Here we are at the end of May and thinks are beginning to make some sense out on the diamond.

First though, a little shout-out to my adopted collegiate team, the Ole Miss Rebels. They started the season ranked #10 and ended it ranked #12. In between they beat some teams they shouldn't have; lost to some other teams they shouldn't have; and made it the championship game of the SEC tournament. They blew a 9 - 1 lead but it was against Vanderbilt, arguably the best team in the country. That blown game didn't hurt the Rebs, as the NCAA awarded them a regional! If you are ANYWHERE near Oxford, MS next weekend, I hope you can make it to Swayze Field for a game. There is NOTHING like it anywhere! (Except possibly at LSU, as they are as crazy as we are, plus they are coonasses.)

Back to the big boys.

The Houston Astros have opened a 6 1/2-game lead in the AL West, which is pretty awesome considering our injuries. Three, count-'em-three, players pulled hamstrings. Jose Altuve, George Springer (two All Stars), and prime utility player Aldemys Diaz are all on the DL. Ouch. Hopefully Altuve comes back tomorrow, but Springer and Diaz are out for awhile.

Elsewhere, the LA Dodgers look great. So do the Milwaukee Brewers. I wish I could watch more Brewers games; Christian Yelich is killing it. So is Cody Bellanger of the Dodgers. Maybe I'll have to get the MLB package.

We're going to go to at least one Astros/Blue Jays game in a couple weeks. Should be cool to see the sons of Craig Biggio and Vladmir Guerrero!

So, let's talk baseball. How 'bout that Astros/Red Sox series this past weekend?!?

I would think on a Prince fan site, the most important baseball news is the Minnesota Twins have the best record in the major leagues!

They hit eight home runs in a game TWICE this season.

sexton said:

I would think on a Prince fan site, the most important baseball news is the Minnesota Twins have the best record in the major leagues!

They hit eight home runs in a game TWICE this season.

They ARE mashing. As are the Astros. Last week there was a stat broadcast during the Astros game. The MLB record for team home runs in a season is 267, set by the Yankees last season.

The Astros are on pace to hit 304 home runs this year. The Twins are on pace to hit about 340 home runs.

But before we get too excited, there was another stat posted. In all of MLB history, only ten teams have hit 250 or more home runs in a season.

None of them won the World Series that year.

Another stat that looks promising for the Astros.

Fox showed a graphic that listed the top 5 or 6 teams with the best records so far, and how they've done against sub-.500 teams. Not surprisingly, all had done very well.

But the good news for the Astros is that they had played 18 games so far against sub-.500 teams, while all the others on the list had played 35 - 40 such games. Which means (a) we've fashioned our record against the better teams; and (b) we should have a lot of games with weaker teams left on our schedule.

Now, if we can just get Altuve, Springer, Diaz, Stassi, Correa and McCullers back on the field, we should be pretty strong.

RodeoSchro said:

The Houston Astros have opened a 6 1/2-game lead in the AL West, which is pretty awesome considering our injuries. Three, count-'em-three, players pulled hamstrings. Jose Altuve, George Springer (two All Stars), and prime utility player Aldemys Diaz are all on the DL. Ouch. Hopefully Altuve comes back tomorrow, but Springer and Diaz are out for awhile.

Elsewhere, the LA Dodgers look great. So do the Milwaukee Brewers. I wish I could watch more Brewers games; Christian Yelich is killing it. So is Cody Bellanger of the Dodgers. Maybe I'll have to get the MLB package.

We're going to go to at least one Astros/Blue Jays game in a couple weeks. Should be cool to see the sons of Craig Biggio and Vladmir Guerrero!

So, let's talk baseball. How 'bout that Astros/Red Sox series this past weekend?!?

Congrats on the series win, it was well deserved ... even with the flu taking down Price, Martinez etc

But clearly both teams have very good lineups, and great starting rotations once Evo returns. The difference is the bullpens, yours is awesome and ours sucks. I was amazed we beat Mr. Upton, perhaps his wife and baby distracted him.

You seem to have forgotten one key injury, Correa's broken rib ... that he got from a <ahem> massage at home! Next year when he's in spring training, there's a place nearby in Jupiter that will take care of him MUCH better and safely. The place comes highly recommended by Robert Kraft.

