Utley at 35, plus some hoops

Earlier tonight, Chase Utley smacked a double in his first AB tonight to extend his hitting streak to a whopping 35 games. Now, this means he's roughly 62% of the way to tieing Joe DiMaggio's record. Frankly, I'm the kind of guy that likes history and records, and I always get a tad nervous when someone gets on one of these streaks similar to Utley's. Something about some second baseman who hasn't yet established himself as a true baseball superstar trying to pass Joltin' Joe just doesn't sit well with me. Although, like I said earlier, he still has 21 games to go. I'll start sweating when he gets close to Rose.

As impressive as Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak is, I still have to say that Orel Hershiser's 59 consecutive scoreless innings streak is a whole lot harder to do. The way I think of it is like this: If a batter has four at bats a game, he can make three mistakes at the plate, and one good swing to extend his streak. However, if every one of a pitcher's pitches in one inning is perfect, but he leaves just one hanging curveball on a slugger, then the streak is over just like that. Regardless though, hats off to Utley, even if I don't necessarily want him to get there.

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Now, in the "Sports news that's not really news" department, the team USA basketball squad faces off with the Peurto Rican powerhouse in about 20 minutes on ESPN2. This game is pretty much just a scrimmage, and has no impact on whether or not the US team will qualify for the Olympics, which is pretty much a given in the first place. However, the producers at ESPN felt it was more important than college football scandals or the aforementioned Chase Utley and managed to grap the lead story on PTI. Anyways, I''m expecting a USA route in their typical "no effort, no defense, all talent" style of play. And I may actually watch the game tonight too, just to see LeBron play.