22
Philippine Showbiz Today
October
October 22
22 - - November
November 7,
7, 2017
2018
Dodgers-Red Sox World Series,
first in more than 100 years
The 114th World Series I
on and, and for the first time it
features a Boston vs. Los Angeles
battle.
While the two cities have long
been rivals in basketball when the
Magic Johnson-led Lakers battled
Larry Bird’s Celtics for the NBA
supremacy in the 80s, the NHL
has never featured a Bruins-Kings
meeting for the Stanley Cup, nor
have the Patriots faced the LA-
based Rams in the Super Bowl.
Sports enthusiasts expect
to read and watch rounds of
Babe Ruth references the next
few days until the best-of-seven
World Series comes to an end
because the eventual home run
king starred in the one and only
previous meeting between the
Dodgers and Red Sox in the 1916
Fall Classic.
The Dodgers were in
Brooklyn then, and in 1916,
when the meeting with Boston
took place, they were known as
the Robins. The Babe won Game
2 of that World Series, throwing a
14-inning complete game in a 2-
1 Red Sox victory. The last 13 of
those innings were scoreless, the
start of a 29-inning no-run streak
for Ruth in World Series play.
Ruth wasn’t the only pitcher
with a titanic performance in that
marathon Game 2. Brooklyn
starter Sherry Smith also went the
distance, pitching 13 1/3 innings
until finally allowing a pinch-hit,
walk-off single to Del Gainer in
the 14th.
The first run off Smith was
driven in by Ruth himself, on a
third-inning RBI groundout.
When all was said and done,
the 14-inning contest was the
longest in World Series history by
innings -- a record that has been
tied twice, by Game 3 of the 2005
World Series and Game 1 of the
2015 World Series. Being that
it was 1916, the game was still
over in a snappy two hours, 32
minutes.
The Brooklyn games were
played at Ebbets Field, while the
Boston games were played at
Braves Field, then a larger venue
than Fenway Park.
This will, therefore, be the
Dodgers franchise’s first has
never made an appearance at
Fenway Park in this, otherwise
called “October Madness.”
if there isn’t a lot of World
Baseball
Series history between the teams,
this matchup, perhaps, is the most
unusual historical aspect because
this hasn’t happened before.
The wild-card era is barely in
its 25th year, so that’s 50 seasons
combined for the Red Sox and
Dodgers. Together, they’ve put up
42 winning seasons, 25 playoff
appearances, six pennants and
three titles, all won by the Red
Sox, by the way.
The Dodgers have won the
National League pennant 23
times. The Red Sox have been
kings of the American League 14
times. But surprisingly, for all that
success, the teams have only met
once before in the World Series --
all the way back in 1916, when the
Red Sox beat the Brooklyn Robins
(named after manager Wilbert
Robinson) in five games for the
club’s fourth championship.
Needless to say, baseball has
changed a lot since then -- there’s
more than one team playing west
of the Mississippi now, for one -
- and when the Dodgers and
Red Sox clash in Game 1 of this
114th World Series on Tuesday,
it won’t be anything like their last
meeting in the Fall Classic more
than a century ago.●
Las Vegas, here I am, again - Pacquiao
With his next fight with Adrien
Broner almost done, ring idol and
senator Manny Pacquiao braces
himself for his return to the United
States to defend his World Boxing
Association welterweight title
against his American challenger
from Cincinnati.
The soon-to-be 40-year-old
Pacquiao last fought in U.S. soil
almost two years ago in November
5, 2016, when beat Jessie Vargas
via unanimous decision to reclaim
the World Boxing Organization
version of the 147-pound crown
at the Thomas and Mac Center in
Las Vegas.
The Filipino legend, according
to a very reliable source, and
Broner collide on January 19, or
nearly a week after the Philippine
Senate would have resumed
session
following
Christmas
recess.
The same source said
details of the fight like venue,
purse, etc. will be discussed and
finalized on November 7 between
representatives of Pacquiao’s own
outfit, MP Promotions, Broner’s
handlers.
After which, the official press
conference where the bout will be
announced will be held in New
York where the two-city press
tour, which includes Los Angeles,
will end.
Pacquiao had actually made
the announcement on Thursday
during an appearance at a news
conference in Manila for the
non-profit International Sports
Promotion Society, which named
him an ambassador.
In
his
announcement, the
eight-division word
champ said he would
be fighting Broner
next, either on Jan.
12 or Jan. 19. In Las
Vegas, The Manila
Times source
with
knowledge of the
deal, however, told
ESPN the fight would
be Jan. 19, not
Jan. 12, though a
fight likely wouldn’t
be formalized until
both the champ and
challenger had affixed
their signatures on
the dotted line.
And dates will
come, precisely, on November
7 during the signing of the long
form contract.
About a fortnight ago,
Pacquiao was reported as to
have signed about with adviser
Al Haymon, the Premier Boxing
Champions founder who controls
several named welterweights,
including Broner as well as
world titleholders Errol Spence
Jr., Shawn Porter and Keith
Thurman.
Haymon also works with Floyd
Mayweather and should Pacquiao
hurdled Broner, he would set
him up for a potential
spring rematch with
Mayweather.
Pacquiao
and
Haymon were on
opposite sides when
Pacquiao lost a decision
to Mayweather in their
2015 welterweight title
unification mega fight
that shattered every
combat sports revenue
record, including for
pay-per-views
sold
(4.6 million), overall
revenue (about $600
million) and live gate
($72 million).
In
mid-
S e p t e m b e r ,
Mayweather
and
Pacquiao
met
in
Tokyo, after which Mayweather
announced on social media that
he was coming out of retirement
again and would fight Pacquiao in
December. The December date
is not happening, but they are on
track to meet in the spring.
In that event, Pacquiao
mentioned that Mayweather
would fight somebody on Dec.
31 and that he would fight in
January in an effort to set up the
rematch. However, a source close
to Mayweather said he was not
going to fight in December.
The Filipino great’s last two
fights have been held overseas.
In July 2017, in the fight that
kicked off the Top Rank/ESPN
partnership, Pacquiao lost the title
by controversial decision to Jeff
Horn in the latter’s hometown of
Brisbane, Australia, in his final fight
with Top Rank as his promoter.
After a year off, Pacquiao
returned this past July and
knocked out Lucas Matthysse in
the seventh round -- Pacquiao’s
first KO since his 2009 victory
over Miguel Cotto to win his
first welterweight title -- to win a
secondary welterweight belt that
he will defend against Broner.
During his media appearance
in Manila, Pacquiao (60-7-2, 39
KOs), who turns 40 in Dec. 17,
said he is hoping for another
convincing knockout when he
faces Broner. “If I can finish it
earlier than seven rounds, why
not,” Pacquiao said.
Broner (33-3-1, 24 KOs), 29,
of Cincinnati, who has won world
titles in four weight classes, is 0-1-
1 in his past two fights, having lost
a clear decision to Mikey Garcia in
July 2017 followed by a draw with
Vargas in April.●