The Rundown: Five Things To Know About Major League Baseball
The boys of summer are back! That’s right, baseball season begins on Sunday. With summer and grand slams around the corner, here are five things to know so you can hit a home run in the baseball conversation.
Batter up,
The Last Night’s Game Team
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Five Things To Know About MLB (Major League Baseball)
- Baseball players are called the boys of summer, but why? Baseball is the only major professional sport that spans the summer and starts and finishes the season in the same calendar year. It’s also the longest regular season in professional sports with 162 games.
- MLB is divided into two leagues – NL (National League) and AL (American League). What’s the difference? In the NL pitchers bat for themselves. In the AL, pitchers don’t hit. They have a designated hitter (a player who only hits, doesn’t play a field position) to hit for them.
- Strikeouts are measured by “K’s” on the game broadcast and throughout stadium. A forward-facing K means the player struck out swinging (they missed the ball on the third strike). A backwards K means a strikeout looking (i.e. they didn’t swing and were called out by the umpire). Photo.
- MLB does not have a salary cap like other professional leagues. Instead they have a competitive balance tax or “luxury tax.” Once a team’s annual player payroll hits a certain number (this year it’s $195 million), they are taxed. The tax was put in place so big market teams (think: New York Yankees) wouldn’t sign all of the best players, leaving the small market teams at a competitive disadvantage. Where does the tax money go? Find out here.
- Ones to watch – The defending champions are the Chicago Cubs. (Remember that epic World Series where they beat the Cleveland Indians and broke their 108-year losing streak)? Sports Illustrated predicts a Houston Astros – Chicago Cubs World Series.
Overtime
- After threatening a boycott, the U.S.A.’s women’s hockey team will report to the World Championships on Friday. The team was protesting U.S.A. Hockey’s compensation for women’s hockey. The two agreed on new terms that include salary raises, performance bonuses and increased efforts to support girls' developmental teams to further the sport.
Sideline stat
- NFL (National Football League) owners voted a resounding 31 - 1 to approve the relocation of the Raiders from Oakland to Las Vegas. It’s going to be a long, awkward breakup because the Vegas stadium won’t be done until 2020. With no new home, the Raiders will have to play the next few seasons in Oakland.
Coaches’ Corner
- What is a grand slam? Yes, a grand slam is a meal at Denny’s but in baseball it’s when there are runners on all three bases (first, second and third) and the batter hits a home run which equals four runs scored.
The Rundown: Caffeine-Fueled
We know it was hard to get out of bed this Monday morning but the world of sports is your oyster. Now go wow that cute stranger in line for coffee by telling them you know what happened in Last Night’s Game.
Caffeine-fueled and ready to take on the world,
The Last Night’s Game Team
NCAA March Madness Basketball Tournament
- Carried away. Last night we learned which teams are the final four teams in the tournament. The nation saw North Carolina beat Kentucky on a last second shot. Although in Cleveland, OH the local CBS affiliate cut away from the game right before the game winning shot for a tornado warning. This means life or death, of someone’s bracket. Tornados can wait.
- The odd squad. It’s an unlikely Final Four to say the least. Why?
- Gonzaga Bulldogs and South Carolina Gamecocks - the two teams have never played in the Final Four.
- Oregon Ducks - they haven’t played in the Final Four since 1939.
- North Carolina Tarheels - they're making their 20th Final Four appearance.
- How you doin’? Kudos to “bjarv” who is in the lead in the Last Night’s Game Bracket Challenge. Although “Clueless Newbie” and “Not a Jock” are hot on their tail. It all comes down to next weekend and the championship game a week from today.
F1 Racing (Formula One)
- Crikey. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel emerged victorious down under in Melbourne to start the F1 season. This is the first time Team Ferrari has won the opening race since 2012.
Overtime
- Good guys alert in the NBA (National Basketball Association). Earlier this month, Golden State Warriors fan, Isaiah and his mom had tickets to the Warriors game but were victims of ticket fraud and weren’t able to attend. The Warriors heard about the disappointment and flew the 6-year-old and his mom to Memphis, TN to sit courtside at the Warriors-Grizzlies game. They also arranged a meet and greet with players including Isiah's hero Stephen Curry.
Sideline stat
- While the college players had the spotlight, a second-year player for the Phoenix Suns had a night for the record books. Devin Booker, 20, scored 70 points on Friday night, becoming just the sixth player in NBA history to do so. Sadly, his team still lost despite his valiant effort.
Coaches’ Corner
- Basketball isn’t the only sport to produce a Final Four. College hockey also has a March Madness-style tournament and they’re down to the “Frozen Four,” the four teams remaining in the quest for the national championship. Notre Dame, Denver, Harvard and Minnesota Duluth will compete next week in Chicago for the freezing-cold title. The other teams will have to “let it go.”
The Rundown: My Kind Of Party
All of this talk about Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four has us rethinking our nickname. Couch potatoes doesn’t quite carry the same bravado.
#squadgoals,
The Last Night’s Game Team
World Baseball Classic
- Bringing home the bacon. Team U.S.A. took home its first ever World Baseball Classic championship title, beating Puerto Rico. Since baseball is no longer an Olympic sport, this is the equivalent to taking home the gold medal. Big league.
NCAA March Madness Basketball Tournament
- Michigander. The Michigan Wolverines were on a winning streak since their airplane crash a few weeks ago. All good things come to an end. They lost last night to the Oregon Ducks.
- Narrowing it down. The field goes from the Sweet 16 tonight to the Elite Eight starting Saturday. If you want to cheer for the underdogs, Xavier and Gonzaga are playing each other in the Elite Eight on Saturday, and neither team has ever made it to the next round, the Final Four. Somebody has to win, might as well be you.
PGA (Professional Golfers’ Association)
- Family matters. Golfer Jason Day (#3) withdrew from this weekend’s tournament to spend time with his mom who is battling lung cancer. During a tear-filled interview, he talked about how “family comes first.” American doctors have upgraded her prognosis from the grave one she received in their native Australia but it’s still a long road ahead.
Overtime
- According to Fortune Magazine, when the Chicago Cubs won the World Series last season - breaking their 108-year championship drought, it was nothing short of a modern marvel. The magazine named Cubs’ president of baseball operations, Theo Epstein, this year’s “World’s Greatest Leader.” Epstein, who also ended the Boston Red Sox 86-year losing streak in 2004, beat out the Pope, Melinda Gates, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and a few other underachievers.
Sideline stat
- "Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt." That’s the athletes motto in the Special Olympics which has been repeated thousands of times at their World Winter Games in Austria. The games come to a close on Saturday but over 2.700 athletes from 107 nations have been brave in their quest for gold. Click here for more about the games.
Coaches’ Corner
- There’s a tradition of doing a “shoey” after a victory in F1 (Formula One) racing. The shoey was introduced by Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo when he drank his victory champagne out of his gross, sweaty shoe after winning a race. Maybe a new pair of Jimmy Choos’ is a better idea? (Missed it? Here’s our five things to know about F1 racing in advance of this weekend’s season opener).