Sports this 'n' that

Fans in New York can rest easy. America's Oldest Baby, President Donald Trump, has cancelled his scheduled appearance at Yankee Stadium to throw out the first pitch prior to a game between the Yanks and Boston next month, claiming he's too busy.

And if you believe that one, you'd probably think he thinks Pinocchio and Pecos Bill are real ancestors of his.....! The truth is, Trump is deathly afraid of being booed out of the Stadium, just like he was booed out of Nationals Park 9 months ago, and he has to focus his energies on his re-election campaign. Unfortunately, since he employs morons to help run said campaign, maybe he does wish those literary icons actually existed......
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Mets fans are a fickle lot.

They cheered when their team won their opener Friday, 1-0, on a Yoenis Cespedes home run. Reality struck on Saturday when closer Edwin Diaz couldn't make it two in a row, giving up a tying homer to Marcell Ozuna, and then the Braves scored three times in the 10th, making use of the new extra inning rules that were first implemented in the minors a couple of years ago, to escape with a 5-3 win.

Back on ESPN on Sunday, the Mets laid a stink bomb, getting blown out by the Braves, 14-1, ruining Rick Porcello's National League debut. Porcello was bounced after 2 innings. Similarly, Minnesota blew away the Chicago White Sox, 14-2.

After three games, Atlanta shares 1st place in the NL East with......Miami, which beat Philadelphia, 11-6.

Over in the AL East, it seems a little more expected that the Yankees and Tampa Bay would be on top, but they're sharing 1st place with Baltimore. That won't last.

As for the Mets and White Sox stinking up the joint, well, let's introduce them to their mascot du jour, Pepe Le Pew:



"Bonjour, mes amis. Zis can't be zat bad, can eet?"

It's only the first weekend, Pepe. Just wait until football season. If they get to it.
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The Jests caved in, and traded one of their best defensive players, Jamal Adams, to Seattle for draft picks on Sunday. Apparently, Adams wasn't the least bit happy with coach Adam Gase last season, and wanted out. Training camps open this week, but will they play come September? The NFL will not have preseason games this year, including the Hall of Fame Game. Hmmmm.
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By now, you know that baseball's playoffs will expand to 16 teams this year, which only benefits the leagues' owners and their media partners financially, and they're hoping fans will enjoy the added drama. Top two teams in each division and two wild cards per league will make up the field. This explains the motivations of expected also-rans such as Boston, Baltimore, Miami, et al, over the first three days. We'll see how it all plays out in October, where they'll play best of three rounds before getting to the LCS in each league.