Jose Altuve is really good at this baseball thing.
The diminutive star of the Houston Astros joined some very elite company yesterday when he hit his third home run in an 8-2 victory in Game 1 of the American League Division Series over the Boston Red Sox.
Only nine other players in MLB history have hit three homeruns in a postseason game.
By powering out three homers in the game, Altuve joins the likes of Babe Ruth (who did it twice), as well as Pablo Sandoval, the last man to accomplish the feat in the 2002 World Series.
Trust me, I cringed just as much as you just did reading Ruth's name in the same sentence as Sandoval. I will try and never do that again.
Also named on that very private list are the likes of George Brett, Bob Robertson, Albert Pujols, Adrian Beltre, Adam Kennedy and Mr. October himself Reggie Jackson.
Not sure what was more impressive last night.... the 5 1/3 innings of no-hit baseball tossed by Cleveland Indians starter Trevor Bauer or the 3-RBI performance from teammate Jay Bruce.
Meh. Who am I kidding? I'm a sucker for a no-hitter of any kind, so let's give Bauer plenty of accolades here.
Bauer absolutely stifled the power-hitting laden lineup of the New York Yankees, surrendering his first hit of the game in the sixth inning of a dominant 4-0 in Game 1 of their American League Divisional series.
Bauer tossed only 98 pitches while giving up only two hits on the night, striking out eight and walking only one in 6 2/3 innings. It was a spectacular performance.
For the record, Bruce did a lot of the heavy lifting for Cleveland. His 4th inning homerun pretty much took the wind out of the sails for the Yankees.
The beauty of the Indians lineup is that they have power everywhere. We may see more of that on display this postseason.
National League Divisional matchups get started today with the Cubs facing Washington and the Los Angeles Dodgers hosting the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton has posted a video via Twitter, in which he apologizes for comments he made towards a female reporter covering the team for a local newspaper.I am posting the quote itself. The video, and its accompanied sound is posted below.
Cam Newton: "After careful thought, I understand that my word choice was extremely degrading and disrespectful to women. To be honest, that was not my intentions. If you’re a person that took offense to what I said, I sincerely apologize to you.
“I’m a man who tries to be a positive role model in my community and tries to use my platform to inspire others. I take ownership to everything that comes with that.
“What I did was extremely unacceptable. I’m a father to two beautiful daughters, and at their age I try to instill to them that they can do and be anything that they want to be.
“During this whole process, I’ve already lost sponsors and countless fans and realize that the joke is really on me. I’ve learned a valuable lesson from this. To the young people who see this: I hope that you learn something from this as well. Don’t be like me; be better than me.
“To the reporters, to the journalists, to the moms, supermoms, to the daughters, the sisters, and the women all around the world, I sincerely apologize and hope you can find the kindness in your heart to forgive me.”
A couple things to point out...
Not that it matters, but Newton never actually apologizes to the woman reporter, Jordan Rodrigue, who asked the question at the press conference earlier this week which caused Newton to utter his remarks.
I'm sure he'll get beaten up enough for all of this anyway, but that's one more log onto the fire if you will.
And seriously.... he now can't endorse yogurt?
Dannon Yogurt ended their endorsement relationship with the quarterback this week, according to a statement released by the company.
Prior to Newton's deal with the company, which included him being the primary spokesman for their prodcut, the primary pitchman for Dannon was actor John Stamos.
Here's a look at how that went...
Entirely far more appropriate...
O.J. Simpson's obsession with being the center of attention is already beginning to show, in just his first few days out of prison.
To be fair, a lot has changed in the outside world since Simpson went to prison in Nevada nearly a decade ago.
But these societal changes don't excuse the behavior, which clearly (at least according to multiple reports) suggest that the man just trying to get on with his life may already be crying out for help.
Secret memorabilia signings, TMZ-like video packages of him commenting on the tragic events in Las Vegas this week... the man simply cannot help himself.
The 70-year-old Simpson owes an obscene amount of money to family members of both Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman. He was found liable for their deaths in a civil trial resulted after his acquittal for their murders in 1994.
I understand he's been kept in a cage for nearly a decade. I understand he wants to find himself again.
That's human nature, but of all people who should have some understanding of the enormous spotlight which is going to be focused on him, he simply doesn't appear to grasp the very basic assumption that he's going to be hounded and treated like a pariah at nearly every turn.
Got a busy show coming up today on FIRST SPORTS. We'll chat NASCAR playoffs with Sam Atwell, Dallas Cowboys football with Kristi Scales, Cubs baseball with author Rich Cohen & football's best bets with Lee Sterling.
You can listen online to the show weekdays at 9am ET anywhere across the country on the I Heart Radio app through our website. Locally, you can hear the show on AM1340/93.9FM.
I'll also be on the air this weekend as well with horse racing's best bets on "The Fast Track", presented by SunRay Park and Casino. Plenty of great racing this weekend as we march towards the Breeders' Cup next month. Check out all the selections from our team this weekend at 10am ET.
And don't forget, we've got a college football doubleheader on Saturday (Florida vs. LSU followed by Wisconsin vs. Nebraska) and an NFL doubleheader on Sunday (Carolina vs. Detroit followed by Kansas City vs. Houston).
You're welcome, America.