Sunday, June 07, 2015

American Pharoah Ascends to Sports Immortality

American Pharoah Ascends to Sports Immortality with 2015 Triple Crown Victory

As soon as I saw that I was scheduled to be on a ball field at the time the race was won, I knew he was going to do it. One of the coaches asked me if I wanted to know and I told him yes, of course, but I told him up front I felt certain that he was going to do it. He just walked past and said, "You were right, Pharoah did it".

Great for the sport of horse racing, it's been too long. Much like it's a good day for baseball whenever Willie Mays is honored, it's a great time for horse racing when there is a Triple Crown winner at the helm.

I got a little frustrated after Big Brown failed to come through and it is unfair to compare any of these horses to the great Secretariat. We should be able to enjoy the accomplishments of each horse independently before making a snap judgement on their overall place in history.


from Bleacher Report:
Three races in five weeks, run in three different states. The 1 ½-mile final jewel of the Triple Crown, a distance so daunting that most thoroughbreds don't race it. And the him-against-the-world factor, facing fresh opponents who skipped other Triple Crown races.
American Pharoah won't supplant Secretariat as the animal who's generally considered the greatest thoroughbred of all time. But by winning the Triple Crown in 2015, he stakes out new territory—as this century's first superhorse.
American Pharoah stands apart from the others in that he wasn't really bred for this Herculean task the way the other Triple Crown winners were.
The other Triple Crown winners competed in eras when horses were trained to run far more often. It's kind of like what has happened with pitchers in baseball. Four-man rotations, complete games and 300-inning seasons once were commonplace, but now hardly any starter ever throws on fewer than four days rest.

Found via Team Stream by Bleacher Report.




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Giants Top Minor League Prospects

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  • 2. Heliot Ramos 6-2, 185 OF Potential high-ceiling player the Giants have been looking for. Great bat speed, early returns were impressive.
  • 3. Chris Shaw 6-3. 230 1B Lefty power bat, limited defensively to 1B, Matt Adams comp?
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