Category Archives: football

Sports; Thoughts on Pitchers’ Arms and a Lead Foot; Some Playoff Talk, Etc.

Posted on by
Reply

By Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor

(Arms)—-The human body was not designed to throw a baseball 100 mph, or throw a baseball overhand at all. And an awful lot of pitchers have scars on shoulders and elbows to prove it.

Here is what you will never see in baseball;  A pitcher who throws 25 innings in four games in two days, gives up only two earned runs, on only fifteen hits, and strikes out 24 batters.

Oh—and throws 364 pitches, as Laurin Krings did last weekend.

The human arm swings back and forth from the shoulder, and Laurin Krings demonstrated the body’s natural design for throwing things as she led the Missouri women’s softball team back through the loser’s bracket of the NCAA regional tournament. Missouri surprisingly lost its first game of the tournament, to Omaha, and then had to win four straight, including two against Omaha to advance to the super regional.

Krings threw two games on Saturday and two more on Sunday, including the final game that went into extra innings before the Tigers scored a run in the ninth to move on, 1-0.

The Super Regional is a best-of-three series between Missouri, the seventh seed and tenth-seed Duke.  The first game is Friday.  The second game is Saturday. A third game, if needed, will be Sunday. ESPN2 is broadcasting the games.

(Playoff Bound)—Post-season play is growing near for the first season of the United Football League and the St. Louis Battlehawks have locked down their place.  Their come-from-behind 26-21 win over the D. C. Defenders last weekend guarantees they’ll play for the XFL Conference championship on June 9.

The Defenders had taken a 21-20 lead into the closing minutes but the Battlehawks road the hands and legs of running back Wayne Gallman to the winning TD with two minutes left.  Gallman accounted for all of the 44 yards in the closing drive, with six rushing yards and a 38-yard reception, the longest play from scrimmage by either team all afternoon. He got the game-winning touchdown from one yard out, finishing with a team-leading 80 yards rushing.

The Battlehawks called on backup quarterback Manny Wilkins because starter A. J. McCarron is still recovering from the ankle injury suffered against Birmingham the week earlier.

Wilkins had not started a game since 2018 when he was playing for Arizona State.  He said afterward he felt “super comfortable” with the start. He passed for 126 yards and scrambled for 79 more yards on a dozen carries.

Next up for the Battlehawks: The Arlington Renegades, next Saturday morning, our time, in Arlington, Texas.  Its their last road game. They’ll finish up at home the next weekend and then move to the playoffs.  St. Louis is 6-2, the same record as the San Antonio Brahmas, their likely opponent in the divisional championship game.  St. Louis beat San Antonio earlier in the season. The Arlington Renegades are 1-8, last in the division.

The ‘Hawks are likely to be playing the Brahmas two weeks in a row.  They finish the regular season against them at home, then will have to beat them in the championship game to go to the UFL championship game, which will be played in the St. Louis Dome.

(BASEBALL)—Familiar story for the week.  The Royals continue to play steady, hopeful, baseball.  The Cardinals show some flashes but pessimism is traveling with them as they head for June.

(THE LOU)—If you can’t play well, you might at least LOOK good.

The Cardinals will become the latest major league team to unveil their “City Connect” uniforms next Friday against the Cubs.  So what’s a “city connect” uniform?

It’s a promotional gimmick that Nike is doing for MLB teams—uniforms distinctly different from the usual home outfits. They are “designed to reflect cultural aspects of each team’s home city, says one source we checked. The Cardinals are one of the last to show their cultural look. (By seasons end only two teams will no have donned these new duds—the Yankees, who just don’t do that kind of thing, y’know, and the Oakland Athletics, whose “cultural aspects” are in limbo because they’re moving from Oakland to Las Vegas.

Here’s the hottest new item in the team store, and undoubtedly coming to a shopping mall near you that sells sports-themed goodies:

This will be only the second time in the Cardinals’ 142-year history that they have worn red jerseys in a regular season game. The only other time was on August 28, 1999 when they wore red jerseys for their “Shirts Off Their Backs” promotion.  The ‘Birds will wear the special jerseys a dozen times this season.

The phrase “The Lou” refers, of course, to the city but it also is a reference to hometown rapper Nelly, who uses the phrase in talking about his home town. The caps are supposed to be reminiscent of the way the team looked in 1921.

The Cardinals started this week with a 6-3 win against the Orioles last night. Michael Siani’s first major league home run drove in the three runs that dictated the outcome.  Sonny Gray had a no-hitter into the sixth inning and ran his record to 6-2

Baltimore went into the game 29-15; the Cardinals went in at 20-26, no longer in the basement of the NL Central despite splitting their last ten games. Cincinnati had gone 3-7 during that span, falling a game and a half behind St. Louis.

The Redbirds have won six of their last eight after a seven-game losing streak. But they have been at .500 for only one day this season and no longer go into games with the fans’ expectation that they will win it.

(ROYALS)—Somehow, we missed the big unveil of the Royals’ new duds a year ago:

These outfits are loaded with cultural links to Kansas City.  The caps and the logo on the left side of the jersey represents the city’s famous fountains.  The two-tone blue of the shirts represent the traditional Royals colors as well as a salute to previous Kansas City teams—the Athletics, Monarchs, Blues, Bluestockings, and Packers, all of which have worn the darker blue. The “R” with the crown and the striping on the right sleeve recalls the team’s uniforms of the 80s. Not visible in the picture is “Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey,” sewn into the collar, honoring the team victory song written by—

Paul McCartney!!

The letter and number scripts also reflect the art deco architectural style that is seen in many downtown Kansas City buildings.

As for the guys who wear the uniforms, whatever the design, they continue to have a gratifying season with a turnaround from recent years that some fans have trouble grasping.  USA Today, which publishes weekly power rankings, has become a believer.

The newspapers Gabe Lacques writes that the Royals are up to number eight among all major league teams, their highest since the World Series of 2015. “Sure, things can still go sideways. But with Salvador Perez and Bobby Witt Jr. producing like MVPs, Seth Lugo pitching like a Cy Young winner and a young lineup in full bloom, the Royals are in the high-rent district until further notice. They’ve earned that much.”

The Royals picked up their 30th win of the year last night. The Royals scored six in the sixth and beat the Tigers 6-3.

Now, for things that travel faster than a fastball—

(INDYCAR)—In fact, the speeds are astonishing at Indianapolis again this year.

The field is set for next Sunday’s 108th running of the Indianapolis 500.

And there is a ton of stories, as there always is with this race.

Every year, speed is the number one story in the lead-up to the Indianapolis 500. This year’s field

Penske Racing, after dealing with a “scandal” that led to the suspension of three key officials for this race, the forfeiture of Josef Newgarden’s season-opening win and the loss of standings points for the other two team drivers, has rebounded with powerful performances since—including seizing the top three starting positions for the 500 next Sunday.

Scott McLaughlin, driving a car sponsor/color combination made famous by four-time winner Rick Mears, Johnny Rutherford, Al Unser Sr., and Helio Castroneves, will start on the pole—the inside of the first row—with the fastest pole qualification run in Speedway history. He turned four laps with an average of 234.220 mph to edge 2018 winner Will Power and last year’s winner, Josef Newgarden, giving Penske all three starting positions for the second time in company history.

These three constitute the second-fastest front row in race history.  Last year’s first row averaged 234.181 mph. The three drivers on this year’s front row could manage “only” 233.981.

(The fastest four-lap qualifying run in Speedway history still belongs to Arie Luyendyk, who ran 236.986 in 1996 with each lap faster than the previous one. The last one was at 237.948, covering the 2 ½ mile squared oval in less than 38 seconds. But because Luyendyk qualified on the second day instead of the first, he could not start from pole.  His pole-winning run was called by the great Tom Carnegie, whose dramatic voice on the Speedway’s public address system was a Speedway legend for decade—Here it is: Bing Videos)

The fastest single lap in Speedway history was run by Luyendyk in practice for the 1996 race. The unofficial speed record is for a lap of 239.620.

