On Saturday, the Little League team that I coach had their first practice since the COVID-19 outbreak began. In this story, I am going to take you through what we did in our first practice back.
After we had introductions for some of the new players on our team, we had the kids go through some drills. This drill is called the knee drill, and what we have them do is really work on how to throw the baseball. They hold the ball with a four-seam grip, and really focus on getting their wings and their cobra before they throw the ball.
After the knee drill, and playing normal catch and long toss, we had them do another drill called the pick drill. What this drill does is make them have to field the ball out in front of their body because the closer their glove is to their body, the more likely it is that the ball eats them up and they make an error. Here is Mikey Godoy, and he has his hat in his mouth so it forces him to field the ball out in front because if he doesn’t, then he won’t be able to see the ball and he’ll make an error.
After the pick drill, we hit the players ground balls. We want them to first charge and split, and that means they charge the ball, then split their feet so they can field the ball in the middle of their body. Then they gather it up, take a couple of hard shuffles towards their target, then they get their wings and their cobra, and then they throw the ball and they follow the ball towards the target for a few feet after they release the ball. Here is Caelum Sherman working on his gather, shuffle, and throw.
Since these players are 12-years-old they have graduated out of Little League, so they move up to Pony Baseball next year. One of the things they have to learn is how to get leadoffs and dive back to the base head first when the pitcher tries to pick them off. Here is Jake Wells taking a lead off the throwdown base that is just outside of the frame.
After they took ground balls, we split the players into three groups, a hitting live group, a tee group, and a shag group. For the hitting group we had them go either three rounds or 12 minutes, whichever came first. They got five swings in their first round, then five pitches in their last two rounds. Here is my brother Tyler Paige swinging at a pitch.
In the shag group, we had our guys work on their charge and split and fielding the ball out in front. Here is Jacob Godoy fielding a ground ball and throwing it back in to the infield. Jacob is a sophomore who plays on the Lakewood High School Baseball team.
Finally, we went to the tee group. On the tee, we had them do the jump back to go forward drill. So what they did was take a jump backwards towards second base, then they pushed off their back foot and hit the ball. What this drill makes them do is really push off their back side because that is where they are going to get their power from, and it makes them have to hit the top half of the baseball. Here is Mikey Godoy working on the jump back to go forward drill.
After we were done with hitting, we had them do some brief conditioning. By the time we were done with that practice was over. That is what my team did during their first practice back from COVID-19.
The Lakers got their shit kicked in by Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers tonight in Game 1 of the Western Conference Playoffs.
The Lakers have played SOOOOO bad in the bubble and now it is coming back to bite them.
LeBron had a triple-double but disappeared down the stretch. Anthony Davis was not good from the field, hitting only 8 of his 24 shot attempts. They both missed huge free throws (4 in a row!) late in the game as well.
As bad as they played, they still weren’t the biggest problem the Lakers need to fix.
The team as a whole shot a whopping 18% from three (5-32), 35% from the field, and 65% from the charity stripe.
The Lakers in the bubble
Two of the leading contributors to this abysmal performance were Danny Green and KCP (aka KCPoop as Stu Lantz calls him). They were absolutely atrocious tonight.
Danny Green has not been very good from downtown all season long. He is only shooting just above the league average in three-point percentage at 36%. For a guy who was supposed to be the shooting savior the Lakers needed from the guard position, he has definitely not lived up to the hype. And tonight was no different. He was 2-8 from beyond the arc and has looked lost since the bubble restart.
To be honest he has laid more brick this season than a stone mason.
Danny Green should be thrown in jail for robbery. I mean he is making $15 million this year to shoot worse then me (ok, maybe he’s not THAT bad). If the Lakers are going to win this series, let alone a Championship, DG is going to have to step it up big.
KCP is the real Mr. Triple Single (sorry Draymond). He had one point, one rebound, and one assist tonight. He was mainly out there to work on his cardio. Lakers fans cyberbullied KCP on Twitter earlier this season, and they’re going to have to do it again because that stat line is unacceptable. I know I’m going to do my part to help Make KCP Great Again.
