That One Sports Show

Reds backup second baseman Scooter Gennett (JEN-ett) hit 4-homers and had 10 RBIs in a 13-1 route over the Cardinals last June 6. He’s the first Red to ever hit 4 in one game and previously hadn’t even hit 4 in one month. He sits among 17 other players in MLB history to perform the same feat, including Rocky Colavito of Indians fame. The homeruns were 4-run, 2-run, 2-run and a solo HR. Best part, Scooter wasn’t even set to be in the lineup. With heavy rains before the game, Reds starting second baseman was unable to test his shoulder in batting practice, so Scooter got the nod. Rule of the Week: Interference Let’s set the scene. June 1st, the Mets were playing the Brewers when third baseman Wilmer Flores ran toward the Brewers dugout to catch a foul ball. In doing so he was bumped by the Brewers ball boy. It’s important to note that the ball boy was on the Mets payroll, so ill-intent is much less likely and the ball boy is technically a Mets employee. Eric Sogard, the batter, was ruled out on the play and interference was called. After discussing, the umpires ruled it a foul ball, claiming the contact was unintentional, and Mets manager Terry Collins went wild and got booted. So, did this go down the way it was supposed to? To the rule book! MLB Rule 3.15 In case of unintentional interference with play by any person herein authorized to be on the playing field…the ball is alive and in play. If the interference is intentional, the ball shall be dead at the moment of the interference and the umpire shall impose such penalties as in his opinion will nullify the act of interference. The question boils down to intent of the ball boy, and who is a person authorized to be on the field? Authorization: Rule 3.15 No person shall be allowed on the playing field during a game except players and coaches in uniform, managers, news photographers authorized by the home team, umpires, officers of the law in uniform and watchmen or other employees of the home club. This ball boy was an employee of the home club, so he is authorized. But what about the intent? Oh hey rule 3.15, look at you explaining stuff again. The question of intentional or unintentional interference shall be decided on the basis of the person’s action. For example: a bat boy, ball attendant, policeman, etc., who tries to avoid being touched by a thrown or batted ball but still is touched by the ball would be involved in unintentional interference. If, however, he kicks the ball or picks it up or pushes it, that is considered intentional interference, regardless of what his thought may have been. In this case, the boy was not touched by the ball at all, but did interfere with the player. Because it was ruled as unintentional, they made the right call in having it just be a foul ball. The curious part of this comes in when the original umpire called the runner out. The umpire that made the call could have been thinking of Rule 3.16 which talks about spectator interference. Rule 3.16 If spectator interference clearly prevents a fielder from catching a fly ball, the umpire shall declare the batter out. I think there is clear interference. The ball boy clearly pushes the arm of Flores out of the way, but only because he was trying to get out of the way. Would Flores have caught it if the ball boy had not been there? Yes. Is the ball boy a spectator? No. Final verdict: Correct call was made. Other kinds of interference include: offensive, verbal, and catcher interference, but we’ll get to those another time. Fun fact: All bat/ball boys or girls shall wear a double ear-flap protective helmet while performing their duties, subject to ejection. Secondary fun fact: The MLB Rule Book, with Appendices

