Thursday’s 6-pack
Active leaders in career games pitched:
790— Joe Smith
777— Tyler Clippard
738— Sergio Romo
733— Joakim Soria
695— Oliver Perez
639— Kenley Jansen
Americans who have died from COVID-19: 567,557
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.
Quote of the Day
“Put a tent on that circus.”
Mets’ TV guy Gary Cohen, after the Cubs scored seven runs in the 4th inning Wednesday, helped by a couple errors by the Mets.
Thursday’s quiz
When the Cubs won the World Series in 2016, who did they beat?
Wednesday’s quiz
Peyton Manning was the first pick of the 1998 NFL Draft; Ryan Leaf was the #2 pick.
Tuesday’s quiz
Rick Pitino has had a long, very successful coaching career; his first head coaching job was at Boston University, from 1978-83
*********************************************************
Thursday’s Den: Doing some thinking out loud…….
13) Braves 4, Bronx 1— Atlanta starter Ian Anderson blanked New York for 6.2 innings last night; he went to Shenendehowa HS in Clifton Park, NY, about 15 miles north of Armadillo World HQ. Pretty strong performance 160 miles south of home.
Knicks 137, Hawks 127 OT— 10-15 miles away at Madison Square Garden, Kevin Huerter scored 17 points for Atlanta; he also went to Shenendehowa, before going to Maryland.
Pretty cool coincidence for two high school friends/teammates.
12) Knicks, by the way, have now won eight games in a row, covered 11 in a row; they’re the #4 seed in the Eastern Conference. Going to be an interesting vote between Tom Thibodeau and the Suns’ Monty Williams, for NBA Coach of the Year.
11) Arizona 8, Cincinnati 5:
— Strong candidate for Bad Beat of the Week, if you had Reds/under. Cincinnati led this game 3-0 in ninth inning, but Josh VanMeter hit a 3-run tater to tie the game, then the Snakes scored five runs in the 10th inning.
— Reds gets Castellano back from suspension Thursday, a big deal for their lineup.
10) Marlins 3, Orioles 0:
— Trevor Rogers is 2-1, 1.64 in four starts; he’s looking pretty good.
9) A’s 13, Twins 12 (10):
— Weird game; after not scoring a run in a doubleheader Tuesday, Minnesota scored 12 runs here and still loses— their defense fell apart in the last inning.
— Hector Cruz homered twice for the Twins.
— Minnesota had 18 hits, but they pinch-ran for Josh Donaldson in the 10th inning and it badly compromised their infield defense, which cost them the game.
8) Cubs 16, Mets 4:
— Things got so bad that 3B Luis Guillorme pitched the bottom of the 8th inning.
— When Javier Baez batted in against Guillorme, he hit lefty for only the third time in his career, so as not to screw up his righty swing against a position player.
— When the home team announcer says “Put a tent on this circus” after a bad half-inning, you know the team’s defense needs some work.
7) From 2000-09, 95 position players pitched in big league games. Since 2010, 310 position players have toed the rubber. White Sox used two position players to pitch in Monday’s loss.
6) Pacers 122, Thunder 116— Oklahoma City lost its last 12 games; their last win was way back on March 31. Thunder has a boatload of draft picks coming up over the next few years; they’re going to need them.
5) Braves 4, Bronx 1— New York has scored 3 or fewer runs in 11 of 17 games; they’re 6-11. Not sure how the batting coach keeps his job— you can’t fire the players.
4) Bad news for the Padres; P Dinelson Lamet left Wednesday’s start after 29 pitches with tightness in his forearm, a bad omen as he tries to recover from last year’s injury issues.
San Diego gets talked up a lot as a viable rival for the world champion Dodgers but they’re 10-10 and looking very average.
3) Evil bastard alert: Hong Kong police arrested a 19-year old guy who bilked a 90-year old woman out of $32M. The woman lives in Hong Kong’s most expensive neighborhood; the evil bastard has obviously never heard of the term “karma” before.
2) Genius alert: Houston Rockets’ guard Kevin Porter Jr will miss time because of a violation of the NBA’s health/safety protocols after he visited a Miami strip club with teammate Sterling Brown- Brown was assaulted in a fracas at the club.
1) NFL schedule gets released May 12 at 8pm; its not so much who you play as when you play them. That would be a great reality show, how they make the schedule, how they pick which games are in primetime.
Active leaders in career games pitched:
790— Joe Smith
777— Tyler Clippard
738— Sergio Romo
733— Joakim Soria
695— Oliver Perez
639— Kenley Jansen
Americans who have died from COVID-19: 567,557
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.
Quote of the Day
“Put a tent on that circus.”
Mets’ TV guy Gary Cohen, after the Cubs scored seven runs in the 4th inning Wednesday, helped by a couple errors by the Mets.
Thursday’s quiz
When the Cubs won the World Series in 2016, who did they beat?
Wednesday’s quiz
Peyton Manning was the first pick of the 1998 NFL Draft; Ryan Leaf was the #2 pick.
Tuesday’s quiz
Rick Pitino has had a long, very successful coaching career; his first head coaching job was at Boston University, from 1978-83
*********************************************************
Thursday’s Den: Doing some thinking out loud…….
13) Braves 4, Bronx 1— Atlanta starter Ian Anderson blanked New York for 6.2 innings last night; he went to Shenendehowa HS in Clifton Park, NY, about 15 miles north of Armadillo World HQ. Pretty strong performance 160 miles south of home.
Knicks 137, Hawks 127 OT— 10-15 miles away at Madison Square Garden, Kevin Huerter scored 17 points for Atlanta; he also went to Shenendehowa, before going to Maryland.
Pretty cool coincidence for two high school friends/teammates.
12) Knicks, by the way, have now won eight games in a row, covered 11 in a row; they’re the #4 seed in the Eastern Conference. Going to be an interesting vote between Tom Thibodeau and the Suns’ Monty Williams, for NBA Coach of the Year.
11) Arizona 8, Cincinnati 5:
— Strong candidate for Bad Beat of the Week, if you had Reds/under. Cincinnati led this game 3-0 in ninth inning, but Josh VanMeter hit a 3-run tater to tie the game, then the Snakes scored five runs in the 10th inning.
— Reds gets Castellano back from suspension Thursday, a big deal for their lineup.
10) Marlins 3, Orioles 0:
— Trevor Rogers is 2-1, 1.64 in four starts; he’s looking pretty good.
9) A’s 13, Twins 12 (10):
— Weird game; after not scoring a run in a doubleheader Tuesday, Minnesota scored 12 runs here and still loses— their defense fell apart in the last inning.
— Hector Cruz homered twice for the Twins.
— Minnesota had 18 hits, but they pinch-ran for Josh Donaldson in the 10th inning and it badly compromised their infield defense, which cost them the game.
8) Cubs 16, Mets 4:
— Things got so bad that 3B Luis Guillorme pitched the bottom of the 8th inning.
— When Javier Baez batted in against Guillorme, he hit lefty for only the third time in his career, so as not to screw up his righty swing against a position player.
— When the home team announcer says “Put a tent on this circus” after a bad half-inning, you know the team’s defense needs some work.
7) From 2000-09, 95 position players pitched in big league games. Since 2010, 310 position players have toed the rubber. White Sox used two position players to pitch in Monday’s loss.
6) Pacers 122, Thunder 116— Oklahoma City lost its last 12 games; their last win was way back on March 31. Thunder has a boatload of draft picks coming up over the next few years; they’re going to need them.
5) Braves 4, Bronx 1— New York has scored 3 or fewer runs in 11 of 17 games; they’re 6-11. Not sure how the batting coach keeps his job— you can’t fire the players.
4) Bad news for the Padres; P Dinelson Lamet left Wednesday’s start after 29 pitches with tightness in his forearm, a bad omen as he tries to recover from last year’s injury issues.
San Diego gets talked up a lot as a viable rival for the world champion Dodgers but they’re 10-10 and looking very average.
3) Evil bastard alert: Hong Kong police arrested a 19-year old guy who bilked a 90-year old woman out of $32M. The woman lives in Hong Kong’s most expensive neighborhood; the evil bastard has obviously never heard of the term “karma” before.
2) Genius alert: Houston Rockets’ guard Kevin Porter Jr will miss time because of a violation of the NBA’s health/safety protocols after he visited a Miami strip club with teammate Sterling Brown- Brown was assaulted in a fracas at the club.
1) NFL schedule gets released May 12 at 8pm; its not so much who you play as when you play them. That would be a great reality show, how they make the schedule, how they pick which games are in primetime.
9WASHINGTON -10 NY ISLANDERS
NY ISLANDERS are 14-2 ATS (11.4 Units) in home games against excellent power play teams- scoring on >17.5% of their chances in the current season.
11BOSTON -12 BUFFALO
BUFFALO is 6-32 ATS (-29.2 Units) off a loss by 2 goals or more to a division rival in the last 3 seasons.
13CAROLINA -14 FLORIDA
CAROLINA is 7-0 ATS (7.7 Units) against good possession teams-averaging 3+ more shots on goal than opp in the current season.
15COLUMBUS -16 TAMPA BAY
COLUMBUS are 12-28 ATS (-14.6 Units) against mistake free teams - opponents average <=4 power plays/game in the current season.
17NEW JERSEY -18 PITTSBURGH
NEW JERSEY is 7-1 ATS (5.9 Units) in road games after allowing 4 goals or more in a loss to a division rival over the last 2 seasons.
19PHILADELPHIA -20 NY RANGERS
NY RANGERS are 15-3 ATS (13 Units) against horrible power play killing teams-opp score on >19% of chances in the 2nd half of the year over the last 2 seasons.
21DALLAS -22 DETROIT
DALLAS are 15-33 ATS (-21.3 Units) when playing their 3rd game in 4 days in the last 3 seasons.
23COLORADO -24 ST LOUIS
ST LOUIS are 1-7 ATS (-10.8 Units) in home games against excellent power play teams - scoring on > 19% of their chances in the current season.
27OTTAWA -28 VANCOUVER
VANCOUVER is 7-0 ATS (7 Units) in home games when playing 3 or less games in 10 days over the last 2 seasons.
81TORONTO -82 WINNIPEG
TORONTO is 9-0 ATS (9 Units) in road games vs. winning teams in the current season.
NY ISLANDERS are 14-2 ATS (11.4 Units) in home games against excellent power play teams- scoring on >17.5% of their chances in the current season.
11BOSTON -12 BUFFALO
BUFFALO is 6-32 ATS (-29.2 Units) off a loss by 2 goals or more to a division rival in the last 3 seasons.
