Month: June 2024

— NFL teams that have started the most QB’s since 2000:
37- Cleveland
29- Chicago
27- Washington
26- LA Rams
25- Arizona, Miami
23- Dallas, Minnesota

— NFL teams that have started the fewest QB’s since 2000:
7- Green Bay
9- New England, LA Chargers
11- Seattle
12- NJ Giants
13- Atlanta, Denver, New Orleans, Pittsburgh
14- Philadelphia

— San Jose Sharks took Macklin Celebrini with the first pick in this weekend’s NHL Draft; his dad is the VP of Player Health and Performance for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.

— LA Clippers’ star Paul George has declined his $48.7M option for next year, and will enter free agency; the 34-year old George is expected to meet with three teams- 76ers, Magic and his old team, the Clippers.

George will be a free agent for first time since 2018; apparently he is looking for a 4-year, $221M contract, lot of bank for a guy who is 34. George scored 22.6 ppg this past year, grabbing 5.2 rebounds, dishing out 3.5 assists/game.

— Sounds like Klay Thompson/Golden State will be parting ways; Thompson has been a Warrior since 2011, will be weird to see him wearing another uniform.

— Phrase that popped up this week that I wish I had wrote:

“…..torrential flood of word vomit.”

Long time ago, September 1973, I was in 9th grade; it was my first day ever in a public school, and it was culture shock.

First time I rode in a school bus.
First time I didn’t wear a uniform to school.
First time I took an industrial arts (shop) class.

Anyway, the shop teacher was Mr Brunn, he was talking but so was one of the kids in the class. Mr Brunn interrupted the kid and says “Billy, you need to stop talking; you have diarrhea of the mouth!!!”

My eyes got wide; this is how teachers talk in public schools?

“…..torrential flood of word vomit.” reminded me of that day; good stuff.

— RIP to the great comedian Martin Mull, who passed away at age 80; he was very funny, he was in a lot of stuff, but I remember him best on Fernwood Tonight, a spoof of talk shows that he shared with the equally funny Fred Willard. What a team they were.

These days, I sometimes watch replays of old gameshows late at night; Martin Mull was often the center square on the 1990’s version of Hollywood Squares.

Very funny man. RIP, sir. 

— Famous birthdays, June 30th:
Mitch Richmond, 59
Mike Tyson, 58
Garret Anderson, 52
Trevor Ariza, 39

Michael Phelps, 39
Trea Turner, 31
Josh Rojas, 30
AJ Brown, 27

— Minnesota utility guy Willie Castro is only third player ever (Tony Phillips, Zach McKinstry are the others) to play 20+ games at five different positions in the same season.

— Most home runs in 1-0 games, among active players:
4- Kyle Schwarber
3- Ronald Acuna, Luis Robert

— Astros 9, Mets 6
Mets led 6-1 after three innings.
Alex Bregman had the game-winning hit in the 8th inning.

— Braves 2, Pirates 1 (10)
Adam Duvall had the walk-off single for Atlanta.
Pittsburgh rookie P Skenes has a 2.06 ERA in nine starts.

— Arizona 3, A’s 0
Zac Gallen allowed one hit in six shutout IP.
A’s used same lineup in consecutive games for first time this season.

— Dodgers 14, Giants 7 (11)
Dodgers led 6-5 after the 4th inning.
Dodgers are 6-2 vs San Francisco this season.

— Padres 11, Red Sox 1
Manny Machado homered twice for San Diego.
Padres have won nine of their last ten games. 

Trends for all 30 MLB teams…….

— Arizona is 13-7 in one-run games.
Over is 11-2 in their last 13 home games.

— Braves ware 4-8 in their last 12 road games.
Atlanta is 15-15 since Ronald Acuna went on the IL.

— Cubs are 9-18 vs NL Central rivals, 29-27 vs everyone else.
Under is 15-5 in their last 20 games.

— Cincinnati is 4-9 in its last 13 games.
Under is 13-4 in their last 17 home games.

— Rockies are 3-11 in their last 14 games.
Over is 11-5 in their last 16 home games.

— Dodgers won eight of their last 11 games.
Dodgers are 22-8 vs lefty starters, 29-24 vs righties.

— Marlins are 3-25 against lefty starting pitchers, 26-28 vs righties.
Under is 6-1 in their last seven road games.

— Brewers are 16-3 in their last 19 home games.
Milwaukee is 19-9 against its NL Central rivals.

— Mets are 16-4 in their last 20 games.
Mets are 16-9 in one-run games; last year, they were 25-28.

— Phillies are 28-6 in their last 34 home games.
Phillies are 21-5 in their last 26 series openers.

— Pittsburgh is 9-5 in its last 13 series openers.
Under is 14-5 in Pirates’ last 19 games.

— St Louis is 16-6 in its last 22 home games.
Cardinals are 25-19 in night games, 17-20 in day games.

— Padres lost nine of their last 11 road games.
Padres won 11 of their last 13 home games.

— San Francisco is 31-27 vs righty pitchers, 9-16 vs lefties.
Over is 6-1 in their last seven road games.

— Over is 5-2 in Washington’s last seven road games.
Nationals are 14-10 vs NL East rivals, 24-33 vs everyone else.

— Famous birthdays, June 29th:
John Boccabella, 83
Gary Busey, 80
Fred Grandy, 76

Dan Dierdorf, 75
Rick Honeycutt, 70
Joe Johnson, 43

Kawhi Leonard, 33
Tanner Houck, 28
Gunnar Henderson, 23

— Orioles are 5-2 in their last seven home games.
Baltimore is 19-7 vs its AL East rivals.

— Red Sox are 10-13 vs lefty starters; last two years, they were 47-31.
Boston is 2-12 in home series openers.

— White Sox are 6-13 in their last 19 games.
Chicago is 5-24 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Guardians are 18-4 in their last 22 home games.
Cleveland is 17-6 vs lefty starting pitchers; LY, they were 24-35.

— Tigers are 1-8 in their last nine road games.
Under is 10-2 in their last 12 games.

