Tuesday’s 6-pack:
Major League leaders in OPS (on-base % + slugging percentage)
1.119— Mookie Betts, LA
1.056— Marcell Ozuna, Atl
1.047— Alec Bohm, Phil
1.041— Shohei Ohtani, LA
1.011— CJ Abrams Wsh/Jose Altuve Hst
1.000— Salvador Perez, KC
Quote of the Day
“I hated the All-Star Game. I hated having to talk to guys that I spent the rest of the season trying to kick their ass. They were the enemy to me.”
Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson
Tuesday’s quiz
In the movie Major League, what position did Corbin Bernson’s (Roger Dorn) character play?
Monday’s quiz
Joe Girardi was the Bronx Bombers’ manager, before Aaron Boone.
Sunday’s quiz
Atlanta Falcons have played in two Super Bowls; Chris Chandler, Matt Ryan were their quarterbacks in those two games.
*****************************************
Summer Olympics are in Paris this year; they start in late July and will be broadcast on NBC and Peacock. NBCUniversal is raising the price of Peacock for the second time in two years, adding $2 a month onto the cost of the streaming service this summer, around the time of the Paris Olympics.
Go figure.
— Minnesota Timberwolves just swept Phoenix 4-0 in their playoff series, winning their first playoff series in 2o years, but Minnesota coach Chris Finch ruptured the patellar tendon in his right knee after Minnesota PG Mike Conley collided with him on the sideline near the end of the game.
Minnesota plays Denver in the next round…….
— Nuggets 108, Lakers 106
Denver wins the series, 4-1.
Nikola Jokic had 25 points, 20 rebounds, 9 assists.
Jamal Murray scored 32 points, had 7 assists.
— Celtics 102, Heat 88
Derrick White scored 38 points without taking a foul shot, the 2nd-most points ever scored in a playoff game with no free throws taken- Chuck Person scored 39 points in a 1991 game.
Boston leads this series, 3-1.
Miami is now 1-11 ATS as a home underdog this season.
— Spurs-Pacers are going to play a couple of regular season games in France next January.
— Edmonton Oilers’ star Connor McDavid scored 32 goals this year, had 100 assists, the first NHL player with 100+ assists since Wayne Gretzky in 1991. Bobby Orr, Mario Lemieux are the only other two players with 100+ assists in a season.
— When the Rangers swept Washington Capitals 4-0 over the weekend, it was their first series sweep since 2007, when they swept the Atlanta Thrashers 4-0.
Four years after that, the Thrashers moved to Winnipeg and became the Jets.
— Famous birthdays for April 30:
Jerry Stovall, 83
Phil Garner, 75
Isiah Thomas, 63
Al Toon, 61
Dave Meggett, 58
Stephen Kunken, 53
Edouard Julien, 25
— Mariners 2, Braves 1
Mitch Garver hit a 2-run, walk-off homer for Seattle.
Max Fried threw six no-hit innings for Atlanta.
— Cubs 3, Mets 1
Christopher Morel hit a 2-run homer for the Cubs in the 9th inning.
Luis Severino no-hit Chicago for the first seven innings.
— A’s 5, Pirates 1
A’s held Pittsburgh to two hits; Joe Boyle tossed five IP, getting the win.
Oakland is 5-3 in its last eight games.
— Texas rookie Wyatt Langford hit an inside-the-park home run Sunday, his first career home run. He is the 14th player since 2000 whose first career home run was inside-the-park.
— Baltimore 2, New York 0
New York scored 15-15 runs Saturday/Sunday, but got blanked by Grayson Rodriguez and three relievers here. New York was 0-8 with runners in scoring position; these teams are now tied for first place in the AL East.
— Milwaukee’s pitching coach is Chris Hook, a fitting name for a pitching coach; guy is struggling on the mound, here comes the hook.
— 6-7 Ryan Petraitis transferred from Air Force to Cal; you don’t see a lot of Air Force basketball players get poached in the transfer portal.
— UConn has won the last two national titles in college hoop; now they’ve poached PG Aidan Mahaney, a two-time first-team all-WCC selection at Saint Mary’s. Big addition for the Huskies.
Major League leaders in OPS (on-base % + slugging percentage)
1.119— Mookie Betts, LA
1.056— Marcell Ozuna, Atl
1.047— Alec Bohm, Phil
1.041— Shohei Ohtani, LA
1.011— CJ Abrams Wsh/Jose Altuve Hst
1.000— Salvador Perez, KC
Quote of the Day
“I hated the All-Star Game. I hated having to talk to guys that I spent the rest of the season trying to kick their ass. They were the enemy to me.”
Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson
Tuesday’s quiz
In the movie Major League, what position did Corbin Bernson’s (Roger Dorn) character play?
Monday’s quiz
Joe Girardi was the Bronx Bombers’ manager, before Aaron Boone.
Sunday’s quiz
Atlanta Falcons have played in two Super Bowls; Chris Chandler, Matt Ryan were their quarterbacks in those two games.
*****************************************
Tuesday’s Den: Clearing out a cluttered mind……..
— “Greed Is Good”……remember Michael Douglas saying that in Wall Street? That movie was made in 1987, but not much has changed since then, as far as businesses go.Summer Olympics are in Paris this year; they start in late July and will be broadcast on NBC and Peacock. NBCUniversal is raising the price of Peacock for the second time in two years, adding $2 a month onto the cost of the streaming service this summer, around the time of the Paris Olympics.
Go figure.
— Minnesota Timberwolves just swept Phoenix 4-0 in their playoff series, winning their first playoff series in 2o years, but Minnesota coach Chris Finch ruptured the patellar tendon in his right knee after Minnesota PG Mike Conley collided with him on the sideline near the end of the game.
Minnesota plays Denver in the next round…….
— Nuggets 108, Lakers 106
Denver wins the series, 4-1.
Nikola Jokic had 25 points, 20 rebounds, 9 assists.
Jamal Murray scored 32 points, had 7 assists.
— Celtics 102, Heat 88
Derrick White scored 38 points without taking a foul shot, the 2nd-most points ever scored in a playoff game with no free throws taken- Chuck Person scored 39 points in a 1991 game.
Boston leads this series, 3-1.
Miami is now 1-11 ATS as a home underdog this season.
— Spurs-Pacers are going to play a couple of regular season games in France next January.
— Edmonton Oilers’ star Connor McDavid scored 32 goals this year, had 100 assists, the first NHL player with 100+ assists since Wayne Gretzky in 1991. Bobby Orr, Mario Lemieux are the only other two players with 100+ assists in a season.
