MLB: Nationals fans—and baseball fans in general—are awaiting Stephen Strasburg’s June 8 debut with bated breath. Pay close attention, folks, because Strasburg may only pitch in the vicinity of 95 innings in the majors this season, according to the Washington Post. Nationals pitching coordinator Spin Williams says the team uses a formula with its young pitchers, adding only about 20 percent more innings each year to the total innings the pitchers threw the year before. "We’re trying to win a championship in Washington. Our job is to protect the products of the organization as best we can."
Sponsored link: June 8 Nationals tickets available
• Yes, Jerry Manuel’s seat is warm. But it’s not that hot, say spies for the New York Daily News. A source tells the paper that the Mets never were close to firing Manuel and replacing him with Bob Melvin. At least the conversation hasn’t taken place yet.
• Have the Twins won over the hearts and minds of the Twin Cities with their new field? The Star-Tribune asks, "Is this now a Twins town?" Just when Brett Favre thought he had everyone in Minneapolis wrapped around that aging pinkie. Speaking of Favre, the Southern Mississippi baseball team just might make him honor that promise to come back if they win the College World Series. They’re on to the Regionals this week.
NBA: The biggest coaching free agent in the NBA, Phil Jackson, has girlfriend/Lakers VP Jeanie Buss’s blessing to move on to another team if he wishes after coaching the Lakers to another NBA Finals appearance. The Bulls, Nets and Cavaliers have openings, and LeBron James is rumored to be very intrigued by the possibility of playing for Jackson. "I don’t know how things will work out," Buss wrote in an e-mail to the New York Post. "I am hoping the Lakers win and everything stays status quo, but the one thing I do know is that I am not going to stand in Phil’s way if he wants to go to another team. I don’t control him — if I did I would have a ring on my finger, but I am not going to threaten to break up with him if he takes another job. Our relationship is solid no matter where he works."
College basketball: When it rains it pours, huh Carolina? 1) Miss the Tournament. 2) Watch Duke win it. 3) Lose the Wear twins. And now … get slammed by Dime magazine, which says, "Over the last couple decades, UNC has produced a string of pros with a habit of falling short of expectations and/or not living up to their potential." Ouch.
Youth sports: Not exactly surprising news, but something for the parents among Fly’s followers to consider: Overuse injuries are dramatically increasing in children, according to a Boston Globe report. Surgeries to repair shoulder, elbow, knee and hip fractures, tears and joint wear are becoming routine procedures on teens and preteens. "We can repair these injuries and get them back up and playing … but we don’t have evidence of what they will be like 20 years from now," said Dr. Mininder Kocher, an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in adolescent sports medicine at Children’s Hospital Boston.
MLB: Nationals fans—and baseball fans in general—are awaiting Stephen Strasburg’s June 8 debut with bated breath. Pay close attention, folks, because Strasburg may only pitch in the vicinity of 95 innings in the majors this season, according to the Washington Post. Nationals pitching coordinator Spin Williams says the team uses a formula with its young pitchers, adding only about 20 percent more innings each year to the total innings the pitchers threw the year before. "We’re trying to win a championship in Washington. Our job is to protect the products of the organization as best we can."
Sponsored link: June 8 Nationals tickets available
• Yes, Jerry Manuel’s seat is warm. But it’s not that hot, say spies for the New York Daily News. A source tells the paper that the Mets never were close to firing Manuel and replacing him with Bob Melvin. At least the conversation hasn’t taken place yet.
• Have the Twins won over the hearts and minds of the Twin Cities with their new field? The Star-Tribune asks, "Is this now a Twins town?" Just when Brett Favre thought he had everyone in Minneapolis wrapped around that aging pinkie. Speaking of Favre, the Southern Mississippi baseball team just might make him honor that promise to come back if they win the College World Series. They’re on to the Regionals this week.
NBA: The biggest coaching free agent in the NBA, Phil Jackson, has girlfriend/Lakers VP Jeanie Buss’s blessing to move on to another team if he wishes after coaching the Lakers to another NBA Finals appearance. The Bulls, Nets and Cavaliers have openings, and LeBron James is rumored to be very intrigued by the possibility of playing for Jackson. "I don’t know how things will work out," Buss wrote in an e-mail to the New York Post. "I am hoping the Lakers win and everything stays status quo, but the one thing I do know is that I am not going to stand in Phil’s way if he wants to go to another team. I don’t control him — if I did I would have a ring on my finger, but I am not going to threaten to break up with him if he takes another job. Our relationship is solid no matter where he works."
College basketball: When it rains it pours, huh Carolina? 1) Miss the Tournament. 2) Watch Duke win it. 3) Lose the Wear twins. And now … get slammed by Dime magazine, which says, "Over the last couple decades, UNC has produced a string of pros with a habit of falling short of expectations and/or not living up to their potential." Ouch.
Youth sports: Not exactly surprising news, but something for the parents among Fly’s followers to consider: Overuse injuries are dramatically increasing in children, according to a Boston Globe report. Surgeries to repair shoulder, elbow, knee and hip fractures, tears and joint wear are becoming routine procedures on teens and preteens. "We can repair these injuries and get them back up and playing … but we don’t have evidence of what they will be like 20 years from now," said Dr. Mininder Kocher, an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in adolescent sports medicine at Children’s Hospital Boston.