Briefly.
They may be up-and-down so far this season but I really like the Red Sox pitching staff, starts and relievers.
Scientists from the Marine Mammal Center in northern California say the death of a large (300,000 lbs), female blue whale that washed up on a Marin County beach had been struck by a ship. DTK, whale-ship collisions is a “leading cause” of death for the creatures and that many cargo ships wouldn’t even notice such a collision because of their size.
Bizarro! One week ago Thursday the Red Sox tied a major league record by striking out 20 Texas Rangers in a nine-inning game. 10 of the last 11 Rangers struck out, including 4 in the 9th inning courtesy of Craig Kimbrel and a botched call on a wild pitch. It was the third time in major league history that 20 players struck out. Which leads us to trivia.
Trivia question #1: Who are the other five (single pitcher or team) that struck out 20 batters in a single game? (single pitcher or team is your hint)
Trivia question #2: The Red Sox’ Joe Kelly, through Tuesday, had thrown 51 pitches of at least 100 mph, third behind Trevor Rosenthol (63) and Aroldis Chapman (57). Kelly is also third in average fastball velocity at 98.8 mph. Who has thrown the fastball pitch in baseball this season at 102.2 mph? – Rosenthol (St. Louis), Chapman (Yankees), Kelly or Felipe Rivero (Pittsburgh)? Answer below
Football seems so far away. Good thing my team won!
Mr. Met has had it! The much-loved mascot is out of a job after he flipped the bird to fans on Wednesday. Although some argued that the four-fingered mascot really doesn’t have a middle digit to flip, the gesture was too much for Mets managers who canned Mr. Met. Funny enough, the pudgy-handed salute came on the 53rd anniversary of Mr. Met’s debut as a mascot. The team web site notes that Mr. Met “can gesture in 12 languages” and leads “all active Major League mascots in high fours.”
How can you not root for the team from the hockey capitol of the world, the Nashville Predators?! I still think they take the series in seven.
12-year old Ananya Vinay, from Fresno CA, won the 90th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee Thursday night when she correctly spelled “marocin”, a French-derived word for a dress fabric. Hey, you think it’s easy??? Can you spell it?!?!
Useless headline of the week: “8 things you didn’t know about Ronda Rousey”
Golden State in four, but that might be too easy.
Leeches, yes leeches, are still used widely in Russian medicine, about 10 million of them per year, in many cases a low-cost substitute for blood thinners like warfarin. In Russia, a medicinal leech costs less than $1, and a typical application requires three to seven of the ravenous little creatures. Leech treatments, available throughout the country, take 30 to 40 minutes, though the resulting wounds ooze blood for an additional six hours and so until the natural anticoagulant in leech venom wears off.
Leave it to Sox fans to bitch about a guy, Xander Boegarts, who is hitting over .335 but doesn’t have enough homeruns (now up to two!).
A woman who was sick of children’s balls landing in her garden was beaten to death by neighbors after she punctured one of them. Prosecutors say that Kelly Machin, 34, had long complained about the noise made by neighbor Natalie Bollen’s children and about their balls landing in her garden in Leicester, England. After she burst a soccer ball with a knife before throwing it back in Aug. 23 last year, Bollen and her father, William Jelly, pushed their way into her home and assaulted her. Bollen punched Machin several times before Jelly pushed her over a coffee table, which fractured five ribs and caused internal injuries that led to her death almost two weeks later.
RIP Frank Deford. Though I read many an article of his in SI, I remember him most for The National. The then all-sports newspaper in the 90’s.
Trivia question #1 answer: Roger Clemens (2 times, vs. Seattle and Detroit), Kerry Wood (in his 5th career start, va. Astros), Max Scherzer (vs. Detroit), LA Angels (2012 vs. Seattle)
Trivia question #2 answer: Joe Kelly
Ed's Head On Friday 