We survived the solar eclipse so now let’s take off the protective glasses and see what’s happening in sports. With summer fading away, baseball is entering its home stretch. This week also brings a couple major events.
Major League Baseball (MLB)
Striking out…New York Yankees rookie Aaron Judge is an excellent young player with one weakness – he strikes out more than anyone. The American League leader in home runs struck out in his 37th straight game Sunday, extending his MLB record for consecutive games with a “K.”
Another slugger in the spotlight is Miami Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton. Stanton is running away with the major league lead in home runs with 45 this season. The 27-year-old California native is known for his towering homers. He was also known by the name Mike until a few years ago when Giancarlo Cruz Michael Stanton wanted to go by Giancarlo. (BTW – his mother calls him Cruz, his father calls him Mike and teammates call him Bigfoot).
Source: Archcitysports
Whatever you call him it’s paying off. At the end of 2014, Stanton signed a deal that eclipsed all contracts in sports history: $325 million over 13 years.
Welcome to LaLa Land. The Los Angeles Dodgers are baseball’s top team by far and have a chance to surpass the 2001 Seattle Mariners’ record for most all-time regular season wins. The Dodgers traded for World Series veteran and New York Mets outfielder Curtis Granderson as LA seeks its first World Series appearance and title since 1988.
Boxing
Saturday night bonanza. Boxing and mixed martial arts (MMA) fans will be glued to the TV (or in Las Vegas) Saturday night. Floyd “Money” Mayweather (49-0), boxing’s top fighter, is taking on Conor McGregor (22-3), MMA’s biggest draw. The two are set to meet in a $700 million (yes, roughly the same as Wednesday’s $650 million Powerball drawing!) mega-fight, blowing away all previous fight purses.
Source: NBC
The match will be under boxing rules, and Vegas odds makers don’t give the MMA star much of a chance.
Details please…
When: Saturday, August 26, 9:00pm ET
Where: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV
Watch: Showtime pay-per-view: $99.99
Need a belt for that outfit? Terence Crawford became boxing’s belt collector over the weekend. Crawford, fighting near his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, knocked out Julius Indongo in the third round. With the victory, Crawford consolidated all four sanctioning body titles, becoming only the second boxer in history to hold boxing’s major belts simultaneously.
Source: Namibian.com
National Football League (NFL)
The NFL season starts September 7th but fans are already getting hyped. Watch out for mysterious disappearing acts as friends sneak out for their fantasy drafts.
Over the weekend teams played their second of four preseason games. Most squads’ top priority is getting through the matchup without injury to key players. Just ask the New York Giants who narrowly avoided disaster as receiver Odell Beckham Jr. limped off the field Monday with an ankle injury.
The third preseason game is the only one where starters play a majority of the contest, so fans will pay close attention this weekend.
National Basketball Association (NBA)
NBA legend and Los Angeles Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson finds himself in hot water for alleged improper recruiting of four-time All-Star Paul George.
Source: USA Today
Not a big deal? Don’t tell that to the Indiana Pacers, George’s old team, as they filed tampering charges. Wait, George’s “old” team…where is George now? George was traded by the Pacers to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and is under contract for one more season.
See Magic explain to Jimmy Kimmel how he plans to “Make the Lakers Great Again” and bring George to LA.
Tennis
The US Open, the final Major of the 2017 season, starts Monday and goes though September 10th with the singles draw being revealed Friday.
Bienvenido (welcome back) Rafa…Tennis unveiled its player rankings Monday and the new Men’s #1 is a familiar face. Rafael Nadal (Spain) returns as top dog after a three-year absence, while Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic) holds on to the #1 Women’s spot.
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See you next time…
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