Author: Michael

When José Altuve broke his thumb in the World Baseball Classic, Astros fans all over the country were devastated that he would miss a few months to start the season. Many fans would literally give their health to Altuve if they could, and that apparently includes non-Astros fans as well.
Actor Mark Wahlberg, who is a Boston sports fan but seems to have jumped on the Astros bandwagon, told media that he would love to help Altuve if it was possible.
“I am also willing to donate either of my thumbs to José Altuve, for sure,” he said. “We’re all good. I’m a big fan.”

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Major League Baseball is back and the new rules have games moving along at rapid rates, which is great for fans. 
You know what isn’t great for fans? Bad umpires. And those are still very much around. 
MLB has had issues with bad umps since basically the beginning of time. But it feels like they’ve only gotten worse in recent years (I’m looking at you, Ángel Hernández). 
The umps in Thursday’s Mets-Marlins game made a very questionable pitch clock violation call, which had MLB fans rightfully irate.

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For a long time, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the most iconic player in NBA history, and kids across the country wanted to be him. That changed over time, as other players earned the admiration of younger generations.
Now, almost 35 years after Abdul-Jabbar retired, no one is really trying to replicate the Hall of Famer’s style. Instead, young players want to be Stephen Curry and shoot threes from all over the court.
Abdul-Jabbar joked that Curry has permanently altered the way people view basketball.
“They’ve forgotten about anything that doesn’t say three-points on it,” he said.

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The 2023 Major League Baseball season in under way, which means pitchers are back to throwing ridiculous pitches that professional hitters have no chance of hitting. 
One of those pitches was thrown Thursday night by the Mariners’ Matt Brash. Seattle’s right-handed reliever pitched just one inning against the Guardians but he made it count as his knuckle curveball that struck out José Ramírez was easily the nastiest pitch of Opening Day.

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Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. MLB Opening Day lived up to all my expectations. Be sure to scroll down and check out the 10 best highlights from a great day of games.
In today’s SI:AM:
🌟 The most highly anticipated Final Four game
⏳ All hail the pitch clock
🔮 Chris Mannix’s bold NBA Finals prediction
If you’re reading this on SI.com, you can sign up to get this free newsletter in your inbox each weekday at SI.com/newsletters.
Underdogs on one side, powerhouses on the other
This weekend’s men’s and women’s Final Fours couldn’t be more different.

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Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images
Tatum and Ingram take down Giannis and Jokic-less Nuggets respectively
I’ve always thought it’s kind of cute when adjacent sports leagues clear out the schedule to let another go to work. Think NFL and Thanksgiving, NBA and Christmas, or college football on New Year’s Day.
The NBA mostly cleared out their Thursday slate to make way for MLB opening day, leaving just two games on a TNT doubleheader, though three of the four teams in action are a top-2 seed in their conference.

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Boston Bruins forward Trent Frederic handed out some instant karma Thursday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Hockey is a unique sport in the sense players often police themselves. Unlike the NFL or NBA, fighting isn’t just normal, it’s often encouraged.
If a player does something stupid or dirty, you can anticipate retribution. That’s a lesson Blue Jackets forward Lane Johnson learned firsthand and in the toughest of ways.
After throwing a cross-check against Patrice Bergeron, fans knew something was coming during the 2-1 Boston win.

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The Patriots are coming off a pretty disappointing season, which included a step back by quarterback Mac Jones. In his second season in the NFL, Jones could not reach 3,000-yards passing and had just 14 touchdowns to 11 interceptions in 14 games.
Jones’ backup, rookie quarterback Bailey Zappe, played in four games, which included two starts where he had a 2–0 record. That solid play was enough to at least start a conversation regarding a quarterback controversy.
At the NFL owners meetings, coach Bill Belichick was asked if Jones and Zappe will compete for the starting job.

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