Cnotes 2020/2021 NHL Season Long Trends, News, Notes, Picks !

[Udog]

Been waiting all morning for Arizona/San Jose to be added. If they ever remember it and update, I'll add it.....

NHL
Dunkel

Wednesday, April 28

[Udog]

NHL

Wednesday, April 28

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Trend Report
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Vancouver @ Ottawa
Vancouver
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Vancouver's last 7 games when playing Ottawa
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Vancouver's last 5 games on the road
Ottawa
Ottawa is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing at home against Vancouver
The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Ottawa's last 11 games at home

St. Louis @ Minnesota
St. Louis
St. Louis is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Minnesota
St. Louis is 9-2 ATS in its last 11 games when playing on the road against Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games
Minnesota is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games

Toronto @ Montreal
Toronto
Toronto is 7-3 SU in its last 10 games on the road
Toronto is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games when playing Montreal
Montreal
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Montreal's last 5 games at home
Montreal is 7-2 ATS in its last 9 games when playing Toronto

Edmonton @ Winnipeg
Edmonton
Edmonton is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Winnipeg
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Edmonton's last 8 games on the road
Winnipeg
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Winnipeg's last 9 games when playing at home against Edmonton
Winnipeg is 7-3 ATS in its last 10 games when playing Edmonton

Colorado @ Vegas
Colorado
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Colorado's last 6 games when playing Vegas
Colorado is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Vegas
Vegas
Vegas is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Vegas is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games

Anaheim @ Los Angeles
Anaheim
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Anaheim's last 6 games when playing on the road against Los Angeles
Anaheim is 18-4 ATS in its last 22 games on the road
Los Angeles
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Los Angeles's last 6 games when playing at home against Anaheim
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Los Angeles's last 7 games when playing Anaheim

Arizona @ San Jose
Arizona
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Arizona's last 6 games when playing San Jose
Arizona is 7-2 ATS in its last 9 games when playing on the road against San Jose
San Jose
The total has gone OVER in 5 of San Jose's last 6 games when playing Arizona
The total has gone OVER in 4 of San Jose's last 5 games


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[Udog]

35VANCOUVER -36 OTTAWA
OTTAWA is 150-140 ATS (-4 Units) in home games after covering 4 or 5 of their last 6 against the spread since 1996.

37ST LOUIS -38 MINNESOTA
MINNESOTA is 17-3 ATS (14.3 Units) in home games against mistake free teams - opponents average <=4 power plays/game in the current season.

39TORONTO -40 MONTREAL
MONTREAL is 16-24 ATS (-18.2 Units) against mistake free teams - opponents average <=4 power plays/game in the current season.

41EDMONTON -42 WINNIPEG
EDMONTON is 22-5 ATS (16 Units) against poor defensive teams - opponents average 29.5+ shots on goal in the current season.

43COLORADO -44 VEGAS
VEGAS are 17-3 ATS (12.3 Units) against poor power play killing teams - opp score on >17.5% of chances in the current season.

45ANAHEIM -46 LOS ANGELES
LOS ANGELES are 70-87 ATS (-25.7 Units) in home games off an home win scoring 4 or more goals since 1996.

47ARIZONA -48 SAN JOSE
ARIZONA is 7-2 ATS (4.8 Units) after allowing 5 goals or more in the current season.

[Udog]

Wednesday’s 6-pack
States with the biggest (legal) sports betting handles in March:
$860M— New Jersey
$641M— Nevada
$560M— Pennsylvania
$384M— Michigan
$317M— Indiana
$301M— Colorado
Americans who have died from COVID-19: 572,201
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.

Quote of the Day
“I do feel like I’m being targeted every night. I have felt like I’ve been targeted, but I am just going to continue to play as hard as I can, I want the Philly fans to know that I am out there giving 130 percent every night. The calls might not go my way, I might seem a little frustrated, but I am out there to help this team win a championship.”
Dwight Howard, who has 15 technical fouls this season

Wednesday’s quiz
Who was the Mets’ manager, last time they played in a World Series?

Tuesday’s quiz
When Catfish Hunter threw a perfect game in a 4-0 win for the A’s in 1968, the future Hall of Famer who knocked in three of Oakland’s four runs was……..Catfish Hunter. This was five years before the DH. Catfish was a pretty good hitter.

