Month: August 2025

Trends for major league teams
(thru Friday’s games)

— Arizona (60-63)
Arizona is 9-4 in its last 13 games.
Diamondbacks are 14-23 in one-run games.
Arizona scored in first inning in 10 of last 11 home games.
Arizona is 11-26 in last 37 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Braves (54-68)
Braves won six of their last seven games.
Atlanta is 30-30 at home, 24-38 on the road.
Braves are 20-15 vs NL East rivals, 34-53 vs everyone else.
Over is 20-10-2 in their last 32 games.

— Cubs (68-53)
Chicago is 9-15 in its last 24 games.
Cubs are nine games behind Milwaukee in the NL Central.
Under is 11-1-1 in their last thirteen games.
Cubs are 52-35 vs righty starters, 16-18 vs lefties.

— Reds (64-59)
Cincinnati is 12-9 in its last 21 games.
Reds are 47-41 vs righty starters, 17-18 vs lefties.
Under is 22-5-2 in their last 29 games.
Reds scored in first inning in 10 of last 17 home games.

— Rockies (33-89)
Colorado won three of its last four games.
Under is 4-1 in Rockies’ last five games.
Rockies are 5-29 vs lefty starters, 28-60 vs righties. 
Colorado hasn’t scored a first inning run in its last 24 road games.

— Dodgers (69-53)
Dodgers are 11-14 since All-Star break.
LA/San Diego are tied for first in NL West.
Dodgers are 51-36 vs righty starters, 18-17 vs lefties.
Over is 5-1 in their last six games.

— Marlins (58-64)                                                                      
Marlins are 3-8 in their last eleven games.
Miami is 28-31 at home, 30-33 on the road.
Under is 13-6 in Marlins’ last 19 road games.
Last two weeks, Marlins are 0-3 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Brewers (77-44)
Brewers have won 13 in a row, are 28-4 in their last 32 games.
Milwaukee is 42-20 at home, 35-24 on the road.
Over is 11-4 in their last fifteen home games. 
Milwaukee leads the Cubs by 9 games in the NL Central.

— Mets (64-58)
Mets have lost 14 of their last 16 games.
Mets are 39-24 at home, 25-34 on the road.
Over is 5-1 in their last six games.
Mets trail Philly by six games in NL East.
Mets leads the Reds by half a game for last NL Wild Card slot.

— Phillies (70-52)
Phillies are 8-4 in their last dozen games.
Phillies are 54-32 vs righty starters, 16-20 vs lefties.
Under is 6-2-2 in their last ten games.
Phillies lead the Mets by six games in NL East.

— Pirates (52-71)
Pirates are 1-5 in their last six games.
Pittsburgh is 34-29 at home, 18-42 on the road.
Under is 9-4-1 in their last 14 home games.
Pirates are 16-9 in last 25 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— St Louis (61-62)
St Louis lost its last three games, scoring 8 runs.
Cardinals are 15-6 in home series openers.
St Louis is 35-28 at home, 26-34 on the road.
Under is 10-3 in their last thirteen home games.

— Padres (69-53)
San Diego won 11 of its last 14 home games.
Padres are 38-20 at home, 31-33 on the road.
Padres are 48-35 vs righty starters, 21-18 vs lefties.
San Diego is 19-14 vs NL West rivals, 50-39 vs everyone else. 

— Giants (59-63)
Giants are 7-20 in their last 27 games, 1-14 in last 15 at home.
Giants are 47-42 vs righty pitchers, 12-21 vs lefties.
Over is 12-5-1 in their last 18 road games.
SF lost 8 of last 10 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Washington (49-73)
Nationals are 5-11 in their last sixteen games.
Washington is 8-22 in its last 30 home games.
Over is 3-1-1 in their last five games.
Washington is 21-9 last 30 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

Famous birthdays, August 16th:
Julie Newmar, 92
James Donaldson, 68
Angela Bassett, 67
Madonna Louise Ciccone, 67 (Madonna)
Timothy Hutton, 65

Steve Carell, 63
Yu Darvish, 39
Tyler Stephenson, 29
Rashad Vaughn, 29
Dominic Canzone, 28

— Orioles (56-66)
Baltimore won its last three games.
Under is 10-2-1 in their last thirteen games.
Orioles are 30-30 at home, 26-36 on the road.
Orioles are 17-16 vs AL East rivals, 39-50 vs everyone else.

— Red Sox (67-56)
Red Sox won eight of its last nine home games.
Boston is 1-8 in extra-inning road games.
Over is 9-3 in their last 12 games.
Right now, Red Sox hold the 2nd AL Wild Card slot.

— White Sox (44-78)
Chicago lost eight of its last ten games.
White Sox are 26-36 at home, 18-42 on the road.
Over is 6-4-1 in their last eleven games.
Chicago is 31-60 vs righty starters, 13-18 vs lefties.

— Cleveland (63-58)
Cleveland is 23-10 in its last 33 games.
Guardians are 1.5 games out of the last Wild Card slot.
Guardians are 48-38 vs righty starters, 15-20 vs lefties.
Over is 12-6 in their last 18 home games.

— Detroit (72-52)
Detroit is 12-6 in its last 18 games.
Tigers are 23-12 vs its AL Central rivals, lead division by 7.5 games.
Detroit is 16-4 in home series openers.
Under is 12-5 in their last 17 road games.

— Houston (68-54)
Astros are 8-12 in their last 20 games overall
Astros are 5-12 in their last 17 home games.
Astros lead Seattle by half a game in AL West.
Over is 10-5 in their last 15 games.

— Royals (61-61)
Royals are 5-3 in their last eight games.
Kansas City is 47-52 vs righty starters, 14-9 vs lefties.
Over is 8-3 in Royals’ last eleven games.
Royals scored in first inning in six of last eight home games.

— Angels (59-63)
Angels lost 10 of their last 13 road games.
Halos are 5six games out of last Wild Card slot.
Angels are 49-51 vs righty starters, 10-12 vs lefties.
Angels are 28-15 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Twins (57-65)
Twins lost four of their last six games.
Minnesota is 32-27 at home, 25-38 on the road.
Under is 5-1 in their last six games.
Twins scored in first inning in six of last eleven games.

— New York (65-57)
New York is 5-3 in its last eight games.
Under is 4-1 in their last five games.
New York is 52-44 vs righty starters, 13-13 vs lefties.
Right now, New York has 1.5-game lead for last Wild Card in AL.

— A’s (55-69)
A’s are 22-19 in their last 41 games.
Under is 9-6 in their last fifteen games.
A’s are 14-17 in one-run games, 6-3 in extra innings.
Last nine weeks, A’s are 7-2 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on..

— Seattle (68-55)
Mariners are 11-3 in their last 14 games overall.
Seattle is 22-8 in its last 30 home games.
Under is 9-2 in their last eleven road games.
Right now, Mariners hold the #1 Wild Card in AL.

— Tampa Bay (60-63)
Tampa Bay is 13-27 in its last 40 games.
Rays are 32-30 at home, 28-33 on the road.
Tampa Bay is 5.5 games out of the last Wild Card slot.
Rays are 4-9 in last 13 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Texas (61-62)
Rangers lost seven of their last eight games.
Texas is 51-41 vs righty starters, 10-21 vs lefties
Rangers are 37-26 at home, 24-36 on road.
Texas is 4. .5 games out of the AL’s last Wild Card slot.

— Toronto (72-51)
Blue Jays are 7-3 in their last 10 games overall.
Blue Jays won 16 of their last 20 home games.
Under is 7-2 in their last nine games.
Toronto leads Red Sox by five games in AL East.

NFL trends for every team……

Cardinals
Last four years, Arizona is 19-9 ATS as a road underdog.
Last three years, Cardinals are 5-9 ATS coming off a win.

Falcons
QB Michael Penix was 1-2 as a starter in his rookie season.
Last two years, Atlanta is 2-9 ATS as an underdog.

Ravens
Lamar Jackson is 70-24 as a starter in regular season, 3-5 in playoff games.
Last two years, Ravens are 20-10 ATS as a favorite.

Bills
Last five years, Buffalo is 7-5 in playoff games, but 0-4 against the Chiefs.
Since 2017, Bills are 20-10-2 ATS on natural grass.

Panthers
Since 2019, Carolina is 3-12 ATS as a home favorite.
Since 2009, Panthers are 5-11 ATS in their road opener. 

Bears
Ben Johnson is the Bears’ sixth head coach since 2012.
Last four years, Chicago is 21-47 SU/29-35-4 ATS
Last four years, Bears are 12-20-2 ATS as a road underdog. 

Bengals
Last four years, Bengals are 14-7 ATS as a road favorite.
Last three years, Cincinnati is 18-7-1 ATS coming off a win.

Browns
Browns used four QB’s last year; none of those guys are on this year’s active roster.
Last four years, Cleveland is 8-15-1 ATS as a road underdog.
Last six years, Browns are 4-14 ATS in AFC North road games.

Cowboys
Last four years, Dallas is 17-8 ATS as a home favorite.
Last four years, Cowboys are 17-7 ATS vs NFC East rivals.

Broncos
Last year was Denver’s first playoff appearance since 2015.
Broncos were 8-0 ATS as a favorite last year. 

Lions
Last three years, Detroit is 14-8 ATS as a home favorite.
Last three years, Detroit is 11-3 ATS as a road favorite.
Last four years, Lions are 20-10 ATS as an underdog. 

Packers
Since 2019, Green Bay is 17-8 ATS as a road underdog.
Last 18 years, Packers are 14-4 ATS in their home opener.

Texans
Since 2019, Houston is 6-14-1 ATS as a home favorite.
In two years under DeMeco Ryans, Texans were +11/+12 in turnovers.
Last four years, Texans are 8-1 ATS as a road underdog vs AFC South rivals.

