Flint Township View

Greene looks good for Tigers in All-Star Game

Fat Guy Corner


 

 

The American League wins the All-Star game for the seventh straight time, 4-3. The American League has now won 11 of the last 14 Midsummer classics. The hometown kid, Shane Bieber, of the Indians, took home the MVP award pitching one inning and striking out the side. The Detroit Tigers’ pitcher, Shane Greene, pitched a scoreless inning, which was nice to see.

It’s now back to the regular-season grind and for some teams the dog days of summer. Yes, our Detroit Tigers have entered the dog days here in July and look forward to the 2020 season. I am not thrilled with the contract extension of Al Avila, the general manager of the Tigers. I am not impressed with the talent he has brought in! I think the talent is subpar and the rebuild is way behind. Let’s see what Al does come trade deadline time. I can positively see Matthew Boyd and Greene as ex-Tigers soon. I want to see the return investment and some darned improvement, not just dumping them for a loaf of bread! The Kitty Kats have meowed for three seasons now and I am getting very impatient with the progress.

Can the ball hogs co-exist?

The NBA continued garnishing headlines, as the Rockets and Thunder completed a blockbuster deal. The Thunder sent Russell Westbrook to the Rockets and Chris Paul to the Thunder. The Thunder also gobbled up some No. 1 picks in the deal. This will reunite James Harden and Westbrook, who once played together on the OKC Thunder. I wonder if the two can co-exist, as they both are ball hogs and like to shoot the nugget. I would consider this a risky move by the Rockets, who are basically pushing all in to try and win a title. Good luck to the Houston Rockets.

Wimbledon was wonderful

The tennis world was treated to a beauty in the men’s final Sunday. Novak Djokovic, seeded No. 1, defeated Roger Federer, seeded No. 2, in a four hour and fifty-five minute match, the longest final in Wimbledon history. The match took 68 games and three tie breakers for Novak to become a repeat winner at Wimbledon. It comes down to this when you watch a match like this; it’s a shame someone has to lose! Roger Federer, who at 37 years and some change, played some outstanding tennis, but it wasn’t enough. Novak won his 16th Grand Slam title, which is four behind Roger’s record 20. The women’s title went to Romanian Simona Halep, who denied Serena Williams winning her 24th Grand Slam title. This match was one sided, as Halep won 6-2, 6-2 and took less than one hour for Halep to win. Okay, that’s about all the tennis talk the Fat Guy can muster up. Hope you enjoyed it.

Crossing the pond for great golf

The last PGA major of the year is headed to Ireland for the first time in 68 years. The Open will be played at Royal Portrush Golf Club. The event in Northern Ireland is a hot ticket, as the event is sold out. The fact that almost 200,000 fans will be attending the event shows how popular the game of golf is. The last time it was in Scotland was 1951 and a fellow named Max Faulkner took home the Claret Jug. The crowd is sure to follow their native son, Rory McIlroy, who will receive huge home-crowd support. If you like Brooks Koepka, here is a tidbit you will appreciate. Brooks’ caddie, Ricky Elliott, is from Portrush and has played the course, which should be a huge help to Koepka. We know Tiger Woods will also see a huge following by the fans. Tiger has not played in a tournament in over a month. I find it hard to bet against Rory McIlroy. He knows the course well, as he shot 11-under as a 16-year-old. Rory won the 2005 North of Ireland Amateur Championship. I cannot wait to watch the tremendous golf action this weekend.

NFL tidbits

The NFL rookies will be reporting to camps this next week. I ask where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday the Patriots were stifling the Rams’ offense in the Super Bowl. The Lions’ ex-head coach, Jim Caldwell, is taking a leave of absence from the Miami Dolphins to address a health issue. Let’s hope all goes well for Caldwell. thefatguy@mihomepaper.com