Armadillo Sports

— Apparently this season, Major League Baseball changed how its umpires are evaluated on their calls of balls and strikes:

“In response to consistent player and club desire to have umpires evaluated more closely to the rulebook strike zone, we agreed with the MLB Umpires Association in their new CBA to reduce the size of the ‘buffer’ around the border of the strike zone, which essentially protects an umpire from being graded ‘incorrect’ on extremely close misses.”

MLB says it told everyone, but the article in The Athletic says otherwise:

“What do you think of the new strike zone?” an umpire asked one catcher, to which the catcher answered “What new strike zone?”

Not sure why it was handled this way; you’d think it is easy to let everyone know something like this is happening. At least everyone knows now, with 20% of the season over.

— Friday night in Anaheim Tigers’ RF Riley Greene became the first player EVER to homer twice in the 9th inning of the same game. Detroit scored eight runs in the top of the ninth to beat the Angels, 9-1.

You’d think that would’ve happened at least one other time in history, but it hadn’t happened ever until Friday night.

— Guardians 5, Blue Jays 3
Toronto led 3-0 after seven innings.
Daniel Schneeman hit a grand slam in the ninth inning; he also homered in the 8th inning.
Kevin Gausman threw six shutout IP for Toronto.

— Twins 4, Red Sox 3
Kody Clemens homered for the Twins, with his dad Roger watching in a private suite.

— Marlins 9, A’s 6
Kyle Stowers hit a walk-off grand slam, his second homer of the game.
Win snaps the Marlins’ six-game losing streak.
Only second loss in last seven games for the A’s.

— Mets have won nine games in a row against the Cardinals, their longest-ever win streak against the Redbirds.

— Padres 2, Pirates 1
Fernando Tatis scored winning run on a wild pitch in ninth inning.
San Diego has won four games in a row.
Pirates have lost six of their last seven games.

— Seattle Mariners have a prospect Jurrangelo Cijntje, who pitches with both hands: he’s had a rough start to the season, giving up 13 runs in 17.1 IP, but he does pitch with both hands. He is currently in the Class A Northwest League.

— Famous birthdays, May 4th:
Rene Lachemann, 80
Butch Beard, 78
Richard Jenkins, 78

Ken Oberkfell, 69
Rick Leach, 68
Tim Sherwin, 67

Cleveland Gary, 59
Victor Oladipo, 33
Nathan Peterman, 31

— Nuggets 120, Clippers 101
Denver led 58-47 at half, then outscored Clippers 35-19 in third quarter.
James Harden went 2-for-8 from floor, scored seven points.
Nuggets move on to play Oklahoma City in the next round.

Since 2017, NBA home teams are 10-12 in Game 7’s
Before 2017, home teams were 101-25 in Game 7’s

— Gregg Popovich officially retired as coach of the San Antonio Spurs, after a 29-year run in San Antonio, where he won 1,422 regular season games and five NBA titles. A great career.

While Popovich coached the Spurs, there were 303 head coaching changes made by the other NBA teams.

— Lakers signed GM Rob Pelinka to a new, long-term contract, so he and JJ Redick will be working together for the foreseeable future.

— Kevin Durant left Golden State after the 2019 season; his head coaches since then:
2019-20: Nets- Kenny Atkinson/Jacque Vaughn
2020-21: Nets- Steve Nash
2021-22: Nets- Steve Nash
2022-23: Nets- Steve Nash/Jacque Vaughn
2023: Suns- Monty Williams
2023-24: Suns- Frank Vogel
2024-25: Suns- Mike Budenholzer

— Arizona Wildcats gave basketball coach Tommy Lloyd a contract extension thru 2030; Arizona is 112-33 in four years under Lloyd, 61-19 in conference games, 6-4 in NCAA Tournament games.He is scheduled to make $4.4M/year, plus bonuses.

— College basketball teams who have to replace their entire roster for next season:
Baylor. Indiana. Maryland. West Virginia

— Aidan Mahaney played two years for very good Saint Mary’s basketball teams that went 53-16 while he was in their rotation; he played around 32:00/game. Last year, he got poached by UConn, where he played only 12 minutes a game for the 24-11 Huskies.

This spring, Mahaney saw the light; he bolted to Cal-Santa Barbara, where he figures to be a key piece in the Gauchos’ puzzle. He was first team all-WCC both his years at Saint Mary’s, so he figures to be an all-star in the Big West.

— If the playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Mets, Cubs, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Padres, Giants, Phillies
AL: New York, Tigers, Mariners. Wild Cards: Guardians, Astros, A’s/KC

— Knicks 116, Pistons 113
Jalen Brunson scored 40 points, scoring game-winning 3-pointer with 0:04 left.
Knicks only played three subs, who played a total of only 36:00.
New York wins the series, 4-2.

Good season ends for Detroit; they were 14-68/17-65 the last two years, but went 44-38 this year and made the playoffs for first time since 2019.

— Speaking of the Knicks, on May 8, 1970, I was 10 years old, was playing wiffle ball in the street in front of our house, at 8:15 or so. My dad stuck his head out the door and said “Get in here, now.” My friends laughed, they thought I was in trouble, but my dad never yelled at me, so I didn’t know what was up.

“Who you rooting for?” he asked me- Game 7 of the NBA Finals was about to start, Knicks vs Lakers. He and my sister were huge Knick fans; I didn’t really care who won, but I was good at being an annoying little brother so I said “Lakers”

My dad pointed to the other side of the living room and said “Sit over there, then”

Knicks killed them; they were up 27 at the half, won easily. Was cool to see my dad happy, but don’t think I said so that night.

— I bring this up because one of the Knciks’ starting guards on that team, Dick Barnett, passed away this week at age 88. 

Barnett was a lefty jump shooting guard who played 14 years in the NBA, scored 15,358 points in an excellent career. He played 42:00 in that Game 7, scored 21 points. He was really good.

RIP, sir.

— By the way, the Knick-Laker playoff games started at 8:30 back then because they had the Ringling Brothers Circus in Madison Square Garden during the day; took them a while to get the court ready to play. Times have changed.

— Clippers 111, Nuggets 105
James Harden scored 28 points, Kawhi Leonard 27.
Clippers used three subs, who were a combined +20
Series is 3-3; game 7 is Saturday night in Denver.

— I have a question, actually several questions about why the Lakers played the same five players the whole second half in their Game 4 loss to Minnesota.

Minnesota led 61-58 at halftime, but the Lakers outscored them 36-23 in the third quarter. Timberwolves led the series 2-1- they outscored a tired Lakers team 32-19 in the fourth quarter and seized control of the series.

In the last 30 years, no NBA team had ever played an entire half of a playoff game without making any substitutions; Lebron James is one of the best players ever for sure, but he is 40 years old, and he didn’t score a point in the 4th quarter.

My main question is this: Lakers’ coach JJ Redick had never coached before this season; was this his decision? Did the front office approve of it? Were they even notified? What did the seven subs on the bench think about being ignored for the whole second half.

— Famous birthdays, May 2nd:
Engelbert Humperdinck, 89
Jo Ann Pflug, 84
Clay Carroll, 84

Christine Baranski, 73
Keith Moreland, 71
Dwayne Johnson, 53

David Beckham, 50
Pat McAfee, 38
Ian Anderson, 27

— May 1, 1991 was a pretty significant sports day:

Rickey Henderson set the all-time stolen bases record during a day game in Oakland.

That night, Nolan Ryan threw his 7th no-hitter, at age 44.

— So far this season, Mets have outscored opponents 50-19 in the first three innings; Francisco Lindor is hitting 14-30 in the first inning.

— Back in 2005, every major league team hit .250 or better for the season; last year, only six teams hit .250 or better.

