Sunday’s 6-pack:
Fewest points allowed in the first quarter of NFL games last year:
41— Green Bay
46— Baltimore, LA Chargers
47— Minnesota
49— San Francisco
62— Cincinnati
63— Kansas City, New Orleans
Quote of the Day
“Honestly, he almost swung, so I don’t know what he’s talking about. Guy stands right on top of the plate, doesn’t like when he gets hit, that’s his problem.”
Astros’ P Hunter Brown, after Angels SS Zach Neto barked at him after getting hit by a pitch in Friday night’s game
Sunday’s quiz
Since 1955, Barry Bonds has received by far the most intentional walks when there was already a runner on first base (81); what recently-retired star in second on the list?
Saturday’s quiz
In the history of the Houston Astros, Jeff Bagwell has hit the most home runs.
Friday’s quiz
Reggie Miller played his college basketball at UCLA.
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Get well soon, Wash!!!
Teams’ records in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on:
National League:
Giants 17-7
Phillies 17-12
Nationals 12-9
Mets 13-10
Dodgers 13-10
Padres 14-14
Marlins 11-11
Cardinals 12-12
Cubs 11-12
Pirates 12-14
Braves 13-15
Diamondbacks 11-14
Brewers 9-12
Rockies 7-12
Reds 6-11
American League
Mariners 19-9
Angels 16-8
Astros 15-8
Blue Jays 17-10
Rays 14-8
Guardians 11-7
Royals 14-12
A’s 12-11
Tigers 9-9
Twins 9-12
New York 9-13
Rangers 6-13
Orioles 4-10
Red Sox 10-15
White Sox 6-18
— I don’t get the whole “opener” thing, and I never have; Tampa Bay started it a few years ago, now a lot of teams do it, but Tampa Bay isn’t one of them, and when the Rays made it to the playoffs, they didn’t do it then. It is a gimmick.
Why start a stiff pitcher to face the best hitters on the other team? Detroit started an opener at Tampa Saturday; he gave up four runs in less than an inning. One year in the playoffs the A’s used Liam Hendriks as an opener; the game was over almost before it started.
Start your best pitchers; why would you use a lesser pitcher to start a game?
— Astros pitcher Hunter Brown has walked 28 batters this season; none of them have scored; he is the only regular starting pitcher who hasn’t allowed one of his walks to score.
— Interesting factoid; Sammy Sosa hit 609 home runs in his 18-year career; his first home run came against Roger Clemens, not a bad way to start.
— Famous birthdays, June 22nd:
Bobby Douglass, 78
Meryl Streep, 76
Lindsay Wagner, 76
Bruce Campbell, 67
Clyde Drexler, 63
Amy Brenneman, 61
Kurt Warner, 54
Ian Kinsler, 43
Danny Green, 38
Josh Naylor, 28
Cam Akers, 26
Kellen Mond, 26
— Right now, Oklahoma City is favored by 7.5 points against the Pacers in tonight’s Game 7 of the NBA Finals; last time a team was favored by this much in a Game 7 was 1966, when the Celtics (-8) beat the Lakers, 95-93.
Average margin of victory in Game 7’s in NBA Finals is 6.9 points; the last six Game 7’s in the Finals have all been decided by 7 or fewer points.
— TJ McConnell is the first bench player in NBA Finals history with:
60+ points
25+ assists
15+ rebounds in an NBA Final.
— NBA is the only league where they announce trades during the playoffs; other leagues keep things under wraps until their seasons are over. Orlando-Memphis recently pulled off a big deal; would the publicity be better if they didn’t distract from the Finals?
— Apparently two rich people have each bid $1.7B to buy the Tampa Bay Rays; the second guy has apparently offered cash. Who the BLEEP has $1.7B in cash laying around?
— There were seven batters hit by pitches in the recently-played Dodgers-Padres games; tensions ran high. Luckily, no one got hurt.
— In the increasingly strange world of college football, Wisconsin has filed a tampering lawsuit against Miami over former DB Xavier Lucas’ recruitment- this has to do with the Hurricanes allegedly poaching Lucas from the Badgers.
Someone needs to come up with a concrete set of rules so BS like this stops.
— An SEC team offered Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia an NIL deal worth more than $4M to bolt the Commodores and join their program— Pavia turned them down.
— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: NY/Phil, Cubs, Dodgers. Wild Cards: NY/Phil, Giants, Mil/StL
AL: Bronx, Tigers, Astros. Wild Cards: Rays, Blue Jays, Red Sox
Fewest points allowed in the first quarter of NFL games last year:
41— Green Bay
46— Baltimore, LA Chargers
47— Minnesota
49— San Francisco
62— Cincinnati
63— Kansas City, New Orleans
Quote of the Day
“Honestly, he almost swung, so I don’t know what he’s talking about. Guy stands right on top of the plate, doesn’t like when he gets hit, that’s his problem.”