— When the Rangers swept Washington Capitals 4-0 over the weekend, it was their first series sweep since 2007, when they swept the Atlanta Thrashers 4-0.
Four years after that, the Thrashers moved to Winnipeg and became the Jets.
— Famous birthdays for April 30:
Jerry Stovall, 83
Phil Garner, 75
Isiah Thomas, 63
Al Toon, 61
Dave Meggett, 58
Stephen Kunken, 53
Edouard Julien, 25
— Mariners 2, Braves 1
Mitch Garver hit a 2-run, walk-off homer for Seattle.
Max Fried threw six no-hit innings for Atlanta.
— Cubs 3, Mets 1
Christopher Morel hit a 2-run homer for the Cubs in the 9th inning.
Luis Severino no-hit Chicago for the first seven innings.
— A’s 5, Pirates 1
A’s held Pittsburgh to two hits; Joe Boyle tossed five IP, getting the win.
Oakland is 5-3 in its last eight games.
— Texas rookie Wyatt Langford hit an inside-the-park home run Sunday, his first career home run. He is the 14th player since 2000 whose first career home run was inside-the-park.
— Baltimore 2, New York 0
New York scored 15-15 runs Saturday/Sunday, but got blanked by Grayson Rodriguez and three relievers here. New York was 0-8 with runners in scoring position; these teams are now tied for first place in the AL East.
— Milwaukee’s pitching coach is Chris Hook, a fitting name for a pitching coach; guy is struggling on the mound, here comes the hook.
— 6-7 Ryan Petraitis transferred from Air Force to Cal; you don’t see a lot of Air Force basketball players get poached in the transfer portal.
— UConn has won the last two national titles in college hoop; now they’ve poached PG Aidan Mahaney, a two-time first-team all-WCC selection at Saint Mary’s. Big addition for the Huskies.
BOSTON is 23-6 ATS (16.4 Units) when playing with 2 days rest over the last 2 seasons.
NY ISLANDERS are 20-42 ATS (-26.2 Units) on the road when the total is 5.5 in the last 3 seasons.
WINNIPEG is 10-2 Over (7.8 Units) in home games in April games over the last 2 seasons.
VANCOUVER is 9-0 ATS (9 Units) in home games after playing 2 consecutive road games in the current season.
NHL
Dunkel
Tuesday, April 30
NY ISLANDERS are 20-42 ATS (-26.2 Units) on the road when the total is 5.5 in the last 3 seasons.
WINNIPEG is 10-2 Over (7.8 Units) in home games in April games over the last 2 seasons.
VANCOUVER is 9-0 ATS (9 Units) in home games after playing 2 consecutive road games in the current season.
NHL
Dunkel
Tuesday, April 30
Armadillo Sports
Wednesday’s 6-pack:
Biggest salary cap hits in the NFL this coming season:
$63.8M— Deshaun Watson, Clev
$55.5M— Dak Prexcott, Dal
$53M— Russell Wilson, Den-Pitt
$49.5M— Matthew Stafford, Rams
$49.1M— Kyler Murray, Ariz
$47.9M— Daniel Jones, NJG
Quote of the Day
“Why do we park on driveways, but drive on parkways???”
Steven Wright
Wednesday’s quiz
In the history of the Tampa Bay Rays, who scored the most runs?
Tuesday’s quiz
In the movie Major League, Corbin Bernson’s character (Roger Dorn) played third base.
Monday’s quiz
Joe Girardi was the Bronx Bombers’ manager, before Aaron Boone.
*********************************************
Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings…….
— Saw something tonight I’ve never seen before:
Brewers 8, Rays 2
Brewers lead Tampa Bay 6-1, top of the 6th. Jose Siri is batting for Tampa, Freddy Peralta is cruising for Milwaukee, but he has a 3-0 count on Siri and he hits him in the butt with a pitch.
Siri had homered in his previous at-bat; the umpires gather, and throw Peralta out of the game for hitting Siri on purpose. It was a 3-0 pitch when he had a 5-run lead; Milwaukee manager Murphy got tossed (for second night in a row) and the game went on.
Next time Siri was up, he grounded out to first base; words were exchanged and a scuffle broke out; apparently the Brewers don’t like Siri very much.
— Marlins 7, Rockies 6 (10)
Colorado scored five runs in 1st inning, led 5-0 in bottom of the 9th; it would’ve been the first game all season they never trailed in, but the Marlins tied the game with five runs in the ninth, then won it in the 10th on Dane Myers’ walk-off single.
Rockies have now trailed in all 29 of their games, the only team since 1900 to do that.
— Start of the Dodgers-Arizona game was delayed by two hours because there was a swarm of bees behind home plate; the beekeeper who got rid of the bees threw out the ceremonial first pitch, was interviewed on TV. Arizona switched starting pitchers because of the delay, moving Jordan Montgomery’s start to another day.
Arizona 4, Dodgers 3 (10)
Christian Walker’s 2-run homer in the 10th was a game-winner.
— Astros 10, Guardians 9 (10)
Victor Caratini had a pinch-hit, walk-off 2-run homer to give Houston its third straight win.
Astros led 8-3 after five, blew the lead, but won for only 2nd time in their last 13 extra inning games.
— A’s 5, Pirates 2
JJ Bleday homered twice; the A’s win in front of 3,876 loyalists.
Oakland is now 6-3 in its last nine games.
— Orioles 4, New York 2
Dean Kremer pitched seven strong innings for Baltimore.
New York is 5-6 in its last eleven games.
Orioles take over first place in AL East.
— Twins 6, White Sox 5
Max Kepler drove in winning run in the 9th; Minnesota has won nine in a row.
— Famous birthdays, May 1st:
Rita Coolidge, 79
Dann Florek, 74
Tim McGraw, 57
Curtis Martin, 51
Wes Welker, 43
Marcus Stroman, 33
Chet Holmgren, 22
The original host of Jeopardy!, Art Fleming, was born 100 years ago today.
— Mike Trout has a torn meniscus in his knee, will have surgery, a surgery that usually comes with a 2-3 month rehab period.
Trout has been hurt a lot; from 2021-23, he played in 237 of a possible 486 games (49%), and now this. No bueno.
— Cardinals 2, Tigers 1
Pitching against against his former team, Jack Flaherty struck out the first 7 batters he faced; he struck out 14 guys in 6.2 scoreless IP, but St Louis scored twice in the 9th inning for the win.