Would You Rather Fill in shoes of a winning coach at a football school, or fill in shoes of a losing coach at a basketball school? In this case is it preferable to head to a school where you would inherit a winning basketball team, but the pressure is not too high because basketball isn’t the school’s primary sport, or would you rather take over a slumping program where basketball is the number one sport. Toss Up More US goals in the US vs. Trinadad and Tobago World Cup Qualifier or Penguins goals in game 6 (series tied 2-2). The Predators are notorious for outscoring opponents at home in the playoffs and the Penguins will square off in Nashville on Sunday. June 8, the US will take on Trinidad and Tobago in Colorado in a CONCACAF World Cup Qualifier. Will the US or Penguins score more goals in their respective games? Geoff: ‘Merica John: Penguins Last week: Top 10 performer at the end of Day 1 of the Memorial Tournament, Jason Dufner ended up winning the whole thing, meaning John takes another week from Geoff who has stalled out and is on an incredible losing streak. Columbus Crew 7W 1D 8L – 5th in Eastern Conference Next game is June 14th against FC Cincinnati. Who? Exactly, FC Cincinnati is a part of the United Soccer League, a US-based league with 30 teams. The reason you may not have heard of it is because it’s Division II while MLS is DI. When The Hex is in swing, most MLS teams will hang out and not play any important games (some players may be on the US team, or other World Cup teams), so the Crew will partake in the interstate “rivalry.” Let’s hop this is a game where the Crew can get their confidence back. Baseball Update Indians – 29-28, 2nd in American League Central. They keep losing to the Rockies and have started to suffer some pitching injuries. Redz – 27-30, 3rd in National League Central. Climbing on out of the basement. Winter Olympics Preview Warning This is your Winter Olympics warning. Mid-November we’re going to start doing one event a week. There are 15 total sports in next year’s 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. World Cup Update For the US to take third place in the Hexagonal World Cup qualification, they need wins vs. T&T, vs. Costa Rica, vs. Panama, at T&T, a draw with Honduras and their only loss could go to Mexico. This is purely speculative depending on what the rest of the teams do, but the US currently sits tied with Honduras in second to last. Mexico leads and Trinidad and Tobago is bringing up the rear. 2018 World Cup will be hosted in Russia. Tomorrow they will play Trinidad and Tobago at Dicks sporting Goods Park in Colorado and will play in Mexico City June 11. This would be that first win they need as they proceed through the CONCACAF Hex. They’ll play again twice in the first 5 days of September and again in October. Mexico is undefeated while the US is tied for second to last with 1 win, 2 losses and 1 draw. Currently the US has the worst Goal differential at -5. Other Headlines Thad Matta “resigns” from his spot with the Ohio State Buckeyes Basketball team Climber Alex Honnold scales El Capitan in 4 hours with no ropes whatsoever Al Pacino to play Joe Paterno in a movie about the Penn State Scandal apparently Luke Walton seen at a volleyball tournament wearing a Poppovich Kerr 2020 shirt Oklahoma football coach Bob Stoops retires as one of nine coa

We mentioned last week in our “This Week in Sports History” section that on May of 1883, the Snorkeys disarmed the Hoppers 33-17. Both teams were from Pennsylvania, and both teams were missing a limb. The Snorkeys were playing without the use of one arm, while the Hoppers were playing without the use of a leg. The Snorkeys are rumored to have been named after a character from the 1838 stageplay “Under the Gaslight,” a one-armed ex-soldier named Snorkey. The Hoppers were named after…well, having to hop or hobble down to first base on old-timey prosthetics or in most cases crutches. All but one player had been injured while working for the Reading Railroad. One gentleman lost a limb while fighting in Gettysburg. The teams played several times at Recreation Park in Philadelphia, erected in 1860. Recreation Park was the first major baseball field erected in Philadelphia and ended up being used by Union soldiers during the Civil War. The field was also referred to as Centennial Grounds because the Philadelphia Centennials played there until the Phillies took over for good, using it as a home field starting in 1883. Amputee baseball fizzled out after the 1880s for nearly 60 years, only to see a resurgence after World War II. With many baseball players headed overseas to fight, the game traveled with them. When they returned home, those that were left with amputations still wanted to play the game they loved. In New York and New Jersey in 1945, a group of around 300 amputees began practicing and having exhibition games. The group would become known as National Amputee Baseball and was mainly played on Randall’s Island in New York. Teams like The Broken Wings and The Flat Tires formed to play benefit games for the local Veteran’s Affairs. Being able to play the game of baseball brought new purpose into the lives of the wounded World War II vets. While their compatriots were getting industry jobs, amputees were not as quickly able to find gigs. Groups of 12,000 to 18,000 fans showed up to the Polo Grounds whenever these teams would show, raising enough money for the Disabled American Veterans amputees chapter to purchase a headquarters in New York City that remains in use to this day. While not many of the players in National Amputee Baseball got to see playing time in the minors, a select few managed to leave their mark on baseball history. Successful Amputee Players Hugh “One-arm” Daily – Pitcher – 1882-1887 This gentleman played around the Snorkeys-era and was a rather volatile character. He had lost his hand to a gun accident and the wound never fully healed. The muscle and skin around his amputation was always tender, which led to him cold-cocking his catcher after continuing to throw the ball back too hard. During the 1883 and 1884 seasons, Daly won 20 or more games and finished in the top ten of many of the leagues major pitching categories including innings pitched, complete games and strikeouts. Of his great seasons, he pitched a no-hitter on September 13, 1883, and struck out 19 batters in one game. With his volatile personality, teams weren’t particularly thrilled to have Daly on their squad, but would deal wi