— Houston won seven of its last eight games.
Under is 13-6 in Astros’ last 19 games.
Last 2 years, Houston was 70-33 vs lefty starters; this year, they’re 10-15.

— Royals are 4-12 in their last 16 road games.
Under is 8-2 in their last ten games. 

— Over is 10-4 in Angels’ last 14 road games.
Under is 14-3 in their last 17 home games.

— Minnesota is 12-6 in its last 18 games.
Over is 12-4 in their last 16 games.

— New York lost nine of its last 12 games.
Over is 8-1 in their last nine games.

— A’s lost 11 of their last 12 road games.
Under is 10-4 in their last 14 home games.

— Mariners are 12-1 in home series openers, 5-9 in road series openers.
Seattle is 24-6 in its last 30 home games.

— Rays are 13-7 vs lefty starters, 28-34 vs righty starters.
Tampa Bay is 6-9 in home series openers.

— Texas is 3-14 in its last 17 series openers.
Under is 23-9 in Rangers’ last 32 home games.

— Toronto lost five of its last six road games.
Blue Jays are 8-14 in one-run games.

— Second day of the NBA Draft went from 4:00-6:30, an odd time to have it, but at least ESPN put former Warriors GM Bob Myers on their broadcast, so we learned some things. Also had to put up with Stephen A Smith, but that is why God invented the mute button.

Seemed like most of the 2nd round picks got traded, but the Lakers didn’t trade their 2nd round pick- to no one’s surprise, they took Bronny James.

— Before they went to SportsCenter, ESPN was already promoting a July 12 summer league game with the Lakers-Rockets, Bronny’s professional debut.

— Looked like the second day of the draft was held in the back room of a Brooklyn diner, not a big room at all.

— Since 1989, Kentucky has had 48 first round draft picks, Duke 47.

— During John Calipari’s time at Kentucky, Wildcats had 25 NBA lottery picks; no other team had more than 15 lottery picks during those years.

— Before the Knicks acquired Mikal Bridges, they had an 8.2% chance to win the NBA title next year; since the trade was announced, that number has gone up to 12.3%.

— Knicks dealt a 2031 draft pick in that trade, which means that if they keep the pick, Brooklyn will have acquired a young man who just graduated from………6th grade.

— Famous birthdays, June 28th:
Mel Brooks, 98
Raymond Chester, 76
Jim Spanarkel, 67

John Elway, 64
Jay Schroeder, 63
Mark Grace, 60

John Cusack, 58
Brandon Phillips, 43
Bradley Beal, 31

— Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice just won his first Stanley Cup title, in his 26th year as a head coach; he’s been a coach so long, his first head coaching gig was with the Hartford Whalers, who later became the Carolina Hurricanes.

— If you have HBO or whatever they call it now, Hard Knocks starts up next week, with the focus on the off-season of the New Jersey Giants. 

— Angels 5, Tigers 0
Rookie Davis Daniel allowed 4 hits in 8 shutout IP, in his first MLB start.
Last time a rookie threw 8+ shutout IP with 8+ strikeouts in his first career start was Jason Jennings of Colorado, back in 2001.

— Marlins 7, Phillies 4
Phillies led 2-0 after six innings.
Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper both got hurt in this game.

— Toronto 9, New York 2
George Springer hit a couple three-run homers.
Last three nights, New York starting pitchers gave up 19 runs in 13.1 IP.

— White Sox 1, Braves 0
Luis Robert’s first inning homer was the game’s only run.
Five Chicago pitchers combined on the shutout win.

— Cubs 5, Giants 3 (10)
Ian Happ homered in the 10th inning.
Cubs broke a 4-game losing streak. 

— Word of the Day– Confounded- to be confused or perplexed

I am constantly confounded by the direction ESPN has taken; they’re covering the NBA Draft, they love promoting the NBA, but then they have a draft and don’t have a former coach or a former general manager on their panel. Why?!?!?!?!

Richard Jefferson played in the NBA for 17 years, he is very good on TV.
Jay Bilas is their college basketball expert; he is good on TV.
The host does a good job in her job, moving the broadcast around the arena. 

But if you have to have a 4th person on set, it damn sure needs to be someone who has been in the room, scouting/drafting players on nights like this one, or someone who has coached in the NBA, so they can tell us what it is like to be behind the curtain on draft night.

We don’t need a 30-year old person who never played pro basketball talking more than either Jefferson or Bilas. I watch the broadcast to learn stuff, not to hear people talking about players’ handshakes, suit jackets or hair styles.

Bob Myers works for ESPN: he was the freakin’ GM of the great Warrior teams. Would be nice if they put him with the first team on TV.

— Three of the first six players drafted Thursday are from France, which is unusual.

— From 2025-31, Utah Jazz will have 18 first round draft picks,

Utah took USC guard Isaiah Collier with the 29th pick Thursday; it can be dicey to read body language, but he and his mom didn’t seem overly excited with being selected by the Jazz.

Jazz also took Cody Williams from Colorado; Buffs had two players taken in the first 18 picks, which helps explain why they were 26-11 this past season.

— Tristian da Silva was the other Colorado player drafted, by Orlando; the kid’s father was a pro boxer, so you can’t doubt his toughness, plus the young man speaks five languages, so he is smart and he can curse at officials in different languages and not get technical fouls.

— Kentucky has now had a player taken in the last 17 NBA Drafts; it is difficult to process that they ran John Calipari out of town, but they did, and Arkansas is glad they did.

— When you hear a basketball analyst use the team “motor” he is talking about a player’s effort, so if you hear a negative comment about a player’s motor, that is about as big an indictment as you can give to a player, that they don’t always try hard.

“Yeah, we’re going to pay this guy million$ to play, except he doesn’t always try that hard”

No bueno.

— Oklahoma City took a point guard from Serbia who has already partially torn his ACL, then re-injured the knee; they said on TV that the earliest we can expect to see him play is in next year’s summer league, 13 months from now.

