It's Friday. Here's what's happening....
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Today is Take Your Dog to Work Day. (Can you believe this day even has it's own website?)
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The NHL draft is this weekend in Los Angeles. See Round One tonight at 7:00pm EDT on Versus. Rounds 2 through 7 air tomorrow on the NHL Network starting at 1:00pm EDT.
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Today in Sports History:
1918 - Babe Ruth became the second American League player to hit a home run in four consecutive games.
1921 - Jock Hutchinson became the first U.S. citizen to win the British Open.
1968 - Bobby Bonds (San Francisco Giants) hit a grand-slam home run in his first game with the Giants. He was the first player to debut with a grand-slam.
1985 - ABC’s "Monday Night Football" began with a new line-up. The trio was Frank Gifford, Joe Namath and O.J. Simpson.
1985 - New York Yankees officials enacted the rule that mandated that the team’s bat boys were to wear protective helmets during all games.
1997 - The NHL officially approved expansion to 30 teams by the year 2000 with the announcement of new teams in Atlanta, Columbus, Minnesota and Nashville.
2002 - Muhammad Ali received a humanitarian award at the second annual BET awards.
2003 - Todd McFarlane bought Barry Bonds 73rd home run ball at auction for $517,500.
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Well, hello there. Have you missed me?
Jimmy watches Wipeout
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Kelly Shoppach's first home run as a Ray, and a heads-up defensive play proved key, as the Tampa Bay Rays broke back into the win column yesterday afternoon 5-3, in front of a surprisingly 'large' crowd of 21,877 at Tropicana Field.
The Rays took the early lead when B.J. Upton hit a homer to lead off the game then quickly fell behind when San Diego scored three in the second. Jerry Hairston singled in Will Venable, then scored on Oscar Salazar's home run. A Tampa Bay two-spot tied the game in the fifth. Ben Zobrist and Evan Longoria came home on a Willy Aybar single, then Shoppach's dinger in the sixth put the Rays back on top 4-3.
In the seventh, the Padres mounted a threat, but then ran themselves out if the inning. With no outs, Will Venable found himself at second, with Jerry Hairston at bat. Hairston grounded to shortstop Jason Bartlett and instead of heading back to second, Venable hesitated in the base path. He got caught in a rundown and was quickly tagged out heading to third by Longoria, who then alertly threw to second to get Hairston, wiping the bases clean and ending the San Diego threat. A Carlos Pena eighth inning home run gave Tampa Bay some insurance and they held on for the win, 5-3.
The Rays' Matt Garza, who blew apart in his last start was solid yesterday, allowing three runs on six hits in eight innings to get the win, improving to 8-5. Rafael Soriano pitched the ninth and recorded his 17th save of the season. The Padres' Wade LeBlanc was touched for four runs on eleven hits in 5 1/3 innings to get the loss. falling to 4-5.
With the win, Tampa Bay improved to 43-29, breaking their three-game losing streat in the process. They remain tied with Boston for second in the A.L. East, two games behind the front-running Yankees. The Rays start a three-game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight, with first pitch scheduled for 7:10pm EDT on 620AM WDAE, the Rays Radio Network and Sun Sports. After this homestand, the Rays hit the road for six games, with two at Boston and four at Minnesota, starting next Tuesday.
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Today is National Catfish Day.
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The Riders made these roster moves yesterday:
Released:
Import DB Willie Byrd
Import WR Aaron Fairooz
Non-Import LB Christian Houle
Import DL Ikenna Ike
Import DB Ladarius Key
Import WR Cary Koch
Non-Import DL Ryan Lucas
Import DL Josh Miller
Import DL Joe Sykes
The following have been waived injured:
Non-Import WR Obed Cetoute
Import LB Kye Stewart
The following have been added to the 9-game injured list:
Non-Import OL Kelly Bates
The team will announce it's practice roster tomorrow.
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Oh my, how could I miss this one: Watermelon Seed Spitting Week started yesterday. (Ptui!)
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The Yankees lead the A.L. East by 2 games over Tampa Bay and Boston. Toronto is 6 1/2 back and Baltimore is 25 games behind.
In the A.L. Central, Minnesota leads Detroit by 1/2 game, the White Sox by 2 1/2, Kansas City is 10 1/2 back and Cleveland is 13 1/2 games off the pace.
Out in the (not-so)wild A.L. West, Texas leads the Angels by 4 1/2 games, Oakland is 11 back and Seattle trails by 14.
In the N.L. East, Atlanta leads the Mets by 1/2 game, Philadelphia by 2 1/2, while Florida is 6 1/2 back and Washington is 9 behind.
In the N.L. Central, St. Louis leads leads Cincinnati by 1/2 game, the Cubs and Milwaukee are 8 back, Houston trails by 12 1/2, and Pittsburgh is 15 behind.
San Diego leads San Francisco by 2 1/2 games in the N.L. West, the Dodgers trail by 3 and Colorado is 4 back. Arizona remains last, 14 1/2 games out of first.
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Today is Log Cabin Day. (Why do I feel hungry for pancakes all of a sudden?)
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Pretty good Q & A with former Tri-City Storm forward Jaden Schwartz in advance of tonight's NHL Draft. Read it here.
Ex-Muskie Kevin Gravel waits to hear his name called in this weekend's draft.
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Today in Elvis History:
1957 - Elvis Presley returned to Memphis after finishing his duties with the film "Jailhouse Rock."
1958 - Elvis Presley's parents celebrated their 25th anniversary.
1961 - Elvis Presley recorded the song "Little Sister." The single was released in August 1961.
2002 - A remixed version of Elvis Presley's "A Little Less Conversation" was released.
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Coming up:
Tonight --
Baseball: Arizona Diamondbacks at Tampa Bay Rays 7:10pm EDT
Arena Football: Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings 8:00pm EDT
Saturday --
Nascar Nationwide Series: New England 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire 3:00pm EDT
Baseball: Arizona Diamondbacks at Tampa Bay Rays 4:10pm EDT
Sunday --
Nascar Sprint Cup Series: Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire 1:00pm EDT
Baseball: Arizona Diamondbacks at Tampa Bay Rays 1:40pm EDT
Monday --
Nothin' doin'.
Tuesday --
Baseball: Tampa Bay Rays at Boston Red Sox 7:10pm EDT
Wednesday --
Baseball: Tampa Bay Rays at Boston Red Sox 7:10pm EDT
Thursday --
Baseball: Tampa Bay Rays at Minnesota Twins 8:10pm EDT
Friday --
Nascar Nationwide Series: Subway Jalapeno 250 powered by Coca-cola at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida 7:30pm EDT
Arena Football: Chicago Rush at Tampa Bay Storm 8:00pm EDT
Baseball: Tampa Bay Rays at Minnesota Twins 8:10pm EDT
Saturday --
Baseball: Tampa Bay Rays at Minnesota Twins 4:10pm EDT
Nascar Sprint Cup Series: Coke Zero 400 powered by Coca-Cola at Dayton International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida 7:30pm EDT
Sunday --
Baseball: Tampa Bay Rays at Minnesota Twins 2:10pm EDT
Indy Cars: Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen in Watkins Glen, New York 3:30pm EDT
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That's it for today. See you tomorrow!
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