By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — She was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, the first American woman in 20 years not named Venus or Serena to win the U.S. Open, the national tennis championship.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — You know his nickname, “Joker,” a word play on Novak Djokovic’s last name — by now, even non-tennis people know the “D” is silent. But a year ago, the Joker wasn’t laughing. Or smiling. Or, worst of all, winning.
Copyright 2019 The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — For all the athletic skill, the records, the career that seems endless, maybe what is most appealing about Roger Federer, the finest male tennis player ever — anyone disagree? — is his sense of self.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
Special for Newsday
PEORIA, Ariz. — He was out of the game but still in uniform. Manny Machado, one of baseball’s new $300 million men, had taken his first two at-bats of spring training and now was so preoccupied, first with interviews for the media and then with autographs for pleading fans, that he still hadn’t gone to the clubhouse to change.
Copyright © 2019 Newsday. All rights reserved.
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
MESA, Ariz. — They’ve been at it for weeks, as Bob Melvin reminded. But with the temperature rising, the stands filling and the mood as perfect as the weather, for the Oakland A’s this glorious Friday, March 1, was the first day that spring training 2019 felt like spring training.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
MESA, Ariz. — The game meant little. At least the game on the field. The other game, the battle for Bryce Harper, might mean a great deal. Then again...
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
MESA, Ariz. — The oft-repeated idea is that the final score of spring training games is irrelevant. The late Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver said what happens in Florida in March — where the Orioles played their exhibition games — didn’t mean anything at Fenway Park in July.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Derek Holland threw the variety of pitches he wanted in his first start of spring training. Then he tossed a few figurative hard ones at baseball executives reluctant to sign top free agents.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — His orange Giants hat had been replaced by a black one, this with the “4440” on the front, a model number of John Deere tractors. Madison Bumgarner, heading toward his 30th birthday, remains the country boy from North Carolina.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
MESA, Ariz. — The view was rare — and fantastic. There beyond the centerfield fence, the wonderfully named Superstition Mountains, glistening white from a snowstorm, stood like sentinels.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Not once was there a mention of Bryce Harper. At least within earshot.
There was talk about the Giants' pitching rotation for the first few exhibition games, Chris Stratton starting Saturday against the Angels, Madison Bumgarner on Sunday in the home opener against the Cubs.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — It was the day when southern California seemed more like eastern Scotland, the day the wind whistled down the coastal canyons and turned Riviera Country Club, the place known as Hogan’s Alley, into a nightmare of missed putts and blown leads.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Tiger Woods started making putts. Matt Kuchar continued making amends. And Justin Thomas again was playing as if he was going to make the 2019 Genesis Open his tournament.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — The thinking in golf is to get out trouble before you take a chance on getting into more trouble. With a printed statement and a proper payment, Matt Kuchar was able to extricate himself from some self-created difficulties.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — And haven’t these been a few strange days of golf?
The revelation of Matt Kuchar’s perhaps low payment to a caddy after winning a tournament. The apology by Sergio Garcia for wreaking havoc on a course during a tournament in Saudi Arabia. The unprecedented hail that fell Sunday during the AT&T at Pebble Beach.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — What do they call these people? Movers and shakers? Power brokers? There's no question in sports, as in other facets of life, that some people make a difference — on the field or the fairways, or maybe more importantly at the gate or the television ratings, where the money comes from.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — He was so good, so young, on the cover of Golf Digest when still an amateur. The sport belonged to Phil Mickelson, along with Ernie Els. And then Tiger Woods came along.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Bing Crosby must be smiling up there someplace. They can take his name off the tournament. They can take some of the historic plaques off the wall near the pro shop. But they can’t change that central California mid-winter climate known as Crosby Weather.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — He’s in first place. As a golfer. As a humanitarian. Whether or not Paul Casey holds his lead in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am going into Sunday’s final round, Casey is a winner.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Phil Mickelson finished, and for a few inelegant holes he seemed to be finished off. Jordan Spieth was still splashing forward. Open your umbrella, grab that Gore-Tex jacket and we’ll add another tale to the wintry woes of the tournament that can’t escape the Pacific storms or (drip, drip) its own reputation.
Copyright 2019, The Maven