Armadillo Sports
Thursday?s 6-pack:
? Michigan State 71, Minnesota 69? Spartans scored with 0:00.1 left.
? Temple 69, Tulsa 64? Owls? first-ever win in Tulsa.
Why are Temple/Tulsa in same league? 1.280 miles apart
? Villanova 64, Xavier 60? Teams shot combined 9-44 on arc.
? UCF 74, Memphis 64? Tigers were 6-18 on foul line; 6 for 18???
? UConn 86, St John?s 78 OT? Sanogo had 26 points, 18 rebounds.
? Tulane 68, Wichita State 67? Pretty big upset in the AAC.
Quote of the Day
?I kept thinking during the season we had hit rock bottom, then each week it got a little worse.?
Giants? owner John Mara
Thursday?s quiz
First time Chiefs won the Super Bowl, Hank Stram was their coach; what NFL team did he coach after he left Kansas City?
Wednesday?s quiz
Seth Curry of the 76ers played three years of college basketball at Duke, after transferring from Liberty.
Tuesday?s quiz
Mark Richt was Georgia?s football coach before Kirby Smart.
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Thursday?s Den: Baseball stuff on a winter day??.
Before starting today, I?d like to wish Mattie Clune a (belated) happy 100th birthday?..
Mrs Clune lives in Oneonta; I met her 44 years ago, went to college with her son Rob, who was a great ballplayer for the Albany Great Danes. Mr/Mrs Clune came to lot of our games, which wasn?t an easy trip (75-80 miles to Albany, and in winter, it is often a tough drive).
She is a terrific lady; happy birthday, Mrs Clune!!!
We?re talking baseball today; my driveway is an icy mess, so have to think warm thoughts??
13) Last year in Baltimore, there were 277 home runs hit in Oriole home games, 176 in thei road games. Baltimore?s baseball people decided they wanted to help the pitchers some, so they?re raising the left-field fence five feet and moving it back as much as 30 feet in some places.
Orioles have some solid pitching prospects on their way up the ladder; when they get to the majors, Camden Yards will be a more pitcher-friendly ballpark.
12) Fenway Park has a short left-field fence, but it is more of a doubles park than a homer park. Last year, there were 884 doubles hit in 81 games at Fenway, 652 in Boston road games.
There were 494 home runs hit in Red Sox home games, 540 in their road games.
11) Cincinnati is another hitters? ballpark; Reds scored 861 runs at home (44-37) last year, 685 on the road (39-42). Reds? offense was rolling until Jesse Winker got hurt; Nick Castellanos is a free agent. If he signs elsewhere, that?ll hurt.
10) Last year, Colorado Rockies were 48-33 at home, 26-54 on road; they used the same guys in all those games, so how does that happen? Rockies hit .280 at Coors Field, .217 on the road. Not going to win many games when you hit .217.
9) Oakland Coliseum has more foul ground than any ballpark; LY, there was 169 foul outs in A?s home games, 125 in their road games. Foul outs help pitchers, hurt hitters.
8) Matt Olson probably won?t be with Oakland much longer; he hit 22 homers vs lefties LY, 17 vs righties. I laughed when teams would bring in some mediocre southpaw to face him. He?s a great hitter, no matter who the pitcher is.
It?ll be a cruddy day when the A?s trade him, so they don?t have to pay him (This is what annoys the players? union, by the way)
7) Avasail Garcia signed a pretty big contract with the Marlins; you need to pay attention when he goes to the plate. Garcia swung at the first pitch 256 times, took the first pitch 259 times, by far the highest first-pitch swing %age in the majors.
Garcia hit .353 when he put that first pitch into play, hitting seven home runs in 85 AB?s.
6) Tampa Bay catcher Mike Zunino hit .342 vs lefties last year, only .151 vs righties; how does this happen? Zunino is a catcher, he must see the ball well. If he is good enough to hit .342 vs lefties, how can he not hit .200 vs everyone else?
For his career, Zunino hits .223 for lefties, .194 vs righties.
5) Players who had the most lead-changing RBI last year:
40? Salvador Perez, KC
38? Matt Olson, A?s
37? Kyle Seager, Sea
36? Ozzie Albies, Atl
4) Players who hit the most home runs on the road LY:
25? Pete Alonso, Mets
24? Aaron Judge NYY/Fernando Tatis SD
23? Marcus Semien, Tor
3) Batters who got the most intentional walks:
23? Juan Soto, Wash
20? Shohei Ohtani, LAA
15? Freddie Freeman, Atl
2) Pitchers who got the best run support LY:
AL:
? Steven Matz, Tor
? Hyun Jin Ryu, Tor
? Dylan Cease, CWS
NL:
? Julio Urias, LA
? Wade Miley, Cincy
? Max Fried, Atl
1) Only five times LY did a pitcher throw 120+ pitches in a game:
129? Gerrit Cole
126? Trevor Bauer
124? Jordan Lyles
122? Blake Snell
121? Shane Bieber
Little more than six weeks until the first spring training games.