Colts
Last five years, Colts are 5-9-1 ATS at home vs AFC South rivals.
Since 2010, Colts are 4-9-2 ATS in their road openers.

Jaguars
Last four years, under is 23-9 in Jacksonville home games.
Since 2018, Jaguars are 13-21-1 ATS in games with spread of 3 or fewer points.

Chiefs
Last five years, Kansas City is 17-22 ATS as a home favorite.
Since 2015, Chiefs are 24-11-1 ATS in games with spread of 3 or fewer points.

Famous birthdays, August 15:
Kenny Carr, 70
Gary Kubiak, 64
Bubby Brister, 63
Jeff Huson, 61
Debra Messing, 57

Eric Bieniemy, 56
Anthony Anderson, 55
Ben Affleck, 53
Óliver Pérez, 44
Luke Keaschall, 23

Raiders
Pete Carroll is the Raiders’ sixth head coach since 2014.
Last three years, Raiders are 10-4 ATS as a home favorite.
Since 2017, Las Vegas is 3-12-1 ATS as a road favorite.

Chargers
Last year, Chargers were +11 in turnovers, 10-2 ATS as a favorite.
Since 2019, Bolts are 13-26-6 ATS in games with spread of 3 or fewer points.

Rams
Under McVay, Rams are 17-6-1 ATS in road games vs NFC West rivals.
Under McVay, Rams are 25-19-3 ATS in games coming off a loss.

Dolphins
In three years under McDaniel, Miami is 18-10-2 ATS as a favorite.
Last two years, Dolphins are 3-8 ATS as a road underdog.

Vikings
Since 2015, Vikings are 25-12-3 ATS as a road favorite.
Last five years, Vikings are 16-6-3 ATS on natural grass. 

Patriots
Mike Vrabel is New England’s third head coach in three years.
Last three years, Patriots are 12-24-2 ATS as an underdog.
Last two years, Patriots are 2-7-2 ATS in games with spread of 3 or fewer points.

Giants
Last two years, Giants weren’t favored in any of their 17 home games.
Last two years, Giants are 1-6-1 ATS in games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Last six years, Big Blue is 11-7 ATS in road games vs NFC East rivals. 

Jets
Jets haven’t made playoffs since 2010, longest current drought in the NFL.
Since 2018, Jets are 6-12 ATS as a home favorite. 

Eagles
Last nine years, Eagles are 8-1 SU/6-3 ATS in Week 1.
Last three years, Eagles are 11-2-1 ATS in games with spread of 3 or fewer points.

Steelers
Since 2018, Steelers are 0-4 SU in playoff games.
Aaron Rodgers will be their 4th starting QB the last five years.
Last two years, Steelers are 12-7 ATS as an underdog.
Last three years, Pittsburgh is 20-9-1 ATS in games with spread of 3 or fewer points.

49ers
Last year, 49ers were 5-12 ATS, after being 29-21-1 from 2021-23.
Last three years, 49ers are 0-5 ATS as an underdog.

Seahawks
Last four years, Seattle is 6-12-1 ATS as a home favorite.
Last two years, Seahawks are 9-3 ATS as a road underdog.
Last four years, Seahawks are 11-6 ATS on natural grass.

Buccaneers
Last two years, Tampa Bay was 11-2 ATS as a road underdog.
Last four years, Bucs are 7-9 ATS as a road favorite.
Last two years, Bucs are 10-3-1 ATS coming off a loss.

Titans
Last two years, Tennessee is 0-8 ATS in games coming off a win.
Last two years, Titans are 4-11 ATS as a road underdog.

Commanders
Washington was 12-5 LY, its first winning season since 2016.
Commanders were +3 in turnovers last year; from 2021-23, they were minus-24.
Washington is 6-2 ATS in last eight games with spread of 3 or fewer points.

Trends for Big 18 football teams:

— Illinois
Under Bret Bielema, Illini is 15-4 ATS in road games.

— Indiana
In four years as a I-A coach, Curt Cignetti is 23-8 ATS as a favorite.

— Iowa
Since 2015, Hawkeyes are 19-8-1 ATS as a road favorite. Iowa’s new QB this season started 55 games at I-AA South Dakota State.

— Maryland
In his career, Mike Locksley is 10-17 ATS as a home favorite, 11-22 as a road underdog.

— Michigan
Last three years, Wolverines are 7-11-1 ATS as a home favorite, 6-3 as a road favorite

— Michigan State
Last three years, Spartans are 9-16-2 ATS in conference games.

— Minnesota
Since 2019, Golden Gophers are 5-0 SU/4-1 ATS in bowl games.

— Nebraska
In nine years as a college coach, Matt Rhule is 34-19-1 ATS as an underdog.

— Northwestern
Since 2018, Wildcats are 5-14-1 ATS as a home favorite. 

— Famous birthdays, August 14th:
Steve Martin, 80
Guido Merkens, 70
Earvin (Magic) Johnson, 66
Mark Gubicza, 63

Halle Berry, 58
Wayne Chrebet, 52
Mike Vrabel, 50
Mila Kunis, 42

Tim Tebow, 38
Josh Bell, 33
TJ Friedl, 30
Eric Wagaman, 28

— Ohio State
Buckeyes won/covered last four bowl games, with all four wins by 14+ points.

— Oregon
Under Dan Lanning, Ducks are 21-11 ATS as a favorite.

— Penn State
Last four years, Nittany Lions are 28-11-1 ATS as a favorite.

— Purdue
Since 2018, Boilermakers are 5-16 ATS as a home favorite. 

— Rutgers
Scarlet Knights are 12-6 ATS last 18 games as a home favorite, 14-6-2 last 22 games as a road dog.

— USC
In eight years as a college coach, Lincoln Riley is 9-21-1 ATS as a road favorite.

— UCLA
Since 2015, Bruins are 14-27 ATS as a home favorite.

— Washington
Since 2018, Huskies are 22-38 ATS in conference games..

— Wisconsin
Since 2015, Badgers are 23-11 ATS as a road favorite. 

— Movie of the Day:
Invincible (2006)- Real-life story of Vince Papale, a 30-year old Philadelphia bartender who defies the odds and makes the Eagles as a special teams player. 

Mark Wahlberg plays Papale, Greg Kinnear plays Dick Vermeil, Elizabeth Banks plays another bartender where Papale works, Michael Rispoli plays the owner of the bar, Kevin Conway plays Papale’s father, Paige Turco plays Carol Vermeil. 

Coach Vermeil’s attention to detail is apparent; in the locker room scenes near the end of the movie, the names/numbers on the Eagles’ uniforms are accurate, which is unusual for a movie.

— Marlins 13, Guardians 4
Last week, Gavin Williams threw 126 pitches, nine more than anyone else this year, because he had a no-hitter in the 9th inning. Wednesday, Williams gave up four runs in 3 IP, throwing 75 pitches.

Jakob Marsee homered twice, knocked in seven runs for the Marlins.

— Braves 11, Mets 6
Mets led 6-0 after three innings; Atlanta scored nine runs in the 4th inning.
Michael Harris hit a grand slam for the Braves.
Mets have lost 12 of their last 14 games.

— Diamondbacks 6, Rangers 4
James McCann/Ketel Marte both homered in the 9th inning for Arizona.
Merrill Kelly gave up two runs in 6 IP against his old team.
Rangers are 2.5 games out of the AL’s last playoff spot.

— Astros 4, Red Sox 1
Hunter Brown got 20 outs, allowed only one run, got his 10th win.
Houston regains first place in AL West by a game over Seattle.
Top three hitters in Boston’s lineup went a combined 0-for-11.

— Orioles 4, Mariners 3
Jackson Holliday hit a walk-off double for the Orioles.
Loss snaps Seattle’s eight-game winning streak.
Taylor Rogers allowed only four hits, one run in 7 IP.

— Twins 4, New York 1
Joe Ryan got 20 outs, gave up a run and four hits.
Minnesota had lost its previous nine games against New York.

— Angels 6, Dodgers 5
Logan O’Hoppe had the game-winning hit in the 8th inning.
Halos went 6-0 against the Dodgers this season.
Shohei Ohtani threw a season-high 80 pitches in 4.1 IP.

— If the playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Padres. Wild Cards: Cubs, Dodgers, Mets
AL: Blue Jays, Tigers, Astros. Wild Cards: Mariners, Red Sox, New York

— 70 years ago today (Wednesday), my parents got married; I’m guessing my dad is up in heaven, relieved the Mets won Tuesday. I had a good childhood because of them; for that I’m grateful.

— Green Bay Packers’ QB Jordan Love tore a ligament in his left (non-throwing) thumb, had a procedure to fix it. Green Bay’s general manager said that Love shouldn’t miss any regular season action. 

— So far in NFL preseason games, over has gone 14-2, which is surprising.

— Tampa Bay Buccaneers have won the NFC South the last four years; 2020 Saints were the last champs, other than Tampa Bay.

— I’m guessing that in organizational meetings within pro sports teams, there are spirited talks between guys who played the game, and nerdy/analytics guys who are more number oriented. 

Was reading an article about an analytics guy who believes that a team should go for two points after every touchdown; an ex-player was ridiculing him, saying that teams only have one or two plays they use in those situations.

The analytics guy replied that they should have more two-point plays; the former player didn’t sound amused. Hopefully Hard Knocks can catch one of these conversations.

— Monday night, LA Chargers’ coach Jim Harbaugh was at the Dodgers-Angels game with his family in Anaheim; they said on TV that Harbaugh has caught 22 foul balls in the stands at major league games.

Apparently he declined the Angels’ offer to sit in a suite; he prefers to sit in the stands, where another foul ball might come his way.

— As of now, New England Patriots are favored in 11 of their 17 games; last summer at this time, they weren’t favored in any games. In the summer of 2023, they were favored in 3 of 17 games.

