Saturday’s 6-pack:
Total sports betting by state, for June 2025:
$1.65B— New York
$790.4M— New Jersey
$587M— Ohio
$533M— Massachusetts
$496.6M— Nevada
$483.6M— Pennsylvania
Quote of the Day
“The only one that’s upset at this point is my wife. All her merchandise has 59 on it. Now she has to go buy new stuff.”
Phillies manager Rob Thomson, after giving up his #59 uniform to newly-acquired closer Jhoan Duran
Saturday’s quiz
Who holds the Chicago Bears’ record for most receiving yards in a season?
Friday’s quiz
Chicago Bears have never had a QB throw for 4,000+ yards in a season; Erik Kramer holds the Bears’ single-season record for passing yardage.
Thursday’s quiz
In history of the New York Mets, Johan Santana threw the first no-hitter, in 2012.
****************************************
Major League Baseball Players Association urged foreign-born players to carry immigration papers amid a nationwide crackdown, with experts warning that even superstar athletes aren’t immune from enforcement.
Strange times we live in; lot of cruddy people in the world.
— Chargers 34, Lions 7
Detroit fumbled away the opening kickoff, also lost a fumble on a punt.
Trey Lance played most of game at QB for LA, was 13-20/120 passing, with 2 TD’s.
Chargers were +5 in turnovers; Detroit didn’t play any starters.
— When former Chargers’ TE Antonio Gates gets inducted into the Hall of Fame Saturday, he’ll become the first inductee who didn’t play college football.
Gates played basketball at both Eastern Michigan/Kent State, leading Kent State to the Elite 8 of the 2002 NCAA Tournament, as a #10-seed.
— NFL teams’ over/under win totals’ trends:
Steelers- over their win total nine of last 11 years
Chiefs- over 11 of the last 15 years
Browns- under 16-6 last 22 years
Giants- under 11-2-1 last 14 years
Bears- under 20-8-1 last 29 years/5-0-1 last six years
Jaguars- under 19-6 last 25 years
— Betting props this year for Geno Smith, the Raiders’ new QB:
Over/under passing yards: 3,575.5
Over/under passing TD’s: 20.5
— There were 50 traded made in the 31 hours before baseball’s trading deadline; baseball needs a Hard Knocks-type show, to
a) promote the sport- it is a great game.
b) show us how things work behind the scenes.
Imagine being a fly on the wall in the Twins’ clubhouse this week? Of the 25 players who were on their roster at this time last week, 10 of them got traded away this week.
— Wednesday in Kansas City, the Royals won a game 1-0 in 10 innings, using nine pitchers to shut the Braves out. They are only the second team every to use pitchers in a shutout win.
— Notes for the Jacksonville Jaguars:
Liam Coen is the new coach; he was OC for the Buccaneers last year.
Jaguars went 4-13 last year, after a couple of 9-8 seasons.
Last year, Jaguars were 3-10 in games decided by 8 or fewer points.
This year, Jaguars are #30 in $$$ spent on offense (last year, #15)
This year, Jaguars are #23 in $$$ spent on defense (last year, #15)
Jacksonville had only nine takeaways LY; they were minus-15 in turnovers; the new DC is Anthony Campanile, who comes to the Jaguars from Green Bay.
Last four years, Jaguars were 18-13 ATS as an underdog.
Jaguars are 3-7 ATS in last ten games as a home favorite.
Jaguars are 8-4 ATS in last 12 games as home underdogs.
— Famous birthdays, August 2nd:
Bob Netolicky, 83
Butch Patrick, 72
Mary-Louise Parker, 61
Cedric Ceballos, 56
Mike Venafro, 52
Grady Sizemore, 43
Huston Street, 42
Dylan Moore, 33
Laremy Tunsil, 31
Kristaps Porziņģis, 30
— Rockies 17, Pirates 16
Pittsburgh scored nine runs in the top of the first inning.
Colorado is first team since 2006 to give up 9+ runs in first inning, and win.
Rockies scored five runs in the bottom of the 9th.
Brenton Doyle had a walk-off HR to end this 3:37 marathon.
— Marlins 13, New York 12
Miami trailed 9-4 in 7th inning; they scored 9 runs in last three innings.
Javier Sanoja homered twice for the Marlins.
Marlins are 30-17 in their last 47 games.
— Red Sox 2, Astros 1 (10)
Roman Anthony had a walk-off single for Boston.
Red Sox tied game 1-1 with a run in 7th inning.
Boston has won five of its last six games.
— Cubs 1, Orioles 0
There were a total of only seven hits in this game.
Rookie P Horton allowed two hits in 5 IP.
Ian Happ’s 2nd inning sac fly scored the game’s only run.
— A’s 5, Diamondbacks 1
Jacob Lopez allowed five hits in 5 shutout IP.
Arizona has lost six in row, nine of last ten games.
A’s are 16-12 in their last 28 games.
— Padres 4, Cardinals 1
Nick Pivetta allowed one hit, improved to 11-3, 2.73 this year.
Newly-acquired Mason Miller pitched 8th inning, got a hold.
Willson Contreras homered for the only St Louis run.
— Guardians 3, Twins 2 (10)
Kyle Manzardo had a walk-off single for Cleveland.
Guardians are 9-5 since the All-Star break.
Jose Ramirez is the 17th player EVER with 275+ HR’s, 275+ stolen bases in his career.
— Mariners 4, Rangers 3
JP Crawford hit a 2-run, walk-off homer in the 9th inning.
Seattle is 14-7 in its last 21 home games.
Texas is 11-22 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.