While the Penske trio will lead the field to the green flag, a lot of eyes will be on the car starting in the middle of the second row.  Kyle Larson, whose career has been on dirt tracks and in NASCAR’s big tracks, has been something to watch as he climbed into a completely different kind of car for the first time.  He quickly adapted and was a factor on the speed charts from day one. Larson recorded the fastest qualifying lap by a rookie, 233.353.  The only rookie in Speedway history with a faster four-lap average is Tony Stewart who ran the ten miles at 233.100 in 1996.  Larson’s average speed was 232.846.

All of those speeds were recorded with only the qualifying driver on the track.  On race day there will be 33 of them, 32 of which qualified at more than 230 mph. Twenty-eight of them are within three miles-per-hour of McLaughlin’s pole speed.

The average qualifying speed of all 22 cars is 231.943, slightly slower than last year’s record field speed of 232.184.

The card won’t run that fast during the race; the fastest race lap ever recorded was by Santino Ferrucci two years ago, more than 227.3 mph.

Simple recitation of these numbers cannot convey what it is like to watch these cars and drivers in person, in real time running 230 mph on a track with a mere nine degrees of banking in the corners. When Ray Harroun won the first 500 in 1911, he averaged a little bit less than 75 mph.  The record speed for the entire race is 190.7 mph, by Helio Castroneves in 2021 when he won his fourth 500.

The track architecture is unchanged from 1911. Today’s drivers cover the same distance each lap, go through four corners with no more banking than Harroun had.

Nothing is guaranteed at this track.  Eight drivers with 12 combined victories will start the race, including two-time winner Takuma Sato, who goes off tenth, and four-time winner Helio Castroneves, who starts 20th. 

Former winner Scott Dixon could no better than 21st starting position, outside of the seventh row, and the 2022 winner, Marcus Ericsson—who finished second last year—struggled to even make the race this year and got into the field in the last hour of qualifying.

(NASCAR)—The All-Star race schedule was shortened to one night at North Wilkesboro because of rain that washed out the heat races on Friday night.  Joey Logano won the million dollar top prize in the Saturday race.

NASCAR’s longest race is Sunday night in Charlotte—600 miles.  Kyle Larson plans to finish the 500 in Indianapolis and get to Charlotte in time for the 600.

(FORMULA 1)—Max Verstappen had to work hard to get this one.  Lando Norris, driving for the resuscitated McLaren team, challenged him at the Imola Grand Prix and finished only seven-tenths of a second back.

Verstappen started from pole for the eighth straight race, which ties a record and won for the fifth time in seven races this year.

(Photo Credits: MU Athletic Department, Cardinals, Royals, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Rick Gevers)

Sports: Mizzou Chases a World Series Win; Cardinals get a win; Battlehawks Outbattled; and One Guy’s May 

Posted on by
Reply

By Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor

(MIZ)—The University of Missouri softball team enters the NCAA post-season tournament as the overall seventh seed, earning a home field regional tournament slot. They’ll play thefourth-seeded University of Omaha Friday afternoon in Columbia.

Omaha is 41-13.  The Lady Tigers are 43-15 after losing the SEC championship to Florida.  Indiana, the number two seed, and Washington, seeded third, also will be playing in Columbia. It’s a double-elimination tournament.

If Missouri wins it will be the host team in the super regional round, facing the winner of the Durham Regional that includes South Carolina, Morgan State, Utah, and Duke, the tenth seed. (ZOU)

(BASEBALL)—A bad week for the Cardinals and what is becoming a typical week for the Royals.

(ROYALS)—The off-season moves by the Kansas City Royals continue to make the front office appear to be brilliant strategists and buyers as the season reaches the one-fourth mark.   The Royals finished their week eight games above .500 and only one-half game out of first place thanks to a sparkling 12-strikeout performance against the Angels on Mother’s Day by Seth Lugo.  Lugo lasted eight innings and gave up one earned run in a 4-2 Royals win. Seventy-seven of his 112 pitches were strikes as he kept the Angels off the scoreboard until the sixth inning.

Manager Matt Quatraro says getting a dozen strikeouts on only 112 pitchers was “really remarkable.”

His performance has made him the American League ERA leader at 1.66.

(CARDINALS)—If the Royals’ front office seems brilliant for its offseason moves, the Cardinals front office continues to draw scornful looks from fans and media observers for what it did.  And it appears President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak knows he might be on even less firm ground that manager Oli Marmol. During an interview Sunday on the Cardinals’ flagship radion station, KMOX, Mozeliak said he understood fans are not happy with him or with Marmol. “I think we have to just keep trying to go back, trying to get this to work….We understand that if it doesn’t, people are going to be held accountable and ultimately that starts with me.”

A few hours later, the Cardinals finally beat the Brewers on Mother’s Day to close out the week eight games UNDER .500.  Ryan Helsley, who hadn’t pitched in eight days, got the save in a 4-3 Redbird win.  That ended an eight-game losing streak stretching to last year against the Brewers.

Paul Goldschmidt had a pair of hits, including a home run, to break a 1-for-34 streak.

Cardinals’ starter Miles Mikolas staggered through the first inning, giving up all three Brewers runs on 42 pitches, before settling down and needing only 53 more pitches to shut down Milwaukee through the next five innings.

The Cardinals have won only two of their last ten games.

0-0-0

The ‘Birds got some discouraging news about Willson Contreras’ broken arm during the weekend. It had been thought he’d be gone for about eight weeks but the new prognosis is for him to be missing for about ten.

He was the team’s leading hitter, with a .280 batting average when he went out. Backup Ivan Herrera is hitting .263.

(Battlehawks)—The St. Louis Battlehawks and the Birmingham Stallions went into their weekend game with combined records of 11-1, the Stallions having the unblemished record.

And they still do—but it was a nail-biter.

St. Louis got a team-record 61-yard field goal from Andrew Smyzt to stay within three of the Stallions at the half, and took a 20-17 lead into the fourth quarter—the first time all season Birmingham had trailed going into the last quarter. But Birminghan got the final score on a touchdown pass from Adrian Martinez to Kevin Austin Jr., with 5:23 left, the sixth lead change of the game.

The ‘Hawks, down 30-26, got the ball back on a blocked punt with 40 seconds left, 47 yards from the end zone. But they couldn’t finish a final drive and left for home with a 5-2 record, tied with the San Antonio Brahmas for the lead in the XFL Division. St. Louis, however, has a tie-breaker win in San Antonio.

Quarterback A. J. McCarron hobbled to the sidelines with an ankle injury late in the fourth quarter after taking a low and late hit. He returned to finish the game but was limping perceptibly.  Coach Anthony Becht told reporters yesterday that he doesn’t know yet if McCarron can play next weekend against the D. C. Defenders. He says McCarron will be evaluated day-to-day.

Speeding right along—

(IndyCar)—It’s May and that means racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Practice begins today for the Indianapolis 500 with 34 cars competing for the 33 starting spots in the race Memorial Day Weekend. Qualifying is set for next weekend.

But first, there was the traditional May-opening race on the road course.

Indianapolis, IN – during the INDYCAR Sonsio Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Photo by Joe Skibinski | IMS Photo)

Defending series champion Alex Palou started from the pole and raced to a 6.6-second win ahead of Will Power, going back-to-back in the May road course race.  But the race was far more intense than that, with eight drivers seeing the lead and fourteen lead changes—including the first lap when Christian Lundgaard, who started third, grabbed the lead from Palou early on the first lap.

Lundgard led 35 of the first 42 laps but was third at the end. Palou led the last 23 laps. Lundgard was third, ahead of Scott Dixon and Marcus Armstrong.

The win puts Palou into the points lead again, up twelve on Power who has three second-place finishes in four races this year.

It was a solid day for Chip Ganassi racing, whose cars finished first, fourth and fifth. Palou’s win is the third straight for Ganassi on the Indianapolis road course. Scott Dixon won the fall race last year.

Power had the best finish of the three Penske team drivers. Scott McLaughlin finished sixth after starting thirteenth and Josef Newgarden, who started fourth, fell back to seventeenth at the end.  Penske’s teams were short some personnel who have been suspended for the month’s races because of the push-to-pass controversy at St. Petersburg.

Colton Herta, who started the race as the points leader, had a difficult day, starting 24th because he ran out of gas while qualifying and then being bumped off the track by teammate Marcus Ericsson early in the race, dropped to fourth in the standings although he rallied back to seventh. Ericsson wound up sixteenth.