— Seattle P Brian Woo has pitched 6+ innings in all 23 of his starts this season, the first major league pitcher to do that since Clayton Kershaw in 2019.

— Famous birthdays, August 13th
Kevin Tighe, 81
Gretchen Corbett, 80
Andre Thornton, 76
Danny Bonaduce, 66
Elvis Grbac, 55

Dallas Braden, 42
DeMarcus Cousins, 35
Taijuan Walker, 33
Randal Grichuk, 32
Patrick Queen, 26

— Brewers 14, Pirates 0
Christian Yelich was 3-for-3 with three RBI.
Freddy Peralta tossed six scoreless innings for Milwaukee.

Weird thing about this game; Milwaukee used a position player (Anthony Seigler) to pitch the ninth inning, when they were winning. Dodgers have done that a couple of times, too.

Brewers are first time since the 2015 Blue Jays with two win streaks of 11+ games in the same season- this was their 11th win in a row.

They’re 10th team since 1969 with two win streaks of 10+ games in the same season; of the other nine teams, three of them won the World Series that year. 

— Mets 13, Braves 5
Pete Alonso homered twice, became the Mets’ all-time home-run leader.
It was Alonso’s 25th two-home run game. 

Mets won for only second time in their last 13 games.

— Angels 7, Dodgers 6 (10)
Angels are now 5-0 against the Dodgers this season.
Shohei Ohtani hit his 43rd homer in the ninth inning.
In the sixth inning, Ohtani lined into a triple play.

— A’s 6, Rays 0
Jacob Lopez struck out nine guys in his 7 scoreless IP.
A’s have eight shutouts this season, most in the major leagues.
A’s are also 12-6 in their last 18 games.

— Padres 5, Giants 1
Padres are now tied for first place with the Dodgers in NL West.
Iglesias/Merrill homered for San Diego.
Giants have lost 12 of their last 13 home games.

— Mariners 1, Orioles 0
George Kirby allowed three hits in seven IP.
Seattle has now won eight games in a row.
Mariners move into a first-place tie with Houston in AL West. 

— Red Sox 14, Astros 1
Boston led this game 2-0 after the fifth inning.
Alex Bregman homered against his old team for the second night in a row.
Wilyer Abreu doubled twice, knocked in three runs.

— New York 9, Twins 1
Giancarlo Stanton went 4-for-5 with a home run.
This season, Stanton has 34 RBI in 42 games.

— If the playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, LA/SD. Wild Cards: Cubs, Padres, Mets
AL: Blue Jays, Tigers, Hst/Sea. Wild Cards: Hst/Sea, Red Sox, New York

Thoughts for every letter of the alphabet:

A- Attitude– “We have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past…..we cannot change change the fact that people will act in a certain way. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. Life is 10% what happens to me, and 90% how I react to it.”
Charles Swindoll

B- Belief– “Believe in yourself, and you’re halfway there.”
Theodore Roosevelt

“Believe in yourself. If you don’t, who will?”
Marilyn Monroe

C- Change– The only constant is change.

Making one person smile can change the world – maybe not the whole world, but their world.

D- Determination– No matter how many times you fall, keep getting up.

“Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”
Winston Churchill

“I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.”
Thomas Jefferson

E- Energy– Projecting positive energy makes our day better.

“If you want to build a positive mindset you need to feed yourself with positivity. My favorite way to do this is to practice gratitude while walking; I started taking a daily Thank You Walk each morning where I would say out loud what I was thankful for while walking. By doing this I was flooding my brain and body with positive emotions.”
Jon Gordon

F- Freedom- The best freedom is being yourself.

There’s No Such Thing as “perfect”; be the best you that you can be.

G- Great Danes– I went to college at UAlbany, was the student manager of the basketball team, the best education I ever had, to see how a top-flight organization is run, and then to have to a small hand in how it keep running, for a few years.

The Great Danes won a lot of games before I was there, while I was there, and after I left; lot of the lessons I learned there have carried through to today, and for that, I am grateful.

H- Honesty– “Taking time out each day to reflect can not only help you be honest with yourself, but can make you feel more fulfilled and grateful…….dreaming of your ideal future can often provide more clarity on what you really want.”
Tony Robbins

I- Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery; football coaches see another team run a great play, they put it in their playbook.

Observe other people, see what works/doesn’t work for them. If someone imitates something you, that’s a compliment. 

J- Journey– “The longest of journeys begins with a single step.”

Life is a journey; if we’re lucky, a long one. A big part of living is the process of learning and trying to figure it all out; we won’t ever really figure it all out, but if we work at it, we’ll figure enough of it out that life will be a positive experience.

K- Kindness

“Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day, someone might do the same for you.”
Princess Diana

“It doesn’t cost anything to be kind.”
Paddington

L- Learning
“I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.”
Winston Churchill

The last year or so, a person I’ve met has taught me ways on how to better invest my money in the bank, so by doing almost nothing, I’m making more money. At first I felt stupid because I didn’t know about this, but learning is important, even when you’re an older guy, like me.

Talk to people, listen, ask questions.; Learning is a big part of life’s journey.

“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.”
Henry Ford

M- Marriage
I was married once, long time ago; I was terrible at it, and for that, I feel bad. 

Marriage is difficult; it takes work. Having conversations with the other person is important, even if they’re just normal, mundane talks about what went on that day. Knowing what makes your partner happy is a big deal, as it turns out.

“Marriage is a wonderful institution, but who wants to live in an institution?”
Groucho Marx

“By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you’ll become happy; if you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher.”
Socrates

N- Network
“You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.”
Zig Ziglar

“Everyone you’ll ever meet knows something you don’t.”
Bill Nye

O- Opportunity– Be ready to open the door, when opportunity knocks. 

“Problems can become opportunities when the right people come together.”
Robert Redford

“Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity, not a threat.”
Steve Jobs

P- Practice– There is no such thing as “perfect” but practice can get us close to perfect. 

“Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good.”
Malcom Gladwell

“You can’t skip the practice and rely solely on talent. Practice is the bridge between your abilities and success.”
Steve Nash

Q- Quirkiness– We all have different quirks, things that makes us unique; it is a big part of what makes life interesting.

“It is better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.”
Marilyn Monroe

R- Respect– Listen to other people; be on time, put your phone down, listen.

“Respect your efforts, respect yourself. Self-respect leads to self-discipline. When you have both firmly under your belt, that’s real power.”
Clint Eastwood

“When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you.”
Lao Tzu

S- Schenectady– From 1993-2001, I was an assistant basketball coach at Schenectady High School, the most interesting/fun thing I’ve ever been a part of.

I was the nerdy stat guy (go figure), worked for three different head coaches, three totally different people, all of whom I consider a friend to this day. 

Much like my college days, watching a successful program is a great education, but I got to see this program built from the bottom up, and fairly quickly. In eight years, we started off slowly but then the tide turned, and when it turned, we never looked back. 

Great players make great teams, remember that, but great coaches keep the train on the track.

T- Today– No matter what, be present, get the most out of what is happening right now.

“Don’t wait to be successful at some future point. Have a successful relationship with the present moment and be fully present in whatever you are doing.”
Eckhart Tolle

“Today you are you! That is truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!”
Dr Seuss

U- Unique
“You are unique, just like everyone else.”
Margaret Mead

“Be yourself because an original is worth more than just a copy.”
Suzy Kassem

V- Versatile– Being great at one thing is marketable, but being really good at several things will also keep you employed. Think about utility infielders; they make a boatload of $$$ for 10-12 years, and no one even knows what their main position is.

“The world needs specialists and highly trained people with advanced degrees, no question about it. But the world also needs diversity and versatility. It needs people who know as much about our value system as they do about our solar system.”
Roger Smith

W- Watchful– Guard your mind against negative thoughts; being positive is really important.

Keep working, even when no one is watching.

“To be aware of little, quiet things, you need to be quiet inside. A high degree of alertness is required. Be still. Look. Listen. Be present”
Echart Tolle

X- Example– Be a good example; other people are watching.

Be the person who people know as that nice guy who always shares a smile, or a kind thought.

“Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.”
Albert Schweitzer

Y- Why– Why??? Why not????

“Live a ‘why not?’ life, man. Take the shot. The shot is always worth taking.”
Kevin Smith

“Thats precisely the question everybody should be asking- why the hell not? Why not you, why not now?”
Tim Ferriss

Z- Zealous– Be enthusiastic, have a lot of energy when you’re doing things.

“You can get a lot of work done if you stay with it and are excited and it is play instead of work.”
Joseph Campbell 

Trends for major league teams
(thru Sunday’s games)

— Arizona (57-61)
Arizona won six of last eight games.
Diamondbacks are 13-21 in one-run games.
Arizona scored in first inning in 10 of last eleven home games.
Arizona is 9-25 in last 34 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Braves (51-67)
Braves won four of their last five games.
Atlanta is 30-30 at home, 21-37 on the road.
Braves are 18-14 vs NL East rivals, 33-53 vs everyone else.
Over is 18-8-2 in their last 28 games.

— Cubs (67-50)
Chicago is 8-12 in its last 16 games- they lead the NL Wild Card race.
Cubs are six games behind Milwaukee in the NL Central.
Under is 7-1-1 in their last nine games.
Cubs are 51-32 vs righty starters, 16-18 vs lefties.

— Reds (62-57)
Cincinnati is 10-7 in its last 17 games.
Reds are 47-39 vs righty starters, 15-18 vs lefties.
Under is 20-4-1 in their last 25 games.
Reds scored in first inning in 8 of last 13 home games.

— Rockies (30-87)
Colorado lost its last seven games.
Over is 12-3 in Rockies’ last 15 games.
Rockies are 4-28 vs lefty starters, 26-59 vs righties. 
Colorado hasn’t scored a first inning run in its last 21 road games.

