Sports

Maple Leafs razzing Matthews ahead of first pitch: ‘Maybe he puts one in the dirt’ – Sportsnet.ca

Published

2 years ago

September 28, 2022

TORONTO — Auston Matthews is under fire to bring the heat.

The NHL’s reigning MVP and former Arizona Little Leaguer is set to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Tuesday’s Toronto Blue Jays–New York Yankees game.

And if there wasn’t enough pressure to avoid a 50 Cent moment at a packed Rogers Centre, what with the Jays gathering playoff momentum and Aaron Judge barreling toward history, Matthews’ teammates are doing their best to get in the pitcher’s head.

“It’ll be fun if he does chunk it or throw like (poop),” Mitch Marner chides. “It would be quite funny.

“Yeah, we’re gonna get on Auston tonight. Make sure that he knows he’s gotta throw some heat in there, and there’s some high expectations.”

Because Judge is sitting at 60 home runs (hey, the same number of goals Matthews scored last season), just one shy of tying Roger Marris’s Yankees and American League record, Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly is predicting a few chirpping Leafs will be part of a packed dome.

“I think it’s going to be pretty packed because of what Judge is chasing. So, there might be a little bit extra pressure. He was talking about using some Spider Tack, so we’ll get the umps out and make sure it’s legal,” says Rielly, wryly.

“I think you got to put a little pressure on him. Maybe he puts one in the dirt. That’d be nice.”

Has Rielly ever seen Matthews throw?

“I mean, we don’t exactly play a lot of catch. But I know he’s a good athlete, so I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Rielly replies. “Might throw some off-speed stuff.”

Matthews knows what his buddies are up to, with all their encouragement to light up the gun.

“Maybe embarrass myself?” Matthews says of their objective. “I wasn’t much of a pitcher, honestly. I had a pretty wild arm, so I usually caught. I pitched a little bit, but not very good.

“I’d like to think growing up and playing that I have a decent throw. I should be able to get it there, I think.”

Matthews’ roots in the American pastime are legit.

His father, Brian, was a strong pitcher in his day. And Matthews himself played competitively — including one season of travel ball — until age 13, when he ultimately chose hockey after missing too many baseball practices.

In his youth, Matthews’ specialty was Judge’s — the long ball. A strength the lefthanded hitter showed off back in 2017 at Rogers Centre, when he crushed a home run taking batting practice:

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“Growing up, my dad always told me the hardest thing in sports is to hit a little white baseball coming at you 100 miles an hour,” says Matthews, who knows a thing or two about crushing longstanding team records. “So, it’s pretty cool to see what (Judge) has been able to do and the history of that franchise and how far back it goes.

“It seems like the last two months this guy is hitting homers every night.”

How far Matthews will go Tuesday is all the way to the rubber. He won’t cheat and lob his pitch in front of the mound, although Marner has warned him that the bump will make the toss more difficult.

Marner recalls his own first pitch, in June of 2017.

“I was too nervous to kind of throw some heat,” Marner admits. “I was nervous as hell.”

Marner was too shook to trot all the way out to the mound, until he got some advice and some guilt from the Blue Jays players.

“They’re telling me how serious it is and that (extra) couple feet is how people ground the balls into home plate. I wasn’t gonna do it,” Marner says.

“Then Marcus Stroman forced me to do it, which ended up being a lot cooler of a moment. A cooler feeling, seeing how they really feel up there and how lonely it is and how far it is.”

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Matthews plans to warm up well before his big moment tonight. He doesn’t want to give Marner, Rielly and the boys any dressing-room ammunition with an errant throw.

“I wasn’t much of a pitcher, honestly. I had a pretty wild arm, so I usually caught. I pitched a little bit, but not very good,” Matthews says.

“It’s been a minute since I’ve thrown a baseball, but I’m looking forward to it.”

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Sports

Sports betting roundup: NFL and college football were all about the favourites

Published

18 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Anne Joseph

The past weekend of football was all about the favourites.

The favoured teams went 13-1 straight up and 10-4 against the spread in the NFL. In college football, the three most teams bet at the BetMGM Sportsbook in terms of number of bets and money all won and covered. All three were favourites.

