Thursday’s 6-pack:
Most rushing TD’s over the last five years:
68— Derrick Henry
55— Jalen Hurts
54— Josh Jacobs
51— Jonathan Taylor
48— Josh Allen
45— David Montgomery
Quote of the Day
“No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot.”
Mark Twain
Thursday’s quiz
In the history of the New York Mets, who threw the first no-hitter?
Wednesday’s quiz
When Michael Jordan played minor league baseball for the AA Birmingham Barons, Terry Francona was the Barons’ manager that year.
Tuesday’s quiz
Alex Rodriguez holds the Seattle Mariners’ record for most runs scored in a season; he scored 141 runs in 1996.
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— Baseball’s trade deadline is 6:00 Thursday; we’ll go thru all that tomorrow, but there were two trades Wednesday that made some history.
Reds acquired 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes from Pittsburgh, for P Taylor Rogers and a minor league SS.
Mets acquired P Tyler Rogers for two P’s and a minor league shortstop.
Taylor/Tyler Rogers are brothers; they’re the first pair of brothers to be traded on the same day since 1970, when Hal/Dan Breeden both got dealt.
— Colorado Rockies TV analyst Ryan Spilborghs played seven years in the major leagues, all for Colorado. At the end of his career, when he was in the minor leagues with Cleveland, Spilborghs was dealt to Texas, for cash considerations.
Years later, as Spilborghs explained on TV Wednesday, he was curious how much cash changed hands between the Rangers/Indians— he figured $50,000 or so.
Turns out the Rangers gave Cleveland $1, one freakin’ dollar, to acquire Spilborghs, who hit .295 in AAA for Texas that year, then played his last season of pro ball in Japan in 2013.
— Orioles-Blue Jays played a day/night doubleheader Tuesday; in between games, they made a trade, with P Seranthony Domínguez involved.
Early in Game 2, TV cameras showed Domínguez walking to the Toronto bullpen in his new uniform, while stopping to hug his former Baltimore teammates in their bullpen. He pitched a scoreless inning later in that game, which had to be a little odd.
— Pirates’ P Paul Skenes has started 22 games this season; he hasn’t allowed a run in the first inning, in any of those games.
— Chicago Cubs gave president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer a contract extension this week, that will keep him in Chicago until at least 2030. Cubs haven’t made the playoffs since 2020; they won 83 games each of the last two seasons, but are 63-45 this year and appear headed to the playoffs.
— In the NFL, Seattle Seahawks gave general manager and president of football operations John Schneider a contract extension that will keep him in Seattle thru 2031; he has been Seattle’s GM since 2010.
— Famous birthdays, July 31st:
Leon Durham, 68
Scott Brooks, 60
Dean Cain, 59
Andre Ware, 57
Gus Frerotte, 54
Chris Weinke, 53
Gabe Kapler, 50
Annie Parisse, 49
Tim Couch, 48
— Late Night Trade: Seattle Mariners acquired 34-year old 3B Eugenio Suarez from Arizona; Suarez is hitting .248 this year, with an .896 OPS. Suarez played for Seattle in 2022-23.
A’s 5, Mariners 4
Seattle is tied with Texas for the AL’s last Wild Card slot.
Miguel Andujar homered twice for A’s.
A’s have won six of their last seven games.
— Padres 5, Mets 0
Yu Darvish threw 7 innings, got his first win this year.
San Diego has a 3-game lead for the NL’s last Wild Card slot.
Mets got swept in San Diego for the first time since 2008.
— Blue Jays 9, Orioles 8
Baltimore led 5-3 after the fifth inning.
Nathan Lukes hit a 3-run homer in the 7th inning for Toronto.
Blue Jays lead the AL East by four games.
— Astros 9, Nationals 1
Jose Altuve went 4-for-4, scored 3 runs, had 3 RBI
It was the 41st time in his career that Altuve had 4+ hits in a game.
Astros lead the AL West by five games.
— New York 5, Rays 4 (11)
Tampa Bay led 1-0 after the 7th inning.
Ryan McMahon had a walk-off hit in the 11th inning.
After this game, Rays traded P Zack Littell to Cincinnati.
— Tigers 7, Diamondbacks 2
Arizona is in the ashcan, going 0-5 since they started to clean house.
Chris Paddack allowed 3 hits in 6 IP in his Detroit debut.
Kerry Carpenter homered, had three RBI.
— Pirates 2, Giants 1 (10)
Pittsburgh won eight of its last nine games; the only loss was 1-0.
Mike Burrows allowed three hits in six IP for the Pirates.
Giants went 0-6 on this homestand; they’re 54-55, below .500 for first time this season.
