Albany Events

Whenever you see a 29 year-old make his Major League debut, it is special. Baseball fans, coaches and players know that you have to endure a lot to crack the big leagues at that later stage. It's even more special when that player grew up in the Capital Region and played his college baseball at Siena.

Petco Park is the home of the San Diego Padres. The stadium opened in 2004 with some 1400+ Padres home games having been played. Yet in that time span, no Major League Baseball player had ever hit for "the cycle" (a single, a double, a triple and a home run in one game), until Monday night.

He has won five NBA championships as a head coach, with two different franchises. He is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. And, the Miami Heat president, that starred at the former Linton High School in Schenectady some six decades ago, told the media on Monday that he can still do more push ups at 77 than they can!

The New York Jets last won a Super Bowl prior to Apollo 11 astronaut, Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon, nearly 53 years ago. Yet, the NFL franchise still honors players that prospered during the 5 plus decades of Gang Green championship futility. The trio being honored during the 2022 season did their very best to bring the Jets faithful a Lombardi Trophy and came sort of close twice.

Nineteen is an age where you are supposed to have your entire life of hopes and dreams ahead of you. When you are a star lacrosse player for a university in the extremely competitive Division I Colonial Athletic Association, you have a lot to look forward to. On Monday, tragedy struck the UMass lacrosse program, involving one of their bright young players.

The stories were horrible. The embarrassment will linger for years for many parties involved. His nickname amongst some of Major League Baseball's media, "d__k pic Mick," is as cringe-worthy as it gets. Now, after getting suspended from MLB for the 2022 season for his lewd behavior, Mickey Calloway has been bounced from another job.

At six foot-six, with long blonde hair flowing from his hat, he almost looked mythical on the pitcher's mound. For six years the New York Mets had hoped that the player nicknamed "Thor" would be hammering opposing batters with his 100 mph fastball. The mythical character came to life on multiple occasions for Noah Syndergaard and the Mets, just not enough to keep the towering right-hander in Queens, NY. Tuesday night, the Yankees showed the Mets why they didn't lose much.

There are so many cool baseball events that go on in Cooperstown each summer. The Hall of Fame Classic baseball game played at Doubleday Field is one of them and is a tradition that goes back a few generations. Names like Brooks Robinson, Ozzie Smith, Earl Weaver and Wade Boggs are just a few of the names that have highlighted the games over the years. The Classic was cancelled in 2020, and again last year.

Memorial Day weekend and baseball is an American tradition. It is a time where family members get can together for an extra weekend day and enjoy a ballgame. We put together 4 cool baseball road trips that are about 2 hours or less away but unique enough that it is worth the ride, especially given the price of gas. The Tri City ValleyCats are on the road or that would have been #1!

What happened in the Tops Supermarket in Buffalo on May 14th is an unthinkable tragedy brought on by hate. Fast forward 10 days later, another unthinkable tragedy in Uvalde, Texas. Mass murder in the United States is becoming routine. On Thursday, the first-place New York Yankees teamed-up on the issue with the second place Tampa Bay Rays prior to the first game of their four game series.

In 44 games, the 2022 New York Yankees have played the Baltimore Orioles 13 times and after last night, are 9-4 against them. So, for the next 118 games, the Pinstripes and the O's will only face off another 6 times. Good for Baltimore bad for the Bombers. Thursday, the Yankees and their most dominant opponent in the American League East over the past few years, the Tampa Bay Rays, will face-off in the first of 19 battles this season.

The shows just keep on coming!

The official start of "hurricane season" season begins June 1st and goes through November. If you think the giant storms are becoming more frequent, well, they are. And according to Tuesday's release by NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, they expect the trend to continue in 2022.

Tuesday night was a tough time to focus for anyone with the unthinkable horror in Texas, especially if you are from within 100 miles of the tragedy. Then add in that it is your late father's birthday and you play Major League baseball for his favorite team. Top it all off with your first place team has lost 4 out of 5 of their last games, which is irrelevant in comparison to the nightmare in the first sentence.

Get ready Albany!

Some fans enjoy the so-called "art" of heckling the opponent. Sometimes it's funny for short periods of time. Most times the hecklers are not very good at it and it's quickly deemed to be annoying. What is always funny, no matter which team you are rooting for, is when the heckler gets burned. That's what happened Monday in San Francisco courtesy of the New York Mets player, known as the Squirrel.