— Someone was saying how the Washington Wizards are going into a total rebuild, as in, they fully expect the Wizards to miss the playoffs the next two seasons.

— By the way, if you like the NBA, you should head to Las Vegas in mid-July and watch the NBA Summer League at UNLV. It is affordable, lot of famous people around, they have really good air conditioning and you get to see all the rookies competing for invites to training camp. Plus, at the end of the day, you’re in Las Vegas, never a bad thing.

— Famous birthdays, June 27th:
Kevin Joyce, 73
Craig Hodges, 64
Chuck Person, 60

Tobey Maguire, 49
Jordan Hicks, 32
Jonah Heim, 29

Monte Morris, 29
Yordan Alvarez, 27
Will Levis, 25

— Dodgers 4, White Sox 0
Shohei Ohtani knocked in a run for the 10th game in a row, the first Dodger ever to do that; the last Dodger to get an RBI in nine straight games was Roy Campanella, in 1955.

— Toronto-Boston was suspended by rain in the second inning; the game will be finished as part of a doubleheader on August 26.

— Orioles 4, Guardians 2
Cedric Mullins had the tie-breaking homer in the 7th inning.
Baltimore snaps its 5-game losing skid.
Loss ends Cleveland’s 7-game winning streak.

— Mets 12, Bronx 2
Metropolitans are 15-4 in last 19 games, are back to .500 at 39-39.
Mets are only 1.5 games out of the last Wild Card spot.
Bronx has lost eight of its last ten games.

— Royals 5, Marlins 1
Struggling Kansas City improves to 3-7 in rubber game of a series.
Marlins led 1-0 in 8th inning, but Royals scored five times in the 8th.

— Mariners 5, Rays 2
Tampa Bay led 1-0 after five innings.
Cal Raleigh’s 3-run homer was the big hit in the game.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Braves, Cardinals, Padres
AL: New York, Guardians, Mariners. Wild Cards: Orioles, Twins, Red Sox

There are now 18 teams in the Big 10, so from now on, we’re calling it the Big 18. Here are some quick notes for each team:

— In his coach, Illinois coach Bret Bielema 28-16-1 ATS as a road dog.
At Illinois, Bielema is 4-10 ATS as a home favorite.

— Indiana lost its last six bowls, but covered the last three, losing by 2-1-6 points.
Hoosiers’ last win in a bowl game was the 1991 Copper Bowl.

— Since 2018, Iowa is 10-4 ATS as a road favorite.
Hawkeyes were minus-9 in turnovers LY; the previous six years, they were +52.

— In his career, Maryland coach Mike Locksley is 22-34 ATS as an underdog.
Since 2018, Maryland is 3-14 ATS as a road underdog.

— Michigan has only 7 starters back this year; 2 on offense, 5 on defense, plus a new coach.
Since 2014, Michigan is 16-22 ATS in non-conference games.

— Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith was 2-8 ATS as a road favorite, 13-7 as a road underdog, during his time at Oregon State (his alma mater).
Under Smith, Beavers were 15-3 ATS as a home favorite.

— In his career, Minnesota coach PJ Fleck is 37-22-2 ATS in road games.
Minnesota won its last seven bowl games.

— In his college career, Nebraska coach Rhule is 33-17 ATS as an underdog.
Nebraska hasn’t played in a bowl game since 2016.

— Famous birthdays, June 26th:
Shannon Sharpe, 56
Chris O’Donnell, 54
Derek Jeter, 50

Chad Pennington, 48
Michael Vick, 44
Deron Williams, 40

Iman Shumpert, 34
Rudy Gobert, 32
Ariana Grande, 31

— Northwestern won its last five bowls; they were underdog in 3 of the 5 games.
Since 2015, Wildcats are 49-31 ATS in conference games.

— Ohio State lost three games in a row vs Michigan, giving up 39 ppg.
Under Ryan Day, Buckeyes are 21-12 ATS as a home favorite.

— Last two years, Penn State is 21-5 SU, with a +27 turnover margin.
Last two years, Nittany Lions are 15-3-1 ATS as a favorite.

— Since 2018, Purdue is 4-15 ATS as a home favorite.
Since 2014, Boilermakers are 23-49 ATS in all home games.

— Since 2018, Rutgers is 10-2 ATS as a home favorite.
Since 2014, Rutgers is 21-11 ATS in non-conference games.

— Since 2018, UCLA is 8-16 ATS as a home favorite.
Since 2014, Bruins are 10-21-1 ATS in non-conference games.

— Washington is 25-3 SU the last two years, but their coach bolted to Alabama, and they only have 6 starters back, 2 on offense, 4 on defense. 

While at Arizona, new Washington coach Jedd Fisch was 16-9 ATS as an underdog.

— In his career, Wisconsin coach Fickell is 15-8 ATS as an underdog.
Badgers are 10-5 ATS in last 15 games coming off a loss. 

— Florida 2, Edmonton 1
Florida wins the Stanley Cup for first time in their 31-year history.
Panthers actually lost Stanley Cup final in 1996, their 3rd year in existence.
There were only three penalties called the whole game.

— Tennessee 6, Texas A&M 5
Volunteers win their first baseball national title.
Hell of a year for Tennessee alum Todd Helton, who will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame this summer. 

— Padres 7, Nationals 6 (10)
Washington scored 3 runs in top of 10th, Padres scored 4 in bottom of 10th
Jurickson Profar’s two-run double was the walk-off hit.

— Giants 5, Cubs 4
San Francisco scored three runs in bottom of the ninth.
Win snaps the Giants’ 5-game losing skid.

— Phillies 8, Tigers 1
Detroit lined into a triple play, a 1-3-5 triple play— line drive to the pitcher, who doubled the guy off first base, who then threw to 3rd base for the third out.

Last time there was a 1-3-5 triple play in the major leagues?

1929.

— Mets closer Edwin Díaz was ejected from Sunday night’s game, then suspended for 10 more games after being ejected over having excessive ‘sticky stuff’ on his hand/glove in Chicago.