In his previous four starts, Flaherty was 0-1, 6.56. Go figure.
— Brandon Nimmo hit a first inning home run Monday; Mets were the last team in the majors to hit a first inning home run this season.
— Oklahoma City’s sweep of New Orleans was their first series win in seven years, so long ago that Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were on the team back then.
— 76ers 112, Knicks 106, OT
76ers trailed by six points with 0:28 left in regulation; Tyrese Maxey scored seven points in the last 0:25 of regulation, as Philly avoided elimination.
— QB Kedon Slovis signed a free agent deal with Indianapolis; he had an interesting journey thru college football:
2019-21- USC
2022- Pittsburgh
2023- BYU
He played his high school ball at Desert Mountain HS in Scottsdale, AZ, where his QB coach was Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner.
— Time goes by quickly; it is May 1st already; some things that have happened recently that are difficult to process:
Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll got told to take a hike, and no one hired them to coach their team, which makes no sense. Hopefully someone hires Carroll to do TV work; he’d every good. I’m not sure Belichick has the personality to be good on TV. We’ll see.
Nick Saban walked away from coaching; it I tough to recruit when you’re in your 70’s; your rivals use it against you, plus the transfer portal is sheer lunacy. From what I heard last week, Saban will be a good listen on TV.
The Pac-12 doesn’t exist anymore, which is really strange; college sports is off its rocker, but USC and UCLA being in the same league as Rutgers and Maryland in really nonsensical.
Is it me, or have major league umpires become a much younger group of people?
Wednesday’s 6-pack:
Biggest salary cap hits in the NFL this coming season:
$63.8M— Deshaun Watson, Clev
$55.5M— Dak Prexcott, Dal
$53M— Russell Wilson, Den-Pitt
$49.5M— Matthew Stafford, Rams
$49.1M— Kyler Murray, Ariz
$47.9M— Daniel Jones, NJG
Quote of the Day
“Why do we park on driveways, but drive on parkways???”
Steven Wright
Wednesday’s quiz
In the history of the Tampa Bay Rays, who scored the most runs?
Tuesday’s quiz
In the movie Major League, Corbin Bernson’s character (Roger Dorn) played third base.
Monday’s quiz
Joe Girardi was the Bronx Bombers’ manager, before Aaron Boone.
*********************************************
Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings…….
— Saw something tonight I’ve never seen before:
Brewers 8, Rays 2
Brewers lead Tampa Bay 6-1, top of the 6th. Jose Siri is batting for Tampa, Freddy Peralta is cruising for Milwaukee, but he has a 3-0 count on Siri and he hits him in the butt with a pitch.
Siri had homered in his previous at-bat; the umpires gather, and throw Peralta out of the game for hitting Siri on purpose. It was a 3-0 pitch when he had a 5-run lead; Milwaukee manager Murphy got tossed (for second night in a row) and the game went on.
Next time Siri was up, he grounded out to first base; words were exchanged and a scuffle broke out; apparently the Brewers don’t like Siri very much.
— Marlins 7, Rockies 6 (10)
Colorado scored five runs in 1st inning, led 5-0 in bottom of the 9th; it would’ve been the first game all season they never trailed in, but the Marlins tied the game with five runs in the ninth, then won it in the 10th on Dane Myers’ walk-off single.
Rockies have now trailed in all 29 of their games, the only team since 1900 to do that.
— Start of the Dodgers-Arizona game was delayed by two hours because there was a swarm of bees behind home plate; the beekeeper who got rid of the bees threw out the ceremonial first pitch, was interviewed on TV. Arizona switched starting pitchers because of the delay, moving Jordan Montgomery’s start to another day.
Arizona 4, Dodgers 3 (10)
Christian Walker’s 2-run homer in the 10th was a game-winner.
— Astros 10, Guardians 9 (10)
Victor Caratini had a pinch-hit, walk-off 2-run homer to give Houston its third straight win.
Astros led 8-3 after five, blew the lead, but won for only 2nd time in their last 13 extra inning games.
— A’s 5, Pirates 2
JJ Bleday homered twice; the A’s win in front of 3,876 loyalists.
Oakland is now 6-3 in its last nine games.
— Orioles 4, New York 2
Dean Kremer pitched seven strong innings for Baltimore.
New York is 5-6 in its last eleven games.
Orioles take over first place in AL East.
— Twins 6, White Sox 5
Max Kepler drove in winning run in the 9th; Minnesota has won nine in a row.
— Famous birthdays, May 1st:
Rita Coolidge, 79
Dann Florek, 74
Tim McGraw, 57
Curtis Martin, 51
Wes Welker, 43
Marcus Stroman, 33
Chet Holmgren, 22
The original host of Jeopardy!, Art Fleming, was born 100 years ago today.
— Mike Trout has a torn meniscus in his knee, will have surgery, a surgery that usually comes with a 2-3 month rehab period.
Trout has been hurt a lot; from 2021-23, he played in 237 of a possible 486 games (49%), and now this. No bueno.
— Cardinals 2, Tigers 1
Pitching against against his former team, Jack Flaherty struck out the first 7 batters he faced; he struck out 14 guys in 6.2 scoreless IP, but St Louis scored twice in the 9th inning for the win.
In his previous four starts, Flaherty was 0-1, 6.56. Go figure.
— Brandon Nimmo hit a first inning home run Monday; Mets were the last team in the majors to hit a first inning home run this season.
— Oklahoma City’s sweep of New Orleans was their first series win in seven years, so long ago that Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were on the team back then.
— 76ers 112, Knicks 106, OT
76ers trailed by six points with 0:28 left in regulation; Tyrese Maxey scored seven points in the last 0:25 of regulation, as Philly avoided elimination.
— QB Kedon Slovis signed a free agent deal with Indianapolis; he had an interesting journey thru college football:
2019-21- USC
2022- Pittsburgh
2023- BYU
He played his high school ball at Desert Mountain HS in Scottsdale, AZ, where his QB coach was Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner.
— Time goes by quickly; it is May 1st already; some things that have happened recently that are difficult to process:
Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll got told to take a hike, and no one hired them to coach their team, which makes no sense. Hopefully someone hires Carroll to do TV work; he’d every good. I’m not sure Belichick has the personality to be good on TV. We’ll see.
Nick Saban walked away from coaching; it I tough to recruit when you’re in your 70’s; your rivals use it against you, plus the transfer portal is sheer lunacy. From what I heard last week, Saban will be a good listen on TV.
