Left Coast Sports Babe

It being Coors Field, everyone of course expected SF Giants to have 14 runs. Of course, most people expected that to be the total for three games.

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Congratulations to Mike Fiers on MLB’s 300th no-hitter.  Meanwhile, will he and the A’s and send flowers or something to SF Giants pitchers. Clearly they  wore out Cincinnati  hitters with all the time Reds spent running around the bases.

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John Daly has arthritis in his knee and got approval to use a cart next week in PGA Championship. Will the cart come with a designated driver?

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Maximum Security is skipping the next race, now Country House owners say he has a cold. How long until the next appeal about Kentucky Derby is filed by advertisers for the Preakness?

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So much division in this country, but can we get bipartisan agreement on one thing? It should be a felony to get in Express Line at a crowded supermarket with a really complicated refund or exchange item.

Three tweets from Donald Trump in last two days about giving a medal to Tiger Woods. NONE about the latest school shooting, or about hero #RileyHowell. Priorities.

…year after year, Mr. Trump appears to have lost more money than nearly any other individual American taxpayer.”   NY TimesYou know, if you let me write $200 billion worth of hot checks every year, I could give you the illusion of prosperity too.”  Lloyd Bentsen

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Your reminder that in a 2000 “Fortune” interview Donald Trump said “It’s very possible that I could be the first presidential candidate to run and make money on it.”
Maybe he really did run in 2016 because he needed the money.

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If Jerry Falwell Jr’s “racy” pictures were sent to his wife it would be a non-story, and perhaps him quoting Corinthians “Do not deprive one another.” Just saying.

With all the controversy over Kentucky Derby ending, most unhappy people in horse racing – other than Maximum Security owners and bettors- have to be anyone connected to the Preakness.

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SF Giants tied a major league record by hitting four batters in one inning today. Given that it’s Great American Ballpark I’m amazed one of the balls didn’t bounce off a batter and over the outfield fence.

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Best pitching line of the day for SF Giants. Again.
PITCHERS IP H R ER BB K HR PC-ST ERA
P. Sandoval 1.0 0 0 0   0    0     0       10-7      0.00

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And the Red Sox are paying his salary.. Pablo Sandoval on Monday became the first major league player since 1905 to hit a home run, steal a base and post a scoreless outing in the same game.

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After SF leaves the launching pad known as Cincinnati’s Great American Ballpark, the Giants travel for a three series at Coors Field. So who on the team pitching staff REALLY p*ssed someone off in the scheduling department.

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SF Giants game in Cincinnati was  actually delayed by BEES! Can we blame everyone who complained this season didn’t have enough buzz?

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Julian Castro is the latest candidate to qualify for 2020 Presidential debates. At this point the real limiting factor on number of participants is likely to be the decision of the fire marshal.

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Trump gave Tiger Woods medal of honor “because of his incredible success [and] comeback in sports, and more importantly, life.”
Translation, how long until there’s a Tiger Woods-branded course at one of Trump’s golf resorts?

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Florida Senator Rick Scott ranting on Twitter about what he considers a “terrible idea” – ‘If you want to buy a gun, @CoryBooker wants you to register with the federal government.”
Gosh, next the government might want you to register your car..

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Okay, anyone else but me hit the apathy trifecta – Game of Thrones, Avenger Endgame and MetGala ?

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Ken Starr, complaining about Mueller letter about Barr being leaked “That is, to me, the unforgivable sin.”
“Unforgivable sin?”   Right, as opposed to ignoring rape and sexual assaults by athletes at  Baylor?

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From Marc Ragovin “I’m not saying the Mets are bad, but the only way they are winning the division is if the Nats, Phils, Braves, and Marlins veer out of their lanes.”

Okay, since being down 8-0 and coming back wasn’t enough of a challenge, today SF Giants in first inning ended up down 4-0 on three consecutive pitches from Jeff Samardzija, and won 6-5.  Fun, but probably not a season long winning strategy.

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Worst thing about SF Giants visit to launching pad known as Cincinnati’x Great American Ballpark? Madison Bumgarner hasn’t, and probably won’t, had a chance to hit?

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This quote is from 2017, but how do you read it and not root for Damian Lillard? “Pressure, nah.this is just playing ball. Pressure is the homeless man, who doesn’t know where his next meal is coming from. Pressure is the single mom, who is trying to scuffle and pay her rent.”
“We get paid a lot of money to play a game. Don’t get me wrong ― there are challenges. But to call it pressure is almost an insult to regular people.”

