37 thoughts on “June 26, 2017: First Place Again”

    1. Me either. I wish I had--I'd have listened on occasion. Maury Wills was one of my heroes when I was a little kid.

  2. Per Marc Stein:

    League sources say Minnesota, in the wake of the Jimmy Butler deal, remains intent on trading Ricky Rubio as it searches for more shooting.

      1. Rubio is good at that. He's also good at lots of other things, especially in not getting traded when all the useless sports reporters tweet that he'll be traded. I look forward to "league sources" being wrong... again.

      2. With Rubio and Jimmy Butler playing together, the Wolves would have a backcourt that were both in the top 10 in steals last year. The only team to have 2 players with more steals last year would be Golden State (Draymond Green and Steph Curry).

        1. and one would hope that with Rubio running the break with Butler, Wiggy, and KAT as trailer, they would not need so much outside shooting. Showtime Winter Carnival!

  3. So Aquinas has been playing ball for the first time this year. He is not good. He does much better in practice, both with me and his coaches, than in games. But he's trying hard.

    He scored his first run a couple games ago (he was extremely excited about that), and last night he made a really nice play in right field. Indeed, the ball was hit hard on a line, bounced once, and he caught it against his body (because he got his body in front of the ball, even though it was scorched!), and then threw to first to get the runner. So yeah, he managed to throw a runner out at first from right field.

    The joy he felt... that'll get him coming back next year.

      1. Heh. As he ran in from the field he turned to the stands and gave me a thumbs up. The other parents seemed to appreciate it too.

        Also, the half inning before I had to tell him not to stand in the left handed batters box, so... he seems to be a fan favorite.

        1. Heh.

          I remember how afraid I was of the ball when I was a youngster. We used to play pickup games at the elementary school yard* -- I would go with my brother (4 years older) and they would stick me in right field when they needed someone. Right field was a VERY short HR porch. Anywho, I accidentally caught a fly ball one day. Big, proud moment.

          Eventually, I became the Big Bad. In Spamtown, there was no Little League. We had "Club League" and "Junior Club League", where the teams were sponsored by Elks, Eagles, American Legion, Knights of Columbus, etc. (I was on Eagles teams throughout). Junior Club League spans ages from like 4th grade through 8th, and I have a summer birthday. So, while most of the kids in my grade were promoted to senior Club League the summer before 9th grade, I and my best buddy and a few others were left behind that summer.

          Now, I was almost 6 feet tall and weighed about 160 lbs that summer, pitching fast-pitch baseball on what were essentially softball diamonds (much shorter distance to the mound than 60'6", albeit flat). To kids who were, in many cases, still 4-5 years away from puberty. And I had a big arm. My dad says that I struck just a wee bit of fear into a lot of the batters (luckily, I had really good control).

          *our elementary school yard was blacktop, this being the Big City and all. My brother, the genius that he was, once broke his arm while sliding into a base. Who voluntarily slides on blacktop?

          1. I remember my younger brother playing 4th grade ball in a 4th, 5th, and 6th grade kid pitch league. The pitchers were ALWAYS 6th graders, and my brother was already terrified of getting hit by the ball. He struck out all but a handful of at bats that season, but he did hit a walkoff triple one game and got absolutely mobbed by his teammates. Fun stuff.

            1. I was similarly afraid throughout those years. I was a late year birthday, and already small, so compared to so many kids...

              It took me until about 7th grade before I started to get over that, and it wasn't until 8th and 9th grade that I developed any real ability to hit It was far too late by then.

      1. Thought about that too...but I did play my share of right field, and didn't think I was too bad. Throwing kids out at first was always a goal.

        1. Yeah, being left handed, my options were limited when I wasn't pitching or playing first. Right field was fun for the exact reason you mention.

  4. I made the mistake of tuning into local sports radio this morning. Discussion topic: Twins in first place? Nope. Twolves trade? Nope. Mets minor leaguer? Yes!

    1. I don't get the same local sports radio stations down here, and I never actually turn to the radio when driving, but I think I'm still going to go in and disconnect the antenna tonight, just in case.

    1. Another item Nintendo will underproduce thus me not having a chance to buy one unless I want to pay double or triple the price on the secondary market.

      1. From Nintendo:

        We aren’t providing specific numbers, but we will produce significantly more units of Super NES Classic Edition than we did of NES Classic Edition.

        They produced 2.3 million NES Classic units. Hopefully that's going to be closer to 23 million than 2.3 million.

    2. When does the line start forming. I can work from there as long as they have wifi.
      My "turning 40" wishlist just keeps getting better. First Foo Fighters coming to Champaign, now this.

  6. Chris Herrmann, batting .182 with an OBP of .280, is batting leadoff for Arizona today. This being baseball, he naturally led off the first inning with a home run.

      1. Yeah. Whoever heard of a backup catcher playing left field?

        And then he takes a bases-loaded walk in his next plate appearance.

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