Thursday’s 6-pack
All-time leading scorers for the Denver Nuggets:
21,645— Alex English
16,589— Dan Issel
13,970— Carmelo Anthony
12,054— Nikola Jokic
11,992— David Thompson
10,130— Ralph Simpson
Quote of the Day
“This is a special group. This group has been able to overcome a lot of different things, handle a lot of adversity, setbacks, things that have not gone the way we wanted it to go. Instead of having that collapse our spirit, it allowed us to develop some fortitude and grit collectively and give us something to rally around, which was each other.”
Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra
Thursday’s quiz
Keith Hernandez is well-known for helping the Cardinals/Mets win World Series; what team did he finish his career with?
Wednesday’s quiz
Alex English is the all-time leader scorer for the Denver Nuggets, with 21,645 points.
Tuesday’s quiz
Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966; they previously called Boston/Milwaukee home.
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Thursday’s Den: Doing some thinking out loud………
— We start today with some very good news:
Last weekend, Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris saved a kid from drowning in a Las Vegas pool at the Encore Hotel; the boy was three years old and had no pulse when Morris got involved to try and help save his life.
The boy was discharged from the hospital 24 hours later. Very good news.
— Mets 4, Phillies 1
Phillies are 5-11 in their last 16 games; they scored 7 runs in their last four games.
Kyle Schwarber went 10-87 (.115) in May; seven of the 10 hits were home runs.
— Mariners 1, New York 0 (10)
New York scored 10 runs in each of its last three games, before this.
Cal Raleigh had the walk-off single for Seattle.
Mariners improve to 7-12 in one-run games.
— Nationals 10, Dodgers 6
Garcia’s 3-run homer in the 8th inning was the game-winner.
Keibert Ruiz homered twice for Washington.
— Marlins 2, Padres 1
Miami scored twice in ninth inning for the win.
Backup C Fortes had the walk-off single.
Snell pitched six shutout innings for San Diego.
— Arizona 6, Colorado 0
Tommy Henry tossed six shutout IP.
Bryant/Profar didn’t play; Blackmon is away from the team. Rockies looked like a dead team.
— Angels 12, White Sox 5
Ohtani homered twice, knocked in four runs; less than two months until the trade deadline. Will the Angels keep him or deal him at the deadline? He is a free agent this winter.
— Reds 5, Red Sox 4— Cincinnati is 5-0 on this road trip.
— Tampa Bay Rays win a lot despite spending a lot less money, so they obviously know what they’re doing. Just wish I knew the rationale behind the opener, using a lesser pitcher to start a game against the top of your opponent’s batting order.
Basically, the six best pitchers on just about all teams are the five starters and the closer; why would you start a game with someone other than those people?
Lot of teams have toyed with the opener; not many teams have dome it in a playoff game, which tells me they really don’t believe in it. “Hey, Tony LaRussa used to do it, we should, too”
Tampa Bay people don’t broadcast their philosophies, which is smart.
— There is a college football bowl game played in Orlando called the Cheez-It Bowl; apparently, they’re changing the name to the Pop Tarts Bowl, with an ACC team playing a Big 12 team.
I freakin’ love Pop Tarts; best kinds are blueberry and red velvet.
— Houston Astros’ hitting Alex Cintron got tossed from Tuesday’s game in the third inning, after the home plate umpire got into it with Astros’ SS Jeremy Pena; as a result, Cintron was fined $500.
Astros players stepped up and paid the fine for Cintron.
— To me, it is weird when a DH bats 9th; why would the worst hitter in your lineup be a designated hitter?
— Jake Marisnick played for Detroit Wednesday; the man must know how to pack:
2013-14— Marlins
2014-19— Astros
2020— 16 games with the Mets
2021— 65 games with the Cubs
2021— 34 games with San Diego
2022— 31 games with the Pirates
2023— 9 games with the White Sox
2023— One game with Detroit.
— Las Vegas blackjack players lost more than $1B last year, 2nd-highest amount ever. That is billion, with a B.
More casinos have changed payouts on getting dealt 21 from 3-2 to 6-5, which obviously makes it a lot more difficult to turn a profit.
— As of now, Kentucky Wildcats’ basketball team has only seven players; five freshmen and two sophomores. The transfer portal still has some good players in it, but coach Calipari has some work to do this summer if Kentucky is going to have another winning season.
— Purdue’s basketball got great news Wednesday; big man Zach Edey announced he’ll be back with the Boilermakers next season.
— A’s pitcher JP Sears in May:
5 starts— 3.25 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, An excellent month.
