Sunday’s 6-pack
MLB leaders in RBI:
33— JD Martinez Bos, Jose Abreu CWS
32— Jesus Aguilar, Mia
31— Trey Mancini Blt, Rafael Devers Bos
30— Mitch Haniger Sea, Yuli Gurriel Hst
29— Jared Walsh, LAA
28— Guerrero, Grichuk, Peralta
Quote of the Day
“Sometimes you have to go through the worst in order to get to the best.”
Anonymous
Sunday’s quiz
What well-known actor (now deceased) played A’s manager Art Howe in Moneyball?
Saturday’s quiz
Mark Jackson was coach of the Golden State Warriors before Steve Kerr.
Friday’s quiz
Roy Hobbs played for the New York Knights in Robert Redford’s baseball movie, The Natural.
****************************************************
Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Saturday
13) Tough day physically for some baseball stars:
— Bryce Harper has a bad shoulder, is day-to-day.
— JT Realmuto has a left wrist issue, is day-to-day.
— Corey Seager broke his right hand, is done for a while.
In a related issue, we’re all day-to-day.
12) Phillies have scored at least one first inning run 10 of their last 13 games, but with their two biggest stars banged up, that seems less likely to happen for a while.
11) Takes a lot of players for a team to make the playoffs in baseball, more than the 26 on a roster at one time. The 2012 A’s made an unlikely run to the playoffs with a lot of late-inning wins, one of which was when a guy named Brandon Hicks hit a walk-off homer vs Texas.
Hicks hit one of the biggest homers of that season for the A’s, but he only batted for them 70 times that whole season— a very unlikely hero.
10) Underrated TV channel is AMC, #254 on DirecTV. Did my writing tonight while watching Moneyball and A Few Good Men, two excellent movies.
9) Eagles-Cowboys have played on Sunday Night Football once every year since 2010, but this year they won’t, they’ll meet on Monday Night Football instead, in Week 3.
Sunday night games have become higher profile than the Monday night matchups; both those teams had losing records last year, which is probably why they got shuffled to Monday.
8) Albert Pujols is going to sign a deal with the Dodgers, to provide a bat off the bench; will he be their DH next year, when the universal DH probably kicks in for every team?
7) Last six times I’ve been to a McDonald’s (two different ones) the milkshake machine only worked once. This is a problem; their milkshakes are very good.
6) The Jimmy John’s commercials with Brad Garrett have become annoying; they’re on a lot, and they’re not funny.
5) I’ve been a big Bill James fan since I was in college; have always bought his books and read them. Don’t always agree with what he says, but he’s had a great impact on baseball, which is pretty awesome for a guy who was a security guard at a pork and beans company when he started writing those books.
In 1983, I wrote Bill James a letter and he answered me back, a hand-written note that is still around here somewhere. I’m wondering if/when things in baseball will start swinging back towards more traditional baseball thinking.
Will bullpens get worn out later this summer? Do starting pitchers need to be trained to go deeper into games? Is so much shifting a good idea? (Hopefully, shifting will be banned or greatly reduced soon).
4) Pirates 8, Giants 6— San Francisco led 6-2 in 7th inning, but Jacob Stallings hit a walk-off homer to send everyone home happy. Stallings’ father Kevin used to be the basketball coach at Vanderbilt and Pitt.
3) Tigers 9, Cubs 8— Chicago is 5-12 on the road; they’re going to be an interesting team to follow in July. Will they have a fire sale? Bryant/Rizzo would bring back a pretty good haul.
2) Astros 6, Rangers 5— Houston has won eight of its last ten games.
1) Six years ago today, we lost my dad, a very sad night. He was a great friend, an honest guy who loved to play golf and root for the Mets. I miss him every day.
MLB leaders in RBI:
33— JD Martinez Bos, Jose Abreu CWS
32— Jesus Aguilar, Mia
31— Trey Mancini Blt, Rafael Devers Bos
30— Mitch Haniger Sea, Yuli Gurriel Hst
29— Jared Walsh, LAA
28— Guerrero, Grichuk, Peralta
Quote of the Day
“Sometimes you have to go through the worst in order to get to the best.”
Anonymous
Sunday’s quiz
What well-known actor (now deceased) played A’s manager Art Howe in Moneyball?
Saturday’s quiz
Mark Jackson was coach of the Golden State Warriors before Steve Kerr.
Friday’s quiz
Roy Hobbs played for the New York Knights in Robert Redford’s baseball movie, The Natural.
****************************************************
Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Saturday
13) Tough day physically for some baseball stars:
— Bryce Harper has a bad shoulder, is day-to-day.
— JT Realmuto has a left wrist issue, is day-to-day.
— Corey Seager broke his right hand, is done for a while.
In a related issue, we’re all day-to-day.
12) Phillies have scored at least one first inning run 10 of their last 13 games, but with their two biggest stars banged up, that seems less likely to happen for a while.
11) Takes a lot of players for a team to make the playoffs in baseball, more than the 26 on a roster at one time. The 2012 A’s made an unlikely run to the playoffs with a lot of late-inning wins, one of which was when a guy named Brandon Hicks hit a walk-off homer vs Texas.
Hicks hit one of the biggest homers of that season for the A’s, but he only batted for them 70 times that whole season— a very unlikely hero.
10) Underrated TV channel is AMC, #254 on DirecTV. Did my writing tonight while watching Moneyball and A Few Good Men, two excellent movies.
9) Eagles-Cowboys have played on Sunday Night Football once every year since 2010, but this year they won’t, they’ll meet on Monday Night Football instead, in Week 3.
Sunday night games have become higher profile than the Monday night matchups; both those teams had losing records last year, which is probably why they got shuffled to Monday.
8) Albert Pujols is going to sign a deal with the Dodgers, to provide a bat off the bench; will he be their DH next year, when the universal DH probably kicks in for every team?
7) Last six times I’ve been to a McDonald’s (two different ones) the milkshake machine only worked once. This is a problem; their milkshakes are very good.
6) The Jimmy John’s commercials with Brad Garrett have become annoying; they’re on a lot, and they’re not funny.
5) I’ve been a big Bill James fan since I was in college; have always bought his books and read them. Don’t always agree with what he says, but he’s had a great impact on baseball, which is pretty awesome for a guy who was a security guard at a pork and beans company when he started writing those books.
In 1983, I wrote Bill James a letter and he answered me back, a hand-written note that is still around here somewhere. I’m wondering if/when things in baseball will start swinging back towards more traditional baseball thinking.
Will bullpens get worn out later this summer? Do starting pitchers need to be trained to go deeper into games? Is so much shifting a good idea? (Hopefully, shifting will be banned or greatly reduced soon).
4) Pirates 8, Giants 6— San Francisco led 6-2 in 7th inning, but Jacob Stallings hit a walk-off homer to send everyone home happy. Stallings’ father Kevin used to be the basketball coach at Vanderbilt and Pitt.
3) Tigers 9, Cubs 8— Chicago is 5-12 on the road; they’re going to be an interesting team to follow in July. Will they have a fire sale? Bryant/Rizzo would bring back a pretty good haul.
2) Astros 6, Rangers 5— Houston has won eight of its last ten games.
1) Six years ago today, we lost my dad, a very sad night. He was a great friend, an honest guy who loved to play golf and root for the Mets. I miss him every day.