— Baseball injuries:
Giancarlo Stanton (hamstring) goes on the IL
Fernando Tatis (stress reaction in thigh bone) goes on the IL

— Famous birthdays, June 25th:
Carly Simon, 81
JJ Walker, 77
Dell Curry, 60

Dikembe Mutombo, 58
Carlos Delgado, 52
Linda Cardellini, 49

Matt Schaub, 43
Gerald Everett, 30
Desmond Bane, 26

— Guardians 3, Orioles 2
Cleveland has won six games in a row.
Baltimore has lost four games in a row.

— Rays 4, Mariners 3
Tampa Bay scored three runs in bottom of the 8th
Yandy Diaz had the game-winning, 2-run single.

— Red Sox 7, Blue Jays 6
Toronto led 6-2 in the eighth inning.
Boston has won 10 of its last 12 games.

— Cardinals 4, Braves 3
Brendan Donovan had three hits and an RBI.
St Louis is 25-13 in last 38 games, after a 15-24 start.

— Dodgers 3, White Sox 0
James Paxson tossed five shutout innings.
Chicago was shut out for 11th time in 80 games.

— Brewers 6, Rangers 3
Rhys Hoskins hit a 6th inning grand slam for Milwaukee.
Loss snaps the Rangers’ 4-game winning streak.

— If the playoffs started today (they do not):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Braves, Cardinals, Padres
AL: New York, Guardians, Mariners. Wild Cards: Orioles, Twins, Red Sox

— Las Vegas hotels:
MGM, Vdara, Westgate, SouthPoint

— TV shows:
Law & Order
Magnum PI
CSI
Odd Couple

— Sports movies:
American Underdog
Moneyball
Blue Chips
Any Given Sunday

— Non-sports movies:
Rounders
A Star is Born
Leap of Faith
Begin Again

— Food:
Pizza, spaghetti/meatballs, scrambled eggs/sausage, chicken parm

— Current college basketball coaches:
John Calipari
Mark Few
Danny Hurley
Tom Izzo

— All-time college basketball coaches:
John Wooden
Dean Smith
Mike Krzyzewski
Jerry Tarkanian

— Actresses:
Gina Gershon, Diane Lane, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sela Ward

— Musicians:
Bob Seger, Billy Joel, Pat Benatar, Van Morrison

— best NFL coaches:
Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh, Bill Belichick, Tom Landry

— In-person events:
2000 NFC title game: Rams 11, Buccaneers 6
2008 World Series game: Rays @ Phillies
Frank Sinatra concert in Albany, 1990
2008 Tennessee @ South Carolina football game

—Bucket List:
Spring training game, preferably in Arizona
LSU home football game, on a Saturday night
A’s home game in Oakland Coliseum
Rams’ home game in SoFi Stadium

— best quarterbacks, in Super Bowl era:
John Elway, Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Patrick Mahomes

— best MLB starting pitchers (since 1960):
Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver, Greg Maddux

— Best-ever NBA players:
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Michael Jordan, Lebron James 

— favorite television characters:
Oscar Madison, Odd Couple
Jonathan Higgins, Magnum PI
Ray Donovan
Henry Blake, M*A*S*H

— Major league managers:
Bruce Bochy, Dick Williams, Sparky Anderson, Terry Francona

— My favorite sodas:
Dr Brown’s cream soda
Cherry Coke
Orange Crush
Dr Pepper

— Batman villains:
Riddler, Joker, Catwoman (Julie Newmar), Penguin

— Famous birthdays, June 24th:
Michele Lee, 82Joe Penny, 68
Chris Barnes, 59 (Tanner in Bad News Bears)
Alaa Abdelnaby, 56
JJ Redick, 40

Taj Gibson, 39
Tremayne Anchrum, 26
Wilyer Abreu, 25
Christopher Morel, 25

— Al Pacino movies:
Any Given Sunday
Heat
Danny Collins
Sea of Love

— Baseball movies:
Moneyball
For Love of the Game
Bull Durham
Major League

— Denzel Washington movies:
He Got Game
Pelican Brief
Remember the Titans
Out of Time

— Gene Hackman movies:
Hoosiers
Runaway Jury
The Replacements
Class Action

— Basketball movies:
Blue Chips
One on One
Fast Break
The Way Back
(He Got Game gets an honorable mention here)

— Steve Martin movies:
Leap of Faith
Shopgirl
Roxanne
Grand Canyon

— Gambling-related movies:
Rounders
Let It Ride
The Gambler (Mark Wahlberg version)
Lucky You

— Gina Gershon movies:
Bound
PS I Love You
Showgirls
Pretty In Pink

— Bill Murray movies:
Lost In Translation
Caddyshack
Meatballs
St Vincent

— Marisa Tomei movies:
My Cousin Vinny
The Rewrite
The Big Short
Lincoln Lawyer

— Robert DeNiro movies:
Last Vegas
Heat
Jackie Brown
Midnight Run

— Kevin Costner movies:
For Love of the Game
The Bodyguard
Bull Durham
Draft Day

— Rockies 8, Nationals 7
Ryan McMahon drew a bases loaded walk on a pitch clock violation which ended the game in favor of the Rockies, who scored twice in bottom of the 9th.

It was the ninth pitch clock violation for Washington closer Kyle Finnegan, most in the major leagues this season.

— They were talking on the Milwaukee Brewers’ game the other night about how Milwaukee players think the baseballs aren’t going as far this season as they have in the past.

They didn’t talk about it for long; I get the impression that MLB is discouraging such talk, but offense is down and less lively baseballs would be a good reason why.

— Cardinals 9, Giants 4
Alec Burleson had two homers, five RBI
Giants have lost six of their last seven games.

— White Sox 5, Tigers 1
Rookie P Thorpe got his first MLB win, throwing six shutout IP.
White Sox won for only 8th time in 40 road games.

— Dodgers 7, Angels 2
Shohei Ohtani hit another home run against his old team.
Dodgers were -410 favorites in this game; you do not see baseball teams favored by that much very often.

— Rangers 6, Royals 0
Wyatt Langford hit a grand slam; he has 18 RBI in his last 21 games. 