Pokeno4Money said:

RodeoSchro said:

The Houston Astros have opened a 6 1/2-game lead in the AL West, which is pretty awesome considering our injuries. Three, count-'em-three, players pulled hamstrings. Jose Altuve, George Springer (two All Stars), and prime utility player Aldemys Diaz are all on the DL. Ouch. Hopefully Altuve comes back tomorrow, but Springer and Diaz are out for awhile.

Elsewhere, the LA Dodgers look great. So do the Milwaukee Brewers. I wish I could watch more Brewers games; Christian Yelich is killing it. So is Cody Bellanger of the Dodgers. Maybe I'll have to get the MLB package.

We're going to go to at least one Astros/Blue Jays game in a couple weeks. Should be cool to see the sons of Craig Biggio and Vladmir Guerrero!

So, let's talk baseball. How 'bout that Astros/Red Sox series this past weekend?!?

Congrats on the series win, it was well deserved ... even with the flu taking down Price, Martinez etc

But clearly both teams have very good lineups, and great starting rotations once Evo returns. The difference is the bullpens, yours is awesome and ours sucks. I was amazed we beat Mr. Upton, perhaps his wife and baby distracted him.

You seem to have forgotten one key injury, Correa's broken rib ... that he got from a <ahem> massage at home! Next year when he's in spring training, there's a place nearby in Jupiter that will take care of him MUCH better and safely. The place comes highly recommended by Robert Kraft.

LOL, yeah. When I posted that, all we knew was that his rib was sore. We didn't find out until later that someone crushed him during a massage.

Now there's talk that Altuve's OTHER leg is sore. Not the one with the pulled hammy, but the one he had knee surgery on at the end of last year.

I've had three episodes of sciatic nerve damage. A chiropractor has fixed it each time, and I can run pretty good. But the muscles in the leg just aren't right. It's hard to explain.

Running is no problem, nor are doing leg lifts. But for some reason I can NOT jump off anything any more. I mean, a two-foot drop is damn near impossible. It's weird. I hope Altuve doesn't have a similar condition.

RodeoSchro said:

LOL, yeah. When I posted that, all we knew was that his rib was sore. We didn't find out until later that someone crushed him during a massage.

Now there's talk that Altuve's OTHER leg is sore. Not the one with the pulled hammy, but the one he had knee surgery on at the end of last year.

I've had three episodes of sciatic nerve damage. A chiropractor has fixed it each time, and I can run pretty good. But the muscles in the leg just aren't right. It's hard to explain.

Running is no problem, nor are doing leg lifts. But for some reason I can NOT jump off anything any more. I mean, a two-foot drop is damn near impossible. It's weird. I hope Altuve doesn't have a similar condition.

Oh geez, I really like the little guy and hope he fully recovers. His situation sounds eerily similar to another little superstar, Pedroia, who probably won't ever play again.

Ohhhhh ... that reminds me, you'll like this. I have ANOTHER reason to hate the Dallas Rangers!!


In 2008 there were 28 writers voting for AL MVP (2 voters from each AL city). Pedroia won it with 16 first place votes, and rightfully so as he earned a Gold Glove and batted .326 while leading the league in Runs, Hits and Doubles.

But there was one arrogant, egotistical, slobbering, no-neck, bald, dirt-underneath-his-fingernails-eating, fart-sniffing, public-belching, grease-drinking, 1987-Camaro-driving, test-tube-baby-experiment-failure asshole who left Pedroia COMPLETELY OFF THE BALLOT.

His name is Evan Grant, and he is the Rangers beat reporter for the Dallas Morning News.

[Edited 5/30/19 16:38pm]

I am declaring this an all-level baseball thread, which means we can also discuss the NCAA baseball tournament. And, if it trips your trigger, even minor league baseball or the Women's NCAA Softball World Series. I, however, will focus on the Men's NCAA Baseball Tournment.

The Ole Miss Rebels won the Oxfor regional, scoring 41 runs in 3 games and just absolutely crushing Jacksonville State 19- 4 in the deciding game. We beat our opponents even worse than the Houston Astros beat the Frontage Road Rangers in their final series of 2017. How sweet it is!

Baseball at Ole Miss is just a freaking blast. It might be better than football at Ole Miss, and football at Ole Miss is legendary. Ever seen "The Blind Side"?