Lakers fans whenever KCP is in the game
Before I wrap this up we really need to have a conversation about Frank Vogel. Frickin’ Frank had his head so far up his ass tonight that his nose smelled like colon. JaVale McGee must have some serious dirt on Frank Vogel because that’s literally the only reason I can think of for why he’s still in the starting lineup.
Laker fans to Vogel when they see that he put JaVale in the starting lineup again
Whenever he’s on the floor the spacing sucks, he clogs up the paint and AD has a harder time working down low in the post. Not to mention that during a lot of games this season (like tonight) the opponent can get out to a big early lead, and a big reason is because JaVale can’t do a whole lot on offense or defense anymore. Everyone and their mother can see this. The only person who can’t is one Frank Paul Vogel.
On top of JaVale, Vogel for some reason doesn’t want to put Karl Kuzma in the starting lineup (yes I know his name is Kyle, but Charles Barkley called him Karl during the pregame show so that’s his name now). I can understand why he didn’t start at the beginning of the season because the Lakers needed scoring off the bench and he could provide that. Now, they don’t need his scoring off the bench because you have another scorer in Dion Waiters leading the second unit. There has never been a team who has won an NBA finals with their “third option” coming off the bench and the Lakers won’t now if he doesn’t start.
Speaking of Dion Waiters did he and J.R. Smith die? They were nowhere to be found tonight. I think they played a combined one minute. There is an old saying that goes “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Well tonight it snapped in half and what did Frank P. Vogel do? Not a damn thing. He didn’t change his lineups one iota and it burned him. I mean Clay Helton adjusts more at halftime then Frank Vogel and that’s saying something. If KCP and Danny Green can’t score, then maybe lets put some guys in who can score like Waiters and Smith, but that thought never crossed his mind once and I don’t think it’s going to for the foreseeable future.
Frank Vogel: "It's one game. We're very confident in our group still. … I was pleased with our competitive spirit. We didn't make shots"
My last grievance that needs to be aired is when Rajon Rondo inevitably comes back in the next game or two and takes playing time away from Alex Caruso. Rondo’s prime is long behind him, but the Lakers coaching staff plays him like he’s 2010 Rondo. He can’t shoot (not that he ever could anyways), he can’t play defense, and he can’t space the floor very well (the opponents leave him open since he can’t hit jumpers). The only thing he can still do decently is pass, but he still makes dumb decisions with the ball that lead to costly turnovers. Nevertheless, he’ll still get his spot back even though when Caruso started guarding Damian Lillard in the second quarter he held him to 1-10 from the field.
Laker fans when Vogel plays Rondo over Caruso
Hopefully the Lakers can turn it around on Thursday, but if tonight is any indicator, this could be a very long series.
Through 36 holes this PGA Championship has shown how the conditions can wreak havoc. The guys who had the late tee times in round 1 and the early tee times in round 2 had the more favorable draw. Most of those guys are near the top of the leaderboard. The players who had the late tee times in round 2 had to deal with a lot of wind, more than the afternoon guys in round 1. As the tournament goes on and the wind kicks up, expect the leaders to come back to the rest of the field. I wouldn’t be surprised if the lead is around 4 or 5 under par going into Sunday.
Haotong Li has come out of nowhere. Nobody expected him to contend this week. Not even him. That’s what he said to ESPN yesterday after a near last place finish in the WGC event in Memphis. He even spent an extra six hours at the range trying to figure his swing out. It will be interesting to see if he can hang on or if he will collapse like many people (including him) are expecting.
There are some notable names near the top of the leaderboard. Fairway Jesus, Tommy Fleetwood, is tied for 2nd and he is looking to win his first Major. Former Major Champions like Jason Day and Justin Rose find themselves near the top of the leaderboard as well.
The gym hardo’s Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau are lurking too. Koepka is -6 and DeChambeau is -2. There is a little work to be done, but I’d love nothing more than a Bryson vs. Brooks matchup down the stretch. These guys HATE each other, with Brooks always chirping Bryson to the media. However, Koepka could get a little taste of his own medicine. If Bryson doesn’t lay on the ground and have someone work on his legs like Koepka did yesterday then I will be very disappointed.
