— Early leader for NFL’s Bad Beat of the Year:
Chiefs led the Saints 24-23 with about 1:10 left in New Orleans Sunday; KC had ball 3rd and 8 in their own territory, Saints had no timeouts left.
You run the ball, let the play clock run down, then punt with about 0:25 left, leaving the Saints with almost no time to score. That is what you’re supposed to do.
Chiefs have their 4th string QB in the game; he tries a swing pass, which is picked off, and the Saints are already in field goal range, a horrific beat for anyone who bet on the Chiefs, a gift from the heavens for anyone who bet on New Orleans.
— Orioles 5, Mariners 3 (10)— Cedric Mullins didn’t come into this game until the 6th inning, but he was the star; he made a GREAT catch to rob Seattle of a home run in the 9th inning, then hit the game-winning home run in the 10th— it was his first hit since coming off the IL.
— Mets 7, Braves 6— On June 1, 2022, the Mets led Atlanta by 10 games in the NL East; in the 228 games since then, Braves have gained 33 games on New York, though they gave one back here. Rafael Ortega went 3-4, with two runs scored, two RBI.
— There are nine guys in the major leagues who have played in all their team’s games this year; four of those nine guys are on Atlanta— Acuna, Albies, Olson, Riley.
— Shohei Ohtani is skipping his next scheduled start on the mound, after he told manager Phil Nevin he was feeling some arm fatigue. He is still expected to hit every day.
— Marlins 8, New York 7— Miami scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 9th.
Nationals 8, A’s 7— Washington scored 6 runs in the bottom of the 9th.
This is the first time EVER that two teams blew leads of 4+ runs in the 9th inning and lost on the same day, with neither game even getting to extra innings.
— Movie of the Day— Dave (1993)— A guy who looks just like the President of the United States is recruited by the Secret Service to become a momentary stand-in, but when the President has a stroke while philandering, the stand-in becomes the #1 guy. Will anyone notice?
Kevin Kline plays the stand-in/President; Frank Langella/Kevin Dunn play the President’s assistants. Sigourney Weaver is the President’s wife, Ben Kingsley is the Vice President, and Charles Grodin has a small (but great) role as an old friend who helps him with a big job.
Excellent movie; who knew Charles Grodin could balance the country’s budget?
— NFL Trend of the Day— since 2017, Steelers are 19-10 ATS as a road favorite.
— New Orleans Saints had only 14 turnovers last year; they were minus-11 in turnovers, after being +31 in the previous three years combined. Obviously, that need to change.
— Why do baseball managers/coaches wear uniforms? They don’t in any other sport.
— Since the All-Star break, Cleveland Guardians are 0-8 in games where the winning run scored from the 7th inning on. Guardians are 4.5 games out of first place; they need to do better in the close games.
— In HBO’s show on the Lakers, Winning Time, this week’s episode focused on how Jerry West wanted to trade point guard Norm Nixon to Denver for David Thompson. If this is true, and not everything in this show is true, that trade would’ve been highway robbery.
David Thompson was freakin’ awesome; he was Michael Jordan before Jordan, he was actually Jordan’s favorite player when Thompson was at NC State.
A Laker team with Kareem, Magic, Worthy and Thompson would‘ve been a major problem to play against.
Anyway, the show is interesting.
— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Phillies, Giants, Marlins
AL: Orioles, Twins, Rangers. Wild Cards: Rays, Astros, Blue Jays
— Sunday would’ve been my parents’ 68th wedding anniversary; I am lucky to have had good, honest parents who tolerated my quirks (most of the time). Thanks!!!