— A’s 3, Rangers 0
Jeffrey Springs allowed two hits in six scoreless IP.
Rangers haven’t homered in their last seven games.
Right now, the A’s are tied for the last playoff spot in the AL.

— Rockies 4, Giants 3
San Francisco led 3-1 after the sixth inning.
Rockies snapped a 12-game losing skid at Oracle Park.
Colorado won its last two games, after starting the season 4-25.

— Guardians 4, Twins 3 (10)
Jose Ramirez is the first Cleveland player with 250+ homers, 250+ stolen bases.
Pinch-hitter Angel Martinez had the walk-off single for the Guardians.
Minnesota slips to 4-13 on the road.

— Blue Jays 4, Red Sox 2
Vladimir Guerrero Jr hit a 3-run homer in 8th inning.
Red Sox led 2-0 after six innings.
Alex Bregman knocked in the only two Boston runs.

— Royals 8, Rays 2
Bobby Witt homered, extended his hitting streak to 22 games.
Royals went to Tampa Bay and swept the Rays.
Rays are 9-13 in their temporary home, an outdoor minor league field.

— If the playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Mets, Cubs, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Padres, Giants, Phil/Ariz
AL: New York, Tigers, Mariners. Wild Cards: Guardians, Astros, A’s/KC

— Warriors 109, Rockets 106
Houston led 57-50 at halftime.
Butler scored 27 points, Podziemski 26 for the Warriors.
Golden State’s subs were a combined minus-40, their starters +55.
Warriors lead series, 3-1. 

— Cavaliers 138, Heat 83
Cavaliers led 72-33 at halftime.
Cleveland sweeps series, 4-0; only one win was by less than 21 points.
Cavaliers’ two wins in Miami: 124-87 and this game.

— Milwaukee Bucks’ star Damian Lillard tore his Achilles tendon Sunday, his 2025-26 season is now in serious doubt.

— Shaquille O’Neal is going to be general manager of the Sacramento State basketball program; his son Shaqir is playing for the Hornets next fall, after transferring from Florida A&M. Hornets haven’t made the NCAA Tournament since moving up to Division I in 1991- they play in the Big Sky Conference. Former NBA star Mike Bibby is Sac State’s new head coach.

— Famous birthdays, April 29th:
Willie Nelson, 92
Luis Aparicio, 91
Jim Hart, 81
Tom House, 78
Rick Burleson, 74

Ron Washington, 73
Bob McClure, 73
Jerry Seinfeld, 71
Michelle Pfeiffer, 67
Eve Plumb, 67

Uma Thurman, 55
Jay Cutler, 42
David Lee, 42
Josh Booty, 50
Zach McKinstry, 30

— Mets 19, Nationals 5
Brandon Nimmo went 4-6, with two homers, 9 RBI.
Before Monday, Nimmo was in a 7-for-47 slump.
Francisco Lindor got hit by a pitch twice in the 7th inning, the first player in 11 years to have that happen.

— Reds 3, Cardinals 1
Nick Martinez gave up one run, five hits in his six IP.
Noelvi Marte knocked in the go-ahead run with his first career triple.
Gavin Lux went 3-for-4, is hitting .352.

— Braves 6, Rockies 3
Colorado has lost seven in a row, is now 4-24.
Braves have won eight of their last ten games.
Alex Verdugo went 2-for-4, is hitting .350.

— Dodgers 7, Marlins 6 (10)
Tommy Edman had a walk-off 2-run single in 10th inning.
Dodgers led 5-0 after the fifth inning.
Dane Myers tied the game with a 6th inning grand slam. 

— Movie of the Day: Tequila Sunrise (1988)- A former Los Angeles drug dealer tries to go straight, but his past and his underworld connections bring him into the focus of the DEA, the Mexican feds and the Mexican drug cartels.

Mel Gibson is the drug dealer, Michelle Pfeiffer owns a restaurant, Kurt Russell is a cop and Raul Julia is a Mexican commandante. JT Walsh, Arye Gross are also in this movie.

— A’s 2, Rangers 1
Tyler Soderstrom had a 2-run double in the fifth inning.
A’s bullpen got 10 outs, didn’t allow a run in relief of JP Sears.
Spunky A’s have won nine of their last 13 games.

— Orioles 4, Bronx 3
Ryan O’Hearn hit a three-run homer.
Baltimore led 4-0 after the sixth inning.
Aaron Judge had two hits, is now batting .405.

— Twins 11, Guardians 1
Minnesota has won six of its last seven games.
Cleveland lost four of its last five games.
Twins had 17 hits; six players had 2+ hits.

— Astros 8, Tigers 5
Jose Altuve went 2-4, with a homer, three RBI.
Riley Greene homered twice for Detroit.
Loss snaps the Tigers’ four-game winning streak.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Mets, Cubs, Giants. Wild Cards: Dodgers, Padres, Reds
AL: Bronx, Tigers, Mariners. Wild Cards: Guardians, Astros, Red Sox

— Knicks 94, Pistons 93
Jalen Brunson scored 32 points, 11 assists.
Detroit has lost its last nine home playoff games.
New York leads series, 3-1

— Timberwolves 116, Lakers 113
Lakers led by 12 points late in third quarter.
Minnesota leads this series, 3-1
Lakers didn’t sub after halftime, only time that has happened in a playoff game in the last 28 years.

— Celtics 107, Magic 98
Jayson Tatum scored 37 points, had 14 rebounds.
Boston took the lead for good with 3:58 left in the game.
Celtics lead series, 3-1

— Pacers 129, Bucks 103
Bucks’ star Damian Lillard hurt his left leg, played only six minutes.
Indiana shot 60.2% from the floor.
Eight Pacers scored in double figures. 

— In the NFL, 29-year old WR Hunter Renfrow signed with the Carolina Panthers; he sat out last year, after catching 269 passes (10.7 yards/catch) in five years with the Raiders.

— Jacksonville Jaguars signed DE Emmanuel Ogbah for one year, $5M, which figures to help the Jaguars’ pass rush. Ogbah played the last five years for the Dolphins.

— District of Columbia and the Washington Commanders struck a deal to build a stadium and play where their old stadium, RFK Stadium — the team’s home from 1961-1996 — still stands.

— Famous birthdays, April 28th:
Ann-Margret, 84
Mary McDonnell, 73
Mark Bavaro, 62
Barry Larkin, 61
Pete Stoyanovich, 58

Elisabeth Rohm, 52
Billy Volek, 49
Josh Howard, 45
Chris Kaman, 43
David Freese, 42

Spencer Hawes, 37
Blake Bortles, 33
Matt Chapman, 32
Shane McClanahan, 28
Anthony Volpe, 24

— Nationals 8, Mets 7
Mets led 7-1 in the 7th inning.
Dylan Crews homered off of Tylor Megill, the first time In 15 games a Mets’ starting pitcher gave up a home run.
Mets still lead NL East by four games.

— Twins 5, Angels 0
Joe Ryan struck out 11 hitters in seven shutout IP.
Twins have won three in row for first time since last August.
Angels lost their last seven road games, scoring total of 12 runs. 

— A’s 3, White Sox 2 (10)
Luis Urias hit a 2-run walk-off homer, sent 9,127 fans home happy.
Spunky A’s are 14-14, one game out of a playoff spot.
White Sox used an opener (1 IP) in all three games this weekend. 

 — Astros 7, Royals 3
Hunter Brown allowed one run in 6 IP for the win; his scoreless streak ended at 28 IP.
Under is 14-7 in Houston’s last 21 games.
Bobby Witt Jr extended his hitting streak to 19 games.

— Rays 4, Padres 2
Rookie OF Chandler Simpson had the first 3-hit game of his career.
Tampa Bay has won a season-high five games in a row.
Padres are 1-5 since Luis Arraez got hurt, scoring total of nine runs.

