Thursday’s six-pack
— Johnny Manziel worked out for the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats, but he showed up out of shape; they don’t think he is ready to play ball, mentally or physically.
— Browns cut CB Joe Haden, a 7-year veteran; he then got three years, $27M from the Steelers.
— Atlanta 3B Brandon Phillips got his 2,000th career hit Wednesday.
— Florida Atlantic opened as a 14.5-point underdog vs Navy; they’ve been bet down to +9. Navy’s OC is ill, and people are jumping on the Lane Kiffin bandwagon.
— Mariners acquired P Mike Leake from the Cardinals; he has $55M left on his contract.
— Cowboys-Texans preseason game scheduled for tonite was cancelled, so the Houston players could go home and assess the damage to their homes.
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Thursday’s List of 13: Nobody asked me, but…….
13) All-time record for consecutive scoreless innings:
48— Chicago Cubs, 1968
45— Cincinnati Reds, 1931
45— Kansas City Royals, 2017
12) As of Tuesday night’s results, Joey Votto had 27 walks in his last 18 games; time for the Reds to at least consider batting him leadoff.
Votto’s on-base %age: .449
Billy Hamilton’s on-base %age: .298
11) In 2015, the state of California collected $258.1M in taxes from pro athletes.
10) The major league record for home runs in a season by someone who wasn’t in the majors before August 1? 13, by Ted Williams in 1953.
Phillies’ rookie Rhys Hoskins has 11 homers; his first big league game was August 10.
9) To win $100 at the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas, all a bettor has to do is put up $100,000 on the Golden State Warriors making the NBA playoffs this coming season. A $100 bet on Golden State to miss the playoffs pays $10,100.
I could be wrong, but I would advise against putting up $100,000 to win $100.
8) Cedar Bayou, TX had 51.88 inches of rain from Hurricane Harvey, the most rainfall ever on the continental United States. Thats over four feet of rain!!!!
7) Dolphins’ DT Ndamukong Suh played youth soccer as a kid in Oregon— one of his teammates was Klay Thompson. Apparently Suh is now the Miami Dolphins’ backup kicker, should anything happen to starting kicker Andrew Franks, who went to D-III RPI, which is across the river from me in beautiful downtown Troy, NY.
RPI is better known for its Division I hockey program. And its engineering program.
6) How come no one bats the pitcher 8th this year? Because it was never a good idea, just something Tony Larussa/Joe Maddon did, so other teams blindly copied it.
5) Former LSU coach Les Miles, one of my favorites, will be a game analyst for FOX Sports this fall. Miles live-tweeted the Floyd Mayweather fight Saturday night- he could be television gold.
4) Major league record for most games started by a pitcher without ever appearing in relief:
682, Tom Glavine
379, Justin Verlander
372, Felix Hernandez
240, Juan Guzman
3) According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle last week, the book Moneyball is required reading at most business schools across the country.
Wonder if they’ll study the part where the A’s trade their best pitcher (who has an affordable contract) for three players, two of whom are currently incapacitated, and a third guy who is in AA. (he is hitting .269 in the Texas League right now).
To paraphrase Rick Pitino, Brad Pitt isn’t walking thru that door anytime soon. Moneyball 2 ain’t gonna happen, not while the A’s flounder year after year.
2) First-round matchups for the Puerto Rico tip-off tournament this fall:
South Carolina-Illinois State, Boise State-UTEP, Iowa State-Appalachian State, Tulsa-Western Michigan. Pretty good tournament.
1) Astros are coming home to Houston this weekend; Friday’s game with the Mets was postponed to a day/night doubleheader on Saturday, with a day game on Sunday.
— Johnny Manziel worked out for the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats, but he showed up out of shape; they don’t think he is ready to play ball, mentally or physically.
— Browns cut CB Joe Haden, a 7-year veteran; he then got three years, $27M from the Steelers.
— Atlanta 3B Brandon Phillips got his 2,000th career hit Wednesday.
— Florida Atlantic opened as a 14.5-point underdog vs Navy; they’ve been bet down to +9. Navy’s OC is ill, and people are jumping on the Lane Kiffin bandwagon.
— Mariners acquired P Mike Leake from the Cardinals; he has $55M left on his contract.
— Cowboys-Texans preseason game scheduled for tonite was cancelled, so the Houston players could go home and assess the damage to their homes.
*************************
Thursday’s List of 13: Nobody asked me, but…….
13) All-time record for consecutive scoreless innings:
48— Chicago Cubs, 1968
45— Cincinnati Reds, 1931
45— Kansas City Royals, 2017
12) As of Tuesday night’s results, Joey Votto had 27 walks in his last 18 games; time for the Reds to at least consider batting him leadoff.
Votto’s on-base %age: .449
Billy Hamilton’s on-base %age: .298
11) In 2015, the state of California collected $258.1M in taxes from pro athletes.
10) The major league record for home runs in a season by someone who wasn’t in the majors before August 1? 13, by Ted Williams in 1953.
Phillies’ rookie Rhys Hoskins has 11 homers; his first big league game was August 10.
9) To win $100 at the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas, all a bettor has to do is put up $100,000 on the Golden State Warriors making the NBA playoffs this coming season. A $100 bet on Golden State to miss the playoffs pays $10,100.
I could be wrong, but I would advise against putting up $100,000 to win $100.
8) Cedar Bayou, TX had 51.88 inches of rain from Hurricane Harvey, the most rainfall ever on the continental United States. Thats over four feet of rain!!!!
7) Dolphins’ DT Ndamukong Suh played youth soccer as a kid in Oregon— one of his teammates was Klay Thompson. Apparently Suh is now the Miami Dolphins’ backup kicker, should anything happen to starting kicker Andrew Franks, who went to D-III RPI, which is across the river from me in beautiful downtown Troy, NY.
RPI is better known for its Division I hockey program. And its engineering program.
6) How come no one bats the pitcher 8th this year? Because it was never a good idea, just something Tony Larussa/Joe Maddon did, so other teams blindly copied it.
5) Former LSU coach Les Miles, one of my favorites, will be a game analyst for FOX Sports this fall. Miles live-tweeted the Floyd Mayweather fight Saturday night- he could be television gold.
4) Major league record for most games started by a pitcher without ever appearing in relief:
682, Tom Glavine
379, Justin Verlander
372, Felix Hernandez
240, Juan Guzman
3) According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle last week, the book Moneyball is required reading at most business schools across the country.
Wonder if they’ll study the part where the A’s trade their best pitcher (who has an affordable contract) for three players, two of whom are currently incapacitated, and a third guy who is in AA. (he is hitting .269 in the Texas League right now).
To paraphrase Rick Pitino, Brad Pitt isn’t walking thru that door anytime soon. Moneyball 2 ain’t gonna happen, not while the A’s flounder year after year.
2) First-round matchups for the Puerto Rico tip-off tournament this fall:
South Carolina-Illinois State, Boise State-UTEP, Iowa State-Appalachian State, Tulsa-Western Michigan. Pretty good tournament.
1) Astros are coming home to Houston this weekend; Friday’s game with the Mets was postponed to a day/night doubleheader on Saturday, with a day game on Sunday.
