"Man, that was eerie," Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ told ESPN on Thursday night about seeing footage of Rays pitcher Alex Cobb take a shot to the head at Tropicana Field five weeks after he did.
"Obviously, it was in the same park and it was almost the same, except he's a righty and got hit on the right side," Happ said of the two incidents on the Rays' home field.
A 30-year-old left-hander, Happ was hit on the left ear May 7 by a line drive struck by Desmond Jennings and he suffered a fractured skull, contusions that required eight stitches and sprained knee ligaments. Cobb, 25, suffered a concussion when he took a shot to the right ear June 15 traveling at an estimated 112 miles an hour off the bat of Kansas City's Eric Hosmer. Both pitchers were hospitalized overnight.
Happ continues workouts at the Blue Jays' minor league complex in Dunedin, Fla., about a half-hour drive from the Trop, and says he'd love to be back with the team by the All-Star break in about a month. "I'm coming along and threw off a mound without a (knee) brace the other day and hope to do so tomorrow," he said.
"I was in a brace for several weeks and am now moving, jogging and regaining athleticism," Happ said. "I began running again three or four days ago and I'm not quite there yet as far as cutting or turning."
Happ said he's never met Cobb and is waiting to contact him until Cobb makes his first public comments since last Saturday's injury.
"Hopefully his will be a quicker process than mine, but a concussion is scary and I hope he'll be back to normal very soon and I hope for the best for him," Happ said.
Happ is on the 60-day disabled list through July 7 (he was moved from the 15-day DL last month) and Cobb is on the seven-day concussion list, but Rays manager Joe Maddon told the Tampa Bay Times this week that Cobb could be be moved to the disabled list and be out of action for an extended period.
According to information compiled from MLB and other sources, Cobb was the fifth pitcher to be struck in the head by a line drive in the past five months of regular and postseason major league play -- in four of the five instances, the point of impact was below the cap line.
MLB says it is examining possibilities for providing caps with protective padding but isn't considering broader head protection. Happ said, "It's hard to comprehend something that would be both functional and protective."
Of the two latest pitchers' head-injury episodes, he said, "Barring wearing a helmet, we wouldn't have been saved."
BOSTON -- Patrick Sharp says the Chicago Blackhawks essentially passed a stress test Wednesday when they survived a wild high-stakes pond hockey game to beat the Boston Bruins 6-5 in overtime to tie the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final at 2-2.
"I know (coach) Joel Quenneville probably had a high heart rate the whole game," the Blackhawks forward said. "He wasn't too happy with some of the chances we were giving up. But in the game, he was proud of the way we competed and battled."
Chicago defenseman Brent Seabrook cranked a slap shot through traffic and past goalie Tuukka Rask at 9:51 of overtime to turn the series into a best-of-three heading into Game 5 Saturday in Chicago.
"That (shot) was a bomb," said Chicago goalie Corey Crawford, who made 28 saves in a game that was more reminiscent of the way NHL hockey was played in the 1980s.
BOX SCORE: Blackhawks 6, Bruins 5 (OT)
Defense was loose. Players were thinking offense. It was a crazy game.
The Blackhawks went ahead 5-4 at 11:19 of the third period when Sharp scored Chicago's first power play goal of the series, and then Johnny Boychuk tied it 55 seconds later with a booming slap shot. The Bruins erased leads of 3-1 and 4-2 to force overtime. It was as if the NHL teams were trying to match the NBA's comeback storyline of Tuesday night.
"You never doubt the heart and character in this room. ... We've been in tough situations before, but we believe in each other," Sharp said.
The two teams scored a combined for five goals in the second period. That was the same number of goals they scored in the two previous games. The Blackhawks had scored one goal in the two previous games combined.
"One of those nights," Quenneville said. "Some pucks go in. We had some breaks around the net, found some loose pucks."
MIAMI -- The San Antonio Spurs are always about the basics, and never has that trait served them better than right now.
The team that doesn't beat itself just beat itself while on the verge of a championship. Missed free throws and turnovers and failure to secure rebounds gave the Miami Heat new life and brought on this seventh game. So the Spurs have retreated further into their fortress of simplicity, trying to frame this Game 7 not as a punishment for their mistakes but as a reward for their work: a single shot at a championship, a proposition that any team in the league would accept.
They certainly aren't concerned with all of the statements they could make, perceptions they could alter or historical standing they could garner.
That stuff is the province of the Heat, who always seem fully cognizant that their reputations are on the line. The Heat aren't just battling for a championship, they're fighting for the very concept of them, the notion that LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh could assemble, mix in a few pieces and win multiple championships.
They are thinking beyond.
"I want to go down as one of the greatest," James said. "I want our team to go down as one of the greatest teams. And we have an opportunity to do that."
All of that's in play for Tim Duncan and the Spurs, they just don't seem so interested in it, even though this would rank as the greatest of the franchise's potential five championships. The Spurs have never trailed in a Finals series, and this road Game 7 against the NBA's best team in the regular season qualifies as their most perilous predicament.
"It's not about the situation or what has led up to it," Duncan said. "It's a great story for everybody else, but we're here for one reason. One reason only: It's to try to win this game [Thursday]."
It would be even more remarkable if they could prevail 48 hours after that wrenching defeat of Game 6, when a five-point lead evaporated in less than half a minute of game time.
"It's tough for any team," Danny Green said. "But we have a veteran group. I'm assuming and I'm hoping that we'll get over it."
Even Gregg Popovich conceded "it was a tough loss," which is about as far as he cares to venture into the world of feelings and emotions.
It's fair to wonder how they can recover. In fact, Manu Ginobili wondered himself.
"Uhhhhh, I don't know," he said. "We've never been through a situation like this. In 10-plus years we've been through everything, but none like this."
The Spurs tried to move away from the tormenting game by going to a late-night dinner following the overtime loss.
"We shared histories and what happened in different games," Tony Parker said. " Sharing stuff like when I was with the [French] national team, when we were up seven and lost in 35 seconds the European championship. You just share those moments and try to see what you can do better and prepare for Game 7."
That sounds a bunch of poker players commiserating over bad-beat stories, but if they think it was cathartic, maybe it will be cathartic.
I've written before about the Myth of the Devastating Loss, dispelling the notion that a particularly bad loss carries over to the next game. The difference for the Spurs is that, unlike most of the other teams that bounced back, they don't have the luxury of playing the next game at home.
In fact they're faced with one of the most daunting prospects in the playoffs: winning an NBA Finals Game 7 on the road. Home teams have won 14 of the 17 seventh games in the Finals, including the past five. The last time the road team won was in 1978, when the Washington Bullets beat the Seattle SuperSonics. In other words, way back when there were the Washington Bullets and the Seattle SuperSonics.
One thing in the Spurs' favor: Unlike the Heat, San Antonio's core of Duncan, Parker and Ginobili has played a Finals Game 7 before, against the Pistons in 2005.
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brucelynn couldn't make the post tonight, so I'm taking over lol. who you got tonight ONTD?