13CAROLINA -14 FLORIDA
CAROLINA is 7-0 ATS (7.7 Units) against good possession teams-averaging 3+ more shots on goal than opp in the current season.
15COLUMBUS -16 TAMPA BAY
COLUMBUS are 12-28 ATS (-14.6 Units) against mistake free teams - opponents average <=4 power plays/game in the current season.
17NEW JERSEY -18 PITTSBURGH
NEW JERSEY is 7-1 ATS (5.9 Units) in road games after allowing 4 goals or more in a loss to a division rival over the last 2 seasons.
19PHILADELPHIA -20 NY RANGERS
NY RANGERS are 15-3 ATS (13 Units) against horrible power play killing teams-opp score on >19% of chances in the 2nd half of the year over the last 2 seasons.
21DALLAS -22 DETROIT
DALLAS are 15-33 ATS (-21.3 Units) when playing their 3rd game in 4 days in the last 3 seasons.
23COLORADO -24 ST LOUIS
ST LOUIS are 1-7 ATS (-10.8 Units) in home games against excellent power play teams - scoring on > 19% of their chances in the current season.
27OTTAWA -28 VANCOUVER
VANCOUVER is 7-0 ATS (7 Units) in home games when playing 3 or less games in 10 days over the last 2 seasons.
81TORONTO -82 WINNIPEG
TORONTO is 9-0 ATS (9 Units) in road games vs. winning teams in the current season.
NHL
Thursday, April 22
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Trend Report
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Boston @ Buffalo
Boston
Boston is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Boston is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Buffalo
Buffalo
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Buffalo's last 5 games when playing at home against Boston
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Buffalo's last 5 games when playing Boston
Carolina @ Florida
Carolina
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Carolina's last 5 games
Carolina is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Florida
Florida
Florida is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
Florida is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games at home
Washington @ NY Islanders
Washington
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Washington's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Washington's last 6 games on the road
NY Islanders
NY Islanders is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of NY Islanders's last 6 games at home
New Jersey @ Pittsburgh
New Jersey
New Jersey is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games when playing on the road against Pittsburgh
The total has gone OVER in 4 of New Jersey's last 5 games on the road
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games at home
Pittsburgh is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing New Jersey
Columbus @ Tampa Bay
Columbus
Columbus is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Tampa Bay
Columbus is 15-1 ATS in its last 16 games when playing Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Tampa Bay's last 6 games when playing at home against Columbus
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Tampa Bay's last 8 games at home
Philadelphia @ NY Rangers
Philadelphia
Philadelphia is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against NY Rangers
Philadelphia is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
NY Rangers
NY Rangers is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 7 of NY Rangers's last 8 games at home
Toronto @ Winnipeg
Toronto
Toronto is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Winnipeg
Toronto is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Toronto
The total has gone OVER in 17 of Winnipeg's last 23 games when playing Toronto
Dallas @ Detroit
Dallas
Dallas is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing Detroit
Dallas is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games
Detroit
Detroit is 10-3 ATS in its last 13 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Detroit's last 8 games at home
Colorado @ St. Louis
Colorado
Colorado is 9-1 SU in its last 10 games
Colorado is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games when playing St. Louis
St. Louis
St. Louis is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Colorado
St. Louis is 9-2 SU in its last 11 games when playing at home against Colorado
Ottawa @ Vancouver
Ottawa
Ottawa is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
Ottawa is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games
Vancouver
Vancouver is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing at home against Ottawa
Vancouver is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Ottawa
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, April 22
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boston @ Buffalo
Boston
Boston is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Boston is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Buffalo
Buffalo
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Buffalo's last 5 games when playing at home against Boston
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Buffalo's last 5 games when playing Boston
Carolina @ Florida
Carolina
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Carolina's last 5 games
Carolina is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Florida
Florida
Florida is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
Florida is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games at home
Washington @ NY Islanders
Washington
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Washington's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Washington's last 6 games on the road
NY Islanders
NY Islanders is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of NY Islanders's last 6 games at home
New Jersey @ Pittsburgh
New Jersey
New Jersey is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games when playing on the road against Pittsburgh
The total has gone OVER in 4 of New Jersey's last 5 games on the road
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games at home
Pittsburgh is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing New Jersey
Columbus @ Tampa Bay
Columbus
Columbus is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Tampa Bay
Columbus is 15-1 ATS in its last 16 games when playing Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Tampa Bay's last 6 games when playing at home against Columbus
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Tampa Bay's last 8 games at home
Philadelphia @ NY Rangers
Philadelphia
Philadelphia is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against NY Rangers
Philadelphia is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
NY Rangers
NY Rangers is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 7 of NY Rangers's last 8 games at home
Toronto @ Winnipeg
Toronto
Toronto is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Winnipeg
Toronto is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Toronto
The total has gone OVER in 17 of Winnipeg's last 23 games when playing Toronto
Dallas @ Detroit
Dallas
Dallas is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing Detroit
Dallas is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games
Detroit
Detroit is 10-3 ATS in its last 13 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Detroit's last 8 games at home
Colorado @ St. Louis
Colorado
Colorado is 9-1 SU in its last 10 games
Colorado is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games when playing St. Louis
St. Louis
St. Louis is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Colorado
St. Louis is 9-2 SU in its last 11 games when playing at home against Colorado
Ottawa @ Vancouver
Ottawa
Ottawa is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
Ottawa is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games
Vancouver
Vancouver is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing at home against Ottawa
Vancouver is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Ottawa
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday’s 6-pack
Major league leaders in run differential:
+37— Dodgers
+24— Milwaukee
+23— Boston
+17— Cincinnati
+14— White Sox
+10— Toronto, San Francisco
Americans who have died from COVID-19: 569,438
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.
Quote of the Day
“Every GOAT I’ve trained is driven more by failure than success. They wouldn’t trade their failures for anything.”
Tom House
Friday’s quiz
Who led the major leagues in hits from 1990-99?
Hint: He isn’t a Hall of Famer.
Thursday’s quiz
When the Cubs won the World Series in 2016, they beat Cleveland.
Wednesday’s quiz
Peyton Manning was the first pick of the 1998 NFL Draft; Ryan Leaf was the #2 pick.
***************************************************************
Friday’s Den: Random stuff with the weekend here…….
13) Cleveland pitcher Aaron Civale is on my fantasy baseball team; turned the Indians’ game on last night to watch him pitch against New York, thought he got squeezed by the home plate umpire in the first inning. Strike zone seemed to widen some when Cleveland batted.
I can be paranoid now and then, so checked at the boxscore to see who the home plate umpire was; as long as I didn’t see one name, it would be no big deal. But then I saw it……..
Sure enough, Will Bleepin’ Little was umpiring home plate; Cleveland wasn’t going to win.
12) Since the start of the 2015 season, Bronx Bombers are 12-1 when Little calls balls/strikes in their games; in the one loss, the last out was a fly ball to the fence that would’ve won the game.
Back in 2017, I was sitting at a bar having lunch, watching the A’s play in the Bronx; they lost 3-2, the only game A’s 2B Jed Lowrie has ever been thrown out of, that’s how bad Little was.
Sure enough, Indians lost 6-3 last night, though Civale did OK. Little shouldn’t be allowed to ump behind the plate when the Bronx Bombers are playing.
11) The new thing in baseball is having players who can play several positions; it helps if guys get hurt and makes teams more flexible, but I’m thinking it also hurts a team’s defense— if a guy is playing several positions, he has to practice lot of different throws, hard to excel at any one of the positions.
Watching lot of games every night, between the shifts putting fielders in unusual places, and guys playing several positions, think infield defense has suffered some so far this season.
10) St Louis Cardinals scored 44 runs in Jack Flaherty’s first four starts, winning all four.
Cardinals scored 7 runs in Carlos Martinez’s first four starts, losing all four.
9) Giants 3, Marlins 0— This is a genuinely weird stat; Giants’ backup C Curt Casali started this game, and for his 5th straight start, the Giants threw a shutout.
8) Arizona 14, Cincinnati 11 (10):
— Game was 2-1 Arizona after the 5th inning.
— David Peralta was 5-6 with seven RBI for Arizona.
— Cincinnati hit six home runs and still lost.
7) Padres 3, Dodgers 2— San Diego 2B Jake Cronenworth made two great defensive plays to help save this game, starting an 8th inning double play after fielding a vicious smash hit by Sheldon Neuse. He doesn’t field the ball, and the Dodgers tie the game, at least.
6) Blake Snell has started four games for San Diego, but pitched a total of only 15.1 innings; that isn’t enough, especially with Dinelson Lamet now out with another arm injury. In four starts, Snell hasn’t gotten an out after the 5th inning.
Aces on a pitching staff have to give the bullpens a breather, or else the bullpens will get worn out as the summer goes on.
5) College football teams will have to try 2-point conversions after TD’s in the second overtime period of games rather than the third, according to a change approved Thursday by the NCAA.
If the game is still tied after the second OT, then they’ll do 2-point conversion shootouts, kind of the way the NHL does their shootouts.
4) If the NBA regular season ended today, the Knicks would have home court edge in the first round of the playoffs— didn’t see that coming.
3) Baseball injuries:
— Cubs put OF Joc Pederson (wrist) on IL
— Padres put P Dinelson Lamet (arm) on IL
— Giants put SS Donovan Solano (calf) on IL
— Marlins put 3B Brian Anderson (oblique) on IL.
2) I’m not fond of mock drafts; there are too many of them. I’m interesting in what a guy like Mel Kiper or Daniel Jeremiah on NFL Network, but when the same person does four of them, then throws in a bunch of trades, they’re just making stuff up for clickbait.
It becomes a waste of time.
Plus I root for the Rams, who haven’t made a first round pick since 2016, so it doesn’t matter as much to me as it does to other fans.
1) NL East standings:
7-7: Mets
9-9: Phillies
8-10: Marlins, Braves
7-9: Nationals
Going to be an interesting summer in that division.
Major league leaders in run differential:
+37— Dodgers
+24— Milwaukee
+23— Boston
+17— Cincinnati
+14— White Sox
+10— Toronto, San Francisco
Americans who have died from COVID-19: 569,438
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.
Quote of the Day
“Every GOAT I’ve trained is driven more by failure than success. They wouldn’t trade their failures for anything.”
Tom House
Friday’s quiz
Who led the major leagues in hits from 1990-99?
Hint: He isn’t a Hall of Famer.
Thursday’s quiz
When the Cubs won the World Series in 2016, they beat Cleveland.