Most rushing TD’s over the last five years:
68— Derrick Henry
55— Jalen Hurts
54— Josh Jacobs
51— Jonathan Taylor
48— Josh Allen
45— David Montgomery
Quote of the Day
“No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot.”
Mark Twain
Thursday’s quiz
In the history of the New York Mets, who threw the first no-hitter?
Wednesday’s quiz
When Michael Jordan played minor league baseball for the AA Birmingham Barons, Terry Francona was the Barons’ manager that year.
Tuesday’s quiz
Alex Rodriguez holds the Seattle Mariners’ record for most runs scored in a season; he scored 141 runs in 1996.
***********************************
Thursday’s Den: Doing some thinking out loud…….
— Tuesday afternoon, Orioles hit four home runs and four sacrifice flies in a win over Toronto; they’re the first team since the 1955 Red Sox with 4+ homers, 4+ sac flies in the same game.— Baseball’s trade deadline is 6:00 Thursday; we’ll go thru all that tomorrow, but there were two trades Wednesday that made some history.
Reds acquired 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes from Pittsburgh, for P Taylor Rogers and a minor league SS.
Mets acquired P Tyler Rogers for two P’s and a minor league shortstop.
Taylor/Tyler Rogers are brothers; they’re the first pair of brothers to be traded on the same day since 1970, when Hal/Dan Breeden both got dealt.
— Colorado Rockies TV analyst Ryan Spilborghs played seven years in the major leagues, all for Colorado. At the end of his career, when he was in the minor leagues with Cleveland, Spilborghs was dealt to Texas, for cash considerations.
Years later, as Spilborghs explained on TV Wednesday, he was curious how much cash changed hands between the Rangers/Indians— he figured $50,000 or so.
Turns out the Rangers gave Cleveland $1, one freakin’ dollar, to acquire Spilborghs, who hit .295 in AAA for Texas that year, then played his last season of pro ball in Japan in 2013.
— Orioles-Blue Jays played a day/night doubleheader Tuesday; in between games, they made a trade, with P Seranthony Domínguez involved.
Early in Game 2, TV cameras showed Domínguez walking to the Toronto bullpen in his new uniform, while stopping to hug his former Baltimore teammates in their bullpen. He pitched a scoreless inning later in that game, which had to be a little odd.
— Pirates’ P Paul Skenes has started 22 games this season; he hasn’t allowed a run in the first inning, in any of those games.
— Chicago Cubs gave president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer a contract extension this week, that will keep him in Chicago until at least 2030. Cubs haven’t made the playoffs since 2020; they won 83 games each of the last two seasons, but are 63-45 this year and appear headed to the playoffs.
— In the NFL, Seattle Seahawks gave general manager and president of football operations John Schneider a contract extension that will keep him in Seattle thru 2031; he has been Seattle’s GM since 2010.
— Famous birthdays, July 31st:
Leon Durham, 68
Scott Brooks, 60
Dean Cain, 59
Andre Ware, 57
Gus Frerotte, 54
Chris Weinke, 53
Gabe Kapler, 50
Annie Parisse, 49
Tim Couch, 48
— Late Night Trade: Seattle Mariners acquired 34-year old 3B Eugenio Suarez from Arizona; Suarez is hitting .248 this year, with an .896 OPS. Suarez played for Seattle in 2022-23.
A’s 5, Mariners 4
Seattle is tied with Texas for the AL’s last Wild Card slot.
Miguel Andujar homered twice for A’s.
A’s have won six of their last seven games.
— Padres 5, Mets 0
Yu Darvish threw 7 innings, got his first win this year.
San Diego has a 3-game lead for the NL’s last Wild Card slot.
Mets got swept in San Diego for the first time since 2008.
— Blue Jays 9, Orioles 8
Baltimore led 5-3 after the fifth inning.
Nathan Lukes hit a 3-run homer in the 7th inning for Toronto.
Blue Jays lead the AL East by four games.
— Astros 9, Nationals 1
Jose Altuve went 4-for-4, scored 3 runs, had 3 RBI
It was the 41st time in his career that Altuve had 4+ hits in a game.
Astros lead the AL West by five games.
— New York 5, Rays 4 (11)
Tampa Bay led 1-0 after the 7th inning.
Ryan McMahon had a walk-off hit in the 11th inning.
After this game, Rays traded P Zack Littell to Cincinnati.
— Tigers 7, Diamondbacks 2
Arizona is in the ashcan, going 0-5 since they started to clean house.
Chris Paddack allowed 3 hits in 6 IP in his Detroit debut.
Kerry Carpenter homered, had three RBI.
— Pirates 2, Giants 1 (10)
Pittsburgh won eight of its last nine games; the only loss was 1-0.
Mike Burrows allowed three hits in six IP for the Pirates.
Giants went 0-6 on this homestand; they’re 54-55, below .500 for first time this season.
