Bonds hits 756* (AP/ESPN)

Mike Bacsik will be the answer to a sports trivia question like Al Downing, Ralph Branca and Tracy Stallard were before him.

Who was the pitcher that gave up Barry Bonds’ home run that broke that all-time record once held by Hank Aaron?

In case you hasn’t heard (and we just got in ourselves…yes, we do get out every now and then), Barry Bonds launched a shot to left-center field at AT&T Park and into the record books — rightly or wrongly.

“Thank you very much. I got to thank all of you, all the fans here in San Francisco. It’s been fantastic,” he said shortly after crossing home plate, his godfather, Willie Mays, at his side.

“I got to thank my teammates. Through all of this, you’ve been strong and given me all the support I needed and I’ll never forget it as long as I live.”

We have to wonder: does he thank Matt Morris too?

Fun fact before we close out this post: Major League Baseball never utilized the asterisk, as suggested by then-commissioner Ford C. Frick, when Roger Maris hit number 61 on October 1, 1961 and surpassed Frick’s old buddy, Babe Ruth.

* = The questions that will ripple through the court of public opinion and does not reflect any certain number be eliminated.

***UPDATED at 12:36 AM ET***

The long-time home run record holder, Hammerin’ Hank Aaron, appeared pre-recorded on the Jumbotron at AT&T Park and read from a prepared statement — via TelePrompter:

“I would like to offer my congratulations to Barry Bonds on becoming baseball’s career home run leader.  It is a great accomplishment which required skill, longevity and determination.  Throughout the past century, the home run has held a special place in baseball, and I have been privileged to hold this record for 33 of those years.  I move over now and offer my best wishes to Barry and his family on this historic achievement. My hope today, as it was on that April evening in 1974, is that the achievement of this record will inspire others to chase their own dreams.”

***UPDATED at 12:46 AM ET***

A 22-year old from Queens, NY caught the record breaking ball while on his way to Australia for a trip with friends.  The man’s friends decided to turn in some certificates and attend this game.

Bud Collins joining ESPN (ESPN)

Tennis Hall of Famer Bud Collins has landed a gig at “The Worldwide Teaser.”

After unceremoniously getting dumped via telephone by an NBC executive while covering the All-England Lawn & Tennis Championships, the 40-year tennis veterans joins former NBC colleague Dick Enberg at ESPN.  He will be working for the ESPN family of networks covering Grand Slam events — the Australian Open, the French Open and the aforementioned All-England — beginning in 2008.

“Bud Collins is tennis, a truly unique sports television personality, and ESPN is proud to add his insight, wit and wisdom to our coverage,” said Norby Williamson, ESPN executive vice president, production.

“For more than 40 years, Bud has had a courtside seat at every meaningful event in the sport. He knows everyone, and everyone knows him,” Williamson said. “When the opportunity presented itself to add Bud to our tennis team, it was an easy decision to quickly reach out to him — his perspective, great storytelling and inimitable style will help further distinguish our Grand Slam coverage on ESPN2 and on SportsCenter.”

Good for Mr. Collins.  We always looked forward to his commentary, analysis and of course, his colorful wardrobe every June and July.

D-Backs, Byrnes reach deal (AZ Central)

The Arizona Diamondbacks and outfielder Eric Byrnes have agreed to a three-year contract extension worth approximately $30 milllion, the Arizona Republic is reporting.

After the Diamondbacks offered a deal in the range of three years and $22.5 million, the sides announced they had broken off talks on July 19 while the club was in Milwaukee.

But the Diamondbacks reengaged talks sometime during last week’s series against Atlanta, and the sides quickly came to an agreement on a contract that will run through 2010.

As the article notes, the days may be numbered for once hot-shot prospect Carlos Quentin, who was aggressively shopped just prior to the non-waivers trade deadline last week.

Fan of the week - Staying cool, but classy, in the summer heat (JoeSportsFan.com)

Perhaps Matt Vasgersian had a point: St. Louisians are an interesting lot and they have their ways to beat the heat.

