TED SOBEL SPORTS AUDIO VAULT: Your Inside Access to TOUCHING GREATNESS

Welcome to the only place in the world to hear the ‘totally un-edited’ post round interviews from the top names playing at Muirfield.

Several players told me after round 2 that this was the toughest grinding round of their careers as day 2 finished at The Open Championship with 49 year old Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez enjoying a one shot lead at 3 under par over Americanos Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson, the U.K.’s own Lee Westwood and Henrik Stenson of Sweden.

With no time to write much here today…just thought I’d post all of my after-round interviews and let you listen to whomever suits your fancy. Enjoy!

Miguel Angel Jimenez a fun and fancy-free character who enjoys his big cigar and red Ferrari, and as he told me of course also having the midway lead at The Open (and sorry for the few seconds at the start of annoying audio system problems):
Miguel Angel Jimenez with Sobel et al after 2 under 69 in 2nd round at Muirfield

Tiger Woods who’s putting and iron play make him the prohibitive favorite as always even though he hasn’t won a major in 5 years (something I asked him about again-what else is new?):
Tiger Woods with Sobel et al after round 2 at Muirfield

Dustin Johnson who’s in a great spot to win his first major:
Dustin Johnson with Sobel et al after 2nd round and in contention at Muirfield

Lee Westwood who’s also looking for his first major and he smiled when I asked him if he believed in karma after Scotsman Andy Murray finally broke the long U.K. drought at Wimbledon so why not him this week here?:
Lee Westwood with Sobel et al after 3 under 68 round 2 at Muirfield

Henrik Stenson who might be the most unlikely of the names near the top but he could care less about that:
Henrik Stenson after round 2 at Muirfield

Zach Johnson the former Masters champ and first round leader who told me he was thrilled with his 2nd round 75 with the much tougher afternoon tee time and still just 2 shots back:
first round leader Zack Johnson with Sobel et al at midway point at Muirfield

These next 3 are all at 1 over par but still very much in contention as part of a group of 9 guys who are tied for 13th…

Phil Mickelson who’s still looking for his first Claret Jug and battling like he’s never had to battle before:
Phil Mickelson round 2 with Sobel et al

Adam Scott the reigning Masters champ who’s quietly only 4 shots behind and then told me how that green jacket fits his life perfectly but it’s also very old news now:
Masters champ Adam Scott with Sobel after 2nd round 1 over 72 at Muirfield

Ian Poulter the outspoken Brit who’s never won a major but is feeling pretty good about his chances this weekend:
Ian Poulter (UK) with Sobel et al after 2nd round at Muirfield

Brandt Snedeker the likable American who was right there until blowing up on the back 9 with a 43 and his 8 over par day puts him 8 shots behind the leader and T-39:
Brandt Snedeker with Sobel et al after disappointing 2nd round at Muirfield

Congratulating Ernie last year at Royal Lytham

Defending champ Ernie Els who last year was all smiles with me while holding his beloved Claret Jug for a second time, but today he walked up to the mic and asked me what did we want him for after a very disappointing bogey-bogey finish and at 6 over par overall:
Ernie Els defending Open champ with Sobel et al after 2nd round at Muirfield and he wasn’t in the mood to talk after finishing with back to back bogies

Sergio Garcia the still major-less Spaniard who made the cut by 2 shots and starts here by praising his playing partner Lee Westwood:
Sergio Garcia with Sobel et al after fortunately making the cut

Justin Rose the Brit and current U.S. Open champ who’s ranked #3 in the world but missed the cut here by 2 shots:
Justin Rose with Sobel et al after missing the cut at Muirfield

Rory McIlroy who’s the most mentally messed up (golf-wise of course) 2nd ranked player in the world I’ve ever dealt with after finishing 12 over par and trying to figure out how to find his incredible game again:
Rory McIlroy with Sobel et al after finishing 12 over par and missing the cut at Muirfield

And finally Sir Nick Faldo the 2-time Open champ who’s the perfect guy (as a TV analyst) to ask about how this tournament sets up for the weekend? He also told us that this is likely his last British Open as a player:
2 time Open champ Nick Faldo with Sobel et al analyzes why he played maybe his final Open and more

Winds are supposed to come out of the east in round 3 which Ian Poulter told me means that the guys will be aiming towards many bunkers and hoping the ball will land in a safe spot. Good luck with that! And thanks for joining me again at another wild and wide open Open Championship!