Monday’s quiz
Seven active NFL QB’s have thrown six TD passes in a game:
Brady, Fitzpatrick, Foles, Mahomes, Rodgers, Roethlisberger, Trubisky

************************************************** **

Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings

13) Julius Erving listed his top two all-time NBA teams; they raised some eyebrows.
1st team:
— Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain

2nd team:
— Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Karl Malone, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Again, this is Julius Erving saying this, not me. We all have our own opinions.

12) Indians 7, Twins 4:
— Minnesota was 36-24 last year; they’re 7-15 this year.
— Twins are 0-7 in one-run games, 0-5 in extra innings.
— Franmil Reyes hit two homers for Cleveland.

11) Dodgers’ 1B Max Muncy had a stretch over the weekend where he reached base nine out of ten times, but problem is, he didn’t have any hits in that span, just 8 walks and a HBP.

In his last nine games, Muncy is 1-26, with 12 walks.

10) These Kentucky Derby notes are from ESPN’s Chris Fallica:
— Last time a horse won the Kentucky Derby from the #14 post? 1961 (Carry Back)
— Since then, eight horses from the 14-post have been top three betting choices.
— Last five years, the 14-post has been a top-4 betting choice all five years, but only one of those horses cracked the trifecta.

9) Dallas 133, Golden State 103
— Mavericks ended the first quarter on a 25-0 run.
— Dallas made 18-35 shots behind the arc.
— Apparently Golden State had been playing better since they stopped practicing; their last practice was April 8, but they got squashed in this game.

8) 38-year old Arthur Smith is the Atlanta Falcons’ new head coach; his father is the guy who founded FedEx. The younger Smith played college football at North Carolina, was recently the offensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans.

7) Blue Jays 9, Nationals 5:
— Vladimir Guerrero Jr becomes youngest player in MLB history with a 3-HR, 7 RBI game.

6) Baseball stuff:
— Bronx Bombers acquired LHP Wandy Peralta and a player to be named later from San Francisco Giants in exchange for OF Mike Tauchman.
— Reliever Jerry Blevins retired after a 13-year career, spent with four teams.

5) 29-year old Drew Valentine is the new basketball coach at Loyola Chi, replacing Porter Moser, who bolted to Oklahoma. Valentine graduated from college only eight years ago.

4) NHL is going to get a lot more exposure, with NBC Sports Network going off the air this summer. NHL has new deals with ESPN/Turner; will Charles Barkley give his hockey picks before games?

3) 529 different players have played in at least one NBA game this season.

2) There is going to be a 6-team baseball draft league, leading up to July’s amateur draft, with all six managers being former major league players. Amateur players who are hoping to be drafted will play ball; I’m assuming they’ll use wooden bats, which they don’t use in college.

Baseball draft has traditionally been the first week in June, with the short season leagues getting underway couple weeks later, but those leagues are out of business now, as MLB took over the minor leagues, starting this season.

1) If you’ve hit more sacrifice flies than you’ve been walked/hit bye pitch, then your on-base %age will actually be lower than your batting average. Sacrifice bunts don’t count as at-bats, but sacrifice flies do.

[Udog]

NHL

Tuesday, April 27

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Trend Report
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Buffalo @ NY Rangers
Buffalo
Buffalo is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Buffalo's last 5 games on the road
NY Rangers
NY Rangers is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games when playing at home against Buffalo
NY Rangers is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Buffalo

Boston @ Pittsburgh
Boston
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Boston's last 7 games when playing Pittsburgh
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Boston's last 5 games when playing on the road against Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games when playing at home against Boston
Pittsburgh is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games at home

Detroit @ Columbus
Detroit
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Detroit's last 5 games when playing Columbus
Detroit is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games on the road
Columbus
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Columbus's last 5 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Columbus's last 5 games when playing Detroit

NY Islanders @ Washington
NY Islanders
The total has gone UNDER in 13 of NY Islanders's last 16 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of NY Islanders's last 11 games
Washington
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Washington's last 9 games
Washington is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games when playing NY Islanders

