Monday’s 6-pack
Most career regular season home runs in Dodger Stadium:
130- Eric Karros
123- Ron Cey
118- Steve Garvey
117- Matt Kemp
106- Andre Ethier
92- Mike Piazza
Americans who have died from COVID-19: 188,895
Please wear a mask when you go out.
Tweet of the Day
“In the end, Mitch won the job and I think that’s very important for him, for us, for everybody to understand that he worked really hard to get to this point. We know that we all — in a lot of different areas — struggled in 2019. What I think was most impressive from the end of the season until this past weekend was to be able to see some of the growth in practice and off the field that Mitch had.”
Bears coach Matt Nagy
Monday’s quiz
What team did Lou Brock begin his major league career with?
Sunday’s quiz
Clint Hurdle managed the Colorado Rockies in their only World Series appearance.
Saturday’s quiz
Houston Astros were originally the Houston Colt 45’s in their first few years as a major league franchise.
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Monday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports weekend
13) This is baseball, 2020:
In the Miami-Tampa Bay game Sunday, the Marlins’ 41st game this year:
— Miami’s Trevor Rogers threw 100 pitches.
— Tampa Bay’s Tyler Glasnow threw 105 pitches.
It was the first time this season, in Miami’s 41 games, that both starting pitchers threw 100+ pitches in the same game.
12) Atlanta’s Freddie Freeman hit two grand slams in the last three games; in 10 years in the major leagues before this weekend, Freeman had never hit a grand slam.
11) Umpire Joe West threw Washington Nationals’ GM Mike Rizzo out of the game Sunday; the thing is, Rizzo was sitting in a luxury box in the third level of the stadium. With no fans in the ballpark, umpires can hear a lot more of what their critics think of them.
Rizzo got a 3-year contract extension Saturday, so he can afford the fine he’ll get.
10) Astros-Angels played a doubleheader Saturday; it was 109 degrees in Anaheim when the first pitch was thrown. Tough weekend for the catchers in Orange County- it was 106 degrees for Sunday’s game in Anaheim.
9) Toronto leads the Bronx Bombers by a game in the race for 2nd place in the AL East; they play 10 of their last 20 games against each other, starting Monday in Buffalo.
8) Interesting conversation on the YES Network Sunday; top of 7th inning, Orioles led New York 4-1, but the visitors have two men on, with catcher Erik Kratz at bat, tying run at the plate.
Kratz is a career backup, but Gary Sanchez is having a dreadful season, so he’s been benched; if they pinch-hit for Kratz, they pretty much had to put Sanchez in the game, which they obviously didn’t want to do.
The three TV guys then discussed why this was happening, and how manager Aaron Boone isn’t making all the decisions as far as who plays and who doesn’t, the type of manager/front office issues we saw in the movie Moneyball.
It was an unusually frank discussion, and it was good stuff.
7) Sunday was the 25th anniversary of Cal Ripken Jr surpassing Lou Gehrig’s record for most consecutive games played, with 2,131.
Longest current active streak of consecutive games played? Whit Merrifield, 288 games.
6) SMU 31, Texas State 24— Imagine being Texas State and being on ESPN Saturday at 4:30, the only televised football game at that time? What a recruiting bonanza for the Sun Belt’s Bobcats, who hung in with SMU but couldn’t spring the upset- they got good exposure, though, and that sure helps their recruiting.
5) Villanova basketball coach Jay Wright made it known that he doesn’t want to be the 76ers’ head coach. He already has a lucrative gig with more job security.
4) They opened a new sportsbook in the Treasure Island casino in Las Vegas, one of the few strip casinos I’ve never been in. I look forward to seeing it someday.
3) Pittsburgh Steelers cut QB Devlin Hodges, who started six games for them LY and brought back QB Josh Dobbs, who had been a backup in Jacksonville.
2) From Ralph Michaels:
Since 2014 in the NFL, Week 1 divisional underdogs are 21-5-1 ATS.
1) If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
AL East- Tampa Bay, Toronto
AL Central- Chicago, Cleveland
AL West- Oakland, Houston
AL Wild Cards- Minnesota, New York
NL East- Atlanta, Philadelphia
NL Central- Chicago, St Louis
NL West- Los Angeles, San Diego
NL Wild Cards- Colorado, Mia/SF
Most career regular season home runs in Dodger Stadium:
130- Eric Karros
123- Ron Cey
118- Steve Garvey
117- Matt Kemp
106- Andre Ethier
92- Mike Piazza
Americans who have died from COVID-19: 188,895
Please wear a mask when you go out.