Off the 18th at Muirfield

I arrived in Edinburgh, Scotland immediately following a few days in Marbella, Spain on Wednesday and the first thing I did after checking into my hotel was to turn on the BBC’s pre-Open Championship coverage and like they do for Wimbledon, it’s the best I’ve ever seen.

Back in historic old Scotland

After 10 days of traveling through Italy with stops in Tuscany and the amazing Amalfi Coast, it was back to doing the sports thing and the BBC got me up to date in a hurry! The weather here is ridiculously unseasonably warm (reaching a high over 80 degrees during Thursday’s opening round) along with humidity that the usual tournament favorite Tiger Woods admitted to me was closer to what he’s used to at his Florida home than what he could’ve ever expected here.

Bussing to the course

After a long first day it was former Masters Champ Zack Johnson atop the leaderboard by one over a pair including 2-time major winner Mark O’Meara (my previous one-time hockey color commentator in 1997 the year of his Masters and British Open titles). A brief recall of that fun time was my old Long Beach Ice Dogs play by play days when I recall us ending a long trip in Florida to face the Orlando Solar Bears of the now defunct IHL. I notice O’Meara and his good buddy (and local neighbor) Tiger Woods enjoying their rink-side on the glass season seats. Since O’Meara was a Long Beach State grad and biggest story of that golf year, I requested to get him on the air for a few minutes. He not only came upstairs to be on with me (I was doing that broadcast alone) but O’Meara enjoyed his time so much that he stayed for the entire first period doing color analysis with me leaving Tiger to watch the first 20 minutes all by his lonesome. That was a special road trip broadcast with a local flavor from afar!

After today’s opening round I asked many questions during interviews with many of the tournament’s principles which include 9 of the top 14 players being Americans (for whatever reason?). The following are some of those as you’ll get a flavor of the mood at Muirfield which is one of the great historic courses on the planet.

Zack Johnson first round leader newser:
Zack Johnson with Sobel et al after round 1 at Muirfield

56 year old Mark O’Meara a surprising contender at The Open:
Mark O’Meara with Sobel et al after great first round at Muirfield

18th fairway rough at Muirfield

So far so good for Tiger Woods who’s rehabbed elbow is holding up just fine but he better stay out of the ‘corn fields type’ rough or else he could hack his way onto a surgeon’s table. Tiger began his day by hitting his opening tee shot into some ugly hay and then finished with a ‘ROUGH’ getting out of. But he’s in a great spot to win his first major since his ‘one for the ages’ U.S. Open title with a broken leg 5 years ago at Torrey Pines which was truly one of my all-time favorites to cover.

Tiger Woods newser after an impressive 2 under par round with an afternoon start that averaged out to be an almost two shot higher score for the day:
Tiger Woods post round one at Muirfield

Dustin Johnson newser after his 3 under 68 and T-4 start:
Dustin Johnson with Sobel et al after opening round 3 under 68 at Muirfield and a T4

Phil Mickelson newser after a very solid 2 under 69:
Phil Mickelson post first round at Muirfield from Sobel

Rory McIlroy who admitted to me and several other media types after an awful 8 over par round that he might need to see a shrink to get his world class game back…it’s TOTALLY a mental thing with him now:
Rory McIlroy with Sobel et al post round one 8 over par at Muirfield

Some other notables who I had some post-round contact with were Spainard and European tour multi-winner was Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano who I had the pleasure to meet for a first time and we interacted about my trip to his local Spain and how he assess his play today:
Gonzalo Fernandez Castano with sobel after his 1 under 70 after I just left his hometown on Wed to come here<

Tiger and several others who are in contention will get the more desireable earlier tee times on Friday, but will they be able to take advantage of the expected easier conditions? The fun continues at this great historic major!

Sitting at my desk watching the best tennis tournament in the world with the traditional strawberries and cream!

Sorry for the late post on my extremely busy and whirlwind trip but better late than never, right?

