By Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor
(Baseball)—Well, that sure didn’t take very long, did it? Two and out for the Cardinals whose big bats went one for fifteen and whose most solid relief pitcher’s finger apparently couldn’t last two innings. Albert and Yadi went out with base hits in their last times at bat—a fitting conclusion to their careers.
In years to come, young men in the grandstands will be telling their grandchildren, “Yes, I saw Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina play baseball,” much as THEIR grandfathers told them, “I saw Mantle and Musial and Williams” or “Gibson and Marichal and Clemens.”
Across the state, the Royals are looking for a new manager and a new pitching coach. And some better talent.
In the meantime the playoffs continue although a lot of people no longer care.
(Tigers)—The Missouri Tigers are playing just well enough to drive their fans nuts. They’re off this week after losing three games they could have won. This is a team that appears capable of winning only if they play mistake-free. The break comes at a good time.
(Chiefs)—The Oakland/Los Angeles/Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders played the Kansas City Chiefs (ex-Dallas Texans) for the 127th time last night. The Chiefs spotted the Raiders the first 17 points then worked their way back into the lead thanks to four short-yardage touchdowns by Travis Kelce, tying a team record and a 59-yard franchise-record field goal from substitute kicker Matthew Wright. The hinge point of the game came when Wright missed a field goal but the Raiders were called for defensive holding, giving Kansas City a first down and keeping a drive alive that turned into a TD.
Both teams failed on two-points-after efforts and the Chiefs with only a 30-29 lead had to turn the ball over with less than three minutes left. Las Vegas couldn’t get close enough for a winning field goal and the Chiefs get away with a 4-1 record to start the season.
The Chiefs are now 71-54-2 against O/LA/O/LV.
Now, on to another kind of playoffs:
(NASCAR)—The number of drivers who can win the NASCAR championship has been cut to eight after a competitive and contentious race on the Charlotte Roval—the combination oval and road course.
And in a season known for its unlikely turnouts, Christopher Bell’s victory fits right in. He had to win to make the round of eight—and he did thanks to pit strategy that gave him fresh tires that let him clear Kevin Harvick on a restart and then pull away for the victory.
On-track incidents turned the day around for several contenders, none so much as 2021 champion Kyle Larson who hit the wall and broke a rear suspension piece on his car. The repairs were made but he was unable to regain enough positions to make the semi-final round. He fell two points short of Chase Briscoe, who had his own adventure when he spun with five laps to go but was able to recover to finish 9th, just enough to move into the next round.
Bell went into the race 33 points below the cut line with no chance to advance unless he finished first. “We were just there at the right time,” he said. “We rolled the dice, gambled, and it paid off for us.”
Also not making the cut was rookie Austin Cindric, the winner of the Daytona 500 at the start of the year. Daniel Suarez lost his power steering but muscled the car to the finish. Unfortunately his finish was 36th, knocking him out of the playoffs, too. Alex Bowman missed his second straight race because of a concussion and is the fourth driver eliminated,
Moving ahead are Chase Eliott, Joey Logano, Ross Chastain, Bell, Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Deny Hamlin, and Briscoe. The field will be cut to four after three more races and the champion will be decided in the last race of the year. Whichever driver in the final four has the best finish in the last race will wear the crown.
(FORMULA 1)—Max Verstappen raced through a deluge that sometimes left visibility on Japan’s Suzuka Circuit to win his twelfth race in eighteen starts this year and wrap up his second F1 championship. The race was halted after the first two laps because of the downpour. His championship was clinched because initial runner-up Charles LeClerc was assessed a five-second penalty that dropped him to third place. The result leaves Verstappen 113 points in the lead with four races to go, a margin impossible for LeClerc to make up.
Verstappen becomes only the third driver in F1 history to lock up a title with four races left. Michael Schumacher and Sebastien Vettel are the only other drivers to dominate a season as he has done this year.
(Photo Credit: Bob Priddy, Bell at WWTR)