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Tuesday, 30 April 2024
Monday, 29 April 2024
‘I feel honoured to say I was his friend’: Wayne Gretzky remembers Bob Cole
Tributes continue to pour in for Bob Cole as his family has confirmed a funeral will be held for the legendary broadcaster Friday in St. John’s, N.L.
Wayne Gretzky says it was Cole’s passion for the game of hockey that made him a great one.
Gretzky shared his memories of Cole on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday, recalling how much respect the players had for the broadcaster.
Gretzky said he was especially happy to meet up with Cole during a charity event in the broadcaster’s home province of Newfoundland and Labrador, a place he refused to move away from, no matter how many times his bosses asked.
Cole died last week in St. John’s at the age of 90, and his funeral will be held Friday at St. Thomas Anglican Church in the provincial capital.
Cole was perhaps best known for his play-by-play commentary on Hockey Night in Canada, where he was loved for his wit, passion and signature “Oh Baby!” exclamations.
Gretzky told Ron MacLean on Saturday that Cole loved being in the rink, whether it was to watch the teams practice or to call a game.
“He was genuinely a passionate guy about the game of hockey and to me, that’s what separates great broadcasters and great athletes from the average people,” Gretzky said.
“I feel honoured to say I was his friend, and we’re going to miss him dearly,” Gretzky added. “He was a big part of Hockey Night in Canada, and he was a big part of the National Hockey League.”
Cole’s decades-long career took him to cities across the country, where he brought to life some of hockey’s biggest games.
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Reports: Reynolds, McElhenney buy minority stake in Mexico’s Club Necaxa
First Wales, now Mexico?
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, the Hollywood actors who bought a fifth-division English football club and documented its revival, creating an Emmy-winning series in the process, have purchased a minority stake in Club Necaxa, according to several reports, including Variety.
Reynolds and McElhenney join fellow actor Eva Longoria, who originally got on board as an investor back in 2021 with the 101-year-old club.
While the move has prompted many to speculate about the possibility of another docu-series along the lines of Welcome to Wrexham, which has transformed the tiny Welsh team into a world-wide phenomenon, the Variety story said that idea would be premature and there was no news along those lines for the team, which is based in Aguascalientes, in northern-central Mexico.
While Wrexham was a fifth-tier team upon the purchase in 2020 and has very recently earned its second straight promotion, moving it into England’s third tier of football (League One) next season, Club Necaxa is already established in Liga MX, which is Mexico’s top division.
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Sunday, 28 April 2024
Jets defenceman Brenden Dillon won’t play Game 4 vs. Avalanche
The Winnipeg Jets will be without Brenden Dillon for Game 4 against the Colorado Avalanche after the defenceman suffered a cut to his hand by a skate.
Winnipeg was relieved that the injury to Dillon wasn’t as bad as originally thought and considered the defenceman day-to-day.
The incident occurred at the end of the 6-2 loss on Friday as the two teams got into a fight after the final horn.
Dillon suffered what appeared to be a deep cut in his hand and was quickly rushed off the ice and down the tunnel back to the team’s locker room.
There was blood on the back of the Avalanche forward Brandon Duhaime’s jersey and covering the ice.
“Obviously, a scary situation there,” Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey said on Friday after the game. “We’re all really concerned for him. We’re just hoping everything is OK.”
Thankfully, the Jets say there wasn’t any major damage to his hand but Bowness confirmed that the defenceman did in fact get stitches.
Logan Stanley will take in Dillon’s place in the lineup and hope he can return for Game 5 on Tuesday. Forward Axel Jonsson-Fjällby will also come into the lineup for David Gustafsson.
Dillon, 33, has eight goals and 12 assists in 77 games for the Jets this season. He has added three assists through three playoff games against the Avalanche as well.
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Capitals to get Sandin, maybe Jensen, back for Game 4 vs. Rangers
The Capitals will get some help back on the blue line as they try and stave off elimination by the Rangers on Sunday.
Rasmus Sandin has been cleared to play, according to NHL.com writer Tom Gulitti, and will be back in the lineup. The Swede missed the final five games of the regular season and has been absent so far in the playoffs with an upper-body injury.
Fellow rearguard Nick Jensen, who also has yet to make a playoff appearance this spring after missing the final three games of the regular season with an upper-body injury, was awaiting a final clearance from the team doctor, but optimistic he would play.
The news will be most welcome for a Washington team that has already lost defencemen Vincent Iorio and Trevor van Riemsdyk to injury during the series.