Royals are 3-10 in their last 13 games, scoring a total of 36 runs.

— Marlins’ P Jesus Luzardo is expected to miss 4-6 weeks with a back injury, which likely screws up any chances the Marlins had of dealing him at the trade deadline July 30.

— Wild Card races:
AL- Orioles, Twins, Royals are the three Wild Cards.
Red Sox trail Kansas City by half-game, Astros/Rays trailed KC by 4.5 games.

NL- Braves, Cardinals, Padres are the three Wild Cards.
Arizona is game behind, Pirates/Nationals 1.5 games behind.

— Famous birthdays, June 23rd:
Bryan Brown, 77
Jim Deshaies, 64
LaSalle Thompson, 63
Shaun O’Hara, 47
LaDainian Tomlinson, 45
Rodney McLeod, 34
Tim Anderson, 31

— Dodgers’ OF Chris Taylor is the only major leaguer whose first career home run and 100th career home run were both grand slams.

— White Sox OF Tommy Pham hit a home run down the left field line in Detroit Friday that would’ve been a home run in 28 of 30 ballparks, with Fenway/Wrigley the two exceptions- that seems unusual, except it was a line drive that wouldn’t have cleared the Green Monster.

— Friday night, Cleveland Guardians scored seven runs in second inning against Toronto; the two Blue Jay pitchers threw 70 pitches, just in that inning.

— When Mets scored 10 runs in three innings against Shota Imanaga Friday, his ERA went from 1.89 to 2.96.

— Cardinals’ 1B Paul Goldschmidt became the 100th major leaguer with 350+ home runs.

— Lakers hired JJ Redick as their new head coach; he has zero coaching experience, and is the Lakers’ 7th head coach since Phil Jackson left in 2011.

— RIP to the great actor Donald Sutherland, who passed away at age 88; I remember him best as Matthew McConaughey’s mentor in A Time to Kill, the John Grisham movie, but he was also Hawkeye Pierce in the M*A*S*H movie and he was in Kelly’s Heroes, among many other movies.

He has 200 acting credits on IMDB.com; RIP, sir.

— Favorites won/covered the last five national championship games.

— Best teams last year, in turnover margin:
+19- Michigan
+16- Penn State
+13- Northwestern

Worst teams last year, in turnover margin:
minus-20- Temple
minus-17- Nebraska
Minus-14- Rice

Some quick notes on SEC teams:
— Last four years, Alabama is 18-7-1 ATS as a home favorite.
Of course, a new era begins this year in Tuscaloosa, with Nick Saban leaving.

— Arkansas coach Sam Pittman is 16-7 ATS as an underdog, 6-11-1 as a favorite.

— In his career, Auburn coach Hugh Freeze is 6-2 SU in bowl games, 28-13 ATS as am underdog.

— Last three years, Florida Gators are 17-21 SU; they lost their last three bowl games by an average score of 38-13.

— Georgia coach Kirby Smart is 18-27-1 ATS as a home favorite, 20-11 as a road favorite.

— Famous birthdays, June 22nd:
Kris Kristofferson, 88
Bobby Douglass, 77
Meryl Streep, 75

Clyde Drexler, 62
Amy Brenneman, 60
Kurt Warner, 53

Champ Bailey, 46
Josh Naylor, 27
Cam Akers, 25

— In his career. LSU coach Brian Kelly is 35-17-2 ATS as an underdog.

— Ole Miss Rebels are 2-3 SU/3-2 ATS in their last five bowls, giving up 37.6 ppg in the five games.

— Last two years, Missouri Tigers are 11-5 ATS against SEC opponents.

— South Carolina coach Shane Beamer is 11-4 ATS as a favorite.

— In his career, Tennessee coach Josh Heupel is 21-13 ATS as a home favorite, 3-8 ATS as an underdog.
Last two seasons, Vols were +17 in turnovers.

— Since 2014, Texas A&M is 15-26-2 ATS in games coming off a loss.

— Since 2019, Vanderbilt is 7-24 against the spread; they’re 2-10 ATS in their last 12 games coming off a win. 

 Trends for all 30 MLB teams…….

— Arizona is 4-0-2 in its last six series, 12-6 in last 18 games.
Diamondbacks are 3-9 in road series openers.

— Braves won six of their last seven games.
Atlanta is 12-11 vs NL East rivals, 20-10 vs American League teams.

— Cubs are 9-17 vs NL Central rivals, 27-22 vs everyone else.
10 of Cubs’ last 12 games stayed under the total.

— Cincinnati lost four of its last five games.
Under is 10-1 in their last 11 games.

— Rockies are 3-8 in their last 11 games.
Over is 6-3 in their last nine games.

— Dodgers won five of their last seven games.
Dodgers are 21-7 vs lefty starters, 26-23 vs righties.

— Marlins are 3-23 against lefty starting pitchers, 22-26 vs righties.
Under is 7-2 in their last nine games.

— Brewers are 12-3 in their last 15 home games.
Milwaukee is 18-9 against its NL Central rivals.

— Mets are 11-3 in their last 14 games.
Mets are 16-9 in one-run games; last year, they were 25-28.

— Phillies are 25-4 in their last 29 home games.
Phillies are 20-3 in their last 23 series openers.

— Rookie P Skenes is 4-0, 2.29 in seven starts, with 53 strikeouts in 39.1 IP.
Under is 10-2 in Pirates’ last 12 games.

— St Louis is 9-3 in its last 12 home games.
Cardinals are 12-9 vs lefty starters, 25-28 vs righties.

— Padres lost nine of their last 10 road games.
San Diego is 12-16 vs lefty starters; last year, they were 28-13.

— Giants are 3-7 in their last 10 home games.
San Francisco is 20-14 in day games, 16-26 in night games.

— Washington is 9-3 in its last 12 games.
Nationals are 14-10 vs NL East rivals, 22-28 vs everyone else.