We talk a bit about the Warriors vs. Cavs and take a quick trip around the NFL for some team updates.

Raw show notes below: Would You Rather: Get out on the first word of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, or not make it past the second day of the Memorial? Toss Up: Who wins the Memorial? Top ten leaderboard after day 1, or the field? T1. David Lingmerth = -7 T1. Jason Dufner = -7 T3. Daniel Summerhays = -6 T3. Jordan Speith = -6 T5. Justin Thomas = -5 T5. Lucas Glover = -5 T7. Byeong Hun An = -4 T7. Sam Saunders = -4 T9. Jamie Lovemark = -3 T9. Nick Taylor = -3 T9. Matt Kuchar = -3 T9. Brooks Koepka = -3 (47 players at EVEN or better) Who scores more points in game 5? LeBron or the Celtics Bench? LAST WEEK: Geoff: LeBron John: LeBron Actual: LeBron: 35 – Bench: 47 Record for the year: John (11-8-1) Geoff (9-10-1) TIGER WOODZ didn’t have his best night French Open Update Memorial Columbus Crew – 7W 1D 6L – 4th in Eastern Conference Crew won 3-0 against the Seattle Sounders, break a rough skid Next Games: June 3 against Colorado Rapids Indians – 28-24, 1st in American League Central, beat Athletics yesterday 8-0 Redz – 24-28, 4th in National League Central USPS getting some sports related stamps with textures similar to the balls they depict 101 – Number of strikeouts already this season for Boston ace Chris Sale, becoming just the fifth since 1900 to strike out 100-plus in his first 10 starts. For his career, he now has 1,233 strikeouts in 158 starts, more than any other pitcher since 1893

LA will not get to host the 2021 Super Bowl as previously discussed. Because the stadium was moved back a whole year to 2020, they are not eligible to have the Super Bowl in that stadium. The league requires the stadium be up for at least two years before the final game of the season is held there. LA will get to host in 2022, but for 2021 the Super Bowl will be in Tampa Bay. Roger Goodell announced some new rules this week including a lightening up of celebration penalties. Group dances and using the ball as a prop are back. Hopefully we only see penalties in cases where the celebration is taking wayyyyy too long. Overtime will also be shortened to 10 minutes instead of 15 presumably to make things more exciting and killing the dull parts of OT. Just make it like college, problem solved. Another rule change is the slashing of players from a 90-man roster directly to 53. No more 75-man buffer, it’ll just be a straight slash at the end of the season. Most people are able to get behind this as it will allow for longer player evaluation. Overall good job NFL. These rules are good rules.

After the show this week we were still recording while Geoff started to explain what the gjallarhorn is/was. The discussion that followed is somewhat historical, somewhat intelligent, but mostly just trying to pronounce things.

We take a look around the NBA and at the only series still going on thanks to the Warriors dominating with 12 straight wins in the playoffs this season.

