Hair of the Dog, Thursday, 10/29/08

Apparently Paul is working in the tallest building in the country for the next few weeks and for some reason, they can't figure out how to get him access to the Internet up there. And there always seems to be something wrong with the connection of his cat-infested apartment. For that reason, our alternating "daily" post--or Hair of the Dog--will be in my hands for a little while. But that's okay on days like this, when there's positive news for Wisconsin sports fans.

For starters, Geoff Jenkins earned himself a World Series ring. The Phillies won game 5.5 tonight to take the series. The game started in a 2-2 tie in the Bottom of the 6th. Jenkins was the pinch/lead off hitter (something you don't see every day) and smashed a double. He was sacrificed to third and scored on a Jayson Werth bloop. This would have been the go-ahead run but for a Rocco Baldelli dinger in the top of the 7th. The Phils scored again in the Bottom of the 7th to take the lead for good. Good for them. Good for Jenkins. Good for the Brewers. Good for the National League. Also, with the series done, expect the Brewers to name their new manager in the next day or two.

The Bucks also picked up a win against the Oklahoma City Thunder, whoever they are, 98-87. They looked alright too. The starters all played well with Redd, Jefferson and Charlie V each putting up 20 points and Bogut adding 14. As a team, they shot 46% including 7-18 from 3-point range. They looked okay on defense too, even if they were playing a pretty shaky team. The Bucks have a .500 record. Let's hope it lasts a while (or gets better?). Next up for the Bucks is the home opener against Chris Bosh and the Toronto Raptors. I'll be there--of course, I only go to see the dancers. Anyone else going?

Brewers' minor league stud Mat Gamel won the Spink award.

Folks around baseball, however, know just how accomplished a player Gamel is. To that end, it was not much of a surprise when it was announced on Wednesday that the former fourth-round selection was named as the 21st annual J.G. Taylor Spink Award winner, emblematic of the Topps/Minor League Player of the Year.

Other Spink Award winners include Cliff Floyd (1993), Derek Jeter (1994), Johnny Damon (1995), Andruw Jones (1996), Paul Konerko (1997), Eric Chavez (1999), Josh Beckett (2001), Delmon Young (2005), Alex Gordon (2006) and Steven Pearce (2007).

This is somewhat confusing because Wikipedia and like 15 other baseball websites think the J.G. Taylor Spink Award is for writers and that Larry Whiteside won it this year. That seems like some minor league reporting. I wonder what award he really won?

That's it for today.