(Doing the Double)—The most closely watched driver in today’s two practice sessions (weather permitting) will be Kyle Larson, who will try to coordinate qualifying at Indianapolis next Saturday with the NASCAR All-Star Race that night at North Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

Larson hopes to run the full 500 and then fly to Charlotte for NASCAR’s annual Memorial Day 600 mile race that night.

Friday is the first day he’ll be challenged to wear two hats, or helmets.  IndyCar practice is scheduled for noon-6 p.m. Practice in Noth Wilkesboro for the All-Star Race is scheduled from 4-4:50 p.m. with qualifying going from 5:50-7 p.m. His team has lined up newly-retired Kevin Harvick to practice and qualify his car Friday night, if needed.

If Larson and his IndyCar team are satisfied on Friday with the way he’s running, he could leave Indianapois early enough to get to North Carolina.

Saturday is more complicated by the qualifying procedures at Indianapolis. Qualifying on Saturday starts at 11 a.m. and goes to 5:50 p.m.  Drivers can try to improve their starting position with additional qualifying runs. At some point, Larson and his team will have to decide when he will or or if he will go to North Wilkesboro for qualifying there.

Sunday will be another challenge.  If Larson is one of the twelve fastest qualifiers, he’ll be part of a shootout scheduled for 3:05-4:05 Sunday.  If he is one of the six fastest drivers in that contest, he’ll be part of a second shootout from 5:25-5:55 to determine who will start from the pole and the starting positions for the first two rows on race day.

The NASCAR All-Star Race starts at 8 p.m.  He should be able to make the start even if he’s part of the fast six shootout. Flight time, Indianapolis to North Wilkesboro is about an hour.

Then there’s race day.

(All of these times are Eastern Daylight Savings times, by the way.)

Hendrick Motorspots, his NASCAR team, has made it clear that Larson’s top priority on Memorial Day Sunday is the Charlotte 600-mile race that night.

If the Indianapolis 500 starts on time and has no serious interruptions, it should be over in plenty of time for Larson to make it to Charlotte for the 6 p.m. start of the NASCAR race.

But if the 500 start is delayed or if the race is interrupted by weather or on-track events that endanger his ability to start the race in Charlotte, he’ll park his McLaren car in Indianapolis and head east. He told reporters last weekend he’s not sure who will make the call but at a certain point, “I have to leave because the 600 is the priority and chasing another championship is the priority.”

Recently retired IndyCar driver Tony Kanaan is a standby driver for the 500 but he’ll only drive the McLaren entry if the start of the race is delayed long enough that Larson has to leave for Charlotte.

Kanaan cannot replace Larson in the car once the race has begun. IndyCar rules prohibit relief drivers. If Larson has to leave for Charlotte while the 500 is still underway, the car will be parked and he will be scored in the standings on the basis of the number of laps he ran.

The hope, of course, is that those race-day contingencies don’t need to be used and Kyle Larson will become the fifth driver to compete in both of those major races on th same day.  John Andretti was the first to try, in 1997.  Tony Stewart did it twice, 1999 and 2001. Robby Gordon tried The Double in 2002 and the next year, and Kurt Busch did it in 2014.

Nobody has won either of the races the year they did the double.  Tony Stewart was 9th in the 500 and 4th in the 500 in 1999 then was sixth in the 500 and third in the 600 in 2001; Kurt Busch was sixth in both races in 2014.

(NASCAR)—Brad Keselowski’s long dry spell is over.

Keselewski finally picked up his 36th NASCAR Cup victory at Darlington after 110 races without seeing victory lane. The win is the first for a Ford this year and his first win as a part-owner of Roush-Fenway-Keselowski Racing.

The race’s intensity, which would spill over into the pits after the checkered flag, picked up as Keselowsky, pole-winner Tyler Reddick, and Chris Buescher fought for the win during the last thirty laps.

Keselowski and Reddick raced each other door-to-door after the final restart on the 261st lap of the 293 lap race. Their heated battle allowed Buescher to get past both of them three laps later, shortly before Reddick was able to get ahead of Keselowski and start chasing down Buescher.

With nine laps left Reddick tried to go inside of Buescher but couldn’t hold his car low and took Buescher with him into the wall as he slid up the track.

That left the door open for Keselowski, who held off Ty Gibbs by 1.2 seconds at the end.

While Keselowski was celebrating on the track, Buescher was unloading on Reddick in the pits. “We got wrecked. That one’s clear as day. Don’t need any cameras to tell us,” he told Reddick. Reddick’s move, he said, “is just something you know isn’t going to work.”

Reddick readily admitted he fouled up. ““I I made a really aggressive move and was hoping I was going to clear him. When I realized I wasn’t going to, I tried to check up to not slide up into him, but, yeah, I wish I wouldn’t have done that. I completely understand why he is that mad. He did nothing wrong…Just trying to win the race, and to take myself out—that’s one thing—I can live with that, but just disappointed it played out the way that it did, and I took him out of the race as well.”

While one streak ended, another continued.  Denny Hamlin led one lap, his seventeenth race in a row in which he has led at least once.

(Photo Credits: MU; Joe Skibinski-IMS, Bob Priddy)

 

 

Getting their Chances: Getting a Big Win; Two So-So Weeks in Baseball; and the Fast Stuff 

Posted on by
Reply

By Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor

(MIZ)—The NFL was paying attention to the Missouri Tigers in 2023, evidenced by the dozen players either drafted or signed as undrafted free agents.

Six players were drafted, the most since 2009 and only one short of the record set in 1981.

Defensive Lineman Darius Robinson was a first-rounder, the 27th pick, by Arizona; Cornerback Ennis Rakestraw was a second rounder, picked by Detroit; Linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper went to Green Bay in the third round and Javon foster was Jacksonville’s pick in the fourth round.  Jaylon Carlisle (Colds), and Kris Abrams Draine (Denver) were fifth round picks.

Corey Schrader was quickly picked up by the 49ers as an undrafted free agent.  The Carolina Panthers will give kicker Harrison Mevis a look. The Jets are interested in offensive lineman Marcellus Johnson while the Buccaneers have signed Xavier Delgado, another offensive lineman. And running back Nate Pete has signed with the Dallas Cowboys. The Detroit Lions have invited defensive lineman Josh Landry to their rookie mini-camp.

Four guys are hoping somebody will call: Defensive lineman Realus George jr., defensive end Nyles Gaddy, Linebacker Chad Bailey, and linebacker Ben Straatmann. (ZOU)

(BATTLEHAWKS)—The St. Louis Battlehawks made the fourth quarter a nightmare for the DC Defenders during the weekend, handing the Defenders their first home lost in their four seaons in the XFL and, now, the UFL.

The ‘Hawks led only 17-12 at the half but capitalized on the Defenders’ two fourth-down failures, a blocked punt, an interception, and a fumble to bury DC 45-12, the most lopsided victory in Battlehawks history.

The ‘Hawks blew the game open with about nine minutes left when Quarterback A. J. McCarron hit Hakeem Butler for an 80-yard touchdown pass.  It’s the longest play in the UFL this year and the longest scoring play in the Battlehawks’ history.

(BASEBALL)—Our two MLB teams had 4-6 weeks, the Royals losing three in a row.  The Cardinals missed a chance to reach .500 with a 12th-inning loss on Sunday to the Mets. Former Cardinals center fielder Harrison Bader drove in the tying run and scored the winner in a 4-2 Mets victory.

The Royals have moved to Detroit for a midweek series. They’re still four games above .500.

Need Speed?

(INDYCAR)—IndyCar got the race it needed at Barber Motorsports Park last weekend after a tough week that saw three drivers for the sport’s leading team penalized for having the push-to-pass mechanism in the year’s first race.

Josef Newgarden’s season-opening win at St. Petersburg was taken away as was the third-place finish by teammate Scott McLaughlin. Their third teammate, Will Power, was fined but he was not disqualified. Pato O’Ward has been given the St. Petersburg victory.

Newgarden and McLaughlin used the push-to-pass button, which should have been disabled, during the race.  The button increases engine power for a few seconds in passing situations. It had been used in recent testing and was supposed to have been removed for the race.

Both drivers said they did not realize they were not supposed to have that capability.

