Fox Sports Notes, Quotes & Anecdotes
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FOX SPORTS NOTES, QUOTES & ANECDOTES NASCAR on FOX Revs Up For Coca-Cola 600 Sunday at 5:30 PM ET Prerace Features Special Memorial Weekend Tribute to Fallen Servicemen & Women Danica Patrick Heads to Charlotte to Make Third Sprint Cup Start MLB on FOX Presents Baseball Night in America Saturday in Primetime at 7:00 PM ET BASEBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA – BASEBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA returns Saturday, May 26 (7:00 PM ET) with five enticing matchups. The MLB on FOX crew visits the home of the World Series champs as Yadier Molina and Carlos Beltran lead the Cardinals against the Phillies. Joe Buck , Tim McCarver and Ken Rosenthal call the action from Busch Stadium. In Boston, AL East rivals meet as David Ortiz and the Red Sox host David Price and the Rays. Also, the Pirates welcome the Cubs to Pittsburgh. Out west, a rejuvenated Albert Pujols and the Angels face Felix Hernandez and the Mariners in Seattle. The hard-hitting Reds combo of Jay Bruce and Joey Votto look to out-slug Troy Tulowitzki and the Rockies. Coverage begins with the BASEBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA PREGAME SHOW, originating live from MLB Network’s state-of-the-art Studio 3 in Secaucus, NJ. The show is hosted by MLB Network studio host Matt Vasgersian , who is joined by analysts Harold Reynolds and Billy Ripken . For instant updates throughout the week and during games from the entire MLB on FOX crew, follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MLBONFOX . Fans can gain more access to exclusive FOX Sports content by logging on to www.facebook.com/foxsports . GAME PLAY-BY-PLAY/ANALYST COV. Philadelphia Phillies at St. Louis Cardinals Joe Buck, Tim McCarver 47% & Ken Rosenthal Busch Stadium – St. Louis, MO MARKETS INCLUDE: Atlanta, Austin, Birmingham, Charlotte, Dallas, Greensboro, Greenville, Houston, Kansas City, Knoxville, Memphis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans, Norfolk, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia, Raleigh, Richmond, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Francisco, St. Louis, Tulsa, Washington Probable Pitchers: Kyle Kendrick, RHP (0-4, 5.23 ERA) vs. Jaime Garcia, LHP (3-2, 3.55 ERA) Tampa Bay Rays at Boston Red Sox Dick Stockton & Brian Anderson 25% Fenway Park – Boston, MA MARKETS INCLUDE: Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Fort Myers, Hartford, Jacksonville, Miami, New York, Orlando, Providence, San Diego, Tampa, West Palm Beach Probable Pitchers: David Price, LHP (6-3, 2.88 ERA) vs. Josh Beckett, RHP (4-4, 4.38 ERA) Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh Pirates Kenny Albert & Bob Brenly 10% PNC Park – Pittsburgh, PA MARKETS INCLUDE: Chicago, Indianapolis, Phoenix, Pittsburgh Probable Pitchers: Paul Maholm, LHP (4-3, 4.73 ERA) vs. Kevin Correia, RHP (1-5, 4.50 ERA) -more- FOX Sports NQ&A – Page 2 Los Angeles Angels at Seattle Mariners Victor Rojas & Eric Byrnes 11% Safeco Field – Seattle, WA MARKETS INCLUDE: Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle Probable Pitchers: Jerome Williams, RHP (4-2, 3.74 ERA) vs. Felix Hernandez, RHP (4-3, 2.80 ERA) Colorado Rockies at Cincinnati Reds Thom Brennaman & Mitch Williams 6% Great American Ballpark – Cincinnati, OH MARKETS INCLUDE: Albuquerque, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Denver, Louisville, Salt Lake City Probable Pitchers: Jeremy Guthrie, RHP (2-2, 5.55 ERA) vs. Mike Leake, RHP (1-5, 5.32 ERA) IS NEW WILD CARD STRUCTURE SAVING MANAGERS FROM HOT SEAT? – Struggling skippers like Boston’s Bobby Valentine are usually on the hot seat by this point in the season. FOXSports.com National MLB writer Jon Paul Morosi examines why not this year. “Three teams changed managers last June – the A’s, Marlins and Nationals – and none finished with a winning record. In 2010, six clubs replaced their manager during the season. All ended up below .500. In-season firings happen every year, except maybe this one. At the risk of underestimating the inevitable turmoil of a baseball season, no big league manager is in immediate danger of losing his job.” After speaking to number of GMS, Morosi worked through some theories on the stability for managers this season. EXPANDED PLAYOFFS = INCREASED HOPE “The Red Sox, Yankees and Phillies are on the short list of baseball’s most disappointing teams, all hovering around the .500 mark. But the most important column in the standings is not record or winning percentage. It is games back. And in that regard, things don’t look as bad for the East Coast titans. For that, they have the second wild card to thank.” WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR “Many current managers haven’t been on the job long enough to really screw up, with 19 starting their jobs since the end of the 2009 season. Some fans