Armadillo Sports
Monday’s 6-pack
All-time hit leaders, among active players;
3,095— Miguel Cabrera, Det
2,093— Joey Votto, Cin
2,031— Nelson Cruz, SD
2,013— Elvis Andrus, CWS
1,967— Andrew McCutchen, Pitt
1,935— Jose Altuve, Hst
Quote of the Day
“I always believed this moment would come. There was a little bit of me that was like, ‘You know what? You love playing baseball. Keep going no matter what.’ Crazy things happen in this game. So I’m very thankful that I’m here and that I get to enjoy this. I’m excited for the day.”
33-year old Drew Maggi, called up Sunday after 15 years in the minor leagues
Monday’s quiz
Last time the Detroit Lions won a playoff game, what Hall of Famer was the other team’s quarterback?
Sunday’s quiz
Seattle SuperSonics were an NBA team from 1967-2008, but then they moved to another city. Oklahoma City Thunder used to be the SuperSonics.
Saturday’s quiz
Milwaukee Brewers played for one year in Seattle, before moving to Wisconsin and becoming the Brewers in 1970- they were the Seattle Pilots in 1969.
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Monday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports weekend…….
— After 13 years as an infielder in the minor leagues, Pittsburgh Pirates called up 33-year old Drew Maggi to the majors Saturday, after he had played eight games for AA Altoona in the Eastern League; he’s played in 1,155 minor league games over 13 years for six organizations.
He played college ball at Arizona State; was a 15th round draft pick by the Pirates in 2010.
Not that this inspired me or anything, but as I type this, it is 3:30am and I’m watching the old movie The Rookie with Dennis Quaid, the true story of a high school science teacher in Texas who tried out for the Tampa Bay Rays and made it to the big leagues.
Good stuff.
— Warriors 126, Kings 125
Home side has won all four series games; it is 2-2.
Warriors were +22 in Klay Thompson’s 39:00, minus-21 in his 9:00 off the floor.
Golden State outscored the Kings 37-23 in third quarter
— Timberwolves 114, Nuggets 108, OT
Denver scored last 11 points of regulation to force overtime.
Nuggets still lead series, 3-1.
Anthony Edwards scored 34 points for Minnesota.
— Knicks 102, Cavaliers 93
New York held Cleveland to 79-93 points in two wins this weekend.
Knicks lead series, 3-1.
Brunson scored 29 points, Barrett 26 for the Knicks.
— Celtics 129, Hawks 121
Boston led this game 65-53 at halftime.
Al Horford played 34:00, was 0-2 from floor; Celtics were +17 in those 34:00.
Celtics lead series, 3-1.
— Road teams won all four NHL games Sunday, second day in a row that happened.
— Pirates 2, Reds 0— Pittsburgh is 16-7; they’re in first place in NL Central, thanks to some really good starting pitching. Dodgers come calling this week; that’ll be interesting.
— Rays 4, White Sox 1— Tampa Bay is 13-0 at home, freakin’ 13-0. They lead the AL East by 4.5 games; pretty good division. Red Sox are in last place, and they’re 12-11.
— Bruce Bochy should be inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer, that’s how great a manager he has been and still is. Texas Rangers haven’t been in the playoffs since 2016, but they’re 14-7 this year and lead the AL West by 2.5 games, in Bochy’s first season there.
— Red Sox 12, Brewers 5— Masataka Yoshida hit two home runs Sunday……in the same inning. Red Sox trailed 4-3 after seven, then scored nine runs in the 8th to break the game open.
— Dodgers 7, Cubs 3— Clayton Kershaw is 4-1, 2.32 in five starts this season, not bad for a 35-year old guy who was the center on his high school football team. That quarterback on that team was Matthew Stafford, who also makes his living in Los Angeles these days.
— I had forgotten that one of the actors in The Rookie is Jay Hernandez, who was also one of the players in Friday Night Lights, another terrific sports movie. Nowadays, he is the second coming of Thomas Magnum on Magnum PI.
— NFL Draft is this week, Thursday-Saturday from Kansas City. Hopefully the confusing quarterback scenarios around the league will be cleared up before then.
— If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
NL: Braves-Pirates-LA or Arizona. Wild Cards: Milwaukee-Mets-Cubs
AL: Rays-Twins-Rangers. Wild Cards: Orioles-Toronto-New York.