— Dodgers (68-50)
Dodgers are 12-18 in their last 30 games.
LA leads San Diego by 2 games in NL West.
Dodgers are 51-33 vs righty starters, 17-17 vs lefties.
Under is 12-3-1 in their last 16 games.

— Marlins (57-61)                                                                      
Marlins are 2-5 in their last seven games.
Miami is 28-31 at home, 29-30 on the road.
Under is 11-4 in Marlins’ last 15 road games.
Marlins are 9-3 in last 12 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Brewers (73-44)
Brewers are 24-4 in their last 28 games.
Milwaukee is 39-20 at home, 34-24 on the road.
Over is 9-3 in their last dozen home games. 
Milwaukee leads the Cubs by 6 games in the NL Central.

— Mets (63-55)
Mets have lost seven in row, are 18-31 in last 49 games.
Mets are 38-21 at home, 25-34 on the road.
Mets trail Philly by 5.5 games in NL East.
Mets leads the Reds by 1.5 games for last NL Wild Card slot.

In their last 53 games, David Peterson is Mets’ only starting pitcher who has finished the 6th inning in a game.

— Phillies (68-49)
Phillies won six of their last seven games.
Phillies are 54-29 vs righty starters, 14-20 vs lefties.
Under is 5-2 in their last seven games.
Phillies lead the Mets by 5.5 games in NL East.

— Pirates (51-68)
Pirates are 12-7 in their last 19 games.
Pittsburgh is 34-29 at home, 17-39 on the road.
Under is 9-4-1 in their last 14 home games.
Pirates are 15-9 in last 24 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— St Louis (60-59)
St Louis is 5-3 in its last eight games.
Cardinals are 14-5 in home series openers.
St Louis is 34-25 at home, 26-34 on the road.
Under is 7-2 in their last nine home games.

— Padres (66-52)
San Diego won 11 of its last 14 home games.
Padres are 38-20 at home, 28-32 on the road.
Padres are 46-35 vs righty starters, 20-17 vs lefties.
San Diego is 16-13 vs NL West rivals, 50-39 vs everyone else.

— Giants (59-59)
Giants are 7-16 in their last 23 games, 1-10 in last 11 at home.
Giants are 47-39 vs righty pitchers, 12-20 vs lefties.
Over is 12-5-1 in their last 18 road games.
SF lost 6 of last 8 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Washington (47-70)
Nationals are 3-8 in their last eleven games.
Washington is 7-21 in its last 26 home games.
Under is 5-0 in their last five games.
Washington is 19-8 last 27 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

Famous birthdays, August 11th:
Gary Holle, 71
Craig Ehlo, 64
Ennis Whatley, 63
Joe Germaine, 50
Melky Cabrera, 41

Pablo Sandoval, 39
Colby Rasmus, 39
Patty Mills, 37
Curtis Samuel, 29
Marvin Harrison Jr., 23

— Orioles (53-65)
Baltimore lost seven of its last ten games.
Under is 6-2-1 in their last nine games.
Orioles are 28-29 vs at home, 25-36 on the road.
Orioles are 17-16 vs AL East rivals, 36-49  vs everyone else.

— Red Sox (65-54)
Red Sox lost three of last four games, after a 7-0 run.
Boston is 1-8 in extra-inning road games.
Over is 7-1 in their last nine games.
Red Sox scored in first inning in five of last eight games.

— White Sox (43-75)
Chicago lost five of its last six games.
White Sox are 25-34 at home, 18-41 on the road.
Over is 7-2-1 in their last ten games.
Chicago is 30-58 vs righty starters, 13-17 vs lefties.

— Cleveland (61-56)
Cleveland is 21-8 in its last 29 games.
Guardians are half-game out of the last Wild Card slot.
Guardians are 46-36 vs righty starters, 15-20 vs lefties.
Over is 10-4 in their last 14 home games.

— Detroit (68-51)
Detroit is 8-5 in its last 13 games.
Tigers are 19-11 vs its AL Central rivals, lead division by 6 games.
Detroit is 16-4 in home series openers.
Under is 8-4 in their last 12 road games.

— Houston (66-52)
Astros are 6-10 in their last 16 games overall
Astros are 3-10 in their last 13 home games.
Astros lead Seattle by half a game in AL West.
Over is 8-3 in their last 11 games.

— Royals (58-60)
Royals are 3-5 in their last eight games.
Kansas City is 45-51 vs righty starters, 13-9 vs lefties.
Under is 14-6 in Royals’ last 20 home games.
Royals are 2-9 in last eleven home series openers.

— Angels (56-62)
Angels lost nine of their last 12 road games.
Halos are six games out of last Wild Card slot.
Angels are 46-50 vs righty starters, 10-12 vs lefties.
Angels are 26-15 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Twins (56-61)
Twins won four of their last five games.
Minnesota is 32-25 at home, 24-36 on the road.
Over is 8-3 in their last eleven games.
Twins scored in first inning in five of last seven games.

— New York (62-56)
New York is 20-31 in its last 51 games.
Over is 4-1-1 in their last six home games.
New York is 49-43 vs righty starters, 13-13 vs lefties.
Right now, New York has half-game lead for last Wild Card in the AL.

— A’s (53-67)
A’s are 20-17 in their last 37 games.
Under is 8-3 in their last eleven games.
A’s are 14-17 in one-run games, 6-3 in extra innings.
Last eight weeks, A’s are 7-2 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on..

— Seattle (66-53)
Mariners are 9-1 in their last ten games overall.
Seattle is 22-8 in its last 30 home games.
Under is 6-1 in their last seven road games.
Right now, Mariners hold the #1 Wild Card in AL.

— Tampa Bay (57-62)
Tampa Bay lost 26 of its last 36 games.
Rays are 32-30 at home, 25-32 on the road.
Tampa Bay is 5.5 games out of the last Wild Card slot.
Rays are 3-9 in last 12 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Texas (60-59)
Rangers lost last four games, scoring 2-1-2-2 runs.
Texas 50-38 vs righty starters, 10-21 vs lefties
Rangers are 36-20 at home, 24-35 on road.
Texas is 2.5 games out of the AL’s last Wild Card slot.

— Toronto (69-50)
Blue Jays ware 6-4 in their last 10 games overall.
Blue Jays won 13 of their last 16 home games.
Under is 4-1 in their last five games.
Toronto leads Red Sox by four games in AL East.

First week of exhibition games aren’t that meaningful, at least the final scores aren’t. Guys are trying to earn jobs; that is significant.

— Steelers 31, Jaguars 25
Steelers’ backup QB Thompson was 20-28/233 passing, with three TD’s.
Jaguars’ kicker Cam Little made a 70-yard field goal; would’ve been a record, if this was a regular season games.
Rookie Travis Hunter plays 10 snaps on offense, 8 on defense.

— Giants 34, Bills 25
Rookie QB Jaxson Dart was 12-19/154 passing, in his NFL debut.
Giants were 9-19 on third down with four different QB’s playing.
Graham Gano kicked three FG’s, including two 50-yarders.

— Rams 31, Cowboys 21
#3 QB Stetson Bennett was 16-24/188 passing, with two TD’s.
Blake Corum ran for a TD on each of the Rams’ first two drives.
Former Patriot Joe Milton was 17-29/143 passing for Dallas.

— Vikings 20, Texans 10
QB McCarthy was 4-7/30 passing in his first action since LY’s knee injury.
Total yards in game: Minnesota 261, Houston 194
Vikings’ WR Rondale Moore hurt his knee; it looked like a serious injury.

— Buccaneers 29, Titans 7
Rookie QB Ward was 5-8/67 passing in his NFL debut.
Bucs dominated early; at one point, total yardage was 143-5, Tampa Bay.
Tampa RB Wright ran ball 18 times for 87 yards and a TD.

— Jets 30, Packers 10
Jets scored defensive TD early in 2nd quarter to grab 14-3 lead.
Packers later fumbled a punt, setting up a short Jets’ FG.
Impressive display by Jets; total yardage was 403-157.

— Cardinals 20, Chiefs 17
Jacoby Brissett threw two TD passes for Arizona.
Mahomes threw one pass; it was a one-yard touchdown.
Harrison Butker kicked a 58-yard FG for Kansas City.

— Broncos 30, 49ers 9
49ers led 9-0 early, getting a safety on an intentional grounding call.
Denver led 20-9 at halftime; Jarrett Stidham threw two TD passes.
Starting QB Brock Purdy didn’t play for the 49ers.

— Famous birthdays, August 10th:
Rosanna Arquette, 66
John Starks, 60
Gino Torretta, 55
Sal Fasano, 54

Angie Harmon, 53
Dan Johnson, 46
Dalvin Cook, 30
Ja Morant, 26

— Seattle Mariners retired Ichiro Suzuki’s #51 before their game Saturday night. Suzuki was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame couple weeks ago- he hit .311 in his MLB career, with an OPS of .757 and 1,420 runs scored.

— Reds 2, Pirates 1
Nick Martinez allowed only six baserunners in 7 IP.
Noelvi Marte went 3-4, with three doubles.
Reds have scored 2 or fewer runs in 40 games this year, including the last four.

— Braves 7-8, Marlins 1-6
Hurston Waldrep allowed one run in 6 IP in the opener.
Miami led 4-0 in the nightcap, but Marcell Ozuna hit two homers.
Marlins have lost five of their last seven games.

— New York 5, Houston 4
Trent Grisham hit the game-winning HR in the 8th inning.
Giancarlo Stanton played RF, his first game in the field in two years
Astros are 10-17 in their last 27 games.

— A’s 11, Orioles 3
Shea Langeliers went 3-4 with a homer and three RBI.
Brent Rooker went 2-5 with a homer and four RBI
A’s are 10-5 in their last fifteen games.

— Brewers 7, Mets 4
Milwaukee scored four runs in the bottom of the 7th.
Brewers have now won eight games in a row.
Mets have lost 10 of their last 11 games.

