"Lazzari's Sports Roundup" ---- 02-17-07

The odds are about EVEN right now as to which individual will get arrested next: a member of the Cincinnati Bengals or an Indiana Pacers player. I'm gonna go with my gut instinct and say a Bengal--simply because the current off-season now gives members of that squad more time to engage in criminal, deviant behavior. I'll keep you updated in future columns, folks, maybe in a new feature called "Jocks In Jail"..........TRIVIA QUESTION: What pitcher has the most career losses in New York Mets history? Answer to follow.............
I figure if Yankees pitcher Carl Pavano goes, say, 28-4 this year with 15 complete games and an ERA of under 1.50, he'll come SOMEWHAT close to earning back what he's STOLEN from the team these past couple of years..........Lazzari's "Lopsided Score of the Week": In a Connecticut girls high school basketball game a few weeks ago, Avon defeated East Granby 65-17—with the winning team outscoring their overmatched opponent 29-1 (NOT a misprint) in the second half. What can a coach TRULY say to his/her squad when you get beat THAT badly? I dunno--maybe that the sun WILL rise the next day--or to just be thankful that the game lasted 32 minutes and NOT 48.....
..........This week in sports history, February 18, 1979: 41-year-old stock car legend Richard Petty, driving an Oldsmobile, wins his record SIXTH Daytona 500--edging out runner-up Darrell Waltrip by one car length. Petty had trailed in the race with one lap remaining, but a crash involving leaders Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough enabled Petty to slide by and claim the winner's check of $73,500; he raised his career earnings to over $3 million with the victory..........ITEM: Left-handed pitcher Jeff Fassero retires at age 44 after being cut by the Giants last May and failing a tryout with the Dodgers two weeks ago. Put it this way: When you're a lefty possessing a PULSE and can't make a pitching staff these days, you KNOW you're truly "done." However, I'd be surprised if some team in need of pitching doesn't try to coax Fassero out of retirement soon for no other reason than, well, he's a lefty with a pulse!..........How 'bout the UCONN men missing EIGHTEEN (not a misprint) free throws during their recent game with Syracuse? Reminded me of the implosion of the New Haven Coliseum a few weeks ago: "bricks" strewn all over the place..........Can you imagine if former collegiate golfer Ashley Warsaw married ex-NFL lineman Bubba Paris, divorced, married sports talk show host Jim Rome--divorced again--then married former University of Miami QB Brock Berlin? She'd be roaming the links with the European-themed name of Ashley Warsaw Paris Rome Berlin..........Answer to trivia question: JERRY KOOSMAN--who lost 137 games pitching for the Mets between 1967 and 1978..........How 'bout PGA golfer Boo Weekley? I'm wondering if he has a cousin named Applaud Monthly..........
Thumbs down to CBS' coverage of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am last Saturday--showing VERY LITTLE of leader Phil Mickelson's third round and WAY too much of various celebrities' errant shots. Hey, if I wanna see rich guys not being able to execute a variety of shots, I'd rather turn on your typical NBA game instead............
Happy birthday wishes go out to former major leaguer LaVel Freeman, who blows out 44 candles on February 18th. I know--NOT a household name, for sure. Freeman appeared in a grand total of just TWO big league games as a DH--in 1989 with the Brewers--going 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. Yes, folks, LaVel Freeman left baseball with a lifetime batting average of .000; however, he DID score a run that season for Tom Trebelhorn's fourth-place club. Hey, he can still tell his grandchildren that he made it to the "bigs," right? Best wishes, LaVel..........Finally, condolences go out to the families of three former major league pitchers--Max Lanier, Lew Burdette, and Steve Barber--all of whom died recently. Lanier, who was 91, won 108 games pitching mostly for the St. Louis Cardinals. Burdette, who died at the age of 80, was a two-time 20-game winner for the Milwaukee Braves and the MVP of the 1957 World Series--when he beat the Yankees three times in the Fall Classic; he won 203 games lifetime. Barber, 67, was the first 20-game winner for the Baltimore Orioles and won 121 games pitching for a variety of teams from 1960-1974. Rest in peace, fellas; you would have made one helluva staff.

Bob Lazzari

Reprinted by permission of the Valley Times.