The Rebels now travel to Fayetteville for the Super Regional against Arkansas this weekend. We've played them 5 times this year. We won 2 out of 3 in a series at Arkansas, and we split against them in the SEC tournament. Of course, our win in the SEC tournament was an elimination game so when it really counted for all the marbles, we won.

Perhaps coincidentally, the Rebels' explosion began right after our athletic director Ross Bjork announced he was leaving for the same job at Texas A&M. Some think that took all the pressure off baseball manager Mike Bianco who, for some unfathomable reason, was on the hot seat with some fans. Whatever the reason, the Rebs are pitching well and hitting like monsters, so bring it on!

Today - June 3, 2019 - is the last day of Regionals and there are five, maybe even six, elimination games in various Regionals. If you love baseball, this is a day unlike many others. Here's who's playing, when and where:

12:00 PM CDT - ESPNU

East Carolina vs. Campbell

12:00 PM CDT - ESPN2

Illinois State vs. Louisville

6:00 PM CDT - ESPN2

Michigan vs. Creighton

6:00 PM CDT - ESPNU

UConn vs. Oklahoma State

9:00 PM CDT - ESPNU

Stanford vs. Fresno State

9:00 PM CDT - ESPN2

Loyola Marymount vs. UCLA


.

[Edited 6/3/19 9:49am]

The Houston Astros just keep winning. Even though four All Stars are on the Disabled List, we've won 9 out of 11. Newcomers and bring-ups like Wade Miley, Miles Straw and Yordan Alvarez have stepped right up. I cannot WAIT to see more of Alvarez. He hit a home run in his second major league at-bat, and that guy is just plain built to whack the ball out of the park.

Plus, the Astros drafted Ole Miss shortstop Grae Kessinger. I have NO idea where Grae will play, but Hotty Toddy just on principle!

The Astros won yesterday and matched the best start in franchise history, which was set by the World Series Championship team of 2017. And it didn't have four All Stars on the DL!

I will try not to make this like our NFL threads, in which only one team gets talked about the entire thread (I'm looking at you, Steelers fans!). So in non-Astros-related news:

The Max Muncy/Madison Bumgardner dust-up yesterday was AWESOME. I live Bum but he is a bit of a fragile ego. Muncy had the perfect response to Bum's exhortation that Muncy should run, instead of watching his home run fly into McCovey's Cove:

"If you don't want me to watch it, then go into the water and get it".

AWESOME

COLLEGE BASEBALL ROUND-UP

The College World Series is almost set. Six teams have punched their tickets: Michigan (who swept #1 seed UCLA in Los Angeles); Texas Tech; Florida State; Mississippi State; Vanderbilt; and Louisville.

Florida State's Mike Martin is the winningest coach in college baseball history. This is his FORTIETH year at FSU, and it's his last. He's been to the CWS 21 times - twenty-one! - and never won. FSU has to be the sentimental choice. They beat LSU in Baton Rouge, which is about as tough a thing to do as there is in college baseball, so the Tomahawk Chop will be in full effect this weekend.|

Let's hope Vanderbilt isn't still PO'ed. Duke crushed them 18 - 5 Friday night, and how did Vandy respond? Vandy's Kumar Rocker no-hit the Dukies on Saturday (striking out 19!) and then Vandy demolished Duke yesterday. With UCLA's loss, Vanderbilt is the top-rated team in the CWS. And they are LOADED. If only they didn't have the second-ugliest uniforms in baseball...

...And, I guess, luckily for Vanderbilt the team with the UGLIEST uniforms in baseball is also in the CWS. If you haven't seen Louisville's unis, a word of advice - don't eat beforehand. If there is a Louisville/Vanderbilt game, you should listen to it on the radio. But Louisville is the quietest powerhouse in the CWS. They'll get little press, which is usually good luck.

There are two games today:

1. Auburn v. North Carolina (12 PM CDT). If Auburn wins, that will guarantee that half the CWS field is from the SEC. But whichever team wins the ticket to the CWS, I don't see either being a real threat. Which leaves us with...

