MySports Today

ESPN’s Erin Andrews found herself on the wrong end of some illegal activity – - crazy to think that a hotel would allow something like this to happen.  Until we’re able to post a link to the nude video, here’s a link to the news article surrounding the occurrence.  The Florida Gators alum should definitely have a good lawyer to make somebody pay for this.  Oh yeah, here are some sweet shots of our favorite ESPN reporter – Princess Erin…

The Yankees were flying high after Hideki Matsui’s walk-off home run on Monday night gave the Yankees a big 2-1 win over the Orioles.  It was the Yankees 4th win in a row after the All-Star Break and at 55-37, the Yankees were in a 1st place tie with the Red Sox in the AL East.  The Red Sox had lost 3 of their 4 games after the break, and the Yankees took advantage of the opening.

It should be an interesting stretch run the last 2+ months of the season.  Kate Hudson seems to like the performance of her beau Alex Rodriguez – she’s been taking in Yankees games of late and seems to be bringing the team a lot of good luck…

Tom Watson almost pulled off the unthinkable – a major championship win at the British Open – at the age of 59!  Had Watson sank his 8-foot par putt on the 18th hole on Sunday afternoon, or not crapped in his pants in the 4-hole playoff, Watson would have become the oldest player to win a major championship.  Instead, Watson was tentative on the par putt and it came up short, pushing him back into a tie with Stewart Cink.  Cink himself made a birdie on 18 to get to -2 and put some extra pressure on Watson for the 18th hole. And it worked.

After shooting a 65 and 70 on the 1st two days of the tournament (-5, E), Watson “struggled” in his final 2 rounds – 71 and 72 (+1, +2) to finish the tournament at 2 under par.  Cink, on the other hand opened strong with a 66 (-4) on Friday and finished strong with a 69 (-1) on Sunday, after playing mediocre golf during the middle 2 rounds (72 and 71, +3 combined).

The playoff was ugly – Cink took a 1 shot lead after the 1st playoff hole when watson made bogey.  On the 2nd playoff hole, Watson took a double bogey, while Cink birdied, and just like that, Cink had a commanding 4-shot lead.  Cink went on to win the playoff by 6 shots – game over.

How did Watson feel about the loss – “The old fogey almost did it…It would have been a hell of a story.  It wasn’t meant to be.  And, yes, it’s a great disappointment.  It tears at your gut, as it always has torn at my guut.  It’s not easy to take.”

Sorry Tom – you played great, but couldn’t close it out.  We wish you all the best at the Senior British Open this coming weekend – hang in there and get some rest these next few days!

Ana Beatriz Barros is our latest installment for our Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Models.  Barros is a 27-year old Brazilian bombshell.  Barros has worked for Bebe, Victoria’s Secret, Chanel cosmetics and Guess?  Barros has also appeared on the covers of the top fashion magazines, including Vogue, Glamour, Marie Claire and Allure.  Barros has been a lovely mainstay in the SI Swimsuit Issue since 2002.  Enjoy – I know I did…

Brett Favre has informed the Minnesota Vikings that he will decide upon his 2009-2010 NFL future by July 20th – the date that the Vikings open training camp.  Favre underwent surgery to repair a tendon in the biceps of his right throwing arm in the off-season.  Before he signs a deal with the Vikings, he wants to be 100% sure that he can make it through the rigors of a long, demanding NFL season.  Favre had this to say about his progress: “There’s two weeks left and I’m doing everything that I can.  I was down here Sunday morning working out.  I’m trying to get everything to where I feel 100 percent when I go in.  I can’t go in any less.  When you’re 39 years old, it’s hard enough.  But it’s getting there… I felt like going to New York last year that I still had it.  I didn’t know that my arm was hurt at the time.  So that’s what I try to get across to people.  I had that fixed, the durgery to fix that, so I’m trying to make sure that if I go back that part is completely resolved.

After leading the Jets to a strong start in 2008-9, the team faded down the stretch and fell out of playoff contention.  Favre ended the season with good stats – 65% completion rate; 3472 yards passing; 22 TD’s and 22 interceptions.  Favre played the previous 16 season with the Green Bay Packers before his controversial departure from the Packers organization during the 2008-9 off-season.  Favre won a Super Bowl with the Packers and holds many career NFL passing records.