Other notable names who are on the course as I write this are Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, and Tiger Woods.
JT shot a 2-under 68 during his third round to move him to -1 for the tournament. He made the cut on the number yesterday, and today he was at one point 5-under par for his round. As the conditions worsened he dropped some shots, but if the leaders come back like I’m expecting, then Thomas has played himself right back into this tournament.
Rory McIlroy was my pick to win this week and early on yesterday it was looking like a really good pick. That is until he imploded on the 12th hole and made a triple bogey. He has since worked his way back to 2-under for the tournament. He’s gonna need to pick up a couple more strokes to get into a late pairing tomorrow. Hopefully he can figure it out and make me look good.
Phil Mickelson was making a bit of a mini run today. He, like Thomas, made the cut on the number and was making the most of it, But after back to back bogeys on the back nine, his chances of winning are probably gone.
Tiger Woods. Yuck. That is what describes his putting this week. He hasn’t been able to hole a putt since Thursday. Some people have speculated that it’s the putter change that’s caused his putting woes, but that can’t be the whole problem. There is something broken in the mechanics of his stroke. This has been a steady problem since he’s come back to competing almost three years ago. When he putts well, he wins (cc: Tour Championship, The Masters, Zozo). When he doesn’t, then he plays like what we’ve seen this week. Those wins are the only three weeks that he’s actually been consistent and putted well. As this season goes on, he needs to find the same kind of consistency with the flat stick that he had during his last three wins. If he can do that, then he will be in contention for wins again.
Even though Tiger won’t be competing for the win this weekend, this is still a very entertaining leaderboard with some interesting stories. Hopefully this PGA Championship will start the Major Championship season off with a bang.
Major Championship golf returns for the first time since Shane Lowry lifted the Claret Jug at Royal Portrush thirteen months ago.
This year’s PGA Championship is at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, California. The last major event that was held at this golf course was in 2009 for the Presidents Cup in which Team USA beat the Internationals 19.5-14.5.
There are a lot of unknowns about this golf course, but from the coverage so far this week it looks like the rough is long and weather is going to play a big factor.
With that in mind, here are five guys to keep an eye on this week at Harding Park:
Brooks Koepka:
Four-time Major Champion and Two-time defending PGA Champion Brooks Koepka should have a big advantage this week. He should have a big advantage because he is one of the longest hitters on tour. Koepka is in the top-20 of both Driving Distance and Strokes Gained off the Tee this year on tour. With a course that is only 7,000 yards but could play upwards of 8,000 yards due to weather conditions, you need to be able to get off the tee with distance to have any shot this week. That’s why I like Koepka.
Where he could struggle is his driving accuracy and his Strokes Gained Putting. This year he is only hitting 54% of all fairways which ranks 185th on Tour this year. He also is ranked 146th in Strokes Gained Putting this year. He has struggled since the restart of the tour season with two finishes outside the Top-30 and two missed cuts. However, Koepka is coming off a Second Place finish at the World Golf Championship in Memphis, so he has some positive momentum going in to this tournament. If Koepka can put the ball in the fairway and make putts, he just might walk away with his third straight PGA Championship.
Next Up: Bryson DeChambeau
The Mad Scientist has been making headlines since the restart began. Since the restart, he has made himself look like the Hulk (It seriously looks like he ate old Bryson), he’s won golf tournaments and blown golf tournaments, he’s gotten into arguments with cameramen and rules officials, and he most recently stated that he thinks he can live to 130 or 140.
All that aside, DeChambeau has been the most entertaining player to watch since the PGA Tour restarted. He can now hit the ball a country mile. Phil Mickelson and his Adonis like calves dream about hitting the types of bombs that Bryson hits. DeChambeau leads the Tour in Driving Distance and Strokes Gained off the Tee. He is also good with the flat stick in his hands as he ranks 6th in Strokes Gained Putting and he is 9th in Strokes Gained from Tee to Green (nice).