Would You Rather Have a shoe deal with Under Armour or a T-shirt deal with Nike? In this scenario, you generate the same amount of money, but that also means you sell way less shoes than you would t-shirts. So, which would you rather. Toss Up Who scores more points in game 5? LeBron or the Celtics Bench? Both say LeBron goes off and scores more than the bench to round out the series. Last week: Over/Under: 2.5 teams in the Finals by 5/24. NBA and NHL. John took the under, Geoff took the over. Nashville vs. Anaheim (4-2) IN Ottawa vs. Pittsburgh (3-3) Golden State vs. San Antonio (4-0) IN Cleveland vs. Boston (3-1) John Wins! John (11-7-1) Geoff (9-9-1) This week in sports history 1881 US Nation Lawn Tennis Association forms 1883 Baseball game between one-armed & one-legged players (Snorkey and Hoppers, but other sources have that in october 29), more on this game later on 1948 NY Yank Joe DiMaggio hits for cycle (single, double, triple, HR) 1985 Pete Rose 2,108th run passes Hank Aaron as NL run scoring leader Columbus Crew On quite the losing skid, the Crew sit at 6W 1D 6L, bad enough for 5th in Eastern Conference. Last game: Sunday vs. New England Revolution (2-1 Loss) Next Games: Friday at Toronto FC Wednesday Home vs. Seattle Sounders Indians and Reds Indians – 24-20, 2nd in American League Central to the Twins Redz -21-24, 4th in National League Central The Reds and Indians play each other through Thursday.

How bad would tie games be for baseball? John talks about one of his new favorite shows on IFC called Brockmire (feature Hank Azaria and Amanda Peet). Is baseball the best sport for fan participation? All-Star voting is open and you can vote up to 35 times…wut.

The Chargers and Rams were all set to play in a brand new stadium in 2019, but large amounts of rain have slowed construction down to the point that construction will now not be finished until 2020. That means the Rams will be playing in the Coliseum still and the Chargers will be playing in some random soccer stadium that only holds ~30,000 folks. We will continue to keep you posted on the situation. Patent-pending Flag Football So much technology is being thrown into a league where Michael Vick is playing. It is essentially flag football, but there is tech behind it that is a) patent-pending and b) getting to a point to help increase the accuracy. When the magnet’s sensor disengages the referee will be able to see the exact point where it happened. Good idea or bad idea? Concussion Grenades Tom Brady had to dive on some verbal grenades this week after his week discussed with the media how Tommy had a concussion at some point in the 2016 season. Seriously though, no player would actually tell the staff they have a concussion if they want to keep their position. Madden Cover Factoids Full article coming later this week.

NBA Playoff Update The Rockets are out after a poor performance against the Spurs. James Harden was especially bad, leading many to make excuses for him and wonder if he was concussed or sick or any number of things that would explain his poor play. Really, he’s probably just a bad teammate and an overrated player. The 9 2-pt FG made by Rockets in Game 6 loss to Spurs was fewest by any team in any game in shot clock era, per the Elias Sports Bureau. Geoff gives a history lesson and explains the last time that happened, the shot clock was created shortly after. Only 1 game in NBA history a team made fewer than 9 2-pt FG and that was Nov. 22, 1950: Minnesota & Fort Wayne each made 4 FG in a 19-18 Fort Wayne win. The Wizards fought hard, but lost in seven to the Celtics who will move on to play the Cavs (Cavs lead 1-0). The Warriors fought back from a 25-point deficit to beat the Spurs in game one and handily took game two. Will the Warriors continue their sweep? NBA Lottery Explained Geoff and Steve Wright explained to John how the NBA lottery works this week. Basically a weighted amount of ping pong balls are tossed into a bucket with the 14 worst teams getting an opportunity to snag the top three picks in the NBA draft. After those initial three it falls to the worst records. This year, the Celtics will have the number one overall pick, but how can that be if they are the number one seed in the Eastern Conference. Thanks to a bad deal for the Brooklyn Nets a few years back, they coughed up their 2018 pick with an option for the Celtics to switch it to 2017. The Celtics opted to do so and went into the lottery. Celtics were drawn and will now have the first overall pick for the first time since the mid 1900s. They are expected to take Markelle Fultz with the Lakers taking Lonzo Ball at #2. Billion Baller Brand Speaking of the Ball’s, what’s Lavar up to these days other than talking down to women. He is now saying that he’s sold at least 500 pairs of the $495 shoe and that if a brand like Nike or Adidas wants him, the new cost is $3 Billion. Any chance he gets that amount? Most likely not. We would hope no one is that dumb.