— Famous birthdays, June 21st:
Bernie Kopell, 91
Monte Markham, 89
Rick Sutcliffe, 68

Tom Chambers, 65
Derrick Coleman, 57
Maggie Siff, 50

Chris Pratt, 45
Richard Jefferson, 44
Garrett Crochet, 25

— Orioles are 15-6 in their last 21 games.
Baltimore is 19-7 vs its AL East rivals.

— Red Sox are 9-12 vs lefty starters; last two years, they were 47-31.
Boston is 1-11 in home series openers.

— White Sox are 4-17 in their last 21 road games.
Chicago is 5-23 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Guardians are 15-4 in their last 19 home games.
Cleveland is 14-6 vs lefty starting pitchers; LY, they were 24-35.

— Tigers are 3-10 in their last 13 games.
Over is 8-0 in their last eight home games.

— Under is 10-3 in Astros’ last 13 games.
Last 2 years, Houston was 70-33 vs lefty starters; this year, they’re 9-14.

— Royals are 3-8 in their last 11 games.
Kansas City is 25-14 at home, 17-20 on road.

— Over is 9-3 in Angels’ last 12 road games.
Under is 10-2 in their last 12 home games.

— Minnesota is 8-3 in its last 11 games.
Over is 7-2 in their last nine games.

— New York lost five of its last seven games.
NY scored in first inning in 6 of its last 10 games.

— A’s lost 10 of their last 12 games.
Under is 9-2 in their last 11 home games.

— Mariners are 11-1 in home series openers, 5-7 in road series openers.
Seattle is 23-6 in its last 29 home games.

— Rays are 12-7 vs lefty starters, 24-32 vs righty starters.
Tampa Bay is 4-9 in home series openers.

— Texas is 2-12 in its last 14 series openers.
Under is 21-8 in Rangers’ last 29 home games.

— Toronto lost five of its last seven games.
Blue Jays are 8-12 in one-run games. 

— Last year, the NBA’s Detroit Pistons hired Monty Williams as their new coach, giving him $78M for a 6-year contract, then they went 14-68 this year, which included a 28-game losing streak. Pistons are 94-290 (.245) over the last five years, the worst record in the NBA during that time.

After the season, Detroit fired their general manager, then Wednesday, they fired Williams, eating $65M in the process. How much do you have to dislike someone or the job they’re doing to pay them $65M to go away????

NBA Draft is next week; Lakers/Cavaliers are also looking for new coaches. Detroit has the 5th pick in the draft. Will they hire a new coach before the draft?

— Ten years ago, the NHL’s LA Kings played San Jose in the first round of the playoffs; they lost the first two games 6-3/7-2 in San Jose, then lost Game 3 in overtime, 4-3 at home. Things were not looking good, but they swept the last four games against the Sharks, winning all four games by 3+ goals, including a 5-1 win at San Jose in Game 7.

Then they beat Anaheim in seven games, in a series where the road team won five of the seven games. Kings won Game 7 6-2 in Anaheim.

Western Conference final, Kings led Chicago three games to one, then lost Games 5-6, but they won Game 7 in Chicago, beating the Blackhawks 5-4 in overtime.

All of this was extremely unlikely, winning three Game 7’s on the road, but when the Kings beat the Rangers in five games to win the Stanley Cup, with three of their four wins in overtime, they finished one of the most unlikely runs to a championship of any team in any sport, ever.

This was also the last time an NHL team won a series after trailing 3-0, a feat the Edmonton Oilers are trying to pull off this week against Florida.

— Is the NHL the only league that announces trades while their playoffs are still going on?

— Tuesday night in Denver, the Dodgers trailed Colorado 9-4 after eight innings, but they scored seven runs in the top of the 9th to win 11-9, getting a grand slam from Jason Heyward, a 3-run blast by Teoscar Hernandez.

Before that, the Dodgers had lost 1,137 consecutive games when they trailed by 5+ runs in the 9th inning, or later. Their last win in this situation was in 1957, their last year in Brooklyn.

— Tuesday night in Anaheim, Milwaukee led the Angels 6-0 in the 9th inning; they put in a cruddy relief pitcher to wrap the game up, but that didn’t work, so they put their closer in with Taylor Ward up to bat with the score 6-3 and two men on base— tying run at the plate.

Ward hit a ball to deep centerfield that would’ve gone over the fence and tied the game, except Sal Frelick jumped up and caught the ball, robbing Ward of the game-tying homer and ending the game. Best defensive play of the week.

— When Willie Mays got elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot, in 1979, there were 23 voters who didn’t put Mays on their ballot. Huh?

Who the BLEEP!!!! didn’t vote for Willie Mays as a Hall of Famer? 

— Famous birthdays, June 20th:
Dave Elmendorf, 75
John Goodman, 72
Dickie Thon, 66

Nicole Kidman, 57
Rodney Rogers, 53
Lavar Arrington, 46

Kendrys Morales, 41
Josh Childress, 41
Darko Milicic, 39

— Word of the Day: Prudent- Acting with or showing care and thought for the future.

— Braves 7, Tigers 0
Reynaldo Lopez tossed five shutout innings.
Detroit scored total of three runs in their last four games.

— Rays 3, Twins 2 (10)
Tampa Bay is 35-39, but 25-11 in games decided by 1 or 2 runs.
Loss snaps Minnesota’s six-game winning streak.

— Red Sox 7, Blue Jays 3
Boston has won five in a row, 8 of last 10 games.
Toronto made four errors; Red Sox scored two unearned runs.

— A’s 5, Royals 1
A’s win consecutive games for first time since May 4th.
Zack Gelof homered for the second day in a row.

— Astros 4, White Sox 1
This was first time in 5+ years Houston started 9 righty hitters in a game.
Backup C Salazar had two hits, two RBI- he didn’t start.

— Brewers 2, Angels 0
Freddy Peralta tossed six shutout innings.
Angels have been blanked in 21 of their last 22 innings.

— Orioles 7, New York 6 (10)
Baltimore is now 19-7 in its last 26 games.
Gerrit Cole allowed two runs in 4 IP (62 PT) in his first 2024 start. 