Where I don’t like Bryson is that he has had no real success in Major Championships. He’s had flashes of greatness at a place like Augusta National where he’s been able to put together a couple of good rounds, but he has always ended up collapsing down the stretch. He only has one top-15 in Majors and he has six missed cuts. Not to mention that he is a mental midget on the golf course and he is prone to blow ups. If he can control his nerves and stay mentally tough, then Bryson could be holding the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday evening.
Next Up: Justin Thomas
Justin Thomas has been on fire since golf restarted. The new World Number 1 has four top-tens including a win last week in Memphis. Now, Thomas may not drive it as far as guys like Koepka and DeChambeau, but Thomas is deadly with an iron in his hands. He currently leads the tour this year in Strokes Gained on Approach Shots. He also has the ability to go low. He is second in scoring average on tour and third in birdies made per round.
The only reservations I’d have about Thomas this week is the fact that he doesn’t hit a lot of fairways. He ranks 131st in Driving Accuracy this year on Tour. He has a great iron game and short game, but I’m worried that he will eventually put himself in a spot where he won’t be able to scramble his way out of trouble. If he can put himself in good spots then he will be in contention on Sunday afternoon.
Next up: Jon Rahm
Jon Rahm was the World Number 1 for about two weeks until Justin Thomas displaced him after his victory last week. Rahm has some success since the restart with a big win at The Memorial. Outside of that there hasn’t been much to smile about. He has no top-25 finishes outside of his win a couple weeks ago. Rahm is another guy who bombs the golf ball (sensing a pattern here?). He is above average in Driving Distance where he ranks 35th and in Driving Accuracy where he ranks 52nd. Where he stands out is in Strokes Gained off the Tee and he is 6th in that category. Rahm is also a guy, who like JT, can get white hot and go low. He ranks 7th in scoring average and 8th in birdie average.
Most of the trouble I see him having will be due to the six inches between his ears. It has been well documented about how Rahm can’t keep his cool on the course. He has even gone as far as hiring an EOD bomb defuser as his Psychologist. This course is going to play very tough when the weather kicks up, and if he gets one bad break on Thursday, it could set the tone for his week and he could be packing his bags early.
Last but not least: Tiger Woods
Golf Jesus is back baby! Tiger Woods will be teeing it up for the first time since The Memorial on Thursday at 8:33 AM PT on the 10th tee (You bet your ass I’ve already set my alarm). El Tigre has been making the news this week since he has benched his old reliable Scotty Cameron putter that has won 14 of his 15 Majors. He is putting a new Scotty in the bag that is longer and has weights in the bottom of it.
Steve Stricker on Tiger's Scotty Cameron putter change: Changeable weights on the sole of the putter, but also added length. Allows him to practice more without back pain.
BDE is the only player in this long blog that I’m not going to put any stats for because with Tiger, all numbers go out the window. He could be playing terrible golf and you still couldn’t count him out because he’s TIGER FREAKING WOODS! In the back of your mind you know that he could piece together four great rounds and win the damn thing. He has some history at this course. He beat John Daly here in 2005 and he went 5-0 in the Presidents Cup in 2009. The bottom line is you never, EVER, count out the greatest golfer to ever walk planet earth.
There are three things that need to go Tiger’s way this week. If his back stays limber for four days, he hits fairways, and he makes putts then he will without a doubt win number 16 on Sunday.
My Pick to win: Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy is my pick to win this week for a few reasons. One reason is that he is deadly with the driver in his hands. It is the best club in his bag. He is 4th in Strokes Gained off the Tee and 5th in Strokes Gained Tee to Green. Also, he is probably the one guy in the field that can get hotter than Justin Thomas when he gets it going. He leads the Tour in Eagles and he is 3rd in Scoring Average. There are only two Par 5’s at TPC Harding Park and I fully expect him to take advantage of them. He is also very good at working the ball both ways off the tee. There are holes at TPC Harding Park where you have to hit a draw off the tee and other holes that you have to hit fades. Rory is the best in the game at doing just that.
McIlroy has not had a lot of success since the restart. He has only had one top-15 finish, and the rest of the tournaments that he’s played, he hasn’t finished inside of the top-30. Last week wasn’t much better although he ended the week with a 67 so he is trending in the right direction.