— Reds 8, Rockies 1
Nick Lodolo allowed only two hits in seven IP for the win.
Rookie 3B Noelvi Marte was 3-5, with three RBI, is hitting .364.
Colorado has lost six in a row, is 4-23 this season.

— Tigers 7, Orioles 0
Tarik Skubal struck out 11 guys in six shutout IP.
Detroit finishes this homestand with an 8-2 record.
Orioles’ season win total is 87.5; they’re off to a 10-17 start.

— Diamondbacks 6, Braves 4
Arizona’s win snaps a four-game losing skid.
Alex Verdugo was 4-4 with two RBI for the Braves.
Atlanta is 8-3 at home, 4-12 on the road.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Mets, Cubs, Giants. Wild Cards: Dodgers, Padres, (Cin-Phil-Arizona all tied)
AL: Bronx, Tigers, Mariners. Wild Cards: Guardians, Rangers, Red Sox

— NFL Draft is over for this year; the league is tremendous at staying in the news just about year-round. Moving the draft around the country (next year is Pittsburgh) has jazzed the whole thing up a little bit. Must be a tremendous amount of work that goes into setting up the whole thing, but now they can relax until they release the 2025 schedule on May 14th.

Everyone has their opinions on which teams did best/worst in the draft, but no one knows for sure until the games start in September

— One thing we don’t get to see, but it is important; as the draft ends, and it is only seven rounds, teams sign undrafted free agents to try out for their teams— lot of good players do not get picked.

Sometimes, it is better for a player not to get drafted; that way, he can choose which team he tries out for, and can choose a team that might need a player like him.

— Seattle Seahawks traded QB Sam Howell to the Vikings; they moved up 30 slots in the fifth round to acquire Howell, who was 5-13 as a starter for Washington in 2022-23, but threw only 14 passes for the Seahawks last year.

Vikings also have JJ McCarthy, Brett Rypien at QB; Seattle has former Vikings’ starter Sam Darnold, Drew Lock and rookie Jalen Milroe.

— Detroit Lions signed S Kerby Joseph to a 4-year, $86M contract; Lions are 29-9 the last two years, losing the NFC title game in 2023.

— Last year, Baltimore Ravens had more rushing yards than every team they played, first time that happened since 1970. Ravens made the playoffs six of the last seven years, but haven’t been in the Super Bowl since they won it after the 2012 season,

— Famous birthdays, April 27th:
Gary Huff, 74
George Gervin, 73
Herm Edwards, 71
David Whitehurst, 70

Dave Wilson, 66
Roland Williams, 50
Keenan Allen, 33
Corey Seager, 31

The great actor Jack Klugman (Oscar Madison on The Odd Couple) was born 104 years ago today; Casey Kasem, who did the top 40 music countdown on the radio for years, was born on this day 93 years ago.

How NFL teams trended in the draft:
NFC
— Six of seven players the Cardinals drafted play defense.

— Four of five players Atlanta drafted play defense.

— Carolina drafted Tetairoa McMillan, the best WR in the draft, as they try to help young QB Bryce Young, after he went 6-22 in his first 28 NFL starts.

— Bears’ first two picks were a TE/WR; third pick was an offensive lineman, as new coach Ben Johnson, brought in to make Caleb Williams a winning QB, gets some more weapons.

— Cowboys drafted nine guys; their first round pick is an offensive lineman. Dallas missed the playoffs last year for first time in four years, then fired their coach.

— Four of Detroit’s first five draft picks are linemen, two each on offense/defense.

— Host team Green Bay drafted a WR in the first round for the first time since 2002; they also added another WR in the 3rd round- they’re serious about helping QB Jordan Love.

— Rams’ first pick was a tight end; they had the fewest receiving yards by tight ends last year. Their second pick in a linebacker that was highly endorsed by Nick Saban.

— Minnesota traded for QB Sam Howell, to back up JJ McCarthy; they only had five draft picks- the first two were an offensive lineman and a receiver.

— Saints drafted two guys from Texas, two from Louisville, including a 26-year old QB (Jalen Hurts is 26, has already played five years in the NFL). New Orleans missed the playoffs the last four years- will be interesting to see who they start at QB.

— Giants traded up a for a QB who played at Ole Miss, kind of like Eli Manning; two of their first three picks are offensive linemen.

— Eagles’ first five picks in this draft all play defense.

— 49ers drafted 11 players; the first five all play defense. They took QB Kurtis Rourke from Indiana in the 7th round (their QB Brock Purdy was also a 7th round pick)

— Seattle drafted 11 guys, nine of them play offense; they took QB Milroe from Alabama, then dealt Sam Howell to the Vikings.

— Buccaneers only had six picks; they took two WRs, four defensive players.

— Washington had only five draft picks; three of them were Pac-12 guys, back when the Pac-12 still existed.

AFC
— Baltimore drafted 11 players, including a kicker in the 6th round; Justin Tucker has been a great kicker for years for the Ravens, but he has some off-field issues now, and they may be moving on from him.

— Buffalo’s first five draft picks all play defense.

— Bengals only drafted six guys; the first two play defense.

— You may have heard; Cleveland drafted two QB’s, one from Oregon, one from Colorado- he played for his father, both in high school and college. Browns have made the playoffs twice in the last 22 years; you’d think they have more needs than backup QB’s.

— Denver drafted seven guys after trading down a couple times; they picked a punter, which isn’t terribly optimistic, also added a couple of defensive ends. 

— Houston drafted two players each from Iowa State/USC; two of their first three picks were wide receivers.

— Colts’ first three draft picks played in the Big 18; they later drafted Duke/Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard— it irritates me when starting QB’s bolt to a different school without his head coach going too. Indy’s first round pick is a tight end from Penn State. 

— Jaguars traded up for WR/DB Travis Hunter; will he play both ways? Jags drafted nine guys, including a DB from the Naval Academy.

— Kansas City drafted an offensive tackle first, then took three straight defensive players. They picked a WR from Utah State who got some praise from the TV guys.

— Raiders had 11 draft picks; they took a pair of I-AA quarterbacks, one of who is apparently moving to receiver. Five of their first six picks were spent on offensive players.

— Four of Chargers’ first six picks were either RB/WR/TE; they’re trying to give QB Herbert some help.

— Four of Dolphins’ five draft picks play defense; they took a QB from Texas in the 7th round, about 90 seconds after the TV guys on ABC gave him the thumbs down.

— New England drafted 11 players; the first four play offense, two of them the offensive line. They also drafted a kicker from Miami; wonder how he’ll like December in Boston?

— Jets drafted seven guys; all seven either played in the SEC, or at Miami/Florida State. Three of their first four picks play offense.

— Five of Pittsburgh’s seven selections play defense; they took two guys each from Ohio State, Iowa, two winning programs. Some teams prefer to draft guys who are used to winning. 

— Tennessee drafted QB Cam Ward with its #1 pick, later added two WRs and a tight end to help him out. 

— Three rounds of the NFL Draft are over; five QB’s have been selected:
Cam Ward, Titans
Jaxson Dart, Giants
Tyler Shough, Saints
Jalen Milroe, Seahawks
Dillon Gabriel, Browns

— Giants drafted DE Abdul Carter with the #3 pick Thursday; apparently he reached out to Giants’ legend Lawrence Taylor, to see if he could wear Taylor’s number 56, which has been retired by the team.

Taylor said no, so Carter won’t be wearing number 56.

— Jets drafted TE Mason Taylor, whose father Jason Taylor was a Hall of Fame defensive end, mostly for the Dolphins.

— Ohio State has had a receiver drafted in the first round of the last four drafts.