Wimbledon was my first stop on July 4 and it ended that Sunday with one of the most special wins in tennis history as Andy Murray became the first Brit (from Scotland) to win at the All-England Club in 77 years.

I asked Murray after he beat world #1 Novak Djokovic about how special it was to be THE guy to finally break the local spell? And you’ll hear that along with Djokovic’s response to my asking him if this loss was a little easier to swallow considering what his friend in Murray was able to accomplish?

Andy Murray championship newser:
Andy Murray Wimbledon championship newser with Sobel et al

Novak Djokovic runner up newser:
Novak Djokovic with Sobel et al after losing the finals at Wimbledon

Meanwhile on Women’s Championship Saturday it was a most unlikely finals matchup with Marion Bartoli dominating Sabine Lisicki in straight sets. Lisicki was the one who disposed of heavy favorite Serena Williams a few days earlier so that set up this match of 2 very feisty and grand slam capables with Bartoli using her previous Wimbledon finals experience to perfection. She happens to be one of my favorites on tour the past several years as their is no better battler on the court than her. I also specifically asked to do a phone interview a few years back in the last WTA Tour event held in L.A. in Carson and she was great to talk with. I remember telling the listeners that she was a great candidate to win a grand slam one day and it finally happened against a surprisingly nervous opponent. And Marion smiled from London to Malibu when I told her about that afterward.

Marion Bartoli championship newser:
Marion Bartoli with Sobel et al after winning Wimbledon short version

Lisicki talking with us after happier times when winning the semi’s.

And then after the Men’s finals on Sunday I waited for a special doubles championship with Bob and Mike Bryan earning the Bryan Slam holding all 4 major trophies at the same time and throw in an Olympic gold medal and you have a true ‘Twin Killing’!

Bob and Mike Bryan championship newser:
Bob and Mike Bryan from Camarillo with Sobel et al after winning 3rd doubles title at Wimbledon

With Fred Perry who’s finally able to relax at Wimbledon

And that ended my 3rd trip covering Wimbledon in the past 4 years and it was special to be part of as old ‘Henman Hill’ will likely be known as ‘Murray Mound’ from now on and the Fred Perry statue of the last Brit to win the men’s singles here can now go back to just welcoming birds to sit on him without the entire U.K. wondering if they’d live long enough to see another local champion!

Mattingly had plenty to say pre and post game before heading east

Yes…Pun definitely intended with my headline as the night after the base-brawl at the Ravine saw actual clean baseball played again and the first place Diamondbacks prevailed in 12 innings 8-6 to send the Dodgers back to 8 1/2 games back in the NL West.

Martin Prado had two RBIs, including a run-scoring double during a four-run 12th inning helping Arizona improve to 8-2 in extra innings while clinching their fourth consecutive series win over the Dodgers. Diamondbacks starter Patrick Corbin had a 3-0 cushion when he gave up five consecutive hits with two outs in the fifth, allowing the Dodgers to take a 4-3 lead but after several solid innings, the L.A. bullpen folded in the end with Ronald Belisario and now former closer Brandon League faltering in a 4-run 12th. The Dodgers got 2 back in the bottom half including a leadoff homer from catcher Ramon Hernandez but L.A. left the potential winning run at the plate when Tim Federowicz got a good swing on a Heath Bell pitch but grounded to short to end the game which lasted 4 hours and 21 minutes…but who’s counting? Actually me…since this is the 2nd straight night that I left the stadium after 3am. By the way, the stat of the night is the D-Backs are now 13-0 this season when Corbin starts.

This looked like a prison lineup to L.A. fans after the last night’s brawling

The best thing that happened on the night was no repeat of last night’s extra ciruculars including no batters hit by any pitches. Before the game, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly talked with D-backs skipper Kirk Gibson, who got tossed after the two former stars were among those clashing in the melee and you’ll hear what they said in their postgame interviews below. It certainly was very cordial and professional something that hardly surprises anyone who knows Don at all.