Philadelphia @ New Jersey
Philadelphia
Philadelphia is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against New Jersey
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Philadelphia's last 7 games on the road
New Jersey
The total has gone OVER in 5 of New Jersey's last 6 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 5 of New Jersey's last 7 games when playing at home against Philadelphia

Tampa Bay @ Chicago
Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is 14-2 SU in its last 16 games when playing Chicago
Tampa Bay is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing on the road against Chicago
Chicago
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Chicago's last 5 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 11 of Chicago's last 15 games when playing at home against Tampa Bay

Florida @ Nashville
Florida
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Florida's last 6 games on the road
Florida is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Nashville
Nashville
Nashville is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games at home
Nashville is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games at home

Carolina @ Dallas
Carolina
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Carolina's last 9 games when playing on the road against Dallas
Carolina is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games when playing Dallas
Dallas
Dallas is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
Dallas is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games at home


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[Udog]

NHL
Dunkel

Tuesday, April 27

[Udog]

19BOSTON -20 PITTSBURGH
BOSTON is 4-9 ATS (-10.9 Units) against good offensive teams - averaging 29.5+ shots on goal per game in the current season.

21BUFFALO -22 NY RANGERS
BUFFALO is 7-33 ATS (-29.3 Units) off a loss by 2 goals or more to a division rival in the last 3 seasons.

23DETROIT -24 COLUMBUS
COLUMBUS are 1-10 ATS (-11.9 Units) against poor possession teams-averaging 3+ less shots on goal than opp in the current season.

25NY ISLANDERS -26 WASHINGTON
NY ISLANDERS are 2-9 ATS (-8.4 Units) in road games against explosive offensive teams - scoring 3+ goals/game in the current season.

27PHILADELPHIA -28 NEW JERSEY
NEW JERSEY is 0-12 ATS (-12.8 Units) in home games against good offensive teams - >=29 shots on goal, convert >=17% pp in the current season.

29FLORIDA -30 NASHVILLE
NASHVILLE is 22-11 ATS (11.7 Units) against horrible power play killing teams-opp score on >19% of chances in the current season.

31TAMPA BAY -32 CHICAGO
CHICAGO is 9-1 ATS (7.9 Units) in home games off a home loss against a division rival over the last 2 seasons.

33CAROLINA -34 DALLAS
DALLAS are 3-13 ATS (-13.6 Units) in home games against good offensive teams - >=29 shots on goal, convert >=17% pp in the current season.

[Udog]

Tuesday’s 6-pack
Odds to win the Big X football title this fall:
4-5— Oklahoma
5-2— Iowa State
7-2— Texas
7-1— Oklahoma State
22-1— West Virginia
28-1— Kansas State, TCU
40-1— Baylor, Texas Tech
150-1— Kansas
Americans who have died from COVID-19: 572,201
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.

Quote of the Day
“Aaron’s (Rodgers) our guy. He’s going to be our quarterback for the foreseeable future.”
Green Bay Packers GM Brian Gutekunst

Tuesday’s quiz
When Catfish Hunter threw a perfect game in a 4-0 win for the A’s in 1968, which future Hall of Famer knocked in three of Oakland’s four runs?

Monday’s quiz
Seven active NFL QB’s have thrown six TD passes in a game:
Brady, Fitzpatrick, Foles, Mahomes, Rodgers, Roethlisberger, Trubisky

Sunday’s quiz
Nick Foles is the only active NFL quarterback who has thrown 7 TD’s in a game.

***********************************************

Tuesday’s quiz: Nobody asked me, but……..

13) Giants 12, Rockies 0— Rough day for the Colorado franchise; their GM jumped/got pushed, then they went out and trailed 9-0 in the 2nd inning in San Francisco.

Will the next GM decide whether or not to trade Trevor Story, or is the owner deciding that? Right now, the franchise appears to be a mess.

12) Texas Longhorns have already poached four basketball players from other schools:
— Creighton, Kentucky, Utah, Vanderbilt.

Or, as Jerry Tarkanian famously said, “I prefer transfers; their cars are already paid for”

Thats the new thing in college basketball; don’t recruit freshmen, steal other team’s players.

11) Sometimes great things happen by accident.

Week 8 of the 1984 NFL season, 49ers are in Houston to play the Oilers; coach Bill Walsh is bored the night before the game, is watching the local Houston news in his hotel room, when he sees the highlights of a small college football game played that day.