If Favre decides not to play for the Vikings in 2009-10, the Vikings will likely go with Tavaris Jackson at Quarterback for a 3rd straight year.

The Philadelphia Phillies signed free agent starting pitcher Pedro Martinez to a 1-year, $1 million contract.  The contract has incentives which could allow Martinez to earn up to another $1.5 million.  Martinez is a 3-time CY Young Award winner, but he has not pitched in a game since the 2008 MLB schedule.  Martinez went 5-6 with a 5.61 ERA in 2008 for the rival-New York Mets, as he won only 32 games for the Mets during the life of a 4-year $53 million contract that he signed 2005.

Martinez is still as cocky as ever, but a little more realistic.  Here’s what he had to say about joining the Phillies: “I bring with me a legacy, I bring with me my last name…I’ll be the first one convinced, really convinced, if I can do it or not.  If I don’t do it, I’m going to go on and take myself our of baseball.”

It should be interesting to see how Pedro fits in with the Phillies, but I’m sure that the Mets will be thrilled to see Pedey on the mound sometime soon. The defending World Series Champion Phillies hope that Pedey will have enough in the tank to propel them to another NL East division title in 2009 and a long return playoff run to the World Series.

The American League defeated the National League 4-3 in the 2009 MLB All-Star Game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.  The AL is now 12-0-1 since its last defeat back in Philadelphia back in 1996.  The last time the NL didn’t lose was at Miller Park in Milwaukee in 2002 when the two leagues tied 7-7 after 11 innings.

The AL jumped on NL starter Tim Lincecum right off the bat with a single by Ichiro Suzuki and a HBP by Derek Jeter.  After a Joe Mauer groundout that forced out Ichiro at 3rd base, Derek Jeter scored the game’s 1st run on a fielder’s choice error by home town hero Albert Pujols at 1st base.  Jason Bay then followed with a single to center field that loaded the bases, and the AL scored another run on a Josh Hamilton fielder’s choice groundout.  Hamilton avoided getting doubled up at 1st to allow Mauer to score.

The NL scored all 3 of their runs in the 2nd inning and took a 3-2 lead.  After 2 quick hits, the NL put together 4 straight hits off AL starter Roy Halladay to take the lead.  David Wright and Shane Victorino singled, and home town Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina delivered an RBI single to center field that allowed Wright and Victorino to score after a Hamilton throwing error.  Prince Fielder then pinch-hit for Lincecum and put the NL ahead with an RBI double to left field that scored Molina.  But the NL offense disappeared the rest of the way, as 22 of their final 24 batters failed to reach base.

The AL tied the game in the 5th inning off of Chad Billingsley on a Joe Mauer double that scored Derek Jeter.  With the game tied at 3 in the bottom of the 7th inning, the Tampa Bay Rays Carl Crawford made a specatacular catch by pulling back Brad Hawpe’s shot to deep left field that would have been a home run.  The next inning, Detroit Tigers Curtis Granderson tripled and scored the winning run on an Andruw Jones’ sacrifice fly.

The AL pitching said it all on Tuesday night.  From the 3rd through the 7th innings, Mark Buehrle, Zach greinke, Edwin Jackson, Felix Hernandez and Jonathan Papelbon each worked perfect innings.  After getting the 1st 2 outs of the 8th inning, Joe Nathan allowed a walk and a hit to put the go ahead runs on base.  But he was able to strike out Phillies slugger Ryan Howard to end the threat.  And Mariano Rivera worked a perfect 9th inning to preserve the win for the AL and home field advantage for the AL in the 2009 World Series.  No one had more than 1 of anything except for Jeter – he scored 2 runs despite never getting a hit.

Carl Crawford was named the 2009 All-Star Game’s MVP for his spectacular catch that saved the game at the time for the AL.  Crawford became the 1st non-pitcher to win the MVP Award without having an RBI or scoring a run.

