Life’s a note column, then you die. …
Not that it’s worth getting worked up over, since the Rockies shouldn’t have had an all-star in the first place, but I’m not convinced they picked the right Rox representative for the game. OK, if you’re Tony La Russa, with home-field advantage in the World Series at stake, and you need a lefty to get David Ortiz out in the late innings, you probably would prefer Brian Fuentes, he of the 10 saves in 11 chances. Then again, find me a GM who would trade Jeff Francis for Fuentes.
Bless Fuentes’ heart, but he inherited the closer’s job in mid-May. Francis? Dude owns Coors Field and has eight wins, one more than Roger Clemens, after beating the Dodgers on Tuesday night. That translates to 28 percent of the Rox’s season total. Jon Garland has 13 wins, 23 percent of the White Sox’s total. …
At any rate, Francis ought to be getting more love. To wit: Sports Illustrated in its midseason report voted Brad Halsey, your basic five-game winner for the second-place D-backs, as its National League rookie pitcher of the year. …
How lost in America is Sammy Sosa? He hit .158 in May, when his on-base percentage (.292) was higher than his slugging percentage (.211). And no, things haven’t been much better in June and July. Sure, he’ll hit a few home runs in the friendly confines of Camden Yards, but Sammy’s days as a quality middle-of-the-order hitter for a contender are ancient history. …
Memo to Red Sox Nation: Enough, already, with the doom-and-gloom e-mails. OK, so, as we speak, Fuentes is a better closer than Keith Foulke. Wanna switch places in the standings with the local nine? …
Shaun Alexander and Edgerrin James, both miffed because their teams won’t give them long-term deals. Anyone still wondering why Mike Shanahan got rid of Clinton Portis when he had the chance? …
It’s never too early for this kind of thing, so here goes: The favorite in the CU-CSU game is 1-8 against the point spread in the past nine meetings. …
By now, you know that Utah is the first school to produce the No. 1 picks in the same year in the NFL (Alex Smith) and NBA (Andrew Bogut) drafts. But did you know that Helix High School in La Mesa, Calif., has produced the top pick in both sports in different years? Bill Walton and Smith are among the school’s alums. …
At 6-feet-11, 210 pounds, Nuggets second-rounder Ricky Sanchez is so skinny, he’s rapidly headed toward cult figurehood. He has grown three to four inches and gained 30 pounds in the past year, prompting the obvious question: How tall will he be three or four years down the road? The answer: 6-11. “The doctors have told me I’ve quit growing,” Sanchez said. …
Sanchez also may be the answer to a trivia question: Which NBA draft choice was listed shorter than his actual height on draft day. Sanchez was listed by the league’s PR machine at a mere 6-10. …
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the most honest man in sports, NASCAR’s Tony Stewart. Said Stewart, when asked by the San Jose Mercury News whether he considered himself an athlete, “With a gut like this, what do you think?” …
Stewart, when asked if he had a workout regimen: “Yeah. Channel up, channel down.” …
By the way, will the last NBA free agent to turn down the Hawks please turn out the lights? It’s as if they still have Confederate money down there. …
And finally, happy birthday to Super Joe Sakic, who turns 36 on Thursday. At least I hope he’s still super. You never know after a year-plus of the Tony Stewart workout program.
Catch Jim Armstrong from 6-9 a.m. during “The Press Box” on ESPN 560 AM and on Fox Sports Net’s “Insider Edition.” He can be reached at 303-820-5452 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com.
