Phyllis Again

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Sure David Toms was incredible. Having the temerity to lay up on a par four and have the confidence that he would get up and down from 100 yards over water on the final hole of a major was something special. And who will ever forget Toms’ ace on the 240+ yard fifteenth on Saturday?

But the unfortunate truth is that for all of his talent, Phil Mickelson choked again. Mickelson made an amazing birdie chip on 15 to pull into a tie and he and Toms were dead even as they went to the 16th tee. But as it would turn out, all Toms would have to do was par in to capture his first major.

On the sixteenth hole Mickelson badly pulled his drive into the woods but got the break of a lifetime when the ball hit a tree and kicked back into the fairway. He was left with a long iron that he put on the front portion of the green. He then hit his birdie putt as if there was a house behind the hole and could not make the comebacker for par. So on the biggest hole of his life Mickelson came up small on two out of his first three shots.

And then there was the memorable eighteenth. How could Mickelson, one stroke down at the time, come up short on his birdie putt?

Yes Mickelson had a great tournament. But it came down to this. With three holes to go on Sunday at the PGA, Phil Mickelson was once again the one who blinked. He didn’t force Toms to beat him with a birdie. One player parred in and one player made the mistake he could not afford to make. And until Mickelson learns how not to make mistakes when the money is on the table, he will remain the best player never to have won a major.

A Strange Selection

Curtis Strange came up short in his Ryder Cup selection of Scott Verplank. Verplank was highly touted coming out of college but has never been a star on the tour and has never been in serious contention at a major. So how can this guy be ready for the pressure of a Ryder Cup on foreign soil?

Strange should have opted for Tom Lehman, who missed automatically qualifying for the team by one spot. Lehman has not played well as of late, but he is a battle-tested veteran who is undefeated in Ryder Cup singles play and has played well on British soil.

The Sacking of Jimy Williams and the Fading Red Sox

Jimy Williams didn’t deserve to get fired. With Pedro Martinez, Nomar Garciaparra, Carl Everett, Jason Varitek, John Valentin and Frank Castillo all missing extended periods of time, it is a small miracle that Boston is even in playoff contention. And that doesn’t even take into account Derek Lowe and Jose Offerman’s disappointing seasons.

But reality of the situation is that firing Williams was a no loss proposition for Boston. Williams was not going to be back next year and Dan Duquette was obviously hoping for the inexplicable bounce that often follows managerial firings.

Williams is a decent but not great manager. His absence will not hurt the team nor will it make it better. Talent is what wins out in the end, and a team can only win so many games with limited players like Mike Lansing, Doug Mirabelli, Troy O’Leary, Bret Saberhagen and Offerman on the field.

In a related story, Major League Baseball announced that Rod Beck will pitch the home run derby at next year’s All-Star Game.

Beck is a gamer, as he pitches whenever he is asked despite his heavy workload, but he is done like dinner. Beck said he wants to sign with another franchise as a closer next year. With his 85-mph heater, Beck isn’t fit to close a door.

And Offerman is so over he couldn’t steal pens from a supply room.

Here’s hoping that Hipolito Pichardo didn’t retire from the Red Sox so he could become a male model.

Having recently watched the Mariners at Fenway, there is no mystery why that team is so good. The Mariners don’t swing at bad pitches, they throw to the right base from the outfield, they make all the routine plays and their bullpen is incredibly deep. After all those years of suffering with Bobby Ayala, Mike Timlin and Jose Mesa, Lou Pinella must feel as though the baseball gods are paying him back with his amazing bullpen.

And Ichiro is amazing. The guy can beat out a routine grounder to short for a base hit. During the first game of the Red Sox series, Suzuki had four hits, and every one of them you would have been willing to catch with your bare hand.

If, while in his prime, Tony Gwynn had had Ichiro’s speed, Gwynn would have hit .400.

A Huge Waste

The shame about the self-destruction of Terry Glenn is that if Glenn had the work ethic of an average NFL player, he would be the second best receiver in the league, behind Randy Moss. Glenn has the whole package: speed, the ability to run great routes and terrific hands.

But clearly Glenn and his agent have no clue. So the Patriots are without their best player and Glenn will forfeit nine million dollars in salary. Given the limited shelf life of NFL players, there is no way Glenn, and his agent Jim Gould, should have ever let it come to the point where Glenn would lose that kind of cash.

Nine million dollars and a precious year of his career that Glenn will never be able to get back.

Random Musings

The Saints made the right call choosing Aaron Brooks over Jeff Blake as their starter. We know what Blake can do, which is be a productive but unremarkable NFL quarterback. Brooks may be the next coming of Donovan McNabb.

McNabb’s alma mater loses to Georgia Tech this weekend in the Kickoff Classic.