Before I start today, the Home Run Derby after the All-Star Game was fun, but there is no way on God’s green earth that this should become a permanent thing in baseball. No chance.
It is good gimmick for exhibition games, that’s it.
Umpire trends for the baseball season so far:
Home plate umps with lot of runs scored in their games:
over 13-4- Hanahan
over 12-4- Barrett, Barry
over 13-5- Livensparger
over 12-6- Johnson
over 12-7- Fletcher
over 10-5- Bellino
over 10-6- Additon
over 12-8- Wolcott
Home plate umps with not a lot of runs scored in their games:
under 11-1- Ramos
under 14-4- Hudson, Blaser
under 13-4- Libka
under 12-4- Emil Jimenez
under 12-5- Bacchus, Segal, Tichenor
under 13-6- Lentz
under 12-6- Cuzzi
under 11-5- Scheurwater
Home plate umps where home teams have done well:
home 15-4- Clemons
home 13-3- Ceja
home 12-4- Bucknor, Ramos
home 12-5- Blakeney
home 13-6- Diaz
home 12-6- Gibson, Hudson
home 11-5- Barry
Home plate umps where road teams have done well:
road 13-6- DeJesus
road 12-6- Blaser
road 8-3- Valentine
road 11-6- Edwin Jimenez
road 13-8- Carapazza, Morales
road 10-6- Dreckman
Movie of the Day: The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989)- The lives of two struggling musicians, who are brothers, inevitably change when they team up with a beautiful, up-and-coming singer.
Jeff/Beau Bridges are the brothers, Michelle Pfeiffer is the singer, and she sings all her own songs in the movie. This is a very good movie.
— Notes for the Dallas Cowboys:
Dallas went 7-10 LY, fired Mike McCarthy, after they made the playoffs the three years before that. Brian Schottenheimer is the new head coach. Dallas hasn’t played in the NFC title game since 1995.
This year, Dallas is #1 in NFL in $$$ spent on offensive players (#2 at QB).
Dallas is #13 in NFL in $$$ spent on defensive players
Last year, Cowboys were minus-6 in turnovers (22-28)
Last year, Cowboys were +14 in sacks (52-38)
Dallas was 2-5 LY in games decided by 9+ points, 5-5 in games decided by 8 or fewer points.
Cowboys were favored in only 3 of 17 games last year.
Last two years, Dallas is 6-12 ATS as an underdog.
Last two years, over is 11-6 in their home games.
— Famous birthdays, July 18th:
James Brolin, 85
Joe Torre, 85
Dick Shiner, 83
Wally Walker, 71
Audrey Landers, 69
Mike Greenwell, 62
Jeff Lageman, 58
Anfernee Hardaway, 54
Torii Hunter, 50
Eugenio Suarez, 34
Dinelson Lamet, 33
Kyle Manzardo, 25
— Pittsburgh Steelers signed TJ Watt to a 3-year deal oath $123M, making him the highest paid non-QB in NFL history.
— Washington Commanders signed 36-year old Von Miller to a one-year deal; he played for the Bills the last three seasons. Washington already had the oldest roster in the NFL, now they’ve gotten a little bit older.
— Damian Lillard signed a 3-year, $42M deal to return to the Portland Trailblazers, where he played the first eleven years of his career. Lillard is rehabbing from a torn Achilles he suffered in the first round of the playoffs, so he’ll be out next season.
— If you hear that an NBA player signs a “two-way contract” with a team, it means he will be paid $578,577 for that season, which is half the minimum salary for an NBA player. He’ll split his time between the G League and the NBA.
— If the Tampa Bay Rays make the playoffs, they can host playoff games at their temporary home, a minor-league stadium with a seating capacity of 10,046 that the Bronx Bombers use for their spring training games.