The Capitals are down 3-0 in their best-of-seven series with the Rangers and will need to win Game 4 (8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+) in order to avoid an early playoff exit.
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Saturday, 27 April 2024
Stanley Cup Playoffs on Sportsnet: Hurricanes vs. Islanders, Game 4
The Hurricanes go for the sweep in Long Island, with a chance to advance to the second round in the offing. You can watch the game at 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT on Sportsnet or Sportsnet+ or follow along with our live NHL tracker.
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Report: Bucks’ Damian Lillard suffered strained Achilles, doubtful for Game 4 vs. Pacers
It’s gone from bad to worse for the Milwaukee Bucks as superstar guard Damian Lillard’s status is uncertain for Game 4 against the Indiana Pacers as he deals with a strained Achilles, the Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Saturday.
According to Charania, Lillard has been dealing with “significant soreness” in his Achilles tendon in recent weeks and has been playing through the pain. He apparently re-aggravated the injury in the fourth quarter of the Game 3 loss to Indiana on Friday.
“I think it’s his Achilles again, so we’ll see,” Bucks head coach Doc Rivers said according to the Athletic’s Eric Nehm. “Honestly, Dame was really struggling. In the overtime, he literally said, ‘I’ll be the decoy. I just can’t go as far as explosion.’ So I thought Dame just being out there was huge for us.”
Lillard also had to step away from the game in the first quarter after a foul from Pascal Siakam. However, the guard clarified after the game that the pain he was feeling stemmed from the incident in the fourth.
The 33-year-old guard has kept the Bucks afloat in their first round series against the Pacers, averaging 32.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists in the three games without co-star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Antetokounmpo’s status is also still up in the air as he’s been absent for the team’s last six games dealing with a calf injury.
Milwaukee is currently down 2-1 to Indiana. Game 4 of their series will tip off at 7:00 p.m. ET / 4:00 p.m. PT on Sunday, April 28.
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Friday, 26 April 2024
Thursday, 25 April 2024
Blue Jays place Bowden Francis on IL, recall Brendon Little from triple-A
After pitching two innings in the Toronto Blue Jays‘ loss Wednesday night, right-hander Bowden Francis has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to right forearm extensor tendinitis.
To fill his place on the roster, the Blue Jays have recalled left-handed reliever Brendon Little from triple-A Buffalo.
After opening the year in the rotation, Francis has reverted back to the bullpen for his last three outings. The 28-year-old is pitching to an 8.59 ERA this season over 14.2 innings of work, striking out 17 hitters.
Little has worked 9.1 innings for Buffalo, posting a 2.89 ERA with 16 strikeouts and eight walks over nine appearances. All three of his earned runs allowed this season camera in one outing, when the Columbus Clippers scored three runs off of him on Friday.
The Blue Jays acquired the 27-year-old reliever from the Chicago Cubs in the off-season, where he had spent the first seven years of his professional career.
He made his MLB debut with Chicago in 2022, making just one appearance, allowing three runs in 0.2 innings to the Blue Jays.
Toronto wraps up its four-game set against the Kansas City Royals on Thursday afternoon. You can catch all the action on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+, starting at 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT.
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Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Report: Lions signing WR Amon-Ra St. Brown to four-year, $120M deal
The Detroit Lions are locking up one of their top young players agreeing to a four-year, $120-million deal with receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Wednesday.
The deal is expected to include $77 million guaranteed and would make the 24-year-old the highest-paid receiver in the NFL.
In his third season with Detroit, St. Brown was an All-Pro year receiver making 119 receptions for 1,515 yards and 10 touchdowns Detroit. The year before, St. Brown was selected to the Pro Bowler after he recorded 1,161 yards and six touchdowns.
The Lions selected St. Brown in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft out of USC.
In his three years in the NFL, the Anaheim Hills, Calif., native has 315 catches, 3,588 yards and 21 total touchdowns.
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Tuesday, 23 April 2024
Panthers’ Ryan Lomberg ill, Steven Lorentz in for Game 2 vs. Lightning
The Florida Panthers‘ bottom six will have a different look for Game 2 of their first-round playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.
The Panthers said Ryan Lomberg is battling an illness, and he’ll be replaced by Steven Lorentz.
Lomberg had five goals and two assists in 75 games this season.
The six-foot-four Lorentz had one goal and two assists in 38 games.
The Panthers lead the series 1-0.
