
Tiger had a chance yesterday and made a run that not many thought he had in him. He made up 4 shots, leap frogged more than a half dozen players and had his name on top of the leaderboard on the back nine of the final round of the British Open with 8 holes to play.
Even the hole that turned out to be the game changing end of his improbable run gave us all a return to the gutsy shot taking that made him Tiger Woods. On the 11th hole, after a fortuitous bounce off two spectators kept his ball in play and hope alive, he had two options— play it safe and play for par, or play aggressive and save par or better with a perfect pitch. He hit the shot that he knew he could hit and had hit numerous times before. In the end the shot was inches from being perfect, but fell short, as did he. Tiger would double bogey the hole and lose the lead and the tournament. He may have come up short this time, but I for one am hoping their is a new fire a blaze in his belly and we all get to hear Tiger roar again, at least one more time.
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After finishing up with the Guardians the Astros have a rather important series for early May with the Seattle Mariners heading to town for the weekend. While it’s still too early to be an absolute must-win series for the Astros, losing the series to drop seven or eight games off the division lead would make successfully defending their American League West title that much more unlikely.
Since their own stumble out of the gate to a 6-10 record the Mariners have been racking up series wins, including one this week over the Atlanta Braves. The M’s offense is largely Mmm Mmm Bad, but their pitching is sensational. In 18 games after the 6-10 start, the Mariners gave up five runs in a game once. In the other 17 games they only gave up four runs once. Over the 18 games their starting pitchers gave up 18 earned runs total with a 1.44 earned run average. That’s absurd. Coming into the season Seattle’s starting rotation was clearly better on paper than those of the Astros and Texas Rangers, and it has crystal clearly played out as such into the second month of the schedule.
While it’s natural to focus on and fret over one’s own team's woes when they are plentiful as they have been for the Astros, a reminder that not all grass is greener elsewhere. Alex Bregman has been awful so far. So has young Mariners’ superstar Julio Rodriguez. A meager four extra base hits over his first 30 games were all Julio produced down at the ballyard. That the Mariners are well ahead of the Astros with J-Rod significantly underperforming is good news for Seattle.
Caratini comes through!
So it turns out the Astros are allowed to have a Puerto Rican-born catcher who can hit a little bit. Victor Caratini’s pedigree is not that of a quality offensive player, but he has swung the bat well thus far in his limited playing time and provided the most exciting moment of the Astros’ season with his two-out two-run 10th inning game winning home run Tuesday night. I grant that one could certainly say “Hey! Ronel Blanco finishing off his no-hitter has been the most exciting moment.” I opt for the suddenness of Caratini’s blow turning near defeat into instant victory for a team that has been lousy overall to this point. Frittering away a game the Astros had led 8-3 would have been another blow. Instead, to the Victor belong the spoils.
Pudge Rodriguez is the greatest native Puerto Rican catcher, but he was no longer a good hitter when with the Astros for the majority of the 2009 season. Then there’s Martin Maldonado.
Maldonado’s hitting stats with the Astros look Mike Piazza-ian compared to what Jose Abreu was doing this season. Finally, mercifully for all, Abreu is off the roster as he accepts a stint at rookie-level ball in Florida to see if he can perform baseball-CPR on his swing and career. Until or unless he proves otherwise, Abreu is washed up and at some point the Astros will have to accept it and swallow whatever is left on his contract that runs through next season. For now Abreu makes over $120,000 per game to not be on the roster. At his level of performance, that’s a better deal than paying him that money to be on the roster.
Abreu’s seven hits in 71 at bats for an .099 batting average with a .269 OPS is a humiliating stat line. In 2018 George Springer went to sleep the night of June 13 batting .293 after going hitless in his last four at bats in a 13-5 Astros’ win over Oakland. At the time no one could have ever envisioned that Springer had started a deep, deep funk which would have him endure a nightmarish six for 78 stretch at the plate (.077 batting average). Springer then hit .293 the rest of the season.
Abreu’s exile opened the door for Joey Loperfido to begin his Major League career. Very cool for Loperfido to smack a two-run single in his first game. He also struck out twice. Loperfido will amass whiffs by the bushel, he had 37 strikeouts in 101 at bats at AAA Sugar Land. Still, if he can hit .225 with some walks mixed in (he drew 16 with the Space Cowboys) and deliver some of his obvious power (13 homers in 25 games for the ex-Skeeters) that’s an upgrade over Abreu/Jon Singleton, as well as over Jake Meyers and the awful showing Chas McCormick has posted so far. Frankly, it seems unwise that the Astros only had Loperfido play seven games at first base in the minors this year. If McCormick doesn’t pick it up soon and with Meyers displaying limited offensive upside, the next guy worth a call-up is outfielder Pedro Leon. In January 2021 the Astros gave Leon four million dollars to sign out of Cuba and called him a “rapid mover to the Major Leagues.” Well…
Over his first three minor league seasons Leon flashed tools but definitely underwhelmed. He has been substantially better so far this year. He turns 26 May 28. Just maybe the Astros offense could be the cause of fewer Ls with Loperfido at first and Leon in center field.
Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via YouTube: stone cold stros - YouTube with the complete audio available via Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.