2. OLE MISS vs. Arkansas (3 PM CDT). After being smashed by the Razorbacks on Saturday, Ole Miss returned the favor yesterday, setting up the winner-take-all game. The Rebs' offense returned. Remember these names - Kessinger; Dillon; Keenan; Olenek; Zabowsky; Servideo. Let's hope each crosses the plate numerous times today.

And remember this name: Gunnar Hoaglund. The freshman was a first-round pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates last year, but passed on the pros to play at Ole Miss. Wow! The guy turned down $$$millions to be a Rebel. He starts today. He's been great, and our bullpen is rested (we only used two pitchers yesterday, and our closer hasn't pitched since last weekend).

Hopefully things are set up for the Rebels as well as I think they are. I want to go to Omaha, or as we call it in Oxford:

OLEMAHA

Go Rebels!

[Edited 6/10/19 7:58am]

Uhhhhhh...............all I can say about that is:

GO ASTROS!

I'm doing my best not to turn this into an all Astros thread, but:

Pokeno has given up posting about the Red Sox; can't blame him/her.

I figured sexton would throw in some Yankees post but maybe he is on the Disabled List, along with most of the Yankees' starters.

Is uPtoWnNY a fan of the LOL Mets? I am, to the extent they have Tim Tebow in their system. Go Tebow!

I assume our Steelers fans are also fans of the Pirates, but they've been silent all baseball season.

2Freaky jumps from bandwagon to bandwagon. I bet he's a Dodgers fan today, but who cares? Just post something!

So, I guess it's just me and the Astros. Which is great - the Astros pitchers set a franchise record for strikeouts in a game last night.

The previous record was 23 punchouts we recorded against the hapless Chicago Cubs back in 2003. Former Astros player Lance Berkman was a guest on the telecast last night (and if Edgar Martinez can make it into the Hall of Fame, so should Berkman; his numbers are as good or better and HE played in the field) and reminisced about that game.

It was at Wrigley Field. Roy Oswalt vs. Carlos Zambrano. According to Berkman - who shares my birthday! - the wind was blowing in at 35 MPH - 40 MPH which, according to Berkman (who is a MASTER bullsh***er), meant that Zambrano was throwing 110 MPH fastballs.

No one could hit in that kind of gust, and the game was scoreless for 15 innings. We struck out 23 Cubs but they pushed across a run in the 16th and won, 1 - 0.

Last night, we struck out 24 Milwaukee Brewers in a 14-inning game. Justin Verlander set a career high with 15, and all of them were swinging strikeouts. No cheapies there! In fact, of the 24 strikeouts we recorded, the first 23 were swinging. I'd hate to be Travis Shaw, the one Brewer who got caught looking last night, LOL.

But alas, the Brewers won, 6-3. However, back to the strikeouts. Consider this:

The 2003 Astros stuck out 23 Cubs in a National League game, so some of those strikeouts were against pitchers. Even though Zambrano could swing it from time to time, he was still a pitcher.

The 2019 Astros did it in their home park, which meant the DH was in effect. That 24 strikeout number was against nothing but position players. Pretty cool!

Maybe I'll tell some Lance Berkman stories, in case no one else posts.

Which reminds me:

Babe Ruth was the greatest player ever to play baseball. And I'll prove it.

He hit 714 home runs and demolished all offensive records - and did it with no night games. Why is that important?

Think about it. The Bambino was a notorious carouser. He was out all night, every night. But he had to play baseball again at 1:00 PM the next day. No 7:00 PM starts for him!

Basically, Ruth hit 714 home runs hung over/just a few hours after sex. When you consider that, you have to agree he was the best of all time.

The Braves are becoming a force to reckon with, as they are playing as well as anyone during the past month. Go Braves.

As far as college, I am in mourning over LSU. Huge Tiger baseball fan.

gandorb said:

The Braves are becoming a force to reckon with, as they are playing as well as anyone during the past month. Go Braves.

As far as college, I am in mourning over LSU. Huge Tiger baseball fan.

The Braves are up-and-coming, no doubt. Good luck! I have a friend who's a huge Braves fan and was tapped to throw out the first pitch at a game three or four years ago. But on the day he was scheduled to do it, he got bumped in favor of a young boy who'd been rescued in the woods or something like. He couldn't really complain about that, LOL.

G-E-A-U-X, go Tigers go! The LSU baseball experience is maybe the greatest in college baseball, only possibly matched by Ole Miss. Those two have been #1 - #2 in college baseball attendance for several years.