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Not just manager Alex Cora, but apparently several other members of World Series Champion Red Sox will skip White House visit. Will their excuse be they can’t eat cold greasy fast food.?

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So we have gone from “Ich bin ein Berliner” (literally “I am a jelly doughnut,” to having a President now be “Stollen?”

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But if Trump wants to insist Democrats have ” stollen two years of my (our) Presidency ,” whatever does he mean?  That they have iced it?   Hard to imagine they could have added more  nuts?

Robert Mueller has set tentative date to testify before House Judiciary Committee of May 15. Hoping he has engaged a food taster until then.

Trump email of the day references his upcoming fundraising dinner in New Orleans.
Wonder if anyone has told him that city of New Orleans voted 80.% for Hillary Clinton.

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And half expected Trump to tweet “Happy Fifth of May?”. Because this is America and we should speak English.

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So Trump has time for nonstop Twitter retweeting rant against his enemies, & even time to redo his “Stollen” rant. But no time to honor hero Riley Howell.   If only UNCC killer were an immigrant.

At the Kentucky Derby Museum, located at Churchill Downs, you can listen to recording of every race in history. Wonder how the hell they’re going to do this one.

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Were the  Kentucky Derby horses  claiming a foul owned by James Harden?

Asked on Twitter “What would Trump’s horse be named if he had one running in the Kentucky Derby?”

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So will Sports Illustrated “Sportsman of the Year’ in 2019 be the officials?

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Here’s seriously, what’s really dissatisfying about this year’s Kentucky Derby. Maybe it was a foul. But the horse that ended up won wasn’t affected. The horse who was most impeded  _ War of Will – finished out of.the money.

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(Will next year’s Derby be sponsored by lawyers?)

On the other hand from an actual athlete’s perspective, Maximum Security still thinks he won.

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So if you can overturn a Kentucky Derby finish based on seeing a foul after the fact, how about a Presidential election? Asking for a country.

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Fastest two minutes in sports, normally the Kentucky Derby?  The slowest two minutes in sports – waiting between pitches for Pedro Baez.

For 2020 NBA Championship, NY Knicks are down to 16-1 in Las Vegas, behind only Bucks, Celtics and 76ers.
Your reminder that as far as money wagered, the #1 team for 2019 Championship was the LA Lakers.

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Now that he is in Triple-A, Tim Tebow is only hitting .137. Sad. If only he could build up his confidence again against lesser pitching, like facing the Baltimore Orioles.

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All this hype over betting odds in 2020. Another reminder, one reason Bill Clinton, who announced his candidacy in OCTOBER 1991, got the 1992 nomination is that many powerful Democrats figured George H.W. Bush was a cinch for re-election and didn’t run.

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Meanwhile,  49 years ago today.  Does anyone think at this point Trump wouldn’t blame the students?  Or Hillary. Or Obama.  Seriously  If you’re not afraid you’re not paying attention.

So after SF Giants  went down 8-0 in the 3rd, didn’t we all have game against Reds going to the 11th?

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But yeah. Baseball IS the best game. No clock.

Nights like tonight with SF Giants late-night comeback in Cincinnati, along with Nuggets Blazers 4OT playoff game makes me feel sorry for sports fans on East Coast.

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At rookie minicamp, Bears coach Matt Nagy had eight kickers to attempt a 43-yard field goal, the same distance as the missed attempt that cost Chicago the playoff win against Eagles. Only 2 of 8 made it.
So how serious is Sebastian Janikowski about that retirement?

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Derek Jeter is reportedly unhappy with Marlins’ play and lousy attendance. Gosh, if only he knew someone who could do something about it.

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Meanwhile, instead of watching sports, Trump’s Friday night rant “I am continuing to monitor the censorship of AMERICAN CITIZENS on social media platforms. This is the United States of America — and we have what’s known as FREEDOM OF SPEECH! ”
Uh, this is the man who wants censorship when he is mocked on SNL and has talked about “challenging” media licenses.

Hard to believe it was about 50 years ago that Canada had a charismatic leader named Trudeau and Americans had a lousy crook in the White House.

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Trump tweeting about phone call with his boss today – “getting along with Russia, China, and everyone is a good thing, not a bad thing….”
“and everyone” – excluding Western Europe, Canada, Central America… and of course Democrats.

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Drawing conclusions from Mueller report without asking Mueller himself to testify is like having a trial but excluding witnesses.

So since Trump and Pence are so big on medical providers being allowed faith-based exemptions, can doctors refuse to prescribe Viagra for single men or men whose wives are past child-bearing age?