Take this fine gentleman on the other side of the link. He’s all business up front, with a nice, tightly coifed part that’s a bit slicked back. But when push comes to shove, this guy likes to get it on like Donkey Kong with flowing hair that would make Crystal Gale blush in jealously.

So hop on your El Camino and take a gander, my fellow St. Louisians, at what it takes to beat the heat at Busch III this summer.

Tip o’the cap to Deadspin for the informational link.

Quinn, Browns agree on five-year, $20 million contract (ESPN News Services)

The Cleveland Browns and their first-round draft choice Brady Quinn have come to an agreement on a contract that calls for five years and $20.2 million, $7.75 million of which is guaranteed.

The much-talked about “escalators” could move the contract up to $30 million should certain incentives be reached.

Quinn had been working out at an athletic training facility in Arizona while his contract was being negotiated and due to him missing so much camp time, he’ll find himself at the bottom of the QB depth chart.

MacLean-led group agrees to buy Lightning (AP/ESPN)

According to an AP report, former Columbus Blue Jackets coach Doug MacLean and a group that he leads will purchase the NHL’s Tampa Lightning from Palace Sports Entertainment.

The club said Tuesday that Absolute Hockey Enterprises signed a purchase agreement to acquire the franchise, the leasing rights to the building in which they play (The St. Pete Times Forum) and adjacent properties to that building.

The sale of the club to the MacLean-led group is subject to approval by the NHL’s Board of Governors.

The group includes a real estate developer from Coral Springs, Colorado and a Hollywood producer named Oren Koules, who brought the world the Saw movies.

Matt Vasgersian trashes St. Louis (Awful Announcing)

***UPDATED at 4:39 PM ET***

Matt Vasgersian responds to the Awful Announcing story and clears some things up.

“Subject: Loving St. Louis!Outstanding give and take fellas … I’m digging all the grief this seems to have caused. As a loyal AA/Deadspin guy I’m actually pretty fired up to have landed on the radar here. In fairness to the sweaty Midwest, all that “St. Louis bashing” was for the benefit of the locals on our crew who like to ride us San Diegans about being slapped around by the Redbirds in the post-season every friggin’ year. Not to mention I proudly rocked an El Camino back in the day myself. Keep blasting !!

Now if you’ll excuse me there’s a celebrity pull-my-finger tournament looking for a play-by-play guy.

Second Rate Announcer,

Matt Vasgersian”

********************

San Diego Padres broadcaster Matt Vasgersian of Cox Channel 4 — San Diego apparently isn’t a fan of “The Gateway City” as he trashed the town during the top of the ninth of the Friars contest against the — you guessed it — St. Louis Cardinals.

We know that St. Louis is known for its humidity that could choke a human doing any sort of activity outdoors, like say walking, for example. We also are keenly aware that St. Louis has its fair share of rednecks as it’s this close to a region in the country that is best described as “The Redneck Riviera.” Hell, you don’t even need to tell us about the downtown gravel pit just beyond the left field wall.

However, it’s one thing to say it privately amongst friends; it’s completely unprofessional when doing so while you’re on the job of broadcasting games.

After the jump, a few alert readers at the blog Awful Announcing noted what was said on the broadcast of the Padres’ flagship station.

More after the jump »

In short time, Roethlisberger shows plenty (ESPN.com)

John Clayton, recent Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinee, profiles Ben Roethlisberger and his taking command of the new offense installed new offensive coordinator Bruce Arians.  Based upon one series in Sunday’s Hall of Fame Game, Clayton notes that “Big Ben” showed that he’s ready to re-enter the spotlight.

Roethlisberger has been working hard on his short game during the offseason, but he lit up Saints cornerback Mike McKenzie with a long completion down the right sideline. That play was a statement in many ways. The Steelers’ plan is to move the ball a little more through the air by spreading the field with receivers. Short passes are expected to work. But the deep ball — which is a specialty for Roethlisberger — won’t be forgotten.