I was sad to see LSU go down. My brother went there, and his daughter is an incoming freshman. So I root for them when they aren't playing Ole Miss. But if they had to lose, Mike Martin was the sentimental favorite. As big an SEC honk as I am, I hope FSU wins the CWS and gives Martin a championship in his last year.

Back in the early 2000's, we followed Rice baseball. We went to the Super Regional in 2002 when it was Rice v. LSU. I was completely blown away by the number $1,000,000+ LSU-adorned Prevost busses in the parking lot. Must have been 20 or 30. It was INCREDIBLE.

Dodgers, Reds, Twins, woo.

I knew it. Bandwagonning the Dodgers and the Twins.

I'll give you the Reds; you do always support them.

If you're going to bandwagon anyone, it should be the Astros. Man up.

RodeoSchro said:

gandorb said:

The Braves are becoming a force to reckon with, as they are playing as well as anyone during the past month. Go Braves.

As far as college, I am in mourning over LSU. Huge Tiger baseball fan.

The Braves are up-and-coming, no doubt. Good luck! I have a friend who's a huge Braves fan and was tapped to throw out the first pitch at a game three or four years ago. But on the day he was scheduled to do it, he got bumped in favor of a young boy who'd been rescued in the woods or something like. He couldn't really complain about that, LOL.

G-E-A-U-X, go Tigers go! The LSU baseball experience is maybe the greatest in college baseball, only possibly matched by Ole Miss. Those two have been #1 - #2 in college baseball attendance for several years.

I was sad to see LSU go down. My brother went there, and his daughter is an incoming freshman. So I root for them when they aren't playing Ole Miss. But if they had to lose, Mike Martin was the sentimental favorite. As big an SEC honk as I am, I hope FSU wins the CWS and gives Martin a championship in his last year.

Back in the early 2000's, we followed Rice baseball. We went to the Super Regional in 2002 when it was Rice v. LSU. I was completely blown away by the number $1,000,000+ LSU-adorned Prevost busses in the parking lot. Must have been 20 or 30. It was INCREDIBLE.

Great that the subset of Prince and SEC baseball fans is bigger than just one. I assume your an Ole Miss alumni? People are shocked when they go to an LSU NCAA game in Baton Rouge. Every bit of the intensity in the fan reactions that Tiger Stadium gets across the street for LSU football (almost alway rated #1 for intesnity of crowd. Your reight, Ole Miss and the dreaded MSU also have great fan support. By the way, I grew up in Baton Rouge in the 60s when LSU vs. Ole Miss was THE GAME. It was the only place my rather refined parents took me in which you routinely heard cussing, especially Geaux to Hell Ole Miss. (And I, mean that with affection Rodeo ) Of course, Ole Miss would strike back with the Hottie Tottie cheer with more cussing.

gandorb said:

RodeoSchro said:

The Braves are up-and-coming, no doubt. Good luck! I have a friend who's a huge Braves fan and was tapped to throw out the first pitch at a game three or four years ago. But on the day he was scheduled to do it, he got bumped in favor of a young boy who'd been rescued in the woods or something like. He couldn't really complain about that, LOL.

G-E-A-U-X, go Tigers go! The LSU baseball experience is maybe the greatest in college baseball, only possibly matched by Ole Miss. Those two have been #1 - #2 in college baseball attendance for several years.

I was sad to see LSU go down. My brother went there, and his daughter is an incoming freshman. So I root for them when they aren't playing Ole Miss. But if they had to lose, Mike Martin was the sentimental favorite. As big an SEC honk as I am, I hope FSU wins the CWS and gives Martin a championship in his last year.

Back in the early 2000's, we followed Rice baseball. We went to the Super Regional in 2002 when it was Rice v. LSU. I was completely blown away by the number $1,000,000+ LSU-adorned Prevost busses in the parking lot. Must have been 20 or 30. It was INCREDIBLE.