Wednesday’s quiz
Peyton Manning was the first pick of the 1998 NFL Draft; Ryan Leaf was the #2 pick.
***************************************************************
Friday’s Den: Random stuff with the weekend here…….
13) Cleveland pitcher Aaron Civale is on my fantasy baseball team; turned the Indians’ game on last night to watch him pitch against New York, thought he got squeezed by the home plate umpire in the first inning. Strike zone seemed to widen some when Cleveland batted.
I can be paranoid now and then, so checked at the boxscore to see who the home plate umpire was; as long as I didn’t see one name, it would be no big deal. But then I saw it……..
Sure enough, Will Bleepin’ Little was umpiring home plate; Cleveland wasn’t going to win.
12) Since the start of the 2015 season, Bronx Bombers are 12-1 when Little calls balls/strikes in their games; in the one loss, the last out was a fly ball to the fence that would’ve won the game.
Back in 2017, I was sitting at a bar having lunch, watching the A’s play in the Bronx; they lost 3-2, the only game A’s 2B Jed Lowrie has ever been thrown out of, that’s how bad Little was.
Sure enough, Indians lost 6-3 last night, though Civale did OK. Little shouldn’t be allowed to ump behind the plate when the Bronx Bombers are playing.
11) The new thing in baseball is having players who can play several positions; it helps if guys get hurt and makes teams more flexible, but I’m thinking it also hurts a team’s defense— if a guy is playing several positions, he has to practice lot of different throws, hard to excel at any one of the positions.
Watching lot of games every night, between the shifts putting fielders in unusual places, and guys playing several positions, think infield defense has suffered some so far this season.
10) St Louis Cardinals scored 44 runs in Jack Flaherty’s first four starts, winning all four.
Cardinals scored 7 runs in Carlos Martinez’s first four starts, losing all four.
9) Giants 3, Marlins 0— This is a genuinely weird stat; Giants’ backup C Curt Casali started this game, and for his 5th straight start, the Giants threw a shutout.
8) Arizona 14, Cincinnati 11 (10):
— Game was 2-1 Arizona after the 5th inning.
— David Peralta was 5-6 with seven RBI for Arizona.
— Cincinnati hit six home runs and still lost.
7) Padres 3, Dodgers 2— San Diego 2B Jake Cronenworth made two great defensive plays to help save this game, starting an 8th inning double play after fielding a vicious smash hit by Sheldon Neuse. He doesn’t field the ball, and the Dodgers tie the game, at least.
6) Blake Snell has started four games for San Diego, but pitched a total of only 15.1 innings; that isn’t enough, especially with Dinelson Lamet now out with another arm injury. In four starts, Snell hasn’t gotten an out after the 5th inning.
Aces on a pitching staff have to give the bullpens a breather, or else the bullpens will get worn out as the summer goes on.
5) College football teams will have to try 2-point conversions after TD’s in the second overtime period of games rather than the third, according to a change approved Thursday by the NCAA.
If the game is still tied after the second OT, then they’ll do 2-point conversion shootouts, kind of the way the NHL does their shootouts.
4) If the NBA regular season ended today, the Knicks would have home court edge in the first round of the playoffs— didn’t see that coming.
3) Baseball injuries:
— Cubs put OF Joc Pederson (wrist) on IL
— Padres put P Dinelson Lamet (arm) on IL
— Giants put SS Donovan Solano (calf) on IL
— Marlins put 3B Brian Anderson (oblique) on IL.
2) I’m not fond of mock drafts; there are too many of them. I’m interesting in what a guy like Mel Kiper or Daniel Jeremiah on NFL Network, but when the same person does four of them, then throws in a bunch of trades, they’re just making stuff up for clickbait.
It becomes a waste of time.
Plus I root for the Rams, who haven’t made a first round pick since 2016, so it doesn’t matter as much to me as it does to other fans.
1) NL East standings:
7-7: Mets
9-9: Phillies
8-10: Marlins, Braves
7-9: Nationals
Going to be an interesting summer in that division.
29PHILADELPHIA -30 NY RANGERS
NY RANGERS are 15-3 ATS (13 Units) against horrible power play killing teams-opp score on >19% of chances in the 2nd half of the year over the last 2 seasons.
31BOSTON -32 BUFFALO
BUFFALO is 154-165 ATS (24.5 Units) against good teams - outscoring their opponents by 0.3+ goals/game - 2nd half of the season since 1996.
35NASHVILLE -36 CHICAGO
NASHVILLE is 20-5 ATS (14.9 Units) vs. losing teams in the current season.
37MINNESOTA -38 LOS ANGELES
LOS ANGELES are 10-2 ATS (7.8 Units) in home games when playing with 2 days rest over the last 2 seasons.
37MINNESOTA -38 LOS ANGELES
TODD MCLELLAN is 10-2 ATS (7.8 Units) in home games when playing with 2 days rest (Coach of LOS ANGELES)
69MONTREAL -70 CALGARY
CALGARY is 9-17 ATS (-13.9 Units) against poor defensive teams - allowing 2.85+ goals/game in the current season.
NHL
Dunkel
Friday, April 23
NHL
Friday, April 23
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boston @ Buffalo
Boston
Boston is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games
Boston is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Buffalo
The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Buffalo's last 10 games when playing Boston
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Buffalo's last 8 games when playing at home against Boston
Philadelphia @ NY Rangers
Philadelphia
Philadelphia is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing on the road against NY Rangers
Philadelphia is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
NY Rangers
NY Rangers is 7-2 ATS in its last 9 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 7 of NY Rangers's last 9 games at home
Nashville @ Chicago
Nashville
Nashville is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing Chicago
Nashville is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Chicago's last 5 games at home
Montreal @ Calgary
Montreal
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Montreal's last 5 games when playing Calgary
Montreal is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Calgary
Calgary
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Calgary's last 5 games when playing Montreal
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Calgary's last 5 games when playing at home against Montreal
Minnesota @ Los Angeles
Minnesota
Minnesota is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Minnesota is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games
Los Angeles
Los Angeles is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing at home against Minnesota
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Los Angeles's last 7 games
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NY RANGERS are 15-3 ATS (13 Units) against horrible power play killing teams-opp score on >19% of chances in the 2nd half of the year over the last 2 seasons.
31BOSTON -32 BUFFALO
BUFFALO is 154-165 ATS (24.5 Units) against good teams - outscoring their opponents by 0.3+ goals/game - 2nd half of the season since 1996.
35NASHVILLE -36 CHICAGO
NASHVILLE is 20-5 ATS (14.9 Units) vs. losing teams in the current season.
37MINNESOTA -38 LOS ANGELES
LOS ANGELES are 10-2 ATS (7.8 Units) in home games when playing with 2 days rest over the last 2 seasons.
37MINNESOTA -38 LOS ANGELES
TODD MCLELLAN is 10-2 ATS (7.8 Units) in home games when playing with 2 days rest (Coach of LOS ANGELES)
69MONTREAL -70 CALGARY
CALGARY is 9-17 ATS (-13.9 Units) against poor defensive teams - allowing 2.85+ goals/game in the current season.
NHL
Dunkel
Friday, April 23
NHL
Friday, April 23
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Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boston @ Buffalo
Boston
Boston is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games
Boston is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Buffalo
The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Buffalo's last 10 games when playing Boston
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Buffalo's last 8 games when playing at home against Boston
Philadelphia @ NY Rangers
Philadelphia
Philadelphia is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing on the road against NY Rangers
Philadelphia is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
NY Rangers
NY Rangers is 7-2 ATS in its last 9 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 7 of NY Rangers's last 9 games at home
Nashville @ Chicago
Nashville
Nashville is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing Chicago
Nashville is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Chicago's last 5 games at home
Montreal @ Calgary
Montreal
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Montreal's last 5 games when playing Calgary
Montreal is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Calgary
Calgary
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Calgary's last 5 games when playing Montreal
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Calgary's last 5 games when playing at home against Montreal
Minnesota @ Los Angeles
Minnesota
Minnesota is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Minnesota is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games
Los Angeles
Los Angeles is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing at home against Minnesota
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Los Angeles's last 7 games
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday’s 6-pack
Major league leaders in batting average (minimum 30 AB’s):
.429— Yermin Mercedes, CWS
.408— Brandon Nimmo, NYM
.394— Ronald Acuna Jr, Atl
.393— Mike Trout, LAA
.382— Jesse Winker, Cin
.381— Vladimir Guerrero Jr, Tor
Americans who have died from COVID-19: 570,987
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.
Quote of the Day
“I get frustrated. I feel like there are a lot of people in the draft [where] some guys get a pass and some guys don’t. Certainly people have taken shots at Justin.”
Ohio State coach Ryan Day, talking about Justin Fields’ draft status with the media
Saturday’s quiz
In the history of major league baseball, who has pitched in the most games?
Hint: He was a reliever; not in the Hall of Fame, no longer active
Friday’s quiz
Mark Grace led the major leagues in hits from 1990-99.
Thursday’s quiz
When the Cubs won the World Series in 2016, they beat Cleveland.
*************************************************
Saturday’s Den: Clearing out a cluttered mind…….
— Got my first vaccine shot Friday morning. Allow me to preach for a few minutes:
Left my house at 9:15am; walked back in the house at 10:17am.
Drove to a ****, walked into the clearly marked area; military people were all over to guide me to the right place.
Gave the people my information, waited on line for a few minutes, got my shot, sat in a waiting area for 15 minutes and decompressed, then I went home.
Second shot is in three weeks; very simple process. Very well-organized site.
I encourage EVERYONE to get vaccinated, so our lives can get back to normal.
— One of the amusing things about being old(ER) is how young people sometimes talk to me.
I gave the guy my phone number to put in the computer; “Is that a landline or a cellphone?”
“Sir, do you have E. MAIL?” Like it is a foreign language or something.
Oy.
— Over the last four seasons, Jacob deGrom has 33 no-decisions in 80 starts; his ERA in those 33 no-decisions is 1.74, which is pretty remarkable.
— Los Angeles Dodger pinch hitters are 0-18 this season, with two walks.
— Dodgers’ SS Corey Seager is 11-20 against Colorado this season.
Corey Seager is 1-21 against San Diego this season.
— Dodgers have been favored to win their last 99 games, the longest-such streak in the last five years.
— Friday night. Tampa Bay P Tyler Glasnow became the first big league pitcher since 1902 (1902!!!) to give up 4+ runs in the first inning of a game, while also striking out four batters in that same inning.