Catch Game 2 at 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT on Sportsnet 360 or Sportsnet+.
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Monday, 22 April 2024
Sunday, 21 April 2024
United escapes with win after blowing three-goal lead against Coventry in FA Cup semifinal
LONDON — It was nearly a comeback for the ages for Coventry. Instead, it ended in another gut-wrenching penalty shootout loss at Wembley for the second-tier team as United limped into another FA Cup final.
Coventry pulled off one of the most unexpected fightbacks in FA Cup history by rallying from three goals down against Manchester United to force extra time and penalties in Sunday’s semifinal after a 3-3 draw, only to falter at the end and let Erik ten Hag’s team escape with a 4-2 win in the shootout.
Rasmus Hojlund scored the decisive penalty kick to save United from another embarrassing collapse after Callum O’Hare and Ben Sheaf had missed their spot kicks for Coventry.
It was another heartbreaking ending at Wembley for Coventry, which also lost on penalties to Luton in last year’s Championship playoff final to miss out on promotion to the Premier League.
United’s narrow escape sets up another Manchester derby in the final against Manchester City, which beat Chelsea on Saturday.
But it should never have been this close.
United looked to be cruising toward the final after Bruno Fernades’ deflected shot put them 3-0 up in the 58th minute against a Championship side that had defied the odds just to make the semifinals.
But Coventry is no stranger to comebacks, having scored twice in injury time to beat Wolverhampton in the quarterfinals, and staged an even greater one this time to set off wild celebrations in the sky-blue half of Wembley.
Striker Ellis Simms gave the Championship side a glimmer of hope by sweeping home a cross from Fabio Tavares in the 71st, O’Hare netted the second with the help of a lucky deflection in the 79th and Haji Wright equalized from the penalty spot in the fifth minute of injury time after a handball by Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
It was another late collapse by United, having given up two injury-time goals in a 4-3 Premier Leauge loss to Chelsea this month, when Ten Hag called on his team to learn how to close out games. They showed no signs of having learned that lesson, and Coventry came the closest to netting the winner in extra time against a shell-shocked United.
Simms first hit the crossbar with a stinging strike and Victor Torp then thought he had scored the winner in the 120th minute — setting off more wild celebrations by the Coventry players and fans — but it was ruled out by VAR for offside to set up the penalty shootout.
Casemiro missed United’s first penalty by shooting straight at goalkeeper Bradley Collins but Andre Onana saved O’Hare’s spot kick before Sheaf sent his well over the crossbar.
It saved Ten Hag from another embarrassment and gives United a chance to salvage what has been a disappointing season. United only has an outside chance of qualifying for the Champions League next season and an FA Cup trophy — at rival City’s expense — could be the only thing that will convince new minority owner Jim Ratcliffe to keep Ten Hag in charge for next season.
Ratcliffe was in the stands after running the London Marathon earlier in the day. Watching the last hour of this game may have been just as exhausting as the last part of that race.
United’s players hardly even celebrated when Hojlund’s decisive penalty went in, with only Christian Eriksen running over to celebrate with his fellow Dane. Most of the players remained by the halfway line, almost sheepishly shaking hands with the Coventry players — knowing how close they had come to one of the club’s most embarrassing defeats.
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Stanley Cup Playoffs on Sportsnet: Lightning vs. Panthers, Game 1
It’s a battle of the Sunshine State teams as the Florida Panthers host the Tampa Bay Lightning. Watch Game 1 on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ starting at 12:30 p.m. ET / 9:30 a.m. PT.
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Saturday, 20 April 2024
Maple Leafs preparing to play Game 1 without William Nylander
BOSTON — While William Nylander has not officially been ruled out for Game 1, it is safe to say that if he does play Saturday, it will be at less than full health.
Nylander felt some discomfort on the club’s off-day Thursday, according to multiple reports, and has not participated in any of the team’s skates since.
Toronto Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe offered “nothing” when asked for his 98-point star’s status versus the Boston Bruins in the series opener. The club has adopted a new mandate to hold injury info in-house.
“Hard to replace Willy, obviously. But we’ve had guys step up when guys go down all year, so it will be no different this time,” said friend Timothy Liljegren.
“Obviously tough for him, but hopefully he won’t miss too much, and he’ll be back.”
Until that time, Nick Robertson will be the lineup beneficiary.
On the outside looking in when the Leafs’ forward corps is at full strength, Robertson looks to slot in on the third line and is ready to savour his first taste of the post-season since he scored against the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2020 playoff bubble.