— Diamondbacks 6, Rockies 5
Lourdes Gurriel hit a walk-off double in ninth inning.
Corbin Carroll homered for the third game in a row.
Colorado has now lost six games in a row.

— Cleveland P Gavin Williams almost pitched a no-hitter this week; he threw 126 pitches, came up one out short. Guardians are contending for a playoff spot; in this day and age, is it smart to let your ace throw 126 pitches in a game they led 4-0?

126 pitches in nine more than anyone else in the major leagues this year; it just rarely happens anymore.

When does Williams pitch again? He threw 126 pitches on Wednesday, Cleveland is off Monday. Will be interesting to see if they give him an extra day of rest and have him pitch Wednesday. 

— Gap between the highest/lowest spending team in each sport:

NHL- $44M
NBA: $88M
NFL: $132M
MLB: $296M

— Kurt Warner made the Pro Football Hall of Fame after playing at a I-AA college (Northern Iowa); his son EJ Warner has played a lot more college ball than his dad did, but he’s had sort of a nomadic career, bouncing around between schools. 

2022- Temple 3,028 PY. 18 TD’s, 12 INTs
2023- Temple 3,076 PY. 23 TD’s, 12 INT’s.
2024- Rice 2,710 PY. 17 TD’s, 13 INT’s.
2025- This year, EJ Warner will be the QB at Fresno State, since Rice fired their coach and is switching to an option-based offense.

— Los Angeles Chargers lost their best offensive lineman to a knee injury this week, a week after they gave him a four-year, $114M contract extension.

26-year old OT Rashawn Slater was the #2 rated tackle in the league last season. 

— More info on the Chargers:
This year, Chargers are #3 in NFL in $$$ spent on defense, #27 on offense.

Chargers made the playoffs two of the last three years.
QB Herbert is 41-40 as an NFL starter, 0-2 in playoff games.

Last year, Chargers were +12 in turnovers (21-9).
Bolts were 11-2 ATS as a favorite, 1-3 as an underdog.
11-6 Chargers were 4-4 in games decided by 8 or fewer points.

Chargers haven’t won a playoff game since 2018; they haven’t played a playoff game at home since 2009.

Last two years, Chargers are 2-9 ATS as an underdog.

— Including the guaranteed $13M he is making this year, Colts’ QB Daniel Jones has banked $121M over his seven-year career in the NFL. Lot of $$$ for a guy with a 25-45-1 career W-L record, 1-1 in playoff games.

— They don’t play overtime in NFL preseason games.

— Famous birthdays, August 9th:
Bob Cousy, 97
Sam Elliott, 82
Ted Simmons, 76
John Cappelletti, 73

Doug Williams, 70
Chris Miller, 60
Vinny Del Negro, 59

Deion Sanders, 58
Eric Bana, 57
Liz Vassey, 53
Kliff Kingsbury, 46

Anna Kendrick, 40
Brendan Rodgers, 29
Xavier Edwards, 26

Missed a birthday yesterday; the great actor Dustin Hoffman turned 88.

— Brewers 3, Mets 2
CF Perkins threw out the tying run at the plate to end the game.
Milwaukee has won seven games in a row.
Mets have lost nine of their last ten games.

— Astros 5, New York 3 (10)
New York has lost six of its last seven games- they’re 3-8 in extra innings.
Jose Altuve homered and doubled for Houston.
Astros lead Seattle by 1.5 games in the AL West.

— Mariners 3, Rays 2
Cal Raleigh’s 43rd HR was a game-winning 3-run shot in 8th inning.
Drew Rasmussen threw six scoreless IP for Tampa Bay.

— Red Sox 10, Padres 2
Wilbert Abreu, Masataka Yoshida homered for the Red Sox.
Boston has won 10 of its last 12 games.

— Phillies 9, Rangers 1
Kyle Schwarber hit his 41st home run.
Brandon Marsh went 4-5, including a home run.
Cristopher Sanchez tossed six IP, improved to 11-3, 2.36.

— AL Wild Card race:
Wild Cards: Red Sox, Mariners, New York
0.5 games behind- Cleveland
1.5 games- Texas
4 games- Kansas City
4.5 games- Tampa Bay
5 games- Minnesota
6 games- Angels

— NL Wild Card race:
Wild Cards: Cubs, Padres, Mets
3.5 games behind- Cincinnati
4 games- San Francisco
4.5 games- St Louis
5.5 games- Miami
8 games- Arizona

— Alabama-Birmingham
Blazers went 4-8/3-9 in Trent Dilfer’s first two years as coach.
Last three years, UAB was 6-13-1 ATS on the road.
Last four years, UAB is 11-4 ATS as a home favorite.
Last three years, Blazers are 0-12-1 ATS coming off a win.

— Army
Last five years, Army is 22-14-2 ATS coming off a win.
Since 2020, Cadets are 5-2 ATS as a road favorite.
Last year, Army was 7-1-1 ATS in AAC games.
Cadets are 4-1 SU/ATS in their last five bowls.

— Charlotte
Charlotte hasn’t had a winning season since 2019.
New coach Albin was 15-9 ATS in home games at Ohio U.
Albin was 24-10 ATS in conference games at Ohio,
Last four years, 49ers are minus-28 in turnovers. 

— East Carolina
Pirates have had winning seasons three of last four years.
Since 2016, ECU is 2-6 ATS as a road favorite.
Since 2015, Pirates are 33-45-2 ATS in conference games.
ECU is 3-1 SU/ATS in its last four bowl games.

— Florida Atlantic
Owls have had four straight losing years, have a new coach now,
Since 2015, FAU is 5-14 ATS as a home underdog.
Since 2015, Owls are 19-14-1 ATS as a road underdog.
FAU won four of last five bowls, but their last one was in 2020.

— Memphis
Last two years, Memphis went 10-3/11-2 SU.
Under Silverfield, Tigers are 9-16-1 ATS as a home favorite.
Under Silverfield, Tigers are 15-25 ATS in conference games.
Memphis won its last four bowl games, scoring 35.3 ppg.

— Navy
Middies went 10-3 LY, their first winning season in five years.
Last three years, Navy is 7-1 ATS as a road underdog.
Since 2019, Middies are 24-10 ATS coming off a win.
Navy is 4-1 SU/5-0 ATS in its last five bowl games.

— Famous birthdays, August 8th:
Connie Stevens, 87
Jose Cruz, 78
Larry Wilcox, 78
Brian Sipe, 76

Bruce Matthews, 64
Howard Cross, 58
Rashard Lewis, 46
Craig Breslow, 45

Danilo Gallinari, 37
Anthony Rizzo, 36
Yandy Diaz, 34
Jarrett Stidham, 29

Thursday was 90th birthday for the great college football TV analyst, coach Lee Corso

— North Texas
North Texas hasn’t had a winning season since 2018.
Under Morris, Mean Green is 5-7 ATS as a favorite.
Last four years, North Texas is 11-6 ATS as a road underdog.
Mean Green is 0-5 SU/2-3 ATS in its last five bowl games.

— Rice
Last 10 years, Rice is 35-81 SU, with no winning seasons.
Owls have a new coach, switched to an option-based offense.
Last three years, Rice was -10/-14/-13 in turnovers.
Last three years, Owls were 8-1 ATS as a home underdog.

— South Florida
USF was 7-6/7-6 last two years, after going 8-37 from 2019-22.
Since 2018, Bulls are 6-11 ATS as a home favorite.
Since 2019, USF is 6-3 ATS as a road favorite.
Bulls won four of last five bowls, two of them in overtime.

— Temple
Owls went 3-9 the last four years; their last winning season was 2019.
Last three years, Temple was -10/-20/-11 in turnovers.
Last four years, Temple is 5-17 ATS as a road underdog.
New coach Keller was 3-7 ATS as a favorite at Sam Houston State

— Texas-San Antonio
Under Traylor, UTSA is 46-20 SU, 36-30 ATS
Under Traylor, Roadrunners are 6-1 ATS as a home underdog.
UTSA is 31-18 ATS in its last 49 conference games.
Last three years, UTSA is 5-10 ATS in non-conference games.

— Tulane
Last three years, Green Wave was 12-2/11-3/9-5 SU (25-16-1 ATS)
Junior QB Retzlaff started 13 games at BYU, is a big add for Tulane.
In his career, coach Sumrall is 24-10-1 ATS as a favorite, 10-1-1 on road.
Tulane is 1-3 SU/ATS in its last four bowls, giving up 39.3 ppg.

— Tulsa
Last three years, Tulsa was 5-7/4-8/3-9 SU; they’ve got a new coach.
Since 2019, Golden Hurricane is 5-14-1 ATS as a home favorite.
Last three years, Tulsa was 7-16-1 ATS in conference games.
Tulsa has had a minus turnover ratio the last seven years in a row. 

— NFL preseason games start in earnest tonight; interesting scheduling, with Pete Carroll’s first game with the Las Vegas Raiders back in Seattle, where he coached the Seahawks for 14 years (147-98-1 and a Super Bowl title).

QB Geno Smith is also a Raider now; he was 28-25 in five years with Seattle (0-1 in playoffs). 

— ESPN has bought the NFL Network and other NFL media assets, including the linear rights to the RedZone channel, in a deal that will see the NFL get a 10% equity stake in ESPN.

ESPN will also buy the NFL’s fantasy product and merge it into its existing platform, making ESPN Fantasy Football the official game of the NFL.

Later this month, ESPN is starting its direct-to-consumer streaming product, which I think is going to be $22/month.

— There are only five NFL teams left who take their training camp on the road to a college campus; Buffalo Bills go to St John Fisher College in Rochester.

Bills are on Hard Knocks this summer; first episode ran this week, with decent amount of interesting stuff in there, including a look at their new stadium, scheduled to open in 2026.

— Los Angeles Rams signed RB Kyren Williams to a 3-year, $33M contract extension; last two years, Williams ran ball for 2,443 yards and 26 touchdowns.