McIlroy hasn’t had a lot of success in Major Championships recently either. He had a heartbreak in 2018 when he collapsed on Sunday at Augusta, and he came close at the 2018 Open Championship where he finished tied for second behind Francesco Molinari. Other than that he’s had no other close calls. Sure, he had a couple top-10’s in Majors last year, but he never came close to sniffing the lead.
There is a saying in baseball where if a guy is slumping you say that “He’s due.” Eventually he will break out of his slump and go on a tear. I think that Rory is due. He’s gonna break out of his slump and win the Wanamaker Trophy for a third time.
When he does win on Sunday, Rory is going to get on a big roll. So the rest of the Tour better watch out because they’ll be standing on the tracks while the train is coming through.
On this day in 1993, White Sox third baseman Robin Ventura tried to beat up a senior citizen and let’s just say it did not go well for him.
August 4, 1993: After 46-year-old Nolan Ryan hits 26-year-old Robin Ventura with a pitch, Ventura charges the mound. It does not go well for him. pic.twitter.com/ZFexg2G6Yx
— This Day In Sports Clips (@TDISportsClips) August 4, 2020
Young people often do stupid things, and after Robin Ventura made the bad decision of charging the mound, Nolan Ryan had to put the young whippersnapper in his place.
Tbh, what did Ventura think was going to happen? Nolan Ryan eats pieces of shit like him for breakfast (Shooter McGavin).
What Ventura should’ve done was after Ryan hit him, he should’ve said “Thank you sir. May I have another?” Instead Nolan Ryan told him to get off his lawn err mound, and when Ventura didn’t listen he ended up getting his clock cleaned.
So let this be a lesson fellow young people. Don’t mess with the old guy with the big calloused hands and the cauliflower ears. He will kick your ass.
In case you missed it, Yoenis Cespedes pulled off the craziest Irish Goodbye I’ve ever heard of when he completely ghosted the Mets yesterday.
Before their afternoon game against the Braves, it was reported that the Mets couldn’t find their star outfielder. They went to his room and they couldn’t find him, and they couldn’t reach him via cell phone either.
Naturally, social media lost it’s mind and made every joke and floated every single conspiracy theory imaginable.
Mets fans on Twitter Yesterday
There were two possible theories that were going around on social media. From “he forgot it was a day game and he’s probably out golfing,” to “the cartel has him and he might be dead.” It spread like wildfire. (BTW, the cartel theory is from the fact that the cartels may have helped Cespedes escape from Cuba, and he still owes them money.)
Fortunately, neither of those conspiracy theories came true. The real reason for his disappearance was that Yo decided to pack his bags and dip during the dead of night without saying anything to anyone.
How can you blame him? The Mets are horrible this year. They are 4-7 with an offense that doesn’t score runs and a bullpen that is so bad that their closer is nicknamed Edlose.
Edwin (Edlose) Diaz after blowing a save against the Braves on July 25, 2020
Keep in mind, Cespedes is in a contract year and he just decided to say screw it, I’m not playing. This is his last chance to make an impression on teams so he can make one more big contract, and he decides to vanish into thin air.
This is such a Mets thing to have happen. They are an absolute dumpster fire.
Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly has been suspended eight games. In announcing it, MLB referred to Kelly's past history with intentional throwing, the fastball that buzzed Alex Bregman and his taunting of Carlos Correa.
How in the hell do you give Joe Kelly a harsher punishment than you give to any of the Trashstros players? These are the same guys who just so happened to LITERALLY STEAL A WORLD SERIES TITLE!
I mean how backward can Rob Manfred be? That guy couldn’t handle a two car funeral procession, let alone one of the big four sports leagues in America.
Keep in mind, an 8-game suspension in a 60-game season is the equivalent of a 21.6-game suspension in a 162-game season. And Joe Kelly didn't even hit anybody, nor did he cheat to win a World Series. https://t.co/kVO7BYw4jn
Keep in mind, if Rob Manfred would’ve done his job and punished the Trashstros in the first place, then Joe Kelly wouldn’t have had to dish out some frontier justice.
The 2017-19 Astros scandal was on the same level as the 1919 Black Sox scandal, and Rob Manfred did nothing about it. Then he goes on to punish the victims of the crime instead of the perpetrators.
