How great was last night’s Monday Night Football game?

Arizona Cardinals vs. San Francisco 49ers doesn’t exactly get your blood rushing through your veins, but it was an outstanding game. There were some great plays, all of which occured while San Francisco was on the field. Here’s the link to the NFL.com highlights.

• Shaun Hill’s helmetless run for a first down. That was dangerous, but fortunately he didn’t get hit while he was diving for the first down.
• Vernon Davis’ touchdown catch over one defender was pretty cool today. The video of this is below.
• Frank Gore falling down at the 1-yard line in the final seconds after getting slapped by an Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman.

Just goes to show you that you never know when a great game might turn out.

One of baseball’s tragic figures died today.

Herb Score, a promising young pitcher whose career was sidelined after being hit by a line drive, passed away at the age of 75.

Score was the American League Rookie of the Year in 1955 after going 16-10 for the Cleveland Indians and setting a rookie record with 245 strikeouts, a mark that stood until Dwight Gooden broke it in 1984.

Score won 20 games in 1956 and struck out 263.

But in a game in 1957, Score suffered a season-ending injury after being struck in the face by a line drive off the bat of New York Yankees hitter Gil McDougald.

Score was never the same after the injury. He returned to baseball in 1958, and in response to his fear of being hit again, he changed his pitching motion. This led to a drop in velocity. The change in pitching motion also led to him suffering further injury.

My thoughts go out to his family.

I remember hearing his story when I was a kid. When Twins pitcher Nick Blackburn was hit by a line drive earlier this season, I immediately thought of Score.

Score found a niche after baseball. He went on to become the "Voice of the Indians", serving as a team broadcaster from 1963-1997. His final call was Edgar Renteria’s winning hit in Game 7 of the 1997 World Series for the Florida Marlins against Cleveland.