— Washington Nationals P MacKenzie Gore is struggling; in his last four starts, Gore has given up 23 runs in 15.2 IP. Not good.

— This week, A’s catcher Shea Langeliers became the first player EVER to hit three home runs in his first game as the leadoff hitter. 

Langeliers has 79 career home runs in 395 games; you don’t see a lot of catchers batting leadoff, but he made the most of his chance in this game.

— Seattle Mariners’ P Bryan Woo has started 22 games this season, and pitched 6+ innings in all 22 games, which is a huge plus for the Mariners, taking a lot of strain off their bullpen.

— Famous birthdays, August 7th:
David Rasche, 81
Alan Page, 80
Fred Brown, 77
Steve Kemp, 71
Wayne Knight, 70

Joe Cocozzo, 55
Danny Graves, 52
Charlize Theron, 50
Édgar Rentería, 49
Tommy Kahnle, 36

DeMar DeRozan, 36
Mike Trout, 34
Josh Smith, 28
Kyler Murray, 28
Jalen Hurts, 27

— Guardians 4, Mets 1
Gavin Williams threw 126 pitches, didn’t give up a hit until the 9th inning. Juan Soto’s home run broke up the no-hitter.
Angel Martinez hit a two-run homer.

Williams’ 126 pitches are by any pitcher in a game this year; Zack Littell threw 117 pitches in a game for Tampa Bay in a 16-3 win May 31st.

— Boston Red Sox signed rookie OF Roman Anthony to an 8-year, $130M extension; Anthony is hitting .276 this year, with an .809 OPS. 

— Brewers 5, Braves 4
In his last 12 games, Andrew Vaughn is hitting .435 with 16 RBI.
Milwaukee has won six in a row overall, is 33-24 on the road.

— New York 3, Rangers 2
Paul Goldschmidt’s pinch-hit HR in 7th inning was a game-winner.
Mark Leiter Jr got the win in relief.
His cousin, Jack Leiter, started and threw 3.1 IP for Texas.
With the win, New York holds on to the AL’s last Wild Card slot.

— Orioles 5, Phillies 1
Coby Mayo hit a three-run homer.
Trevor Rogers improved 5-2, 1.44 in ten starts this season.
Phillies still lead NL East by 2.5 games.

— Rays 5, Angels 4
Junior Caminero hit two homers for Tampa Bay.
Six Tampa Bay pitchers combined to strike out 16 Angels.
Just the fourth win for the Rays in their last 14 games.

— Random football trivia; back in the 1960’s, the first-ever game between an NFL team and an AFL squad ended with the Denver Broncos upsetting the Detroit Lions 13-7 in an exhibition game at Mile High Stadium.

If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
AL: Blue Jays, Tigers, Astros. Wild Cards: Red Sox, Mariners, New York
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cubs, Mets, Padres

Trends for major league teams
(thru Tuesday’s games)

— Arizona (54-60)
Arizona won three of last four games.
Diamondbacks are 12-20 in one-run games.
Arizona scored in first inning in six of last seven home games.
Arizona is 9-23 in last 32 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Braves (47-65)
Braves are 5-14 in their last 17 games.
Atlanta is 26-28 at home, 21-37 on the road.
Braves are 14-13 vs NL East rivals, 33-52 vs everyone else.
Over is 15-5-2 in their last 22 games.

— Cubs (65-48)
Chicago is 6-10 in its last 16 games- they lead the NL Wild Card race.
Cubs are four games behind Milwaukee in the NL Central.
Under is 4-0-1 in their last five games.
Cubs are 50-30 vs righty starters, 15-18 vs lefties.

— Reds (60-54)
Cincinnati is 8-4 in its last 12 games.
Reds are 45-36 vs righty starters, 15-18 vs lefties.
Under is 17-3-1 in their last 21 games.
Reds scored in first inning in 8 of last 13 home games.

— Rockies (30-83)
Colorado is 8-9 since the All-Star break.
Over is 9-2 in Rockies’ last 11 games.
Rockies are 4-27 vs lefty starters, 26-56 vs righties. 
Colorado is 9-3 in last 12 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Dodgers (66-48)
Dodgers are 10-16 in their last 26 games.
LA leads San Diego by 3 games in NL West.
Dodgers are 49-33 vs righty starters, 17-15 vs lefties.
Under is 10-1-1 in their last 12 games.

— Marlins (55-57)                                                                       )
Marlins are 32-19 in their last 51 games.
Miami is 27-31 at home, 28-26 on the road.
Over is 4-1 in Marlins’ last five games.
Marlins are 9-2 in last 11 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Brewers (69-44)
Brewers are 20-4 in their last 24 games.
Milwaukee is 36-20 at home, 33-24 on the road.
Over is 7-2 in their last nine home games. 
Milwaukee leads the Cubs by 4 games in the NL Central.

— Mets (63-51)
Mets are 18-27 in their last 45 games, 1-7 in last eight.
Mets are 38-20 at home, 25-31 on the road.
Under is 5-2-1 in their last eight road games.
Mets lead Philly by 2.5 games in NL East.
In their last 49 games, David Peterson is Mets’ only starting pitcher who has finished the 6th inning in a game.

— Phillies (65-48)
Phillies won four of their last five games.
Phillies are 52-29 vs righty starters, 13-19 vs lefties.
Over is 10-6-1 in their last 17 games.
Phillies lead the Mets by 2.5 games in NL East.

— Pirates (49-65)
Pirates are 10-4 in their last 14 games.
Pittsburgh is 32-26 at home, 17-39 on the road.
Over is 5-0 in their last five games.
Pirates are 14-7 in last 21 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— St Louis (57-58)
St Louis is 11-20 in its last 31 games.
Cardinals are 13-5 in home series openers.
St Louis is 32-24 at home, 25-34 on the road.
Under is 5-1 in their last six home games.

— Padres (63-51)
San Diego won eight of its last 10 home games.
Padres are 36-19 at home, 27-32 on the road.
Padres are 43-34 vs righty starters, 20-17 vs lefties.
San Diego is 15-13 vs NL West rivals, 48-38 vs everyone else.

— Giants (57-57)
Giants are 5-14 in their last 19 games.
Giants are 46-38 vs righty pitchers, 11-19 vs lefties.
Over is 12-4-1 in their last 17 road games.
SF lost 6 of last 7 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Washington (44-68)
Nationals lost their last six games, outscored 70-22.
Washington is 6-20 in its last 26 home games.
Over is 24-7 in their last 31 games.
Washington is 18-8 last 26 games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

Famous birthdays, August 6th:
Ken Phelps, 71
Jerry Golsteyn, 71
Bob Horner, 68
Dale Ellis, 65

David Robinson, 60
Alvin Williams, t51
Victor Zambrano, 50
Seneca Wallace, 45

Charlie Whitehurst, 43
Wilmer Flores, 34
Hunter Greene, 26
Matt McLain, 26

— Orioles (51-63)
Baltimore lost five of its last six games.
Under is 5-2 in their last seven games.
Orioles are 27-27 vs at home, 24-36 on the road.
Orioles are 17-16 vs AL East rivals, 34-47 vs everyone else.

— Red Sox (64-51)
Red Sox won their last seven games.
Boston is 15-21 in one-run games.
Under is 8-4 in their last dozen home games.
Red Sox are 27-15 in 42 games since trading Devers.

— White Sox (42-71)
Chicago is 10-6 since the All-Star break.
White Sox are 24-32 at home, 18-39 on the road.
Over is 11-5-1 in their last seventeen games.
Chicago is 29-55 vs righty starters, 13-16 vs lefties.

— Cleveland (58-55)
Cleveland is 18-7 in its last 25 games.
Guardians are 1.5 games out of the last Wild Card slot.
Guardians are 44-35 vs righty starters, 13-20 vs lefties.
Over is 10-4 in their last 14 home games.

— Detroit (66-49)
Detroit won six of its last nine games.
Tigers are 19-10 vs its AL Central rivals, lead division by 7 games.
Detroit is 15-4 in home series openers.
Under is 8-4 in their last 12 road games.

— Houston (64-50)
Astros are 3-10 in their last 13 home games.
Astros lead Seattle by three games in AL West.
Over is 14-9 in their last 23 road games.
Houston is 27-14 vs NL teams, 37-36 vs AL teams.

— Royals (56-58)
Royals are 9-6 in their last 15 games.
Kansas City is 43-49 vs righty starters, 13-9 vs lefties.
Under is 14-6 in Royals’ last 20 home games.
Royals are 2-9 in last eleven home series openers.

— Angels (55-59)
Angels lost seven of their last nine road games.
Halos are five games out of last Wild Card slot.
Angels are 45-48 vs righty starters, 10-11 vs lefties.
Angels are 26-13 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Twins (53-60)
Twins lost eight of their last 12 games.
Minnesota is 30-24 at home, 23-36 on the road.
Over is 6-1 in their last seven games.
Twins traded 10 players off their roster, just last week.

— New York (60-54)
New York has lost 5 in row, is 18-29 in its last 47 games.
Over is 6-2 in their last eight games.
New York is 48-41 vs righty starters, 12-13 vs lefties.
Right now, New York has half-game lead for last Wild Card in the AL.

— A’s (50-65)
A’s are 17-15 in their last 32 games.
Under is 6-2-1 in their last nine games.
A’s are 13-15 in one-run games, 6-3 in extra innings.
Last 15 series, A’s are 6-1 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on..

— Seattle (61-53)
Mariners are 4-1 in their last five games overall.
Seattle is 17-8 in its last 25 home games.
Under is 6-1 in their last seven road games.
Right now, Mariners hold the #2 Wild Card in AL.