Could be an intense moment for a 22-year-old who has never played in a playoff game with fans in the barn.
“You got to find ways to kind of block that out, block the emotions out, because there’s up and downs in the game,” Robertson said. “So, you just got to be emotionally stable.”
Robertson has snapped five goals over his past 11 games, frequently providing a secondary scoring punch despite his bottom-six minutes.
“Doesn’t need many scoring opportunities,” Keefe said. “He works for everything he has.”
Taking Nylander’s spot on Toronto’s top power-play unit would be Calle Järnkrok, whose heavy, right-handed shot represents the best facsimile for a 40-goal threat.
“He’s a very smart player. He’s got great instinct,” Keefe said. “The coach tells him what they need from him, he’s gonna go out and look to do exactly that for you.”
Nylander’s doubtfulness has come as a shock because the winger has been so durable. He was the only Leaf to play all 82 games this season and has only missed one contest over the past three years.
“He’s a great player for us. So, I would expect him to compete,” Morgan Rielly said. “I mean, I think we’re all doing whatever we need to do now to play and to play our best.”
As ever in sport, one man’s misfortune is another’s opportunity.
What would it mean for Robertson — after battling multiple injuries himself and often getting demoted to the AHL — to skate in his first playoff game in four years?
“It’s everything,” Robertson said. “It’s one of the things you’d see when you’re a kid. You want to play in these environments. And to be with the Leafs and play Boston first game? Nothing better than that.”
Maple Leafs projected Game 1 lineup in Boston:
Bertuzzi – Matthews – Domi
Knies – Tavares – Marner
Robertson* – Holmberg – Järnkrok
Dewar – Kämpf – Reaves
Rielly – Lyubushkin
Benoit – McCabe
Edmundson – Liljegren
Samsonov starts
Woll
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Avalanche forward Jonathan Drouin to miss first-round series vs. Jets
Colorado Avalanche forward Jonathan Drouin will miss the team’s first-round series against the Winnipeg Jets with a lower-body injury.
Drouin suffered the injury in Colorado’s final regular-season game against the Edmonton Oilers. The forward exited the game after an awkward fall into the boards late in the second period.
Last season, Drouin struggled with the Montreal Canadiens. But in his first season on the Avalanche’s top line, the 29-year-old forward set a career-high in points.
Drouin finished with 19 goals and 37 assists for 56 points in 79 games.
The Avalanche open Round 1 against the Winnipeg Jets with Game 1 scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on Sunday on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.
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Friday, 19 April 2024
Flames’ Markstrom on where he expects to play next season: ‘I don’t know’
It was a season to forget for Calgary Flames netminder Jacob Markstrom.
In his fourth season with the Flames, Markstrom struggled to a 23-23-2 record with a 2.78 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage.
What didn’t make it easy for the netminder was having to face questions about his future in Calgary with the team contemplating a deal involving him ahead of the trade deadline.
“I think it could have been handled a lot different from up top,” Markstrom said when asked by Sportsnet’s Eric Francis about the constant trade rumours surrounding his name back on March 2.
The veteran goaltender has a no-move clause through to the end of his contract, so his future is largely in his hands — he needs to waive that clause in order for the Flames to be able to make a trade.
But when asked at the Flames’ end-of-season media availability where he expected to be next season, Markstrom couldn’t say for certain.
“I don’t know but what I do know is that I love winning hockey games. That’s the competitive side of me, every time I lace up the skates, that’s something I want to accomplish, you want to win hockey games, and I know everyone in that locker room want to win hockey games,” Markstrom said. “That’s pretty much you know, where my head is at right now.
“It’s been a long season and, the playoffs start tomorrow and it’s something you want to be a part of. It’s frustrating, but also you get to go home and spend time with the family. I’ve been away from my son for way too much if you ask my wife. But that’s gonna be nice to spend some time with them.”
When asked again about how the situation was handled by Flames management, Markstrom reiterated that it could’ve been done differently.
“All the rambling could have been not happening. All the talks and all the stuff that was going on throughout the season, starting early in the season until deadline day could have been not happening,” Markstrom said. “Just me focusing on hockey, that’s what I would have appreciated it. Because obviously, I’m still here. So to me, to just be able to focus on the team and, and try to play as good as I can without any distractions that’s what I was mostly pointing at.”
Markstrom said he feels good physically after going through some injuries this season.
