Four Second Fury

Attention deficit gaming and a rave remix of The Neverending Story score come together in Armor Games’ Four Second Fury.  Click the screen to play.

The Second Pillar Of Heaven

ROH Glory By Honor VI: Night One
PA National Guard Armory - Philadelphia, PA
A little over two years ago, I attended my first Ring of Honor show.  In a show that would be released on DVD as ROH Unforgettable, the main event featured Japanese legend Kenta Kobashi wrestling alongside Homicide in a tag team match against Samoa Joe and Low Ki.  I fell in love with the promotion on that night, and for the next year and a half, I bought tickets to nearly every ROH show in Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York.

Since returning to college this fall, I haven't had as much time and money to keep up with the shows the way that I used to.  However, I couldn't resist the opportunity to see the second of the AJPW "Four Pillars of Heaven" to wrestle in an ROH ring in Philadelphia: the great Mitsuharu Misawa.

The card was originally advertised to include Roderick Strong vs. "Lightning" Mike Quackenbush.  Roddy and Quack are two of my favorite wrestlers, so I was looking forward to this match, but it didn't happen.  Instead, Roderick and stablemate Rocky Romero wrestled The Briscoes for the tag team championship.  I'm not sure what happened that kept Quack off of the card.

Results:

• "Sugarfoot" Alex Payne defeated Kyle Durden

• Shane Hagadorn defeated Rhett Titus

• Kevin Steen and El Generico defeated The Hangman Three (Brent Albright and BJ Whitmer)

• Claudio Castagnoli defeated Hallowicked

• Davey Richards defeated Delirious

• ROH World Tag Team Championship Match
  The Briscoe Brothers (Jay Briscoe and Mark Briscoe) defeated No Remorse Corps (Roderick Strong and Rocky Romero) to retain the titles.

• Six Man Tag Team Match
  The Age Of The Fall (Jimmy Jacobs, Tyler Black and Necro Butcher) defeated The Vulture Squad (Jack Evans, Ruckus and Jigsaw)

• ROH Top Of The Class Trophy Match
  Ernie Osiris defeated Mitch Franklin to win the Top Of The Class Trophy

• Best Of Three Series: Match Three
  Austin Aries defeated "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson to win the series (2-1) and become the #1 contender for the ROH World Championship

• ROH World Championship Match
  Nigel McGuinness defeated Chris Hero to retain the title.

• Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta vs Takeshi Morishima and Naomichi Marufuji ended in a 30 minute time-limit draw

Coffee Cup Phillies: Vic Power

Vic Power

Philadelphia Phillies (1964)

Today is former Phillies first baseman Vic Power's birthday.  If his name doesn't ring a bell, it's probably because he appeared in just 18 games for the Fightins.

The 1964 Phillies were dominant for most of the season.  On Labor Day, they were in first place in the National League with a comfortable six and a half game lead with 25 games left to play.  Things started to go wrong after that, starting with first baseman Frank Thomas breaking his thumb during a game against the Dodgers on September 8th.  The team worked quickly and acquired his replacement from the Los Angeles Angels the next day in a trade that sent Vic Power to the Phillies in exchange for a player to be named later, which ended up being left-handed pitcher Marcelino López.

The Evening Sun - Hanover, PA  (September 10, 1964)

Vic Power was excellent in the field, but he was in his age 36 season and didn't put up the kind of offensive numbers to replace what the Phillies had lost in Thomas.  If this was the only concern the team had in the final weeks of the season, Power would have taken the field in the World Series that year.  However, everything that could go wrong for the did go wrong.  The team lost 12 of their last 15 games of the season, falling one game behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the Pennant.

Vic Power was reacquired by the Los Angels Angels after the 1964 season, and he would play his final season in pro ball with the Angels in 1965.  He finished his career as a six time All-Star and a seven time Gold Glove first baseman, winning the award every season from 1958 to 1964, and he is one of the few players in the history of the sport to steal home twice in a single game.  He had a solid career that spanned a dozen seasons in which he reached 1,716 hits and 126 home runs.

He returned to Puerto Rico in his retirement as a hero.  The city of Guaynabo built a ballpark named after him which he could see from the window of his home, and he spent his summers helping young players to develop their skills.  He passed away two years ago on November 29th at 78 years old.