Sometimes I get asked if it is difficult for me to find events about which there is a “curmudgeonly element” so that I have something to rant about here. Indeed, there are some sparse periods; and when I find myself in the throes of such a time, I tend to venture out into sports that I normally do not follow as closely as some others. I feel in those times like a member of a hunter-gatherer clan searching in the wilderness of sports for a morsel here and a nugget there. Such was the case last week and I turned to the sport of golf for some reading.
And that is how I found an item from about two weeks ago. It was on CBSSports.com which is a site that I check routinely but it was buried on the “Golf Page” that I rarely if ever check. And that is where I learned that the PGA’s Champions Tour – – the one that used to be called the Seniors Tour – – had an event in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. That tournament was contested at the Minnehaha Country Club and the 12th hole at that course is described as par 5 with a water hazard. John Daly was a contestant in that Sioux Falls tournament and he managed to shoot a 19 on that hole alone. Here is how it was described at CBSSports.com:
“The course does not have a laser system to record shots, but shot-by-shot details state Daly deposited seven balls into the hazard. He finally cleared the water and got up and down from the intermediate rough for his 19. He officially signed for an 18-over 88, nine shots worse than the next lowest standing player. For those keeping score at home, that means Daly played the other 17 holes in 4-over par … Daly’s performance broke a three-way tie for highest score on a single hole, most recently achieved by Bruce Crampton, dating back to the 1996 Grand Rapids Open.”
At the least, you have to give John Daly points for his persistence there …
Moving on … Cal Raleigh is not getting nearly as much acclaim as he deserves. The catcher for the Mariners is breaking records left and right but does not seem to be a part of the major sports narrative these days.
- Weeks ago, he broke the record for home runs by a catcher (Johnny Bench)
- Last week, he broke the record for home runs by a switch hitter (Mickey Mantle)
- Last week he broke the record for home runs in Mariner history (Ken Griffey, Jr.)
Just being on a list with those three players is impressive enough; being someone who broke records set by those three players is more than merely impressive. So, can he break the record for most home runs in a single season in the American League? Here is the math
- Aaron Judge – – 62 home runs in 2022 for the Yankees
- Roger Maris – – 61 home runs in 1961 for the Yankees
- Babe Ruth – – 60 home runs in 1927 for the Yankees
- Babe Ruth – – 59 home runs in 1921 for the Yankees
- Cal Raleigh – – 58 home runs in 2025 for the Mariners – – and counting …
The Mariners have 6 games left to play in this season; every added “dinger” by Raleigh will move him up a notch on that list. Once again, Raleigh is in contact with historic MLB figures and that list of impressive players is even larger when you add in three other AL players who hit 58 home runs in a season:
- Aaron Judge – – 58 home runs in 2024 for the Yankees
- Hank Greenberg – – 58 home runs in 1938 for the Tigers
- Jimmy Foxx – – 58 home runs in 1932 for the A’s.
As of this morning, the Mariners hold a three-game lead over the Astros in the AL West thanks to a series sweep of the Astros over the weekend. In the AL, only the Blue Jays have guaranteed themselves a playoff slot this year. The races for the division and for the wild card slots look as if they could go down to the last day or two of the season:
The current division leaders in the AL are:
- Jays 90-66
- Mariners 87-69
- Tigers 85-71
It is good to be in the lead this late in the season, but there are four teams vying for only three wild card slots that are close enough to the division leaders to give some pause:
- Yankees 88-68
- Red Sox 85-71
- Guardians 84-72
- Astros 84-72
There should be plenty of drama in the final week of the MLB regular season in the American League playoff chase – – and if you add in the potential record-setting potential for Cal Raleigh, there is plenty of reason to check out the Mariners’ box scores specifically.
Finally, even though Bob Knight is most associated with basketball, he did have this curmudgeonly perspective on hitting home runs:
“I watched the guy that hits a home run, and he comes across the plate and he points skyward, like thanking for the help from the Almighty to hit the home run. And as he does that, I say to myself, ‘God screwed the pitcher.’ And I don’t know how else you look at it.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………