Sunday’s 6-pack:
All-time home run leaders for the Miami Marlins:
267— Giancarlo Stanton
154— Dan Uggla
148— Hanley Ramirez
143— Mike Lowell
138— Miguel Cabrera
129— Derrek Lee
Thought of the Day
“This program has been around for a long time. There are a lot of great coaches, a lot of great players who came before that laid the cornerstone pieces, the legacy, the tradition that is Tennessee football. It’s going to be around a long time after I’m gone and after they’re gone.”
Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel
Sunday’s quiz
Who managed the A’s, the last time they made the playoffs?
Saturday’s quiz
Bob Uecker played for the Braves (Milwaukee and Atlanta), the Cardinals and the Phillies.
Friday’s quiz
In the movie Major League, former Dodgers’ catcher Steve Yeager was the third base coach for the Indians.
******************************************
Milwaukee led 4-0 in the ninth inning; Arizona scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth for the dramatic win.
Milwaukee starting pitcher Chad Patrick threw 4.1 scoreless innings (77 PT) but they took him out in the fifth inning, after he struck out the leadoff hitter in the inning.
This is a stupid analytics thing that says pitchers shouldn’t face the same hitters three times in a game. Patrick allowed a run in 10 IP in his first two starts, both Milwaukee wins. How do you know if a guy is going to be really good unless you give him the chance?
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
— Reds 5, Pirates 2
Elly De La Cruz hit a grand slam on his bobblehead day.
Andrew Abbott gave up a run in 5 IP, in his 2025 debut.
— Braves 5, Rays 4
Tampa Bay led 2-0 after the sixth inning.
Michael Harris hit a 2-run homer for the Braves in the ninth inning.
First road win nine nine tries for Atlanta this season.
— A’s 3, Mets 1
Jacob Wilson has a 15-game hitting streak to start the season, the longest by an Oakland player to start a season, since Stan Javier in 1994.
A’s bullpen got 11 outs, allowed only two baserunners, no runs.
— Angels 4, Astros 1
Tyler Anderson didn’t allow a hit in the first five innings.
Astros loaded the bases with three walks in 4th inning, but didn’t score.
Angels are off to a 9-5 start; Houston is only 6-8.
— Orioles 5, Blue Jays 4
Toronto led 3-0 in the fifth inning.
Former Oriole Anthony Santander homered for the Blue Jays.
Baltimore turned five double plays in the game.
— Phillies 4, Cardinals 1
Cristopher Sanchez allowed one run in 6.1 IP
Phillies turned four double plays in the first five innings.
Nick Castellanos went 3-4, with two RBI
— Famous birthdays, April 13th:
Dennis Thurman, 69
Quinn Early, 60
Ricky Schroder, 55
Bo Outlaw, 54
Dan Campbell, 49
Baron Davis, 46
Quentin Richardson, 45
Hunter Pence, 42
Melvin Gordon, 32
Edward Cabrera, 27
— Former Tennessee Vols QB Nico Iamaleava will be in the transfer portal a few days from now, trying to earn more than the $2M Tennessee was paying him (Oregon has apparently already turned him down).
It is a free country; he can transfer if he likes, but my question is this— down the road, when it is time for him to go to the NFL and the big $$$, will this BS hang over his head like a dark cloud? Will teams be queasy about making him the key person in their organization?
Maybe it won’t, maybe it will; I’m asking.
I always think of the Al Pacino speech in Any Given Sunday:
“………..You’re a goddamn quarterback! You know what that means? It’s the top spot, kid. It’s the guy who takes the fall. It’s the guy everybody’s looking at first – the leader of a team – who will support you when they understand you. Who will break their ribs and their noses and their necks for you, because they believe. ‘Cause you make them believe. That’s a quarterback.”
It is a fair question; if Tennessee had to play a game today, they’d only have two scholarship QB’s on their roster, so they’re going to have to poach at least one QB (probably more) from another team over the next four months, and those QB’s won’t have much time to develop chemistry with their new teammates.
— New Orleans Saints’ QB Derek Carr has a shoulder injury, his 2025 season may already be in jeopardy. Right now, the other QB’s on the New Orleans roster are Spencer Rattler, Jake Haener and Ben DiNucci.
Here’s the biggest part of that problem: in 2026, Carr has a $69M salary cap hit, with a $60M dead cap number, and now there’s a chance he’ll never play again.
Oy.
— Random NFL record: Brandon Marshall holds the NFL record for most passes caught in a game; he caught 21 passes for 200 yards and 2 TD’s in the Broncos 28-16 loss at Indianapolis, back in 2009.
— When Nebraska won the Crown college basketball tournament in Las Vegas couple weeks ago, their award for winning was $300K in NIL money for their program. Central Florida lost in the championship game; their program got $100K in NIL money.
— Getting back quickly to the football transfer thing, if a player wants to be eligible this year, he cannot transfer from one SEC team to another— they have a rule against that.
— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Phil/NYM, Cubs, Padres. Wild Cards: Giants, Dodgers, Phil/NYM
AL: New York, Tigers, Texas/LAA. Wild Cards: Tex/LAA, Guardians, Blue
All-time home run leaders for the Miami Marlins:
267— Giancarlo Stanton
154— Dan Uggla
148— Hanley Ramirez
143— Mike Lowell
138— Miguel Cabrera
129— Derrek Lee
Thought of the Day
“This program has been around for a long time. There are a lot of great coaches, a lot of great players who came before that laid the cornerstone pieces, the legacy, the tradition that is Tennessee football. It’s going to be around a long time after I’m gone and after they’re gone.”
Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel
Sunday’s quiz
Who managed the A’s, the last time they made the playoffs?
Saturday’s quiz
Bob Uecker played for the Braves (Milwaukee and Atlanta), the Cardinals and the Phillies.
Friday’s quiz
In the movie Major League, former Dodgers’ catcher Steve Yeager was the third base coach for the Indians.
******************************************
Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Saturday
— Diamondbacks 5, Brewers 4Milwaukee led 4-0 in the ninth inning; Arizona scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth for the dramatic win.
Milwaukee starting pitcher Chad Patrick threw 4.1 scoreless innings (77 PT) but they took him out in the fifth inning, after he struck out the leadoff hitter in the inning.
This is a stupid analytics thing that says pitchers shouldn’t face the same hitters three times in a game. Patrick allowed a run in 10 IP in his first two starts, both Milwaukee wins. How do you know if a guy is going to be really good unless you give him the chance?
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
— Reds 5, Pirates 2
Elly De La Cruz hit a grand slam on his bobblehead day.
Andrew Abbott gave up a run in 5 IP, in his 2025 debut.
— Braves 5, Rays 4
Tampa Bay led 2-0 after the sixth inning.
Michael Harris hit a 2-run homer for the Braves in the ninth inning.
First road win nine nine tries for Atlanta this season.
— A’s 3, Mets 1
Jacob Wilson has a 15-game hitting streak to start the season, the longest by an Oakland player to start a season, since Stan Javier in 1994.
A’s bullpen got 11 outs, allowed only two baserunners, no runs.
— Angels 4, Astros 1
Tyler Anderson didn’t allow a hit in the first five innings.
Astros loaded the bases with three walks in 4th inning, but didn’t score.
Angels are off to a 9-5 start; Houston is only 6-8.
— Orioles 5, Blue Jays 4
Toronto led 3-0 in the fifth inning.
Former Oriole Anthony Santander homered for the Blue Jays.
Baltimore turned five double plays in the game.
— Phillies 4, Cardinals 1
Cristopher Sanchez allowed one run in 6.1 IP
Phillies turned four double plays in the first five innings.
Nick Castellanos went 3-4, with two RBI
— Famous birthdays, April 13th:
Dennis Thurman, 69
Quinn Early, 60
Ricky Schroder, 55
Bo Outlaw, 54
Dan Campbell, 49
Baron Davis, 46
Quentin Richardson, 45
Hunter Pence, 42
Melvin Gordon, 32
Edward Cabrera, 27
— Former Tennessee Vols QB Nico Iamaleava will be in the transfer portal a few days from now, trying to earn more than the $2M Tennessee was paying him (Oregon has apparently already turned him down).
It is a free country; he can transfer if he likes, but my question is this— down the road, when it is time for him to go to the NFL and the big $$$, will this BS hang over his head like a dark cloud? Will teams be queasy about making him the key person in their organization?
Maybe it won’t, maybe it will; I’m asking.
I always think of the Al Pacino speech in Any Given Sunday:
“………..You’re a goddamn quarterback! You know what that means? It’s the top spot, kid. It’s the guy who takes the fall. It’s the guy everybody’s looking at first – the leader of a team – who will support you when they understand you. Who will break their ribs and their noses and their necks for you, because they believe. ‘Cause you make them believe. That’s a quarterback.”
It is a fair question; if Tennessee had to play a game today, they’d only have two scholarship QB’s on their roster, so they’re going to have to poach at least one QB (probably more) from another team over the next four months, and those QB’s won’t have much time to develop chemistry with their new teammates.
— New Orleans Saints’ QB Derek Carr has a shoulder injury, his 2025 season may already be in jeopardy. Right now, the other QB’s on the New Orleans roster are Spencer Rattler, Jake Haener and Ben DiNucci.
Here’s the biggest part of that problem: in 2026, Carr has a $69M salary cap hit, with a $60M dead cap number, and now there’s a chance he’ll never play again.
Oy.
— Random NFL record: Brandon Marshall holds the NFL record for most passes caught in a game; he caught 21 passes for 200 yards and 2 TD’s in the Broncos 28-16 loss at Indianapolis, back in 2009.
— When Nebraska won the Crown college basketball tournament in Las Vegas couple weeks ago, their award for winning was $300K in NIL money for their program. Central Florida lost in the championship game; their program got $100K in NIL money.
— Getting back quickly to the football transfer thing, if a player wants to be eligible this year, he cannot transfer from one SEC team to another— they have a rule against that.
— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Phil/NYM, Cubs, Padres. Wild Cards: Giants, Dodgers, Phil/NYM
AL: New York, Tigers, Texas/LAA. Wild Cards: Tex/LAA, Guardians, Blue