Clayton points out that Roethlisberger spent last pre-season recovering from various ailments — a motorcycle accident and surgery to repair a ruptured appendix — and it took him awhile to get acclimated with the playbook, playing catch-up.

The morning after Barry Bonds leaves the game in the 7th inning while the game’s tied 1-1…

David Beckham and some teammates meet with the Yankees before their contest against Toronto;  the Cardinals tied a Major League-record with 10 consecutive base hits in an inning; Paul Byrd hurled a complete game shutout for the Indians to keep pace with Yankees for the wild-card and “The H&H Boys” each hit bombs on Blake Street.

Yankees 5, BlueJays 4 — Andy Pettitte won consecutive starts for the first time this season and the Yankees fully erased a wild-card deficit that had been 9½ games just four weeks ago as the Yankees get by the BlueJays on Robinson Cano’s RBI double and Melky Cabrera’s RBI single.

D’Rays 4, Tigers 6 — The Tigers rallied with a four-run seventh inning to beat the Devil Rays 6-4 and end a five-game losing streak.  Fun fact: The Devil Rays bullpen ERA falls to 6.55, which is the worst in the bigs since the 1950 St. Louis Browns had a bullpen ERA of 6.62.

Indians 4, Twins 0 — Paul Byrd pitched his first shutout in more than two years and Travis Hafner blasted a homer to right field to help the Indians earn a series split with a victory over the Twins.

A’s 9, Rangers 7 (13 innings) — Mike Piazza and Mark Ellis each hit RBI singles in the 13th inning for the visiting Oakland A’s and Kiko Calero notched his first save of the 2007 campaign in the Athletics’ 9-7 extra-inning victory over Texas.

Red Sox 2, Angels 4 — Maicer Izturis hit a go-ahead, solo home run in the home-half of the seventh inning off Boston’s Curt Schilling to put the Angels ahead for good as the Angels squeaked by the Red Sox 4-2.

More after the jump »

News and notes while Tony Kornheiser calls David Beckham “a fraud”…

Niners to wear ‘throwback’ jerseys in honor of Walsh (AP/SI) The San Francisco 49ers owner John York that the 49ers have been given permission to don the same jerseys they wore when Bill Walsh roamed the sideline for their Monday night opener Sept. 10.

Cubs place Soriano on DL (AP/Y! Sports) The $136 million man tore his right quadriceps muscle Sunday trying to leg out a first-to-third run on a single by Ryan Theriot.  The quad isn’t expected to require surgery and he’ll miss two to three weeks.

Attorney gets suspension for FSU trophy theft (AP/USA Today) An Tallahassee-based attorney has been suspended from the Florida Bar for 60 days for his an apparent role in the theft of two Florida State University national football championship trophies, officials said.

NCAA asks Ball State to review possible rules violations (AP/USA Today) Former Ball State hoops coach Ronny Thompson is under investigation by the NCAA for apparent rules violations. Included in a letter to school officials, they allege that a women’s volleyball coach was canned due to reporting rule infractions.

Bowman denies speculation (TSN.ca) Legendary coach Scotty Bowman e-mailed Canada’s TSN network to inform them he hasn’t received any recent contact from Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment and doesn’t expect to have any further contact with the organization regarding a job as president of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey club.

Coughlin not surprised by Strahan’s letter (AP/Y! Sports)  Coach Tom Coughlin said Michael Strahan’s letter to New York Giants fans explaining his holdout was consistent with what the seven-time Pro Bowl defensive end told him in a telephone conversation last week.

Diamondbacks winning on field, not box office (FOX Sports)

Randy Hill of FOX Sports takes a closer look at the white-hot Arizona Diamondbacks, whose success on the field hasn’t generated much success at the box office.

The reasons are duo-fold: new ownership’s apparent lack of acknowledgment of the old ownership of Jerry Colangelo –which included changing the team’s colors — and their roster moves that jettisoned popular players that helped them win a World Championship.

Writes Hill, after the jump:
More after the jump »