The Pac-12 doesn’t exist anymore, which is really strange; college sports is off its rocker, but USC and UCLA being in the same league as Rutgers and Maryland in really nonsensical.
Is it me, or have major league umpires become a much younger group of people?
Thursday’s 6-pack:
— Twins 10, White Sox 5- Minnesota has won 10 games in a row.
— A’s 4, Pirates 0- Oakland has won six of last seven games.
— Cubs 1, Mets 0- Imanaga is 5-0, 0.78 in his first six starts.
— Phillies 2, Angels 1- Phils won despite striking out 18 times.
— Dodgers 8, Arizona 0- Yamamoto tossed six shutout innings.
— 11 teams either got shut out, or scored one run Wednesday.
Quote of the Day
“Do whats in your heart, son. You’ll be fine.”
Robin Williams, from Good Will Hunting
Thursday’s quiz
Which current D-I head coach replaced Bobby Bowden as football coach at Florida State?
Wednesday’s quiz
In the history of the Tampa Bay Rays, Evan Longoria has scored the most runs.
Tuesday’s quiz
In the movie Major League, Corbin Bernson’s character (Roger Dorn) played third base.
***********************************************
Co-stars Dennis Quaid, Bruce McGill, Anna Paquin helped make this an excellent movie.
2) Moneyball— Beginning isn’t very good, the end sucks, but I’m an A’s fan and this movie is about how the 2003 A’s overcame a small payroll to win 20 games in a row and make their unlikely run to the playoffs.
Only really bad thing about this movie is they made skipper Art Howe look like a bad manager, and he was anything but— you don’t win 20 games in a row by accident.
3) Blue Chips— Nick Nolte is a college basketball coach who used to win a lot; in order to start winning again, he has to decide whether to break the recruiting rules or not.
Bob Cousy is the AD; Shaquille O’Neal, Penny Hardaway are two of the recruits. Lot of cameos from basketball people; Jerry Tarkanian, Jim Boeheim, Rick Pitino, Dick Vitale.
4) Invincible— True story about Vince Papale, a 30-year old bartender who tries out for the 1976 Philadelphia Eagles and makes the squad as a special teams player.
5) Fast Break— Gabe Kaplan manages a New York City deli until he applies for a job as a college basketball coach in Nevada. Bernard King, Michael Warren are two of his players; another one is a girl disguised as a guy.
6) Any Given Sunday— Al Pacino is a pro football coach whose team is struggling; Cameron Diaz is the owner, Dennis Quaid, Jamie Foxx are two of the QB’s.
Miami Sharks play against four teams in the movie, all coached by NFL Hall of Famers.
The Sharks’ third QB was played by Pat O’Hara, who in real life was a backup QB at USC, played some in the Arena League, has been a consultant on 10 football-related movies and to this day, is an assistant coach with the Tennessee Titans.
— Famous birthdays, May 2nd:
Engelbert Humperdinck, 88
Jamaal Wilkes, 71
Keith Moreland, 70
Dwayne Johnson, 52
Pat McAfee, 37
Paul George, 34
Ian Anderson, 26
7) For Love of the Game— Kevin Costner is a star pitcher for the Tigers who is at the end of his career; he has flashbacks throughout his last game.
Detroit’s manager in this movie is JK Simmons, who is a Tigers fan in real life; New York’s manager is the late Augie Garrido, one of the all-time great college baseball coaches.
8) One on One— Robby Benson is a hotshot high school basketball player who gets recruited by a big-time college team, then finds himself in over his head.
9) Bull Durham— Costner is a minor league catcher who is brought in to mentor a hot-shot pitching prospect. Robert Wuhl is the pitching coach, Susan Sarandon mentors the prospect off the field.
10) Draft Day— Costner does lot of sports movies; he is GM of the Cleveland Browns in this one, Denis Leary is the Browns’ coach.
The year this movie came out, NFL pushed back the draft so the movie could be promoted more, but Radio City Music Hall wasn’t available for the later date, which is why they started moving the draft around the country. Sometimes great ideas happen by accident.
11) Major League— Bob Uecker should’ve won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Indians’ radio announcer Harry Doyle.
12) He Got Game— Underrated film about college basketball recruiting, with Ray Allen playing a recruit who can get his father out of state prison if he plays ball for the college that a political bigshot wants him to.
13) Rocky— The original was a true classic; a journeyman boxer gets a chance to fight for the heavyweight title, and makes the most of it. 40 years later, tourists who come to Philadelphia still pose for pictures near the Rocky statue.
14) Friday Night Lights— Billy Bob Thornton is a high school football coach in west Texas, where they take high school football very seriously.
— Twins 10, White Sox 5- Minnesota has won 10 games in a row.
— A’s 4, Pirates 0- Oakland has won six of last seven games.
— Cubs 1, Mets 0- Imanaga is 5-0, 0.78 in his first six starts.
— Phillies 2, Angels 1- Phils won despite striking out 18 times.
— Dodgers 8, Arizona 0- Yamamoto tossed six shutout innings.
— 11 teams either got shut out, or scored one run Wednesday.
Quote of the Day
“Do whats in your heart, son. You’ll be fine.”
Robin Williams, from Good Will Hunting
Thursday’s quiz
Which current D-I head coach replaced Bobby Bowden as football coach at Florida State?
Wednesday’s quiz
In the history of the Tampa Bay Rays, Evan Longoria has scored the most runs.
Tuesday’s quiz
In the movie Major League, Corbin Bernson’s character (Roger Dorn) played third base.
***********************************************
Thursday’s Den: Some of my favorite sports movies…….
1) American Underdog— The true/unlikely story of Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner, who went from stocking shelves at an Iowa supermarket to winning a Super Bowl with the Rams.Co-stars Dennis Quaid, Bruce McGill, Anna Paquin helped make this an excellent movie.
2) Moneyball— Beginning isn’t very good, the end sucks, but I’m an A’s fan and this movie is about how the 2003 A’s overcame a small payroll to win 20 games in a row and make their unlikely run to the playoffs.
Only really bad thing about this movie is they made skipper Art Howe look like a bad manager, and he was anything but— you don’t win 20 games in a row by accident.
3) Blue Chips— Nick Nolte is a college basketball coach who used to win a lot; in order to start winning again, he has to decide whether to break the recruiting rules or not.