— Rams only got 459 receiving yards from tight ends last year, lowest figure in the NFL; they drafted Oregon TE Terrance Ferguson, who Nick Saban gave a thumbs-up to. Truth is, Saban tends to be more enthusiastic about defensive players than players on the offensive side.

— Six of the first 38 picks played college ball at Ohio State.

— There was a trade between Carolina-Denver which wound up involving eight draft picks, all so the Panthers could move up six slots in the second round.

— Las Vegas Raiders have made the playoffs twice in the last 22 years; you get the idea that with Pete Carroll the coach now, that is about to change.

— Chicago Bears drafted Missouri WR Luther Burden III, whose grandfather Ticky Burden played in the ABA (Virginia Squires) and NBA (Knicks). Ticky Burden is from here in Albany, NY; he is in the starting five of best-ever ballplayers who grew up in this area.

— Famous birthdays, April 26th:
Carol Burnett, 92
Gary Cuozzo, 84
Amos Otis, 78
Bill Wennington, 62

Kevin James, 60
Marianne Jean-Baptiste, 58
Geoff Blum, 52
Toby Leonard Moore, 44

Cole Beasley, 36
Joey Wendle, 35
Aaron Judge, 33
Bailey Zappe, 26

— Nationals 5, Mets 4
Washington scored twice in the bottom of the ninth.
James Wood had the game-winning hit.
Mets hit into a triple play for first time in 15 years.
Loss snaps the Mets’ seven-game winning streak.

— Royals 2, Astros 0
Seth Lugo threw eight scoreless innings.
Kansas City has won five games in a row.
Bobby Witt has a 17-game hitting streak.

— Rays 1, Padres 0
Shane Baz threw seven shutout IP.
Padres lost five of their last seven games.
San Diego got shut out in its last two games.

— A’s 6, White Sox 5
Jacob Wilson homered, drove in three runs.
White Sox led 3-1 in sixth inning
A’s even their record at 13-13.

— Twins 11, Angels 4
Trevor Larnach, homered, doubled, drove in four runs.
Kyle Hendricks gave up seven runs in three IP.
Minnesota won three of its last four games.

— Pirates 3, Dodgers 0
Paul Skenes got 19 outs, allowed only five hits.
Skenes threw a career-high 108 pitches.
Dodgers are 8-10 after their 8-0 start.

— Reds 8, Rockies 7
Noelvi Marte was 3-5 with two RBI
Colorado lost for 21st time in its first 25 games.
Jordan Beck has five home runs in his last three games.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Mets, Cubs, Padres. Wild Cards: Giants, Dodgers, Diamondbacks
AL: Bronx, Tigers, Rangers. Wild Cards: Guardians, Mariners, Astros

— Thursday night, 26 of the 32 players taken in the first round of the NFL Draft played in either the SEC or the Big 18……..15 SEC players, 11 from the Big 18.

— Four of the first 12 players drafted were offensive linemen. QB’s make the most money, but they need to be protected.

— Last eleven years, the first pick in the draft was a quarterback nine times.

— Tennessee Titans took Miami QB Cam Ward with the #1 pick; Giants later traded up to the 25th pick and took Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart; they were the only two QB’s drafted.

Cam Ward started 57 college games, albeit at three different schools; Dart played for former NFL head coach Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss.

— Giants traded a 2nd-round pick and two third round picks to Houston to draft Dart, who started for three years at Ole Miss, and threw for 4,279 yards, 29 TD’s for a 10-3 Ole Miss squad that won its bowl game 52-20 over Duke.

— Cleveland has two of the first four picks Friday night; if they don’t take a QB, they go into the season with Joe Flacco/Kenny Pickett as their QB’s, so chances are they’re taking a QB Friday.

— Last three years combined, only one QB has been drafted in the 2nd round, when Tennessee took Will Levis two years ago. Levis will probably start for a while longer, before Ward takes his place as the Titans’ starter.

— Green Bay took WR Matthew Golden in the first round; it was the first time since 2002 (Javon Walker) that Green Bay used a first-round pick on a receiver.

— Famous birthdays, April 25th:
Al Pacino, 85
Talia Shire, 79
Jeffrey DeMunn, 78
Craig Minetto, 71
Randy Cross, 71

Dave Corzine, 69
Tony Phillips, 66
Art Schlichter, 65
Hank Azaria, 61
Gina Torres, 56

Darren Woodson, 56
Tim Duncan, 49
Sean Mannion, 33
Trevor Williams, 33
AJ Puk, 30

— Jacksonville Jaguars traded up with Cleveland and took WR/DB Travis Hunter; he is the first WR drafted #2 since 2007, when the Lions picked Calvin Johnson.

— Eagles/Chiefs flipped the last two picks in the first round, with Chiefs getting a 5th round pick to fall back one spot. Eagles then drafted a linebacker from Alabama, who they must really like if they spent a 5th round pick to move up one place.

— Georgia had three guys taken in the first round; Kirby Smart is 105-19 as Georgia’s coach, with 20 players drafted in the first round. More first round picks than losses is impressive.

— Three of the first 13 players taken played college ball at Michigan; had to turn NFL Network off, because studio host Rich Eisen went to Michigan and never shuts up about it.

Nick Saban was on the ABC feed; he is very good at analyzing the draft; smart, concise and gives his opinions, which is how we learn things.

— Rams traded out of the first round, getting a 2nd round pick Friday and a first round pick next year from Atlanta, which took a defensive end from Tennessee.

— There were 120,000 people watching the draft in Green Bay, a city whose population is less than 120,000. Moving the draft around the country has been an excellent idea.

— 2025 NFL schedule release will be Wednesday, May 14; this is a fun night to be in a casino, to see gamblers scurrying to the windows when the opening lines get posted. 

— Last weekend in Denver, a rookie on the Colorado Rockies hit a home run to left field; it was his first major league home run, and also his first major league hit, a very big deal for him.

My question is this: If you got that baseball, what would you want from the team in exchange for it? You have all the leverage; the guy has to get that baseball, his first major league hit.

A young couple had the ball, and the Rockies’ TV guy interviewed them, and asked about the negotiations. 

Rockies apparently offered a signed baseball in exchange for the ball (seriously??? That’s it?!?!) and that got rejected. The fan then asked for $1,000, which got rejected. They eventually settled on a signed bat, I’m assuming by the player who hit the ball.

I’ve thought about this some, and my request would be:
1) a signed batting helmet
2) a signed bat from Hall of Famer Todd Helton, a Rockies alum
3) a signed jersey from Kris Bryant, probably the Rockies’ biggest current star
4) signed baseballs from Bud Black/Clint Hurdle
5) four tickets to a future game, later in season, when the weather is warmer

Team has all that stuff laying around, not a lot to ask for.

— College sports is a mess; they need to come up with rules that everyone will follow, to make things less hideous.

Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava wasn’t happy making $2.4M a year, so he bolted to UCLA. No one is saying how much UCLA is paying, but apparently it ain’t $2.4M (I saw someone post $1.5M as “an educated guess”). UCLA also gets younger brother Madden Iamaleava, a freshman QB who had committed to Arkansas.

After that move was announced, QB Joey Aguilar transferred from UCLA to Tennessee, after he bolted from Appalachian State to the Bruins. Aguilar started for App State the last two years; he threw for 3,002 yards and 23 TD’s last year, for a 5-6 App State squad.

So basically Tennessee/UCLA made a trade; we’ll see how this works out. Would be fun if UCLA played Tennessee in a bowl game next December.

— July 31 in Canton, OH, Chargers-Lions is the NFL Hall of Fame Game; Charger alum Antonio Gates is one of four players getting inducted into the Hall of Fame.