Thats where Walsh discovered Jerry Rice, watching the local news in his hotel room.

10) One of the best ongoing arguments is debating which quarterback was better than all the others, because everyone uses different criteria to decide.

I’ve had this debate with several different people; it is always fun.

9) Atlanta Braves won the last 60 times they’ve led after 8 innings, the longest active streak in the major leagues.

8) Back in 1985, Michael Jordan’s contract with Nike said that if Nike didn’t sell $4M in Air Jordans by Michael’s third year in the NBA, Nike could end the deal.

In the first month Air Jordans were on sale, in six test markets, Nike sold $29M worth of Air Jordans.

7) So far this young season, teams have stolen 28 bases against the Dodgers; no other team has given up more than 15 stolen bases.

6) This week in 1904, Jack Chesbro won his first game of the season; he went on to go 41-12 that year, starting 51 of the 55 games he appeared in. 41 wins is definitely a record that will never, ever be broken.

5) Bill Fralic was an offensive lineman for the Atlanta Falcons in the 80’s; he was the second pick in the 1985 draft. As part of his contract, Fralic is still getting paid $150,000 a year, and will be for the rest of his life. Pretty good deal.

4) Ryan Griffin has been the Tampa Bay Bucs’ backup QB the last six years, winning a Super Bowl ring last year, making into Hard Knocks a few years ago. This fall, Griffin will be the first QB ever to be on the Buccaneers’ roster seven years in a row.

Here’s the thing; in these last six years, Griffin threw a total of four passes.

3) Happy birthday this week to a couple of legends; Al Pacino turned 81 years old, Carol Burnett turned 88.

2) Shohei Ohtani is hitting .300 in his first 80 at-bats this season; he is also 1-0, 3.29 in three starts pitching, making him a very unique two-way player.

Monday night in Arlington, Ohtani went 2-3, scored three runs, knocked in two, and pitched five innings as the Angels beat Texas 9-4. When Ohtani pitches and bats, the Angels can’t have a DH, so when Ohtani gave up four runs in the first inning, Joe Maddon had to be a little queasy.

But Ohtani blanked Texas out in innings 2-5; he is an interesting player.

1) NFL Network has run some half-hour shows this week, dealing with each year’s draft; I hadn’t seen all of them before, but they’re very well done and worth watching, a history of the league, lot of good nuggets, some of which will undoubtedly make it into this space.

[Udog]

NHL

Monday, April 26

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Trend Report
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Montreal @ Calgary
Montreal
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Montreal's last 7 games when playing Calgary
Montreal is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Montreal
Calgary is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing Montreal

Vancouver @ Ottawa
Vancouver
Vancouver is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing Ottawa
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Vancouver's last 6 games when playing Ottawa
Ottawa
The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Ottawa's last 10 games at home
Ottawa is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games

Colorado @ St. Louis
Colorado
Colorado is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
Colorado is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing St. Louis
St. Louis
St. Louis is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games at home
St. Louis is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing at home against Colorado

Carolina @ Dallas
Carolina
Carolina is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Dallas
Carolina is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games
Dallas
Dallas is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
Dallas is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games at home

Florida @ Nashville
Florida
Florida is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games when playing on the road against Nashville
Florida is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing on the road against Nashville
Nashville
Nashville is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games at home
Nashville is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home

Edmonton @ Winnipeg
Edmonton
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Edmonton's last 5 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Edmonton's last 10 games
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is 7-2 ATS in its last 9 games when playing Edmonton
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Winnipeg's last 8 games when playing at home against Edmonton

Anaheim @ Los Angeles
Anaheim
Anaheim is 18-3 ATS in its last 21 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Anaheim's last 5 games when playing on the road against Los Angeles
Los Angeles
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Los Angeles's last 5 games when playing at home against Anaheim
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Los Angeles's last 9 games

Arizona @ San Jose
Arizona
Arizona is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games when playing on the road against San Jose
Arizona is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing San Jose
San Jose
The total has gone OVER in 4 of San Jose's last 5 games when playing Arizona
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of San Jose's last 11 games when playing at home against Arizona


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[Udog]

NHL
Dunkel

Monday, April 26

[Udog]

1VANCOUVER -2 OTTAWA
OTTAWA is 6-1 ATS (4.9 Units) in home games after playing 3 consecutive road games over the last 2 seasons.