The fact that the problems occurred with Team Penske only increased the embarrassment throughout the sport and cast a shadow over IndyCar in the days leading to last weekend’s race. Team owner Roger Penske also owns IndyCar and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His teams for decades have been known for their strict professional discipline and ultra-high race organization and preparation. The situation revealed a crack in that perfection and several competitors were quick to react.

Newgarden and McLaughlin said they were not aware they could not use the P2P button. Newly-crowned St. Petersburg winner Pato O’Ward appreciated Newgarden taking one for the team but “I truly feel like him taking the fall for something that he needs a team of people to help with…I think it’s a bit unfair to him.”

But Colton Herta, who drives for Andretti Global and who finished third in the revised standings from the St. Petersburg race, was less forgiving. He flatly called Newgarden’s comments “a lie.”

Newgarden, whom some might regard as a physical embodiment of the Penske image, was emotional when he met with reporters before the race last weekend. He struggled with his composure as he denied being “a liar,” and apologized for the incidents. “I’ve worked my entire career to hold myself to a very high standard and clearly I’ve fallen very short of that in this respect. It’s a difficult thing to wrestle with…It’s crushing…I don’t ant that win on my books, either. If it was tainted, I don’t want to be near it. Unfortunately, it is.”

“You can call me every name in the book; you can call me incompetent, call me an idiot…call me stupid…but I’m not a liar,” he said.

Newgarden went out afterward and topped the Friday practice speeds but could not match those numbers in qualifying. He started eighth and finished sixteenth in the race.

The closely-contested race that featured a lot of close, sometimes too-close, competition went to McLaughlin, with Power chasing him at the end.  McLaughlin led 58 of the 90 laps on the 2.3-mile road course and cranked out the hottest lap of the day at more than 122 mph.

Herta, who finished eighth, retained the series points lead by one over Power.

IndyCar moves to Indianapolis now for the leadup to the Indianapolis 500, starting with a race on the infield road course on May 11.

0-0-0

McLaren driver David Malukas is now a FORMER McLaren driver. He’s been released because his wrist injuries from a pre-season mountain biking incident still has not healed sufficiently to allow him to drive.

Malukas signed a contract last September hurt himself in February.

McLaren has used substitute drivers for the first four races but says it needs someone in the seat permanently.

0-0-0

Longtime IndyCar driver and official Wally Dallenbch has died at age 87.  He stated in 13 Indianapolis 500s. His best finishes were a air of fourths in 1976-77. After hanging up hishelmet, he served as competition director and chief steward for about 25 years of CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) after its split from IndyCar.

(NASCAR)—Win number three for Denny Hamlin this year, this one coming at Dover.  He beat series points leader Kyle Larson by .256 second. Hamlin’ win, his 54th, ties him with the legendary Lee Petty.

0-0-0-0

Newly-retired Kevin Harvick will be back in a seat next month for NASCAR’s All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.  He’ll qualify Kyle Larson’s car whle Larson is in Indianapolis qualifying for the 500.  Larson plans to “do the double” on Memorial Day Sunday—run the 500 and then jet to Charlotte for the 600 mile race there that night.

(FORMULA1)—Formula One had the weekend off. Next up: The Grand Prix of Miami next Sunday.

The Jontay Thing

Posted on by
Reply

Just as Monday’s entry was being written came news of the tragedy of Jontay Porter, the Columbia kid, ex-MU Tiger, fringe NBA player who is the first person permanently banned from the NBA since Jack Molinas was banned 71 years ago for betting on games he played with the Fort Wayne (now Detroit) Pistons.

The Porter case is of special interest not only because of his Missouri roots but also because Missourians might be deciding whether sports betting should be legalized in our state—and what that might mean to the confidence we have in our big-time sports teams and their games.

Alex Kirschner, writing for Slate.com says Porter “did things worse than anything Pete Rose ever got up to.”

Jeff Zilgitt of USA TODAY was equally unforgiving when he wrote, “In all of Jontay Porter’s idiocy, he provided a service to other professional athletes who might consider placing bets on games in which they are direct participants or in which they have insider knowledge to provide to gamblers. It’s almost impossible to pull it off in a world of legal, regulated and monitored gambling. It’s even more impossible when you’re as blatant as the NBA says Porter was.”

Kirschner  notes that sports leagues “make a lot of money off of people betting on their games…It’s a cash grab, yes.  But from the leagues’ perspective, it’s also a payment in exchange for tolerating certain risks. Sports leagues profit from betting but they are also terrified of it.” 

 Porter, he says, committed two sins and flirted with a third.  He disclosed privileged information to bettors and manipulated in-game outcomes. In Porter’s case, he took himself out of a game early so he would not meet projected performance levels.  The third circumstance that terrifies leagues, says Kirschner is outright throwing of games. “The single easiest way to threaten a league’s multibillion-dollar business is for people to doubt that they’re watching a game left to chance…If that goes, everything could go.

Porter is only 24 years old. Kirschner says his career is in the dumpster because he has been involved in the biggest betting scandal involving a player since sports wagering was legalized in this country in 2018. “If the Black Sox were a 10 on the scandal scale,” he writes, “Porter probably is a 6 or 7.”

Zilgitt darkly predicts this will happen again. “Someone always thinks they can beat the system, and maybe someone can but not Jontay Porter and his simple attempt at trying to make extra money. It’s inevitable, just as it was inevitable it happened in the first place.” Porter, who has spent most of his pro career in the NBA’s minor league, was being paid $410,000 this year to play for the NBA’s Toronto Raptors. The league investigation says he made $22,000 on the bets he placed on the game from which he removed himself, claiming illness.

The “idiocy” that Ziglitt attributes to Porter is explained by Kirschner who writes that the kid used the gambling companies that partner with the pro leagues to place his bets—-and those bets are monitored by the leagues. “If Porter were collaborating with underground bettors and bookies, his activity would have gone undetected,” he wrote.

In Kirschner’s view, pro sports teams are just asking for this kind of problem.  Sports wagering companies are aggressively advertising their “services,” leading to greatly expanding participation in betting. He bluntly observes, “A bigger pool of bettors means a bigger pool of potential crooks. In a subtle but real way, the NBA courted the Porter scandal.”

Pro sports leagues fought against sports wagering until the U. S. Supreme Court legalized it nationwide in 2018.  Once it was legalized, the leagues had no choice but to get in bed with the betting industry.  Pessimists might be forgiven for wondering if they’ll stay on their separate sides of the bed.

And whose reputation is damaged by this scandal?  Not the gaming industry.  It’s sports and those who play them.  A player has been banished for life. Pro sports worries whether its fans think its product is genuine and honest.

Zilgitt quotes NBA Commissioner Adam Silver saying the Porter case “raises important questions about the sufficiency of the regulatory framework currently in place, including the types of bets offered on our games and players.” Zilgitt notes Silver has advocated federal regulation of sports wagering and suggests outlawing or limiting certain kinds of bets.

Not considered by either columnist is what role state regulatory agencies can play or should play in terms of disciplinary actions against casinos that handle such bets or wagering companies that process them. In this case, the hammer has fallen on the player, deservedly so, but those who took, paid, and processed his bets appear to be facing no penalties.

Missouri’s pro sports teams are gathering signatures to get a statewide vote on a constitutional amendment legalizing sports wagering.

The proposal mirrors bills introduced in this year’s legislative session that grievously disadvantage the state and the programs that rely on gambling income for their budgets.  The Missouri Gaming Commission has warned that the legislation pushed at the Capitol by gaming interests does not raise enough revenue for the commission to adequately regulate sports wagering. Nor does it do anything to punish the betting industry that produced the measley $22,000 that Porter won.

“Measley,” as in how little he gained compared to how much he has thrown away.

The Porter scandal is a tragedy for him and for sports in general.  How will Missouri voters see the issue now that one of our own has become a self-induced victim of a system we are being asked to approve?  He might be the first but nobody expects he will be the last.

If Missourians approve the proposition, will they also undermine trust in the games that they love?  How many Porters are needed before we wonder about every missed free throw, every error, every missed tackle, every overthrown pass, every wide shot on goal?

