By Tom Jones, Times Staff Writer
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Streak of the day
It was 70 years ago Sunday — May 15, 1941 — that Yankees great Joe DiMaggio began his 56-game hitting streak by going 1-for-4 against the White Sox. DiMaggio batted .408 during the streak, which finally came to an end July 17, 1941 when he was held hitless by Cleveland pitchers Al Smith and Jim Bagby. Indians third baseman Ken Keltner made two excellent defensive plays to help snap DiMaggio's streak.
Number of the day
0 Points scored by Russia's Alex Ovechkin in five games at the hockey world championships. Ovechkin joined the Russian team after his Capitals were eliminated from the NHL playoffs by the Lightning. Ovechkin, however, did have 23 shots on goal in his five games. Russia's tournament ended over the weekend with a 7-4 loss to the Czech Republic in the bronze-medal game.
Bird brain
From the Boston Globe: In October 2005, an Oklahoma man named Eric Torpy was given a 30-year prison sentence for armed robbery and two counts of shooting with intent to kill. He asked the judge to give him three more years for 33 because that was the number Celtics great Larry Bird wore. Now he regrets it. "Recently, I've wisened up," he said.