— 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.