When asked if he thought he was going to be moved to the Devils, Markstrom declined to get into any personal conversations he had with management.
He also doesn’t believe his relationship with the front office is strained after what he went through this season.
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Thursday, 18 April 2024
Canucks, Podkolzin agree to two-year extension
Vasily Podkolzin, one of the Canucks’ most exciting young forwards, has re-upped with the team.
The Vancouver Canucks announced a two-year contract extension with Podkolzin on Thursday. The deal is worth $1 million per season.
Podkolzin, 22, has two points in 18 NHL games and 28 points in 44 AHL games this season, the final year on his entry-level contract.
“We are happy with how hard Vasily has worked on his game to try and become a more consistent player,” general manager Patrik Allvin said. “While there is still room for him to grow, starting the year in Abbotsford and working his way back up to Vancouver shows the type of commitment and dedication we want in all our players. Our group looks to forward to helping Vasily continue to improve and get better.”
The Canucks selected Podkolzin 10th overall in the 2019 NHL Draft. He has appeared in 136 NHL games over his career.
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Wednesday, 17 April 2024
Justin Verlander to make season debut for Astros on Friday night at Washington
HOUSTON (AP) — Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander will make his season debut Friday night at the Washington Nationals.
Houston manager Joe Espada made the announcement Wednesday.
“Getting him back is huge because it brings a level of confidence to our team, a boost of confidence that we’re going to get someone who’s been an MVP, a Cy Young (winner) on the mound,” Espada said. “It’s (good) for the morale and to get stuff started and moving in the right direction.”
The three-time Cy Young Award winner opened the season on the injured list with inflammation in his right shoulder. He made two rehabilitation starts, the first for Triple-A Sugar Land on April 7 before Saturday’s start for Double-A Corpus Christi.
Espada wouldn’t say how many pitches the 41-year-old would be limited to but said they’ll keep an eye on his workload.
“We’ve got to be careful how hard we push him early,” Espada said. “I know he’s going to want to go and stay out there and give us an opportunity to win, but we’ve got to be cautious of how hard we push him early in the season.”
Verlander wasn’t thrilled with the results in his rehabilitation starts, but he said Monday that those games were valuable in getting him prepared to come off the IL.
He allowed seven hits and six runs — five earned — in four innings against Frisco on Saturday. He struck out three, walked one and threw 51 of 77 pitches for strikes.
Verlander allowed six earned runs and struck out six while pitching into the fourth inning for Sugar Land on April 7.
The Astros have gotten off to a tough start with Verlander and fellow starters Framber Valdez and José Urquidy on the injured list. They enter Wednesday’s games last in the AL West with a 6-13 record.
Espada hopes Verlander can be the boost the team needs to get on track.
“It’s good to get him back in the rotation,” Espada said. “With what he means to this club just to get him back on track, getting some innings from him (to) build our rotation with the pieces that we need to move forward is exciting.”
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Tuesday, 16 April 2024
Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog dead at 92
NEW YORK (AP) — Whitey Herzog, the gruff and ingenious Hall of Fame manager who guided the St. Louis Cardinals to three pennants and a World Series title in the 1980s and perfected an intricate, nail-biting strategy known as “Whiteyball,” has died. He was 92.
Cardinals spokesman Brian Bartow said Tuesday the team had been informed of his death by Herzog’s family. The team was not yet sure whether it happened Monday night or Tuesday. Herzog had been at Busch Stadium on April 4 for the Cardinals’ home opener.
A crew-cut, pot-bellied tobacco chewer who had no patience for the “buddy-buddy” school of management, Herzog joined the Cardinals in 1980 and helped end the team’s decade-plus pennant drought by adapting it to the artificial surface and distant fences of Busch Memorial Stadium. A typical Cardinals victory under Herzog was a low-scoring, 1-run game, sealed in the final innings by a “bullpen by committee,” relievers who might be replaced after a single pitch, or temporarily shifted to the outfield, then brought back to the mound.
The Cardinals had power hitters in George Hendrick and Jack Clark, but they mostly relied on the speed and resourcefulness of switch-hitters Vince Coleman and Willie McGee, the acrobat fielding of shortstop and future Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith and the effective pitching of starters such as John Tudor and Danny Cox and relievers Todd Worrell, Ken Dayley and Jeff Lahti. For the ’82 champions, Herzog didn’t bother rotating relievers, but simply brought in future Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter to finish the job.