— Thursday night, Seattle Mariners scored 7 runs on 3 hits; they’re the first team since 1994 to score 7+ runs on 3 or fewer hits.
— Houston Astros’ SS Carlos Correa is a free agent this winter; he’s already turned down a deal worth $125M over five years, figured he’ll make more than that in free agency.
Here’s the thing: Correa has played more than 110 games in a season ONCE in his career, and that was way back in 2016. One of the best abilities is availability; Correa has been productive in playoff games, but if you want to bank $30M a year, you need to be productive most every day.
— Kansas City Chiefs/Baltimore Ravens made a trade Friday:
Chiefs get:
— Pro Bowl tackle Orlando Brown
— A 2021 2nd-round pick (# 58)
— A 2022 6th-round pick.
Ravens get:
— KC’s 2021 1st-round pick (#31 overall),
— KC’s 3rd-round pick (#94)
— KC’s 4th-round pick (#136)
— A 2022 5th-round pick
— Memphis 130, Portland 128— These teams are playing each other three times in six days, which is very weird scheduling by the NBA.
— Random trivia: actor George Clooney is the nephew of the famous singer Rosemary Clooney; apparently, I’m the only person in America who didn’t know this.
— When I was a kid, people were always saying how you should aspire to be a doctor or a lawyer, jobs where you make a lot of money. Sound advice.
If I was advising a young person, I’d tell him to become a beer distributor; you still make a lot of money, and you ain’t ever going to run out of customers. Plus, it doesn’t require graduate school.
When I was a kid, two guys in my neighborhood drove Cadillacs:
— Mr Reilly, who owned two funeral homes
— Mr Oliver, the beer distributor
Major league leaders in batting average (minimum 30 AB’s):
.429— Yermin Mercedes, CWS
.408— Brandon Nimmo, NYM
.394— Ronald Acuna Jr, Atl
.393— Mike Trout, LAA
.382— Jesse Winker, Cin
.381— Vladimir Guerrero Jr, Tor
Americans who have died from COVID-19: 570,987
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.
Quote of the Day
“I get frustrated. I feel like there are a lot of people in the draft [where] some guys get a pass and some guys don’t. Certainly people have taken shots at Justin.”
Ohio State coach Ryan Day, talking about Justin Fields’ draft status with the media
Saturday’s quiz
In the history of major league baseball, who has pitched in the most games?
Hint: He was a reliever; not in the Hall of Fame, no longer active
Friday’s quiz
Mark Grace led the major leagues in hits from 1990-99.
Thursday’s quiz
When the Cubs won the World Series in 2016, they beat Cleveland.
*************************************************
Saturday’s Den: Clearing out a cluttered mind…….
— Got my first vaccine shot Friday morning. Allow me to preach for a few minutes:
Left my house at 9:15am; walked back in the house at 10:17am.
Drove to a ****, walked into the clearly marked area; military people were all over to guide me to the right place.
Gave the people my information, waited on line for a few minutes, got my shot, sat in a waiting area for 15 minutes and decompressed, then I went home.
Second shot is in three weeks; very simple process. Very well-organized site.
I encourage EVERYONE to get vaccinated, so our lives can get back to normal.
— One of the amusing things about being old(ER) is how young people sometimes talk to me.
I gave the guy my phone number to put in the computer; “Is that a landline or a cellphone?”
“Sir, do you have E. MAIL?” Like it is a foreign language or something.
Oy.
— Over the last four seasons, Jacob deGrom has 33 no-decisions in 80 starts; his ERA in those 33 no-decisions is 1.74, which is pretty remarkable.
— Los Angeles Dodger pinch hitters are 0-18 this season, with two walks.
— Dodgers’ SS Corey Seager is 11-20 against Colorado this season.
Corey Seager is 1-21 against San Diego this season.
— Dodgers have been favored to win their last 99 games, the longest-such streak in the last five years.
— Friday night. Tampa Bay P Tyler Glasnow became the first big league pitcher since 1902 (1902!!!) to give up 4+ runs in the first inning of a game, while also striking out four batters in that same inning.
— Thursday night, Seattle Mariners scored 7 runs on 3 hits; they’re the first team since 1994 to score 7+ runs on 3 or fewer hits.
— Houston Astros’ SS Carlos Correa is a free agent this winter; he’s already turned down a deal worth $125M over five years, figured he’ll make more than that in free agency.
Here’s the thing: Correa has played more than 110 games in a season ONCE in his career, and that was way back in 2016. One of the best abilities is availability; Correa has been productive in playoff games, but if you want to bank $30M a year, you need to be productive most every day.
— Kansas City Chiefs/Baltimore Ravens made a trade Friday:
Chiefs get:
— Pro Bowl tackle Orlando Brown
— A 2021 2nd-round pick (# 58)
— A 2022 6th-round pick.
Ravens get:
— KC’s 2021 1st-round pick (#31 overall),
— KC’s 3rd-round pick (#94)
— KC’s 4th-round pick (#136)
— A 2022 5th-round pick
— Memphis 130, Portland 128— These teams are playing each other three times in six days, which is very weird scheduling by the NBA.
— Random trivia: actor George Clooney is the nephew of the famous singer Rosemary Clooney; apparently, I’m the only person in America who didn’t know this.
— When I was a kid, people were always saying how you should aspire to be a doctor or a lawyer, jobs where you make a lot of money. Sound advice.
If I was advising a young person, I’d tell him to become a beer distributor; you still make a lot of money, and you ain’t ever going to run out of customers. Plus, it doesn’t require graduate school.
When I was a kid, two guys in my neighborhood drove Cadillacs:
— Mr Reilly, who owned two funeral homes
— Mr Oliver, the beer distributor
39NEW JERSEY -40 PITTSBURGH
PITTSBURGH is 10-0 ATS (10 Units) in home games after playing 2 consecutive home games in the current season.
41COLORADO -42 ST LOUIS
ST LOUIS are 1-8 ATS (-11.8 Units) in home games against excellent power play teams - scoring on > 19% of their chances in the current season.
43CAROLINA -44 FLORIDA
CAROLINA is 8-0 ATS (8.7 Units) against good possession teams-averaging 3+ more shots on goal than opp in the current season.
45TORONTO -46 WINNIPEG
TORONTO is 10-0 ATS (10 Units) in road games vs. winning teams in the current season.
47DALLAS -48 DETROIT
DALLAS are 15-21 ATS (-12.9 Units) against poor power play killing teams - opp score on >17.5% of chances in the current season.
49MONTREAL -50 CALGARY
CALGARY is 9-17 ATS (-13.9 Units) against poor defensive teams - allowing 2.85+ goals/game in the current season.
51WASHINGTON -52 NY ISLANDERS
NY ISLANDERS are 14-3 ATS (10.1 Units) in home games against excellent power play teams- scoring on >17.5% of their chances in the current season.
53MINNESOTA -54 SAN JOSE
SAN JOSE is 47-67 ATS (-26.7 Units) after one or more consecutive overs in the last 3 seasons.
55ARIZONA -56 LOS ANGELES
LOS ANGELES are 14-7 ATS (10.7 Units) in home games against excellent power play teams - scoring on > 19% of their chances over the last 2 seasons.
55ARIZONA -56 LOS ANGELES
TODD MCLELLAN is 14-7 ATS (6.3 Units) in home games against excellent power play teams - scoring on > 19% of their chances (Coach of LOS ANGELES)
PITTSBURGH is 10-0 ATS (10 Units) in home games after playing 2 consecutive home games in the current season.
41COLORADO -42 ST LOUIS
ST LOUIS are 1-8 ATS (-11.8 Units) in home games against excellent power play teams - scoring on > 19% of their chances in the current season.
43CAROLINA -44 FLORIDA
CAROLINA is 8-0 ATS (8.7 Units) against good possession teams-averaging 3+ more shots on goal than opp in the current season.
45TORONTO -46 WINNIPEG
TORONTO is 10-0 ATS (10 Units) in road games vs. winning teams in the current season.
47DALLAS -48 DETROIT
DALLAS are 15-21 ATS (-12.9 Units) against poor power play killing teams - opp score on >17.5% of chances in the current season.
49MONTREAL -50 CALGARY
CALGARY is 9-17 ATS (-13.9 Units) against poor defensive teams - allowing 2.85+ goals/game in the current season.
51WASHINGTON -52 NY ISLANDERS
NY ISLANDERS are 14-3 ATS (10.1 Units) in home games against excellent power play teams- scoring on >17.5% of their chances in the current season.
53MINNESOTA -54 SAN JOSE
SAN JOSE is 47-67 ATS (-26.7 Units) after one or more consecutive overs in the last 3 seasons.
55ARIZONA -56 LOS ANGELES
LOS ANGELES are 14-7 ATS (10.7 Units) in home games against excellent power play teams - scoring on > 19% of their chances over the last 2 seasons.
