Dragons All-Stars spare league of Bud debacle
I told the kids Bill’s Donuts was closing. They looked like at me like I threw their smartphone chargers into a lake. I let that sink before adding “for a week.” You learn things when you read the newspaper, kids. While Bill’s is spiffing up the place, I recommend Stan the Donut Man for your fried dough cravings. Good to see some Dayton Dragons making an impact at the Midwest League All-Star Game. Montrell Marshall of the local nine hit a twoout single to score Dragons teammate Stuart Fairchild with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning last Tuesday, giving the East a 3-2 victory in Lansing. Fairchild did nothing to reach base. The inning started with a runner on second, a stupid rule enacted this season by the league.
To take this nonsense a step further, the all-star game would’ve ended had it been tied after 10 innings, which would have confused bookies in the Lansing area. So not only did Marshall win the game, he spared the league of a Bud Selig “I give up” all-star moment. I still can’t believe the former MLB commish allowed an all-star game to finish in a tie. Play till someone wins. I like the Cavs’ pick of Collin Sexton in the first round of the NBA draft. Sexton can score, plays hard and doesn’t shrink in the face of great competition. Sounds like the perfect replacement for the guy who can’t remember the score. He’s also the same size as Kyrie Irving. Mmm. Too bad this pick didn’t happen a few years ago when the Cavs’ strategy was to surround LeBron with guys at the end of their careers. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had hoped Jameis Winston left behind his immature ways when he walked out of a Publix without paying for crab legs four years ago. Wishful thinking. The NFL has suspended Winston for three games for allegedly grabbing the crotch of a female Uber driver while waiting for food at a latenight drive-thru in Arizona. You can’t make this stuff up.
MLB All-Star Game voting ends July 5. Reds second baseman Scooter Gennett is the only Cincinnati player deserving of a starting nod, but he’s in third place. Atlanta’s Ozzie Albies (who also has a cool name) and Javier Baez (who has Cubs Nation behind him) are running 1-2. You can vote 35 times electronically, so we’ll see if Reds fans can stuff the ballot box.
The air show is always cool, especially when the Blue Angels show up. When we lived in Iowa, our air show participants used to fly right over our house on their practice runs. I’ll never forget the time I was mowing the lawn and the Blue Angels zipped by about 70 feet overhead, right up our street. Spectacular.
Trending up: Brooks Koepka, Taylor Hall, Norris Cole. Koepka, who looks more like a linebacker than a pro golfer, won his second straight U.S. Open last week, overcoming nasty conditions at Shinnecock Hills. He wasn’t near the top in fairways and greens hit, but he was an effective scrambler. Koepka finished at 1 over par, good enough to take home a first-place check totaling $2.16 million.
Trending down: Brandon Morrow, Bryce Harper, Argentina. Cubs closer Morrow is on the disabled list with a back injury. He suffered back spasms while taking off his pants at home after the Cubs returned from a trip last week. Morrow has 16 saves and a 1.59 ERA this season. This guy could win the Cy Young Award and still be remembered as the guy who injured himself while taking off his pants.