Robservations: No more Nomar for a while
(Quick hits around the national pastime…)
Say it ain’t so, Nomar. Say it ain’t so.
Even though I tried to watch every second of Wednesday night’s game between the small bears from the windy place and the evil red birds of prey, an early rain delay forced me to accompany family and friends out for dinner.
Frankly, given a rather painful knowledge of the Cubs and Cardinals 19-game series from last season, I was a bit shocked to learn Chicago was ahead 2-0 when I finally tuned in during the second inning.
But shock quickly turned to horror, when one of the Cubs’ biggest names was carted off the field.
Nomar Garciaparra was injured in the third, suffering a torn groin while grounding into a double play. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list, and is likely to be out for a much longer amount of time.
Immediately, after assessing how much losing Nomar will hurt the Cubs’ chances this season, two poignant thoughts sprang to mind:
One, I’m sure glad now I didn’t make that trade for Garciaparra at this year’s fantasy baseball draft.
And secondly, are there any two words in the English language that sound more painful when strung together than “torn groin.”
Yeeouch.
While leaving the game, witnesses say the unidentifed man looked over a railing and then fell from a ramp on the “500” level, hitting several more ramps and railings on his way down to the “100” level.
As of this writing, police officials were “investigating whether alcohol was involved.”
Gee. Do you think there might have been a drink or two involved? Surely not.
By the way, the Nationals beat the Braves 2-0, making me wonder if this guy was an Atlanta fan.
If your cable’s out, you might not know that Sheffield, during a game last Thursday at Fenway Park, was struck by a fan in the front row while he pursued a ball along the right-field fence.
To settle the arguments I heard (and participated in) while watching replay after replay of the event, here’s the final say from the commissioner’s office: “(The fan) struck Sheffield on the head as he was attempting to field a ball in play.
“Sheffield in response swung his arms in an effort to extricate himself from the situation and to avoid further abuse, then completed the play and returned to confront the fan. At that time no further altercation occurred, Red Sox security stepped in promptly and order was restored. Under the circumstances, Bob Watson concluded that discipline for Sheffield was not warranted.”
So there you go.
The fan in question, by the way, lost his season tickets, and will likely be facing charges from the Boston P.D.
Now, this friendly neighborhood sports editor will probably never be lucky enough to sit in the front row at a big-league game. But if you are, keep this in mind:
If a player comes after you, start seeing dollar signs. If you go after him, you will be beaten up by that player, then you’ll be arrested.
And that’s no way to spend baseball season.