Would You Rather Be able to hit the ball as far as you wanted, but only on fastballs (.250 hitter otherwise) or be able to hit a jumper from anywhere, but only when heavily contested. Every other shot you’d only shoot .100. Toss Up Over/Under: 2.5 teams in the Finals by our show next thursday. NBA/NHL Nashville vs. Anaheim (2-1) Game 4 TONIGHT. Game 7=Wednesday Ottawa vs. Pittsburgh (2-1) Game 4 Tomorrow. Game 7=Thursday Golden State vs. San Antonio (2-0) Game 3 Saturday. Game 5=Wednesday Cleveland vs. Boston (1-0) Game 2 Tomorrow. Game 4=Tuesday (5 Thurs.) Geoff takes the over, John takes the under. John (10-7-1) Geoff (9-8-1) This week in sports history 1894 Fire in Boston destroys baseball stadium & 170 other buildings 1912 A’s beat Tigers 24-2, who use amateurs protesting Ty Cobbs suspension 1928 9th modern Olympic games opens in Amsterdam 1959 Sam Snead sets PGA record for 36 holes at 122 1970 Hank Aaron becomes 9th player to get 3,000 hits 2014 Adam Scott overtakes Tiger Woods as the No. 1 ranked golfer in the world 2016 Rougned Odour punched Jose Bautista in one of the best starts to a baseball fight ever Columbus Crew Update 6W 1D 5L – 3rd in Eastern Conference behind Toronto and Orlando City Wednesday 05/10 – L 1-2 at Toronto FC Saturday 05/13 – W 2-3 vs. Montreal Impact Next game: Sunday vs. New England Revolution – 2:30 Other Headlines NCAA Women’s Water Polo – Stanford beat UCLA this past weekend 8-7 Girls soccer team joined a boys league and won it in Spain A golfer missed the U.S. Open Qualifier by 55 strokes after using a loophole to make it in.

Last week the Cubs and the Yankees duked it out in a 18-inning marathon with the Yankees winning 5-4. In that game, the two combined for the most combined strikeouts by two teams with 48. The previous record was 43, set by California Angels and Oakland A’s in 1971 with 43. That game lasted 20 total innings. Matt Harvey decided to have a little fun last weekend, partying too hard on a Friday and calling in sick on Saturday with “migraines.” The Mets followed up and found out about the fib and suspended Harvey for three games. Is it enough? Who’s the most mad about it? Does anyone understand the WAR stat in baseball? John definitely does not, but is sure that he’s going to figure it out. Will he? Find out next week on another mysterious episode of that one sports show.

The Cavs and Warriors are just hanging out at home this weekend. Both teams ended up sweeping their opponents in the first and second round of the playoffs, the first time in the history of the NBA that two teams have done that. Could we see a Cavs vs. Warriors Final for the third year in a row? There are worse things. We talked to someone with a physics degree and confirmed that James Harden’s beard does help slow him down. The surface area of his beard is large enough that it creates extra drag, although not a substantial amount, causing a small bonus for decelerating. While the beard sure will help him slow down, the Spurs are also doing a great job at slowing him down. The series is now sitting at 3-2 in favor of the Spurs, who have kept Harden at bay in their wins. If Manu and crew can do the same in Game 6, the Spurs should come out on top to take on the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals. In the Eastern Conference, the Celtics are still fighting against the Wizards, but have a leg up, beating the Wizards on home turf Wednesday night. In this series, the home team has won every game. John goes with the Celtics to finish off the series and move on to play the Cavs. Shaq is potentially running for sheriff and Geoff isn’t sure he’s the right man for the job. Even though Shaq has spent some time as an honorary cop, Geoff and the Couch Dweller think hiring a man with little to no experience as a sheriff is a bad idea. While his resume doesn’t show much, he could be fairly sensitive to the needs of troubled youth and potentially have a better voice when speaking to teens. What do you think? Shaq for Sheriff? Lonzo Ball. Poor guy isn’t even in the NBA yet and people are already hating on his shoe. Is it really even his shoe though? Lonzo Ball’s first shoe is out and costs a whopping $495. Steve Wright took the under on selling 10,000.5 shoes while Geoff took the over because there are enough affluent rich kids that would buy this shoe. Lavar is confident that the shoes will sell, but time will be the best indicator of whether the shoes are great or if he’s just tripping over his own laces. If nothing else, the trolls are having a field day with this shoe.