Great that the subset of Prince and SEC baseball fans is bigger than just one. I assume your an Ole Miss alumni? People are shocked when they go to an LSU NCAA game in Baton Rouge. Every bit of the intensity in the fan reactions that Tiger Stadium gets across the street for LSU football (almost alway rated #1 for intesnity of crowd. Your reight, Ole Miss and the dreaded MSU also have great fan support. By the way, I grew up in Baton Rouge in the 60s when LSU vs. Ole Miss was THE GAME. It was the only place my rather refined parents took me in which you routinely heard cussing, especially Geaux to Hell Ole Miss. (And I, mean that with affection Rodeo ) Of course, Ole Miss would strike back with the Hottie Tottie cheer with more cussing.

Awesome!

Neither my wife nor I went to Ole Miss - we're both SMU alums. But both our kids went to Ole Miss, and that's when I learned that I supported the university where my money went much more than the one where my parents' money went!

Plus, Ole Miss is just so cool. Oxford, MS is heaven. And The Grove is everything you've heard about, and more. The people are so nice. I promise that if you showed up in your LSU gear, you'd be welcomed as an old friend in about half the tents. They are just so nice there.

Quick Ole Miss/LSU story: We are friends with couple here in Houston who both went to Ole Miss, and the husband's father was an Ole Miss legend named Doug Elmore. I didn't know who he was. Anyway, our friends let us stay in Doug Elmore's home right on the edge of campus for the weekend we moved in my son.

Doug Elmore had passed away by then, so I never met him. But when we told people at Ole Miss we were staying at Doug Elmore's home, they immediately thought we were the coolest people in town. It was awesome!

Here is a fantastic story about the LSU/Ole Miss game on Halloween. I think you'll enjoy this!

https://www.si.com/vault/...-the-prowl

COLLEGE WORLD SERIES UPDATE

What an opening weekend!

The two fairy-tale programs - Florida State and Michigan - both won their Saturday games. Arkansas and Texas Tech play an elimination game this afternoon. FSU and Michigan meet tonight at 6 PM Central on ESPN. That's must-see TV!

Yesterday, in The Match-Up of Hideous Uniforms, Vanderbilt got two home runs/3 RBIs from Austin Martin to beat Louisville and win the Ugly Uniform Match-Up 3 - 1. I will say, though, that each team wore their less-hideous uniforms yesterday. No pinstripes or rainbow jersies but who can really be a fan of dark jersies with matching dark pants? No one with taste, that's for sure!

Then in the nightcap, the villianous Mississippi State Foghorn-Leghorns came from three down in the bottom of the ninth, scored four runs, and beat Auburn 5 - 4. It was incredible. The Mississippi State Yahews have won something like 28 games in come-from-behind fashion. Please please please don't let them be the team of destiny! We Ole Miss fans can barely live with those yokels as it is.

Tomorrow, Louisville plays Auburn in an elimination game, while another all-SEC matchup will be in the late game. It'll be the Vanderbilt Rich Boys vs. the Mississippi State Cowbells.


.

[Edited 6/17/19 10:13am]

RodeoSchro said:

gandorb said:

Great that the subset of Prince and SEC baseball fans is bigger than just one. I assume your an Ole Miss alumni? People are shocked when they go to an LSU NCAA game in Baton Rouge. Every bit of the intensity in the fan reactions that Tiger Stadium gets across the street for LSU football (almost alway rated #1 for intesnity of crowd. Your reight, Ole Miss and the dreaded MSU also have great fan support. By the way, I grew up in Baton Rouge in the 60s when LSU vs. Ole Miss was THE GAME. It was the only place my rather refined parents took me in which you routinely heard cussing, especially Geaux to Hell Ole Miss. (And I, mean that with affection Rodeo ) Of course, Ole Miss would strike back with the Hottie Tottie cheer with more cussing.

Awesome!

Neither my wife nor I went to Ole Miss - we're both SMU alums. But both our kids went to Ole Miss, and that's when I learned that I supported the university where my money went much more than the one where my parents' money went!

Plus, Ole Miss is just so cool. Oxford, MS is heaven. And The Grove is everything you've heard about, and more. The people are so nice. I promise that if you showed up in your LSU gear, you'd be welcomed as an old friend in about half the tents. They are just so nice there.

Quick Ole Miss/LSU story: We are friends with couple here in Houston who both went to Ole Miss, and the husband's father was an Ole Miss legend named Doug Elmore. I didn't know who he was. Anyway, our friends let us stay in Doug Elmore's home right on the edge of campus for the weekend we moved in my son.

