The Royals couldn’t pull of the sweep this afternoon in Houston as Lance Berkman hit two, two run homers off Royals starter Brian Bannister to help beat the Royals 5-4.
Up 1-0, Bannister gave up a double to Carlos Lee in the 2 nd before Berkman hit his first home run and then after the Royals battled back to take the lead, Berkman hurt Bannister again.
In the bottom of the 6 th with the Royals up 4-3, Bannister walked Lee to start the inning and Berkman followed with his second shot. Houston’s Brian Moehler didn’t have much defensive support, as he gave up four runs, just one earned in his five innings of work.
The Houston bullpen shut the Royals down holding them scoreless from the sixth inning on.
Royals can’t sweep the ‘Stros
June 25, 2009 By
Cards can’t solve Santana
June 25, 2009 By
Chris Carpenter went seven innnings and gave up only three runs, but the Cardinals could scratch out only two runs against Johan Santana, losing to the Mets this afternoon 3-2. The Mets didn’t hit Carpenter hard, but took advantage of a couple of soft hits in the fourth when Nick Evans made contact and laced a double into the right-field corner, scoring two.
Santana allowed runs in the first and the sixth and walked three. Santana pitched seven innings, giving way to Pedro Feliciano and then Francisco Rodriquez. Rodriquez did make the 9th interesting. With two outs and no one on, he all but intentionally walked Albert Pujos, then issued another walk and escaped after a deep drive to Left by Yadier Molina was caught to end the game.
Show Me State Games extends deadline for some sports
June 25, 2009 By
The Show-Me STATE GAMES has extended registration deadlines for basketball, baseball and soccer. Soccer entries will be accepted until July. Teams can click here to register.
The basketball deadlines have been extended as well. Teams must sign up three weeks before the weekend their age division is scheduled to play. June 26th is the deadline for 4th, 5th, and 6th grade teams as well as 7th and 8th grade girls. July 3 is the deadline for 7th and 8th grade boys, and 9th-12th grade teams and July 10 is the deadline for adults, wheelchair and pee wee teams. Register here .
Baseball entries are also being accepted on a space available basis here as well.
Many other sports entries are due July 1, and some accept registration on the day of the event. Find more details on the more than 40 Show-Me STATE GAMES sports at www.smsg.org
Nixon vetoes $105 million as he signs $23 billion state budget
June 25, 2009 By
Governor Nixon has signed the state’s $23 billion budget that goes into effect next week, using the line-item veto to cut $105 million in state spending. The governor also is withholding $325 million until state revenue improves.
Nixon met with the Capitol Press Corps this morning after signing the budget bills.
Nixon said he had used the line-item veto to cut $22.8 million from the operating budget and $82.2 million from the capital improvement budget. The withholdings follow a similar pattern. The governor is withholding $60 million from state agencies across the board and $265 in capital improvement spending until the economy improves.
"These fiscally responsible steps are necessary to ensure that Missourians have a government we can afford without raising taxes and without sacrificing our shared priorities of education, healthcare and jobs," Nixon stated.
Among the vetoes were $24.7 million for the statewide interoperability communication system (though the remaining $87 million was signed into law), $16.5 million appropriated to pay for projects originally to be funded through the sale of Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority assets, $12.6 million in ethanol incentives scheduled for after Fiscal Year 2011, and $10 million for an interchange in Jefferson City to ease access to the old Missouri State Penitentiary site.
The governor is withholding another $91.3 million for MOHELA projects, $60 million for salaries, expenses, contracts and grants, $50 million for the Missouri Job Creation Fund and $47.8 million for repair and maintenance of state buildings.
Under the governor’s action, 1,400 positions in state government will be cut.
The governor did not cut education funding, stating that there is a consensus in state government that public schools are the state’s top priority and should not suffer budget cuts.
Download/listen Gov Jay Nixon’s statement on budget (6:15 MP3)
Mavericks? What is that about?
June 25, 2009 By
A grumpy cartoonish looking horse will be their logo and they named themselves the Missouri Mavericks. The new hockey team that will play in Independence this November announced their name, mascot and team colors. I don’t like it!
When I spoke with Bob Rennison, Director of Operations, back in mid-April on my Pressbox Podcast , the team was having a contest for fans to come up with the best name. According to their website, Independenceprohockey.com , once 10 finalists were announced, fans were asked to cast their votes. The team consulted numerous experts, focus groups of all ages, city officials and peers within the sports industry to produce the name, logo and color scheme. After seeing what they came up with, I’m thinking they used a little six year old girl’s suggestion they go with something along the "My Little Pony" line.
Perhaps I’m being a little too tough on the team, but Columbia had a minor league baseball team a few years ago and they called themselves the Mid-Missouri Mavericks. So perhaps I’m a little burnt out on the name.
When I think of Mavericks, I think of two things and one of them is not Independence, Missouri. First, cowboys. This leads me to think of Texas, where quite a few of the 18 teams that make up the Central Hockey League are located. I also can’t help but think of Sarah Palin and John McCain and their Maverick kick they went on during the Presidential campaign.
I’m just a firm believer that your team name and logo should represent the area you’re playing in or have a catchy name. For example, the Amarillo Gorillas. The Austin Ice Bats, or the Tulsa Oilers. As they made the announcement at the Truman Library, I wonder if they ever thought of tying in the team name to President Harry S Truman, who of course, was from Independence.
I suggested to Rennison during our conversation that they should go with something like the Independence Presidents or the Missouri 33′s. (Truman was our 33 rd President) How cool would it be to flash up on their video board the picture Truman holding up the Chicago Tribune headline "Dewey defeats Truman," to go along with their slogan "Never Count Us Out."
As far as the logo. A horse? For Mavericks? Why not a cowboy at least? The only resemblance of anything rough and tumble about this horse is the mullet for its mane! Team president Brad Lund said "A Maverick is someone who does it his way. (Again, see my McCain reference) He’s independent, we’re in Independence."
The team colors. Light blue and Orange? I would have gone with something a little stronger looking. I see a lot of dark reds, blues, deep greens and black on hockey sweaters and logos. Not Light blue and Orange. Our Maverick players will get laughed off the ice when they go to take on the Texas Brahmas.
Look, maybe my team names aren’t the best, but I’m thinking local, I’m thinking of something that Independence is known for. I’m just not sold yet on the idea of the Missouri Mavericks.
