Amidst negative headlines, Ewing made us smile again

The recent unsettling stories involving the former face of the Atlanta Falcons and a fired NBA referee, who has already admitted to betting on games he officiated, have stole the national headlines.

There's quarterback Michael Vick and his dog-fighting debacle, along with Tim Donaghy -- the Pete Rose of NBA officials -- who says he is not a lone wolf and that there is a widespread gambling problem with a number of the league's officials who also bet on games they worked.

As disturbing as those aforementioned stories are, an Arizona Diamondbacks rookie pitcher made us smile over the weekend, reminding us what sports is all about.

I'm referring to Micah Ewing of the upstart D-backs, who seemingly bottled up a dream-come-true story of returning to your hometown and uncorking one of the finest pitching/hitting performances ever in a 12-6 win over the host Atlanta Braves, engraving himself in the Major League Baseball record books.

Ewing's pitching line: Seven strikeouts, three runs, three hits and no walks in seven innings to capture his first win in two months.

At the plate: Ewing went 4-for-5 with two mammoth home runs, four runs and six runs batted in -- the first pitcher in MLB history to total that many hits, that many runs and that many RBI in the same game.

Who says pitchers can't hit?

That's what makes sports a blast, like Owings' same-game 415-foot and 464-foot blasts. Owings' total bases of 11 are the most by a pitcher in the last half-century. Morevoer, he is the first player to record four hits and score four runs since former Kansas City Royals pitcher Danny Jackson did the same for the Cincinnati Reds in 1988.

"It's up there with the best ever," Owings, a Georgia Tech product, told The Associated Press. "To be back home and have the game I had tonight, I'm just unbelievably blessed."

To be sure, it was a magical night for Ewing, who lives in nearby Gainesville, Ga., and had more than 50 friends and relatives in attendance for his first career start in Atlanta.

"I kind of grew up playing against him and watching him. So I knew he could hit," the Braves Jeff Francoeur, an Atlanta native, told The AP. "I've seen him hit balls before but not with a wood bat in a big-league game. He kind of did everything (Saturday night)."

Francoeur had a pair of homers himself, but it paled in comparison to Owings' lightning in a bottle, which he uncorked on the Braves.?