David Jeremiah: A true All-Star among All-Stars

The NBA will have a true all-star of a pastor speak to its all-star players at a chapel service before the NBA All-Star Game in Phoenix on Sunday.

The league couldn’t have picked a better pastor than David Jeremiah of Shadow Mountain Community church in El Cajon, Calif.

Pastor Jeremiah is the Vin Scully of pastors, so to speak.

Like Scully, he tells great anecdotes. And like Scully, he is certainly one of those most trusted men in America.

Pastor Jeremiah has recently written a great book titled “What in the World is Going On?” It concerns Biblical history and the end times; and he is currently speaking on the subject each week on his “Turning Point” television show (check your local listings.)

A couple things about Pastor Jeremiah and his church:

Shadow Mountain contributes more than $2 million annually to send missionaries throughout the world to live side-by-side and work with the less fortunate. In essence, these missionaries are giving up their lives of having 10 times as many luxuries in the United States to go live and help those abroad.

On a personal note, Pastor Jeremiah nearly died of lymphoma eight years ago. He truly knows what he’s speaking about when it comes to life and death experiences.

Information on his church congregation is available at http://www.shadowmountain.org/ Information on Turning Point is available at http://www.davidjeremiah.org/


He will truly be an all-star among All-Stars this weekend in Phoenix.

Will Trevor Hoffman make Hall of Fame?

Is Trevor Hoffman destined for the Baseball Hall of Fame?

Apparently, a lot of people in Los Angeles don’t think so.

During a Los Angeles Dodgers telecast on KCAL Channel 9 recently, viewers were asked whether they believed the Padres’ closer would make the Hall of Fame.

The responses:

Never: 38%
Eventually: 36%
First ballot: 26%

Even Hall of Fame announcer Vin Scully said on the air that he was surprised by the low support for Hoffman.

After all, Hoffman is the all-time saves leader with 552. (But the man he passed, Lee Smith, still isn’t in the Hall of Fame.)

Normally, we could blame the oversight on Hoffman due to East Coast bias. But these were West Coast fans in the Los Angeles area.

It kind of makes you wonder just when ... or if ... Hoffman will get his due respect in the Hall of Fame.

Manny Ramirez sure energizes the Dodgers!

Does Manny Ramirez energize the Los Angeles Dodgers, or what?

His 12 home runs and 36 RBIs in 37 games as a Dodger speak volumes.

But what he’s injected into younger players … specifically Andre Ethier … may be even more impressive than Manny’s personal numbers.

What has Ethier accomplished in the 12 games he’s been batting in front of Manny?

How about hitting .500 with eight doubles, two triples, 14 RBIs, nine walks and 15 runs scored …

Hall of Fame announcer Vin Scully put it quite succinctly on the most recent Dodgers telecast. He noted than when Ethier was asked why he was so hot, the answer was one word/name: “Manny.”

(Sorry, our apologies go out to Jeff Kent for such a statement!)

Manny is rubbing off on Ethier in other ways. For instance, Ethier was spotted in the Dodger dugout during their most recent victory wearing a Manny wig.

The Dodgers are having fun … Manny is leading the way.

It could be a tough combination to beat in October from a team that may win its division with barely a .500 record.

Padres can't catch a cold

When you look at the National League statistics, you will notice the Padres have the league’s top fielding percentage.

Go ahead and laugh.

Two “hits” that were mental errors and don’t show up in the fielding percentages were the Padres’ downfall in a 7-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night.

With one out in the seventh inning, Delwyn Young hit a liner to right that Brian Giles said he lost in the Petco Park lights for a double.

Juan Pierre followed with a fly to left center that left fielder Justin Huber appeared to have all the way, then backed off and said he lost the ball in the lights for what was a single.

Hall of Fame broadcasters Jerry Coleman of the Padres and Vin Scully of the Dodgers both couldn’t emphasize enough that if those two fly balls were caught, the Dodgers would not have scored in the seventh.

But with the two bonuses, the Dodgers went on to score four runs in the seventh.

It figures this all happened in the seventh, because the Padres have been outscored 46-20 in that inning this season.

A couple other stats to chew on:

Khalil Greene is batting .159 with runners in scoring position.

The Padres have lost 21 games in which they led.

Perhaps their five-game winning streak before Tuesday was more a blip on the radar than a sign of things to come.

Vin Scully: Anecdotes second to none

Nobody does it better than Vin Scully, the play-by-play voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Listening to Scully is like taking a walk along the beach, listening to the waves. It's calm, relaxing and just a joyful sound to hear.One of the things that make Scully so great is his knowledge of the opposing team.

For instance, when the Padres play the Dodgers in a three-game series this weekend in Los Angeles, he’ll come up with more than a few gems about San Diego’s players.

Here are some anecdotes he recited when the Padres and Dodgers met last weekend at Petco Park:

Khalil Greene’s first name means “gift of God.” His father served for the United States Marine Corps in the Vietnam War and many of his buddies never made it home alive. Mr. Greene thus sought out religion and found the Baha’i Faith, which his family follows to this day.

Justin Germano has seven tattoos on his body. Before pitching, he recites a word three times that Buddhists use while meditating.

Tony Clark was so smart in high school advanced algebra that he didn’t have to show up for class; he only took the tests.

Glendon Rusch’s wife is a forensics expert. She re-creates crime scenes.

While driving from Port St. Lucie, Fla. to spring training this year, Heath Bell blew out a tire in Fort Stockton, Texas. A local mechanic told Bell that Ken Caminiti had stopped at the same gas station before spring training in 1996, the year Caminiti won the National League’s most valuable player award while playing for the Padres.

Only Scully could come up with such gems!

Vin Scully: Simply the Best

Vin Scully is simply the best.

No other Major League Baseball television announcer can compare to the play-by-play voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Listening to Scully is like taking a walk along the beach, listening to the waves. It's calm, relaxing and just a joyful sound to hear.

One of the things that makes Scully so great is his knowledge of the opposing team. This past weekend against the San Diego Padres, for instance, Scully came up with some gems that went well beyond the Padre media guide. Did you know ...

Shortstop Khalil Greene's father served as a Marine in Vietnam.

First baseman Adrian Gonzalez comes from a family that owns an air conditioning firm with five locations in San Diego County.

Third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff played on a high school team in Evergreen, Colo., which never had a home game his senior season because of too much snow at 7,000 feet.

Then there are those famed Scully quotes.

After the Dodgers failed on a couple bunt attempts: "The art of bunting. You think it would be so easy."

When San Diego's Marcus Giles swung and missed a pitch from Takashi Saito: Marcus looked back at him as if to say, 'Where did that come from?' Well, it came from Japan."

On Padres hefty pitcher David Wells: "He grew up a surfer. Obviously, he needed a big board. Now, he's 'Hanging 10' on the mound at Petco Park."

Upon Derek Lowe being pulled from a game: "For Derek Lowe, he was cut off at the appropriate number of pitches -- 86."

The Scully quips and quotes are unending. Nobody does it better.