Thursday’s 6-pack:
NFL teams that will have some joint practices this summer:
— Browns-Panthers
— Buccaneers-Steelers
— Giants-Jets
— Dolphins-Bears
— Broncos-49ers
— Colts-Ravens
Quote of the Day
“I have to understand the risks, ask the right questions. But I’m a competitor. I want to play. I’m going to do everything in my power to play.”
Pacers’ star Tyrese Haliburton
Thursday’s quiz
Where did Aaron Judge play his college baseball?
Wednesday’s quiz
20 years ago, the White Sox won the World Series; Paul Konerko hit 40 homers, knocked in 100 runs for Chicago that year.
Tuesday’s quiz
When the Seattle SuperSonics won their only NBA title in 1979, Lenny Wilkens was their coach.
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“I was told by a rep for MLB that the balls are indeed different this year. They stated “higher seams” which produces more drag on the baseball, causing baseballs to not travel as far as they should. When asked why, I was told ‘every baseball is hand sewn so no ball is the same.’”
Batted balls are traveling roughly four feet less this year than the previous nine years; it is hard to believe that a business that is worth so much $$$$ can’t come up with a way to make the balls the same way every year.
— Tampa Bay Rays principal owner Stu Sternberg is in advanced talks to sell the team to a group led by Florida real estate developers, for $1.7B; the Rays are expected to stay in the Tampa area if this sale goes through.
Sternberg bought the team for $200M in 2004; the Rays have tried to get a new ballpark in Tampa or the surrounding area for well over a decade, but the damage done by Hurricane Milton this past winter.
Rays have been to the playoffs five times in the last six years; despite that, they regularly rank near the bottom of the league in attendance.
— Guy that owns the LA Dodgers bought the Lakers this week for $10B or so, that is BILLION, with a B.
The Buss family has owned the Lakers since 1979; they will keep a minority share of the team, just over 15%, and Jeanie Buss will remain the Lakers’ governor and continue to run the team for “at least a number of years.”
Dr Jerry Buss bought the Lakers, the NHL’s Kings and the LA Forum for $67.5M in 1979; Lakers have won 11 titles since then, more than any other NBA team.
— Indiana Pacers traded their first round pick in next week’s NBA Draft to New Orleans, getting back their own first round pick next year, which they had previously traded away.
The trade clears out nearly $3.2M in salary cap space for the Pacers, who now have their own first-round pick in seven consecutive drafts starting in 2026.
— Memphis Grizzlies traded Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic, for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony and four unprotected first-round picks- there is also a swap of future first round picks involved.
Orlando president Jeff Weltman made clear the Magic is taking an aggressive, win-now approach to this offseason. Bane is one of three NBA players with 800 made 3-pointers and 40% 3-point shooting since entering the league in 2020, and he has shot 43.2% on catch-and-shoot 3’s the last five years.
— Houston signed C Steven Adams to a 3-year, $39M contract extension; Houston was 52-30 this past season, was the #2-seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
— NFL teams who won the most games last year (7) without trailing in any of them:
Ravens, Packers, Eagles.
— Famous birthdays, June 19th:
Jerry Reuss, 76
Phylicia Rashad, 76
Duane Kuiper, 75
Kathleen Turner, 71
Mike Renfro, 70
Doug Mientkiewicz, 51
Anthony Parker, 50
Dirk Nowitzki, 47
Jacob deGrom, 37
Joe Noteboom, 30
Jordan Poole, 26
Bennedict Mathurin, 23
— Rays 12, Orioles 8
Baltimore led this game 8-0 in the second inning.
In his last seven games, Brandon Lowe is 13-28 with 8 runs scored.
Tampa Bay has won five of its last six games.
— Dodgers 4, Padres 3
Will Smith hit a walk-off, pinch-hit home run.
Padres had tied the game with two runs in top of the 9th.
Top four hitters in Dodger lineup went 1 for 15.
— Braves 5, Mets 0
Chris Sale went 8.2 IP (116 PT), just missed his first shutout since 2019.
Sale has eight quality starts in his last nine outings.
Atlanta is 21-15 at home, 12-24 on the road.
— Angels 3, Bronx 2
Angels scored winning run in 8th inning, on three walks and an error.
Halos were 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position.
New York has lost six games in a row.
— Phillies 4, Marlins 2
Bryson Stott hit a three-run homer.
Ranger Suarez allowed one run, four hits in 7 IP.
Phillies won six of their last seven games.
— Rockies 3, Nationals 1
German Marquez got 17 outs, didn’t allow any runs.
Rockies have won four in row, are 7-7 in last 14 games.
Washington has lost 11 games in a row.
— Blue Jays 8, Diamondbacks 1
Vladimir Guerrero had 2 hits, 3 RBI after walking in his first 3 AB’s.
Toronto improved to 24-13 at home.
Blue Jays are 27-2 when they score 5+ runs.
— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Mets, Cubs, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Phillies, Giants, Padres
AL: Bronx, Tigers, Astros. Wild Cards: Rays, Blue Jays, Guardians
NFL teams that will have some joint practices this summer:
— Browns-Panthers
— Buccaneers-Steelers
— Giants-Jets
— Dolphins-Bears
— Broncos-49ers
— Colts-Ravens
Quote of the Day
“I have to understand the risks, ask the right questions. But I’m a competitor. I want to play. I’m going to do everything in my power to play.”
Pacers’ star Tyrese Haliburton
Thursday’s quiz
Where did Aaron Judge play his college baseball?
Wednesday’s quiz
20 years ago, the White Sox won the World Series; Paul Konerko hit 40 homers, knocked in 100 runs for Chicago that year.
Tuesday’s quiz
When the Seattle SuperSonics won their only NBA title in 1979, Lenny Wilkens was their coach.
******************************************
Thursday’s Den: Doing some thinking out loud…….
— Pirates OF Andrew McCutchen posted this on Twitter about this year’s baseballs:“I was told by a rep for MLB that the balls are indeed different this year. They stated “higher seams” which produces more drag on the baseball, causing baseballs to not travel as far as they should. When asked why, I was told ‘every baseball is hand sewn so no ball is the same.’”
Batted balls are traveling roughly four feet less this year than the previous nine years; it is hard to believe that a business that is worth so much $$$$ can’t come up with a way to make the balls the same way every year.
— Tampa Bay Rays principal owner Stu Sternberg is in advanced talks to sell the team to a group led by Florida real estate developers, for $1.7B; the Rays are expected to stay in the Tampa area if this sale goes through.
Sternberg bought the team for $200M in 2004; the Rays have tried to get a new ballpark in Tampa or the surrounding area for well over a decade, but the damage done by Hurricane Milton this past winter.
Rays have been to the playoffs five times in the last six years; despite that, they regularly rank near the bottom of the league in attendance.
— Guy that owns the LA Dodgers bought the Lakers this week for $10B or so, that is BILLION, with a B.
The Buss family has owned the Lakers since 1979; they will keep a minority share of the team, just over 15%, and Jeanie Buss will remain the Lakers’ governor and continue to run the team for “at least a number of years.”
Dr Jerry Buss bought the Lakers, the NHL’s Kings and the LA Forum for $67.5M in 1979; Lakers have won 11 titles since then, more than any other NBA team.
— Indiana Pacers traded their first round pick in next week’s NBA Draft to New Orleans, getting back their own first round pick next year, which they had previously traded away.
The trade clears out nearly $3.2M in salary cap space for the Pacers, who now have their own first-round pick in seven consecutive drafts starting in 2026.
— Memphis Grizzlies traded Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic, for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony and four unprotected first-round picks- there is also a swap of future first round picks involved.
Orlando president Jeff Weltman made clear the Magic is taking an aggressive, win-now approach to this offseason. Bane is one of three NBA players with 800 made 3-pointers and 40% 3-point shooting since entering the league in 2020, and he has shot 43.2% on catch-and-shoot 3’s the last five years.
— Houston signed C Steven Adams to a 3-year, $39M contract extension; Houston was 52-30 this past season, was the #2-seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
— NFL teams who won the most games last year (7) without trailing in any of them:
Ravens, Packers, Eagles.
— Famous birthdays, June 19th:
Jerry Reuss, 76
Phylicia Rashad, 76
Duane Kuiper, 75
Kathleen Turner, 71
Mike Renfro, 70
Doug Mientkiewicz, 51
Anthony Parker, 50
Dirk Nowitzki, 47
Jacob deGrom, 37
Joe Noteboom, 30
Jordan Poole, 26
Bennedict Mathurin, 23
— Rays 12, Orioles 8
Baltimore led this game 8-0 in the second inning.
In his last seven games, Brandon Lowe is 13-28 with 8 runs scored.
Tampa Bay has won five of its last six games.
— Dodgers 4, Padres 3
Will Smith hit a walk-off, pinch-hit home run.
Padres had tied the game with two runs in top of the 9th.
Top four hitters in Dodger lineup went 1 for 15.
— Braves 5, Mets 0
Chris Sale went 8.2 IP (116 PT), just missed his first shutout since 2019.
Sale has eight quality starts in his last nine outings.
Atlanta is 21-15 at home, 12-24 on the road.
— Angels 3, Bronx 2
Angels scored winning run in 8th inning, on three walks and an error.
Halos were 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position.
New York has lost six games in a row.
— Phillies 4, Marlins 2
Bryson Stott hit a three-run homer.
Ranger Suarez allowed one run, four hits in 7 IP.
Phillies won six of their last seven games.
— Rockies 3, Nationals 1
German Marquez got 17 outs, didn’t allow any runs.
Rockies have won four in row, are 7-7 in last 14 games.
Washington has lost 11 games in a row.
— Blue Jays 8, Diamondbacks 1
Vladimir Guerrero had 2 hits, 3 RBI after walking in his first 3 AB’s.
Toronto improved to 24-13 at home.
Blue Jays are 27-2 when they score 5+ runs.
— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Mets, Cubs, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Phillies, Giants, Padres
AL: Bronx, Tigers, Astros. Wild Cards: Rays, Blue Jays, Guardians
