Yesterday I went with my friend Ardy to CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches to watch the Houston Astros play the Washington Nationals. Spring training is the relaxing month (at least for the spectators) of a slow-paced game, so I was surprised by the sight of so many fans already in clothing announcing their affiliations. There were a lot of Astros caps and jerseys, worn by children as well as seniors (we were on the side with their dugout); the boy in front of us sported a jersey bearing Altuve’s name and number, while his father wore a Dodgers cap. I saw a man wearing a Phillies cap with a green P, indicating that his affections extended to the Eagles (and, of course, why wouldn’t they?).
Ardy and I, sitting at the top of Section 101, were about the only people in non-annotated clothing. Though Ardy wore a black cap with an hourglass on it, the logo of the Elderly Brothers – the name he and his brother coined for their recent tour through the South.
I was hoping that Madison Keys’ victory at the Australian Open would bode well for the Buffalo Bills – the triumph of the long-denied – but unfortunately it didn’t work out that way. At least now I won’t have divided loyalties during the Super Bowl. Go Iggles!
Perhaps if Pegula had lifted the trophy in Melbourne.
The problem with the Australian Open is that most of the matches take place while you’re asleep. The beauty of the tournament is that you can wake up to exciting late-night tennis. Or, more accurately, early-morning tennis. At the moment, the American teenager Learned Tien is in the fourth set against Daniil Medvedev. It’s 1:29 in the morning in Melbourne. Medvedev looks to win the set, which will send the match into a fifth set that will surely not end before 2 am. I feel sorry for the players, but happy for Tien’s friends waking up in California. Especially if the teenager's legs can hold out.
Yesterday evening I sat down to watch Jeopardy! and was disappointed to find that ABC was showing Monday Night Football instead. OK, I said, I’ll watch the Australian Open; earlier in the day, the Tennis Channel had informed viewers that coverage on ESPN would start at 7.
ESPN, sadly, was showing Monday Night Football. Must be on ESPN2, I thought, and, changing the channel, found Monday Night Football again. Then I remembered that ESPN’s coverage of the Australian Open – one of the year’s four majors – has been beginning in the evening on ESPN+, which we don’t have a subscription for. It is one of many things that annoy me about the networks.
And I have nothing against football – I watched a bit of it over the weekend – but do we need three channels to cover the same game?
I went to the wrong game. Last night, in addition to stealing two bases, Shohei Ohtani hit his 49th and 50th home runs of the season - becoming the first player in major league history to steal 50 bases and hit 50 home runs in one season - and then, for good measure, hit his 51st home run. He went 6 for 6 and drove in 10 runs in the Dodgers 20-4 win over the Marlins.
I should have known Ohtani would set the record here. For it was in loanDepot Park that, last year, he struck out Mike Trout to win the World Baseball Classic for Japan. Oh yes, for those of you not into baseball, the amazing hitter is also an incredible pitcher.