(If you want to read the full articles on which we’ve based two entries):

Jontay Porter NBA betting scheme is a lesson in stupidity (usatoday.com)

Athletes beware: Jontay Porter NBA betting scheme is a lesson in stupidity (msn.com)

Sports: Norm’s In; Going Opposite Directions; New AD on the Horizon? And a Few More

Posted on by
Reply

By Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor

(NORM)—Former Missouri Tiger basketball coach Norm Stewart finally is getting his place in the Hall of Famous Missourians at the State Capitol.  The bust will be unveiled at 1 p.m., May 1 in the House Chamber. It later will be moved to the rotunda, joining more than three dozen other busts of famous Missourians.

Stewart turned 89 in January.

His teams rang up a record of 731-375 in 38 seasons as a head coach, 634 of them at his alma mater.

(BASEBALL)—One of our teams finished last week at 13-9.  The other one finished at 9-13, with some folks remembering last year when the team started 10-24.

(KANSAS CITY)—The 13-9 record isn’t the only statistic that shows how much the Royals’ season is a turnaround from last year. Here’s another one:

The Royals were held without a run by Baltimore on Sunday, their first shutout of the year. Last year they failed to score fifteen times.  Seth Lugo took his first loss and gave up his first home runs of the year after winning three straight to start his season and not giving up a homer in 41.1 innings.

Kansas City is led this year by catcher/first-baseman Salvador Perez, who starts this week hitting .333 with six homers and Bobby Witt, Jr., at .300. The pitching is among the best in baseball with a 3.18 ERA, which normally would be an outstanding year for an individual, let alone a team.  The pitching continues to carry the team, which is batting a cumulative .237, Perez and Witt notwithstanding.

(CARDINALS)—The Cardinals on theother hand are 9-13.   Wilson Contrares has the longest hitting streak in Major League Baseball, 14 games, at the end of the playing week.  Shortstop Masyn Win and Contreras are above .300 at the plate but the ‘Birds as a team are hitting only .219. But with an offense like that, the pitching staff’s 3.95 ERA, solid thought it be in today’s game, isn’t good enough.

The Optimist Award for 2024 goes to Sonny Gray, the pitching ace who says the Cardinals are going to turn things around big-time soon. Gray is doing his part, going 2-0 without an ERA and an 11-0 strikeout to walk ratio in his first two starts. Sunday, a dozen of the 19 outs he got were strikeouts. He did give up his first walk of the year and his first home run and that was enough for the Brewers in a 2-0 shutout.

(FOOTBALL)—As we were going to press (as they used to say in the journalism biz), reports were coming out that the new Athletic Director at the University was going to be Laird Veatch, the AD at Memphis for the last five years.

It’s a return for Veatch, who supervised fund raising for the athletic deaatment, 2000=2002. He later was the general manager of Mizzou Sports Properties in 2003, coordinating external media operators for Learfield Sports, which has multimedia rights with Tiger sports teams.  His first big job, other than lining up all of the NIL deals, will be raise half of the money for the $250 million dollar make over of the north end of Memorial Stadium.

(BATTLEHAWKS)—A big offensive day for the St. Louis Battlehawks coupled with a solid offensive day gave them a 32-17 win over the Memphis Showboats and a 3-1 record. St. Louis again led the UFL in attendance with 31,575 people in the Dome.

‘Hawks quarterback A. J. McCarron threw the ball an all-time high of 45 times, completed 35 of them for 222 yards and three touchdowns. Running back Jacob Saylors rushed for 103 yards. The defense gave up only 127 yards and let Memphis convert only one of ten third and fourth down attempts.

(Playing with Engines)

(INDYCAR)—Nobody INDYCAR “makes fuel” as Scott Dixon does.  He proved it again with his win at the Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Dixon went about 50 of the race’s 85 laps without refueling and had to hold off Josef Newgarden, who was closing the gap with ten laps left before   Newgarden was hit from behind by Colton Herta’s car.Herta went on to finish second, about one second behind Dixon.

The win extends Dixon’s record of having at leat one victory to twenty consecutive years.

(NASCAR)—The “big one” didn’t happen until the field was roaring toward the checkered flag at Talladega Superspeedway. With cars crashing ahead of him, and more crashing behind him, Tyler Reddick kept his foot on the floor and steered out of harms way to the win.

The crash was triggered when pole sitter Michael McDowell tried to block Brad Keselowski but touched Keselowski’s car at 200 mph and turned into the wall.  Reddick let the wrecking cars move out of his way while he slipped Keselowski for the win.

(FORMULA 1)—Max Verstappen adds the trophy for the Chinese Grand Prix to his shelf, posting a 13 second victory over runnerup Lando Norris.

(Photo Credit: Bob Priddy)

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Stadium Thing

Posted on by
1

Here’s a sand-in-the-underwear situation for you.

Owners of our big-time sports teams—the Royals, the Chiefs, the Blues and the Cardinals (and our two pro soccer teams)—want you and me to reach into our pockets to pay major parts of the costs of building new stadia or upgrading old ones for them.

The Royals and the Chiefs overlooked a critical issue as their effort to extend the Jackson County sports tax was trounced by voters recently. The Cardinals are overlooking the same issue with reports that they will be seeking state support for the updating of Busch Stadium III (although team president Bill DeWitt III says such a report is “premature.” :

None of them has mentioned how many millions of dollars they will make from sports wagering. None of them has given any indication that they could use that money instead of taxpayer funds for their new projects.

It is a failing that might not bode well for the teams and the casinos that want to put a sports wagering proposition on the ballot later this year, a proposal that hugely disadvantages the state and the programs that years ago the casinos promised could be funded with taxes and fees from legalized gambling.

Would it not make sense to ease voter worries about city and state subsidies for stadium construction and improvements if the teams committed to using the first few years of the giant profits they expect from sports betting for their stadium projects instead of expecting a tax handout from the citizens?  

 Why should the legislature give any team that will profit from sports betting any funds from state taxpayer pockets?  Why should the legislature lessen financial support for, say, mental health services, veterans homes, education, senior services programs, and nursing home support so sports teams that soon will be divvying up hundreds of millions of dollars a year from people thinking they can consistently beat game-day odds don’t have to use those funds?

Opponents of sports wagering might be able to make a lot of hay out of this oversight by the teams and the casinos.  It’s an election year. If you are a voter, you should ask your candidates if they favor taking money away from state programs to build or maintain playing fields while the team owners and the casinos rake hundreds of millions of dollars in lost consumer bets into their pockets instead of investing them in stadium projects in their home cities?

You should ask those questions.  And if your candidate says the sports teams should be allowed to pick your pocket with a tax while lining their pockets with gambling revenues, you should look for another square on the ballot to fill in.

These two issues are joined at the hip and voters, especially those in the home areas of our major league teams, should hold their legislators and their sports teams accountable.

 

Sports: A Soccer Record; Blues Play Out the String; Battlehawks in the Fight; Daniel in the Booth?; and a Little Baseball and a Little Racing.

Posted on by
Reply

by Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor

(SOCCER)—-It’s “football” everywhere but here where it’s “soccer.”  But an American-football-sized crowd packed Arrowhead Stadium last weeend to watch a soccer game.

The crowd of 72,610 is the largest soccer crowd in Missouri history and the third-biggest crowd for a stand alone match in Major League Soccer history.

Unfortunately, the match, on the 28th anniversary of the first MLS soccer match at Arrowhead Stadium, ended poorly for Sporting Kansas City. Inter Miami beat SKC 3-2.

Soccer fans are likely to see some comparable crowds in a couple of years when Arrowhead plays host to four group stage games during the FIFA World Cup competition. It also will host a round of 32 matchup and a quarterfinal match.

(SPEAKING OF “FOOTBALL”)—Chiefs coach Andy Reid has emphasized he’s in a “wait and see “ mode when it comes to wide receiver Rashee Rice, who is in a heap of trouble in Dallas after he crashed his Lamborghini in a 120-mph freeway race with another guy. The other guy was Teddy Knox, a football player now suspended from the SMU team. Both left the scene before seeing if anyone was hurt in four other cars that got caught in the crash. Rice faces eight charges.

Reid says the Chiefs are waiting for “the law enforcement part of it to take place.”  He has talked to Rice but won’t say what was said.

The Chiefs are starting their voluntary offseason program but Rice will there only by Zoom.