It's difficult to take a tragic situation and turn it into a positive. On Sunday, the baseball community in Bethlehem, New York tried to do just that. In honor of Lazar LaPenna, the 10-year-old boy that lost his life while playing Little League at the end of April due to seizure, Tri Village Little League hosted a #BatsOutForLazar baseball clinic open to all Capital Region boys and girls 5-12 years-old for only $5.

Problems for most of us are relative. So, when a former New York Jets quarterback suggests that Tom Brady has a problem, I immediately rule out that it is an issue on the playing field. In the span of TB12's playing career he has played in 9 Super Bowls. In that same span of time, actually in the last 53 years, the Jets have not played in a single Super Bowl. So, logic leads us to the difficulty being off the playing field.

Student-athlete administrative decisions can often be tricky. What seems to be an obvious answer, often comes with other complications. Gender equity is one of those issues. However, that is the job and you have to be as judicious according the rules and policies laid out by your school and the conference you participate in. The Albany School District Athletic Director is in one of those positions and from comments that were allegedly made, the coaches may be upset, as well as the student-athletes.

Thursday afternoon, prior to the New York defeating the St. Louis Cardinal by a score of 7-6, on a walk-off moon-shot by the polar bear, Pete Alonso, the Mets announced that Max Scherzer would be out for 6 to 8 weeks. Scherzer removed himself from the game in the middle of a batter with 2 outs in the 6th inning. Even though they are in first place and twelve games over .500, the Amazin's need pitching help.

New York Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman has allowed runs in four straight appearances. Projected 8th inning set-up man, Jonathan Loáisiga has pitched better of late but owns a 5.52 ERA for the season, so far. Lucas Luetge has allowed 5 runs in 9+ innings. Yet, the Pinstripes bullpen is being lauded as one of the best. Why?

The saying, "we learn from our mistakes," is as old as time. Look back in your life ten years and I'd be surprised if you didn't wish you handled certain situations differently. When you are in a starting pitching rotation for the New York Yankees and for the first time in your career things are really rolling, it's hard when those mistakes are maliciously revealed.

Baseball is a funny game and a Major League clubhouse can be an interesting place. Respect from veteran players doesn't come easy. Younger players and journeyman are merely taking another guy's job. So, when a 12 year-veteran All Star buys the entire team replica tee-shirt jerseys of your name and number, that's a pretty big honor.

In the entertainment world, there is something to be said about lovable villains. Austin Power's; Dr. Evil, Star Wars'; Darth Vader, the Batman's; Joker and now the New York Mets; Jesse Winker? Yes, Mets fans have become obsessed with disliking the Buffalo native and he seems to be enjoying it.

Sunday May 22nd from 2:30pm to 4pm at Tri Little League in Delmar there will be a baseball clinic open to kids from 5-12 years-old. The cost of the instructional afternoon is only $5 per player. All proceeds from the afternoon, including a percentage of the concessions, will go to the Epilepsy Foundation of Northeastern New York, in memory of Lazar LaPenna, the 11 year-old boy that died from a seizure while playing Little League on Long Island on April 29th.

New York and Florida have always seemed to have a strong connection, especially amongst part-time residents of each state. When New York Yankees Hall of Fame shortstop, Derek Jeter became a part-owner and CEO of the Miami Marlins franchise, many thought that connection was perfect for the struggling franchise waiting to take off with new ownership. Many, including myself, were wrong about that.

The Tri City ValleyCats open up their 2022 Frontier League season on the road Thursday against the Florence Y'Alls. The Y'Alls are from Kentucky and one of 8 new teams, for a total of 16, that will travel to Joe Bruno Stadium in Troy this summer. The Frontier League is one of the premier independent professional baseball leagues and is a partner with Major League Baseball.

They'll be Right Here and we'll all be Weak!

The number 5 means something to New York Giants first round draft pick, Kayvon Thibodeaux. The defensive sensation out of the University of Oregon terrorized collegiate quarterbacks while donning the number five for the Ducks. Two weeks ago, Thibodeaux was selected 5th overall in the 2022 NFL Draft by new general manager Joe Schoen. So, you could say that the number 5 is pretty special to Kayvon.

As we reported last week, 4th grader Lazar LaPenna, of Long Beach, New York, suffered a fatal seizure after hitting a baseball and running to first base. There was no injury caused by a baseball. Lazar suffered from epilepsy for several years and was on medication for seizures. LaPenna loved baseball and the Mets. His dad was his coach. The baseball world and others took notice of this awful tragedy and even took to Twitter to recruit everyone to pay tribute to the little boy from Long Island.