Bob Cousy is the AD; Shaquille O’Neal, Penny Hardaway are two of the recruits. Lot of cameos from basketball people; Jerry Tarkanian, Jim Boeheim, Rick Pitino, Dick Vitale.
4) Invincible— True story about Vince Papale, a 30-year old bartender who tries out for the 1976 Philadelphia Eagles and makes the squad as a special teams player.
5) Fast Break— Gabe Kaplan manages a New York City deli until he applies for a job as a college basketball coach in Nevada. Bernard King, Michael Warren are two of his players; another one is a girl disguised as a guy.
6) Any Given Sunday— Al Pacino is a pro football coach whose team is struggling; Cameron Diaz is the owner, Dennis Quaid, Jamie Foxx are two of the QB’s.
Miami Sharks play against four teams in the movie, all coached by NFL Hall of Famers.
The Sharks’ third QB was played by Pat O’Hara, who in real life was a backup QB at USC, played some in the Arena League, has been a consultant on 10 football-related movies and to this day, is an assistant coach with the Tennessee Titans.
— Famous birthdays, May 2nd:
Engelbert Humperdinck, 88
Jamaal Wilkes, 71
Keith Moreland, 70
Dwayne Johnson, 52
Pat McAfee, 37
Paul George, 34
Ian Anderson, 26
7) For Love of the Game— Kevin Costner is a star pitcher for the Tigers who is at the end of his career; he has flashbacks throughout his last game.
Detroit’s manager in this movie is JK Simmons, who is a Tigers fan in real life; New York’s manager is the late Augie Garrido, one of the all-time great college baseball coaches.
8) One on One— Robby Benson is a hotshot high school basketball player who gets recruited by a big-time college team, then finds himself in over his head.
9) Bull Durham— Costner is a minor league catcher who is brought in to mentor a hot-shot pitching prospect. Robert Wuhl is the pitching coach, Susan Sarandon mentors the prospect off the field.
10) Draft Day— Costner does lot of sports movies; he is GM of the Cleveland Browns in this one, Denis Leary is the Browns’ coach.
The year this movie came out, NFL pushed back the draft so the movie could be promoted more, but Radio City Music Hall wasn’t available for the later date, which is why they started moving the draft around the country. Sometimes great ideas happen by accident.
11) Major League— Bob Uecker should’ve won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Indians’ radio announcer Harry Doyle.
12) He Got Game— Underrated film about college basketball recruiting, with Ray Allen playing a recruit who can get his father out of state prison if he plays ball for the college that a political bigshot wants him to.
13) Rocky— The original was a true classic; a journeyman boxer gets a chance to fight for the heavyweight title, and makes the most of it. 40 years later, tourists who come to Philadelphia still pose for pictures near the Rocky statue.
14) Friday Night Lights— Billy Bob Thornton is a high school football coach in west Texas, where they take high school football very seriously.
Friday’s 6-pack:
UFL standings, halfway thru the regular season:
USFL Division
Birmingham 5-0
Michigan 3-2
Memphis 1-4
Houston 1-4
XFL Division
St Louis 4-1
San Antonio 4-1
DC Defenders 2-3
Arlington 0-5
Quote of the Day
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.”
Theodore Roosevelt
Friday’s quiz
In New York Knicks’ history, who has made the most 3-point shots?
Thursday’s quiz
Jimbo Fisher replaced Bobby Bowden as football coach at Florida State.
Wednesday’s quiz
In the history of the Tampa Bay Rays, Evan Longoria has scored the most runs.
*****************************************************
— Under is 8-2 in Diamondbacks’ last ten games.
— Braves are 8-2 in series openers.
— Cubs won their last five series openers; they play their first game against an AL Central rival Friday, when they host Milwaukee.
— Reds are 14-2 when they score 5+ runs, 2-13 when they don’t.
— Rockies are 1-23 when they score less than seven runs.
— Dodgers are 3-6 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.
— Marlins won last three games, after a 6-24 start; they’re 1-13 against lefty starting pitchers.
— Over is 6-1 in the Brewers’ last seven home games.
— Under is 5-2 in the Mets’ last seven home games.
— Phillies are 19-3 when they score 4+ runs, 2-8 when they don’t.
— Pirates are 3-13 in their last 16 games, scoring total of 31 runs.
— Cardinals are 5-11 in day games, 9-6 in night games.
— Padres are 14-4 when they score 4+ runs, 2-14 when they don’t.
— Giants are 4-1 in home series openers, 1-4 in road series openers.
— Nationals won six of their last eight road games.
— Famous birthdays for May 3rd:
Davey Lopes, 79
Greg Gumbel, 78
Christopher Cross, 73
Jeff Hornacek, 61
Bobby Cannavale, 54
Ryan Dempster, 47
Tyronn Lue, 47
Domantas Sabonis, 28
— Under is 6-2 in Orioles’ last eight home games.
— Red Sox are 14-2 when they score 5+ runs, 4-12 when they don’t.
— Tommy Pham is 9-24 in six games with White Sox; he’s scored six runs in those six games.
— Guardians have a 20-11 record, tied with Baltimore for best record in American League.
— Tigers are 5-0 vs lefty starting pitchers, 13-13 vs righty starters.
— Astros are off to an 11-20 start; their last losing year in a full season was 2014 (they went 29-31 in 2020, the pandemic season).
— Royals are off to a 19-13 start; their last winning season was 2015, when they won the World Series.
— Since start of 2021 season, Mike Trout has played in 266 (51.5%) of the Angels’ 517 games. Angels don’t play an AL West rival until May 17.
— Twins won their last ten games; the winning run scored from the 7th inning on in four of those ten games.
— Last two years, New York 2B Gleyber Torres hit 24-25 home runs; Thursday, he hit his first homer this season. He’s had 124 at-bats.
— A’s won six of last seven games; they started season 1-6, are 14-11 since then.
— Under is 25-5 in the Mariners’ last 30 games.
— Rays lost eight of their last ten games.
— Under is 10-2 in Rangers’ last 12 home games.
— Blue Jays are 7-3 in series openers.
UFL standings, halfway thru the regular season:
USFL Division
Birmingham 5-0
Michigan 3-2
Memphis 1-4
Houston 1-4
XFL Division
St Louis 4-1
San Antonio 4-1
DC Defenders 2-3
Arlington 0-5
Quote of the Day
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.”
Theodore Roosevelt
Friday’s quiz
In New York Knicks’ history, who has made the most 3-point shots?
Thursday’s quiz
Jimbo Fisher replaced Bobby Bowden as football coach at Florida State.