— Celtics 109, Magic 100
Jaylen Brown scored 36 points; Boston only played eight guys.
Kristaps Porsingis scored 20 points, was 10-14 on foul line.
Celtics lead series, 2-0

— Cavaliers 121, Heat 112
Cleveland led 68-51 at halftime.
Both teams took more 3-point shots than 2-point shots.
Cavaliers lead series, 2-0

— Rockets 109, Warriors 94
Jalen Green was 8-18 on arc, scored 38 points.
Rockets out-rebounded Golden State 47-33.
Series is even, 1-1.

— This season, 17 NBA teams shot 36%+ on 3-pointers; 14 of them made the playoffs.
13 teams shot less than 36% on the arc; only two of those teams made the playoffs.

— Famous birthdays, April 24th:
Shirley MacLaine, 91
Carroll Dale, 87
Barbra Streisand, 83
Eric Bogosian, 72

Vince Ferragamo, 71
Michael O’Keefe, 70
Ernie Grunfeld, 70
Dino Radja, 58

Melinda Clarke, 56
Chipper Jones, 53
Carlos Beltran, 48
Welington Castillo, 38

— Mets 4, Phillies 3 (10)
Starling Marte had the walk-off hit for the Mets.
Mets have now won seven games in a row.
Mets are 12-1 at Citi Field this season, lead NL East by 5 games.

— Reds 5, Marlins 2
Reds won 24-2 Sunday in Baltimore, then scored a total of 11 runs in their next three games, losing two of three to the Marlins.

— Tigers 6, Padres 0
Reese Olson got 22 outs, allowed only two hits.
Justyn-Henry Malloy homered/doubled for the Tigers.
Detroit is 9-4 at home this season.

— Pirates 3, Angels 0
Former Angel Andrew Heaney struck out the first six hitters. retired the first 13 guys he faced.
Oneil Cruz hit a 463-foot home run, 4th-longest home run this season.
Angels lost seven of their last nine games. 

— Cubs 7, Dodgers 6
Pete Crow-Armstrong went 3-4, with a homer, four RBI
Chicago bullpen allowed only one baserunner, no runs in three IP.
Dodgers are 8-9, after their 8-0 start.

— A’s 5, Rangers 2
Rookie 1B Nick Kurtz got his first major league hit/RBI
Lawrence Butler homered in a 4-run first inning.
A’s improve to 3-8 in Sacramento; they’re 11-13 overall.

— Rays 7, Diamondbacks 6 (10)
Arizona had bases loaded, one out in bottom of 10th, but Perdomo grounded into a double play to end the game.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Mets, Cubs, Padres. Wild Cards: Dodgers, Giants, Diamondbacks
AL: Bronx, Tigers, Rangers. Wild Cards: Guardians, Mariners, Astros

— If you ran an NFL franchise right now, would you want Aaron Rodgers on your team?

He won a Super Bowl, but it was 15 years ago; his career record is 164-97-1, 11-10 in playoff games, but his last playoff game was 2021. Rodgers will be 42 in December; he tore his achilles tendon two years ago. His record the last three years is 14-21.

NFL Draft is this week; there are still a couple teams who need a veteran QB, but would Rodgers be the guy you want as a mentor to a young QB? It is an interesting question.

— Late at night at this time of year, I listen to a couple of fantasy baseball podcasts, trying to learn things that could help me improve my team; I’ve found a couple where the guys give out opinions, and they’re smart guys. It helps.

My question is this; sometimes these podcast guys are critical of ballplayers; do any players listen to stuff like this? “Hey honey, the nerdy guy on YouTube thinks I take too many pitches!!!”

Imagine making $15M a year playing ball and caring what some jerk like me sitting on his couch thinks? Makes me laugh.

— Mets-Cardinals game Friday night, they had actor Timothy Robbins in the TV booth for an inning; he was the pitcher in Bull Durham, and is a knowledgeable baseball fun.

— Mackenzie Gore is a very good pitcher for the Washington Nationals; he is 2-2, 3.41 in five starts so far this season.

In his last two starts, Gore struggled a little, giving up six runs in 12 IP, but the Washington bullpen gave up 16 runs in only five innings in those two games. No bueno.

— I was out having lunch last week; one of the TV’s at the bar had cornhole on, for whatever reason. High school kids were playing in some tournament; one of the kid’s first name is Espn, his freakin’ first name is actually Espn.

Why in the name of Chris Berman would someone name their son Espn? 

Oy.

— I’m not sure how many buyers they’ll have, but they’re selling pieces of the damaged roof from Tropicana Field in St Petersburg, the roof that got destroyed by a hurricane this winter.

— Tuesday night in Houston, Blue Jays-Astros. Yordan Alvarez comes up with a man on 2nd and two out and Toronto gives him an intentional walk, even though Alvarez is 0-12 with eight strikeouts in his career against Kevin Gausman. 

Pitching coach came out to the mound; Gausman looked less than happy. Analytics are fun to think about, but different teams handle them differently, that’s for sure.

— Famous birthdays, April 22nd:
Jack Nicholson, 88
Spencer Haywood, 76
Moose Haas, 69
Terry Francona, 66
Freeman McNeil, 66

Jimmy Key, 64
Jeff Hostetler, 64
Chris Makepeace, 60
Mickey Morandini, 59
Bimbo Coles, 57

Ken Dorsey, 44
Marshawn Lynch, 39
Kevin Kiermaer, 35
Duncan Robinson,. 31
Bowden Francis, 29 

NBA playoff series have begun………
— Pistons 100, Knicks 94
Detroit snapped a 15-game losing streak in playoff games.
Cade Cunningham had 33 points, 12 rebounds.
Pistons were 28-34 on foul line, Knicks 16-19
Series is 1-1.

— Clippers 105, Nuggets 102
Kawhi Leonard scored 39 points.
Nuggets out-rebounded Clippers, 50-32.
Denver was only 14-22 on the foul line.
Series is 1-1.

Game 1 summaries:
— Thunder 131, Grizzlies 80
Most decisive Game 1 beating in any series, ever.
Oklahoma City led 68-36 at halftime.
No one on the Thunder played more than 26:00.

— Celtics 103, Magic 86
Boston outscored Orlando 30-18 in third quarter.
Banchero/Wagner shot combined 24-51; rest of Magic were 10-30
Derrick White scored 30 points for the Celtics.

— Cavaliers 121, Heat 100
Ty Jerome scored 28 points in 26:00 off the bench.
Cavaliers outscored Miami 34-21 in 4th quarter.
In his last seven playoff series, Donovan Mitchell scored 30+ points in Game 1.

— Warriors 95, Rockets 85
Golden State led 47-34 at halftime.
Steph Curry scored 31 points (5-9 on arc)
This was the 100th career playoff win for coach Steve Kerr.

— Pacers 117, Bucks 98
Indiana led 67-43 at halftime.
Pacers shot 51.9% from the floor.
Antetokounmpo was 14-23 from floor, other four starters were 5-20.

— Timberwolves 117, Lakers 95
Minnesota led 59-48 at halftime.
Timberwolves made 21-42 shots on the arc.
Doncic/James were 20-40 from floor, rest of Lakers were 13-43 (30.2%)

— Duke star Cooper Flagg surprised no one by saying he will officially enter the NBA draft. 

NBA playoffs started Saturday……..
— Knicks 123, Pistons 112
Knicks had a 21-0 run in the 4th quarter.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 23 points, 11 rebounds.
New York shot 52.7% from the floor.

— Nuggets 112, Clippers 110, OT
Denver was 21-27 on foul line, Clippers 12-16.
Jokic had 29 points, 9 rebounds, 12 assists.
Clippers had 20 turnovers, seven by Kawhi Leonard.