55ARIZONA -56 LOS ANGELES
TODD MCLELLAN is 14-7 ATS (6.3 Units) in home games against excellent power play teams - scoring on > 19% of their chances (Coach of LOS ANGELES)
NHL
Saturday, April 24
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Jersey @ Pittsburgh
New Jersey
New Jersey is 6-2 ATS in its last 8 games when playing on the road against Pittsburgh
The total has gone OVER in 8 of New Jersey's last 11 games
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games at home
Pittsburgh is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing New Jersey
Colorado @ St. Louis
Colorado
Colorado is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Colorado is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing St. Louis
St. Louis
St. Louis is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games at home
St. Louis is 17-5 SU in its last 22 games when playing at home against Colorado
Carolina @ Florida
Carolina
Carolina is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Florida
Carolina is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games
Florida
Florida is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games at home
Florida is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games at home
Washington @ NY Islanders
Washington
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Washington's last 8 games
Washington is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing NY Islanders
NY Islanders
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of NY Islanders's last 7 games at home
NY Islanders is 13-3 SU in its last 16 games at home
Montreal @ Calgary
Montreal
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Montreal's last 6 games when playing Calgary
Montreal is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Montreal
Calgary is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Montreal
Dallas @ Detroit
Dallas
Dallas is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
Dallas is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games when playing Detroit
Detroit
Detroit is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing at home against Dallas
Detroit is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Dallas
Toronto @ Winnipeg
Toronto
Toronto is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Winnipeg
Toronto is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games when playing on the road against Winnipeg
Winnipeg
The total has gone OVER in 18 of Winnipeg's last 24 games when playing Toronto
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Winnipeg's last 11 games when playing at home against Toronto
Minnesota @ San Jose
Minnesota
Minnesota is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Minnesota is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games
San Jose
The total has gone OVER in 8 of San Jose's last 10 games when playing at home against Minnesota
San Jose is 15-7 SU in its last 22 games when playing at home against Minnesota
Vegas @ Anaheim
Vegas
Vegas is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Vegas is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games when playing Anaheim
Anaheim
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Anaheim's last 7 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Anaheim's last 5 games at home
Arizona @ Los Angeles
Arizona
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Arizona's last 6 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 12 of Arizona's last 17 games
Los Angeles
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Los Angeles's last 8 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Los Angeles's last 6 games at home
Ottawa @ Vancouver
Ottawa
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Ottawa's last 5 games when playing Vancouver
Ottawa is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
Vancouver
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Vancouver's last 5 games when playing Ottawa
Vancouver is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Ottawa
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, April 24
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Jersey @ Pittsburgh
New Jersey
New Jersey is 6-2 ATS in its last 8 games when playing on the road against Pittsburgh
The total has gone OVER in 8 of New Jersey's last 11 games
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games at home
Pittsburgh is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing New Jersey
Colorado @ St. Louis
Colorado
Colorado is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Colorado is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing St. Louis
St. Louis
St. Louis is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games at home
St. Louis is 17-5 SU in its last 22 games when playing at home against Colorado
Carolina @ Florida
Carolina
Carolina is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Florida
Carolina is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games
Florida
Florida is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games at home
Florida is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games at home
Washington @ NY Islanders
Washington
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Washington's last 8 games
Washington is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing NY Islanders
NY Islanders
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of NY Islanders's last 7 games at home
NY Islanders is 13-3 SU in its last 16 games at home
Montreal @ Calgary
Montreal
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Montreal's last 6 games when playing Calgary
Montreal is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Montreal
Calgary is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Montreal
Dallas @ Detroit
Dallas
Dallas is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
Dallas is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games when playing Detroit
Detroit
Detroit is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing at home against Dallas
Detroit is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Dallas
Toronto @ Winnipeg
Toronto
Toronto is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Winnipeg
Toronto is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games when playing on the road against Winnipeg
Winnipeg
The total has gone OVER in 18 of Winnipeg's last 24 games when playing Toronto
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Winnipeg's last 11 games when playing at home against Toronto
Minnesota @ San Jose
Minnesota
Minnesota is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Minnesota is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games
San Jose
The total has gone OVER in 8 of San Jose's last 10 games when playing at home against Minnesota
San Jose is 15-7 SU in its last 22 games when playing at home against Minnesota
Vegas @ Anaheim
Vegas
Vegas is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Vegas is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games when playing Anaheim
Anaheim
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Anaheim's last 7 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Anaheim's last 5 games at home
Arizona @ Los Angeles
Arizona
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Arizona's last 6 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 12 of Arizona's last 17 games
Los Angeles
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Los Angeles's last 8 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Los Angeles's last 6 games at home
Ottawa @ Vancouver
Ottawa
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Ottawa's last 5 games when playing Vancouver
Ottawa is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
Vancouver
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Vancouver's last 5 games when playing Ottawa
Vancouver is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Ottawa
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunday’s 6-pack
Major league leaders in on-base %age (minimum 30 AB’s):
.521— Mike Trout, LAA
.492— Brandon Nimmo, NYM
.482— Vladimir Guerrero, Tor
.469— Bryce Harper, Phil
.465— Yermin Mercedes, CWS
.461— Ronald Acuna, Atl
Americans who have died from COVID-19: 570,987
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.
Quote of the Day
“We knew as a team, especially after the first week, we were way better than that. Big shoutout to the coaches and the manager to have no panicking, It would only take one game to get us going on. That’s what happened. Everybody started feeling better, everybody started to relax a little bit. The pitchers have been amazing. I think they’re a big reason why we started the winning streak. It’s a lot of fun. We’ll go day by day and see how long we can stretch this streak.”
A’s shortstop Elvis Andrus
Sunday’s quiz
Who is the only active NFL quarterback who has thrown 7 TD’s in a game?
Saturday’s quiz
In the history of major league baseball, Jesse Orosco has pitched in the most games, 1,252.
Friday’s quiz
Mark Grace led the major leagues in hits from 1990-99.
*********************************************************
Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Saturday
13) College football teams are having their spring practices now, which traditionally end with an intrasquad game- the question is this:
Will coaches be hesitant to name a starting QB for the fall, for fear that the guy who isn’t named the starter will transfer? Naming a starter on August 25 instead of April 25 makes it more likely that you’ll have both guys for this coming season.
12) Jacob deGrom has started four games this season; opponents swung at 225 of his pitches, whiffing on 100 of them. He’s given up 13 hits, 80 foul balls, had 32 outs on batted balls.
11) Astros 16, Angels 2— Houston starter Jake Odorizzi left this game after 5 pitches with an arm problem; they brought Kent Emanuel to make his major league debut. Little did they know that Emanuel would finish the game, giving up five hits, two runs, throwing 90 pitches.
28-year old rookies aren’t generally big prospects; he’s the first pitcher to throw 8.2+ innings in his MLB debut since Jesse Litsch in 2007.
10) As of 9pm Saturday, there were 184 major leaguers on the IL, 6.1 guys per team.
9) Mariners 8, Red Sox 2— Couple guys on Seattle hit balls 410-415 feet to centerfield, but that is the deepest part of Fenway Park- they got doubles instead.
Long time ago, some radio wise guys snuck into Fenway and and measured 287 feet from home plate to the left field foul pole on the Green Monster. Unusual ballpark.
8) Orel Hershiser was telling a story on TV last night about when the Dodgers started using videos to study trends of opponents, 30-35 years ago. Dodgers gave them $10,000 to put together a video room, with two 24-inch TV’s and two VCR’s.
Technology has come a very long way since then; everyone has I-Pads in the dugout now to study what just happened.
7) Dodgers 5, Padres 4:
— Season series is now 3-3 between these division rivals.
— 26th straight start that Blake Snell pitched less than six innings.
— Fernando Tatis Jr hit two homers, has four in his last two games. I’m playing against his team in fantasy this week- no bueno.
6) Phillies 7, Rockies 5— Good night to have Rhys Hoskins on your fantasy team; he hit a couple homers, knocked in five runs.
5) Cardinals 2, Reds 0— Cincinnati has lost six in a row since starting season 8-5.
4) Minnesota 101, Utah 96:
— In each of their last three games, Timberwolves allowed 40+ points in the first quarter.
— Jazz scored 40 points in first quarter, a combined 34 in 2nd/3rd quarters.
3) Only 34% of active NFL players last year were picked in rounds 1-3 of the draft; thats how important a team’s GM/scouts are. It is also a big part of why the NFL Draft is so interesting.
2) Cleveland Browns re-joined the NFL in 1999, after the original Browns bolted to Baltimore; this fall, Baker Mayfield will be the first Browns QB to start in Week 1, three years in a row.
1) I’ll finish today with a quick story; long time ago, maybe 1985-86, something like that, I was on the first down chain gang at a semi-pro football game at Bleecker Stadium in Albany— Metro Mallers were hosting a team from Massachusetts.
Some of the Mallers had played college football at UAlbany, where I had been the basketball manager; we go on the field for a measurement, one of the linebackers says to me, “What the hell are you doing here?” We just laughed.
Chains were on the visiting team’s sideline; they had the ball around midfield and it turns out I am standing next to the head coach, who is calling plays.
He has his play chart in his left hand, studying it carefully; he has an open can of Pabst Blue Ribbon in his right hand, taking a swig now and then. Welcome to semi-pro football!!
Major league leaders in on-base %age (minimum 30 AB’s):
.521— Mike Trout, LAA
.492— Brandon Nimmo, NYM
.482— Vladimir Guerrero, Tor
.469— Bryce Harper, Phil
.465— Yermin Mercedes, CWS
.461— Ronald Acuna, Atl
Americans who have died from COVID-19: 570,987
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.
Quote of the Day
“We knew as a team, especially after the first week, we were way better than that. Big shoutout to the coaches and the manager to have no panicking, It would only take one game to get us going on. That’s what happened. Everybody started feeling better, everybody started to relax a little bit. The pitchers have been amazing. I think they’re a big reason why we started the winning streak. It’s a lot of fun. We’ll go day by day and see how long we can stretch this streak.”
A’s shortstop Elvis Andrus
Sunday’s quiz
Who is the only active NFL quarterback who has thrown 7 TD’s in a game?
Saturday’s quiz
In the history of major league baseball, Jesse Orosco has pitched in the most games, 1,252.
Friday’s quiz
Mark Grace led the major leagues in hits from 1990-99.
*********************************************************
Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Saturday
13) College football teams are having their spring practices now, which traditionally end with an intrasquad game- the question is this:
Will coaches be hesitant to name a starting QB for the fall, for fear that the guy who isn’t named the starter will transfer? Naming a starter on August 25 instead of April 25 makes it more likely that you’ll have both guys for this coming season.
12) Jacob deGrom has started four games this season; opponents swung at 225 of his pitches, whiffing on 100 of them. He’s given up 13 hits, 80 foul balls, had 32 outs on batted balls.
11) Astros 16, Angels 2— Houston starter Jake Odorizzi left this game after 5 pitches with an arm problem; they brought Kent Emanuel to make his major league debut. Little did they know that Emanuel would finish the game, giving up five hits, two runs, throwing 90 pitches.
28-year old rookies aren’t generally big prospects; he’s the first pitcher to throw 8.2+ innings in his MLB debut since Jesse Litsch in 2007.
10) As of 9pm Saturday, there were 184 major leaguers on the IL, 6.1 guys per team.
9) Mariners 8, Red Sox 2— Couple guys on Seattle hit balls 410-415 feet to centerfield, but that is the deepest part of Fenway Park- they got doubles instead.
Long time ago, some radio wise guys snuck into Fenway and and measured 287 feet from home plate to the left field foul pole on the Green Monster. Unusual ballpark.
8) Orel Hershiser was telling a story on TV last night about when the Dodgers started using videos to study trends of opponents, 30-35 years ago. Dodgers gave them $10,000 to put together a video room, with two 24-inch TV’s and two VCR’s.
Technology has come a very long way since then; everyone has I-Pads in the dugout now to study what just happened.
7) Dodgers 5, Padres 4:
— Season series is now 3-3 between these division rivals.
— 26th straight start that Blake Snell pitched less than six innings.
— Fernando Tatis Jr hit two homers, has four in his last two games. I’m playing against his team in fantasy this week- no bueno.