“They (the media) seemed to think there was something wrong with the way we played baseball, with speed and defense and line-drive hitters,” Herzog wrote in his memoir “White Rat: A Life in Baseball,” published in 1987. “They called it ‘Whiteyball’ and said it couldn’t last.”
Under Herzog, the Cards won pennants in 1982, 1985 and 1987, and the World Series in 1982, when they edged the Milwaukee Brewers in seven games. Herzog managed the Kansas City Royals to division titles in 1976-78, but they lost each time in the league championship to the New York Yankees.
Overall, Herzog was a manager for 18 seasons, compiling a record of 1,281 wins and 1,125 losses. He was named Manager of the Year in 1985 and voted into the Hall by the Veterans Committee in 2010, his plaque noting his “stern, yet good-natured style,” and his emphasis on speed, pitching and defense. Just before he formally entered the Hall, the Cardinals retired his uniform number, 24.
When asked about the secrets of managing, he would reply a sense of humor and a good bullpen.
Dorrel Norman Elvert Herzog was born in New Athens, Illinois, a blue-collar community that would shape him long after he left. He excelled in baseball and basketball and was open to skipping the occasional class to take in a Cardinals game. Signed up by the Yankees, he was a center fielder who discovered that he had competition from a prospect born just weeks before him, Mickey Mantle.
Herzog never played for the Yankees, but he did get to know manager Casey Stengel, another master shuffler of players who became a key influence. The light-haired Herzog was named “The White Rat” because of his resemblance to Yankees pitcher Bob “The White Rat” Kuzava.
Like so many successful managers, Herzog was a mediocre player, batting just .257 over eight seasons and playing several positions. His best year was with Baltimore in 1961, when he hit .291. He also played for the Washington Senators, Kansas City Athletics and Detroit Tigers, with whom he ended his playing career, in 1963.
“Baseball has been good to me since I quit trying to play it,” he liked to say.
After working as a scout and coach, Herzog was hired in 1967 by the New York Mets as director of player development, with Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan among the future stars he helped bring along. The Mets liked him well enough to designate him the successor to Gil Hodges, but when the manager died suddenly in 1972 the job went to Yogi Berra. Herzog instead debuted with the Texas Rangers the following season, finishing just 47-91 before being replaced by Billy Martin. He managed the Angels for a few games in 1974 and joined the Royals the following season, his time with Kansas City peaking in 1977 when the team finished 102-60.
Many players spoke warmly of Herzog, but he didn’t hesitate to rid his teams of those he no longer wanted, dumping such Cardinals stars as outfielder Lonnie Smith and starting pitcher Joaquin Andujar. One trade worked out brilliantly: Before the 1982 season, he exchanged .300 hitting shortstop Garry Templeton, whom Herzog had chastised for not hustling, for the Padres’ light-hitting Ozzie Smith, now widely regarded as the best defensive shortstop in history. Another deal was less far successful: Gold Glove first baseman Keith Hernandez, with whom Herzog had feuded, to the Mets in the middle of 1983 for pitchers Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey. Hernandez led New York to the World Series title in 1986, while Allen and Ownbey were soon forgotten.
Herzog was just as tough on himself, resigning in the middle of 1990 because he was “embarrassed” by the team’s 33-47 record. He served as a consultant and general manager for the Angels in the early ’90s and briefly considered managing the Red Sox before the 1997 season.
If the ’82 championship was the highlight of his career, his greatest blow was the ’85 series. The Cardinals were up 3 games to 2 against his former team, the Royals, and in Game 6 led 1-0 going into the bottom of the ninth, with Worrell brought in to finish the job.
Jorge Orta led off and grounded a 0-2 pitch between the mound and first base. In one of the most famous blown calls in baseball history, he was ruled safe by umpire Don Denkinger, even though replays showed first baseman Jack Clark’s toss to Worrell was in time. The Cardinals never recovered. Kansas City rallied for two runs to tie the series and crushed the Cards 11-0 in Game 7.
“No, I’m not bitter at Denkinger,” Herzog told the AP years later. “He’s a good guy, he knows he made a mistake, and he’s a human being. It happened at an inopportune time but I do think they ought to have instant replay in the playoffs and World Series.”
As if testing Herzog’s humor, the Hall inducted him alongside an umpire, Doug Harvey.
“I don’t know why he should get in,” Herzog joked at the time. “Doug kicked me out of more games than any other umpire.”
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Monday, 15 April 2024
Sunday, 14 April 2024
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