Briefly. (Not exactly)
I ordered a book off the internet called ‘How To Scam People’ – It’s been three months now and it still hasn’t arrived.
Trivia #1: On April 4, 1841, what US Vice President became President after the death of President William Henry Harrison?
Trivia #2: Nolan Ryan was the only pitcher to face the last three single season homerun leaders, Roger Maris, Mark MaGwire and Barry Bonds. (This was prior to Aaron Judge’s 62 in 2022.) Of those other three, how many homeruns did they combine to hit against Ryan in their careers? – 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9
DYK: The people of Massachusetts voted in 1928 to allow sports on Sundays between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. ET. However, it was still illegal to play a professional game on Sundays within 1000 feet of a church, which Fenway was. The Red Sox played the first Boston Sunday game ever on April 28, 1929 … at Braves Field, home of the then-other professional Boston baseball team. Eventually, the church rule was lifted, so the Red Sox got to play a Sunday game at Fenway for the first time on July 3, 1932. Hey, I’m here to educate.
Stop complaining: A deadly Tornado outbreak has killed at least eightpeopleand spawned more than 30 reports of twisters across the lower and mid-Mississippi Valley on Wednesday. At least six people have died in Tennessee due to the severe weather. The storms also injured multiple others and destroyed several homes from Arkansas, Missouri and Tennessee through Kentucky, Illinois and Indiana.
On this date: April 4, 1818, Congress decides on the US flag: 13 red & white stripes & 20 stars
April 4, 1917, US Senate agrees (82-6) to participate in WWI
April 4, 1922, WAAB (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) becomes 1st US radio station with “W” calls
April 4, 1968, US civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated by James Earl Ray at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. Riots break out in over 100 cities in the United States.
April 4, 1974, Hank Aaron ties Babe Ruth’s home-run record by hitting his 714th in Cincinnati, facing Jack Billingham
April 4, 1987, Dow Jones Industrial Average up 69.89 points, ending at record 2,390.34 points (Conversely, it went down 1,679.39 points just yesterday!)
Is there a trend of players stepping up on their own bobblehead nights? The other night, Shohei Ohtani homered on his bobblehead night for the second straight year. José Ramírez, last year, went 3-for-5 with three RBIs on his bobblehead day, and in 2022 he homered twice. In 2023 he had a reversible bucket hat day and was 1-for-4 with a double. Add it all up and in the past three years on José Ramírez-themed days, José Ramírez is 6-for-13 with eight RBIs and three homers. Mike Trout homered twice on his bobblehead day in 2019, and Mookie Betts homered twice in his first one with the Dodgers in 2021. On Yankees’ players Star Wars-themed bobblehead nights: Anthony Rizzo homered twice after his Mandalorian giveaway in 2023 and Aaron Judge went deep on his Jedi bobblehead day in 2018. The Giants’ Patrick Bailey splash-homered into McCovey Cove on his bobblehead day and Texas’ Nathaniel Lowe two-HR performance on the night of his Gold Glove Award giveaway.
OK, so the Red Sox aren’t going to go 162-0, but please, relax folks.
This week’s sign of the apocalypse: A public high school in Fairfax County, Virginia, decorated its history hallway with a polarizing alphabetic display for Women’s History Month, beginning with “A is for Abortion.” “The ABCs to ME” display “is a student-led history project that is part of an elective Women’s History class.”
Can the SEC pull it off? The conference sent 14 teams to the men’s NCAA basketball tournament with 7 of those teams making the Sweet 16 and two of them making the Final Four (Auburn and Florida). Will the conference be able to boast the champion???
They said it: “Lete’s go, Sports Bar!” – The Buffalo Wild Wings buffalo
Good news: Maybe it’s for the best that the Padres’ Kyle Hart didn’t earn his first big league win until this past Monday night. No, technically Hart was not making his Major League debut. The 32-year-old left-hander had made four appearances for the Red Sox in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We couldn’t even be there [for Kyle’s debut],” Kyle’s father Roger said, “because there was nobody in the stands. This was our first chance to see him pitch at the Major League Baseball level. That was a good feeling to be able to be here for that — just to be a part of it.” In his first start as a Padre, Kyle Hart worked five solid innings against the Indians. He allowed two runs on five hits while striking out four, as San Diego improved to 5-0 for the first time in franchise history.
Along those lines, “Yellowjackets” star Christina Ricci placed her home in Silver Lake, CA on the market for just over $4 million. Her decision to sell the home comes just eight months after she first purchased it in July 2024, as she is now looking for a bigger property that would allow her family members, who lost their homes in the Palisades Fire earlier this year, to move in with her. Nice! (Note: Apparently, “Yellowjackets” is some television show, series, whatever…)
Useless information supposed to fire my imagination: Your Boston Red Sox scored 8 runs yesterday. It was the first time they had scored 5 or more runs since the season began, their longest such drought to open the season since 2009.
Article I’ll skip: Bruce Willis and Demi Moore’s adult daughters still take baths together. (I said I’ll skip the article. I didn’t say I wouldn’t look at pictures.)
Trivia #1 answer: On April 4, 1841, what US Vice President became President after the death of President William Henry Harrison? – John Tyler
Trivia #2 answer: Nolan Ryan was the only pitcher to face the last three single season homerun leaders, Roger Maris, Mark MaGwire and Barry Bonds. (This was prior to Aaron Judge’s 62 in 2022.) Of those other three, how many homeruns did they combine to hit against Ryan in their careers? – 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9 – They hit zero homeruns while combining to go 5-28.
Math is hard. 15+15 is thirty and 16+16 is thirty too!
Don’t give up, don’t ever give up.
Be careful out there. (It’s a jungle!)
Happy National Chicken Cordon Bleu Day!
And Happy Opening Day, at Fenway Park. If you’re heading in, or watching on NESN, pregame ceremonies for the April 4 home opener will welcome members of the 1975 team to mark the 50th anniversary of their AL Championship win, and remember Red Sox Hall of Famer Luis Tiant, who passed away October 8, 2024, at the age of 83. Fans are encouraged to be in their seats by 1:30 p.m. to enjoy the ceremonies preceding the 2:10 p.m. game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Before the game, the two teams will be introduced along the base lines, with the colors presented by the 1st Battalion and 181st Infantry Regiment of the Massachusetts National Guard, the 66th Air Base Group out of Hanscom Air Force Base, and members of the 1st Coast Guard District. The National Anthem will be performed by the Boston Arts Academy “Treble Allstars,” and punctuated by a fly-over by two F-35’s flown by the 134th Fighter Squadron, Green Mountain Boys of the Vermont Air National Guard and one KC-46 from the New Hampshire Air National Guard’s 157th Air Refueling Wing.
“Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride”
– U2 (Pride (In the Name of Love))
Bonus – Luther!
Repeat Double-bonus! Happy Opening Day (Fenway)
Ed's Head On Friday 