Some thoughts as the summer passes the midway point.

How can a golfer, who misses cut after cut, go all the way to the front and win the British Open? I'm talking about Louis Oosthuizen, of course. And, without any United States golfers on the leaderboard, I was pulling for him. That gap-tooth smile was just too charming. Yes, I had to look up the spelling of his name. Mastering the pronunciation was tough enough.

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I'll miss Lou Piniella as a baseball manager. There was the time he went after one of his own players in the Cincinnati Reds' clubhouse. Caught on film, of course. Tossing bases. Arguing with umpires. With my friend, Hal McCoy, the three of us enjoyed a dinner together some 20 years ago when Lou was managing the Reds.

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The Miami Heat roster seems to be coming together nicely. I guess this means they won't need my nor our daughter Molly's help. After she read my column of a couple weeks ago, Molly said her price would be above what they'd pay anyway. Mine wouldn't.

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I don't think the Florida Marlins can depend on getting many more walk-off hits to get them in the division or wild card races. A .500 team, give or take a few wins or losses. It's getting to that time when teams of their ilk start dealing off the assets, seeking young prospects. They got rid of pitcher Nate Robertson without even getting a bag of beans in return. Let's hope they do better when Jorge Cantu departs.

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Congratulations, Alberto Contador, the assumed winner of the Tour de France. Sooner or later, I try (and sometimes succeed) being interested in all sports. I credit my look-in at the Tour to Mark Hedden, who wrote some excellent analytical articles for The Citizen a few years back and whetted my appetite.

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From the Minor Leagues: Since he has played so few games, it takes just a very good one or a poor one to dramatically affect Key West grad Ralphie Henriquez's batting average. The High Desert catcher went 3-for-4 last Sunday to boost his average above .300, but was 1-for-5 Monday and 0-for-4 on Thursday that put him at a still respectable .283. Along with his .324 at West Tennessee, he's hitting .300 on the season.

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Reidier Gonzalez gave up five earned runs in 6⅓ innings on July 15 and nine more in 3⅓ innings Tuesday for New Hampshire as he lost both games. That put him at 1-2 with an earned run average of 8.31 for the Class AA Fisher Cats after going 6-6 and 9.18 in 16 starts for AAA Las Vegas.

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Our third minor leaguer, Blayne Weller, gave up but one earned run in seven innings without a decision Tuesday for the Rookie Elizabethton Twins. He's now 1-2 and 3.77 after six starts.

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At the top, Key West native Bronson Arroyo is now 10-5 with an ERA of 4.26 with the Cincinnati Reds.

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Thank you, Bonnie. We didn't wish to make your acquaintance anyway.

Sports Editor Ralph Morrow's Armchair Comment appears exclusively each Sunday in The Citizen. He can be reached at 305-292-7777, Ext. 264, at Rmorrow@keysnews.com and by Fax at 305-295-8016.