What a clown.
It’s really hard to be a worse commissioner than Bud Selig, but congratulations Rob, you’ve done it!
Look at this guy! What a cuck.
Free Dave Roberts, Free Joe Kelly, and FIRE ROB MANFRED!
Joe Kelly has been a pain in the Dodgers ass for years. He’s the guy who broke Hanley Ramirez’s ribs in the NLDS in 2013, dominated the Dodgers in the 2018 World Series, was hurt for most of last season after signing a three year $25 million contract, and gave up the go ahead Grand Slam to Howie Kendrick in the NLDS just over 9 months ago.
With three pitches tonight, everything bad Joe Kelly has done to the Dodgers has been forgiven.
First of all, going after the biggest douchebag on the Asterisks, Alex Bregman, was awesome.
Bregman had been talking smack all offseason, and the smugness and lack of remorse for his actions warranted more than 99 MPH behind his head.
By the way, all the people who were mad that Joe Kelly was “head hunting” obviously have never seen his window. That dude has no idea where the ball is going to go.
Not to sound like a conspiracy theorists, but Joe Kelly clearly broke his own window three months ago in an attempt to cover his tracks for this matchup against the Astros.
Correa has always looked like he walks around with a big dump in his pants, so it was no surprise that he was the guy who talked the most shit all offseason and didn’t take any responsibility for his actions. He was also very hostile and defensive towards anyone who thought the Astericks were cheaters.
Joe Kelly struck out Carlos Correa , told him to shut the fuck up, and stuck his tongue out at him. 🐐 pic.twitter.com/Os600WAtzP
After Kelly struck him out, embarrassed him, and made him look like the fool he is, Correa tried to act like he was hard. GTFOH. This is the same dude that missed eight weeks last year because he got hurt from a massage.
This guy is softer than Charmin.
Plus Joe Kelly tried to fight the entire New York Yankees roster a couple of years ago. He’s crazy. Correa don’t want no smoke.
To top it all off, the reason the Trashtros were so upset was because Joe Kelly called Correa a mean name.
Dusty Baker on #Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly: "What really enraged everybody was what he told Carlos [Correa] when he struck him out, "Nice swing bitch!''
So overnight, Joe Kelly has gone from journeyman reliever to the most beloved baseball player in America. Hopefully they use this picture of him when they build his statue outside of Dodger Stadium.
Tonight, the trash can bangin’, buzzer wearin’, lyin’, cheatin’ Houston Trashstros take on the LA Dodgers. This is their first matchup since the bombshell report came out about the Asterisks over the offseason.
Now, I don’t think anything will happen, but just because I don’t think anything will happen, doesn’t mean I don’t want anything to happen. I know that millions of Dodger fans (including me) would love for there to be some kind of revenge for what happened in 2017.
Hopefully Walker Buehler decides to be a bad boy like Ferris and drills George Springer in the ribs on the first pitch of the game.
Or somebody goes in spikes up when they slide into second base just to give Carlos Correa a little taste of his own medicine.
Or maybe somebody can “buzz” the tower on Jose Altuve.
I don’t know if anything will happen, but one thing I do know is every baseball fan in America is a Dodger fan tonight.
Eight more players and two coaches with the Miami Marlins have tested positive for COVID-19, as an outbreak has spread throughout their clubhouse and brought the total of cases in recent days to at least 14, sources familiar with the situation tell me and @JesseRogersESPN.
If the Miami Marlins, a team that probably couldn’t beat the Yankees Triple-A team cost us the Major League Baseball season, I might riot (maybe not the right choice of words but oh well).
We’re really only going to get one measly weekend of baseball. I mean, can’t we just keep the season going without the Marlins. They’re horrible. Nobody would mind if they just opted out of the season, and I’m sure their five fans wouldn’t mind either.
But seriously, there’s nothing else really to say except this sucks and I hope those guys get better soon so the season doesn’t get canceled.
If the season does get canceled, maybe Derek Jeter can send all baseball fans a gift basket since he and his organization screwed us like one of his one-night stands.
