The bullpen catcher is unique in sports. He is not a player. He is not a coach. He squats in the bullpen before, during and after games, receiving pitches from anyone who wants to throw them. He calms over-amped relievers and reassures nervous ones. He helps pitchers feel important. He keeps track of what each one needs, physically and emotionally, and he provides it. He knows none of this is about him. His is a position of ultimate service.
When the broadcast flashes to an image of a reliever warming up, the bullpen catcher is sometimes in the shot, but off to the side.
Author: Michael
With nearly $3 billion worth of new contracts handed out on the first day of NBA free agency alone, it’s been a whirlwind of a summer; even without knowing which teams a couple of the league’s biggest stars will ultimately land with once the dust settles.
So with all that in mind, let’s break down the five best theoretical free-agent fits in the association to this point.
Grant Williams joining the Mavericks
Williams averaged a career-best 8.1 points per game in his final season with the Celtics.
Welcome to Bad Takes Week, where MMQB staffers have been asked to expand upon some of their worst football takes. Keep an eye out for more of these throughout the week, and every story is posted here.
The NFL’s had a free farm system forever—and college football’s been so good to pro football in so many ways that there’s no way owners could ever repay those at that level of the sport (not that this set of billionaires would ever want to) for all they’ve done.
Welcome to Bad Takes Week, where MMQB staffers have been asked to expand upon some of their worst football takes. Keep an eye out for more of these throughout the week, and every story is posted here.
America’s true sporting pastime is complaining about referees. Naturally, plenty of fans would be drawn to any scheme that removed those fallible humans from the game as much as possible. I’m not sure there’s an area of greater interest within that realm than marching the chain gang into Roger Goodell’s office and telling them to pack their bags and make way for the robots.
The proposed merger set to reshape the world of professional golf isn’t just ruffling the feathers of some of the game’s biggest names today, but legends of the game as well. Four-time major winner Ernie Els is furious about the situation.
Many are frustrated with the idea of the PGA Tour and DP World Tour getting into bed with the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF), which funds LIV Golf, and, in turn, offering the Saudis a seat at the table.
Jay Monahan has been brutally criticized since the announcement of the merger, and Ernie Els is just the latest to take aim.
Two of the hottest-hitting teams in baseball square off Friday night, and so — you guessed it — we are betting on the over!
The Rangers host the Dodgers tonight in Arlington. The Rangers lead MLB with 5.81 runs scored per game this season, while the Dodgers come in third in MLB — just behind the Braves — with 5.55 runs scored per game. Nothing has slowed down in July for either team, as they are both averaging more than five runs per game this month.
Neither team will be starting a verifiable ace tonight, and that has us looking at the bats.
The Wisconsin coach staff has incredibly high expectations for QB Tanner Mordecai.
Luke Fickell is now the main in charge in Madison, and one of his immediate priorities was overhauling an offense that had grown stagnant, boring and underwhelming.
He wasted no time before getting it done. Fickell hired Phil Longo to run the offense, and brought in three transfer QBs. None were more important than Mordecai, who spent the previous two seasons lighting it up at SMU.
Patrick Mahomes turned down a kid’s autograph request, and the exchange was absolutely brutal to watch.
Video surfaced Wednesday on Twitter of the Kansas City Chiefs QB at the American Century Championship last week, and a little kid wanted wanted Mahomes to jot down his signature for him.
However, Mahomes said he couldn’t do it because he couldn’t sign for one kid and not the other 99 around.
“Can’t sign for everyone … can’t make everybody happy,” Mahomes told the boy and his father.
Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images
Both F1, and Daniel Ricciardo, are back this week
If you are reading this then you probably know by now.
Daniel Ricciardo is back.
The veteran driver went from Red Bull reserve, to having a seat with AlphaTauri, in just a few short months. But Ricciardo’s return is just one of the many storylines to watch as Formula 1 heads to the Hungaroring for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Here’s how to watch, and what to watch for, this weekend.
How To Watch (all times Eastern):
Practice 1 – Friday July 21 – 7:25 a.m.
The Open organisers took emergency overnight measures after the first-round’s sand storm as they attempted to fix flat-bottomed bunkers that forced balls to run up to within edges of vertical faces.