Will Rice take part during in-person drills? Reid sayd the team is “just going to take it day-by-day here as we go.”

On Rice’s future involvement: “We’ll just see how it goes. I want to keep gathering the information from law enforcement people…”

Does the organization trust Rice’s decision making? “As long as he’s learning from it, that’s the important part of it. We’ll take it from there and see what takes place.”

(A FORMER CHIEF)—Chase Daniel, former Missouri Tiger Quarterback who had a 12-year NFL career in backup roles with several teams, including the Chiefs and the Saints, who won Super Bowls with him on the sidelines, is one of 24 people who took part in the NFL’s annual Broadcasting and Media Workshop, a three-day bootcamp for aspiring NFL broadcasters, last week.  He has been hosting a YouTube shw in which he analyzes NFL plays and players. Participants were given a chance to “call” a game on radio or television and to do a simulated in-studio analysis.

Before we move away from football:

(KA-KAW)—-That is the sound of a Battlehawk, or at least the sound a St. Louis Battlehawk fan makes during a UFL game, especially if the ‘Hawks’ take a lead or get a win, which they did last weekend against the San Antonio Brahmas, in San Antonio.

The Battlehawks are 2-1, one of four teams with that record in the eight-team spring football league. The Birmingham Stallions are the only undefeated team.

‘Hawks running back Jcob Saylors, ran for 62 yards and a TD. Hakeem Butler had a half-dozen catches for 87 yards and a TD. Quarterback A. J. McCarron was 19 for 27, throwing to eight targets.  He ran for one of the touchdowns in the 31-24 win.

The Battlehawks had fewer total yards, fewer first downs, and were far behind in possession time but they made up for those shortcomings with efficiency: converting five of nine third downs and and their only fourth-down attempt. And placekicker Andre Szmyt was good on field goals of 44, 43, and 46 yards.

(BASEBALL)—A look at stats for the first two weeks might tell us a little big why the Kansas City Royals are off to one of their best starts ever and why the St. Louis Cardinals are kind of wandering.

The Royals ended the week Sunday night with a 10-6 record, a half game behind Cleveland in their division. They’re getting solid pitching with a staff ERA of 3.04 and a team batting average of .250.

The Cardinals are struggling to get their offense going at the same time they’re pitching is going.  The staff ERA is 3.,92. But the team batting average is only .230.  Paul Goldschmidt, who struggled all spring, still struggles at the plate: .193, one homer, seven RBIs.  Rookies or near-rookies Victor Scott (.098) and sophomore outfielder Jordan Walker (.178) aren’t much help.  Together they are 25 for 153.  The Redbirds are last, again, in their division, 7-9 but already four games behind the Brewers.

(INJURIES)—A key player for the Kansas City Royals, catcher/first baseman Salvador Perez is out indefinitely with a groin and hip injury suffered in Sunday’s game against the Mets. The team says he’s day-to-day. He was held out of last night’s game against the White Sox.

The Cardinals say Tommy Edmund and Dylan Carlson have resumed “baseball activities.”

(HOCKEY)—The St. Louis Blues played their last home game of the year last weekend. They’ll put away the skates and the pucks for the 2-23-24 season after their finale Wednesday night against Dallas. A late-season comeback ended up seven points short of Las Vegas for the last wildcard slot.  A winning season at 43-33-5, pending the outcome Wednesday night but short for the second straight year.

(AROUND AND AROUND: RACING—Chase Elliott ended his 42-race winless NASCAR streak during the weekend, coming from a 24th-place start and outrunning the field for eight extra laps, two overtime sessions because of late-race cautions.  Brad Keselowski, who started 22nd, was right behind Elliott with William Byron, Tyler Reddick, and Daniel Suarez rounding out the top five.

INDYCAR resumes its points chase next weekend in downtown Long Beach, then goes to the Indianapolis road course two weeks later to kick off the Month of May activities leading up to the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500.

FORMULA ONE will see if it continues to be Max Verstappen’s playground next weekend with the Grand Prix of China in Shanghai.

Sports A Tipping Point for Women’s Basketball; A Pro Football Attendance Record 

Posted on by
Reply

By Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor

Normally we would be talking baseball and wrapping up the hockey season at this time of year. But we start with a national championship and a football attendance record that should attract the attention of the National Football League.

(WOMEN’S BASKETBALL)—-The ferocity of play in women’s basketball, led by the record-setting play of Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, and the record television audiences for the last three games of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament, has created a whole new audience for the sport.

Why?  Because it’s more fun to watch.  And because it’s more than three-point shots and showboat dunks.

We have a national champion women’s team here in Missouri.

Easily overlooked because of the NCAA tournament has been the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.  And St. Louis University has become part of that magical season.

Coach Rebecca Tillett has led her Billikens to the WNIT championship with a 69-50 drubbing of Minnesota in the season finale.  The team showed toughness by winning its first five tournament games (four on the road) by a total of 21 points before polishing off Minnesota by 19. The margin had reached 25 before Tillett started running in her subs. The Billikens hit eleven three-pointers and were led by Kayla McMakin with 20 and Peyton Kennedy with 19. Kennedy was the tournament’s MVP.  The defense held Minnesota to a 3-23 performance beyond the arc

St. Louis University finished with a 22-18 record after splitting 18 Atlantic Conference games. But in the conference post season tournament, they upset nationally 10th- ranked George Washington, number two VCU, and number six Rhode Island.

Minnesota finished 20-16.

The championship marked the conclusion of a remarkable turnaround for the Billikens. They were 11-17 on February 21 after losing to Fordham. Their 11-1 run after that brought them the first WNIT championship in school history and the first in Atlantic 10 history.

This was Tillett’s second season at SLU. Last year, her team went into the post season with a 7-16 record before winning the A10 postseason tournament and getting an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they lost to Tennessee.

Tillett says this year has been a “tipping point” for women’s basketball. “It’s always been great. But now everybody knows it’s great. Everybody can see it. You are seeing fans become enamored with the way women play and compete.”  She says she’s “grateful” that her Billikens are part of that history.

(BATTLEHAWKS)—Fans of the St. Louis Battlehawks of the  United Football League continue to make a great case for the NFL to consider St. Louis as a place for an expansion team or a team looking for a new home.

More than 40,000 fans watched Battlehawks kicker Andre Szmyt hit a 22-yard field goal as the clock ran out to give the ‘Hawks a 27-24 win over Arlington.  The attendance in St. Louis almost equalled the total attendance of all four of the UFL’s season openers—almost 46,000. The crowd also set a record for professional spring football.

Running back Mataeo Durant set up the winning kick with a 41-yard bolt that gave him 104 rushing yards for the day.  Quarterback A. J. McCarron was 19 for 29 passing, 248 yards as the Battlehawks evened their record at 1-1.  The league has a ten-game schedule.

(BASEBALL—ROYALS)—The Kansas City Royals’ rebound from last year’s forgettable season has produced the team’s first four-game sweep since 2021.  M. J. Melendez’s two-run homer in the seventh inning Sunday keyed a rally that led the Royals to a 5-3 win over the White Sox.  The White Sox are 1-8 so far this year, tied for the second-worset season start in team history.  The Royals are now 6-4 and open a series at home against Houston tonight.

(BASEBALL—CARDINALS)—The St. Louis Cardinals have split ten games so far this year. The pitchers’ 4.66 ERA ranks the staff 22nd among all pitching staffs in the league. That might explain why they’re 5-5 heading into tonight’s game against the Phillies in Philadelphia.

Sonny Gray finally will get his first regular-season start for the Cardinals tonight against the Phillies.

The Cardinals became the first team beaten by the Miami Marlins Sunday.  The Marlins savaged the Cardinals with two three-run homer in the first inning to get their first win of the season after a record nine straight season-opening losses.

—-Now, about the folks who have roaring good times:

(NASCAR)—William Byron picked up his third win in eight races this year, leading Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott to the first 1-2-3 finish in HMS history. The win was the 29th for HMS at Martinsville, a record for most wins at a single NASCAR venue ever and it adds to the distinguished start of Hendrick’s fortieth season in NASCAR’s Cup series.

Hendrick wasn’t at the race to enjoy the celebration. He had had a knee replaced earlier in the week. Larson’s second-place finish was enough for him to pass Martin Truex Jr., for the regular season points lead.