Trends of the Week

The three most bet college teams that won and covered on Saturday were Ohio State (-3.5) vs. Penn State, Indiana (-7.5) at Michigan State and Oregon (-14.5) at Michigan. Penn State has now lost seven straight home games as underdogs. The Nittany Lions were up 10-0 in the first quarter and were 3.5-point favourites at the time. The Buckeyes won 17-10.

In the NFL, the three most bet teams in terms of number of bets and money were the Washington Commanders (-4) at the New York Giants, the Detroit Lions (-2.5) at the Green Bay Packers and the Buffalo Bills (-6) vs. the Miami Dolphins. All three teams won, but only two of the three covered the spread as Buffalo beat Miami 30-27.

When it came to the players with the most bets to score a touchdown on Sunday, only two of the five reached the end zone — Chase Brown (-125) and Taysom Hill (+185). David Montgomery (-140), Brian Robinson Jr. (+110) and AJ Barner (+500) did not score.

Upsets of the Week

The biggest upset in the NFL was the Carolina Panthers coming from behind to beat the New Orleans Saints 23-22. New Orleans closed as a 7-point favourite and took in 76% of the bets and 79% of the money in against-the-spread betting. The Saints fired head coach Dennis Allen following the loss. They have now lost seven straight games after starting the year 2-0.

Arguably the biggest upset in college football was South Carolina beating No. 10 Texas A&M 44-20 at home. Texas A&M closed as a 2.5-point favourite and took in 59% of the bets and 58% of the money.

Coming up

Right after the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Yankees to win the World Series, odds for the 2025 World Series were released.

The Dodgers have the best odds at +400, while the Atlanta Braves and Yankees are next at +800.

The Baltimore Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies round out the top five, both at +1100.

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This column was provided to The Associated Press by BetMGM online sportsbook.

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Longtime rivals Ovechkin, Crosby join Necas as NHL’s three stars of the week

Published

18 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Anne Joseph

NEW YORK – Washington Capitals left-wing Alex Ovechkin, Carolina Hurricanes centre Martin Necas and Pittsburgh Penguins centre Sidney Crosby have been named the NHL’s three stars of the week.

Ovechkin had a league-leading five goals and nine points in four games.

The 39-year-old Capitals captain has 14 points in 11 games this season, and his 860 career goals are just 34 shy of Wayne Gretzky’s record.

Necas shared the league lead with nine points (three goals, six assists) in three games.

Crosby factored on seven of the Penguins’ eight total goals scoring four goals and adding three assists in three appearances. The 37-year-old Penguins captain leads his team with 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 13 games this season.

Crosby and Ovechkin, longtime rivals since entering the league together in 2005-06, will meet for the 70th time in the regular season and 95th time overall when Pittsburgh visits Washington on Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.

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Oliveira, Mitchell named as finalists for CFL outstanding player award

Published

5 days ago

October 31, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Running back Brady Oliveira of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell are the finalists for the CFL’s outstanding player award.

Oliveira led the CFL in rushing this season with 1,353 yards while Mitchell was the league leader in passing yards (5,451) and touchdowns (32).

Oliveira is also the West Division finalist for the CFL’s top Canadian award, the second straight year he’s been nominated for both.

Oliveira was the CFL’s outstanding Canadian in 2023 and the runner-up to Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for outstanding player.

Defensive lineman Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund of the Montreal Alouettes is the East Division’s top Canadian nominee.

Voting for the awards is conducted by the Football Reporters of Canada and the nine CFL head coaches.

The other award finalists include: defensive back Rolan Milligan Jr. of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Montreal linebacker Tyrice Beverette (outstanding defensive player); Saskatchewan’s Logan Ferland and Toronto’s Ryan Hunter (outstanding lineman); B.C. Lions kicker Sean Whyte and Toronto returner Janarion Grant (special teams); and Edmonton Elks linebacker Nick Anderson and Hamilton receiver Shemar Bridges (outstanding rookie).

The coach of the year finalists are Saskatchewan’s Corey Mace and Montreal’s Jason Maas.

The CFL will honour its top individual performers Nov. 14 in Vancouver.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31.

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