6) Phillies 7, Rockies 5— Good night to have Rhys Hoskins on your fantasy team; he hit a couple homers, knocked in five runs.
5) Cardinals 2, Reds 0— Cincinnati has lost six in a row since starting season 8-5.
4) Minnesota 101, Utah 96:
— In each of their last three games, Timberwolves allowed 40+ points in the first quarter.
— Jazz scored 40 points in first quarter, a combined 34 in 2nd/3rd quarters.
3) Only 34% of active NFL players last year were picked in rounds 1-3 of the draft; thats how important a team’s GM/scouts are. It is also a big part of why the NFL Draft is so interesting.
2) Cleveland Browns re-joined the NFL in 1999, after the original Browns bolted to Baltimore; this fall, Baker Mayfield will be the first Browns QB to start in Week 1, three years in a row.
1) I’ll finish today with a quick story; long time ago, maybe 1985-86, something like that, I was on the first down chain gang at a semi-pro football game at Bleecker Stadium in Albany— Metro Mallers were hosting a team from Massachusetts.
Some of the Mallers had played college football at UAlbany, where I had been the basketball manager; we go on the field for a measurement, one of the linebackers says to me, “What the hell are you doing here?” We just laughed.
Chains were on the visiting team’s sideline; they had the ball around midfield and it turns out I am standing next to the head coach, who is calling plays.
He has his play chart in his left hand, studying it carefully; he has an open can of Pabst Blue Ribbon in his right hand, taking a swig now and then. Welcome to semi-pro football!!
59BOSTON -60 PITTSBURGH
PITTSBURGH is 7-0 ATS (7 Units) in home games revenging a loss versus opponent as a favorite in the current season.
61BUFFALO -62 NY RANGERS
BUFFALO is 10-37 ATS (-30.7 Units) in road games after playing a home game in the last 3 seasons.
63NEW JERSEY -64 PHILADELPHIA
PHILADELPHIA is 1-6 ATS (-7.3 Units) in home games against poor defensive teams - >=29 shots on goal, convert >=17% pp in the current season.
65COLUMBUS -66 TAMPA BAY
COLUMBUS are 12-29 ATS (-15.6 Units) against mistake free teams - opponents average <=4 power plays/game in the current season.
NHL
Dunkel
Sunday, April 25
NHL
Sunday, April 25
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boston @ Pittsburgh
Boston
Boston is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Boston's last 6 games when playing Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games when playing at home against Boston
Pittsburgh is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games at home
Buffalo @ NY Rangers
Buffalo
Buffalo is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Buffalo's last 7 games when playing NY Rangers
NY Rangers
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of NY Rangers's last 7 games when playing Buffalo
NY Rangers is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing at home against Buffalo
New Jersey @ Philadelphia
New Jersey
New Jersey is 11-5 SU in its last 16 games when playing on the road against Philadelphia
The total has gone UNDER in 13 of New Jersey's last 19 games when playing on the road against Philadelphia
Philadelphia
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Philadelphia's last 5 games
Philadelphia is 6-2 ATS in its last 8 games when playing New Jersey
Columbus @ Tampa Bay
Columbus
Columbus is 15-2 ATS in its last 17 games when playing Tampa Bay
Columbus is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games when playing on the road against Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Tampa Bay's last 7 games when playing at home against Columbus
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Tampa Bay's last 5 games
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PITTSBURGH is 7-0 ATS (7 Units) in home games revenging a loss versus opponent as a favorite in the current season.
61BUFFALO -62 NY RANGERS
BUFFALO is 10-37 ATS (-30.7 Units) in road games after playing a home game in the last 3 seasons.
63NEW JERSEY -64 PHILADELPHIA
PHILADELPHIA is 1-6 ATS (-7.3 Units) in home games against poor defensive teams - >=29 shots on goal, convert >=17% pp in the current season.
65COLUMBUS -66 TAMPA BAY
COLUMBUS are 12-29 ATS (-15.6 Units) against mistake free teams - opponents average <=4 power plays/game in the current season.
NHL
Dunkel
Sunday, April 25
NHL
Sunday, April 25
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Boston @ Pittsburgh
Boston
Boston is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Boston's last 6 games when playing Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games when playing at home against Boston
Pittsburgh is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games at home
Buffalo @ NY Rangers
Buffalo
Buffalo is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Buffalo's last 7 games when playing NY Rangers
NY Rangers
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of NY Rangers's last 7 games when playing Buffalo
NY Rangers is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing at home against Buffalo
New Jersey @ Philadelphia
New Jersey
New Jersey is 11-5 SU in its last 16 games when playing on the road against Philadelphia
The total has gone UNDER in 13 of New Jersey's last 19 games when playing on the road against Philadelphia
Philadelphia
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Philadelphia's last 5 games
Philadelphia is 6-2 ATS in its last 8 games when playing New Jersey
Columbus @ Tampa Bay
Columbus
Columbus is 15-2 ATS in its last 17 games when playing Tampa Bay
Columbus is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games when playing on the road against Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Tampa Bay's last 7 games when playing at home against Columbus
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Tampa Bay's last 5 games
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday’s 6-pack
Major league leaders in slugging %age (min 30 ABs):
.804— Mike Trout, LAA
.786— Ronald Acuna, Atl
.753— JD Martinez, Bos
.694— Nelson Cruz, Minn
.667— Jesse Winker, Cinn
.662— Shohei Ohtani, LAA
Americans who have died from COVID-19: 570,987
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.
Quote of the Day
“According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Major League Baseball’s official statistician, neither a team nor an individual pitcher will be credited with a no-no in a scheduled seven-inning game of a doubleheader — unless that game goes to extras. If the contest extends to at least nine innings and that pitcher (or a team’s group of pitchers) has still not allowed a hit, then it goes down in the history books as a no-no.”
MLB.com‘s Matt Kelly
Monday’s quiz
How many active NFL QB’s have thrown six TD passes in a game?
Sunday’s quiz
Nick Foles is the only active NFL quarterback who has thrown 7 TD’s in a game.
Saturday’s quiz
In the history of major league baseball, Jesse Orosco has pitched in the most games, 1,252.
******************************************************
Monday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports weekend
13) Hitting is more difficult now because batters seldom face the same pitcher three times in a game; after the 5th inning, they generally see a different pitcher in every at-bat.
In his Hall of Fame career, Mickey Mantle faced the same pitchers a lot more than guys do these days. Fewer teams, no interleague play, and starting pitchers lasted longer in games.
Mantle faced these four pitchers the most:
198 times— Billy Pierce
161— Early Wynn
138— Frank Lary
128— Camilo Pascual
By way of comparison, in his 10-year career, Manny Machado has faced these pitchers the most:
56— CC Sabathia
52— Chris Archer
48— Jake Odorizzi
41— David Price
See what I mean?
12) Arizona 5-7, Atlanta 0-0:
— Tough day for the Braves, who got one hit in 14 innings.
— Madison Bumgarner threw a 7-inning no-hitter; the only runner reached on an error.
Three no-hitters already this season; there were no walks in those no-hitters.
11) Padres 8, Dodgers 7 (11):
— LA led this game 7-1 after six innings; over the last 50 years, teams that led by 6+ runs from the 7th inning on are 11-13,547. Seriously, 11 wins, 13,547 losses.
— Max Muncy walked five times, first Dodger to do that since Greg Brock in 1983.
10) In his three starts since tossing a no-hitter, San Diego’s Joe Musgrove has pitched only 14 innings. Padres need more innings out of their starting pitchers.
9) There were 68 extra inning games last year, under the new extra-inning rule; 47 of the 68 games ended in the 10th inning, which is what MLB wants.
8) Fernando Tatis Jr hit five homers in his last three games; I was playing against him in our fantasy league, so that made me queasy, but the good guys won. Tatis is hitting .246 with 7 homers, but he was explosive this weekend, for sure.
Obscure trivia: Last major leaguer to hit 2+ homers in three consecutive games was Jeff DaVanon of the Angels, in 2003.
Weird thing is, he hit only 33 career homers in eight years.
7) Read something on the Interweb this weekend where David Wells said that throwing a no-hitter was a profitable thing, even after he retired.
Wells said that he banked $300,000 or so a year, doing appearances with Don Larsen and David Cone, other New York pitchers who threw no-hitters. That dried up after 15 years or so, but still a pretty good deal.
6) White Sox TV guys have been raving over hitting sensation Yermin Mercedes, who is batting .414 in 19 games this season, but they were stressing out Sunday over Mercedes’ tendency to slide head-first into first base, converged that he’s going to hurt one of his hands.
5) Tampa Bay TV guys were laughing on air about the unpredictability of how the Rays handle their pitchers.
Sunday, 21-year old sensation Luis Patino looked great in his MLB debut, but was removed after 42 pitches- looks like they’re going to let him go thru the lineup once, then take him out.
Then they put Josh Fleming in; he gets two turns thru the lineup, no matter how well he is doing. Tampa Bay wins a lot of games on a short budget and they do it in a unique way, but it is a little funny that their own TV guys can’t figure it out beforehand.
4) Penn State poached PG Jalen Pickett away from Siena; Pickett played 76 games in three years for Siena, which went 38-16 in MAAC games during that time, but there is a pretty big leap from the MAAC to the Big 14. We’ll see how this works out for him.
3) Sign of the times; You can buy a Dr Fauci action figure online, for $20.
2) Wizards 119, Cavaliers 110— Washington has won eight games in a row, is now the #10 seed in the Eastern Conference. They could be a tough out in the playoffs.
1) If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Mets, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Card: Padres @ Giants
AL: Red Sox, Royals, A’s. Wild Card: White Sox @ Mariners
Major league leaders in slugging %age (min 30 ABs):
.804— Mike Trout, LAA
.786— Ronald Acuna, Atl
.753— JD Martinez, Bos
.694— Nelson Cruz, Minn
.667— Jesse Winker, Cinn
.662— Shohei Ohtani, LAA
Americans who have died from COVID-19: 570,987
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.
Quote of the Day
“According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Major League Baseball’s official statistician, neither a team nor an individual pitcher will be credited with a no-no in a scheduled seven-inning game of a doubleheader — unless that game goes to extras. If the contest extends to at least nine innings and that pitcher (or a team’s group of pitchers) has still not allowed a hit, then it goes down in the history books as a no-no.”
MLB.com‘s Matt Kelly
Monday’s quiz
How many active NFL QB’s have thrown six TD passes in a game?
