Sporting an opinion

The AP is reporting that Mike Piazza, arguably the best-hitting catcher of this generation, has announced his retirement. Piazza wasn't playing for anyone this season, but I for one will always remember him as the distant nephew of Tommy Lasorda whom the Dodgers drafted in the 62nd round of the '88 draft not so much for his skill, but because he was ... a distant nephew of Tommy Lasorda.

The question ...

You hear Bronxers talk about "True Yankees"; is Piazza a "True Dodger"? He's obviously not in the Koufax/Robinson/Hershiser class, but maybe a notch below? Several notches below? Granted he played more years with the Mets, and finished his career with Oakland, but whenever my mind's eye recalls him in uniform, it will be Dodger blue. Curious to hear your thoughts on this.

(For a refresher course, here's his career statistics)

Posted by J.P. Hoornstra at 2:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Giants-Dodgers worked in Brooklyn and Manhattan. It works in San Francisco and L.A.
But how about them Tampa Bay Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers? Quite a rivalry, no?

I was 10 years old and living in the Bay Area when it was announced the Giants were gone for Tampa back in '91 and, really, it was a done deal. Only because a group of investors headed by Peter Magowan stepped in at the last minute to purchase the team did the Giants stay in San Francisco. The West Coast's best rivalry was preserved for another generation.

Magowan announced this week that he was stepping down as principal owner of the Giants. It would have been nice to see him go out on top with a World Series ring, instead of a citation in the MItchell Report clouding his legacy. But even Dodgers fans have to respect that Magowan kept the Giants in California. The rivalry just wouldn't be the same otherwise.

Posted by J.P. Hoornstra at 2:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Good thing the Champ Car-IRL merger coalesced well before the Indy 500. Just in time for Champ Car fans to watch their favorite drivers get out of Long Beach, then contend for the biggest checkered flag in American open-wheel racing, right?

There is that little matter of qualifying for the race, which a grand total of ZERO "transitional" Champ Car-to-IRL drivers managed to do today with the top 11 starting positions up for grabs. The fastest was Graham Rahal, whose qualifying-lap average of 223.2 was bumped by Tomas Scheckter (who has 2 wins in 93 career IRL starts).

This reality had to be somewhat sobering to the ex-Champ Car drivers, crews and their fans, who might have been expecting a quicker ascent to the top of the new-look field. Qualifying low isn't as fatal in the IRL as much as other circuits (namely, NASCAR), but of the past 20 Indy 500 winners, only four qualified 12th or lower. Spots 12-22 are on the line today.

Posted by J.P. Hoornstra at 8:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Check out this proposal for an NFL stadium in the City of Industry, near the intersection of the 60 and 57 Freeways.

My thoughts:

1) Having commuted through that intersection to every Ducks home game this past season, I can tell you that it already is a traffic headache. A headache, not a nightmare, but still something to avoid whenever possible.

2) It's way closer to the I.E. than any proposed NFL stadium I've ever seen. Shoot, if you live in Diamond Bar or Pomona you can practically drive to the highest point in your neighborhood and watch a game looking down from above. (Not really.)

3) Taking into consideration both of my first two points, I like that it's at least trying to be closer, and more freeway-accessible, to the center of its fan base.

4) I still say the best place to put a new NFL stadium is in Downtown L.A. - just tear down all the existing buildings - so for once the city can claim there's "something to do" downtown. Let the I.E. evolve into its own media market, with its own sports franchises and its own centralized mass transit system; so help you God if you still feel like driving over Kellogg Hill to have a life.

Your thoughts?

Posted by J.P. Hoornstra at 5:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)