Doug Elmore had passed away by then, so I never met him. But when we told people at Ole Miss we were staying at Doug Elmore's home, they immediately thought we were the coolest people in town. It was awesome!

Here is a fantastic story about the LSU/Ole Miss game on Halloween. I think you'll enjoy this!

https://www.si.com/vault/...-the-prowl

Thanks for the link. The Billy Cannon run is shown annually before the O.M. game in Baton Rouge. My father, who knew Cannon, intorduced me to him at a sports event. I'll quiet down now about LSU football in respect of the thread .

gandorb said:

RodeoSchro said:

Awesome!

Neither my wife nor I went to Ole Miss - we're both SMU alums. But both our kids went to Ole Miss, and that's when I learned that I supported the university where my money went much more than the one where my parents' money went!

Plus, Ole Miss is just so cool. Oxford, MS is heaven. And The Grove is everything you've heard about, and more. The people are so nice. I promise that if you showed up in your LSU gear, you'd be welcomed as an old friend in about half the tents. They are just so nice there.

Quick Ole Miss/LSU story: We are friends with couple here in Houston who both went to Ole Miss, and the husband's father was an Ole Miss legend named Doug Elmore. I didn't know who he was. Anyway, our friends let us stay in Doug Elmore's home right on the edge of campus for the weekend we moved in my son.

Doug Elmore had passed away by then, so I never met him. But when we told people at Ole Miss we were staying at Doug Elmore's home, they immediately thought we were the coolest people in town. It was awesome!

Here is a fantastic story about the LSU/Ole Miss game on Halloween. I think you'll enjoy this!

https://www.si.com/vault/...-the-prowl

Thanks for the link. The Billy Cannon run is shown annually before the O.M. game in Baton Rouge. My father, who knew Cannon, intorduced me to him at a sports event. I'll quiet down now about LSU football in respect of the thread .

No problem, LOL!

When I was a kid, there was a restaurant here in Houston called Oggero's. One of the Oggero brothers must have been a REALLY good friend of Cannon's, because they had his Heisman Trophy on a table in the lobby. I used to play with it all the time - everybody did! Of course, me being a snotty 7-year-old I had no idea how cool that trophy was.

COLLEGE BASEBALL UPDATE:


The Cinderella ride is over for Florida State. They just didn't have enough offense to make it.

Louisville had an incredible comeback against Mississippi State last night, scoring two in the bottom of the ninth to knock the MSU Farmers out of the College World Series. As a giant fan of the SEC, that was kind of sad. But as an even bigger fan of Ole Miss, I was deliriously happy!

The other Cinderella team - Michigan - is playing Texas Tech right now. I'm watching it on my computer, through WatchESPN and it's awesome, because they don't have the announcer feed! All you hear are the on-field mics. Plus, this feed has an inordinate amount of Umpire Cam shots. There's a camera on the face mask of the home plate umpire and when they use that shot, you REALLY get a sense of how fast a pitch is.

it's 6-3 Michigan in the bottom of the 4th right now but as we've seen - in college baseball, anyone can come back at any time.

RodeoSchro said:

Which reminds me:

Babe Ruth was the greatest player ever to play baseball. And I'll prove it.

He hit 714 home runs and demolished all offensive records - and did it with no night games. Why is that important?

Think about it. The Bambino was a notorious carouser. He was out all night, every night. But he had to play baseball again at 1:00 PM the next day. No 7:00 PM starts for him!

Basically, Ruth hit 714 home runs hung over/just a few hours after sex. When you consider that, you have to agree he was the best of all time.

David Wells threw a perfect game while “half-drunk with bloodshot eyes, monster breath, and a skull-rattling hangover.” He had one hour of sleep after partying until 5:30AM.

Doc Ellis threw a no-hitter while on LSD.

This MLB Network video shows the Minnestota Twins training in their Prince jerseys. And third baseman Miguel Sanó sings a few seconds of "Little Red Corvette". https://www.facebook.com/...169380727/

Pokeno4Money said:

RodeoSchro said:

Which reminds me:

Babe Ruth was the greatest player ever to play baseball. And I'll prove it.

He hit 714 home runs and demolished all offensive records - and did it with no night games. Why is that important?