— Pacers 117, Bucks 98
Indiana led 67-43 at halftime.
Pacers shot 51.9% from the floor.
Antetokounmpo was 14-23 from floor, other four starters were 5-20.

— Timberwolves 117, Lakers 95
Minnesota led 59-48 at halftime.
Timberwolves made 21-42 shots on the arc.
Doncic/James were 20-40 from floor, rest of Lakers were 13-43 (30.2%)

— Famous birthdays, April 20th:
George Takei, 88
Steve Spurrier, 80
Jessica Lange, 76
Clint Howard, 66

Don Mattingly, 64
John Carney, 61
Shemar Moore, 55
Allan Houston, 54

Lamond Murray, 52
Brandon Belt, 37
Kyle Higashioka, 35
Luke Kuechly, 34

Sunday would’ve been the 85th birthday for actor James Gammon, who was Don Johnson’s father in Nash Bridges, and the manager of the Indians in Major League.

— There were five baseball games Saturday where the winning run scored from the 7th inning on.

Red Sox 4, White Sox 3 (10)
Triston Casas had the walk-off single for Boston.
Rafael Devers hit a 3-run homer for the Red Sox.
White Sox are 0-8 on the road.

— Rangers 4, Dodgers 3
Adolis Garcia hit a 2-run, walk-off homer in the 9th inning.
Texas won 10 of its last 11 home games.
Dodgers are 7-7, after their 8-0 start.

— Astros 3, Padres 2
Isaac Paredes had the game-winning hit in the 7th inning.
Houston wins consecutive games for the first time this season.
Josh Hader got the save on his bobblehead night.

— Mariners 8, Blue Jays 4 (12)
Rowdy Tellez hit his fifth career grand slam.
Ben Williamson hit his first major league home run.
Randy Arozarena’s last two hits have both come in extra innings.

— Rays 10, New York 8 (10)
Jonathan Aranda hit a walk-off home run for Tampa Bay.
New York led 8-4 in the 9th inning.
Win snaps the Rays’ four-game losing streak.

— Movie of the Day– The Gambler (2014)- A college professor who is a compulsive gambler borrows money from his mother and a loan shark.

Mark Wahlberg is the gambler, Jessica Lange is his mother, John Goodman is the loan shark and Brie Larson is one of Wahlberg’s students- they’re having an affair.

This movie is pretty disturbing at times, but it is a very good movie.

— Orioles 9, Reds 5
Ramon Laureano hit two home runs; he was only in the game because Heston Kjerstad left the game after being hit by a pitch in his first at-bat.

— Giants 3, Angels 2
Mike Trout hit two homers for the Angels’ only runs.
Giants are 10-5 on road; 15 of their 21 games have been away from home.
Angels’ last five games stayed under the total.

— A’s 3, Brewers 1
Severino allowed three hits in a strong, 8-inning effort.
A’s are 8-4 on the road, 2-7 in Sacramento.
Mason Miller got his sixth save of the season.

— Nationals 12, Rockies 11
Washington led 12-2 in 7th inning, hung on for dear life.
Dylan Crews homered twice, knocked in four runs.
Colorado has lost seven in a row, slips to 3-16.

— Guardians 3, Pirates 0
Ben Lively got 16 outs, allowed only four hits.
Kyle Manzardo hit his 5th home run for Cleveland.
Pirates drew a crowd of 37,713 on Paul Skenes Bobblehead Day. 

— Heat 123, Hawks 114 OT
Miami led by nine after the third quarter.
Tyler Herro scored 30 points.
Heat was +15 with Wiggins on the floor, minus-6 without him.
Miami plays #1-seed Cleveland in the first round of the playoffs.

— Grizzlies 120, Mavericks 106
Memphis led 66-49 at halftime.
Grizzlies out-rebounded Dallas, 50-36.
Memphis was +18 in the 24:00 sub Konchar played. 
Grizzlies play #1-seed Oklahoma City in the first round of the playoffs.

— Cubs 13, Diamondbacks 11
At 7th-inning stretch, Cubs led this game, 2-1.

Cubs scored five runs in bottom of 7th, led 7-1
Arizona scored 10 runs in top of 8th, led 11-7
Cubs scored six runs in bottom of 8th, led 13-11

Carson Kelly homered twice, Kyle Tucker had the game-winning homer.

— Since 1910, only seven teams have allowed 10+ runs in an inning and won the game:
1912- Philadelphia A’s over New York
1912- New York Giants over Boston Braves
1912- Cubs over Cincinnati
1933- New York over Philadelphia A’s
1989- Phillies over Pirates
2006- Indians over Royals
Friday- Cubs over Diamondbacks

Cubs have now won 810 games in a row when they led by 6+ runs in 8th inning or later; last time they lost such a game was April 17, 1976.

— Braves 6, Twins 4
Minnesota led game 4-1 in 8th inning.
Rookie catcher Baldwin has the game-winning hit.
Twins have lost their last nine games against Atlanta.

— Tigers 7, Royals 3
Riley Greene got on base three times, scored twice.
Kansas City has lost five games in a row.
Royals scored 4 or fewer runs in 19 of their 21 games.

— Mets 5, Cardinals 4
Brandon Donovan tied game with a homer in top of 9th inning.
Francisco Lindor led off bottom of 9th with a walk-off homer.
It was Lindor’s 250th career home run.

— Reds 8, Orioles 3
Andrew Abbott struck out 11 hatters in six IP.
Jose Trevino went 3-4, is hitting .333 for Cincinnati.
Orioles are 5-9 so far this month. 

— Dodgers 3, Rangers 0
Yamamoto struck out 10 Rangers in seven IP.
Tommy Edman went 3-4, with two runs scored.
Joc Pederson is hitting .057 for Texas.

— Famous birthdays, April 19th:
Keith Erickson, 81
Mark van Eeghen, 73
Frank Viola, 65
Keith Jackson, 60 (Eagles’ TE)

Ashley Judd, 57
Jeff Wilkins, 53
José Cruz, 51
Kate Hudson, 46

Troy Polamalu, 44
Joe Mauer, 42
Sal Frelick, 25
Jackson Merrill, 22

— Right now, every NFL team holds its own first round draft pick in next Thursday’s NFL Draft; last year, ten first round picks got traded.

— Minnesota Vikings only have four draft picks next weekend; since 1994, only 2% of NFL teams have had four or fewer selections going into a draft.

— 2025 NFL schedule will be released sometime between May 13-15; seems to me it usually happens on a Thursday, which would be the 15th.

— Since 2020, Philadelphia Phillies’ manager of team security has been Kelly Davis; for 15 years, he worked in the Chicago PD, as an undercover cop in the narcotics’ unit. From 1995-99, he was Dennis Rodman’s personal security guard.

This is a guy who could write a hell of a book.

— Golden State Warriors are the #7-seed in the west; Houston Rockets are the #2-seed, but Golden State (-190) is favored to win the series. Warriors are 23-8 in games that Jimmy Butler has played for them.

— Last Canadian franchise to win the Stanley Cup?

1993, the Montreal Canadiens.

— North Carolina/Bill Belichick poached QB Gio Lopez from South Alabama; Lopez threw for 2,557 yards last year, with 18 TD’s, 5 INT’s for the 7-6 Jaguars.

— Tip of the Cap to 89-year old Lee Corso, who is stepping down from his job on ESPN’s College GameDay pregame show, after 38 years. He was great on TV, smart/funny; he was also a pretty good football coach, working at Louisville, Indiana, Northern Illinois, plus a year in the USFL with the Orlando Renegades. His upbeat approach will be missed. 

— Odd Fact of the Day, part 1: In case you wondering, at the Masters last week, there were a total of 8,735 putts taken in the four-day tournament (95 players).