3CAROLINA -4 DALLAS
DALLAS are 3-13 ATS (-13.6 Units) in home games against good offensive teams - >=29 shots on goal, convert >=17% pp in the current season.

5EDMONTON -6 WINNIPEG
EDMONTON is 21-5 ATS (15 Units) against poor defensive teams - opponents average 29.5+ shots on goal in the current season.

7FLORIDA -8 NASHVILLE
NASHVILLE is 22-11 ATS (11.7 Units) against horrible power play killing teams-opp score on >19% of chances in the current season.

13MONTREAL -14 CALGARY
MONTREAL is 15-24 ATS (-19.3 Units) against mistake free teams - opponents average <=4 power plays/game in the current season.

15ANAHEIM -16 LOS ANGELES
ANAHEIM is 7-2 ATS (8.4 Units) in road games against terrible defensive teams - allowing 3+ goals/game in the current season.

17ARIZONA -18 SAN JOSE
SAN JOSE is 47-68 ATS (-27.8 Units) after one or more consecutive overs in the last 3 seasons.

69COLORADO -70 ST LOUIS
ST LOUIS are 6-14 ATS (-15.1 Units) in home games against mistake free teams - opponents average <=4 power plays/game in the current season.

[Udog]

Monday’s 6-pack
Major league leaders in slugging %age (min 30 ABs):
.804— Mike Trout, LAA
.786— Ronald Acuna, Atl
.753— JD Martinez, Bos
.694— Nelson Cruz, Minn
.667— Jesse Winker, Cinn
.662— Shohei Ohtani, LAA
Americans who have died from COVID-19: 570,987
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.

Quote of the Day
“According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Major League Baseball’s official statistician, neither a team nor an individual pitcher will be credited with a no-no in a scheduled seven-inning game of a doubleheader — unless that game goes to extras. If the contest extends to at least nine innings and that pitcher (or a team’s group of pitchers) has still not allowed a hit, then it goes down in the history books as a no-no.”
MLB.com‘s Matt Kelly

Monday’s quiz
How many active NFL QB’s have thrown six TD passes in a game?

Sunday’s quiz
Nick Foles is the only active NFL quarterback who has thrown 7 TD’s in a game.

Saturday’s quiz
In the history of major league baseball, Jesse Orosco has pitched in the most games, 1,252.

************************************************** ****

Monday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports weekend

13) Hitting is more difficult now because batters seldom face the same pitcher three times in a game; after the 5th inning, they generally see a different pitcher in every at-bat.

In his Hall of Fame career, Mickey Mantle faced the same pitchers a lot more than guys do these days. Fewer teams, no interleague play, and starting pitchers lasted longer in games.

Mantle faced these four pitchers the most:
198 times— Billy Pierce
161— Early Wynn
138— Frank Lary
128— Camilo Pascual

By way of comparison, in his 10-year career, Manny Machado has faced these pitchers the most:
56— CC Sabathia
52— Chris Archer
48— Jake Odorizzi
41— David Price

See what I mean?

12) Arizona 5-7, Atlanta 0-0:
— Tough day for the Braves, who got one hit in 14 innings.
— Madison Bumgarner threw a 7-inning no-hitter; the only runner reached on an error.

Three no-hitters already this season; there were no walks in those no-hitters.

11) Padres 8, Dodgers 7 (11):
— LA led this game 7-1 after six innings; over the last 50 years, teams that led by 6+ runs from the 7th inning on are 11-13,547. Seriously, 11 wins, 13,547 losses.
— Max Muncy walked five times, first Dodger to do that since Greg Brock in 1983.

10) In his three starts since tossing a no-hitter, San Diego’s Joe Musgrove has pitched only 14 innings. Padres need more innings out of their starting pitchers.

9) There were 68 extra inning games last year, under the new extra-inning rule; 47 of the 68 games ended in the 10th inning, which is what MLB wants.

8) Fernando Tatis Jr hit five homers in his last three games; I was playing against him in our fantasy league, so that made me queasy, but the good guys won. Tatis is hitting .246 with 7 homers, but he was explosive this weekend, for sure.

