Saturday?s 6-pack
MLB leaders in runs scored:
33? Ronald Acuna, Atl
32? JD Martinez, Bos
31? Chris Taylor LA/Bo Bichette Tor
29? Mark Canha, A?s
28? Kris Bryant, Cubs
27? Hampton, Kiner-Falefa, Ohtani, Rojas, Solak
Americans who have died from COVID-19: 583,938
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.
Quote of the Day
?The thought of playing for my dad was too good to pass up.?
5-star recruit Patrick Baldwin Jr., who chose to play basketball for his father at Milwaukee, instead of playing for Duke. Pat Baldwin Sr is 47-70 in four years as coach at Milwaukee; his son may save his job.
Saturday?s quiz
Who was coach of the Golden State Warriors before Steve Kerr?
Friday?s quiz
Roy Hobbs played for the New York Knights in Robert Redford?s baseball movie, The Natural.
Thursday?s quiz
Before moving to Tennessee Titans moved to Memphis and then Nashville, the Titans were the Houston Oilers.
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Saturday?s Den: Random stuff with the weekend here??.
13) We start today with good news; got my second vaccine shot Friday, and all is well. My left arm is a little sore; hell, some lady stuck a needle in it, but everything else is good.
The whole vaccine thing is a VERY efficient, simple operation; if you haven?t gotten yours, please do, so all of us can get our lives back to normal.
12) Since start of last season, Chicago White Sox are 23-1 vs lefty starting pitchers.
11) Cleveland hurler Zach Plesac has already been on the losing end of two no-hitters this season, but Thursday night in Seattle, Plesac took a no-hitter of his own into the 8th inning.
He didn?t get the no-hitter or a shutout, but he did get a 4-2 road win.
10) Modern baseball: Thursday night in Pittsburgh, Giants led the Pirates 3-0 in top of the 6th; their pitcher Anthony DeSclafani, was throwing a one-hit shutout, but when his time to bat came up with a couple of men on, Giants pinch-hit for him, despite his dominant pitcher to that point in the game.
DeSclafani faced 17 batters; more and more, teams don?t want their pitchers facing hitters three times in a game. It is a little weird to me, puts too much strain on the bullpen over the course of a six-month season.
9) Royals? star Whit Merrifield has played in 344 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the major leagues.
8) Umpire Bill Miller is a pitcher?s best friend; he did the plate in a 1-0 game at Tampa Bay this week, and had batters on both sides mumbling. One walk, 23 strikeouts in the game.
7) On July 31, 2017, A?s traded Sonny Gray to New York for three prospects, two of whom have long since left Oakland; the third guy is P James Kaprelian, who made his first MLB start this week in Boston.
Kaprelian struggled out of the game, but gave up only one run in five IP, throwing 95 pitches in Oakland?s 4-1 win. It took almost four years, but the A?s finally got something out of that trade.
6) On December 3, 2018, this trade was made:
? Mets got 36-year old Robinson Cano, closer Edwin Diaz
? Mariners got OF prospect Jarred Kelenic, Jay Bruce, Justin Dunn and a couple journeyman pitchers.
Advantage, Mariners.
Kelenic debuted in the major leagues Thursday; last night, he homered and hit two doubles in Seattle?s 7-3 win over Cleveland. He looked really good, which could wind up making the Mets look really bad.
5) More and more, teams are starting to walk the leadoff hitter in the 10th inning, to create a force play, making it harder to bunt the go-ahead run to third base. Not sure if the new extra innings rule will survive after this year, but it is making people think.
4) Milwaukee P Corbin Burnes set a new MLB record when he struck out 52 batters before he walked someone this year.
Problem for Burnes, is, he?s started four games at home, and the Brewers were shut out in three of them. Go figure.
3) I?m wondering when a player disputes balls/strikes with an umpire, do they taunt the ump about robots taking their place someday? It is going to happen; there was a time when the umpires? union was very powerful- for a long time, you couldn?t show instant replays of close calls on the scoreboards, but those days are long gone.
2) If the playoffs started today (they don?t):
NL- Mets, Cardinals, Giants. Wild Card: Dodgers @ Padres
AL- Red Sox, White Sox, A?s. Wild Card: Astros @ Indians
1) Owners at the Talladega NASCAR track in Alabama are offering people a free ride around the track in a race car, if they get the COVID vaccine; they?re offering free beer in Buffalo, savings bonds in West Virginia, entry into a lottery in Ohio.
It is pretty sad when people have to bribe you to get a shot that could save YOUR life.
