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The Roanoke Times: Press Box

with our sports staff

Jay Bruce on a roll for Reds

Posted Jun03, 2008 at 09:46 AM

In his first six games, Jay Bruce has been like a reincarnation of the Big Red Machine all by himself. All of the numbers are impressive, starting with 21 years old. He was batting .591 entering Monday night’s game. He’s hit two important home runs, driven in six and stolen two bases. He’s big and strong, he’s left-handed and maybe he’s the next big thing in baseball. He certainly has been the big thing this past week. — Jeff Gilbert

Comments

# 1

[June 4, 2008 9:25 AM]

Rich

I dont' get it...did Bruce go to Tech or UVA? This is totally out of this paper's character...

# 2

[June 4, 2008 1:48 PM]

John

Jay Bruce is the man! Too bad the Reds didn't keep Josh Hamilton last year or else they would be the team to watch right now.

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Quick thoughts

  • The best dramatic events come short and sweet -

    Enough, already, from all these people talking about Wimbledon!
    How many were actually watching the Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal final that is being hailed as the finest tennis match ever?
    Three times I turned it on, but I didn’t come close to watching the full six hours, including postponements. I was watching at the end, however, when Federer’s final forehand found the middle of the net, and, frankly, that left me a little flat.
    Better a spectacular passing shot or a killer overhead. If you’re talking about history-making event in a time frame that fit my schedule, I’ll take 41-year-old Dara Torres’ 50 freestyle in the swimming Olympic Trials. An American record and it took less than 24 seconds. — Doug Doughty

  • Nadal, Federer final just one of those great moments -

    “I was in the room here one day... watchin’ the Mexican channel on TV. I don’t know nothin’ about Pele. I’m watchin’ what this guy can do with a ball and his feet. Next thing I know, he jumps in the air and flips into a somersault and kicks the ball in — upside down and backwards... the goalie never knew what hit him.
    "Pele gets excited and he rips off his jersey and starts running around the stadium waving it around his head. Everybody’s screaming in Spanish. I’m here, sitting alone in my room, and I start crying. That’s right, I start crying. Because another human being, a species that I happen to belong to, could kick a ball, and lift himself, and the rest of us, up to a better place to be, if only for a minute... let me tell ya, kid — it was pretty ... glorious. It ain’t the six minutes... it’s what happens in that six minutes.” -- Speech by Elmo, played by the late J.C. Quinn, to high school wrestler Louden Swain in the 1985 movie Vision Quest.

    I felt the same way watching the epic Wimbledon final between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer on Sunday. Thank you to both. —Buddy Wright

  • Voting for ACC athletes of the year -

    It’s time for the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association to vote for the ACC male and female athletes of the year. The male nominees include Tyler Hansbrough, Matt Ryan, Virginia Tech soccer star Patrick Nyarko, national baseball player of the year Buster Posey of FSU and two-time NCAA singles champ Somdev Devvarman of UVa. The female nominees include Angela Tincher, Khadijah Whittington, UVa soccer star Becky Sauerbrunn, national golfer of the year Amanda Blumenhurst of Duke, national soccer player of the year Mami Yamaguchi of FSU and national field hockey player of the year Rachel Dawson of UNC. I’m voting for Tincher, and I just might vote for Devvarman instead of likely winner Hansbrough. — Mark Berman

  • NBA draft has name recognition -

    The NBA draft certainly holds more interest for the average fan now that college players are the top picks. For the past two years, the early picks are mostly players we've gotten to know, even if it was only for one season. David Stern wants to raise the minimum drafting age by another year, and I hope he gets his way. It's better for college basketball, which makes it better for basketball as a whole. Who would know who Derrick Rose is if he hadn't led Memphis to the national title game? Not many outside of the Chicago Bulls. -- Jeff Gilbert

  • Hippensteel to play in Wimbledon -

    Wimbledon begins Monday, and former North Cross and Stanford standout K.J. Hippensteel will be playing doubles. Hippensteel and Newport News native Tripp Phillips will face Stephen Huss and Ross Hutchins. Hippensteel and Phillips earned their berth in the main draw through a Wimbledon qualifier. Hippensteel lost his first-round match in the singles qualifier. Hippensteel, 28, is 0-3 in Grand Slam men’s matches, having played U.S. Open doubles in 1998 and 1999 and U.S. Open singles in 2004. But he does own an NCAA doubles title and a U.S. Open boys’ doubles crown, and he once made the Wimbledon boys’ doubles semifinals. But he underwent surgeries in 2005 and 2006. — Mark Berman

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The Press Box blog will post entries on a variety of sports at both the high school and collegiate levels in Southwest Virginia. Contributions come from staff writers of The Roanoke Times sports section.

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