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Random thoughts while wondering who would have thought Chicago Cubs right-hander Ryan Dempster would have as many victories after 35 games as left fielder Alfonso Soriano would have home runs — and that the number would be zero.
Well, we could have used a photo of Dempster, Soriano, Dunn, Pujols, etc. But 2012 Playmate of the Year Jaclyn Swedberg seems a far better option.
* Speaking of baseball numbers, Chicago White Sox designated hitter Adam Dunn hit his 12th home run of the season Monday (May 14) in a 7-5 victory vs. the visiting Detroit Tigers. That’s one more than he hit last year. It also was his first homer off a left-hander since Aug. 6, 2010 when he was with the Washington Nationals and hit two against Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers. At this rate (OK, so there’s no reason to exepct him to keep up this homer frequency), Dunn would wind up with 54-55 home runs.
* Still speaking of baseball numbers, Albert Pujols of the Los Angeles Angels went 1-for-4 in a 5-0 loss to Oakland. Something says Pujols, who departed the Cardinals to sign a 10-year, $240 million contract as a free agent during the offseason, misses the Cardinals — or National League pitching — more than the Cardinals (who lead the NL in most offensive categories and are atop the NL Central even after Monday’s 6-4 loss to the Cubs) miss him. If it’s any consolation, Pujols did raise his batting average to .197. And he does have one more home run this season than Soriano.
* Los Angeles Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro, whose team has reached the second round of the Western Conference playoffs, took a shot at his former employer, the Chicago Bulls and his former boss John Paxson. Del Negro — who went 41-41 in each of two seasons with the Bulls that included the playoffs each season — told Yahoo! Sports: “All that [expletive] that I had to deal with John and everything, it was a total cluster [expletive]. Listen, I understand the business: I hadn’t coached before, and my first job was in Chicago, where I had absolutely no [management] support. Then I came to this situation [Clippers], where the history spoke for itself. But I knew it was important to keep working at the craft.” If burning bridges is part of the craft, Del Negro is doing nicely, thank you. Paxson congratulated Del Negro on the Clippers’ success. In case anyone wants to see how to defuse something like that.
* Speaking of former Bulls coaches, Doug Collins’ Philadelphia 76ers — who eliminated the Bulls in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs — defeated the host Boston Celtics 82-81 to even their semifinal series 1-1. If it’s any consolation to Bulls fans who jeered Evan Turner whenever he touched the ball at the United Center (and the guess here it is very little, if any, consolation), the Sixers starting guard had more turnovers (five) that he did made field goals (four).
* Speaking of the NBA’s postseason. the visiting Los Angeles Lakers lost their Western Conference semifinal series opener to the Oklahoma City Thunder 119-90 Monday night. They did so less than 48 hours after they had won Game 7 of their opening-round series. The Thunder had eight days off after sweeping the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks. And so, the story line — in part — goes something like this: A tired Lakers team lost to a well-rested Thunder team. If the Lakers had won? The Thunder was rusty from too much time off, and the Lakers were in the flow of things as they came off their opening-round triumph. See how easy crafting a story can be?
While some folks out there may think of wandering the wonderful world of Twitter is a form of entertainment (some might even say goofing off), there are some of us who like to think it can be part of work. OK, so some of us like to delude outselves into thinking so. That said, your humble correspondent did come across some tweets that had links to video. Video that might merit your attention. You can thank me later:
* What better way to start out than with April Rose, one of this site’s favorite females, with a football-themed “Maximum Exposure” video:
* A Playboy casting call featuring Jaclyn Swedberg, who has gone on to become the 2012 Playboy Playmate of the Year:
* A Hooters employee demonstrating her hula hoop skills:
Speaking of Twitter (well, we were before the videos), Vaughn McClure of the Chicago Tribune tweeted about Bears quarterback Jay Cutler exiting the social media site: “Cutler shutting down Twitter, ‘Some things just come to and end, and that was one of them. .Maybe some day down the road. 4 now, I’m done.’ ” Well, life can be complicated with a baby on the way and a new playbook to learn. For some reason, some of us thought life without offensive coordinator Mike Martz would be simpler. Not to mention Twitter provides No. 6 with a chance to connect with fans, promote his foundation and seem less like the guy who gave the finger to a photographer last week.
Horse racing is on the agenda for the next installment of the Sports AUTHORities series at the Arlington Heights (Ill.) Library, 500 N. Dunton Ave. The session Tuesday (May 15) will be moderated by media maven Jim O’Donnell and is to includes trainer Larry Rivelli; jockey agent Tom Morgan and jockey Brandon Meier. The even is to run from 7-8:30 p.m.
* Speaking of May 15, happy birthday to Rachel Doxey, a longtime follower of this column (among other claims to fame).
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