Tweet of the Day
“In the end, Mitch won the job and I think that’s very important for him, for us, for everybody to understand that he worked really hard to get to this point. We know that we all — in a lot of different areas — struggled in 2019. What I think was most impressive from the end of the season until this past weekend was to be able to see some of the growth in practice and off the field that Mitch had.”
Bears coach Matt Nagy
Monday’s quiz
What team did Lou Brock begin his major league career with?
Sunday’s quiz
Clint Hurdle managed the Colorado Rockies in their only World Series appearance.
Saturday’s quiz
Houston Astros were originally the Houston Colt 45’s in their first few years as a major league franchise.
******************************
Monday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports weekend
13) This is baseball, 2020:
In the Miami-Tampa Bay game Sunday, the Marlins’ 41st game this year:
— Miami’s Trevor Rogers threw 100 pitches.
— Tampa Bay’s Tyler Glasnow threw 105 pitches.
It was the first time this season, in Miami’s 41 games, that both starting pitchers threw 100+ pitches in the same game.
12) Atlanta’s Freddie Freeman hit two grand slams in the last three games; in 10 years in the major leagues before this weekend, Freeman had never hit a grand slam.
11) Umpire Joe West threw Washington Nationals’ GM Mike Rizzo out of the game Sunday; the thing is, Rizzo was sitting in a luxury box in the third level of the stadium. With no fans in the ballpark, umpires can hear a lot more of what their critics think of them.
Rizzo got a 3-year contract extension Saturday, so he can afford the fine he’ll get.
10) Astros-Angels played a doubleheader Saturday; it was 109 degrees in Anaheim when the first pitch was thrown. Tough weekend for the catchers in Orange County- it was 106 degrees for Sunday’s game in Anaheim.
9) Toronto leads the Bronx Bombers by a game in the race for 2nd place in the AL East; they play 10 of their last 20 games against each other, starting Monday in Buffalo.
8) Interesting conversation on the YES Network Sunday; top of 7th inning, Orioles led New York 4-1, but the visitors have two men on, with catcher Erik Kratz at bat, tying run at the plate.
Kratz is a career backup, but Gary Sanchez is having a dreadful season, so he’s been benched; if they pinch-hit for Kratz, they pretty much had to put Sanchez in the game, which they obviously didn’t want to do.
The three TV guys then discussed why this was happening, and how manager Aaron Boone isn’t making all the decisions as far as who plays and who doesn’t, the type of manager/front office issues we saw in the movie Moneyball.
It was an unusually frank discussion, and it was good stuff.
7) Sunday was the 25th anniversary of Cal Ripken Jr surpassing Lou Gehrig’s record for most consecutive games played, with 2,131.
Longest current active streak of consecutive games played? Whit Merrifield, 288 games.
6) SMU 31, Texas State 24— Imagine being Texas State and being on ESPN Saturday at 4:30, the only televised football game at that time? What a recruiting bonanza for the Sun Belt’s Bobcats, who hung in with SMU but couldn’t spring the upset- they got good exposure, though, and that sure helps their recruiting.
5) Villanova basketball coach Jay Wright made it known that he doesn’t want to be the 76ers’ head coach. He already has a lucrative gig with more job security.
4) They opened a new sportsbook in the Treasure Island casino in Las Vegas, one of the few strip casinos I’ve never been in. I look forward to seeing it someday.
3) Pittsburgh Steelers cut QB Devlin Hodges, who started six games for them LY and brought back QB Josh Dobbs, who had been a backup in Jacksonville.
2) From Ralph Michaels:
Since 2014 in the NFL, Week 1 divisional underdogs are 21-5-1 ATS.
1) If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
AL East- Tampa Bay, Toronto
AL Central- Chicago, Cleveland
AL West- Oakland, Houston
AL Wild Cards- Minnesota, New York
NL East- Atlanta, Philadelphia
NL Central- Chicago, St Louis
NL West- Los Angeles, San Diego
NL Wild Cards- Colorado, Mia/SF
