Armadillo Sports
Sunday’s 6-pack
NBA leaders in rebounding:
14.7— Rudy Gobert, Utah
13.8— Nikola Jokic, Den
12.1— Domantas Sabonis, Ind
11.8— Clint Capela, Atl
11.6— Giannis Antetokounmpo, Mil/Joel Embiid, Phil
11.5— Jonas Valanciunas, NO
Quote of the Day
“It’s something that you dream about. Not everybody gets the chance to experience that. So I’m going to cherish every second of the thing because you’re never guaranteed for this to happen again.”
Braves manager Brian Snitker, on getting his World Series ring
Sunday’s quiz
Who was the only player in big leagues to play all 162 games last year?
Hint: He batted leadoff in every game, too.
Saturday’s quiz
Fernando Tatis Sr hit two grand slams in the same inning of a game at Dodger Stadium.
Friday’s quiz
Singer Gene Autry was the original owner of the Los Angeles Angels.
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Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Saturday……..
13) Baseball season has obviously started but the great majority of pitchers are still in spring training mode, as far as how many pitches they throw. There have been 35 games played so far; only three starting pitchers have thrown 90+ pitches.
Some teams haven’t used their relievers on consecutive days yet; the season is six months long, so they’re being careful and bringing their pitchers along at same pace they normally do, its just that spring training was shorter this year.
12) IF/utility guy Brad Miller is batting leadoff for Texas this week; this guy has had quite a journey the last few years:
2013-15— Seattle
2016-18— Tampa Bay
2018— Milwaukee
2019— Cleveland
2019— Philadelphia
2020— St Louis
2021— Philadelphia (again)
2022— Texas
Texas is his sixth team the last five years, not counting his two stints in Philly. Versatile players who get on base have value, so teams are willing to give Miller a shot.
11) Couple of NL Central pitchers really struggled in the first inning Saturday:
— Miles Mikolas needed 41 pitches to get thru his first inning, allowing only one run, but he was also out of the game in the 4th inning.
— Brandon Woodruff threw 40 pitches in his first inning, giving up three runs; he didn’t finish the 4th inning either.
Unusual for a pitcher to throw 40+ pitches in any inning, especially these days.
10) New York 4, Boston 2— Red Sox start the season going 2-22 with runners in scoring position.
9) Kansas City 1, Cleveland 0 (10)— Royals scored total of four runs in their first two games, but won both of them.
8) Miami 2, San Francisco 1— Carlos Rodon struck out 12 in his Giants’ debut, but didn’t get much run support. Marlins’ bullpen tossed four shutout innings.
7) White Sox P Lucas Giolito (abdomen) is expected to miss at least two starts.
6) Seattle 4, Minnesota 3— Adam Frazier, Todd France had clutch hits in ninth inning as the Mariners get another one-run win. Since beginning of last season, Seattle is 33-19 in games decided by one run.
5) Guy named Rob Walton is expected to bid $4B to buy the Denver Broncos; he is the heir to Walmart fortune, and his cousin is married to Rams’ owner Stan Kroenke. Pretty wealthy family. Rob Walton has a net worth of $70B, that’s billion, with a B.
4) NFL teams are worth an average of $3-4B each; you really believe that people rich enough to own a team like that are going to be told who to hire as their coach?
Totally unsurprising that when the Tennessee Titans wanted to hire Mike Mularkey as head coach, they first had to hold sham interviews with minority candidates, to satisfy the Rooney Rule, which says minority candidates must be interviewed.
But they were sloppy, holding the sham interviews after they told people who they were going to hire. Seriously? In this day and age? Don’t they watch Law and Order reruns? The truth most always finds its way out into the public eye.
3) Angels 2, Astros 0— Noah Syndergaard threw 5.1 scoreless innings in his Angel debut. Houston was held to two singles, after hitting eight home runs in their first two games.
2) This doesn’t sound possible, but on the Atlanta Braves’ World Series rings, there are a total 755 diamonds on each one. How long before one of them shows up on Pawn Stars?
1) 8-team USFL kicks off play next weekend; they’re not going to have first down chains, they have a system like tennis uses, which measures whether a team made a first down or not. The footballs will have a chip in them, and it is a virtual replay system, which should be interesting to track.
