— 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