Think about it. The Bambino was a notorious carouser. He was out all night, every night. But he had to play baseball again at 1:00 PM the next day. No 7:00 PM starts for him!

Basically, Ruth hit 714 home runs hung over/just a few hours after sex. When you consider that, you have to agree he was the best of all time.

David Wells threw a perfect game while “half-drunk with bloodshot eyes, monster breath, and a skull-rattling hangover.” He had one hour of sleep after partying until 5:30AM.

Doc Ellis threw a no-hitter while on LSD.

Yeah, they did that - once.

The Bambino did it just about every day!

The Houston Astros finally ended a 7-game skid with a beatdown of the Yankees Sunday. Rookie Yordan Alvarez hit his 7th home run - in only his 12th MLB game. Everyone hates extrapolating this stuff but it's fun to note that he's on a pace to hit 94 home runs over 162 games.

And he's a rookie.

He's must-see baseball!

Joes Altuve is back and hit a home run Sunday. George Springer gets back today. Colin McHugh is throwing, but he and Carlos Correa aren't expected back until after the All-Star break.

We lost 7 in a row and still have a 6.5 game lead over the Frontage Road Rangers. Hopefully we're about to go on another winning streak and drown those posers from Arlington in their own tears.

COLLEGE BASEBALL UPDATE:

I've been so busy watching the CWS that I forgot to write about the CWS. But today's the day!

The final two teams are the Vanderbilt Silver Spoons and the Michigan WTFs. But to recap:

Vanderbilt got there by beating a Louisville team that, honestly, deserved to have their lungs ripped out. Here's pitcher Luke Smith, communicating ineffectively with the Vanderbilt dugout after getting out of a jam:





Ooops. That's a bad look, but do you want to see an even WORSE look? Take a gander at this dude without a hat:






BTW, that's Smith looking on as Vanderbilt comes back, wins the game, and knocks Louisville out of the CWS. And yeah - Smith was the losing pitcher in that game. Ah, youth!

Here's what I've learned this year - you do NOT make Vanderbilt mad.

Exhibit A - America's favorite baseball team, the Ole Miss Rebels, had Vanderbilt down 9 - 1 in the SEC championship game. Even though our gifted and honorable diamond dandies comported themselves with the utmost in professionalism, Vanderbilt got mad and beat us 10 - 9.

Exhibit B - Duke beat Vanderbilt 18 - 5 in the first game of their best-2-out-of-3 Super Regional. How did Vanderbilt respond? Vanderbilt pitcher Kumar Rocker (what a name!) pitched Game 2; struck out 19 batters; and threw a no-hitter. Needless to say, the Dukies lost the will to live and also lost Game 3.

Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball, and do not piss off Vanderbilt.

Which brings us to Michigan.

WTF?!? These guys are a Team of Destiny if there ever was one. They were one pitch away from an early exit in the Big Ten conference tournament; they were one of four bubble teams to make it into a Regional; and now they're one win away from a College World Series championship.

Wow!

As big a honk as I am for the SEC, I am that big of an anti-honk for the Big Ten. Former Big Ten commissioner Jim Delaney was the guy responsible for football not having a playoff for about 15 years. He single-handedly created the BCS, because he thought the Big Ten would make more money from that than they would from a playoff. For some inexplicable reason, other conferences followed suit. If not for Delaney, we'd have had a college football playoff last century.

So, boo Big Ten! But still...

...Even though Michigan's football team stole Ole Miss quarterback Shea Patterson, I give you permission to admire their baseball team. They really have captured the college baseball world's imagination.

And, they captured Game 1 last night.

But did they awaken the sleeping giant?

The aforementioned Kumar Rocker goes for Vanderbilt tonight. The last time he was in this position, he threw a no-hitter and struck out 19. BTW, there are only 27 outs in a 9-inning game, meaning a mere 8 Dukies were able to avoid a K.

How will Vanderbilt respond? How long will Kumar Rocker's hitless innings streak continue? Is there any lightning left in the Michigan bottle?

Find out tonight at 6 PM CDT on ESPN!


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[Edited 6/25/19 7:24am]

sexton said:

This MLB Network video shows the Minnestota Twins training in their Prince jerseys. And third baseman Miguel Sanó sings a few seconds of "Little Red Corvette". https://www.facebook.com/...169380727/

Sweet!