— RIP to baseball icon Willie Mays, who passed away at age 93.

He made the All-Star Game 19 years in a row.
He won a World Series ring with the 1954 Giants.

He was NL Rookie of the Year in 1951.
He won 12 Gold Gloves, was MVP of the NL in 1954, 1965. 

He ranks 6th all time in home runs (660),
He ranks 7th in runs scored (2,068),
He ranks 12th in RBI (1,909),
He ranks 13th in hits (3,293).

When you talk about who is the greatest player ever, you can make a strong argument for him.

RIP, sir.

— Was watching Florida State play in the College World Series, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying on TV; all the FSU players were wearing wristbands, like quarterbacks wear. 

Why? What information would be on wristbands for position players?

— New York 1B Anthony Rizzo broke his arm Monday, is out 4-6 weeks; they called up rookie Ben Rice to take his place— he went 1-4 in his MLB debut Tuesday.

Ben Rice has a good commercial opportunity, if they still sell Uncle Ben’s rice; do a commercial with his uncle, seems like it would be good TV.

— LA Clippers hired Jeff Van Gundy to be their top assistant coach; he spent this year working with the NBA champion Celtics, after working on ESPN for 16 years as an analyst.

— Brewers P Tobias Myers beat the Angels Tuesday; two years ago, that would’ve seemed very unlikely, seeing how he went 1-15, 7.82 in 22 starts for three different AAA teams. Milwaukee is his 6th organization, and he’s only 25 years old.

— Pirates’ OF Bryan Reynolds has a career batting average of .347 in June, the highest June batting average of any player in the last 50 years.

Famous birthdays, June 19th:
Duane Kuiper, 74
Kathleen Turner, 70
Mike Renfro, 69

Paula Abdul, 62
Poppy Montgomery, 52
Anthony Parker, 49

Dirk Nowitzki, 46
Jacob deGrom, 36
Joe Noteboom, 29

— Edmonton 5, Florida 3
Oilers scored two power play goals, scored 5 times on only 24 shots.
Edmonton also scored a short-handed goal, for second game in a row. 
Teams head back to Alberta with Florida leading the series, 3-2.

— Dodgers 11, Rockies 9
Dodgers scored seven runs in the top of the 9th.
Jason Heyward hit a pinch-hit grand slam, Teoscar Hernandez hit a 3-run blast.
Colorado led 7-2 after five innings. 

— Phillies 4, Padres 3
San Diego led 3-1 in 8th inning, have now lost five games in a row.
Nick Castellanos had the walk-off hit for the Phillies.

— A’s 7, Royals 5
JJ Bleday hit three doubles, as Oakland snapped a 9-game skid.
Hogan Harris pitched 5 innings, allowed one earned run.

— Marlins 9, Cardinals 8 (10)
Marlins snap a 6-game losing skid.
Vidal Brujan had the game-winning hit for Miami.

— White Sox 2, Astros 0
Jonathan Cannon got 26 outs on 106 pitches, for his first MLB win.
1B Andrew Vaughn knocked in both Chicago runs with ground outs.

— Mets 7, Rangers 6
Mets have now won seven games in a row.
Texas led this game 6-2 after five innings. 

— Celtics 106, Mavericks 88
Boston wins its 18th NBA title, its first since 2008.
Celtics led 67-46 at halftime. 

Boston went 16-3 in the playoffs this season.

— In 1988, Celtics had the NBA’s biggest payroll, a total of $9,283,833; they went 57-25, lost in the Eastern Conference final.

This season, Celtics had a payroll of $188,000,720; they’ve got six players who make $10M+.

— Lebron James should become player-coach of the Lakers, the way Bill Russell was in the late 60’s, at the end of his great playing career.

Why are they messing around with neophytes like Danny Hurley and JJ Redick, who have never been NBA head coaches? Just hire Lebron, have some veteran assistants to do the prep work, and Lebron can manage the games. It would work.

— NFL teams with the most touchdown plays of more than 20 yards last year:
22- Dolphins
16- Cowboys, Lions, 49ers
15- Browns, Buccaneers
14- Colts, Jaguars

NFL teams with the fewest TD plays of more than 20 yards last year:
3- Panthers
5- Chiefs
6- Patriots
7- Bears

— Teams with most touchdowns scored on their first drive last year:
10- 49ers
7- Ravens
6- Bears, Broncos, Colts, Rams, Eagles, Seahawks

Fewest touchdowns scored on their first drive last year:
0- Panthers, Giants, Buccaneers
1- Patriots, Jets, Saints

— HBO’s Hard Knocks will deal with the four teams in the AFC North this season; it will be the first time the Emmy Award-winning series has covered an entire division.

The show will begin December 3rd, and run thru the playoffs.

— Birmingham Stallions won the UFL Sunday with a 25-0 win over San Antonio; over the last three years, the Stallions went 32-4, won three league titles.

Famous birthdays, June 18th:
Paul McCartney, 72
Isabella Rossellini, 72
Tom Clements, 71

Andrés Galarraga, 63
Sandy Alomar, 58
Alana De La Garza, 58

Jeff Saturday, 49
Antonio Gates, 44
Matt Moore, 35 (Angels’ P)

— Southwest Airlines has re-started non-stop flights between Albany and Las Vegas, which is good news for my future travel plans.

— San Diego P Dylan Cease’s splits this year:
First 8 starts: 5-2, 2.74
Last 7 starts: 1-4, 6.27

— Cardinals 7, Marlins 6 (12)
St Louis is over .500 for first time since April 6th.
Masyn Winn hit a 2-run homer in the 12th inning.

— Mets 14, Rangers 2
Mets won their 6th game in row; they led 7-0 in second inning.
Rangers are 11-22 in their last 33 games.

— Giants 7, Cubs 6
Thairo Estrada hit a 3-run homer in the ninth inning.
Hector Neris has blown four saves in 14 chances this year.

— Phillies 9, Padres 2
Kyle Schwarber homered twice, knocked in four runs.
Alec Bohm went 3-5, with a homer and 3 RBI.