Wednesday’s quiz
In the history of the Tampa Bay Rays, Evan Longoria has scored the most runs.
*****************************************************
Friday’s Den: A quick trend for all 30 MLB teams…….
A quick trend for all 30 MLB teams…….— Under is 8-2 in Diamondbacks’ last ten games.
— Braves are 8-2 in series openers.
— Cubs won their last five series openers; they play their first game against an AL Central rival Friday, when they host Milwaukee.
— Reds are 14-2 when they score 5+ runs, 2-13 when they don’t.
— Rockies are 1-23 when they score less than seven runs.
— Dodgers are 3-6 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.
— Marlins won last three games, after a 6-24 start; they’re 1-13 against lefty starting pitchers.
— Over is 6-1 in the Brewers’ last seven home games.
— Under is 5-2 in the Mets’ last seven home games.
— Phillies are 19-3 when they score 4+ runs, 2-8 when they don’t.
— Pirates are 3-13 in their last 16 games, scoring total of 31 runs.
— Cardinals are 5-11 in day games, 9-6 in night games.
— Padres are 14-4 when they score 4+ runs, 2-14 when they don’t.
— Giants are 4-1 in home series openers, 1-4 in road series openers.
— Nationals won six of their last eight road games.
— Famous birthdays for May 3rd:
Davey Lopes, 79
Greg Gumbel, 78
Christopher Cross, 73
Jeff Hornacek, 61
Bobby Cannavale, 54
Ryan Dempster, 47
Tyronn Lue, 47
Domantas Sabonis, 28
— Under is 6-2 in Orioles’ last eight home games.
— Red Sox are 14-2 when they score 5+ runs, 4-12 when they don’t.
— Tommy Pham is 9-24 in six games with White Sox; he’s scored six runs in those six games.
— Guardians have a 20-11 record, tied with Baltimore for best record in American League.
— Tigers are 5-0 vs lefty starting pitchers, 13-13 vs righty starters.
— Astros are off to an 11-20 start; their last losing year in a full season was 2014 (they went 29-31 in 2020, the pandemic season).
— Royals are off to a 19-13 start; their last winning season was 2015, when they won the World Series.
— Since start of 2021 season, Mike Trout has played in 266 (51.5%) of the Angels’ 517 games. Angels don’t play an AL West rival until May 17.
— Twins won their last ten games; the winning run scored from the 7th inning on in four of those ten games.
— Last two years, New York 2B Gleyber Torres hit 24-25 home runs; Thursday, he hit his first homer this season. He’s had 124 at-bats.
— A’s won six of last seven games; they started season 1-6, are 14-11 since then.
— Under is 25-5 in the Mariners’ last 30 games.
— Rays lost eight of their last ten games.
— Under is 10-2 in Rangers’ last 12 home games.
— Blue Jays are 7-3 in series openers.
Saturday’s 6-pack:
Major league leaders in hits:
49— Mookie Betts
47— Stephen Kwan, Clev/Trea Turner, LA
46— Jose Altuve, Hst
45— Shohei Ohtani, LA
43— Alec Bohm, Phil
42— Bobby Witt Jr, KC/William Contreras, Milw
Quote of the Day
“People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.”
Dale Carnegie
Saturday’s quiz
First time the Cincinnati Bengals played in a Super Bowl, who was their QB?
Friday’s quiz
In New York Knicks’ history, John Starks has made the most 3-point shots.
Thursday’s quiz
Jimbo Fisher replaced Bobby Bowden as football coach at Florida State.
*****************************************************
Arraez hit .354 last year, is hitting .299 this year.
As for the four guys Miami got:
a) one guy is hitting .176 in the hitter-friendly AA Texas League.
b) another guy is hitting .237 in Class A ball
c) third guy is hitting .292 in the Texas League.
d) relief pitcher has allowed 7 runs in 12.1 IP for the AA team.
As an A’s fan, I can testify that this is depressing for Marlin fans, just quitting this early in the season. The prospect book I buy every year has the three OFs listed as the Padres’ #’s 7-11-17 prospects; the relief pitcher isn’t listed in the book.
— I pay a decent amount of $$$ for MLB.TV, so I can watch any baseball game I want, but part of the deal is the two New York teams get blacked out, until 90 minutes after their games end, plus on Fridays, Apple TV has two games which you can’t watch, unless you have that streaming service.
So, of the seven 7:00 games on Friday’s card, I could only watch three of them live. No bueno.
— Wednesday night in Nashville, they drew 7,568 fans for a minor league games with Norfolk against the host Nashville Sounds.
Meanwhile, the Rockies-Marlins major league game drew 7,171 fans; the Pirates-A’s game drew 4,679 fans in Oakland.
In the next few years, MLB is going to expand to 32 teams; Nashville is a pretty good bet to get one of the two new teams.
— Thursday night, the Knicks eliminated the 76ers from the NBA playoffs, winning Game 6 in a close 118-115 game.
Tobias Harris played 29:00 for Philly; in those 29:00, he was 0-2 from the floor, didn’t score; he had 4 rebounds, 3 assists. 76ers were minus-10 in his 29:00 on the floor, not exactly the kind of production you’d like from a guy making $37M a year.
— Lakers fired coach Darwin Ham Friday, after Denver ousted LA from the playoffs; in his two years coaching the Lakers, Ham had a 90-74 regular season record, 9-12 in playoffs; Lakers won the in-season tournament, which gets exposed for what it is, a meaningless mid-season event.
The whole coaching staff was told to take a hike after the Lakers failed to protect a double-digit lead in all four of their losses to Denver in the series.
— 78 players were invited to the NBA Draft Combine, where players work out for teams; there are only 58 players drafted
— Kentucky Derby is Saturday; the five longest shot to win the Derby:
91-1: Donerail, 1913
80-1: Rich Strike, 2022
65-1: Country House, 2019
50-1: Mine That Bird, 2009
50-1: Giacomo, 2005
— Miami Dolphins signed WR Odell Beckham Jr for one year, $3M, that with incentives, could get as high as $8.25M.
— Famous birthdays for May 4th:
George Will, 83
Rene Lachemann, 79
Butch Beard, 77
Ken Oberkfell, 68
Rick Leach, 67
Cleveland Gary, 58
Dawn Staley, 54
Ben Grieve, 48
Rory McIlroy, 35
— Baseball injuries:
Pirates activated C Yasmani Grandal, sent Henry Davis to AAA
Rangers put P Nathan Eovaldi (leg strain) on IL.
