Armadillo Sports
Saturday’s 6-pack:
Six players who scored the most runs for the Oakland A’s:
1,270— Rickey Henderson
983— Bert Campaneris
773— Mark McGwire
756— Reggie Jackson
737— Sal Bando
730— Eric Chavez
Quote of the Day
“I’m just looking forward to any basketball I play — no matter what level I’m playing at……I just feel like I’m in a little slump right now.”
Bronny James, after his third summer league game with the Lakers
Saturday’s quiz
Who was the last guy on the Mets to hit three home runs in a game?
Hint: It was in 2021
Friday’s quiz
Jeff Bagwell is the all-time leading home run hitter for the Houston Astros.
Thursday’s quiz
Fred Dryer is the only defensive player in NFL history to record two safeties in a game, a 22-5 win over Green Bay; he was a defensive end for the Rams, who wound up as star of the TV series, Hunter. He was also a guest star in one of first episodes of Cheers.
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Saturday’s Den: Wrapping up a busy Friday…….
— Thursday in Milwaukee, Pirates took rookie pitcher Paul Skenes out after 7 innings/99 pitches, while he was throwing a no-hitter in a game Pittsburgh led, 1-0. Pirates’ bullpen got the last six outs and they won the game, 1-0.
Of course there were media geniuses questioning manager Derek Shelton, because all the media cares about is headlines like a no-hitter, when in reality, Shelton’s one and only job is keeping Skenes healthy, because he is a huge part of the Pirates’ immediate future.
Skemes is starting the All-Star Game Tuesday, one of the youngest pitchers to do that……..
— Speaking of which, they showed a graphic on MLB Network Friday, about youngest pitchers who ever started an All-Star Game. One name wasn’t familiar to me…….
Jerry Walker was only 20 years old when he started the 1959 All-Star Game; he went 11-10 in 30 games (22 starts) for the Orioles that year, but from 1960-64, he went 25-34 and was out of the major leagues after the 1964 season, when he was 24.
April 12, 1961, Orioles traded Walker to the Kansas City A’s for two players, one of whom was utility guy Dick Williams, who 11-12 years later, managed the A’s to consecutive World Series titles.
— Pirates 4, White Sox 1
White Sox ace Garrett Crochet threw only two innings/28 pitches, striking out four of the six hitters he faced. Apparently they planned it this way; no idea why. If they didn’t want him to pitch, why use him at all?
— Reds 7, Marlins 4
Rookie OF Rece Hinds hit a grand slam, his third home run in five big league games; he hit .216 in 77 games in AAA this season, so this hot streak is a pleasant surprise.
— A’s 6, Phillies 2
Not often that your starting pitching walks six guys, doesn’t strike out anyone and you still win, but that’s what happened here. Five Oakland relievers threw six shutout IP. Lawrence Butler hit a pinch-hit home run to break the game open in the 7th inning.
— Diamondbacks 5, Blue Jays 4
Toronto led this game 4-2 in 8th inning.
Geraldo Perdomo’s sac fly was the walk-off winner for Arizona.
Arizona is 48-47, over .500 for first time since April 3rd.
— Baseball stuff:
Cubs OF Cody Bellinger broke his finger.
Philadelphia Phillies DFA’d utility guy Whit Merrifield
— Famous birthdays, July 13th:
Harrison Ford, 82
Danny Abramowicz, 79
Stu Lantz, 78
David Thompson, 70
Spud Webb, 61
Yadier Molina, 42
DJ LeMahieu, 36
Ty France, 30
Cody Bellinger, 29
— Typing that today is David Thompson’s 70th birthday made me feel old; Thompson was a great, great college player, who also scored 13,422 points in a nine-year career in the ABA/NBA. I was a huge fan of his NC State teams in 1972-75; Wolfpack won the national title in 1974, ending UCLA’s run of consecutive national titles.
Thompson was Michael Jordan before Jordan; he was Jordan’s favorite player when Michael was growing up. Thompson was acrobatic, brilliant, but college players couldn’t dunk when he was in college and ESPN was still a few years away, so he was under-appreciated.
Anyway, happy birthday to David Thompson, one of the all-time greats!!!!
— RIP to Monte Kiffin, the great football coach who passed away this week at age 84.
Monte Kiffin was a defensive wizard who spent 25 years in the NFL, most notably on Tony Dungy’s staff in Tampa Bay. He was also head coach at NC State from 1980-82.
Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin is his son; Monte Kiffin is the only assistant coach in the Tampa Bay Bucs’ Ring of Honor.
RIP, sir.
— Tennessee Titans signed S Jamal Adams; he spent the last four years with the Seattle Seahawks, who traded two first-round draft picks to acquire him from the Jets in 2020.
— Knicks signed G Jalen Brunson to a 4-year, $156.5M deal; had he not a deal signed this summer, Brunson would’ve been eligible for a 5-year, $269M deal next summer.
— Las Vegas Summer League started Friday; 11 days of young guys trying to win jobs, both in the NBA and in other pro leagues around the world. It is solid entertainment; for $45, you can sit in air-conditioned arenas all day and watch great basketball, four or five games in each of the two arenas at UNLV.
— Rockets 99, Lakers 80
Over 17,000 fans came to see Bronny James play; he played 27:00, shot 3-14 from floor, 0-8 on arc, with five rebounds, two steals as Houston beat the Lakers, 99-80.
— Friday night the NBA announced the pools for November’s in-season tournament, the league’s second in-season event.
This event is meant to drum up interest in the NBA early in the season, but let’s be honest, it is meaningless; Lakers won the in-season title last year on December 10; they raised a banner in their arena to commemorate it, but then on May 3rd, 145 days later, they fired their coach, that’s how much they cared about winning the freakin’ in-season tournament.