— Pirates 4, Reds 1
Rookie P Skenes is 4-0, 2.29 in seven starts.
Skenes has issued 7 walks, has 53 strikeouts in 39.1 IP. 

Major League teams’ records in series:
Home…….Away……Total

— Diamondbacks 6-6…….3-5-3……9-11-3

— Braves 8-3…….5-4-2……13-7-2

— Cubs 5-5-1…….3-7-2……8-12-3

— Reds 4-6-2…….4-7……8-13-2

— Rockies 3-6-1…….1-11-1……4-17-2

— Dodgers 7-5…….8-4……12-9

— Marlins 3-9…….2-8-1……5-17-1

— Brewers 8-2-1…….6-5-1……14-7-2

— Mets 4-7-2…….5-5-2……9-12-4

— Phillies 7-2-3…….6-4-2……13-6-5

— Pirates 7-4…….6-6……13-10

— Cardinals 6-4-1…….6-6……12-10-1

— Padres 5-5-2…….7-3-2……12-8-4

— Giants 7-5…….4-7……11-12

— Nationals 5-5-1…….5-7……10-12-1

Famous birthdays, June 17th:
Barry Manilow, 81
Dave Concepcion, 76
Mike Milbury, 72

Greg Kinnear, 61
Jason Hanson, 54
Popeye Jones, 54

Venus Williams, 44
Yusei Kikuchi, 33
Amari Cooper, 30

— Orioles 10-2-1…….6-2-2……16-4-3

— Red Sox 6-4-2…….4-5-2……10-9-4

— White Sox 3-6-2…….1-11……4-17-2

— Guardians 8-1-1…….7-5-1……15-6-2

— Tigers 3-6-2…….6-4-2……9-10-4

— Astros 6-5-1…….4-6-1……10-11-2

— Royals 7-5…….4-6-1……11-11-1

— Angels 1-10…….5-6-1……6-16-1

— Twins 7-4…….5-7……12-11

— New York 7-1-2…….10-3……17-4-2

— A’s 4-7…….3-8-1……7-15-1

— Mariners 9-2-1…….4-6-1……13-8-2

— Rays 5-6-2…….5-5……10-11-2

— Rangers 4-6-1…….6-6……10-12-1

— Blue Jays 6-4-1…….3-6-3……9-10-4

Elsewhere in the world……..
— Dodgers had a rough weekend:
Mookie Betts broke his left hand when he was hit by a pitch.

P Yoshinobu Yamamoto has a strained rotator cuff, is also on the injured list.

— Phillies SS Trea Turner is getting activated Monday, after a six-week absence,

— Braves CF Michael Harris has a strained hamstring, is on the IL. 

— Cleveland Guardians have the first pick in next month’s MLB amateur draft.

— Red Sox have won the World Series four times since 2004; in three of those four seasons, their manager was in his first year on the job. Terry Francona is the only skipper who won two World Series for Boston in the last 20 years. 

— Happy Armadillo Day!!!!

23 years ago this week, I started writing this blog. Despite the protests of some, I’m still doing it. Hopefully you enjoy reading it.

In those 23 years, I’ve taken two short breaks; in September 2001, took a week off after 9/11, because there wasn’t anything good to write about, then in 2019 I had retina surgery so I laid on my couch for a week, then started writing again.

(I’d like to thank my two surgeons, Dr Mallick and Dr Lemanski, for fixing my eye).

Hopefully over the next year we’ll all be nicer to each other, more tolerant of each other. I’ll still be here typing late into the night; hopefully you’ll still be reading.

— If you like the NFL and you have the Roku channel on your TV, there is a show on there that you will like, about the NFL Draft this past April.

NFL Films documentary crews are embedded in the draft rooms of five teams, plus on stage and behind the scenes of the actual draft in Detroit. Watched it last night; it was high quality stuff that we’ve come to expect from NFL Films.

— Detroit Lions signed UFL kicker Jake Bates to a 2-year deal. Bates has made three field goals of 60+ yards for the Michigan Panthers this spring; he was a kickoff specialist in college for Texas State (2020-21) and Arkansas (2022).

— Edmonton 8, Florida 1
Oilers led 3-1 in first period; their first goal was shorthanded.
Last time NHL finals ended in a sweep was 1998, when the Red Wings swept Washington.

Even with this game going over the total, if you bet the under in every game Florida goalie Sergei  Bobrovsky started this year, you’d be 47-26-3, good for a $1,789 profit to a $100 bettor.

Last time an NHL goalie finished +$2,000 to the under was Miikka Kiprusoff of the Calgary Flames, way back in 2005.

— Cubs’ rookie lefty P Shota Imanaga has a 1.31 ERA in seven starts at Wrigley Field.

— Famous birthdays for June 16th:
Rick Adelman, 78
Al Cowlings, 77
Frank Corral, 69

Laurie Metcalf, 69
Darrell Griffith, 66
Wally Joyner, 62

Kerry Wood, 47
Austin Blythe, 32
Justin Jefferson, 25 

— Orioles 6, Phillies 2
Anthony Santander homered twice, drove in four runs.

— Nationals 5, Marlins 0
Rookie P Herz struck out 13 batters, allowed one hit in 6 IP
Washington is 7-1 in its last eight games.

— Marlins are 3-22 vs lefty starters this year, 20-25 vs righties.

— Chicago White Sox are 2-21 in series openers this year, 0-12 on the road.

— Rockies 16, Pirates 4
Hunter Goodman homered twice, knocked in five runs.
Pirates had won their previous five games at Coors Field.

— Mariners 7, Rangers 5
Seattle has won six of its last seven games.

— AL Wild Card race:
Orioles, Royals, Twins, followed by…….
2.5 games behind- Boston
4- Detroit, Toronto
5- Texas

— NL Wild Card race:
Braves, Padres, Cardinals, followed by……
half-game behind- Reds, Nationals
1 game behind- Cubs, Diamondbacks, Giants
1.5- Pittsburgh