Perfect Game Streak Comes To An End

Anthony Velazquez’s historic perfect game streak ends at two:

The perfect game is a stunning achievement by any pitcher in baseball, and two in a row had never been done before in high school, experts said. Yet yesterday afternoon, Anthony was trying to throw a third, against Bayside’s rival, the powerful Cardozo High School.

His stage was a perfectly groomed baseball diamond at Cardozo, also in Bayside, with a perfectly partisan crowd of family and friends to soothe his perfect case of nerves. He even had the perfect umpire for striking out batters.

“I’m giving a nice, big strike zone today, I’m calling all the corners,” Richie McCarren, the home plate umpire, said while polishing his shoes in the parking lot before the game, as news crews and reporters dashed to the field. “I don’t want to be the guy who calls a borderline walk and ruins this kid’s shot at history.”

But in the end, the only thing remaining perfect was the weather, as Anthony’s streak of sending batters back to the dugout lasted only two-thirds of an inning. After getting the leadoff batter out on a grounder to third and striking out the second, something got in the way of his streak: Jamie Liebowitz’s rear end. Anthony hit him in the left buttock, leaving the Cardozo senior on first with a historic welt and Anthony without his perfect game.

Bayside still shut out Cardozo 11-0.

You Can’t Stop Him, You Can Only Hope For A Bloop Single Or A Walk Off Of Him

The Daily News notes that a Queens high school baseball player has made baseball history by throwing two perfect games in a row, and is working on his third straight perfect game today:

A 17-year-old Bayside High School junior has rewritten baseball history, throwing back-to-back perfect games — a feat that has never been matched in the majors, minors or even at the high school level.

“It was a dream,” Anthony Velazquez said on a recent morning outside his 8 a.m. physical education class in Queens. “I never expected to throw one and now I’ve thrown two.”

The first perfect game was on April 11, when he shut down John Bowne High School, 2-0, striking out 11 in seven innings.

. . .

Bayside didn’t play again until two weeks later but Anthony showed no rust.

He whiffed 16 Flushing High batters en route to a 10-0 rout. He also went 2-for-4 in the leadoff spot with two stolen bases. The game was called after six innings because of the mercy rule.

“My whole body went numb,” Anthony said of Tuesday’s win. “Then everybody from my team jumped on me.”

Everyone knew he had been part of something special — but few knew just how special.

According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, no high school pitcher has ever thrown consecutive perfect games — allowing no hits, walks or errors. Only two have managed to throw two perfect games in their entire high school careers.

No New Mets Theme Song!

Newsday writes about the Mets’ new theme song:

“Our Team. Our Time” echoes the Mets’ marketing slogan for this season and repeats the title phrase in its lyrics no fewer than 11 times.

Its hip-hop beat makes it a tad more contemporary than “Meet the Mets,” in which fans are encouraged to “bring your kiddies” and “bring your wife.”

[Thomas] Scandaliato wrote the song unsolicited, collaborating with friend Steven (Boogie) Brown of Breakthru productions in Orange, N.J. They had a free-lance artist named Aghi record it then presented it to the Mets. They liked it.

Never fear though — even the new song’s composers agree that it would be sacrilegious to replace the much-loved “Meet the Mets” anthem:

“I love ‘Meet the Mets!'” [Scandaliato] said yesterday from the offices of TJS Marketing Group in Smithtown, an advertising agency of which he is president. “Are you kidding? If I replaced that, I’d be shot.”

Geez, That Sounds Almost As Interesting As Watching People Play Poker

Encouraged by America’s apparent willingness to watch people play cards on television, ESPN is now betting that viewers will tune in to watch old guys drink beer and play dominoes:

To the occasional domino player, it is a stretch to even call this quiet game of straight-faced strategy a sport. But anyone who has spent time in a Latino neighborhood in New York City could testify that dominoes played there — with the slammed-down tiles, the verbal sparring, the bragging and bluffing — is no parlor game.

From the opening bid, a simple sidewalk match will quickly escalate into a raucous, freewheeling spectacle: a mini-fiesta where salsa and cigars, Bacardi and brown-bagged beers have as much a role as the little colored tiles with dots.

The games almost always draw spectators, so perhaps it is no surprise that the ESPN sports network has declared dominoes the next big spectator sport and is promoting it as both a colorful cultural touchstone and a highly competitive game, complete with rankings, formal tournaments, celebrity events and sponsors.

But don’t take their word for it — ask Luis Guzman:

[T]he well-known Puerto Rican actor, said in an interview that the domino table was an arena where the very dramas of life play out: love, hatred, revenge. Tempers can flare and lifelong relationships can begin and end around a domino game.

Mr. Guzman recalled that when he grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, it seemed that every male Latino played dominoes.

“My pops would play for hours on end; all the men did,” he said. “I know best friends who stopped talking to each other for years because of one game. After 10 years, one would still be saying, ‘Man, why’d he play that one when he knew the other guy was holding the 6-3?’ I know a guy who jumped out a second-story window and broke both legs after losing a domino game.'”

George Fucking Mason!

The Advance checks in on the Island bar with the $1.5 million NCAA pool:

The two signs posted on the mirrors behind the bar at Jody’s Club Forest indicate what only those in the know need to know — 537 lines are left in the West Brighton tavern’s March Madness Pool.

The nondescript black writing on plain white papers reveals:

123 people picked the fourth-seeded LSU Tigers to win it all.

240 people think the second-seeded UCLA Bruins are going to hoist the trophy.

173 people believe the third-seeded Florida Gators will cut down the nets.

. . .

With more than 150,000 entries submitted in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament betting bonanza, the pot is reportedly worth upward of $1.5 million.

It costs $10 to enter a line and each submission must include a prediction of the Final Four teams, plus the NCAA champion and the score of the title game, which will be played Monday night in the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.

And you may be wondering if anyone penciled in the surprising 11th-seeded George Mason team — apparently, yes:

Only one person took a giant leap of faith and selected the longest of long shots, George Mason’s Patriots, the giant-killers who entered the tourney seeded 11th in their 16-team region.

. . .

Since no one this side of Nostradamus could have predicted this year’s Final Four, insiders say the rules of the pool have been slightly altered.

Those remaining have three of the Final Four correct — the fourth pick having been knocked out during this past weekend’s Elite 8 games — and the winning pick still alive.

Rumors are circulating that one fellow was one team shy of walking away with the all the cash. He supposedly had the top-seeded Villanova Wildcats instead of their opponent, and eventual vanquisher, Florida.

But that same man is still in the pool because he was the only one to take a flier on George Mason doing the Cinderella dance.

Backstory: Shh . . . Don’t Tell The IRS!