called for Miami’s Ozzie Guillen and Boston’s Bobby Valentine to be fired last month — albeit for very different reasons. But that wasn’t going to happen during the early weeks of their multiyear contracts, even if Valentine is signed only through next year. In that regard, the landscape could have a much different look one year from now. Seventeen managers have contracts that will expire after the 2013 season, including those with some of the highest-profile franchises in the sport: the Red Sox, Yankees, Phillies, Mets, Cardinals, Braves and Giants. If your idea of fun is speculating about where Terry Francona will manage next, my suggestion is to wait another 12 to 16 months and stay busy in the interim with this year’s midsummer trade rumors.” For more from Morosi, visit: http://tinyurl.com/7nhb53k JOHNSON LOOKS TO CONTINUE WINNING FORM ON MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND – The five-time champ is back. Fresh off of his first victory of the year in Darlington and a trip to victory lane in the All- Star Race, Jimmie Johnson aims to start a run of dominance on Sunday, May 27 (5:30 PM ET) in the Coca-Cola 600 from Charlotte Motor Speedway. FOX Sports presents NASCAR’s longest race starting in daylight and ending under the cover of darkness with drivers adjusting to temperature changes on the track. Who will navigate the Sprint Cup Series’ longest race? Coverage starts with FOX NASCAR SUNDAY prerace show hosted by Chris Myers , with up-to-the- minute reports, live interviews with drivers, crewmen and officials shaping the day’s action, and analysis from Darrell Waltrip and Michael Waltrip . During this weekend’s Memorial Day holiday prerace coverage, FOX Sports is proud to remember and honor the memories of the United States servicemen and women that have lost their lives fighting for our country over the past year. A special scroll displays the names of over 400 fallen personnel and the tribute includes personal messages of thanks from current NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers and their families. The remembrance begins with an invocation from NASCAR on FOX’s Darrell Waltrip. -more- FOX Sports NQ&A – Page 3 Veteran analyst Jeff Hammond takes his extensive experience as a former championship-winning crew chief to where the action is, in the garages and pit road. Once the green flag drops, race announcer Mike Joy is alongside analysts Waltrip and Larry McReynolds to call all the twists and turns on the track while Dick Berggren , Steve Byrnes , Krista Voda and Matt Yocum patrol the pits for reports on teams and pit stops. PATRICK CHOOSES CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY THIS WEEKEND – In the last 20 years, the month of May has meant something much different to Danica Patrick than it does this year as the full- time stock car driver made her choice to race in the Coca-Cola 600 on FOX Sunday, May 27 (5:30 PM ET). FOXSports.com senior NASCAR writer Lee Spencer reports that between practices and qualifying last weekend from Iowa Speedway, where Patrick raced in the Nationwide Series for JR Motorsports, she kept a close eye on the action in Indianapolis. Patrick’s former car, driven by James Hinchcliffe , qualified second. “ This is the first day I’ve thought much about it, to be honest,” Patrick said during her time with the media at Iowa on Saturday. “Because this is the first day that something’s counted, obviously.” While Patrick is focuses on Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend where she’ll make only her third career start in the Sprint Cup Series, she is optimistic about her performance in stock car racing this season. “It’s been an up-and-down season. There have been times when we have caught some bad luck. There have been times when we’ve just had some disappointing races. There have been times when we’ve been good but things just didn’t happen right. So, there are a lot of things – a lot of great stuff that has happened.” To read the complete version of Lee Spencer’s story on Danica and for additional NASCAR coverage click here: http://on-msn.com/JmUm1r 2008 CHAMP STEWART TAKES EARLY LEAD IN LUCAS OIL PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIPS – James Stewart , the 2008 Champion of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championships, has taken the early lead in the overall points standing this season. He’ll try to continue his winning ways on Saturday, May 26 (2:00 PM ET) when FUEL TV provides live coverage of the opening motos from the Freestone Raceway in Texas, for the Miller Electric Freestone National, presented by Yamaha. Stewart made the first big statement of the season in the 450 Class by sweeping the FMF Hangtown Motocross Classic. The 2008 champion made his highly-anticipated return to full-time competition at the Nationals and didn’t disappoint in his debut for the factory Suzuki squad he just joined two weeks ago. -- FOX SPORTS -- .