— Tampa Bay (56-59)
Tampa Bay lost 23 of its last 32 games.
Rays are 32-30 at home, 24-29 on the road.
Tampa Bay is 4.5 games out of the last Wild Card slot.
Rays are 2-8 in last ten games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Texas (60-55)
Rangers are 12-6 since the All-Star break.
Texas 50-37 vs righty starters, 10-18 vs lefties
Rangers are 36-20 at home, 24-35 on road.
Texas is half-game out of the AL’s last Wild Card slot.

— Toronto (67-48)
Blue Jays won four of their last six games overall.
Blue Jays won 13 of their last 16 home games.
Over is 12-4-2 in their last thirteen games.
Toronto leads Red Sox by three games in AL East.

If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
AL: Blue Jays, Tigers, Astros. Wild Cards: Red Sox, Mariners, New York
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cubs, Mets, Padres

— There must be a boatload of money involved in hosting all these fantasy football leagues; lot of podcasts on YouTube, with mock drafts, and drafting advice.

— As if the Cleveland Browns didn’t have enough QB’s already, they signed Tyler Huntley Monday, with three of their other four QB’s currently banged-up, and pre-season games on tap starting this weekend.

Huntley was 2-3 in five starts with the Dolphins last year.

— Guardians 7, Mets 6 (10)
Game was scoreless after five innings.
With game tied 5-5 in 9th inning, Cleveland escaped a bases loaded, one out jam.
Pete Alonso went 4-5 with four RBI for the Mets.

— Texas 8, Bronx 5 (10)
Josh Jung hit a walk-off home run for Texas.
Bronx is 18-28 in its last 46 games.
Rangers trail New York by 1.5 games for the last AL Wild Card slot.

— Pirates 5, Giants 4
Giants led this game 4-1 in the 7th inning.
Pirates scored twice in the bottom of the ninth to win it.

Giants are now 15-26 since trading for Rafael Devers.
Red Sox are 26-15 since trading Rafael Devers away.

— Phillies 13, Orioles 3
Game was tied 3-3 after the fifth inning.
Kyle Schwarber hit two home runs, drove in six runs.
Schwarber now leads the major leagues, with 94 RBI

— Famous birthdays, August 5th:
Bruce Coslet, 79
Bernie Carbo, 78
Maureen McCormick, 69
Patrick Ewing, 63

Otis Thorpe, 63
Jonathan Silverman, 59
John Olerud, 57
Mark Mulder, 48

Carl Crawford, 44
C.J. Spiller, 38
Nick Martinez, 35
Anthony Edwards, 24

Today would’ve been Roman Gabriel’s 85th birthday.
Missed a birthday yesterday; Barack Obama turned 64 years old Monday.

— Reds 3, Cubs 2
Reds’ starting P Lodolo left in 2nd inning (blister)
Cubs’ starting P Soroka left after the 2nd inning (shoulder)

TJ Friedl had the game-winning hit, in the 7th inning.
Cubs fall three games behind Milwaukee in the NL Central

— Angels 5, Rays 1
Yusei Kikuchi needed 105 PT to get thru six innings; he got the win.
Tampa Bay fouled off 31 of his 105 pitches.
Rays’ OF Jake Mangum has a grandfather who played in the AFL for the Patriots; his dad played for the Chicago Bears.

— Red Sox 8, Royals 5
Juran Duran hit a three-run homer.
Red Sox have won six games in a row.
Boston rookie OF Roman Anthony (back tightness) was a late scratch.

— Brewers 3, Braves 1
Quinn Priester allowed only two hits in 7 IP.
Isaac Collins hit a 3-run homer.
Milwaukee is 68-44, best record in baseball.

— Blue Jays 15, Rockies 1
Bo Bichette homered twice, drove in six runs.
Bichette’s father Dante played seven years with the Rockies.
Ernie Clement went 5-for-6, scored three runs.

— Information on the Las Vegas Raiders:
Pete Carroll is the Raiders’ new coach; he is 181-131-1 as an NFL coach, 11-11 in playoff games, with a Super Bowl win 12 years ago. Carroll is the Raiders’ 4th head coach in five years.

Geno Smith is the Raiders’ new QB; he is 40-44 as an NFL starter, 0-1 in playoff games. 

The new offensive coordinator is former Eagles/Oregon/UCLA coach Chip Kelly.

Last three years, went Raiders 6-11/8-9/4-13; they haven’t won a playoff game since 2002, making playoffs only twice since then, 2016/2021.

This year, Raiders are #31 in $$$ spent on offense (#7 at QB), #13 on defense. Raiders are #32 in $$$ spent at CB, #311 at linebacker.

Last year, Raiders were minus-16 in turnovers (13-29); they were 3-4 in games decided by 8 or fewer points.

Last two years, Raiders were 7-3 ATS as a favorite, 11-12 as an underdog.

— Cardinals 3, Dodgers 2
Yohel Pozo had a game-winning pinch-hit single in the 9th inning.
Sonny Gray allowed only one hit in seven IP.
Dodgers are 7-9 since the All-Star break.

— Diamondbacks 6, Padres 2
Arizona has won three in a row, after a 1-9 skid.
Kyle Backhus got his first career save.
Arizona OF Alek Thomas is hitting .371 since the All-Star break.

— Astros 8, Marlins 2
Houston scored 5 runs in 4th inning, ended Miami’s 5-game win streak.
Jason Alexander pitched six scoreless innings.
Yainer Diaz was 2-for-4, with two RBI

— Tigers 6, Twins 3
Kerry Carpenter hit a 3-run homer in the 6th inning.
Detroit has won six of eight games, after a 1-12 skid.
Minnesota has lost five of its last six games.

If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
AL: Blue Jays, Tigers, Astros. Wild Cards: Red Sox, New York, Mariners
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cubs, Mets, Padres

— Cubs 5, Orioles 3
Justin Turner hit his first-ever walk-off home run to end the game.

Three oldest major leaguers to hit their first-ever walk-off homer:
41 years, 278 days- Murray Dickinson, 1958
40 years, 253 days- Justin Turner, Sunday
40 years, 4 days- Rick Dempsey, 1989

— Pirates 9, Rockies 5
Leadoff hitter Spencer Horwitz homered twice, drove in six runs. 

Saturday, leadoff hitter Liover Peguero hit three homers, drove in five runs for Pittsburgh, making the Pirates the first time in the last 100 years to get 5+ RBI from leadoff hitters in consecutive games.

Shohei Ohtani had 12 RBI in consecutive games while he was batting leadoff last year, but he had 10 RBI in one game, two in the other game.

— Giants 12, Mets 4
Rafael Devers homered, had four RBI. 

In their last 44 games, Mets’ starting pitchers have thrown only 9.2 innings in the 6th inning; relievers have thrown 34.1 of the 44 innings in the 6th inning.

— Braves 4, Reds 2
They sold 91,032 tickets for the Braves-Reds ballgame at the Bristol Raceway in Tennessee; game was suspended by rain in the first inning Saturday night- they finished Sunday, with Eli White hitting two home runs for the Braves.

Hurston Waldrep pitched 5.2 innings in relief for Atlanta; he was with his AAA team Saturday night, but drove 250 miles, joined the Braves Sunday morning, was one of the game’s stars.

— In his Hall of Fame career, the late Ryne Sandberg played in 10 playoff games; he had a hit in all 10 games, making him the only player since 1903 to play in 10+ playoff games, and to get a hit in all of them.

— Saturday night in Anaheim, White Sox won 1-0, with C Kyle Teel driving in the game’s only run. Angels had only one hit against Aaron Civale and the Chicago bullpen.

Teel is the first catcher since Buster Posey in 2014 to catch a one-hitter (or no-hitter) and also drive in all the runs in that game.

— Players who have a home run in every inning (and in extra innings) this season:
Riley Greene, Tigers
Nick Kurtz, A’s
James Wood, Nationals

— Famous birthdays, August 4th:
Billy Bob Thornton, 70
Michael Holton, 64
Roger Clemens, 63

John Farrell, 63
BJ Surhoff, 61
Meghan Markle, 44

Jason Adam, 34
Kevin Newman, 32
Brady Singer, 29

— Ben Cherington is in his sixth year as GM of the Pittsburgh Pirates; he previously worked for Blue Jays, Red Sox. He is really book-smart; his grandfather won a Pulitzer Prize.

In Cherington’s tenure in Pittsburgh, he’s acquired a top 30 prospect from the Bronx baseball team via trade ten times. Here’s a list of the names; how is he doing? 

Roansy Contreras
Rafael Flores (just got called up to AAA)
Miguel Yajure
Canaan Smith-Njigba
Edgleen Perez

Keiner Delgado
Brian Sanchez
Hoy Park
Maikol Escotto
Diego Castillo

So far, not so good.

— Earlier this year, Shohei Ohtani hit a home run in the first inning of a game, but also gave up a home run in the first inning, as a pitcher; he is the first pitcher to do that since the Phillies’ Randy Lerch in 1979.

— How times have changed; from April-July 1977, Angels’ P Frank Tanana threw 14 consecutive complete games, and two of those games went to extra innings. Angels were 9-5 in those games.

Last season, the entire season, there were a total of 28 complete games in the major leagues.

— Red Sox 7, Astros 3
Red Sox have won 20 of their last 24 home games.
First loss since May 2nd for Framber Valdez, a span of 14 starts.

— Dodgers 3, Rays 0
Game was scoreless after five innings.
Dodgers scored in 6th inning, ending an 18-inning scoreless streak.
Yamamoto got 17 outs on 88 pitches- he is 10-7, 2.51 this year.

— Brewers 14, Nationals 3
Brice Turang hit two home runs, drove in four runs.
Brewers were 6-0 vs Washington this season, scoring 60 runs.
Milwaukee leads the NL Central by two games.

— Phillies 2, Tigers 0
Cristopher Sanchez threw 7 shutout IP, on only 84 pitches.
Kyle Schwarber hit his 38th homer of the season.