Sunday’s 6-pack
NBA leaders in rebounding:
14.7— Rudy Gobert, Utah
13.8— Nikola Jokic, Den
12.1— Domantas Sabonis, Ind
11.8— Clint Capela, Atl
11.6— Giannis Antetokounmpo, Mil/Joel Embiid, Phil
11.5— Jonas Valanciunas, NO
Quote of the Day
“It’s something that you dream about. Not everybody gets the chance to experience that. So I’m going to cherish every second of the thing because you’re never guaranteed for this to happen again.”
Braves manager Brian Snitker, on getting his World Series ring
Sunday’s quiz
Who was the only player in big leagues to play all 162 games last year?
Hint: He batted leadoff in every game, too.
Saturday’s quiz
Fernando Tatis Sr hit two grand slams in the same inning of a game at Dodger Stadium.
Friday’s quiz
Singer Gene Autry was the original owner of the Los Angeles Angels.
*******************************
Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Saturday……..
13) Baseball season has obviously started but the great majority of pitchers are still in spring training mode, as far as how many pitches they throw. There have been 35 games played so far; only three starting pitchers have thrown 90+ pitches.
Some teams haven’t used their relievers on consecutive days yet; the season is six months long, so they’re being careful and bringing their pitchers along at same pace they normally do, its just that spring training was shorter this year.
12) IF/utility guy Brad Miller is batting leadoff for Texas this week; this guy has had quite a journey the last few years:
2013-15— Seattle
2016-18— Tampa Bay
2018— Milwaukee
2019— Cleveland
2019— Philadelphia
2020— St Louis
2021— Philadelphia (again)
2022— Texas
Texas is his sixth team the last five years, not counting his two stints in Philly. Versatile players who get on base have value, so teams are willing to give Miller a shot.
11) Couple of NL Central pitchers really struggled in the first inning Saturday:
— Miles Mikolas needed 41 pitches to get thru his first inning, allowing only one run, but he was also out of the game in the 4th inning.
— Brandon Woodruff threw 40 pitches in his first inning, giving up three runs; he didn’t finish the 4th inning either.
Unusual for a pitcher to throw 40+ pitches in any inning, especially these days.
10) New York 4, Boston 2— Red Sox start the season going 2-22 with runners in scoring position.
9) Kansas City 1, Cleveland 0 (10)— Royals scored total of four runs in their first two games, but won both of them.
8) Miami 2, San Francisco 1— Carlos Rodon struck out 12 in his Giants’ debut, but didn’t get much run support. Marlins’ bullpen tossed four shutout innings.
7) White Sox P Lucas Giolito (abdomen) is expected to miss at least two starts.
6) Seattle 4, Minnesota 3— Adam Frazier, Todd France had clutch hits in ninth inning as the Mariners get another one-run win. Since beginning of last season, Seattle is 33-19 in games decided by one run.
5) Guy named Rob Walton is expected to bid $4B to buy the Denver Broncos; he is the heir to Walmart fortune, and his cousin is married to Rams’ owner Stan Kroenke. Pretty wealthy family. Rob Walton has a net worth of $70B, that’s billion, with a B.
4) NFL teams are worth an average of $3-4B each; you really believe that people rich enough to own a team like that are going to be told who to hire as their coach?
Totally unsurprising that when the Tennessee Titans wanted to hire Mike Mularkey as head coach, they first had to hold sham interviews with minority candidates, to satisfy the Rooney Rule, which says minority candidates must be interviewed.
But they were sloppy, holding the sham interviews after they told people who they were going to hire. Seriously? In this day and age? Don’t they watch Law and Order reruns? The truth most always finds its way out into the public eye.
3) Angels 2, Astros 0— Noah Syndergaard threw 5.1 scoreless innings in his Angel debut. Houston was held to two singles, after hitting eight home runs in their first two games.
2) This doesn’t sound possible, but on the Atlanta Braves’ World Series rings, there are a total 755 diamonds on each one. How long before one of them shows up on Pawn Stars?
1) 8-team USFL kicks off play next weekend; they’re not going to have first down chains, they have a system like tennis uses, which measures whether a team made a first down or not. The footballs will have a chip in them, and it is a virtual replay system, which should be interesting to track.