Obscure trivia: Last major leaguer to hit 2+ homers in three consecutive games was Jeff DaVanon of the Angels, in 2003.

Weird thing is, he hit only 33 career homers in eight years.

7) Read something on the Interweb this weekend where David Wells said that throwing a no-hitter was a profitable thing, even after he retired.

Wells said that he banked $300,000 or so a year, doing appearances with Don Larsen and David Cone, other New York pitchers who threw no-hitters. That dried up after 15 years or so, but still a pretty good deal.

6) White Sox TV guys have been raving over hitting sensation Yermin Mercedes, who is batting .414 in 19 games this season, but they were stressing out Sunday over Mercedes’ tendency to slide head-first into first base, converged that he’s going to hurt one of his hands.

5) Tampa Bay TV guys were laughing on air about the unpredictability of how the Rays handle their pitchers.

Sunday, 21-year old sensation Luis Patino looked great in his MLB debut, but was removed after 42 pitches- looks like they’re going to let him go thru the lineup once, then take him out.

Then they put Josh Fleming in; he gets two turns thru the lineup, no matter how well he is doing. Tampa Bay wins a lot of games on a short budget and they do it in a unique way, but it is a little funny that their own TV guys can’t figure it out beforehand.

4) Penn State poached PG Jalen Pickett away from Siena; Pickett played 76 games in three years for Siena, which went 38-16 in MAAC games during that time, but there is a pretty big leap from the MAAC to the Big 14. We’ll see how this works out for him.

3) Sign of the times; You can buy a Dr Fauci action figure online, for $20.

2) Wizards 119, Cavaliers 110— Washington has won eight games in a row, is now the #10 seed in the Eastern Conference. They could be a tough out in the playoffs.

1) If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Mets, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Card: Padres @ Giants
AL: Red Sox, Royals, A’s. Wild Card: White Sox @ Mariners

[Udog]

59BOSTON -60 PITTSBURGH
PITTSBURGH is 7-0 ATS (7 Units) in home games revenging a loss versus opponent as a favorite in the current season.

61BUFFALO -62 NY RANGERS
BUFFALO is 10-37 ATS (-30.7 Units) in road games after playing a home game in the last 3 seasons.

63NEW JERSEY -64 PHILADELPHIA
PHILADELPHIA is 1-6 ATS (-7.3 Units) in home games against poor defensive teams - >=29 shots on goal, convert >=17% pp in the current season.

65COLUMBUS -66 TAMPA BAY
COLUMBUS are 12-29 ATS (-15.6 Units) against mistake free teams - opponents average <=4 power plays/game in the current season.




NHL
Dunkel

Sunday, April 25






NHL

Sunday, April 25

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Trend Report
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Boston @ Pittsburgh
Boston
Boston is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Boston's last 6 games when playing Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games when playing at home against Boston
Pittsburgh is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games at home

Buffalo @ NY Rangers
Buffalo
Buffalo is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Buffalo's last 7 games when playing NY Rangers
NY Rangers
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of NY Rangers's last 7 games when playing Buffalo
NY Rangers is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing at home against Buffalo

New Jersey @ Philadelphia
New Jersey
New Jersey is 11-5 SU in its last 16 games when playing on the road against Philadelphia
The total has gone UNDER in 13 of New Jersey's last 19 games when playing on the road against Philadelphia
Philadelphia
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Philadelphia's last 5 games
Philadelphia is 6-2 ATS in its last 8 games when playing New Jersey

Columbus @ Tampa Bay
Columbus
Columbus is 15-2 ATS in its last 17 games when playing Tampa Bay
Columbus is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games when playing on the road against Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Tampa Bay's last 7 games when playing at home against Columbus
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Tampa Bay's last 5 games


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[Udog]

Sunday’s 6-pack
Major league leaders in on-base %age (minimum 30 AB’s):
.521— Mike Trout, LAA
.492— Brandon Nimmo, NYM
.482— Vladimir Guerrero, Tor
.469— Bryce Harper, Phil
.465— Yermin Mercedes, CWS
.461— Ronald Acuna, Atl
Americans who have died from COVID-19: 570,987
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.