(INDYCAR)—INDYCAR runs its second points race of the year next weekend on the streets of Long Beach.

(FORMULA 1)—Back to things as usual for Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing, as he ran off with a win at the GP of Japan.  He joins Michael Schumacher as the only drivers to win the Japanese Grand Prix three times in a row. He has won 22 of the last 26 Grand Prix races and is shooting for his fourth straight Formula 1 championship.

 

 

Sports: A Big Vote; A Crash; Two Wins; A Closing Rush

Posted on by
Reply

by Bob Priddy, Missourinet Contributing Editor

(STADIA)—It’s election day in Kansas City and the future of the Royals and the Chiefs might be determined.  The election is on the continuation of a special sales tax used to build, renovate, or keep up the places the Royals and the Chiefs play.

Baseball season has finally OFFICIALLY begun.

—but not well for our major league teams.  Both could snag only one win in their first weekend series.

(KANSAS CITY—The Royals had three solid starts against the Twins had no offense in the first game and a blown save in the second game. But the third game was a Royals offensive display.

Starters gave  up just two runs in 19 innings in the series.

Cole Ragans set a Royals record on opening day with nine strikeouts in six innings. He gave up two runs and that was one more than the Royals scored.  Ragans, who was impressive after a midseason trade last year, broke the opening day strikeout record set by Wally Bunker in 1970 and tied by Danny Duffy eight years ago. But the Twins won 4-1.

The Royals wasted a good start by offseason acquisition Seth Lugo in their second game. He and Twins starter Joe Ryan hooked up in a pitchers duel through six innings.  Lugo struck out four, walked one and allowed just two hits.  Ryan retired the first ten Royals he faced before giving up a double to Bobby Witt Jr., in the sixth. Reliever Steven Okert gave up a single to M. J. Melendez to give the Royals a 1-0 lead. But the Twins tied the game in the eighty and got four more in the ninth to win it 5-1.

Brady Singer gave the Royals their third quality start Sunday with seven shutout innings and ten strikeouts, giving up just one walk, and three hits. Salvador Perez’s three-run homer in the first inning was all he needed but the Royals pile on eight more runs, four of them coming on additional homers, to rack up an 11-0 win, their first victory of 2024.  It was the first five-homer game at home since July 22, 2017. It was the 25th game in club history to feature five home runs.

Michael Wacha’s first start for the Royals was a no-decision in which he lasted five innings and gave up only three hits. Unfortunately they all came in the fourth inning and resulted in three Baltimore runs that tied the game.  The Orioles won 6-4 last night on a two-run walk-off homer by Jordan Westburg, his first career walk-off hit. Bobby Witt Jr., and Salvador Perez both homered for the second straight game.

(CARDINALS)—The Cardinals also avoided a sweep in their season-opening series against the Dodgers but could have won twice with better bullpen performance in the final game of the series.  They had the Dodges down 4-1. But in the eighth, pinch-hitter Max Muncey homered with a man on to give the Dodgers the 5-4 lead that they protected in the ninth.

Center fielder Victor Scott II showed flashes of his potential in the series. He’s on the roster because of injuries to some of the Cardinals’ outfielders.  In the finale of the series Sunday, he was on base three times and scored twice. Starting pitcher Steve Matz gave up only five hits in in five and two-thirds innings, to go with two runs.

The Cardinals won the middle game of the three game set with Paul Goldschmidt’s ground out in the tenth inning bring home the winner in a 6-5 game. The Redbirds had taken a 5-3 lead by scoring all of their runs in the seventh thanks to some Dodger mishaps—a hit batter, a balk, and a catcher’s interference.  Lance Lynn was good for four innings in his first outing for the Cardinals in seven years. He did not return after a 35-minute rain delay.

The Cardinals opened a series last night against their former manager, Mike Schildt, in San Diego. Kyle Gibson shut down the Padres on four hits through seven innings while the Cardinals feasted on five Padres pitchers for 14 hits in a 6-2 win. Wilson Contreras and Brendan Donovan had their first homers of the season.

Cardinals officials say Lars Nootbar could be back in a few days. In a simulated game during the weekend, he batted four times and got in five innings of work. He’ll probably get some playing time at Memphis in midweek before coming off the IL Thursday.

Pitcher Sonny Gray reportedly will come off the IL in about a week.

(FOOTBALL)—The UFL season has opened in a stunning way for the St. Louis Battehawks, who lost to the Michigan Panthers on a last-second 64-yard field goal by someone who hasn’t kicked a field goal since high schools.

The Battlehawks had a comeback 16-15 lead when Michigan’s Jake Bates got a kick-three with three seconds left.  The Battlehawks had scored two touchdowns in the last quarter to take the lead.

The kick by Jake Bates caused some NFL eyes to pop open. The Detroit News has reported some NFL teams already have contacted him. He can’t sign with anybody until the UFL season ends June 2.

(ATTENDANCE)—The UFL drew far fewer people to its four opening weekend games than watch NFL games.  The Battlehawks-Panthers game drew 9,444 grandstand people. The other games ran the total to 45,918, a number likely to be bigger next weekend when the Battlehawks play at home. Last year St Louis led its league in attendance.

(CHIEFS)—The Kansas City Chiefs have signed a new backup quarterback—Carson Wentz, who gets a one-year deal to replace former Missouri QB Blaine Gabbert who has entered free agency after going 18 for 35 in passing with no touchdowns and three interceptions but getting his second Super Bowl ring. He got his first one as Tom Brady’s backup at Tampa Bay.

Wentz was Matthew Stafford’s number two guy with the Rams last year. He has a Super Bowl ring from his time with the Eagles.

0-0-0-0-0

Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice has lawyered up after a six-car crash in Dallas during a freeway race between a Corvette and a Lamborghini.  Nobody was seriously hurt but it appears Rice and the other driver ran from the scene without learning if anyone had been hurt. His lawyer says he’s  cooperating and “will take all necessary steps to address this situation responsibly.”  Police think Rice was driving the Corvette.

A spokesman for the Chiefs has told KCMO Radio the team will “react accordingly” after it has the facts.

(BLUES)—The St. Louis Blues are trying to put together a late-season run that will let them slip into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  But their loss to the San Jose Sharks during the weekend pushed them closer to the brink of missing them.

They bounced back last night with an overtime win in Edmonton. Brando Saad got his 25th goal of the season 2:09 into the overtime period to pull the Blues within three points of the Los Angeles Kings for the final playoff spot.  The Blues have gone 8-2-1 in their season-closing rush The Blues have seven games left.  The Kings lost to the Jets last night and have eight games left.

(BASKETBALL: BEARS)—Cuonzo Martin is back in Missouri, at Missouri State. He’s been there before. Martin last coached at the University of Missouri and was fired after two winning seasons out of five and a 78-77 record.

Martin led the Missouri State Bears for four years before leaving after the 2020-2011 season and a record of 61-41 that included the school’s only regular season Missouri Valley Conference championship. He has a five-year deal at $600,000 a year with bonuses.

(BASKETBALL: TIGERS)—Mizzou is keeping Robin Pingeton as its women’s basketball coach although then-Athletic Director Desireé Reed-Francois said Pingeton needed to get the Tigers back to the NCAA Tournament to keep her job.

Reed-Francois is gone. Pingeton is back for her fifteenth season although her team finished 11-19 this year.

Pingeton is paid $400,000 a year base salary. In her fourteen seasons she has taken the Lady Tigers to the NCAA Tournament four times, the last appearance being 2019, and to the Women’s NIT six times.  She’s 236-200 in her tenure at Mizzou.

Now, the circle sports:

(NASCAR)—Denny Hamlin has captured his second win of the season, a second in three weeks, but he has several critics who say he cheated.

NASCAR has a line at which points the leading car can accelerate toward a green flag on a restart. Numerous observers think that Hamlin sped up before getting to the line, gaining an advantage over Martin Truex, Jr., that he was able to hold to the checkered flag.

Hamlin had taken the lead coming out of the pits after the final caution flag and said after the race, “I wasn’t going to let them have an advantage that my team earned on pit road.”