Sunday’s quiz
Nick Foles is the only active NFL quarterback who has thrown 7 TD’s in a game.
Saturday’s quiz
In the history of major league baseball, Jesse Orosco has pitched in the most games, 1,252.
******************************************************
Monday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports weekend
13) Hitting is more difficult now because batters seldom face the same pitcher three times in a game; after the 5th inning, they generally see a different pitcher in every at-bat.
In his Hall of Fame career, Mickey Mantle faced the same pitchers a lot more than guys do these days. Fewer teams, no interleague play, and starting pitchers lasted longer in games.
Mantle faced these four pitchers the most:
198 times— Billy Pierce
161— Early Wynn
138— Frank Lary
128— Camilo Pascual
By way of comparison, in his 10-year career, Manny Machado has faced these pitchers the most:
56— CC Sabathia
52— Chris Archer
48— Jake Odorizzi
41— David Price
See what I mean?
12) Arizona 5-7, Atlanta 0-0:
— Tough day for the Braves, who got one hit in 14 innings.
— Madison Bumgarner threw a 7-inning no-hitter; the only runner reached on an error.
Three no-hitters already this season; there were no walks in those no-hitters.
11) Padres 8, Dodgers 7 (11):
— LA led this game 7-1 after six innings; over the last 50 years, teams that led by 6+ runs from the 7th inning on are 11-13,547. Seriously, 11 wins, 13,547 losses.
— Max Muncy walked five times, first Dodger to do that since Greg Brock in 1983.
10) In his three starts since tossing a no-hitter, San Diego’s Joe Musgrove has pitched only 14 innings. Padres need more innings out of their starting pitchers.
9) There were 68 extra inning games last year, under the new extra-inning rule; 47 of the 68 games ended in the 10th inning, which is what MLB wants.
8) Fernando Tatis Jr hit five homers in his last three games; I was playing against him in our fantasy league, so that made me queasy, but the good guys won. Tatis is hitting .246 with 7 homers, but he was explosive this weekend, for sure.
Obscure trivia: Last major leaguer to hit 2+ homers in three consecutive games was Jeff DaVanon of the Angels, in 2003.
Weird thing is, he hit only 33 career homers in eight years.
7) Read something on the Interweb this weekend where David Wells said that throwing a no-hitter was a profitable thing, even after he retired.
Wells said that he banked $300,000 or so a year, doing appearances with Don Larsen and David Cone, other New York pitchers who threw no-hitters. That dried up after 15 years or so, but still a pretty good deal.
6) White Sox TV guys have been raving over hitting sensation Yermin Mercedes, who is batting .414 in 19 games this season, but they were stressing out Sunday over Mercedes’ tendency to slide head-first into first base, converged that he’s going to hurt one of his hands.
5) Tampa Bay TV guys were laughing on air about the unpredictability of how the Rays handle their pitchers.
Sunday, 21-year old sensation Luis Patino looked great in his MLB debut, but was removed after 42 pitches- looks like they’re going to let him go thru the lineup once, then take him out.
Then they put Josh Fleming in; he gets two turns thru the lineup, no matter how well he is doing. Tampa Bay wins a lot of games on a short budget and they do it in a unique way, but it is a little funny that their own TV guys can’t figure it out beforehand.
4) Penn State poached PG Jalen Pickett away from Siena; Pickett played 76 games in three years for Siena, which went 38-16 in MAAC games during that time, but there is a pretty big leap from the MAAC to the Big 14. We’ll see how this works out for him.
3) Sign of the times; You can buy a Dr Fauci action figure online, for $20.
2) Wizards 119, Cavaliers 110— Washington has won eight games in a row, is now the #10 seed in the Eastern Conference. They could be a tough out in the playoffs.
1) If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Mets, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Card: Padres @ Giants
AL: Red Sox, Royals, A’s. Wild Card: White Sox @ Mariners
1VANCOUVER -2 OTTAWA
OTTAWA is 6-1 ATS (4.9 Units) in home games after playing 3 consecutive road games over the last 2 seasons.
3CAROLINA -4 DALLAS
DALLAS are 3-13 ATS (-13.6 Units) in home games against good offensive teams - >=29 shots on goal, convert >=17% pp in the current season.
5EDMONTON -6 WINNIPEG
EDMONTON is 21-5 ATS (15 Units) against poor defensive teams - opponents average 29.5+ shots on goal in the current season.
7FLORIDA -8 NASHVILLE
NASHVILLE is 22-11 ATS (11.7 Units) against horrible power play killing teams-opp score on >19% of chances in the current season.
13MONTREAL -14 CALGARY
MONTREAL is 15-24 ATS (-19.3 Units) against mistake free teams - opponents average <=4 power plays/game in the current season.
15ANAHEIM -16 LOS ANGELES
ANAHEIM is 7-2 ATS (8.4 Units) in road games against terrible defensive teams - allowing 3+ goals/game in the current season.
17ARIZONA -18 SAN JOSE
SAN JOSE is 47-68 ATS (-27.8 Units) after one or more consecutive overs in the last 3 seasons.
69COLORADO -70 ST LOUIS
ST LOUIS are 6-14 ATS (-15.1 Units) in home games against mistake free teams - opponents average <=4 power plays/game in the current season.
OTTAWA is 6-1 ATS (4.9 Units) in home games after playing 3 consecutive road games over the last 2 seasons.
3CAROLINA -4 DALLAS
DALLAS are 3-13 ATS (-13.6 Units) in home games against good offensive teams - >=29 shots on goal, convert >=17% pp in the current season.
5EDMONTON -6 WINNIPEG
EDMONTON is 21-5 ATS (15 Units) against poor defensive teams - opponents average 29.5+ shots on goal in the current season.
7FLORIDA -8 NASHVILLE
NASHVILLE is 22-11 ATS (11.7 Units) against horrible power play killing teams-opp score on >19% of chances in the current season.
13MONTREAL -14 CALGARY
MONTREAL is 15-24 ATS (-19.3 Units) against mistake free teams - opponents average <=4 power plays/game in the current season.
15ANAHEIM -16 LOS ANGELES
ANAHEIM is 7-2 ATS (8.4 Units) in road games against terrible defensive teams - allowing 3+ goals/game in the current season.
17ARIZONA -18 SAN JOSE
SAN JOSE is 47-68 ATS (-27.8 Units) after one or more consecutive overs in the last 3 seasons.
69COLORADO -70 ST LOUIS
ST LOUIS are 6-14 ATS (-15.1 Units) in home games against mistake free teams - opponents average <=4 power plays/game in the current season.
NHL
Monday, April 26
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Montreal @ Calgary
Montreal
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Montreal's last 7 games when playing Calgary
Montreal is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Montreal
Calgary is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing Montreal
Vancouver @ Ottawa
Vancouver
Vancouver is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing Ottawa
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Vancouver's last 6 games when playing Ottawa
Ottawa
The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Ottawa's last 10 games at home
Ottawa is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games
Colorado @ St. Louis
Colorado
Colorado is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
Colorado is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing St. Louis
St. Louis
St. Louis is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games at home
St. Louis is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing at home against Colorado
Carolina @ Dallas
Carolina
Carolina is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Dallas
Carolina is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games
Dallas
Dallas is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
Dallas is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games at home
Florida @ Nashville
Florida
Florida is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games when playing on the road against Nashville
Florida is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing on the road against Nashville
Nashville
Nashville is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games at home
Nashville is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home
Edmonton @ Winnipeg
Edmonton
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Edmonton's last 5 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Edmonton's last 10 games
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is 7-2 ATS in its last 9 games when playing Edmonton
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Winnipeg's last 8 games when playing at home against Edmonton
Anaheim @ Los Angeles
Anaheim
Anaheim is 18-3 ATS in its last 21 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Anaheim's last 5 games when playing on the road against Los Angeles
Los Angeles
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Los Angeles's last 5 games when playing at home against Anaheim
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Los Angeles's last 9 games
Arizona @ San Jose
Arizona
Arizona is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games when playing on the road against San Jose
Arizona is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing San Jose
San Jose
The total has gone OVER in 4 of San Jose's last 5 games when playing Arizona
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of San Jose's last 11 games when playing at home against Arizona
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday, April 26
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Montreal @ Calgary
Montreal
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Montreal's last 7 games when playing Calgary
Montreal is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Montreal
Calgary is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing Montreal
Vancouver @ Ottawa
Vancouver
Vancouver is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing Ottawa
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Vancouver's last 6 games when playing Ottawa
Ottawa
The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Ottawa's last 10 games at home
Ottawa is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games
Colorado @ St. Louis
Colorado
Colorado is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
Colorado is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing St. Louis
St. Louis
St. Louis is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games at home
St. Louis is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing at home against Colorado
Carolina @ Dallas
Carolina
Carolina is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Dallas
Carolina is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games
Dallas
Dallas is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
Dallas is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games at home
Florida @ Nashville
Florida
Florida is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games when playing on the road against Nashville
Florida is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing on the road against Nashville
Nashville
Nashville is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games at home
Nashville is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home
Edmonton @ Winnipeg
Edmonton
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Edmonton's last 5 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Edmonton's last 10 games
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is 7-2 ATS in its last 9 games when playing Edmonton
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Winnipeg's last 8 games when playing at home against Edmonton
Anaheim @ Los Angeles
Anaheim
Anaheim is 18-3 ATS in its last 21 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Anaheim's last 5 games when playing on the road against Los Angeles
Los Angeles
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Los Angeles's last 5 games when playing at home against Anaheim
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Los Angeles's last 9 games
Arizona @ San Jose
Arizona
Arizona is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games when playing on the road against San Jose
Arizona is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing San Jose
San Jose
The total has gone OVER in 4 of San Jose's last 5 games when playing Arizona
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of San Jose's last 11 games when playing at home against Arizona
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday’s 6-pack
Odds to win the Big X football title this fall:
4-5— Oklahoma
5-2— Iowa State
7-2— Texas
7-1— Oklahoma State
22-1— West Virginia
28-1— Kansas State, TCU
40-1— Baylor, Texas Tech
150-1— Kansas
Americans who have died from COVID-19: 572,201
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.
Quote of the Day
“Aaron’s (Rodgers) our guy. He’s going to be our quarterback for the foreseeable future.”
Green Bay Packers GM Brian Gutekunst
Tuesday’s quiz
When Catfish Hunter threw a perfect game in a 4-0 win for the A’s in 1968, which future Hall of Famer knocked in three of Oakland’s four runs?
