Sports this 'n' that

Don't look now, but the Tri-City Valleycats are suddenly playoff contenders in the New York-Penn League.

On Saturday night, the 'Cats swept a doubleheader from Williamsport, which vaulted Tri-City into first place in the Stedler Division. However, that lasted just 24 hours, as the Cross-Cutters, a farm team of the Philadelphia Phillies, beat the Valleycats, 5-2, on Sunday. At the All-Star break, Tri-City sits 1/2 game behind Vermont in the division with less than a month to go. Two weeks ago, I don't think we'd have been thinking playoffs, but stranger things have happened.
========================================
Speaking of the Phillies, they're happy to see the Mets leave town after dropping 3 of 4 to the Amazin's over the weekend. The mystique that the Phillies had during their run of division titles (2007-11) is gone, and they're now in rebuilding mode.

So are the Mets, who dealt Neil Walker to Milwaukee on Saturday, which would finally allow Asdrubel Cabrera to play second instead of 3rd. Why? Jose Reyes was forced to shift to 2nd when the Mets acquired Japan's Kaz Matsui 12 years ago, and that didn't end very well. Reyes now is at 2nd to accomodate rookie Amed Rosario, and Cabrera is splitting time at third with Wilmer Flores while another rookie, Dominic Smith, was called up at the end of last week. I would not say the Mets are rebuilding. They're reloading.

The Subway Series, 4 games in 4 nights in 2 ballparks, begins tonight at Yankee Stadium, and the Yanks are suddenly without their two best pitchers, as CC Sabathia & Masahiro Tanaka went on the DL last week. Luis Cessa gets the ball for the Yanks tonight vs. Rafael Montero. Get the Sominex ready, just in case they sleepwalk through this one, just as the Yankees & Red Sox did last night.
=========================================
LaVar Ball got taken to school in a 4-point shot challenge on Sunday night. Not by another basketball player, mind, but by actor-rapper Ice Cube, the founder of the Big3 3-on-3 basketball league. Scope.



All that does is prove once again that Ball is full of hot air for someone who claims he could beat Michael Jordan, and also claimed he could shoot 4 pointers (30 feet from the basket) with his eyes closed. Cube, you'll recall, took part in some of MTV's Rock 'N' Jock basketball games back in the day, so he's got some serious cred, not like the Pecos Bill of basketball.

Let's see if Ball tries spinning some sort of fake controversy out of this.
=========================================
WWE Chairman/CEO/professional nutcase Vince McMahon reportedly was upset over the fact that John Cena nearly had his neck broken in a televised match vs. Japan's Shinsuke Nakamura on August 1. Hall of Famer Superstar Billy Graham, however, shut down McMahon by telling him in an online post to, essentially, grow up.

Cena has been with the WWE's main roster since 2002, and his days as a main event performer are coming to an end due to his increasing non-wrestling schedule (i.e. American Grit). Nakamura winning that night was the right call, since it sets up the "King of Strong Style" to take on Canadian-born-&-raised Jinder Mahal, representing India, at Summerslam on Sunday. adding some mystery to the finish, as everyone assumed that had Cena won, he would go on to win the World title in Brooklyn. McMahon, who turns 72 next week, is locked into the idea that Cena, and, for that matter, Randy Orton, is still a draw after 15 years on the main roster. This is another reason why McMahon needs to step down and let the company move forward.

Personally, I'd leave him on an island with fellow geriatrics Pat Robertson and President Trump, but that's just me.