If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
AL: Blue Jays, Tigers, Astros. Wild Cards: New York, Red Sox, Mariners
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cubs, Mets, Padres
Total sports betting by state, for June 2025:
$1.65B— New York
$790.4M— New Jersey
$587M— Ohio
$533M— Massachusetts
$496.6M— Nevada
$483.6M— Pennsylvania
Quote of the Day
“The only one that’s upset at this point is my wife. All her merchandise has 59 on it. Now she has to go buy new stuff.”
Phillies manager Rob Thomson, after giving up his #59 uniform to newly-acquired closer Jhoan Duran
Saturday’s quiz
Who holds the Chicago Bears’ record for most receiving yards in a season?
Friday’s quiz
Chicago Bears have never had a QB throw for 4,000+ yards in a season; Erik Kramer holds the Bears’ single-season record for passing yardage.
Thursday’s quiz
In history of the New York Mets, Johan Santana threw the first no-hitter, in 2012.
****************************************
Saturday’s Den: Nobody asked me, but…….
— Our first note today is disturbing, posted by The Intellectualist:Major League Baseball Players Association urged foreign-born players to carry immigration papers amid a nationwide crackdown, with experts warning that even superstar athletes aren’t immune from enforcement.
Strange times we live in; lot of cruddy people in the world.
— Chargers 34, Lions 7
Detroit fumbled away the opening kickoff, also lost a fumble on a punt.
Trey Lance played most of game at QB for LA, was 13-20/120 passing, with 2 TD’s.
Chargers were +5 in turnovers; Detroit didn’t play any starters.
— When former Chargers’ TE Antonio Gates gets inducted into the Hall of Fame Saturday, he’ll become the first inductee who didn’t play college football.
Gates played basketball at both Eastern Michigan/Kent State, leading Kent State to the Elite 8 of the 2002 NCAA Tournament, as a #10-seed.
— NFL teams’ over/under win totals’ trends:
Steelers- over their win total nine of last 11 years
Chiefs- over 11 of the last 15 years
Browns- under 16-6 last 22 years
Giants- under 11-2-1 last 14 years
Bears- under 20-8-1 last 29 years/5-0-1 last six years
Jaguars- under 19-6 last 25 years
— Betting props this year for Geno Smith, the Raiders’ new QB:
Over/under passing yards: 3,575.5
Over/under passing TD’s: 20.5
— There were 50 traded made in the 31 hours before baseball’s trading deadline; baseball needs a Hard Knocks-type show, to
a) promote the sport- it is a great game.
b) show us how things work behind the scenes.
Imagine being a fly on the wall in the Twins’ clubhouse this week? Of the 25 players who were on their roster at this time last week, 10 of them got traded away this week.
— Wednesday in Kansas City, the Royals won a game 1-0 in 10 innings, using nine pitchers to shut the Braves out. They are only the second team every to use pitchers in a shutout win.
— Notes for the Jacksonville Jaguars:
Liam Coen is the new coach; he was OC for the Buccaneers last year.
Jaguars went 4-13 last year, after a couple of 9-8 seasons.
Last year, Jaguars were 3-10 in games decided by 8 or fewer points.
This year, Jaguars are #30 in $$$ spent on offense (last year, #15)
This year, Jaguars are #23 in $$$ spent on defense (last year, #15)
Jacksonville had only nine takeaways LY; they were minus-15 in turnovers; the new DC is Anthony Campanile, who comes to the Jaguars from Green Bay.
Last four years, Jaguars were 18-13 ATS as an underdog.
Jaguars are 3-7 ATS in last ten games as a home favorite.
Jaguars are 8-4 ATS in last 12 games as home underdogs.
— Famous birthdays, August 2nd:
Bob Netolicky, 83
Butch Patrick, 72
Mary-Louise Parker, 61
Cedric Ceballos, 56
Mike Venafro, 52
Grady Sizemore, 43
Huston Street, 42
Dylan Moore, 33
Laremy Tunsil, 31
Kristaps Porziņģis, 30
— Rockies 17, Pirates 16
Pittsburgh scored nine runs in the top of the first inning.
Colorado is first team since 2006 to give up 9+ runs in first inning, and win.
Rockies scored five runs in the bottom of the 9th.
Brenton Doyle had a walk-off HR to end this 3:37 marathon.
— Marlins 13, New York 12
Miami trailed 9-4 in 7th inning; they scored 9 runs in last three innings.
Javier Sanoja homered twice for the Marlins.
Marlins are 30-17 in their last 47 games.
— Red Sox 2, Astros 1 (10)
Roman Anthony had a walk-off single for Boston.
Red Sox tied game 1-1 with a run in 7th inning.
Boston has won five of its last six games.
— Cubs 1, Orioles 0
There were a total of only seven hits in this game.
Rookie P Horton allowed two hits in 5 IP.
Ian Happ’s 2nd inning sac fly scored the game’s only run.
— A’s 5, Diamondbacks 1
Jacob Lopez allowed five hits in 5 shutout IP.
Arizona has lost six in row, nine of last ten games.
A’s are 16-12 in their last 28 games.
— Padres 4, Cardinals 1
Nick Pivetta allowed one hit, improved to 11-3, 2.73 this year.
Newly-acquired Mason Miller pitched 8th inning, got a hold.
Willson Contreras homered for the only St Louis run.
— Guardians 3, Twins 2 (10)
Kyle Manzardo had a walk-off single for Cleveland.
Guardians are 9-5 since the All-Star break.
Jose Ramirez is the 17th player EVER with 275+ HR’s, 275+ stolen bases in his career.
— Mariners 4, Rangers 3
JP Crawford hit a 2-run, walk-off homer in the 9th inning.
Seattle is 14-7 in its last 21 home games.
Texas is 11-22 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.
If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
AL: Blue Jays, Tigers, Astros. Wild Cards: New York, Red Sox, Mariners
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cubs, Mets, Padres