Astros’ P Hunter Brown, after Angels SS Zach Neto barked at him after getting hit by a pitch in Friday night’s game
Sunday’s quiz
Since 1955, Barry Bonds has received by far the most intentional walks when there was already a runner on first base (81); what recently-retired star in second on the list?
Saturday’s quiz
In the history of the Houston Astros, Jeff Bagwell has hit the most home runs.
Friday’s quiz
Reggie Miller played his college basketball at UCLA.
**************************************************
Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Saturday……..
Our best wishes go out to Angels’ manager Ron Washington, who is taking an indefinite leave of absence from his job, for medical reasons. Washington is 73 years old; he played 10 years in the major leagues, has managed in the majors for 10 years, getting Texas to the World Series in both 2010 and 2011.Get well soon, Wash!!!
Teams’ records in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on:
National League:
Giants 17-7
Phillies 17-12
Nationals 12-9
Mets 13-10
Dodgers 13-10
Padres 14-14
Marlins 11-11
Cardinals 12-12
Cubs 11-12
Pirates 12-14
Braves 13-15
Diamondbacks 11-14
Brewers 9-12
Rockies 7-12
Reds 6-11
American League
Mariners 19-9
Angels 16-8
Astros 15-8
Blue Jays 17-10
Rays 14-8
Guardians 11-7
Royals 14-12
A’s 12-11
Tigers 9-9
Twins 9-12
New York 9-13
Rangers 6-13
Orioles 4-10
Red Sox 10-15
White Sox 6-18
— I don’t get the whole “opener” thing, and I never have; Tampa Bay started it a few years ago, now a lot of teams do it, but Tampa Bay isn’t one of them, and when the Rays made it to the playoffs, they didn’t do it then. It is a gimmick.
Why start a stiff pitcher to face the best hitters on the other team? Detroit started an opener at Tampa Saturday; he gave up four runs in less than an inning. One year in the playoffs the A’s used Liam Hendriks as an opener; the game was over almost before it started.
Start your best pitchers; why would you use a lesser pitcher to start a game?
— Astros pitcher Hunter Brown has walked 28 batters this season; none of them have scored; he is the only regular starting pitcher who hasn’t allowed one of his walks to score.
— Interesting factoid; Sammy Sosa hit 609 home runs in his 18-year career; his first home run came against Roger Clemens, not a bad way to start.
— Famous birthdays, June 22nd:
Bobby Douglass, 78
Meryl Streep, 76
Lindsay Wagner, 76
Bruce Campbell, 67
Clyde Drexler, 63
Amy Brenneman, 61
Kurt Warner, 54
Ian Kinsler, 43
Danny Green, 38
Josh Naylor, 28
Cam Akers, 26
Kellen Mond, 26
— Right now, Oklahoma City is favored by 7.5 points against the Pacers in tonight’s Game 7 of the NBA Finals; last time a team was favored by this much in a Game 7 was 1966, when the Celtics (-8) beat the Lakers, 95-93.
Average margin of victory in Game 7’s in NBA Finals is 6.9 points; the last six Game 7’s in the Finals have all been decided by 7 or fewer points.
— TJ McConnell is the first bench player in NBA Finals history with:
60+ points
25+ assists
15+ rebounds in an NBA Final.
— NBA is the only league where they announce trades during the playoffs; other leagues keep things under wraps until their seasons are over. Orlando-Memphis recently pulled off a big deal; would the publicity be better if they didn’t distract from the Finals?
— Apparently two rich people have each bid $1.7B to buy the Tampa Bay Rays; the second guy has apparently offered cash. Who the BLEEP has $1.7B in cash laying around?
— There were seven batters hit by pitches in the recently-played Dodgers-Padres games; tensions ran high. Luckily, no one got hurt.
— In the increasingly strange world of college football, Wisconsin has filed a tampering lawsuit against Miami over former DB Xavier Lucas’ recruitment- this has to do with the Hurricanes allegedly poaching Lucas from the Badgers.
Someone needs to come up with a concrete set of rules so BS like this stops.
— An SEC team offered Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia an NIL deal worth more than $4M to bolt the Commodores and join their program— Pavia turned them down.
— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: NY/Phil, Cubs, Dodgers. Wild Cards: NY/Phil, Giants, Mil/StL
AL: Bronx, Tigers, Astros. Wild Cards: Rays, Blue Jays, Red Sox