Couple of side notes – President Barack Obama honored former Cards great Lou Brock before the game and threw out the 1st pitch – in a Chicago White Sox jacket – to current Cards great Albert Pujols.  Obama became the 5th sitting U.S. President to throw out the 1st pitch at an MLB All-Star Game (the NL had won each of those previous games up until last night).  Former Cards great Stan Musial – one of the games’ greatest hitters of all-time – was also honored before the game.

The 2010 MLB All-Star Game will be played at Angel Stadium, the home field for the Anaheim Angels of Los Angeles.

The 2009 MLB All-Star Game is set for tonight at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.  The National League will try to win its 1st All-Star Game in 13 years – it is the longest unbeaten streak in All-Star history.

Reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants will take on Roy Halladay of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Here’s how the lineups look:

AL – Ichiro Suzuki RF (Seattle Mariners); Derek Jeter SS (NY Yankees); Joe Mauer C (Minnesota Twins); Mark Teixeira 1B (NY Yankees); Jason Bay LF (Boston Red Sox); Josh Hamilton CF (Texas Rangers); Michael Young 3B (Texas Rangers); & Aaron Hill 2B (Toronto Blue Jays).

NL – Hanley Ramirez SS (Florida Marlins); Chase Utley 2B (Philadelphia Phillies); Albert Pujols 1B (St. Louis Cardinals); Ryan Braun RF (Milwaukee Brewers); Raul Ibanez LF (Philadelphia Phillies); David Wright 3B (NY Mets); Shane Victorino CF (Philadelphia Phillies); & Yadier Molina C (St. Louis Cardinals).

On a side not, President Barack Obama will throw out the ceremonial 1st pitch to St. Louis’ own Albert Pujols.

Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers defeated Nelson Cruz of the Texas Rangers int he Home Run Hitting Contest on Monday night.

The 2009 MLB All-Star Game is set to start at 8:05PM and will be televised on FOX.

Albert Pujols is a stud.  A little more than halfway through the 2009 MLB schedule, Pujols’ numbers are staggering.  In 90 games, Pujols has put his team atop the NL Central Division at 49-42.  The Cards have a 2.5 games lead over the Brewers and a 3.5 games lead over each of the Cubs and Astros.

Batting Average – .332

On-Base Percentage – .427

32 HR’s; 87 RBI’s; 73 Runs Scored; 71 Walks with only 35 K’s.

Leading in both HR’s and RBI’s in the NL, Pujols has a shot to win the Triple Crown.  The Marlins’ Hanley Ramirez is well ahead at .349, but Pujols only trails 2 other players besides Ramirez – the Mets’ Carlos Beltran at .336 (who is on the DL) and the Giants Pablo Sandoval at .333.

Pujols is a joy to watch – let’s hope he can keep up his torrid pace in the 2nd half of 2009.

Yes – it’s true – Alan Embree earned his 2nd win of the season on July 7th without throwing a single pitch in the game as the Rockies beat the Nats 5-4 on July 7th.  Here’s how it went down.  With the game tied at 4, the Nationals Austin Kearns singled with 2 outs in the top of the 8th inning.  Manager Jim Tracy called on Embree to face the left-handed hitting Nyjer Morgan.  Before he threw a pitch, however, Tracy called for a pick off play and they caught Kearns leaning off of 1st base.  Embree became the pitcher of record because he was the pitcher in the game when the last out of the 8th inning was recorded, and when the Rockies took the lead 5-4 on Clint Barmes’ sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning, Embree stood to get the win.  Tracy called on Rockies closer Huston Street who worked a 1-2-3 9th inning to pick up his 21st save of the 2009 MLB schedule.  Pretty carzy stuff – it was the 1st time a pitcher earned a victory without throwing a pitch since B.J. Ryan did so for the Orioles in May 2003. Embree had this to say about the experience:  “It was a very interesting night for me, kind of humorous in a way because I’ve played fro a long time and never seen anything like that.”

Embree is 2-2 on the 2009 MLB schedule with a 5.84 ERA.  Subsequent to picking up the odd win, Embree fractured his right tibia when he was struck by a line drive off the bat of Braves’ Martin Prado on Friday night.  Embree underwent successful surgery on Saturday and will miss the rest of the season.  What a week…