— Odd Fact of the Day, part 2: Had to be very taxing for whoever looked this one up, but over the last 14 years, Tampa Bay Rays are now 0-11 on April 15, Income Tax Day. 

Red Sox 7, Rays 4
Alex Bregman went 5-5, with two homers, 4 RBI. Now he goes home and on maternity leave for a couple days. This was Bregman’s 7th career game with two home runs/

— Orlando 120, Atlanta 95
Cole Anthony scored 26 points, had six assists off the bench.
Magic advances to play Boston in first round of the playoffs.
Atlanta hosts the winner of the Miami-Chicago game for the #8-seed.

— Golden State 121, Memphis 116
Curry/Butler were combined 25-31 on the foul line (rest of Warriors, 3-3)
Warriors advance to play Houston in first round of the playoffs.
Grizzlies host winner of Minnesota-Dallas for the #8-seed in West

— NBA star Chris Paul will be 40 years old next month; he started all 82 games for the Spurs this season, the oldest player ever to start all 82 games in a season. John Stockton started all 82 games when he was 39; Michael Jordan played in all 82 games when ht was 39, starting 67 of them.

— Detroit Tigers’ P Jackson Jobe is the son of former pro golfer Brandt Jobe, who won a couple tournaments on the PGA Tour. He also had three top 20 finishes in major tournaments.

— Famous birthdays, April 16th:
Jim Lonborg, 83
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 78
Ellen Barkin, 71
Bruce Bochy, 70
Curt Young, 65

Jon Cryer, 60
Walt Williams, 55
Boris Diaw, 43
Luol Deng, 40
Nolan Arenado, 34

— Astros 2, Cardinals 0
Hunter Brown threw six shutout innings, for the second consecutive start.
Jake Meyers went 3-for-4, had the game-winning RBI

— Cubs 2, Padres 1 (10)
Nico Hoerner’s 10th-inning triple knocked in the game-winning run.
This was San Diego’s first loss in 12 home games.
Manny Machado homered in the 5th inning, after the Cubs dropped two foul pop-ups during his at-bat.

— A’s 12, White Sox 3
Tyler Soderstrom hit a pair of 3-run homers.
Game was 3-3 after the first inning.
Hitters 1-4 in the Sacramento order were 10-18, with 10 runs scored.

— Rangers 4, Angels 0
Tyler Mahle struck out nine games in his 6 IP.
Mahle has a 0.92 ERA in four starts this season.
Angels are 0-4 in Kikuchi starts, scoring total of 10 runs.

— Twins 6, Mets 3
Bailey Ober threw 6.1 IP, got his first win in his last 13 starts.
Only sixth win in 18 games for the Twins.
Soto/Alonso homered for the Mets,

— Blue Jays 6, Braves 3
Toronto broke a 1-1 tie with five runs in fifth inning.
Kevin Gausman threw 6 IP, allowed only six baserunners, 2 runs.
Braves are 5-12, 2-10 on the road.

— Guardians 6, Orioles 3
Steven Kwan hit a 2-run homer for the Guardians.
Cleveland won for sixth time in last seven games.
Charlie Morton (0-4) is the first pitcher with four losses this season.

— RIP to the great gameshow host Wink Martindale, who passed away at age 91; I remember him best as the host of Gambit, a blackjack-themed game. Back when daytime TV was a whole lot better than it is now, with ton of gameshows, Martindale was an iconic figure.

RIP, sir. 

— Sunday night in Los Angeles, Cubs OF Pete Crow-Armstrong went 3-for-4 with two home runs and a triple, really good night, especially for a guy hitting .257. Monday night against the Padres, Crow-Armstrong had three more hits in a 10-4 San Diego win.

PCA is the son of actress Ashley Crow, who was the mom in the 1994 movie Little Big League, when a 12-year old kid inherits the Minnesota Twins from his grandfather.

— PCA had 11 total bases Sunday night; all-time record for most total bases in a game belongs to Shawn Green, who in a 2002 game for the Dodgers, went 6-6, with four home runs and a double, with 6 RBI, scoring six runs in a 16-3 Los Angeles win.

— Cubs P Justin Steele is out for the year, will have surgery to fix the flexor tendon in his left elbow. It is unknown whether he will have Tommy John surgery or some other kind, but he is done for this season, and probably part of next year.

— NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans fired GM David Griffin Monday; they went 209-263 while he was the GM, during which time they traded Anthony Davis and drafted Zion Williamson, who has played  in only 45% of the Pelicans’ games in his career.

— Phoenix Suns fired coach Mike Budenholzer after only one season, after he signed up for five years, $50M last year, so he gets $40M to take a hike.

Suns were 36-46 this year, after making the playoffs the last four seasons; next year the Suns will have their fourth head coach in four years.

Budenholzer is 576-411 as an NBA head coach, 56-48 in playoff games. He won an NBA title with the Bucks four years ago. Maybe the problem wasn’t him.

— NBA playoffs start tonight, with pair of play-in games: 

Hawks @ Orlando
Grizzlies @ Golden State

— TV recommendation: Your Friends & Neighbors, with John Hamm— A hedge fund manager loses his job, then resorts to burglary, targeting wealthy neighbors to maintain his family’s lifestyle. The first episode was on Prime Video last week; too early to tell for sure, but that episode was very good.

— Famous birthdays, April 15th:
Julie Sommars, 85
Ted Kwalick, 78
Michael Cooper, 69
Emma Thompson, 66
Jeromy Burnitz, 56

Brock Huard, 49
Seth Rogen, 43
Antonio Cromartie, 41
Danny Jansen, 30
Eury Perez, 22

— Pirates 10, Nationals 3
Pittsburgh came into this game hitting .184 as a team, 16 points worse than any other team, but they had 14 hits in this game, in support of Paul Skenes.

Other teams with cruddy batting averages thru Sunday’s games:
.200 Reds
.201 White Sox
.208 Rangers

— Tigers 9, Brewers 1
Tarik Skubal allowed only four hits in seven shutout IP.
Detroit is 10-6, leads AL Central by 1.5 games.

— Rays 16, Red Sox 1
Tampa Bay led 14-1 in the third inning; rough night if you have Tanner Houck on your fantasy team- he gave up 12 runs in 2.1 IP. 12 of the 20 batters he faced scored. Last time a Red Sox pitcher gave up 12 runs in a game was in 1962, long time ago.

Kameron Misner homered twice for Tampa Bay.

— Giants 10, Phillies 4
2B Tyler Fitzgerald went 3-for 4, with a double, triple, home run— he scored three runs, knocked in three more.

Giants scored six runs in the second inning, off of Taijuan Walker.

— Braves 8, Blue Jays 4
Austin Riley homered twice, knocked in five runs.
Only second win in 11 road games for Atlanta.

— Mets 5, Twins 1
Minnesota is 5-12, tied for their worst start in team history, thru 17 games.
Twins score 2 or fewer runs in nine of their 17 games.
Juan Soto homered for the Mets.

— Dodgers 5, Padres 3
Ohtani/Betts both homered for the Dodgers.
Dustin May allowed three baserunners, one run in six IP.
Colorado has lost four games in a row, is now 3-13.

— Don’t get a lot of thunderstorms at 1am in April, but that’s what is going on here as I type this; of course, there was an earthquake in California, too. Weird weather. 

— Diamondbacks 5, Brewers 4
Milwaukee led 4-0 in the ninth inning; Arizona scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth for the dramatic win.

Milwaukee starting pitcher Chad Patrick threw 4.1 scoreless innings (77 PT) but they took him out in the fifth inning, after he struck out the leadoff hitter in the inning.

This is a stupid analytics thing that says pitchers shouldn’t face the same hitters three times in a game. Patrick allowed a run in 10 IP in his first two starts, both Milwaukee wins. How do you know if a guy is going to be really good unless you give him the chance?

