Armadillo: Friday's six-pack
-- Phillies' attendance is down 19,000 a game from three years ago.
-- Johnny Manziel (elbow) won't play in Browns' last two preseason games, which makes it obvious that Josh McCown will be the Browns' #1 QB in two weeks.
-- Angels are 4-13 in last 17 road games; their series win at Detroit was their first road series win since July 7-8 in Denver.
-- RIP Darryl Dawkins, whose thunderous dunks helped bring about the collapsible rims you see on baskets today.
-- Eagles-Packers total was 49 Thursday morning, was later bet down to 48; 49 was going to be the highest total in an NFL exhibition game since at least 2004.
-- Yasmani Grandal grounded into three double plays yesterday, the first Dodger to do that since Milton Bradley in 2004.
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Armadillo: Friday's List of 13: Random stuff with weekend here.......
13) Texas Rangers' TV analyst (former GM) Tom Grieve was pleading with fans not to reach for broken bats that fly into the stands, since they could get hurt. Grieve will be happy to learn the Phillies will be the first team to extend netting behind home plate to beyond the dugouts down each line. Someone was going to get hurt badly otherwise.
12) Grieve was saying that it was foolish to reach for a broken bat "since it is worthless and can hurt you". Well, those broken bats that don't fly into the stands find their way into the team's gift shop, where they get sold for at least $100 each. Not worthless.
11) Also in Philadelphia, a young boy had a double hand transplant; was cool seeing his face as he used his new hands (with casts on) for the first time. Imagine being the surgeon who gives a little kid the use of hands? Must be an excellent feeling.
10) Curt Schilling has apparently been suspended by ESPN for a controversial tweet earlier this week. So much for freedom of speech, it doesn't exist too much anymore. Who gives a rat's ass what Schilling says about anything? He has the right to express any beliefs he has, even if they're offensive. Thats what America is all about, at least that is what it is supposed to be about..
9) White Sox are 60-66, a disappointing team, but they're 26-15 in games where the winning run scores from the 7th inning on. Not sure if that pins the blame on starting pitchers, or on the starting lineup not hitting well early in games. It kind of gets manager Robin Ventura off the hook a little bit, since he fares well in close games.
8) White Sox wore 1976 throwback uniforms last night, the white jerseys with dark blue lettering and collars. Yes, collars. I actually thought they were kind of sharp.
7) Lot of rumors that Cavaliers may hold Kyrie Irving (broken kneecap) out until after Christmas; he hurt his knee in the first game of the NBA Finals. Would be a big loss for Cleveland. Irving seems to get hurt a lot.
6) HBO's Hard Knocks should be very interesting next week; three days after Brian Hoyer was named Houston's starting QB, backup Ryan Mallett missed practice, and the team said "he overselpt", to which I call BS. NFL quarterbacks do not oversleep, because teams have employees who would wake them up. He is mad because he isn't the starter and now the team has a problem on its hands.
5) Not sure why I thought of this today but I did; in 1987, I went to a Cardinal-Met doubleheader at Shea Stadium; our seats were good, second level just to first base side of home plate.
Early in the first game, Mets SS Kevin Elster hits a foul ball and the guy three seats to my left catches the ball. No big deal, but next time Elster comes up, same pitcher on mound, Elster hits another foul ball, right to the same guy sitting three seats to my left.. What are the odds of that?
4) Reliever Steve Cishek pitched in 32 games for Miami this year, putting 51 men on base in 32 IP, 19 of whom scored, so the Marlins traded him to first-place St Louis, where he has pitched in 13 games, putting 13 men on base in 11.1 IP, only one of whom scored. Why do guys play better for one team than another? Is it explainable?
3) Long time ago, there used to be a gameshow called Password, where one partner would give word clues to his partner, trying to get him/her to say the "password". When I heard about the Derrick Rose he says/she says rape debacle yesterday, the first thing that came into my head was something like this........
"Allen, players, you at home....the password is........'extortion'"
2) In order for players to be playoff eligible, they have to be on their team's 40-man roster before the calendar turns to September, so we figure to see some deals made between now and Monday night. Fernando Rodney was dealt to the Cubs last night, in on eof the first trades like that-- there figure to be more.
1) Now there are rumors that the Redskins' offensive line doesn't like Robert Griffin III and that he didn't have a concussion two weeks ago, they were just using it as an excuse so he didn't have to talk to the press. How can they ever play him now? This is a complete disaster; what other team would be stupid enough to trade for him?