Dodger manager Don Mattingly pre-game chat including after-thoughts on the previous night’s shenanigans starting with comments on Yasiel Puig who played some tonight despite being listed as day to day with a sore shoulder (presumably injured in the Tuesday night free for all?):

Don Mattingly postgame:

Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson postgame thoughts:

Dodger catcher Ramon Hernandez on starter Ryu and what lies ahead:

Dodger righty Chris Withrow who made his big league debut allowing a run on 3 hits, and a walk in 0.2 innings and showed a very impressive arm so I just had to introduce you to him afterwards:

Dodger Hanley Ramirez returned to pinch hit and said he should be ready to start again on Friday in Pittsburgh:

Dodger pinch hitter Tim Federowicz who made the last out as they potential winning run at the plate:

Dodger do anything guy Jerry Hairston, Jr. who went 0-5 starting in left field but was gracious enough to give me a few minutes to discuss everything from the road trip to his Chicago Blackhawks going 3 overtimes before winning game one over the Boston Bruins in the opener of the Stanley Cup final:

And finally another Dodger catcher A.J. Ellis who’s set to come of the D.L. on Friday…and while packing for the trip in front of his locker, was kind to give me his thoughts on the upcoming days:

So the Dodgers are actually flying to Pittsburgh while I’m writing this inside the pressbox at 2:30am and just finishing at 3:30 with only the sounds of the overnight cleanup crew here. It’ll be their first day off after 20 straight days on the field before starting a weekend series with the Pirates. And since they’ll next face the Yankees in the Bronx for the first time since 1981, I asked some of the guys to comment on playing at the new Yankee Stadium. And FYI, Vin Scully confirmed to me in the elevator on his way out that he will NOT be at Yankee Stadium liked he had hoped when it was first scheduled. It’s just too grueling of a trip with back to back games in New York followed by an overnight flight all the way back to San Diego before a long 4 game weekend series. Vinny will instead join the club next Thursday when they take on the Padres. Have a nice safe trip guys…and mainly stay off of the disabled list for awhile!

Messers Mark McGwire and Kirk Gibson (top) renew 1988 World Series times by both being ejected

The night before the start of the Stanley Cup final a hockey game broke out at Chavez Ravine and the hometown Dodgers were the last men standing after their great come from behind 5-3 win over the first place Diamondbacks.

This was just baseball as Abner Doubleday layed it out many moons ago…except he never said it was ok to throw at anybody’s head! But the Kirk Gibson-led Snakes starter Ian Kennedy who leads the league in hitters plunked threw above the shoulders twice in the same game, something I can’t ever remember happening since maybe the head-hunting days of the 1960’s.

The one that started emptying the benches was Dodger week-old rookie phenom Yasiel Puig getting one towards the face in the 6th inning by a Kennedy pitch and the kid was fortunate to just be able to back away barely in time and ONLY get his nosed grazed by the ball–a very scary moment indeed. But then it got even uglier after Andre Ethier tied the game with a 2-run shot to deep right.

Tense times at the opening of the Snakes’ dugout

Two more hit batters later we had another pair of bench-clearing skirmishes and six ejections. And how ironic that in the middle of all that drama was Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke, who famously nailed Carlos Quentin of the San Diego Padres which starting a brawl between those two teams in April.

Greinke did what a pitcher should do (after seeing one of his stars go down hard) and that’s to retaliate by hitting a D-backs batter—in this case, catcher Miguel Montero in the next inning. The benches cleared again but nothing much really happened until Zack took one just below the noggin and it really got ugly with about a 10 minute scuffle in front the Snakes dugout followed by 5 ejections.

And as if the Dodgers didn’t already have enough guys on the disabled list to start their own mash unit, it might’ve gotten worse when Puig came up a little gimpy when running out a ground ball in the 2nd inning. But he walked it off and stayed in the game long enough to be one of the guys thrown out. All in all it was a night to remember and I just keep thinking if only a guy like Don Drysdale was on the mound tonight, heads would really roll…literally!

Federowicz’ 3-run winning double in the 8th

Now what will baseball do about Ian Kennedy throwing above the shoulders twice in one game? I say throw the book at him like never before (even throw it towards his head so he’ll NEVER do it again!!!