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

— Reds 5, Pirates 2
Elly De La Cruz hit a grand slam on his bobblehead day.
Andrew Abbott gave up a run in 5 IP, in his 2025 debut.

— Braves 5, Rays 4
Tampa Bay led 2-0 after the sixth inning.
Michael Harris hit a 2-run homer for the Braves in the ninth inning.
First road win nine nine tries for Atlanta this season.

— A’s 3, Mets 1
Jacob Wilson has a 15-game hitting streak to start the season, the longest by an Oakland player to start a season, since Stan Javier in 1994.

A’s bullpen got 11 outs, allowed only two baserunners, no runs.

— Angels 4, Astros 1
Tyler Anderson didn’t allow a hit in the first five innings.
Astros loaded the bases with three walks in 4th inning, but didn’t score.
Angels are off to a 9-5 start; Houston is only 6-8.

— Orioles 5, Blue Jays 4
Toronto led 3-0 in the fifth inning.
Former Oriole Anthony Santander homered for the Blue Jays.
Baltimore turned five double plays in the game.

— Phillies 4, Cardinals 1
Cristopher Sanchez allowed one run in 6.1 IP
Phillies turned four double plays in the first five innings.
Nick Castellanos went 3-4, with two RBI

— Famous birthdays, April 13th:
Dennis Thurman, 69
Quinn Early, 60
Ricky Schroder, 55
Bo Outlaw, 54
Dan Campbell, 49

Baron Davis, 46
Quentin Richardson, 45
Hunter Pence, 42
Melvin Gordon, 32
Edward Cabrera, 27

— Former Tennessee Vols QB Nico Iamaleava will be in the transfer portal a few days from now, trying to earn more than the $2M Tennessee was paying him (Oregon has apparently already turned him down).

It is a free country; he can transfer if he likes, but my question is this— down the road, when it is time for him to go to the NFL and the big $$$, will this BS hang over his head like a dark cloud? Will teams be queasy about making him the key person in their organization? 

Maybe it won’t, maybe it will; I’m asking.

I always think of the Al Pacino speech in Any Given Sunday:
“………..You’re a goddamn quarterback! You know what that means? It’s the top spot, kid. It’s the guy who takes the fall. It’s the guy everybody’s looking at first – the leader of a team – who will support you when they understand you. Who will break their ribs and their noses and their necks for you, because they believe. ‘Cause you make them believe. That’s a quarterback.”

It is a fair question; if Tennessee had to play a game today, they’d only have two scholarship QB’s on their roster, so they’re going to have to poach at least one QB (probably more) from another team over the next four months, and those QB’s won’t have much time to develop chemistry with their new teammates.

— New Orleans Saints’ QB Derek Carr has a shoulder injury, his 2025 season may already be in jeopardy. Right now, the other QB’s on the New Orleans roster are Spencer Rattler, Jake Haener and Ben DiNucci.

Here’s the biggest part of that problem: in 2026, Carr has a $69M salary cap hit, with a $60M dead cap number, and now there’s a chance he’ll never play again.

Oy.

— Random NFL record: Brandon Marshall holds the NFL record for most passes caught in a game; he caught 21 passes for 200 yards and 2 TD’s in the Broncos 28-16 loss at Indianapolis, back in 2009.

— When Nebraska won the Crown college basketball tournament in Las Vegas couple weeks ago, their award for winning was $300K in NIL money for their program. Central Florida lost in the championship game; their program got $100K in NIL money.

— Getting back quickly to the football transfer thing, if a player wants to be eligible this year, he cannot transfer from one SEC team to another— they have a rule against that.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Phil/NYM, Cubs, Padres. Wild Cards: Giants, Dodgers, Phil/NYM
AL: New York, Tigers, Texas/LAA. Wild Cards: Tex/LAA, Guardians, Blue Jays

— Thursday in Kansas City, umpire Mark Ripperger worked a perfect game behind the plate; he called 136 pitches, all of them correctly. Pretty awesome, very unusual.

In case you were wondering, he called 89 balls, 47 strikes.

— Mariners 5, Rangers 3
Cal Raleigh hit the decisive 2-run homer in the 8th inning.
Corey Seager is 0 for his last 28 against Seattle.

— Dodgers 3, Cubs 0
Tommy Edman’s 3-run homer were the game’s only runs.
Yamamoto allowed two hits in seven shutout innings.
Dodgers are 7-0 at home. 

— Rays 6, Braves 3
Danny Jansen homered, knocked in four runs.
Bradley allowed one run in six IP.
Braves are off to a horrendous 3-10 start.

— Giants 9, New York 1 (5)
San Francisco scored five runs in the first inning.
Game was called on count of rain in the sixth inning.
Giants won nine of their last eleven games.

— Tigers 7, Twins 6
Minnesota led 4-1 after five innings.
Dillon Dingler went 3-5 with an RBI, also scored a run.
Twins lost five of their last six games. 

— Cardinals 2, Phillies 0
Pallante threw 7 shutout IP, allowed only four baserunners.
Last two nights, Phillies were 0-15 with runners in scoring position.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
NL- Mets, Brewers, Padres Wild Cards- Dodgers, Giants, Phillies
AL-  Blue Jays, Tigers, Rangers Wild Cards- Angels, Guardians, New York

— Famous birthdays, April 12th:
Mike Garrett, 81
Ed O’Neill, 79
Jerry Tagge, 75

Andy Garcia, 69
Devlin Hodges, 29
Paul LoDuca, 53

Brad Miller, 49
Claire Danes, 46
Cade Povich, 25

— Word of the Day– Integrity- the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.

These days, our country needs more integrity. A lot more.

— Not a lot of happy news these days; the QB for the Tennessee Vols, Nico Iamaleava, skipped spring practice Friday; apparently he wants a raise in his NIL deal from $2M/year to $4M. This is for a college QB who has started for one year; they lost 41-17 to Ohio State in the first round of the college football playoff last fall.

Just stop calling it “college football”; give it a new name, a lower level version of the NFL. Have the players sign contracts, like the NFL guys do.

— Problem is, this likely will have a domino effect; if Iamaleava bolts Tennessee, then the Vols have to poach someone else’s QB and so on and so forth, until Coastal Carolina or Nevada loses its QB, all because Iamaleava is a greedy, disloyal human.

— Lucas Giolito, Jack Flaherty, Max Fried are all major league pitchers; they also all pitched on the same high school team, Harvard-Westlake in Los Angeles, in 2012. The pitching coach for that high school team was Ethan Katz, now the pitching coach for the Chicago White Sox.

— Speaking of a different Harvard, their point guard Evan Nelson will play for Arizona next year; Ivy League players can’t take redshirt years, and Nelson didn’t play in 2023-24, so he had to transfer in order to keep playing.

This past season, Nelson scored 9.1 ppg; he is from Tucson, so he’s coming home to finish his college career.

— Cleveland Browns signed 40-year Joe Flacco to be one of their QB’s next season; Flacco started six games for the Colts last year, throwing for 1,761 yards. His won-loss record in his 17-year NFL career is 115-92, 10-6 in playoff games.

Seattle Seahawks are expected to sign QB Drew Lock to back up newly-acquired Sam Darnold after Lock started five games for the Giants last year. Lock started two games for Seattle back in 2023, after starting 24 games for Denver before that. 

— Was pretty cool to see the reception Luka Doncic got when he returned to Dallas Wednesday night. Doncic played for Dallas for 6.5 years, was traded to the Lakers February 2nd, in a trade rattled the Interweb when it happened.

Wednesday, Doncic scored 45 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, had 6 assists; Lakers were +26 with him on the floor, in a 112-97 LA win.