If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
AL: Blue Jays, Tigers, Astros. Wild Cards: Red Sox, New York, Mariners
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cubs, Mets, Padres

Notes for MAC football teams:
— Akron
Akron has had seven consecutive losing seasons.
Under Moorhead, Akron is 7-3 ATS as a home underdog.
Since 2015, Akron is 12-26 ATS in non-conference games.
Since 2017, Zips are 4-9-3 ATS as a home favorite.

— Ball State
Cardinals have had one winning season in the last 10 years.
New HC was an NAIA head coach.
Last three years, Ball State is 15-9 ATS in MAC games.
Ball State is 1-8 SU all-time in bowl games (1-4 ATS last five)

— Bowling Green
Former NFL star Eddie George is new coach (Tennessee State NC 2021-24)
Jeff Fisher’s son Brandon is the Falcons’ defensive coordinator.
Last four years, Bowling Green was 13-5-1 ATS as a road underdog.
Falcons lost their last four bowls, giving up 37.5 ppg.

— Buffalo
Bulls were 9-4 LY, their first winning season since 2020.
In his career, Lembo is 8-3 ATS as a road favorite.
Since 2021, Buffalo is 4-9 ATS as a home favorite.
Bulls won their last four bowl games.

— Central Michigan
Last 3 years, Chippewas were 13-23; the new HC was an NAIA head coach. Last 3 years, Chippewas were minus-42 in turnovers.
Since 2019, CMU is 8-1 ATS as a home underdog.
Last four years, Chippewas are 8-15-1 ATS coming off a loss.

— Eastern Michigan
Under coach Creighton, Eagles are 11-20 ATS as a home favorite.
Under Creighton, Eagles are 35-18-1 ATS as a road underdog.
Last three years, EMU is 12-7 ATS in games coming off a win.
Eagles are 1-4 SU/3-2 ATS in their last five bowls.

— Notes for the Kansas City Chiefs:
Last three years, Chiefs were 40-11 SU; they lost Super Bowl LY.
Last year, Chiefs were 15-2, 11-0 in games decided by 8 or fewer points.

Kansas City was +6 in turnovers (20-14) last year.

This year, Chiefs are #2 in NFL in $$$ spent on offense
This year, Chiefs are #20 in NFL in $$$ spent on defense (#30 LY)

Under is 17-9 in Kansas City’s last 26 home games.
Last four years, Chiefs are 10-13 ATS as a home favorite.

— Famous birthdays, August 3rd:
Marv Levy, 100
Martin Sheen, 85
Lance Alworth, 85
Mike Gminski, 66

Nate McMillan, 62
Kevin Elster, 61
Michael Ealy, 52

Tom Brady, 48
Mark Reynolds, 42
Tyrod Taylor, 36

Todd Gurley, 31
Dante Fowler, 31
Zac Gallen, 30
Darell Hernaiz, 24

— Kent State
Kent State went 1-23 the last two years; the new HC was OC last year.
Since 2020, Golden Flashes are 5-18-2 ATS as a road underdog.
Last three years, Kent State is 5-17-2 ATS in MAC games.
Last three years, Kent State was 2-5 ATS as a home favorite.

— UMass
Minutemen join MAC this year after struggling as an independent.
Last 10 years, UMass is 21-91 SU (21-27 ATS last four years)
Since 2019, UMass is 0-7 ATS as a home favorite.
Last two years, Minutemen were 8-4 ATS as a road underdog.

— Miami
Last two years, Redhawks were 20-8 SU/19-9 ATS
Last two years, Miami was 12-3 ATS as a favorite.
Since 2015, Redhawks are 33-20 ATS coming off a loss.
Miami is 2-3 SU/5-0 ATS in its last five bowls.

— Northern Illinois
In his career, Hammock is 8-24 ATS as a favorite.
In his career, Hammock is 17-5 ATS as a road underdog.
Last three years, Huskies are 8-16 ATS in MAC games.
Since 2018 though, NIU is 15-8 as an underdog in MAC games.

— Ohio U
Bobcats were 31-10 the last three years; the coach bolted to Charlotte.
Last three years, Ohio U is 13-5 ATS at home.
Last four years, Bobcats are 24-10 ATS in MAC games.
Ohio U is 5-0 SU/4-1 ATS in its last five bowls.

— Toledo
Last three years, Rockets are 3-11 ATS as a road favorite.
Since 2019, Toledo is 30-18 SU/20-28 ATS in MAC games.
Underdogs covered Toledo’s last five bowls (1-4 SU/3-2 ATS)
Rockets’ last three bowl games were decided by 2-1-2 points.

— Western Michigan
Last three years, Broncos were 5-7/4-8/6-7 SU.
Last three years, Broncos were +8/+4/+4 in turnovers; unusual.
Under Taylor, WMU is 6-0 ATS as a home favorite, 4-9 as an underdog.
Broncos are 1-8 ATS in last nine games vs Big 18 opponents. 

If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
AL: Blue Jays, Tigers, Astros. Wild Cards: New York, Red Sox, Mariners
NL: Mets, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cubs, Phillies, Padres

— Our first note today is disturbing, posted by The Intellectualist:

Major League Baseball Players Association urged foreign-born players to carry immigration papers amid a nationwide crackdown, with experts warning that even superstar athletes aren’t immune from enforcement.

Strange times we live in; lot of cruddy people in the world.

— Chargers 34, Lions 7
Detroit fumbled away the opening kickoff, also lost a fumble on a punt.
Trey Lance played most of game at QB for LA, was 13-20/120 passing, with 2 TD’s.
Chargers were +5 in turnovers; Detroit didn’t play any starters.

— When former Chargers’ TE Antonio Gates gets inducted into the Hall of Fame Saturday, he’ll become the first inductee who didn’t play college football.

Gates played basketball at both Eastern Michigan/Kent State, leading Kent State to the Elite 8 of the 2002 NCAA Tournament, as a #10-seed.

— NFL teams’ over/under win totals’ trends:
Steelers- over their win total nine of last 11 years
Chiefs- over 11 of the last 15 years
Browns- under 16-6 last 22 years
Giants- under 11-2-1 last 14 years
Bears- under 20-8-1 last 29 years/5-0-1 last six years
Jaguars- under 19-6 last 25 years

— Betting props this year for Geno Smith, the Raiders’ new QB:
Over/under passing yards: 3,575.5
Over/under passing TD’s: 20.5

— There were 50 traded made in the 31 hours before baseball’s trading deadline; baseball needs a Hard Knocks-type show, to

a) promote the sport- it is a great game.
b) show us how things work behind the scenes.

Imagine being a fly on the wall in the Twins’ clubhouse this week? Of the 25 players who were on their roster at this time last week, 10 of them got traded away this week.

— Wednesday in Kansas City, the Royals won a game 1-0 in 10 innings, using nine pitchers to shut the Braves out. They are only the second team every to use pitchers in a shutout win.

— Notes for the Jacksonville Jaguars:
Liam Coen is the new coach; he was OC for the Buccaneers last year.
Jaguars went 4-13 last year, after a couple of 9-8 seasons.

Last year, Jaguars were 3-10 in games decided by 8 or fewer points.

This year, Jaguars are #30 in $$$ spent on offense (last year, #15)
This year, Jaguars are #23 in $$$ spent on defense (last year, #15)

Jacksonville had only nine takeaways LY; they were minus-15 in turnovers; the new DC is Anthony Campanile, who comes to the Jaguars from Green Bay.

Last four years, Jaguars were 18-13 ATS as an underdog.
Jaguars are 3-7 ATS in last ten games as a home favorite.
Jaguars are 8-4 ATS in last 12 games as home underdogs.

— Famous birthdays, August 2nd:
Bob Netolicky, 83
Butch Patrick, 72
Mary-Louise Parker, 61
Cedric Ceballos, 56
Mike Venafro, 52

Grady Sizemore, 43
Huston Street, 42
Dylan Moore, 33
Laremy Tunsil, 31
Kristaps Porziņģis, 30

— Rockies 17, Pirates 16
Pittsburgh scored nine runs in the top of the first inning.
Colorado is first team since 2006 to give up 9+ runs in first inning, and win.
Rockies scored five runs in the bottom of the 9th.
Brenton Doyle had a walk-off HR to end this 3:37 marathon.

— Marlins 13, New York 12
Miami trailed 9-4 in 7th inning; they scored 9 runs in last three innings.
Javier Sanoja homered twice for the Marlins.
Marlins are 30-17 in their last 47 games.

— Red Sox 2, Astros 1 (10)
Roman Anthony had a walk-off single for Boston.
Red Sox tied game 1-1 with a run in 7th inning.
Boston has won five of its last six games.

— Cubs 1, Orioles 0
There were a total of only seven hits in this game.
Rookie P Horton allowed two hits in 5 IP.
Ian Happ’s 2nd inning sac fly scored the game’s only run.

— A’s 5, Diamondbacks 1
Jacob Lopez allowed five hits in 5 shutout IP.
Arizona has lost six in row, nine of last ten games.
A’s are 16-12 in their last 28 games.

— Padres 4, Cardinals 1
Nick Pivetta allowed one hit, improved to 11-3, 2.73 this year.
Newly-acquired Mason Miller pitched 8th inning, got a hold.
Willson Contreras homered for the only St Louis run.

— Guardians 3, Twins 2 (10)
Kyle Manzardo had a walk-off single for Cleveland.
Guardians are 9-5 since the All-Star break.
Jose Ramirez is the 17th player EVER with 275+ HR’s, 275+ stolen bases in his career.

— Mariners 4, Rangers 3
JP Crawford hit a 2-run, walk-off homer in the 9th inning.
Seattle is 14-7 in its last 21 home games.
Texas is 11-22 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
AL: Blue Jays, Tigers, Astros. Wild Cards: New York, Red Sox, Mariners
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Cubs, Mets, Padres