— Dodgers 4, Braves 3 (11)
Andy Pages’ 4th hit of the game was a walk-off single in the 11th inning.
— Bronx 2, Tigers 1
Stanton tied game with a 9th-inning double; Rizzo won it with a walk-off single. New York has scored a total of eight runs in its last five games.
— A’s 3, Marlins 1
Sears tossed 6.1 scoreless IP, as the A’s won their 5th game in a row.
Rooker homered for Oakland.
— Brewers 3, Cubs 1
Milwaukee scored 3 runs in 8th, as Craig Counsell lost to his old team.
— There were four games Friday that were scoreless after five innings; are the baseballs dead or something? Offense seems to be way down so far this season.
— Rays 10, Mets 8
DeLuca had 3 RBI in his first game this season, coming off a hand injury.
Quintana got racked for 10 hits, 8 runs in 2.2 IP.
— If the playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Braves, Cubs, (NYM-Cin-Wsh)
AL: Orioles, Guardians, Mariners. Wild Cards: Bronx, Royals, Twins
Major league leaders in hits:
49— Mookie Betts
47— Stephen Kwan, Clev/Trea Turner, LA
46— Jose Altuve, Hst
45— Shohei Ohtani, LA
43— Alec Bohm, Phil
42— Bobby Witt Jr, KC/William Contreras, Milw
Quote of the Day
“People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.”
Dale Carnegie
Saturday’s quiz
First time the Cincinnati Bengals played in a Super Bowl, who was their QB?
Friday’s quiz
In New York Knicks’ history, John Starks has made the most 3-point shots.
Thursday’s quiz
Jimbo Fisher replaced Bobby Bowden as football coach at Florida State.
*****************************************************
Saturday’s Den: Random stuff with the weekend here…….
— Saturday is May 4th; Miami Marlins have already tanked this season; they traded 2B Luis Arraez to San Diego Friday, for three outfield prospects and a relief pitcher.Arraez hit .354 last year, is hitting .299 this year.
As for the four guys Miami got:
a) one guy is hitting .176 in the hitter-friendly AA Texas League.
b) another guy is hitting .237 in Class A ball
c) third guy is hitting .292 in the Texas League.
d) relief pitcher has allowed 7 runs in 12.1 IP for the AA team.
As an A’s fan, I can testify that this is depressing for Marlin fans, just quitting this early in the season. The prospect book I buy every year has the three OFs listed as the Padres’ #’s 7-11-17 prospects; the relief pitcher isn’t listed in the book.
— I pay a decent amount of $$$ for MLB.TV, so I can watch any baseball game I want, but part of the deal is the two New York teams get blacked out, until 90 minutes after their games end, plus on Fridays, Apple TV has two games which you can’t watch, unless you have that streaming service.
So, of the seven 7:00 games on Friday’s card, I could only watch three of them live. No bueno.
— Wednesday night in Nashville, they drew 7,568 fans for a minor league games with Norfolk against the host Nashville Sounds.
Meanwhile, the Rockies-Marlins major league game drew 7,171 fans; the Pirates-A’s game drew 4,679 fans in Oakland.
In the next few years, MLB is going to expand to 32 teams; Nashville is a pretty good bet to get one of the two new teams.
— Thursday night, the Knicks eliminated the 76ers from the NBA playoffs, winning Game 6 in a close 118-115 game.
Tobias Harris played 29:00 for Philly; in those 29:00, he was 0-2 from the floor, didn’t score; he had 4 rebounds, 3 assists. 76ers were minus-10 in his 29:00 on the floor, not exactly the kind of production you’d like from a guy making $37M a year.
— Lakers fired coach Darwin Ham Friday, after Denver ousted LA from the playoffs; in his two years coaching the Lakers, Ham had a 90-74 regular season record, 9-12 in playoffs; Lakers won the in-season tournament, which gets exposed for what it is, a meaningless mid-season event.
The whole coaching staff was told to take a hike after the Lakers failed to protect a double-digit lead in all four of their losses to Denver in the series.
— 78 players were invited to the NBA Draft Combine, where players work out for teams; there are only 58 players drafted
— Kentucky Derby is Saturday; the five longest shot to win the Derby:
91-1: Donerail, 1913
80-1: Rich Strike, 2022
65-1: Country House, 2019
50-1: Mine That Bird, 2009
50-1: Giacomo, 2005
— Miami Dolphins signed WR Odell Beckham Jr for one year, $3M, that with incentives, could get as high as $8.25M.
— Famous birthdays for May 4th:
George Will, 83
Rene Lachemann, 79
Butch Beard, 77
Ken Oberkfell, 68
Rick Leach, 67
Cleveland Gary, 58
Dawn Staley, 54
Ben Grieve, 48
Rory McIlroy, 35
— Baseball injuries:
Pirates activated C Yasmani Grandal, sent Henry Davis to AAA
Rangers put P Nathan Eovaldi (leg strain) on IL.
— Dodgers 4, Braves 3 (11)
Andy Pages’ 4th hit of the game was a walk-off single in the 11th inning.
— Bronx 2, Tigers 1
Stanton tied game with a 9th-inning double; Rizzo won it with a walk-off single. New York has scored a total of eight runs in its last five games.
— A’s 3, Marlins 1
Sears tossed 6.1 scoreless IP, as the A’s won their 5th game in a row.
Rooker homered for Oakland.
— Brewers 3, Cubs 1
Milwaukee scored 3 runs in 8th, as Craig Counsell lost to his old team.
— There were four games Friday that were scoreless after five innings; are the baseballs dead or something? Offense seems to be way down so far this season.
— Rays 10, Mets 8
DeLuca had 3 RBI in his first game this season, coming off a hand injury.
Quintana got racked for 10 hits, 8 runs in 2.2 IP.
— If the playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Braves, Cubs, (NYM-Cin-Wsh)
AL: Orioles, Guardians, Mariners. Wild Cards: Bronx, Royals, Twins
Armadillo Sports
Sunday’s 6-pack:
Major League leaders in batting average:
.364— Alec Bohm, Phil
.360— Mookie Betts, LA
.353— Steven Kwan, Clev
.347— Jurickson Profar SD/Will Smith, LA
.345— Shohei Ohtani, LA
.343— Trea Turner, Phil
Quote of the Day
“Huge moment, obviously. You could say a little relief, as well.”