Truex had led 228 of the 407 laps including 54 in a row before the final caution with two laps left.  Joey Logano and Kyle Larson slipped past him on the final laps.  Chase Elliott was fifth, just ahead of Christopher Bell who had started 29th.

(INDYCAR)—More testing has been run on the hybrid power system that INDYCAR wants to start using after the Indianapolis 500. Thirteen drivers from six teams ran 988 laps, more than 2400 miles, on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Two other teams, Penske and Andretti Global, practiced with the regular powerplants, which will be used on the road course race at the start of May.

(F1)—Formula One returns to action next weekend with the GP of Japan.

 

Heading North, Injuries, and Football is Back

Posted on by
Reply

(BASEBALL)—The Rites of Spring in Arizona and Florda are finished.  Major League Teams are heading back to real-world weather and games that count.  Here’s who will line up along the base lines in St. Louis and Kansas City at the end of this week for the first real games.

(CARDINALS)—Two key guys are on the injured list, opening up slots for a couple of other guys to be part of the first game. Center Fielder Tommy Edman and Right Fielder Lars Nootbaar won’t be available.  Manager Oliver Marmol has ended questioning about whether Dylan Carlson will be a starter by saying, “yes.”  Carlson has had a solid spring, leading the team in homers and runs batted in.  His ankle on which hehad surgery last  year has healed and he’s going to be every-day in the outfield.  Joining him in the starting outfield will be Jordan Walker and Alec Burleson, Matt Carpenter, and Brandon Crawford at various times.

Not making the big club after an impressive spring is Victor Scott II. Marmol and his coaches think he will benefit in the long term from getting a lot of playing time in Triple-A. It won’t be a surprise if we see him in The Show during the season, however. Scott batted .316 in Florida, stole four bases, and played solidly in the outfield.

For now, Michael Siani will be the fourth outfielder. He was taken from Cincinnati’s waiver list in the off-season. He hit .297 in spring training games.

Miles Mikolas will be the opening day starter with ZackThompson (in place of Sonny Gray whose hamstring needs a little more time), Lance Lynn, Steven Matz and Kyle Gibson filling out the five-man rotation.

The bullpen needs some firming up.  Keynan Middleton starts the season on the IL. But the Cardinals will have Riley O’Brien, Ryan Helsley, Andrew Kittredge, and Giovanny Gallegos available from the right-handed side with Matthew liberatore and JoJo Romero likely to handle the left-handed relief. That leaves two relief spots open with three guys in contention—John King, Ryan Fernandez, and Andre Pallante.

(ROYALS)—Royals starting pitching has hit a bump in the road just as the team was heading north.  Starter Michael Wacha, pitching his last inning of spring training ball in an intra-squad game, took a liner off his pitching hand. He was going to have X-rays on his middle finger.

Wacha signed a two-year, 32-million dollar free agent contract in the off-season and is being counted on to be an anchor in the re-structured pitching rotation.

The other big-money free agent signed during the off-season, Seth Lugo, looked ready to go in his stint in the game. He threw 5 2/3 scoreless innings.

Kansas City, as the Cardinals, hopes its new-look lineup turns things around from 2023.  Manager Matt Quatraro made the day Saturday for Matt Sauer, Dairon Blanco, and Nick Loftin when he told them they were on the opening-day roster. None of them have ever experienced a major league opening day.

Loftin is a utility player in the infield and the outfield. He’s 25, played nineteen games in the Bigs last year, hit .323. He’s considered the Royals’ second-ranked prospect by MLB.com.

Blanco, who is 30, impressed the team with his speed last year and his work as a defensive replacement.  He went 24 for 29 in stolen bases, hit three homers and batted .258 last year. He wants to get more than forty steals this year.

Sauer has never pitched above Double-A ball. He’ll start in the bullpen. The Royals claimed him in the Rule 5 draft from the Yankees last year. He had a good spring in Arizona, throwing in eight games and recording 13 K’s and rang up a 2.53 ERA.  He has to stay on the roster all year or the Yankees can claim him back for $50,000.

The Royals will have some people on the injured list to start the year. Second baseman Michael Massey who has had some lower back tightness issues. Relievers Carlos Hernandez’s right shoulder impingement, Jake Brentz’s left hamstring strain, and Josh Taylor’s left biceps soreness will have them on the sidelines on opening day. Wacha’s status at the time of this posting had not been determined.

Backup catcher Sandy Leon, who signed a minor league deal in January, has been released so he can shop for a slot with another club. He’s 35, a career .208 hitter who is known best for his glove work.  He was brought in as a third-stringer behind Salvador Perez and Freddy Fermin. The signing of Austin Nola as another catcher crowded Leon off the roster. He hit just .118 in the CactusLeague

(XROYALS & XCARDS)—Opening day cutdowns have brought some former Cardinals and former Royals players back before the public.  Third baseman Mike Moustakas, now 35, was one of 31players to opt out of their minor league contracts at the end of spring training. Moustakas had been signed by the White Sox but hit only .195 in camp.  He was a three-time all-star for the Royals and split last year between the Rockies and the Angels, finishing with a .247 average in 386 plate appearances.

It’s a similar story for former Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong, who was released by the Orioles after signing a minor league deal with them during the winter.  He’s 33 but hit just .183 for the Mariners and Dodgers last year. He was only two points better in spring training.  He has indicated he’s through if he doesn’t get a major league deal. “I don’t plan on going down to the minor leagues after this,” he told MLB.com. “Whatever happens happens.”

Wong, not known as someone reluctant to express his mind, was critical of the Orioles for sending Jackson Holliday down for the start of the year. Holliday is the son of former Cardinals standout Matt Holliday.  Wong has suggested that the demotion was a matter of baseball business with the Orioles delaying the start of young Holliday’s career long enough that they could get another year of service time from him before he qualified for free agency. Wong says the kid is “a stud” who is gonna be an incredible player.”  Holliday is 20. If the Orioles don’t call him up before May, they’ll gain the extra year of control.

(FOOTBALL)— The St. Louis Battlehawks of the new UFL open their season Saturday against the Michigan Panthers in Detroit, and the feeling in camp has been upbeat with Quarterback A. J. McCarron returning from last year when he led the now-defunct XFL in completion percentage, passing-efficiency, and touchdown passes.

Wide Receiver Marcell Ateman, who will be playing his second year with the Battlehawks, says McCarron has had a “fire camp,” and has been on the same page with all of the recievers, including two all-XFL players Hakeem Butler and Darrius Shepherd.

(NASCAR)—William Byron is the first multiple winner of 2024 in the Cup Series, leading the field home at the Circuit of Americas road course near Austin, Texas.  Byron started on the pole and led two-thirds of the laps in the race, holding off Christopher Bell at the end. His victory is the 28th on road courses for Hendrick Motorsports, a dozen more than any other team.

Bell cut Byron’s ten-second lead with ten laps left to seven-tenths of a second at the end. Sophomore driver Ty Gibbs racked up his fifth top ten finish in the six races this year. Gibbs is now in second place in the point standings and is crowing teammate Martin Truex Jr., who is ahead by only five points.

(INDYCAR)—There was a time in INDYCAR history when green cars were considered bad luck. Then guys from Formula 1 such as champions Jack Brabham and Jim Clark arrived at Indianapolis in green cars with engines behind the drivers and changed everything.

Alex Palou won a lot of green with his green car at IndyCar’s non-points Spring for the Purse event at The Thermal Club in California—$500,000 worth of it by outrunning the field in the 20-lap finale of the event.

Some teams opted to conserve their tires in the first half of the final run but Palou went full out for all twenty laps.  Colton Herta, who ran more than 90 seconds behind Palou in the first half of the segment, used his fresher tires to charge through the field to finish fourth behind Palou, Scott McLaughlin, and Felix Rosenqvist.

INDYCAR races next on April 21 at Long Beach.

(FORMULA 1)—Max Verstappen’s exit on the second lap of the Australian Grand Prix made the race Carlos Sainz’s to lose—and he didn’t. Sainz was the only non-Red Bull driver to win an F1 race last year and is the first to do so this year.

Verstappen’s exit robbed him of a chance to tie the record set last year of winning ten Formula 1 races in a row. He dropped out because of a rear brake failure that led to him pitting with his brakes on fire, his first DNF in two years.

(photo credit: INDYCARNation screenshot)