Monday’s quiz
Seven active NFL QB’s have thrown six TD passes in a game:
Brady, Fitzpatrick, Foles, Mahomes, Rodgers, Roethlisberger, Trubisky
Sunday’s quiz
Nick Foles is the only active NFL quarterback who has thrown 7 TD’s in a game.
***********************************************
Tuesday’s quiz: Nobody asked me, but……..
13) Giants 12, Rockies 0— Rough day for the Colorado franchise; their GM jumped/got pushed, then they went out and trailed 9-0 in the 2nd inning in San Francisco.
Will the next GM decide whether or not to trade Trevor Story, or is the owner deciding that? Right now, the franchise appears to be a mess.
12) Texas Longhorns have already poached four basketball players from other schools:
— Creighton, Kentucky, Utah, Vanderbilt.
Or, as Jerry Tarkanian famously said, “I prefer transfers; their cars are already paid for”
Thats the new thing in college basketball; don’t recruit freshmen, steal other team’s players.
11) Sometimes great things happen by accident.
Week 8 of the 1984 NFL season, 49ers are in Houston to play the Oilers; coach Bill Walsh is bored the night before the game, is watching the local Houston news in his hotel room, when he sees the highlights of a small college football game played that day.
Thats where Walsh discovered Jerry Rice, watching the local news in his hotel room.
10) One of the best ongoing arguments is debating which quarterback was better than all the others, because everyone uses different criteria to decide.
I’ve had this debate with several different people; it is always fun.
9) Atlanta Braves won the last 60 times they’ve led after 8 innings, the longest active streak in the major leagues.
8) Back in 1985, Michael Jordan’s contract with Nike said that if Nike didn’t sell $4M in Air Jordans by Michael’s third year in the NBA, Nike could end the deal.
In the first month Air Jordans were on sale, in six test markets, Nike sold $29M worth of Air Jordans.
7) So far this young season, teams have stolen 28 bases against the Dodgers; no other team has given up more than 15 stolen bases.
6) This week in 1904, Jack Chesbro won his first game of the season; he went on to go 41-12 that year, starting 51 of the 55 games he appeared in. 41 wins is definitely a record that will never, ever be broken.
5) Bill Fralic was an offensive lineman for the Atlanta Falcons in the 80’s; he was the second pick in the 1985 draft. As part of his contract, Fralic is still getting paid $150,000 a year, and will be for the rest of his life. Pretty good deal.
4) Ryan Griffin has been the Tampa Bay Bucs’ backup QB the last six years, winning a Super Bowl ring last year, making into Hard Knocks a few years ago. This fall, Griffin will be the first QB ever to be on the Buccaneers’ roster seven years in a row.
Here’s the thing; in these last six years, Griffin threw a total of four passes.
3) Happy birthday this week to a couple of legends; Al Pacino turned 81 years old, Carol Burnett turned 88.
2) Shohei Ohtani is hitting .300 in his first 80 at-bats this season; he is also 1-0, 3.29 in three starts pitching, making him a very unique two-way player.
Monday night in Arlington, Ohtani went 2-3, scored three runs, knocked in two, and pitched five innings as the Angels beat Texas 9-4. When Ohtani pitches and bats, the Angels can’t have a DH, so when Ohtani gave up four runs in the first inning, Joe Maddon had to be a little queasy.
But Ohtani blanked Texas out in innings 2-5; he is an interesting player.
1) NFL Network has run some half-hour shows this week, dealing with each year’s draft; I hadn’t seen all of them before, but they’re very well done and worth watching, a history of the league, lot of good nuggets, some of which will undoubtedly make it into this space.
Odds to win the Big X football title this fall:
4-5— Oklahoma
5-2— Iowa State
7-2— Texas
7-1— Oklahoma State
22-1— West Virginia
28-1— Kansas State, TCU
40-1— Baylor, Texas Tech
150-1— Kansas
Americans who have died from COVID-19: 572,201
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.
Quote of the Day
“Aaron’s (Rodgers) our guy. He’s going to be our quarterback for the foreseeable future.”
Green Bay Packers GM Brian Gutekunst
Tuesday’s quiz
When Catfish Hunter threw a perfect game in a 4-0 win for the A’s in 1968, which future Hall of Famer knocked in three of Oakland’s four runs?
Monday’s quiz
Seven active NFL QB’s have thrown six TD passes in a game:
Brady, Fitzpatrick, Foles, Mahomes, Rodgers, Roethlisberger, Trubisky
Sunday’s quiz
Nick Foles is the only active NFL quarterback who has thrown 7 TD’s in a game.
***********************************************
Tuesday’s quiz: Nobody asked me, but……..
13) Giants 12, Rockies 0— Rough day for the Colorado franchise; their GM jumped/got pushed, then they went out and trailed 9-0 in the 2nd inning in San Francisco.
Will the next GM decide whether or not to trade Trevor Story, or is the owner deciding that? Right now, the franchise appears to be a mess.
12) Texas Longhorns have already poached four basketball players from other schools:
— Creighton, Kentucky, Utah, Vanderbilt.
Or, as Jerry Tarkanian famously said, “I prefer transfers; their cars are already paid for”
Thats the new thing in college basketball; don’t recruit freshmen, steal other team’s players.
11) Sometimes great things happen by accident.
Week 8 of the 1984 NFL season, 49ers are in Houston to play the Oilers; coach Bill Walsh is bored the night before the game, is watching the local Houston news in his hotel room, when he sees the highlights of a small college football game played that day.
Thats where Walsh discovered Jerry Rice, watching the local news in his hotel room.
10) One of the best ongoing arguments is debating which quarterback was better than all the others, because everyone uses different criteria to decide.
I’ve had this debate with several different people; it is always fun.
9) Atlanta Braves won the last 60 times they’ve led after 8 innings, the longest active streak in the major leagues.
8) Back in 1985, Michael Jordan’s contract with Nike said that if Nike didn’t sell $4M in Air Jordans by Michael’s third year in the NBA, Nike could end the deal.
In the first month Air Jordans were on sale, in six test markets, Nike sold $29M worth of Air Jordans.
7) So far this young season, teams have stolen 28 bases against the Dodgers; no other team has given up more than 15 stolen bases.
6) This week in 1904, Jack Chesbro won his first game of the season; he went on to go 41-12 that year, starting 51 of the 55 games he appeared in. 41 wins is definitely a record that will never, ever be broken.
5) Bill Fralic was an offensive lineman for the Atlanta Falcons in the 80’s; he was the second pick in the 1985 draft. As part of his contract, Fralic is still getting paid $150,000 a year, and will be for the rest of his life. Pretty good deal.
4) Ryan Griffin has been the Tampa Bay Bucs’ backup QB the last six years, winning a Super Bowl ring last year, making into Hard Knocks a few years ago. This fall, Griffin will be the first QB ever to be on the Buccaneers’ roster seven years in a row.
Here’s the thing; in these last six years, Griffin threw a total of four passes.
3) Happy birthday this week to a couple of legends; Al Pacino turned 81 years old, Carol Burnett turned 88.
2) Shohei Ohtani is hitting .300 in his first 80 at-bats this season; he is also 1-0, 3.29 in three starts pitching, making him a very unique two-way player.
Monday night in Arlington, Ohtani went 2-3, scored three runs, knocked in two, and pitched five innings as the Angels beat Texas 9-4. When Ohtani pitches and bats, the Angels can’t have a DH, so when Ohtani gave up four runs in the first inning, Joe Maddon had to be a little queasy.
But Ohtani blanked Texas out in innings 2-5; he is an interesting player.
1) NFL Network has run some half-hour shows this week, dealing with each year’s draft; I hadn’t seen all of them before, but they’re very well done and worth watching, a history of the league, lot of good nuggets, some of which will undoubtedly make it into this space.
19BOSTON -20 PITTSBURGH
BOSTON is 4-9 ATS (-10.9 Units) against good offensive teams - averaging 29.5+ shots on goal per game in the current season.
21BUFFALO -22 NY RANGERS
BUFFALO is 7-33 ATS (-29.3 Units) off a loss by 2 goals or more to a division rival in the last 3 seasons.
23DETROIT -24 COLUMBUS
COLUMBUS are 1-10 ATS (-11.9 Units) against poor possession teams-averaging 3+ less shots on goal than opp in the current season.
25NY ISLANDERS -26 WASHINGTON
NY ISLANDERS are 2-9 ATS (-8.4 Units) in road games against explosive offensive teams - scoring 3+ goals/game in the current season.
27PHILADELPHIA -28 NEW JERSEY
NEW JERSEY is 0-12 ATS (-12.8 Units) in home games against good offensive teams - >=29 shots on goal, convert >=17% pp in the current season.
29FLORIDA -30 NASHVILLE
NASHVILLE is 22-11 ATS (11.7 Units) against horrible power play killing teams-opp score on >19% of chances in the current season.
31TAMPA BAY -32 CHICAGO
CHICAGO is 9-1 ATS (7.9 Units) in home games off a home loss against a division rival over the last 2 seasons.
33CAROLINA -34 DALLAS
DALLAS are 3-13 ATS (-13.6 Units) in home games against good offensive teams - >=29 shots on goal, convert >=17% pp in the current season.
BOSTON is 4-9 ATS (-10.9 Units) against good offensive teams - averaging 29.5+ shots on goal per game in the current season.
21BUFFALO -22 NY RANGERS
BUFFALO is 7-33 ATS (-29.3 Units) off a loss by 2 goals or more to a division rival in the last 3 seasons.
23DETROIT -24 COLUMBUS
COLUMBUS are 1-10 ATS (-11.9 Units) against poor possession teams-averaging 3+ less shots on goal than opp in the current season.
25NY ISLANDERS -26 WASHINGTON
NY ISLANDERS are 2-9 ATS (-8.4 Units) in road games against explosive offensive teams - scoring 3+ goals/game in the current season.
27PHILADELPHIA -28 NEW JERSEY
NEW JERSEY is 0-12 ATS (-12.8 Units) in home games against good offensive teams - >=29 shots on goal, convert >=17% pp in the current season.
29FLORIDA -30 NASHVILLE
NASHVILLE is 22-11 ATS (11.7 Units) against horrible power play killing teams-opp score on >19% of chances in the current season.
31TAMPA BAY -32 CHICAGO
CHICAGO is 9-1 ATS (7.9 Units) in home games off a home loss against a division rival over the last 2 seasons.
33CAROLINA -34 DALLAS
DALLAS are 3-13 ATS (-13.6 Units) in home games against good offensive teams - >=29 shots on goal, convert >=17% pp in the current season.