Boston Bruins’ star, David Pastrnak, who scored series-winning goal in OT Saturday
Sunday’s quiz
When the Cubs won the World Series in 2016, who did they beat?
Saturday’s quiz
First time the Cincinnati Bengals played in a Super Bowl, Ken Anderson was their QB.
Friday’s quiz
In New York Knicks’ history, John Starks has made the most 3-point shots.
***************************************
Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Saturday…….
— Padres 13, Diamondbacks 1
Luis Arraez went 4-6, scored twice in his first game for San Diego.
— A’s 20, Marlins 4
A’s have won six in a row and 5.5 weeks into the season, they’re 17-17.
Brent Rooker homered twice, both in the 3rd inning; he is the 60th player EVER to homer twice in the same inning.
Oakland is only 1.5 games out of first place in the AL West.
— Twins 3, Red Sox 1
Minnesota has now won 12 games in a row, their longest win streak since 1991.
Pablo Lopez struck out eight batters in 6 IP.
— White Sox 6, Cardinals 5
St Louis had bases loaded, two out in 10th inning, then a downpour happened, and the game was delayed……..for 3 hours, 3 minutes, before Tanner Banks got a 4-pitch save.
— Pirates 1, Rockies 0
Jack Suwinski had a walk-off single for the Pirates, ending an 0-16 slump
Pirates are 4-14 in their last 18 games.
Colorado had only one hit against rookie P Jared Jones.
— Mariners 5, Astros 0
Logan Gilbert tossed eight shutout IP for the win.
Astros had only 3 hits; they’re 7-11 at home.
— Rays 3, Mets 1
Tampa Bay scored twice in 8th inning; winning run scored on a bases loaded walk.
Christian Scott allowed a run in 6.2 IP, in his MLB debut for the Mets.
— Famous birthdays for May 5th:
Larry Steele, 75
Charles Nagy, 57
LaPhonso Ellis, 54
Harold Miner, 53
PJ Tucker, 39
Logan Gilbert, 27
— Dodgers 11, Braves 2
Max Muncy hit three home runs for the Dodgers.
Braves are 1-4 on their west coast trip this week.
— Orioles 2, Reds 1
John Means tossed 7 shutout IP in his first 2024 start.
Reds scored one run in their last three home games.
— Bruins 2, Maple Leafs 1, OT
Toronto scored first goal of game with 10:59 left; Bruins tied it 1:21 later.
Boston wins series, 4-3, moves on to play Florida next.
— Minnesota 106, Denver 99
Minnesota scored 40 points in first half, 66 in second half.
Timberwolves take 1-0 lead in series.
— Birmingham 39, Memphis 21
Stallions clinched a playoff spot already, with four weeks left in season.
Adrian Martinez threw for 368 yards, four TD’s.
— St Louis 22, Houston 8
St Louis scored two TD’s in last 6:12 of the first half.
Houston is 1-5, tied with Memphis for worst record in the UFL.
— If the playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Braves, Cubs, Padres
AL: Orioles, Guardians, Mariners. Wild Cards: Bronx, Royals, Twins
Sunday’s 6-pack:
Major League leaders in batting average:
.364— Alec Bohm, Phil
.360— Mookie Betts, LA
.353— Steven Kwan, Clev
.347— Jurickson Profar SD/Will Smith, LA
.345— Shohei Ohtani, LA
.343— Trea Turner, Phil
Quote of the Day
“Huge moment, obviously. You could say a little relief, as well.”
Boston Bruins’ star, David Pastrnak, who scored series-winning goal in OT Saturday
Sunday’s quiz
When the Cubs won the World Series in 2016, who did they beat?
Saturday’s quiz
First time the Cincinnati Bengals played in a Super Bowl, Ken Anderson was their QB.
Friday’s quiz
In New York Knicks’ history, John Starks has made the most 3-point shots.
***************************************
Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Saturday…….
— Padres 13, Diamondbacks 1
Luis Arraez went 4-6, scored twice in his first game for San Diego.
— A’s 20, Marlins 4
A’s have won six in a row and 5.5 weeks into the season, they’re 17-17.
Brent Rooker homered twice, both in the 3rd inning; he is the 60th player EVER to homer twice in the same inning.
Oakland is only 1.5 games out of first place in the AL West.
— Twins 3, Red Sox 1
Minnesota has now won 12 games in a row, their longest win streak since 1991.
Pablo Lopez struck out eight batters in 6 IP.
— White Sox 6, Cardinals 5
St Louis had bases loaded, two out in 10th inning, then a downpour happened, and the game was delayed……..for 3 hours, 3 minutes, before Tanner Banks got a 4-pitch save.
— Pirates 1, Rockies 0
Jack Suwinski had a walk-off single for the Pirates, ending an 0-16 slump
Pirates are 4-14 in their last 18 games.
Colorado had only one hit against rookie P Jared Jones.
— Mariners 5, Astros 0
Logan Gilbert tossed eight shutout IP for the win.
Astros had only 3 hits; they’re 7-11 at home.
— Rays 3, Mets 1
Tampa Bay scored twice in 8th inning; winning run scored on a bases loaded walk.
Christian Scott allowed a run in 6.2 IP, in his MLB debut for the Mets.
— Famous birthdays for May 5th:
Larry Steele, 75
Charles Nagy, 57
LaPhonso Ellis, 54
Harold Miner, 53
PJ Tucker, 39
Logan Gilbert, 27
— Dodgers 11, Braves 2
Max Muncy hit three home runs for the Dodgers.
Braves are 1-4 on their west coast trip this week.
— Orioles 2, Reds 1
John Means tossed 7 shutout IP in his first 2024 start.
Reds scored one run in their last three home games.
— Bruins 2, Maple Leafs 1, OT
Toronto scored first goal of game with 10:59 left; Bruins tied it 1:21 later.
Boston wins series, 4-3, moves on to play Florida next.
— Minnesota 106, Denver 99
Minnesota scored 40 points in first half, 66 in second half.
Timberwolves take 1-0 lead in series.
— Birmingham 39, Memphis 21
Stallions clinched a playoff spot already, with four weeks left in season.
Adrian Martinez threw for 368 yards, four TD’s.
— St Louis 22, Houston 8
St Louis scored two TD’s in last 6:12 of the first half.
Houston is 1-5, tied with Memphis for worst record in the UFL.
— If the playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Braves, Cubs, Padres
AL: Orioles, Guardians, Mariners. Wild Cards: Bronx, Royals, Twins