The following are my sounds of the postgame and it was quite an interesting Dodger clubhouse that was glowing after their most exciting comeback win of the year…and now we’ll really see if it’s an ‘All New Blue’?:

Don Mattingly who’s response to my question of his feelings when Greinke got beaned was “Bull-$hi#”:

Zack Greinke who went 7 innings of 2 hit ball and got nothing to show for it but some extra exercise in the bench clearing stuff:

Dodger catcher Tim Federowicz after just missing a grand salami by a few feet and gladly settling for the game winning 3-run double in the 8th:

Dodger pinch hitter Mark Ellis who himself got plunked by a pitch in the 8th inning:

Dodger leadoff man Skip Schumaker who didn’t mince his words about the bean-balls:

Dodger CF Andre Ethier:

Dodger SS Luis Cruz on his next-door locker neighbor and buddy Mr. Puig and the ridiculous head-hunting:

Dodger closer Kenley Jansen who inherited the job again today and got the save:

Dodger reliever Ronald Belisario who didn’t get on the scorecard but won his part in the biggest brawl and could be getting a call from the Commish’s office later:

Uribe, Gonzalez, and Ethier celebrate after a rare Dodger bases loaded hit

And finally Dodger utility specialist Jerry Hairston, Jr. who I just had to get comments from just before his beloved Chicago Blackhawks get their final series going tomorrow night for Lord Stanley’s Cup:

Normally I’m often the last reporter-type to leave the pressbox and it’s certainly empty by midnight. But tonight I counted 25 of us still pounding away on our laptops after 12:15am…some stories are just bigger than most and the extra scuffles made this one a headliner!

Puig could only scribble in the dirt another tough loss

The Dodgers needed the opener of their 3 game series against the visiting Diamondbacks who began the week with a 7 1/2 game bulge over the boys in the blue and with their ace Clayton Kershaw cruising with a 3-1 lead after 7 innings. Reliever Kenley Jansen came in and did his job in the 8th but closer Brandon League entered in the 9th inning and struggled after striking out the leadoff man before Willie Bloomquist put Arizona ahead with a bases-loaded, two-run infield single in a four-run inning, helping the Diamondbacks rally for a 5-4 win.

League blows the save against Bloomquist’s hit to deep shortstop

Juan Uribe did lead off the bottom of the 9th with a homerun to right but his Dodgers again left 2 men on (the tying and winning runners) and even worse they had a guy on 3rd with nobody out and couldn’t get him home. And to make things worser, (LOL) guess who was in the on-deck circle when Adrian Gonzalez grounded into the game’s final out? Of course, the new NL Player of the Week Yasiel Puig who could only walk away with the same frustration as the rest of his teammates who had to be totally disgusted at letting this one get away.

Puig went 3 for 4 on the night (improving his average to a keen .500) in his first stint as the clean-up batter after leading off in his first 7 big league games. And his last single of the night loaded the bases in the 8th inning before one of the worst calls you’ll ever see. Jerry Hairston, Jr. then grounded into a double play to third base although being safe from here to eternity. But first place ump Clint Fagan must’ve been watching a good looker in the front row instead of Hairston’s foot obviously touching the bag ahead of the throw. The replay clearly showed why some kind of instant replay has to be involved in a play like that from a credibility standpoint! And then Andre Ethier flied out to center to end an inning that turned into an unfortunate chance to build on the Dodger lead.

1b coach Davey Lopes keeps Hairston away from the ump who’s eyesight remains in ???

Manager Don Mattingly was not only questioned by us media types after the game for his handling of his struggling closer, but the sparse crowd remaining in the 9th inning let him know how they felt with some fairly loud boos heard from here to League’s home in Hawaii. You’ll hear Mattingly fully explain why he did what he did in the 8th and 9th innings, that it was simply a number’s game and who was the best pitcher for who was coming up in the D-Backs lineup. The only thing that I fault Don with was that there was nobody warming up behind an obviously struggling League who was allowed to fully blow this save when it could’ve been avoided? Maybe? Possibly? That’s why Donny makes the big bucks and I don’t!

Here are my sounds of the postgame from an understandably very quiet locker room:

Manager Don Mattingly:

Clayton Kershaw:

Brandon League:

Jerry Hairston, Jr.:

League leaves the scene of the crime

The Dodgers are gone after A-Gone’s game ending ground out

Game 2 of this series is tomorrow night with Zack Greinke vs. Ian Kennedy and with another two game swing on the line for both clubs…but most importantly for the Dodgers!