Quote of the Day
“We knew as a team, especially after the first week, we were way better than that. Big shoutout to the coaches and the manager to have no panicking, It would only take one game to get us going on. That’s what happened. Everybody started feeling better, everybody started to relax a little bit. The pitchers have been amazing. I think they’re a big reason why we started the winning streak. It’s a lot of fun. We’ll go day by day and see how long we can stretch this streak.”
A’s shortstop Elvis Andrus

Sunday’s quiz
Who is the only active NFL quarterback who has thrown 7 TD’s in a game?

Saturday’s quiz
In the history of major league baseball, Jesse Orosco has pitched in the most games, 1,252.

Friday’s quiz
Mark Grace led the major leagues in hits from 1990-99.

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Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Saturday

13) College football teams are having their spring practices now, which traditionally end with an intrasquad game- the question is this:

Will coaches be hesitant to name a starting QB for the fall, for fear that the guy who isn’t named the starter will transfer? Naming a starter on August 25 instead of April 25 makes it more likely that you’ll have both guys for this coming season.

12) Jacob deGrom has started four games this season; opponents swung at 225 of his pitches, whiffing on 100 of them. He’s given up 13 hits, 80 foul balls, had 32 outs on batted balls.

11) Astros 16, Angels 2— Houston starter Jake Odorizzi left this game after 5 pitches with an arm problem; they brought Kent Emanuel to make his major league debut. Little did they know that Emanuel would finish the game, giving up five hits, two runs, throwing 90 pitches.

28-year old rookies aren’t generally big prospects; he’s the first pitcher to throw 8.2+ innings in his MLB debut since Jesse Litsch in 2007.

10) As of 9pm Saturday, there were 184 major leaguers on the IL, 6.1 guys per team.

9) Mariners 8, Red Sox 2— Couple guys on Seattle hit balls 410-415 feet to centerfield, but that is the deepest part of Fenway Park- they got doubles instead.

Long time ago, some radio wise guys snuck into Fenway and and measured 287 feet from home plate to the left field foul pole on the Green Monster. Unusual ballpark.

8) Orel Hershiser was telling a story on TV last night about when the Dodgers started using videos to study trends of opponents, 30-35 years ago. Dodgers gave them $10,000 to put together a video room, with two 24-inch TV’s and two VCR’s.

Technology has come a very long way since then; everyone has I-Pads in the dugout now to study what just happened.

7) Dodgers 5, Padres 4:
— Season series is now 3-3 between these division rivals.
— 26th straight start that Blake Snell pitched less than six innings.
— Fernando Tatis Jr hit two homers, has four in his last two games. I’m playing against his team in fantasy this week- no bueno.

6) Phillies 7, Rockies 5— Good night to have Rhys Hoskins on your fantasy team; he hit a couple homers, knocked in five runs.

5) Cardinals 2, Reds 0— Cincinnati has lost six in a row since starting season 8-5.

4) Minnesota 101, Utah 96:
— In each of their last three games, Timberwolves allowed 40+ points in the first quarter.
— Jazz scored 40 points in first quarter, a combined 34 in 2nd/3rd quarters.

3) Only 34% of active NFL players last year were picked in rounds 1-3 of the draft; thats how important a team’s GM/scouts are. It is also a big part of why the NFL Draft is so interesting.

2) Cleveland Browns re-joined the NFL in 1999, after the original Browns bolted to Baltimore; this fall, Baker Mayfield will be the first Browns QB to start in Week 1, three years in a row.

1) I’ll finish today with a quick story; long time ago, maybe 1985-86, something like that, I was on the first down chain gang at a semi-pro football game at Bleecker Stadium in Albany— Metro Mallers were hosting a team from Massachusetts.

Some of the Mallers had played college football at UAlbany, where I had been the basketball manager; we go on the field for a measurement, one of the linebackers says to me, “What the hell are you doing here?” We just laughed.

Chains were on the visiting team’s sideline; they had the ball around midfield and it turns out I am standing next to the head coach, who is calling plays.

He has his play chart in his left hand, studying it carefully; he has an open can of Pabst Blue Ribbon in his right hand, taking a swig now and then. Welcome to semi-pro football!!

[Udog]

NHL
Dunkel

Saturday, April 24