Trump claimed Putin said Mueller Report  “ended up being a mouse.” Uh, as a guy named Walt Disney used to say “it all started with a Mouse.”

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So since Trump is so big on medical providers being allowed faith-based exemptions, can doctors refuse to prescribe Viagra for single men or men whose wives are past child-bearing age?

Hey Generation Z-ers…. Trump today filed another brief to get rid of Obamacare. This would means anyone from 18-26 could no longer be on their parents’ healthcare. Still think voting doesn’t matter?

Apparently with their 14-17 start, Red Sox have banned the video game “Fortnite” as a “distraction” in their clubhouse.
Ok, SF Giants have had a lousy start, but at least they aren’t making lousy excuses. #smallmercies

At LaGuardia, Brooklyn Nets point guard D’Angelo Russell was detained and cited for possession after TSA said they found marijuana inside a “hidden compartment of an AriZona Iced Tea can.”
Those cans hold 12 ounces of liquid. So just thinking, if you’re going to try to bring pot on a plane, maybe you shouldn’t bring it in something TSA would confiscate anyway?

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In Denver last night, Nuggets fans were chanting “Kanter sucks!” and one yelled out, “Go back to Turkey, oh wait you can’t!”

For those who don’t know the story, Kanter has criticized the Turkish President, and the country has revoked his passport, issued a warrant for his arrest,  and threatened to throw him in prison if he returns.   And we thought the Broncos fans throwing snowballs were as low as you could go in Denver.

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Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner married Joe Jonas tonight in a surprise ceremony in Las Vegas after the 2019 Billboard Music Awards.
Well, after GOT can imagine why Turner might have had more than the usual horror of big weddings.

GOP-controlled Florida legislature passed a bill outlawing “sanctuary cities. Gov. Ron DeSantis – “We are a stronger state when we protect our residents, foster safe communities and respect the work of law enforcement at every level.”
And he said this with a straight face? Florida!!?

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Patti Davis in an open letter to GOP “If you are going to stand silent as America is dismantled and dismembered, as democracy is thrown onto the ash heap of yesterday, shame on you. But don’t use my father’s name on the way down.”
Waiting for someone in Trump administration to attack Patti’s father…

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Two Federal Reserve Board nominees gone in about a week. Who’s Trump going to pick for his third strike?

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Jesus said “the truth shall set you free.”  Guess Jesus would never get a job in the Trump administration.

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Playing to his evangelical base, Trump talked a lot about freedom of religion on National Prayer Day.   This is the religious equivalent of Henry Ford saying you can have any color as long as it’s black.

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All this commotion about Barr. Am I the only one thinking “Can we just skip him and go to the source? When can Mueller testify?

Bryce Harper, who went 0-4 Tuesday night in a Phillies loss, got booed by home fans.  Congrats to all those who had “April 30” in the pool.

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Ok, this SF Giants season may suck. But taking 2 of 3 from Dodgers does not suck.

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A bleeping miracle has occurred. For 2nd time in 2019  SF Giants scored in 1st inning. For 1st time this year they had a LEAD in first inning.

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Prosecutors played a tape today where  former Arizona assistant said that  Wildcats coach Sean Miller was paying star center Deandre Ayton $10,000 per month while he was enrolled at the University.

Many people who heard this story were no doubt appalled. And at least a few players and their families are thinking “Damn, we were underpaid.”

(Must. Not. Make. USC. Jokes.)

Hillary Clinton tonight said that Trump is on “the road to tyranny.” “On the road?” Trump is the drum major in the middle of the road leading the band.

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Lindsey Graham today “If Mueller disagrees with anything Barr said today, “he can come and tell us.”   I think that can be arranged.

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Attorney General Bill Barr said Mueller report “was now my baby.” Just another guy who knows as much about law as he does about biology.

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Barr would have also claimed Henri II didn’t mean Becket any harm when he said “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?”

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For all those wondering who “Judicial Watch” is that Donald Trump was retweeting nonstop today, I give you Wikipedia: “The group has made numerous false and unsubstantiated claims, which have been picked up by right-wing news outlets. The vast majority of its lawsuits have been dismissed.”

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Lori Gilbert Kaye, and Riley Howell were heroes who gave their lives to save others when faced with mass shooters. If we had a President he or she would say their names.

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This morning Donald Trump had time to retweet countless tweets from firefighter supporters, but not a word about UNCC victims Ellis Parlier, 19, and Riley Howell, 21. If only their killer had been an immigrant he’d be eulogizing them nonstop.